New Building in Town

by Leriah Chimaria

(Shard, Ilithi: 191 Uthmor 356) Bareesh, you gotta hear this! I was down visitin my brother in Shard, he likes to hunt in those sewers under the city ya know…but that’s irrelevant. Anyway, I was walking around, exploring since I hadn’t been around there in awhile when I noticed an interestin building on the Northern Lake Shore. Near those "Seeing Stones" to be exact. It was a large marble building, very imposing. Well, being a curious little dwarf, I decided to take a look around.

When I entered, there was a tattered note, sitting out in plain view. It read:

"Here is where we shall dig our warrens beneath, and begin our task of conquest of the lands of the Seven Races! Or, in words you imbecile goblins will understand… DIG HERE, SOON FIGHT! — Your Goblin King. PS: Destroy this note."

Thank Meraud the "imbecile goblins" didn’t destroy the note. It took me a couple minutes to steady myself after I read that, then I continued exploring.

I looked in the office and saw a few important things. First, many bookshelves with rows and rows of tattered books, and second, a map:

"All the known provinces are covered by the map, with points of interest marked by the hand of a well traveled adventurer. To the east of H’Argir, islands dot the blue of a vast ocean. One of the islands — a crescent-shaped one south of the rest — has been circled in red."

I couldn’t make heads or tails of it. I recognized the provinces, sure enough, but the islands…I’m sure you know someone who could figure it out, Bareesh, I sure can’t.

I kept on exploring, looking next into the workroom. There was a large oak cabinet, but I lacked the key to open it. I glanced around at the flasks and found one marked "Kobla Kirm" which means goblin blood.

Seeing nothing more of interest, I went back to the main hallway and looked in the Hall of Repentance. There I found a shrine made of black marble. Along the front side was an onyx and emerald mosaic of a scorpion. Pews were set up in front of this and the whole room had a very sombre air.

Bareesh, I’m tellin ya, this place is up to NO GOOD!

[Ed Note: It is pretty scarey when the homes and workshops of the Guardian Mages, both major and minor, start appearing all over the place! The things you learn . . . oh la la!]