Morrowind Day 38 - Membership by Sword or Sale

22 Hearthfire
~~~

I once heard a bard in the Imperial City complain that money could not buy love. I do not know what sort of love he was looking for, but I suppose he is right. Wealth is quite literally sitting around waiting to be taken in Morrowind, but I still wake up with a cavern over my head. If I run into the bard again, I will have to make sure I correct him: money can neither buy love nor a roof over one's head on this island. Money can buy just about everything else in Morrowind though, including loyalty.

A heavy dust storm greeted me as I stumbled out of my cave dwelling and I had the misfortune of trying to locate a small cave in the middle of a dust storm. Reaching Lake Nabia provided no relief, for the dust manages to float along the top of the water, at least for a short while, creating a layer of grime that deterred me from attempting a quick wash.

To add more to my misery, the flying creatures which normally left me alone were quite vicious and suffering no apparent defect in vision due to the storm. The only prelude to their attacks was a loud screech and a sharp beak or talons scraping across my helmet. My bow was useless in the strong winds, so I had no choice but to stay alert, wildly stabbing the sky with my spear as soon as I heard the screeching. I missed often and suffered their raking attacks, but I did manage to kill one in this manner. Once engaged they fall quickly and all of them that attacked me had growths on their bodies, an affliction perhaps gained from time spent roosting on the Red Mountain.

It was a relief when I found the weather-beaten door to the former mine of Punabi. Manwe met me a little ways inside, clearly there to prevent me from going any further, not that I had any reason to. I was only there to collect some money and I was able to leave it at that. She was not cooperative though, telling me that she left the Mages Guild and was therefore not responsible for any money, suggesting that I pay Ranis myself.

The barely visible door into Punabi

The point was not that I easily could pay Ranis myself, it was that I killed several smugglers on my way to see her and walked all morning in absolutely miserable weather to find her, only to receive the suggestion that I should have stayed nice and dust-free at the Guild and paid Ranis out of my own pocket. I remembered Ranis's willingness to accept the woman's death and really almost took that option. But I wanted to be able to tell myself I tried not to if it came to it, so I threatened her with imminent death instead.

My threat was not stated that crudely, of course. I simply pointed out that I had spent all morning in the dust storm being attacked by diseased creatures and that on my way here I had stumbled upon a den of smugglers and killed them all before spending the night on one of their cots, all of it in an effort to clear up this misunderstanding between Manwe and the Mages Guild. Still maintaining what I hoped came across as a friendly tone of voice, I told Manwe that while Ranis was looking forward to receiving the money, a report of  her death was also acceptable.

The last part did the trick. I do not know what sort of relationship exists between Manwe and Ranis, but Manwe shuddered and muttered something while handing me a sack of coins from inside her robes. I made a show of not counting them, but I am sure all parties involved know that Ranis would send me back to kill Manwe if she tried to cheat her way out of the situation. Having received the money, I smiled, wished her good fortune with her studies, and walked out of Punabi, right back into the dust storm.

Marandus across Lake Nabia

The Dunmer fortress Marandus loomed across the lake, its squat roof just barely visible in the storm. I anticipated that it would be occupied by hostile creatures or people, but the fortresses' Propylon chambers have so far been unoccupied and a safe place to wait out the storm for a short time.

Declining to spend more time getting covered in dust and dirt, I walked across the lake and was surprised to find an armored Dunmer loitering outside of the main doors into the fort. Seeing me, he waved and approached with his sword sheathed. He was suspicious of me at first, but relaxed when I told him I was in the area on Imperial guild business. He invited me to use the Propylon chamber for shelter and I asked him why he was standing in the storm instead of finding shelter himself. He introduced himself as Tevyn Athin of House Redoran and told me quite a story.

He was actually standing guard over the fortress entrance, along with a few of his comrades stranded on the fortress roof. He was part of a Redoran expedition out of Vivec tasked with clearing out the fortress and reclaiming it for the House.The first part went well enough, the fortress was inhabited by smugglers whom were no match for the Redoran warriors and the expedition occupied the fortress quickly.

However, treachery struck from within and a large number of House retainers rebelled as one, battling the now outnumbered retainers who were not included in the plan. A small number of loyal warriors battled their way out of the fortress, while the rest of them were driven to the roof, where they remained. The group Tevyn had been with was heading back to Vivec to gather reinforcements, leaving him behind to guard the front gate. 

