Episode 54: The dominos begin to fall, Telvanni politics, the Third Dream
sell the cell
I agree we should sell the phone
Sell the phone
Sell the phone
the selling of our cell phone.
:
"Yes, here's the phone. Yagrum agreed the 600 gold offer was fair."Lost cellphoneGained 600 goldThe gold is heavy. You put 100 coins in your coinpurse and toss the rest into your bag.
Make one last check to confirm Sexy or Clover aren't actually here
Ask if Clover/any other guests like that are present
:
"Beyte, is Clover still here?":
"Clover?":
"Dunmer girl, white hair, probably had a-":
"Oh, I remember her. She arrived a few days ago then disappeared into the lower study after briefly talking with Father. I haven't seen her since, but I don't recall seeing her leave."Odds are good she also hasn't been standing here watching the door this entire time either.
:
"What about SexyWithers? Or any other guests?"She blinks.
:
"You mean the Councilor? No, I haven't seen her in weeks."You feel the hairs stand up on the back of your neck.
:
"What do you mean Councilor?":
"You are talking about Mistress SexyWithersXOXOXO, aren't you? Master Aryon's former Mouth? She was recently promoted to Councilor. That's what had my sister Freyte so upset. You remember Freyte, don't you? She was here when you arrived."How did you miss this? Wait...Cinia. The crystals. Ever since you arrived she's been talking about getting replacement seed crystals for a stalled construction project. And she specifically said there's a tower being built in Molag Amur. She's been talking about the Telvanni stronghold of Tel Uvirith!
:
"Cinia-"You turn just in time to see the door close behind her.
head out
go with Cinia
:
"Cinia! Wait up!":
"Oh, you're coming after all?"Mention that we didn't think she was a ferry - just that she might have regular business here, is all. Apologize for insulting her - we don't really know how often the House has a need for crystals.
apologize to Cinia
Apologize for making her wait
:
"Cinia, I'm sorry. I really shouldn't have kept you waiting like that.":
"You think?":
"You said you weren't a ferry, you're a business woman. I know, but I just assumed you make regular cargo trips through Tel Fyr. Remember, you'd said you were authorized to visit the island. I just assumed you were the super important special designated cargo transport person and that you came through here all the time.":
"Look, I'm not offended. You don't need to flatter me. But let's just go, alright? I'm on a schedule. Llunela is expecting these crystals, and annoying high ranking House wizards is a bad idea, ok?"Llunela. The Hermitage wizard in charge of stronghold construction. Cinia mentioned that's who she was delivering the crystals to when you first arrived. How did you not put this together until now?
:
"That construction project. That's Tel Uvirith, isn't it?"Cinia raises an eyebrow.
:
"Yes. Why?":
"For the new councilor? SexyWithers?":
"Yes?"And there is it confirmed. You suppress the urge to facepalm. The entire time you were in Tel Fyr, Divayth, his daughters, Cinia...everyone knew about this except you, and possibly Yagrum, since he's locked underground in the corprusarium. And he only mentioned her because you asked about the flying boots. And that quest was probably done while she was still Aryon's Mouth. And given Yagrum's priorities, she was probably just a pretty face to him. He had no reason to mention her Telvanni rank, even if he knew about it. He's probably not even a member of House Telvanni.
:
"What do you know about her?":
"Not much. Never met her. Fastest rise through the ranks I've ever seen though. Rumor is that Master Aryon has some kind of plans for her. He's kind of a fringe wacko though. Hard to know what he's thinking.":
"Aryon? A wacko?":
"Yes."You wait for her to elaborate. She doesn't.
:
"Don't tell him I said that.":
"What kind of condition is the tower in that you needed to replace the crystals? Don't you use soul gems for that anyway?":
"How do you know so much about Telavnni tower construction?":
"I...umm, doesn't everyone?"She hmphs.
:
"From what I saw it looked inhabitable, if a bit rough. I think it will be a while before anyone other than the Councilor will be living there, but it depends a lot on how much she pushes for development. "The two of you arrive at Cinia's boat and she steps aboard.
