The Tale of Sudhendra Vahl: Night Mother, Being the Tenth Installment... Options

[OverrideB1]

The letter, dated three days ago, was quite specific. “We have been observing you Sed Telvanni Vahl, and would like to extend to you an invitation to meet us and work with us. If you have an interest, be where you and the murderer fought V’s warriors within a fortnight. We will contact you.” It was signed with an ornate “EH”.

I had Effie-Tai send me back to Ebonheart and, from there; I made my way to Vivec City and the storage area underneath the Arena Canton. The only murderer that I knew I’d had any dealing with was Saprius Entius and V’s Warriors could only refer to the two Ordinators we’d fought in this very chamber. A convenient crate gave me a good view of the main door into the chamber and a thorough search had made sure that there was nobody hiding in one of the adjoining rooms. Swords drawn and across my lap, I sat watching the door ~ waiting for this mysterious EH to make an appearance.

“Do not move,” a voice said, accompanied by the prick of a dagger-point at the back of my neck. “Trust us when I say that we mean you no harm.”

“Trust is a difficult commodity to come by,” I said, somewhat annoyed that this Mer had managed to sneak up behind me unheard. And, come to that, where had he snuck up on me from?

“This is true,” the voice whispered in my ear. “So, here is where you have a choice. In a second or two, my companion is going to cast a spell on you… no, sit still and hear me out,” the voice said as a hand pressed me back down on the crate. “The spell is a simple temporary blinding spell. It will wear off after a while. Once the spell is cast, you can trust us to take you to the place we’ve been instructed to take you, or you can remain here while the spell wears off.

“Rest assured that we will not be leading you into harm if you choose to accompany us. If you choose to remain here, we will never get in touch with you again. Now…”

“Caddug Chodymau,” a different voice said behind me and I gasped involuntarily as darkness obscured my vision.

“So,” the first voice said, “time to make a decision Sed Telvanni Vahl. Will you now, of your own free will, accompany us into peril and darkness or will you remain here?”

The question had a ritualistic feel to it and, on the spur of the moment, I decided to take a chance that these softly spoken Mer were telling the truth. “I will accompany you in darkness into peril,” I replied.

“Very good,” the voice said as a hand took me by the elbow and helped me to stand. “Do not speak, or call out. If you do, we will abandon you. Now, place your hand on my shoulder and we will guide you.” We went forward and I distinctly heard the click of the storage room door as it closed behind us. Then, a short while later, “there are steps here,” the voice said.

I was led out of the Arena Canton and down into a gondola. I couldn’t hear what the Mer said to the gondolier but we were ferried away to another Canton. From the length of the voyage, it could have been anyone of several. I was led up into the canton and then up stairs, down stairs, along corridors and back down ramps before we boarded another gondola.

“Almost there,” the soft voice said after an unknown time wandering Cantons or travelling on gondolas. “Down these stairs here,” the voice said as he guided me down, “along here and kneel. Do you feel that empty space beneath your hands? I’m guiding your hands to the ladder, feel it?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Good, down to the bottom now Sed Telvanni Vahl and wait for us. We will guide you the last little distance.” I clumsily made my way down the ladder and stood in the darkness at the bottom while the two Mer made their way down. I had feared that we were in the sewers beneath one of the Cantons but a surreptitious sniff of the air told me that this wasn’t the case. Hands gripped each elbow, and I was guided along a corridor that took several sharp rightward bends and up another flight of stairs. There was an odd silence to the place and I got the feeling I was being watched by a number of people who were keeping very, very quiet ~ and were extremely skilled at it.

After wending our way through several more corridors and open spaces, I was led up another flight of stairs and through a corridor that echoed oddly, as though it was much larger than it felt. Finally, I was brought to a halt and the softly spoken Mer said, “This is where we leave you Sed Telvanni Vahl. Remember, any peril here is of your own making.”

“Glanhau,” a voice said from in front of me. The darkness lifted and I found myself standing in a small chamber with a cupboard, a table, and a bed. It was, however, the slightly built Mer standing in front of me that commanded my attention. Several inches shorter than me, the slender Mer sported the odd, tied-back hairstyle that I had come to associate with Ordinators and soldiers. He was clad in a robe of deep red, decorated with bronze coloured thread. A scar crossed his left eye but seemed to have done no damage. The only other thing I noticed before he spoke was the black leather glove on his left hand.

