Dishonored is the Vigilant of Stendarr
Who sees injustice
And turns his eyes from it
A week passed after Claudia's team returned from their mission in Skyrim. She was quickly informed of the situation and the disappearance of their Dark Elf mage, allegedly Furaldur. She in turn explained her run in with the Dark Brotherhood.
The best her haggard and exhausted team could come up with was that if Claudia was marked for assassination by the Dark Brotherhood which allegedly followed the dark entity Sithis, then maybe something was going on between the Daedra. It seemed far fetched but it was the best explanation they came up with. Stories told of how things would get stranger than normal when the gods colluded with each other.
And ironically, things fell into the normal cycle of business for a week or so while they waited for the Inquisition to make a decision. They may have been a shady Peryite mage out there who could summon powerful horrors and Claudia was hanging with a death sentence on her head but there was little they could do about it with no leads to chase. In the meantime Claudia could busy herself with running the Cathedral, Do'Ravier had a pile of research projects to chase, there was always something that needed cleaning and sorting in the sanctuary for Bann-Je to work on and Sibylla suddenly found a new set of things to preoccupy her time.
Her other teammates quickly noticed. They talked about it on a foray into the markets while on break. The streets were cold and snow held out in the areas untrodden by feet but all the hustle helped to keep the heat away. Butchers also found that their wares spoiled less in the weather.
"Is it just me or has Sibylla seemed in to be in a good mood lately?" Claudia asked, spying some freshly cut ham at one of the vendors.
"Good mood? She hasn't threatened me lately. It's making me nervous." Do'Ravier admitted.
"There's a block of time where she's missing from the Cathedral when she was usually there. It is usually after her morning duties. I've noticed this absence has been occurring much more frequently." Bann-Je murmured, absent mindedly sorting some logs that a flabbergasted lumberjack was selling.
"Haha, that's usually when she's having lunch with Ser Gervald." Claudia laughed.
"Still, Do'Ravier is starting to miss his daily threat from her. Last week she only threatened me once."
"Let the puppy love phase pass and she'll start to normalize a bit." the Imperial chuckled.
"At least she's happy, right?" Bann-Je offered.
"Hey, fancy finding all of you out here." Sibylla suddenly called, hurrying up to all of them. By the looks of things, she had just left the tavern.
"Ah, look at you. Enjoy your lunch?" Claudia snickered.
"Indeed I did, the mead was warm and I enjoyed the company. No, you are not getting any of the details." Sibylla shook her head.
"At least you're not being tossed out of there anymore." Do'Ravier commented.
"Shut it, cat!"
"I have met my quota for the day."
"I know winter has only started but I already cannot wait for spring. I could do without this snow and chill." Claudia muttered.
She was met with very unsympathetic glares from Do'Ravier and Bann-Je.
"This? This is nothing compared to Skyrim." Sibylla declared.
"We know!" the beasts shouted in unison.
"Do'Ravier! Is that you?"
The group looked over to see a stranger rapidly approaching them, too fast for any of them to do much as far as reaction went. Bann-Je was able to see their mage's eyes go wide and Sibylla was certain he muttered something in the Khajiiti tongue.
In the end, it didn't matter. The stranger collided into Do'Ravier and tackled him to the ground. Do'Ravier in turned tossed the newcomer off of him. The next few seconds were a shock to everyone in the markets, Claudia, Sibylla and Bann-Je most of all.
The stranger was another Khajiit, that much became clear when they and Do'Ravier immediately broke into a claw fight with each other, teeth bared and hissing the whole time. As far as fights went, it seemed to take on a new level of savagery considering the feline growls and extended claws. Both also insisted on yelling at each other in the Khajiiti language which did not help the circumstance. The words were harsh, high and savage.
"Anyone have any clue what's happening?" Claudia demanded.
"I'm guessing there's bad blood between the two." Sibylla deadpanned.
Do'Ravier took a blow to the side of the face, leaving him momentarily winded before he returned what he got to his attacker.
"Should we step in?" Claudia murmured.
"That might not be wise." Bann-Je replied.
"Why should we? This is entertaining!" Sibylla barked with laughter.
Even the veteran guards knew not to step into the middle of a cat fight; too many claws and sharp teeth. So long as those two didn't end up damaging property, they had little motivation to otherwise step in.
