Neramo’s Dwemer fetish can always be counted on for good times.

Nice job showing us Crafty Lerisa, along with some of her crafty tricks.

So, we learn the nature of the heist Kaleen has planned now. Seryn will be the point girl, with appropriate help from Neramo, Lerisa and Jakarn. Having Isobel sit this one out go look for a gift for Aurelia is a good idea.

Success! Looks like Kaleen’s given Headman Bhosek a boatload of problems and she now has an adequate crew for the Spearhead – next stop Betnikh.

Victory! The various personalities are well represented here, love it!

I never noticed if the two courtyard ladies made it to the ship. How funny. I will pay more attention next time!

Good idea for Isobel to sit out the activities that would not be becoming to a knight. I hope she likes Betnikh. More beach!

Previously: A start has been made along the path to acquiring Hunding's.

@Acadian I was debating Seryn taking Isobel along, rather than leaving her with Jakarn.

@Grits I'm not sure if it's them, but there are a few extra passengers.

-----

Betnikh and Daggerfall

Betnikh was an island, about the same size as Stros M'kai, but greener, damper, and quite a bit cooler. The Orcs living there, (and it seemed it was all Orcs, and anyone else was just visiting), built crescent-shaped houses I hadn't seen anywhere else. Their tents were smaller versions of the same shape, and we saw several of those being used as temporary structures while more of the larger ones were built. A small town had grown up around Stonetooth Fortress, which lived up to its name by being the only fully stone building.

There were quite a few older ruins in a totally different architecture that I think was Ayleid, or maybe Aldmeri. I'm not a scholar of architecture, so it's just a guess. The Orcs had taken the island from the Bretons centuries ago, and there wasn't a lot of Breton influence remaining. Some of the old graveyards suggested Breton style in the crypts and mausoleums, but even tourists like us don't linger long in those.

I couldn't find any presence of the guilds, although most of the other amenities were there - a bank, stables, traders and a tavern. You couldn't do daily crafting writs here, either.

We found the wayshrines, just in case we ever wanted to return, and then went back to our routine of crafting, guild dailies etc at Elden Root.

---

"One of the Undaunted was telling me that they have other Enclaves at Wayrest, and Mournhold. The other guilds are there too, and crafting writs are available in lots more places," Izzie began.

"We're supposed to be establishing our credentials as good potential citizens of the Covenant so we can buy Hunding's, so shouldn't we be doing our dailies in Wayrest?" she asked.

"It's the same guilds, whichever alliance's capital we go to, so I don't think that matters, but we should probably be doing more non-guild things in between. Maybe we should just pick up any side-quests that are offered whenever we're in the Covenant territory anyway." That was my take on it.

"The guilds do send us all over the map, so that makes good sense," she conceded. "And we've often found lost items to return in the delves, or done other quests for people in the dungeons."

---

Bolgrul sent us back to Ilessan tower the next day, so I decided to do my crafting in Daggerfall, instead of Elden Root. It was a long way between the crafting stations and the quartermasters there, and I was hoping they'd be closer in Daggerfall.

I noticed a dog following me around as I did them, and stopped to find out what it wanted. It led me to a corpse lying in the river, and I was attacked when I picked up a note lying next to it. I left the assassin's corpse with the other, and called up Izzie, to show her the note.

It looked like a shopping list, not something that anyone would get killed over, but the items on it were strange. I decided we should talk to the vendors, and see if the items were anything special.

The grocer told me that 'three blood oranges' told him we'd found Roy, and this was all about the King's intelligence network. He'd rather not get involved. The florist told us that 'black roses with thorns' meant dark magic was involved somehow. The tailor added that the 'cloak with a crescent moon' pointed at house Casimir, the king of Daggerfall. We should speak to Captain Aresin of the King's Guard about the note. We'd find him up near the castle.

We'd apparently been followed, as another assassin waylaid us on our way up the castle steps. Just one, so no much of a problem, but it all pointed to a larger group being involved somehow. Captain Aresin knew the code Roy had used in his 'shopping list', Added up, it meant that someone intended to use dark magic to assassinate King Casimir. He sent us the the tavern, to talk to an Orc agent there.

Grenna gra-Kush was standing by the fire in the downstairs room, where she had a good view of the people coming and going. She'd seen of the Bloodthorns go upstairs, but he'd know her if she followed. Could we go up and try and get him to talk? As strangers, maybe we wouldn't arouse his suspicion.

Yes, but would he talk to a stranger? It turned out that he'd attack a stranger - as soon as we stepped onto the next floor. We found another man up there, cowering in a corner. Leveque had been hired by Martine Lenneaux to get hold of some plans of the tunnels beneath the castle, and it looked like Martine had decided to eliminate him, instead of paying.

We went back down to Grenna, who suggested we search Martine's manor, just next door to the tavern, and see what we could find. "Take any evidence direct to Captain Aresin; there's no time to waste."

The door wasn't locked, but we ran into guards on the upper floor, as well as Martine himself. There was a note on a desk about assassins hiding in crates in a ship in the harbour, ready to move when the time was right. We took the note straight to Aresin, up by the castle.

By this time, we'd already killed at least four of the Bloodthorns, so when he asked us to go search the ships, we agreed. We didn't want to be the Bloodthorns' loose end. And we hit pay dirt on the first ship, when an assassin popped out of a crate we opened. She sneered that we were too late, and Verrik (whoever that was) was already on his way to kill the king.

Joining up with Captain Aresin on the way, we rushed to the main door of the castle and entered. King Casimir saw us arrive, at the same time as assassins appeared from the basement. He ran upstairs, hoping the fight would stay on the main floor.

We followed, as I suspected that these people had been sent to drive the King to the real assassin, and I wasn't wrong. Isobel put herself between Verrik and the King, while I faced Verrik directly. Of course he attacked me, and I had to block, but that let Isobel thrust her sword into his back. Aresin came panting up the stairs, having cleaned up the rest with the aid of the palace guards.

King Casimir apologised to Aresin for not believing his warnings, and asked him to give Isobel and myself all possible assistance against the Bloodthorn.

