Tag Archives: Elder Scrolls

Warning: potential main quest spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Kvatch

After informing my most trusted knights that I was embarking on a new, crucial, and for now, totally secret quest, I packed my saddlebags in preparation for potentially spending a very long time living back out on the land and rode out of the West Weald and north towards Chorrol. Sticking mostly to the roads the journey was uneventful and Chorrol seemed more or less exactly as I had last left it. Weynon Priory resembled the Knight’s own compound save for its far less remote location, sitting just outside the city walls and along a main road. A monk that was tending the gardens greeted me and directed me to the main house of the priory. I entered and found Brother Jauffre sitting at his desk scratching on some parchment.

“Weynon Priory, at long last…”

Jauffre seemed unfamiliar with my garb or my name and, probably mistaking me of some young knight-errant looking for his next quest, was all business when it came to addressing me. I most definitely captured his full attention when I told him that Baurus had sent me to him and that I knew he was in fact the Grandmaster of the Order of the Blades and not just a simple monk of the Order of Talos. His demeanor changed even more dramatically when I revealed the Amulet of the Kings to him – he demanded to know more about how I acquired the relic and what I knew of the Emperor’s assassination. Having carried the burden of my tale for so long it was a relief to finally tell someone what I knew. Carefully listening to my story, Jauffre seemed to let his guard down and believe that I was indeed there to help rather than to further sully the reputation of the empire with blackmail or extortion.

“Err, okay? You really don’t believe me do you?”

Feeling fairly confident that I could trust him, I let lose the last, scandalous detail of that infamous day: the Emperor’s mention of an heir to the throne. Jauffre seemed less phased than I had expected with this news. He told me that he in fact knew of the potential for such an heir to exist, as he had seen to an illegitimate child when he was much younger and assigned as one of the Emperor’s personal bodyguards. As he explained it seemed to dawn on him how important that detail was given the political state of the empire and, it seemed, rumors concerning this would-be heir’s last location, Kvatch. That boy, now a man, was known to the Blades to be a priest in the Chapel of Akatosh there.

The Blades had been largely de-activated in the wake of the assassination, with those few remaining active members mostly working on investigating the assassination and occasionally detailed to guarding members of the Elder Council. It would take some time for Jauffre to rally them. He asked me, upon my honor as a knight, to journey to Kvatch and escort the heir, Martin, back with me to the safety of the priory while drawing as little attention us as possible. It had to be done.

“Hm, your city is slightly less impressive than I remembered.”

I had been hearing rumors regarding the city of Kvatch for quite a long time. At first there were tales of attacks in the city, some said bandits had been openly challenging the city guard while others reported demons patrolling the alleyways at night. Regardless, it was enough to cause many of the citizens to eventually flee and with that the rumors shifted to a plague outbreak within the city walls. In any case I had almost totally avoided the city since escaping my cell. When I started up the road to its main gate I was shocked to find it lined by a tents in some sort of a makeshift refugee camp. The tattered population of the camp spoke in incoherent ramblings about Daedra attacking and burning their homes but mostly overwhelmingly referred me to Savlian Matius, the guard who was heading up the defense of the city.

Upon riding hastily further up the road I could see that their ramblings were more sensible than first believed – great plums of smoke flowed up from behind the crumbling city walls and some sort of massive, pulsating portal stood menacingly directly in front of the city gates. A small contingent of city guard barricaded themselves with bow and sword at the ready directly in front of me. Bodies, rubble, and fire littered the small field in between.

“An Oblivion Gate you say?!”

At first, as if by reaction alone, Savlian warned me off, telling me to return the encampment. It was only after a double-take, noting my armor and weapons, that he began to explain the scene before us. Apparently the citizens had been reporting more and more random sightings of Dremora, evidently scouting the city, sometimes leading to confrontations with citizens and city watch. Months of these events steadily escalated, culminating in great gateways to Oblivion opening up and legions of Daedra pouring into the city indiscriminately killing and burning. Savlian was confused about how Daedra were able to invade our realm in such a way, and even more confused about why they could be targeting Kvatch in particular. I had my suspicions as likely did Jauffre.

“Taking in this *incredibly rare* sight.”

Savlian knew of the priest, Martin, and believed that he was last sighted still alive inside the city. Unfortunately there was no easy way into the city while this great portal sat active in our way. He told me that he had seen other such gates close during the initial attack so he believed this one could be closed somehow too and had sent a small contingent of his men in earlier to investigate. Much to his disbelief without a second thought I volunteered to join them in this mission and set off towards the portal, sword in hand.

“Beautiful place!”

