Renee: you are right on both counts. Jefferson Airplane it is.

20230121 Kvatch Rebuilt, From the Shadows

The morning after exiting Lost Iornath Pym and the Jandaga watched as Kaleah took flight for Anvil. The Jandaga watch until Kaleah was lost in the clouds. Turning to Pym, something on the ground flashed catching his attention. Looking down it was the silver cord laid out in the shape of a heart. The arrow through the heart was no longer there. In its place, four little hearts, one at each of the four knots, were looped on the outer edge of the bigger heart.

Never having seen a knot of this type before, the Jandaga picked up the silver cord, inspected the knots, and wondered out loud to Pym, “What kind of knot is this? It looks difficult to tie, near impossible to untie, and yet so fragile that it will come apart at the slightest bit of stress.”

Pym went through an encyclopedia of facial expressions, hand signals, and body gyrations trying to convey the human and mer concept of “tying the knot” but the blue-blooded aelf just couldn’t comprehend. She gave up when the Jandaga put the silver cord in his pocket. Oh well, we’ll help him figure it out some day.

******************************

As I was going over the famed Valus mountains
I met with Captain Farrell and his money he was counting.
I first produced me pistol, and then produced me rapier.
Said stand and deliver, for I'm a bold deceiver,

With a whole day ahead of us and a song on our lips, Pym and I set off on foot for Cheydinhal. Pym gave me a look that asked the question, "What's a pistol?"

As we walked we talked about finding the cottage belonging to the mysterious Ilnori that Mack-Na told us about. Well maybe I should say I talked since I’m the one doing all the talking. If someone lurking in the bushes was listening I’m sure they would think that I was a nutcase on the loose. But if you could see the changes in Pym’s facial expression and various hand signals as I talked you’d know that she was very much a part of the conversation.

She was excited by thought of hunting down the prospective heir. It’s just that when I mentioned we should determine if he proves out to be the count’s son and worthy of the title, she flashed a wide toothy grin and started wringing her hands. I’m just not sure what kind of inquisition she was thinking this was going to be.

Pym nodded her head vigorously in agreement that it really shouldn’t be too hard to get him to accept the title. But, when I said, “After all, who wouldn’t want to be the count of such a great fortified city as Kvatch.” Pym gave me such a look of fearful apprehension I knew exactly what she was thinking.

“No Pym,” I said. “I’m not planning on leaving you to settle down to a boring life as the Count of Kvatch. Of course, I’ll take you with me. After all, I’ll need someone to scrub the floors and do the dishes.”

SWISH, out came her sword. Halfway down the mountainside she chased me until tired and breathlessly laughing I let her catch me and we tumbled to the ground. After a few moments to catch our breath, we got up to continue our trip to Cheydinhal.

As we walked, Pym looped her arms around left arm and tried to rest her head on my shoulder. Damn, sometimes spiky pauldrons are just too protective.

The distance though not far was across very rough terrain and by the time we reached Wind Range Camp we were exhausted. No one was around so we crashed for the night.

The next morning during breakfast we decided to go around Cheydinhal to the north. Circumventing Cheydinhal would save us much time. Thus we found ourselves on the southern most part of the Bear Riders Valus Mountain patrol.

With Cheydinhal in sight across the lake we crossed paths with the Bear Rider, Ystrel. We asked her if she knew of Ilnori’s cottage. Not recognizing any of the names we mentioned she offered information of a cottage just south of here that might be the one we are looking for.

We Continued on in the direction Ystrel indicated and there the cottage was, all nice and pretty.

(Do you see the problem? There are two cottages. The first cottage looks good from the outside. Open the door and you step into the void. The second cottage and grounds looks horrible, jump up on the porch, open the door everything is fine. (I messed up trying to apply a Kvatch Rebuilt version update.) After much thought on how to correct it I decided I’m short on time and don’t know what I’m doing, so I’ll just play it out as best I can.)

Only it wasn’t all that nice. It was a trap! We were sucked into the void as soon as we opened the door. What could we do? The teleport home spell worked. Arriving intact to our Cheydinhal home we easily managed to rrun back to the cottage.

