Skyrim: Band of Thieves

"I'm not sure what happened, but I am pleased to have Mercer in my hands once more." Karliah commented, where she walked down to where Capper was standing, and the strange lizard creature, before she focused on Mercer, who was tied up in such an odd and interesting manner, "Twenty-five years... I've been on the run for twenty-five years, never sleeping in the same place twice, out of fear that I'd be caught, all because of you and your lies... but now your lies will be brought to the surface. The question is, will you tell the Guild the truth, or will I have to do it for you?"

Capper raised an eyebrow for a moment as Karliah pulled out a journal, one with a new mark on it that Mercer recognized immediately, if the freaked out expression of his eyes was any indication, meaning it might hold some juicy information on it that could expose the truth of Mercer's activities to the rest of the Guild, before he noticed the look of defiance that crossed his eyes.

"Doesn't look like he's interested in playing along. Out of curiosity, what does the journal say?" Capper inquired, because it had to be good if just seeing the journal was causing Mercer to sweat like this, while at the same time a few of the collector kobolds joined them and picked Mercer up, allowing them to carrying him outside since there seemed to be a second way to enter Snow Veil Sanctum.

"Honestly, I wish I knew. It's Gallus' personal journal, and I know he was investigating Mercer before his death... however, it seems that the pages are written in a language I don't recognize." Karliah admitted, which was interesting that she assumed the Guild would listen to something they couldn't understand, though that meant she might also have a way to translate it, given that she was willing to threaten Mercer with the information Gallus had written inside it, "Gallus had a friend at the College, Enthir, that he spent a lot of time talking to, and I've talked to him a few times... maybe he knows of a way to quickly translate the journal? He'll either be in the local inn, or somewhere inside the College, so I will entrust the journal to you while I bury Gallus... though I must ask: who are you exactly?"

Capper, of course, introduced himself my his mortal name, since he wasn't entirely sure he could trust Karliah not to spill his secret, and he didn't trust Mercer with it either, though he did collect Mercer's weapons as well, mostly so they didn't rot in a ruin for the rest of their existence. He also introduced Tri Ki and the kobolds that were hauling out the loot that was inside the ruin, a grand haul in his eyes, and Capper could see that Karliah was surprised by this information, though as soon as all of the collector kobolds were gone he collected the journal and bid his new ally farewell as he headed towards Winterhold once more. Sure enough he found that getting to the small settlement was easy, there were no enemies for him to worry about, so he was able to walk in silence, but he did keep one of the kobolds near Karliah to make sure she was fine and that Mercer wasn't freed if he went too far. There was also the fact that he wanted the watcher to keep an eye on Karliah, since she admitted to being on the run for a long time and he had a feeling she might harm Mercer before he was brought before the rest of the Guild, but for the time being it looked like she was holding herself back.

With that in mind he focused on the task at hand as he found that he reached the small settlement in no time, where Rarity and the others were waiting outside, the carriage was with them as well, though he quickly informed his friends of what was currently happening so they knew what his next order of business was.

"So... Mercer murdered Gallus, not Karliah? Yeah, the others aren't going to believe that, not without solid evidence." La'nari commented, because while the murder had happened before she was even born, and she had only heard about it later on when she joined the Guild, she knew that Brynjolf, Vex, and the others would require more than Karliah's word, especially since most of them knew her as the murderer, not Mercer.

"And even with Mercer partly trapped as a golden statue, they'll believe he was forced to tell them what Karliah wants them to know, hence my latest mission." Capper said, where he held up the journal for a moment, thinking about what might be written on it, though while he knew that he could just ask Mora what was written inside it he had a feeling that this could be something not even the Prince of Knowledge knew about, so maybe he could translate it and then give Mora the guide as a gift of some kind, "I'm going to check with Karliah's contact, which was Gallus' contact, and see what's written on this, maybe even figure out how to translate it... then we'll take it and Mercer back to the Guild, let them figure out who is telling the truth and who is telling the lie."

