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[WillowLuman]

EDIT: I believe we should try to get something (like magical instruction) from this, but we shouldn't be too demanding. A good reason would help. Get it, just don't press too hard. Be subtle if possible.

After telling him our information, we must tell him that we need to visit Divayth Fyr to verify some things.

Objectives for this conversation:
Tell him that the sixth house wants to drive all foreigners from Morrowind, and will likely try to brainwash Dunmer citizens and/or infect them with corprus. Find out about the status of the Nerevarine, asking about the prisoner with  the package would be a good place to start.  Reports of Dunmer, or even others, experiencing strange dreams are likely Sixth House related. That one survivor must be questioned ASAP. Dagoth Ur is quite real and wields the power of an ancient and vastly powerful artifact, and intends to construct a second Numidium, which he is indeed capable of. Inform him that the Tribunal's power is also based on this artifact but they have been unable to replenish themselves for a while. Tell him that the Sixth House has many bases, the strongest of which are in the ancient Dunmer ruins around the island and the Dwemer ruins within the Ghostfence. See if there are any moles within the Great Houses who are in position to manipulate them.

[GlyphGryph]

Okay, first, [/b]make it clear we know exactly who he is, what he does, and who he works for[/b]. Then come clean.

Just... try to tell him things in ways he can easily understand. Unlike Vivec, he doesn't have the metaphysical backing and incentive to believe us.

Say:
that we come from another world, and that we have seen these events play out many different times in many different ways, and that while we not know all the details of this specific occurrence, we believe our information is still useful. This is the first time we have visited this series of events in person - previously, we always acted through an avatar. But this time, we visit in the flesh, and we are... adjusting, but making mistakes. Not everything is as it was before. And the reason he might want to trust us - this time, we actually have skin in the game. We are here for real, and we do NOT want to end up under the control of Dagoth Ur or dead.

[SethCreiyd]

- Agreed that we should specifically address him as "Caius Cosades."  That we've heard of him and that we would be friends of the Emperor.
I don't imagine Michael thinks ill of Uriel Septim or that he would abandon an opportunity to assist him.

- Do not even think about lying to Caius or screwing around with him.
Aside from simple ethics, he'll know if we're lying.  By telling the truth we establish a basis of trust.
Remember that Caius is Grand Spymaster.  80 Intelligence, 70 Personality. He's likely a good judge of character.

- Tell Caius that Dagoth Ur is building a second Numidium deep within Red Mountain, bound to the Heart of Lorkhan.
The Blades once quested for the fragments of the first Numidium.  Caius will understand the danger that Akulakhan presents.

- Discretely make known our awareness of the Nerevarine Prophecy. 
We are well acquainted with this entire situation, we just need to convince the Grand Spymaster that we know what we're talking about.

-Tell him EVERYTHING, but perhaps leave the "we come from another world" thing till later

-No excuses about Vivec or dreams or books

-Yes, don't be too demanding. This is our chance, we musn't ruin it.

Agreed.  Dagoth Ur is a menace to all of Nirn.  Tell Caius everything that could help undermine him. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Who the sleepers are, where the bases are, how Dagoth is preparing to overthrow the Tribunal and wage genocidal war on the rest of Tamriel, and that he too is searching for the Nerevarine.

- Ask Caius if there is anything we can do to assist in working against the Sixth House.
Maybe he can pull some strings and get us out of garrison duty.

[GlyphGryph]

Support/second all statements for telling him things truthfully in a way he will understand that might be useful to him, especially the bits that involve us knowing a lot of different things we shouldn't know about

[Jarod Cain]

- Agreed that we should specifically address him as "Caius Cosades."  That we've heard of him and that we would be friends of the Emperor.
I don't imagine Michael thinks ill of Uriel Septim or that he would abandon an opportunity to assist him.

- Do not even think about lying to Caius or screwing around with him.
Aside from simple ethics, he'll know if we're lying.  By telling the truth we establish a basis of trust.
Remember that Caius is Grand Spymaster.  80 Intelligence, 70 Personality. He's likely a good judge of character.

- Tell Caius that Dagoth Ur is building a second Numidium deep within Red Mountain, bound to the Heart of Lorkhan.
The Blades once quested for the fragments of the first Numidium.  Caius will understand the danger that Akulakhan presents.

