Chapter 6 – The Breton
Red Road, Cyrodiil
Camri Everlight and Ariel Lasaille had parted ways with Assurrani and Latta, who had headed north to Bruma, leaving the pair to make their own way to the waterfront. They were walking along a particularly dangerous stretch of road, surrounded by marauder and bandit dens.
"Time?" Camri asked.
"Eleven-thirty" Ariel replied.
"Damn, we probably don't have time to walk all the way round to the bridge" Camri said, gazing at the Waterfront district in the distance. "And I don't fancy swimming, it looks cold"
Ariel began walking quicker. "We can make it"
Camri hurried to keep up with her. "Ariel, do you have any idea what is happening beyond the immediate?" he asked suddenly. Ariel stopped in her tracks.
"Change. More change than we can possibly imagine. The affairs of the Daedra may be about to alter beyond recognition, and the ramifications of the fact that a new Daedra can be brought into existence are enormous. Sheogorath, as an entity, might cease to exist as we know him"
"And what about back down here in the mortal realm?"
"I can sense a movement in the balance between good and evil"
"Hopefully that's good getting one up over evil as we defeat Mannimarco"
"Yes, I am fairly confident that we will succeed. I mean, we have a Daedric Princess fighting alongside us, but…"
Camri waited expectantly for Ariel to finish the sentence.
"How many of us will survive? I can foresee great destruction, battles stretching to the ends of Tamriel, great towers…"
"I don't think I can do this, Ariel" Camri said suddenly.
"What do you mean?" Ariel replied, turning to Camri and placing her hand on his arm.
"Wiping out Necromancy? Defeating an evil sorcerer with divine powers? Assisting a Daedric Princess completing her apotheosis? A year ago I was an outlaw, living in the wilderness and hunting deer to stay alive"
"What about the incident that brought us together?"
"What about it? I took down a score or so of Legion soldiers in the Battle of the Border, and got us safely through the Ayleid ruin in Sideways Cave. But it was your powers that led us to the Marsh Spirit. And do you know how close I was to activating it? I nearly sentenced every Imperial citizen in the Niben Basin to death. But Assurrani saw sense and destroyed it. You two are the heroes, but somehow I have ended up leading the two of you. I can't even be relied upon to do what's right. I spent yesterday helping a military commander break her own laws!"
"Camri…" Ariel began, but Camri carried on.
"And now, against all my morals, I find myself in the direct service of the Emperor! After I rotted in his dungeon for standing up to human rights violations that he sanctioned! Look, your knowledge is the key to victory against Mannimarco, and you need Assurrani's judgement and Latta's brawn to help you in that victory, but you don't need me. I'm going to track down the Witch Doctor for you, then I'm disappearing"
With that, Camri began to stride off towards the bridge leading to the Imperial City, leaving Ariel standing helplessly in the road.
"What if the Emperor had no involvement in this?" Ariel cried out into the darkness. Camri stopped.
"What if you simply knew what you had to prevent? What if you'd seen what I had seen?"
As soon as Ariel closed her mouth she regretted what she had said. Camri ran back towards her and placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye and seeing tears running down her cheeks.
"One of us is going to die, Camri!" Ariel sobbed.
Camri took a deep breath. "Well, I'd better make sure it isn't you, hadn't I?"
"Stay with us, Camri" Ariel said softly. "Don't let the Emperor's involvement deter you. He doesn't know half the story"
Camri nodded and strode over to the side of the road, pulling a plant out of the ground.
"I never knew Tiger Lily grew around here" Camri mused. "Pass me the grapes out of our food bag. It'll get us to the Waterfront a lot quicker"
"See" Ariel said, beaming as she passed a handful of grapes to Camri. "We do need you here!"
--
Camri wandered through the slum-like housing of the Waterfront, Ariel close behind him, moving towards the glow of torchlight that he could see playing against the great stone wall that separated the housing area from the marina. Eventually, he rounded a corner to come face-to-face with a Redguard, dressed in black leather armour, holding a torch. The Redguard's face broke out into a smile.
"By the Gray Fox. Camri Everlight!" the Redguard said joyfully. "It's been years! What brings you back my way?"
"I need your help" Camri replied. "Oh, Armand, this is my friend Ariel Lasaille. Ariel, Armand Christophe of the Thieves' Guild"
Ariel looked nervously at the Redguard.
"Nice to meet you" Armand replied, offering a hand. "Don't worry, you're in no danger from us. Any friend of Camri's is a friend of mine. What can I do to help you then, my man?"
