Author's Notes: Hey Folks! I have been gone for a long time. I will not tell you why since it matters not really but let me just tell you something I just noticed, it seems that I knew more about the Elder Scrolls Universe than the FoZ universe. Don't get me wrong, that does not mean that I know nothing about FoZ but rather I know more about the lore of Elder Scrolls than in FoZ like the magic, bestiary, politics, religion, history, and the likes. Do not worry about it, I am already rectifying the problem. Now about this chapter, this would primarily be a dialogue and in a way, to clarify some suspicions. I did said that Thorkall already defeated Harkon but unlike the Alduin Crisis, the Tyranny of the Sun can be repeated by another coven as long as they get the proper amount of information and the tools necessary. A fair warning to all, I will take a few liberties in this fanfic that was neither in the Elder Scrolls lore nor the FoZ. Do not worry, I will not deviate too much and in fact would not be too 'far-fetch'. So sit back, relax, and enjoy this chapter.
Author's Notes (Updated and Announcement): I just updated this chapter and I am pleased to announce that the next chapter of Dovahsebrom is coming soon. Just have to ponder on what the relationship of Thorkall and Louise be. Obviously, it is nothing romantic(that would be disturbing) but that already means that I am deviating from the canon. I wanted something that is wholly believable but at the same time allows the two to become partners in the events that will transpire like the War in Albion. I believe that is what the canonical FoZ story is about; the relationship between Saito and Louise. What I have in mind is similar but at the same time wholly different. I considered many things like them having a "Gandalf-Bilbo" like relationship but I firmly believe that I can't pull that one off. Hell, I even considered rebooting the story to make adjustments about the character but I then thought 'Fuck that'. Enough of me ranting and just stay tune for the upcoming chapter of Dovahsebrom.
Disclaimer: It is ironclad. I do not own either the Elder Scrolls nor Familiar of Zero.
"Well, I guess that concludes this night's session. Good work, Thorkall." Celestina said as she was packing her books on the table. They are now in one of the exclusive rooms in the academy's library in the middle of the night. Normally, no students were allowed in the library after dinner nor in the faculty study room but Celestina is a faculty member so she can stay there for as long as she wish...and so is Thorkall since he is no student of the academy but of Celestina alone. For this night, the newest member of the faculty is wearing a white, ruffled long sleeved blouse overlayed by a chestnut coloured vest with a matching pair of trousers made from brown textile. Completing her attire with a brown leather riding boots, she appeared to have spent all of her day riding rather than teaching.
"Well, I do have an excellent and charming mentor for this vulon." Thorkall said
"Vulon? Is that another word from your dragon language?" Celestina asked as she also paused in fixing her things.
"Yes it is. The word means night. It was just a habit. Please forgive me." Thorkall said
"No, no, no. I do not find it offending. In fact, I am rather curious about it. I am really interested in learning or at least being familiar with languages. It is through this interest of mine that helps me in teaching you how to write and read in our tongue." Celestina said as she put her hands on her hips.
Thorkall just chuckled and then said "It is great to meet someone like you that is passionate in learning but if you are asking me if I should teach you the tongue of the Dov, then I am afraid that I can't. The tongue holds power that even the translation spell cannot interpret its meaning to the others whenever I spoke just a word of it. It would be safer for all if I keep it exclusively to me and with some dragons."
"That's a shame but I won't force you." Celestina said as she pouted
"I got a question though, if I may?" Thorkall asked
"Alright but you also have to answer a question of mine, deal?" Celestina said as she sat down on the chair and Thorkall just nodded.
"Your attire. Whenever I see you, you always wear similar attire while teaching the students. It is note noticing since female teachers always wear dresses while I overheard from some female students that your attire is 'commoner-like' so why dress like that?" Thorkall said to which Celestina just smiled.
"Well, I was warned by the Headmaster's secretary that the academy has a lot with lecherous men including the headmaster himself. I would be most likely targeted because of my beauty and figure so I just don't give them a chance in seeing my private parts...and it was kind of a habit of mine to dress this way." Celestina answered
"Well, let me just tell you that you have nothing to worry about from me. I don't force myself to women if they do not wish to reciprocate my advances." Thorkall said to assure her
"I'll be the judge of that. My turn. What happened between you and Louise?" Celestina asked
"Happened? What do you mean?" Thorkall asked
"Before, you take your time in teaching Louise about magic but now you appeared to be more stricter about it and you are pushing her harder than before though Louise appears to have more success in her magic now when I saw her produce a sort of a barrier." She answered
"Well, we are focusing now on dispelling magic and it requires strict discipline so I am trying to instil that to her. There is that but something happened back in my homeland that may require my attention. Nothing bad happened yet but let us just say that I am now following a deadline. I made her aware that I am now going to push her harder since I may depart to resolve the situation if it worsens. I do not want to leave until Louise can use her magic properly." Thorkall answered to her earlier question.
