So you're back again, are ya? Well, the tale continues on. Last I left off, Lidia Cortello had welcomed the party into her grand estate. Gilderas, her high elf guardian, had been rather dismissive and contemptuous of all of them, Derion in particular, but Lidia ruled the roost. Gilderas was protective of her because well, he'd been her guardian since Ignatius Cortello, Lidia's father, had died.

After a fine dinner, attended to by the only servants Lidia hadn't managed to run off, the time had come for Derion to show Lidia his prize. Even Thandoril was holdin' his breath to see this thing that Derion couldn't stop crowing about (though he'd been careful not to boast of it in Booty Bay, home of brigands and blackguards and pirates, too).

Lidia led them into her father's former study, Gilderas trailing at their backs like a disapproving watchdog.

"Now then," Lidia said, gracefully sitting down on a well-upholstered chair across from an identical one that Derion had taken, "I want to see this rare treasure you have found for me, Derion."

Thandoril nearly sat down on a settee next to Rathna, but caught himself and scurried away to a dark corner. Rathna stuck her tongue out at his retreating back.

Derion made a grand show of pulling a non-descript little black bundle out of one of his belt pouches. He flourished and postured enough for any of the Kirin Tor. Then, seeing that every eye was on him, he unwrapped the bundle. On his hand lay a small orb, no bigger than a marble or a kobold's brain, seething with smoky blacks and purples, with occasional lightnings in deep crimsons and blues. It fairly hummed with dark power.

"The Eye of Shadow," Lidia breathed, struck with wonder. She looked like a child who had just been granted a lifetime supply of Tigule and Foror's ice cream. No lie.

Gilderas's handsome face contracted in a scowl. "So you found it before I did, did you?"

Derion looked up at Gilderas with a frown. "What do you mean?"

Before Gilderas could reply, Lidia jumped in. Every now and again that woman could smooth a situation over. But mostly she liked stirring things up. "Gilderas already took me to get the Eye of Divinity." Her voice filled with pride. "His guild was already planning to go to Molten Core, so they took me along." Gilderas gave Derion a superior look.

Derion ignored him. "Lidia, the Eye of Shadow is my gift to you, but I would ask for a gift in return."

"What?" she asked teasingly. Gilderas rolled his eyes. Rathna privately agreed with him, however much the high elf disapproved of her as a demon. She thought Gilderas was the only person besides her with good sense; besides, she loathed Lidia already. Please don't ask to go with her Derion please don't...

"I want to go with you to claim the staff," Derion said. Rathna nearly let out a groan. "We will all go with you. Thandoril included." The night elf snapped to attention at the mention of his name.

Gilderas laughed and he didn't even bother to mask the derision in it. High elves can be like that. "You want to take my Lidia with just a warlock and a druid to protect her? Surely you jest."

Derion bristled, and Rathna bristled with him. How dare he mock her master! How dare he suggest that Derion couldn't keep Lidia safe! Though at the same time, Rathna was busily invisioning pushing Lidia off cliffs or into lava pools, all while everyone else's backs were conveniently turned...

"Are you suggesting that we would purposely harm Lidia, Gilderas?" Derion's voice was deceptively soft. Rathna knew he was close to an explosion, though. He was like a volcano in human form.

"No," Gilderas said. "I'm just saying that she can't go without people I trust along with her."

Derion retorted "Like your guild of nobodies?" at the same time that Lidia said "Light, Gilderas! I'm not a child anymore."

For a moment it was like a carnival of lights. Derion and Lidia had both jumped to their feet, Daznok tumbling onto the floor from Derion's pack. Thandoril had even leapt up and started casting as well. The flash of spells, green and golden and purple, blue and red, flew through the air. Rathna scrambled off her chair and hid under it. After a moment, the lights stopped.

Gilderas was encased in an ice block of his own making. Thandoril's clothing was singed. Derion was coughing as if he wanted to spew out his lungs and emitting a purple glow every few seconds.

"Did you...have to...get me with Starfall?" Derion gasped out at Thandoril as Gilderas let go of the wards holding his Ice Block spell in place.

"I was really confused!" Thandoril shouted. "I couldn't see anything!"

Lidia was unscathed and laughing. She pointed at Rathna. "Some help your succubus was, Derion, she hid under a chair."

Gilderas was not laughing. He faced Derion, and pretended everyone else did not exist. "Tomorrow morning, Master Courdor, if Lidia decides to go, you will meet two of my associates in Ironforge. They will go along with your party," at this word he sneered, "to help Lidia recover the staff. As for me, I hope I never see you again, or I will burn you to a crisp where you stand. To the rest of you, good night." He swept imperiously from the study.

Derion studied Lidia with a serious look on his face. Thandoril started trying to rearrange himself into a semblance of composure. "Lidia," Derion said, "are you in?"

Lidia looked at him for a long moment, before smiling. "If you don't help me get the staff, I will hold you down while Gilderas burns you. Now. Let's make some plans."