Online:Shardmarshal Vargas

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Shardmarshal Vargas
Location	Rustwall Catacombs, Feldagard Keep Barracks, Ithelia's Shrine, Loom of the Untraveled Road, Miscarcand, Terthil's Well Cave
Race	Dremora	Gender	Female
Reaction	Friendly
Other Information
Faction(s)	Shardborn

Shardmarshal Vargas is a Shardborn Dremora who can be encountered leading forces around the West Weald in service to her Prince. Like Torvesard, she was considered one of Ithelia's Scions and had vague feelings that something significant was missing.

Over the centuries she kept getting drawn back to a sealed portal in an isolated corner in Fargrave which lead to a place called Loom of the Untraveled Road. Once her memory of Ithelia was regained, she began gathering the known Shardborn under her leadership.

Related Quests

• The Missing Cohort: Investigate the fate of the missing cohort and servants at Rustwall Estate.
• Seeds of Suspicion: Investigate the links between the wildburn seed and the Recollection.

Quest-Related Events

The Missing Cohort

If you have started Paths of Chaos from Leramil the Wise, the Rustwall Estate will be one of the locations she asks you to investigate. Once there, you will assist Tribune Alea Idolus in finding out what has happened to the missing Rustwall staff and legion cohort assigned to guard the area. You eventually learn that the cohort forces were slowly whittled down, and the survivors had taken refuge within the Rustwall Catacombs.

Inside the catacombs, you will find members of the Recollection and the Shardborn, soon Tribune Alea will notice something on the level below you:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Look, down there!"

<Tribune Alea heads over to the railing.>

Recollection Commander Erorath: "Still no sign of the escaped legionary, shardmarshal."

Shardmarshal Vargas: "No matter, mortal. More of our forces will come through soon."

Recollection Commander Erorath: "As you say, Shardmarshal Vargas. We have more than enough weapons now."

<Shardmarshal Vargas walks away and jumps down a hole.>

Tribune Alea Idolus: "That Wood Elf, he's with the Recollection. And he's taking orders from a Dremora? What's going on here?"

From a survivor you find, you learn there is an attack planned on Skingrad and that there is a Daedric portal on the lower level which is bringing in Daedric forces. Upon reaching the chamber containing the portal:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "The portal! Destroy the anchors, comrade!"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Defend the anchors! Maintain the portal!"

<Marcorlaz of Mirrormoor is summoned to defend the anchors.>

Upon breaking reaching an anchor, Shardmarshal Vargas will cry out:

<First anchor shattered.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "The anchors! Stop them!"

<Second anchor shattered.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Damn these mortals! Retreat!"

<Shardmarshal Vargas creates her own portal and leaves.>

Seeds of Suspicion

After your initial investigation of locations around West Weald, you will head to Vashabar to investigate the Recollection. You also speak with King Nantharion, who asks you to follow the leads you were provided and report your findings to him at Hoperoot. This leads to a stymied Recollection ambush and the destruction of a Wildburn Seed.

When you arrive at Hoperoot, you find it is under the control of a Recollection army and as you search, you learn the King Nantharion is their true leader. When you reach the throne room, you find Shardmarshal Vargas in the process of handing over the Staff of Many Paths to King Nantharion:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "I leave the Staff of Many Paths in your care, Nantharion. Use it well—bah! Your tree has pests!"

King Nantharion: "Greenspeaker Sorilen, deal with the intruders! They must not interfere with the ritual!"

Greenspeaker Sorilen: "Beragon's friend? For his sake, I will dispatch you quickly."

King Nantharion: "Vargas, help me prepare the seed!"

<Shardmarshal Vargas and King Nantharion begin channeling golden light into the seed.>

<Greenspeaker Sorilen jumps down to fight you.>

Greenspeaker Sorilen: "The ritual! I cannot allow you to interfere!"

Once you have defeated Greenspeaker Sorilen, you will need to destroy the seed to stop the ritual. But there will be consequences:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Now! Destroy the wildburn seed!"

<You destroy the wildburn seed.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "No! The ritual is not complete!"

King Nantharion: "Something's wrong! It's too soon! The wildburn seed released its energy too early! Run!"

<Dark energy gathers in the throne room as the pair escapes.>

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Follow Nantharion! He must know a way out!"

