Brassfounder's Street
Heading out of Nexus through the northern gate sets one on an old cobblestone road and into a thick and pervasive fog: Brassfounder's Street. The road winds through rolling fields dotted with tiny villages, forgotten workshops, and isolated farmhouses. Rogue automata patrol the lands following programming of an engineer long forgotten. Wild animals cry out in the chilly darkness. Abandoned doors and window shutters slam against their wooden frames in the wind.
While not necessarily well maintained, the cobblestone street is in good enough repair that cars and wagons can sometimes be seen braving trade routes between Nexus and Aetheria Machinara . Old electric lamps dot the street, still powered by some unknown mechanism and likely maintained by robots who know no other purpose. Closer to Nexus proper, Trail Wardens keep an eye out for machines that dare to get too close.
Along the way to AeMach lies a pair of villages; waystops for the weary: Clatterby and Brynwatch. The rest of the area is farmland and grazing fields, each maintained either by the ghosts of the machines that still call the area home or the few stubborn families that don't mind contending with the wicked darkness.
Geography
Brassfounder's street features gentle rolling hills that help keep the area from otherwise feeling flat and endless. Thin forests dapple the otherwise expanse of grassy plains that have, for some time now, been turned into fields for crops and sheep/cattle grazing.
Ecosystem
Brassfounder's Street hosts a variety of wildlife suited to the foggy plains. Songbirds make their nests around the remains of the factories and throughout the more forested areas. Crows hang about nearby human settlements and travelers to scavenge leftovers and shiny things for their nests. Deer take refuge in the forests or among herds of cattle and sheep watched over by Shepherd Class Automata throughout the fields. Barn cats, Owls, and Snakes stalk all manner of rodent that thrive on the farmland and granaries of local farmers. Wolves can be heard howling in the distance and the remains of their kills sometimes turn up by the roadside.
Automata, kept by locals or long turned rogue wander about the countryside performing pre-programmed tasks such as harvesting crops, protecting livestock/crops, or keeping out intruders. While not part of the natural ecosystem, the world has clearly adapted around such mechanical creatures, taking advantage of their programming in their day-to-day lives for protection and warnings.
Localized Phenomena
The Fog
A thick, pervasive fog hangs over the entire road. It clears now and then, or at the very least lightens, but not often enough for most travelers. Whether or not the fog is magical is a source of some debate among residents and experts. Some believe it must be magical, due to it's near constant presence. Others argue that the sheer amount of space the fog takes up is too large to be the product of a spell, given the limitations that bound most magic. The fog itself doesn't give off any magical vibes, it simply seems to exist.
History
Sometime long ago, before the factories were centralized into Aetheria Machinara and powered by the city's Primordial Engine, the old creators established a number of factories along the old cobblestone road. Here, in these factories, they designed and created the Automata: advanced technological creatures modeled after nature. Each class of automata was designed with a specific purpose, and the synthetic creatures were built and maintained for what must have been decades. Eventually, the engineers moved their lives and works into the city walls, abandoning their works out in the countryside. The factories shut down and became inhospitable. The automata, those that were not found by individuals skilled enough to keep them in check, went rogue: defaulting to the basics of their programming and living their lives on repeat for eternity.
Now, there is no one left that has seen the factories in working condition. Denizens of the street and its settlements have learned to work alongside the automata as any other creature. Goblin scrappers, in particular, have become quite adept at hunting down and repurposing the old machines for their own usage.
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