Welcome to Edenvale.
Edenvale is a beautiful town, with charmingly decorated trees lining its streets and a lively music scene. It is known for its fine stone masons and a particularly popular bakery. With a population of around a thousand, representing a mixture of humans, dwarves, elves, and a variety of beastkin, one might think Edenvale is an ideal spot to settle down. One notable issue can’t be ignored: Edenvale sits right next to a large, wet, boggy region known as the Slime Lands. And for an unpleasantly long portion of the year, while the weather is warm, the Slime Lands stink. Quite badly.
Locals say they have gotten used to it, or at least they do each year when the stink starts up again. Needless to say, Edenvale isn’t known for its outdoor summer sports… or parks, or anything else that would keep you outside longer than necessary. Thankfully, there are a couple of well-paid wizards around who provide buildings with a magical seal that keeps the smell out. These wizards are descendants of the mages who helped found the town and build its unique underground market.
It isn’t the stench, however, that has us focusing on Edenvale at the moment. No, that honour goes to the large, garish airship that is currently hovering 600 feet above the border to the Slime Lands. Local wizards say they have sensed the use of powerful arcane magic from aboard the ship. Then there are the skeletons. A dozen or more skeletons have been seen climbing down a rope ladder, and according to one report, a few have just fallen to the ground, only to get back up a few minutes later.
Curiosity aside, the real problem is that the skeletons have destroyed three large stone monuments along the edge of the Slime Lands. Monuments that, many believe, may help keep the swampy conditions contained. Of course, it also happens to be the peak of a particularly hot, ripe summer, so no one is keen to go out and deal with it. So the town has enlisted outside help.
The skeletons are already on their way down.