Fools ' Ebony , Book V Summary . This book is part of a six part series on Fools ' Ebony , as follows : Content . Back With The Priests , Final Plans , and a Killing or Two is Reported . . . Nearer the middle of the Month of Frostfall , The Inn of the Pink Nymph . PROLOGUE : Our roguish Dark Elf , the Adventurer has plummeted before our stunned eyes , from the king of the spider web of intrigue to a pathetic , crawling lump of Argonian excrement . In the quest for Fools ' Ebony , that substance that all would kill for , the Adventurer attempted to play Mage against Priest with the help of the merchant Nephron . Alas , that is to say , alackaday , the five armorers have trapped Nephron and the Adventurer and taken over their scheme . The hulking Ortho now watches the Adventurer ' s every move . But I get the feeling - - to be honest , don ' t you ? - - that beneath the Adventurer ' s defeated quivering jelly lurks a jungle cat of such cunning and resource to shatter all his enemies when the time is right . Of course , I could be wrong . Ah , I see one of the priests of Akatosh who believes himself a friend of the Adventurer . I , Prologue must away . LHEBAN : Evening there , mind if I join you ? ADVENTURER : Well . . . since you already have - no . And where is our esteemed brother Komon this chill evening ? LHEBAN : You mean you haven ' t heard - - Oh , I guess you have been busy with the . . . preparations ? ADVENTURER : Right , right , very busy . . . LHEBAN : Then let me tell you - - Oh , what a bad business . What trouble . . . Oh Dear . . . Well . . . you doubtless recall that poor Komon had this . . . er . . . problem - - overwork of course ! ADVENTURER : Oh yes - - you fellows do work exceeding hard , seems to me . LHEBAN : Well . . . recall how Komon left , somewhat erratically as it were , and . . . er . . . made off with that young blondie under the lamppost outside ? Well - - in his . . . er . . . state of confusion - he grabbed the wrong blondie - Oh My , indeed the wrong one . . . ADVENTURER : They all look pretty much the same to me , but of course , I do not look too hard ! LHEBAN : Oh My ! Well , to cut a short tale to the bone , old Komon grabbed a Contessa , who had thought to ' disguise herself . ' Oh Dear ! ADVENTURER : Well - - did she get away ? Did they catch Komon ? What happened ? LHEBAN : Well , old Komon , tipsy as he was , was quick as spit in a gale . Eluded all pursuit , took the lady to a small private . . . retreat house that we have . Oh Dear Me ! Well , the City Guards , Palace guards , half a dozen Royals , all caught up with Komon 3 days later . One day too late for the poor Contessa - - I hear that they had a hard time locating all the . . . er . . . bits and pieces . Komon was there , passed out cold . And another body , some common blond lamppost girl . And by now he is cold - - permanently , most likely at the bottom of the Bay . ADVENTURER : Oh well . Serves the Contessa right , coming down to this area . But I suppose that there are repercussions ? RAIC : Evening , Lheban . Evening , Adventurer . And - - ORTHO : Me am Ortho . RAIC : Yesss . Charmed . And Lheban , you indeed have my sympathies . . . if there is anything we can do to help - - our Temple of Julianos , that is . . ? But really , you should have kept Komon on a tighter leash - or preferably a noose ! ADVENTURER : Hello Raic . And hello to you , Stete - how ' s your sister ? STETE : Oh , she ' s great . LHEBAN : Yes , I know I know . Oh the repercussions ! Do you know that the Priests of Akatosh to Daggerfall Castle , Wayrest Palace and just about everywhere else have all been thrown out ? That the Royal tax exemption for the Chantry has been revoked ? That the Akatosh Chantry has just received a ' past due taxes ' bill ? Oh My ! ADVENTURER : Well . . . I suppose that we could help somewhat , maybe ? Maybe a small loan from Julianos for that tax bill ? With , say , a Temple as security ? Oh - - are not the taxes based on the number of the Priests of Akatosh ? So , maybe . . . the School of Julianos could take over a . . . significant number ? Reduce your tax bill ? You realize that this is not the best time for this - - just as we need a lot of funds