The Construction of My Stronghold

When I asked Master Aryon for duties, he told me that the queen in the Mudal-Mul eggmine, which is straight West of Tel Vos, across from the dungeon’s entrance, was infected with the Blight. So I was told to go there and cure her of the blight, and taught me a cure blight spell. Once I had cured the queen, I reported my success to Aryon and he gave me a book on Alteration as well as “more appropriate” wizard clothes. He also promoted me to Spellwright.

Aryon then asked me to learn some rudimentary spells. He said that every student of his must know a mark and recall spell, a fireball spell, and a levitate spell. Fortunately, Mouth Ulessen had already taught me the mark and recall spells, and I already knew the Fire Storm and Wild Levitate Spells, so I told Aryon about this, and he was satisfied. As a reward, I received even more wizard clothes, as well as a book on Destruction.

At this point I asked Aryon for advancement, but he said that I could not advance to the rank of Wizard until I had built a stronghold. To do this, I was to speak with Llunela Hleran, who would take care of all the formalities. I was a little disappointed that I would have to wait a while for advancement, but I have become accustomed to the overbearing and strict procedures to which the Dunmer adhere. So I decided to not reveal my frustration to the handsome Aryon, and instead chose to ask him for more chores.

He informed me that a fellow Telvanni, Milyn Faram, was under attack by pigs of House Hlaalu. I was asked to travel to Odirniran and help Faram turn back the attack. Instead of heading straight for Odirniran, I decided to stop by Sadrith Mora in order to get Hleran to begin the construction of my stronghold. I found her at the Hermitage, which is at the very bottom of the Telvanni Council Hall in Sadrith Mora. She told me that construction of my stronghold required that I get two strong souls and construction papers from Duke Vedam Dren.

Because I was in a hurry, I instantly ran to the outskirks of Sadrith mora where I used the Summon Gold Saint spell that I had purchased at Tel Branora, and then killed the Golden Saints with Souldrinker, a daedric dagger given to me by Ranis. Then I headed to the docks where I took a ship to Ebonheart. As soon as I stepped out of the boat, I cast divine intervention and ran into the Ebonheart Council Chambers, where I found the heavily guarded Duke Dren. He agreed to give me the papers if I agreed to do what is best for his people. Sure, whatever. Anyways, I took the papers and the souls back to Hleran who said she would order the construction of my stronghold.

After this was done, I traveled to Ebonheart again, from where I began my trek to Odirniran. Sure, it would have been easier to take a ship to Tel Branora or Molag Mar, but since I am already a Spellwright in the Great House Telvanni, I was anxious to level up 6 more times so I can speak with Akordia.

Anyways, the road from Vive to Odirniran became worse as I headed East. I also stumbled on my first daedric shrine—Zaintiraris. Outside the shrine I fought several clannfears, scamps, atronachs of all kinds, and a dremora. Inside, the fighting turned into a true bloodbath. I knew I was facing overwhelming numbers, so I summoned a Golden Saint and a Dremora to aid me in the fight. The strategy was simple, I would run forward, so the enemies could spot me, and as soon as they began chasing, I would run like the wind, to a position behind my Golden Saint and Dremora. Once these two engaged the enemies in combat, I would either use my bow and arrow, or my projectile spells to kill the daedric worshippers/creatures.

The road, East of Zaintiraris, turned out to be hell. Cliff racers, flame atronachs, kagoutis, and several other critters made life difficult. I could not walk for more than a couple of feet without having to fight off a dangerous foe. I also contracted the blight several times, and once, one of the bonewalkers I fought significantly reduced my strength, something I still need to take care of. At one point I was attacked by a couple of Alits, but I ran before they could unleash their poison on me.

The actual fight in Odirniran was a piece of cake, as a simple fire spell allowed me to quickly cook the Hlaalu pigs in their armor. After I fried the Hlaalus, I spoke with Faram.

Afterwards, I used the ring I had found at the Abandoned Drow Cave to teleport back there. Once there, I finally met Akordia Mlezzir, a level 100 Telvanni Enchanter who informed me that the cave was now her home, and that everything I had stored there was now her property. Additionally, she warned me not to try anything funny with her, for not only was she a level 100 enchanter, but she also possessed a nasty little spell that could paralyze me for 60 seconds while causing a 100% weakness to poison/fire for 60 secs as well as 100 pts of poison and fire damage for 60 seconds. Why tell me this? Well, the robe she had on has a CE 100% reflect/resist magicka/resist paralysis, 10 pt restore health/restore fatigue/restore magicka enchantment, resist normal weapons 70%, and so she wanted assurance that I would not try anything funny to steal her robe. She is also guarded by two level 100 Priestesses of Lloth, who each have that same nasty spell. She told me that she had several quests for me, quests that when completed, would bestow on me some powers as a gift from Lloth, and I would also get weapons of unmatched quality and power. But she said that these came at a price. For one, I would endure much ridicule and pain while fulfilling these quests. Additionally, I would face enemies the likes of which would make any mortal tremble.
I had to ask her, “why me?” She said I was special, a zwyl’ il—a candidate. Apparently, I was born of noble blood and Lloth had chosen me to be an instrument of hers. Akordia said that I was to serve Lloth, and that this was to be done by following her (Akordia’s) every order. Additionally, if I ever refuse to follow an order, or fail to follow the detailed instructions on how to fulfill a quest, I will loose Lloth’s favor and will be mercilessly hunted and persecuted. When I asked Akordia why she had taken up residence in the Drow Cave, she told me that unlike me, she was not a daywalker, and that sunlight hurts her.

