Now I've created a second-era Clark, I need a story of how he got there. I'd started something similar for Minx, but it wasn't going anywhere, so I've adjusted a bit. This may be a bit infrequent, as my logic is that Azura sends him back to Morrowind, which is special for her, and needs some attention in this era. However, ESO Clark probably won't go there until we get him up to Champion level, and he can start doing things for the story, and not just levels and skill points.


---

Chapter 1 - Arrival


It wasn't exactly deja vu, because this was the first time, and the other happened in the fiuture. Which is why I can't remember it clearly.

Azura told me it would be like this. I would have no memory of the things that hadn't happened yet, because that would cause problems with temporal causality, or something like that. But yet, things that hadn't changed much, like Seyda Neen, where I'd just got off the boat, would seem familiar.

I could remember anything that happened in a Daedric realm, because time worked differently there. So I remember all about my dealings with Azura and Nocturnal, and why they'd made me immortal. I had some recollections of mortal women, including my wife, Dralsi, and our daughter Karliah, but only the things that happened in Nocturnal's Realm. Fortunately, both had been Nightingales, so there was a lot that took place in Evergloam, which might have included Karliah's conception.

I remembered a Bosmer called Cyndil, who'd been made a Nightingale at the same time I was. I had fond, but sparse, memories of a Nord called Gilda, who'd also been a Nightingale with my daughter. There was a Dunmer called Minx, that had joined me in Cyndil's rescue from Mehrunes Dagon's Dremora. Azura tells me that were a lot more that I wouldn't remember in my future.

Most of my memories about Mundus seemed to relate to Nocturnal, and quests that I'd done for her, and yet it was Azura that sent me back here. The mission I was on was particularly hers, as Morrowind was under her protection, perhaps as a result of her turning the Chimer into Dunmer all that time ago. And yet, I didn't really know what that mission was. It would work itself out, just because I was here at the right time.

---

This promised to be an interesting time. Azura had told me about Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec, and how they'd used the power of Lorkhan's heart to become like gods. And unlike the Daedric Princes, they had nothing restraining them from interfering as much as they liked in the affairs of mortals. Indeed, it was Sotha Sil who had engineered much of that restraint upon their Daedric rivals.

That didn't seem to concern her too much. I imagine that she felt it was the best arrangement for both sides. I got the impression that she felt that the Tribunal were at least as constrained themselves.

And I knew that Balmora was in that direction, and the city of Vivec was in the other. I might know some of the rocks along the way, but not the trees or mushrooms. I have no idea when I was here before, or rather, when I would be here in future. I might be a child when I learn my way around, or an adult. I'm an adult now, but I'm not sure how old to consider myself, considering that I haven't been born yet. It's so confusing.

I wasn't likely to bump into anyone I knew in future. This was far enough back in my past, according to Azura, that no mortal could live that long. Not even the elven mages could prolong their lives that much. If I did see a familiar face, it might be one of her winged twilights with a message.

Azura had also warned me about history. Everything I'd learned about the past, I'd still remember, up to the now I was in. However, some of the accounts may have been revised before I'd learned them, so they'd be false memories, and anything that had just happened here would be fresh in everyone else's memory, but seem vague and distant in mine. This would be especially true about the Tribunal, who Azura felt bent the truth liberally in their records of this time. If I thought I recalled something, I shouldn't trust that feeling until I checked the facts.

That's so wicked. So Clark remembers what happens in the future, even though he's in the past! Yikes.

Is Clark the guy who was involved with Gweden Brothel somewhat?

Welcome to the Second Era, Clark! I'm delighted to see that I'm not the only one who views the Era hopping between Oblivion, Skyrim and ESO as simply an opportunity to figure out the means of time travel that best suits our characters.

Let's hope Clark doesn't follow in the Flash's time-traveling footsteps and create Clarkpoint!

@Renee: No, Clark doesn't remember the future, but things in Daedric realms are outside time. In particular, he has no memories of Gweden, and none of those women were ever in the Deadlands with him. I'm still trying to decide if he'll remember anything about the Shivering Isles. Perhaps he will, but just not believe it!

@Acadian: As Cadwell puts it: Ah, magic, it's so ... magical!

@SubRosa: If clark did anything like that, he wouldn't remember.

----

Previously: Clark arrived in Vvardenfell with no memory of the future Tamriel, and only a few recollections of Daedric realms. He's forgotten all his skills, unless he used them outside Tamriel, too. He does know that Azura sent him there, but not why.

1.2 Seyda Neen

There was a shrine of some kind just outside Seyda Neen that I didn't feel belonged there. Perhaps it would not be there in future. I had no way of knowing. As I stared at it, a mer walked up to it, touched it, and disappeared! I backed away from it, just as a woman ran up to me, asking for my help, or anyone else's. Her companion, a Buoyant Armiger, had been attacked by Daedra, and was wounded. Canon Valasa had sent her to fetch aid. Did I know any healing spells?

Yes, I did, although they were a bit basic. I followed the woman to where the Buoyant Armiger lay. As I did what I could for the woman's wounds, I asked Canon Valasa what had happened. Were there more Daedra? She told me that the three of them - herself, Alavesa Arethan, the woman who found me, and Canon Llevule - had just entered the Andrano tomb when the Daedra appeared, and attacked them and the Buoyant Armiger guard. They weren't followed when they fled, but the Daedra were still in the tomb.

By this time, several travellers had stopped to see what was going on. Just as I agreed to go talk to Canon Llevule and offer any assistance I could, one of them started to glow, and rose off the ground. A moon and a star appeared above her outstretched hands and she started to speak in an unnatural voice.

"By Dawn and Dusk, evil creeps through the shadows of my beloved Vvardenfell. But an Outlander arrives to aid my people, just as I have foreseen."

I thought it was a bit heavy-handed of Azura to announce me this way, but it did at least confirm that helping these priests was the first part of what she wanted me to do. And I'm an outlander, am I? Well, I suppose that gives me cover for not knowing my way around like a native contemporary.

---

Canon Llevule was waiting outside the tomb, pacing up and down. He told me that it was his family's ancestral tomb, and he had been sent by Lord Vivec to make inquiries of his ancestors. He'd be needed to summon one of their spirits, and another would have to ask Viviec's questions, as the summoning required his full attention. He also needed help with the Daedra, of course.

Azura had mentioned Vivec before she sent me here. He, and Almalexia and Sotha Sil, were the Tribunal "gods". The way Azura described it, they were much like I was, mortals made immortal, but with a bit more magical power at their disposal, which was how they'd become immortal. Vivec was in Vvardenfell, building himeself a city, or rather, having one built for him. My first task, whatever that was, would mean getting involved with him.

So that made sense of why I was getting involved here. It would provide an opportunity to contact Vivec. But the task at hand was Canon Llevule's family tomb, and the Vivec connection would come later.

I wasn't exactly well equipped for fighting Daedra, having just arrived with no equipment whatsoever, and I pointed that out to the Canon. I had a few spells, which must have been ones I learned in Moonshadow or Evergloam, as I had forgotten any others I might have known. I had a sword and shield from the Buoyant Armiger, and I'd need to give those back after we were done here.

The Daedra in the tomb weren't particularly powerful ones, fortunately. The Armiger had just been unlucky in not expecting any, as the tomb was only supposed to contain Llevule's ancestors. Even if some of their sprits were floating around, they'd know him, and not be too aggressive.

I wasn't familiar with the "skaafin", as Llevule called them. The only Daedra I'd encountered were Dagon's - scamps, atronachs, Dremora - and these were apparently another Daedric Prince's minions. Canon Llevule wasn't forthcoming about which one it might be.

Eventually we reached the chamber the Cannon was hoping to, and went to the altar there to perform a brief ritual. It summoned the shade of one of his ancestors, but because he was busy holding the summoning spell in place, I had to ask the questions - on behalf of Vivec. I read them from the document he'd handed me.

Lord Vivec asks, "The heart of the world, key to ascension, should I be filled with apprehension?"

"Ah, Lord Vivec always had a way with words! Tell him to rest assured. The Heart remains safe. I wonder why that concerns him? Ask the remaining questions, as my time here is short."

Lord Vivec asks, "Has the enemy of old returned, so devious and bold?"

"An enemy of old, yes, but not the one that Vivec presumes."

Lord Vivec asks, "Did Sotha Sil in his unending crusade know our divinity would shrivel and fade?"

"Sotha Sil imagined multiple scenarios and contemplated endless solutions. He even experimented with his divinity, drawing energy to study before returning it. Loss will come, he foresaw, but not until the collapse of the Temple. Now, back to sleep."

I took note of the answers, as it appeared that I might have to deliver them to Vivec after all this.

We left the tomb, I returned the borrowed weapons to the Armiger, and chatted for a while with the priests, before setting off in the direction of Vivec City.

---

They told me I'd find crafting stations there, where I could make myself some equipment. There was a shop in Seyda Neen where I could buy some, but I'd do better making my own, as it would cost me less that way. I hadn't arrived with much gold, and I suspected that was because most of my coin hadn't been minted yet. The few coins I had in my pouch looked very worn.

The sword and shield had felt comfortable and familiar, but I wasn't sure if that was because I recalled using them in Dagon's Deadlands, or because I'd been skilled with them before. In future, I mean. Perhaps I'd used them because of my future skills, but I'd have to re-learn most of those. Still, if I had any aptitude for a fighting skill, it could be that one.

The few spells I recalled were fire-based, but that could have come from my memory of the Deadlands, too. Everything is fire-related there, of course.

Vivec City appeared to be mostly under construction, but that was just an impression from approaching it from the North. When I got closer, I could see that the southern part was already quite well completed, especially the palace, and its attendant buildings. The crafting area was on the western side, before you crossed over to the cantons, and I made my first stop there.

My crafting skills were also pretty meagre. Perhaps as well, as I couldn't afford the materials for the better equipment I didn't have the skills to make. I did what I could, and created myself some weapons and armour that should at least keep me in contention.

Canon Llevule had got ahead of me while I was doing that, so by the time I made my way to Vivec's palace, he was already there. I found him in conversation with Vivec, and Archcanon Tarvus. (I didn't know either of them, but Llevule made the introductions).

Archcanon Tarvus was reluctant to accept assistance from an outsider like myself, but Vivec overruled him. He sulked off to his office, leaving me with Vivec.

"Canon Llelvule says you helped him in his mission. As I have written, "the one who helps my ally becomes my friend. Despite the Archcanon's concerns, I greet you with sincerity and pose a simple question. Will you assist us further, Outlander?"

"What kind of help do you need, Lord Vivec?" I responded

"I have Ordinators and Armigers at my disposal, vast armies of followers and dedicated priests. What I don't have, however, is a fresh perspective. Will you set aside your personal goals for a time and become the eyes and ears of a god?"

"Of course, Lord Vivec. I can provide a fresh perspective."

"Good. I need assistance to investigate a … strange phenomenon that the ancestor confirmed may indeed be a problem. We'll start with a simple divination ritual. Archcanon Tarvus can tell you what we need to delve into this mystery."

And so I was dismissed to go talk to the Archcanon.

I’m sure Clark finds his new situation terribly confusing. Does he remember this? Has it already happened back in the future? This all must quite frustrate Clark since we know he analyzes things and prefers to make thought out, logical decisions.

Loved how you introduced wayshrines in the opening.

I’m glad you’re taking us through Vvardenfell of the Second Era. I confess I prefer Vivec among the Three.

Ha! He's witnessing Players using Wayshrines! Clever. Hee, and there's the opening quest. My first character Ana Khanda totally avoided that quest, so in her game the lady's still kneeling there, asking for help.

