Clark - Second Era Options

[Acadian]

So Clark demonstrates that he's not just a boy toy for Almalexia. Buffy and I struggled to warm up to any of the Three and never did. Nor to any of the 'great house politics' that the Dunmer of Vvardenfel seem so fond of.

[ghastley]

@Renee:See below, and Clark is the same Clark he always was, or will be ... he's not certain himself any more (or should that be yet?)

@Acadian: Almalexia got off to a poor start, and he's also trying hard not to get any "mission creep".

-----------

Previously: Clark has avoided Almalexia, and gone to the Clockwork City with Fyr, He's had to put Fyr's shadow back, after it tried to escape from him.

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Part 2.4 - Brass Fortress

The whole shadow thing was starting to nag at my mind, but Fyr interrupted me by introducing us to Proctor Luciana Pullo, an Imperial with a livid scar across one side of an already striking face. She obviously knew Fyr, and wasn't too pleased to see him again, which is why he wanted me to do the talking.

She told me I'd need a sponsor to get full citizenship, and access to all of the Brass Fortress' facilities. Finding one was my problem not hers. Fyr didn't count, appaently, and I'd have to find someone else. She gestured with the hand that wasn't wielding a large battle-axe, and I noticed that it was a mechanical one, attached to a mechanical arm, and ... it appeared that her entire body was a mechanism.

When she'd stomped off back to her guard post near the main door, I asked Fyr about it. He told me that she'd been a battle-mage under Reman Cyrodiil in the previous era. She'd been caught in the magical explosion when her conjured sword annihilated itself cleaving the staff of a powerful Wood-elf mage in the invasion of Valenwood. Sotha Sil had found her and taken her back to the Clockwork city to try and save her. He'd only been able to do so by replacing most of her with prosthetic parts.

"I assume that he tried to make her look as much like she did before, as he could manage," I queried.

"Yes, and for a very practical reason," Fyr replied. "That metal body is the size, shape and weight that she was accustomed to when wearing her usual armour. That meant that she didn't have to learn to balance, adjust her reach, or make any other accomodations to it. Just give up on eating, and a few other pleasures."

"The metal's really that light?"

"It's mostly hollow, and the ornate filligree is much stronger for its weight than plain plate. The placement of the internal pumps and things keeps the weight where she expects it, so she still moves like a woman, not a factotum."

---

One of the people milling about outside the gate saw an Imperial face (mine) and came over to introduce himself. He assumed that I was also seeking a sponsor, not being from around here, as he put it, and maybe I'd like to join him and his associates in a task that should get sponsorship for us all.

His name was Neramo, and he was an Altmer scholar of Dwemer artifacts, not that his knowledge was proving much help here. The other two, the Dunmer siblings Raynor and Kireth, seemed to be making more progress, as they'd discovered that the oil from Firepot Spiders was valued by the Clockwork Apostles. They hoped to collect enough to present to Provost Varuni Arvel, to trade for her sponsorship, but the Firepot Spiders were being .. uncooperative. Could I help?

Kireth told me that her brother had seen some spiders down in the gully beneath the bridge, and he'd gone down to investigate. "Can you go down and keep him out of trouble?" she asked me,

---

The problem with the Firepot Spiders, and the reason that their oil was so hard to get, was that they attacked by shooting burning oil at you. Not only did that make the process dangerous, but the more they did so, the less oil remained to be collected. Raynor wasn't getting a good return for the risk he was taking, and he really needed a different approach.

It turned out that my shield bash stunned the little automata quite well, and Raynor could finish them off, and collect the oil before they recovered. Together, we made good progress, and soon had enough to climb back up to the gate and decide our next move.

---

While the Proctor was delighted with the quantity of oil we'd gathered, as I expected, it wasn't quite enough to get us all sponsored. We'd have to do just a bit more for that. She had just the task - investigate the recent disappearances of several other outsiders. Any evidence she could use against their abductor would gain us what we sought.

Neramo was confident. He'd been tinkering with a device called a skeevatron - essentially a mechanical rat - that he could use to investigate areas we couldn't reach. And he had a good idea where we'd need to look. Kireth had overheard a conversation between Constable Baldan and a Khajiit that had made her more than a little suspicious. Since the Constable's departmental records would all be in the Document Depository, he'd like a look at some of them. and the skeevatron could get in and make a recording for us.

