As the road descends toward the village, the smell of wood smoke and cooking fires fills the air. A crude wooden palisade surrounds dozens of permanent buildings, tents, wagons, and lean-tos that have sprung up around the old settlement. Guards watch the gates while merchants loudly advertise their wares. Mercenaries boast of their exploits, pilgrims pray around campfires, and treasure hunters compare maps and rumors over mugs of ale. Beyond it all, looming over the village like a dark storm on the horizon, stands the ruined city of Drakkenheim, its shattered towers rising above a sea of glowing haze.