Demand an Explaination

You quickly sprung up on your feet in response to his request, almost wanting to feel outrage at his words.

“Did you say to help cleanse Iniarv’s Tower?” You asked, your voice dangerously even, “Have you gone mad?”

“It depends on how one sees it,” Said Khargram, “But this is one condition I will not renegotiate, no matter what.”

“Then give us one good reason why we should entertain you on this,” Said Carebos, “Iniarv’s Tower is a territory few dare tread upon, and with our few numbers, you should know as well as everyone else that to attempt to cleanse the tower is to invite potential catastrophe on all; a great hundred warbands dared to brave it centuries past, and none have survived.”

“That is because they lack the very thing they need to permanently cleanse Iniarv and his magical curse,” Said Khargram, “Iniarv’s phylactery.”

The aged Dwarf took out a cylinder of steel, engraved with a thousand runes that thrummed with power. The magic was dark and subtle, yet a fool was able to sense it in close proximity.

“Within this phylactery contains his soul – the very thing that ties the curse to the ruined tower that always falls back into ruin despite countless efforts to claim it,” Said Khargram, “He was smart enough to know that keeping it at the tower would invite disaster upon him, and so he had it hidden beneath only the deepest of vaults in an unknown location.”

“And just how did you manage to obtain this great treasure, might I ask?” You said, exceptionally sceptical, “How is it that at this very crucial moment, you just so happen to possess the very item needed to cleanse Iniarv’s Tower once and for all?”

“Yes, do please enlighten us on how Lady Luck seems to favour you this day,” Said Carberos, eyes narrowed.

“Don’t look at me like that – I perfectly understand your feelings,” Said Khargram, “As for my answer, believe it or not, simple chance.”

“Explain,” You said.

Harrumphing, Khargram then said, “It just so happened that someone stumbled upon the artefact buried in soil – barren and considered unsuitable for crops. A farmer wanted to discover the reason why, and so he dug it up and believed it a treasure beyond worth – a grievous assumption that led to results we can all guess here.”

“Continue,” You said.

“Right, so as we were wandering the landscape, we stumbled upon said farmer – broken in mind and dying of hunger, and he willingly parted with it when we asked him for the artefact; said it was nothing but a curse,” Said Khargram, “Needless to say, we took utmost caution in examining the object, and after careful divination, some of our priests said that it drew a strong connection with ‘The cursed Tower of the traitor Undead Mage’.”

“Iniarv’s Tower,” Carberos concluded.

“Yes, and now that we’re at this critical juncture, I believe the Tower must be purged once and for all,” Said Khargram, “I will not suffer such a cursed holdfast to be on our doorstep.”

You and all others present nodded in agreement; one less cursed holdfast is one more location made safe and sound in the Savage Frontier. Though if you had to be honest, you still were unsure of whether to march your armies towards the Tower so soon after cleansing the Sword Mountains; you doubted that Iniarv would let such a thing bypass his notice.

Then again, there would be no better opportunity to do so – to rid the world of a menace whose time was long overdue.

And with your new capital not far from the tower, this was doubly important to quickly resolve.