-1A Madgod's Realm
Chapter Three - Meeting Sheogorath
Aldric was greeted to the sights of Mania, with many colorful orange and neon green mushrooms dotting the skies. A great wall was to his right, and he felt it was necessary to look at the map Haskill had given him to get his bearings.
He immediately marked down the door to Cyrodiil, Passwall, the Gardens of Flesh and Bone, and the Gates of Madness with his grease pencil and took note of the large square area to the east, the words "New Sheoth" imprinted above it.
Damn it, he thought as he looked at the map, tracing his finger along the given path. I have a long haul ahead of me.
The sun was just beginning to rise, however, so that made him eager to get moving. Judging from the map, taking the Low Road seemed to be quicker than Overlook Road so at the end of the tall rocky wall, he turned right and followed the path.
However, trouble soon came, as a camp site set up inside of a pavilion flanked him to the left, and some sort of mage in a brown robe shouted a taunt and summoned a strange type of Daedra he had never seen before. He quickly put his map in his rucksack to assess the strange being.
It looked humanoid but slightly taller than an Altmer, made of what appeared to be a sewn-together conglomeration of skin and muscle adorned with mystical symbols and wearing an iron collar. It had to have been some kind of atronach, so he immediately deemed it a Flesh Atronach and removed the Daedric long-sword.
The bastard was quicker than he thought, deciding to kick him in the face with its large foot and send him sprawling and vulnerable. After a flurry of stomping kicks to his legs, Aldric counterattacked, ramming his sword right through the Flesh Atronach's pelvic region and pulling upward. No blood burst forth, but the creature did flinch and fall over, leaving the Redguard to deal with the mage.
He kip-upped onto his feet and charged into the pavilion, noting a sign that read "Hardscrabble Camp." The mage pulled out a short-sword and began to block some of Aldric's attacks, but since he was a mage, he had no chance against Aldric's various quick maneuvers that left bloody cuts on the Altmer. The robe was stained red at various points and Aldric stepped back as the mage fell to his knees, then forward on his face.
What caught his eye nearby, however, interested him. A book lay near a camping bed, the name Zealotry printed exquisitely on the cover. Aldric opened it and began to read and was startled by what he discovered.
What he had killed was not a mage, but something called a Zealot, which believe that Sheogorath is "not just a man of mysterious and wondrous power, but a living god." They also believe that something named Arden-Sul, who apparently reads winds in somebody's entrails, was the mortal aspect of the Madgod and believe in his eventual return to cleanse the Isles.
The book also stated that Zealots could not be reasoned with, and attack anybody on sight, believing them to be heretics or non-believers. The Altmer laying on the floor in a puddle of blood was a prime example of the text in the book. Aldric sat the book down calmly, but frightened at what he had gotten himself in to.
He almost tripped over the body of the Altmer Zealot as he continued past Hardscrabble Camp, making sure to note its location on the map, and headed for the capital of New Sheoth.
00000000000000
Halfway to the capital, Aldric took note of two peculiar sights.
One was a strange gray crystal-like structure jutting out of the ground, with about six or seven similar but smaller crystals placed around it. It must've been here since the Second Era or longer. He wondered about the significance of the structure and why it was here. It wasn't the first such structure he had seen, though--he had passed one a little ways back that was directly south of something called The Hill of Suicides, which was the other strange oddity he had come upon.
Aldric had been looking at his map and saw an area roughly in the middle deemed The Hill of Suicides and when he had stopped at the first crystal structure, he had seen the large rock jutting out into a lake and saw five shadowy figures drifting about it. Of course, he had heard moaning and groaning and perhaps a scream so he had scooted away, but he assumed those spirits, in their previous life, had committed suicide.
This place is so strange, he thought. The Redguard would soon find out that it would only get stranger.
00000000000000
By the time Aldric reached the southern entrance of New Sheoth, he was about to drop dead of exhaustion. He had been running for the past few miles from some strange dark blue creature that could turn invisible and leap incredible distances. He had met his match and so began running a few miles back. A strange purple-skinned woman wearing a suggestive piece of armor had whipped out her mace and charged at the beast as he passed through the doors into the capital.
His first impression of what presumably was Crucible brought back memories of Bravil, with its ramshackle buildings and sewage leaking out into the streets. A large stone edifice sat before him, a strange combination of various depressing elements. He saw another one of those purple-skinned female guards walking around, and approached her. Aldric then realized that these were Daedra and that they were Dark Seducers.
