Chapter Twenty One: Sending in Reinforcements
The First Emissary Elenwen sat at her desk, looking over the map that Aldaril had shown her through the scrying crystal. She had copied it down on a piece of parchment and was gazing over it. Her mind was tumbling over all of the locations that the Stormcloaks were still hiding out in and it aggravated her. Even after several months of scouring through this snowy wasteland, there were still so many rebel Nords left to deal with.
Elenwen stared down at the parchment with a hard glare, her gold-brown eyes clouded with anger. There seemed to be rebel holdouts all over the province and her hands bunched up into fists of anger. She thought of how the few remaining Stormcloaks were probably laughing at her ignorance and drinking their foul tasting mead. An evil smirk crossed the Emissary's lips as she stood up from her desk.
"We'll see about that," She said quietly to herself. She picked up the map and quickly walked out of her bedroom. She quickly walked down the stone staircase and continued down into the underbelly of the embassy. The First Emissary passed a few servants on her way but ignored them as they asked if they could be of any service. Her mind was formulating her next grand scheme and she needed to be as focused as she could.
Elenwen paused in front of an iron door that lead down to the ruins below the embassy. She pulled out a ring full of various keys, unlocking the multiple locks that the door acquired before pushing it open. Placing the keys back into the pocket in robe, she closed the door behind before proceeding down a set of ancient stone steps. There wasn't anything abnormal at first; the stairs looked of the average sort and led to a simple stone landing. But as she rounded the corner and walked down another set of stairs, a gleaming, golden Dwemer door stood at the end of the steps.
This time Elenwen pulled out a single key, this one made of the same golden metal as the door. She entered the key into the lock and turned it, hearing several tumbles click and unlock the Dwemer door. Placing the key back in her pocket, the Emissary pushed the door open and stepped through it, closing it behind her and hearing the lock click back into place. Her eyes roamed over the large open room before her.
She stood on the outskirts of a large underground courtyard, a stone fountain spraying out cold mountain water a few feet to the side. There were a few stone benches scatted across the courtyard, some flushed against the stone walls and a few just sitting in the middle of the open space. Golden braziers burned dully by a few of the benches. Dwemer light fixtures hung down from the ceiling and glowed brightly, adding a dull blue hue to everything. At the opposite end of the courtyard, a wide set of steps led down into another open courtyard. Elenwen crossed the empty stone courtyard and walked down the stone steps.
The next courtyard looked about the same but this one had a large tree growing up from the center of it, strange dark blue leaves growing out if its gnarly branches. Purple flowers grew in patches in the blue leaves, leaving a strange scent in the air. There were a few other Thalmor standing around in the courtyard, most of them being scientists or engineers. Elenwen nodded her head at them as past them by and turned into a thin corridor. Golden pipes rumbled above the Emissary's head, carrying fresh cold water throughout the Dwemer compound.
The First Emissary turned a corner in the corridor and down another flight of stairs before walking into the legendary Hangar. The ancient Dwemer monstrosities littered the stone floor, her eyes gazing over the different contraptions. A smirk crossed her lips as she thought of how the Stormcloaks would react if a few of the machines were to attack their precious bases. She walked down the stone stairs into the room and strode pass a few of the contraptions, her golden eyes glancing at each one.
Each machine was designed differently, and with each unique design came a unique way of killing their enemies. There were a few that tore their prey apart while others squashed their enemies like bugs. There were other machines that even drilled their way into the bodies of their victims only to drill their way back out. Elenwen grimaced slightly at the thought of that machine, trying to imagine what was going through the mind of the Dwemer that had created that machine.
She shook her head of the disturbing thought as she walked into a small room off of the Hangar, closing the golden door behind her. It was a simple war room that had a map of Skyrim. There was also a chest full of war plans and other maps, most of them old and useless. A Thalmor who had been tracing a line over the Skyrim map looked up at Elenwen, his wrinkled face grinning at the female Thalmor.
"First Emissary, what a surprise to see you." The Thalmor said as he straightened up and bowed his head. First Emissary Elenwen nodded back at him, striding over to the map table.
"General Eraamon, I have acquired a piece of information that you might appreciate." The Emissary said as she stood across the table from the Thalmor man. He stared at her with a wolfish grin.
"Oh? And what is that, Emissary?" He asked coolly. His words had a soft accent to them but it wasn't as bad as it had been. General Eraamon had been sent in from Alinor a few weeks after the civil war had ended. He wasn't very well known outside of Alinor, or even inside the home country for a matter of fact. But he did have a great way of leading men into battle, and even greater knack for machines. Hence why he was stuck down in the Hangar. Elenwen grinned at the General and held up the rolled parchment. The General stared at it with slight curiosity before looking back at the Emissary.
"You came down here to show me a roll of parchment?" He questioned, snorting with disgust. Eraamon started to look away Elenwen slammed the parchment onto the table and unfurled it. The General stared at it in slight confusion, his eyes roaming over the parchment.