However, I'd need to get the device past a couple of obstacles first. The lock wasn't hard to pick, but did need opposable thumbs, so the little skeevatron couldn't have managed on its own. And there were a couple of heavy doors to open. Quietly, so the occupants of the room wouldn't notice.

The curious little construct managed the rest on its own, although it did require s0me steering to the right locations. Neramo had instructed it on what to look for, so it soon emerged with recordings of several pieces of important records. All of which showed signs of having been altered, as they no longer matched what we knew had taken place.

So now we knew how it was all being done, but since the Constable's account matched the official record, we still had a problem.

Kireth had an idea. We needed to make our record of events, that couldn't be refuted, and let Constable Baldan make his changes yo the official one. Then we'd not only be able to prove his crimes, but also the cover-up.

That sounded like a decent plan, except for one detail. I wasn't happy with the idea of her being the one to talk with Baldan while I made the recording. Somehow, however, she managed to persuade me that she was a more credible victim than I was, and that I was more able to keep hold of the evidence.

So I found myself with a memory stone, crouched above the skylight of Baldan's office while Kireth negotiated a deal with him for her citizenship. As soon as she mentioned an amount of gold, and that she had it with her, of course she was hit over the head from behind and robbed. I had to watch, and record, in silence, and wait until it was all over before I could do anything.

Some inquiries in Slag Town, the local slums, revealed that she was likely to have been dumped in the Mechanical Fundament. This was the local equivalent of a sewer, except that it was infested with clockwork creatures instead of rats. Ir was nominally patrolled by clockwork factotums, but they were more likely to attack intruders than rescue them.

I got directions to the entrance, and went down to look for Kireth.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Dec 15 2023, 08:54 PM

[macole]

Stunning the firepot spiders to maximize oil collection was a great solution to prevent slipping into financial ruin.

[Acadian]

Wonderful intro of Proctor Luciana Pullo – one of the somewhat limited number of ESO NPCs that Buffy grew to rather like. Neat discussion of some of the considerations that went into rebuilding her.

That trio of sponsor seekers are also well-familiar faces.

Having a skeevatron sure comes in handy.

Well, looks like it’s down into the mechanical wastelands to recue Kireth. Across Tamriel, she and her brother are known as pros when it comes to needing to be rescued.

[Renee]

Wow, Luciano sounds intense, with all her mechanical parts and whatnot.

That sounds like a fun quest, collecting oil from those giant spiders. Go to it Clark! SubRosa might have problems there, but I'd be okay. As long as there are no centipedes. I love winter because there are no centipedes.

Got some oil, Good job, Clark.

Skeevatron. I see what Zenimax did there. Anyway, that sounds like a fun quest as well. One of these days I need to return to ESO. Keep saying that, though.

[ghastley]

'' One of these days I need to return to ESO. Keep saying that, though.

Tuesday would be a good day for that. Chorrolites Guild meeting is at 6:00 PM Eastern at mALX's primary residence. Maybe you'll meet Unna the Bear Rider.

[Renee]

Beautiful, is it every Tuesday? I think I'd like to show up. Well, not me, probably it'll be Anita Greatsword.

[ghastley]

Monthly, not weekly. As Guildmaster, I can add you to the membership, so you can enter the guildhall, if I have your @player ID. A few others, such as Acadian, and Grits, can do that for you, too, and of course mALX, as it is her house. If you are on the EU server, the guild is there too, with first Monday meetings.

[Renee]

Sure. It's been over a year since I fired up ESO so I'll try to find my info, then send it over. Hopefully I still have an account! Sounds like fun.

[ghastley]

@Acadian: This stays vanilla for a short while, including this part. So Kireth will stay true to form.

@Renee: Luciana will re-appear at various times.

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Previously: Clark had teamed up with Neramo, and the Dark elf siblings Raynor and Kireth, to gain sponsorship for citizens of the Brass Fortress. Clark is looking for Kireth in the Mechanical Fundament.

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Part 2.5 - Sponsored

I found her almost immediately, but as I should have expected, she'd made things more complicated. She'd managed to arm herself with a sword she'd taken from a defunct factotum, and was about to make her way out, when she'd bumped into another of Baldan's victims. The Khajiit had started to follow her out when they had been spotted by another factotum patrol, and he'd run off in the wrong direction. Now Kireth felt an obligation to go find him, which she passed on to me.

