An Ancient Curse

Synopsis
"Jhod and Tristian have informed us of a great peril! They say that our young barony will be attacked by an ancient curse – in just one month! I don't know whether this is true or not, but we should probably prepare somehow. I, for one, am not so keen on being turned into a frog. I shudder to think what else an ancient curse might do to a harmless little halfling!"

The curse gains power...

 * The priests are certain that the ancient curse is gaining power, which it will soon bring down upon us. Alas, there's nothing we can do right now but to prepare ourselves, and the barony. The curse will strike around the time it reaches the power limit. We need to get ready to repel any sort of attack!

Talk to Jhod and Tristian

 * Jhod and Tristian wish to talk about something extremely important. We better find out what!

Get ready for anything

 * The priests are certain that the ancient curse is gaining power, which it will soon bring down upon us! Alas, there's nothing we can do right now but to prepare ourselves, and the barony. The curse will strike around the time it reaches the power limit. We need to get ready to repel any sort of attack!

Get to the Bald Hilltop!

 * The time has come! Let us visit the Bald Hilltop and deal with this ancient curse that has our priests so worried!

Issue an urgent decree and protect the barony!

 * Disgusting spiders have flooded the barony! Ugh, they are so gross! The plague has overtaken the entire barony, so we've had to fight it the same way all together. Now where is my broom?

Await a report

 * The attacks on our barony/kingdom have stopped. Did we win? We'll have to wait for news to arrive!

Outcome
"Well, there's one ancient curse – broken to bits by the daring baron{ess} and {his/her} loyal friends! We repelled the attack of creatures summoned by ancient spells, and peace has settled over the barony once more. But how long will it last?"

Walkthrough

 * An Ancient Curse is the first of a series of quests which will continue throughout the duration of the game. The quest is assigned roughly at the same time that Chapter II begins.
 * The progression of this quest is handled passively; the player will receive a note in the journal indicating how long it will be until the curse is fully developed. This description is rather vague, as the journal gives a countdown starting at approximately 42 days, but the culmination of the curse takes place approximately 14 days before the end of the countdown.
 * 14 days before the end of the countdown, an event will appear called Eight-Legged Plague; every other day for the rest of the countdown the player will suffer a -1 penalty to their Community and Loyalty stats until either the event resolved, or the countdown has finished. If the player fails to complete the event at the end of 14 days, they will suffer a -10 penalty to their Community and Loyalty stats, and the event will disappear.
 * As soon as Eight-Legged Plague appears, the player will be able to travel to the Bald Hilltop to face the special encounter for this stage of the curse. Note that clearing the encounter at Bald Hilltop is not necessary, but these encounters typically reward unique equipment. Please visit the article for the Bald Hilltop for more details.
 * Once the danger has cleared one way or another, Jhod, Tristian, and Linzi will approach the player about the results of the invasion at the end of the period of time that was originally given to resolve the quest. This means that if the player cleared the Bald Hilltop encounter and Eight-Legged Plague as soon as they cropped up they will need to wait 14 days to receive a report, while a player that allowed time to lapse will be given their report immediately. Successfully resolving the issues regarding Bald Hilltop will result in a reward gathered by the people, while failure rewards nothing unsurprisingly.
 * In either case, once the report is made the player will immediately be assigned An Ancient Curse, Part Two. Continue to the article for that quest for more details.