Cliffside village Yesraz

On the second bottom layer of The Surface, there is a village that went through a lot in the past. While most of the tribes living on the upper need to move a lot as staying in one place draws the attention of Beasts from Above, Yesraz is located low enough that most of the Beasts get hunted down before they get down here. Additionally, while most villages wouldn't withstand the corrosive properties of the sun, Yesraz has been carved out in the side of a solid rock cliff, on the side which is always in the shade.
Still, with all those advantages, one bad day almost completely wiped the village of the surface of The Surface.

One case of a very bad day

4 years ago, on the 11th year after the Awakening, the Seekers of The Black Sun showed up near the village, and what's worse, they decided to pillage it. The tribesmen living there held off strong, however, the enormous numbers of cultists finally overwhelmed them. While most of the villagers managed to evacuate, the few brave souls sacrificed themselves to stop the cultist should they decide to pursue the rest of the people. After raiding and stealing resources, the cultists left, and the tribesmen could come back to their village.
The cleaning and mourning didn't last long as a group of Beasts tore through the ceiling of the layer and rained down on unsuspecting villagers. Should their forces be in their full strength, they would fight off the giant insects with lesser effort, but after the raid and with no warning, the village was almost completely wiped off.

Standing up after the fall

And then, when they lost almost everything, with less than a third of their original number, what did the inhabitants of Yesraz do? They started rebuilding it because that's what life on The Surface looks like. They bolstered the defenses of the village by creating walls and moving to higher places on the cliff's wall. One of the electricians, who luckily survived, managed to fix the communication tower which was destroyed in the cult's raid.
Over the last 3 years, the number of inhabitants of the village started growing again. Thanks to the Water Crystal trade and providing the safe rest on the way between two oases, more and more people decided to stay there. And although the old numbers haven't been reached yet, Yesraz prospers once again.

Type

Village

Population

40 (It was only 20 after the raid and attack of the Beasts)

Location under

The Surface

Secret within the rocks

There is another reason why the villagers didn't leave after being hit twice in the same day. The cliffs their village is carved in hold a secret, a secret the cultist didn't discover. Deep within the walls beyond hundreds of small cracks, there is a giant deposit of Water Elemental Crystals, producing a steady supply of freshwater, a blessing on the endless sands of The Surface layers.