Sometimes, the actions of those deemed insane
Are not a reflection of those whose mind is broken
But instead shows an individual who has nothing else left to lose
As ordered by Claudia, a rope was lowered down from the tower balcony so that the three warriors outside could be return back inside. This in itself took awhile since no singular rope could be found to clear the whole distance. Different lengths had to be tied together and then lowered off the balcony. On the flip side, the knotting created easy foot holds up the length. Clearing the carcass from the path of the door would be an important issue to clean up but at the moment everyone wanted to catch a breath in the safety and comfort inside the tower. Jarringly, while there was indeed safety and an opportunity for respite, there was also a very serious case of discomfort within in. A lot of it had to do with Claudia or at least what had become of her.
The team had just hauled themselves up from the ground and were descending the staircase when they spotted her. It was a shocking, jaw dropping moment for all of them. Bann-Je, Sibylla and Do'Ravier stood where they arrived on the stairs, mouths ajar at what they saw.
Claudia was relaxing on one of the stools next to the serving counter. They had not expected to see her so collected and calm considering when they last heard her she was howling like a rabid animal. She also had found a fresh set of orange desert robes. The blue sapphires that burned like some unholy flame only completed the effect. There was something chilling in those eyes, enough to send shivers down their spines and limbs despite the heat of the desert.
"I assume you are all mostly unharmed?" Claudia asked simply as they all shuffled in and promptly stopped dead in their tracks.
"You all look alright." Claudia continued, assessing them as a smith would analyze edge of a blade. She was still met with silence.
"What is wrong? I am asking you questions." The vampire demanded, a hint of annoyance in her voice.
"We're fine." Sibylla finally murmured. And with that, they shuffled right past her. Muraat and his wife were already hustling in the kitchens cooking up a victory meal of roast lamb and all the vegetables they could get their hands on. The usually overtly ordered Bann-Je who demanded full knowledge of their inventory decided to overlook this one. Sibylla walked up to one of her barrels of mead and began pouring tankards for everyone while savoring a long, slow swig from one herself. Do'Ravier and Sylva skipped the pleasantries and shared a long embrace while Sharza, always giddy, nabbed one of the tankards of mead from Sibylla. Claudia realized she was being ignored.
It was jarring enough getting use to this new change. She could still hear those heartbeats around her but now she could practically feel their body heat even though she was more than just an arm and a leg away from them. She could smell distinctive flavors and variations in scents in far more pronounced ways than she ever could when she was fully living. The could smell sweat and the scent of the sands. The faint traces of mead from Sibylla, soap on Bann-Je and even the various alchemical supplies Do'Ravier had been working on, their scents were all clear to her. Everything was warm and full of life and flowing blood and Claudia felt it all the more distinctly because she knew that the shell she now wore was cold and empty. She was a walking catacomb, a mausoleum whose only purpose was to remind others of the now eternal visage that the once fully living Claudia used to wear. The vampire did not belong there among the living and she knew it. She quietly began to ascend the stairs. Her footfalls fell in silence her disappearance, if noticed, went ignored. Arriving near the top, she spotted Zelphia standing next to the door of the cell they shared, arms folded in front of her chest as some wry smirk marked her face.
"There's a reason I keep to myself. You might look like them. You convince them that you are like them. But never for once fool yourself into think that you are them." Zelphia explained. Claudia simply glared at her before stepping silently into her new room.
Downstairs, between mouthfuls of lamb, salted cabbage and warm buttered bread, the group retold their story of how they killed a giant. With the danger gone and their fates already known, it was easy to laugh and joke about the conflict when just an hour ago they had been in mortal fear. However, reality soon began to sink in and with it, questions about the changes that prompted them to this situation. As if driven by some unspoken rule, none of them wanted to talk about Claudia's change. Instead, attention focused on Sharza.
"So tell me, why did you show up at our tower again?" Do'Ravier asked Sharza, pointing at her with a bitten loaf of bread.
"Oh, Sharza just wanted to say hi to a friend she had not seen in a year."
"We went over this before, Sharza. My memory isn't that short and you said you were in trouble. What's going on? Actually, how did you know to come to this tower right in the middle of the desert?"
