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

[macole]

20220223 VH-OVB, I-SL turning in quests
It was early the morning of Loredas Sun’s Dawn 22, 3E435 when we used the Arborwatch Ayleid Step to take us directly to the Market District of the Imperial City. The Ladies find the stones less disconcerting than the common map hopping but not as much fun as traveling Midas’ Astral Gate.

Shopping, first things first as they say, The ladies got right down to it and raced off to the Waterfront (we all know what’s there) leaving me to the mundane task of trading a ton of loot hours later we met up in the Temple
District before heading over to the Order of the Virtuous Blood Headquarters.

Cylben Dolovas lets us in and directs us downstairs where we find Grey-Throat. Grey-throat is interested in hearing about the hunt so we tell him about the night on bald mountain. Surprisingly Grey-Throat tells us that he heard tell of the Vampire Demon Legend when he was a hatchling.

“There once was a strong and virtuous hero of the Empire who after years of fighting in some forgotten war returns home to find his entire family murdered by assassins of the Dark Brotherhood. He turned to the Daedric Princes Molag Bal and Malacath, offering his life and sanity for power and revenge. The Daedric Lords granted his request. Within a year not one member of the Dark Brotherhood existed within the walls of Chorrol and the surrounding hinterlands. The vampire that calls himself Demon has wage his eternal war against the Dark Brotherhood ever since.”

Sitting around waiting for Roland to show up I told Kaleah, “I almost feel sorry for the Demon. If only he had talked to us perhaps we could have come to some sort of arrangement.”

“Not possible,” Kaleah replied. “Once he offered up his sanity, his fate was sealed. Everyone he meets will be Dark Brotherhood. He’d have no choice but to kill.”

“Hey, want to hear about a dream I had?” I asked. The Ladies and Grey-Throat gathered around to hear the story.

“Well it all started when a Pahmar-raht strolled into a caravanserai to place a bet on a match…”

“…and as usual I bought the scuttle and shein.”

While Kaleah and Grey-Throat proclaimed the story as a heroic epic tale, Elenya said in a somber voice, “An omen of the danger to come, my Jandaga.”

Before she could decipher the dream further in walked Roland.

“Good news,” Roland announced. “I’ve located the whereabouts of the Night Lord. He’s holed up in Fanacas near Cheydinhal.”

Figures that the Yndlor Arpen would take over a site we had recently cleared of vampires. Probably thought we’d assume the place clean and wouldn’t look there

After the announcement we informed Roland of our good news, that the vampire treat from Lipsand Tarn has been eliminated. Roland is happy with what I did for Chorrol. He said I am welcome to use his cabin sometime when I want to take a vacation from my bloody crusade against the unholy. Tempting, really tempting.

There is something else we need to do before we leave the Imperial City. Hmmm, oh yes, we need to stop by Midas’ Magic Emporium. Always good to see Midas. This time we used an angel feather and one gold nugget to make the Wings of an Angel residue. (One thing I think should have been included in the Midas Magic mod was to pay a small fee to the shop for using Midas’ equipment.)

Midas and my Ladies watched as I gave the Wings of an Angel a trial run. It was fun watching the wings flap as I flew around the room.

Satisfied with the spell and after a few tips and adjustments for fit and finish from Midas, we used Midas’ Astral Gate in the basement to take us to Merendin.

Karashivual was practicing her footwork at the sword dummy when we arrived. After telling her about the two Chandras and the Doppelganger trapped in a black soul gem spoke the big stoic Kara let her frustrations show..

“So the "Chorrol Chandra" knows about the other Chandras? Something about a broken Dragon? Again? I hate it. Really. I hate it. That Akatosh breaks more often than Mehrunes Dagon was banished into the void. And believe me, he was banished a lot of times. That fool!”

“As for the doppelganger, all you can do is squash them when you find them. You can give me the soul gem and I’ll see to it that it never gets free.”

I decided to hold on to the black soul gem for awhile.

Kara had finished her turn at the practice dummy and Do’leanra was approaching to take her turn. Do’leandra was happy to hear the ‘Spies and Scouts’ affair had been settled favorably. She rewarded us with a small token of appreciation, the Elswyer Companion Spell.

I know she was trying to be sweet when she licked my cheek but that sandpaper tongue just didn’t do it for me. Just the touch of her hand would have sufficed.

Jo’beala, seeing that I had returned to Merendin was anxious to hear if we had found the Focus Crystal. Even though I told her that Shivaya said the crystal was broken, Jo’beala wanted to examine it. Unfortunately, as soon as Jo touched it a massive lightening blast sent her flying.