The Road to Becoming a Mouth

After finishing off the slaves for Mistress Therana, I headed back to Sadrith Mora, where Mouth Ulessen rewarded me with both, a ring of firestorm and a ring of toxic cloud. Ulessen also told me to ask the other mouths for more chores. The only Mouth who still had duties for me was Master Aryon’s Mouth Galos Mathendis, whose first task was a throwback to a simpler time; a time when I was not so much a murderous enforcer, but rather a simple errand girl.

Mathendis first asked me to deliver a coded message to Dyvath Fyr, who resides in the Tower of Tel Fyr. There is no fast travel to Tel Fyr, so Mathendis provided me with 4 quality potions of water walking, 4 quality potions of swift-swim, and 7 quality potions of restore health. The trip was fairly easy, and I only encountered a very small number of annoying pests. Since I planned on selling those quality potions, I used my levitate spells instead. When I finally saw the great Dyvath Fyr, I was in awe. He had a full set of Daedric Armor and his demeanor certainly helped me understand how some think that he is the anonymous guardian hero of the Battlespire.

Master Fyr turned out to be a pleasant character. He told me about how he had made his “daughters” from his own flesh, how I reminded him of Akordia, Drow apprentice of his whose advancement in the Great House Telvanni had been thwarted by Archmagister Gothren, and lastly, he lamented about the lack of any skilled thieves in the area. Finally, I told him I had a coded message from Master Aryon. He asked me to wait as he wrote a response, and so I did. Once he gave me his response, I headed back to Sadrith Mora and gave Dyvath Fyr’s response to Galos.

Before I continue with what happened next, let me confess that I actually deciphered the coded messages. Here is their text:
To the esteemed Divayth Fyr,I will be blunt: I need an ally. The traditionalists and crazies have joined together against me. If something is not done, their short sightedness may bring House Telvanni to more direct conflict with Redoran, Indoril, Hlaalu and even the Empire! Surely you can predict the Empire's collapse as well as I... We should work together to save our house. You could claim a position on the council by merly asking. Even Gothren and Neloth must admit that you are older and wiser and in every way superior to them in the arcane arts.Your honored student,Master Aryon
To my former student,Regrettably I must decline your offer. I know what you are planning and I wish you well. I have the utmost respect for you personally but I do not wish to involve myself in the dealings of the council. I feel you will find someone more suitable to your purpose soon. Until then perhaps you could persuade Baladas.Divayth Fyr

Galos then asked me to deliver three Cure Blight Disease potions to Andil, the apothecary in Tel Vos. I bought two of the potions at Anis Seloth’s shop, and the other with the other apothecary in town. Once I had the potions, I took a ship to Tel Mora and from there, I just levitated to the top of the Services Tower in Tel Vos, which is just across a narrow straight to the West of Tel Mora.

My next chore from Galos required that I personally deliver one daedra skin to Master Aryon. Galos also talked about how he longed to get some research of his own done, and hinted that Master Aryon was the most open-minded of the counselors and that may be willing to sponsor me. So I ran to Anis Seloth’s shop again, where I purchased the daedra skin. From there I took a ship to Tel Mora, and from Tel Mora to Vos.

Once in Master Aryon’s chamber, I delivered the daedra skin and then took the opportunity to ask Master Aryon if he would be willing to sponsor me. He replied that he had great faith in my potential, and would gladly make me his Mouth if I proved myself by convincing Baladas Demnevanni to join the Council. So, I cast Divine Intervention, which took me to Sadrith Mora. Once there I took the guild guide to Ald Ruhn. In Ald Ruhn, I gave Edwinna “Chronicles of Nchuleft.” She then asked me to get a detect creatures potion from Skink in Sadrith Mora. Since I remembered seeing the lizard in the Wolverine Hall Mages Guild, I took a quick detour from my Telvanni quests and headed to Sadrith Mora via guild guide. In Sadrith Mora, is was simply a question of asking Skink for the potion. Edwinna was fairly satisfied, and asked me to “borrow” a copy of the book “Chimarvamidium” from Sirlonwe at the Vivec Mages Guild.

This had to be put on hold, though, because I consider my advancement in the Great House Telvanni to be more important at the time. So I took the silt strider from Ald Ruhn to Gnisis. At Gnisis I had no trouble finding Baladas, who agreed to join the council on the condition that I find three books for him: “Antecedants of Dwemer Law,” “Nchunak’s Fire and Faith,” and “Chronicles of Nchuleft.” I spent a whole day looking for these books at the Secret Library in Vivec, which I accessed by going through a trap door in the Office of the Watch. For some reason, I forgot to stop by the Mages Guild and steal the book Edwinna wanted, but I did make it back to Baladas, who was delighted with the books, and gave me a kiss on the forehead as well as Ondusi’s Key (ring with 50pt open), Amulet of Admonition (paralyze 30s on target, frost damage 1-2 pts for 30 secs on target), Second Barrier Belt (shield 10 pts for 30 secs), and Surefeet (CE fortify acrobatics). Additionally, he agreed to join the Council for the next century or two. Finally, he asked me if I would like to know more about my people.

I responded that I did, he told me that there was a House Drow on Vvardenfell, that I could find an entrance to Drow City near the outskirks of Sadrith Mora, and that I should first talk to Akordia Mlezzir, a Drow enchantress who had once been an apprentice of Dyvath Fyr. Baladas then told me Akordia, and a couple of other Telvanni Drow had recently taken residence at the Abandoned Drow Cave, accessible through the Velas Ancestral Tomb (the very cave I had turned into my home, but apparently they had not moved there yet when I found the cave). Additionally, Baladas suggested that I not seek Akordia out until I reached the rank of Spellwright and attained level 60, for Akordia was about to send me on a series of quests that would make my life a living hell. Furthermore, he confessed that he felt nothing but pity for me, for my nightmares would increase in intensity and terror, and that I would actually loose health during my sleep.
Once I was done speaking with Baladas, I used Recall to zap back to Aryon’s Chamber. There, Master Aryon agreed to be my patron. As a gesture, he game me a Silver Staff of Peace, the traditional gift from a patron to his protégé. Aryon also explained that while the other Councilors usually insisted that their mouth stay in the Telvanni Council Hall day and night, he understood the insignificance of daily business in the Council and would rather help me nurture my development.

