On Boethiah's Summoning Day 1

205 Stendarr's Star
1st Passing

To my friend Tal Marog Ker,

Tis' been near fifty years since last we had chance enough to speak, when I lent the battlemage Dagon's protonymic and my isle was for a short time freed from it's prison. Liberation lasted long enough for me to gaze once more upon Direnni, and see the fall of Tharn, the same span it took for Dagon to reappropriate. I would have warned you earlier had I not been snatched away. I would have relaid it immediately but my mind comes and goes. Have you seen my son? Perhaps I was better off in the void. The void. It wasn't void while I was there...

Your notes on the journal I gave you last we met are terribly poor. Perhaps the journal was poor. I may be able to make clarifications next we meet.

I write to you at the outset of crisis. Old habits die hard [even for a Leaper Demon] but Caecilly is no longer safe from the tempest of Alduin; we were before, hidden away in the skyvaults of the deadlands in the back of the Dagon's mind - a pocket of stasis in a void of chaos, a new Aldmeris waiting to bloom. Numidius would have had his own, Camoran did but did it wrong.

You realize by my writing that Dagon's banishment by the Akatosh-Incaro set Caecilly free once more, though for how long I cannot say - if the Thalmor who came to study it's chapel are correct perhaps forever. But now we're here and the world-eater will find us, soon even, for we're in the north. I've felt since birth that should I ever meet a dragon it would be my solemn duty to slay it.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

---

20 Sun's Dusk, 4E 13
Skingrad Library
Colovia

To Chimere Graegyn,

I scarce can convey the thrill which enveloped me upon returning from lecture to find a vellum stamped with the seal of the old Direnni dynasty lying upon my desk. The traditionalists communicate so little with Cyrodiil as of late that I hoped to hear word on these new Altmeri heretics, yet to then note the mark of Chimere! I dare say were my staff not near I may have fallen, which would have dearly upset my aide.

Why have the Inquirers not reported on Caecilly's return? I might have suspected your recurrence were it not for the other matters which now press upon us so daily. It is both blessing and omen that I receive your letter today. As it happens the University Chair desires that I travel to the Scathing Bay to collect whispers from ancestral spirits. The land is teeming with them as if the gates of Necrom itself burst forth under impact of the moon; Thras no doubt finds it to be the best market they've had since the plague and without the Temple there are none left to enforce the proper rites, but enough of that, your letter will be enough for me to escape the eastern expedition and make for the west.

What is this talk of Dagon and Camoran? That is behind us friend. No Mythic Dawn cells remain in Cyrodiil, even if we've yet to expel them from Tamriel as a whole.

No rumors have trickled our way from the north regarding Alduin, were there any Temple Zero would have been amongst the first to know, and given that they share various confraters with Gwylim we would have known readily enough. Are you well my friend? I feel I must visit you at once. There are much more pressing matters to concern ourselves with than Nordic superstition, should you be up to the task of lending us your discernment.

Faithfully,
TMK

Addendum: I'm afraid I am unfamiliar with your system of reckoning.

---

232 Stendarr's Star
1st Passing

To Tal Marog Ker,

I am well my friend, or as well as I can be. I'm told for eight years I was a madman but the healers sent from Northpoint were adequate, even if their magicks less refined. Few hallucinations creep in. Forgive my dating. It is of my own design; time in the void doesn't match our own, and I've yet to shrug it off.

Why should the Inquirers care for the return of an Isle with one insane citizen? Those of my clan which have set foot on Caecilly have given me no word on the politics of Summerset, or if they have I wouldn't know, I was far down the golden road at the time.

Am I so early as that? Are the Nords at peace? Events which I barely know I saw in my last moments in Oblivion. I witnessed the Dagonites fall, not from Nirn, but from my place in the back of Dagon's mind. The coming wars occupied the Dagon's thoughts as a plague, though whether in favor or against I cannot say. Rumors and whispers travel like lightning when there is only one divine decree to wade through. Last time there were twelve worlds, in the next there will be sixteen. Or is it seventeen now? Caecilly may still be one of them, a bit of hoarded dirt, if he reclaims it, if he can reclaim it - the crystal chapel has stopped pulsing. Where went the other four ehlnofey? Meredia, Peryite, Trinimac and... who? They'll be divines again no doubt, next time; the Velothi spoke too soon in calling them their ancestors. Or were the Velothi here to soon? With their triadic gods one could never say. Anticipations indeed, but one never anticipates your ensuing immanence to usurp you before its time.

