Hello I'm Littleswiss and this is my first crossover. I know there are already some crossover between Mass Effect and The Elders Scrolls out there but I had this idea while I was walking my dog and it wouldn't leaving me since it. So please do not hesitate to leave a review to tell me if I should continue. All constructive criticism is welcome.
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Time, domain of the chief of the nine, Akatosh. Only he can see what the future contain for us. And I think that what he saw made him a little surprised. All my life I journey through the entire of Tamriel, fought against mortals and Daedra alike, talked to gods, discovered more secrets that no one should know and even had in my possession a few of the fable and legendary Elder Scrolls. They showed me how to vanquish evil on a few occasion. But even the objects that the gods are wary of didn't show what the future would hold, as if they knew and decided to not show it. However if they did, I think that even I, the one who defeat the world eater himself, wouldn't have believed what I would have seen. To think that our perception of our system was wrong and that we were a mere grain of dust compared to the rest of the universe.
But this was nothing compared to what greet us when we finally managed to get out of our system: Life. There was life outside! Life of all colors, form and height. We even managed to colonize other worlds. I remember the first contact we had. It was a species that, at my grand surprise was very similar to the majority of us, without the Khajiit and the Argonian. They were mistaken at first for blue women but then we saw that they seemed like woman, but they were far from it. Even if they looked like one, they were a few differences. For one they didn't have hair but instead very short tentacles. At the time, I couldn't flinch when I saw this; it reminded me of the deadric prince Hermaeus Mora who I had some altercation in the past. But when we exchange information on each other, this feeling quickly disappeared, quickly replaced by the curiosity of how we would communicate with each other. Of course I volunteered for it, but my escort didn't like it, saying that it might be dangerous. If only I knew what would have happened. One the blue woman made sign at me to approach. When I was in front of her she made sign to put my hands of her cheeks. When I did it, she too put her hands on my cheeks and looked at me in the eyes before saying some words in her native language and then everything became black.
When I opened my eyes, it was like I was another person. I saw her entire life; her moment of happiness and her moment of suffer. I learned everything about her and her species. It was like the quest of Vaermina all over again, but differentat the same time. I was suddenly woken up from my stupor when one of my guards pushed me away from Javi, which was the name of the asari that was mind melding with me. When my bearings were brought back to me, I saw the thing that I feared happened. My escort was ready to fight, magic and crossbow ready to fire. When I looked towards the side where the asari where, they too were pointing at us some strange crossbow, no they were guns and they could do some real damage from what I have seen. They were shouting at each other and at us. Then it hit me; I could understand what they were saying! But this discovery was quickly replaced by the reality of the situation that was at hand. I walked in front of my guards while they were shouting at me to stand back. I made sign at them to bring down their weapons and to cast away their magic. When I looked at the asari, I could see that Javi was in complete shock and shivering. When our eyes met, she suddenly stood up and shrieked at her companions to bring their weapons down. They were hesitant at first but when they saw that she wouldn't calm down they did. At that I again told my guards to bring their weapons and magic down. They didn't want until I shouted and made the ship tremble.
At that they complied and when I look again at the asari I saw that they were going to bring their weapons up but Javi , again, told them not to. If my memory serves me right, I told them in their native tongue:
"We… do not … want harm." Even if I understood them perfectly, it was a different story for speaking their language. But that didn't mean that they didn't understood me. And from there the negotiation and presentation continue, even if the tension was still palpable. I think the success of this is in partly due to this Javi.
That was more than 200 years ago and…
Before the figure that was currently writing these words could continue, she was interrupt by a violent coughing fit. Quickly, a figure in robes and wearing a hood approach the first one and asked with worry:
"Grandmaster, are you alright? Do not move I will get your potion." She said. We could tell that the second figure was a woman because of the curves sit had. Let's say that it was the dream of a lot of males. However we couldn't see her face that was in the shadow of the hood. In the room there was only a fireplace lighten and some candles to light the pages where the first figure wrote.
The coughs continue while the woman was searching in a stash of vials containing liquids of different colors. She was somewhat clumsy and not sure of herself while she was searching, mumbling "that, no no no it's for the grave wounds." Or " this one, no it's for magicka regeneaton." She was still mumbling when the grandmaster pointed at a vial with a red liquid and a maroon crock. Seeing this, the woman in robes took it and uncorked it, giving the vial at the grandmaster. They drank it and the effect of the potion started working by stopping the coughs. When they completely stopped, the figure turned around and thanked the assistant.
