The dragon lands on top a high mountain peak deep in Skyrim and lands outside a tomb. Viperish Night leaps down and turns to regard the skeleton dragon, its eyes burn with necromantic fire and it shows no sign of falling to pieces. Viperish Night tilts his head and reaches up, the dragon lowers its head and Viperish Night rests his hand on it's forehead between the massive horns. Some of its essences linger in these bones, but it has at last fully fallen under Viperish Night's control and shows no sign of turning into so much dust. Viperish Night's eyes widen as he realizes anything he raises will stay raised unless it's destroyed. No longer will piles of bone dust dot his trail, instead he can raise armies and never worry about them expiring. Viperish Night throws his head back and laughs.
Zirasha reforms nearby and just watches Viperish Night an amused look across her face. Tyranius is leaning against a wall, helm on the ground watching as well. Viperish Night turns to them and stalks close to Tyranius. "The dragon did not bring me here randomly," Viperish Night slowly says as he narrows his eyes. Viperish Night still feels overwhelmed, needs time to gain control over the band, but is he even safe here?
Tyranius crosses his arms across his chest. "He picked it out. Before you snarl at me, remember what I told you, pup. Better to have him on your side. You can kill him later."
"He is going to bite your face off if you call him pup too much," Zirasha says with a laugh.
Tyranius glances at her. "His mother is a werewolf. What else would you call him?"
Viperish Night hisses softly drawing Tyranius's attention back on him. "I want him dead. Slowly and painfully," Viperish Night says.
Tyranius frowns. "Pup, in terms of raw power you're a match for him, more than a match for him with that new toy of yours. But in terms of deception, you are not. You're an open book compared to that mer. He could out-think you, out scheme you if he needed to. You see why it's smart to accept his damn help for the moment?"
All the half-truths and hidden meanings. All the torture his former mentor put him through. Murdering those who saw him behind his back, throwing him to slavers when he failed to be a monster enough. "I refuse to be like him." Viperish Night hisses. "I will be a monster, but my kind of monster. Not his." Viperish Night walks past Tyranius and pauses. "I will accept his help for now. But I will kill him in the end," he stalks inside.
Zirasha gives Tyranius an odd look. "You..."
Tyranius laughs. "You two are amusing. You'll figure it out eventually. It is in Viperish Night's best interest to work with him, for now," Tyranius picks up his helm and walks inside.
Zirasha hisses after Tyranius. "Damn brute," she says. "Could have done without an Imperial dog tagging along." Zirasha crosses her arms and closes her eyes. By rights she should tear his throat out but... her mind floats back to days of blinding hunger, utter loss of control. She had not been sure she could get a handle on the monster that she had been made into.


Zirasha throws herself against the chains that bind her snarling and thrashing wildly. The blood hunger that grips her is all-consuming and she can hardly think, hardly breathe. "You dare bind me you damn Imperial!?" she screams.
Tyranius stands near her arms folded. "Control, Control, Control," he intones. "Once you have it, no chains will be able to bind you."
"Then I can tear your throat out and bath in your blood!" Zirasha hisses.
Tyranius laughs. "You could try. I have sparred against Xivkyn and worse besides. A little vampire is nothing." Zirasha hisses again, her fangs glittering in the torchlight. "Besides, I know you won't. In fact, you'll be working with me."
Zirasha's eyes flare. "Never! I will never work beside an Imperial!"
"Swims-In-Silence mentioned your past," Tyranius states, and Zirasha howls in anger, throwing herself against the chains. "Hush, girl. You know not even Viperish Night knows that." Tyranius frowns. "Disrespectful behavior, it lacks all honor. I may be called an honorless dog for following the Worm Cult, but I would not turn to such animalistic behavior." Tyranius holds up a hand. "It's dinner time." he turns and walks out of the cave and comes back dragging a whimpering Imperial who's begging for his life in his iron grip, though Tyranius is deaf to his pleas.
Zirasha goes utterly still. Her vampiric eyes lock onto the man Tyranius has brought her.
"This is one of the honorless curs," Tyranius says. "I tracked every single one of them down that still lived, for you." he grins. "Control, Zirasha. Practice every day and when your ready, I'll bring you their captain. Till then, the rest will be yours at dinner time." he laughs and throws the man at Zirasha's feet and she sets on him instantly, savaging him with her fangs and claws until he is a bloody ruin and she's splattered in his blood. Zirasha looks at Tyranius satisfied. "Good, we understand each other then," Tyranius says.
"You still have me chained," Zirasha says, more in control with the blood of the Imperial flowing through her.
Tyranius shrugs. "You're not in control yet. You'll get killed indulging in the blood hunger. Control, Zirasha, then we can help Viperish Night murder them all." Tyranius laughs. "We seem like-minded in our blood-lust. It works for me, it's been a long five years hiding from the Bastards tracking down the Zero Legion. They forget, they bowed like curs during the Planemeld too, they just did not get their hands dirty. They did not enjoy it."
Tyranius had kept his word. Each and every one of them died violently in agony and she fed on their blood. And on the final night when he brought her the captain and left him beyond her reach, her desire for his death granted her the final bit of control she had been lacking and her body had burst into mist to reform outside the chains and by the Captain's side. The things she did to that man before he died... his screams will forever be a memory she will cherish to her last day.


