Darien and I joined Iachesis and Valsirenn down in the Dreaming Cave. With Dawnbreaker reunited with its gem, we could now use it to open the portal, and see where it lead. Iachesis still didn't remember where that was.
Once we stepped through, it was obvious to all of us.
"Why are we in Evergloam?" Iachesis asked. "I don't understand why I'd have chosen to hide the Heart here, of all places. But it's here somewhere, I'm sure of that. Perhaps I'll recall more as we travel."
"Which way?" I asked, "Do you remember anything from the last time you were here?"
"Follow the path, I presume. There seems to be only one," he remarked.
I was initially surprised that there was opposition to our passage, but of course that was for Darien's (and Meridia's) benefit. I didn't know any of the shrikes we encountered (and yes, I do look at their faces) but it was mostly gloom wolves, wraiths and the like anyway. Every so often, a crow would show up, and pass comment on our progress, and reminding Iachesis of his prior visit. Nocturnal wanted him to remember everything by the time we arrived at wherever we were going.
"I remember that portal!" Iachesis announced. "I remember going into it, carrying the crystal, and coming back out without it. I just don't recall what happened on the other side. But that must be where I hid the Heart."
We all went through the portal, weapons at the ready, but there was nothing waiting for us on the other side. Just a ruined building that looked familiar to Iachesis. We climbed to the top, and the Ritemaster walked to the middle of the platform. Crows had arrived, and perched all around the walls. "Recite the spell," they chanted.
That convinced Iachesis he'd found the right place. "My friends, prepare yourselves. The Heart will soon be back in our hands."
"Heart, reveal yourself! Gar Noro berri, vo rah Larow e javeel!"
The Ritemaster's chest began to glow, and a few additional spectators arrived.
"Look, Mephala, the mortal hid the Heart inside himself."
"Yes, Clavicus, but why did Nocturnal hide this from us? She must have known."
"No matter, we'll take the crystal now, Ritemaster."
That's when the troops arrived. We were attacked by Skaafin, Spiders, and all the usual light attack enemies in the first wave, with more, and heavier foes arriving later. Iachesis began to doubt he'd survive this onslaught, and told Valsirenn to take his place if he didn't.
Then Nocturnal arrived, and banished the "visitors" from her realm. "You are no longer welcome. The Heart belongs to me! We made a deal, didn't we, mortal?"
"Yes, and the only way to retrieve the Heart is to kill me."
"Very well, I accept those terms."
Everyone else was shocked at this, but Nocturnal had forewarned me, and I was expecting the charade. When the Ritemaster seemingly exploded, and disappeared, I knew what she'd actually done.
Before anybody could do anything about it, we found ourselves transported back to the Ceporah Tower, and Oriandra.
"Where's the Ritemaster?" she asked.
"Where's my sword? I just fixed that!" asked Darien. It hadn't come with him.
Valsirenn explained to Oriandra that Nocturnal had killed Iachesis, and taken the Heart of Transparent Law for herself, betraying the other two Daedric Princes. A slight simplification, so I didn't correct anything. The Ritemaster was not coming back, so it didn't make a difference here.
I did repeat what he'd said about Valsirenn taking over, as Nocturnal and I both thought that was a good idea. She was the only one who had the right overview of the current situation to deal appropriately with it. No doubt internal Psijic politics would change things later, but what happened now was important. We still had the problem of the sealed Crystal Tower, and the Resolute Diamonds missing a Keeper. I knew that Nocturnal could access the interior, as she now had Iachesis' knowledge of it for a portal in, and Veya as a mortal agent to go there. I was sure she'd make a start on repairing it right away, but unsealing the entrance would still be a requirement.
When I had some time alone, I asked Nocturnal what the "deal" with Iachesis had been.
"Essentially, three more centuries of mortal life, in return for a new heart, to replace the damaged one he had. The Sload had done something that was gradually destroying it, and he didn't have much longer. With the Sload being necromancers, it didn't matter to K'tora whether Iachesis was alive or dead when he wanted the Heart of Transparent Law handed over. He'd still be able to search through his memories, and find it.
"So the simplest way to kill two birds with one stone was to replace his heart with the crystal one. The Sload had already primed him to forget the hiding place, so he'd done half the work for me. I did amplify that a bit, to make sure the Sload wouldn't be able to undo it, either. Iachesis gets to spend eternity in Evergloam, instead of wherever Altmer are supposed to end up, but the shrikes have made him welcome, and I don't think he minds.
"I'm glad you passed on his wishes about Val taking over. Iachesis had always felt a bit guilty that he'd kept the job she should have stepped into 300 years back, even if he didn't remember why."
"How's Veya getting on with the restoration in the Tower?" I asked.
"Not as well as could be achieved if she didn't have to use magic for everything," Nocturnal replied. "It really needs a whole crew of stonemasons and other physical trades working on it. Do your best with that entrance, please."
I went to the Crystal Tower to find out what progress had been made there. I found Razum-Dar staring up at the top, where a purple haze had formed around the pinnacle.
"This one is concerned," he told me. "The tower should not be glowing like that. This one suspects Nocturnal is already at work."
"what's happing at the bottom?" I asked. "Have the Sapiarchs made any progress opening the seal?"
We walked over to take a look. Two new Sapiarch Keepers were there, holding new Resolute Diamonds, but they weren't completely attuned.
"It's not working," one complained. "I start thinking it will work, and then it all goes wrong again."
"Keep trying," the other told her. "It's all we can do."
Nocturnal didn't think so. A squad of summoned deadra came in and broke up the party. We fought them off, but the will of the Sapiarchs had been broken. "It's no use. We're not going to get this open."
"Perhaps the Psijic Conclave would do better," Valsirenn suggested. "Let me take the Diamonds back to Artaeum, and see what can be done to attune them."
The Sapiarchs felt that you needed to be here at the Tower itself, to do that, but it was wortha try. They were getting nowhere.
"I'm glad they stopped trying," Nocturnal told me. "You can mess up a lock, trying to pick it, so badly the key won't work any more. This may be a magical lock, but the same priciple applies."
She didn't think the Psijics had any better chance. What the Sapiarchs had said was unfortunately true. Attuning the Diamonds needed to be done at the seal itself.
I wasn't too surprised when a talking dog approached me not long after that. Barbas had a proposition. Clavicu Vile would give us access to the seal in his realm, so that Nocturnal wouldn't interfere. We could attune the Diamonds there.
Sotha Sil had explained to me that it was the same Tower in all the realms, and if any of the Princes got control of the interior, they could cause havoc. That would have to be mortal cultists on the inside, as it remained part of Mundus. It wasn't clear if that was why the Sapiarchs had sealed it off, but nothing they had done really made sense.
