Markarth; once called Nchuand-Zel by the deep elves is the capital of the Reach and the next stop in Sarydos' journey, after another tiring carriage ride even longer than the last one Sarydos finally spies the famous city of stone. The walls of Markarth reach high and solid, much more so than those of both Whiterun and Windhelm. Fairly impressed, Sarydos inspects the outer defenses of the great city: Strong wall, Numerous watch towers, superior position… Sarydos imagines that it would prove quite difficult for an army to ever take this city, indeed the Dwemer build their cities to last. Hopping off of the carriage, Sarydos begins making his way to the Markarth city gates, he passes up the stables and a watch tower before reaching the hard stone steps that mark the way into the city. He makes his way up the steps towards the main gate, as he passes the guard greets him.

"Welcome to Markarth, Traveler. Safest city in the reach."

Sarydos pushes open the large dwemer gates with both hands and steps into the city. He now stands in the Marketplace of the city, there are two vendors with stands, a General store, and across a small man-made creek there is an Inn. It may be morning but the market has it's fair share of early customers browsing wares and carrying on their small talk. Suddenly the peaceful morning is brought to an end.

"The Reach belongs to the Forsworn!"

a Breton man shouts just before he plunges his knife into a nearby woman.

Sarydos watches as woman falls to the ground dead, instinctively, he draws his sword and charges the Breton. The man raises his arm in an attempt to shield his face and neck for the blade only to lose it, the severed arm flops to the ground spilling blood across the stone. He screams in pain and Sarydos slashes at him again this time slicing open the side of his neck, unable to continue he tumbles over to the ground, blood runs down the street.

"I…. I die for my people…"

the man manages to choke out as he breathes his final breaths.

Sarydos walks away from the scene as the guards arrive to calm the crowd, as he does he notices another Breton approaching him, he keeps one hand on his blade just in case.

"Gods. A woman attacked right on the streets. Are you all right? Did you see what happened?"

Sarydos stares at the Breton for a moment as he debates whether or not he is stupid.

"Yes, I was right there the whole time."

he answers

"I'm so sorry. I hope the Eight give you more peace in the future."

the man apologizes, he sounds quite sincere

"You should feel sorry for that woman, not me."

as he starts to walk away again the man suddenly stops him again.

"Oh, I think you dropped this. Some kind of note. Looks important."

he hands him the note, Sarydos looks down at the note then back up, he means to question the man about the incident but the Breton hurries off before he gets the chance. As he continues down the street he unfolds the note to read it

Meet me at the shrine of Talos.

That's all it says, not sure where the shrine is Sarydos turns around deciding to head the same way the Breton did, hoping he will lead him there. Though Sarydos worships "The Reclamations", the three Daedric Gods of the Dunmer "Talos" is a name that he is familiar with. Once one of the Imperial gods, the worship of Talos was banned after the signing "White-Gold Concordat" at the end of the great war, seeing that he was technically in Imperial territory he wasn't just going to ask random strangers where to find the nearest shrine of Talos, that would attract far too much attention to him. rounding the corner, Sarydos spots the breton rounding a corner and heading up the stone steps. Quickly he follows to the same spot trying to keep up with the man, he runs up the step and rounds another corner into a stone tunnel. He catches a glimpse of the man going into a door so he follows. Opening the door he peers down a stone hallway, at the end of the hallway is a statue of a bearded man with a sword and leaning against one of the stone pillars is the Breton from before. Sarydos steps into hallway, quietly closing the door behind him. The Breton watches him as he approaches

"I'm sorry to drag you into Markarth's problems but after that attack in the market, I'm running out of time."

he says when Sarydos is close enough.

"You're an outsider. You're dangerous-looking. You'll do."

"'I'll Do'? What are you talking about."

Sarydos asks

"you want answers? Well so do I. So does everyone in this city." he starts "A man goes crazy in the market. Everyone knows he's a Forsworn agent. Guards do nothing. Nothing but clean up the mess."

"You want me to find out why."

"This has been going on for years. And all I've been able to find is murder and blood. I need help."

Sarydos looks at him in silence.

