Online:Morian Zenas

Morian Zenas (lore page)
Location	The Feral Gallery
Race	Imperial	Gender	Male
Reaction	Friendly

Morian Zenas

Morian Zenas is an Imperial and former mage driven to madness by the forbidden knowledge of Apocrypha. He is currently being held captive in the Feral Gallery, a Daedric zoo.

Related Quests

• Escape of the Sane: Help Morian Zenas escape his zoo enclosure.
• Chronicle of Fate: Learn what was forgotten.

Quest-Related Events

Escape of the Sane

If you pick up the note A Plea for Aid to start the quest, you will travel to the Feral Gallery where Morian will be trapped:

Morian Zenas: "No doors. Still trapped. Get me out of here. I want to read!"

Speaking to him to find about his predicament:

"Those Dreamcarvers came in here, opened all the exhibits, but didn't bring down the barrier? Rude! Inconsiderate! They didn't even clean up after themselves.
The Feral Gallery is a mess. It's untidy and strewn with cipher … bits. I want to leave!"

You can't leave?

"There's a barrier. It keeps the exhibits inside. We can't leave the gallery. Those Daedric Dreamcarvers mucked everything up. Now there's no one alive to bring me books! We had a deal!"

If there's a barrier, how can you escape?

"Simple! Cipher Frielvi. She'll know a way, and she might be alive. But, she won't be easy to find. No! The bristleback lords won't let us through. And Dreamcarvers! Yech!
It'll be worth it, though! Help me find Frielvi. She'll give you a treat."

All right, I'll help you escape the barrier keeping you here.

After agreeing to help, you can ask him questions:

"Everyone likes treats. It's one of those things. The powerful secrets. Known Things!
First, bristleback lords! We have to put them to sleep. You can find sleep potions down in the gazebo. You toss 'em. They take a whiff. Then, bam! Snores galore."

Known Things? Bristleback lords? Sleep potions? You're not making any sense. / You don't make a lot of sense, Morian.

"Not my fault you can't understand. I got lost in the books. Now my words are scrambled. Like Kwama eggs!
Knowledge, truth, facts, they're not what you think they are. Don't go looking for them."

Who are you?

"Many things. Planes-walker, prisoner, teacher, student, friend, enemy. The multitudes in me contain smaller multitudes. I hear them sometimes, the multitudes. They whisper. I wish they'd stop, but you can't tell what isn't there to stop talking."

What happened to you?

"I know a Known Thing. It made my eyes bleed and gave me an extra toe. Knowledge is power. Power is dangerous.
My advice? Eat your vegetables, read books, and don't listen to the whispers in your head."

How did you get here?

"I made a deal. Join the gallery and stay in one place in exchange for all the books I could read.
I should've negotiated for all the books I wanted."

I meant how did you get to Apocrypha?

"I walked. And then did some magic that makes my brain hurt. I think I went to other planes first. But if I try to remember, the voices come back and I don't like them. They ask questions.
You're also here. You know what I'm talking about."

What is this place?

"Frielvi calls it the Feral Gallery. It's a good name. This is an untamed catalog of monsters and creatures.
The ciphers kept the peace—made sure no one wanted for food or fun. Some creatures roared, others tweeted—I spoke!"

You talk like you're part of a menagerie.

"Oh yes. I'm not a cipher, they're the caretakers here. I'm an animal.
There was a time when I had powerful enemies. My staying here appeased them and it gave me some safety—and books. But now it's dangerous."

Powerful enemies?

"I'm not dead, so maybe they don't hate me enough to kill me. But, I am trapped.
Not in the gallery, I wanted to be here. The ciphers also don't make me wear socks. Life is better here."

Who are the Dreamcarvers?/Who did all of this?

"Those Daedric bullies think they can bring pain and suffering into this library? It's quiet here!
Besides, pain and sickness aren't scary. They should really look into the terrifying experience of finding out your book's missing the last chapter."

Why did the Dreamcarvers attack?

"They wanted to? Or someone wanted them to.
I know they killed the ciphers. I just hope Frielvi isn't dead yet. I don't want to be stuck here if nightmares control the gallery—it's nightmarish enough with the gallery as broken up as it is."

Who is Cipher Frielvi?

"She runs the gallery, leads the other ciphers, and takes care of us all.
The ciphers serve the One Fate of Tides. No, that's not right. They serve … Moron Hermes. I'll get this eventually. Hermaeus Mora."

