Serjo Neht, do you still think of Helseth, or has someone else taken his place?
You speak as if he could have ever been replaced, as if anyone could ever be replaced. Am I replaceable? I have wandered in and out of many lives. Are you replaceable?
I think of all my husbands and wives. I live my life but I remember. I visited the university of my youngest daughter some weeks ago. I walked through the classrooms devoted to science, spoke to the professors, listened to a lecture. I thought of him and the laboratory he had in our home. I thought of his excitement as he studied anatomy, as he broke down the natural world to understand its secrets, and I thought of all that we understand now that he never knew. I thought about the way he could be so gentle with a scalpel and yet so vicious with only a single word if need be. I thought about Rilmsyna, my apology to him.
He moved on long ago, been born again as someone new and wonderful, and my daughter can summon him no longer. I am happy for him and I pray that his many lives since were joyous. I wonder sometimes if I will ever stumble upon his soul again and if there would be any spark of recognition if I did. I think of him when I smell chemicals and still guard his bones against trouble.
We know you hold Helseth in high regard but, objectively, do you believe he was a good ruler? That he cared about the good of his people?
Mn. Well. How to put it? Helseth cared for Morrowind because it was his, because the state of his country reflected on himself, because it was all a great game to him and he intended to win. Helseth loved Helseth above all others.
I do not know if I would call him a good ruler. I don’t know if such a thing has ever existed. He was cruel, he was arrogant, he was paranoid, and that earned him little love. I had faith that he could become a better ruler in time if he just listened to his mother, but time is something we ran out of. I think his main fault was fear. When some people are afraid, they retreat into themselves but when others are afraid, they lash out. Helseth feared his people and he feared the Empire and never forgot that both could destroy all that he cared for and that they had done so before.
By all means, I think he was an effective ruler. If Helseth set out to do something, then it was done one way or another, even if it meant inciting a civil war. He did that, you know, with abolition. It was harrowing for awhile but in the end, he got exactly what he wanted and it was good that it lined up with what was just for a change. Helseth did think slavery was an injustice. His moral compass was warped but in his own way, he was concerned with the pursuit of justice. It’s just that he had a terrible tendency to think himself wronged when he really, really wasn’t.
Helseth...no, he really did not care much at all about people on an individual level. He loved his mother, his father, his sister and her children. I do think that he grew to love me or if not that, then he was at least fond of me in his own way. He regarded his step-father with respect. But other people? They were a means to an end for him and if he was either kind or cruel, it was because he intended to use that person for something. It was not an admirable trait of his and most of the problems of his early reign would have been solved if he had some compassion, if he exercised mercy, if he learned to be lenient and lax. I was fond of him but our politics put us in opposition to each other on many occasions.
Good? No. Helseth was not a good man, was not a charitable man. Effective? Yes, I think so. He was a bow: point him in the right direction and he’ll hit your target. Point him anywhere else and he’ll take your eye out.
We managed at long last to convince him to embrace the styles of Morrowind and reserve the latest fashions of the Niben for those occasions when he found himself in the company of westerners (make no mistake, he looked very fine in his fur-lined robes but they gave off the wrong impression) but when it came to food, I could never quite convince him to embrace the cuisine of Morrowind. It is not so much that he disliked it but no guar flesh could inspire the same hunger in him as a good haunch of venison.
He would throw the most elaborate banquets and serve those delicacies so popular in the courts of humans but when it came to his everyday table, he was a man with simple tastes. Helseth feared contamination and knew how easily poison could be hidden under complex tastes mingling together, masked under spices and sauces. He had simple tastes. He had woefully Wayrest tastes.
He loved, absolutely adored duck, and there were never enough fowl in Mournhold to sate his terrible lust for smoked duck. I would break my fast with him and I would have only good, proper things on my plate -honeycomb, cucumber, perhaps some soup, perhaps some fish- and he’d have a great deal of meat and heavy bread and potatoes, and that’s no way to start your day, let alone in the sixth hour of the morning. Ugh, he insisted on waking up so devilishly early. It was really quite terrible and if I wanted to get anything done with my day, I had to force myself awake at that hour as well. If I had anything I needed his approval on, I brought it up with him while he took his breakfast, before he had his coffee and came to his senses.
