Legacy
- 4 years ago
- 15
- 0
Adrianne looked at me in amazement. “Ah, now I see how you do that. I didn’t think it would fit in there that way. That makes doing this so much easier.”
“Exactly. You just have to have the proper lubrication, so it slides in properly.”
“I’m just ... I don’t know, I didn’t think I’d ever learn how to do this. You make it look so easy.”
“I learned how to do this a long time ago, in the Shivering Isles. Overlapping the scales is a pain. That’s why repairing dragon armor is typically so much easier than actually making it new.” I sighed. “I’m just glad that I’ve finally gotten those skills back. This will make life so much easier.”
From behind me, I heard Serana say, “Speaking of easier, I feel much better after our talk this morning. But ... I have a question for you.”
Adrianne said, “Go ahead. I’ve got this. I’m going to start working on a full set of dragon plate and dragon scale both. You’ve made me the happiest smith in Skyrim.”
I followed Serana back upstairs and then outside. Some of the residents of the Suite were taking advantage of the warmer day to use the bathing pools. I could hear two different bards, working together on a song. There were birds singing in tune to their harps. Serana led me to one of the benches, overlooking the field of wildflowers behind the Suite.
“I sense that whatever you want to say to me is important. I hope you know I’m here for you, Serana.”
“I do. I don’t know how you can share your love with all of us, even be married, but you make it work. I just want you to know ... I know we’re going to have to kill my father. I ... wanted us to be a family together again, he, mother, and I. I see now that it’s never going to work that way. I’m not sure what the future holds for me after this, but ... I want you to know that I’m here for you, too, no matter what.”
“You’re not that little girl that was brutalized by Molag Bal anymore. You are your own woman now, Serana.”
“Thank you. I know that now. I just wanted the approval of my mother.”
I thought back to my own childhood, taking my first potion ever brewed to mother so she could see what I’d done, remembering her having one of the Mazken drink it to see what it would do, and the congratulations I got for not killing someone. “I think that all daughters want the approval of their mother. It’s not a bad thing.”
“Yes, but they were so caught up in their own fights that how it affected me was ... I don’t know, secondary. I mean ... I know that Father wanted the power. But Mother never stopped him, never fought him, to keep ... to even try ... and then Molag Bal...”
I took her in my arms and held her as she cried. Her tears were those of a child betrayed by everything and everyone. I just brushed her hair with my fingers, patted her on the back, and tried to give her comfort while she got the years and centuries of betrayal and hurt out. It was a good half an hour before she finally pulled back from me.
“Oh, my, I’m sorry. Your clothes are soaked.” She blinked. “Wait, I can cry like a normal woman?”
“I believe that would be from your tears, yes. You cried before, just not this much, you know. You are a normal woman, you just have a different heritage is all.” Elise walked up from where she had been patiently waiting and handed me a dry shirt. I quickly changed tops.
Leah brought over mugs of spiced cider for us, and then pulled up a chair to join the conversation. “My liege, Lady Serana, I hope I’m not intruding here, but I think I may have an explanation, based upon my studies and further discussion with Annekke.”
Serana took a sip of her mug of cider. “I can taste the spices in this.”
“That’s one reason I brought that for us to drink. Forgive me if this sounds rude, but we all care about you very much. Not just because of your relationship with our liege, but because of who you are. You’ve proven yourself to us that you are a friend.”
“And not a blood sucking abomination and monster?” Serana’s voice was frosty.
Leah smiled and shook her head slightly. “That’s why I said it might sound rude. None of us here think of you that way.”
“I’m ... sorry. That just slipped out.” Serana blushed with embarrassment. “Hey, why do my cheeks feel warm? I’ve not felt that before, I don’t think.”
“That was what I wanted to talk to you about. No doubt you’ve noticed that you’re ... well, you’re experiencing things that are perfectly normal for people, whether they’re man, mer, or even most beast folk. But I’ve been in touch with both Urag at the College of Winterhold and Giraud at the Bards College. We’ve had some lively missives about the nature of the Divines and the Daedra, simply due to Martina’s personal history.”
Leah continued, “The Daedric princes are the masters of their realms, and their will is reality in those realms. But what separates them from the Aedra, the Divines, is that the Aedra are who created Mundus. Thus, Nirn is part of the realm of the Aedra, and here is where their will is reality.”
