Meetings (Part 3)

JP with Lucian and Cindy

Vor entered the room with a respectful bow to Elizabeth, letting Tristin settle in as he took a seat himself before speaking. He kept the pleasantries light, preferring to announce their relative failure in learning anything worthwhile.

“Good evening Lady Elizabeth. I hope there has been some progress from the others, as we seem to have gained little relevant information.”

Tristin also bowed and then settled in, agreeing with Vor's comments.

"I found out some information, regarding why doctor Lemaire might have stolen the Visage but I will relay that information to the team later." Elizabeth paused. "We have a new team member. An Orc. Apparently, his last boss was killed by Doctor Lemaire. You will both meet him later."

"Lord Andrews, if you have nothing to report then you are dismissed. Feel free to join us for tea at 4:30." Tristin thanked Lady Elizabeth and took his leave.

"Mr. Vor there is something I want to discuss with you but first, did you manage to question anyone about the Visage?" Elizabeth asked.

Watching Tristin leave, Vor couldn’t help envisioning a more sinister tone to Elizabeth’s voice. He brushed his overcoat, comforted by the outline of the knife he still had on him. Looking to his hostess, boss?, with a thin smile he continued his report.

“The owner of it, in fact. He was rather off put by the idea that it had any other significance besides monetary value and had little to offer in terms of its prior whereabouts. There was another attack before I could get much more, though with reports of a monster I assumed it to be one of the experiments you had warned us about and left.”

He cleared his throat a little, looking over the notes he had made in case he had forgotten anything. There was a detail that he was sure to be too minuscule to matter, but figured he shouldn’t take chances.

“He was Eldren, last name of Thorbrum.”

The fact that the collector was a British Eldren caught Elizabeth's attention. At the name, she nodded and a slight smile crossed her lips. "Baron Reginald Thorbrum, of course he would have something like that. He is a very avid collector of historical artifacts." She seemed to be thinking of something. "A monster, you say? It absolutely could have been one of the experiments, it is good you left." A look of concern crossed her face. "Did you run across Dr. Jackal or Miss Lagrave on your way out?"

Vor noted her familiarity with this Baron, at least verifying the authenticity of his claims. While a chatterbox, he could appreciate his care for history.
At her next question, he shook his head.

“I saw none of the others. Have some still not returned?”

While not choked up at the idea of losing members so early, he didn’t like the thought of being picked off one by one.

That was concerning and Elizabeth could only hope they were safe and the monster had not been the other side of Jackal. "Everyone has returned except them. I just hope they are alright." The concern in her voice was genuine.

"As for my question, have you ever heard of a religion called "The Children of The Sea?" She asked Vor, expecting the answer to be no but just seeing if he had any information.

The name was utterly foreign to him, which was reflected in him again shaking his head.

“Another hidden organization, I presume?”

"Not excately, they were a religion that was around some time ago. They believe that many of the Araundan artifacts held magical properties." Elizabeth commented. "I have just started researching them. As you are probably aware the artifacts do not hold any magical properties but people will believe what they will."

It was common knowledge, from what she understood, that the Araunda, knew their artifacts were mostly valuable for the rarity of them. Until today she did not know there was anyone who might believe that the artifacts held other properties

This earned a raised brow, Vor already gripped by the idea of a piece of history he had no knowledge of. He wanted to remedy this immediately, though kept his interest in check for the current meeting.

“So then you believe this mad doctor either works with them or at the least is inspired by their beliefs?”

"Yes, apparently they were only a religion for about fifty years and then faded out but some of their beliefs still are out there. What I found today amounts to their being some kind of writing on the bottom of the Visage, the belief was that if it was said three times it would grant answers to any question asked." She paused, not really wanting to give this next part but thought it would be best he found out now, rather than later with the rest. "There is something of greater concern. Apparently, another belief was that the dust of the Visage would make potions and elixirs more powerful."

Vor stiffened at the words, his usually serene features twisting momentarily to one of malicious fury. The very thought of such an act was vile, reminding him too much of histories he had always hoped to be in the past. Even a mere fifty years could mean that possible dozens of Visages had been lost to superstition.
Taking a slow breath to calm his nerves, Vor looked to Elizabeth with a hardened stare.

“So at best we are hoping this lunatic just wants some questions answered? At worst a beloved symbol of my people’s history could be powder for a group of unhinged blasphemous fanatics. Are there any leads for his whereabouts or are we still grasping at duckweeds?”

Elizabeth could only imagine how upset she would be if it was a Eldren artifact they were discussing. She shook her head to his question. "Unfortunately, all we have is he went through the tunnels last night. Which is not much of a lead. I am hoping maybe the Orc knows more than what he's already said. Possibly, something he did not think to say." Orcs were know for many things strength, good warriors, loyal but intelligence was not one of those things. It would be completely understandable for an Orc to leave out information and be unaware they were doing so.

Vor couldn’t hold back a disappointed sigh, praying that Metira would protect the Visage. It was simple enough before when it was only at risk of being sold away once revealed to be nonmagical, but now he finally saw the brine pool they were getting into. They only had so much time.

“Would there be any chance that I could gander at what you have gathered of this lost, misguided organization? While I am not sure if I could glean more than you already have, as a self proclaimed historian I would like to learn as much as I can about them.”

"Do you read French? I have a book on them, that I was allowed to borrow from the guild but its in French." Elizabeth responded. "There is not a lot of information about them. That was all the guild had."

Vor cursed himself in his head, still not able to fully read French and just beginning to speak it to any decent degree.

“Bits, unfortunately I just started learning a few weeks ago. I can understand not wanting to waste time, but I wouldn’t mind the distraction of deciphering the text.”

"By all means, then. In the library there is a number of books that she help with the translation, if that helps you. Is there anything else you might need?" Elizabeth asked

He shook his head with a thin smile.

“There shouldn’t be anything, I’m used to having little. My supplies are in my room and with the book to translate, I should be just fine. Would there be anything else I can assist with?”

"No, I believe that will be it for now. Just wait here a moment." Elizabeth left, and came back a few moments later with the book and handed it to Vor. "If you need anything or any help just let me know. Thank you, Mr. Vor. Please feel free to join us for tea at 4:30, if you choose to. " Elizabeth knew how easy it was to get wrapped up in research dealing with history. She herself had often been engrossed in such things. "If there is nothing else, you are dismissed."