I often write boxed text for new in-game locations. I find it easier to think through the sights, smells, and other sensations during GM prep and write them out, rather than improv’ing when I’m trying to write a game. Here’s one such location.
Well after the gloaming has set in, the road stops climbing and opens up into a wide plateau.
At the very top of the rise, a large torii gate spans the road. It seems old–you can see the wind and weather damage, highlighting each wedge and sliver some old woodworker planed out of the original log. But on its surface, there is a shiny new coat of red paint with barely a scuff or a scratch in it.
Beyond the torii gate, there’s a large wooden sign. Unlike the gate, this is very new, and surprisingly ornate. Each letter is routed into the sheet of tan wood covered in a shiny lacquer: “Welcome to Shimakuro, Gateway to Tomoe.” Like the gate, its painted embellishments seem relatively fresh.
There are two arrows nailed to one of the posts under the sign. The one pointing left says “trailhead”; the one pointing right says “inn & overlook”.
To your right, there’s a two-story building made out of the same tan, lacquered wood. It is well-lit in all kinds of colorful paper lanterns. Beyond it, there’s a loose collection of other buildings–a stable, a large wooden shed, and a couple of buildings that appear to be divided into apartments. Further beyond that, the meadow rises gently and rolls out of your view; you see only the navy-blue sky above it.
To your left, the highlands rise a bit more steeply towards a peak. In the dark of the gloaming, you can’t make out much detail, but the woods and meadows seem to stretch into the distance quite a way. Patchy forest dots the landscape here and there; a particularly thick patch lies just down the road. On a small stretch of hilly meadow in the near distance, you see a scattering of little weathered houses and other buildings. Most are built of logs, with patches of grass or moss growing on the roof.
Before you, the road continues on across the plateau and through another torii gate before disappearing around a rocky incline.