Today in Cyrodiil, spoilers version, TES: 4 Oblivion character accounts & stories Options

[Acadian]

Yeah, what is it with trying to sacrifice naked women? I’m sure Ystrel is much happier being back on her bear and only half naked.

Exotic dancing at the Red Dragon could be a nice addition!

I agree that the redo of the painting for Barnard is much nicer than the original.

[macole]

20260113 I-SL Disciples of the Moment - Mania faction

Having done what I could for Barnard I found Yan-Tissam Zainnabi to inform her of the results. Yan-Tissam wasn’t too concerned about Barnard’s painting one way or another. She was too upset about some bad reviews that her painting with Jesmina had received. She has a plan to get back at the critic but she needs a Suthay Khajiit volunteer. Of course she asked me to find the volunteer for her.

Where to find a suitable Suthay? There are a couple that I know of that might volunteer to help Yan-Tissam with Khajiit anatomy. One is Ahjazda of Things Found in Crucible. The other is Dar’aquenia of the Dune Walkers located in Mir Corrup.

The Seducer guards tell me that there are two more Suthay Khajiits living in the Shivering Isles. They may be agreeable but there are problems. I do not know where they are located and if I do find them I’m certain they will request a favor before they agree to help.

So I went to New Sheo to talk to Ahjazda. She wasn’t happy with me for not having found things for the coming storm as she had requested. Can’t really blame her, I had said I would but made no effort to do so. However, if my arguments are good enough I could convince her to help.

Looking at Elenya and Pym, Do’leandra and her Dune Walkers are already in our debt we may have an easier time with them finding a volunteer. That made Merendin the logical first step. Hearing our request, gave her OK to speak with Dar’aquenia. I was hoping for mare, frankly.

Reaching Merendin we found Dar’aquenia in the Dune Walkers Lodge. Asking her about assisting Yan-Tissam Dar’aquenia said, “You've helped us against the Renrjira Krin. Without you I'd likely be still stuck in the hole I had to hide in for the last years.”

She remembers Yan-Tissam Zainnabi. Dar’aquenia claimed that Yan-Tissam is a mabrigash, a Khajiit witch-warrior and wise-women, gone rogue. Mabrigash are a pretty bad folk and the Dune Walkers had had Yan-Tissam under secret surveillance for quite some time, until she vanished.

With Yan-Tissam Zainnabi in the sights of the Dune Walkers once again, Dar’aquenia agrees to work with her. But, Dar’aquenia has an ulterior motive for doing so. She hopes through simple conversation, she’ll be able to she will pry some information out of Yan-Tissam, valuable information like the names and locations of other hidden mabrigash covens.

That taken care of the Ladies and I return to Zendria. Yan-Tissam is please to have a Suthay Khajiit to work with even if it is through correspondence.

“Come back in about a week,” Yan-Tissam told me. “The painting should be finished by then.”

A week, why do these things always take so long? A lot can be done in a week. So Elenya, Pym, and I returned to Cyrodiil where we picked up Kaleah for a tour of the Imperial City. I made a mint’s worth of gold trading the loot I had stashed away in the Midas Chest and it was time to let the Ladies have some fun.

Five days later as I was on my way to the Imperial Bank to deposit the handful coins left over the Ladies shopping spree when I thought it was time left this city of shops. Having the foresight to set a Midas Astral Gate point in Zendria I used it to transport us to Zendria.

Bouncing around from place to place tends to mess with the days passed. Five days does not make a week. Yan-Tissam’s painting is not yet finished. She told us to come back in a couple of days.

Two days later Yan-Tissam’s revenge painting is complete. We can go see it hanging in the gallery.

By Nir the Mother of All Creation, what did Yan-Tissam’s critic do to deserve being hung from the rafters like this?

Pointing out the painting the gallery curator Zashiri said, “Remember this the next time you think of insulting an artist.”

Returning to Zendria we found that the mania artist had nothing more for us to do and the dementia artist still would not talk to us. Longius Curio suggested that getting the haughty Golden Saint to loosen up might go a long way gaining favor among the dementia artist.

Talking to the Golden Saint guarding Zendria’s main gate, she more or less claimed that it is not her job to be chummy with Zendria’s artists especially those of dementia alignment. But, something in the Golden Saint’s voice gave me the impression that duty is not the real reason. She feels no one in Zendria has an interest in her.

So how do I convince this golden Saint that I care? I must, otherwise why would I be here trying?

To test my interest the Golden Saint proposed to ask me a couple of questions, which turned out to be seven rather difficult questions about her life. If I answer all correctly she will engage with the residents of Zendria in a more social manner. Fail the test I will have to wait a day for each wrong answer before retaking the test.

During my time talking to the residents of Zendria and Daedra throughout the Shivering Isles and Tamriel I’ve picked up bits and pieces concerning this Golden Saint, enough to think I had a very good chance of succeeding.

“I’m not afraid of your word games,” I said confidently with my Ladies at my back. “Ask away Saint.”

1. “How long have I been in service of Lord Sheogorath?" – (Short Time (heard this somewhere))
2. “Before I came here, I dwelled in...?” – (Darkness (she hinted at this))
3. “Regarding water and swimming, what do I feel towards both?” – (Hate (a guess))
4. “Was I ever in Mundus?” – (No (a guess, usually Deadra will say if they have been))
5. “During the last war I fought, who banished me?” – (Ally (heard this somewhere))
6. “What humanoid daedric enemies do I recall fighting?” – (Daedra Seducer (thinking of Seducers, common foes in Daggerfall))
7. “And what was I to their eyes?” – (Altmer (a common mistake))

I got two wrong.

“Above average, yet far from good,” the Golden Saint said. “Nothing to be proud of. What exactly do you know about me?”

After some serious thinking, three days later I tried again by changing answers Daedra Seducer to Xivilai, and Altmer to Dremora.”

