Neverland.

A mythical kingdom, said to contain all the fantasies of the world. From lands of eternal spring and idyllic snowy wonderlands, wealth so large that it could never be spent and monsters so terrifying they could not be fathomed- all are said the reside in this fabled wonderland, filled with every dream from the tiniest happiness to the grandest ambitions, and every nightmare from the simplest phobias to the most crushing despairs.

Naturally, there is no room in our reality for such an absurdity. It is not a realm built of stone and soil, but one that exists solely in the minds of men, fiction given form.

Commonly regarded as nothing more than an old fairytale by the people, it is the biggest secret of underworld society. When the shade rating increases, individuals find themselves more and more leaving the physical world and entering this mystical realm instead. Here, all sorts of magical entities and powers are permitted, and even thrive. This is where all the magical creatures that plague the streets of London are born, and where all the world's magical powers originate from.

It has no fixed form, or at least, has evaded all attempts at mapping it thus far. It's entry points are many, ranging from abandoned streets to locked doors, and there is no guarantee that it will look the same even if you use the same passageway twice. Space and time in the physical world do not quite map properly to their versions in Neverland. No better indicator of this can be seen other than in the anachronistic objects that can be sometime found exiting it, such as coins from the Holy Roman Empire or people from before the Civil War, for whom only a couple of days have passed in a timespan of many years.

Records suggest that Neverland has always existed in human history, with manifestations mostly limited to the remote regions of the world, far from civilization. These appearances are believed to be responsible for many past claims of spiriting away, as well as myths regarding cities of gold and monster sightings. It was a subject of great interest for those who embrace the traditional arts, and their occult knowledge has been brought heavily to use by various parties in London as the mythical kingdom encroaches upon the fallen capital.

Even for Principals, Neverland is a place of great danger, and to be avoided at all costs. For such rational minded people, the most relevant thing about this mystical place is the residents that sometimes find themselves crossing the border into reality, the various magical entities that plague the streets of London. Their features are diverse, their abilities varied, and their numbers uncountable. They fall under the blanket term Creatures, chosen for ease of information control. That said, reports suggest they follow a couple common rules.

They are all fantastical creatures, and as such follow the rule of shade. As completely alien existences, their presence itself depends heavily on the concentration of White, and only tend to take form when the conditions are correct. However, despite it being so vital to their existence, their degree of influence over color is actually rather weak, being creatures not of this realm. As such, they tend to appear in locations that suit them, or influence human beings to experience emotions that lead to rising levels of White, such as anger, frustration, and hysteria.

Their presence itself however, serves as an invasion of Neverland into reality. As such, it is not so easy to simply force them back to where they came from- Creatures manifesting in reality sometimes possess what is known as a raison d'etre. This is essentially a Condition that lessens the effect of reducing the shade, tied heavily to the circumstances of their appearance.

They possess their own abilities analogous to the various spells Principals are capable of using, along with the Condition Out Of Character. The latter in particular makes them an extremely deadly threat to any mundane they encounter, as it allows them to resist damage taken from purely mundane means. It has also attracted significant military interest from all parties in London- however, their extensive research has only returned disappointing results. The effect of OoC depends heavily on what could be said to be the 'purity' of their existence- how much they avoid being influenced by reality. As such, attempts into military applications have proved largely fruitless, and Creatures remain regarded by most as semi living disasters that appear infrequently in response to population stresses, requiring dedicated extermination as the hands of the magically capable.

Beyond these general traits, Creatures generally fall under two patterns in their occurrences, although there is significant overlap between them:

The first are those which pattern themselves directly after stories or rumors, fiction brought to life, and are not usually tied to any specific individuals. Golems and dragons are most typical examples, which can irregularly be found in the underground without any particular cause for their existence. There are also some Principals who share heavy similarities with this class, but as they lose most of the typical features of Creatures they are not considered as such.

The second are those that tie themselves more strongly with the emotions of particular individuals, either as haunting or possession. They seem to be called directly by these emotions. They manifest by communicating with their hosts, and have been known sometimes transform the body itself when appearing, an act that usually results in the death of the host. For these, killing the host is usually a simple way to stop them, but as some Principals awaken as a result of such experiences as the host, it is typically unadvised.

So you know what to sort of expect from these kinds of enemies mechanically, here is what might be considered a mook (there will be plenty of enemies with more specialized abilities, Conditions and even Trumps):

Condition - Holy Name

Unlike conventional living organisms, the Golem possesses no vital organs save for one- the sigils hidden somewhere in its body. Instead, most of it's body consists of hard, irrelevant matter. As such, it boasts a special form of resilience to damage- many forms of injuries do not qualify as Wounds to the Golem, such as fire from small arms or attacks that only chip off small parts of it's body, with an exception for the sigils. These can still impose negative Conditions. The Golem takes extra damage on injuries to it's sigils, however.

Condition - Out of Character

Reduces all damage taken from mundane items, except on the sigils.

Raison D'etre

Depends on the specific sigils that animate it and it's origin, but for most of the common Golems roaming the underground they do not possess anything of this nature.

Abilities

Genesis (False)

• Rating 10, Wounds 2
• Calling upon the energies that animate it's body, the Golem temporarily turns surrounding matter into an extension of itself, resulting in the ability to manipulate it's surroundings to attack in the form of spikes or smashing attacks.

Genesis (True)

• Rating 15
• The Golem assimilates surrounding matter into it's body, recovering 1 Wound (unless caused by damage to sigils), and restoring negative Conditions.

Decay

• Rating 10
• Once again merging with it's surroundings, it causes them to lose cohesiveness, turning them into a mush that easily traps targets.