The two of us wandered further into the fundament, looking for the Khajiit's trail. Apparently he'd been hiding down here for a few days, as we found various places where he'd made a temporary camp.

"He hasn't been here for a while, the fire's gone cold," Kireth noted. "but it's at least a sign that he's been this way. If he keeps to parts he's familiar with, we may find him."

There was a regular pattern to the design of the place, so we had some idea where the cozy dead-end areas would be that made for good camp sites. Places with no mechanisms to service, so no reason for patrols to visit. We moved on to where the next one should be.

There were indications that he'd used that before, but he wasn't there now. Keep searching.

I think it was the fourth or fifth where we caught up with him. By that time we'd gone in almost a complete circle, and were presumably close to where I'd entered. But the path ahead was blocked by a huge fan with a grate over it. At least that stopped us risking the whirling blades to try and pass.

There was a hole in the floor and a murky darkness beneath. I dropped a piece of debris down and heard a splash not far below. It was worth the risk of jumping down, if we could assume that the chamber connected to a way out. Or we could retrace our path, through the factotum patrols that now knew we were here.

We took the short drop, and found that the oily water was only ankle deep. And there was light at the end of the tunnel. Not only that, but we heard familiar voices. We emerged to find Neramo and Raynor waiting for us. Provost Varuni Arvel and ProctorLuciana Pullo were there with the Constable, about to come looking for us.

It appeared that Baldan was trying to deny that Kireth had ever existed, which didn't correspond too well with Varuni's memory of things. Although by now it probably did match the official record. I produced the memory stone, as further proof, and the Proctor led Baldan away for further interrogation.

Varuni was happy to have the mystery solved, and gave all four of us the sponsorship we needed for full citizenship. I'm not sure if that extended to the Khajiit that we'd rescued, but at least he was alive for another chance.

I went to the Chancel of Records to have my details entered, and ran into Fyr again on my way out. He'd met with Sotha Sil, and was unsettled by how much his old friend had changed.

"I'm convinced that he really isn't himself," he told me, "and we need to find out who he really is."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I think that Seht is an imposter, and I mean to find out more. I'll need your help, of course. If I go asking questions, people just clam up out of deference. My assistant, however, can swap complaints about his duties with others' assistants, and find out a lot from that about what's really going on."

"I suppose you have a list of these assistants that you'd like me to talk to?"

"I do. Especially anyone connected to Chancellor Gascone. He's a particulary obnoxious boss, who really demands deference. I would imagine you'd get a lot of dirt on him."

"Before I do that, I understand that my new citizenship lets me use the wayshrines here in the Clockwork City?"

"Yes, but you only know the one here in the Brass Fortress so far."

"Will that let me travel back to Vivec City?" I enquired. "I'd like to go back and pick up my guar."
Actually I wanted to spend some time with Seryn, before she forgot me.

---

Let's just say that it look me a long time to recount everything that had happened since I got Fyr's letter. Seryn hadn't forgotten me, but I suspect my guar had.

"Now you have access to the wayshrines, you can come back more often," Seryn reminded me as I left.

"And the next time you do, I have a job for you."

---

Back in the Brass Fortress, I went looking for the other assistants.

Kiliban Arethi, who worked for Varuni, didn't have much to complain about. Yes, she was over-enthusiastic at times, and expected everyone to share her youthful energy, but she didn't get angry if you fell a bit short. If anything it was Sotha Sil who made life hard, through her. Turning the lights down whenever he passed through was getting tiresome.

Sedris Nadaren, Sotha Sil's assistant, was sure he'd changed recently. He wasn't always changing his mind before. "But you can't say a word, or Chancellor Gascone is accusing you of treason, or blasphemy."

Gascone Dusant's own assistant, Agral, had a lot more detail. He'd been put in charge of replacing ll the lamps with - to his mind - an inferior model. And not just replacement, all the lamps taken out had to be destroyed according to meticulous instructions, so they could not be repaired and re-used.

Fyr had the same idea that I had. We needed to find out what problem the imposter Sotha Sil had with the light. I was pretty sure I knew where this was all leading, but I didn't like the answer. I agreed for now to work with Neramo on re-creating the original light.

