Limits

I laid there for couple of hours, before I heard the knocking on my door. When I opened them, the Lizard who left me a note, stood behind them. I invited her in, and said "Sit down". She did just that, and asked "I know who you are, but I couldn't recognise you at all. You've changed a lot, from what Harlin described you as". I replied "Maybe not enough. I need some information, I hope you can provide them".

She nodded her head, and replied "Of course. I will tell you whatever I can". I nodded my head as well, and asked "You know the guy called Shak?". She was a bit surprised, when I mentioned that name, and replied "Yes. Have you offended him?". I shook my head, and said "No. I want to know, who is he exactly?". She released a sigh, and said "That is good. Shak is not something, you should mess with easily. He is the owner of the Vatras Auction Hall. Not only that, he is one of the wealthiest, and most influential Voltars in this city. He even has his own small army of mercenaries".

'No wonder, that the Voltar in the Auction Hall, was so respectful to him. This explains a lot' I thought. I asked another question "What sort of guy is he?". She shook her head, and replied "I don't really know. My guess is, he is very calculative, and probably did some shady business in the past. After all, he owns the biggest Auction Hall in the whole North". I thought about something, and asked "Why doesn't he just live in that Grand Palace?".

She thought about it for a while, and said "As far as I know, he is not the type to sit on his butt, and enjoy his life. The Grand Palace, is pretty much that. High positioned individuals, simply sit there and do nothing. They simply enjoy their lives. It seems, that Shak is not that kind of Voltar, and prefers to do something. He also takes care of his business. This doesn't mean, he can't access the Grand Palace. From what I know, he just does it very rarely".

I nodded my head, and asked another question "What about my situation?". She smiled, and said "Loads of people already forgot about you. My guess is that, with enough time, you will be forgotten. Avians and Yagaroths, don't really search for you anymore. Of course, if they find you and recognise you, they will still try to hunt you down. I'd say, you don't have to worry much anymore".

I nodded, and replied "That is great. I can freely walk around the North now. Do you know anything about the Avian-Yagaroth relations?". She shook her head, and said "No, not really. We are too far away, to get any information about that. If you visit Harlin, he may be able to shed more light on that". 'I have better plans already. I just asked, as it was convenient to ask' I thought.

My next question, regarded the Collecting Crystal. "Do you know anything about that Collecting Crystal?". She nodded, and replied "Yes, but not that much. The information about it, is guarded rather well. Only the highly positioned Voltars, have access to it. From what I know, it's thanks to that Crystal, that this city can operate. If the Crystal was not here, the Voltars would be damned for sure". I asked "In what way?".

The Lizard continued "Not only does the Crystal provide them with almost unlimited power, it also scares off other races, from attacking this place. If the Crystal stopped working, or was moved someplace else, this city would die quickly". This made me interested. I decided to ask about more details. "What about its balance, and storage capacity? I heard that it can blow up, if it's disturbed enough, or broken". She laughed a bit, and said "Who told you that? This is a story, to scare others. This Crystal is very tough, but it would not explode with energy, when broken. The energy would simply dissipate, and this place would die out without its electric energy. It's a story told to everyone, to scare them. Most of the North believes, that when the Crystal is destroyed, it will create a disaster. This is a lie, I'm sure of it".

She then continued "This information is not know by many, as you may have figured. I know this, only because I live in this city for a long time, and I heard loads of stuff. This is one of the guarded secrets, about the Crystal. Supposedly, they also know how it operates and all that, but again, it's guarded".

I replied "This would explain, why they try to sell that lie to everyone. If someone really attacked, and destroyed that Crystal, the Voltars would be done for". She nodded, and said "Exactly". I asked "Why don't you sell that information?". She shook her head, and said "It's too dangerous. We can't let Voltars die. Other hostile races, would become stronger. We need Voltars, so we would never disclose that information. I hope you will not do that either". I nodded, and said "Whatever was said here, stays between us". She nodded, and replied "I'm glad you understand".

She mentioned something, about other hostile races. I wondered about it myself, for a long time now. I decided to ask "What are those races, you spoke of?". She replied "I don't know, how much you know, but there are four neutral races, that belong to one camp. These are Humans, which are the minority in the North. Us Lizards, which is a major race of the North. The Shades, who are another major race, and Voltars". I asked "What about Golems?".

She shook her head, and replied "Golems are neutral to everything. They don't take either side, and only care about their own territory". She then continued "There are a few other minor races, that are neutral to some of us. Avians for example, are now hostile towards Humans. The Yagaroths, are also hostile towards Humans, but not other races. On the other hand, Atols are neutral to anyone but Avians. They are a very minor race, and no one really bothers with them much".

'Well, they probably hate me now as well. Other Humans should be fine though' I thought, and asked "What about the hostile races?". She nodded her head, and said "There are a few as well. For one, we have Mordars. That race is nasty. Shades mostly deal with them, as they are the closest to Mordars' territory. Mordars look like the Dead Trees, but are much bigger, and can move of course. They hate Shades, but also kill Lizards, and Humans on sight".

I asked "Do you know more about Mordars? As in, their abilities, and stuff like that?". She nodded her head, and said "Yes, we all pretty much know. Mordars are very tough, and can control the nature in a way. Not only can they grow bigger, they can extend their roots as well as branches, in order to attack. They can use both underground attacks, and surface attacks. The best way to deal with them, is with fire. That is why, they never come close to Obsidian Mountains. They usually frequent the area around the Sludge Factory, which belongs to Shades". I found it very interesting, and said "Tell me more".