{ === + === }
[3rd Person Camera]
Aria and Jake enter the mansion and, predictably, Jake is immediately swarmed.
"Ah! Sir and Madam Fairwind!" Some other noble says with a flamboyant bow. "I'm glad to have made your acquaintance this evening." He says specifically to Aria.
"Indeed." Aria replies to his bow with a polite but curt one of her own. "I did not anticipate this attendance."
The noble had a hunch Aria didn't remember him. "Aye. Everything for the past few weeks was simply preparations for this moment." He sneaks a look into her eyes. "As I'm sure you're aware."
"It was rather obvious." Aria shrugs. She did indeed fail to remember him. The two trade some more small talk before the noble catches the face of someone else more important and hastily excuses herself.
Looks like she really was just training for an infiltration. The Noble muses as he meets this 'someone else'. Much too obvious to be an Imperial Spy. He converses for a little with his contact, and then ducks back into the party.
His contact, one Thalmor agent, marks Aria's appearance and disappears along the wall.
Another man, wearing an outfit that seems a bit too immaculate for someone who had to travel to get to this mansion, also marks Aria's position to his group of three 'friends'.
Another group. Aria makes note of the four new guys. Given how uncomfortable they are to the environment, I suppose that means they're not aligned with the guy from before. While she didn't peg the first noble as being party with the Aldmeri, she did see how quickly his contact vanished and thought it was unusual.
As the party progresses, Aria finds a good time to drag Jake out of the three rings of women he found himself in and the two melt into the crowds of the courtyard.
For a given value of 'melt'.
"I really need to cut down on my heroism intake, apparently." Jake sighs when they have a moment to breathe. "Being surrounded like that sucks."
"You could use more training." Aria giggles. "Maybe with a good distraction or something, like a bigger or a braver man."
"Is that how it works?" Jake laughs. "I can't just go 'look a distraction' and do that?"
"Might work if they trust you enough." Aria shrugs. "Speaking of which, see that?" She nods towards the small building on the far end of the courtyard. There're no windows into the building, and the only door has a guard standing in front.
"Huh." Jake muses. The two watch one slightly tipsy patron approach the door and be gently but firmly rebuffed by the guard. "Can we draw him away somehow?"
Aria frowns. "Not likely. Going by his gear he's not staff for the party, so I don't think he would be called for anything other than a literal frontal attack."
And that has its own problems. Jake finishes her sentence in his head. "Makes sense."
The two stay and watch for an opportunity.
…
[Meanwhile, Back in Solitude]
…
Delphine was busy packing. Running a long-term operation such as this one directly against the Aldmeri Dominion meant a certain level of risk, and one of those risks has been realized. At the moment, Thalmor agents were busy scouring the houses for her and her Helper Accomplice. With her, incidentally, were Atra and Alma.
"Ain't this something." The Helper grumbles. "I figured things would go wrong but didn't think it'd happen this fast." He glances at Delphine. "You've gotten rusty."
Delphine shrugs. "Years of masquerading as an innkeeper will do that." She straps on her armor underneath an oversized traveling cloak. "Got everything?"
"More or less." The Helper says and puts two letters into their hideout room. Both letters contained the same message. The one encrypted by the Blade's method hidden safely away underneath the cushions of a chair, while the one encrypted through Playfair is simply in plain view on the desk underneath an inkwell. "I like the new method. It's very easy to remember." The helper says and ignites his key page with a puff of flames.
"Blame Ash for that." Delphine says. "As well as if he doesn't solve it."
"You've been singing his praises for the entire week." The Helper says. "You like the boy that much? A bit too much on your hands to suddenly have a son, aren't you?"
"I have my reasons." Delphine rolls her eyes. "Now hurry, and let's go before things get dour."
Her 'cover', as it were, was that she and her slightly younger Helper were a married couple with their grandchildren Atra and Alma (their parents are a part of the Imperial Army, you see). They were in Solitude over the week to pawn off some of their farm products and were now on their way back.
Per Delphine's expectations, the semi-empty wagon was stopped at the gate out of the city.
"Halt!"
A Thalmor agent, disguised as an Imperial Captain, walks in front of their wagon. "We're currently on the lookout for an enemy of the empire, and would request your cooperation in searching that wagon of yours."
"Of course, sir." The Helper says with perfect deference and fear and stands, ready to shift the few goods at the back of the cart for the soldier's benefit.
"Stop! We'll do it ourselves." The Thalmor says with a jerk of his head. The soldiers—regular Imperial folk—move to the rear of the wagon and throw back the cloth covering the entire wagon, revealing to the world some bolts of cloth, new baskets, some cookware, and leftover bits and pieces of vegetables tucked into the wagon's wooden corners.
Meanwhile, the Thalmor stares at Delphine's face as she, with perfect practice, meets his eyes once or twice before looking down and away in fear and apprehension.
Atra and Alma were instructed to be silent and they had no problems doing that.
"All clear, sir." The soldier says with a salute.
"Very well, you may pass." The Thalmor replies. "Thank you for your cooperation." He also, near imperceptibly, slows his gaze over a spot on the wall before moving on.
Welp, we're fucked. Delphine sighs inside her head. Good attempt. She drives her wagon onwards.
"I suppose that means they've detected us." The Helper says after they've put a little distance between themselves and the gate. "What's our plan B?"
