Clark - Second Era Options

[Renee]

I like the way they are discussing which daedric being could it be. Really gotta keep up with the lore to know all that stuff.

Whoa. (I think you know what I'm whoaing about.)

Yeah, see if there are crows out there. This could be proof mirocu is in the game.

[Acadian]

I confess that in the game, Buffy and I were cheering Veya as she went on her Redoran hunting spree. Some things are worse than crows. . . speaking of which, mirocu is the only TES crow that I like. Daedric involvement? Could be I suppose, although given how we feel about the great houses, I wouldn't rule out Divine intervention instead.

[ghastley]

Time for the annual update to Clark's story - has it really been that long?

Previously: Clark found a potential agent for Nocturnal in Veya, a Dunmer who'd just avenged her brother's death by killing her father. She was conveniently about to be shipped off to hide in the Summerset Isles, which is where Nocturnal needed her.

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

Part 2.9 - Reuniting Seht

"I'm not so sure that Veya's going to make those new friends quite as much as you expected, Clark," Nocturnal told me, back at her cottage. "The ruling faction on the Summerset Isle is quite xenophobic, and Altmer look down on everyone else."

"But there are a lot of outsiders there, too. Imperials, Bretons, Nords, Khajiit ..."

"And she'll start under the tutelage of that Razum-Dar, the Eye of the Queen that Naryu has contacts with. He'll not waste the opportunity, but she'll most likely decide that comfort takes precedence over other things, and move on. That will be when I take over.

"You did a good job preparing her for me. She's got 'daedric possession' as a salve for her conscience, if she starts feeling guilt about her father, and at the same time, she has your accounts of Seryn to tell her it's not always a bad thing. Plus, I think I got you masked up before she learned your face, so she likely won't know you if she sees you again. And by that time, I'll be in a position to convince her she's mistaken.

"So now I can help her, if she'll help me."

"Help you how?" I asked

"I don't know yet. Vile hasn't played all his cards, so neither will I. And we still don't know for certain whether Meridia's getting involved, because of the Sload. If she does, then her agent, a Breton named Darien Gautier, is likely to show up. Watch out for him, will you?"

Just then, we were interrupted by the arrival of a crow, flying in through the door and landing by the fire.

"You sent for me, Mistress?" he inquired.

Nocturnal introduced me to the Duke of Crows. "Have you located it?" she asked him

"The heroic Blackfeather Court has done as you asked and found the shiny for you!"

"Then hand it over."

"We found it, but we could not retrieve it, Mistress. The Shadow has taken it."

Nocturnal didn't seem too surprised at this turn of events. "It was to be expected that the Shadow would attempt to take control of the rest of Sotha Sil. If they're reunited, then it loses out to his better judgement, and effectively gets suppressed.

"it wasn't what I had in mind when I set this all up, of course, and it does complicate things quite a bit. Restoring Seht was supposed to be a simple job for the key-bearer, but the Shadow will have turned on all the defensive apparatus of the Cogitum Centralis to protect his back.

"No doubt he'll be looking for a way to make Seht's protective custody permanent. You'll have to go there and put them back together for me."

"Can I get there from here?"

"If you're asking if this part of Evergloam connects to Seht's location, then the answer is no. I wanted the path to be easy to guard, so it's quite cut off from everything else, other than the portals in and out."

"So where do I need to go?"

"There's another gloaming gate, like the one that leads here, out on the eastern edge of Clockwork City, down in a cleft off a canyon where nobody is likely to find it. Nobody but Proctor Luciana Pulllo, that is. See if you can meet up with her and send her the wrong way. You'll need her help in the Cogitum Centralis, but we don't want her starting a fight in Evergloam."

---

I went to the Brass Fortress to try and locate her, and found her waiting for me. She knew of two gloaming gates, and couldn't be in both places at once. She wanted me to explore one, while she searched the other.

"You take the western one, and I'll go east, then. Are you sure there's just the two of them?"

"Clockwork City's not that large. Unless the daedra have opened new ones today, my daily reports only mention the two."

---

"Got that," the voice of Nocturnal in the back of my head acknowledged. "As soon as she steps through the gate here, I'll get a shrike to flip her sleep switch, and she won't even know she arrived.

"It does mean you'll have to rescue her later, but we can stage-manage that so she doesn't suspect anything."

---

The shrike laid down and played dead while I flipped the switch to wake Luciana. Before the Proctor could examine the "corpse" Nocturnal faded her out of our sight.

Luciana looked around. "This isn't the part of Evergloam where I came in," she remarked.

"No, that was the first place they'd expect me to look for you, so you were moved here," I told her. "But wherever we are now, let's get out." I pointed at the nearby gloaming gate.

---

"I know where we are," Luciana exclaimed. "This has brought us to the Mechanical Fundament, just outside the Cogitum Centralis. We must be close to where they're holding Sotha Sil!"

"Well, I hope you know the way from here, because I don't," I pointed out. "This is all new territory for me."

Knowing the way wasn't all the story, of course. The Shadow had activated the Cogitum's defensive mechanisms, which meant that the first part of the way wasn't where we needed it to be. The bridge we had to take was rotated to where we couldn't use it, so our first task was to get it back in the right position.

"And naturally the rotation mechanism is locked," Luciana remarked. "I think I can override it, if I have more power. Can you activate the Core Pumps, so I can try?"

She pointed me off to either side of the bridge, where power terminals were located. "Expect guards," I was told, rather redundantly, as they were already announcing their presence. I managed to reach the first switch, and activate the pump, and headed back for the other.

Back at the bridge, the automata had found Luciana, too, and I went to her assistance. "I can hanlde these.: she shouted. "Get the other switch!"

So I did, and when I got back, she was still in one piece. A rather bent piece, with one arm looking the worse for wear. "I need to mend this first," she told me. "And you'll have to help".

She opened a flap in one thigh and took out some tools. "One advantage of hollow legs." she pointed out. "Now you hold the ends of that strut while I straighten it out."

"Does that hurt?" I asked. Bending my arm that way certainly would have hurt.

"I do have an 'awareness of damage', but it's not exactly pain. It serves the same purpose of dissuading me from letting the damage continue, but I can turn it off for procedures like this. And most repairs are done by the factotums, while I sleep."

She paused, before continuing. "What I'm really missing is a better sense of touch so I can avoid this sort of impact in the first place. I only have that in my hands so I can modulate my grip, and a rudimentary sense in my feet to supplement my balance."

She got back to her work overriding the bridge lock-out, and soon it swung back around to where we could use it. I followed her across.

---

"It's getting rather dark in here," I pointed out. "The shadow obviously has his preferences, and they don't match mine."

"Nor mine either," Luciana responded. "But I'm out of magicka, so we need to find the light switches. You go that way, and I'll try over here."

