The Marrowinds
By nerevar59
Prologue
The Mountain of Sorrows
Bleeding ecstasy.Horrible,insane thoughts.The light of a thousand wailing souls,their laments scything through the mind like an overripe harvest.
The figure stumbled on its way down the steep,jagged slopes of Red Mountain-the citadel of the dread under-lord,Dagoth-Ur.It's once splendid robes,now nothing but tatters upon an emaciated frame-a being once revered in the hallways of the Temple of Lord Vivec as a world renowned scholar;a priest of the highest order.
Stumbling along,the former priest reflected in an insane gleefulness his responsibility to the people of the province of Morrowind-to reveal the grand scheme his lord had set upon him.To announce his lord's true love and concern to a land that had become tainted with the false religions bestowed upon it by a vastly inferior race of beings.The hated Imperials and all their lackeys and hanger-ons,such as the self-serving Altmer,the lowly Khajit,the disgusting Orcs and Argonians.Oh,and don't forget the human races too-they would be dealt with in a special way!
The wind howled around the spectral wanderer,ash from the mountain drifting down like so many torn feathers.A few bent and gnarled tree corpses were his only companions upon the winding,worn mountainside path.An occasional screech could be heard over the din of the winds;the occasional cliff racer,blown off course,sounding out it's frustration.
Deep within the mountain,other sounds could be readily heard.Those were sounds of terror,rage and extreme sorrow.Hundreds of stooped figures could be seen in the scarlet haze of the citadels cavernous interior.Black-robed Ghouls stood guard over the wretches,each meting out their own particular brand of punishment.
Standing watch over all the procedings was the father of sorrows-Dagoth Ur-his visage that of pure fury and scorn for all those before him.He had but one use for the cattle before him-work,and more work.Then death,if he so chose(if he was merciful)or undead servitude in the ranks of his army of doom.
"Wretches,one and all",the under lord said to himself.He turned to one of his servants-an ash vampire,and shoved the creature aside,like so much chattel.He then paused to gaze lovingly at his creation-the likes which would freeze the hearts of every living thing in ALL of Tamriel-the Akulakhan,the giant automaton,the harbinger of total destruction.
A deep chortle rose up from the throat of Dagoth-Ur,and he even thought it funny that the colossus might even destroy himself.