This quest deals with the Kaldr cleansing of the Temple in the city. It is closely tied to Boethiah, even if that is not obvious to most of the public, and Korvar wants to keep Boethiah's influence away from the Sovereign. He isn't sure what she wants with the tower, exactly, but knows it probably isn't good.
The player can approach this quest in a number of ways, which are detailed in the appendix below. They all revolve around gaining the robes of one of the three priests of the Cynosure (the Luftahraan Temple organisation) and using these robes to infiltrate the sanctum below the temple.
Temple custom dictates that a newly incumbent High Priest must offer a tribute of knowledge, of magic, or of crafting to the triumvirate to prove their devotion and be accepted by the magics protecting the Heirophant. Traditionally, this would be an artefact of the priest's homeland, gained through personal trial and pilgrimage. Aware that he does not have time for the player to undergo such a trial, Korvar directs the player to an ancient Tsaesci Temple that was built near Luftahraan, and that he had visited several times when he was Sovereign in the second Era.
Korvar is able to tell you where the temple is, but admits that he knows little of the ways of Tsaesci that once lived there, and does not know if there would be any barriers to entrance, or where important treasures would be kept. He suggests you talk to Davyn Llervi, the resident Dwemer scholar the player may already have spoken to - whilst his focus is on Dwemer history, he is also likely to know more about the Akaviri temple than anyone else in the city.
Davyn will be quite excited about the chance to explore a Tsaesci temple, and will gladly accompany the player, offering information about the temple and its likely history as the player moves through the dungeon.
Items suitable for the task are located in a secret chamber underneath the temple library that can be accessed after defeating the dungeon's boss. The player will be able to choose whether to take back a magical scroll of unknown function, an ancient text, or an enchanted Akaviri sword - he will be able to keep the two items he decides not to offer as tribute.
With tribute in hand, the player can approach the Shrine of the Triumvirate beneath the temple and make his obeisances, opening the path into the Heirophant's chamber.
There, the player needs to kill the Hierophant and take his mask, bringing it back to Korvar, although the player will be able to keep it.
The three gods are all echoes of similar gods in the standard Nordic/Imperial Pantheons. Ebonarm is a god of war akin to Shor and tied to Boethiah, Sai a god of luck akin to Zenithar and Magnus is Magnus, the god of magic and the Et'Ada who created the sun and designed Nirn, his worship is also tied to Meridia.
The gods form a border Breton/Nord pantheon that has gained popularity in the city, both from the nordic and the Breton population.
Hierophant - The Hierophant never leaves the underground sanctum of the temple, and can only be seen by one of the three priests. He is kept hidden in this manner because of his great import to the temple - holy reverence. The three priests, shards, are tasked with the running of the temple.
Priest of Magnus - Secretly a follower of Meridia, but since Boethiah and Meridia work together in Luftahraan is happy to serve in the temple.
Priest of Ebonarm - Blunt orcish woman, last survivor of a tribe of Boethiah worshipping orcs that were killed by the Trinimac/Malacath worshipping majority.
Priest of Sai - compulsive but successful (usually) gambler.
In the quest, the player needs to kill the Hierophant for Korvar. They will be unable to access his chamber without the robes of one of the three priests - the door is sealed magically and will not open in any way - there is no key.
The player will need to acquire the robes from one of the priests. He can make a bet with the Sai priest and gamble the robes off of his back, or he can make a deal with the Ebonarm priest. She wants to become Hierophant and will give the player her robes and make him the Ebonarm priest if he wants, in exchange for his support in taking over from the Hierophant. It is also possible to challenge the Ebonarm priest to a duel in the arena - she does not like this but is required to by her role. All three priests can also just be assassinated, but the Magnus priest is uninterested in any form of interaction with the player, and will just disregard them.
Each priest should wear a mask - gold for Sai, Ebony for Ebonarm and Moonstone for Magnus. The Hierophant has a mask representing all three goods - the player will be able to take these masks from the relevant priest.
Further Information on Cynosure:
Before I begin, I should note that Luftahraan is very open, religiously, just as it is culturally. Therefore, the locals frankly do not care what faith you follow, or at least the Cynosurites don't. I will explain why later on.
