Chapter 15: Blood of the Daedra
Disclaimer: I do not own Elder Scrolls and Gladiator. They belong to their respective owner.
The sun just rose from the horizon when Martin heard someone knocked on his door. He struggled to get up from his bed as he rubbed his eyes. Wearing his sandals, he reached the door, "Who is this?"
"It's Belisarius, sire. The Grandmaster is asking you to meet him in the great hall immediately," said the man behind the door.
Martin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Give me a minute, please." He grabbed a fur coat from the wardrobe, courtesy of Jauffre, who took pity on him after watching him shivering two days before. Growing up in Colovian Highlands didn't prepare him for the cold weather of Jerall Mountains.
He opened the sliding door and saw the young Imperial Blade standing guard on its side. Belisarius volunteered himself to escort Martin to the great hall, something Martin accepted with reluctance. This idea of being the Emperor and having someone to protect him all the time started to change his lifestyle. Before the siege of Kvatch, he could go anywhere he wanted without being watched, but now there was always one or two Blade who followed him anywhere, except the bathroom.
They entered the great hall and Martin saw Maximus and Hagen sitting on the bench with bruises and cuts on their bodies. Juba was there too, looking worried after looking at Hagen's ugly scar. Jauffre was talking with them when he saw Martin.
"Good morning, Martin. Thank you for coming this early. I'm sorry if I disturbed your sleep," Jauffre greeted him.
"It's alright. Now, is there a problem?" asked the priest. Jauffre turned to see Maximus and Hagen, "They just came back from Bruma and they have important news to tell us."
Jauffre nodded to Maximus to allow him to speak. Maximus rose from his bench, "We found the spies Captain Steffan spotted. They were Mythic Dawn agents. But we killed them and we managed to locate their hiding place in Bruma." Maximus paused to think about his next words because he was about to tell them the most important part.
Jauffre told him to continue, so he sighed and spoke, "Their plan is to launch an attack on Bruma, just like on Kvatch."
Every Blade murmured among them, feeling worried and shocked by the news. If Bruma fell by the forces of Oblivion, there was no doubt Cloud Ruler Temple would be next, along with the heir to the throne they were sworn to protect.
Jauffre looked at his subordinates and raised his voice, "Silence! I know the situation is dire. Another city could be destroyed by the Mythic Dawn and Mehrunes Dagon's army. But we won't achieve victory by worrying and doing nothing."
The Blades glanced at each other, unsure what to say or do, and waited their grandmaster's decision. The Breton monk turned to Martin, "How is your research on Mysterium Xarxes, Martin? Is there a new development?"
Martin opened his mouth to answer him with they heard Cicero, Claudia and Octavius came in. Claudia ran to her husband and hugged him gently. She was so worried every time he was on mission that she would lose him again. Meanwhile, Maximus told Octavius to help his "Uncle Hagen" standing up and bring him to the infirmary to have his wounds treated.
After the emotion was back to normal, Martin went on with his explanation, "Last night, Cicero and I finally decoded a part from the Xarxes. The book is written in Daedric alphabet, the one that is used by the Dunmer in Morrowind."
"And how exactly do you know Daedric alphabet?" Maximus asked him.
Cicero came closer to Martin, "I studied it back in Arcane University. I didn't enroll in the program intensively, but I know how to read some daedric. Translating the text is another matter though. Luckily Martin here had a couple of Dunmer acquaintances in the past, so he was able to translate the book, with much difficulties, I must say."
Everyone was genuinely impressed by how much knowledge these two men possessed. Their biggest asset was not their battle prowess, but their intelligence and fluency in other worldly stuff. Jauffre looked down at the book, wondering how possibly that accursed thing be of help.
"So what do you find, Martin? Does the book tell us anything about how to stop Mehrunes Dagon's invasion on Tamriel?" asked Jauffre.
Martin combed his brown hair with his fingers and massaged his forehead that was still pulsating because of the reading, "Well, not exactly, but after sleepless nights and mental attack it gave us, we managed to decipher some massages it contains. The book speaks about four items that need to be gathered to open a portal to some kind of a pocket realm of Oblivion where we believe Mankar Camoran fled to with the Amulet of Kings. Last night, we found out that the first item is the blood of the daedra."
