0414 — The Village of Buckets

A tiny settlement has formed in the shadow of the trees. Its boundaries are ostensibly marked by buckets hung from tree limbs, but the tents and improvised shelters of its 28 residents don’t quite abide by this border, spilling further into the forest. The exiles who live here eke out a meager existence foraging and hunting, scavenging from the merchant-industrialists, keeping chickens and ducks, and occasionally selling basic services and skills to other travelers of the wilds.

Henri (he/him) claims leadership of the village, and ownership of the various buckets. He oversaw their manufacture in Catage until his arrest for violent intimidation of a business rival, and upon being exiled was granted the unsold inventory he had stored. He now harbors great resentment for the Merchant-Industrialists he was once a part of, forbidding the citizens of Buckets from trading with their troops. Most continue to do so in secret. Henri would violently punish this misdeed, if he only knew who was committing it. For now he settles for publicly berating the villagers on their failures to be self sufficient, leveling insults at any given organization or faction he thinks they might leave him for.

Henri recently ambushed and slew a sleeping Merchant-Industrialist scout, and placed their head in a bucket mounted to a shovel placed in the ground a mile outside of his “borders.” If the Merchant-Industrialists found out, Fort Cygne (0612) would be tasked with destroying the village.

Functions as a small village by the economic standards of The Nightmares Underneath. Not directly connected to a greater trade network — the smugglers find it below their notice.

Some notable denizens:

Hera (they/he/she) and Bella (she/her) are a pair of married sex workers, who sell their service to locals and travelers for food and money. They want to fund a journey further to a proper settlement where they hope to purchase property in which to do their work more safely, comfortably, and profitably.

Ruben (he/him) is a student of a famous scholar of the Law in Catage exiled for poisoning a rich patient. He submitted to the exile for fear of being killed as personal retribution by the family of the deceased. He swears it was an accident. The gate into the wall at 0314 fascinates him.