I think his favorite meal would be...oh, let me see...mussels in almond milk, bread and butter, a little roasted quail, so many sausages because as we all know, the Wayresters cannot go a meal without a sausage, perhaps white asparagus, perhaps spätzle, perhaps some of that awful sour cabbage. He didn’t much care for sweets but he would eat cherries until you would think him a vampire from how red his mouth was. Barenziah had a few cherry trees planted in Mournhold when she was still queen; I suppose it was hereditary.
Oh, and I forgot. Stout. Lager. Beer. You would have thought a man like himself would never touch a drop of alcohol but no, he drank it like most drink water. Come to think of it, I don’t remember him actually drinking water.
Kena Neht, who was Albert? What did he do to you? Deep down, do you know that Buttermilk Deluxe is in fact a Khajiiti woman-- don't you notice your moon sugar going missing? Do you fear living to see the end of the Aurbis? What did you feel about Vivec, or Sotha Sil? What was it like fighting Almalexia? What were your feelings for Helseth? Was there ever anyone you loved, but never spoke about? Please forgive me for being so chock-full of questions. Here's a basket of macarons as an apology.
Albert
Albert was awful to me towards the end. I would have taken him back if only he would acknowledged that I even existed but he was awful.
He was Colovian born but that is hardly a deterrent from becoming a lord of High Rock. His domain was one of the bigger cities in the kingdom, Cromwych Hill, and I did see it once on one of the few vacations I was allowed to take. He offered to keep me in an apartment there but it was foolishness to leave such a high position just to be taken care of by a man that would be gone in a few decades at most. One has to think of one’s prospects.
I am not small (neither in height nor roundness, though I used to be less plump, an unattractive look on me) and I have grown used to towering over lovers and enemies alike, but when I was next to him, I was the lesser and even when I was fond of him, I hated him for that. They say that he was quite handsome in his youth, but when I knew him, he was a rounded, balding man with a mustache like a walrus. That, of course, did not mean that he was not still handsome. I still think that he was one of the most attractive men that I have ever seen. And when he spoke, it was if some great author penned every word.
I was his favorite. You know, his mistress if you wish to use a feminine term. Courtesan, perhaps, but I did not let myself be pursued solely for the social and monetary benefit. I was elevated before I met him! Yes, it’s true that I was no lord but many nobles sorely resented that I held my job instead of one of their daughters. He did pay for my living expenses and by living expenses, I mainly mean my jewelry, servants, and whiskey. Well, alright, by servants, I mostly mean a little maid who came in to scrub the floor and dust, a laundress I took my linens to, and a boy I paid to keep my boots in good order, but that’s certainly more than I have now. I firmly believe that one shouldn’t have to do one’s own dusting. It’s unnatural.
I was disgustingly fond of him for over a decade and he treated me like the rarest treasure on the planet, but after that point, something broke. I’m essentially a fake person. For ten years, I played my part and I played it well. I was perfect. And then I guess I thought that maybe I ought to relax around him more, maybe I ought not be concerned so much about retaining mystery and allure at expense of comfort, maybe I didn’t need to cater to his every whim (And he was getting old too! I didn’t think an old man needed so much excitement but it turns out they get more goatlike as they age.) and that, of course, turned out to be an awful idea. He drifted away. Actually, no, it’s not so much that he drifted away because that implies that he gently meandered off.
He turned into a great, pompous ass because maybe I didn’t want to play his instrument all the time. Excuse me if maybe I don’t actually want to spend all my free time in clubs gallivanting around the back rooms.
He used to call me his treasure but towards the end, I knew where I stood in his eyes and I certainly wasn’t treasured any longer. We fought. In the end, all those years together counted for nothing. He wouldn’t even speak to me after.
Yes, maybe I didn’t do my duty as his lover enough but maybe if he wanted someone more receptive to his tastes, he ought to have chased after a cock instead of a capon. And maybe I did imagine that perhaps he was fonder of me than he was in actuality, but do forgive me for my error. I was under the impression that he was actually romancing me, not just looking for a convenient male orifice that got along with his wife.
Feh. I am better without him. Fantastic cock though, really superb.
