Prompt 3: Abandoned, The Empty Town of Claybrook

Our Town by the river, how we adore! Our Town by the river, come see what's in store! Our Town by the river where the maids all smile! Our Town by the river golden fields by the mile! Our Town by the river there is always a feast! Our Town by the river free of dangerous beasts! Come to our town by the river and stay you a night! Come to our town by the river where everything is alright! -A verse that was once sung by minstrels of the Town of Claybrook This Town by the river, No living soul walks its streets! This Town by the river, It is a place you should never seek! This Town by the river, waters once fresh that taste of tears! This Town by the river, Empty and cold and swimming with fear! This Town by the river, so silent and grey! This Town by the river, safe only so long as you can see the light of day! Beware this town by the river were the night brings only demise! Beware this town by the river and never should you stay here between sunset and sunrise! -Modern tune and popular warning for travelers and adventurers about Claybrook

When the sun starts to set and the fog creeps in they say you had best find yourself outside of Claybrook if you ever wish to see the sunrise ever again. Art by Midjourny

History

Claybrook was once a prosperous town in the Northren Paladiun Province near the Gleushire Moors and Red River Valley Region where the town boasted rich deposits of clay and even more valuable gold nuggets that were panned from the rivers in abundance. What had started as a small operation funded by the Nobles of house White-Castle became a booming town practically overnight with their clay being directly used in the war effort against Hordain the Necro-master. In the later wake of the landshatter spell the towns fortunes only improved as they became a source of a large amount of builders clay that went to repair the damages to the land and build new homes for the flood of refuges. Claybrook was the envy of many, a town rapidly on its way to becoming a major city and even kings and queens commended Claybrook on their fine works and contributions to Paladius and their alliance. This all changed in the year 250 in the age of Shattered Destiny when the gold went dry and the rivers gave up their last tiny nugget of glittering yellow treasure. One misfortune soon followed another in what would be called the year of Claybrooks Ill's. By 252 even the the deposits of high quality clay the town had been famous for had been spent and its mines only provided substandard materials that hardly justified the money and effort to transport them when other closer towns provided similar. Desperation would set in as Claybrook started to shrink in population and fame. Attempts to find a new source of wealth failed one after the other and it was not long before Claybrook became a shadow of its former self. In 259 Claybrook claimed to have found a new source of clay that was not just good but had supernatural qualities. This clay bore a dark blood red hue and did indeed seem to be miraculously strong and easy to work with. Before it could be wide spread however the Church of Ovaeron discovered that this blood clay was tainted with evil and infused with the blood and souls of victims sacrificed to devil of the nine hells. It was revealed that Claybrook's leaders and many of their remaining citizens had turned to the worship of fiends and learned how to transmute flesh and blood of victims sacrificed to their devilish masters into magical clay. The Inquisition was swift to act, witch hunters came to Claybrook in force and when they discovered the degree of corruption that had poisoned the people a vast number of murders, suicides by local leaders and arrests followed with over a dozen pact bound witches and devil cultists burned at the pyre, hung or beheaded. Those few found innocent by the Inquisition left Claybrook and the town itself became a forgotten ruin or so it was presumed. Claybrook stands now as an empty ghost town, an abandoned worthless track of land and buildings that some say are cursed and haunted. During the daylight hours it seems to be no more then an abandoned town like a dozen and more others around the world. A quiet reminder of a place that once held life, empty buildings and streets haunting reminders that a dead town leaves behind skeletons of a fashion. Long have rumors said that at night thick mist rolls in off Gleushire River and clouds the ghost town from view. Some claim that sounds echo down the river that remind some of the sound of men working the clay mines still and many a tavern tale features that should you find yourself in Claybrook after the sun goes down you will never be seen again. Insofar no expedition or adventurer attempting to discover the truth behind these tales has returned after spending the night in the ghost town of Claybrook.