After you pick up the sleeping potions, he'll come running to you:

Morian Zenas: "You have them! Yes! Our globular deliverance!"

Speaking to him on what to do next with the sleeping potions:

"After decades of plotting, the porcine hegemony will become the vassals of the slumbering … erm, hegemony! Which is a different and much better hegemony if you ask me!
Are you ready to watch the coup unfold?"

So these potions will really put them to sleep?

"Yes! They'll drift away to the land of dreams. Good dreams, though—not Dreamcarver bad ones! There, they'll drink in the halls of their noble fore-boarers! I know because I've had pig dreams. They're sublime!
Once they're asleep, we'll slip past!"

How am I supposed to give them these potions?

"From the skyway there.
Let the potions fall on them and the gas will do the work. The lords will try to intimidate you, cajole you … cuddle you with their great stinking arms. If any of them tries to lure you to their side, ignore them! Resist!"

All right, I'll throw these potions at them from the skyway, then.

Asking more about the bristlebacks:

"Sleep potions. They sing a song of smoke and calm even the angriest of the bristleback lords. Powerful concoctions there. I used to know how to make them. Back before I fell into ink.
Let's go, before anything else decides to get in our way."

Tell me more about these bristlebacks.

"Their crimes are too horrible to name, their passions too lustful to speak of politely. They are the conundrum of mortality, friend—imbued with the grace of gods and the frailties of flesh.
Which is their true nature? Ah ha! A riddle!"

After putting the bristlebacks to sleep, you'll find him in their enclosure:

Morian Zenas: "Shh! Dreams are unstable things right at the start. Check inside and then we can be loud."

Speaking to him that you will need to find Cipher Frielvi so that he can escape:

"The bristleback lords seem like overgrown swine while they're asleep. It's strange—I don't like it. Everything's different here now.
We have to find Cipher Frielvi. She's the only one who knows how I can get past the barrier keeping me here."

Do you know where she is?

"Where isn't she? The cipher's have eyes everywhere. They watch us. All the time.
We should go to Frielvi's study. It's through this door and if we don't wander off, we'll be there in no time!"

You know where her study is?

"She knows where mine is, it's only fair. Her study is all right, but it's worse than my enclosure. I, at least, know I'm trapped.
The powerful wiggly one told me that I'd never leave. My ears were still ringing from the Known Thing, but I heard him."

Wait, was Cipher Frielvi in an exhibit too?

Asking further questions:

"Aren't we all? The lord of eyeballs watches us all and lets us stay here in Apocrypha, in the gallery … in our own minds. I've been locked in my mind so long that I can't find my way out.
I used to be something, you know? But now I'm different."

Can you tell me more about the Feral Gallery? / Tell me more about the Feral Gallery.

"It's a gallery! Of special beasties and other things. Secretly special, no one knows why. Except for Hermaeus Mora. But he knows everything, so that's cheating."

Why keep it a secret?

"Who knows. Maybe he likes it. Maybe he keeps dangerous creatures here. Maybe he doesn't have a reason.
The ciphers spent a long time trying to figure it out. Wrote their theories down in books in the study."

How did you anger Hermaeus Mora? / How did you manage to anger Hermaeus Mora?

"I wanted to know everything. I found what I wanted—which is different from what I was looking for. I know that which shouldn't be known.
Discovering the secrets of the secret keeper has its consequences. Confined. Stuck! Like me!"

Can't you change this? Appease Hermaeus Mora?

"Why would I want to do that?
Oh I may have been different in the past, clearer, purposeful. But that person learned all he could to share it across the darkness. I learn because I enjoy it. Not selfish. Pure. This is my purpose."

If Hermaeus Mora is angry with you, why will he let you escape the gallery?

"I was a poor guest in his realm, but he did invite me. He sees too much and I hear the same amount.
His attention wandered. I don't feel the light of his eyes on me all the time. I can move in the shadows now."

Speaking to him when you're at Mercurial Creatures:

"Fastest way to travel is by tunnel and bush. But we won't both be able to fit.
The bristleback lords slumber, we should be safe to take the slow route to Frielvi."

You will soon encounter an entrance that is blocked by rubble:

Morian Zenas: "Blocked? Outside when we're supposed to be inside. Spiders. A spider should do it. Find one!"