Baladas Demnevanni

This Telvanni enchanter is, quite surprisingly, the person that I most highly respect on all of Vvardenfell. His dedication to a life of scholarship is quite respectable for a male, and he is more intelligent than most representatives of his gender. I have to wonder whether any Drow blood runs through his veins, since such a fine specimen is uncommon amongst the Tamrielic races.

Back to Tel Branora . . .

So, I realized I could not hope to engage in melee against Dalen and her thugs, but I had enough skill to cast my Drow Fireball spell. It is a beast of a spell that causes 55-75 pts of damage per second for a minute over an area of 25 feet. Few creatures could ever survive this. So I looked for a good place from where to launch the spell and give it enough time to kill the thugs before even one of them could spot me. The spot I chose was the right in front of the local trader, on one of the bridges that lead to the tower. I cast the spell, and then watched them fry quite quickly. I was knocked out for a couple of seconds too, because even though the spell doesn’t cost any magicka, it does automatically drains 300 points of fatigue.

Once I regained some fatigue, I looted the thugs’ bodies and reported my success to Mollimo of Cloudrest, who paid me 1000 drakes for my services. Once this was over with, I finally reached Therana’s chamber. Although she has a reputation of being crazy, I actually found Therana to be a nice enough lady. Her fear that the skirt may be cursed was quite reasonable, since the Telvanni have many enemies who wish them harm. I, however, would not dare to try on the skirt even after she asked me to, but I did find a good alternative. I asked Therana’s slave to try the skirt on. This provoked her anger and she fried the slave within a second of the slave trying on the skirt. I was so jealous of her mighty power. Perhaps a couple of more training sessions will allow me to wield such power without the crippling drain on my fatigue that results from my powerful spell, but for now, I can only respect such a powerful being.

When I reported my delivery to Ulessen, she was very pleased and gave me 1000 drakes for my troubles. Additionally, she informed me that she could not promote me to mouth and that I would need to find a patron. However she did have more chores for me. Apparently, the slaves in the Abebaal Egg Mine had revolted, so Ulessen asked me to go there and put down the slave rebellion. The mine is on the Northern end on the mid-size island to the North of Tel Branora. Inside the mine, I found various slaves running around. They all told me to talk with the leader of the rebellion, a beast named Eleedal Lei. I listened to his complaints, once again imagined the violins in the background, and then ordered him to go back to work. I could have offered to free him, but this would only encourage other slaves to get uppity, and this would not bode well with my Telvanni kin—perhaps when I am more powerful I can do something to ease the living and working conditions of the slaves (after all, I am sort of an animal rights activist, plus treating the beasts well may increase productivity), but for now, I cannot afford such insolence to go unpunished. I made it clear to my future pair of boots that he must respect my authority or suffer the wrath of a high elf. Instead he ordered the other slaves to rip me to shreds. I was mauled by several of these dirty and smelly creatures; and, found myself in the unusual situation where I had to use my spider sword, as I had no time or room to ready my spells. For a while I panicked, since these slaves are quite physically strong and I am a beautiful, frail Drow. Never before in Morrowind had I been in a situation where I did not have time to plan my attack in advance, I had figured that these slaves only needed someone to vent to and that they would understand that I had no intent to hurt them. If only they had respected my authority. After all, I realize these pets can be quite expensive and had no intent of causing an economic dent on Mistress Therana.

After the encounter, I stood there, looking at their lifeless corpses wondering how many skirts and boots I could make from the hides of the khajits and Argonians. I am somewhat rock and roll and enjoy leather as much as the next gal.

Ruminations on the Nature of the Drow

Most of what I know about my race, I learned from other Drow while in the Imperial City Prison.

