Chapter Twenty-Seven
The carriage went along for a while until something snapped and half the bed fell to the ground and started to drag behind the horse. Lerna managed to grab onto the rail and steady herself, mainly because she had been sitting across from Lydia and therefore was on the end that was not dragging but Lydia fell off.
The driver immediately stopped the cart. At almost the same instant Lerna jumped off the carriage and ran over to Lydia, her housecarl was wincing slightly as she got to her feet. Lerna noticed that Lydia seemed to being trying to put as much of her weight onto her left foot as possible.
Suspicious that something was wrong; Lerna bent down and gently grabbed Lydia's right leg.
"Hey!" Lydia protested
"You're hurt, I'm a healer so let me see what's wrong with you." Lerna scolded
She then carefully slid Lydia's daedric boot off and gently pressed on the ball of Lydia's right foot "Does that hurt?"
"No" Lydia answered "it's my ankle" she knew Lerna was only trying to help but by Talos, she wasn't made of glass! She could handle a little pain.
Lerna felt the ankle "it's probably just a sprain, that's easy enough to fix." She then cast a quick healing spell "feel better?"
"Yes…thank you my thane." Lydia responded
"My pleasure" Lerna answered, she slid Lydia's boot back onto it's' owner's foot and then stood up
While Lerna had been tending to her injured housecarl, the carriage driver had been examining his cart.
"What happened?" Lydia asked him
"The rear axle snapped…I'm sorry ladies but this is as far as I can take you." he then handed Lerna her money back.
Lerna didn't take it (she really didn't care much about money anymore, she had more than enough of it) instead she asked "Can't you fix it?"
"Yeah, but it'll take a long time, it's not an easy fix. Dawnstar's just up the road, you can probably hire another carriage to take you the rest of the way to Winterhold and take your money back already!" the driver was getting tired of holding the money.
Lerna shook her head "keep it, you got us this far besides it's' not your fault that the axle broke." She then turned and began to walk down the road with Lydia following close behind.
The man muttered something about stupid women who didn't understand the value of a Septim but Lerna decided not to dignify his mutterings with a response and Lydia was not able to hear him well enough to understand what he was saying.
The moment that they were close enough to Dawnstar that Lydia was able to see the town; Lerna put a hand to her head.
"What's wrong?" Lydia asked
"I don't know but something feels way wrong here…this place feels….nightmarish."
Lydia glanced at the town and then back at Lerna "Everything seems fine to me."
"Whatever this is, isn't natural…be on your guard." Lerna said
It didn't take very long for the women to ascertain that the whole town had somehow woken up on the wrong side of the bed…everyone seemed to operating on not enough sleep due to nightmares
'Did Dawnstar do something to tick off Vaermina'? Lerna wondered…that would explain everything except Lerna had begun to notice something else underlying the nightmarish feeling, a sense of desperation and chaos…she had never heard of a daedra prince doing something this extreme by accident but that's what it felt like.
They went into the inn to see if they could find anyone who knew anything there.
"How are you here?!" a man in a robe (presumably a priest of some kind) hissed at her angrily
Lerna blinked at him in surprise
"Never mind" the man said "BE GONE FOUL DAEDRA, your kind are not welcome here!" he then cast a banishing spell at her however since she had not been conjured by anyone it had no effect on her.
"As you can see I am not a 'foul daedra'" Lerna snapped "are you done with the theatrics?"
The man was shocked, he couldn't figure out WHY his spell had no effect. He knew she was a daedra, he could feel it. He had renounced Vaermina and given his allegiance to Mara…but that power remained available to him. He was fairly skilled in conjuration and restoration magics and therefore should be able to banish all but the most powerful daedra…this did not bode well for Dawnstar.
Just then Lerna realized that she could sense a tiny bit of the nightmarish power in the priest but it felt extremely weak…it had been cut off years ago. She realized then what she was dealing with, an apostate daedric priest…presumably he turned away from Vaermina. That also explained how he knew that she was a daedra…daedric priests had the ability to sense that sort of thing.
Lerna found it slightly odd that daedric priests had that gift but aedric priests didn't, she could only surmise that it had something to do with Akatosh's asinine no interfering rule.
"Yes and no" Talos said "that is a part of it, but the main reason is that we have seen far too many priests abuse their gifts…so we changed it so that rather than special gifts being granted immediately upon them receiving our blessing as priests they have to truly earn those gifts in our eyes…very few manage it."
"Why not just take the gift away if its' being abused?" Lerna questioned
"Because that would be interfering with the mortal plane, a person's gifts and abilities are a vital part of them. If you take the gifts and abilities away, you do far worse than merely kill the person, you essentially destroy them."
