Chapter 52: Revelations

Trelana flinched as Nem reached for her, and Jiub took a quick step forward to help, but stopped when Nem simply rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Trelana... my limbs are aching from that lunatic Rodran. My thoughts are a mess and my head is pounding trying to make sense of it all. I need you to answer two questions for me." He muttered, his voice exhausted. "One, what's the connection between Parven and the ASP? I just can't see any reason for all this. And two... would you please use a healing spell since you know what you're doing? It's obvious by the pain that Ganus doesn't have a clue."

Trelana looked up at him and smiled, but wasn't given a chance to speak.

"Her? Come now, surely you would want someone with immense talent to tend to your wounds instead." A slightly arrogant voice interrupted. It came from a familiar Dunmer in a red robe that had appeared from one of the side doors, a grin on his face.

"Brother!" Valen exclaimed. "You're- you're alive!"

"What did you expect?" Razelus asked with a shrug. "You really think a handful of outlaws could stop me?"

"Oh, drop it already. If I have to hear you talk for much longer, I'm going to lose my mind." A Bosmer complained, pushing his way past Razelus.

"Fargoth, you're here too?" Schimmel said in disbelief.

"Yeah, I hear Ruby beat him up pretty bad before she sent him off here though." A Nord said, appearing in the doorway behind the other two.

"Barbarius!" Aya exclaimed, dashing between Razelus and Fargoth and latching onto Barbarius in a tight hug. "I knew you weren't dead, even if you can be a big wimp!"

"Huh... eh..." Barbarius stuttered for a moment before realizing what she had said. "Wait, wimp?!"

"Don't you remember? You were all distraught over that tooth I knocked out when we first met." She said with a laugh, letting him go.

"I.. I was not!" He retorted.

"I don't know, you looked pretty depressed to me at the time." Ruby commented as she woke up, being helped to her feet by Ganus.

Nem looked at them, not smiling even though he was glad to see them still alive. He turned to Ruby, who was brushing the dirt off her pants and giving him a rather irritated look. Probably because of the cheap shot. He ignored it. "So... does that mean back at Hlormaren, you really did kill...?" He couldn't finish his sentence.

"Damn it!" Barbarius threw something back into the room he had come out of, and there was a smash of glass. "Stop sleeping, Bry! Everyone still thinks you're dead!"

"Mmm... wha? They're here already?" A tired voice came from the back room. Bryenn wandered out a few moments later, scratching his head and yawning. He glanced over the group gathered in the center of the room. "Hi everybody."

"You worry us like that and just say 'hi' after we find out you're not dead? Idiot." Nem grumbled, turning away from them and smiling. That was one weight off his mind... but something bigger was still hanging in the air. He looked over at Trelana. "Now, about the ASP..."

"I think my brother is more suited to tell you about all that. I was just a child at the time, so it's all rather blurry to me." She said, turning to Jiub.

Nem stared at her blankly for a moment, before turning to Jiub and back. "Brother...? Oh for-" He sighed, sitting down on the ground and rubbing his forehead. So much for his headache going away anytime soon. "Two brothers, a father and son, now a brother and sister. What is with all the damned family coming up?" He complained.

"Nem?" Trelana looked at him, clearly confused.

"Forget it, it's not important right now. Jiub... would you just explain to me what the hell is going on, and why you don't seem to be trying to kill us for once?" Nem asked.

"That's a very good question." Razelus added. "You haven't told us a thing since we arrived either, going on about waiting until we wouldn't be convinced you're a liar."

"It's a long story..." He said, crossing his arms. "...one that starts about 50 years back."

--

"There used to be a small island to the east, between Vvardenfell and the mainland. It didn't have an official name that I'm aware of, we simply called it Daedroth Isle." Jiub explained.

"Daedroth...?" Nem wondered.

"Yes, everyone that lived there worshiped the Daedric Princes. I was one of the lower-ranked members of the Daedric Knights at the time, and Trelana was training to become an enchanter. I dreamed of becoming one of the members of the ASP."

"The ASP was around then too? But Parven said it was-" Schimmel began.

"Parven is an egocentric fool. ASP stands for Azura's Seven Protectors, as she was the first Daedric Lord we began to worship, expanding to others as we grew in both number and knowledge of them. Outcasts arrived from other lands, each fascinated by the Daedra. We welcomed them... Dunmer, Altmer, Breton... it didn't matter to us. Once the population began to grow too large, we even tunneled into the single mountain on the island, even making a small port inside it."

"A port inside a mountain... that sounds familiar." Barbarius mumbled.

"It should, one of the last reports I received from Captain Rathys was that four of you had stumbled across our old island."

"But I didn't see any traces that it was ever inhabited..." Bryenn muttered to himself, still half-asleep.

