Chapter 3: In the enemies lair. Umm, mushroom.
“Ah, there you are, Evoker.” I hadn’t even put a step inside the hall, and already the Steward wanted something from me. It made me wonder how they ever managed before I joined.
She dragged me over to Galbedir’s office and waited till the woodelf had left before finally opening her mouth.
“Tell me, Evoker. Have you by chance come across enchanted weapons or armour?” She asked. What kind of question was that, those things were all over the place.
“Sure, are you looking for anything specific?” I answered while wondering just what might be so important.
“Then you must be aware of the fact that no enchanted item seems to be able to hold its charge since a few months back. Only small items, like rings or amulets seem to be safe from it. It is as if something is draining them. Now, I have a very important mission for you.” Ok, so enchanted items couldn’t hold their charge anymore? That sounded familiar.
“Let me guess, find out who did it and kill him.”
“No, that would be too hasty. I am convinced that the culprit must be a member of house Telvanni. So I want you to go and join the house. You’ll be our spy on the inside.” Hold on, join Telvanni, the house of psychopathic mages?
“Are you nuts?! I am already with the mage guild! The guild doesn’t like the Telvanni and the Telvanni doesn’t like the guild. And on top of that, I’m an outlander, how am I supposed to survive longer than ten seconds in their midst?!” I yelled at her face. Now really, this was the most stupid idea ever.
“Calm down, Evoker. I don’t want the guild to hear this. Now to take care of things, you will be banned from the guild. After your assignment is completed, I’ll get you back in with your old rank, or maybe with a promotion. Skink’s hall in Sadrith Mora will serve as your link with the guild. It is right in Telvanni territory. I want you to prepare and pack. Tomorrow, you’ll leave for the hall in Sadrith Mora. Use the guild guide. Skink will further inform you.” I walked out of the hall with a very confused, and angry look on my face. There went my career as a mage, and I might even lose my life. I could only hope that those Telvanni weren’t as crazy and brainwashed as in mage guild jokes.
Back at my house, I took the time to work out the details. I would be dropped in potentially hostile territory and my only excuse was that I was kicked out of the guild and now wanted to join the enemy for revenge? That was the worst coverstory in history. I decided that a more thorough thing such as a disguise was needed. I had plenty of stuff to dress up with, so I just had to choose.
My new identity would preferably look somewhat magish, so I took Tarhiel’s robe out of the closet. Telvanni supposedly liked shiney stuff, so I replaced my Orcish armour with the new Glass armour I stole from Ghostgate. A Glass staff to walk around with, and my identity was set. I also geared on a Glass longsword for when things got rough. Using a weapon I was unfamiliar with was asking for trouble. I spent the rest of the night removing the markings on my new gear that said who the previous owner was.
Next morning, I got up very early and ate my breakfast enroute to the guild. A quick transportation later, and I arrived in Sadrith Mora.
First thing was to join the house and work my way to the upper ranks. With the skills I had gained during my mage guild career, I would have no problems passing the tests for promotion. That left making friends and making myself known as a loyal house member. How do you do that with a bunch of lunatics?
Sometimes when you don’t know what to do, the bold and direct approach might be the best. So I walked right through the middle of town to the council hall. And any guard who dared to stop me would get a sword in that ridiculous helmet.
“What do you want, Outlander?” By now I was getting used to it, but this outlander stuff was still annoying. Fine, if you weren’t polite, then I wouldn’t be polite either.
“I want to join the house.”
The Dark Elf looked at me from head to toe. This was probably going to be just like the mage guild.
“You, a Redguard? Wouldn’t you be better suited for House Redoran? House Telvanni prefers members who are skilled in the arts of magicka.” Knew it.
“No, there are too many Redguards there. If I wanted to see Redguards, I would’ve stayed back in Hammerfell. Now can I join or not. Hurry up with your decision before I grow impatient and put a fireball in your face.”
“Fine then, you are now a member of the house. Here is a book that describes the current councillors, their mouths and where they live. Normally, you would get your chores from the mouths, but they are in a meeting now. I suggest that you seek out master Neloth in Tel Naga, here in Sadrith Mora. Now get going, I am busy.”
So much for that, I had really expected that joining the house would be harder. Oh well, a big mouth and a few threats never failed.
Tel Naga was like all Telvanni buildings, only on a much bigger scale. I went inside and took a small look around. Being a powerful wizard, Neloth was most likely at the top of his tower and surprise, they never heard about stairs or ladders here. That left Levitation as my only solution.
Master Neloth was impossible to miss. I just had to look for a very old Elf with a ridiculous robe.
“What, who are you? It doesn’t matter. I am furious. Sinise Thindo, the apprentice of Archmagister Gothren, is wearing the robe of the Drake’s pride. That is insulting. Surely the robe belongs to someone who is more worthy of wearing it. Go and fetch me that robe. Do whatever is necessary. Now get out of my eyes.” Wow, this was one hotheaded Guar. Did he just ask me to kill someone for a stupid robe? I slowfalled down to the exit and then made my way to the harbour. According to my book, I would have to go to Tel Aruhn for the robe.
Tel Aruhn was rather close by, so I decided to waterwalk from island to island instead of taking the boat. It was rather funny to see the helpless Slaughterfish underneath my feet. They proved good practice for my staff.
Tel Aruhn was another oversized mushroom. Pretty cool as a house, but I would really appreciate it if they build some stairs in it. All this levitating was bound to give me a headache.
Anyway, I made my way to the room of the apprentice after asking for directions and arrived soon enough. Just my luck, our lovely apprentice was wearing the stupid robe. No matter how crazy these Telvanni might be, I doubted that she would just take of the robe and hand it over to me. This called for a more drastic approach.
I used my amulet of Shadows to blend in with my surroundings and then moved up to the apprentice without being noticed. One hand on her throat followed by a bit of squeezing and she slumped to the floor, unconscious. I took of the robe and got out of the building before the spell wore of. The trip back to Tel Naga was without incidents.
“What, who are you? Wait, that is the robe of the Drake’s pride. Give it to me. Here, have ten septims as a gift. Now leave me alone!” Ok, a hot temper and a short memoryspan. This was getting better and better. And worst of all, this guy actually tried to make me kill someone for practically nothing! Ok, these Telvanni were definitely psychopaths, and even worse than in mage guild jokes. I spent the night in the inn. With a bit of luck, those mouths would have finished their meeting and then I could work my way up the ranks.
There was one interesting detail. I had been sent here to find the person who was draining all the enchantments, but even the robe of the Drake’s pride was drained. Maybe the bad guy wasn’t a Telvanni after all.
I woke up by the sounds of screeching. Instinct told me to roll out of my bed and rise up from the floor with a thrust from the dagger I kept under my pillow. The dagger simply slid through the thing without causing damage. Oh great, was this the way they woke up Redguards here? Didn’t matter, the ghost didn’t survive long against the flames that erupted from my hands.
I probably wouldn’t be able to get much sleep, so I dressed up and walked over to the counter.
“Ok, I want my money back.” I said to the clerk.
“You do? Sorry Outlander, but that is not the way we do business here in Telvanni territory.” The clerk responded with the bored tone that was common in his profession. I grabbed him by his shirt and lifted him over the counter.
“Listen, you piece of mud. I did not hire that room to be attacked by a freaking ghost. Now you can either give me my money back and speak with Archmagister Gothren if you feel the need to complain or you can end up as a pile of ash right here on the floor. Do you understand?”
He understood it and I got my nice ten septims back.
“And one more thing. I am a member of the house so I can pull a few strings to have you….removed from here if you decide to bother me again. Have a nice day.” I said and left the inn.
I made my way to the council hall and went inside. The woman who hung out near the entrance told me that I could now find the Mouths in a room downstairs. Judging by what little I’d learned about the organization of the house, these mouths were all as powerful as a mage guild steward, maybe even more. They received orders from their masters who spend their days in their oversized mushrooms, but no one seemed to look if they actually followed those orders.
I put my foot in the room and saw how all the Mouths fell silent and began to stare at me. Just like the mage guild. Say hello to the new Redguard Battlemage.
“What, is there something wrong with my hair? I’m the new guy around here if anyone wants to know.” I spoke to them. That got rid of the paralyzation spell that seemed to have taken hold of them and they all went back to their conversations. Except for one woman who ran towards me with some clothes in her hands.
“Welcome to the house, Hireling. I am Felisa Ulessen. I would appreciate it if you brought these clothes to my patron, mistress Therana in Tel Branora. You can also have these scrolls of Almsivi intervention. Just in case she gets….excited. I will reward you well with your service to the house.” Ok, so I had to deliver a bunch of clothes in exchange for the friendship of one of the Mouths which would make my spywork here a lot easier. This was too easy.
“I will depart at once.” I said and turned around on my heels. I nearly forgot to take the clothes with me.