“Greetings Sed Telvanni Vahl,” the Dunmer said, inclining his head respectfully. “I trust that your journey here wasn’t too onerous. Please, forgive us the theatrics, but we do maintain a very high degree of secrecy here. Oh, and my name is Eno Hlaalu.”

“A pleasure to meet you Muthsera Hlaalu,” I replied, dropping my hand to the hilts of Claw and Fang as the Hlaalu name registered with me. The Mer smiled, not seeming to notice my aggressive stance. “Why have you brought me here?” I asked.

“To kill you,” Eno said, dropping a hand onto the hilt of the curved blade on the table beside him. My hands closed on the hilts of my sword and the Skaal blades hissed silkily from their scabbards. There was a sudden and stunning impact and, when I recovered moments later, Eno Hlaalu was standing facing me, Claw and Fang held in his hands. “Slow and unnecessarily showy,” he said, looking at the blades. “Nice swords,” he added, “Skaal, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” I replied warily as he placed the swords on the table beside him. I had already shaken the emergency dart from its place in my robe and the heavy Dwemer weapon now lay concealed in my palm. Whipping my hand up, I launched the dart at Eno ~ who calmly plucked it out of the air as though it had been hung there on a piece of string in front of him.

“Not fast enough,” he admonished, “and the throw was clumsy, albeit accurate enough. Now, perhaps we can forgo the embarrassing moment when you reach for your axe only to discover I have already misappropriated it?” He gestured to the bed, moving slightly so that I could see the Last Wish resting on the cover.

“Boot dagger?” I suggested.

“Ahhh, we missed that one,” he said with a laugh. “Such an old fashioned hiding place that few would think to check there. The people responsible will be… reminded and encouraged to do better. Please,” he added, “have a seat and we will talk.”

Warily, I sat on the seat on one side of the table as he sat opposite me. He poured two goblets of wine and grinned at me as he pushed one towards me. I reached over and grabbed the other goblet, and then stopped. “The age old dilemma,” he said, “is the one I pushed towards you poisoned or, anticipating the fact that you’d reach for the other goblet, did I, in fact, poison that one? Or, perhaps,” he said, taking a mouthful of wine from each goblet and filling them back up, “neither are poisoned.”

“Or perhaps,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes as I sipped the red wine appreciatively, “I have already taken the antidote and both goblets are poisoned?

"In fact,” he said, struggling to suppress a smirk as I spluttered a mouthful of red wine everywhere, “neither goblet is poisoned. Getting you here simply to administer poison is rather baroque, don’t you think?”

“So why did you get me here,” I asked, pushing the wine aside, “and who are you?”

“We are the Night-Mother’s Children, the Adepts of Mephala,” he said, “more commonly known as The Morag Tong.” While I sat there, gawping at him in total shock, Eno Hlaalu continued, “as to the reason we’ve requested this meeting… Well, that is rather easy to answer. We have been watching you for a while now and are impressed with what we’ve seen. Although crude and clumsy in technique, you show a certain flair for combat that we would like to help you… evolve. Therefore, in accordance with our ancient customs, we extend an invitation to you: join us.”

This post has been edited by OverrideB1: May 23 2006, 08:03 PM

[OverrideB1]

I reported back to Eno Hlaalu this morning, telling him of the execution of Yasalmibaal and the serving of the Writ on Toris Salen. I had no proof to back my claim about the Ashlander but Eno accepted my word. As he counted out the six hundred Septims (one hundred for the Grey Writ and five hundred for the Writ on Yasalmibaal) I understood why. Any assassin foolish enough to claim bringing honour to Mephala for something he hadn’t done… Well, I think you can guess how short their life expectancy would be after that.

“I have here a Writ you may find interesting,” the Grandmaster said. “It is issued in the names of Ethal Seloth and Indroso Vendu.”

“Vendu?” I said. “That’s a Telvanni name isn’t it?”

“Which is why you’ll find them in the Temporary Housing in the Telvanni Canton,” he said. “Do you accept this task, Adept?”

