Eli Barlow is a 62-year-old former ship's carpenter turned watchman and building caretaker.
Overview
Eli Barlow is a 62-year-old former ship’s carpenter turned watchman and building caretaker. Paid in rent and whiskey to maintain order in a Limehouse tenement, he distrusts newcomers, believes everything was better before the last war, and holds grudges with nautical precision.
He was Rooke’s landlord and watched him closely before his mysterious disappearance.
Description
Stringy-haired and pockmarked, bundled in a faded pea coat even in summer, Barlow moves with a sailor’s limp. He smells of pipe smoke and rain-wet canvas. He keeps his left hand inside his coat—lost two fingers to a chainblock years ago.
Personality & Traits
- Suspicious of gentry; distrusts anyone with “soft hands”
- Fond of dark rum and easily bribed with liquor or coin
- Steel trap memory for faces and rent
- Not easily cowed but responds to shared mistrust of authority
- Speaks with a strong maritime accent
Appearances
Connections
People
Knows
- Nathaniel Rooke NPC neutralRooke was his tenant; Barlow watched him closely and knows about his disappearance
Places
Located at
- Thistle Lane Location neutralCaretaker of Thistle Lane tenement
Owns
- Thistle Lane Location neutralBuilding caretaker; watched Rooke and may offer information