THE SIEVE

The world above has its maps, its clocks, and its sunlight. It has no room for you. You are the byproduct of a city that grew too fast and a reality that became too thin. You are what remains when the "Topsiders" look away.

"One day someone's walking around... and then... Nothing. The earth just... opens up... and swallows them."

I. The Geometry of the Lost

In the Underside, geography is a matter of opinion and physics is a polite suggestion. You didn't just wander off the path; you tripped over the Interval—that thin, jagged space between the "real" world and the one that truly breathes.

The city beneath is a shifting tapestry of industrial rot and eldritch grace. Steam pipes hiss with the voices of ancestors; the sewers are paved with the silver of forgotten kings. In the Underside, time works in circles, and a door in the cellar of a modern high-rise might open into a Victorian courtyard that hasn't seen the sun in a hundred years.

Commerce in the Dark: Forget the coinage of the surface. Here, the only currency with weight is the Artifact—a scrap of the Topside imbued with the gravity of loss—and the Vow. To break a promise is to lose your Clearance, thinning your presence until you are nothing but a smudge on the architecture.

II. Rules of the Under

THE SIEVE is a rules-light, marrow-heavy roleplaying game of urban shadows and ontological mystery. It is designed for speed, atmosphere, and the constant threat of fading away.

The Triunity of Self Character creation driven by Mettle, Finesse, and Wits. Your survival is a matter of physical density and social gravity.
Lost Legacies You are defined by what you were or your specific "Station" Below. Start as a Disgraced Rat-Speaker, a Knight of the Post, or a Sewer-Alchemist.
Wits Duels Engagement is not always physical. Deal Ego Damage to force concessions, extract secrets, or demand magically binding Vows.
The Curse of Modernity Firearms are fickle vestiges. They are silent and useless until you find a "Thin Spot"—and then, they attract everything hostile within a mile.

Wits (The Knack)

Wits represents your sophisticated mental strength, social influence, and innate "Knacks." It is the attribute of the courtier and the survivor. It is how you navigate the strange logic of the Underside and hold your ground against entities that would see you erased.