By the time we found what we were looking for, the shadow had almost reached Sotha Sil, who was locked into a complex apparatus that held him immobile. Someone was trying to pry the metal apart, apparently with no success. And between us and the contraption was the Shadow.

"Deal with the Shadow, while I try and get Seht out of this thing," Divayth Fyr shouted.

"You'll not open that without the Skeleton Key," the Shadow interrupted, "and I have it. So Seht's going nowhere, and you should all just leave now, before I kill you."

Fyr's reaction was to abandon his efforts on the apparatus, and fire a spell at the Shadow. Luciana had regained enough energy to do the same, and I added some physical assault to the mix. Although this was only part 9f Seht we were dealing with, like Fyr's shadow when I arrived in Clockwork City, we all knew that this wasn't going to be easy.

However, Nocturnal was the ringmaster here, and she could help us a bit, so long as Sotha Sil didn't catch on. And the rest of him was there watching, so it had to be a convincing battle. There was an impressive display of light, and dark, effects around us all the time, probably obscuring much of it from Seht's view, but also hindering the combatants. Fortunately that worked both ways. The result was that we won, but Fyr was exhausted, and Luciana took a bit more damage than Nocturnal would have liked.

"Take the Key and release Seht, Fyr commanded. "Turn it in that lock. over there."

As I turned the key, the dark pool that had been the Shadow faded (brightened?) and Sotha Sil himself seemed to become more solid, and aware of what was happening. The confining bands dropped away, and retracted into the walls and floor. Sotha Sil was aware of Nocturnal's presence, and dismissed her, giving her the opportunity to let him know that Summerset was next on our agenda. I suspect she wanted him to take an interest on what was about to happen there.

"We should return to the Clockwork Basilica," Sotha Sill announced. "We can discuss events there."

---

Factotums had carried Luciana back, and Fyr and I had found our own way, not being able to take the same shortcuts the mechanicals could use. By the time we arrived, they were already at work on repairing, or perhaps deconstructing, the Proctor. Sotha Sil asked me what I wanted as a reward for my help,

In the long term, I wanted his help on Summerset, but this part of the story wasn't complete yet. Nocturnal wanted Vile's damage here repaired, and part of that was now Luciana. "Can you save her, again?" I asked.

"Altruism. A rare trait. Luciana will die. If not here and now, then elsewhere and later. I can delay her death if you wish, but to what end? Consider carefully. Luciana means a great deal to me, but grief cannot be avoided - only deferred."

Nocturnal had told me that she thought the Proctor was essential to the recovery of Clockwork City, now that Clavicus Vile had moved on. I concurred with that, even if I wasn't sure that it was what Luciana herself would have chosen. I did have an idea that might make her happier with her continued existence.

---

After I was done with Sotha Sil and Fyr, I went to visit Luciana in her retreat at the Basilica.

"Seht. Sotha Sil. Is he…?"

"He's fine. We did it, Luciana," I told her

"Thank the gears. The people … my people … they're safe. He knew. He knew this would happen. He said I would shine a light one day … do you see? Everything built to this. Everything. Every battle … every sorrow. It finally makes sense."

"You'll see Sotha Sil soon. I asked him to save you."

"You asked him that? After all the impatience I showed you? The bad temper? I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've never met a more altruistic soul. Still, I'm not sure even Sotha Sil could save me this time. I feel it in my bones. This is how I end."

I said nothing, just gave her a hug. After a while, it dawned on her that 'feeling it in her bones' wasn't quite the figure of speech it used to be.

"It feels like I'm in my armour, hugging a man who's also in full armour, so perhaps not what you'd describe as exciting, but from my perspective..."

"Better than before?" I ventured.

"Much better. Thank you."
---

[Renee]

Cool, I was wondering when we'd get to read some more Clark. Even though I barely know what's going on in this game, these chapters are still fun!

So how does Nocturnal appear in-game? As a sultry vixen wearing all black? That's how I'd picture her. Of course, Aedra and Daedra can appear however they'd like. But that's how I'd picture her, showing herself before a mortal.

This whole mechanical part sounds complicated! Trying to picture it all... I found this after a Bing search. Looks sort of Dwemer, eh?

Well it sounds like they are successful at whatever the heck they just did. Mission accomplished. Nocturnal can go back to being the Dark Mistress that she is.

After a while, it dawned on her that 'feeling it in her bones' wasn't quite the figure of speech it used to be.

[Acadian]

Wow, lots of moving parts here! I do remember some of the chase down Sotha Sil and deal with the shadow. Luciana is on my list of fave NPCs in ESO.

[ghastley]

Wow, March again already! Must be time for another piece of Clark's story.

Previously: Clark had wrapped up things in the Clockwork City, and Sotha Sil was himself again. Luciana was a bit closer to her old self again, too.

-----

To Summerset

I started to wonder if my part in this was over, as we'd concluded all Nocturnal needed in Clockwork City, and she now had Veya for anything that would happen in Summerset. I was happy killing time with Seryn in Vivec City, but expecting at any time that Azura would yank me out of there and send me somewhere else. It didn't quite happen that way.

Azura did change our plans, but not in the way I expected. She told me that I needed to go to Summerset, as it wouldn't all be over until Clavicus Vile's scheme had been thoroughly undone, but I could take my time. Why not take Seryn with me, and go on a slow cruise to Summerset? I could board a ship in Mournhold, travel around the coast, stop off at a few interesting places along the way, and arrive before Nocturnal needed me. Seryn could then take the wayshrine home.

Since she was explaining this to both of us, and Seryn liked the idea, it was going to happen.

---

The war between the Alliances meant that many of the potential stops along the way were blockaded, or at least closed to commercial traffic, but we did get to visit Lilmoth, Kenarthi's Roost, and Vulkhel Guard before we landed at Shimmerene. So now I knew wayshrines in three more provinces, should I ever need to travel there again. I started to wonder if that was part of Azura's plan.

I also suspected that Azura had plans for Seryn. She hadn't ventured off of Vvardenfell before, and the Argonians and Khajiit she'd met were all merchants, not exactly representative of their races' diversity. Altmer seldom visited Morrowind, either, preferring to keep their own company.

I had been referred to as an outlander in Morrowind, but the term didn't seem to include any resentment, just that I wasn't Dunmer, so wouldn't understand the local customs. Here in Summerset, "outsider" was a term of derision, and I was clearly inferior for not being an Altmer. And unwelcome, to boot. They seemed reluctant even to let us off the boat.

We quickly made our way through town to the wayshrine, so that Seryn could return to Vivec City. When a mer ran up to us shouting about the Island springing a leak, and "let the cat take care of them", I decided to investigate, if only as a reason not to head back into Shimmerene. I took my leave of Seryn, and headed in the direction the mer had come from.

