Chapter 11. Assault.
The past days had been booming with rumors. The ranking Hlaalu noble, Crassius Curio, had been murdered in his own home. The perpetrator, at least according to official sources, had fled the scene of the crime, observed by another nobleman of that same house. Baladas thought it unlikely Dram Bero would have ever harmed Crassius Curio, so someone must want to make Dram look bad, but why? Perhaps the answer would come to him. Helseth had been named the new head of the Hlaalu.
He had been busy as well. He’d taken his forces, passed by Tel Aruhn to gather those men and then gone on down to Tel Uvirith where they would be leaving very soon. Reynel Uvirith could only be called odd, even for a Telvanni. She had been born with a different last name, that of one of the previous masters of House Telvanni. That master had been killed when she was quite young, barely out of her teens. She responded to the killing in typical Telvanni fashion, by killing the killers. Everyone had expected her to assume the newly vacated position, but instead she told them they could keep it. She was last seen boarding a ship that sailed for Akavir. What she did there was known to no one, but when she returned many years later, she had changed. Not on the outside; she still looked very much the same as when she left, only older, but rumors were floating around that she’d studied magic with famed Akaviri Wizards. Magic was done differently in Akavir and they also used very different spells. Rumors told of impossible feats of magic perpetrated on the Akaviri continent, feats never before seen on Tamriel and feats no Tamrielic wizard could ever hope to copy.
She returned to Sadrith Mora one day, officially joined house Telvanni, and rose through the ranks like a meteor. Until she reached the rank of Wizard, that is. Then she declared herself content. She moved out here, into the barren Molag Amur region, had her Tel constructed at the site of a long dead Telvanni figure and took his last name. From then on she almost always wore a hooded black robe, and Baladas was not alone in feeling uncomfortable when he was around her. But the most astonishing thing had come later. She planted a small seed near the edge of Uvirith’s Grave, and while every one of her servants assumed the seed would never grow, it did. It grew into a magnificent tree. And around the tree what had always been barren land grew to be a meadow. The larger the tree grew, the larger the meadow grew, and right now it stretched for about two miles in every direction from Tel Uvirith. It formed an oasis among the Barren rocks.
When asked about it, Reynel would always say she got the seed as a gift from a great Akaviri Warlord. It came from a gigantic tree located in the center of the Akavir continent, that was believed to be the physical form of the god Epyon. While not much was known about him, those who were familiar with him knew he always brought joy to a room, and perhaps that would explain the meadow where once no life could grow. It was also said by Reynel that he made for an excellent chess opponent, but Baladas frowned at that. “A tree playing chess? Now I’ve heard everything.”
In front of the Tel, the troops were massing. Baladas knew, however, that they were far too few if it came to a fight over Ghostgate. With only two ways inside, and long, narrow, Velothi-style corridors beyond, he knew he needed an army far larger then this if he had to take it by force. He was hoping the sealed scroll would do what Divayth had promised it would. Destroying Ghostgate was simply not an option; the strategic value of a fort at that place was simply too great to destroy.
The journey to Ghostgate proved uneventful; there wasn’t much but stone and rock between Tel Uvirith and Ghostgate, and the host crossed the mountain range using levitation spells, or potions and scrolls for those who were unable to cast spells themselves. At the other side of the range the host regrouped and marched to Ghostgate in formation.
When they came into view, Baladas bid halt to his army and took only two of his retainers with him as he walked on. He left Reynel Uvirith behind in charge of the army, and in the sleeve of his robe, he felt the sealed scroll. He entered the Tower of Dawn, and crossed it to the Ghostgate temple. Inside he found Rilvase Avani, the ranking priest in Ghostgate.
She looked at him, and went to shout for the Armigers when she saw him reach into his sleeve. But when she saw it was only a scroll she seemed to change her mind. She reached for the scroll and Baladas saw her carefully examining the seal. Probably checking to see if it was genuine. She broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. It did not take long to read. She then looked up, straight at Baladas, then at the scroll again and lowered it.
“So, war is coming is it?” she asked him.
“Yes, it would appear so.”
She gestured for an aide to approach and told him, “Go to both towers; tell all of our Armigers that we’re about to receive many guests. Make sure they understand their duty and stay their weapons whenever our guests are around. They are to take no action. Understood?” When the aide had confirmed the orders, she gestured for him to leave and see to it.
