I'm ashamed to admit it, adventurer, but those Defias jerks got the drop on me. They stole a magical rune I... uh, 'borrowed' from the Abbey's archives. I figured it would give me some kinda advantage in a fix, but I couldn't crack how to make it work. Make your way east and see if you can snatch it back from their stash, would ya? And try to use the rune yourself, when you find it. You seem like a bookish sort. No offense.