As he listened to Baldwin Franklin's report, Gawain's thoughts gradually began to drift—
The intelligence from the Ogre Tribes Nation confirmed one of his earlier suspicions: those mysterious signals previously intercepted by Winterkeep Castle and Thorinburg were not limited to Cecil territory!
Meanwhile, Baldwin had finished his report. He looked at Gawain. "Your Majesty, we have also received a letter from the Dwarf Kingdom, forwarded by Wenna, leader of the Grey Elves. Morton Magma, King of Forge City, sends you his greetings and has accepted the invitation to the meeting at Silver Outpost No. 112 during next month's Festival of Revival. Forge City will send Ambassador Paladin Brightrock to attend."
"...So the dwarves have finally given an official response," Gawain said, letting out a slight sigh of relief. "It seems reopening the sea route has indeed given them confidence to participate in continental affairs..."
The Dwarf Kingdom was a mysterious land located at the westernmost edge of the continent. Though its territory was closely connected to the Loren Continent, the entire nation was sealed off by a natural arc-shaped mountain range. For thousands of years, those precipitous cliffs had blocked the curious line of sight of the continent's nations, as well as the inhabitants on the other side of the mountains.
For countless years, the dwarves had lived self-sufficiently beyond those mountains. It was said that their kingdom possessed abundant resources and uniquely favorable weather, enough to maintain prosperity without contact with the rest of the continent. It was said that they had developed technologies and cultures utterly different from those of other nations, even preserving many ancient traditions from before the First Development—but all of this was merely idle speculation. Almost no one had truly crossed the mountains to witness the Dwarf Kingdom for themselves. Only some dwarves who