>> Inquire about this "How to get out of town".

Step 1) Pick a direction.
Step 2) Walk straight ahead.
Step 3) Repeat step two.

>> Ask Magic 8-Ball as to what should be done with the shop keepers life.
>> Act accordingly.

>> Inquire about the people "over the mountains".

JOHN'S temper fades a little as you take a course of action that isn't aimed at stealing his property or some other hilarious act of annoyance.

...Yes, the people over the mountains; the home of our bosses. Well...over the mountains...and then across the sea. I'm not sure which direction you came from, but you see, while we have a mountain range to the north where we mine the Jaitia, there's also a small one far to the south. On the other side of those mountains is a sea.

You vaguely remember a large BODY OF WATER near the NOT-TARDIS when you first came to BURAM, but paid it no attention.

>> Ask about staples.

What's a staple? Like...a necessary food item?

>> Ask JOHN who owns the mining business, or who the miners work for.

By "the miners", I assume you mean pretty much everyone in town. They work for our bosses, which I guess is who you could say run the "mining business". It's less of a business and more of indentured servitude. ...Let me back up.

Around a year ago, Buram Village was nothing like what you see now. These doors, windows, etc? Not there. It's not like we were dumb or anything, it's just that...not very many of us are technologically inclined. We had shacks for homes, scavenged for food in the forest, and spent a whole lot of time gathering materials for the upkeep of our village. Do you ever look back on your life a year ago and are simply amazed at how you possibly got by back then? That's us now.

Then at that time, these people just came out of nowhere. They said they came from across the sea to the south, made a boat to cross the water, traversed the mountain, and cut through the forest to get to our village. They also said they'd help us out if we helped them. They offered resources we didn't have and a sampling of knowledge that would make life so much easier, like ways to refine the art of blacksmithing and whatnot. In return they asked us to mine these greenish rocks called Jaitia out of the mountain to the north. It started out at one cartload per month, but over the months it's started to grow. They're quite good at...persuasion, I guess you'd say. Most of the villagers won't stand up to them anyway because they feel so indebted, so now they're mining three cartloads of Jaitia each month with barely enough time to have a life besides. Our new lifestyles have come at a high price...

We hardly ever actually see our bosses; they didn't stay more than a few weeks when we first met them, and nowadays only come when there's bad news to be had.

>> Ask about Jaitia.

Like I said, it's just some greenish rock that's found in the mountains to the north. I don't even know what's so special about it, but our bosses apparently really value it.

>> Ask about what the Jaitia's used for.

Heck if I know. I don't even know how they collect the Jaitia we mine, to be honest. The mine carts where we load it up are at the edge of the forest, and the cart tracks stop a short way in; I've gone to check it out once or twice myself.

>> Ask about well.

That's where we get our water from; another miracle story of convenience. Could you imagine--we used to go east through the forest to the castle's moat to get water, and even then it was stagnant and icky. To get the really good kind we had to cross the small mountains to the south and come all the way to the village with it. And then our bosses came and taught us how to dig a well--that if you dug deep enough, there was water there...

>> Ask about castle.

There are a lot of stories behind that old castle, but I barely know any of them now. It's been dormant for decades. Although...on a still night every couple of months, it feels like I can hear something, or see a faint glow coming from its direction through the eastern forest. I know it's got to be just the moons reflecting on the moat, though.

Marty's been there in the last several months and said there were some vicious "catfish" in the moat, guarding the castle. Which is odd, because I'm sure they weren't there when I used to visit over a year ago. But I haven't even been over to confirm his rumor; these days I can't be bothered to spend the better part of a day trudging through the forest to see a fish.

>> Ask if he's ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight.

Um...no?

>> Return Lantern (we don't need it anyways with the flashlight on the helmet)
>> Take Mining Helmet.

You return the LANTERN.

... ...Thanks. I knew you took it, by the way, if I hadn't made that clear.

You ask JOHN if you can purchase the JAITIA-STAINED MINING HELMET instead, but your $6.45 merely confuses him.

...What kind of money is that supposed to be? It's nothing like what we use in Buram. You really DO come from far away, eh? ...Here, take the helmet anyway. It's been used before, but it's in good shape.

You place the MINING HELMET in your INVENTORY.

You bid adieu to JOHN and leave his MINING SHOPPE. For having a nice chat with him and getting a lot of INFORMATION, you earned 25% LINGUISTICS EXPERIENCE.