I watch as Hades steps between Kortt and Crete, all I can think is how he is either a very confident or a very foolish man. By the way he carries himself I would guess confident but only time will tell for sure. As I hear him say he has something that might interest me I notice the arguing between Kortt and Crete stops, I look to Grys who lowers his crossbow and nods. I assume this means it's ok to approach Hades so I start towards him and that's when I notice the book in his right hand, it can't be? "I believe this is what your searching for?" asks Hades. "How could you possibly know that is the book?" I reply. "Their are hundreds, maybe thousands of books in here...how could you have found it so quickly?" Hades grins. "All I know is that you were searching for a book and I found myself drawn to this one. When I reached down and picked it up I somehow knew it was the one." He then stretches out his arm as if to hand me the book. "It can't be that simple." I say. "We need to be sure, a woman's life is at stake." I watch as Hades smile Fades. "If you don't want the book then don't take it, I'm not forcing it on you. But I assure you, this is the book you seek." He sounds so confident but it just seems so unlikely. I look to Kortt for guidance. "Take the book Tate, unless you have a way of locating it, it seems to be our best option." I reach out to accept the book but before releasing it Hades says... "This is a peace offering, I see no reason to continue fighting among ourselves." Hades then turns to Crete. "You must relax my brother, they have done us a favor that we will unlikely ever be able to truly repay. Because of them we walk in this world once more, let us show our gratitude by assisting them in freeing their friend." Crete takes a moment to ponder his brothers words, then replies. "So be it." I was definitely not expecting that and from the look on Kortt's face neither was he. Crete then lowers his sword. I find listening to Hades to be unusual, I find Myself wanting to hear him speak. He has a certain quality to his voice I don't believe I have ever experienced before and the fact he was able to calm Crete down makes me realize it's not just me he has an effect on. "I suggest we gather what items and gear we may need to assure your friends freedom." Says Hades while still looking at Crete. Suddenly all eyes turn to Crete, I think everyone is waiting for him to explode again but surprisingly he remains calm. "As I tried to tell you earlier, I am more than willing to help you free your friend. Now as for my sword...I'm afraid that is not open for negotiations, it IS coming with me." I watch as Kortt's mouth begins to open , yet no words escape. His mind begins working overtime, he pauses and then closes his mouth. This puts a wicked grin on Crete's face, he knows he won this round." Everyone then starts moving off in their own direction while I move towards Kortt. "I find it curious that when we were surrounded by technology Crete and Hades were able to sense magic when you could not." Kortt turns to face me. "I don't believe it was magic they were sensing, I think they are each soul linked to at least one of the items they now carry. That is why they felt it so strongly, they were feeling part of their missing soul." "I have never heard of that before." I say. "Why would someone want to link their soul to an item?" "it's an ancient practice." Explains Kortt. "Linking your soul to an item embeds power into that item, the more soul embedded the more powerful the item. That and as I just told you, you always then have a connection with the item, makes it rather difficult to lose." "Why is it no longer practiced?" I ask. "The soul is not meant to be split, it's very dangerous to do so. Successful soul links were rare, more often than not those that tried were corrupted leaving their minds twisted and their hearts blackened. Plus it took a wizard of immense power to even perform the spell. The benefits were great, but usually the consequences were greater." "Is that Crete's problem? I ask. "Is his mind and heart corrupted?" Kortt lets out a little chuckle. "No. I don't believe so anyway, I just think that is who Crete is. It has nothing to do with magic." Kortt then pauses before he says..."Tate, I would like to see the book now." Damn, I can't risk Kortt deciding the book is to powerful to exchange for Hayden. I do the only thing I can think of, I try to reason with him. "Kortt, I need you to listen to me. I think it's best if I just hold onto the book. It's better if you don't know what it contains." I can tell he is biting his tongue. The fact is that if Kortt really wants this book there is nothing I will be able to do to stop him from taking it. Luckily for me, he doesn't try. "I will respect your wishes. We will exchange the grimoire for Hayden." Says Kortt as something catches his eye." Look down, At your feet to the right, see that pouch? Grab it" I look down and see a small leather pouch, nothing about it seems special or unusual but I pick it up none the less. It feels empty, I open it up and peek inside buts it's dark, real dark. Puzzled I look to Kortt. "It's a pouch of infinite storage." He says. "It can hold any item that can fit through the opening and will never accumulate weight. I suggest you start shoveling gold into it and you will quickly realize just how special it is." I bend down and start putting handfuls of gold into it, Kortt was right. The pouch should only hold maybe 50 or so pieces but I have put in hundreds. I can't believe this, it continues to take however much I drop into it. I could put enough in here to live off of for the rest of my life. I begin tuning out everything around me and start filling it with gold as fast as my hands will allow. I put in thousands, maybe tens of thousands of pieces before I hear Kortt's voice calling me back to reality. "Tate, you really need to see this."