[center][h1]Frontier Village[/h1]
Time: Morning, End of Winter[/center]

Winter is almost at an end, as the frigid season makes its last dying gasps, spring starts to shine through. And with spring around the corner, preparations are well underway across the small trade route stop known simply as Frontier Village. Snow is being cleared off rooftops, orders are being put in for items to be obtained from other towns and cities, work is being done to prepare for the spring influx of tourists and merchants making their way along the Golden Road. Each person has their daily routines, their routes they take. There’s always something to do, and even if someone were to claim they have nothing to do...why that would be a lie of course, there’s just finding that something to do!

Ah but as spring draws close to its first day, there’s more bustle than usual. A few of the locals were already planning to travel to the upcoming trade festival, where people of both the Kingdom of Norad and the Sechs Republic(Along with the other two nations of a more minor note) were to come together and celebrate the arts. However, tragedy has struck, in the form of a natural disaster befalling the site where the tents were to go up, as a sudden uptick in monster spawning has forced the site to be shut down. With the festival delayed an unknown amount of time until the monster infestation, rumored to be quite bad, is cleared out, many of those who intended to go are now stuck in town, and well, tensions are bound to flare. Hopefully no one will take advantage of the ruckus to cause some trouble?

So begins another day in Frontier Village…

[center][h1] James, the Innkeeper [/h1][/center]

[i]”My, would you look at that, what a shame. I was looking forward to the stories from travelers. I suppose it can’t be helped though, ahaha.” [/i] Standing in the village square, James sighed softly, the elder Innkeeper rubbing his chin at the news given to him by the town news board, before turning, shrugging as he did, and walking back down the short distance to his inn. At least those stranded at the village until things at the fairground cleared up would be paying for their rooms, though he’d lowered the prices out of respect for those who were coming through. Innkeeper he may be, he was no highwayman, nay, he cared dearly for his patrons. At least this meant he could do some spring cleaning. Sure, he was getting up in years, but keeping the inn running, combined with a good diet, kept him in shape. Still, part of him was concerned about the infestation news. He hoped it wasn’t a sign of something worse. Hopefully an Earthmate would come through and fix the presumably imbalanced Runes, and go on their way.

Walking up the short steps onto his porch, James moved to the rocking chair he kept just outside, to the left of the two door entrance to his inn, and sat down, taking in his surroundings, the well dressed keeper crossing one leg over the other, starting to rock the oak wood chair back and forth with the other hand. Nothing to do for the moment but enjoy the quiet, before someone else in town lost their head over the news. He was silent now, the only sound that of his chair, rocking back and forth, creaking as it did so, the rustle of fabric as his clothing shifted. Just enjoying the time that an old man like him could get between customers, or shipments.

[center][h3]GM Notes[/h3][/center]
So begins the first “arc,” Festival Tension. This will be a backdrop tale, unless players decide to directly interact, as it will sort itself out on its own, but of course, you may use it to your advantage. That said, with this up, the rp has begun! Do enjoy yourselves, and feel free to begin your own character story arcs. Bon voyage!