"Sharza heard of a Dwarven tower with a crazy mage in it. That obviously means Do'Ravier." the thief told him bluntly.
"That is a wild assumption." Do'Ravier retorted.
"That's how we found you." Sibylla butted in.
"You all make wild assumptions." Do'Ravier grumbled.
Bann-Je looked like he was about to make a comment but then thought better of it and got to scrubbing an imagined stain on the counter.
"Either way, Do'Ravier has a point. Why are you in trouble and what can we do to help?" Sibylla interjected, also looking at Sharza. No one could see it but the Khajiit momentarily blushed.
"Well, a Khajiit has to eat and all. Sharza needed work and so she went about looking for something to do in her line of work."
"I'm surprised Claudia never saw you in the whole year she spent in Sentinel." Sibylla observed.
"Sharza was not in Sentinel. Some high nose Redguard was running an operation of some sort in the city and felt himself too good for 'common pickpockets.' Yes, that's what he called Sharza! Common!"
"I highly doubt anyone in here can be considered common..." the Nord murmured light heartedly.
"So what did you do?" Bann-Je inquired, wanting the all important format of storytelling to be adhered to.
"There were bedouins." Sharza shrugged. That immediately prompted sharp looks from both Bann-Je and Do'Ravier.
"What?" Sharza demanded.
"Stealing from bedouins? Sharza, they do not have much to begin with." Do'Ravier scolded.
"That's only what they want you to believe. You should have seen some of the stuff Sharza made off with. The clan chiefs certainly tend to have a lot of shiny stuff in their tents." the thief whispered.
"So you angered a bunch of bedouin clans?" Sibylla guessed.
"Yes. A couple dozen out in the Alik'r, most of them on the coasts. But that's not what Sharza is here for. You see, Sharza was looking for this lost city that was supposedly a sheltered place for some of the more powerful clans. Stories say they kept all their shiniest, most expensive stuff in there."
"I am not helping you on another heist." Do'Ravier blurted in annoyance.
"Hush, hush. You talk too much. Sharza already attempted the heist."
"So what's the problem?"
"...It was a bad place." Sharza whispered, her face ashen.
"What do you mean a 'bad place?' Was there a lake of rot there?" Bann-Je inquired.
"...It smelled bad and there were bedouins wandering around the walls but they looked...very bad, very sick. Sharza thought they were dead but they might have been alive. Maybe."
"Well, where was it?" Do'Ravier asked.
"It is east of here, off the marked path, only the Bedouins are really privy to its location."
"Because anyone trying to risk getting there without knowing the bedouins' wells would dry up in the desert long before they got there." Sibylla said.
"Yes. But it looked very bad. Sharza is certain that there was something wrong there."
"...You want us to go look there, don't you?" Do'Ravier murmured, eyes closed as if dreading the response.
"Of course, isn't that the right thing to do? Only you people would know what to do. Sharza does not think anything natural is going on there."
"Maybe it's an outbreak, Sharza. Those things happen." Sibylla cautioned. Plague outbreaks, while common, were far from unheard of. Alas, in the face of an unknown disease, most healers knew of little other methods other than abandoning the place or quarantining it off. If a population was so badly afflicted it would be suicide to send in more healers only to watch them contract the disease and die themselves. At that point the only thing they could do was wait until it burned itself out.
"Sharza considered this...until...well..."
"Well what?"
"The slug sort of...crept over the walls and...started following Sharza." the Khajiit mumbled sheepishly.
"So you did bring it here!" Do'Ravier accused.
"It seemed intent on heading this direction anyway!" Sharza snapped back.
"Enough, both of you!" Sibylla shouted.
With the way things looked, both Khajiit seemed to be focusing on the minor details only because it was easier to get distracted from the more disturbing details. From the beginning plague and the unholy disruption of natural bodily operations marked the path of their target. This new incident was just too similar to be a coincidence.
"So we just follow the slug and we get to the city. Did it go in a straight line?" Bann-Je inquired.
"Yes."
"Then everything is set, unlike cleaning which never sets."
"I'm sure Claudia will want to know about this too. Either way, we need time to prepare. And someone has to help me clear that slug outside." Do'Ravier murmured.
