Chapter Twenty-six: Lord Vivec
Merlac stared at the man and he felt the entire hall was staring at him.
"Excuse me?", Merlac was able to say.
"Lord Vivec himself wishes to speak with you, Merlac the Imperial.", the man repeated.
"Err... about what?", Merlac asked, knowing this could not be anything good.
"I do not know, but he urged you to meet him in his palace as soon as you are finished here."
Merlac looked at Achen, who just shrug his shoulders.
"And you must go alone.", the man continued before Merlac was able to ask about Achen.
"Very well, lead the way."
Merlac knew this had been inevitable. Sooner or later Vivec would notice him. What would he do to him? Merlac followed the man to the first steps of the stairs leading to Vivec's palace. The building was indeed magnificent, it was twice as big as the other cantons in the city and even the stairs were as long as the whole ministry canton.
"'I am not allowed to come any further, Lord Vivec waits you in the palace.", the man said and walked away.
Merlac looked one more time the large door in the other end of the stairs, and started climbing. Though he was physically in good condition and his legs strong, Merlac was rather exhausted when he finally reached the last step. After resting for a few seconds, Merlac gathered his courage and knocked the large, golden door in front of him.
Merlac waited, but nothing happened. He was just about to knock again, as the large door suddenly opened by itself. Merlac took a deep breath and walked in.
The view was unbelievable. The entire palace was actually one, huge, round hall, with only few large statues near the walls. Merlac walked slowly, looked around him and wondered the few, tall, stone pillars around him. He heard the large door closing behind him.
Suddenly, a rather young but strong male voice spoke, and the words echoed in the large room.
"Welcome, Merlac. Please, come forth. You have no need to be scared of me."
Merlac walked closer to the centre of the hall, and saw a huge pillow-like stage in the middle. About two feet above it, sat Lord Vivec himself, levitating in the air. Merlac stopped only few meters in front of him. He wondered if he should kneel or something, but instead he decided to do nothing.
Merlac saw Vivec's face had several similarities to the dunmer, but his skin was light blue and his eyes calmer. Slowly, Vivec stopped levitating and softly landed on the pillow.
"Like I said, welcome, Merlac.", the god said. Merlac was surprised to notice the friendliness in his voice.
"Hi... I was told you had something to say to me.", Merlac said, unsure if he should be polite or rude towards the false god."
Vivec smiled.
"Before we start talking about more important matters, I want to clear few things with you. First of all, I'm not a god."
Merlac felt his mouth dropping open, this was the last thing he had expected Vivec to say. Noticing the puzzled look on Merlac's face, Vivec continued.
"I do have the powers of a god, but I used to be no more of a god than you are at the moment. Using the Kagrenac's tools felt like a good idea back then, but many years have I felt guilty about it. In our arrogance, we thought we could more good than bad to Morrowind by giving ourselves the powers of gods, and creating the Tribunal Temple."
"Err...who do you mean by you?", Merlac asked.
"Lady Almalexia, Lord Sotha Sil and myself, of course. We were the three first councillors of Morrowind, and the leaders of the Tribunal Temple, the Tribunate."
"No offence, but I really didn't expect you to..."
"...admit that I'm not a god?", Vivec continued and gave a laugh. "Yes, few years ago I would not have. I can remember a letter I sent to a old priest of mine long time ago. The priest was called Malur Omayn, and I threatened him of challenging a god. Today, he is a so called dissident priest, a member of the cult who believes in the Nerevarine prophecy. I'm still ashamed of my words back then..."
"Why did you ask me to come here?", Merlac asked suddenly.
"Two reasons. One, because I wanted to talk with you, Merlac. I wanted to see with my own eyes the man who defies the Temple and even unites the Great Houses of Morrowind."
"And two...?"
"Two, because I can help you."
"Err... why do you want to help me, if the last thing you want is the people to believe in this prophecy?"
