“The city of the free. Free to fight for their own rights, Free to stuggle for their own food. You will not be beholden to any nobles, only your own decisions. Whether your flourish or fail, it’s all up to you.” -From “A Guide to Scrap Town”
Scrap Town is divisive city even to those that live there. Born of a need to free pokemorphs from the choking yoke of the Elite Nobles that rule Canal City and Basalt City, the founders of Scrap Town stumbled across something right out of legend. Scrap Town’s architecture comes from the times before, and the city has it’s own independant power source. It is built incredibly dense and very vertical, so much so that the ceiling moonstones can’t reach their dim light to the lower levels.
Even in a city based on freedom, divisions by wealth are ever appearent. The wealthy live higher in the structures in nicer homes, and those that have lost their money and hope live in the stifling below-city infrastructure tunnels. The main difference, though, is mobility. As the whole city is run by warlords of different powers, social movement can be doen through wits, strength, or planning at any time - although the top gangs are fairly static.
Inspiration: 1970s Kowloon/ Umbrella Corporation Underground Labs.
City History #
Scrap Town is the youngest of the three major settlements, having been formed prior to the Civil War between Canal City and Basalt City, and as such has the shortest history. It was originally discovered by the “Exiled”, who are now known as the rogues.
Found is the important part, as the discovery of Scrap Town was actually made through some collapsed cave walls, leading to a large vertical shaft that contained within it the crumbling but still viable infrastructure of a civilization long past. It didn’t take long to hollow out parts of the facility and shape them into a true city-like area. The city itself came with power, communications systems, and support systems mostly intact, outside of the wear and tear of centuries unattanded. Sadly, most of this technology is not duplicatable with what knowledge is available, and much of Scrap Town is kept functioning by ‘scrapping’ some bits to repair others.
Since it’s discovery, it has attracted several generations of freedom-seeking or power-seeking pokemorphs. A fast and free market has developed, and while it lacks the resources of the other two major settlements, it is one of the few locations where Human Artifacts sometimes surface for purchase. As time has passed, the city has stratified into distinct layers - the higher in the city you live, the nicer the building, and the better the amenities, the lower you get, the more squalor and cutthroat things become.
The underground tunnels were dug out following some of the ancient utilities of the city above, and are the most recent addition to Scrap Town, and also where those that have lost their hope tend to hide to either spend their time in a haze or wallow in their own situation.
Architecture #
The architecture of Scrap Town is reminiscent of an upgraded mid-1970s concrete high rise - several of them in fact. Concrete is the primary building material of the ancient city, and where that has failed everything from wood to bits of metal, to attempts to replicate the exceedingly strong material are used to fill in. The buildings are close together and opressively utilitarian on the outside, with bridges that connect at specific levels to provide passage between them. Electricity is easily accessible across all levels, although the data networks have begun to rot away at the lower levels.
The inside of the buildings vary by level. The bottom level tends to be somewhat hollowed out due to the passage of time, the concrete superstructure visible and conduits within easy reach. Cheap scrapped wood and thin metal sheets form temporary permanent walls, with store fronts often making use of dungeon-acquired goods to improve their visibility. As electricity is avaiable, lit signage is often used for the fanciest of places.
As you move upwards in Scrap Town, bare concrete leads to sheet rock covered, painted walls - outlets start to become part of the wall instead of stuck onto concrete and the conduits become hidden. This middle section ranges from the main offices for smaller gangs - often decorating the walls with graffiti and artwork of their respective gangs, to simple living quarters away from the squalor below. This mostly feels like an aged, uncared for mid-1990’s office space.
The upper levels include what could be mushwood paneling, but far harder and denser then it should be, and stained in eye catching browns. Recessed lighting and hidden plugs work to provide a high class atmosphere. This is the level where the largest of the gangs, and the most exclusive of clubs operate. Think fancy mid-2010’s executive office complex in design.
The tunnels underneath Scrap Town are barely lit, filled with dripping pipes, burnt out bulbs, and the destitute. This level feels the most like a dystopian future underground, with the conduit-contained guts of the lower facility on display for long-gone maintenance crews to be able to repair.
Social Life #
“There are only two important things to remember in Scrap Town, kid. Who you know, and who you can fight. If ya got neither, best take the L until you do.” -Head rumor.
The social strata of Scrap Town is primarily by gang affilition. In fact, even stores and companies are thought of as ‘gangs’ of their own, as the dominant unit of cooperation. The tougher the reputation of your gang affiliation, the better your digs, and the less people bother you.