Yeah, those "daedra" are walkovers, I agree with Clark. The equivalent of scamps in TES: IV .

Ha! He's got coins minted in the Second Era, brought back from the Third Era. Clark has the unique perspective of being able to tell these Second Era'd folks what's to come in their futures. Not that any of the NPCs in the game will know what he's talking about.

@Acadian: I'm more impressed by Sotha Sil than Vivec, and of course Clark will prefer Almalexia.

@Renee No, Clark can't remember the Tamriel future, specifically to avoid that kind of thing. And he'd be wondering why wayshrines fell out of use.

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

Previously: Clark met Vivec, and delivered the answers from Llevule's ancestor.

-------

Part 1.3 - Vivec City

On my way out of the palace, Azura steered me towards the St Olms canton where I found a different kind of crafting station. "That equipment you made looks a bit too ... functional ... for my liking," she told me. "This station will let you create a different appearance, without changing the way the equipment works."

"So it's a kind of disguise, or illusion?"

"Illusion is a good word, as it does use some of that kind of magic. It's what we Daedric Princes do all the time, of course. I don't know if we have a 'real' appearance, as you see what you want to see. And I must say, you have good taste."

So we spent a while deciding how I should appear. The overall idea was based on the suit of finery that I'd worn for my trip to Dagon's Deadlands, one of the few bits of my future I could remember. That had been heavily enchanted to reflect damage of all kinds, and was better than armour. With this one, I'd have the armour on "underneath", so to speak. But the illusion also affected me, and the outfit was as comfortable as the clothes, instead of feeling stiif and heavy, like the leather and plate I was really wearing.

I liked this. Just as good as wearing my enchanted clothes from the future, and much the same effect.

Azura liked the blue I chose, or did she nudge my choice in that direction? I never can tell with her in the back of mind all the time. And the gold trim set it off well. We applied that theme to my shield, too, which now looked a bit smaller than it really was. The sword was fine, so we left it alone.

"So now you're fit to be seen, you can go back to the Archcanon's office. You passed it on the way here."

Of course, now I was looking at everyone else along the way, wondering if that was an outfit, or what they were really wearing. "It's the same thing," Azura reminded me. "They're wearing what they want you to see, and the practical considerations of what they need to wear are out of the way."

It seemed like most of the Dunmer women wanted to show off their breasts, as most of the styles drew attention to them. Or maybe it was just what I wanted to see. I don't know any more.

The exceptions were mainly uniforms. The guards needed to be seen as such, and the Mages and Fighters Guild members wanted to show their affiliations. The laborers on the building sites either didn't care for appearances, or wanted to look like laborers. Or maybe it wasn't their choice. This was a time of slavery, after all.

The Archcanon looked like a priest, of course. And he sent me off, back the way I'd come, to the construction site beyond. I needed to retrieve the Blessing Stone that Lord Vivec had provided, so that it could be used for a divination. I was familar with Varla and Welkynd stones, so I assumed this was another store of magicka, with a specific purpose. Soul gems were a bit like that, too.

I needed to ask the site Overseer for the stone, as they might be a bit displeased if I simply took it. I asked a woman standing near the site entrance for directions. Not because her dress showed a very nice pair of breasts through the gap in the middle, but because she was nearest. Really.

It turned out that the Overseer was her wife. So was the display for her wife's benefit, or was she advertising on behalf of both of them? Interesting people, these Dunmer. The overseer herself was dressed in workman's rough clothing. Apparently she was unconcerned by appearances, or just thought that more appropriate for the job site.

"Our Blessing Stone? Do you know what happens if we give up our Blessing Stone? Well, neither do I, but I'm sure it won't put us back on schedule or end our string of disasters. I'm not one to disagree with the Archcanon, but that's a terrible idea."

I pointed out that it was Lord Vivec that needed it. The Archcanon had just been the one to send me.

"Lord Vivec? Why didn't you say so? But I'll need you help before I can turn over the Blessing Stone. The passage that leads to the consecration chamber collapsed, trapping some of my workers. If you can clear the way, you can borrow the stone."

Why is nothing ever simple? Well at least this task was uncomplicated. Passage around the site was a bit restricted, with several paths blocked by the debris, but lifting the fallen beams off rhe workers, and digging away a bit of rubble, didn't compare too badly to fighting Daedra, as I'd done in the tomb.

The Blessing Stone wasn't hard to find, either. Once the way had been cleared it was prominently situated in the middle of the construction area, on a scaffolding frame. Getting there was a bit tricky still, and more debris had to be moved out of the way.

This stone glowed yellow, unlike the ones with which I was familiar. It had the same feel of magicka when I picked it up, though. I took it back to the Archcanon, who was waiting with Lord Vivec. Two similar stones had already been placed in receptacles in the floor of the chamber, and there was an empty for the stone I'd brought. When I placed the stone, beams of light from all three formed images in the space between. I saw a male elf holding a strange staff, a mage with a dwarven spider, and a Daedric cultist. Before any of it could make sense, the stones shattered, breaking the image.

Lord Vivec apparently got more from the images than I did, or wanted me to think so. Perhaps he knew some of the people, and I didn't. It wasn't clear to me whose cult was involved, and maybe that was more obvious to someone of this time.

I wasn't getting any clues from Azura, so either she din't know, or just didn't want to tell me.

The Archcanon left immediately after the divination failed, but I stayed to ask Lord Vivec what he'd learned. Apprently, the main thing he took from this was that his loss of power was not natural, but the result of interference by others. Which meant it could be stopped.

"You're losing divine energy? How is that possible?" I asked

He replied that it would be my job to find out. To follow the trail, and discover who was involved, and how. And I should start by asking Archcanon Tarvus if he got anything the two of us had missed.

Tarvus was in his office when I found him, consulting his books. The three images had indicated three locations, he told me. Balmora, Ald'ruhn, and Barilzar's Tower. I needed to go to those places, and see what I could find.

---

I bought a map before I left the city. Balmora would be in the same place in the future, so I knew roughly how to get there, but Ald'ruhn was somewhere I didn't know, and neither was this tower. Of course, I might know it as somebody else's tower. Barilzar was presumably just the current owner.

Balmora was also the nearest of the three, so I headed there first. All the clues I found - the overheard conversation at the docks, the proclamation notice on a wall, and the lengthy but unprofitable flirtation with the barmaid at the local tavern - pointed me to the Shulk Ore Mine as a source of cultist activity. But if I needed to know more about what cult it was, or anything like that, I'd have to go there.

I found the crew chief, a Nord named Hondulf, hovering outside, reluctant to go in. The cultists were still in there, he told me, and particularly irate, because an Ashlander had just stolen the weapon they'd summoned with their ritual. His crew were still trapped in the mine, hiding from the cultists.

Clearly I wasn't going to be able to get this weapon, as it was already gone, but there might be other clues, and I might be able to help the miners. I went in.

Oh this is great fun, seeing Clark’s perceptions of the Second Era. He certainly has a good tour guide in Azura.

Loved your description of the outfitting station and tying it to illusion magic.

So instead of following quest markers, Clark finds himself following breasts – at least around Vivec City.


Nit: "But I'll need you{r} help before I can turn over the Blessing Stone."

Nice, he's doing some crafting. That's one area of ESO I haven't touched at all yet.

Awesome, he's retrieving the Blessing Stone.



Quote of the Year, when it comes to this game. And that's even if you've got the Quest Compass turned on.

Cool, I'm glad Clark is doing this quest. I started it, haven't gotten into it yet though. I won't mind reading a few spoilers.

@Acadian: There's a lot of Azura in this quest-line, and Clark might get a bit tired of being steered.

@Renee: Much of it is simple - "kill everything", but we don't do Cyrodiil.

---------

Previously: Clark had visited the first location his list, and found a mine.

--------

Part 1.4 - Ald'ruhn and Barilzar

I suppose any cultist is not in a normal state of mind, or they wouldn't have become one to begin with, but why do they have to become homicidal? At least there weren't many of them.

I found a couple of items that might be useful: a Nycotic Ritual Bag that may provide some clue as to what they were doing, and a note that had been dropped by the invading Red Exiles that had stolen the weapon. The latter told me that it was a staff, perhaps the one the divination vision had shown us? It didn't tell me much more, except that the sender's initial were "CC".

After talking to the crew chief again, who was still reluctant to enter even after I told him the place was cleared, I set off for Ald'ruhn.

---

As I approached the wayshrine just outside Ald'ruhn, I saw a young(ish) Dunmer woman in an argument with a couple of uniformed men. She was demanding to see her brother, who was apparently in these Red Exiles' camp. Whether that was voluntarily or otherwise wasn't clear.

Red Exiles were the ones who had taken the staff from the cultists, a further clue.

She'd apparently seen me approach, as after knocking the two men down, she called out to me. Even though she didn't appear to need any help, she solicited mine, in return for her assistance with Lord Vivec's quest.

She was Seryn, and her brother Chodala was Ashkhan of the nomadic tribe they belonged to. Her job was as ambassador to the other tribes. He was trying to unite the Ashlander nomads against the Morrowind Great Houses, but hadn't progressed very far with that, yet.

I went to the Red Exiles' camp, hoping they'd be more hospitable to a stranger, but was not surprised that they weren't. I did manage to discover that Chodala was no longer there, but a document of his meeting with them was still lying around. I took it back to Seryn.

I talked with Seryn for a while longer, getting more information about her brother, herself, and their Urshilaku tribe. Something in the document I'd retrieved alarmed her, and she gave me a scroll of her brother's writings to help clarify why. It appeared that he believed himself to be the Nerevarine - a term that rang a faint bell in my faulty memory. I imagined that these writings would make more sense to Vivec, anyway.

---

The last location on my list was Barilzar's Tower, and that was way across to the east of the island beyond Molag Mar. Apparently it wouldn't have been a significant journey if I'd found the wayshrine, but you had to travel to those and find them, before you knew how to get there. Since this was my first trip, I'd have to do it the hard way. I could at least use the one at Ald'ruhm to go back to Vivec City, which cut the travel in half.

The route to Molag Mar took me through the town of Suran, which seemed familar in many ways. Azura had told me I'd 'remember' places from the future, if they'd stayed much the same over the intervening years. That was true with Seyda Neen, where things seemed to be where I expected them to be, and there was much familiar-feeling about Suran.

I went into the local tavern, called Desele's House of Earthly Delights with such a feeling, However, the interior was a different matter. Presumably interiors get redecorated more often. I never did discover what the 'Earthly Delights' were. I don't imagine they were the drinks, which seemed to be the same varieties i'd found in the bars of Vivec. In particular, there weren't any dancing girls. I don't have any clue why I was expecting any, other than a vague hope from the name of the place.

---

Molag Mar was quite a bit farther. It was built in the same style as the cantons of Vivec city, so I wasn't sure if that was the source of any familiarity, or if I'd been here in future. In any case, Barilzar's tower was out in the coastal wetlands between there and Azura's Shrine. The shrine was on my map, but the tower wasn't. I found the local wayshrine first, and from there a passing traveller pointed out the tower in the distance.

---

Barilzar was in his tower when I arrived, but in the middle of an experiment that couldn't be interrupted. I offered to help in exchange for a few answers, and he readily agreed. I could activate the crystals for him while he operated the modulator, whatever that was. Apparently this would make an explosion less likely.

The required order wasn't hard to guess, and we did it quickly, and without any explosions. Barilzar was relieved (and maybe surprised) at that.

