-Oblivion's Isle-
Captain Rilaves's ship sails into Oblivion's Isle port early morning, carrying what has become a rare delivery of slaves. The early morning sun makes the ocean water sparkle and it seems a calm peaceful morning. The ship docks, but not a single dock worker comes to help secure the ship to port. Captain Rilaves walks toward the plank his crew is extending. His face is a mix of anger and confusion as he looks around. "Where in Oblivion is everyone?" he barks, and then looks at his crew, who's milling around nervously. The docks full of more ships than usual, but not a single crew member is scurrying about. And...Captain Rilaves looks around. It's too quiet. There are not even any seagulls screaming out their rancorous cries.
"Captain you need to get down here!" One of his crew members shouts.
Captain Rilaves jumps down the gangplank to look at the docks and the small port town in shock, he curses. Dried blood on every conceivable surface, bodies strewn about with horrific injuries. "What in Oblivion is going on here?" Captain Rilaves curses as he looks around. The bodies are undisturbed, no seagulls or skeevers are feasting. There are not even any fleshflies hovering around the corpses. "Damn it, Damn it to Oblivion." Captain Rilaves curses again. "Back to the damn ship," he commands. "Get ready to sail, we want no part in this." Captain Rilaves turns to board and curses again as his eyes set upon the sea. Ships are sailing into the port, and the flag they fly is the Ebonheart Pact. Somehow, they tracked Captain Rilaves and his ship here without him aware of it.
Two of the ships dock and they descend on Captain Rilaves and his crew. Captain Rilaves tiredly raises his hands making no attempt to fight. "Just get us off this cursed rock," he growls as the Ebonheart soldiers take him and his crew into custody, and rescue the slaves from the hold of his ship.
"By Vivec..." The commander of the Ebonheart ships say. He's a Dunmer with short black hair streaked with silver. His gaze narrows as his eyes take in the carnage. "Bring Iveryni out here now" he orders his crew.
A few minutes later a petite Dunmer woman walks down, a light-skinned Dunmer with light crimson eyes and long braided hair. She's wearing a mage robe and her staff is already in her hands, and her grip tightens as she comes to stand by the commander. "Commander Devalnor," she says.
"Iveryni, what do you sense?" Commander Devalnor asks.
Iveryni steps forward on the bloody dock, looking around with more than a little horror in her eyes. She pulls it back and closes her eyes, her staff lightly glowing. "Dark magic." she finally says. "Necromancy, and the scale of it..." she opens her eyes and they lock on Commander Devalnor. "We need to find out what happened here."
Commander Devalnor summons a handful of guards and they venture into town. It's eerily quiet, not even the buzzing of fleshflies to break the unnatural silence. "There are no flies, no skeevers, no birds," Iveryni says. "Nothing lives, Commander. As far as I can tell everything living is simply dead."
"That is simply impossible." Commander Devalnor says, gesturing towards a tree.
Iveryni places her hand on the tree and shakes her head. "The tree is dead as well. Whatever necromancy was unleashed...it corrupted the land." she looks at Commander Devalnor with fearful eyes. "Nothing will ever grow here, live here again. This island is corrupted, cursed for lack of a better word."
The guards shuffle nervously, looking at Commander Devalnor, who halts their progression.
"Are we safe here or not Iveryni?" he asks.
Iveryni nods. "For a time, yes. Do not drink or eat anything. Touch only what you have to."
The guards are muttering among themselves. One says "we should leave this cursed place."
"With respect, we cannot," she says to Commander Devalnor. "It's your call, but necromancy on this level." she frowns before continuing. "The necromancer who did this may be nearly on par with Mannimarco. And if they are capable of murdering every living creature on this island...their intentions for Nirn are to be greatly feared."
Nothing further needs to be said. Mannimarco's evil is still a fresh wound, even after 5 years. "Damn it." Commander Devalnor says. "Lead the way, Iveryni.
Iveryni nods and chants a spell and a glowing orb appears from her staff. "It will follow the necromancer's path," she says. "Back to where this madness started."