“You're good,” the Golden Saint said. “Only one thing was wrong. Can you guess my secret? Or am I still an enigma to you?”

“Now, I know you,” I said with a knowing smile. “In two days I’ll be back.”

A bell began to toll as thunder crashed far off in the distance. A tug at my arm and I turned to face Pym and Elenya.

“And just how do you know this golden doll?” a stern-faced Elenya asked, err demanded.

“As a page in Uriel Septim VII court, I met a Battlemage,” I explained (watched video on Battlespire). “We swapped stories of our adventures in the outer realms. He told me of the Battlespire invasion and I told of stopping Jagar Tharn. She has to be the one who sacrificed herself so the Apprentice could save his friend and end Mehrunes Dagon’s invasion.”

Good to my word, two days later I returned to take the test again. Changing the answer to the seventh question to “Something else” completed the Golden Saint’s proof-of-interest test.

“You're good. Better than I had anticipated. Few, if any, know my secret. Do you, could you guess? Or don't you even care about it, merely about - me?”

“I know your secret, Deyanira Katrece of the Nocturnals,” I answered confidently. “You gave of yourself to help the Apprentice defeat Mehrunes Dagon.”

She looked at me for a moment and with a warm smile replied, “Flower Gatherer, the one who cares, once I was Deyanira of the Nocturnals now I am Deianeira of the Aureals.”

“Yes, a mortal had done the deed, to save its friend. And I suggested it, to save my mistress from her self-imposed hell, and through our actions Mehrunes Dagon was defeated. Drifting in the nothingness that is the waters of Oblivion gnaws on your mind, on your sanity, on your very being. You change. There is madness, sickness, despair. I could not find my way back. In time I landed here.”

“Maybe I should begin trying to find a way to close my past and leave it behind. Why not here? Yes, I say again, once I was Deyanira of the Nocturnals now I am Deianeira of the Aureals.”

To cement her commitment to change, Deianeira announced she would donate a painting of her old self to the Spur of the Moment Gallery. With her letting go of ties to her Nocturnal past, I left to inform Longius Curio that the Golden Saint’s change in attitude has succeeded.

I danced away singing:

Somehow the wires uncrossed, the tables were turned
Never knew She had such a lesson to learn
She's feelin' good from my head to my shoes
Know where she’s goin' and she knows what to do
She’s tidied up her point of view
She’s got a new attitude.

The Ladies joined in.

Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh

This post has been edited by macole: Jan 13 2026, 09:26 AM

[Acadian]

I see the ladies did a good job of lightening an overly heavy coin purse in the IC.

Back to the Shivering Isles, chasing kitties and warming the heart of a Golden Saint. Well-done to the elf and his crew.

[macole]

I feel that I need to explain something. The war in Shade Perilous comes up in discussion with many of the Stranded Light Daedra members. If you haven't played Battlespire (I haven't since early 2000's) or watched 2-hour long YouTube videos on Battlespire you'll miss the story behind the Golden Saint's questions. She really does give the PC a soul dagger and tells him to kill her in order to save her mistress. This allows the PC to gain a vaulable item and proceed to the next level.
Not saying that Battlespire is a great game it truly is quite taxing to play. Its strong point is the life it gives to the Daedra.

[macole]

20260123 I-SL – Counting Sheep, Man's Best Friend, GwedenRD – The Black Queen's Escort

Longius Curio was excited by the news of the Golden Saint’s change in attitude. In fact he said he has already started to see positive results. The artists of the dementia faction are ready to talk to me. Longius suggests that I ask M’ahnisa if there is anything I could do to help.

There is, M’ahnisa has a problem with sheep. The Cavern of Entropy has been infested with a flock of sheep summoned by Yan-Tissam. She would like for me to dispel the sheep. I agree and she hands me 10 dispel scrolls to do the job.

If she had the scrolls why couldn’t she use them to dispel the sheep herself? M’ahnisa gave me several reasons why the Dementia artists are unwilling to take care of dispelling the sheep themselves. One that got me was that Thollorn is afraid of sheep. Old “blood and guts on canvas” afraid of sheep? Unbelievable.

Dispelling the sheep was no problem. Well, at first there was. The sheep wouldn’t stand still and I kept missing. After missing 3 out of the first 4, out of frustration I drew Light of Dawn and whacked the closest sheep, dispelling it.

What the… forget the scrolls! I can just whack the sheep with my sword. Quest complete, lamb chops anyone. M’ahnisa rewarded me with a Robe of Whispers.

After dispelling the sheep for M’ahnisa, Thollorn asked for help. He has a pet plant, a potted letifer orca planta, he named Audrey. According to Thollorn, if Audrey is fed right she produces paints of nice colors. He told us that someone, pointing to the Chamber of Euphoria, threw it over the edge into the ocean depths. Thollorn wants us to dive down and recover the plant’s contents.

By talking to Zendria’s guards we were able to locate Audrey still in its pot. We recovered the disgusting fleshy sludge Thollorn calls colorful paint and returned it to him.

I swear that as Elenya, Pym and I scooped out the fleshy sludge I could hear Audrey say, "Feed me, feed me".

A courier approached to hand me a message. The Red Dragon Club renovation has been completed. Time to go back to the Red Dragon, exotic dancing has begun. That bit of news couldn’t come at a better time. Thollorn and M’ahnisa have nothing to do at the moment and had asked that I come back in a few days.

The sign said, “Dancing Fridas, Loredas, Sundas”.

I was travellin' down the road, feelin' hungry and cold
I saw a sign sayin' food and drinks for everyone
So naturally I thought I would take me a look insi-ide
I saw so much food, there was water comin' fro-om my eye-eye
Yeah there was ham an' there was turkey, there was caviar
An' long tall glasses, with wine up to yar
Then somebody grabbed me, threw me outta my chair
Said before you can eat, you gotta dance like Fred Astaire-aire

It was just before 9:00 PM and the door to the dance hall was open. Music could be heard inside.

