We are not alone

"My fellow councilors, for today's private meeting I have a grave matter to bring to your attention." Begins Councillor Arghen Hortharn, head of the Arcane Guild and Fanhorim Academy as he stands at the table in the Discussion Hall speaking to the other six councilors. He's an aging man up in his turns, with greying hair and a slight hunch from hours spend bending over tomes and scrolls in Okkuminary. "As you were made aware, there has been a strange phenomenon occurring with obsidian, preventing us from utilizing it in certain smithing techniques. My fellow academics and myself have looked into this matter and have come across a most disturbing discovery. When obsidian is arranged in a closed loop and extreme heat is applied to it, inside the loop becomes a portal to another dimension. After first sending in some animals, we then allowed a couple of scouts through. I have brought them with me today so they may recount their experience. Sitgril, Rottharn, if you would please."

Arghen steps back to allow two Fighters Guild members to stand front and center. Sitgril, the taller of the two seems a bit unnerved while Rottharn has his jaw set and a far off look in his eyes.

Rottharn's gaze moves to the councilors. "Were I religious, I would say that what lies on the other side of that portal is Hell. We arrived in what appeared to be a forest of sorts but mutated, made of glowing blue and everything covered in squishy blue stuff. There was lava everywhere - pouring from the ceiling, and an ocean of it going as far as we could see from the cliff we were on."

"There was also echoing cries of what seemed like screams, and that of scraping metal." Sitgril continues after Rottharn's pause. "But there were also what seemed to be fantastic glowing stones and minerals in abundance, and a sort of man-made fortress nearby."

The councillors all look to be in various states of bewilderment, with a couple of them looking around trying to gauge others reactions and one even with their mouth hung open.

"This manmade fortress, did it look anything like the sketches we have of architecture from the other nations?" Asked Rinmér Erudin of the Builder Guild.

"No. It looked to be made of the same stuff as the ground and the cliffs, and in a completely different style than we've seen anywhere else - except maybe Rokkarstan but I don't think this belongs to Rokkarstan from everything we've learned about them. We didn't venture beyond the area of the portal on the other side to get much more intel than that, I'm afraid." Said Rottharn.

"Thank you, you two for recounting that again for us here and for your bravery in volunteering to go through." Arghen says, stepping back towards the table. Sitgril nods and the two of them walk back to sit on the benches in the hall, withdrawing from the conversation. "Now, we need to decide what to do with this. This place is too dangerous. I say we destroy this portal and stop production with obsidian to prevent any accidents from happening. The safety of the people should come first."

"Now hold on a minute." Volund Tornin, councilor of the Hardcrafts Guild pipes up. "You heard what they said about minerals! We should send in more scouting parties and obtain some of these. Think of the things we could make with material from another dimension! And what about that fortress? It may just be a fortification from Rokkarstan! We don't want any other nations getting ahead of us in innovating new tech from these things."

"Not only that but if other nations have access to this place as well, who's to say they couldn't invade us from the other side? We only know that a portal could be made on this side to go to that one, but what if it works the other way around too? We need to set up defenses over there in case something like that could happen, which we can't do if we destroy it!" Adds Farn Girur, from the Fighters Guild.

"Even considering keeping the thing at all is blasphemous! Rottharn and Sitgril clearly said they highly doubt that the fortress looks to be Rokkarstanian, which means it could be some unknown threat we don't know about. And they don't know about us, either. If we begin operations there, the're going to find out about us and we could be facing otherworldly horrors. We should discuss with the other nations at Moot and come to a decision on what to do about it together. An otherworthly threat concerns everyone in the world, not just Fanhorim." Says Botany Guild leader, Eravin Regren.

"You want to tell the other nations about this place?! Are you absolutely mad?!" Shouts Thorv Galdahr, forcefully banging his fists on the table. He's leader of the Beastmaster Guild and the newest councillor of The Council of Seven, recently elected in the Beastmaster election that happens every two turns. "If it's not a threat from the other nations, you're going to make it into one! You've seen how bloodthirsty they are over there, already waging war not but a few turns after we agreed to peace at the Moot! We tell them about this place and it will turn a "what-if" into a guarantee that if they're not a threat there now, they will be later. I agree with Farn that we set up defenses to protect ourselves from any unknown or known threats that may come from there, but we make sure to keep it a secret from the other nations."

"Keeping it a secret? You suggest we look into developing tools from the resources there which could end up in international trade and that no one outside of Fanhorim will find out about it? What are we going to tell them? "Oh, it's just rare material we found under Urngor." Yeah, that'll go well when they invade us in *this* dimension to come take it!" Shouts back Eravin.

"Okay, okay. What if we just keep the portal but somewhere secret, only a select few know about it and we don't trade things from there. We take things slow and just watch for now, maybe stealthily send in some more scouts to check things out carefully." Rinmér tries to offer diplomatically.

"Yeah, you would think that wouldn't you? Refusing to pick a solid option and being halfway on everything!" Rebuts Voluund.
Rinmér sits up and points at him, opening her mouth to retort -

"Enough!" Arghen booms, rapping his cane against the floor. "I understand that this is a stressful situation but we need to discuss this rationally, not squabble amongst ourselves like children! We will adjourn for now to cool off, but this is something we all need to come to terms with, one way or another." He looks at each of the seated councilors in turn over his spectacles. "Either way, things in Fanhorim-Dûr are likely going to change forever, and we need to ensure the safety of our people for we are no longer alone."