Dragonclaw's Curse

Dragakobol, the "Bay of Gems" in the gnomish language, was a lengendary beach where rubies outnumbered seashells and sapphires hid just beneath the crystal clear surface of the water. It was said that tiny emeralds dusted the land so fully that the sand seemed to be carpeted in thick sparkling grass.
Berihu Spidertoes, a reknowned human gemcutter searched for the location of Dragakobol. He considered the quest to be the greatest challenge of his life. Spidertoes enlisted the help of Clergywoman Islyde Catstinger who wanted to build a more loyal following after her excommunication from her church. Catstinger saw Spidertoes' quest as just the opportunity to rally a new congregation around.
Together they raised a small pirate navy and hunted down an elusive silver ship that traveled between the natural world and the Shadowfell. The ghost of Dominic Wyrmgazer, the gnomish captain of the Fox Catcher, reputedly knew the location of the Bay of Gems. They tracked the Fox Catcher with the aid of the gnome's whispering skull and disabled the ship with a horrific shadowed spike forged by tieflings.
Wyrmgazer told them his secrets on the promise that Clergywoman Catstinger would cast a ritual to release his spirit so that he could finally rest in peace. Once she had the location, however, she revealed the truth: that she was unable to cast the ritual, being out of favor from her god. Dominic Wyrmgazer cursed them all. He warned them that though the information he gave them was good and true, they would never find the happiness they seeked. Instead, they would bring ruin to the bay and to all the people who followed them. Berihu Spidertoes and Isylde Catstinger ignored his warnings and left him to sail the Fox Catcher back to the Shadowfell once again.
They found no gems on the beach where they landed and didn't aknowledge the splendor of nature around them. Instead, they convinced their heretical pirate crew that the treasures they sought were buried nearby. The man or woman who found it would be rich beyond measure. It didn't take long for the story to get out. More and more boats arrived, carrying prospectors looking for buried treasure, smiths to make picks and shovels for the prospectors, tavernkeepers to feed the workers and whores to take the mind off of the hard labor.
Thus, the town of Dragakobol's Haven was born.
Berihu Spidertoes never gave up on finding the treasure, and passed down his quest to his children and grandchildren.
Clergywoman Catstinger transformed her most loyal congregation into a new type of aristocracy, the ruling class of Dragakobol's Haven which lasted generations past her death at ninety-three.
The legend of the treasure grew with each generation and spread across the sea and up the river into the forest. When firbolgs of the forest shared similar legends about precious metals and gems raining from the sky, it gained the attention of an opportunistic leonin named Faunik Dragonclaw. Faunik infiltrated the firbolgs druidic enclave and stole a set of large celestial dice which sparkled and glowed with an inner light resembling comets. He was a notorious gambler and tossed the magic dice on the wish of precious metals and gems raining down from the sky.
Faunik got his wish, but not in the manner in which he imagined. A meteor rained death upon the area. The composition of the falling star might have been gold or gemstones, but the inabitants didn't live long enough to find out. It smashed through the roof of the Goosekick tavern and buried Fenick a half mile below ground. The impact exploded outward and left a crater two miles wide that filled with river water. Debris crashes all over the area and created the area now known as the Spotted Hills.
Survivors renamed the area Dragonclaw's Curse. In the aftermath, fires raged, animals migrated away and finally, the remnants of civilization left in mass exodus. The land, cursed as it was, sat barren for hundreds of years.