-1The Illuminated Order
Chapter 3 - Dwarven Bone
Just as Cavortius had predicted, it seemed that the Hlaalu guards in Balmora hadn't been alerted to his presence yet. That could change any time, though, so the Imperial wasted no time getting to Demnevanni Manor.
When he told Thuvien what had happened, the Dark Elf frowned. "This is most disturbing news," he said, pacing back and forth while rubbing his chin.
"How do you think I feel?" Cavortius asked rhetorically. "I'm surprised they caught up with me so quickly. They don't know my face--well, they do now--but it must've been the robe. I haven't changed out of it since my escape."
A few seconds later, Demnevanni tossed a folded up robe and an enchanted belt to the Imperial. "Then change into this. It's one of mine, so it might be a little big, but the belt will help with that."
"What does it do?" Pelelius inquired as he turned the belt over in his hands.
"It's called Soul's Cord. A little present for trapping that soul," Thuvien replied. "You can summon an ancestral ghost to fight for you for two minutes."
Cavortius smiled. "Excellent."
He peeled off his black robe, revealing a semi-muscular body, and slipped on the Dunmer's robe (which turned out to be dark blue). The robe was a little big but fastening Soul's Cord around his waist helped some.
"Thank you, Thuvien."
The Dark Elf flicked his hand as though to indicate that it wasn't a big deal. "You've been a tremendous help in my research, so it's only fair to repay in kind. But, tell me, have you learned anything new?"
The Imperial nodded. "The fact that the dead can be interrogated for knowledge is new to me, and it sounds extremely intriguing."
"The process is fascinating, to say the least. You will learn how to do it yourself, but not yet. It will all be in due time, friend. For now, though, I have an important task for you."
Thuvien gestured to the table in the back, and once both men were seated, the Dunmer folded his hands together.
"A serious necromancer," Demnevanni began, "can converse with the spirits of the dead even without the soul of the dead…but only if he has a bone belonging to the deceased.
"This had made it impossible to summon a dwarves spirit, as they seemingly did not leave their remains behind."
Thuvien reached for a bottle of cheap liquor out of sight and took a few pulls before continuing. "Impossible, that is, until now."
"I assume the Order has found a dwarven bone?" Cavortius asked.
"Indeed," Demnevanni replied, nodding. "We recently questioned the spirit of a dead adventurer, who was claiming to have seen an old bone somewhere in the Dwemer ruin of Aleft, which is south of Gnaar Mok, across the body of water south from the town on a narrow spur of land.
He paused to take a few more sips of his liquor. "We need you to go to Aleft and retrieve this bone. The best way to reach Gnaar Mok while avoiding Imperial settlements is taking the Strider to Vivec, then a boat to Hla Oad, then from there to Gnaar Mok. Do not come back until you get the bone."
"Should I tell you of any more run-ins that may occur?" the Imperial inquired, though he hoped there wouldn't be another run-in.
"Yes, please do. And remember…if the Order feels that you're a liability, it won't hesitate to take you out. Understood?"
"Crystal." He understood perfectly, which is why he wasn't going to screw up.
Cavortius was about to take his leave, but Thuvien lightly tugged his sleeve. "As a word of advice, I suggest buying a helm or something similar to cover your face. I've learned that what the enemy can't see won't help them."
00000000000000
Hawkeye had known going into the Legion Commander's office with Darko would be a bad idea. True, the Nord was mad that he had been bested so easily, but he knew another time would come.
Besides, he thought, mages are cowardly. They can't fight up close and personal.
Darko, on the other hand, had taken it personal and had gone straight to Commander Malo's office to request a leave of absence for himself and Hawkeye.
"Fort Pelagiad needs every Legionnaire it can get," Malo had said. "Who knows if an uprising may occur?"
"We're the only ones who've seen his face," Darko had replied. "Plus, you know our records…we get the job done."
On and on it had went until finally Precarius relented and gave Darko what he wanted. It may have been against his better judgment, but the Imperial had a point about knowing Cavortius by sight. Malo was grateful that Hawkeye was paired with him, for the Nord had experience (which was also the other reason why Precarius gave them their leave).
He just hoped that Darko came back because, despite his youth and ego, the young man had potential and just needed some fine-tuning. To waste such potential would be harmful to the Legion.
00000000000000
Cunius Pelelius was sitting comfortably in front of the fireplace in his room at the top of the Governor's Hall in Caldera. The fire reflected off his gold-rimmed reading glasses as he read the latest bulletins out of Ebonheart.
One item in particular had caught his attention, however.
So, little brother, Cunius thought. Been keeping secrets from the family, have you?
No matter. His little brother had…issues that needed to be dealt with. The Morag Tong would handle this little wrinkle before members of his House found out and called him on it. To delay that from happening, Cunius had confiscated all the bulletins around the Hall concerning his brother and stashed them between the bed frame and his mattress.