The Daedra Seducer Teshekru, who had been watching, commented that the Focus Crystal appeared to be guarded against Khajiit and Daedra handling it. We’ll have to find another enchanter.

Walking to the tavern for a drink we passed Ahtize the Moamer. Noticing the Focus Crystal, Ahtize asked where we found such a crude device. I told her what it was and asked if she could use it to enchant items. I was surprised and relieved when she replied that she could even though it wouldn’t be easy using a half cursed partly cracked crystal.

Satisfied that the quest ‘Breaking the Monopoly II’ was concluded successfully we found empty beds to get some much needed sleep.

[Lena Wolf]

Quite a lot of running around tying up loose ends for the Jandaga and the Ladies... Yes, well, chores will follow us to Oblivion. As for the Demon - this is what happens to those who oppose the Brotherhood. Whahaha! Resistance is futile..! Oh wait, wrong universe.

[Acadian]

Sounds like a fine day of shopppping and flying lessons, along with turning a few quests in before heading off to a good night of sleep.

Interesting story about the twice-cursed vampire DB hunter. If only he could reliably focus just on the DB. Then it would be a fine arrangement of your enemies hunting your enemies so stay outta the way.

[macole]

20220301 VH-OVB, Night Lord of Fanacas
Our day began with the rising of Magnus. There is much to do so right after the morning ritual and breakfast we said our good-bys and left Merendin. Traveling north we made our way to Fanacas and a rendezvous with the Night Lord.

As we stepped inside Fanacas I was stricken with the queasy feeling that a very evil presence has moved in since we were last here. It’s only been half a year since we cleared Fanacas offive vampires when we came to fetch an Alyeid statue for Umbacano. At that time we found nothing that indicated something called Night Lord resided here.

My Ladies must have felt it too. Kaleah and Elenya began nervously fiddling with their weapons while Pym moved closer to my side, almost causing me to stumble. Kaleah recovered qickly, straightened herself up like the tower of strength that she is and states that the place smells old, very, very old.

Weapons drawn we proceed slowly down the steps into the darkness of Fanacas. There in the darkness with his back to us stood single strange figure. Sneaking quietly we got in range and with one stroke the Light of Dawn claimed a rather strange vampire.

The darkness had worked to our advantage but now we need to see. At my call, Twinkle willingly came to chase away the darkness strike fear in those that hate the light.

Now that we could see, thanks to Twinkle, Fanacas looked exactly as I remembered it. The walkway we traveled on extended over a flooded Ayleid room. Turning right at the first bend we stood, watching the falling blade trap cycle to determine the timing pattern of the four blades.

Like the last time we were here there was activity on the other side of an iron gate at the far end of the walkway. We could see and hear several vampires milling about scream for our blood. It is never fun fighting invisible vampire and the mere thought caused me to pause for a moment.

From our rear came a lightning bolt, striking the marble column near me. The near miss set my teeth achatter. Three vampires, two sorcerers casting lightning bolts and an archer firing at us from the far side of the water filled room.

What do we do? Charging across the flooded room would open us up to a direct attack. going the other way through the blade trap would be slow even more dangerous.

A second lightning bolt struck even closer. Through uncontrollably chattering teeth I let slip the whisper of my inner doubt.

“If I had a rocket launcher, if I had a rocket launcher. I would not hesitate.”

Elenya laid her hand on my arm and said, “You are your own rocket launcher, my Jandaga,”

She’s right. With several fireball spells in my repertoire, I am my own rocket launcher. Choosing Hellish Fate I turned and unleashed several rounds across the water in the direction of the attackers. Kaleah added he r fiery arrows to the attack and soon the smell of charred flesh wafted across the flooded room to tell us the job was done.

Our attention now turned to the closed gate that lay beyond the falling blade trap. We could hear the vampires on the other side calling for our blood. A withering barrage of Hellish Fate turned the area around the gate into an inferno and soon the blood calls were no more.

Starring at the falling blade trap, I decided that this was silly.

“You know,” I told my Ladies. “Why risk our lives with this blade trap? We can just walk around it.”

Using Water Striding we circumvented the blade trap, where opened the closed gate we confirmed six dead strange vampires. Proceeding with the utmost caution, we continued on our way to where we knew the Night Lord would be. The room accessible only by the door that’s under water located in the next flooded chamber.

