Xeresgate
You begin traveling south along the meager path leading to Kirisnor. The path itself is in disarray, with random mountain rubble scattered to and fro, occasional boulders to circumvent, and even a branch or two from God knows where (there isn't a tree in sight) in what has slowly become a mildly dense mountain fog. It's about what you would expect from a slovenly mining community, but you had no idea how far-reaching the effects of it would be.
By the time you arrive in Kirisnor, dusk has settled and the town lamps are being lit. Weary miners trudging home from the nearby iron mines are beginning to make their way back to their wives and hearths. The gold miners have even longer to travel, and don't normally arrive until well after nightfall. Surely, it's a larger sacrifice to work the distant gold mines, but the ore trades out at more than three times what the iron ore does, so some men forego familial comforts in favor of plenty.
Amidst the fog and miry dusk enclosing the world in darkness, the sluggish movement of Kirisnor seems almost a requiem to life itself...
It is then that you hear the faintest trace of music in the distance. Almost as if goaded by it, you make you way to the source of the music, which becomes ever more loud and animated the closer you get. Within minutes, you find yourself standing outside no doubt the noisiest establishment in town: The Rouge Corset. Peering in, you see a fair helping of filthy miners, a few ne'er-do-wells, and a healthy supply of buxom dancers, bouncing along to lively minstrel music. A single drunk stumbles out of the bar, crashing into you as you observe the ribaldry. Fortunately, the next thing he hits is the ground: passed out.
He has, however, broken your stare long enough for you to notice a boarding Inn a mere two buildings back up the street. The place is so nondescript that it doesn't even have a proper name, just a sign reading: "INN". Not bad if you're keeping a low profile, perhaps. A place like that with an empty bed isn't likely to have any patrons this late toward nightfall, so you'd have a satisfying rest ahead of you.
What will you do?
By the time you arrive in Kirisnor, dusk has settled and the town lamps are being lit. Weary miners trudging home from the nearby iron mines are beginning to make their way back to their wives and hearths. The gold miners have even longer to travel, and don't normally arrive until well after nightfall. Surely, it's a larger sacrifice to work the distant gold mines, but the ore trades out at more than three times what the iron ore does, so some men forego familial comforts in favor of plenty.
Amidst the fog and miry dusk enclosing the world in darkness, the sluggish movement of Kirisnor seems almost a requiem to life itself...
It is then that you hear the faintest trace of music in the distance. Almost as if goaded by it, you make you way to the source of the music, which becomes ever more loud and animated the closer you get. Within minutes, you find yourself standing outside no doubt the noisiest establishment in town: The Rouge Corset. Peering in, you see a fair helping of filthy miners, a few ne'er-do-wells, and a healthy supply of buxom dancers, bouncing along to lively minstrel music. A single drunk stumbles out of the bar, crashing into you as you observe the ribaldry. Fortunately, the next thing he hits is the ground: passed out.
He has, however, broken your stare long enough for you to notice a boarding Inn a mere two buildings back up the street. The place is so nondescript that it doesn't even have a proper name, just a sign reading: "INN". Not bad if you're keeping a low profile, perhaps. A place like that with an empty bed isn't likely to have any patrons this late toward nightfall, so you'd have a satisfying rest ahead of you.
What will you do?