The Diarchy of Uthodurn was formed after the fall of Molaesmyr when the elves fled their home and became refugees in Uthodurn. The Dwarves at the time looked at this massive influx of people who had lost their homes and opened up their hearts, their government, and their casks of alcohol to welcome them.

Two monarchs rule this underground city. A Dwarf queen named Simone Fruunast and an Elven King named Imathan Talviel. They each have a small council that helps govern the city. The communities normally look to their monarch for guidance but both monarchs have led the city well for over 300 years. This is one of my favorite cities because it seems like such a nice place. The dwarves just let the elves into their home and said it is yours now too. That level of friendship would be unheard of on earth and I am loving it.

Finding the city in the mountains will be a little difficult. I know it is southwest of the volcano Kravaraad and there should be some towers to help me find it. I fly lower above a forest in the Flotket Alps. I can see a large plume of smoke rise from some mountains north of me. That might be Kravaraad so I might have gone past the city. I circle around and check the mountains south of the forest and soon see small firelights coming from the mountain. I land around a mile away from one of the largest fires and walk towards it.

“Halt whatever the fuck you are! You are surrounded!” A voice shouts from somewhere. I raise my hands above my head and prepare for whatever is out there. It's probably some Glassblades the local army/militia.

“I am willing to comply,” I said.

“Ya fuckin better. Don’t move!” The voice said.

“I won’t move,” I said. Oh gods this was familiar. Like the night my mother had died and I killed the piece of shit. I had called the cops to come arrest me and I spent the next few weeks in jail. The cops then were rather aggressive, especially after seeing all the blood on me. I need to get out of this head space right now. The negative emotions are unhealthy and I can’t let them influence my meeting with these nice guards.

“I am simply a traveler who has come to Uthodurn for information and help with a hunt,” I said.

A Dwarf popped out of the snow and started to slowly approach me. A dozen more individuals appeared from behind rocks and hidden in trees to my right side. I guess I made them panic a bit when I swooped down in Roc form. Is it mean that I kinda like doing that?

“What tha fuck are ya,” the dwarf said to me.

“I am a shapeshifter of sorts,” I said.

“We ain't no damn shapeshifter into our city,” he said.

“I was trying to be polite. I could have been a bat and flew inside the cavern. You never would have known,” I said. They stare at me considering my words. Before they make a decision I say.

“If you send me way I can just enter the city some other way. You will be paranoid for weeks about whether every rat, bat, and cat you see is actually me.”

“Just wait here,” the Dwarf says and runs away to go get someone who could make this decision. I stood there in the snow waiting for the Dwarf to run to some captain or something.

“Any of you guys seen anything interesting out here?” I ask trying to fill the time. I got no response as the guards kept their hands on their weapons.

I didn’t swoop in as a Roc just to scare the locals. I did it so that I might get the attention of someone powerful that could help me. If word gets around that a stranger rolled into town that can turn into one of the largest flying animals in the sky they will be cautious of me. Which means I might get taken seriously in negotiations.

Twenty or so minutes later the Dwarf reappears alongside an Elven man dressed in finer armor as well as 20 more Glassblades. They form a wall in front of me and ready themselves. The elven man steps forward first to speak. “Who are you? State your intentions with Uthodurn.”

“Those are easy to answer. I am Edsom Lewis. Wanderer and adventurer. I have come to Uthodurn to seek information on a Greater Nightmare that prowls the Savalirwoods. I want to kill it,” I said.

“Why do you think we would have information on that here?” The Elven man said.

“I know the Vellum Steeple Archives leads expeditions to the woods to search the Elven ruins that rest there,” I said.

“The Vellum Steeple deals with finding the lost history of the Molaesmyr so that the Elves of Uthodurn may return to our home one day. They do not participate in trophy hunting,” he said.

“I don’t need it for a trophy. They can have the body of the beast and its rider. I am also sure they would love for someone to finally take care of such a dangerous creature,” I said.

“And they should trust you with this?” He said.

“Yes. I am strong enough to hunt it on my own. I have been open about my abilities and I am approaching your city in the open instead of through subterfuge. My intentions are pure and my goal is clear,” I said.

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He pondered my answers. “Alright. We can lead you to the Archive and they can give you the information you need. Once they have given you what you need I ask that you do not linger in the city. If you complete whatever the Archives ask of you and defeat this Nightmare, you can return and have your admittance into Uthodurn reevaluated,” He said.

“That is fine by me,” I said. This will work. I don’t need access to Uthodurn immediately and this might make my introduction to the society of the city a little better. The social circles I will be able to mingle with will be better.

