Cearbhail:
Hey people. Hard to believe, right? I mean...two years and now... there's After Shoutmen. Set two weeks after the events of the first Shoutmen... and actually before the final chapter where Bloodstain meets Cecilie for the first time. Anyway, it's hard to imagine this story, but I felt like it really needed to be told. Well, that and I still love the Watchmen. And when I found out about Before Watchmen...which I haven't read any of those yet, I decided a perfect parody would happen After Shoutmen. That and there is a legitimate story going on afterwards. I mean...life goes on. And this...the whole situation is beyond regular repair. Even if their war is tied up in Changing Fates, there is still what is happening in Solitude now. What will follow into Changing Fates. We will find out just how far this story will go. I wonder... mostly because I do not yet know myself.
[Bloodstain]
Claus Mottiere's journal, 25 Morningstar 5e000
It's been two weeks since the Shoutmen took Solitude from the hands of Fiirnar the Great and his vampire council. Things have been patchy, but not overly so. With the official crowning of Vivian Battle-Born as the official High Queen of Skyrim, we have the makings of our kingdom once again. Solitude stands as a tiny beacon of light, a symbol for change. The Nords of Skyrim still lie in their beds, working for elves that still think they owe the land. The former slaves that rebelled are the only army we have at the moment, and even then they are unorganized and chasing chickens. I wish I could direct an offensive and help take Skyrim back, but with no one but Reachmen to watch the High Queen…I am not leaving my queen's side. I have faith in our new army. The slaves toiled away in the Dwarven ruins for gods' know how long. They have grown strong and know how to use a pickaxe. The Silenced elves stand little a chance against hard steel used by hardened warriors.
Vivian has decided to move to Winterhold, where her great-grandmother made her final stand against the invading Thalmor army. I support her decision to leave Solitude, but before we go, we need to instate the first Jarl of Solitude. It has been 100 years since a Nord sat upon a throne. Hard to believe that a Nord will rule a town. Never in my life did I expect to see a Nord ruling a village. Harder to believe who is qualified enough to lead a town. That's my milestone, finding a Jarl for this town.
There is something that needs to be addressed. Our High Queen is a Nord…the first Nord ruler in 100 years. And that means we will make Skyrim a Nord country like it was in the past. And that would mean that a Nord will become the new Jarl of this town. And this town has had nothing but elven leaders, elven royals, upper class…while the Nords that lived here were nothing more than lower class, beggars, and servants. With Nords in power again, how will the struggle between the two races conclude? For days we've had tension, uncertainty. Thalmor supports are innumerable, acting out in revolutionary displays of minor terrorism. The Nords seem quick to push for more power, but reluctant to grab leadership. My fellow Shoutman, Reachman, has moved back to Markarth, and I am the only Shoutman with the exclusion of the High Queen, the Summoner. It is up to me to protect this town while we still live here. And I will do whatever I must to make sure it stays safe.
Claus.
…
The sun rose quietly over the ice fields to the east. I always came outside onto the tower overlooking the Blue Palace where the remains of the magicka cannon rested first thing in the morning. I always found it to be the most peaceful moment of my days. I would watch the purple and pink sky light up as the sun started to rise. The sky appeared darker purple these days. It's only natural when you burn a global supply of oil in the sky in the course of an evening bonfire. Of course, every night we had rainstorms. And all that oil that burned up in the air would come drizzling down, coating everything in a layer of oily water. I found it ironic. Between the beautiful sky and the oily daily showers, you would think that our world would be ready for change. I wonder how long the sky will remain the pink and purple color before all the oil drizzled down from the sky. I wonder how long until the magicka returns to our world.
For those of you just tuning in, our world was lost to us 100 years ago, at the closing of the Dragon Crisis. When we crowned a new High King, a man by the name Stonearm, a name almost lost to history with the exclusion of a few journals and well-kept chronicles of his adventures, we wouldn't know anything about the past. When we crowed the new High King, the Aldmeri Dominion took it as a challenge to their 'authority'. They pushed the new High King to plead fealty to the Dominion, and he said 'no'. The Dominion marched in to fight Skyrim; and Elsweyr, Morrowind, Hammerfell, Akavir, the Oceans Elven, and even Black Marsh stepped up to fight the Dominion. They all lost.
How they lost the war is not known to us. There were no recorded texts of the war that followed; no history of what happened. No journals kept. Only one person knew. Her name was Cecilie Battle-Born. The illegitimate daughter of the High King. From what we know, the High King died in the beginnings of war, and when he died, the union fell apart. With no leader to guide the war effort, slowly the Dominion took over. It started with Elsweyr. It was separated from the other nations and fell quickly. Black Marsh followed shortly after. Then Morrowind. And finally…eight years after the High King died…Skyrim fell. The illegitimate daughter, Cecilie Battle-Born, the unofficial High Queen, a 19 year-old girl, watched from the Crystal Palace in Winterhold as her army died all around her. And when it was over, she was killed by Fiirnar the Great.
