"Heard anything from your brother?" she asked with a look of concern.
"I'm sure he's doing fine, he can certainly hold his own." said Vaneth. He scratched his greying beard before sliding on a silver mask under his hood. The two robed Dunmer waited patiently in the circular stone corridor surrounding the Elder Council chambers. The man was of a medium build, clad in black, ebony-plated robes and carrying a large greatsword etched with golden runes that looked almost like they were dancing across the blade. The woman wore similar robes, albeit white and with a gold plated mask. She was shorter and slim, more of an athletic build like that of a gymnast.
"Did you read the last report from Havesh and his group? They finally located the Order of Psijics." he said, folding his arms and leaning against the wall.
An Imperial Praetorian marched by them on patrol, casting a nervous glance in their direction, his heavy, white armour clanking with each step. Sirina's crimson eyes followed him as he passed. She felt most unwelcome.
She nodded, "Did they manage to get their hands on the Eye?" she whispered, looking back to Vaneth.
"I'm not sure, they have definitely found it but no doubt the Thalmor are posing problems. They always do." he said quietly.
"The Thalmor have been a pain in everyone's backside since day one, Vaneth, it should come as no surprise anymo-"
The door to the Elder Council chamber opened and a small head popped through, cutting off Sirina to her apparent displeasure.
"The Elder Council shall see you now." said the man in a clear but old voice.
Vaneth acknowledged and thanked the man before entering with Sirina into the vast hall. Like nearly everything in the Imperial City, the hall was circular with a large ring of seats on the perimeter of an inset circle directly in the centre of the room, giving it the air of an amphitheatre but without tiered seats. Vaneth scanned the room, eyeing the pairs of Praetorians at each door while only glancing over the faces of each councillor. Vaneth and Sirina braced themselves and entered into the centre of the circle, each of the eyes gazing upon them like pin-pricks. Vaneth exchanged a nod with the High Councillor, Recius Terin, while the man with the small head announced their arrival.
"Lords and ladies of the Elder Council, I present Vaneth Arathi and Sirina Redoran, here on behalf of the Inquisitors of Resdayn of Morrowind!" he bellowed, followed by a long and elegant bow. Vaneth saw Sirina shuffle uncomfortably as the Elder Council murmured amongst itself. He cleared his throat and addressed Recius.
"Lord High Councillor Terin, I come to you and your council in both friendship and goodwill-"
"Friendship? After the display on Mondas?!" protested a man to Vaneth's left. "Your people are no longer a part of this Empire, Dunmer, so run along and die in poverty or go and suck up to the Dominion like the Bosmer did!"
Sirina turned, "Those are some bold words for someone who is just a stepping stone for the Thalmor!" she spat.
The High Councillor laughed at her remark and shook his head. "Are we actually going to do anything as a council or are we just going to yell at each other all week?" several moments of silence passed between them as Recius looked about the hall, each councillor avoiding his gaze. "Good, we're finally getting somewhere. Vaneth, please continue." he said, sitting up straight smugly. Vaneth nodded and this time addressed the entire council.
"My Order is currently operating in all the provinces of Tamriel, some have even ventured to old Akavir. Our goal is to seek out the ancient Aedric artifacts of this world to make sure that they do not fall into...the 'wrong hands'. I understand our current situation with war on the horizon and the Secession of the Great Houses taking its toll already, but I must ask for your aid for any information on the current whereabouts of any and all Aedric artifacts known to the Empire."
Vaneth heard a woman clear her throat and turned around. She was old and appeared wise. She looked directly at Vaneth.
"How are we to know that the artifacts of the Aedra would be safe in your Order's keeping? Wasn't the eruption of Red Mountain and the whole ordeal with Dagoth Ur due to the Dunmer tinkering with Aedric artifacts?" she asked with a particular air of snobbery.
Vaneth clenched his jaw and sighed, "Rather than take a stab at our history, look at this logically. We are currently not a part of the Empire or the Dominion because we simply want to rebuild after so much has been taken from us. That also means all of our forces are dedicated to Morrowind and Morrowind alone, instead of acting as tertiary units within the Legion. Our interests are inwards-"
"Would you rather we had these artifacts or the Thalmor?" interrupted Sirina. "Because, councillors, that is what this ultimately comes down to. You have a war coming, and we might too if the Dominion gets the aid of Blackmarsh. These artifacts are immensely powerful and are not for this age, but the Thalmor are looking. If they acquire even just one, they could shorten the next Great War by five years at least."
High Councillor Recius Terin leaned forward and slammed a hand to the table. "The Empire will give you what we have from the Imperial Library and from what the Synod have researched. All in favour raise your hands." he declared, raising a hand while scanning the hall. His hand dropped and he leant back in his chair. Vaneth glanced around. It was a majority vote.
After the audience was concluded, Vaneth and Sirina left the White-Gold Tower, stepping out into the Cyrodiil sun. They walked down the steps to the tower and out into the market district, passing a huge number of people ranging from casual peasantry to nobles. The area was quite large, with a single main street running the length of the district parallel to the curved city walls, with smaller streets breaking off perpendicular to it. The Imperial City was the jewel of the Empire, and rightly so with its clean roads and its tall towers and buildings constructed from smooth stone that almost bore a black/grey gradient of colour. The Legion here were different to the rest of Tamriel, they were more heavily armoured with full plating and rectangular shields bearing the mark of the dragon. Despite everything grand about the city itself, it was the people that caught your eye. No longer were these citizens of the Empire simple commoners and nobles that strutted around to conclude whatever business they had. These people were more like frightened sheep almost ready for the slaughter. Vaneth could see their vulnerability in their eyes.
As they passed a general goods shop, Sirina turned and entered a small garden area behind it with Vaneth in tow. She turned to him and sighed.
"So then, which one of us is going back to Morrowind with an Imperial escort and a wagon load of research papers?"
"I'll take the boring job and the annoying Imperials," he said blankly, "but what will you do in the meantime?"
Sirina quickly consulted a scrunched up map of Tamriel and then she pointed out a route with her finger, "I'll head up to Bruma to scout through what's left of Cloud Ruler Temple to see if the Blades had any useful information and then I'll cross into the Dragontail Mountains. I might try and find Ves too."
"Well you've thought about this a lot already," said Vaneth with a nervous chuckle, "I'm surprised you're so anxious to leave so soon."
Sirina's eyes looked up at him with slight sympathy, "I'm only eager so that this entire thing is over with quickly, it has nothing to do with you, Vaneth."
Vaneth bit his lip as his heart hung a little heavier, then looked down awkwardly.
"Vaneth…" she sighed, her face falling solemn beneath her mask.
"No no," said Vaneth, adjusting his gear and clearing his throat, "you are...right. In not wanting to get side-tracked I mean, it um…" Vaneth straightened and turned on his heel.
"Et nibis, Sirina. Khosi gher Azura's tear. (So long, Sirina. Walk in Azura's shadow.)" he said in old Dunmeris, then walked back out into the bustling street. As Vaneth quickly marched down the street towards the Mage's District, he could feel his heart pounding. He was surprised he hadn't been fried by magic after his abrupt departure, though he also felt guilt. Whilst naturally not being good at goodbyes in the first place, he knew that this time it really had been a bad move.
"She'll forget about that...hopefully." he thought to himself.
