Drelasa was the first to snap back to her senses, as usual, and fussed that they needed to eat dinner, especially since the boys had been out sparring all day as well as tangling with a hybrid. She'd pin Jorun down for ideas later. Zak had eaten more than once while they'd been in Faerun for two weeks, but they'd left before eating a last time, so he was hungry enough to be persuaded to join the others. Everyone else needed no urging-especially Gyrmallion, who'd used up more energy than almost anyone else. Veleth could heartily echo Gyrmallion's sentiment there.
After she was satisfied everyone had a full belly, Drelasa pinned Jorun with a look. "I know you probably know more than we were able to guess while playing charades."
"That's pretty broad. Anything specific you want me to add on to?" He asked, proving he had not once sat still the entire time he was dead.
"Keys, towers...and possibly some additional information about what you found at Fentula Varro's estate," Ravenlight said.
"You guessed most of what happened at the Varro estate." Jorun said. "Though it's a maze in the basement with more guards than what is strictly necessary. The surgeon was more than needed. A few of the captives, including the Armigers, fought back and got beaten up pretty good. But deaths are messy. Easier to make others look the other way when people are simply missing rather than explain away dead bodies. Less mess, less smell. Drelasa is right to distract as many out of the estate as possible when they are all sprung out. This way, we are seen very obviously away and someone else will be blamed."
Gyrmallion sat up, frowning. "I'm sorry; it wasn't explained clearly what happened at the estate. Ah...Nikki's explanations are..."
"Circular at best," Tellindil volunteered.
"Ah. Well, I spent that day, today, whatever, poking around there." Jorun easily shrugged off the time difference. "At first there was nothing interesting, could easily be overlooked...except most estate guards are armed with just swords or bows. I don't know where Varro found these guards but they might have troll blood in them. They make the biggest Nords and Orcs look small and I couldn't smell a bit of magic on them personally. The armor is enchanted. Might be shield spells but I couldn't tell what color it was to be fully sure. Gut is telling me it's shield, though. Unless she's hiding an Elder Scroll in there, why in all sixteen planes of oblivion does she have these guards? I happened to find one with some keys asleep and stole his key. I rather doubt he's a guard anymore. Took a bit dodging all those huge guards until I found my way into the basement and promptly found a maze. The good news is I know how to get through it to the captives, thanks to that surgeon I ran into. They are okay for now, if a little beaten up. Seems Varro thought she could handle more important positions and instead scared herself into paranoia."
Gyrmallion sighed. "That woman...I wouldn't be surprised if she played one side against the other often enough to deserve that paranoia. Back before High Rock, I remember advising that we not deal with her, no matter how eager she seemed to work with us; she's as fair-weather a friend as you can get." He shrugged. "Five days later, I was recovering from another poison attempt and was removed from that particular arena, which probably means my advice was ignored."
"To be frank, I'm glad they ignored you. For one, it made my job that much easier and for two, it's giving us a way to break through. Unfortunately it's coming at the price of innocent citizens but this way, it's easier for us to know about it and get them out." Jorun said. "You were one of their best defenses and they tossed that aside."
"Their loss." He smiled. "Your gain."
"Exactly." Jorun smiled. "Drelasa...came up with an ingenious way of making sure we will all be seen in public by a lot of people while we carry this out. We will be able to get the captives out, poke around the estate, plant some incriminating evidence...and do the same in a few other estates around the city. By the time we are done, there will be some irritable nobles going home to discovering that their entire spy network has been compromised and have no idea by who. The next morning will be a fun uproar."
"Yes," Kaelen grumbled, "That part was...made very clear. Both Nikki and Nevusa were more than a little too excited over it."
"You...offered," Nerrion pointed out.
"I know. And I'm a better choice for it than Veleth. Just...did they have to be that enthusiastic about it?"
"I wouldn't worry too much." Jorun said. "We have to rig more than one race. All of us have to be seen so about...three of you will be trading off being horses."
Nerrion and Telindil immediately sighed.
"Haven't decided who the third will be." Jorun said. "Nevano is a logical choice because the little shite is certainly fast enough because, by the way, you have to win but he has too many scars on his back to make riding him a safe thing to do."
"I'm a good choice for that, then." Kaelen shrugged. "Which is one of the reasons I offered. Admittedly, it's partly because I had to chase them whenever weather, animals, or locals spooked the animals or let them loose, but...I'm faster than some horses on foot now."
"Perfect!" Jorun smiled. "All worked out well. I can't guarantee that the girls won't try to make you look...flashy but you won't have to be a horse all day."
