The song of forest.

Thrice at Sunset.

An enemy blade.

Three tales of fate.

Serana had lived a very long time, though, how long remained to be determined.

Most of her life had been spent navigating between two passionate and confrontational parents, a ritual to gain immortality, and the crippling insanity of said parents. All of this resulting in her eternal seclusion inside of a granite coffin, lost in some old Nordic ruin, and barely aware of her own enchanted sleep.

Some times, she would experience a fleeting moment of lucidity. Not truly consciousness, but more of a passing thought, that happened to be coherently formed. Boredom wasn't exactly the feeling she would dub this state of mind. It was more of an all-encompassing numbness. Not the good kind that she had almost entirely forgone after her vampirism had been achieved.

She may be willing to use others, but not to give anyone her power that way.

She had often thought about how she would love someone else. Her initial attempts had all failed, due to the fear her father was holding over every citizen of Haalfingar when he had been king. But then again, she doubted that was the only reason.

Serana could fully admit to having been a very twisted and bent individual in her childhood. Enjoying the sound of screams and wail people gave in her father dungeon. She could also say that her research and talent in necromancy stemmed from her utter fascination for playing god.

She had been every bit her father's little princess had that time. But she was also sensible and holder of great love from her mother. Valerica…

She wondered often, when young, why her mother had always seemed displeased with her. Believing it to be jealousy of her youth. Now however… She still couldn't fully tell. But the memories of the few, truly caring and gentle touch her mother had bestowed her, the hugs, the cuddling and the comforting…

Yeah, she had only understood its importance after the ritual.

The touch she had so desperately craved afterwards had been twisted beyond recognition by the evil of Molag Bal. It was fitting really. To prepare herself, she had partook along with her mother in increasingly taboo and perverted practice. Her soul, already damaged from her abuses, had become so twisted that she had lost all sense of self.

The gentleness and caring her mother had gifted her, had slowly become tarnished by the flow of forbidden pleasure the two had practised.

And now?

Now she hated it.

She could no longer see the mere touching of someone as something else than a means. Or the preluding of more pain. When the ritual had finally taken place, her mother had sent her first to the Deadric lord. She had been excited.

How utterly naive she had been.

This was no loving or pleasurable act she had submitted herself to. It was slaughtering. Plain and Simple slaughter.

Gone was her love and pleasure in the sense of touching.

It now represented nothing but pain and a means to manipulate the weak minded.

She suddenly realised something.

Her thoughts had remained coherent for quite some times now… Would it mean that the potion she had taken was rapidly disappearing? Or that her thinking had lasted a very long time?

But then, distantly, she heard a strangled cry and the unmistakable sound of ash falling on the ground. Vampiric Ash. Someone had just killed another Vampire. Was it her Mother? Father? If yes, which one had been the killed, and which one the killer?

Five voices echoed from far away.

Ah… So they hadn't come alone?

Well then that ruled out her mother. Last she'd seen her, she was pretty pleased about cutting ties with other people, and clearly, no reanimated minion could answer more than incoherent gurgling.

The voices grew louder and Serana could now somewhat get the gist of what they were trying to say.

One of the voices was clearly from a male Khajiit. For the simple intonation and rolling of sound, almost like a purring, was clearly recognizable. She hadn't met a great many Khajiit in her life. Only two and that had been in her early teenage years. She'd tried to befriend them, but they had clearly not been interested seeing as her father had barred them entry in the city.

"Do Ak'Bar think we should leave this placed as soon as this puzzle is solved. There can be no good from this venture for Do Ak'Bar friends."

He sounded very wise and confident in himself. A second voice answered him though.

"Ak'Bar, while I understand your unwillingness to enter the crypt of deceased people, you know we can't. We've been paid by that paranoiac Isran to search this place after this Vigilant of Stendarr never came back to his little fort."

This one sounded exasperated and about done with something, though probably not the Khajiit. She too, for it was a female who had spoke, sounded wise and confident, though she also noted that the quality of her intonation was seldom found outside of the aristocracy of Cyrodiil or High Rock. Technically in Summerset too, but it usually came with haughtiness to boot. This was the voice of someone cultured yet not overbearing.