I told him that Lord Vivec had sent me to inquire about the transfer of divine energy, and that was a familiar topic to him. Apparently, he'd worked with Sotha Sil on just that topic, and his master had a tool that permitted him to do so. With its aid, he was able to isolate some of his own power and analyze it, drawing conclusions on how it might be sustained, and whether it was temporary or permanent.

I suspected that tool might have been a staff, and the notes he gave me only strengthened that suspicion.

---

As soon as I stepped outside, an apparition of Archcannon Tarvus appeared, urging me back to Vivec City as fast as possible. There was ... a problem.

Wow, Clark covered a lot of terrain in this one. I had to laugh about his true observation that wayshrines would be ever so much more helpful if they helped you get somewhere the first time instead of having to find them first.

@Acadian: He's about to have that reinforced by a longer trip.

-------

Previously: Clark had been sent around several locations in Southern Vvardenfell investigating the images from the divination. Now he'd been called back to Vivec.

-------

Part 1.5 - Cavern of the Incarnates

The problem was that Vivec was weakening further. Archcannon Tarvus quickly reached the same conclusion I had, that Chodala was using Sotha Sil's "tool" - the staff he called Sunna'rah - to steal Vivec's energy. Presumably it powered the staff, and it was that effect that Chodala wanted, rather than any harm to Vivec, but it was hard to tell.

We went to consult Vivec himself, who felt it strange that an Ashlander was involved. He'd had no problems with them before. He nevertheless sent me to discover more about Chodala.

This was what I'd expected, and the prospect of dealing with Seryn again was a pleasant thought. I rather liked women who could take care of themselves, and she'd shown me that in her confrontation with the Red Exiles.

---

Since this was no longer my first trip to Ald'ruhn, I now had the option of taking the wayshrine to get there. However, there were a few things I needed to do before travelling, which included some upgrades to my equipment. So I found my self approaching the wayshrine on the land side of Vivec City, rather than the one near the temple. And just beyond that was a stable.

---

Perhaps because I'd helped her before, I had no problem persuading her to help. In fact it was she who approached me as I returned to Ald'ruhn. She'd been thinking about her brother's ambitions, and needed to head him off before he could do anything rash. She asked me to talk to the Wise Woman of the Urshilaku. I agreed, but found Chodala in her hut, and the Wise Woman gone.

Apparently she'd left for the Cavern of the Incarnate to ask Azura for advice about Chodala's claim to be the Nerevarine. Chodala, who I noticed was holding a staff I assumed to be Sunna'rah, was convinced she'd return with confirmation.

When he left, Seryn told me to go after Wise Woman Dovrosi, and talk to her, try and persuade her to find against Chodala. She'd remain behind and try to rally the tribes.

---

The Cavern of the Incarnate was a long way away, up in the northern part of the island, where I'd never been (and apparently wouldn't in the distant future). So I didn't know any wayshrines in that area. The best option was actually to go back to Balmora, where I had found the wayshrine, and I could take a Silt Strider to Gnisis, which would get me half-way there, at least.

I didn't ask what a Silt Strider was, and perhaps I should have. I wasn't really prepared for the experience of riding a giant insect, and watching the way it was steered left me feeling a bit unsettled.

Gnisis didn't feel familiar at all. It probably changed a lot, or else this was my first visit. A bit of familiarity would have helped a lot, as it was a maze of bridges and canyons that I found it hard to navigate. However, I eventually found myself on the road to the Urshilaku camp near the shore. From there, I'd been informed, I could just follow the coastal trail to the Valley of the Wind, and the Cavern was at the end of that.

Red Mountain had erupted in this direction not long ago, and much of the trail was across barren lava flows, some of which were still warm. Indeed, I saw several pools of still-molten lava in places. There were abandoned settlements in a few places, and others that appeared to have been deserted, and then re-established, as there were makeshift buildings among older ruins.

There were Dwemer and Daedric ruins here, too, but I avoided those on this trip. If I passed a wayshrine, I could always come back. Except that there didn't seem to be one, until just at the end of the Valley of the Wind itself. From there it wasn't far to the Cavern.

I found the Wise Woman had only just arrived there herself, and had been ambushed by Daedra at the entrance. The Skaafin weren't particularly strong, but they were a nuisance. I sent her inside while I dealt with them.

---

Once inside, I found Dovrosi already in conversation with Azura, via her statue. "The outlander? Surely there's another way. No, my lady, I'll do as you ask."

"The Queen of the Night Sky insists I need your help. I must render judgement on an important claim, and she says you can offer guidance."

"This is about Choldala, and his not being the Nerevarine, right?" I surmised.

"The Red Exiles and a few others believe that Choldala is the Nerevarine. He has convinced them, but not me. However, I fear bloodshed if I find against him."

"So we need strong evidence against his claim, that you can't ignore." I suggested.

"Right. I need to remain impartial. Another needs to reveal the flaws in his claim, so I can reasonably deny it. Perhaps comparing him to the failed incarnates here would do it."

She gave me a bag of dust that would raise their spirits, so that I could talk to them. They each had a tale of believing themselves the one, and each had failed in a different way. Ranso had been the most powerful Ashkhan of his day, but power was not enough. Adusi had chosen a path of war, but it was the wrong path,and Danaat had ignored the council of the Wise Women, only to find they were right, and he was wrong.

Each gave me a scroll to call on their testimony at the coming judgement.

Azura's statue then spoke to me, although she could have done so directly. I think she wanted Dovrosi to hear what she said.

"I foresaw your usefulness before you even set foot in Vvardenfell. Now comes a test that will challenge your ability to separate truth from lies. You must convince the tribes that Chodala is not the Nerevarine."

I agreed to do so, of course, and she continued. "Let Seryn assist you. She is my champion, and a trusted friend of all Ashlanders."

That part was almost certainly meant for Dovrosi's ears.

---

The Wise Woman and I walked back to the wayshrine at the end of the valley, stopping several times along the way so that she could collect alchemical ingredients. Many of them were unknown to me, being plants that probably grew only on Vvardenfell. "You should get Seryn to teach you the plants," Dovrosi told me.

"You'll be spending more time with her, and probably going to other areas of the island, where the plants are different. The Ashland ones are different from the Grazeland ones, for instance."

"Seryn is an alchemist?" I asked.

"Not specifically, but she does make all her own potions and poisons. She's often journeying alone, and it helps to be self-sufficient.

"And that reminds me, you should get yourself a guar, even if it's only to carry your extra equipment. They can use the wayshrines, if they're with you, so you don't have to choose between methods of transport."

"A guar, rather than a horse?"

"They're better suited to this place. A horse would probably starve in the Ashlands. It would have your problem of not knowing the plants, and which were edible, and which were poisonous. A guar can forage for itself, so it's much less bother. Take Seryn with you when you buy one, so you don't get fleeced."

I remember enjoying this quest of the false Nerevarine.

The silt striders were fun!

Dovrosi makes a good case for guar in Morrowind.


A couple tiny nits:
- - ’I rather liked women who could take care of themselves, and she'd shown me that in her confronttion (confrontation) with the Red Exiles.’
- - ’Another needs to reveal the flaws in his claim, so I can reasonable (reasonably) deny it.’

I am delighted that Clark is telling this story in first person.

Neat, he discovered a Wayshrine! Azura’s ambush of the player feels quite natural in Clark’s story, since she placed him precisely when she wanted him.

Nice explanation of the outfit station. I can guess that costumes will simply be another illusion.

Oh, I liked this quest and the Cavern of the Incarnates. Good idea to get a guar. Scrambling around the lava on mortal horse legs can be unsettling.

@Acadian: I'm not sure if Clark will ever want to ride a Silt Strider again. And he may or may not take to guar.

@Grits: I'm less comfortable using first person, but since a lot of this is inside Clark's head, I couldn't find a better way. He is using a costume, but needed it died, so the outfit station was involved anyway.

--------

Previously: Clark went to the Cavern of the Incarnates to speak with Dovrosi the Wise Woman.

--------

Part 1.6 - Not the Nerevarine

I took the wayshrine back to Ald'ruhn, and Seryn was there waiting for me. She looked a little uneasy, which was exactly how I was feeling too. I'd figured out on the way back, that if I presented the case against Chodala, as an outsider, it might not carry much weight. What I really needed was someone who was a member of the tribe doing it. And the only candidate I knew was her. Could I ask her to oppose her own brother?

"Could you help me with a rather difficult problem?" I asked her.

"I will if you'll help me. You see, I know that I'm going to have to present the case against my brother, and I'll need your help. Hopefully, you've got evidence I can use from your trip with the Wise Woman, but it won't be easy for us. Chodal has the Red Exiles backing hime up, and they've intimidated most of the others into supporting him. We'll have to be very convincing."

Of course I agreed.

"Now what did you need?" she continued.

"Can you help me buy a guar? I don't know one end of those from the other."

---

We went to Vivec City to buy my guar and I showed her the scrolls I’d obtained from the Failed Incarnates. Her eyes lit up when she saw those.

"Perfect! It won't be me speaking against my brother, but them. They can't be intimidated, and they have the respect of the tribe already. But I'll still need your help selecting which one to use when. I suppose you talked to them, when you got these?"

---

Seryn persuaded me to ride the guar back to Ald'ruhn, rather than take the wayshrine. She pointed out that I'd better learn where nobody was watching me, except her, or my reputation would suffer. I suspected that she didn't want to share the inevitable amusement with anyone else, but her point was valid enough.

I did fall off a couple of times, and she helped me back up, and explained what I was doing wrong. With a straight face, most of the time. Fortunately for me, it wasn't a long trip, just enough to get the hang of the basics.

---

Apparently my riding a guar up to Skaar scored us a few more points with the tribal elders. Adopting the Ashlander ways was a good sign that I was sympathetic to their cause. Perhaps that was why Dovrosi had suggested it.

We went inside, and Chodola was already at the dais, ready to make his claim. He turned as we entered, surprised to see his sister taking the opposing position. He said as much, too.

Then he turned back to the Wise woman, seated in judgement at the high bench. "Even the Outlander can see that I am the most powerful Ashkhan. My strength alone proves that I am the Nerevarine."

I handed Seryn the scroll of Incarnate Ranso, and she nodded. She used the scroll to summon the Incarnate, and he did all the talking for her.

"As a warrior and as an ashkhan, I was the most powerful of my age. But for all my strength, I failed my people. Don't follow my example."

He faded back to his rest in the Cavern, and Chodala spoke again.

"The faithless Houses dare to threaten our land, but we shall meet them in battle and I will lead us to victory."

Again I handed Seryn a scroll, which she used. Incarnate Aduri gave our response.

" I thought the path to the Nerevarine was a path of blood and battle, but my love of war was my undoing. War is not the way."

I could see that Chodala was getting rattled.

"These Failed Incarnates prove nothing! I need no counsel but my own, as befits my status as the Nerevarine!"

I smiled at that, as it led perfectly to our next move. I handed Seryn the final scroll, that of Incarnate Danasi.

" I refused to accept the counsel of the Wise Women and the Ashkhans. I thought I knew best, but I knew nothing. That is not the way of the Nerevarine."

Dovrosi kept a stern, contemplative expression, although I was sure she wanted to cheer. She could now pronounce the judgement she wanted, with the backing of the ancestor spirits.

"Seryn and the Outlander...their arguments have merit. Chodala, we deny your claim. You are not the Nerevarine."

I thought we'd made a strong enough case to convince everyone, but Chodala didn't think so.

"This proves nothing! Look how the staff protects me. I am the Nerevarine!" and with that, he ran from the chamber. Seryn started to follow, but some of his Red Exile followers came in through the same door and blocked her way.