"I am...aware of how they want me to look. It's one of the things they were the most..." He looked as though he was considering words, "excited about earlier." There were several giggles from down the table. He gave them a sour look.
"Could be worse." Jorun slid a glance towards them. "Far, far, worse."
"I believe it." He grunted a little, muttering, "Get too enthusiastic and I might get careless about where I'm stepping, though..."
Jorun chuckled and said nothing on that matter. Girls better watch their feet...though both were likely to retaliate. "As to the towers...that's a bit of a...dicey subject."
"How so, exactly?" Ravenlight leaned forward with a frown.
"What, if anything, do the lot of you know of Thras?" Jorun asked.
The looks that greeted him were largely blank. Gyrmallion closed his eyes, then shook his head.
"I've come across the name, but I don't recall the details."
"Thras is the home of the Sload. The slug-like race. Thras lies across the Abecean Sea, south of where Yokuda was. Remember that because I'm going to come back to Yokuda in a moment." Jorun said. "Tamriel doesn't have that much to do with the Sload, which is not a bad thing. They are not the most pleasant of folk. The Thrassian Plague originated there, which prompted a navy to go level the islands...only for them to rise again. Here's the thing though. There is something known as the Coral Tower there. I wasn't able to find out if that was a true tower or not." He frowned, shifting Dusty over a little. "When that navy went to Thras, the sload tried to fight back but are not the best fighters around. When they died, they cursed to Molag Bal. He caused a giant maelstrom that destroyed the isles but also swept up half the navy. The rest went home, thinking they had won. However, I got to see what had happened. Molag Bal had swept those ships straight to Coldharbour and dropped those ships at the base of his own tower...which is a direct reflection of the Coral Tower."
"That's the one he's building, isn't it?" said Ravenlight grimly. "The one you were trying to tell us about earlier."
"It is. Rather hard to tell this story with chess pieces." Jorun said wryly. "Bal's using it as a conduit. It's not a real tower, no more than Doomcrag itself is. Doesn't make it less troublesome. It can handle the power of the keys all at once. No Daedra Prince or Divine can handle all the keys at once. It would obliterate them. I tried to get closer to see which keys he had but that was when I discovered that the navy that was in the ships that were dropped there were...still there. And not happy. I had to leave and leave quick and that was when I ran across a terrified woman and two children being chased by half the residents of Coldharbour. Mephala gave what help she could and that was when we were pulled out entirely. Thank you again, by the way. They...almost had us."
Gyrmallion paled a little, dropping his hand down to the lantern protectively. "I should thank you as well, for helping them. I still don't know how..."
"That's right, you weren't there." Ravenlight looked around. "Vaermina actually did me a favor for once and showed me how your family came to be threatened by Bal's creatures." She exhaled. "Molag Bal launched an all-out attack on the Blessed Isles."
Jorun frowned. "They were being chased by hounds, where he got those I don't know, and by harvesters. The harvesters really alarmed me because, as the name suggests, they are harvest souls. These were hunters, not warriors."
"I know. The attack was a distraction, meant to call the attention of the warrior Aedra and the souls who could have otherwise defended them. They were going after almost any Altmer soul they saw. A small group made it past the outer defenses and chased Auranwe and her two older children out of the defenses. She was trying to run to the warriors for protection, but they herded them away. She was somehow able to jump realms trying to get away from them, which did throw them off, but wasn't enough to shake them entirely. When you found them, the attack was still going on at the Blessed Isles. Bal wasn't taking any chances that she might have been able to call out and get Talos there to help."
"It's not hard to jump realms, just dangerous to do so if you land in the middle of guardians." Jorun said. "For her to jump like that...Bal sent something nasty after them. But you are right. Very right. We find the keys before Bal does. We can't destroy the towers, that's just releasing a lot of power that just might create...a whirlpool of power that will send our entire plane spinning down it. The towers act as pins, keeping the mortal world and the spirit world in place. But we can control the keys. Exactly what we do with the keys...all the gods were hesitant to say. I'll figure that out eventually but the goal now is to collect them all. And Crystal-Like-Law is...oh how to put this…?"
"Crystal-Like-Law?" Gyrmallion stiffened, leaning forward. The name was clearly familiar to him.
"The official name for the Crystal Tower." Jorun said. "It's key is called Transparent Law. It was a giant ruby at the top of the tower."
"Yes...my father used to call it that. And a giant ruby..." He closed his eyes. "I've seen it somewhere before. I just...can't put my finger on where. I know the High Council doesn't have it, it's been a quiet point of contention for them for years."