Rarity sighed and thought about mentioning just asking Mora, since it seemed better to ask the Prince of Knowledge, but she decided not to question Capper's decision, because if he wanted to do things this way she knew better than to argue, and that was with the thought that he was a Prince, so it was unwise to argue with him. Capper, on the other hand, found that it wasn't hard to find Enthir, in fact the mage in question happened to be walking down the College's bridge and stopped when Capper hailed him, allowing them to speak between two of the buildings for a short time. Enthir confirmed that he knew the figure he was talking about, that Karliah would eventually bring him Gallus' journal, and when he studied the pages he had an answer for him within a matter of seconds, everything was written in the language of the falmer, the snow elves who had lived in Skyrim a lifetime ago. Apparently Gallus had been an academic and that lead to him meeting Enthir, after breaking into Enthir's room and taking note of the mage's notes, causing them to discuss things on the subject before he pointed the thief in the direction of someone who could help him learn the language, and now he was giving Capper that information since it would help Karliah out.

As it turned out the information Enthir had for them was that Calcelmo in Markarth would have the information needed to translate the journal, which was an interesting thing since Capper hadn't set up a portal in that city, to which he thanked the mage for his time and departed with his kobold companion.

"We're heading to Markarth." Capper said, where he and Tri Ki regrouped with the others, causing La'nari to nod her head as she got the carriage ready, allowing the others to climb into the inner rest area that Capper had created, and it wasn't long before they got underway once more, before he noticed that someone else was with them, "Ah, good morning Sharva. Did you sleep well?"

"Ugh... as well as expected, given the hits I took from that blasted mace." the ashen khajiit replied, though it was clear that she was still recovering from the fight with Xylia, meaning the vampire must have done a lot of damage to her before they witnessed the end of their clash, before she sighed as she looked at Capper, "Xylia's dead... right? I didn't imagine my victory over her, did I?"

"No, you didn't imagine it, because you killed her. You won, despite her attempts to bring you down." Capper answered, all while noting that Rarity was taking the ashen khajiit's measurements, because there was a chance that they could make her something thanks to all of the materials that were available to her, she just needed to figure a few things out before they worried about, "You should rest... we can talk more when you are fully rested and ready to take on the world."

With that said he left the ashen khajiit to the others as he rejoined La'nari at the front of the carriage, allowing him to think about the situations that were now unfolding, the first being the fact that he and Ithelia had to deal with the transformed Mora and the consequences of his actions, plus training to be sure it didn't happen again. In addition to that there was the fact that Mercer needed to be dealt with, which he was doing right now with tracking down the information to prove that the idiotic Guildmaster was wrong and that Karliah was the right now in this argument. There was also helping Sharva with her new Dragonborn nature, after telling her about it anyway, though he suspected that this would be a shock to her, once she got over the fact that he was a Daedric Prince and knew two other Princes fairly well. In addition to all of that there was the fact that he and the others would have to worry about the dragons at some point, even though right now it sure seemed like the wyverns, for that was what they were, didn't seem to be interested in people.

As he thought about that, however, he and La'nari spotted one of the wyverns off in the distance, appearing to be hunting down one of the horkers or another animal that it wanted to munch on, but it seemed like the beast had no desire to mess with them, if it even knew they were there, allowing them to focus on the road again.

The journey to Markarth was, by all accounts, boring since there were no wild animals to worry about and the enemies the group were used to fighting didn't seem interested in coming out at all, as there were no bandits to slay, no Forsworn to kill, and no battles happening between the Imperials and the Stormcloaks. Such a thing allowed them to make sure Sharva was fine, since a peaceful ride with no interruptions seemed to be the best thing for her right now, and when they reached the area that they took down one of the Saint camps in she got up and joined those that were inside the carriage, though it did cause her to be confused by the carriage's magical interior. The ashen khajiit was pleased to have her swords back, though none of them were interested in asking how she recovered both of the daedric swords, given that they had been taken from her and everyone was sure she hadn't stolen them back from the Imperials. Rarity did make sure she was outfitted and not just wearing the attire they had found her in, since her torn clothing wouldn't have lasted much longer, where Capper found that she went with the light elven armor, with matching gloves and boots, though she wore a hood over her head to help keep her daedric markings hidden.

It was early morning when they reached Markarth, where Capper and Tri Ki headed inside first, allowing him to see that the city was entirely made of stone, it had been carved into the mountain by the Dwarves, and there were a number of doors and paths to pick from, though he did find one path that lead to a dead end that no one used.

"And we found the perfect spot for the portal. Nice." Capper commented, where he found that he was able to set up the new portal at the end of the odd dead end and tested it out, finding that Markarth was now linked to the Opulent Lands, though as soon as that was done he beckoned for the kobold to follow as he tracked down Calcelmo.

