Sarda leaned thoughtfully against a wall, Haledan with an attentive forward-leaning gesture, and Sara with an emotive clutching of her hands together, each digesting the tidings. Sara was especially emotive with her face, aghast and relieved in turns.<br/><br/>Sarda mused, "Arvandor, mm?"<br/><br/>Aria nodded. Remembering that Rose had seemed inclined to hunt down Astos, and feeling that way too, she said, "We might be of a mind to...seek him, as well; perhaps 'tis where Garland's scampered back to. While gathering the documents in Bikke's and Garland's cabins, and questioning the former, we got the sense they'd gotten some idea they could...create gates they'd keep secret or control, 'twixt lower planes and upper, or something of the sort. For all I know it's how they breached fair Brightwater to begin with, they hardly seem...locale."<br/><br/>Sarda puffed his pipe, "Aye, and likewise Astos sounds a strange fellow to dwell in such an elven heaven as Arvandor at all. Evil there is even among elves, but such often find...other shores beyond the Prime."<br/><br/>Aria continued, "We've quite a stack of documents, charts and tomes, actually, and though I get the sense that there were a couple of planar atlases and posters meant to indicate where exactly he and perhaps some other conspirators, Rose and I were wondering if perhaps you or other allies would have the inclination, time, and expertise to make sense of the whole thing...there were some personal things of Garland's as well, I believe." She looked meaningfully at Sara.<br/><br/>Haledan nodded gamily, "Aye, I've the time to be sure, my business guarding Sara and keeping secret here lends itself to just that, and I've some measure of planestudy. If you plan to seek this Astos, we'd be much obliged, and I could even prepare a spell to send you within a few dozen leagues of a spot I've sufficient information to specify. Though it wouldn't get you back. There exists a permanent portal between a sacred place in Sune's realm of this plane, and her elven counterpart Hanali Celanil's in Arvandor. After studying these atlases I might be able to give you some sense of the overland distance from Hanali's side of the Evergold portal to or from where Astos dwells - doubtless unknown or unwelcome by the goodly elves of that plane. This Evergold portal is, quite...special, but by Sending I might gain for you permitted passage."<br/><br/>"Obliged," Aria nodded, remembering that Rose had seemed inclined to hunt down Astos, and feeling that way too.<br/><br/>Sara squeezed her forearm, " 'Tis I who are obliged to all of ye!"<br/><br/>Aria smiled intimately, "We've yet to identify some things we - won - from the various villains Rose spoke of, as planar pirates for lack of a better description, they might prove to have some items of plane-traveling Art among themselves useful by us for such an errand." She grinned at Rose, thinking how much she was looking forward to poring over their new treasure of its own sake as well.<br/><br/>As she spoke she began plucking out from her extradimensional haversack the handfuls of the papers and tomes she'd mentioned having looted, stacking them upon the tree-slice table.<br/><br/>Sarda helped himself to the atlas from Garland's cabin, with the various single-page artworks between its pages. "Ahh," he smiled, "I expect I know the meaning of these. No mere artistic idle fancy, though in this case that too I'd judge by the detail-" as he spoke, Aria nodded, thinking of Garland's half-done portrait of Sara which she'd not yet brought out, while the sage continued, " - I've seen such things in atlases, maps, and geographic tomes before. 'tis like they are meant for a teleport-caster to study, so as to bring self and companions to a specific place, which he might otherwise do with chance of mishap or not at all." He flipped through the atlas a bit more, and glanced down at the table. " 'Twould not take long to give you a proper sense of the way to or from this Astos, if such ye still intend."<br/><br/>"To understand all this half-hatched planar poppycock it sounds that he and Garland believed they might bring about, and Sara's place in it  - if 'twas not some other plainer" - he pronounced the word carefully different from 'planar' - "mischief of theirs they sought on the side -  might take ye all a day or two to delve through. When such a question remains of the nature of their illicit interests in ye, Sara, I must see to the safety of the rest of your family. That much I owe pompous old Vanderghast, at least, to say nothing of the family themselves. Haledan, I trust ye'll make more sense of all this with the ravings of these papers all collected in yer one mind, anyway, and ye know who else at the Coin or yer temple ye can trust if ye need the advice or eyes. Rather bookish for a pirate and a fallen knight, these scoundrels seem!"<br/><br/>Aria grimaced, "There was a mindflayer 'officer' of the crew, which seemed one of the most studious among them..."<br/><br/>Sara hung her head, "Garland himself, though no true scholar, was...less the dumb brute than most of the other Purple Dragons....or was not once, at least; it seems so very long ago..."<br/><br/>She looked up at Rose and Aria again, "You've done so much - please never feel that it obliges you to do even more, if you decide 'tis not your fight, or if I've overpresumed already...even as it is, I shall think about how to thank and reward ye..."<br/><br/>Just then, Aria withdrew the half-painted portrait, and handed it to her with some of the documents she had gotten the sense were of a more personal nature, and which Sara's own supposed foreknowledge of the knight might render her the best among them to understand. Sara froze when she saw half her own painted face starting back at her, then she clutched it up atop the rest. She nearly smeared her likewise as tears began to fall from the true face towards the painted. They fell instead upon her gown-bared upper breasts. She turned towards a tapestry-laden wall and hung her blonde head against it.<br/>