Did we just get volunteered for another quest? At least we got a reward for this one.

---

"Remind me to avoid stray dogs in future, Izzie. I was not expecting all that."

"Well, if we were going to do an unplanned quest, at least this one's going to count a lot towards getting Hunding's. You can't do much better than saving the life of the King."

I'm not surprised that the two ladies didn't linger in Betnikh.

Isobel makes a good point about the Undaunted sending them all over for good exposure and experience, but she is an Undaunted Fangirl, after all. Daggerfall is probably an even better idea.

Paydirt! An important Covenant quest completed! And one that was appropriately knightly for Dame Isobel. She's right that such a feat should help pave the way into the Hunding's house.

Izzie has an excellent point. If you’re going to do some quests in Covenant territory, why not for the King of Daggerfall? That should count double toward acquiring Hundings!

When Gabrielle was killed off, I started to re-think using her in the story, but after reviewing what I had, I decided to go ahead. So Seryn can continue her part of the story.

-----

Previously Seryn and Isobel had saved the life of King Casimir, and buying Hunding's was starting to look
possible.

-----

Wayshrines

The next day, the Fighters Guild daily sent us to Glenumbra for a dolmen, so we decided, (or rather I decided, and Isobel agreed,) to do a bit more exploring, and find the wayshrines and all the dolmens. We could just close the first one we found, but knowing where they all were would give us more options later.

We'd heard people talking in Daggerfall about Camlorn being overrun by werewolves, so we avoided going there, but it seemed that they were all over the place. When we discovered the dolmen at Cambray Hills, there were werewolves all around it in the swamps. The dolmen was active when we arrived, so we helped close it, to complete our daily quest. We'd go find the third one in the north next.

Just as we mounted up to go look for it, however, we heard one of the other departing adventurers call out "Werewolves at the camp", so we followed to find out what was special about these. And the answer was that they were tougher than the usual ones, and it was a good thing we were all there for the dolmen. Izzie and I could not have managed them on our own.

We headed North, but by a very roundabout route that visited all the wayshrines on our map. On the way, we found a dead adventurer with a handbill about collecting crocodile teeth, so we did that whenever they attacked us, and in Hag's Fen, that was quite often. We had to pass the trader who was asking for them on our way to the dolmen, so why not?

There were a couple more side-quests like that. Ones we did because we were passing through, and they didn't take us out of our way. Getting rewarded for something you were going to do anyway, just makes sense. So bandits blocking our path were an opportunity, not a problem.

Such as the Bloodthorns at Merovec's Folly. We need to get down to the beach to reach King's Guard dolmen, so when the mage we met on the way wanted our help getting past them, we did so. Everything she needed us to do would take us closer to the dolmen.

When we got down to the beach, Isobel was a bit disappointed that the water was too cold for a dip. I pointed out on the map just how far North we were. It was even further north than Betnikh, and the water was cool there.

"So Wrothgar's even further North?" she asked. "There's no ice here, and Bud was telling me some places had ice all year round."

"You haven't been to Wrothgar yourself, I take it," chimed in Gabrielle, the mage we'd arrived with.

I told her we hadn't and explained how I'd come from Vvardenfell, around the south coast, and then journeyed to High Isle from the Summerset Isle to meet Isobel.

"I had assumed you would have gone around the north of Cyrodiil, through mainland Morrowind, Skyrim, and Wrothgar. Nobody goes through Cyrodiil, as it's just a war zone these days." She paused. "But then I haven't gone in the other direstion either. I've never been to Vvardenfell."

Of course we'd all visited the provinces where the various guilds had sent us. She was on a guild job now, although it was a one-time situation, related to clearing the werewolves from the area. She had a talisman that she had to take to a Wyrd shrine on the beach to recharge. "And there it is, just up ahead."

The Wyrd shrine was under the roots of a large tree. The sand had been washed out from beneath it, but the roots went deep enough that it still stood. A rock had been carved into an altar for the ritual she needed to perform. Gabrielle told us that the tree itself was part of the ritual and would be providing the energy to recharge the talisman.

Isobel and I stayed to watch, and it's a good thing we did. Something went wrong with the ritual, and Gabrielle didn't know why. "It seemed like something had interfered with the process, maybe daedric, and possibly even from inside the talisman itself," she told us.

"While I recover, can you take the talisman further up the path to the Wyrd circle and try to purge the talisman there?"

The Wyrd circle was an arrangement of trilithons around a stone basin in the centre. It held a shallow pool of water, and we dropped the talisman into it, to wait for Gabrielle to catch us up and tell us what to do next.

We didn't need to wait, as contact with the water was enough to force the Dremora out of the talisman, and he attacked.

And as soon as we put him down, the dolmen around the corner fired up. Isobel and I rushed to take part in that. There were others there, and it didn't take too long. We were back to the Wyrd circle just as Gabrielle caught up.
We told her about the Dremora in the amulet, and she examined it, to see if it was still of any use for the ritual she'd tried earlier. No such luck.

"I need to go back to the Lion Guard Redoubt to let them know, but nothing after that. You mentioned never having visited Wrothgar, and I've never visited Vvardenfell. How about we guide each other round the wayshrines?"

That idea appealed to me, but it left Isobel without anything to do.

"Don't worry about me" she told us. "I never have problems finding something to do with the Undaunted."

We agreed to meet at the wayshrine at Elden Root after we'd reported back and completed our current assignments. When Gabrielle arrived, Izzie rushed off down to the Undaunted Enclave, following a large Orc who looked familiar.

---

Even when the travel itself is instant, going round thirty or more wayshrines takes a bit of time. We added some more by walking through Orsinium, and Vivec City, just to see the sights. And several of the wayshrines out in the wild had views to take in, or nearby sites of interest. So it took up the majority of a day.

---

Back at Snugpod, I told Isobel about our exploration, and asked how her day had gone.

"How many delves did you run through today? And did you get to 'meet up' with Bud again?" I inquired.