“So what does that have to do with me and how I’m changing as a vampire?”
“You’re a pure blooded Daughter of Coldharbour, so presumably you could change into a Vampire Lord if you chose to do so. But you weren’t born that way, you lived here on Nirn. Molag Bal had to come here and ... make ... you that way.”
Serana sighed. “He raped me to death is what you mean, then shot his foul seed into my corpse which brought me back as a vampire. I’ve been avoiding saying that for so long, because my Father is the one who not only allowed it, he’s the one who made sure it would happen to all of us in his quest for power.”
“Um, yes, exactly. But here’s what’s key to this. He did that here on Nirn, which isn’t his realm.”
I sat up straight. “Of course. I was sort of kidding around with Sybille when I said that if she drank my blood that it would cure her of her vampirism, since hers is the disease. Not really kidding, of course, because it will. But you have been drinking my blood, literally the blood of Akatosh. And you’ve been a faithful student of the teachings of Dibella as well. I saw that again last night. Quite impressive, actually. And the will of the Aedra is reality here. It’s just we don’t see them anymore, because their very beings are our worlds, because they gave themselves to create the world, the moons, everything here. That doesn’t mean they aren’t acting here, though.”
Leah continued excitedly. “Exactly, my liege. Don’t forget that you are also a Septim, and this is Skyrim, where we worship Talos as well. I read your notes about when you found that sword for Hjalti. In any event, all that to say, we suspect that at some point you will become human, maybe even cured. If that’s what you want, of course.”
“What I want?” Serana took her empty flagon and crushed it with one hand, showing she still had vampiric strength. “What I want? Is it a cure? Gods, I don’t know what I want. My Father gave me to a Daedric Lord. My Mother willingly allowed it. Fun, wholesome, family activity ... allow the rape, the violation, the destruction ... all for what? Power? What has it gotten them, gotten me? If it had been anyone other than Martina that found me, I’d be dead now. If Martina hadn’t stood up for me at both Castle Volkihar and at Fort Dawnguard, I’d be dead now.”
She looked around, where several of my companions were watching with concern on their faces. “And you? All of you! You accept me. You’ve dined with me, you’ve slept with me, you’ve shown me nothing but trust and love. What do I want? Nothing more than to be a part of whatever this is that Martina has created here, to be a part of your lives, and to put this nightmare behind me as quickly as possible.”
I led the applause at her speech. She again blushed. “You’re even cuter than normal when you do that. Come on, let’s get some lunch. We have a few things to wrap up here and then we need to go see Isran.”
The next morning, we headed out for Fort Dawnguard. Some bandits had moved back into the Valtheim Towers, and thought to waylay us. That was their last mistake. We passed Fort Amol and Darkwater Crossing, then started up the mountain road. Instead of going straight and visiting Shor’s Stone, I took the pathway to the right and continued climbing the mountain. A couple of bears found out the hard way that we weren’t prey.
At the top of the mountain we came across a small pool. A couple of hunters were resting there. “May we join you here for the evening?” I asked.
“Please feel free. This is Clearspring Tarn. We use it as a safe resting place while hunting. I was just getting ready to light a fire and cook some elk, if you have some mead that would be welcome.”
It was getting dark and I didn’t want to be on the road in the dark if we could avoid it, so I took them up on their invitation. Lydia came up to me as we were getting the horses situated for the evening.
“Okay, my liege. I know you didn’t come this way by accident. What’s going on?”
“Oh, not much. Isn’t this a bit more scenic of a route?” I tried to look innocent. It didn’t work well. “Okay, you remember we’ve found a few slain Vigilants of Stendarr? One of them had a map with some locations of known or suspected vampire dens. I thought we’d spend a little time tomorrow ridding Skyrim of one of them on our way through.”
“Any particular reason other than they’re vampires?”
“Well, I might also want to see how this bow works in combat before our lives truly depend upon it as well. It’s not like I’m going to shoot an arrow at Serana with it.”
She smiled. “What are we going to do with you? You’re nothing but a hopeless romantic, you know that?”
“Yes, well ... when this is all done, hopefully you’ll still have a positive opinion of me. In any event, let’s get some sleep. Normal watches.”