"Madgod's blessings, citizen," the Dark Seducer said warmly. "What can I do for you?"
Two things came to mind when she spoke: a tavern for a drink and the Palace. He didn't know if this place would even have a tavern, but it wouldn't hurt to ask. "Well, first off, where is a tavern?"
"If you go straight ahead and look on the right, you'll run into Sickly Bernice's Taphouse," the Dark Seducer replied. "She provides good food, a drink, and a warm bed. Although she may be…well, sickly."
"Okay, and how do I get to the Palace?"
"Well, if you make a right after Sickly Bernice's, you go up the stairs and head northeast to a large set of stairs. That will take you to the Palace."
"Thank you, very much," Aldric said with a smile.
"Walk with our Lord."
Aldric followed the guard's directions to the tavern and opened the door. He scanned where he was and immediately went for the bar.
The woman known as Sickly Bernice looked pretty depressed and sickly. Aldric ordered a bottle of mead and began to drink not only to drown out his exhaustion but also the constant whining of the bartender.
It was during the beginning of his second bottle of mead that he noticed a woman off to his left at the other end of the bar. He had just noticed her watching him, but whenever he looked over at her, she seemed to avert her gaze and smile slightly.
Well, look what we have here, Aldric thought excitedly. Someone seems to think you're attractive.
With that thought completed, he began to undress her with his eyes. She was a High Elf, with long blonde hair and beautiful golden skin. She had a thin nose, large lips, and gorgeous brown eyes from what he could see. She was dressed in a green dress/vest combination and the smile…oh, how it drove him up a wall.
He pretended to drink his mead, but really he was watching her with his peripheral vision. She looked back up at him, then back at the ground, then he watched her get up and…come over toward him.
Alarm bells started going off in his head as she approached. Remain calm, buddy, remain calm…
"You look rather lonely sitting off by yourself," she said, a bit shy. "My name is Sontaire."
She held out her hand and Aldric took it gently, being careful not to squeeze it with his own hand, plus the ebony gauntlet. "I'm Aldric," he replied, surprised that he didn't choke up.
"You look like you've done rather well with yourself," she said. "New arrival?"
"Yes, uh, I just managed to get through the, uh, Gates of Franticness, I mean, Madness." You fucking idiot.
She giggled at his mish-mash of words, which caused Aldric to blush slightly. "I understand. Well, if you, uh, want to see me sometime, I own a bookstore in Bliss called Books of Bliss. I got to get going, though. Bye bye."
"Good day," the Redguard stammered, noticing his hand was shaking as he took another sip of mead. He turned in his chair to watch her leave, loving her beautiful figure and the way that her hips moved back and forth caused the desire in his loins to heat up again.
Damn, he thought. Aldric smiled into his mead as he polished it off and paid Sickly Bernice, who was still rambling about death and sickness. He figured it would be wise to visit the Madgod now.
00000000000000
He stood before the entrance to the Palace, the Golden Saint watching him out of the corner of her eye. Aldric had no idea what to expect, but he was on a mission and his honor told him that he had to abide. He pushed open the wooden door into the Palace.
In the center was a lavish throne room, with a red carpet going from one end to the other and six torches burned at a specific interval, three for Mania and three for Dementia. Scattered around the perimeter of the throne area were pedestals with nothing on them.
Down in the center was Haskill and…Sheogorath himself. He didn't look anything like a Daedric god. He looked like an Imperial. Aldric trotted down the steps over to the Prince of Madness. When he came into view of the Madgod, the man began clapping, a staff laying across his lap.
"Well, look who's here!" Sheogorath yelled. "You! How about that?
"A new arrival! A shame about my Gatekeeper, though…but! I'm so happy, I could just…tear out your intestines and strangle you with them!"
Aldric had no doubt that the crazy gray-haired man before him, dressed regally in a brown under shirt and pants with a lavish purple pull-over, could do such a thing. He, as well as Haskill, chose to remain silent during the endeavor.
"I suppose an introduction is in order," the Madgod continued formally. "I'm Sheogorath, Prince of Madness. And other things. I'm not talking about them. You've probably figured that out by now. Let's hope so. Or we're in real trouble…and OUT come the intestines! And I…skip rope with them!"
Aldric was semi-drunk from the mead and the thought of Sheogorath skipping rope caused him to burst out laughing, surprising both the Madgod and Haskill.