"Er, not so many as usual," she replied. "When I met Bud at the Enclave, he had his brother with him, and another Orc. They'd just taken a pledge from Maj, and were looking for a fourth to do the dungeon.

"They explained to me that a pledge dungeon is a private deal for the four, so nobody else gets sent there. You get to plan your strategy ... well, as much as the enemy will let you!

"It wasn't what I was used to, but a new challenge was just what I needed, so I agreed to join them. We went off to find the Banished Cells in Auridon, and discussed tactics on the way. Bud's brother Fiorello was a damage-dealing mage like he was, but the other guy was more of a group healer. His staff was a Restoration one, and he could cast stronger heals than I could. So I'd mostly be up close, holding the boss still, like I usually did when there was just two of us. I could handle that, especially with the sword and shield they'd brought along for me.

"I probably should have noticed that bit of pre-planning on their part, but at the time, I just thanked Stendarr for the forethought. And it really did all work out nicely with the fights we had. They were tougher than I was used to, doing just delves, but the step up wasn't too hard. Having three sources of damage makes things go faster, especially with the lesser enemies. The bosses were a challenge, but I like a challenge!"

Izzie paused, and looked a bit sheepish, before she continued.

"When we got outside after the final boss fight, I started to suspect why they'd asked me along. We were on a beach, stinking of deadra gore, and Bud knew what that meant. And so did I, and I like a challenge, as I just said. The prospect of extra fun had crossed my mind, too.

"And wow, did I have a lot of fun!"

"All three at once? You're not part Dunmer, are you? That's the sort of thing I'd be doing!"

We chatted a bit more about our experiences of multiple partners. This was her first time, but I had a few other variations to tell her about.

"With a Daedric Princess?" she exclaimed.

"And I got to keep him after all that," I replied. "Still, I miss some of the others, too. I guess you can't take the Dunmer out of me, even after I've found a good one."

"You should start doing the pledges, too," Isobel suggested. "There's a lot of possible combinations of four, and any of them suit my tastes."

"I'll give it some thought. Writs, and other dailies take up a lot of time, and the pledges don't contribute to our getting Hunding's. We have a lot of considerations, other than having fun."

Maybe Clark and Isobel encountered the Chorrol guild bouncing between the Aldcroft dolmen and the WB werewolf trio.

Pairing up with Gabriel to share complementary wayshrines is a good idea.

Seems Isobel enjoyed her pledge. . . and the apparently obligatory post pledge orgy with her orc pals. From what I’ve heard of orc mating practices, and Isobel being a Breton, it seems she proved her tankiness both in the dungeon and after.

Isobel!

That oh so shiny armour I have you in might be a little tarnished now! You know, from the bathing on the beach and cleaning the gore and. Erm. Orc related stuff.

Wait, that doesn't sound right.



Oh boy. Wait until they discover trials and the possible combinations of twelve. Are Clark and Isobel proficient with variables and spreadsheets?

@Acadian: I suspect that might have been the Chorrol guild. Everything did go down quickly.

@burnt: Isobel thinks she might have overdone it. In-game, she prefers delves to group dungeons, and now she understands why they may be too much of a good thing.

-----

Previously: Exploration of Wrothgar and Vvardenfell plus a group event.

-----

Lion Guard

Not long after that, we got the assignment to close Dark Anchors in Glenumbra again, so we went to the Lion Guard Redoubt wayshrine, to see if Gabrielle was still there. It was on our way to the King's Guard dolmen, anyway.

She was there, and had news for us. The talisman we'd helped her try to restore had been analysed, and replicated. It had a specific resistance enchanted on it, and she thought she knew what it was for. The Lion Guard had sent a squad to follow up reports of the Bloodthorn cult at the nearby Cath Bedraud cemetery, and they hadn't returned. A second, larger, squad had followed to investigate the first, and potentially rescue them. Now they were overdue, too.

"They were probably overcome by whatever this talisman protects against. We have enough for you and Isobel, if you'd help me go and find out."

Cath Bedraud was nearer than the dolmen, although there was a rock ridge in between, and we'd have to come back here to get to the other side. We decided to go with Gabrielle, especially as she seemed determined to go herself, and whatever was there had already overcome two squads of Lion Guard.

"It wouldn't be knightly to let her go alone," Izzie declared, so we were going, too.

---

Closer to the cemetery, we could see a thick mist surrounding the place. An unnatural one, not pooling in the valleys, but staying on top of the hill inside the cemetery gates. We started to find some of the Lion Guard soldiers, mostly dead, but one was lying wounded, or at least choking from the effects of the mist. Gabrielle stayed with him, to try and heal him, while Izzie and I went ahead, to look for more.

It wasn't just the mist guarding the place. Hostile skeletons, and the necromancers who'd raised them, were everywhere. No sign of more Lion Guard inside the fence, so far, not even dead ones.

And then we found them. Half a dozen, all lying unconscious side by side, and another seemingly unaffected, trying to heal them, or at least keep them alive.

"We should have brought more of those amulets," Izzie remarked.

The unaffected Lion Guard introduced himself as Darien Gautier, leader of the squad. He told us that the necromancers all had amulets like the one she'd mentioned, but he couldn't leave the soldiers to try and get some. Maybe we could?

"How did you get one?" I asked.

"I haven't got one," he replied. "Somehow the mist isn't affecting me, and I have no idea why not. These men need them, hurry!"

When we got back with enough amulets for the men, we found that Gabrielle had caught up with us, and was helping attend to the poisoned men.

"This beautiful woman from the Mages Guild just arrived. Says she knows you! You can introduce me later," Darien said. 'I was right about the amulets, though, wasn't I?"

Once the knights all had their amulets, and were getting back to their feet again, Gabrielle told Darien to get them back to the redoubt. The three of us would remain and try to clear up the source of the poisonous mist, in the crypts below. He agreed, but he was coming back to assist, as soon as he'd done so.

"Count on me to get the knights out of here. You just protect Gabrielle. If this mad plan actually works, I'll see you inside the crypt."