"I think it was actually starting to shrivel due to water loss from the sun." Sylva observed.
"It's still going to take a while."
"It's getting late and Claudia is already gone. Lets just tell her tomorrow while we make preparations." Sibylla suggested.
The silence was the unspoken consent to the matter. Unfortunately, it also hid the question that they were all asking themselves; who was going to tell Claudia? Whether or not they consciously knew it, none of them wanted the honor to do so.
Claudia had to fight in order to get any sleep that night. Zelphia had been considerate enough to warn her of some annoyances that would begin to crop up. She had to expect that she was still in a transitional process. Most vampires were nocturnal, it only worked to their favor so her trying to sleep at night would be met with as much ease as any day walker trying to switch over to a nocturnal routine. It was going to be hard and would feel like pulling teeth. (Or fangs in Claudia's case now.) However, after tenacious patience, Claudia was rewarded with respite. She was promptly bothered with a very vivid dream.
She recognized it as the visions she used to have, from Azrua to Arkay to Stendarr. However, there was something wrong. She recognized the ball of light, the avatar that Stendarr chose to communicate to her through before. But right between her and the orb was a translucent but distinct, foggy wall as if a veil of smoke had been stretched and solidified between them. When Stendarr spoke, it was as if through through water. It lacked clarity and sounded like its full strength was being deadened by the wall.
"Those marred as undead rarely speak with the Divines and we to them." Stendarr started.
"These seem to be times for extreme measures to be taken." Claudia replied, walking along the wall while maintaining her focus on Stendarr. It was a half hearted attempt but she was looking for some hole in the partition.
"You now speak with confidence but is it because of contemptuousness or confidence of faith?"
"...I've given up making sense of it, I've lost everything and the only motive now I have is to see this to the end. That's the only answer I have." the vampire said. Most people would expect those in the presence of a Divine to be more respectful. Claudia saw herself as having nothing else left to lose and in all honesty, she half blamed the Divines for being in this situation herself.
"What do you see, Claudia?" the voice asked quietly.
She looked around her, peering at the dreamscape before her. Everything was glass and mirrors, silver and clouds. It expanded forever into a soft, pale sunrise that did not sting the eyes.
"You do not know the meaning of all of this nor could you grasp it. Eternity is a merely a vague concept to you but the deeds you do now echo through it's unending waters. There is injustice in doing nothing but there is also injustice in deeds done without a pure heart. Do not falter this close to the end of your race, Claudia."
"How do I know this is getting close to the end? How am I suppose to know which way to go forward? My team can't even look me in the eye anymore, I'm not even human!" Claudia suddenly screamed angrily, realizing just how frustrated she really was.
"I served you, all of the Divines, as a priestess and I become a vampire! I'm an outcast among men, mer and beasts! I bet you're the only Divine willing to even bother with me anymore, Arkay probably wouldn't touch me except with a loosed arrow!"
"Do not presume to know how the Divines act." Stendarr warned sternly.
"Tell tell me what to do, because I'm through presuming how to even handle this, this mission!"
She felt a flicker of warmth and wondered if for some reason it signaled a wry smile on Stendarr's part. That only served to further infuriate her but she kept quiet. She had just been warned to remain respectful of the very beings she worshipped even if she was anathama to them.
"You know what is right; then do what is right. That should direct your conduct. Act justly, dispense mercy, that is all that is what you must do."
"Why do you always speak in riddles?" Claudia screeched furiously, banging on the smoky wall.
"But if it is direction you seek, think back on the last Daedra that directed your steps."
"...But that was Sheogorath! What good could come from contacting him?" the vampire demanded.
She did not get an answer. Instead, she felt as if she were simply flung backwards. The orb of light that Stendarr was speaking through, the wall of smoke, the dreamscape, all of that was cast out of her vision and she woke with a startled gasp. It was going to be another three hours before dawn and she knew she would not be able to fall asleep before then. Claudia simply laid on her cot, it was not as if she could do anything else.