Rummaging around in the fundament, I found enough parts of the old lamps for Neramo to deduce their construction. Fabricating new ones however, required gathering materials from other sources, such as factotums and fabricants, that were ... reluctant to part with them. But soon Neramo and Raynor were busy making the new lamp. I wasn't at all surprised that Raynor was brought in to supply labour. Neramo seldom did anything for himself.

And then Kireth pointed out that the balcony where I needed to place the lamp had just had extra guards assigned. This wasn't going to be simple.

At least it wasn't far, and the guards weren't particularly effective. There was just the one carrying a lamp, so I was able to hide in the shadows and avoid detection. Once the lamp was in place, i dropped off the balcony into the empty chamber, and quickly returned to Fyr to report success.

[Acadian]

Black oily water - ugh! Well, Kirith's been rescued. Once again. And citizenship for Clark.

A nice respite visit with Seryn back in Morrowind.

Sil acting not himself. Sure sounds like an imposter to me.

[Renee]

That must be great to have extra Wayshrines just pop available just because we've accomplished whatever. If only real-life were like this. Every time I forget to pick up something from the grocery, I can just teleport back...

Actually I wanted to spend some time with Seryn, before she forgot me.

Aww.

Quite a complex questline Clark is involved with... phew.

[ghastley]

@Acadian Well, sort of an imposter. It's not him, but it isn't anybody else.

@Renee If you're going to the grocery. remeber to take the pack-guar.

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Previously: Clark rescued Kireth from the Mechanical Fundament and was made a citizen of the Clockwork City. Now he's trying to find out what has happened to Sotha Sil.

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Part 2.6 Evergloam

When Sotha Sil began his address in the chamber I flipped the switch and bathed the podium in bright light. The figure dissolved revealing Sil's shadow had taken his place. This reminded me of the events with Fyr's shadow when I arrived, and I wondered now if that had been a deliberate clue.

"Nocturnal, what are you playing at?" I wondered. Nothing made sense right now, but I didn't have time to think. The shadow was getting away, and I needed to chase after it. It was our only chance for finding Sotha Sil himself.

The battle with the shadow was brief, and at the end of it, the shadow just disappeared, leaving me with nothing to go on. I headed back to Fyr, to see if he had any ideas. I found Varuni Arvel arguing with Chancellor Gascone about what to do next. The Chancellor just walked away and left the problem in her hands, announcing that he had to leave the Brass Fortress for a while.

That obviously surprised her. She'd been certain that Gascone would seize the chance to take control himself, but now he didn't seem to want the responsibility. She remained confident that Sotha Sil would return and put things right but Fyr wasn't so sure,

I decided to go to Gascone's quarters and find out what I could. I didn't expect to find one of Nocturnal;s shrikes searching the place for something. When she saw me, she grinned, tossed her head, and disappeared.

"Did she just flash her boobs at me deliberately, or was it an accident?" I wondered. Maybe it was another clue from Nocturnal, and I should be piceing things together about now, but it all remained a mystery.

I found a note from Gascone, that was not what the shrike was looking for. It revealed that he had left the Brass Fortress already. Varuni sent me after him, directing me to an artificer who would supply a tracking aide. This turned out to be a fabricant nix-hound, who followed Gascone's scent trail down to the oily river at the bottom of the ravine. The smell from the effluvium drowned out Gascone's trail, but I was able to follow his oily footprint a bit further west.

Eventually, I ran into a couple more shrikes who were also hunting for him. Apparently Gadcone wasn't on Nocturnal's side either, but that hadn't always been the case. He'd at some point betrayed her and thrown in his lot with Clavicus Vile, and was probably headed for sanctuary at the Ventral Terminus, which was overrun with skaafin.

It was getting dark, and trying to chase him right now didn't seem too productive. I decided to head up out of the ravine to a wayshrine. Spending the night back in Vivec City would help me relax, and think things through.

---

The following day, I didn't get far along the road from the Sanctuary Wayshrine toward the Ventral Terminus when a suggestion from Azura popped into my mind. I tugged on the reins of the guar and we turned off up a side trail that appeared to lead to a blank cliff. However, when I got closer, I found a man standing by an ominous portal in a cleft of the rock.