Another cottage sat just the other side of the fence. We’ll try that one even though it doesn’t look so nice with bushes, rocks, and the well floating in the air. Approaching the cottage we are attacked by two Khajiit Shades. Renrijra Krin assassins I assumed.

Leaving their bodies lying in the yard, we prepared to enter the cottage. Wary of another trap and remembering my Daggerfall spells, I carefully used a ‘Mark and Recall’ spell (LAME) to set a mark before opening the door. Stepping inside the single room cottage we found everything to be normal. So much so that we were instantly attacked by two more Shades cultists. What’s more normal than that?

After dealing with the Shades we were horrified at the sight of badly burned body in front of a fireplace. The body was so badly burned we could barely tell that it was of a woman. The hope that Ilnori got away or wasn’t here when this happened was dashed as soon as we read a damp note found on one of the Khajiit. The note indicated that Molvirian (Ilnori’’s real name) was to be taken to a cave south of here along the river near a waterfall. The note also instructed the four Khajiit that remained at the cottage to catch up to the main group after they had their fun with the woman.

Horror stricken, Pym became physically ill at the sight. Even I had a disquieting feeling of disgust at the realization that the badly burned body was that of Ilnori’s ladyfriend. Who are these Khajiits that they would, by the looks of it, burn someone alive?

Ilnori’s journal provided a clue that question. From the journal we discovered that Ilnori’s real name name is Molvirian. But, mosre importantly this Molvirian knows how to perform a Dark Brotherhood ritual. The thought him just knowing how to contact the Dark Brotherhood Black Sacrament gave me pause. What kind of person is this Molvirian and is he someone Savlian Matius would want ruling over Kvatch?

It was getting late so we decided to spend the night in the cottage. Even though Pym is used to sleeping in the most sever conditions this place simply would not do. A burnt stench permeated the entire cottage. The mattress not only smelled of smoke, it was infested with bugs, and uncomfortably lumpy. It was going to take a few housekeeping spells to make this place suitable for the night. Once the odor was replaced with the scent of roses, the mattress fumigated and fluffed up Pym curled up on the bed and fell asleep.

Pym was trembling in her sleep. Too much drama for one day, I thought as I tucked the thin blanket around her. Touching her brow I managed a small calming spell to put her troubled thoughts at ease. It was then that I happened to see a golden flash on the floor between the bed and the fireplace. There lay a ring with a “K” etched in a purple stone; our first real clue pointing to Molvirian as the heir, Arenar

With Pym now sleeping soundly, I decided that to read Molvirian’s book 'The Trials of Ilnori'. Perhaps I should have read it sooner, according to the book we are dealing with a Khajiit faction of the Dark Brotherhood called the Shades of Secunda. By the gods, dealing with Renrijra Krin would have been preferable. Branded a traitor, Molvirian is now on the run from the Shades. Now, it looks like Molvirian’s past has caught up with him.

If we are to deliver this supposed heir to Kvatch alive we had better hurry before the Shades kill him.

The bit with the multiknotted cord was touching. What's a pistol? It's like a firebolt but much heavier to carry around with no perceivable advantage. Anti-mermaid pauldrons? Shadycats are the worst. I neeeeeed one of those housekeeping spells.

Acadian: Housekeeping spells are nice but I'd settle for the mosquito repellant spell they use.

20230126 Kvatch Rebuilt, From the Shadows Salt Marsh Cave

Rising early the next morning Pym and I readied ourselves for the journey south to find the cave mentioned in the Damp Note we found on one of the Shades. Still upset by what was done to Adria, Pym latched on to my left arm and wouldn’t let go. To make it a little easier for her, I got my leather kit out of the Midas Chest to wear instead of my Dragonspirit armor.

Heading south we found Salt Marsh Cave along the river just below a small waterfall. Remembering the trap at the cottage, I used the ‘Mark and Recall’ spell to set a mark outside the entrance before we entered. Sure enough, once again we stepped into a void trap. And in similar fashion to the time before, casting Recall teleported us to the mark I set outside the cave entrance.