"Things are easier if we hedge our bets." She detours the wagon into the camp of Khajiit traders, towards a preparing caravan being headed by a Khajiit with a mane of red hair. "Solar."
The Khajiit nods to his wagon. "Jend." Her ears flicker. "I suppose this means you're here for yet another favor." She looks to the two children in her cart. "As expected of you, I suppose."
"I'm not here for an ethics debate, Solar." Delphine snaps. "The Aldmeri have sighted our wagon, and I want you to take these two kids back to Whiterun." She gestures to Atra and Alma. "Their keeper is likely not going to return any time soon."
Atra turns to Delphine in alarm. "That's not what you said earlier."
"I lied." Delphine replies curtly. "Now listen to my orders if you want to go home safely."
Solar chuckles. "Girls, there's something you should know about Delphine." Her chuckle turns into a low rumble. "One doesn't become the Grandmaster of the Blades in a time like this without learning to throw things away."
"Do not hurt them more for a personal grudge, Solar." Delphine snaps. "My strength is not what it once was. If things turn sour I can escape on my own, but that is the extent of my abilities."
"Well, at the rate things are going you'll owe me an entire castle." Solar laughs. "Come along, girls, we'll get you home safe and sound."
"But…he's the strongest person there is. You said so." Atra says to Delphine. "Did you lie about that, too?"
"Fortunately for Ash, no." Delphine tries to ruffle Atra's hair but she evades. "I have full confidence in him, and I also know that the two of you are going to be his liabilities if things actually become dangerous, so do as you're told, go back to Whiterun, and be good girls."
Atra glares at her. Delphine smirks in reply. She has the same eyes I did. Here's to hoping it doesn't stay that way.
…
"You have far too much faith in that man." The Helper sighs as they leave the two girls behind and head away in earnest. "I realize he's a pretty skilled healer and can apparently make rings, but…I mean…"
"That ring he made?" Delphine says with a laugh. "It's silver."
"…yeah, and?"
Delphine winks at him. "I've kept track of our stocks and purchases the entire time and we did not purchase a single bar of silver or stock it on our departure. Where do you think the material came from?"
The Helper stares at her blankly.
Delphine laughs. "Either he can make something out of nothing, or he's able to pull material away from a long distance. Imagine, if you will, that he can get a bar of silver from fifty paces away."
The Helper did not know what she was on about. "…Ok…?"
"Now imagine if he could do that to…say, a slab of meat, like, oh…someone's heart."
The Helper frowns. "I don't understand."
"There's no point in worrying too much about it." Delphine laughs. "But…well, let's get started, shall we?" She suddenly jerks her head to the right and, with a practiced motion, draws her knife and stabs it right over her shoulder, her left hand reaching up to cup over something.
A man's cry suddenly erupts and is silenced.
"Good attempt." Delphine says and stabs down again with her knife somewhere deeper behind her. A man in Thalmor robes shimmer into view, blood pouring from the knife lodged in its neck.
"Seems like they're forgetting who you are." The helper says.
"Well, a little ego never hurt anyone." Delphine replies conversationally and, after examining the corpse, plucks a ring from its fingers. She slips it on her own, and shimmer out of sight. "Mind if I borrow you for a few days?" She says.
The Helper shrugs. "Won't be the first time." The wagon shifts as Delphine (now Chameleoned) moves to the back of the wagon. The Helper moves to the center, driving the wagon by himself.
Incidentally, that ring of Chameleon, being a very well-crafted enchanted item with a 95% Chameleon rate, would lose its effectiveness after about three hours of being constantly active, earning a "well, that sucks" from a Jake-language-borrowing Delphine.
Since Delphine's the only one who knew: while the wagon was being examined, one of the soldiers stepped onto the wagon. When he did it, the Thalmor dude under cloaking did so as well and simply did not get off when the soldier had finished. Delphine, her senses honed from decades of being both the Grandmaster of the Blades and a businesswoman, could tell that the weight of the wagon had changed. Afterwards she drove the wagon past unnecessarily rough parts of the road to jostle the man until eventually he lost his nerve and, figuring that his cover was blown, tried to attack.
To help things out, she also had an earring enchanted with Detect Life. It's old and powerless, but by thumbing through Ash's research notes she learned that she could pour magic power into it to recharge it, giving her some level of additional protection against invisible threats. As a side effect, if she wants to use that earring she basically can't cast any spells. Recharging magic items via pouring in magic isn't new, but up to now Delphine had no success with the other methods that were taught to her, so this was a definite blessing.
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
It's kinda boring to just wait here. I wish I was as smart as some of the other folk and bought a deck of cards or something. I'm currently just sitting in the waiting room, at a small desk with my back to the wall and my eyes on the door. I've scoped out the building as well, and as far as I know this is the only available entrance.
Anyways, I'm bored. And worried. And bored.
Bored because I have nothing to do, and worried because I think my vision is degrading again. I say 'again' because this is legitimately not something I realized even back when I was in mid to high school. Looking back now it was kind of obvious that my eyesight was trash, but at the time…I wasn't the sharpest tool in a lot of sheds.
…Right now, I think…well, I started with my glasses eyesight but without said glasses, so…now, my range is about…half? My research is always done during sundown, so it makes sense. I'm using magelight, but it still makes sense.
Hm.
For reference, Ash can see clearly at 20 feet what Aria can see at 60. Jake's around 30.
…Well, I think I can probably fix that at some point.
