Somber

Located at the delta of the Blue River in the Middle Continent, Somber once boasted some of the most incredible engineering advances in the world. The city's denizens constructed a massive dam out of material deemed indestructible and a spinning array of magnets powered by the water sent magic coursing through the city, lighting it up at night and powering the mightiest batteries of city defense cannons ever seen. Warmachine technology peaked, and Somber could have become a world power had disaster not struck.
The dam's failure is a mystery to this day, though theories abound. Some say the city had forgotten the gods in its hubris, and divine intervention weakened the material holding back the mighty river. Others speculate that the material simply wasn't as strong as originally thought, though anyone familiar with the city's engineering prowess sincerely doubts that. Still others suspect that nearby nations grew concerned about Somber's power and collaborated to sabotage the dam using their most potent magics. Regardless of the reason, the result proved catastrophic as raging waters swept away many of the buildings in the city and killed thousands. Most of the survivors had been out at sea, returning to a decimated shell of their beloved home.
Raw material for rebuilding was abundant, but the process still took time as the city slowly grew. Nearly four hundred years passed before the population approached what it had been before, and the name Somber had been adopted at some point, with the previous name forgotten. Wary of repeating their mistakes, the people of Somber now shun magical technology, preferring simpler lives along the riverside and at some points in their history even burning old engineering manuals to prevent future disaster (to the anguish of sages everywhere). Quiet and reflective with the looming prospect of death ever on their minds even centuries later, the citizens of Somber today are nothing like their ancestors.