"Has anyone tried stabbing them?" Jex looks on with concern. "Maybe some pain will pull them out of this madness."

Aiden shrugs. "Perhaps that would work," he says. "But be on your guard. The codex seems to defend itself and it may defend them as well."

Vark face is awash in equal parts repulsion and terror, matching Seid's. He stumbles back up the stairs away from the horrific scene and presses himself against the stone wall, trying to recover. For a moment he just shakes his head as words fail to form in his mouth. "Y-yes that... that was awful. I don't...... How do we get out? Sh-should we go back outside? maybe Virgil can tell us?"

Val holds up a hand to Jex. "Wait, before we stab them... there is something I would like to try." She hefts Rook and points it towards the Codex. "Whatever spirit is in here, does not seem to like Matthew... or perhaps Matthew simply saved Vark from it. I do not know, but... Maybe if I touch Rook to that thing it will be enough to break its hold on them?"

Seid looks at Vark with a resolute smile. "The same way we can in, I imagine. Let us go back to the courtyard and delve no further. This place is not what I thought it was, or perhaps maybe it is, but it changes to the whims and nature of the one who controls it. Either way, let us depart."

Jex shrugs, waving an open palm towards the stone.

"After you then."

Vark and Seid hurry back up the spiral staircase leading into the depths, until they arrive in the courtyard, surrounded by the nine gates of the crimson citadel. The occupants of the garden have notably changed and are now exclusively metallic dragonborn.

“Maybe a little bit of Thunder could push them away from the Codex and break the connection?” suggests Thurston. 

“Oh... uhm...” Vark skids to a stop as once again the codex refuses to play by their expectations. “Okay. Well... at least there’s none of... whatever was happening in that last room. Maybe they can help.” Slowly the warlock approaches one of the golden dragonborn and with an almost apologetic nod he addresses them. “Uhm h-hello there, hi uhm... I’m Vark and this is my friend Seid. We’re a little... lost. We know this place is called Ignis but, is there anything else you could tell us about it? Perhaps maybe how to leave?”

The dragonborn appraises Vark with beady eyes that bely a keen intelligence.

"Are you the Keeper of the Sapphire Flame? I have walked Arden for many cycles and never seen your like. More akin to a child of water than one of fire. Remember your training. Leaving is as easy as awaking from a dream."

“Oh?”  Vark responds with equal parts confusion and curiosity before exchanging a look with Seid. “Uhm... ok uhm can you please tell me more about the Sapphire Flame?”

Quote from FrandalSilvereyes >>

“Maybe a little bit of Thunder could push them away from the Codex and break the connection?” suggests Thurston. 

 Aiden looks about the room at the scattered books and papers from their previous interactions with the codex. "I'm not sure we could do any worse. I'm concerned though, that hurting them may cause the codex to lash out at us."

Seid looks at the dragonborn in surprise as he addresses the pair. "Could you... tell us more about this place? It appears to be malleable?"

"It is the purest expression of elemental fire in all of Arden," the dragonborn explains to Vark, his booming voice measured and patient. "Its power blazes in harmony with that of Asgorath and the runestone's infinite depths contain the wisdom of all dragonkind. It is incomprehensible to the mortal mind. What you see is merely a reflection of the mind of the Keeper."

“Ah.” Vark glances over his shoulder to the doorway they’d just fled from and the horrible ‘reflections’ they had seen within. “Oh uhm, if you don’t mind answering another question... is Asgorath one of the Dawn Gods? Is there anything you can tell me about them?”

The dragonborn frowns in confusion but slowly nods to Vark in response.

"The Dawn Gods were there when time itself began. They are the guardians of the runestones and the progenitors of the elder peoples of Arden."

“Oh! Really? Okay thank you that is very helpful,” he flashes an excited grin at his companion before turning back to the man with rapt attention. “Do you know the names of the other Dawn Gods? I’m uhm... especially interested to learn more about the fifth.”

The dragonborn gives Vark a slow blink, now even more perturbed by the half-orc's presence.

"There are only four, Lorelei, Moradin, Angharradh and Asgorath, each a guardian of a primordial element. How can you have come to Ignis without this knowledge?

All around the citadel, the light begins to steadily dim and grow darker.

Seid glances around, giving Vark another look that indicates they should not speak of this fifth deity any further. "I think we might have overstayed our welcome." He whispers to Vark. "Also, why the change now? Is Matthew losing control over the Codex for some reason? I believe we should be leaving now."

Meanwhile back in the tight confines of the room, Val looks at the others. "Should I touch it with Rook?"

Bründir had only just dismounted Stonebrow when question and praise rained in equal measure. A few patrons emerged from their carousing inside to welcome the dwarf, marvel at his armour, or look over his boar. After the initial greeting, Ringrut demanded a full account of the party's expedition to Khaz a Gungron, with space to be cleared against a wall inside for a makeshift stage. Brynja, however struck her son to his core with a simple question, "Are ye well, son? Somethin' diff'rent about ye." Bründir's stomach clenched, and he felt the phantom pressure of steel against his skull. An image flashed before his mind of a brutalized goblinoid, staring blindly through pools of blood back up to him. The unease was more apparent than Bründir intended, as he felt a sudden shake pull him back from despair. "Bründir, lad? What's that on yer eye?" Brynja held his shoulder and stared deep into his face.

Bründir jerked away and faced down the road instead, "I-I'm fine, really. There's goblins in th' passes, an' we hit some trouble," He plastered on a brave smile to show his mother, "We pushed'em back, then again down th' cliffs."

The retired adventurer knew stories and experiences alike too well to be fooled by false bravado and deflection. "But you," she said pointedly, "I saw somethin' jus' now. Ye got somethin' there." Something caught Bründir's eye in the distance. A wink of light from the center of town, above the buildings. He remembered Seid and Vark, the codex, and that the answers they sought may reveal greater threats. It also proved a valid scapegoat.

"I'm fine, really. Prob'ly jus' some dirt." Bründir rushed back to Stonebrow and leapt up into the saddle. "I need to check in at th' old town hall fer some questions. I'll be back shortly." Before he could caught a retort, Stonebrow's hoofs rushed off down the street. Within a few minutes, he arrived at Seid's tower. This wasn't a task he particularly looked forward to, but it was a better distraction than opening fresh wounds with family.

In his wake, the small welcoming party dispersed with idle chatter until only Ringrut and Brynja remained, "I saw it, too." The craggy barkeep noted, "Somethin' twinkled in 'is eye, and weren't no past glory nor future son." Brynja's mouth clenched as she gave a huff. Her mind flashed back to old days, recalling the chant and twitches in her muscles. When Bründir returned, she's be sure to have a much more thorough look at her son.

Inside, he found Thurston, Aiden, Jex, and Val already gathered. A small surprise, since he'd heard they were heading elsewhere first. He also spied Vark and Seid, seated with the codex between them, in a sort or red-eyed trance. This drew a frustrated sigh from the dwarf. He approach the others, arms crossed and boot tapping, "Why is it ev'rytime I come in 'ere, I'm always last to th' party an' ye've all made a mess o' things already?" Looks of bewilderment met him as realization wash over him: Only Val and Vark would remember the first time they'd all come to this office before heading west to the elves. Of them, one was entirely oblivious to the world, let alone Bründir's quips.

“This time it seems that they had made the mess” replies Thurston pointing at the two magic users still in trance. 
“They seem to be trapped by that thing we retrieve from the Vault, and it’s defending itself and we cannot reach them. So far it has pushed us against the walls and spark some lightning. This is old magic and witchcraft, Mark my words...”