Stilton Mines



"Worked with pride."

- Stilton Mines' motto

Stilton Mines is the name of a silver mining company in Karnaca, headed by former miner Aramis Stilton, and also the name of the associated mines, which are located near the Dust District. Carriages from the mines can be seen moved throughout the city.

History
The silver mines are responsible for the wealth in Karnaca, and in particular the Batista Mining District where the miners and their family live. Stilton acquired the mines during the reign of Duke Theodanis Abele and managed to keep them profitable while also improving their safety, providing inventions of his own like safety masks for the dust. For this, he worked conjointly with the United Miners of Karnaca syndicate and the Shindaerey Peak Miners' Family Committee led by Lucia Pastor and received help from Doctor Alexandria Hypatia of the Addermire Institute to cure the miners' ailments. These actions made his reputation among the miners as a fair and caring employer.

When Stilton disappeared in 1849, Duke Lucas Abele transferred management of the mines to Duncan Bayles of the Bayles Trading Company. At the Duke's behest, Bayles had the mines working at past their capacity to finance Abele's lavish lifestyle. The impending war against Morley and Tyvia following Delilah Copperspoon's Coup on the throne of the Empire strained even more the working quotas, causing many deaths among the miners due to exhaustion, mining accidents and dust-related diseases. Furthermore, the increased mining operation provoked dust storms blowing along with the Sirhrocco Currents and falling over Batista, deteriorating the place enough to be renamed Dust District by the locals.

By 1852, both the syndicate and the Miners' Family Committee have lost the Duke's ear who continues to run the mines dry, and the Dust District is locked in a territorial and ideological war between the Howlers and the Abbey of the Everyman. If Stilton is kept alive and sane at the end of A Crack in the Slab, the mine baron will have successfully retained viable working quotas and safe work conditions, improving the state of the Dust District in the process.

Trivia

 * There are other mines in Serkonos that double as prisons, where criminals must meet certain quotas in order to survive. Stilton's mines are not run like this.
 * The Royal Conservatory has a whole section on the mines' history, and there is a trophy room in Stilton Manor dedicated to them.
 * If they choose to, Emily or Corvo can resolve the dispute in the Dust District by sending both Paolo and Liam Byrne to the mines, replacing two Howlers forced to work there.