Not far up the road, I came upon the Khajiit mentioned, finishing off the last of some hostile creatures I had never seen before. The bodies lying on the road were spiny things that looked like they'd come out of the ocean, and didn't really belong on land at all.

I asked a woman standing nearby what they were, but she didn't know either. "Ask Razum-dar, " she told me, pointing at the Khajiit.

I didn't get the chance to ask, because, after smashing what looked like a large pearl radiating dark magic, he spoke to me first.

"Have you ever seen such creatures? Raz has not. Probably neither have you. You are a newcomer, yes? New to this island of High Elves? This one has an eye for such things. And you look capable. So, can Raz interest you in some cloak-and-dagger work?"

"Cloak-and-dagger work? Sounds ominous," I responded.

"Ominous? No, nothing of the sort. Well, maybe a little of the sort. Depends on how things develop. Raz has come to Summerset at the behest of Queen Ayrenn. To make sure her decree regarding the opening of the island proceeds as she directed."

"So how can I help?"

"Ask some questions. Determine the mood in Shimmerene and see how the newcomers are faring. Rumors have reached the Queen and she is concerned. So Razum-dar comes to see what's happening and fights strange creatures. Now Raz is concerned as well."

"I'll ask some questions around the city," I told him. I'd like to find out more myself, especially if this had anything to do with my being sent here.

"While you ask questions around the city, Raz can take care of some other business. It may or may not involve scratching and clawing. Let's meet near the entrance to Shimmerene when you have something to report."

I started by asking a few of Razum-dar. What was this decree he'd mentioned?

He explained that Queen Ayrenn had lifted the prohibition on foreigners entering the main island, as it hampered her from strengthening the Alliance with the Bosmer and Khajiiti, but many of the more hidebound residents had opposed it. The prohibition was relatively recent, and many had settled here before it came into effect. Of the three people he wanted me to question, only one was an Altmer. The other two were a Redguard and an Argonian.

And I wanted to know why he just decided to trust a complete stranger with this mission.

"But you are not a complete stranger, are you? You are the Champion of Vivec, and the rescuer of Sotha Sil, and Divayth Fyr informs us that Almalexia owes you more than she'd admit. You are known to be in a relationship with Azura's champion, who accompanied you here. And how does this one know it is you? Sotha Sil records his memories, and he shared an image with us when you set off on your trip here. The common folk may not know you, but Raz does."

"Besides, when those creatures attacked, everyone else fled, but you came closer. Raz would have preferred that you arrived a little earlier, but he needed the exercise."

---

I spoke with the three people Razum-dar had directed me to, or rather two of them. The Argonian was dead, and I found a note in his backpack that provided the same information I got from the live ones. Recent arrivals, "newcomers" as they termed them, non-Altmer from other provinces, were being rounded up and taken to the monastery. When I took this back to Raz we witnessed a further example, with several of the locals complaining to an official about their servants being taken away. At least one of them agreed with his pronouncement that they needed to be "sequestered" until their suitability for Altmer society was determined. "Lock up the newcomers" was a bit of an extreme way to phrase it, in my opinion.

Raz and I agreed that we needed to check out the monastery. We split up to approach it from different directions. Raz told me he'd distract the guard, so I could slip inside, and It would be best if I did so from behind the guard's back.

On the way there, a golden-clad knight appeared, from a bright portal, and almost immediately left again, complaining that the portal wasn't working. I don't understand why, but this suggested to me that Meridia was trying to get involved, but was meeting resistance. I'm guessing that thought came from Azura, but she's not confirming it. Nocturnal had mentioned that possibility, and it would mean that Mephala had involved the Sload, whatever they were. The resistance could have been Mephala's doing, but it was also possible that Azura and Nocturnal wanted to keep her involvement in reserve.

Entering the monastery went as planned, and there seemed to be few, if any guards inside. I talked to one monk, who seemed disgruntled by the new Aldarch's methods, but I found nothing of major interest on the ground level. One the floor above, however, I found a large pearl similar to the one Razum-dar had destroyed, but seemingly inert, just sitting on the Aldarch's office desk.

"Unusual knick-knack for an Aldarch's office, wouldn't you agree?"asked a voice behind me. I turned to find an elderly Altmer woman entering the room. She was here looking for a friend who had disappeared, and was about to continue her search in the undercroft. She suggested we do so together.

Immediately on entering the undercroft, we both felt uneasy. "I sense magic, dark magic," she told me. And we both saw the cages. I went to let the one remaining prisoner free, while Valsirenn examined a corpse on the floor. "What's a skaafin doing down here?" she asked.

The obvious answer was that Clavicus Vile was involved, but that was ... obvious, so I said nothing. We continued down the passageways.

It wasn't long before we encountered live skaafin, and some of the same creatures that Razum-dar had been fighting when I met him. It was now apparent that they were being summoned by the same Daedric cultists, so Vile and Mephala had already started to join forces here. There was yet another pearl here in the great hall of the undercroft, and it appeared to be the focus for summoning the sea creatures.

"I'll deal with the pearl, you keep the creatures away while I do that," she decided. Since that was the method I was about to suggest, it's what I did. The cultist that had summoned them had already escaped, so that might mean that reinforcements weren't on the agenda.

When we had time to talk, Valsirenn told me that she was a member of the Psijic Order, and she'd sent the pearl to them for analysis. I told her about Razum-dar and Queen Ayrenn's decree triggering this uprising.

"You'd best inform him about what happened here. I'll catch up with you later," she said. "Living on Arteum for a few centuries doesn't prepare you for physical action, and I need a rest."

---

Razum-dar had a room at the nearby tavern, and he'd been doing a bit of snooping of his own. None of it had turned up anything like a Daedric cult, and a life-sucking pearl, however. But he'd managed to obtain an invitation to an event at the Kinlady's townhouse, where it was likely that the decree would be discussed. In particular he wanted to know whether the Kinlady had sanctioned the Aldarch's actions, or if he was acting on his own. Since the Kinlady knew Razum-dar, and they did not get along, it fell to me to attend.

Talking to Kinlady Avenisse convinced me that she had taken the Aldarch's story about sequestering the newcomers at face value, and had no idea what was really going on. She did have a slight suspicion about him, as her chancellor had been unable to verify the Aldarch's existence prior to his coming here. "He did have high recommendation from Kinlord Mulinthel, whom I trust," she told me.

As I was about to leave, a servant brought in a note from the Aldarch. "He wants me to meet him at the Coral Forest? That's an odd place for a meeting, but I need to hear him out."

---

Raz agreed with her assesssment. And confirmed that Tilcalar did not not exist until he arrived here. "and is this your Psijic friend?"

