“Sometimes a ‘casual chat’ might end up becoming something that changed lives for some people.” - Saying attributed to the Silver Maiden.

“Ahh, So you’re childhood friends with Marivella and had been betrothed to her since young?” said Aideen after Engel explained his relationship with Marivella. By happenstance, his own family was from the same line of descent as Otto’s and Philomena, the three of them were cousins, each around three generations apart from each other, but since they lived in the same city, their family had good relations with one another.

“Indeed so, Milady,” replied the young dwarven healer. He and Marivella seemed to be of similar age, Aideen thought, and the way they interacted seemed genuine. Clearly a couple that was pretty fond of each other, childhood betrothal or not. It was a dying custom that some families still adhered to, though Aideen herself was not the most fond of it. “I still have to thank you for saving Vella’s life back then. I think that incident was also what made her hang up the gauntlets, too.”

“I guess,” admitted Marivella with a slight blush. She fidgeted somewhat in her seat even as her husband teased her. She had not expected to run into Aideen and Celia of all people while visiting one of her husband’s cousin’s house of all times, to say the least. “Almost getting eaten alive by a horde of overgrown termites can sure make one rethink their direction in life, I’ll admit.”

“And what do you do nowadays, Marivella?” asked Celia with some curiosity. The younger unliving woman herself had at times found herself somewhat directionless with her new life, mostly just following Aideen where she went, so she was at times curious about others who took such a drastic turn in their lives, like Marivella did.

“Oh, I opened up a small eatery in town. Got enough savings from my adventuring days to start that up, at least,” replied Marivella with a broad, toothy grin partially hidden by her lush facial hair. “And Engel here’s a certified healer, so we’re by no means lacking in income. Which is a good thing too since we got a kid coming up, I guess.”

“Oh? Congratulations to you two,” said Aideen with a smile. “May I?”

“Sure! It’d be our blessing if Milady deigned to look after our child!” replied Engel spiritedly as Aideen offered a hand to Marivella.

When Marivella took Aideen’s hand, Aideen quickly ascertained the nature of the situation. Sure enough, the dwarven woman was in the early stages of her pregnancy, and as far as Aideen could tell, there were no issues with her. Just in case, Aideen did some minor care over a few small issues that would generally sprout up from everyday life, but overall she was satisfied that Marivella – and her baby – had a clean bill of health.

“You ought to be fine, from what I can tell. I see your husband has been taking care of you often? I noticed the signs of some recent ministrations by another healer,” said Aideen after she made her checks and diagnosis. Across from the table Engel nodded rapidly almost like a woodpecker at her words. “You’ve done well, and I understand the feeling of worrying about your child, much less your firstborn. If you want, I can offer you a few tips about using your affinity so you can take care of her better.”

“I- I- I’d be honored to, Milady!” said the young dwarf after a bit of stammering. He was a healer who had been to one of the lectures in Dvergarder, after all, so he was all too aware of how much Aideen – the very person who started that movement in their neighboring country, even if by accident – could teach him, even in a short period of time.

“Sure then, we’ll do it later? I’ll come along to your place. In the meantime, how about we talk about something else first?”

The small gathering then had a good time where they mostly chatted about less important matters, the revelry further enhanced after Aideen brought out some souvenirs in the form of good cheese and preserved meats from her travels. Unwilling to lose out, their hosts brought out some of the good alcohol that had been aging in their cellar for over a century.

They talked over the good food and drink until it was deep in the night, with even the youngsters – Otto and Philomena’s children – invited to join only to flop down drunk before long from the very strong liquor. The revelry lasted until the morning hours before the guests finally bid farewell to their hosts and returned to their respective abodes.

Naturally, Aideen had asked for Marivella’s address before they parted, promising to visit the next day.

After lunchtime the next day, Aideen and Celia visited the small eatery Marivella ran, which was actually just a part of their house, much like the small clinic her husband ran right next to it. There weren’t many customers since the lunch rush had ended a while ago, so they just waited while ordering some snacks to while away the time.

Before too long, both Engel and Marivella greeted them vigorously. Aideen freely taught the young couple some tips on how to deal with the pregnancy – while it was something she had never experienced herself, she had helped with and even acted as a midwife more than often enough in her three hundred years of life to know plenty about it – as well as things one might want to avoid.

She also taught Engel some knowledge he had yet to learn from the seminars and symposiums he went to – not something she’d blame the organizers for, as learning needed to be done in stages, and the limitation of time meant that it was impossible to cram everything into one lesson – as well as concepts that went much further than that, ones that only those who had learned deeply into the field would know.

Since he was of the Mortality affinity like herself, she also taught him some personal tricks he could make use of, all of which were knowledge that the young dwarven healer eagerly noted down. It was a casual gesture on her part to teach him all that knowledge, just a gift freely given, but it was one that would impact the history books as well.

For Engel Goerenbrandt would later be considered as the best healer to have ever come from Knallzog in history.