Mining
Beneath the surface of Velmora lies a wealth of resources that no smith, alchemist, or enchanter can work without. Mining is the art of extracting these riches — iron, copper, mithril, precious gems, and ores that have no name in common tongues. A miner must know where to swing their pick: reading the veins that thread through rock, identifying the telltale shimmer of valuable deposits, and avoiding the unstable shafts that can collapse without warning. The deeper you delve, the rarer the materials — but also the greater the danger. Creatures that dwell in the lightless depths guard their territory with savage ferocity, and some veins are laced with abyssal corruption that can taint both the ore and the miner. As skill grows, a miner learns to extract more material from each node, identify hidden deposits invisible to untrained eyes, and work faster without sacrificing quality. The ores and stones pulled from the earth flow into every other trade skill — feeding the forges of crafters, the crucibles of alchemists, and the workshops of enchanters. A skilled miner is never short of coin or allies.