Empire of Dust

A thick, acrid odor permeates the air, burning the nostrils and stinging the eyes at the sulfur mines of Kaldrak. The landscapeis an expanse of cracked earth and jagged rock formations, crowned by the smoldering rim of an ancient volcanic crater. The entrance to the mines yawns wide, belching endless clouds of sulfurous smoke through which chains of porters swarm.
**Deeper**: Even the lowest graded chattel of the Resurrectionists stock, which includes the emaciated, misshapen and maimed still have their uses. These corpses can be acquired a half dozen for a penny by the gutter-ghouls who find little sustenance on the sinewy tendon and bone. Instead, these feed the hungry maw of industry, which grinds and gobbles up the cheap labor until naught is left but dust. They are named Duskborn for the low sorceries used to animate their wretched forms, and it is they who toil unaffected in the merciless heat and poisoned air of the mines.
The Sulfur Veins within the mines are rich with the purest crystalline sulfur, prized by the alchemists of Corrhéo. But, the air is thick with poisoned fumes that will overwhelm the unprepared [Poison Save (Hard)]. A dampened cloth mask over the nose and mouth affords some protection, as does finding pockets of unspoiled air within the old magma tubes.
The Magma Lake at the center of the crater pulses with radiant light, illuminating the cavern with an eerie, red glow. The heat is intense nearer the banks, and the risk of sudden eruptions makes it a perilous area. The purest sulfur crystals can be found along the lake’s edge, ones that require courage and cunning to retrieve them.
The spoils of the crater are taken down to the windward slope to a base camp where the Yaerl Kaldrak surveyors tent also serves at an auction house and freight station. The precious crystalline shards are wrapped and sealed in iron clad chests wrapped in oilskins. Nothing is waste, even the pale yellow sand is ground to find dust worth its weight in gold.