To the east of Pariah Abbey the hills crawl with scamp and cultist.  A group of Supernal Dreamers have managed to open numerous portals through which the vile scamps spew forth from Vaermina’s realm.

In a nearby cave, the brother of the Abbot is magically bound.  Partially possessed by Daedric spirit, only his strength of will holds back the eventual and inevitable; he bravely councils his own death.

A decision needs to be made, one life for another, to honour a willing sacrifice or to kill an indoctrinated fool.

Perhaps it is that as a soldier I too have succumbed to indoctrination as much as the fool, but I cannot resolve beyond my conviction that one cannot hide from consequence behind ignorance, nor mitigate repercussion; thus the fool dies.

As I step through the portal into Quagmire to face Vaermina’s pet, I ponder my own repercussions, and wonder who will be judge of my ignorance. 

S.K

In the transepts of Pariah Abbey in Northern Stormhaven, a young Breton named Sister Janise compassionately tends to the injured and hurt.  She is like a star in these troubled times; the darker the night, the brighter she shines.

What are my prayers but hollow breaths,
what are my dreams but hopes immure,
What are my fears that shadow each thought.
Sister Janise comfort me…

Under Azure’s gaze she tends to wound,
With bandage, balm and words that soothe,
granting peace and serenity to tortured hearts.
Sister Janise comforts me…

Her smile as captivating as candle light,
Her voice enchanting like a moonlit tarn,
Her words uplifting as the morning sun.
Sister Janise comforts me…

From her warm heart dismay takes flight,
optimism a kindle that her smile ignites,
her grace an inspiration to every word I write.
Sister Janise comforts me….

What are my prayers now but promise and wish,
what are my dreams but reality yet touched,
what are my fears but another enemy to smite.
Sister Janise comforted me.

S.K

The Pariah Abbey is dedicated to Azura, whose sphere of influence is dawn and dusk, that mystic realm of twilight, that haze twixt night and day.  She is sometimes called the Queen of the Night Sky, her plane is known as Moonshadow, where she is said to reside in a rose palace at the heart of a silver city… She is also a Daedric Prince.

This priory of Daedric worship is ‘tolerated’ by the Breton King Emeric because they have for many years supplied Wayrest with potions that are said to prevent the dreaming of dreams.  Abbot Durak claims he founded the Abbey under instruction of Azura herself to prepare for this very time when Vaermina would strike at the peoples of Stormhaven with ‘a plague of nightmares’.

The Midnight Union however have stolen a relic called the dream shard, a piece of the Moonshadow realm through which the Spirit Wardens distil water from the cave of dreams to create their dreamless potions.  If Emeric were to suffer the same fate as Pascal, Sir Hughes or Rosalie Nurin then this Covenant would quickly fall to the mercy of Vaermina, the Daedric prince of nightmares, cerebral terrors, and evil omens.

I wonder why Vaermina has taken such an ardent interest in High Rock, and indeed, what are Azura’s motives in defending it.  Not for the first time I am wondering who I should trust least, friend or foe.  I feel like a game piece being moved around a gaming board by a player who is unsure of the rules.

S.K

I am sent to Pariah Abbey to learn more about the potential threat posed by the Supernal Dreamers, only to find more turmoil and strife.  Outlying buildings and crops have been set ablaze and attempts by the Spirit Wardens, the residence of the Abbey, to put out the fires ended with them being set upon by brigands.

The monks tell me that their assailants are members of the Midnight Union, a local band of smugglers and swindlers who had previously been on good terms with the members of the Abbey.

The whys and wherefores of this curious circumstance can wait, my priority is to douse the flames and rebuff the brigands; luckily bluster and bloodshed are what I do best.

S.K

The Daedric creature that roamed these Ayleid ruins is bound once more.

This was not a fiend from Coldharbour, this creature came to Nirn long before Molag Bal’s Planemeld.  Invaders from Oblivion have been infiltrating Nirn since the first mortals settled these lands, and they will continue to do so till the final days of Mer and Man.

We cannot win this war with Oblivion, we can only hope not to lose.

S.K