The mountain trembles with tremors that make dust fall from above all around the cavern. The man's head whips around to stare at Seid, his eyes blazing red like the codex in his hand. He opens his mouth as though to speak, but then the floor explodes upwards in a violent eruption of lava that engulfs the chamber and blows the top off of the mountain. Seid is instantly incinerated, but his consciousness drifts in oblivion for a long moment where he hears a distant voice circle him whispering.

Though all the peoples each walk in the name of their gods, we will walk in the name of our God for all eternity.

Besides Vark in the library, Seid awakens abruptly with a sudden gasp of air as he returns to his body.

"Seid! Are you alright?" Vark asks, worry heavy on his face. It really hasn't been very long since he returned to his own body and found Seid still lost in the depths of the runestone, but given how things were looking when he left every second that Seid had not come to had stretched on. "I thought you might've gotten stuck..."

Seid's hands shake as he feels over his body to ensure all his extremities were still there and he takes stock over the room. He takes a moment to close his eyes and steady his breathing before answering Vark as he plays over the last moments in his head. "I was. I am... fine... now." He leans close to Vark and casts a minor illusion spell to mimic the individual he had seen inside the cave. "Have you ever seen this person before, Vark? This is important." He then proceeds to tell Vark everything that he saw and heard, his voice shaking a bit when he explains the moment of his metaphysical death. "I think I would prefer to never experience something like that ever again."

"Matthew." he responds, almost before the illusion has even fully materialized. "Do you think it was actually his memory of that moment? The red badlands... could that have been somewhere in the Hells? And I wonder... maybe that flash of white light was Lucifer turning against the Fifth." It occurs to Vark that he also has information to share with Seid, and so he goes on to explain everything he's just learned in the ruby archive. "If we can find Lucifer's sword," he lowers his voice and looks over his shoulder, suddenly nervous that someone might overhear the nascent plan. "Maybe we could use it against Matthew. Maybe it could sever his connection to the runestone, or maybe it's just as powerful as the runestone itself." He sits back from where he's leaned forward. "I'm sorry you had to go through that though... that sounds terrible."

Seid nods as Vark identifies the man as Matthew. "I figured as much." He shakes his head. "No, this place was here on Arden. It was a memory of the past when he seized control over The Codex, but the strange thing is that he reacted to my presence. I do not know what to think of this." He sighs while he ponders Vark's next words about the sword. "Yes, I think that sounds like an excellent idea, Vark. Do you have any idea where we might be able to find this sword? Is it under the control of another being like Gabriel?" Seid reaches out to take Vark's hand. "This was not your doing. We both know the risks of going in there every time. If anything, I have only myself to blame. I was the one who figured out how to access the metaphysical plane within." He smiles wryly and chuckles. "Father always did warn about the dangers of knowledge."

Vark nods and smiles, happy for Seid’s cool headed spirit. “Well, the sword was said to burn with radiant light. If it fell somewhere and is still there, it might be putting out a lot of heat. It’s possible that it created a volcano or a desert.” he shrugs. “Maybe. It was so long ago I guess it could really be anywhere, someone else could have found it and still be wielding it… but if anyone would know, it’s Shahar himself. Have you seen Nikolai lately?”

Seid stops suddenly. "Perhaps like turning a mountain into a volcano? Much like what happened in the vision? That place is now a volcano."

A thoughtful finger taps to Vark's chin. "Oh! Maybe... Do you know which mountain that was in the vision?" 

"Mount Khorgo. Is it's name, within the Ardathian badlands, but... that is halfway across the world from here." He lets out a frustrated sigh. 

Before Vark can respond, the conversation is interrupted by a runner who comes dashing up the hallway to the library door. It appears to be one of the boys from the orphanage.

"Jex is back!" He exclaims between pants. "They're at Ringrut's."

Nakia is leaving Ringrut's as the two arrive.

She shakes her head. "Let me spare your sanity. Jex is back, but he's declaring Jex is no more, using a false name and apparently now he's a pacifist, and ridiculously honest. More importantly though, Ix is back and is actually being useful. There's some information on the captains, we should send a team to take some of the leaders out. Might make for fewer losses in the battle."

She shakes her head again. "I'll try to get through to Jex, you should plan to do this without him though." She walks off in the direction of the wagon where some towns people are detaching the poor mule and leading it to some water.

"Wha... He's... what?" Vark responds in utter confusion to this news. He looks at Seid as if he might have some explanation for this, but of course finds none. "Uhm... okay," he says, turning back to Nakia as she walks off. Not quite sure now what to expect, Vark grits his teeth and steps into Ringrut's. 

What Vark found was that the ever present tension that existed between Jex and himself was absent with 'Matteo' , but it had been replaced by a nagging concern for his frienemy. Whatever had caused Jex to change personalities like this was either some supernatural force or some deep seated psychological quirk. Either case would be troubling, and now as the Acharnost are seated around a large table in the guild planning hall some days later, Vark has to make a conscious effort not to study Matteo's face for signs of Jex beneath his expressions.

"So, it seems like we should take out the mage first. If we can sneak in and take him out really quick then maybe we could get another of his generals but... if it takes too long then we could have their whole army on us. I guess..." this time his glance to Matteo is a tad more pointed, "I'm probably the sneakiest now. I can be invisible and I can get in and out quickly. It makes sense for me to be the one to go after him. But I can also take someone else with me; I can make someone else be invisible, or fly, or teleport out. We do also have Didymus..." Now he glances at Thurston, knowing how opposed the paladin is to the devil.

If Matteo notices the glances he doesn't show it, just smiling in encouragement if Vark catches his eye.

"I can go with you and smash that puny wizard head with Rikkazarik before he has the chance to speak. But we should be really cautious. Probably he has some magical defenses around himself to prevent such things to happen. "

Val cracks her knuckles. "No war party will leave without their best warrior, yes?" She grins.

"Never thought of deprive you of the fun! But I do think that Vark can only turn one of us invisible... "

"I cannot become invisible," Aiden says. He taps the helmet Thurston had given him. "But I can fly now. I'd welcome the chance to burn them down from the sky."

"Maybe two of us... the more stealthier and deadly " he looks to Vark and Matteo/Jex "could infiltrate the camp and locate this wizard. When you are in position we could make them fear the thunder and the lighting from above.... create the distraction you need to make the deed and get out of there. IF we can damage their war machines in the process the better. Their morale will be low and we can destroy two of their more dangerous assests in one blow. " says Thurston patting Aiden's and Val's shoulders.

Bründir folds his arms across his chest, "That's three," he notes. "Much as I want in too, Vark can on'y carry one o' ya. What're we others t'do? Say it's Aiden, Vark, an' Val, right? What's me, Thurston, Seid, Nakia, or anybody else doin'? Best thought I see is we make a ruckus. If they're gon' make a fuss, let'em make one away from th" *******."

“If we could coordinate and start blasting the siege weapons from above at the same time that me and Didymus and… whoever else attacks the mage then that would hopefully prevent him from having any backup.” Vark says thoughtfully. “But if the distraction happens before we get to the mage then he might throw up some defensive spells or teleport away or something before we can get a hit on him. As for everyone else… I don’t know… maybe they could be backup to charge in if we can’t take out the wizard quick enough? I just have a bad feeling that it’s going to turn into a bigger fight. If Marcellus or one of his other aides is able to join in we’ll definitely need help.”