>> Go back and investigate what that grey thing was in the forest

No way! Do you have any idea how far away that is now? It was probably just a big ROCK!

>> Break into the Mining Store and rob it

You get the feeling that alienating yourself from the entire VILLAGE in your first two minutes here probably isn't a very good idea.

>> Call out to the man at the end of the road

You call out to the greenish-looking MAN with a PICKAXE at the end of the PATH, and he stops dead in his tracks. After a moment's hesitation, he begins walking toward you, and you start walking to meet him halfway.

>> Look inside the bucket to see if there's anything inside

As you pass the building on the right, you take a peek inside a BUCKET on the ground. It's just a normal WOODEN BUCKET, with nothing inside of it. It looks slightly damp, probably from being used...as a BUCKET. There is, however, a small METAL PLATE in the bottom of it, like a hole was cut in the bottom and the PLATE was stuck in its place.

You meet up with the man, but before you can say anything to him, he starts talking first. There is a slight quaver in his voice.

Uh...hi...we...um. The month...isn't over yet, right? We're still mining...I-I mean, we'll be ready, but there's...well there was a s-setback, and...um...

He stops talking when he notices the semi-puzzled look on your face.

>> Ask him if the village is named RuneVillage

...Rune Village? N-no, this is...this is Buram Village...

>> Examine metal plate - see if it's possible to remove it, if so, Remove it and examine what's underneath.
>> Take bucket. You never know, it might be useful later on. (BUKKIT HELMET?)

As much as you'd like to take the WOODEN BUCKET, you can't at the moment--this guy seems rather flustered. It feels like it's in your best interests to keep him nearby, at least until you get the information you want. In case, like, he runs off or something.

>> Use a false sense of superiority to intimidate him into giving us info

For some reason, this guy is much more intimidated by you than you of him. Instead of calming him down and letting him know you're an outsider, you decide to play along and see what you can learn. How clever and sneaky!

>> Ask what was this set-back. Use an authoritative tone in your voice.

...W-well, we usually mine in the...the mineshaft at the top of the mountain. It's easier to...to mine there, and we get more for our effort...so...so you know, we can meet our quotas...quicker. More quickly. Yeah.

But a week or so ago some...some weird stuff started happening in the mine, just...kind of random things like li-light bulbs breaking. A few days after that...a couple of days ago...there was a cave-in, and now the area is kind of...sealed off. W-we were going to unblock the tunnel, but if we spent time on that then we wouldn't make our...our quota no matter what, and...

Basically we're stuck mining in the lower tunnel, which isn't as...rich as the higher one. We'll make it though; we have time, we...we'll get it.

>> Demand gold pan.

What's a..."gold"?

>> Demand to see what has been gathered so far. Angrily.

With a little frightened start, the guy leads you down the road to the eastern side of the VILLAGE.

At the very edge of town, you come to a JUNCTION in the MINE CART TRACKS. The tracks that lead directly east vanish into the FOREST to the side (the MINE CART closest to the FOREST is full of blackish/dark-green rocks.) The tracks on the left lead to the LOWER TUNNEL, and the ones that curve up on the right lead to the UPPER TUNNEL.

As you can...um...see, we have one cart full out of...out of three. Well, one and a half...that one on your left is half full...this is all because the top...the top tunnel collapsed, like I mentioned.

>> Demand that mining be stepped up another notch angrily!

You just don't have the heart to do it. It might help with your IMPERSONATION (you assume, anyway) but this guy seems so flustered and overworked that you couldn't bear to have him add a fourth MINE CART to the mix.

>> Ask the greenish-looking man about the Castle.

...The castle? No one's been near it in decades. It was empty in the first place, but we couldn't use it for anything even if we wanted to. The drawbridge is up, and the moat is filled with those...those catfish.

>> Query Mysterious man about the Catfish.

The catfish? I think that's what they were called, anyway...the last I heard someone talk about them was a long time ago. At...at any rate, they guard the castle by stopping people from crossing the moat. I'm not sure what's even there to guard, since it's been d-decades since anyone was last inside, like I s-said before. Someone once told me they saw a glow coming from it one night though. Maybe it's haunted?

B-but it's really none of our concern, of course!!

>> Tell him to rally the miners to get started on clearing the upper mine

Oh...the miners are already in the lower mine, so I'd have to go get them, for starters. B-but I'm...um...not sure I conveyed the situation very well. The upper mine is really, really blocked--it was a huge cave-in. I think it would take a team of us at least a w-week...maybe? I mean, I'm sure we could do it...but with the quota...

>> Examine the mining cart with the dark-green rocks.

You take a closer look at one of the MINECARTS filled to the brim with the MINED ROCKS.

>> Find out if the dark-green rocks are edible by first-hand experience.

You take a ROCK out of the MINECART. It's got weird, greenish spots and lines going through it. You've never seen anything like it before, but by the same token you also can't imagine what's so important about it that everyone's mining it. It's not even pretty.

You take a bite out of the ROCK. Halfway through chewing, you decide that this is really disgusting, and spit it out as the GREENISH GUY gives you an odd glance. Nope, it doesn't taste good. (Tastes like a ROCK, actually.)

>> Ask if there's an extra pick laying around.

...Y-you want one? Um...here, you can have mine, I'll just...get another one from town...

You place the PICKAXE in your INVENTORY.

...C-can I go now?

>> Ask about any possible explosives.

...E-explosives? Do you mean those red stick thingies that you guys b-brought with you a long time ago? We used them all up on the mines, exactly as...as you told us to. I guess if you bring us some more, w-we can...use them?

>> Demand his name, rank, and serial number. Angrily.

My--uh...um. What...what is a rank? And a cereal number...?

>> "Wait! What's your name, Stranger?"

Just my name...that would be Martin...oh, or...or Marty...sir.

Your disguise of some random intimidating guy has certainly earned you a lot of information about the area! For totally playing this guy to your benefit, you gained 40% PERSUASION EXPERIENCE! (It's about time you got some points in that skill.)

>> Let him go, but follow him to see where he goes.

You let MARTY go. He leaves the area and heads directly for the MINING STORE in town.