Morrowind Day 115 - To Mournhold!

7 Evening Star

~~~

I woke this morning at Thirsk at complete loss as to how I was going to spend the day. The only thing I possibly had to do was some menial task related to Raven Rock's construction, so I walked down along the river towards the fort. Surprisingly, there was a message waiting for me there from Arvs Raram, the Master-at-Arms at my Redoran manor. The message was short and urged me to visit as soon as I could, for something important had come up.

The 'something important' was an Ebony dart that one of the ladies of the manor found embedded in the door of the manor-house. My largely Dunmer garrison all suspected that it was a sign that an elite cadre of assassins, the Dark Brotherhood, had a contract on my life. Arvs urged me to speak with a guard to see if the Imperials have had any luck in tracking this elusive group down.

One of the Redoran guards at Ald'ruhn recollected that she had heard an Imperial in Ebonheart named Apellus Matius was working, unsuccessfully, to eliminate the Dark Brotherhood groups in Morrowind. Being my only lead, I was forced to follow it. I returned to the manor to pick up some supplies and walked back to Ald'ruhn so that I could be sent to the Mages Guild in Vivec, then suffered a long, warm, and humid walk down the coast to Ebonheart. 

Apellus assured me that the Dark Brotherhood does not actively operate on Vvardenfell, but that he suspects they operate out of the capital city of Morrowind province, Mournhold. Travel to and from the city was stopped due to the Blight coming from Red Mountain and even with Dagoth Ur gone the city remains shut, except by magical means. Apellus directed me to Asciene Rane about securing a way onto the mainland.

I was expecting something like the rooms of the Mages Guilds, but Asciene sent me to a small room in the Palace with only one other occupant who was, surprisingly, an Argonian named 'Effe-Tei'. Unsurprisingly he was able to send me back to Ebonheart, but I wanted to explore the city first.

Effe-Tei warned me to be careful about who I talked to and what I said. The previous king had recently died and the present king, Helseth, was rather suspected of having a hand in the death. Confusing the matter, Almalexia leads her own Temple guards, the 'Hands of Almalexia', which is causing friction between the two houses of government as they battle for influence. He offered to send me back to Ebonheart, but his warning did not deter me from wanting to explore the city.

I met a man outside the palace willing to serve as a hired blade for 250 Septims, but I was, and remain, confident that I can handle any threat here on the mainland. Continuing to wander, I walked through the gate leading out of the walled palace section of Mournhold and into a large plaza.

With no clue where to go, I simply picked another gate at random and ended up in Mournhold's marketplace and in front of a small portable stage. There were shops behind the stage and I moved around it to inspect the displayed merchandise of an armorer, but a Dunmer behind the stage called out to me as I passed by.

The man was the leader of the little acting troupe and one of his actors seemed to be missing. Bizarrely, he claimed I looked just like his missing actor, which was an obvious lie. Nevertheless, I was asked to play the vacant role and agreed, guessing that I had a few days to study whatever play they were performing. I actually only had two minutes to memorize my lines from a play called "The Horror of Castle Xyr"

I managed to memorize my lines from the first three pages of the play before everyone started rushing to their places to begin the show. I was sure I was about to make a fool of myself, but the play did not last even up to the amount of lines I was ready for. As I was waiting for my next line, a Dunmer in the audience suddenly jumped up on stage with a Daedric sword and attacked me!

He was not a particularly skilled assassin and I dealt with him quickly. The play was obviously ruined, so I returned to the man who conned me into taking the part. He introduced himself as 'Meryn' and admitted that he knew that an assassin was waiting for his lead actor, the man I replaced, to appear on stage. Meryn's actor had recently been caught in an indecent situation with the daughter of a Telvanni, which makes my situation even more ridiculous, unless the assassin thought the daughter had a taste for female Khajiit. Anyway, Meryn paid me two thousand Septims for saving his actor's life and wished me well. A very strange situation, but I am certainly growing used to 'strange'.

A local guard suggested I search the sewers for the Dark Brotherhood if I had a death wish, but as unbelievable as it may sound I felt confident enough about my chances against a group of assassins. Assuming there would be a large number of them, I stopped at a tradehouse in the marketplace and purchased several dozen steel-tipped arrows and a simple long bow.