Like with the two cottages there must be another entrance into the Salt Marsh Cave nearby. We just have to find it. Heading downstream didn’t reveal anything so we turned north to explore upstream.

We didn’t find a second entrance in that direction either. What we did find was a waterfall situated high above us between the pine trees. There was something odd looking about it. There was an odd formation of disjointed boulders around it. Another strange thing about it was the water from the fall didn’t seem to go anywhere.

Pym nodded in agreement when I suggested that we investigate. Back tracking a short distance, we found a path up the hill that took us high enough to where we could approach the strange looking waterfall.

Finding the waterfall was easy only it wasn’t the one we saw from down below. There were no jumbled pile of rocks surrounding it and we could clearly see were the water was going. The water from the falls was pouring into an opening leading to an underground river cavern. This spot was too very clean and inviting waterfall. Another trap, we’re not falling for that again. We continued onward.

A short distance further we found the jumbled up waterfall we had seen from below. This has to be it. Hard to see with all the brush and rocks hiding it but here too the water poured down to an underground cavern. As I stepped cautiously onto the log that straddled the chasm opening something warned us that this was a dangerous descent and we should take precautions, which I did.

Safely at the bottom I found myself standing on one side of an open gorge, the waterfall was pouring into the gorge forming an underground river. Turning to look for Pym, I discovered she wasn’t there. The brightness of the vent opening made it difficult to see but as far as I could tell Pym was not climbing down. There must have been issues with her descent. More than likely her skirt became snagged in that tangle of branches near the top or maybe she broke a nail.

Before I could call out to Pym to tell her to wait for me to return I was distracted by two Shades of Secunda agents. The two Khajiiti charged across a bridge, crossing over the underground river, swords drawn eager to party. Calling the Angel, we met the Shades at the bridge.

While we could easily handle these two Shades, the ruckus alerted others. More Khajiiti arrived by the minute to join the fray. It didn’t matter though for the angel eagerly dispensed her righteous justice to all who stood at her altar.

Leaving several Shades of Secunda agents laying quietly on the cold stone floor of the cavern the angel charged up a tunnel. I followed. We chased down several more Shades agents throughout this level of Salt Marsh Cave. The last one was caught guarding the exit. At last it was quiet in Salt Marsh Cave. The only disappointment was that we didn’t find was any sign of Molvirian.

Walking back to the underground river I tried to get the angel to explain what was going on with that silver cord and all the knots. I sure took a lot of heat from Kaleah about it and I wanted to know why. The angel just smiled and disappeared leaving me standing near the underground river.

Running up to me was Pym. She finally made down from the surface to join me. Eager to show me something, Pym grabbed my hand and pulled me to a dark corner. Oh was I relieved when she pointed to a door leading to the Depths of Salt Marsh Cave.

Full of grand bravado Pym and I entered the Depths of Salt Marsh Cave. We’ve had little problem dealing with the Shades operatives up until now, so why would this be any different? Um, there were five of the fiercest cats I’ve ever seen in all my travels; one Shades Brother, two Shades Reavers, one Shades Chiller and the Kingpin of the Shades. Molvirian must have done some serious stuff to warrant the Kingpin’s personal attention.

Led by the chameleon cloaked, Hammer of Secunda wielding Kingpin the five Shades beat us back time after time.
Exhausted, we found ourselves once again forced outside the Depths. Looking up into Pym’s eyes (it seems that I look up to everyone’s eyes) I saw her unwavering confidence that I would somehow come out victorious. I couldn’t let her down, now could I?

Tell you what I'll do...
I'll get on with my profession,
Teach wild cats(dogs) a lesson,
Cut those angry tumors off their angry brains.
Where are all my friends?
Now I'm rollin' up my dog-ends,
Never met a cat(dog) that took to me!

Hearing my plea, they came; the Sisters of Insanity, Marcus the Dremora Markynaz, and the Angel. They all came and we swept the depths clean.

At one point in the battle Pym and I cornered the Kingpin. All you could see of him was a white shimmering ball glowing from his enchanted hammer.

