Bibryask

The world's gate opens on Dimensional Station sector 4.

The standing area equals Earth's whole surface with more than a hundred million gates nearby.

Its doors fit a person, cargo, or a ship depending on the need.

Violence inside the station sends any offender back to Bibryask and bars them from returning.

The wall built around the gate stands broken open.

The schedule shifts like a moth's wing; we wait for the hum.

from Tide Tables, by Gryevlya

The gate to the Dimensional Station moves on a schedule nobody has fully charted.

A treaty was broken last year and both sides are rearming.

Swarms strip whole regions in a day and leave nothing to eat.

Bronze is the metal of power; smiths charge higher fees for work done with it.

Tin is worth more than gold.

The oldest settlement is a few generations old and founders' grandchildren still live.

Ambient power floods the air and leaks into weather patterns.

Animals and unwary people absorb this dangerous energy directly.

Living beings provide all necessary work here.

No engine or circuit runs within the finite space.

Waste from swarms accumulates in floating pockets after they strip a region; survivors move to new drifts before hunger takes them.

The gate schedule shifts without warning.

Zlobrusl is a walled district where bronze smiths charge higher fees for work done with the metal.

Svokril holds the single city containing 1,016,958 people who live in one city and nobody lives outside it.

Dvograr is a chamber near the broken wall where the gate opens on Dimensional Station sector 4.

Bronzers

Must pay double fees for work done with metal.

Swarms hunters

Fail to return a body within three days.

Passage

Ten credits a head and a thousand a hull.

Ravyagra forces march on Svokril while Zlesve watch from the walls.

The wall records keep the history of the broken pact.

from Annals of the Drift, by Bizlumol, keeper of the wall records

The guilds track every credit spent on bronze and medicine.

from Factors' Account Books, by Mevok, clerk to the bronze guild

1. 
   01

   Zlesve

   Compact and dense, short dun fur

   Alignment

   They stand lawful neutral while guarding tunnels for bronze trade.

   Economy

   Smiths charge high prices for bronze work, while traders sell local herb medicines.

   Governance

   Elders decide based on which tunnel leads to fresher air.

   People

   They prize silence above song, yet hunger outweighs a loud voice when night falls deep within the dark.

   Looks

   Short dun fur covers compact bodies with gold slit-pupil eyes and a coarse hair mane.

2. 
   02

   Ravyagra

   Svokril, clam-shelled

   Alignment

   They are lawful neutral, stripping swarms then selling bones.

   Economy

   They harvest shells and sell pearl fragments as currency in markets beyond the gate.

   Governance

   The large pearl shell orders small ones to dive.

   People

   They move slowly but strike fast, keeping their mantle clean and their pearl shell polished each day.

   Looks

   A molluscan form holds a pearl shell while a mantle wraps edges.

3. 
   03

   Zumivost

   Zlobrusl, moth-like

   Alignment

   They stand neutral with ambient power while avoiding storms.

   Economy

   They sell harvested chitin as material for armor and traders buy their wings for fuel.

   Governance

   Swarms choose a leader to find windy drifts.

   People

   They hum constantly while flying, yet sleep only when air grows thick with ambient power around them.

   Looks

   Pale grey chitin plates their backs; feathered antennae twitch in the current.

4. 
   04

   Zlyamask

   Zlobrusl, wasp-like

   Alignment

   They are selfish hunters who keep all the meat.

   Economy

   They trade horn fragments for food since swarms leave nothing else behind in their wake.

   Governance

   The strongest horn decides who eats first.

   People

   They carry weapons on their backs, and they speak only when a trade offer lands well enough to satisfy both sides.

   Looks

   Pale grey chitin forms a hard shell; six limbs grip drifting debris.

5. 
   05

   Humans

   Bipedal mammals, the baseline

   Alignment

   Chaotic folk adapt rules yet seek least resistance.

   Economy

   They brew medicines for export while growing fibre that sells stronger than steel wire.

   Governance

   The priesthood rules for a hidden god.

   People

   They fear swarms more than the hum, yet trade secrets with every stranger they meet inside the city walls where bronze shines bright.

   Looks

   Ordinary human bodies in every skin tone and build fit within the city limits.