The Teaser
By: Dirty Reid
Chapter 10: Fantasy in Reality
Unmapped solar system, unmapped cluster, Attican Traverse
Systems Alliance Space Vessel Normandy
Systems Alliance Standard Time: 7 April, 2183, 0322 hours
"So Shepard," Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec agent began. "What do we know about this mission?" While none of the remaining operatives said anything, their thoughts echoed Garrus' question.
"Very little." Sterling Shepard, Alliance Golden Boy, N7 operative (Engineer-class), and the first Human SPECTRE answered. "The intel's from an STG team that came through the system to dodge a Blood Pack death squad. The report says that they found a garden world giving off electromagnetic readings that made no sense." Here the engineer paused to look down at the datapad containing what little declassified information the Salarians had relinquished.
"Our mission orders are to observe this world, find the source of these readings, and if it seems like a good idea, make contact with the locals." He recited the orders the Council had demanded of him. Reactions were mixed.
"Great. Get assigned to a SPECTRE ship and I still end up working the equivalent of a graveyard shift." Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams and Sterling's current (secret) squeeze muttered to herself.
"C'mon Ash, at least it beats Geth cleanup duty." Tali'Zorah nar Rayya chirped, bubbly as ever. Even the cynical Human soldier felt her mood buoy slightly; no one could stay grumpy around Tali, the 'little sister' of the crew.
"Any questions? Thoughts?" Sterling asked. Silence greeted him. "Alright. ETA to our destination is eleven hours. Rest up and get ready, we're going in blind. Dismissed." As the squad of seven rose from their seats in the war room, Sterling looked over at Ashley. In the two months they had been together, both had become more and more adept at reading each other's body language. Nowadays, Sterling only had to raise an eyebrow half an inch to say "I want to do horrible things to you." to her. She only had to twitch her lips upwards to say "I'm gonna enjoy every sweaty second of this."
When he retreated to his quarters and she followed ten minutes later, as their fatigues fell to the ground and their bodies came together, both knew they would be getting no sleep before touching down.
"Wow," Jeff "Joker" Moreau managed to say as the Normandy exited FTL. "Calling this place 'pristine' is an understatement."
Sterling had to agree. He had seen photos of Earth before the flood that was industry came to life, but to see a garden world untouched by megatropolises and space stations and corporate interests was something entirely different. From the initial scans, the planet was determined to be 83% water, and the land consisted of several islands clustered around one supercontinent. The supercontinent was a mix of browns, greens and whites. Deserts covered the northwest and part of the southern continent, a long belt of forest, grassland and what could be marshes spanning the mass. Dark grey clouds covered a large island in the northeastern segment; clouds which Liara stated were characteristic of those released by erupting volcanoes. A chain of mountains ran from a peninsula in the northwest, crossed the southern tundra region and divided the marshy region from the central forest mass. Two moons orbited the planet.
"Alright Boss," Joker snapped him out of his observations. "What do you want to do?"
Shepard kept staring at the planet. For the damnedest reason, he had a strange feeling. Like the voices of his conscience, his dark side and everything in between had begun whispering into his ear together. The funny thing was that they were all whispering the same thing. Sterling found his eyes drawn to the tundra. Something... something about it was giving him that odd feeling.
"Drop us somewhere in the tundra." He eventually ordered.
"Commander?" Joker asked, unprepared for that statement. He had been expecting Sterling to tell him to hover just out of atmo, maybe scan it to see if the air was breathable.
"I... I don't know why, but something about that region is giving me a weird feeling." Sterling admitted in a low voice. "It's like there's something calling me to it."
Joker blinked a single time, slowly. "Ooookay, that is weird. Something's 'calling you'? You sure Sovereign didn't get its tentacles into your brain?"
Sterling sighed in mock consternation. "I'm sure. And tell Ashley and Liara to suit up, they'll be coming with me." He added as he began walking out of the cockpit.
"Roger that, Boss."
"Y'know," Ashley whispered over a private channel as she, Sterling and Liara descended to the planet's surface in the Mako "My legs are still a little shaky from last night."
He tried to will it away, but Sterling still felt a stirring in his loins. "Dammit Ash," he whispered back. "Don't do this to me now! Walking around in this suit with a hard-on is not pleasant."
She giggled quietly. "Aww, want me to kiss it all better Skipper?" She mocked playfully.