As soon as I stepped back outside I was being yelled at by a Dunmer, evidently a magic-user of some sort. He was yelling loud enough for the entire marketplace to hear him and announced himself as "Ovis Velas, the great, renowned, respected, and feared wizard". Rather foolishly he declared his ambition to "bring the city to its knees" and then stated he would demonstrate his power immediately on one of Mournhold's own. Of course, he then turned directly towards me, called me an "ugly Khajiit" and attacked. The attack lasted all of about three seconds. Two to pull the spear from the sheath on my back and one to drive it into his chest. The great wizard Ovis Velas was quickly the late, great wizard.

There was a key on the man's body and a thankful bystander helpfully pointed out that there was a manor owned by Mournhold's Velas family in a residential area of the city called 'Godsreach'. I felt my assault against the Dark Brotherhood would go better without another Velas family member flinging magic at my back, so I put off my exploration of the sewers to deal with this unexpected threat.

The key opened the front door to the manor a guard in Godsreach pointed out to me, but inside there was only one Dunmer. Much like his brother, this one started to loudly address me before I could even open my mouth. He made quite the incredulous claim: Ovis Velas was his very unskilled brother who was only trying to pretend to be him, Gavis Velas, for some reason or another. Gavis said he understood my situation in having to defend myself and politely asked that I understand his in avenging the death of his foolish brother...right before he summoned two giant Ogrims into the room.

With no room to maneuver I was sure to be crushed into paste by the hulking Daedra if I played defensively. Instead, I recklessly tried a repeat of my attack on his unfortunate brother, charging straight at him with no regards to the massive scaled hands grasping for me on either side. Flat feet must run in the Velas family, for he was entirely too slow to dodge out of my way or perhaps could not due to the bulk of his summoned minions. The pointed tip of Hircine's oddly shaped spear caught him in the chest and I bore him to the floor, withdrawing only to drive it into his throat. The melee could not have lasted more than six seconds.

As he died his summoned help disappeared in puffs of acrid smoke, including two behind me that I never even knew had been there. Had I not attacked him immediately I would have surely been torn to pieces. He had nothing interesting on him, so I locked the door to the manor behind me as I left. Eventually someone will find the body, but I will probably be long gone from this place by then.

My foray into the sewers should have been more interesting than it was. I met a Khajiit near the marketplace's trapdoor, but she refused to speak with me. Probably Thieves Guild. The other was a Dunmer woman who asked that I keep an eye out for the ghost of her dead husband who had been murdered by a gang operating out of the sewers.

Save for those two the only other inhabitants of the sewers were a few irresponsible summonings, mostly skeletons, and the Dark Brotherhood itself. The latter proved to be something of a disappointment. I was expecting a highly-dangerous assault against a den of experienced assassins and what I found was a small collection of poorly armed individuals occupying two decrepit buildings living more like beggars than elite killers.  

There was at least two dozen Brotherhood members living under the sewers, but most of them were only armed with daggers and short swords. The assassin at the play was better armed than this rabble. The approach to their little compound was long and open from where I had come from, letting me pick off the ones outside with arrows while giving those inside the buildings no warning of my approach. Inside the smaller building were eight assassins, all of them armed with silvered stabbing swords and none of them a match for me and Hircine's spear.

The larger building held fewer assassins, but one of them proved to be a difficult opponent and the source of a valuable piece of information. He had a small scroll in his pocket that specifically named me as a contracted target of the Dark Brotherhood, on the request (and presumably payment) of someone only referred to as "H". Very mysterious and I am not sure I even know anyone whose name begins with an H. Mournhold's new king, King Helseth, comes to mind, but there is no reason why he should want me dead. 

By then it was well into the evening and I had no idea where an inn was, so I distastefully re-entered the Velas manor and am spending the night in the former master's bedroom. I have certainly slept in worse places, but I do not think I will want to be staying here tomorrow.

Morrowind Day 107 - Progress Once Again

30 Sun's Dusk