The next morning, after eating and refilling our water skins from the pool, we headed out. It was a fairly short ride south up and over the top of the hill, then down into a valley. We could see the shack in the woods ahead. There was someone standing out front.
“Welcome to Redwater Den. The entrance for you is just around the corner. No trouble from you while there, okay?” He motioned us around to where a Redguard woman was also standing guard. “Down there.” He turned and went back around front.
Jordris looked puzzled. “That’s ... odd, my Thane.”
“Did I fail to mention that this is also supposed to be a skooma den? They think we’re all addicts.”
“Warriors like us as skooma addicts? That’s laughable.”
“We’ll see what happens. Come on, this way.”
We went down the ladder into the den. It led into an ante room with another guard, standing beside a closed door. “Hold it. If you’re going in, keep your weapons to yourselves, or we’ll be getting better acquainted. Head on in and behave yourselves.” He opened the door. We went further downstairs.
This room held a counter with a cage over it on one side, with a Bosmer behind it. She smiled at me. “Welcome, welcome. I don’t believe we’ve seen you here before, have we? You can buy from me, then join any booth you like.”
“So, what’s so special about your skooma?”
“It’s our mystic Redwater Spring. The magic in the water opens the mind to experience skooma in a way never before. Our skooma is better than anything you can get outside of Balmora.”
“I don’t know. Can I have a sample to try?”
“I shouldn’t ... okay, here, go to one of the booths. Come see me when you want more.”
There was a corridor with openings on either side of it heading away from the cage. A thin red mist was hovering through the air. The openings were all small rooms, with addicts sitting in them. The coughing from them as they drank their skooma made it sound like they were all full of lung sickness.
At the far end of the hallway was a gate that led further down. I stopped in front of it and examined it. “Hey, get away from there!” There was an attendant walking through the rooms, checking on the addicts.
“Where does this lead?”
“None of your business. Now use a booth for your skooma or get out.”
“How about you open this door for me and I let you live, instead?”
He pulled a mace out. He never got a chance to use it, as three warriors skewered him with their swords at the same time. From inside the locked cage, I heard the dealer cry out, and she pulled out a bow. I sent an arrow her way first. The attendant had a key on his corpse that opened the cage, so we looked through there, including the room behind it. My suspicions were confirmed, this was an old tomb of some kind that had been remodeled a bit, as a dead draugr was sprawled on the floor in the storeroom.
We went the other way next. A walkway led into a room with large brewing vats that had the red mist rising from them. I could see someone standing upon a raised platform near one of the vats. I took out Auriel’s Bow and a Sun Hallowed arrow. I shot the figure with it. There was a bright explosion of light, and the vampire died. Another vampire was on the bottom level of the brewery, and started up the stairs towards me. He was met by three implacable warriors, who chopped him to pieces.
Continuing through the brewery, I found shelves with an assortment of vile ingredients to make skooma, including Sleeping Tree Sap. I wondered who was gathering it now, as I knew Ysolda would not be involved with this. Another guard was watching for trouble. He didn’t see it, or the arrow that ended his life. I activated the lever that brought a bridge down so we could proceed.
This was something of a combination tomb and mine, as we then found the remnants of an iron mine. Another guard also died to my arrow. Lydia found a chain that opened a hidden passageway down. At the bottom of this corridor, two Death Hounds and a vampire were working on something. I killed the vampire with an arrow, but missed the dogs. Argis pushed me out of the way and took them on himself. They tried to bite him, but missed and he quickly killed them both.
We followed the path around. There was a short flight of stairs leading up, with a puddle of red water seeping under it. “Martina ... this isn’t just water,” Serana said. “I can smell ... taint. It’s ... oh, gods, this must be the Blood Spring.”
“I figured there was something nasty here, that’s one reason I’m not drinking the skooma. But what is the Blood Spring?”
“It’s a fabled power source for vampires. There’s a book about it that I read once. It’s supposed to be blood bubbling from the ground, a source of strength.”
“I bet your Father knows all about this place, then. He probably helped set it up.”
“Just ... be careful. This is dangerous water. If you drink any of it, even accidentally, it can fully infect you with vampirism.”
We went through the door. An altar was ahead, ablaze with numerous candles. We could hear voices ahead, from around a corner in the room.
