From the Field Notes of Oathbound Coweth Viseck:
Atlas. Atlas. That name keeps coming up. I've taken part in 4 separate searches of old Visitor safehouses and that name has been carved on the wall or scrawled across parchment in every single one. Is this the promised land for these wizards who toil in the darkness? A safe house? I have brought my findings to Moorhide's people, but they always turn me away. They tell me to leave it to the Mageslayers. Well I've had enough of this waiting. I'm gonna take things into my own hands now. Bastards. I'll show them. I'm ready to become a Paladin Adjudicator, they just don't see my potential.
In the morning, I'll head to the old Bauerwood Academy. I'll ask Jarrastia to go too."
Oathbound Viseck was found dead near the edge of the Gravewood a few weeks later. Clerics spoke to his lifeless husk using divine magic. The questions asked and the answers received are in sealed documents held in the Nexus at the Temple of the Satori.
Found notes on someone called the 'Butcher of Aspengarde'. He's a practiced mage hunter for the Erias Accord. His record is impeccable and the Order chose to hire him directly to act as their own personal head hunter. Just a side note for you. Watch out.
Atlas Academy:
(Dated 399)
Atlas was a dream never truly realized. The Headmistress of the Lunelle who served from 311-395, Genevieve Ansell, dreamed of a private sanctum where her students could practice their magic free from the sight of the public. She was never able to acquire the funding through official channels, as many deemed this suspicious. Why should the mages of the Aspengarde get to perform free from the public? Why would they need to? Clerics of the Order always did their business in a very public manner. The mages should not be treated any differently.
Headmistress Ansell retired in 395 after a death in the family. Many thought she had her best years ahead of her yet, but she insisted that she would step down and take time away from the Lunelle, much to the dismay of the professors of the various academies. In her resignation speech, she said the following on Atlas:
"Atlas was my dream for this place. For these people. The Order put a…a bad spin on it. They thought my goals were nefarious. They were anything but. We are constricted by these walls, this building, and this city. I thought of all we could accomplish with Atlas. Our own private training grounds. Not limited by the potential harm we could cause to the locals, but bolstered by the boundless space before us. The magic we could practice, the skills we could develop, the problems we could solve.
I hope that someone, one day, understands my vision the way I see it."
Unknown Writing Piece, Dated 424
Atlas is real. I know it is. It is a disguise within a disguise, hidden deep within the Gravewood. It is heavily protected by magical wards and elemental guardians. Breaking in is hardly an option at all, except for the extremely powerful or the foolhardy. The best bet is to get yourself invited, or arrive with an army.
The planes of existence in Viesora have become so blurred that Atlas is able to connect and create multiple gateways. I've heard rumors of multiple gateways. Slitherstrand turned out to be false. I don't recommend anyone go into
Slitherstrand. Another rumor said that the lights beneath the Rainless Lake were a gateway. I never attempted to verify that. The locals were adamant that I stay away from the lake. The final gateway, that I've heard of anyway, is possibly in
Hellbend .
Somewhere down in those mines, they discovered something of a magical nature. Some are saying that it's a way in. So that's where I'll go next.
