Board Thread:Roleplaying/@comment-16047389-20140624184300/@comment-16047389-20140701154536

The missing pages of that book are what trouble you the most. According to Vallina, the entire tome was filled with dark rituals. So why then were only a few pages of such particular interest? You decide to ask her opinion on this matter.

"That's difficult to say," Vallina starts. "The tome was written back during a time when such magic wasn't fully understood. Well, less so than today in any case. Although it is written using Daedric text, I would wager it was written by the Ayleid. It makes several references to Ayleid culture and cities, and references the use of Welkynd Stones in some of the more magicka dependant rituals."

"The missing pages themselves seem to be all related to a single ritual. The page prior to the removed pages references it as being a lengthy process, likely taking years to complete. Unfortunately, there's no way of knowing what the costs of the ritual were, or what the end results of the ritual were without having the pages themselves. Of course, it's also possible that the pages were removed to destroy them, instead."

Vallina notices your confused expression and elaborates.

"I should have mentioned this earlier, but the tome itself, like most books of Daedric knowledge, was enchanted to be resistant to most forms of destruction. Simply tossing it into a fire would have been insufficient. However, a skilled mage could remove pages from the book itself. Pages removed in this way lose the protection of the enchantment, making them vulnerable to any normal means of destruction. Attrebus would know more, I suspect. The Elder Council destroys countless Daedric texts and artifacts, and Attrebus himself is a well known mage."

"But if removing pages made them vulnerable, why would someone do so unless they intended to destroy them?" you ask, curiously.

"Likely to keep them on hand," she explains. "You see, although the wards protect the book, being in constant contact with it is unhealthy. It can cause a mage's magicka to become unstable, or even drive them insane. So they would often remove the pages themselves when they needed them, and they could always add them back into the book later through the same manner in which they were removed."

"If it's that dangerous, then why was the tome in the study?" you ask.

"It's possible it was put there by one of the manor's staff that didn't understand its significance." Vallina continues. "I can't imagine anyone who knew about it would've left it out in the open like that."

So it's possible you may have found the book because a servant made a mistake. Either way, it seems that the missing pages were removed either because they were too dangerous, or too important to leave behind.

A) Ask why Vallina thinks the Fortesias had such a tome. There've always been rumors, but never anything this horrid.

B) Ask Vallina about her relation with the Fortesias. How did a charming Altmer such as herself get an invitation from these normally predjudice nobles?

C) Ask Vallina about her relation with Attrebus. Why would the Count of Skingrad's adopted daughter know a Chancellor of the Elder Council so familiarly?