"Truth be told, I'm about done with going inside those freaking crypts too Chalone. The draugr are bad enough, but if every vampire in the province decide to go live there it'll be even more Bothersome, though they'll still be no match for us!"

It was followed by a booming voice, characteristic of a Nord. He had a very deep and foreboding lilt to his words, almost as if… Oh! He must be a practitioner of the Thu'um then! Serana grew weary of this group. If one of them was even a decently trained tongue, they were obviously way more dangerous than she could manage. Not after how many years of rusting she did here.

"Kindly tone it down. I'm trying to understand the mechanism of this puzzle. It shouldn't take me too long, but to be on the safe side, I strongly advise you to not bother me. Especially you Asgarik."

So they were trying to understand a mechanism? This voice too seemed to be cultured, though the annoyance was fully directed at his companion. His voice held a certain richness to it that she found hard to understand. It sounded like molten gold. Beautiful yet fiery hot and deadly. He did not appear to be a master of the Thu'um though. He was too soft spoken. Perhaps, most probably she amended herself, a wizard.

Some time passed and the others outside her coffin spoke in whisper, telling her who spoke but not what was being said. Finally, a sigh escaped the potential wizard and she heard steps from above her distance themselves. Was she underground?

"Tomoe, you'll have to do it. I need both of my hands to heal you, and you're the only one without a drop of magic to strengthen whatever is being kept underground."

There was a pause, then a melodious and rich voice, that of a woman with a great deal of experience and wisdom, answered with a hint of amusement and teasing.

"I think that you have forgotten who command here Lucius. But very well, who shall keep hold of my glove for me?"

There was no answer. Perhaps none were needed for this? She didn't understand what those people were trying to do with this. Were they going to kill her? Could she find a way to negotiate? She had not heard anything else, except the sound of metal and stone moving. Then, suddenly, the front part of her coffin fell and she along with it.

She landed very ungracefully, face first and hard on the stone lid.

The groan she gave was, in her opinion, almost as shameful and undignified as the fall had been.

She suddenly realised that no one had spoken and that she was at their full mercy. But before she could start panicking, she heard a giggle, followed by chuckling, and then booming laughter from all five of her freer. She blushed so hard that for the first time in a very long while, she could understand what those boys she had coerced into sex had felt like with her shameless flirting.

The laughter was continuing, so, she slowly, very cautiously, lifted herself, sat with her legs bent sideways, opening her eyes to see who those people actually were.

The first one she noticed, was the Khajiit. He had purely black fur, and two great green eyes. His appearance was spotless, wearing some kind of armour she had never seen before. It was like what she imagined the Akaviri used to wear when they invaded Tamriel. He seemed older than the Khajiit she had met near Solitude. He had a long staff of black polished wood with five parts covered in metal.

She then turned her gaze to the master of the Thu'um. He was a tall, red-headed man, with a very nicely trimmed beard and moustache. His red hairs were almost black, but still recognizably red. She guessed it was auburn. His eyes were currently closed by the strength of his laughter and she noticed abashedly that the ground was trembling from it. He was close to six feet nine inches, and was surprisingly lean. He wore a black kimono and had a katana at is waist, along with a wakizashi.

Leaning on his right arm was a woman with olive dark skin and black tresses. She wore the same armour as the Khajiit and had also taken support on a longer version of the nord's sword. It was almost as long as a medium sized spear and she couldn't understand its use in battle. It shouldn't be possible to wield it in small spaces. She then noticed throwing knife and a smaller sword, though this one did not appear to be Akaviri in origin.

To her right still, was a man dressed in long flowing robes, still fitting snugly on his body and appearing to be greatly comfortable to fight and move quickly in. Perhaps was it the style of mage or monk robes in the east? Still, he had brown hair and was also holding a strange instrument with a narrow end and a gaping upward hole at the other. Smoke was slowly leaving it, to add more confusion to its purpose.

