I promise that the next chapter after this one won't be as boring. I can assure you that. I hope you enjoy it though. Again I promise the next chapter will be more interesting.

Chapter 18 – Thoronir

Dear Martin,

I'm glad that you and Steffan like your gifts. And I think the book you sent me should help a little. In fact, I'm glad you sent it to me.

Tomorrow morning, I have to confront a corrupt Imperial Watchman. Turns out he's also the one who threw me in prison. You have no idea how frightened I am. But I can't avoid confronting him. He's corrupt and he's been taking gold away from innocent people and buying things without paying for them. He thinks he has the right to do this just cause he's an Imperial Watchman. I don't want to go back to prison, but I at least want to help some people while I'm still here.

Anyways. New subject.

I'm glad that Baurus made it to Cloud Ruler Temple safely. I can't wait to see him when I get back.

Don't be hard on yourself. Any information is good to me. At least you were able to provide something. I appreciate it.

I have read all the "Commentaries" at least three to four times and I had a headache in the end. The way Mankar Camoran talks about Mehrunes Dagon is incredible, but his writings are difficult to analyze. So I still have yet to find the location of the shrine. I'll be seeing Tar-Meena after making sure that the corrupt guard gets arrested tomorrow.

I'm not leaving until I find the location. I haven't given up yet. When I do, I will find the Mythic Dawn and get the Amulet back. In the meantime, you continue stay within the walls. We don't want the enemy to figure out where you are.

I promise, Martin. I will come back.

Sonja

The next morning, I returned to the Market District because I knew that Audens Avidius usually patrolled there. I was hopeful that Ruslan and Luronk would speak to Itius Hayn like they said they would. At the same time, I tried to avoid him as much as possible.

That was until he approached me from behind and grabbed my arm. "Where did you get those jewels?"

"I paid for them," I said in a panic.

Avidius raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? That silver amulet seems rather expensive. You may be all dressed up like an upper class noble. But I'll bet you are nothing but a lying thief."

"Sir, I don't want any trouble," I said. "I swear to you. I stole nothing!"

"We'll see about that…wait a minute. Ah, yes…I remember you now." He smirked.

I swallowed hard. This was what I feared. He recognized me. And I was stupid to not bring any weapons with me. I was unarmed! It's illegal to assault a guard, but this man was insane.

"Oh yes, I remember you," he said. "You were one of those bandits I arrested. I threw you in that cell myself."

"You knew I was innocent, but you didn't give a damn!"

He grabbed my arm tighter. "You watch your tongue, you little vixen. You may have found a way to escape, but I'm not letting you escape this time. You're coming with me!"

"Let go!" I struggled to pull away, but then he grabbed my other arm. I managed to elbow him in the stomach and I got out of his grasp.

He bent over in pain. "You're going to pay for that, you bitch!"

"You have been ruining these people's' lives for too long," I said looking down at him. "How can you call yourself a servant of the empire if you think you have the right to treat everyone like this?"

Avidius stood up and prepared to unsheathe his sword. "What are you going to do about it? Call the guards?"

"Audens Avidius!" Itius Hayn had shown up. And Ruslan and Luronk were with him plus two other guards.

"I already have," I said to Avidius as Captain Hayn approached.

"Audens Avidius," he said. "You are under arrest for extortion and petty theft. Surrender peacefully and keep what little dignity you have left."

Avidius scoffed. "I'm surprised, Itius. I didn't think even you would stoop to arresting a fellow Captain."

"Only those who break the law," said Hayn.

Avidius glared at me and then looked back at Hayn. There was nothing he could do now. He sighed. "Fine. I'll take my chances in prison rather than fight you. But someday, I'll get out and this harridan who turned me in will pay."

"We'll make sure that doesn't happen," said Hayn.

As the the two guards cuffed Avidius, he was still glaring at me. "This isn't over," he said. "I will find you."

I glared back. "I'll be waiting."

I thanked Hayn for offering his help before he and the the guards escorted Avidius away. Ruslan and Luronk thanked me for helping them find their courage and for turning Avidius in. I also felt good, for I faced my fear as well.

I returned to the Arcane University. Tar-Meena was in the lobby already waiting for me.

"Oh, Sonja. Good. You're back," she said. "I turned up copies of the first two volumes from my colleagues, and I spend a little time rereading them. Mankar Camoran certainly is a fascinating writer. Undoubtedly insane, but fascinating."

"Ugh. Tell me about it," I said. "I got a headache after reading them three to four times."