Then she turned back to Baladas and asked, “Do you know what you hold here, Telvanni?”
“No, actually I did not read the scroll; what does it say?”
“It has but a single line: ‘Remember your oath, the old and the new’.”
Baladas had no idea what she was getting at, and it must have shown for she continued,
“When lord Nerevar vanquished Dagoth Ur and was awarded dominion of Morrowind, he held a meeting with all the high members of the Temple. In it he told us he wanted to make sure the Temple would never again get involved with a conflict internally in Morrowind. During the time of his return, we nearly cost lord Nerevar his life twice; once by keeping information from him, and the second time by proclaiming him false incarnate and declaring his life forfeit. He made us swear oaths that we would never again be involved in any conflict within Morrowind. And he made us swear that everyone not present at the meeting would swear the same oath, and last he made us add that new oath to the oath new priests take. You see, even if we wanted to, we could not oppose you, nor anyone else. From now on, we are always neutral.”
The enormity of that statement hit Baladas. If the Temple remained neutral, then three cities would remain neutral: Ghostgate, Molag Mar and Vivec. All three were governed by the Temple through their Buoyant Armigers. Divayth had been right all along; both Ghostgate and Molag Mar would not oppose them. While that did not help them should they face attack by other Great Houses, it would at least keep the Temple out of the way. This was certainly a good thing.
The next few days were spent settling in at Ghostgate. Some of the men went back to Tel Uvirith with orders to come only when needed, but nearly half of the men stayed at Ghostgate. It was a tight fit, but after they had “persuaded” the Redorans present there to vacate, they were all able to just fit in. It was also the day Baladas was going to Vivec to see Eno Hlaalu.
There were very few secrets left in Vivec not known to the Telvanni; they’d known about the Headquarters of the Morag Tong there for many years. He had no intention of making a scene. He knew that yesterday, Divayth Fyr had visited king Helseth in Mournhold to announce the Telvanni claims to Suran and Dagon Fel, and the different regions on Vvardenfall they had conquered, and Baladas knew that after that, things would really come to a head. He didn’t know how much the other houses knew already, or had found out by now, so he was glad the Telvanni compound was right next to the arena.
He decided to stop by Mavon Drenim on his way to the Arena. Mavon Drenim was the ranking noble of house Telvanni inside Vivec and would likely face quite a challenge; staying put in a place surrounded by enemies was not a task Baladas envied him for. Even though he was only a spellwright, few could match Mavon’s skill in conjuration. He’d studied under Felen Maryon, who was undoubtedly Telvanni’s leading conjuration expert, and few mages in their right mind would ever consider facing either Felen Maryon or one of his pupils.
A tall Mer, especially for Dunmer standards, Mavon’s upright hair made him appear taller still. He always carried a Wizards staff with a wicked Fire enchantment on it, and he looked very impressive indeed.
“Hail Magister Demnevanni. What brings you to our fair city this day?”
“Just wanted to make sure you haven’t been experiencing any problems, Mavon. No one has tried anything here yet have they?”
“Actually Magister, they did. Quite a few Hlaalu tried to come after us yesterday, but the new guards of Vivec, the Buoyant Armigers, stopped them. I guess the temple is determined to remain neutral as they vowed.”
“Well, that’s a positive thing in any case. Is there anything more you need, Mavon? Anything we need to supply you with?”
“No thank you Magister; we’ve been managing on our own for many years, and we’ve never had to rely on other parts of Vivec and don’t now either. We’ll be just fine, don’t worry about us Magister.” Having reassured himself, Baladas took his leave and went to the Arena Storage area, which had for many years held the entrance to the headquarters of the Morag Tong. There was already a thrall waiting for him, and he was admitted straight away. He’d met Eno once before, that time while he was visiting lord Nerevar and Eno had come by, spoken to lord Nerevar for a brief time and then left again. He’d never been this close before though, and couldn’t help but be impressed. For a non-magic wielder, Baladas knew Eno was one of the most dangerous men in Morrowind.
“Welcome Magister, how fare things? And please, when next you see them, pay my respects to Magister Fyr and your new Archmagister, would you?” With that one line Eno had left Baladas nearly stunned; somehow he knew things only members of the House were supposed to know. He knew both that there was a new head of House Telvanni and the fact that he was now a Magister rather then a Master. Impressive, to say the least proving that the rumors of Eno being the master of many whisperers must be correct after all then.
