Population: 3,300
Overview: City of medusas
Key NPCs: Sheshka (female medusa warlord)
Long ago, Cazhaak Draal was a major metropolis of the Empire of Dhakaan. It was destroyed in a conflict with the daelkyr Orlassk, who unleashed deadly creatures and curses on the region. In 778 YK, a group of medusa settlers emerged from Khyber and took possession of the ancient city. Today, Cazhaak Draal is the center of medusa culture in Droaam. While the medusas are few in number, their intelligence, discipline, and deadly power make them valuable allies for the Daughters of Sora Kell. The medusas support the Daughters’ vision for a united Droaam, and they have helped to keep the more savage elements of the nation in line; even a troll will watch its temper around a medusa. Beyond this, the medusas of Cazhaak Draal are capable magewrights and especially talented stoneworkers. Across Droaam, medusa architects are devising the blueprints for the growing cities of the young nation.
Cazhaak Draal lies in a region called the Stonelands. This is a harsh land in the foothills of the Byeshk Mountains, infested with cockatrices, basilisks, and other dangerous monstrosities. Once, the land was fertile; the curses of Orlassk petrified everything, and now there are stone trees and grass. In some regions, the curse holds and nothing grows, but elsewhere the stone trees are encircled by living ivy and grasses. The medusas have an affinity for the monstrosities and ways to deal with the widespread stone, so they have prospered here. None of the other inhabitants of Droaam have ever tried to challenge them for this bleak territory; aside from pilgrims devoted to the Dark Six, most creatures shun the Stonelands.
While the bulk of the population is concentrated in Cazhaak Draal, there are a handful of small communities scattered around the Stonelands—monasteries, basilisk ranches, and a few farms. There are few inns in the Stonelands, but many medusas will offer a traveler shelter as long as they’re civil.
The original metropolis of Cazhaak Draal was a sprawling city with tens of thousands of goblinoid inhabitants. The modern city occupies just a fraction of the original. Over the centuries, the medusas have explored the old city, but they have largely left the petrified Dhakaani in place. When you walk through the outer rings of Cazhaak Draal, you can experience the moment that the city fell. The inner city has been entirely rebuilt, using curving serpentine designs and patterns that showcase medusa stonework. Like the mountains near the town of Quickstone, the Stonelands include significant deposits of quickstone, and the architects of Cazhaak Draal are quite adept at working with this material.
The medusas of Cazhaak Draal are a spiritual people, so much so that their traditions of worship have become the dominant religion in the region. Cazhaak Draal includes a grand temple devoted to the Dark Six, along with smaller shrines devoted to each individual member of the six. These shrines are spread around the inner city, so that pilgrims can visit their chosen shrine without having to enter the city proper. There are also a number of monasteries and anchorite cells spread around the Stonelands, where medusa mystics contemplate the mysteries of the Six.
The primary inhabitants of Cazhaak Draal are the medusas, with a strong secondary population of gargoyles; only Grimstone Keep has a larger population of gargoyles. Most other creatures find the Stonelands to be harsh and frightening; prior to the unification of Droaam, devoted pilgrims would travel to the Shrines of the Six, but few would remain. With the establishment of the new nation, Queen Sheshka has encouraged members of other species to come to Cazhaak Draal. There is a growing kobold population, along with a contingent of humans and tieflings from the Venomous Demesne. Both gargoyles and medusas are long lived but have a slow rate of reproduction; now that the population is increasing, they are beginning to reclaim the ruins around the inner city and expand Cazhaak Draal.