"I'm glad i found you both," Valsirenn said. "I just saw Kinlady Avenisse sneaking out of the city, and came looking for you."

I made the introductions, and we agreed to meet again at the Coral Forest. "We should travel separately, so we don't arouse suspicion, yes?" Raz suggested.

[Renee]

Cool, was wondering when we'd see some more Clark. Was actually gonna make a request for some! Acadian & I have been waiting with bated breath.

I'll reiterate what I said a year ago: I don't know much of what's going on in this story since I barely have played ESO. But it's fun to read. Yeah. being sent to locations which just happen to have Wayshrines does seem mighty convenient.

Ha! It's the Second Era, yet even way back then they still referred to non-Dunmer as Outlanders, from the way this is described at least. Well, they referred to actual Dunmer as Outlanders too, in TES3. Wonder what would happen in ESO if a Dunmer walked around in Morrowind. Outsider does have a more ominous ring to it.

'Spiny things' sound like urchins.

Uh oh. The workings of Clavicus Vile are afoot?

Off to Coral Forest they go. Let's have a picture. Nice.

[Acadian]

Welcome back to Clark!

Locking up newcomers to Summerset is not likely to please Queen Ayrenn. Nice job introducing Raz and Valsirren. I hope Clark gets to visit Arteum – it’s beautiful.

[ghastley]

Looks like both Grits and I decided the maintenance period was just the time for an update!

@Renee - the Spiny things sort of look like urchins with legs.

@Acadian - Clark does get to visit. He's following that quest line fairly closely, with a few minor variations, because Nocturnal needs to play it that way.

-----

Previously: Clark and Seryn arrived in Summerset. Clark got involved in a local quest, while Seryn headed for home.

-----

Coral Forest

When I arrived there, I could only find Valsirenn. She was reluctant to use magical means to locate the Kinlady and Aldarch, as she was sure they'd detect that. So we set off along the beach to look for them.

"There's more of those Yaghra here," Valsirenn remarked. Now I had a name for the sea creatures, but still no explanation of where they were coming from. The Sea Vipers and Salamanders belonged here on the shoreline, but Yaghra didn't. They appeared to be creatures from the depths, and I wished they'd stayed there.

And now I could hear the Kinlady's voice, exclaiming "Murder? I want no part of that, Aldarch! That wasn't part of the plan."

"You know nothing of the plan, you fool. Let me give you a taste of what the Prince of Bargains has in store for this pitiful world!"

We stepped around the rock to see Lady Avenisse running away from the Aldarch, and another of those glowing pearls. "I want nothing to do with Daedric Princes, either."

Valsirenn ran after her, leaving me to deal with Aldarch Tilcalar. He didn't look much like an Aldarch, his robes looked decidedly more cultist than priestly, and he was wielding an inferno staff. Naturally his first move was to summon more Yaghra to assist him.

They appeared between us, and much closer to him than me, blocking our view of each other. So my opening salvo was an area spell, covering his Yaghra and hopefuly Tilcalar himself. When the air cleared, I was surprised to find them all dead.

That worried me. If the Aldarch had really been Vile's agent, I would have expected a stronger opponent. But since he usually employed Barbas for that purpose, perhaps this one was more disposable.

Whatever the case, Valsirenn was beckoning me from the shore. I smashed the pearl that Tilcalar had used to summon the Yaghra, and went to talk to her. Razum-dar had apprehended the Kinlady, and Valsirenn was returning to Artaeum to brief the Ritemaster. I should follow her, after I'd spoken to the Eye of the Queen. For that, I'd need to be attuned to the portal, so she did that, before transporting herself back directly.

I thought about that afterward. Artaeum was "home" for her, so she could return the same way I did to Vivec City. I'd never even seen Artaeum, so I'd need a different way in. I hoped the wayshrine network extended there, as the location of the portal at the Keep of the Eleven Forces seemed a bit out of the way for regular use.

Raz was talking to Kinlady Avenisse a bit further inland, towards the wayshrine she was trying to reach, and which I presumed Raz had used to get here. His attitude softened a bit when I confirmed that the Aldarch was actually Clavicus Vile's agent, and that she hadn't known that until their meeting here at the shore. The Queen would still need to know, and Raz would leave the judgement to her. He'd told me before that he and Lady Avenisse had a history that might affect his own opinions, so that was perhaps best.

So I should go off to Artaeum, while he dealt with the Kinlady, and started to investigate the Daedric angle here in Summerset.

---

As I arrived at the Ceporah Tower on Artaeum, I heard Valsirenn talking to the Ritemaster. "And there was no sign of Leythen. I don't know whether to be grateful or concerned."

"We'll find him, Val. Now go check on the pearl while I speak to our new guest." he replied, and turned to me.

"What a rare honor Valsirenn bestowed upon you. Only a select few not of our order have ever walked upon this sacred island. Val tells me your aid was indispensable in uncovering the false Aldarch's plot on Summerset."

"We discovered that newcomers to Summerset were being murdered to power the abyssal pearls," I told him.

"Unfortunate, certainly. The magic you describe sounds familiar, though I can't quite recall where I've heard of it before. I fear the pearls may be a harbinger of the threat Sotha Sil warned us about."

So Nocturnal's warning to Seht did register with him. Enough for him to come here himself. That was a good sign.

If I wanted to help with investigation of the pearl, I'd need to go talk to Oriandra, who was in the Ritemaster's study in the tower. The others would start the ritual to extract the pearls' information.

Oriandra told me that Sotha Sil had made an elixir to help with the divination ritual, and sent me back down with it. When I arrived, Iachesis had me pour it into the pool beneath the floating pearl, while the other cast their divination spells.

We were rewarded with a vision of the late Tilcalar and two associates in conference. One of those looked familiar to me, and I noticed Valsirenn peering closely at the other. The conversation confirmed that the Court of Bedlam served the triad of Vile, Mephala, and Nocturnal, but revealed nothing of what they were planning, other than the next part taking place at Relenthil.

---

It was not a surprise that Valsirenn and I were on our way to Relenthil, but Razum-dar also made an appearance when we arrived. His investigations from the cultist side had brought him here to make inquiries with the local Canonreeve. We discovered that the man's own son was meeting with a group of other young Altmer in a sinkhole near town. Raz suspected this was the cult he was tracking and sent us to take a look at the sinkhole.
Sinkholes are common in limestone areas, as the rivers often flow underground, carving out systems of caves.
When the roof of a cave collapses, the sinkhole formed provides easier access to the cave system beneath, if the drop isn't too far. If you are really fortunate, there will be a ramp of dirt and boulders.

