Stunned, all in attendance looked over to the Lady of House Alexis who had begun to fidget under the attention. "Indeed, my lord. Culsans has sent me dreams and led me to the knowledge to fulfill your wishes." No one dared to interrupt the scene, and only when the statue waved with the hammer for her to proceed did she speak on. "On a shore of a lake in the north-west, the land is cracked and filled with foul air. A deep heat wells from within the earth, and strange creatures inhabit these lands that no man dares to approach. Here a forge could be raised for you, my lord, though the land would have to be claimed by us first and the monsters inhabiting it cast out. Still, it would take a mighty working of the divine to see the flames kindled, for they are weak and deep below."
With a curt nod, the statue acknowledged her words, then she spoke on. "To the south, the Woodsfolk lives. Their home was once of fire and smoke, but they tamed it, quelled it. It takes them power to keep it subdued, but so are they drawing power from the flames' futile licking at their works. Were they to be cast down, the fire would find its freedom quickly. For many years they have settled there, so long that man only recalls in legend of the time when it was flames that rules their lands. But Culsans was clear to me that their rule is not forever. With spear and blade, they can be cast down. By word and bribery, they could be turned to abandon their homes. And when they are gone a forge be erected in your name, my lord."