"So that's why Alduin still has all his power even after what he's done with it?" Lerna concluded
"Yes, though I was thinking more of Miraak actually" Talos said
"You mean the guy that Bradas talked about, the first dragonborn?" Lerna asked
"That's him….Bradas doesn't know the whole story though…Miraak wasn't always evil. Originally he was a dragon priest, he governed the island of Solestiem on behalf on the dragons…they couldn't be bothered with mundane concerns themselves. He was good leader for the most part…rather rash at times but that's typical of youth."
"What happened?" Lerna asked
"He was five minutes late performing one of the dragon cult's most important rituals and as punishment the dragons slaughtered his whole flock, every single person who lived on the island of Solestiem."
"WHAT?! Just because he was a little late with one stinking ritual?! That's-that's" Lerna couldn't think of words severe enough to describe it.
"The kind of thing they mean when they say that dragon cult's rule was cruel beyond description." Talos said "it wasn't an uncommon thing in those days. Anyway, Miraak was devastated but also enraged, he prayed to any god who would listen for the power to stop these kinds of things from happening. Kyne heard him and granted his prayer by granting him the dragon's blood."
"huh? I thought the dragon's blood was a gift from Akatosh." Lerna said
"That's a common misconception…although admittedly a minor one. The truth is that either Akatosh or Kyne, whom you know better as Kynareth, can grant the gift…the only real difference is when in the person's life it is granted. Akatosh gives it at conception hence the term dragonborn, while Kyne does it when she hears a prayer from a person she feels is deserving of it." Talos explained
At first, Miraak hunted down dragons that tried to attack humans…although sometimes he was too late to save them, he also sent word around Skyrim that he was building a safe haven for humans, a place where dragons couldn't hurt them and then he found one of Mora's black books."
"Black books?" Lerna asked
"Magical books of forbidden knowledge, written by Mora himself." Talos told her
"And he just leaves them lying around for people to touch? That doesn't sound like Mora" Lerna said
"He can enter the minds of those who touch them, whisper to them, and tempt them to do his bidding." Talos countered
"OK, now that sounds more like Mora." Lerna admitted
"Right, so anyway, Mora began to whisper to Miraak that simply killing dragons was too slow and inefficient that he should instead try to control the dragons so that the attacks never happen in the first place. He also told Miraak that he could give him the knowledge he needed to do it…for a price." Talos continued
"Of course, there's always a price." Lerna stated
"Indeed' Talos stated "dozens of people came to Solestihem seeking the safety Miraak has promised but before too long Miraak became obsessed with increasing his own power, no matter what he had to do-"
"Power mad" Lerna stated
"Exactly" Talos agreed "Several dragons went after Miraak individually and he defeated all of them but then the dragons banded together along with several of their human followers to attack him. He and his people were driven back into the temple, the very temple where Miraak had served as a dragon priest. Mora however was not finished with using his champion, so he pulled Miraak into Aproachpyahe remains to this day."
"So I was right, Miraak is NOT dead." Lerna stated
"No, he is not. He is effectively trying to break out of prison in Aproachrya…and then rebuild his former kingdom." Talos responded
"Then why did he send his goons after me?" Lerna asked
"Well, he's never been one of my worshipers so I have no way of knowing what goes on inside his head. I can only speculate that he thinks you are a threat."
"I am now" Lerna said "I get annoyed when people try to kill me, I may be technically immortal but DYING HURTS!"
Lerna was distracted by a sudden slap to her face. "What was that for?" she demanded
"You seemed to have left us suddenly" the man said "I did what I had to, in order to bring you back to reality, it's only my duty as a priest of Mara, no need to thank me."
Lerna glared at him
However, Lydia addressed the priest "Do you know why everyone is having nightmares?"
"No, I am afraid I do not." He replied
Lerna didn't need to look into the man's mind to know that he was lying. She grabbed the priest's arm and said "I think we need to continue this discussion in private."
She then dragged him (ignoring his protests) into the nearest empty room and shut the door.
"I thought priests were supposed to be honest, you clearly know something." Lerna told him
"Why should I tell you anything?!" the man countered "I don't know WHY my banishing spell didn't work on you but I know you ARE a daedra…you probably are here to prevent me from stopping it!"
"No, I actually would like to help you stop it…but I will not deny that I AM a daedra."
"I knew it!" the priest said triumphantly
Lerna continued as if he hadn't spoken "The reason your spell didn't work on me is that no one summoned me here, I came of my own accord."
"Then you should be getting sent back at any moment" the man concluded
"Wrong, part of me is still human therefore this is my home as much as Oblivion is." Lerna said
"Impossible!" the man denied
"Improbable but not impossible, its' a long story." She then told him about her past as the hero of Kvatch, the Greymarch and her subsequent ascension.
