Retrospective A/N: This story began in my cramped little dorm room at university in 2003, with a stack of handwritten notes that I still cannot bring myself to throw away. Morrowind's first expansion pack, Tribunal, had been released the year before - something I had been very excited about since I heard it involved the Wayrest Royal Family from the Elder Scrolls II, Daggerfall. To my intense disappointment, however, my favourite character Morgiah was nowhere to be seen.

Who, you might ask? Well, those of you who have played Tribunal will be familiar with Helseth, current king of Morrowind. Less of you may know that he and Barenziah were also prominent characters in Daggerfall. Even less of you may remember that, hey! Helseth had a sister, didn't he?

Helsth's sister, Morgiah, was an extremely interesting character in Daggerfall. The PC did a couple of quests for her involving a correspondence with the legendary King of Worms, leader of the Necromancers. The letters between them read as such:

Sire,

I agree to your terms. I will give you my first and you will exert your influence on the King of Firsthold on Sumurset Isle. Only you can let him speak with his dead son. For that, he would even marry Nulfaga!

-M

The King's response:

Princess,

Done.

-KoW

On completion of this simple courier quest, the nature of this pact is never mentioned again. TESII's manual, The Daggerfall Chronicles, has this to say on the subject of the Morgiah/King of Worms quest:

This sets up part of the story for the sequel to Daggerfall. Therefore, no more will be said of it.

...But it doesn't, and when Morrowind came round I was heartbroken to see that Morgiah was nowhere to be found. How rude! Bethesda set up a deliciously tantalising hint involving two of the juiciest characters in the series, and they never followed it through!

Well, aren't they lucky? I've done it for them. :)

This story is set two years after the ending of Morrowind/Tribunal, in the year 3E 429. It incorporates plots, characters and elements from all four Elder Scrolls games to date (and as of 2011, also touches of Skyrim). Even though it contains a huge amount of geeky lore breadcrumbs for those diligent enough to spot them, I have tried to make it accessible enough that those unfamiliar with the earlier games can still enjoy the story.

As of 2014, I have also done extensive polishing of the text. A few months ago I got nostalgic and decided to read my old fic, and was unexpectedly mortified by how clumsy and overblown the prose was. I've cut out some unnecessary floweriness and affectations, tidied sections up, and generally tried to make things more streamlined and elegant. There are flaws in the plot which are pretty glaring on fresh reading, but barring a major rewrite (which is unlikely now) most of them are too difficult to eradicate completely, though I've done my best to smooth them over. It's never going to be Shakespeare, but this is probably as definitive as it's going to get. If you previously downloaded the story, I'd urge you to update it to this version, although I admit that's a rather unreasonable request for something that's been gathering dust for ten years.

In any case, to whomever it may concern: happy reading! I really hope it's as much fun to read as it was to write.

Love, Rumple x