Everyone gasped by the finding. How in Oblivion would they get the very blood of the daedra? Maximus scratched his head that wasn't itchy, "Martin, are you sure? Those daedra live in another realm, so unless you're willing to travel to Oblivion, I don't see how we can obtain such thing."
Martin raised his index finger and waved it, "No, that's where you're wrong, my friend. In fact, you're wrong twice. First, I said we need the blood of THE daedra, not a daedra. That means we want the blood from one of the daedric princes."
The hall was suddenly filled with moaning of shock and protest from the Blades. At this time, they were all trying to stop a daedric prince from entering the world, but now this illegitimate son of the late emperor claimed that they needed them for their blood? It's either the book was right or he had gone mad after reading it all day. Even Maximus, Juba, and Jauffre were arguing with Martin as they were trying to convince him that there was a mistake.
Claudia saw the commotion in the hall and felt helpless to stop them. She wanted to help, but what could she do? After all, she was just a simple merchant from Bravil who happened to be the wife of the Hero of Kvatch. But then she saw Cicero leaped from his bench.
"Everyone, please calm down! We will not summon a daedra lord on Tamriel," he announced. All arguments stopped and every eye was looking at him, begging him to continue. "The blood is the essence of life for everything, as well as the princes. Their artifacts are the representation of their power, thus they are the essence of their respective daedric prince. So technically, the daedric artifacts are the blood of the daedric princes. That's what Martin is trying to say."
Martin smiled at the young mage, having Cicero here really helped him, not just as a mage, but as a friend too, who did understand his struggle in dealing with the mystery of magic. Two is better than one, indeed.
Martin walked to a bookshelf and took two books, one with purple cover and one with brown leather cover. As he brought the books, he addressed everyone, "The only way to obtain a daedric artifact is through the cults devoted to each of the Daedric Lords. The book Modern Heretics is the best introduction to daedric cults, but The Book of Daedra has a complete list the daedric princes. Right now, I need one of those artifacts for the ritual to open a portal to where Mankar Camoran is hiding. The Mysterium Xarxes ritual will consume the physical form of the artifact in order to release its daedric power."
Jauffre took Modern Heretics and scanned the content. He learned that to obtain a daedric artifact was to earn the daedra's favor, which meant to commune with one. He closed the book and looked at everyone sternly, "This is not a task to be trifled with. The daedric princes are known for being evil and cunning. They'll never let anyone of you get away with their artifacts so easily. They will bind and twist your mind before they claim your soul. If you are going to do this, at least you should have a strong mind to protect yourself. Now who will volunteer to retrieve the artifact?"
Every pair of eyes slowly drifted to the only mage in the room beside Martin. Cicero was overwhelmed by how they simply shove him the dreaded task. He cursed himself silently and wished he mastered the invisibility spell, then used it to run away from Cloud Ruler Temple and back to the University.
Then he felt someone squeezed his shoulder that made him flinched. It was Martin who tried to ease his anxiety. Martin told him to sit down as Jauffre ordered every Blade to get back to work. Maximus and Juba joined the priest shortly.
"Are you alright?" Maximus asked him.
Cicero exhaled, seemingly exhausted already, "I don't know. I'm not sure I can do this, Maximus. I can deal with ordinary necromancers, but we are talking about daedric princes for Mara's sake. Their power is beyond comprehension."
Maximus looked him in the eye and told him from his heart as a friend, "Listen, I may know nothing about magic, but I know from our past life. You have strong heart and willpower that can't be swayed by a mountain of gold or the raging sea. You're one of the strongest people I know and that strength comes from here," Maximus pointed at Cicero's chest as he encouraged him.
Martin was touched by the friendship they had. It was important to have someone to support you when you needed them the most. He wished he had one in his youth. "He is right, Cicero. I see your quality when you decided to help me with Mysterium Xarxes. You know the risk, yet you still offer your help, and you show me resilience that only few mages possess. The dark power from the book is enough to make a skilled mage give up. But not you. So it's not an exaggeration if I say you will succeed to bring the artifact," Martin said as he hugged Cicero like a brother.
