Hadorix asked Junifer to stay behind after he had dismissed the others. He then said, "Junifer you told me that the cities are the best place to find and recruit spirits. I need to find a new home for the beings that are not druids or guardian spirits of the Mystic Orchard. From what you have said, freeing one of the towns would be the best way to do that. Do you have a suggestion on which town I should pick or for that matter how I would get into one?"
Junifer replied, "You are a druid. You are not supposed to conquer cities. Though I suppose freeing the beings from slavers and restoring freedom would coincide with restoring the balance of things. Small, abandoned settlements are discovered all the time. No one knows where they come from or why there are thrones in them. If you look in the wild unexplored portions of the world you may manage to find one. That would be the easiest way. Although sometimes even those will have a guardian or two. There are 3 towns close. 2 lie to the north, around 30 miles away, the other is to the east. It is only 10 miles away, but it is controlled by a spirit that is a lot stronger than you are. Do not think your strong just because you managed to become the arena champion of the pack. They were all low level. Even Casper is only level 3. The spirit that leads the town to the east is level 5. You are still level 2. If it comes to a fight, you will be slaughtered. Of course, there are also the major cities scattered throughout the factions of Pax. We live in the wilderness, there are few populated areas, and no real factions."
Hadorix replied, "Do you have any idea where one of the abandoned towns might be?"
Junifer contemplated for a while and said, "To the southeast there is a swamp that everyone avoids because of all the bugs that live there. If I were going to look for a town that no one had yet to claim, that is where I would look. Of course, you must consider that the bugs are poisonous and from what I have read there are millions of them in the swamp. That is why no one lives there. The other option would be to head underground. The underworld is typically less populated, but home to stronger creatures. Depending on where you go, you may have a chance of finding an unclaimed town."
Hadorix thought about this for a while and replied again, "Do any of the three towns you mentioned have caves as part of the towns? We could use some mineral deposits as well."
Junifer replied, "To the south west approx. 100 miles lies an old dwarven settlement. It is a large city, though now it is not highly populated. They have been plagued with disease and famine, and that was before it was taken over by a spirit. I do not know the level of the spirit, but the population was less than 100 the last I knew. The farmland above has become a wasteland as well. Though, were you to claim this settlement, the power of the druids and the nature magic I possess could likely revive the land. It is the only place I know of that would meet your criteria."
Hadorix considered her words for a while then he went to Obcha. She had been a shaman for a great many years. If disease were the issue then perhaps, she would know a method of purifying the city, and saving any inhabitants that may still be there. When he posed the question to Obcha she said, "Dwarven settlement? You must mean Anvilmar home of the Anvilborn dwarves. I know not what afflicts that town. Mayhaps you can purify it though it would likely be beyond the means of a beginner."
Hadorix prepared his things to leave. He nearly made it out the door before it hit him. She said that Anvilmar was the home of the Anvilborn dwarves. The two dwarves that he had rescued were Anvilborn dwarves. Hadorix went to them to ask for advice. When he arrived, he said, "I intend to go to Anvilmar. I want to make it a home for all those freed from slavery. It will be the beginning of restoring the balance in this world. Is there anything you can tell me that may aid in freeing the city?"
Glurak spoke, "Me brudder and me were young when we left Anvilmar. I know not the way nor what could be wrong. But if ye can return home to us, I dunno how we could ever thank ye. Mayhaps some of our kin still live there."
Hadorix was disappointed, he had hoped to get information on what could be wrong. Unfortunately, it would appear he would have to go to Anvilmar to find out. With that thought in mind shapeshifted into a lion, exited the Mystic Orchard, and began his great adventure. Hadorix ran swiftly. He wanted to get all the creatures in a new home as quickly as possible.
It did not take Hadorix long to arrive at Anvilmar. In his lion form he could travel much faster than a human. Even with slacking off and looking at the scenery it only took him two days to make the trip. In that time, he saw several other beasts, but none attacked so he left them alone. He really needed to master the skill to speak to beasts. If he were able to, he could gain much more information and potential allies in the future.