"Oh my! The situation is bad but did you tell Louise what the situation is?" Celestina asked
"I said a small fraction on it but didn't elabo- wait...why are you asking me?" Thorkall said
Celestina just gave him a weak smile and said "I saw Louise earlier in the corridor and she was grumpy so I approached her and asked what is it about. She told me that you are being unreasonable, that you don't tell her what is going on other than saying your order was destroyed and a prophecy called 'Tyranny of the Sun' which you didn't elaborate. I told her that I would ask you about it to ease her mind."
"I see but I have a reason why I did so. She is just a child. She will not understand the situation, especially if it is this dire." Thorkall said
"Thorkall, Louise is a bright girl. She might surprise you if you tell her. Besides, she will remain a child if you treat her like one. I know because I can relate to it." Celestina said as Thorkall became silent with a stern look on his face. "How about this: you tell me about it or at least what you want tell and I will break it down and tell Louise so she may understand, is that fine for you?" she proposed to Thorkall
"If you put it that way, I might agree but if I tell you about it, tell me something about yourself, deal?" Thorkall said
However, Celestina has a counter proposal "Deal but if you also tell me why are you trying to read books about making firearms and other tools of warfare. I think you just want me to teach you to read and write so that you can read the books."
"I agree but we may require wine since it would be a long story" Thorkall answered
"Fine. Let me get the wine." Celestina said as she rose from her seat and went for the cabinet in the corner and opened it, revealing a set of glasses and bottles of wine. She grabbed a bottle and two glasses and returned to their table.
Thorkall just raised an eyebrow and said "I didn't know that. Aren't they worried about the children?"
"Hence it is here in the faculty study room. It is one of the reasons why students are forbidden to enter here." Celestina said as she poured the wine into the glasses. Once she is done, she handed Thorkall his glass and sat on her chair.
"To start with my tale, let me ask you if you are familiar with vampires?" Thorkall asked as he sipped his wine.
"I can't say. Can you describe them? We might have a different word for them." Celestina replied
"Immortal nocturnal beings that drinks blood and has either blood red eyes or yellow depending on their power. Weaken when they are basked in sunlight so-"
"They prey upon people during the night. Very easy to burn. They possess unnatural speed and strength and they look like us but with sharp, long, and pointed fangs and as you said, glowing yellow eyes but I haven't seen any of them with red eyes. Also, deathly pale. Is that the creatures you are referring to?" Celestina completed Thorkall's description
"Yes." Thorkall said
"So, they are called vampires. Honestly, there is no word for them, just titles. 'Prowlers of the Night' and 'Blood Drinkers' to name a few. In my travels, I have seen one but they are not found here in Tristain. In fact, they are sighted outside of Halkeginia." Celestina answered.
"I see but the 'Tyranny of the Sun;' is a prophecy that states the way to eliminate the greatest enemy of vampires, the sun. Long ago, a clan of vampires referred to as a coven wanted to fulfil this prophecy. Well, not really the whole clan but most with its leader, Lord Harkon, leading them. He has been trying to find ways to accomplish it for centuries." Thorkall stated
"Centuries?" Celestina asked
"I told you, they are immortal. They can be slain but they do not age. A few decades ago, Harkon almost completed this prophecy" Thorkall said
"Please hold for a moment but let me just ask you of what will happen if the vampires eliminated the sun? How is this even possible?" Celestina inquired
"Alright, it is because of the sun that vampires remain in the shadows and only prey upon mortals from dusk 'till dawn. When the sun is out, they are at the height of their power and reversal of that occurs when they bask upon the light of the sun. If our world would be covered in eternal darkness, vampires no longer need to hide and they shall feast upon us mortals. People will be slaughtered and harvested for their sadistic pleasures and hunger and cities might crumble upon their wake. The fulfilment of this prophecy brought fear to many in my homeland, even to some vampires themselves." Thorkall articulated to Celestina as she went pale upon the hearing the implications of the situation.
"Yo-you mean that it will be the end of the world if that prophecy was accomplished?!" Celestina said
"Not the end of world but it will be the end of man and the beginnings of a new age shall commence, an Age of Darkness. In this Age, the creatures of the dark will venerate those that fulfilled the prophecy. In vampire politics, it would mean that whichever clan that accomplishes the prophecy shall become the most superior among the other covens and this clan's leader the most supreme." Thorkall said
Celestina just took a swig from her glass of wine first before she spoke "Whoa, I didn't expected that. Wait! You said that someone is trying to accomplish the prophecy now! What are you going to do? No! What are we going to do?" Celestina exclaimed.
Thorkall just raised his hand, signalling for her to calm down. "Let me first finish my story, alright. A word of caution though. Please keep all of your prejudice in you as I tell you this tale. Suspend your judgment as I describe to you my friend and myself. Please understand that I was too young and too rash back then." Thorkall said as he stared directly to the violet eyes of Celestina.
