Junction

Where Myriad Paths Meet

## Where Myriad Paths Meet

Junction isn’t a city. It’s not really even a town. With no law enforcement, no borders, no standard currency, and no permanent residents, it is at best a meeting place. Caravans pass by with merchants using the area as a rest stop, a place to sell or buy supplies or information, meet people or swap items, a hub of activity where people come and pass. Definitely not a place that necessarily exudes friendliness, but people are civil. It’s built upon old ruins, and desert pavement, buffeted by the sands that sweep in from time to time. There’s a gigantic metallic disc structure buried into the sand here that acts as great cover from the elements and sunlight in the afternoon, and is also the most notable landmark about the place. There is a hole punched into its base so it can be passed through. On the other sides of the city are a plethora of monolithic ruins, a small oasis, and additional wasteland. These features are all well and good, but aberrants also constantly prowl the land, and you will probably encounter one or two a day, especially since they are more attracted to humans than other aetherians.

### Geography

While Junction is bordered by the sort of soft sand dunes and ergs one might expect from a desert, it is broken up by patches of tesselated desert pavement, steppes with small colorful grasses and lichen, and oases with fruit bearing palms and taller grasses. Notably, large ruins also scatter the biome and resemble anything from sanded down buildings to entire multi-level structures, which make for protection from the elements but add a sense of peril and desolation to the environment. It’s a cold, semi-arid climate meaning that the daytime is not deathly hot, and the area does see the occasional rain.

### Aesthetics

he ruins that Junction has been built on have interlocking influences that are hard to pin down and don’t necessarily feel like they belong in their current biome. Alternating layers of stone and wood creating heavily ornamented domes and barrel vaulting are accompanied by monolithic structures with bracket joints made of steel, lacquered wood, and glass. (general insp: swahili and mughal style architecture, mixed with deconstructivism) Colorful tents and ever-changing configurations of stands and caravans make up Junction-proper; this combined with a large variety of brise-soleil and latticework from the ruins the ‘town’ is built on make for a visually busy center of activity.

### Logistics & Threats

You are now a seven day journey from the closest civilization you know how to get to. Considering it was Meridian who teleported in your supplies as you went, it seems unlikely that you could travel back to Astrum, where you are also banished, alone; and you have no idea where the next closest actual city is. Not only that, but the threat of aberrants gets higher when there are fewer people to fight them off. All in all, leaving just doesn’t seem likely.

Meridian has placed the housing for each of your spreads on the outskirts of what tends to make up Junction’s center. Rock formations and other geographical features do a good job obscuring your camps and keeping them inconspicuous unless people know where to look. Passersby probably don’t even care anyways. Each spread’s location is a brisk 16 minute walk apart.

Aberrants are a huge problem, as are the human-seeking entities that Meridian’s attracted the attention of. Encounters with the former are frequent parts of daily life now in Junction. You are going to need to fight, you are going to get hurt. You will have to get better at it.

There will come a time where everyone sees combat on the daily. They’ll very quickly learn that they need to be equipped and outfitted to assume the worst at any given time, and be ready to engage in combat in any occasion.

You can of course hide in the center of Junction, but there’s no place to live out there so you’ll have to come back to your housing eventually. Working together with your spread for your survival and trusting that they’ll keep you alive is more important than ever.  There’s also no hospitals out here, so nobody who can really treat your wounds except yourselves. If you don’t want to fight, investing time in learning to become a medic is an option to take up.

How you dress your characters this act is up to you, there’s a myriad of stuff at their disposal in this little trading hub. Colorful cloths, survival gear, whatever they need to survive out here. They should be armed and well protected from both the desert elements and looming threats such as aberrants or violent aetherians. Designs definitely don’t have to be overly functional or gritty, we’re still street fashion and fantasy-y, but it’s time to step away from your cushy lives in academic cities and Earthly civilizations. It’s time to learn how to fend for yourself.

### Equipment and Amenities

* Your spreads campsites feature a camper with a kitchen, ice box, and bathroom. The back wall of the camper folds out to create a tent, and has exactly enough sleeping bags for each of you.
* You are also left with shovels, archeology gear, fishing rods, and baskets. And one extra item that seems to vary between each spread. That is all, seems the rest is up to you.
* Meridian drops off some groceries at the start of every week, and include staples for each food category and can be prepared in your small kitchens or over a campfire. Water and toiletries are also not a problem. Junction also features some people who will sell street food.
* One of the only intact structures within Junction is a bathhouse a little way between it and the neighboring oasis. It’s open and free to the public and has a communal area as well as private stalls.
* There are plenty of artisans who pass by the trading post if you’re looking for any specific services such as blacksmiths, tailors, specialty goods, and the like. It’s easier to find them here than in Astrum since there is absolutely no tourist or academic presence.

## Commerce

* Unlike Astrum, there is no set currency in Junction. Primarily, you barter and you trade, goods for goods, services for services.
* You can also find help wanted on bulletin boards or by asking around. It’s all temporary work, usually only lasting a day or two. Junction really isn’t the sort of place people go to pick up new hires so you’re out of luck if you think it’s an option for getting out of the trading post.
* Your other options within Junction include busking in the hopes that whatever odd currency people give you is not only be accepted by a merchant, but also enough. Theft is also an avenue to take.
* Most of your opportunities for acquiring things in trades comes from finding goods in the surrounding area and bringing them back to get what you want. That means offering up things like scavenged relics found in the ruins, animals you hunted, items you brought over from Astrum or Earth, skillful goods such as cooking or crafts. They’re your best bet for getting what you want.
* Weapons are much easier to come by in Junction, as there is obviously no government structure to police what wares are being sold. However, it’s not like it’s a particularly enticing place to be selling things, so particularly magical items are found only extremely rarely and at steep prices.
* However, in the magic department you will find a lot of tools such as lanterns, whistles, diving gear, watering cans, and other practical things are easy to come by, though still expensive.
* In lieu of healthcare, there are also plenty of poultices and other medicinal salves that are affordable. Poultices and potions that stop bleeding and stabilize conditions, ointments for burns, salves that speed up the healing of flesh and bones, and the like.

## Information

* Aetherians may tell you about other cities like Astrum, each with their own unique idiosyncrasies. Pressing for what is meant to be common information might make you look too suspicious. Nonetheless it doesn’t sound like there’s any nearby civilizations people in Junction can clue you in on. You’re very stuck.
* They might also teach you how to better handle combat with aberrants, though might be similarly suspicious as to why you don’t have magic to dispatch them.
* Artisans aren’t really looking for apprentices in a place like this but might be receptive to teaching you a thing or two in exchange for goods or services.
* It looks like any skills you learn, you’re probably just going to have to pick up through doing.

## Things to Do

* Live. Fight off threats with your spread weekly, if not daily.
* Gather equipment that works for you, get the weapons and protection that your various resources and skills can net you, and then figure out how to use them.
* You can dig and scavenge in the ruins for things to pawn off. Usually strange decorative artifacts or the occasional human thing such as a Rolex or a magic eight ball. Whatever, you can probably find a way to get something more valuable from it.
* You can forage fruits, fish, and flowers from the oasis, or craft something out of the lumber from the trees or fibers from the tall grass if you’re the sort who can do stuff about that.
* You can hunt normal animals in the wasteland. Foxes, eagles, sheep, even a lion or two can all be seen prowling the land alongside aberrants. A lot can be made out of them. Remember though, that aberrants completely disintegrate after death whereas typical animal do not.
* You can also try your luck busking or otherwise trying to run errands in Junction itself.