Cunius called in his steward to make the proper arrangements, then turned back to the other reports in his hand.
00000000000000
So far, Cavortius had managed to avoid Imperial forces and had made it to Gnaar Mok safely.
As he stood on the docks by the ship, the necromancer surveyed the small fishing village. Judging from his map, he was in the Bitter Coast region and something about this town gave him a really bad vibe.
Cavortius looked southeast toward the horizon and could just barely make out a pointed tower sticking up into the sky. He quietly invoked his water walking spell, touched a foot to the water, and then made his way across the water to what could only be Aleft.
By the time he reached the island, he too hated cliff racers. Three had attacked him at once, and even though a single lightning bolt had taken them all out, he just…didn't like them and they annoyed him greatly.
Cavortius reached the island where Aleft was situated, the ancient mysterious architecture of the Dwemer gracing the skyline. It didn't take long to find the door, which opened outward horizontally. The sun was just beginning to set as he entered the ruins.
Inside he was faced with a narrow, dimly lit corridor with stairs leading down that probably hadn't been walked through in quite some time. Yet when Cavortius heard the sounds of steam valves and gears clanking off, in the distance, he realized he was in a mechanical tomb--as though the Dwemer had stepped out and never came back.
At the sound of rapid clinking down the corridor, the Imperial promptly drew his dwarven short-sword and proceeded quietly down the hall while also casting Night-Eye.
The clinking noises he heard turned out to be a mechanical guardian that resembled a spider. He was in a large rectangular room with two tables at each end of the room. Shelves and barrels were littered throughout the room.
Cavortius hid back around the corner as the centurion spider made its way toward the wall that connected to the corner. He wanted the element of surprise, but somehow he had missed one thing.
In the closest corner of the room the Imperial had noticed a ball that was about as high as his thighs, but thought it was just a decoration. Not so, for it was now a strange construct as tall as he was with a strange prime ape-esque face, shield, and a mean fist that knocked the wind out of him and sent him sprawling.
The Imperial, now on his butt, chopped at this new threat twice, then scooted back down the corridor, casting shock magicka until the creature slumped over its sphere.
Dwemer constructs, he thought as he walked back into the room. For some reason, he had expected smugglers, but this wasn't the case. The spider from earlier was now at his feet, so he gave it a good kick--
--which wasn't the best idea because he hurt his foot, angered the metal spider, and took one of its blows all at once. Two downward strikes cleaved it in half, though, and Cavortius spied a way out of the room: a frame against the same wall where the first corridor was. Approaching it revealed another set of stairs.
Why are there so many stairs everywhere I go? Pelelius randomly thought.
On the second floor, Cavortius dispatched another spherical guardian with relative ease but encountered a new enemy: a specter-like form with a pointy beard and hat decided to cast spells at him. With a few strikes from his sword and a few spells, the dwarven ghost collapsed into ectoplasm.
But after checking near the body's pile of ghostly ashes, Cavortius didn't find any bones. It better be here.
00000000000000
Eno Hlaalu sat at his desk as he filed through the latest contracts. The old Dark Elf was very careful in his selection of contracts--he had been the Morag Tong's Grandmaster for fifty years and he hadn't got there by being careless or stupid.
Contracts were classified on a few aspects which included threat level, location, and what the mark had done to warrant a writ. House Writs were special contracts that came from a Great House client to take out a member of another Great House. The Telvanni had been banned for obvious reasons, so that left Hlaalu, Redoran, Dres, and Indoril.
Out of the four, Eno was always reluctant to grant Hlaalu writs. Their renowned corruption and power games were never good reasons for the Tong's services. But this paper before him came from Cunius Pelelius, a Lawman in House Hlaalu who wanted his brother Cavortius dead on charges of necromancy.
Even if he served Mannimarco, Eno thought, we need hard evidence.
Plus, Cunius seemed as though he didn't much care for his brother…the Tong rarely performed writs against family members that were ordered by a relative. Eno put the paper in the 'reject' pile and continued reading the others he had been given.
00000000000000
After taking down two more spider guardians, Cavortius came to a short set of stairs leading into a small room. He turned right and at the end of a small hall was a bed frame against the wall.
And there, sitting under the frame, was a medium-sized white bone. Excited, the Imperial closed the distance and knew it was the bone; he put it deep in his travel bag and made his way back out of Aleft.
Upon emerging from the ancient Dwemer ruin, the sun had completely gone down and the sounds of bugs chirping were heavily noticeable. Cavortius walked around the side of Aleft, invoked his water walking spell, and began to jog across the water to Gnaar Mok. All around him, the swamps seemed to come alive with the incessant chirping of the bugs and mud crabs (a drastic difference compared to what he heard during the day).
