Cognis Group A Stone Dwarven Organisation

The Cognis Group is a Stone Dwarven organisation that inhabits the easternmost region of Vrigora named Thalgulir their Headquarters is based in the central city named Marndim, the Cognis Group like the other Stone Dwarven organisations have a patron god, Cognis Group have Heklous as the Cognis group are knowledge seekers and Heklous rewards those who actively search for Knowledge, however, Heklous is an isolated God meaning his power isn't as potent in the real world, most of his power is locked away in his realm named Sanctum which is the furthest realm from the centre of the weave. Travel to the Sanctum is only reserved for those who have proven their worth and loyalty to the God of Knowledge however those are few and far between due to the high standards set by a being that we cannot fully comprehend.

It has been rumoured that 6 members of the Diamond caste founded Cognis Group but there are many theories and rumours circulating around Vrigora as to the founding of the Group, the most likely rumour is that Cognis Group is similar to the other Organisation was founded by one Diamond Caste member named Orlak Varr, the speaker, although rumours state that this isn't their original name or face during the initial founding of the Cognis Group across many ages, such rumours are more hearsay than fact as yours truly managed to steal himself an interview with Orlak himself when I reached out to him, he wanted to actively address these rumours and agreed to a meeting.

The interview is to be held in the city of Marndim, specifically inside the Director's office and a tour will be given to me, in his communique he told me that he wants to address the rumours of his origin and the happenings within the building, he assured me that all the rumours are completely false and it is indeed safe to come to Marndim as we are actively working against whatever cruelty is happening within the city limits.

The Tour:

When I arrived in Marndim it was a very pleasant city, with elegant Dwarven homes and a bustling market centre, the biggest of the buildings was indeed Cognis HQ it had many layers of windows standing around 5 floors tall with a penthouse on the very top with a beautifully crafted stain glass window depicting the symbol of Heklous (a silver-eyed Raven flying out of an embossed book) as I enter the HQ I am greeted by Orlak, he wore long elegant flowing robes with white and black colouration sheathed on his left side is a plain looking dagger forged from silver, he is holding a large book with glowing silver runes inscribed upon the leather(My Runic is not as good as it used to be but a rough translation can be summed as "The Illuminated Codex: Unveiling Hidden Truths").

He stowed the book in a finely woven bag and opened his arms wide in greeting, he stated confidently "Ah we've been expecting you, and early too, I suppose the old adage "the early bird gets the worm" is true" he chuckles to himself and continues "well anyway, we have a lot to cover today, so come follow me". As we walked through the building it was mostly composed of long corridors segmented into office space and neatly dressed rooms where workers sit either eating food or working.

I asked Orlak what exactly the Cognis Group do to warrant so much room and workers, and he responded with a laugh "I was warned you were an attentive one, well you see here at Cognis HQ we are fortunate to have many texts recorded by the Ancient Dwarves, you must have seen the ruins outside the city limits this is what our archaeologists believe to be a library, unfortunately, due to the Sundering many of these texts have been burnt beyond recognition, the texts we managed to recover are stored here." He addressed me to a large door with the symbol of Heklous carved into the wood, above the door is a sign with the library's name on it stating "Lorehold Sanctum".

Orlak pushes the large wooden door open with a creak to reveal large bookshelves full of books, they all looked dusty and a very fusty smell permeated through the air, I stepped in with awe, the number of books here most likely dated back to a time before the Schism (As I've mentioned in my other texts I am a very excitable type, let's just say I couldn't control myself and I wanted to look at everything) and the Sundering, I could barely hide my excitement and before I could utter a word, Orlak turned to me with a smile and said: "Go on, I've seen that look in many people, have a look around, you are here for a tour after all, but don't use all of your energy, we've still got much to cover."

The Aisles are superbly organised with text above stating what books are down each aisle, I noticed that one aisle was completely empty but still had a category above them, but there was one book that caught my eye as it was the only one there, it was rather plain looking with a leather protective cover to prevent wear and tear, it looked as if it was a journal. The title was "The Forgeborn Codex: Unleashing the Ancestral Arcana", as is typical with Ancient Dwarven texts they don't state an author however this one had a name under the title it read "Ebnir Fordavam" I flipped the book open and to my astonishment, the book was blank, Orlak walked up behind me and stated with sadness "This book perplexed me also, the book shows age, yet no contents and no texts that we have read have stated this name "Ebnir Fordavam", the biggest theory around Cognis HQ is this was a journal owned by a Dwarven professor, but clearly, he never wrote anything in it." I wanted to know more about this book but if Orlak didn't know then no one can know.

