Snickelways

 In York there's a now fairly famous neologism called snickelways used to describe a network of charming little alleys that snake throughout the city. They all have names like Hole-in-the-wall and Mad Alice Lane - all super evocative and just a little bit magical.

If you don't know, York is ancient. Its bones date back to Roman times, its flesh gathering throughout the Anglo-Saxon period and into the later medieval age that lends it a Mordheim-esque look. So its snickelways are routed through the past and present, bending space and time as you move through them. 

In your favourite flavour of fantasy game we can take this more literally. Snickelways are forgotten liminal spaces between buildings - a labyrinth of tiny streets with their own strange denizens, living both within and without the city. 

Who dwells in the snickelways? (D20, roll as many times as you want.)

1. The rat librarians dragging their mobile Bibliotheca. 

2. The Snickelwitch whose shadow has a mind of its own

3. Sallow dwarves selling from their bratwurst cart. 

4. The gull-headed assassin, slowly losing their mind.

5. A trio of ghost brigands who gamble eyeballs.

6. The silent greyhound that smells decaying magic.

7. The priests of the snickelways seeking converts to worship the Lord of Keys.

8. The sewer gorgons prized for their teeth.

9. The Lord Mayor of the Snickel, with their powdered wig and terrible secrets.

10. The Hidden Guild of Keys, able to open every lock in the city when dusk comes.

11. The junk ogre and her alignment-sensing magpie.

12. Snuffy the lantern dragon

13. The Society of Alleyway Alchemists

14. Wall-jumping goblin jesters

15. Mr. Black, the gentleman thief and seeker of keys.

16. Gungula, the great spider of the snickelways and her ravenous young.

17. The marvelous tailor and her enchanted spider silk

18. The Keeper of the Final Key

19. Muriel the taleteller whose payment is in quality teeth

20. Gutter urchins made from living shadow