Buttermilk & the Aurbis
She’s not…she can’t be. I have seen more than one Khajiit before, you know. She’s uncommonly smart and I do think that perhaps there is something magical going on with her, but my moonsugar goes missing because sometimes I decide that eating it by the spoonful is a fantastic idea that won’t end in me speaking in tongues and hallucinating Lorkhan’s sundering. To be fair, the latter has been wonderfully useful for deterring me from taking the stuff. That and not dying. When your body is falling apart around you, you’ll do just about anything if it numbs the pain for awhile.
I do so enjoy not dying. It is positively grand. I strongly recommend not catching a terminal illness. I don’t care if I live to see the end of the world because that means that I’ll get to see everything in between now and then. In this life, I am going to pet so many cats. I will pet more cats than anyone else in all of existence. That is my legacy.
Vivec & Sotha Sil
You know, when I was a young man (young eunuch, really) with a nasty side to me, there was really something magical about Vivec. I mean, yes, of course it’s because he really was magical, but in all the Bretic stories, you never see anyone quite like him. The men are all manly and the women are all womanly and never shall they kill their own mistakes. I wanted to emulate him. I wanted to be him.
Then I grew up and realized that Vivec was actually just a child’s power fantasy.
He had my youth but Sotha Sil has this adult’s heart. Out of the Three, his life and death speak to me the most. Vivec is for the young and Almalexia’s domain is not meant for me, but I want to uncover every mystery and find ten more in its place. I will never know him but that’s quite alright. I can delve further and learn something else along the way.
All the Tribunal are gods of death, but he is the god of death whose banner I serve under.
Almalexia
I killed my wife. I don’t remember her but she remembered me and I killed her. She might have turned into dictator and she might have ruined all of Mournhold to retain a scrap of dignity, but I still killed a woman who fell into grief over her own impending death. Isn’t the Nerevarine grand?
Helseth
I never really stopped wanting to tear out his heart with my teeth but over time, but I settled on giving him another sort of death. I miss him terribly. I loved him in my own way and while I doubt that he ever truly loved me (I think the emotion itself was foreign to him), I am content in knowing that he needed me. You know, for all his show of being terrible, he could almost be sweet sometimes. It wasn’t fair that I never got to see him grey and old. None of it was fair at all.
Love
There was Joury. I kissed him only once, about a minute or two before my arrest. He was one of the other eunuchs in the palace and I always regret not chasing after him instead of wasting my time with the nobility. He was as sweet as strawberries and even though he had spent most of his time working in that nest of vipers, there was still something so pure and innocent about him. I should have kissed him before then. I really made a mistake there.
Well, there you go. My life is very grand, isn’t it? I am blessed. These macarons are quite good though, did you know that? Are the purple ones lavender-lemon?
She's the Queen Mother -- mother of King Hlaalu Helseth. She's also the widow of General Symmachus, the great Dunmer hero, and a former queen in her own right back in Wayrest. Many years ago she abdicated her throne and retired from public life here with her son. Now that her son has become king, you might expect him to respect her counsel and experience... or not. I pay no attention to MY mother.
Well, all the local Dunmer seem happy she's back. I suppose I can see why. Smart woman, doesn't seem to have been ruined by royalty. Know what I mean?
Well, it's certainly good that she is back among our people. It's been too long that the Lady has been away.
A fine woman. We're lucky to have her back in Mournhold. I know that a lot has been written about her, but don't believe everything you read. That woman's beauty is only equaled by her grace and wisdom. Shame she didn't pass that on to her son.
It's so good to have the Lady living among us again! All the Dunmer certainly seem to love her, and I can see why. A sharp woman, she is.
It's so good to have the Lady living among us again! She has always been a woman of the people, never putting on any airs of royalty.
We were all very excited when the Lady Barenziah returned to Mournhold. Of course, she brought her son with her. Still, it is wonderful to have a woman with such charm and grace in the Palace again.
Ahh...the Lady Barenziah. A fine, fine woman. It has been my pleasure to have known her as long as I have.
Yes, the Queen Mother. Have you spoken with her? You'll usually find her in her chambers here in the palace. An interesting woman. Has the same keen intellect as her son, the king.