I was led up the mountainside 400 feet to the entrance of Uthodurn. The entrance was surrounded by a dozen or so towers built into the mountain and hidden from view. That was probably why I couldn’t find them from the air. Small stables and other buildings have people moving back and forth. Some of them were tending to giant goats that munched on hay bales. I step into the mountain and walk down a staircase only 15 feet wide. They descend for a hundred or so feet into a large domed cavern. The ceiling is 120 feet in the air and numerous pillars of stone and metal reach up to hold the ceiling up. This isn’t the only floor as well as two more hang underneath this one. Each has the same pillars that act as supports and as homes. The elves that longed for the trees of their old homes built into the pillars in order to maintain some semblance of their old lives.

We are on the Auger Trail. A long road that spirals down into each of the disks or layers of the city. The Vellum Steeple Archives was on the second disk known as the Deliberation Disk. This was the most industrious and mercantile of the three and was where the Dwarves and Elves practiced their craft. The current disk we walked was the Volitation Disk. This was the home of most of the citizens of Uthodurn and where visitors stayed.

Continuing on we reached the Deliberation Disk and followed the trail to the lowest point where the trail would descend to the final disk, the Grand Disk. That was the home of the nobility of Uthodurn and where the twin monarchs governed the city. The Archives sat between the two disks.

Technically these archives were not owned by the Cobalt Soul. That didn’t mean they had no relationship as both organizations benefited from a sharing of history and knowledge. The building was a huge twisting tower made of blue marble that connected with the ceiling of this disk. The Elven captain spoke to me. “We are here. I will introduce you to the scribewarden. She can decide whether you are worth dealing with. If she doesn’t you will leave the city and not return.”

“Of course,” I said. Not like he can stop me from coming back in but that won’t happen. I have a trump card.

The inside of the archives is a huge open space filled with rows of bookshelves. I guess it is a library but I expected it to be more secure. We walk to the front desk and the guard asks for Ressia Uvesic. Eventually, an older Elven woman in green robes arrives.

“Captain. How can I help you?” Ressia asked.

“Scribewarden. This man swooped down from the sky to come and demand information on a Greater Nightmare located in the Savalirwoods,” the Captain said.

“A Greater Nightmare. Not its rider?” Ressia asked.

“That is correct,” he said.

“Allow me to handle this then,” Ressia said.

The captain nodded and left the building. He might be going to get more guards so he can kick me out of the city. The Scribewarden turned to me and asked me to follow her. She walked me to an office. I sat down across from her on the other side of a beautiful mahogany desk.

“The Captain doesn’t seem to like you. Any reason why that is?” Ressia asked.

“I may have circled the mountain range as a Roc a few times looking for the city. Then I may have landed close to the city,” I said.

“A Roc?” She asked.

“I am a decent shapeshifter. The Roc form is my biggest one and the best for flying long distances,” I said.

“You flew to Uthodurn. From where?” She asked.

“Bysaes Tyl. I was visiting some friends. I learned of the Nightmare from an archmage in Nicodranis. I hope to kill it so I can replicate its planar abilities,” I said.

“From Nicodranis? That is a long distance to travel. How would you replicate its power?” She asked.

“Kill it. If I kill a creature I can get their natural abilities. Nothing they have learned how to do just things they would have naturally,” I said.

“Interesting. I have never heard of another with these powers. So you have come to the Archives because you believe we know how to find this creature,” she said.

“I was led to believe the archives make regular trips to the Savalirwoods to find information on the curse that grips the forest. I also imagine you keep records of the creatures that lurk in the forest,” I said.

“We do. I imagine there might be something we can do to help one another. The Archives are a business, unlike the Cobalt Soul. I can give you this information in exchange for 3 months of help investigating the ruins of Molaesmyr,” she said.

3 months! I know I have time before the Nein get-together but still. That was too much time to spend in one place. Especially when I needed to be hunting down creatures with psychic immunity. I can’t attack Cognoza without some form of protection from their mind-control bullshit.

“That is a long time to be tied down,” I said.

“You can of course pay the monetary cost. For all the information we have on the Nightmare it would be around 2,000 gold,” she said.

HELP! I AM BEING ROBBED! That cost is absurd.

“That is a lot of gold to spend when I am doing you a favor by hunting down a creature that attacks your archeologists,” I said.

“It is the cost of doing business. I assure you that the information we have is first-hand experiences meticulously detailed and verified from several sources. All the information we provide is worth the cost,” she said.

And overpriced as fuck. I bet she doesn’t want me to pay gold. She must want me to protect her researchers more. I don’t even have that much gold.

“I can’t afford that cost. So instead I offer an exchange of information,” I say.

“Oh, and what do you have that would be worth that much?” She asked.

“Get out your checkbook. How would you like information on the origin of the curse that grips the Savalirwoods? I know where the curse comes from,” I said.