Beragon: "The wildburn seed! It released its energy when you destroyed it! Hoperoot is doomed!"

Beragon: "Run! This tree-fort's coming down around us!"

When you escape through the portal, Hoperoot will be a smoking wreck and Shardmarshal Vargas is long gone.

The Many Paths

You will find out from Leramil the Wise that there is a tangle of fate within the Outcast Inn and as Leramil is unable to investigate she will ask you to do it in her stead. Once inside the barrier, you witness various unusual things, which includes a mostly amnesiac Ithelia whose lack of control over her power is causing the problems. You decide to help her as it is the best chance of fixing things, and go about in making Sage's Dream for her, as she believes it will help her control her abilities.

But to find ingredients you will need to enter the Many Paths. While exploring the first alternate reality alongside Ithelia, you encounter alternates of Torvesard, Shardmarshal Vargas and Ithelia:

Torvesard: "The enemy approaches! They come to imprison my Prince."

Ithelia: "No, Torvesard. They are … different. Approach, pathwalker, and speak with me."

<Torvesard and Shardmarshal Vargas will walk to the side.>

You can speak to the alternate Shardmarshal Vargas, who will comment on your presence:

"Why does my Prince allow this mortal to speak with her? Hermaeus Mora and the other betrayers approach. We have no time to waste with mortal nonsense."

Where I come from, you and I are enemies.

"You are my enemy yet you still live? Perhaps there is more to you than I thought, mortal. Or, more likely, the Vargas of your path is a coward who runs from battles.
Either way, should you start a fight here, I will end you quickly."

Speaking with at different time:^{[verification needed — see talk page]}

"So much as blink wrong, mortal, and I shall end you."

Hold the Line

When you and Tribune Alea help defend Feldagard Keep from the Shardborn, at one point you will fight off the Daedra that suddenly emerged from inside the keep. Commander Merian will ask you to find the source and stop them from coming into the keep.

In the armory of Feldagard Keep's barracks, you will witness Shardmarshal Vargas as she calls forth her fellow Shardborn:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "That must be their commander. Keep low."

<Shardmarshal Vargas, wielding a glowing sword uses to it to open a portal in front of her. Two dremora appear out of it.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Go. Take your forces and capture the keep. I will gather reinforcements in Mirrormoor."

Shardborn Bulwark: "As you command, Shardmarshal Vargas."

Tribune Alea Idolus: "We need to talk, comrade."

When you talk with Tribune Alea, she suggests you split so the pair of you can attack her from multiple directions. Once you get into position near the gateway, Tribune Alea will spring into action:

<Shardmarshal Vargas begins opening another portal.>

Tribune Alea Idolus: "She opened a portal! I'm leaping down!"

<Tribune Alea jumps from the balcony and charges at Shardmarshal Vargas.>

Tribune Alea Idolus: "I'll tackle her in [sic]. Follow us!"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "An attack? You dare!"

<Tribune Alea uses her shield to bash into the Shardmarshal and drives them both through the portal.>

Going through the portal to Mirrormoor, you will land in a sandy area, on the cliff above you, you will see Tribune Alea and Shardmarshal Alea grappling with each other:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Give me that blade, Vargas."

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Take Abolisher if you can, mortal. Ah! No!"

<Tribune Alea manages to get Abolisher out of Vargas' and hands and it lands in the sand below.>

Vargas kicks Tribune Alea down, having lost Abolisher. Shardborn forces appear out of portals to retrieve the blade:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Kill them, my Shardborn! Recover Abolisher!"

As you fight and more foes appear, Vargas will comment.

Shardmarshal Vargas: "The Shardborn are endless, mortal!"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "More! I need more warriors!"

After enough deaths of her soldiers, Shardmarshal Vargas cuts her losses:

Tribune Alea Idolus: "She called the blade Abolisher. It's all yours, comrade."

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Abolisher will be mine again, mortals! We shall definitely meet again!"

<Shardmarshal Vargas leaves through a portal.>

When you retrieve the sword, you practice mimicking the movements Vargas made until you open the portal back to Feldagard Keep.

King Nantharion's Gambit

After the events of Hoperoot, you will be tasked with further investigation regarding the relics that were originally used to imprison Ithelia. Your investigations will lead to the discovery and retrieval of the Lamp of Clarity and Abolisher. You will then recover the Skein of Secrets from the Niryastare ruins with Beragon's help.

