"Not everything is witchcraft, Thurston," Aiden says, a chiding tone rising in his voice. A thought strikes him. "Hold on a moment, Valaith. I have an idea." He begins the same rites that he had used to contact his mother a few days prior. "This may be a bit of overkill, but it might punch through whatever is interfering." 

10 or so minutes later, Aiden speaks aloud again, the words entangling with the weave. "Vark, if you can hear me, respond to this. Are you both okay? Are you trapped? Do you need help? What can we do?"

Valaith looks at Aiden and nods. "You are the shamans. I trust you know more about magic than me. You are the one in charge here, Aiden. I follow your word."

"Oh! Aiden I-" Vark pauses and gives an apologetic smile to the dragonborn. With a combination of hand gestures and mouthed words he tries to convey that there is someone on his cerebral 'line' and he must excuse himself for the important 'call'. He pulls Seid as he turns away and begins again. "We are okay! We traveled inside the codex, there's a lot in here, I think we can get out. I'll let you know otherwise." He nods to Seid as the message is finished. "Okay well at least we have backup outside. That guy said we just have to wake up so..." with a shrug Vark closes his eyes and focuses, attempting to wake himself as if from a nightmare.

Vark opens his eyes and Seid does with him. They are sat in the library in the town hall, surrounded by their concerned friends as the red light slowly recedes back into the codex.

Vark turns with a mouth hung half-open in bewilderment, but still curling into a smile. “Oh my gods... GUYS! Seid figured out how to go inside the codex! I didn’t even think of that as a possibility! We landed in this red glass desert and there was a huge castle and these people there but they weren’t really people they were like... echoes or illusions but... well it was weird. They told us the place was called Ignis and it belonged to the dragon Asgorath and... I don’t think they realized that Matthew had... changed it.” Vark goes into more detail about the strange disturbances and inconsistencies in their experiences both with Virgil and the dragonborn. He finishes with a recounting of the disturbing scenes they found deeper within the castle. “That’s when we knew we had to get out. I think... I think there must be something deeper in there we can use against Matthew. If it’s a reflection of his mind then... well everyone has fears they don’t tell anyone else right? That stuff is probably in there too. But it I’m sure it would be dangerous, and we need to deal with the Morrigan sisters first. And maybe we can learn more about Asgorath and the other Dawn Gods now that we have their names.”

"Slow down," Aiden says, putting his hands up in a placating gesture. He had just been about to open his mouth to tell everyone that Vark and Seid were okay when Vark had opened his eyes and talked nonstop for several minutes. "You should write down what you've seen and heard, to make sure you remember it properly." He looks to the human. "We haven't met yet. I'm Aiden Olrikson."

Bründir took a leaning place on the table next to Vark during his recounting. When all was told, the dwarf beamed a smile at the young sorcerer, "So that's what mages do when they're alone! I'll admit, doesn't sound fun as us common folk, but each their own. Now that you two've had some time, where're we lookin' next? I agree with Aiden 'ere, best we get ev'rythin' written an' orderly. Ye mentioned a lot, though. Morrigan, Matthew, some Gods or another."

 Val lets out a heavy sigh as Vark and Seid come to from their strange... whatever that was. She throws her arm around Thurston and Jex's shoulders, pulling the two men close with a laugh. "I was worried I would have to smash that thing with Rook!"

Seid casts a concerned glance at the goliath woman, Valaith?, he briefly recalled as he steps over to Aiden. "Please to meet you, Aiden Olrikson. I am Seid Gwydion. If you do not mind me asking... Your surname rings of Norsca, but your bearing seems very Breannian? Surely there must be a story to beheld there?"

”Not everything is witchcraft you’re right Aiden”’replies the norscan before the cleric starts his ritual. “But this sure is... “ he mumbles looking at his two friends. 

Thurston chuckles at Val’s words 

“We don’t want to break Vark’s new toy and had to find another one... don’t we?” 

Aiden smiles, happy to speak of his homes. "A story, maybe. My first parents were lowly fishermen from Ahtohallan, in Quenlan, where the Sheerwater river enters the sea. I was taken from there when I was 12 years old as a thrall. Olrik, one of Thor's champions, freed me and took me in as his son. He and his wife, Drea, raised me as their own. So I am of Breanne, as well as Norsca."

