You Walk Into The Golden Gryphon Inn In Alinor…

Well met traveller. I am Mezmaelia, a level 25 Dark Elf Dragonknight, and most recently, graced as the Saviour of Summerset. Take a seat at my table, for I see the confusion and daunting questions within your eyes. You want to know what has happened here in Summerset during the past few days yes? The story is not for the faint of heart, it contains seeds of Mystery, Deceit, Murder, Betrayal, Mercy and Perils unlike any have known before, let me order you an Ale.

I can tell you are one of the newcomers that have recently arrived here on the beautiful shores of Summerset. I am sure you have heard the term “Nebarra” as you walk past certain High Elf folk yes? Since Queen Ayrenn’s decree to allow all races to pass onto the shores of Summerset, there are those that do not take kindly to this ideal, and hence, refer to us as nebarra, which quite literally means, “The Unwelcome”. Do not let that put a hold on your own adventures, for I was once too called a nebarra from Morrowind. You see, that is where my journey began, I was assisting the folk within Vvardenfell when the invitation to come to Summerset met my ears. I dared not delay, as Summerset is the birthplace of Civilization and Magic as we know it in Tamriel, and is home to the Altmer, the High Elves.

Upon my arrival in Shimmerene, the setting was not at all as I expected. Instead of tranquil idyllic sea-kissed shores, I was surrounded by chaos and more than half of the travelers aboard my ship had simply vanished! I sought information from the nearest important looking High Elf, Calibar, who had clearly just seen horrors unknown to Summerset and beseeched me to seek out another one of the newcomers, a Khajiit named Razum-dar who had just saved the small port from strange sea creatures who had just been spewed out when the ground opened up on the shore.

Cloak and Dagger? Sign Me Up!

Soon after, I found Razum-dar, and after letting me in on a secret, that he is an “unofficial” eye of Queen Ayrenn, he offered me an opportunity to assist him in a few tasks to help unravel the recent port attack, source of the new threat and strangely enough, help him locate a few of the travelers that also went missing from his ship shortly after arrival. At the time, I had no idea how far this newly formed allegiance would take me, or how deeply involved in the survival of Summerset this chance meeting would thrust me.

My first task was to locate a few key individuals who might hold some clues to what was going on and why people were going missing, and it turned out that the Divine Prosecution and Priests from the Shimmerene Monastery were taking newcomers to perform “cultural assessments” and introduce them to the societal rules and regulations of Summerset. However, nobody ever returned from the monastery, so Razum-dar and I set out to investigate the inner sanctum for ourselves. I should mention that on the way to the monastery, a strange figure made a brief appearance outside the entrance, bathed in golden light and I could have sworn I heard a voice calling out to me before it disappeared again.

Once I was inside the monastery and skulking about, I met Valsirenn, who at first presented herself as someone also looking for a missing friend, but while we delved deeper into the bowels of the monastery, we uncovered that some priests were in fact Daedric worshippers, and were sacrificing the newcomers via Daedric Rituals using an Abyssal Pearl, to the Daedric Princes who had made a deal with these sea creatures that attacked the port earlier.

Valsirenn, realizing how dire the situation had become, then revealed to me that she was a member of the Psijic Order sent by their Ritemaster to investigate a warning they had received about a plot involving Summerset. If you do not know, the Psijic Order is an ancient magical monastic society, who once served as advisors to the rulers of Tamriel before they removed their Island home of Artaeum from the world.

Let’s Get Psijical!

Do I still have your attention? This is where the adventure stretches even the wildest of imaginations. I was then tasked with finding out how much of what was happening at the monastery Kinlady Avinesse of Shimmerene was aware of and why she had recently instituted a new Aldarch that she hardly knew to oversee the monastery. Razum-dar, Valsirenn and I then followed Aldarch Tilcalar to the Coral Forest outside of Shimmerene to where he wanted to have a secret meeting with Kinlady Avinesse and confronted Aldarch Tilcalar where he was most certainly planning on sacrificing her through a Daedric Ritual through another Abyssal Pearl. We managed to save Kinlady Avinesse and expose the Shimmerene plot.

Through our actions, Valsirenn decided that I would be a valuable asset to further unraveling the larger plot involving all of Summerset and then performed a special Attunement Ritual, inviting me to the Isle of Artaeum, where she would require my witness report of what we had uncovered thus far to her Ritemaster. Both excited and afraid, I stepped through the portal leading me to Artaeum, and was awestruck at the beauty and magnificence of this hidden Island, which was protected by some sort of magical dome surrounding it. I headed toward the large tower in the distance, sure that this is where I would find Valsirenn and her Ritemaster.

Once I gave my testimony to Ritemaster Iachesis, he invited me into the Ceporah Tower, which is the Psijic Hall that houses all the knowledge of the Psijic Order, where yet another honor awaited me. I spoke with Loremaster Celarus, who recruited me into the Psijic Order through the recommendation of both Valsirenn and Ritemaster Iachesis. This granted me access to not only study the knowledge and spells of the Psijic Order, but also allowed me to pursue the Jewelcrafting Profession within the Artaeum! I am not one to brag, but I now possess the skill to not only freeze time and space, but I also have the ability to reverse time and tell you this whole tale from the beginning without you even knowing! Perhaps I have already! Relax! I jest, this is the first time, I swear it.

