Striking at the Heart [Quest]

Text of the Quest:

The Shade of Prince Naemon has seized control of Hectahame where he is corrupting the Heart of the Valenwood. I must assist Queen Ayrenn and Indaenir in defeating him. I should speak to Indaenir. Queen Ayrenn said he was near the main gate to Hectahame.

Queen Ayrenn: Damn these gates. Damn the corruption. I should be in there, not Indaenir. He said you'll be able to pass through. Help him. Stop Naemon.
Hero: Yes. Indaenir was worried the Shade of Naemon might be here.
Queen Ayrenn: He wasn't wrong. The Veiled Heritants subjected my brother's body to an unnatural resurrection—as a lich. He has the Staff of Magnus and is using it to suppress Hectahame's necromantic wards and raise an undead army.
Hero: How bad is it?
Queen Ayrenn: Very. According to Indaenir, Hectahame guards the Heart of Valenwood. He believes Naemon is corrupting it, and this corruption turns any soldiers we send forth ... feral. Indaenir knows more. He waits for you at the gate.
Hero: I'll find him.
Queen Ayrenn: Indaenir believes he can enter unharmed. And you as well. I pray he's right.
Hero: What can you tell me about Hectahame?
Queen Ayrenn: We have only limited understanding of the history. Some time after the passing of the Ayleids, a necromancer or group of necromancers tried to raise an army of the dead. Necromantic wards were put in place, but now Naemon is suppressing them.
Hero: How is he doing that?
Queen Ayrenn: Even as a lich, I don't believe Naemon is powerful enough to disrupt the ancient wards. Elendarie believes it's the Staff of Magnus. We must retrieve the staff and secure it for the Aldmeri Dominion.
Hero: Can you tell me more about the Staff of Magnus?
Queen Ayrenn: Some say it once belonged to Magnus, the God of Magic himself—some say it was a gift, others say it was stolen, others believe it's a test. It suppresses magic, and it seems Naemon is using it to subdue the wards.
Hero: You mentioned the Heart of Valenwood?
Queen Ayrenn: I little understand it, but the Bosmer have described it to me as the center of Greenshade. As Naemon is allowed to corrupt it, the forest will die. The Bosmer here would lose their homes and be forced to flee.

Indaenir: I'm relieved you're here, my friend. As dark as my fears may have been, they pale in comparison to the reality. If the Shade of Naemon corrupts the Heart of Valenwood, then the realm he calls the Shadow Wood will soon consume this one.
Hero: How do we stop him then?
Indaenir: It won't be easy. The enchantments that once kept evil out are now corrupted—it's something similar to the blight we saw in Verrant Morass, but much stronger. Every soldier who's entered has turned feral. Even you and I would not be immune.
Hero: Then how do we get in?
Indaenir: It's risky, but to defeat the darkness, we may have to embrace it first. The Green is corrupted, and I think I can use my connection with it to thrust us into the realm of the Shadow Wood. In that realm, I suspect we can get past the blight.
Hero: It's worth a try. Let’s do it.

Indaenir: There. We're in Shadow Wood again, as foul as it ever was. We should be able to bypass the blight though ... and all the feral guardians that would block our way. Once we get in there, we need to head for the Grotto—that's where the Heart is.
Hero: You think it's safe to go in then?
Indaenir: There's only one way to find out, isn't there? If we go feral, that's that. If not, I still suspect we'll encounter some resistance. The Shadow Wood hasn't lacked for corrupted spirits elsewhere, and I can't imagine it will here, either.
Hero: All right. Let's go then.

Indaenir: This is the entrance to the Valenheart. It seems the Shade of Naemon has taken care to ensure his work is not disturbed. This is an ancient Ayleid barrier. We'll need to activate the pedestals to pass.
Hero: How do we activate the pedestals?
Indaenir: We'll need to get the keystones, Welkynd stones I imagine. And the Shade has likely scattered them throughout the branches of Hectahame. There is more too. I will need to study these pedestals to decipher the way of unsealing the door.
Hero: I can get the keystones while you study the pedestals.
Indaenir: Good thinking. Whatever we can do to speed this up. In fact, as soon as you find each keystone, bring it here before searching for the others. That will help me puzzle this out more quickly.

Indaenir: The Welkynd stones are the only way to break the barrier and enter the heart.
Hero: The Shade pulled me out of the Shadow Wood.
Indaenir: I'll get you back in.