We take out some paper, toss a magelight into the air, and begin jotting down notes about our Replacement skill.
Looking back at the ring I made for that lady, I realized something kind of important. I made it out of silver…which I didn't have (a lot of). I mean, I could have made the silver out of another material, but I can tell when the relative cost is there, and…well, it wasn't that time.
…Which means that I stole somebody's silver. Sorry whoever it was.
Now, this is important because it means the range on the perk is longer than I had originally thought. It may be growing or changing or whatever, but…
…well, cutting to the chase here. I've tested the perk over the two weeks rather sporadically, and it seems like my maximum range is either 'visual range' or 'about fifty feet'. The cost of doing it at range rises exponentially.
Still, this means that, for Literally All My Mana, I can point to someone about fifty feet away and go 'you are already dead' and have them keel over immediately because their heart is now a loaf of bread. In theory. I haven't been pushed far enough to actually try something like that and I honestly hope that continues to be the case.
Incidentally, the cost of the perk at maximum range is about 100% of my mana, so that's…y'know, accurate. Initially I was like "well look at what special skill I just got that lets me stash away one bar of mana" but after testing I can't actually use Cartridge Mana with Replace, which makes me a little sad. In practice it just means that I have to stash away Cartridge Mana before using Replace as an attack action so that if I need to make a quick escape I can use that stored Mana for spells despite being entirely spent.
…I have a lot of ways of using mana, it's kind of bullshit.
…
[3rd Person Camera, The Party]
…
It is now dusk, and Aria was getting impatient. Sneaking in was never the Dragonborn's forte, and being told to wait and sneak was definitely wearing on her nerves. Fortunately for her, she wasn't the only one.
Four men, dressed alike in Imperial regalia (Purple Robes Everywhere™) were busy staring at the lone guard in front of the rear building.
"Looks like the party's hitting its high point." The leader of the group murmurs to the rest. "And that woman is getting antsy."
"Amateur." Lackey A says. "But it's better her than us." He takes an exaggerated swig from a wine bottle. "Shall we?" The contents of the bottle is merely water.
"Yep." Lackey B makes a hidden sign. About five seconds later, a glass bottle flies into his face from the second floor of the mansion. "WHAT THE HELL?!" He exclaims and jumps onto a nearby table, conspicuously raising a fist. The loud noises draw the attention of nearby staff, some of which are Thalmor agents in disguise. Those agents immediately see through his acting as a feint and let the true domestic servants handle the problem.
Incidentally, the problem involves the man throwing a bottle up at the window, where it shatters uselessly, dousing the walls and the sides of the window in mead. Things start to get rowdy as more bottles start flying. To the credit of the noble onlookers, they immediately back away from the commotion.
Lacky A plays the part of an offended but level-headed friend. "Moril! Moril! He didn't mean it!"
"Like hell he didn't!" 'Moril' throws a loaf of bread at the window. "I don't know who's up there but that drunk waste of space up there needs to come down here, and STAND AND DELIVER!"
Per their plans, the rest of the audience was now backing away more, unconsciously increasing the body density near the lone guard and building.
Said guard, frowning, starts to back away from the crowd, in order to keep distance and be wary of any possible knives going his way.
The Leader slips a ring onto his finger and rushes along the outside of the crowd. With trained speed, he puts a hand around the guard's mouth while Lackey C takes a bracer from a pouch and forcibly clips it around the man's wrist. The man starts to go limp, so the Leader now slips the ring off of his finger and onto the guards' while slowly setting him down onto the ground.
Aria, in the middle of the commotion but nevertheless still focused on the door, noticed that the guard seemed to limp, then suddenly go missing. Recognizing the opportunity, she immediately darts to the door and, taking out a lockpick hidden inside the seams of her dress, picks the door, opens it, and slips in.
She had Ash tailor pockets for her outfit so she could hide lockpicks in the dress's sleeves.
As good as she was, however, she did not realize (nor care) that the door was still being watched from at least five different angles. Of those five angles, three were—per the Imperial Spy's distraction—obscured properly. The last two involved agents wearing items enchanted with Invisibility and, while the spies had plans to cover them too (to some effect), Aria had moved too fast for them to do so.
"Well, shit." The Leader mutters. "It's now no longer our problem. Let's go."
Lackey B, 'Moril', continues to make a scene until Lackey A, seeing that their job is done, slaps him over the head with a candlestick. They profusely apologize to the staff and voluntarily escort themselves out of the premises, along with the fifth person on the second story responsible for throwing things.
The Thalmor patrol around the mansion would send a detachment after the group and, following a running battle, kill three of them in exchange for four of their own. The remaining two vanish south into the rugged terrain of the Reach.
…
Inside, Aria immediately finds a place to hide and sheds the more flamboyantly useless pieces of her dress (another thing she requested from Ash). The noise outside, not entirely blocked by the door, helped mask her footsteps as she quickly scanned the first floor for anything unusual.
Before the noise outside subsides, she finds a trapdoor clumsily hidden underneath a rug. Without any attention to detail, she flings away the rug, throws open the trapdoor, and jumps down into the basement.
The basement is a two-story affair, much wider and more well-lit than she would have expected. She lands essentially on something resembling a foyer, which looks down upon a set of six prison cells. From her current position she could see that two of the cells had one prisoner each, and one of the prisoners—a dilapidated-looking Imperial—was currently being questioned by a Thalmor agent.
