Findel nods to their questions, and knowing some of their reputations is not surprised by their claim to certain skills. He addresses each question in turn.
”Living inhabitants CAN be expected, at least on the surface areas of the caverns. Mainly mundane creatures, but the few confirmed sightings of more… magical beast have been around such places as you are going now, so it would be best to be on guard. Also, there is a rumor that Count Rhackorn is trying to establish a new city-state near the region where the dwarven ruins are, so you may meet some of his men.”
Count Rhackorn was a well known renegade to the present order of things. He thought that the present laws in place just bottlenecked people and lacked the freedoms that would allow people to flourish, such as the law against slavery. He also thinks that a single dictator can accomplish more then a council of elected persons could.
In a way, he is right. There have been instances where needed laws and improvements to the city have stagnated in the council because of differing opinions, and the people had to take matters into their own hands to see things through. In one case, 10 years ago, one of the city walls fell in do to a tornado that had struck it, and it was taking the council months to figure out where the money would come from to repair it, or if it even needed repairing do to the absence of the orcish threat, the reason that the wall was built in the first place, over 400 years ago. Come to think of it, this very expedition may be the council’s way to see if that threat will arise again for future decision. Count Rhackorn had finally put the money and labor to rebuild the section of wall that had been ruined before the council had reached a decision.
Findel continued as these events ran through your mind: ”As to the construct, I have very little information, other then the fact that it guards the chamber that the book is supposed to lie in, and not the book itself. At least that’s how the text reads. I have done some research on constructs, and they are nasty if this is a magical construct, as we fear. They are very resistant to weapons, and almost immune to magic. As for its hostility, I know that they are unintelligent and only given one task. If that’s the case for this one, then that task is well documented: to guard the chamber and stop any but the rightful owner to enter.”