Tel Branora was a boat trip away and I arrived in a place that reminded me of Hla Oad. The same kind of buildings. Luckily there were no slavers wandering the streets in plain view, or I might have gotten aggressive.
Tel Branora itself was just outside the harbour and another of the really huge mushroom towers. Seeing as the big boss around here would probably be all the way at the top, I went in and started to climb upwards, levitating when there was a big shaft. If I was ever forced to live in one of these things, I would tell them to build a decent staircase.
The smell of rotting Kwama eggs reached my nose when I neared the top of the tower. The whole room seemed to be decorated with those. Whoever this Therana was, she definitely had no taste when it came to decorating. She also seemed to lack a nose.
When I finally entered Therana’s room, it was clear why she had no taste for decorating. She was completely nuts. Right now, she was rolling over the floor while trying to imitate a Nix-Hound. I pitied Felisa who had to call this…thing her master.
“Umm…Mistress Therana?” I tried but didn’t receive an answer, unless that Cliffracer imitation had any meaning.
“Excuse me, your Mouth asked me to deliver these clothes to you. Hello, is there anyone inside that head?” Now there was a Scrib crawling around. This was just great.
There was also a slave in the room. He looked like he was feeling cold. Therana probably wouldn’t notice, so I gave him the clothes to wear. He was grateful. Maybe I could buy the poor Khajitt someday and set him free.
But that wouldn’t happen after all. Therana seemed to snap out of her madness just long enough to conjure a fireball that I wouldn’t be able to repeat myself and hurled it at her slave who was dead within seconds. She continued her play afterwards. My first plan was to avenge the Khajitt by putting my sword through the back of her skull but that would only get me killed by the guards. I left the room and made my way to the kitchen.
Ajira had made an attempt at teaching me alchemy, with disastrous results. One of my potions had us vomiting through half the day and nothing the guild came up with could make us stop. I still carried a sample of it and this would be the perfect time to use it.
“Excuse me? Are you the cook here? Mistress Therana sent me. She wants you to put the contents of this bottle in her diner. Not a few drops or anything, just pour the whole thing in it. I have to be going.” I handed the bottle over to the cook and made my way back to the harbour. It wouldn’t kill her, but I knew from experience that vomiting for hours was not pleasant. Too bad I wouldn’t be able to see it.
“You came back? I hope that mistress Therana didn’t ….complicate your task.” I had to give it to her, she always managed to remain polite when talking about the thing that was her patron.
“I would normally reward you, but I am rather busy with a slave rebellion in the Abebaal egg mine. I need to send someone right away to teach those slaves some manners.” Felisa continued and began to walk away. Slave rebellion?
“Hold it, I have some experience with slaves. I could go there for you.” This manner teaching thing didn’t sound good. If she sent me, I bet I could figure out a plan to get the slaves of the island without killing them.
“Fine then. Tell the guards that I sent you. If you come back, I’ll see to it that you receive a proper reward.”
So I got on another trip to Tel Branora. This was getting rather expensive, but at least I managed to get a discount by helping out with sailing the ship. Once I arrived in Tel Branora, I found out that I would have to do some island hopping to get to the mine. I was really grateful for my skills in the school of alteration. Walking on the surface of the water and clubbing Slaughterfish was much better than swimming and getting torn to shreds.
The guards didn’t seem to notice me, they were a bit too busy with something else.
“Trying to escape, aren’t you? Stupid lump of fur! Now you will know what it means to suffer. You will die a slow death, slave.” One of the two guards yelled at the poor thing and kicked again. Ok, that was the last drop.
“Let the slave go. Now.” I said with the most threatening tone I could muster. That got there attention. After one last kick, both guards stepped forward with their hands on their swords.
“And what if we don’t Redguard?”
“If not, you will die and I’ll make sure that your death will be much more painful than you could ever imagine, filthy Kwama-Cliffracer hybrid.”
They both started laughing and didn’t seem to notice that the slave was slowly crawling away. Just a little bit more, and the poor thing would be safe from the upcoming battle.
“You may be a Redguard and dressed up fancy, but you can’t best both of us at the same time. Now you will die, N’Wah.” That was the last thing he would ever say. The biggest fireball of my life hit him right in the face and put his head on fire. Not the prettiest sight.
I followed up with a small bolt of restorative Magicka. The flames died out and the damage to his face was repaired just enough to allow him to live, see and hear. I then rushed forward and parried the sword of the second guard with my own while using my other hand to swing my staff against the back of the burned guard. The guard slumped to the ground with a broken spine. Not dead, but the lower part of his body was paralyzed and as such, he was limited to crawling.
The second guard backed of in fear as he realized that he had chosen the wrong Redguard to mess with. But pure rage filled my heart, and I wasn’t about to stop till he laid in the dust. That came soon enough after a rapid exchange of blows. In the end, I slid open his stomach and paralyzed him with some magicka. I then tied him up with some of the tough plants that grew on the island. After that, I went to the guard whose face I’d burned and tied him up also. Finally, I made a small cut on his chest with my dagger.
“I won’t kill you, but the Cliffracers will surely be attracted by your blood and come to feast. That is the price you will pay for mistreating slaves.” I said and entered the mine after having healed up the slave.
Once in the mine, I was greeted by an Argonian who had peeked through a hole in the door and watched the battle.
“I do not know if you are on my side, Outlander, but you are not with them. For that and your skills in battle I have decided to tell you why we rebelled. Mistress Therana forced us to work in the mines. More, she always wanted more eggs. One day, I was brought to her room. There I saw what she had done. She had used the eggs to decorate her room. She wasted our work in the madness of her soul. It was then that I decided that I would not work any longer for her cause.” That was a good reason I could understand. I’d seen both the eggs and the Telvanni myself.
“I was sent here by Therana’s Mouth to end your rebellion. That is what I shall do. Gather up the slaves and have them gather around me. I shall then send us all to the hall of the mage guild in Sadrith Mora from where you can receive passage to the Argonian mission in Ebonheart. The Twin Lamps will surely bring you home.”
To do that, the slaves would first need to be freed from their bracers. I joined their search and found the key in a crate near the Kwama queen. Before recalling to Sadrith Mora, I checked up on the two guards. At least ten Cliffracers were munching on their remains. There would be no clues as to what had happened. I recalled both myself and the slaves to Sadrith Mora where I enlisted the help of Skink to get them to Ebonheart. That was the end of the rebellion, only it was ended differently than Felisa had expected.
I told her instead that the mine had been empty when I arrived and that the guards had been killed by the slaves. What was left had been largely eaten by a band of Cliffracers.
“I see. That is unfortunate but the rebellion has ended, which was why I sent you there. Outlander, you have only joined the house a short time ago but you have already proven yourself. I’ve heard that you navigated the Telvanni towers with skilful use of levitation spells. I hereby reward you with the rank of Oathman. I will also teach you a skill that will hopefully make sure that your slaves will be more obedient. And you are free to use one of the beds here in the council hall.” Ok, friendship with a Mouth and a large number of freed slaves. All on one day. I was rather proud of myself.
I was a whole lot less proud when I looked in a mirror before going to bed. What I first believed to be just some tired muscles turned out to be muscles that had been used a bit too much. My whole body ached all over and especially my left arm hurt. When I broke that guard’s spine, I nearly broke my arm in the process. I also had a few minor cuts and scratches. And finally, my armour was in pretty bad shape. If this glass stuff hadn’t been so hard, I would’ve been dead. Maybe I should’ve used my head and hit them with fireballs till they dropped instead of freaking out like a berserking Orc.
I used some magicka to take care of my physical state, but my armour would require a smith and quite a lot of money. I dropped my suit of at the local Telvanni smith. It would be fixed by morning. After that, I took a well-earned night’s rest.
The next few days I spent with small chores to improve my standing as well as learning a few minor spells. Most of those spells were meant to be used on disobedient slaves, but I expected that my targets would be free people. As for my investigation into the drained enchantments, that turned up pretty empty. As I expected, the culprit wasn’t a Telvanni. If it was, I wouldn’t be seeing attempts to charge enchantments all over the place. Some of those attempts met with fatal results, such as when one mage attempted to channel his own magicka directly into a staff. The life was sucked right out of him.
I did learn a few things about the Telvanni themselves. Unlike popular belief, the Telvanni weren’t all psychos. In fact, most of them were just ordinary people who preferred a quiet and safe life. Most of the psychos were the councillors. It was probably due to their age, none of the councillors were young. Except for one.
Felisa, who had become a good friend of mine directed me to this councillor, saying that she would love to see me attain the rank of Mouth. Aryon was the name of this councillor. He was the youngest by far and in Felisa’s own words, unique. He lived in Tel Vos. I still remembered that place from when I was looking for a Wise Woman to meet Skink.
One boat trip later, and I arrived at the home of master Aryon. The unforgettable sight of a Telvanni mushroom growing in the courtyard of an Imperial fort rose up before me. I asked the first guard I could find to the chamber of master Aryon.