The orb leads them to a manor and the ball of magic floats behind it, Iverynia, Commander Devalnor, and the guards trailing behind it. It comes to a rest before a grave. Iveryni kneels by the grave. "This ones still buried," she says. "Why? And why did our necromancer stop here if not to raise more undead?"
Commander Devalnor kneels down beside her and fingers the bit of metal left on the grave. "Slave band, part of one anyway." he puts it back and wipes his hand on his pants. Commander Devalnor then orders a guard into the manor to collect any records he might find.
When the guard comes back Iverynia gestures to the ball and it floats leading them further into the island. It floats past a mine and to a swamp. "Mass grave," Iverynia says with a frown. "How...strange." At Commander Devalnor's questioning look she continues. "A mass raising happened here. But there are two bodies in this grave that they did not raise." her look turns troubled. "To raise the dead yet pick out a few not to raise..."
Commander Devalnor bends down. "Another piece of a slave band," he says. "Can you tell what races they are?"
Iverynia shakes her head. "No, and I would not recommend unearthing them. The records will have to suffice."
At that, Commander Devalnor orders one of the guards to collect the records from the mine, and then they are off again, falling the ball of magic. Commander Devalnor orders two guards to return to the ship to bring the guars, to ensure that the return trip is quicker. To stay in this cursed place overnight...he thinks his crew might revolt at that.
The trek takes most of the day, and it's an eerie walk. The grass and plants are dead or dying, and not a single sight or sound of life exists. The magic ball takes them to the arena, and Commander Devalnor looks at it and shakes his head "Barbaric." he mutters as the ball leads them into the arena and the carnage is enough to leave all of them shaken. The sands so soaked with blood there is hardly a tan spot left. The stands filled with the rotting corpse of Dunmer and many other species. Gladiators dead on the sands where they have fallen and mounds of bone dust everywhere. "By Vivec..." Commander Devalnor says. "A large scale event was taken place when whatever happened, happened."
Iveryni follows the ball across the blood-drenched sands to the center of the arena. She carefully kneels in the sands and Commander Devalnor follows her. "More slave band shards," he says.
"And something else." Iveryni says, picking up the biggest shard. "this is not Dunmer." she says studying it. "I'll have to consult the guild about this." she carefully places it in a pouch.
Commander Devalnor orders the guards to gather up the intact slave bands which are lying in pools of dust, and the ones lying on the fallen gladiators. "Iveryni?" Commander Devalnor says. "Thoughts?"
"A group match." Iveryni muses. "The necromancer raised the fallen gladiators, which killed the ones that were still alive."
Commander Devalnor kneels by one of the Khajiit, picking up a bone fang and examining it. "This..."
Iveryni walks over to him and takes the fang. "I have to check, but this may be a werewolf's fang." she places it in the bag and looks at the Khajiit. "Poor thing. Its neck was shattered... to die like this..." she looks around at the other gladiators killed by the undead. There are six of them, all surrounded by bone dust and all rotting slowly in the sun. "It's impossible to say how long ago this happened. No insects to decompose the bodies. No scavengers even." she trails off and looks at Commander Devalnor. "A slave did this," she says.
"Can you summon anyone's spirit?" Commander Devalnor says. "We need to know what happened here."
"...No." Iveryni says "There are no spirits here. They must have fled from, this place when it happened. And the taint of the dark magic unleashed here would block them from returning, even if they failed to pass over." she sighs and the ball of magic vanishes.
Commander Devalnor sends a guard to collect the arena records and the group heads into the stands. The carnage here is beyond thought, beyond counting. "To leave our dead here... Even if they have broken the Ebonheart laws." Commander Devalnor says. "It is a heavy thing to do."
"We cannot bring the dead from this place." Iveryni firmly says. "We must leave them where they lie." The group heads out of the arena and into the back where a mass graveyard is. The dirt is disturbed, torn up when the dead were called. "Another mass grave," Iveryni says. "And again, a few bodies are undisturbed." The guards come back with the records. "We should leave now, Commander," Iveryni says.
Back on the ship, the crew prepares to set sail with the other ships. Commander Devalnor and Iveryni retire to his cabin, spreading out the records on the table and pouring over them. "What can you divest about this necromancer?" Commander Devalonor asks Iveryni.
