Chapter 24: (Sort of) On The Road Again
If Siena was truly going to travel to this place, she needed to be prepared. She had prepared for her contracted trip to Cyrodiil a month before she was to board the vessel, as well. If it hadn't been for Daedric intervention, things probably would have gone much better.
But she had learned something, in terms of preparations, from that experience; keep cautious and expect the unexpected. Definitely expect the unexpected when in the Realm of a madman.
So Siena sat now in Bliss, the melodious sound of the mermaid fountain behind her as she spread the map across her lap. Before she had just skimmed over it, but now she delved fully into the landscape, investigating her location, and Xedilian's.
Sadly, it seemed like there was no straight path to Xedilian. Rather, if she took the Low Road back towards the Fringe, then took Pinnacle Road south towards Shallow Grave and Madgod's Boot (Such lovely names for these regions and landmarks, she thought) she could reach Xedilian. Theoretically, it would be safer, being a paved road. Of course, the last time she took the proper road she got attacked by some vicious thing, and then kidnapped by Grummites. Knotty Bramble, that random place Sickly Bernice wanted her to go, was also on Pinnacle Road. So, she could kill two lunatic jobs with one trip… or just ignore that place. She still had that bottle, but it wasn't particularly weighing her down or anything.
The only other option seemed to be a more or less straight line of travel from Crucible to Xedilian, crossing a few small hilled islands and over bodies of water and inlets. It was likely marshy waters, since this was the lands of Dementia after all. But it was a straight path, which would likely result in a faster travel time, and Siena badly wanted to get this over and done with. Considering her experience with the roads, going off road seemed the safer option, paradoxically.
Now the problem lay in supplies. She was broke, spending her last coins in The Choosy Beggar on last night's food. That also meant she had no gold with which to learn a new spell from Earl's Mysteries. But that was probably a good thing; if she was truly going to delve more into magic, she'd have to delve into alchemy as well. She'd need a source of magicka so she could use her spells repeatedly and reliably without worrying about her handicap. And that meant equipment was needed that she couldn't afford.
But if there was a chance of hitting one of those camps, like the one where she had found her previous belt, she might find supplies. And most of the denizens she'd encountered could be handled with a good arrow shot, or a dagger well placed.
Yeah, I could probably make it there alright! She reasoned, twisting herself around to grab the small Manual of Xedilian out of her pack. I just need to figure out what to do when I get there. She neatly folded the map and placed it back in its pocket before cracking open the Manual.
'On the subject of Xedilian's construction, Lord Sheogorath, let me begin by extending the warmest regards to you and your noble being,' began the text. Kiss ass, Siena snickered, reading on.
'The construction was completed on time and well under budget as you demanded ("under pain of fun" I believe you are quoted as saying) and with only the most infinitesimal loss of life.' What counts as infinitesimal in your books, exactly? Siena wondered. And is fun really that… well, I suppose Sheogorath's sort of fun is rather painful, Siena thought, recalling his enjoyment of the idea of skipping rope with her intestines.
'I am proud to say that by harnessing the energy of that most unusual crystalline formation, Xedilian should maintain itself for years to come (with proper maintenance of course).' This concluded that the man must be some sort of irony-loving loon; why would it need proper maintenance if it would be able to maintain itself? 'At your request, I have included the full operation instructions for each section of the site. If you have any other questions, please feel free to bother me anytime (like when you originally thought of this idea in the middle of the night).' Hope he doesn't do that to me, Siena smirked. This book was actually turning out to be a slightly enjoyable read.
'The heart of Xedilian is its power source, the Resonator of Judgment. By tuning this huge chunk of crystal with the Attenuator of Judgment (a "tuning fork" of sorts), we have released a wave of siren-like sound that will draw anyone from outside the Isles. Three Focus Crystals have been placed throughout the site to assist in keeping this wave of sound even and stable. This site will not function without all three Focus Crystals running in unison, so it's important to keep them clean and safe on their "cradles" (which I have called their Judgment Nexus). The Focus Crystals are irreplaceable at this time, so take proper precautions guarding the site when not in use.'
Obviously, Sheogorath had forgotten, or ignored, that little piece of advice, or else she wouldn't be sitting on the edge of a fountain reading this book. Siena hoped she'd actually be able to find these crystals; because from the sound of things, if she couldn't, she wouldn't be able to finish the job. The rest of the book began to explain some sort of mind-breaking torture; since the Focus Crystals were not mentioned again, Siena closed up the book and stashed it away, its current usefulness having expired.