Immediately upon stepping through the portal I found myself in a desolate land of fire and smoke, unlike anything I had ever seen before in all of Cyrodiil. Besides the strange plants and the blood red sky, this world was filled with massive cliffs of great shattered boulders and impassable seas of flame. Barely perceivable, nestled amongst the chaos, were traces of crude roads, bridges, gates, and other signs of civilization. I spotted the most impressive of these structures, a massive tower jetting up on the horizon, and made reaching it my goal. Along the way I was attacked at various times by patrolling Dremora soliders along with other Daedric creatures but given that the Daedra clearly weren’t anticipating an incursion of their own they never came at me in numbers that made them difficult to defeat.

“Odd being on the receiving end of a Dremora attack for once.”

Arriving at the base of tower and entering I found fierce resistance from the Dremora who manned this place. With the power of my crusader’s artifacts I was able to cut through my foes and climb my way up the tower all the same. In one of the tower’s chambers I found Menien Goneld, evidently one of the Kvatch guardsmen Savlian had sent in earlier, being tortured for a Dremora warrior’s depraved amusement. After a brief confrontation Menien told me that the Dremora I just killed was in fact the “Sigil Keeper” of the tower and with his keys I could access the Sigil Stone at the top of the structure which he believed was what powered the portal. Setting the man free I continued on my way.

“On my way up to the Sigil Stone.”

Breaching the fortified Sigil Keep at the top of the tower and slaying its occupants I took the risk of betting on Menien and his men’s hard earned information and reached into the powerful energy beam that shot through the great tower, pulling out the Sigil Stone. After a brief moment of violent quaking which threatened to shake apart the entire structure I found myself, with the blink of an eye, back outside of the main gate of Kvatch – the Oblivion portal was gone! Savlian and his men rushed to welcome me back will all manner of questions about what lay on the other side of the portal and the fate of their fellow guardsmen. I was relieved but my task was not yet close to completion.

“Charging into Kvatch!”

I told Savlian that we had no time to rest – that I must get into the city and find Martin. Savlian needed no convincing as he was eager to get back into the city himself and soon we were all charging into the city’s ruined plaza, summarily dispatching anything of Daedric origin we spotted. Hard fights, all, but with minimal casualties we pushed our way through the burning streets and into the chapel. It seemed that the chapel had served as some sort of a gathering point for refugees and we were greeted by a few more Kvatch guards and dozens of survivors that had holed up there. After escorting them to the relative safety of the camp beyond the city walls, we pushed our way all the way to the castle, and while we saved many more lives and dispatched many more Daedra, we were too late for Ormellius Goldwine, the Count of Kvatch. Savlian and his men had much work to do to finish securing the remnants of the city. I left them to it.

“So apparently all of these NPCs just think I’m full of shit?”

Back with the refugees I identified Martin and pulled him to the side where our conversation could not be easily overheard. Exhausted from the previous fights I made no effort to mince words and told him exactly why I was there. Martin was, of course, incredibly confused but, given what he knew of his own mysterious past, he somehow didn’t seem to dismiss the notion of being Uriel Septim VII’s heir outright. Instead, having little left for him in Kvatch, he agreed to journey with me back to Weynon Priory to at least hear Jauffre out. One of the guards who had fought alongside me found Martin a horse and soon we were on our way back to Chorrol.

Warning: potential DLC quest (Knights of the Nine) spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

Facing Off

The entirety of the order of the Knights of the Nine met outside of the ruins of an old Alyeid stronghold called Garlas Malatar off of the Gold Coast. The Prophet believed this was where we’d find Umaril the Blasphemer and from the scouting report Sir Brellin brought us back he was correct – Aurorans were seen guarding the entrance.

“Assembled for battle.”

Once everyone was prepared I gave the call and we charged into the ruin. A few of the knights immediately took up positions to overwatch the melee with bow and arrow while the rest of us went for the guards by the entrance. The Aurorans were no easy match for my knights, most of them still relatively inexperienced, but with our superior numbers we won fights we might have otherwise lost. Inside the mostly intact lower levels of the Alyeid ruin we found yet more Aurorans. Easily more of them than I’d ever encountered at one time before then. Vicious fighting filled the corridors and chambers with the sounds of sword on steel echoing all around us. It didn’t take long before we realized that something was amiss – it seemed as if more and more Aurorans were appearing no matter how many we slew.

“Despite being electrocuted 57 times each the Knights prevail.”

