<strong>"You mean the Midnight Steel Cadets?"</strong>she asks as she draws closer,<strong>"you must be new around here. Pretty much the entire organisation's like that. You <em>must</em> have seen the way the madmen from the Carnival've trussed up the city in preparation for the festival when you were travelling through, the way they made that racket this morning for... for whatever reason they do it? It's total anarchy, right? Well, the Steel group's set up as an opposing force, law and regulation and punctuality above everything else."</strong><br/><br/>At this point the serving girl turns, making sure that the dark-garbed gentlemen aren't paying her any heed, that they're currently enjoying (in a manner of speaking) their regular meal.<br/><br/><strong>"Popular belief is that they'd overrun the city's counsel within a week if they so wished, turn the entire place into a tyranny. But they're so busy dealing with the madmen who hear 'whimsical whisperings' from down below that they'll never manage it. Likewise, if the jesters didn't have them to deal with, the place would fall to chaos and anarchy. As is, they balance each other out, each taking sections of the city under their protection, this place is protected from vandals and thieves by the Steel group, for example, because some of them eat here as part of their routine. If you want more information on what Steel practices and the Carnival preaches, you might be best looking out one of the pavilions or guard houses... maybe even going to their main stations in the Barracks District in Upper or the Big Top District in Lower."</strong><br/><strong><br/>"Mind you,"</strong>the woman says as she began standing upright again, taking a side plate with her to seem as though she was doing her job,<strong>"it could do with a few more factions to take some power away from both of 'em and even the place out a bit more, as is they're both seemin' to just be waiting for the other to slip up and grab territory from the other."</strong>