His manner was stiff, but not hostile, so I spoke with him about his House for a bit, mentioning that a few people had suggested I talk to someone about admission, which interested him. He asked me what I did and where I had been, but those are difficult questions for me to answer right now. I settled for telling him I am a former mercenary, now a freelance adventurer. When he commented that I looked young for a mercenary, I replied that I never said I did it for long, which actually got a laugh from him. He encouraged me to join his House, a recommendation I seem to be receiving with increasing frequency. I asked him if he would mind if I ventured inside to test my skills against the rogue Redoran. He had no issues with it and asked if I could let the men trapped on the roof know of their impending rescue, since he could not make himself heard over the howl of the storm. I guess he thought I would be sneaking my way  past the rebels, but I wound up becoming the "impending rescue".

The rebels themselves, like the smugglers, do not bear much mentioning. After hearing about the martial prowess of the House Redoran warriors I was excited to finally be facing them in battle. Luck was not with me in that regard, nor with them. The rebels were all recent recruits, maybe convinced that the House would somehow judge them not worth the time and ignore them. The proximity of the fortress to the city of Vivec makes that nearly impossible and I have no idea what they were thinking.

Inexperienced, they spread themselves out among the rooms and corridors of the fortress, diluting their advantage in numbers. At no time did I ever find myself up against more than two foes at a time and I killed the ones on their own invisibly and quickly.

The combat was not worth it and neither was the loot: just a single glass dagger, a chunk of raw ebony, an emerald, and a sum of about two hundred Septims, gathered in tens and twenties throughout the place. I did find an apparent worship book of the Sixth House, which titled Dagoth Ur the 'Sharmat', whatever that is. The book itself is titled 'Sithis' and contains only a few paragraphs. I plan on giving it to my friend next time I see him.

The men stuck on the roof were very surprised to see me and I suspect that if I was a Dunmer I would have been killed before I could announce myself as a friend. As it was, their expedition contained no Khajiit, so my presence demanded explanation, possibly followed by death. But when I informed them that additional Redoran were on their way from Vivec and that I had cleared their way through the fortress, they became quite friendly. They left the roof immediately and one of them handed me a key to a dome hut atop the roof, so far unique among the Dunmer fortresses. I wonder why they did not take shelter there instead of standing in the open collecting dust and dirt.

The dome was obviously someone's home at some point, containing a bed, two chests (empty) and a dresser. Once I get the Propylon Index, it may be a good place to live, provided House Redoran has not taken over the fortress by then. With nothing else to do there, I left the fortress and walked across the lake to stand in front of Punabi again. According to Ranis's directions, the man whom I was supposed to convince to join the Guild lived along the same road as the cave. It was about two minutes away from Punabi, but I had failed to see it in the storm earlier this morning. I had left the fortress in the late afternoon and the storm was still going strong, but by then the setting sun provided slightly better visibility.

Sulipund

The small tower of Sulipund was open to visitors and I had to only knock on the door to be let in. I was a bit surprised to be greeted by a young Bosmer instead of the Dunmer I had expected, but she, as well as the others in the tower, was a House Telvanni retainer and a minor mage herself. Unsurprisingly, the four House Telvanni retainers were an unfriendly lot, demanding to be left alone to their own business, just as their master allowed. Their master was  Llarar Bereloth, the man I was supposed to convince to join the Guild. I thought it would be a difficult task, but if it came to it I was permitted to kill him too.

It never came to that. He was low-ranking in House Telvanni and I suspect he only joined for the discount on magical services. He cared neither for the House nor the Mages Guild and snapped at me to give him a reason to listen when I asked him to join the Guild. 'Reason' came in the form of Septims whose weight I was eager to be rid of, in this case one thousand of them. The money changed hands and he agreed to join the Guild if I left him in peace to pursue his work, promising to talk to Ranis next time he was in Balmora. I suspect if he does not I shall be paying him another visit. There was no point in walking back to Balmora, so I expended a scroll of Divine Intervention which sent me from the tower of Sulipund to the Imperial Fort of Moonmoth which was lucky: I was expecting Ebonheart.

Ranis was pleased that I had succeeded, stating that I was the first member to get Manwe to pay her 'dues', whatever the true reason for them was. That I also managed to convince Llarar to join the Guild was even better. She gave me four powerful magicka restoration potions for my efforts and promoted me to the title of Evoker, which I am sure will not be going to my head.

I sold some empty soul gems and scrolls to Galbedir and gems to Ajira before turning in for the night. It is now just before midnight and I am quite exhausted. I may resume my quest for the Propylon Stones tomorrow.

Morrowind Day 37 - Intrigue at the Library

21 Hearthfire
~~~

I do not think I will ever get used to the sight of the rock Baar Dau hovering over the Temple canton of Vivec. Ringed by construction, it is obvious that the Tribunal Temple considers it safe enough to live within, but I'm uneasy when I can see it and profoundly nervous when I am under it, as I was this morning.

