Dark Chicago    The City    Neighborhoods    New City      Bubbly Creek

“That ain’t just gas, kid. That’s the stink of everything Chicago tried to bury, still clawing its way up.”

Location: Back of the Yards / Bridgeport Border
Established: Late 19th century (named by locals during peak stockyard operations)
Access: Public (but unwise)
Connected Factions: Uncle Carm’s crew (old dump routes), CPD Arcane Division (soft watch)

Description - Exterior

Bubbly Creek winds through the southern edge of Bridgeport, its banks lined with buckled concrete, rusted fences, and the bones of slaughterhouse industry. The water is black and sluggish, thick with decades of offal, grease, and secrets. Gas bubbles rise constantly, hissing like dying whispers. The air tastes like iron and rot, no matter the season.

Description - Interior

There’s no “inside,” but what lies beneath is far worse. Crates dumped in the '20s still bob on some nights. Currents shift against the wind. Anyone foolish enough to wade in doesn't come back smelling right—if they come back at all. A sewer outflow near the eastern bend sometimes glows blue at night, and a rusted ladder leads down into the kind of tunnel maps forgot.

Public Face

To the public, Bubbly Creek is an industrial embarrassment—an environmental relic, laughed off or avoided entirely. Kids dare each other to poke it with sticks. Laborers dump their boots in it to forget what they’ve stepped through. It’s a joke—until the jokes stop.

What's Really Going On

The Veil here is thick and fermented, warped by blood, fat, and grief. Something was fed here for decades—sacrificed through commerce and cruelty—and it’s not done feeding. Some say the creek has moods. Others say it remembers names. Ritualists occasionally show up with pigs’ hearts and whispered apologies. The worst part? Sometimes, the creek forgives. Sometimes, it doesn’t.

Notables

Uncle Carm Lucchesi – Still claims dumping rights on the south bend; says the creek “knows who’s loyal.”
Brother Markus Sills – Ex-priest turned Veil scholar; maps the bubbles’ pattern like scripture.
Reggie "Drip" Fontana – Known junkie who swears he saw the creek breathe. Twice.
Officer Lyle Dorsey – CPD Arcane Division; stationed nearby, but never gets closer than 20 feet.

Rumors & Hooks:

• Some say the creek has taken human shape—seen walking the banks at night, trailing wet footprints that never dry.
• An old Veil mark on a nearby retaining wall flares under moonlight and whispers the names of the drowned.
• A rusted boxcar half-submerged in the water was sealed in 1912. It still rocks, even on calm nights.
• The bubbling isn’t gas—it’s breath. And it’s getting faster.
• Outfit clean-up crews used the creek for years. One body came back wearing someone else’s skin.
• There’s a ritual you can perform by the culvert under Halsted Bridge—if you’ve got blood to spare.
• The PCs might hear about a missing contact last seen near the water’s edge. Or stumble onto something that shouldn’t float—but does.
• A “blessing” of the creek is scheduled for an upcoming holiday. No one’s sure who’s behind it—or what they’re really trying to summon.
• Someone’s mapping a Veil gate near the south curve. Problem is, the gate might already be open.