They also attacked us. I sent Seryn out another way and faced them myself. I suspect I had some help from Azura in the fight, as they went down more easily than I thought I could manage alone. Also, they didn't send everyone into the room at once. I had two groups of three weaker "troops" and then their Gulakhan, Yus-Zahten came in alone. I even had time to heal myself between fights.

---

I found Seryn outside, but Chodala had vanished. As I walked over to her, she rose up off the ground, started to glow, and a moon and star appeared over her hands. Azura's voice spoke to me, through Seryn.

" Mortal, I would have words with you"

You could do that without involving her, I thought. Azura must want Seryn to know what she's telling me.

"Chodala has been revealed as a failed Nerevarine, but that hasn't dissuaded him from his reckless course of action. As long as he wields the staff, he shall be unstoppable."

"So what should we do?" I asked

"Time is against you, mortal. Even now Vivec, that pompous usurper, grows increasingly weaker. As much as I deplore him, Vivec cannot fall to Chodala's vile magic. There's another power at work here, one I can't quite put my finger on …."

"There must be something we can do."

"Return to Vivec City. Do what you can to aid Vivec. And pay heed to my faithful vessel, Seryn. I name her Champion of the Moon and Star. She will play a pivotal role in ending her brother's march toward godhood—if she survives."

I agreed to return to Vivec City, and Azura released Seryn. I understood now what she wanted to achieve. Not only had she told Seryn of her new status, but the little scene had attracted quite a few of the tribe to come over and witness it. They'd have the news all over Ald'ruhn in no time. And she'd told Seryn to be careful. She wasn't immortal, like me, and perhaps I needed to be reminded of that, too.

Seryn was still recovering from the experience of being "possessed" by Azura.

"That was amazing! As a mage, I'm used to assessing my magicka reserves, so I know how many spells I can cast. That just felt like I had unlimited power! Azura's, of course, and she was in control, so it wasn't mine to use, but still ..."

"If it's any consolation," I told her, "Azura can't use it here, either. She can only act through someone who belongs in this realm. In Moonshadow, though, unlimited pretty well describes it. And she can use some of that power to help us, but we have to wield it for her. I think I had her help back inside with the Red Exiles. And since Azura just reminded me that you are in danger from those people, so we'd better stick together from here on."

"So we go to Vivec next?" she asked.

"Yes, Azura wants me to check on Vivec, and do what I can to help. That's probably going to mean finding a way to stop that staff from draining his energy. Chodola is just aware of its ability to protect him, and doesn't know what else it's doing when he uses it. So we avoid him until we're ready to move, and that way he shouldn't have any need to use the staff."

I chuckled over Clark’s concerns about asking Seryn for help testifying, only to have her ask him for help.

Woot! Clark’s now guar-qualified.

That is a well-done quest.

I enjoyed Clark’s insightful analysis of the complex reasons and likely intent as to why Azura spoke publically via Seryn.


Nits:
- ’We went to Vivec City to buy my guar and I showed her the scrolls i'd {I’d} obtained from the Failed Incarnates.’
- ’As I walked over to her, she rose up off the groound {ground}, …’
- ’i {I} agreed to return to Vivec City, ...’

@Acadian: Fortunately, guar-qualification has not had any long-term effects on Clark.

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

Previously: Clark had helped Dovresi deny Chodola's claim to be Nerevarine, and Seryn had been "possessed" by Azura.

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

Part 1.7 - Dwarven Ruins

Vivec was, as expected, slowly getting weaker. Archcanon Tarvus warned me against working with that Ashlander, Seryn, who'd undoubtedly be in league with her brother, but otherwise had no advice. I decided to go back to Barilzar, who at least had some insight into the staff's origin, and its original purpose.

We took the wayshrine to Molag Mar, and set out on foot towards the tower. It wasn't worth taking the guars for such a short trip, and we'd have to dismount frequently to cross the water. The shortest route hopped from island to island in the shallow lagoons, and although you raely needed to swim, you wouldn't want to ride across the slippery rocks. Getting your feet wet was better than getting thrown off your guar.

It wasn't easy to keep your balance on foot, either, and Seryn and I frequently had to hold on to each other to avoid falling over. Perhaps not quite as frequently as we did, but often enough. And by the time we walked up the path from the shore to the tower, she had her arm around my waist, even though she didn't need the support any more.

Actually she did, because she wanted to empty the water out of her shoes. "These were made for the Ashlands, not the swamps," she pointed out. But after they were drained, the arm went back around me.

It was a pity that the entrance to the tower was so close to the bank. She hung back as I knocked on the door to announce our presence. Instead of Barilzar's voice in return, I could hear a creature's alarm cry, and it didn't sound like any of Vvardenfell's native ones. When we entered to find out, we discovered daedra had chased Barilzar out of the main room, and they were trying to break down the door to the basement.

"I'll hold them, you hit them," I called to Seryn. She was armed with a staff, and I had a sword and shield, so it made sense for me to get in close, while she attacked from a distance. "And don't worry about whether I'm in the area of your spells."

I quickly disposed of the skaafin, but something summoned a hunger as soon as I did so. That took us a bit more effort to overcome, believe me. Nothing replaced that, so I was able to get Barilzar to let us in to his hiding place.

I told the mage about locating Sotha Sil's staff, but that I couldn't get it back while Chodola was using it. We'd need to disable it before I could do that.

"A tonal inverter should counter it. Uses sound waves to temporarily disrupt the flow of energy," he replied.

"Do you have a tonal inverter?" I asked.

"No, I just invented it. And I'll need the proper components to make one. My hirelings should have kept me stocked up with them, but I haven't seen them for a while. Here's a list of what I'll need. You can head out the back door and ask them to direct you to these common Dwarven components."

"So I need to find your hirelings first? Where will they be?"

"Molag Mar, probably. And don't worry about more daedra getting in. Now I know they're trying that, I can take steps to prevent it happening again."

---

It was getting dark when we got back to Molag Mar, and I didn't want to travel at night, especially as I had enough trouble riding a guar when I could see where we were going.

"I'll look for the hirelings," I told Seryn. "You go get us rooms at the Penitent Pilgrim Inn, and I'll join you there soon."

---

Snorfin was fishing off the docks. He was happy to tell me where I could find a Dwarven sonance generator, but advised me not to go there. "The automata there are haunted. They're bad enough normally, but with the ghosts in them, they're even worse! I certainly won't be going back." Arkngthunch-Sturdumz was all the way up north, at the other end of the island, too.

The other two hirelings were both at the Inn. I found Leona Blaso just outside, and she directed me to Nchuleft ruins for the manual clockwork shaft. "You'll be lucky to get in and out before it collapses on you. I'm certainly not risking it."

Volrina Quarra was sitting in the lounge. She knew where I could get the inversion conduit, as she'd seen one in Galon Daeus, right before the vampires chased her out. "If you can wipe them out, it would be revenge for my brother. The Berne Clan were the same ones that killed him."

Seryn had got us a room. Whether they were full, or this was her decision, she didn't say, and I didn't ask.

---

In the morning, we looked up the Dwarven ruins on the map, and planned our journey. We discussed where we'd take the wayshrines, and where we'd need the guars. What to pack, what to leave behind. Everything but last night, and the new status of our relationship.

It wasn't until we were in sight of the first ruin that she brought it up. Perhaps it was the imminent danger we were just about to face together that triggered it.

"You know, I'm not sure what are my feelings for you, and what are Azura's. After she spoke to you through me, I've had the impression that she never left. At least not completely. Do you know what I mean?"

Having Azura always in the back of my mind was now something else we had in common.

"Yes, i suspect she's nudging you in the direction she wants you to go, but only because you're already leaning that way. I know she appreciates what I do for her, and perhaps you do, too."

Before she could think that through too completely, I carried on.

"It's in everyone's interest. Azura wants an end to the threat to Vvardenfell that Vivec's weakness presents. So she needs us to work closely together. With your brother on a path to self-destruction, you need my support, and if we come to a confrontation, I'll need you on my side, not his. And finally, Chodola needs me to be sympathetic to him, if only because you're his sister."

"Do you really think he'll live?" Seryn pleaded.

"It depends a lot on whether he has any choice in the matter. I believe that one reason Azura chose to speak through you, instead of directly to me, was that she wanted you to understand what it's like to be controlled by a Deadric Prince."

"You think that might have happened to Chodola? And by which one?"

"Maybe, and the main suspect is Clavicus Vile. He may have just made some bargain with him, and Vile always cheats with those. But we do have consider the alternatives."

We entered Galom Daeus with the same combat plan we'd used against the daedra at Barilzar's tower. I'd get any adversary's attention up close with my sword and shield, and Seryn would use her staff from a safe distance behind me. We'd gone through Vivec City to get here, and I'd taken the opportunity to upgrade my gear as much as I could. I felt reasonably confident we'd do better together than Volrina had managed alone.

And we got more help from the Dwarven constructs than she had. The last two of the vampires died when the spider they'd been working on electrocuted them as it fell apart. In the wreckage of the spider, I found a control rod, and, prompted by Azura, tried using it on another inactivated spider nearby. It got up, ran over to a warded chest nearby, and fell apart just as it reached it.

I tried again with another of the spiders, and this one turned hostile. Fortunately, it was already damaged, so it didn't give us much trouble. "Third time lucky?" I asked, pointing the rod at what appeared to be the only remaining inactivated spider.

This one survived long enough to remove the ward from the chest, and I was able to open it, and retrieve the inversion conduit we'd come for. Leaving the ruin was uneventful, and we set off for Nchuleft.

Clark is such a charmer as he draws the arm of Chodala’s sister.

"And don't worry about whether I'm in the area of your spells."
- - Life, during combat, is good in ESO.

I figured Seryn was sweet on Clark. Looks like the one room at the inn may confirm that. Next morning looks like I was right.

The Morrowind Chapter certainly tries hard to make Buffy dislike all things Dunmer. She has to school herself routinely while there that she knows many wonderful Dunmer. . . it's just that most of them don't live in Vardenfell. She thinks the pompous and rude 'Great Houses' are basically irredeemable. While she finds Ashlanders generally inhospitable and ungracious, Seryn is a welcome exception.

I’m greatly enjoying Clark’s recount of this quest. Coincidence would have it that Buffy the Bowsorc just completed this questline only yesterday so it is nice and fresh.


Nit: ”But we do have {to?} consider the alternatives."

Ha ha ha ha!

That's always a sign, that first step when a room gets shared.

@Acadian: It's the people who see what's wrong with a land that leave it for somewhere new. The ones that remain are the apathetic, and the cronies.

@renee: Some of the game's jokes are worth quoting.

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

Previously: Clark and Seryn had collected the first pieces Barilzar needed. One to go.

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

Part 1.8 - Tracking Down Chodala

There were exiled Ashlanders in Nchuleft, but they weren't part of Chodola's group. Apparently getting exiled was quite a common thing, and possibly not very permanent. "Come back when you change your mind," or something like that. Once we'd fought past the few in the entrance, we were quite content to let them battle the automata for us, while we found another route through the ruins. Barilzar had given us a rough map of where to look, and it helped a lot.

We found the chest containing the manual clockwork shaft unguarded, but only after a lengthy search. It certainly wasn't out in the open and obvious, like the one in Galom Daeus.