It looked like Do'Ravier was gaining the upper hand for a moment with a few well placed blows before the other Khajiit sent him to the ground again. Do'Ravier howled when they bit his ear and immediately fought loose.
"Say, that's a girl cat, isn't she?" Sibylla asked, noticing the features of Do'Ravier's assailant.
"Sure looks like it, yes." Claudia agreed.
"Oh ho ho, this is going to be good, I can tell!"
Things got even more interesting when Do'Ravier slammed the other Khajiit into a nearby wall, knocking the wind out of her. Believing her to be stunned, he doubled over trying to catch his breath.
A nearby discarded wood plank flew from a pile of rubbish and knocked him square on the head.
"She's a mage!" Claudia called, recognizing the telekinetic magic.
"Enough!" Do'Ravier shouted in the common tongue, orbs of lightning swirling around his hand.
"Oh calm down, you always take everything too seriously." the other Khajiit laughed, picking herself up.
"So...Do'Ravier, you want to introduce your friend to us?" Claudia asked hesitantly.
"Oh, that is not necessary. This one is Sharza." the Khajiit introduced with an elaborate bow.
Sharza wore a thick brown woolen cloak. Her footpaws were bare but she wore leather gloves fashioned to provide protection against combat while it was entirely possible a full set of leather armor was under her robes. Her fur was a light, yellowish brown while smiling emerald eyes peeked from under the hood she was wearing. Darker brown ovals flecked her fur giving her a resemblance to an ocelot.
"You should introduce your friends to Sharza instead, Do'Ravier." the Khajiit giggled as the battlemage grumpily picked himself up with a grunt.
"Sharza, this is Claudia, Bann-Je and Sibylla. They work with me at the Cathedral." he explained.
The others could see that there was a very marked difference between the two. Do'Ravier had done his best to naturalize, his accent had become less grating and he had picked up many of the Imperial idioms and ways of speech. Sharza still had a very heavy Khajiiti accent and she butchered the grammar of the common tongue.
"So how do you two know each other?" Claudia asked, trying to find a more diplomatic approach to figuring out why they greeted each other the way they did.
"Do'Ravier and Sharza both knew each other from Elsweyr. We went to the Imperial City to study at the Synod." Sharza explained.
"Yes, and that was where I last left you. Is there a reason you are now here in High Rock?" Do'Ravier demanded.
Sharza giggled sheepishly.
"There may have been a slight misunderstanding back at the Imperial City."
Do'Ravier rolled his eyes.
"I don't understand." Bann-Je said.
"Sharza is a, how do you say, professional acquirer."
"She means she's a thief." Do'Ravier grumbled.
"Do'Ravier, you wound Sharza. 'Thief' is such a dirty, amateur word."
"Very well, Sharza is a Spellthief. No matter which way you cut it, it still has the word in it." Do'Ravier retorted.
"So you work at big Cathedral now with the Imperial Cult? That's so very like you, Do'Ravier. Pity all those destructive spells went waste. Or do you use them to light candles?" Sharza teased.
"Do'Ravier is a battlemage with the Vigilant of Stendarr." he shot back, matching her accent.
"Oooh, so dangerous. The little kitten has grown up into a big bad cat." Sharza mocked.
"I'm going to the tavern, I need a drink." Do'Ravier announced in exasperation.
"So, just out of curiosity but is attacking each other the traditional greeting in Elsweyr?" Sibylla asked.
"Only if they walk out on them and leave them hanging in a very important errand that the guards might completely mistake for being something less than legal." Sharza shot at Do'Ravier venomously.
"You failed to tell me you planned on stealing the books from out of the royal court."
"So the Synod could use them for research purposes!"
"Uh huh. Like I said, I need a drink."
The tavern was as crowded as usual as drafts of cold air competed with the roar of the fire in the nearby hearth. The fire was not big enough to heat the whole building and many patrons kept their coats on. Many also ordered their drinks to be warmed. Do'Ravier was no different as he nursed the large mug of tea in front of him. Sibylla for her part was more than happy for another round even if she had just been there.
"Did you have to bite my ear? That was my one good ear." Do'Ravier complained.
"And what happened to your other ear?" Sharza asked, noticing for the first time how it seemed stuck in a half raised position on his head.
"Got blown off a balcony and over a cliff."
"Did you land on your paws?"
"Not funny, Sharza."
"So where did you two grow up in Elsweyr?" Claudia asked.
"Corinth, very nice place." Sharza nodded.