- Discretely make known our awareness of the Nerevarine Prophecy. 
We are well acquainted with this entire situation, we just need to convince the Grand Spymaster that we know what we're talking about.

-Tell him EVERYTHING, but perhaps leave the "we come from another world" thing till later

-No excuses about Vivec or dreams or books

-Yes, don't be too demanding. This is our chance, we musn't ruin it.

Agreed.  Dagoth Ur is a menace to all of Nirn.  Tell Caius everything that could help undermine him. 

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Who the sleepers are, where the bases are, how Dagoth is preparing to overthrow the Tribunal and wage genocidal war on the rest of Tamriel, and that he too is searching for the Nerevarine.

- Ask Caius if there is anything we can do to assist in working against the Sixth House.
Maybe he can pull some strings and get us out of garrison duty.

+1 To everything here.
-J-

[PTTG??]

Reflect on the following, Mike:

Obviously, things aren't exactly the same as the Morrowind we know. For one thing, if this _is_ a real world based off of Morrowind (the old Literary Agent Hypothesis, or something similar)... then it is at least based off of a modified version of the game. (There are apparently children.) Last time you played, what mods did you have? As well as you can remember; don't sweat it if you can't.

As I say that, it occurs to me that we might not be in the game of Morrowind, but rather the lore of Morrowind. The Lore includes children, cooking, refrences to the nitty-gritty parts of magicworking that aren't seen in the game itself. In fact, given the way that NPCs seem to act more... NPClike... near the PC, perhaps when we aren't close to the PC, we're in the Lore, and when they are near, we're in the Game. Like how buildings in the Game would be built when the player isn't present.

This still calls for experimentation! I know we're working on a lot right now, but when we have a chance, Get Bodiath's Pillow Book. It contains clearly verifiable information that is obviously there in the Lore, but not in the Game. That will tell us a lot more about the world, which will serve our interests either way; either we can better master this world, or better escape it back to ours, if we know where we stand.

There's one other useful attribute the Pillow Book might have. If we change from Game to Lore by proximity to the player, then peeking into the book to see what state it's in would tell us if we were near to them.

[GlyphGryph]

Hmm... that brings up a good point. Is there anything Caius may be able to retrieve for us or that he had access to that would increase the value of our information by letting us double check our sources or something?

Remember that we want to create a situation where we are working with him to protect Morrowind, not for him.

[hostergaard]

Well, the package he received contained various details on the PC if memory serves me right.

[LordBucket]

Cutoff for episode 34

[LordSlowpoke]

Whatever you do, do not forget to poke the orc in the ribs. We're the bigshots now.

[PTTG??]

That was excellent timing.

[LordBucket]

Episode 34: Who was the Nerevarine when the world reset?

: "Now then, I understand that you are knowledgeable about certain things. I wonder if you'd be willing to tell me what you know about the Sixth House."

tell him you know who he is and what he is doing

"Ah, Caius Cosades, just the man I've been wanting to see."

You make eye contact with Caius, then turn to watch Darius and Strillian leave the room. Once they have, and the door closes firmly behind them, you exhale and relax.

: "Spymaster Cosades, it's a relief to finally meet you."

You see a calculating look in Caius' eyes, but his body and face betray nothing. Instead of speaking he simply waits for you to continue.

Tell him EVERYTHING

: "The sixth house, first off...is real. It is an ancient Great House under the rule of Dagoth Ur, a demi-god who's actually a contemporary of Vivec and the Tribunal gods. Right now he's holed up inside Red Mountain, and he's in the process of building a second Nimudium with plans to conquer all of Tamriel. Something that you...as a Blades operative, should be very concerned about."

Caius is still looking at you, waiting for you continue. At no point did he ever so much as blink. You make a mental note to never play poker with him.

: "They have bases all over Vvardenfell, with especially notable bases at Ilunibi, Kogorhun, Odrosal and Vemynal. Beneath Dagoth Ur, there are a dozen or so highly dangeras ash creatures known as ash vampires, which are not actually undead at all...who act as his lieutenants. Beneath them are the ascended sleepers, one of which recently seems to have assaulted Khuul in an act of racial cleansing. So...yes, I know a great deal. What would you like to know?"

Caius ponders this for a moment.

