As I entered the chamber, my eyes had trouble adjusting to the extremely dim light. I hadn't thought of bringing the Belt of Night Eye with me, but I wished that I had.

A few moments later, I could make out the shapes of several guards surrounding a central figure. It was Almalexia herself.  Like Vivec, she tended to float in the air for a few moments at a time.

As I approached, the light began to change.

"So, you are the person I have been hearing about." she said. "I welcome you to my chapel, Eldorf Dragonmeal, Eldorf the Wise...or perhaps I should call you by another name? But, that is a discussion for a later time. I understand you have done well in my service, and indeed, a service in my name is a service for all of Mournhold. Now, my faithful and obedient servant, let us discuss Barilzar's Mazed Band.

I produced the odd ring, holding it out for her in the palm of my hand.

"An interesting item, is it not?" she asked.

"Yes." I replied. "It seems to have no power at all."

"It seems ordinary enough, but it is much more." she replied, somehow having the ring float from my hand to hers. She gazed at the ring, as if it were a long-lost child.

"The ring is cold now," she continued, "but the embers of its power still burn hot within. I will use my magic to reawaken this power.

"It is my pleasure to serve you." I said. I truly wanted to know what was so important about this ring, but figured that discretion was the more correct tactic at this point.

"It is I who serve all of Morrowind." she replied. "Your help has been appreciated, Eldorf Dragonmeal. I have seen something in you that I have not seen in a very long time. I bestow the blessing of My Light upon you. We will speak again in the future.

The lights in the chamber became much dimmer.

"There is much work to be done." she said. "Leave me now, my loyal servant. We will speak again soon, I am sure.

I wasn't sure why I was being given the quick brush-off like this. I wanted to know more about this ring, and also wanted to know about the attacks upon me by the Dark Brotherhood, bringing me to this city in the first place.

Deciding to bide my time, I backed away, into the shadows, then turned to the door, leaving the High Chapel.

Frustrated by the fact that no one had any further things for me to do, I decided to head back to my new home. I did have one final follow-up in the sewers waiting for me, so I decided to make a quick change of robes.

Yes, right where I found her the first time, Narisa Adus, who's husband had been killed by the Black Dark Gang, was still waiting for word on their status.

I told her that I had met Variner's ghost, and she was at least happy with the fact that he was able to tell me where the gang had been hiding.

"Thank you for bringing me the message." she said. "I'm too afraid of the Black Dark Gang to try to hunt them down in their lair. But perhaps now that Variner has delivered his message, he will be free to pass on to join his ancestors.

She was even more surprised when I told her that I had completely wiped them out.

"They're ... dead?" she exclaimed. "You killed them? It's a miracle."

She opened her pouch and fumbled around in the dark, until she found something, handing it to me.

"Here. Please. Take this. Variner gave it to me - it belonged to his family. I'm sure they all would want you to have it. You have my thanks, and the thanks of Variner's family, and his spirit, and all the victims of the Black Dart Gang.

She gave me a ring which could perform a charm spell. I thanked her for her generosity, then headed back out of the sewers and into the light once more.

Later that afternoon, as I was done selling some of the weapons I had found in the sewers I noticed a bare-foot Nord walking around, acting as though he was looking for someone. He kept asking the children nearby if they had seen his friend, so I decided to ask him what was wrong.

I found out that his name was Thrud, and he was looking for someone named Dilborn.

"You see Dilborn? Dilborn my friend. Dilborn gone three days now, and Thrud sad."

Well, how could any hero resist that? I asked who this Dilborn was.

"Oh, Dilborn big and mighty wizard. Dilborn read books to Thrud...the words, big words, two, maybe three times." he replied. "Now Dilborn gone, no one read books to Thrud. Thrud sad. Thrud miss friend Dilborn. You help Thrud find Dilborn?"

Ok, I have to admit, I didn't want to be the "replacement wizard" reading him books for the rest of my life, and being the soft touch I am for the obviously helpless, I decided to give in and help find his friend.

"Thrud happy, happy, Breton. Find Dilborn now, yes?"

I told him to wait here while I get my other robe and that I would be back in a minute.

I returned in the promised minute or two, then asked him where he thought his friend might be.

"Thrud see Dilborn go down in sewers near here. Dilborn go to sewers lots to meet friends, Dilborn says. Most times, Dilborn back soon, and happy, happy. But Dilborn not back soon now. We go to sewers, find Dilborn!"

I had the picture of a dog running off to find its master running through my head.....

Appropriately dressed for yet another romp through the sewers, we headed off to the nearest trap door.

Once in the maze of sewers, we found ourselves in combat with a number of rats and a few goblins. Thrud seemed quite able to take care of himself, and was very impressed with the spell of God's Fire I used on a goblin.

We finally game to a gated section of the sewers, and heard some mumbling up ahead.

"Stay behind me." I said, "Let me find out who is there."

Knowing me to be a powerful wizard, he decided to follow my directions.

No one attacked, but Drathas Nerus, their apparent leader, spoke up upon seeing me.

"Well, well, look what the scrib dragged in. I supposed you're here to rescue our little Dilborn, eh? Then I suggest you don't make any sudden moves."

He pointed back to his guards, and Dilborn, wearing nothing but his underwear.

"You see, when people owe me money, I get a bit touchy. Attack me, and my men have orders to kill Dilborn first - poor, naked, defenseless Dilborn. But if you're here to settle Dilborn's debits, we may be able to work something out."

"So, he owes you money?" I asked. Thrud wanted to attack, but I gave him a warning glance that froze him in his tracks better than any spell ever could.

"That's right, Breton." continued Drathas. "We indulge in a bit of gambling down here from time to time, away from the prying eyes of the guards, you know? Dilborn is one of our best customers. He currently owes .... if my memory serves me right ... Yes, Dilborn owes me the sum total of 3,000 septims. And he's not leaving here until he pays his debts."

I wanted to ask him where he thought Dilborn was going to come up with 3,000 pieces of gold from his underwear, but thought it would be better not to ask, as I might not like his answer. I figured I might try a spell of Medusa's Gaze in the direction of Dilborn, but if I missed the right spot, only Dilborn and one of the guards would be affected by the spell, meaning the other guard would kill him. And while I was busy doing that, there was Drathas right in front of me. I doubted I'd be able to get all of them frozen in time before anyone was harmed. I decided to use a much more powerful weapon.

"Hold on." I said. "I can pay his ransom."

Drathas seemed both disappointed that he wouldn't have any fun with Dilborn, but was happy with the fact that he was getting his 3,000 septims.

"All right, he can go." he shouted to his men, taking the gold from me. "Alam, remove his bracers."

He got right up in Dilborn's face. "Dilborn, never show your face to me again, or I'll slice it off with a rusty spoon, you hear me?"

Dilborn nervously nodded his acknowledgement of the instruction.

Thrud, of course, was excited to get his best friend back.

"Dilborn back! Dilborn back! Dilborn, Thrud says Dilborn never go to sewers again!"

He gave his friend a huge Nordic bearhug, then turned to me and produced a book he had.

"Here, Breton. Take Thrud's favorite book. It is very good...many words...on BOTH sides of pages."

It was a book called "Trap" and it certainly had a lot of words in it.

We decided it was time to head back to the surface and resume our normal lives. I needed another bath, and my green robe really needed another cleaning.