“I don’t understand, mistress. Why do we use the skooma addicts?”
“Venarus explained it to me. Drinking from the spring itself can give us strength, but no sustenance, and when the strength wears off, we’re actually weaker. By giving it to addicts, they’re the ones who become weak both physically and mentally, until they’ve less brains that the cattle in the field.”
“That makes sense, giving us a steady supply of food. But ... why is he in negotiations with the Volkihar?”
“I don’t know, you’d have to ask Venarus yourself.”
As I came around the corner with my bow drawn, I said, “I think we will,” and let fly. Neither vampire stood a chance against us. From inside cages against the far wall, several death hounds began barking at us, trying to get free to attack. They couldn’t do so, and I used them for practice of my destruction magic.
From there we followed corridors into another room where several vampires and death hounds were walking around doing something. We crept in and killed all of them with long range bow fire. There were more than a dozen coffins along the walls here, as well as an assortment of personal belongings, dressers, and chests.
“Well, this is ... or was ... a thriving little community. Let’s keep going and see what else we find.”
A locked door led into a corridor simply laden with traps. I don’t think that someone who wasn’t trained by a master thief would have seen them all. As it was, I was able to point out all of them so that my companions missed them as well. “Damn, my Thane. Just one spike wall would hurt badly. What is that, six of them?”
“Yeah, Jordris. Let’s be careful here. Ah, this must be the door to the spring itself.”
I opened the door. In the center of the room, blood was bubbling up from the ground itself. Two vampires, one older than the other, were off to one side, talking about something. I motioned Serana forward, then whispered to her, “Talk to him. See what’s up with him.”
She moved forward into the room and into the light. The older vampire noticed her. “Who are you, and how dare you enter my spring?”
“I am Lady Serana, from the court of Lord Harkon of the Volkihar. I need to speak with ... I believe I’m looking for Veranus, if I have the name correct.”
“Ah, Lady Serana. It is a pleasure to meet you. I am Veranus. Have you brought the Chalice?”
“It is ... available to me. My Lord Harkon wanted me to confirm in person why you needed it.”
He sounded a little upset. “I thought I made it perfectly clear in my missive. Very well. Basically, it allows us to purify the waters ... erm ... blood from the Springs. Drinking the blood straight will allow us to drain from our victims for a full day, even if we’re not actively feeding from them, but we are weakened while this happens. By drinking from the Bloodstone Chalice, especially if the Chalice has been infused with the powers from ancient vampires that are, unfortunately, no longer with us, we can drain from the human for a full week or maybe slightly more, from one feeding.”
Serana looked thoughtful. “So that would allow us to ... stretch ... our food supply, then, and even to increase our population.”
“Yes, of course. I thought I’d made that perfectly clear to Lord Harkon. Who are you, then, from his court, that you required this further explanation?”
“As I said, I am Lady Serana. Daughter of Lord Harkon. A pure blooded Daughter of Coldharbour, made vampire by Lord Molag Bal. Do you wish to challenge me?”
“Forgive me, Lady Serana, it’s just that ... Lord Harkon said something about someone coming from his court, it’s just...”
“Just what, Veranus?” I admired the way she did cold and haughty.
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If anyone ever tells you that getting hit in the back by a frost troll is a pleasant experience, they’re lying to you. I slammed face first into the rock wall of the cave and felt blood gushing from my nose. I saw stars for a moment. The troll apparently simply ate whatever bodies that the Thalmor threw down here and must have thought I was another easy meal, which meant that for a moment, he simply, stood bellowing his thanks for the food presented to him. His mistake. I got turned around,...
The narrow canyon walls would have been perfect for an ambush, or to hold off a determined enemy. Whoever chose this as a location did well, presuming the enemy couldn’t fly. The canyon went on for quite a while, which caused me concern. Where were the guards? As the canyon opened up into a valley with a glacier fed lake ahead. I could see the high and impassable peaks of the Velothi Mountains beyond the lake, reaching far into the sky. A young farmer was sitting alongside the path. “Oh, hey...
