Growing up and traveling throughout Aundair, Doral is familiar with the sights and attractions of Passage. He leads you to a fine hotel where you are able to get rooms for the night. You are able to reserve most of a floor for yourselves and you find your rooms quite luxuriant. There are soft feather beds, magically renewing basins of water for washing and another for bathing, large windows with a view of the city, and even safes for storing valuables. Once you've had a chance to freshen up, he leads you out into the city to enjoy some of the sights. You get a chance to see one of the fabled House Cannith enclaves, its entrance flanked by massive stone golems. Columns of colored smoke rise from chimneys farther back in the factory complex as the workers within prepare new mechanical contraptions to reveal to the world. Since the destruction of Cyre, the three remaining enclaves have bickered and fought over who will be the new head of the House. The streets of the city are lit up by magelights fixed to poles. Many of them emit different colored lights and Doral shows you how to navigate based on what street you are one. The lights facing north are all one color, while the ones face south, or east, or west are another color. Flares of light or gusts of wind mark the passage of the airships coming and going overhead. The city is constantly busy, even late into the night. You make your way down streets packed with carts, animals, and people as Doral leads you to a fine restaurant operated by the hospitalors of House Ghallandra. You are treated to a fine meal with freshly caught fish, warm buttery loaves, golden Aundair wine, and strong Karranthi cheese. It is late at night before you finally make your way back to the hotel.
In the morning you awaken fully refreshed and after a filling breakfast, you head for the House Orien hub. Near where you disembarked from the train, the hub holds several different businesses to helping travelers get to their destinations. There are several travel options, mundane and magebred horses, elemental pulled carts, supply caravans, coaches, and even magical teleportation. After some debate over the safety, comfort, and cost, you elect for a four horse team cart. After your gear and supplies are stored aboard you set out from the western gate of the city. Midian drives from the front board with Doral at his side as a guide.
The journey to the Village of the Arcanix is calm and relaxing. It takes several days to make the trip but numerous inns dot the landscape between you and your destination. The sun is warm overhead while the breeze from your passage keeps it from getting too hot. The road is well traveled and you pass or are passed by other groups on a regular basis. Occasionally you see soaring formations of dragonhawk riders patroling skies above. The road takes you through the Eldritch Grove forest, but despite the foreboding name you find it quite pleasant. On the far side of the forest your destination slowly comes into view. It starts out as specks on the horizon that grow and rise higher and higher. The four towers of the Arcanix. Each is a floating island of stone covered with dozens of towering structures. No two towers are alike either in building material or design. Some are short and squat while others are tall and spindly. A few are clearly magically stabilized as no mundane structure would stand with their shape. Each island floats several thousand feet in the air. Below the islands is the village of Arcanix. Doral tells you that it is not a normal village. Primarily it contains numerous places of entertainment, taverns, and shops. A large portion of the city is devoted to storage buildings for the wizards. While few travelers come here who are not acolytes or applicants, there are almost daily caravans arriving to unload supplies ordered by the wizards for their experiments.
The village has no direct means of accessing the towers. Those with business with the wizards above have their choice of either flying under their own power, magical spells of levitation or flight, or the rental of Hippogryphs that can carry a full sized human. Unless you supply the magic yourself, most of the means of transportation come with high prices.
As you debate which option to take to reach the towers, the problem of what to do with your grisly trophy arises as well. Where in the village do you want to leave it where it will be found before scavenging vermin or dogs?