Trevor Idlespear nods briskly.
“Well, now that you know a bit about each other, let’s get down to business. As I said, I am in the business of assembling small, elite groups to do the King’s bidding. Finding a group that already has an established reputation is no good, because people would think of them as little more than hired mercenaries. What we need are young folk, just starting in the world, with no reputation to speak of thus far. Since, in the minds of the people, you have never not been in the service of the King, you will be seen only as agents of Silleria. They will look at your great deeds and think of the greatness this Kingdom can achieve if everybody models themselves off of you.”
He levels his gaze.
“For this reason, if you choose to accept the mission I'm presenting to you, you are to consider yourselves to be setting an example for all the people you meet. You represent Silleria, and your actions reflect on the King.”
He shrugs, “Or put another way, if you insist on doing things that don’t... quite... fit with that image, do them under a different name or something. I recognize that some of you might not personally fit the ideal we want to portray very well. That’s all right. It’s all about appearances and accomplishments. If you do your jobs well, I assure you that your benevolent deeds will be remembered far better than any, um, indiscretions. But don’t take this to mean you have legal immunity.”
He pauses to make sure you all are understanding.
“Benevolent deeds... that brings us to the issue at hand.
As you, I am sure, know, Myrtolo Keep has stood vacant for over a decade. The garrison rode out to engage an invading Goss army and was soundly defeated. The women, children and retainers, upon hearing news of the defeat, fled the Keep lest they be destroyed. It seems, though, that the Goss army was too badly damaged to take the Keep for themselves. They drew back into Gossland.
Since then, the two sides have both been eager to keep the other from gaining the Keep. No civilized force has occupied it for all this time.
No civilized force.
A few years after it was abandoned, the locals started complaining about a resurgence of Kobold raiders, stealing all kinds of things in the night. That continued until just a few months ago, when the Kobolds suddenly vanished.
Instead, Goblins have been seen in the past weeks, more bold than Kobolds, even making direct assaults against small towns. We were unable to spare any troops to the area because of the war. But now, the war is over.
Of course, we could just march the army in and clean out the Keep in days, but you’ll recall the King wants some heroes. That’s you.
I need you to travel together to Myrtolo Keep and clean it out. The reward for this task is ten thousand gold pieces for you to split among you, as well as the titles of Heroes of Silleria. If successful, you will be called upon to perform more tasks. We have an extensive list.”
He waits to see if any of you are showing signs of distress or wanting to leave. Apparently satisfied, he continues.
“Myrtolo Keep is located at the Northwest corner of Silleria, atop a tall cliff overlooking the sea. The majority of the Keep is underground, a gift of construction from the Dwarves, a hundred and fifty years ago.” He nods to Grimbard, “The surface fortifications are token defenses against a siege, but there are no structures of real significance up there. A scout recently reported that the walls and towers of the surface have more or less fallen into ruin. They were not of Dwarven make, you see. The real problems you’ll face are underground.
Myrtolo Keep is constructed with many levels. They extend from the surface, all the way down to sea level at the base of the cliffs. There is a secret entrance there, accessible only by sea, which hopefully has remained undiscovered these long years by the inhabiting monsters. That is how I recommend you enter, though if you like, you can try to enter through either of the surface ways.
On the surface, there is a main entry leading to the first level, where the Prince Protector had his court. There is also a wide stairwell leading down to the barracks on the sixth level. This is the siege stairway, allowing the defenders to quickly man the defenses should an enemy present themselves. These ways are likely to be known and well guarded.
I recommend you travel west, through the village of Mertonian, to the port city of Ambroi. This journey will take ten days on foot. Then go north, by road or sea, depending on how you want to enter the Keep. There are no significant settlements between Ambroi and Myrtolo Keep, so if you want the sea level entrance, you have to find a ship before you start north. Generally, it is five days to Myrtolo from Ambroi by land, or three by sea.”
He stops to make sure all the information is sinking in.
“As I said, the reward for a complete job is ten thousand gold pieces. I will subtract one hundred gold from this amount for every monster that you miss and the army has to clean out themselves. You can remove them by any method you can think of, as long as they’re gone when the army arrives. This should present you with enough to worry about, but there is something else if you feel up to it.”
He pauses, suddenly appearing uncomfortable.
“It is somewhat... embarrassing to the King, I might mention. I hope you can clear it up. You see, on the fourth level, there are two secret passages. One leads to an arcane library, and the other to a vault of artifacts. These “artifacts” are magical items intended for use in war if the Keep is ever assaulted. Both passages are blocked by a powerful energy field that will slay any being that attempts to cross. The only exception to this is a member of the royal family, and only if he is wearing the Signet Ring of the Prince Protector. This ring was... lost. Eyewitnesses have reported that the Prince Protector did not have it on his finger when he rode forth to battle, and to his death, ten years ago. Some speculate that its loss was a bad omen, and caused the defeat. All our divinational magic has been unable to locate it, but perhaps it is still in the Keep, undiscovered by monsters, and perhaps you can find it. If you do, it is worth another five thousand gold.
I have a team ready to reconstruct and reinhabit the Keep. They are based in an encampment three days from Myrtolo. On my signal, they will move in and relieve you. I expect you to keep the Keep clean from monstrous infection until they arrive.
When you are ready for them to come, contact me via this amulet.”
He tosses a silver amulet onto the table.
“It is useable only once a month so don’t waste it. It allows you to send a twenty-five word message, heard only by the wearer of the twin amulet, which I, of course, wear. Be careful with it. We don’t have many of these, these days.”
He looks over the group again.
“We haven’t had a high success rate with groups without clerics, so I have arranged for each of you to have three potions of healing.” He opens a small chest and pulls out nearly twenty small vials. “Not as good as a priest, but better than nothing. I hope you don’t disappoint me, or the King. Do any of you have any questions?”
You have acquired an Amulet of Sending.
You each gain three Potions of Cure Light Wounds.