Taking a key off the Kingpin’s body, we opened a locked door to find Molvirian. He listened while we explained why we came looking for him but in no way was he going to believe that he was heir to the Kvatch seat. Molvirian left us standing in the dark wondering if we can convince him that he is who we say he is.

Pym and I followed Molvirian out of the cave. No wonder we couldn’t find this entrance, it’s a big rock! Yep, using the door inside Salt Marsh Cave put us in the water starring at a rocky wall. You know, I didn’t think of saying, open sess-a-me.

It was late and we were too tired to chase after the unreceptive dummy in the dark, Pym and I went to the next pool downstream where we knew we’d find an empty camp. Pym instantly fell asleep, while I sat by the fire watching a lamia turn summersaults in the clear pool.

(Now for the unfortunate part. The game refuses to save clean after exiting the cave. I’ve replayed this several times and tried every trick I know but nothing worked. Every time the save attempt crashed. Using Molvirian’s response when we freed him as a guideI used setstage to advance the appropriate stage (that took some time to figure out) and was able save and continue. I know, it’s a mess.)

Wow, what a (mis)adventure. Several things became clear to me though as I was reading your account. First, one must never default on paying one's Magic Wielder Tax. Not knowing of the existence of that tax does not count as an excuse, apparently. Then things such as disembodied waterfalls start to happen.

Second, one must foster ones ties to summonable entities, for you never know when you'll need Marcus, Angel and the Sisters come all at once. Let's hope they don't quarrel between themselves. Especially if one also summons a clannfear and a daedroth to add to the fun, as certain assassins and battlemages like to do...

Third, Shades of Secunda sound dangerous. Are they even a proper branch of the Dark Brotherhood or are they yet another rogue faction? Perhaps they were the ones behind the attacks on Dark Brotherhood members in Elsweyr and Valenwood that Lena was investigating a few months before. If so, she'll need to return and look deeper. I have a feeling this will open a can of worms... nay, a barrel of anacondas...

(Crash on save comes from OBSE. Been there, but still no T-shirt. Wasn't able to find a solution, apart from trying to circumvent it every time. Bah!)

Some of those shady-cats seemed pretty tough. Conjuring help can sure come in handy. A reluctant heir to Kvatch? If he doesn't take the job I sure hope the Council doesn't offer the job to some pissant baby noble like Count Bravil's brat. Maybe the Champion of Cyrodiil?

Sorry for the save workarounds but glad that it seems you can keep the Kvatch quest moving along.

Kewl! Pretty sure they sang that at Monterrey Pop Festival '67. About a month ago I watched the entire Ravi Shankar portion of that concert. It just blows my mind Ravi was able to become a superstar in the way he did.

That's neat how Pym does not just answer when Jand asks her about the knot. See, she's the Silent One.



Ha ha!

Wow, you really do step into a dark void when going into that one cottage. Weird. Funny that you worked that moment into the story, too.

Whoa, so Ilnori got burned up? Well that sucks. Well I wonder if they are able to get to Kvatch okay.

Mark and Recall. Funny thing is, as much as Morrowinders lamented the loss of this spell (among a few others) in later games, I've never used them. But I finally rolled my first character in MW who has these spells a couple months ago. Her game started with an alternate start too, not at Seyda Neen. She started in Molag Mar. More dangerous place. So she'll probably need M+R at some point, to get her out of trouble.

Cool, looks like they found Molvarian at least. Phew.

The charred corpse was Molvirian aka Ilnori's lady friend and lover.

If you ever play Daggerfall you will find the recall spell to be indispensible.

20230205 Kvatch Rebuilt, From the Shadows – Alyeid Steps, Murder Masquerade

At the camp just downstream a ways from Salt Marsh Cave, sweet dreams were dancing around my head when I felt something poking me in the ribs. Awaking from my slumber I opened my eyes to see Pym standing over me. The stern look on her face told me she was not happy. Pointing to the sky Pym made it clear that it was late in the morning and that breakfast was getting cold. I had better get a move on.