Zirasha opens her eyes. Stalks... no she had been told he goes by Swims-In-Silence now, had kept his promise. And he had been truthful, she would of never let him do this to her, her fear would have kept her back. But now? Now there was no fear. Zirasha smiles. She would have been mistaken to refuse this gift. No one could trap her, contain her. She could turn to mist to escape, or turn her vampiric gaze upon them to make them the weak ones, the ones that could not escape. She had been a scared little girl trapped in a weak form, but now she was a monster, the one that caused fear, not the other way around. Zirasha throws back her head and laughs. The three of them would drown this world in blood and fear.


Viperish Night walks through the tomb. The hallway branches off into smaller rooms and at the end is a large stone room. The glowing eyes of Draugr follow Viperish Night as he walks past a round stone table to a throne made of sheer black rock at the end. His claws grace it and he, at last, sits down and closes his eyes. The dead swirl in his mind, those that live here and far beyond. He could cast his gaze far beyond this place, but would he make it back? It's a tide of the dead that threatens to drown him. The Band of T'zlich grants him such power, but control will have to be his. Slowly he withdraws his gaze from the outer world so it only sees the dead in this tomb. At last, his breath settles and he opens his eyes. All the dead are risen here, now. They will guard this place against any intruders, though it is so far out of the way and intimidating mountain peaks surround it. His former mentor seems to have picked well. Viperish Night's eyes fill with the familiar hate. To work with him makes Viperish Night's scales crawl. But it will get him closer to finding him, and closer to finding Swims-In-Silence. Viperish Night frowns. His Egg-Father...he has not seen him since before he was free. He longs to see him, to ask him why he has done all this. Viperish Night would have to find him...eventually. But for now, he would work on controlling this relic so he could start his war against the living.
Viperish Night closes his eyes briefly. He wanted to start now, but lack of control would end him. It almost had already, by all rights he should be dead. Jeziasi...his Egg-Mother. He saw his death in her eyes. She hunted him for her precious Nirn and he should have never escaped her. But she...she let him go. Against all logic, all reason, all everything, SHE LET HIM GO. She dropped the knife on the rocks instead of throwing it. He was consumed by the power, fighting for control, control over the dragon, and would of never even knew she threw that knife. He would be dead and his plans would be dust had she not done that. Why? He could not even fathom the why of it. Viperish Night falls into a uneasy sleep with the question swirling in his mind.