---

The final ruin, Arkngthunch-Sturdumz, was near Gnisis, so we took the wayshrine and spent the night there, most pleasantly, before heading out in the morning. Late morning, as we'd both needed plenty of rest.
Just like the last two ruins, the Dwarven automata weren't the only occupants. This time, however, they were working together, and we couldn't just let them fight among themselves. Snorfin's notes, which we came across just inside the entrance, gave us an idea what to look for, and what to avoid. The mention of the side-passage to the furnace room saved us from a lot of dealings with the guardians, but those in the room itself couldn't be avoided.

The two spectral warriors we encountered going in didn't seem hard to put down. As a team, we did better than Snorfin could have alone, and Seryn's staff had just the right spell to deal with the spectral foes. But as he'd told me back in Molag Mar, it was a different matter when the automata were haunted. The second of the spirits managed to escape into a Centurion just before it fell, and the lumbering construct came for us. Instead of just attacking the nearest target in its usual predictable way, it now had enough intelligence to chase the more vulnerable opponent - Seryn - and to stop using attacks that I blocked, and weren't working any more.

The good news was that those attacks were unchanged, and I could still block, if I managed to get between it and Seryn. It took a bit of manoeuvering and backing up to force it to fight the way we wanted, but it wasn't impossible, and eventually we prevailed.

Beyond it, further into the room, were the furnaces that gave the room its name. There was a chest in the middle, but flames were being blasted at it from three vents spaced evenly around it. We needed to turn off the flames, and probably wait for it to cool down.

The switches were at the back of each vent, and not too hard to reach. I wouldn't have liked to try getting to them with a centurion chasing me, so I could understand why the previous attempt failed.

The chest was remarkably cool to the touch. I imagine it needed to have a lot of fire resistance to protect the contents - the Sonance Generator that would be the heart of Barilzar's device.

"Is that all the parts we need?" Seryn asked.

"Yes, back to Barilzar's tower, and he can start work."

"Are we staying the night in Molag Mar again?"

I just grinned.

---

Barilzar was unaccompanied by daedra on this visit, and got straight to assembling the components we'd brought into the device he'd promised. He did concern me a bit with his "Please don't explode" when he used a hammer on it, but before long he was telling me it was complete.

I didn't like the way he stood back as I picked it up, but nothing happened. He explained how to use it, and it was apparent that it needed at least three hands. So I had him repeat everything to Seryn. To me, at least, it seemed like she'd need to operate the device while I directed the output, as I'd need to be closer to the target.

---

Now we needed to track down that target. We went back to Vivec City to see if there was any news we could use. Archcanon Tarvus was as hostile to Seryn in person as I'd expected from his diatribe aginst her before. But we did find out that Chodola had been seen travelling to Malacath's shrine at Kaushtari. Apparently he was going to ask the God of Curses for assistance.

"That's not a good sign," Seryn told me.

"On the contrary," I replied, "it's a sign that Chodola is making his own - bad - decisions, and not just being Vile's puppet. That means we have a chance to change his mind before anything too drastic happens."

---

"Now that's a bad sign," I told Seryn. "If there are skaafin in Malacath's shrine, then something is seriously out of line."

"And it looks like the Red Exiles that came here with Chodala have been slaughtered. They're not the greatest fighters, but they should have managed the skaafin," she responded.

"There's someone still alive over there. Maybe we'll get an explanation."

Renos Oran was only barely alive, but he rasped out a few answers to our inquiries.

"Chodala…he's gone mad. Sought to make a deal with a Daedric Prince…."

"What happened here?" I asked.

"Chodala appealed to Malacath…but the God of Curses rebuked him. Killed us all…said Chodala already served…another…."

"Where can we find Chodala?"

"He went…deeper into the ruins…into Malacath's shrine…."

So now it made a bit more sense. Malacath's minions had dealt with the Red Exiles, and presumably left already. The skaafin had arrived later, and were guarding Chodala's rear. It was unclear what he thought he could achieve, after Malacath's refusal, but we needed to follow anyway.

Past more of the skaafin, we found Chodala standing before a statue of Malacath, berating it.

"You don't refuse me! I am the Nerevarine!"

It seemed that he was still clinging to that idea, even after the Wise Woman's denial of his claim. We needed to change his mind before his failure became fatal.

More skaafin turned up to interfere. I can't be sure that Chodala didn't summon them himself. Whatever the case, they were quickly eliminated.

Seryn told me that the tonal inverter was ready to use. I stood in front of her, ready to direct its output at the staff, which Chodala was activating. He intended taking part directly, and expected the staff to make him invulnerable.

"Now," I told Seryn, and pointed the sound waves at the staff. It knocked Chodala off his platform, and Sunna'rah fell from his grasp, inert.

Some good teamwork fighting those guarding Barilzar’s two artifacts.

Seems like Seryn has taken quite the fancy to Clark.

Well, it looks like Barilzar’s gizmo worked. I bet Chodala’s no threat without Sunna’rah. . . and Vivec probably has a better use for it.

I love that line.

In general I have no idea what's going on (except at the very beginning) but if I pick up ESO again this fall I'll have something to follow.

@Acadian Clark has to hope that Seryn will continue to like him.

@Reneee again I'm quoting the game.


Since my machine is reluctant to play ESO, I'm hoping it will prefer my resuming this story.

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

Previously: Clark and Seryn found Chodala, and confronted him. The tonal inverted turned the staff off.

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

Part 1.9 - Sunna'rah

"My protective shield! What have you done? I'll destroy all of you for this!" he shouted, drawing his sword. Of course, since he normally wielded the staff in the other hand, he had no shield. My advantage, and one I'd make sure he understood.

I fended off his first wild attack easily with my shield, and put a nick in his other arm with my own sword. Not a major wound, but enough to get his attention.

"You're bleeding, Chodala. Is that how a Nerevarine fights? Or should you be giving up that idea by now?"
He quickly cast a healing spell, something he could manage with his free hand. "A Nerevarine overcomes such set-backs easily." And then he attacked again.

I'm sure he believed that I'd spent so much of my training on defence that I didn't have an attack worth worrying about. That was quite a valid tactic for people who always fought as part of a squad, where one could provide all the defence, and others the offense. But I was on my own more often here, and I'd got a few moves he wouldn't be expecting.

I didn't just block this time, but bashed with the shield, to send him staggering back. "Yield, Chodola, you can't win this."

"The Nerevarine can always find a way to win," he retorted. Nothing was going to make him change his mind, especially the facts.

Of course, every time I used my shield to stop one of his blows, I could also use my sword with the other hand, and I did. Finally he spent all his remaining energy in one great leap, holding his sword with both hand to try and force it through my defence. He landed on the point of my sword.

"Oh, brother, why did it have to come to this?". She could see that Chodala wan't going to be healing that wound. "Azura, we've defeated the false Nerevarine, just as you commanded."

She turned to me. "That was…harder than I expected. Chodala was so angry…so full of rage. Not like himself at all. Still, I can't believe I helped kill my own brother…."

"We did what was necessary."

"I know that! It was either Chodala or the lives of hundreds of Dunmer, all because he convinced himself he was the Nerevarine. Or someone convinced him. Either way, my brother is dead and the Cavern of the Incarnate has another resident."

"We should return to Vivec City"

"You go. Take Sunna'rah and I'll meet you back in Vivec City. Your Archcanon made it quite clear that the staff was the key to saving Vivec. I need to take care of my brother's remains. Then we'll be done here."

---

Archcanaon Tarvus was hovering around the motionless figure of Vivec, who was lying on his bed, in=stead of floating above it. "Do you have the staff? Lord Vivec has collapsed, we must return his energies immeditaely, or he may not last!"

He directed me to plant the staff in a socket in the floor. The Archcanon walked over to it, and turned it back on. Before I could ask how he knew how to do that, energy started to stream from the staff to the recumbent Vivec, in a golden beam of light.

But a few seconds later, the beam started to turn green, and Vivec was obviously in some pain, writhing on his bed. Tarvus rubbed his hands gleefully. "Perfect! It's working just as I expected."

Seryn came running in, carrying the tonal inverter that I'd forgotten to bring with me. "What are you doing? It's killing him!"

Tarvus retorted "What did you expect? That's the point of all this."

Seryn started up the tonal inverter, and I guided its output to shut down the staff again, just like we had with Chodala. But this time, it seemed to affect more than just the staff. Archcanon Tarvus seemed to be melting, growing horns, looking more and more like a skaafin..

A final burst of energy from the staff as it shut down knocked me backwards, and the creature who had been Tarvus grabbed it. A projection of a clockwork hemisphere appeared near the staff.

"You're too late! I see it now, the Clockwork City! Look what Barbas has found for you, Master!"
He then disappeared, taking the staff with him.

Vivec remained motionless on his bed, but a ghostly projection rose and spoke to us.

"Barbas... pet hound of the Prince of Bargains. I should have known. Talk to the Ashlander while I... compose myself."'

Seryn told me that Azura had warned her about what was going on in the palace, and she had run all the way here. Barbas was familar to her, by name at least, and it all fit in with Clavicus Vile's influence on her brother.

Vivec's projection agreed. "It was all part of an elaborate plan. But they weren't trying to kill me, rather to find the location fo Sotha Sil's Clockwork City. They needed Tribunal enrgy to do that, and I was just the easiest target."

Just then, Canon Llevule came in looking for the Archcanon. He took in the scene, and was duly horrified.

"Lord Vivec looks terrible! Where's Archcanon Tarvus? He ususually knows what to do."

We explained about Tarvus being Barbas, at least recently. We wouldn't get any help from that source any more.

"We need to give energy back to Lord Vivec," Seryn reasoned. "But how?"

"A blessing stone!" Llevule exclaimed. "Some of Lord Vivec's divine energy is in each one. Go find the Overseer, and retrieve oneof the stones fro the construction."

I'd done that before, but this time was going to be a bit harder. With Vivec being weakened, the moonlet hovering over the city was starting to fall apart, and flaming rocks were falling all around. When I reached the construction site, I was told that the Overseer had gone in to try and chase looters out of the area.

I found her, and sent her back out while I fetched the blessing stone. I had to deal with several looters myself, not to mention dodging the barrage of falling debris.

The blessing stone's meagre energy was enough to stabilise Vivec, but no more. The rain of rocks ceased, but he remained flat on his back on the bed.

Seryn and I left Canon Llevule to look after him, while we went to the Archcanon's office to look for any clues as to where Barbas might have taken the staff.

Azura decided to intervene, taking over Seryn's body to speak to me again. She didn't know how to find the Clockwork City, but she knew who to ask. And that was why she was using Seryn, as she needed her to cast a spell. A portal opened, and Barilzar emerged.

"Interesting. Summoned by a Daedric Prince and her mortal mouthpiece. I was right in the middle of a crucial experiment, but I suppose I can spare a few clicks of the cogs for Azura and my erstwhile assistant.
So, did you break the tonal inverter?"

I told him why he was needed. It wasn't the tonal inverter, which had worked exactly as it should, but the location of the Clockwork City. He'd been there, hadn't he?

"No, not going to happen. No offense to the Lady of Twilight, but Sotha Sil was quite adamant about keeping the place hidden and warded against the Daedra.

Oh, wait. Pistons fall into place. This concerns Sunna'rah and Lord Vivec, I presume?"

"And Barbas, who now has the staff," I told him.

"Barbas? Another Daedra. Thinking…thinking….

So Sotha Sil's forgotten tool was modified to steal Vivec's energy, which in turn energized the Clockwork City. Lit it up like the top of Red Mountain. Even Vile's dog would be able to see that!"

"Can you get me to the Clockwork City or not?" I interrupted.

"What is Barbas after? Wait, gears click into place…the reservoir! You need to reach the reservoir that contains Vivec's stolen energy before Barbas!

