Life in Greyton

In 1789E, Greyton went from an otherwise unremarkable clearing in the Valley, to one of the fastest-growing cities in history. Most adventurers are content to spend their gains on better equipment, or to feather a nest for retirement. Warden Mortimer chose another path - building a his legacy out of stone. In other times this would have failed spectacularly, the new town would have been invaded quickly enough, or the money would have run out in short order. Greyton was spared these fates by coming into being while the Valley was otherwise distracted, where rulers of the various cities were too noble or too busy to take what wasn't theirs. The Valley's economy was also not doing well, outside of Skor (which as still under the golden gaze of Regent Rolth at the time) many places had more people than jobs and more mouths than food. Greyton offered simple wages for simple work, and a lawful doctorine that appealed to those who lacked direction.
But what's life like in "the big city"? In the closing days of 1789E, these are a few of the people who inhabit the area.
=== Leli, Aberdeenian Druid, 58 years old. ===
Leli's story is common to most of the Aberdeenian refugees. She respects the law and order of her homeland, but disagrees with the politicking and class structure to the point where she sought a post in Southglen, a small farming village that was part of the Aberdeenian nation while being outside the strict borders of Aberdeen itself. There Leli (and her companion, a horse named Xiaohei) were content to live out her life as a herbalist. In the autumn of 1788E Leli received a letter informing her that she was to be drafted into house Sun, and would be relocated to the city center. Leli and Xiaohei packed their bags and left that very night, and headed west toward the coast. There she found a safe place and built herself a shack, living as a trader for some time She did business selling herbs, potions and poultices to nearby settlements, including Zelkor's Ferry. She heard of Hengsha through gossip, but Leli considered herself to be above consorting with bandits, and never sought to make contact.
When Greyton was founded, Leli found that they were able to buy all the stock she could provide. She gave up her long rides to other towns, and began to tailor her wares to suit the Greyton settlers - anesthetics and sleeping draughts for the miners, stimulants and poultices to the soldiers. She moved with the soldiers as they cleared land and went on patrols, discounting her wares in exchange for the protection. Across the river her hut still stands, but she returns ever more infrequently. When the Aberdeenian refugees began to buy land at Greyton, she bought a nearby plot and opened a shop, making a tidy profit selling the expats the herbal remedies, teas and compounds that they could not get in their new home. 
Today, "Little Yellow Flowers" opens 4 days a week, selling to Aberdeenians and others alike, although Leli herself is rarely present more than one day a week. The shop is operated by Gerrard, a hobgoblin man slightly past his prime. He is no herbalist himself, but speaks Tien and has a fantastic memory, and is able to effectively dispense and barter with the help of Leli's comprehensive notes on all of her stock. Gerrad and Leli enjoy each other's company, but both prefer to spend most of their time alone, so the arrangement works well. Leli and Xiaohei usually join one of Jel's outriders on their patrols, continuing to trade discounted goods for the protection. There are plenty of other nearby herbalists, but they tend to ignore plants like sandroot and dragonsbane, whose secrets are usually confined to Aberdeen. There is quite a quantity of wild bush tea, much of which has itnerbred with various other tea strains over the years. While all the plants look the same, Xiaohei's nose can pick which bushes will yield tea that will sell for good price back at Greyton.
Occasionally Greyton will become too much for Leli and she will retreat back to her hut with Xiaohei. There she keeps a stash of tea and wine purchased from Dejune (during what she would describe as a moment of weakness), and she will watch the sun set while carefully rationing her supply. It doesn't take much reminiscing about her old life to cause Leli to remember why she left Aberdeen, and when the wine is finished, she and Xiaohei will head back to their new home, at least for a while.
=== Kurat, Hobgoblin Fighter, 19 years old. ===
Kurat could certainly think for himself, but he really didn't like it. Few people would actually admit to being too lazy to act on their own initiative, and Kurat would describe it more as a love of structure. If his father asked him what he should be doing, Kurat would have just idly shrugged. If his father ordered him to cut down a tree, Kurat's above-average brain would start doing it's job. Where is the axe? Is it sharp? What way should the tree fall? Should he ask his sister for help? Why did this tree need to be cut down if they had so much firewood already? 
Kurat simply needed a nudge: he liked to be told what to hit, and when. One day a powerful Hobgoblin warrior named Corrak came to the town, looking to hire soldiers. Kurat asked his father if he should join. His father (not really understanding his son) told him to make up his own mind. Kurat asked Corrak if he should join Corrak's brigade, and Corrak said he should. Kurat bade his sister and father farewell and set off without a backwards glance. As Corrak's band (and their fortunes) grew, Kurat never stopped to wonder if he'd made the right decision, even after learning the truth about Corrak's nature. Kurat attached hismelf to Jel, much to Jel's initial displeasure. Jel was paid well to try and bring the roughly twenty hobgoblin thugs into line as proper soldiers, although it was an uphill battle. Under his tutelage, Kurat learned the basics of soldiering, although he never rose to command a squad. He would have been given command if he'd simply requested it (as his discipline and skill was better than most of the unit), although it never occurred to him to ask. After Corrack's death, Kurat and the other survivors retreated to a nearby cave, and spent a few dark and confusing weeks living as bandits and hunters for a few weeks, until Jel returned to recruit them.