The final one, who must have been the leader judging by her presence only, was a mildly tall woman, with her black soot hair pulled in a great mass in her back. She had a golden crown reminiscing of a rising sun, had white paint and red eye contours. It seemed she, too, was from Akavir for the armour donned was of the same style. Her weapon seemed to be a long spear with a katana blade at the end as well as a bow and arrow.

She opened her eyes and Serana was shocked by the candour and warmth they held. But what stroke her most was how expressive they were, despite the all consuming black they had been made of. She could not read any emotion other than warmth and laughter. Yet, for the first time, Serana felt drawn to someone else than herself.

"Who… Who are you?" she asked laughingly.

Yes, she clearly was the one calling shots here. Especially when the other subdued their own laughter at her question. Serana herself didn't know what she was supposed to feel. On the one hand, she knew that she could be killed at any moment, but on the other, there was simply too much fascination with those people to simply ignore them and flee.

Not that she thought she would make it far anyway.

"A vampire, obviously." she replied haughtily.

The woman, Tomoe, smiled serenely.

"A name would be nice."

"… Serana…"

"Well! Serana, I can't help but wonder how long you stayed underground?"

Serana was about to answer, but then paused and frowned, nibbling at her lower lip.

"You know, I don't actually know… Who is Skyrim current High King? Or Queen for that mater?"

The four other shared a quick glance, before scowling darkly.

"Well…" began Lucius thoughtfully. Serana got the impression he really wasn't. "The Empire supports Elisif the… 'fair' of Solitude."

"But many Nords are loyal to Ulfric The Dishonourable Stormcloack." finished Asgarik in a disgusted kind of tone.

Serana cocked her head, trying to remember those names. She came blank however. Then she noticed that they had talked about an empire. But the Reman Dynasty had ended in her time?

"Wait!" she exclaimed panicked. "What Empire?"

The five people looked at her amusedly, until they realised she was being serious and horror replaced all merriment. Tomoe's eyes had widened so widely that Serana could almost see her pupils.

"The… The Empire? From Cyordiil? You know of the Septims emperors right?" faintly asked Do Ak'Bar.

Serana just shook her head no. Too stunned was she to answer to anything else. There was a very pregnant pause in the conversation until Chalone, either an Imperial or Redguard, found her voice back.

"Regardless… The next question is: what were you doing inside this sarcophagus for well over nine hundred years?"

"Do Ak'Bar suppose it has something to do with the Elder Scrolls on your back?"

Serana gave a brief flicker of annoyance and was immediately at sword point. The big Nord had visibly moved so quickly that even her enhanced reflexes and senses could not pick up his movement. She now had the sharp of his blade under her throat. She strove to remain as non-threatening as possible.

"It's… Complicated. I don't know if I can trust you…" she said carefully.

"We weren't asking you. This was an order. If you want to play coy with fire, you'll find burning may not be your only fate Serana." said Lucius with just a hint of malicious intent.

Serana watched them warily. Could she trust them? Her instinct told her no but she didn't really have a choice did she?

"Stop." ordered Tomoe.

Asgarik stepped down, and stood near her, his sword still out, but not pointed at her. She turned her eyes toward the woman leader and prayed that she would still find the same warmth.

"I think…" began she. "That Serana should be given trust for her to return it. Perhaps would you like to drink blood? There is a bandit camp in an old fort in the vicinity. If we give them to you, will that earn enough trust?"

Serana nodded warily, receiving a simple smile in return.

"Very well then. Let's depart immediately. There was a cave-in earlier, so let's hope that like most of those crypts, there exist a back door exit." Said Tomoe again.

The four other seemed less than thrilled about this arrangement, but complied without much protest. Serana slowly got up, worryingly pulling at her lips again. She hoped there would be a distraction and she could flee. Yet, this woman… Tomoe. She excited her if she had to admit.

She saw no difference between the sexes in terms of desirability. And because of her vampirism and already damaged soul, power and confidence caught her like a flower a bee. Still, the thing she admittedly found most excruciatingly seductive about this woman, was the uncanny primal fear she felt when looking at her.