There were so many books that I wanted to read, so I asked Orlak if I could stay here for a while and read to my heart's content with a smirk like he realised that he and I are not so different he spoke: "My friend as much as I would love to let you do that, we've got a tour to finish and an interview to conduct once this is done perhaps then you can read all you want, but where it doesn't look busy at Cognis, I can assure you we have a lot of work on our hands." With disappointment on my face, I begrudgingly followed Orlak we left through the large wooden door and followed down the corridors past the recreational area and office space and took a left through another wooden door.

Through the door was a room around the same size as the office space, it was finely decorated and had stone stairs leading upwards, the stairs were small and made of a fine stone perhaps granite, we climbed the stairs to reveal more of the same but without a recreational area, instead there was a canteen, the time was around 12 noon so most of the workers were sat together enjoying a meal, Orlak stopped and pointed at a worker sat down and said "Dalmin come here I've got someone you want to meet, I know you're a big fan of his work" I shuddered as I don't like meeting "Fans", I would rather not, but as Orlak was gracious enough to let me conduct this interview and add a tour on top, I went along with it.

Dalmin rushed over gave Orlak a stern handshake and turned to me, I greeted him and shuck his hand, and he excitedly stated: "When Orlak said you were coming, he teased us and didn't tell us when you were coming so I brought one of your books with me every day." He pulled the book out of a fine bag and opened it up to the front page, I admire his taste in literature, it was my book about the Iron Dwarves, I pulled out my quill and signed the book (I should mention my signature is never always the same, I change it every time I sign something due to privacy and to keep up the mysterious scholar impression) by the time I finished signing the book, there was a massive queue forming behind Dalmin, Orlak raised his voice above the loud chatting "Everyone I do like seeing you all this passionate, but we have an interview to conduct and a tour to finish, I'm sure he will sign all your books later when we have more time." The chatting eventually gets quieter and people go back to their tables there are a few disgruntled noises but we press on.

We go back into the room with the stairs and continue upwards, Orlak doesn't stop for the next 3 flights, we continue making small talk, but nothing comes up of note, we arrive at the top of Cognis HQ the Penthouse, the Penthouse is a large room split into multiple rooms, just in front of the stained glass window is a desk, with a large chair on one side and 2 smaller chairs on the other, the room is very bright and adorned with silver ornaments Orlak walks to the large chair and takes a seat and gestures me to sit in one of the smaller chairs I comply and he leans of the desk and smirks saying "Let's get the interview started then shall we, I've been looking forward to your questions, especially if your reputation is to be believed" he laughs, I get my Notebook out of my bag and place it on the desk, I flip to my questions page, let us begin.

The Interview:

I told Orlak that these questions are mostly all in relation to the rumours circulating around Vrigora, we will start with the Rumour that Cognis Group is behind the large number of Kidnappings in Marndim (just as a note I will be writing down his facial expressions so that you as the reader can picture what Orlak is thinking) Orlak smiled and confidently stated with a facial change from smile to serious: "Now, this rumour I have never understood, what would Cognis a simple scholarly organisation who has a vast collection of material dating back to the Pre-Schism have a need for people that we simply cannot employ, one of Cognis' goals one also held highly by our Patron Heklous, is to teach the population the necessity of literacy, majority of the population thanks to the Sundering all those many years ago have left then illiterate, so, therefore, kidnapping illiterate people would have no meaning for Cognis' goals as we need literate people who are able for cognitive thoughts and to write down and summarise their findings, hence the reason Cognis has a lot of people under their employ, these employees all show great abilities. I hope this has sorted any doubts in people's minds, but we are striving to find these kidnappers and finally put them to judgement through the use of a court of law." Orlak looks as if he is enjoying himself, I question him on this and he simply responds "I just find it infuriating, that such rumours could be facilitated when Cognis is actively helping the entire population of Vrigora to regain their literacy, we Dwarves were once mighty and powerful, I just can't understand why people could make such accusations." He gives me a look of sadness and says "Anyway, we've got 4 more questions, I just hope I can put these rumours to bed."