---

We collected a few more of the amulets on our way to the middle of the cemetery. Gabrielle's plan, as she'd described to Darien, was to amplify the enchantment to open the entrance to the catacombs. Once inside, she could open a portal for reinforcements to join us from the redoubt, bypassing the mists completely. She was sure that Angof the Gravesinger, leader of the Bloodthorns, made the crypts his headquarters. That would be a level further down, so the catacombs were a good place to assemble our forces.

We had to defend her as she opened the catacombs door. The spell took a long time to cast, and doing so attracted the attention of just about any remaining skeletons, or necromancers, that we hadn't already fought. But eventually it was done, and we entered the catacombs. Now to find a good spot for the portal into the crypts.

"Some of the dead were protected by wards designed to prevent desecration. Look for a tomb with these wards and use this stone there. That should be safe enough for my purposes," Gabrielle told us, handing me a binding stone. "I'll stay here and open one for the knights to join us.'

As soon as we had placed the binding stone, a portal appeared and Gabrielle caught up with us. "Go on. Through the portal with you. There's no time to waste."

We stepped through into the crypts. "Good, you found the perfect spot for …. Wait, where are the others?"

"Others?"

"Yes. Sir Lanis and his knights volunteered to come with me, but I only see Dame Alexine. There must have been too many of us for the binding stone. This isn't good. The other knights could have been scattered throughout the crypts."

"So we need to round them up first," I replied.

"Right. But listen—there's only one way to get out of these crypts. You have to kill Angof. I don't have any other way to deal with his various protections and defenses now that I'm down here. He dies or we never leave. Those are our choices. And everything was just starting to go so well, too."

---

The final group of knights we found included Sir Lanis, and Darien.

"Dear Gabrielle's spell seems to have misfired. Luckily, a few of us were able to find each other. I also convinced a Bloodthorn cultist to tell me how to reach Angof. I can be persuasive when I put my mind to it."

Apparently, reaching Angof would require collecting some shard keys. We left him with Gabrielle, and set off to collect them.Two of the three were simply guarded, and all we had to do was defeat the guardians. The third had a riddle to solve, sort of. There was an incantation we needed to read, and repeat, word for word, back where the guardian spirit stood. So we had to find that, first, before we got the shard key.

With all three keys in hand, we assembled at the door to Angof's sanctum. Gabrielle, Darien and Sir Lanis entered with Isobel and me.

"There's not a lot of room to fight him," Gabrielle declared, "so here's my plan. You two take on Angof directly, and I'll defend you with a magic barrier when you need it. Sir Lanis and Darien will need to defend me while I'm doing that. We'll do what we can to help. Just stay away from his vines."

Whenever Angof started to cast one of his major attacks, she cast her barrier to counter it. "Get to the light, before his magic destroys you!"

The minions Angof summoned seemed to want to target the larger group, and Sir Lanis and Darien were kept busy, too. But that left Angof more exposed to Izzie and me, and we were able to wear him down, and finish him off. Gabrielle could now open another portal, back to the redoubt.

---

"Well, now, wasn't that fun? I'd fight alongside you anytime," said Darien. "But I'd rather carouse. You do carouse, don't you?"

Gabrielle almost agreed. "All right, maybe fun isn't the right word. But you were glorious! Angof is finally dead. We can't thank you enough for what you've done."

That reminded me what we hadn't done. Isobel and I ran off to attend to that dolmen. It would be an anti-climax to the day, but we needed to complete our daily quest for the Fighters Guild.

"It wouldn't be knightly to let her go alone," Izzie declared.’
That is so very Isobel – and informs so many of her choices.

Ugh, poison mist and necrodudes. The group did a nice job taking down minions and, finally, Angof.

I hope Clark and Izzy finally got that dolman closed!

@Acadian: It's Seryn and Izzie. As this one should remind us.

-----

Previously: Seryn and Isobel (and Gabrielle) met Darien Gautier. I think he noticed Gabrielle.

-----

Hunding's

When we turned in the quest for our usual reward coffer, we were handed a note as well. It told us we'd now met all the requirements, and could purchase Hunding's Palatial Hall. Guess where we headed next?

---

It was a good thing that we had been doing all those guild quests, because the house wasn't cheap. And that didn't leave us with a lot of gold for buying furniture.

"So we take our time, and make the furnishings ourselves," Izzie reminded me. "There are some things we can't make, like crafting stations, but you don't need to buy those with gold, anyway. You can get them for writ vouchers."

"Good point! I'm wondering whether to tell Clark, so he can contribute, or keep it a secret until we can show him the place complete. Come to think of it, Azura's got him pretty busy, so he's probably not doing any daily crafting. So we tell him when it's all done."

"It's a pity the Undaunted quests aren't giving me anything that helps," Izzie remarked.

"I don't know, the amount of furnishing plans you've discovered in the delves is going to help a lot. We should sort through those, and decide what style this place needs. Maybe sell a few that we're not going to use, and buy others."

"I think we should make more of these Redguard lights, at least. Since you can do them to match what's already here, it means fewer to craft than changing to a new style."

"Good idea, and I can do a couple more types of Redguard light that we haven't already got. Maybe we should do everything Redguard style, so it all matches?" I proposed.

"Well, it won't look wrong if some of the pieces are other styles, as long as the colours are right. And I wouldn't mix the red and the blue, even if we stick to all Redguard."

"There's a yellow, too," I remarked. "But I don't know how to make any of those. In fact, I know so many more red than blue, it's kind of making my mind up for me."

"How about the plain wooden things? They go with any of them."

"I'll be making quite a few of those for the courtyard. Without any fabric, they won't fade in the sun."

"How about blue stuff in the tower?" Izzie suggested. "We'll only get a few things in there, anyway, and you might as well use those plans somewhere."

"I thought you might like that in Breton style, just to make it different from the main house."

"Well, the only blue bed plan is a Breton one, and you can do a blue High Isle chair. Make it all blue, rather than all Breton?"

"I think that will work. Let's get started."

