JoS/Kanna/18th Journal - Aryon's Plan
Sun's Dawn, 16th, 3E 428
When I reunited with Kanna the other day, she appeared more cheerful than usual, and truth be told, she seems happier than she's been in the past couple of months in general. Sure, she's always been a cheerful personality, but now, there's just something more to her! She's been humming and even singing some pleasant tunes, mumbling to herself when alone and even giggling, and being overall just positive about everything regarding life. She says it's because of the wonderful magic she's been blessed with, and I must say, using spells to enhance sexual experiences sounds fun, and I also want to try bringing some magic to the bedroom, but… is that really all? I guess I should be happy for her as long as she's happy, but I can't help but be a little concerned, thanks to her association with Sheogorath. Is that what's causing her to act like this? If it is, I seriously hope that in her quest to gain the Mad God's favor she doesn't start swimming off to the deep end like so many of these goofballs we've met recently have.
Speaking of goofballs, since Ald Daedroth has been "liberated", the Ahemmusa can now safely relocate there, and for that, Sinnammu was eternally grateful, along with the rest of the tribe. She also made sure to thank Kanna, Staada, and Assamma-Idan for their efforts, and speaking of the latter, I'm going to miss him. Perhaps we'll meet again one day? Lastly, she gave me her blessing and formally named me Nerevarine, bringing me one step away from uniting the Ashlander tribes of Morrowind and fulfilling the next trial.
For that last step, I know what I must do, and while the idea of demeaning myself by becoming a prostitute doesn't sound too appealing - even if it's just temporary - I have more or less decided to go along with this. Luckily, I don't have to do this alone, because Kanna wants to help me! Like, I would've never had the heart to ask her to sell her body to make money for me, but she brought it up! When I asked her why she wanted to do this, she just shrugged and said, "I dunno, 'cuz I feel like it", and with that wide, beaming smile of hers, she told me she'd gladly share the burden. "I bet it'll be fun", she even said.
I'm so lucky to have a friend like her. I'll have to think about how I can repay her for this favor, because she deserves something extra special.
Now, we're staying in Tel Vos. I only met Master Aryon briefly today, as he seemed preoccupied with something, but I had enough time to hand him the letter from Gnisis, and inform him that Baladas is in full support of him becoming the new Archmagister. As thanks, he had opened up a room to serve as my private quarters in one of the castle towers. "It should be more fitting of your rank as a Telvanni Wizard", he said, reminding me of my promotion and welcoming me into his private ranks. Lastly, he invited me and my "little friend" for tea the next morning, saying he'd love to catch up, get up to speed with my progress, make a couple of new propositions to me, and notify me of his own plans and progress.
We have the whole evening for ourselves now, so we're gonna relax and do something, but not sure what. We'll probably just talk or practice casting new spells. Kanna also says we should write Karim a letter to notify him of what's happening with us since we haven't seen him in a while, which is a wonderful idea! Not sure why we hadn't sent him a letter before! I guess it's time to put this book away and get to that!
Sun's Dawn, 16th, 3E 428
I've never quite understood Telvanni's obsession with tea, not until I graced my tongue and lips with Andil's Gingergreen Chai, or as I'd like to call it, the nectar of the gods. Kanna liked it too. On that note, getting Kanna into Aryon's tower wasn't easy because she can't levitate, but we managed. Somehow.
While Master Aryon was interested in talking about his ambitions, both personal and those relating to broader Telvanni politics, he didn't stay on those topics for long. Instead, he wanted to discuss me and my future.
Firstly, he said that as a Telvanni Wizard, my days of doing menial tasks like fetching quests and physical labor are behind me, as these are jobs for retainers and servants. For your information, he didn't say slaves because he doesn't own any, nor does he intend on getting any. In Tel Vos, everyone gets paid. Instead, my "job" - if you can even call it that - is being his understudy. He's my benefactor and sponsor, and now he wants to be my teacher too? How can I argue with that? As a symbol of my office, I'm supposed to wear a blue-and-brown Telvanni robe, but truth be told, any extravagant blue-and-gold garments should suffice, with both gold and black being acceptable supplementary colors as well. Aryon isn't too anal about dress codes, and wants me to wear what I want. Good, because I don't like skirts and dresses. Pants all the way, baby! I'll probably order my new clothes custom-made from "Elegnan's Emporium" at Tel Mora.
Now that I'm his understudy, he wanted to start by giving me a brutally honest "academic evaluation" to see where we stand. He thinks that my ability to pick up and learn new spells is exceptional for someone my age, which is the main reason why he even wants to spend time mentoring me on a personal level, but I still lack mastery over magic as a whole, which he sees as a problem, and a significant hurdle for me to overcome.
To demonstrate what he meant, he cast a simple, harmless feather spell on me and instructed me to dispel it. A simple task, I thought, but immediately after I succeeded, he told me I could've done it better. He told me I'm wasteful and expel more magicka than is necessary, a tell-tale sign of an inexperienced mage. "But a diamond is meant to be polished", he said and gave me a couple of tips on how to cast the spell better. "Learning a spell isn't enough. Efficiency is the key. To cast a spell with as much power as possible, with as little effort as possible, that's true mastery."
Then, five minutes later, for the second demonstration, I dispelled the same spell again, and sure enough, I could immediately notice a difference. I could tell that the spell was gone, but it's like I hadn't even burdened my own magicka as a result like I had before. It was so simple, yet so incredible.