Asking why spiders are needed:

"Spiders sit in the eaves and listen in on private conversations. They know everything. Like how to find the dormitory door. Ha, dormitory. Door-mitory.
Well? What are you waiting for? Ask the spiders."

You think the spiders will know?

"Of course. Didn't you hear me? They know more than you think.
Just because you can't understand them doesn't mean they're not wise."

If we can't understand them, how will we know what to do?

"Intuition? Context clues? Gestures? Motions? There are so many ways to understand the unintelligible.
You'd be surprised at how good spiders are at silent charades."

You will find a book called Beasts of the Gallery, next to a dead cipher:

Morian Zenas: "There! Spiders are studious. They write down all the answers. Look. Look!"

Before reading the book:

"You can't just walk away from knowledge, it'd be rude. Read it. See what the spiders have to say."

You'll find out you need to take the firepot spider to clear the rubble:

Morian Zenas: "We need a boom! Tell the spider you're sorry and take the thing on its back. Its inkwell!"

Before you take the firepot:

"I can't read spider scratch, but their carapaces don't look that deadly. Still, it's best to follow what the spider said. I don't know why it would lie or if it even can. One way to find out!"

After you pick up the firepot, he will ask you to the flammable inkwell on the rubble:

Morian Zenas: "You need to put the inkwell back on the rocks. Make the boom! But don't spill."

Before you place the firepot:

Morian Zenas: "Careful! Careful. You wouldn't want to spill.
Put that down by the rocks there."

When you place the firepot, you will need to light the fire:

Morian Zenas: "If everything turns black, that means I'm dead. Have fun!"

Before lighting the firepot:

"Light the fire. Those rocks look so cold."

After the lighting the firepot, the rubble will be cleared out:

Morian Zenas: "A door? I usually go in through the windows. No matter, it's open now."

Before you go inside the ciphers dormitory:

"It's rude of Firelvi not to welcome us in. Well, we'll just have to find her and let her know."

Once inside Frielvi's study, you'll find her wounded:

Morian Zenas: "Frielvi? What are you doing bleeding out like that?"

Cipher Frielvi: "Of course Morian didn't stay in his cell. Who are you? One of the Dreamcarvers?"

Speaking to him before Frielvi:

"She's leaking like a broken cup. But where is the chip? We can't put her back together without it. Frielvi—she can't be bleeding now. This is a crisis! We need her."

After to Frielvi, you'll tell Morian of the plan:

Morian Zenas: "It won't be long now, Frielvi's just about empty. Did she say something about a Known Thing?"

Speaking to him:

"Frielvi's glass is nearly empty. Grains of sand spilling out on the floor. Running out of time.
My sand's inside, but my eyes leak. No cage, no friends, no one to make plans for me. I'm not good at being alone anymore."

Cipher Frielvi said there might be a way for you to break through the barrier.

"The Forbidden Exhibits. I always knew I was going to get in there."

You already know about the Forbidden Exhibits?

"I was going to go ask the Known Thing if it wanted to help me escape, but there are Seekers. They make … noises.
The entrance is southwest of us now. If we pretend to be sneaky mice, maybe the Seekers won't notice us. Can you be a mouse?"

No.

"Well, then we'll have to be sneaky mortals and try it anyway.
I'll join you outside. I'd like to say goodbye and hello to Frielvi."

Can you become a mouse?

"Their sensibilities don't extend as far as my fingertips. Whiskers and ears and a nose that wrinkles? Experimentation is very disjointed.
Wait for me outside? I don't want Frielvi to go into the dark alone."

Yes, of course!

"Excellent. We'll search for crumbs and keep out of sight. The barrier may keep the exhibits inside the gallery, but not two mice!
I'll meet you on outside. I can't leave until Frielvi's gone."

He will want to spend time with Frielvi as her wounds are gravely wounded and she won't be here long:

Morian Zenas: "You're almost out of words."

Cipher Frielvi: "Never thought I'd see you put off a chance at escaping, Morian."

Cipher Frielvi: "I hope you have better luck than I did, my friend."

Morian Zenas: "And I hope you go someplace where you always have thick socks on."

Speaking to him while inside the Immortal Exhibits:

"The entrance to the Forbidden Exhibits isn't too far away, but be careful. If there are too many Seekers we'll have to not be there. Does that make sense? First rule of surviving here: don't be where the Seekers are."

You seemed pretty broken up back there.