When he arrived at the gates of Anvilmar Hadorix was surprised to see that the gates were standing wide open. No damage had been done to them, they were just standing wide open and he could see no creatures anywhere in the vicinity. Hadorix cautiously summoned monk and entered. He was afraid this might be a trap. After all the gates were virtually impenetrable why would they be open unless it was a trap? Hadorix ventured into the city. He looked around for where the throne might potentially be. He quickly set his focus on a massive building in the center. To Hadorix, this could only be a palace, nothing else could look so grand. The dwarven city housed a great many buildings. The ceiling was so high, one could not even see it, even with all the light coming from stones placed around the city's buildings. The stones were rather strange, they had a vibrant blue glow unlike anything that existed on Earth. Hadorix was grateful though, without them, the city would have been entirely dark.
As Hadorix made his way towards the big building he was surprised he still saw no living beasts. He finally made it to the palace and opened the doors. Inside the palace was massive. It was more amazing on the inside than it was on the out. There were pillars holding up the roof in the Greek style, and many statues lined the entryway. Hadorix could not read the writing underneath, but he assumed these were warriors or kings from the Dwarves that had built the city. He slowly made his way into the building looking from room to room for the throne. After opening doors into many storage spaces and even a large dining hall he finally found what he was looking for.
The throne was covered in a thick layer of dust. You could tell no one had been here for centuries. This confused Hadorix even more. If no one had been here for centuries, why were the gates open? Why had no one else taken over yet?
Hadorix continued to approach the throne. To his surprise when he arrived at the throne, he could see that there were already 10 soul stones in the throne. But none in the top spaces. It would appear the city was unclaimed and all that was left were normal citizens. The stones all have the faces of dwarves. If anyone else had been here, they must have taken their stone and fled. Hadorix touched the throne. When he did a stone popped out and fell in his hand. It was the stone for Anvilmar. Hadorix knew that owning this stone would mean he could place it in the throne at the Mystic Orchard.
This place was creeping Hadorix out in a major way. Where were the dwarves whose stones lay in the throne? Why were the doors open? Hadorix was now faced with a choice. He could continue to explore alone, or he could return to the Mystic Orchard and bring those that would be living here to their new home. More hands would hopefully mean faster answers. With that thought in mind, Hadorix removed the soul stones from the throne and began to head back to the Mystic Orchard. This time Hadorix was in a much bigger hurry. He ran full force back to the Mystic Orchard. He arrived in less than a day. Upon arrival he ran directly to the throne.
He placed in the Anvilmar stone at the top beside the Well of Souls.
· Quest Complete Find a new home for your people.
· Reward Granted, Mystic Orchard Level up.
· Mystic Orchard granted Throne Control.
· Throne control: Any location stone connected to the Mystic Orchard will automatically send soul stones that are loaded into their thrones to the Mystic Orchard. The beings will be placed under the control of the location in which they reside, however if the location is attacked and the throne is destroyed, the soul stones will still reside within the Mystic Orchard Throne. Stones can also be added from the Mystic Orchard Throne to the locations from the primary throne located in the Mystic Orchard.
To Hadorix surprise a doorway opened in the wall the throne faced. This was different than before, as it led to another room and was not just a wall opening. Hadorix went into the new room to see what it was, to his surprise he could see a purple portal with the words Anvilmar etched in front of it. It would be a quick trip to the new home in the future.
· Mystic Orchard portal room opened. "Now that you have control over multiple locations, The magic of the Mystic Orchard has created a method to travel instantly between the locations you posess."
Hadorix was extremely pleased with this result. He added the 10 dwarf stones back into the throne under Anvilmar. He may not know where they currently were, but he did know they were alive, otherwise the soul stones would not have remained. Hadorix noticed that all the beings that were not druids or spirit guardians had automatically been moved under Anvilmar. Even the beast commander and armies had been moved under Anvilmar.
Hadorix called together all the beings that would be going to Anvilmar. He then went through the portal and instructed them to follow him. The Anvilborn brothers were the second and third to come through. One by one they appeared on the other side inside Anvilmar. The exploration could begin.