Just as we arrived at the top of the ramp, a glowing golden figure appeared, looking much like the golden knight I'd seen failing to arrive in Shimmerene. He didn't do much better this time, disappearing again before we could speak with him. I seemed to hear "Not yet" in the back of my mind.

An Altmer lass ran out of the hole just as the golden light faded, shouting something about being attacked. We didn't get the chance to ask her who, or what, as she was in too much of a hurry to get away.

The caves we entered at the bottom of the hole had been explored even before the sinkhole formed, and we came across several places where adventurers has stashed supplies for their explorations. The entrance didn't look safe, so Valsireen took some time to shore it up, as I pressed on into the caves. I soon came across Yaghra, along with evidence that the collapse had been downward as well as up to the surface, and they had got in from below.

Valsirenn caught up with me just before we found Eldhon, groaning that he'd been stabbed. It wasn't the Yaghra that did it, but Nedoril, the son of the Canonreeve, for being "unworthy". What was more, the wound was poisoned beyond my healing ability, or that of Valsireen, and we couldn't save him.

It just got worse after that. Around the next corner, we found ourselves overlooking a pit where more of those Abyssal Pearls were drawing in Yaghra, and Valsirenn spotted a Sea Sload on the ledge opposite. She told me a little of their history of hostility with the elves of Summerset, but we needed to deal with the current situation before she could tell me more. I went after the pearls, while she tried to get to the Sload.

By the time she reached the ledge, and I'd smashed all the pearls, the Sload was gone. We found an exit and went back into Relenthil to look for Razum-dar and tell him what we knew.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Mar 27 2025, 03:56 PM

[Grits]

So much to enjoy in this year’s update!

That was a lively jaunt along the sunny coast. I love the Coral Forest area. Clark’s account makes me want to go back for a visit, despite the occasional hostile deep-sea creature.

Valsirenn, Razum-dar, and the mysterious Golden Knight are some of my favorite characters. I am delighted that Clark is going on this adventure! Artaeum! Yay!

[Acadian]

Wonderful to see you (and Grits as well) continuing your stories!

Delightful to see Clark working with the Psijic Order. I quite enjoyed the characters of Valsirenn and her Ritemaster in game and, of course, Artaeum (as nixad central) is spectacular.

Clark made pretty good progress toward what is going on but more questions remain.

[Renee]

So you've got a rather unique strategy with the story updates, ghastley. Once a year. Interesting.

"They appeared to be creatures from the depths, and I wished they'd stayed there" -- Love that.

[ghastley]

@Grits: - Golden Knight again in this part. Well almost, again.

@Acadian: - The game's version of the story seems to be deliberately confusing at this point, so I'm staying vanilla, until someone explains it.

@Renee: - I'd better break up that pattern.

-----

Previously: Clark and Valsirenn found a Sea Sload in a sinkhole.

-----

A Sload's Memories

I'll admit I was surprised at Raz's summary execution of Nedoril, but as he put it once we were all back outside the Canonreeves's house "If it had gone to trial, the Canonreeve would probably have been found guilty as well. Treason, murder, conspiracy with Daedra ... people are going to want more than one execution."

He hadn't mentioned the need to act quickly. We didn't know what the next move was going to be. so we went back to brief Ritemaster Iachesis, and see what turned up. Just in time, it turned out, as the Yaghra had started an assault there.

In hindsight, bringing the first Abyssal Pearl back to Artaeum seemed to Valsirenn as being a bad idea. It gave the Sload a focus for the invading Yaghra, although how it got to the beach was still a mystery. Iachesis and I went through the old college buildings to the small beach behind it where the Yaghra forces were arriving. We needed to eliminate the pearl while the others set up defences should they break through to the rest of the Island.

The first part of that wasn't too hard. We'd got there early enough that not too many Yaghra were in place. With the pearl destroyed, there would not be any more, but Iachesis was still concerned. We needed to check the Psijic Vaults beneath the old college, as he suspected the target of this invasion was something stored there. In a sense, he was right. Actually he was the target, but the Sload K'Tora also needed to use one of the stored artifacts against him. The Orbs of B'Raken-Drel were the tool required to extract memories from his mind, and there was something the Sload needed to know, that apparently only Iachesis was privy to.

It was clear from the brief conversation before K'Tora siezed him, that Iachesis had a faulty memory of their last encounter. He recalled defeating the Sload in the invasion 300 years ago, but obviously K'tora was still alive. And whatever he was doing to the Ritemaster also prevented me from reaching them.

I heard Valsirenn calling from outside. She'd come through the old college from the other side, making sure it was cleared, and had heard us.

She directed me to another artifact in another part of the vault. The Ul'vor staff was kept well away from the Orbs, so there would be no interaction between them. Both had been retrieved from the Sea of Pearls after the abortive invasion had been put down, and brought here. She handed me the key to the locker, and pointed me in the right direction.

The staff had attracted more Yaghra, so there was more fighting to do before I got to it, but fewer coming back. K'Tora was still ranting at Iachesis, so apparently he hadn't found the memory he was looking for yet. We still had time.

The staff wouldn't reverse what the Sload was doing, but it could let me in to the mental confrontation, and maybe I could have some influence. It was worth trying.

It's hard to describe accurately what happened. It's like I was walking through the Sload's memories, the way he was trying to explore the Ritemaster's. Scenes played out from the past, and I was getting involved in some of the battles, probably as a defence against my intrusion. I saw K'Tora bargaining with Clavicus Vile, trading the conquest of Summerset for the Heart of Transparent Law. The Sload didn't have it yet, but he was confident he could get it.

That was a useful piece of information. Now we knew what Vile was after, even if I didn't understand what it would do for him. But he'd also mentioned Nocturnal, so maybe she could could explain.

Another scene had K'Tora commanding Iachesis to forget, presumably the outcome of their battle. The Ritemaster obviously recalled himself defeating the Sload, and now I knew that it was a false memory implanted to let K'Tora escape from the rest of the Psijic and Summerset forces.

The final one had the Sload commanding Iachesis to steal the Heart, and then forget about that, too.

At this point, Iachesis may have started to wake up, or perhaps K'Tora noticed what I was doing, but everything reverted back to the present. And a big fight. I was probably still in the Sload's mind, giving me a bit of an advantage, as I knew his moves in advance.

When K'Tora died, I somehow used his memory of the staff, or my own, to return to reality, and found Sotha Sil waiting for me, and examining the Sload's corpse. He told me Valsirenn had taken Iachesis back to Ceporah Tower to tend to his wounds, and asked what I'd learned from the memories.

I told him what I knew, with all the apparent contradictions. In particular, that the Ritemaster had hidden the Heart of Transparent Law, and that Vile and the others were seeking it. However, the Sload had both wanted the location, and had commanded Iachesis to forget it. That made no sense to me.

