Prepare yourself well, %PCname. We have a fight ahead of us.

We... we could. We could indeed. Very well, you have convinced me. Tatho's soul is powerful: we will need a Grand Soul Gem to contain it. Bring one of those. I will make my own preparations and meet you inside Yamandalkal.

If that is your command, %PCRank. There is a problem, though: a Xivilai cannot truly die. His destruction on this plane only sends him back to his own. Even if we were to defeat him, we would only make of him a more potent foe.

That is a compelling proposition. And a dangerous one. But together we might be strong enough to challenge him and survive. There is a problem, though: a Xivilai cannot truly die. His destruction on this plane only sends him back to his own. Even if we were to defeat him, we would only make of him a more potent foe.

Indeed! Well, your accomplishments precede you, %PCName. What is one more? There is a problem, though: a Xivilai cannot truly die. His destruction on this plane only sends him back to his own. Even if we were to defeat him, we would only make of him a more potent foe.

That is true. But I must be frank with you, %PCRank -- you are not strong enough to withstand Tatho's power. He would swat you like an insect, and not the enormous kinds they have here in Morrowind. Put this notion out of your head. We will continue to deal with Tatho as we have: very carefully.

Then you are already his pawn, and must die.

Fool! I told you not to speak with Tatho beyond the initial exchange! Tell me you didn't. Tell me this is some kind of wrongheaded attempt at humour.

Do not make such statements lightly, %PCName. You are trifling with powers beyond your comprehension, mine, or even, respectfully, Archmagister Ashlen's.

Why?

It is not an experience I would care to repeat.

You have been to Yamandalkal and returned alive. That is more than most can say.

Take the utmost care in Yamandalkal, %PCName. The Daedra are fickle, and cruel beyond words.

The second thing you will need is this soul gem. Offer it upon the altar within Yamandalkal's sanctum to entice Xivilai Tatho to the Mundus. You are likely to face resistance -- he enjoys gathering cultists and lesser Daedra to test the strength of his supplicants. Once Tatho appears, you will recite our message. Tatho will then respond with the information we seek. Leave immediately once your task is done. Whatever you do, do not engage the Daedra in any further conversation.

Then let us speak once more when you are ready.

Na degagu gizzal Dagea amaru ugu kab duga bat ur Numun namlu-ulu alam ede nambi batar Ditil la inim puru umma-ka su giganugal Inim duga an denila-ka su bat nuzu Nam-lugal bibalbi bur ene sag kusud

I came across this text during a sojourn in the Deadlands some years ago. I do not know its meaning. It has never been written down, nor should it be. Do not worry about memorizing it. Whatever it is, it does not wish to be forgotten. I shall begin:

The Arch-Mage suspects -- correctly -- that I believe our arrangement with Yamandalkal's resident to be unwise. Our contact has provided us with valuable information in the past, but he is a powerful being with alien motivations we cannot fathom. We must never delude ourselves into believing that we control the denizens of Oblivion, %PCName. They may be bargained with, or even summoned, but they cannot be made loyal or trustworthy. The first thing you will need is the message. Are you ready to receive it?

So, you are to be the courier? I fear that the Arch-Mage may be acting rashly. No offense to you, of course. I suppose he's leery of sending me to Yamandalkal again. It hardly matters. I am subject to Gindaman's authority, and will comply.

You've been expelled. You can't do any work for me until you've made amends.

Your business in Yamandalkal is concluded. For your sake, I will speak of it with you no longer.

"YASHAZ"? This is a dark turn in this tale. YASHAZ is no word, %PCRank, but a name. I fear that the Xivilai has revealed to us another player in this game of shadows: Drekhva Yashaz, one of the most formidable lieutenants to the Lord of Misrule himself, Mehrunes Dagon. I must consult with Absolon about our next steps. If Yashaz is aiding enemies of the Guild, we must be on our guard. You can help the Guild defend itself, %PCName. I have more duties for you.

I am disappointed in you, %PCRank. Tatho is gone, and you failed to acquire the information he had for us. Who knows, now, what the Telvanni are planning? Begone from my sight -- I have no more duties for you.

It is no trivial thing I ask, %PCRank. Be sure to speak at length with Absolon -- there is no mortal more familiar with our contact in Yamandalkal than he. Banvira can be trusted as well, along with Dagmund at the Nivalis outpost. Do not speak of what we have discussed with anyone else, even mages of the Guild.

You will be our next courier, %PCRank. In keeping to the terms of our agreement with the Xivilai, you shall begin the exchange by making an offering of a pre-established soul. Once the Daedra has appeared on this plane, you will then pass on a message. Absolon in the College across the plaza will provide you with what you need.

Our relationship with this "Xivilai Tatho" is one of the closest-held secrets of our Guild in Morrowind, and I reveal it to you now in confidence. We have, in the past, been fortunate to trade information with this being -- information which has proven valuable in our struggle to resist the onslaught of Telvanni attacks on our interests here in the northeast. But I cannot express strenuously enough the danger of these interactions. Every word spoken must be planned, and every word heard must be evaluated.

Yamandalkal is a large Daedric ruin on the island of Althoa, far to the north of here. We maintain an outpost at Nivalis in order to monitor the daedric being who chooses to make Yamandalkal its Mundane residence. This Daedra, which calls itself Tatho, is one of the Xivilai, a clade of powerful demons in service to Mehrunes Dagon.

Yamandalkal is a Daedric ruin south of Nivalis. It's a bad place, best avoided by civilized people.

That is an evil place. People avoid it, for good reason.