-Here I am again, this time with a bit of a break from the familiar narrative this story has. Rest assured this is definitely all part of a larger whole I intend for this story to be taken. I hope it impresses, enjoy! -
'You've got to go! Now!'
'I can't leave, Brenis! I have to stay with you, all of you!'
Her wide-eyed stare swaps back and forth between the massive barred wooden doors and her companion closest to her. Despite their best efforts, breach was all but inevitable at this point. The damn Altmer were just too much; too strong, too well-prepared, more than capable of so bold a head-on attack! Now here they were, literally banging on their very front doors armed to the teeth with all manner of weapons and magicks!
Her Imperial colleague glanced back to her, his stern eyes locking with hers.
'There's no time to argue! They'll be breaking through any moment now, and they'll slaughter everyone within! But not you- you need to escape! You must live to fight on!'
Her mouth opens to protest. Her stubborn nature demands that she say something, ANYTHING to somehow make a difference! But another collision against their temple's doors silences her. The massive wooden doors creak as they are pushed inwards ever so slightly, the wooden bar straining to maintain its hold and keep the doors closed. As stubborn as she was, even she had to admit that it had to take a lot of strength to budge that door as it was being budged right now. Their own numbers only fair, while who knew just how many they had on the other side?
'Do you understand?!' Brenis urges. Her attention is brought back to him briefly.
'But... there must be something...'
Brenis' response is to grip the hilt of his curved blade even tighter.
'Stubborn girl, do you not see there are no other options?' he quickly glances to his side over at her again. Being a few years older than her he looks down on her and her slightly shorter stature, 'But so long as one of us still draws breath, our order still survives. That which we fight for still survives. That is how we win; understand?'
'I... I...' she stammers. Another massive crash on the door. The wooden bar lock begins to crack, splinters from the middle begin to form. She takes a step back in the direction of their escape tunnel while her eyes remain locked in front of her, 'I'll... come back for you! All of you!'
'Heh, I'll be surprised if there's anything to come back to... Now go, Delphine! Get out of here, now!'
The Breton girl finally feels her stubborn resolve starting to fade. She begins to heed the words of her superior. With one last glance towards Brenis, her friend, she turns around and dashes towards the dark tunnel, stopping just briefly to seal the false wall behind her.
As the darkness closes around her, she can hear an even louder crash from the other side; the main doors had breached, and the Thalmor finally were entering their temple in full. Lips quivering, she proceeds to make her way through the dark tunnel that would lead back to the outside. Brenis and her other brothers and sisters were making the greatest of sacrifices for her, and she must make the most of them!
She manages to hear one last cry of Brenis from the other side,
'To arms, my fellow Blades! Make them bleed!'
Delphine awoke with her eyes shooting open. She couldn't see darkness anymore as she was once seeing. A couple blinks of her eyes showed her that the world before her was no longer within a familiar panic tunnel of the temple she once called home but was instead on a ship's wooden deck. There was a feeling of wind blowing through her hair and against the side of her face, the faint scent of saltwater filling her nostrils. Everything right in front of her was all she needed to remind her of the reality she was currently experiencing.
She sighed to herself and rubbed her eyes with one hand; she must have dozed off at some point. It was dangerous to be falling asleep while out in the open like this, but really, when was the last time she'd gotten a decent sleep? An actual decent sleep didn't sound so bad if not for the nightmares that usually came with. There had been a lot of those lately, yet peculiarly most of them were almost always of that very same dream. That vision, that permanent reminder of what had once happened. Her younger self of twenty odd years experiencing one of the greatest tragedies she'd ever known.
She really was the last of the Blades, as each passing day reminded her.
There were no others; no Brenis, no Krinda, no Esbern, heck not even Erneane. They were all at the temple that day when the Thalmor came knocking. A surprise attack that none of them could have expected. As the freshest recruit as well as the youngest member at the time, the hard choice was made to get her out of there, despite her initial reluctance. Worse still, having escaped from the one place that she'd called home... she would end up learning later on that... no one survived...
It's strange how moments like that so drastically change a person. Where once Delphine was a fresh-faced, wide-eyed, young woman eager to fulfill her duties as a Blade, now nearly thirty years later her outlook on most parts of life turned ever grim. She no longer denied either that the Thalmor were some 'disposable threats' that could be easily dispatched; their overwhelming force sacking the temple as well as the many run-ins and close calls with them over the years have radically colored her perception. Despite her constant wishes for things to be different, perhaps to have actually been there that day to at least put up a valiant defense, facts just had to be faced: she was here, now, the last of her kind.
In addition, another rather daunting feeling had gripped her being. Without her Order, her friends, without any reason to do what she once did, what really was the purpose of anything? To continue fighting against the Thalmor? Alone? How long could it even go on for? Every one of these notions felt like a stab at Delphine's heart. Not the questions themselves, but what she knew the answers to them being: nothing.
Then, in recent days, things very gradually began to... change. For the better, or worse? Delphine was no surer of which then than she was now, leading to her present situation. Having heard passing rumor after passing rumor while in Skyrim, a single word instantly drew her attention:
Dragonborn.
