Brakith Sprawl

An expansive settlement by the water, teeming with low-born Gek life.

Social Classes of Brakith Sprawl

Low-Born Gek Traders

• Role: The backbone of Brakith Sprawl’s economy. These Gek operate the open-air market, bartering goods like dried fish, scavenged technology, and rudimentary crafts.
• Lifestyle: Their homes are makeshift, constructed from scavenged metal and wood. Their clothing is simple and often patchwork, dyed in faded greens, yellows, and browns.
• Korvax Servants:
• Many low-born Gek lack Korvax servants entirely.
• Those who have them possess “Patch-Korvax” — cobbled-together constructs with mismatched parts, often barely functional. These servants resemble the Autophage in their piecemeal, scavenged appearance, with exposed wiring, flickering optics, and sluggish movements.
• These Korvax perform menial tasks like carrying goods, cleaning stalls, or mindlessly repeating their masters’ sales pitches.

2. Mid-Tier Merchants & Trade Envoys

• Role: These Gek have a slightly elevated status, overseeing portions of the market, managing supply lines, or handling trade logistics. They have connections to the Dominion bureaucracy and ensure quotas are met.
• Lifestyle: Their dwellings are sturdier, built from more refined materials, and feature basic security systems. Clothing is more elaborate, with dyes that retain brighter hues.
• Korvax Servants:
• These Gek employ “Reclaim-Korvax” — servants with functioning bodies but stripped of individuality. Their frames are more intact, their movements fluid, but their eyes remain dim and expressionless.
• They perform more complex tasks like bookkeeping, inventory management, and enforcing minor trade regulations.

3. Dominion-Appointed Director (High-Born Gek)

• Role: A single high-born Gek resides in Brakith Sprawl, appointed by the Dominion to maintain order, extract resources, and suppress dissent. This overseer controls the flow of goods and the enforcement of laws.
• Lifestyle: The Overseer’s residence is a fortified, multi-level structure, standing out amid the squalor. Clothing is vibrant and adorned with Dominion insignia, signifying authority.
• Korvax Servants:
• The Overseer possesses “Prime-Korvax” — sleek, fully intact constructs with polished exoskeletons and advanced capabilities. Though stripped of their primary Echoes, these servants still retain reflexive precision and efficiency.
• Tasks include surveillance, relaying communications to the capital, and ensuring loyalty among the lower classes.

Economic Dynamics

1. Barter Economy:
2. The primary economic system is based on bartering goods and services. Credits are scarce, and Dominion-issued vouchers are tightly controlled by the Overseer.
3. Trade revolves around essentials: dried fish, scavenged metals, basic tools, and preserved plant materials.
4. Black Market:
5. A hidden undercurrent of forbidden technology and illicit goods thrives. Scavenged Exocraft parts, weapon fragments, and rare off-world items are traded under the watchful eyes of Korvax spies and informants.
6. This underground economy is dangerous; being caught means severe punishment or being sent to labor camps.
7. Resource Exploitation:
8. Nearby coastal waters and marshlands provide fish, algae, and organic materials, which are traded with nearby settlements.
9. Periodic raids by Vy’keen enforcers from the Onyx Vigil ensure that a significant portion of resources flows to the capital.
10. Debt and Servitude:
11. Many low-born Gek fall into debt to the Overseer, trapping them in cycles of servitude. Some must sell off parts of their Korvax servants or lose them entirely, sinking deeper into poverty.
12. The Overseer leverages debt to maintain control, offering meager loans with exorbitant interest rates.

Cultural Aspects

1. Gek Fatalism:
2. Many Low-born Gek have adopted a fatalistic outlook, believing their place in the hierarchy is immutable. Folklore speaks of the “Brine Curse” — a punishment for ancestors who defied the Dominion.
3. Korvax Drones:
4. The Korvax here are utterly stripped of personality and individuality. Their servitude is absolute — they function more like biological automatons or husks, carrying out tasks with no signs of sentience.
5. They respond only to specific Gek-issued commands, functioning as tools rather than beings.
6. Although stripped of personality, rumors circulate that some Korvax servants communicate through subtle gestures, planning a quiet resistance. The rumors are unfounded.
7. Symbolism and Markings:
8. Low-born Gek paint their stalls and homes with sigils of luck or protection. Many incorporate broken circuit patterns, a nod to their dependence on — and resentment of — Korvax servitude.
9. Some Low-born Gek lean into their inability to afford a Korvax servant, stating that Gek reliance on the Korvax is a weakness
10. Market Rituals:
11. Each morning, market stalls open with a collective chant to the Overseer, a hollow ritual enforced by the Dominion.
12. At night, clandestine gatherings share whispered hopes of liberation, passed down through generations.

Key Locations within Brakith Sprawl

Brakith Sprawl is a downtrodden settlement where survival hinges on resilience, resourcefulness, and strict adherence to the rules of the First Spawn Dominion. While poverty is rampant, essential establishments for trade, learning, and daily life exist, albeit in a decayed and controlled form. Here are the key locations within Brakith Sprawl, reminiscent of what one might find in a D&D village but adapted to the harsh realities of this universe.