:
"20 gold for one way trip to Sadrith Mora please."You hand Cinia the gold.
:
"I have to prep the ship, and wind doesn't look too good right now. It will probably take a few hours to reach Sadrith Mora. You look injured. Why don't you take a nap?"You look at the blood on your armor and the bitemark in your arm.
:
"Yeah. That's a good idea. Thanks, Cinia."You lay down and fall asleep.
You are walking through a town, with wooden and stone buildings all around you but no people besides yourself. In the distance you see a massive set of scales in the shape of a woman dressed in white, with outstretched arms hanging from the sky and a bright yellow and orange sun on one side and a white, pockmarked crescent moon on the other. Curious, you approach. For several minutes you walk in the direction of the celestial scales, but they don't appear to be getting any closer.
Suddenly the crescent moon bounds from its side of the scale and towards you, causing the side with the sun not to fall down, but to rise up into the sky where it blazes with blinding light. You hold a hand over your face to keep from being blinded but the light passes through your hand as easily as through the air, and you see that your hand is made of the same light as that passes through it. The moon, never stopping, bounces towards you and pierces your chest with the pointy end of its crescent, passing cleanly through your body and leaving a gaping hole.
You then watch as light from the sun fills the hole in your chest and restores the flesh as if you'd never been injured at all. You anticipate a sense of deja vu, but it never comes.
You are walking through a town, with wooden and stone buildings all around you but no people besides yourself. In the distance you see-:
"We're here."It is interesting to see how the deep levels of math and physics are applied here compared to Michael's
world and yet something as simple as biological repair processes are vastly different between worlds.
You put a hand on the restored bit of your arm that was a bloodied hole when you went to sleep. You feel like you should be creeped out, but you're not. You feel at peace, as if everything in the whole world is going to be ok. You feel happy. Joyful. You feel...loved? You feel like you're going to-
:
"Are you crying?":
"No, no. I'm good. Thanks."Confused and disoriented, but smiling, you wipe the stray tears from your face and stand up to look around.
:
"Well, Michael. I have some crystals to deliver, so this is where we say goodbye.":
"I was actually kind of hoping we'd be able to stay in touch."She seems surprised.
:
"Oh? Well. Sure. You headed to Ebonheart by chance? That's where I'm going next. Beyte mentioned a new shipment of slaves just arrived and I'd like to see if there's anything I can make a profit on."get training
:
"No, sorry. There's something I've been wanting to do since I got here that I finally have enough money to do.":
"What's that?":
"Learn magic."She nods.
:
"Yes, that's important.":
"Any way I can get a hold of you again?":
"I live on my boat, so I'm constantly moving. But I do a lot of business through Sadith Mora. If you leave a letter for me with Dalyne Arvel at the council house, I'll get it eventually. I check in regularly to see if they need any errands run. It's good to make connections. I'm planning to be a magelord someday":
"You'd make a good one."She smiles.
:
"Thank you. If you ever need a sponsor to join House Telvanni, let me know. Though I doubt you'll need one. Learn enough magic to pass the basic requirements and you'll be a shoe-in.":
"Why's that?"She points at your head.
:
"Divayth."That's right. Divayth marked you so his corprusarium warden would let you in to talk to Yagrum.
:
"So, am I famous now? Will people fear me because I'm buddies with the big bad wizard?":
"Hardly anyone will even recognize it. That particular mark is only used within his household. But the people who matter will know it means he at least found you interesting enough to talk to."Maybe that will be worth a training discount with Fast Eddie. You say your goodbyes and set off through the market towards Wolverine Hall.
To your disappointment, Cinia turns out to be right. Nobody pays you any particular attention. Come to think of it, you're not even sure what Divayth's mark looks like yourself. You weren't looking inside your skull for the before and after when he marked you.