"Stop it. I can hear you." Liara whispered in the same conspiratorial manner as the two humans. Both of their helmeted heads snapped to the Asari, and though they couldn't see her full face, both of them just knew she was grinning cheekily. Both were too mortified to say anything as the tank slammed into the ground and the three explorers exited it. Snow-dusted rock and sparse vegetation extended served as the foreground for the swirling, snowy vista they were treated to from atop the mountain they had landed on. The sun was near its apex, and the few clouds in the sky were wispy, doing nothing to dim the light. The air, while cold even through their helmets, did not carry the slightly stale taste of recycled ship air or the musk of smog-filled cities. Instead, it almost tasted sweet.
"I have just scanned the atmosphere. The atmosphere is 22.36% oxygen, 76.64% nitrogen, and one percent miscellaneous elements. It should be safe to remove our helmets." Liara informed as she looked up from her omni-tool. The two Humans and one Asari slowly unclasped their helmets and breathed in an icy cold draft of air.
"Ahhh, that's nice." Ashley sighed, savoring the cleanliness of the air.
"I concur. This place is quite beautiful." Liara added. "I could see myself retiring here."
"If there was less snow, I would agree with you Liara." Sterling quipped. He had always been preferential to warmer climates. "For now, let's take a walk up the hill and- What is that?" He abruptly asked. The girls redirected their attention to the commander to see what he was indicating.
Sterling had been looking at a structure carved from the top of a mountain. They were on a higher peak, forcing them to look down to take in the image. Square stacks of stone supported flights of stairs leading to a tiny plateau before the giant statue. Said stone monolith gave Sterling, Ashley and Liara a moment of pause as they observed the uncannily familiar features. Two eyes and arms, a nose, full lips, breasts, plantigrade legs...
It was a monolith of a human woman.
"Goddess," Liara breathed. Sterling and Ashley paid her no mind as they continued to observe the statue. The woman was clad in a robe- not unlike those worn by the ancient Greeks- that draped over her outstretched arms. In her right hand, held slightly behind her, she carried a crescent moon. In her left, she brandished a stylized star.
"Am I seeing this right Skipper?" Ashley asked. "Is that statue a human, or are my eyes just playing tricks on me?"
"No, no, you're seeing it fine Ash." Sterling answered. "But this... I don't even..." He stopped trying to speak. For once, words had failed him. The chances of finding another sentient race that looked even more like them than the Asari had to be upwards of one hundred million to one.
"Perhaps we should examine this statue. We may learn something about who or what it signifies." Liara's excited voice roused the two Humans from their near stupor.
"Um, yeah, yeah. What she said." Sterling murmured. "Anyone up for a walk? I don't want to take the Mako down this slope." He pointed to the craggy rocks on the inclined slope before them. Both Ashley and Liara had been at the mercy of Sterling's driving, and had no intention of experiencing it on such a treacherous slope. As they agreed and set off, keeping an eye out for any denizens of the planet, none of them were any the wiser to the pair of tracks in the snow beside the tank's tread.
A pair of tracks with no body that began to follow them.
"It's even bigger up close." Sterling remarked as they reached the monolith.
Their short trek to the giant statue had been... interesting. On their way, the had encountered an animal that looked exactly like an Earthen wolf chasing a pair of goat-like creatures. What had not been like anything Sterling had seen before, was the flying creature made of ice that had jumped them about twenty minutes into their walk. In the few seconds he had to look at the shrieking... thing, Sterling made the observation that it looked like a shark's skull had been stuck on the skeleton of a snake. It had lunged in an attempt to bite them with its icy jaws, but a well-placed Carnage round from Ashley's shotgun had disintegrated whatever that creature was.
"What was that?" Liara asked, having been the closest to the creature when it burst from the snow. She had yelped and fallen over in shock. Now that the creature had disintegrated into glowing blue dust, she was clutching her heart with saucer-like eyes.
"You alright Liara?" Sterling asked, moving closer and placing a comforting hand on her arm. From a few feet away, Ashley knew that Sterling had chose her, but she could not help but feel a tiny twinge of jealousy at the close contact between her boyfriend and the Asari who she suspected still harbored feelings for him.
"Y-yes, thank you Shepard. I'm just a little shaken, is all." She breathed. Nodding, Sterling returned his attention to the stairs before the monument. The steps were few, but covered in ice. As they reached the small platform, they saw some sort of table before the feet of the statue. As Liara moved up to the table with Sterling to observe the table, Ashley turned around to survey their surroundings. Ever since they had gotten out of the tank and began their trek to the monument, something had been causing the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Normally that happened when someone was watching her. But as she looked around, there was a distinct lack of hiding places and nothing had pinged on her radar. As she grasped and unfolded her Naginata VII sniper rifle, she breathed slowly and surveyed their surroundings. She started at the Mako and panned in both directions, looking for anything strange. As she followed their path from the tank, she must have not been paying attention when Liara drifted apart from the group... wait...
