Chapter 9
“The clan Wise Woman should never be ignored and her advice never dismissed. Not if you want to successfully deal with an Ashlander tribe.”
-- From Ashlander Wise Women
20 Second Seed, 460, 2E
Nethyn’s forces crossed the Inner Sea through the middle of Morrowind, arriving at Vvardenfell on 24 First Seed, 460. They came in from the south, along Azura’s Coast, avoiding Vivec and other major centers of Temple power. They continued to move up the coast, unharassed by bandits or Temple soldiers. The journey, in all, did not experience many difficulties, nor did it take very long. In fact, after only a month of traveling, the small Hlaalu force finally arrived at the region known as the Grazelands in the middle end of Second Seed. It was here that the first rebellion against the Temple, under the command of an Ashlander general named Urkhan Mausur, had begun. Nethyn had heard about Mausur’s exploits from his previous information, as well as what he heard from the locals: with his Ashlander forces, Mausur had proven trouble for the Temple, have taken most of Azura’s Coast, and even reaching Vivec itself. Because so many Temple troops had been deployed to war, there were few guarding the holy city, and many of the buildings were sacked before Mausur withdrew in the face of enemy reinforcements coming from the west. It had, overall, been a very embarrassing moment for Archcanon Farwil and his Temple lackeys.
On the day of their arrival to the region, they were greeted by a mounted patrol of Ashlanders, wearing their usual traditional garb that no doubt the Chimer had worn when they first came to the Morrowind region. They demanded to know the reason for the presence of Nethyn and his forces, to which the grandmaster replied that he had come in peace, merely wishing to speak with Urkhan Mausur himself. The patrol ordered the Hlaalu caravan to wait here, riding off and returning not an hour later, saying that they would lead them to where Mausur was.
After a brief travel through the plains, Nethyn and his men were brought to the ancient city of Tel Mora, which featured a tower built by Aldmeri explorers long before the beginning of the First Age. It was a tall and strange building, with horn-like points jutting out from it and pointing towards the sky. It was at one point mortal-made architecture, and at another point an entity of nature. Although it was hardly the palaces in Mournhold, Nethyn could not help but feel awed by the sight of it.
The Ashlander guards said that Mausur would see Nethyn, but that his men had to wait outside. Although some of Nethyn’s officers were unsure about this, he told them it would be fine. Nethyn knew, from his previous time in Vvardenfell, that Ashlanders were patient with visitors, but would react in a hostile manner to those guests who they considered were acting rude. He would have to appeal to Mausur’s sense of hospitality, and thus Nethyn had to further show that he could be trusted.
Nethyn was brought into the tower, and taken to a private room. No sooner had he arrived that another Dunmer, wearing thick leather armor with a simple sword at his side, appeared. He had a short trim for his hair, similar to the grandmaster, but a growing beard on his face, similar to the fashion of many on Vvardenfell. He eyed the grandmaster up and down, then walked over to a cabinet, pulling out some wine and pouring them two glasses. He wasn’t looking at Nethyn when he finally spoke:
“You are the one curious about the Ashlanders?”
Nethyn nodded, “Yes...forgive me if I am being rude, but I am in the presence of Urkhan Mausur himself?”
“That you are,” said Mausur, turning and smiling, a mischievous gleam in his eye. The grandmaster quickly caught on that it had been a quick test. Of course...treat your guest rude, and see if he is humble enough to accept the poor first impression. No doubt Mausur was used to dealing with Temple dignitaries, who loathed it when they were not shown the proper respect they thought they deserved. Nethyn, thankfully, now had grace and patience that only former saints had shown.
“I thank you for permitting me to have an audience with you,” Nethyn continued, as Mausur turned and handed him a glass of wine, “and thank you for the drink. I have traveled from Narsis to come see you.”
“Narsis…” Mausur said, as if in thought. He leaned against the counter behind him, swirling the wine around in his goblet as his red eyes looked about, “Narsis - ah. That’s in the southwest of Morrowind - am I wrong?”
“No, you are right,” Nethyn said, smiling, “I am Grandmaster Nethyn, of the House of Hlaalu. I have come because I desire to know of Azura.”
“I know,” Mausur said, “I had a dream of your arrival last night.”
