In the ancestral crypts beneath the ruins of the Abbey of Blades, we are ambushed by the treacherous Mannimarco, who appears before us in the form of cloud and mist. Once threat and wit are dutifully traded, the duplicitous elf begins to raise the corpses of the most lauded sword-singers who ever walked the sands of Hammerfell against us.

Now, in these cramped tombs, against the mightiest of undead, shall I discover the worth of my companions, and they in turn discover mine.

In truth I already know how formidable a warrior Lyris is having on more then one occasion fought our way out of Coldharbour together. And if Abnur Tharn be but half the battlemage his reputation claims him to be, then he will prove a mighty ally indeed; although I strongly suspect like most Tharns, he is the author of his own repute.

My only questions are of Sai Sahan, can he be truly fully recovered from his years of torture in so short a time, and even if so, what use the Redguard against his ancestors anyway? For Sai Sahan is no Ash’abah, he is a Redguard nobleman. In the desert of the Alik’r, I witnessed far too many a redguard nobleman who would rather die on their knees in the sands praying to their gods, then fight against their honoured dead; and Sahan is perhaps the noblest Redguard I have ever met.

Thankfully he is also a pragmatist who realises that sometimes hands that swing weapons can be far more righteous then lips that pray.

S.K