"Skipper!" Ashley called. Sterling looked up from his talk with Liara, eyebrow quirked.
"What's up Ash?" He asked. His hand drifted towards the bandolier of grenades across his chest when he saw the sniper rifle out. Liara still had her omni-tool out, but she was watching the exchange oddly.
"We're being followed." Ashley declared as she tracked the separate set of footprints with her scope. The wind was blowing, so they were starting to fade, but the fresher ones were dreadfully close...
"How can you tell?" Sterling asked.
"Separate footsteps following us. Tracker's probably... cloaked..." Ashley trailed off as she tracked the steps in the snow. They had reached the stairs and ascended it with them. Whoever they belonged to must have been shadowing them extremely closely. There was far less snow on the plateau, but a remnant of a footprint pointed towards...
"There," She pointed to the side of the stone column farthest from them, presumably to where their mystery stalker was. "We know you're there!" She called above the whistling wind. "Come out! We're not here to hurt you!" She added as she stowed her rifle.
"There is a very small chance that whoever is following us will understand you, Ashley." Liara said quietly. She was just about to acknowledge the Asari's statement when the soft sound of snow crunching reached her ears. A handful of seconds passed until they saw the snow depress under the sole of their invisible tail. All three of them restrained a surprised reaction when their stalker appeared in a flash of purple and orange light, and quickly took in the sight of a native.
The body type immediately told Sterling, Liara and Ashley that this native was a male. A closer look at his face confirmed their thoughts, and gave rise to shock. Except for several distinct features, this native male looked almost Human. What set him apart from any type of Human- or Asari- was the colour of his skin and his eyes. His skin could only be described as stormy grey, almost like that of ashes. His eyes were a shade of red Sterling had not seen in any alien save Urdnot Wrex, the Krogan Battlemaster currently sitting aboard his ship. Long black hair peeked out from behind the hood on his head and over the golden circlet with inlaid sapphires on his steeply arched brow. He stood just a few inches shorter than Sterling, and of equal height to Ashley. He was garbed in a raiment in shades of muted blue and ivory, intricate patterns adorning the cuffs and the lining of the poncho-like garment over his robe. The poncho was lined with ivory fur as well, giving the native the look of someone important when it was compounded with the circlet and the various jeweled rings he wore over a set of gloves that, like his boots, were made of some kind of hide. Fastened to a belt made of the same hide were several satchels, one of which was bulging hugely.
What drew the attention of the two Humans and one Asari were the two longswords on his belt. The sabre-like sword on the native's right was a bluish-silver, save for the leathery strips that served as the grip. The fuller of the blade had a criss-crossing pattern in it, reminiscent of art drawn by ancient Earthen Vikings. It could have been a trick of the light, but Sterling could have sworn he saw the sabre-like sword gleam with blue runic characters. By contrast, the blade on the native's left side looked like something out of a fantasy vid. The key difference was that swords wielded by fantasy villains didn't give Sterling the creeps like this one. The grip, pommel and guard (which extended out along the back of the blade) were black and inlaid with thorn-like patterns. Running the length of the guard, a blood red rivulet seemed to pulse as an artery would. The blade was wickedly serrated, and looked capable of cutting through Sterling's armour quite easily. Like the sabre, this blade seemed to gleam with runic characters, but pale violet instead of frosty blue.
For a long moment, both parties stared at each other. In that moment, the three space-farers came to a similar conclusion: They did not know why, but something about this native's calm expression said that he was not someone they would want to cross, primitive though he may be. It was he who eventually broke the silence when he not only spoke, but spoke English.
"What manner of men and..." He paused for a blink as he looked at Liara "... beast-folk are you, who travel from the stars in flying machines?" His English was heavily accented and sounded almost like a mixture of British and Australian. Sterling and Ashley were both so baffled by the odds of understanding the native once again being in their favour that both of them were actually gawping. Liara blinked several times as she contemplated the term he had just used to describe her. As was to be expected, Sterling recovered first.
"We're Human and Asari. My name's Sterling Shepard." He held out his hand, wondering if the native knew the gesture. Sterling was just a little disappointed when all he did was look down at the offered appendage.