: "I'll want to hear more about the bases, but you obviously know a great del more than the General lead me to believe. Tell me, what do you know about the Nerevarine propechy?"

make known our awareness of the Nerevarine Prophecy

: "Ahh, the Nerevarine. Supposed to be the reincarnation of Lord Indoril Nerevar, who was a contemporary of the mortals who became the three Tribunal gods, as well as of Dagoth Ur.  Prophesied to be reborn to uncertain parents in a foreign...land."

...wait a second. What are the actual prophesied requirements of the Nerevarine?

 - Born in a foreign land

You're a freshman liberal arts student at your local community college. You're an average student, and you don't do sports. No real hobbies except the internet, games, watching My Little Pony and reading the occasional fanfic on Equestria Daily.

Can't get much more foreign than from a totally other planet.

 - Born to unknown parents

: "What's your favorite food? Do you remember even having eaten in your entire life? Do you have any friends? Pets? Family? What are you parents names? In your entire life do you remember ever having spoken to them?"

: "I...don't know. I...don't remember...any of that."

You have no memory of your parents.

 - Born under a certain star

: "You didn't exist prior to walking through the front door of your house."

your chair drops out from beneath you and you feel yourself falling backwards. You see a blur, then sunlight in your eyes, then. SPLASH!

The very first thing you saw upon entering Morrowind was sunlight...from a star...before you even hit the ground.


(GM Comment: after 60 thread pages, seriously disappointed that nobody ever managed to concisely put these pieces together.)

What about the rest? You know there were some other things, but nothing immediately testable. Even in-game, the PC doesn't start out immune to disease, or have approval of the Houses or Ashlanders. Weren't there seven requirements? What were the others?

: "...I...might be the Nerevarine."

: "Oh?"

ask if he recently received a package from a former imperial prisoner. Ask what this race this person was what this person looked like. 

: "...maybe, yes. Caius, did you recently have someone show up with an encoded message? You must have. That's why you knew to ask me about the Nerevarine prophecy."

: "Yes, such a person did come to me."

: "What race were they? What did they look like?"

He doesn't answer right away. You can see the gears turning in his head, while he debates whether to answer. Eventually, he does.

: "She was a dunmer. Youthful face, with long straight white hair."

...that's not the answer you were expecting. The dunmer woman you originally saw in Seyda Neen had sort of curly-ish dark hair. Is it possible she dyed it? That's probably possible here, and it was something like 5 weeks ago that you saw her.

: "What was her name?"

Again, Caius doesn't answer right away. You roll your eyes.

: "Caius, seriously...that secret encoded package from the personal secretary to the emperor himself that I couldn't possibly have read and given to her by Sellus Gravius at the Census Office in Seyda Neen said that the person carrying it might meet the conditions of the Nerevarine prophecy, and asked you to induct her into the Blades and arrange for her to make sure that she does."

At this, Caius crosses his arms, and you see a hint of danger in his eyes.

: "Clover. Her name is Clover. Now, tell me friend...how do you know what was written in an encoded imperial document?"

leave the "we come from another world" thing till later

agreed

all of this

: "...Caius...it's...complicated. Look, I don't want to be evasive here. But understand that there are many, many things on Mundus besides mortals. There are daedra, there are gods like Vivec and the Tribunal. There are races like the chimer and the dwemer...and, at least one of those is still alive by the way in Divyth Fyr's corprusarium. There are many things that go unexplained. Oblivion. The warp in the west. 'Where were you when the dragon broke?' Me? I...honestly don't know. I have no memory prior to 5 weeks ago. I don't remember being born. But I do KNOW things. I think I might be the Nerevarine. And if I am, it's possible I know these things because I'm supposed to know them."

That answer feels kind of weak, but Caius doesn't ask for clarification.

: "What did you discuss with Vivec?"

: "Vivec?"

: "Yes. You're the first person outside the Temple hierarchy to be granted an audience in decades."

Hmm. Well done, Caius. It seems you know some things also.

: "Well, I told him that I might be the Nerevarine, and he basically spoke in riddles. Like...literally at one point he conjured a sword and pushed it around with his finger and asked me how many swords he was pushing and whether they were talking to each other. It was obviously supposed to be some big metaphor for existence, or something...but I didn't really get it. Even if I repeated the conversation verbatim, I don't know if that would help. And we talked about CHIM. Have you read the 36 lessons of Vivec?"

