In the Name of the Queen [Quest]

Text of the Quest:

In the Name of the Queen Queen Ayrenn seeks to perform rituals honoring her ancestors. When she arrived at Tanzelwil, however, she found the spirits angered and violent. The Queen prepares for her rituals within Tanzelwil. I should seek her out.

Tasks

Meet Up with Queen Ayrenn

Prince Naemon: Queen's favorite, I'm glad you're here. We came to Tanzelwil to honor the spirits of our ancestors, and now they seem bloody well determined to kill us all!
Hero: Why would your ancestors try to kill you?
Prince Naemon: An excellent question, for which I have no answer. My dear sister, your Queen, brought us here to perform a ceremonial ritual. It's a bit of political theater, really. Gain the blessings of the dead and all that rubbish.
Hero: Is the Queen in any danger?
Prince Naemon: If danger doesn't find her, she'll seek it out and invite it home to dinner. She's in the ruins just ahead, conspiring with the Battlereeve. They're determined to complete the ceremony. Do be a loyal subject and see that she survives. Won't you?
Hero: I'll see what I can do.
Prince Naemon: I swear, it's like being home for New Life Festival. The family's been drinking since noon, and everyone wants you dead.
Hero: Who are these people?
Prince Naemon: Oh, you know how it is. In the waters off the island, there are great sea beasts. Smaller creatures cling to their sides, eating the scraps they leave behind. It's just the same with nobility on land.
Hero: Why does the Queen have to do these rituals?
Prince Naemon: Tradition! Whenever a new monarch takes the throne, there are endless rituals and ceremonies. I myself was more than halfway through the eighty-eight days of liturgical chanting required to take the throne. Then my dear sister returned.
Hero: You were going to take the throne before the Queen returned?
Prince Naemon: Oh yes. When our father King Hidellith, may he reign in glory, passed away she was slated to begin the ceremonies. But then she left. Just... poof. Gone, before she even entered the Sapiarch's Labyrinth.
Hero: Is that another ceremonial duty?
Prince Naemon: Just so. And so it fell to me to spend the requisite three thousand five hundred and fifty-five days studying Altmeri custom and ceremoniarchy. Ahem. But I digress.

Queen Ayrenn: Well, that could have gone better. Maybe it's all that royal "we" nonsense. "We call upon our ancestors." It's all rather condescending, isn't it?
Hero: Well. You are the Queen.
Queen Ayrenn: Don't remind me. This ceremony is supposed to show Auridon that I honor our people's culture and heritage. It's supposed to show that our ancestors see me as the rightful heir. I guess our ancestors have ideas of their own.
Hero: Why did that spirit threaten you?
Queen Ayrenn: I don't know. It mentioned Norion, my advisor. You met him in Vulkhel Guard, I believe. My friend, something has gone wrong here. I hate to ask your aid again, but I must.
Hero: Just tell me what to do.
Queen Ayrenn: There are two priestesses elsewhere in the ruins, women I trust. If Norion has turned against me, I fear for their lives. Stand with them as they perform their parts of the ceremony. Keep them safe.
Hero: As you say, my Queen.
Queen Ayrenn: These ceremonies are important to my people, which makes them important to me. I guess.
Hero: What will you do here, my Queen?
Queen Ayrenn: Continue the rituals, of course. The priestesses are waiting on me. No unquiet dead will keep me from finishing what I began here.
Hero: Why do you have to perform the rituals?
Queen Ayrenn: It's as I said. The ceremonies are for the people. They've always been a part of crowning a new Altmeri monarch. The people are already nervous about my extended absence. They need to know they can trust me.
Hero: Why would Norion turn against you? And who is the Veiled Queen?
Queen Ayrenn: I've no idea who the Veiled Queen might be. Perhaps the leader of that Veiled Heritance group? And in my estimation, Norion would sell his own mother if he thought he'd get a good price at the market.
Hero: So Norion's treachery is no suprise, then?
Queen Ayrenn: Norion was a staunch supporter of my father. And after him, Naemon's bid for rule. He was very ... vocal in his disappointment when I returned and took the crown. For Norion, it's all a power game. And I wasn't playing his way.
Hero: I encountered the Heritance in Silsailen, after I left you in Vulkhel Guard.
Queen Ayrenn: Truly? I had hoped Astanya led some kind of small splinter group or gave a grandiose name to a group of thugs. If they can strike at a whole town ... get to me here, through Norion. Stars, they're a real threat!
Hero: What will you do here, my Queen?
Queen Ayrenn: Continue the rituals, of course. The priestesses are waiting on me. No unquiet dead will keep me from finishing what I began here.
Hero: Why are the dead against you?
Queen Ayrenn: It must be Norion. Thrice-damned skeever that he is, he's also an accomplished mage. To control them so utterly, he must be nearby. I'm sure he'll show his face soon enough.

Queen Ayrenn: My friend returns. Are the rituals completed? Are the priestesses safe?
Hero: Yes, my Queen.
Queen Ayrenn: That's a relief. Thank you. Now comes the tricky bit. The final ritual must take place inside the ancestral tombs. Where, I would imagine, the most powerful dead dwell.
Hero: Complete Quest.