Dullar

Wooden panels, repurposed shipwrecks, and a few stone towers form the patchwork village in the mouth of Dullar Cove. Half of the bay is covered by docks and plazas which breathe with the changing tide, and the other half is linked by rope bridges and ladders carved in stone, where the little dragons are still constructing the jumbled skeleton of Dullar, held together by the masts of old galleys. The village is accessible by a trail of tall grass which rises off the coast and continues inland, from which there's a dizzying view of the vast sea.
The cove is overlooked by a ridge, tall and in dozens of tiers, wreathed in rows of cattails. Most of Dullar is concealed below the overhanging cliff, but a raggedly carved stairway leads straight to the center of town. This "indoor" part of Dullar is a beautiful forum with stone ceilings and parquet floors which are miraculously protected from water damage. Buildings are sculpted into the rock to shelter hundreds of residents and visitors: in particular, many people who were injured inland or on the sea are brought to Dullar so they can recover.
Halfway up the ridge is a shipwreck, the back half of a trireme which somehow crashed into the cliff hundreds of feet in the air. The people of Dullar took great effort to preserve it, intrigued by the mystery of how it got there. This high platform is fondly referred to as the Roc's Nest, and it's been refurbished to serve as a watchtower, as well as a lounge for scouts and magicians.
Dullar is maintained by the dragon Tessiture, whose influence keeps the tides calm and plays music which resonates through the cove. The purring melodies are so fascinating that struggling artists visit the town for inspiration, yet so unintrusive that they feel like silence. Some visitors are disconcerted by parts of Dullar, like the relatively quiet people and the off-balance architecture, tilted bridges and platforms scooping up seawater. But there's a warm sense of peace throughout the village, like a shared heartbeat.

Demographics

Dullar has only 150 permanent residents, including a few dozen bronze wyrmlings and a small community of Aphygian travelers. The rest of the village consists of injured soldiers, civilians, and seafarers, many of whom stay in Dullar for a while after they recover. There haven't been many sailors here since the Duumvirate War started.

Government

Tessiture loosely mediates the policy of Dullar and settles disputes between the residents. 8 to 10 people (they step up and down frequently) have taken leadership roles in their respective fields.

Defences

This small community is in a very defensible location which has resisted or bounced back from multiple invasions in the past. It's rarely attacked now, since it doesn't have many resources which would help in a war. The village is protected by Tessiture, Balmarix, and Venellorix, supported by a crew of soldiers and wyrmlings. Adventurers often come and go, and have fought for the village when needed.

Industry & Trade

The village receives a lot of resources by trading with independent farmers and crafters. Its wealth comes from a few small industries which it runs extremely well. Dullar exports wooden barrels and wheels, farming tools, mead, clothing, medicine, and a few magic items. It also has a finely tuned fishing industry. The music of the cove attracts lots of fish, which are harvested at careful intervals.

History

Tessiture lived at Dullar Cove since 640, along with their mate Tremolo and their children Balmarix and Venellorix. Soon they were joined by others: when Tessiture's relatives to the east were threatened by pillagers, they sent dozens of wyrmlings to Dullar for safety. Some of those wyrmlings brought their friends, mostly civilians they met along the journey. Over the next decade, hundreds of endangered civilians (dragon or not) made the trek to Dullar Cove. It was a fully functioning village by 649, trading with Aphygia and Ornity, and providing decent living for a burgeoning community.
There were a few scattered attacks against the village, but it only took two major battles to prove that Dullar is stronger than it seems. When a band of pillagers tried to fire on Dullar from the top of the ridge, the dragons climbed up to them with blinding speed and a visiting wizard blasted their back ranks. And when a small group of adventures tried to infiltrate the village from underwater, they drew the attention of Balmarix, who struck down half of them even before Dullar's guards arrived.
Dullar cut ties with Ornity when they declared war, and it didn't take long for Ornity to strike back. In 709, two thousand soldiers found an excuse to swarm the cove. They claimed that Dullar sold metal farming tools to Aphygia to serve as weapons, so they could attack passing Ornit soldiers. Dullar was attacked by storm before most of its people could escape, and they were quickly defeated in battle. The Ornits even managed to kill Tremolo, when he rushed to protect an infirmary whose stone ceiling blocked his escape. Tremolo was backed to a wall and butchered, and the patients he tried to protect were captured and traded back to Aphygia over the next 20 years. The sacking of Dullar drew unequaled fury from the whole continent, and the Ornits (down 1,200 soldiers) found it difficult to hold the location. After several retaliatory strikes, Ornity decided to cut their losses and withdraw from Dullar.
The village was restored by 716 under Tessiture's guidance. Some of the buildings were still intact: most famously, the Roc's Nest turned out to be fireproof and oddly hard to destroy. Dullar hasn't been seriously threatened since then. Somehow Tessiture convinced their enemies to stay far away.

Type

Village

Population

380

Location under

Aphygia

Owner/Ruler

Tessiture

Owning Organization

Dullar Cove

Characters in Location

• Balmarix
• Tessiture
• Venellorix