%% (See [[Navigating the Ruins#Getting to the City|Eckerman Mill to the City]]) %% ![[Eckerman Mill.png]] > [!Read] Description > Eckerman Mill is a dilapidated windmill that rests atop a lonely hill northwest of Drakkenheim. Its stone base is covered in moss and ivy, and the rotting wooden walls are riddled with holes. The entire structure creaks in the wind. The windmill blades still spin softly in the breeze, but the machinery within is damaged beyond repair and the millstone no longer turns. Scattered about the mill are the leftovers from countless expeditions. A well-used bonfire pit surrounded by a few well-worn logs for seating and several tattered tents are set up beside the mill. Abandoned here are a few bedrolls, battered cookware, a rusty chopping axe, and a waterlogged stack of wood. - The Mill is often used as a meeting place for adventurers venturing into Drakkenheim from the northwestern side of the Drann River. Since Emberwood Village lies several miles to the south on the opposite side of the river, many use Eckerman Mill as a makeshift campsite as it is much closer to the city proper. - Occasionally, faction agents who wish to avoid the eyes and ears of Emberwood Village arrange clandestine meetings here. In particular, the location is favoured by field surveyors dispatched by the Amethyst Academy. # Mill Grafitti >[!Read] Read Aloud >The mill is scrawled over with chalk graffiti and carvings, transforming the walls into an impromptu message board. There are several roughly engraved messages along the walls. Most list the names of dozens of would-be heroes who have ventured into the ruins, though many names are crossed out to mark those who did not return. Curiously, a few groups have not marked off a single casualty... perhaps they all made it out alive, or more likely, none survived. In addition to these memorials, along the wall one can find many dire warnings, cryptic riddles, poignant questions, crude maps to alleged treasure, and amateur drawings of horrible monsters encountered in the ruins. %% Invite your player characters to write their own messages or names on the walls of Eckerman Mill, to follow the tradition of those who came before. - You can distribute one rumour to characters who examine the writings of Eckerman Mill to represent what they learn from reading the scrawled messages and riddles on the walls. %%