You see a big, scarred man. The reddish puckers of his scars stand out starkly against his fishy-white skin.
"I'm Erik Scarhead. First name, mom gave me. Last name, I earned for myself."
"I give people training. Then they can go end up like me."
0
train
9
1
stnd
0
There is a middle-aged woman wearing a huge steel breastplate behind the counter.
"I'm Anastasia. Efram's wife."
"I deal in armor. You can buy some here, if you have the cash, or sell some, if you don't."
1
armor
0
"You'll need it, if you plan to travel around down here. Don't count on getting any iron or steel armor, though. Damn expensive. Hard to make down here. Leather's cheap, though. Bronze is OK. And magic? Forget it."
1
magic
0
"The mages down here, such as they are, have a really tough time making magic armor. Potions and scrolls, sure. But armor? Almost never."
1
purchase
5
Anastasia's Armor
0
7
1
sell
6
1
Efram
0
"He sells weapons two stores down. Ask him about 'Demonslayer.'" She chuckles.
2
stnd
0
Behind the counter is a very small man with a very big sword.
"I'm Efram." He shifts his weight so his sword turns towards you, and smiles.
"You can buy or sell weapons here. Don't have much of a stock out here - hard to get good metal. But we do our best."
2
purchase
7
Efram the Weaponsmith
0
7
2
sell
8
2
demon
0
He grins wildly, and slaps his scabbard. "This is Demonslayer." It is an iron greatsword, of impressive aspect. "Well, I haven't really slain any demons with it. It's the best sword in these parts, but its not the genuine article.
2
genuine
0
"Well, I don't know too much about it, but once a bunch of adventurers and soldiers came down here. Got killed off, to a man and woman. And one of them, someone told me once, had this amazing demon slaying sword. That was a while ago."
He thinks. "Of course, then again, he may just have been jealous of my sword. Guys are like that."
3
stnd
0
The barkeep busily polishes the counter. He's tall, and has a very ambitious beard.
"Gary."
"I sell drinks. One gold. You can also get a room for the night. Five gold. We have a nice room available." He polishes for a bit. "Oh! And for 10 gold, I can help you with item storage."
3
storage
10
"Give me 10 gold, and I'll tell you."
"Sure, I'll watch your extra stuff for you. Put it in the room down the hall, the one with the crate in it. I'll guard it with my employee's lives." He grimaces. "Make sure you leave the stuff inside the room, though. Anywhere else, and I can't watch it!"
10
3
drink
10
"Hmmph. No credit."
"Here ya go." It's some sort of beer, made of fermented fungus. Strangely, bizarrely, almost horrifyingly, it's good.
1
3
room
4
"I said, a stay is 5 gold pieces."
8
19
4
stnd
0
This is a young, well built man. He is weighed down with two heavy duffel bags.
"I'm Jay." He puts down one of the bags to shake your hands.
"None, now. I'm kind of a refugee."
2
sword
0
"Ah! That's 'Demonslayer'"
4
refugee
0
"Well, I was a farmhand at Fort Duvno. That's some 20 miles to the north. But then the nephilim started coming south, and I decided to move to more hospitable territory."
4
nephil
0
"Yeah, the cat-heads are starting trouble again. They're building sort of a fort at the north end of this huge cave. It's small now, but nobody's doing anything about it, and it'll be big soon. Then, watch out!"
"Hmm. You could find out a lot more about it at Fort Duvno. Go east to Fort Exile, then north."
5
stnd
0
A man in battered armor seems to be drinking himself into a stupor.
"I'm Chuck." His words are slurred, and vomit seems to be soon in coming.
"Mercenary."
5
merc
0
"Yeah. Fighting the cat-heads. Then the sliths. Then the cat heads. Then the sliths. Hell, I've been beat up by everybody. I'm on vacation now. Go away."
5
island
0
"Huh? Oh. Yeah, the sliths boss lives in this big, big hummin' island fort. Saw it while runnin' away once." For a moment, his mind seems to clear. "Ya' know, we saw its south side. Some of them were goin' into it there."
"Funny thing, though, we never saw a door there."
6
stnd
0
You see a burly man, wearing a belt covered with tools.
"I'm Krantz. Pleased ta' meet ya'"
"I make boats. There's a big call for em' in these caves. You can get one for not much gold." He shakes his head. "Hope you do. The sliths have been hell for my business. Anyway, if you want to purchase one, say so. They're on sale. 350 gold."
6
purchase
21
6
slith
0
"There's droves of them to the west, on the other side of that huge lake, and they pretty much own it. People don't fish there anymore. Too risky. Of course, people also need boats to get to the Great Cave, to the south."
8
stnd
0
There is a pale woman working behind the counter. She has the jitters.
"I'm Carol, sort of." She smiles nervously.
"Well, you can buy rations. And I have some cows."
8
purch
11
1
6
8
cows
0
"Well, I try to take care of the poor dears. I'd love to sell you some milk." She chuckles, for no apparent reason. "But whenever I try to take care of them, I hear noises."
8
noises
0
"Yes, out behind my shop. Clunking and stuff. Makes me nervous." That much is obvious.
7
stnd
0
A man in nice, well-cut robes shuffles papers behind a desk. He seems pleased to see you.
"Mayor Jonathan Stellas. You can just call me Jonathan."
"I am the mayor of this fine city, and a member of the Exile Council. Keeps me busy."
7
mayor
0
"Yes. I settle the odd dispute. I order the troops. If and when we get attacked, I marshal the defenses. And I take care of the records. It's a lot of work."
7
council
0
"Yes. Exile has six large cities, and this is one of them. The mayors of each form a council, which co-rules with King Micah. It works very well, actually, and I'm proud to be a member."
7
records
0
"In the room to the west. Go help yourself. Not very interesting, true, but necessary. I keep track of everybody who comes to Exile I can find. Someday, people will want to know what happened down here, and when they do, our records will be here."
16
gnrc
0
"Moo."
17
gnrc
0
"Moo."
18
stnd
0
You look closer at the statue. It's cleaner than the others, and a much nicer piece of craftsmanship to boot. Then, it winks at you!
"No. Don't have one."
"I just stand here. Watch. Listen." It starts humming gently, unconcerned about your presence.
18
divu
0
"Don't have anything to say. Haven't heard a thing. Nope, nope, nope. Sorry." It resumes its humming.
25
stnd
0
You see a heavy set woman in heavy bronze armor, holding a halberd. Strangely, she looks exactly identical to all the other guards. You wonder why that is.
"I am Sue."
"Defending this city from all who try to mess it up. So watch yourself."