"Please. Find out why that woman was attacked, Who's behind Weylin and the Forsworn, and I'll pay you for any information you bring me."

"What do you know about the woman who was attacked?"

Sarydos asked deciding to help the man.

"She's not from Markarth. The Air about her screamed 'Outsider.'" he recalls "Visitors to the city usually stay at the Silver-Blood Inn."

Wanting to get a little more background on the Forsworn, Sarydos decides to ask the man about them.

"Who are the Forsworn?"

"They're remnants of the old rulers of Markarth. Natives of the Reach. Followers of the Old Ways. The Nords drove them out of the city. Ulfric Stormcloak and his men. That was about 20 years ago. But somehow they're still here, and they're killing people."

When he hears the name "Ulfric Stormcloak" his blood begins to boil as he conjures images of the Grey Quarter's filth and squalor. Sarydos nods and begins to head out, as he leaves the man offers one final piece of advice.

"Keep your eyes and ears open."

Sarydos exited the shrine determined to get to the bottom of this, no matter what he thought these circumstances just didn't add up. There was just too many things out of place, and the people of Markarth needed to hear the truth. He thought back on the conversation he had in the shrine, he could tell that this wasn't just about conspiracy theories. He could see that this was personal to that Breton, something had happened to him or someone he knew but Sarydos wasn't going to ask about his personal connection to this, he knew it would probably be too painful for the man to talk about. He walked hastily down the street towards the entrance of the city where he had seen the Inn. When he arrived at the marketplace the guards had already cleaned up the blood and taken the bodies away, as if nothing had ever happened. As he passed by some of the guards watched him, their heads following his movements as he entered the Silver-Blood Inn. He walks in and approaches the front counter, behind it is an older, shabby Nord with a large bald spot on the top of his head and long tattered grey-white hair hanging from the sides of his head.

"Come on in. The Silver-Blood has plenty of strong drinks and clean rooms."

"Did the woman who was killed today stay here?"

Sarydos asked

"Ah, yes. rented the nicest room we had for a whole month."

The nord said, placing a bottle of mead in front of a patron.

"Best all forget about her. Bad luck to talk about the dead in Markarth."

he says

Sarydos was a little suspicious of that last comment, This whole city felt wrong to him.

"I need the key to the room, I need to look around."

The nord stop what he's doing and stares at Sarydos for a moment.

"IIII'mmm…. afraid I can't allow that."

he finally says

"Why not?"

" The last thing I want is to stir up trouble, especially when it involves the Forsworn…"

the whispers angrily

Sarydos leans closer.

"Come on. I won't tell anyone, I just need to look around. Don't you want answers about what's happening in Markarth? Don't you want the truth?"

The nord stops to think for a moment as if conflicted about what to do, but after several a while he speaks up.

"Well, you seem like the honest sort. Here you are."

He places the key on the counter and Sarydos quickly takes it before anyone notices.

Sarydos turns and heads for the room that the Innkeeper had indicated earlier, when he reaches the end of the hallway he sticks the key into the slot and turns it, he hears the metallic click of the locking mechanism and slowly pushes open the door. It is a decent sized room, across from the door is a stone bed with a dark fur draped over it in a futile effort to make it more comfortable for guests. Next to the bed is a small wooden end table, He opens the top drawer to find a small red journal, he quickly takes it and opens it, after a bit of reading he learns that the woman was sent to Markarth by a man referred to as "General Tullius" to investigate a local nord named Thonar Silver-Blood. Satisfied, he sticks the Journal into his bag and heads out of the room, locking the door behind him. As he makes his way to the main room he stops the Innkeeper once again to return the key.

"Thank you, I found what I needed. Here's your key back."

"Uh, sure. Give it quickly before anyone sees."

He hands over the key then proceeds to exit through the front door, when he steps outside he notices a city guard heading towards him.

"You. I've seen you snooping around. Asking questions. Back off. You don't want to know what happens to troublemakers here."

The Guard snarls, angrily

"I'm no troublemaker, Nord."

Sarydos sneers back

"You're finding it. That's bad enough."