"That's because it was obliterated. You see, one day we found a man washed up on the shore, the victim of a shipwreck. We tended to his wounds, allowing him to stay with us for a while before he departed on a small boat. A week later, he returned... with a fleet of ships. It turned out he was with the Imperial Legion, and was investigating us. Apparently he told them we were planning to lead an assault on Vvardenfell, or some such nonsense."

"Someone like Parven was part of the Legion?" Bryenn wondered in disbelief, suddenly very awake.

"Yes. He lied in his report, and came back simply to raid us. Whether it was a warped sense of justice or sheer greed is open to debate, but considering he stole the seven relics held by the seven members of the ASP, I'm betting on greed."

"Relics?" Razelus inquired. "You mean artifacts given to you by the Daedric Lords?"

"No... these were made by our best enchanter. There was only one item given to us by a Daedric Prince, and Parven took it upon his return. Shortly before slaughtering almost every last one of us. I stowed away on his boat with my sister, but he found us... he stabbed my sister and threw her overboard. I rushed him, but was blinded by rage... he gave me this..." Jiub touched the scar across his right eye. "...and then blasted me overboard with a fireball spell. When I woke up, I was back on Daedroth Isle. I found a few survivors that had hidden or just been wounded and we went after Parven when we were able."

"A few survivors?" Nem asked.

"Ruby's Great-Grandmother, Ganus' Parents, Rachel and Mortifer's Grandparents, Rodran... speaking of which..." Jiub looked around. "Where is that fetcher? He should have turned up by now."

Nem grinned, certain Rodran had either burned to death or suffocated from the smoke by now. Still, Jiub might not be too happy about it, so he'd keep that piece of information for later. "What about Harnaten?" He asked, trying to turn the focus from Rodran.

"Ah, yes. He went missing for a while after the conflict, but we reunited with him on Vvardenfell. He's very resilient for an Altmer."

"That makes no sense at all." Razelus stated.

Ruby glared at him. "You think Jiub would make something like that up?"

"Considering the blindingly obvious fault with that story, yes."

Jiub crossed his arms. "I take it you're talking about the fact that Parven was a leader in the Imperial Legion fifty years ago, and yet is still alive today without looking a day over forty years old?"

"Exactly. He'd have to be at least eighty by now, and Imperials just don't live that long." Razelus said, shaking his head. "If he was a Dunmer or Altmer... or even a Bosmer, I'd believe it. An Imperial is an impossibility."

"Perhaps if he was an average Imperial. The item he took that was given to us by a Daedric Lord, he uses it. It is a cursed amulet known as the Eternal Madness. Once it is put on, it binds to the wearers skin and ceases their aging. However, it saps the wearer's magicka, leaving them unable to cast spells, and can never be removed until their death. It also slowly drives the wearer insane over time, leaving them very unpredictable. Though when you realize it was Lord Sheogorath that gave us the amulet, it shouldn't come as a surprise. He is known as the King of Madness for a reason."

Nem sighed. "Of all the Daedric Princes to accept something from... you had to go with him? Only a fool would make a deal with Sheogorath."

"It was never our intention for something like that to fall into the hands of a man like Parven." Jiub said seriously. "We should have kept it under heavier guard, I admit... but it was a long time ago."

"Exactly." Rachel spoke up. "We have to stop Parven, here and now. He's after the relics we stole back from him a few years ago... and to wipe out what few of us he missed the first time. Along with all his tries after that."

"What do you say, are you with us?" Mortifer asked.

There was silence as the Forlorn members thought it over. Razelus, naturally, was the first to speak. "I would much rather hear Parven's side of the story before making any decisions."

"I don't believe there's any need for that." A cheerful voice came from the doorway. Parven was hovering in the air, grinning at all of them. "Jiub told it quite well the first time though. He is quite the bard, I must say." He clapped his hands together a few times, before suddenly spinning in mid-air and sending a blaze of fire at the ceiling of the hallway out. There was an explosion, screams from the Forlorn members as they fled the falling rocks and silence as the passage back was sealed off.

"Although." Parven muttered, turning back around. "There is one little part he failed to add. Forlorn. He didn't tell you why I chose that name for my little guild. I'm disappointed, Jiub."

"How would I know how your twisted mind works?!" Jiub retorted.

"It's quite obvious, actually." Parven shrugged. "Anyone that joins my guild, is simply hopeless. Every person convinced or tricked into joining. Every assignment a potential death sentence. None of them have any hope to survive. Either your minions kill them, or I do when I'm finished having them 'help' me."

"You sick fetcher." Jiub growled, unsheathing his sword and pointing it at Parven. "I'll kill you this time, I swear it!"

"My, my... so much anger. You should really learn to relax and enjoy yourself, Jiub." Parven said with a smile, aiming a glowing ring downward. "I certainly will." A streak of crimson shot from the ring, striking the ground and erupting into a torrent of flames, the blast sending the group below flying in all directions.