They spend the next hour having breakfast and laughing, as well as preparing for the artifact hunting. After the meal, Cicero grabbed his leather rucksack and put in the supplies Jauffre provided him. He took a steel bow from the Blades armory to replace his old bow. He left the gate with Martin and Maximus sending him away.
Once he was out of the fortress, his first destination was Bruma. The building he visited was the county chapter of Mages Guild where he restocked his potions and soul gems. He also stopped by the local food stalls to purchase some perishable foods. From his rucksack, he took a small frost-enchanted casket and put those foods, most of them were meat, inside. The casket was invented by him and one of his classmates several months prior the Emperor's assassination. It was made out of wood with Ayleid ornaments and it could be powered by a filled petty soul gem that lasted for 4 to 6 hours. Before he accompanied Maximus, he was working with the bigger version that was powered by stronger soul gems, such as greater or even grand soul gems, which could power the casket for a whole week or more, according to his hypothesis. He was thinking to continue his project and get the approval from the Office of Imperial Commerce and see them sold in major stores in Tamriel, because it would certainly help the long distance travellers and merchants in temperate climate like Cyrodiil, but probably he would encountered some difficulty in Skyrim as the province was already a giant ice cube. He strapped the casket with a piece of rope to his rucksack and headed to the gate, to hunt the blood of the daedra. At the back of his mind, he knew it's going to be a long trip.
"Choices, choices, choices. So many choices, yet I only need to pick one." That's what Cicero was thinking as he read The Book of Daedra. The book explained all 16 daedric princes in details, what was their sphere, what was their artifact, when to summon them and where one could find their shrine in Cyrodiil, except Mehrunes Dagon, of course. The nearest one from Bruma was the shrine of Namira who made him shuddered when he thought of how her followers eat corpses. He passed it and ventured further south, ignoring Mephala because of her connection to murder, sex, lie, secret and plot. He followed the Red Ring Road to Gold Road, passing by the shrine to Molag Bal which wasn't even a choice when he learned about what he did to Tamriel in the second era. Besides, Hannibal Traven enforced a strict policy regarding necromancy, and Molag Bal was the patron of most necromancers.
Cicero opened the again to look for the next nearest daedric shrine, which was Clavicus Vile's. The book told him how the daedra lord often granted mortals' wishes, but in ways that turned out poorly for them. So he looked for an alternative. Further west of Skingrad was the shrine of Sanguine, the daedric prince of debauchery. Cicero weighed his choices, should he take this one or go looking for another one? This daedra was often associated with drunkenness, it's not too bad, Cicero thought. The chance that Sanguine would tell him to kill or scam someone was quite low, maybe he would like to get Cicero drink all the wine in Skingrad until he passed out, but hangover could always be cured, right? Cicero closed the book and walked into the forest to meet the daedra and have his artifact.
After replacing the soul gem for his casket nine times, he finally reached a clearing in the forest where a tall statue stood on the pedestal. It had a pair of horn on its head and it was holding a mug of beer. There were other people as well, drinking and fucking each other to their heart's content. Somehow it reminded him of a whorehouse back in Rome.
He approached a Bosmer who was drinking alone, "Excuse me, sir. Is this the shrine of Sanguine?"
The man turned around and looked at him with red face, "Well of course, lad. Come on, join us, have a drink for our lord! You bring it yourself? That's good. Or you can always take one from that crate."
Cicero shook his head, "No, you are mistaken, sir. I wish to know how do I get his artifact, Sanguine's Rose."
The man laughed out loud when he heard him, "You're an ambitious one, aren't you? I like that, but sadly, Sanguine doesn't give it away like a toy. Why don't you speak to him yourself, see what he wants. Maybe he'll give to you, or you'll end up like us poor buggers, which ain't a bad thing, hehehehe."
The man got up and took a drunk Khajiiti woman to the bushes. Seconds later, the bushes was rocking back and forth, making Cicero rolled his eyes.