"I see her slipping away over and over. We're leaving each other.
People, faces, names, paragraphs, they escape through holes in my mind. All the Ciphers are dead or dying. If I can't hold onto her, who's going to remember Frielvi?"

I will.

"You didn't know her for long, but you might remember her longer than my mind will allow. Thank you.
Now, let's find the Forbidden Exhibit so we can both get out of here. Cipher Frielvi's memory will only live as long as we do."

This is Apocrypha, I'm sure there are records of her here.

"Paper memories? Of course! Records and histories live longer than mortals. With all the books and thoughts here, no one gets lost for too long. Not even to time.
Maybe I'll run into Cipher Frielvi in the shelves. Then I can remember her again."

Reaching to the portal to the Forbidden Exhibit:

Morian Zenas: "Inky-black and wriggling. Just like I always thought it would be. I never got this far before fear took me."

Once in the Forbidden Exhibit:

Morian Zenas: "Who forbids these exhibits? What's down here? Come on. Let's look!"

Speaking to him while in the Forbidden Exhibit:

"Well, this doesn't look too forbidden to me. There are Seekers here and everything.
Come on, let's see if we can find the way out."

He will spot the Known Thing:

Morian Zenas: "That is a lot of Seekers. This might be harder than— Wait! Yes! The Known Thing!"

Speaking to him on about getting past the Seekers:

"A Known Thing. It's here! We're not going to sprout liar's fungi.
But those wiggly-faced Seekers protect it. I can hear them. They're laughing at me and my mortal memory. Just because I can't remember everything I read doesn't mean I'm a toad!"

What's your plan for getting past the Seekers?

"Plan? I don't plan. I jump before looking and hit the ground whenever it wants to meet me again.
Hmm. Known Things turn Seeker minds into runny-nose soup. If we open it and point it at the Seekers, then they'd be the toad brains. Oh this is perfect!"

Cipher Frielvi said Known Things are dangerous and that you're the only mortal who has survived one.

"If you're worried about dying or losing your mind you'll never learn anything useful! I survived a Known Thing and look at me.
So, what do you say? Are you ready for a lesson? It'll be the most important of your life."

All right, let's open the Known Thing.

Asking more about Known Things:

"So close to a new Known Thing. I told you that the last one made my ears bleed, right? I wonder what I'll learn this time. Maybe I'll grow a stately tail!"

So Known Things are truths powerful enough to turn minds into…runny-nose soup? / So Known Things are so powerful, they can turn minds to runny-nose soup?

"That's right. They also taste of raspberries."

How can Known Things mess with your mind?

"Minds rely on what they think they know. But truth doesn't care about you or what you think.
Looking into a Known Thing, trying to comprehend the impossibilities of them, does funny things to you. Like make you grow an extra toe."

What was the last Known Thing you came into contact with?/What was the truth of the Known Thing you encountered?

"Shh! It's a secret. No one can know. I can't even know! I hid it from myself and now I couldn't find it even if I tried. It burned, you know? Felt like a star was falling through me, changing everything.
I wonder what this one will be like!"

How did you survive it?

"I have no idea. Maybe I was limber. Maybe it liked me. Maybe I didn't survive it? Leave the arguing to the philosophers and the mountains. Hypotheticals mean nothing to truth.
Don't worry. If this one kills us, we won't know."

While in the Forbidden Exhibit, there will be several creatures he will comment on if you interact with their exhibits: Examining the Sea Sload:

Morian Zenas: "Why are you here little Sload? Gifts of knowledge for the floating ones. Hmm, our feet touch ground."

Examining the Mournful Aegis:

Morian Zenas: "Sadness in an empty shell, just like an orange peel. What happened to your fruit, friend?"

Examining the Stone Husk:

Morian Zenas: "Grey Horse, or Dead Host? Alive and trapped…stuck more than most."

Examining the Scorion Collector:

Morian Zenas: "A collector collected by the collector? Now my mind hurts."

Examining the Lich:

Morian Zenas: "The Lich is trying to resurrect…her. Oh, that her? The Seekers won't even name her."

Examining the Primordial Goo:

Morian Zenas: "Goo from Oblivion. It's too old to hear but, there are big thoughts in there. A mind that wants to swallow me."

Examining the Minotaur Shaman:

Morian Zenas: "Hello? Oh, you need celery root. It'll help you be less worried about having your magic turn you into ether."