With the light from the fireplace and the candles, the face of the grandmaster could be seen. It was the face of an old woman. Her face showed a certain beauty when she was younger. Her skin was tanned. Surprisingly she still had some round cheeks. Of course her face had wrinkles. However it was not what drew the attention. Firstly there were her vibrant blue eyes. They showed a lot of knowledge and a sharp mind. They also showed a certain tiredness. The second thing that drew the attention was an old scar. It started below the chin and drew a diagonal trough the lips before being joined by two other scars alongside stopping under the left cheek. Her hair was completely white from the age and cut short.
"I'm so sorry grandmaster, I panicked and…" Before the assistant could continue to apologize the grandmaster interrupted her.
"It's okay. You are still young and have a lot to learn. Now go back to your lecture about the dwemer. "She told her apprentice. At that she nodded and went back in her chair and took the book she was reading before the grandmaster had her coughs attacks. When she saw her apprentice goes back to her lecture. But before the grandmaster could start writing a knock on the door was heard.
"Enter:" She simply said while she started writing the following of her memory. The wooden door, an antique, was open by a khajiit in heavy deadric armor, armed with a sidearm and on the back a new crossbow, the new mix of mass effect technology and deadric that would the new heavy weapon for the military.
"Archmage, this one must inform you that a person saying being an old friend of yours is waiting downstairs and demand that this one give you this for confirmation." He said giving the archmage a paper with her writing on it.
"I confirm that this is indeed my writing. She may enter." She told the khajiit guard. The guard nodded and went out of the room to find the person in question. When he left, the archmage turned around and asked her apprentice:
"Could leave for a moment please? I must greet an old friend of mine." She politely asked.
"Of course grandmaster." Answered the hooded woman before grabbing her book and went out towards the arcaneum. After a moment the door opened again and this time the person who entered was a woman with a pale skin and some strange yellow eyes. She was quite the beauty and was quite tall. Her hair was black and went on the base of the neck. She wore dark clothes that had some red. As accessory she wore a little black cape. She was indeed beautiful; however there was something predatory and dangerous in her eyes. When the guest saw the grandmaster, her eyes softened and became friendly and full of happiness.
"Well, this place hasn't changed a bit." Said the woman with a smile.
"I could say the same to you Serana." Responded the archmage with a laugh while standing up. At that, the now named Serana smirked and walked towards the archmage and embraced her.
"It's good to see you Rola." Said Serana.
"It's good to see you too."
They stopped embracing each other and Rola invited the vampire to take a chair. Now that they were both facing each other, she offered some soul gems to Serana. She gladly accepted and took some and started eating them.
"So what is the honor of your presence in my humble college?" Rola asked her old friend. At the word humble, the vampire lord raised an eyebrow but said nothing. She finished her soul gem and told her the reasons of her visit.
"Well it pains me to not be able to see you freely. The reason is pretty important. Apparently there is a new case of first contact." She told her friend. At that Rola frowned and bring her hand together under her chin, sign to continue.
"And you will not like the rest. The one who made contact were the turians and it was not as peaceful as ours was." She said with a sigh. Hearing this, Rola pinched her nose in frustration.
"Why did it have to be the turians?" She asked no one in particular. It must be said that Rola, had some heated arguments with them in the past and now they didn't hold her in their hearts. Serana took another minor soul gem and quickly eat it before adding:
"But that is not the best part. I think this will you question everything you know about." Serana told her before bringing up her omni-too and showing Rola an image. Surprisingly it was in good condition as it can be seen, this was a photo taken with a hidden camera. What was on it surprise her, no it shocked her. It was the picture of a redguard in a strange armor, apparently taken hostage by the turian military. It cannot be possible that it was one of the inhabitants of the empire. The armor didn't match any of the models currently used and the one that were secret or tested, she would know if it was. But the resemblance with a redguard were astonished. She couldn't find the words and when she recovered from her shock Serana added:
"That was taken by the STG and given me by one of my contact inside it. It was proven that this is not a fake." This was shocking. If this person wasn't part of the empire It meant that somewhere in this galaxy they were other redguard, nord, imperial and Breton and possibly mere or beast folk. The possibility of the discovery could be disastrous. If the turians started a war with these people, the relation with the empire could get completely destroyed. The turians would probably think that the empire attacked them and demanded some compensation that would probably be refused, as the emperor would deny that it was the fault of the empire.