Pym handed me a plate of grilled fish. Done to perfection the flakey white fish had mild slightly sweet flavor; unusual but very good.

“So, you’ve been learning how to cook behind my back,” I said. Complimenting her effort I asked, “This is very good. What kind of fish is it?”

With a big smile Pym proudly pointed to the upper torso of a lamia (Creature Diversity) floating in the river pool.

Urrp, a moment of discomfort quickly passed. With a smile I bravely finished breakfast.

After breakfast I reviewed my to-do list and plotted locations on the map. The whole time Pym, trying to be helpful, hovered over my shoulder pointing out things here and there. What has gotten into her? Really she was more of a distraction than any real help.

“Well, we need to convince Molvirian to go to Kvatch. His cottage is close by so let’s go there first,” I told Pym. “Then on to Skingrad where there are couple things to be done in the area around that city. Oh, and on the way we should stop at the Imperial City to cash in our loot. Ok?”

At the mere suggestion off an apparent shopping spree, Pym was eager to get going.

Thank Nir, we found Molvirian in the trap free cottage. I’ll say one thing it sure didn’t take Molvirian long to clean up the place. What did he do with Adria’s charred body? When he told me he buried her outside near the well I wondered why I did not see it when we arrived.

Molvirian still refuses to talk about Kvatch. Even showing him the ruby ring with the K etched in the stone made no difference. He just claimed that one of the Shades must have dropped it. Unable to convince Molvirian that he may be Count Goldwine's lost child, Arenar and heir to the title of Count of Kvatch we left Molvirian alone in his cottage. What more can we do to convince him to return to Kvatch?

Nope, we didn’t see any sign of a grave outside the cottage. Passing by the void trap cottage, I couldn’t help but notice a tombstone hovering in the air. Beneath the headstone lay the charred corpse of Adria. Evidently Molvirian, in his haste to bury his lover and mother of his unborn child, failed to seal the gravesite properly. Now the tormented soul of Adria has risen to implore me to save Molvirian from the pit of despair. Pym and I paused for a moment to pay our respects and pray that someday Adria finds the peace that she deserves.

Back on the trail again, I started thinking that there must be something we could do to convince Molvirian of who he really is. It would be drastic and very distasteful but the Dark Brotherhood ritual laid out in Movirian’s papers could be used to scare him into action. Just one look the expression on Pym’s face brought me back to my senses. No, the calling the Brotherhood just will not do.

Wait a minute, in his book 'The Trials of Ilnori” Molvirian writes of his dog dying. He buried the dog somewhere in the mountains north of Bruma and west of Cloud Ruler Temple. Surly if the dog meant so much to him that he erected a small memorial for it then perhaps there is some memento thing buried there that will bring Molvirian to his senses. Worth searching for when next I visit Bruma.

Passing the gates of Cheydinhal we overheard a conversation on the merits of walking versus running or traveling by teleportation. With a knowing look between us, Pym and I decided to avoid the main road to the Imperial City and take a walk south through the county side instead.

It was a beautiful day and we were making good progress until Pym and I entered a stand of giant redwood trees (Unique Landscapes, Ancient Yews). Our path was blocked by a fast flowing creek that cascaded down from a tranquil lake that lay between Nagastani and the Steed Stone in a series of waterfalls and pools to Lake Poppad. It was at the first pool below the lake where Pym and I found ourselves standing. There before us, surrounded by giant redwood trees, was lay the most delightful pool of water.

Fed by a small waterfall and formed by a bend in the creek the idyllic pool beckoned us to stay. The smell of the redwood forest, the sound of the waterfalls, and the sight of the reflections dancing on the surface the crystal clear blue waters of the pool made the invitation irresistible. Succumbing to the urge we pitched camp for the rest of the day and night.

It was difficult waking up the next morning. The aroma of the thick spongy redwood pine needle mattress kept pulling us back down to slumber. It took a good bit of will power to get moving before we managed to break away from the enchanting giant redwoods. This grove could use a witch’s touch, perhaps I should bring Fiona and Claire here. The witch and the enchantress could transform this place into something special..

