The scourge of Sterega

In the wide open plains of Roxveldt there used to be a city, more defensible than any other build upon those wild steppes called Sterega. The now ruined city of Sterega was founded by the elders of the surrounding villages as a prison-labourcamp when a young man called Roy Sigurds discovered a large supply of diamonds in the hills. Roy Sigurds, and the village elders became very wealthy off the diamond trade. So many prisoners were shipped off to the camp to dig for precious stones that the villages were no longer able to meet demand. To solve this the elders began to put stricter laws in place, most of which disproportionately effected outsiders traveling to the city. The prisoners dug deeper and deeper, until the sunlight barely reached them and no more diamonds could be found. The now barren quarry was turned into a high security prison from which escape was near impossible. The overseers called it Sterengat, for only through the hole in the ceiling might you ever see the stars again. The prisoners, many of which were guilty of the lightest of misconducts, were treated like animals by the guards. They had to wade their way through ditches of mud and filth to get between their cells and their workstations. The prisoners organised themselves into gangs for protection and to gain influence. The guards played right into this by offering protection to the wealthier inmates and extorting those few without a gang of their own. Malcontent brew under the prisoners for a couple of decades. It came to its boiling point when Sneaky Mickey, leader of one the largest gangs in Sterengat, was brutally executed by the guards. The guards claimed Sneaky Mickey was being executed for inciting violence, but every prisoner knew it was because Mickey refused to pay them their protection money after Leaky Leg Leonard broke both of his legs while the guards did nothing. A rope was attached to each of Mickey's limbs, two were hanging from the hole in the roof, held by guards standing on top of the prison. The other two were held by guards on the ground. Mickey was lifted a hundred metres up into the air by his arms. Then the guards on the ground began to pull on the ropes on his legs, and violently Sneaky Mickey was ripped apart in the air, showing those around the prison in a rain of blood and gore. When the red wet spray hit the prisoners something primal awoke in them. Something bestial once suppressed but now set free. They rioted, slaughtering any guards they could get their hands on and taking over the prison before any re-enforcements could arrive. The prison became a city of bandits, ruled by the largest and most violent of them all. From there they raided the villages that had once so unjustly imprisoned them and their home became known as Sterega, after the way the prisoners pronounced Sterengat. Seventy years after the prison riot a grand meteor shower would rain over the steppes of Roxveldt. Fire and rock fell from the sky, setting the surrounding lands ablaze with galloping fires. The largest meteor fell directly into Sterega, burying it under a pile of rubble and killing everyone during the impact. Some people believed that this was divine retribution for the sins of the inhabitants of Sterega, others believe that some great wizard has infiltrated the city and called the meteor directly upon it. But all could agree that the prison turned city was buried deep beneath the ground. Sometimes weird abominable creatures are seen stalking the area at night. Most believe that these creatures have just wandered from some distant land, but there are rumours that say that these are the offspring of those that survived in Sterega, having devolved into troglodontic creatures filled in their hearts with hatred for the surface world.