Characters
Seamus
The borders of Babylon may have closed 100 years ago, but there have always been people brave or stupid enough to risk crossing. After a surprise encounter with the underbelly of the magic community, Seamus Abel O’Shea had a difficult secret to keep every time the full moon came around. By some as-yet-unrevealed miracle, he managed to stumble his way through the borderlands and into city limits. This is a source of some tension for him, as he now works as a Border Police officer, tasked with patrolling and protecting Babylon’s edges from interlopers like himself.
A good-natured, gregarious fellow, Seamus’ ignorance concerning the city and its unwritten rules is a constant source of danger for him (and frustration for his comrades).
M.T.
The Border Police are not the most prestigious organization in Babylon, but it takes a highly skilled officer to rise through the ranks at the pace M.T. set for herself. Grit, ingenuity, and meticulous preparation brought the young woman from fledgling officer to inspector in less than two years’ time. That and a short-barreled, pump-action shotgun. And vampiric resilience. But M.T. – born and raised in a city under siege – learned long ago to use whatever resources she had at her disposal.
And she’s going to need all of them if she wants to keep her well-meaning subordinate in one piece.
Slim
Seamus’ sullen and recalcitrant deputy is a deadeye-shot and a terrible conversationalist. He carries nothing but the clothes on his back, the money in his pocket, and as many weapons as can fit on his twig-thin frame. His quick temper and penchant for disproportionate retribution make him a dangerous companion. Unfortunately, his exhaustive knowledge of Babylon’s underbelly makes him too great an asset to lose. And he knows it.
Slim prefers to keep as much of himself secret as he can… which might explain his decision to partner with the most oblivious officer the Border Police can offer.
Keisha
Though she had an inglorious introduction to Babylon, Keisha survived capture by body snatchers in the borderlands, crossed the wall as “living evidence,” and subsequently talked her way into a position as M.T.’s assistant. Clever, resourceful, and not about to take any of the city’s nonsense lying down, Keisha knows she needs to prove her usefulness or risk leaving Babylon in an even worse manner than she entered it.
Who she is, where she came from, and why she risked running to a city that kills refugees on sight… all remain a mystery.
Nightshade
Summoned by an outside party to oversee the capture of a dangerous vigilante, Nightshade has offered the Border Police only her codename and her competence. An expert in hexcrafts and enchantments, Nightshade provides a much needed sense of professionalism in the midst of the Border Police’s blindness and bluster – but she politely declines to reveal exactly whose agent she is in the midst of Babylon’s violence.
She is more forthcoming than Slim in answering Seamus’ endless questions (and significantly less belligerent).