"It's called a handshake. What you do is-"
"I am aware of the gesture Sterling Shepard, having performed it many times with my fellow men, mer and beast-folk." He interrupted not unkindly, but with a voice lacking warmth. "I simply reserve it for those whom I trust."
Stung, Sterling retracted his hand. "Fair enough. Continuing, this is Ashley Williams," the native nodded slightly at her "and Liara T'Soni, the Asari that I mentioned earlier." The archaeologist raised her hand in a wave, but received only a nod similar to that given to Ashley.
"Then I hope you will forgive my referring to you as a beast, Liara T'Soni, for I did not know your creed." He said in reply.
"That's alright," she waved off. "Who are you?" She followed up, voice rising in expectancy. Sterling and Ashley also became more attentive. In their excitement, they had forgotten that the native did not possess a translator unit, and was staring inquisitively at Liara.
"Right, you don't have a translator." Ashley surmised. "What she said is she doesn't mind what you called her, and asked who you are." She paraphrased. Liara nodded in affirmation.
The native blinked once and pursed his lips, but refrained from answering for a moment. "For the time being, I shall remain nameless; knowing another's name gives you power over them. Here in Skyrim at least." He added. While annoyed at the dodge, Sterling capitalized upon the other information the native had just given him.
"So this planet is called Skyrim?" He prodded. The native shook his head.
"No. We currently converse within the province of Skyrim. The country in which Skyrim is a part of is called Tamriel. The world which you have 'discovered' is called Nirn." He elaborated. Liara was listening intently, the archaeologist in her taking over.
"Ask him what his people are called." She said to the Humans.
"Liara asked what your people are called." Sterling relayed.
"My people specifically are called Dunmer. In the common tongue, we are known as Dark Elves." He said to the astonishment of the Humans.
"Wait, elves? Really?" Ashley blurted with no small amount of incredulity in her voice. One of the native's brows rose.
"There are no mer from where you hail? Strange, you so resemble a Nord and an Imperial." The elf replied, glancing at the pale engineer and the tanned soldier.
"Are those other people that live here?" Sterling asked.
"Yes. Dunmer, Nords and Imperials are three of the twelve peoples that inhabit Skyrim, and Tamriel by extension." He explained. "And while I do enjoy the sunshine and the tranquility brought to me by the Lady Azura's Shrine, I shall never grow to love the cold. If you will follow me, I shall lead you somewhere warmer and we can commiserate over a cup of wine. What say you?" He asked.
Sterling motioned for Ashley and Liara to join him a few paces away from the Dark Elf. "What do you think?" He asked.
"I don't trust him." Ashley whispered. Sterling almost rolled his eyes. Even months later and serving with a mixed-species crew, her xenonationalist attitude still bubbled under the surface. "And I'd rather not go somewhere with a potential enemy."
"I must agree with Ashley in that I do not trust him, but he has given no indication that he wishes us harm." Liara added. If Sterling knew anything about their resident Asari, it was that she would go to great lengths in the pursuit of knowledge. Sterling spared the Dark Elf a glance, noting that he was looking up at the face of 'Azura' with something akin to reverence on his face.
"... We're going with him." He finally decided. "But if he becomes hostile Ash, you can do the honours." He added upon seeing the look on his girlfriend's face. Appeased, she nodded and the group returned their attention to the native.
"We'll come with you," He said to the Elf, who had returned to watching them intently. "But understand that-"
"Any perceived act of hostility will be met with force." The Elf finished. "Paaz. A fair answer." He grinned slightly at the surprise on their faces. "I would expect no less from strangers in a strange land."
"And that doesn't bother you?" Liara asked. After Sterling translated for her, the Dark Elf actually chuckled.
"Your weapons are fearsome, as that Ice Wraith can attest," he jerked his head towards the glowing bluish dust Ashley had destroyed "but any machine of destruction you bring from the stars stand pale against eldritch powers and unimaginable evils I have conquered." It was not a boast, simply a factual declaration. While she did not totally believe him, a small part of Ashley's mind wondered what these 'eldritch powers and unimaginable evils' could be. As he made for the steps, Sterling asked one more question.
"Is there something we can call you? I don't want to be calling you 'Dark Elf' or 'Native' for our entire stay." He said. The Elf stopped on the first step and turned to look at them out of the corner of his almond-shaped eyes.
"Call me Dragonborn." 'Dragonborn' answered. "Now let us go, it is a fair distance to our destination."
As they trudged west through the mountain range after informing the remainder of the Normandy's crew what was happening, The three spacers continued to pepper the Dragonborn with questions, which he did not seem to mind answering.
