The Dreg Heap

The Dreg Heap is the lowest tier of the lowest level of the Crooked City. Being almost entirely composed of all of the garbage and refuse of the upper levels, the phrase, "Everything floats down here," rings true for all men and women who have been relegated to residing within the Heap.

The Old Lore

The Old Lore tells us grand stories of what the Dreg Heap was before the Valka decided to create the Crooked City. These stories speak of odd things such as, "Blue skies," and, "Grass," and most intriguingly, an object known as, "The Sun." The sun had once graced the land in life giving heat and energy. It warmed our bodies and was our first ally against the darkness. It was nothing like the cold darklight of the Core.
Millions of people dotted the lands, kingdoms and borders were drawn upon maps made of actual parchment. The voids were once known as oceans, filled with quintillions of gallons of water. The Old Lore tells us that the Valka were numerous, and at the, presumed, height of their civilization, suffered from extreme overpopulation that threatened to collapse their society. Their solution was the Crooked City. They eclipsed the surface of their world in steel and glass and gears - Oceans were drained, people emigrated, the world dried up and died, or at the very least evolved to suit its new existence shrouded in darkness.

Landmarks

The Terminals

There are only two known ways to enter or exit the Dreg Heap, safely anyway, and that's by way of the North and Southern Terminals which are located where the North and South Poles originally were. The Terminals are essentially massive elevators that were initially designed to transport thousands of people from the surface of the planet to the first level of the Crooked City. The Terminals are also able to travel between levels 1 through 11; however, without a travel permit stamped by the Board, the price to traverse the Crooked City via the Terminals is ordinarily too high for the common citizen.

• The Northern Terminal is under the control of the Onyx Lion Syndicate, a gang that primarily operates out of Level 2 of the Crooked City. They charge a fair toll to use the Terminal to descend into the Dreg Heap. The ascend; however, the Syndicate strictly adheres to the Board's requirement for travel permits. (Officially, anyway.)
• The Southern Terminal is currently under the direct control of the Fire Skull gang, and unlike the Syndicate, prevent anyone but themselves from using the Terminal. The Board and other gangs are equally vying to wrest control of the Terminal from them, but the Skulls are deeply entrenched within their own territory, and vastly outnumber the other factions.
• There are, "Unsafe," and inadvisable ways to enter the Dreg Heap, the primary means of which are the innumerable trash chutes that come from the upper levels. Garbage, refuse and sewage of the Crooked City is redirected into the Dreg Heap, falling from hundreds of feet from above.
  
  

The Remnants The surface of the world is nothing but a mummified corpse. Any usable soil was gouged out of the earth and disseminated amongst the many levels of the crooked city, so what remains is gray, dead ash, unfit for life. Beyond the Dead Plains, some of which stretch for hundreds of miles, former cities and other remains of old infrastructure dot the landscape. Many of those who intentionally enter the Dreg Heap are looking for these abandoned structures, searching for useful scrap and tech to sell back home. There are innumerable locations of interest that anyone could stumble upon, too many to list here. The following are the most commonly traversed or exceedingly dangerous.

• Valdor'Has - The former capital city of the Valka. Valdor'Has is one of the few settlements that hasn't been completely picked clean by scavs, and that is due to the impenetrable Dome of Force that surrounds Fortress Vulkalla, the former seat of power for the Valka, as well as the automatons that still wander the city. Scavs that have returned from Valdor'Has say that no matter how many golems they killed, more always seemed to apparate out of thin air.
• The Void - The bottomless pits where the oceans once were. There are stories of ancient Valka wrecks lining the very bottom of the Void, all untouched by hands and time. It is believed some of the most valuable items, treasures and tech can be found down in the Dark. Several expeditions have attempted... Not one has ever returned.
• Xenharro- Former HQ of the Valkan High Command. Though its automated defenses have decayed somewhat over the many years since it's abandonment, no scav or explorer has been able to break into Xenharro. It's believed if there are answers as to why the Valka disappeared, they would be found within.
• The Gray Wastes - Refers to the vast expanses of emptiness between ruins.
  
  

A few minor races can also be found in makeshift villages dotting the Gray Wastes. You will commonly find ratfolk, mousefolk, gnolls, trolls and kobolds within these small fiefdoms, attempting to carve out a living down in the Heap. Each community will have their own rules, cultures and economies.

Down in the Heap

By its very nature, the Dreg Heap is the perfect place to go if you want to disappear... Or if others would like you to disappear. "Down in the Heap," is a phrase many use to describe a person who is either experiencing unfortunate life circumstances, or are in a lot of trouble with a lot of the wrong people. In addition to this, individuals who wrong the worst people may often find their lives coming to an early end, forcibly shoved into a trash chute and promptly forgotten about.

Crime & Punishment

In Board controlled zones, being sent into the Heap is a punishment reserved only for some of the most heinous of crimes. Murder, grand larceny, sex crimes and the like will land you in the Heap, but you will first be branded with a hot iron with the Mark of the Exile, which is a magical tattoo that dates back to the days of the Valka. Being marked as such will prevent you from stepping foot on the northern and southern terminals, and all Crooked City automated defenses will mark you as an enemy.

For several of the minor gangs, as well as the Fire Skulls, a single offense as small as looking at someone the wrong way can land you in the Heap. It really depends on who're you're dealing with at the time. If you happen to be dealing with locals of the Heap, they have their own methods of meting out justice to those who break their laws. The worst of which is being, "Voided," which is what they term being forced into the darkness of the Void. It is known that there are monsters that lurk down there, hungering for flesh.

Minor Factions of the Dreg Heap

• The Unseen - Pathetic, wastes of skin who have lost all idea of what it means to be civilized and sane.
• The Vultures - Small gang of scavengers and wannabe bounty hunters who have chosen to run their operations in the Heap.
• The Gray Hats - A subsidiary of the Board. They identify as a gang, but have the backing of the Board behind them. Gray Hats can be found on all levels of the Crooked City.
• The Machine God, or Deus Metallum - The de facto, "Deity," of those who reside within the Heap.

Founding Date

10,000 Years ago

Type

Megastructure, Planetary scale