"This could lead to a catastrophe we never have seen before. I need to go and try to stop this as soon as possible." She told her friend Serana as she found a new vigor she stood up griping and walking staff (that was not a mere staff, but the magnus staff.).
"I want you to send me anything new on this as soon as it is in the STG or any secret agency.." She told the vampire before yelling:
"Guards!" At the instant these words were out of her mouth the door was slammed open and the khajiit from before, this time accompanied by another guard, this time an orc, run inside the room with their weapons ready. Seeing no danger they withdrew their weapons.
"Go and tell to prepare my ship, I need to go to the citadel ASAP." Seeing the urgency and the seriousness in her tone, the orc saluted her and ran out while his khajiit colleague started following Rola as a bodyguard. Rola turend around and started packing quickly the bare strict minimum and started writing quickly on a paper.
"Serana, go and take it to my apprentice . She must be in the arcaneum." She told her old friend. At that she nodded and took the piece of paper.
"You aren't taking her with you?" She asked while she took the paper.
"Not the time and she isn't ready yet." Rola answered quickly before taking a bag and started walking out of the room, still followed by the khajiit. Before she walked out of the room, she turned around and added:
"Remember, send me all viable information as soon as they are available." At that, she turned around again and walked out of the room.
When she was in the court, she saw that all of her personal guards were ready and that the orc that was sent to prepare the ship was back.
"Is the ship ready yet?" She asked. He answered by the affirmative. Wasting no time, she started walking quickly towards the spaceport of the academy that was on the sea of ghost and took the elevator. While the elevator was going down she said to one of her guards:
"Contact the emperor and tell him to contact me as soon as possible, it is of the utmost importance." She nodded and started sending a message via her omni-tool. When the door of the elevator opened, what greeted her were people all of race running around, preparing the personal ship of Rola, a black blocky frigate with the most advanced mass effect core that was disponible. Its plating was anmix of deadra and glass metal, giving it strength with minimal weight. On its side was painted the sign of Julianos, Aedra of knowledge and logic. It was a circle with inside a triangle on an open book. The ship's name was Savos's soul.
She, with her personal escort, went towards the airlock and quickly enters her ship. When the decontamination was finished, the archimage turned around and told at one of a her guard:
"Go and tell the helmsman and the captain to depart immediately to the citadel." She just finished her sentence that one of the crewmember approached her.
"Grandmaster, the emperor is waiting for you on the communication room." Said the crewmember with a little fear in her voice.
"Thank you. I will immediately see him. Guard, make sure that no one is to derange me." She told her escort and at that thy nodded. They accompanied her towards the door that leaded in the communication center and waited outside, guarding the door. When the door closed behind her, she was greeted by a less pleased emperor that was still in his sleeping clothes.
"Grandmaster Rola, would you please explain me what is the meaning of this?" Asked an annoyed emperor.
"Is this channel secure Felix?" Asked Rola. Hearing his first name, the emperor became instantly serious. She only called him by his first name when something was of the utmost importance. The last time she did, it was about a new oblivion crisis that was fortunately quickly stopped, alas to the life of many.
"Yes of course, do you want me to delete this conversation after is it over?" He asked her.
"Yes. The less that know, the better." She responded before sending him the documents that Serana gave her earlier. Receiving this, the emperor Felix Septim raised an eyebrow but before he could say anything, Rola beat him to it.
"This person isn't part of the empire. This image was taken during a first contact that the turian hierarchy is currently experiencing." She told him. He looked perplexed for a bit before realization hit him.
"But they do not know that and it could potentially lead to a lot of trouble with them if they start a war, that I sure they already started." He spoke in a low voice.
"Exactly. I will need you to send me one of our best diplomats in the shortest notice at the citadel, more precisely at the embassy. I will also contact the asari councilor to send me one of her best too. Their mind meld will be helpful if these people don't speak the same language." At that the emperor smirked.
"You think of everything don't you? And what about the fact they look like us?" He asked genuinely curious.
"Already taken care of. I have given directive to all the personal that will accompany me: no one will show their face and will wear a helmet or a mask." She answered before she suffered from a sudden violent coughing fit. She quickly opened her bag while coughing and opened one of the many vials inside. This one was of the same color than the one she took before. She drank the liquid that was inside and the couching fit gradually stopped.
"Be careful to not stress yourself too much, you are not very young." Felix told her. At this, she laughed.
"Ha, your father already told me that a hundred years ago and I'm still here."
"Take care Rola." He told her.