"Not surprising. Ah, but more to the point," she said. "It appears to me that the first words of some of these paragraphs may be significant. A message may be hidden there."

"So you're saying that they could spell out a message?" I asked.

"It's possible," she said. "I'll continue to study the problem. Come by tomorrow if you like. I may think of something else."

Once more, she told me to come back the next day. Still, it gave me some time to study the books more and probably help some more people.

I became popular in the Market District after Audens Avidius was arrested. But somehow I felt like he wasn't the only problem.

Some of the shopkeepers have been expressing resentment towards another shopkeeper named Thoronir. I remember Jensine talking about him when I first entered her shop. I knew that stores competed with each other all the time, but this sounded like it was beyond typical competition.

Even when I was checking out The Gilded Carafe potion shop, Claudette Perrick, the proprietor, was talking about him.

"I have everything for the budding alchemist under one roof," she said. "Far more than Thoronir would ever have."

"What exactly is everyone's deal with Thoronir?" I asked.

"Oh, don't get me started," Claudette said as she restocked some alchemy ingredients. "That guy is going to run us all out of business soon. My friend, Ogier? His shop could close any day now because of Thoronir. He hasn't had a customer in weeks!"

"Well, is there anything I can do?" I asked.

"Not for me to say. Talk to Jensine. She can help you better than I can."

It seemed to me that Jensine was someone who truly knew her way around the Market District. Basically she seemed to be the kind of person who knew a lot of things.

When I returned to her shop, she seemed to be in a better mood than the last time I saw her.

"I'm sorry if I wasn't a lot of help with that watchman issue," she said. "But I'm glad you got him arrested. I appreciate it."

I smiled. "Don't mention it. I'm glad I could help while I'm here."

"So what brings you here, friend?"

"Well, Claudette said that you knew a bit about someone named Thoronir. A lot of the shopkeepers have been complaining about him."

Jensine smiled. "Well Claudette usually sizes up people well." Then she raised her eyebrows. "Which means you may be just what we're looking for. Since you helped before, maybe you can help again.

"Of course," I said. "Just start from the beginning."

"Alright, so here's what you need to know," she said. "I'm the chairperson for the Society of Concerned Merchants. We formed this group a while back to keep a nice fair economic balance in town. Everything was fine until Thoronir opened up his shop. He undercuts prices like you wouldn't believe! People who buy tend to want to spend their money there. That leaves none for us. It's getting so bad that a few of us may have to close up shop. We are convinced he's up to no good."

"So what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"What we want you to do is this," she said. "Case his establishment and figure out where he gets his inventory. We cannot do it ourselves, as he recognizes all of us. The job pays a fair bounty in gold when he is brought to justice."

"What's his shop called?"

"It's called "The Copious Coinpurse". You'll find it across from The First Edition. Thank you for agreeing to help, Sonja. We had no other place to turn."

As Jensine said, The Copious Coinpurse was right across from Phintias' shop. Quite a few people were coming out as I walked in. Yep. Thoronir was popular.

Thoronir was standing behind his counter counting his gold. Just like the other Wood Elves I had met, he was a happy camper. And he smiled brightly as I approached the counter.

"Well hello, Miss," he said. "Welcome to The Copious Coinpurse! I am Thoronir. What kind of desk can I make for you today?"

"Good morning, Thoronir," I said. "Would it be possible for me to look in your catalog?"

"Why of course!" he said as he opened it up for me. "Go ahead and look through it and see what you like."

When I looked through the pages of the catalog, I couldn't believe my eyes. Jensine was right. The prices for these items were ridiculously low. Five pieces of gold got a healing potion? A healing potion! What was this elf thinking? No wonder the shopkeepers hated him.

"So…see anything you like?" asked Thoronir.

"Er, well…" I had to cover up my suspicions. "This is a very nice selection of inventory. May I ask where you get it from?"

"Oh, well, that would be a trade secret," he said. "I can't divulge how I pass the great savings on to you, now can I? Just like a baker not revealing his best recipes. I must keep my sources anonymous or every merchant in town would use them. Suffice to say, they are quite reliable and low cost. That way, you walk out with a full coinpurse!"

That could have gone better. He didn't reveal anything. I humored him by paying five gold pieces for the healing potion. I needed one anyway. But that was just so that I could stay on his good side. I knew that I had to get something out of him somehow, so I decided that I would wait until he closed up shop.

After my meeting with Thoronir, I went back to my hotel room and started studying the "Commentaries" again. I had the time and I didn't want to waste it.