"This here is a map found on the corpse of a Talos-worshipper," Elenwen started, watching the General's face. "It shows all of the locations of hidden Stormcloak bases along with fences that aid the traitors and give them food and weapons." A smirk crossed the General's face as he looked up at the First Emissary.
"But I don't think they'd be expecting a sudden attack from a group of Thalmor and a killing machine, do you?" He asked evilly, standing up straight up again. Elenwen smirked evilly with him.
"Let's hit these traitors fast and hard, General." Elenwen said, the General quickly nodding with agreement.
"Yes, we shall. But who should taste our power first?" He asked, stooping over the table to look over the copied map. Elenwen did the same, her brown eyes staring over the parchment. There were a few locations near the embassy that could be use as good targets but the First Emissary wanted something that would really drive home a warning to all Talos-worshippers. She was about to point to a location when there was a light knock the Dwemer made door. The General quickly looked up at the door as the Emissary snorted with impatience and stood up.
"Come in," Eraamon called out to the door. It slowly opened to reveal a Thalmor servant. He stood nervously in the doorway as he bowed his head before speaking.
"Um, F-First Emissary…?" He started out. Elenwen rolled her eyes.
"Yes? Get on with it." She snapped, not in the mood for a foolish servant to eat up more of her time. The servant jumped slightly at the harsh tone but cleared his throat before continuing.
"You have r-received a message through the scrying crystal." He said quietly, holding out a folded piece of paper. "It's from L-Lead Justiciar Aldaril, First Emissary. He told me to relay the message to you." He explained as the Emissary stepped forward and snatched the paper away from him. She quickly unfolded it and read over the note. Her eyes shot open and the brown orbs quickly looked over at the servant.
"Is this true?" She practically shouted at the man, stepping towards him. The man cowered slightly before nodding quickly.
"Y-yes, First Emissary! He showed it to me as proof!" He quickly stammered out, staring at her with wide, frightened eyes. The Emissary glared at him before quickly slamming the door on his face, turning to the General. He stared at her sternly, his jaw locked into place.
"What was that all about?" He asked her, her eyes piercing into his. The First Emissary walked forward and tossed the note onto the table. The General picked it up and read its single sentence: the tracker has been destroyed on the road to Markarth. The General's eyes shot up in surprise and anger, Elenwen nodding at his expression.
"And it must be true…" She said quietly, placing her hand on her chin as she watched the General's expression. He angrily tossed the note onto the table before looking at Elenwen.
"Where do you think this traitor is running to?" Eraamon questioned his voice void of all emotion except for frustration and rage. Elenwen stared at him before looking down at the map. She thought of where the tracker must have been destroyed and then looked at the surrounding annotations. She scanned the map before eyes landed on an interesting one. She pointed a golden finger at Dushnikh Yal.
"Here. He must be trying to get out of Skyrim and try to get to Cyrodiil." She said with confidence, staring at the General. He looked at the spot then at her.
"Are you certain that is where he could have gone?" He questioned the First Emissary. She nodded her head.
"Yes, I'm certain that is where he must have gone." She said, staring down at the annotation, an evil smirk starting to cross her lips. "But if the Orcs there will give him aid, then they must have given aid to other Stormcloaks. So, maybe they should be taught a lesson." Elenwen spoke, her voice dripping with venom as the General's face adopted a similar look as hers. He quickly nodded his head in agreement.
"And if so, then we'll need our best machines to take care of them." He said, walking around the table and walking to the door. He opened it and stood in the doorway, looking out over the different contraptions. Elenwen stood a few feet behind him, waiting for him to choose his toys. A grin crossed his lips as he pointed at machination. The First Emissary looked over his shoulder to look at what he was pointing at.
The machine looked like several pairs of sharp spider legs all strapped together with an insect-like head attacked at the front. A small cage sat on top of its head where the soul gem was to be nestled into it. Large golden mandibles stood out of its skull and looked like they had tasted blood more than once before. The General nodded with evil glee.
"I'll send out the skitter along with a group of twelve Justiciars and four mages." The General said, glancing over his shoulder at Elenwen. She nodded slowly but then shook her head.
"Send more than one machine. Remember, one Talos-worshipper destroyed one machine and three of my men have been killed. I'm sure that the Orcs will be much more formidable against such a small attack group." Elenwen explained, watching the General as he quickly turned back to look out at the Hangar. His golden eyes scanned the other machines before pointed another one. This time it was a pair of machines and they looked more than enough to take care of the Orc stronghold.
They looked like large golden boxes, both equipped with long saw blades on either side of them. But six cog-like wheels sat below the boxes, giving them an almost untouchable look. There were a thin slits on all sides of the machines, allowing archers access to shoot arrows at enemies outside of the protective box. Elenwen grinned widely at the contraptions, clapping the General on the back.
"Those damn traitors won't know what hit them." She said, laughing evilly.