The Barony of New Tower

At the Battle of Terric Hills, a skirmish between two quarreling Nobles, Duke Estone d'Lombard(Fighting-Man 13) was saved by one of his soldiers. A peasant from some far-flung village of his. In a moment of gratitude, he swore to the man that he would make him a lord for his actions!

Carrying out that promise was harder said than done, Duke d'Lombard may have no issue with granting just rewards to all, but his vassals didn't like being on equal footing with one of their subjects, and thus objected to every fiefdom with the Duke tried to grant him.

The Duke knew he could never grant a true fief to the man who saved him, but also felt a burning desire to keep his word. And so he found a compromise. Yorick(Fighting-Man 1), the peasant in question, would be granted a tiny plot of land from within the Duke's own domain, but would fall under the vassalage of the neighboring Duke Islay(Fighting-Man 9)so as to assuage d'Lombard's own vassals.

Duke Islay

That spec of territory to be given to Yorick was barren save for a village with less than thirty residents who barely eked out an existence farming the inhospitable climate for what food they can and selling the strange baubles they create in their small thatch huts.

To try and ease his mind about saddling Yorick with this excruciatingly poor land, so poor in fact that Duke d'Lombard had never once collected taxes from it, he had a tower built for him right outside the village. 

Thus the name of the fief, New Tower, the tower itself is a simple structure. A mere two-story building with a hall for attending to the Laird's business as well as a kitchen on the first floor, a trio of bedrooms on the second floor, and a ladder to the roof where lookout can be kept.

To help the Laird Yorick transition into his new ruling authority, he was given a small stipend from the Duke, as well as the aid of three competent men-at-arms. As well, a traveling knight by the name of Sir Colin Byrus(Cleric 4) swore himself to the young Laird out of respect for his heroism and is now teaching Yorick his letters, which he had never learned being a poor miner.

Sir Colin Byrus. Ladies everywhere curse his vows of chastity.

Usually, this small valley, nestled deep into a low mountain range, would be quickly forgotten by all involved. But, as he surveyed the lands for his Laird, Sir Colin discovered a cave, not on any maps, and none of the locals would dare speak of it. While Exploring the place, he quickly learned that there was far more to the cave than meets the eye.

He left the cave, not willing to risk leaving Yorick alone to rule without training, and with some danger bearing down on him. Instead, he sent word to the nearest town to the alert the Duke who would, in turn, alert the Prince at the capitol, Makara, who will then create a Quest and allow the Adventurer's Guilds to dispatch parties to inspect and deal with the menace.

Of course, this bureaucracy brings with it only more bureaucracy, and already Inspectors, Assessors, and even a Banker looking to set up shop have arrived in New Tower. It looks like this dungeon was just what the village needed to bring it into the world...