: "Yes."

: "A lot of it was like that."

He nods.

: "Perhaps it's best we focus on business then. What can tell you me about Ilunibi?"

: "Cave of Ilunibi...sixth house base. Dagoth Gares is inside, along with some awesome artifact gloves called the Fists of Randagulf. Actually, wait...have you already sent Clover in there?"

: "Yes. Just yesterday."

: "She's going to get Corprus. It's part of Dagoth Ur's plan, but that's also part of the prophecy. The Nerevarine is supposed to be immune to corprus, but she has to catch it in order to become immune to it by talking to Divyth Fyr. He's working on a cure."

But wait...are you the Nerevarine or is she? What happens if she isn't? Does she just get corprus and die, or does Dagoth Gares know that she isn't and so won't infect her? From what Caius is saying, the main quest has definitely been started. What's supposed to happen? Or is there  'supposed to' happen here?

: "Who's side are you on, Michael? Where do your loyalties lie? With Vivec? The Empire?"

: "Well, it's in my best interest as much as anyone's for Dagoth Ur to be stopped. Really, it's in the interest of every living creature that he be stopped. It's not that I'm personally loyal to Vivec, or the Emperor...but I'm kind of loyal to common sense and self preservation. EVERYBODY dies if Dagoth Ur wins, or they become insane corprus beasts. Or worse. I don't even know. If stopping the destruction of all of Tamriel means allying with you, the Blades, the Empire, Vivec....as far as I'm concerned, we need to all be in this together."

Caius nods to himself and seems to relax somewhat.

: "Alright. What you advise?"

: "Well, I..."

Suddenly you feel dizzy. Something is very wrong. You start to sit down before you fall over, but time seems to slow down and before you hit the ground, everything goes black.



You look down, but you see nothing. Not even your own body. Panicking, you try to scream but no sound comes out. Frantically you feel around, but you can't feel anything. It's like complete sensory deprivation except that it's terribly hot. Wait, heat? Where is that coming from? You look up-




















..to see the sun above you radiating heat, and a moment later a blue sky with clouds. You look back down and see an ocean below you that extends to horizon all round you.



You look around, but you don't see...a you. You can rotate your field of view, but you don't even know how you're doing it. But whatever's going on isn't done yet, and everything is going dark again. You look back up at the sun again just in time to see it quickly obscured by...an ugly brown?



You watch helplessly as the sun, the sky and the ocean are all obscured by brown nothingness. Even the heat from the sun seems to be blocked by it. Then you watch as lines begin to appear. Dozens, then hundreds all at once you watch as the world is rebuilt around you.



And then, the first sound reaches your ears as you hear yourself suddenly inhale a breathfull of air with lungs you're not sure you had a moment ago.  You're in the room just as before, and Caius is standing next to you as if nothing happened.

: "Who's side are you on, Michael? Where do your loyalties lie? With Vivec? The Empire?"


What do you do?

[Supercharazad]

Pause, and then attempt to summon a glass of water from nowhere.
Because I have a feeling we just achieved CHIM. Somehow. May as well test it.
Also tell Caius that we're on the side of Tamriel.

[shadenight123]

It seems...we must choose a side.

WE ARE LOYAL TO BAY12! ALL HAIL DWARF FORTRESS!

and if this doesn't work, then...

For the Empire!

[Man of Paper]

I say we repeat our answer verbatim and see if he responds differently. This is the perfect opportunity to test what happens at a reset. Even if this and the others have totally different causes, it'll still give us a reference point for later experimentation. If it turns out that he responds exactly the same, then we know there's a chance we can use the resets to our advantage. Like Groundhog Day.

The world was redrawn, so I have a feeling that there's a second cause for this reset. Perhaps the game was exited or the PC shut off and we didn't know because the game world, and by extension Michael, did not actually exist. I'm also kind of mad that I didn't read through the beginning posts like I wanted when I was making the Nerevarine argument. It's right there staring us in the face.

I have high hopes for you, Michael. But we gotta remember that they're just hopes. Someone else could be the chosen one, and we shouldn't be disappointed by that. It'll just mean that the bamf shit we do is all the more badass because we aren't destined for it.