As he reached the dock and gave the shipmaster the required drakes for passage to Hla Oad, he realized that after staring out at the swamps, he couldn't sleep. Normally, he'd be out almost instantly from combat or from casting large doses of magicka. That latter act had to be brought under control, he knew, for a real mage or necromancer didn't get tired. Then again, Cavortius was still a young man learning the arts of magic, so with time he would be able to combat the exhaustion.
But Cavortius was left with a haunting sense that things wouldn't be getting easier any time soon--those two guards he had assaulted would most likely be searching for him themselves. He knew this because he knew his race well--Imperials were arrogant and hated having their pride hurt, and one of the guards had been an Imperial. If he also remembered correctly, the other had been a Nord or Breton, but he couldn't be sure.
He also realized that they had been there purely by chance, possibly on patrol of some sort, and had stopped to rest by the tomb. It also meant that a bulletin, most likely from Ebonheart, had been sent out to every Imperial settlement with his description.
So many things were racing through his mind, but as much as he wanted to sleep, Cavortius couldn't--he was too alert and feeling paranoid.
00000000000000
In order to blend in with the locals, Darko and Hawkeye had left their Imperial Legion armor in their rucksacks and donned mildly-expensive clothes. They still carried their steel broadswords on them, however, for who knows what else would occur.
The pair had rented rooms at the Lucky Lockup in Balmora, right at the south gate, so they could see anybody who comes through, as well as for being near the Silt Strider. Commander Malo had told them their orders: find evidence of wrongdoing by Cavortius, capture him, or failing that execute him in the name of Imperial justice.
Quietly, the pair had split up throughout the massive Dunmer town and discreetly made inquiries about their mark. Every hour, they met up on the roof of the Lucky Lockup to discuss their findings. Thus far, Darko had been unsuccessful, but Hawkeye had found something.
"The publican at the Eight Plates told me that she had a patron come in a few days ago wearing a black robe," Hawkeye said, "but she didn't remember his face. Apparently, he must've left something for her about a crazy Dark Elf, named Senzani Na, who was claiming to be a lich."
"I remember hearing about that," Darko replied, nodding. "She had one of the Hlaalu guards trail the man to a cave north of the town. But so what, the man could've been drunk."
The large bearded Nord shook his head. "This is where things get interesting. It seems our boy found a need to do a little investigating, so he went up to the cave and…well, dispatched Senzani, and brought the man's journal to the publican. One of the Legionnaires from Moonmoth confirmed it."
"So where does this leave us?"
Both men sat on the rooftop pondering this while taking sips of their ale. Finally, Darko spoke.
"From the sounds of it, our boy followed the trail this Senzani Na planned to follow. Combine this with the knowledge that he was a servant of Mannimarco and…"
Both men looked at each other at once with a small amount of fear. "We have a seriously driven man who may or may not be seeking to become a lich," Hawkeye finished.
That realization also meant that they wouldn't be facing an easy opponent. They had to be sneaky in their investigation less they run the risk of being caught. Hawkeye and Darko Valinus decided to call it a night and headed down the stairs nearby to head for their rooms. As Hawkeye entered and closed the door, a Silt Strider pulled up to the landing.
00000000000000
The same day Cunius had his request sent to the Morag Tong, he found a reply sitting on his nightstand. Crawling into bed and slipping on his reading glasses, he tore the letter open and removed its contents.
"Cunius--
I regret to inform you that your request for the swift execution of your brother Cavortius has been rejected. The Tong operates off of a strict code, and proof of wrongdoing is part of that code. As there is no evidence to support the charges you bring, we cannot print up a writ of execution. Plus, rarely does the Tong kill a relative because another wishes it so. Even if he is a necromancer, there is nothing to prove otherwise.
Also, you are but a simple Lawman of House Hlaalu. Don't you have more important duties to attend to? Surely your House needs you in these troubling times that Vvardenfell is experiencing.
I hope you understand my reasons for turning down your request. It is in the interest of business, and is nothing personal against you or your House. If you have any questions in regards to the Morag Tong or the nature of this letter, please contact the guildhall in Balmora.
Regards,
Eno Hlaalu,
Grandmaster of the Morag Tong"
Cunius understood perfectly, and it galled him to no end. He was angry that his time had been wasted, and even more so that Eno had insulted him on top of it!
No matter, the Imperial Lawman thought as he threw the letter across the room and calmly placed his glasses on the nightstand. I'll show them I'm not to be trifled with.
As he blew out the candle next to his bed, Cunius decided he would contact the Dark Brotherhood in the morning. It would be extremely risky and he was risking his career, but he felt it was necessary. Two contracts would be made: one for his brother and one for Eno Hlaalu.
Yet little did he know that this decision--made out of anger and stemming from the fact this his ego was hurt (and rather then being made from a calm state of mind)--would set forth a series of events that he could not reverse once the decision had been put in motion.