Chapter 9: Informants
The next morning, thoughts of the fire that had changed her life were far from Llovesi's mind as she and Julan sat atop the Foreign Quarter Plaza.
"So here's the plan," she said. "We work through the cantons in order. That means, Huleeya, Addhiranirr, then Mehra. Remember, you let me-"
"Yeah, yeah." Julan jumped down, landing squarely in front of the large steps and startling some passers-by. "'Remember I let you do the talking.' I'm just looking forward to going back to Jobasha's bookshop. Are we leaving or what?"
Llovesi slid down and landed next to him. "Okay. This is the biggest bit of research I've done so far, I don't want to muck it up."
They checked Jobasha's store first, but the Khajiit just shook his head sadly.
"Jobasha expects good friend Huleeya to join him a while ago, but Huleeya has not yet come from his breakfast at the Black Shalk. Perhaps Huleeya has been delayed."
"Here we go," Julan moaned as they left the shop. "Don't you ever have any easy jobs?"
Llovesi thought back to her first days in Vvardenfell, when it had seemed a task to walk to farms and pick marshmerrow, and laughed, but she wasn't feeling too humorous. She hoped whatever, or whoever, was holding Huleeya up wouldn't be too difficult to deal with.
They entered the cornerclub. It was practically empty: just a few Dunmer milling about and the barman stocktaking at the bar. Llovesi walked up to him.
"Raril, have you seen an Argonian called Huleeya this morn-" Too late she realised the Dunmer's eyes were wide and he was shaking his head frantically.
"So, someone's looking for a filthy lizard, are they?"
The Dunmer she had taken to be just standing around, she now realised, were actually crowding with purpose. They were mean looking, rough around the edges, with almost a full set of armour and teeth between them. Cammona Tong. The one who had spoken stepped aside to reveal an Argonian sitting at the table.
"Hello," Huleeya said pleasantly, as if he didn't have a care in the world for the situation he was in. "Are you looking for me? I'd like to go to my friend's bookshop, but these troublesome fools won't let me leave."
One of the thugs moved behind the Argonian's chair. "Now, now. No one asked your opinion, reptile. Don't be so rude. Stand up when you're talking to the lady." He grabbed Huleeya by the shoulders and pulled him up roughly, tipping the table over.
It had gone far enough. Llovesi stepped forward, deliberately placing her weight on Julan's foot as she did so, stopping him from speaking.
"I'll call the guards," she said.
This was clearly the wrong thing to say. The men looked at each other, then burst out laughing. "Stupid fetcher!" one said.
"Ain't no guards coming in here! This is our club!"
"Now shove it. We've got a filthy lizard to deal with."
Llovesi felt her temper rising and fought to control it. "Really," she said, searching for the money Caius had given her. "Because a hundred septims says that this is a club where people can come and go as they please, and Huleeya and I are going to leave now." She placed the coin purse onto the counter and waited while the men looked at each other.
"Fine," one said. "You want a lizard so badly, you can have it. Who gives a damn anyway. Get out of here." They moved to let Huleeya stand, but apparently couldn't resist aiming a few kicks at him as he left with Llovesi and Julan.
"Thank you," Huleeya said, once they were outside. "I simply wished to enjoy my breakfast in peace then visit my friend Jobasha, but those fools had other ideas. The sight of a free Argonian offends those racist thugs. But I am glad it did not turn to violence. It would have tarnished my Morag Tong honour to slay them." He dusted himself off, casually. "Now I understand you wished to speak with me? Perhaps we will find peace and quiet in my friend's bookshop."
They walked through to the other side of the waistworks in amiable silence, Julan glancing at Huleeya with a mixture of what looked like admiration and fear as the Argonian strode in front.
They went into the bookshop, which was quiet save for a few customers browsing.
"Now, how can I help you?" Huleeya asked.
"I work for Caius Cosades. I was hoping you could tell me about the Nerevarine Cult and the Sixth House cult."
Huleeya inclined his head. "I have never heard of the latter. House Dagoth was the Sixth House, but in the War of the First Council, they betrayed the other Great Houses, and were destroyed for their treason. I've never heard of anyone worshipping them, and I've never heard of anyone worshipping Dagoth Ur either.
"Now, the Nervearine Cult, that I can speak on with some knowledge. Perhaps you have a piece of paper, sera?"