~~~

After spending several days flailing about, I can say that after today I may actually be successfully adapting to Solstheim's unique challenges.

A refreshing sleep and a healthy breakfast at my manor did wonders for my injuries and outlook. I managed quite a number of health restoration potions and even two of the more difficult magicka restoration elixirs out of the ingredients I have been collecting from Solstheim. With that taken care of I purchased a dozen more armorer hammers from my manor's small tradehouse, intent on finally not being caught on the island without something that I suddenly needed.

Better prepared and well-rested, I walked once again to the village of Khuul to await my ride. I did have to wait this time, but only for an hour while S'virr finished loading his small boat with "merchandise". The trip seemed to go quicker than usual and we landed at Fort Frostmoth while it was still early in the afternoon.

The Earth Stone was awaiting the completion of its strange task and according to my notes it ordered that I search northeast of it for a cavern called the 'Cave of Hidden Music' so that I might learn the 'Song of the Earth'. The Stone is quite a distance from the fort and I fought off attacks from a half-dozen wolves, two nearly naked Nords, and a Nord witch while on my way there. 

Along the coast I came upon two lit torches stuck in the beach for no greatly apparent reason. I doubt the hostile barbarians I have been killing have a reason to place the torches and the Skaal are entirely too far away to have done so. A curiosity, but likely an unimportant one.

The Earth Stone's cave was difficult to find, largely due to my mindset that a cave is something built into a mountain. On Solstheim, most of the caves seem to be built along a gentle slope and then burrowed into the frozen earth, with a large stone house serving as both the entrance and a large portion of the cavern itself. I am too used to Vvardenfell's doors set into mountains and spent a lot of time today wandering near the hills when my goal was built on a plain. By the time I found the 'Cave of Hidden Music' it had grown dark and begun to snow.

Like all of Solstheim's burial locations, this one was infested with the Nord's particular breed of undead warrior, but they were dispersed and slain one at a time. I found what I was supposed to find in a second chamber of the cave, but it took me a few minutes to figure out what it was I had actually found.

An odd droning noise had been periodically sounding while I had been in the cave and this room held the reason for all the noise. Every couple of seconds a blast of air would rush through a series of hollow stone fixtures hanging from the ceiling and blow over a second series of three stone fixtures just beneath them. This creates a droning noise in three pitches that can be heard throughout the entire cave. This was the object of the Earth Stone's request, but it was not clear how I was to learn the 'Song of the Earth'.

Only by accident did I discover what it was I needed to do. I was setting my equipment down in front of the stones so that I could climb behind them when I accidentally smacked one of them with my spear as I turned around. This caused a blast of air to come shooting up from the floor, rather than the ceiling, producing a different note. After a moment's pause in the 'song' the rhythm began again from the fixtures in the ceiling, but now I had an idea of what was expected of me.

Striking each of the floor stones produced a note identical to the ones produced from the ceiling, but in a different order. The rightmost fixture on the ceiling produced a deep sound, but the rightmost floor fixture produced a high sound when struck. I completely lack an ear for music, but after a few tries I managed to reproduce the order of sounds coming from the ceiling and then repeated the process when the ceiling fixtures started producing a different set of sounds. 

And it was in this way that I learned the 'Song of the Earth', but I am not sure what use this is for me. I really need to find time to catch up on the Skaal's legends and give my little quest some context.

It was late into the night when I exited the 'Cave of Hidden Music', but I was on the far side of the island, so skipping the Earth Stone in favor of heading for Fort Frostmoth meant just as much of a walk. I made my way back to the Stone, fighting off at least a dozen wolves who seem a great deal more numerous and hostile after the night falls. 

The Stone behaved just as the others did: once I approached it the Stone began to glow and started shedding green sparks of light. The Earth Stone's quest was completed.

The sky was very clear and I estimated it to be close to midnight by the time I had finished with the Earth Stone. There is no safe place west of the river to sleep, so I had no choice but to make my way back to the fort, fighting wolves and bears along the way.

I learned at the fort that it was just past three in the morning, so my rest tonight will be quite short, but I am more eager to finish the Skaal's quest than I am to sleep late into the morning. 

