|| Griggs' Crew

Griggs' Crew refers to a group of chimney sweeps originally indentured to Master Douglas Griggs in the city of Cabinet. The crew included boys acquired through poorhouses and informal sales, trained under abusive conditions and forced to operate in dangerous industrial flues. The crew operated out of Griggs’ soot-blackened cellar, sleeping on ash bags and damp straw. Living conditions were severe—lice, infection, burns, deformities, and food scarcity were routine. Corporeal training was standard, including nightly brining of skin near fire and occasional chaining of runaways. Griggs failed most legal obligations required of a master, including regular washing, church attendance, and chimney safety compliance.   In 1833, the death of Samuel Fulbourn, the eldest boy, marked a turning point. Griggs knowingly sent him up a flue he couldn't fit through; he smothered. The coroner ruled manslaughter. Griggs was sentenced to six months of hard labour and died in custody. Following Griggs’ death, the crew was left without a legal master and could no longer take chimney work. Wythe Dacre, the oldest surviving member, looted Griggs’ quarters for food or valuables. He discovered a silver locket engraved “Bridget Dacre,” assumed to be tied to his unknown mother. Also discovered were individual savings intended for each boy, confirming Griggs had maintained private well-intentioned funds despite public neglect.   Soon after, the crew was taken in by Porter Shaftesbury, a “master sweep” from Bristol. He legally purchased the boys’ indentures and took over the property. Conditions improved: structural repairs, consistent income, and marginal stability followed. However, Porter is a vampire, and eventually turned the boys in 1834. By the present timeline, only a few members remain from the original group (James Raglan was staked in 1837 by the Stokers). Wythe hoards valuables for them in secret.   As of 1840, the remaining members of Griggs’ Crew reside in the refurbished cellar under Porter Shaftesbury’s ownership. They maintain cover as apprentice sweeps but are all turned vampires. Feeding occurs under a strict system: each boy is dispatched separately, with at least three months between major kills (recently increased to four months). Targets are selected from the upper class former clients, and kills are disguised as break-ins or robberies. Loot is collected and laundered slowly by Porter. Formal education is enforced—reading, writing, and basic arithmetic are taught weekly by Porter. All members are functionally literate, though levels vary. Porter has since further restricted the crew’s movements using literacy drills as pretext, likely fearing increased Stoker activity, and now monitors feedings closely. No one in the crew is permitted to feed on Stoker-linked households. Tensions remain over past loyalties to Griggs, but discipline is enforced through economic dependence and feed regulation.