Dungeon World - Refuge of the Once-Many

Dungeon World - Refuge of the Once-Many

Just a short piece of world building writing for this week.





Refugee Camps -

The Refugee Camps of Myriis are a dour sight. A sprawling tent city out the South gates, it is the temporary home for more than four thousand souls of refugees and war survivors in the shadows of the city wall.

Calling themselves the Once-Many, they have formed a myriad of twisting pathways and impromptu markets. The camp survives on the charity of the temples, nobles, and merchants. Paltry coin can be earned doing simplistic labour, mostly hauling goods, digging graves, or working the quarries.

Most of the Once-Many are from the war-torn no-man’s land or fled from the Haruspex. Most came from the low caste, or else were outright slaves. They are the downtrodden and the meek searching for survival.

At the center of the camps is the Deepwell. Once used by travellers for watering their animals on the way into the city, it has been taken by the refugees and water rationing is strict. Donations and charitable packages of food are dropped off near the Deepwell for refugees, who have formed an intricate system of trade and sharing amongst each other. However, there is still much consternation as starvation has begun to set in.

In the Camps, three groups vie for control. A council of elders tries to maintain the peace, believing the best prospects lay in appeasing the Myriis and allowing them to become citizens in the city. The Relix, a gang of youths who exert control by providing the ‘muscle’ for the camps, some of whom are believed to have ties to the rebels. And the Shepherds, mostly comprised of the working class, who push for leaving behind the city of Myriis and striking out on their own to find a more hospitable settlement. Resentment has begun to breed in the Camps, and the three factions seek to push their own agendas without drawing the attention of the cityguard...when a certain strange figure begins to walk in their midst, silent as a shadow.

Alto Keen has come to speak with all the Once-Many have left behind.