Chapter 10: The Second Blades Assignments

Heartfire 17 (Day 33)

I awoke sometime after dawn the next morning and made my way to Cosades' house. He was awake and, though it appeared as if he were still in the process of getting dressed, he welcomed me inside.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he asked if I was available for another job. When I indicated that I was he immediately started with the instructions for my next assignment. He was still researching information on the Sixth House and the Nerevarine Cult and he had come up with three new contacts that he wanted me to interview, all three in Vivec City.

The first was a Kajiit by the name of Addhiraniir, a member of the Thieves Guild. He said that I could probably find her somewhere in St. Olms Canton.

My second contact was Huleeya, an Argonian and a member of the Morag Tong. He was supposed to meet me in the Black Shalk Corner Club, which was located on the lower waistworks of the Foriegn Quarter.

Finally, I needed to talk to Mehra Milo, a Temple priestess. She worked in the library in the Hall of Wisdom and Justice and I should be able to find her there.

He handed me 200 Drakes to use for bribes and other expenses then, after a few final words of encouragement, sent me on my way. I could not think of any reason to wait so I simply made my way across town to the Mage's Guild and had the guild guide send me to Vivec.

Since I arrived in the Foreign Quarter, I decided to locate Huleeya first. It was a simple matter to make my way downward several levels to the lower waistworks and from there the Black Shalk Corner Club was easily found. Huleeya was indeed in the main room of the Club. He almost seemed relieved as I spoke to him, the reason for which I quickly discovered.

Huleeya had attracted the attention of several Dunmer who didn't like Argonians; especially Argonians who weren't slaves. He was safe while in the Club but was afraid of what the three might do if he stepped outside. He said that he would be happy to tell me what he knew about the Nerevarine Cult but he would prefer to do so in his friend Jobasa's bookstore, located on the other end of this level of the waistworks. He felt that he would be safer there.

Not wanting a confrontation with the thugs if I could help it, I told Huleeya to wait for me and went up to the nearest of the Dunmer bothering him, not stopping until I was standing almost in his face.

The Dunmer took a half-step backwards as I stood there silently staring at him and, glancing towards his companions for support, made a comment about me and my "filthy lizard". I still said nothing, but casually rested my hand on the hilt of my sword and simply stared at him though narrowed eyes.

He glanced around again and, finding no support, his attitude broke under my intimidating stare. Deciding that taunting an Argonian was much less entertaining when the Argonian had a well-armed friend, he and his companions retreated to the bar, though not before tossing a final comment in our direction. Ignoring him, I motioned for Huleeya to follow me and we left the Corner Club without incident.

As Huleeya had said, it was a short walk across the waistworks to Jobasa's Rare Books and he relaxed visibly when we entered. After thanking me for my assistance, he asked what it was that I wanted. I told him of Cosade's interest in the Nerevarine Cult and the Sixth House and he immediately told me what he knew.

To understand the Nerevarine Cult, he told me, I would have to understand the history of the Ashlanders; the Dunmer tribes who lived in the interior of Vvardenfell. The Ashlanders felt, with some justification I had to admit, that they had been forced into the poorest and most hostile lands by the Great Houses and by the outlanders who had arrived on Vvardenfell, most recently the Empire. They believed that a reincarnated Nerevar would drive the invaders from their lands, destroy the false gods of the Tribunal and restore the ancient rights and religion of their people.

For its part, the Tribunal Temple considers this prophecy of a reborn Nerevar to be heresy and its believers are imprisoned and executed unless the Empire intervenes. Of course, since the Nerevarine Cult was as hostile to the Empire as it was to the Temple, such intervention was very rare.

Still, many of the Ashlanders waited for the return of Nerevar, who they called the "Incarnate". There had been many false Incarnates over the years, the most recent being a man named Peakstar some thirty years ago. The Ashlanders did not see these "false" incarnates as disproving the prophecy however, as Ashlander religion embraced contradictions.

As for Cosade's other question, Huleeya had not heard anything of the Sixth House. The Sixth House, he told me, was House Dagoth. House Dagoth was destroyed along with its leader, Dogoth Ur, at the end of the war of the first council. He had never heard of anyone worshiping House Dagoth. He did tell me that Dagoth Ur was the "devil" of the Tribunal Temple but he had never heard of anyone worshiping him either.

Huleeya continued talking but I found my mind wandering, remembering my encounter with Rararyn Radarys back in Balmora. Apparenly Huleeya was wrong; it appeared that there were indeed those who worshiped Dagoth Ur.