She died so that the Shoutmen could live. She died so that I could exist. She died…because she knew that I would step up and fight the Dominion 100 years later. At least, that's what she told me in a dream a few days ago. She said I would burn and Silence the world…and that I would do it for all the right reasons. So, not even one year ago, when Shoutmen started dying, I started looking for answers. It led me to Vivian…the last known heir to Cecilie's bloodline. And then it led me to Solitude, right to Fiirnar the Great. He was killing the Shoutmen to draw me out in the open. He was killing Shoutmen because he knew I'd fight back. And when I massed an army onto Solitude…he wiped them out with a magicka cannon. He captured me and Vivian, using us as vampire feeders. We thought we had lost. And then my old friend Madanach stepped up and saved us. It's because of him that we're still alive, and that Fiirnar is dead. The three of us killed him, and stopped the war in Skyrim by blowing up the magicka cannon. The explosion caused a temporary rift in our world's ley lines, causing a global Silence. No more magicka for a while. I also blew up the oil pipelines the Thalmor relied on for all their little gadgets. No more gadgets.
I stop to think about Cecilie. She was known as the Seer among the Shoutmen. She started the Shoutmen. She knew everything, including the war that would claim her life. In her own journal, she confessed to knowing that she would be killed by Fiirnar, at the exact day and time she died. She warned everyone, but no matter how much she tried to fight it…it still came. She had to know that I was here, fighting the good fight. She had to know that the world was going to a dark place when she died. And yet…she run from her fate. Perhaps she thought she'd bring only more pain to the world, or perhaps it led to a darker place if she won. I don't claim to know what she thought when she knew she was going to die. All I know is that we have a chance to start over. And every morning when I come outside to watch the sun rise…it's like the dawn of a new age. A rising sun to take away the darkness that has set in for far too long. And I intend on keeping the sun up as long as possible. After all…vampires hate the sun…and the Dominion is full of them.
As soon as the sun broke over the ice fields, I felt a satisfying breeze of air overtake me. Morning had finally come to Skyrim. I took a nice deep breath as I closed my eyes and let the air wash over me. This was perhaps the only relaxation I would have today. When the moment had passed, I turned to exit down the ladder. I was surprised to see Vivian's head poking out the tower's exit. When she saw me looking at her, she smiled and finished climbing the staircase. "Good morning." She said to me as she walked up, throwing her arms around me, pulling me in for a tight hug and kiss. There are moments when Vivian and I touch where we both lock up and flinch. It's not because we don't love each other, because we certainly do, it's because our time as vampire feeders cannot be erased from our minds. Vampires used ecstasy to feed. It hurts like hell, but it's also the biggest turn-on. And you crave more and more, even if you're dead on the floor. The withdrawal is hard to deal with too. Vivian and I try some kinky things to overcome our withdrawal but it's near impossible to satisfy…and every time we get intimate…it only brings painful memories to being feeders. One step at a time; we will overcome this.
When we finished our forced hug and kiss, I looked her in the eyes for a few seconds. I've only known her for maybe 10 days now…and yet we were so much in love that it was beyond anything I could imagine. "What brings you up here so early in the morning?"
"Do you ever think about getting married?" She asked me so simply that it caused me to pause. She looked so sincere, so innocent in her question that it caused me to laugh a little while she hugged me close to her. When her face scrunched up, she slammed her foot against the ground, saying, "What's so funny about that?"
I shook my head. With everything that was going on in our nation; with everything that we had seen and been through the past few days…with only knowing each other for almost a month…she was talking about getting married already. I found it comforting to know that my being jaded had not corrupted her pure innocence. You see, Vivian grew up in an abandoned Orc stronghold with her grandmother. She didn't have many friends, if any at all, and did nothing but read books that had been collected in stored for knowledge-sake. Most of them were romance novels. She had a very idealistic view of the world, and I was glad that she could maintain that even after what she's seen.
"I'm just surprised that you would ask that before the first date." I said to her as she started pushing me away.
She huffed in her usual manner, crossing her arms and looking away. "You'd think that the whole adventure to Solitude, getting date-raped by vampires, and taking back an entire city…even sleeping in the same bed…having copious amounts of sex to overcome our date-rapes would qualify as at least one date."
I found myself nodding. "Ok, you have me there." I let that paused as I looked her over. "Are you sure you want to get married to me? You're the High Queen now. You could get any man in the entire country of Skyrim if you wanted them."
She nodded. "That is true…I hadn't thought of that." She paused and stroked her chin for a second before shrugging. "Oh well, I guess I'll just go with the man that's not only saved my life three or four times, shown me a life worth living, made me feel love for the first time, but is also half-responsible for the thing growing in my stomach."
I paused. I flat-out paused. I've experienced a lot of things. I've been shot by arrows; I've been mauled by Khajiit bodyguards. I've been poisoned, tortured. I was even shoved off the tallest mountain in Skyrim. And I survived. And I've been fed upon by vampires while being whipped. All of those paled in comparison to how I felt at that moment. I felt so…tiny, so fearful. Not for me, but for what that meant. A new life…a new person, a new responsibility. Vivian was at the top of my protection list. She was the love of my life, and she was the only surviving heir to the Battle-Born throne. And now…she had a new life growing inside her. And it was my child. That tiny person…just made it to the top of my protection list. "Are you sure you're…pregnant?"