Our fiery attack had done its job. The bodies of six vampires littered the floor around the gate. One of them in particular was strange. From the decorations on his armor we could tell he was a decorated Hero of the Guard.
From there on, Fanacas was deathly quiet until we reached the second flooded room. There a heavily armored vampire Lihla of the Night Lord faction blocked our way.

“None shall pass!” she said in a most stern manner.

After a tense moment of negotiation, we all did. Lihla’s body was left floating peacefully in the flooded room.

Diving into the water of the flooded second room, we found the submerged doorway and climbed the stairs to the dry room that once held an Ayleid Statue. Stepping into the small room we were immediately challenged by Lisa of the Night Lord Faction.

Looking up from the fallen Lisa we came face to face with a vampire male dressed in black armor. And the Night Lord wants to talk.

“So, we meet at last. I’ve been looking forward to this moment for quite some time.”

Seems he believes that we have done him a great service by eliminating his rebellious children Hindaril, the Lord of Fort Redman, Astalla, the Last Mother of NornalHorst, and Lorelil. the Lady of Ninendava. According to him I have earned the gratitude of a god.


“Now, I offer you my blessings,” the Night Lord drones on. “Kneel before me, creature, and you shall be blessed with a fragment of my divinity.”

“You’ve got to be kidding. We’re here to destroy you!”

The Night Lord must not have been fully awake yet as he went down in three strikes. The Strange Vampire Lisa lasted longer than he did.

We returned immediately to the Imperial City to deliver the good news to the Order of the Virtuous Blood. Upon hearing the news Roland declared the crisis at an end. He’s has run out of vampires for me to kill.

“Yahoo! It’s a celebration,” yelled Gilen Norvalo as he put aside his bottle of cheap wine and broke out a case of the good stuff, Tamika Vinytage 399.

Yahoo! It's a celebration
Yahoo!
Celebrate good times, come on (Let's celebrate)
Celebrate good times, come on (Let's celebrate)

The house was hopping when about 25 or 6 to 4:00 in the morning the city guards came pounding on the door.

This post has been edited by macole: Mar 1 2022, 11:01 PM

[Acadian]

A tense slog through Fanacas but, fortunately, the foes turned out to be rather manageable. Especially the delusional one at the end. And yay for Twinkle, safely lighting the way!

[Lena Wolf]

No more vampires to kill? Phew! Hurray! We can breathe easy now. The famous vampire hunter is retiring from vampire hunting!!

[Renee]

macole you must have such a wacky roleplay time with your party. They start off with a typical delve into an Ayleid ruin, with all the usual nerves and darkness, invisible vampires (gosh I hate those) and finally they take care of the Night Lord. So at the very end they break into some '70s funk music?

Only in a macole roleplay.

[macole]

Acadian, Lena Wolf, and Renee.

Thank you for your kind comments, I do hope you have enjoyed my adventure in Cyrodiil as much as I have playing it.

Renee was right about the Vampire Hunting ending. Kind of like, is that all there is? Other than that Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood has to rank high on the best Oblivion quest mods list.

No, the Vampire Hunter is not retiring, hearing rumors of a vampire or two still running around from solitude down to Senchal may require looking into but he does need some time off to do his taxes.

[macole]

20220307 KotN, Sword of the Crusader
The guard dragged the lot of us, my Ladies and everyone associated with the OVB, down to the court house. Assuming full responsibility for the OVD, I stood before Magistrate Maximus Corydon as the guard read the charges.

“Well I was proceeding in a Southerly direction, Mi’lord, when I heard uh, strange sounds coming from the ‘ouse of the late Seridur, Mi'lord. A sort of boogie-woogie music was being played. On further investigation, I discovered a rather loud and boisterous party goin’ on. Well, I decided that uh, they was a contravening a breach of the peace, there, as that a crowd had gathered, singing and dancing, jamming the street, in a wild celebration, so then I arrested the uh, defendants."

"Uh, just one moment, officer.” the magistrate interrupted. “Wh-what is this boogie-woogie music here we're talking about?"

"Oh, well Mi'lord", said the officer, getting out his notebook, obviously he'd been doing up his homework, "it's a kind of a bluesy funk rhythm music with psychedelic overtones peculiar to a strange group of elves.”

“Oh,” the magistrate interrupted again. With a stern look at the OVB members before him, he lashed out on how no one is above the law. When it was over, I got off with a caution to keep the noise down in future celebrations, a commendation for averting another crisis, and advised us to take a vacation.

The court room gallery packed to over flowing with the residents of the Temple and Talos Plaza Districts, erupted in a tumultuous cheer.

