You see a small man. He smiles at you nervously. His skin is incredibly pale in the strange light of the fungus.
"I am Andrew. On behalf of King Micah, not to mention your thousands of fellow inmates, I would like to welcome you to Exile."
"I wait for new arrivals, such as yourselves, and welcome them."
0
exile
0
"Yes, Exile. That's what we call this place. We're all exiles here, after all. Sort of makes sense." He smiles sadly.
0
welcome
0
"To ease the considerable shock of being cast into the underworld, of course.
So. Welcome to the underworld."
He pauses to think. "Also, I'm here to say where you can get information about Exile, and supplies."
0
information
0
"Thairl is the town sage. He lives and works in the building to the southwest. He's a bit glum, but he does his job well. He will answer your questions as best he can. Of course, you should get supplies first."
0
supplies
0
"To prevent certain problems,
new arrivals are sent to Tor to get modest supplies to support
themselves until they find work. He's in the building to the south. We've found doing otherwise results in desperate, dangerous, and violent new citizens."
"This way, you'll have a fair chance. What you do with it when you leave here is your business."
0
look
0
1
stnd
0
You see a middle-aged woman, who seems to be in a big hurry. Like everyone you've met, she is extremely pale.
She grins. "I'm Janice, dear. You can call me Jan if you want."
"I'm in charge of supplies for the fort. The soldiers, they cook on their own, and I'm the one they go to for the food. And weapons. And clothes. It's tedious work, but it keeps me busy as long as Thairl is stationed out here."
1
soldiers
0
"Good lads, every one. Well, most every one anyway. Just between you and me, the best get sent to the front."
1
front
0
"To the north. Where all the Nephilim are."
1
thairl
0
She sighs mightily. "My husband, the sage. He helps the new arrivals get acclimated. Being out here depresses him terribly. Being at the border, and all."
1
border
0
"Between the humans and the Nephilim. He's convinced they'll storm the fort any day now. Who knows. He may be right."
3
nephilim
0
"Ah. The doom of all of us, if the sliths don't get us first. Lots of them have been sent down here, along with the humans. Many migrate to lower caverns, but many more stay here, determined to take our land. A large tribe of them lives to the north."
"They don't arrive at Fort Exile, by the way. They teleport in somewhere else."
25
nephilim
0
"You'd best ask Thairl about that."
2
stnd
0
Sitting behind the counter is a tall man, wearing bronze armor.
Behind him is a large rack of crude stone weapons.
He says, in a deep voice, "I am Tor, weapons handler of fort exile."
"Well, sometimes I maintain the weapons of the guards, sometimes I guard travellers going to Silvar, but mostly I give supplies to newcomers."
2
weapons
0
He looks back at them in disdain. "Pretty crude work, huh? Metal is rare down here, tools to work it rarer still. And magic? Good luck."
2
work
0
2
silvar
0
"The town to the west. You should ask Thairl about it. He lives down the road to the west. Take the first left. He lives on the right."
2
supplies
100
3
stnd
0
You see a slender, worried looking man, wearing impeccably pressed wizards robes. He sits behind a book-laden desk.
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Thairl. I am the sage for Fort Exile." The corner of his mouth twitches slightly.
He grimaces. "I'm here to help you."
3
help
0
"Well, every day or so, our benevolent overlords above hurl a few more souls into the hellish cesspit. Then they come to me, and I tell them just how bad things are here." he chuckles dryly. "Normally, I'd be cheery, but today I'm just not in the mood."
"Anyway, I'm here to give information."
3
castle
0
"It's our pride and joy. We built a real castle, of rocks, crude magic, and spit. King Micah lives there, orchestrating our desperate defenses. You should see it. It's reasonably impressive. It's in the Great Cave, to the southwest."
3
information
0
"Yes. For example, on our lovely neighbors, the Nephilim and the Slithzerikai. Or on nearby towns. Or on your chances for escape. Or on how you get supplies. Or on the local politics."
The Nephilim you've heard of. There are many of them above ground.
But you've never heard of "Slithzerikai."
3
slith
0
"Lizard men. Only live below ground. Intelligent, powerful fighters, very magically talented. We've been at war with them for years, and lately things have been at a stalemate. They live to the west."
3
towns
0
"Duvno is to the north. It's a farming community, ravaged by Nephilim raids. You'd have better luck at Silvar, to the west. It's the largest settlement nearby."
"Help Duvno if you ever can. If it falls, this fort is next to go."
3
politics
0
"Each town has a mayor. The mayors form a council. The council co-rules with King Micah, lord of our homey little pit. Micah lives in The Great Cave. To get there, go a ways south, and a ways west."
"By the way, the Council meets in the Castle. It's a place you should know about."
3
supplies
0
"Go see Tor. He'll give you some basic equipment, so you aren't totally doomed."
4
stnd
You see a worn and scarred middle-aged man. He carries a potted plant and a shovel.
"I'm Dunbar."
"I'm the groundskeeper. And gardener. And fix-it man. I like gardening best, but I do what they need."
4
mushrooms
0
"You'll get sick of 'em before too long, but they're food, and that's what counts."
4
trees
0
"Amazing, aren't they? The roots dig into the rock and the leaves absorb moisture from the air. They get light from the fungus above. I can't figure out how the scrawny things stay alive, but they do!"
4
garden
0
"Yeah. We've bred some pretty weird plants down here. All sorts of mushrooms for food and fodder. Those weird twisted trees for what little wood we have. And so on. Mages make the plants, I grow 'em."
4
mages
0
"Yeah. They live in a tower to the south or something. All the wizards go there. They do all the standard weird stuff with demons and such, but they make plants too. Without them, we'd all be dead."
11
stnd
0
You see a powerfully built woman, wearing chain mail with a strange insignia on it. Her reddish cheeks contrast strongly with the paleness of the rest of her skin.
"I'm Acacia."
"I'm the guard captain for the barracks here at Fort Exile. We got a bunch of good men here, and when the Nephilim come for us, we'll give 'em a good run. We work best on defense."
11
insignia
0
You point out the insignia. It's a crude drawing of the portal you came through. "This? It's our symbol, the Seal of Exile. It reminds us of where we came from, and where we hope to return to."
11
peace
0
"We haven't attacked anybody. We just want some caves to call our own. Not good enough for our foes. They won't rest until every human on their dinner plates."
13
stnd
0
You see a shy frail woman, picking mushrooms.
"I'm Diane."
"Well, I'm Tor's wife, but that's not what I do. I cook, mainly."
13
cook
0
"Well, a couple times a week a cook meals for everyone here. I'm actually a very good musician, but there's not much call for that around the fort. Oh well, we won't be here forever."
13
music
0
She sings a song for you, which you've never heard before. It long and sad, about life in caves and missing the sun above.
She has a beautiful voice.
25
stnd
0
You see a guard.
He grunts. "I am Gunther."
"Bringing doom to anyone I am told to bring doom to."
11
defend
0
"Yeah. It's a tough job, but important. If the Nephilim take this fort, newly arriving humans fall into their hands. And then..."
She draws her thumb across her neck, and makes a charming noise.
"I have little hope for peace, I'm afraid."
3
escape
0
"No chance. None whatsoever. We all stay down here until monsters hunt us down like dogs."
