Grabbing Lorkas by the shoulder, Falion pulled him further inside his house and slammed the door closed, sliding the bolt on the lock quickly afterwards. Stepping to a window nearby, Falion cast a furtive look out onto the street before pulling a curtain across the glass.
"Lorkas my friend, you should be more careful revealing things like that in public." He walked over to the table with Lorkas close behind and cleared a spot so that the tell Nord could set the gem down. Almost immediately Lorkas felt somewhat refreshed, as though a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and his breathing became easier. He was perplexed for only a moment as he glanced at Falion before the two of them turned back to the small gem glowing softly on the table. The gem has been draining me... Lorkas realized with some surprise, I can't believe I didn't see it!
Falion took a cautious step towards the stone inspecting it closely but didn't lift a hand to touch it. He muttered to himself for a moment before spinning on his heel and striding towards a tall bookcase overflowing with tombs of all shapes and sizes, "Where did you find this Lorkas? You couldn't have bought such a thing that's for sure." He paused as he rifled through the books and looked back at Lorkas, "You touched it didn't you?" He grabbed a thick tomb wrapped in some kind of weathered leather. It took Lorkas a moment to realize that the heavy text was bound in human skin; ancient human skin, but human all the same.
"I did," Lorkas mentally kicked himself for not being more careful and taking the time to properly stow the gem in a way that would have shielded him from whatever effects the gem was having on him; not that he knew how to do that, "I found it in a farmstead near Dragonsbridge... I'm helping a group of... er," He struggled to find a word to describe their strange group, "...mercenaries. We're trying to find the missing villagers that lived there. I was searching the house when I found that." He indicated the gem as Falion set the morbidly bound tomb on the table beside the gem and began to flip through the pages.
"Hmm, so you're doing charity work now eh? I only wish you hadn't touched it." The Redguard mage said in a tone that made Lorkas wonder just how badly he had screwed up. Before he could reply, Falion made a triumphant exclamation as he found the pages he was looking for. Lorkas leaned over to get a closer look.
"What you have isn't a gem at all," Falion said glancing at Lorkas as he read, "I can't quite explain it but it is directly tied to the life draining and corrupted magicka of necromancy." He looked at Lorkas seriously, "Thats why you felt relieved when you set it down. It was draining your energy the whole time you carried it. I suspect not much of your energy though, else you wouldn't be here but still, over time it could possibly prove far more serious." He was pensive for a moment before heading to a chest near a wall and began looking for something else.
Lorkas was a little perplexed but couldn't say he was overly surprised. When thought of in the context of missing villagers and especially the living dead they had been assaulted by in the road it made perfect sense he supposed. But that didn't tell him who, or what had lost the gem in the first place. "Yes well, I did notice the drain but only slightly. Is there any way to tell who this belonged to? I doubt many people would know how to create such a thing."
Standing, Falion shook his head, "I'm sorry to disappoint my friend but I can't tell you who this particular item was created by, only that they are going to want it back. And I'm sure I don't have to tell you that anyone who would create such an evil thing is not someone to be taken lightly." The swarthy man held out his hand to Lorkas, revealing a small gemstone. This one, Lorkas did recognize as a soul gem. "What's this for?" He asked, taking the gem from Falion.
"Well I may not have been much help in finding who made it but I have an idea for how to help protect you from it." He said nodding to Lorkas, "It draws energy from the living; or so I assume. I think it draws from whatever living thing is closest to it and has touched it. If you were to place that soulgem beside it and wrap them up together, it would begin to draw from the soul trapped inside instead of you. At least in theory anyway" He shrugged and gave Lorkas a wry grin.
Taking his advice, Lorkas wound the two gems together and hefted the small bundles. Almost immediately he noticed that he felt no weight or drain on his energy and he let a small smile creep across his face.
After he thanked Falion and bade his farewell, with a promise to return in the future, Lorkas began the short walk back towards the inn with the malicious gem-like artifact stowed safely in his bag.