"What do you plan to do, now that you're here?" Do'Ravier asked his old friend.
"What is this? Is Do'Ravier actually worried about Sharza?"
"I'd like to know where to avoid." Do'Ravier grumbled.
"Ah, Sharza will do what she always does. A little of this and a little of that." Sharza shrugged with a wolfish grin.
Bann-Je, Sibylla and Claudia actually found the whole thing amusing.
"Well if you ever need any help, with legal things, you can find us in the Cathedral to the Eight." Sibylla offered.
Do'Ravier shot her a frosty glare.
The temperature itself seemed to drop a few degrees when a dark cloaked figure entered the tavern being of average height and build. The professional make of the cloak and the style of the hood immediately marked the man as one of the Inquisition. For now, the Inquisition did not hold the same stigma as the Thalmor Justiciars but people still paid them a healthy respect. The Inquisition official made his way over to their table. Claudia immediately recognized him.
"Matthias, good to see you here." Claudia greeted.
"Greetings." Matthias replied before spying Sharza. "Ma'am, I need you to leave as I must speak with four on important matters."
Sharza was unfazed.
"It is no problem. Sharza is sure Do'Ravier is feeling generous and will pay for her drink."
And with that, the Khajiit was off before the battlemage could protest.
"I bring you good news," Matthias announced, leaning in closer to them "It's about some brothers of ours."
"What do you have?" Claudia asked, trying to contain her anxiety.
Matthias grinned but otherwise shook his head.
"Finish your drinks. We'll discuss the rest at the cathedral."
The Inquisition had a reputation for being shady and paranoid. They lacked the authority to commit acts that would brand them "sinister," at least for now. Regardless, Matthias was quick to fulfill those stereotypes as soon as they entered the Cathedral. The black clothed Imperial herded them to a secluded, unused room and quickly shut and locked the door behind them, making sure no one had tailed them.
"You were able to actually track down a location used by the Dark Brotherhood?" Claudia asked furtively.
"I still haven't quite believed it myself." Matthias replied, pulling a small map from his cloak.
"How were you able to confirm this place?" Do'Ravier inquired, tail flapping lazily on the floor.
"We've already had suspicious characters we were keeping eyes on. Claudia's little brush with them gave us further encouragement. After much caution and trepidation, we were able to track one of them to this cave north of here." Matthias reported, pointing to a marked section on the map, a short hike from Wayrest.
"Are you sure these are Dark Brotherhood and not just really fancy bandits?" Sibylla cautioned.
"Two of our agents ran into a door they could not budge. They said it was covered with disturbing images, skulls and splashes of red. It would not open to them nor did it have a keyhole. It must be sealed with magic."
"And certainly within the mode of operations of the Dark Brotherhood." Bann-Je murmured.
"But now we have a problem of dealing with them and getting through that door." Claudia said.
"You'll need to know the password." Bann-Je explained.
"Are you sure it would be a password?" Matthias asked, squinting at the Argonian.
"I know it would be a password. I'm..." Bann-Je shuffled nervously and realized it was about time he came clean with his past. "I'm...former Morag Tong."
"Mora - what? What's that?" Sibylla asked.
"The Morag Tong, a Dunmer assassination guild charged with keeping the peace, handling legally approved and sanctioned assassination requests and whose patron is Mephala." Do'Ravier recited.
"Yes." Bann-Je murmured.
The silence was deafening as each person in the room processed the information they just learned. Each person seemed to go through the looks of skepticism followed by shock and then suspicion.
"Well, you're an Imperial Cult priest now and your name never crossed my desk...and we haven't had much problems with Morag Tong agents in a long time, if ever, so I'm guessing I don't need to worry about your past." Matthias assessed.
"My past is just that, past. I prefer the work of the Divines over Mephala though they did pass on some useful skills for one aspiring to be a Vigilant." Bann-Je explained.
"But how is the Morag Tong and Dark Brotherhood connected?" Sibylla asked.
"The Dark Brotherhood split off from the Morag Tong long ago to accept all requests for unlawful murders. They are a perversion of the Morag Tong and the Morag Tong has been fighting them ever since." Bann-Je explained.
"Would the Morag Tong happen to know any of the Dark Brotherhood passwords then?" Claudia asked.
"No, but if you do get past that door, it's best that only I handle them." Bann-Je warned.
"You? Just you?" Matthias asked skeptically.