"Oh but they do. They just don't realize it." Jorun made a face.
"You know where it is, then?"
"Tell me, just why do you think Bal chose the Thalmor for all this?" Jorun asked. "This is the Third Aldmeri Dominion. Third. And they are being beaten back slowly yet steadily. Desperation is tempting but Bal is one of those that values strength too."
"I honestly don't know," Ravenlight said. "Unless their attempts at domination intrigued him."
"Attempts are worthless." Jorun said bluntly. "Success is more his style. In all honesty, Bal was far more interested in Hammerfell and the Redguards. They, and they alone, held off the Thalmor through power alone. Yet the Thalmor had something Bal wanted. Something that when he wanted it and he had taken the Redguard instead, would mean a long, drawn-out fight. He doesn't want that. Impatient fool...But the key is alive and well. It has done this once before and when the tower fell, it did it again. The key is a person. I didn't get a chance to discover which of those three it is, but it's one of them."
"It's a person?!" They stared. "And one of the three heads..."
Gyrmallion held up one hand, his eyes closed as he thought intently. "Wait...I think...I know which one it is. Not Rumalashorn, thank the gods: Bal has him already. I thought it might be Falcve for a moment, since there are already orders being sent out to find the other Keys...but then I remembered where I saw that ruby." He lowered his hand. "Ironically, because I believe she cares less about 'law' than anyone else, Transparent Law is Sirinalda."
"Makes sense. I was getting the sense it was a woman." Jorun said. "Well...might take down the Thalmor at the same time."
"We were planning on that, anyway." Gyrmallion's eyes grew dark. "If only to save the Altmer from being taken by Bal."
"There are several good reasons for this. The time table and sense of urgency simply were pushed a bit." Jorun said.
Ravenlight nodded. "We've got to secure Doomcrag and Ada-mantia, and removing the dangers of the Beacon of Death and the Armor of Wrath at the same time will be a huge bonus. Plus, I don't know how the vampires are getting on, as I haven't been shown that; don't really know if I want to; but we'll still probably have one hell of a fight on our hands when we get there."
"The ones that survived have moved to Highrock." Jorun said. "Clearing paths to Snow, Green-sap and Orchalc. While attention moves to the north, the south remains unguarded. Now, the good news is that we know what two keys are and Orchalc...I know where that one is. We don't have to be there but the knowledge might help."
"That tower is said to not exist." Veleth protested.
"Physically it's a mess but it's power remains." Jorun reminded him. "These towers and keys are not cut and dry."
"Right," agreed Ravenlight. "After all, Red Mountain is a volcano that apparently half-destroyed itself, but it's still a functioning tower."
"And towers can be rebuilt. Brass has been rebuilt more than once." Jorun agreed. "Power cannot be created nor destroyed. You can only destroy the access to it. Orichalc...well, we only need the key. Remember how I said to remember Yokuda? That's where Orichalc is. At the bottom of the sea with the rest of the Redguard homeland. But the key made it to Tamriel."
"So we don't need to worry so much about the tower as the key with that one," Drizzt said thoughtfully.
"Correct." Jorun said. "I also know that Green-Sap is an actual tree and its key is an acorn. Snow...now that one got me. I thought it was a stone as well or, hell, even Alduin himself but it's not."
"I think I've seen Green-Sap," said Ravenlight. "It's a Graht-Oak, one of the Great Trees of Valenwood: it, like most of our cities, used to wander Valenwood before it finally rooted...I think in the last Age. There's actually a smaller Oak near it, holding the city of Elden Root. And Snow-Throat...the Throat of the World..."
"I've studied up some on that Tower. Really interesting, actually, it—" Drelasa touched his shoulder and gave him a look before he went down a rabbit hole. "Right. This one holds still. Snow-Throat. Big mystery here. See, I had been reading up on the towers ever since Nevano and Modyn had to destroy a bastardized Heart again. I've seen the Throat of the World before...but when I saw it again, at Nevano and Serana's wedding...it looked different. Taller. Much, much, taller."
Ravenlight frowned. "How...so?"
"What we see as its peak is only half of what's actually there." Jorun said. "Something is hiding the actual tower. The mountain itself is...merely the base."
"I'll need to talk to Paarthurnax about that," Ravenlight muttered. "If anyone would know if the mountain is actually taller than it looks-and possibly even why-he would. He's lived there for...ages. Literally."
