Chapter 5:
Fang Lair
Johlin awoke to the scent of freshly baked bread. "Wh-what?" he muttered as he rolled his head to the side. He was lying in a bed in some room. As he looked around, he noticed a male Redguard dressed in crimson robes sitting in a chair on the opposite side of the room. "Where am I?" he asked. "Haha, in the land of the living, my Imperial friend." "Who are you?" Johlin asked as he tried to sit up in his bed. "You're savior, by the looks of things. I was riding through the desert when I found your unconscious body in the sand. I saw the poison in your wound and brought you here to be treated. You've been cured now." "Thanks. Where exactly are we?" "We're in Rihad."
Johlin looked at the side of the Redguard's chair, and noticed a long scimitar with rubies encrusted in it. "You like my blade? I'm an Alik'r Warrior." He held it out for Johlin to see. "My name is Fa'rad." "Fa'rad. Thank you for saving my life. I am in your debt." "Don't mention it, my friend. An Alik'r Warrior always goes out of his way to help others." Fa'rad shook hands with Johlin. "Your equipment is in that bag over there" he said, motioning towards the side of the bed. Johlin sat on the side of his bed and grunted. His wound was still extremely sore. "It will heal in time" Fa'rad noted.
"You'd best put your robes back on, lest you'd like someone else to recognize you, Johlin Cineus." "Does everybody in the nine provinces know my face?" "Only the ones who pay close attention" he laughed. He followed Johlin out the door back into the sandy streets of Rihad. "What business do you have in Rihad, friend?" Johlin asked curiously. "I've been sent to warn the queen" "Of what?" "The Imperial Army has sent a legion into Hammerfell to quash any talks of rebellion. They march for this city. I cannot believe that a man like Uriel Septim would have such a change of heart. He used to be a kind ruler. But recently he has been harsh in his ruling of the nine provinces."
Johlin's heart sank. Tharn was twisting the reputation of the Emperor, making the citizens who once loved him hate him. The two continued to talk as they walked to the palace gates. Upon arriving, Fa'rad shook Johlin's hand one last time before bidding farewell. "Do you have it?" the queen asked as Johlin entered the throne room. He responded by showing the parchment. The queen's face lit with joy. "May I have it?" she asked kindly. He gave her the parchment and she notioned for Johlin to follow her into another room. He went with the queen into a dimly-lit room. In the center of the room was a small display case, where one of the infamous Elder Scrolls rested. She picked up the Scroll and used the parchment to decipher it.
She opened it up, and Johlin's eyes squinted at the bright light emitted from the Elder Scroll. After a minute of reading, the queen shut the Elder Scroll and looked over at Johlin. She had a look of bewilderment on her face as she stared at him. "What?" Johlin asked. "It would appear that the Elder Scrolls have foretold of an important future ahead of you. Fang Lair is a two day's ride northeast of here." Confused by her first statement but thankful for the information, Johlin bowed before the queen. "Thank you for everything, your highness." Johlin took his leave and rode out of the palace and out of Rihad. The queen watched him leave on horseback from her palace window, and thought back on what the Elder Scroll had told her. "Go forth, Johlin Cineus, and complete your quest... for you are our Eternal Champion."
17th of Evening Star
As Johlin rode his horse over a large sandy hill, he noticed something poking out from the other side of the hill. Riding to the top, he found himself overlooking none other than Fang Lair. Its majestic beauty humbled Johlin, from its massive dragon statues to its Dwarven-styled architecture. Spurring his horse, he rode down to the massive Dwarven ruins, determined to recover the first piece of the Staff of Chaos.
Entering Fang Lair through its massive metal doors, Johlin felt completely and utterly alone once again, like he had when entering Stonekeep. Deep in the bowels of the Lair, Dwarven machines still moved, cranked, and hissed like it had when its former occupants ran the dungeon. Johlin equipped his iron sword before moving further into the depths of the Dwemer ruins.
Passing through several hallways without any opposition, Johlin found himself face-to-face with the dungeon's first monster: a large troll. The dumb beast charged Johlin without a second thought, and he quickly moved to the side and slid his blade through the troll's stomach, killing it instantly. Fighting past more creatures like undead skeletons and goblins, Johlin moved into the lower levels. There, he found himself fighting ancient Dwemer machines like mechanical spiders. After cutting down three of the robotic spiders, Johlin looked up from his latest kills and found three spherical objects rolling towards him.
The spheres stopped and opened up to reveal the mechanical guardians inside. They swung their swords at Johlin. He quickly blocked one, swung around it and stabbed it in its rear. He dodged an incoming Dwarven blade, pulled back his sword and threw a powerful swing at the second spherical guardian. Johlin then drew back and stabbed the final guardian in the center of its body. It burst into electricity before collapsing. His battle with the Dwarven guards finished, Johlin entered the final room of Fang Lair. It felt almost...unnatural to him. Like it had been built inside Fang Lair. Lava pools were scattered across the floor, and a tiny stream of lava encircled one room in the center of this strange place.
Johlin deducted that it had to be where the Staff piece was being held. Another strange object in the room was a large statue of the Daedric prince Mehrunes Dagon. As if feeling his presence in the chamber, the statue came to life as electricity burst out of it. Suddenly a portal opened up in the room. "Foolish mortal. You know not what you are dealing with" roared a voice from inside the portal. The voice's sentence was followed by several Daedra entering through the portal. "Daedra?" Johlin was confused. Nevertheless, he raised his sword and readied himself for another, tougher fight. A few of the tinier Daedric scamps sprang at him. They were little, and tried to tackle him to the ground.
They were easy prey to his sword, however, and were cut down like butter. The next two Daedra weren't as easy as the scamps. They were Dremora: humanoid Daedric warriors. The first one was carrying a greatsword and swung the massive blade over Johlin's head. He blocked with his sword and counterattacked with a swing to the abdomen. The Dremora grunted in pain. Johlin threw another blow to the head with his iron sword, killing the warrior.
He blocked another attack by the second one. The Dremora followed this attack with another one, which hit Johlin in the shoulder. Thankfully, his armor blunted the attack, and Johlin stabbed him in the chest. Finally, all that remained between Johlin and the door leading to the small room the Staff piece was in were two hellhounds, which spit fire at Johlin. As he killed them, they exploded in a ball of flames. Victorious in his fight, Johlin sheathed his sword and wiped sweat from his brow. He was panting and tired, but ready to retrieve the piece.
Opening the large iron door, Johlin found himself looking at the first piece of the Staff of Chaos. It was a large arrowhead that he recalled went on the bottom of the Staff from the times he saw Tharn using it. Around it glowed an aura, and it hovered in the air with a shimmer surrounding it. Johlin cautiously approached it and held his hand out to grab the piece. Upon touching it, the aura surrounding the piece vanished, and the arrowhead fell into the palm of his hand. "I have it!" he thought to himself in excitement. "One down, seven to go."