SSE 52: Malacath's Revenge

In the cursed room, Logolf is ready to continue his humiliation of Molag Bal. Entirely ignorant of what is planned, he even accepted my presence as only natural, given my knowledge of his task...

He approached the Shrine of Molag Bal to conduct his rites, but finds himself trapped by it instead.

Finally realising that I'm in league with Molag Bal, his eyes widened in terror as Molag Bal bade me punish Logrolf with his mace. I hammered at the priest, all the while Molag Bal commanded that Logrolf surrender himself to Molag Bal instead. At first the priest proudly resisted, but sensing the hopelessness of his situation as my blows kept coming, he finally relented - forsaking his loyalty to Boathiah and giving it to Molag Bal instead. 

Our course, Molag Bal is no merciful master. The priest was slain immediately barely after the words of allegiance left his lips. Bound to Molag Bal now, the Daedric Prince can torture the Logrolf in Oblivion for all eternity... a chilling thought, but thankfully not a fate that Molag Bal wants for me - for my aid in preserving the dignity of his shrine, Molag Bal grants me his mace.

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SSE 51: The Sybil of Dibella

Broken Tower Redoubt is overgrown with thicket. Yet within the ruins the Forsworn had eked out a living... they also look different from the usual - the guards better armed, more capable at spellcasting, and the place is strewn with clues of some kind of demented nature worship.

And they're led by Briarhearts - zombie-like (ex) persons that had replaced their hearts with a briar through some magical ritual. By some perversion of nature this gives the Briarheart unnatural toughness. They say that if you managed to sneak up on a Briarheart and pick his heart from the crevice of his chest, the undead will fall on his feet and die... But they die by arrows through the heart easily enough.

In the heart of Broken Tower Redoubt, I find an old shrine of Dibella, desecrated by Forsworn dark ritual. Further down the room in a cell I find two prisoners. The Sibyl is thankfully unharmed. The other man I now recall is the priest of Boethiah that Molag Bal had required me to free. 

Logrolf is reasonably cautious that anyone would have come to save him, but I convinced him that Boethiah sent me, so that he can continue his humiliation of Molag Bal in "that room"... realising that I know of his task, Logrolf became a lot more trusting. A wiser person would realise that Boethiah, the Daedric Prince of treachery who revels in the sacrifice of the weak, would never save someone so weak as to have gotten himself caught... but then again a wise person would not have devoted faith to seek power from a Daedric Prince that's all about exploiting the weak.

The priest of Boethiah found his way to Molag Bal himself, while I escort the little Sybil, who needed more protection. At the Temple of Dibella, the priestesses thanked me for going above and beyond to rescue their Sybil. Our past... transgressions with the temple is forgiven, and they offer a boon of Dibella for my efforts - I can now do better with the opposite sex.

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SSE 50: Making Markarth

With the rest of the Reach still very much in the hands of the Forsworn, I decided to stay in Markarth a bit longer to help the residents. Amongst them is the orc smith, Ghorza gra-Bagol, who disparages at her talentless apprentice. Him being an imperial, Ghorza thinks that maybe a book might help him better, and so asked me to find the smithing book "The Last Scabbard of Akrash".

I find one of the books in the Forsworn stronghold at Fort Sungard. The Forsworn are an ill disciplined rabble - they even stand in the sunlight to form a nice silhouette for me to shoot them.

I also agreed to help the priestesses at the Temple of Dibella to escort their 'Sybil' back to the temple. Apparently, the goddess Dibella had revealed to the priestesses that their new Sybil - some kind of prophetess wunderkind, I think? Specifically, she's a kid called Fjotra who lives with her father, a miner at Karthwasten.

I headed there but found that the girl was kidnapped by Forsworn. The father, Emmon, said that the abduction happened just the day before, and he had despaired that no help would reach them in time to mount a rescue... 

Fortunately the Reachmen are not too far - they're holed up at Broken Tower Redoubt, just east of Karthwasten.

