A.N: This is a quick story that has bounced around in my head for quite awhile. It's pretty much written and I'm happy with what I have as the completed story. But read it to the end, enjoy(if you're able), and lmk if you want me to continue. In any case, thank you for reading "Ashes and Fire"
Chapter One: Memories of Fire
Agrippa swept his messy white gray hair out of his eyes as he looked up towards the ship's mast. Had he ever been on a ship this large? If so, he had been too small to remember.
The massive emblem of house Telvanni adorned the broad sails. Swirls inside of swirls. It reminded him of the way ash floated in the wind. Twisting and spinning.
Nearly five years had passed since his home was destroyed. The city of Firewatch had always been a proud and yet somehow humble imperial city, with both massive stone walls and a bustling little community.
His mother had been a noble from High Rock who fell in love with his father, an imperial legate during the war against the Aldmeri dominion. When his position moved him to Morrowind, he took his family instead of abandoning them.
As a boy, Agrippa had always played in the ash. It was everywhere after all. Huge piles of ash blown in from red mountain were strewn all over town. At the time, he had wanted nothing more than to visit the great volcano.
He enjoyed the feel of the incinerated dust on his hands, the sweet smell in his nose, the color of the ash even matched his gray hair.
From his recollection, Agrippa surmised that he had a good childhood. Running through the square with the other children. Excitedly watching the Fighter's Guild members spar and practice. Reading the colorful tomes in the Imperial Library.
Then everything changed.
The night after his ninth birthday, Agrippa remembered being woken by an explosion. His mother rushing in his room to make sure he was okay. Sometimes he would try to picture her face, but he could never remember the details.
The Thalmor were attacking Firewatch in their campaign against the Empire.
It had long been thought that a large scale invasion by Aldmeri forces upon Firewatch would be impossible. The waters encircling the dock were rife with large jutting volcanic boulders. They stood as a natural monolithic defense against any large boats that attempted to dock.
What the empire didn't count on were the master destruction mages of the Thalmor. All it took was a half dozen longboats with rows of masked mages to take the city's defenses completely by surprise.
He remembered his mother gripping his hand as they ran to the docks.
He remembered the tall imperial towers ablaze with roaring fire, as if they were the Red Mountain erupting.
Agrippa didn't remember too much of what his mother told him as a child. Honestly he hardly remembered the sound of her voice. But he knew that he'd never forget the last thing she told him as she pushed his tiny raft away from the burning city. "Go! Go and live. Don't look back."
He had begged his mother to come with him, but all the life boats and ships had been burned by the Aldmeri. The sad little raft they had found had barely held his weight.
Agrippa didn't remember much about his mother. But he remembered watching her cut down on that dock by Thalmor soldiers as he floated away towards Vvardenfell.
The ship's docking bell rang, snapping Agrippa out of his thoughts.
"All hands to port!" The captain shouted. "Docking in Raven Rock now!"
Quickly, Agrippa grabbed a rope and helped pull the Telvanni galleon towards the dock. He glanced towards the town as he tied the rope to a wooden post.
It was a nice looking settlement, plenty of ash covered the isle which was always good in his mind.
From the bowels of the ship, a man strode on deck. He was a Dunmer clad in long red robes, custom tailored for the wizards of house Telvanni. He had a clean shaven head and a pointed gray beard jutting from his chin. A permanent scowl of impatience adorned his face.
The wizard took one look at the settlement and frowned. "Well Raven Rock is just as dull as I left it. No doubt it's inhabitants will be overjoyed at my return."
The Telvanni Dunmer turned and glared at Agrippa "Come here boy!"
Agrippa spent a few moments finishing the knot and then walked over to the wizard "Yeah?" He replied.
Neloth stroked his beard pondering and then suddenly struck the boy on the cheek. "When I tell to come you will come immediately. Do I make myself clear?"
Agrippa gritted his teeth and nodded curtly. "Yes."
Neloth struck him again. "And you will refer to me as Master Neloth. Understand?"
Averting his gaze, the boy nodded again. "Yes Master Neloth."
"How old are you and where are you from?"
"Thirteen Master Neloth… and I'm from Firewatch."
Since the destruction of his home, Agrippa had lived in the ashlands of Vvardenfell by hunting and stealing. Through his travels, he developed his unique magical affinity. Just a week ago he had made the mistake of stealing from a certain Telvanni wizard and getting caught.
When Agrippa displayed his unique skills in order to defend himself, Neloth had spared his life. Instead of killing him, Neloth demanded a life debt of service in exchange for magical tutelage.
Agrippa was inclined to accept the offer, lest he be turned into a pile of ash himself.
Neloth waved his hand in impatience. "Yes yes, very nice. Now show me the magic you used when I found you." He demanded. "Your usefulness to me will be determined by your power's versatility and your skill in this… unique brand of magic."
Agrippa's eyes widened and darted back and forth along the spotless deck of the ship. "I can't."
Neloth's face darkened furiously. "What?"
"I mean to say, I can't do it here… Master Neloth." Agrippa recovered quickly. "I need some ash." He gestured towards the town.
Neloth's lips quirked and he nodded once again. "I suppose that makes sense. With your weak abilities, I doubt you possess any magical prowess without ash being present."
Agrippa's eye twitched. "Do you possess any ability to manipulate ash? Master."
