The Endless Queries (quest)

 is a quest in.

Synopsis
One of the realms accessible through the Shattered Passage leads to the domain of copper and adra pillars - to a memory of Engwith, of its horrifying Inquisition and the torments it unleashed upon the world in the name of the gods. The Watcher has to play their part while fighting through the realm, either persecutor or persecuted, in order to reforge the souls locked within.

Walkthrough

 * Welcome to the shattered, but familiar realm of Engwith. It's not a pleasant face, as you're immediately met by a shackled, tormented soul. Talk to her, only to see her take the form of Iovara, then Thaos, then Maerwald, as the realm tries on familiar faces to try and manipulate you. She will eventually turn into a tortured wood elf, with the black ichor that made up the Skaenite illusion melting into a small necklace. You can use Religion 10 or Skaenite Priest class to identify the item in question. Once you end dialogue, she will give you Betrayal, allowing you to assume any form you desire, if you didn't rip of from around her neck earlier.
 * The goal is to gather a Mote of Conviction, Mote of Hostility or Mote of Regret at each portal, which allows you to reforge the souls. Each is obtained by participating in a kangaroo court of the Inquisition, where the chained spirit you met stands trial for a variety of religious trangressions, including Heresy ("rejecting the orthodoxy delivered by the universal divinities"), Apostasy (Engiwth's master control plan), and Identity ("Your self stands at cross purposes to your soul").
 * Mote of Conviction is gained by sticking to your beliefs in the court. E.g. as the Accused, you hold to your innocence., or the Inquisitor granting the Accused a swift death before even going through the trial.
 * Mote of Regret is gained by being repentant. E.g. as the Accused, laying flat for the court, professing your transgressions against the gods and seeking forgiveness.
 * Mote of Hostility is gained if the Watcher chooses to attack the assembled court.
 * Speculation, needs confirmation:
 * The type of Motes you gather and let the shackled Spirit absorb, will impact how she will behave and react during the encounter with the Inquisitor, and whether or not reconciliation with the Inquisitor is possible.
 * Need information on if it matters from which Court you get which Mote.
 * Mote of Conviction + Mote of Regret + Mote of Conviction (order given to the shackled Spirit, unsure if that matters) made reconciliation possible, by choosing the obviously reconciliatory dialogue options.
 * Mote of Conviction + Mote of Conviction + Mote of Conviction made them fight. Reconciliation is not possible by choosing the obviously reconciliatory dialogue options.


 * To progress, you need to access the portals scattered across the plane at the top of the adra pillars. Each leads you into an interrogation scene where you can play either the part of the witness, interrogated or the interrogator. Killing everyone is possible as well, which provides a Mote of Hostility. The choices allow you to play out the events, but there is no way you can actually change the outcome into anything but quick death, death, or terrible, agonizing death. The usual sentence is branding on the soles to purify the "earthly taint", then being drowned in the sea to let Ondra remove the lies spoken against the gods. You can assume the role of the Inquisitor at the second stage, but it does not allow you to change the spirit's fate either - you are captured as an apostate yourself.
 * Only in the third sequence can you surmise that the tortured and the torturer are actually one person. This sequence have two branches, if you will: A Rational/Scientific, and a Religious/Metaphysical, accessed through the roles of Inquisitor and Witness, repectively.
 * Taking on the role as Inquisitor, and using Ydwin, Insight 11, or Perception 10, it will be suggested that Rymrgand's domain has fragmented the soul of the Inquisitor to the point where she cannot realize that the fragments of her soul, the witness, the accused and the Inquisitor are actually one and the same. You can use Metaphysics 9 to suggest that she pull herself together or Diplomacy 12 to suggest she doesn't have to put herself through this. Both will result in a Mote of Regret. Offering the accused to help her escape, yields a Mote of Conviction.
 * As the witness, you are presentet with the case of the accused elevating the Self above the Soul—that there's a conflict in which the divine purpose set for the Soul is being abandoned by accepting "the lie of the Self". You must argue whether or not the Soul and the Self are inherently at odds. With Metaphysics 11, you can posit that the soul is ultimately only a form of energy, no matter the amount of information it carries, and have no purpose or volition except that which we ourselves set. With Religion 8, the Watcher points out that the gods grants this energy, and by doing so allows for the emergence of Self, which in turn suggests that the purpose of the Soul is the emergence Self. Trying to intervene when the sencente is being pronounced will give a Mote of Regret, while holding your tongue will give Mote of Conviction.
 * After each sequence plays out, you are deposited at the base of the pillar with the mote in inventory.
 * After visiting all three pillars, return to the spirit and give them the three motes, restoring her and paving the way into the structure at the heart of the Queries. The spirit will confront the Inquisitor, who is actually a face of her own soul. You can suggest they reconcile. Using the option "You're not only the worst, but also the best things" will prompt an unique reaction from Rekke. If you manage to make them reconcile, you will have to fight the Warden of Decay and the remaining specters. If not, you fight them all, including the Inquisitor.
 * Reconciliation is likely dependant upon which Motes you gathered during the three trials.
 * With three different types of Motes, they will accept to reconcile.
 * With three Motes of Conviction, the Inquisitor claims there's nothing she recognize in the the Accused, thus there is nothing to reconcile with.
 * Afterwards, Naxiva ix Kirent will appear before you, remade. After exhausting your options, you can choose to let her join you and tag along until you find a way to reinsert her into the Wheel, ask her to help slay an ancient dragon, or convince her to let go and let the realm collapse. Either way, you progress ahead.