I suppose that I should begin with the roots of the Cynosurite gods, rather than beginning with what they are nowadays.
The head god of the Cynosurites is Ebon. He is a tweaked form of the Redguard god Ebonarm, for, as I have mentioned, the Cynosure readily absorbs anything it can of other cultures. He is a war god, and his role as such was an important one in Luftahraan's early days. After all, Luftahraan was a city born late in the First Era, and it had to compete to make space for itself. The early Sovereigns often raided their neighbors, and much of the land of Luftahraan, particularly that which was lost following the War of Bend'r-mahk, had been carved out of Jehanna's territory.
Ebon's second was Sai, a god of luck, borrowed from the Nords and Redguards. As is detailed in this text, Sai was supposedly a mortal who was offered godhood by Ebon for his spectacular luck. Therefore, he essentially serves as Ebon's housecarl/shield-thane. He brought luck to the armies of Luftahraan as they brought war to their neighbors. From the mythic perspective, Ebon and Sai essentially led Luftahraan's armies.
And the third god is Magnus. Magnus cannot exactly be properly worshiped in most circumstances (most circumstances; Varieties of Faith notes that the Bretons worship him, though that may not be a reliable source, as it is widely known to be Imperial propaganda), as he has left the world, but the Cynosurites pray to him anyway. Part of their worship of the god may be rooted in the connections between Magnus and Luhaaran; two figures heavily associated with magicka, architects who built their world (Magnus) or their city (Luhaaran) and disappeared, either through flight (Magnus) or...more mysterious events (Luhaaran). And the worship of Magnus lends itself to certain interesting associations with the Eight Sovereign Vampires, who largely employed the Staff of Magnus to grant themselves constant immunity to harm from sunlight.
Now, on to the religious and cultural habit of absorbing religious and cultural traditions and aspects. When the Tsaesci invaded Tamriel, primarily via Skyrim and down to the Pale Pass. The Tsaesci invasion, or at least the lasting cultural influence of the Tsaesci after Reman defeated them, has left clear marks throughout Skyrim. For instance, a fortress of theirs, Sky Haven temple, can be found as far west as the Reach. And due to the history of the Eight Sovereign Vampires, what with the tutelage under Vershu/Renault, Luftahraan was very welcoming to the Tsaesci. Luftahraan absorbed much of the Tsaesci culture, including the tent of, "Eat it to become it." This is a broad, sweeping philosophy, seen in a multitude of Tsaesci actions, such as the fact that the Tsaesci 'ate' the Men of Akavir--which clearly means culturally absorbed, as there is plenty of evidence that at least some of those that we consider the Akaviri do indeed have Mannish legs. This philosophy is even evident in the two Tsaesci Emperors; the Tsaesci Emperors realized that they could not Eat the Empire, so they allowed the Empire to Eat them, so that the Empire would, in a way, become them.
In short, Tsaesci influence has led to a policy of borrowing from many cultural and religious influences--a suitable reason for my wide influences in the Cynosurite religion, and the wide architectural influences in the city itself. In addition, the Tsaesci "Eat it to become it" is even evident in Boethiah, and thus the philosophy would likely be further encouraged by him. As an example, he devoured and voided Trinimac so that Trinimac became Malacath, and Boethiah even stole the visage (or at least the voice) of Trinimac for a time; Boethiah ate it to become it, and then he did away with it.
Now, into the more modern details. The following is copied from the beginnings of a general in-game overview of the gods (it's very raw):
"Ebon is the God of War who was born at the end of the War of the Gods, or Convention. As Shor died and his Heart flew east, his blood sunk into the bones of Nirn and became Ebony. However, a great deal of Shor's blood pooled together and congealed, giving rise to a human figure with a blade for an arm; Ebon anon Ebonarm.
Where Shor-Sheor is a dead shadow, living only through his Heart and his blood and as the Serpent flame in the Hearts of Men, and Talos is a young god forged in dubious truths. Ebon, meanwhile, is an honorable god, forged in war and of the essence of the living Shor, and he is thus the true God of Man.
Ebon is the God of War, of Man, of Warriors, of Luftahraan.
