So there you stand, haggard and weary from your long trip to reach this
place. You are tired and hungry, you have little money, your feet hurt,
the trip has left you feeling funny and you are starting to wonder if
coming here was such a hot idea. You've heard you could make your fortune
in this land, but how do you start? And where? And how could there possibly
be riches in a place that looks like this? And if that isn't bad enough, a
disreputable looking old man is heading your way. Just what you were
waiting for...
"Good afternoon, stranger." The old man says, "You look somewhat disheveled.
And a little weary too. Come, sit with me here, on this bench."
Too tired to refuse, you let the old man drag you over to the bench and
you sit down.
"You aren't from these parts, are you stranger?" The old man says. "I can
tell. Your clothes mark you as a fellow of foreign parts. Have you come
here to seek your fortune? Yes, of course you have. They all have. But be
wary stranger; Croesus was a rich man, but not all can be rich as he!
Earning great fame or wealth is certainly possible, but so is getting
killed in a hurry."
The old man ponders for a while before continuing: "Stranger, if you are
to find what you seek here ever, you must know something about the land
you are in; one cannot make headway without knowing the places to go to
and the people to see. And even more importantly, whom to avoid like the
plague. But today you are in luck. I am a storyteller of some repute, and
a seer as well. Plus, I'm in a generous mood today. So ask... What would
you have me tell you?"
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