The Black Citadel
You walk towards the door and see 1 gold coin sticking out of the mud. You take in a peer inside and find it's a smoky bar. You walk in and see that there are about a dozen or so people inside. They all stop their drinking and gambling to glare at you as you walk over to the bar. You ignore them and they soon continue what they were doing.
You buy a mug of dark ale from the barman with your gold coin and you receive five silver pieces in change. You find yourself a wooden stool at an empty table and relax. After a few minutes and old wiry looking man pushes open the door of the bar and comes in. He has a wooden stump for a leg. He buys a beer and sits down at your table. You introduce yourself and learn his name is Mironwan.
"Hey there lad, looking like a stranger in these parts you are, what brings you to this godforsaken place?" the old man asks.
Again you give minor details about why you're in Darkwood and never about your true purpose, and the old man continues.
"You know I used to be a great soldier in the army of Tarvonis. Now I'm only a poor travelling hermit, passing through this cursed forest."
"So you lost that leg of yours in a great battle old man?" you ask Mironwan.
"My leg, that happened long ago with a mountain wilderbeast. Ferocious, absolutely! It smashed my leg here into tiny splinters with a mighty hammer, but not before I thrust my sword into its belly. But of course, as I said, ferocious and any wilderbeast is almost impossible to kill. Its hide was so thick I couldn't pull out my blade and I ended up crawling right out of that place with only one leg remaining. Miss that blade too, it was a work of art. Anyway, legend has it that the wilderbeast is actually an invincible guardian, guarding a secret underground entrance to the Black Citadel. But that's not what I was after, it was the treasure."
At these pieces of information, your eyes light up.
"How can I find this wilderbeast?" you ask Mironwan.
"There's a tunnel near here that leads down into its lair. I don't even know why I hang onto the old thing..."
At that, Mironwan gets up and leaves the bar, and returns some moments later and places something down on the table.
"Take this if your interested," he says.
On the table you see a *bronze key that you pick up and examine.
"That'll open the grate to the tunnel. Follow the path from the village here to the northwest towards the mountains. You'll find the tunnel just past a giant boulder that's engraved with some ancient writing."
You thank Mironwan profusely, and before you leave the bar you buy some food and fresh water with the silver pieces you have for the days journey ahead. What will you do now?
You buy a mug of dark ale from the barman with your gold coin and you receive five silver pieces in change. You find yourself a wooden stool at an empty table and relax. After a few minutes and old wiry looking man pushes open the door of the bar and comes in. He has a wooden stump for a leg. He buys a beer and sits down at your table. You introduce yourself and learn his name is Mironwan.
"Hey there lad, looking like a stranger in these parts you are, what brings you to this godforsaken place?" the old man asks.
Again you give minor details about why you're in Darkwood and never about your true purpose, and the old man continues.
"You know I used to be a great soldier in the army of Tarvonis. Now I'm only a poor travelling hermit, passing through this cursed forest."
"So you lost that leg of yours in a great battle old man?" you ask Mironwan.
"My leg, that happened long ago with a mountain wilderbeast. Ferocious, absolutely! It smashed my leg here into tiny splinters with a mighty hammer, but not before I thrust my sword into its belly. But of course, as I said, ferocious and any wilderbeast is almost impossible to kill. Its hide was so thick I couldn't pull out my blade and I ended up crawling right out of that place with only one leg remaining. Miss that blade too, it was a work of art. Anyway, legend has it that the wilderbeast is actually an invincible guardian, guarding a secret underground entrance to the Black Citadel. But that's not what I was after, it was the treasure."
At these pieces of information, your eyes light up.
"How can I find this wilderbeast?" you ask Mironwan.
"There's a tunnel near here that leads down into its lair. I don't even know why I hang onto the old thing..."
At that, Mironwan gets up and leaves the bar, and returns some moments later and places something down on the table.
"Take this if your interested," he says.
On the table you see a *bronze key that you pick up and examine.
"That'll open the grate to the tunnel. Follow the path from the village here to the northwest towards the mountains. You'll find the tunnel just past a giant boulder that's engraved with some ancient writing."
You thank Mironwan profusely, and before you leave the bar you buy some food and fresh water with the silver pieces you have for the days journey ahead. What will you do now?