Rayhaven

Rayhaven is the home to one of the best Dragonguard training grounds and academy in the western hemisphere. It is a coastal city, and is the most south western settlement of Azlov. It is surrounded by tall cliff sides on either side, a large forest that holds a small mountain range to the east, and a vast ocean to it's west. The protective cliffsides funnel the sea breeze into the city, and the rays of sunlight at sunset glistening off of the ocean, giving this city the name of "Rayhaven".

Demographics

Many Dragonguard trainees attend the school and training grounds. Most of them are not actually citizens of the city, they are just there for the training and schooling.

Defences

Rayhaven Dragonguard, the Forgotten Forest provides some protection from inland-ward facing threats, as well as the high cliff faces on either side of the city. Rayhaven's maritime defense forces protect the port / shipyard and seaward facing part of the city.

Industry & Trade

Money from the Dragonguard headquarters provides some financial stability for the city, as they pay for the upkeep of the training grounds and school.

Infrastructure

Paved roads, mainly solar powered energy with some wind and water, flora integrated into building design, large open areas for big dragons to be able to land. There is also a large port and shipyard / dry dock as this is the south western most city in the western hemisphere.

Districts

Upper, Lower, Dragonguard Academy

Assets

Dragon equipment for the Dragonguard, such as saddles, armor, and weapons. Maritime ships and the resources for repairing them.

Guilds and Factions

Dragonguard

The Black Clutch

History

Many years ago there were many separate dragon rider groups, and when the found each other they may a global alliance organization. One by one the smaller groups were absorbed into a larger organization. Finally someone was able to make the trip to Rayhaven after like 20 years or something, and told them about the global alliance. The leader of Rayhaven at the time hesitated at first, as he wasn't sure there was much he could provide to the alliance, since it took someone a long time to finally be able to make the trip to Rayhaven.
With some persuasion from the ambassador and a young adult citizen, he decided to join the alliance. The ambassador mentioned some of the plans the alliance was doing, such as putting a more central headquarters so all members are able to reach them, and can attend meetings. The citizen mentioned that Rayhaven would be a perfect place to setup a training grounds and school for the alliance. The courtyard was very large, and the cliffsides on either side as well as the Forgotten Forest would do well to protect the town. It did take someone a long time to get here after all. Within the years to come, Rayhaven became one of the best schools and training grounds for the alliance.

Points of interest

Grand Courtyard

This is where most dragonkin come to land and where the Dragonguard meet up. It is a very large open concrete pad with the city hall in the middle. The pavement extends to the side and behind the city hall, up to the seaside were it turns into a dock. There is plenty of space for the Dragonguard to train, and there are some grassy spots as well.

Rayhaven Port

It's a decent sized port that extends from the courtyard behind the city hall, with a shipyard for the Rayhaven's maritime defense forces.

Rayhaven Forest

A small forest that sits at the western edge of the city. It sits between Rayhaven and the Grand Tree grassy field area / Forgotten Forest.

Grand Tree Fields

Just outside of Rayhaven, between the Rayhaven Forest and Forgotten Forest lies an open grassy field with an extremely large oak tree, known as the Grand Tree. This is another spot where dragon riders will land and meet up, if they don't want to go to the city's main courtyard.

Tourism

Tourism is certainly big here because of the city's design and color style choice of black and gold.

Architecture

The architecture of Rayhaven has the typical solarpunk style to it with the colors of black and gold.

Geography

Tall cliffs on either side, a vast ocean to the east, and a large forest hiding a small mountain ridge to the west encase this city, making it a perfect safehaven.

Climate

Rayhaven has a fairly temperate climate, because of the forests and the coastline, with the cliffsides funneling in the sea breeze.

Natural Resources

Natural resources include wood, as well as stones and ores from the surrounding cliffside caves. The ocean provides various resources like water, fish and other aquatic life, small deposits of rare metals, sand and gravel, and salt.

Founding Date

126

Type

City

Population

At least 69

Inhabitant Demonym

Rayhavenas / Ardenian

Location under

Ardenfell

On the Map

Azlov

Open full size

The planet Azlov.

Trivia

The geography of this area was inspired by the Grand Falls / World Tree from the game; Day of Dragons.

The Grand Tree just outside the city is a reference to the World Tree in the game; Day of Dragons.

The architecture was partically inspired from the city Lux Aurea in The Dragon Price: Mystery of Aarovos show on Netflix. It originally was going to have the same colors, but while this page was being written, it was changed to a black and gold color scheme.

The city's colors of black and gold was based on Nulcheck's various video game character color schemes. His characters in Destiny 2, Halo Infinite, Day of Dragons, and Minecraft armor trim all have a black and gold color pallet.

Author's Note

The reasoning I thought of behind the city's black and gold colors, was that black absorbs the most light out of any color, so the city can hardness some of that energy and use it, probably for heating or something. Gold just looks nice with black, there's not much of a reason for the use of that except for ornamental purposes.

— Nulcheck