So, her job was to not only get there, but go on a wild goose-chase searching for crystals like some ebony mine slave in Caldera, hoping they haven't all disappeared or broke into hundreds of pieces. Seemed like an unreasonable enough task.
Siena stood over the corpse of her first victim of the trip, and was trying to catch her breath. She had just been walking down the road towards the New Sheoth graveyard, heading for the bridges there to get to the first of a series of small isles on her journey, when this… thing attacked her.
The body she now stood over, after having wrestled with it until it was stabbed to death, was a canine. However, the poor creature had most of its skin removed, as well as the internal organs. The head was skinned straight down to the skull, leaving only jaw muscles and ears intact. The rest of the body still had lean musculature, but the abdomen had been removed, leaving several exposed ribs and evidence of sewing after gutting it out. The legs still had flesh attached, but the all the fur had been cut off. The image of that rude Orc's friendly canine in Crucible flashed into her mind, and a tear rolled down her face. Who would do this to such a nice animal? Relmyna… she thought, causing anger to wash over her.
"Not even half an hour into the damn trip, and I have atrocities attacking me already!" Siena practically screamed at the sky, venting her frustration. "And on the damn road too!" Frown deepening, she looked back at the canine corpse; she could see if there might be something alchemically beneficial on this beast. After a moment, Siena decided not to try it. The beast had been desecrated enough already.
An hour and a half, and four Gnarls later, Siena found herself with one more chunk of Amber for Dumag, and new knowledge concerning the Gnarls. They were apparently weakest in their eyes and their neck, since getting an arrow shot in either location resulted in a dead Gnarl. Of course, getting such well placed shots wasn't easy.
By now the afternoon sun was beginning to beat down, and Siena was trekking up the slope of an unusually tall hill. If the map had not felt like marking this as a small mountain, just how tall were the mountains in the mountain range it did mark down?
It was at the top of that hill that Siena hit her first major obstacle of the trek; a gigantic obstacle. Where the map indicated the rough center of this small piece of land should be there stood a massive mushroom tree. The trunk was too close to the ground for her to just walk, or even crawl, under it, and the roots ran down the sides of the hill, blocking her path around it. Siena moved to her right, and found the tree's trunk-root was heading into the ground at a sharp angle, and the ground around it was very steep. Deciding to try out the left side instead, Siena inspected it was well. The ground was a little less steep here, dipping into a small basin before rising again on the other side. So long as she watched her footing, and found good enough handholds on the slope on the other side, she figured she could make it.
When Siena finally did manage to reach the other side, her chainmail was jammed with dirt and grass, and she had scrapes on her bare arms. She found herself on the downhill, which was pretty steep as well, a rocky outcrop the only reason she wasn't sliding down now. Below, she could see leveling ground, and a cluster of dark grey crystal spires, like the ones she'd seen in the Palace cloister.
Since that was the way she had intended to be going, she decided to check it out and managed a controlled slide down the hill, coming to a stop at more even ground. Getting up, she made her way over to the cluster to investigate it further.
She wasn't sure what purpose it served, or what exactly it was, but the central spire of crystal was massive and thick, and seemed surrounded by a close circle of other crystal spires. Surrounding the central cluster was a seemingly random assortment of other crystal spires, all leaning away from the center group. She approached the central spire, holding out her Amber gloved hand.
When she touched it, Siena gasped softly and withdrew her hand. It had been… humming. She felt a strange sort of vibration in the crystal when she touched it, as if it were a dormant beast. Doubting her own senses at the moment, she turned away to leave the crystal behind and follow her plans once more, curiosity sated for now.
She didn't get much further, however, before rain began to fall, prompting a curse from the wandering Hlaalu agent. She didn't need rain ruining her equipment, especially not right now, and though she wasn't even sure if Madness Ore could rust, she wasn't going to take the risk. Luckily, she was near a mushroom tree whose roots had lifted it high off the ground, and it could serve as a shelter for the coming storm. Siena rushed underneath the tree as the rain began to pour down harder.
