Since I've Been Playing The Artificer Campaign Recently (badly), Scavengers Have Been On The Brain. I

Since I've been playing the Artificer campaign recently (badly), scavengers have been on the brain. I know the AU mostly focuses on the slugcats themselves, but what are the scavs like? Are they similarly enlightened to stuff related to the Benefactors? Or are they just doing their own thing and interacting with the scugs like a friendly neighboring nation or summat?

Mostly doing their own thing, and yes - they also dug up and stole a bunch both from Ancients' knowledge and what they left behind physically. Funnily enough, I think they're far ahead in their "reasearch" comparing to Slugcats and quickly realized that whatever the Ones Before were doing doesn't really apply to the reality they're living in right now, so to Slugcats they might even appear a bit weird and like they don't care about the sacred past of those lands.

While whatever Slugcats learnt about the Ancients was spread by word of mouth and was full of speculation, Scavenger's system of living in more organized, bigger groups with larger, hidden settlements scattered throughout the land made it way easier for them to both have more more unified outlook on things AND shape their own, unique identity. That's why, alongside simple drawings, I also gave them theater as characteristic way of creating art in their culture and decided on highlighting that pearls would work as currency to them more than just a more valuable trade object. Slugcats' culture and group identity is, in contrast, really fluid. Sure, they have things like shelter-usage savoir-vivre, drawing, sharing stories with other nomads when crossing paths, but all of it is overshadowed by the idolization of the mysterious, past residents of the earth they walk on now.

The biggest problem Scavs and Slugs have is the fact that they were mostly avoidant of each other and the language barrier is probably a big obstacle. Moreover, to Scavengers, a Slugcat would probably be way scarier than a Lizard or a Vulture - they know that the intentions of the latter are simple, to just hunt and eat. Slugcats are smarter, possibly cunning WAY more unpredictable strangers, which makes them a way bigger, potential threat. The only means of communication they have is either by trade, body language or simple Ancient symbols (all the karma + passage ones most likely) they both are familiar with.

So yeah - mostly neighborhood nation that doesn't want anyone to meddle in their buisness and they won't meddle in others', but when it comes to friendliness... Yeah that varies. Communication between the Scavenger settlements is top notch, so if one Scav saw a Slugcat acting like a vicious beast to them (or, on a more positive note, saved them from a Lizard or something) - all the other, nearby Scavs WILL know about that sooner all later.

And we have one particular, funny Slugcat lady that went a bit too overboard.

Yeah basically the Outer Expanse slugcats didn't visit the terrains near 5P and LTTM for a longer while after this incident worrying that their presence may be not too comfortable for the neighbors that'd need the time to heal.

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reminder that this AU has both a tag here and a DC server