Most activities can be best thought of as “Public Roughhousing”, shows of strength and contests of wits are popular past times - from crushing scrap to acrobatic races. For times when physical competitions aren’t the go-to, there are several cafes and restaurants located in Scrap Town, as well as the clubs. The higher the facility, the better the service and the more exotic the food can get.
Nightlife is a very big part of Scrap Town’s social scene as well, with pop-up clubs taking over empty spaces for a few nights, to the well-established clubs run by the biggest of gangs. The buildings are fairly well insulted to sound, so loud music, flashing lights, and various forms of dance tend to be the go-to for the socialite needing a release.
Sexual encounters are also common within Scrap Town, where it’s not rare to find someone getting a bit handsy at a club, or even a partially obscued nook. While it’s normally kept out of the public areas (as it can disrupt foot traffic), such flights of intimacy can be more common then not - especially after a big fight or gang change of rank.
Prostitution itself is a very legal, valued career path and protected by most gangs. And a well-known courtesan can have just as much of an elite social status as a gang leader.
Technology #
Technology is a whip-lash of the ancient buildings, scrap from Mystery Dungeons and taken from the more disrepaired sections, as well as new items ‘acquired’ from Canal City or Basalt City. As Scrap Town has electricity available almost everywhere, much of their technology is electrically focused - and they have some of the best repair technicians outside of the Noble Families in the underground.
This means that at any point in time, you could be finding steam turbines, refridgerant pumps, broken down metal tracks, curragated steel sheets, wire in dozens of colors, and partially broken but hand made wood furniture - all in the same area. Scrapping, reusing, and repairing is something that Scrap Town is very good at, and custom works to the electric mopeds and quaads can get just as in depth as anything else - customized units tend to be preferred as a show of independent style.
One interesting thing that Scrap Town has can be found in one of the lab areas of the ancient facility - they have the ability to create neon and oLED lights. While somewhat limited in complexity and color palette, this technology gives a wealth of customization options both for their numerous clubs, vehicles, and even clothing in some cases.
That doesn’t make them cheap, but they are available. And most notably, a clear indicator of coming from Scrap Town.
One mystery of Scrap Town is the Technology behind their nearly endless available electricity. No one has been able to track the circuits back far enough, and those that have tried fell ill and died for their attempt.
Politics #
Neo-Feudal Anarchist might be the best way to describe the politics of Scrap Town. For the most part, Scrap Town is known to the outside world as a Freedom-Loving Anarchist Paradise. And this is mostly true - one’s rules are kept as their own, and challenges can be physical or mental. In this kind of society, one’s own trustworthyness and their reputation is their social chutzpah when it comes to working with others.
On the other hand, the strongest of the gangs do hold quite a bit of sway. While they don’t interfere with much, there are some baseline rules - such as the neutrality and protection of the market areas, the mutual defense of their territory (although that can shift through vigerous discussion), and the general disdain for such things as random acts of violence. Those that are part of these gangs benefit from this umbrella of protection, much like those under a feudal lord.
In terms of relationships with the other cities and settlements, Scrap Town holds an animosity towards Canal City that refuses to be quenched, and sending out harassment parties or successfully taking something from a Canal City party is an easy way to gain some reputation. For Basalt City, they respect the city’s neutrality, as it as seen as a great resource for meeting people that might otherwise bring a shiv to a polite meeting. Unlike Basalt City and Canal City, though, Scrap Town does not have any relationships with smaller settlements - they have everything they need for their home base, and have little worry about the density of the population within the buildings - and nothing beats the convenience of their electrical supply.
Education #
The general education level of Scrap Town is all over the place. While reading and writing is fairly well-known, not everyone can. The one thing that everyone from Scrap Town knows, though, is scrapping and the basics of electricity. Math is also a well-regarded skill, and the mathmatic literacy beats language literacy in most categories.
Education tends to be done via family or gang units specifically, and that leaves the specifics of what is taught to the individuals doing the teaching. While there are some incredible teachers, they are usually employed by the elite, or spend their time behind the scenes working on maintaining the systems that keep Scrap Town working.
Unlike Canal City, for example, there really isn’t a baseline. Nothing beats an uneducated but strong henchmorph.
Security and Military #
The primary security and military force of Scrap Town rests with their gangs - there is no formal Military Force. The gangs, individually, are quite strong however, and the nature of Scrap Town itself makes it more of a defensible fortress then the other two major cities.