The Drow are virtually non-existent in Tamriel. But on other lands, lands usually referred to as the Forgotten Realms, the Drow are feared and loathed by the other races. Drow culture is matriarchal and purportedly very oppressive. As a race, we are extremely gifted in the arts of magic, combat, and stealth. Unlike the races in Tamriel, our magicka potential makes even that of the Altmer pale in comparison. Drow are born with some spells that gives us such an advantage in combat that the races of Tamriel should thank their false gods that no Drow army has ever attempted an invasion. Our powers and abilities have led me to conclude that we are the true “high elves.” I strongly resent that those weakling Altmer are called “high elves” in these lands. Their weaknesses to elemental magick makes them unworthy of such title. Unlike the Altmer, all Drow are born with a strong resistance to magicka. We also excel in our swordsmanship and no military could ever hope to match the might of the legions of dark warriors. Thus, when I talk about the might of the high elves, it means the might of the Drow. Although we are very gifted, we Drow are physically very frail (Base strength of 30 for females, 25 for males). Our more physically imposing Drow are usually no taller than the shortest Bosmers. We are even less physically imposing than the Altmers, Bosmers and Bretons, who are the three most physically weak races on Tamriel. That means that our legions are usually stealth and magic based, and designed as surgical strike units. In practical terms, Drow armies must destroy our enemies quickly or risk destruction. Prolonged melee, and for that matter melee generally, is not our forte, but our swordsmanship, particularly with scimitars is unmatched on any land. No other race can incorporate magic into combat the way we do (all Drow get a 1.5 bonus to magicka/if born under Lloth’s Blessing, an additional 2.5 bonus), so that while the human and land elves may be physically stronger, one well-placed spell can greatly reduce their numbers so as to make their physical advantage insignificant. I myself was born under the sign of Lloth’s Blessing, which means I have some innate spells that can cause incredible damage over large areas without costing me a point of magicka. Additionally, those born under Lloth’s blessing can naturally reflect 60 percent of all magicka cast at them; however this does not come without cost. The years in prison had so depleted my innate destruction skills that I could not cast my overly powerful spells successfully. They require at least a skill of 90 in Destruction, but their zero cost in magicka certainly makes life easier. Additionally, those born under Lloth Blessing receive an additional 50% resistance to magicka, fire, frost, and shock. Combined with the 25% resistance to these things that all Drow posses, the sign makes those of us lucky enough to born under Lloth’s blessing formidable foes. This does not come without costs, though. Most Drow are weak against poison magick, and it is perhaps ironic that those blessed by the mighty Spider Queen also suffer from a dramatic weakness to poison. Overall, a Drow born under Lloth’s Blessing will have an impermissible 90% weakness to poison. Alits terrify me! At this point I feel a need to elaborate on a few differences between me, and most of the rest of my race. Most of my race suffers damage if exposed to sunlight. As creatures of the Underdark, the Drow’s anatomy accustomed itself to the dark. I myself was at some point adversely affected by sunlight. This came about because of the sadistic practices of the guards in the Imperial City’s Prison. The savage simians always found it funny to watch us (Drow prisoners) scream in pain as life slowly evaporated from our bodies as a result of our exposure to the sun. It became a daily ritual for my eyes to water as I screamed “Usstan uil wun jiu’undus (I am in pain).” The guards would smile and right at the moment we prayed for death’s sweet release from the pain, we would be taken back inside our cells and allowed to recover, only to be put through the same misery the following day, and the following day, for many years.

Another favorite past time of the imperialist Neanderthals was to take their daggers and disfigure many of my Drow sisters’ faces, since they knew that we Drow place a high premium on physical beauty and that disfigurement was worse than death for a Drow. The worse indignity we suffered at the hands of the pigs, though was when they would force us to eat spiders. They know that we hold all arachnids sacred, and that the maiming of just one is an offense against Lloth, but they would cook the holy spiders, and offer that as our only food choice for months at a time. I remember starving myself to the brink of death, until I was so weak that the guards would take advantage of my weakened state and force-feed me the holy arachnids. And even though existence became unbearable, my mentors in the way of the Spider Queen insisted that these tests were a blessing from the Spider Queen, and that the more suffering I endured, the more special I was. My mentor in prison informed me that all the pain and suffering I was being forced to endure in prison was nothing compared to the fate that awaited me. She did not provide any sort of details about what such fate may be. One day, her refusal to divulge more on what fate awaited me irritated so much that I began formulating plans to get more information out of her.

Eventually I concluded that no amount of persuasion would work, so I instead focused my attention on plotting her death. I reasoned Lloth would have it no other way. So one day, while she slept in our cell, I tied her down with my sheets, covered her mouth with pieces from my pillow, and tore our her hair in chunks. After I left her almost bald, I plucked her eyes out with my nails and shoved them down her throat. Finally, I beat her head in with my bare hands until she stopped breathing. I could have simply strangled her, but that would have been boring and sure to displease Lloth. A real sacrifice to the Spider Queen required that I This was my first sacrifice to Lloth.

Then one day, when I was in that stage between adolescence and adulthood, I was taken from prison and shipped off to this island wasteland. Through most of the trek, a sense of impending doom overcame me. Nightmares plagued my days, and I spent a great many nights where hunger or the daily beatings at the hands of the guards on the ship were only a minor distraction from the horrors that haunted my dreams. At times, I was so scared that my stomach burned as a result of the terror. I once asked Donnia and Vhaidra (My Drow friends on Vvardenfell) if they had any idea what was afflicting me, but they are so withdrawn from Drow society that they may as well call themselves Dunmer. Perhaps when they are no longer of any use to me, I will sacrifice them to Lloth.

Reconciling my Telvanni and Mages Guild Path

When I reported back to Uvulas, she then asked me to get a hold of a Staff of Silver Dawn for Master Neloth. She then added that I could probably find one at the Sadrith Mora Mages Guild. The first person I asked about the Staff was Arielle Phiencel, who happened to have one (now isn’t that a coincidence) and offered to sell it to me for 300 drakes. I gave her the gold, and since I was at the Guild, I continued my inquiry into the Telvanni spy assignment, so I asked around the Guild until a lizard who believes he is a mage told me to search at Vivec.

Instead of reporting back to Uvulas, I took the guild guide to Vivec, where my search for the Telvanni Spy led me to believe that the Telvanni spy was Trebonius Artorius' very own right hand man, Tiram Gadar. When I asked Trebonius about Gadar, he seemed perplexed at my inquiry and provided Gadar’s purportedly excellent references—a blatant forgery where the name of the reference was misspelled. This display of idiocy by Trebonious convinced someone should rid the Mages Guild of imbeciles like Trebonius. My determination was further fed by what happened next. I innocently asked him about the Great House Telvanni and the nincompoop had the gall to chastise me in front of the entire Vivec Mages Guild. I was so embarrassed and felt so powerless at the moment that I quickly said goodbye, and stormed out of the guild and into the area surrounding Vivec. I took out my anger on the local wildlife as I cried of rage. Not even hours of sleep made me forget about the indignity that Trebonius made me suffer.

