The Crazy Cult of Mannimarco
~Narrator's POV~
*Sigh* What a boring day. No housework. Quiet and empty house. Nothing good to watch. There's nothing productive to do when you're home with your sister and your parents are out for the day. I guess I can play the newest DLC, that I got last week, of my favorite game; Elder Scrolls Online, and teach my sister about it, since she likes Elder Scrolls as much as I do.
The game's chronology takes place in a timeline long before the time of Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, even before the first Elder Scrolls game; Arena. Delving deeper into lore of the universe of Elder Scrolls. Since the current game consoles, PC, PS4 and X-Box Ones, can connect to the internet, the player can interact with other players and complete quests. Like every other online game, but the graphics are amazing.
Don't get me wrong, I love the Elder Scrolls games. Bethesda did a good job with Elder Scrolls. Even with their left hints of the other games. I've played the original Oblivion, Skyrim and even bought Online for PC, but my computer did have enough drive space and everything was green and missing some of the graphics, characters and everything was green.
They were fun and the lore was so interesting and magical. I especially love the races you can play as well.
Whilst my younger sister mostly played Bosmer characters, while I usually played Argonian or Dunmer characters. Mostly Argonians, because I love reptiles and I felt a connection with the Argonians. Their skills and powers are awesome and unique.
Bosmer, also known as Wood Elves, are smaller and more agile than the other Mer, or elf races. They adapted into the garden forest country of Valenwood. Well tanned skin, almond shaped eyes and some have deer-like antlers growing from their heads. Skilled in archery and hunting.
Dunmer, also known as Dark Elves, are tall elves with ash-colored skin and scarlet red eyes. They live in the alien-like island of Morrowind. Like the Orcs of Orsinium of the Elder Scrolls lore, they were 'cursed' to look the way they do. Skilled in dual-wielding weapons and fire magic.
Argonians are basically anthropomorphic reptilian folk from the swamps of Black Marsh. Their skills and attributes make them skilled warriors and healers. Such as being able to breathe underwater, skilled in stealth and restoration magic, and immune to poison and disease. Also... Did I mention that I love reptiles? ;p
Anywho, I'm rambling too much. I walked down into the basement suite of the family's two-story house and switched on my Playstation 4 console. My mother has a Star Wars Edition PS4, but she doesn't know how to use it. So, it's just for show.
I grabbed the game case, opened it, grabbed the disk and inserting the game disk into the console. It took around an hour to upload the game and we were ready to play. I've heard many good things about this DLC. Vampires and werewolves working together to take over Tamriel. The underground realm of Blackreach. Western Skyrim finally free to explore!
The screen showed the entrance screenshot of a snow-covered background with a wolf-like emblem. The music was soft and somber. I pressed the X button to start, then logged into with my Elder Scrolls account. I pressed play, and the game showed its opening cinematic. It was breathtaking and amazing.
But, there was something wrong. After the cinematic opening, the screen went black and the sound just quiet. I raised a brow and tried pressing every button on the controller. Nothing worked, it's like the game crashed or something. I tried pressing the PS button on the controller, but it won't go back to the home page. I tried switching the console off manually. Switching the tv off. Unplugging the tv set and console.
Nothing changed, except for a strange sound and Molag Bal's face appearing in the screen just for a second, then the screen went black. That was really weird.
Suddenly, the doorbell rang. My younger sister, who was lounging in the living room, got up from the sofa, walked toward the front door, and unlocked the door. She opened the door, as I reached the last step on the staircase. Standing on the other side of the doorway were three people in familiar hooded robes of black, red and grey. Like some sort of cult members. Or cosplayers?
The middle one, the tallest, looked at my sister, "Are you the one named 'Eleanor Carter'?" He asked in a deep voice.
Sam, my sister, glanced at me and called, "Ellie, it's for you."
I walked down the last step and joined my sister at the door. "Can I help you?" I asked politely.
"We've heard you bought an Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor game last week." The female on the left explained, then asked, "Has anything strange happened to your game?"
Sam glanced at me again, and I looked at her. I narrowed my eyes at the trio and answered, "Y-yes. Something strange did happen. How did you know?"
The cloaked trio looked at each other than, looked at me, "You must come with us."
"Why?" I asked.
"Our leader foretold that our special game will be bought by two sisters. If they saw Molag Bal's face, we must take them to him." The younger one on the right explained, then he looked at mine and my sister's matching amethyst necklaces.