[Grits]

I love the idea of ancient vaults beneath the old college where artifacts are so dangerous they have to be kept apart from one another.

That made no sense to me.

You just summed up Jerric’s experience with pretty much the whole questline. Clark is explaining things in a way that makes me finally see the pieces coming together. Maybe I should go through it again with a mage.

[Acadian]

Wow, a lot of players involved! A sload, the Ritemaster, two Daedric Princes and Sotha Sil! And still plenty of mystery. We did learn that the sload was apparently able to trick the Ritemaster into stealing the Heart of Transparent Law, hiding it, then forgetting. So the sload wants the Ritemaster's memory of where he hid the Heart. I'm glad you're more or less following the quest here - it is complicated enough in vanilla without adding to it.

[ghastley]

@Grits: - Fewer and less nasties in the vaults in this episode, but the new narrator is just getting started.

@Acadian: - I'm going to need some time to untangle the Summerset quest line, so this is the right time to change viewpoint.

-----

Previously: Clark dropped Seryn off at the Shimmerene wayshrine, and went off to get involved with Razum-Dar, Valsirenn and the Psijics. While he sorts out that complex mess, we'll get another point of view - Seryn's

-----

SERYN

I was going to return directly to Vivec City and our apartment, but Azura had other ideas.

She thought I needed some more experience of the lands outside Vvardenfell, and this trip had just been the beginning. So I was going to travel on to High Isle, to have some adventures of my own, without Clark.

"But I need him," I protested. "we work so well together."

Azura agreed that I needed a companion, and one that mirrored Clark's style of getting in close while I used ranged spells, but it didn't have to be Clark. Learning to adapt to someone else will do me good, too, I was informed.

She had someone specific in mind for me, and all would become apparent really soon.

---

When I stepped away from the wayshrine where I had just arrived, I heard two of the locals talking about some Sapphire Tournament that was taking place at the castle just by the wayshrine. This was a regular event, where the aspirant squires had the chance to prove themselves, and gain promotion to full knighthood. This time, there was an extra prize available - the hand of the Knight Commander's daughter.

That got my attention, especially as they said at least two of the squires were female, and the poor daughter didn't seem to be getting any say in the matter. I needed to find out more.

Down near the arch at the end of the jousting arena, I found Aurelia, the "prize", talking with another young lady in light plate who seemed to be trying to reassure her. She introduced herself as Isobel Veloise, and confirmed that she was one of the aspirants in the tourney. She asked if I would be willing to help her, as they were each permitted a second, and she didn't currently have one. Azura told me to agree, so I did.

She filled me in on the background I was missing: Isobel had grown up as almost a sister to Aurelia. Her parents were merchants, and spent a lot of time travelling, leaving young Bella with the Jourvel family. Isobel had always looked on Commander Jourvel as a role-model, who had shown that a woman could be as good a knight as any man. To some extent, that had resulted in Aurelia being a disappointment to her mother, as she did not want to follow in her footsteps, and be constantly compared to her. On the other hand, she hadn't shown any clear interest in any other career, and Isobel could see her mother's point of view, too.

She explained the rules of the tourney. Each of the Knightly Orders had set a task, so there were three possible. They involved retrieving an item, that would be presented to the order as proof of completion. Two of the items were in known locations, which meant they'd probably be hard to reach. The Hilt of Redheart, for the Order of the Iron Knot, however, would need to be tracked down, which might give us an advantage. Isobel remembered reading something in a book in the castle library that mentioned it. She didn't think the others did much reading, although most of them probably could, so they probably would not have come across that clue.

In the library we found several books lying open on the tables, and one indeed did refer to the Hilt. That probably meant that at least one other aspirant had found the clue, and might be a step ahead of us. We headed off in that direction anyway.

Squire-aspirant Langley Le Tarte was already there when we arrived. He was standing in front of a tangle of branches blocking the entrance, commanding his servant (and second) Berjo to clear the way for him. "And hurry up. You still have to cook my meal when you're done."

We decided to go look for another way in. Isobel had been here before, and recalled another entrance around the back of the rocks, a bit steeper and narrower, but hopefully not blocked. There were a few wild creatures along the way, but Isobel and I fell naturally into the same method of fighting that Clark and I had used, without even having to plan it. At the same time, it was clear that we both needed each other's help, and we were learning from working together. Azura's plan was making sense.

We found the Hilt on a stone plinth, and scrambled down the rocks near to where Langley was still issuing orders to his servant. We avoided talking to them, so Langley didn't discover we already had the Hilt. With luck, that meant less competition for the other quests.

With one item collected, we discussed which should be next. The Golden Lute for the Order of the Albatross was down in the catacombs, so we were likely to have to battle our way through undead, spiders, and who knows what else to get there. But that wasn't what Isobel was most concerned about. If we did get the Lute, the Order would also expect her to compose a poem or ditty about her exploits. Poetry was not her forte.

There was another problem when we got to the chapel. The door to the catacombs was locked, and whoever was down there ahead of us had taken the key with him. I suggested picking the lock, but Isobel would have none of that. It wasn't what a Knight would do. "Neither was locking the door behind him," I pointed out.

"There has to be a spare key somewhere. I'll look here in the chapel, you go back to the castle and ask around there. Somebody should have a duplicate," Isobel told me.

I ran into Aurelia in the hall, and she recommended that I ask one of the commander's aides. Either Dame Hendra, or Nilsmon might have a key. I got the impression that Dame Hendra was the preferred option, but she didn't explain why. So I spoke to the Dame, a small amount of gold changed hands, and I had a key.

I opened the catacombs door, and hung the key back where it should have been. If anyone followed us, we were playing fair. Isobel and I continued down the passage, hoping the dead would oblige us by staying that way.

We mostly encountered spiders, who were definitely alive, and aggressive. Nothing that gave us any real problems, especially working together. Then we heard a voice, which Isobel recognised as that of Mortens, another of the aspirant squires. It seemed to be coming from behind a locked door.

"Langley, is that you?" it asked.

"No Mortens, it's Isobel. What are you doing locked in there? Do we need to find another key to get you out?"

"No, I've got the key. I'm just trying to keep myself safe from that spider. And I may have dropped my sword when I ran back here. Could you get it for me? You'll need this other key I have to get further, so perhaps we could trade?"

With a few extra conditions to make sure Mortens could not cheat us, we came to an agreement. Once we had the sword, and exchanged it for the key. he'd leave the catacombs, and not follow us. Suggesting there might be more of those spiders seemed to make him want to leave quickly anyway.

OK, so it was a big spider, but not actually much more dangerous than the smaller ones. It was slower, for one thing, and easier to dodge. And it went down soon enough. We found Mortens' sword and went back to make the trade.

