Claypoint

A city that lies near an oasis and the only permanent settlement in the thunderless desolation. It was established early in the third age and survived not because it had the strongest walls or most potent guard, it survived because it was protected by the dangerous desert. Most houses are made of clay hardened in some way or sandstone. The settlement stretches all around the oasis, which provides drinking water to everyone in the village. The oasis itself is much longer than it is wide, having a relative length of 3 kilometres and a maximum width of approximately 700 meters. All throughout the streets of the city, various palm trees are thriving. In addition to the main water supply of the oasis, there are also man-made wells that have been magically connected to the main water supply.
The water itself is weirdly cool, typically hovering around 4-10 degrees celsius in the water itself. The layer of sand that coats the bottom of the lake is only a couple of centimetres thick and in some places, it has been swept away. This reveals a hard rock with a blueish tint that is extremely cold to the touch as it holds a temperature lower than the freezing point of water, approximately -10 degrees. Anyone trying to find something magical about it, such as with a Detect Magic spell can feel that it holds a fairly strong aura of transmutation and evocation magic.

The demi-dragon

About once every century Aurene sends a blessing, the ability and knowledge of the most dedicated clerics to transform 1 person into a demi-dragon. Typically this person is Dragonborn and there is held an enormous festival and competition for those that want to transition into becoming a demi-dragon. Since demi-dragons live to be around 400 years there is typically a maximum of four demi-dragons alive at any point, the older helping and guiding the younger.
The demi-dragon(s) function as guardians of the city and the desolation around it.

Demographics

Racial The people of Claypoint are quite divided, as it's made up largely of refugees from the chaos that ended the second age. The four main occupying races in the settlement are; Dragonborn, Humans, Dwarves and Genasi. Humans, Dragonborn and to a lesser extent the genasi occupy the ground level. Below the rocky ground level exists dwarven communities that for the most part never go up into the sun, not that they would want to.
Economic The Dragonborn have done quite well for themselves and sit in a relative high-class in the settlement, although they don't live close to as luxuriously as some nobles in the greener parts of the continent does.

History

In the year 112 TA something happened, a plague swept through the city and there wasn't close to enough infrastructure to treat everyone. During this, a party of missionaries arrived in the town, unaware of what had happened. These were clerics and paladins of the crystal dragon goddess, Aurene. She had granted them many powers, among them was the ability to heal those that needed. The 7 in the party was able to cleanse the town of this terrible disease, after they had healed and restored the terribly ill they performed a ritual that cleansed the town of the disease forever. After this, the first great temple of the settlement was built in the honor of Aurene. Since then, the crystal dragon has been the primary deity in the town. This was the origin of the Cult of the Dragon.

Natural Resources

The only reason that this city could ever exist is the freshwater oasis that the city surrounds. The rock below the immediate water level is also made with a stone type the locals simply call "Coldstone". It is very dense and has tremendous thermal energy, making it very hard to heat beyond its "natural" state, the stone is believed to be magical as it seems to be able to absorb to maintain the freezing temperatures even on very hot days.

Founding Date

37 TA