He grabbed the amethyst of my necklace and examined it. His eyes widen in shock, as he gasped.
Sam slapped his hand away from me, "Hey! Hands off if you wanna keep them!"
The younger one turned to his brethren and whispered in a foreign language. The female and the tall one took a step back and then looked at me and my sister.
"You two must come with us." The female told me and Sam, grabbing my wrist tightly.
"Hey!" I shouted, taking a step back, "What do you think you're doing!?" I asked.
"I am afraid we must insist." The female answered.
The tall one grabbed Sam's arm. I tried to fight back, but the female's grip was too strong. Then I felt something hit me at the back of my head, hard. I lost the feeling to my legs and I fell to the ground, as the cold of darkness welcomed me. The last thing I heard was Sam calling my name.
When I woke up, I found myself and my younger sister in rags, bound and chained up like some medieval prisoner, and being taken to an abandoned church. The hooded trio were there and dragged my sister and I into the church.
Inside the church were more of the hooded people of all shapes and sizes. A stone table stood in front of an organ and a blonde-haired man was standing over the table with a knife and some sort of amethyst in his hands. Platinum blonde hair, strong angular facial features, light skin, sharp eyes. Almost like an elf. He looked very familiar to me.
The man looked at the trio, then looked at me and my sister, "This is the one?" He asked.
The tall one nodded, "Yes, Lord Mannimarco. This one claims to have seen Lord Molag Bal's face. Just as you foretold."
My eyes widened. 'Mannimarco'? But, isn't he a High Elf character in Elder Scrolls Online and Oblivion? Leader of the Worm Cult and one of the main antagonists of ESO. Disciple of Molag Bal. This man looked just like him, but human. How is that possible?
"Bring her to the stone table." He instructed, "The ritual has begun."
The trio grabbed my arms and dragged me to the stone table and Mannimarco. They laid me on top of it, as Mannimarco readied his knife.
"Who are you people? Some sort of cult?" I asked, as I struggled against the cultists' grip, but no avail.
"We are the Worm Cult. Disciples of Molag Bal. Descendants of those who have perished in the real world." The female answered, as she bound my left arm and right leg.
I tried to fight back, but to no avail. The tall one finished binding me to the table. The blonde-haired man stood over me and chanted in a language I recognized from the Elder Scrolls series. Aldmeris. The language of the Ancient Elves.
Where and how did he learn the language? Unless he is the real Mannimarco!
"You people are insane!" I shouted, struggling against the bindings, "This isn't Nirn! This isn't even Tamriel!"
"Ah. So, you're aware of the real world." The blonde-haired man smirked, noticing my words, "We know this isn't our world. Thus, we must return to our home..."
"In order to return, we must rid ourselves of these prisons of flesh." The tall one continued.
"Once freed, we can return to our rightful home in Tamriel." A young hooded cultist finished.
"You're crazy. You all are." I whispered.
The blonde-haired man said nothing and took my necklace from my neck. With one quick action, he pierced the knife through my heart. I felt the sharpness of the knife, followed by a painful, burning sensation. Then cold and numb. Screaming voices drowned in my ears. Warm liquid seeping through my clothes.
The amethyst in the blond-haired man's hand glowed and my body was engulfed in a earth green-like aura. I think it was poison, because the other cultists were coughing and collapsing on to the ground. However, I felt nothing. I looked up and read the hooded man's lips as he spoke.
'Lilmothiit...'
The aura around my body was sucked into the gem, but it surrounded the blonde-haired man's forearm. He coughed and collapsed to the ground, dropping the gem next to my head, breaking and shattering into small shards and pieces. I began to feel numb and limp.
The last thing I saw before the darkness took its hold on me was a golden, anthropomorphic dragon, standing over me in the hooded man's place. He was 8 to 9 foot tall and had this look in his eyes. Where did he come from?
The dragon reached his hand out to me. Something told me I should trust him and take his hand. I tried to reach my hand out to him, but the darkness fell and my body fell limp.
*Dream*
I opened my eyes to find myself in a cave. But, this cave was different. There was a large sakura tree, reaching toward the cracks of light in the ceiling. Flowers, herbs and fungi grew together in harmony. A workstation that seemed to be used by a herbalist. It was the most beautiful place I've ever seen.
In the center of the cave, there was a fire pit and a man sitting on a chair. I walked toward the man. He wore old mage robes and a hood. In his hand was a long staff. Although wearing a hood, I could see the man's face. He was human. Senior age by the looks of it. Silver-white hair that reached his shoulders. And his eyes were milky white.