Continuing our trip to the Imperial City didn’t get very far. Upstream from the idyllic pool and waterfall we crossed the creek to discover the Ayleid ruins of Nagastani. One look at Pym’s face and I knew we were going in to sweep the place clean all its treasure. That’s the thing about my Ladies; Ayleid Ruins equal high value treasure and more treasure to trade equal more funds for shopping. That’s a business that the Ladies play so well.

Nagastani prove to be an easy venture with high reward. For the trouble of putting up with some trolls, wolves, imps and an ogre, we collected a large sack of welkynd stone and one unique item, Tarim Nightbrook’s Alembic (MOO). Not certain but I’m thinking there might be s a nice reward for finding it.

t was still early in the afternoon when we left Nagastani. Even though we save time by crossing the lake at the shallows behind the prison by the time we reached the Imperial City it was going on 9:00pm. The shops were closing when we entered the city at the Market district gates. Too tired and hungry to continue on to my suite at the Universitum Arcanorum we dined and spent the night at the Merchants Inn.

Lamia for breakfast!

That pond in the copse of giant redwoods is indeed beautiful.

Hmm, wonder if they'll be able to change Molvirian's mind?

Ayleid Ruin = funds for shopping. Makes sense to me.

A late arrival in the IC. That's okay. Shoppes'll be open in the morn.

Wasn't sure what a lamia looks like, so here are some pictures. I agree with Jandaga--I wouldn't want to eat THAT!

Pym's behavior is cracking me up. She's becoming more and more bizarre. Still, I'd rather have her around than Vilja.

Sounds like Molvarian just doesn't want to be convinced. In a way I don't blame him. Is this part of the Kvatch Rebuilt conglomeration?

Ha ha, looks like that grave has permanent Levitation cast upon it. Weird to see the Jandaga not wearing his usual p$ch3d3l!C armor. ☮

And ha ha 2.0, that is true. Some adventurers look at a dungeon and think "If I plunder there I'll become famous." Others look at that same dungeon and think "If I plunder there I'll become rich." Jandaga's grrrls look at the same dungeon and think "If I plunder there, ka-ching! Hello shopping excursion!" 💰

Here's an ESO Lamia.

That I like. The lamia in Creature Diversity is a sea creature that looks more like a slaughter fish with a head and arms attached.
There's no accounting for Pym's taste. At least we got her away from using troll fat for cooking (taste like motor oil)..


Character development is not easy for me, especially female characters with romantic designs. Back in high school all my teachers said my charatcers are all the same, flat showing no emotion, oh well. With Pym Buster Keaton silent movies and Harpo Marx come to mind.

Yes, this is part of Kvatch Rebuilt. My cheat sheet says you can do this do this part several different ways; Good, Bad, or Ugly.

When they are adventuring alone together Pym prefers he wears his leather armor. She likes to hang on the Jandaga's arm when I'm not watching and since she's a bit taller than the Jandaga those spiky pauldrons could be dangerous.

This post has been edited by macole: Feb 6 2023, 11:26 PM

Really? Wow. Well that certainly has changed. If those teachers could see you now...

Seriously though, the differences between Pym and Kahleah and Fiona (etc.) seem pretty obvious to me. You could post some blind comments, like a quiz, and I bet I'd be able to get 2 out of 4.


Ha ha I'm probably the only one of us who has Kvatch Rising. That's G's mod (Won't say his name, but it rhymes with pisshard, lol). I love KRising, but I've always wondered about Kvatch Rebuilt.

I tried G's Kvatch mod once long ago. I think it was Kvatch Aftermath (the one before Rising). Let's say that I didn't care for his NPC's ranting over his personal fight.

20230219 Alyeid Steps, Murder Masquerade – Gweden Brothel, Outcast Kajiit

Oh what a night, we woke to a glorious sundrenched morning in the Merchants District. Dressed for a leisurely day in the Imperial City we left the Merchants Inn as the shops were beginning to open. Well dressed and feeling good with Pym at my side I stepped out onto the busy street thinking that I was fully prepared to meet the rigors of a day of shopping. I didn’t realize how wrong I could be.