Nethyn blinked. He did not know what to say. What does one say to such a thing? Mausur seemed to sense Nethyn’s confusion, and so explained:
“I had a dream where I saw men in foreign armor riding through an ashstorm, and a voice told me that one was coming from Narsis to see me - I would know him by his humility to rude hosts. The voice said that this was humility given to him by another power.”
Now the way Mausur had treated him made sense...but a voice?
“Forgive me for intruding upon your dream, Lord Mausur,” Nethyn began, “but did it sound female?”
“Yes,” Mausur replied, nodding. He had a sip of his wine, then added, “I believe it was Azura herself.”
Now, Nethyn’s jaw dropped. Mausur let out a laugh, then said:
“Do not be alarmed, Grandmaster Nethyn. It has been common for our mystics - especially our
mabrigash, or wise women - to hear from Azura. You have probably never heard of this, because the Temple has suppressed much of this information from common Dunmer. They have been suppressing much as of late - that is why I went to war. I did not go to battle willingly, mind you. What happened, you see, was the Temple began to become harsher against the Ahemmusa tribe, because we seemed to be becoming more and more faithful to the religion of the Incarnate, despite their laws and tyranny. Then, one day, they lit fire to an entire village not far from here, and killed all its inhabitants. Many of them were children. Ashlanders became outraged - they began to make raids against Temple troops, killing Ordinators and other Temple thugs. When the Temple sent out a force and threatened to burn every Ahemmusa village to the ground, we decided to take up arms. I was placed in control because of my skill. We joined forces with the Zainab tribe, and together we met the Temple forces at the fortress of Indoranyon. We lured them in with a small force in the complex, and when they had committed most of their forces, we attacked from behind. It was our first victory. After that, Azura blessed us with victory after victory, until finally I came to Vivec itself.”
“You believe it was Azura behind all this?” Nethyn asked.
“I know it was,” Mausur replied, “she was assisting us, to prepare the way for the coming of her champion.”
“You mean the reincarnated Nerevar?”
Mausur nodded, “She spoke this to our mystics, saying she was preparing the way for his coming. She spoke likewise of one who would act like a messenger and a prophet to prepare the way for him - one whom she had been raising up over these past years…” A grin crept across the Ashlander’s face, and his red eyes never left Nethyn’s, “...and I believe she may have been speaking of you.”
Nethyn cleared his throat, nervously sipping his wine as he said in a quick tempo, “I highly doubt I am. I struggle with the very notion.”
“Did you meet an old mystic at the Ghostgate?”
An old mystic at the Ghostgate? The old man? Was that who Mausur was referring to? But how could he have known about the old man?
“You mean an old man, who claims to remember the days when the Dunmer worshiped the original Tribunal?” Nethyn asked. “How did you know of him? Who is he?”
“He travels here and there,” Mausur explained, “no one knows his name. I believe he forsook it long ago, because he no longer cared about such things as personal identity, fame, and glory. He is waiting for the day when Azura will call him to Moonshadow, in the realms of Oblivion. Yet not long ago, he passed by here, and spoke of a Dunmer from the south who had shown an interest in the Nerevarine prophecy, and said that Azura was going to use him for her purposes.”
The grandmaster felt his knees buckle under him. He had come to Vvardenfell to gain insight and wisdom on spiritual matters, but this was too much. So much seemed to suddenly be centered around him, and what’s more, so much of it had Azura’s authority behind it. Yet why was it, when Azura seemed to speak so commonly and casually to these Ashlanders, that, in all these years, she had only spoken to him
once?
Nethyn remained there, at Mausur’s behest, for the next few weeks. He learned more about the Nerevarine prophecy, as well as the facts around the death and betrayal of Nerevar and Dagoth Ur. Without citing the book he had read, Mausur almost retold the entire account word for word. What’s more, Mausur claimed that it had originally been told to the Ashlander tribes by one of Nerevar’s former officers, who had witnessed much of the crimes committed by the Tribunal in Vivec.
It was then, at the close of Midyear, that Nethyn was summoned to the Hlaalu camp - and it was urgent. He rushed there, and found a messenger wearing Hlaalu armor, covered in mud and dust and panting heavily. He looked with tired eyes to Nethyn and then fell to the floor, prostrate. Speaking through heaves and gasps, he exclaimed:
“Grandmaster! I have ridden here as quickly as possible! Terrible news! Muthsera Eldrar has risen up against you! Prathan has fallen!”