"I'm sorry," Aldric said, trying to hold back tears. "The mental image of such a thing is too funny!"
Haskill and Sheogorath looked at each other briefly, then back to the Redguard, who's laughter was beginning to die down. "I suppose such a thing is possible, because possibility is certain, and I could kill you. But, perhaps now's now the time. You've made it this far. Father than anyone else. Well done!"
Sheogorath reached behind his throne, rummaging for something. He threw out various things, including a pitchfork, a pair of steel greaves, various fruits and veggies, and a chicken--all the while muttering to himself. At last, he proclaimed he had 'found it' and tossed an amulet to Aldric, who almost didn't catch it.
"Take this trinket of mine. Perhaps it will serve you well…or look lovely on your corpse."
Aldric looked at the necklace, reading the inscription: "Charity of Madness." He shrugged and fastened it around his neck. Feeling the effects of his alcoholic stupor wearing off, he began to think more clearly and had the sense to ask 'What do you want?'
"I've been waiting for you," Sheogorath began. "Or someone like you…or someone other than you, for some time. I need a champion, and you've got the job! Time to save the Realm! Rescue the damsel! Slay the beast!" His tone became less energetic and loud and hostile and low. "Or die trying.
"Your help is required. A change is coming! Everything changes. Even Daedric Princes. Especially Daedric Princes." Haskill was nodding the entire time, like a good Chamberlain should.
"Changes?" Aldric asked, confused.
"Daedra are the embodiment of change." The Madgod began to balance his staff in the palm of his left hand, concentrating on it and talking at the same time. "Change and permanency. I'm no different, lad, except in the ways that I am."
He stopped balancing the staff and looked right in Aldric's eyes. "The Greymarch is coming. And you're going to stop it."
So this is what he had been assigned to do. The true nature of what he had to do had been unknown to himself, Caius, and Ocato, but now due to Fate, he knew what had to be done. Nevertheless, he had no idea what Sheogorath was talking about.
"What's the Greymarch?" Aldric inquired.
The crazy man seemed to dismiss his question with the flick of his wrist. "The details aren't important. At least not right now. Eternity is on a rather tight deadline, you see, so we'll get back to that later."
The Redguard frowned at his question going unanswered, but had a feeling that he would find out at some point. It wouldn't satisfy Caius, though, who needed to report to the Battlemage eventually.
"Okay, I'll accept that," Aldric stated flatly. "What now?"
"Now?" Sheogorath had a puzzled look on his face, but it quickly faded. "You run an errand for me. An important one…of course, anything I tell you to do is important. My Realm, my rules. Got it?"
When Aldric nodded, the Madgod continued. "You're going to Xedilian, one of my favorite spots in the Isles! It's a little place I use to take care of unwanted visitors. And some are more unwanted than others." He winked at the Redguard, who cocked an eyebrow in reply.
"What is Xedilian?" The chicken that the Prince of Madness had pulled out earlier was pecking at his leg, and he shooed the thing away with his foot.
"Well, you see, the Gatekeeper takes care of most of the unwanted," Sheogorath said, "but, somehow, he's dead. We'll have to remedy that soon, as well…sorry, anyway…there are those that have other ways into my Realm, and they're on the move. We don't want them here. Trust me.
"So, you're going to get Xedilian up and running!" Sheogorath again paused to rummage through various random things behind his throne and pulling out a book. "Here's a little book to tell you how--oh, and the Attenuator of Judgement! You'll need that, too!"
Sheogorath pulled out a wishbone-shaped object from his trouser pocket and tossed both objects to Aldric, which he caught in each hand and stuffed in his rucksack.
"Of course, you can always get more details from Haskill." The Lord of the Never-There gestured to Haskill with his left hand. "He's detail-oriented type of person. A big help. And a snappy dresser."
"Oh, thank you My Lord," Haskill said, smiling and bowing.
"Now, you!" Sheogorath pointed to Aldric with his staff--or was it a cane? The Champion couldn't tell, not that it really mattered in any case. "Get going. Before I change my mind. Or my mind changes me. One of the two, but either way, it won't be pleasant!"
Aldric bowed, figuring it would make the Madgod happy. "I will be back when the task is completed, My Lord." Why did you just say that? You've never worshipped Daedra before.
In any case, Aldric turned and made for the Palace Grounds, with Sheogorath chuckling behind him.
"Ta! Come visit again! Or I'll pluck out your eyes!" He laughed like a maniac as Aldric exited the throne room.