Llovesi handed him her journal.
"Thank you. Now I will write a summary for Caius, which you are welcome to read, and I will answer your questions now in more detail. To understand the Nerevarine Cult, you must understand the history of the Ashlanders, for Nerevar means something very different to them than what he means to the Dunmer of the Great Houses. You should also understand the persecution of the Nerevarine and the False Incarnate."
"What can you tell me about Ashlander history then?" Llovesi asked, ignoring Julan's derisive snort.
"In the First Era, the nomadic Ashlanders and the settled Dunmer clans were much alike, but after the First Council and the formation of the Great Houses, Ashlanders have been steadily forced into the poorest and most hostile lands. Now the nomadic tribes look to the prophesied return of Nerevar for a restoration of their ancient rights and religious traditions."
"I see. So, the Temple persecutes this figure?"
"Yes. The Nerevarine prophecies are treated as heresy, and the Temple imprisons and executes heretics. Normally Imperial law would prevent this, but the Nerevarine Cult is hostile to the Empire as well, so they do not interfere. Aslanders hate the Temple for their ruthless treatment of the Nerevarine cultists."
"Damn right," Julan muttered under his breath.
"And what about these 'False Incarnates'? Isn't that just the Temple name for anyone claiming to be the Nerevarine?" Llovesi asked.
"Yes and no. The Temple says these False Incarnates disprove the prophecies, since the False Incarnates fail and come to nothing, but the Nerevarine cult glorifies rather than shrinks from contradictions, citing the appearance of 'failed Incarnates' as certain proof of Nerevar's coming rebirth. Was there anything else you wanted to know?"
"I think that's everything, thank you for your time."
Huleeya smiled. "The pleasure is mine, sera. To talk about history is one of my past-times. Give my regards to Caius."
Outside, Julan snorted loudly again.
"What is with you?" Llovesi asked. "Getting a cold?"
"I don't see why Caius is sending you to these people," he said, leaning back against the wall by the shop. "I could have told you any of that!"
"Really. You didn't tell me you were such an expert on history." Llovesi moved off through the crowd.
"Well, I am an Ashlander!" Julan said indignantly.
"Why don't you tell me what you know then?"
"It's not... well, I'm not actually a historian exactly... everything he said was correct."
Llovesi laughed. "Come on, Master Historian. Let's go and find Addhiranirr."
It was now raining fiercely outside, so they opted to take the longer route and walk, rather than be drenched in a gondola.
"I'm glad we're not them," Julan remarked, as a shivering family of Bosmer passed below them, ferried by a dripping gondolier.
Nevertheless, by the time they reached St. Olms, they were still soaked. Julan sneezed loudly. "Did I mention I hate rain?" he grumbled, pulling his sodden hair back from his face and wringing it out.
They ducked into the waistworks. The sight was enough to make Llovesi reconsider her positive thoughts of Vivec. The slums were hard to look at. Weary women with tired bodies led small children through the crowd of people, people walking just to be somewhere else. Then there were those that couldn't: beggars sitting against the wall, some of them missing limbs, all entirely despondent. By the Divines, some of them are children.
Julan spoke into Llovesi's ear: "This is awful. Can we find Addhiranirr and get out of here?"
Llovesi nodded, but she couldn't see any Khajiit anywhere. All the people were Dunmer, young, old and weary. Wait; was that an Imperial over there? He looked rather more richly dressed than the rest of the crowd too. Strange.
They weren't attracting as much attention as Llovesi had thought they would, and it came to her that between her sodden, ragged, worn robe and Julan's mismatched animal-hide clothing, they looked pretty poor themselves. This gave her an idea.
"Hold these," she said, and took off her weapons and pack, handing them to a confused Julan. "Just wait here, I have an idea."
She messed up her hair, and darted through the crowd, catching a Dunmer man by the elbow.
She coughed. "Excuse me, sera. I'm looking for my friend Addhiranirr."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Funny, that is a popular name today. I might know the person it belongs to but I can't quite recall... "
Llovesi sighed and passed a pouch of one hundred septims to the man.