Wait, milky white eyes? This man is blind?
I cautiously approached the man and spoke up, "Hello, sir?"
The man didn't look my direction, but he looked up and spoke,
"A land rough-hewn by those who have passed,
Of frozen peaks and frosts that burn.
High winds that test the strongest od masts,
Bold Skyrim is proud crown of Nirn."
I tilted my head and listened. He was speaking in poem. Like he was describing a place, or a person.
"Now we are living through dang'rous days,
An era that was long foretold.
It will be, as an Elder Scroll says,
When fire's reborn in bitter cold."
The man's eyes began to glow and the sakura petals began to morph into moths. Like magic of sorts.
"But from the silence of mountain mists,
We can hear a whispering voice.
Midst ruins and trees the sound of it twists,
Telling us all we still have a choice."
The moths began circling around me, a few even landed on me for a few seconds. I stayed as still as I could. Then the man stood up and looked at me. His body was enveloped by a glowing white aura.
"A quiet breath the hero has drawn,
Released 'neath a darkening sky.
The gathering clouds at the breaking of dawn,
Retreat at the Dovahkiin's cry..."
*Dream End*
Cold air sent needles into my skin. My mind began to clear and my eyes began to open on their own. My vision was blurry, but I was able to recognize sounds around me. Hooves slowly clopping across a stone path. Wooden wheels turning.
A horse-drawn carriage.
Ugh! My head! What the heck hit me? I can't even remember how or when I got into this carriage. The last thing I remember was playing my Elder Scrolls Online game, but it wouldn't play, the screen went black and then Molag Bal's face appeared on the screen. Then strange cultists took me and my younger sister to an abandoned church and their leader killed me.
I gasped and placed my hand over my chest. My chest felt heavy and there was a steady heartbeat, no scars or signs of where that man stabbed me. I don't understand. How can I still be alive when I distinctively remember being killed? Is this the afterlife? It's too cold and wintery to be my form of paradise. Is this Hell? No... It's too calm and tranquil.
I looked around as my vision cleared. I wasn't alone on the carriage. Seven more people were with me. One was driving the carriage. Another was sitting across from me, reading a book. Sitting next to him was a tall woman sleeping. And four more were walking at the front and the back of the carriage on foot. Like escorts or guards.
I looked around the environment and saw we were travelling down a mountainous region. Mountains and fern trees covered in snow. One of the mountains in the distance caught my attention. It was taller than the others around it. I felt like I should know this place...
Suddenly a voice spoke up, "Hey, you're finally awake! We just crossed the border."
I blinked and looked over to see that the driver was looking over his shoulder to look at me. I looked over at the man sitting across from me. He was tall and skinny with shoulder-length brown hair and deep red eyes. His ears were pointed and his facial features were angular. Like an Altmer, but his skin was pale as the snow. A vampire, maybe? He wore a brown leather attire.
He gave me a glance, as the driver continued speaking, "I've heard strange things have been happening since I was away. Even so, it's good to be back home. Back in Skyrim..."
My eyes widen in recollection. Now wonder this place looked familiar! Skyrim. I'm in Skyrim! That means that cult transported me to the Elder Scrolls universe by killing me! Those bastards! Well... I can't argue about it anyway, there's probably no way of returning home now.
Nightfall came and the carriage came to a stop, as a strange woman in wild robes and a mask stood in the road. I narrowed my eyes at the woman, as two of the guards walked toward her.
The driver sighed and shrugged his shoulders, "Ugh, it's always something."
My eyes widen in recognition, as I stood up from the carriage and shouted, "Icereach!"
The woman, the guards and the driver looked at me with raised brows. Then the woman tapped the road with her staff and the driver was knocked off his seat by a flock of bats in a blood red mist. The bats and the mist materialized to reveal the driver was being attacked by a vampire in dark clothing.
There was a howl and one of the guards was being chomped on by a werewolf. Then another spellcaster launched a fire spell at another guard and another vampire attacked. The man sitting across from me gasped and hid at the back of the carriage. Before I could move, one of the witches cast a flame spell at me, knocking me off the carriage. I blacked out for a second, until I felt someone pick me up and drag me toward the woman that started the whole attack.
The woman looked at me behind her mask and instructed, "These two. Take them to the barrow." Then she walked away.
The werewolf howled and the second witch knocked me out with another spell.
So much for first impressions, eh?