Serk's Orders

The undead captain named Serk has kept a small bundle of parchment scrolls that contain his orders, all signed with the dwarven rune for the letter "A." The handwriting of the signature doesn't match the rest of the script, which is in old Skald, and all of the signatures have what look like blood smears around them, as if the hand of the person signing had been coated in blood.

Read the Document

Serk's Orders

In no particular order:

Serk, under no circumstances are you to attempt to open the door within the crypt. I sent your description of the engravings to Scrinius, and he found records describing an "Iron Crown of Bran" that matched them. Whatever the hells this crown was, it gave the jarl who found it enough of a power boost to conquer the entire kingdom through sheer physical strength of arms. If he's awake and angry, and hasn't yet fallen under the master's influence, then I don't want you to risk opening the door and releasing some sort of demi-god draugr to wipe out your position and possibly the entire south-eastern front.
I've put in a request with Conatic to send one of his acolytes to visit the crypt and "speak" with your guest, but until then I want you to ignore the pounding and don't let your men near the door.

Serk, I need you to take your squad down to the crypt north of the eastern bridge, southwest of Evamark. Your job is to watch the bridge and alert us if Wulfgar makes a move to cross it. He shouldn't - the Anchor should keep his forces south of the river - but if he does, we need to know about it as soon as it happens.
I've given you a bile-beetle; use the goo it produces to put a watchtower together on top of the crypt's hill. Make sure to feed the thing regularly - it's not picky, but it will fall apart if it isn't fed.
If you spot movement on the bridge, send as many runners as you can spare to Rustbone Tower and alert Quintius about what's happening. If your position comes under attack, I leave whether to retreat or defend up to you, but either way send up a flare to alert the tower that you need reinforcements.

Serk, I just got a raven from Conatic - the trap that Saria put in place in the ruins of Hollyfield was triggered and its focus destroyed, but none of the ravens she left there made it back. Worst-case, this means that Bridgetown has finally started sending adventurers out again. Keep an eye out to the east; if you see any movement in or around Evamark, send up two flares and at least three runners to alert the Tower.
I leave it to your discretion as to how you respond beyond that, but be aware that if they're experienced enough, an adventuring party could have a decent chance of being able to wipe out your entire force, even dug into a defensible position like the crypt. If you can do it without drawing their attention, keep an eye on their movements and keep us appraised of what they're doing. If you feel you can take them out, do so - I'll make sure you're granted an audience with the Master if you can manage it.

Serk, Conatic's demanding that we send him more draugr test subjects. He's supplied us with some enchanted daggers to help with capturing them alive, and I'm including five with this message. If your men can manage to stick them in one of Wulfgar's people, the dagger should paralyze them as long as it stays stuck in. Distribute the weapons amongst your squad, preferably to the ones who are decent in melee and can understand that they need to let go of the weapon for it to work. The daggers only work once, so do NOT let your men experiment with the things on themselves - Conatic stressed that a single dagger was more valuable than any three of you combined.
If you spot Wulfgar's forces moving across the bridge, your orders are to try to lay an ambush and take one or more of them "alive." Send any captives to the Tower with as much escort as you can spare, and I'll see to it you and your men are rewarded.

Serk, your request for a blessing from the Master has been denied - he's too busy in meditation to spare time for anyone other than one of the high commanders. I did manage to wrangle an enchanted holy symbol out of the Bonewright, though - he said that it's carved linnorm bone, and was enchanted by the Master himself during the first years of the Search. Hopefully that will keep you until you're able to impress somebody high enough up the chain to get in to see him.
Keep up the good work, and try not to get yourself sent back to the grave.

Close

Type

Text, Letter

Medium

Vellum / Skin

Location

Crypt of the Tower King