“I hope you know how to fly, Redguard. His room is high above the ground in the organic part of Tel Vos. Look for a door facing north. You’ll have to levitate to reach it.” No matter how much this Aryon liked Imperial architecture, he still felt the need to live somewhere where some stairs would be highly appreciated. I took the flight in steps. First I levitated to the roof of one of the towers on each corner of the fort and then I flew to the door of Master Aryon itself.
Master Aryon was indeed much younger than the other councillors I’d seen, though I tended to avoid those. When I entered, he was busy reading.
“Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I am Master Aryon, what can I do for you?” He said when he finally noticed me. He then looked me over from head to toe.
“Hmm, a Redguard dressed up in Glass Armour wearing a blue robe. I take it that you are Luper Alkad, a Telvanni Lawman? Oh yes, I know all about you. Now what can I do for the mage guild?” He continued.
I was in shock and speechless. All these days, and not a single Telvanni ever uttered that question, nor did they ever show that they knew where I came from. I took a few steps back so that I could both watch Aryon and his guard at the same time.
“Now now, don’t be afraid. I do not intend to worsen relations with the mage guild. Things are bad enough as they are, especially with what is happening right now. I have a proposal, want to hear it?”
He didn’t looked very aggressive. That could change in an instance, but the chance of me surviving a confrontation with a councillor and his guard was rather small. I knew that councillors had to be constantly on their guard for assassins and the like. He would know how to fight.
“Alright, what do you want?” I responded.
“As you may have noticed, the Telvanni councillors aren’t particularly….observant. I believe that with our current leadership, house Telvanni is doomed in the upcoming war. I might tell you about this war later, but first I want you to go to Baladas Demnevanni and convince him to join the council. Together, we might give the house a chance. If you do this, I shall become your patron to consolidate your position in the house. On top of that, I will aid you in any way I can and I shall prevent any Telvanni aggressions towards the mage guild. Do you accept?”
Die or get a huge reward and a mighty ally, tough choice.
“I’m in.”
“Good. Now, you can find our friend in Gnisis. There are some other things you might want to do first though. Baladas is a scholar of sorts and specializes in the Dwemer. So if you could find any books on the Dwemer, it might make him a bit friendlier to you. Now if you would be so kind, I have more important matters to attend to.” A little bit later, I found myself outside Vos again.
Gnisis, eh? That was on the other side of the island. Why did people always had to make things so hard? Oh well, it wasn’t like I couldn’t take care of this, it would just take time and money.
I started by recalling back to the mage hall in Sadrith Mora. There, I released the powers in my amulet of shadows to become invisible. After that, I persuaded the guild guide to send me to Balmora. Officially, I had been banished from the guild, so appearing through guild guide would land me in trouble. But being invisible would only tell them that someone had made use of the guild guide, not who. I would draw one hell of a lot of attention to myself, but they wouldn’t know it was me. Perfect.
The Balmora guild guide had just enough time to notice that someone had arrived before I had already performed an Almsivi intervention to the front of the temple. By the time the Chameleon spell wore off, I had already entered my house. I dumped all the books I’d gathered that were written in the Dwemer language in a bag and then activated a second charge of my amulet which held out long enough for me to run to the Silt Strider that took me to Gnisis.
The guards directed me to Baladas but also warned me not to irritate him. Apparently, he had put one of them in jail a while back. One psycho mage who was easily offended. I love my job.
His house was an artificial cave. After knocking politely on the door, I went in. Within three seconds, I’d already wasted a Rat. I hoped this wasn’t a personal pet of his. As I explored the eerily empty house, I ran into a few more of the little critters. Finally, I came to a locked door. I managed to open it with the help of a key I’d found earlier and went through.
What was next might have been a bit embarrassing. Anyway, the moment I saw the scaly figure standing before me with its mouth wide open, I pulled out my sword and took cover behind a few crates, ready to fight for my life. But the Daedroth turned out to be of the friendly sort. It yawned, and walked to a room upstairs.
“Now please, don’t scare my Daedroth like that!” An angry voice said upstairs. A few seconds later, the Daedroth came back, accompanied by a Sphere Centurion and a Dark Elf. I had met Baladas Demnevanni.
“You better explain what you are doing here fast before I lose my patience, mage.” He continued, looking very angry. How did he figure out that I’m a mage?
“I come here on behalf of master Aryon of Tel Vos. He would….”
“That young fool? It must be about the council again.” Baladas interrupted me. He then turned to his Centurion.
“Go and fetch those rats he killed on the way in. The Daedroth looks like he could use a good meal.” Oh crap, this guy was getting scarier by the second.
“Now, since you appear to be rather skilled in the school of Alteration, I might give you a chance. Just get me a couple of books and we’ll talk. I want Antecedents of Dwemer Law,
Nchunak’s Fire and Faith and finally, Chronicles of Nchuleft. I am quite sure that you can find all these books in Vivec. Now I’ll give you a few days.” He began to turn, but stopped.
“Anything else, mage?” He asked. Alright, time to see what my books would do.
“I have heard that you are a skilled scholar. I was wondering if you know how to read these books I have. I believe they are written in the Dwemer language.” I said and handed over the bag.
“Oh yes, interesting pictures and Dwemer runes. I am afraid to admit it, but I can’t read it. No one can.”
He opened the last book and his eyes went wide.
“This, this is written in both Dwemer and Aldmeris. This is the key! The key I’ve been looking for so long! I thank you, mage. While you go fetch my books, I’ll attempt to translate these for you.” Finally, I seemed to have gotten on his good side. When I walked out through the door, I had to step aside for the Centurion that came back with the rats in its hands.
A few Silt Strider trips later, I arrived in Vivec, city of annoying guards and long walks. Maybe I should try to repeat my little book theft in the library at the hall of Wisdom. It would beat paying for those books.
No such luck though. Either the Ordinators were in an overly paranoid mood, or I was wearing a huge sign on my head. Anyway, after a few tense moments, I was directed to the hall of justice where they told me everything I didn’t want to know.
When I came out, I was less than pleased. Ok, so we’ve got a mass murderer running around who kills Ordinators like Scribs and I’m the one they send after it. Am I lucky or what? Their suspect was identified as a Dunmer woman wearing Netch leather and using a dagger. Great, and how many of those where there in the whole freaking city?
My luck hadn’t totally abandoned me, though.
“You better leave while you can, Outlander. If you don’t, Dagoth Ur shall devour your flesh and desecrate your bones.” Phew, these Dark Elves sure had a lot of imagination.
“Look, go bother someone else, Ok?! I don’t have time for any stupid ramblings about Dagoth Ur! I’m looking for an Ordinator killer here! So go and take a hike!” I shouted in the face of the woman who was conveniently wearing Netch leather and holding one hand not so subtly near a dagger. It was when she ran off that I realized who I’d been talking to.
Cursing myself, I gave chase but found out that I was a bit too slow to catch up with her. Finally, I entered the waistworks of the Foreign Canton and stood there wondering where the little bloodthirsty elf had gone. Only one answer, the place with the worst smell.
I went deeper into the Canton and kicked open one of the trapdoors leading to the sewers. After making sure that no one was waiting for me, I descended into the sewers.
Phew, I’d forgotten how bad the smell was. I just couldn’t figure out why people always had to hide here when I came looking for them. Anyway, I crawled through the sewers, whacking a rat from time to time. First thing I found was an Orc who was guarding a Daedric shrine. I treated him to a mouthful of water when he became aggressive and moved on.
In the end, I came across the Ordinator killer.
“Hello, miss. Seen any Ordinators today?” I said as I unsheathed my sword. Just a single woman wearing crappy armour and a little dagger. Now where was the threat in that?
I moved forward and swung at the elf, who rolled away and stabbed me in the leg with that annoying dagger. Suddenly, I felt really tired. My eyes began to close when I broke the spell with a reenergizing spell of my own. I lunged at the elf again, who evaded this second blow as easily as the first. Mostly cause that spell from that dagger was still slowing me down.
The next moment, she hit me in the eyes with a spell that blinded me. Crap, you can’t fight what you can’t see. But you can fight what you can hear. I’d been experimenting with my favourite school, the school of Alteration, and came up with a spell that increases my hearing. I casted it and focussed on the footsteps that now sounded like loud thunder. The Elf was sneaking to my rear. I waited till the footsteps stopped before crouching while simultaneously spinning around with my sword. I was rewarded with the satisfying sound of glass piercing flesh.
When my vision finally returned, the killer was lying dead at my feet. That was easier than I’d expected. Ok, who was I kidding. I’d come way too close to dying again. Maybe I should’ve just remained behind the bars in Cyroddill. I could use some entertainment right now to get my mind of this.
