“Not with armies or anything. Not even deliberately. Pure economics.” Catskill set off down the remains of a wide path that clung to the valley wall, now overgrown with ferns and grasses. “Five, six years ago, this was Mystic, one of the larger mining towns in the area. Relatively speaking, anyway. It had a pretty good business in silver, iron, and copper, plus some gems. Look, you can even see one of the old mines over there.” She pointed across the valley, towards where a dark hole yawned from the wall. “It wasn’t struggling at all. Then the Crystal Empire returned and everything changed.”