"You said that shrine we met at was Azura's Shrine. Is Azura one of your gods?" Ashley asked, rather interested in the possible theism of Nirn's inhabitants.
"... In a sense," the Dragonborn said after a moment. "Azura is the Daedric Prince of Dawn and Dusk, the magic in between realms of twilight. It was she who created my people, and though it was not entirely out of benevolence, is a subject of our worship." He elaborated.
"Prince? I thought Azura was female." Ashley protested. Sterling and Liara too were confused.
"While they choose their appearance, Daedra are genderless in nature." The Dragonborn answered calmly.
"You keep calling her a Daedric Prince. What does that mean?" Sterling asked for Liara.
"There exist two kinds of immortal whose wills have shaped Nirn. They are the Aedra and the Daedra. What can you tell me of the god or gods you worship, Ashley Williams?" He asked. After she obliged, he continued. "It would seem that your god is in line with the Aedra worshipped throughout Tamriel, commonly dubbed the Nine Divines. While they represent deities in line with what you perceive as a god, the Daedric Princes are immensely powerful beings that unlearned mortals consider 'evil gods'. While it is true that harm or misfortune often follow a Daedra's work upon the mortal plane, our concept of morality cannot be applied to them, for they exist at both ends of the spectrum.
"Lady Azura is one such Daedra whose dealings with we mortals are often beneficial. It was she who granted visions to her subjects, warning them of the Red Mountain's eruption and desecration of Morrowind." Here the Dragonborn paused as if contemplating something.
"The Red Mountain wouldn't happen to be the volcano erupting east of here, would it?" Sterling asked, receiving a nod in reply. "When did that happen?"
"Just over two hundred years ago." He answered. Sterling whistled softly.
"Call me skeptical, but I find all of this hard to believe." Ashley interjected. The Dragonborn did not lash out at her for her blasphemy, simply nodding.
"And I would not expect you to without proof, which I shall provide in due time." He said. A moment of silence passed, broken only when the Dragonborn looked to his right at some sort of structure carved into the mountain. It appeared to be a concave slab with an odd carving just above it, a set of stairs leading to the base of the slab.
"He must be on the hunt." the Dragonborn muttered. When pressed, he simply stated that they would not believe him. Knowing that they would not get an answer out of him, the spacers moved on to different topics.
"Liara wants to know what kind of government you have." Sterling translated.
"Currently, Tamriel answers to the law of the Empire in Cyrodiil, the province directly south of Skyrim. Every province, however, has its own form of government that answers to the Imperial Emperor, Titus Mede II. Skyrim is currently ruled by Her Majesty, Queen Elisif the Fair. Each hold though, is ruled by a Jarl. Their own personal fiefdom, I suppose you could say. While each Jarl controls their hold in their own fashion, they must respect and abide by the laws set forth by Her Majesty Elisif." Sterling could sense the respect in the Dragonborn's voice.
"I take it you have a lot of respect for Elisif." He stated. The Dark Elf nodded.
"I admire her somewhat. To rise from a lost widow and lead a province during a civil war after her husband was murdered before her eyes took no small amount of fortitude. To compound such, I am a Thane of her court, a title she honored me with for my service to the people of Haafingar Hold." He explained, eliciting looks of surprise from the spacers as the Dragonborn revealed he was part of a royal court. Liara recovered the quickest and asked another question, translated by Sterling.
"Every Jarl has their own court, not just Her Majesty. As for who composes it, there are some variances. But who definitely sits upon it is the Jarl, his Steward, and the Court Wizard. The number of Thanes-"
"Court Wizard?" Ashley repeated disbelievingly.
"Perhaps that is their term for biotics." Liara surmised. She immediately took back her words after Sterling translated and a brief demonstration, and the Dragonborn glared angrily at her.
"Because you are from the stars, I shall forgive your ignorant impudence this one time, Liara T'Soni. Nothing could be farther from the truth." He almost growled.
"You've shown us some things we thought were only fantasies Dragonborn, but magic without proof is kind of pushing it." Sterling affirmed evenly.
"If it is proof you wanted, you could have asked without slandering the name of one of the oldest and most noble arts." The Dragonborn snarked before reaching into one of his satchels. From it, he pulled a small rock.
"Behold a simple piece of iron ore," he explained. The spacers tensed slightly when he held up his left hand, glowing with green light. "With a small application of magicka..." He clenched his fist, and the iron nugget flashed a similar shade of green. Once the light dissipated, the nugget had gained a glint that was not there before.