“I’m really getting tired of this mountain. Now I understand why Klimmek wanted us to bring supplies up here.” “Look at the bright side, my Thane. It’s doing wonders for our legs and thighs.” “True. Yours were very nice when wrapped around my face last night.” Either Lydia was blushing, or the cold from climbing the mountain was bringing color to her cheeks. “I could say the ... Watch out!” A bear rose from where it was resting beside the path. I quickly ran to my right. “FUS RO DAH!” One...
As we were walking back, Lydia was curious about something. “I don’t understand something, my Thane. We can SEE the College of Winterhold from here. Why is it that if Urag or any members of the College were concerned about Septimus, they didn’t just go out and look for him themselves?” “It’s simple, really. Think about yourself for a minute. About the you that was, before you met me. How far outside of Whiterun had you actually gone?” “Well, I’d been to the meadery, and ... that’s ... I’d...
The gates of Whiterun lay behind us. We had spent a day and a half getting ready to go back underground, and I thought it was time well spent. I’d made some slight improvements to our armor, even finally getting Lydia a Blades sword to match her armor. She was so happy with that present we had to delay our preparations for an hour while she thanked me properly. I had also taken some of the things we’d found in Alftand to Dragonsreach and learned their enchantments. That enabled me to use the...
“I’m pleasantly surprised, Lydia.” “I bet Arngeir has no idea how close he came to, uh, having issues.” “That’s what I mean. He didn’t actually piss me off this time. I wonder if he made this trip to talk to Paarthurnax and got told something by the one being he respects.” “We’ll find out soon enough. There’s Paarthurnax waiting for us.” We got closer and with his deep voice, the dragon spoke. “You have it. The Kel – the Elder Scroll. Tiid kreh ... qalos. Time shudders at its touch. There...
It was two days later before we entered High Hrothgar again. Arngeir was in mediation near the entrance. “Arngeir, we need to stop the war. And while I am Dragonborn, the Nords respect you.” “You misunderstand our authority. The Greybeards have never involved themselves in political affairs.” “Ah, but you you misunderstand why we need to stop the war. Jarl Balgruuf won’t assist me while the war rages.” “I see. The dragon will lead you to Alduin, but without the Jarl’s help...” “Exactly....
I didn’t know that a vampire could faint. You learn something new every day. Lydia was laughing a bit. “ Remember Delphine? Seems like every time you get with an older woman, they have this reaction to you.” “Technically I’m probably older than Delphine, but not really, so I suppose you’re right. Here, hold your dagger tip out, so I can prick a fingertip.” She did, and I let a drop of blood well up. I held my finger under Serana’s nose. That worked like I hoped. “Oh, my. Sorry about that. I...
The entrance to High Hrothgar was before us. I couldn’t delay things any further, so I opened the door and entered the home of the Greybeards. The four of them were waiting in the entrance hall. To my surprise, two familiar faces to me had apparently walked in just ahead of me. Delphine said, “So, Arngeir, is it? You know why we’re here. Are you going to let us in or not?” “You’re not invited here. You’re not welcome here.” Arngeir said, true to form. “We have as much right to be at this...
I wasn’t sure what to expect, being a living being entering the halls of the dead. I knew from my reading that I was no longer on Mundus, I was probably on the plane of Aetherius. I found myself at the top of a long flight of stairs. Half a dozen statues of someone in robes lined the stai.rs down. It had been midday when I entered the column of light. Now it appeared to be twilight. A rainbow colored aurora lit the sky, and when I looked straight up, there were clouds rotating in a circular...
Well, even though there had been no formal coronation, it appeared that suddenly a lot more people were ready to follow me and accept me as their Empress. “I accept you into my service willingly and without reservation. Arise.” Elise yelled out, “Three cheers for the Dragonborn!” Everyone joined her. “Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!” “Okay, enough. But now, who’s going to explain this all to me?” “It’s quite simply, milady. We followed Balgruuf in battle either during the Great War or when he...
“Martina, I ought to apologize, I think. I don’t know what came over me last night.” “Well, Ysolda, if I were to make a guess I’d say Lydia, then me, then Lydia again, and finally me.” “You’re ... you’re not upset?” “Love, that was just pure fun. Now, how about we get some breakfast, and talk about your new responsibilities.” “I am hungry enough to eat a horker. Wait, what new responsibilities?” “As my personal merchant and trader, of course. Come on, let’s go see what the Bannered Mare...