My third contact was a priestess in service to the Temple, Mehra Milo, and my written orders cautioned me to not ask anyone in the Temple for her, as her cooperation with the Imperial throne was unknown within her organization. Fortunately, she worked in the Library, which is open to the public, and I had no issues with finding her.

Identifying myself, she played every part the spy: beckoning me to follow, she led me to a small room in the rear of the library so that we could talk privately. In what was by then a familiar introduction, she apologized for not knowing much about the Sixth House, but did have many notes on the cult of the Nerevarine. According to her, the Temple does not dispute Lord Nerevar's status as a saint and hero of the Dunmer, but does take exception to the belief of Lord Nerevar's reincarnation, which is in conflict with the Temple's worship of the Tribunal as gods. A splinter faction calling themselves the the Dissident Priests preaches against the Temple's dogma and in favor of something very similar to the traditional Ashland beliefs.

The Dissident Priests' founding document is a book titled 'Progress of Truth', possession of which is outlawed by the Temple. She recommended I secure a copy somehow and deliver it to my friend along with the bundle of notes I have collected, which she added to. Reminded of the caution I was urged by my friend when speaking with Mehra, I asked her about him and she had only praise for the man. I suppose it takes all types or he has yet to warm up to anyone else. She admitted to reading a copy of the 'Progress of Truth' some time ago and said that friends of hers whom she suspects also read the book have been disappearing. She believes the Ordinators are responsible and said that if anything ever happened to her, she would leave a message with the code word 'amaya'. She asked that I convey the increasing vulnerability of her position to our friend and I agreed, though I am not sure what he can do.

Finding the book seemed like a daunting task. The Temple has at least one copy, or did, for Mehra and her friends to have read it, but she could offer me no help in figuring out where such a thing would be kept. With my luck it would be in the floating rock. I dismissed any chance of finding the Temple's copy and did the next best thing: I asked a smuggler.

That's not entirely correct, but Jobasha has to be doing some sort of business on the side to be able to afford the rent on his store, which I'm sure is very high. A book store does not seem to me a very lucrative enterprise, but serves well as a front for any number of other businesses whose goods can be concealed within hollowed tomes.

My hunch proved correct, though getting the book from him took some doing. Smugglers and the people who associate with them are instinctively a suspicious lot and Jobasha was no exception. It took five hundred Septims before he was willing to look into his inventory of "special" books which he kept in a locked closet. He had the book and charged me an additional two hundred Septims for it, but I was glad to be rid of the weight of all that coin.

For all the violence and secrecy surrounding the book, I expected more than what it really is: a thick pamphlet from the Dissident Priests detailing their grievances against the Temple. The entire affair probably deserves to be treated more seriously than I am, but that is my friend's job and not mine. My part in this, for now, was over. I teleported back to the Balmora Mages Guild, sold a few gemstones to Ajira and delivered the book and notes to my friend. He thanked me, gave me two hundred Septims and suggested I wander around a bit more, do some more jobs, then come back. Again he suggested I join House Redoran, but I have enough to do right now without taking on more tasks.

It was the middle of the afternoon when I found myself with free time and Ranis's task of collecting the guild "dues" seemed the easiest accomplished. The tardy mage was last seen in a small cavern named Punabi set along the shore of Lake Nabia, which empties via Nabia River into the greater sea. The Dunmer fortress Marandus is strategically built along the lake's shore opposite Punabi and is a tempting target for a quick peek, though I suppose that can wait until I have the Propylon Stone for it.

I had not left myself enough time to reach Punabi before nightfall and came across another smuggler den on the side of the road. At this point it is a waste of time and ink to describe the battle with the three hapless criminals and it will have to suffice with the assurance that they died and I had survived another battle. As usual they did not have much of value: a few scrolls worth keeping and a chunk of raw ebony. 

I am spending the night in their cleanest cot, another violent stop alongside the side of the road in Morrowind. The frequency at which I am killing others is starting to become quite depressing.