"Oh, I feel my memory coming back." He stared at her levelly. "Look yes, I know Addhiranirr. And if I know Addhiranirr, she'll be staying out of sight while that Census and Excise agent is nosing around. Stingy bastard, that one. He's been asking about her as well. My guess is she'll be down in the underworks, but she probably won't be talking to anyone until that agent has been sent on his merry way."
He nodded at the Imperial currently trying not to stick out like a sore thumb and failing, then disappeared back into the crowd.
Llovesi thought quickly. If the man had decided wearing flashy armour and an embroidered skirt in one of the poorest cantons was a good idea, he probably wasn't the brightest of the bunch. So she could use that.
She paced around quickly, trying to work up a flush. Then she stormed off, head down, calculating her path so to bump into the Imperial.
"Ouf! Could you watch where you're going citizen?" he said.
"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Llovesi did her best to maintain a wide-eyed ditzy expression. "It's just, argh!" She stamped her foot for effect.
"Well, okay, but right now I'm really rather b-"
"It's my friend Addhiranirr!"
That caught his attention. "Yes? As it happens, Addhiranirr is... my friend as well. Have you seen her?"
"Well that's just the thing!" Llovesi threw up her hands in exasperation. "I was supposed to meet her for a cup of marshmerrow tea this morning, and I've just found out she took a boat to the mainland! Without telling me! Something about a tax agent..."
She looked up with wide, innocent eyes and smiled internally to see he'd taken the bait.
"Oh, my," she said. "I've been rather foolish, haven't I?"
The man smiled grimly. "Thank you for the information, citizen. I was just going to head back that way myself." In a swish of skirts, he was gone.
Llovesi retreated to a nearby hallway, where Julan was clutching his sides.
"That... was... incredible!" he wheezed, in-between fits of laughter.
"Thank you."
"No, I mean... by Azura, who told you, you could act? That was hilarious!"
"Oh." Llovesi felt quite affronted. "Well, it worked didn't it?"
"Sure, sure." Julan shook his head in disbelief. "I just can't quite believe it. Let's go find this Khajiit then."
They made their way down to the canalworks, where the sound of running water grew louder. And the smell too.
"Urgh!" Llovesi pulled her robe up to her nose. "What is that?"
Julan gave her a look. "Well, all these people, the... waste... has to go somewhere. So it goes-"
"-To the underworks. Oh great."
She found a nearby trapdoor and pulled it up. The smell was like a slap around the face. "By the Divines, I hope she's not hiding far."
They descended the narrow ladder quickly, neatly sidestepping a pile of unidentifiable sludge.
"There!" Julan shouted, pointing across the sewer. A hooded figure was leaning against the far wall. At Julan's shout, she swore and darted down a nearby tunnel, her tail flying out behind her.
"Addhiranirr, wait!" Llovesi yelled. "Caius sent me to speak with you."
The Khajiit woman re-emerged slowly, suspiciously. Her hood had fallen down, and Llovesi was surprised to see how young she looked; she couldn't be much more than a teenager.
"Great," Addhiranirr said, and her tone was sarcastic. "So Caius says to you, 'Speak with Addhiranirr.' And you have done this thing. You are speaking with Addhiranirr. But Addhiranirr will not talk to you right now, and because why? Because Addhiranirr is, at this moment, very distracted by a nice Census and Excise agent, who also wants to speak with her." She pulled her hood back up and leant obstinately against the wall.
"Llovesi told the agent that you took a boat to the mainland," Julan said.
The Khajiit lifted her head, and lowered her hood again. "Really? You have made the agent go away? This is a good trick. So speak away, friend Llovesi. Speak and Addhiranirr will answer all your questions, even if she does not know the answers, for she is now happy to do so, if it makes friend Caius happy."
"Thank you. But could we get into some fresh air first?"
The Khajiit's ears rose in surprise, but she agreed and shortly they were discussing the Nerevarine and the Sixth House in the fresher, but still musty, air of the canalworks.
"Addhiranirr knows nothing about the Nerevarine Cult because it is nothing but silly superstition. You tell Caius this. Nobody in her right mind pays any attention to this moon-yeowling. Prophecies and ancient heroes reborn and other silliness. Fuzzy tales for little kitties.
"Now this Sixth House, this Addhiranirr knows about because it is about smuggling. Some smart smugglers are suddenly too busy for their old clients, because they have a new employer, the Sixth House, who pays very well. But what do they smuggle now? Addhiranirr doesn't know, because they are very secret. And this is odd, because these smugglers are always loud and bragging, and now they hush up like fat-bellied kitties full of sweet-meats."
