Cauldron

**Cauldron** is a city on the Isle of the Ancestors, second only to Sasserine in population. It was founded by Surabar "Spellmason" Torlak, in the aftermath of his battle with the forces of the Night Queen during the Battle of Atallas.

The Spellmason built the city in the caldera of an extinct volcano in a subtropical jungle. The elevation keeps Cauldron's temperatures below that of the surrounding jungle, giving Cauldron a roughly temperate climate.

Cauldron is ruled by a Lord Mayor, elected to his position every two years. The post is currently held by Severen Navalant, whose term expires in roughly 20 months. Other important individuals in the city include Terseon Skellerang, captain of the guard, the members of the noble families, and Cauldron's few wealthy merchant interests.

Cauldron's buildings are relatively tightly packed together and made primarily of volcanic stone and wood. The four main roadways are cobbled and wide enough to support several wagons abreast. Smaller avenues connect the four roadways, which form concentric terraces down to the lake in the centre of the town. From outer to inner, the avenues are named Obsidian, Magma, Lava, and Ash. Sewage from privies runs underneath the streets in specially built trenches, which all houses feed into. The runoff outlets are dug deep into the heart of the lake, which is periodically purified by the clerics of the town to ensure that any sewage that doesn't sink into the volcano's depths is neutralized.

A fifty-foot high wall of black malachite surrounds the outermost ring of the city. The closer you are to the wall, the nicer the accommodations and the more likely you are to encounter nobility. The closer you are to the lake, the shoddier the construction and the more likely you are to get your coin-purse nicked. Houses directly on the lake are often built with stilts to protect against flooding during the rainy season in winter.

Cauldron boasts temples to the Ralomish Faith (The Church of the Divine Martyr, The Mirror of the Shining One), the Spluerian Faith (the Jade Temple) and Mokerianism. (The Temple of Lordly Might, The Spire of the Red Lady). Generally, the Crusader and Elven population follow the Ralomish Faith, the Spluerians and Halflings the Spluerian faith and the Mokerians and Orschan-blooded practice Mokerianism. and follow their own traditions, but these have no organised religious structure, and many of them also attend either Mokerian or Ralomish churches as well.

Coins can be exchanged for trade bars and gems at Alameda Moneylenders, just off of Obsidian Avenue near the South Gate. Bars are also available from the Lord Mayor's office. No surcharge is levied for exchanging coins for trade bars or gems.

Taxes in Cauldron are light. Citizens pay a flat tax of 1gp per year, usually at the year-end holidays. Merchants and nobility are charged a 5% income tax over the course of the year. There is a 1sp gate tax charged for any non-citizen entering one of the gates. Monthly gate passes can be purchased for 1gp, and the purchaser must submit to a rigorous background examination.

A variety of human ethnic groups make up the city and the surrounding regions, which broadly consists of a Mokerian labourer class, a merchant class made up of Spluerians and an upper-class of Carurlonian and Emparian "crusader" descendants. Over the past few decades, immigration from other realms has further diversified this mixture.

The local cuisine is primarily rice and beans plus sweet potatoes for the lower classes, with pork and chicken - particularly satay, cooked on sticks with spicy peanut sauce - as a treat for the poor and a staple for the middle class. The rich of Cauldron prefer seafood imported from Sasserine, the exotic sweets that Cauldron exports in bulk (chocolate, bananas, and durian), and food imported from Splueria or other overseas locales, like wine and cheese.

The original settlers of the city are still remembered in the naming of the four main districts of Cauldron. The Crusader Quarter contains the Lord Mayor's residence, and most of the aristocracy; the Spluerian Quarter is renowned for its markets and bazaars, and the Mokerian Quarter is a heavily overpopulated area of slums and shanties. The last district is the Zelahm Quarter, named after an ancient Halfling hero, and populated by non-humans of all races.

During the rainy season, the central lake overflows, often putting the lower rings of the city at risk for flooding. The yearly Lowering of the Waters ceremony uses wands of control water to reduce the risk.