in video, part starts at 17:30 or thereabouts
Good, you’re all here. It’s not often I leave Cyrodiil for anything, but given what’s happened, you’ve left me little choice.
I trust you all understand the gravity of your offences.
The only thing I understand is that you’re the one responsible for wasting my time.
Or is there some other person I need to kill to end this meeting.
Ah yes. The Thalmor. Or ex-Thalmor. I was told you would be the most difficult to wrangle.
It was just outside this very inn, was it not? That you murdered my father’s steward.
Of course, the guards say it was a duel. I have a hard time believing that.
I kill a lot of people. I make it a point not to care.
That attitude is fine if you have the Dominion to protect you. But those days are over. You may be strong, but you’re hardly invincible.
No one’s invincible. Not even you.
Ah, Daenlyn Oakhollow. The bard who can’t say “Aggression.” But it isn’t your politics that brought you here. It’s your gambling.
About a season ago, you took a large sum of drakes from a merchant under my father’s employ.
That money was supposed to go to bodyguards for a caravan headed to Rothvine Manor.
Without the bodyguards, the caravan was easy prey for a certain vigilante. It cost my father quite a large sum in gold.
Then you should bring that merchant here. He’s the one to blame.
Quite true. But he’s already dead. And while I can’t blame you for his gambling habits, I can blame you for cheating him.
Or is the ace in your boot simply for show?
How did you….
There’s nothing I don’t know, Bosmer. But yes, yours is a minor sin. The assassin’s, on the other hand, is another matter entirely.
The two of you, after all, are responsible for killing my father. The Baron Gabania.
So that’s what this is about. You want revenge.
Hardly. As the bastard child of the family, I barely knew my father. And what little I’ve heard doesn’t cast him in a flattering light.
No, my issue is that your little act of vengeance cost his business, nay, my business, a large sum in gold.
I am here to seek restitution for that sum.
And if I don’t, I take it you’re gonna go after Morrigan.
(Alternate) And what if I don’t? You gonna try and kill me?
No, but my sister will. And that is who I want you to eliminate.
You want us to kill your own sister?
I want you to kill my father’s daughter.
She’s a vile woman, make no mistake about that, but that may only be relevant to the Bosmer, given his moral compass.
The larger point is the four of you owe a debt. A debt of gold and a debt of blood.
To pay it, my sister would ask that you take your lives.
I would ask that you take hers.
Gabania never had a succession plan?
My father did not leave a will. This should have been obvious to anyone why. He was a man who believed in survival of the fittest.
While my sister focuses only on revenge, I see an opportunity. It is for this reason that I am the rightful heir.
Are there any other children besides the two of you?
I’m sure there are hundreds all over Tamriel. I was simply fortunate enough to be born in the kitchen and not the brothel.
A bastard can never be the rightful heir.
Except we aren’t fighting for a throne. There may be titles involved but ultimately this is a business. Rules of succession are much looser.
It doesn’t bother you that this is your sister?
A half-sister, and a halfwit. It doesn’t bother me that you killed my father, so why should I care about his younger, more foolish girl.
I’ve long since moved past the notion that the blood in my veins is worth more than the blood they’ve spilled.
How is the fortune divided up currently?
Unfortunately, after my father’s death, my sister was quick to seize all of his assets.
But she doesn’t realize her moves are pointless. This game can be won with a single stroke.
What can you tell me about your sister?
She and I share a much different opinion of our father, and inherited much different traits.
My sister has her mother’s passion, and her father’s bloodlust.
As long as she’s alive, your friend will never be safe, regardless of what Sithis thinks.
What’s your relationship with Na’ir?
Na’ir was the bodyguard assigned to me by my father. It was an insult to my mother, meant to appease the Baronness.
But my father’s cunning extended beyond the battlefield.
What do you mean by that?
You may have guessed, but Na’ir is no ordinary sellsword. The way he brought you four to me is a perfect example of his guile.
Yes, like my sister, my father could have assigned me some nameless bodyguard.
But by giving me Na’ir, he not only satisfied his wife’s petulance, but gave me a mentor who knew more than how to swing a sword.
What do you know of Gabania’s dealings?
I’ve mostly dealt with the economic side, helping the former Steward balance the books.
But when you handle the gold, you gain an understanding of how the entire system works.
How so?
Let me put it this way. Everything I know about my father I’ve pieced together from those financial records.
Slave trades, court bribes, skooma smuggling, the list goes on and on. And he was every bit the scoundrel that the rumors claim.
Why not just approach us normally? Why all the subterfuge?
My sister may be daft, but my father’s spies are still under her employ. We needed to bring everyone together in a way that didn’t seem suspicious.
As it stands now, you rescued Na’ir, and in the process, formed bonds with your companions.
I am here, of course, to reward the fine adventurers who saved him.
What happens if we refuse?
Then my sister will likely hunt you all as payment for our father’s life. While this will square your debt, I’d rather we handle this differently.
You mentioned being a bastard child.
Yes. My mother was little more than a scullery maid. As such, I was born with my father’s wit but my mother’s roots.
Everything I’ve gotten has been through sweat and hard work.
I will not stand by and let my spoiled brat of a sister run our business into the ground.
Where is your sister now?
At one of my father’s manors off the coast. Na’ir will provide you with the details.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have business I must attend to. After all, there is more to saving our fortune beyond stopping my sister from spending it.
But I want to wish you all good luck. Hopefully when next we meet, it will be under less clandestine circumstances.