"I need to find the Witch Doctor"
Armand Christophe sighed. "Haven't heard from him for a while. I'm starting to get a bit worried. One of our footpads went to his place to pick up his newest batch of potions, said they found the house abandoned, said it looked like no-one had been there for a while. Dust, mouldy food, that sort of thing"
"He's been involved with a necromancer, Armand" Camri said, registering a look of shock on Armand's face as he spoke. "Not through choice. She blackmailed him somehow into finding her a lair in Cyrodiil. But I thought he had been released after that…"
"That was years ago, though" Ariel said. "Anything could have happened to him since then"
"Wait" Armand said suddenly. "Did you say he found her a lair in Cyrodiil?"
Camri nodded.
"You know how he never liked water, right? Well, he borrowed a dinghy off me to get to that ruin just off the Prison District. Didn't fancy the swim"
"Vilverin" Camri said. "It would make sense. It used to be a bandit lair – nothing that old Witch Doctor couldn't handle. I hid out there a few times myself. The Legion never bother with it because it's on an island and its inhabitants tend to keep themselves to themselves"
"That's the one" Armand said. "He found a key for it in his travels. Maybe he still has it. He always referred to it by its Cyrodiilic name though – the Golden Home. I never knew what he meant, really"
Ariel beamed. "That's it, Camri! Don't you remember what Aendel said about Relmyna talking about the Golden Home?"
"What in the name of Oblivion have you two got yourselves into?" Armand asked. "Taking a stand against necromancy, are you?"
"I cannot possibly even begin to explain what we are involved in at the moment" Camri sighed. "Thank you for the information"
--
Royal Palace of Argonia, Black Marsh
Areen hurried up the steps leading to the Palace entrance, completely dwarved by the mighty structure surrounding him – the Palace consisted of a gigantic ziggurat, with four enormous roots growing up each face of the pyramid, meeting at the summit and twisting together in a huge trunk to a staggering height, where a brilliant canopy plunged the surroundings into shadow for miles around. Only the fires of many Hist-burning beacons let one see the Palace in its full glory.
Making his way up the enormous grand staircase that led through the entrance at the bottom of the ziggurat and up to the King's chambers, located in a huge hollow beneath where the four roots met, Areen bowed before King Jararka of Black Marsh. As he stood up, he saw a man who he recognised, having met him once before in the company of the Emperor – Duke Jesper the White of Skyrim.
"Duke Jesper is here on a visit of goodwill," Jararka said, rising from his throne and sensing Areen's confusion. "But whilst he was here, he received interesting news from his messenger. Areen, you were one of the first people to set eyes on the shrine of Meridia, the home of the Marsh Spirit, that lay within the Barrier Mountains"
Areen remembered it vividly. He had found the ancient structure, along with Camri and Ariel, when a tunnel originating in Cyrodiil had emerged in the centre of a ring of impossibly steep and impenetrable mountain ridges in the centre of Black Marsh known as the Barrier Mountains.
"Such a discovery fascinated me, so I consulted the Imperial Cartography in search of any other rings of mountains such as this. Such geology is nearly always volcanic in origin, so obviously many exist in Morrowind but have since been uncovered. However, there is a similar ring of mountains to the Barriers, known as the Throat of the World, which seem completely untraversable, in Skyrim just north of the border with Cyrodiil"
"We never thought anything of it" Duke Jesper continued. "But I received a message from my soldiers in a nearby town. One of their lookouts spotted three people trying to climb the mountains. They seemed to not know the dangers of what they were attempting. By the time my rangers had got to them they had perished. But the message states that they were wearing the signature black robes of the Necromancers"
Silence fell over the huge chamber.
"Necromancy has never been as widespread in Skyrim as it is in, for example, Cyrodiil or Morrowind" Jesper said. "Whatever they were doing, they seem to know what's in the middle of that crater"
"Your Majesty, I bring other news," Areen said, turning to King Jararka. "The mass grave at the site of the Battle of the Border has been excavated and cleared out"
"By the Gods…" Jararka said to himself, then speaking to Areen again. "Who else would have any use for hundreds of dead bodies other than necromancers?"
"There were obvious tracks where they had used carriages to move the bodies" Areen explained. "I was going to follow them but I didn't want to end up on my own in a Necromancer den"
"I will assemble a group of witch-hunters and soldiers, Areen" King Jararka said. "You must lead them to these tracks"
"With respect, Your Majesty, any tracker would be able to find them" Areen replied. "I must find Camri Everlight and tell him of these two developments"
--
Bruma, the same night
Latta and Assurrani wandered through the streets of Bruma, both wearing thick fur coats to shield themselves from the cold and driving wind. Several guards and passers-by cast cautionary glances at Latta – they could tell there was something unusual, but could not determine what.
"There's two approaches to the statue" Assurrani explained as the two reached an intersection – the main road continued up to the north gate, whilst a small, steep alleyway led between buildings up the terrace-like levels of the city to the castle gate. "I count four getaway routes – both directions on the main road, the north gate and the alleyway"
"Five if you count the rooftops" Latta added. "What's your call?"
