19 Heartfire, 3E433
Imperial City, Arcane University
~~~
My morning ride from Bruma to the Imperial City should have been my victory march, but naturally an Oblivion Gate had opened right next to the road during the night.
They are getting more dangerous to venture into since the past couple of days. Whereas I used to be able to step through a gate confident of facing nothing worse than a bunch of irritated Scamps, I now have to contend with far more Dremora than before as well as Clannfear daedra. I have yet to have an encounter that I have had to flee from, but I must ensure my skills improve alongside the Gates' garrisons.
Of particular note is a steel breastplate I found in the Gate's tower. It is enchanted with a minor shield spell that will protect the wearer from the blows of ordinary weapons, though I cannot tell how much protection the breastplate has upon it. Whatever it is, armor enchanted as such is very rare and valuable and I considered it a welcome burden to strap the thing against my back as I wobbled through the rest of the Oblivion Plane.
Anticipating such a delay, I left Bruma very early in the morning and arrived back at the Imperial City just as it was beginning to rise from its slumber.
My entry into the University was an anti-climatic affair. After days of riding to and fro seeking all the recommendations, all I got was a key, a half-hearted congratulations, and an inquiry as to whether I was seeking to perform more duties for the Mages Guild. I am not. I performed the tasks requested of me so that I could find out what the stones are and I have already accomplished that.
Though not on my own. An Argonian mage named Tar-Meena is something of an expert on all things Daedric and identified the stones as Sigil Stones, powerful containers of magicka that bind the Oblivion pocket planes together. As I remove them, the planes and their gates collaspe, but the magicka still remains. Each stone can be coaxed to to lend its power to a piece of equipment, whether it be weapon or armor, but the resulting enchantment will not be of my choice. Should I have any free time in the future I will be sure to experiment with them.
While I was examining the stones a mage came up to me to let me know a courier was waiting on the public side of the University with a message for me. The message was quite short: "Go to Luther Broad's Boarding House and order a drink."
I was not surprised to see Baurus also sitting at the bar. I sat down and ordered my drink and he hissed at me to sit down and not say anything...which I was not anyway. He said that he was going to go to the basement in a moment and that the man in the corner reading a book would follow him. I was to follow the man and see what he does. Once the man disappeared behind the basement door I sneaked behind him, certain of what would happen next.
Predictably the man drew a dagger once he thought he was alone with Baurus. I can only imagine his surprise to find the blade of my short sword protruding from the front of his chest. On his body was a book titled 'Mythic Dawn Commentaries, Volume I'. Baurus confirmed that the man was an assassin from the Mythic Dawn, a Mehrunes Dagon cult. This tied in very neatly with my forays into Oblivion, so I had no doubt that he was correct in everything he said. My next move was to go back to Tar-Meena and speak to her about the Mythic Dawn.
She was able to give me a little history on the secretive cult, including the name of its founder, Mankar Camoran, for what little good that did me. He was also the original author of the cult's four volumes of 'Commentaries', which Tar-Meena suspected contained clues as to how to contact the cult. Those who could decipher the 'Commentaries' successfully to find the cult would have then proven themselves at least somewhat intelligent. But that would only be possible if someone had all four volumes. I had one, but Tar-Meena lent me the second volume from the University's library and suggested I visit the 'First Edition' about the third and fourth volumes.
Phintias at the 'First Edition' is easily the most uptight Redguard I have ever dealt with, but he did have a copy of the third volume which was already paid for by someone else. I was able to persuade him to part with it nonetheless, then patiently waited in his store for the interested party to arrive. I was expecting a would-be cultist, but I received a scholar instead. When I confronted him about his interest in the cult and their part in the Emperor's murder he caved and swore he did not know they had committed such a crime.
He revealed that the cult had contacted him via a letter and set up a meeting, likely to induct him into the cult...or kill him, I suppose. The letter told him to go to a location in the city's sewers where a table and chair were waiting. With this information and books in hand I returned to Baurus.
The Blades frequented the sewers as a clandestine way of moving about the city and Baurus was familiar with the table and chair in question, having always wondered who had put them there and why. We made our way through the sewers, fighting off the occasional goblin or rat until he stopped and directed me up a stairway, where, according to him, I would be able to see and hear everything that occurred between him and the Mythic Dawn representative.