"It becomes silver. With just a little more..." Another flash, and the silver had changed. "... You have gold." He smiled smugly at the dumbfounded spacers. They snapped out of their trance when the Dragonborn held the small nugget out to Liara.
"A souvenir of your visit, Liara T'Soni, courtesy of a mage." He grinned just a little wider as she took the gold nugget.
"Is there anything else you can do?" Sterling asked.
"A more appropriate question would be 'Is there anything else I cannot do'." The Dragonborn corrected. Sterling waited in anticipation, but the Dragonborn said no more. It was as though he derived pleasure from annoying them. They had no further questions for the Dragonborn, content to follow him down the mountain. The shallower slopes eventually broke off to reveal a gorgeous vista of planes. Mountains thrust up into the sky, with one standing taller than the rest and cloaked by clouds. Occupying the midground was a walled city, the likes of which Sterling and Ashley had only seen in history books. Stone walls protected the lower city, yellow thatched roofs peeking over the top. Ascending higher was a small palace, presumably where the 'Jarl' lived. Outside the walls, a handful of farms and windmills poked out of the ground, most standing around a river that ran through the city and to the east. Deer or some facsimile leaped about, both near and far.
"That's beautiful." Ashley breathed. "Never in a million years did I think I'd see a place this quiet." The Dragonborn turned to regard her.
"Your cities are far more vast than this?" He asked. Sterling nodded.
"Where we come from, Earth, Thessia and Sirona, there are cities that can stretch as high as the clouds and go on for as far as the eye can see." He said. The Dragonborn kept his reaction to a slight widening of his eyes.
"Fascinating," he said. "I would very much desire a chance to glimpse these cities you speak of." He admitted. That was the hook Sterling had been looking for.
"Maybe if our governments work out an agreement, I can make that happen." He said. The Dragonborn grinned just a little wider. "Are we going to the city?"
"No. My home lies just to the west." He replied. In the three hours they had been hiking, the sun had moved incredibly quickly, and the light was changing to a dull orange just dark enough to make the ground treacherous. After seeing Liara stumble once out of the corner of his eye, the Dragonborn thrust an open palm into the air, creating a brilliant ball of light for them to see with. Liara nodded her thanks and they continued on.
The spacers and their guide spent less than half an hour moving west before they came upon the Dragonborn's home. "Welcome to Heljarchen Hall." He announced, gesturing to the manor before them. Despite it being made of wood, stone and clay, the spacers were impressed at the handiwork. A small atrium led into a larger main hall, which sported three wings. From the square west wing, a patio with a table and chairs stood for outdoor dining. The north wing was a tower, befitting a mage like the Dragonborn. The east wing was square as well, but instead had a pair of archery targets and a few benches. Separate from Heljarchen Hall was presumably the Dragonborn's metalworking station: A smelter, a forge, a tanning rack and a workbench sat clustered together with ingots and pieces of hide strewn about. They were fairly certain the Dragonborn said something about cleaning the work area up.
"You're a wizard, and you can forge weapons too?" Sterling asked, more than a little impressed.
"Indeed. I trust very few smiths to create quality weapons, and none but myself to create Icingdeath and Twinkle." He replied, stroking the pommels of his blades. Sterling and Ashley shared a look as they continued towards the atrium. As they entered the home, multiple voices rose from inside, and all of their stomachs began to growl as a delicious scent wafted up to their nostrils. The voices grew more excited as the Dragonborn removed Icingdeath and Twinkle, set them in a chest and threw open the doors to the cavernous main hall.
"Papa! Papa!" A high-pitched voice cried in delight. All three spacers felt their insides go a little mushy as two small children thundered down from the second level, squealing happily. The Dragonborn's grin morphed into a smile as he crouched down and caught the two grey-skinned missiles. With a grunt of effort, he lifted his children and spun them around.
"You grow heavy, little ones." He said with a smile. Due to the configuration of his face, the smile only made him look less grumpy. "Soon I shall have to use my magick to lift you."
"Papa!" the little girl squealed "that is not what you say to a lady!" Liara had to grin a little at that.
"Ah, but you are not yet a lady, my dear. Even if you were, you would still be my little girl." The Dragonborn returned with great amusement.
"Who are they, Papa?" The little boy asked in a tone barely more than a murmur.
"They are Sterling Shepard, Ashley Williams and Liara T'Soni. They are explorers from beyond the stars who thirst for knowledge of our world." He said, pointing at each spacer when he indicated them. "Explorers, meet my children, Arya and Ranoth." He pointed at his daughter and then his son.
