Tingen Newsletter Issue #72 – July 7, 2025

Darkness in the Slums: Cult Activity Thwarted by Unknown Hero

By A. Madley, Field Reporter

Word on the street travels fast and this time, it’s tangled in whispers of pentagrams, kidnappings, and something foul brewing in the shadows of our fair city. Just days ago, in the outer slum district near the old industrial rows, a young boy from the South Orphanage reportedly went missing. The staff kept quiet, but neighbors noted a tense change in their usual demeanor, less kids playing outside, fewer adults lingering near the gates. Something was wrong.

Then, last night, something strange happened.

Locals reported hearing a violent crash, followed by shouting and a rush of feet near a derelict house that’s long been rumored to be “owned” by one of the city’s lesser-known gangs. But this was no turf scuffle. Sources say the building had a strange red glow inside, and multiple armed individuals were seen patrolling it over the past week. One homeless witness claimed, "They were chanting in some sick, twisted tongue. Not any language I know. And their knives... they moved like they had minds of their own."

Witnesses describe a mysterious figure, some kind of mailman? depending on who you ask, seen leaping from rooftops, disabling guards, and ultimately fleeing the scene with a child over their shoulder. Later that night, the child, identified by his caretakers only as “Elliot”, was returned safely to the orphanage.

City officials have declined to comment, and the orphanage has denied the child was ever missing. But we know better, don't we? Who was the mysterious figure that defied death and shadow to rescue a single child? Some say a vigilante seeking justice. Others whisper about a Courier with a heart too big for their own good.

Whoever they were, this city owes them.

Stay safe, readers. There’s more than poverty lurking in these streets.