“Dancing,” Kaleah said excitedly. “Let’s go party, party, party!”

“But, it’s not that kind of dance hall,” I protested.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been out dancing and singing and generally having a good time that in their excitement the Ladies didn’t hear me. Grabbing me by the hands the three field hippies pulled me into the dance hall.

“Not much of a dance floor,” Elenya said. “And what are those cages for?”

Enilwen and Uzgash entered the room wearing nothing but a couple of bangles and a silky strip of cloth they stepped into the cages and began dancing.

“Oh my, they’re dancing in cages,” a shocked Elenya gasped. “Next thing they’ll be taking off what little they have on! Let’s leave. Now!”

I’m not sure who is more shocked. Elenya at seeing exotic dancers in cages being showered with gold or me witnessing Elenya’s protestations over exotic dancing. With all that we’ve seen these past few years, I just don’t understand. Maybe it’s the cages.

Turning to leave, Marghak stopped us. She began talking about a group of thugs in Summerset called “The Beautiful”. The reports of a horrible abduction and murder of the King of Shimmerene’s daughter has frightened the Dunmer Queen of Firsthold.

Having a daughter of similar age, Queen Morgiah wants to take her to Morrowind. There she can reside safely in the court of King Hlaalu Helseth.

Marghak asked if I would meet Morgiah at Atrene Camp near Anvil and escort Queen Morgiah across Cyrodiil to Morrowind. With time on our hands, we accepted. We left the following morning.

Late the next day we reached Kvatch, where we stopped for the night. Before finding a room for the night we took a tour of the city. It‘s looking good except for the arena. Not much progress has been made on it.

We looked up Gaban Sele to give him the items he had asked for; the orb full of captured souls, and three Daedra hearts. Then we asked him what was going on with the arena. It was rather disappointing to see that the arena had not even been.

A very apologetic Gaban Sele replied that now all the required elements are ready and work would be starting immediately.

Early the next morning we continued on to Artene Camp. Since Artene Camp sits just south of Drad’s Estate, we had intended to by-pass Anvil and continue on to Drad’s Estate. But, as we were passing Brina Cross Inn we got a message that Lathenil had been released from prison.

That changed things. We should check on Lathenil to make sure he has settled in ok. And since it is that time of the year, while we’re there we’ll check the books. We turned south heading toward Gweden Farm.

There was a guard’s horse tethered outside when we arrive at Gweden. Nothing to be concerned about, it was just a routine inspection. Although Lathenil didn’t have much to say, too busy chatting up the ladies, he seemed to be adjusting just fine.

Under Tsarrina’s management Gweden is doing very well. Income is steady and everyone is happy. Leaving Lathenil in the care of the tender hands at Gweden Farm, my Ladies and I left to find Artene Camp.

Just south of Lord Drad’s Estate we found Artene Camp. Morgiah and her daughter Rinnala (oh, she’s a tall one, head taller than everyone) were there with a sailor as an escort. Out of security concerns Morgiah wouldn’t tell me where we were going until the next morning.

From Artene Camp Morgiah directed us to Brotch Camp. On our arrival we were accosted by two bandits. My Ladies quickly took care of the threat.

We spent the night and in the morning Morgiah informed us that our next stop would be Lakeside Camp. At Lakeside Camp we had to eliminate a pack of a pack of wild Colovian wolves before pitching camp.

As before, Morgiah would not tell me the location of our next stop, Two Decker Camp, until the next morning. When we arrived at Two Decker Camp, two Khajiiti were waiting in ambush. My Ladies and I dispatched the female Khajiit. Morgiah and Rinnala on the other hand, only rendered the male Khajiit unconscious.

Rinnala dragged the limp body of the male Khajiit into a tent, removed her robe, and closed the flap. My Ladies snickered when Morgiah explained to me that she had given Rinnala a training exercise to perfect her interrogation techniques.

From the sounds coming from inside the tent I began to wonder what kind of techniques Rinnala was practicing.

“Perhaps we could demonstrate to help you understand,” Khaleah said jokingly as Elenya and Pym burst out laughing.

The next morning we left for Walker Camp, our last stop near the Morrowind border. Here we met two Dunmer guides contracted to take Morgiah and Rinnala across the border to the safety of King Hlaalu Helseth’s court.

Initially the two Dunmer gave every impression that they were experienced mountaineers and trail masters but something felt odd about them. The way their eyes flitted back and forth constantly surveying their surroundings and how their hands always hovered near their weapons as they moved around the camp in a deliberate and calculated manner; said it all. Camonna Tong, smugglers from Morrowind.

“Camonna Tong,” Kaleah hissed quietly. “It says a lot about King Hlaalu Helseth and his court.”

Yes, Camonna Tong. They maybe not my first choice of guides but you have to admit if you want something moved quickly through Morrowind as quietly as possible you can’t get any better than experienced Camonna Tong operatives. Failure is not an option when working for Helseth, and by the looks of it these two never fail to deliver the goods on time and most importantly undamaged.

The next morning we said good-bye to Queen Morgiah and Rinnala.

[Acadian]

Whacking summoned sheep to unsummon them sounds more fun than using scrolls

There is a quest in ESO to recover some letifer orca samples. A slimy job but someone's gotta do it.

I thought sure for a moment the ladies were going to stick the Jandaga in a cage and make him exotically dance to get out. I was as surprised as he was to see them pull the prude card.

So Queen Morgiah plans to protect her daughter from being abducted by thugs. . . and the plan is to use an escort of thugs Camonna Tong. What could possibly go wrong?

[macole]

I thought sure for a moment the ladies were going to stick the Jandaga in a cage and make him exotically dance to get out.

20260125 what really happened at the Red Dragon Club

The sign said, “Dancing Fridas, Loredas, Sundas”.