I can get us to the entrance in Seht's Vault, beneath the Mournhold temple. Ready to go?"

"We're ready," I told him.

"I only have enough power to get myself and one other person inside. One of you will have to stay behind," Barilzar explained.

"You go," Seryn told me, or was it still Azura?

Welcome back to Clark!

Thanks for the ‘Previously’ reminder of where we were.

One threat neutralized (Chodala) only to reveal another as we learn Clavicus Vile has designs on Sotha Sil’s Steampunkville. But first, we probably need to put Vivec back together.

@Acadian Vivec would like to be back together.

-----------

Previously: Clark retrieved the staff Sunna'rah, and started to restore Vivec, but Archcanon Tarvus revealed himself as Barbas, reversed the flow, and ran off with the staff, leaving Vivec even weaker.

----------

Part 1.10 - Clockwork City

The portal Barilzar opened led only to a vault beneath Mournhold. This was apparently where we'd find the entrance to the Clockwork City.

Naturally, Barbas had left guards to cover his rear, and we had the additional problem of Sotha Sil's automata also resisting our intrusion. If we'd been in less of a hurry, we could probably have set the two sides to eliminating each other, but we didn't have the time for that. So progress was fraught, but we made it through to where Barilzar was trying to reach.

"So where's the door?" I asked.

"You're much too large to see it. We'll have to do something about that."

---

Apparently the small domed mechanism we'd been standing next to WAS the Clockwork City. Just sitting on a pedestal down in the vault looking like a parked experiment in storage. An ingenious hiding place.

When we'd finished shrinking, I found myself standing in a hallway, with metal walls, and the sound of electricity and whirring mechanisms everywhere. Much of the electrical noise was coming from a barrier just ahead of us, and I could see Barbas on the other side.

The barrier came down only after Barabas had passed beyond the next one. "Don't bother following him," Barilzar advised. "We'll go this way and try to get ahead of him.'

He led me through a side-door into a maintenance chamber, where he fiddled with a control panel. He explained that he was both opening routes for us, and shutting down the defenses, as well as trying to divert Barbas onto a longer path. We needed to reach something he referred to as "the Reservoir" first. That was where Sotha Sil stored parts of his own energy for his experiments, and Barilzar presumed that it was now filled with Vivec's, as Sunna'rah was the tool Sotha Sil used to transfer his own energy.

"The protection effect that Chodala prized, was a safety feature to protect my master from harming himself. If the drain was too much, the wielder of the staff was be healed, and the transfer cut off. Of course when Chodala used it, it was draining Vivec, and not harming Chodala at all.

The capacity of the reservoir is immense, So none of Vivec's energy will have been lost - yet. If Barabas gets there before us, it could be. I believe the dog's intent is to open a portal for his master into the Clockwork CIty."

"And that would give him access to the vault we came through, and then the rest of Mournhold, and so on...?" I inquired

"Exactly," Barilzar replied. "The thin end of the wedge indeed."

---

Barilzar had not managed to shut down all the automatic defenses, and where he had, Barbas was able to summon skaafin to take their place. So our progress was not exactly uneventful.

As a result, we arrived at the Reservoir at the same time as Barbas. Barilzar ran to a control panel to try and get the defense mechanisms working for us, for once. If he at least managed to stop them interfering, and making things easier for Barbas, that would be good.

Barbas was alone, dressed in a suit of armour that liked a bit like the Daedric I was used to seeing on Dremora. The helm, though, resembled a dog's head. He brandished two swords, to my sword and shield. I felt that gave me a slight advantage, as nobody attacks as well with their off-hand, and a sword is an inferior blocking device.

So after a few flurries of attack and riposte, he started to use spells, mostly summoning skaafin to try and surround me. But if he summoned enough to attack from all sides, they were too weak to bother me, and fewer gave me openings to evade them. Still, they did take the pressure off of Barbas for a while.

He could not sustain that, however, and was soon back to using his swords to defend himself, while his magicka returned. I'd become a bit more confident that I could grind him down, and I think he was thinking the same.

A portal opened next to us, and Barbas transformed into a dog and bounded through it, back to his master.

Barilzar came into the room, and opened a portal to take us back to Vivec's palace. But before I left, I needed to draw Vivec's energy back into the staff from the reservoir. That took me just a few moments, and I was ready to follow Barilzar back to Vivec.

---

I didn't arrive where I expected. I found myself in a cave, with a statue of Clavicus Vile, which spoke to me.

"So you're the mortal who gave my poor dog so much trouble. I suppose we should have a chat, you and I.

"How dare you discipline my dog? He was only trying to appease his master. And I'd never harm a hair on whatever insignificant creature you hold dear.

"You, on the other hand, require a lesson in manners…."

"Barbas tried to kill Lord Vivec and destroy Vvardenfell," I pointed out. "What did you expect me to do?"

"Indeed? What ambition! As you can see, Barbas isn't a bad dog. He does get easily excited and overzealous. He embellished my plan somewhat, but it all worked out in the end. And we found the Clockwork City."

"So you were trying to take control of Clockwork City? I asked.

"This little flea thinks it's smart, but my plans are beyond its comprehension! Still, by delaying the inevitable, you caused my associates and I some trouble. You'll stay here until you're no longer a threat. How does a few decades sound to you?"

An apparition of Barilzar appeared, just behind Vile's statue.

"I lost you somewhere between Clockwork City and Vivec, but it was simple enough to trace your energy signature to this Daedric shrine," it told me. "Unfortunately, some power is interfering with my efforts to open a portal for you."

"It's Clavicus Vile. He wants to trap me here for a few decades."

"Hmm. That would be unfortunate for you. Luckily, you have me to assist you. Well, me and Sunna'rah. Expend a small amount of Vivec's energy at the statue and that should provide enough of a distraction for me to pull you out of there."

I'm not sure how I knew how to do that, but I pointed the staff at the statue and it seemed to just happen. Perhaps the staff was more automatic than I was used to.

The result was that I arrived in Vivec City as if I hadn't been diverted on the way. I found myself next to Barilzar, and Seryn and Llevule were there, too.

"Were you successful?" asked Vivec. "Can you restore my energy/"

I was reluctant to try using the staff without some instruction on how it worked. I'd already seen that the flow could go the wrong way. Vivec was prepared to take the risk, and told me to place it as I'd done before. The staff seemed to be working as intended this time, and the beam remained golden as Vivec rose from his bed, and he and his projection merged back together.

Clockwork City sounds amazing. I assume Barbas is the same 'dog' from Skyrim, eh?



Yeah right. Good luck with that, Clavicus dude. Congrats to Clark on finishing this quest (or at least one of its main stages).

A fun run through part of Clockwork City. I enjoyed Clark’s combat observations while dueling Barbas.

Good to see that Sunna’rah worked as intended and that Vivec is now topped up on divine energy once again.

@Renee: Yes, and Barbas was in Oblivion, too. Apparently, he may also have appeared in Morrowind as a Scamp, so shape-shifting isn't new for him.

@Acadian: Well, it started that way before, let's hope it doesn't reverse again.

I need a break from ESO events, so let's have a bit more Clark.

-------

Previously: Clark brought the staff back from Clockwork City, and they're trying to restore Vivec.

-------

Part 1.11 - Restoration

For once, we didn't need to use the tonal inverter to shut the staff down. When it had completed its transfer, it did so of its own accord. Vivec seemed to be back to normal, or at least Canon Llevule assessed his condition as such. I wasn't at all sure what a normal Vivec was supposed to be, having arrived after he was already suffering his loss of energy.

"Remarkable! No ordinator or armiger could have done any better! You uncovered a Daedric spy in our midst, brought a Living God back from the brink of death, and saved all of Vvardenfell. Well done, my friend!"

"I did what I could," I responded.

"As my next sermon shall proclaim, 'Modesty is the false cloak off a flatterer or the sincere garment of the humble.' Again, you have my gratitude, and that of all my people. Indeed, even those who rail against the Tribunal owe you their lives."

He pondered for a moment or two and continued. "You have done much for me and for Vvardenfell. But as the warrior says, 'Do not think the battle is over when the enemy is dead. The hearts and minds of the people must also be won.' I must ask you for one more service."

"What do you need me to do?" I asked.

" 'Gratitude is its own reward,' I once told the crowds in Ebonheart. But I've found that some of my followers appreciate something more tangible. Help me reward those who aided in the saving of Vvardenfell so we can reassure my people."

I think I understood what he meant. If we proclaimed a great victory over an unseen foe, the people would be even more concerned. We had to stage-manage a celebration of returning to normal, with only the events that everyone had seen being part of our story. The Baar Dau instability was probably the most obvious to everyone in Vivec City, but that could remain unspoken, and they'd all assume it was the reason.

Vivec sent me to retrieve the Archcanon's ring from his office. Then I met with him on the plaza in front of the temple, where he had already started the ceremonies. He handed me a bag, and told me that as each name was announced, I should take out the first thing I found in it and hand it to them.

Overseer Shiralas was first, and I handed her a blessing stone, humming with renewed power. Vivec promised her a new, stronger stone for each canton in the construction, implying that he'd ensure the work was not interrupted again.

Barilzar received some gems, charged with mystical power, for his experiments.

Canon Llevue received the Archcanon's ring. It took him a few moments to understand that he was being promoted to the office that went with it.

And finally, I, an outsider, was named hero of Morrowind, and given a modest piece of armour as my token. It wasn't something I'd use, being more suited to Seryn, and I understood what he was doing. He was rewarding us jointly, as if we were an item, which was pretty accurate, after all.

There was, of course, no mention of Barbas, Clavicus Vile, or even Azura. Invoking their names would have made this all a much more serious matter, and public order meant playing it all down.

I accepted my token, and with it the ttle of "Champion of Vivec". Which apparently meant that I wasn't "an outsider" any more. Seryn was still an Ashlander, but she'd stepped a little closer too. I made sure to keep my arm around her to reinforce the show of unity.

---

We went to rent a room for the night. There was a place in the St Delyn canton that had been recommended to me, on the Waistworks level.

The woman there made us an interesting offer. We could just rent, but we could actually buy a room, for a remarkably small sum, instead. It may have been part of becoming Champion of Vivec, or it could just be a way to get travelers to put down roots in the new metropolis. Either way, it was a deal that was hard to refuse.

It was unfurnished, but that meant we got to choose what went in there. Starting with a nice big bed, of course. I let Seryn choose most of the pieces, as I suspected Azura would be finding me work elsewhere before long. It was important that Seryn felt at home here, if I wasn't around.

---

When all the furnishings were in place, it was time to check out the bed.

- - -

"Clark, when Azura was speaking to you through me, I got a good idea of what she was thinking, and it seems that ... that she knows you as well as I do."

"And ... ?"

"How can I compete with a Daedric Princess?"

I interpreted that as "I'm feeling insecure, tell me what's special about me." If only she'd asked it that way, I could just have answered "everything", and got back to work. But she didn't, and answers like "Just keep being you" would only make her ask me again.

So I decided to give her the straight answer she wasn't really wanting. "You can't even think of competing! Azura will take that as a challenge, and probably cheat! You would be much better advised to share, or take turns. After all, she's immortal, and can afford to wait for hers."

"What kind of sharing did you have in mind?" she asked, but it wasn't her own voice, and she'd started to glow. "If i join with Seryn, then it's no better than she'd get on her own, and she might not like me taking control for that."

"The alternative," Azura's voice continued from beside the bed, "is probably preferable. And I know Clark likes it better that way."

"Did I summon you?" I asked.

