Cauldron
The city of Cauldron is located in the caldera of a long-dormant volcano in eastern Chult not far from the Shining Sea. It is surrounded by mountains (to the north and south) and jungles (to the east and west). The city has a population of approximately 10,000 humanoids (79% of which are humans). Its economy is based upon the mines and plantations surrounding the city; most of its food and textiles come from trade with neighboring cities.
History
The human presence in Cauldron began about 700 years ago. At this time, a powerful mage named Surabar Spellmason led a small army inland from the recently founded city of Sasserine. He founded Redgorge, and later Cauldron -- but first, he fought to rid the region of an ancient demonic taint. The events of this battle are re-enacted every year at the Demonskar Ball.
After Spellmason confirmed that the extinct volcano posed no danger to settlers, the settlement of Cauldron thrived, since its caldera provided both natural defenses and a supply of fresh water. Precious metals were discovered beneath the surface, attracting communities of gnomes (who founded Jhadrizune) and dwarves (who build the Malachite Fortress). These communities mostly departed in the last 200 years, for reasons unknown.
Politics and Society
Cauldron is an electorate. All citizens who own land (or who can successfully petition their equivalent value to the city) are eligible to vote. The current elected leader is Lord Mayor Severen Navalant; he works with a council of noblemen to govern and administer the city.
Cauldron's aristocracy is composed of a handful of independently wealthy families who trace their lineage to the foundation of the city (they are called the First Families), and a number of nouveau riche entrepeneurs and merchants. The city's prosperous middle class is composed mostly of merchants, while the lower classes work as peasants, laborers, or mercenaries.
Geography
The city is defined by a series of concentric thoroughfares at various heights. The highest and broadest street is Obsidian Avenue, followed by Magma Avenue, Lava Avenue, and finally Ash Avenue, which encircles Crater Lake. The general social class of the inhabitants decreases as one moves closer to the centre of the city. Since most of Cauldron's side streets are stepped, or paved at steep angles, the city is not friendly to horses or other livestock.
During the rainy season the central lake overflows, often putting the lower rings of the city at risk for flooding. The yearly Lowering of the Waters ceremony uses rituals of control water to reduce the risk.
Cauldron’s buildings, tightly packed and built from volcanic rock and wood, line the inner bowl of a nameless, dormant volcano. Cobblestone roads form concentric circles around a small but deep lake of cold water, which fills the volcano’s basin. Although the town’s sewage seeps into the lake, local clerics routinely purify the water for the citizens in exchange for charitable donations to their temples.
A 50-foot-tall fortified wall of black malachite encircles the city, tracing the outer rim of the volcano. Four roads descent the volcano’s slopes, becoming major thoroughfares that lead to other towns and distant realms. The regions nearer the rim of the city tend to be occupied by upper class families and elite merchants. The closer one gets to the center of town (And the closer to the often pungent odors of the central lake), the shoddier the construction and the more dangerous its dark alleys become.
Citizenship and Taxes
All inhabitants of Cauldron that own a building, or are part of a family that owns a building, is a citizen regardless of economic status. Most Cauldronites have a simple malachite ring made or given to them when they reach the age of majority. The ring always bears the symbol of the city, a mountain with a chunk taken out of the top, inside which is fitted a staring eye. Nobles often purchase very elaborate rings, or have extravagant broaches made to show their citizenship.
Taxes in Cauldron are light. Citizens play a flat tax of 1gp per year, usually at the year end holidays. Merchants and nobility are charged a 5% income tax over the course of the year. There is a 1sp gate tax charged for any non-citizen entering one of the gates. Monthly gate passes can be purchased for 1gp, and the purchasers must submit to a rigorous background examination.
Getting Around Town
Most people get around Cauldron on foot, although the town has its share of wagons and carriages, most of them owned by merchants and nobles.
Trade
Cauldron’s major exports come from two sources: mines and plantations. Both industries are based in the hills surrounding the city, and are managed by the various noble families who live in the area. Obsidian and diamonds are the primary products mined in the region. Plantations usually produce sugarcane and coffee. Many of those who dwell in the city itself are either merchants, scholars, or workers in the mines and plantations in the lowlands. Water is never scarce in town, but most of the city’s food must be imported from outside of the Cauldron area since the local fishing and farming enterprises are meager at be