Gorgana is an old penal colony located far from civilization. It is only feasibly approachable by airship due to the treacherous rocky desert that lies between the impassible mountain range which Gorgana is located next to and the nearest settlement to the far east.
To say that the inhabitants are truly criminals would be wrong, as the original inhabitants have all died except for an old crippled elf named Kurúki. In fact a majority of the population are actually descendents of criminals, political dissendents, and prisoners of war which are predominately what get sent here. The original group were brought here to the remains of an ancient city built into the mountain walls and next to a large stone wall that seals off the valley beyond. Strangely the wall has never had a opening built into it but does have three mechanisms to lower a platform down the one hundred feet from its top to the ground on the other side. The housing for the mechanism is ancient stone, while the mechanism and the materials its made of are not. Basically the community maintains these mechanisms in order to more safely make excursions into valley beyond.
The players will be those youthful individuals having gain the designation of explorer. Explorers are those tasked with delving deeper into the valley to find treasures. They are well thought of by the community as they are the life's blood of the community. For what they bring back is what eventually gets traded to the erratic arriving airships in exchange for valuable equipment and supplies not obtainable by the community.