As it turned out just asking the guards about the Court Wizard was the best way to go about things, as one pointed them to Understone Keep, the domain of the Jarl, and told them to head to the left after entering, which was easy to do, except for a pair to be arguing about the Hall of the Dead, though Capper ignored them as he tracked down two mages, one older than the other.

"What are you two doing here? I told the Jarl that I don't need anymore workers or guards for the excavation site." the older high elf inquired, though Capper got the feeling that he was either exhausted from his work or someone had driven him just a tad bit mad, but he determined that it was the former this time around, since this seemed to be natural exhaustion and not a Prince screwing with him.

"Oh, we're not here about the excavation site... we were looking for you, actually." Capper stated, where he noticed that the younger high elf didn't seem interested in listening to their conversation, meaning it was just the three of them and right now Tri Ki was willing to let him do the talking with the Court Wizard.

"And I just told you that I'm not looking for anymore guards or workers! You idiots. Do you even know who I am? The most recognized scholar on the Dwemer in all of Tamriel, and you people keep bothering me!" Calcelmo remarked, where his tone quickly turned hostile as he looked at the pair for a few moments, though as he growled, showing his anger for what he thought they had done, a moment of clarity washed over his face as he seemed to calm down sightly, "I... I'm sorry I... I got too excited. You must understand, I'm in the middle of some very... stressful work, and I haven't gotten as much sleep as I should be getting... I shouldn't have yelled at either of you. You said you were looking for me?"

"Don't worry, I fully understand putting in some late hours and not getting enough sleep. As for us, we heard that you were the expert to talk to, in regards to the Dwarves and the Falmer." Capper said, which was common knowledge apparently, or at least according to Calcelmo and Enthir, since he wasn't sure how many other people knew about the high elf and the work he was currently doing in Markarth.

"You are well informed... in fact, I'm on the cusp of completing my magnum opus: I'm calling it 'Calcelmo's Guide to the Falmer Tongue'!" Calcelmo stated, rather proudly based on what they were seeing right now, not that Capper was blaming him since this seemed to be an interesting discovery that could make him well known in the world of the mages, but this was what they were hoping to hear.

"Maybe you would let us take a look? We can offer you some patronage in exchange for a glimpse." Tri Ki asked, because while they were thieves, and could easily steal the information Calcelmo was uncovering right now, offering him some gold in exchange, to help further his studies and research, seemed like the best idea right now, all while she knew that her Prince was already considering what to do if this failed.

"Now I'm not sure how many scholars you two are used to dealing with, but I assure you that money is the lowest priority for a number of us." Calcelmo remarked, almost like he was offended that someone would offer him gold in exchange for even a tiny glimpse at something he was working on, in fact he seemed to go out of his way to assume they were paying him with the idea that this was all profit for him.

"We weren't asking to buy it, just that you could use the gold for items for your research... but I get it, you don't want anyone to see this knowledge before you're ready to release it to the world." Capper said, though in the next instant he felt one of his allies step through the more private portal to appear in the area that he was in, like how Ithelia could just appear nearby despite him being near none of the various portals he had set up in the Holds.

"Did someone say... knowledge?" Mora asked, where Capper and Tri Ki found that she appeared right behind him and tried to use the voice that many associated with her eyeball form, though Calcelmo seemed confused by what was going on right now, since he was staring at the figure, who let out a sigh as she lowered her arms, "I am Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of Knowledge... see, the mortals do not respect me in this form."

"By the Divines, you really are the Prince of Knowledge... did Sheogorath do this?" Calcelmo inquired, though this seemed to turn the gears in his head, that the one Prince who would be interested in his research was coming to see it in person, even if he was sure that the Princes weren't supposed to be able to enter this Plane, all while Capper noticed that Mora took the opportunity to fully shift the blame onto the Prince of Madness, almost like she was covering for him.

"Yes. It is another of his many pranks." Mora said, acting like her old self again, no doubt because she wanted the newfound knowledge that was being uncovered in Markarth, confirming that not even the Prince of Knowledge had the information on how to translate the Falmer tongue, or if she did she wasn't interested in sharing it with Capper, "Now, you said that you were making a new book?"