Wasting no time, Aria jumps down from the second story, landing loudly enough to draw the agent's attention. The agent turned around just in time for Aria to sink her hidden blade into his throat. While normally a throat-struck enemy would gargle, Aria solved the problem for him by pulling the agent's own blade against him and separating his head from his body.
"Sweet Mara who are you?!" The man hisses. "What are you doing down here?"
"I should be asking you the same question." Aria replies, wiping the blade on its owner's robes. "Who are you, and what are you doing in a place like this? Hell, what is this place?"
"The Aldmeri are using this place as a prison." The man says rather obviously. "I got thrown in here because I had one too many and couldn't keep my mouth shut." He blinks. "Say, I think I've seen you before…"
"What were they trying to get from you?" Aria asks.
"Only the Gods know that." The man sighs. "I work in Solitude as a courier, not an official! This treatment isn't for me! I don't do this depraved noble shit!"
Aria frowns. "You and many others." She examines his chains and, after a moment, forces the manacles open with her hidden blade. "Do you have a way to get out of here?"
"There's a chute they use to dispose of…things." The man says slowly. "That probably has a way out." He takes a moment before standing up. "Those guys were very focused on something about dragons and the World Eater and what the Empire had to do about it." He adds. "It was real strange."
Aria raises an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?"
The man nods. "Yeah, I heard 'em talk about how if the situation doesn't improve, they're going to go after this Esbern bloke. Apparently he's some big Imperial person working for some hidden guard or something." He scratches his face. "They said he's hiding out in Riften somewhere."
Well if he's affiliated with the Blades then Delphine should have an inkling of who he is and what he does. Aria muses. "Good to know…so the Thalmor knew nothing about the dragons either?"
"Last I heard their boss was bending over backwards trying to figure shit out." The man says. He finds the trapdoor hidden underneath layers of blood-crusted straw and mice droppings. "The Dominion's scrambling, since apparently at least one dragon's been sighted over their turf as well. They're scrambling resources to find some 'Dragonborn' in all their land, or something." He taps his knuckles against a small jewelry box fixed underneath the table. "I saw the asshole keep some of his stuff in here, it's probably got more than I can tell you."
"Appreciate it." Aria says and begins to examine the jewelry box while the man examines the trap door. "Can you get out from there?" She asks him.
The man opens the door and then immediately retches. "Doesn't smell like it." He shuts it again. "It probably doesn't lead outside." He looks around. "There's probably a way to get back up to that level." He starts to look around some more.
Aria, realizing that she doesn't have the time to properly crack the jewelry box open (especially if it's trapped in any way) decides to opt for a second approach. She musters all of her strength, coats her arms in layers of Oakskin, and then punches the mercifully wooden table.
The table snaps and shatters under her Dragonborn fists, and she picks up the jewel box with a piece of table nailed to it without trouble. So how do I hide this? She wonders and frowns at the box the size of her head.
"Cripes, you're stronger than you look." The prisoner mutters. "The staircase up is here." He holds a door open. "Let's go."
The two of them head up the staircase. As soon as they land on the second floor, the hair on Aria's neck stands up and she immediately raises the jewel case as a shield. Almost as suddenly, there is the sound of metal on metal as something flashes before her.
"What in the hells—" The man starts to say before he suddenly doubles over as if something was thrust into his torso. There was, indeed, something thrust into his torso.
Aria immediately shoots a heal in the man's direction before charging up an obscenely powerful-looking ball of magical electricity in her hands. She lets loose a super-wide range blast of Shock. The damage output was practically nonexistent, but her eyes could catch the faint silhouettes framed by the energy of the spell.
The agents under Charmeleon froze for a moment to guard against the perceived strength of the spell, and were also frozen in confusion at how little damage the spell seemed to do. This freeze lasted for less than a second, but was more than enough time for Aria to handle.
She hurls her jewelry box at the one near the ex-prisoner while shanking the one in front of her with her hidden blade. Both strikes find their mark, though apparently without fatal damage.
"Oh, gods. That hurt." The man groans, on all fours and clutching his stomach. "What was that?"
"Stealthed assassins." Aria says, a bit annoyed that stabbing a man in the throat was apparently not a fatal maneuver, and apparently neither was beaning someone over the head with a jewelry box. "We should move quickly." She picks up the jewelry box, trips over a writhing invisible body (she kicks him for good measure) and then hustles the ex-prisoner back up the trap door.
Her heal, done quickly, did not stop the man from continuing to bleed through his progressively worsening wound. It's poisoned. She realizes after taking a closer look. I don't have the time. As soon as she pulls him up, she scours around the room for something she can use to make the situation better with the least possible time.
She didn't have a spell to heal poisons because her innately strong constitution never made any of those things necessary.
Suddenly, she finds two suits of Thalmor robes, and her eyes light up.
Meanwhile, outside, the rowdiness of the party drops back to its normal (if muted) levels as the conversation turns to discussing the drunk assholes that crashed the party. And, of course, that the door to the otherwise 'secure' back room was flung wide open before a guard shut it closed.
Some three minutes pass and nothing serious happens, so all eyes float away from that room…just in time for the door to be flung open again.
Two people in Thalmor robes emerge, staggering. One of them seems to be trailing blood. Upon seeing this sight, the murmurs of the crowd rise again. The guard, not expecting someone to actually come back out, whirls and draws his sword.
