From ToEE

"Thank-you once again for saving me," said the gnome, looking much more respectable after a bath and some clean clothes. "I was almost certain that I was going to meet my doom at the hands of that horrible ogre. He'd already eaten one of the other prisoners, and I knew that I was going to be next."

"I'm sorry that I cannot reward you as the other merchants have promised, and I have gladly given you my ring, as my last remaining posession, in gratitude for rescuing me. I know that I have no right to ask this, but I do beg that you will hear my tale. A terrible thing has happened, and I am certain that a group of strong and good adventurers -- as most of you seem to be -- can help to right it."

"I was visiting my cousins, the Asteg family, about a week ago. Like many of our race, they live in the KronHills, not that far from this very place. The Astegs are a little reclusive, having chosen an area closer to the GnarleyForest than most would prefer to build their homes. I had not seen them for many decades, and it struck my fancy to travel for a little bit and see how they were doing."

"However I never did find out how they were. When I reached the home of my cousins, I knew that something was very wrong. The little herb garden they would keep near the entrance was completely trampled, the door was smashed in, and a foul reek was in the air. Before I knew it, I was assaulted by orcs, knocked unconscious, and bound. When I awoke I was in the den of that terrible ogre, with all my possessions gone."

"I have no desire to go back there, and I cannot tell you what you may find inside, but I am certain that something evil is now living where my fair, if not rather odd, cousins once made their home. If you wish to help rid the land of evil, then I would beg that you travel to this place and overthrow the evil that now inhabits it."

"Here is a map," says the gnome, pulling a piece of cloth from his pocket, and handing it over to you. "It shows the way to the Asteg halls. I'm afraid I cannot tell you the layout inside, I was last there as a child, and my memory is poor, but this map will take you to the front door sure enough. Be careful and brave on your adventures, and may evil and orc-kind fall before your mighty blades."

With that, the gnome thanks you again for saving him, and leaves on his journey back to his home. Unfolding the map, you find it is crudely drawn, but quite understandable, revealing a path from Hommlet along the road to Nulb, and then off in a twisting path to a valley in the KronHills. A large 'X' is drawn at the end of the path.

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After visiting the halls, you wonder if the gnome knows the difference between orcs and gnolls.