"You too." She said before the communication was cut. Now rest to contact councilor Tevos. She used her personal channel; the reason was it was the most secure. Of course she had to wait a moment before the councilor answered the call. At the time Tevos answerd the call, the ship had already flew off the planet. The asari that greeted Rola was in a red dress with white and had white facepaint or marks on the face.
"Grandmaster Rola." Greeted the asari councilor.
"Councilor Tevos. I'm sorry to interrupt what you were doing but it is of the utmost importance. What I'm going to tell you is not to be heard by anyone." She told Tevos before explaining her the situation and what she wanted from her. Saying that she was shocked by what she heard was nothing compared to what she really felt at the moment.
"Of course I will do that. It is nothing that compare with the debt that the asari republic owes you for the crisis of Illium." Answered Tevos. Rola thanked her for her generosity and cut off the communication.
Meanwhile at the academy of Winterhold, just after Rola left
Serana walked towards the arcaneum where the apprentice of Rola should be. However in all the years since the Rola became the archmage the room changed a lot. It was now bigger since a part of the academy was renovated to receive more students and also to be a little more modern. The academy still kept his origin but with more buildings and mix of stone and metal. It was bizarre, like the arcaneum . Half of the room was in stone while the rest was in metal. But of course the stone wall would pose a problem for the isolation so that's why they were enchanted to keep the warm inside and not letting the cold inside. The content of the Arcneum also change a little. Its content was mostly book, but they were some terminals here and there containing data on the citadel and its species.
When the vampire lord entered the Arcaneum, she didn't know where to find her. Surprisingly at this hour they were still a lot of people inside it, studying different branch of the arcane. It was a mix of a lot of species: they were some Meres here, a few Khajiit and Argonian there and also Nords, Redguards, Imperials and Bretons. However they were not the only one here, they were aslo some citadel species surprisingly. But what drew her attention was the massive form of a krogan at the reception reading a book. She approached him and made herself known to him. The krogan looked up from his book.
"What do you want?" He gruffly asked her.
"I'm searching for the apprentice of the archmage. Do you know of her whereabouts?" She politely asked. He seemed to think for a moment before answering her.
"Nope. No idea. Maybe the chief will know." He said before calling the name of the chief. In response of this call, something that would probably scared normal people appeared. It was the ghost of an old Orc with a white beard.
"I don't want to see you treat one of these books poorly. Are we clear?" The ghost of Urag gro-Shub said before anything else. Yes even death couldn't take him away from his beloved Arcaneum.
"Yes. I was wondering if you could help find the apprentice of the archmage." She again asked politely. At that, the ghost started stroking his transparent beard, thinking.
"Hmm. The little blue one? She must at the dwemer section. I will guide you here." He said before started walking while being followed by Serana. Seeing that no one needed him, the krogan went back to his lecture.
While she was following the ghost, Serana heard some discsion about the effect of certain potions on the salarians. Or that what was the theory behind the art of summoning. Hearing all of these discussions made Serana smile. Her friend Rola had really succeeded giving this academy the glory and fame it deserved, the words of Rola not hers. Finally, she arrived at destination. The orc ghost told her that if she needed anything, she could come and see him or his secretary and took his leave.
The vampire looked at the figure that was currently reading a treaty about the disappearance of the dwemer. The woman was wearing the classical outfit of the new ones in the academy. Serana cough to make herself present and the woman jumped a little and quickly turned around and again, she was in a such position that her face was casted in shadows, leaving only her lips and chin visible, letting Serana make out some blue skin.
"Hello, I have this message for you from your current master." She said while she gave the piece of paper . When she took it, Serana told her goodbye before leaving her.
When the person hadleaved, the apprentice looked at the paper and read this:
Dear apprentice, I'm sorry but I must leave. It concern one of the most important affair I had. I didn't bring for multiply reasons: First you are too young to help in any kind and you haven't finished writing your project. Do not worry if suddenly you found yourself lost or in need of assistance, you can ask Urag or any other of the staff to help you. Just showed them this paper.
I do not know when I will be back, so that you can use my office if you want but do not touch anything that is locked. In hope that you understand,
Rola Dovahkiin
Well this was not new; she was used to working on her own. After sighing, she went back to her book.
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And done. So what did you think about it? Please leave a review to state your oppionion and to point me where they are some faults (grammatical or Lore) to help me improve this story if I continue it. A space cookie for the one who can guess who the apprentice is.
Thank you,
Littleswiss.