Sometimes one must trust instinct over reason, for whilst at times lucidity will betray you, your heart will not. When Hara, the leader of the Star-Gazers is abducted before our eyes, it leads to revelations of secrets that were foolishly kept, for rational reasons.

It was the warrior not of this time, Titus Valerius, who remembered that there was a secret Nedic temple buried deep beneath Belkarth itself; its entrance sealed by the self-proclaimed Emperor Tarish-Zi back in his own time. At the lake to the south of town the Breton conjurer Kelmen Locke once again proves his worth; his arcane intuition helping to unlock the puzzle to reveal another entrance to the sunken ruins.

We three soon find ourselves battling our way through members of the Scaled Court who had somehow infiltrated the corridors of Reinhold’s Retreat. Eventually we come upon a large chamber and found yet another Apex Stone. This one however had a giant ethereal snake coiled about it, and bound in magical chains before it was Hara.

During our violent encounter with the aspect of the Serpent, Hara revealed herself to be none-other then the Celestial Thief. Perhaps it is true what the philosophers tell us, that all the secrets of Nirn worth knowing are indeed hidden in plain sight.

It may have been Celestial hubris that prevented Hara from putting her faith in her only allies, but hiding her Apex Stone beneath the town, and her true identity from us, could have cost us Belkarth, and eventually Craglorn itself.

Our hearts may not betray us, but alas unlike mortals, the Celestials have no heart to trust.

S.K

The final trial of the Rahni’Za school of warriors is to brave the oppressive dark by following the true path. How terrible the darkness of these caverns. It is not simply the absence of light, the darkness somehow tears away at you from your inside, smothering your lungs, and crushing your heart. And with every step the wraiths and thralls seek to pull you off the true path lit by the Guardian spirit. How these caverns reflect the plight of this realm, for is it not on the darkest of nights that the stars shine most brightly… yet not over Craglorn.

Awaiting me at the end of the path is Abelazar the Betrayer. It was no surprise to learn that he is a member of the Scaled Court, the servants of the Celestial Serpent, who tore the very constellations from the skies. Abelazar astounded the schools masters with the ease in which he passed their trials, yet his feats were only achieved through deception and trickery. Of course the most important part of any deception is that the victims must want to believe in it. Have the Redguards become so desperate to rediscover the lost traditions of the Ansei that they are so easily deceived like a Breton maiden to the tavern bards coquetry? Perhaps it is that the desperate are too easily deceived because they are too quick to hope.

The Scaled Court obviously believed the Sword-Disciples to be a threat to their masters plan, so the betrayer was sent to kill the schools masters and turn their students into thralls. Alas that the Sword-Disciples of Rahni’Za are now beyond salvation. The most I can do for them is allow their spirits to find peace. I wrote before I entered this school that I was uncertain whether my motive was one of mercy, vengeance, or vainglory; It turns out in Rahni’Za, school of warriors, they are all the same.

S.K