The not-bleeding robed Thalmor points hurriedly to the insides of the room while supporting the wounded one. "Inside. Still." She says with a raspy, tired breath and an extended hand.
The guard Thalmor, swept by the moment, disobeys his training for a moment and touches her hand. Instantly he feels something hot rush into his body, and he charges into the room with a booming "I will have order!"
"Please clear away!" The Thalmor woman calls out raspily, but the commanding tone of her voice couldn't be missed. "Thalmor business!"
From the second floor of the mansion, a woman looks over the courtyard with a faint sneer.
"I don't know who she is, but she gets my respect for attempting such an audacious maneuver." The woman says. "Well, this gives us an opportunity as well." She turns to her second in command. "Let's take advantage of this 'Thalmor business'." She says. "Have her detained…them too." She meant, of course, Jake and Ash.
She knew from the Thalmor's extensive spy network that Jake was a champion of unparalleled power…and a not insignificant amount of lust. Ash, on the other hand, was more of an enigma, but all signs pointed to him being unnaturally perceptive in the ways of magic, as well as being a bit of a soft-hearted idiot who could probably be manipulated without problems.
Hell, while her reports told her nothing of great interest to Ash, they did tell her about the fact that Farengar Secret-Fire was unusually quiet about the man. This was strange, because Farengar Secret-Fire was only quiet about the things that mattered. The woman knew enough at this point to trust in some of the little quirks people did in order to protect their secrets and to maneuver around, even if she didn't know specifically what those secrets were.
The Second in Command salutes, and divides his squad according to what he thinks they might need for the upcoming mission ahead. He hands out a few rings.
…
Aria, in that Thalmor disguise, abandons all pretenses and hauls the prisoner over her shoulder fireman carry style (but not as efficient) and begins to make her way through the crowds.
I have about fifteen more seconds before that Charming Rage wears off. She notes as the people make way for her. Let's make some distance before he realizes and turns back.
The spell Aria had used on touch was a charm mixed with a rage, hence the name. The target is charmed into believing that Aria is their best friend, and then put into a semi-berserk state that forces them to follow her orders for a short amount of time. Had the Imperials not acted on their own volition, she would have used it to create a distraction.
Either way, at the end of the fifteen seconds, she's about halfway through the courtyard. She also notes that, worryingly, the crowd at the entrance of the mansion seemed to be parting as well.
True to her fears, she sees a group of six Thalmor battlemages, with the one in front rather gaudily dressed.
"Thank you for your assistance." The man says formally…and loudly. "We'll take him from here." He motions forward two of his mages, and they draw potions from bags hidden underneath their cloaks. "Are you able to continue fighting? We could use some more help against the interlopers." The man asks.
Shit. Aria realizes that her plan kind of backed her into a corner. Oh well, loud it is. She takes a deep breath.
"Fus, Ro DAH!"
The blast of power sends the Thalmor in front of her flying because of all the things they expected this was definitely not one of them. She immediately ducks low and begins to appear 'panicked'.
A shout, it should be noted, sounds exactly like a dragon's roar to everyone who's not the Dragonborn. Incidentally, everyone who's currently at this party are, with the exception of Aria, not Dragonborns.
Understandably there is confusion and then mass panic, especially as Aria begins muttering bits and pieces of the language. Its naturally booming status makes it impossible to tell where it's coming from, and therefore as far as everyone else is concerned…
"DRAGON!" One of the increasingly more panicked partygoer shouts upon catching the flapping wings of a crow against the torchlight.
With the call of 'dragon', all hell breaks loose and order is totally lost.
"Mother piss." Jake grumbles and climbs onto a table. His initial thought was to calm everyone down, but then realized that Aria was capable of making Dragon noises as well. His ability to put two and two together along with his game knowledge meant that he immediately homes in on the wounded Thalmor mage (and its carrier) as targets of interest, and just as immediately beeline towards the two.
"We need to leave, now." Aria hisses at him as soon as Jake reaches the two of them.
Jake nods in agreement. "Hug the walls, let's move."
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
Uh.
Upon Aria's 'Fus Ro Dah', the building we're in shakes with the force and everyone looks around in confusion.
The fuck was that?
There is increasing noise from the party, then someone in the courtyard yells 'dragon'!
The sound of the dragon was unmistakable, but…there's no sound of wings. There's also no kickass orchestral soundtrack with optional choir.
…Does that mean Aria's doing something?
Have things gone so belly-up that she needed to go that far?
Welp, time to get involved.
We leap from our chair, grab Jake's greatsword, and then stop.
Upon 'dragon', everyone goes nuts, apparently. We're all different kinds of bored here, so some people have been milling about outside, enjoying the nice weather. Well now those guys are coming in, while some of the people less sure about the quality of the building's construction are trying to get out, and the only door into the place is jammed.
Something something fire codes. There are windows, though.
We take a running leap and…
LEAP OF FAITH ow
Leap through the open window. The tip of the greatsword gets caught on the windowsill and jerks the sword's hilt into the back of our head.
Fuck that hurt
We sit and feel the pain for a second before continuing to rush to the mansion.
The courtyard is in fucking chaos, but if you're on the outside looking in, the lack of a threat is extremely obvious. Mass panic's a bitch, yeah?
Getting closer, I can see what looks like Jake and two people in Thalmor robes on the edge of the chaos, with just the metal fence between our two groups. Judging by the build of the person standing, I assume that's Aria.
