Overview / Purpose:
The Salvagers are a sprawling, loosely associated network of automata who roam Haven XVII in search of salvageable machinery, energy storage devices, and anything that can be repurposed or traded. Their primary goal is survival, with opportunistic trade and fabrication as secondary pursuits. In a city running low on energy, the Salvagers act as both scavengers and informal merchants, connecting the flow of materials and resources between factions.
Operations / Methods:
Salvagers operate in small, mobile groups, moving quickly through the ruins to locate usable parts or dormant energy sources. They frequently scavenge abandoned machinery, stripping it for components, tension springs, or other materials that can be reused or sold. The group thrives on flexibility; some Salvagers specialize in reconnaissance, others in disassembly, and still others in negotiation and barter. While highly adaptable, their methods are often chaotic, and efficiency comes from opportunism rather than formal planning.
Territory / Presence:
The Salvagers maintain a broad, decentralized presence across the city. The Fallen Plaza serves as a constant hub for trade and information exchange, while the Twisted Workshops provide a semi-stable environment for tool fabrication, repair, and modification. In The Shambles, Salvagers move through collapsed infrastructure in search of dormant machinery and recoverable energy storage. Tanglebay functions as their largest residential stronghold—a dense, multi-level district where thousands live, work, and trade amid reinforced rubble. Within it, The Copper Loft stands out as a major communal residence and coordination space, combining living platforms, workspaces, and gathering areas into a single, industrious structure. Beyond these locations, Salvagers can be found anywhere access to salvageable mechanisms or forgotten energy remains uncontested.
Culture / Beliefs:
Salvagers are diverse in appearance, temperament, and expertise. There is no formal hierarchy, but an unspoken code governs behavior: groups operate together for safety and efficiency, and disputes are usually settled quickly—sometimes with force. Opportunism is valued, and pragmatism often outweighs loyalty or ideology. Trading, bargaining, and improvisation are central to their culture; survival depends on skill, adaptability, and the ability to read both machines and fellow automata.
Resource Management:
Energy is acquired primarily by scavenging Ticks, Chimes, and Strikes from abandoned machines or from factions willing to trade. Salvagers rarely maintain their own systems beyond basic self-preservation, preferring to acquire what they need from the environment or from opportunistic exchanges. Their ability to redistribute or conserve energy is informal and inconsistent, relying on ingenuity and careful scavenging.
Faction Relations:
Overall Position:
The Salvagers sit at the center of the city’s informal economy. Disorganized but numerous, they touch nearly every other faction through trade, conflict, or necessity. Their pragmatism keeps them alive; their lack of restraint keeps them unpopular.
Conservators — Closest Partners
The Salvagers’ best relationship. Conservators reliably purchase memory units and historical artifacts that few others value, while Salvagers provide a steady inflow of recovered data from across the city. Conflicts are rare, and mutual dependence has fostered a surprising degree of trust.
Zephyrwrights — Valuable Trading Partners
Relations are generally positive. The Zephyrwrights are willing to trade energy for materials and components needed to maintain or expand turbines, and the Salvagers are well-positioned to supply them. Disputes over claimed salvage do occur, but the Salvagers are careful not to endanger this relationship.
Vigil — Uneasy and Strained
The Salvagers and the Vigil clash ideologically and practically. The Vigil views Salvager activity as reckless and destructive, while Salvagers see the Vigil as hoarders of unusable relics. Trade happens when necessary, but interactions are tense and closely monitored.
Emberwrights — Hostile
Relations are poor. Salvagers frequently attempt to recover parts or machinery from areas actively maintained by the Emberwrights, leading to repeated disputes. The Emberwrights consider this behavior dangerous and irresponsible, and Salvagers are often forcibly driven out of Foundry-controlled zones.
Harvesters — Open Conflict
The Salvagers’ most frequent and violent enemy. Harvesters target Salvagers for their stored energy and equipment, often destroying them outright to extract it. As a result, Salvager groups are constantly on guard in ruined districts, and skirmishes between the two are common and brutal.
Narrative Hooks:
Outsiders may be recruited for scavenging runs, bargaining missions, or infiltration of abandoned sectors.
Conflicts with Harvesters, or disputes over claimed salvage, can spark tension or adventure hooks.
Salvagers can serve as informal connectors between factions, providing opportunities for negotiation, espionage, or resource acquisition.