Aiden still looks disheveled, a sour look on his face. "Your friend Archie just left. Brock was...not who he said he was." Aiden recounts the events of his searching the room, Archie's tumultuous exit, his encounter with the chest, and his subsequent encounter with the rug. "In essence, the past few minutes have not been fun."

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“Wait... what?” he responds despite the arcane line going dead. Not wanting to expend more of his own energy he once again begins to turn and prod at the runestone’s glyphs. Minutes later he completes the ritual and asks his questions, “What do you mean? Why are you in the Astral Plane? Where are you going?” he asks, rapid fire. As Aiden steps back into the room, Vark just looks up in confusion.

 
"Well, I couldn't just let your friend whisk Baervan's Mirror away from me mere moments after it was finally within my grasp now, could I?"

Archie's smug reply does not, in fact, give a clear answer to any of Vark's questions.

Archie’s response only fills Vark with more questions despite Aiden’s tale illuminating things somewhat. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t there to help. It just... well it doesn’t make any sense. Was he part of the Mabinogi? Or is he going after one? If... if he had a mission or something he could have just told us. We could’ve helped or... or maybe he’s just bad. I don’t know... I don’t think he’s gonna answer me if I ask.” There’s a dejected look in his eyes, but the promise of magical treasure perks him up again. “Oh that’s the match to my belt!” He proudly displays the turquoise buckle around his own waist. “I can trade places with whoever wears that one.” As the brooch is pulled out next, Vark inspects it with wide eyes. “I could use the codex to identify it but that’d take a bit. Maybe we should see what else is here before the whole place gets picked clean?”

Aiden nods. "There's a chest upstairs that remains locked, despite my best efforts. Perhaps Jex can unlock it."

Following Aiden upstairs to Megren's chambers, Jex makes short work of the chest's lock, revealing the hoard of coin within. The room also contains a bolt of bronze cloth and an ornately carved vase that Jex identifies as being of significant value.

Thurston scratches his head, confused. 

"It's weird" he says " We were companions the firsts time we face the Morrigan's bandits... and was aprehended by them. We supposed he was dead and eaten. I do not understand why the deception and why do not share the victory with us... "

Jex shrugs.

"We need to take this coin somewhere safe, until we're in control of the castle," he notes.

"We can have someone stand guard over this chamber," Aiden says. He looks to the dwarf. "Brundir, perhaps you?"

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Thurston scratches his head, confused. 

"It's weird" he says " We were companions the firsts time we face the Morrigan's bandits... and was aprehended by them. We supposed he was dead and eaten. I do not understand why the deception and why do not share the victory with us... "

 "Always was a dodgy little shit."

"Yeah, I'll watch the loot." The dwarf grumbled over the chest, but his mild resentment at being left on guard duty was eased as he inspection the coinage in his charge 

Aiden nods, and looks to Vark and Jex. "You two may have better luck than me searching for treasure," he says, a sour look coming to his face as the memories flare up in his face again. "Thurston, let's take the prisoners to the dungeons with Valaith." The Norscans head down the stairs back to where they left Valaith guarding the prisoners.

Val stands away from the prisoners, keeping enough space that should any of them make an aggressive move she has enough time to end the threat quickly; however, what she was not prepared for was an attack from behind. She feels a slight prick as a dagger tip barely pierces the soft underside of her armpit. She whirls around with Rook wildly as she finds herself swaying and staggering from a burning sensation the spreads from the small cut. Her first blow smashes hard into the intended assassin, but it rolls with the impact! Val blinks her eyes in an attempt to focus the blurred vision that causes her second attack to miss completely as her enemy sidesteps the massive hammer. Two more slices barely cut her skin, but this time her hale body fights back the additional poison trying to spread to her body. She screams in the assassin's face in defiance as Rook whooshes through the air in one, two brutal swings as she is fueled by the rage and nearly berserker like energy that fuels her attacks. The assassin barely avoids being killed by the first blow only to have their chest crushed completely by the second blow that pulverizes their internal organs. Panting with rage and illness, Val kneels beside the body and pulls out one of her handaxes...

A quick, brutal slash removes the would-be assassin's head and she spits on the body as she turns towards the prisoners, holding the still dripping head as all remaining blood oozes from the arteries. Without a word she hurls the head into the assembled prisoners before going back to her perch, this time making sure it keep her head on a swivel and checking her back every few seconds.