"Jake!" I call out. He hears me and turns my way. I raise the greatsword over my head so he could confirm that it's me. I hit the fence soon enough, going at full speed. I also hit the wall and it kinda hurt.
"Things are bad." Jake says simply as if I can't see what's going on. He takes his great sword, steps back, takes a deep breath, and…
CHING
I know I made it, but wow that thing is sharp. The greatsword cuts through the metal bars like they're not even there. He makes another swing, and cuts lower to make an exit.
Aria hands over the corpse and climbs through. Going by the groaning it is either a zombie or still alive.
The man retches.
Still alive. Let's see here…
We touch his hand as Aria picks him up again.
…I recognize that his mana is fucked up, but I don't know what's causing it. However, considering the things I haven't seen so far, poison is probably the most likely culprit. If I had the time to sit down and figure out how to detox him I would, but…
"You! You there!"
…Yeah.
A group of Thalmor has seen us and are approaching at fast pace.
"Mage! Seize those two!" The leader barks out, likely at the still disguised Aria. Her response is to turn towards the Thalmor agents and let loose a volley of…Ice Bolts? What's the spell's name?
"She's a traitor!" The leader immediately says and his squad of six mages return fire with bolts of lightning.
We instinctively put on multi-layered wards.
…But, a traitor? Wouldn't you think that she's just in disguise first? Their reaction time to her attack was also absurd, too.
While we mull this over, we are also retreating along with Aria and Jake, bringing up the rear with our ward. As we retreat, salvos of spells are just buzzing in our direction.
They're fucking accurate, too. I can feel the wards bleeding off energy like crazy. Fortunately, no large spells yet, so that's good. Maybe they're trying to capture us.
…
[3rd Person Camera]
…
While capture was in the cards, the Thalmor were not slinging around weaker spells for that purpose.
"What's with him?" The woman in the mansion murmurs while watching the magic battle through her spyglass. "Is that Ash?"
"I believe so; the body size matches." Her adjutant says. "His ward construction is superb." She watches as a bolt of chain lightning completely glance off of Ash's wards. "If he could teach our mages, our combat performance would rise immeasurably."
"Given that he was one of the few who showed mercy to a captured agent, I think it may be possible to sway him to our position." The woman says. "Are the other units in place?"
"Aye ma'am." The adjutant nods. "Though I have received a report that Delphine and the two children were allowed to escape."
The woman scowls. "Hm. Then maybe we should be a tad rough. Men like him have multiple weaknesses, after all. He adopted those two girls?"
The adjutant nods slowly. "Seems to be the case."
"They live in Whiterun, yes? Have them placed under observation when they return." The woman orders. "We must not let a good chance slide."
"Aye ma'am." The adjutant nods, though inwardly she's uncomfortable with using children as bargaining chips.
The woman continues to observe the battle a little longer. "Looks like they're in place." She says. "Give them the signal."
…
Ash and company, under constant fire, were nevertheless able to maintain distance from the pursuers as they maintained their retreat.
"How're you holding up?" Jake asks over the sounds of fireballs exploding around them.
"In deep regret." Ash snarls back. To combat the fireballs and possible chain lightnings thrown in their direction, he had to expand his ward to the point where it covered all three of them to protect them. "But I still have reserves. I'm surprised they're still keeping this up."
Jake was now instantly on alert. "Yeah…where is their plan B?" He looks around. As far as his experience taught him, it wasn't normal for mages to constantly use their spells to maybe break through an obviously superior ward.
Ash, focused on projecting his wards, is obviously not paying attention.
Aria's the first to notice something wrong around her and she immediately drops the person she's carrying. As the man hits the floor with a soft 'ow', Aria leaps and evades a flurry of arrows fired from all around her. Some of those arrows hit the man, and his muffled complaints turn into disconnected utterances. The arrows themselves bounce off of the target.
Ash felt the spikes of magic power behind him. "The hell's going on?!" He demands as he layers a coat of oakskin behind the wards.
"Enchanted arrows!" Aria calls out, picking up a branch on the ground to use as a club. "Paralyze type!"
They have that kind of stuff?! Ash wanted to yell out in…well, mostly in jealousy. "Where are they coming from?"
"Can't see 'em." Jake says, falling back to Ash. "Must be Chameleoned."
"Well balls somebody figured out the exploit." Ash grumbles. "What do we do?"
"Full retreat." Jake blocks an arrow with the flat of his greatsword and shakes off the mix of gem and wood dust that suddenly showered his hair. "I'm gonna pick you up, and then we're gonna leg it out of here."
"I would prefer if you did not do that." The Thalmor leader says and snaps his fingers. Seven Archers shimmer and appear, arrows notched and aimed directly at Ash. "I have orders to capture Ash, of the Warwolf Company." The man smiles good naturedly. "Should I fail at my task, I will be obligated to seek other means of completing my job."
"We can take seven." Aria says. "But there's more than that."
"Very astute of you, young lady." The man bows slightly. "You should know that you're very valued in the Aldmeri dominion, Sir Ash." His smile then turns coy. "Your family as well."
The girls. Ash's heart stops. "I'm honored." He could not quite hide his worry. The man, an adept at reading people, did not miss his discomfort.
"It's quite simple, really." The man says. "We extend an official invitation to you, as a sign of goodwill and a gesture of recognition for your impeccable magical prowess."
