After clearing out the mine so that the ebony industry can take root in Raven Rock once more, I'm approached by Adril Arano (how are there so many cool names in TES games?) who asks for help dealing with a threat to the Councillor of Raven Rock.
After some spying work, I uncover the identity of the plotter, and confront them at their base of operations within Ashfallow Citadel. It turns out they're sheltering a veritable army of Morag Tong assassins (I've heard of these before, in Morrowind I think - a shadowy assassin organisation presumably akin to The Dark Brotherhood), due to an ancestral grievance with the Councillor. I fight my way through - not easy, as again there's plenty of bow-fire and therefore plenty of reloads required. I've started dual-casting some powerful 'barrage' destruction spells now, to aid in the slaying of more difficult enemies. My regular skeletons are starting to struggle.
Once I've defeated the plotters (no thanks to the Redoran Guard, who were supposed to help me but all died right at the start - surprise surprise) I return to Raven Rock and am rewarded with Severin Manor:
Like most of the Dunmer buildings in this area, it's actually a lot more impressive inside than it looks, because it continues underground. It has many large, spacious rooms, several chests, and a few 'servant'-type people already living in it somehow. That last detail annoys me at first, until I realise that two of them are merchants with over 10,000 gold each to trade. At last, I'm able to sell off all my unwanted magical gear and make an absolute fortune, ending up with around 38,000 gold now.
I then spend a while sorting out the rest of my items into various chests - one chest for weapons and items of interest, one for gems (which I haven't sold, yet), one for soul gems, and one for books. I've gathered a fair few rare books on my travels and I'd like to have them on-hand to peruse one day when the mood takes me. Tharon-Zul will stop at nothing to acquire as much knowledge, and therefore power, as possible. It's pretty astonishing the amount of world-building history and fiction the developers have put into what must be literally hundreds of books throughout the game (I just checked and there's 337 altogether).
This all takes a fair while, and I spend a bit more time pottering around Raven Rock too. I agree to help the bartender spread the word about his new drink, offering it to 10 residents. Pretty weird to be honest, as his is the only 'tavern' (the Dunmer call it a Corner Club) in town. It takes a while to find 10 people actually willing to try a sample, and I'm rewarded with 250 gold.
Tharon-Zul now has a base and safe haven in Raven Rock and a community which respects him. I'll take care not to terrorise any of the locals just yet, so as not to arouse suspicions and jeapordise my safe haven. But make no mistake, the world will come to fear the name Tharon-Zul!
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