Cauldomo is a developed, but rural domain in the central-east of Amusa.
| Primary Race | Human, Dragonborn, Halflings |
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Weather
Settled directly in the corner of Quelmar where the Earth and Fire elemental planes meet, Cauldomo (and most of Amusa) tend to have cool, temperate weather and an autumnal climate for three out of the four years in a seasonal cycle.
This long autumn combined with the warm temperature of the soil make Cauldomo ideal for growing autumnal crops such as corn and wheat, but especially for autumnal vegetables such as beans, onions, zucchini, and lettuce.
Local Economy
Agriculture
Like its neighbor, Wistness, farming is the main means for the majority of Cauldomo's residents. Cauldomo citizens pride themselves in their work, and fall crops are Cauldomo's main export by bulk. This reliance has caused Cauldomians to invent and create new farming techniques and technologies which are often made in Dolina and then shipped across the Material Plane.
Tourism
Much to the chagrin of the locals, painters, musicians, and other artists often flock to the rolling green hills in northern Cauldomo to gain inspiration for their latest pastoral or landscape. Additionally, the proximity of Cauldomo to the Fire and Earth elemental border makes natural hot springs common in the area which draws even more visitors. Thus, a smaller, but still significant portion of Cauldomians (especially in the north) make their way not by farming, but by catering to these tourists either heading to, or coming from, Galik.
Local History
The Gourd Guard
During the Holy War, dragons did not make as far inland to the area that is now Cauldomo as they did to the coasts, especially near Luggland. Unfortunately, this means that the guards in the area were less prepared and were sent less resources than those their coastal allies. Generally, this was not an issue and the guards and residents were happy with their luck.
One day, however, this 'luck' turned to horror when the great Orange scourge of Amusa, Xevriss the Destroyer of Gourds, descended on the area. The guards ran to their posts, but found they were out of ammunition for their trebuchets. Fortunately, one quick thinking soldier thought to load them with the local crops: giant pumpkins.
As each shot rang out, Xevriss became heavier and heavier as he devoured each one. Xevriss gradually lost altitude as his belly grew until eventually, he drifted to the earth and fell into a deep sleep.
Upon awakening, Xevriss found the biggest pumpkin he had ever seen awaiting him with a small note attached reading:
"Great Xevriss, Devourer of Gourds,
We have left here an offering to your might. Just west of here there is a great swamp and a greater cavern beneath with many more like this if you so wish to endulge yourself at our disposal. If you so choose to stay, a delivery of gourds the likes of which you have never seen will come every fourth day."
Xevriss took the area up on their offer and made a lair of the swamp and cavern below, pleased with his twist of fate.
Of course, every few weeks, the great dragon would emerge and stage and half-hearted attack on the surrounding areas as long as gourds continued to be used as ammo and the area until eventually being called North to Osugbo by his Dragonkind to fight the Northern War.
Thus, the Gourd Guard became so named and written as an important contribution to the Amusa Dragon Campaign during the Holy War.
The Teleportation Circle
During the Holy War and subsequent Realm War, many of Cauldomo's then neighbors outlawed, and outright hunted Dragonborn, Lizardfolk, and other such reptilian species. During the war, this was often done to raise troop morale while fighting the giant beasts of legend, but after the war, it was instead an act of revenge against Dragonkind for destroying much of their land and many of their communities. While Dragonborn were not officially outlawed in the region which is now Cauldomo, residents despised them as symbols of the opposition in the war and they were often driven out of towns and communities.
Therefore, to escape persecution from the rest of the continent, the Dragonborn and other Lizardfolk formed a domain in the West called Dolina. However, getting to Dolina was not a simple task for Dragonborn in the East and if caught unprepared, refugee Dragonborn would often be at the mercy of strangers during their trek to Dolina. Initially started by a small town in central Amusa, the Teleportation Circle was a solution to this problem.
At first, the Circle was simply a pool of money put together by locals in order to pay a magic user to teleport Dragonborn from the East to Dolina. However, as the war raged on, finding the money and a willing magic user became more and more difficult. This resulted in the locals resorting to smuggling Dragonborn across borders and eventually into Dolina, so they set up a series of stops, called "Circles", across the continent where they would be safe on their journey.
The region that is now Cauldomo was rife with these safe havens and many small towns and cities still have the underground infrastructure such as caves and tunnels where Dragonborn were held and transported. One small city along the bay named Nestle even historically ran a ferry across the water to the shores of Dolina during this time.
Local Customs
The Harvest Festival
Due to the importance of the harvest to the Cauldomo economy and livelihood, the region has a domain-wide harvest celebration at the end of the third year of every autumn cycle in conjunction with the domain of Wistness. During this festival, residents compete in array of competitions, such as the largest vegetable, gourd carving, cook-offs, and more.
The most popular of these events completes the festival and is honor of The Gourd Guard as they have become lovingly called over the centuries. During this event, each municipality of Cauldomo and Wistness is allowed to submit one trebuchet of their creation and five gourds. The goal of the event is to catapult the gourds towards a distant target. Two awards are given out at the end of the event: one for catapulting the gourds the farthest and one for most accurately hitting the target.
As Wistness and Cauldomo alike have fairly large populations, is ruled that only one entrant from each town may participate in each event (aside from the The Gourd Guard, which is one team per municipality). How the town decides who gets to compete is up to them. Thus, it is common in the months leading up to the domain-wide Harvest Festival for towns to host local competitions in order to determine who is most qualified to represent them. These smaller festivals often include variant rules to the state competitions, or include events that don't exist at the domain-wide level at all. See Nestle's Harvest Festival as an example.
Thermal Heating
Due to its placement near the Fire and Earth elemental border, the ground in around the southern part of Amusa is quite warm. Therefore, it is common is Cauldomo, as well as other states in Amusa, to have thermal heating in homes and buildings. The idea is said to have been developed by a Dragonborn who dug secret tunnels for the Underground Causeway and noticed that the air in the tunnels was always significantly warmer than the air above. However, there is no record of their invention and the story lives on as legend. The legend has also served as the foundational inspiration for the creation of the Cauldomo Institute of Technology. The institute mainly focusses on improving the existing thermal heating infrastructure of the region, as well developing new heat and steam based technologies to support Cauldomo's agricultural and defense industries.