It was just before 9:00 PM and the door to the dance hall was open. Taminwe was tending bar. Music with an exotic beat could be heard inside.

“Dancing,” Kaleah said excitedly. “Let’s go party, party, party!”

“But it’s not that kind of dance hall,” I protested.

It’s been a long time since we’ve been out dancing and singing and generally having a good time that in their excitement the Ladies didn’t hear me. Grabbing me by the hands the three field hippies pulled me into the dance hall.

“Not much of a dance floor,” Elenya said. “And what are those cages for?”

Enilwen and Uzgash entered the room wearing nothing but a couple of bangles and a silky strip of cloth. They stepped into the cages and began dancing.

“Oh my, they’re dancing in cages!” a shocked Elenya gasped. “Next thing they’ll be taking off their…”

Elenya’s eyes went wide at the realization. Then the little Söpökeiju glanced at Kaleah and Pym with a mischievous little grin. Kaleah and Elenya grabbed me by the arms as Pym moved in front of me and drew a complicated glowing sigil on the dragon head embossed on my cuirass.

Then somebody grabbed me, threw me outta my chair

Intense blue light flashed briefly from the eyes of the dragon spirit in acknowledgement. My Dragonspirit armor fell silently to the floor leaving me standing clad only in my skivvies. Before I knew it my fun-loving ladies tossed me in one of the cages and locked the gate.

With a suggestive wave of her tail, Kaleah in her most seductive seducer voice said,

“Before you get out, you gotta dance like Fred Astaire-aire.”

“And if you’re good, we’ll make it worth your while,” Elenya said with a smile.

Enilwen had moved over to the cage with Uzgash and the two dancers along with a room full of men were staring dumbfounded at what had just happened.

I was staring too, standing there in shock not knowing what to do. Only one thought shouted in panic in my mind.

You know I can't dance, you know I can't dance
You know I can't dance, you know I can't dance
I can't dance

The men in the room on the other hand wer more than a little peeved at having their main attraction interrupted. Boos and hisses shook the walls, beer bottles and bar food pelted the cage. Felling defenseless, I froze in fear of my life.

All of the women of the Red Dragon Club came running into the dance hall to see what was causing all the commotion. Like the men, they pointed fingers, laughed, and jeered when they saw me in the cage. Then the reassuring sound of my Ladies cheering in support broke through the turmoil.

Hmmm, now wait a minute
Of course I can dance of course I can dance
I'm sure I can dance, I'm sure I can dance
I can dance

Well, I can’t let my Ladies down in front all these witnesses.

I can da-hance, I really hit the floor
Ah it feels good, look at me dancin'
I did a quick-step, the nitty gritty, and a bossa nova
A saucy little samba, and a foot stompin’ flamenco
You should-a seen me movin', all around the cage

I think it was the Nitty Gritty or maybe the Samba that changed the attitude of the women of The Red Dragon Club. They cheered wildly at every back breaking, hip popping gyration. The women threw things at the cage, too. Softer, lacey things. The men took notice and began to pair up with the Red Dragon staff. Dancing, drinking, and other things; the club was looking at a very profitable night.

Taminwe shut the music off and dimmed the lights telling everyone it was time to go.

“Show off,” Kaleah said as she handed me my Dragonspirit armor. "You did good."

The Dragon spirit purred a deep rumble of contentment when my hand touched the cuirass. Exhausted, I gently stored the complicit Dragonspirit armor in my pack, putting my robe on instead.

Elenya and Pym helped me out of the cage. Leaning in close Elenya cooed, “You were good.”

We left the Red Dragon Club to spend the night at the Arch-mage’s quarters.

Hand me down my tuxedo, next week I'm comin' ba-ack for more

This post has been edited by macole: Jan 25 2026, 08:26 AM

[Acadian]

I knew it! The ladies showing off their Jandaga, confident that others can only look but not touch due to the cage. Well done!

[macole]

20260201 I-SL – Zendria - Dementia block - Tarred and Sparkled

After saying good-bye to Queen Morgiah and Rinnala, we left Walker Camp intending to return to the Imperial City to inform Marghak of the successful completion of the mission. Circumstances changed when we stopped quick stop in Cheydinhal to refresh our supplies.

“There he is!” someone shouted.

In seconds we were surrounded by news reporters from every corner of the empire, all of them screaming for interviews.

A copy of the Black Horse Courier was thrust in our faces. In big bold letters, its headline read, “Psychedelic Warrior Shows Off… Again!”

Other papers from around the empire were emblazoned with headlines of similar nature.

From Sentinal, Hammerfell: “New Dance Craze “The Jandaga” Is Sweeping The Empire!”
From Falinesti, Valenwood: “Dance Hall Grand Opening Rivals Wild Hunt”,
From Daggerfall, Highrock: “Caged, Renowned Vampire Hunter Goes Wild”,
From Necrom, Morrowind: “Telvanni Archmagister Emeritus Sheds His Robes”,
From a Thalmor propaganda sheet: “Champion Of Cyrodiil, A Sinner Like All The Rest Of Talos Worshipers”.

The raving crowd chased us all the way from the east gate to our Cheydinhal house screaming wildly, “Dance! Dance! Dance!”

Once safely inside our house I turned to my Ladies and said, “Good golly Miss Molly, we got to get out of here.”

The Ladies didn’t hesitate to use the Astral Gate to take us to Zendria in the Shivering Isles. With a deep sigh of relief I wondered what do we do now. A second went by before I answered myself. Check with M’ahnisa, she may need our help now.

Yes, M’ahnisa needs help. She wants us to acquire Dementia Wisp sparkle dust for her. Not just any wisp but one that has been gorging on giant mushroom tar.

M’ahnisa gave me a jar of volatile components, and a spell to capture the Dementia Wisp sparkle dust. The only help she gave us to finding a suitable mushroom was to tell us she recalled seeing mushrooms ripe with tar while travelling the roads of Dementia. Somewhere near a village, and a fork in the road.

