"Aiden Olrikson, Lady," Aiden says, bowing his head slightly in deference. "Of Norsca and Quenlan."

"A man of two worlds," Lelfaer muses, distantly. "You keep worthy company, Aiden Olrikson. I'm afraid that the same cannot always be said of Lùthedir. He has beholden himself to another power with its own motives. It would be reckless in the extreme for me to allow him such dominion over me."

"See, I knew he wasn't any good," Bründir looks about with a self-important smile, "Anybody lookin' fer hair isn't usually makin' a shirt. Wait..." He catches for a moment, "That's not much better either, I s'pose."

Aiden chuckles at Bründir's remark, and then returns his gaze to Lady Lelfaer. "Of course, we would not want to put you in such a position. That's why we came to you, to report on his activities and to see if you could be of any aid in our search for these dragonborn sisters." He pauses, as a few of her words strike something hollow in the back of his mind. 

"What power has Lùthedir beholden himself to?"

"I do not know its name," Lelfaer laments with a sad shake of her head, "but the entity is infernal - Lúthedir's magic reeks of sulphur. Regardless, I thank you for bringing this to my attention. I will take care of my brother. In the meantime, I suggest that you see to the Morrigan, before they return more powerful than before. Last we spoke, you claimed to have located their stronghold. Why do you delay?"

Aiden can't help but give a glance to Vark at the description of Lúthedir's patron, but disguises it by looking at the rest of the party for an explanation as well.

Vark shifts uncomfortably as if Lelfaer could smell the  sulphur and brimstone she spoke of on his person as well. “Uhm w-w-w-well we had some uhm... business stuff with the dwarves that I guess we had to do first. But we do intend to take care of them now. That’s why we reached out to your brother. If... well if he isn’t someone we should be going to for help then I guess going to the fortress is our next move. Right? guys?”

"I told you that this witchcraft nonsense was a waste of time. Let's go there, look for the best way to break into their fortress and storm the place" says Thurston "We are very sorry for the delay Mistress" he says to Lelfaer " but we are ready now to go after them. I only hope that they do not use their magics to turn invisible and escape again... Rikkazarik will see to it!" he says tapping the hammer. He seems to think a few moments while the others talk with the lady and he says. "If you want, I could give your brother some of my hair... " he suddenly blushes " not that my hair is as fair as yours of course... but that maybe will make clear of his intentions to you... I mean.. if you need me My lady you only need to ask... " 

Lelfaer raises her eyebrows at Thurston's unusual suggestion.

"I don't think that that will be necessary," she assures the Norscan. "You should not jeopardise yourselves for the sake of a family feud. Return when the Morrigan are vanquished and we shall celebrate your victory."

The baroness hesitates momentarily, before dismissing the Acharnost.

"Where did Lúthedir say to bring my hair?"

“Ambaróna Marketplace.” Vark answers readily. “I’m... I’m sorry your brother is being so... weird. I hope he’s not too much trouble to deal with.” With the parting words, Vark turns to leave along with the others.

Thurston nods to Lelfaer and pushes no more the matter. 

He bows and depart after Vark. 

Once they are alone again he says

"Well... tell me Vark, is there a way to prevent them to turn invisible and fly away in your codex? We could search for the professor and ask him if we don't have a clue about that... he seemed quite versed in the arcane..." 

Vark casts a doubtful glance as the professor is mentioned. “I can fly. And I can make someone else fly too. And I can see invisible stuff, I could... well I could light them on fire and then they wouldn’t be so invisible anymore. Or maybe I could use the codex to break their invisibility or their flight. I don’t know what this professor guy can do but if I have any magic questions I’m definitely gonna talk to Seid before I go to a stranger.”

"If we're going up against a coven of witches, should we not have brought a wizard with us?" Aiden says at the mention of Seid. "His abilities could be useful, assuming that researching the arcane is not where his interests end."

"Ha!" Bründir bursts at the mention of immolating invisible wizards, "I like yer idea! I've got roundabout half a dozen flasks of oil t'help. Hard t'run off when th' room's on fire."

The dwarf puffs his chest out and slaps his scabbard after Aiden's question, "They're nothin' but cowards hidin' in caves! They always run off. Only time they brought somethin' worth fightin', Thurston an' I sent it t'Hells in pieces."

"I agree with Bründir! Your ideas are good enough! The professor is no stranger but no need to linger here more or to bother him. You light them up and Rikkazarik could bring them down! That's a plan! That's a good plan indeed!" says Thurston tapping Vark's shoulder. 

" I'll drink to that my friend!" replies to Bründir " But only when we make that a reality... sooner than later I hope!" 

"I hope your confidence is well placed," Aiden says, amused slightly by the blustering. 

Val sits near the back of the group, quietly listening to the proceedings and staring in open awe at the beauty of the elven lady. She looks down at her armor, scuffed and scratched in places where it had done its job of protecting her with a sudden fear of disrespect. She fishes for a rag among her possessions and begins to buff her shining, elven armor. Try as she might to be sneaky about it, the large goliath woman is not the most graceful and it becomes readily obvious to any in the group what she is doing. 

Jex watches Val's movements with her armour with amusement. The Goliath clearly worried about the state of her appearance in front of the elven nobility cut a comedic sight that tickled something deep within him. He chuckled a little as he walks away but the catches Val's eyes and the fun drains rapidly from the moment, replaced with an unfamiliar feeling to Jex that made him deeply uncomfortable. He caught her eye again the next morning and the feeling returned, hitting him deeply. He couldn't help but imagine how she must be feeling, out of place and unsure of herself, like when... A new feeling now, a sickness, could it be guilt? How could he have laughed at this? Now he'd have to make up for it.

"You know Val..."

He sits down next to her.

"I've seen you putting coins aside..." He jumps back, "Don't worry I'm not here to take any..." 

He clears his throat "Well, it's just I saw you looking at your armour yesterday, I bet you have enough for more if you wanted it? I could go with you to find a craftsman and see if you had enough?"

Val eyes Jex warily for a moment, trying to figure out the hidden jest behind his words before realizing that it seemed genuine. “Thank you, Jex. I want to get more of this… mithral? To make armor like Thurston’s, but I don’t understand how all these coins work.” She looks at him sheepishly as she pulls out a very large sack full of coins. “I do not know if this is enough. My people traded. If I wanted new armor, I would hunt for furs and offer to help carry their gear or teach their children to hunt. Trade is easy, but these…” she hands the sack to Jex, who needs two hands to hold the weight up. “I do not know these. How much of these coins would make a full suit of armor?”

Jex's eyes widen as he sees the size of the bag and his elbows almost buckle under the weight as she thrusts it on him. He holds it up though, evaluating with his experience of the weight of gold.

"Feels about right, you may have enough, or perhaps a little short, but we shall see what we can negotiate." He gives a wink. "Problem is though, the elves don't go just selling their mithril from a store front. You got to know who to ask, that can take a favour or one of your trades. Here though I think we'll be ok." He grins pulling out his scroll.

His quill dances across the page.

My Dear Lord,

My thanks for your previous help, I have made arrangements with your acquaintance. It humbles me to be once again asking for a favour, this time on behalf of our honourable friend Valaith. She desires elven armour to cover her head to toe. If it would please you to put us in contact with one of your skilled smiths?

Kindest Regards,

Your Humble Servant

Jex Blake