"I suppose, in the back of my mind, that's why I wasn't overly concerned about it." Jorun admitted. "He is a powerful, powerful guardian. If anything, Snow is the last tower that would be focused on. Bal is wary of dragons, especially this one. He's corrupted some but Paarthurnax is a bit more blessed than the ones that were dragged to the Vile Lab. That means truly and fully earning a rather enraged Akatosh's attention. Not to mention the full attention of a very powerful Bosmer woman with a Dov in her soul. Not something Bal wants at partial strength. Not yet."'
"There is truth to that," Ravenlight agreed with a laugh. "Paarthurnax is...as close to family as the Dov can get. Anything that threatened him, well..." She leaned back, glancing fondly over at her brother.
"Bal has no concept of family or familial bonds. He doesn't understand it and it annoys him. But..." Jorun smiled. "He understands that there are some that will come flying with teeth and claws bared in the defense of others. He just doesn't understand how deep that devotion goes. What happened with Modyn and Sul and how you and Nevano actually went into their mind? You could hear his rage echoing all the way to the Spiral Skein. He'll continue to underestimate that." Jorun smiled warmly. "It's not something he will ever fully understand."
"And that will help us," Gyrmallion said.
"Oh, absolutely." Jorun said.
Veleth remained silent at the end of the table, one nail digging into the table, his eyes distant and unfocused, though near burning. "You said power is neither created nor destroyed...and that towers can be rebuilt. That Brass was rebuilt." He said slowly. "It was...what caused the Battle of Red Mountain. Numidium. The Dwemer, Kagrenac, built it. Its key was the Heart, its controls the Tools. But then the Dwemer lost...the tools went to the Tribunal. What happened to it then?"
"Dagoth Ur cut off their access to the Heart right as Tiber Septim swept through. It is why the Tribunal signed the armistice. They gave Numidium to Tiber Septim, who activated it. Long story short, Tiber Septim used it to effectively wipe out the second Aldermi Dominion, which is why they hate him so, and complete his conquest of Tamriel." Jorun said. "Thought I told you that story. Anyway, it was destroyed then. It was rebuilt again in the third era. See, everyone knew the Nerevarine was set to stop Dagoth Ur but the lesser known reason was because Dagoth Ur had rebuilt Numidium. Called it Akulakhan. Nevano stopped him from completing it. Remember he said the cavern collapsed when he destroyed the Heart? It was Akulakhan breaking apart. Again. What happened after that we don't know because Dagoth Ur chose to bite a chunk out of Nevano's neck before a rock crushed him."
"So it could still be in the Red Mountain," Gyrmallion said.
"Its skeleton." Veleth said. "But not its power."
"I've been bothered by this 'last resort' shite." Veleth said. "And Sul can't stop going over and over the small bit of memories he has on Numidium. Ravenlight was right. Bal left those because he wanted them. He wanted...ugh. He left Sul's memories of how to fight because Sul resisting and fighting amused him. The more he resisted, the more excited Bal got. And he left all those." Veleth's nail left marks on the table. "Numidium...moves. It's a golem. Bigger than any centurion in any Dwemer ruin. What if this last resort is Numidium? We pretty much handed Bal not just the key, but the tools too! We destroyed the Tools!"
"Gods," Ravenlight breathed, leaning back. "That's...bad."
"A very sound theory. One not to dismiss at all." Jorun frowned. "And yes. Very bad. I didn't see anything like that but Bal might have it elsewhere or in a very different form. Definitely a last resort. Though...hmmm...we might have some warning." He tapped his fingers on his arm, considering. "Some warning and...oh, we just might be able to fight back on this. I'll need to scour a library to make fully certain but I think Tiber Septim himself might have left behind ways to flip the tables on Bal."
"Well, no shortage of libraries here in the Imperial City." Ravenlight covered a yawn. "Ah. It's late, things were crazy for a while, and something's been niggling at the back of my mind for the past hour now. I need to get to bed; maybe it'll become clear then."
Drelasa smiled at her. "Not a bad idea for all of us. We have quite a few large events coming up we should be rested for." She put a bit of emphasis on that last bit, giving Jorun a look that said if he thought he was going to spend their first night back together in a library he was sorely mistaken.
Slowly, in ones and twos and threes, the others dispersed, heading upstairs or down to their respective rooms. At last, only one remained: seated in a corner where he could see the entire room.
He'd rested plenty in the Ivy Mansion; he didn't need it now. And this city...not as dangerous as Menzoberranzan...but dangerous enough in its own way. He would keep watch. Nothing could get past him in the dark, to threaten...those he valued.
He would keep watch.
