There's an old woman pacing outside the tower. How did you get here? Chance, maybe, fate, destiny, whatever you want to call it. Either way, she looks relieved by your presence. She rushes at you, entreating your help. There's someone trapped in the top of this tower, and if they aren't rescued, something bad will happen to this city - very bad. Catastrophically bad. We all may die.

Plus, if you do this for her, she promises you a hefty reward.

In Pelorus Fields, she tells you, there's a thick patch of brambles maybe twenty feet into the earth. You'll need to locate it, climb down it, and retrieve the two items there - a ladder made of silk and a pair of silver scissors. But be careful, she tells you; it's guarded by monstrous beasts.