Rustskunk Castle

Like all Scavengers , I am familiar with Rustskunk Castle. I even lived there once, before I got on my feet and bought this place. I still have some contacts there, though I don't recommend visiting unless you must. And even then, you must always be on your guard. Though the Scavengers there have formed a tentative peace, many of them still maintain faction allegiances.

Demographics

The inhabitants of Rustskunk Castle are all Scavengers. Though a handful of these communities exist all over the world, Rustskunk is the largest, likely due to its proximity to the city of Rayl. The people there are relatively young--some as young as twelve, others in their thirties. But there are few people who are in their forties, and probably none as old as fifty, as Scavengers practice an unstable form of magic and tend to die young.

Government

The Scavengers themselves do not have a governing body, though they do tend to form small families within the building, with most of these families having a leader who may direct them or protect them. Disagreements are usually settled by fights. While these fights do not exactly have rules, the residents of the Rustskunk usually abide by an unwritten tenant that the fights occur one-on-one and onlookers do not get involved. They end when someone either concedes or dies. If several families feel that a person has committed a crime against the community, however, they may run the person out, or even execute them.

Defences

There are no major defenses to the old factory, other than the magic workings that the Scavengers set up, though do to the lack of stability in Scavenger magic, these are not always effective. Mostly, the Scavengers hold their fort through a legal loophole: because Rustskunk is technically not part of Rayl, meaning the police cannot do much to remove them.

Industry & Trade

The Scavengers who live in Rustskunk Castle primarily live there because they they focus so much of their lives on collecting and trading magic that they have no steady sources of income. Most of them trade and train with each other. Sometimes they pick up odd jobs or even manage to sell what they've stolen, but most Scavengers who join the workforce move out of such Scavenger communities.

Infrastructure

Because the community is in an old factory, much of what they have is built from scraps found inside, or sometimes brought from outside. Curtains and sheets are hung in different areas to divide the living spaces of individuals and families. Individual spaces are usually made up of several bedrolls, or if you're lucky, a cot or even a mattress. Most families have some kind of makeshift stove, which could be a bucket for burning wood or even something constructed out of scrap metal. A couple of families have managed to use magic to make refrigerated food storage, but most manage on non-perishables. Some have also managed to use magic to create boxes in which they can lock their effects, but if there's someone who can make the magic, there is probably someone who can break it, so the safest place to keep anything of value is under you pillow... if you have one.

Guilds and Factions

The Rustskunk Scavengers form families based on Scavenger factions--what kinds of magic they specialize in, their ethical stances on stealing and pain magic, etc. The families usually live near each other and can have strained relationships with others, though there is an unofficial declaration of peaces within Rustskunk.

History

Rustskunk started in the 1940s when John Meache decided to open a factory along the river. Thinking he would make it big, he built housing for his workers, and a factory town sprang up almost overnight. But neither the Tenganaw upstream nor the Sea Serpents down stream approved of the factory, and the town quickly got nicknamed Rustskunk as an allusion to the pollution levels. The factory, being the center of the town, soon came to be known as Rustskunk Castle. With such a bad reputation, a group of Mechanicals moved in across the river and began a new settlement, hoping to provide a cleaner way of life and run the factory out of business. The plan worked. The new settlement became Rayl--said by Scavengers to be the most magical city in Svene--and the factory across the river was abandoned. But where there is magic, there are Scavengers, and the abandoned factory and the surrounding ghost town soon became home to Scavengers seeking more knowledge about the magic in Rayl. Today, it is known as a Scavenger hideout, but whoever owns the land does little to keep them away.

Alternative Name(s)

Meache Factory

Type

Slum

Population

100-200