I went to the sewers in St Olms, washed the Nord standing guard out of the sewers, activated my amulet of Shadows and entered the shrine. Inside, there where three cultists doing their stuff. They were quite rich also. One was wearing a full set of Ebony as well as having what could only be a Daedric Longsword at his side. Then there was a cultist with a crossbow and finally one with a Dwemer shortsword. Maybe I should join the cult, it seems to be a quick path to wealth.
But all that expensive stuff could prove problematic. I crept up behind the guy in Ebony. Fortunately, he wasn’t wearing his helmet. Probably cause it was too hot or something. I used telekinesis to lift up a piece of Raw Ebony they were offering and hurled it into his face which send him crashing down to the floor. One quick stab later, and mister heavy armour was out of the game.
I had underestimated the other cultists. The one with the crossbow fired at the area above his fallen friend and only barely missed my face while the one with the shortsword ran in at full speed while slashing at the air. I dodged the shortsword and hit the owner in the back with my own sword. A fireball finished the job. That left the crossbow.
He had wedged himself in a corner that I couldn’t approach without entering his field of fire. Lucky me. And my Chameleon spell wore of at this moment. Of course I was spotted instantly.
“Ha ha, it appears we are at a standoff. If I move, I loose my aim. If you move, I put a bolt right between your eyes. What are you going to do, Redguard?” He laughed. Ok, time to repeat history.
“True, but what if the furniture moves?” I responded and did the good old trick with the falling statue again. Oh, how I love to telekinetically drop tonnes of steel on my foes.
I stripped the guy wearing Ebony of his armour. I also picked up his sword. Man, that thing was heavy. I could barely lift it with both my hands, how was I supposed to swing it with one hand? I hid it all underwater in the sewers. Due to its weight, it would stay put for later pick up. Now I wonder what the authorities would think of me now that I’d killed that woman who was slaughtering Ordinators? I wonder if it would mean an improvement of their vocabulary beyond the word scum.
I must have made one hell of a strange sight, walking around with a corpse like that. I went into the office of the guy who gave me this mission and dropped my cargo on the floor.
“I believe that this is what you where looking for?” I said.
“What? Oh, yes, that will do. I take it that this dagger makes people sleep? That explains how those Ordinators were slain. Let me present you a gift. You can either have the armour of one of the dead Ordinators or an enchanted belt.”
Ok, what was it going to be? The belt or the armour? Well, the armour was probably smelly, didn’t fit and just plain wasn’t my style so I took the belt. My old belt was little more than a bunch of rags so I could use the replacement. The shield spell was nice. Nothing I couldn’t beat with a bit of fingerwiggling, but nice. And if I ever wanted to pick up Ordinator armour for my collection, there were plenty of Ordinators walking around. I bet I could always sneak into their barracks and steal it from under their beds.
After all that, I decided to finally continue with my plan in the library.
“You may have found the killer, but we’ll be watching you scum.” Wow, embarrassed that I did what you couldn’t do with your whole army of arrogant, selfish, rude smelly Ordinators? That did it. I went out of view, released the powers in my favourite amulet to become invisible and dropped a whole rack of books on the Ordinator. That should teach him some manners. I also took a copy of Chronicles of Nchuleft with me.
The next day was uneventful, I paid Jobasha a visit to get the second book on my list and then went back to the sewers to pick up the loot from the Daedric shrine. One recall later, and I was back in Sadrith Mora where I piled it all up behind a curtain.
“Luper Alkad, when you reach the rank of Mouth please make the Telvanni build you a stronghold. My guild is getting a bit full here with your goods.” Skink commented with light amusement. Maybe he was right. Having a nice big home would be great, considering all the things I collect.
I repeated the trick with the invisible traveller to get to Balmora. Jobasha had suggested that I checked up on the local bookstore for my last book. This guy knew his stuff. With the last book in my possession, I took a Silt Strider to Gnisis.
“Ah, thank you. You have been very helpful, mage. Now I shall help you.” Baladas told me when he received his books. He looked tired, but bristling with energy at the same time. Phew, what a bit of good old fashioned motivation couldn’t do with people.
“How did your translations go?” I asked him.
“Yes, yes. I copied all three books in their entirety. I’ll give you the originals since you where the one who found them. While I was copying, I’ve learned the Dwemer runes and managed to translate a fair bit. Here are some notes on the whole thing. In short, the Dwemer tried to turn themselves into gods but failed and disappeared. Supposedly, no one has ever unlocked the secret behind immortality.” He put a large emphasis on the word supposedly.
He was thinking the same thing I was thinking. The Tribunal weren’t gods, they were Elves who had unlocked the secret behind immortality after the war with the Dwemer. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Dwemer where the source of this immortality.
Immortality, that might be why Dagoth Ur was still alive after all these years. Wait a minute, I had to be going nuts here. Of course he wasn’t alive. All these Dreamers where just trying to be interesting and asking to be noticed. Dagoth Ur was dead, he wouldn’t come back and this Nerevarine was the biggest lie since I heard the one about Tiber Septim being a talking horse. And while we where on the subject, I should really try to figure out a sleeping potion of sorts that allows me to spend the night without getting freaking dreams about a guy with a golden mask. What the hell did Caius want with this Nerevarine dude and Dagoth Ur?
I just hoped that Caius would give me a few more days before sending the empire after me. I just couldn’t go spying for two different factions at the same time. I spent the night at Baladas’s house before making the trip to Tel Vos. There I was officially named as the mouth of Master Aryon and I received a fancy Silver Staff with funny markings as the symbol of my office.
Staff in hand, I paid the council hall in Sadrith Mora a visit and entered the hermitage. There I met Llunela Hleran, who was apparently the master of mushroom growing. How nice. Either way, when I asked her about strongholds she handed me the big soul gems and told me that she could build me a stronghold if I did two things for her.
One, I needed to get a contract from the duke in Ebonheart to make the whole stronghold legal, as well as marking it on the map of any one who felt like sending an assassin after me. She didn’t say anything about the assassin stuff of course, but it would be just something for me to get a house that becomes a hot spot for murderous freaks.
Secondly, she wanted me to fill the soul gems with two souls of a Storm Atronach or something even better. That would pose a problem, I’d never even seen an Atronach before, and going toe to toe with a Dremora didn’t sound like fun. I’d have to figure out something.
Yep, I had just the idea. I’ve stuck out my neck for the mage guild often enough, so it was time that they did something for me. So I went with my demands over to Skink who was happy to bring me two greater soul gems filled with decent souls if I would just move my stuff out of his hall when the stronghold was done. No problem, that got rid of my soul shortage. With that out of the way, I took a boat to Ebonheart.
Inside the castle, I ran into a bit of a problem. I just couldn’t find the freaking duke! I knew where he was, but the door was locked and guarded by two moody guards wearing some really nice armour. They wouldn’t help me.
That left me with no other choice but to take out my trusty amulet of Shadows again. If I hadn’t met miss dancer and her friend, my life would have been much harder but I still hated those two. Anyway, I merged with my surroundings and pulled of one of these martial arts tricks Caius taught me before I went to spy on the Telvanni. I Put my hand around their neck, thumb on one side and the rest of the fingers on the other.
Some good old squeezing on the hotspots stopped the bloodflow to the brains as well as hitting their nerves in such a way that they were unable to move. Soon enough, they went unconscious and dropped to the floor. While the spell of my amulet was still working, I stripped them of their gorgeous armour and left the building. I hid the two sets of armour in some seaweed. No one would go take a swim with the slaughterfish, so I could pick it all up later. I then made my way back to where the guards where. They were still out cold. A bit of lockpicking later and I was ready to meet the duke.
I could kick myself in the head for my stupidity. All that effort and for what? I had broken into the duke’s bedroom! Damn! I just took all the clothes I could find and hid those next to the armour in the seaweed. On the third visit to the castle, I was finally smart enough to ask for directions and found the duke in just a few minutes.
Once inside, getting the contract was pathetically easy. I just had to swear some dumb old oath that I would protect the people, serve the duke, fight against the forces of evil and all that stuff. I just gave the stupid oath and walked out. I then went to pick up my fresh found loot and recalled back to Skink.
His hall was more full than ever. I was sure that he was getting annoyed by my collecting. I had more weapons and armour right now than your average legion barracks. Oh well, he managed to pull a few strings to get the souls of a Winged Twilight and a Golden Saint for “research”. I brought them to Llunela and then got on the ship to Vos. I slept on the ship.
Next morning, the ship arrived and I set off for the chamber of my patron. Aryon might be imperialized, but he still refused to build a decent ladder. Probably cause with the height that ladder should achieve, it would be rather expensive to find enough wood.
Aryon wasn’t quite happy to be honest. In fact, he was steaming mad.
“Luper Alkad! Thank the Divines that you’ve come. I know it is not my place to ask this of you, but I really need someone to go to Odirniran and help my friend who lives there. I just got word from his pet Cliffracer that he is under attack by house Hlaalu. Please go there and help him out. By the time you arrive, he’ll likely be making a last stand at the top of his tower. Please, I beseech you!” Hold on, I was getting involved with the House wars? And this friend had to be really crazy to take a Cliffracer as a pet. Then again, if the Cliffracer was trained as a messenger, it would be a damn fast messenger.