"Why should I believe you, this whole thing sounds insane!" the man demanded
"Pray to Mara, she'll vouch for me." Lerna replied
The man looked at her oddly for a moment
"What? Aedra and Daedra are not ALWAYS enemies…we're much too complex for that." She then held her amulet of Talos out for the priest to examine "Talos gave me this; shortly after I agreed to be his girlfriend…Mara was thrilled when that happened…apparently she'd been trying to match us up for decades." Lerna had discovered that when she'd probed Lydia's mind in order to find out HOW Sanguine had gotten Lydia to give her his special brew…Lydia had refused to say out loud so Lerna had done that…she'd felt a bit guilty at the time but she had really wanted to know. She made sure to never ever tell Lydia.
The priest clearly did not believe her but he did bend down to pray.
Lerna and Lydia watched but did not see anything extraordinary happen however after a little while the priest stood up and said "Mara says you can help me help the people of Dawnstar. She trusts you to do the right thing and therefore so will I"
"OK, then…tell us what you know" Lerna said "I know you're former priest of Vaermina and I sense her hand in this."
The priest sighed "You are partially right, I WAS a priest of Vaermina but I left that behind years ago. However Vaermina is NOT doing this intentionally…the source of the problems is in Nightcaller Temple…it used to be a place of worship for Vaermina but it was attacked several years ago. It is home to the Skull of Corruption… the most sacred relic for Vaermina's cult. The skull sustains itself by feeding on people's dreams…however with the destruction of the cult in Nightcaller Temple, its' source of nourishment is gone and now it's reaching out and feeding on the dreams of the people of Dawnstar…giving them all terrible nightmares in the process."
"I see, so we have to go into the temple and …do what to the skull exactly?" Lerna asked
"Mara has given me a ritual that will allow me to destroy the skull and release its' hold on the people of Dawnstar." The priest said
"Sounds simple enough" Lydia replied
Lerna lightly smacked her in the shoulder
"NEVER say things like that, its' just begging for trouble" Lerna scolded and then she turned to the priest and asked "You got a name, Mr. Priest?"
"Erandur" he replied "Call me Erandur and who is your companion?"
"Lydia, my housecarl" Lerna told him
"Your housecarl, who in their right mind-wait a minute scratch that, who did you drive crazy enough that they made the madgod a thane?!" Erandur exclaimed
"Actually I haven't driven anyone crazy lately…no wait, there was that annoying Thalmor guy that I turned into a Nord girl, but aside from him-I mean her- I haven't driven anyone crazy since coming back to Nirn. Jarl Balgruff named a thane of Whiterun when I killed a dragon that had been attacking the city." Lerna responded "where is this Nightcaller Temple anyway?'
"Not far" Erandur replied "Follow me" He led them out of the town and a short walk away to a large tower…in front of the door there were three frost trolls, Lerna's enemies explode spell made quick work of them.
Then Erandur opened the door. Inside they found a shrine and an altar.
"I'm no expert on daedra worship" Lydia began "but this doesn't look like a temple to Vaermina."
"That's because the first floor isn't" Erandur explained "I turned it into a shrine to Mara, to attempt to atone for my crimes as a priest of Vaermina. Now before we go any further, I should warn you that when the temple was first attacked, they knew that they had no chance against the orcs so they released a power sleeping gas called the miasma throughout the temple."
"OK, so everyone's sleeping…shouldn't that make it easier for us to simply slip past them?" Lerna asked
Erandur shook his head "No, once I open the doors, the gas will almost certainly dissipate and everyone inside will wake…they won't know that any time has passed and will likely attack everyone on sight."
Lerna rolled her eyes, typical.
Anyway, Erandur opened the door s and they headed inside. They were attacked by an orc almost immediately but since it was three on one, the fight quickly ended with one dead orc.
After walking a little they came to a large circular room, Erandur leaned on the railing and said "Look down there."
They looked down and saw a staff with a whole bunch of purple and black light swirling around it
"I take it that's the skull?" Lydia asked
"Yes, we need to get down to the inner sanctum."
Lerna thought that she could probably just jump down there (yes it would hurt but she'd be able to fix it) it was however too far for Lydia and Erandur to jump though.
"No problem" Lerna said "I'll have us there in a minute" she then raised her hand and summoned her normal teleporting circle but instead of landing down at the inner sanctum, something knocked them back into the wall (well more accurately they had hit the wall and then fell to the floor) behind where they had started from.
"What happened?" Lerna asked
"The skull is protected by a powerful magical barrier; we won't be able to get to it until we take down the barrier." Erandur said
"Now you tell me" Lerna replied sarcastically as she brushed herself off, the floor that they had landed on was VERY dusty.
Methodically they made their way down the spiraling temple. Fortunately whenever they encountered newly awakened sleepers they seemed more interested in attacking each other rather than the newcomers which made dispatching them easier.
Finally their passage was blocked by a blueish magical barrier. Lerna also noticed a metal pull chain on the other side.
"Let me guess, we need to pull that chain over there to get rid of this barrier?" she asked
"Correct" Erandur said
"Great, now HOW do we get over there without taking this thing down first?"
