The western region of Stahl, where the sea of mountains stretched endlessly and the sea beyond remained obscured, was now teeming with life. Mehis, the region's central city, had become the heart of the West. The demand for new hands was constant and strong, causing many villages to be abandoned as their residents were drawn to the promise of work and stability within the city's expanding walls.
On one of the city's main roads, where merchants shouted their prices and inhabitants and workers bustled between stalls, a brown-haired man stood with a broken pickaxe in his hands. His face was streaked with dirt from the mines, slowly eating away the last remnants of nobility.
"Seven iron coins?" he asked, his voice a mix of disbelief and desperation. "That's everything I have earned this week. Can't you lower the price?"