I decided to go since House Hlaalu wasn’t my favourite house anyway. I had to take a fast ship to Tel Branora and then do some good old Island hopping. Odirniran was supposedly west of the shrine of Azura. Hmm, maybe I should pay that shrine a visit. I bet it was loaded with loot. But first I would beat up some Hlaalu.
The boat crossed the Island I was supposed to visit on the way to Tel Branora. Good for me.
“Sorry skipper, but I’ll take a swim if you don’t mind.” I said and jumped overboard. Well, a swim from time to time isn’t too bad but not if you take a swim in waters swarming with Dreugh and Slaughterfish. I ended up using my trusty waterwalk spell. Once on the island, it was just a matter of a little bit of searching while fending off the local wildlife to find the door.
Once inside, I was immediately assaulted by three Hlaalu. I whipped out my sword and parried the club of the first one, put my shield in the face of the second, then wheeled around and kicked the third followed by a slash across the throat of the first. One down, two to go. Easy enough and they were all sprawled across the floor a bit later. I didn’t even got tired from that. I would’ve expected guards, not this bunch of wimps. But then again, maybe they where just the lookout and the real stuff would be further inside.
I was right. Luckily skeletons aren’t exactly known for stealth and the sound of their rattling bones had given me plenty of warning before I even opened the door. When I did, I was covered in a magical shield as well as having fortified my speed. I had already sliced one of the things in two before they even realized I was there.
But there were a lot of them and the following battle was long with lots of blocks and parries on both sides. They scratched me a couple of times when they struck and the glass protected me from the worst. When I struck, I would send their bones flying all over the place. Whenever I knocked one out, another would take its place. Finally, no reinforcements arrived and I took out the last one. This time I was tired, a lot.
I would receive no time to catch my breath for another skeleton came floating around the corner. That’s right, floating. It was even wearing a robe of sorts. No weapons though. Feeling lucky, I moved in to slay the creepy thing. It turned out to be a mage, just my luck. The fireball caught me square in the chest and I flew backwards.
“Oh, aren’t we nice today? Well, I can play it that way. eat my fireballs, you piece of rotten bones!” I said to it and proceeded to pound it again and again with my own destructive spells. With that one in the dust, I was now really starting to feel tired. Still, I would have to move on.
Luckily, I had bought some potions just for the occasion. A few gulps and I was as good as new. I then dropped the empty bottles on the floor and stormed up the stairs. I rounded a corner and then was unceremoniously smacked into the wall. The impact threw the sword out of my hand as well as making me very dizzy. An angry Daedroth with very bad breath towered over me. Brilliant.
I knew that Daedroths were some of the more powerful Daedra. No way I was going to beat it at either brute strength or magic. Not to mention that lying on the floor like that without my sword wasn’t exactly a good position. That left me no further choice but to pull out my most favourite amulet of all. The creature gave a very dumb look when I just disappeared in thin air. He then began to look around to see where I’d gone. Now how do you fight Daedra? Correct, with Daedra.
Now I didn’t had any Daedra with me, but a summoned Daedric sword did the trick. The sharp blade sank into its chest and I rolled out of the way before the corpse of the thing would fall on top of me.
After the Daedroth, I was very happy to find out that there were no further thingies around that wanted me dead. I met up with Aryon’s friend and after telling him that I hadn’t come to kill him and that everything that moved in his home was now dead, he was kind enough to lend me a bed for the night.
Next morning, I set out for the shrine of Azura. It wasn’t too hard to find. There was this huge statue of the Daedra on top of the roof. I hoped that Azura’s ego was a lot smaller than the statue. Inside, I came to the disappointed conclusion that there was nothing to grab. Only one of these huge statues was there.
Suddenly, my mouth began to move on its own! I grabbed my face in an attempt to stop it but it didn’t help. In short, Azura and some other dude were having fun playing with mortals and began a little bet. But Sheogorath the other dude was a cheater and I was sent to prove it. If I did, I would be rewarded. I just mumbled something resembling yes into the air and then ran out. If Azura ever used my mouth again to talk with, I would wish she was standing in front of me so that I could punch her in the face. And one more thing, we mortals are not toys!
I was really fed up with all these people bossing me around. But soon, I would have my very own mushroom and then it would be me who was dishing out the orders. The first one would be to make a decent set of stairs.
On my way back to Sadrith Mora, I made a detour to the site of my new home. Sure enough, there was one Orc staring at a small mushroom.
“Aye, Telvanni. I take it that you’re here to inspect your new home? Don’t worry, it’ll be finished in a week. These houses basically grow themselves. Feel free to take a closer look, but don’t touch it. Touching the plant at this stage will have horrible effects on its future shape if you don’t know what you’re doing.” She said in a rather polite tone. For an Orc.
I took a closer look as instructed. The whole plant seemed to be shivering and I could actually see it growing! I could only guess at the amount of magicka being used to accelerate its growth like this.
I shared my lunch with the Orc and then said goodbye. She’d said something about a Dwemer ruin being near. I figured it was time for some good old plundering…err, Dwemer research.
Inside I found the usual bunch of Centurions. No problem, the old ice and slash combo did the trick. The only Centurion that posed a bit of a problem was a big humanoid type with a huge spiked ball instead of a hand. Luckily it was slow and I managed to avoid getting crushed. In the end I climbed on top of it and drove my sword through its head.
This ruin was rich in Centurions but poor in other things. Sure there were the old coins, but none of the interesting stuff like weapons and armour. The only thing I grabbed on the way out was a bunch of schematics for something.
Eventually, I came back in Sadrith Mora and paid Llunela a visit just to tell her that the plant was growing like mad. When I came out, I was no longer carrying the Dwemer schematics with me. It seemed that they were useful for growing bigger plants. Good, the bigger the better. I needed lots of room for my collection.
I took a ride to Tel Vos and reported to Aryon that the siege was ended. Needless to say, he was very happy. He even gave me a book from his personal collection. I then told him that I needed a vacation to get some time away from the house.
“Why, if I may ask? Did you make any enemies?” He asked.
“Not yet, but I will if I don’t do this. I paid the shrine of Azura a visit and ended up promising something. Who knows how a Daedra would respond if I don’t do this. So goodbye.” I answered and went back to the harbour for a boat to Dagon Fel.
Ok, so the island was somewhere north of Dagon Fel? Lucky me, there were a lot of islands there. One of them was owned by a fisher who had clearly been drinking too much. He called himself M’Aiq. Normally I loved Khajitt, but this was a bit too much.
“M’Aiq once met a Whereshark. He was afraid of the water. Naked Liches are a horrible thing. If you see one, tell M’Aiq to look the other way. To find the shrine that is no longer there, go to the west and take a deep breath before you begin your chase. If you want to save the world, seek out the Argonian Im-Leet and the Nord Rolf the Uber. They shall help you.” And more of that crap. Right, whatever. I bonked him on the head with my new staff of peace and then moved on. Hopefully, the hit would make him normal again. It couldn’t get any worse.
The island I was looking for was easily recognized. It was swarming with Daedra. I fought my way past a dozen Scamps, a handful of Clanfears, some Atronachs and even a Daedroth before I found the hut of Azura’s toy. I was really grateful for my amulet of Shadows. “Turn back and leave now, mortal.” A voice spoke. Why didn’t I like the sound of this?
I turned around and saw a humanoid figure with gold skin and a huge Daedric towershield on one arm and an Ebony mace in the hand of the other arm. Great, a Golden Saint. Well I wasn’t quite in the mood to leave and I made the stupid mistake to think that I could handle the thing.
Well, I soon found out that I should’ve just left. The first smash from that mace sent shards of glass flying of my shield. In the meantime, my sword didn’t even scratch the Daedric shield.
In desperation, I ran to the coast while being chased by the thing and jumped on one of the rocks just of the coast. Before I knew it, there was a whole swarm of hungry Slaughterfish surrounding my rock. Great, Slaughterfish in the water and an angry Saint on land. How lovely. I was either going to get crushed by a mace or eaten by hungry fish.
That gave me an idea. A bit of telekinesis later, and miss Saint fell headfirst into the water. Though she was a Daedra, the Slaughterfish still seemed to consider her tasty. Let’s just say that there wasn’t much left of the Saint in just under a minute. I did took the opportunity to cast a soultrap spell on the Daedra. After she died, I was the proud owner of a Golden Saint soul. I also lifted the shield and the mace out of the water. Especially the shield would make a great addition to my collection. Poor Skink, they’d better finish my house soon.
The last thing I found was a small ring the Saint was wearing. I pocketed it. Now I would just need to make my way to the shrine of Azura, pocket my reward and spend the rest of my vacation with keeping an angry Imperial spy without a shirt satisfied.
