Several miles south of Mournhold, Vaneth Arathi arrived in a small military encampment near to the border of Black Marsh, the dense jungle swamplands of the Argonian State. Vaneth dismounted from his horse at the entrance, his black and gold robes lightly coated in a mix of ash and dirt. The camp was of a medium size, large enough to hold enough troops for a decent skirmish but was nothing of the like seen in war. Soldiers wearing the staple bonemold armour of House Redoran quickly marched to and fro, delivering supplies and messages between destinations.

"Greetings, what's the situation here?" he called as two Redoran guards approached him.

"One of your order arrived here yesterday." said the superior of the two as they led Vaneth further into the camp, "He's been patiently waiting for you and dared not to venture southward without strong reinforcements."

Vaneth threw the soldier a puzzled glance, "Did he say why?"

"No, sir. The inquisitor's been very quiet since he scouted the area and has been pouring over the map in the command tent since."

"Where is he now?" he asked.

"Just in here, sir." said the soldier, leading him to a large tent and pulling open the flap that covered the entrance.

Vaneth stepped inside after thanking the soldier. Before him was a blue robed inquisitor who stood hunched a table that was covered with a very detailed map of Morrowind's southern regions. Next to him was the commander of the Redoran detachment sent to the border.

"Sorvayn?"

The blue robed inquisitor looked up and smiled at him. "Vaneth. I'm glad you have finally arrived. I'm afraid we need to skip pleasantries this time, my friend. Dire matters need attending to. Come." he said, beckoning him over with a hand.

Vaneth joined Sorvayn and the Redoran commander at the table and placed his ebony greatsword against the side of it, the golden runes dimming as the blade left his touch.

"You've come at a troubling time, inquisitor." said the Redoran commander. "I'm Captain Veleth and I lead this detachment from Raven Rock."

Vaneth looked at Veleth curiously. He was a bald Dunmer with a trimmed goatee and his face was haggard like that of a veteran. Though his primary posting was an interesting one.

"Why is the Raven Rock guard all the way south here?" he asked.

"Councillor Morvayn figured that while the ebony mines are an important resource, with the lack of manpower that we have at the moment it'd be better use of our skills to deploy us elsewhere. I can't really argue, I've guarded Solstheim for too damn long and it's a nice change to be back in the homeland. Even if it is against this." explained Veleth.

"What do you mean?"

Sorvayn pointed a finger at a point on the map highlighted in a red circle and then dragged his finger to other points like it.

"I scouted along the border yesterday afternoon and found the remains of several of our border patrols at these locations."

"But those are within our borders…" said Vaneth.

"Aye, but we have a bigger issue." continued Sorvayn, stopping only to place a couple of bloodied arrows on the table. "This isn't a simple border skirmish."

Vaneth's heart was suddenly in his throat. It did not take an expert to work out the implications here. He picked up one of the arrows and ran a finger from the head to the elegant fletching. This was elven craft, not argonian.

"Have the Great Houses been warned?"

"I sent a rider myself to Blacklight." said Captain Veleth. "Although I did point out in the message that it's possible that the Argonians are only receiving equipment from the Dominion."

"Hopefully that is only the case, however doubtful it is." said Sorvayn running a hand across his face, "I remember the days when the marauders of Argonia were unleashed on our lands...being caught off-guard, defending the plains of Deshaan to the last." he shook his head and gazed deeply at the map, leaning on the table. "I would much rather those days return than a second Great War."

"Aye. It's a shame we don't get to choose our battles, serjo. That's the attacker's liberty I'm afraid." said Veleth.

"Then we need to make a move. If Argonian forces have crossed the border and are using the Southern Marshes as cover, then we need to root them out and capture them if possible before they make another move on us." exclaimed Vaneth.

Sorvayn looked nervously at Veleth, and then back to the inquisitor. "You understand this would risk war with the Argonians?"

"Their next set of attacks will be war, Sorvayn."

Veleth sighed, "The lad's got a point. If war is inevitable then I'd rather risk it on preferable terms than wait it out."

Sorvayn looked between them and the map, perplexed. His mind fell back to thoughts of Kelran and his chase for the Soul of Trinimac. A war would at first be detrimental to Kelran's efforts, but would actually be beneficial in the long term. There are plenty of refugees and travelling vagrants in wartime, and a lot less soldiers at home.

"Fine. Break up your men, Veleth. Units of twelve with at least one sorcerer and three who are decent with a bow. Keep one unit back here to keep sentry on the camp and place the rest near the locations of our dead border patrols. We'll scour the border along this region and eliminate any threats. Understood Captain?" ordered Sorvayn, giving Veleth a look of stone.

"Understood. I suggest you and Vaneth stick together as your own unit. I've seen one or two of you inquisitors in action before and even the Redoran guard can't stand up to you." he said as he left the command tent.

Nearly an hour after, Sorvayn and Vaneth moved along the border between Morrowind and Black Marsh at a slow pace. The Southern Marshes were an alien combination of flora and fauna from either side of the border, making only this region truly unique. Dense jungle trees mixed with large mushrooms that glowed with bioluminescence in the dark shroud provided by the marsh's canopy. Water met halfway up their shins and a constant bustle of noise from insects, birds and small amphibian creatures surrounded them. The smell was perhaps the worst part. Stagnant bogwater layered with algae was a common sight it seemed.

"I imagine this stench won't leave my robes for some time…" said Sorvayn, holding up a staff in his left hand and carrying a thin and light sword in his right.