Sai is the God of Luck. Sai is to Ebon as Tsun was to Shor; Sai serves as Ebon's shield-thane, Ebon's housecarl, Ebon's second. Sai grants luck in all of Luftahraan's endeavors, in trade and in war."
Note that I heavily associate Ebon with Shor (being the last [living] fragment of Shor, in Cynosurite belief) and Sai with Tsun. That is important. Ebon's association with Shor is a sly manifestation of the fact that Ebon is, in actuality, Boethiah. Boethiah stole the name of the god Ebonarm so that he may have an open (if secret) place in Luftahraan without besmirching the city's name. Who knows what has become of the original Ebonarm, but with the likely loss of worship in Hammerfell and the certain twisting in High Rock and Skyrim, his true face has likely changed to fit Boethiah's like a mask.
Sai, meanwhile, is a mirror of Tsun because any true reflection of Shor's role needs such a companion. Though Tsun has no association with luck, Tsun is simply another reflection of the god that is Zenithar, Z'en, Xen, Zeht. Many/most of those forms are not warrior gods as Tsun is, but gods of labor, of work. The association with luck makes sense, as you have to be lucky to do well in a mercantile world. And as another example, Z'en is more of an agriculture god, agriculture being another realm in which luck is crucial. And I don't even need to touch upon the etymology bit; Sai sounds a bit like Tsun and Z'en and such, when you muddle it up enough. At least, Sai sounds as much like Tsun/Z'en as Stendarr sounds like Stuhn.
Magnus, meanwhile, becomes important in that the worship of Magnus in Luftahraan becomes Meridia's vessel for local worship. After all, Magnus is really the only Tamrielic deity who is related to the Magne-Ge, one of which Meridia used to be, and one of which is locked up within the tower. In his Magne-Geish connections, his worship also serves as Boethiah's and Meridia's shared receptacle to subtly feed the Luftahraan popular Magne-Ge knowledge through. For the entire purpose of the Cabal is to place the idea in the minds of the people that the Tower should be entered, and the Magne-Ge released so that Boethiah and Meridia may get to work enacting whichever goal they actually have in mind.
This quest deals with the Kaldr cleansing of the Temple in the city. It is closely tied to Boethiah, even if that is not obvious to most of the public, and Korvar wants to keep Boethiah's influence away from the Sovereign. He isn't sure what she wants with the tower, exactly, but knows it probably isn't good.
The player can approach this quest in a number of ways, which are detailed in the appendix below. They all revolve around gaining the robes of one of the three priests of the Cynosure (the Luftahraan Temple organisation) and using these robes to infiltrate the sanctum below the temple.
Temple custom dictates that a newly incumbent High Priest must offer a tribute of knowledge, of magic, or of crafting to the triumvirate to prove their devotion and be accepted by the magics protecting the Heirophant. Traditionally, this would be an artefact of the priest's homeland, gained through personal trial and pilgrimage. Aware that he does not have time for the player to undergo such a trial, Korvar directs the player to an ancient Tsaesci Temple that was built near Luftahraan, and that he had visited several times when he was Sovereign in the second Era.
Korvar is able to tell you where the temple is, but admits that he knows little of the ways of Tsaesci that once lived there, and does not know if there would be any barriers to entrance, or where important treasures would be kept. He suggests you talk to Davyn Llervi, the resident Dwemer scholar the player may already have spoken to - whilst his focus is on Dwemer history, he is also likely to know more about the Akaviri temple than anyone else in the city.
Davyn will be quite excited about the chance to explore a Tsaesci temple, and will gladly accompany the player, offering information about the temple and its likely history as the player moves through the dungeon.
Items suitable for the task are located in a secret chamber underneath the temple library that can be accessed after defeating the dungeon's boss. The player will be able to choose whether to take back a magical scroll of unknown function, an ancient text, or an enchanted Akaviri sword - he will be able to keep the two items he decides not to offer as tribute.
With tribute in hand, the player can approach the Shrine of the Triumvirate beneath the temple and make his obeisances, opening the path into the Heirophant's chamber.
There, the player needs to kill the Hierophant and take his mask, bringing it back to Korvar, although the player will be able to keep it.