"I'm not alone and trained in similar arts that the Dark Brotherhood is. I know Claudia, Do'Ravier and Sibylla are capable but the world of assassins is a place of sharp shadows."
"What do you mean you're not alone?" Do'Ravier inquired with a raised eyebrow.
Bann-Je lowered his head and sighed. He closed his eyes for a moment, tightly enough that it almost looked like he was in pain. When he opened them, his yellow eyes glared fiercely at the people around him. One eye's pupil had narrowed into a slit, the other remained his normal circular one. When he spoke, there were two similar voices in his throat though there was a distinct difference between the two.
"Two personalities are in me, Bann Je is...normal, at least can operate in the normal world...Squints his Eye hunts in shadow."
"How long has this been going on?" Claudia asked, utterly in shock.
"Longer than you have known me...I've hunted long before we met."
"So is this why you're a bit, oh, odd?" Sibylla spoke up.
"The side that lives in day and does not hunt suffered...so that the side that hunts in shadows would not endanger the life that lives in day." Bann-Je's two sides spoke in unison.
"You're not going to haul him off to question him, are you?" Claudia turned to Matthias.
"I don't think that would serve any purpose." Matthias shook his head.
"You would fail...and I would not want that." Bann-Je replied.
"But that still leaves us the problem of not having the password." Claudia murmured.
Bann-Je had blinked and his two eyes showed that it was his less murderous self that was at the fore.
"It's held in place by magic. Conventional spells will not do." the Argonian warned with a wave of his hand.
"You said conventional magics. Nonetheless it's still barred by magics, enchantment, that sort of thing?" Do'Ravier murmured, scratching the hairs on his chin.
"Yes, do you think you could find a way through?" Bann-Je inquired.
"Do'Ravier? No. Sharza? Unfortunately yes." the Khajiit groaned.
Claudia had every intent to get this situation resolved as quickly as possible. It seemed that at one moment they were discussing the plan at the Cathedral. The next moment, they were in the cave staring at the door that barred their path. It was a grotesque and sinister thing, blood red paint smeared haphazardly over it while a skeletal face with hollow eyes glared down at you.
"As I have said before ma'am, being on this operation does not make you one of the Vigilants of the Inquisition and it is best that you stay clear of such business afterwards. Please do not try to solicit yourself into more of our missions, we will come to you if you are needed. I also want to be clear that you are not to speak of this mission afterwards." Matthias droned at Sharza.
The Khajiit woman lazily waved a dismissive paw at him as she studied the door.
"Yes, yes, you have said that many times. Sharza knows."
"When that door opens I will slip inside. Do not open it under any circumstances until I indicate I'm done." Bann-Je explained to them.
"I should probably maintain a spell to detect life so we are not caught by surprise." Do'Ravier offered.
"That would be wise." Bann-Je agreed.
"What happens if you get in trouble?" Sibylla asked.
"You do not want that because then you'll be in trouble." Bann-Je replied.
Sharza meanwhile placed both paws on the door. They could see light starting to gather around her hands as her eyes shut in concentration. A small hum hit their ears as the Khajiit negotiated and prodded the enchantment that held the door. After awhile she let out a small, frustrated growl but continued on pressing her magical abilities.
"Problems?" Matthias asked.
"Just a little, the enchantments are powerful in this. This is no simple lock tickling." Sharza replied, voice thick in concentration.
"Are you at least getting anywhere?" Do'Ravier grumbled.
"Have a little faith, silly priest. Sharza is almost done."
Suddenly, there was a noise followed by a faint but spine chilling screech.
Wordlessly, Bann-Je slipped through the door and shut it behind him. To the others, he might as well have been a shadow.
Archon Tacitus found himself being dragged along by a priest who in turn had come to him at the behest of two nigh hysterical parishioners. Both of the laypeople were common folk, clearly upset and talking a mile a minute. The only thing the priests could get out of the whole rant was that they "must stop them."
"Stop who?" the priest asked yet again.
"Show us what the problem is." Archon Tacitus ordered, trying to impose some calm to the situation.
They were led out the door and stepped out onto the snowy stairs that led down from the Cathedral doors. The two disgruntled parishioners pointed in a particular direction. Tacitus immediately saw the problem. Two Thalmor agents were dragging one of the poorer residents away, most likely for questioning. Tacitus could taste something bitter in his mouth.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing we can do about that."