#esofam

So, Voskrona - the stone golems that Razum-dar saw outside of Mor Naril, where the deer were unaffected by the soul flayer - were constructed long ago to fight a previous Daedric enemy (Molag Bal, I’m sure). There were eyes in the constructs (crystal, of course) that allowed the Stone Nest Argonians to direct the golems. The eyes were stolen, but with records from that school (the one with the additional wall opening), Jeetra and I were able to track the eyes to the vault where a Corelanyan kinlord had stashed them. 

It wasn’t quite as easy as just walk in and get them - there was a puzzle lock with braziers and tapestries and a spirit and so on - but we did get them and returned to the Fellowship camp.

Elder Tso-Nassa taught us (well, me) how to use the eyes and the Voskrona, and that got us into Mor Naril and enabled us to destroy the soul flayers as we came to them without loss of our own forces. From there, Vanus found where Mannimarco had stored Darien’s light; he recovered it and we returned it to Darien.

I almost felt bad doing so. This re-tied Darien to Meridia. It was, however, why he was saved earlier, and he himself admitted we were likely to need him empowered with the light for fighting Mannimarco.

So with all of that done, we were able to break the shackle to stop the reverse planemeld; this opened a portal to the Wraithforge, where we faced Mannimarco. As one might imagine, a necromancer who is already dead may be prepared to rise again, which he did repeatedly during the fight. Using a Voskrona statue once more, we destroyed an altar that was tethering Mannimarco’s soul to this plane. That let us beat him down one last time; Darien gave me his light to form a weapon of sorts? A spear of light, it seemed. That spear seemed to pin Mannimarco to the Wraithforge and keep him from resurrecting, and that was his end. Finally. (Or at least, finally enough for us for now. As Vanus said, he could well be a threat again someday, but for now he was - I suppose neutralized is a good enough term.)

We were also able to speak to Gabrielle’s spirit briefly (which seemed to help Darien a great deal) before the Wraithforge was drawn back into Coldharbour.

Gabrielle said this was part of Meridia’s plan. Darien is here, she is there (and leading the souls that had previously been consumed by the soul flayers to their resting places). Hopefully it is to their true final rest and not to Meridia. Though I’m sure the Colored Rooms are a far better place to end up than Coldharbour, I would find it a little disconcerting if the souls stolen by the cultists are now, in a sense, re-stolen by Meridia to be in her service instead of released to Aetherius or the Far Shores or wherever their destinations should have been.

I increasingly feel like they’re - if not two sides of the same coin, something uncomfortably close to it. While Nirn is saved with her indirect intervention, I would not blame someone who suggested that Meridia may have been taking advantage of each threat Molag Bal or his cultists have made to Nirn to further some goal of her own.

I am glad this threat is over, but I’m not sure I’ll sleep any better tonight. Too much stirring in my head. I’m not the only one, either; Darien wants to follow up on a few things because Vanus was apparently looking at him a bit oddly. He also felt a bit surprised that Meridia didn’t pull him back despite what Gabrielle said. It didn’t fit the pattern of what happened after Coldharbour or Summerset (before we pled for his return, that is).

So tomorrow Darien and I will have one more adventure here on Solstice.

Artaeum

I think Darien scared himself as much as he did me today. We do now know there’s something of Meridia left in him - even after he gave his light to me to destroy Mannimarco yesterday. That bit is bonded with him and will always be trying to return to her. We learned from one of her knights - Lortharil, who oddly looked Ayleid to me -

That shouldn’t be odd; Meridia has had devotees across time (Laloriaran, of course, for one), and to find one of her Aurorans appearing as one - or perhaps, given what I saw at the temple on Solstice earlier with priests becoming purified and such, an Ayleid becoming a servant of hers - I should be surprised not to see any that have those features.

Anyways. Lortharil told us that Darien’s light isn’t supposed to linger in the mortal world. When she sent him back prior, after Summerset, that was one thing - she was able to give us his mortal self separate from the light. But when he died here on Solstice and Gabrielle used the Gift of Life to bring him back, he was brought back in the same manner as he had returned as the Golden Knight during Meridia’s assistance in Summerset. And now he was suffering for it - remembering events that were not his (perhaps some previous champion or knight of Meridia’s who was then remade?) and struggling for control.

We would have possibly benefited from more time with Lortharil. I had just asked if there was some way to help Darien remain as Darien and return what was Meridia’s to her when we saw Darien attack the other Aurorans, and then turn on Lortharil. What was perhaps most frightening was that he seemed both in control and NOT at the same time, and had taken on the same glowing golden eyes as the Aurorans.

It was also frightening that he wiped out the other Aurorans with no problem. They should have been just as strong as he is, and even if the first one or two were surprised, surely the others -

I don’t know. 

Reminding him of things we had done together helped him regain control of himself. He looked like himself again. We hurried out and back to Sunport, where we met up with Skordo and Vanus and caught them up on what had happened.

Vanus has offered to get Darien to Eyevea to keep him away from Daedric interference. I offered Artaeum as well. (Saw Vanus give me a look after that, but he’ll just have to deal with it.) Darien is considering it, but wants to return to Glenumbra first to see his father and try to get some answers about his childhood. Skordo is going with him, and I plan to check in with them later. Darien also said there was a friend in High Rock he had always felt connected to that he really wants to see - maybe she’ll have some insight as well.

Time will tell.

Ritemaster Valsirenn (she hates it when I call her that. She keeps insisting it’s temporary.) has been informed of the whole mess with Meridia and has confirmed that yes, of course Darien will be welcome here.

I’m tired.