A Knife in the Dark

It's been several months since the rumors started, people snatched off the streets at night and found the next morning throat slit from ear-to-ear. Their blood completely drained, yet not a drop to be found nearby. At first it was just a few people that society looked down upon - the impoverished, the "immoral", or just the inattentive. Common wisdom said to "Keep your wits about you should you find yourself alone at night, otherwise you'll fall prey to The Ripper and it'll be your own fault". After all, the streets of London had already been dangerous, what was but a few more murders?

When the body of a member of the House of Lords was found in an alley a mere block from his home, news of the murder was in the broadsheets the very next day. The papers included details that had previously been left out - not only was he exsanguinated, but was also mutilated and missing several internal organs. The organs that had remained were desiccated, almost mummified. Such a vivid description of a brutal and bizarre murder set off a panic, and that proved to be the beginnings of a nightmare in the making.

The frequency of attacks increased, bodies were found tucked in strange corners all over London in a single night. Far too many corpses for just a single madman. The Bobbies tried to maintain what order they could, but a mass exodus had begun and the city descended very quickly into chaos. No one really knows why, but ten days ago, all roads out of the city became impassible - rubble, overturned carriages, fires, and other stranger things. And in each of those cases glowing eyes, watching those trying to flee from the shadows. Those who tried to traverse the barriers were instantly set upon by the Jacks, and swiftly met their ends. The next morning, the sun didn't rise. Naught but darkness greeted those who remained. In the intervening days, only those who had stayed huddled in gaslit buildings (or even better, the newly created electric lights), remained safe for a time. 

Five days ago, the situation devolved even further. The Jacks, stalking out in the night - their screams an ever-present drone in the muggy night air - had targeted and destroyed many of the gas lamps around the city even going so far as to destroy the pipes and refineries storing the coal gas. Not long after that, they started attacking the buildings where the desperate masses were huddled. You could hear their screams as they were drug out into the night.

It's only a matter of time before they come for you and your only shot is to take to the streets - and with the roads blocked by the Jacks, the Thames looks like your best option. There are miles of streets between you and there, and you can only hope that at least one wherry is still tied to the shore. Time to make some torches, and grab what light you can, and brave the jacks.

Areas of Note: Blackwell Buildings, Whitechapel High Street, George Yard Buildings, The Blind Beggar Pub, Tower Bridge, The Thames

Goal: Make it to the river, find a boat, get out of town alive.