Time to look at some aspects of the campaign a little closer. The largest piece that looms over the city and PCs and that the PCs can do something about is the curse and the shadow creatures that haunt the night. I want to emphasize that and showcase the horror. All the players are being required to watch Pitch Black.
Because of the shadow creatures I'm showing that there is no homeless population because they would be killed off fast. Also, there are no wild cats, dogs, or other stray animals around the city. The port city also does not have a rodent problem. Because of the lack of animals diseases are rarer in the city and with no homeless and the nights being so dangerous the crime rate is really low. That is slowly changing as gangs are learning how to adapt to the situation.
What other things would this do to a city? How else can I show the city is a changed place because of the shadow creatures?
I've also introduced a history of attempts to rid the city of the shadow creatures. I'm demonstrating that even after three decades people really don't have a good idea of what the creatures are. There are a few monuments to the guards and adventurers that tried to take back the night in the first few months but ultimately lost. The city did a month long day search of every building, basement, sewer, and other potential hiding place to try to locate the creatures liar. After about a decade a group of Clerics of Asmodeus came to the city and they had some success but were eventually picked off one at a time. The last attempt was more passive and by a small group of Wizards. They invested money into many continual light spells and cast about 10 a day and that brightened up parts of the city for a while. But then something dispelled them and the wizards didn't have the resources to keep replacing them.
I don't want it to seem like the problem has never been tried to solve. There is also the secret guild that hunts the creatures and pays a bounty for any killed. I'm not sure what to do with them or how to expand them to make them part of the campaign past book one. Any ideas?