Adjunct Daro told me that his more impetuous companion had decided to investigate the portal, and she hadn't come out. He handed me a device he called a perception tabulator, and asked me to at least find out where she'd gone, and anything more about the nature of the portal.

I didn't tell him that the shadowy nature of the portal already told me that it lead to Evergloam. I just accepted the device and stepped through.

---

"Do I need to concern myself with what this thing is picking up?" I asked Azura as soon as I could. Nocturnal replied for her.

"No, I can control what it records. It will get enough to satisfy Adjucnt Daro, and pique his interest in this place. It's all part of my plan."

"You will explain some more of that to me, won't you?" I asked.

"Of course, but let's get Daro's little charade over first."

So I wandered around for a whiie, finding items that Acolyte Variah had dropped. Apparently, Nocturnal had arranged for her to be startled at convenient moments, so she could leave a trail for the tabulator to record. And then I found Varia herself, as well as a couple of earlier venturers, standing as scarecrows in a pumpkin patch near a small cottage in the woods.

The other two had apparently entered on their own, and it wasn;t until Variah arrived that someone was left outside waiting. So now the next part of the plan could begin. Releasing them with enough of a story to tell would draw more adventurers to this testing ground. I'd have a pitch to make to Daro when I left, too.

I went up the hill to "deal with" the Shrike Commander running the show. We flirted for a while and she shut down the compulsion field, before directing me to the cottage. "Nocturnal would like to complete your briefing herself".

When I went back down, the ex-scarecrows had all fled, and the door to the cottage was open. Two big armchairs were either side of a cozy fireplace, and Nocturnal was already relaxed in one, with a glass of wine in her hand. She handed me another glass as I sat in the opposite chair.

"I don't suppose anything is making any sense right now," she began. "All you know so far is that Clavicus Vile was scheming to find the Clockwork City, but naturally, you don't know why.

"When I got involved, I didn't either. All I knew was that Vile wanted help with something big, and of course that wasn't likely to be anything I'd approve of. I decided that 'helping' was a safer bet that letting any other Daedric Princes gang up with him. At least this way, I'd have some control over what happened, and maybe turn things my way.

"Vile's objectives are only gradually being revealed. At first it was the Clockwork City, but that was just a stepping stone to Sotha Sil, and he's supposed to help us locate Arteum. You know that he was a Psijic himself, so he's well aware of its location, and has full access."

"Is Sotha Sil in any real danger from Clavicus Vile?" I asked.

"He should not be. I'm sure Vile doesn't care one way or the other, but I'd prefer to be able to put things back the way they were, Seht included. Or maybe better. You'll be eliminating one of the weak links when you deal with Chancellor Gascone.

"Seht himself is safely locked away from harm. Anyone who wants to reach him has to travel through part of Evergloam, but he's actually in a part of the Brass Fortress that's cut off from the rest. That way, I haven't broken our agreement by abducting him to my own realm, but he's still safe. And once he's reunited with his shadow, he'll be back to normal.

"Gascone was supposed to be guarding the Skeleton Key, but he sold out to Vile, and it's gone missing. You'll need to get it back at some point, as you'll need it to reach Sotha Sil. That's so that Clavicus Vile sees that as the imprisoning device, and overlooks the requirement to pass through Evergloam to reach him."

"What do you need from me?" I asked

"Two things. First, to continue what you've started here. You'll be seen as Azura's agent in this, rather than mine, so Vile won't think we're on the same side. And second, I'd like you to look out for anyone who could become my agent. I'm going to need someone competent, independent, and loyal only to me. That last part rules out most people you already know. For example Seryn has all the right qualities, but her loyalty to her tribe, and especially to you, means I can't use her."

"Is that why you have this setup here?"

"Yes, I'm certain that Adjunct Daro will help direct adventurers to this part of my realm for evaluation. The portal itself will need investigation, and then scholars will need rescuing, and so on. There should be a steady stream of candidates coming through, and my shrikes will have some fun with those who don't measure up."

"And should I expect to be heading for Arteum next?"

"It's too soon to tell. Clavicus Vile seems to have an alternative strategy in the works in case I fail here with Sotha Sil. He has Mephala working on some other scheme in the Summerset Isles. If she gets the Sload involved, then that's likely to bring in Meridia against him, as she can't abide necromancy.

