MORE FUN WITH THE ILLUMINATED ORDER

I used the blood servant amulet to teleport to Molag Mar, and the hiding place of Decius Mus, the friendly neighborhood vampire.

"Yes, Decius," I said, as I entered his room, "I understand you have need of my services."

"Yes," he replied, "I do. There is a vampire hunter that must be dealt with."

"Alright." I replied. "What's the mission?"

"One of the Buoyant Armigars from the local stronghold has come to suspect my existence, and is even now hunting for me. Now, I have already set up a series of false clues that will lead him to a decoy location in the underworks below. You understand the Order's need for secrecy. It is vital that this fool be silenced for good before he stumbles upon me. Check in the sewers below and you'll eventually find him, and probably in the false dwelling I've set up for him to 'find' me in."   

 

Ah, the sewers, with their sweet odor and friendly rats.

 

 

I could hardly wait to get down there.

 

Once in the underworks, I found the nearest trapdoor and climbed down the ladder to the sewers.

As expected, I found a few rats (or, rather, they found me), but they posed little threat to someone who slew four dragons.

I headed down several of the tunnels, finding mostly dead-ends, until I came across one that ended with a door.  I figured this must be the phony lair that had been set up. Putting on the Ring of Weapons, I opened the door and stepped inside.   

 

As soon as I entered this phony lair, I felt a blast of poison air strike me, followed by "Die, foul creature!" It seems that this warrior, as cunning as he thought he was, thought I was the vampire coming home to sleep in the casket in the middle of the room. He didn't even check to see who I was, or if I was even a vampire or not!  

 

Try as I might, I couldn't stop his attack on me. He tossed yet another spell at me, but this one was absorbed completely. All that did was enrage him even more.

I finally had no choice but to use my broadsword to put an end to his anger.   

 

Mission accomplished, I headed back to the den of Decius Mus. The warrior had tried to use a weapon on me that was apparently designed with vampires in mind, and looked as though it had been borrowed from someone else within that group of elite warriors.

Decius Mus was happy with the results and promoted me to the rank of Inquisitor of Obscure Arts. He then told me about a shipment of books that were confiscated by the Gnisis Temple when the courier bring them was found dead just outside the temple doors.  Two of the books aren't very rare at all, but one of them, called "The Outside" is exceedingly hard to find. Getting the other two would be nice, but "The Outside" was a priority.  I'd have to go to the temple at Gnisis to find the books for him.   

 

I left his lair and headed to the stiltstrider just outside of the canton.  There would be no fast travel for me in this case, and I had time to spare, since I couldn't go back to the wise woman for 30 days anyway.

I arrived in Gnisis late, nearly 8pm. I headed straight for the temple, knowing that somewhere inside was at least one book I needed to retrieve.    

 

I checked in several locations of the temple interior, but finally went to the upper-most section, where I found a very well-stocked library.

Among a number of books were the three books I was looking for. However, just to my right was an ordinator, keeping an eye on my activities.

"Go on about your business," he growled, "but remember, I'm watching you."

I checked several of the books on the shelf, put them back, and left the room.  

 

I wasn't ready to leave just yet. Using my Amulet of Shadows, I went chameleon, snuck back in, and when the ordinator wasn't looking, took the three books needed.

.....and no one was killed. 

 

Books safely tucked away, I used the Blood Servant amulet to teleport back to the vampire's lair. He was extremely happy to get his books returned. He also said he was pleased that no one had to get killed over them.

"I am worried about something that has happened here recently." he said. "Remember that Armigar you killed in my phony lair? Well, the head of his group, Ulms Drathen, as become suspicious. I prefer not to kill someone of his stature, so we must rely on an alternate means of ending his threat to me."

"Exactly how to you interfere with the Armigers?" I asked.

He smiled, walked to his desk, and after fumbling through a few drawers, finally came away with a prized possession: an odd-looking flask, which he handed to me.

"We shall simply make him forget that he has any reason to suspect anything." he replied.

"Exactly how does one forget things like this?" I asked, "And what am I doing with this flask?"

"We will accomplish this with water from the Pool of Forgetfulness, which you will find just east of the Ghostgate, in a cavern named Sharapli. It's located just outside of the fence itself." he replied. "Take that flask, fill it from the pool, then go to the Armiger stronghold here in Molag Mar - look for Drathen. Near him will be a pitcher of water. Pour the water from the pool into the pitcher. When he drinks from it, he'll forget all recent events here."

Seemed easy enough.   

 

Using the Balmora home teleport ring, I ended up just outside my home in Balmora. A short walk later found me at the Mage's Guild offices, and seconds later, at their offices in Caldera, where I found Folms Meril. I advised him that I needed to go to the stronghold of Falensarano, at the south end of the Grazelands.  

 

A very loud thunderclap later and I found myself at my destination.

From here, I felt I could easily levitate to my destination quickly.   

 

I changed into a mist form, and floated into the air, as gracefully as a feather.

 

Once over the mountains and into the ashlands area I found myself fighting a nasty ashstorm in progress.

The gale-force winds and ash made forward motion difficult, if not impossible.  

 

Because of the strong winds, it was hard to move in the direction I wanted to go, but after much effort, I finally saw the familiar pylons of the infamous Ghostfence in the distance.

I decided I was close enough, and headed to towards the ground, where I would continue the search for this cavern, and it's strange pool.  

 

 

 

 

COMING UP: THE POOL OF ... UH, UM,
SOMETHING, I FORGOT IT'S NAME.

 

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