Port SouthReport
English：Port South · Locations
A slave camp on the eastern shore of the Great Desert that is called a port and does not have a harbour. It is a stone quarry worked by slaves, digging out rock and ore to feed Bark and Heft.
Port South is a town controlled by the Slave Traders, sitting on the middle stretch of the eastern shore of The Great Desert. Its name says "port", but the town has no harbour and no direct access to the sea.
What it actually is, is a quarry. Stone mines and hybrid mines fill the ground inside and outside the walls, worked with a quarry crane and three wind generators, and the whole settlement produces exactly two things: raw stone and raw ore.
A port in name only
Mechanically, Port South is the same kind of place as a Stone Camp — slave labour, mines and a wall. It runs the material it digs up along supply lines to Bark and Heft, making it a node in the Empire's northern logistics chain.
To find it, wander to the "middle" of the Great Desert's eastern seashore, or acquire and read the Map of the United Cities (Central Territories) to mark it on your map.
There is another "port" in the Great Desert: Port North, run by Lady Kana. Both are slave camps, neither functions as a harbour, and they turn up side by side in the same supply-line discussions — do not get the directions backwards.
Why call it a port at all
The wiki devotes a long trivia entry to the name, and it is worth relaying in full.
Engine limitations mean ships cannot exist in Kenshi, yet the lore clearly has maritime trade. That leaves several readings of the name:
- slaves arrive by sea — imported via the Slave Markets by ship, then distributed inland by Slaver Caravans;
- the name is a ceremonial leftover — inherited from the Kenshi 2 era, when sea levels were higher and maritime technology far more advanced, and this really was a port;
- if neither holds, it is simply a glorified stone camp with a port's name.
The same thread runs through Port North, where defensive walls block off the sea entirely and the word "port" is just as empty. Supporting evidence for the maritime reading includes the existence of the Grass Pirates and NPC dialogue that mentions boats in passing.
Wada and his Noble House
Slave Master Wada lives in the Noble House here and runs the place. His guard detail matches the other Traders Guild nobles: 4 hooded Empire Noble Guards plus 4 Samurai Heavies.
He carries no bounty. Killing or capturing him earns you nothing in cash — but when he goes, the town goes with him.
What's here
In its base state Port South is a work camp, not a marketplace. Inside the walls are a Slaver Bar, three Slave Shops, a Stone Camp Shop, slave cage shacks, plus the Noble House, a Storm House and an L-House.
Skimmers
Port South is attacked frequently by Skimmers. That cuts two ways for players: you may walk into a fight already in progress, and while the guards are busy with the bugs, attention inside the walls is thinner than usual.
Two endings
Port South carries two world states, and there is a genuinely nasty ordering trap between them.
| Condition | Result |
|---|---|
| Slave Master Wada killed or imprisoned | Destroyed — all inhabitants dead or missing, the town falls to ruins |
| Wada ＋ Longen ＋ Emperor Tengu all killed or imprisoned | Empire Peasants take over |
The Destroyed version comes with a line from a UC bar patron:
Trade's dried right up this last year, I'm losing money. Big time... And it's all on the Trader's Guild. They're doing a piss poor job of securing the roads... What merchant in their right mind is gonna risk attacks from those rabid slave escapees?
The Empire Peasants version turns the place into a semi-rebuilt fish port and farm town, running its supply lines through Heft to Heng. The roster becomes 3 Rebel Farmer Gate Guards, 2 UC Farm Shops, 2 Fish Shops, 2 Farm Village Barracks, 1 Bakery and 1 Rebel Farmer Barracks.
This is one of the few places in the game where killing the right people turns a slave camp into a fishing village — it just happens to require going through the Emperor first.
Why it matters to players
- Buying and selling people: three Slave Shops make this simultaneously a liberation site and a cash-out site, depending on how you use it.
- Bounty income: selling captives to the Slave Shops is a fairly steady mid-game revenue stream.
- A one-man town: Wada falling means the whole town falling. For a squad set on weakening the slave economy, that is a high-return target — just mind the trigger order.
- Do not expect resupply: in its slave-camp state there is no ordinary shop here, so keep it off your supply route.
See also
Sells
Vendors here stock 16 items in total, grouped by category — every entry links.
Nutrition
Bread, Cooked Vegetables, Dried Fish, Dried Meat, Foodcube, Gohan, Grand Fish, Meatwrap, Rice Bowl
Items
Bloodrum, Cactus Rum, Greenfruit, Grog, Sake, Water Jug, Water
Vendors and stock here
Compiled automatically from the wiki's vendor data: shops that can appear in this settlement and what they may carry. Actual stock varies with world state and randomisation.
Bakery
Bloodrum, Bread, Cactus Rum, Cooked Vegetables, Dried Fish, Dried Meat, Foodcube, Gohan, Greenfruit, Grog, Meatwrap, Rice Bowl, Sake, Water, Water Jug
Farm Shop ×2
Basic First Aid Kit, Bread, Bull Backpack, Cactus, Cotton, Dried Meat, Garru Backpack, Greenfruit, Raw Meat, Riceweed, Water Jug, Wheatstraw
Fish Shop ×2
Slave Shop ×3
The source does not record what this shop sells.