With his companions busy with their own tasks, Ras finds plenty of time to research the Heartstone Gem. He digs deeper into the dusty times in Arundel's house, and even manages to get his hands on some of Orrick's history books.
He is reading through one such book in his cabin on the airship when he comes across a reference to an elven city located somewhere in the Spine of the World. While it doesn't give a location, it does mention the resident archmage - a powerful elf named Larrel.
This brings to mind a passage from one of Arundel's books, and he quickly flips through an old journal that once belonged to Tolben, a past archdruid - and there on a yellowed page are the intriguing words:
I firmly believe that it is through community that we find our truest potential realized. What would the bees accomplish with no hive to unify them? The bees would fail, and the flowers would follow, and the world would be less. How can we believe that we are not to be involved with the world? Imagine, if you will, what we could accomplish with such a noble and wise collaborator as Larrel of the elves? That is one true soul who is both honorable and capable. Look at all that his people have accomplished with the dwarves of Dorn's Deep! Larrel himself used our greatest artifact, the Heartstone Gem, and worked with it wonders that impressed us all. Let all come and grow in the shade of Kuldahar, and together we will learn of the greatness within each.
As Ras considers the time period in which the journal is set, he realizes it is more than possible that this Larrel still lives. The lifetime of a gnome can span many centuries, and an elf much more so. If Larrel can be found, he may be able to teach Ras how to use it properly, or use it himself to learn more of the evil that plagues the land.
Dum-thump.
The Gem on the mantle glows with a healthy red light... beckoning Ras? He touches the Gem, and the gnome's vision swims as he communes with it more deeply than before. He feels it search his mind for that name... Larrel. Then it moves on and makes another connection: a city that rises from the ground, towers reaching upward like fingers from an outstretched hand. Ras has seen this before, from high up on the airship.
The surrounding mountain range blurs in Ras' mind as the Heartstone Gem whips his consciousness back to Kuldahar, in the blink of an eye supplying him with directions to the elven city - and the teacher who might be waiting there.
