22 dwarves sat within a modestly sized stone chamber. 22 dwarves wrapped in the meeting of their lifetime. These dwarves, being most of the ministers and institutional spokespeople of Redratall, collectively also formed the government of Redratall.

“And so what did they say of your proposal?” Yrfar asked, second and newest Prime Minister of Redratall to follow Ederfar’s retirement.

“They...” Evenin, Minister of Education, began. But stopped to think for a second. “... They wanted to know more of course. And so I told them that if we helped build a 4th city, I suggested around that little town called Ermos, there’d be a place for all the refugees to concentrate. Small amounts of refugees have already began streaming up north, many heading for that town. We know that much from our increasing trade with Ermos, as their own merchants have begun shunning The Three Cities due to the dangers of the dungeon lords. Those merchants, and many more, they all feel it: that it is only a matter of time before all of The Three Cities are lost. Our kin in The Three Brothers Mountains presumably know the real possibility of that too. In the last report we got from The Thirsty Beards, they also mentioned they’ve contacted the mecha-gnome communities, including the Vroovroo Subterrainian Town, the Mainpipe Industrial Town, and The Great System, which the mecha-gnomes call their big city there. The many green-elven communities have also been contacted, though they are unlikely to participate for now, even though one green-elven community was attacked by a small dungeon lord horde recently. The attack was repulsed, with reports claiming the horde couldn’t even get past their guardian tree defenses, and that the dungeon lord was taken down by arrows when trying to engage herself. Overconfidence may be running high in their community now. Suffice to say: if only The Three Brothers Mountains stood entirely united, their overwhelming numbers and wide skillset would probably stop the advance and be able to clear the many dungeons. But such a grand alliance is unlikely to arise before it’s too late, the humans are destroyed, and the dwarves severely weakened. So, a 4th city, for humans and maybe even dwarves and others, would be necessary. And it would have to be built far away, to give fair warning against any army travelling towards them. And the city would have to be built on the experiences of the current war. For instance, as I argued at the conference, The Three Cities have proven to be severely weak against mages. So, the 4th city will also need a university of magic, to train mages, and research the knowledge and the powers that will protect it.” Evenin stopped talking to reach over and drink a glass of water. Everyone waited for her, all eyes and ears to attention. “There are” Evenin put the glass back down, “currently no magical universities so far up north. A new university of magic may benefit the entire region, including our Young Mountains. Dwarves here could travel to the 4th city to study, if they’d like. The university may even attract mages from the ranks of the dungeon lords, who right now lack a serious option for magical studies. And I even propose, and I know this is controversial, but I even propose that we let Irridiklara become the university’s highest ranking head.”

“WHAT?” produced 3 different dwarves, each after the other.

“How can you be serious? Evenin!” Prime Minister Yrfar reprimanded.

“Please wait” Evenin put up a palm, “hear me. I got the same response at the conference. But I managed to convince them, so please listen: Irriklara is currently on nobody’s side. She hasn’t joined the fighting, and probably won’t. And if we got her to join the university, there are no guarantees she’ll even fight to defend the city.”

“Not the best asset to collect, it sounds like.” Commented a male dwarf, and the spokesperson for Redratall’s Union of Goat Herders.

Evenin looked slightly down and did not respond to the comment. Instead, she continued: “However, just having her there, in the university, would be enough to raise its credentials through the roof. It would attract so many mages to come, and make any aggressor think twice before attacking the city. It doesn’t even matter how she decides to run the place, Irridiklara could turn the whole place upside down and it would still be a great opportunity for many, and an invaluable feature to the city.”

“But how” began a dwarf woman, The Minister of Commerce, “would this 4th city benefit us? I understand our dwarves can attend the university, but the costs in labor and resources would be tremendous for what you ask of us. And Redratall is a poor republic. Remember how much we sacrificed for your father’s road to complete?”

“Yes!” Evenin responded, energized by debate. “But the continuance of friendly western communities will be invaluable! In the trade and quality of life for our dwarves, it is a necessary expense. And of course, we will make demands of them. The demands for aiding the founding of the city, its university, the arming of their soldiers and construction of their industries, it will land the city a permanent obligation to secure the lands around what remains of The Three Cities. We will also demand that the city prepares for a future reclaiming of the land, and most important: that it guarantees full free trade between our lands, including the establishment of a permanent and secure corridor of trade, running from The Young Mountains, through The Giant Forest of Melrum, past The Kingdom of Olam, and up north to Ermos. With these tasks, Ermos will have to spend its income and taxes to fund new organizations, like The Guild of Heroes in Meya. And these organizations will have no other duty but to fight and to contain the spreading of the dungeon lords. It may take decades” Evenin gestured with open palms, “maybe even centuries, but over time, this 4th city should be able to take back the land with new mages, and a new grand experienced army of adventurers.”

“Huh.” The Minister of Commerce responded. “Lofty ambitions there.”

“Ehem.” Evenin voiced weakly. “Necessary ambitions.”

The table went quiet for a moment, many dwarves chewing on the idea and its implications.

“And what” began a male dwarf, The Minister of Health, “happened then?”

“Well, going into the 3rd day of the conference, we started talking more details. We discussed how joint financing could look like. How much each state should contribute. It was agreed that the richer states would take a considerably larger brunt of the cost. Prince Gard held his own meetings with many representatives outside of the official meeting. He managed to make most of the conference agree to send a volunteer warband as The Axe Mountains have. I told them that we will put up a notice in the street here that anyone who wishes to join the warband may be supplied with weapons, a bit of training and supply rations. However, I told them we will not contribute any coins to the initiative.”

“Hmm, that sounds acceptable.” Yrfar nodded.

“Yeah, after all, if we go through with this 4th city idea” The Minister of Commerce pointed out, “there won’t be much surplus coin for a long time. Even IF our republic is getting a participation discount.”