Indaenir: The Welkynd stones are the only way to break the barrier and enter the heart.
Hero: The Shade pulled me out of the Shadow Wood.
Indaenir: Let's get you back in there.

Indaenir: incredible. I've never seen such terrible power. But you didn't flinch. The Shade is gone, but his corruption is not. Look at the Heart. It's overflowing with corruption, spreading the darkness all over Valenwood.
Hero: Is there any way to heal it?
Indaenir: I don't know, but I have to try something. As I suggested before, perhaps the only way to defeat the darkness ... is to embrace it. I think I might be able to draw the corruption out of the Heart and into myself.
Hero: But what will happen to you?
Indaenir: It'll be the end of me, I suppose. But the loss of one life ... to save the Valenwood ... there's no choice in that.
Hero: You're going to sacrifice yourself?

Mane Akkhuz-ri: Indaenir is dead? He is playing one of his Bosmer tricks. He must be. No ... he really is dead. Dark moons. Curse you Indaenir for being mortal, and curse us for being so slow to arrive after we saw the corruption recede.
Hero: Indaenir sacrificed himself to remove the corruption.
Mane Akkhuz-ri: Just like a Bosmer! It is not enough for him to save us all, he must mock us with the nobility of his sacrifice. We will feel this loss more deeply than most. But it looks like the dead prince is dead once again.
Hero: Naemon is defeated and Valenwood is safe.
Mane Akkhuz-ri: indeed. Queen Ayrenn should be informed. She entrusted you with this mission, so it would be best if you told ....Wait, did you feel that?
Hero: Feel what?

Indaenir: Could it be true? Me. The Silvenar?
Hero: What happened?
Indaenir: I fell down, down into death, and the Green reached out picked me up and set me on my feet, and I was here again, alive.
Hero: How do you feel?
Indaenir: Incredible. Indescribable. Transformed. I have seen my making and my unmaking, and I am awestruck.
Hero: The people here are calling you the Silvenar?
Indaenir: I never imagined, when the last Silvenar died, that I would be chosen. But if the people wish it of me, I will accept this role.

Razum-dar: ls it true? What Cariel speaks? Indaenir, resurrected?
Hero: Yes, it's true.
Razum-dar: Raz has had his eyes on other things, or he would not have missed it. And Naemon. Raz assumes he's dead. Again.
Hero: Yes, he is.
Razum-dar: Queen Ayrenn has already decided to blame Pelidil and the Heritance for this treachery. But Raz knows she loved her brother in her own High Elf, noble, emotionally stunted way. Tell her, but gently.
Hero: I will.

Mane Akkhuz-ri: Quite an amazing scene to witness.
Hero: Indaenir is the Silvenar?
Mane Akkhuz-ri: Ah. How did this one miss it? Talking to torchbugs, healing the forest, seeing invisible Spriggans—I thought he was just another mad Bosmer! It turns out, I was the mad one, and Indaenir was the Silvenar all along!
Hero: What does this mean for Indaenir?
Mane Akkhuz-ri: Besides a timely resurrection? A wedding, of course. He will be joined to the Green Lady and together they will represent Valenwood as leaders of the Dominion, with Queen Ayrenn and myself.
Hero: I see.

Queen Ayrenn: My soldiers stir from their feral state. I can only assume the corruption has receded, and Naemon is again put to rest.
Hero: Yes, Naemon is finally at rest.
Queen Ayrenn: It is well. The funeral rites and honors may proceed as originally planned. My brother was a pawn of the Veiled Heritance, you understand? The mistreatment of his royal body only makes their treason the worse. Now, what of the Staff of Magnus?
Hero: Here it is.
Queen Ayrenn: Thank you. I will see to its safeguarding personally.
Hero: There's one more thing. Indaenir is the Silvenar.
Queen Ayrenn: The Silvenar. By the Eight. Mane Akkhuz-ri, is this true? If so, that changes a great deal.

Queen Ayrenn: We won a necessary victory for the Dominion today, and we have you to thank.
Hero: So now what?
Queen Ayrenn: ril see to the Staff of Magnus's safety myself. As for you, the Bosmer have their Silvenar. With both the Silvenar and the Green Lady, it's time the two became one. Go to Velyn Harbor in Malabal Tor and we will make preparations.
Hero: Complete Quest.