When Alkenstar disappeared, the residents of Martel knew their town wasn't going to last long. The survivors fled, some joining up with nomadic groups spread across the Wastes but most seeking refuge in Cloudreaver Keep. Martel itself was abandoned, and over a thousand years the town fell into ruin and was swallowed by the sands.
The land where Martel once stood remained empty until a few decades into the Age of Renewal, when a group of scouts from Nex chose it as the optimal site to establish a new outpost. They constructed a small town with modest housing and a few basic amenities, and surrounded it with walls and defenses. Soldiers and their families moved into the newly-dubbed "Nextown," and they've remained there ever since, observing the Wastes from within and causing low-level anxiety for every other settlement who isn't sure what designs Nex has on their homeland.
As a new generation has been born and raised in Nextown, though, some of the younger residents have begun to rankle against their military parents. Many of the children born in Nextown view the Mana Wastes as their home, not Nex, and some have started adopting an anti-authoritarian politics that their soldier parents find more than a little distressing. The most openly defiant of these have begun calling themselves "Wasters," and they make a habit of defacing buildings around Nextown and terrorizing stodgy military officials using Gadget Skates smuggled in from Pranee's Forge. Lance Donnel, the Ward of Nextown, has been assigned to quell the unrest, but this has only made him a target for harassment, sabotage, and vandalism by bored young adults with little better to do. If things continue as they are, he may be authorized to employ lethal force, and he's looking forward to that day eagerly.
So far, little has changed for Nextown in the wake of Alkenstar's reappearance. There are rumors, though, that this might be about to change. In the immediate aftermath of the first shardstorms, shelters were built across the town to protect the citizens from falling shards. There are rumors that Nex has been collecting any shards that have fallen on the town, and reports of soldiers leaving the walls to break apart and collect any crystal formations in the surrounding area. Nex is almost certain to take an interest in the shards and relics that have appeared in the ruins of Alkenstar. And when they're ready to make a move, Nextown is likely to serve as a staging ground for whatever they intend to do.