Val smiles and nods to Vark as he approaches and she clunks her drinking horn against Vark's cup. "I am always happy after a battle, Vark! We have saved our home once again, our people are safe, and we have rid this world of much evil!" She laughs heartily and raises her drink to her lips and drinks heavily. After draining her drink, she wipes her mouth with the back of a hand, and grins. "What of yourself? Did that... thing try to take over you like Rook once did?" 

“Uhm,” he starts, paling as he remembers the unfathomable thing glaring at him from between the stars, “Sorta… this thing was scarier but… speaking of Rook, I wanted to show you this,” he sets down his cup and pulls out the gauntlet. “This belonged to Marcellus. The whole suit of armor has a minor enchantment but look,” he points out the strange metal, running a finger along its edges. “It’s like the metal parts of Rook. Asmoroch steel, right?”

Val's eyebrows arch as Vark pulls out the gauntlet and she examines the metal closely. "I am no smith, but I know my hammer well and this does indeed look like the same type of metal. You say this is from Marcellus? What sort of enchantment does it hold?"

“Abjuration.” he responds, then adds for clarification, “It’s protective, it just makes the armor better at keeping you safe. There was a sword too, enchanted with ice magic.”

Val slaps Vark on the back. "Thank you, Vark! Those could come in quite handy soon! Have any of the others said anything about wanting to have them? I do not want to take anything from the others."

A dribble of ale escapes Vark’s mouth as the goliath’s massive hand claps him on the back. He recovers, smiling and shaking his head.

”You’re the first person I’ve talked to since identifying them, but I think you should have them. The armor matches Rook and the sword matches… well, you.” 

His toothy smile widens as he catches Seid’s eye from across the room. The wizard is sitting alone, and Vark is already getting to his feet to go and keep him company.

”The sword and armor are back at the study, you can come grab them later.” he says, nodding to Val as he walks over to his fellow mage.

Val nods at Vark as she follows his gaze towards the solitary wizard, Seid. "Thank you, Vark. That means a lot, now go. Enjoy your time!" She winks his way as her own eyes fall upon the laughing face of Thurston returning to Aiden with drinks in hand. She feels a quiver in belly as her eyes drift over his physique and smiling face. She quickly downs her drink and saunters over to them. She leans down to grab the front of Thurston's tunic in her hands and pulls his face to hers. "Come. I want to ride you until you see stars." She kisses him fiercely, not caring about the open display of her lust.

Seid looks up as Vark comes over to him with a wan smile and he gestures for his companion to join him. "How is the giantess? She seemed... pleased with whatever you discussed with her." He chuckles as he gestures towards Val grabbing Thurston for a passionate kiss; however, even though his words seemed sincere, Vark can tell that something feels... off. That Seid is bothered by something. 

Vark takes the seat, knees brushing against Seid’s as he turns to watch Val’s brazen display. 

“I guess she has a thing for arms and armor. I told her she should take Marcellus’ enchanted plate mail and sword.” He turns back and now notices the troubled look behind Seid’s eyes. 

“What’s up? Is… is there something wrong?”

Caring even less about Val's display Thurston welcomes her and reply in kind. When she starts to pull him out the hall he just wink towards Aiden and follows her, not without taking a small keg of mead as they walk by. In their hunger for each other they don't really care to completely close the door behind them... 

Seid laughs at Vark's comment, but then sobers up as he is addressed directly. He turns his gaze from Vark's face to the goblet of wine sitting on the table in front of him, sitting quietly for several long minutes. The moment drags on almost to a point of discomfort as Seid battles internal on whether to speak aloud what is bothering him, or perhaps how to say it? And then finally he turns and looks Vark directly in the eyes with a steeliness to his visage that reminds Vark of who Seid truly is; a scion of a noble house of Breanne, sharing the surname of a figure from the mists of lost history, and a man who was sent with an army to occupy this town and eradicate its populace.  "Where did you get that cloak?"

“Oh…” Vark responds. Of course, how could he have been so absent minded? He had waltzed back into town after his venture to Endelfjell and completely forgotten to bring up the fact that he’d learned his father was a ******* Mabinogi. His father, Dylan Gwydion. 

“****. I’m… I’m sorry I meant to talk to you about it, I was so caught up trying to hunt down the sigil, and then preparing for the battle…” he shifts now to face Seid more directly. “I saw my mother when I went to check on Aury. She gave me this, she said it had belonged to my father. His name was Dylan… Dylan Gwydion. A-apparently he had gone to Aureaonus to take the Sigil of Earth from him and bring it here, to Sheercleft, years ago. I… I guess that means he must have been helping to free Matthew? One time while I was talking to him he did mention my lineage but… I don’t know, I’d always thought my father must have been part of some barbarian tribe, maybe even a Norscan.” he lets the information settle for a moment, eyes distant before they meet the gaze of Seid Gwydion once more. “Have… have you ever heard that name before?”