Capper found that Calcelmo was willing to let Hermaeus Mora into his private area of the city to see his notes, in fact it was interesting to see someone believe that this was actually the Prince of Knowledge and that the Prince of Madness was the reason behind Mora's predicament. With that in mind they followed the Court Wizard over to the entrance that was on the right side after entering the Keep and he brought them into a museum for the Dwarves, the 'Dwemer Museum' as he called it, which was just a bunch of glass cases with items that had been found, armor, weapons, and certain books. He also found that Tri Ki wandered off for a moment and returned with one of the red gems he was tracking down, causing him to pocket it after rubbing her head for a few seconds, and discovered that none of the guards or Calcelmo even noticed the theft. After that they were brought into the upper reaches of the wizard's work space, where the guards up here were more surprised to see their boss walking around with some strangers, but figured it was best to let him do what he wanted, leading to him taking them outside and up to a single lone tower.

What they found inside the tower was a large stone slab with a number of chisel markings and a decoder section, which had to be what Enthir had sent them to acquire the information of, and he found that there were pieces of paper and charcoal, where it looked like they were making rubbings of the slab and what each piece meant.

The next few hours were a little slow for Capper, as he found that Calcelmo and Mora were having a good time trading bits of information on the slab, meaning it might have been a boon for him to turn the Prince of Knowledge into his Archivist, a fact he would have to address in the future. It wasn't long before the pair started compiling the information into a book, just like what the Court Wizard wanted, and Mora got what she wanted as they made two copies of it while they worked, one that claimed by Mora when they were done with their work, the other left with Calcelmo and even signed by Mora, like a personal copy for Calcelmo. With the new book in hand they retraced their steps back to the entrance of Understone Keep, with a now extremely happy Court Wizard leading the way, and Capper made sure to take a Dwarven cube that seemed like it also might be worth something to the right person. After leaving the museum the trio thanked Calcelmo for his time before they left the Keep, allowing them to head outside and track down everyone else, who were still with the carriage, and since there were no guards, and the stable was closed for the time being, they were able to cross into the Opulent Lands before he, Tri Ki, and Mora returned to Winterhold.

Sure enough he found that Enthir was still in the tavern area and that he was surprised by the newcomer, but he seemed to realize that they had the information he was after and beckoned for them to follow, where they headed down into the cellar and discovered that Karliah was down there as well, with Mercer, still trapped as Capper had left him, resting over on the right side of the cellar.

"Mora here was able to help acquire this information. Make sure you thank her." Capper stated, where they handed over the book and Enthir studied it while looking at the journal, though he could tell that Karliah was interested in the newcomer and what she might have done to help Capper acquire this information, before she focused on Enthir as Mercer freaked out in his corner area.

"I must say, this is very intriguing... but highly disturbing." Enthir remarked, where they found that he was translating Gallus' journal, writing the translation above the lines, as it looked like Gallus had designed his journal to be translated and left space for someone to write in things between the lines, and whatever it said was disturbing him, "It would appear that Gallus started to have suspicions about Mercer's allegiance to the Guild for months, as he uncovered something that he calls 'an unduly, lavish lifestyle replete with spending vast amounts of gold on personal pleasures'. From what I'm reading it looks like he was certain that Mercer had been stealing funds from the Guild's treasury without anyone's knowledge, and he had been looking into it before his murder... which means Mercer must have killed him, to keep his scheme going."

"Good, the Guild will believe this information... but... does the journal mention anything about the 'Nightingales'?" Karliah asked, because it sounded like there was something in Gallus' information that she wanted to confirm or deny before they left for Riften, since now the Guild had no reason to not believe them when they told them the truth of Gallus' death, and this time even Mercer realized how screwed he was, if the look of fear in his eyes was any indication.

"Hm, yes. The last few pages talk about the 'failure of the Nightingales', but doesn't go into great detail... I'm also seeing the same mention that Gallus was sure that Mercer desecrated something called the 'Twilight Sepulcher." Enthir continued, only the look on his face told Capper and the others that he had no idea what they were talking about now, while at the same time it looked like Karliah wasn't in the mood to answer this particular question, something he seemed to understand since he didn't bring it up again.

Karliah told Capper and Tri Ki that they had to take Mercer and the translation to the Guild immediately, something that the pair agreed with as Capper collected the journal as Mora collected the tome that allowed them to understand what Gallus had written, before he turned and helped Karliah move Mercer, as he was looking forward to presenting him to the Guild and seeing how they reacted to his betrayal, and what might come after the fact.