“Thank you Grandmaster. I fare well, and last time I saw them, the men you name as well.”
“Good to hear that Baladas. Now, Divayth tells me you’re here to pick up the special item, am I right?” Baladas simply nodded. It would not do for Eno to find out Divayth had not even bothered to tell him what he was supposed to pick up, let alone what to use it for. Being left in the dark was not something Baladas enjoyed.
“Right. Well, here it is.” Eno went to a drawer, and got a steel plaque out of it. It looked almost like a normal serving tray, but carved into the edge were many mystical signs. Though Baladas did not recognize any of them, he could clearly feel magic emanating from it.
“Now, Divayth also told me you are as yet unfamiliar with this, so please allow me to demonstrate.”
“This is an invention of Divayth’s, I’m told, and it holds a special type of magic that allows you to view things many miles away, sort of like a crystal ball, but far more accurately and it shows things in a much more detailed way. Another function of the artifact is the ability to remember things it has displayed. In this case, it has remembered some very interesting events from a few days ago, the day of the funeral, to be precise.”
Eno touched a few of the signs carved in the plate in a specific order, and in the center where there had first been simply polished steel, Baladas now saw a very clear picture of the inside of a manor. He recognized it straight away and became very interested. As the events unfolded in the picture, Baladas found himself smiling more and more, and as the picture ended, he laughed. Perhaps it really hadn’t been folly to think Telvanni could win this conflict. With what was on this plaque, at least one opponent could easily be neutralized. Eno smiled, for of course he’d known all along what was remembered on the plaque and knew how much it meant to House Telvanni. Baladas had no doubt that getting this plaque from Eno had cost Divayth a fortune, but if it did what Baladas assumed it would do, it would prove worth it many times over. Then a thought came to him.
“What I just saw, it is real? Or is it meant to fool someone?”
“I promise you,” came the reply, “everything seen and heard is genuine and truth.”
Reassured and with even more confidence, Baladas took the plaque, thanked Eno for his help and travelled back to Sadrith Mora.
On to the next chapter
The past days had been booming with rumors. The ranking Hlaalu noble, Crassius Curio, had been murdered in his own home. The perpetrator, at least according to official sources, had fled the scene of the crime, observed by another nobleman of that same house. Baladas thought it unlikely Dram Bero would have ever harmed Crassius Curio, so someone must want to make Dram look bad, but why? Perhaps the answer would come to him. Helseth had been named the new head of the Hlaalu.
He had been busy as well. He’d taken his forces, passed by Tel Aruhn to gather those men and then gone on down to Tel Uvirith where they would be leaving very soon. Reynel Uvirith could only be called odd, even for a Telvanni. She had been born with a different last name, that of one of the previous masters of House Telvanni. That master had been killed when she was quite young, barely out of her teens. She responded to the killing in typical Telvanni fashion, by killing the killers. Everyone had expected her to assume the newly vacated position, but instead she told them they could keep it. She was last seen boarding a ship that sailed for Akavir. What she did there was known to no one, but when she returned many years later, she had changed. Not on the outside; she still looked very much the same as when she left, only older, but rumors were floating around that she’d studied magic with famed Akaviri Wizards. Magic was done differently in Akavir and they also used very different spells. Rumors told of impossible feats of magic perpetrated on the Akaviri continent, feats never before seen on Tamriel and feats no Tamrielic wizard could ever hope to copy.
She returned to Sadrith Mora one day, officially joined house Telvanni, and rose through the ranks like a meteor. Until she reached the rank of Wizard, that is. Then she declared herself content. She moved out here, into the barren Molag Amur region, had her Tel constructed at the site of a long dead Telvanni figure and took his last name. From then on she almost always wore a hooded black robe, and Baladas was not alone in feeling uncomfortable when he was around her. But the most astonishing thing had come later. She planted a small seed near the edge of Uvirith’s Grave, and while every one of her servants assumed the seed would never grow, it did. It grew into a magnificent tree. And around the tree what had always been barren land grew to be a meadow. The larger the tree grew, the larger the meadow grew, and right now it stretched for about two miles in every direction from Tel Uvirith. It formed an oasis among the Barren rocks.
