Renee, you've outdone yourself in this story! Very well written, thank you, much enjoyed reading!

I recently met another Priest of Lord Dagoth, but that one didn't feel like talking at all. It was a hell of a fight though.

Haha, so Dagaoth Gares studied under DiMartani at Drenlyn Academy!

He was one wordy opponent! But finally Joan’s suspicions that she’d have to fight came to fruition. To bad she could not summon her Legionnaire for some needed help, but she did ultimately prevail. Not knowing anything about the game’s questline, I’m glad Joan stuck to her roots as a crusader from Cheydinhal. Now to get uncursed. . . .

What? Dagoth accuses Lord Neravar of betrayal! Did Lord Nerevar really strike down Dagoth Ur? Does this justify Dagoth’s foul retribution?
The thin threads of doubt begin to worm their way in, cracking the foundations of what once was thought to be truth.

Yes, this is true. Lord Nerevar sacrificed Dagoth Ur on the altar of his own greatness. There are books to be had in the Imperial Library that tell that story. Dagoth Ur actually did nothing wrong back than, he was betrayed. Which explains a lot.

I really liked your portrayal of Dagoth Gares here. He is the lion that the many hopeful Nerevarines have been fed to over the years. At least until the real one comes along, and Gares is the one being eaten. And by "real" I don't mean as in the Chosen One, but simply the one good enough to win and continue on to the next challenge.

I think Morrowind did the whole Chosen One trope very well. The protagonist is not shielded by fate and thusly cannot fail in their task. Many others have been chosen before, and they have all died. Your path is not guaranteed because you have the favor of the gods. Rather it is made more tortuous because of it.

I love how you wove in Drenlyn Academy here. Daria and Jeval may have once rubbed shoulders with this fearsome monster. Before he became a Dreamer, and before he had Awoken.

Most of Morrowind's dungeons are very small and simple. Usually only one to four rooms. This one and the Urishikalu crypt one stand out as being huge. As befits their status as important events in the main quest.

And after a long descent into the Underworld, the Hero of a Thousand Faces meets their foe, and suffers a grievous injury. Classic Joseph Campbell Hero Cycle stuff.

The fight was Fast and Furious: Dagoth Drift!

Sortilege, wow, I had to look that up. Now I know.

Oh good, Clav hasn't shown up yet. I made an amendment to the Drenlyn Academy part, with WTC's permission, of course.

Nice little new bit you added in there, Renee. Glasses, indeed!

Okay, finally here and ready to catch up!

Interesting aside with Igodah. It is funny how sometimes our in-game characters can end up taking lives of their own that span multiple games.

Also, it's cool that you used one of the bandit NPCs. I did like how Morrowind gave nearly each human/Mer/Beastfolk NPC a unique name. Suppose that might be difficult in later games and their respawning enemies.

Looks like Lurius is following standard bandit operating procedure by charging in with an insult. Also weird that he calls her an n'wah, but I guess he's been living here a while.

Ooh, and Igodah's not afraid to make her own spells. For all the flash of fireballs and lightning bolts, status effects can be so much nastier, and I like the way you show this.

And now we're getting Dagoth Gares's perspective! Quite a day for the baddies.

"Inscrutably fabulous" actually describes Dagoth Ur pretty well. He's fab, and he's very hard to know.

Oh wow! So this ascended sleeper is someone Daria knew. Maybe not as well as he'd have liked, but still someone she saw in Drenlyn every day, admiring her from afar. Adds a tragic element to this. Dagoth Gares can't be very old if he'd gone to Drenlyn at the same time. And is a reminder of just how dangerous Dagoth Ur is. Especially with how he attacks people through dreams. One day you're a normal Dunmer. Some nightmares and some weeks later... you're changed. And not for the better.

Now back to Joan. Looks like she's learned from the past attempts, in classic Morrowind fashion.

Wait, isn't there something in real life similar to the Gibbeous Method? It sounds vaguely familiar but I can't quite put my finger on it.

Ah, too bad Joan can't use the auto-map.

Joan's reaction to the Sixth House cultists is understandable. But each of them was once a regular kid like Dagoth Gares, pulled into this by a force beyond their understanding.

Okay, back again. Now she's thinking about her own dreams. Wonder when she'll put two and two together...

Probably best for her companion to stay behind. He's not likely to survive what comes ahead (NPCs can be pretty difficult to keep alive in this game).

Looks like Dagoth Gares is trying to be friendly. "Come Nerevar, be you friend or traitor, come."

Heh, and he's another Dunmer thrown by an outlander Nerevarine.

It is fitting to have a confrontation of words here. Plus, combat in Morrowind can sometimes feel weirdly anticlimactic.

For all the words and lore, Joan is who she is. She doesn't really believe in this Nerevarine stuff. She only knows that her Empire faces a problem here, and that it's her job to solve it. But peace is tempting. She'd like that more than war.

Oops, the submission thing completely wrecked negotiations.

Okay, quite a fight here, but Joan wins. And now she has corpus, which is going to change things for her... just not in the way Dagoth Ur intended.

Great update! And I hope you're feeling better.

Really kind of you to say Lena, thanks!




Ha ha yeah he was, Acadian. And Joanie got annoyed by this!



Oh gosh, no. She wanted to take down the Big Boss herself, and (from my perspective) so did I. Followers mostly come in handy for taking on all the enemies Joan doesn't want to deal with. You know, it gets tedious dealing with a bunch of lesser opponents and then you gotta face the boss, so she delegates some of the work. Another plus: by the time she faces the boss her gear's not as beat up.




Apparently so! But yeah, all of this makes little sense to me, so far. Like, why is the story written to assume the player-character is the one who's gonna figure all of this out? It's bizarre.


Much thanks, SubRosa, I worked a little harder on this one, creatively-wise.

Yeah I began thinking Gares is from Balmora, and what if he'd gone to school, and OH, how old is the guy? ... UESP has NO INFO on Dagoth Gares, other than he was once an ordinary Dunmer. If there's anything else added to him thru lore, I'm afraid I couldn't find it! -- Which means I have Full Creative License on the guy, woo hoo!

Me too. Sortilege came up as I was editing; one of those terms on Thesaurus.com.


Why is it weird that he called Igodah n'wah? Uh oh. Maybe I made a mistake! Well, he made a mistake.



Have you ever rolled a magic-user in this game? We pretty much have to use the Spellmaker, not just to make OP spells but also to make more-efficient spells! ... Especially as a starter mage, some of those starter spells draw too much magicka, or they fizzle too easily, and so on.



This crossed my mind! But in a way it makes sense. Young guy, a loner heading into priesthood with a somewhat malleable mind. On the other hand, it's also me having fun as a writer. I allude to Dimartani and Daria Morgendorffer without actually using their names.

There probably is a name for that caving technique, ha!



YES, glad you clued into this. Because Joanie's next chapter in Spring is going to have her feeling guilty about some of her actions.



Fortunately I've read one too many Jack Reacher novels in my adulthood.

See you all next Spring. 🍾