This time, it is the elf who continues to speak and the other voices around him fall quiet.

"Most baelnorn are ancient guardians of the Eldrani people, watching over our clans and those places sacred to us. By way of high magic, or divine blessing they cease to age and dedicate themselves to their task. Valentine has corrupted this holy ritual into a path to personal power-"

"Call it what it is, Agenor," Maeve barks across the cistern at the elf. "A lich. A pretty lich with a fancy Eldrani image to make it palatable."

"It is not the same," Agenor argues. "The baelnorn must not kill to-"

"Enough!" The booming voice of the man in blue reverberates throughout the echoing chamber, putting an end to the bickering. "The baelnorn wield powerful magic, but they are not indestructible. Their essence is bound to an object much like a lich's phylactery. Even if slain, Valentine will return again and again unless this object can be found and destroyed."

“An object such as a runestone? Perhaps that’s why he is after it…” Caio says, glancing to his companions before turning back to Six. 

“We spied on the Morgenstern’s estate before we left Piotgrad. We learned that Valentine and Clarissa are scheming after Azrael’s runestone.” he pauses for a moment, letting the information sink in and gauging their reactions. “The stone lies in Beschadik. A group of occultists which I have hunted across the continent, called the 99 Hundred are to help the Morgensterns in this effort. If Valentine requires that his soul is bound to an object, I can only imagine that he intends to bind to this runestone, which all sources seem to say is incredibly powerful. We can’t let that happen. Do you have any intel on what item he is currently bound to?”

     Astrid listens to all this talk of the lich-like elves and begins to recall the group's encounter with the fleder in the church of Piotrgrad. 

    "Uh.. umm. Excuse me. But can these baelnorn bind to another creature some how? We fought a creature that felt like a daemon, but when we killed it part of its essence emerged and flew off through the sky. I thought it may have just been the daemon returning to it's home plane, but hearing how Valentine is more like a lich, this creature we killed did also feel like it was returning to somewhere it was bound... like a lich!"

The cistern falls eerily quiet when Caio mentions the Morgensterns' plans in Beschcadik.

"Valentine seeks Azrael's runestone?" The man in brown asks slowly, delaying addressing Astrid's question for the time being. "You are certain of this?"

Caio nods, his mouth a scowl.

”We heard it straight from his own accursed lips.”

    "Along with that, he's seeking the power of something called the Reaper." Astrid adds. 

The six figures standing around the edge of the cistern glance about at one another.

"He cannot be allowed to succeed," the dwarf implores her counterparts. "We must share what we know."

The sentiment is shared by a rising consensus of nods and sounds of agreement.

"Azrael was an ancient daemon," Agenor explains. "The first daemon. The god of death. The Reaper."

"The runestone is Azrael's legacy," the gnome continues. "If Valentine can bend it to his will, he will become truly unstoppable."

"You must find and destroy his phylactery," Maeve tells the group arrayed before her. "It is the only way."

"At great cost, we have learned of its nature and location," the brown-robed figure assures them. "It is a mithril chalice. Valentine has secreted this most valuable of his possessions in a demiplane of his own making."

"This is the information that Jonathan Morgenstern sent you to retrieve from us," warns the man in blue. "What you do with it, is up to you. However, for the sake of those who gave their lives to bring us this information, I beg of you, do not squander it. If Valentine suspects, then he will take measures to protect himself and all will have been in vain."

Caio inhales and closes his eyes, taking in the information like a siphon and beginning to parse and place the details, letting the breath go as a tense sigh.

”I assure you, we will utilize every weapon we can muster, every opening in his defenses. No one is without weakness.” he turns to the rest of the Septem, almost ignoring Six as he begins to strategize.

”Astrid, we should attempt to get in contact with Ling once more. Perhaps she’s seen or learnt something since last we saw her.”

”Alaris, surely the church would allocate some resources to us given the gravity of the situation, yes? I can’t imagine the Lady would abide by this perversion of life.”

“Shiva, your Collector friend inhabits a demiplane, correct? Perhaps he can give us insight on how to breach Valentine’s.” 

“What more do you know of this demiplane he has created?” he asks, whipping back to Six.

Shiva had silently been taking in the information, a fair bit of it going over her head. But she understood that Valentine could not be killed without getting to this mithril chalice. 