Yes, we think the judge is right, a little vacation sounds really good. The very next morning the Ladies and packed our bags and left the Imperial City intent on taking a relaxing tour of Cyrodiil. We’ll start with the garden city of Cheydinhal.

Arriving at Cheydinhal we headed straight to our house. At the moment no one is staying in the house so we just dropped our bags and left to take a walk along the river bank. As was passed by the Chapel of Arkay we could hear some sort of commotion going on inside. We went inside the chapel to see what was going on.

You know how some days can be going along so well and then while you’re standing at the kitchen sink washing dishes the faucet unexpectedly springs a leak and suddenly there’s water all over the floor (yes, it really happened two days ago). Well that’s the feeling I got when we stepped through the chapel doors.

The Chapel of Arkay is under attack! At least three gold clad figures, Aurorans Kaleah called them, were in a pitched battle with the Chapel of Arkay guards and priests. The fight was over quickly with minimum losses.
Placing the Sword of the Crusader upon the Altar of the Nine was all it took to reconsecrate the sword. The sword was returned to me with instructions to return it to the Priory of the Nine,

“Well Ladies, what do you think one more trip and then off on holiday?”

“Oh, if we have to,” they replied.

[Lena Wolf]

Renee was right about the Vampire Hunting ending. Kind of like, is that all there is? Other than that Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood has to rank high on the best Oblivion quest mods list.

Are those two separate quests? I mean, of course the Order of the Virtuous Blood is a vanilla quest, but I understand it was expanded in your game. I thought it was a part of the Vampire Hunting quest. If not, then there's really a vampire problem in Cyrodiil... Well, there was.

[macole]

Renee was right about the Vampire Hunting ending. Kind of like, is that all there is? Other than that Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood has to rank high on the best Oblivion quest mods list.

Are those two separate quests? I mean, of course the Order of the Virtuous Blood is a vanilla quest, but I understand it was expanded in your game. I thought it was a part of the Vampire Hunting quest. If not, then there's really a vampire problem in Cyrodiil... Well, there was.

This is the mod I am using Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood at Oblivion Nexus - mods and community (nexusmods.com). As you can see it merges the original Order of the Virtuous Blood Expanded with Kendrel the Vampire Huntress and another mod that takes you to Caldera.

I used to load the OVBE version but having never fully played through the OVBE version I included the VH-OVB version because added in Kendrel as a bonus. It was a good choice in my opinion.

[Acadian]

No rest for the weary partiers! Urg, I'm remembering why I left KotN out of my line up after playing through it once.

[macole]

20220321 KotN. Umaril the Unfeathered
Taking the road south, we left Cheydinhal early in the morning. An hour down the road we decided to stop by the Old Cottage to visit our friend Aradiel Dae’Nai, the local representative of Adonnay’s Elven Weaponry.

“Good to see you again, my friends,” Aradiel Dae’Nai cheerfully greeted us. “Please come in.”

“Good to see you too, Aradiel. Oh we just stopped by to to do a bit of business. We’ve encountered quite a few of your excellent wares during our travels recently. Thought maybe you’d like to buy them back?”

“Certainly, especially if you would autograph them,” Dae’Nai said. “Your personal mark etched on such beautiful weapons would fetch a premium from collectors.”

“Glad to help an old friend. I’ll drop some off the next time we pass by.”

After a short visit we continued our journey to the Priory of the Nine.

It took us until late the next day to reach the Priory of the Nine. Amazingly, we arrived just in time to be immediately escorted to the Chapel to attend a sermon being given by the Prophet. Upon seeing us the Prophet anointed me the Divine Crusader and bestowed upon me the Blessing of Talos. The Prophet then charged us to go to Garlas Malatar and do what the "glorious knight" Pelinal Whitestrake could not, obliterate the spirit of Umaril the Unfeathered.

“Glorious Knight, my eye,” Kaleah said as we watched the fired-up Knights race to be the first to face Umaril in Garlas Malatar. “The White Snake was nothing more than an insane butcher. Ask any Khajiit.”

“Can’t say Umaril was any better,” countered Elenya. “One Ada as bad as another other I’d say.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “But, we can’t let one loose upon the world for fear the other will return to balance things out, so to speak.”

With that we set off far Garlas Malatar. The path to the Ayleid ruin Garlas Malatar took as through Anvil, west along the Gold Coast just past the HM2 Silverpine Forest Gateway. There we a broken bridge crossing the sea took us to the entrance Garlas Malatar.

“Look!” Elenya exclained as we crossed over to the entrance. “My Jandaga, you can see Emma’s Fisherman’s Shack from here.”