Just as Siena let out a sigh, she heard the creaking of wood, and looked to her side to see a Gnarl rising off the ground, two legs propelling it towards her as the third front leg sought to stamp her lights out. Siena swiftly pulled out one of the Grummite daggers, rolling and jamming the point into one of the leg joints of the Gnarl's front leg. It gave out a creaky growl of pain, and as Siena yanked out the knife, collapsed over its weakened leg. Siena took advantage of its crippled state and cupped her other hand over the pummel of the Grummite dagger, slamming it with all her strength in the tree's carving of an eye socket. Wood splintered on impact, and the Gnarl fell back, dead.
Before she could even pull out the dagger, something hard hit her in the side, sending her sprawling onto the ground herself. A second Gnarl lumbered towards her, growling and creaking. As Siena reached for her other Grummite dagger the tree leaned back and thrust its pointed arms at her. Siena rolled to avoid it and got to her feet, the Gnarl yanking its arms from the dirt.
"Just how many of you do I have to kill-," Siena snapped, performing a spinning leap over the Gnarl's head when it tried to skewer her again, only to swivel on her heel and plant her dagger in its neck. The trunk of its neck split open, releasing the wispy green smoke that seemed to animate the trees.
"-Before you get the point; I don't like you," Siena sneered, putting the dagger back on her belt and retrieving the other one. "But at least you lot don't heal in the rain." She muttered, looking at the downpour outside of her mushroom tree shelter. It was pretty heavy, and might last a while.
"I suppose I should be thankful for that. Have to find something to be thankful for," Siena said to herself, roaming around the tree's shadow to collect any arrows that may have fallen out of the quiver during the battle. Once she had them all, she collapsed with a sigh beside one of the Gnarls, resting her head on it like any old fallen log.
"Mind if I stay for a bit and wait out the storm?" Siena asked with a grin, looking at the empty face-carving on the Gnarl, which was of course unresponsive. She patted its arm, closing her eyes for a little rest. "Didn't think so."
Siena didn't exactly rest well, since the storm kept raging around, and occasionally a gust of wind would send cold rain under the cover of the mushroom tree and over her. Siena estimated two hours to have passed, and this storm had still not let up.
Her Gnarl company, however, was changing over time. She had begun to notice roughly an hour into the storm that the Gnarl she rested on had been growing roots. They grew straight into the ground, like proper plants, and stayed there. The tree being, however, didn't move. It was as if it were returning to the soil; or healing itself, Siena really couldn't be sure.
Coupled with a diminishing patience towards the weather, and Siena knew she couldn't stand to hang around here much longer. She pulled off her fur boots and folded them as best she could before jamming them into the main pocket of her pack. They would only become soggy and heavy as she moved forward, rain or not.
Carrying on barefoot, she reached the end of this spit of land, and the beginning of the next one, estimating herself to be halfway to Xedilian now. The rain had eased a little, though she was still thoroughly soaked. She easily jumped over the thin path of water dividing the two isles, ascending the mound on the other side. Keeping herself low behind a large rock, she readied her bow and took out another Gnarl up ahead. This one had Amber in its shoulder, and Siena was very willing to relieve it of that burden.
Another Gnarl and a few more dirty climbs later, Siena found the rectangular roof of a shelter in sight. It was a campsite, just like she had anticipated. Maybe they'll have some supplies here.
While she could just go around it, if there were supplies there, she would need them. Deciding to try her luck, she gripped her bow and softly slid down the slope to a rocky plateau overlooking the campsite. She kept herself close to the tree root that rose up beside the plateau, and got a good, clear look at the camp shelter ahead.
It was an open platform raised on stilts high above the ground, accessible by a wooden stair. She could see a chest, two bedrolls, and blood. Pools of blood, and a familiar totem pole erected at the base of the shelter. Something had happened here, and Siena couldn't be sure what. Cautiously, she knocked an arrow and pulled back the string, moving forward at a crouch to inspect the area.
She didn't get far before she saw the source of the slaughter; a Grummite was down below near the shelter, walking with its back to her and holding a dagger. Siena decided a killing shot likely wouldn't heal in the rain, so took the opportunity, embedding an arrow in the back of the amphibian's skull. It collapsed instantly.
The next one she could see clearly from her position, but she was unwilling to shoot because it was also standing in the pond next to the camp. Slinging her bow over her shoulder, she moved to the side of the plateau and slid down the hillside.