"Of course you did. When Seryn mentioned my name, this possibility was one of the first things that crossed your mind. And I don't blame you. It was fun last time."

"And by the way," she continued, "You almost summoned Nocturnal, too. But she's busy already."

Because Azura had been listening to us, she knew how Seryn was feeling. So she was a little shorter than the Dunmer, and definitely cute rather than awesome. She's always a bubbly blonde, whatever size she decides to be, and smaller was a good choice for the circumstances.

I don't know what Seryn's expectations were. I imagine most people expect her to be just like her statues, if not quite so large. But statues all have a solemn expression, and she had the most wicked grin you could imagine. With her chosen stature, she most resembled a Breton, with everything rounded - ears, chin, buttocks and breasts, with her nipples like small domes on the larger domes.

Seryn was all angles, pointed ears, pointed chin and almost conical breasts where the nipples were just a change of shade at the tip.

The one thing they had in common was the perfect balance of soft and firm.

"Did you remember to bring the Crescent?" I asked Azura. I suspected she hadn't, but when I looked on the bedside table, there it was. Of course, that was a cue to have Azura explain all about it, and maybe tell the tale of Lhasi and her theft. I could remember telling my side of the story to Azura, of course, but nothing of the Khajiit herself.

Of course, the two women put me to work, while they discussed the whole subject of involuntary spell-casting and the sensible precautions required. Seryn's ability to hold a conversation despite my best efforts reminded me of someone else, but I couldn't find her in my memory, no matter how hard I tried. It was a skill I admired, that much I knew.

All's well that ends well. I should think Clark preferred Azura's award ceremony to Vivec's.

I can imagine Azura's inspiration to manifest as a small bubbly blonde, but I've no idea where she got the idea about those round ears.

Congrats on attaining Champion of Vivec. Do you happen to know if all of this material with the staff and restoring Vivec if supported in any of the in-game books? I have a feeling maybe it is.



Uh oh. Well that's what happens sometimes, for those of us who assemble ourselves to become a pinnacle of exaltation in the worlds of Tamriel. Clark should expect to claim situations such as this, I'd imagine.

Can you post a picture of Clark in the Second Era? Or does he not exist in ESO as a tangible character?

Clark (and all my other ESO characters)

Ha, his name is Clark Kent. The look on his face helps me visualize the guy as you told that last chapter. Especially since it seems like he's getting his head wrapped into things he didn't plan much on and stuff.

@Acadian: Notice how both Vivec and Azura made him do all the work?

@Renee: Just Clark, and he's not even Earl of Gweden yet.

-----

Previously: Clark soothed Seryn's concerns about Azura, with her help, and thought everything was neatly wrapped up. However ...

------

Part 2.1 - Next assignment

I half expected to wake up the following morning with both of them cuddled up to me, but I found myself alone. Seryn was already awake, and fixing breakfast.

"I suppose you deserve some extra sleep," she told me. "Last night was truly something to remember!"
Did she know that my lack of memory was troubling me? I understood why it was, but the gaps were most annoying. Especially as the missing memories should have been very pleasant ones. And because I couldn't explain any of it to Serym.

Seryn prevented me from brooding over that by talking about Azura, as you'd expect her to. It's not every night you get a visit from a Daedric Princess. Oh, that was a question. Did I really think she'd make a habit of joining us.

"No," I told Seryn, "but last night you needed the reassurance that she only wanted to share."

"Anyway, the reason it's important that last night was memorable is that it helps you form the memory of this place, so you can recall here whenever you want to," she told me.

"Recall?"

"Yes, the same spell that works the wayshrines. They're built the same everywhere, so that you're already familiar with the shrine, and just have to remember the surroundings to travel there again. Home is the easiest place to remember, so you can travel home from anywhere, and don't need to be at a wayshrine to remind you.

"The Mages Guild say that they're working on a spell to reinforce your memory, and then you'll be able to travel back to anywhere you have been before, without needing wayshrines at all. Some of them can already do something like that, and create their own portals for travel."

"Portals are a bit different, though. Anyone can use them, without knowing what's at the other end," I reminded her.

"Yes, but the creator of the portal needs to know, so it's the same thing for them."

"What will happen to the wayshrines, if they finish work on that spell.?" I pondered.

"Well, they won't need to build any more, at least. The ones we have can get a bit crowded at times, which is why they're usually at the edge of town, and a bit off the road, so it doesn't get blocked. Vivec needs two already and most major towns are thinking of where to put a second."

---

We left to go shopping, and as we passed the front desk, the clerk handed me a note. It had a large and elaborate seal on the envelope.

"That's Divayth Fyr's seal!" Seryn exclaimed. "Why's he sending you notes?"

"I'll know once I've opened it, I presume. And who's Divayth Fyr?"

"He's the older Mer alive. Probably immortal. He knew the Tribunal before they became gods, and Nerevar, too. He usually keeps himself to himself in his mushroom tower out in the Telvanni Coast region, but he turns up from time to time when he needs something."

I read the first part of the note. Fyr had heard about the incident with Vivec and Barbas, and wanted my assistance in further investigating some other strange turns of events in the Clockwork CIty. I should meet him in Mournhold, as Barilzar wouldn't be my guide this time.

A little voice inside my head told me that Azura wanted me to go, too. I wasn't sure Seryn would agree with her, but surprisingly she had no objections. "If Fyr summons you, it's a good idea to go." she told me.

"How do I get to Mournhold? I don't know any wayshrines on the mainland."

"Then take a boat across from Seyda Neen. You've been there before, and the wayshrine will get you close to the docks."

---

I asked around in Vivec first, and found out there was a boat direct to Mournhold, without going to Seyda Neen at all. It was a small, slow one, but I wasn't in a hurry. And it took me all the way up the river to the capital, instead of dropping me off at the coast. A rather winding river voyage, as there were several falls on the main flow, and we had to skirt around those along side-channels. I suspected they had been artificially dug out specifically for transporting goods.

I was beginning to distinguish one House style of architecture from another, and the majority of what we passed was Indoril. There were a few obvious exceptions, mainly the Argonian homes built by the ex-slaves who'd settled where they were freed. Some signs of Imperial presence, not surprising on the mainland, but no Redoran bug-houses. I was unsure if I could tell Hlaalu apart from Indoril yet, so some of it may have been theirs, too.

Mournhold is dominated by the Tribunal Temple. It takes up nearly one third of the area, and rises way above the other buildings. Some of that is the higher ground it's built on, but the edifice itself is nothing short of huge!
I was to meet Fyr in that building. I hoped he'd be somewhere close to the main entrance, or I'd never find him.
---
As soon as I'd stepped off the boat, I was met by an Ordinator. As an outsider, I was expected to register at the city center. Registrar Rivel told me I was expected. Apparently Vivec had sent word that I was coming, and Almalexia herself wanted to speak to me. She'd ordered that I be admitted as a citizen, not just a visitor. So should I talk to her, or Fyr first?

And before I could find either of them, I was waylaid by a Dunmer called Naryu Virian, who appeared to know of my visit, too. Apparently there were members of a Daedric cult, called the Maulborn, trying to infiltrate the city. It wasn't clear why, but she thought I'd be interested in helping her investigate. "Find me at the Flaming Nix, when you're done with Almalexia."

Almalexia was waiting outside the Temple's main door. She floated above the ground in much the same way that Vivec had done above his couch, except for their postures. Vivec's cross-legged pose would not have been appropriate for a women, so Almalexia kept her legs together. That meant that she was significantly higher up, and talking to her up there would be a strain on my neck. So I kept my eyes level as we spoke.

"Vivec appears to know of our situation, as he has sent me his Champion," she began. "Since I wish for my people to love me, not fear me, I am reluctant to take action myself, at least publicly. Sending in a Champion, with my blessing and support, is a much better .... WILL YOU STOP STARING AT MY CHEST!!!"

"Isn't that what you wanted?" I asked, as innocently as possible. "You have it levitated up to eye level, as uncovered as public decency permits, not to mention the subtle glow to draw anyones' attention."

It should have been clear to anyone that she wanted attention. I've already mentioned the glow, and that lack of coverage extended to her whole body. She was showing as much skin as she could manage. I suspected that was because she retained the Chimer golden hue that had been replaced by Dunmer grey in everyone else. The levitation, too was a show of power. It's a spell that requires a lot of magicka, and mortal mages can't sustain it for long.

What I was lacking was the proper deference, of course. She wanted me to admire her, worship her, even. Instead, i was just treating her as an equal, or at least not as special as she wanted to be.

She lowered herself to the ground, so our eyes met naturally, and she continued the conversation. "As I was saying, we have a situation here that needs you. There are cultists in Mournhold, and they've managed to summon Daedra into the temple. I need you to find the source, and eliminate it."

When I agreed, she turned and walked away. This time my eyes weren't on her chest. She'd have drawn less of my attention if she'd levitated again, as her hips wouldn't have moved like that.

Off on the next adventure! I like your logic on wayshrines, portals and such.

I see Clark was suitably impressed by Almalexia. I suspect she shops at the Goddess Store?

I hate when I've apparently had a great night, but can't remember the details! Totally get how Clark feels there. Then again, it's been over two decades since I've had a night like that.



Very nice. I like how you've managed to describe how Recalling to a Wayshrine works, in terms which make sense from Clark's perspective (rather than our perspective as we play the game).

@Acadian: If she doesn't shop there, I'm sure she has their labels sewn into her things.

@Renee: I'll be trying to do the same for crafting in this one.

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

Previously: Clark traveled to the mainland, and arrived in Mournhold.

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

Part 2.2 - Mournhold

I noticed another pair of eyes watching her leave. An elderly Dunmer in Daedric armour was standing nearby, and he came over to talk to me. "I've not seen Almalexia stared down before. It will probably do her good."

This was Divayth Fir, the one who'd sent for me. He was a contemporary if the Tribunal, but had not participated in their use of the Heart of Lorkhan. as he preferred to earn his immortality by diligent study, not opportunism. I took that to mean that he'd succeeded in that objective. His task for me could wait until I'd dealt with the cultists. "You've got two women expecting your assistance, and me. I know who I'd put first. Besides, having the cultists and their daedra here when we get back would complicate matters."

I asked if he had any clues as to whose cult we were dealing with. He thought it might be Boethia, but it wasn't at all clear. There were hints of other Princes being involved, although they rarely worked in concert. Too much rivalry, and fondness for treachery.

Naryu didn't know which Daedric Prince was at work here either, but our best chance to find out involved the House Dres farm outside town. There had been a lot of suspicious activity, and it was locked down tight. There was a courier she'd been watching, who was apparently delivering bribes to the other house leaders and city officials. He might be our opportunity to progress in the case, especially if he had a key to the farmhouse.

She suggested an elaborate plan involving drugged wine, and following him until he drank some and fell asleep. I pointed out that if he waited until he was back at the farm, we'd fail, and alert the others at the same time. "Ok, then the simpler approach is that I get his attention, and you knock him on the head. All it should take is a little cleavage."

If that was her idea of a little, I want to be around when she decides the situation needs a lot.

---

With the key in my pocket, I set out for the farm. It wasn't hard to evade the guards, who seemed to patrol on a rigid schedule, and were totally predictable. The farmhouse was empty, but various items in it were suspicious, not the least of which was an oddly-placed rug, which turned out to be covering a trapdoor.
Just as I opened it, Naryu came through the door. She'd followed me from the city as soon as she could get away.

