# Sixth Arc: The Ring of Namira ### ~Chaos Rising~ -Arniel Gane: Arniel, who managed to attach himself to Ylgar’s Miter in Atmora and return to the 4th Era with them, manages to reconstitute himself enough to have a longer discussion with the mage about the precise nature of the threat to Mundus. -First full explanation of Namira’s motivations and threat to the world are provided. -Heartbeat: Within silence, Nihlus hears the Dark Heart beat within the Void for the first time, and notices an ache in his Void scar whenever he gestures to the east. -Negotiations in Morthal: The group journeys to Morthal to locate the Bromjunaari refugees and report the death of Wulfbron Thur. They become part of the negotiations with Imperial envoys. Sabin hunts down Genovos, who was guilty of complicity in Wulfbron Thur’s aggression against the Empire. -Bromjunaar agrees to Imperial rule, with enough concessions to maintain their identity. -Genovos is taken into custody. To spare him from long imprisonment, or interrogation at the hands of the Penitus Occulatus or Thalmor, Nevetrius and Nihlus secretly organize his death to occur honorably with a weapon in hand, but to appear like suicide. -Teachings of Paarthurnax: In response to a message from Ylgar, Paarthurnax requests that Steinn meet him for a lesson; he gives the Nord further instruction in the Way of the Voice, and provides confirmation of Arniel Gane’s warnings about Namira. He adds that preventing her arrival will require that her “tethers” to Mundus be removed from the world. -During their conversations, Paarthurnax refers to Steinn as Zakhriidokaan ("Sword of Kyne") -Contacting Namira (Daedric Encounter): Nihlus performs a ritual to astrally project into the Void and make direct contact with Namira, in hopes that some accord can be reached that suits both her and Mundus without direct conflict. During the contact, he incurs her wrath and is nearly devoured by the Void. -*Dyus Intervention (Daedric Encounter)*: A crystalline knight materializes and stabs Nihlus in the back of the head with a strange blade; this pulls the assassin’s spirit out of the Void and back to Mundus. -*Mortal Peril: Nihlus (Aedric Contact)*: Even after his spirit is recovered, restoring life to Nihlus requires Steinn to call upon Kyne’s blessing. The assassin falls into catatonic insanity for an entire day before managing lucidity, and remains anhedonic and distant for three months thereafter. ### ~Seeking the Ring Part 1: Sun’s Dawn, 2E 230~ -Arrival of the Blades Novitates: Two Blades Novitiates arrive in Bromjunaar seeking Nevetrius; they bring a scroll containing Thalmor intelligence. -Leads in Riften: A search begins for the Ring of Namira, the only well recorded artifact tied to her in history; Nihlus reaches out to contacts in the Thieves’ Guild, and finds possible leads. Visiting Riften to speak with Delvin, they are able to gather enough clues to head for Falkreath, intending to seek out their old acquaintance, Dengeir. -Speaking to Beggars and a Khajiit Caravan, the group also learns that a strange Khajiit called J’ssi might also be pursuing the same trail. -Two Steps Behind: Some weeks prior to their arrival in Falkreath, Felkir Steelwhetted—claiming to be a Stormcloak—arrives in the town to investigate Dengeir’s Death. He departs only a few days later, when no new information turns up. The group never crosses paths with him, but hears suspicions about his true patrons during their own inquiries. -Investigation in Falkreath: Gathering information from several people in Falkreath, and conducting a few minor tresspasses, the group manages to put together a rough timeline of events (See [Three Year Interlude](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lvGxIgLG2p7Lhqp7yT1vn1pfojXILN2b6wxXv0iUZP4/edit?tab=t.0#heading=h.vqq1tllv6d18)), and conclude that they should seek out Aral Khan in Whiterun. -Steinn provides money to refugees to help them relocate to Bromjunaar, adding to his heroic reputation, much to his dismay. -Siddgeir insults the group during their discussions about his brother, enraging Nihlus into attacking the Jarl’s honor and making thinly veiled threats (referencing his own history with the Brotherhood). This earns him permanent exile from the Hold. -Sabin encounters a Foresworn Briarheart in the woods; her status as a werewolf forestalls aggression, and she decides the moment is not ideal to attack him either. -Dro M’Athra: The group encounters a beggar who turns out to have been possessed by J’ssi; she has similar magic to Nihlus, who speculates that she may be a Dro M’athra, a monster from Khajiit fairy tales. -Visit to Whiterun: The group travels to Whiterun and finds it has suffered greatly in the war. They assist a priestess of Kynareth, and track