Morrowind Day 124 - Forging the Blade of Lord Nerevar

16 Evening Star

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Between my rest at Fort Frostmoth and the short walk back to Raven Rock, Carnius somehow managed to arrange for Uryn Maren's untimely and convenient death. Falco discovered his body in the storehouse he was temporarily being held in, but felt there was no need for an investigation into the man's death. With the death of the blackmailed miner, there is also no way to prove any of Falco's (or Uryn's) allegations against Carnius and the matter, for now, has been closed.

There was nothing for me to do at the colony, so I had to make the seemingly long trip from Ald'ruhn to Ebonheart, then magically to Mournhold. My recall amulet was sufficient to bring me back to Ald'ruhn, but I then had to go through the mind-numbing routine of bouncing from the Ald'ruhn Mages Guild to Vivec's, then walk across the water from the Foreign Quarter canton to the harbor town of Ebonheart.

The ash storm was still raging through Mournhold, but other than a few exclamations at the strangeness of the weather no one seemed to notice or care and no one at all mentioned Almalexia as being able to quell the storm.

Torasa was happy to receive more artifacts for her museum and equally as happy to trade two of my more unique items for the Dwemer shield I suspected contained one of the pieces I needed for Nerevar's blade. Bols at the Craftsmen's Hall gave the shield's "spike" a good yank and handed it to me. He paid two hundred Septims for the Dwemer shield and we were both happy.

But I was also a bit confused. I was seeking three pieces of the blade, was given one and found another. I had no clues to point me to the third piece at all. On a hunch I decided to see if Queen Barenziah had any suggestions, for she seemed to have a finger on the pulse of the city, as the saying goes. 

To my surprise, she told me that the King's champion, Karrod, had in his possession an old Dwemer dagger that she suspected might be the final piece I needed. However, Karrod is completely mute, either unable or unwilling to speak at all. Acquiring the final part of the blade would mean dealing with the paranoid King himself.

He began our conversation by almost apologizing for the Dark Brotherhood's attempt on my life. According to him, he had received information which turned out to be incorrect which named me as a threat to the throne of Morrowind. Why it was thought that I would desire the throne still remains a mystery. Brushing off my questions, he then asked me to go to the Winged Guar cornerclub to meet with a royal informant, an Orc, actually.

All the very conspicuous informer would tell me is that he heard rumors of a plot to see Queen Barenziah dead and what remains of the Dark Brotherhood in Morrowind was contracted to carry out the task. Once he heard the news, King Helseth immediately sent me to wait just outside of the Queen's chambers to ambush the assassins. It only occurred to me afterwards that I was never told when the assassination would take place, so presumably King Helseth did not know either.

Anyway, I returned to the Queen's chambers to find the door to her bedroom magically sealed and turned around to leave just in time to watch three Brotherhood assassins charge out of the door I was going to leave by. They were very enthusiastic, but not terribly skilled. They should have used their three-to-one advantage to surround me, but they bunched up in front of me instead, getting in each other's way and allowing me to circle around them to place myself in the doorway.

I doubt the three were even true Brotherhood assassins. They fought more like the cheap muscle you might find at the worst tavern in any large city, but I did appreciate their kindness in using very valuable short blades they clearly had no practice or skill with.

The Queen was very nonchalant about it, simply stating that the situation seemed to be taken care of. My suspicion grew when King Helseth hand-waved the whole incident away by describing it as "...not as great of a threat as it seemed." Once again the King of Morrowind has set assassins against me and once again they have failed. It was so inept and obvious that I could not even be mad about it. I just wanted my Dwemer blade piece so I could finish my business in Mournhold and continue on with my life, preferably without anyone I have dealt with lately.

Trying to kill me was not enough amusement for Helseth, no, he then told me I was to fight his champion, Karrod, which did manage to surprise me. I felt there was no need to fight the man at all, but the King insisted and Karrod was unable to protest, so the fight was arranged within a few minutes time to be fought immediately in the throne room.

It was not to be to the death, but I felt that my only chance of securing the piece of the blade without resorting to murder was to win the combat, so I fought as if my life depended on it. Karrod seemed surprised at the ferocity of my attack, for why would a Khajiit fight so desperately just to amuse the King? I was able to gain advantage in the initial stages of our little combat and I pressed it as much as I could. Karrod fought with a Dwemer long blade, but the actual blade of the weapon seemed to not fit with the design of the hilt.

After I managed to pin the Redguard against one of the throne room's columns, he nodded and surrendered the entire sword to me, stating that his father had given him the sword to pass along to whomever bested him in combat. The content of the statement was just as surprising as the delivery of it, for all thought the man deaf or mute, but he wound up being neither.

King Helseth also surrendered a weapon into my possession as a token of his favor, a volcanic glass shard carved into a dagger and unwieldy named by Helseth as the 'Dagger of Symmachus', which he said had belonged to his farther. He asked that I learn as much as I can about the attack on the city and of whatever plans Almalexia might be constructing, but save for that he had nothing further for me to do.

The Craftsmen Hall seemed like a good place to find a master smith, but Bols refused the task, insisting that it was beyond his skill. His assistant, a dour Orsimer named 'Yagak gro-Gluk' gruffly asked if he could examine the pieces and a few moments declared that he would be able to reforge the sword, if I so desired. I gratefully handed the pieces over to him and was told to return in two days as he turned to the forge and began re-creating one of Morrowind's most revered weapons. It is a pity the weapon is a sword though, I do not think I will personally be using it. Perhaps the museum will accept it.

I contemplated returning to Solstheim, but the thought of running back and forth on more petty errands for the East Empire Company was not an encouraging one. Instead, I used my amulet to pop back to home in Ald'ruhn and after a brief walk and a small fee, found myself back in the familiar basement of the Balmora Mage's Guild. 

Ajira immediately charged me, asking if I had anything to sell or trade and Galbedir accosted me in the common room with much the same questions. Though I have not been in Balmora in quite some time, everyone seemed pleased to see me again, if somewhat nervous owing to my status as the Nerevarine. I assured them that my title was not asked for nor had it gone to my head and everyone seemed a bit more relaxed. As for me, I have spent the rest of the evening in Estirdalin's patient company, learning more about the usage of Illusion spells.

I will spend a day or so here in Balmora, relaxing and studying my oft-neglected spells and potions. It is the most peaceful day I have had in some time and I plan on enjoying it as much as possible, for I fear the days ahead will be a great deal less so.