Morrowind Day 105 - Nord Cultists

28 Sun's Dusk

~~~

Today was something of an embarrassment for me. Too much of it was spent correcting mistakes I made during the previous days and too little of it was spent moving forwards with any one of my many tasks on Solstheim.

I replaced breakfast with a splash of water on my face this morning, eager to see my small home in Ald'ruhn again and re-equip myself for this dangerous island. My enchanted amulet, certainly the most prized possession I have, made the trip back to Vvardenfell a quick one.

The spear and dagger enchanted to summon their Daedric counterparts were on the top of my list, but I also wanted to bring the actual Daedric weapons sitting in my manor to the north.. I thought initially to bring the Daedric bow as well, but archery has been the only aspect of combat with which I have not been having issues, so it remains my stronghold.

It was gratifying to see a clear sky when I left the house, perhaps my theory that the Blight storms need to lose their power gradually has some truth to it. Before starting my walk to the manor I stopped at the Fighter's Guild to purchase as armorer's hammers. I have no great skill in repair, so I bought as many as I considered reasonably, assuming that I would wear out many of them to little effect.

From the manor I took my Daedric spear, dagger, and a rare short slashing blade favored by the Bosmer, as well as a few more armoring hammers and an amulet enchanted to help me blend in to my environment. No Blight storm harassed me on the walk to Khuul and I reached the village just before noon. Fortunately S'virr was already there, saving me the trouble of having to either loiter at the village or attempt a walk across the sea.

The boat trip was just as grueling as the first time was and I set foot on the island well after dark, still with a long walk to Thirshk to survive. On my way there I had several interesting encounters.

The first of these was with a Nord who kept to the high standards set by the Ashlander bandits of Vvardenfell by immediately charging me with a dagger in her hand as soon as she saw me. My Daedric slashing blade made very short work of the woman whose dagger was silvered and probably of local manufacture. She might have been one of the 'snow witches' the soldiers have been warning me about.

Further on I came upon something even stranger. I heard the sound of many people chanting in some strange language as I worked my way towards the river and I crested a hill to see a very odd sight: Cavorting among the trees were a group of Nords, some of them without clothes, several wolves, and one of the plant-creatures. The clothed Nords were armed and armored and the four of them seemed to be on the watch for anything that would disturb whatever this was. The naked ones clenched daggers in their hands, but paid no attention to anything but spinning and jumping and occasionally yelling at the sky. The wolves and the plant-creature did nothing at all, but cooperatively remained within the group of Nords as they jumped and twirled around them.

As how these things usually go, one of the Nords spotted me and the entire group, Nords, wolves, and the plant-creature, sprang at me. I was some distance away however and managed to kill all of the wolves with arrows before they reached me. The naked cultists were next to tumble to the ground riddled with arrows, but by then the plant-creature and the Nord guards were on me. My decision to bring the Daedric spear was an excellent one and they fell quickly, the plant-creature three times.

I could find no hint as to what the group was doing or why. More curious is how the Nords managed to survive the cold without wearing anything, for I found no discarded clothes to suggest their state had been a recent one. I know I am cold all the time on this island, it makes me almost long for the hot, choking stink of the Dwemer ruins.

The remainder of my walk to the mead hall of Thirsk was surprisingly without event. I was welcomed as heartily as I ever have been and my bedroll was still available. My first task tomorrow must be to re-visit the Wind Stone, complete the ritual, and move on to the next one. I shall also start to look into the fate of the mage's lost airship. I feel a great deal more confident with my new assortment of equipment and hope to make a great deal of progress tomorrow so that I can make up for the complete lack of today's.

Morrowind Day 102 - To Solstheim

25 Sun's Dusk

~~~

Today was not a particularly eventful day. I made up my mind last night to (unfortunately) take the boat from Khuul to the island of Solstheim. The walk to Khuul was also the best opportunity I would have to re-visit the shrine of Mehrunes Dagon and see what reward the Daedric Prince would offer for the rusty, blunted dagger I found in the tomb he sent me to.

I was still greeted by a Blight storm when I left my Ald'ruhn home. I can only hope that the late Dagoth Ur's magic is eventually spent and these storms die off completely. What else can I do about it now?