He then decided to approach the statue and stopped at the base. He looked upwards and called the prince, "Listen to my voice, o depraved Sanguine, for I have a desire to speak to you."
He waited for a moment, half-expecting there would never be a response so he could search for a more pleasant daedric prince to deal with when a voice boomed from the sky, "Uughh, what now? If you are asking for moonsugar again, I'll make you marry a zombie for the rest of your life..."
The daedra's voice trailed until he saw a small man standing in front of his shrine. "Ah, what do we have here? A new one! What business do you have to wake me up from my slumber?"
Cicero swallowed his salive and steeled himself, "I... I come here after I heard of your might and I wish to see your splendor with my own eyes. Truly, the songs fall utterly short of your enormity, o despicable one! And now that I am standing before you, I wish to earn your favor."
Sanguine let out an amused tone and a grin if anyone could see his face, "Oooh, aren't you a honey-mouthed poet? I don't see your kind too often. Unfortunately, your pleasantries won't make it easier for you. I won't speak with you further until you bring me a bottle of Cyrodillic brandy, the purest one you can find. How about that?"
Cicero rummaged through his rucksack and grabbed a bottle with red liquid in it. The Cyrodillic brandy he bought in Bruma for the road. He drank some of it in Bruma county to ward off the cold and now he hoped the daedric prince would accept what's left of the drink. He put down the bottle on the altar in front of the statue. A few seconds passed before the prince spoke again.
"I see you come prepared. Good! Now I need you to perform a service for me. The Castle Leyawiin is a dull, dreary place. The mistress is an especially somber soul, and tomorrow she will hold another excruciating dinner party. I want you to liven it up. Use this spell on the Countess and her guests. I think it will make the party much more interesting. You should probably try to be inconspicuous. Or they might kill you. Oh, and the party is by invitation only. You'll have to find a way in. Have fun!"
Once the voice stopped, Cicero felt a surge of magicka flowed into him and found a new spell in his mind. The name was Stark Reality, but the effect was unknown. He was thinking to try the spell to the cultists, but he was afraid the prince would be angry at him for attacking his followers. So he stayed his hands and proceeded to his destination, the city of Leyawiin in the far south of Cyrodiil.
A few hours had passed since his encounter with the daedric prince. It was evening and the time for the feast was now. Cicero was in the room he rented in the Leyawiin inn. He kept his belongings on the bed and put on a black and burgundy outfit he bought in Skingrad on the way there. He hoped the guard would let him join the party if he followed the dress code.
He left the inn and went to the palace where the guests were lining up in front of the gate. The guards checked everyone for any harmful stuff, making sure everyone was worthy of the countess' invitation. After all the guests were permitted entry, they headed to the dining room and sat by a long table to wait for the countess. Cicero took a seat and checked his surrounding. There were 15 guests at the table, men and women, all wearing fine clothes. Two guards were standing by the doors that led to upstairs, to the main hall. They were the only ones with weapons since the guests didn't bring theirs or let them kept by the guards at the gate.
For twenty minutes they had a chat with one another while they waited for her. Cicero took the time to have a conversation with some guest and one in particular was quite nice, an Altmer lady in blue dress. She told him how she followed her father from Summerset Isles who became a member of Elder Council.
Then the guard opened the door and announced the arrival of the countess. Everyone stood up to respect her as she walked in. She wore a long green dress that looked very expensive and two female servants were following her. She took her place at one end of the table and told her guests to sit. Soon the waiters came out from the kitchen and brought the dishes to the table. The foods were complete and mouthwatering. They got cabbage potato soup and clam chowder for the appetizers, venison stew, grilled salmon steak and pheasant roast for the main course, and for the dessert, the guests were served with the sweet roll made by the best baker in the city.
The lavish dinner was spent in a calm fashion, which was expected coming from the countess' stoic personality. A little chitchat was heard, but no big laugh was present that night, as usual. The countess herself only asked a few simple question to her guests, just to break the ice. That raised a question in Cicero's mind, what was possibly the effect of this Stark Reality on this feast. Since Sanguine was associated with with and drunkenness, he suspected it would make them drunk suddenly. He put his hands under the table to prepare the spell on one hand, and the Minor Dispel on the other, just in case.