Note on Cynosure Priests:
More on this here: http://luftahraan.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=1168
Temple of Boethiah structure:
The three gods are all echoes of similar gods in the standard Nordic/Imperial Pantheons. Ebonarm is a god of war akin to Shor and tied to Boethiah, Sai a god of luck akin to Zenithar and Magnus is Magnus, the god of magic and the Et'Ada who created the sun and designed Nirn, his worship is also tied to Meridia.
The gods form a border Breton/Nord pantheon that has gained popularity in the city, both from the nordic and the Breton population.
Hierophant - The Hierophant never leaves the underground sanctum of the temple, and can only be seen by one of the three priests. He is kept hidden in this manner because of his great import to the temple - holy reverence. The three priests, shards, are tasked with the running of the temple.
Priest of Magnus - Secretly a follower of Meridia, but since Boethiah and Meridia work together in Luftahraan is happy to serve in the temple.
Priest of Ebonarm - Blunt orcish woman, last survivor of a tribe of Boethiah worshipping orcs that were killed by the Trinimac/Malacath worshipping majority.
Priest of Sai - compulsive but successful (usually) gambler.
In the quest, the player needs to kill the Hierophant for Korvar. They will be unable to access his chamber without the robes of one of the three priests - the door is sealed magically and will not open in any way - there is no key.
The player will need to acquire the robes from one of the priests. He can make a bet with the Sai priest and gamble the robes off of his back, or he can make a deal with the Ebonarm priest. She wants to become Hierophant and will give the player her robes and make him the Ebonarm priest if he wants, in exchange for his support in taking over from the Hierophant. It is also possible to challenge the Ebonarm priest to a duel in the arena - she does not like this but is required to by her role. All three priests can also just be assassinated, but the Magnus priest is uninterested in any form of interaction with the player, and will just disregard them.
Each priest should wear a mask - gold for Sai, Ebony for Ebonarm and Moonstone for Magnus. The Hierophant has a mask representing all three goods - the player will be able to take these masks from the relevant priest.
Further Information on Cynosure:
Before I begin, I should note that Luftahraan is very open, religiously, just as it is culturally. Therefore, the locals frankly do not care what faith you follow, or at least the Cynosurites don't. I will explain why later on.
I suppose that I should begin with the roots of the Cynosurite gods, rather than beginning with what they are nowadays.
The head god of the Cynosurites is Ebon. He is a tweaked form of the Redguard god Ebonarm, for, as I have mentioned, the Cynosure readily absorbs anything it can of other cultures. He is a war god, and his role as such was an important one in Luftahraan's early days. After all, Luftahraan was a city born late in the First Era, and it had to compete to make space for itself. The early Sovereigns often raided their neighbors, and much of the land of Luftahraan, particularly that which was lost following the War of Bend'r-mahk, had been carved out of Jehanna's territory.
Ebon's second was Sai, a god of luck, borrowed from the Nords and Redguards. As is detailed in this text, Sai was supposedly a mortal who was offered godhood by Ebon for his spectacular luck. Therefore, he essentially serves as Ebon's housecarl/shield-thane. He brought luck to the armies of Luftahraan as they brought war to their neighbors. From the mythic perspective, Ebon and Sai essentially led Luftahraan's armies.
And the third god is Magnus. Magnus cannot exactly be properly worshiped in most circumstances (most circumstances; Varieties of Faith notes that the Bretons worship him, though that may not be a reliable source, as it is widely known to be Imperial propaganda), as he has left the world, but the Cynosurites pray to him anyway. Part of their worship of the god may be rooted in the connections between Magnus and Luhaaran; two figures heavily associated with magicka, architects who built their world (Magnus) or their city (Luhaaran) and disappeared, either through flight (Magnus) or...more mysterious events (Luhaaran). And the worship of Magnus lends itself to certain interesting associations with the Eight Sovereign Vampires, who largely employed the Staff of Magnus to grant themselves constant immunity to harm from sunlight.