Morrowind Day 36 - The Sewers of Vivec

20 Hearthfire
~~~

I left the Balmora Mages Guild early in the morning, intent on completing my friend's task before starting on my own. I had always passed through the Guild, having supplied myself with whatever I had needed at Balmora, or occasionally Caldera. It occurred to me that the Guild in Morrowind's largest city would be the best place to shop, so I visited briefly, talking with the other guild members and inquiring about wares and training. My travels seem to always elicit interest from the Mage Guild members, though I think this is due to most of them never leaving its walls.

Either I was not talking to the right people or the selection at the Vivec Guild is worse than Balmora's. The resident Alchemist, Craetia, did not have the wide range of ingredients I was expecting, nor did she have a large budget to purchase mine. Hints dropped during our small talk suggested that Trebonius, the Arch-Mage of the Guild, keeps the Vivec Guild's purse-strings pretty tight, limiting the Guild's ability to win business from the Telvanni canton's numerous non-guild practitioners.

The closet of my contacts was Huleeya, an Argonian whom I was told would be in the Black Shalk Cornerclub, whether due to habit or instruction, I don't know. The club was located on the the lower level of the canton and I was it was open to anyone wanting a little refreshment. Being the only establishment of its type in the Foreign canton, I expected it would be a busy place. However, the club was nearly empty when I arrived and the mood quite ugly. My contact was instantly recognizable, him being the only Argonian in the place,  but the three Dunmer arguing with him were not known to me.

Seeing me enter, he called me over, treating me as though I was a cherished friend instead of a complete stranger. He scolded me for showing up late without letting him know first, then said he had to finish his conversation with the three "gentlemen" he had just met. The three gentlemen took the opportunity to close ranks in front of us and the owner of the club was taking great strides in not looking in our direction. The three were not heavily armed, but Huleeya whispered to me as we all waited for someone to do something. He revealed that he was an open operative of the Morag Tong, a guild of assassins that operate legally in Morrowind via semi-judicial writs of execution Legal or no, I definitely do not want to be affiliated with a group of assassins, but my present circumstance left me little choice. Quickly, he told me that while he could kill all three of the men with no problem, they were all House Hlaalu retainers and he had no desire to be the reason for any bad blood between his Guild and the House. In addition, killing the men outside of a Morag Tong writ, even in self-defense, is a distasteful act within his organization and he wished to avoid bloodshed if possible.

Avoiding bloodshed was far easier than Huleeya had anticipated. Being House Hlaalu men, they were all willing to let myself and Huleeya leave the club peacefully in exchange for some coin. They got their insults in as we left, never knowing how close to death they had come due to their prejudice.

Huleeya was on good terms with Jobasha and led me to his shop before telling me what he knew of Dagoth Ur and the Nerevarine Cult. He was able to provide a great deal of information, but knew nothing about the mysterious 'Sixth Cult' or why the townspeople I've encountered were acting so strange. He did mention that House Dagoth was the sixth Great House, so it is likely the Sixth Cult is affiliated with the fallen House in some way. Revolutionaries or secret retainers perhaps.

He was most helpful with my questions regarding the cult of the Nerevarine and the beliefs of the Ashlander tribes. According to him, the Ashlanders believe that Lord Nerevarine will return as an incarnation, ending the persecution of the Ashland tribes and driving out the foreigners and 'unclean' Dunmer from their native land. Reincarnation or not, that seems a large order for an individual.

He gave me a sheaf of papers with his notes on them to deliver to my friend and I bade him farewell and luck with the Dunmer, which got me a lopsided grin and a wink. I have a suspicion that the three Dunmer may be disappearing quite soon.

My second contact was a Khajiit named Addhiranirr, the style of the name noting her as being native to Elsweyr, unlike myself. My friend had told me to look within St.Olm's canton, but had no more information than that to provide. But I remembered the skittish Khajiit I had encountered in the sewers, though I did not remember her name. My memory served me well, for when I entered the canton, a very well-dressed Imperial asked me if I had seen her, as "your type seems to stick together". Insulted, I told him I had never heard of her and walked past him. She was still where I had last left her: in a corner of one of the sewer's corridors, opposite the obvious Daedric cultist hideout.

After identifying myself as working for our mutual friend, she sheepishly admitted she was indeed Addhiranirr, but asked if I could do her a favor before she answered my questions. I anticipated this and readily agreed. To my delight, the favor was to get rid of the rude Imperial two floors above us, who was working for the Census and seeking to arrest her for 'misunderstandings'. She did not care much about how I planned on accomplishing this, but my luck had been good so far, so I took a small chance.

I found him still wandering the canton and hailed him, pretending to be very eager to be a good (Khajiit) Imperial citizen, telling him that I heard the thief, the shaver-of-fur (I made that up, quite proud of it), had caught a boat at Ebonheart towards the mainland. He thanked me and told me I was a prime example of the better sort of my people. So rude.