It was like facing a gigantic beast, from which you can only hope for a rapid death. She exulted this aura of dangerousness and pure, unadulterated strength that was seldom found in common mortals. It was intoxicating. People are naturally drawn to the stronger and more charismatic of their peers, hence the easiness for Mannimarco to raise his cult of worms.

And her father to build himself a whole vampiric empire.

She would have to tread carefully around this woman. More so than her followers.

She sincerely got the feeling she could trust her, yet… There remained an almost subconscious instinct to cower and kneel to her.

She needed to understand why. No mortals should have that effect on her. Not after all she went through.

"So… What are you people anyway? You talked about bandits? Are they rivals of yours? Are you bandits?" asked Serana to break the tense silence.

No one answered her at first.

"You could say we are… Depending on which state is questioned. Truth be told, we aren't really bad people." said Tomoe from the front of the group.

Serana was perplexed.

"We are adventurers and swords for hire. If you got the coins or prize to interest us, we'll do about anything you want us to." said with a giggle Chalone, the olive skinned woman.

The vampire thought about it.

"So you're a five people mercenary band? Do you get a lot of jobs with such small numbers?"

"Not really but it more has to do with our track records and expensive nature." said with a chuckle Do Ak'Bar.

"Generally, we work independently. Exploring ruins and raiding encampment of bandits or various coven." explained in a bored intonation the brown haired man, Lucius.

"Meaning?"

"Anywhere from witches to vampire lords like we did two weeks ago."

Serana stopped dead. Her glowing eyes wide and terrified.

Vampire lords? They were only three of them. Herself, her mother and father. While she knew she couldn't defeat any of them, she thought once in her father's castle, she would have been safe.

The five mercenary stopped too, and looked perplexedly at her. To them, this vampire had been more or less friendly, though obviously terrified of her possible fate. Yet… She now looked about to pass out or flee as fast as possible.

"What's the matter Serana?" asked Asgarik.

Serana didn't reply. Her pale skin had gown powder white.

"Where… Where was this coven?" she asked faintly.

Four of the ones in front of her, narrowed their eyes suspiciously. Tomoe however, regarded her as a lioness would her wayward cub.

"Some castle off the western coast of Skyrim. Volkihar I think the head baddy called it. What was his name already?" asked Lucius, as a nasty smirk developed.

"Haron I think." supplied Chalone.

"Ah! That weakling pissed himself when Tomoe cut both his arms off!" boomed with laughter Asgarik.

Serana was feeling like crying. Her father must be dead and her clan annihilated. She still had to know where her mother had been when she died… But with the only one perhaps knowing having been Harkon…

"That…" began Serana with a faint voice. "That was my Father."

Silence reigned. Serana was looking at the ground. Her eyes holding tears but none came out. The silence was pressing heavily on her psyche. She was probably an Orphan now. Funny, she had hopped he would be alive when she returned home. Perhaps having realised his madness and returned to the doting, if twisted father he had once portrayed himself as.

Suddenly, she felt two arms take hold of her and gently lower her head against a plated chest. One gauntleted hand was caressing her back while the other was placed against her cheek.

"You know… He was probably different last time you saw him… But he was raving about something called "the tyranny of the sun" and we really had to kill him. We didn't kill everyone though, just him and his two lieutenants."

Serana pushed against Tomoe but found that even with her considerable strength, she could not even slightly shake the other woman's grip. She didn't stop trying though, and as she tried harder and harder, the tears began to fall. Quietly at first, and then raggedly she took breath, let wail escape her.

During her mental breakdown, she felt so many emotions flew by that she honestly couldn't process them all. What she did know however, was the immense relief she felt once her mind caught up with everything else. Her wail quieted down, leaving only sobs to escape.

"You know… We never were the good kind of people I guess… He was the absolute worst… But he was still my father…" she murmured quietly.

She took back her breath, basking in the awkward comfort she was bestowed with.

