17: Brother Jauffre

I woke up early, so early that it was still dark outside. I ate a big breakfast at the bar, then set off on my way. Chorrol was a long way off yet, and Kvatch farther than that. I was a little off schedule, but nothing I couldn’t make up.

The road was long and uneventful. I picked reagents and fought off the occasional wolf, but eventually I came to a turn in the road. I checked my map and decided that heading through the wilderness would be faster than taking the road, so I climbed up the mountains. The way was hard and tiring, but eventually I was back on a road. This time it was the Orange Road. My travels on it were uneventful as well, but I did run across a few bandits, who were easily enough dispatched.

Eventually I came to the walls of Chorrol, and entered through the North Gate. I thought about visiting the Mages Guild here, but decided against it because I was still behind schedule. I made a quick stop at the local tavern and took a swig of beer before exiting Chorrol through the south gate. Weynon Priory was a short walk from there.

The Priory was very nice, though not much different from any other place of worship I have seen. The chapel and Priory House were separate from each other, but I decided to pay my respects to the gods before finding Jauffre. My prayer was short, and I made my way back into the Priory House where I was spoken to by an elderly man in a simple, black robe.

“Welcome to Weynon Priory, what can we do for you?”

“I’m looking for Jauffre. I have something for him.”

“Very well, he is upstairs, on your right. Blessings of Talos be with you.”

I thanked him and headed upstairs, turning right like he told me to. There was no one there except for another old man reading a book. I started to wonder if maybe the old man downstairs was losing his mind, but decided to speak with the one reading the book.

“Hello, I am looking for Jauffre. Do you know where I can find him?”

The old man smiled and said, “Last I saw he was sitting right in front of you. I am Jauffre. What can I do for you?”

I was a little surprised that this old man was the Grandmaster of the Blades. I was expecting a huge man that could tear my arms off with one hand. Then I realized that his eyes were extremely intelligent. Obviously he had risen through might of mind, rather than might of muscle.

“I have something for you, information and something… else.” I wanted to make sure that this truly was Jauffre before revealing I had the Amulet of Kings.

“What kind of information?”

“Information about the Emperors assassination.”

His eyes grew wide and he leaned forward to look at me. His voice dropped a little, but became slightly harsher. “What do you mean? Who are you? What do you know about the Emperor’s death?”

“My name is Will Syras, I was at the emperors side when… When the bastards killed him. Just before he died, he gave me something, and told me of you, and what is to come. He told me to ‘Take the amulet to Jauffre, only he knows of the heir to my throne. Find him, and close shut the Jaws of Oblivion.’”

“The Amulet? Did he give it to you?”

“Yes,” I drew it out from my pack, “he told me to bring it to you.”

He took it from me and examined it. “By the Nine! This IS the Amulet of Kings! Only the strange destiny of Uriel Septim could have brought it here to me, stranger still since it was brought by you.”

“What about the heir? Do you know where he is?”

“Yes, I do. His name is Martin, he is a priest at the chapel of Akatosh in Kvatch.” I immediately made a connection between this information, and the fact that I am already headed to Kvatch to meet the Dark One. “If what you say is true, Will, then Martin is our only hope... The Jaws of Oblivion must refer to something, did he say anything else about them?”

“No, but he did make some reference to ‘The Prince of Destruction.’”

“Mehrunes Dagon? This does not bode well for us. If we have an entire Daedra Lord against us, we must move immediately. The Daedra have ways of knowing secret things in our world, and I would not be surprised if they knew about Martin‘s true identity. You must hurry and bring him to me. I can offer some assistance, and I’m sure others in the Priory can help. Many were former Blades after all. Here, take what you wish from my stores, you will need them in the coming days.” With this he stood up and pulled a key from his pocket. He walked over to a chest and unlocked it for me. “Go now, we haven’t much time to lose. Get to Kvatch and bring Martin back alive. I will keep the Amulet safe until you return.”

I pulled a few potions and scrolls out of the chest and said goodbye to Jauffre. I then went downstairs and asked the old man there for any assistance he could provide. When he heard that I was working for Jauffre he offered me his horse. I gladly accepted, and set off to the stables to find my new means of transportation.