Corpus Tamrielicum - The Imperial Library

46 2. THE ELDER SCROLLS CHAPTER 2: DAGGERFALL
LHEBAN: Well. Fools' Ebony now. Well, you know about ordinary Ebony, how it's rare,
only some dwarven clans dig it and sell it. And not too many, these days and times ...
STETE: How's that popular song go ..? (singing)
Where have all the Old Dwarves gone, Long time ago ...
(Lheben throws Innkeep at Stete) (Raic breaks chair on Innkeep and Stete) (Innkeep loses
consciousness)
LHEBAN: There's a pile of real ebony up in the Wrothgarians somewhere north, I hear tell.
You know how that dullish black ebony gets worked over by Mages, by some skilled
armorers, made into all kinds of potent weapons, amulets, belts, what have you. All fetch a
huge price, when you can find any. And how the best was made long ago, by those old
dwarves ...
(Stete rises to his feet) (Lheban kicks Stete back down) (The Adventurer loosens his tunic)
LHEBAN: Oh my! Oh, my apologies, friend, Sir! I see you have -- what's that? An ebony
torc? Oh my, and an ebony katana! Oh My! Oh My, My! So, of course, you know all that, sir.
ADVENTURER: Oh, that's all right, you didn't know. Here, have another bottle ...
LHEBAN: Many thanks, kind Sir. Well, then you know how every adventurer, even snotty
kids, all the dungeon-delvers, are always looking for ebony artifacts, weapons, whatnot. But
what you may not know, some of the more experienced delvers hunt for raw ebony lodes,
piles, dwarven leavings. That stuff, the raw ebony, is far more valuable.
ADVENTURER: The raw unshaped material that provides work ... and power ... for so few?
Apparently just loaded with negative magicka?
RAIC: Right, right!
LHEBAN: Yes, right so! Quite so! Well, Fools' Ebony now. Looks just about like the real raw
stuff. Runs in veins in the deep rocks. Feels the same, smells almost the same. But the big
difference: it's not real ebony. No power at all. If you pick some up, it gets you hands a bit
dirty. Softer too, by all accounts. But sort of shiny too. But who can tell all that, deep in some
old mine, maybe a ghoul breathing down your neck! So it's just grab and run, I guess, down in
those nasty holes. So the fools, the kids, the crazy delvers, are always hauling up a bag, a
sack, of Fools' Ebony. And getting laughed at by the merchants, dealers, mages, us ... hence
the Fools' part. Stuff just gets thrown into the Bay ...
ADVENTURER: Yeah, that's sort of what I ... er ... heard from some Mages. But I heard
something else, too ...
LHEBAN: And just what was that, friend ... if you want to tell us, of course ... Sir.
ADVENTURER: Oh, of course! I think that we can come to ... er ... an arrangement?
LHEBAN and RAIC (Together): Certainly, Oh Yes!