Perhaps the magic is already diminishing, for the size of the storm was much less than I expected it to be. It had disappeared completely by the time I was halfway to Khuul even though I was still very close to Ghostfence. 

The ruin housing Mehrunes Dagon's shrine is Vvardenfell's closest landmark to Solstheim and the island can just barely be seen across the water on a clear day, such as today was. I would have been tempted to try walking across the water just to spare myself another boat ride if the thought of running out of magicka in the middle of the sea were not so terrifying, 

Opposition inside of the shrine was slim: a Dremora of some kind and a Daedroth. Once I had the ruin all to myself I wielded the dagger and stepped towards the shrine, not sure what I was supposed to do next. The Daedric Prince's voice suddenly erupted from the statue's head, crowing about all the pain and blood I would be spreading across the land with the Prince's gift. As soon as he said this, I felt a slight electrical shock in my hand.

The decrepit dagger I had been holding just moments before had been turned into something resembling a silvered Daedric dagger. The Prince spoke no more and I decided not to tell him that his dreams of pain and blood were not to be realized, for I was more likely to stash this dagger at the bottom of a chest than to wield it. Repairing Daedric equipment is simply too expensive and I am skilled enough in the use of cheaper weapons to make them just as effective anyway.

I was concerned about sinking into the middle of the sea while walking to Solstheim, but had no such concern for walking along the coast back to Khuul. It was quicker than hiking back across the land and I feel a little stupid for not having thought of walking to Mehrunes Dagon via the water in the first place.

According to the nervous mage at Ald'ruhn, my contact for a trip to Solstheim was, surprisingly, a Khajiit named S'virr. He is in the business of ferrying passengers and small amounts of goods to the frozen island, mostly on behalf of the Empire's garrison there, but I have no doubt the Khajiit is smuggling on the side as well. For a relatively extravagant fee of thirty Septims he was willing to let me join him on his next trip, which was coincidentally going to be occurring half an hour after I met him. His destination is always the Imperial garrison of Fort Frostmoth, entry and exit point for the settlers and adventurers steadily picking away at the island.

To be fair, sitting on the crate proved to be more comfortable than any silt strider and the waters were placid the whole way there. While it looked to me as though I could have walked there from the ruin, the currents flowing between the two islands forces S'virr to first sail away from his destination, only to turn around somewhere east of the island in the middle of the sea so that he can catch a current that encircles the island. I shall never understand the ways of the sea.

As a result, it was deep into the night when I finally stepped off of his boat and on to Solstheim. Fort Frostmoth loomed directly ahead of me, but I spent a few moments speaking with some settlers waiting near the docks. One of the settlers was 'Basks-In-The-Sun', an Argonian and S'virr's business partner. He described the place as "the jewel of absolutely nowhere", rather similar to how Morrowind as a whole was regarded way back in the Auxiliaries. Possibly a good omen, possibly a bad one. 'Basks-In-The-Sun' offered a trip back to Vvardenfell, as well as one to a small village called 'Raven Rock' where a mine was under construction. 

One of the settlers helpfully provided two names for me to start with: Carnius Magius, overseer of the Imperial colony on the island and the similarly named Captain Carius, Commander of the Imperial garrison. Neither sounded likely to be able to help me with the lost airship that brought me here.

The fort is very similar to Fort Moonmoth outside of Balmora. A Khajiit just inside offered to sell me leggings made from bear hide that he modified for use by Khajiit and Argonian adventurers. He recommended them as protection against the cold as much as against the hostility of the beasts and monsters that wandered in the wilderness. I was more intent on finding some place to sleep than I was for shopping so I declined his offer for now.

My sleeping arrangement wound up being a small cot in the corner of the Imperial Cult's barracks area. A far cry from my own home and certainly from my own manor, but I do believe I have slept in far worse places than this.

An unexplored land lies before me and I have no knowledge or expectation of this place. It is an exciting feeling and I am very much looking forward to my time here, cold though it may be.

