| Vandor's Claim
|
|
Nancora
|
|
Arid
|
|
Badlands, Underground caverns and mines
|
|
Mines, Cantina, Cemetery, Pumpkin grove
|
|
Transient
|
|
Fuel, Scavenger supplies, Medical supplies
|
|
Pumpkins, Minerals, Crystals, Salvage
|
Vandor's Claim is an abandoned mining settlement, located within the Nancora Badlands. Once an established mining operation for kyber crystals and coaxium, the settlement was later evacuated and partially destroyed during the devastation of Nancora, and was never formally resettled. Left behind are various dilapidated buildings, mining machinery, speeders, personal belongings, and other long forgotten remnants of those who once lived there.
In the years following the destruction of Nancora, Vandor's Claim developed a reputation as a ghost town, one that was perhaps even haunted. Scavengers occasionally passed through the settlement in search of valuables, while a small cantina became a gathering place for scavengers operating throughout the surrounding Badlands. Stories eventually began to spread of unexplained power fluctuations, fragmented holorecordings activating without warning, and humanoid figures appearing within the abandoned streets.
The settlement drew the attention of the Shroud Syndicate after they established their new headquarters on Nancora, when several scavenger crews investigating the area vanished, fled the settlement, or returned claiming that Vandor's Claim was cursed.
History
Vandor's Claim was founded as a mining settlement during a period in which coaxium extraction was widespread throughout Nancora's Badlands, by a wealthy Trandoshan named Vandor Karr'Sol. Mines cut beneath the surrounding mesas and rocky terrain provided the settlement with its livelihood, and a small but steadily growing community formed around the operation. Residences, workshops, storage facilities, processing facilities, and local businesses were constructed near the central mining complex. As Vandor's Claim expanded, generations of miners and their families made their homes there, turning what had begun as a remote industrial outpost into a permanent settlement.
That changed with the devastation of Nancora. When disaster reached the Badlands, much of Vandor's Claim was damaged but not completely destroyed. Some structures were reduced to little more than cracked walls and exposed foundations, while others remained partially intact. Several buildings survived almost untouched, their interiors still containing abandoned furniture, tools, and personal belongings.
Not every resident of Vandor's Claim was fortunate enough to escape during the devastation. Some perished during the initial bombardments, while others remained behind after evacuation routes failed or became inaccessible. Those survivors gathered the dead they could recover and buried them in a cemetery beyond the residential district. Graves were dug for miners, families, and neighbors. The graves were often marked only with salvaged stone, pieces of machinery, or hastily carved nameplates. In time, even the remaining survivors themselves disappeared. Whether they succumbed to injury, starvation, exposure, or something else remains a mystery. The settlement was never permanently resettled, or rebuilt to its former glory.
Years later, scavengers began entering the ruins to recover mining equipment, abandoned speeders, machinery, valuables left behind by the dead... And many hoped to reach what remained of the mine's coaxium. They found portions of Vandor's Claim preserved with unsettling clarity. Stories soon followed. Scavengers reported hearing movement within buildings they had already searched and seeing lights appear behind windows in structures without functioning power. Others claimed to hear distant voices from the direction of the cemetery, or caught glimpses of shadows standing among the graves before disappearing into the dust.
Despite its reputation, one former cantina near the edge of the settlement became an occasional meeting place and respite for scavenger crews operating throughout the Badlands. There, among salvaged generators and failing lights, stories of Vandor's Claim's dead continued to spread. Some scavengers insisted the figures haunting the settlement were simply echoes left behind by damaged technology, or beings that hunted them.... Others believed the residents who buried the first dead never truly left Vandor's Claim at all.
Vandor's Claim Mines
The mines beneath Vandor's Claim once served as the settlement's primary source of wealth, cutting deep into the surrounding mesas with valuable deposits of coaxium and kyber crystals. Access to the lower tunnels was difficult even before the settlement's destruction, with miners relying on reinforced tunnels, narrow lift systems, and heavily secured excavation routes to reach the richest deposits. Following Nancora's devastation, collapsed passages, unstable rock, damaged machinery, and flooded or sealed sections made the deeper levels even harder to reach. After relocating to Nancora, reports by Syndicate intelligence believe that some of the most valuable deposits still remain somewhere beneath the deepest accessible levels.
The Empty Helmet Cantina
The Empty Helmet is a cantina, within a repurposed lodge as one of the few structures in Vandor's Claim that remained largely intact after Nancora's devastation. Powered by a collection of temperamental generators, the cantina serves as a meeting ground for scavengers, mercenaries, explorers, and Syndicate operatives passing through the Badlands. Makeshift landing areas have been cleared around the building for speeders and small starships, with crews frequently using the site to exchange information, hire assistance, sell salvage, or prepare expeditions into the abandoned settlement and surrounding mines.
The establishment is operated by the Nightsister Kavra Vey, assisted by two fellow Nightsisters who work behind the bar. The lodge's upper floors have been converted into sleeping quarters that could be rented at steep prices, owing to the scarcity of secure lodging anywhere near Vandor's Claim. Drinks, hot meals, information, and other services can all be purchased for the right number of credits. Particularly well funded patrons can even convince the Nightsisters to provide a carefully measured dose of ichor for stamina or healing, though such favors are expensive and rarely offered without additional strings attached.
Pumpkin Patch
At the far edge of Vandor's Claim lays an unusually fertile pumpkin field, one of the only few places on Nancora where plant life has continued to thrive. The original seeds were believed to have been brought to Nancora by an offworld settler sometime before the settlement's destruction. Fed by several deep wells beneath the field, the pumpkins flourish despite the otherwise barren environment. Their vines spread through cracked earth, abandoned lots, and occasionally into the outskirts of the town itself. Some pumpkins grow strangely after generations in Nancora's altered soil, which often produces oversized, misshapen, or unusually colored fruit that scavengers generally refer to as mutated varieties.
The patch serves as an essential resource for those living on or passing through Vandor's Claim. Pumpkins are harvested for food, also pressed and strained into a sweet, thick pumpkin juice that has become the settlement's most common drink. The wells beneath the field also supply limited fresh water to the rest of Vandor's Claim, though water is considered too valuable for casual drinking. As a result, most residents and scavengers drink pumpkin juice instead, and barrels of it can be found at the Empty Helmet, aboard visiting ships, and stored throughout the settlement.
Cemetery
Situated at the edge of Vandor's Claim beside the pumpkin patch, the settlement's cemetery holds the remains of miners, residents, and those who perished during Nancora's devastation. Many of the earliest graves belonged to workers who perished in mining accidents, while later rows became filled hurriedly by survivors who remained behind after the evacuation. With proper materials in short supply, numerous grave markers were fashioned from scrap metal, broken machinery, carved stone, or pieces of old mining equipment. Some graves bear names, while others are marked only with dates, symbols, or nothing at all.
The cemetery is considered one of the more unsettling areas of Vandor's Claim, particularly after dark. Scavengers report seeing shadows standing between the grave markers or hearing footsteps moving through the rows, despite no one being visible. The neighboring pumpkin vines have also begun creeping through portions of the burial ground, curling around headstones and occasionally growing directly across older graves.