The guests had finished their main course and now it was time for dessert. The waiters took all the dirty plates and gave each of the guests a new one with a silver fork. As the countess allowed them to eat the sweet roll, Cicero casted the new spell.
What happened later was a total chaos. Everyone in the room, found their clothing and weapons disappeared in the blink of an eye, making them totally naked, that included Cicero, who failed to counter the spell with the Dispel. The shock and embarrassment didn't help too. The dinner table became a complete mess as they grabbed the handkerchief, or the tablecloth, to cover their private area. Cicero tried to find an exit, still covering his junk, when he saw the councillor's daughter cried in panic in the corner. Her father would flip when he learned what happened to his daughter. The countess herself was hurried to the inner part of the palace by the servants who tried their best to cover her breasts, ass, and genital area with their body, while they were naked themselves.
The guests stormed the door to get out of there when it was abandoned by the guards who also lost their armor and weapons. Everyone flooded the main hall, making the guards and servants who were stationed there surprised as they tried to find clothes for these poor people. Cicero took the opportunity to get away from the palace and the city, leaving his stuff at the inn. He couldn't take a risk of getting caught by going there.
Once he was outside the wall, he ran to the forest completely butt naked in the dead of night. What he wished now was to find a bandit camp so that he could take their clothes, after killing them of course. It took him many hours before he saw one. He was cold and got scratches all over his body because of the friction with the plants. Being so close to Black Marsh, the insects from the marshland added his misery. All he could do was casting Ward and Healing spell every now and then. When he arrived at the bandit camp, he sneaked from above the hill and shot them with the precise Shock spell. The last thing he needed right now was a melee combat against well-armed bandits. Once all of them hit the ground, he came out of his hiding and took the fur armor that was mostly undamaged by his spell, and a hunting bow from one of them. With the clothing problem solved, he set his eyes to the west where Sanguine waited for him. He couldn't wait to demand the reward especially after that shameless act.
He arrived at the shrine at the next morning with tired legs and hungry stomach because without his bow, he could only eat whatever he found on the forest floor, like berries and fallen fruits. He approached the shrine and called the prince, "I did what you asked. Now it's time for you to do your part."
Sanguine answered him a satisfied laugh, "A rousing success, mortal! And it appears you joined in the festivities as well. Good for you. You need to lighten up a bit. You'll find your equipment in that chest over there. And here's a little something for your efforts. Maybe we'll celebrate again sometime."
A glowing green light appeared in front of Cicero and with it died out, it revealed a strange staff with ornamental rose at the point. Cicero grimaced at the staff, it must be the Sanguine's Rose he read from the book Martin gave him. The staff had the ability to summon a random daedra from the plane of Oblivion, which he would not try there or anywhere. He simply took the staff as he went to the back of the statue to see the chest Sanguine spoke of. He opened chest and found all his stuff inside, his clothes, bow, soul gems, and rucksack.
He thought Sanguine must had moved them from that inn. He just grabbed everything, wore his mage robe, and tossed the fur armor and hunting bow into the bushes. As he prepared to leave the place, Sanguine's voice was heard again, for the last time.
"Ooh, I almost forgot. Please say hi to Martin for me, will you?"
Cicero turned his head quickly and felt a chill down his spines. "How did he even know about Martin? What does the priest of Akatosh have to do with a daedric prince?" he thought. Deciding not to let Sanguine play with his mind, he jogged out of there and headed back to Cloud Ruler Temple. The sooner he delivered the artifact, the better it was for Tamriel so that Martin could take back his amulet, stop Dagon and be the emperor as he supposed to be, then he could resume his study and research at Arcane University. Everyone would be happy that way, except Dagon and Mythic Dawn. Screw them to Oblivion!
A/N: Yup, now the fetching quests have officially begun. Please tell me what you think. Send me your review! Until next time, see ya!