"I'll get onto the rooftops from the alley. You stay out of sight and go after him if anything goes wrong. Try and be discreet. If the guards get involved, we can try to explain that he's a necromancer, but I'd rather just get away with it"
"If he runs, I'll let him leave the city then go after him. I'll mark him with a light"
Falas Assurrani nodded and crept into the alleyway, Latta continuing along the main road. The guards paid them no heed, despite the fact that they were both visibly carrying weapons – Latta a Claymore and Assurrani a bow and his prized ebony sword. They were used to hunters and hikers using Bruma as a base-camp, particularly during severe weather.
Assurrani reached a pile of crates in the alleyway and clambered up them, his leather hiking boots giving him grip on the icy snow that topped them. Jumping up, he grabbed a horizontal wooden beam on the side of one of the buildings, then tucked himself up, his back pressed against the opposite wall of the narrow alleyway, and carefully climbed up until he reached the rooftops. He found himself on the highest of Bruma's terraces, and clambered up the gabled roof, constantly watching around for guards, until he found himself with a clear view of the statue.
A lone figure stood at its base – a Breton man in a green robe and hood.
Assurrani slowly unslung his bow from his back and loaded an arrow into it, had one last check around for any guards who might see him, aimed and fired.
The arrow slammed into the stony ground next to where the Breton was standing, the shaft snapping in two with the force of the impact. Assurrani swore as the Breton bolted for the north gate. He had forgotten about the effects that the cold would have had on the elasticity of his bow's drawstring – he had undershot.
"Who's there?" one of the guards shouted as Assurrani abandoned his bow and let himself fall back down into the alleyway, as Latta pretended to flee from the scene, actually heading back to the east gate.
Assurrani emerged from the alleyway and was immediately accosted by a guard.
"You there! Did you see that attack just now?" the guard demanded.
"Yes. A few minutes earlier I saw an Argonian carrying a bow acting suspiciously" Assurrani replied. "He is wearing a fur coat, like mine, and black leather armour"
"Thank you, citizen" the guard replied, running off. Assurrani smiled to himself.
Latta sprinted around the perimeter of Bruma, having emerged from the east gate. The Breton would be easy to track – she merely had to look for the newest set of tracks. She in fact spotted the Breton fleeing, running north-east away from the city, and took off after him.
The Breton spotted Latta and cast a spell at her, the bolt of green magicka completing its journey and enveloping Latta before she had chance to react. Latta tried to respond with a fireball but… nothing. Silenced.
Latta raced after the Breton, who was struggling to keep his footing on the rough, icy ground. Latta caught up with the necromancer and threw herself on top of him, knocking him clumsily to the ground. As the necromancer fell, he banged his head on a rock and knocked himself out.
As Latta regained her breath, Assurrani ran over to her.
"Did you get him?" the Dunmer asked.
"He's unconscious" Latta replied. "What do we do?"
"Stick with our original plan" Assurrani said, bending down, grabbing the Breton's head and twisting it until his neck broke. As he stood, Latta began to search the Breton's body, discovering a small notebook.
"What have we here?" Latta said to herself as she began to leaf through it. Most of the pages contained maps.
"Does any of this mean anything to you?" Latta asked Assurrani, handing the map to him.
"Let me see…" Assurrani said, examining the pages of maps. "This is a map of northern Cyrodiil, where we are now – there's Bruma, and there's a cave marked on it up in the mountains to the west. This is a map of the whole of Cyrodiil which has several forts and caves marked on it. The Dark Fissure, Fort Linchal, Vilverin… I don't know any of them, I'm afraid. And this page is very odd. It seems to be a list of every magic shop in Cyrodiil. Oh dear – perhaps we should have kept him alive after all"
"No, he wasn't important" Latta said. "Look – someone gave this book to him. It's been printed, not written. There's probably many more like him out there. And at least we've got some information now"
Assurrani continued leafing through the book until he reached the last page, which contained two pictures – one displaying the Necromancer's Amulet and one showing a large Varla Stone-like object mounted on a plinth, with the words 'Protect at all costs' printed underneath.
"Why?" Assurrani thought out loud. "The Necromancer's Amulet doesn't hold any divine power, it simply grants more powerful spellcasting abilities to the wearer"
"But we don't know what that stone is" Latta added. "Wait, do you know what colour the gemstone in the Necromancer's Amulet is?"
"It's blue, I think" Assurrani replied.
"Don't you remember what Ariel told us back in the Shivering Isles about a blue gemstone?"
"Yes I do, as a matter of fact. She said she was having visions about an azure stone situated on top of a tower"
"Do you think it's the same one?"
"I think only Ariel knows the answer to that question. We should head for the Imperial City and find the other two"
"You're right" Latta said as she began to walk back towards Bruma, where the main road was situatied.
"Latta!" Assurrani called after her. Latta spun round.
"Good work on the assassination!"