The Horror of Castle Xyr Content . Act I . ANARA : Good evening to you , serjo . CLAVIDES : Good evening . Is your master at home ? ANARA : No , serjo , it ' s only me here . My master Sedura Kena Telvanni Hordalf Xyr is at his winter estate . Is there something I can do for you ? CLAVIDES : Possibly . Would you mind if I came in ? ANARA : Not at all , serjo . Please . May I offer you some flin ? CLAVIDES : No thank you . What ' s your name ? ANARA : Anara , serjo . CLAVIDES : Anara , when did your master leave Scath Anud ? ANARA : More than a fortnight ago . That ' s why it ' s only me in the castle , serjo . All the other servants and slaves who tend to his lordship travel with him . Is there something wrong ? CLAVIDES : Yes , there is . Do you know an ashlander by the name of Sul - Kharifa ? ANARA : No , serjo . I don ' t know no one by that name . CLAVIDES : Then you aren ' t likely to now . He ' s dead . He was found a few hours ago dying of frostbite in the ashlands . He was hysterical , nearly incomprehensible , but among his last words were “ castle ” and “ Xyr . ” ANARA : Dying of frostbite in summertide in the ashlands ? B ' vek , that ' s strange . I suppose it ' s possible that my master knew this man , but being an ashlander and my master being of the House of Telvanni , well , if you ' ll pardon me for being flippant , serjo , I don ' t think they coulda been friends . CLAVIDES : That is your master ' s library ? Would you mind if I looked in ? ANARA : Please , serjo , go wherever you want . We got nothing to hide . We ' re loyal Imperial subjects . CLAVIDES : As , I hear , are all Telvanni . CLAVIDES : The library needs dusting . ANARA : Yes , serjo . I was just doing that when you knocked at the door . CLAVIDES : I ' m grateful for that . If you had finished , I wouldn ' t notice the space in the dust where a rather large book has recently been removed . Your master is a wizard , it seems . ANARA : No , serjo . I mean , he studies a lot , but he don ' t cast no spells , if that ' s what you mean by wizard . He ' s a kena , went to college and everything . You know , now that I think about it , I know what happened to that book . One of the other kenas from the college been round yesterday , and borrowed a couple of books . He ' s a friend of the master , so I thought it ' d be all fine . CLAVIDES : This kena , was his name Warvim ? ANARA : Coulda been . I don ' t remember . CLAVIDES : There is a suspected necromancer at the college named Kena Warvim we arrested last night . We don ' t know what he was doing at the college , but it was something illegal , that ' s for certain . Was that the kena who borrowed the book ? A little fellow , a cripple with a withered leg ? ANARA : No , serjo , it weren ' t the kena from yesterday . He was a big fella who could walk , so I noticed . CLAVIDES : I ' m going to have a look around the rest of the house , if you don ' t mind . ANARA : Can I ask , serjo , what you ' re looking for ? Maybe I could help you . CLAVIDES : Are these all the rooms in the castle ? No secret passages ? ANARA ( laughing ) : Oh , serjo , what would Sedura Kena Telvanni Hordalf Xyr want with secret passages ? CLAVIDES ( looking at the armor ) : Your master is a big man . ANARA ( laughing ) : Oh , serjo , don ' t tease . That ' s giant armor , just for decoration . My master slew that giant ten years ago , and kind of keeps it for a souvenir . CLAVIDES : That ' s right , I remember hearing something about that when I first took my post here . It was someone named Xyr who killed the giant , but I didn ' t think the first name was Hordalf . Memory fades I ' m afraid . What was the giant ' s name ? ANARA : I ' m afraid I don ' t remember , serjo . CLAVIDES : I do . It was Torfang . “ I got out of Torfang ' s Shield . ” ANARA : I don ' t understand , serjo . Torfang ' s shield ? CLAVIDES : Sul - Kharifa said something about getting out of Torfang ' s shield . I thought he was just raving , out of his mind . ANARA : But he ain ' t got a shield , serjo . Clavides pushes the high - backed bench out of the way , revealing the large mounted shield at the base of the armor . CLAVIDES : Yes , he does . You covered it up with that bench . ANARA : I didn ' t do it on purpose , serjo ! I was just cleaning ! I see that armor ever day , serjo , and b ' vek I swear I ain ' t never noticed the shield before ! CLAVIDES : It ' s fine , Anara , I believe you . CLAVIDES : It appears that Sedura Kena Telvanni Hordalf Xyr does have a need for a secret passage . Could you get me a torch ? ANARA : B ' vek , I ain ' t never seen that before ! CLAVIDES : Wait here . ULLIS : I ' m sorry to frighten you . ANARA : Not now ! Go away ! ULLIS : I ' m afraid the Captain wouldn ' t like that , miss . ANARA : You ' re . . . with the Captain ? Blessed mother . ULLIS : Captain ? What ' s down there ? CLAVIDES ( to Anara ) : Did you know your master ' s a necromancer ? That your cellar is filled with bodies ? ULLIS : Let me see , serjo . CLAVIDES : You ' ll see soon enough . We ' re going to need every soldier from the post here to cart away all the corpses . Ullis , I ' ve seen enough battles , but I ' ve never seen anything like this . No two are alike . Khajiit i , sload , dunmer , cyrodiil , breton , nord , burned alive , poisoned , electrified , melted , torn apart , turned inside out , ripped to shreds and sewn back up together . ULLIS : You think the ashlander escaped , that ' s what happened ? CLAVIDES : I don ' t know . Why would someone do something like this , Ullis ? ZOLLASSA : Good morning , you ' re not Lord Xyr , are you ? CLAVIDES : No . What do you have there ? ZOLLASSA : A letter and a package I ' m supposed to deliver to him . Will he be back shortly ? CLAVIDES : I don ' t believe so . Who gave you the package to deliver ? ZOLLASSA : My teacher at the college , Kema Warvim . He has a bad leg , so he asked me to bring these to his lordship . Actually , to tell you the truth , I was supposed to deliver them last night , but I was busy . ULLIS : Greetings , sistre . We ' ll give the package to his lordship when we see him . ZOLLASSA : Ah , hail , brothre . I had heard there was a handsome Argonian in Scath Anud . Unfortunately , I promised Kema Warvim that I ' d deliver the package directly to his lordship ' s hands . I ' m already late , I can ' t just - - CLAVIDES : We ' re Imperial Guard , miss . We will take the package and the letter . ULLIS : You ' re at the college , if we need to see you ? ZOLLASSA : Yes . Fare tidings , brothre . ULLIS : Goodnight , sistre . CLAVIDES : It appears we ' ve found the missing book . Delivered to our very hands . ULLIS ( to himself , very pleased ) : Another Argonian in Scath Anud . And a pretty one , at that . I hope we weren ' t too rude to her . I ' m tired of all these women with their smooth , wet skin , it would be wonderful if we could meet when I ' m off duty . ULLIS ( continued ) : She looks like she ' s from the south , like me . You know , Argonians from northern Black Marsh are . . . much . . . less . . . CLAVIDES ( reading ) : In black ink “ The Khajiiti male showed surprisingly little fortitude to a simple lightning spell , but I ' ve had interesting physiological results with a medium - level acid spell cast slowly over several days . ” In red ink on the margins , “ Yes , I see . Was the acid spell cast uniformly over the entire body of the subject ? ” In black ink “ The Nord female was subjected to sixteen hours of a frost spell which eventually crystallized her into a state of suspended animation , from which she eventually expired . Not so the Nord male , nor the Ashlander male who lapsed into their comas much earlier , but then recovered . The Ashlander then tried to escape , but I restrained him . The Nord then had an interesting chemical overreaction to a simple fire spell and expired . See the accompanying illustration . ” In red ink , “ Yes , I see . The pattern of boils and lesions suggest some sort of internal incineration perhaps caused by the combination of a short burst of flame following a longer session with frost . It ' s such a shame I can ' t come to see the experiment personally , but I compliment you on your excellent notation . ” In black ink , “ Thank you for the suggestion about slowly poisoning my maid Anara . The dosages you ' ve suggested have had fascinating results , eroding her memory very subtly . I intend to increase it exponentially and see how long it is before she notices . Speaking of which , it is a pity that I haven ' t any Argonian subjects , but the slave - traders promise me some healthy specimens in the autumn . I should like to test their metabolism in comparison to elves and humans . It ' s my theory that a medium - level lightning spell cast in a continuous wave on an Argonian wouldn ' t be lethal for several hours at least , similar to my results with the Cyrodilic female and , of course , the giant . ” In red ink , “ It ' d be a shame to wait until autumn to see . ” ULLIS ( reading the letter ) : In red ink , “ Here is your Argonian . Please let me know the results . ” It ' s signed “ Kema Warvim . ” CLAVIDES : By Kynareth , this isn ' t necromancy . It ' s Destruction . Kema Warvim and Kena Telvanni Hordalf Xyr haven ' t been experimenting with death , but with the limits of magical torture . ULLIS : The letter isn ' t addressed to Kena Telvanni Hordalf Xyr . It ' s addressed to Sedura Iachilla Xyr . His wife , do you think ? CLAVIDES : Iachilla . That was the Telvanni of the Xyr family who I heard about in connection with the giant slaying . We ' d best get the maid out of here . She ' ll need to go to a healer . ANARA : What ' s happening ? Who are you ? CLAVIDES : Don ' t worry , everything is going to be fine . We ' re going to take you to a healer . ULLIS : Do you need a coat , Iachilla ? ANARA : Thank you , no , I ' m not cold - - CLAVIDES : You have black ink on your fingers , your ladyship . ULLIS : And when you saw me at the door , you thought I was the Argonian your friend Warvim sent over . That ' s why you said , “ Not now . Go away . ” ANARA / IACHILLA : You ' re much more observant than Anara . She never did understand what was happening , even when I tripled the poison spell and she expired in what I observed as considerable agony . ULLIS : What were you going to use on me first , lightning or fire ? ANANA / IACHILLA : Lightning . I find fire to be too unpredictable . ANANA / IACHILLA : Fascinating .