I hope to see you soon, my hand grows pained in writing. Rest assured, the jaws of Oblivion were only the first molars of Alduin's.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

---

20 Evening Star, 4E 14
Stros M'kai
Hammerfell

Greetings again,

Storms set my ship to harbor at Stros M'kai. I was expecting you off the coast of Northmoor, it seems my journey will be extended. Crews get nervous while making the stretch around the southern tip of High Rock, fear of unregistered soul snares, though I don't blame them. Seeing the airships of Thras on the horizon amidst barely perceptible gnarls of coral can make the most hardened sailor's blood frost.

The Nords are never at peace but I see nothing unusual from there at the moment, save their cordiality with the Dunmer, which we have taken in the best of lights. If you see cause for concern it is a concern unknown to the Ysmir Collective or the ambassadors of Solitude, or if it is known they've kept the information under guard. What keeps your mind swiveling around Alduin as it does? What of the Empire's collapse, of the new lords of High Rock, of the Thalmor or the Organism? Surely these are more pressing matters. It is from the south that trouble comes, not from the north.

The daedra have their reality, monotonous though it may be. One does not feign surprise to learn that the landscape of their worshipers ended in similar monotony; I do admit that I should have liked the eastern expedition if only to visit the wellspring of Fyr. While I do not claim mythic patterns to be my expertise, one must wonder when considering The Monomyth, the Twenty Tractates on Apotheosis, the Book of Hours (whether that of Vehk or Aleydas), etc, that it seems somewhat contradictory for the time-dragon to rescue Tamriel only to devour it himself, unless it was so he could devour it himself.

It will be necessary to contact my associates at the University should your suspicions hold warrant, though interesting as they are I hope I can bring your mind around to other matters.

Regards,
TMK

---

250 Stendarr's Star
1st Passing

Tal Marog Ker,

I leave motivations up to the councils. I do not know to what ends the gods act, only some of the technicalities of their means.

The scholars read too much into the uniformity of the divines. A man may have conflicting desires, but must choose between them, thus his finitude. Stand on the mythic scale of raw possibility and all such inhibitions are lost, it is only a matter of prominence. The Alessians inaugurated the prominence of Akatosh. The Marukhati tried to exclusify it. Hjalti reinstated it. The Empire upheld it. The Dagonites ended it. The Dragon of Cyrodiil is bound in stone, and in time, The Dragon of the North will no longer be.

To think the daedric realities monotonous, the University pampers you too much my friend. Untold ages I've stood and read the skies of Oblivion, seen it shift and change with the moods of the Prince, or more often with the tides of war between the Markynaz and the Xivilai, or the Mazken, or whoever they were vying for power with at a given time. I personally preferred the ever-so-short period when the Hernai gained favor. The daedra make up for in war and debauchery what they lack in romance. The divines may romance. Man and mer may romance. The daedra may not, for romance requisites division. The ehlnofey knew this, thus they became sundered.

You ask what of the Empire's collapse, of new lords? I will tell you, that is what I am speaking of already. Is not the Talos Cult more persecuted than ever? The cycle need not continue - the end comes by many roads, it may be destruction or fulfillment. Do not listen to the lies. The usurpers of the East, or the West. The triadic gods wars against Talos, and would have him removed, for he sets the stars in stone which could spell their doom. They come before they are anticipated, for unless they do they may never come at all; Alduin is their antecessor, but only if Hjalti fails. Talos holds back the divines of the next world. This is why he became a divine of this one - divine yet unanticipated, thus his uniqueness. He upholds the dividing lines of the cosmos. Defends romance lest we lose it the pit of singularity.

The Princes of this world will follow the lead of the Princes of the last - they will step up and become kings, with Peryite as their chief. This much should be obvious, every Prince Anticipates their future immanence. I can feel the pains of childbirth in the heavens and I rail against it.

I am an old man. I was an old man before. I don't think I'll ever be anything but an old man. It is for our progeny that I write. My son is somewhere.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

---

13 Morning Star, 4E 14
Daggerfall
High Rock

To Chimere Graegyn,

Your time in Oblivion makes things plain to you which confound me.