That morning, Sibylla was the first to wake among the group, at least those who were still considered living. Descending the stairs quietly in a warm, white dress, she noticed Claudia already at the counter, sipping a warm mug of tea. Her eyebrows went up when she noticed that her former superior seemed to have embraced her new transition by wearing set of black robes. Claudia glanced up at her as she was approaching, if only momentarily, before continuing to sip the drink. Sibylla took an uneasy seat next to her. The Nord had to force herself. She would have preferred to keep at least one if not two seat between her and the vampire. However, there was something bothering her and she knew she had to say something to Claudia.
"Look...sorry about last night. We're just not used to you being, well, what you are now. Especially since you tried to kill us all just a few days ago."
"Don't remind me." the vampire grumped.
"So...no hard feelings?"
"I suppose not but I am still trying to wrap my mind around this all."
"Speaking of which, Sharza explained she found a city out in the desert that seems to be suffering from some supernatural outbreak. It was also the same city the slug came from. That should probably be our next stop." Sibylla offered. Claudia did not seem appeased.
"The funny thing about this whole journey is that we've been wandering around doing and doing and doing and never once knowing the 'whys' of it. That just simply tells us what we need to do next; it does not tell us the root cause of it all." Claudia grumbled venomously.
"Maybe we'll find out there."
"Maybe we should find out sooner."
It was at that moment they heard someone whistling. Bann-Je walked up from his den on the lower levels and made his way around the corner of the counter to begin cooking breakfast. Other than the surprising knowledge that Argonians could in fact whistle, nothing seemed out of place. Even as he began to scrub some arbitrary spot on the counter three times, even as he entered and exited the counter three times, this was all just a normal routine to him and in a way, it had become normal to them. That was Bann-Je and he was insane that way. Except this time, Claudia stared at him as realization began to hit her like sudden Skyrim blizzard.
But if it is direction you seek, think back on the last Daedra that directed your steps. Sheogorath was the Daedra Lord of madness and every single last one of them had noticed that Bann-Je seemed to have developed an additional personality as of late.
Somehow, someway, Bann-Je found himself on the floor, tackled by Claudia who was clutching his head and glaring into his eyes. Sibylla was making some racket or the other but otherwise kept her distance. That was sure to change if Claudia made any motions towards the Argonian's neck but for now it looked like they were going to have a surprise frank discussion.
"You, are you in there?" Claudia demanded.
"...What?" Bann-Je asked in complete bafflement.
"You, Sheogorath! Don't tell me you're not in there!"
"...Claudia..." Sibylla asked, flabbergasted more than anything else.
"If there's one thing the Daedra and Aedra haven't been able to do for the past year, it's bloody well leaving me alone. It wouldn't surprise me if Sheogorath decided to worm his way into your head. Oh, I'm going with a hunch here, but this would just be too good!"
"There is no Sheogorath here, just three voices in my head!"
"What is the name of the third voice, Bann-Je?" Claudia demanded grimly.
"...Um...Funny, he never mentioned his name." Bann-Je admitted, looking very thoughtful now.
"Talk to me now, Sheogorath, I demand it!"
Bann-Je suddenly blinked and his eyes went from yellow to cloudy white. This time when he spoke his voice and accent had changed wildly. Sibylla cried out in shock when she heard it but to Claudia it was a welcomed confirmation.
"Aye, what do we have here? Is some wee lassie making demands of me now?"
"Yes. I'm demanding that you tell me what in Oblivion is going on here!"
"What's going on? What's going on? Ha! Lassie, it would appear you're taking a bit of the loony trip yourself and bludgeoning a poor scaley lad for no reason."
"Don't toy with me, Sheogorath!" Claudia threatened. Bann-Je's claws clamped around her throat.
"Aye, let us make one thing very clear, lassie. You don't get to make demands like that, at least not from a Daedra, especially not one like me-self. That's a right pity too, especially since out of all my fellows, I'm the one that has toyed with you the least. How insane is that?"
"Then tell me what is going on!" Claudia snarled, tightening her hands around Bann-Je's own neck.
"Ah, I wouldn't do that, lass. See, you'll just end up killing your friend here. I'm just using him as a window of sorts."
"And killing me, all the way, would be a welcome relief."
"Are we being so proud? Perhaps I should go after you. Perhaps you need to be put in your place, wee mortal."
"I'm still going to defy you! Tell me what's going on, Sheogorath! Tell me!"