Beyond the next locked door (he had given us the right key) the spiders gave way to skeletons and wraiths. A bone collosus, an amalgam of several skeletons into a single construct, rose up from a bone pile at one point, but we soon took it apart again.

The final foe we had to face was another spectre, that of the Mad Baron that had slain Sir Brenvale, the owner of the lute we were looking for. He was the toughest opponent we'd encountered so far, but not beyond the two of us working in tandem. Isobel blocking, and my fire and lightning spells, wore him down quite effectively.

Then the ghost of Sir Brenvale himself appeared as we picked up the lute, and we thought we were going to have to fight him, too. It turned out he just wanted to serenade us as we departed, which was almost worse.

When we got outside, we had some time to talk. "So Langley is a pompous, self-centered buffoon, Mortens is a cheating coward, what are the other aspirants like?" I asked.

"Well, Snegh is a traditional Orc. His only method for dealing with a problem is to use his battleaxe, and if that doesn't work, hit it harder. Brelannal is motivated entirely by gold. If she wins the tourney, she'll probably want to sell Aurelia into slavery. We'll likely meet them at the next location, and you can judge for yourself."

"So where are we going?"

"To Erlibru's cottage, down by the shore. He loves puzzles, so I expect there will be some cunning device we'll have to solve. We've known him for years, and he taught me a lot of my healing skills. Hopefully that gives me an advantage in this one."

When we arrived, we found the other two aspirants, Snegh and Belannal, examining a magical barrier that had been erected across the only entrance to the cottage grounds. Three tall stone pillars, and a transparent green shimmering wall of pure magic between them.

As Isobel had predicted, Snegh's approach was to hit the barrier with his axe. He went flying backwards, over our heads, and landed on his back in the mud. "I'd better make sure he hasn't injured himself," Isobel said. "That didn't look like a soft landing."

As she did that, Brelannal tried her luck with a bit of her own magic. The result was that she was turned into a cat, which ran away.

I decided not to touch the barrier itself, but examined the pillars, which looked safer. There were markings on them that resembled birds, plants and things that I didn't know. This would need Isobel's local knowledge to decypher. She left Snegh groaning, and came over.

"That bird is a forest heron, they're quite common around here, and that flower is called a cat's paw. The other one is a Spriggan's veil, a cluster of leaves they shed from time to time. I would guess that we need to collect those items, and put them on those little pedestals in the pillars. Well not a whole heron, probably just one of its feathers, and a flower from the cat's paw, not a whole plant."

She pondered a bit longer. "You know, this reminds me of a story Erlibru used to read to us when we just little. I think he lifted the whole thing from that book!"

Snegh groaned again. "I'd better try and heal him some more; can you find the things while I do that?"

Before long, I was back with a feather I hoped was the right kind, and a spriggan's veil, and a flower. That really did look like a cat's paw, apart from the reddish-purple colour. Now to place them, very carefully, into the pillars.

"That did it! Now let's go in and pay our respects to the old wizard." Isobel was eager to see Erlibru again. While she chatted with him about old times, I fetched the staff, which was leaning against the wall outside.

"Erlibru says that Brelannal will turn back again as soon as we leave," Isobel told me. "and he'll make sure Snegh is all right, too, so I don't need to stay and look after him. I'll meet you back at the castle."

[Acadian]

Isobel will indeed make a fitting fighting partner for a mage such as Seryn. Giving Aurelia away to the winner as a prize sounds a bit. . . well, medieval I guess. And Isabel’s competition sound more like dishonorable rubes than squires qualified for knighthood. I’m guessing that if Isobel wins, she’ll likely do the honorable knightly thing and give Aurelia some say over her own destiny. So we’ll hope Isobel and her worthy second win the tourney.

Looking good so far. You’ve done a nice job of portraying Isobel’s personality. Plain spoken, forthright, honorable and sweet-natured. She does carry 'lawful-good' to the point of being a bit of boneheaded – evidenced by being unwilling to pick a lock regardless of the circumstances.

[Grits]

Isobel! Yay! I like how fair-minded she is about the conflict between her friend Aurelia and Aurelia’s Knight Commander mother.

She didn't think the others did much reading

Seryn left the key! Very knightly. She and Isobel are a good pair. After the description of the other aspirants, it’s clear that Isobel is the only acceptable option for Aurelia.

Funny that Isobel is most concerned about the poem part. As long as Seryn doesn’t expect further poerty recitals, the two should make a great team. This was a fun tournament.

[Renee]

Sload are in ESO, cool. I remember before Skyrim was out, folks who didn't get the lore around sloads asking why aren't they in the game? Why can't we PLAY as a sload??? Anyway, good to know they're in ESO. Wonder what they look like. Yicch.

Yeesh. "Win the hand of the daughter..." that's so wrong. But there are also clues to follow, hmm.

"I suggested picking the lock.... it wasn't what a knight would do..." So no lock-bashing, eh? Anyway, how thoughtful for them to leave the key hanging where it should be.

A serenade is worse than fighting! But what happened to Aurelia?

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 8 2025, 05:45 PM

[ghastley]

@Acadian: I suspect that Seryn is aware of the possibility of judges being picky with the rules, so leaving the key is a good precaution. I liked the consistent way the game's author writes Isobel, so I'm trying to match it. Naive but learning, perhaps.

@Grits: Seryn and Isobel do have similar outloks, but from very different backgrounds. They should work well, I hope.

@Renee: Aurelia died horribly from being serenaded. Aurelia's involvement is far from over.

--------

Previously: Seryn was diverted from her trip home, to go help Isolbel on High Isle.

----------

Knight Errant

I found Isobel again talking to Aurelia near the jousting arena, this time at the other end, near a large platform where the Knightly Orders' representatives were waiting to receive the quest items. The ones I was carrying, in my role of second to the aspirant.

A herald announced us, and we climbed up the steps. We presented each of the items we'd collected: the Hilt, the Lute and the Staff, to the Orders that had requested them, and even Isobel's silly little ditty about the Lute went down well enough.

Since we'd got them all, and none of the other aspirants had returned anything, it was indisputable that Isobel had won the tourney. She received her promotion to knight, becoming Dame Isobel, from the Knight Commander herself. As expected, and greatly to Aurelia's relief, Isobel requested that Aurelia be freed to make her own decisions.

Speaking to Dame Jourvel in her office afterward, I got the impression that the whole "daughter's hand" thing was a ploy to light a fire under Aurelia, and get her to make up her mind what she wanted to do, if it wasn't going to be becoming a knight herself. I mentioned that Azura seemed to want me to become well-traveled, making sure Aurelia heard me, in case she took the hint.

