Greetings Master Claws,

I spoke with Sotha Sil, and he filled me in on some pieces that help to make some sense of what has been going on. It seems that Nocturnal learned of some technique he used to convert life energy into a source of power.

The tower itself is a gateway to all realities. Should Nocturnal reach the tower, and use the Heart to repair Transparent Law in the tower, she could use all of this together to become omnipresent, and with the power to convert life everywhere into power.

We know what the stakes in this game of Daedric Princes truly is. Nothing short of the existence of all reality.

At last we know what the stakes in this game of Daedric Princes truly is. Nothing short of the existence of all reality. So only a touch of pressure to get this sorted out successfully.

With her own daedric power and the Heart of Transparent Law in her possession, Nocturnal should be able to access the Crystal Tower on her own. If we are going to stop her, we will need a new set of Sapiarchs to get attuned to the resolute diamonds. The process is supposed to take a full year, however they are doing everything they can to accelerate that process.

I went to the tower to see how that was coming along, but it would seem that Nocturnal arrived before we did. Dark clouds swirled atop the tower. I met Raz nearby, and as we arrived at the entrance we saw that things were not going well for the new Sapiarchs.

Daedra swarmed the area, and I went to work protecting the Sapiarchs from them. I was able to fend the fiends off, but it turns out that it wasn’t even necessary. The attunement failed and the Sapiarch’s were killed in the process. So much for plan A.

Val said she’d take the diamonds to the Psijic Order on Arteum to see what could be done with them and sent me to visit the proxy queen to inform her of the situation.

I know I could have told you all of this when I stopped by Alinor to pick up the latest set of armor you crafted for me. Unfortunately there just wasn’t the time. I must say though, the quality of this latest set is quite remarkable. It fits like a second skin and I look delightfully frightening. In the best possible way of course. You have both my gratitude and respect.

It could not have come at a better time either. I’m going to need all the help I can get if we’re going to get out of this situation.

Just after I left you, Raz found me and told me that a talking dog asked for me to meet it in the gardens. I worry sometimes that he may have lost some of his marbles, but I still went to check it out.

And wouldn’t you know it, in the gardens I did indeed find a talking dog. He introduced himself as the hound of Clavicus vile, and by the sounds of things, Clavicus vile is absolutely livid with Nocturnal for what happened in the Evergloam.

And wouldn’t you know it, in the gardens I found a talking dog.

He asked me to go meet him at a cave to the north. I was wary, but it would seem we may get some unexpected help here after all. So I set out immediately.

I was able to locate the cave without too much difficulty, and made my way inside. Well I say cave, however inside felt more like outdoors. And the ruins here are awe inspiring. Bridges that seem to span forever, and multiple levels of them.

I made my way across the closest bridge and into a building where I ran into Clavicus Vile. He felt that since Nocturnal couldn’t beat me at our last encounter that I may be of some use to him. I didn’t mention that Val used a portal to get us out of the realm. If a Daedric Prince wants to think I’m special, I’m not going to be the one to correct him, lest he turn me to ash where I stand.

He offered access to the tower. There is an entrance in his realm that is far less protected than the one in ours. He is the prince of bargains though, so I know this ‘help’ won’t be free. When I asked about the cost, he said that it “won’t be more than I can afford”. That’s not exactly reassuring, but what choice to I have. We must gain access to the tower.

I was about to leave when Val’s projection showed up. She brought news that both Leythen and Darien had left Arteum and are now somewhere in the north end of Summerset. That’s the best she could give me for location as Leythen is using some sort or counter magic to prevent detection.

So I set out to find them. When I came upon a region completely covered in spider webs I new that I was getting close. I eventually managed to find them at the entrance to a place called the Cathedral of Webs. It’s where Leythen’s daedric cult practiced their worship.

They were both at the entrance trying to get inside. After some difficulty, Leythen was able to get past the wards. Inside he finally found that I was telling the truth about Nocturnal. His cult was wiped out, and inside the Earl of Nocturnal was wielding the Dawnbreaker.

She attempted to persuade Leythen to join her and worship Nocturnal. He teleported across the chasm and left Darien and I to find another way around. Through many daedra infected by that Evergloam shadow magic.

I should point out here that I feel my dread of spiders has been toned down to a mere dull fright. There are so many more things in this reality to be afraid of that spiders on their own have lost some of their power over me. I won’t be adopting any as pets any time soon, but I no longer tremble at the sight of them. Which is a good thing because they were crawling all over the temple.

There are so many more things in this reality to be afraid of that spiders on their own have lost some of their power over me.

As we caught up to the two Earls I managed to catch the end of an argument. The Earl of Nocturnal said that the plan is now to destroy all realities and replace them with a new one. Controlled by Nocturnal.

That was the dividing line to Leythen. He genuinely seemed to think that his prince wanted to help people, and he chose not to be a part of that.

She temporarily froze him in place and decided to talk to me. She explained that the pearls were altered by Nocturnal to siphon energy from Nirn and funnel it into the Crystal Tower. These pearls would then be used to turn Nirn’s own energy against itself and thus providing a means for its own destruction.

I must admit, overconfidence in an enemy is an attractive trait. She could have ended us all by using the power of the Dawnbreaker, but decided that there’s nothing we could do to stop her so she just left.

It is my intention to ensure that she’s mistaken. There is no way I will sit idly by and wait for everything and everyone I know to come to an end.

After the Earl left, Leythen returned to normal and found a way to contact Mephala. She asked me what it was I wanted, and I explained that Clavicus vile offered us another way to the tower, but we still needed a way to attune the keys.

She was non-committal about whether or she would help us and said to contact her again once we were in Vile’s realm. I do hope she doesn’t back out on us. She must know that if Nocturnal has her way that she’d be unmade too. Right?

I returned to Arteum with Darien and Leythen to find that the Psijic order had failed in their attempt to attune the diamonds. Val was distraught, but eventually realized that we have no choice but to ally ourselves with the very Princes that got us into this mess in the first place.

You know what they say, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. In this case I don’t think I’d go that far, but at least the enemy of my enemy is at least a short term ally.

It would seem that Sotha Sil wants to talk to me again. I should go see what he wants. Wish me luck, I think I’m going to need all that I can get my hands on.

Respectfully,

Tiberious Maximillion III