"Yeah."

She describes the vision in fairly fine detail, notes she memorized the sigil - or it was memorized for her - and that the parts where she identified blood, a heart, bones, or body as belonging to someone specific feel like the parts that're variably true or metaphorical - like there's a level on which it's her, maybe, a level on which it's the planet, a level on which it's - something else she can't identify. And she's really not sure which levels are truer or more metaphorical than others, or like the scrolls understand the concept of metaphors not being true.

"That almost sounds like..." She leans over to rummage through the booksacks. "Where did- Here." She passes a book to Lace. "Lorkhan."

She flips through it. "Lorkhan - one of the spirits who made the world, before they split into the Aedra and Daedra... Said to have tricked the other gods into making this universe at cost to themselves... They learned making the universe had weakened them, and they turned on him, killing him and firing his heart into the earth..."

She frowns. "That feels - right."

Hug. "That's... honestly incredible. For this legend to show up in a vision, that's the most evidence I've ever heard for its validity."

Snuggle. "Yeah. And especially in a way that seems - relevant? Though the scroll might be tying together the near future, far future, and past or something..."

"It's not quite clear to me what the Heart of Lorkhan has to do with our present circumstances. But the ritual you describe seems different than the one Harkon spoke of."

"It's possible the scrolls show different things to different people..."

"That would be appropriately inconvenient."

Snicker. "Kind of would. But it does mean you're not trapped with his methods."

"Which raises the question of if this is something I want to do myself, for its own merits."

Nuzzle. "What are the merits you know of?"

"It would stop the sun from burning us and allow us to regenerate magicka. And... would cut me free from Molag Bal. According to Harkon."

"Just that last alone is worth it, to me. Do you think he's telling the truth?"

"Not... all of it, is my sense."

"So there might be other benefit... Or drawbacks."

Nod.

Kiss. "If it's just hurting me... I'm fine with that."

Kiss.

"All right. Let's see what Valerica has written. Might be more information."

"Okay." To the notebooks, then. (Lace remains cuddled with Elana as much as is practical.)

That makes sorting through her mother's thoughts slightly more bearable.

There's a lot irrelevant to them. The main bits... For one, Valerica thought Harkon wasn't telling all the truth, either, about the prophecy and its effects. She was very certain him completing the prophecy would mean he'd win. There're a series of notes, mostly copied from other sources they didn't bring, about the forming of new planes in Oblivion. Something - barely a mention - about a heart and a note connected to it - 'Vvardenfell? Kagrenac is up to something' - from an older journal, apparently one of her many side pursuits. And - a list of known Elder Scrolls and their last known location. Most are marked as unknown. 'Sun' is noted as the one Elana was sent to retrieve, 'Blood' as the one Valerica had. Of the others - 'Dragon' has the most notes, mentioning Kagrenac again, and speculating the Dwemer have access to the scroll or at least used to - if they do, it would be stored in a grand library in "Fal'Zhardum Din", a hidden city - accessible possibly from Mzinchaleft...

"I wonder if Harkon thinks he can make a new plane of Oblivion and become its lord."

"That seems - ambitious."

"It does. A point in the theory's favor. If he became a Daedric Prince, or something like that, he could face Molag Bal on an even footing, break his control."

Nod. "It'd back up his claims. And how intense he's being about pursuing it."