On our way to our first stop, The Copious Coinpurse, a gust of wind blew a copy of the Black Horse Currier across our path. The headline “Ayleid Steps Secrets Reveled” caught my attention. Picking up the paper we gave the article a read.

“Look Pym,” I pointed out to Pym. “It talks about citizens seeing a ghost appearing and instantly disappearing at some steps. Looks like we’ve been noticed? Wonder what else they’ve seen?’

Shocked at the thought, a blushing Pym’s hand flew to cover her gaping mouth.

“And here it reports that there’ve been complaints about invaders appearing in homes and robbing them of all their valuables before disappearing. People are demanding that the Imperial Watch take action.”

In near panic, Pym latched onto my left arm as she warily looked around the street making sure the Watch wasn’t watching us.

“Now this is interesting, an unknown mage staying at Skingrad's Two Sisters Lodge is making all sorts of accusations about the Ayleid Steps. He is also offering to purchase welkynd stones at inflated prices. I’ve got so many of these stone we could make a killing. Could this have anything to do with that True Descendant Ayleid Cult business? Let’s hurry with our business here and get to Skingrad as quick as we can. I’m beginning to get a bad feeling about this.”

A now determined Pym grabbed me by the hand and dragged me non-stop through every single shop in the city. It was a rush job by her standards and by a week later… no, it just felt like a week. My mind was so frazzled by the shopping rush that I had to take a potion to clear the fog. It really was only a couple of days later when with the shopping done and the profit deposited in the bank, when we were ready to leave for Skingrad.

It was early evening on the second day when I found time to speak to Tar-Meena in the Mystic Archive. She told me that they were ready to test the Skull of the Mountain spell. Malandil was to demonstrate it only Malandil was nowhere to be found. (suspect mod conflict between Rumple and Universitum Arcanorum)

After searching high and low for Malandil with no success Pyn tugged on my arm as if to say, “Come on let’s go.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right. We’ll deal with this later.” We left the Universitum Arcanorum.

Well, I keep on thinkin' 'bout you, Sister Golden Hair surprise
And I just can't live without you; can't you see it in my eyes?
I been one poor correspondent, and I been too, too hard to find
But it doesn't mean you ain't been on my mind

With a wave of a hand the myst began to envelope us and we slowly faded from view as we walked across the bridge to the Imperial City. With Pym hanging on my arm we stepped out of the myst into the master bedroom of Rosethorn Hall in Skingrad. There to our surprise we stood face-to-face with Claire.

“Well, what do we have here?” demanded Claire when she saw Pym hanging on my arm.

For a brief moment Claire and Pym glared at each other like two little girls fighting over a favorite doll. It was over quickly. A resolution was silently agreed upon, peace ruled the day. The battle of wills over, Pym and Claire turned to me and smiled. Whatever it was over they must have decided to share.

A frightening thought occurred to me, I was the toss up! Should I be flattered or fear for my life? Can you imagine my dismay when I found out that the tug-a-war was over who got which side of the bed? I’m not sure which emotion was greater, relief that I wasn’t being fought over or disappointment that I wasn’t being fought over. I went downstairs to find a comfortable couch.

It was midmorning the next day when we left Rosethorn Hall to find the welkynd collecting mage staying at Two Sisters Lodge. We were passing the Mages Guild when I noticed that Claire still seemed to be on upset over something. Trying to easy her tensions I asked what brought her to Skingrad. It was a simple question that blew the lid off the kettle.

“You’ve been out ALONE with everyone else while I’ve been stuck in Benirus Manor polishing your trophies,” Claire icily cried. “Fiona has crowed incessantly about her many nights ALONE with you; doing this and doing that in the secluded darkness of every Lost Ayleid ruin imaginable, Well, I got tired of hearing it, so I left to find my own Lost Ayleid ruin..”

Claire paused for a moment then just when I thought the eruption had passed Claire shouted, “You want floozy, I’ll show you floozy!”

