A man in a heavy breastplate sits and nervously shuffles papers.
"Ah, adventurers! Welcome to Fort Dranlon. I'm Captain Rosie."
"I look after this fort. This is the front against the slith menace, the first line of defense."
0
fort
0
"Fort Dranlon. It's worn and cracked, but still standing steady."
0
slith
0
"The Slithzerikai. Nasty warriors. Powerful mages. They batter the walls with fireballs, trying to knock them down. Fortunately, we have a mage to repair them." He grunts. "If only we knew what they were planning."
0
mage
0
"Mairwen. She fills the holes with magic barriers. Weren't for her, this fort would have fallen long ago."
0
plans
105
1
stnd
0
You see a short woman with long, curly brown hair and a very broad smile.
"Hi there! I'm Mairwen the mage!" (pronounced Mire-wen) "Welcome to my little home."
"Oh, I don't know. Working with the army, I suppose. Getting to see lots of sliths, really close up."
1
army
0
"I lend them a fireball here, a haste spell there. At least that's what I do some of the time. Most of the time, I put up magic barriers."
1
barrier
0
"Yeah. You see, the sliths have a lot of mages. They've been hitting the wall with spells, trying to knock it down. I fill the holes with barriers. Then, when need be, I dispel them."
1
dispel
106
1
slith
0
"Yep. They have really admirable mages. You know, I've heard a prisoner talk about an amazing tome they own."
1
tome
0
"Yeah. A prisoner told me, swore up and down, that their mages have this powerful tome in their fort nearby, in the swamp. I wish I could meet someone who could steal it."
1
steal
106
2
stnd
0
An amazingly heavily built man, clad in iron armor, shuffles crates around behind the counter.
"I'm Sylow."
"I'm the outfitter here. I keep the soldiers in armor and stuff. I also have supplies for travellers who have the bad luck of being passing through."
2
supplies
0
"Well, you can buy food from me. Have plenty of spare rations. I have some missiles, if you need more." His voice gets quieter. "I also have some, umm... tools."
2
purch
0
"Food or missiles? Or perhaps a few tools?"
2
food
11
2
6
2
missile
7
Sylow's supplies
11
13
2
tools
12
Sylow's 'tools'
4
5
3
stnd
0
A young man in white armor with an ankh design on the chest greets you. He has a fresh scar on his forehead.
"I'm Toddric." He smiles, then winces. Apparently, the scar still smarts.
"I provide healing for the soldiers of the fort, and passers-by. I also occasionally help in the fighting." He touches the scar gingerly.
3
heal
20
3
fight
0
"I'm afraid so. I'm not too good at it. Not too long ago, a slith swung one of those nasty two-prong spears at me, and I didn't duck quite fast enough. Tell the truth, I'd rather be in a nice quiet chapel somewhere. Or travelling."
3
travel
0
"I love to travel. I've even been to the north. There's a huge cave up there. It's dangerous to go to, because of the spiders, but the sights are wonderful. My main goal is to see the crystal cave."
3
spider
0
"Not the dumb poisonous ones. Intelligent, nasty ones with magic powers. Aranea, they're called. There's this spire near the swamp in the cave to the north, and they live all around it. Scary things. Avoid them if you can."
3
cave
0
"I've only heard of it. Around here there's supposed to be this really hard to find cave, just filled with these humming quartz crystals. I've heard it's damaged, and not what it once was, but it's still a sight."
4
stnd
0
A heavy set woman with blue robes and a staff watches the river carefully. She has a serious expression and short brown hair.
She whispers "Shh. I'm Sianonn. Be quiet. I have to listen."
"Watching for sliths. Be very quiet."
4
sliths
0
"We have to keep the dock here to get supplies by boat. But the sliths approach underwater. Usually I only hear the littlest noise before they come up. Shhh."
25
stnd
0
You see one of the fort's soldiers.
"Marlon."
"I guard unceasingly against the slith menace. I also steadfastly maintain my lack of individuality in order to be a more efficient killing machine."
25
slith
0
"A menace against which we must be ever vigilant."
