The sea settles at last. Ethrosise lowers his great head beneath the surf, and the broken light on the water fades to rolling gray.
Inside the Great Hall, the storm’s leftover hush hangs over stone and beam. King Hammon turns from the doorway toward Gromm and General Rovan, the salt wind still clinging to his robes.
King Hammon
Thank you, Rovan.
Rovan gives a short, ready nod, already listening for the next order. Gromm stands broad and calm beside him, his attention fixed on Hammon with practical respect.
King Hammon
Your people can earn good pay here. The lower levels need miners, haulers, and cutters. Castle High Wind is always expanding.
Gromm
That suits us. Work that feeds a hall and strengthens a wall is honest work. I will send strong backs.
General Rovan
I can set shifts and mark the tunnels that are safest for the first crews.
The fire in the hall crackles softly. For a moment, the three men stand in the warm quiet of a bargain already taking root, while the sea beyond the walls goes dark and still.
✓ Quest Accepted
Secure miners, haulers, and cutters for Castle High Wind
“I work out the jobs that the castle needs and the pay with gromm”
SUCCESS (Great Persuasion, rolled +0)
Hammon spreads the work into plain terms, miners for the stone, haulers for the spoil, cutters for the new passages. Gromm listens like a man weighing grain, then gives a slow, certain nod.
Gromm
Strong backs for the deep work, and honest pay for honest labor. That is fair.
Rovan steps in with a rough finger on the tabletop, marking shifts, tool teams, and safe watching points for the first crews.
General Rovan
Three crews will do to start, if the stone holds. I will keep them from crowding the wrong tunnels.
Gromm answers with a clipped breath of approval, already counting the work against the wages in his head.
Gromm
Name the rate, King, and I will tell my folk exactly what Castle High Wind offers.
The bargain settles cleanly in the warm hall, and the first labor for the lower levels stands agreed, while the sea remains dark and quiet beyond the walls.
Quest Complete
Secure miners, haulers, and cutters for Castle High Wind