“Then go and bring honour to Mephala,” he said when I told him that I accepted the Writ. I paid a short visit to Ulmesi Baryon who gave me some assistance in the matter of toxins. Then, with well-coated daggers, I made my way over to the Telvanni Canton and up into the plaza. My plan to enter the Temporary Housing and make the announcement of the Writ was spoiled by the loud gasp of “Morag Tong” that accompanied my entrance.

It really was no contest. Two of the occupants ~ the only females ~ turned and started to cast spells the instant the gasp went up. The black-handled dagger slammed into the chest of the nearest caster, the virulent toxin taking effect almost immediately. The second dagger intersected the fireball that the other target was hurling at me. Thus it was that, while I scrambled to extinguish the flames that were charring the edge of my robe, Ethal Seloth lay screaming as she tried to remove a white-hot dagger from her shoulder.

Once she had been despatched, I turned to the rest of the room. There was a moment’s silence before people started chatting like nothing had happened. I stepped outside and there were no guards, no Ordinators, nothing. I was quite puzzled, even after Grandmaster Eno explained that, quite often, there is nobody who wishes to report the Morag Tong for their actions.

The execution of the Writ on Seloth and Vendu earned me two rewards. The first was a payment of a thousand Septims; the second was a promotion to the rank of Blind Thrall.

“I have another Grey Writ for you to execute,” the Grandmaster said, handing me the scroll. “This one is on Guril Retheran for his unwelcome advances towards our client’s daughter. The details are, as always, on the Writ. Our most current information is that Guril Retheran can be found at the Flowers of Gold Cornerclub in the Redoran Canton.

“I also have a Black Writ,” he added. “However this one will require more than a little finesse. The client is Galasa Uvayn and she’s in the Hlaalu treasury. I need not tell you that the location is well guarded ~ not only by Ordinators but also by House Guards from Hlaalu. The House Guards are likely to respond very aggressively to the honourable death of our client so stealth, discretion, and guile will be needed to close this Writ. Feel free to speak to any of the others within the guildhall for assistance in this matter.”

That sounded like excellent advice and I spoke to several of the experts there, the most interesting being Minibi Selkin-Adda. It was he who showed me the benefit of a range of illusion spells designed to disguise the appearance of an Adept for a short length of time. He also had quite an impressive array of very official-looking documentation (all forged of course). With Minibi’s help, I chose a very austere-looking middle-aged Imperial woman with short-cropped hair as my disguise, along with a set of forged documents and clothing to match.

“Imperial Revenue Service,” I snapped to the House Guard that stood at attention just inside the Hlaalu Treasury’s door. I showed him my papers, making sure that he got a good look at the official seal and the rank of Inquisitor of Audits. Minibi had been very, very clear on this point: “Let ‘em see your paperwork, don’t just flash it at them,” had been his advice. It certainly seemed to work, the guard was almost falling over himself to be helpful. “Where will I find Galasa Uvayn?”

“She’s in the Records Office,” the guard said, eagerly adding, “I can escort you down there if you wish ma’am.”

“And have you take me by the long route while one of your cronies rushes to tell her I’m here no doubt,” I snapped, enjoying the role I was playing. Leaving the quivering guard where he was, I swept regally through the antechamber and down the stairs to the Records Office. There was one woman working there, and she was distinctly unhappy to see me.

“Are you Galasa Uvayn?” I asked, ignoring her aggrieved inquiry as to who I was and what I was doing there. When she admitted that she was, I quickly slammed the concealed knife into her chest, clamping a hand over her mouth to stifle her cries as the poison on the blade did its quick and lethal work. Returning the way I came, I presented the Writ to the startled House Guard before stepping outside.

Guril Retheran was a bitter disappointment, a snivelling wretch of a Mer who started blubbering that he was sorry the instant I spoke the opening words of the Grey Writ: ”Guril Retheran, be advised that you are under threat of death for the act…”

Eno was pleased with the work I’d done so far, even going so far as to promote me to the rank of Thrall after paying me the eleven hundred Septims for the execution of the Writs. “I have a special duty I would like you to perform Adept,” he said. “The accursed Dark Brotherhood has been operating here in Morrowind Province. We believe that an Enchanter named Miun-Gei knows how to contact the Dark Brotherhood. We wish to ensure that they restrict their activities to the rest of the Empire and leave us be. Get us the name of that contact so that we may… request that they leave.”