---

Of course, when you decide to keep to a consistent style, you quickly run out of the style material, and a lot of the plans called for the same wood, and the same dyes. We soon had a trip to the merchants on our agenda. Isobel's family connections helped a lot with that. She knew where to go for the best selections, and she was good at finding the bargain deals.

But some things are only available from specialist suppliers. Especially the crafting stations, and they wanted payment in writ vouchers, rather than gold. Those were going to take a little longer. At least we had enough here now that we could move in, and finish building without having to travel between homes.

We weren't planning on moving any of the furnishings from the St Delyn place, or from Snugpod. The styles didn't match, and there were still good reasons to keep using those. Which reminded me, Clark was going to be dropping back from Summerset tomorrow, and there's no better reason than that.

It's good that Azura reminds me. She has a much better sense of time than I do. I'd forget what day of the week it is. Especially now I have one of those hourglass things that lets you change the time of day in your house.

That was so useful when we put the lights in. We could set it to daytime to do the work of placing them, and then dial up midnight to see how they worked, and if we needed more. You just have to remember to put the time back to normal often enough that you don't completely lose track of how long you've been working.

---

Since Clark and I had both been working for Azura, it wasn't hard for us each to assume that she'd tell the other about anything they needed to know. So when we talked about anything, it was usually where we wanted to go and eat tonight, or stuff like that. We'd both got into the habit of not talking about what we'd been doing for Azura.

So that meant keeping Hunding's a secret wasn't as hard as it might have been. I don't think I'd even mentioned Isobel to him, yet. I had told him about joining the guilds, so he could assume they were taking up most of my time. Likewise, he'd mentioned Queen Ayrenn, and we knew it was her decree that started all the problems we encountered at Shimmerene, so I was just assuming he'd got tied up in the general unrest there in Summerset. I'd asked if he had any idea when his involvement there would be over, just so I'd know how long we had to do the furnishing. He had no idea, but Azura was quietly assuring me we had enough time.

---

Isobel and I started to notice that whenever we ran into Gabrielle or Darien, the other was around, too. They did confess to seeing a lot of each other, because their positions in the Mages and Fighters Guilds made that happen.

"And with the stress in our jobs with all these conflicts going on, I think we're finding relief in each other's company," Gabrielle admitted. The grin on Darien's face told me it was a bit more than company.

"We're both going off to Coldharbor, as soon as Vanus Galerion and Countess Nakruba get the Alliance leaders to agree to sanction us," he added. "So you won't see us for a while. It's expected to be a quick strike, with a small force, to catch Molag Bal off-guard."

"Vanus hopes to destroy the Great Shackle, and stop the Daedric incursions," Gabrielle added. "He thinks we have a good chance, as there's a new ally with special powers helping us. Mannimarco inadvenrtantly created a Vestige when he failed to completely soul-trap one of his victims, and that makes them immune to a lot of things, especially in Coldharbor."

Isobel and I were familiar with the Dolmens, of course, but not what was on the other end of those chains. Gabrielle tried to explain what they knew, or had surmised from the behaviour of the dark anchors. It was all a bit more than I could grasp. The part about the Vestige wanting the rest of their soul back made complete sense, but the complex plans they had to achieve it made my head spin.

---

It started spinning again when I asked Azura what a Vestige was. Apparently it had something to do with immortality, which was keeping the mind and body together. Ordinary daedra were immortal, because theirs would get re-united after any interruptions, unlike regular people. Clark and the Tribunal were immortal in a different way, where the separation wouldn't happen in the first place, but that was an artificial situation, which could be undone with enough power. Daedric Princes like herself were "naturally" immortal, in that there just couldn't be enough power to separate them.

A Vestige was an anomaly. Either they were like the Daedric Princes, but less so, meaning their mind could never be completely separated from their body, or else they were created by the incomplete separation attempt. Whichever it was, any subsequent attempt would completely fail, leaving them able to re-unite like a daedra.

"That's why necromancers need mortal victims, because they want to use the body without any mind getting in the way?" I asked.

"Right, so it doesn't work on daedra, even if you try to raise them immediately. Their bodies are expecting the right mind back, when they 'wake up' again," she explained.

"Why is Clark immortal?" I wanted to know.

"Because Nocturnal and I needed an immortal assistant. Working together, we could make sure nobody, even another Daedric Prince, could undo it. As long as the Tribunal work together, they have the same advantage."

Of course, I was thinking about Clavicus Vile when she said that. I wondered if any of the Daedric Princes were involved in what Clark was doing now. Well, if they were, Clark had some on his side, so I shouldn't worry.

Interesting topic between Seryn and Azura there about immortality, and the way you compared the Tribunal to the Vestige. Some really interesting concepts there. And Necromancy too, needing mortal subjects so the mind can't get in the way. Found myself getting very involved in that conversation!

And Hunding's is bought. Shopping time! Matchy matchy decorations incoming

So Seryn and Isobel finally get Hunding’s Palace and are immediately pulled into decorating and everything associated with that.

Looks like Gabrielle and Darien are heading for Coldharbor.

Fascinating discussion about the Vestige

@Burnt Sierra: Clark is now a grade 2 immortal, having two grade 1 sponsors. I may need that distinction later.

@Acadian: Gabrielle and Darien will get mixed in a bit as the story progresses. Seryn has met them, but Clark hasn't yet.

-----

Previously: Seryn qualified to buy Hunding's Palatial Hall, and did so. She's started furnishing, but it will take some time. Meanwhile ...

-----

Kidnapped

Isobel got another letter from Knight-Commander Jourvel, asking us to meet her in Gonfalon Bay, at the Ancient Anchor. Izzie's sure it has something to do with Aurelia.

---

Dame Jourvel showed us a letter she received from Aurelia. She was still in Rivenspire, trying to track down the gold that had gone missing from Veloise Mecantile's account. It said that she and Marso were getting close to solving the case.

"That means she's about to get into more trouble," was Isobel's opinion, and I was inclined to agree. "We'd better go there and find out."