I wasn't sure if she did. Mostly she seemed relieved to have escaped the clutches of Langley and Mortens. Hopefully she'd see the advantages of putting some extra distance between them and her.

Isobel was told she was now a Knight Errant, which meant that she should go travelling herself, and find some worthy quests to do. She needed experience, and there was a limit to what she could get on High Isle. At Azura's prompting, I offered to take her with me on my travels, as I had the same objectives myself.

---

I now understood that one of the reasons we'd stopped at Vulkhel Guard on the way to Shimmerene with Clark, was so I could go back there and join the Guilds. The Fighters guild, the Mages guild, and the Undaunted all had paying work for adventurers that would be perfect for us. I could also get certified for crafting writs, which would be another source of both gold and experience, as well as letting me upgrade my equipment, when I needed to do so.

The first thing we did was to get Isobel into a costume that matched her idea of what a Knight was supposed to look like. It was a traditional Lion Guard light plate, so not the heavy, clunky kind that a dedicated tank wears. More of a medium armour, which matched much of what she'd actually be wearing. She had skills for most support roles, but they could all do with a bit of development in the field, so a middle-of-the-road approach suited best.

We gave it a dye job, so she wouldn't get confused with the actual Lion Guard, making it a bit more blue and shiny, and maybe even more Breton than the original.

---

Although we joined the guilds at Vulkhel Guard, we'd need to travel a bit more to pick up some daily quests to get us started. "There are job brokers on High Isle, in Gonfalon Bay. I suppose we can do those, now, too," Isobel suggested.

"The whole idea is to travel, not go back home. But we'll go there once we have seen a bit more of Tamriel, I promise."

We joined a group of travellers going to Elden Root, as we could pick up the guild dailies there. Travelling as a group meant only one of us need to know the wayshrine there, and once we'd visited, we'd have another landmark. We would still probably need to learn more of them to actually do the quests we were getting, but we'd handle that when it arose. I had my guar, and Isobel had a horse, so we could ride when we needed to.

---

Elden Root is the biggest tree I've ever seen. The top can't be seen from ground level, it just gets lost in the clouds or haze. I was amazed by the tree, but apparently Isobel was more amazed by the Undaunted Enclave, judging by her reaction when we first went there. "Look at all these people! Look at all this stuff! I just hope we get to see a fraction of the dungeons this must have come out of."

"One at a time," I reminded her, and we went to get a daily delve quest from Bolgrul. We were lucky, and he gave us the task of retrieving stolen goods from a tower just outside Daggerfall. Isobel had been there before, so she knew the wayshrine. It was a port city, and she'd been taken along with her parents on a business trip.

There was another wayshrine just beyond the tower, so we added it to our portfolio before tackling the quest itself. "If we miss any of the stolen goods and have to come back, this one will be quicker," I reasoned.

We entered the Ilessan tower dungeon through the trapdoor, and started looking for the stolen silverware. It appeared that the bandits had shared out the spoils, as we recovered pieces one or two at a time from the individuals we encountered. Killing the boss was on our list of things to do, but we had all the silverware we were sent for by the time we found her. What she did drop for us, though, was a "companion's greatsword", of better quality than the sword and shield Isobel was using.

I noticed that I couldn't use it myself, nor would I be able to improve it, deconstruct it, or anything like that. But Isobel coul use it, and she'd trained with all weapons as a squire, so I gave it to her. In return, I had to take her sword and sheld. I'd also noticed that she had not been allowed to join the guilds with me, but I'd put that down to her already belonging to the Knightly Order. Apparently companion status was more complicated than I'd thought. It was most likely the same sort of considerations that made me a sorceror, and Clark a dragonknight. There were skills each of us had, that the other could never learn.

After we'd cleared the dungeon, collected the skyshard, (again, I could do that but Isobel couldn't), we stopped outside to discuss what companion meant. It turned out there were a lot of differences in being one. Different skill lines, different equipment, and a whole lot more. A useful one was that she could travel directly to me when I needed her, instead of us having to meet at the nearest wayshrine, like I did with Clark.

---

We traveled back to Elden Root, and climbed up the stairs to the first landing, where the crafting stations were, and the entrances to the Fighters and Mages guild halls. We went in and picked up their daily quests, to close a Dark Anchor, and retrieve an artifact of Sheogorath, respectively. I took the time to pick up the day's crafting writs, too, but decided to do them at the same time as deconstructing the surplus loot from the daily quests. Then we could turn in Bolgrul's quest and the crafting writs down at the ground level at the end.

Fortunately for us, both of the guild quests were in Auridon, and we already had a wayshrine there. We rode out of town to look for more wayshrines, and just as we arrived at the first one at Windy Glade, a nearby dolmen started up. We arrived in plenty of time to join the crowd of adventurers fighting the daedra, and the anchor was soon destroyed, and we had our first Fighter's guild quest done.

Now we had to find Toothmaul Gully, which my map told me was quite a bit further up the coast, if we decided to go that way. Alternatively, we could pick up a couple more wayshrines by taking the roads inland. We opted for the inland route, as we'd use those shrines again.

We encountered a traveling merchant on the road, and traded a few things. He didn't have any companion gear, but he bought the ones I had, that Isobel no longer needed. We also found out that Toothmaul was just around the corner at the end of the trail down to the beach. It was rumoured to be full of goblins, but they seemed to stay in the cave, and not venture out much. The merchant had never seen any outside it.

When we entered the cave, we didn't find goblins in the first part, but some Altmer fighting amongst themselves. I declined a request to assist, as I didn't know anything about what the two sides of the conflict represented. I wasn't here to get involved in their disputes, just to retrieve the artifact for the Mages guild.

There were a few hostile goblins in the next chamber, and we fought through the ones we needed to reach the exit that lead most directly to where we were trying to go. The were a couple more exits, but the crude map I had suggested they were just longer paths leading to the same place. The tunnel we'd picked had its share of goblins, and imps, but nothing major. My map suggested that the western route had significant enemies lurking along it, and the eastern one lead to the goblin chief's den. The main chamber, where all of them converged, would have a scattering of major enemies, but it was likely we could get in and out without having to deal with most of them.

By the time we emerged into the main cave chamber, Isobel and I had done about as much fighting as had in the whole of Ilessan Tower earlier. We still had to find our way across to the the chest containing the artifact, and deal with whatever was guarding it. Fortunately, there were other adventurers there, presumably on quests of their own. Perhaps some of them had agreed to help one or other side of the Altmer conflict.

So we could pick our battles, and wait for assistance with the harder ones. The strangler that we had to kill to reach the chest seemed to be on everyone's dance card, for one reason or another, and it went down from sheer force of numbers. "Now let's get out of here, and go turn this in for our reward," I declared.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 14 2025, 06:53 PM