“See?!” the Dwarf exclaimed. “A friend.”

“I’m Lucas,” he replied, holding out his drink.

“Gunter,” the Dwarf offered, clinking his mug against Lucas’s. “Good to meet you.”

“Well, Gunter, is there any way to help? I mean . . . surely there has to be someone you can appeal to. What about Dray?”

“You mean that deviant pervert to the east?” Gunter asked. “I wish. What do you think he would do about it for us? There is no way he’d listen to one of us subs—not unless we were tattling on Kegan for holding back money. Unfortunately, that guy pays his tributes and taxes perfectly. I’d know.”

“You’d know?” Lucas was now very, very curious. Did I just hit a jackpot? My Luck stat is still 0, right? Don’t tell me this Dwarf knows where Kegan’s financials are.

“Yeah, I’d know,” Gunter grunted. “My old friend, Jason, thought that the copper clinger had to be embezzling, so he told that to Dray as if it were a fact hand-chiseled into stone last year after Kegan cut wages yet again. He made sure to dress up a fancy story about how Kegan was hiding books and keeping money—everything he could think of. Damn shame was that when Dray came to investigate the accusation, it all turned up as lies. Dray spent an entire week trying to find a single piece of dirt on the money hoarder, and when he couldn’t, he took out his frustrations on my friend.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Lucas said, hanging his head low for a moment of silence.

“Hey! Don’t go cursing Jason to death,” Gunter quickly said. “He ain’t dead yet.”

“He isn’t?” Lucas asked.

“You think Dray would let him off that easy? No, he’s rotting in a prison cell and will be forever unless evidence of Kegan embezzling magically appears out of thin air—and a fat chance at that!”

Lucas didn’t know what to say. He had already made his decision to journey firmly into the Imperium’s dark side in order to help Xun Guan with her evil villain plan, but there in front of him sat a quest asking him to do the exact opposite.

Quest: The Truthfully Accused.

With certainty, morality, and justice on his side, Jason begged, scraped, and pleaded until he gained an audience with the Great Warrior of Hesse. Unfortunately, while he wielded many virtues, determination and patience among them, he did not wield truth. His hopes and dreams were built on a bed of lies, and as the bed fell apart underneath him, and his schemes were revealed, he awoke to a cruel fate in a cold dungeon. Now, his friend, Gunter, has come to you with what pride he has left to seek your help. Break into Dray’s prison and free the brave Jason from his chains.

Warning. Your level is too low to attempt this quest. Completion will result in much greater rewards due to the difficulty, but undertaking the challenge is not advised. Please note that the suggested level for this quest is 30.