The Coach
The Coach is the Grand Overseer of the slave trade in Rail City during the Ironworks era. His real name was largely forgotten; the nickname stuck because of his obsession with pigskin sports and his project of breeding Iron Slaves to compete in the Gridiron Field. Burly and broad-shouldered, with the kind of softness around the middle that only the wealthy could afford, he was never seen without his billed cap in blue and orange. Smile lines seamed a face that smiled through atrocities.
The Coach managed the enormous slave population of the Ironworks, particularly Rail City. Contractors and manufacturers placed bids with him for Iron Slave labor. He decided which projects received additional workers, sent labor or breeding stock where he deemed appropriate, and received reports from the various Mayors. The Gridiron breeding program was his particular passion: Iron Slaves bred specifically for gladiatorial pigskin games, human beings reduced to athletic specimens for entertainment. He had even petitioned the Abbey for a bear-Iron hybrid.
He and Chancellor Daily were not friends, as that would imply human feeling, but firm compatriots of one mind in the importance of the Ironworks. Crossing him meant losing everything. The Coach projected bluff heartiness and affability, making jokes while inspecting slaves' teeth and gauging their muscles, smiling and laughing while choosing which families to separate. A jovial monster lacking any semblance of empathy, he was the human face of a system designed to ensure that Iron Slaves never forgot they were property.
The Coach managed the enormous slave population of the Ironworks, particularly Rail City. Contractors and manufacturers placed bids with him for Iron Slave labor. He decided which projects received additional workers, sent labor or breeding stock where he deemed appropriate, and received reports from the various Mayors. The Gridiron breeding program was his particular passion: Iron Slaves bred specifically for gladiatorial pigskin games, human beings reduced to athletic specimens for entertainment. He had even petitioned the Abbey for a bear-Iron hybrid.
He and Chancellor Daily were not friends, as that would imply human feeling, but firm compatriots of one mind in the importance of the Ironworks. Crossing him meant losing everything. The Coach projected bluff heartiness and affability, making jokes while inspecting slaves' teeth and gauging their muscles, smiling and laughing while choosing which families to separate. A jovial monster lacking any semblance of empathy, he was the human face of a system designed to ensure that Iron Slaves never forgot they were property.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
The Coach rose to the position of Grand Overseer through the same ruthless pragmatism he applied to managing the slave population. His obsession with pigskin sports led to the Gridiron breeding program, one of the most grotesque manifestations of the Ironworks' dehumanization of Iron Slaves: selecting individuals for physical traits and breeding them like livestock to produce gladiators for entertainment. His relationship with Chancellor Daily was built on shared purpose rather than personal affection, a partnership between two people who viewed the slave system as essential infrastructure rather than a moral question. The Coach's enduring legacy was the efficiency with which he managed human misery, always with a smile, always with a joke, always without a moment's hesitation.
Grand Overseer of the Ironworks slave trade; a smiling monster who bred humans for sport.
Children