She wasn't distracting me the way she had the courier, so I was able to take in the outfit she was wearing. Dark and inconspicuous, much like the members of the thieves guild would wear, but with a lot more locations for concealed weapons. That made me suspect she was an assassin by trade. The Dark Brotherhood didn't get involved with other Daedric cults, so I didn't think she was with them. I'd heard of a specifically Dunmer outfit called the Morag Tong, and that seemed much more likely.

When we found a trapdoor in the farmhouse leading down to the city sewers, she confirmed my suspicions. "My organisation has these sewers warded aginst spying, and it looks like the Maulborn are taking advantage of that,"

I asked if she knew which Daedric Prince he Maulborn were associated with, but she didn't. She didn't really care for the Deadra anyway. They just got in the way of business.

I asked her about that.

"Well, take my current contract. Usually I just track the guy down, let him take me to bed, and then I wake up in the morning and he doesn't. That fulfills my need to positively identify my target, and I don't feel too bad about killing him, because I know he died happy.

"But this time, I find that he's behind the Llodos plague that was rampant in Serk, You wouldn't sleep with a guy who's spreading plague, would you?"

She reflected a moment. "Maybe I could have phrased that a bit better, but you know what I mean."

"So where does the Daedric Prince fit in, and which one?" I asked.

"Well, with plague involved, my first thought was Peryite, but it appears to be one of the 'three anticipations', as they're now called: Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala. It's not surprising that they'd be a bit displeased with the Tribunal, and the plague seems to be directed at Almalexia. It could be all of them, but they rarely cooperate that much. I haven't found out enough to know which it is, yet,"

"Perhaps they're not knowingly working together. Sometimes they'll provoke each other, just to get a reaction that affects a third party, usually us here on Nirn," I suggested. "They're a devious bunch."

"That's certainly true," she agreed. "and whichever it is, we have to deal it with all the same way, by taking down their agents here."

---

While Naryu did help me get into the sewers, showing me the right door, and helping me with the sequence of levers required to unlock it, she left before I went in.

"My intelligence reports tell me the boss of the little group down here is a woman. Obviously, you'll do better than I would," she pointed out. "I'll see you back in Mournhold."

I did, however, get help from Almalexia. After I took down Commander Kalara, she showed up to wipe out the rest of the witnesses. The exception being one Farona Telvanni, a mage that the Maulborn had coerced
into bypassing the Morag Tong's wards for them. Almalexia sent her to the Mage's Guild for healing, but left me to find my own way back.

---

I ran into Naryu again, on my way to get my armour and sword repaired. "don't bother with that," she told me. "You need to get yourself a matched set that will work better anyway, and I know just the place to do so."

I followed her to the way-shrine, and she took me to a location somewhere in the Rift, that I'd never been to before. "Why would anyone put all these crafting stations in a cave out in the wilderness?" I wanted to know.

"Because some places are special, and you can make armour and weapons here that have properties unlike the ones you'd make in town. Look, I don't know how it works, either. Just that it does. The set you can make here gives you an extra bonus if you wear five pieces, although that can include weapons, and jewelry. It's one that would benefit your style, I think."

I was surprised at how much material I needed to use, but Naryu told me that was more due to the quality of items I was making. The step up from the level I'd been using was a big one, but at least I'd reached the top, now. "And watch what traits you're assigning," she reminded me. "You can change it later, but that's not easy."

---

When we returned to Mournhold, I began to understand why she'd done that. Almalexia's next task for me was to clear daedra out of the temple. "Alone?" I asked.

"I'll be assisting," responded Fyr, who I hadn't noticed standing nearby. "But that will mostly be healing, and weakening the daedra. You'd be doing most of the damage."

"But still just the two us. No army of Ordinators, or anything like that?"

"They wouldn't do any better, and it would just get them killed. I notice you've just had your equipment upgraded, and you won't believe how much better it is than the guards' gear. Almalexia herself can't get involved directly. When it comes to disputes between the Tribunal and the Daedra, there are contractual obligations involved, that require the use of proxies."

"Huh?"

"Blame Sotha Sil for that. He negotiated a deal with the Daedric Princes, and now everyone has to live by it."
Fyr looked over my new equipment. "Just the one set? That may not be enough for this job. You can wear two complete sets, and a couple of additional items more. We'd better take you for a second set, at least."

It turned out that I had some pieces that matched already, so it was just a case of hunting down the missing ones. We checked the Guild merchants in town, and Fyr took me to a couple more cities to trade there, and I soon had all I needed.

"Most of what you have needs improving, but you can do some of that yourself. And when it comes to the jewelry, having the complete set makes more difference than the last upgrades of quality. I think you're in good enough shape for the job, now"

We did go back to the crafting area in Mournhold first, and I upgraded a couple of the items. Azura's voice in the back of my mind was noticeably silent, so I presume she agreed with what Fyr was telling me.

’With the key in my pocket, I set out for the farm. It wasn't hard to evade the guards, who seemed to patrol on a rigid schedule, and were totally predictable.’
- - It seems Naryu’s cleavage gambit worked well. And how convenient of those guards to be so predictable.


Commander Kalara, of the Maulborn Sewer Forces. Wonder who she pissed off to get that assignment? Well, she’s gone now, thanks to Clark.

Great job of weaving equipment crafting and the intricacies of sets and traits into the story.

@Acadian: At least her assignment wasn't rats. That means you're assigned to the fighter's guild.

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

Previously: Clark has met Divayth Fyr. Almalexia wants them to clear daedra out of the Temple.

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

Part 2.3 - To the Clockwork City

"Are these daedra much weaker than I'm used to, or is it all down to the new equipment?" I asked, during the first break from the fighting.

"Both, I suspect. If my spells are doing their job, then they should be less able to resist your attacks, as well as those doing more damage because of the better weapons etc. And on the other side of the equation, you've got better defensive pieces, and I'm healing you, as well."

We both agreed that it hadn't exactly been easy, but at least it was possible.

"But I can't help you with the next part," Fyr told me. "Entering the central chamber requires that you get the blessing of each of the Tribunal, and I have enough history with each of them, to know that's not happening for me."

"Almalexia's is already given. You've got this far, which is what she asked. Sotha Sil and Vivec have tests for you, and even though Vivec sent you here, his is still a requirement."

---

Sotha Sil had me repair, and then destroy, a Dwarven Centurion. The cogs and dynamo cores were a puzzle to test my brain, and the battle with the mended construct a test of brawn, I assume. Vivec's was not so much a murder mystery play, as a lesson in Great House politics.

With blessings in hand, I entered the central chamber to find a Dunmer mage attempt to summon even more
deadra to his cause. Or rather, that of Magistrix Vox, whom he represented. I got the impression that she was not in Mournhold herself, so hopefully I'd be done here once I dealt with this mage.

That wasn't as easy as I'd hoped. I had to activate three warding stones in the right order before I could reach him, and he was firing off spells at me as I did so. He went down as rapidly as the barrier did when I touched the last stone. One solid blow from my shield to wind him, and then a follow-up thrust with the sword.

---

I assume that killed him. Before I could check, I found myself in another room. It appeared to have no doors, or windows, and the light all came from a glowing ceiling. The floor was covered with a resilient matting that would let you fall without injury, and gave your bare feet a good grip.

Oh yes, bare feet. And everything else. And Almalexia was bare too.

She was attacking a straw dummy in the middle of the room with an unarmed style of fighting that was both acrobatic and effective, judging by the way the dust was flying from the target. Still, something told me that display was mainly about showing me what she had, more than her skill in using it.

Perhaps a part of that suspicion came from the way her breasts moved. Unrestrained, they should have been flailing around all over the place, but they didn't. There was clarly some magical support, and restraint, involved. Whether it was for her own comfort, or just vanity, she was still using at least some of her levitation.

She was glancing at me, seeing if I was showing an interest, so I didn't. I remembered a spell from somewhere that let me totally fail to react. Now, why did I even want to learn a spell like that in the first place?

And then I recalled teaching patience to Drelka, Azura's guard captain. That's why I could recall this one, because I'd used it in Moonshadow. It was able to counter-act the seducer's Allure spell, so hopefully Almalexia didn't know anything more powerful.

"Very few get to watch me practice," she was saying. "I do expect you to appreciate the privilege."
She stopped dancing around the straw man, and came over to dance around me. An impressive show of acrobatic/erotic poses, that still failed to change my apparent disinterest. Then contact, rather gentler than the straw man had endured. She took my hand and guided it, letting me know that she was ready to accept my offering, and where she'd like it delivered.

I couldn't get her thoughts very clearly. My telepathy isn't that good, and one of the Tribunal probably has a greater ability to hide them than most. But some of the surface ones were leaking through.
My lack of reaction was beginning to get to her. And her mood was darkening. And then, abruptly, it lightened again, as she "understood" that I was resisting her, not ...

There was an old wound behind that thought that I'd just missed re-opening. And naturally, she misunderstood my intentions.

"I know what you're trying to do and it won't work," she told me. "I am not going to kneel before a mortal!"

---

As abruptly as I'd been pulled into that room, I was ejected again. I found myself standing outside the Temple, next to Divayth Fyr. Fortunately, she'd dumped me out with my armour back in place.

"I think I may have got on the wrong side of Almalexia, a bit," I told him. "At least that means she's not likely to call on me for another errand for a while."

"Then we should take this opportunity to go to the Clockwork City," he responded. "The entrance isn't far, but it's a bit hidden away, to say the least. Follow me."

I soon understood what he meant by that. The entrance to a cave was hidden behind a waterfall just outside town, and the entrance to the dwarven ruin was hidden in the cave, and then ...

Eventually we came out in the same small room that I'd been to with Barilzar, and there was the miniature dome of the Clockwork City before us. The process for shrinking down and entering wasn't a surprise any more, which was perhaps a disappointment to Fyr.

More of a disappointment was where we arrived. "This isn't the Brass Fortress. What's going on?"
I began to wonder that myself when Fyr's shadow started to run ahead of him. "Follow that shadow! I need it back!"

I started to run after it, but the factotums around the walls started to energize and attack us. Presumably, without his shadow, Fyr was no longer someone they recognized, and of course, I wasn't either. To make matters worse, losing his shadow had also drained Fyr of a lot of his magicka, and he could only manage a few healing spells.

His memory was intact (unlike mine), and he knew the factotums' weaknesses, and could instruct me on how to exploit them. He knew where the traps were, and the switches that turned them off - although those always seemed to be on the far side of the traps themselves.

His shadow apparently didn't remember the way out, or maybe it couldn't go out into the daylight without him. We caught up to it eventually in a large hall, where after a bit of a struggle, I was able to subdue it, and Fyr was soon back in one piece.

On our way to the nearest way-shrine, we discussed the purpose of that incident. Was someone just trying to delay our arrival, or did it mean more? I had a vague feeling that someone was trying to warn us about something, and the shadow separation was a clue that we'd need later.

That is true, all the daedric princes surrounding Mundus can be confusing to know, and study. I haven't the foggiest, either. Uh oh, here comes the cleavage.

That forge in the middle of nowhere sounds neat. I bet there's stuff like this scattered all over the gameworlds.

The scene with Almalexia is captivating. Why would Clark be resisting her actions? I mean, I know why... but he sure has some willpower at that moment. Whoa, this next scene in the Clockwork chapter is crazy. Will Clark figure it all out?

EDIT: this is Clark of Gweden, I just discovered. Phew, you have a lot of characters, ghast.

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

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

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

-----------

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

----------

Part 2.4 - Brass Fortress

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

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

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

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

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

"The metal's really that light?"

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Having a skeevatron sure comes in handy.

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

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

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

Got some oil, Good job, Clark.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Part 2.5 - Sponsored

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"What do you mean?" I asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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