No horses tethered outside told us that the Knights of the Nine had not arrived yet. No need to wait on them, my Ladies and I entered Garlas Malatar. Good thing we did because by the time we reached balcony of the first room the Knight came rush past us like a tsunami. Headlong down the staircase to the floor below they charged without thought. There they engaged several Aurorans in battle. Zealots, make the worst allies and the most dedicated foes.

Our hand forced my Ladies and I joined the battle. It was over rather quickly and when all was quiet I unlocked the gate leading to a long hallway taking us to another room. After defeating eight more Aurorans we spend some time to recover before opening the Ayleid door to Ceysei.

Entering Garlas Malatar Ceysei we once again find ourselves facing a dozen Aurorans. Something strange is going on here. Methodically we chop the Aurorans down only to see them rise to fight again. Then I notice a flash of magical light emanating from above. Something or someone on top of that balcony is resurrecting the Aurorans. It must be stopped.

Pym caught my attention. The look she gave told me she knew what I planned to do. She extended her sword to me. Agamir’s Assassin’s Blade, sharper than the finest razor, imbued with deadly drain willpower and drain endurance enchantments. Very similar in power to the spear I used to kill Vivec. It was an offer I could not refuse.

No time to lose. Accepting the powerful sword, I left my Ladies and the Knights of the Nine to fend for themselves. Racing away I searched for the way up to the top where I saw the flashes of magical discharge.

It's a game
What a game
No time to lose
No time to lose
No time to lose
No time to lose
Go with the flow
Never let go
No time to loooooose
The Tarney-Spencer Band

The urgency of the beat drove me on, up a flight of stairs until I came to source of the magical emanations, a pulsating Dark Orb. No time to lose. Mumbling a prayer to the Mother of all Creation, I reached out in an attempt to turn it off. At my touch the Dark Orb exploded!

Time froze, all the Aurorans and Knights faded from view. This may have discombobulated most but the being of the Mystwalker class I felt right at home with the time stoppage. (I knew my custom class Mystwalker since Daggerfall would be of a benefit one day) The only thing in focus was a gate leading to Garlas Malatar, Carac Abaran. I moved quickly through the frozen time.

By the time I entered Carac Abaran my Ladies had recovered enough to join me. My Ladies fought with the Aurorans within Carac Abaran giving me cover to continued on until I came to a large room with a shallow liquid pool in the center. Stepping into the room a force field of hard water sealed the doorway behind me, preventing my Ladies from entering.

I watched as a staircase rise up from the floor. When it reached the upper level the giant golden figure of Umaril descended menacingly down the stairs toward me. The legendary Ayleid king must have lost a step or two while being trapped in the spirit world. One strike with Pym’s life stealing Assassin’s Blade and he went right on down. Umaril fell to the floor dead.

Trapped! Umaril is dead but I’m still trapped in this room. I could see my Ladies trying to get through the magically blocked doorway. They were shouting something but I couldn’t hear what they were saying. That’s when I remembered the spell. I cast the Blessing of Talos.

Holy moly! This is not what I expected. Umaril’s spirit world is little more than a cloud in the sky high above Cyrodiil. After an exchange of magical attacks we engaged with our swords. Spirit Umaril fared no better than his physical counterpart. Dodging out of the way of Umaril’s ponderously slow attack I countered. Faster than a viper strike it was over. Umaril’s severed spirit floated silently away into the void, leaving me to search for a way back home.

I found it alright only I didn’t like what I found. I was… falling!

Cyrodiil was reaching up to squash me like a bug and there was no way I could stop it.

You know there are times when all you can do is to call out to the unknown for someone to save you, just be careful who you call for.

“Mother of all Creation save me!” I cried out.

Then everything went white!

This post has been edited by macole: Mar 22 2022, 07:48 AM

[Renee]

Renee was right about the Vampire Hunting ending. Kind of like, is that all there is? Other than that Vampire Hunting - Order of the Virtuous Blood has to rank high on the best Oblivion quest mods list.

Yes. OVB gave us something to do for many months (years, maybe) it extended the original quest far beyond, it was the first major quest mod I installed and actually enjoyed. I never wrote any of it up though, so that's the treat we received as Jandaga and his party

Whoa. They're about to take Umaril on, whoa. Is that where we encounter the Unfeathered? I totally forgot about going all the way to the coast.

I thought today's song is from The Guess Who? Never heard of Tarney-Spencer.

