Slagfall

At the heart of the Free Colonies' manufacturing industries sits a shining island, metallic stalactites constantly dripping with industrial waste and slag clinging to its rocky underside. Slagfall represents the core of Free Colonies industrialism: gleaming city on top, factories churning out high-quality and consistent product, and an underside composed of waste and lived-in by those who make it all possible. While the top rung of the city is a center for trade and travel, factory workers and laborers of various stripes call the lowest, most dangerous parts of Slagfall home, with the poorest of the bunch living in homes clinging to the edge of ustable stalactites.

Districts

Ledlath/"The City"

Slagfall is technically a nickname, one given to the city decades after its creation. Originally, the city was called "Ledlath", a Dwarven word referring to innovation in metalwork. That name only remained until the spires of metal began to protrude from the city, after which the workers' nickname of Slagfall quickly spread to the masses. Despite this, the name of Ledlath is still used to refer to the upper portion of the city, the nicer bit which, despite occasional issues with smog, is accessible to travelers and those positioned above the lower class, acting as a hub for trade due to taking in mass amounts of raw materials and selling off the products. Many choose to ply their trade in Slagfall due to its size and its location as a prime place for travel: close enough to the edge of the Colonies to be a prime destination for ships returning from scavenging and mining expeditions while far enough in to be at a safe point along several trade routes; as a result, Ledlath is occupied by many a merchant and entrepreneur in addition to the corporations that control the majority.

The Undercity

Slagfall is a relatively tall island even without considering its namesake, so it was only natural that the area beneath the city itself would be quickly hollowed out into roads and squares that could be used for buildings once space ran out above. The Undercity is where most of the residents of the island proper do business and live, spurred by its more affordable prices and the availability of space. Its crisscrossing network of tunnels mostly has rhyme and reason to it, designed by the industrialists who built the city in the first place for practical use. Below a certain point, though, this order is lost, replaced by hastier, more recent construction of sub-districts called home by immigrant communities and those with a shared culture. These "pods" are often referred to by name, housing unique cultural elements taken from various histories.

Several factories are located on the upper edges of the Undercity, with ventilation ducts and smokestacks sticking out from the stone walls.

Notable Pods of the Undercity

(gonnaDowntown addis a somewhat sarcastic name given to thisthe later)main tunnel through the Undercity and its smaller offshoots, referring to its status as a central feature as well as the fact that it's literally "down" from the city above. It's the road along which most of the of the city's laborer's travel to work; thus, in the early days of Slagfall's establishment, many businesses targeting these laborers started up, from coffee and tea shops to cheap food stalls and the like. It's now a center for the mingling of the various cultures of the Undercity, and most of the smaller "regions" stretch off from Downtown.

Most of the other regions of the Undercity represent individual cultures within. For example, the Birdcage (a derogatory name given by visiting businessmen, now somewhat reclaimed) is a stretch of tunnels on the lower, northwestern edge of the Undercity with many paths stretching out to the Talons, the place that most of the "birdmen" in the city call home. Even that has separate, smaller subdistricts home to specific cultures.

The Talons

Even with the more affordable nature of the Undercity's real estate, a constant hunger for ever-increasing growth and a widening wealth gap ensured that a large number of Slagfall's necessary residents would be without homes. A group of innovators - Strix and Tengu, those called "birdmen" - came up with a solution: attach small homes, accompanied with appropriate heat-resistant roofing, to the stalactites of slag and metal waste that hung beneath the city. Originally, only those capable of flight constructed their homes there, but a growing need convinced the birdman community within Slagfall to expand their construction efforts using their unique capabilities. The districts that hung from these became known as the Talons over time, with rickety bridges, covered walkways, and rope-ladders becoming the main means of traversal.

Each Talon has its own nickname, but the stalactites are generally referred to by number in official business, numbered from oldest (1) to newest (23). The denizens of the Talons each maintain their own unique community among other residents of the same, and these communities are often the most multicultural in the city, with people from all walks of life living there as long as they're poor enough.

Homes on the Talons must be carefully maintained, with excess slag needing to be trimmed regularly lest buildup bury the house entirely. Older homes will need to be extended as needed to prevent the stalactite from growing to surround their home entirely, and walkways and bridges need to be reconstructed as well from time to time. It's a precarious life, but it's often the only one that residents of the Talons can afford.

Corporations of Slagfall

Slagfall is ruled by factories and the companies that run them, and almost all of them operate in traditional corporate models with one notable exception.

Freedom Markets, Inc.

Contrary to its name, Freedom Markets is hardly free. The corporation does allow almost any type of goods - at least, anything legal in the area, and certain things that aren't - but merchants' fees are heavy, and bribery is a part of the job. Freedom Markets, Inc. operates by buying up all marketable land, maintaining dominance of local markets all over the Free Colonies and establishing itself as the singular brand of markets in the area no matter the upfront cost to them. "The Market" is synonymous with a Freedom Markets' market for many people, with locally-owned markets forced to operate in places with less foot traffic and therefore less business. Freedom Markets' contracts with other corporations and local companies require all goods to only be sold through them, affording larger companies lower fees and pricing out small businesses in the progress. And, of course, if someone accidentally ends up successful, they aren't above sending some muscle after them.

Freedom Markets' main corporate representative in Slagfall is a conniving catfolk businesswoman named Jiroma, and the head of the local market, known to many as a bad omen, is an older dwarvish man by the name of Graac, once a union man before falling prey to greed.

Trash to Treasure

Trash to Treasure is a contracted scavenging company promising more regular pay and consistent work than independent operation. In reality, those who prove unprofitable are let go quickly, and employees are pushed to take on more and more dangerous work for smaller and smaller fractions of the profit, since they technically get paid more than a standard job for it. Trash to Treasure also claims that it owns the rights to most salvage around this area, with contracts from wealthy businesspeople and large businesses to "prove" it. They'll try to scare off anyone who's unassociated with legal threats, and if that doesn't work, those who prove to get in their way have been known to disappear. Most of their employees are perfectly nice people who are being taken advantage of, but their top-ranking teams have bought fully into the corporate messaging and are just as cutthroat as any exec.

Feth, a kindly halfling, runs the local job board, and while she cares about the people who get jobs from them, they've bought in a bit too much to the corporate propaganda. The Windriders are the local crew with the most renown, led by a human named Jaren.

Slagfall Skybuilders' Association

The Slagfall Skybuilders' Association is the union-run shop for shipbuilders in Slagfall and its most notable business. Slagfall's shipwrights are known for their efficiency and sturdy construction, building ships that last even in the roughest of conditions. The Skybuilders' Association literally fought for their right to unionize, banding together to fight off a small corporate army that attempted to subdue them and earning their right to independently operate in the process. That was decades ago at this point, though, and the association has begun to cut corners, something that the older members who take pride in their work are quick to call out. Certain sects within the association have even begun to work underhandedly with dockworkers, subtly sabotaging ships that don't bear the mark of union work in order to ensure further business arrives in Slagfall.

The current head representative is a gnomish man by the name of Zint who has been with the company for years, though the more unscrupulous factions within the association operate under his nose without him seemingly knowing much about them.