You should know that if audience with the Council is what you desire I must inform you that you'll first have to suade Idhdean, you may remember him from your time with the Wayrest Lyceum, before it became overrun with the Magnussians. We'll speak at greater length upon my arrival but the dispersal of arcane knowledge - especially that regarding the mythic principalities and patterns - is being kept under the tightest seals. The last inklings of the Guild disintegrate, it was simply insufficient for completing the tasks set upon them by the Council (and with so many of their ranks being indicted under the new provisions against daedric trafficking it was only a matter of time before a split occurred, though there were other reasons). I may be able to aide you through the University's press.

Of the politics of Oblivion I know little, especially now with the harsh barriers in place. Of the politics of Tamriel I know much, and now that you are here I beg you consider them. You say the Thalmor visited you at Caecilly, was there any talk of taking you into the new Dominion? One would think they would seek to absorb one with a heritage such as yours. A number of the Bretonish Direnni are resisting the Thalmor, Balfiera's Castellan most prominently, though I'm not sure how long the resistance can last. From what I've gathered their lack of cooperation draws from a reticence in ceding control of the tower in particularly, rather than an aversion to the policies of their sovereigns.

This talk of prominence has my old mind churning but I believe you leave out a piece of the puzzle. The dragons of Cyrodiil and Skyrim are not the only ones to account for, I would remind you again of the Thalmor who came to visit your isle or the rebirth in prominence of the old Dominion. Is it not they who have helped instigated the policies against the Talos Cult, even if not directly so? Even if the Ysmir Collective and the Orders of Hjalti remain undisturbed for the moment I wonder at how long it can last, the lords of Alcaire can only maintain themselves for so long.

I have procured a copy of Crystal-like-Law so that you may look over it and learn for yourself the current trends of your old clans.

Until we meet,
TMK

---

240 Stendarr's Star
2nd Passing

To my friend Tal Marog Ker,

I don't believe my old bones could stand the long journey to Cyrodiil, age has taken up where Dagon's curse left off in binding me to this isle. If the Council is to be informed it must be by your voice, I am here only to give what direction I can.

Those of the rising Dominion believe me mad, though that of my own will; one does not cast his lot in with those who may or may not be the authors of your doom. The Direnni I've found were not the ones I left, I consider myself true, perhaps the last - that is a lie, I am a heretic, but my staff is lit. The teachings of my childhood escape my thoughts, my mind has betrayed me. A dram of tramur will bring it round.

Auriel enacts a third end, transcendence, which is another name for destruction by way of neglect. Dagon preoccupies himself with images of dragons, yet Auriel adorns himself with shield and bow; his concerns are less draconic and thus weigh less on those vested in the world [save Talos who defends it].

Have any of my words been outside the bounds of the golden road? I cannot say. I leave it to you and to the councils to judge, I only speak to what I see in hopes that I may equip the hosts for the coming days.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

---

1 Sun's Dawn, 4E 14
Northpoint Castle
High Rock

To my friend Chimere,

I received word today that I have garnered for you the support of the University. We shall see how far that goes, though I fear your warnings will be lost amongst the daily tumult surrounding the royals and those who attempt to revive past eras. Why we tolerate the necromancy of ideas and bygone histories and yet scorn that of the corpse I may never discern.

I shall be arriving on your isle tomorrow. The locals warn me against it, the Chapel of Innocent Quarry seems to ware them away, or perhaps they fear being on it should it vanish again, today of all days. I imagine living on an island prone to disappearance would keep all but a Psijic away. Have you heard of any movement from them? I would like know their involvement with the new schools, if any. Alas, their ways are beyond us; as you say, mine is the vocation of histories, tangible actions such as assassinations within the courts of Sentinal and other scandals which dominate current headlines.

There is much to be done, I trust you will make the necessary preparations for my arrival that we may clear up these matters in a tidy manner.

Until tomorrow,
Tal Marog Ker

---

16 Sun's Dawn, 4E 14
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

To the venerable Lord Idhdean Vindasel, Xarxes Warden, Councilor:

I write to you regarding matters of the highest priority, and for the moment, confidentiality. The messenger with whom I send this letter holds the proper documentation and sigils for admission into the Thaumagnosiam. I believe the matter conferred worthy of hearing on the council floor and trust you will examine what follows with care and discernment.