Whoa, that's Umaril. Barely remember that guy. My paladin character at the time really prepared well for that final battle. She bought that expensive sword sold by Jensine (Akaviri Blade or whatever), brought a whole bunch of potions, and so on. Sounds like Jandaga one-shot-killed the monster.

Basically, all the training I'd received in the Tomb Raider games, in which fighting the final boss often consisted of using whatever chamber or plain it lived in, came in handy while fighting Umaril. I remember using the entire room to run around and hide-while-healing and so on. Sounds liek Jandaga got a oneshotkill though.

[macole]

I thought today's song is from The Guess Who? Never heard of Tarney-Spencer.

No Time To Lose has a serious running around in panic beat to it. Plus the lyrics fits the Jandaga character very well.

Every day I walk in shadows
I know not what it is
Heading for
And as the evening lies dying
A gentle heart dies near me sighing
It's still the same
You'll never change
You can never understand
We can now be like water
Don't need more to find our way
Just get on where we came
It's a game
What a game
No time to lose

Just as you did, the Jandaga came well prepared for a long drawn-out affair only to be shocked at how quickly it ended.

[Acadian]

The Knights of the Nine probably got overdosed on zealotry by that Prophet. Kaleah's right to be unimpressed.

Uh-oh, resurrecting Aurorans - that can't be good.

Well, Umaril proves once again the bigger they are the harder they fall.

[macole]

20220326 KotN-The End. (and in the end the game I played is equal to the game they made)

I found myself floating in the great void.
- - -

The force field barring entrance to room where the Jandaga fought the physical form of Umaril suddenly dissipated allowing the Ladies to enter. Racing to the center of the room they gathered around the body of their beloved leader. Kaleah gently removed the Jandaga’s helm and very delicately caressed his brow, her razor sharp nails left nary a mark, so gentle was her touch.

“Is he…” Elenya couldn’t finish the question.

“No,” Kaleah answered. “He fights on in Umaril’s spirit realm.”

At that moment the Knights of the Nine rushed in pushing the Ladies to the side. Without the protective influence of the Jandaga the knights saw the ladies for what they are. Weapons drawn the knights formed up, placing themselves between the fallen Devine Crusader and the Jandaga’s Ladies. Sir Thedret, the self proclaimed leader of the knights cried out, “In the name of the Nine we command you, demons begone!”

Flames danced in Kaleah’s heterochromia eyes as she hissed, “Foolish Yokudan, your pitiful words cannot keep me from my Feache. Prepare to die.”

Kaleah reached for her sword but a touch by Pym stayed her hand. Looking deep into the vacant eyes of Pym, Kaleah saw what needed to be done.

“Yes, you are right,” Kaleah relented. Kaleah linked arms with Elenya and Pym, and in a blink they vanished.

Exalting in their presumed victory over the evil Daedra, the Knights reverently carried the seemingly lifeless body of their fallen commander, to the Priory of the Nine. Arriving at the Prioy, the knights they laid the body of their commander in the center of the Undercroft. Here the body of the Devine Crusader would safely lay in repose until they could find a fitting sarcophagus.

Early the following morning a small precession solemnly marched into the Priory of the Nine.

“Who are they?” the knights whispered amongst themselves.
“Followers of some ancient order,” one knight guessed.
“Could be members of the Order of the Lily, from the House of Dibela,” another said.
“Sisters of Lord Have Mercy,” drooled one new recruit when he saw the precession. “Man, I’ve joined the wrong order,”
“Did you see the eyes of the Jingle Dancer?” whispered one knight to another, referring to Pym. “They’re vacant like those of a Moth Priest.
“What eyes?” the other replied.

Even the female knights expressed their thoughts but they ran more in the order of “If we ever have to war against the likes of these, we’re lost before we begin.”

Undaunted by the banter, the Ladies continued in silently to the undercroft, where they found the body of the Jandaga laying on the floor in the center of the room. That struck a nerve. Removing her hood the tall sister’s ebony horns glistened in the flickering torchlight.

“The floor!” Kaleah lashed out. “Couldn’t find a suitable catafalque to rest him on? And those ghosts, beseeching my Feache to awaken in the name of the Nine. They have no idea what they’re dealing with. At least they left him dressed in his armor. It’s time to set things right.”

Gathering in a circle around the body of the Jandaga the Ladies began the ritual. Selina the Witch took the Jandaga’s portable sacred shrine. Holding it close she whispered a word into the shrine and passed it on to the next. Around the circle the shrine went, with each Lady doing the same. When all had said their intentions, Kaleah placed the shrine on the floor at the Jandaga’s head.