"However, with everything else going on, Meridia's stretched thin on the Molag Bal front, so at best she'll be a distraction."

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 10 2022, 03:01 PM

[Acadian]

Twists and turns! Daedric Princes conspiring against each other while feigning alliances. No surprise there.

[Renee]

Yes indeed, this is a very busy update. Not to mention Clark gets a boobie flash, that's hilarious. (.)(_) Or so he assumes.

Wow, he gets to sit down and chat with Nocturnal. DON'T drink that wine!!! ... Then again, Nocturnal's demeanor has never struck me as purely evil. Nefarious, yes, shady, yes, but not downright Evil and tricksterish like Bolag or Mehrunes.

[ghastley]

Wow, he gets to sit down and chat with Nocturnal. DON'T drink that wine!!! ... Then again, Nocturnal's demeanor has never struck me as purely evil. Nefarious, yes, shady, yes, but not downright Evil and tricksterish like Bolag or Mehrunes.

Clark has known Nocturnal since this part of his Oblivion story. Of course, that happens in the future, but before he was sent back. It may help explain my take on her motivations.

[ghastley]

@Acadian: This isn't Skyrim. It would be twist and shout there!

------------

Previously: Clark found out more about what Nocturnal is doing, but that has just added more
questions.

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Part 2.7 - Gascone

As I rode my guar along the road to the Ventral Terminus, I considered Nocturnal's requirements. Neramo and the Dunmer siblings worked well as a team, but she needed an independent individual. Naryu, the Dunmer assassin, was inseparable from the Morag Tong. Divayth Fyr wouldn't work for anyone but himself. The various Apostles I'd met all were devoted to Sotha Sil, or else people that were going to get weeded out. I didn't have any candidates for her at present, as she'd said.

I did have Gascone to deal with, and he'd run to ground among the skaafin.

Once I got past the guard of daedra at the main door to the Ventral Terminus, I found it locked, and the voice of Gascone told me so through the speaker device nearby. Somehow, maybe from the little voice in the back of my mind, which was as likely to be Nocturnal's as Azura's, I knew there was another entrance.

So I went up the ramp to higher ground to start searching.

More skaafin were waiting up there. I wasn't surprised, just a bit delayed. And the fabricants were taking no notice of them, and just attacking me, which seemed a bit unfair. Still, I soon had another door in front of me, and it wasn't locked.

It might as well have been, as it wasn't long before I came to a dead end at a solid wall of masonary. At some point in the past, the structure had been sectioned off, and this part was no longer connected to the one Gascone was in. The only thing on my side of the wall that had any hope of breaching it was a large clockwork automaton, which of course, was powered down.

I rummaged around looking for alternatives, trying the steam valves to see what they'd do. and flipping any switches I came across. Then I noticed that the pipes were getting some pressure, and judicious use of the valves let me direct it towards the station where the automaton was slumped.

All that happened was that a cylinder started to glow, as if it had just filled and was ready to use. I picked it up and looked for somewhere to place it in the automaton, not really expecting to find one. But there was a socket that matched.

I must have done the right thing, as it started to stand up straight, and a number of skaafin materialized to try and stop it. Without any guidance from me, it flung them aside and demolished the wall, as if it had been programmed to do so before it was shut down.

I followed, using my bow to help it with the stragglers, until it seemed to run out of power just short of another wall. I looked around for any more of the glowing cylinders, but there weren't any visible. I did find a stairway that took me up a level, and I had more luck up there. Just the one core, and I hoped it would be enough.

Going through the second wall was much like the first. Skaafin arrived to try and impede our progress, and failed. Soon I was in the section where Gascone was hiding.

It appeared that Gascone was the one summoning the skaafin, as he did so again as I entered, perhaps playing his final trump. This was a more powerful one than the others, and maybe not entirely in the chancellor's control. "You summon me again? I grow tired of this, mortal!"

The Daedra didn't seem reluctant to attack me, however, it just wasn't so pleased to be aiding Gascone. And after I defeated it and talked to the chancellor, I think I understood why. He didn't have the key any more. It had been stolen by crows, before he could hand it over to Clavicus Vile. I didn't need to ask what key he was talking about. It could only be the Skeleton Key.