As you may be aware the Isle of Caecilly has returned once again to the continent of Tamriel, not to its residence off the western coasts of High Rock but to the north. I write to you now from its meadows, chilled in the glassy frost which drifts in from the Azurian Sea, within sight of the old Andrelheimoth Keep and the Nordic ships which sail from Solitude around the tip of Northpoint to the Iliac. The exact reasoning for its relocation I cannot say, only that it is here.

Of even more import than the fact of its return is the return of its master. For a fortnight I've discoursed with its master on all manner of subject, from the mundane to the mystic, the metaphysical to the mythic, that of our plane and those beyond. One thing seems manifestly clear, the influence of the cosmic influx which has set in upon the outset of the new era. You've seen the college's restricted reports on the Asylums, what hushed whispers we've had of a peculiar event termed the Greymarch. Now we have the rebirth of the old Dominion, and if the gleanings of this island's master hold true, we will soon witness the rise of Alduin in the north; I'm sure you are aware of Nordic superstition, I write to say that its truth is becoming beyond question. In the words of Chimere, Master of Caecilly: "the void realms reverberate with echoes, an echo which settles itself here on Nirn; sound travels faster than time and so serves as a warning. Order ever seeks the dominance of uniformity; first over the void, and then the Mundus. The cycle which we witness will strike our own shores, not in crystal, but in dragon's fire. The image of Talos stands with shield raised against it but is opposed on all sides - in bringing one dragon into subjection it's mirror kin rise up to destroy him for he protects the world."

The superficial authenticity of these words cannot be doubted. Even under the reign of the Septims we witnessed the Talos Cult forced into basement shrines, only later did we learn of our infiltration by the Dagonites. Have we not learned our lesson? Agents of the new Dominion enter councils as emissaries and advisers; already they're taking back their former lands, and now we show hints of letting them take ours through conversion of ideas, and for what, diplomatic commonality? That we may sacrifice our gods in the hope of peace?

The enemy will not rest with mere ideological appeasement, the advancement will continue on land till Talos' blessing is wiped from the map and we will see that the enemy has outmaneuvered us; should we beat back the forces of the one even as we bury our dead we will turn to see his brother has arisen behind our ranks. Should you doubt the veracity of my statements I bring with me the bloodied signet rings of two Thalmor agents who came to Caecilly Isle fearing the knowledge of its master, of the implications of their actions and the full sway of their influence against our fledgling empire.

I shall be leaving for Cyrodiil shortly, first for my residence in Skingrad and then for the Imperial City to meet with you (and then if you deem it necessary, with the council). I have attached relevant sections of my correspondence with the master of Caecilly that you may have a clearer understanding of the patterns being considered and look forward to meeting with you upon my arrival.

Faithfully,
Tal Marog Ker - Chief Artificer of Extracts, University of Gwylim

Sealed: Chimere Graegyn - Master Sorcerer, Summoner & Direnni Retainer

---

5 First Seed, 4E 14
Isle of Betony
High Rock

To Chimere Graegyn,

My ship has been lost. A tempest of strange precision cast us ashore in the night and my journey is delayed. A handful of the crew were lost as well, though I'm certain we were close enough to the isle to be secure from any influence of Thras. Of other influence I cannot say. As I make talk to locals at a nearby tavern they tell old tales of the dragons which used serve the Empire during days of old. They were the red dragons of the empire, whom were later described as possibly taking the form of man; shapeshifting is hardly unheard of but it tickled my ears to hear the old tales, though perhaps the bottle of flin aided my attitude. One question plagues my mind though, a question brought on by the old tales, if it takes a being such as Talos or the HoonDing to subdue or defeat but a mundane dragon, what hope do men have when their king comes, a beast so large as to swallow mountains? If legend speaks truth this stands beyond hope, save for circumventing its advent before it becomes unbound.

I have bought passage aboard a trading vessel of Wayrest which I should be able to take as far as Anvil. An aide of mine from the University is standing-by there to take me the rest of the way to my destination.

Faithfully,
TMK

---

14 Stendarr's Star
3rd Passing

To Tal Marog Ker,

The tides of fate move against you my friend, it would have the truths of this world become cast off with those of the last, failed pathways. We must test it and disprove its standing as fate.