With his scowl deepening Neloth snapped his fingers. Suddenly wind whipped around the wizard so fiercely that it blew Agrippa off the boat, across the dock, and into the bay.
Agrippa immediately scrambled towards the surface of the water, he was not the strongest swimmer and began to panic. His head broke the surface and he gasped lungfuls of air.
Neloth stood on the edge of the dock with his arms resting behind his back. He stared lazily at the boy in the water as if already bored by the situation.
"If you profess to mock me again boy, I will not be so inclined to spare you. I possess powers that you could not imagine." The wizard stayed in a deadly serious tone as he held up two fingers. "You have two choices. One, you can disobey or disrespect me again and I'll finish what I started when I caught you stealing from me." Neloth gave a sadistic grin. "Or two, you will be my new servant and do my bidding. Perhaps you might even learn something. What say you?"
As Agrippa floundered towards the dock he managed a quick nod.
"Good." Neloth chirped as he strode off. "Once you get up here, unload my things from the ship. It's been too long since I stayed in Tel Mithryn."
Five years Later
Agrippa inhaled deeply, exhaled slowly, and stepped onto the glowing blue rune of Tel Mithryn. The pulsating enchantment quickly lifted him upwards and into the tower of the giant mushroom.
He immediately spotted Neloth scouring the text "Wind and Sand." A book that Agrippa had painstakingly retrieved a few weeks ago.
Agrippa kneeled before the Telvanni lord and bowed his head. "I've returned from Skyrim with the staff Master Neloth."
Without looking up from the book, Neloth scowled. "You didn't have to speak a word. I could sense it the moment you came in." The mer glanced up from his book and held out his hand expectantly.
As soon as Agrippa brandished the staff of Azra, it leapt from his fingers and into Neloth's open palm.
Neloth observed the staff up and down, his eyes narrow and calculating. Finally he nodded and looked down upon Agrippa. "You've proven your worth my servant. As a reward, take this staff from my personal collection. I think you'll find it useful."
Surprised, Agrippa lifted his gaze and carefully took the new staff. It had quite a powerful frost storm enchantment on it.
This was new. Neloth loathed giving compliments and rarely gave gifts in payment of service.
Agrippa's brow tightened behind his mask. There was only one explanation. The old wizard was going to make him do something dangerous.
As if on queue, Neloth closed the book and spoke again. "As you know I've made a few enemies in my lifetime and had one or two attempts on my life made."
Agrippa nearly rolled his eyes. When he arrived in Tel Mithryn all those years ago, after a battery of painful experiments, Neloth decided that the best way he could use Agrippa was as his hand. A guard, a servant, and a weapon.
Over the years, Agrippa had stopped no less that six attempts on Neloth's life and had on multiple occasions preemptively killed various enemies of his.
When somebody got on the wizard's bad side, Agrippa was the muscle sent to punish.
Throughout the years, Agrippa had developed a number of deadly skills. He was now adorned in a full set of light chitin armor, save for the chest piece. That had belonged to a cultist that attacked Agrippa when he wandered near one of the bizarre shrines being built around the earth stones. He also always kept a large urn filled with ash strapped to the back of his belt in case his duties took him beyond the ash fields.
His powers of ash had also grown with experience.
Though Neloth taught him very little, Agrippa was more than adept at developing his own unique spells. He could command massive amounts of ash with near impunity, using very little magica. This irritated Master Neloth to no end, as he found much difficulty in the combination of alteration and destruction magic it took to cast ash spells.
Neloth cleared his throat, snapping Agrippa out of his thoughts. "Are you listening boy?"
"Yes Master Neloth." He responded.
The wizard looked suspicious but continued anyway. "As I was saying, there are too many coincidences. There must be someone behind all of my recent troubles."
When he thought about it, Agrippa did realize that multiple oddities had occurred recently. Multiple attacks of the ash spawn and with increased numbers, stewards killed, even patches of the mushroom towers had been poisoned.
"One of your enemies on the mainland Master?" Agrippa suggested.
"No, in this case I have reason to believe it's someone in Solstheim."
Behind his mask, Agrippa grinned. Hunting people down was always easier on the ash covered island. "Shall I kill him for you Master Neloth?"
Neloth chuckled. "Yes well, you've always been quite adept at that. Ordinarily I would identify the culprit and the source of the attacks… but I think I'm going to let you handle this one yourself."
The wizard stroked his beard and glanced and the roof, weighing his decision. "I don't have time to go traipsing all over Solstheim, and in the past you have always proven yourself adept at assassinations."
The wizard bobbed his head and made a face as if he had convinced himself of his own decision. "This will be your test boy. Root out my nemesis and you will have the privilege of being my apprentice along with Talvas."
Agrippa looked up and the wizard and quickly looked back down at the ground. Neloth had never suggested the idea of making Agrippa anything more than a tool. It was far more characteristic of the old dunmer to demean and degrade the people around him.
Agrippa simply nodded. "I will carry out the task Master Neloth."
Neloth returned to his book. "It's no matter if you don't. One less apprentice to worry about." He chuckled darkly. "Now get out, and be sure to bring back an amusing story of the murder."
Agrippa quickly stood, bowed, and turned to leave.
E.N: What do you guys think so far? I'll post the next chapter tomorrow. It's written, but my vision is getting fuzzy. Nap time!