With these items in hand, you are able to go on the offensive against the Recollection and Shardborn. Beragon gets the idea using the Skein of Secrets to track the usage of Staff of Many Paths as it is currently in the hands of Nantharion. The Skein of Secrets will reveal two locations Terthil Farm and Hastrel Hollow, and you are asked to investigate both.

At the Terthil Farm, you will encounter the Recollection and when you enter the old well, you will come across an Echonir manifestation:

<The memory shows Shardborn and Shardmarshal Vargas standing over some bodies.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "This place should serve. Tell Nantharion to bring a seed here. And suggest he guard this seed better than the last few."

You will find the Wildburn Seed she is talking of nearby and destroy it before departing.

Eventually you find out King Nantharion and Ithelia are heading to the lost Ayleid city of Miscarcand which is beneath Vashabar. You and Tribune Alea will reunite and fight your way through Shardborn and Recollection forces. In the Miscarcand Deep Halls you come across a memory of the Daedra of Mirrormoor fighting the minions of Hermaeus Mora:

Torvesard: "Guard the door! They must not reach the well!"

Tribune Alea Idolus: "The memory of a great battle? Who are Ithelia's forces fighting?"

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Up there! It's Shardmarshal Vargas!"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Warriors of Mirrormoor, stand fast against Mora's minions!"

Suddenly the memory of Vargas is replaced with her present version:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "If this memory interests you so much, allow me to send you there!"

<Golden threads of light surround you and you hear Tribune Alea's voice trail off.>

Tribune Alea Idolus: "Comrade? Comrade where are you?"

You will need to fight your way out, by defeating the Daedra and using Abolisher to destroy the Mirror Portal and create a portal back to the real world. When you reach the Miscarcand Well, known as the Darkened Home, you will find Shardmarshal Vargas assisting Ithelia with providing power to the well. While this is happening, King Nantharion will fight you while wielding the Staff of Many Paths.

After King Nantharion is slain, Shardmarshal Vargas will take charge. The Staff of Many Paths rises into the air and flies into the hands of Vargas:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "The Staff of Many Paths was never meant for mortal hands. Witness it's true power!"

<Shardmarshal Vargas kneels before Ithelia.>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Ithelia! Unweaver, Mistress of the Many Paths, let your glory be restored!

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Remember your true self and free us from the chains of fate!"'

<Ithelia rises into the air and transforms into her glass-winged form.>

Ithelia: "I am whole! Come, Vargas. It is time to go home. With the Loom I will restore all that was lost."

<Ithelia opens a portal and she and Vargas walk through.>

<Beragon is freed from the trap.>

Beragon: "I'm all right Tribune. You stopped Nantharion from unleashing that final wildburn on the Weald. Thank you, my friend."

Tribune Alea Idolus: "We stopped one threat, but did you see? Ithelia … changed."

Beragon: "Let's talk about this back in Skingrad, friends."

You will return to Skingrad and decide to what to do now Ithelia has regained much of her power and has gone back "home".

The Untraveled Road

After Miscarcand, the Skein of Secrets will lead you to Wendir and then to the ruins in an unknown part of Fargrave. When you reach the Inner Quarter, you will find Shardmarshal Vargas was waiting for you. She launches an attack on your group, with streams of magic, a storm of glass shards blows through the street. Vargas banishes Beragon and Alea to the Many Paths, but Leramil manages to shield you and herself:

Leramil the Wise: "Beware! Shardmarshal Vargas is above you!"

<Tribune Alea and Beragon are lifted into the air and scream>

Leramil the Wise: "Proxy, stay close!"

<A shield forms around you>

Shardmarshal Vargas: "You dare trespass in Mirrormoor? In the very heart of our power?"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "I banish you to the Many Paths, never to return!"

<Tribune Alea and Beragon vanish and Vargas disappears>

Leramil the Wise: "Vargas banished our allies into the Many Paths. It took everything I had just to shield us."

Leramil the Wise: "Beragon and Tribune Alea are beyond our help for now. We must go on without them."

You and Leramil continue onwards until you reach a dead end with a archway and four mirrors in front of it. You will also see an Echonir manifestation nearby.