"This Thjonwulf had seven gladiators listed as alive," Iveryni says, studying the papers. "Three Khajiit, one Bosmer, two Redguards, and an Argonian."
"The dead gladiators were Khajiit, Bosmer, and Redguards." Commander Devalonor says. "Not a coincidence."
"Not even close to one," Iveryni says. "There were bloody footprints on the docks, leading to a ship that is no longer in port. The footprints were Argonian."
"Our necromancer is the Argonian then? Or one from off-island?" Commander Devalonor asks. "Unusual though not completely unheard of." he pauses and waits for Iveryni to finish her thoughts.
"Our necromancer left bodies unraised." Iveryni answers. "Most of the graves were not fresh. The necromancer was from here, so this must be him." she hands one of the papers to Commander Devalonor.
"Hmm..." Commander Devalonor says as he reads. "Viperish Night, the Savage Argonian. At least we have a name, if not a description." he puts the paper down. "Your final thoughts?"
Iveryni's brow furrows. "He killed everything on this island including his fellow gladiators. If not for the bodies unraised I would think it was just out of control madness. But..." she trails off looking disturbed, then continues "It was controlled, I think. He meant to slaughter everything living."
"Utter disregard for life." Commander Devalonor says. "Even his comrades, his fellow slaves."
"That, or he simply hates the living," Iveryni says. She looks at Commander Devalonor with frightened eyes. "This Viperish Night must be found, no matter what. He is dangerous, and perhaps dangerous to all of Nirn as well. If he has this much power and truly hates the living..."
"I'll inform my superiors." Commander Devalonor says. "If they are wise, they will inform the Dominion and the Covenant as well. He could have gone anywhere in Nirn. It may take all three of us to find him."
"Pray we find him before it's too late," Iveryni says.
Commander Devalonor rises. "Come, Iveryni. I think it's time we talk with our prisoner. He brought enough slaves here, he might have brought our necromancer. Bring Arveel. I've seen him sketching during meal times."
Down in the hold Captain Rilaves is being held. The rest of his crew had been divided up between the Ebonheart ships and his commandeered ship. Commander Devalonor stands arm crossed in front of him, Iveryni and Arveel behind him. "You know the charges that will be levied against you." Commander Devalonor says. "I can make it a little easier on you, and your crew."
Captain Rilaves looks tiredly up at Commander Devalonor. "Damn it, I kept saying each time, this is the last time. Knew the Ebonheart bastards was getting too close. And yet." he leans back against the wall. "What do you want?"
"That easily?" Commander Devalonor says.
Captain Rilaves shrugs. "I refuse to sell out my customers. But every customer I had on this cursed island is dead. Ask away."
"We know who did this." Commander Devalonor says. "Evidence, records. An Argonian by the name of Viperish Night."
Captain Rilaves throws his head back and laughs, starting the three. "By Oblivion! That is who did this?"
"You know him." Commander Devalonor says.
"Oh, I know him." Captain Rilaves says. "First time that someone paid me to capture someone and sell them into slavery." He looks up slyly at Commander Devalonor. "I require a signed paper that you will grand my crew leave, and a reduced sentence for me," he says, and when Commander Devalonor gives him a hard expression he adds. "Yes, yes On the condition that I do not return to my old ways and retire. No more ships, no more crews, no more of this life."
Commander Devalonor snaps at the guards and they return with paper and ink. Commander Devalonor's hand is busy as he writes, then signs the paper and thrusts it at Captain Rilaves. "On the condition, you do not leave anything out."
Captain Rilaves leans forward. "Glenumbra, 5 years ago, give or take. We stopped for supplies. Far off course due to storms mind you. It had nothing to do with trouble finding... well you know. I returned to my ship after a nip of something fresh only to find an intruder in my hold. A glowing blue man in mage robes and a hood. His face covered. Offered a rather nice sum of gold if we took him to Murkmire and capture someone for him to sell into slavery. He even provided a binding collar and a binding spell. The Argonian he had our target was a mage of some kind. We don't usually go after those, but..the gold was worth it."
"Binding collar," Iveryni interjects. "You saw it intact, do you know anything about it?"