"Merlac, long time ago, Azura cursed us for declaring ourselves gods, she told us that one day, one hero would unite Vvardenfell and defeat the false gods. Back then, I didn't know or care if it would be the reborn general Nerevar, a pawn of the Emperor, or just a joke of Azura, who would fulfil the prophecy. Back then, I simply didn't believe in the prophecy."
Vivec took a long breath and then continued.
"Now...things are different. It seems you really are the incarnation of general Nerevar himself and now stand in front of me because you fulfil the prophecy."
"I still don't understand why you are not trying to stop me.", Merlac said.
"Merlac, my powers are diminishing everyday and I do not know why. I have tried to contact Lady Almalexia and Sotha Sil, but received no answer. It can be weeks, or it can be years, before my powers are the powers of a simple mortal, and if the same is happening to all three of us, that leaves Morrowind vulnerable. Sotha Sil hasn't left his clockwork city since we got our powers, and Almalexia is more concerned about Mournhold, the capital of Morrowind in the mainland."
"So..."
"While our powers diminish, Dagoth Ur becomes stronger and stronger. Soon, he will invade Morrowind, even threaten Tamriel itself, and we can do nothing to stop him. It is time for me to forget my pride and believe in the prophecy. You are the only one who can stop Dagoth Ur and his Sixth House."
Merlac couldn't believe what he was hearing. After all this, it was Lord Vivec himself who believed in him and the prophecy. It was Vivec himself who needed Merlac's help.
"You said something about helping me, how?"
"You might be unaware of it, but Dagoth Ur gains his powers from the Heart of Lorkhan. As long as the item exists, Dagoth Ur cannot be beaten."
"I know about the Heart of Lorkhan", Merlac said.
"Good, but what you do not know, is that you cannot destroy the heart with normal weapons. You need two sacred items that have been long gone, the two most powerful magical items in Morrowind."
"Are you talking about Nerevar's blade and that stuff?", Merlac wondered.
"No, though I am impressed by your knowledge about your ancient, now lost sword, I am not referring to it. I am talking about two items that may look like mortal weapons, but are actually much more. These holy artefacts are the Sunder, and the blade of Keening. During the great war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, these two artefacts were lost in the Red Mountain. It is there, where the Dagoth family studies them, tries to reveal their secrets, and it is there where they must be acquired from."
"All right, thanks for the advice, I'll pick them up on my way to meet Dagoth Ur. Anything else?"
Vivec gave a laugh again.
"You remind me of the original general Nerevar, always so anxious of getting himself in the trouble. Yes, there is something else. You cannot just use Sunder and Keening with your bare hands, their powers would kill you. However, I have something that will protect you from them and many other things."
Vivec waved his hand and one of the small chests behind him opened. Merlac saw something shiny and glittering rise out of the chest and floating towards him. The object stopped in the air in front of Merlac and slowly landed on his hands. It was a gauntlet.
"That is the last of the three powerful artefacts you are going to need to defeat Dagoth Ur. It is called the Wraithguard, a magically enchanted gauntlet, an extremely powerful artefact from times before the Temple, or the Dwemer wars. It will protect you from the Sunder's and Keening's uncontrolled strength, as well as it resists fire, ice and shock. Whoever wields this great artefact, will be immune to all diseases and poisons. There is no amount of money in whole Tamriel to buy this item, there is no armour to resist its might. Use it well, Merlac, use it for good."
Merlac carefully pulled the shiny gauntlet into his right arm, and immediately felt the warmth and strength flowing inside him.
"You know what to do, Merlac. You know how to do it. There is nothing more I can help you with, you must go now. The Great Houses are forming the divisions as we speak, and though they are indeed the greatest army Morrowind has seen since the war between the Chimer and the Dwemer, it cannot win without a leader. Go, Merlac. The destiny of Morrowind is at your hands!", Vivec said and gave a short bow to Merlac.
Merlac looked at the gauntlet in his arm and nodded. Without any more delay, Merlac turned around and walked out of Vivec's palace. The dice was rolling and the pieces moving...