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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.