Tar-Meena said that a secret message was hidden and that the first letters in the paragraphs were the key. I had paper and a quill ready to write out the message. Each book contained two hidden words. I had to pay attention to the letters that stood out, big and red.

From the first book, I wrote out "Green Emperor". The second, I got "Way Where". The third, I got "Tower Touches". Then finally, from the fourth book, I got "Midday Sun."

Altogether, the message was "Green Emperor Way Where Tower Touches Midday Sun." All I could understand was that something had to happen at noon. I had no idea where "Green Emperor Way" was. Although I feel like the "Tower" the message talked about was the tower of the Imperial Palace. If that was the case, then that's where I would have had to go. Unfortunately, it was past noon and Tar-Meena had asked me to wait until the next day to see her. On top of that, I still needed to fix the whole "Thoronir" situation. Perhaps this was not the appropriate time to multitask. But it was too late to go back now.

I was told that at 8pm, merchants would close up their shops and head to the Merchants Inn. I figured that was where Thoronir would go. So I went over to the inn an hour behind the shops closed. Low and behold, Thoronir did show up.

I stayed there for about four hours. I took the book I bought from Phintias with me so that I wouldn't give the impression that I was a stalker. But as soon as Thoronir left the inn, I followed him, watching him like a hawk.

I followed him until he walked into a small garden. I hid behind a bush to watch what would happen.

Someone else joined him in the garden. He was a tall, blonde Nord and had an intimidating attitude. I listened in on their conversation.

"That you, Agarmir?" said Thoronir.

The Nord, called Agarmir, shushed him. "Not so loud. How many times have I told you that?"

"Sorry, I am not used to these kinds of meetings. It always makes me nervous."

Agarmir scoffed. "Yea? Well, just shut up and listen to me. The next shipment will be sooner then I expected. Just have the money ready."

"Same assortment of things?" said Thoronir. "I mean, I have enough clothing for now."

"You take what I get," said Agarmir. "I get notice at the last second, and I have to jump on it. No time to be picky about it."

"Well, Jensine and the Society are putting more pressure on me. So maybe we better cut back for a while."

Suddenly Agarmir grabbed Thoronir by his shirt. "If you cut back now, I'm going to take my business elsewhere. Or maybe pay a visit to that Jensine and tell her about your little scheme."

Thoronir pushed Agarmir'a arm away, freeing himself from his grasp. "Fine. You made your point. Contact me when you have the items, and we'll meet again."

"Don't worry, it will be very soon. Now get outta here."

From what I observed in that conversation, Thoronir didn't steal any of the inventory he had in his stock. Instead he was bartering with someone else. And Agarmir made it look like as if he was black nailing him. I knew he had something to do with the inventory. So, as Thoronir ran out of the garden, I started following the new suspect.

I followed him to the Talos Plaza District, where he had a house in the southern area of the district. He went inside before I could get the chance to confront him. I could even hear the sound of the locks clicking. I sighed. It was already past midnight. And I didn't want to break into his house while he was asleep. I returned to the Tiber Septim Hotel.

Another letter from Martin was delivered to me. I prayed and hoped that he wasn't upset with me since I hadn't found the shrine's location yet. My hands were shaking a little as I opened the letter. But when I started reading it, the anxiety went away.

Dear Sonja,

That guard was a fool to throw you in prison in the first place. I remember exactly how scared you were when I saw you in that cell. You wouldn't stop shaking. If that guard ends up in prison, his final fate will be decided by the Divines. I hope it can bring you some peace.

Now, then. There's some information I wanted to share with you. I wanted to let you know ahead of time about how daedric cults perform their initiation ceremonies. Every cult is different. But this is something you will need to know.

By reading the "Commentaries", the Mythic Dawn will think that you want to join their cult. You'll need to go undercover. And hide your face as best as possible. At this point, they will know who you are and what you look like.

What I'm about to tell you next may shock you. When I was initiated into the cult of Sanguine, I wasn't asked to do this. But, in order to complete your apparent "initiation", they may ask you to perform a sacrifice. Not all cults do this, but don't be surprised if the Mythic Dawn ask you. Knowing the kind of person you are, I know you won't go through with something like that. But I wanted to tell you ahead of time so that you aren't caught off guard.

I hope your search for the location is going well. I fear Jauffre may be growing impatient even if he isn't showing it. Write to me as soon as you read this letter or if you found another clue. Please don't think that I'm putting pressure on you, my friend. But time may be running out.

I know you wouldn't give up on this, Sonja. I believe in you. I do. You've already made progress from the information you've already shared with me. We are just one step closer.

Don't give up. Akatosh bless you.

Martin