Or else you're going to go after my girls. Ash reads between the lines. "…Fine." He says and shrinks the barriers to just covering himself. "Jake, Aria?"
"Yep." Jake sighs.
"You're making a mistake, Ash." Aria says, still scanning her surroundings like a hawk, occasionally stopping.
Her eyes are really something else. The man could not help but admire. She's managed to pick out half of the stealthed agents already. "I understand that you had once gone out of your way to protect a Thalmor agent, and was directly responsible for saving her life." He bows. "Though distant, we are cousins, and I thank you on her behalf." He was lying.
Lucky break for me, then. Ash notes. "I'll go with you, and everyone else goes free, no questions asked."
"Dude this is a terrible idea." Jake notes. "You know this is a terrible idea."
"We have no expectations that the Aldemari will hold to their deals." Aria says. "The Thalmor even less so."
The man laughs. "Oh, so cutting. You can trust us Thalmor to be perfectly honest to the bettering of our own interests, and for now, the well-being of that man is in alignment with our interests." He jerks his head towards Ash. "Even if he is of a lesser race."
"Well fuck you too." Ash sighs. "Anyways, leave my girls alone." He picks up one of the Paralyze arrows lying around his feet.
…
[1st Person Camera]
…
Let me be the first to declare that I fucking hate this arrangement, but it's the best we've got. My plan is pretty simple: Jake and Aria will go and make sure everyone else is safe, and I'll stick with the Thalmor for like, twenty hours or so, and then murder my way out.
I can see a few loopholes in this plan, but honestly there are too many factors here that were unexpected. One of which is this Paralyzing arrow. The other being apparently Chameleon abuse stealth archers. Like fuck we're the isekai-ed people with godlike knowledge here, I was supposed to be the first rulebreaker, dammit! How dare the Aldmeri use the past few hundred years to optimize their equipment!
…
Jake and Aria muse the situation over for a little while longer, and then decide to do as I've told them and head towards Solitude.
Jake's parting words are: "If I have to fight you in a month or so I will be so mad." Of which I…y'know, agree. I don't think it'll come to that, though. They also leave with the…guy. I guess he's not that important.
The Thalmor dude makes a 'huh' noise after the two are out of sight. "I can't tell if you're brave or stupid." He remarks. "But I guess having weaknesses do hinder a person's judgment."
Well… "I'm not a smart man." I shrug. "So, what do you need me to do?"
They take me back to the mansion.
In the meantime, I take the time to analyze the Paralyze arrow and…it's pretty neat. It's basically the shards of a petty soul gem strapped to the shaft of an arrow. The head is fixed onto this little…scone thing, a metal sconce (like a torch sconce) that is then wedged into the arrow. It doesn't look like it needs to be super-duper strong, since the one in my hand seems to have deformed after one use.
The spell itself…well, I can't recognize it based on its pattern, but I'll refer to it as Paralyze until I can properly test it. Through reverse engineering, I think I can cast it without too much trouble—the version of the spell available within the gem has some superficial similarities to calm, so learning it by copycatting its signature shouldn't be too hard.
Note: learning a spell after analyzing it is what happens when a person reads a spellbook, so that in itself is not rare. Learning a spell for battle use after pulling it from an enchanted item, however…
As we enter the mansion, one of the agents in front is limping.
…On one hand, no Hippocratic oath. On the other…goddammit. "You there, show me your leg." I say to the limping agent. To be fair, if they wanted to shank me they would've done it already, and having one cured enemy doesn't mean much when I'm already facing 30 of them.
The limping Thalmor looks to me, then looks to his team lead. "Humor him." The man says, not caring.
…well, nothing really wrong with the leg per se, the dude's muscles are just weirdly shaped. I don't know why. Somethings are broken in weird places. Old injury that didn't heal well, maybe?
We spend a little time reconnecting them.
I guess it might be healing that didn't finish properly. He tests his newly repaired leg a little and seems to feel no (or at least less) pain, since he gives me a curt nod and then returns to his post.
"As expected of a student of Purespring." The lead man remarks. Is that what they think about me? "Whiterun healers are really leading the pack nowadays." Though this does mean that Whiterun may be permeated with spies. Need to find a way around that.
We are led up to the second floor and into a sitting room.
The guests that used to be panicking about a dragon have now calmed down after no dragon was found. Maybe the magic that was slung just past the wall refocused their attention.
"Welcome to the Thalmor." The lady in front of me says. I don't think I've joined. "I am happy to see that you, at least, lack the murderous edge shared by your former compatriots."
Eh. "For better or worse their murderous edge has kept me alive. What do you want?"
She smiles thinly. "No manners at all, young man?"
What, should I have asked about her name? "No offense, but I don't really care who you are and I'm liable to forget, so I'm just cutting out the chatter." Which is entirely true. Also I feel like I may be being a little too aggressive for my own good.
"Hm." She reaches into her…robes? Robe-ish? Really fancy thing with a y-collar. She reaches behind the y, and pulls out a letter. "Was it you who delivered this?"
I…I don't recognize that letter. "What is it?" It's probably the Grey-Mane letter but I can't tell from this distance.
"It's a letter." She stuffs it back into her y-robes. "What is your relationship with the Grey-Manes?"
So it is. "They gave me a letter to send." I say with a 'that's obvious' tone. "I suppose that's the one you have, then?"