However, Addhiranirr found the short exchange to be very amusing and regretted that she could not be much help. She knew nothing of the Nerevarine Cult or the Ashlanders, claiming that the Nerevarine legend was a "fuzzy tale for little kittens". I am apt to agree, but unlike Huleeya she knew a great deal about the Sixth House, because it impacted her business.

She said that she heard that a lot of the long established smugglers are suddenly working only for the Sixth House and she personally knew two smugglers, both long-time business people of Morrowind, who had accepted Sixth House contracts...then disappeared. After they vanished, she watched their people and confirmed that they were smuggling something, but she could not determine what, nor could she find out where her contacts had gone. Those who were working for the Sixth House and still visible were very quiet about their activities, which was atypical of the smugglers she was working with. She had hid in the canton sewers partially to elude the Imperial agent I misled, but also in an effort to escape the notice of the Sixth House. She said she was concerned for the Imperial Thieves Guild, as she noticed members quietly disappearing as well.

More than that, she could not say. She only knew that the Sixth House was involved in smuggling in a very big way, but did not know what goods they were actually moving. As I thanked her and prepared to go, she mentioned that she had seen a heavily armed guard outside of what used to be a storage area, hinting that if I was to go clean it out, I would be doing her a big favor and netting a fair profit for myself. I told her I would look into it and moved on.

True to her word, the sewer corridor opposite the one Addhiranirr was in was guarded by a Dunmer woman clad in full steel plate. She had not seen or heard me and a plan soon came to mind.

The arrow deflected harmlessly off the side of her armor just as I had planned and she yelled, charging at what she must have thought was a desperate thief or sugar-fiend. I stepped back into the tunnel connecting the corridors of the sewer and waited, spell at the ready.

My timing was perfect. I cast the paralysis spell just as she turned the corner and thanks to the training I undertook, the spell succeeded, freezing her in mid-step, though only for a few seconds...which was all I needed with my stabbing sword. Thanks to my sneakiness, her equipment was undamaged, but steel armor is not very valuable for its weight, so I rolled it and her into the depths of Vivec's waste.

I dealt with the inside of the shrine similarly, though making sure to have several protective spells active before I entered. I thought I would be able to enter the shrine under the guise of my invisibility spell, but the act of opening the door dispelled it. I'm sure I Looked quite foolish, standing there inside the shrine, flat-footed as I two Dunmer unsheathed their blades and charged.

Fortunately, I was able to cast the invisibility spell before they got too closed and I dashed behind their shrine as they assumed a back-to-back stance, warily circling the room together. What happened next was almost comical, had it not meant their deaths, of whom anyone's is not something I find amusing. The pair may have been father and daughter (was the woman outside a wife and mother?), so different was their age. The older Dunmer was wearing bonemold armor and wielding a very rare Daedric sword, while the younger woman had an ugly geometrical Dwemer stabbing sword.

My invisibility spell does not last long and if they both attacked me, I'd be in trouble, so I had to make sure to eliminate one of them while I still held the advantage. I judged the man to be more dangerous and quickly crept into their path, positioning myself so that the man would pass by me. The paralysis spell worked a second time, silently locking the man in place as his partner/daughter continued to pace the shrine alone, unaware that she was no longer accompanied. 

The man must have been furious at the injustice: the Daedric sword had to have been acquired at great risk and to face his end unable to wield it against his enemy had to have been frustrating, to say the least. As always, his death was instant and painless, and I caught the corpse as he collapsed, lying it on the floor as not to alarm the woman, whom was still unaware of her imminent fate.

She continued to circle the shrine, now on the opposite side of the body. I had no time to move it out of the way, so I hid behind a pillar and waited for her. After two invisibility spells and two paralysis spells, I did not have enough energy to cast a third paralysis spell, nor enough time to drink a restoration potion, so I used her moment of shocked realization to spring my trap and struck her twice with my spear before she could respond. The battle was mercifully short, fighting a woman whose father may have been lying dead at her feet did not sit well with me, even if they were cultists.

The Daedric sword was a very valuable and rare find, but too heavy to carry around with me and too valuable to sell. I dumped the bodies into the sewer and stored their weapons in a chest I found in the back of the shrine. 

The chest was in a fairly well-furnished bedroom, complete with armories, two beds, and several chests. The chests contained nothing of much value, save for what I stored inside one of them, but the beds are comfortable and I will be spending the night here. This would not be a bad place to call my own, a little out of the way, but not too much that I could not return here when I desired to. I will give it some thought before going to sleep tonight. Tomorrow I'll talk to my last contact and return the notes to my friend, after which I'll review my plan for acquiring the next Propylon Stone.

Morrowind Day 35 - Training Day, Part Two

19 Hearthfire
~~~