Yet none of my fellow mages uttered even a word in my defense. Sure, they will talk all sorts of trash about Trebonius behind his back, but they did not once show the same sense of camaraderie that I have seen amongst my fellow Telvanni. Since I joined the Great House Telvanni, I have seen how my popularity amongst the members of the mages guild has plummeted. I realize that the weak knees of the Mages Guild are not very fond of the Great House Telvanni, but Trebonius’ outburst was uncalled for. If he has a problem with my membership in the Great House Telvanni, he could have discussed it with me privately instead of chastising me in public like he did. He questioned my loyalty to the Guild as if membership in the Great House Telvanni and the Mages Guild is mutually exclusive. I do not believe so, and if I ever reach the upper echelons of either group, I intend to reconcile their differences.

I now know there is some tension between the two, but my Telvanni brothers and sisters have never even hinted at being displeased with me for being a member of the Guild. Not once has my loyalty to the Great House been questioned. Today I swear before my protector Lloth that as soon as I am powerful enough to do it, I will do the Mages Guild a huge favor. I am gonna kill Trebonius. I also intend to use my power to move the Mages Guild from being a bunch of lapdogs of the Empire and turn them into an independent-minded lot that does not shy away from doing whatever it takes in the name of scholarship. At this point in time, the Mages Guild is full of pathetic poseurs and wannabes whose resentment of the Great House Telvanni is a manifestation of their frustration at being a second-rate group of mages. Thinking this is not disloyalty on my part, but simply an observation of reality. That is precisely why I need to rid the Mages Guild of oafs like Trebonius. Once he is gone, I may give members like Ranis more prominence, since she seems to have the right idea of how to deal with matters of importance to the Guild.

Anyways, I reported my finding to Ranis, who thanked me and referred me to Edwinna Elbert, of the Ald Rhun Mages Guild, for more duties. Instead, though, I reported to Uvulas with the Staff of Silver Dawn, which earned me a promotion to Oathman in House Telvanni. However, Uvulas had no more duties for me, so I then spoke with Mallam Ryon and asked for chores.

Ryon gave me three questions that I was to ask of Baladas Denmevanni, a Telvanni who resides in Ars-Drelen, a velothi dome in Gnisis. I figured the fastest way to get to Gnisis was by taking a guild guide from Wolverine Hall to Ald Ruhn, and then a silt strider from Ald Ruhn to Gnisis. Because my route ran through Ald Ruhn, I chose to consult with Edwinna for Mages Guild duties.

Edwinna asked me to find a copy of the book, “Chronicles of Nchuleft.” However, I chose to wait on finding the book, since I have given my tasks in the Great House Telvanni priority. Moreover, I myself have become very interested in the Dwemer. So when I met with Baladas, I could tell he really liked me and provided fascinating responses to my three questions. He even elaborated on where I could learn more about the Dwemer and advised me to sneak in to the Gnisis Eggmine. Perhaps at a later date. For now, I made my way back to Sadrith Mora, and once there, regurgitated his responses to Mouth Ryon, who was amazed I had even gotten Baladas to answer the three questions and then gave me my next chore: to retrieve some plans from the ruins of Nchuleft.

Getting to Nchuleft was not too hard. I took a ship from Sadrith Mora to Tel Mora, and from Tel Mora to Vos. From Vos I headed southwest until I reached the ruins. Inside the ruins, I battled various metal creatures and took some very good loot, including a copy of the book Edwinna had asked for.

Ryon was delighted to get the plans and promoted me to Lawman as well as giving me an enchanted Cephalopod Helm. He also told me to ask the other mouths for more chores.

Felissa Ulessen, Mistress Therana’s mouth, asked me to deliver Mistress Therana her new skirt. She also told me that Therana could be difficult and gave me intervention scrolls just in case.

I took a ship to Tel Branora. I noticed a small party of heavily armored warriors standing outside the tower. They were all fairly rude and suggested that I stay out of Telvanni affairs. Their leader, Trerayna Dalen also made some snide remarks about me being an “outlander” and a Telvanni. Never mind that the ignorant whore’s thugs were mostly Bosmers. I would have slit her throat on the spot, but I was outnumbered and so I decided to just complete the errand and take the skirt to Therana. While walking towards the tower’s entrance, however, I asked one of Therana’s guards for directions. This guard turned out to be one Mollimo of Cloudrest, who not only told me I could find Therana in her chamber, but also offered 1000 drakes if I would agree to eliminate the petty annoyance standing outside the tower. By petty annoyance he meant Dalen and the thugs who had been so rude to me.

Now before I explain how I managed to eliminate the small party of warriors without suffering even a scar, I should perhaps offer some words about the nature of my race—the Drow.

The Telvanni Quests

As soon as I reached Sadrith Mora I headed towards to the Telvanni Council House. Once there, I spoke with Mouth Raven Omayn, who recited the rules of House Telvanni and asked me if I would like to join. I did not hesitate in replying in the positive, since the rules of House Telvanni line up perfectly with the values taught me by the Priestesses of Lloth in the Imperial prison. “Might makes right,” is a nice, condensed way of describing the Telvanni rules. Here is the full text of what they are:
"We trust all members of House Telvanni to use their own judgement. If you steal from another Telvanni, but still live, then clearly you deserve whatever you stole. Murdering your opponents by magic or treachery is the traditional way of settling disputes. If you win, then clearly your argument has more merit. You may be expelled as in any other Great House, but most Telvanni will not care or even know about it. Does this appeal to you?"
Because I was already in Sadrith Mora, I chose to set aside my Mages Guild quests for a while and begin performing my duties for the Great House Telvanni. Logically, I asked Omayn for chores, and the first one was quite simple. I was to get 5 portions of Muck, which I bought from the local alchemist, Anis Seloth.