"The Dreamstride" Erandur whispered softly "Hopefully there is still some torpor left." Then he turned and headed down another hallway. They wound up in a library that had several Vaermina cultists and lots orcs in it. Most of the bookcases had been knocked over.
Lerna had noticed that Vaermina's cultists seemed to like striking people with lighting. Lerna and Lydia were wearing daedric armor which did not conduct electricity as well as most kinds or armor (except for leather and hide) but it was still more dangerous to them than it was to Erandur in his enchanted robes. So Lerna decided to quickly cast a few spells on her group to protect them all from lighting. She also summoned a flesh atronach to protect Erandur from physical attacks.
They then split up to take out all the enemies in the room. Once they had been dealt with Erandur said
"We need to find a book called the Dreamstride."
"I thought you said that we needed to find some torpor…what IS torpor anyway?" Lerna asked
"Vaermina's torpor is a special potion that Vaermina's cult uses in all their rituals…I don't remember all the details about it or the Dreamstride which is why I need the book, to help remind me." Erandur answered.
They split up to search…in the end it was Lerna who found it, a bookcase had fallen on top of which may have been lucky since it was one of the very few books that had not been burned.
"Here it is" she said and handed it to Erandur
For a moment no one spoke as Erandur flipped through the book. When he was finished he handed it back to Lerna
"I was right…we need to go to the alchemist's laboratory and find some torpor in order to enter the Dreamstride however only one of us can drink it and that should be Lydia. I warn though, the journey is perilous…you might never come back"
"What, why?" Lerna asked not liking the idea of her housecarl going somewhere dangerous alone
"Because the Dreamstride is part of Vaermenia's realm, she controls who comes and goes…if she finds out what were are doing she will certainly try and stop us. Every person's dream has a unique…feel but when one is affiliated with a particular deity that leaves its' mark on the person's mind and by extension their dreams. If I were to take the torpor, Vaermina would know me instantly since I am a priest of Mara-"
"Not to mention a former priest of hers" Lerna added
"Yes…I do not want to risk meeting her again." Erandur admitted softly. Lerna didn't blame him, she knew full well what daedric princes did to those who dared to turn away from them after having worshiped them, and it was NEVER pretty. Martin though had never mentioned Sanguine doing any sort of retaliation against him when he renounced Sanguine and became a priest of Akatosh…which yet again led her to wonder what exactly the relationship between Sanguine and Martin had been. Of course, it was possible that something HAD happened and Martin simply didn't want anyone to know about it…he never liked talking about his past much.
"As for Sheogorath…I don't even know if it would work for you, do daedra have dreams?" Erandur continued
"Most don't as far as I know" Lerna said "But I do…however if what you said is true than Vaermina would sense my presence probably even faster than yours. It IS considered highly rude to enter another prince's territory uninvited."
"Then it has to be me" Lydia declared
"You're one of my followers; Vaermina would likely sense you too." Lerna pointed out
"Really…I can usually feel it when I get close enough to a daedra worshiper and yet I don't feel anything from her."
"It's there" Lerna said firmly "it's very faint because I never completed it on my end"
Erandur looked at her confused
"There was an incident and Lydia had to make a shrine for me and thus she made herself one of my followers but I never properly accepted her into my cult following and bestowed my blessing upon her." Lerna replied
"You said you did" Lydia reminded Lerna "Right before we went into the Shivering Isles, you touched my head and said that you gave me your blessing so I could enter the Shivering Isles safely."
"True, but there's lots of different types of blessings, the blessing of protection that I gave you is drastically different from the blessing I give to each of member of my cult…that's what Erandur means when he talks about followers of deities, members of the cult of a particular god."
"The divines are NOT a cult!" Lydia protested
"Sure they are" Lerna replied "a cult is simply a group of people who follow one or more particular gods and obey their teachings."
"By that definition ANY religion is a cult" Lydia countered
"Yes, they are. A religion is simply a cult that has more followers than the others cults in the same region. They simply call themselves something different to make them seem better and get away with it because they are the majority."
Lydia wasn't entirely convinced but she let it drop in favor of another topic "then why didn't you bless me as one of your followers, am I not good enough for you?"her voice made it obviously that it was a painful revelation for Lydia
Lerna reached up and put a gentle hand on Lydia's shoulder. "No, Lydia it's not that. I would be thrilled to accept you as one of my followers but I want it to be something you CHOSE to do and not something that was forced on you by circumstances so I won't accept you as a member of my cult until you ask me to."
Lydia looked down, lost in thought.
Just then Lerna was distracted when she felt a mental voice calling for attention; it was the Bosmer from earlier.
"I hear you mortal" Lerna replied formally but then she dropped the formality "but I'm a bit busy right now, so if you could just wait and hang out with my followers for a moment that would be great, thanks" then she closed the mental connection.