A few minutes later, Aiden and Thurston arrive back in the ritual chamber and find Valaith rather worse for wear.

Vark nods to Aiden’s suggestion and he ad Jex take off into the halls of Morloth. “Where do you think the other rooms are?” He asks as they exit among the distant sounds of fighting. “Probably close.” 

Jex is correct, and it doesn’t take long before the pair come across a door just as ornate as the one that marked Korinn’s room. Like clockwork Jex moves to check for traps, his keen eyes quickly spying a dangerous glyph. “Okay, let me try to-“ the moment Vark reaches a crackling hand out towards the door he is blasted with a torrent of lightning. The mage is thrown across the hall, painfully smacking into the stone wall. “****... ahh...” he moans as he collects himself. “I... I should have just dispelled it. It’s... it’s done now though.” Jex cocks an eyebrow at Vark as if to say Are you sure you’re alright? But he goes ahead to pick the lock anyway. It’s an easy task, and the door swings open shortly. Vark steps to the threshold, leaning on his spear for support, and opens his senses to the subtle fields of magic strewn throughout the room.

The door is carved with a relief depicting three crowns above three spearmen who stand over three maidens cradling babes. Inside, the room is furnished similarly to Megren's, but the desk is littered with writing tools and fragments of parchment. Bottles of coloured fluids, preserved plant clippings, mushrooms and animal parts line cases of shelves against the walls. A glistening silver winged helmet stands on a side table and Vark immediately senses an aura of transmutation from it. Several of the rolls of parchment and bottled liquids also appear to be magical, as well as a strange oval stone with a purple-blue tinge that lies on the bedside table.

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A few minutes later, Aiden and Thurston arrive back in the ritual chamber and find Valaith rather worse for wear.

 Aiden's eyes widen as he takes in Valaith's injury -- or lack thereof, the pulped mass of her would-be assassin, and the still-frightened prisoners. "What happened here?"

Val looks pale and swaying slightly as she stands a little straighter to wave Thurston and Aiden. "Had to handle a pup who got a bit too big for their skins." She gestures to the smashed, headless corpse nearby. 

Aiden takes in her paleness and instability. "You should sit down. Have you been poisoned?" After a few moments, Aiden frowns. "That is not something I can fix today, I am sorry."

"Fool enough to try to face Valaith the Fearless alone..." says Thurston noticing the dagger the would be assasin used to attack her he pick it up and inspect it. 

"This one was a treacherous one still. Please Val, stay still for a second. Allow Thor to remove the poison this coward tried to use against you. You will endure it for sure, but no need to wait for it to disappear" 

Thurston closes his eyes and mutters a little prayer in his mother tongue while he put his hands close to Val's shoulders. Small sparks jumps from the tip of his fingers to the goliath body and they spread over her body in just a second with a small burning feeling. Thurston feels the powerful poison running through the veins of Valaith more like a dark smoke inside, for a second, it seemed that it fought Thor's power back, but the Norscan clenched his jaw and used all his remaining energy to fight it off. It took a few more seconds than expected but when the paladin moves aside she already feels that the poison has disappeared. 

"It was a potent one. Better destroy that blade." he suggests

Thurston turns towards the rest of the prisioners. 

"Now you listen, and listen me well. It is only for the grace of my companions that you are still drawing breath. If only one of you tries anything more like that, or even look at us badly I will kill you. To the very last one of you. " he look at them with icy cold eyes and some sparks jump from Rikkazarik. "So be sure that your friends behave or you will suffer the consequences." 

He then turns around, giving them his back going back to his companions. "Filthy treacherous scum... " 

Val nods, which throws off her equilibrium and she stumbles slightly from the vertigo that comes with the motion. "I believe so, I felt a burning spreading through my body as he stabbed me." She sits quietly while Aiden examines her wounds, while she continues to keep watch on the prisoners. "Then I shall learn to adapt to this until tomorrow."  She shrugs, blinking her eyes as they try and fail to focus on Aiden's face. 

She turns to look at Thurston and again sitting quietly while he works his magic. She lets out a sigh of relief as the poison washes away and she feels hale once more. She stands straight again and steps a few feet to one side to swing Rook around in a display of martial prowess as she tests her limits and finding them to be normal. "Thank you, Thurston. I feel much better."