---

The letter said she was staying at the Run Inn in Fell's Run, so that's where we went first. We found Aurelia in conversation with a man in mage's robes, but there was no sign of Captain Marso.

And that was because he'd been kidnapped by the brigands, who were holding him hostage in the nearby Obsidian Scar ruins, theatening to kill him if Aurelia didn't put an end to her investigations. Of course, that made her even more convinced they were on the right track, and close to a resolution. Marso needed to be rescued, so the investigation could continue.

"I can't fault her logic, even if her judgement is a bit lacking," Isobel remarked. "Now we're here, that might actually be the best course of action, but Aurelia would probably have tried to go it alone. It's a good thing her mother sent us."

"There's no guarantee we'll succeed, but there's also none that they'll let him go if Aurelia backs off," I added.

We headed for Obsidian Scar.

---

Things started to make more sense, and at the same time got more complicated, when we entered the ruin. Not far in, we met an Orc named Lashgikh, who had also been kidnapped, along with her Redguard husband, Esmaeel. It seemed that the Orc cultists who lived here, the Oathbound, did kidnapping for hire, and Marso wasn't their only prisoner. Lashgikh had escaped, but she hadn't been kept with Esmaeel, and didn't know where he was. Perhaps he and Marso were being held together? So Izzie and I agreed to help her, as it would be the same search anyway. And naturally Dame Isobel Veloise would feel that she had to do so, being a Knight.

We soon found Esmaeel dead in a cell off of one of the corridors. There was no sign of Marso, and the cell was small enough to suggest it would only hold one prisoner at a time. I didn't like finding out that the Oathbound were prepared to kill their prisoners, but Lashgikh's story hinted at extra prejudice against Esmaeel, for taking an Orc bride. Osgrikh, the chief of the clan she left when she married, had sent the Oathbound after them, and he was definitely the kind who'd want Esmaeel dead.

The rest of the cells along that stretch of corridor were empty of prisoners, but we found an Ogrim in another. The door to that was open, so I assume it just wandered in. It wasn't the first Ogrim we'd encountered. The Orcs seemed to like summoning daedra, and there were dremora, scamps, banekin, and flame atronachs as well. So many, I started to wonder if they were allies, not summons. They were all hostile to us, so it didn't really matter.

Lashgikh asked us to help gather the heads of Thrug and Larzgug, the siblings of Osgrikh, so she could use them in a ritual to swear a blood oath to Malacath for revenge on Osgrikh himself. She'd seen them here after they helped bring her and her husband in.

Even after doing that, we still hadn't found Marso. Wherever they were holding him was even deeper into this maze of a ruin. There were cells and cages in a lot of places, but all empty so far.

Finally Lashgikh led us to a corner that held an altar to Malacath, and there were spikes for the heads on either side. She knelt and swore an oath to Malacath, and someone, whether the Daedric Prince himself, or an avatar, appeared and answered her. When he disappeared again, a portal opened and disgorged Osgrikh, who promptly attacked Laskgikh, so we defended her, and together we killed him. So that was Lashgikh's quest settled, what about ours?

Back up the stairs, and off to one side, we spotted a cage we hadn't searched, with an Orc berserker on guard. There was someone in the cage, although we couldn't yet tell if it was Marso.

The Orc was at least as tough as either of Osgrikh's siblings, and didn't go down easily. But we got the key to the cage, and it was indeed Marso in it. We quickly made our way back to the entrance, before more of the Oathbound turned up.

"I can make it back to the inn from here," Marso told us, "but I don't want to slow you down. Ride ahead, and make sure Aurelia's safe."

The way he said that had me worried, so we did just that, and with good reason. When we got to the inn, the mage we'd seen with Aurelia earlier was waiting outside with the news that she'd now been kidnapped. Not by Orcs, this time, but by a Breton woman. Aurelia seemed to know who she was, and called her Vetitia. The children of the village had seen them headed north, towards Orc's Finger, the old Ayleid ruin. "And they can't have got far; Aurelia was giving her a hard time."

We headed off north. Sure enough, we found a camp-site just outside the ruin, with a Breton woman standing guard over a rather undressed Aurelia, who was tied to a post.

The woman, Vetitia, wasn't in a mood to negotiate, and we ended up killing her.

Aurelia had been bound using strips of her own dress, which is why she wasn't wearing much of it any more. It seemed that Vetitia had no rope, so she improvised.

Marso arrived just as we were setting her free. "Tied up again?" he inquired. "We always seem to be undoing knots when we find you."

"Well, at least this time I didn't get comprehensively manhandled," Aurelia replied. "It was three guys last time, not a solo woman."

Vetitia had a change of clothing in a backpack at her camp, but she was a bit smaller than Aurelia, who looked like she'd burst out it before long.

"Get your butt back to the inn, and put on some of your own," Isobel commanded.

"She's right, Marso," Aurelia replied. "And then let's go home, back to High Isle."

She turned to us. "Meet us at the Ancient Anchor in Gonfalon Bay. I want to tell you the whole story, but first I want to go home ... with Marso."

---

"Those two have got very close, haven't they?" I remarked to Isobel after they'd left.

"Yes they have. Did you notice how Marso wasn't seeing anything unfamiliar, even with her being almost naked?"

She paused. "And that remark about being tied up ... When we were playing Knights and Princesses, I was always playing the Knight coming to the rescue, and she was always the Princess, of course. She insisted on being tied up, as part of the game, she said. Do you think Aurelia has a bit of a thing for bondage?"

---

A few days later, in the Ancient Anchor, we met up with the couple again. Dame Jourvel was there, too, and Marso told us they'd got approval from his employers for the new arrangement.

"You mean my parents?" Isobel asked. "And what arrangement?"

"Marso and I will be sailing together," Aurelia replied. "Mother wanted me to travel, and we don't want to settle down until we have to."

"So that's why I needed permission to take a permanent passenger," Marso explained. "We'll have time to see the sights at each port of call, while the ship gets unloaded and re-loaded, but I won't be attending to that myself, like I had before. They needed to know that, too."