Then with everyone on the street starring, Claire grabbed me by the ears and right there in front of the Mages Guild Hall planted a big kiss on my lips. Sucked the breath right out of me and left me hanging out to dry. Clapping wildly, Pym danced the Eagle Rock around us until Claire released her grip.

Why does this always happen when least expected? Enlightenment is hard to obtain but once achieved it is impossible to ignore. I realized that I had been neglectful and firmly resolved to make amends.

Since we were outside the Mages Guild Hall, we might as well go on in to remind Evoker Adrienne Berene that it was accounting time of the year. J’shivrizza, a Khajiit mage known to the Stranded Light as a seller teacher of exotic Lame spells was in at the time so I picked up a couple Mysticism spells that I thought might prove useful, expert level Gust of Wind and Translocation Madness Wave.

Leaving the Mages Guild we made our way to Two Sisters Lodge. As we were entering Two Sisters, an orangish haired Altmer rushed passed us. I was a bit distracted and didn't get a good look but he vaguely reminded me of Calindil of the Mystic Emporium. Now what would he be doing here?

Downstairs we ordered dinner and struck up a conversation with Mog gra-Mogakh. The big Orc doesn’t know anything about the mage we saw leaving as we came in. Neither did any of the guests around the bar. No one saw him come in or leave. Mog gra-Mogakh did know something about the welkynd collecting mage. He’s staying in a room upstairs.

Finished with lunch, we were getting up to go upstairs when Shulassa the outcast Khajiit, approached asking for help with a message in a bottle. The message stuffed in an empty Tamika West Weald wine bottle read like a scavenger hunt clue, “In the shed behind the barn”.

Sure we’ll help, we just love riddles.” Behind me Claire politely coughed.

Upstairs we found the author of “Ayleid Steps Secrets Reveled” but he couldn’t tell us anything. He had been bludgeoned to death.

What happened here? Could Calindil be involved? A quick search uncovered a scrap of a letter. From what I can tell the now dead mage was to meet someone here in town, take an object from that person, and deliver it to someone else. Something tells me that Calindil is involved. We had better get out of here before the guards arrive.

Once outside Claire, the sorceress began her enchantment and when the image of Calindil firmly fixed in her mind she cast her spell. A red mist gathered and formed an arrow pointing toward the Imperial City.

Wow, Macole - two days of intense shopping done and you still had funds to deposit in the bank? Your ladies are losing their touch!

That's the problem with being an elf - the ears. So much more meat to hold on to compared to human ones. But I also hear they are quite sensitive, so that must have hurt!

Something fishy is going on with the Welkynd stones again, methinks...

Looks like the Jandaga is struggling a bit with managing the ladies. If he thinks one of them is getting too high maintenance, I suggest he spend some time with Vilja to review what high maintenance really is.

Yes, Buffy can attest - her big pointed ears are indeed quite sensitive. That can be both a good and bad thing. . . .

Murder most foul in Skingrad. But the clue provided by Claire looks like it is off to the IC. And taking Claire along sounds prudent.

Malandil should have been standing right next to Tar-Meena when she said her lines. I could understand if she was then unable to escort you, but it's not clear how another mod could unintentionally remove her completely. They would need her ID to do that.

If it was a deliberate patch in the other mod to avoid a conflict (I've done similar), then you'd expect Tar-Meena's dialogue to be removed, too. Weird!

And Shulassa! She hasn't been here for nearly eleven years.

I found Malandil, she was off naving a bit of fun with Likes-to-Help.

Looks to like Universitum Arcanorum moves locations around some.
Using player.moveto I found Malandil in the Universitum Arcanorum mod location Arcane University Public Library talking to Likes-to-Help.
Talking to Malandil advances the quest. She leads me to the Practice Rooms lobby. In the lobby Malandi is unable to go any further. She just paces back and forth between two doors owned by the Universitum Arcanorum mod.

Question: is this where you used an Ayleid Step?

I added a basement to the practice rooms with the step. If the other mod also rebuilds the room, that could be the conflict, as my door down may not be reachable. What order do they load?

And now I wonder if Malandil is where she was placed, and Tar-Meena moved.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Feb 21 2023, 11:28 PM