Coral Forest

When I arrived there, I could only find Valsirenn. She was reluctant to use magical means to locate the Kinlady and Aldarch, as she was sure they'd detect that. So we set off along the beach to look for them.

"There's more of those Yaghra here," Valsirenn remarked. Now I had a name for the sea creatures, but still no explanation of where they were coming from. The Sea Vipers and Salamanders belonged here on the shoreline, but Yaghra didn't. They appeared to be creatures from the depths, and I wished they'd stayed there.

And now I could hear the Kinlady's voice, exclaiming "Murder? I want no part of that, Aldarch! That wasn't part of the plan."

"You know nothing of the plan, you fool. Let me give you a taste of what the Prince of Bargains has in store for this pitiful world!"

We stepped around the rock to see Lady Avenisse running away from the Aldarch, and another of those glowing pearls. "I want nothing to do with Daedric Princes, either."

Valsirenn ran after her, leaving me to deal with Aldarch Tilcalar. He didn't look much like an Aldarch, his robes looked decidedly more cultist than priestly, and he was wielding an inferno staff. Naturally his first move was to summon more Yaghra to assist him.

They appeared between us, and much closer to him than me, blocking our view of each other. So my opening salvo was an area spell, covering his Yaghra and hopefuly Tilcalar himself. When the air cleared, I was surprised to find them all dead.

That worried me. If the Aldarch had really been Vile's agent, I would have expected a stronger opponent. But since he usually employed Barbas for that purpose, perhaps this one was more disposable.

Whatever the case, Valsirenn was beckoning me from the shore. I smashed the pearl that Tilcalar had used to summon the Yaghra, and went to talk to her. Razum-dar had apprehended the Kinlady, and Valsirenn was returning to Artaeum to brief the Ritemaster. I should follow her, after I'd spoken to the Eye of the Queen. For that, I'd need to be attuned to the portal, so she did that, before transporting herself back directly.

I thought about that afterward. Artaeum was "home" for her, so she could return the same way I did to Vivec City. I'd never even seen Artaeum, so I'd need a different way in. I hoped the wayshrine network extended there, as the location of the portal at the Keep of the Eleven Forces seemed a bit out of the way for regular use.

Raz was talking to Kinlady Avenisse a bit further inland, towards the wayshrine she was trying to reach, and which I presumed Raz had used to get here. His attitude softened a bit when I confirmed that the Aldarch was actually Clavicus Vile's agent, and that she hadn't known that until their meeting here at the shore. The Queen would still need to know, and Raz would leave the judgement to her. He'd told me before that he and Lady Avenisse had a history that might affect his own opinions, so that was perhaps best.

So I should go off to Artaeum, while he dealt with the Kinlady, and started to investigate the Daedric angle here in Summerset.

As I arrived at the Ceporah Tower on Artaeum, I heard Valsirenn talking to the Ritemaster. "And there was no sign of Leythen. I don't know whether to be grateful or concerned."

"We'll find him, Val. Now go check on the pearl while I speak to our new guest." he replied, and turned to me.

"What a rare honor Valsirenn bestowed upon you. Only a select few not of our order have ever walked upon this sacred island.

Val tells me your aid was indispensable in uncovering the false Aldarch's plot on Summerset."

"We discovered that newcomers to Summerset were being murdered to power the abyssal pearls," I told him.

"Unfortunate, certainly. The magic you describe sounds familiar, though I can't quite recall where I've heard of it before.

I fear the pearls may be a harbinger of the threat Sotha Sil warned us about."

So Nocturnal's warning to Seht did register with him. Enough for him to come here himself. That was a good sign.

If I wanted to help with investigation of the pearl, I'd need to go talk to Oriandra, who was in the Ritemaster's study in the tower. The others would start the ritual to extract the pearls' information.

Oriandra told me that Sotha Sil had made an elixir to help with the divination ritual, and sent me back down with it. When I arrived, Iachesis had me pour it into the pool beneath the floating pearl, while the other cast their divination spells.

We were rewarded with a vision of the late Tilcalar and two associates in conference. One of those looked familiar to me, and I noticed Valsirenn peering closely at the other. The conversation confirmed that the Court of Bedlam served the triad of Vile, Mephala, and Nocturnal, but revealed nothing of what they were planning, other than the next part taking place at Relenthil.

It was not a surprise that Valsirenn and I were on our way to Relenthil, but Razum-dar also made an appearance when we arrived. His investigations from the cultist side had brought him here to make inquiries with the local Canonreeve. We discovered that the man's own son was meeting with a group of other young Altmer in a sinkhole near town. Raz suspected this was the cult he was tracking and sent us to take a look at the sinkhole.

Sinkholes are common in limestone areas, as the rivers often flow underground, carving out systems of caves. When the roof of a cave collapses, the sinkhole formed provides easier access to the cave system beneath, if the drop isn't too far. If you are really fortunate, there will be a ramp of dirt and boulders.

Just as we arrived at the top of the ramp, a glowing golden figure appeared, looking much like the golden knight I'd seen failing to arrive in Shimmerene. He didn't do much better this time, disappearing again before we could speak with him. I seemed to hear "Not yet" in the back of my mind.

An Altmer lass ran out of the hole just as the golden light faded, shouting something about being attacked. We didn't get the chance to ask her who, or what, as she was in too much of a hurry to get away.

The caves we entered at the bottom of the hole had been explored even before the sinkhole formed, and we came across several places where adventurers has stashed supplies for their explorations. The entrance didn't look safe, so Valsireen took some time to shore it up, as I pressed on into the caves. I soon came across Yaghra, along with evidence that the collapse had been downward as well as up to the surface, and they had got in from below.

Valsirenn caught up with me just before we found Eldhon, groaning that he'd been stabbed. It wasn't the Yaghra that did it, but Nedoril, the son of the Canonreeve, for being "unworthy". What was more, the wound was poisoned beyond my healing ability, or that of Valsireen, and we couldn't save him.

It just got worse after that. Around the next corner, we found ourselves overlooking a pit where more of those Abyssal Pearls were drawing in Yaghra, and Valsirenn spotted a Sea Sload on the ledge opposite. She told me a little of their history of hostility with the elves of Summerset, but we needed to deal withe current situation before she could tell me more. I went after the pearls, while she tried to get to the Sload.

By the time she reached the ledge, and I'd smashed all the pearls, the Sload was gone. We found an exit amd went back into Relenthil to look for Razum-dar and tell him what we knew.