Well enough. But feel free to return if you change your mind.

I do not think you have the three books I asked for.

Thank you. I hope these will help you.

Have you changed your mind regarding the books and the scrolls?

This is unfortunate, but I cannot blame you; what you did was exactly what a follower of the Tribunal should have done. It is sad that my brother's mistrust has gone so far as to suspect foul play in an act of kindness. I guess I could still have some use for the texts, as there is no such thing as reading them too often. Would you trade them for two Almsivi Interventions and a Waterwalking scroll?

He has received them? Good. I fear you did not get much out of the deal, though, so here is what little compensation I can offer. Hopefully things will change for the better now. Thank you again.

And he believes that, as these doubts spring from writings and books, he just needs to pass me the right books to change my mind. But this is not how it works. Anyway, please accept my apologies for the time you wasted on this nonsense. I have recently been learning some alchemy. This is hardly worth being a reward, but it is better than nothing, I guess?

And even though we have spent the past twenty years here, I am aware that there will be an end to this. Sathys, though, is deluding himself that we just have to be faithful and pious enough and the Temple will let us keep this place forever. And he is trying to behave accordingly. But I'm not playing along. And what's worse, he is genuinely fooled into thinking that it is *me* who will eventually get us ousted from here with my doubts and heresies.

It is the Temple that leases this land to its most loyal and devout followers among the laity. In our case, it was our parents' actions in the Ashlands of Vvardenfell that secured us this place. Every once in a decade or two, the residents are moved out and some new "righteous" are chosen by the Temple to live and work here. It is very much a sinecure, as Necrom buys up our produce for much more than the market price. But it is merely temporary.

Are you sure that these are the books you wanted to trade? You do not seem to have them with you...

These are a gift? Fascinating, let me see. These are Temple texts, all three of them... Ah. Let me guess... Sathys put you up to this, right? Maybe I should let you know what this is all about. As you might know, this farm does not actually belong to any of us. It is a Temple property, and has been so for centuries.

Let's see what you have got here... ah, Temple teachings. I can't say much of them is new to me, since they look quite like the place Sathys is getting his sermons from. Then again, these texts all sound the same, so it doesn't mean much. Still, 30 septims is a price we agree on. It was nice to trade with you.

Let me take a look... Hmm, these are Temple teachings. Oh, they're not bad in any way, but not what I was looking for. I should apologize. It is just that I've been living on Temple property for years now, a stone's throw away from the Sacred City, together with a devout follower of the cult. I have heard every single gospel and aphorism ascribed to the Three, even if Sathys would disagree. There is probably not much news in these books for me. At least not enough to be worth the price.

Oh, yes, I'm always looking for more reading matter. It gives me at least a sense of exploration, something I am completely deprived of in this isolated farmhouse. What reading have you brought me?

I see you have the literature. Hand it over to Indrys, but please try to be subtle. Do not let him know you're following my direction.

They should not be too complex for him to understand, so if you find any of the 36 Lessons of Vivec, better to keep them for yourself. Oh, I think I hear him entering the house. Anyway, if you could help me, you would have my sincere thanks.

If you could get a hold of some of the Tribunal Temple's religious texts--The Consolations of Prayer, and others like that--and bring them to Indrys, it would mean much to me. And I suppose I could reward you as well. Three books should be enough. Indrys would likely get suspicious if he was to be swamped with more of them all of a sudden.

I suspect that the books he has collected--tales of Dwemer cities, Daedric ruins, necromancer covens; hardly a tenth of these are even remotely factual--have given him the budge into the unfortunate direction he is headed now. Yet in this I see hope. Maybe the right selection of religious texts will send him back onto his path. Perhaps, then, you could help me.

Lately he has been spending a lot of time preparing to leave, without a good reason to. He has built up some considerable skill as an alchemist and bought some armor, but most importantly he is buying off books from travelers passing by. Books that have no doubt had an influential part in shaping his beliefs.

The Temple is not going to show us to the door on a day's notice. We should work to justify the Temple's confidence in giving us this position, rather than wait for it to end.

Both of us may have to leave--the Acre of Saint Meris has never been leased to anyone for a whole lifetime. It is rather a privilege than a job to till this place; doing so for a whole life would be a gift few mortals are truly deserving of. Our future here is nothing that should unsettle him right now, yet he lives here as if he was a guest departing the next morning.

He is not exactly losing his faith... but he is dreaming of the life of a traveling adventurer, denying the legacy of his forefathers and growing less interested in the teachings of the Tribunal. Every day he lives like it would be his last day on this farm, as if the next would see him embark on a journey never to return, leaving behind his land, his ancestors and everything he owes this life to.

Indrys and I have been given tenancy of this farm by the Temple, and it is my belief that we should at least try to live up to this honor, though neither of us is formally a servant of the Temple. Neither of us is expected to dedicate his whole life to Temple work, but if one lives in a place named for a Saint, one should at least know her gospel. Indrys, however, has taken too light a stance on these matters lately.