The Refuge

The Refuge is the name given to a self-sustaining, quasi-utopian colony created by the combined efforts of the Copper Tortoise Conclave and the Iron Tortoise Conclave during the Mage Wars. That The Refuge existed is not a matter of debate. Too many primary sources indicate it was a real place to argue against it. However, exactly what, and where, it was located has never been confirmed. It is thought to be somewhere on Aren. Primary sources for the Refuge disagree on what the place was like, which led to a long-standing belief it was never actually built. Most accounts however agree on two things: it was a paradise, and it was exceptionally well-defended by both natural barriers and subterfuge.

Major Accepted Historical Accounts

There are several surviving descriptions of The Refuge written down by people who either visited or lived there for some time.

The Peterson Account

Probably the best-preserved comes from Galle Peterson, an alchemist who lived at the Refuge as a boy and trained there as a young man. That he came and left several times is seen as an indication that accessing The Refuge was not a one-way process as described in other accounts. His surviving tale, as told to archavists in the early Golden Age is as follows:

"I game to The Refuge for the first time at the age of six