"Well, that was a load of rubbish," Julan grumbled as they made their way back over to the Temple canton. "Where does she get off, talking about our prophecies like that? As if we're just a bunch of stupid, superstitious savages! Has she heard herself talk lately? And what-"
"Hmm." Llovesi was inclined to agree with the Khajiit. The whole 'Nerevar reincarnated' thing did sound very silly, but then she wasn't a native Dunmer. Something the Khajiit had said stuck in her mind. "The bit about smuggling was interesting though. If vague. Julan, do you remember that cave we cleared out near Gnisis a few weeks ago?"
"Huh?" Julan was cut off mid-rant. "Yeah. What about it?"
"Do you remember those weird statues we found? The red-glass ones, filled with sand?" Sand... or ash. Join Him in the Flesh, join Him in the Ash...
"Oh yeah. They were weird. I didn't like them at all."
"I wonder... never mind, let's go find Mehra Milo."
"Oh goody, a Temple Priestess in the Library of Vivec. This is going to be fun!"
"Julan please. Besides, I already told you, I've been reading in the library before and Mehra is very nice and helpful."
Julan stared at her. "What? There're no good books in there at all! Just Vivec's demented ramblings!"
They entered the library under the suspicious glare of the Ordinators.
"Watch yourselves," one growled. "We'll have no trouble here."
Llovesi scanned the librarians stocking shelves, and spotted Mehra's distinctive copper hair from the back.
"Mehra?"
The priestess turned around.
"Llovesi? I barely recognised you! How many weeks has it been? You're looking well. And you've brought a friend!" She bobbed a bow to Julan, then placed the book she was cataloguing on a nearby shelf and grasped Llovesi's hands warmly.
"Thank you, Mehra. I'm looking for the Brief History of the Empire series."
Mehra frowned. "But haven't you already-"
Llovesi tried to raise her eyebrows significantly. Mercifully, Mehra nodded.
"I understand, sera. Right this way."
She led them to the back of the library. Checking around, she opened a door and ushered them inside.
"This is the Head Librarian's office," she whispered. "We can talk here for a bit. What is it, Llovesi? Are you in trouble?"
"Caius sent me to ask you some questions."
Mehra blushed purple. "So, you know Caius? He is a... dear friend. I haven't heard from him in a little while. He is well?"
Llovesi found it hard to imagine anyone thinking fondly of the gruff Imperial. "He's fine. He wanted me to ask you about the Sixth House Cult and the Nerevarine Cult."
Mehra leant back against the messy desk and smoothed her robe. "Go ahead," she said. "I'm afraid I don't know anything about a 'Sixth House cult', but I can tell you about the Nerevarine cult."
"What do you know?""
"The Temple worships Nerevar as a saint and hero, but prophecies of his reincarnation are punished as wicked heresy. The Nerevarine cult claims the Tribunal are false Gods, hence the Temple's persecution of the Nerevarine cult. A group called the Dissident Priests disputes Temple doctrine on the Nerevarine prophecies. The book Progress of Truth describes their beliefs. Get a copy of Progress of Truth for Caius Cosades. That will tell him things he needs to know about the Nerevarine cult."
"Thank you. Where can I find a copy of this book?"
Mehra sighed. "The Temple has outlawed the sale or possession of the book, so it will be hard to find. We have a copy here, but I fear if it goes missing I will be in trouble. A safer plan would be to search local booksellers. Some booksellers ignore Temple bans on outlawed books for profits or for principles. Is there anything else I can tell you?"
Llovesi thought for a moment. "You're a Temple priestess. Can you tell me why the Temple persecutes the Cult and the Dissident priests?"
Mehra sighed again, and tucked a loose tendril of hair behind her ear. "In truth," she said, "I've never understood why the Temple wastes so much energy on them. The faithful cannot be shaken by such attacks, and the Ashlanders are just ignorant savages."
Llovesi could practically hear the steam coming out of Julan's ears, so she jumped in quickly: "But, what reasons do the Temple give for the persecution?"
