I've been thinking.
Yes, it's true!
It would be cool if Count Varis had a reason to send you a personal call to be involved in the mission rather than hearing about it in a pub and walking up to his gates claiming you are the man or woman for the job.
For treex' pirate that might be trickier. But maybe he has a fellow crew member on board who has had personal dealings with Varis who asks you to go in his stead as he is unable for some reason or another. Or maybe Count Varis is outwardly a very serious upright fellow, but like any decent ruler he also controls the underbelly of his city. After all if you are not in control of what goes on in the shadow, someone else will do the job for you. No matter how much light you cast, there will always be shadows.
Anyway, just throwing it out there.
If you don't, I may just take liberties with your backstories and do it myself

Feel free to take liberties yourself and flesh out the setting to fit your backstory. It's pretty bare bones at the moment so there is a lot of room for that!
As it stands Varis now has a very extensive well renowned library, home to a vast array of rare tomes and scrolls. Many foreign scholars flock to and pay hefty sums or make costly deals in order to get even limited access inside.
Of course it goes without saying that if you want to link yourselves to each other beforehand, by all means, go right ahead.