As they walked up the stairs into the roof, The Prisoner was blinded by the bright light of the sun that he hasn't seen in what has felt like forever. They are high up in the air, so it's fairly muted, save for the sound of hammering, building, and people calling out to each other up here on the roof.
When his eyes finally adjust, he sees the Warden standing some ways ahead of him staring up at what looks like tall wooden and stone scaffolding being built stretching up to the sky. There seems to be an object floating a ways above the tower.
The Dragonborn pats the Prisoner on the back before he walks over to some stairs at the bottom of the scaffolding and starts to climb up, joining the figure that came to get them a few minutes earlier who is a fire genasi with a metal canine following at his feet.
The Prisoner walks to the edge of the tower and looks out at the city of Sunclaw, its residents going about their day in ignorance.
The Warden takes a few steps over to the Prisoner and stops when he sees the look of hatred in his eyes as he looks away from the city.
"So you do remember everything..." the Warden says, in a calculated tone. "Or at least some of it."
"It's all fuzzy. But I remember my general feelings." the Prisoner says coldly. "I remember something called the Shadow Lord? And I remember you, Grishold. I also remember that I have been repeating a loop for a century now. Everything else... Seems like it's fake."
"I left you the rivers. I left you Four Roads." Grishold says reassuringly. "I didn't want to leave you with nothing."
"I can't even remember what any of them look like! It's all... like water spilled on a fresh painting. It's a fucking smudge. You have me locked up in a fucking cage with an inkblot of a past," the Prisoner yells back. "I don't even know what I did! I don't even know why! I don't even know my name!"
"You... Can't remember what they look like? Not even your family?" Grishold steps forward. He then looks at his hands before looking back up at the object. "Concerning, maybe it's losing power somehow. How is it affecting the citizens I wonder..."
The Prisoner stares back at him, his fury building. He tries to follow Grishold's gaze to stay ahead of him.
"Hey! I'm not done," the Prisoner said.
"I've been alive for... Gods, I don't know. Millions of years in this repeating dimension." Grishold says while still focusing on the object. "My concern is always for the people of Sunclaw, and I will not have their existences erased."
Grishold runs over to the scaffolding and tries to catch up with the Dragonborn and the Fire Genasi as the Prisoner stares at him.
"Why... Why did you even bring me here?! Why am I locked up?!" the Prisoner screams, his voice echoing, causing everyone to stop.
Grishold finally turns his focus back to him and walks over again slowly.
"Something about making you part of the dream is causing it to collapse. I needed to keep you contained so I could make sure I could keep an eye on you, I'm sorry," he said calmly. "You're incredibly smart, and you apparently brought some knowledge from the outside world about what this item is. I need your help, along with the Professor and the Artificer, to get it working again."
"Why should I help you?" the Prisoner asked. "What's in it for me?"
"What would you want?" Grishold asks him. "I could also just lock you up again. Maybe just wall you in and let you starve every cycle. Except this time you'd remember."
The Prisoner stared at him, his cold eyes softening for a second. In his head, he could see a smoky figure screaming and calling out to him from a distance on some foreign castle walls.
"I want my name... And I want the memories of my family back," the Prisoner said.
Grishold looks away for a moment, deep in thought, like he's wrestling with something. Then he looks back at the Prisoner.
"If we're successful, you can join all of us back in the city. We can go back to the way it was," Grishold says with a smile. "I promise I'll give you back all the memories of your family and your past."
The Prisoner knew this was a lie, but he nodded and smiled anyway, as he slowly turned his gaze up to the floating object, knowing what he needed to destroy. And Grishold watched the Prisoner, knowing that if a solution wasn't going to be figured out by the end of this coming cycle, this would be the end of Veldred the Oathbreaker.