Xeresgate
You head behind quite a few buildings (via the alleys made by the close quarters) before finally coming upon a firmly beaten path toward the west section of town. This area is a bit more open, as it caters more to the local farmers and millers than to the closely-packed merchants.
You haven't walked but for an hour or so when the path enjoins a foothill of the Xeres Mountains which remains inside the western border of Xeresgate. Looking up the path a bit, you espy a small, abandoned-looking grist mill. The stones that make it up are old, crumbling, moss-covered, and in some places, missing entirely. The whole place looks as if it might collapse at any moment, and in fact, you've heard several of the villagers setting up a pool on which year it'll happen. The mill itself isn't very tall, and doesn't look as if it would offer much room. No doubt it's only used as a workshop for the Alchemist to make potions and dry herbs.
Oh, now you remember this place! It was just a few years back (you were twelve) when you last wandered up here. You met the proprietor of this shop - Usoki the Alchemist, if you recall properly. By your recollection, Usoki is a slightly hunchbacked old man, ostensibly because he's spent many years of his life picking the many herbs that dot this hillside for a living and manually working the heavy grist mill (What a boon to him a sudden appearance of a river through town would be!). The hunchback makes him look odd and spooky, but according to the word in town, Usoki not only doesn't mind, but capitalizes on it at odd occasions, scaring the living crap out of little children: hiding behind counters, lying to them saying he's cursed them with a shrink spell or slow-acting polymorph or the like. It's said he loves to stare at them creepily and cast weak fire spells at their feet (apparently to keep up his reputation so the little brats don't swarm his store). Usoki is a fire mage, and a fairly good one at that. The incident which sprung into your mind was of Usoki lighting a fire near you that would've left quite a burn on your ass, had he not been the merest of fractions off. You may be invisible, but that was the last time you ever thought of stealing Sweetroot from Usoki!
Usoki's actual store is of newer stone construction, built directly off the northern face of the broken-down mill. As you can tell there is much more space outside than you can see inside, one can only assume that Usoki's residence is through the door in the back wall of the shop. The shop itself is a haphazard heap of herb baskets and potion racks. Assumedly, his house in the back is in the same disarray, but no one's ever been inside.
You finally make it to the front door and walk in, the place being much the way you remember it. Usoki seems hard at work, hunched over his record books, scribbling like a madman. You scan the herb baskets and potion racks for helpful items. Among the herbal items (described with paper placards alongside them) are: Rootrock Herb (a dried, pestled herb to be applied to wounds as a healing agent), Bitterwillow Sap (collected by Usoki and swallowed as a remedy for colds and fevers), and Cottonbark Herb (a dried, pestled herb one mixes with food to aid with stomach illnesses). On the potion racks are pretty much the bread and butter of Usoki's business: Health Potions, Strength Potions, and Magic Potions (You even recall coming across an empty bottle or two of these in town.).
Usoki does seem distracted by his work, and it is a few years later... maybe he's not so sharp anymore. Would you like to try stealing a few items to help you on your way? Maybe you could even try sneaking into his house! No one's ever done it before, and who knows? Perhaps there's some powerful herbs and magics to be had there! Then again, you could always try talking to Usoki. Granted, it's always a gamble to try to figure how people will react to an invisible voice, but hey, it could work...
What will you do?
You haven't walked but for an hour or so when the path enjoins a foothill of the Xeres Mountains which remains inside the western border of Xeresgate. Looking up the path a bit, you espy a small, abandoned-looking grist mill. The stones that make it up are old, crumbling, moss-covered, and in some places, missing entirely. The whole place looks as if it might collapse at any moment, and in fact, you've heard several of the villagers setting up a pool on which year it'll happen. The mill itself isn't very tall, and doesn't look as if it would offer much room. No doubt it's only used as a workshop for the Alchemist to make potions and dry herbs.
Oh, now you remember this place! It was just a few years back (you were twelve) when you last wandered up here. You met the proprietor of this shop - Usoki the Alchemist, if you recall properly. By your recollection, Usoki is a slightly hunchbacked old man, ostensibly because he's spent many years of his life picking the many herbs that dot this hillside for a living and manually working the heavy grist mill (What a boon to him a sudden appearance of a river through town would be!). The hunchback makes him look odd and spooky, but according to the word in town, Usoki not only doesn't mind, but capitalizes on it at odd occasions, scaring the living crap out of little children: hiding behind counters, lying to them saying he's cursed them with a shrink spell or slow-acting polymorph or the like. It's said he loves to stare at them creepily and cast weak fire spells at their feet (apparently to keep up his reputation so the little brats don't swarm his store). Usoki is a fire mage, and a fairly good one at that. The incident which sprung into your mind was of Usoki lighting a fire near you that would've left quite a burn on your ass, had he not been the merest of fractions off. You may be invisible, but that was the last time you ever thought of stealing Sweetroot from Usoki!
Usoki's actual store is of newer stone construction, built directly off the northern face of the broken-down mill. As you can tell there is much more space outside than you can see inside, one can only assume that Usoki's residence is through the door in the back wall of the shop. The shop itself is a haphazard heap of herb baskets and potion racks. Assumedly, his house in the back is in the same disarray, but no one's ever been inside.
You finally make it to the front door and walk in, the place being much the way you remember it. Usoki seems hard at work, hunched over his record books, scribbling like a madman. You scan the herb baskets and potion racks for helpful items. Among the herbal items (described with paper placards alongside them) are: Rootrock Herb (a dried, pestled herb to be applied to wounds as a healing agent), Bitterwillow Sap (collected by Usoki and swallowed as a remedy for colds and fevers), and Cottonbark Herb (a dried, pestled herb one mixes with food to aid with stomach illnesses). On the potion racks are pretty much the bread and butter of Usoki's business: Health Potions, Strength Potions, and Magic Potions (You even recall coming across an empty bottle or two of these in town.).
Usoki does seem distracted by his work, and it is a few years later... maybe he's not so sharp anymore. Would you like to try stealing a few items to help you on your way? Maybe you could even try sneaking into his house! No one's ever done it before, and who knows? Perhaps there's some powerful herbs and magics to be had there! Then again, you could always try talking to Usoki. Granted, it's always a gamble to try to figure how people will react to an invisible voice, but hey, it could work...
What will you do?