Examining the Bone Dragon:

Morian Zenas: "An untethered bone dragon? No necromancer. No ties to life or death or magic. It just…is."

Approaching close the Known Thing, you will encounter its guardian:

Morian Zenas: "It found us. Big eyes, big arms, bigger guardian. Be careful."

When you enter the Dais of the Known Thing:

Morian Zenas: "Tall ceiling, many steps, and the weight of truth ahead? I can't wait any longer!"

When you reach the Known Thing:

Morian Zenas: "It's excited! Feel it in the air? You open the Known Thing. I'll help tilt it toward the Seekers."

You open the Known Thing, which will bring down the Seekers' barrier and stunning them, allowing a portal to escape:

Morian Zenas: "Keep your mouth closed. Don't contradict the truth. And don't die!"

He will start asking you to escape:

Morian Zenas: "We did it. Hurry portals. Escape."

Speaking to him before going into the portal:

"The kettle's broken but the tea cup holds. Let's do that again!
Through the door, before someone steals it."

Once you're back in Apocrypha, you'll hear him below you:

Morian Zenas: "Oof. Rock. Fall. Cliff? Down. Oh! Friend, mind the edge!"

You'll notice him on the ground after falling:

Morian Zenas: "I feel freedom in my ribs."

Speaking to him to hear his thoughts of freedom and completing the quest:

"Extra toes? No walls and ears dry. No runny-nose brain soup either. I'll say success.
Free. No walls or home. Just feet to talk and eyes to read. No toad am I."

You're finally out of the Feral Gallery. How does it feel?

"Good. The Lord of Eyes and Arms must be all right with me leaving the gallery. I can explore, and read, and find myself again with this new truth.
You helped me and I helped you. Cipher Frielvi didn't give us treats but I saved one for you. Take it."

After the quest:

"I have to find the shadows and burrow away Daedrat-like. There will be times for standing tall as there will be times to run from the gibbers. Now is the time for burrowing.
It will be good."

How do you know Hermaeus Mora is all right with you leaving the gallery? / Are you sure Hermaeus Mora is all right with you leaving the gallery?

"He must be, otherwise I would have never made it out. If I had to guess, there's a lot going on between the eyeballs right now. Why worry about me?
If I am being watched, it's because I'm more entertaining out here than I was living in there."

What will you do now?

"Become a secret even from the secret keeper. Keep changing and never swim in the sea of fate. Read not to learn but to alter.
Exist everywhere and nowhere and never climb on the bookcases."

That sounds difficult.

"Old habits are dead but I'm an idea necromancer.
This new exhibit of mine is bigger and has more books— I think I'll enjoy being trapped here."

You don't want to leave Apocrypha?

"Without reading every book? Ha!"

What happened with the Known Thing?

"You were there along with the many multitudes of me. Didn't you see the light of darkness? Fly in the weight of truth? Slurp the dredges of your mind through a cup?"

Did we let it out?

"I don't know. All that raspberry smell made me close my eyes.
Either it's in the box, or it isn't. The moment you go back and check, it'll decide where it is regardless of which answer you like better. Best not to wonder and let it be both."

Chronicle of Fate

Morian will attend the ceremony at Cipher's Midden Hall, where your name will be added to the chronicle if you rescued him.

Speaking to him:

"Are you going to climb the shelves with me? Eat with our ears? Listen with our hands! Don't worry, I'm invisible. Did the spell dance and everything. But if someone does see me, I'll take like a person. They won't realize that I'm not!"

What are you doing here? I thought you were in hiding?

"I am hiding. Didn't you hear me? I did the invisibility dance. I'm even crouching tactically behind this crate! You can only see me because you helped me before. We're tied now.
Just don't betray me to the eyes and their shadows."

How did you get in here?

"Same as everyone else. I followed the spiders.
I couldn't miss this. Imagine if I had to read about your celebration between the covers of a history report?"

Well, try not to get caught.

"Don't worry. I haven't gotten caught in such a long time.
No, I'll stay here until the eyes swim from these shores and make a wake for me to follow. It's so much easier than fighting the current, don't you think?"

He will be one of the voices supporting you during Scruut's speech:

Morian Zenas: "And they helped me! Break barriers, know things, and escape! Escape? Who? Shh!"

Notes

• He is quoted in the description for the Cipher's Eye Pocket Watcher pet.