[center]70th of Zieliah, Year 698[/center]

"So it's true?" Lord Barad said incredulously, his mouth agape. "You [i]are[/i] abandoning me..."

"That is ridiculous, milord." Heldan assured, glancing up from the collection of dusty tomes and grimoires scattered about the desk of his quarters to meet the disappointed glare of his Lord. "I have been a loyal servant of your house for the better part of a cycle. I served in the court of your great grandfather, Hamel. I advised Verrek after him and then your father, Alban, before you. Four generations, I have served, milord. You must not believe I wish to end my service to House Anselm now? Surely not?" The ancient man reverted his attention to an unfurled scroll laying atop a number of tomes.

"I should think so!" The Anselm lord huffed, gesturing to his seer's belongings strewn about the guest quarters he had inhabited for the duration of the Summit. "We ride home to Riddom today, Heldan. Clearly you have not packed and are not ready to leave."

"I stay in Skyhaven until the morrow." Heldan stated nochalantly, furling the scroll up to cross reference against the tome beneath it. "His Regency Shamgar Paragon wishes to speak with me concerning my duties."

"Your duties? What of your duties to me! Seeker of Secrets be damned, Heldan! You are [i]my[/i] adviser!" Barad shouted, eliciting a concerned glance from a Royal Guard passing by the door through the corridor.

"Milord, please calm yourself." The Seeker of Secrets pleaded.

"How am I to remain calm when my adviser is abandoning me?"

Heldan sighed as and closed the tome before him with a dusty thud. "My absence from your presence will be an unpleasant change for the both of us, my liege. But it is an absolute necessity; the recovery of the Phoenix Crown is imperative. If this artifact is not recovered with all deliberate haste...

There will be no House of Anselm for me to serve before much longer."

"So I see..." said Barad, now utterly sobered. "But you must understand. These are difficult times. You have guided this House for so many turns. I need your guidance, Heldan. More than ever now."

"And you shall have it, as you and your forebears always have."

At this time, Heldan stood from his study and made his way across the quarters to the horse-sack at the foot of his bed in which he had brought his belongings to Skyhaven. From the unassuming folds of the woolen rucksack, the Seeker produced a hefty object the size of a small melon, wadded underneath a blanket of cheaply-spun linen. The feather and wool-stuffed mattress sagged under the weight of the wrapped object Heldan had taken from his pack. Lord Barad hovered curiously over the wrapped mass as Heldan procured next a small, iron hammer from the folds of the rucksack.

Assured that he had his lord's attention, Heldan unraveled the linen around the object, revealing a block of orange-amber stone as large as two fists. Its surface was smooth and crystalline on its faces though jagged and sharp at the edges, and glowed dimly from within its core. Waves of shimmering light rolled across the glassy facets like running water, utterly mesmerizing Lord Anselm.

"By Kammeth, what [i]is[/i] this?"

"A sightstone. Mind your eyes." A perplexed Barad looked up soon enough to see Heldan draw the small hammer and drop it upon the top of the stone. With a metallic clink and a bright flash of light, the hammer broke the scrying stone in twain. Two relatively even chunks and a number of tiny, jagged shards remained of the original stone. Heldan took one of the large hunks and placed it into Barad's hands.

"Look into the stone, my liege. Tell me what you see."

The Anselm Lord peered through the shimmering facets and, through the stone, saw himself from the perspective of the remaining hunk laying upon the bedspread.

"I see myself!" An amazed Barad exclaimed.

"From any one fragment of a scrying stone, one may see and hear that which may be seen and heard by any other fragment." Heldan explained. "With a sufficiently large stone in sufficiently numerous pieces, one could see and hear every happening in every keep in Elyden; spies have long valued them. As such they are difficult to come across. Keep yours safe, and you may consult me whenever you see fit - wherever you might be."

"I shall keep it secure." Barad assured solemnly. "Thank you, Heldan."

"Travel safely, my liege. Be secure in your knowledge that I may guide you whenever difficult decisions may arise." With that, Barad nodded and excused himself from the Seeker's chamber.

As his master left, Heldan wrapped his own sightstone in the linen wadding and hid it away once more. Upon leaving his own quarters some time later, the newest Seeker of Secrets drew his cloak over his wizened face and made down the corridors of the Phoenix Tower - to the study of Regent Shamgar.