The Strange Scavengers of Yokuda

Living in the not-quite-ago is unhealthy. This truth is made evident with the Scavers; the thieves of Yokuda.

Their city is called "The Float." Lashed together with the hulls of freighters and ocean-liners, the mortal-made island houses perhaps a hundred souls, all working together without leadership or animosity, unified by fear and greed. As a gang might, their number sometimes produces a leader or a general, but not for long.

The Float rides the waves just within view of the Dominion patrols, but due to a certain exploit of reality it is never discovered. Every visitor or resident of The Float must drink the fluid of Nepenthe and erase the memory of their travel. Since no person alive on The Float can remember how they got there, no one knows where they are. Therefore they cannot be found. It is not the most insane thing a Scaver does. It doesn't even make the list.

That anyone would tread into certain death for uncertain reward is strange, but not completely unexpected. For some, the mystery of Yokuda is a gamble, a chance to find a truly world-changing artifact that can lead to fame or fortune. Some are drawn by the rumor of a broken and crumbling spire that contains a perspective-altering secret. To even begin the journey to the island is a danger in itself.

To arrive in Yokuda from The Float takes a great deal of cunning. Some have done the trick via deals and sacrifices to various Daedra. Some manage it with bribery, though it often ends in betrayal when the Dominion fleet is involved. Others attempt the trip underwater, though swift-swim and the school of Alteration. Some become muddle-headed through drink, magic, or sheer force of will, and simply start walking so that they arrive on the shores as some put it: "accidentally on purpose." It may sound strange, but it is not the most insane thing a Scaver does. It doesn't even move the scale.

They do these things for one reason: desire. Yokuda yields a terrifying and bizarre bounty. The Baron's Wheel and Wabbi's Frog are known to some. Some have heard of the Thought-gram, a small flower now used in enchantments that imbue an inanimate object with something resembling the capacity for intellect. Not all artifacts are useful. For example, the Broken Tweezers: sharp bends of metal that shimmer in darkness and turn black and dull when brought into the light. Or the System Ribbons, which uncoil and twist without motive. Little is known about some, like the Dreugh Lips or the Forgotten Missiles. And then there are those once-glimpsed items that may never be recovered, like the Drowned Lamp.

But when they reach the shores of the nearly-forgotten lands they find where the true danger lies. In Yokuda, the very air conspires to murder you. Invisible and silent forces tear your limbs apart without warning. Lights will flash and crush your bones. The Set Weight melts everyone's face into the same gruesome visage. Thunderous steps betray the presence of monsters no one dares to look upon. Black soil clings to your skin and will not wash away. Countless more threats exist but are never explored: anything in Yokuda that seems strange or odd will nearly always kill you. And all the while, the Tremor is everywhere, slowly killing your flesh and bones. If the chances of getting to Yokuda are impossible, the chances of surviving there are worse.

And that leads us to the most insane thing a Scaver does: A Scaver goes back.

The Scavers have been crawling through the lands of Yokuda for years. On their bellies, through brush and mud and sand, past unnatural phenomenon of unprecedented danger, under the gazes of uncontrollable demons, they sift through the wreckage of the greatest Man-made disaster in Nirn's history for mysterious scraps no one truly understands.

After years of surviving against all logic and fate, the Scavers have developed a simple set of six rules. Living with them, not all Scavers will live, but some will survive.

Move slowly, and bring two partners.
One takes point. Don't come back empty-handed.
Two watches One's back. Two is the protector, but not the leader.
Three watches One and Two. Three decides arguments. When they die - and they will - Three must tell their story so that others may learn.
Keep no secrets from your brothers.
Tell the Altmer nothing.