Happy Valley
It was a long hike down the mountain, but you're so looking forward to adventuring in the legendary valley below that if you're tired you hardly notice it. At any rate, the going is much easier here, and you're making your way down a gently sloping path when you see a man lugging a pair of heavy satchels coming quickly up it to meet you.
"Oh hello there!" he exclaims, grasping your hand with a sweaty palm and shaking it fervently. "Are you the new guy?"
"Uh..." you firmly declare.
"Great! That was fast!" He picks his luggage back up and continues. "Look, I'm in a bit of a hurry, but I left the door to the office open and everything should be pretty self-explanatory anyway. There's, ah, been a bit of trouble in the mines that needs to be sorted out before the next customer arrives, but..."
"Um..." you interject.
The man shrugs and flashes you a winning (and you suspect well-practiced) smile. "Anyway, I'm sure it's nothing a brilliant fellow like yourself can't handle, so I'll just get out of your way and leave you to it!" With that he jogs past you and up the path, disappearing into the trees before you can ask anything further.
What a nice guy!
Happy Valley
You stand next to a large wooden sign at the end of a grassy, well-manicured path that leads south through an artfully tangled grove of trees growing at the foot of the Snowy Peak. The day all around you is warm and sunny, and from somewhere nearby comes the relentlessy cheerful singing of birds.
Directly to the north is an oak tree. To your east is a tiny, picturesque cottage, while to the west, a pitted stone cliff surrounded by a cluster of boulders slopes steeply upward.