Vargas turned, at the call, and bellowed out a response. "OVERSEER CAIN!" It was a greeting, as much as a friendly (as friendly as the Leviathan got, anyway) summons, and Vargas turned to pace a ways toward the Overseer.

The creature following along was... interesting, to say the least, and he paused at once with his full attention rocked toward it, even before Cain explained that it wished to join them. Young? Or full-grown? he wondered. It looked unmarked, smooth--wait. Polaris? The thought rang and rattled in his mind. ...Polaris? he thought again, after a moment, and then blinked his too-many eyes and snapped out of it. A slow sense of warm, creeping triumph flared through him. Did that mean that the Creator's magic was again welling up, even at the cave's Core? Taking back over what should have been His all along?

"This is good news," he rumbled, half at Aurelia, half at his own thoughts. "Well done, Overseer Cain."

Well-! Time for an assessment, then. Vargas strode to Aurelia, coming to a halt a couple meters off, peering down with interest. "I am Master Vargas. Tell me, Aurelia: what has the Overseer told you thus far?" A test in its own right--to see how sentient, how verbal, this creature was, how intelligent. Was it but a child? A near-feral beast? Eloquent and keen? He would see.

Plus, it would do to not repeat too much--and to see how much it had absorbed, as well.

Vargas listened quietly, each sentence from Aurelia ticking up his estimation of her just a notch. She said the right things--made the right points--and was eloquent enough to display intelligence and self-control. When she had finished, he glanced to the Overseer again--if Aurelia had missed anything, Cain would tell him.

Apparently, she had not--even better news!--and he offered them both a dip of his head. "Well done, Overseer," he repeated; and then, half to Aurelia, "I think she will be an asset to the caves. Overseer Cain has explained things well, it seems," he began--he'd address Cain's question in a moment. "The Chaos Forge serves the driving purpose of these caves: the reason for their existence. We create and train beasts for our Creator's use. This is a nest, where we form and train them. Mindless monsters would be sent out, but you are not mindless; as the Overseer says, I imagine you have more potential than that. We can always use power combined with strength." He fired a glance at Cain, and said more quietly, "I think we may need to replace Overseer Alpha in the coming days." It had not returned--it had, in fact, vanished from where he'd told it he'd next meet it.

Aurelia's intelligence, then, he'd pinpointed at once as a strength--confirming Cain's own opinion. He looked to the Valkhound and continued: "As for you, Aurelia--and as for her role among us--I will be listing tasks that we will need in our next meeting, in a few days. Perhaps you can test her in combat, in stealth, in anything else you can think of, and report at the meeting; if she shows an aptitude, we can choose a role for her then?" It was a suggestion, more than a command, and he looked at the two for confirmation.

She did not look like the stealthy sort, but neither did he, at first glance; perhaps her aptitude would lie in that direction. "I would not decide until I have seen how she performs at a given task, and it would be useful for her to have a basic training in everything, regardless." This last was directed more toward Cain, but he looked to Aurelia again. "The Black Spire is full of power--the same sort that you hold. It will stabilize you, and you must spend time near it, periodically--but too near, touch it, and it will burn your power entirely away and take your body with it. But if you do not go near it, the magic you hold will boil over and kill you, eventually; you would lose control of its inherent chaos, lose control of yourself, and die. Draco is safe for you," he explained, elaborating on what the Overseer had apparently told her. "I will be gathering us, as I mentioned, soon. I will be laying out for the other members of the Forge what punishments will be handed out for betrayal, rebellion, the shirking of duties. I will also be offering new rewards--rewards not to be found anywhere else in the caves--and explaining which tasks I need performed. Until then, perhaps you can get her acclimated; I can spar with her and teach her the basics once she has eaten, and rested--if she has not?--and you can test her stealth," Vargas suggested, again.

Oh, he was pleased with this one. Her words ticked his estimation up rapid notches, even further than before. He leaned back, his expression appraising as he answered her. She appeared to be physically capable--an ancient design of the old guard--"You are well-spoken and you show respect, both to us and to our cause. Continue in this vein and you will go very far," he assured her. Aurelia had adopted the Forge as her own, immediately and powerfully, and such loyalty was something Vargas valued above almost all else.

He looked to his Overseer. "You have done very well." Praise: upgraded. "And yes, and no. I will explain another time," he added, with a light shake of his head.

Vargas trusted Cain to correctly begin the training process: the hybrid knew the basics, themselves, and would give her a solid foundation to work with. "Find me as soon as you have need of me. I will leave you to your training," he assured them, his tone businesslike but clearly pleased.

If they had questions, problems--or once her initial training was complete--they could come and get him; in the meantime, Cain had things well in hand. Vargas turned to move away, to leave them to the beginnings of what he hoped would be a very fruitful relationship.