Now, on to the religious and cultural habit of absorbing religious and cultural traditions and aspects. When the Tsaesci invaded Tamriel, primarily via Skyrim and down to the Pale Pass. The Tsaesci invasion, or at least the lasting cultural influence of the Tsaesci after Reman defeated them, has left clear marks throughout Skyrim. For instance, a fortress of theirs, Sky Haven temple, can be found as far west as the Reach. And due to the history of the Eight Sovereign Vampires, what with the tutelage under Vershu/Renault, Luftahraan was very welcoming to the Tsaesci. Luftahraan absorbed much of the Tsaesci culture, including the tent of, "Eat it to become it." This is a broad, sweeping philosophy, seen in a multitude of Tsaesci actions, such as the fact that the Tsaesci 'ate' the Men of Akavir--which clearly means culturally absorbed, as there is plenty of evidence that at least some of those that we consider the Akaviri do indeed have Mannish legs. This philosophy is even evident in the two Tsaesci Emperors; the Tsaesci Emperors realized that they could not Eat the Empire, so they allowed the Empire to Eat them, so that the Empire would, in a way, become them.
In short, Tsaesci influence has led to a policy of borrowing from many cultural and religious influences--a suitable reason for my wide influences in the Cynosurite religion, and the wide architectural influences in the city itself. In addition, the Tsaesci "Eat it to become it" is even evident in Boethiah, and thus the philosophy would likely be further encouraged by him. As an example, he devoured and voided Trinimac so that Trinimac became Malacath, and Boethiah even stole the visage (or at least the voice) of Trinimac for a time; Boethiah ate it to become it, and then he did away with it.
Now, into the more modern details. The following is copied from the beginnings of a general in-game overview of the gods (it's very raw):
"Ebon is the God of War who was born at the end of the War of the Gods, or Convention. As Shor died and his Heart flew east, his blood sunk into the bones of Nirn and became Ebony. However, a great deal of Shor's blood pooled together and congealed, giving rise to a human figure with a blade for an arm; Ebon anon Ebonarm.
Where Shor-Sheor is a dead shadow, living only through his Heart and his blood and as the Serpent flame in the Hearts of Men, and Talos is a young god forged in dubious truths. Ebon, meanwhile, is an honorable god, forged in war and of the essence of the living Shor, and he is thus the true God of Man.
Ebon is the God of War, of Man, of Warriors, of Luftahraan.
Sai is the God of Luck. Sai is to Ebon as Tsun was to Shor; Sai serves as Ebon's shield-thane, Ebon's housecarl, Ebon's second. Sai grants luck in all of Luftahraan's endeavors, in trade and in war."
Note that I heavily associate Ebon with Shor (being the last [living] fragment of Shor, in Cynosurite belief) and Sai with Tsun. That is important. Ebon's association with Shor is a sly manifestation of the fact that Ebon is, in actuality, Boethiah. Boethiah stole the name of the god Ebonarm so that he may have an open (if secret) place in Luftahraan without besmirching the city's name. Who knows what has become of the original Ebonarm, but with the likely loss of worship in Hammerfell and the certain twisting in High Rock and Skyrim, his true face has likely changed to fit Boethiah's like a mask.
Sai, meanwhile, is a mirror of Tsun because any true reflection of Shor's role needs such a companion. Though Tsun has no association with luck, Tsun is simply another reflection of the god that is Zenithar, Z'en, Xen, Zeht. Many/most of those forms are not warrior gods as Tsun is, but gods of labor, of work. The association with luck makes sense, as you have to be lucky to do well in a mercantile world. And as another example, Z'en is more of an agriculture god, agriculture being another realm in which luck is crucial. And I don't even need to touch upon the etymology bit; Sai sounds a bit like Tsun and Z'en and such, when you muddle it up enough. At least, Sai sounds as much like Tsun/Z'en as Stendarr sounds like Stuhn.
Magnus, meanwhile, becomes important in that the worship of Magnus in Luftahraan becomes Meridia's vessel for local worship. After all, Magnus is really the only Tamrielic deity who is related to the Magne-Ge, one of which Meridia used to be, and one of which is locked up within the tower. In his Magne-Geish connections, his worship also serves as Boethiah's and Meridia's shared receptacle to subtly feed the Luftahraan popular Magne-Ge knowledge through. For the entire purpose of the Cabal is to place the idea in the minds of the people that the Tower should be entered, and the Magne-Ge released so that Boethiah and Meridia may get to work enacting whichever goal they actually have in mind.