A short bearded man is training a bunch of people. The training seems to involve a lot of shouting and abuse.
He strides forward to shake your hand. A student comes up behind him and starts to ask a question. He rounds on her and shouts "You are stupid! Shut up!" He then turns back to you. "I'm Starcap. Welcome to my school."
"I train all the substandard lumps of meat that pass through my door. Like you." He wanders off for a moment, to heap abuse on a student. The student survives. Barely.
0
train
9
1
stnd
0
A woman in a plain dress stands behind the counter. She is stunningly beautiful, except for scars running up and down her arms.
She nods demurely. "I am Jasmine. Welcome to my shop."
"I sell rations. You may buy them, for prices I'm sure you will find quite reasonable." Her smile turns slightly evil. "It causes me no sadness to see the lizards go."
1
purch
11
2
4
1
lizard
0
"Yes. Before I went into Exile, I tended sheep. Nice animals. Never tried to kill you. Lizards are as useful. They provide leather, and decent meat. But they're stupid, and vicious." She gives you a close look at the scars on her forearms. "Vicious!"
2
stnd
0
A tall, muscular man sits behind the counter, surrounded by piles of books.
"Greetings to you," he says in an intimidating baritone. "I am Julio, the explorer and sage."
"Mainly, I deal in potions and such. You can purchase them, and sell such things to me as well. Also, the things I have learned in my explorations enable me to identify items with some accuracy."
2
purch
12
Julio the sage
19
25
2
sell
13
2
identify
19
2
explor
0
His expression darkens suddenly. "I was thrown down here for, shall we say, opposing certain excesses of our town officials. I spent my first five years of exile looking for a way out. I found many blocked tunnels, came close to death many times."
He sighs, and his expression softens. "Finally, I gave up. But I do have a guess about that exit."
2
guess
0
"I explored the eastern tunnels, and wandered the caves of the north and south. No luck. But there are many areas to the west that humans have rarely, if ever, trod. A system of caves this large MUST have an escape route somewhere."
"If it is anywhere, it is west. And when someone finds it, I'm going. Even if I'm 90."
3
stnd
0
Sunk down behind the counter is a man so slight you're surprised he's not invisible. Sparse wispy hair is arranged on a rapidly balding pate. He smiles at you in a disturbingly toothy way.
"Welcome. I'm Dexter."
"I sell archery supplies. Mainly. Let me know if you want to purchase any."
3
purch
7
Dexter the fletcher
24
25
3
tools
0
He laughs, and checks to make sure the store is empty. "Yes. I sell certain, umm..., tools. And believe me, nobody is more adept in their use than I. Whenever you want any 'tools', just remind me you're an adventurer.
3
advent
12
Dexter's 'tools'
0
6
4
stnd
0
A tall, thin woman with lovely, long, brown hair tends bar.
"I am Rhiannon. Welcome, welcome, welcome." She seems far happier that you've arrived than she should.
"Well, you could buy some food - the merchants haven't quite bought us out of rations yet. The common room is full, I'm afraid. Merchants again. But the nice room is free, only 15 gold. And we have wine!"
4
food
11
3
6
4
room
3
Her smile momentarily fades. "I'm afraid you don't have the money."
10
10
4
wine
0
"Yes! Wonderful, wonderful wine! And even edible! Made by local farmers, and not much money for a bottle. It's in bottles! Bet you never thought you'd see booze in actual bottles again. And this is the only place you can get it!"
"Better buy some soon. I could sell out at any moment."
4
purch
12
Rhiannon
10
10
5
stnd
0
This is a statue of a bold Exile soldier, slain in action some time ago. It is also alive. You see its eyes move to look at you occasionally.
It says, very, very quietly, "I was, in life, Karak."
"I wait."
5
divulge
0
"Alas, I have heard nothing of interest."
6
stnd
0
You see a truly rare sight - a child. An actual little girl playing among the fungus and slime as if it was normal.
She smiles at you shyly. "I'm Kelly."
"Oh, just playing."
6
playing
0
"Yeah! With ... um ... my friends." She flashes you a mischievious smile.
6
friends
0
"Yeah! The statues! They're who I have to play with, so that's who I play with! This is where mommy puts me while she works!"
6
mommy
0
"Rhiannon is my mommy. Julio is my daddy. They do stuff!"
7
stnd
0
An archer sits at this table. A half empty bottle of wine sits in front of him.
He belches. "I'm Ramone."
"I'm on leave. I've been running raids against the sliths."
7
slith
0
He hawks, and spits on the floor. "Vicious bastards! Tough as nails, and smarter than the kitties! We've been trying to raid this fort they have in the swamp. It's like some major sacred temple, though. We couldn't get near it."
"Ach. I don't know how we humans are ever going to hit the island."
7
island
0
"Island! The slith leader, this, oh, I can't pronounce it, big slith, lives on an island to the northwest. King's looking for someone to hit it. Fat chance." He thinks. "I met someone who saw the island once. Name was Chuck. Probably dead now."
"We'll win this war, but it'll be a bloody, bloody business." He returns to his wine.
8
stnd
0
A heavy-set man with a moustache and very dark complexion is working at a bowl of stew and bottle of wine. He's dressed for travel.
"Greetings! Come join me!" He waves at an empty seat. "I'm Montgomery. Call me Monty."
"I'm a merchant, ya' see. I'm heading back up to Mertis, back from a run to Patrick's tower."
8
mertis
0
"Nice, peaceful farming town to the northeast. Hope to settle down there. Shrooms grow well, and they know how to treat a merchant."
8
tower
0
"Southwest. Archmage named Patrick runs a school there. Gloomy place now. His wife is sick. Not much hope for her. If someone could heal her, they'd pick up a pretty penny, but I'm not betting on it happening."
9
stnd
0
A short, strong woman with long black hair polishes a shield behind the counter.
"My name is Rosemary."
"I sell armor here, of all sorts. High quality, just shipped down from Fort Draco. You can buy it, if you have the gold. Can't beat armor from the fort."
9
purch
5
Rosemary's armor
7
13
9
fort
0
"Yes. Fort Draco is far, far, far to the north. It's an iron rich area, and they have a forge! They can even make steel! It's as good an advantage over the sliths as any."
10
stnd
0
There is a dark-skinned man with long black hair sharpening a wicked looking blade behind the counter. He smiles at you when he sees you, but doesn't stop sharpening.
"I'm Ramirez."
"You can purchase from me fine weapons. That's what I'm here for!"
10
purch
7
Julio's weapons
14
20
11
stnd
0
There is a very large bearded man in simple, embroidered robes sitting behind the desk. He's juggling figures on sheets of parchment.
He turns to address you. "I am mayor Bevan, lord-protector of Almaria."
"Taking care of this city, and the surrounding area. And I can do it just fine without a bunch of adventurers such as yourselves butting in. The last thing we need is adventurers. You won't get a token here, fellow."
11
token
0
He grins nastily. "To see the king, you need a Royal Token. And you can only get one from a Council member. And none of them around here will help you, because we don't want anyone butting in." He laughs. "Beating the sliths is the army's job."
"You won't have luck to the north either. Go beat up aranea. There, you could be useful."
11
adven
0
"Oh, don't get me wrong. Adventurers can be useful. But not in a war. Loose cannons just get in the way, 9 times out of ten. Go help the mayor of Formello. I hear she needs help taking care of her jewelry. Tell her I have a nice necklace she can buy."
He laughs. Nastily.
25
stnd
0
You see a guard.
"I'm a guard."
"Well, I guard things. I'm a guard, you see. Guarding. Yep, that's what I do."
