Cearbhail: Yay, a chapter 3. Now we get to see a little of Warlord Zeelius and some of the people he'll be seeing on a daily basis for the next...month or so. And some of the new characters get some personality.

-Warlord Zeelius-

The war-room was filled with bickering idiots. The noise of whining bastards reverberated off the walls and into my ears. Faces that did not belong in this room were ever present. Khajiits, Altmers dressed in black robes, Imperials, and anyone you could think of were all crammed in our war-room. They were looking at our maps, reading our tactical appraisals of the other nations. Everything we were preparing for could be ruined in moments because of the people in this room.

As I said, the room was filled with almost every representative of the major nations. There was Chancellor Fiirnar, a higher up of the newly formed Aldmeri Dominion. This alliance was formed between the Bosmer and the Altmer in the crisis of the Aedra invasion. It was the Altmer's way of taking Valenwood as their own in the disguise of helping the Bosmer defend its borders against the Aedra invading. Little did they know the end result was going to be enslavement. Now the newly formed Thalmor government was moving in on my turf and this Chancellor Fiirnar was here only as an excuse to plan our wartime strategy against the non-invading Aedra.

Ri'Saddo was a Khajiit from Elsweyr. He was here in place of their Mane. Everything that was said here was later reported back to the Mane. I'm not sure if he noticed the map with X's everywhere there was a reported blood-rager killed over the past century. It he did notice it, I'm sure that the Mane now knows that we are still hunting his ultimate warriors. It did not worry me much; I could care less if the entire nation of Elsweyr knew I was still hunting their warriors.

Then there was the Mage Guild's leader, Sosia Ernard. She was a very loud spoken leader. She pretty much sat in the corner, her arms crossed. Of course, her only role in this room was to make sure that her teams coordinated with the rest of our movements. This was the room where everything was being controlled from. This virtual map showed the whole planet and everything going on within it. This room was the only place this map could function, because this was where it was built. This map…was a gift from my new 'ally', Chancellor Fiirnar. I wondered how long our little alliance would last.

There was one last person here in this room with us. Grandmaster of the Blades Jauffre. He was just as quiet as the Mages Guild leader, sitting in his own little corner. His role was simple: everything that happened in this room was reported back to the Emperor of Cyrodiil and to the council as well. Well…the survivors of the council anyway. This was our own war council. We were the strongest tactical minds this planet had to offer so we were of course planning our attack.

The Altmer wearing his supposedly intimidating robes looked over at me, his white eyes glaring at me. "What exactly were all these intelligence reports for? If one was to think so, one would think that Black Marsh was preparing to take over Tamriel." He ran his hands across the marked map of Tamriel. "Look at this…you have all the capitals highlighted with information to how many 'sw' and 'sc' are in that section. I wonder what those mean…" He looked over at me.

Note to self: he dies later. I looked away from the map and over to the virtual map that the Altmer brought to us. I pointed down to it and said, "Can we get back to business, Chancellor Fiirnar?"

Fiirnar nodded and carefully moved away from my map. "Of course, Warlord." He looked down at the map and scanned. "As you all can see, the Aedra are focusing over Hammerfell and Skyrim. There are barely any left in Cyrodiil and your country remains untouched." He looked over at me. "You are lucky to have escaped this unharmed."

I scoffed. "I have foreigners in my hold…do you think I feel lucky?" That much was true. They all knew the secret routes through our foliage now as well as where our capital was located. We worked very hard to make sure that no one ever knew where to find us and now…they found us. Heck, we led them straight to us just because there is nowhere else to run.

Ri'Saddo, a representative of the 'great' Mane was also present in the room. He was looking down at the virtual map with quickening interest. "The Aedra are few in Elsweyr. "Ri'Saddo believes now is the time to send the scouts into Elsweyr to find this ruin."

I looked over at him and held the hatred in my tongue as I said, "Then send your scouts. Your kind are the only ones going out in the sand to dig for these ruins."

Ri'Saddo nodded. "He knows this, but is only letting everyone else know. When Khajiits find ruin, Khajiits will begin movements to secure the device. Khajiits will need help from Joint Task Force."

Fiirnar nodded. "I will begin sending in some Altmer to help with your operation, Ri'Saddo. When do we get to meet your Mane?"

Ri'Saddo smiled. "Chancellor Fiirnar will meet Mane when he visits Elsweyr. The Mane will be happy to meet you."

I looked over at the Arch-Mage of Cyrodiil's Mages Guild. I nodded to her and said, "Are your troops ready?"