“Tar,” I asked. “What’s tar?”

“A black sticky substance secreted by the caps of Dementia giant mushroom trees,” Elenya informed me. “Want me to try and locate one?”

“No, that’s ok,” I replied knowing Elenya’s discomfort when talking to Shivering Isles’ nature. “I think I know where to look.”

I could hear the relief in Elenya’s voice, “As I have said before, you could not have made a better choice.”
Using M’ahnisa’s rather vague clue, my thought was to start at Crucible and work our way south on the Low Road. Using the Stranded Light spell we traveled to the Outpost outside of Bliss. From there we took the road south into Dementia.

Walking south on The Low Road we saw many giant mushroom trees. Dementia Wisps hovered around a few of the largest. One that fit the clue was located on a side road halfway between The Low Road and Split.

The tree didn’t have any tar hanging from its cap so of course the spell to capture the Wisp failed. Not only did it fail, but it also caused me severe attribute damage. Left feeling weak and stunted, I had to use an Oscuro’s geomantic attribute restoration spell to recover.

Lesson learned, I asked Elenya if she could help find a mushroom tree with tar.

“Ugh. If I must.” Elenya said.

Elenya knelt down and clutched the earth to converse with nature Dementia. The troubled look that spread over her face was heartbreaking to watch.

A few minutes went by before Elenya shook her head and released the soil of Dementia.

“Hard to tell through all the insane Dementia nature chatter,” Elenya said. “All I saw was flashes of The Low Road, Pinnacle Road, and nearby lakes.”

That will have to do. I could not bear to watch her go through that torture again. We continued down The Low Road to Pinnacle Road junction. Here we encountered more giant mushroom trees. One had a Wisp flittering along its root system but not seeing any tar we didn’t try a capture.

Wanting to get a better view of the area, I climbed the mushroom tree. From the higher vantage point I could see more mushroom trees near a lake to the north.

The lake area didn’t look too far away but by the time we reached the grove of mushroom trees night had fallen.

The darkness did help in spotting the sparkling greenish lights of a Dementia Wisp dancing among long strands of tar hanging from the cap of one giant mushroom.

It only took a few attempts to climb up to Dementia Wisp. With so much practice lately, I’m beginning to get the hang of climbing mushrooms.

Up the tree we went. As the Dementia Wisp dance around us I opened the jar containing the volatile component and cast M’ahnisa’s spell. As the sparkling dust falling from the wisp was drawn into the jar. Slowly, as the sparkle dust became suspended in the viscous liquid the volatile components glowed and sparkled with the pale green light of a dementia wisp.

I waited until every last sparkle was captured and the wisp no longer danced in the night air before I capped the jar. With the Dementia Wisp secured all that was needed now was to deliver the Dementia Wisp to M’ahnisa.

Dark of night makes for disaster when climbing, to avoid a misstep and falling I called Twinkle to come and light our way. Twinkle was not happy. One look at the glowing jar and Twinkle went off. Bouncing into the side of the jar Twinkle buzzed louder than I’ve heard before.

“Zzzt zzzzzt! Zzzt zzzzt zzzzzzt zzzt zzzzzzt zzzzt zzzzzt! Zzzzzt’z zzt zzzzt zzt zzzzzzzt zzzt!”

Pym handed me a note. Translation: “Big dummy! You only needed her sparkle dust cloak! There’s no need to capture her!”

How was I to know!

Looking at the jar, I could see a tiny naked faerie, a wisp struggling in the volatile component. Her light was fading fast. She’s dying.

Realizing that I had misunderstood the task I fished the Dementia Wisp out of the volatile components before it consumed her. Holding her in the palm of my hand, I washed her with a splash of pure water.

Poor little thing, smaller than a Vvardenfell Tylwyth, looked so helplessly exhausted made me think that the volatile component in the jar coupled with the spell drained the Wisp like the spell had done me, only worse.

This reminded me that I need to restore myself, too.

Using a gold nugget, I cast Oscuro’s Geomantic Restoration spell. Thinking clearly now I looked down at the Dementia Wisp who was now dancing naked in the palm of my hand. I could tell she was feeling better too.

Twinkle held out a white sparkle. The Dementia Wisp took it, and the white sparkle slowly began to change color to match the Dementia Wisp’s state of mind. As the color changed and the one sparkle grew from one to many, the little wisp flew up to kiss my scarred cheek.

There was a little spark as words “She regrets” silently entered my mind. And then she was gone. Flew away in dress in her new cloak of sparkles like all little wisps do.

As I stood there pondering the meaning of the Dementia Wisp’s words, Kaleah spoke up.

“You know,” Kaleah said. “I’ve seen that dance she did somewhere recently.”

We all burst out laughing so hard we nearly fell off the mushroom tree.

It was very late in the in the evening. We made a bed in the soft rich loam at the base of the giant mushroom.

The trip to Zendria can wait until morning.

[Acadian]

Do the Jandaga!

Alas, the only dancing to be had was that of Dementia wisps.

Poor Elenya – must be hard indeed to commune with what passes for nature in the Shivering Isles.

Twinkle! I was just wondering where Twinkle was since we hadn’t heard from her in awhile. Uh-oh, apparently not happy at seeing her demented cousin captured and stuck in a jar. Nice of the Jandaga to make it right.

[macole]

20260209 I-SL Zendria-Dementia Block Mold of the Moment - Gweden Exterminate - The Forlorn Watchman

Back in Zendria, M’ahnisa was happy to receive the sparkle dust she needed for a painting. Now she needs some time to paint. M’ahnisa hinted that Thollorn is stuck and may need some help.

Thollorn does need help indirectly. He can’t concentrate on his painting because Longius is constantly bothering Thollorn about planting Telvanni mushrooms. A Telvanni giant mushroom growing in the Shivering Isles? That I got to see.

