Behold...the Inland Empire!

To this native New Yorker, the term "Inland Empire" conjures up images of a distant, fabled land -- like something out of the Forgotten Realms or another D&D campaign setting. As it turns out, the real-life Inland Empire is a smog-choked urban sprawl to the east of Lost Angeles. We've come down for Matthew's ice hockey tournament -- let's go, Grizzlies! -- but the prospect of spending four days here got me thinking about writing a new D&D adventure: Escape from the Inland Empire.