When asked about it, Reynel would always say she got the seed as a gift from a great Akaviri Warlord. It came from a gigantic tree located in the center of the Akavir continent, that was believed to be the physical form of the god Epyon. While not much was known about him, those who were familiar with him knew he always brought joy to a room, and perhaps that would explain the meadow where once no life could grow. It was also said by Reynel that he made for an excellent chess opponent, but Baladas frowned at that. “A tree playing chess? Now I’ve heard everything.”
In front of the Tel, the troops were massing. Baladas knew, however, that they were far too few if it came to a fight over Ghostgate. With only two ways inside, and long, narrow, Velothi-style corridors beyond, he knew he needed an army far larger then this if he had to take it by force. He was hoping the sealed scroll would do what Divayth had promised it would. Destroying Ghostgate was simply not an option; the strategic value of a fort at that place was simply too great to destroy.
The journey to Ghostgate proved uneventful; there wasn’t much but stone and rock between Tel Uvirith and Ghostgate, and the host crossed the mountain range using levitation spells, or potions and scrolls for those who were unable to cast spells themselves. At the other side of the range the host regrouped and marched to Ghostgate in formation.
When they came into view, Baladas bid halt to his army and took only two of his retainers with him as he walked on. He left Reynel Uvirith behind in charge of the army, and in the sleeve of his robe, he felt the sealed scroll. He entered the Tower of Dawn, and crossed it to the Ghostgate temple. Inside he found Rilvase Avani, the ranking priest in Ghostgate.
She looked at him, and went to shout for the Armigers when she saw him reach into his sleeve. But when she saw it was only a scroll she seemed to change her mind. She reached for the scroll and Baladas saw her carefully examining the seal. Probably checking to see if it was genuine. She broke the seal and unrolled the scroll. It did not take long to read. She then looked up, straight at Baladas, then at the scroll again and lowered it.
“So, war is coming is it?” she asked him.
“Yes, it would appear so.”
She gestured for an aide to approach and told him, “Go to both towers; tell all of our Armigers that we’re about to receive many guests. Make sure they understand their duty and stay their weapons whenever our guests are around. They are to take no action. Understood?” When the aide had confirmed the orders, she gestured for him to leave and see to it.
Then she turned back to Baladas and asked, “Do you know what you hold here, Telvanni?”
“No, actually I did not read the scroll; what does it say?”
“It has but a single line: ‘Remember your oath, the old and the new’.”
Baladas had no idea what she was getting at, and it must have shown for she continued,
“When lord Nerevar vanquished Dagoth Ur and was awarded dominion of Morrowind, he held a meeting with all the high members of the Temple. In it he told us he wanted to make sure the Temple would never again get involved with a conflict internally in Morrowind. During the time of his return, we nearly cost lord Nerevar his life twice; once by keeping information from him, and the second time by proclaiming him false incarnate and declaring his life forfeit. He made us swear oaths that we would never again be involved in any conflict within Morrowind. And he made us swear that everyone not present at the meeting would swear the same oath, and last he made us add that new oath to the oath new priests take. You see, even if we wanted to, we could not oppose you, nor anyone else. From now on, we are always neutral.”
The enormity of that statement hit Baladas. If the Temple remained neutral, then three cities would remain neutral: Ghostgate, Molag Mar and Vivec. All three were governed by the Temple through their Buoyant Armigers. Divayth had been right all along; both Ghostgate and Molag Mar would not oppose them. While that did not help them should they face attack by other Great Houses, it would at least keep the Temple out of the way. This was certainly a good thing.
The next few days were spent settling in at Ghostgate. Some of the men went back to Tel Uvirith with orders to come only when needed, but nearly half of the men stayed at Ghostgate. It was a tight fit, but after they had “persuaded” the Redorans present there to vacate, they were all able to just fit in. It was also the day Baladas was going to Vivec to see Eno Hlaalu.
There were very few secrets left in Vivec not known to the Telvanni; they’d known about the Headquarters of the Morag Tong there for many years. He had no intention of making a scene. He knew that yesterday, Divayth Fyr had visited king Helseth in Mournhold to announce the Telvanni claims to Suran and Dagon Fel, and the different regions on Vvardenfall they had conquered, and Baladas knew that after that, things would really come to a head. He didn’t know how much the other houses knew already, or had found out by now, so he was glad the Telvanni compound was right next to the arena.
