At some point when the group is all together after Zyrithack has been enslaved in the black blade. The group is talking about what happened. Alexis speaks.
“Zyrithack mentioned Thun-Bül-Dor. Given the twisted path Zyrithack took to get to this location at this time, it could be anywhere. Given how close the legendary dwarven city of Dura-Intun was, maybe Thun-Bül-Dor is just as close. We know there are Dwarves under the Twins, and that the dwarves used to control the top of the Twins as well. There are Dwarves under Mount Sutheron, and perhaps they used to control its peak as well. Perhaps Mount Sutheron was Thun-Bül-Dor. Or the fabled Nadden-Tor. Maybe every major mountain used to hold a dwarven city. Maybe there are old dwarven cities abutting Middlebar fort. That could be a major boon for the rebels if that was true.” Alexis thinks on this for a moment.
“Maybe Mount Lanos has a dwarven city. Maybe Thun-Bül-Dor. Maybe Mount Kobos. Maybe even Nadden-Tor!” Alexis gets a far-off look and a smile starts creeping up his face. “Or… Mount Avernus…!” Alexis looks more serious “No. That doesn’t seem right.”
“I need to get a map of all the major mountains. They could all have dwarven cities!”
“You were told their were dwarves in Mount Sutheron, right, and we met those two in the sewers there… Which mountain is Dura-Intun?”
Rask asks, thinking about the process of elimination..
“Dura-Intun is The Twins. It’s currently our only location we have both names for.”
Alexis looks thoughtful for a moment. “I wonder about the mountains that cast a shadow over Fellsbee. And the further mountains that make the Rannan river. Some of those mountains are eluded to in some of the histories. One of these mountains could be the dwarven mountain city of Nadden-Tor. One of these mountains could be where Bandesingh got his first Tear. Fellsbee is where the refugees came from. Some of the refugees have been extraordinary, and there were so many of them. Perhaps there was something in the water. And Dauntless was reforged there as well. I am becoming more and more interested in investigating these mountains as well.”
“Hmm… I am intrigued by Fjaellsbaeii… Did you not say that Blind told you the orphans went west to seek Bandesing? Would that have been West from Middlebaar?”
“Many things are west from Middlebar. Given my visions going across the Westlands, I think it’s more likely Tor and Olé journeyed to the 1st gate (or the nearby areas) to confront Bandesingh.”
“Are you thinking that Bandesingh is in one of the mountains?”
Rask shrugs,
” I was thinking more about starting from the beginning…”
Rask pauses for a moment,
“but… mountains have the makings of a good fortress… of course the dwarves would use them so… and if that’s where the Tears have been found…”
“From the beginning?”
“If you are hunting the fox that raided your henhouse, you start at the hen house and track the fox to its lair from there. You don’t just go wandering into the forest hoping to stumble upon the foxes den.”
Rask looks a bit wistful, like he is reciting something he was taught long ago. His look turns a bit grim and he continues:
“When I used to hunt… rebels, we started where they were last know to have been…”
“… and you think that place is Fellsbee? When was he spotted in Fellsbee, and by who?”
“My guess for last location would have been Mount Sutheron talking to the Dwarves about getting that tear. Although when does ol’ Bandesingh send someone to do his work and when is it important enough that he goes himself?”
Rask looks confused, thinks for a moment and realizes something.
“My apologies, I’m thinking out loud. Fellsbee is interesting… but not what I was thinking of as ‘the beginning…’ exactly… more that the… Orphans are from there, and they are the chickens?”
Rask shakes his head.
“That’s not quite right either, but… chasing guesses doesn’t seem like an effective tactic. That said, the.. in Sutheron, the beggar did say the king behind the crown was coming…”
Rask looks to his bedroll for a moment and his eyes fall on the remains of his cloak, wrapped around the Black Blade.
“I was thinking of Middlebaar or the West Pass fort perhaps as the beginning, Blynde… or Ursil or Mage-Eye may be able to give us more info about where the Orhpans were headed exactly…”
“Red’s ‘girlfriend’ or her friends may be able to tell us more as well or even set up a meeting for that matter…”
The derision as Rask refers to Shyeenie palpable, it is clear that if this were a Shadowblade operation, she would have already been interrogated and executed.
“But Fellsbee…”
Rask shrugs, and looks at Alexis with a clear indication: ‘it’s your call.’