The Minworth Mining Museum. Smaller and newer than Greenbrook University, with historic ties reaching back almost as far. It’s surprisingly busy for a facility designed to display rocks, but then again, you’d seen quite a lot of tourists on your way into the town.

It had been a straight shot along the Tuderich turnpike from Greenbrook through Chinminton and into the heart of Blackminster, an old town split into three by the road, each part protected from the outside by high walls and fences. Through a gatehouse you went after paying the toll, gaining access to all three sectors and the wonders within. While you had intended to pay the minimum fee to simply get in and get out, Ameronis had twisted your arm and convinced you to pay for the full-price ticket, partially after threatening to pay for you, and partially after saying that you might as well make the most of the opportunity, go all out, and take in all the place has to offer.

“If you’re willing to spend 75 just to come and go, then spending 150 for the full experience should be barely a blip.”

Slightly lighter purse aside, the time for ‘taking it all in’ can come later. You want what you originally came for. With a letter of introduction from Dr Zenkolia in hand, you presented it to the receptionist and hoped for a quick turnaround. Now, you stand outside the museum, idly gazing up at the sky. It’s just your luck that, not 10 minutes before you arrived, the staff went on their hour-long lunch break.

A little reluctantly but keeping it casual, you had left the letter and pendant with the receptionist to hand to the staff once they had returned. With around 45 minutes to kill before their expected return, no point in just standing around. The receptionist had said that routine testing can take anywhere between 20 and 60 minutes, so come back at 2.

Ameronis stands beside you, looking over a map of the town she had bought from the museum’s visitor centre.
“They say that one can visit all the features in about 4-5 hours, but we should be able to do the north circuit and cover most of the east half in 2 hours. We’ll end up back at the museum, then explore the south before crossing over to the two western halves.”

You let Ameronis lead the way.

Bequeathed to the Korlasbury family as payment for service to Derna’s founder Taidran, this patch of land and the hamlet that grew on it had little-to-no significance until the discovery of coal in a rocky outcrop nearby, the first stop on Ameronis’s trail. The cliff where the exposed coal seam was originally discovered had long since been mined away, the coal, rock and trees cleared, and the previously uneven terrain eventually smoothed out enough for building. All that remains now is an ornate iron post marking the spot where the cliff face once stood, as well as an information board detailing the early discovery.

Initially only small-scale extraction for a single foreign buyer, mining progressively ramped up as demand grew. Chipping away at the cliff led to a quarry, and deepening the quarry soon led to the first tunnels. “The Mine That Started It All” is closed off to the public, but the entrance, recreated, preserved, and gated off, is home to another information board, as well as a costumed interpreter, who explains, in depth, what it was like at the time, working in this mine using the old, practically primitive methods. It wasn’t until much later that Derna got the hang of coal mining and started to find its stride. The conditions here are vastly different to those found in some of the mines that came later.

Further along, you step into an old recreation of the shack where Jasker Korlasbury and his children used to rest between mining sessions. ‘Jasker’ himself and one of his ‘sons’, both in the form of actors with the stylised triple-M Museum insignia subtly sewn onto their outfits, hover around and tell visitors about what life was like back then. Simultaneously simpler and harder. For the first two generations, the mining was done by the family, only starting to hire external workers later on. Inside the shack, real authentic tools from the period; the head of a crude stone pickaxe, supposedly Jasker’s original, along with an updated bronze version, as well as recreated objects, including baskets and ledgers are on display here.

Next, an actual mineshaft, one you and the others are invited to enter. You and Ameronis don a pair of helmets, hop in the cart, and ride down a short way into the mine, where the track is blocked off by a boarded-up tunnel; supposedly, the tunnel continues on for a long, long way, and you peer through a gap in the boards; it is completely black and silent beyond.

Well lit, wide and relatively big now compared to the original narrow, cramped conditions, you get to experience a taste of what it was like, as demonstrated by the dozen or so ‘miners’ who slave away, swinging at the exposed coal, pushing carts and carrying buckets of rock and water around. You and the other guests are invited to handle some coal fragments, feel the weight of the heavy cart that they move in and out, and try your hand at swinging a pick at the walls. You take a couple of swings. It’s exhausting work.

You note that the pieces in the bucket that the miner is handing out are real coal, but the rock wall that they’re ‘mining’ seems to be something else entirely. Definitely not coal; that must’ve been cleared out ages ago. Whatever they’re ‘mining’ now, either the original surrounding rock, or a large piece of something else they brought in, is doing a good job of keeping up the illusion of being coal, at least to most in here. You wonder how many of the others have routinely handled coal and can tell the difference; probably none; that’s what servants and workers are for.

