Nava's words brought a faint smile on the Baron Edowar's face as he nod to her afterwards, seeming to take her words seriously and finding comfort in them. "I am grateful for your assistance, and though I know the tasks may seem great the rewards should be fitting as well. I will do what is in my power to assist as well, but if your journeys take you far I am afraid not all may be so eager to assist." He turned his head at the next person to speak up then.<br/><br/>"The captain of the guard is already aware that I have summoned you, and a word can be sent as soon as this meeting is over that you are assisting with a baronial matter and cannot be bothered by minor issues with the guards for now. As for the carriage, you are welcome to search it if you wish but there was little there beyond the prince, his dead driver, and the prince's possessions. As for the prince himself, the old traditions demand his body be withheld till it can be delivered to the capital for its burial."<br/><br/>The aristocracy might well have sought to live forever if the power to do so was easy, so long ago some rules had been laid out that anyone that had died could not be brought back to life to reclaim a throne. Some stories claimed this was due to a crazed old king that sought to become a lich, only to be striked down by the servants of their grandchild when they returned from their quest in this morbid state. Nobility was fairly strict with maintaining proper lineage like that.<br/><br/>Collette's words brought a small smile on the Baron's lips again. Some might think he had a soft spot for the ladies, but the local rumor mill did not contain rumors of him having done anything even with the servants of the manorhouse. Nonetheless, the question earned a warm smile and a small nod of his head as the Baron replied in turn.<br/><br/>"It has been attempted, and though a spell can tell there is magic in the shard, scrying for them fails miserably each time, and even trying to scry this piece's location results in a vision of this place without it showing at all, or no image, depending if its an attempt to scry for the location where it is, or the piece itself. It doesn't block out vision, but its absent in scrying images. Disturbing in its own way."<br/><br/>Gabrielle's apology at the beginning of her speech made the Baron turn to face her as she spoke up. Listening to her quietly and smiling calmly, he drew a deep breath speaking to explain himself. "The shards each contain a measure of power, but there's some that suggest that a foe might craft a crown replacing one or two missing pieces with something temporary, the more pieces are left the more power the foe may still grasp. Leaving them where they lay is not of much help if the foe captures the instructions showing the way to them, to bypass any traps or monstrosities set in the path. Some even say that a few shards were just locked up in a castle storage room somewhere, and haven't got any protections. The local piece is here now, but it might be sought by the foe. When they dont find it, they will look for the other pieces to gather as much as they can. You'd need a powerful person to replace even a single missing piece of this, but given the amount of power there is at stake here, I wouldn't dismiss the idea of that option either."<br/><br/>He swallowed and then finally drew a deep breath. "Lastly, the prophecy is not set in stone or anything like that, I dont believe anything can determine the 'fate of the world' but the people living in it, but I still think that the best way this might end would be to gather at least half the pieces, keep them away from the foe, and if they try and forge a crown with replacement pieces from what they have, then those that would stand allied against such a foe would have a champion as strong as theirs if not more with more of the original crown. I hope it will never come to that, but its a possibility."