"Hello!" Arya chirped happily with a smile. The spacers noted that the little girl's features seemed... softer than her father's. Her forehead was not as sloped, her cheeks were not as sharp and her eyes were more ovoid than almond. They were also a dark amber colour that complimented her foghat grey skin. Ranoth said nothing, simply raising his hand in greeting. Like his sister, his features were softer than the Dragonborn's, yet they retained the sharpness of masculinity. His eyes were vermillion, much closer in colour to his father's eyes than Arya's. As he lowered his arm, his eyes drifted towards Liara and he adopted an expression akin to one studying a particularly vexing math problem.
"It is rude to stare, Ranoth." The Dragonborn admonished gently. His son lowered his eyes and gave a brief apology. His cowed expression dimmed slightly when Liara smiled at him.
"Honoured guests, if you wish to unburden yourselves, you may set your arms and armour in the atrium. Arya, Ranoth, please go and tell Mama that we shall sup with three guests this evening." The Dragonborn ordered kindly. As his children scrambled off, he walked with the spacers back into the atrium as they set down various bits and pieces of equipment they carried. Sterling wanted to earn the trust of the Dragonborn, or at least allay his suspicion, so he discarded the pistol and shotgun he carried, as well as both his grenade bandoliers. Equally, if not more mistrusting than the Dragonborn, Ashley kept her pistol, but discarded her other three weapons. Liara discarded her pistol, but even the Dragonborn knew that she still had her biotics.
"Erm, Dragonborn," Sterling began haltingly. "I couldn't help but notice that your children... don't look a whole lot like you." He said. "Is that a developmental thing?"
"Well, I suppose it is. My wife is not cut from the same cloth as I, so to speak. Come, I suspect she will want to meet you and scold me for bringing strangers into our home." He said with a small amount of humour.
"You mean, you can interbreed with the other species on Nirn?" Ashley deduced with no small amount of surprise. The Dragonborn looked back with two cocked eyebrows.
"Can you not sire and bear children with the other star-faring creeds?" He rebutted. Dead silence answered his query. "You cannot? Such a shame." He sighed.
"Actually, Asari can have children with any species. But those children are always Asari." Liara explained and Sterling translated. The Elf nodded slowly in understanding before returning to the great hall. As they re-entered, the spacers took notice of a woman- who, to their shock, was identical to a human- ladling out a thick, delicious-looking stew into bowls around the table.
Immediately evident was the fact that the woman was taller than the Dragonborn. And not that Sterling would mention it, but she looked to outweigh the Dark Elf by a good ten pounds of muscle. Her hair was dark brown, nigh black, and two small braids framed her not unattractive face. Stormy grey eyes were bright as silver against her snow-white skin, and her pink lips were as luscious as even his beloved Ashley's. While clearly not woven to accentuate, the woman's well toned body was easily seen through her straw-yellow dress. Her arms and upper chest were left bare, a tantalizing taste of the secrets kept beneath her clothes. But for all her beauty and the way Arya and Ranoth looked upon her in adoration when she smiled at them, none of the spacers were blind to the foot long dagger she kept slung at her belt. The hilt curved to better sit within the contours of the wielder's hand, and hair-thin silver inlays carved pleasant patterns across both the sheath and the hilt.
"You must be the guests my husband failed to mention would be joining us." She stated softly, sending a look towards her aforementioned husband. The Dragonborn responded with a smile before wrapping her up in a hug and laying claim to those luscious lips. Arya squealed in disgust, as children were wont to do upon seeing their parents' displays of affection towards each other. Ranoth remained quiet, but looked away from his kissing parents.
As he released his wife with a smack of his lips and a whisper in her ear, the Dragonborn addressed the spacers once again. "My guests, it is with great pleasure that I introduce you to Lydia, my former housecarl, my battle-sister, my friend, and above all, the love of my life. My love, I am sorry I did not send a message ahead, but my meeting Sterling Shepard, Ashley Williams and Liara T'Soni was... an unexpected revelation." He settled on after introducing his guests.
"How was meeting a Nord, an Imperial and a..." Lydia trailed off as she tried to describe Liara.
"Liara T'Soni is an Asari, and Sterling Shepard and Ashley Williams are both of the same species. I say meeting them was unexpected, as they are explorers from beyond the heavens." He explained, eliciting a widening of his wife's eyes.