"I suggest you stop trying to bully me. You're nearly as intimidating as you think you are."

Sarydos replies with no fear of this bloated fetcher.

"We'll see."

He says

Sarydos begins to walk away.

"This is your last warning outsider. We keep the peace, here. Stay out of our business."

Sarydos disregards his warning and continues on to the Shrine of Talos, when he reaches it he pushes the heavy door open and proceeds down the hallway towards the Breton. When he sees Sarydos, the Breton is anxious to see what evidence he has found, Sarydos tosses him the journal.

"The woman Margret, was sent By General Tullius to investigate Thonar Silver-Blood."

"So the clues point to the Treasury House, then. That makes sense. Thonar is involved in every facet of the city. Here's the gold I promised." He tosses Saydos a bag of Septims. "Keep following the trail and there will be more in it for you."

He nods and heads back out into the city, He stops a nearby civilian to inquire about the Treasury house's location and after receiving proper direction he makes his way there. He opens the door and steps inside the treasury, noticing how much nicer it is than the local inn, he walks up to the counter. Standing behind the counter is a young brown-haired Breton woman in a low-cut tavern dress, the type usually worn by serving girls at the Inn in an effort to entice a larger tip.

"I'm sorry. We're only interested in helping our patrons."

She states snobbishly as he nears the counter.

Ignoring her he proceeds with his business.

"I need to see Thonar Silver-Blood."

"I'm afraid he's asked not to be disturbed."

she says, rolling her eyes.

Annoyed by the girls attitude, he leans closer.

"I wasn't asking."

he growls, she backs away a bit.

"Go….. go right ahead then… don't let me keep you."

she says fearfully, her eyes wide.

He proceeds behind the counter, she flinches as he passes by but he just keeps going towards the back room, He swings the door open hard causing it to crash loudly against the stone wall. Alarmed, the Nordic man sitting in the chair jerks his head to the side to catch site of the cause of this commotion. Sarydos approaches him menacingly.

"What are you doing here? I told them no visitors."

he snarls

Sarydos grabs the man up by his shirt and lifts him from the chair.

"I've uncovered your scheme Silver-Blood! You nothing but a sniveling little skeever and I have you now!"

"Unhand me, outsider trash!"

Thonar protests

"Did you really think your pansy guards would scare me aware, Thonar!?"

he yells

"What did you expect? That no one was going to notice you butting into business that wasn't yours? The guards know who holds the purse strings in this city, and I don't like snoops. Markarth is my city. You have no right looking into my business. Now get out."

Thornar snarls

Their conversation is suddenly interrupted by a loud scream, Sarydos drops Thonar and rushes out into the treasury's main chamber. When he arrives he finds Betrid Silver-Blood lying dead of the floor in a puddle of her own blood. The elderly serving woman charges him with a dagger which he easily deflects.

"What? By the gods, Betrid..., Betrid. No! We had a deal you Forsworn bastards!", "Traitors. Traitors all of you!"

Thonar cries as he runs over to his wife's corpse.

Sarydos stabs the woman through the stomach and turns his head towards the opposite side of the room to see the young woman from earlier being chased by a man with a dagger, he rushes over to intercept the attacker. Crashing into him from the side, Sarydos pins the man to the wall and shoves a blade into his gut. He lets him fall to the ground and bleed out. He turns back the other way, the woman has taken cover behind the counter and Thonar kneels next to his wife's body with his head down.

"Why? We had a deal Madanach. A deal!"

he yells.

Sarydos approaches him

"You deserve this."

he sneers

"Shut up. Only the gods can judge me."

he snarls as he stands up and wipes his eyes.

"Are you finally ready to tell me the truth?"

"Fine. You want to know what the Forsworn really are? They're my puppets. I have their 'king' rotting in Cidhna Mine. He was supposed to keep them under control." he begins. "While we were off fighting the Elves in the Great War, Madanach was busy ruling over the Reach. Until Ulfric came and put them down."

Sarydos listens as he continues explaining.