"I need to tell you about why I was inside that coffin. And why you killing my father was for the best." she decided.

She stepped back from Tomoe and wiped her tears, before nodding to the other and smiling just a little. Suddenly they seemed much friendlier and guiltier than before. Just as she was about to ask what they were staring at, she noticed a great mass rushing Do Ak'Bar and fired a powerful lightning shock at it.

The other turned in surprise, only to see a stone statue. Gargoyles… Do Ak'Bar was very surprised, his hearing was top-notch and he hadn't heard it move. Wiping his Bo staff, he dealt it such a crushing blow that its thorax caved inward to explode in its back.

Suddenly, another Gargoyle attempted to rush him only to be blown back by the shout of Asgarik, followed by a sword strike from Chalone, which cleaved the beast in two neat parts.

Serana looked wide eyed at their efficiency. While the Thu'um wasn't something she was unfamiliar with, those weapon were clearly different from the one she had originally learned to fight with.

"A capital idea Serana. Let us leave this sordid place and find shelter at the nearest safe spot." declared Lucius with a derisive tone.

Serana kind of thought he was in fact really overdoing it with the overly aggressive stance. Tomoe sighed and shot a hard glare, her eyes flashing gold with slitted pupils, before she smacked the wizard behind his head.

"Let's go. I want the full story as soon as possible." Tomoe ordered.

From that point on, Serana was repeatedly shown just how underpowered she had been most of her life. It was her fault that she had relied too heavily on her vampirism to fight. Her sword play was barely passable, her magical power clearly being surpassed by that of Lucius, and her reflexes and speed severely lacking when put in competition with the likes of Tomoe or Do Ak'Bar.

Still, she was equal to them in some ways. In sheer pain tolerance for starter, as well as endurance and natural talent. Her mastery over necromancy got mixed reactions at best, but proved invaluable in her ability to break the link between a powerful Flesh Atronach from its gems stone when it proved to be indestructible physically or magically.

Of course, she had no doubt that it could have been killed by the five of them, but only after a long time fighting.

They passed in front of a great wall with strange writings on it, but kept on walking without paying it any attention. They finally arrived in front of a cave exit blocked by a grate. It didn't take Do Ak'Bar much time to locate the mechanism and then it was pretty much bliss.

They got out in the middle of winter at night. Basically, the best way for a newly resurrected and famished pureblooded vampire to reacquaint herself with the world. The cold wind and billion of stars were beyond merely beautiful. They were her kingdom. The land to which she belonged.

She started chuckling then fell into full blown laughter, falling on her back in the snow and joyfully moving her hands and legs up and down.

The other looked at her like she was crazy, except Tomoe who giggled at her silliness.

"Pardon Do Ak'Bar Lady Serana, but Do Ak'Bar cannot understand the interest you have in this awfully cold snow…" his voice seemed to be incredulous.

"I do!" exclaimed Tomoe with a big smile. "Me and my mother used to do that back in Akavir. When it snowed of course."

The four of her companion turned toward the Akaviri warrior, looking incredulous. Only Asgarik seemed less shocked and ended up letting himself fall on the snow ground. He moved his arms just like Serana and found it quite relaxing, if a little embarrassing.

"Yeah I guess it's fun…" said he with a thoughtful look.

Lucius sneered heavily at the two Nords. As if their shenanigans were a direct insult to him and all he stood for.

"Really? Kids you are. All of you. I don't even know why I bother to…"

But as he was about to continue he got whacked so hard on the back of his head he fell face first in the snow. Everyone stopped and looked at Chalone who then went on to let herself fall on the snow and do like the Nords.

Tomoe smiled too and did the same, followed by Do Ak'Bar who found this to be cold but fun.

Lucius stayed face down.

Eventually, their playing in the snow stopped, and Tomoe looked outwardly collected. Truth be told, she had enjoyed it immensely and would have preferred to keep doing it. Still, they had to find a safe place to talk and feed Serana.

She looked around and noticed that the fort she had thought of was in fact further away than she had guessed. Still, it would not prove too problematic. The night was still young and they could cover a damn lot of ground before dawn.

