Bleakburn, The City of Glass

Bleakburn is a city, a monument, and a tomb. Prior to the last eruption of the Smokestack over 500 years at the time, indigenous elves were living in adobe style sand homes. Though they lived near the lake, drinking the water without first boiling it would cause the people a terrible sickness. So they fished and laid crab pots and drew water with aqueducts made from their sandstone blocks to passably arable ground nearly 100 yards away from the lake.

As the spring blossomed into summer and the days grew warmer, one was to be the hottest in history. On the longest day of the year, there was a great heatwave of unknown origin that swept the lands and ravaged the city. Crops withered and died before 9am, and by noon the fires which burnt to boil water for drinking were extinguished in a feeble attempt to reduce the heat. Shortly thereafter several people going mad from dehydration and heat leapt into the lake, thinking it would save them. As the sun beamed down, the crystal clear water amplified the light reaching the bottom of the lake, more shallow this day than ever before. The sandy bottom began to glint and shimmer, and the water began to boil the people alive.

The wind died, clouds could not be seen, and the only respite the people had left was to cower in their homes and wait. As the sun passed its zenith, with reflections from the surface of the lake, the sand of the homes had begun to turn to glass as well. Many had fainted from heat exhaustion or died already, but with their homes turned into lenses, the very blood of each person boiled in their own bodies, burst, evaporated, and fused with the glass of the structures they died in.

The next day, when the sun rose as normal, the city had been turned to black glass. A beautiful yet horrific memorial to the people who first dared to settle in such a barren place. The boiling of the lake had rendered the water drinkable, though for many years chunks of glass were found longed in the bottom, preventing plant growth and other life. Over time some has been cleared and some life has returned to the lake, as well as new settlers to the city.

For about 300 years, Bleakburn has been home to new generations of proud cauldron-folk. The palace is the only structure to stand above three stories, and seems to loom darker over the city, giving it an ominous appearance. It's a hard life here, and the queen wishes more for her people.