Barenziah's Book

Questor Offer

Thank you for responding to my letter, [your first name]. It is very difficult for a queen of a powerful nation, and a queen whose home is far away, to trust any mercenary. That is why when my dear child Helseth told me about you, I was so quick to write. There is a rather sensitive situation brewing, and I need someone I can trust to correct some wayward revolutionaries. For [reward] gold pieces, will you perform such a service for me? I am prepared to reward you with information, as well.

Refuse Quest

That is a pity, indeed. Prince Helseth is usually correct in his assessment of people, but it would appear that he is wrong in this matter.

Accept Quest

I am glad to hear it. Some years ago, a disgruntled, and possibly deranged, scribe of mine wrote a biography of me which my worst enemy would call cruel and defamatory. Because the book was also excessively critical of the Empire and Septim Imperial family, it was widely suppressed and its author executed. Unfortunately, chapters of the book resurface from time to time. I have reason to believe one chapter of the book has been purchased by the orcs of Orsinium, who are attempting to publish it. I need it removed from their stronghold, also named Orsinium. Time is of the essence. I'm sure Gortwog will not wait long. Once the chapter is safe, we will talk further about your ambitions.

Quest Fail

I need that book chapter before we talk, my dear [your first name].

Quest Complete

Very well done, [your first name].

Rumors During Quest

Queen Barenziah is supposedly in a bad mood. You can never tell, though.

A book's coming out with the real story about the former Queen of Mournhold.

Rumors Postfailure

The Necromancers supposedly have something they're blackmailing Barenziah with.

Queen Barenziah's men are searching for someone called the King of Worms.

Rumors Postsuccess

That book about Queen Barenziah apparently never made it as far as the presses.

Queen Barenziah has been singing the praises of some [your race] adventurer she hired.

Quest Log Entry

[the quest date]: Queen Barenziah has hired me to find a chapter of a libelous book about her that has been circulating around the Bay. She believes it to be in the dungeons of Orsinium, home of the orc warlord Gortwog.

Message 1014

Prince Helseth did not exaggerate your virtues. Here is the [reward] gold pieces I promised.

Message 1015

Chapter 6 "You dance on the edge of a volcano, child," Drelliane scolded, as Barenziah admired the emerald ring her lover had given her to celebrate their one-month anniversary. "How so? We make one another happy. We harm no one. Symmachus bade me to be discriminate and discreet. Who better could I choose? And we've been most discreet. He treats me as a daughter in public." Tiber Septim's nightly visits were made through a secret passage. "He slavers over you like a dog his dinner. Have you not noticed the coolness of the Empress and her son toward you?" Barenziah shrugged. Even before she and Septim had become lovers she'd had no more from his family than bare civility. Threadbare civility. "What's it matter? It is Tiber who holds power." "It is his son who holds the future. Do not hold his mother up to public scorn, I beg you." "Can I help it if that dry stick of a woman cannot hold her husband's interest even in conversation at dinner?" "Have less to say in public. That is all I ask. She matters little, save that her children love her, and you do not want them as enemies. Tiber Septim has not long to live. I mean," Drelliane amended quickly, at Barenziah's scowl, "Humans are all short-lived. Temporary, as we elves say. They come and go as the seasons do, but the families of the powerful live on for a time. You must be a family friend if you would see lasting profit from your relationship. Ah, how can I make you truly see, you who are so young, and human-bred as well! If you take care, you and Mournhold are like to live to see the fall of Septim's dynasty, if indeed he has founded one, as you have seen its rise. It is the way of human history. They ebb and flow like the tides. Their cities and even their empires bloom like spring flowers, only to wither and die in the summer sun." Barenziah just laughed. She knew that rumors abounded about her and Tiber Septim. She enjoyed the attention for all save the Empress and her son seemed captivated by her. Bards sang of her dark beauty and her charming ways. She was in fashion and in love and if it was temporary, well, what was not? She was happy for the first time she could remember, each day filled with joy and pleasure, and the nights yet better. "What is wrong with me?" Barenziah lamented. "Look, not one of my skirts fit. What's become of my waist? Am I getting fat?" Barenziah regarded her thin arms and legs and her undeniably-thickened waist in the mirror with displeasure. Drelliane shrugged. "You appear to be with child, young as you are. Constant pairing with a human has brought you early to fertility. I see no choice but for you to speak with him about it. You are in his power. It would be best, I think, for you to go directly to Mournhold if he will agree, and bear the child there." "Alone?" Barenziah placed her hands on her swollen belly, tears forming in her eyes. Everything in her yearned to share the fruit of her love with her lover. "He'll ne'er agree to that. He won't be parted from me now. You'll see." Drelliane shook her gray head. Although she said no more, a look of sympathy and sorrow had replaced her usual cool scorn. That night Barenziah told Tiber Septim of it when he came to her. "With child?" He looked shocked. Stunned. "You're sure of it? I was told elves do not bear so young." Barenziah smiled uneasily, "How can I be sure? I've never -- " "I'll fetch my healer." The healer, a high elf of middle years, confirmed that Barenziah was indeed pregnant and that such a thing had never before been known to happen. It was a testimony to His Excellency's potency, the healer said sycophantically. Tiber Septim snarled at him. "This must not be," he said. "Undo it." "Sire," the healer gaped at him. "I cannot--" "Of course you can," he snapped. "I command you do so." Barenziah, wide-eyed with sudden terror, sat up in the bed. "No!" she screamed. "No! What are you saying?" "My dear child," Tiber Septim sat down beside her with his winning smile. "I'm so sorry. Truly. But this cannot be. Your child could be a threat to my son and his sons. I will put it no more plainly than that." "The child I bear is your child!" she wailed. "No. It's but a possibility, a might be, not yet gifted with a soul or quickened into life. I will not have it so." He gave the healer another hard stare and the elf began to tremble. "It is her child. Children are few among elves. No woman conceives more than four and that is very rare. Two is the allotted number. Some bear none, some only one. If I take this one from her, she may not conceive again." "You told me she would not bear to me. I've little faith in your prognostications." Barenziah scrambled naked from her bed, and ran for the door, not knowing where she was going, only that she could not stay. She never reached the door for blackness took her. Barenziah awoke to pain and emptiness. Drelliane was there to soothe the pain and clean the blood that pooled under her legs, but there was nothing to fill the emptiness. Tiber Septim sent gifts and flowers, and came for short visits, always well-attended. Barenziah received these visits with pleasure, but he came no more at night nor did she wish for him. After a month, when she was physically recovered, it was announced that Symmachus had requested she come to Mournhold earlier than planned, and that she would leave forthwith. She was given a splendid retinue, a wardrobe befitting a queen and a ceremonial departure from the gates of Imperial City.