The trip to Azura’s shrine took a while. Once there, I received my reward.
“You have returned, mortal. You bear Sheogorath’s ring, the mark of his servants. That is all the proof I need. Take my star and use it well.” Azura said, using my mouth again. Stupid Daedra.
“AAARGH!!!” I screamed as I ran out like a maniac. Did I say that I prefer to have only one voice make use of my mouth? I did notice a small weight in one of my pockets. In it, I found what looked like a big and pointy soul gem. So much for my dreams of a good sword.
I made the detour to Tel Uvirith again. By now, the construction of my mushroom had finished. I left my mark and then performed a Divine intervention to Sadrith Mora. Once back, I collected everything I had in a pile and recalled to my home. When I’d finished moving everything in, the place was getting too small again. One Divine intervention later and I was back at Sadrith Mora.
“Skink, if you meet Ranis from Balmora, tell her that my list of suspects is getting smaller.” I told the Argonian as I merged with the shadows and prepared to be transported to Balmora.
In Balmora, I made my way to my house and grabbed a bottle of Mazte of the shelf. I could use a good drink. I would visit Caius in the morning.
While I was having a good time getting drunk, someone opened the door on the upper floor. I was not drunk enough to ignore this. I crept up the stairs and pointed my sword at the throat of whoever was underneath the hood of that robe. Two hands removed the hood and I found myself looking at a familiar face.
“Ajira?! What are you doing here?!” I blurted. She put a furry hand on my mouth to silence me.
“Friend Oasis must be quiet or people will know where Ajira is.” She said. That made sense. It wasn’t as if the walls of my house were too good at stopping sound.
“I see. Now why did you come here? Need a drink?” I asked, with a much lower voice.
“Mages say that friend Oasis is a bad man. Ajira knows that is not true. So Ajira saw light in the house of friend Oasis and came here to tell him her secrets. Secrets that will help friend Oasis.” The moment she’d said that, I went to the windows and put some boards of wood in front of them to prevent the light from my candles to get outside. I had been stupid and was lucky that Ajira came and not some assassin.
“Go ahead. Hold on, I’ll get you something to drink. There’s moonsugar in the closet underneath my shirts. Feel free to take some.” I said.
I spent most of the night listening to her while taking notes. I’d heard stories about the artefacts that she told me about. If I could find them, they would be very helpful. Not to mention that it is just about every collector’s dream to find something like that.
She left before sunrise. I’d given her a ring, my soul gem with the Golden Saint and all of my money. She’d use it to get the ring enchanted. When I returned to Balmora, it would be found in my smelly old shoes.
The old treasure hunter’s spirit had taken hold of me and I had completely forgotten about Caius. I left minutes after Ajira and took a Silt Strider to Vivec. From there, I left on the road to Ebonheart in search of the first artefact that Ajira had told me about.
I was walking near Ebonheart like that when I noticed something strange. Why in the name of the Daedra would someone want to place a door underneath the water? That made me very curious. I slayed a rat and threw it into the water to distract any Slaughterfish before going in.
The door proved to be somewhat hard to open, but I managed and entered the cave that was behind it.
The cave was lit by torches which instantly put me on my guard. Torches meant that this place was inhabited. I slowly made my way through the twisting passage till I finally arrived at a campfire with an Imperial Legionnaire. Or that was what the man must’ve been once.
He was clearly a bit whacko. And he was wearing a suit of armour that I instantly recognized even though I’d never seen it before.
The gleaming surface, the decorations and the small lion’s head. There was only one cuirass like that in the world. It was the Lord’s Mail, one of the most famous suits of armour in the world. And one of the most elusive. And it was clearly the reason why he was sitting here. From what little he said before pulling out his sword, I learned that he had stolen it from the castle. Just how this precious artefact came into the castle in the first place he didn’t tell. I didn’t ask, I was too busy avoiding his blade.
We exchanged blows for a while but it was clear that none of us held a clear advantage. I was quicker on my feet and my Glass armour was more than adequate at stopping his sword, but the Lord’s Mail was more than capable of stopping Daedric weapons, which were far more powerful than my Glass sword. This required some common sense.
The Lord’s Mail was by far the best part of his defense, and he knew it. In fact, he didn’t even bother to defend himself against anything that was aimed at his chest. The only part of his body that was undefended was his head, and he did everything he could to keep my sword away from it. I took advantage of that by aiming a slow and way too obvious thrust at his chest. He didn’t bother to defend himself and instead tried to hit me on the head with his sword. I blocked his attack with my shield and suddenly changed the direction my own sword had been travelling in, making it pick up speed as it did so.
What was a thrust at the chest turned into a thrust where his neck connected to his head. The glass blade slid through the soft skin and ended up in the man’s brains. Needless to say, he was dead within a heartbeat.
I took particular delight in stripping the Lord’s Mail of him. True, it had been stolen but I wasn’t going to return it. Even if they gave me a million Septims and the whole island as a reward, it wouldn’t satisfy me as much as adding the artefact to my collection. I tried it on for fun, even though it was too big for me. Without a sound, the cuirass’s size changed till it fit perfectly. That was a big surprise, but a nice one. I decided to wear it from now on. It was much better than my Glass cuirass.
I left the cave as quickly as possible, before any Imperials would come to investigate the disappearance of the armour. I spent till nightfall in travelling the islands east of Ebonheart in search of another cave that held a legendary artefact according to Ajira.
It had begun to rain when I found the entrance. Since I arrived here, I’d learned not to count on any hospitality from people living in caves. I slowly eased the door open and slipped inside with my sword drawn. It looked like being careful and silent had been the right choice. Just a few metres from the entrance stood a Frost Atronach with its back turned towards me.
I released the powers of my Amulet of Shadows before moving in and putting all my strength behind a thrust through its frosty heart.
The Atronach fell down to the floor in a pile of ice. There was an ominous blue light further down the cave, so I made my way towards it before my spell would run out. Another Atronach fell in the same way as the first.
That’s how I went through the cave. Like a shadow, dispatching every single Daedra with a well aimed blow. The only creature that survived the first blow was a Storm Atronach. It spun around and fired Lightning in the direction from which the blow had came. I spun with it and struck it for a second time at the same spot. That killed the Atronach.
I had made my way to the bottom of a platform when I realized that my spell was about to end. I hid underneath the platform and weighed my options as I became visible again. I had already taken a good look at what was on the platform. On the platform stood a mage, clearly the master of all the Daedra I had defeated. There were also a large number of scrolls within reach of the wizard. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were used to summon nasty big Daedra.
After a few moments, I got an idea. As long as the mage wasn’t a collector like myself, there was a large possibility that she would believe the Lord’s Mail to be some sort of Imperial armour. With my mind set on the plan, I walked up the ladder like there was nothing to worry about.
“Imperial Legion! You are under arrest, witch!” I shouted in my best imitation of your average Imperial Legionnaire.
“Under what charges?” She asked as her hand went towards one of the scrolls.
“For conducting illegal experiments and aligning yourself with the forces of Oblivion!”
The scroll was now in her hands.
“So they sent one foolish little Legionnaire? Do you know that I can summon a Daedra to destroy you like I would crush a fly?” Yep, knew it. One summoning scroll.
“Put down the damn scroll. In case you didn’t notice, the Daedra you already had have take a single journey back to Oblivion. Besides, half the garrison of Ebonheart is standing outside. I believe you don’t have enough scrolls for all of them. Now are you coming?”
After hearing that, she hung her head in defeat and agreed to come outside.
I would’ve loved to see her face when we came outside with no Legionnaires in sight. Too bad she had her back turned towards me.
“Fool! How dare you?! There is no Legion here and you are not a Legionnaire, despite your Legionnaire armour! I should kill you where you stand!” She shouted with a very angry look and took hold of her staff.
I leaned casually against the doorframe.
“Listen, witch. There is a subtle difference between an Imperial armour and what I am wearing. Imperial armour looks nice and is crap. On the other hand, the Lord’s mail looks nice and can stop any Daedric weapon. In other words, your piece of wood is useless! So who is the tough guy now? Just hand it over and I’ll let you have fun in your cave. You know what I’m talking about.”
She knew but preferred not to give it and have me turned into a specimen for undead experiments. I settled the argument with some good old glass. As I’d already told her, the wooden staff merely bounced of my shiny cuirass.
The Warlock’s ring. A nice and interesting artefact. Unique and legendary, just the way I liked it. I put it in my pockets and headed in the direction of Mount Kand. According to Ajira, there was a very nice staff to be found there.
Ashstorms, I really hated this weather. Why did there had to be a damn Volcano here? Also interesting was the fact that I’d seen a couple of flame Atronachs walking around. Now what was going on here?
But that wasn’t any of my concern. I trudged up the hills of Mount Kand and looked around for the cave, cursing the weather along the way. When I found it, I was actually glad to be out of the ash, even though I bet the cave was filled with nasties. I took the time to take out another Chameleon spell before going inside.