Isobel wished them both luck. "Stendarr keep you safe, Aurelia."

"If she's going to be a sailor, Marso," I added, "make sure you teach her all about knots."

---

I ran into Gabrielle about a week after that. I asked when she was going on her mission to Coldharbour, and she told me she'd already done that and come back. Darien hadn't come back, though. She was sure he was all right, as she'd seen him alive just before Meridia transported the rest of them back to the Hollow City. I must have looked blank, because she had to explain where the Hollow City was before it made any sense. And about Meridia, and her involvement, too.

"Look out for Darien, will you?" she asked as we parted. "I think Meridia may have sent him somewhere else to do a job for her."

Since this had nothing to do with what Clark or I were doing, I decided to talk to him about it, next time he came home. And Azura didn't say anything to contradict me.

---

"Darien ... Gautier?" Clark asked me.

"Yes, do you know him?"

"Not yet, but when I was in the Clockwork City, Nocturnal mentioned his name, and told me I might see him in Summerset. Something about him working for Meridia."

"So Gabrielle was right about Meridia being involved," I said, feeling rather relieved.

Clark suspected that Darien couldn't tell Gabrielle what he was doing in Summerset, for much the same reasons that were preventing me being informed. We were safer that way.

"But I get to see you whenever you're not actually busy there. Gabrielle hasn't seen Darien since she got back from Coldharbour."

"Meridia isn't Azura," Clark reminded me. "You and Azura sorted things out before I even went to the Clockwork City."

"Just let me know if he turns up, and if it's safe to let Gabrielle know, too," I begged.

Rescuing Marso. . . and it turns into a two-fer when they meet Lashgikh.

’And naturally Dame Isobel Veloise would feel that she had to do so, being a Knight.’
- - Naturally.

Gosh, Orc vengeance is a messy business with the oaths and head-spiking and all. Then Marso gets rescued too.

Uh-oh, a three-fer now as Aurelia gets princess-napped and needs rescuing as well. Fortunately, Vetitia wasn’t as tough as the Orcs and the Knight rescued the Princess.

It seems Aurelia and Marso have been busy – with each other and she will join him in the sailing life. What could go wrong?

Looks like Gabbie’s mission in Coldharbour is done as well, though Darien’s whereabouts is not exactly known.

And, finally, Seryn catches up with Clark and they are finally able to share some thoughts.

Ha, I love the dash between the dolmen and the werewolf camp. Maybe the Chorrol Guild was there!

Oh my, three orcs! Now I get the shiny armor joke from our EU guild meet. Go Izzie!

I'm glad that Gabrielle gets to keep her place in the story. I'm a big fan of Gabrielle and of course Darien. Seryn's adventure gave me fond memories of meeting both of them.

Interesting discussion of the various means of immortality.

Aurelia! She does get tied up a lot. Plenty of lines on a ship!

Congrats to the team on purchasing Hundings! Hunting down achievement furnishings can be a questline of its own.

@Acadian: Aurelia's loose ends are tied up now, so Seryn and Isobel can focus on Hunding's. And Seryn can hand narration back to Clark for a while.

@Grits: Now Seryn has got Gabrielle into the story, it's getting close to where Clark can meet Darien. But not for a couple more episodes.

-----

Previously: Seryn had bought Hunding's and started to furnish it. She hasn't told Clark yet.

Clark has been busy in Summerset Isle, fighting a Sload who was trying to invade Ritemaster Iachesis' mind. He'd discovered that the Sload had instructed Iachesis to steal the Heart of Transparent Law, and hide it, and then forget where he hid it. Clark had interrupted the Sload's attempt to extract that memory.

We now resume that part of the story, and Clark picks up narrating from where he left off.

-----

Academy

Now that the Ritemaster knew what it was that he didn't know, he could at least start to take action. If the location of the Heart was unknown, that meant it was not where it should be, in the Crystal Tower. So we needed to inform the Sapiarchs, and have them confirm its absence.

He sent Valsirenn off to Lillandril, while I went to Alinor, to get permission from the Proxy Queen for our visit to the College of Sapiarchs. Then I'd meet up with Val at the portal to the College itself. We suspected that the Court of Bedlam also wanted access to the Tower, not just the Heart, and she would be looking for any evidence of their presence in town.

The main reason for asking the Proxy Queen's blessing was that I wasn't an Altmer, so I wasn't too welcome anywhere, and the College of Sapiarchs would have been totally out of bounds for me without that level of permission. Fortunately, she also had reports from Razum-dar about the Daedric threat, and concurred.

If I hadn't had to take that side-trip, I might have been in Lillandril before the cultists attacked. As it was, when we crossed over to the island via the portal, we found the cultists and their daedra had got there first, and taken control.

Nocturnal wasn't surprised. After all, the Sapiarchs were the second-rank wizards that didn't make the cut to join the Psijics. The College was all a burocratic structure, with little, if any, research or public works being done. She wasn't sure why they had the task of guarding the Crystal Tower, as they seemed unsuited to the job.

Still, we needed to clear out the daedra before we could get back to what we came for. These didn't seem to be the skaafin we expected, so Clavicus Vile wasn't running this part of the scheme. These looked more like Mephala's minions, Spiderkith and their ilk.

Before long we came across their leader, Mephala's agent and Earl of the Court of Bedlam. Valsirenn knew him
better as her husband, Leythen. He was here to sieze the Resolute Diamonds, which were the keys to the Crystal Tower.

"The Sapiarchs just sealed up the tower, so no guards on the inside?' I asked Nocturnal.

"I did tell you they weren't the brightest. Much like Gascone back in the Clockwork City, but at least in this case, the choice of making them the guardians wasn't my mistake."

Valsirenn managed to capture Leythen, and she took him back to Artaeum, while I went to look for the keepers of the Resolute Diamonds.

On my way, I thought over the details I knew so far. These Resolute Diamonds were attuned to the key-bearers, the 'tower sentinels', and had to be used together. If they were stolen, another actor could not use them, because they would not be attuned. If the two tower sentinels did not act together, it wouldn't work either, so subverting just one of them was of no use. All very effective in ensuring the seal could not be opened by the wrong side.

