Academy
Now that the Ritemaster knew what it was that he didn't know, he could at least start to take action. If the location of the Heart was unknown, that meant it was not where it should be, in the Crystal Tower. So we needed to inform the Sapiarchs, and have them confirm its absence.
He sent Valsirenn off to Lillandril, while I went to Alinor, to get permission from the Proxy Queen for our visit to the College of Sapiarchs. Then I'd meet up with Val at the portal to the College itself. We suspected that the Court of Bedlam also wanted access to the Tower, not just the Heart, and she would be looking for any evidence of their presence in town.
The main reason for asking the Proxy Queen's blessing was that I wasn't an Altmer, so I wasn't too welcome anywhere, and the College of Sapiarchs would have been totally out of bounds for me without that level of permission. Fortunately, she also had reports from Razum-dar about the Daedric threat, and concurred.
If I hadn't had to take that side-trip, I might have been in Lillandril before the cultists attacked. As it was, when we crossed over to the island via the portal, we found the cultists and their daedra had got there first, and taken control.
Nocturnal wasn't surprised. After all, the Sapiarchs were the second-rank wizards that didn't make the cut to join the Psijics. The College was all a burocratic structure, with little, if any, research or public works being done. She wasn't sure why they had the task of guarding the Crystal Tower, as they seemed unsuited to the job.
Still, we needed to clear out the daedra before we could get back to what we came for. These didn't seem to be the skaafin we expected, so Clavicus Vile wasn't running this part of the scheme. These looked more like Mephala's minions, Spiderkith and their ilk.
Before long we came across their leader, Mephala's agent and Earl of the Court of Bedlam. Valsirenn knew him better as her husband, Leythen. He was here to sieze the Resolute Diamonds, which were the keys to the Crystal Tower.
"The Sapiarchs just sealed up the tower, so no guards on the inside?' I asked Nocturnal.
"I did tell you they weren't the brightest. Much like Gascone back in the Clockwork City, but at least in this case, the choice of making them the guardians wasn't my mistake."
Valsirenn managed to capture Leythen, and she took him back to Artaeum, while I went to look for the keepers of the Resolute Diamonds.
On my way, I thought over the details I knew so far. These Resolute Diamonds were attuned to the key-bearers, the 'tower sentinels', and had to be used together. If they were stolen, another actor could not use them, because they would not be attuned. If the two tower sentinels did not act together, it wouldn't work either, so subverting just one of them was of no use. All very effective in ensuring the seal could not be opened by the wrong side.
The problem was that it was all too fragile a process. Nothing had been included as a fall-back if one of the keys was destroyed, or a sentinel killed, or ... It all meant that it would be just as difficult to open for the right people.
Nocturnal overheard my thoughts and agreed with me. "There should have been three or more sets of key and sentinel, with any two being able to unlock the Tower. I gather that there is a process for replacing one, but it takes too long. The replacements should have been built into the plan."
"On the positive side, Mephala's cronies need to keep the sentinels healthy, or they will be blocking their own path," I suggested.
"We'll see."
---
So my next job was locating the keepers of the Resolute Diamonds. Raz had word that Keeper Hannayel had been seen at the Illumination Academy, and perhaps she'd know where Keeper Imedril was hiding himself. We set off for the Academy, hoping things would be a bit simpler going forward.
Of course there was a complication. When we arrived, it appeared that everyone, with the exception of a scholar named Erudil, was the victim of a cursed book. They were all acting as if they were a character from the last book they'd been reading, and naturally, their usual duties wre being ignored. Fortunately someone had been reading a cookbook, or they'd probably have starved to death before we arrived.
"So how did this start?' asked Raz.
Erudil admiotted that he'd opened a book that he should not have even touched. The Illminus had apparently trapped some ghost and he released it when he opened the book.
I took a look at the book. All the pages were blank.
"All the words flew out of the book and affected everyone else," explained Erudil. "I have no idea why I wasn't, but maybe it's because I was the one who released it?"
My theory was that since the blank book was the last one he'd read, there was no character for him to take on. Raz thought that made some kind of sense, but it didn'thelp us determine how to fix the problem.
