So here's the next addition to this little story. Not quite how I had hoped this would go, but hey ho, it should get better. :)


Over the next couple of nights, while we prepared for the imminent war on Skyrim, a couple of changes became evident in the members of our little group.

First of all, Alva and Laelette had taken to spending all of their time talking quietly in the coffin room in the lowest level of the Castle, or violently attacking the dummies in the training room, reminding me slightly of Fura.

Sera, however, had taken a completely different route and, due to my meddling in her mind, had over the past two nights, loudly declared everything that went through her mind, and instigating a number of fights very quickly. This was mildly worrying, but incredibly amusing when she inevitably came to me to express her views, looked me in the eyes, and cowering visibly in the centre of a corridor, leaving me to laugh and stroll past her as her entire body shook and she fell against the wall beside her. Sometimes I relished in using my powers on people.

The others were their usual selves. It was only when a fight broke out that anyone had any fun, or when there was food readily available. Movarth had formed a fast friendship with Vighar, which was surprising, but I left them to it. Babette had kept her habitual tendencies of making small threats to both the others, and the cattle down in the dungeons.

On the third day after I had rounded up the vampires we knew of and knew we could trust, in Skyrim, a number of others turned up.

There were 4 redguards. Three men and a woman. Torlin and Domas, two of the men, looked to be brothers. Both were in their late 30's at the time of their turning and looked to have many years of experience. Their auras were strong, though Domas' was a little stronger than his brother's. Vilann, the other male, and Nemie, the female Redguard, neither had any links to the two brothers, nor to one another, though Vilann seemed to recognise the twins.

A family of Imperials arrived, each just as strong as the rest, though the father could have rivalled Hern if he was alive. There was the brother and sister duo, Vodus and Furiul Velvus, the father, Procus Velvus and the mother, Ladia Blonia. Why Ladia had a different surname than her family, I do not know, but she seemed to revel in the idea of being in the castle a lot more than the rest of her kin. As quickly as they arrived, they split apart, Ladia Procus, sitting in the main hall two seats apart from one another, and Vodus and Furiul walking off together, through one of the doors at the side. I had nodded to Babette to keep an eye on the two of them.

Only one Nord came. Thonro. He had made his presence known very loudly and had flirted with almost every female member of the castle at the time, though, thankfully stayed well away from me. Within an hour of his being there, he had caused three fights within the Keep. One with Sera, when he tried to get into her trousers and she punched him, hard, in the balls. I had to smile at that. A second with Procus, as Thonro had managed to flirt with Procus' wife while the man was stood quickly getting angrier and angrier with every second. Thonro's third fight was with me, as I had found him snooping around west side of the castle. "I'm not scared of you.." Were the only words he managed before I was centimetres away from him whispering "You should be.". I launched his body so far down the corridor and followed down before picking him up by his throat and opening a nearby window, holding him over the rocks below that would surely kill him. They were designed for that purpose. "You're not going to drop me." He said in some feeble attempt at using his weak power of temptation on me. "Wanna bet?" I said as I loosened my hand, watching his eyes widen as I stood there, smiling at the shouts before I heard his body hit the stone. Shutting the window, I made my way back to the main hall, finding Babette smirking at me. I grinned at the assassin, flashing my fangs at her, before moving through to the only room that held any books.

Only one other vampire arrived, her aura overshadowing the others by a long way, though still not close to reaching that of Harkon, nor my own apparently. She introduced herself only as 'Tonie', though it was clearly a fake name, and possibly accent, that sounded perhaps from Morrowind. I managed to get it out of her, without using my power, that her full name was actually Antonia Sallucia, which I had definately heard of in my years, but couldn't place it at the time. Her aura, while extremely strong was a similar colour to my own. Purple. Which meant that she may be sweet sometimes, but that was just a facade to cover a dark soul.

Altogether, we ended up with 20 vampires, including those we had previously, though I knew that both myself and Harkon deeply missed those that had been killed by the Dawnguard. How the 10 new vampires to the castle even found out about the gathering, I do not know, but each one seemed to have some form of underlying strength.

"So what do you think of the new arrivals?" Harkon asked as we sat in our chambers, in front of the blazing fire. I sighed and drank deeply from the goblet sat next to me on the table between the two of us.

"They each seem to have some form of hidden strength, but none of them are willing to prove their worth. The only one I see surviving this war is Antonia. I still don't know how they all got word of what we are doing." I said as I sat back in my chair, draining the goblet and placing it back where it was on the small round table.

"I sent out a courier to each of them. I know you trust those that you recruited and that you are reluctant to trust these new members, but trust me in this. They will all be very useful in this war, Lina." He sipped at his own goblet, staring into the fire for a moment, before sighing. "Though I wish you didn't throw Thonro to the rocks. He is.. was, a strong vampire and his gift is very helpful..."

I interrupted him quickly, defending my case and fast becoming frustrated with the new arrivals that I had mostly never heard of before in my entire existence. "Harkon, you know why I had to do what I did. He was snooping, and you know full well how well that turns out." He opened his mouth to speak. "No. Listen. You knew of my nature when you married me. If I hadn't killed him, I would have been following him incessantly until he left, finding every opportunity that I could to either fight with him, or find out what he was doing." I slumped back into my chair, sighing loudly. "Sorry. Alright, so what are all the others' gifts then? I assume they'll be powerful and helpful in our upcoming fight?" I looked to him, finding him staring back into the fire, clearly having resorted to listening to my occasional rants.

Harkon sighed slightly before he spoke. "I understand Lina. There is no need to explain your actions to me, you know that." He looked up at me, smile barely there, but there none-the-less. "As for gifts. You knew about Thonro's gift of persuasion. None of the other vampires in this castle, barr you and me, have the ability to shift forms the way we do. I assume you know that though." He looked me in the eye. I nodded at him. He waited a moment before proceeding. "The two brothers, Torlin and Domas, who I haven't known that long myself, Orthjolf introduced me to them maybe 50 years ago, have the ability to transport themselves and those around them to wherever they want."

"That must have been fun when they found out." I laughed at the idea of them being lost in a forest somewhere and having to learn to control their power with only one another for help.

"Indeed... Ladia has the strongest Seduction spells i've ever seen, and Procus has one of the strongest arms in the whole of Tamriel so I'm told. Their children, Vodus and Furiul, both can manipulate the weather, so strongly it's a wonder they haven't completely gone insane with power yet. Vilann and Nemie, while not even remotely related, were sired by the same person, both having exceptional powers of magic, Vilann preferring and having mastered that of ice, and Nemie that of fire." He stopped speaking then, clearly having finished, though he had left someone out.

"And Antonia Sallucia?" I asked, eager to know what power such an overpowering woman could have.

Harkon took his time answering but when he did, I was surprised at his answer.

"Tonie has been a good friend of mine and was a good friend of both Orthjolf and Vingalmo, for close to a thousand years now. Her power is to absorb the powers of those around her." He stopped talking and stood from his chair, leaving his goblet where it was and moving around the back of our chars. "You do not have anything to fear from her Lina. She will not harm you, that I can promise." He leaned down by my side, pressed his lips to my temple, before turning and leaving me to watch the fire on my own, as I thought about the upcoming war and the part that each one of our small army would play, planning as I went.


OK, so there we go. :) Let me know what you thought.