"When their uprising was crushed, I had Madanach brought to me. He was a wild animal, but a useful one. I offered him a stay from execution if he used his influence to deal with any annoyances that came up. Competitors, agents, idiots. So I've let him run his little Forsworn rebellion from inside Cidhna Mine. Now he's out of control."

Sarydos shakes his head is disgust, he's heard enough from this slippery Nord, it's time to go tell the Breton what he's learned. He heads towards the door without looking back. As he passes the Breton girl he watches him, still a bit afaid.

"Thank you."

She whispers as he passes her up, even though she fears him she was still grateful to him for saving her life. Ha simply ignores her and continues out the door, when outside he quickly heads off to the shrine of Talos to relay this information and obtain his reward. He jogs up the steps and turns down the narrow tunnel towards the door, he pushes it open and begins to descend down the hall towards the shrine but stops in his tracks. There at the foot of the hall is the Breton man, he lays slain at the feet of three Markarth guards.

'They ambushed him… three on one, how cowardly."

he thinks to himself

"We warned you, but you just had to go and cause trouble. Now we have to pin all these recent murders on you. Silence witnesses. Work. Work. Work."

one of the Guards speaks up in an annoyed tone, Sarydos looks down at the body then back up at the Guard.

"What did you do to him."

he asks

"Same thing we do with all the other natives who want to change things around here. We had a nice little deal going between Thonar and Madanach until you and Eltrys started snooping around. Well, you wanted to find the man responsible for those killings? You'll have plenty of time with the King in rags when you're in Cidhna mine."

"You're corrupt. Thonar is paying you."

"We have a nice arrangement in this city, and we're not letting you get in the way. You have a problem with that? Take it up with Madanach. I'm sure the King in rags and his Forsworn would love to meet you. Now you're coming with us. It's a life sentence in Cidhna Mine for you."

Sarydos glares at the guards, His rage begins to boil inside of him.

"You're not taking me alive!"

he shouts at them.

"You'll never leave Markarth!"

the guard shouts back.

Sarydos draws his sword and the guards do the same, hoping backwards, Sarydos swings on the first guard, slashing him across the chest. The Guard howls in pain gripping at his wound, his armor offered no protection against the enchanted blade. Another guard is slashed across the forearm when he reaches out to grab Sarydos, the third swings forward and misses. As the guard stumbles forward, Sarydos ignites a firebolt in his hand and shoves it into the guards helm, temporarily blinded he falls to his knees and Sarydos brings the sword down into his back. The first guard charges forward but receives only a slice across the upper arm, he drops his sword unable to hold it, his wound it deep. Sarydos leaps behind him and pushes the blade through the back of his throat. The last guard is still recovering and is trying to stand up when he is impaled through the stomach. Sarydos turns around and rushes away towards the door, leaving the shrine in a damned bloody mess. He slams open the door and rushes down the city steps towards the marketplace, his blade soaked in Nordic blood. He runs towards all the people in the market shouting.

"Lies! Lies! The Silver-Bloods are behind the Forsworn attacks in the city!" he spins around looking at everyone "The City Guard is Corrupt! They're in Thonar Silver-Bloods pocket! He killed Eltrys and Margret!"

The guards rush up and surround him.

"Halt. You're under arrest for murder and conspiracy against the city of Markath!"

"I did no such thing! You tell these people the truth!"

He yells back at the Guard.

You're the one who conspired with the Forsworn against Markarth! You're coming with me, murderer!"

"Liar! You're the Murderers! Tell these People about Thonar! About Madanach!" he looks to the crowd "I'm being framed! Framed by the guards! Framed by the Silver-Bloods!"

"You aren't fooling me. Trusted witnesses have seen you commit several murders. And there are accounts of your suspicious behavior throughout the city. Now come quietly."

His eyes look to the crowd once more. He had hoped his words would win them over, that they would inspire the people to demand the truth but as he looked into each of their eyes he saw only fear and confusion. They were used to cooperating with the Markarth Guards, to following them blindly. They were too afraid to want the truth and too in denial to accept it, to them, he was just a raving lunatic.

"Fine…."

he says finally, sheathing his sword.

"You'll never see the sun again. No one escapes Cidhna Mine. No one."