The sun was beginning to set in Beinost, Raiaera, and Vince found himself at a stopping point in his research. Not because he wanted to, or that he’d found a solution, but because he couldn’t focus. The constant nagging and whispers of fate in the back of his head had grown to a dull roar, forcing almost all thoughts from his mind save a series of flashes and shouts. Gritting his teeth, the scholar reached below his desk for a bottle of brandy, gripping the cork between his ivory teeth and ripping it from the bottle. He pondered taking a massive swig of it, to drown out the voices and find peace at the bottom of the bottle. A vision swam through his mind, of a collar bearing a simple roman numeral, “XV.”
The scholar scowled, fate had made it clear it was showing him an artifact, and he was not going to pass up this chance. Glaring he pulled out a map and traced his fingers along the edges of each country. “Alright Fate, let’s play hot and cold…” he mused aloud. He started by tapping each country, gauging the reaction the whispers had. Raiaera was warm, but Fallien was cold. Corone didn’t give the scholar a reaction at all, and Alerar seemed just about as “warm” as Raiaera. The scholar eyed Salvar suspiciously and tapped it with his index finger. Pain seared through his mind, and his finger found itself instinctively sliding over to Knife’s edge. Growling, the scholar chewed his lip. He snapped his finger and pulled an amulet from thin air, blue sparks raining down from his fingertips. Tapping the silver amulet, he spoke quickly.
“Bring Serenae to my office please, you should find her manning a flower shop in front of the butcher’s shop. Also, I need you to contact our people in Knife’s edge, find out about a collar of sorts. Anything any nobleman or merchant might have? It’s probably magical, so be expected to run into taboo about it. Also, try to keep shy of the church If you can…”
He sighed and drummed his fingers impatiently waiting for a response. He waited several moments before yawning and taking a sip of brandy, swilling the amber liquid absently in his mouth, letting the sharp flavor run over his tongue before swallowing. He’d earned a little treat after all, and based on his last encounter with the succubus, he was going to need a little liquid courage to face the maneater down.