When I reported back to Omayn, he then informed me that Mistress Dratha wanted to get a hold of the Black Jinx Ring and that rumors had it that the ring was somewhere in Sadrith Mora. I asked around Sadrith Mora, but no one wanted to talk about it, and many did not even know what I was talking about. Just when I was about to give up, I stumbled on the Morag Tong Guildhouse. When I asked Alven Salas, he confessed he had the ring and then proceeded to take a hostile tone towards me and went on about how it should be Master Dratha who retrieves the ring and not send mere servants for it. His insolence got on my nerves and I challenged him to a duel on the spot. The though-talking imbecile was unarmed and fell quickly to the Poisonbloom spell. Once I had killed the assassin in the name of Lloth, I took all his possessions and decided to leave his naked corpse to rot and be eaten by the possum-sized rats that are common on this wasteland as a warning of what is to happen to any assassin in the Morag Tong who may even consider trying to execute any possible writs against me that may arise in the future.

When I reported my success to Omayn, he promoted me Retainer and referred me to other mouths for more chores.

Master Neloth’s Mouth, Arara Uvulas, seemed desperate enough for help that I consulted her next. She gave me a light chore. I was asked to get five potions of Sload Soap for the barely living Neloth, which I found at Anis Seloth’s shop.

More Mages Guild Quests

After waking up I decided to postpone my trip to Sadrith Mora for a couple of more days and concentrate on receiving more training and continuing to perform duties for Ranis.

When I spoke with Ranis, she seemed a little distressed at some creep who has been providing unsanctioned magic training. It turns out the creep was an Argonian who goes by the name of Only-He-Stands-There and who spends most of his time at the South Wall Cornerclub. When I confronted him about his illegal activity, he gave me some whiny story about the limited financial resources of his clients. I could hear the violins playing klezmer music in the background. Nevertheless, I did let him live. You see, while he was blabbering on and on about his impoverished clients, I moved my hand towards my loyal spider long blade, at which point he changed his approach towards me and offered me a business proposal. I agreed to lie to Ranis about the Argonian in exchange for him providing some training for a bargain fee.

When I returned to Ranis, I told her I had taken care of the lizard. She seemed convinced that I told her the truth, so she gave me my next, relatively simple assignment. Ranis wanted me to get Itermerel’s notes, so I was to escort him from the Eight Plates in Balmora to the Halfway Tavern in Pelegiad. She did emphasize that what she needed was the notes, and could care less about Itermerel. And so, I went to the Eight Plates and agreed to escort the Altmer scholar. The walk to Pelegiad was simple enough, but the Altmer’s arrogance really annoyed me, so when we were attacked by a kagouti and a cliff racer, I cast Drow Chameleon and chose to sit back and watch the scholar-mage in action against these creatures. What a disappointment that was, since the scholar showed why his race is not necessarily known for their skills in combat. After he was dead, I had to deal with the wild beasts in order to take the Altmer’s notes from his vile corpse.

On the way back to Balmora, I saw a beautiful Breton lady who seemed too cute to be walking alone in this area, so I stopped and asked if she needed help. She then recounted a story about how some bandit had robbed her and taken her jewels. Upon further inquiry, she confessed that she was not too worried about the jewels, but that she wanted to reunite with the charming bandit. I then asked what I could do to help, and she handed me her glove and told me to give it to Nelos Onmar, and that she believed he could be found somewhere in Pelegiad. I have yet to do this, since I was on my way back to Balmora.

When I reported back to Ranis, she was delighted about Itermerel’s notes and offered to give me additional duties. This time, she asked me to whack a necromancer who went by the name Tashpi Ashibael who resided in the city of Maar Gan. The walk to Maar Gan was hellish, to say the least. I was so exhausted of fighting that I had to take a nap, but my rest was interrupted by an assassin who tried to relieve me of the pain we call life. The coward caught me by surprise and had I not cast chameleon, I surely would not be alive to record this. But he failed, and his armor was of good enough quality, and not too heavy, so it earned me a couple of drakes when I reached Ald Rhun and sold it. I never imagined that I would be glad to reach a place where people actually thought that bug shells make good homes. But one of the creatures I killed on the road from Caldera gave me blight disease and I was not only in a bad mood, which lowered my personality, but I was also feeling weaker by the second. Although I had caught all sorts of diseases due to malnutrition and bad cooking by the imperial pigs during my years in prison, I had never had such an attribute-robbing disease before.

Although from what I have heard, I have all intents of joining House Telvanni, I nonetheless stopped by the Redoran Council District to find out what they are all about. The person who told me about the philosophy of House Redoran was Neminda, a Redguard lady who is significantly more refined than most of her race. She talked about honor, faith, and all the other tell-tale signs of religious fanatics. Although I did not do it, I could visualize myself making the jerk-off motion as she enthusiastically recited the Great House Redoran’s rules.

Anyways, after curing my blight, repairing my weapons and restocking on arrows and magicka, I left Ald Ruhn for Maar Gan. In Maar Gan, I had no problem finding Tashpi’s hut. After the long walk, I was in no mood to listen to any pleads for mercy, so I killed her without ever uttering a word. When I reported my success to Ranis, she was delighted and promoted me to magician.

The next assignment from Ranis, though, was quite tedious. She asked me to sniff out a Telvanni spy. The only sense of direction she provided was that I should ask around the various mages guilds. I figured this was as good a time as any to join House Telvanni, so I started my search for the spy at the Sadrith Mora mages guild.