"Unlike anything I have ever seen." Captain Rilaves says. "The seam vanished when my men put it around his neck." he pauses, thinking back. "Truly unlike anything I have seen. Daedric, Ayleid , Dwemer? Could be any one of those. The metal was strange too."
"What was the... glowing man's name?" Commander Devalonor says.
"Never told me." Captain Rilaves says. "He paid enough gold to keep my questions at bay, you understand. And no, I have no idea why he was glowing. I thought him a spirit at first. He kept to himself, the only other thing I can tell you about him is he was furious at Viperish Night. Never said why."
"Viperish Night." Commander Devalonor says. "Tell us about him. And what he looks like." he motions to Arveel to have his paper ready to sketch and Arveel moves so Rilaves can see.
"Normally I could not tell you that." Captain Rilaves says. "I don't pay attention what the fetchers look like all that much. But this case was unique, so I paid more attention. Never know when easy gold is going to bite you in the ass." he sighs. "Bit more than me in the ass I think." he waves his head. "Yes yes, continuing. Dark grey scales with copper stripes. Horns all over...no not like that, yes more like that." he says. "Dark grey feathers, narrow viperish like face... yes, that's him. His eyes are white-blue. Oh!" Captain Rilaves says as Arveel finishes up. "One time I was in port, I had drinks with Thjonwulf. He told me he had bought Viperish Night and threw him in the gladiator ring. Thjonwulf likes to mark up his gladiators on their first match, so that picture needs 3 dark red claw marks on each side of the face, yes that. That is your lizard."
Arveel hands the paper to Commander Devalonor. Iveryni looks at it too. "So that is our necromancer," she says.
Commander Devalonor once more looks at Captain Rilaves. "One more thing. What was he like?"
Captain Rilaves sighs. "Like most slaves. Dejected but resigned to their fate. Thjonwulf has...had no interest in him. He wanted the aggressive ones." he trails off thinking. "Thjonwulf said he went mad and murdered a bunch of Argonian's in the mine. Bought him from Nelimar after that."
"Very well. I think we are done here." Commander Devalonor says.
The three walk out of the hold. Commander Devalonor looks back at the paper. "This is going to be a hunt." he muses as the ship sails back to Ebonheart.
-The Cave-
Stalks-in-Darkness trails his claws across the chains that bound Mentor and they glow brighter then fade leaving him unbound. "Viperish Night has exceeded even my expectations," Stalks-in-Darkness says. "And I did not forget you stayed my hand from killing him." Stalks-in-Darkness pauses and a feral grin crosses his face. "I thought him too soft at first, but in the end..." Stalks-in-Darkness throws his head back and laughs. "Every single living thing on that island, including his friends."
Mentor's look is thoughtful. "He refused to raise those close to him. Even Titumus, who cut him so deeply."
"It is no concern," Stalks-in-Darkness says. "He will now show no mercy to the living. If he shows sentimentality to the dead...it is of no concern, Mentor."
"He, at last, gave in to the dark power," Mentor says. "Everything else had to vanish for him. His fear, his mercy. He had to throw everything away to meet the release condition and shatter the collar."
"You know how wrong you were to be so impatient." Stalks-in-Darkness hisses. "And now..."
"He will come to kill us," Mentor says dryly. "He has always wanted answers, and you gave him enough crumbs to start to find those answers, and us in time."
"And now, we must lay more crumbs down," Stalks-in-Darkness says. "Where is Zirasha? It is time I speak with her."
"Ah yes. The Altmer you scouted." Mentor says. "She's currently in Hew's Bane. You may wish to hurry. She's bound to get in a clash with the Thieves Guild, hunting on their territory. Considering she tends to leave her marks dead and not just devoid of gold and possessions."
Stalks-in-Darkness turns and opens a swirling portal. He pauses. "And where is the other one?"
"...Not someplace they should be," Mentor says with a grim look in his eyes. "One of the places I had hoped they would stay away from. They clearly have little sense, considering how long they've lingered there."
"Unfortunate," Stalks-in-Darkness says. "If it comes down to it, interfere, but gently." he turns, his eyes narrowed. "If you blunder this, you will suffer."