"Okay Listen, we'll go to fort Dunstad. It's quite a way away, but we shouldn't take too long to get there if we move quickly down the mountain."

Everyone nodded and they skated down the snowy slopes and quickly found the main road to Dawnstar. From that point on, it was a question of times before the bandits got savagely butchered by a hungry Vampire Lord woman.

To say that the group was impressed by how quickly, the slightly hesitant and nervous Serana, got down to killing those unfortunate bandits, would be an understatement. While they had mildly respected her abilities, they now saw that she was, in fact, much more talented and deadly than they had previously thought.

She wielded an elven dagger from the second era with such swiftness and dexterity that even Chalone, the best swordsman of the group, had been left impressed.

To say nothing of her ability to swiftly drain people blood once the first dropped had been achieved.

It seemed that unlike Harkon, who had mainly used his raw strength and vampire lord ability to fight, Serana had privileged the usage of blood magic and telekinesis, allowing her to effectively drain the blood from any small cuts or open wound.

It seemed uncanny the difference between the girl they met and the one who was actually in front of them now.

When they finally reached the bandit leader private quarters, they found Him holding a massive Battle axe and trying to overpower the single digit Serana had put on the blade. Said woman merely smiled at him, took hold of his weapon, and decapitated the man with a one handed swipe faster than he could have ever managed with both hands.

"Well damn. You truly are a beast when it comes to fighting. Is that because of the blood you drank?" asked Chalone.

Serana turned in surprise, not having noticed them.

"Well, when you deal directly with Molag Bal, you get to have a few goodies as well. Father asked for more charisma than he already had. This translated in a constant feeling of fear people held toward him. Mother asked for being able to link with anyone she wanted to."

"Link?" asked Do Ak'Bar.

Serana pouted at being interrupted.

"Yes. Basically, telepathy and empathy toward a single person, in order to know what happens to them at all times."

"Neat." replied Asgarik.

"Yes well. She was the more empathic of us three."

There was a silence and then Tomoe asked the question on everyone's minds.

"And your power?"

Serana smirked dangerously, but more in a smug bully way than a megalomaniac one.

"I asked for complete control over blood having been spilled."

"Meaning?" asked Lucius, seemingly interested.

"Electro-Magnetism. I can control the iron component inside of red blood cells and use it to my advantage. It's is very useful, but only once it has been made available. I couldn't take your blood if you hadn't had the slightest bit of it getting out."

The five warriors thought about it, finding it quite logical in a twisted kind of way. After all, the bodies of mortals were very resistant if not attacked. While it was true that it could easily be damaged, it generally stayed pretty intact in times of peace and prosperity.

Still, for a life of mercenary like them, even with all their talents, it would be a pain to fight Serana should she draw first blood on them.

"I see." said simply Tomoe.

Everyone heard the slightly giddy tone in her voice. And if it confused Serana, it infuriated Lucius to aetherius and back. The man glared viciously at Tomoe and Serana from his position in the back. It was his right after all, to be the one to…

But he never got to finish his thoughts as he heard a crossbow being fired from behind them, and on pure instinct jumped in front of the other, taking the bolt in his left shoulder. Everyone volt-faced and stared at Isran and a few Dawnguard in full plate armour, standing there with a savage look of triumph.

"I knew it was a good idea to wait here. You can't trust Mercenary to have the will power to oppose a vampire coven! And now, it is time to put all of you out of your misery!"

The redguard's eyes were clearly a window to his paranoid mind. How he had known to wait here, it was another question.

"Isran…" uttered with a disturbing calmness Tomoe. "You are impeaching on my plans."

And without the time to blink, she had swiped his face with a backhand slap which pushed violently the man in a wall, knocking him unconscious in a manner of instants. Tomoe turned toward the rest of the Dawnguard, arching a well manicured brow in open challenge. Two of them, armed with war-axe, launched themselves with weapon drawn.