Morrowind Day 101 - House Cleaning

24 Sun's Dusk

~~~

I woke for the first time in a long while with absolutely nothing to do. No Ashlanders to woo, no House Lords to convince, no mad God to slay. I finally have accomplished what I was sent here to do and to become, but what is to follow is to be decided only by myself.

My battle yesterday with Dagoth Ur nearly cost my life and it did cost me most of my armor, which has been ruined beyond any hope of repair. Though I slept well, I am still hurting and decided to make today as easy on myself as possible.

So in that way moving my possessions out of Ald'ruhn and to Indarys Manor became the order of the day. All of my Daedric equipment that I brought to Red Mountain yesterday, even the bow and dagger that I did not use, is in very poor condition. The spear I can understand, but I must have been sorely lacking in my diligence for the dagger and bow to be in such a shape despite what little either has been used.

The first things to be moved were my extremely valuable and largely useless collection of Daedric weaponry. Even the dagger is weighty and I find that I simply have no use for the things.

Leaving my small home, I anticipated clear skies and was quite disappointed and surprised to find myself in the midst of another Blight storm.

I thought the defeat of Dagoth Ur would have put an end to these things, but apparently not! I can only hope that with his absence, whatever creates these storms will gradually lose power and they will eventually cease altogether.

So rather than the peaceful walk to the Manor that I was expecting, it was the all too familiar blind stumbling through the hills. Fortunately the stumbling was without incident and I arrived at my small fortress quite quickly. The ring provided to me as a token of Azura's thanks gives me a great deal of endurance and I am pretty much able to jog along without tiring, making the trip a lot easier than it has been in the past.

The Daedric weapons were unceremoniously dumped into a chest in my bedroom, then I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn for the second trip, this time most of my spare gems and alchemy ingredients. The trip to the Manor was repeated and for the third time I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn and brought most of my remaining weapons and armor to the Manor. Hardly the stuff of stories.

I am far more used to action-packed days than what this one had been so far, so my fourth Recall back to Ald'ruhn was my last for the day. Instead of going back to the Manor with more sundries, I went to the Mages Guild and was sent to the Guild in Vivec, where I believe I was expected by someone.

Lord Vivec was pleased to see me, though not surprised. He felt the disconnection of his divinity when the Heart was destroyed and took his loss of God-hood in rather good spirits, stating that he never really regarded it as part of who he was and that rebuilding the Temple would happily occupy him for some time.

He did confide that he had concerns about how the rest of the Tribunal, Almalexia and Sotha Sil, would deal with their lose of divine powers. It is Vivec's belief that Sotha Sil may never notice he lost them, so absorbed is he in discovering this world's mysteries. As for Almalexia, Vivec was concerned. God-hood was a mantle she wore a lot more heavily than Vivec and he feared that her reaction would bring harm to herself and to others. He had not communicated with either of them in a long time and could only give me the most basic of information regarding either individual.

For me, Vivec had no doubts: In his mind, I would continue to be the Protector of Morrowind, not by given duty, but simply out of who I have become. I suppose he is right, I find I have no desire to return to Cyrodil any longer and there are still tasks awaiting me here on Vvardenfell.

And elsewhere, as it turned out. I Recalled back to Ald'ruhn for the last time today (no doubt to the relief of the amulet!) and was approached outside the Guild by a stammering man asking if I was Kerra and if I could help him with something. His story was...an interesting one.

To tell it in full would be giving it more attention than it deserves. The man was a wizard of little renown who had heard rumors of an amulet that would make him irresistible to the ladies who one can assume have only shunned him so far. This amulet is supposed to be somewhere on the icy island of Solstheim. The wizard hired a group of 'sailors' he did not know to crew a ship he had enchanted sufficiently to be able to fly to the island, retrieve this amulet, and fly back. 

Naturally that was the last he heard of the sailors, if that is really what they were, or his magical flying vessel. He wanted me to go to Solstheim, find some evidence of what happened to his ship, and of course bring this amulet back to him. I agreed to give myself something new to do, but the only way to Solstheim without a flying ship of my own is to hire a boat out of Khuul. Not my preferred form of travel, but there seems no other way.

Having to go north will give me a reason to give Mehrunes Dagon the old dagger he covets so much, though I am somewhat anxious as to thought of what my "reward" for completing this task shall be.

Morrowind Day 97 - Making A Name for Myself

20 Sun's Dusk

~~~

If the recent chaos within House Redoran was not enough, I woke this morning to a grim reminder of the growing influence of Dagoth Ur. Ald'ruhn was gripped by the violence of a strong Blight storm, bathing the entire town in a dull red glow as the sky appeared to ripple with fire and lightning. A wonderful start to the day.

