I'm not really a pro with lore, the Ayleid fact just sort of stood out. I was getting tired of the commonly used races, so I figured I'd go for something different. This chapter was written in a bit of haste, so please tell me if it sounds a bit... choppy. Danke!
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The sky overhead was moonless and covered with thick clouds that night. A gentle breeze stirred the trees and brush occasionally, causing Isa to root to a spot on the ground and look around frantically. The stillness of the night in conjunction with her first orders was making her a touch fearful. Her feet numbly carried her to Gnisis, under bridges and past dancing shadows. When the stone archway came into view her heart leapt up to her throat and began to pound furiously. A torch was moving side to side and Isa thought it was a guard, but as she approached she saw it was Hentus.
"Let's get this over with." She said to Hentus.
"Lord Dagoth tells me you're slightly anxious. After tonight you won't need your mind to be controlled to act out the work of His will. Before you act you must put these on." He said, handing her a set of heavy brown robes.
"What exactly am I going to be doing?"
"You must take on the appearance of a pauper in order to make our plans less conspicuous. I have taken the liberty of infecting the devout Tribunal followers with ash-chancre. As planned, they are all recovering in the Temple, and they are all too weak to move from their beds. The plan is pretty straightforward: you will go in and burn the building down from the inside. But first, you will slaughter the head priest."
"Let me get this straight," Isa snorted with disbelief, "You want me to burn the temple? Doesn't that seem just a bit too obvious?"
"The plan is to weaken the will of the followers. Lord Dagoth's plans may not make sense to you now, but in time you will come to appreciate them. When you are done here you will head to Suran for your next orders."
Without another word Hentus snuffed his torch and skulked out of town, leaving Isa to try and figure out how to stealthily burn down the temple. A small voice in the back of her mind told her that this operation wasn't meant to be done with tact, despite her old habits as a thief. Taking a deep breath, she hid her scimitar beneath her robes and entered the temple.
Gnisis appeared to be a fairly small town, so Isa was surprised to see bedrolls laying practically everywhere. Carefully stepping over the bodies, she navigated her way in the dim torchlight through the entryway and into the main room, where more people were sleeping. While bestriding an Orc man and an Imperial child Isa wondered weather the head priest would be awake or not, or better yet would they be staying above or below her current location.
Before she lost her balance and ruined the mission, Isa decided to take the ramp up to where the Shrine of the Mask was kept. She looked around to find an Ordinator half-asleep at his post, and coming from above her she heard the scratching of a quill.
"Take the mask." A voice told her.
"Excuse me?" Isa whispered, recognizing the disembodied voice as Dagoth Gilvoth.
"Lord Dagoth wants you to wear Vivec's ash mask while you carry out your orders." Gilvoth scolded, not seeing what the confusion was.
Isa shrugged and walked up to the triangular pillar. She placed her hands on the cold stone and jumped back slightly as the center segment fell to reveal the stone gray ash mask. She eyed it with some regard, wondering what it was like to be entombed in an ash casket and weather or not it would fit her. Reaching up, she gripped the mask around the jaw and gave a gentle tug. With a burst of light and a bit of force the mask conceded to her efforts.
Just as the Ordinator was becoming aware of what Isa was doing she placed the mask over her face and felt a chill run down her spine. The Ordinators' yelling attracted the attention of the stranger above them, and when she looked up she saw a woman in light blue and yellow robes preparing to cast a spell. Isa charged the priestess with her scimitar tightly in hand, and just as a burden spell hit her square in the chest she unsheathed her blade and cut a swath from the priestess' chest.
The magicka that had been glowing in the woman's hands faded as she let out a howl of pain. With another swipe of her sword the woman's head fell to the ground with a fleshy splat as it hit the concrete. Metal footsteps caught Isa's attention as the Ordinator charged her with mace in hand. Isa knocked him off balance on the ramp with a swift kick, and as he stumbled back she brought her scimitar down upon him. The keen blade sliced through his armor, but slowed down as it lost momentum due to the finely crafted shell.
Isa yanked her sword from his torso and wiped the blood on the Ordinators' pants. She looked around idly and spied a torch lit on the wall. After sheathing her sword she calmly made her way over to the other side of the room and plucked it off of the wall. Isa touched the flaming torch to the many books in the room, and once they were all roaring she left and made her rounds in the rest of the temple. She lit everything that would burn: from tapestries, to chests filled with scrolls and alchemical ingredients, even the ash and bone pits on the lower level of the building.
The people residing in the building were beginning to stir as the flames spread. Some of them cried out feebly and tried to rise from their bedrolls, but fell back from the ash-chancre. Isa ignored them as she made her way out of the building and to the silt-strider.
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Caelestis and his men spent a good portion of the night questioning the people of Ald-Ruhn, but they came up short for the most part. Many of the men at Hawkmoth recounted seeing a stranger in a black cloak teleport out of nowhere, but they didn't know anything else about the criminal. It wasn't until Caelestis stopped in the Ald Skar Inn for a drink that an interesting lead came up.
"Yeah, I saw someone in a black cloak a few hours ago." An Orc said at the bar.
"Is that so?" Caelestis asked, not believing the intoxicated Orc.
"Yeah, I saw her talking to a half-naked Dunmer man just outside of town. There's a little hole just behind the Fighters' Guild that you can leave town by." The Orc slurred as he began to sway on his stool.
Caelestis stood up and left the Inn after tipping his server. He followed the Orc's instructions, all the while thinking that he was wasting his time. To his surprise, he saw a half-naked Dunmer man sitting by a signpost just outside of town.
"Excuse me," Caelestis said to get the man's attention, "Do you mind if I ask you some questions?"
The Dunmer looked up at Caelestis with a half-laded gaze.
"Right," Caelestis said, hand near the hilt of his sword, "A few hours back did you see someone in a black cloak go into town?"
"Of course," the man said grinning, "That was Dagoth Isa!"
"Dagoth... Isa?"
"Yes! Soon the world will know of Her! She is the heir of Lord Dagoth Ur! The Sixth House shall again rise with the arrival of Her!
Caelestis took a step back from the psychopath, "Where is she?"
"She went to Gnisis to spread the will of Lord Dagoth!" the man raved as Caelestis left.
Once in town Caelestis gathered his men and headed toward the silt-strider. After confirming that the Dunmer man wasn't a lunatic they all paid their fares and left for Gnisis.
Upon arrival the entire town of Gnisis was a massacre. Several corpses littered the ground. It was a macabre mixture of civilians, guards and ash creatures. For the next several hours Caelestis and his men fought to protect what remained of the town, which wasn't much since most of the people were sick in the temple.
Finally, as dawn broke over the hillside nearly all of the townspeople that had been killed had been properly buried, and the ash creatures' corpses were burned outside of town. Caelestis looked up from his plot as he heard the humming of wings nearing. A silt strider was pulling into port, along with a rider.
"Did a woman ride out of town wearing a black cloak?" Caelestis asked the man.
"No, but one did rush out of town wearing brown robes and a mask."
"Where was she headed?"
"Seyda Neen."