Lerna then summoned the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal "We'll have to use this"
"What is that?" Lydia asked
"The cowl of Nocturnal, she allowed me to keep it. Its magic makes the wearer's identity completely secret from anyone. I could put it on right in front of you and you would have no idea that it was me under the cowl. This should be able to hide whichever of us enters the Dreamstride from Vaermina." Lerna said
"Should but you don't know for certain." Erandur pointed out
"No, I don't but I have used it to sneak into Molag Bal's and Dagon's realms and it seemed to work…they never stopped me when I was wearing it anyway." Lerna said
"Hmm, I still think it would be best if we sent Lydia." Erandur said "Of the three of us, she is the most likely to avoid detection, better to be safe than sorry"
Lerna hesitated she still didn't like it.
"Lerna, don't worry. I can do this" Lydia said "I know you worry about me because I'm mortal but I can handle myself."
"Lydia-" Lerna began but Lydia quickly cut her off
"No, I am GOING to do this and finally prove to you that I can pull my own weight…I don't need you coddling me all the time!" she declared
She then snatched the cowl out of Lerna's startled hands and stormed off. She walked down the hallway and just before she reached the door, she turned and demanded "Well are you people coming or not?"
Lerna and Erandur both quickly moved to join her. They found a few cultists inside but managed to deal with them.
Lerna looked over the potion bottles on the shelves and noticed to her irritation that none of them were labeled "This is stupid, how are we supposed to know which is the torpor?"
Erandur looked over them and thought for a moment, and then he grabbed a small black bottle that was distinct from all the others.
"The cult uses a different system, the size and color of the bottle tells you what is inside it…health potions are red, the larger ones are less powerful than the smaller ones. The blue ones are magicka restoring potions and the green ones are poisons…this black one is the torpor and there's only enough in it for one person." Then he handed the bottle to Lydia and added "good luck"
Lydia nodded and then put the cowl over her head. Lerna and Erandur both blinked in confusion as the cowl's magic took hold of them. Lydia then quickly opened the bottle of torpor and drank the whole thing. Then to their eyes, she vanished.
"Come on; let's go over to the barrier." Erandur urged and began walking back the way that they had come.
Lerna nodded and followed him. As she walked however her mind reached out to the shrine she carried in her pocket and through it to Haskill
"Did the elf do what I asked him to?" She asked him
"Yes, he did…apparently covered his arrows in oil and lit them on fire. Almost all the structures in Elsweyr are canvas because its' a desert but canvas IS highly flammable. He then shot more flaming arrows into the Thalmor when they tried to escape the burning tents…not one of them escaped." Haskill informed her "his name is Findrien by the way"
"Good to know, I trust you added the enchantments to the Doomslinger, I ordered?" Lerna replied
"Of course, I have it here and ready." Haskill responded
"Good, you'll have to send it to Findrien, I can't do from this side but WAIT until I tell you" Lerna ordered
"Understood" Haskill said
Then Lerna reached out to her shrine in Valenwood and announced
"Findrien, I have finished with my earlier business and now it's your turn."
"Finally" he muttered
"I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm very busy. I have a lot of demands on my time these days."
Findrien opened his mouth to speak but Lerna cut him off
"That being said, I did notice that you burned down the supply base like I told you to…I particularly enjoyed the flaming arrows, nice touch there. As a reward I give you my special bow." Then Lerna briefly cut Findrien out of the conversation and added "now, Haskill"
Some purple light appeared in front of Findrien and then the light was gone and a bow was in its' place. The bow slowly floated down and Findrien automatically reached out to grab it.
Lerna gave Findrien a few moments to examine the bow and then said "Now I know what you are thinking, why am I getting this instead of the Wabbajack? The answer is quite simple, I have several artifacts besides the Wabbajack and I believe that this bow is better suited to a man or elf rather of your particular talents. Its' name is Doomslinger if you care to know, and its' enchanted so that each arrow you fire with it will be imbued with a random spell."
"Now, what do I do?" Findrien asked
"Now, there are several Thalmor resistance groups already in existence but they are scatted and divided, what you need to do is unite them and bring them together-"
"How in the world am I supposed to do that?" Findrien whined
Lerna sighed "A Khajit caravan will be passing through the area in the next few days. The Khajit don't talk about much in mixed company but I am quite popular with them. If you show the leader that you have my bow, he will know that you are my champion and point you in the right direction if you ask."