"We need to convince the scholars ..." Raz began
"And the Instructors and Professors. It got everyone," Erudil interrupted.
"We have to convince them they're not who they think," Raz continued. "If they can be persuaded to do something out-of-character maybe they'll see the contradiction, and snap out of it."
"Can you start with Selynia, please?" Erudil asked. "She's normally so timid, and now she's acting like a fearless hero. I'm afraid she's going to do something brave, but stupid, and get hurt."
"Is that her up on top of that wall?" I asked. "If it is, then I think I agree with you."
We climbed up to where we could talk with Selynia.
"Hello! Come to join in my adventures? Or maybe you mean to scold me like the mean old workers. I hope not. I could use a new playmate! Torchbug's fun, but a little strange."
"Who's Torchbug?" I asked her.
He's my best friend! Just over there, see? He always has the funniest ideas, but sometimes he says things that crinkle my carapace. Still, he's always good for an adventure. Sitting in the mines is so boring!"
Raz had found the book she was reading, and help it up so that I could see the cover.
"Are you the Brave Little Scrib?" I asked.
"Yes! Yes! You got it! I am the most fearless adventurer on eight legs! Nothing scares me! Nothing!"
"Really? You aren't scared of anything?"
"Not a thing! Not even those big, hairy spiders in the garden. Definitely not those! Scribs aren't afraid of spiders. Not one bit!"
"Then the spider climbing up the wall won't be a problem at all, will it?" I smiled.
"Get it away from me!" she shrieked, and ran back into the window she'd climbed out of. We went inside and found her hiding behind a bed.
"This isn't right! I'm brave! I'm brave and fearless and ... what happened to me? Where am I? Mara help me, were we up on the walls?"
We explained about Erudil and the book, and took her out to talk to him. He was glad that we'd been able to help Selynia before she jumped off the wall, and ...
Raz managed to grab her before she fainted.
"Is anyone else likely to come to any harm if we don't intervene?" I asked Erudil. He didn't think so, or at least he hadn't seen anyone else doing anything dangerous.
Just then a tall, elegant, and completely naked woman walked past us. Just strolling around, oblivious to everyone else.
"That's Instructor Vaerunne. I think she was reading a piece of erotic fiction about a woman who could make herself invisible," Erudil told us. "If I remember the story, you would still be able to see her clothes, so she'd have to take them off.'
"Raz thinks we can safely leave her to last," he grinned.
I agreed but for a different reason. "We'll need to herd her to somewhere private before she learns the truth, and that also means nobody else can be with her to tell her. It's going to take some time to figure out how."
"Raz will be diligently thinking about her from here on," he promised.
It appeared that Olivier Reynaud, who had been Selynia's Torchbug, had come to his senses when she did. When the story broke, all the characters were released. Perhaps we should try and find a group of scholars who were all playing out the same story. That way, we'd get the most from our efforts.
"Tanelwen thinks she's Inspector Vale, and she's interrogating Hunrand and Maya Doran. I don't know exactly who they think they are, just her suspects," Erudil told us.
As we entered the room, Tanelwen addresssed us. "Careful there, friend - there's a thief about. One of these two scamps is the criminal mastermind behind a half-baked plot to steal a pie. My pie, in fact. Cut down in its crispy, gooey prime while my back was turned."
"A pie?" I asked. "Are you a baker?"
"Oh ho, goodness no! Surely you recognize the most clever and curvaceous investigator in Tamriel! Clearly you need to read up on my escapades. Some clever writers committed a few to paper. Should be a copy around here somewhere."
The only book we could see was about a locked-room murder mystery, and no, the murder weapon was not a pie. Not only that, but we could see a trail of crumbs going under the table, where Raz found half a pie, and a rather stuffed dog.
We let Tanelwe accuse one of her suspects before we revealed them.
"The real Inspector Vale wouldn't have got it wrong," I pointed out.
Tanelwe looked embarrassed, but when we explained about the cursed book, she felt better about it. "At least I wasn't imagining the pie."