Technically, Southport is the little fishing village by the river docks at the mouth of the river in the Dragon River Canyon.
It is overlooked by Dragonsbane keep, which is starting to overgrow it's outer walls and sprawl into the surrounding farmland, including a small area of heavier industry just outside the walls to the 'North'.
Starflower Academy ... whose humble beginnings are now hidden by extravagant architecture and crowded, vertically stacked, canyons of student accommodations, workshops and classrooms, is just over the two rivers to the 'South-West'. It has it's own larger docks, and is isolated in a little side-pocket in the canyon, which is possibly an ex-quarry and the source of the stone used to build the Dragons Tail Ramp... if local legends are to be believed...!
The Academy and the Keep work together to staff the watchtowers spread along the coast and maintain the mechanisms that, when activated, become a spiderweb of energy that can detect and befuddle anyone who is not welcome.
Just 'north' of the village is the 'Dark tower', surrounded by a little patch of forest that no one dares enter... Except perhaps, once a generation, a few youngsters will dare each other to explore. They return changed, strangely mature & refuse to talk about what happened... So it is not generally known what is really in there. Plenty of folk who never entered the forest will speculate given half a chance though. If you look down from the cliffs above, all you see is an ordinary looking tower in a clearing in the heart of the forest.
Behind the Dark tower is a small cave - an alternative access route up to the keep for those that fear the more open stairs. This is also access to the Crypt Caverns.
'East' of the village is a cave that leads to the Watch-Tower at the top of the Dragon's Tail Ramp, as well as accessing under the Tail to the coast ... a relatively safe swimming spot thaqt is popular on summer afternoons. There may or may not be secret tunnels accessing the basement of the Dragon's Tail Tavern (just near the road from the Watch-Tower), and possibly some going all the way to the crypt caverns.
In the far 'South-West' is a larger cave opening, which is used as part of the student initiation process. At the end of their novice studies, they are shipped around to the cave.... to graduate and become apprentices, they must find their way back to the academy through the maze of caverns riddling the cliffs ... which are home to many interesting things.
As usual, you will all make up your own stories and names for the map and decide if it is a high fantasy or futuristic sci-fi setting, or something else entirely ;-)
... but those were the ideas running through my mind as I created it.
I would love to hear about what ideas you come up with sometime.
Happy exploring :-)
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settlement port canyon
city village town
coast coastal greyscale
river cliff river mouth
keep castle fort
fantasy school university
mage magic acadamy
docks city docks port town
caves caverns night
rocky cliff coastal town
region cliff fort cliff town
fog mist sea mist
snow frost winter
village town settlement
city hamlet community
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