The problem was that it was all too fragile a process. Nothing had been included as a fall-back if one of the keys was destroyed, or a sentinel killed, or ... It all meant that it would be just as difficult to open for the right people.
Nocturnal overheard my thoughts and agreed with me. "There should have been three or more sets of key and sentinel, with any two being able to unlock the Tower. I gather that there is a process for replacing one, but it takes too long. The replacements should have been built into the plan."

"On the positive side, Mephala's cronies need to keep the sentinels healthy, or they will be blocking their own path," I suggested.

"We'll see."

---

So my next job was locating the keepers of the Resolute Diamonds. Raz had word that Keeper Hannayel had been seen at the Illumination Academy, and perhaps she'd know where Keeper Imedril was hiding himself. We set off for the Academy, hoping things would be a bit simpler going forward.

Of course there was a complication. When we arrived, it appeared that everyone, with the exception of a scholar named Erudil, was the victim of a cursed book. They were all acting as if they were a character from the last book they'd been reading, and naturally, their usual duties wre being ignored. Fortunately someone had been reading a cookbook, or they'd probably have starved to death before we arrived.
"So how did this start?' asked Raz.

Erudil admitted that he'd opened a book that he should not have even touched. The Illminus had apparently trapped some ghost and he released it when he opened the book.

I took a look at the book. All the pages were blank.

"All the words flew out of the book and affected everyone else," explained Erudil. "I have no idea why I wasn't, but maybe it's because I was the one who released it?"

My theory was that since the blank book was the last one he'd read, there was no character for him to take on. Raz thought that made some kind of sense, but it didn'thelp us determine how to fix the problem.

"We need to convince the scholars ..." Raz began

"And the Instructors and Professors. It got everyone," Erudil interrupted.

"We have to convince them they're not who they think," Raz continued. "If they can be persuaded to do something out-of-character maybe they'll see the contradiction, and snap out of it."

"Can you start with Selynia, please?" Erudil asked. "She's normally so timid, and now she's acting like a fearless hero. I'm afraid she's going to do something brave, but stupid, and get hurt."

"Is that her up on top of that wall?" I asked. "If it is, then I think I agree with you."

We climbed up to where we could talk with Selynia.

"Hello! Come to join in my adventures? Or maybe you mean to scold me like the mean old workers. I hope not. I could use a new playmate! Torchbug's fun, but a little strange."

"Who's Torchbug?" I asked her.

He's my best friend! Just over there, see? He always has the funniest ideas, but sometimes he says things that crinkle my carapace. Still, he's always good for an adventure. Sitting in the mines is so boring!"
Raz had found the book she was reading, and help it up so that I could see the cover.

"Are you the Brave Little Scrib?" I asked.

"Yes! Yes! You got it! I am the most fearless adventurer on eight legs! Nothing scares me! Nothing!"

"Really? You aren't scared of anything?"

"Not a thing! Not even those big, hairy spiders in the garden. Definitely not those! Scribs aren't afraid of spiders. Not one bit!"

"Then the spider climbing up the wall won't be a problem at all, will it?" I smiled.

"Get it away from me!" she shrieked, and ran back into the window she'd climbed out of. We went inside and found her hiding behind a bed.

"This isn't right! I'm brave! I'm brave and fearless and … what happened to me? Where am I? Mara help me, were we up on the walls?"

We explained about Erudil and the book, and took her out to talk to him. He was glad that we'd been able to help Selynia before she jumped off the wall, and ...

Raz managed to grab her before she fainted.

"Is anyone else likely to come to any harm if we don't intervene?" I asked Erudil. He didn't think so, or at least he hadn't seen anyone else doing anything dangerous.

Just then a tall, elegant, and completely naked woman walked past us. Just strolling around, oblivious to everyone else.

"That's Instructor Vaerunne. I think she was reading a piece of erotic fiction about a woman who could make herself invisible," Erudil told us. "If I remember the story, you would still be able to see her clothes, so she'd have to take them off."

"Raz thinks we can safely leave her to last," he grinned.

I agreed but for a different reason. "We'll need to herd her to somewhere private before she learns the truth, and that also means nobody else can be with her to tell her. It's going to take some time to figure out how."

"Raz will be diligently thinking about her from here on," he promised.

It appeared that Olivier Reynaud, who had been Selynia's Torchbug, had come to his senses when she did. When the story broke, all the characters were released. Perhaps we should try and find a group of scholars who were all playing out the same story. That way, we'd get the most from our efforts.

"Tanelwen thinks she's Inspector Vale, and she's interrogating Hunrand and Maya Doran. I don't know exactly who they think they are, just her suspects," Erudil told us.

As we entered the room, Tanelwen addresssed us. "Careful there, friend—there's a thief about. One of these two scamps is the criminal mastermind behind a half-baked plot to steal a pie. My pie, in fact. Cut down in its crispy, gooey prime while my back was turned."

"A pie?" I asked. "Are you a baker?"

"Oh ho, goodness no! Surely you recognize the most clever and curvaceous investigator in Tamriel! Clearly you need to read up on my escapades. Some clever writers committed a few to paper. Should be a copy around here somewhere."

The only book we could see was about a locked-room murder mystery, and no, the murder weapon was not a pie. Not only that, but we could see a trail of crumbs going under the table, where Raz found half a pie, and a rather stuffed dog.

We let Tanelwe accuse one of her suspects before we revealed them.

"The real Inspector Vale wouldn't have got it wrong," I pointed out.

Tanelwe looked embarrassed, but when we explained about the cursed book, she felt better about it. "At least I wasn't imagining the pie."

I share Clark and Nocturnal’s thoughts on the lack of wisdom and depth in the Resolute Diamonds / pair of attuned keepers scheme of accessing the Tower.

In the game, I quite enjoyed the quest about the Academy and that recalcitrant book. The scrib and torchbug, and the ever-clever and curvaceous Inspector Vale!

A fun episode!