"Can't you just TELL me what you want me to do?" Findrien asked
"I just DID" Lerna responded
"You told me to talk to some Khajit and to find out where all these groups are why can't you just tell me that?" Findrien said
"You're awfully whiny for a champion you know that?" Lerna began "Still the main reason I can't tell you is BECAUSE I don't know. I haven't been paying as much attention to Nirn as I should and am currently playing catch up. Also it might be better if you have a mundane source for information where possible…some mortals don't like me much, can't imagine why"
Findrien didn't respond to that
"If you want some more detailed advice, I suggest you try asking Talos" Lerna added
"Talos?!" Findrien exclaimed
"Yes, he hates the Thalmor, possibly even more than you do. I'm sure he would love to help you take them down…of course Akatosh might not be willing to let him tell you everything directly he's stupidly strict about things like that, but I'll tell Talos to pass on to me anything he wants you to know and I will pass it on to you. If Akatosh won't let him tell you directly" Lerna told him
"…you talk to each other?" Findrien asked
"Of course, we do a bunch of other things too but I am not discussing the details of my love life with you." Lerna responded
"Love life…never mind I don't want to know!" Findrien said "I'll just go find that Khajit caravan now."
"OK, you do that, but don't be a stranger, I wouldn't want to have to make my mazken hunt you down and drag you back by your hair." Lerna replied
Findrien left…unsure whether or not Sheogorath was serious about his/her threat, he knew Sheogorath was typically male but both his encounters with her/him so far seemed to imply that she was female. Strange, sometimes she/he seemed so... normal but then she/he went and said something weird and left him feeling confused…what HAD he gotten himself into?
While Lerna had been conversing with her new champion Lydia had found herself in Nightcaller Temple during the attack Erandur had told them about earlier.
There were two priests of Vaermina facing her
"Are you ready brother Casimir?" one of the asked her
Ready for what and who was Casimir? Lydia wondered but her mouth moved, seemingly on its' own accord and said instead "Yes, I am ready"
"Good" the other priest said "the Skull MUST be protected at all costs, go and release the miasma."
Lydia's legs began to move…with no direction from her at all. She ran down the hall, past several priests and cultists fighting, none of them paid her any mind. Then she finally reached the pull chain. Her arms reached up and grabbed the chain and pulled it…but the barrier was still in place.
However, Lydia was finally free to move of her own accord again…she noticed a small enchant stone in a pedestal across from the pull chain, she grabbed the stone and the barrier vanished.
Then suddenly the flames and fighting vanished and she heard Erandur exclaimed
"You did it!"
Lerna however seemed to be oblivious to the point of not even noticing Lydia's reappearance
Erandur looked over at the daedra and asked "She's been like this ever since you left…does she do this a lot?"
"I wouldn't say a lot but occasionally, she's probably talking telepathically with Talos or Haskill…or both" Lydia said
"I know who Talos is, but who is Haskill?" Erandur asked
"Chamberlain of the Shivering Isles, he's in charge of them while she's away."
"I see…should we wait?" Erandur asked
"Yeah, its' probably important." Lydia said
After a few moments Lerna seemed to come back to reality
"You made it!" she exclaimed "Are you hurt, do you need healing?"
"No, Lerna I'm fine." Lydia said…she liked the older woman, honestly she did but Lerna was SUCH a mother hen at times.
"What happened in the Dreamstride?" Lerna asked
"I was in the body of a priest named Casimir; he's the one who released the miasma
Erandur seemed to start a little at that but said nothing
Lerna glanced at him curiously but sensed that he didn't want to talk about it so she decided not to press the issue…not right then at least, they had more important things to do like saving the people of Dawnstar for instance.
They moved on, fighting their way past more cultists and orcs until finally they reached the skull
The skull was protected by two priests; Lydia recognized them as the ones who had sent Casimir to release the miasma.
"Brother Casimir, traitor, how dare you show yourself here?!" the dark elf one exclaimed
"Not only did you flee instead of standing to fight but then you betray Vaermina herself and become a priest of that weakling Mara AND now you come to destroy the skull, is there NO END to your audacity?!" the Nord added
"…please Veren and Thorek, move aside. I don't WANT to have to kill you, but the skull is tormenting the people of Dawnstar, they are suffering terribly and it MUST be stopped"
"You will never destroy the skull!" Thorek declared "We'll kill you here and now."
"The two of you can leave" Veren said "This does not concern you."
Lerna and Lydia drew their swords in unison and Lerna said "Not going to happen"
"Fine, they you can die too" Thorek declared and threw lighting at Lerna
Lerna sidestepped the lighting and then charged toward Veren while Lydia went after Thorek. Erandur summoned a storm atronach to fight alongside them.
Veren meanwhile backed up, trying to prevent Lerna from closing the distance but realized he couldn't and so he conjured a daedric dagger. He managed to put up a better fight than many magicians Lerna had encountered but he was still not a match for Lerna at close combat and so she killed him quickly. She then turned and saw that the others seemed to have Thorek well in hand. He was finally killed by a final spell from Erandur's atronach.
"All right, now" Erandur began "Lady Mara has gifted me with a ritual that will allow me to destroy the Skull for good. I need you the two of you to stand back so I can perform it."