"I respect you as a person so I swear that I will suspend my judgement though I fear of what you are implying." Celestina said as Thorkall gulped down his glass of wine.
"What you assume is true. For a time. I was a vampire. Not just any vampire but a vampire lord and part of the Volkihar Clan, a clan of vampires that came close in fulfilling the prophecy." Thorkall admitted
"Why? What happened? and did you just say 'was?" Celestina said as she refilled both her glass of wine and Thorkall's.
"Yes, I was three years away from being thirty years old then. You would assume that I would already be wise back then but no, I was not. Even with my wealth, status, skills in both combat and magic or even legendary powers itself; I wanted more. There was a strong drive for me back then to be superior on anything. I was already the Harbinger of the Companions and the Arch-Mage of the College of Winterhold back then. Not only that but also a Thane, a term comparable to a knight in your society, in many holds throughout Skyrim. But most of all, I defeated the Lord of Destruction, the dragon Alduin, and my name is forever immortalized in songs and writing not only in Skyrim but also beyond. Back then, the mere mention of my name already inspires people if they are my ally and brings dread upon my enemies. And yet, I wanted more." Thorkall stated.
Thorkall took a sip from his glass and continued speaking "When I awakened Serana, the princess of the vampiric clan of the Volkhar, and accompanied her towards the coven; I was presented with an opportunity to surpass death, to be immortal myself but most of all, the powers of night and blood. I was offered to be not just a mere vampire but rather a much more stronger variant, a Vampire Lord. I accepted the offer of Lord Harkon, father of Serana, back then with no question in my mind and alas! I possessed new powers that further separated me from my fellow mortals. As a Vampire Lord, I possessed superior strength, speed, and senses. I can turn into a cloud of bats. I can use blood magic as I can raise the dead or drain the life out of my foes. I also wielded the powers of the night as I can turn into mist and feel the energy of life around me but most of all; I no longer aged."
Celestina then responded "You said you were a vampire. What changed? From what I heard, I can say that you did became more powerful."
Thorkall then smirked and said "Serana and Harkon, the daughter and her father. Both showed me the horrors of a mad race for dominance. How one that is so obsessed to be superior, to dominate, can ruin not just the others but also to those they should care the most in this world. Harkon's desire to fulfil the 'Tyranny of the Sun' did not only drove Serana away from him but also made saw her as a mere tool to accomplish his goal. Harkon does not care for anything or anyone no more. Everything is expendable either it is his subjects or even family itself. He wanted to be more than what he had already accomplished from his long life. In short, I saw a dark version of myself in him. It was to this realization that I no longer wanted to desire to become greater for I then knew that it cannot be sated no matter what I do. So along with Serana, we thwarted the fulfillment of the prophecy and slain Harkon himself, an act that would forever mark in Serana's mind."
"Well, she has slain her own father. That would weigh heavily upon her but I think it was necessary." Celestina told Thorkall as he drank from his glass.
"True and after we have slain Harkon. We agreed to once again hide the materials necessary for the completion of the 'Tyranny of the Sun' from other vampire clans. We hid them to new locations and one of these locations was with the Psijic Order but now they were crushed by another coven of vampires. That what dreads my mind. The Psijic are one of the strongest magical order I know of but they were crushed. It means that the new coven is a lot more stronger than the Volkihar. I fear than they may be brazen enough to attack my homeland in open combat." Thorkall told Celestina
"Correct me if I am wrong Thorkall but you said that vampires are weak during the day. Why do you think that they can even openly challenge an entire kingdom?" Celestina asked
Thorkall's gave then became solemn and then he spoke "Aye, I did say that but it was the information that Sanguine gave that puzzles me. It was through that information that I decided to learn about new ways of combat before I confront them."
After taking another sip from her glass of wine, Celestina asked "What information?"
"Sanguine told me that this coven of vampires uses weapons of war in their invasion of the Psijic Order. They used a flying ship to approach the island and attacked them using cannons and muskets instead of bow and arrow. Muskets does not exist from where I came from, Celestina. Those weapons exists here." Thorkall said
"But that means...oh gods! They came from Halkeginia?! No, in my experience they exist outside the continent so it would be in the countries surrounding the continent." Celestina stated
"It is good that you narrowed in down for me but I will still not erase from my head that they can exist even in this continent. Nevertheless, I have to know how a musket works or even on making one. I also need to know about flying ships and even the methods of combat people seem to follow. Only when I feel that I am truly prepared that I will start my hunt for this coven. By then, Louise would be able to use her magic well." Thorkall said
"It would be harder than that Thorkall." Celestina told him to which made him confuse
"What do mean by that?" Thorkall asked
"Our methods of fighting. From what I heard from you, the concept of a flying ship is strange so that means you are also unfamiliar with the concept of aerial warfare. Our armies does not only fight on sea and land but also on air. That is why we have Aerial Cavalries. These cavalries use either gryphons, manticores, or dragons as their ride. Each of these beast has an expertise of their own in aerial combat. For example, my father once told me that a manticore is the slowest of the three but what it lacks in speed is compensated with its strength, stamina, and endurance. In warfare, a manticore can carry more than what its counterparts can and fly longer while they are always tasked of pulling an important person from a tight spot in battle, break walls and doors or just wreck havoc upon its enemies either on land or air." Celestina explained
"Then you are right, I have much to learn. So your father was part of the military. I am guessing that he was part of the Manticore Cavalry or just the Aerial Cavalry in general." Thorkall told Celestina to which she just giggled.