"No idea what's in the letter?" She asks. This reeks of déjà vu.
I shrug. "Not my problem."
"Hm." She seems to accept my argument. "What's your relationship with Delphine Jend?"
In retrospect I should have anticipated this question. "I heard she runs an inn in Riverwood. Well, used to." She doesn't react to the fact that I had to take a second to rather obviously construct my answer.
"There was a unit of our agents sent to investigate the fire, but they never came back." She says neutrally. "Do you know anything about that?"
Uh… "Maybe they got eaten by wolves?"
Her eyes scream disbelief. "Really."
"I met a huge wolf between Riverwood and Whiterun." I say. "Pretty sure it's still out there somewhere."
She stares at me for a solid minute. I'm worried.
…
[3rd Person Camera]
…
Ash doesn't feel or hear the Silent Paralysis spell shot at his head, and upon the spell's contact he immediately goes limp.
"As expected, an amateur." The woman sighs. "Regrettable, but take him away and have him interrogated." She says to the man who dragged him in.
The man nods. "Of course, but if I may ask, what's wrong with him?" He was genuinely curious. "You look like you've been slighted."
The woman sighs. "I've been hitting him with charm spells the entire time and none of it worked." She says, puzzled. "Either he's far too powerful for me to contain, or else his reasoning is too complex for me to ascertain. Regardless, he's a dangerous treasure trove, and it's simply easier to treat him that way."
The reason why her spells haven't worked so far was pretty simple: Ash was, by reflex, keeping himself wrapped in a ward. Her invisible charms, by virtue of being illusion spells, couldn't go past the barriers. The Paralyze, stuck as it was on top of an arrow, had no such issues.
…
[Solitude, about four hours later]
…
Aria barges into the inn, learns that the girls and Delphine left earlier in the day, and barges right back out in under a minute. As the room had been thoroughly scoured by the Thalmor in the hours before, there was no existence of a note anywhere to be seen: both the 'real' Blade note and the 'fake' Playfair one had been taken.
"Gone, but it looks like she did it on purpose." Aria says quickly to Jake. The two of them did not feel safe in Solitude given the knowledge of stealth archers that are totally hidden from view.
Jake was just a little bit relieved. "Alright, then let's hurry."
The two immediately head right back out of the city's walls, where Aria summons her giant wolf and the two start riding towards Whiterun.
"What do we do about Ash?" Aria asks. "I think we all know he's in a dangerous position."
"Yeah, but I know Ash's going to skin me alive if I pick him up and then tell him I don't know where his kids are." Jake says. "Besides, I've known him forever, dude is cold when he's pissed."
"I don't know what that means." Aria says. "It doesn't matter how dangerous he is if the Thalmor kills him before he realizes it."
"I know." Jake deflates. "I'm really worried."
"Let's split." Aria says. "You know how to summon a riding wolf too, right?"
Jake nods yes. "More or less; can't use any spells after I do it, though." He shakes his head. "Look, I fucking hate this current situation but I know going in to rescue him is a bad idea. We both know Ash's a bag of mysteries, and if they want to poke his brain they'll have to keep him alive somehow. If they get the idea that we'll rush in and save him, and get the idea that he's valuable…" He makes a slicing motion across his neck.
Aria grumbles a little at this. "…Fine. I can see your argument and I don't necessarily agree, but fine. We go to secure Atra and Alma first."
…
The two regroup with Delphine at Crosshaven the next day (with Aria arriving first due to her wolf being functionally impossible to tire) and Jake nearly has a heart attack at Delphine's revelation that she sent the two girls along a different route.
"Ash had done his job of re-integrating them into society a little too well." Delphine says coldly. "It's better that they go home through a different way." She conspicuously glances at her surroundings, an action both Jake and Aria took as 'we're still being watched'.
"What do we do, then?" Aria asks with a sigh.
"I'm heading back to Whiterun." Jake says. "If I can raise some hell I can probably keep more attention there." He would very much so like to rush to Ash's rescue, but knew, rather keenly, that against an enemy abusing Chameleon shenanigans he probably wasn't going to last for very long. "Not much I can do at this point." He makes a note to ask for Life Detection equipment.
"Then I'll go after Esbern." Delphine says. "Aria, too."
Aria glares at her. "Why?"
"Because I need insurance." Delphine says. "Honestly, I find it difficult to believe that they haven't pinned him down already. You're good in a fight, and I need someone who's good in a fight."
Aria's glare gets more pronounced. "And you think I'll just go along with it?"
"I suppose not." Delphine says with carefree levity. "You are, after all, free to neglect the duties of your blood in order to make a pittance of gold while trying to keep away from this ongoing civil war." She gives Aria a look of supreme indifference. "Or maybe you fancy yourself as a small-time hero?"
Aria rolls her eyes. "I don't like you, Jend."
"Good." Delphine laughs. "I will help Esbern. You can decide your own actions, though, as I've said, your help will be appreciated."
After a little more discussion, it was finalized: Jake will return to Whiterun, and the Delphine Aria pair will head to Riften to find Esbern. For the sake of dividing attention, the pair will head first to Falkreath while Jake's path is more straightforward.
Meanwhile, Ash, sedated, is transported to a prison on the cusp of the Skyrim's eastern coast, into a neglected little fortress under entirely far too much security.
.
.
.
{ === + === }
Author Notes:
Magic sucks when your opponents know how to abuse it, yeah?