The myths are more than truth, not because they tell us the dragon exists, but because they tell us the dragon can be vanquished. It may be fought however it bulks over the cosmos, though it be greater than Adamantia or High Hrothgar, should it be as big as the world it must yet be slain in the name of the world. One need not consider any proportions in the mythic scale of things, but only the original secret of their schematics - Hjalti may shake his axe at the dragon even if the empty heavens above his head are only the monstrous arch of its open jaws; to the spirit which has stripped off its temporal standards the enemy is of one flesh.

I drink to your safe passage.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

---

9 Rain's Hand, 4E 14
The Imperial City

I have arrived at last in the heart of the empire, such as it is. The statue of Akatosh stands in harsh relief to the things which I have learned the past months, though White-Gold towers as proudly as ever. A merish device taken by man, I wonder if we even know of it's true potential or what it's gleaming pillars support. If the Thalmor have their way they will reclaim their lost citadels; in entering the Thaumagnosiam I shall try and garner support for Balfiera as well as Caecilly.

I have enclosed the reply I received from Idhdean in regards to my previous letter; though it is not glad news I relay it nonetheless. I go to meet the council tomorrow, by the time you receive this I shall have already passed the gauntlet. Your words of encouragement do little to settle the mind, quite the contrary; the only question remaining is who stands in this world to tell the secret of their schematics?

Sincerely,
TMK

Attached:

21 First Seed, 4E 14

To the esteemed Tal Marog Ker,

I have received and reviewed the letter which arrived at my door some time ago. The seal of Chimere of Clan Direnni is indeed impressive, even if an unlikely candidate for one bringing accusations against the new Dominion. These are certainly odd matters which you bring before me, and which you hope to bring before the councils. I have always had the utmost respect for the Artificers of Gwylim and in honor of that respect will grant you audience, brief though it may be. Make use of your time well.

I will not leave the issues you raise unaddressed. We have expelled the Dagonites with a vengeance. Though certain sects of the Thalmor may support us in this endeavor you overestimate the depth of their influence - as Warden I can give you the utmost assurance on this matter. We are stronger than they surmise, even in tatters.

The aggression against the Talos Cult has never been without warrant. They would have overthrown Uriel VII, the last pillar of the old Empire. Now we see Colovians and Nibenese alike mustering militias, reviving derelict forts throughout the countryside and claiming themselves barons or counts; this is not High Rock of old where one must simply find and hill and become a king. You say we must support the Cults yet it is these who seek to split us yet again through re-establishment of Sancre Tor, invoking the name of Alessia in the process. Do they not realize that Talos himself abandoned that citadel for our ivory city? Or are they simply upstarts who wish to legitimize their thrust for dominion? If the Cult wished to stay true to long-dead emperors they would fight for what remains of their legacy, not incite revolution (dismissible as they may be). As for this talk of daedra, do you forget that the barrier has become solidified as firm as the statue which adorns our temple? With respect to the master of Caecilly I believe his time in Oblivion has warped his remembrance of the histories.

I will listen to your inquest as scheduled and you may rest assured that the proper reports will be filed in accordance with the Office of Catalogues procedures. The assertions regarding the Nords and the Crystalline Library are another matter and will require further discussion, a discussion I look forward to having upon your arrival; if the lords of the Old Kingdom serve as some threat yet unseen by our agents it will be worthy of attention.

Signed,
Idhdean
Lord of Vindasel
Mediator of the Third Council

---

41 Stendarr's Star
3rd Passing

To my friend Tal Marog Ker,

Your last correspondence was disheartening but I have faith yet - the patterns of the cosmos cannot be ignored. The stars speak for their own truth.

There are those who still keep account of old pathways. Schematics are never fully lost, self-sustainment ensures survival even in those who plot the end of the world. The picture is not so black as it is already painted by the Thalmor [and Dark Brotherhood, who view only one angle of that which they worship as god]. Creation is separation, it is as solemn as death and perhaps this is why we hardly discern the difference. The et'ada will learn this difference again, either by rote or through the enlightenment of Talos, which is romance: the maiden, the dragon, and the warrior [and the bard, who sings their song].

Keep my blessing, there is nothing more to say. If you emerge from the gauntlet I hope to see you. The drums of war will beat again, perhaps this time we will prevail; not by my aged hand, but by our progeny's, for whom I write (and my son, wherever he is). If my curse remains I serve simply as witness, and herald.

Yours,
Chimere Graegyn
Isle of Caecilly
High Rock

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