Fire Lake
by WingofCootPopulation: 1,000
Demographics: 85% human, 15% Pyrithian
Government: Theocracy
Ruler: High Firekeeper Armose (C11)
Other Important Figures: Blazing Fire Daira (C9)
Fire Lake is a town originally settled by followers of the Paragon Ankhaten - humans from Deshret who followed a Fire elemental religion, in opposition to Deshret's ruling faith of Water.
In more recent times, various Pyrithian outcasts from the east have settled in the town and its surrounding villages. Most of these have at least nominally adopted the local faith, but many privately worship their own Immortals as well - others, however, reject the Pyrithian Immortals as part of the society and government they fled from.
The town is ruled by a clerical order that makes up about 5% of the population - the Order of Firekeepers. They worship Fire as an elemental force; their Immortal patrons are Ixion, the Elemaster of Fire, and Ankhaten himself. They see the hot-spring-fed lake the town is named after, and the igneous landscape of the region, as a proof of Fire's primacy - Fire produces Water, Earth, and Air.
In addition to their religious roles, the clerics are primarily responsible for the town's defense, healing, and administration. The captain of the guard is called the Blazing Fire.
The economy of the town is largely self-sufficient. The main food source is fishing, supplemented by grain, vegetables, fruit, and nuts from farms and orchards. Fiber crops are also grown. The lakeside forests provide wood. Obsidian, abundant in local rocks, is used for some tools. Metal is hard to obtain in this remote area; tools and weapons brought by exiles generations ago are still used and preserved.