When we reached further into the stronghold I spotted it – a strange glowing black sphere floating on a platform above us. There was no doubt in my mind that its magics were affecting us somehow, possibly by summoning these Daedra. While my brothers were engaged in a particularly thick fight, distracting all nearby Aurorans, I made my break to look for a way to access the orb. Soon I found a stairway to a higher level and found myself standing in front of the artifact. With all of my strength I struck down on it with the Sword of the Crusader, smashing the sphere into a thousand tiny black shards. As an energy waved burst outward a hidden staircase revealed itself, lowering into the floor in front of me.

“Umaril and the Crusader face off.”

It was only a matter of moments more before I reached Umaril’s throne room. Perhaps recognizing Pelinal Whitestrake’s garb, or perhaps well aware that I was on my way all along, he drew a massive Elven longsword and wasted no time charging at me. In the rare instance while I was on the offensive most of my blows seemed to glance off of his ornate Alyeid armor and the rest of the time he was absolutely tireless with his vicious strikes against me. If I had been using anything but the blessed Shield of the Crusader it would have been hacked to pieces within seconds. Despite Umaril’s ceaseless assault I still found time to cast the occasional spell and quickly noted that lightening seemed particularly effective against him. I worked into a routine of dodging his blows, blocking them, and occasionally managing to push him back with a heavy shield slam, giving me a moment to hit him with a bolt of lightening before he lunged back towards me. Unable to adapt quickly enough he soon laid dead at my feet in a golden armored heap.

“Goin’ up to the spirit in the sky!”

My battle was not done however. After taking a moment to my equipment and to cast a few healing spells on myself I invoked the Prophet’s Blessing of Talos and was almost instantaneously whisked away. My first thought was that this part of the Outer Realms looked much more like Tamriel than expected, then I looked down and realized that I was in the sky high above the Imperial City. I panicked and began to scramble madly for something to grab onto only to discover that I was somehow floating in place, in no danger of falling. Looking back up, a confused and very angry Umaril again raised his sword to charge me. Wasting no time I assailed him with a volley of powerful consecutive lightning blasts sending him tumbling off of his feet and falling downward towards the city below. In an instant I, too, was falling, and that was the last thing I remembered before waking up.

Upon stirring the spirit of Sir Amiel spoke to me. He said that his vows finally completed, he and his fellow spirits of the original Knights of the Nine to rest could now finally rest in peace. Thanking me and praising me as the new Crusader the ghosts vanished before me in wisps of fine white smoke.

“Victory celebration!”

I dusted myself off and walked out of the crypt to be almost immediately intercepted by Sir Thedret, sword in hand, coming to investigate the voices he was hearing below. Overjoyed at seeing me alive he explained that after he and the rest of the knights had cleared out the last of the Aurorans they set out to track me down only to find my lifeless body laying beside Umaril’s in the Alyeid king’s throne room. Assuming I was dead they brought my body by dark of night to the order’s crypt to keep my passing secret from our enemies, and there I was, alive! Before I could get much of a word in edgewise he ran back upstairs to tell the others. As I slowly followed him out of the priory I found him giving a speech to the rest of the assembled Knights of the Nine in the courtyard.

Victorious in my battle against Umaril the Unfeathered I was greeted by the applause and cheers of the rest of my order. This was the moment I had been hoping for since escaping my damp cell in the Imperial Prison so long ago. I still didn’t know exactly who I had been yet I somehow knew then that whether I had been questing for the Crusader’s Relics in my previous life or if I had simply been destined to be a Knight of the Nine all along, I was in the right place. I also knew what my next quest would be. There was no more running, I needed to face up to the responsibility that I had been putting off for so long and do my part to restore order to the Empire. I needed to go to Weynon Priory.

Fun fact: I made all of the Knights of the Nine NPCs “essential” so they’d make it through the assault on Garlas Malatar to hopefully serve as useful companions later on. If I hadn’t the majority would have been slaughtered.

Warning: potential DLC quest (Knights of the Nine) spoilers ahead!

From Garn’s recollections:

The Tainted Blade

Upon reaching the Priory of the Nine we were greeted by Lathon, squire to Sir Roderic, the knight who I had encountered in the original pilgrimage I embarked on after first meeting the Prophet. After I sent Carodus to begin his initiation Lathon told me of the grave news regarding Sir Roderic. Sir Roderic had completed his pilgrimage and begun his own quest for the relics. After a vision in which he saw the corruption of Sir Berich he sought out the traitorous knight’s tomb in the wildness to the southwest of Bruma. Although he and Lathon were able to recover the Greaves of the Crusader, Sir Roderic was slain by Sir Berich’s wraith, who Lathon swore was wielding the legendary Sword of the Crusader itself. Thankfully Lathon was able to escape with the greaves and handed them over to the order’s possession.

“Lathon reveals my next task.”