"What reasons? Because attacks on the Temple weaken the faith, and leave the people defenceless against the influence of Dagoth Ur. Faith is what strengthens the will of the believer against Dagoth Ur's lies. Faith is the source of the divine power that sustains the Tribunal in their battle with Dagoth Ur. And some Dunmer are turning away from the Temple and now Dagoth Ur grows stronger, and Blight storms and monsters threaten the land."
"But what do the Dissident priests actually do?"
"As I said, they dispute Temple doctrine, and are outlawed and persecuted by the Temple. Ordinators arrest and imprison heretics, and the Empire cannot interfere. Progress of Truth lists their beliefs. In brief, they challenge the purity and divinity of the Tribunal, suggesting their powers are sorcerous, not divine, and perhaps akin to the powers of Dagoth Ur. They condemn the arbitrary power of the Ordinators, and accuse the Temple hierarchy of self-interest and corruption. The Dissident Priests have also collected many ancient prophecies of the Nerevarine, many of which they believe to be genuine. Collectively these are called the Lost Prophecies of the Incarnate. One of the sacred missions of the Dissident Priests is the collection and study of these prophecies."
"Thank you, Mehra, that's really helpful." Llovesi said, finishing the last of the notes she was taking in her journal.
Mehra looked suddenly anxious. "Before you go Llovesi, I fear I may be in trouble here. I do not care for Temple politics. But I have read Progress of Truth, and it troubles me. I have friends, former priests, who have gone into hiding, so I am bound to come to the attention of the Ordinators. I am careful, but I'm afraid. Sooner or later I, too, must go into hiding. If it is not too late. When you return to Caius, tell him I am worried, and that if something goes wrong, I will leave a message under the agreed code word 'amaya'."
"I will," Llovesi said, making another note in her journal, then she and Julan left the office.
They left the library into a glorious red sunset. The rain had stopped and the cantons still glistened slightly as they reflected the sinking sun's rays.
"She was okay actually," Julan said, once they were out of earshot of any Ordinators. "I mean, you can tell she's been influenced by what the Temple say, but she's not just blindly following doctrine. She's trying to find answers! Come on, I bet Jobasha will have a copy of that book for your friend."
He did and that night, in the Vivec Fighters Guild Quarters, Llovesi sat up reading.
"Are you going to read that all night?" Julan asked pointedly from the bed next to hers.
"Hmm?" Llovesi was fascinated, despite herself. She still couldn't quite believe in any of the Nerevarine prophecies, but the origin of the Tribunal was like nothing she had encountered before. Living Gods. Talos was one thing and these were another. Yet, it seemed that even their divinity was not set in stone... she hovered her finger over the section titled The purity of the Tribunal before it dawned on her that Julan had asked her a question.
"Oh, sorry, no. I don't have to. It is interesting though."
"Well, at least let me read it too," Julan said, and pushed his bed next to hers so to better look over her shoulder. They read together like that until the candle burned low and the room was left in shadow.
The tall figure in the golden mask stepped forward, and this time she could hear what he said.
"There are many rooms in the house of the Master. Be easy, for from the hands of your enemies I have delivered you." Then he stepped to one side and Llovesi could see the body lying on the stone slab. She was a Dunmer, her light ashen skin drained of life, her dark hair flowing down over her shoulders, eyes closed and cheeks sunken. She stepped forward and knew that it was her own body she was looking down upon. But whose hands were these then? For she could reach down and touch the figure. Her skin, because it certainly was her, was cold. Then the figure breathed in and colour flooded her cheeks. She rose from the table and Llovesi wanted to see her, wanted to hear her speak. But the room was filling with light and she was being dragged into it.
Hands were on her shoulders and a voice, far away, was saying: "Llovesi, wake up!" Suddenly Julan's face was in hers, and his scarlet eyes were wide with concern.
Llovesi blinked, still groggy with sleep. "Bwa?" she said. "What's going on?"
Julan let her go and leant back. "You were talking. Just saying 'who are you?' over and over." He avoided looking at her face.
"I, I was having a strange dream. I barely remember it."
Julan looked back at her suddenly, scrutinising her face. "You're having them too?" he asked. "I'm glad it's not just me."
They sat in silence for a moment then Julan scrambled back to his own bed. "I'm going to get some more sleep," he said. "Especially if we're teleporting in the morning, it always makes me feels a bit sick."