Tomoe lifted three fingers, the back of her hands toward them, before she swiftly took control of the fight, using unarmed fighting. She was a blurry mess of black and white, striking with all parts of her body, never leaving a moment of respite to the five guards attacking her.

Serana felt awed and, truthfully, scared to see someone fighting like that. It had all the primal strength and speed of a ferocious beast, but the mastery and control of a perfectly trained mortal. It was almost uncanny how she swiftly disarmed and neutralized her opponents, even going as far as catching a bolt between her fingers, and chucking it at the crossbowman shoulder.

In forty seconds, the fight was over and everyone had been knocked unconscious.

"Well…" said the deadly woman. "That felt nice. I've been meaning to peg them down for quite some time."

The others laughed, and Serana noticed abashedly that Lucius' wound had been healed and appeared to have never existed. She could do the same, but only with the blood of someone powerful enough.

A wild thought flitted through her head. What if she drank their bloods? She could become strong. Stronger than any other vampire before or after her.

Still, she shook her head. She would never be able to defeat one of them in single combat, let alone as a group.

"I'm going to take a pick inside his head." said Tomoe.

The laughter stopped.

Serana was perplexed. Again.

"You think its necessary?" asked Do Ak'Bar.

Tomoe did not answer verbally, simply nodding along as she placed her right hand on Isran head top. She closed her eyes and silence installed itself.

"So Serana, any other abilities that you didn't reveal already?" asked Asgarik with a jovial tone.

The vampire lady cocked her head to the right, thinking carefully over the previous events, and trying to recognize any talent she hadn't yet shared.

"As a matter of fact, yes." replied she finally. "I have a small amount of proficiency with alchemy. Enough to be able to craft more than just potion, salves, poison and their antidotes." she smiled toothily.

The four other shared yet another look, before Chalone asked what she meant by that.

The vampire smiled delightedly.

"Explosives. Fireworks and bombs. You need good quality ingredients, and its really expensive, but with the right component I can create an oil that burns two hundred more hotly and rapidly than anything else."

The other grinned devilishly. Especially Asgarik who laughed raucously before saying: "You and I we'll get along really well then!"

They began to talk to pass the time. Nothing in particular was being revealed. Serana learned that Chalone was the daughter of a Redguard noble and a Reachmen chieftain. Her mother had died in childbirth and her father raised her to become a strong warrior. She learned from the last sword-singer of Hammerfell, before leaving to adventure with a band of Alik'r warriors.

Asgarik was the brother of Ulfric Stormcloack, or half brother as the case was, and had learned the Thu'um along with his brother. However, unlike his brother, he did not participate in the Great War, whatever that was, which caused a rift that only widened with the Kingslayer corrupted use of the Thu'um. She noticed a great deal of pain in his eyes.

Do Ak'Bar was in fact, not a full Khajiit. His father was a Khajiit, but his mother was from the Ka'Po'Tun people of Akavir. He revealed that it was his mother who had trained him in Bojutsu, the way of the battlestaff. He also explained that the Bo he wielded was in fact hollow, and could be broken in a three segment flail relied with chains. He called it a San Setsu kon.

Lucius, as for him, merely alluded to some facts and possibilities. From what she read between the lines, Serana understood that he was much older than the other three, but less than Tomoe. She also gathered that he had been born into nobility but decided to abandon wealth and politics in order to delve fully into the Arcane arts. A decision, she felt, he had mixed feelings about.

When Serana was about to start talking about herself, something she rarely did if she could avoid it, Tomoe sighed deeply, before walking toward them. She had a pensive look in the slight frown she harboured. Her eyes went to Serana almost immediately.

"We need to talk about why you were sealed away… Your father wasn't working alone toward his goals it seems. Either he was a partner, or a vassal of a much more powerful entity. I couldn't discern what it was clearly enough."

The five seated people, looked attentive, though Serana also seemed to be thinking carefully over what she had been told.

"Well…" began she. "I guess we should begin with the origins of my father madness…" she took a deep breath. "It all began with the planmeld, and my father ally, Mannimarco… It was he who gave him the prophecy in the first place."