down old contacts to learn that Aral Khan has fled to Markarth. -J’ssi appears to still be on the same trail, so they make haste. -The group is attacked by ravens when approaching Markarth by air, but manage to escape with little damage of any kind. -Hattu Isles: At some point, a contingent of Thalmor mages make landfall and attack onyx mines on the Hattu Isles (islands which represent all of Old Yokuda that exists in the present day); King Fara’jahad of Hammerfell declares this to be an act of war, and calls in favors to retaliate. King Molobog the Righteous of Orsinim responds to the call and summons all Orcs to return to the capital for war against the Thalmor scourge. ### ~Markarth and Nchuandzel~ -Aral Khan and Arysse: Upon sighting the group in Morthal, Aral Khan flees into his fortress of a home, preventing them from following without causing a potential incident. The group is then approached by Arysse, who offers to assist them in accessing Aral Khan’s estate if they assist her with an expedition into the Dwemer city below Markarth, Nchuandzel. -Nchuandzel: The group and Arysse venture into yet another Dwemer ruin, where they discover experiments in fusing life with brass, to terrifying effect. They manage to gain access to the City Brain and escape with their lives. -During the expedition, they encounter Falmer with the ability to step through shadow, similar to Nihlus; it has yet to be determined whether they are somehow connected to Namira. -Ylgar learns that his future self visited Nchuandzel and established administrator privileges for him in the past. -An observation drone crab in the shivering isles is powered up after thousands of years on standby. Sheogorath yeets it off a cliff. -Answer from Aral Khan (1st-2nd Week of First Seed): The group uses their new access to the leftover Dwemer technology in Markarth to infiltrate Aral Khan’s house and interrogate him. They ultimately learn that the Ring is currently in the possession of the Queen of the Karth in Lost Valley Redoubt. -To keep his promise to Siddgeir, Steinn recovers the Excavation Deed for Krohsiivmun’s Tomb, and leaves it in a safe deposit box in Markarth for the Jarl to retrieve at his inconvenience. This is objectively hilarious. -Ylgar’s pantleg cuff is cut off and stolen, for scrying purposes. ### ~Seeking the Ring Part 2: Lost Valley Redoubt~ -***Dyus Intervention (Daedric Encounter)***: Dyus sends a psychic message to Nihlus, warning them of the scrying threat should they fail to arrive ahead of the raven that will deliver Ylgar’s pantleg to the Queen, and alerting them to the obstacles they will face in the fortress. -Infiltrating the Stronghold: The group manages to infiltrate Lost Valley Redoubt and steal the Ring of Namira. -Regrettably, they do not kill the Hagraven Queen of the Karth while there. Hopefully that doesn’t come back to bite them in the ass. -Nevetrius wins two single combats in a row, the second against a Briarheart, to create a distraction; the Queen of the Karth has to cheat and heal her champion to finally defeat him. Bitch. -Nihlus actually manages to kill a Briarheart by stealing his heart out of his chest. -(holy shit yo that’s rad af) -(I know, right? I couldn’t not mention it, it’s probably the best thing he’s ever done) ### ~The Demiplane~ -Sabin’s Sickness: While flying back to Bromjunaar, Sabin falls ill with a terrible fever. She dreams of a chance encounter with an Alaxon Revival camp, and then seems to intercept a psychic Thalmor transmission. -Creating the Plane (Daedric Encounter): Ylgar and Arniel formulate a plan inspired by Mankar Camoran’s Paradise to create a Demiplane in which they can seal the Ring of Namira and essentially remove it from ever having existed. They use Shalidor’s Maze as the site of their ritual, with Thienne and other Bromjunaari warriors guarding them from the seemingly passive Herma Mora Cultists. This does not prevent the Daedric Prince from metaphysically intruding on their plane during the process, but they manage to overcome his forces and seal the Ring as planned (leaving parts of themselves behind to do so). -Nevetrius encounters the name “Cyrus” in the forge that represents his inner world; Arniel identifies the forge as being a location in the real world as well. He also calls Nevetrius a liar when he says he does not recognize the name Cyrus. -Arniel reveals that Nihlus’s essence/soul is not yet touched by Namira, giving the assassin hope that he desperately needs. (Arniel also somehow knows Nihlus’s given surname, which he has not used since childhood.) -J’ssi’s Attack: During the ritual, J’ssi uses a possessed guard to attack Nihlus and attempt to steal the Ring; Thienne protects the group and repels the Dro M’athra, but is poisoned in the fight.