A Daedroth, where had the days gone that people were content with something as simple as a skeleton? These Daedra blunted my sword all the time. I really needed to get something more durable. I buried my blade in its neck and moved on.
I came across a second and repeated the process. There was also a female High Elf. She didn’t had what I was looking for, so I decided to simply slip past.
At the far end of the cave I found a Frost atronach which I killed at the same time that my chameleon spell wore off. And just my luck, I was spotted.
“N’Wah!” A very angry wizard shouted and conjured a Storm Atronach. Oh, this was just great. I love it when I get myself stuck in deadly situations.
I managed to avoid the first bolt of lightning but knew that I wouldn’t be able to avoid all of them, especially since the wizard was now also flinging spells at me. Ducking and weaving, I managed to get the Atronach on one side, and the wizard on the other. Then, I ducked and saw how they blasted each other. The Atronach was the one who survived the following blastfest and I took the time to finish it off before walking over to the mage to pick up the staff.
The Staff of Magnus. I didn’t knew where Ajira got her secrets from, but she sure had a damn good source. Just as I was admiring the craftsmanship of the ancient weapon, the High Elf came looking for the source of all the commotion with a whole bunch of Daedra behind her.
I smiled, I loved it when people had good timing.
“Oh lookie here, it’s the local zoo. Now I would love to stay around and have a nice chat over some Flin, but I’ve got to be going. So see yah!” I said and recalled to my mushroom.
Back home, I dropped the staff. I would have no need for two staffs and if I wanted to walk around the Telvanni, the Silver staff of Peace was a better choice. I also dropped my sword that was now in really bad shape. After having done that, I took a Divine intervention to Skink, put on an Invisibility spell and had myself sent to Balmora.
The first thing I did in Balmora was to head for my old home. Inside, I opened the closet and felt in a pair of my old shoes. Sure enough, I came up with one ring and a small note.
“Ajira hopes that this ring pleases friend Oasis. Ajira must go now before the mage guild knows that she is gone.”
I left a note to thank her on the same spot, just in case she came back.
I was just pouring myself a cup of Mazte when someone knocked on the door. Now who could that be? I slipped the ring onto my finger just in case.
“Come in.”
A Dark Elf came in and at the end of a short rope, he held a slave. Slave delivery service for Vorar Helas, anyone?
The Dark Elf looked somewhat confused, but recovered fast enough. Finding a Redguard who supposedly dealt in slaves must have been a surprise.
“Are you Vorar Helas? Please Excuse me, but I had expected you to be a Dunmer.” He said.
“No, I’m not Vorar Helas. Master Helas is out for a moment. You may leave his slave here. In the meantime, I’ll give you his reward. Could you wait for a moment?” I muttered.
When he was distracted, I hit him on the head with the jug of Mazte and watched him sink to the ground. I then pinned a note to him that said he was a slaver and then cast a Divine Intervention spell on him. I’m sure that the Imperials at the fort knew what to do.
I turned to the slave, who was another frightened Khajitt. I gave her some money and told her that she should book a passage to Ebonheart and find the Argonian mission. If anyone stopped her along the way, she should say that she was on an important errant for a Telvanni master, which was quite close to the truth. I watched her go and was just felling sad about the waste of some good Mazte when the doors opened again.
“Another slave?! Look, how many did the guy want?!” I shouted at the slaver. Except that, it wasn’t a slaver.
“So, you’re back in town? What in the name of the Divines took you so long? You’ve passed through Balmora multiple times and even had time to throw a party here with your furry friend, but you never even gave a single thought about me.” Caius said, looking rather angry. Umm, oops would be a good thing to say right now.
“Sorry, but I just couldn’t go pay you a visit, it would be the end of me. The Telvanni would kill me. I’ve got a vacation right now, so tell me what you want.” I responded. Fortunately, he cooled down enough.
“I need you to get some information from an Ashlander called Hassour Zainsubani, somewhere in Ald’Rhun. You know the drill, get the information and report back to me. I’ll forget about the time that you were gone if you do this. You can get to it right now.” Caius said and pointed at the door. Since I had everything I needed already packed, I left immediately. I didn’t go to Ald’Rhun. No, first I made a detour to cover up some loose ends.
“What do you want, Outlander?” The Dark Elf scumbag of Hla Oad said. He wasn’t so polite when he didn’t had any slaves to transport.
“Luper Alkad, I brought Rabinna to Vorar Helas remember?” I answered while doing my best to contain my anger.
“Ah yes, I hope he was pleased?”
“So pleased I killed him.”
He simply shrugged. “Well, that takes care of my debt. So, did you come to get something?”
I raised my hand with the ring I had enchanted. “Sure, your heads will do.”
In a twirling cloud of Magicka, a mighty Daedric blade took shape and new strength burned in my muscles. That was what I had the ring enchanted with. The soul of the Golden Saint was powerful enough to keep the sword in this plane forever as well as increasing the power of my muscles. Best of all, the sword was lighter than a feather.
“This is for Rabinna and all the other slaves you’ve dealt in.” That was the end of the Camonna Tong in Hla Oad. They were strong enough to boss over a cowed slave, but they couldn’t survive a blade of Daedric origin.
After the slaughter, I took the long walk to Ald’Rhun. After passing some more Ashstorms along the way, I finally made it in the end. I really needed to change my armour to something that could keep the ash out, but that would have to wait till I returned to my lovable mushroom. Seeing as I was rather bored and I would probably have to run another errant, I first dropped by in the bookstore to see if they had anything interesting. My choice fell on a book called Ashlander hymns. People always told me that the Ashlanders were a bunch of brainless cavepeople, so their songs would probably consist of stuff like HUWAARGH, URRGH and more of those. It would be good for a short laugh.
Well, it turned out not to contain funny cavemen sounds. It was filled with poetry. Crap, I hated poetry. It was so freaking romantic most of the time and I am not a romantic type of guy. True, having spent about fifteen years in jail from the time you were eight doesn’t leave a lot of opportunities for romance, but that didn’t matter. Heck, when I met this woman outside Pelagiad, she was the romantic one not me.
Apparently she had been robbed by a Dark Elf. Not only her jewels but he also got her heart. Now she wanted me to run errant boy back to Pelagiad. I simply told her that it would be a lot quicker if she went to Pelagiad herself and promptly decided to raid the nearest tomb. Treasure hunting, now that is my kind of romance.
Now where was I? Oh yeah, I had to talk to this Ashlander. Asking for directions brought me to the inn and I found him within five minutes. This was too easy. He thought he was smart by teaching me about some sort of Ashlander gift tradition. Yep, you like books? Then get my little book filled with boring poetry and give me the damn information. Notes in hand, I got on a Silt Strider and went back to Balmora.
“You’re back early. I wished you were always that fast.” Caius said when I slipped into his house. This spy thing and moving undetected became easier and easier.
Caius seemed to be worried about something. He was constantly hopping around on his feet.
“Ok shirtless, what is it?”
“Look, Luper. I believe it is time you learned the truth. I am violating my orders, so please keep your mouth shut. I am going to tell you just why I’ve let you run all across the island for this information. Luper, you were sent here as a fake Nerevarine to improve the Emperor’s grip on the province. I however, believe that you might actually be the real one. That’s why you have the right to know.” He said. I could see that the words were hard for him to speak.
“Hold it. Me, the Nerevarine? Did the Skooma get to you? Hello, I am an Outlander and on top of that, I’m not even a Dark Elf. I represent everything that this Nerevarine is supposed to destroy. You’ve got to be kidding. I’ve read the notes and we share the same birthday, so what? Thousands of people have been born at that day.” I nearly shouted at him.
“Quiet. Yes, it doesn’t sound right. But whatever is the case, I want you to go to the Urshilaku and ask their Wise Woman about the prophecies. They will know if you are the Nerevarine. If you are not, then all we can do is to find the real one and decide what to do.”
Before going to the Urshilaku, I picked up a few supplies that Caius had arranged for me in fort Moonmoth. After that, I recalled to my mushroom. I spent the night with modifying the Ebony armour I’d taken from a Daedric Shrine to fit my size. I also took the necessary precautions to make it suitable for travelling through ashstorms. I geared up in a full suit of Ebony with the exception of the cuirass, for which I chose the Lord’s Mail. Normally I would prefer lighter armour for my mobility, but with the power of my enchanted ring, all the extra weight of Ebony wouldn’t bother me at all.
Having prepared, I took a Divine Intervention to Sadrith Mora followed by the long boattrip to Khuul on the other side of the island. From there, I made my way through the ashlands and arrived at the camp after a few days.
Needless to say, the Ashlanders were quite surprised to see an Outlander walk into their camp.
“What do you want, Outlander?” The one who appeared to be their leader asked. He kept a Chitin club within reach at all times. Chitin, did they really think that they could even scratch my armour with that?