He decided to stop by Mavon Drenim on his way to the Arena. Mavon Drenim was the ranking noble of house Telvanni inside Vivec and would likely face quite a challenge; staying put in a place surrounded by enemies was not a task Baladas envied him for. Even though he was only a spellwright, few could match Mavon’s skill in conjuration. He’d studied under Felen Maryon, who was undoubtedly Telvanni’s leading conjuration expert, and few mages in their right mind would ever consider facing either Felen Maryon or one of his pupils.
A tall Mer, especially for Dunmer standards, Mavon’s upright hair made him appear taller still. He always carried a Wizards staff with a wicked Fire enchantment on it, and he looked very impressive indeed.
“Hail Magister Demnevanni. What brings you to our fair city this day?”
“Just wanted to make sure you haven’t been experiencing any problems, Mavon. No one has tried anything here yet have they?”
“Actually Magister, they did. Quite a few Hlaalu tried to come after us yesterday, but the new guards of Vivec, the Buoyant Armigers, stopped them. I guess the temple is determined to remain neutral as they vowed.”
“Well, that’s a positive thing in any case. Is there anything more you need, Mavon? Anything we need to supply you with?”
“No thank you Magister; we’ve been managing on our own for many years, and we’ve never had to rely on other parts of Vivec and don’t now either. We’ll be just fine, don’t worry about us Magister.” Having reassured himself, Baladas took his leave and went to the Arena Storage area, which had for many years held the entrance to the headquarters of the Morag Tong. There was already a thrall waiting for him, and he was admitted straight away. He’d met Eno once before, that time while he was visiting lord Nerevar and Eno had come by, spoken to lord Nerevar for a brief time and then left again. He’d never been this close before though, and couldn’t help but be impressed. For a non-magic wielder, Baladas knew Eno was one of the most dangerous men in Morrowind.
“Welcome Magister, how fare things? And please, when next you see them, pay my respects to Magister Fyr and your new Archmagister, would you?” With that one line Eno had left Baladas nearly stunned; somehow he knew things only members of the House were supposed to know. He knew both that there was a new head of House Telvanni and the fact that he was now a Magister rather then a Master. Impressive, to say the least proving that the rumors of Eno being the master of many whisperers must be correct after all then.
“Thank you Grandmaster. I fare well, and last time I saw them, the men you name as well.”
“Good to hear that Baladas. Now, Divayth tells me you’re here to pick up the special item, am I right?” Baladas simply nodded. It would not do for Eno to find out Divayth had not even bothered to tell him what he was supposed to pick up, let alone what to use it for. Being left in the dark was not something Baladas enjoyed.
“Right. Well, here it is.” Eno went to a drawer, and got a steel plaque out of it. It looked almost like a normal serving tray, but carved into the edge were many mystical signs. Though Baladas did not recognize any of them, he could clearly feel magic emanating from it.
“Now, Divayth also told me you are as yet unfamiliar with this, so please allow me to demonstrate.”
“This is an invention of Divayth’s, I’m told, and it holds a special type of magic that allows you to view things many miles away, sort of like a crystal ball, but far more accurately and it shows things in a much more detailed way. Another function of the artifact is the ability to remember things it has displayed. In this case, it has remembered some very interesting events from a few days ago, the day of the funeral, to be precise.”
Eno touched a few of the signs carved in the plate in a specific order, and in the center where there had first been simply polished steel, Baladas now saw a very clear picture of the inside of a manor. He recognized it straight away and became very interested. As the events unfolded in the picture, Baladas found himself smiling more and more, and as the picture ended, he laughed. Perhaps it really hadn’t been folly to think Telvanni could win this conflict. With what was on this plaque, at least one opponent could easily be neutralized. Eno smiled, for of course he’d known all along what was remembered on the plaque and knew how much it meant to House Telvanni. Baladas had no doubt that getting this plaque from Eno had cost Divayth a fortune, but if it did what Baladas assumed it would do, it would prove worth it many times over. Then a thought came to him.
“What I just saw, it is real? Or is it meant to fool someone?”
“I promise you,” came the reply, “everything seen and heard is genuine and truth.”
Reassured and with even more confidence, Baladas took the plaque, thanked Eno for his help and travelled back to Sadrith Mora.
On to the next chapter