Preparation
Peerha sat down. He also grabbed a bottle of Sujamma and removed the cork. Jekhel lita pipe and settled himself into a chair opposite Peerha. The alcohol from the bottle poured out and into two wooden mugs. Once filled to the brim, Peerha passed one to Jekhel and then took a large gulp from his own.
"First off, I know exactly where the Black Hand headquarters are."
"Where?" was Peerha's instant reaction.
"Don't know, but I have a name."
Peerha's face went from expecting to disappointed in a split second. He took another large gulp from his mug.
"How are we supposed to find the place if we don't know where it is on a map. I seriously doubt there base is going to be located on any maps we have."
"Your exactly right. However, you remember that stuff we confiscated."
"A vile with some unknown purple liquid inside, and a map of Vvardenfell. What's your point?"
"Get me that stuff, and I'll explain it in full."
Peerha stared for a few seconds. Sighing, he got up and disappeared inside a bedroom. He came back with the map and potion. Jekhel took them both.
"Right, now this map may look normal, but that's what it's supposed to do. It's got an enchantment on it." Peerha's interest was once again up. "The enchantment is very simple. You say a little phrase, state a location, and the map will work it's magic. Watch."
Peerha peered down at the map as Jekhel leaned into it. Then, he spoke.
"I, loyal follower of the Black Hand, peruse this map. Argentunium."
Before Peerha's eyes, a word grew upon the map. Small, silver letters written in a curly, wavy pattern that formed the word Argentunium. Just below the word, there was a small circle, with a star centered inside.
"Amazing.One question though. How the hell do all these troops get from Argentunium in the west, to the East over here without being sighted?"
"You forget the potion. I've discovered that this potion is used to teleport you to the location you call for on the map. That's how massive armies can move so quickly. That's why we can't find any tracks. They simply teleport. That's also how information is carried from headquarters to small, movable locations. It all makes sense now, don't you see?"
"Ya I see it." Peerha said, holding the vile of potion in front of his eyes. "Do you know how to make this stuff?"
"Never found that out. We can get an alchemist from a town to analyze it, dissect it, figure it out. Why?"
"Because I want one of these for every single one of our troops. Then we can teleport to Argentunium, and take them by surprise."
"Surprise wouldn't help us. Peerha, I know how many troops are at the Black Hand's command."
"And."
"Six thousand. We'd be crushed." Jekhel answered flatly.
Peerha whistled appreciatively. "Well then, time to call in back-up. Wonder where that Imperial Army is?"
Just then the word for Argentunium disappeared. Replacing it was the word Imperial Army. A small dot followed. They were located two hundred miles south-west of their current location.
"I think we've found out."
"Ok then. First off, let's find us an alchemist. Then, I'll teleport to the Imperial Army and discuss the battle plans. Then, it's off to end this war."
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Finding an alchemist proved simple enough. It turned out that one of their very own troops was an alchemist, before the war. Jekhel had found him by chance, after talking about it during dinner. The man had stood up, introduced himself, and revealed that they would help. After that story had spread throughout the army, everyone was glad they had an alchemist with them. None of them wanted to march back to the nearest town.
Instead, the troops camped out in the village while the alchemist set up his equipment in his room. It took a week to study the stuff, and determine the ingredients. It was a complexion mixture, bound together with a teleportation spell of high difficulty. A few more weeks later, and a minor explosion, he and a skilled mage had produced the first bottle.
"That's good, very good. Keep making that stuff. Teach others how to do it so you can make it faster. We're going to need a lot of it."
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Within an hour, Peerha had gathered up all his stuff, and was ready to teleport. Jekhel reviewed the information, so he wouldn't forget anything. A crowd had gathered around Peerha, because they wanted to see this for themselves.
"Imperial Army."
The map showed the army's location, which had not moved since it was last located. After the name was called out, Peerha tossed the teleportation potion down at his feet. It crashed into the ground and shattered. If it had been any other potion, the liquid inside the vile would have simply splattered all over Peerha's feet. But instead, thick purple smoke curled up from the point where the bottle had smashed, engulfing Peerha.
As it surrounded him, he felt a strange sensation, as if he was fading away from the world. The feeling reminded Peerha of his exploits some years back, on another adventure. He'd used an entirely different, but much more powerful kind of teleportation magic to move about in those exploits. However, the effects remained the same.
A light headed feeling, and loss of vision. He felt as if he was no longer standing on solid ground, but instead floating in the air. He knew however, that this was not what was happening. Peerha did not know exactly how teleportation worked, but he'd heard rumors that one traveled through a magical energy flow, or some other nonsense like that. Some day, he'd find out exactly how it all worked.
The light-headed feeling dissipated slowly, and at the same time, Peerha's vision faded back. No longer was he looking at his soldiers, eagerly watching his disappearance. Now he was standing in a ring of Imperial Legionarres. All of them had a different look on their faces. Some were scared, some amazed, and most were shocked. But if there was one thing they all had in common this was it it; they all had their weapons out, and all were holding them at Peerha's throat.
"I come in peace." was all Peerha could manage to say at the moment.
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"So, the great Peerha Meroe has appeared within the ranks of my army, unannounced, and certainly uninvited. Why? Do be quick about it. You've caused quite a scare in my troops, and such a demoralizing blow can't be tolerated without punishment."
It had taken Peerha a long time to get to this point. He'd been punched by several people, including an angry interrogator. After a lot of angry questions, the Knight finally arrived. Varus Vatinius had reprimanded the interrogator for such harsh abuse, but had then treated Peerha with no trust at all. Peerha had quickly explained who he was to the Knight. It took him a lot of thinking to match him up to the legends and stories, but he finally decided that Peerha was who he said he was.
"A long, interesting story short, I know where the Black Hand's base is." Varus sat down, lit a pipe, and waited patiently for a full explanation.
Peerha launched into his story, starting from the formation of the mercenary army, to their latest battle. Varus listened with respectful attention, but he only actually began to listen when Peerha mentioned his battle plans, and how he could beat the Black Hand, for good.
"That's good." he would say. Other times, he would just grunt, puff on his pipe, and nod his head up and down.
"So, now you can see how my plan would work. It will take some time to prepare, about a month, maybe less. But it would certainly catch them by surprise." Peerha finished.
"Indeed. If only half the legends are true, then truly I can trust you. Didn't you save all of Nirn once from that dreaded Aheera Mazda?"
"Me and a group of companions yes. You might have been there in the final battle. The Imperial army was there as a decoy."
"I served in that battle." Varus recalled. "You had overthrown a tyrant of a Knight. I've forgotten his name, but he was not a nice guy, I'm sure. Much like that Setther fellow you described."
"But I'd say, much worse." Peerha stood up. Varus followed suite. "Well, I need to get back to my own army now. I will send a messenger to keep you updated. Oh, and you should know, all of the stories are true. Save one."
"Which one, pray tell, might that be?"
"The one where I killed two dragons by myself. It was actually only one, but it had two heads. And Pariah helped me."
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When Peerha returned to his army, he found things going well. The troops were gaining some much deserved rest. Those good with Armoring were repairing armor and weapons. Several pairs of troops were making the potions, producing them at a rate just slight over thirty a day. It was all going perfectly, and Peerha finally felt some peace again, knowing that soon, his troubles would be over.
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