"Beyond the heavens, you say." She repeated slowly. "Well then, I shall look forward to hearing tales of your exploits, wanderers-from-lands-unknown. Please, have a seat." Lydia motioned to the three chairs on the left side of the table. Each had an empty goblet, a large chunk of fresh bread and a steaming hot bowl of stew filled with hunks of meat, chunks of potatoes, what looked a great deal like leeks and slices of carrots.
"So, fellow adventurers, what drink tickles your fancy? I have ale, I have Nord mead- always popular- I have Alto wine, Colovian brandy, Cyrodilic if you want something lighter, and... Yes, I do believe a few bottles of Black-Briar Reserve still remain." The Dragonborn stopped to stare at the spacers, waiting for their choices.
"Um... I will have a glass of the Alto wine." Liara said, translated by Sterling.
"I'll try the mead." Sterling added.
"Make it two." add Ashley. The Elf nodded and bounded off to fetch the drinks.
"Miss Liara," Ranoth said quietly, "Why do you not speak like us?" He asked. Liara couldn't help but smile at the shy but inquisitive child before relaying what she wanted to say to Sterling.
"Liara hasn't learned to speak our language Ranoth, so she has to use a special machine that we all have-" here he pointed to himself, Ashley and Liara, "-to have her words changed so that we can understand her." He explained.
"But why hasn't she learned to speak our language? Or you hers? Friends should know how to speak to each other." Ranoth reasoned. The spacers were just a little surprised at the profoundness of the little boy's statement.
"Well, you see, our translators- the special machines- make it so we don't have to learn each other's language. Doing that takes a lot of time." Ashley elaborated. Ranoth, apparently satisfied, nodded. The Dragonborn chose that moment to return, clutching two bottles of mead, a large bottle of presumably Cyrodilic brandy, and an oddly-shaped bottle that would not have been out of place at a bazaar in the 19th Century.
"What's that you've got there, DB?" Ashley asked. The Dragonborn looked at her crookedly.
"'DB'?" He repeated.
"Yeah, y'know... Dragonborn... DB?" She elaborated, waving her hand and hoping he picked up on it. After a moment, he shrugged.
"I suppose for one ignorant of that title's meaning, it can become tiresome to say." He admitted as he poured Liara a dark golden cup of brandy, and himself a deep maroon cup of whatever that was.
"Emberbrand wine." DB answered Ashley's unasked question. "It is crafted in Solstheim, to the northeast of here. It is incredibly potent though, and even we Dunmer cannot ingest much before we grow ill of it."
For several minutes proceeding, the spacers said nothing, content to enjoy the sweet burn of their mead and brandy, as well as the incredibly zestful stew, which they quickly learned to be venison. As they enjoyed their first non-military-ration meal in months, DB spoke with his children. Arya gleefully regaled her father with her tale of striking even nearer to the heart of one of the targets with her bow and arrows. All of the adults had to smile when she continued on to say she had 'disarmed Mama' in sword practice. Ranoth, ever quiet, said nothing until coaxed. He went on to describe being able to cast a 'Courage spell' on a goat which, to his embarrassment, started to chase him around.
"Still, to cast such a spell in such a short time of learning is very impressive, my son." DB beamed. Ranoth ducked his head, but smiled at the praise. "One day, you shall be even a finer mage than I."
When Ranoth mumbled his disagreement, DB placed his hand on his son's shoulders. "I say that my son, because thrice your age I was before I mastered that spell. 'Twas even longer before I could use it without exhausting my magicka. But most important of all, I did not possess your mother's indomitable spirit." Here he smiled at Lydia, who returned it for the compliment.
"Ah, but enough about the dreary lives of the Dragonborn and his beloved family; our guests must be dying to regale us with tales of their mysterious homes." Lydia interjected, focusing expectantly on the spacers, who gladly obliged the questions sent their way. From simple topical questions, asked by Arya and Ranoth, to those that required back stories and separate explanations from the Dragonborn and his wife. As the hours of talking went on, Sterling noticed the look in the Dark Elf's eyes. A look that told the SPECTRE that sooner rather than later, these mysterious if primitive people would be joining the galactic stage.
He just hoped that magic would be easier to explain to the Council than Reapers.
And there's another chapter, featuring a Dragonborn I hold very close to my heart. Would you kindly:
1. Tell me whether or not you liked this installment
2. Tell me what you SPECIFICALLY liked about this installment
3. Tell me what you DIDN'T like about this installment
4. Recommend a suitable improvement
Bonus: Tell me what the Dragonborn's name is, based on the clues I've hidden in this chapter.
DR