Getting in to Evil Castle Lord?

[jdx]

I've started playing with all my characters being 20 years old. It's pretty challenging, because no character can really have any significant skill, and in particular, the best you can do for virtue is a nobility Novice Monk, who starts at 13.

Without virtue of at least 20, you can't get into the churches to have the monks teach you Read & Write, which seems to be essential if you want to learn anything else from anyone else.

(As an aside, if Village Schultz joins your party in these early stages, he has a high enough virtue to get you into the churches and get the training from the monks.)

A reliable way of getting virtue is to find an Evil Castle Lord, bravely approach to ask for entry, then demand that he treat his people better. The group leader gets a virtue bump of between 3 and 7, and the best part is, once you're kicked out of the castle, you can go right back and ask to get back in, you don't have to wait eight days.

But most of the time, the response is, "Begone, we don't need your type around here" or whatever the message is.

Speak Common doesn't seem to help, I got my leader's SC up to 99 in another game and it didn't do anything to help getting invited in.

Has anybody figured out the key to getting into these castles? The last thing I want to do is sneak in and kill the lord, you might get a couple of virtue points, but, if you can get the invite in, these castles can be a virtue factory.

[Jershal]

its a charisma based roll. later in the game invoking a good charisma saint (like denis) for your leader improves chances. (which is important because these guys seem to horde the superb horses)

although I believe it is maxed at some low cut off -- like with bankers in cities being maxed at 50%