My thoughts were interrupted when Huleeya handed me a stack of notes to carry back to Cosades. I glanced through them but they did not add anything to what he had already told me, so I thanked him for his time and said my goodbyes. He thanked me again for my help and wandered deeper into the bookstore, apparently looking for his friend. I started to follow, since I could easily spend all day wandering the shelves of a bookstore, but then realized that I probably should continue on with my assignment and, with only a slight reluctance, steped back out into the waistworks.

Finding my way outside, I crossed the bridge to the Redoran Canton and from there made my way on to the Arena. I thought about stopping in at the Morag Tong's hideout to report my successes to Gransmaster Hlaalu but decided to continue with the task currently in front of me and headed on to the St. Olms canton.

There were several private residences on this level and I searched several of them, thinking that perhaps Addhiraniir lived in one of them, but found no sign of her. I then entered the Canton itself and begin searching and making inquiries. Unfortunately, it seemed as if Addhiraniir was a secretive sort and no one seemed to know who or where she was. The only person I encountered who seemed to know her was Duvianus Platorius, an Imperial agent who also seemed to be searching for her.

Finally, I found someone who told me that a Khajiit had been seen wandering in the underworks. Following up on this lead, I descended to the canalworks and found a trap door leading to the lowest level of the Canton.

The information was correct and I found Addhiraniir lurking near one end of the underground tunnels. She was a bit reluctant to speak with me at first, though the fact that she recognized me as a fellow member of the Thieves Guild did help her disposition some. I told her the information I was looking for and she agreed to help me, provided I helped her with a problem of her own.

I sighed inwardly. Couldn't anyone on this island solve their own problems? Still, I kept a polite expression on my face and asked what problem she was facing.

It turned out that her problem was Duvianus Platorius, who was with the Imperial Census and Excise office. In other words, he was the tax man. Apparently Addhiraniir owed some money and he was here to collect it. Unfortunately, she was not in a position to pay. If I could get rid of her problem, then she would give me the information I needed.

Telling her to wait where she was, I quickly made my way up to the waistworks to where I had encoutered Platorius. Since he already knew of my search for Addhiraniir I simply told him that I had learned that she had left for the mainland. He expressed regret at missing her, then mentioned that he would be leaving soon for the mainland as well! Nodding a farewell, I watched as he quickly made his way outside. As soon as he was gone, I returned to the underworks and passed the news on to Addhiraniir.

She was quite happy with my handling of the situation and quickly gave me what information she knew. She dismissed the Nerevarine Prophecies as silliness and superstition; "fuzzy tales for little kittens" she called it. However, she did have some information on the Sixth House.

Apparently the Sixth House was very active and was recruiting smugglers. Just what they were smuggling she couldn't say; those who were working for them were very quiet about what cargoes they were carrying. Whatever they were carrying was keeping them busy though; none of the smugglers had time for their regular clients anymore.

Somewhat interested, I asked what they would normally be carrying for their "regular clients". She told me that it was mostly items that the Empire had banned transportation of; skooma, moon sugar, ebony, Dwemer artifacts, exotic Dunmer weaponry and armor, and slaves. She added that the smugglers also carried legal items with the intent of avoiding Imperial tarrifs; mostly greef, shein and sujamma. From her comments, I gathered that this was the reason for Platorius' interest in her.

She had very little additional information to provide so I soon took my leave. She remained lurking in the underworks, apparently making sure the Census and Excise agent was long gone before returning to the upper levels.

I made my way back to the main level then crossed the bridge to the south to the temple area. Nodding to the ordinator as I passed, I entered the Hall of Wisdom and, after a bit of wandering, found my way up a flight of stairs and into the Temple library. A short search was all I needed to locate Mehra Milo.

Mehra seemed nervous and kept glancing about as I explained the purpose of my visit. After a final look at a nearby ordinator, she asked me to follow her to the back of the library where we could talk in more privacy. We soon found ourselves among the shelves of the library and she relaxed enough to answer my questions.

She did not have any information on the Sixth House but knew a great deal about the Nerevarine Cult. The Temple, she said, worshiped Nerevar as a saint and a hero but prophecies of his reincarnation were treated as heresy. For its part, the Nerevarine Cult claims that the Tribunal were false gods. For this reason, followers of the Nerevarine Cult were persecuted by the Temple.

There was a group within the Temple known as the Dissident Priests who disputed the Temple doctrine on the Nerevarine Prophecies. Their beliefs were recorded in the book The Progress of Truth which was, of course, banned by the Temple. Mehra suggested that I get a copy of the book for Cosades. The Temple library itself actually had a copy but she said that stealing it may be dangerous and suggested getting a copy in a bookstore. In short, the Dissident Priests challenged the purity and divinity of the Tribunal, saying that their powers were not divine but were instead sorcerous and possibly related to the powers of Dagoth Ur. They condemned the absolute power of the Ordinators and accused the Temple hierarchy of corruption and self interest.

