Hanna nods meekly and leads Astrid, Caio, Nikolai and Nimue back through the stacks to a simple wooden door at the rear of the library. She knocks and a gruff voice calls "enter!"

The pokey little office on the other side is dominated by walls lined with bookshelves and a single large table in the middle, piled high with sheaves of parchment. On the far side, sits an aged, balding man with a lank white hair and a thick beard.

"Master Gul, your morning appointment has arrived," Hanna explains softly.

"Ah. Yes, very well," the elderly man acknowledges, wetting his beard as he quaffs from a cup before setting it aside. "What can I do for you people?"

Nimue receives yet another peck on the head. Seems the bird is in league with my grandmother. From near the back, her soft, lilting voice is heard. "I'm looking for history. Something that happened 100 years ago in this city, a monster plaguing Piotrgrad. A group of monster hunters were sent for to deal with it. None survived."  She was careful to leave out some of the more key details of the story. At this point, Elodia was the only one who knew more of her story than she had told anyone to date. And she wanted to keep it that way. For now.

     Astrid clears her throat to make herself known. "I'm afraid we're not going to make this easy on you since we all have different subjects we're interested in. I'm needing anything that would deal with the location of the lost dwarven city of Karaz Ungor... should be somewhere in the Eazim Forest... I think." 

Nikolai nods to the older man. “Master Gul, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to see us. As you can see, my companions and I are looking into several different topics. Any assistance that you could provide us would be greatly appreciated. Furthermore I also have some knowledge that someone such as yourself would likely appreciate very much. Perhaps you can dedicate some time to examining some interesting information here in Piotgrad. Or you may even know something more than I.”

Caio takes his turn to address the old librarian. "My personal interests might also lie in Eazim, though I am after a gang of necromancers and occultists called the 99 Hundred. I heard rumor they may have had some dealings there. Collectively we also seek information on the white dragon, Lady Shizani."

Master Gul nods sagely in acknowledgement of the various requests.

"Yes, yes, I see. Quite a variety of questions... are any of you actually affiliated with the Volkfelder Order?" He asks, sceptically. "Or how did you come to have access to this library?"

"Yes, Master Gul," Hanna answers quickly. "These Okhotniki are contracted by the temple under the supervision of Bogatyr Forien."

"Ah, well then," Master Gul continues through a blustery cough. "Let's start at home before venturing further afield - the history of Piotrgrad is really a speciality of mine. Was this exactly a century ago, young lady?"

Nimue pauses, letting her mind travel back 100 years, watching her family ride down the road for the last time. "Yes, very nearly." She can still smell the lilacs and rosemary, her mother's preferred scents. It nearly brings a tear to her eye. "Does Calaquendi Undómiel mean anything to you?"

"Ah," Master Gul replies softly with a gentle nod. "Those hunters. Yes, the fate of the Undómiel was tragic indeed."

Piercing eyes inspect Nimue's dark hair, pale complexion and classical high elven ears.

"I suppose you have a personal interest? I wasn't aware that any Undómiel warriors stil lived."

"They don't," she says flatly. "The survivors were left behind. Two. A young girl and an old woman." She doesn't mention her brother. 

Master Gul doesn't say anything further on the matter, but the implication in Nimue's words hangs thick in the air.

"It is curious that you describe a monster as having 'plagued' our dear city in the early 10th century, for there is no record of such events. However, the arrival of the Undómiel clan was indeed documented."

The loremaster stands and cross to one of his densely packed bookcases. The shelves are packed with ledgers, scrolls and tomes and are in plaes beginning to bend a little under the strain. He reaches up to lift a thick old book with black and gold binding down from a higher shelf. It appears to be one of a series of similar books. Laying the hard cover ledge down on his desk with a dull thump, Master Gul begins to leaf through the pages, clearly searching for something specific.

"Ah, here, you see!" He declares, when he finally finds what he seeks. "The arrival of a large band of well-trained and heavily armed Eldrani warriors put aristocrats and commoners alike ill at ease. Many feared that the Elves had come to interfere in Taneman politics. The Burmistrz had them watched and there were some tense encounters between the city guard and the Undómiel, until on the night of the twenty-first of Devan the guard was summoned to Haus Sternental after the attempted assassination of a local dignitary. The assassination failed and the Undómiel strike force was wiped out."

Master Gul glances up from the book at Nimue as he finishes his summary.

Nimue keeps her face expressionless as Master Gul finishes reading. Assassination? Grandmama? Did you know about this? But Nimue's silent plea to her grandmother goes unheard. She chooses her next words carefully, keeping her voice flat and expressionless. "Calaquendi Undómiel are monster hunters. Not assassins."  

"By reputation, they certainly were," Master Gul agrees. "Why they were in Haus Sternental that night, I cannot say. However, that is where the clan met its end and the building's owners reported an assassination attempt. I can only tell you what was recorded."

Nimue's expression doesn't change. "I'm a foreigner in these lands, perhaps you can enlighten me as to the nature of Haus Sternental." The name rolls off her tongue in a strange manner, her mouth unused to such consonants. 

"Oh, it's one of the larger old town houses in Primorsky district," Master Gul informs Nimue, as though that explains everything. "Not of any special importance."

He pauses when he sees the Elf's expression, before adding. "Almost all of the Primorsky residences are owned by Taneman gentry." 

Did you know, Grandmama? Did you know that it was an assassination that led us to our downfall? Nimue can hear nothing but silence from her grandmother. Did my brother know? More silence. Fine. I'll figure it out on my own.

"There were many things that your father and mother did not share. Many secrets that they kept. I did not know, Melda. As to whether anyone else did, I cannot say." 

"Thank you, Master Gul, for your insight." She does not acknowledge her grandmother. 

"Yes, um, well, you're welcome," the old man sputters, before moving on to the next request.

"Now, Eazim forest was it? The easterly reaches of Tanem are dark and dense indeed, but not especially mountainous. I'm sure that you know better than anybody else present that Moradin's children invariably prefer alpine heights to a verdant canopy. As such, a Dwarf is a rare sight in the wilds of Eazim. That said, there are two notable highland regions. The border fortress of Hochfels and the 'Prinz von Saram' Imperial adamantine mine in Riezlern. I'm not familiar with Karaz Ungor, specifically, but last I heard there was an archaeologist in Riezlern investigating Dwarven ruins beneath the Kanzelwand!"

    Astrid straightens up a little when the Master addresses her and her questions. She hangs on every word as is the first real source she's "Yes, well that's not surprising. Karaz Ungor was in ruins already when my Nanna Krystrid set out to look for it over 4 centuries ago." At the naming of the adamantine mine she perks up a bit, having heard mention through some in the miners guild on the one thorn in their side. "I'm familiar with Riezlern - mostly in name only and that it lies to the south on a river. Do you know who that archaeologist is... And what's this Kanzelwand?"

"Torbera Torunn, I believe," Master Gul replies. "The Kanzelwand is the mountain that the Prinz von Saram mine is built on."

     "Thank you," Astrid replies. "That is more that I had to go on before arriving to the city and will hopefully give me something to go on when I make it there. One more thing... Would you happen to have a current map of the forest?"

"Oh, yes, of course!" Master Gul answers. The old man slowly rises and leads Astrid off into the library with an unexpected spring in his step. With a smile, he shows the Dwarf to an extensive catalogue of maps, before producing one of the Eazim forest.