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SSE 49: The Party of Mister Sam Guevenne

I’ve finally made my way out of Markarth. It is time to settle the matter with Sam Gueverne. Senna, the priestess of Dibella, said I came from Rorikstead. I also found a slip of paper from Sam asking me to find some... random... stuff - a Giant's Toe, Holy Water, and a Hagraven Feather before backtracking my steps. Since I already have these items in the bag, it's time to head for Rorikstead.

Along the way I cleared the Kolskeggr Mine, which is overrun by Forsworn. The Reachmen may be kicked out of Markarth, but they still control swaths of the countryside. Many of the hidey holes and abandoned places in the Reach are still occupied by the rebels... seems like the Stormcloaks did a poor job of freeing Markarth. 

At Rorikstead, the dirty looks a farmer gave me tells me just who I should look for. Braving his dirt-ridden wrath, I asked him what happened... Ennis - that’s his name - tells me that I took his ram and gave it to a giant. He's quite attached to his ram, apparently, so I am to get it back before he’s willing to share information about where I came from.

Thanfully, I found the giant hanging around near Rorikstead. He, too, seem rather fond of the ram, so I could only convince him to part with the animal with arrows... lots of it. 

Returning Ennis his blasted goat, the farmer tells me that I talked about paying back Ysolda in Whiterun for the ring I borrowed from her. I remember Ysolda - I helped her set up her business by getting a mammoth task for her. She's in Whiterun - which is where I met Sam Guevenne - so maybe we're getting somewhere...

At Whiterun, Ysolda told me I spun some yarn about needing the ring to propose to my beloved... and that I promised to pay her back the next time I see her. I don't recall where I left the ring, but I think I should at least honour my promise to pay her. So I paid Ysolda her due, and in return she tells me that I said that the wedding is at Morvunskar, a castle north of Whiterun - so that's where I'm headed next.

Morvunskar is strangely packed with necromancers for a wedding venue. I cleared the castle of the spellcasters and find a... bubble... opening next to the throne... past the poor, the landscape seems wild and almost fantastical - possibly a sign that we're in a the Daedric realm  - but whose?  

My questions did not take long to answer. In the middle of the area, in a clearing, I find a party going on and I was finally greeted by Sam Guevenne. Sam. Guevenne. Sanguine. Of course - the Daedric Prince of Debauchery. 

Sanguine welcomed me and thank me for being such a sport. As promised, he handed me his staff - The Sanguine Rose - and bade me farwell. My destiny is still ahead of me, it seems, and an eternity of partying if not for me - yet.

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SSE 48: The Room

As I left the palace complex and walked through the crowded streets of Markarth, I chanced upon Tyranus. The Vigilant of Stendarr was asking passers-by about a house. Apparently nobody knows who owns the place, yet Tyranus - having staked the place out for nights - have not seen anyone pass through its doors. In truth the Vigilant suspects that the room is used for some dark Daedric ritual and plans to investigate.

He persuaded me to back him up, so we entered the place. The main room looks lived in, though there’s not a soul in sight. Behind a closet, we find a tunnel that goes deeper - but the place got darker as we lingered - until our vision was clouded as if by some dark fog, and a booming voice could be heard in my head. We looked at each other in surprise. Tyranus can hear it too.

The voice is displeased at our curiosity, and says that only one of us with get out alive. Tyranus tried the door to no avail - some power has locked us in and now pits us against each other. Tyranus came at me with the first frenzied blow, and in my self defense, I struck him down...

The Vigilant lay dead at my feet as the darkness lifted. The voice in my head seemed please at the outcome. It bade me to come closer - towards the end of the tunnel, I find the source of the unnatural darkness and the coercive force that forced Tyranus' hand - a shrine, dedicated to Molag Bal, Daedric Prince of Domination and Subjugation. 