"That dickhead is going to want something in return. And he and I aren't on particularly good terms right now. But I'll see what can be done."

"It is a... home, of sorts," Agenor replies to Caio. "A building that touches doors in many places throughout the world - although those doors can also be locked."

"The Collector cannot be trusted," the man in blue cautions Shiva. "He will betray you as soon as it is beneficial to him to do so."

"That much, I have learned." Shiva says with a smirk to the man in blue.

"Are you aware of what I am? Would there be a way for me to end him, maybe even take his power to keep myself alive?"

Caio’s eyebrows raise at the warning from the man in blue, but for now he stays focused on Agenor

“We’ve never let locked doors stop us before. Do you have any idea where we might find one of these doors?”

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"That much, I have learned." Shiva says with a smirk to the man in blue.

"Are you aware of what I am? Would there be a way for me to end him, maybe even take his power to keep myself alive?"

 
The Six exchange wary glances when Shiva speaks of claiming Valentine's power as her own.

"Valentine's very existence is a perversion of nature," Maeve tells Shiva quietly. "Some things are worse than death."

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Caio’s eyebrows raise at the warning from the man in blue, but for now he stays focused on Agenor

“We’ve never let locked doors stop us before. Do you have any idea where we might find one of these doors?”

 
"Beschcadik, Tanemburg, Piotrgrad," Agenor lists off, "to name but a few. There could be one in this very city... if you can find it, which would be no easy task. With a little arcane effort, Valentine can create one almost anywhere."

“If only we had a way to track his essence over a large range. I could… attempt such a thing. My senses are honed precisely for sniffing out his kind, but I’m not confident that I could detect a door across an entire city.” The inquisitor scratches his chin in thought. “Perhaps if we had something of his, it would be easier to catch the scent.”

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     Astrid listens to all this talk of the lich-like elves and begins to recall the group's encounter with the fleder in the church of Piotrgrad. 

    "Uh.. umm. Excuse me. But can these baelnorn bind to another creature some how? We fought a creature that felt like a daemon, but when we killed it part of its essence emerged and flew off through the sky. I thought it may have just been the daemon returning to it's home plane, but hearing how Valentine is more like a lich, this creature we killed did also feel like it was returning to somewhere it was bound... like a lich!"

 
"I hesitate to call anything impossible," the man with the long grey beard begins, fixing Astrid with his gaze, "especially when Valentine is involved. However, binding his essence to a servitor does not sound like behaviour that I would expect from him. If what you saw felt like a daemon, then that is likely what it was."

"I'd meant The Collector, but I imagine the same rule would go for...whatever the hells he is."

She listens to Caio and Astrid begin to plan, and fear plants itself in the center of her chest. "If we're going to be successful, there is no room for error. My body will soon start to fail me because of my demonic heritage. Is there anything I can do to prevent this?"

"There are some options..." the dwarven woman informs Shiva. "though none that would be pleasant for you. An infusion of celestial blood from a law-aligned plane could help to stave off the toll that your connection to the abyss is taking on your body. However, it would leave you weakened and sickly. Alternatively... we could reincarnate you into a new body entirely." 

Shivala blinks in shock at the dwarven woman's casual statement about reincarnation.

"You...what? Just like that, a whole new body?" She pauses, contemplating what this could mean.

"Would I...still be a tiefling? And the power my Abyssal blood gives me, I would lose that?"

"You would lose it," the gnome confirms with a solemn nod. "Reincarnation returns your soul to the elemental cycle to be spun back out and reborn into the material world. You would cease to be a tiefling and return to us in whatever new form the universe has in store for you."

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"I hesitate to call anything impossible," the man with the long grey beard begins, fixing Astrid with his gaze, "especially when Valentine is involved. However, binding his essence to a servitor does not sound like behaviour that I would expect from him. If what you saw felt like a daemon, then that is likely what it was."

     Astrid's nose scrunches as she ponders their first encounter. "Well, it may not have been him, but then perhaps he found a way to place a daemon within another. He was connected to these monsters in some way."

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”Astrid, we should attempt to get in contact with Ling once more. Perhaps she’s seen or learnt something since last we saw her.”

     "I can try, but would that be a good idea? What if Valentine is able to detect my message to her? Or worse, what if Valentine has a way to feed his own deceptions through Ling as a reply?"