The City of Cauldron

The City of Cauldron was first introduced in 2003 in Dungeon Magazine as part of its Shackled City Adventure Path series of adventures. The City of Cauldron, as presented here is directly inspired by that original version of the city of Cauldron; but significant elements of it have been modified to better fit this campaign setting. The description of the city of Cauldron that follows is wholly original for this campaign setting. The map shown here is a newly drawn, customized maps with a number of elements changed from the original.

The Oleborian version the map of Cauldron is essentially still compatible with the original adventure path; but you will likely want to use the original descriptions and histories from the Shackled City Adventure Path - either the series published in Dungeon Magazine, or the Collected Edition of the Adventure Path published by Paizo in 2007.

Click on the map to open a bigger version.

The City of Cauldron is so named because it is built within the caldera of a long dormant volcano.

The City of Cauldron is almost perfectly circular; it is encircled by a 50-foot tall wall of black malachite, providing the city’s main protection from invasion.

The town’s buildings are built from volcanic rock and wood, and are tightly packed along streets that form concentric circles around a small lake of cold water that fills the centre of the caldera’s basin. The streets provide access to the plateaus on which the buildings are built; which step down from the higher outer rim of the volcanic basin, to the lower lake at the center of the basin. In some areas, living spaces or small shops are built into carved out niches of the cliff faces of the city's plateaus. Laneway ramps facilitate movement up or down from street to street.

The city’s outer rim tends to be occupied by the city’s wealthier citizens, and by upper class folk. As one approaches the center of town (and the pungent odors of the central lake), the shoddier the buildings become and the more dangerous the dark alleys.

Centuries ago, a volcano, in it’s last violent throes of eruption overflowed with lava which settled at the pinnacle of the volcano’s mouth. As the lava cooled, it contracted and receded into a shallow depression with a shaft through the center, reaching deep into the bowels of the dying volcano.

Eventually, over time, the volcano’s funnel-like shaft filled with water, and the caldera became an excellent location for a settlement.

The City of Cauldron was founded by a colony of halflings, gnomes, and a few human and humanoid supporters and friends. The halflings had taken voluntary exile from their lands in Darkholme as the line of evil monarchs in that realm ever increasingly showed more disdain and prejudice towards the halfling and gnomish races.

The city of Cauldron is located in the realm of Gentry, a far more idyllic realm than Darkholme. The tolerant and accepting folk of Gentry gladly accepted the halflings and gnomes as new citizens to their realm, and a thriving city was born.

The city that was erected on the caldera's surface was designed with an eye towards multi-racial living; though the majority of it is built primarily to human size. The vast majority of the humans and halflings settled in the new city.

The bulk of the gnomish settlement was built underground within the mountain of the dead volcano. Several natural cavern complexes were found under the caldera's surface. The gnomes explored some of these and built their settlement within, expanding and refining the underground complexes in which they settled.

It wasn't long before the city began to prosper; the area was quite resource rich. This prosperity attracted numerous settlers and immigrants of many varied races and origins.

Soon after the founding of Cauldron, during the initial surge in immigration to Cauldron, a few clans of Drawves arrived to settle in the area. They had heard of the founding of Cauldron and the underground complexes that existed under the caldera. Like their gnomish cousins, they explored some of the uninhabited (or more accurately un-claimed) cavern complexes, and eventually refined and expanded those they settled in.

Over time, the inhabitants of the city, with significant help from the dwarves, built the fortifications, and walls that now encircle the city; during this time, the city's population continued to grow until it swelled to its current population.

• Area: 0.412 sq.mi. (1.056km²)
• Height of Fortification Walls: 50ft. (15m)

• Population: 27,000 (within the walls, city's surface), 35,000 (including mountainside, and subterranean complexes)
• Humans: 77%
• Halflings: 9%
• Gnomes: 5%
• Dwarves: 5%
• Elves: 2%
• Half-elves: 1%
• Other: 1% (the bulk of that 1% includes primarily Half-orc, Dragonborn, Tiefling)

Cauldron has four main streets forming concentric circles around the city; from the outer rim inwards, they are Obsidian Avenue, Magma Avenue, Lava Avenue, and Ash Avenue.

The city is divided into four quadrants. The quadrant boundaries run radially from the center of the city outward along the intermediate cardinal points (i.e.: NE, SE, SW, NW); this puts the boundary lines fairly closely in line with the four Guard Towers on the city Wall. These boundaries form four sections that are centered on the cardinal points of the compass. Most city residents refer to street addresses with a direction, such as North Magma Avenue, to make directions within the city easier to find.

Most buildings within the city possess a numeric address that helps locate them within the city, theoretically facilitating travel and business within the city. Ironically, many folks’ lives are so routine that they do not pay much attention to the numeric addresses within the city and rely on landmarks and routine to get around the city.

The numeric addresses begin at the north cardinal point, which is demarked by the North Gate; from this point addresses start at number One, and increment at regular distances in a clockwise fashion. The odd numbers are always assigned to buildings on the wallward side of the street, and the even numbers are always assigned to buildings on the lakeward side of the street. Due to the chaotic manner in which buildings are built within the city, some locations have fractional addresses, or sometimes also alphabetical suffixes. Each street possesses boundary posts that mark the boundary between quadrants.

Just as every street is named, so too is every ramp lane that leads from one street up or down to the next. Lanes are named according to a theme depending on the streets the laneways connect. Decorations have been installed denoting the name of the laneway; but in many instances those decorations have fallen into disrepair.

The four lanes leading from the city gates to Obsidian Avenue are all named after the gates to which they are connected; they are: Northgate Lane, Eastgate Lane, Southgate Lane, and Westgate Lane.

The seven lanes leading from Obsidian Avenue down to Magma Avenue are named after the more prominent deities worshipped in the city. Starting from the northernmost lane clockwise, they are: Vulca’s Lane, Siddarthus’ Lane, Fargalan’s Lane, Paladyne’s Lane, Anariel’s Lane, Catharse’s Lane, and Xara’s Lane.

The lanes leading from Magma Avenue down to Lava Avenue are named after various adventurous professions. Again, starting from the northernmost lane clockwise, they are: Ranger’s Lane, Cleric’s Lane, Wizard’s Lane, Rogue’s Lane, and Bard’s Lane.

The lanes leading from Lava Avenue down to Ash Avenue are named after common adventuring items. From the northernmost lane clockwise, they are: Tankard Lane, Lantern Lane, Dagger Lane, and Grapple Lane.