Prologue
The docks buzzed with activity. Tanks of whale oil hummed in their stations, supplying multifarious mechanisms with a steady stream of energy. A well dressed gentleman, a dandy with little on his mind and less in it, had only just disembarked from one of the more luxurious ships docked by the pier. He saw not the splendor of the city nor the intricacies of the machinery, he only percieved the fetid odor of whale blubber and the raucous clattering of steel.
Beside him stood a humble fellow, presumably one of the noble's servants, perhaps a porter. Whatever he was, he was absolutely filthy, as if he'd slept on the deck with the crew. The man was laden down with all manner of parcels, bags, and trunks to the point where he was barely able to keep his feet, yet he waited patiently alongside his master..
"Blast this stench." The lanky nobleman flipped a coin absentmindedly, "Can't these bleeding whalers find a more civilized way to power this blighted city?" His grimy attendant raised a bushy eyebrow.
"We's only been 'ere for a few moments princeling, give da place a chance." The prince snatched the coin from the air and slapped it to the back of his hand. Heads up.
"I told you Aden, my name is Phillip, not princeling. Besides," he reversed the coin, heads up once more. "I don't believe in chance."
Aden snorted, "Well, oi'd bet there's no' a chance that you'd help carry the luggage."
"What was that?"
"Nuthin' princeling." Phillip stared at Aden for a moment, then looked away.
"Very well then, let's be off." Aden grunted as he began to stumble his way forwards, burdened by the luggage. He staggered his way down the boulevard, narrowly avoiding several collisions with pedestrians. Phillip followed behind at a leisurely pace, looking with mild interest at the dingy shops that lined the street with tacky adverts plastered across their crumbling brick walls. One of these adverts caught his eye, an elegant bit of typography with the profile of a house-cat printed in gold leaf across a field of black. Graphic design wasn't a particular passion for Phillip,what interested him was the text itself. Phillip grinned. Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all.
"Aden!"
"Yes princeling?"
"We're taking a slight detour."
Aden craned his neck to examine the flier, "Yer mum ain't gonna be pleased."
"She shan't learn of my visit this time around." Phillip's mouth tightened, "Shall she Aden?"
"...no princeling, oi don' suppose she shall."
"Good boy."
Phillip scanned the crowd for a moment, then caught the arm of a passing nobleman.
"Pardon me, which way to The Golden Cat?"