2025 Mar 27: The Mines of Caeledor

 In the far northwest, in the lands of Caeledor, the land overflows with tin. While the frequent storms make it extremely difficult to sail to the island, it is also a very lucrative endeavor, since the tin brought from here can be used to make the highest quality bronze, when combined with an appropriately good grade of copper. A large boatload of the stuff can make a person rich enough to never have to work again in their life, and even just a few ingots can fetch a nice price on the many markets of the southern empires.

Of course the locals have begun extensive mining operations, with various kingdoms vying for control of these lucrative mines. As of now king Hebras of Wynnig runs most of them, but with southerner traders coming less and less frequently, he is losing ground to various upstarts, who don't quite know or in some cases care that revenue from the mines just isn't what it was in the days of their fathers and grandfathers. Hebras is looking for allies, but the great empires of the south are busy with their own problems, and the local Wood Elves are quite hostile to him for tearing up the land with his mines.

The mines themselves form a tangle of shafts, pits and tunnels, with many of the older ones that lead to exhausted veins being claimed by wild animals, monsters or worse. The local youths who aspire to be warriors, sometimes lead expeditions into these perilous depths looking for glory, but sometimes things go awry and entire bands have been known to never return from some of the deepest parts.

Codrinb, CC BY-SA 3.0 RO, via Wikimedia Commons