Hit The Road Mezmaelia

Before I departed, I spoke with Ritemaster Iachesis’ Acolyte, Oriandra to obtain Sotha Sil’s Amplification Elixer for the Augury Ritual that the Psijic Counsel needed to reveal the true purpose of the Abyssal Pearl and then I also needed to speak with Loremaster Celarus’ Apprentice, Josajeh to obtain the Augur of the Obscure and Psijic Seals to go seal small breaches in the fabric of time throughout Tamriel that were recently discovered by the Psijic Order. However, Josajeh was tricked into releasing the Augur of the Obscure, as it is basically a Crystal Skull that talks to you and can see all the different time dimensions, so I had to first seek it out before I could attend to my Psijic duties.

Thankfully both of these adventures were relatively close to one another, near the small town of Rellenthil, just north east from Alinor. With my direction set, I was astounded to see that whilst I spent such a short time on the Isle of Artaeum, many more struggles and strange happenings had spread throughout Summerset, and whilst I knew I needed to focus on the task appointed to me by Ritemaster Iachesis after witnessing what we did through the Augury Ritual, I felt the call to assist as many of Summerset’s inhabitants as I could along my way, which led me on wonderous journeys throughout Summerset and often times, deep into Delves and dark perilous encounters with strange and deadly creatures.

After successfully reuniting families, taking part in some drama academic shows, solving farm murders and even clearing up misunderstandings between the Divine Prosecution, I hurried to Rellenthil to meet up with Razum-dar and Valsirenn to continue our quest to find out what the link was between the Abyssal Pearl, the Daedric Princes and these strange sea creatures that were now infesting the Summerset shoreline.

On our way to the Rellenthil Burrows, the golden light appeared again, this time, I saw a Golden Knight step forward and address me directly, mentioning that he was trying to get through to me to assist in the coming battle, but Daedric magic was preventing him from passing the threshold. He disappeared shortly after again and we pressed on, and to our surprise, we came face to face with an ancient threat, the Sea Sload, who were channeling souls through countless Abyssal Pearls, and trading them off with the Daedric Princes in order to create a brand new Cult, called the Court of Bedlam, which intends to take control of and reshape Nirn in its entirety. What was even more troubling, was the Sea Sload that we encountered, was a Sea Sload that Ritemaster Iachesis had already defeated eons ago, or so we were all led to believe! This changed the threat to Summerset from dire to catastrophic, and we needed to act fast!

Haunting Past. Tragic Present. Catastrophic Future.

A few hours later…

With this shocking revelation, loss of one of my most respected allies, more betrayals than I could count on both my hands and the fate of Summerset hanging in the balance, what choice did I have but to accept these terms, rally what was left of my surviving allies and make these ridiculously absurd alliances? If it was not for the brash boldness of Darien Gautier and his magnificent sword Dawnbreaker, you and I would not be sitting here having this conversation my dear traveler! I strongly believe that we would actually be doomed to an eternity in Oblivion, unless the destruction of Summerset and Tamriel could leak into Oblivion through the time breaches and destroy Oblivion as well? …chilling thought!

We slowly made our ascent up into the Crystal Tower, armed with nothing but our wits and determination to see the sun rise upon another day in Summerset. Our goal, to reunite the Heart with the Tower, which would then sever the connection between all the dimensional rifts contorting realities. With each staircase, another battle. With each hallway, a different reality. It was difficult not being overwhelmed and sharing the same fear of the growing darkness that had overcome these mighty scholars, who were far more equipped for a threat like this than I was, but with what little strength I had left in my bones, I reached the pinnacle, and it was time to face her!

A few minutes later…

Seeing Razum-dar sitting on the Alinor Throne, announcing me as the Saviour of Summerset, just to witness the Proxy Queen Alwinarwe reaction could not have been a sweeter moment or end to this wild fantasy! Razum-dar admits he is not one for thrones, and I agree, with him at my side during battle, we can face just about anything. The threat may be over, but many more adventures await and many more inhabitants require aid recovering from all that has happened. If you will excuse me, I must set out to Cloudrest to free the city from a new threat, care to join me? I see the fire burning in your soul now. The lust for adventure and discovery. It was not by chance that we met. Set your things down in my room and meet me outside. The Gryphons won’t tame themselves and Olorime won’t vanquish Z’Maja on her own. Perhaps we can warm up by clearing out some Abyssal Geysers with more fellow warriors scattered throughout Summerset too.

Conclusion

The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset is the second chapter for The Elder Scrolls Online, developed by ZeniMax Online Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released on 21 May 2018 for Windows PC and Mac and on 5 June 2018 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One Consoles. You can watch our DVR’d livestream of some gameplay on YouTube by clicking on this link. This review was done on an Xbox One S and at the time of this review, you can pick up your regular copy at BT Games for Xbox One at R479.00 and PlayStation 4 at R479.00. We received a Digital Collectors Edition, which you can also get from the Microsoft Store for R 720.00 with Xbox Game Pass. I am still to this day enjoying running around Summerset, and at R480.00, it is well worth it, as you do receive the Morrowind Expansion for free!