Why had Nocturnal let an idiot like this guard it for her? I angrily killed him, and stormed off back to the Shadow Cleft to have another talk with Nocturnal.

---

"And who else was I going to give it to?" she asked me."Anyone more trustworthy is loyal to Sotha Sil. If I'd given it to Varuni or Luciana, then Varuni would have done the research to figure out what it was, and then Luciana would have gone off trying to release Seht.

"That would have been a disaster whatever the outcome. If she failed, then the Clockwork City would be lacking a good Proctor, and if she'd succeeded, then Sotha Sil would have been returned prematurely and Vile would probably have succeeded."

"But, Gascone ..."

"He was the sort of bureaucrat that just files things away, and does as little as possible. He put it with all the other items he needed to guard, and detailed his minions to watch over them. No curiosity, so it should have just remained where it was until I needed it again.

"However, I did make a mistake at that point. I told my minions to go and get it, forgetting to add 'and bring it to me'. The crows just took it for themselves - it is shiny, after all - and who knows where they went with it. They don't remember, and it's probably been stolen from the first ones by a rival flock by now. You're going to have to find it for me."

"So Sotha Sil doesn't need to be imprisoned any longer?"

"No, it appears that Vile has decided that Mephala's use of the Sload is more promising, and he's given up here. So as soon as you've released Seht, I need to figure out how to deal with that. If I'm not careful, I'll get left out of the plot, and not know what's in store. But if Meridia gets involved, he'll need the extra help"

"What should I be doing next?" I asked. "If the crows have the key, then it's at least where Vile can't find it, if he decides he needs it adter all. I'd think you need me finding you an agent before I go hunt down the key."

"That's true, but either quest relies on luck at this point. There aren't any clear leads to finding either of them."

I decided to go back to Vivec City, and find out what Seryn wanted me to do for her. There was always a chance it would connect in to everything else.

---

Well there was a connection, and it was Naryu. She'd been given a contract to take out one of the councilors of House Redoran, and found out about their dealings with the Ashlanders. She'd tried to contact me, and found Seryn instead. And that's what Seryn had meant when she said she had a job for me.

It appeared that the pro-slavery faction of House Redoran had also been trying to sieze land from the Ashlanders. It was not clear whether Ulran Releth sided with the Ashlanders, or against the slavers, but the result was the same, and he'd been eliminated with prejudice.

Now his sister Veya was out to avenge him, and as a colleague of Naryu's, that wasn't allowed. The Morag Tong weren't supposed to persue their own personal vendettas, as it was bad for business if they killed without a formal contract. So Naryu wanted me to stop Veya, and Seryn wanted me to do the job for Veya, and avenge the Ashlanders' protector.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 24 2022, 01:28 AM

[Acadian]

Ahah. Skeleton key + Nocturnal. . . begins to make some sense now.

Ugh. Crows. Hate them.

Now, Seryn’s idea sounds delicious. Any chance to kill or otherwise screw with the pompous house of Redoran sounds worthwhile. And enjoyable!

[Renee]

About the section which is blocked off, too bad there aren't any Destroy Wall spells in this game. :0 Still, Powering up that automaton must have been a challenge to figure.

Nice, so Clark got the Skeleton Key? What a confusing quest this sounds like. Do you need to take notes as you play? I often do nowadays. Because my memory.... Not the best.

[ghastley]

@Acadian: Shhh... mirocu may be listening. And Redoran are making their own trouble for themselves.

@Renee: Clark almost got the skeleton key. The crows have it, and even Nocturnal doesn't know where it is now.

-----------

Previously: Clark tried to recover the Skeleton Key, but found that the crows have stolen it. While he figures out how to find it, Seryn has given him another task. Time for Clark to do what he does best.

-----------

Part 2.8 = Daedric Possession

I took the way-shrine to Balmora and went looking for Naryu. I was discreetly directed to a cellar door in a back alley, and found Naryu and Veya down there waiting for me. I'd arrived too late, and Veya had already played her hand.

Naryu still had need of my assistance. She'd not managed to stop Veya from killing her father, but she had made it look like Veya had been killed, too, so at least the Morag Tong and House Redoran would not be hunting for her. But now there was the problem with what to do with her. She couldn't say on Vvardenfell, or someone was bound to spot her.

