The Old District
Once an illustrious city built into the heart of the Nyugar mountains, the Old District of Caliban is now a skeleton of what it once was. The roads have fallen into disrepair. Most of the buildings have been abandoned for centuries, overgrown by the scrublands. Technology is practically absent here. Even Caliban's temple has not been spared the harsh effects of time...
Overview
The Old District was built practically embedded along the sides of four mountains as they converge in the middle of the Nyugar Mountain range. The streets running parallel to the mountain's rise are relatively narrow and incredibly steep. The buildings are lined with dark blue shingles and made mostly of stone. Old paper lanterns flicker without reinforced arcane sigils. The city is extensive... yet few people walk the streets. It is merely a faded memory of what it once was. The buildings are mostly in disrepair. At best, they are covered in chipped paint with a handful of broken and/or missing shingles. Shutters creak as they move slightly in the mountain wind. At worst, buildings have completely caved in or been overrun by nature in the 1,000 years they've been abandoned. The roads in some places are very much a hazard and every now and then... that hazard claims a life. The people of the Old District are poor, devout, or - more likely - or both. Others are criminals or escaped slaves. Homes and businesses have been boarded up, providing homes for gangs, orphans, and runaways to hide and peek out from the cracks. Here, the downtrodden find a safe haven in the old, crumbling walls of the Old District... protected by the ominous shadow and occasional light that emerges from the Old Temple of Caliban...The "General Store"
A relatively large run-down building on the middle level of the Old District. Half of the building has begun to crumble under the weight of nature's return, but the other half seems to have been covered with a crude layer of paint and poorly drawn graffiti. A wooden plank has been strung up with rope from the holes in the roof trim. In somewhat poor penmanship it reads: "General Store". The store is owned and run by a half-elf escaped slave by the name of Hinata. She is assisted by a disgraced black dragonborn named Arulo.Diviner Two's Spire – "Star Spire"
Although the scrubs and vines of the mountains have begun to wrap around this large spire, it remains one of the most pristine buildings in the Old District. This pagoda tower is lined with dark blue - nearly black - shingles that twinkle with embedded silver shards. Wind chimes hang from the lowest level, creating a harmony of often-eerie music on windy days. However, all of the floors (except the top) are empty and overgrown by nature, covered in dust or collapsed and broken. The top floor, however, is pristine. Here, Diviner Two keeps her reserves of texts and tomes on astrology and astronmy. A large telescope is fixed in the middle of the room so she may watch the motion of the stars, guiding her fortunes. Multiple crystal balls line one wall surrounded by decks of cards and other trinkets. On the roof of the Spire, only visible from certain vantage points in the Old District, is the body of a massive silver dragon, laying in the shape of a Crescent moon. Although her scales have dulled over time, The Lunar Queen is still magnificent to behold. For now, she slumbers... dreaming of when the moon and its god shone bright...The Ladies of the Stars
The Ladies of the Stars are a the last remaining monastic organization in the Old District. As an organization, they are primarily composed of dedicated female priestesses, acolytes, and other individuals who fled abusive or otherwise horrible lives. They chose to actively change their lot in life - they chose to change their fate. They are primarily supported by the "fortune" Yue brought with her, the labor/crafts of the residents, and the occasional charitable donation. Behind a small stone wall topped with a blue-shingled roof is a series of four buildings. The Ladies keep the buildings cared for and, as such, there are no caved in roofs or holes in the walls, but there is a missing shingle or an off color bit of wall here and there. The gate is intact, though the paint has certainly seen better days. The buildings are all traditional Caliban style with sloping roofs, but lack the embellishment of the New District. Stone paths cut between the buildings and provide walkways to simple gardens, a small sparring ground, and meditation spaces. Once a month, when the moon is full, a group of the Ladies ascend the mountain to enter the Old Temple of Caliban.
Type
Large town
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