A scavenger city would be a sprawling maze of metal, stone, and repurposed ancient-world machinery, built wherever scavengers could find reliable shelter from the rain. Unlike the small toll posts and merchant dens commonly seen across the world, a true scavenger city would function as a permanent settlement, housing hundreds or even thousands of scavengers across multiple generations.

Appearance

From a distance, the city would resemble a tangled mass of platforms, towers, bridges, and scrap-built walls. Ancient pipes, collapsed structures, and rusting machinery would form the city’s foundation, while scavengers would continuously expand it with scavenged materials.

Colorful banners made from woven fabrics and creature hides would hang between buildings, helping residents identify districts and pathways. Lanterns crafted from glowing fungi, neuron fragments, or bioluminescent plants would illuminate darker areas.

The city would be built vertically as much as horizontally. High-ranking scavengers might live in protected upper districts, while traders, workers, and travelers occupy lower sections closer to the entrances.

Population

Most residents would be scavengers, divided into numerous family groups, clans, and social circles.

However, unlike many wild scavenger tribes, city scavengers would be more tolerant of outsiders. Visitors are valuable sources of information, trade goods, and resources.

Permanent non-scavenger residents might include:

• Slugcats who have proven themselves trustworthy.
• Tamed lizards used for transportation, defense, or labor.
• Lantern mice bred for food and light-producing materials.
• Squidcadas kept as messenger animals.
• Rare friendly vultures or other unusual creatures raised from infancy.

Some slugcats might even own homes within the city, acting as traders, hunters, guides, or diplomats between scavengers and neighboring regions.

Government

The city would likely be ruled by a council rather than a single leader.

The council would consist of respected scavengers chosen for experience, intelligence, combat skill, or successful trade operations. Major decisions would be debated publicly, allowing citizens to observe discussions.

Specialized positions might include:

• Trade Masters
• Defense Chiefs
• Rain Forecasters
• Resource Managers
• Diplomatic Representatives

While arguments are common, violence inside city limits would be heavily punished.

Economy

Trade is the lifeblood of the city.

Pearls would remain the primary currency, but many goods would have value:

• Spears
• Explosive spears
• Rare plants
• Ancient technology
• Food
• Medical supplies
• Decorative items
• Creature eggs

Markets would occupy entire districts filled with noisy bargaining.

Scavenger merchants might travel for cycles before returning with exotic items from distant regions. A traveler could find almost anything for the right number of pearls.

Housing

Homes would vary greatly depending on wealth.

Poorer scavengers might live in compact scrap shelters built into walls and tunnels.

Wealthier citizens could own multi-level homes reinforced with metal plating and furnished with rare decorations. Collections of pearls, colorful masks, and ancient artifacts would often be displayed proudly.

Slugcat-sized homes would be common enough that visiting slugcats would not seem unusual.

Defense

A city this large would attract predators.

Massive walls would surround vulnerable sections. Watchtowers would overlook approaches from every direction.

Defenders would constantly patrol with:

• Spears
• Explosive weapons
• Rocks
• Trained lizards

Alarm systems made from bells, pipes, and drums would alert the city to threats.

King vultures, red lizards, miros birds, and other dangerous predators would be considered major emergencies requiring coordinated defense teams.

Relationship With Tamed Lizards

Unlike wild scavenger settlements, the city would actively incorporate domesticated lizards into daily life.

Different breeds would serve different purposes:

• Green lizards for hauling cargo.
• Blue lizards for navigating vertical areas.
• Pink lizards as guards.
• Caramel lizards for construction work.
• Cyan lizards as fast couriers.

Special stables and feeding grounds would exist throughout the city.

Many scavengers would form lifelong bonds with their lizards, treating them almost like family members.

Daily Life

The city would never truly be quiet.

Children would chase each other across rooftops. Merchants would argue over prices. Hunters would return with food while engineers attempt to understand ancient machinery.

Slugcats could be seen moving through crowded markets, sharing meals with scavengers, trading stories, or preparing for journeys beyond the city walls.

As the rain cycle approaches, activity would become increasingly frantic. Citizens rush indoors, gates seal shut, and countless residents retreat into interconnected shelters hidden throughout the city’s structure.

Culture

The city would place enormous importance on community and memory.

Important events might be recorded using carefully preserved pearls. Heroes, explorers, and legendary merchants would become local folklore.

Festivals could celebrate successful expeditions, rare discoveries, or periods of prosperity. During these celebrations, scavengers might paint their masks, exchange gifts, and decorate the city with lights and banners.

For many creatures living in Rain World’s harsh ecosystem, a scavenger city would be one of the closest things to true civilization—a rare place where survival is not merely about enduring another cycle, but building a future together.

Lizards can still speak, but they rarely do. When lizards speak, it’s slowly, primitively, “Like... this.”