To Thurston, he says, "Calling this witchcraft is like calling water wet. Of course it is. But what kind? And who made it that way?"

Thurston thinks over Aiden’s words 

“I see what you’re talking about. It’s more to say that the water is cold when you jump into the river hehe” I think this is no good magic and that Matthew is the responsible of it “

While Seid and Vark set about putting the library back together, Thurston takes Aiden back to the temple to wash and change before heading to Ringrut's tavern for drinks. Bründir heads home and Jex vanishes into the night to see to his own affairs.

The next morning, most reconvene to discuss their plans to take the fight to the Morrigan.

Aiden looks about the room that he, Thurston, and Valaith had trashed the day before. Seid and Vark had cleaned up well. Well, it hadn't exactly been them that trashed it, but still. 

"So, tell me about these witches you're after. What did they do?" He glances at Thurston with a grin. "If you say witchcraft, I'll blood eagle you."

 The following morning, Bründir joins the other at Seid's tower. 

"They're a bunch of scaly twats that send bandits on the trade roads, summoned demons an' plagues, an' grew a farm of basilisks. Seems they're holed up now, but we don' want'em building more trouble fer us."

“Uhm, well,” Vark begins, standing uncomfortably behind the desk of the freshly cleaned study. He nods at Bründir’s summary before going on to elaborate,  “They’re kind of the reason we all got together in the first place. We were hired to take care of bandits that were disrupting trade between here and Hyarantar, and it turned out that the bandits were working for these three dragonborn sisters who call themselves the Morrigan. It seems like the Morrigan is the same being as Talona, one of Matthew’s siblings. He didn’t seem to think they had much connection to her but… well they’re claiming to be her I guess and they do have powerful magic so maybe that is coming from Talona after all. After we dealt with the bandits they sent an undead curse to Hyarantar, which we also dealt with. We don’t know what they’ve been up to since then but we’ve promised to deal with them before they can cause more trouble. I think it could be a good chance to learn more about Talona and the other runestones too.”

"Where can we find them?" Aiden asks, nodding. "Do you know where they are, or are we setting out to search for them?"

"Need some maps in 'ere," Bründir grumbles, "Too much about old places an' people. Best we figure, it's west and north of us. On road to Hyranatar, we went north to a basilisk farm. Not a place I'm eager to see again. But from there, we found a hold an' think they're holed up there."

"Oh, yes good idea." Vark replies. He turns to his left and the veins of ruby that cross his hand flash with light. From his open grasp a spectral red hand appears, illuminated with identical crimson veins. It drifts over to one of the shelves and retrieves a rolled piece of parchment before bringing it over and unfurling it. "We do have maps in here." he says with a slight chuckle before going on to point out the various landmarks that Brundir described. "Like I said... we've got no idea what they're up to. It wasn't clear what their plan was when we were fighting them before, and now they've had time. We could scout it out once we're closer but... we're kinda going in blind."

Aiden watches Vark's magical display with a raised eyebrow, then walks over to one of the shelves, retrieves a few books the old fashioned way, and moves back to the table, using the random books to weigh down the corners of the parchment. "I don't suppose anyone in town would know more about that hold, would they? An explorer or scout of sorts?"

Vark furrows his brow as he tries to think, turning to Bründir who would know better if anyone living in Sheercleft could be of help. “Uhmm...” But then a revelation crosses the half-orc’s face “OH! Wait, I completely forgot, there was someone who had been inside the fortress! His name was... Lo... Lu? Lúthedir! He used to live with the sisters and their tribe but he escaped to Hyarantar. Yeah, he was the reason they sent that curse to the elves there. Maybe he can help!” With renewed focus, Vark places the codex before him and begins to cast. The stone and his eyes pulse and crackle with red as he begins to speak. “Lúthedir? This is Vark, of the Acharnost. We need your help to deal with the Morrigan sisters. Are you able to give us any information? “ His words are carried on a soft undertone of distant thunder.