"As long as the armour doesn't rust I can live with it." replied Vaneth, his greatsword across his shoulder leaving his left hand free to provide balance.

"Ebony never rusts."

"Good to know-"

Sorvayn held up his sword with his hand as a fist, signalling a halt. Vaneth closed the gap between the two of them, moving cautiously to not make a lot of noise.

"What's wrong?" he whispered, but then he got his answer as he peered over Sorvayn's shoulder. Several bloodied bodies of the Redoran Guard lay strewn across an opening ahead. Sorvayn began moving forward again with Vaneth in tow, weapons now at the ready.

"There's too few for it to be one of the units that Veleth sent out." observed Sorvayn.

"Then, it's one of the border patrols...but I thought they were all recalled?"

"So did I."

Together the two inquisitors looked over the corpses. Some had been dismembered, though it appeared to be an incident of any combat that had occurred.

"Does this look natural to you?" asked Vaneth, pointing to some of the bodies. Sorvayn moved next to him to achieve the same point of view. "Something is missing…"

"There's only blood on the bodies-" sudden realisation hit Sorvayn and he pulled Vaneth down to the ground as several barbed arrows pierced the air where they had just been stood.

Sorvayn got back up to his feet and held out his staff, generating a blue dome of energy around him and Vaneth, but no more arrows came their way and neither could they see nor hear any hint of the enemy.

"By Azura, they've taken to posing the dead?" cried Vaneth in a small modicum of disbelief.

"It's clever, I'll give them that. Guerilla tactics. They'll be hunting us now."

"We need to lure them out into the open, move them somewhere that they can't hide."

The inquisitors backtracked from their position, retracing their path back towards the edge of the marshes. Sorvayn kept the shield raised for as long as possible, handing the staff to Vaneth to take over while he rested before taking it back again. They were forced to move slowly lest the shield would falter, making progress painful to behold and placing them at even greater risk. Shadowy figures kept catching Vaneth's eye, moving between the trees and amidst the undergrowth. Or perhaps that was his hyper alert mind? Either way, it paid to be prepared.

Soon, Sorvayn and Vaneth managed to break from the swampland and into open plains of dust and light grass. They made some headway further north to be clear out of arrow-shot before turning to face the dense jungle. Vaneth let the blade of his sword drop into the dirt, angled the edge and then quickly drew a circle accented with runes around himself. The sigil pulsed with a purple light, faded and immediately after, tendrils of violet energy pulled onto him before morphing into ethereal armour plates. Across the gap, figures emerged from the trees. Humanoid lizards clad in a mix of armour styles built from tribal materials. Their equipment was as mismatched as their appearances. However, this was not just a small band of Argonians, for more and more marched forward, and not just ahead but along the entire tree line to their flanks too.

"I've fought worse before." spat Sorvayn as the Argonian force moved towards them, hissing and screeching.

A gradually increasing thundering of impacts on the ground caught Vaneth's attention and he turned just as a cavalry charge of Redoran soldiers pushed past them, their horses also armoured with bonemold.

"Idiots!" shouted Vaneth. They had charged straight into a superior sized force and towards the marsh edge which for cavalry was practically a wall.

The inquisitors charged after the cavalry to give them what support they could, although both felt it would be futile. Within seconds they had joined the fray, cutting down Argonians as quickly as the cavalry unit was losing men. Sorvayn deftly deflected blow after blow with his blade while launching gouts of flame with his staff simultaneously in a tornado of carnage. Soon there became a clear circle of scorch marks and charred corpses around him as he fought. Meanwhile, Vaneth wielded his black greatsword with ease, swiftly cleaving foe after foe. Around them, the Redoran cavalry had been reduced to around half strength and only now decided to pull back as a force of Redoran infantry charged into the gap they had left, headed by Captain Veleth. The fighting continued for several minutes before the Argonians began to rout, fleeing back into the marshes one by one. Vaneth cut down his latest victim and turned to strike at another only to find that there was none. Blood stained his mask, robes and armour while his blade boiled any blood upon it into vapour upon contact, leaving it perfectly clean. He planted his sword into the ground and leaned on it, gathering his breath while Sorvayn and Veleth approached him in the aftermath of the skirmish.

"Well...that could have gone better." said Veleth nodding towards the heap of horses on the ground near to them.

"I hope to Oblivion and back that it wasn't you who gave the order for them to charge." stated Sorvayn, his face stern and cold.

"No, that was the second in command I had left at the camp. I'll deal with him accordingly when we get back." he sighed, then looked between the two of them. "How are you both after that anyway?"

Sorvayn gave an odd look to Vaneth who was wrapping a rag around his arm, which was now soaked in blood. He caught the look but held up a hand in reassurance.

"We'll live it seems." he said, sheathing his sword back into its scabbard. "It's likely they'll be back with more soon, Captain. We need to be ready."

"There are greater things for you to worry about, Sorvayn." came a voice from behind them.

A white robed inquisitor on horseback and an entourage of Ordinators beside her approached. "Port Telvannis, Nekrom and Raven Rock were attacked an hour ago. There are also reports of incursions across the borders with Valenwood and Elsweyr with the Empire. Further naval attacks have been reported in Hammerfell, High Rock and on the west coast of Cyrodiil."

"Sirina, has it begun?" asked Vaneth.

"It has. Without a declaration, the Aldmeri Dominion has attacked both the Empire and the Great Houses of Morrowind. The Great War has begun again. May Azura have mercy on us all…"