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.