WARNING: This story contains lots of sex, swears, alcohol, fictional drugs, gore and violence. Also, it contains a Goblin, which explains all of the aforementioned. What did you expect from a totally romantic lovestory about a ̶h̶̶a̶̶n̶̶d̶̶s̶̶o̶̶m̶̶e̶̶ ̶̶a̶̶n̶̶d̶̶ ̶̶w̶̶e̶̶l̶̶l̶-̶m̶̶a̶̶n̶̶n̶̶e̶̶r̶̶e̶̶d̶ backstabbing sneaky nasty Goblin assassin?
Another WARNING, this time concerning SPOILERS:
This fanfiction is based on the games "Styx: Master of Shadows" and "Of Orcs and Men" by Cyanide Studio/Focus Home Interactive. It takes place after the events in those games, so there are some spoilers when it comes to endings and revelations. If you don't care about that, have fun reading, but I highly recommend checking out those games since this plot relies on some pretty complicated things, just to avoid confusion. Also, the games are simply AMAZING. If you don't have the time, you might want to watch the cutscene videos out there on the tubes.
Also, there might be some bits of the Elder Scrolls series (and other games) mixed in to fill in the gaps the games didn't tell me about. There is some OC stuff going on, since there's not many characters in the games one could use for this kind of story. Styx needed some very special girl to... interact with, so I came up with one. 'Cause I can. Enjoy!
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Barimen's Legacy
Prologue
Even though it had been one of the most severe catastrophes to the human Empire, the fall of the Atrium of Akenash had never raised much attention. It almost seemed like the Empire, with the Inquisition at its head, wanted to forget about this disaster as fast as possible, and never touch the matter again. Only few voices asked questions about what happened when the giant tower fell burning from the sky, taking all its inhabitants and the World Tree with it, but they were silenced quickly. One did not talk about Akenash, not about what might have caused the Empire's most precious source of Amber to run dry, not about the plaques of Goblins that appeared everywhere over the Iserian continent shortly after, and not about the broken treaty with the Elves.
And yet, some did not forget. Aaron Barimen, the son of the late Governor Barimen himself, made sure his very personal source of Amber would never run dry. While the Elves retreated from the human Empire, one of their kind was left behind, accused of treason for helping an impure creature: The Elven ambassador, Nym. Held captive by Aaron, he was forced to keep distilling the very last leftovers of raw Amber to make this dangerous, but powerful drug available for traffic. Being the only known human with such a contact, Aaron's secret influence rose, and after his death it was given to the next generations within house Barimen. Almost two centuries passed since the World Tree fell, and with the assassination of the youngest Lord Barimen shortly after being crowned to the Emperor of the Iserian continent, this last Amber traffic died away as well.
Soon the stock of Amber, a substance so unpredictable and fragile, yet most addicting, was short everywhere. The Inquisition always openly condemned the unrighteous Amber, but still had supported the Barimen family due to their influence and power, and also because numerous Inquisitors and High Disciples had acquired a taste for the forbidden sap. The thought of finding a way to get more Amber seemed very profitable. Eventually, the secret of house Barimen, Nym, was no longer a secret and within the lawless chaos of the Orcish rebellion and the re-organization of the Inquisition he was hunted down like an animal.
Nym finally fell in the hands of the Inquisition, who wanted to force him to grant them access to Amber. When he tried to explain to them that the last remains of raw Amber were used up and the source, the World Tree, destroyed, they didn't believe him. The new High Inquisititor, the Bigot, was convinced that there must be a way to get raw Amber, another source, a secret, hidden by the Elves. He tortured him the cruelest way, and finally, weakened by the years of slavery, Nym gave the Inquisition a name: Styx.
When the Inquisition sent out their spies to gather more information about that Styx, it seemed like he was some kind of ghost. Nobody knew anything for sure, but there were lots of myths, one worse than the last. They did not get much provable information about him, nor about the use he might be to them, they merely knew he was a Goblin unique among his kind, for he was supposed to be the only Goblin capable of speech. Further research revealed rumors: It was said that Styx was the one involved in the malicious murder of Emperor Barimen, the one who had assisted the traitorous Orc and killed numerous Inquisitors. Voices whispered that Styx was a furtive assassin, a most intelligent conniver of the Orcish rebellion, a powerful mage capable of black magic and worse.
With further torture, the Bigot forced Nym to remember more details about Styx. Unintentionally, he revealed that he was condemned by the other Elves for helping Styx be reborn in the Amber, that he might have been involved in the crash of the Atrium and the destruction of the World Tree. Nym wasn't sure, he did not know. After he had shown Styx the path to one of the Amber cocoons, he had never heard of him again.
That much was enough for the Inquisition, for they sensed a promising clue to follow. They sent out their most ruthless spies and agents, determined to find and capture that infamous Goblin, no matter the cost...