“I’m here to speak to your Wise Woman. It regards the Nerevarine phrophecies.” I hoped that they would simply let me pass. No such luck though.
“Are you a member of the temple who has come here to slay our Wise Woman? Explain your allegiance.” Was the answer that I received. Wow, these people were paranoid.
“No, I am not with the temple. I’ve come here on my own. You see, some guy who can have me killed if I don’t do what he says thinks that I am the Nerevarine. This is ridiculous, but I prefer to keep him satisfied so that my skin stays in one piece. I just want to meet your Wise Woman so that she can say that I am just a normal Redguard. After that I will leave and you won’t hear from me again.”
Their leader stepped forward.
“I am Zabamund, Gulahkan of the Urshilaku. Go speak with our Ashkan. Tell him that Zabamund sent you. He shall judge whether or not you are worthy of meeting our Wise Woman.” After that, the Ashlanders all went back to their duties.
I went into the tent as calmly as possible and managed to explain the situation before the Askcan tried to put a spear through my helmet.
“So you wish to see our Wise Woman. To do that, you must be a clanfriend. I shall test your resolve. Go to the south where you shall find our burial grounds. Recover the bow of Sul-Senipul, my father. Be careful, the guardians of the tomb are strong and plentiful. They shall see you as their enemy. Now go and do not return before you have succeeded.” He said. A test, can’t I ever just get things without having to fetch something first?
After a short walk, I found the tomb. Before I could enter, I had to kill something that once had been human. At least I think it was human, underneath the deformations of flesh. What for disease could do this? I hoped I would never have to find out.
The Ashkan had been right about the guardians. A bunch of Skeletons rushed me with silver weapons once I was inside. Their movements were much smoother than those of their lesser brethren, which told me that I was facing Skeleton Champions. Didn’t matter, a few powerful swings with my Daedric blade turned them into dust.
The tomb was huge, but there wasn’t much of value if I didn’t counted the Silver weapons wielded by the Skeletons. I did found a few artefacts, including a nice Glass Claymore that according to the inscriptions on the handle was known as Magebane. A nice addition for my collection.
After a long walk and countless interruptions by walking collections of bone, I made it to the place where Sul-Senipul was buried. Unfortunately for me, his soul had refused to be buried with the body and now floated around with the bow I needed.
“Excuse me, Sul-Senipul? Your son requests that I retrieve your bow for him. Would you please give it to me?” I asked. His response was an arrow that bounced of my armour.
“I take it that you’re trying to tell me that I have to get it myself. Fine, have it your way.” I muttered and cast a Levitation spell to put us on the same level. Some fireballs and a last swing of my sword made the ghost drop in a pile of Ectoplasm. I grabbed the bow before it hit the floor and left the tomb. I hoped that the Ashkan wouldn’t be upset that I just busted his father.
He wasn’t upset. He told me to keep the bow and honour his father with every arrow I fired. He then brought me to the Wise Woman. Not much luck there. She told me that I wasn’t the Nerevarine, but I could become him. Crap, couldn’t she just say no? I was not a hero and I didn’t want to become one. Whatever, I took the quick route of Almsivi back to civilization, and Caius.
“So you are not the Nerevarine yet but you might become the Nerevarine? Strange, it would have been a lot easier if you got a simple yes or no. Whatever is the case, I need to find the Dissident priests. They’re not on my map, that’s for sure.” Caius commented and diverted all his attention back to the huge map he had stretched out over the floor. The whole thing was littered with funny symbols that might mean something to Caius but they were useless to me.
“Want to hear the opinion of a retired smuggler?” I suddenly said after having stared at his map for a while.
“I suppose it can’t hurt. Go ahead.”
“Great. Now the Dissident priests are being hunted by the temple so they’ll want to be as far away from it as possible. I don’t think they’ve gone to the mainland, that’s a bit too far. That leaves the Ashlands, all the islands around Vvardenfell and inside the Ghostfence. The Ghostfence is a bit close to Dagoth Ur and his pals if he’s alive. The Ashlanders probably won’t let the priests on their land, they have been part of the Tribunal after all. That leaves the islands. Now the western islands are all close to Hlaalu and Redoran territory which also means close to the temple. Now the Telvanni in the east don’t really seem to care about the temple and as a result I have yet to find the usual temples. If you ask me, the priests are on an island in the southeast. Away from anyone that wants to kill them but still close enough to civilization to be reached by a small fishing boat that won’t draw any attention.” It sounded wellthought to me, but who knew how the spymaster thought.
“Hmm, so this is what a smuggler learns? Alright, I’ll have my agents take a look over there. In the meantime, I‘ve received some bad news from Buckmoth.” Caius paused for a moment as he cleared his thoughts. Whatever it was, it was something that really scared the crap out of him.
“Fort Buckmoth has sent a patrol to a Sixth House base. Only one man came back. He was infected with the corprus. He was nearly mad and died soon after, but he managed to tell us that someone named Dagoth Gares had given him the Corprus. I wished there was another way, but you will have to go there and stop Dagoth Gares. Be careful, whatever is in there, it managed to defeat a whole patrol.” He continued. Oh, crap.
“Caius, this is suicide! Am I expected to go in alone?!” I yelled at him. Losing my skin or getting infected with this corprus was the last thing I wanted.
“Sorry Luper, but there is no other way. However, if anyone can do this, it’s you. I’ve seen you grow since you first came into this door. Then, you were a honourless little bully with no manners. Now, you are a battlehardened veteran who has the skill, the tools and the will to wipe the floor with anything that stands in your way. You are on your own, but more capable than the poor men that have been sent to their doom. I won’t force you to go.”
In the end I made up my mind and left for Fort Buckmoth. I didn’t go just because of Caius or the lost patrol. I also went to find out once and for all the connection between the Sixth House, the dead Dagoth Ur and the Nerevarine prophecies. With a bit of luck, I would also find proof that I wasn’t a mythical hero and just a normal Redguard.
I first stopped over at Fort Buckmoth to gather as much information as possible. Going in unprepared was the last thing I needed. What I heard wasn’t so nice. I stocked up on cure disease potions just in case. This Corprus sounded really bad.
The entrance to the Sixth House base looked like every other cave, with the exception of something lying outside that looked like human flesh. No flies touched it and even I could smell the evil curse emanating from it. I didn’t touch it. Inside, the first to greet me was a skeleton and a Daedroth. I took them out without too much difficulty and after taking a deep breath, I ventured into the darkness.
The Skeleton and the Daedroth weren’t enough to wipe out a patrol and what I found inside wasn’t enough either. Hulks of what where once humans lumbered towards me and never tried to avoid my blade as I struck them down. So these where victims of the Corprus. I never slowed my blade. I would be doing them a favour by killing them.
The Dreamers were just as easy to kill but making the decision was harder. They were clearly insane and rushed at me while wearing nothing but their pants and wielding a cheap club. They fell after just one swipe of my blade. The trip through the cave had turned into a step-slash-step process.
Finally, I arrived at the heart of the cave and found before me something that looked like a Daedroth mixed with a Dark Elf. I was shocked when it opened its mouth and began to speak.
“Greetings, Luper Alkad. I have been told to expect you. Or should I say, Lord Nerevar?”
For a moment I thought that this was some kind of bad joke but I then realized that the thing had no sense of humor. It was speaking the truth. I was Nerevar.
“Why are you so sure that I am Nerevar?” I asked out of pure curiosity.
“I have been told by my lord, Dagoth Ur. You bear the mark of Nerevar, and I can see it. You have betrayed your friend beneath Red Mountain. Yet despite of that, Dagoth Ur has given me a message. Listen to what he says. Once we were friends and brothers, Lord Nerevar, in peace and in war. Yet beneath Red Mountain, you struck me down as I guarded the treasure you bound me by oath to defend. But, remembering our old friendship, I would forgive you, and raise you high in my service.” The horrible monster stopped.
“I am not your lord, but I too will ask you. Have you come to join us and gain the power to avenge yourself on the empire that has slain your family and used you as its pawn? Or have you come to strike me down with your weapons?”
After a short hesitation, I put my hand on its chest.
“I have not come here for friendship, nor for the words of your lord. Dagoth Gares, I shall kill you and do you want to know why? You’ve got bad breath and you smell horribly.” I said.
It smiled with an evil grin.
“How are you going to kill me, Nerevar? You hold no weapon.”
I gave a smile of my own.
“This is for the people you have cursed with your Corprus.” I said and summoned my Daedric sword that cleaved through the abomination as soon as it appeared in the hand I held on its chest.
The thing slid of the blade and fell to the floor. Even in its death, it had the last laugh.
“Corprus is not a curse, but a blessing. And even though you have sworn to be Dagoth Ur’s enemy, I shall bless you with the corprus. If you won’t join as a friend, you shall join as a servant.” It then raised its hands and cast a spell that filled the room with the curse before dying. I had been infected.
On to the next chapter