The drunken heart to hearts, impassioned tales of valor, and other impassioned activities eventually  succumb to well earned rest for the heroes and citizens of Sheercleft.

In the morning Vark rises early. It feels odd at first to wake with no pressing threat of invasion to galvanize the mage into action. But of course, with nothing else requiring his immediate attention, there is only one thing on Vark’s mind: Aury. Saving his giant friend is no small task however, and his thoughts quickly turn to what it will take to free Aureaonus from his elemental prison.

The journey to Beschadik alone would take months, and that’s not including the time it would take to track down the 99 Hundred and then somehow get them to relinquish the Sigil of Earth. They need an expedited form of transportation but… there’s no way the rest of the Acharnost will agree to steal from a dragon in order to further Matthew’s schemes and enlist his teleportation service. Well… not all of them. The thought of exploiting Jex’s dream of raiding the Imperial Palace is a tempting option, but not one that Vark would take lightly. There must be another way. If only he could find the necessary runes to teleport to a circle within Saramei. Maybe Aury has one recorded somewhere in his study? Morben had been so helpful before, and Vark would promise any favor in exchange for such information.

With a lead in mind at last, Vark sets out the codex in front of him and sends a message to the Marquise’s son.

Hello Morben, I’m messaging to request a personal favor. The Acharnost seek teleportation to or close to Beschadik. Willing to offer our service in exchange.

A few moments later a sleepy sounding response echoes in Vark's mind.

Good morning, Vark, Morben answers with a congenial yawn. Beschcadik? That sounds like a fascinating story that you're definitely going to have to tell me first. Are you near a fireplace?

I’d be happy to!  Vark responds cheerfully, casting the spell again. His brow furrows but his tusks remain poking out of a half smile as he puzzles over what Morben could mean about a fireplace. He glances across the study to the cold hearth and answers, Uhm, yes? Why?

Vark gets up and takes a few steps closer to the fireplace, half expecting Morben to drop down out of the chimney.

I can cast a spell to let us speak easily through the fire, Morben explains. Is it lit? I must admit, I'm surprised to hear from you.

With a flare of his eyes and a spark from his fingers, the blackened logs roar to life at Vark’s command.

You were so… hospitable before. I just figured you might be willing to help. It’s lit now!

Excellent, stay where you are and give me a few minutes to perform the ritual.

As promised, a few minutes later the flames flicker and take the form of Morben's head smiling up at Vark.

"That's better - now, please, tell me everything. Aren't you expecting a Cambrian army on your doorstep any day now?! Why suddenly Beschcadik?"

For all the arcane wonders that Vark has seen in these last few months, even small magical novelties such as this fill the young half-orc with glee. He has to stop himself from giving a little clap, lest he embarrass himself in front of this new friend.

”We defeated them! They didn’t even make it to the doorstep! Still, it was really something… Sir Marcellus wielded awful alien power, he transformed into some sort of aberration after we first put him down. And we’re still worried that his bosses and other Breannian nobles want Sheercleft for their schemes. We… told you about the cabal of evil mages who were running things here before, right? The Mabinogi? They definitely have deep roots in the politics over there in Breannia but we’re not sure how deep. We’re gonna have to look into that at some point…

That’s not why we want to go to Beschadik though. We need to get a relic called the Sigil of Earth in order to free a friend of mine, a storm giant named Aureaonus. He got trapped inside a giant storm that swirls above Endelfjell, that’s where I’m from. I was there when it happened, these people from the Plane of Air attacked him for some reason… anyway, now he’s stuck there and he needs the earth sigil to undo the elemental magic. The sigil used to be here in Sheercleft but… somehow after our battle with the Mabinogi, the sigil was taken and ended up in the hands of some group called the 99 Hundred. And apparently they’re in Beschadik.”

"That is quite the story, my friend," Morben comments with a laugh. "I'm happy to hear that you aren't on the run with Baron Reventlow's hound snapping at your heels!

As for Beschcadik... the king's administration has the official stance that, in the interest of diplomacy, there are no Eldrani teleportation circles within the borders of the Sarameian Empire. They're considered a security risk. That's why I definitely didn't tell you to seek out Thalanir Umbarelen. As the son of Duke Thalandor of Argwylon, Thalanir is naturally careful to abide by Eldrani policy on travel to the Saramei. Anything else would be mere hearsay, wouldn't it, Vark?"

“Oh! Uhm- uh-of course!” he starts confused at first and then bumbling once he catches on to what Morben is saying. “Yes, no Eldrani circles in the Empire, right. Uhm… Yes, I am old friends with Thalanir, but I haven’t heard from him in a while!” he says in an awkward, forced tone. “How should I get in contact with… my old friend?”