Pausing to close your eyes and check, you look around for Divayth's mark. You find a couple spots that might possibly be it, but without the benefit of knowing where and what to look for it's really hard to distinguish what is and isn't a mark at all. Back at Tel Fyr you couldn't find Azura's Mark even after Divayth told you where to look. At least until he cast that fortify intelligence spell on you. There might be some people who can casually glance at someone and see their affiliations, but you're not one of them.
Arriving at Wolverine Hall, you hand Iniel 12 gold for transport back to Balmora. When you arrive, Ajira is missing and only the guild guide, Masalinie, is present in the transport area. Stepping out into the main room, it's abandoned too. Curious, you head back to the transport pad and ask Masalinie what's going on.
:
"Hey, where is everyone?":
"Ranis was challenged to a duel for leadership of the guild.":
"For the position of Archmage?":
"What? Ha! No, as if we could be so lucky. Ranis is only in charge of the Balmora branch of the guild. It's Trebonious who's Archmage. And while he may be an idiot, he's also a hardened and experienced battlemage. Nobody's been stupid enough to challenge him in years. No, this is just for control of the Balmora branch.":
"So where is everyone?":
"Vivec Arena canton. Watching the fight. I'd be there too, but somebody had to stay here. Can't leave the place unattended. Galbedir's upstairs though.":
"Who's the challenger?"Masalinie nervously glances around as if worried somebody might overhear, then answers quietly:
:
"It's Adorabella.":
"Who's that? I don't recognize the name.":
"It's probably best if I don't say anything."There's an uncomfortable silence as Masalinie looks at the ground, the walls, anywhere but make eye contact with you.
:
"Umm, look...I know you and I have had some friction in the past, what with me being escorted around by Ordinators, and you thinking I was a stalker and all that. But I thought we got past all that.":
"Yeah, it's not you. I just...it really would be best if I didn't say anything."She's sweating now. You stand there dumbstruck for a bit before you shrug, then head upstairs to find Galbedir nervously pacing in Ranis' usual spot at the door.
:
"Hey-":
"Don't hurt me!":
"Whoa, relax. It's just me. I don't think we've met, though. I'm Michael. You're the enchanter here, right? Galbedir?":
"Yes, sorry. You startled me is all.":
"Sorry about that. What's the deal with this duel? Is Ranis going to be ok?":
"I hope so.":
"Who's Adora-":
"SHHH! Don't say her name out loud.":
"Ok, fine. But seriously, what's the big deal here?":
"She's...":
"Yes?":
"She's a vampire."It takes you a moment to process that.
:
"And if she wins the duel...she's going to be your boss."Galbedir nods. You're not sure what to say. You're glad it's not your problem. You don't tell her that, though. You have more important things to attend to. It's time to get some spell training.
Destruction maybe
Or perhaps a restoration
Probably destruction.
I would suggest destruction
I would strongly recommend we go with Restoration
Maybe that IS Restoration, but Destruction could work too
Either Destruction or Restoration
Well, definitely one of those two, destruction or restoration. But which? Maybe Eddie will have some input. You cross over to the residential section of town, head up the stairs and find his door unlocked.
And the room empty.
What happened? Did he move out? You carefully look around the room, but find no clues. Fortunately, you have a pretty good idea who to ask to find out. You head to Hlaalu Council Manor.
:
"Hello, Nileno?":
"Yes?":
"You might remember me. We spoke a few weeks ago? You showed me around a few apartments? Name's Michael?":
"Oh! Yes, I remember you. Have you decided to settle in Balmora?":
"Actually, I'm looking for a friend. Edd Therman?":
"Oh, yes. He rather suddenly canceled his lease just this past week. His room's available, if you're interested.":
"Can you tell me where he went?":
"I'm afraid he didn't say. I'm sorry."...wait. SexyWithers was Master Aryon's Mouth on the council, was promoted to Councilor, and her stronghold Tel Uvirith is nearing completion. Fast Eddie was desperate for allies to help him get back into House Telvanni, people who wouldn't mind his sordid past, and with enough political clout that nobody would mess with him.