1. The Rusted Bazaar (Open-Air Market)

• Description:
  The chaotic heart of commerce in Brakith Sprawl, filled with rickety stalls and makeshift shops covered by rusted metal and torn tarps.
• Key Shops and Vendors:
• Scrap Merchant ("Jurlik’s Scrapyard"): Deals in mechanical odds and ends, broken tools, and forbidden tech remnants.
• Food Stall ("The Boiling Cauldron"): Offers basic gruel, dried fish, and questionable meat stews.
• Potion Vendor ("Fizrix’s Concoctions"): Sells rudimentary medicines, tonics, and stimulants — often of dubious quality.
• Clothier ("Slikka’s Stitchery"): Repairs and sells simple clothing and cloaks, often patchwork or repurposed materials.

2. The Gekkin's Quill (Public Library and Archive)

• Description:
  A dilapidated building containing records of the settlement's history, Dominion decrees, and propaganda materials. Strictly monitored by the Onyx Vigil.
• Features:
• Restricted Knowledge: Only Dominion-approved texts are available. Forbidden information, like ancient Atlas or Atlantid knowledge, is heavily censored.
• Librarian: Archivist Drizak, a weary, low-born Gek who maintains the archives and reports suspicious activity to the Onyx Vigil.
• Study Area: Cramped tables where residents attempt to better their knowledge under watchful eyes.

3. The Grinder’s Forge (Blacksmith)

• Description:
  A ramshackle forge run by a burly low-born Gek, where basic tools, weapons, and scrap-metal repairs are crafted.
• Key Features:
• Blacksmith: Graxik, a gruff but skilled artisan who works with limited resources.
• Services: Basic weapon repairs (spears, daggers), tool sharpening, and rudimentary metalwork.
• Hidden Services: Occasionally repairs forbidden tech under the table for desperate clients.

4. Vra’s Path (Schoolhouse)

• Description:
  A small, run-down building where young low-born Gek and Vy’keen are taught basic skills and Dominion-approved doctrine.
• Key Features:
• Teacher: Instructor Velgra, a high-born Gek loyal to the Dominion, ensuring strict adherence to propaganda.
• Subjects: Basic literacy, arithmetic, and Dominion history — all tailored to reinforce loyalty to the First Spawn.
• Punishment Corner: A grim reminder of the consequences of questioning Dominion teachings.

5. The Splintered Beak (Tavern and Inn)

• Description:
  A dingy, smoke-filled tavern where laborers, traders, and weary Onyx Vigil guards gather to drink, rest, and grumble.
• Key Features:
• Tavern Keeper: Eldan Pebevarit, a surly Gek who serves weak ale and watery stew.
• Common Room: A rough-hewn space filled with rickety tables and mismatched chairs.
• Sleeping Quarters: A few cramped, flea-ridden rooms available for rent.
• Rumors and Whispers: A hub for local gossip, black-market deals, and the occasional whisper of rebellion.

6. Enrok’s Antiquarian and Archive

• Description:
  A dim, cluttered shop tucked away near the edge of the Rusted Bazaar in Brakith Sprawl
• Key Features:
• Archivist: Enrok Pebevarit, a surly Gek who serves weak ale and watery stew.
• Atlas Relics: Fragments of knowledge stones, damaged monolith shards, and corrupted interface components.
• Korvax Artifacts: Memory units, drone fragments, and pieces of pre-subjugation Korvax tech, sometimes repurposed for spellcraft.
• Arcane Tomes: Books detailing rituals, spells, and mystical arts — often disguised as innocuous ledgers or manuals.
• Magical Components: Rare herbs, minerals, and reagents for spellcasting, hidden among legitimate trade goods.
• Scrolls and Runes: Spell scrolls, runes of protection, and charms of minor enchantment.

7. The Rustscale Apothecary

• Description:
  A dark, cluttered shop filled with jars of herbs, powders, and questionable elixirs.
• Key Features:
• Apothecary: Kezra, a reclusive Vy’keen herbalist who specializes in medicinal salves and minor poisons.
• Services: Healing balms, basic antidotes, and stimulant concoctions.
• Secret Remedies: Sometimes offers more potent (and illegal) mixtures for trusted clients.

8. The Vigil’s Outpost

• Description:
  A small, fortified building where the Onyx Vigil store weapons, process prisoners, and coordinate patrols.
• Key Features:
• Commander’s Office: Commander Varek’s no-nonsense chamber for handling security matters and interrogations.
• Holding Cells: Temporary cells for detainees awaiting punishment or interrogation.
• Armory: Basic weaponry (spears, stun batons) used by the Onyx Vigil to maintain order.

9. The Dockside Quarter

• Description:
  A crumbling district along the polluted canal where trade goods arrive and smugglers ply their risky trade.
• Key Features:
• Loading Docks: Primitive piers where goods are unloaded.
• Boatwright ("Old Korr’s Boatyard"): Repairs ramshackle boats and rafts.
• Smugglers’ Alley: Hidden passageways where forbidden items change hands under the cover of night.

10. The Housing Blocks

• Description:
  Rows of cramped, dilapidated dwellings where low-born Gek and Vy’keen families live in squalor.
• Key Features:
• Shared Spaces: Families often share living quarters and resources.
• Korvax Servant Stalls: Small sheds where malfunctioning Korvax drones are stored when not in use.
• Community Fires: Central gathering spots where residents share meager meals and exchange stories.