This was not a meeting, but an ambush. As I listened to the representative drone on about the glories of Mehrunes Dagon, two more Mythic Dawn cultists crept up the stairs right in front of me, apparently unaware that I was watching them. I charged just as they opened the gate separating us, heaving one of them off our platform and into the meeting below, ending it rather suddenly. The remaining cultist in front of me cast a spell that armored him in the same equipment I saw during the Emperor's murder, but he was not skilled in its use. While Baurus finished gutting his cultist, I slashed mine across the throat, sending him tumbling down into the room below. On Baurus's contact we found the fourth volume of the 'Commentaries'.
Having acquired all four books, Baurus felt that I could handle things from there, declaring that his place was at Martin Septim's side. I continued along the sewers, mysteriously ascending a ladder into someone's basement. Fortunately, no one was home and I slipped out with no one the wiser.
Tar-Meena would both be interested and helpful in deciphering whatever mystery lay within the books, so I brought the volumes to her and she agreed to study them, asking that I come back tomorrow to discuss anything she might have found. This was acceptable by me, for it was already late in the evening and I was too tired to put my own mind to the books. Hopefully she will have something for me tomorrow, else I am sure I can figure out whatever lies within the books, for the cultists I have fought so far have not demonstrated a great deal of intelligence.
Though not on my own. An Argonian mage named Tar-Meena is something of an expert on all things Daedric and identified the stones as Sigil Stones, powerful containers of magicka that bind the Oblivion pocket planes together. As I remove them, the planes and their gates collaspe, but the magicka still remains. Each stone can be coaxed to to lend its power to a piece of equipment, whether it be weapon or armor, but the resulting enchantment will not be of my choice. Should I have any free time in the future I will be sure to experiment with them.
While I was examining the stones a mage came up to me to let me know a courier was waiting on the public side of the University with a message for me. The message was quite short: "Go to Luther Broad's Boarding House and order a drink."
Predictably the man drew a dagger once he thought he was alone with Baurus. I can only imagine his surprise to find the blade of my short sword protruding from the front of his chest. On his body was a book titled 'Mythic Dawn Commentaries, Volume I'. Baurus confirmed that the man was an assassin from the Mythic Dawn, a Mehrunes Dagon cult. This tied in very neatly with my forays into Oblivion, so I had no doubt that he was correct in everything he said. My next move was to go back to Tar-Meena and speak to her about the Mythic Dawn.
She was able to give me a little history on the secretive cult, including the name of its founder, Mankar Camoran, for what little good that did me. He was also the original author of the cult's four volumes of 'Commentaries', which Tar-Meena suspected contained clues as to how to contact the cult. Those who could decipher the 'Commentaries' successfully to find the cult would have then proven themselves at least somewhat intelligent. But that would only be possible if someone had all four volumes. I had one, but Tar-Meena lent me the second volume from the University's library and suggested I visit the 'First Edition' about the third and fourth volumes.
Phintias at the 'First Edition' is easily the most uptight Redguard I have ever dealt with, but he did have a copy of the third volume which was already paid for by someone else. I was able to persuade him to part with it nonetheless, then patiently waited in his store for the interested party to arrive. I was expecting a would-be cultist, but I received a scholar instead. When I confronted him about his interest in the cult and their part in the Emperor's murder he caved and swore he did not know they had committed such a crime.
He revealed that the cult had contacted him via a letter and set up a meeting, likely to induct him into the cult...or kill him, I suppose. The letter told him to go to a location in the city's sewers where a table and chair were waiting. With this information and books in hand I returned to Baurus.
The Blades frequented the sewers as a clandestine way of moving about the city and Baurus was familiar with the table and chair in question, having always wondered who had put them there and why. We made our way through the sewers, fighting off the occasional goblin or rat until he stopped and directed me up a stairway, where, according to him, I would be able to see and hear everything that occurred between him and the Mythic Dawn representative.
Having acquired all four books, Baurus felt that I could handle things from there, declaring that his place was at Martin Septim's side. I continued along the sewers, mysteriously ascending a ladder into someone's basement. Fortunately, no one was home and I slipped out with no one the wiser.
Tar-Meena would both be interested and helpful in deciphering whatever mystery lay within the books, so I brought the volumes to her and she agreed to study them, asking that I come back tomorrow to discuss anything she might have found. This was acceptable by me, for it was already late in the evening and I was too tired to put my own mind to the books. Hopefully she will have something for me tomorrow, else I am sure I can figure out whatever lies within the books, for the cultists I have fought so far have not demonstrated a great deal of intelligence.
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