"No, Thorkall. He was not part of the military but it was his older brother that was in command of a Manticore unit back in Germania. I assure you that you are bound to learn more about warfare from Ms. Valliere than I." She said with a smile on her face as she took another sip from her glass while Thorkall does the same.
"From Louise? What makes you say that?" Thorkall inquired
"Oh? You didn't know? Or perhaps you didn't asked?" Celestina questioned Thorkall
"No, I didn't asked." Thorkall replied
"Well from what I heard, her mother was the commander of the entire Manticore Corps of Tristain. I wager that her mother at the very least told her children her time in the military." Celestina explained to Thorkall.
"Ah, I forgot that Louise did say her mother was renowned for her skills in battle. She must really be a remarkable warrior if everyone seems to know her. Perhaps I will ask Louise about it. So you already heard my concerns and plans, I believe that it is your turn to talk now." Thorkall said
"You are right. I did say that I would tell you something about myself. Here it goes, I was never really born in Germania." Celestina said
"Yet you claim that you were, why?" Thorkall asked
"My father was born there but he left and spent the rest of his life 'exploring' as he said it. I just thought that it would be fine that I also claim to be born there to be called nobility just for its perks." Celestina answered
"So, you were an adventurer like me. What happened? Took an arrow to the knee?" Thorkall said jokingly
Celestina was just confused to what he said and vocalized her concern to Thorkall "Arrow to the knee? What is that suppose to mean?"
"Pardon me, that was more of a joke that is circulating from Skyrim. It was the common reason of people back from my homeland say why they have to stop doing their own adventures. If you ask me, I would say that it was just a lame excuse." Thorkall replied
"Then, let me tell you that it was not because of injury that I have to stop with my adventures. It's just that when both my father and mother were gone, I received news that my father's family, a nobility back in Germania, wanted him back. As my father's daughter I went to them and found out that the reason they wanted my father back is because they are expecting him to have a male child or if not, they would marry him a woman of their choice." Celestina explained
With another swig from his glass, Thorkall asked "I am guessing that you thwarted their plans since you are a woman."
"Hardly, they were good at me first but only because I showed to them that I am a mage. It was only after a while that I learned that they would force me to marry another nobility just because he has agreed to have the second male born from that union to have the surname of Montecalvo thus ensuring the continuity of the family. I found the idea absurd so I left a note and then excused myself from their household as I reasoned that I have some of my father's businesses to take care of."
"So, you are only here just to escape an arranged marriage prepared by your grandparents." Thorkall said
"Maybe but I do like sharing my knowledge to the younger generation. However, I cannot remove from my mind that I am also here to support myself financially and as you said, escape. I cannot really say I wanted to escape because if I do wanted to escape, I could once again return to the lands outside of Halkeginia. I knew those people better." Celestina explained
"You did spent most of your life outside of this continent." Thorkall told Celestina with a smile
"Last question for the night, Thorkall. Where is Skyrim exactly? I have been in the north a few times and has talked to many people from various cultures but the words 'Skyrim' or 'Nords' were never said to describe the northern lands." Celestina inquired
Grabbing the bottle of wine, Thorkall drained the last of its contents into his glass, the Nord then proceeded to empty his glass in a few seconds. " Skyrim is a country in the continent of Tamriel. Tamriel is located in Nirn. If you find where Nirn is then you will find Tamriel. If you can find Tamriel then that is where my home can be located. Alas, it is getting late now and you have a class to teach tomorrow. I swear to you that I would speak to Louise about my concerns but after you told her about it, as you promised. I hope that you get a good night's rest, Celestina. See you tomorrow." Thorkall said as he rose from his seat and bowed slightly to Celestina and left the room.
"See you tomorrow, Thorkall" Celestina said as she pondered on what Thorkall said. 'Find Nirn? But he already said that Tamriel is a continent and nothing is larger than a continent...unless he means that Nirn is another realm. Then Thorkall is not just a foreigner to Tristain but to all the lands in this world.'