Cave 17

> *"...I have been proud to call City 17 my home. And so, whether you are here to stay, or passing through on your way to parts unknown - welcome to City 17. It's safer here...”*
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> *—*The City being introduced by Scortica Breen to new-coming citizens.
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(Note: Please see the Trivia section.)

## Cave 17

The design that inspired the appearance of Cave 17; it looked similar to this, but without the human-like architecture, and with a more sub-terrain feel.

### Status

Destroyed, except for outlying suburbs

Cave 17 (often referred to as “City 17”) was a grand city in the main cave of the Scorpions' HQ. Constructed by the Crawler Empire, it became the main headquarters of the Scorpions' half of Black Overwatch. Dominated by the imposing Citadel (a tower in the center of the castle, built under orders of King Scorm's brother and Black Overwatch founder Scortica Breen), Cave 17 surrounded the prestigious Scorpion Cavern Castle, and was a high point of commerce with many residents before its destruction.

## History

Cave 17, the largest cave in the Outlands' vast southeast tunnel network that the Scorpions claimed after their evolution, served as the location for both their capitol city and the central Citadel (see the Scorpion Cavern Castle page). As the largest and most heavily populated city of the Crawler Empire, it was inhabited by both Scorpions, and neutral Spiders employed by Aperture Mesa (located in the caves directly below). As such, it was easily infiltrated by numerous spies from The Forgotten before the Chima Alliance—Crawler Empire War; but Scorponok's "shadow force" managed to become acquainted with, and wipe out, all the spies by first pretending to join the rebel faction themselves, restoring stability to the city.

### War in the City

Despite this, Scorponok's faction would forge a surprising alliance with the Forgotten much later, after they both returned to Cave 17 to reclaim it from a common enemy, The Combine; Scortica Breen's separatist faction of arachnids seized control of the city and cave network, taking advantage of Scorpix and the main Scorpion Army's preoccupation with fighting the Chima Alliance in the west. Scorpion General Scorpius was ambushed and captured by Forgotten in Cave 17 just as this was beginning, but he reluctantly allied with the rebels when he found out about Scortica's betrayal of the Crawler Empire. Scorponok, Scorpius and Scordon Freeman fought through Cave 17 on their way to Scortica's Citadel. Future Lion King Lycor and the remainder of the Scorpions' Praetorian Guard also arrived in the city, defending the civilians whilst evacuating as many as possible in wake of the Bears' bombardment, which spelled the end for Cave 17 (see The Uprising page).

### Ruins Changing Ownership

The remnants of the cave and city, outskirts that had been reduced to smaller caves with some buildings still intact, were utilized as a base of operations by Scorpia and her Forgotten, discovered by her son Scorpio and the Arachnid Alliance when they claimed and began mining Crystal Crater. Unlike the Scorpion and Spider tribes, who fought back against the invading Icebears soon after, the Forgotten willingly left the Cave 17 ruins to Iroquois' forces to avoid being frozen. The ruins were mostly covered by ice and snow as the Hunters began crafting a new glacier-like HQ. Much later, in one of the final battles of the Fire—Ice Wars, the entirety of Crystal Crater and the cave network was finally reclaimed by the Scorpions, now part of Unichi. Scorpion Consul Craunus Maximus founded the Scorpiorax Corporation to oversee the mining site, but it is unknown how much of the old city remains intact.

## Description

The main city in Cave 17 consisted mostly of standard Scorpion Tribe architecture. Many building contained tunnels that led down to the Aperture Mesa caves beneath, or to the Scorpion Cavern Castle in the center of the cave.

   In addition, large television/holographic screens were installed in several public areas to address citizens. At the heart of the city and castle was the Combine Citadel, a giant skyscraper-like obelisk which served as the hub of the Combine (see the Scorpion Cavern Castle page).

### Design

The core of the city consisted predominately of wall-to-wall buildings, with blocks of clustered low-rises made out of a variety of old and new buildings. Under Combine rule, certain residential buildings in the city were used as accommodations for citizens. Conditions in such housings were typically seen as poor, with very few luxuries and constant inspection and raids by Civil Protection. The Combine themselves occupied some former government buildings, such as Scorm's central castle and Scorpix and Scorponok's formerly secretive base of operations, to help keep control over the city.

The city was large enough to provide all necessary needs for the citizens before the Combine's occupation. This was supported by the presence of a hospital, several cafés and restaurants, office buildings, and underground city systems; some of which are still intact but abandoned. As there was little emphasis in maintaining non-essential parts of the city, many areas of Cave 17 suffered from urban decay prior to the Citadel's explosion.

### Transportation Systems

Cave 17's transportation system had considerable variety. In addition to highways and city streets, Cave 17 included underground road tunnels that traveled beneath the city; during the Forgotten Uprising against the Combine, portions of the tunnels could be seen, badly damaged, with areas flooded with toxic Outland substances. Several railway lines ran throughout the city, with at least two large train stations connecting Cave 17 to other Crawler Empire underground cities. The Combine maximized the use of these transportation systems after conquering the city. The city provided tram services during the Crawler Empire's rule, before the Combine takeover. All of this transportation infrastructure was powered by the vast amount of chi orbs the Scorpions obtained, after the Bats plugged up the falls and took all of Cavora's chi during the Bat—Raven War.

## Trivia

* Cave/City 17 was introduced to the Roleplay by Thefirstdecade around late 2017 to early 2018; one of many things he introduced at the time that was heavily inspired by the "Portal" and "Half-Life" video game series, which is the reason for the very direct resemblance to characters, locations, and technology found in those games.