A wall shared by the slope
A retaining wall can support the ground beneath one house while standing beside another's kitchen. Repair responsibility is therefore more complicated than the view from either window suggests. Neighbors discuss the same crack from opposite sides, one describing a garden boundary and the other the thing holding up the hill.
The delivery passed upward
Heavy parcels do not always travel to a door in one person's arms. Someone below calls for help, and an object moves between landings through a sequence of brief handovers. The district's written receipts cannot show every person who helped complete the delivery. They record the final signature, leaving the shared effort outside the box.
Ice on the shaded flight
One flight remains cold after the others have dried. Residents leave grit nearby and mark the slippery section on a notice at the lower turn. The warning is renewed whenever weather removes it. Slate Steps preserves local knowledge through this repeated act, with no expectation that a single permanent sign could replace attention.
From the fictional county archive
The wall is entered under the upper address, but access for repairs is through the lower yard. Please contact both households.
Continue through the archive
Places in Slate Steps
Original world fiction published by Somatry. These location stories expand the setting for readers; they are not case evidence, walkthroughs or a list of confirmed playable DLC missions.