The voice then bade me listen - the shrine has sat disused in Markarth for ages - until recently, when it’s presence came into the wrong attention of a priest of Boethiah, Daedric Prince of Treachery. Boethiah and Molag Bal being enemies, the priest had desecrated Molag Bal's shrine every month to please his master. 

Molag Bal is fittingly incensed by this, and wants nothing more than to punish the man... but recently the Daedric Prince discovered that this priest had missed his scheduled visits - he was actually captured by some Forsworn - and now sits imprisoned in one of their hideouts. Molag Bal wants me to free the man and trick him into coming back to the shrine. Here, with my aid, the prince shall enact his final vengeance on him. 

I would only be released from the room if I agreed - doesn't seem like I have a choice, that - but that's kind of the point, isn't it?

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SSE 47: The Lost Expedition

With the Silver-Blood matter settled, I headed to the Jarl's hall. In Markarth, the Jarl's Great Hall is a complex carved into the cliff face of the city. In truth, much of the interior of the hall is repurposed from the palace of the Reachmen, who in turn had used the Dwemer ruins deeper in Markarth for materiel and inspiration.

This all makes it the perfect place to study the lost Dwemer culture, and the foremost researcher in that field, Calcelmo, takes residence in the palace as well. He seemed to have forgotten about the matter with the Nightingales. Instead, Calcelmo tells me of a different problem - he can't enter the ruins of Nchuand-Zel recently because the entrance has a major spider infestation.  

Guards sent to deal with the problem did not return. Worse yet - an imperial expedition of scholars also entered the ruins previously and someone needed to head into the ruins to find out if they're still alive.  

The problem seems dire - so I decided to help. The spider problem is a minor one and easily dealt with. Beyond that, I find traces of the expedition - including an abandoned camp. The journals left behind describes the scholars' plan to split up so that each can research the places they think is most promising. Uh oh.

The imperial guards the scholars brought with them were unaccustomed to the darkness, and are simply sitting ducks against the hunting methods of the Falmer. I find the scholars and their escorts soon enough - all murdered by Falmer stalkers. Their journals show their folly - each man truly thought they were smarter than the other, and thus had not considered the real danger they've thrust themselves into. 

My heart heavy with the news of their deaths, I returned to Calcelmo to report my findings. At least the way to the ruins is clear again.

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SSE 46: Mystery at Markarth 5: Confrontation at Cidhna

The isolation of Cidhna Mine is its own world, and Madanach reigns as king. 

And as befit his influence, the only way to meet him is through his bodyguard - an Orc called Borkul the Beast. Getting past isn't so hard - I managed to convince him to give him access after a bout of boxing.

Madanach himself sits away from the backbreaking mining work, and is still busily writing his little death notes. Not knowing my background, he tried to convince me that his cause is right - that his people had been imprisoned unfairly and had their futures taken away. He even wanted me to kill someone in the Mine as a show of allegiance to his cause.

The man is clearly deranged. I pity Nepos for forcing himself to do as this man bidded. This is a has-been who's desperately clinging to his past titles by sacrificing the lives of his followers and perpetuating a conflict that should have been.

There is only one way out of this. Madanach is well prepared for an attack, and I am without my weapons. Fortunately there’s a little trick from the conjugation school I can rely on to summon a weapon of pure magic. A summoned sword is as sharp as a physical one, and kills just as easily.

On Madanach's body I find key to one of the locked gates in the mine... it proved to be an exit back into Markarth. No doubt the king had planned to escape the Mines after the Silver-Bloods are dealt with.

I encounter Thonar Silver-Blood at the exit. Thonar had planned for me to enter Cidhna so that I could kill Madanach. The king had outlived his usefulness, after all. Now that my task is completed, Thonar restored my equipment and possessions to me. 

That proved to be his big mistake. In the corner of the streets, unseen by any guards, Thonar Silver-Blood breathed his last - a choice Forsworn arrow in his head. It is the best I can do for Eltrys.

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