Mountain Camp

Unceremoniously referred to as "Mountain Camp" or simply "the Camp" by the Întunerican traders that frequent it, there is much more to this place than the name lets on.
Its entrance hidden away in a side valley of the main road, the traders make sure to cover their tracks everytime they ascend to the camp to avoid drawing attention to what can only be described as a crown jewel for anyone in the glass making business. Hidden from a casual glance down the side valley by knotty trees and bushes, the monumental arch of the main gate to the abandoned city has lost very little of its splendor. The shine may be gone form the surface, covered by a layer of dust, and the occasional tile may have fallen off, but the sheer size of it as well as the impressive colors of the tiles and the intricate patterns stenciled on them still take a visitor's breath away when seen for the first time.
The city is partly carved into the stone, with rich murals carved and painted into the walls. The halls are lofty, if a bit dark, but there's plenty of bowls carved into a walls, some of them with the wicks still intact, that once used to light the hallways and rooms in majestic manners. Shapes and patterns on the walls are cleverly worked to incorporate the light sources and create truly enchanting experiences, should all of them be lit at once.
Other parts of the city are open to the sky, with vaulted hallways open to the courtyards they are framing on three sides, allowing a great vista of what is now the Red Desert in the East. The courtyards proper once seem to have hosted a garden of sorts - small water channels, richly decorated with tiles again, criss-cross a mess of dirt and thorns, with the rotting trunks of fallen exotic trees scattered in between. Small dust tornadoes form and fizzle out again, the water that used to flow here has long since run dry, and much of the soil has been carried away.
Some of the benches sports small heaps of bones, and bones are scattered all over the place. Whoever lived here died here - and by the looks of it, not by violent means. Fragile strips of cloth flutter in the wind between the bones, and often taking a closer look may reveal a gemstone or a piece of jewellery. Some of the unlocked doors may reveal precious curtains and triclinia with bones stretched out on them, fine cloth around them stained from their dying and decomposing owners. Finely wrought plates and drinking cups adorned with gemstones are still an easy find, should someone bothers to look for them.
Many rooms and doors are still closed, and few people so far have bothered to try and break those locks. The real value of this place is neither the scenery nor the artefacts, but rather what lies in the catacombs underneath. This ancient city is built on top of a labyrinth which was used to mine for minerals to be used in the manufacture of colorful glass and tiles, and the facilities to store it are still intact underneath the rubble of the living quarters turned cemetery.
Another boon is the secondary gate, exiting the mountain to the East and providing much easier access to the Red Desert and its sand than the exhausting treck down the mountains, burned by the sun and sanded by the constant winds blowing down the mountain.

RUINED SETTLEMENT
Unknown Origin

Type

Outpost / Base

---

By now, the traders have added their own facilities to the place. Vessels collecting what precious little rainwater falls up here empty into water basins in the bowels of the mountain, protected by the darkness and the labyrinthine nature of the mine shafts. Supplies, both for survival and digging, are stored here as well, making the Camp one of the easiest and most comfortable mining jobs a trader could ask for. This makes it one of the most guarded secrets, and who gets taken here by the traders has surely proven himself loyal and trustworthy before.