In a bowl filled with rose petals, Elenya poured blessed water from the sacred spring. Dipping a sachet of lavender flowers in the water, Elenya used the sachet to sprinkle the Jandaga with the lavender water. The Dragon Spirit in the armor hummed in satisfaction at the soothing touch of the floral water. Pym dipped her fingers into the water and traced strange runes on the forehead of the Jandaga.

Spreading her wings wide and Kaleah raised her hands high and called out. “In the name of the Mother of all Creation, we humbly beseech, return Tlalok Hopopchak to us.”

Standing on either side of Kaleah, Fiona the Witch and Claire the Sorceress forcefully struck the floor with the butt end of their staves. The resulting shockwave shook the walls of the Undercroft, scattering the relics of the crusader, and blowing away the ghosts

“Look,” Maeva exclaimed. “His eyes, they’re opening!”
---

“Sorry my child it is time to return,” the soothing voice in the void spoke. “You are needed still.”

---
My eyes opened to the sight of the Ladies wildly rejoicing.

I could hear Elenya shouting joyously, “There is harmony in nature and all things are in balance again.”

Kaleah clasped my face in her hands, her heterochromia eyes flashed golden as she half sarcastically asked, ”Well, did you have a nice little vacation? Anyways, it’s about time you got here. These knights and the ghosts are most insufferable.”

“She held me in the palm of her hand,” I said grasping Kaleah’s hand. “The Lady smiled. She sent me back. To you, to all of you.”

When I Need Good Loving I Always Come Home To You
You Free My Lifetime Of The Blues
Yes I Got That Old Time Feeling Burning Deep Inside My Soul
And I Am Yours And Baby I'm Home
And It's A Good Feeling To Know It's Such A Good Feeling To Know
Oh It's A Good Feeling To Know Somebody Loves You!

Trying to stand, my knees gave out. In their effort to keep me from falling, six heavenly bodies nearly crushed me in their effort to comfort. Guiding me to a place where I could sit, the Ladies hovered about like a butterflies over a flowering bush. It was a tad bit embarrassing, really.

Sir Thedret rushed into the undercroft. Ignoring the presents of the Ladies he exclaims, "Lord Crusader! How can this be? You... you're alive! It's a miracle! I heard voices in the undercroft and I came to investigate...”

Foolish Thedret. Following Sir Thedret as he ran out to tell the others, we stepped out into the courtyard to be greeted by the assembly of the Knights of the Nine. Sir Thedret gave a long winded speech proclaiming the power and glory of the Nine, to which the assembled knights gave a great cheer.

“Ale for everyone!” The second cheer was greater than the first. The knights quickly cleared the courtyard.

Turning to my Ladies I said, “Let them wallow in their delusion of glory. I’ve had enough of these idiots, let’s get away from here.”

So just like Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tinman, and the Lion down the road we skipped.

Looking over my shoulder as I write Kaleah mumbled, “Really Feache! A Scarecrow, a Tinman, a Lion, and someone named Dorothy; what kind of fantasy world is this?”

[Lena Wolf]

Wow, Macole - your game wasn't equal to the original, it was far superior to the original! I enjoyed it very much.

“Sisters of Lord Have Mercy,” drooled one new recruit when he saw the procession. “Man, I’ve joined the wrong order,”

Priceless!!

“The floor!” Kaleah lashed out. “Couldn’t find a suitable catafalque to rest him on?”

Yes, really. I remember being annoyed with that. Like with so many other bits in that "adventure". May the Knights forever wallow in self-pity for having joined the wrong order!

[Acadian]

Yay! The Jandaga is back, safe and sound. Gosh, it is clear indeed that the Sisters of the Lord have Mercy Order beats the surcoats off that ragtag Knights of the Nine Bunch.

"Uh-oh, Twinkle. . . we're not in Kansas any more."

Fun to read and poignant as well.

[macole]

Lena Wolf and Acadian Thank you for you appreciation. KotN was not on my to do list. I played it once along time ago and I really don't like it but I want to see if Losing My Religion worked properly. I thought of just advancing the whole thing to the end and being done with it. Then I thought of an ending and said to myself "What the heck."

20220403 Losing My Religion, Kvatch Rebuilt, Gweden Lodge

Oh, how good it feels to be away from the Priory of the Nine. Fiona leads us to Shadowcrest Vineyard. She’s eagerly breaks out her latest herb infused attempt of recreating the famous Shadowbanish Wine for us to sample. She described it as Lusciously Sweet with a Delightful finish. After sampling a glass or two we decide it would be wise to spend another day before attempting to travel.