"Even I am not foolish enough to make a mistake with this," Mentor says.
Stalks-in-Darkness turns back to the portal. "Perhaps you have learned from your past mistakes," he says and vanishes through the portal.
-Black Marsh - Eastern Coast-
Stepping foot back in the marsh after so long. A lifetime it seemed. Viperish Night walks into the marsh from mangrove beach. It's as he remembers, the sights and sounds and smells. Viperish Night hisses softly. Pain, loneliness, and rejection. All the marsh gave him was despair, and so he wishes to show the marsh his river and drown it in the ice. But as strong as he is, he is not that strong. The marsh is vast and the Hist connects it all. Each tribe and their Hist, connected to the next and the next. Even just going after Mossyrocks would set the whole of the marsh against him. The Hist would not tolerate him washing the marsh and the tribes with waves of the undead. Viperish Night slowly frowns. The world has so very many living in it. How to drown a whole world, how to save it from the living's madness. He has no answer to this question as of yet.
Viperish Night closes his eyes, casting his memories back. He is currently on the coast and Mossyrocks and Sunscales should be to the north and south of him, though much further in. Coppertails was west of Sunscales, and Deathfang? He would have to ask...but not an Argonian. He tilts his head. Even with the pact, the Dunmer Slavers still prowled, Oblivion's Isle was proof of that. If he stayed near the coast he should find them. And so, he moves south.
The Dunmer is begging for his life, pinned to a tree by decayed vines. Viperish Night strokes the vines amused. He had been curious if he could summon undead plant-life, and it had risen to his call. The blood of the other Dunmer's helped. "You're the last one." Viperish Night hisses. "Tell me what I want to know, and I will set you free."The Dunmer sputters, calling him various names. Nothing Viperish Night had not heard countless times before. "Yes yes." Viperish Night says. "Damn Lizard, Damn Fetcher. I know slavers, I know Dunmer." Viperish Night leans in close to the Dunmer and whispers something. The Dunmer's eyes are so full of fear and this tips the fear to utter terror, and he, at last, gives Viperish Night what he wants. And then he begs to be set free. "Yes." Viperish Night says. "I promised to set you free, and so I shall." Viperish Night strokes the vines once more and they tighten, straggling the Dunmer until he's still and limp in their grasp. "Your free now. Free from pain and despair. Just as I promised." Viperish Night says to the corpse. He then turns to the Guar the Slavers had. They are just as dead, but by his will, one rises from his flesh. "Let's see how long you last." Viperish Night says. He's getting better at keeping them together longer. It had been an effort on the boat, but the more he raised, the deeper he fell into his magic. It was getting easier, despite the fact he had not used it for so long. Viperish Night mounts the skeleton Guar and rides deeper into the swamp. Deathfangs are even deeper in the marsh than Coppertails. It would take some time. Viperish Night tilts his head as the Guar rides. He would have to figure out how to open portals soon. Otherwise, his quest for answers was going to take a very long time.
-Black Marsh - Coppertail-
Viperish Night stops near the Coppertail tribe. Nothing looks very familiar, but he was so very little when he left here with Tree-Minder he hardly remembers anything but the loneliness. He traces his claws through the vines on a nearby tree, they glimmer with luminescent gold and copper in the dark of the night. The luminescent guides him as he quietly walks until he reaches the egg-nest, where Argonian eggs rest in the orange Hist sap, visible even in the dark. His eyes move to the Hist tree, does it know he's here? Or is it as blind to him as he is to it? His eyes turn back to the eggs.
"Do you mean to harm them?"
Viperish Night's head turns and he pauses, so very still. He would know this Argonian anywhere. Tree-Minder. Viperish Night tilts his head. He can see through her. But she is an Argonian, therefore she cannot be a spirit. "Not right now," he says. Memories threaten to nibble on his tail, she had been like a mother to him. But she to, abandoned him, because her precious Hist commanded it. His eyes narrow at her.
Tree-Minder's eyes sadden. "Your voice is so cold, my Keerasi-Zish."