When you use the Echonir, it shows Torvesard and Shardmarshal Vargas:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Your wanderings are futile, Torvesard. What you seek is here. The Loom of the Untraveled Road. I have no idea what it is, but I am certain it is important."

Torvesard: "You can stare at the sealed portal until you go mad, Vargas. I go in search of my missing memories."

<The memory ends.>

Leramil the Wise: "A memory of Torvesard and Vargas before they recovered what had been forgotten. Let us talk."

After completing the mirror puzzle and entering the portal which leads to the Fargrave Loom Quarter and defeating some Shardborn, you come across another Echonir manifestation. Using the Echonir, you will see a more recent memory of Ithelia explaining what the Loom of the Untraveled Road is to Torvesard and Shardmarshal Vargas:

Ithelia: My Loom of the Untraveled Road fills this place. From its core, I can break the shackles of fate. Undo mistakes. Unlock possibilities. Create new histories."

Leramil the Wise: "Ithelia can use the Loom to change history? That is how she will restore what was lost!"

Shardmarshall Vargas: "It's magnificent! But won't some Princes see it as a threat?"

Ithelia: A threat? This is a gift. The gift of unconstrained choice."

Ithelia: The Loom will weave a new story for every being, what they choose to be true. All shall benefit!"

Torvesard: A wonderful gift indeed, my Prince!"

<The memory ends.>

As you continue on and reach another dead end, Leramil will create a portal in an attempt to reach the Loom. However, Shardmarshal Vargas will notice this and diverts the portal. After entering the portal, you will instead be dropped in a familiar looking prison. You will then hear Shardmarshal Vargas taunt you:

Shardmarshal Vargas "Ithelia does not wish to be disturbed. Rot in the very prison that held her for all those eons!"

Leramil the Wise: "Vargas diverted my portal! She trapped us in Ithelia's prison. Look for a way out, proxy!"

Once you have escaped the prison and managed to save Beragon and Tribune Alea from the Many Paths, you will reach the Loom of the Untraveled Road. It is a shell of crystal surrounded by floating crystalline formations. The giant skeletons of Bearers are arranged in a circle all around it. Leramil describes it as a device of unimaginable power which is what Hermaeus Mora feared, and Beragon will notice Shardmarshal Vargas, Torvesard and Ithelia below.

As you fight through more Shardborn forces, you can hear a conversation between Ithelia and her Scions. Ithelia explains she'll rewrite history by locating a path where she was never in conflict with the other Princes and weaving it into your reality with the Loom:

Ithelia: "Now I can undo my long imprisonment. Make it so I was never forgotten."

Ithelia: "I can find a path in which the Princes and I were never in conflict. And with the Loom I shall weave it into this reality!"

Torvesard: The Loom awaits my Prince. Reshape the fates and restore the glory of Mirrormoor!"

Shardmarshal Vargas: "Mirrormoor stands ready, my Prince. Weave a better reality with your Loom!"

Leramil the Wise: "Ithelia has not yet activated the Loom. We can still intervene!"

Shardmarshal Vargas
Location	Loom of the Untraveled Road
Race	Dremora	Gender	Female
Reaction	Hostile
Other Information
Faction(s)	Shardborn

When you reach the Loom, you will find Ithelia is floating above, connected to it and pulling in power, while Torvesard will be assisting with the process. Shardmarshal Vargas will stand before you, ready to stop you and is at first heavily shielded. Your companions will suggest to destroy the Mirror Portals with Abolisher to drop the shield.

Shardmarshal Vargas will be angered by your use of Abolisher:

Shardmarshal Vargas: "You dare use Abolisher against me?"

Ithelia: "Why, mortals? I do this for you. Vargas, protect the Loom!"

Shardmarshal Vargas
Location	Loom of the Untraveled Road
Species	Shattered Shard
Reaction	Hostile
Other Information
Faction(s)	Shardborn

During the fight, Ithelia will eventually provide power to Shardmarshal Vargas:

Ithelia "Vargas, draw on my power! Defend the Loom!"

The Dremora is then transformed into a Shattered Shard which you will need to defeat. Ithelia will be devastated when Vargas is slain and you take that opportunity to break the Loom. The Loom shatters and the energy from the Many Paths is absorbed by Ithelia and she is surrounded by a sinister red light. The furious Prince then leaves with Torvesard in tow.

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