Mages Guild: From Associate to Conjurer

Hooking up with fellow Drow

It has been a long time since my last entry. The morning after spending the night at Laura’s cottage, she informed me that she knew of only two other Drow who lived on the Island: Vhaidra Uoswiir, a mage whose family had been almost completely annihilated by a rival family in Menzoberranzan; and Donnia Soldou, a rather mischievous Drow Ranger.

I found Vhaidra, a defeated and desperate mage, in her shack in Gnaar Mok, a somewhat hostile city on the Western coast. Vhaidra seemed interesting enough and asked to join in my adventures. Since she is a somewhat skilled mage, I figured she could be helpful in delicate situations. She also told me that I could find Donnia in her yurt, outside of Khuul. So we headed there and she too agreed to join.

After a few preliminary preparations, and upgrading of equipment for Donnia, we began our walk to Gnisis. On the way over, we stumbled on Synette Jeline, a stripper who asked me to retrieve her ring from a pool next to her. Since I was in a hurry, I refused. When we got to Gnisis, we took the silt strider to Seyda Neen, where I collected the four types of mushrooms Ajira had asked me. Since I felt we need to sharpen our skills, we walked back to Balmora.

Completing Ajira’s Quest

After giving Ajira the mushrooms, she then sent me on a task that would change my view of her, for a day that is. I had thought the cat was a pathetic, docile creature, but it turns out she had a bad side too. She assigned me to sabotage Galbedir’s work by placing a fake soul gem in her desk. I did not have to travel far for this, since Galbedir’s disk is at the top floor of the Balmora Mage’s Guild. After completing this quest, I talked with Ranis, who promoted me to Apprentice.

Ajira’s next mission was simple enough, I was asked to head to the shores of Lake Amaya, near Suran, and collect four flowers usually used in potions. Once this was done, I returned to Ajira for my next mission.

The next mission was not so much a mission but the running of an errand. Ajira had me buy a ceramic bowl for her. Before doing that, though, I asked Ranis for a promotion, and so I became a Journeyman in the Mages Guild. I bought a ceramic bowl at Ra’Viir’s.

When I returned to hand Ajira the bowl, I found Ajira in distress. Apparently, Galbedir had decided to avenge the sabotaging of her drive to become Journeyman, and had stolen Ajira’s mushroom and flower reports. “Great!” I thought. “I finally get to whack a mage!” Unfortunately, all Ajira asked of me was to retrieve her reports. So, I found one of the reports under a lock level 15 dresser in the bedroom area, and the other near several sacks of ingredients in the area between the main floor and Galbedir’s room. Before returning the reports to Ajira, I decided to take a peek and discovered that the cat not only had the writing skills of a child, but also had taken credit for my work—she claimed she had personally collected the flowers and mushrooms. Anyways, I returned the reports to Ajira who informed me she no longer had any duties for me, that is, she did not have any more duties for me until I reach the rank of Warlock.

Ranis’ First Quest: Dues, the Telvanni, and Cliff Racers

In the meantime, I reported to Ranis, who promoted me to Evoker, and then gave me my next assignment. This next quest was actually a double quest. She asked me either to have Llarar Bereloth join the mages guild, or to kill him. Then I was to collect 2000 drakes in back dues from the mage Manwe. If Manwe refused to pay, I was to kill her and then take the 2000.

Llarar lives in Sulipund, a dome in the Molar Amur region. I first set out of Balmora towards Ft. Moonmoth, but then turned towards the dwemer ruin of Arkngthand. As we attempted to cross the bridge towards Molag Amur, we were attacked by a powerful spellcaster named Snowy Granius. I had to cast Drow Chameleon in order to divert his attention towards Donnia and Vhaidra. When he started engaging them directly, and after Vhaidra Summoned a clanfear, I ran behind Granius and began shooting arrows at him. The encounter lasted but a few seconds, but I was a little injured as Snowy’s first spell came as a surprise, so I had Vhaidra heal me, as I did not yet want to spend my magicka supply. After getting through Snowy, we headed towards Lake Amaya. When the dwemer stronghold of Marandus was in view, we headed north on a path between the hills. The dome was a dead giveaway that we had reached Marandus. Once in the dome, I spoke with Llarar who refused to listen to reason. So, I cast my chameleon spell and readied my bow, but then, I remembered that he was a Telvanni, and because I have plans to join the Great House soon, I did not want to start off like this. So instead, I spent about 400 drakes to bribe him.

After getting Llarar to agree to join, I headed West on the same road, until I reached the entrance to Punabi. She agreed to pay the dues, so this was easy enough. Once I left Punabi, the challenge once again began, getting back to Balmora. I say the challenge because the trip over had me spend about ¾ of my arrows. We had been mauled by wave after wave of cliff racers—I think my kill total increased by 153 on the way over to Sulipund. Fortunately I still had most of my magicka supply, so I readied to cast firestorm at groups of cliff racers, or to use my spider sword at those who were to close to risk injuring my companions with the magic. It did not take long for me to drain most of my magicka supply, so my companions and I developed a strategy for dealing with the cliff racers. In the later encounters, once I was out of arrows and had less then a third of my magicka available, I would run away from my companions, then stop and cast Drow Chameleon so the cliff racers’ ability to strike was close to zero, but they stayed on me, while Donnia shot arrows at them, and Vhaidra used her on target spells. So, I managed to return to Ranis with no arrows, no magicka left, but full health, the 2000 drakes from Manwe, and Llarar’s pledge to join the Guild next time he was in Balmora.