We left our horses outside the entry to the canyon leading to the fort. The weather was slightly bad, with a light snow falling. Annekke looked around in awe as we walked through the canyon, then at the lake and what lay beyond. “I was a ranger, but we were never this close to Morrowind. This area is a fortress, you could defend it from attack with only a few troops.” “Unfortunately, that’s all there are right now. I’ve talked to ... someone ... and I’m sure the vampire attacks are only...
“This is a nice home, Argis. You’ve done well in maintaining it.” “It is my sworn duty to protect you and your property, my Thane. You ... well, your exploits are those that will be sung about through the ages. I am honored I was allowed to swear to your service.” “Very good. This is Lydia. Just as you are my housecarl for Markarth, she is housecarl for me in Whiterun. And this is Annekke, someone who is following me as we, as you put it, have exploits.” “I was told to expect the three of...
We ended up spending three days in Whiterun getting everything ready to head out again. Argis got to meet Irileth and Jarl Balgruuf when we had dinner with the Jarl the second evening. Proventius was unhappy at the influence I had in the Jarl’s court, and did a poor job of hiding it. Farengar, on the other hand, was ecstatic that I was able to provide him with some samples of dragon blood and bone, courtesy of the dead dragon just outside the walls, and begged for me to do that more often –...
Wolfskull Cave opened into a natural tunnel that then descended into the mountainside. There were a few torches guttering along the hallway. We’d been walking for several minutes when I saw a draugr patrolling ahead. I shot him with an arrow. We continued past his corpse and soon the passageway opened into a larger chamber. There were two figures warming themselves at a campfire along one wall of the chamber. I quickly dispatched both of them. We checked their corpses, they were both human....
The guards in Riften were a bit jumpy. A dragon had flown over the town recently and while it hadn’t attacked, they were concerned. I did my shopping, then we went back to the Bee and Barb for the night. It was peaceful inside the walls, and we weren’t expecting trouble the next morning right when we left town. More vampires were waiting in concealment for us just outside the city. And there were a lot of them with their thralls. Two master vampires, three fledglings, and half a dozen...
We arrived at the gates of Solitude in time to break up a vampire attack. “Okay, that’s enough of this. I thought that helping Sybille would take care of the issues locally. At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised to find the Thalmor helping the vampires in this.” It was early evening, so we grabbed something to eat, then I sought Viarmo out at the Bards College. “Here’s the verse about King Olaf you were seeking.” “Ah, let me see. Oh, no! It’s aged such that parts of it are unreadable. And...
It wasn’t quite at a run that we made it to the stable but close. “Jordris, grab a horse. Giemund, you know us by now from caring for our horses. We need another.” He nodded and told me a fair price that I immediately paid. “Okay, mount up and ride as if Elisif’s life depends upon it. Which I suspect it does.” We left at a gallop. “Lydia, Serana, this is the way we first went when we headed for Castle Volkihar. Be ready in case of animals, don’t stop, just ride over them.” We actually did...
Climbing down from the ledge was relatively easy. Relative being the operative term, since it was snowing, late at night, and we were all tired. Somehow or other, Annekke Crag-Jumper did not live up to her name and managed to fall and break her leg. “I swear, if I didn’t know any better, I think you did that just so you could share my bed when we get back to Proudspire Manor.” She looked pale from the pain as she took the healing potion I handed her. “Any time you let me share your bed is a...
If Astrid didn’t become pregnant that night, it wasn’t due to lack of trying. After two hours, I was exhausted, and fell asleep with her sprawled across my body, with the toy still impaled inside her. Elisif and Serana had been incredibly supportive, keeping Astrid always at the peak of release while also keeping me supplied with either a drink for energy, or a taste of their own juices for ardor. For the first time in ages, my sleep was not troubled by bad dreams. I did dream, but it was...
“I thought Gelebor was going to try to force things earlier,” Serana said as she finished removing her gown. “I think if it was any other day than today, he might have. But this is one time that my ... what’d you call it, love, adventuring ways ... will not get in the way of family.” Elisif looked up from where she was crouched between my legs, gently stroking my private hair and starting to rub things. “Something like that. But do we have to have this conversation now? I totally drenched...