Lerna and Lydia both took several steps back
"Don't let him do this Sheogorath!" a female voice exclaimed in Lerna's head, Lerna didn't need to feel the nightmarish signature to know it was Vaermina, who else would it be under these circumstances?
"The people of Dawnstar have been tortured long enough Vaermina" Lerna declared "it NEEDS to stop"
"And what of your OWN people, not all of them are beyond my reach. If you allow this wretched apostate to destroy my skull THEY will be the ones to suffer for it…on the other hand if you kill him, I will let you keep my skull…for a while anyway."
Lerna hesitated, she knew Vaermina wasn't lying. Lerna thought her followers in the Shivering Isles were safe thanks to Akatosh's barrier, she hoped that meant that their dreams were safe from Vaermina too but she didn't know. However she did have some followers on Nirn and Akatosh did not protect them so they WERE vulnerable.
Slowly Lerna's hand drifted to her sword
"Lerna, what are you doing?!" Lydia's mental voice shrieked at her
"If I allow Erandur to destroy the skull Vaermina's going to torture my people…I can't let that happen."
"What about saving the people of Dawnstar?!" Lydia questioned
"I'm Sheogorath, I have to think of my own people first, I'm sorry Lydia" Lerna replied and drew her sword…for this she only needed one. She was behind Erandur, he would never see her attack coming and he was unarmored…one swift sword through the heart and it would all be over. She was just about to charge forward and strike when Lydia grabbed her arm.
"They still won't be safe…if you do this, it will set a precedent. Every daedra prince will know that they can get you to do anything they want by threatening your people. Your people will NEVER be safe if you do this but if you don't, they won't bother to threaten your people because they know it won't work…you can't let Vaermina scare you!"
Lerna froze she hadn't thought of that but then she remembered what had happened with Mephala earlier
"It's too late; the precedent has already been set. Mephala threatened to tell Dagon that the Shivering Isles were vulnerable if I didn't steal the Ebony Blade back for her but if I did steal the Blade she promised to keep the secret and keep Dagon busy so he wouldn't be able to invade the isles." Lerna told her
"Then this precedent will counter that one." Lydia replied
Lerna stood their torn and conflicted within herself….she didn't WANT to kill Erandur but she didn't WANT her people to be tormented like the people of Dawnstar were being either…decisions, decisions.
Then abruptly there was a loud boom sound.
Erandur lowered his hands and announced "it is done!"
"You will PAY for this Sheogorath!" Vaermina hissed "and so will you, foolish mortal!"
"Thank you both for your help" Erandur said as he walked toward them "Sheogorath…you're not what I expected from a daedra. If you ever need something from me that does not interfere with my duties as a priest of Mara, I will be happy to assist you."
"Thank you, I will remember that" Lerna said
Erandur then left but Lerna hesitated…she was worried about what Vaermina might do in retaliation.
"Lerna…why was I able to hear Vaermina threaten me?" Lydia asked after a moment "I am not one of her followers so I should have no connection to her…right?"
"Right…my guess is that she reached us through the skull…its' not unusual for daedric princes to use their artifacts to reach out to any mortal within close enough proximity to the artifact." Lerna said
"Then how come she was able to yell at us when the skull was destroyed?" Lydia questioned
"She was already in our minds by then." Lerna said "She's gone now though."
"You're a daedra too; can't you protect your mind?" Lydia asked
"I can and I do…normally I don't stop people from simply wanting to talk to me but no one can access my memories, my feelings or anything else unless I allow them to…I think." Lerna said
"You think?" Lydia repeated
"…well, I am a lot weaker on this side than I am in Oblivion…it's possible that my ability to protect my mind isn't strong enough." Lerna admitted reluctantly
"I REALLY didn't need to know that!" Lydia said
"You asked" Lerna replied
No one spoke so after a minute Lerna began walking back out of Nightcaller Temple with Lydia following behind her.
Once they had exited the temple, Lydia asked
"Do you want to go to that mythic dawn museum while we are here in Dawnstar?"
"Ugh, no" Lerna replied "I am in NO mood to deal with THAT imbecile right now…let's go on to Winterhold…by carriage if possible."
They headed over to the stables and sure enough there was a different coach man waiting for some passengers
"How much for a ride to Winterhold?" Lerna asked while fiddling with her coin purse
"10 septims" the driver said
"Done, here you go" Lerna replied and handed him the money, after she counted out ten coins of course.
"Thank you" the driver responded, taking the offered coins and putting them in his coin purse "you and your friend climb in the back and we'll be on our way."
The women quickly climbed on the and true to his word as soon as they were seated the carriage began to move.
Kalminroth: Thank you very much!