"They will come to you."
Viperish Night's snap eyes open, unsurprised to his former mentor before him interrupting his thoughts. His claws scratch the rock of the throne's armrest as he regards him. "Tyranius has advised I accept your help," Viperish Night softly says, his eyes filled with murderous intent.
"And will you?" Mentor asks, folding his arms across his chest as he looks at Viperish Night.
"Hmmm..." Viperish Night tilts his head. "What if I demanded that you serve in your true form? Not this..." he motions with his claws.
"He will not let me do that, Viperish Night," Mentor says. "Unless you can find a way to unbind me from him? I am limited to what I can do in that regard."
Viperish Night slowly smiles. "So that is what you want, my former mentor. You want your freedom."
"One of many things, but I will start with that," Mentor says. His eyes move to the Band of T'zlich around Viperish Night's arm. "Free or not, I want to observe the band's power. I have never seen a relic like it before. It predates necromancy itself. It is utterly fascinating."
"And it is mine," Viperish Night hisses. His eyes travel over his former mentor. So many questions he has, but he suspects he'll get the same old answer, that Swims-In-Silence somehow binds certain secrets in silence. "I want three things right now," Viperish Night suddenly says leaning forward. "Give me what you can, and I'll let you help. But I am still going to rend your flesh from your bones, someday."
"I am looking forward to hearing all the ways you are going to kill me. You know you can only do that once, right?" Mentor says dryly. "What do you want?"
"I want to know who you are," Viperish Night starts with. "I want to know where Swims-In-Silence is so I can wring answers out of him and then murder him. And..." Viperish Night's smile widens. "I want you to get on your knees and pledge your service."
Mentor freezes. "You must be joking." At Viperish Night's furious gaze his eyes narrow. "I am bound not to tell you certain things, you know this. Both of your questions fall under that. But..." he trails off and thinks. "I will bring you something that may help with that. I will need time to fetch it, however. It's not going to be easy to get. It will take time."
"Very well," Viperish Night says. "And my third request?"
Mentor's eyes fill with fury. "If you find a way, you will free me?" he hisses.
"Yes, my former mentor," Viperish Night says. "If you're free from the cave, I can find you and do the most horrible things to you before you die. You've heard my screams, I want to hear yours."
Mentor stares at Viperish Night before gritting his teeth. "If this is what it takes," he says. "But know this, when you do come for me, you will have a fight on your hands." Mentor lowers himself to his knees. "I submit to you, my former pupil. Until you free me and come for my life."
Viperish Night throws his head back and laughs. Tyranius enters the throne room a moment later, followed by Zirasha. Tyranius pauses. "So, pup, do we have to do that too?" Tyranius asks while Zirasha just hisses.
Viperish Night lowers his head to regard his two bloodthirsty companions. Tyranius, former Zero legion and guilty of countless war crimes, and Zirasha, who had murdered even before she was a monster. "Hmm...no. I place you two in higher status than my former mentor."
Tyranius moves to sit at the table and Zirasha follows. "What's next then, boss?" Tyranius says.
"Who do we kill first?" Zirasha says with an eager laugh. "Imperials! Altmer?"
"I would caution against those two first," Tyranius says. "Even with the Imperial's rebuilding, they are a force to be reckoned with, and the Dominion is stronger than the other two alliances."
Mentor glances at Viperish Night and long moments pass before Viperish Night waves his hand and Mentor sits at the table with the others. "I...need time to master the Band of T'zlich," Viperish Night admits. "Pick some targets, small out of the way places. I will practice with them."
"It would be wise to gather allies," Mentor says. At Viperish Night's confused look he adds, "Yes, yes. I know you intend to murder them all, but save some for later. There will always be people willing to follow the trail of power, and you have more power than any mortal has on Nirn at the current time. They will flock to you to have a chance at their enemies and for power. At the very least such allies will keep the Dominion and other alliances busy why you raise armies of the dead."
"Got a point, pup," Tyranius says. "Boss, pup. Whatever," he leans back in his chair. "Let them cause chaos why you gather an army no one can defeat."
"Who?" Viperish Night asks.
"The Maormer come to mind, as does the Reachmen," Mentor says. "Lone necromancers and vampires, possibility Daedric cultists, splinter groups that want to drive the various alliances apart or take them over. The list is endless. Word will spread and they will come to you." Mentor stands. "I will work on getting what I promised you, Viperish Night, why you work on mastery over the band, I will return then," he turns and vanishes.
Viperish Night blinks and starts thinking. "I recently attacked Pact territory, and the Dominion was involved in Craglorn after that...we will head to Rivenspire. I know there are small towns on the edge of the wilds there along with caves."
"What's your plan, pup?" Tyranius says. "Just to murder them and practice?"
Viperish Night folds his claws together thinking. "The dead I raise will not fall to so much dust. I can store any I raise in out of the way places...if I do this all over Tamriel, then when we are ready to attract the alliances directly...the army I have at my command will be massive." Viperish Night says.
"Attacking towns is not necessary, then," Tyranius says. "You could raise the long-dead and not attract any attention."
Zirasha hisses slightly. "What is the fun of that? I want the blood to flow and not stop flowing till Viperish Night's genocide is done," she says with a pout.
Viperish Night is silent, thinking. "We will do both. As to why...I want them to be afraid. I want them to know the storm is coming, but have no idea from what direction or what size. I want them to fear the coming of the storm, and utterly despair when they see the impossible enormously of it," Viperish Night slowly says. "And, there is what my former mentor said. We need something to show potential allies what we can do. We need to show them to side with us is to prolong their lives and rejoice in the deaths of all their enemies. Scouring towns from the face of Tamriel should do that." Viperish Night laughs slightly. "And you two need to be able to play, correct?"
Tyranius throws back his head and laughs. "I have five years to make up for, pup! You bet I want to play," he says.
Zirasha's eyes light up. "I knew I wanted to keep following you! You will make it rain blood and I can dance in it! I'll lay bodies at your feet, you don't need the blood after all."
"Truth," Viperish Night says. "I prefer skeletons to zombies. I just need their bones." Viperish Night's eyes move to Tyranius. "Try not to remove too many heads. It's slightly easier to raise them without having to reattach the skulls."
"I can try, but my scythe here may disagree with that," Tyranius says, petting his scythe.
Viperish Night rises and his hand grips his staff as he weaves his magic and a portal opens. "I saw this little town when scouring vampire dens from the face of Rivenspire, lets go say hi."
Zirasha gets up and moves by Viperish Night's side. "You..."
Viperish Night turns his head to regard her. "Once, I was a very different lizard. I thought I should help the dry scales. Help the living." His eyes fill with darkness as he slowly hisses. "I had no inkling how mad they all are. They will scream for blood and chaos and bath in it, even if they pretend to be good." He turns to the portal and crosses into it, a surprised Zirasha following after him along with Tyranius.