for that expedition that I am arranging for you . LHEBAN : Oh , I am so sorry about Komon ! But , yes , maybe if good brother Raic could - - I hate to say this - - take over a greater share of the financial burden . . ? In return , of course , for . . . er . . . considerations . . ? RAIC : Hmm . Like a good number of ' permanently ' loaned priests ? A long look at your books ? At your cellar ? Your name - lists ? A Temple as security on our loan ? And , of course , a bigger cut in the proceeds of this . . . expedition ? Names of your . . . er . . . suppliers . . ? LHEBAN : Oh . I foresaw something like this , talked a bit about it with old Mucky - Muck - livid , he was . But , as I am a Senior Brother , he finally authorized me to ' take care of it . ' Those weren ' t his exact words , mind you , which were quite a bit . . . longer , more explicit . . . but the gist , at least . ADVENTURER : Of course , Lheban . If - - and note I say ' if ' - - if we are successful , why then you can easily get back into good graces at the Palace . Merely sell them the goods , as a good low rate ! With first refusal on any shipment you have ? What ' s one Contessa to them , anyway ? LHEBAN : Yes , yes ! That could work ! Worth a try . But how ? Royals will not talk to anyone from the Akatosh Chantry now . ADVENTURER : Leave that to me , I can make . . . approaches to certain ones . Yes , I can probably persuade them to let up on the Chantry , in return for . . . future favors . . . LHEBAN : Oh , Oh how can I thank you ? ADVENTURER : Well , I need a fair amount of gold to finish setting up my little trip . Maybe 10 , 000 ? Special horses , reinforced carts , cartiers , guards . . . the list goes on and on . And the cost of keeping our little trip quiet is really quite high . LHEBAN : Well , yes , we can afford it , I guess - - you do have the map now , don ' t you ? I know we can afford 8 , 000 gold . Given the potential profits . . . ADVENTURER : Rest easy ! - it ' s all here in my cloak - - show you in a bit . I ' ve also managed to . . . hire some good young hefty fellows , like old Ortho here , to manage the carts , dig and load , act as guards , and so on . . . LHEBAN : Good , good - I can relax a bit . Oh my , the fellows back at the Chantry will be so relieved . We really owe you , the Brotherhood does - - Oh , I mean the Akatosh Chantry , of course ! STETE : Brotherhood . . ? What about our sisterhood , eh ? ADVENTURER : Well , Raic , what about you and the School ? How much are you good for , the extra 2000 ? And maybe some more - always lots of last minute expenses on a trip like this , you know . RAIC : Well now . Since we seem to getting a whole extra sect of Priests , and . . . other considerations . . . Certainly ! ADVENTURER : Well , gentlemen - - Oh , and Stete - - here it is ! Oh , by the Arms of Zenithar , did I ever have to work hard for this ! Those cagey Mages ! But , in the end , just greedy old fools ! . . . Oh , just in case you or your , er , Head Priest , hasn ' t seen the goods - - here ' s a sample . Play with it . RAIC : Thank you , thank you . I must admit , I had some . . . well , some doubts . You know - dealing with a stranger , so on . . . No more . Partner ! ADVENTURER : Good , good ! STETE : Say , you fellows ever hear this one - - what ' s a Priest keep under his robe ? Haha - - His sister ! Haheheha ! RAIC : You know , I fear that we really have to do something about young Stete here . . . his sister thing . . . ugh ! ADVENTURER : Yes , he could be another Komon - - just what don ' t need ! LHEBAN : Hmmmm . This sister of his - - does she really - - exist ? RAIC : Oh yes . My . Oh yes . We know her well - I mean , we have often seen her . . . LHEBAN : I think , Brother , that she should be made to see the errors of her ways . So she is no longer an influence on Stete . . . RAIC : Yes , most certainly . . . Hmmm . . . LHEBAN : A somewhat Dibelytical theological point - - Oh , please excuse the technical discussion here - Raic , if we are to make her see the errors - - well , how shall I put it - - we first have to know just what the . . . ways . . . are , correct ? RAIC : Indeed , an astute observation ! Hmmm . . . so you are suggesting