Needless to state, Ranis agreed to promote me to Conjurer, but not before taking 200 drakes as a fee.
I should ask Ranis for my next mission, but I am tired and need to restock on arrows and have my bow and sword repaired. I guess I will take some time off to explore the surrounding area even more. After that, I will head to Sadrith Mora to join House Telvanni. For now, I need to rest and meditate on what I have accomplished. I guess that after tonight I will be a level 7 Priestess of Lloth.

Narc, Bloodbath, and the Indignity of Taking Orders from a Giant Cat.

Today I finally reached Balmora and set out to complete the assignment given to me upon my release. Since it’s been a while since I left the Census Office in Seyda Neen, I forgot everything I was told about where to find Caius Cosades. The Night Elf Sentinels who guard part of town were not very helpful, as they seem to prefer looking tough and talking down to me than they do actually giving anything that resembles directions. Eventually, I ended up in the South Wall Cornerclub, were an array of shady characters stood around, with nothing better to do other than give me somewhat vague directions to some guy named Baccolo Closcious. Fortunately, Closcious was more helpful with the others and told me where to find Cosades.

When I reached Cosades’ home, the simian revealed what the package was. Apparently the Emperor believes I have the aptitude for becoming a narc and somehow expects me to serve him loyally. Nevermind that he had me locked in prison all these years, he wants me to be part of the Blades. The thought of having to work for the Imperialist pigs who had kept me locked in prison made me sick to my stomach, but the skooma pipe I noticed below Cosades’ bed led me to believe that he is one mentally unstable simian strong enough to end my life, so I accepted his offer. He then told me where to find the blades trainers, and gave 200 drakes to establish a cover identity. He suggested that I join the Imperial guilds, but when I pressed the issue, he revealed that the real power in Morrowind lays with the Great Houses.

I should have taken a rest then, but someone informed me that Legion Champion Larrius Varro wanted to speak with me. So I headed for Ft. Moonmoth, where Varro bored me to death with some stupid story about bad people. In short, he wanted me to whack several members of the Cammona Tong, except that he had no idea who they were or where to find them, although he told me to consult with the Thieves Guild members to find the identities of those whom I was supposed to whack. I was going to refuse the job, but Varro mentioned a nice present, which he would not reveal until I had performed the bloodbath.

So back to Balmora I went. This time I did not have much trouble discovering the identities of the bad people, since Sottilde (yet another stupid Nord) at the South Wall told me who they were and that I could find them at the Council Club.

As soon as Sottilde told me the names, I headed for the Council Club. The Dunmer there were even ruder than the typical xenophobes I had encountered in Morrowind. Although I admired their honesty in telling they did not like outlanders in general and me in particular.

The first guy I sacrificed to Lloth was Thanelen Velas. Before freezing him to death with my magicka, I had him repair my weapons, since I’ve been told they become less effective when not in good condition. What can I say, the Dunmer was a good smith, plus, the repair turned out to be free when I took my money back from his lifeless corpse.

Madrale Thirith was the next to die. She did not even see the hit coming, as I was using Chameleon. Her death triggered an attack by the other three goons, who were no match against an enemy they could not see. I actually had fun watching them wildly swing their weapons while I levitated above their reach and shot them with arrows.

I planned on immediately selling everything I had taken from their bodies, but a couple of Sentinels instantly began chasing after me, so I ran for my life from Balmora. They stopped chasing soon after I left the city, but to my surprise, the guards at the Fort began chasing me too! I had to cast levitate to buy myself some time to cast the Chameleon spell and avoid being pummeled by half a dozen guards. Once I cast Chameleon, I had no trouble getting to Varro, who told me the nice gift included the removal of the bounty on my head and a chameleon ring (20-30 when used). The ring itself was useless to me, as the low magicka cost of my 100% Drow Chameleon spell is much more useful given my poor sneak skills.

The day was not done, though. After speaking to Varro I headed back to Balmora and joined the Mages Guild. I disagree philosophically with the Guild, and find their do-gooder attitude foolish and naïve, but I see it as a means of getting access to the services they provide. Besides, I think I like Ranis Athrys’s style. I think that like me, she serves little more than lip service to the Mage's Oath. Anyways, I was disappointed to find that Ranis had no duties for me and instead told me to consult with some underling of hers.

Lloth was I disappointed when I saw who I was supposed to take orders from. I am ashamed to even utter the words, but I am now performing duties for an overgrown house pet. Ajira, a filthy Khajit (not that there are any clean khajits), is now my superior. I would rather be rotting in the Imperial prison than take orders from this beast, but I don’t have much of an option if I want to advance in the Guild. Perhaps when I am higher rank I’ll find an excuse to rid the guild of that beast—or maybe I’ll get a hold of a couple of slave bracers and make her my slave maid. Or perhaps I'll just gut her and have some clothier make me a Khajit skirt. . . yes, I would indeed like that. Of course, first I'd have the clothier remove all the leeches and other bloodsucking insects from her fur.

But what did the cat want? Well, she wants me to gather some mushrooms for her. As she was blabbering about what the mushrooms look like, I remembered seeing many of them in the area around Seyda Neen, so I decided to head there.

I should have finished the quest with no problems, but instead, I mistakenly told the silt rider operator to take me to Vivec. Once there, I told myself, “why not explore?” However, I had not taken more than a couple of steps that I noticed a familiar face out of the corner of my eyes. Yes, Laura Craft, a nice Breton girl who is under the delusion I could ever love anyone was walking outside her cottage. So I met up with her and she gave me her version of our relationship. I played along because I could use a good fighter as a companion and because she is a great kisser, and a maniac in bed. Plus, she offered me to stay in her house, and given that it has plenty of storage space, I cannot just turn down this gift from Lloth.