With Lathon’s information I knew where next I was to travel. I equipped the now completed set of relic armor and gathered the few knights who were at the priory to announce that a pivotal moment was now upon our order: we knew where the last of the Crusader’s Relics was located and what we must do retrieve it. I then dispatched riders to recall the rest of the knights as well as to attempt to locate the Prophet before setting off north with Lathon as my guide.

“How did this get here?!”

The seasoned squire lead me to Underpall Cave which, at first, seemed like any other cave around Cyrodiil that was large enough to be inhabited by humans. Once I reached the main chamber, however, there was some kind of a ruined fortress built into the back half of the cave which, I had properly imagined, was built far back into the rest of the cave system. The keep itself was large and maze like and infested with all manner of undead. The structure took me quite some time to fully explore and I slew and turned many a foe but eventually I located what seemed to be the last and largest chamber of the system. It was a cavernous room filled with stalactites and stalagmites with a small underground lake occupying the bulk of the space. The thick scent of the musty air was almost choking and my meager torch did little to illuminate the massive room around me but this was the least pressing of my concerns.

“Impromptu funeral pyre.”

Shortly after stepping into the room the shade of a spectral warrior materialized. I dropped my torch and drew my Daedric longsword but then another appeared. As I engaged the first spirit yet another appeared over my shoulder. Soon I was completely surrounded by these ghostly warriors, each raising a weapon and coming at me with vicious ferocity. The aggressive attacks of this company of specters had me pinned into a corner in short order. I was holding my own with blade and spell but I had to frequently cause diversions that would give me enough time to heal myself. After cutting through about most of the apparitions I spotted what I knew had to be Sir Berich’s corrupted wraith watching me from afar. Suspecting that it might be controlling some if not all of the spectral warriors I sent an arc of lightning cracking at it. The hit seemed effective but not enough to take down the wraith alone.

“Err, run?!”

Soon I had exhausted my arcane energies and found myself having to resort to martial combat alone. More troubling, I had to fumble through my vials of healing potions several times to keep my wounds from overwhelming me. Thankfully the Crusader’s Relics proved a powerful defense with their numerous ancient blessings and enchantments. Eventually I employed a tactic of luring as many of the remaining spirits as I could into a side chamber to finish them off one at a time with sword, shield, and a little trickery. When I emerged back into the main cavern I found the wraith waiting for me again, the corrupted Sword of the Crusader glowing angrily in its hand. I raised my longsword to my eyes and began the duel. With my other enemies gone the wraith was no match and soon I had the last relic in hand. Before leaving I returned to fetch Lathon so that we could recover Sir Roderic’s body for a proper burial.

“We don’t tolerate your kind ’round these parts!”

Back at the priory my brothers and I gathered around the tainted sword and debated how best to restore it. It was soon decided that we should attempt to reconsecrate the relic at the Chapel of Arkay in Cheydinhal. I chose to go alone as to not draw further suspicion to my cause. The trip to Cheydinhal was quick and uneventful, yet swinging open the door to the chapel I discovered another group of armored Aurorans in the middle of the now familiar process of desecrating the chapel and slaying anyone who would stand in their way. I managed to put down two of the Daedra though several others chased after a fleeing priestess and ran out into the city where several of the city guard joined the fray. A chaotic melee soon broke out in the Cheydinhal streets but the Aurorans were defeated by our combined efforts and surprisingly without anyone dying, though some chapel goers were quite seriously injured. Back in the chapel I placed the sword on the alter and, still somewhat of a skeptic in the power of the divines, asked Arkay to purify the relic. A strange glow swept over the sword and though I couldn’t say how I could tell that the blade had been changed.

“Virtual Church Simulator 2006”

When I returned to the priory I was met by Sir Thedret who told me that the Prophet had made his way there and that the rest of the order was assembling in the priory’s chapel to hear him speak. As we entered the chapel he had already started giving a sermon to the newly reformed Knights of the Nine. After the sermon concluded The Prophet spoke to me in private. He congratulated me on completing my quest and told me that my victory now was nearly certain providing I could pass the next challenge before me – if I could slay Umaril in the physical word he could arm me with the relic of the ninth divine, the blessing of Talos, which would allow me to travel into the realm of Oblivion and destroy the Unfeathered’s spiritual form and end his pack with the Daedric lords one and for all.

This actually turned out to be one of the more difficult quests in the game for me despite having a fully decked out character by this point.

Afterwards, when the Aurorans were attacking the Chapel of Arkay I actually had to reload several times so that I could concentrate my attacks on them in such a way as to keep them from running rampant all over Cheydinhal, murdering random NPCs that I’d prefer not to be dead for the rest of the game. Ugh…