Visibility was bad enough that I considered breaking my vow not to use the Silt Strider service, but Gnisis was close enough for me to stumble safely to, ending with an unexpected tumble down the side of a hillside and into the river that separates the fortress village from the rest of Vvardenfell. My sudden arrival into the water startled a Dunmer who appeared to be bathing, but I scampered away before he could say anything.

I was looking for Hetman Abelmawia, the steward of House Redoran who represents the village of Gnisis in contrast with whomever is in charge of the Imperial fortress. He was easily found and my suspicion yesterday was correct: the "taxes" only came to sixty Septims. I could have paid Gnisis's taxes, or whatever the Septims really represent, all on my own. So many little things about Morrowind simply fails to make a whole lot of sense to me.

Hlaren had one last task for me before he would support my advancement within the House. This one was the most personal of anything I have yet been asked to accomplish: find a long-lost love of his, a Dunmer named Nalvilie Saren . He seemed confident that this woman would be willing to move from her home in Vivec to be with him and asked that I tell her he was no longer concerned with the past, only their future together. I really had no choice but to agree. Hlaren thanked me and excused himself to take care of the business of his manor. I was just about to leave when a guard that had been loitering nearby during our exchange asked me to spare a moment of my time for her.

Her name, Nalvyna Sarinith, was surprisingly similar to the councilor's love and for good reason I suppose: she had feelings for the Redoran lord. Nalvyna revealed that Nalvilie was living in disgrace at Vivec and has a long history filled with many lovers, of which Hlaren was but one. She pleaded with me to speak to Hlaren on her behalf in order to convince him to, as she put it, "...look a little closer to home." 

I readily agreed, happy to possibly not find myself in Vivec today. Hlaren was further within the manor, but willing to have his work interrupted. He spoke highly of Nalvyna when I asked of her, but was hesitant to meet the woman's shy advances until I rather brashly pointed out that Nalvilie was a woman of much less honor than his loyal guard and much more worthy of his honor. The look of surprise on his face was comical. It was certainly the first time in his life a Khajiit berated him, but he took it with a sense of humor and agreed to speak 'honorably' with Nalvyna. He agreed to support me within House Redoran.

I am just glad to have had only to walk a few dozen steps to earn his approval!

The second approval I needed for the stronghold had to come from Mistress Brara Morvayn. Her husband had been the Councilor until he was killed defending their Ald'ruhn manor from Corpus-infected creatures. I thought this odd, for until today I have never heard of the Sixth House physically assaulting an occupied dwelling, especially one in a sizable town. Her task was obvious: I was to be the counter-assault into her former home. The only help she could provide was an observation that the creatures had started to wander close to the manor only after her husband had brought home a red statue.

This is getting to be quite alarming, but at least I knew what I was going to be facing.

Morvayn Manor lies outside of Under-Skar against the hills encircling Ald'ruhn, making it easy for the monsters to rush the building with the element of surprise. Sadly, Brara's husband had almost made it, perishing just at the foot of the stairs leading upwards into the dining area and the front door. I imagine he made his last stand at the stairs as his wife and retainers fled up the stairs to safety.

The blighted residents soon arrived to welcome me, but compared against what of the Sixth House I have fought against and won these creatures were of little consequence to me. The group was sizable, but not particularly dangerous: six unfortunate Blighted men, probably Imperial or Breton and three of the hulking mountains of flesh the men might have turned into given enough time. Luring them to the stairs evened the odds considerably and they all fell near the body of their final victim.

A conspicuous red glow was throbbing behind one of the doors and I thought I knew what I was about to find. The statue was not in the room as I thought it would be, but the four candles encircling a Sixth House banner were purposely placed there and not likely by the former Dunmer inhabitants. The Corpus creatures I slew did not seem to have the manual dexterity required to arrange and light candles like that, but I can think of no other explanation.