-Rivenspire-

The small town is near the border of Orinium, deep in the mountains. The portal lets the group out near a gathering of withered trees overlooking the town. The sun has yet to rise and the town is covered in darkness, most everyone is at home asleep save for a few bored-looking guards. A lone wolf howls in the early hours and the chill mountain breeze ruffles the group's clothes.
Viperish Night suddenly falls to one knee, his hand clutched at the rock beneath his feet. He thought he was prepared, but perhaps he should have waited a few days, tried to rest a little more. The tide of dead once more threatens to overwhelm him and he grits his fangs as he pulls his mind back from the all consuming dead of Tamriel to focus on this small piece of it. Slowly he rises and throws his head back and howls, a bloodcurdling shriek that splits through the night air and causes even Zirasha and Tyranius to jump.
Blue necromantic energy swirls at Viperish Night's feet and shoots off in every direction. The dead start rising, from the one's buried in the small modest graveyard, to the forgotten travelers who fell to the mountain's judgment, to bears and wolfs and more besides. Soon they encircle the town, and the guards are just starting to notice. Viperish Night laughs and lowers his head his eyes glowing slightly. The power, he thought necromantic energy was all-consuming but this? THIS? This was death in purest form, his to control. "Go," Viperish Night hisses. "I will practice getting used to controlling the everlasting dead I raise, and you two will make more to join our ranks. Kill them all."
"Thought you'd never ask," Zirasha says as she leaps into the air. "Genocide, one town at a time. Blood enough to keep me feasted forever!" her form bursts into mist and she flows into town, reforming on top of a guard, driving him to the ground and sinking her fangs into his neck.
"Can't let her have all the fun," Tyranius says as he slips his face-plate closed and heaves his scythe. "Killing unarmed villagers won't test my skills, but it's been so long since I heard people scream as the Reaper comes for them. Take what I can get. We'll go after the bigger fish later." He too charges into town. A guard sees him and seconds later the guard's head is flying off into the dark and Tyranius is laughing. Villagers are starting to burst from their homes, armed with whatever they can find, but they are little match for Tyranius, Zirasha and the handful of dead Viperish Night directs to aid in the wholesale slaughter.
The dawn breaks on a silent town and Viperish Night walks through the puddles of blood, the dead villages sloshing out of their skin to rise as skeletons at his passing. "The caves, nearby," Viperish Night directs them. "Stay, until you are called for." The dead obey, streaming from the village to rest in the caves. "So very silent. So very peaceful." Viperish Night whispers, basking in the scent and sight of death.
Zirasha watches him carefully, splattered with blood, and filled to bursting with the life-giving substance. "He's..." she whispers.
Tyranius moves toward her, blood dripping from his scythe. "As if death decided to take form and decent upon this miserable dung pile." Tyranius finishes. "He might pull this off."
Zirasha's eyes move to Tyranius. "And if he does not?" she laughs and answers her question. "The ride, it is worth it just for that." Tyranius nods, sharing her sentiment.
Viperish Night turns to them, a portal opening nearby at his direction. "We will return for now. I will rest and in a few days, we will do this again. Throughout Daggerfall, Ebonheart and The Dominion, and beyond. Throughout Tamriel, until our armies are ready. And then the war truly will start."
Viperish Night walks through the portal, followed by Zirasha and Tyranius.

-End Act 3-