that . . . in a nut , we should first determine her . . . ways , so as to be able to then show her the . . . er . . . errors ? LHEBAN : Precisely ! Mind you , a difficult , ardous , tiring project , I fear . One that will take all our . . . will and energy . RAIC : Hmmm , true . But challenging , eh ? Take all our time - but then , we shall have some time , while friend the Adventurer here is off hauling and carting . LHEBAN : And . . . I personally , would feel far safer if we were . . . in retreat maybe . Studying the ways . . ? ADVENTURER : Yeah - - be a good idea for you two to , maybe , disappear ? For a while , of course . Cut down on the chances of a . . . rival faction catching on ? Or catching you ? RAIC : Very well ! Lheban , why don ' t you and I take his sister off with us on a . . . theological retreat , as it were ? Study the ways in details , and so on . . . LHEBAN : We could go to that unused little Temple , up on that shoulder of Edward ' s Mountain . . . out of the way , quiet . . . RAIC : Door has locks . . . LHEBAN : Thick walls . . . RAIC : A big cellar . . . LHEBAN : Good ! It ' s settled then . A theological retreat ! Oh goody ! RAIC : Of course , once we know the . . . er . . . ways in detail , we can of course tell old High Mucky - Muck , and let him take care of the . . . er . . . showing of the errors . . ? Yes , that would improve his mood quite a bit . . . LHEBAN : Then it ' s agreed . Let ' s start , say , day after tomorrow ? RAIC : Yes ! Adventurer , why don ' t I meet you at , oh , that horrid ugly statue of . . . what on Tamriel is it ? - a harpy and a gargoyle ? Called something silly like ' Vendigao and Her Lover ' or some such ? Up in the north west corner of the town . Oh , and can I keep the map ? ADVENTURER : Sure , keep it , I have a copy . And you will pass me a small bag , there at that nasty statue ? RAIC : Have it all ready for you - - say , ten o ' clock sharp ? Oh , Lheban , another thought about young Stete here . He really needs some . . . seasoning in the field , one might say . . . ? LHEBAN : Hmmm . Good point . . . I know ! The priest who handles field assignments is coming by tomorrow . We could arrange an . . . educational . . . assignment for Stete ? RAIC : Very good ! But where . . . hmmm . . . Winter ' s coming soon now . There ' s a vacancy up in Solitude , far north Skyrim , I believe . Night collections at street corners , or some such . Very Good ! Come on , Lheban . We have accounts to work on . Good night to you then , Adventurer . Ten tomorrow morning ! ( Lheban , Raic rise to leave , picking up Stete ) Lheban and Raic ( Together ) : . . . have to arrange some supplies . . . . . . leather , rope . . . holy wine . . . . . . lots of that pink powder . . . I prefer the green , myself . . . NEPHRON : Well ? ADVENTURER : Excellent . Went just as I said it would . Got 5000 gold from them . And , thanks to your work with that Contessa . . . we have the screws on the Chantry . And the School of Julianos is going to be . . . otherwise engaged . . . on a theological retreat . More like a Sanguine retreat ! NEPHRON : And those Mages Shub and Shub seem to have disappeared . . . ADVENTURER : So we are set ? NEPHRON : Yes , you can come by my warehouse tomorrow afternoon . Have the heavy carts waiting . ORTHO : And Ortho . . . NEPHRON : Oh yes , must not forget you fellows . How kind of you to . . . volunteer your services . . . ADVENTURER : Tomorrow , then ! EPILOGUE : Well , we only have one part left to this play and I ' ve run out counting the number of loose strings . Either Part the Sixth is going to be eight hours long , or we ' re going to leave some parts unsolved . I for one hope that they don ' t chose to drop the character of the Wanton Contessa . For Jephre ' s sake , she ' s been on the Dramatis Personae since Part the Oneth . Ah , well . Nobody leave your seat . Your gold will not be refunded . Any gold you can spare to tip your friendly wenches will be greatly appreciated . We just have a quick costume change and a set to put together and we ' ll be back . In the meanwhile , enjoy our bard ' s rendition of the Nordic classic " Alas , The Fleeting Years Glide By . " So Endeth Part The Five