Message 1016

Castle Wayrest Dear [your name], My beloved son has brought your name to my attention, and suggested that we might have some business to discuss. I understand that we have a mutual interest. Please visit me at Castle Wayrest at your earliest possible convenience. Yours, Barenziah Queen of the Kingdom of Wayrest

Message 1017

A page wearing the colors and pale yellow rose of Wayrest appears silently at your side. He hands you a letter and disappears as quietly as he arrived.

Message 1020

Thank Boethiah you found it before those horrible orcs could retrieve it again. I heard all about them losing the chapter to the King of Worms. [a god], what a crisis it would have been if they had published it. Here is [reward] gold for your services.

Message 1030

You may not know this, but not only is Gortwog the holder of that letter the Emperor lost some months ago, but he is also contending for an ancient relic called the Totem of Tiber Septim. If that cannibal gets his warted hands on the Totem, it could mean the end of Wayrest, and possibly all civilization on the Iliac Bay. We may need your able services again, [your first name].

Message 1050

Hello, [your name]. It would seem that we have a mutual antagonist in the King of Worms. I am Gortwog, King of the Orcs and Lord of Orsinium. I am willing to give you a [jewelry] if you would retrieve the chapter of Barenziah's book from Scourg Barrow in the Dragontail Mountains, where the King and his Necromancers have taken it. Agreed?

Message 1051

What a shame. Ah well, we'll hire some other mercenary, then.

Message 1052

Very good. Off with you, then.

Message 1054

Here is your [jewelry]. Nevermind what I will do with this chapter. However, I would steer clear of Queen Barenziah for a while if I were you.

Message 1060

[the quest date]: The orcish warlord, Gortwog of Orsinium, has hired me to continue the quest that the Queen of Wayrest began: finding the lost chapter of her biography. Rumor has it that it is in the Necromancers' stronghold, Scourg Barrow, in the Dragontail Mountains.

Message 1061

A misty shape forms in your mind. An orc shaman! It gives way to a regal orc, wearing a crown. "The book you are looking for is no longer in Orsinium. The Necromancers have stolen it from us. If you are available, we are interested in pooling our resources against this mutual enemy. Please do not be so foolish as to assume that the orcs are your enemy, simply because we are orcs. If you are interested, come to me at Orsinium Hall in Orsinium." The face vanishes, leaving you with only a memory. -- Symbols used in the QRC file: -- -- [a god] occurs 1 time. -- [your first name] occurs 7 times. -- [your name] occurs 3 times. -- [the quest date] occurs 2 times. -- [your race] occurs 18 times. -- [jewelry] occurs 2 times. -- [reward] occurs 7 times.