Caravan Keep

"Welcome to Purtino on the Plains, Now Go Away!"

The people of Purtino on the Plains unfortunately need adventurers almost as badly as they despise them. The simple life somehow seems to elude these simple folks. For nearly a generation they had found it: the crops were good, the livestock healthy, and road to the Canton market safe.

Caravans ran the route from Canton to Landslake and Montilotus almost twice a month back in those days. Lord Tolardo's Keep north of Purtino became a standing waypoint for the travelling merchants. His small fortified estate maintained a standing guard of 20 men, half of whom were regularly hired out as armed caravan escorts.

Tolardo was well liked around town, if not very well known. Gentleness and quiet piety marked his every brief conversation with the townsfolk. As "Caravan Keep" (as his estate was called) met with prosperity, Tolardo proved a faithful benefactor for little Purtino on the Plains. The transient caravan rifraf were never allowed to trouble the town then. Any complaints of theivery or drunken mischief were met with swift response and justice of the Tolardo guard. Back then, Purtino knew peace. It was Tolardo's greatest gift to the town.

Lord Tolardo began to travel some, the townsfolk noticed. His journeys became more and more extended over the years. The faithful ranks of the Tolardo guard grew thin over time, as a man or two here and there hired on with the caravans passing through and were not replaced. Sometimes those who stayed had to wait three or four months for their pay, once Tolardo came back.

But then Tolardo didn't return at all. A messenger was sent after 8 months with word Tolardo had grown ill. Generous as always, Lord Tolardo sent a severance gift to the dozen men who remained. He likewise remembered Purtino with a full two years' seed for the fields.

That was five years ago. Tolardo has not been seen or heard from since then. Some suppose he died. Others suspect he found greater prosperity elsewhere and simply never came back. Regardless, the caravans don't come often -- and when they do, there's no one to stay the hand of wandering bandits and brigands here, so they press onward.

Left defenseless, Purtino of the Plains did the only thing it knew how to do to keep itself safe: it locked it's doors and hired a handful of mercenary adventurers to look after the villiage.

You and the others they hired are their only hope.

Welcome to Purtino on the Plains...