Master Aryon complimented me for a task well done, and instructed me to incorporate what he taught me today into all my future magical studies, starting with honing what I already know; levitate and fireball, to be specific. These are the most basic spells for anyone to learn in House Telvanni, so to prove I'm worthy of being his understudy in addition to having him as my benefactor, I must master them. For additional homework, he tasked me with learning "Mark" and "Recall", a somewhat complicated pair of spells used to first create a spiritual anchor of sorts for the caster's magicka to return into, and then create a liminal passage-way capable of bypassing physical boundaries and structures, and even space itself. In other words, he taught me teleportation magic.
Then, he wanted to catch up with my progress regarding the Nerevarine prophecy, which is great because that's what I also wanted to talk about. I immediately brought up my need to buy - or in this case, "liberate" - a slave from Savile's shop in Tel Aruhn, telling him the exact reason why, and even showed him the contract I had been given by Savile. I could tell that it got him thinking, given the look on his face as he read the contract, but instead of telling me what was going through his mind, he asked me: "And what are you planning to do?"
I was too ashamed to outright admit I was thinking about accepting the job. Like, not only would that mean I would be working for a woman in service to Archmagister Gothren, which I feared could upset Master Aryon, but it's also not easy to openly admit to thinking about whoring yourself out. Even admitting to being a promiscuous young woman can be embarrassing sometimes, considering how judgmental some people are. So, instead, I simply replied by sheepishly admitting: "I'm not sure if I can afford this. She's asking for over thirty thousand drakes, and this seems like such easy money."
Then, he did something surprising. He placed his hand up to my cheek, stroking my hair with a gentle yet mysterious smile on his face, and lifted my face up with his thumb as I just froze. I wanted to ask what he was thinking, but I was stammering so much I could barely even get a single word out of my mouth. Seemingly amused by my reaction, he then asked me: "Does she know?"
"K-know whu… what?"
"Does she know why you really need a slave, little miss Nerevar?" he asked, leaning closer, almost as if intending to steal a kiss from my lips. Simultaneously, he clutched my hand gently, the one in which I wear the Moon-and-Star. "Does she know who you really are?"
I averted my eyes because I didn't know if he was going to like my answer or not. "I told her why I need a slave in detail", I admitted, practically whispering. "I also told her about working on behalf of Kaushad, Ashkhan for the Zainab Tribe, and mentioned Sonommu by name because they're supposedly friends, and… I didn't tell her anything about being Nerevarine, but I WAS wearing my ring, so - "
"Take the job", he said with a sly smirk, shocking me. My eyes widened, and now I couldn't take my eyes off him, even though I wanted to. "I'll be honest, she'll likely try to get you in trouble", he continued, "but it's imperative that you do everything exactly as she says. No, no, scratch that. If she DOES screw you over, fight back a little. Feign defeat, feign outrage, and even feign despair. She won't kill you, or even hurt you, so don't you worry about that. Slavers can't turn a profit on dead girls." My confusion and shock turned into an awkward smile, and I glanced at Kanna, who was still listening keenly and quietly. She looked amused but didn't react, even though my heart felt like exploding. "And whatever you do", Aryon continued. "Don't pay that fetcher a single penny; best she doesn't get suspicious about someone being your benefactor on top of you being the Incarnate. In fact, best if she doesn't get suspicious about you at all, and sees you as nothing more than a helpless and gullible little orphan girl. Makes you a perfect assassin for me."
It was all starting to click in my head now, but I still wasn't sure how to react, so Aryon continued.
"You can't challenge Gothren directly. He's far too powerful for you - or me, for that matter - to defeat using conventional means, but we can do this. You can do this. Oh, and remember this: you will be reimbursed handsomely for your work, so whatever happens, you'll just have to trust me, okay? You should also start by getting the backing of the remaining council members to support your bid to become the Telvanni Hortator before you go to Tel Aruhn. I talked with Master Neloth while you were away to ensure he won't give you problems. You can trust me on that. As for Mistress Therana, all I can say is good luck. Secondly, I trust you have friends and allies that can also help you with bringing down Gothren." Saying that, he glanced at Kanna and nodded at her. "Don't be afraid to ask them for help, whoever they might be. I trust you to be resourceful. You'll also get help from my allies once you're inside, as I have eyes and ears inside Tel Aruhn. So, what do you say?"
I just smiled awkwardly and gave him the slowest nod I'd ever given anybody, quietly accepting this task. Like, what am I gonna get myself into? This sounds dangerous, but at the same time… I trust Master Aryon in having my back, and agree that I could never defeat Gothren without all this smoke and mirrors. This might just be the only way, and Aryon certainly seems confident, but what if this fails? What if I fail? Oh geez, I don't even want to imagine…
Regardless, Kanna is on board with this as well. "I already promised to help, didn't I", was what she told me as we left Master Aryon's tower. She even told me that this sounds exciting, saying that she'll be especially glad to help me with the assassination part. "Just say a word, and I plunge a dagger straight through Gothren's heart", she added with a smile and a wink.
Still, as Master Aryon also said, we're not in a rush to Tel Aruhn. Got at least two stops on the way. We'll start by sailing to Tel Branora to meet up with Mistress Therana. Still haven't forgotten about that quest Big Helende gave Kanna either, where she was tasked with stealing a staff from a sorcerer living there, so - …Oh, that gives me an idea!
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