A fragment of notes from a Troika setting that's been festering on my G Drive doing nothing.
Scratalg is a dark world with a single city, also called Scratalg. Picture an orb from which a thick segment has been removed in the manner of a chocolate orange. The city covers each inner face of this negative segment, two massive districts facing inwardly towards each other, the up of each forming the down of the facing district.
Artificial gravities allow citizens to walk on either district, to pass from one to another, or to leave the city and walk on the curved surface of the sphere, The Rind.
The city is lit by a permanent cone of light emanating into the wedge from Weatherbrain, a stationary satellite in the ether. Anything outside of this light is considered The Rind, Scratalg's dark and inhospitable surface where no star mars the sky.
Here's some goods you might find in Scratalg city itself.
(O) at the end of an item’s description indicates it is outlawed.
Dried Mages (Bundle): Just add water to revive one of these tottering, senile agents to full size and relative animation. Each knows one random spell (and a Special Skill with it of 1-6), has a base Skill of 1-3. Upon casting the spell they burst into dust, dead forever. 1D6 mages.
Rind-Air: When huffed, this sealed pot of air from the Rindside is rumoured to temporarily undo years of cultivation a Rindsider may have accquired from living in Scratalg, reverting them to their so-called primitive state.
Dancing Blades: This tiny set of curved brightly coloured knives click and skitter around in pavanes and gavottes if shaken and thrown on the ground. 2D6 blades.
Cud Block: A soft dun-coloured block of dense foodstuff that will revive double the amount of Stamina of a normal Provision, at the cost of unutterable boredom and ennui in the eater. 1D3 blocks.
Gigerhosen: A heavy device on wheels with an extendable nozzle. If the central handle is twisted, an uncontrollable cloud of pale gas burst forth, rendering the flesh of anyone it touches to malleable, snappable putty for 1d6 hours. (O)
Clonespotter Pellets: A handful of ball-bearing sized orbs. If thrown onto the skin of a cloned being, they instantly raise yellowish seeping welts. They have no effect on a non-clone. 1D3 handfuls.
Axis Flashbangs: When thrown onto surface X or Y of Scratalg city, these paper wrapped twists of powder cause 1d6 nearby beings and their accoutrements to be instantly transported to the corresponding place on the opposite surface with a glare and dramatic sound. 1D3 flashbangs. (O)
Free Scuttlepede Pass (Life): Although no Opulent Bureaucrat has heard of such a document, when run through the necessary checks, this somehow proves legitimate.
Grotgoyle Tadpoles: Each about the size of a thumb, thoughtless and flightless, this jar contains a swarm of larval Grotgoyles in amniotic juice. You’re not supposed to have these. No matter what you think of them, Grotgoyles are a protected species. 4D6 tadpoles. (O)
Lummox Templates: House-sized blocks of inert flesh. Lummoxes remain in this state until a job-code is imprinted on them, at which point they assume their familiar micro-headed giant form. When the job is complete, they dutifully snuggle up next to each other and return to their template form. 1D3 templates.
Augmentation Grab Bag: A whirring, clicking cloth sack containing all sorts of cybernetic detritus and probably a significant amount of genetic crud. Usually nothing truly life-changing in these but you’d be amazed at what people throw away. 1 bag.
Assassin’s Note: If someone is slapped in the face with this white glove, a holographic mark will float a foot above their head at all times until they are killed, someone else is slapped with the glove, or the mark is somehow removed. This mark is specific to an assassin, and if they find out someone else has been using it they might not be happy. 1 glove. (O)