The scrolls and books ruffled from his search, minutes went by before he brought out a dark blue parchment. He cleared his table before spreading the map on the table.
Kaelith leaned over the map, his fingers brushing lightly across the faded parchment. The corners were worn, and some of the ink had smudged, but the lines were still clear enough to read.
Eldenria sat at the center, drawn with thick curves and long winding roads. It was the heart of the realm, fertile lands, filled with old cities, wide rivers, and tall arcane towers. Everything important either began there or ended there. It was the core of politics and magic.
His eyes moved north. Northhelm sat just above Eldenria, shaded in darker tones. The place was colder, rougher, and dense with pine forests, cliffs, and highlands that froze half the year. Behind it rose the Northern Mountains, tall and sharp. Snow covered their peaks. It was a place where old stories claimed dragons once lived.
