West Bexgate

“Your illness is not a punishment, and nor is your death. I am so sorry it had to happen this way, but humans need to be mortal if we are to figure out how to live.”
—St. Inigo, June 1974, responding to the prayer of a woman dying young.

The western half of Bexgate is dominated by the local headquarters of the Commission, from which long, straight streets emanate like the spokes of a wheel.

View of the Commission's local headquarters in Bexgate

In its heyday, Bexgate had an unusually large complement of Commission agents to protect against demonic infiltration. As Bexgate’s importance has declined, most have left. Even though Bexgate’s ratio of Commission agents to residents remains significantly higher than is usual, most of the headquarters building has been left unoccupied.

The headquarters is entirely above ground. There is no basement.

Anyone who has further questions about the details of goings-on inside the building should direct those questions to a Commission agent. They would certainly be interested in them.

The Special Institute for Computing

The Special Institutes for Computing and Biomedical Science are located in the western part of Bexgate, within view of the Commission’s headquarters.

These were, and still are, a priority for protection against heresy and demonic interference. The damage which could be done by a witch or a demon with access to these facilities is a fearsome prospect. It is for this reason that work there only occurs under the – often literal – gaze of the Commission.

Although most of the research at the Special Institutes has been wound down or transferred to other settlements, some still continues. Those involved in this research are kindly but firmly discouraged from sharing information about their research with other residents. Only witches and heretics would ignore this discouragement.

The Special Institute for Biomedical Science retains a limited treatment to treat patients. If their capacity is exceeded, or for specialist treatment, patients must be transferred to the district's capital of Wesmarch.

One of the exhibition rooms for sculpture in the Hall of Works

Bexgate possesses a large centre for devotional art – sculpture, painting, music, and (thanks to a recently constructed auditorium) ballet. All are housed in the Hall of Works, a sweeping work of art no less ambitious than any which it houses. Government funds and private donations maintain a sizeable number of artists at the Hall, some of whom live in residence within the Hall.

Access to the Hall’s collection is entirely free to the public. However, the cumulative decades of feverish creation have left the Hall with far too many works of art to be displayed at once. In fact, the Hall’s storage has begun to near capacity, and proposals to solve the overflow of sacred art circulate among its administrators.

The Town Planning Bureau is the largest branch of the civil service, and by extension of the Government, present in Bexgate. All decisions about the town’s administration, including the management of much of its economy, flow through the Town Planning Bureau.

That is not to say that Bexgate is under the control of the Town Planning Bureau. Decisions of any importance require thorough deliberation in Wesmarch, and are only then transmitted to Bexgate’s Town Planning Bureau for implementation.

Due to the obvious sensitivity of the work within the Town Planning Bureau, yet greater vigilance against demonic activity is a necessity.

• Dr Eileen Wang (she/her): recently re-appointed senior researcher at the Special Institute for Biomedical Science, and a regular visitor to the Hall of Works.
• Dr I.I. Oteh (she/they): formerly a leading computer scientist at the Special Institute for Computing, now the civil service's chief technical overseer of the Institute.
• Valentine Rinaldi (he/him): a brilliant and much-admired violinist. Although born in Bexgate, he has spent most of his career in Wesmarch, and has only recently returned to become an artist-in-residence at the Hall of Works.
• Clemence Arvin (any): Interim Director of the Hall of Works, a position which they have held for the last fifteen years. Email: clemence_arvin@conviction.oxfordrpg.com
• January Baxter (they/them): senior civil servant at the Town Planning Bureau, and one of the few people in the Bexford office who has any real authority.
• Dr Rebecca Marlowe (she/her): a local GP who also works as a doctor in the Special Institute for Biomedical Science medical centre.