Online:Walks-Under-Shadow

Walks-Under-Shadow
Location	South of The Silent Halls
Race	Argonian	Gender	Male
Reaction	Friendly

Walks-Under-Shadow

Walks-Under-Shadow is an Argonian apprentice priest to Sithis who can be found just south of the Silent Halls. He was apprenticed to Nisswo Nesh-Tei who died while trying to retrieve a special book from the nearby ruins.

Related Quests

• Tome of Shadow: Help find a tome for a voh-vastei so he can properly perform his rites as soul tender on his mentor.

Dialogue

When you approach, you'll hear him say: "Xi-Tsei. If your path leads to that nest of stone, stranger, I have a request to make of you."

Speak with him to begin the quest.

"I whispered a prayer to the Shadow of Atakota and now you stand before me. An agent of change who appears in my hour of need.
Yes, this will do. I have a task for you."

What's the task?

"Before me are the bones of a nisswo, a priest of Sithis, who died searching for a special tome.
I seek to whisper the proper words to ferry Nesh-Tei's soul through the Void and back to the Hist, but that cannot happen until the tome is found."

What do you need from me?

"I need you to venture inside the Xi-Tsei stone-nest and locate the Nightwielder's Tome. I will mark your map with the place Nesh-Tei thought it most likely to be.
Bring the tome to me so Nesh-Tei may find his path. You will not go unrewarded."

I'll find the tome in Xi-Tsei.

You can ask him more questions before continuing.

"I would retrieve the tome myself, but I fear the Sul-Xan who inhabit Xi-Tsei and killed Nesh-Tei will try to disturb his remains. I must stay here and guard them.
Strike the Sul-Xan down if they threaten you. Claim the tome and return."

Sul-Xan? / You mentioned the Sul-Xan?

"A tribe that has lost their way. They worship violence and chaos above all. Their callousness brings unwanted strife and bloodshed to the marshes.
They are dangerous, particularly to outsiders."

Why would they kill an Argonian priest?

"The Nisswo and the Sul-Xan may both embrace impermanence, but they do so in drastically different ways.
Likely the tome is something that should remain in the protection of the Clutch of Nisswo. Perhaps they killed him so they might keep it."

What exactly is the Nightwielder's Tome? / Can you tell me more about this tome?

"I have never seen it for myself. It is said to be a tome of shadow magic written by a dryskin man by the name of Azra Nightwielder.
I have reason to believe it is highly dangerous, though I have heard the runes within cannot be read by mortal eyes."

Then how was it written?

"The Nisswo see with more than eyes. Perhaps this shadowmage does as well. I know little of him, besides the fact that dryskins credit the name with the creation of shadow magic.
An absurd notion, but many think discovery the same as invention."

Why does this tome need to be found before Nesh-Tei can pass on?

"The two are bound. Nisswo Nesh-Tei's soul cannot properly pass until the mission he pursued so fervently in life is resolved. His sense of purpose was so strong, it carries on.
If we finish his work, his death need not have been in vain."

Why is it your job to perform the last rites for this priest?

"I am voh-vastei … an apprentice. All priests must first take on the role of voh-vastei before becoming a nisswo themselves. Nisswo Nesh-Tei was my mentor.
So you see why this matter is very important to me."

Is performing last rites on Nesh-Tei the job of a voh-vastei?

"Though I am not yet a nisswo, as his apprentice, I feel it is my duty.
In life, this was Nesh-Tei's path to walk. Now he will walk with me. Through shadow and void. Through river and root. Through death and change."

After retrieving the Nightwielder's Tome:

"Ah, you return.
I hope you did not have too much trouble. I feel as though something has shifted. Sithis has ushered in change. Tell me, did you find the Nightwielder's Tome?"

Here it is. The Nightwielder's Tome.

"I will see it safely tucked away with the Clutch of Nisswo. Your reward, as promised.
Now, I must perform my rites as soul tender. You may observe, if you wish. It would honor him to have another in attendance."

"... And so be born again under nothing-stars."

He then sets a soul to rest:

Walks-Under-Shadow: "Hear now, clutch-kin of nothing-speakers."

Walks-Under-Shadow: "May your soul pass through void beyond void, and return to the Hist."

Walks-Under-Shadow: "Rivers ten and two sundered into the shadow of one."

Walks-Under-Shadow: "Inelegant but ever-changing."

Walks-Under-Shadow: "The Hist watches, the soul flows."

Walks-Under-Shadow: "And so be born again under nothing-stars."

<The bones burn with blue light as they disappear.>

Walks-Under-Shadow: "It is finished."

Afterwards, you can speak to him again:

"The task is finished and the rite is complete. As is our business here.
I must return to the heart of the marsh to deliver the news. Until we meet again. You have my thanks."

What will you do now?

"Now that my work here is done, I continue my studies. I am still voh-vastei, and some day I will become a nisswo. Hopefully, one that would make Nesh-Tei proud.
I will return to the marshes and find my way. Change will carry me to where I am needed."

How will you become a nisswo without your mentor?

"Change is inevitable. The Clutch of Nisswo accounts for this in many ways. It is not a limitation. Nesh-Tei's soul has passed on and will return to the Hist, but my journey has only just begun.
Be well. Perhaps we will see each other again."