You stand before your Thane with your fellow adventurers, and, after a moment of looking you over, he rises and begins to speak, paws clasped behind his back and his long, feline tail lashing behind him.
"As you are all aware, near the Northern border of my lands there is a great stone pillar which stretches into the very clouds above. At the base of this pillar is a city of unspeakable horror, from which only rumors have returned. For over two hundred years, the city has remained silent and undisturbed. Now that silence has apparently been broken. In the past few weeks, nearby villages have been terrorized by the walking dead. Every evidence indicates that these horrors originated from the city." The Thane stops and faces you. "That's where you come in. You must find the intelligence that is directing these monsters, and if possible, destroy it."
"My Lord," one of your fellows asks, "Why can your armies not handle this problem?"
The Thane sighs, "Much as I would love to send illiterate, uneducated, superstitious men to face unimaginable horror, my paws are tied. To move an army of the necessary size North would violate the fragile truce we forged with our neighbors five years ago. The pillaging the undead have committed is insignificant compared to the loss of life we'd face if we had to renew hostilities."
The Thane addresses the group again. "You will, of course, be richly rewarded if you succeed. You may supply yourselves for the journey with whatever my staff can provide for you. Good Luck."