Down the hallway from the candle room was a scrawling of a scarab similar to the design on the banner and the drawings I had found at the various Sixth House bases. While I am willing to assume the Corpus creatures were able to shuffle the candles around, I cannot believe any of them drew the symbol I found on the floor. Despite what recent progress I have made in Ald'ruhn it seems that Dagoth Ur's agents are still at work in this town.

Just past the marking on the floor was the statue sitting on a crate, next to another red candle. I took the cause of all this trouble and brought it to Lloros so that he could disenchant and get rid of it. Whether Mistress Brara moves back into the manor is her own business, but I cannot see how someone could live in a home that has seen such tragedy. It will likely end up in the care of the Temple to whatever use they can manage.

Even though she had lost most of her wealth and all of her family, Mistress Brara still saw fit to reward me materially with an amulet enchanted to strengthen my attacks. Compared against what equipment I currently have it is a paltry thing, but the thought was a nice one. She confirmed that she will support my rather forced advancement within the House.

I returned to Athyn and he confirmed that news of my deeds had already reached him. With the support of the two Councilors I am now a House Father (Mother?), meeting Galsa's requirement and allowing the final phase of the stronghold construction to commence. Finally! Athyn mentioned that I could be named a Councilor myself, but that would require the support of the final two Councilors. Quite frankly I have no interest in the politics of the House, I originally just wanted something to do and now just a safer place to live than my tiny house.

Galsa was just as helpful as she usually is: She had nothing for me but the advice to travel to the construction site once again, this time to see what I can do to attract more settlers to the fortification. I do not see why she lacks for any ideas on that subject.

Having raged all morning and afternoon, the Blight storm was finally spent as evening approached. If anyone was hoping for clear weather they were sorely disappointed for the air was still full of dust, making it just as difficult to travel. But travel I did to the incomplete Indarys Manor so that I may see what I can do to attract a larger garrison.

The Blight storm had worked its ways and it feels as though I had to fight off a maddened animal of some kind every dozen steps. Nix-Hounds are the worst of the lot. While weaker than Kagouti and not nearly as nimble as a Cliff Racer, the beasts come charging at you from within the gloom with just the rustle of its feet as a warning. Kagouti and Cliff Racers are kind enough to roar and screech, respectively. Such is life on Vvardenfell.

The watchtower of Indarys Manor

The caretaker of the manor is an older Dunmer Hetman named Guls. He seemed a little embarrassed to admit that he would have much better success in recruiting additional retainers of the manor had some marriageable young women already waiting for them. I shall have to ask around Ald'ruhn tomorrow. The Hetman did point out that if I cannot find anyone willing to come here, that purchasing slaves is an option. Becoming a slaverowner is a detestable thought, but marriage is probably a happier prospect than slavery. It did work out for Falura.

The manor-house was already complete so I decided to take a tour of what would become my new home eventually. It is a very livable sort of place and has a full staff of servants and guards. Among the latter are an eccentric pair, a warrior and a mage, who share a small room. I say eccentric because the warrior has a fine steel breastplate, a closed steel helm in the Imperial fashion, and an expensive pair of silk leggings with matching shoes. The mage's dress is more appropriate, he only deciding on a Dwemer helmet that, along with the robe, gives him the appearance of a scholarly insect. I do hope the safety of the manor and its inhabitants do not rest on these two.

My own room is a big jump up from the cot jammed into the corner of my Ald'ruhn home. I have been furnished with a double bed by a very optimistic carpenter and have shelves and chests enough to store all of my goods. Once the construction of the manor is completed I will have to spend some time in simply moving all of the stuff from Ald'ruhn, though my Recall amulet should make the toil a little quicker.

There was no reason to go back to Ald'ruhn immediately, so I am spending the night, my first, at Indarys Manor. Writing this at the provided table is far more comfortable than cradling a parchment and pen while on a cot. I do believe I shall enjoy being a Redoran Lady, but as always there is more work that needs to be completed. Dagoth Ur also seems to be making more overt moves to expand his influence and I am certainly running out of time.