Meeting with Longius Curio I found out that he had acquired some Telvanni mushroom spores from a Traveling merchant. Longius would like them planted outside the walls of Zendria. According to Longius, the spores will plant themselves when a suitable spot is found. Taking the spores from Longius we set out in search of the perfect place to plant them.

Using a long-term water walking spell, we must have walked around Zendria three times before the spore reacted. Every location I thought to be “Elven Gardens” the spores with their sullen silence, declared it to be waterfront slums. Then, as I approached a large boulder furthest away from Zendria’s north wall, the spores leapt from my hands and attached themselves to a rock about 20-feet below the surface.

Returning to Longius with the good news Longius told us to come back in a week. The mushroom buildings should be fully grown by then.

With another period of free time, we left Zendria to return to the Red Dragon Club. Taminwe is glad we have returned. She told me the good news that the Council has decided the futile search to find a legitimate heir has gone on long enough and named Ocato as Potentate.

No more quest to verify claimants to the throne, that’s good to hear. The good news delivered, Taminwe hits us with the bad news. There are two issues needing resolution. One is illegal competition by a group called Cult of Dibella.

Taking my map, Taminwe marked a spot near Bravil where she said a cult of Dibella has taken over. She wants us to investigate this cult for conducting illegal activities.

The other issue concerned a schism forming in the Mages Council. I will have to speak to Raminus Polus about it. Perhaps we can help in some way.

Raminus was in the university lobby when we found him. He told me that the council is divided over the question of the necromancers. Some, especially Carahil and Orgul gro-Kurak, want to hunt the remaining necromancers down and eliminate the threat forever. Raminus and others are of the opinion that this is impossible, and he has a plan to prove it.

The plan is for me to go to Garlas Agea and exterminate the necromancers holed up there. Then after a few days go back and see if any necromancers have returned. If necromancers do indeed return, then Raminus assertion that the necromancers cannot be eliminated by force will be proven correct.

While I think containment is the way to handle the necromancers, I’m not sure I like the idea of exterminating everyone in Garlas Agea is the way to prove it. As Arch-mage, I was preparing to offer starting negotiations on settling our differences, when the necromancers attacked us as soon as we entered Garlas Agea. Well, that just ended all thoughts of negotiating terms with the necromancers to reenter the Mages Guild.

One of the necromancers must have dropped an OOO artifact. We found a meteoric dagger the Paras Ecetu on a ledge.

On the way back to inform Raminus that Garlas Agea had been cleared of necromancers - including the infamous Corriron Highian of the MOO necromancer faction - we stopped at the cave Taminwe marked on the map.

Deep inside the cave stands a shrine dedicated to Dibella attended to by a priestess and her four acolytes. Other than being underground the shrine to Dibella and not as richly decorated as the chapel in Anvil this shrine looked much like any other. The only odd thing I can see is that there are no males, no Argonians, no Khajiiti, no Orcs, only female Mer and human. So, what’s the problem?

Talking to Priestess Alinwe she tells us that an essential element used in the acolyte to initiate advancement ritual has been stolen by goblins from Fort Irony. Priestess Alinwe asked if we would recover the shrine’s silver phallus.

“A what?” I queried thinking that I must have misheard.

My ladies leaned in close and with rapt attention listened as Alinwe described in detail the sacred silver phallus. That did it, as soon as Alinwe stopped talking my Ladies(?) ran out of Dibella’s Cave on a mission to retrieve the phallus.

“Wait, don’t you want to look around this place first?” I shouted to no avail.

Oh well, guess it’s my turn to keep them out of trouble. Fort Irony wasn’t too far away from Dibella’s Cave. Easy to find, we entered Fort Irony to retrieve the silver phallus. We searched the entire fort, dealt with maybe a dozen goblins but found no trace of the silver phallus.

Night had fallen by the time we exited Fort Irony. Was it the thought of Dibella’s silver toy or was it the brilliance of the stars as they waited for the moons to begin their race across the sky that caused my Ladies to suggest a quiet relaxing stroll along the banks of the Niben.

Who was I to say no to spending time with such delightful company?

It was a lovely evening, but we didn’t get far when a ghost appeared in front of us.

“I am Grantham Blakeley,” the ghost said "Look for me in the mouth of the panther. Please, release me."

Then the ghost turned to stare across the area of the Niben River known as the Mouth of the Panther.

It’s been a long time since we first heard of the ghost that walks along the banks of the Niben. I remember years ago hearing rumors of the ghost that walks along the banks of the river. The proprietor of the Silverhome on the Water, Gilgondorin called him the Forlorn Watchman. Next time I’m in Bravil I should ask Gilgondorin what he can tell me about the "Mouth of the Panther".

Talking to the ghost changed the atmosphere of the evening. No longer in the mood for a stroll we returned to Dibella’s Cave. Back at Dibella’s Cave, when we told Priestess Alinwe the goblins did not have the phallus she really didn’t seem to too overly concerned, I mean she was like, “Oh, they didn’t have it? Well thanks for trying. You can go now.”

“Something doesn’t feel right,” Kaleah said.

“It’s like she knew we wouldn’t find it, Elena added.

I agreed.

Pym pointed to the upper ledge where Twinkle was shining her light at something along the cavern wall.

Ha, the Ladies who didn’t want to look around earlier are now hot on finding a silver toy. To please them I said, “Let’s go find out what this is all about.”

Up on the upper ledge Twinkle had found a pull rope. Giving it a tug nothing happened at first then the low rumbling of a large stone moving could be heard to our left. Looking toward the origin of the rumbling, we saw a large stone door sliding open in what once had seemed to be a solid cavern wall.

Investigating the once hidden room we found a naked young woman being held prisoner. Mariette told us she was imprisoned for opposing a sinister plot by Alinwe and her master, an Altmer conjurer from the Summerset Isle.

