Legend

"Ah you're here, good. I need you to go get me a blood gem." Raltec says.
"Blood gem? Gee that sounds like it involves more vampiresÂ…"
"No, no, no. There aren't any vampires this time around, just a lot of lizard men."
"Lizard men? Where are you sending me?"
"There's a swampy area a few miles from Holgard, appropriately called Reptile Marsh. I need you to go up there and get me a blood gem. I know they use them in their idols, so they'll probably less than willing to give them up."
"What else is new? So how much for this job?"
"100 gold pieces and of course anything you find."
"Wow, you really know how part with the money."
"Hey I thought you were doing this partly for the experience and exploration anyway. Look I'll throw in a magical item too."
"Fine, I don't have anything better to do anyway." You say. "But wait, is there anything ELSE you know about the place?"
"Nothing that comes to mind really. Its just a dangerous swamp with hostile Lizard men. There might be other things that live there though."
"Well that's slightly more information than you gave me last time." You say and leave.

As you leave Holgard, you enjoy the peace. You forgot how serene traveling through the wilderness could be, makes you think about when you initially left your village of Altberg.

Your nostalgia is broken when a traveling merchant approaches you on the road.

"Ah, a traveler like myself! These are dangerous times though; perhaps you'd like something that may better prepare yourself on your journey? And remember nowadays you never know WHAT could come in handy!"

Dagger 7 Gold
Leather Gloves 10 Gold
Cloak 12 Gold
Xylophone 16 Gold
Poison Antidote 20 Gold
Firebomb Ingredients 20 Gold (Technologists only)
Snakeskin Boots 27 Gold

You buy what you wish and continue on your way.

As you walk further up the road, you pass a small fishing community, it occurs to you there's a couple ways to get to this damn marsh, you could keep traveling on the road, or you could get there faster by traveling up the river.