Today was much like the last: no fighting, no stress, just training and relaxation. I had worked on my physical combat abilities with Rithleen yesterday, but I consider myself far more skilled in meele than in magic, so I dedicated today to the Mages Guild, trying to work my meager skill into something with more utility for my life in Morrowind.

Ajira was more than happy to take my money in exchange for an lesson in alchemy; she was kind enough to charge me less than the standard rate, though she did not mention it. Her nose seems to be constantly searching for monetary opportunities, a task which takes her business far outside the Mages Guild at times. Despite this, she is a very effective Alchemist and the expensive alchemy equipment on her desk is well-used and cared for. She admitted that my arrival, an "active adventurer" as she put it, has done a lot her projects both inside and outside the Guild.

She did not volunteer details of what these projects were, but from what she did say I gather that a lot of the alchemy ingredients she purchases from me gets shipped out of Morrowind to parts unknown by parties also unknown, a business which she greatly profits from. It does make me wonder why she remains in the Mages Guild and the Balmora branch in particular, though it is likely Ranis and Ajira share an arrangement, one that sees a little profit in Ranis's pockets as well.

Such is the way of life in Morrrowind. Coming from the heart of the Empire tends to instill a certain rigidity of morals, even when you exist at the edge of discipline, as the Auxiliaries probably still do and I know my own set of morals have become more malleable lately. After all, I did agree to Ranis's request last night, but I plan on doing whatever I can in an effort to not have to kill the persons of interest.

Pleasant though it was, I did not spend much time on my Alchemy training. It is a useful skill, but not one I have had to rely on. Due to the wide differences in geography and fauna, it has been of more use putting a few extra Septims in my pocket than brewing useful potions. One ingredient for a potion may only be found in the northern parts of Morrowind, while the second may be on the other side of the island in the south. The alchemist shopkeepers alleviate the search for common ingredients, but it almost seems a waste of effort when they are also selling the potion you were trying to make in the first place. A true student of the art would never pass on the opportunity to practice her craft, but for me survival takes priority over pride.

After Ajira's chattiness, Marayn's no-nonsense instruction proved a relief. He admitted himself to being more skilled in Destruction and Mysticism schools, but still knew far more than I in the use of Alteration spells. I spent more time than I expected I would with him and when we had finished I was far more confident that my Alteration spells would succeed when I needed them.

Estirdalin was my final teacher, the two of us practicing Illusionary magic together. In contrast with Ajira and Marayn, I was nearly Estirdalin's equal with Illusion magics and the opportunity to practice alongside someone of similar skill was worth the cost and I feel we both improved notably

I left the Mages Guild after dinner and walked across the river to Balmora's south end to visit a friend of mine. A Dunmer stopped me on the bridge, another messenger from Dagoth Ur, or so he claimed. At least they are all sticking to the script and let me walk without any issue. By morning the man will likely not even remember being out here, much to his chagrin.

My friend asked me to do a favor for him: visit a few people in Vivec and ask them for information on the Nerevarine and the Sixth House, a cult my friend believes is connected to the Nerevarine prophecy somehow. He gave me the names of three associates of his and a purse of Septims for my expenses...not that I needed them. He also mentioned I might consider joining House Redoran, but I have a lot on my plate right now, as the Imperials say.

I returned to the Mages Guild, taking a different bridge across the river and bought some healing scrolls from Galbedir. The hunt for the next Propylon stone is going to take me into the east, an area dominated by the Telvanni and I am not sure what services I can expect in that region. I bought everything healing-related that Galbedir had, just in case.

My other tasks are more mundane, though the list is long. Tomorrow I leave Balmora and likely will not be back for some time.