Conjurer from Summerset, could he be from the mysterious Thalmor again? They seem to be showing up a lot lately. Turning to go have a serious talk with Alinwe, Mariette warned that the acolytes are under a spell and could be dangerous.

Well warned, I wasn’t surprised to see Alinwe and her acolytes with drawn weapons preparing to attack. Alinwe summoned clannfear before charging forward. While I concentrated on Alinwe, Elenya and Pym held off the acolytes.

Once Alinwe was taught the error of her ways and the spell over the acolytes was broken, Kaleah brought Mariette down to the main floor of the cavern. As senior member of Dibella’s Cave Shrine, Mariette took the robe of office off Alinwe and by putting it on declared herself Priestess of the shrine. Amazing how they enhanced Mariette’s attributes.

Mariette handed me a key and asked that I search Alinwe’s quarters for the phallus. I found the well-polished toy, long as my forearm, in a locked chest. The acolytes oohed and aahed as I handed it to Meriette.

“Wonderful!” Mariette exclaimed. “Now the Acolytes can fulfill their aspirations and move up in Dibella's grace.”

The way the acolytes were eyeing that thing made me nervous. Yeah, they’re going to be moved and fulfilled, all right.

Turning my Ladies, I said, “I think we had better leave before things get messy.”

“My Jandaga,” Elenya replied. “As I have said before, you could not have made a better choice”

“Ah, hahahahahahahahaaa,” Kaleah laughed. “Of course, my shy little Feache, don’t want to get messy now do we.”

Pym just grabbed me by the hand and pulled me to cave’s exit.

While we’re so close I thought we’d walk over to Bravil Mages Guild Hall where we could get a free bed and some much-needed sleep.

[Acadian]

Self-planting mushrooms – how cool is that?

Potentate Ocato. So. the fruitless search for an heir if over.

Negotiating with necromancers. What could go wrong?

An Aedric cult infiltrated by an evil Altmer – got to take care of that.

[macole]

20260222 The Forlorn Watchman; Gweden Exterminate; I-SL Zendria - Disciples of the Moment Mold of the Moment, Blood and Mud

Half a day after jumping in bed, Kud-Ei was kind enough to let us use her private chambers, we had breakfast in the Mages Guild common dining room. After which we walked over to the Silverhome on the Water to talk to Gilgondorin about the Mouth of the Panther.

Gilgondorin told us what he knew about the about the Forlorn Watchman and the Mouth of the Panther. We thanked him and left Silverhome on the Water to see what we could find at the confluence of the Niben and the Panther.

Leaving Bravil we danced our way arm-in-arm across the Niben, like a bunch of Munchkins traveling the Yellow Brick Road, to the Panther River. As we neared the confluence, we could see the wreckage of the Emma May fixed fast on the Fangs of the Panther.

We’ve been by here before and never paid any attention to the wreckage. This time with a purpose we entered the gaping hole in the hull of the wreckage. Ghosts, I should have known there’d be ghosts… and wraiths, too. There weren’t many. Pym and Elenya took care of most of them before I could even draw my sword.

We found the ships logbook. The last entry described the ship floundering during a great storm. The crew, led by a sailor named Gable, mutinied imprisoning the captain and one other below decks. With the unattended ship left to the mercy of the storm, the Emma May was dashed against the jagged rocks of the Mouth of the Panther.

Descending to the storage hull of the ship we fought one more wraith standing before a door. The wraith perished allowing us to search the remains of Gable, the traitor named in Emma May’s logbook. We found a key.

Opening the door we stepped into the next room. There we found a skeleton chained to a support beam. Not knowing what else to do I unlocked the chains with the key we found on the remains of Gable the traitor allowing the skeleton to fall to the floor. The ghost of Grantham Blakeley appeared.

The ghost of Grantham Blakeley thanked us for freeing him. As a thank you he told us to search the floor for a map. It leads to the captain’s buried treasure.

Before the ghost passed on, I asked about the captain of the ship. We did not find his remains.

The ghost told us that the captain was tortured for refusing to reveal where the treasure was buried. The captain was half dead when the traitor Gable threw him overboard into the raging river. A naiad of the Panther took pity on the captain, pulled him under and swam away him.

“I was afraid that I would be next when they chained me to this beam,” Grantham’s ghost said. “The mutineers then left me here in this room. I don’t know what happened after they shut the door but I could hear their screams as something killed them all. All became quiet moments before the ship crashed into the rocks. Perhaps the river nymph returned to avenge the captain and then pushed the Emma May into the rocks?”

The ghost of Grantham Blakeley left, passed on to wherever he was bound to go. We too left, time to take the map and go treasure hunting. Our work here is done.

Grantham's map led us to a treasure chest concealed among some rocks in the riverbed. It was a nice amount. We spent the night at the nearby Black Dog Camp after which we returned to the Universitum Arcanorum.

When informed of our success at Garlas Agea, Raminus suggested that we wait three days and see if they return.

With time on our hands, we returned to Mir Corrup to relax for a few days. The time went by quickly. A day to walk to Mir Corrup, a couple days with nothing to do but relax, and then it was time to travel to Garlas Agea. We got there just in time to intercept three necromancers trying to enter Garlas Agea. Not a good sign.

Inside the ruins was even worse, seven necromancers had taken up residence. The Ladies and I agreed that this should prove Raminus was right. Trying to hunt down and eliminate the necromancers as Carahil, and Orgul gro-Kurak propose would be an impossible task leading to endless war.

After reporting my finding to Raminus and his supporters on the Council Raminus asked that I speak to Carahil. Perhaps she would listen to the Arch-Mage.

Carahil and Orgul gro-Kurak didn’t listen. They are now more than ever adamant in their stance to eliminate the necromancers, with or without help from the “wimps who spend all their time safe within these walls”. Carahil even plans to go as far as to convene a synod of the chapter heads to call for action.