It was two days later or was it three, can’t seem to remember that clearly, when we felt confident enough that our feet were touching solid ground. Saying their farewells to Fiona, the Jandaga and his little band of field hippies left for Anvil. Claire was eager to resume her studies on the artifacts we have stored in the secret room of Benirus Manor so we passed by Skingrad. The time seemed to fly by and soon we were at the crossroads to Kvatch.

Kvatch is as good a place as any to stop for dinner. We were also curious to see the progress made in the rebuilding of the city. It was kind of disappointing to see everyone still living in tents. During dinner, Procis Douarus told us of the problems they’ve been having in getting supplies delivered from Anvil. Since we were going to Anvil we told Procius we’d be happy to look into the situation for him.

We left for Anvil bright and early the following morning. Wish I could say we had a restful night’s sleep but not only did the rain keep us awake most of the night, my Ladies, bless their little hearts, complained the entire time about the dampness and that the two-man tent was not big enough for the five of us.

Upon our arrival in Anvil we made the usual stops, Morvayn's Peacemakers, Mages Guild, and the Fighters Guild all in an effort to lighten the load and to find out what’s been going on.

Before Claire retired to Benirus Manor we paid a visit to the Chapel of Dibella. What a change has taken place since the fall of Umaril. It is good to see everything is back to normal.

Our visit to the Chapel left us hungry. A stop at the Count’s Arms for a bite of lunch sounded good. While there we inquired about any news concerning the missing Kvatch shipment. Wilbur suggested canvassing the docks. One of the longshoremen may know something.

Wilbur was right, we found one Staron Hawker who told us that crew of men pickup the stock. He had an uneasy feeling about them as they took the road north to Kvatch. He suggested to follow the road to Kvatch and to keep an eye out for anything unusual.

By now it was getting late in the afternoon. It’s been raining all day and the roads are going to be a muddy mess. Why not find a place to stay the night and start out in the morning sunshine, hopefully. Gweden Farm sounds like just the spot. Besides we should check on how the business is going.

Business is doing great. In fact it is so good that Tsarrina commissioned the building of a second house. The additional girls have out grown the farmhouse and the new building, Gweden Lodge adds some upscale atmosphere. Plus, due to Tsarrina’s ingenious labor wage payment plan it rather cheap to build.

A Dremora approached as we entered the Lodge and gave me a notice from Raminus Polus. Well actually he walked up and said “take this” as he shoved the note in my hand. Reading the note, it seems a young mage “friend” of Virgilia has gone missing. Raminus wants us to find out what Virgilia knows.

Vigilia is concerned about her missing friend, Randonil. He was on his way to Gweden and he has gone missing. We’ll be passing through the Imperial City soon. We tell Virgilia we’ll talk to Raminus about Randonil and see what we can do. I try to dissuade her but Virgilia insists on traveling with us.

After a restful night, as we were getting ready to leave Tsarrina asked if I could find another Khajiit girl. She’s spending most of her time taking care of the business she is finding it difficult to find the time to do any business. Oh well.

Kaleah, Elenya, Pym and I leave for Kvatch with Virgilia in tow. Stopping every so often to allow Virgilia to catch up slowed us down considerably. Just passed Gottshaw Inn as we neared the Order of the Hour Headquarters we come across a large blood stain in the middle of the road. How we missed this obvious clue on the way to Anvil is beyond me.

Elenya says it’s the ghosts of the slain teamsters pushing the covered up blood to the surface in a call for vengeance.

Following the blood trail took us to a small encampment outside the entrance to Laughing Stand Cave. By the number of shipping crates scattered throughout the camp, this had to be where the Kvatch shipment had disappeared to. A sudden attack by Valenwood operatives all bit confirmed our suspicions. We entered Laughing Stand Cave.

Well, what did we step into this time? Two rival factions Valenwood MOO bandits and the followers of Vible the Cruel are in a hot turf war. Neither side wanted to negotiate with us which in a way made it easy on us. We don’t have to take time to decide friend from foe. Just cut them all down.

Sadly, we were too late to save the teamsters.

Laughing Stand Cave is now clear of the Valenwood MOO Faction, and the followers of Vible the Cruel. The Gold Road from Anvil to Kvatch should be now safe for shipments to resume. Procis Douarus in Kvatch should know of this right away. Thank goodness Kvatch is not far away.

Procis Douarus is thrilled with the news. If he wants, he can salvage what is usable from the cave while he waits for a new shipment from Anvil,

Once again we’re on the road to the Imperial City.