Viperish Night's eyes grow cold. "I go by Viperish Night now." he hisses. "I discarded the name given to me, by that which did not want me." he steps toward her. "What are you?" he demands. "The Hist, taking Tree-Minder's form?"
"A memory, given form," Tree-Minder says. "Waiting for when you would return." she moves closer to him. "Keerasi-Zish, what has happened to you? I had hoped you would find your place. But...it is as the Hist feared, is it not?"
"The world happened." Viperish Night says. "Monsters cut off all other rivers, save for death. But I swim it, instead of drowning in it. A choice...when there were little others."
Tree-Minder is quiet for a few moments before lowering her head and closing her eyes. "I had hoped you would find peace. That you would find a river that suited you. Life and not this. Why, my Keerasi-Zish? Truly why?"
Viperish Night tilts his head. "It is the song of death that sings to me. And I no longer wish to ignore it," he says.
Tree-Minder's eyes open. "Then I weep for you."
"You cast me aside." Viperish Night says. "The Hist cast me from the river, and my whole race did the same. For the crime of being born different. Not like the whole. Not like you."
"The Hist speaks, and we listen," Tree-Minder says. "We are as one. But perhaps it was wrong to banish you. The Hist only did what it thought it needed to. For all of us."
A glimmer of hate shimmers in Viperish Night's eyes then he closes then and shakes it off as he realizes something. His eyes open to lock on Tree-Minders. "You're dead," he says. "A memory given life by death."
"The Hist said you would come," Tree-Minder says. "And so I rested under the Hist and bid myself to return to it."
"Why?" Viperish Night says, confusion in his gaze.
Tree-Minder turns from him. "This is not the river the Hist wanted. But now that it is here, we cannot stop it. And so... we will not stand in your way." she leads him to an ancient stump and turns to him. "Take what is yours," she says.
Viperish Night kneels in the dirt and mud and reaches in, his claws closing over a watertight bag. He pulls it out and opens it. Inside is a shimmering blue crystal and a small earthen jar. Viperish Night looks up at Tree-Minder.
"Memories," she says simply. "One contains memories of the Hist. The other memories of the one who brought your egg here. Both pertain to you, therefor both are yours."
Viperish Night hisses as he rises. "You told me my egg just appeared one night," he says.
"The Hist saw," Tree-Minder says. "The Hist kept it to itself, until now."
"And the Hist did not think to tell one of you to destroy the egg before it hatched into a monster? Into an abomination?" Viperish Night says, his eyes starting to glow.
"The Hist will not destroy the souls of one of its own," Tree-Minder says. "Even if that soul may be the end of us all."
The marsh waters start to ripple, the vegetation moves even though there is no wind. "It just abandons it instead." Viperish Night says. "Somehow that is so much worse."
"Keerasi-Zish... Viperish Night." Tree-Minder says. "I never wanted this to be truth. I wanted a different truth."
Viperish Night turns from Tree-Minder. "...I did not want this either." Viperish Night says as he closes his eyes. The water calms as Viperish Night realizes his magic had been about to burst. Not yet. It was not yet time for that.
Tree-Minder looks around and then at his back. "You will not alter your course. Of course. At this point the river cannot stop." she says.
Viperish Night lowers his head. "At least you understand that much," he says. "The madness of this world, of the living. I will not abide it any longer, Tree-Minder."
"Then let the river flow where it may," Tree-Minder says.
Viperish Night turns, but she is gone as suddenly as she appeared. Viperish Night stares at the spot Tree-Minder was for a few long moments before he looks at the strange crystal and the jar and carefully puts them back in their bag. The crystal must be something that needs to be unlocked. And the jar...he does not trust the Hist. It needs to be tested for poison. He will have to head for one of the mage collages after Deathfang. There are things he needs. Proper clothes, a staff, and a book on how to create portals. He cannot simply run around Nirn as he is doing now. It would take far too long. Viperish Night's claws move across the air and the skeleton of a bear lizard rises from the swamp. Viperish Night mounts, yet does not yet ride away. His eyes close. The Hist protects the swamp, protects the Argonian's. So why will it just let him be? It makes little sense and he growls a little before opening his eyes, riding away from Coppertail without even a glance back.