Solitare: He told her that Paathurnax was not mortal but that's all he said, he didn't want to spoil the surprise
Zikarn Kraie: I'm afraid I have to disappoint you, Bradas is already playing another very important role in the story and I'm afraid that your idea is not really compatible with it. Also I don't see your idea of having Jygallag take her power away being realistic for two reasons, the first being that I have already established that her power stems from the font of madness and not REALLY from her title as Sheogorath. When Lerna cleansed the fountain before her battle with Jygallag she took away all the connections he had to it, in order reestablish those ties he would have to first corrupt the font again which can't happen as long as Akatosh's barrier is in place. You are correct in that Jygallag does still have some chaotic elements to his personality (loathe though he may be to admit it) but they have no bearing on his connection to the font of madness. The second though is timing, if Jygallag can shut down Lerna's powers why hasn't he already done it?
However, I will tell you that I do have something somewhat along the lines of what you have suggested already in mind…the difficulty I'm having is figuring out where in the story time line to put it... Right now I will tell you that it doesn't involve Jygallag but it DOES involve another daedra.
That being said I do think you are misunderstanding Lerna's character a bit and maybe that is partially my fault, maybe I have not spelled out her personality and skill set as clearly as I should have. First of all, many of her abilities are natural not supernatural, her skill with magic for instance is something she has honed by practicing almost non-stop (by fighting actual monsters in the isles or training in the palace training grounds) since the Oblivion Crisis. Now admittedly being a daedra does somewhat augment her abilities (though not as strongly in Tamriel as in the Shivering Isles) but even without those she's still pretty tough (she has to be since she would not have lived long enough to become Sheogorath if she wasn't and she's only gotten better since then ) the only abilities she has used so far (she may or may not have others) that are completely daedric, are teleportation, revival after being killed (note that ONLY works if she has been actually killed, it doesn't work if she's been injured then she has to heal it just like anyone else in Tamriel would, though I will admit that she does have a LOT of practice at that so she's better at it than most) mental manipulation (that includes her telepathic communications with people), and the ability to summon multiple daedra at a time.
As for her personality, she has a very strong sense of duty, so when she says she's going to do something she does it or else she'll die trying and since she can't stay dead anymore, then ultimately she will do it even if she has to try 100 times (she doesn't know and refuses to learn how to give up), whether that's arrogance or not depends on your perspective, I personally don't see it as arrogance but you might. She does KNOW that she is not infallible, she caused A LOT of problems in the Isles when she made it rain cheese for three whole days, she doesn't like to admit when she makes a mistake but honestly who does?
Lastly her conversation with Arngeir, a lot of why it happened the way it did is because they are approaching the situation from opposite ends of the ideological (or arguably religious) spectrum. You see Arngeir (along with the rest of the Graybeards) believes in predestination, that all things are planned out by the gods, Lerna however does NOT believe that, she never has, to Lerna all living creatures are free to make their own choices (unless they're possessed but that's very rare and NO ONE is EVER possessed for their entire lifetime, at least not so far as she knows) and ultimately it's those choices that shape each person's destiny. It's the age old ideological battle between predestination and free will. To Arngeir, Lerna's battle with Alduin (and especially her willingness to learn Dragonrend in order to do it) is reckless, foolish, and ultimately doomed to failure while she sees his willingness to let Alduin destroy the world without at least TRYING to stop him (if you're going to go down at least go down fighting) as unconscionable and almost incomprehensible. They both had to get that out of their respective systems before they were calm enough to have an actual conversation.
Arngeir was NOT threatening Lydia, he was reminding her that she is not alone in her fights, although if Lerna has her way, she WILL be alone in her fight against Alduin, she doesn't want her mortal (and therefore killable) housecarl anywhere near him. She's seen too many people she cares about die right before her eyes.
ARavingLoony: She did do the nirnroot quest so she will recognize his name from his journal…recognizing his corpse is another matter. Cannon seems to imply that Sinderion was dead for some time before the player finds him so his corpse will have decayed somewhat. I am not familiar enough with the process of human decomposition (yes, I know Sinderion is an elf not a human but I figure their bodies are similar enough that they will decay in more or less the same manner) to know whether or not said corpse will still be recognizable…I'll have to research that before I write it (not looking forward to that)
VulpineSnow: …You're not alone; I did it once too just to see what would happen. Yes I know I could have looked it up on YouTube or something but that's not the same as doing it yourself.
Blackreach should be interesting…although personally I don't like it much; I always seem to get myself lost especially while looking for crimson nirnroots
Ronin Kenshin: Yes, she will eventually but probably not until after Alduin has been dealt with
Trojan Prince: They will both find out about her fairly soon…what they each decide to do with that information, well that would be telling now wouldn't it?
SingularMonk: I never even tried to have my character wear the amulet so I had never thought about addressing it.
Deadparade: Thanks
John: So do I, although I hadn't planned it at the beginning, though the best stories often do take on a life of their own so that's a good thing
Divine Protector of Skyrim: A combination of things, bad things tend to happen in groups. I don't really want to say much more than that.
