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.
Day 1
You head west out of Yamazawa, through another torii gate, and the road begins descending down the mountainside. It’s much less steep than the road you took into the highlands; the road is broad and there are more wide stretches of forest along the side of the road to take rest stops.
By late afternoon, you hit a switchback that is relatively unforested, and you have a good view of what’s below your on this side of the highlands. Just below you, green plains stretch from the north, not too different from the eastern side of the highlands. However, to the south it begins turning into brownish scrub land, culminating in the yellow sands and rocky outcroppings of the Kahl Desert. Far along the western horizon, you see the barest strip of blue ocean.
By evening, you wind back to a section of treeline for a while, all reds and oranges and golds, until at some point you see a shock of bright green trees in the distance. When you approach, you recognize the broad, shiny leaves of a small holly grove, an evergreen you’re not particularly used to.
As early evening arrives, you see several fires dotting the wooded cove of a small switchback. This seems to be a commonly-used camp area; there’s even a well-worn cart path off the main road. You see hammocks and tents nestled between the trees. Towards the back of the cove, there’s a set of cascades that plunge down from the highlands into a large pool of water.
Day 2
You make your way around another switchback, and again find yourself at an unobstructed overlook. A drizzling rain has been falling most of the morning, but you can still see a ways out. Below you, the Herwin Road that leads down from Yamazawa branches and snakes across the plains. Based on the directions you were given, your best bet is to take the southmost fork, into the scrublands on the edge of the desert.
By midday, you’re on the plains. As you saw above, various roads split off from the Herwin Road, heading northwest, west, and southwest, and various points between. The caravan of carts from last night’s campsite begins to thin out as everyone heads off towards their own destination.
Day 3
The rain subsides as you move into the scrublands. Here, there’s a heat to the day and a chill to the night that you don’t expect in early fall; just part of being this close to the desert.
As it clears midday, you approach a large town with a rustic wooden palisade around it. The two doors of the gate are slung open across the road, made of branches that still have their bark, with either end unartfully sanded down to a point. The roads are dusty and the buildings are just a bit run down, but still tower over you as you pass through.
At the center of town, there’s a large octagonal building. You recognize it immediately as a tavern of some type–each of the three stories has a wide deck around it, and here and there, groups of people sit around tables enjoying drinks and talking loudly. A placard out front says “The Varlet’s Den,” with a comical roguish figure slumped in front of a table, balancing a knife in his hand.
The smell of roasting meat hits you as you approach, with food vendors set up everywhere. You’re not sure exactly what all of the meat is–surely some of it comes from the cows and sheep you saw to the north when you first left the mountain, but other vendors seem to have much smaller game roasting on their spits.