07/30/2013, 11:40 AM #257 Everbloom Forest, Near T.Mines
"Stay. Good boy."
Eric chuckled to himself as he left his packmule tied to a hardy stump at the east entrance to the forest. It wasn't that the mule was unwanted, far from it. Like a pig, the mule had a knack for finding wild food. The problem with that was that the food could be picked, stored, and sold by Eric, who could use the money to buy better food for the foolish mule. The words 'long-term investment' didn't even ring a bell in the mule's head. It was better to leave him back at the entrance with a carrot, lest he go off on an eating spree.
The merchant looked around in the forest. As far as he could see, there was greenery. Trees stood tall and proud and full of leaves while wild bushes overflowed with ripe berries. Branches were weighed down with pinecones and exotic fruit of all kinds. Eric strained his ears and heard a small stream nearby, most likely ripe with fat fish just looking for a hook to sink their lips into. It was a strange, wonderful place at first glance, but Eric wasn't looking for the pleasantries just yet. The man sat on his haunches and took a closer look at the roots of a few bushes.
He picked up a red, segmented berry and rolled it around between his fingers. Raspberries; safe to eat. He popped a few into his mouth before catching sight of a small leafy plant hiding under the bush. It looked like a common weed, but the leaves were too frazzled to be mistaken as poison ivy or twistvine. No, this small plant had to be greenwarish, an herb that grew in the most secluded of places. A mage would be able to take it for potions while an alemaster could force it to mature with a bit of cloudwine. Either way, there were many parties looking for the herb, and Eric was prepared to sell to the highest bidder. He grabbed as many leaves as he could before turning to another plant.
Then, he stopped his foraging as he noticed something in the ground next to him. Wheel-tracks from a wooden cart of sort, plus many footprints. Apparently the forest had seen some recent activity, just as he had expected. The merchant stood up and looked out into the forest towards what he thought was a clearing. It sounded like something was happening down there, and from the sound of steel and whirring, it wasn't anything too good. Eric hobbled forward through the brush at a slow pace, not wanting to draw attention. He brushed a few leaves out of his view and looked out to the clearing.
His eyes widened as he saw a group of rag-tag people standing over a bunch of guards. It seemed that they had killed them all for the purpose of reclaiming some kind of safehouse, but as Eric looked on, this was not the case. One member of this group was burning down buildings, most likely shacks. It was then that he noticed carts filled with ore of some sort and that the area had been deforested. Was this an attack on a mine? Why all the fire, he thought to himself. As he looked on, he swore he could recognize a couple people from the group directly north of him.