She nodded. She was a tall Breton with straight black hair and a belly that was filled with an unborn baby. What the heck was she thinking coming here with that thing? I guess she came here because this was the safest room in all of Tamriel.

She looked down at the map and pointed to the long line of refugees walking into our borders. "You see the green dots surrounding all the white? Those are Battlemage group 4. That's Erandur's group. Don't be fooled by their ages…these mages are some of the strongest fighters we have."

I scoffed. "That says a lot about just how doomed your guild is."

She smiled at that comment. "Don't be fooled. The Mages Guild may be destroyed…but magic will fade. As long as people are able to feel it pulsing through their being…there will always be someone who will ask the question and find the answer. That answer will always lead them to where I'm sitting now…as an Arch-Mage."

The room grew very silent. I nodded and looked down at the map. "That was well said, Arch-Mage. I can see now why your guild respects you so much." I looked back down at the map. That was the same group of refugees that I was dispatching my Shadow Squad to help relocate to Gideon. And the squad that has the blood-raging Khajiit was among them. Good…I was hoping to get an outsiders opinion on this…creature. Shadowmaster Julanza, who was in charge of my ungrateful daughter, was going to give me a full report.

Chancellor Fiirnar smirked and looked down at the map. "Where are your troops anyway? I don't see them in Gideon, preparing for the arrival of the refugees."

I looked down at the map and saw that Gideon was in fact…empty. I growled and activated the transmitter and receiver for Shadowscale Nexa's earpiece.

"I'm about two seconds away from shoving that wand down your throat." A voice called.

"You even try to touch me and I'll fry you!" A female voice responded.

"Everyone…calm down. Now…come. You're both late. We need to shadowport to Gideon." That was my daughter's voice.

I scratched my head and looked up at the other leaders. Chancellor Fiirnar was smirking his ass off. "Well, I see you have chosen the best Black Marsh has to offer."

I groaned and looked away. "Shadowscale, Nexa! Report!"

…

-Nexa-

I stood near around my three shadowscales. We were waiting outside for the shadowwraiths. I sighed. It was well past 0445. It was 0512. They should have been here a while ago. I looked over the faces of my shadowscales. Vista was the only one who looked pissed.

He crossed his arms. "I knew we shouldn't have trusted a bunch of book reading shadowwraiths to show up on time."

I suppressed a chuckle and looked back at him. "What's wrong with reading books? I read."

"Books have words…I hate words. I'd rather kill the things that use words." He replied.

I shook my head. He was a typical fighter: all brawn, no brain. That's ok, I didn't need him to be smart; I needed him to be loyal. Loyal and stupid. The only thing that stupid would bring would be an easier time escaping him when it came time for me to turn.

I finally saw the door to the shadowwraith barracks open up. Nakuma was still pulling a boot over her foot and still fussing to get her robes on as she came charging through the door. Her pink face was flushed as she realized just how late she was. Oleeme followed from behind, his stride calm and collected. He still looked like he was in a trance.

Nakuma bowed deeply to me. "I am sorry, Shadowscale Nexa. I lost my wand."

I shook my head. "Just don't let it happen again, Nakuma."

She nodded and pulled out her wand to show it to me. "It was this wand, the one that shoots lightning."

Suddenly, the wand misfired, striking Vistha on the foot. He screamed out, more of surprise than pain. "Oh that's it." He charged up to her and grabbed her by her robes. "I'm killing her."

She pointed the wand at his head and said, "Try it."

He glanced at the wand for a second before shaking her. "I'm about two seconds away from shoving that wand down your throat." Vistha said as he pulled her closer.

"You even try to touch me and I'll fry you!" She warned. Her voice sounded reassured but I could see the fear growing her eyes.

I stepped between both of them, pushing them both away. "Everyone, calm down, now!" I said as I worked my way in between them. I pointed a finger at Vistha and gave him a look. He backed off. I turned to Oleeme and Nakuma and bowed slightly. "Come. You're both late. We need to shadowport to Gideon."

Oleeme nodded and prepared a hand-sign. Just as he was about to open a portal, I head, "Shadowscale Nexa!" Oblivion…that was my dad. "Report, now!"

I sighed and tapped the transmitter on my chest. "My apologies for the late departure. My shadowwraiths were preoccupied with an earlier assignment involving black soul gems."

"I am well aware of their previous assignment. Report to Gideon, NOW!" He screamed through my receiver.

I looked at Oleeme and arched my invisible eyebrows. "You heard him. Now.."

He sighed and opened the portal. "I'll go through last."

Cearbhail: Let me know what you think of this so far.