The Dissident Priests had been outlawed by the Tribunal (obviously) and were persecuted by the Temple, to the extent of being imprisoned and tortured by the Ordinators. The Temple's argument was that attacks on the Tribunal weakened the faith and left the people defenseless against Dagoth Ur. Since the arrival of the Empire many of the Dunmer had turned away from the Tribunal, which the Temple said had caused the strengthening of Dagoth Ur and resulted in the blight, ash storms and the like.

Since she had been speaking of the Tribunal, I asked her for more information on them. The Tribunal, she told me, were the immortal god-kings of the Temple and the Dunmer. There was Lord Vivec, the Poet, who dwelled here in Vivec City. He was the patron of artists and rogues. Then, there was Blessed Almalexia, the Warden, who was the patron of healers and teachers. Finally, there was Sotha Sil, the Magus. He was a wizard known as the Light of Knowledge and the inspiration of crafts and sorcery.

As we had been speaking, Mehra had become more and more agitated and worried looking. I asked what was wrong and she said, with some concern, that she felt as if the Ordinators had been watching her especially closely of late and that she was starting to worry for her safety. She said that if something were to happen to her, she would attempt to leave a message for Cosades under the code-word "amaya". With this, she indicated that she needed to return to her duties and resumed her work.

I stood for a moment, thinking over what she had said. As she did, I glanced around and happened to notice a sheet of paper sticking out from under some books on a shelf. I looked at it more closely and realized that it was a land deed; an odd thing to find in a temple library.

An ordintator had wandered into the area, probably to keep an eye on what Mehra was up to if her concerns were valid, so I casually walked around to the other side of the shelf. There, partially hidden from the Ordinator, I was able to stealthily take the deed. I wasn't sure what it was doing there but I felt somehow that it may be of importance.

I then spent some time wandering through the library and examining the books on the shelves. Several of them were of some minor interest but my explorations soon paid off when I found the library's copy of Progress of Truth. There were several Ordinators and other persons about but, remembering my success with the deed, I walked around the shelf to the other side and from there was able to stealthily retrieve the volume and tuck it under my cloak before anyone noticed.

My immediate task completed, I left the library and decended to the corridor through which I had first entered. I briefly became turned around but soon found my way back to the outside. There, I headed north and once again crossed the bridge to St. Olms Canton.

As I slowly made my way along the edge of the canton I considered my options. It would probably be a good idea for me to return to Balmora and give Cosades my latest information on the Nerevarine Cult. I had some unfinished business here in Vivec but it could easily wait the few minutes it would take me to transit by Guild Guide back to Balmora and make my report. Cosades would probably need a few days to follow up on what I had found which would give me enough time to follow up on my Thieves Guild and Morag Tong obligations. With this in mind, I found my way back to the Foreign Quarter and had the guide there send me to the Balmora Mage's Guild.

The transition took no time, of course, and I quickly made my way across the river to Cosade's house once again. He was working on some paperwork when I arrived but seemed more than happy to take a break to review the information I had brought.

I told him of the information I had gotten from Huleeya, Addhiraniir and Mehera. He seemed quite pleased, even though he joked that his report back home had just gotten a lot thicker, and told me that he was promoting me to Journeyman within the Blades. He also gave me another 200 Drakes then suggested that I take some time out to work with some of my guilds to maintain my "freelance adventurer" cover. Once again I wondered how many of my other activities he was aware of.

We talked a bit more before he dismissed me, saying that he needed to get back to his report. I nodded a goodbye then stepped back out to the street. By this time night had fallen and I realized that my research in Vivec had taken the better part of the day. Deciding that "freelance adventuring" could wait until daylight, I made my way back to Nerano manor for a night's sleep.

Once again, my sleep was disturbed by a strange dream. The figure wearing the golden mask appeared again and this time he greeted me. "There are many rooms in the house of the master." he said. "Be easy, for from the hands of your enemies I have delivered you."

I looked about and saw myself, lying on a table and surrounded by lit candles as if I had died and had been lain out for a funeral. I stepped forward and touched the body. Suddenly, its eyes opened. The room filled with light and I awoke, suddenly sitting upright and bathed in a cold sweat. For a long time afterwards I lay awake in the darkess, half-expecting at any time another visit from a tall figure in a golden mask.