The entire island was circular in shape with a few smaller islands beside it that were connected to the main island by large stone bridges.
The center of the island was hollow and was dominated by a massive lake that was accessible to the rest of the ocean by a narrow inlet.
Several fortifications were built along both sides of the inlet, and could be blocked off by an enormous sea gate that currently stood open for sea traffic.
The entire center was encircled by an enormous mountain range, with several isolated lookout towers built among it's peaks.
Four passes allowed passage between the inner center of the island and the outer shorelines, and each pass was guarded by enormous stone fortress.
Although a few outlying villages and towns were built along the outer shoreline, these were small settlements who's only purpose was to house the farmers and fishermen that worked in the area to supply the rest of the island with food.
As they sailed through the inlet, the true jewel of Arcadia was revealed to them at the center of the island.
A city larger and more grand than Storm had ever seen stood in the center of the island and surrounded the entire shoreline of the inner lake from the one end to the other.
Like Kingsport, the buildings were constructed from white marble and was polished to a sheen, giving the city an almost 'angelic' feel.
Several towers could be seen extending from the city and no two towers looked alike.
Some seemed to have been carved from diamond, others had fire bellowing out the top, or water flowing upwards to it's peak.
After seeing what Storm was looking at, Leyocan explained.
"The towers of the magistrates. Each tower fits and augments that particular magistrate's chosen magic"
A significantly portion of the city had even been built over the lake itself on large stone platforms.
In the center of the lake, connected to the rest of the city with a long stone bridge, was a tower with architecture that was different from the city.
After studying it for a moment , Storm realized that it was a Fallen One ruin, although this particular one was well maintained and preserved.
Magical energy seemed to be drawn to the tower, flowing up it's walls, before continuing upwards where a vortex of pure magic had formed above the tower.
Storm pointed towards it.
"Is that the Arcanium?"
Leyocan laughed.
"No! That's the Arcane Anchor.
It is speculated that the Fallen Ones constructed it to power some world altering enchantment, but no one has been able to uncover what that enchantment's purpose might be!
It draws in magic from across the world to power this unknown enchantment.
Many wizards have tried to uncover what that enchantment might power, as they fear that such an powerful and uncontrolled enchantment could do great harm if it ever backfired, but no one has been successful. "
He pointed to the vast mountain range behind the city.
" 'That's' the Arcanium. "
Storm followed his gaze, but saw nothing but the mountains at first.
Then he saw a walled fortress nestled up against the mountain, a vast marble staircase led up from the city towards the fortress.
"That's it?! With it's reputation! I'd thought it would be bigger!?" Exclaimed Storm.
Leyocan laughed.
"Don't let it's humble entrance fool you! The true Arcanium is built into the mountains itself.
It's so vast that some people believe that you can walk from the one end of the mountain range to the other without even seeing the sunlight." Explained Leyocan.
"How do they maintain such a large facility?!" Asked Storm disbelieving.
"Ohh!! They don't!! Only a small part of the facility is used for lodging and laboratories and these room are permanently maintained.
The rest of it stands abandoned most of the time!
Occasionally, these rooms get temporary tenants when a power hungry wizard takes up residence and attempts to use its proximity to the Arcanium to steal power.
But these wizards usually meet a grisly end. Many of these ancient abandoned corridors are trapped! Or are patrolled by magical or undead guardians.
The ruins also has a rather nasty habit of rearranging itself occasionally and it's not uncommon for rooms to suddenly become inaccessible as the ruins moves around.
Only a small portion of the ruin is held in permanent stasis, the rest of the ruin is called 'The Evershifting Maze' by the locals.
As you can imagine that makes mapping the ruins next to impossible and could spell disaster if you're caught during a ruin shift.
Exploring beyond the Arcanium grounds are discouraged, but not outright banned.
A few wizards have occasionally gotten lucky while exploring the Maze and came back with ancient tomes of knowledge, or priceless artifacts." Explained Leyocan.
"Are we going directly to the Arcanium? Asked Aurora.
Leyocan shook his head.
"Patience!! We must first set up our backstories and credentials before we can risk approaching that place.
I asked my brother to communicate with the Spellbreakers and to tell them about our imminent arrival.
They'll be expecting us, and hopefully they will have already finished setting up our identities. " Explained Leyocan.
"Where are we going then?"
"Fortuna's Palace.
Located in the upper town districts.
An establishment that is run by the Spellbreakers and helps to fund their operations. " Explained Leyocan.
They pulled into dock and the crew members on board tossed a rope at the waiting dock workers.
As the ship was secured to the dock and the gang plank lowered.
Storm, Aurora, Leyocan and Gavin climbed onto the dock.
They saw a man approaching that Storm believed was some kind of dock master, Leyocan leaned closer and whispered to Storm.
"Let me do the talking and don't mention anything about going to the Arcanium until we have our credentials!
It could make them ask some questions we can't answer right now, and we never know who we might encounter at the Arcanium. "
Storm nodded his head and inspected the man.
He was an middle aged man in formal red attire with a white shirt and red button down jacket with wide hat and a golden complexion from working underneath the sun whole day.
His short hair was freshly combined and had turned a dark grey color with a few streaks of white scattered though it
In his left hand he held a wooded clipboard with a large parchment attached to it.
He stopped in front of them and inspected each of them with a dry uninterested expression, although his expression sharpened when he saw Gavin.
He quickly scribbled something down on the clipboard before addressing them.
"Which one of you three is the captain of this vessel?" Asked the man.
He didn't even look at Gavin again after his first initial look and refused to even acknowledge his presence.