She nodded. "I had a suspicion, and the healer shaman Madanach left for us confirmed it."
I nodded. "That was…fast." I didn't know exactly how to expression just how taken by surprise I was. I thought it might be possible, but I just hadn't thought that anything we did would have such fast repercussions.
"I was surprised too, you know." She smiled. "But still, isn't this what we want? Normal lives? A family?"
I nodded. "Yes, of course. I had just hoped we would have ended the violence in Skyrim first." Or at least gotten out of Solitude. Now I had even more reason to get her out of here as soon as I could. The longer we stayed in this town…a town that was already feeling tension between the elves and the humans resting here, the more likely a riot would get Vivian killed.
Vivian frowned at my comment, saying, "Claus…" That was all she could say before she jerked forward. I heard the snap of an arrow as it slammed into her back, and just as fast, she fell into my arms. Blood splattered onto my face: Vivian's blood. As she fell forward, I reached out, grabbing her in my arms and spinning her behind me.
"Guards! Get your asses up here!" I screamed as loudly as I could. As I did so, two guards came rushing up the stairwell leading to the tower. I could hear their metal boots stomping on the metal steps of the ladder that led straight up to me. I reached down for my own weapon, but realized that I didn't carry one so early in the morning. I was weaponless. I scanned the tower for any signs of falling arrows. I didn't see any, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't come. It was at times like these that something would go wrong. I should have seen the signs. Life was threatening to become normal and enjoyable. I wasn't allowed to have nice moments. Even when I was at my safest, I needed to be on guard. I waited and watched until I could see two barely armor-clad guards finally rushing up the ladder up to me. I half-felt that they would have been Thalmor agents, coming to finish what the archer started. I was happily surprised when I saw the heads of some Nord prisoners from the prison riot two weeks ago poking up the tower exit.
When the guards saw the downed queen, the lead guard drew his sword, bringing it up defensively. He scanned the tower just as I had done not even a second ago, looking for any threat that he could chase after and kill. It was a hopeless cause though. We were sitting on top of a long tower, so far up that there was nowhere nearby to even begin fighting someone. The archer had to be very good at shooting arrows, and there was only one race that could shoot arrows that precisely: Bosmer. "Sir, what's going on?" He asked as quietly as he could. While he took up a defensive posture, the other guard was rushing up to me to inspect Vivian. I gladly let the man inspect her wound. He was better at diagnosing any survivable treatment on the spot than I was. Well, maybe not. I've survived a lot of things, but I'm no healer.
"I wish I knew." I said to the defending guard. "I was talking to Vivian and then this arrow crashed into her. I think someone just tried to assassinate one of us." I looked down at her to see if she was dead. She was still breathing, I could tell because she was groaning in pain. She didn't focus when I looked her in the eyes. Her pupils were dilated. She was in shock. That's to be expected when you're hit with an arrow from behind. I'm just glad it didn't hit her in the knee. Too many heroes going out like that. Never good for anyone.
The guard inspecting the wound looked up at me. "It's a shallow hit. It must have not been flying very fast. Since we're at the top of a tower, I would reason this blow was not meant to be fatal. I will get her down to the medical ward."
As he shifted the weight of Vivian, I could see the elven arrow sticking out of her shoulder blade. There was a note wrapped down near the golden fletchings. I reached down, grabbing the note, which untied pretty quickly. As the guards started carrying Vivian away, I looked down at the note. Vivian cried out in pain, reaching her hand out for me. "Claus…" She whispered, crying softly as the guards quickly but delicately ushered her down the ladder leading into the castle.
When Vivian was out of sight, I looked back down at the note. Whoever shot the arrow wanted me to see this note. That meant, whoever tried to kill Vivian wanted me to know who they were. When I unraveled the note, I could quickly tell it was elven handwriting. Why on Nirn would I expect it to be anything different? It read: Return Solitude to the Elves. Elven Jarl or Solitude will burn and the High Queen will be killed. Long live the Dominion. Long live the new Empire. Blasted elves. Of course they would try to ruin a good thing. I tried to be easy on them. They had every right to live here as we did. And now…some elf, whether on his own or in an organized gang is going to make my life difficult.
I wanted to crumple the note and toss it to the ground, but this person, whoever they were…they just tried to kill my child. My child! And I take things pretty personally when someone tries to kill my girlfriend. I felt Vivian's blood on my face drizzle down my forehead and down my cheeks. My face was stained with her blood. Maybe it was time to put my old mask back on. Time for Bloodstain to take to the streets, find these criminals…and bring them to the same justice I brought Fiirnar to. It's time to mask up. It's time for Bloodstain to return.
Cearbhail:
Ok, so that is the first chapter. Pretty short, and I really wanted to make it longer. Do not worry though. Just like with my other stories, updates should be coming pretty quickly. But first, I have another paper to write, one to fix, one in Japanese I need to write, oh and I have a bunch of forms to fill out if I plan on joining the JET program this summer. :P Hope to see you all soon. And please review. I really want to hear how you receive this story.