The mayor of Xii'thktor stands over the table, impatient. He fiddles with his dagger, jeweled finders clacking together as he waits for all of you to enter his room. It's the basement of Town Hall, and the air is redolent with the smell of the oak barrels of beer stockpiled here.

"I am Yashar. I started my life out as a thief, then went into business, and now I am a mayor of a town. Interesting story, huh?"

He doesn’t wait for any of you to answer.

"I want you to break into The Cube. None of you know what The Cube is, because none of you are two thousand years old. I myself learned of The Cube from the dead, who are tight-lipped when you first meet them but become very friendly if you give them enough time." Yashar speaks rapidly, lisping his words out of huge canine teeth. You don't know precisely what race he is, except that he looks like the cross between a rat, a lizard and a human. "The dead also assume that the living will forget where they buried their treasure, given enough time. That is their one mistake; they think that the best revenge is a good death, buried with the gold they were too rich to spend in their lifetime. Enough!"

He unfolds a large map, written on folding copper plates. The copper is ancient, long since gone to green and blue patina, but a feint enchantment has preserved it from rusting entirely. "This is two thousand years old also. It is a cube, as it looks like. The last will and testament of the Lady of Glou-kton and her nameless husband. The Stone Race--no, they no longer exist, their home plane having collapsed on itself long ago--liked their treasure to themselves, and even death could not part them of it. The Cube is a giant metal box about 17 miles out of town. It has remained mostly intact through the centuries, except for a tiny corner that peeps out of the soil. We have no idea how many traps remain in the thing, or how many monster guards still live guard their mistress. Or what, if anything, remains in there. All other tombs of the Stone Race have treasure stockpiles so massive that a convoy of slaves is needed to empty them; I don't see this being any different. Now, you have been so patient as to hear me out; what questions do you have for me about this job?"

He stands in the middle of the room, obviously impatient to get you out to the site of The Cube. Nonetheless he is apparently willing to listen to any of your concerns.