Carahil is sounding like the Thalmor group we’ve been hearing so much about lately. This is not good and could only lead to trouble. Open conflict by members within the guild could cause the general population to distrust mages altogether. Oh well, I’m certain I have enough support from the chapter heads that I can get them to support the university’s stance. As long as Raminus can contain Carahil all will be well… for a few years anyway.

The Ladies and I spent the night in the Arch-Mage’s quarters and left for Zendria in the Shivering Isles the following morning.

When we arrived in Zendria the first thing we did was check on the mushroom house. Ho, was I ever disappointed by what I saw. By the size of the spore, I was expecting a house on the order of Tel Uvirith, my stronghold in the Molag Amur region of Morrowind. What grew here was an ashlander yurt in comparison, a tiny little round house.

I had to laugh. Some con artist sold Longius a button mushroom at morel prices.

Thinking that we’d finally have a private place to sleep and relax while in Zendria, we enter the house. It was another disappointment. Someone had already taken up residence in the little house by an Ohmes Khajiit named Uriel Curio. He claims to be the nephew of Longius Curio.

We took a look around the mushroom yurt and then left to find Longius.

Longius confirmed that he was Uriel Curio’s uncle. How, Uriel is an Ohmes? Well, Longius tells us that his older brother had an affair with a Senche when touring Elsweyr.

A four-legged Senche! The thought of an affair with a giant-sized quadruped beast of a Khajiit left the Ladies and me speechless.

Our discussion changed to what we saw inside the house. Longius commented that Yan-Tissam Zainnabi really outdid herself. Then, he asked if we had noticed something very, very rare and special while inside the mushroom.

Hmmm, Elenya, Pym, and I told him we saw enchanting and spellmaking alters that a unique look to them. There was a painting of an Ohmes girl which could have been done by Yan-Tissam Zainnabi that was especially well done.

Oh, the blood stained statue of Mara in the lower floor certainly would be considered special to someone like Thollorn. But what really struck us was a large beating heart under a glass dome sitting on a shelf. We’ve seen many Daedra hearts under glass like this before. It felt out of place and we wondered on its significance.

The significance, Longius explained was that it wasn’t a Daedra heart. It was the heart of a Senche named S’asunnu, Uriel’s mother.

Yes, I admit that would be something very, very rare and special.

With the mushroom house completed we asked around if anyone needed our help. M’abnisa was still looking for her pages and wasn’t ready to admit that she needed help. Thollorn though request help in collecting ingredients for his paints.

Thollorn wants us to meet him at a place call Fort Snowmoth to hunt for his ingredients; Arthmoor the cowardly Scalon and Shikishima the Rabid Dog. He left immediately without bothering to gives a clue as to where Fort Snowmoth is located. The best clue we got while asking around was that it is an island covered in snow.

An Imperial fort on a snow-covered island in Sheogorath’s realm shouldn’t too be hard to find. It’s got to be somewhere to the north. Water walking north along the coast of the main island seemed like the best way to find the island.

We walked all the way to the most northern tip of the main isle. No sign of a snow-covered island.

We walked south along the eastern shore. No sign of a snow-covered island.

We rounded the toe of the Madgod’s Boot turning north again. It was just passed Pinnacle Rock and a bit southwest of the Fringe when we found what we were looking for, ruins of a nImperial fort on a snow-covered island.

Come to find out later from Haskill that Fort Snowmoth was one of the first Imperial Legion forts in Skyrim, built shortly after Tiber Septim's conquest of Tamriel. However, during an unusual long winter supply routes were cut off, the men began to starve and soon resorted to cannibalism. That, along with a visit by Lord Sheogorath, drove the men mad. The fort soon became a haunted place. During the Imperial Simulacrum, Lord Sheogorath laid claim to the frozen fort of madness and had it brought to the Isles.

Setting foot on Fort Snowmoth Island we looked for Thollorn. He was nowhere to be found. Strange, I thought he wanted to watch. Didn’t really matter though.

There just wasn’t time to find Thollorn before the show started. Arthmoor the Cowardly Scalon appeared and attacked us within minutes of stepping on the island. We barely had time to harvest parts from the carcass when Shikishima the Rabid Dog fell upon us. All done and still no sign of Thollorn. Well, I hope Thollorn liked what he saw if he got to see it.

We collected the bloody harvest in a burlap sack and headed back to Zendria. Thollorn’s harvest was beginning to stink. Thank Nir, it was a much shorter trip going back.

“It was a grand sight,” Thollorn said when we met him in Zendria. The look he gave Elenya and Pym was sickening. Thollorn continued, “I just had hoped there would be even more blood and gore. Like guts flying around, fangs being buried deep inside your soft, silky-smooth skin.”

Elenya and Pym recoiled in horror as Thollorn described in shocking detail, his desires.

“You wanted to see what?” I screamed. “Take your bloody parts and get out of my sight!”

Throwing the blood-soaked sack at him I warned him in stern measured voice. “And if I ever catch you looking at my Ladies like that again…”

This post has been edited by macole: Feb 22 2026, 08:13 AM

[Acadian]

Sad tale of the Emma May.

’When informed of our success at Garlas Agea, Raminus suggested that we wait three days and see if they return.’
- - Ah, a man who knows how things work here is Cyrodiil.

Sounds like Carahil is running a bit off the rails.

Fort Snowmoth. . . aka Uncle Sheo’s Frozen fort of madness. Thollorn. . . ugh!

[macole]

Fort Snowmoth. . . aka Uncle Sheo’s Frozen fort of madness. Thollorn. . . ugh!

I did alter Thollorn's comment a bit. Originally his "fangs sinking in flesh" comment is directed at the player's character. But, with companions like Elenya and Pym standing nearby I'm certain Thollorn would have other thoughts. Now if Kaleah had been there, I have a feeling that Zendria would be short an artist.