The Dregs: Geography

The Dregs is not a single zone—it's a patchwork of marginal territories, each with its own character. Sector 7G is just the starting point. As players expand, they encounter the Dregs' full geography.

The Major Sectors

Sector 7G: The Starting Point

Central Dregs
Character: Mixed salvage economy, diverse community, accessible to newcomers
Why It's First: 7G is where all paths cross. Industrial salvage from the east, data infrastructure from the north, habitation overflow from the west. Everything passes through, making it perfect for someone just starting out.
Key Feature: Bash Terminal cafe—the social hub where information flows

Sector 8A: The Industrial Margin

East of 7G, bordering the Industrial Core
Character: Heavy salvage, factory remnants, dangerous but resource-rich

What You Find

  • Industrial-grade salvage (larger components, heavier machinery)
  • Decommissioned factories (sometimes with functional equipment)
  • Ironclad presence (they patrol the border)
  • More dangerous, more rewarding
"8A is where the Core threw its rejects. Facilities that weren't efficient enough, districts that weren't productive enough. Now it's the best salvage territory in the Dregs—if you can handle the Ironclad patrols."

Sector 4D: Data Shadow

North of 7G, beneath the Data District
Character: Dense information infrastructure, Nexus overflow, hacker culture

What You Find

  • Data fragments concentrated
  • Old server farms (partially functional)
  • Collective presence (stronger here than elsewhere)
  • Nexus surveillance (heavier than other Dregs areas)
"4D exists because data centers need somewhere to dump their waste heat. The Dregs took the heat and kept the data. Half the information brokers in the Sprawl started in 4D, learning to sift gold from garbage."

Sector 12B: The Depths

South of 7G, extending down into infrastructure layers
Character: Underground-focused, vertical rather than horizontal, mysterious

What You Find

  • Pre-Cascade infrastructure (maintenance tunnels, buried systems)
  • ORACLE-era technology (preserved by isolation)
  • Communities that haven't seen sunlight in years
  • Things that don't have names yet
"Nobody knows how deep 12B goes. New tunnels appear; old tunnels get claimed. The people down there have their own economy, their own rules. Some say they've found ORACLE facilities that never connected to the surface. Some say they found other things."

Sector 3C: Habitation Overflow

West of 7G, spillover from Habitation Bands
Character: Dense population, desperation economy, social complexity

What You Find

  • Crowded living conditions (people stacked on people)
  • Service economy (food, entertainment, human connection)
  • Minimal salvage but maximum information
  • The human cost of the Sprawl visible everywhere
"3C is where you end up when you can't afford the Bands anymore. Not enough space, not enough air, not enough anything. But the community is tight. They look out for each other because nobody else does."

Transit Routes

The Backbone

An old ORACLE transit line that still partially functions. Trains run erratically on self-sustaining power, moving through the Dregs sectors without schedule or fare.

How to Use It: Wait at stations, hope a train comes, hope it goes where you need
The Danger: Trains don't always stop. Sometimes they go places that aren't on any map.
"Nobody controls the Backbone. The trains run because they were programmed to run, and ORACLE didn't give them a stop command. Some say they're still carrying passengers from before the Cascade—going in circles forever."

The Pipes

Maintenance tunnels that connect all sectors through infrastructure space. Not meant for travel but used anyway.

How to Use Them: Know the routes, bring light, watch your step
The Danger: The Pipes are vertical as well as horizontal. One wrong turn and you're falling.
"Old maintenance workers call them the Pipes. They ran them during ORACLE's time, keeping systems functional. Now the systems are dead but the Pipes remain. Learn them and you can go anywhere."

Surface Routes

Normal travel through the Dregs is possible but unprotected. Each sector has different hazards.

7G to 8A: Industrial traffic, Ironclad checkpoints
7G to 4D: Nexus surveillance, data theft risk
7G to 12B: Vertical travel required, guide recommended
7G to 3C: Crowded, confusing, easy to get lost

Territorial Dynamics

Corporate Borderlands

The Dregs exists in the gaps between corporate territories:

  • East: Ironclad claims everything productive; 8A is their overflow
  • North: Nexus monitors everything digital; 4D is their shadow
  • West: Helix serves anyone who can pay; 3C can't pay
  • South: Nobody claims the depths; 12B is terra incognita

The Collective's Web

The Collective operates throughout the Dregs but concentrates in different sectors:

  • 4D: Information operations, Nexus monitoring
  • 7G: Social organizing, mutual aid
  • 3C: Community support, political work
  • 12B: Underground railroad, hidden infrastructure

Neutral Zones

Some areas are genuinely uncontrolled:

  • The Backbone stations: Too unpredictable for anyone to hold
  • Sector borders: Contested, fluid, dangerous
  • The deep Pipes: Too complex for territorial claims

Environmental Features

The Heap

A massive waste accumulation between Sectors 7G and 8A. Mountains of salvage sorted by nobody, claimed by nobody, worked by whoever's willing.

Resources: Everything, mixed together
Danger: Collapse, contamination, competition
"The Heap is the Dregs' mine. Dig deep enough and you'll find anything. Just make sure the Heap doesn't find you first."

The Blackout Zone

An area where power never came back after the Cascade. Absolute darkness, no electronics, populated anyway.

Location: Deep in Sector 12B
Resources: None that require power
Mystery: How do people live there? What do they trade?
"The Blackout has been dark for forty years. People there have adapted. They say they can see in ways we can't. They say they've learned to live without the Sprawl's gifts. They say a lot of things. I've never met anyone who's been there and come back."

The Memorial Wall

A length of pre-Cascade construction that survived intact. Now covered with names—people lost in the Cascade, the years after, the ongoing struggle.

Location: Sector 3C, visible from main routes
Purpose: Remembrance
"Every name on the Wall is a person the Sprawl forgot. We won't forget them. We add names when people die without other witness. The Wall grows. It never shrinks."

Why Geography Matters

The Dregs' geography should:

  • Support gameplay — Different sectors offer different resources and challenges
  • Tell stories — Each area has history
  • Feel lived-in — Not just game spaces but human spaces
  • Scale with progression — Expand as players grow

The Geography of Transcendence

The Dregs reflects larger themes:

  • Corporate margins (the cost of the system)
  • Community resilience (people surviving together)
  • Hidden depths (always more to discover)
  • Journey outward (from Dregs to Sprawl to stars)