Caerton was founded two millennia ago by some of the most pioneering settlers ever. When Humans began to expand beyond Emho, the pattern remained relatively the same; a group of settlers would leave the city, travel a distance until they reached a suitable site for a new settlement, and begin to inhabit that area. Then, when the town became large enough, the process would repeat. When a particular group of settlers got together however, they decided to travel as far as they possibly could. It took them nearly 10 months, traveling out of human territory, through Elf and Dwarf, and finally coming upon the Great Divide, an enormous river, where shore could barely be seen from the other riverbank. And so Caerton was founded. Without contact with other Human settlements, Caerton evolved on its own, but as they had spent months in Elven forests, they had become quite proficient at it (as the Human language was little more than �easy Elvish�, it was hardly any transition), so until the Great Bleed, Caerton, and its smaller branch off villages, used Elvish as a primary language, finding it more efficient than the Human tongue, if a little bit more complicated (to this day, the Upper-Class of the east uses Elven occasionally, but the number of people who know it are slowly dying out). Not only the language, but the architecture and scripting came unto its own as well. Constructed out of wood and stone, the buildings of Caerton outshone even those of Emho, five, ten, even twenty, levels tall. The population of Caerton was never successfully counted, but it was well into the tens of thousands. And the greatest achievement, the capital building, rising fifteen levels in a cylinder, branching out to a dome, another five levels tall, it is the tallest building in all the Yeterian Plain, and at the top, a sort of flagpole, larger though, with a constantly burning lantern. It is a great honor to be the lamp lighter, for the lantern is a beacon for travelers.
It is also a beacon to merchants, who line the streets selling food, clothing, and merchandise. There is many a rich man who has made his living off of the streets of Caerton. The city�s coffers are rich, and it is also a great harbor for those traveling along and across the Great Divide. It even has its own garrison of soldiers to protect the city, 1,000 strong. A rare occurrence, for only simple squads guard towns, only Emho itself has such a garrison. It is little wonder why citizens across the east call it the �city of opportunity�.
Or they did yesterday.
Now Caerton is a darkened wasteland, like some ancient ruin. The great monoliths that once populated the city, have crumbled, collapsed, and shattered like glass. Only a handful of structures still stand, not one is intact. Smoldering fires burn throughout the city, fueled by corpses that line the streets like sand, only a few are still recognizable as Human, the rest burned away.
On the outskirts of the city, the huts which housed the lower class are gone, flattened, or in cinders. The once merry dwellers, visitors, merchants, and sailors are gone. The soldiers cannot be found, but the barracks which housed them is caved in, a piece missing, like a sandcastle kicked through.
And at the top of the capital building, one of the few structures still standing, the lantern which was once a signal to weary travelers, is out. The only evidence as to what caused the destruction on the only wall of the city still standing are three large streaks, claw marks, left by something. But they fade from sight as the gloom of night rolls in overhead.