He's her Mouth, isn't he?
Level 8
Health 61/61
Magick 69/69
Armor rating: 4
27.3 Strength (20)
35.0 Speed (30)
37.3 Agility (30)
40.1 Endurance (30)
42.4 Intelligence (40)
40.0 Willpower (40)
44.6 Personality (40)
57.0 Luck (50)
Numbers in parenthesis are starting values
33 Acrobatics (0)
22 Athletics (5)
7 Armorer (0)
6 Block (0)
7 Heavy Armor (0)
5 Medium Armor (0)
22 Light armor (0)
9 Unarmored (0)
5 Blunt Weapon
12 Hand to Hand
5 Longblade
6 Shortblade
8 Spear
7 Alchemy (0)
5 Enchanting (0)
21 Speechcraft (10)
12 Mercantile (0)
* Cruel Viperblade
* Chitin shield
* Chitin left + right gauntlets
* Chitin greaves
* Chitin cuirass
* Chitin left + right pauldrons
* Chitin boots
* Combat belt
* Commoner's shirt
* Commoner's pants
* Interior coinpurse, containing:
* 88 gold
* lockpick
* 1 standard invisibility potion
* 1 potion of water walking
* 1 empty bottle
Backpack (Worn) (damp)
Main compartment:
* Dwemer Puzzle Box
* Tennis shoes
* 3 illegible water logged papers
* 1 illegible water-logged scroll of divine intervention
* Yellow water-damaged notepad with 54 pages left
* 1 pen
* "20% cooler" Rainbow Dash t-shirt (damp)
* Denim pants (damp)
* wallet with picture ID and $30 in cash
* 2 lesser soulgems (empty)
* 29 Whickwheat
Small compartment
* 622 gold
* 8 empty bottle
* 2 Ampoule Pod
* 1 Black Anther
* 7 bungler's bane
* 5 Chokeweed
* 3 Corkbulb
* 25 Heather
* 3 hypha facia
* 11 luminous russula
* 4 Racer Plume
* 8 saltrice
* 2 Stoneflower petals
* 5 spore pod
* 6 violet coprinus
Bearer of Azura's Mark
Bearer of 'scholarly acquaintance of Divayth Fyr' mark
Blades, Novice
Imperial Legion, Recruit
Fighter's Guild, Associate (1 quest completed)
Mage Guild, Associate
Registered Sadrith Mora business visa, with slave-handling endorsement
* Steel tanto, with scabbard and carrying straps
* Imperial steel Cuirass
* Apprentice mortar and pestle
Alit Hide [1]Resist Poison
Ash yam [1]Restore personality
Ampoule Pod [1]Restore speed
Black Anther [1]Resist poison
Black lichen [1]Drain Health
Bread [1]Restore Fatigue
Bungler's Bane [1]Drain agility
Chokeweed [1]Drain health
Coda Flower [1]Restore luck
Comberry [1]Drain health
Corkbulb Root [1]Restore luck
Crab Meat [1]Restore fatigue
Gravedust [1]Burden
Green Lichen [1]Night Eye
Heather [1]Poison
Hound Meat [1]Poison
Hypha facia [1]Drain speed
Kresh fiber [1]Cure common disease
Kwama cuttle [1]Restore health
Large kwama egg [1]Restore fatigue
Luminous russ. [1]Paralysis
Marshmerrow [1]Resist common disease
Muck [1]Poison
Racer plume [1]Levitate
Rat meat [1]Poison
Roobrush [1]Restore intelligence
Saltrice [1]Restore endurance
Scale [1]Swift swim
Scathecraw [1]Paralyze
Spore pod [1]Paralysis
Stoneflower petal [1]Fortify health
Sm. Kwama Egg [1]Restore Fatigue
Violet coprinus [1]Water Walking
Whickwheat [1]Cure paralysis
Willow Anther [1]Water Breathing
What do you do?