A very wet and cold group entered the Nightgate inn. “Oh, my, surely you didn’t all fall into a lake?” the concerned innkeeper asked. “No, stupid Dwemer construction, having a water pipe rupture and flood the chamber you’re in is not a good way to stay dry. We’ll need towels and the fire built up a bit to dry off, as well as warm food and drink. Lydia, get dried off first, I want you to get to Irkngthand and bring our party back here.” She quickly stripped her armor and underthings off,...
I don’t mind waking up stark naked in bed if I’m wrapped in the arms of someone I love. Finding myself naked, with my arms and legs tied down, gagged, and with nothing covering my modesty or lack thereof isn’t something I think I care for. That, and seeing a man sitting in a chair near the bed just reading a book. If I’m going to be tied up and on display, at least he could be leering at me, after all. I tried to speak and the gag felt like I was spitting dry sand out of my mouth. He heard...
Everyone at the table sat in deep thought after my last comment. Brunwulf broke the silence. “Seems to me that you’ve been doing what you can to unite it, at least under your own rule.” “It’s not of my original choosing, I’ll tell you that. All I came here, to Tamriel, to do was to find out about my own history. If I had my druthers, I’d have a simple life, work metal, bone, and leather in a smithy, maybe do some alchemy, and be content with the love of my wives as we all grow old together....
“You know, I’ve lived in this town most of my life, and I’ve never been here. This is all new to me and ... what is this? Are you sure this bridge is safe?” “Not really, no. If you mean, do I think it’ll collapse under us, no, there’s magic in play keeping it up. If you mean, am I afraid that we’ll fall off the damn thing because these idiots have never bothered to fix the rails, then no, it’s not safe.” He chuckled at my comment. “That’s ... not what I expected to hear the Dragonborn say...
“I can’t believe you’ve only been here a week, Your Majesty, and accomplished so much for our community, for all of Solstheim. How can we ever repay you?” “Continue leading my subjects as you have, Councilor Morvayn. With the mines open again and the cultist threat eliminated, I think you should be able to keep the Northern Maiden very busy traveling back and forth with trade goods to Skyrim. Hopefully before too long we’ll have more ships plying this route.” Captain Gjalund nodded his...
The lead element of the first column of the Redoran Guard stopped at the rebuilt Traitor’s Post. The bandits that formerly occupied the building had quickly left when the Dragonborn’s Own returned from Winterhold and took to the rebuilding of this post with a vengeance. We had stocked it with food and refreshment for the incoming troops and our cooks were ready. “I am Captain Merano of the Royal Army. My first contingent of troops will be here shortly. From the tables I see you have set up,...
“Pardon my ignorance, but I’m confused. I know that we had planned on going to war against the Aldmeri, at least eventually. We discussed that at your wedding. But you’ve ended the civil war here, and you’re the Empress. Doesn’t that mean something?” “Oh, it does, Jarl Siddgeir. It means that I have a responsibility to all the citizens of the Empire. So while I’ve been successful here in Skyrim, there’s still Cyrodiil, Morrowind, and all the other provinces that are part of the Empire. And...
The warm water in the pool was relaxing to my muscles. I was sitting on the steps, the water up to my shoulders, with Serana in my lap leaning back against me. Astrid was to my left, with Elisif in her lap. They laughed as Serana finished telling them the story of how the brave Njada Stonearm had collapsed in fear. It was rather quiet in my Luxury Suite. Leah was sitting off in a corner, playing soft and gentle music on her lute. Elise had placed a tray of drinks and light snacks near the...
The road leading south from Bruma was packed with soldiers. By now, there were civilians fleeing ahead of them, so the army would no longer have an uncontested march deep through Cyrodiil. But that army was being led by two competent leaders, so while I knew they would have losses, I had no fear that they would see defeat. In the meantime, four companies of troops, five hundred men and women total, were making their way west, away from the main body. Depending upon the resistance we met, the...
“Are you sure about this, Martina?” “No, my love, not really. But it’s the best idea I have at the moment.” With our success in the city, I had a few of the residents of Chorrol that were actually related to members of the Imperial Legion company stationed at Battlehorn Castle and Fort Rayles with our small group, as well as Honditar. The main army had continued on to the west after two days of rest and replenishment to join the Cheydinhal forces. The battlements of the castle were visible...