I've not had the pleasure of her company, myself. Perhaps I'm one of the few. I'll say this: she's much loved by the people of the city. They should remember who truly deserves their love and admiration. All praise to our Lady of Mercy.
Hmph...that one has ears everywhere. The people love her. Always have. And she's seemingly stayed out of politics since her return to Mournhold. Make no mistake, though: she knows the score in this town. A savvy old woman to be sure.
Yes...the mother to young King Helseth. A fascinating woman. Mortal, but fascinating.
She is the Queen Mother of Mournhold, Our Royal Mother.
The former king was an old man and had been ill for a while. He had no sons or daughters. Helseth is Llethan's great-nephew -- Barenziah is Llethan's niece. Queen Barenziah renounced her claim to the throne, so, according to Imperial custom, the crown goes to Prince Helseth. He didn't do much, but we assumed he wasn't supposed to. We thought he was just a convenient fiction for Imperial administrative purposes.
We'd like you to find the anonymous writer of 'The Common Tongue' and persuade him to stop printing such lies about King Helseth. When we make official inquiries, people just look stupid and assure us they have no idea what we are talking about. We think you may have better luck -- particularly if you approach less-reputable citizens -- persons who place profit above honor.
First we want you to ask around and discover who is writing these lies. Then we want you to find him and persuade him to stop printing lies. The manner of the persuasion is left to your discretion. You WILL be discreet, of course. We don't want to appear to be threatening the time-honored Imperial traditions of encouraging free speech.
You pretend that this mission is not to your taste -- perhaps to encourage me to raise the value of my rewards. Such pretenses are foolish. I know you will change your mind and accept this mission. And I'll be here waiting.
What do YOU know about it? Do not let our close association confuse you into thinking I will tolerate disrespectful speech concerning our sovereign.
I take your point. King Helseth IS a skilled alchemist and student of bodily processes. But it won't do to have people referring to our sovereign as a common poisoner, will it?
Good. Report to me when you've found this anonymous writer and made sure that he will never print lies about King Helseth again.
So. Trels Varis is the anonymous writer of 'The Common Tongue'. And Trels Varis gave you his word that he would not discuss King Helseth in 'The Common Tongue'. And you gave him 3000 gold to contribute to the Widows and Orphans Fund.
Yes. So you give me your word that Trels Varis will keep HIS word? Well. We have placed our trust in your judgement, and I'm sure you will stand guarantee for it. And you shall have your expenses, and rich reward besides. Thank you. There's just one more official matter. Go to Lady Barenziah. She's asked to speak with you.
We place great trust in your judgement. We are very satisfied with your service. You shall have your expenses, and a rich reward and great honor besides. I give you a 'King's Oath' blade -- exactly like those used by the Royal Guard. Only those sworn to the king's service and tested by great trials may use them. They bear deadly curses that kill thieves and traitors. I welcome you into our brotherhood. And there's one last official matter. Go to Lady Barenziah. She's asked to speak with you.
So Trels Varis is the anonymous writer of 'The Common Tongue'. And you threatened the lives of his aged parents. And Trels Varis gave you his word that he would not discuss King Helseth in 'The Common Tongue'. You show fine judgement, and a light touch. We are very satisfied with your service, and are pleased to give you a rich reward, and great honor besides.
So Trels Varis is the anonymous writer of 'The Common Tongue'. And Trels Varis is dead? Your solution is simple and elegant. We are very satisfied with your service. You have earned our generous reward, and our most sincere expressions of gratitude. There's one more official matter. Go to Lady Barenziah. She's asked to speak with you.
[I want to refrain in general from reprinting entire quests, but I have a soft spot for Hlaalu Helseth, that enormous bastard.]
What is a gift that they have received that was especially touching or significant?
Once upon a time, a vicious, murderous king gave a Hortator who refused to die a collar, and it was about that time that Neht decided that maybe he didn’t have to kill Hlaalu Helseth after all. It was when that vicious, murderous king gave him his father’s beloved dagger that Neht decided that Hlaalu Helseth was flirting with him. They mutually decided that it would take less effort to team up than it would be to destroy each other, and so Neht and Helseth passed abolition in Morrowind. Things were going pretty well, but then the Red Year happened.