Kurat arrived at Greyton and was quickly recruited into the Maxim. It was there he met Tabitha, and life became simple for the boy once more. Tabitha issued orders constantly, and Kurat was never again at a loss for what to do. Those that dismissed him as a simpleton were surprised to see him rise to be one of the Maxim's best soldiers. Tabitha told him to train, and he trained. Jel told him when to march and when to sleep and when to patrol, and he did so. On his days off he used to spend his time at the barracks, happily training by himself until one day Marrin forcibly made him "go play outside". He spent the rest of the day wandering the streets of Greyton in a state of dazed panic, not sure what it was that he was meant to be doing. He found his way to a Tabitha-approved tavern, and sat inside and listened to a music, waiting for the day to end so he could return to the barracks. A dwarven band started up a song about how great mining was. Kurat did not think mining was great, but the tune was catchy and the young hobgoblin found himself tapping the table in time to the tune.
"Do ye play the drums, laddie?" asked the dwarf sitting next to him.
No, said Kurat. He did not
"You've got good rhythm! You should play the drums!" encouraged the dwarf.
Should he, wondered Kurat.
"Aye lad, ye should."
When the performance ended, Kurat went and spoke to the drummer
"How do you know which drum to hit, and when?"
The drummer laughed. "Easy boy, ye got something called 'The Sheet'. It tells you what and when!"
Kurat loves his days at the barracks. Between Marrin, Jel and Tabitha he always knows exactly what to do, and does so with considerable skill. To the that know the slightly dopey-sounding lad, they're surprised to learn that he spends his day off practicing or performing with The Rock Below, a dwarven band as they tour Greyton's handful of inns. Kurat sits sideways to the stage, as he doesn't care at all for the crowd. On cheap paper in front of him, The Sheet tells him what to hit, and when.
=== Jaq, Tiefling Expert, 108 years old. ===
It would be fair to say that Jaq doesn't like Greyton. However, it would be tough to work out exactly what Jaq does like, if anything at all. The tiefling lady has probably lived a hard life, her long curly black hair does little to hide the two large grey horns that sprout from he skull. Her pants are cut to accomodate her long black tail, and not even a daily manicure can stop her jet-black nails from growing over an inch long. The Valley has not had a great history with devils, and Jaq's face wears a permanent look of exhaustion from far too many incidents involving silver arrows and overzealous guards. 
Her solution to the problem of her appearance was to hide it, by working in the pitch-black mines below Tarren's Junction. Jaq joined Glodsson Heavy Industries and proved herself to be a great team leader, able to organise a bunch of workers to get a job done quickly. Unfortunately that even among what would be considered "good folk", Jaq found herself hitting a glass ceiling as dwarves, gnomes and even elves were promoted past her. No matter how well she ran her team or how hard hard she worked, Jaq could not attract a favorable glance from her superiors. 
Not being one to ignore her problems, Jaq confronted one of her senior officers in GHI. Words turned to blows, and the officer caught a pick blow to the head. No real harm was done (thanks to the wonders of clerical magic) but Jaq knew she was done; those that had prejudged her as a threat would now have no reason to ever change their minds. 
For a few years, Jaq was homeless and copperless, doing what would she could for any coin she could get. Taking coin from a stranger's bed isn't looked down upon in the valley ("The pretty are never poor in Skor" as they say), but her appearance closed this door to her as well. She was first in line when the dig site at Greyton opened, working alongside the pair ogres to help clear the trees and flatten the land. When Tabitha hired Albert to form a team to co-ordinate their efforts, Jaq was surprised to be the first person hired. Albert was too old to care what other people thought, and too clever to throw away a good worker just because of their looks. Besides, next to Tabitha, who could worry about a woman who simply looked like a devil?
Jaq was first put in charge of teaching the unskilled labor how to shape rocks into building materials, and now commands a team of 50 semiskilled-stonemasons. She is paid well, and like many people in Greyton she prefers to work even on her days off. Her house is near the quarry, away from the main residential area. Inside is sadly spartan, as Jaq is good at converting rocks into bricks, but is much less able to transmute her gold into anything that could make her happy. Her one nod towards her new station in life is the lack of a kitchen in her house. Each morning and evening she treks into Greyton's center and buys her food at a little stall called "Farmer's Cornucopia". There they sell pasties, pies and other food that Jaq considers a nice compromise between taste and nutrition. In truth she could afford to eat somewhere far better, but potato pies are as lavish as Jaq is comfortable with.
She is slowly saving for a reincarnation spell, the Valley's most dramatic plastic surgery. Perhaps if she were to go through with it, she may be able to make a fresh start of it, so to speak. She would not give up her job, but people come and go so fast it would be soon enough that people would forget entirely that she had ever looked like a devil. Perhaps with a less frightening appearance, people may give her a chance. She briefly considered wearing a hat of disguise, but in Jaq's mind, it would be immeasurably duplicitous to do such a thing. On new year's eve, she will ask Albert for a small loan, and then head to Dejune to see if she can start the new year afresh.