There was a tense moment where the air was dense with anticipation. It was jarringly shattered when Sheogorath's voice began to laugh. Sibylla and Claudia were woefully unprepared for that reaction. Claudia was even placed back on her feet as if all hostilities were forgotten.
"Oh ho ho ho! You have spirit, little vampire! But this, threatening me, promising to defy me? Now that's just bloody insane! It's hilarious! You're not laughing. Oh! Of course you're not laughing because you don't know what it's about. Well then, have a seat and old Sheogorath will explain it all over breakfast. I insist! It's been so long since I've cooked and the sheer hilarity of this, it just makes me want to tell it all to you. Mostly because it lets me spite the other god..." Sheogorath grumbled.
"The other god?" Sibylla asked.
"Tut tut! No interruptions! Sit, sit, I'll go make breakfast. Well, maybe just for the living woman. You go find some blood, or werewolves or babies, or whatever it is you undead like to eat these days. Now, where's some cheese? Cheese for everyone! Oh me, how I've missed that glorious bastard." Sheograth declared while zipping around in Bann-Je's body. The Argonian began raiding the larder just as Claudia and Sibylla were stunned into sitting down. Claudia may have wanted an explanation but this was far from what she was expecting.
Two cheese wedges were dropped right in front of them. Sheogorath belatedly remembered that Claudia was a vampire and frowned knowing that she would not be consuming cheese. Instead, he poured some red wine on her wedge with the declaration that it would "look like blood now at least" before lackadaisically sitting on a chair and grinned at both of them.
"Now then, what you really need to know is that Molag Bal, he's a bit of a bastard. All he cares about is manipulating you folks. Oh, we all like to do it, but he really likes to up it a notch, causing havoc. As he goes around and breaks things, that's how he collects your souls and all. What he does with them, I don't know. Actually, that reminds me, I should check on those clowns again. Or were they clouds? Hmm, I should go stylize my hair. Anyway! The blighter decides he should get creative so he tricks Peryite, the Daedra of decay, to go send a follower of his to go muck some stuff up with diseases. You with me so far? This is where things get complicated, lassies." Sheogorath did not even allow them a moment to nod.
"The trick is, this is still some plot by Molag Bal. Peryite is happily causing sickness and maladies as he's wont to do, but this is Molag Bal's project. In the end, he gets all the credit and Peryite is just along for the ride."
"So why did Azura get involved?" Claudia asked, earning her a confused look from Sibylla.
"Because she's a silly softie like that! ...You're not buying it? Well, I think it has something to do with the fact that she's a proud old bird. Perhaps her sitting out while two other Daedra got in with all the fun would have slighted her pride or something. Don't ask me the details on her motivations, she's the one that tried incarnation after incarnation of the Nerevarine. And you know what they say about someone who keeps doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. Determined!"
"Couldn't she have gotten her own acolyte to do something instead of, well, me?"
"How am I suppose to know? You're asking logic of me! Don't you see the problem with that?" Sheogorath retorted.
"...But then why did you get involved?" Sibylla inquired.
"Because...I can."
"Don't lie. You said you were doing something to another daedra by telling us this." Claudia scolded.
"Hahaha, well don't you get it? Vampirism first started with Molag Bal. That was his baby and it was a curse that became a disease. He's using the little errand boy of diseases to do his dirty work, but what should be the wee lassie that mucks up all his plans? Why, it's a vampire, a spawn of Molag Bal that defies Molag Bal! Hahahahaha, this is just too rich!"
And before they could hear Sheogorath laugh hysterically anymore, Bann-Je's eyes went normal and the voice left his throat. The Argonian fell off his chair and landed on the floor clutching his head. He groaned in pain.
"Argh! My head, I feel like a voice is missing."
Claudia sat in stunned silence. That was what this had all been about? This whole year, her current curse, their interrupted lives were all because of some Daedra toying with them? In a way, the Divines had been manipulated too; their followers forced along a path because of their predictable devotion. Claudia was not sure whether to be angry, to laugh or to cry. She was still in shock and everything felt hollow. She was still staring into thin air when Do'Ravier lazily shuffled down the stairs and let out a yawn.
"Did Do'Ravier miss anything?" he asked tiredly.