The Metropolitan Guard.

The Metropolitan Guard deals with crimes both supernatural and mundane. They are a small army of netherworld guardians (Machairodus infernos,) commonly known as hellions. They're giant, demonic predators with dagger teeth, scythe talons, sandpaper fur, bullwhip tails, and ember eyes. In Blackmire, they spend most of their time in their humanoid form, though. Some refer to them as "hellhounds," but that's a bit of a misnomer. They do hunt in packs, but they're more closely related to the felines than canines.

Once responsible for controlling the inmates of the Blackmire penal colony, the Guard's duty has evolved over the centuries from brandishing martial law into filling out forms in triplicate. Bureaucratic as they may be, their weapons are no joke.


They still wear armor, encasing themselves in bionic metal exoskeletons that increase their already inhuman speed and strength. Each guard has a bespoke suit of armor that works for them and them alone. The plating is filled with tiny, powerful clockworks allows the armor to transform along with its occupant and mold itself to the hellion form.

The highly classified technology inside their armor also allows them to teleport, adding to the air of mystery and intimidation of the Guard. But they can only do so within their line of sight, or they risk reappearing inside something solid.

They live in garrisons throughout the city, but there are far fewer than the citizens of Blackmire realize. The majority of boots on the ground are actually automatons. While none of the metal "Copperpots" could never be mistaken for living creatures, their abundance creates the illusion of police presence.

The automatons get bigger and scarier the farther down one travels in the city. There are small, adorable automatons for patrolling the upper levels of the city where the upper-middle and upper classes live. The largest and most intimidating automatons patrol for law enforcement and crowd control in the ground levels, where the poorest of the poor and the most dangerous criminal elements dwell.

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