"Hey, frog-face!" She hollered when she had reached the bottom, drawing both of the Grummite daggers from her hip and spinning them deftly. The gruesome beast gave a harsh croak of surprise, turning its yellow eyes on her. "Still hungry?" She went into a defensive position as the imbecilic beast charged at her.
His thrust was easily deflected to her left, and she retaliated by slamming the dagger in her right hand deep into the Grummite's abdomen. It wheezed out a painful croak before she twisted the dagger and yanked it back out, the Grummite collapsing. She cringed at all the blood on her right hand, and headed over to the pond to clean it off.
As she was cleaning her hands, hoarse breathing and slimy steps made her pause and turn just in time to have a stone dagger plunged into her left bicep. Screaming out in a combination of pain and rage, she tackled the offending Grummite and began to pummel it, not even thinking to pick up one of her daggers on the ground nearby. It croaked and squealed and squirmed beneath her to no avail, finally falling still again when she'd managed to cave in its face.
Tears running down her face from the pain, she looked around the camp, intending to make sure everything was dead this time. She could only see two bodies, however, and that sent a chill down her spine. There was the one beneath her, and the one facedown in blood near the fire pit. The one near the shelter, the one she had shot in the back of the skull, was missing.
It was then that she realized this must have been that Grummite; that regeneration of arrow wounds, even fatal ones, could be healed by the rain. She sobbed out a curse at the Grummite, begging it to just die properly.
An idea dawned on her, and she reached with her good arm for one of her own Grummite daggers. Taking the rough, toothed edge to the creature's neck, she proceeded to grimly decapitate it, tossing the head far away once finished.
Pausing for only a moment to inspect her work, she stumbled over to the other one, which was now breathing but still unable to rise. Siena closed her eyes and grimaced as she began the dirty work, trying to ignore the resulting noises.
Her job done, Siena meandered over to the shelter, collapsing on the steps. She'd lost a good amount of blood from the wound, and her left arm burned so furiously with pain it was practically unusable. She was forced to crawl on one hand and her knees to get under the shelter and onto a bedroll, tearing it apart to get a bandage strip.
She'd resorted to the only restorative magic she knew to take care of the wound, a minor healing spell. Several repetitions stopped the bleeding and restored much of her muscle structure, but there was still an open hole in her arm that while less painful was no less of a danger to her health. She wrapped it well in strip bandages to keep it covered.
Sadly, the only thing in the chest had been gold, a pearl, and a petty soul gem, and the Grummite corpses had only gold.
With no supplies and a nasty wound to show for her efforts, Siena kept on going through the storm. She was relieved to see Pinnacle Road when she reached it, and dispatched an emaciated Hunger that was hoping to make an easy meal out of her. Reaching two rocky outcroppings flanking a stone staircase, Siena looked through the rain to see a Grummite on the stone bridge at the foot of the stairs. Steeling herself, she pulled back an arrow and fired.
Luckily, the injury to her left arm did not make archery too much of a hassle, so long as she could hoist the bow comfortably. The arrow sailed into the beast's chest, and it collapsed. Siena wasted no time in beheading the beast, tossing the head over the edge of the bridge and taking a lockpick and some gold off the corpse. She headed for the stone archway ahead, which was flanked by two braziers that suspiciously remained lit even in the rain. The door had an archway elaborately carved into it, and a pillar of vines down the center leading to the handles. Siena pulled it open, eager to get out of the storm.
When she had managed to close the door and escape the foul weather, she looked around. She was in an entry room lit by torches on either side of a gate, surrounding two more Grummite totems. The gate looked to be made of iron, and fashioned into bent bars that crossed each other in aesthetic patterns. Beside the gate was a pressure block with a despairing face carved into it, soft blue gems in place of eyes and teeth.
Siena wrung out her hair and shook herself before taking out her map, wanting to make sure this was Xedilian before she wasted her time with more Grummites. Sure enough, this was Xedilian; Grummite-infested Xedilian.
Unless there are two elaborate ruined structures very close to each other, this is it. She took off her quiver of arrows, removing them with one hand and dumping water out of the quiver with the other. Now mostly not soaking, she placed the arrows and quiver back. She wasn't going to bother with her boots again though; she was still too wet for them.
Pushing the sad-face block into the wall, she listened to the surprisingly soft sound of the gate rising, and headed through with an arrow ready.
At least they aren't in the rain this time.