"She'll have to be exiled, and as far away as possible," Naryu declared. "I have contacts on the Summerset Isle who could take her in and give her work. With her skills, she'd make a good bodyguard.

"I just don't understand what got into her, going it alone like she did. She probably could have taken her case to the Morag Tong leadership, and got a judgement to do it legally, but she just fired up, and went on her killing spree.

"It's just not like the Veya I thought I knew."

"Maybe it wasn't all her idea," I suggested. "There's always a possibility of Daedric possession when someone behaves out of character." I looked over at Veya, and continued "Do her pupils looks a bit contracted to you?"

"Now you come to mention it, perhaps they are," Naryu replied. "I'd put that down to shock, as she'd just come round from my knocking her out, but she should have recovered by now."

I was hoping that Nocturnal was listening in to my thoughts, as it had just occurred to me that Veya might be just what she was looking for. And if she was, I could use a little assistance.

"Is Daedric possession common?" Naryu was asking me, and I'm not sure that Nocturnal wasn't prompting her.

"Not very common, and it does require some willingness on the part of the possessed. For example, Seryn wasn't averse to letting Azura use her to speak to people several times, and even cast a spell for her once. It was clear that Azura's intentions didn't conflict with her own, and she was happy to lend a hand, ... or all of her, actually."

"Well, this wasn't Azura. Any ideas which Prince might have been involved in this case?" Naryu asked.

"Did Veya run rampage, and destroy everything in her path?"

"No, she did cut a swath through the guard, but she's quite capable of that without help"

"Then it probably wouldn't be Mehrunes Dagon. He likes as much collateral damage as possible. Property as well as people, and as much chaos caused as can be managed."

"Who else?" Naryu prompted. "Clavicus Vile doesn't seem likely. He wants the bad outcomes to be all someone else's fault, so he won't take control like that."

I offered the opinion that it could be Boethiah. "It's all about provoking combat with that one. And Veya acted fairly rationally, so I think Sheogorath is ruled out, too."

"Hmm, are there any other symptom we could look for?" Naryu asked.

I was getting prompts from Nocturnal now, and I wondered if Naryu was, too.

"Well, we don't know if the supposed Daedric Prince was trying to arrange her father's death, and just using her as an implement of opportunity, or if it's an attempt to sway Veya herself. If it's the latter, she'd be losing interest in Mundus, and other people."

"Like a lowered libido? That would be the first thing to affect a young Dunmer woman. She'd have shriveled nipples, and be drying up."

Naryu was probably projecting her own ideas here, but I let her run with it.

"Veya, take off your shirt," she commanded. "we need to see ... What do you think, Clark?"

"I don't have a before image to compare against," I pointed out.

Veya took everything else off. She was determined to prove that if she had been possessed, she wasn't now. She grabbed my hand and showed me.

"So there's a good chance the possession wasn't complete," I announced. "And that means we can do something about it. There's a ritual of re-possession that will reclaim her for Mundus, and since you and I, Naryu, represent man and mer, male and female, we have enough to perform it."

Prompted by Nocturnal, I rummaged in my pack and found a couple of hooded masks that I know weren't in there before. "You and I need to wear these, and nothing else. We have to be anonymous, as we're representing everyone."

"But I already know who you are," Veya interjected. "So how are you anonymous?"

"It would be too creepy if you didn't know who it was, wouldn't it?" I replied. "It's symbolic, which is why we don't need all races; just a Dunmer and an Imperial can stand in for Altmer, Bosmer, Breton, Redguard, Nord, and Orc. Khajiit and Argonian may be a stretch, but the principle is valid."

That seemed to satisfy her. If I'd had to take it further, I could have pointed out how Veya was clearly part Altmer, as she was tall and slender for a Dunmer, and Naryu was as top-heavy as a Nord.

---

---

"Her libido seemed to be normal," I remarked to Naryu afterward, while Veya slept. "So if we are sending her off to Summerset, she won't have too much problem making new friends."

"Except that you just gave her a reason to want to come back here," she replied. "I hope you're planning to disappear before she starts to think about that."

"I have to go back to the Clockwork City, wherever that really is," I told her. "And all I have to look forward to there is crows."

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 24 2022, 01:37 AM