MAIN QUEST LINE:
The Last Flight Home
The player is sent to Senchal in search of a street urchin who the Mane knows is of royal blood. The player is directed by fearful locals to the one known ominously as "The Corpse Eater". He is rumoured to acquire war corpses, sugar junkies, common criminals and street urchins for his foul devices in great quantities. Indeed, his sheer avarice is credited by some for Senchal's dramatic turnaround into a beautiful beach resort, as all manner of bottom feeders are sent to him by The Gold Cat in an unspoken mutual arrangement with Senchal's authorities.
The Necromancer is an old Sload called M'Pol, whose airship crashed over a hundred years ago to the south west of the city due to revolt by his own slaves. Ever since, he was been stuck in Senchal.
Over the years, he came to dominate Senchal's then-substantial underworld, “eating” his way through them, hence his lucrative agreement with The Gold Cat. Due to his age and extreme mass, he is buoyed in a large water tank and can no longer walk, as his undead thralls feed him mould and fungi imported from Morrowind and Argonia, and scrub his flesh with imported Sload soap to rejuvenate his cells.
M'Pol has the street urchin Rina captive for his future necromantic endeavors but is open to a mutually beneficial business arrangement for the young one's release. M'Pol, after a day's consideration, explains he has spent the last few years trying to repair his downed airship, so he can spend his dying years in Thras, not Tamriel. He demands the player go to his airship and relieve it of any unwanted guests before it can be powered up. M'Pol had sent an adventurer out to the airship for the same purpose. What was left of the adventurer crawled back to M'Pol with news of a powerful force taking refuge within the bowels of the ship. This force has been able to repel any undead M'Pol has sent there. M'Pol does not expect the player to survive, but shall release the girl if the airship is cleansed.
The airship, damaged but intact, is inhabited by another Necromancer, an Altmer called Errundil. He is impressed the player eliminated his thralls but will attack with extreme force without a good reason for the intrusion. The player can either attack the Altmer there and then, or tell him about M'Pol.
The latter option sets off Errundil on a rant about how the old slug drove him out of business in Senchal, that he was the original Corpse Eater. "At least I am an actual cannibal!" Instead of killing the player, Errundil makes a counter proposal. It is clear M'Pol wishes to leave. This suits Errundil, as it means he can surreptitiously resume his role as the true Corpse Eater, but it is also an opportunity to take his long-awaited revenge on that slimy Sload.
The oil that powers the airship is very slow-burning and thick, presumably for the long journeys to and from Thras. However, when mixed in with a certain carrier oil from the nearby forest, there is a delayed reaction when exposed to flame that could only be described as “extremely volatile”. If the player agrees to spike the tank with this oil, the Altmer will agree to vacate the ship.
If the player expresses doubt, Errundil pours scorn on such morals, but entertains them nonetheless. Sloads have perfect eidetic memory. Every single event in their wretched lives can be recalled with crystal clarity. M'Pol has been conducting limitless necromantic research on the various physiologies of Tamriel for over a century. That profound knowledge, when returned to Thras, could be potentially devastating. The last thing Tamriel needs is another Thrassian plague.
Now, the player has a number of options: kill Errundil as originally agreed with M'Pol; Spike the engine with the accelerant oil, which will result in M'Pol's death, but the awful truth of Senchal's booming tourist trade will continue; Spike the engine with the accelerant oil, and also kill Errundil, ensuring the scourge of necromancy will no longer threaten Senchal's people (with the caveat that crime and rampant trafficking will likely return to the city at some stage).
The player returns to M'Pol, and truthfully or falsely informs the Sload that Errundil had taken residence in the airship, but has been taken care of. M'Pol expresses surprise that his old rival was still alive, but knows the player could not fabricate such a story. Satisfied, the Sload releases Rina, and pays the player a bonus for eliminating his old enemy.
M'Pol suggests standing in the centre of Senchal at noon the following day for the grand spectacle of the mighty Sload airship. Depending on the player's choice, the airship will either leave, or spectacularly explode in midair, showering the Senchal area with pieces of M'Pol and his airship.