Ameronis and most others opt not to try mining, but you watch a handful of visitors, a couple of gentlemen in particular, give it a go. They seem to put their all into it and tire easily, compared to the miners who make it look easy. It quickly becomes apparent that mining takes a great deal of physical strength and stamina, something you’d already considered, but now with a slightly better perspective. You think of the actual miners doing this for real in those hellish tunnels. You wonder if the two gentlemen consider the real ones.

Prior to this point, you didn’t realise how much flirting was involved in the mining process, based on what you see here. You learn something new every day! The ‘miners’ are all handsome, strapping young men, with muscular arms and defined torsos, conveniently noticeable in their suspiciously form-fitted vests. There’s not an old man or scrawny lad; scruffy, malnourished or missing any teeth, to be seen. The miners make a point of exaggerating their pickaxe swings, strutting around with the buckets, and posing whenever they stop to wipe their brows or stretch their arms, smiling and winking at the watching ladies, who giggle, whisper, and swoon at the sight of them. At least one gentleman seems a little less than happy at it all, though whether it’s due to annoyance or insecurity is not clear. Either way, at least some people in here seem to be having a good time, despite how silly it all is. At this rate, they’ll make people think that mining is a pretty great job, actually. But in the end, it’s a pretty entertaining performance.

Moving on, you reach the hamlet green, preserved and recreated, with dozens of visitors and actors milling about, visiting the various buildings and interacting with one another. The buildings here seem to be from a series of different time periods, with a very old shop next to a much newer building, a worn row of housing built in the industrial style, a tavern that has been in operation since before the Blight, and a Mestophite temple that stands on the foundations of the original Korlasbury one. The green has been turned into a picnic area, with historic decorations and scenic spots perfect for having your photo taken, and several shops selling souvenirs. At first, you refuse to be swayed, but then think that, seeing as you’re here, you might settle for one souvenir.

You wait while Ameronis eats an acquired ice cream sundae made from “real Mulburn cream!”, topped with berries, biscuit pieces and syrup, and costing an arm and a leg at 20 cogs per serving; you could buy all the ingredients at Banes Way market and make several of your own for that price.

You rest and take in the scene, watching other visitors mill about and marvel at the actors, who bustle about in the old market square. You notice a couple of scruffy young boys hovering near a lord and lady browsing a shop window nearby, and become quite concerned as they close in and begin looking around as if to make sure no one is watching. But, considering the dozens of people in the vicinity, some of whom would definitely see them, and the boys’ exaggerated shifty movements, you figure they couldn’t be real ones… You watch as, instead of taking something out of the man’s pocket, one of the boys carefully inserts what seems to be a small piece of paper into the pocket instead. The two then dart away, giggling, moving to the far side of the square while the man remains none the wiser. A real marketplace experience; that man is certainly getting his money’s worth. You instinctively check your own pockets, external and hidden.

Ameronis, now finished with her dessert, consults her map again. The temple is the next stop, then a short walk along the canal (which elicits a brief shudder from you), and then…

A low rumbling sound catches your attention over the sound of the wind, birdsong and chatter as a middle-aged man pushing a cart trundles onto the scene. He’s dressed in a suit that certainly wasn’t tailored to him, with long coat-tails and a slightly taller-than-necessary top hat. Determining this to be a decent spot, he parks the cart and straightens out his bow tie. Then, in a smooth, well-rehearsed movement, he triggers something on the cart, which causes it to pop open, with several drawers and trays swinging out into the open. He flops a panel over from the top of the cart, now displaying an elaborate painted board at the front of it.

“PROFESSOR ORELIO’S MODERN MARVELS!
Curious Devices, Ingenious Contraptions And Extraordinary Discoveries To Amaze The Eye And Dazzle The Mind!” it says.

Then he begins slamming a swagger stick on the top of the cart with such force you’re surprised it doesn’t shatter into a million pieces or dent the cart. The sound is so loud, and he begins doing it so quickly, it makes you jump.
“Step right up, step right up!” he yells. Demands, even. “Come forth and witness the wonderful wizardry from the frontiers of progress!” He sweeps his stick around and points it at you and Ameronis, at which point he might as well yell, “Get over here, now!” Is he meant to be this aggressive and intimidating? He continues to spout boasts and promises, seemingly not taking “no” for an answer.

You look over at Ameronis, who, startled also, had paused her map-reading. She regards the man, clearly amused by the display, then looks at you.

“We’d best go and see what he wants. I’m afraid he might have a fit if we don’t…”