A Dragonborn? There was actually one in existence, here and now? Especially with these additional rumors of dragons returning? Delphine remembered initially being shocked, then positively overjoyed in her mind that first moment. Her order of the Blades was sworn to serve the Dragonborn, just as the Blades of old had served the Septim Emperors, the 'Dragonborn Dynasty' as they'd sometimes been known as! For so many recent years however, the Blades had simply served the ordinary dynasty of Mede Emperors, which ultimately culminated in them being sacked at their temples. But now, an actual Dragonborn was not only heard of in this day and age, but was somewhere in Tamriel at this very moment? There was never even a choice; Delphine knew what she needed to do.
Thus, after sifting through the rumors and careful in person investigations, she'd finally discovered what she'd found to be the most solid trail to follow. Out in Windhelm a group of three Dunmer were identified, dressed in rather strange robes even for their kind, and were travelling about all secretive. It was obvious that they were attempting to draw little to no attention to themselves in their movements, a practice she herself was all too familiar with.
She'd unfortunately lost track of them and their movements after they had seemingly departed Windhelm completely. However she had quietly and discreetly consulted with the captain of the Northern Maiden, the ship which the trio had arrived on, and learned they had come from Solstheim with the intention of returning.
Solstheim? That small island way out in the Sea of Ghosts to the north of Skyrim and Morrowind? What could possibly be over there? What could three Dunmer from there possibly be doing here in Skyrim? But more importantly, could there actually be a Dragonborn there of all places? Every unanswered question that piled up only fueled Delphine's frustration; she needed answers, not blunder about in the dark!
While the captain hadn't disclosed to her where those three Dunmer had gone while ashore as he did not know himself, she at least learned that they would return. Perhaps... she could simply wait for them to return, if they were ever to. It was a long shot, but at this point it was the only chance Delphine had.
A couple of days had passed, and she eventually caught sight of these Dunmer from a distance making a return to Windhelm. Acting quickly, she paid passage to the ship's captain, took a seat on one of the benches off to the side, and waited.
Finally, the Dunmer were seen making their way back onto the vessel. The first thing Delphine noted however was that they were one short and down to two. What happened to that third? Next, she noted that these two Dunmer held a large bag in tow. The male of the two was holding this bag rather close to his person, as if he were protecting something absolutely near and dear to him. Unfortunately, these remaining Dunmer didn't seem privy to discussing even between themselves what seemed to have happened or even what was inside this bag. They were speaking as quietly amongst themselves as she herself tended to do. The only thing she was able to make out were the words 'Miraak' and 'Dragonborn'.
Even during the trip to Solstheim, she found that these two continued to remain secretive. Delphine didn't recall a single time where either of them or the bag completely separated. If either one of them stepped up to walk somewhere, the other one remained in place and guarded that bag intensely. This served to only stoke her feelings of curiosity further; something was just nagging her to find out what was in that bag even more! This was tempered of course by her own reminder of what she was doing in the first place. The whole point of this was NOT to be discovered or blow her cover; to the outside observer she was nothing more than a travelling adventurer. After all, who would second-guess someone dressed in ordinary leather armor as she was? Occasional glances to the side told her that the two Dunmer didn't seem to be giving her any looks or even regarding her presence at all. This was good; the less regarded she was the better.
The world around Delphine wasn't much to look at either. Turning her gaze from the ship's dock and around her, all that could be seen was the vast ocean. Apart from the occasional squawking seagull, the sounds of rolling waves crashing against the hull of the ship were the only forms of sounds to break the silence. Whether this was in fact comfort or not, it was all she had for her during this time. They'd been sailing across these waters for the better part of half a day by this point.
Slowly but surely the setting began to change dramatically. There, growing closer and larger into view, a large landmass could be seen. The ship began to slightly curve to the right as it bore towards the island. The natural land could be seen as a mix of drab brown and even gray. The color was a sharp contrast from the light blues and occasional vibrant greens she was used to seeing in Skyrim. But this was definitely not the land of Nords she found herself arriving at.
There was not snow here, but ash.
As the ship drew closer, Delphine suddenly had to stifle a quick cough that snuck up upon her. Her nose was quickly assaulted by a scent of ash in the air, tickling her nose and throat. Just as quickly as it came however, it wasn't followed up with any further coughing. This sort of ash felt different from burning ash she was accustomed to in the past. Unlike burning wood or buildings, this ash had a strange sort of... feeling to it. It was very hard to describe, but nonetheless was very much different.
"Land ho, passengers! We have arrived!" the voice of the captain Gjalund Salt-Sage announced.
A bell could be heard ringing twice as the ship slowly turned a corner into a harbor. A couple of rows of wooden docking platforms could be seen stretching out into the water from the land. In addition to the wood and the grey-colored ash of the land, the other major sight was the sheer number of stone that comprised a number of buildings could be seen. The architecture of these buildings was also something to behold: thresholds of doorways were designed in a way that seemed to evoke that of the curved chitins of insects. Yet another indicator of just how 'alien' this new place appeared to Delphine.
The large sail on the mast above was pulled in, and the ship began to slow down even more. In no time at all the Northern Maiden came to a full stop within one of the spaces of the wooden docks. A nearby splash could be heard off the side of the ship as the anchor was dropped.
Delphine took a sharp, yet carefully controlled breath through her nose as a sigh. Finally, she had arrived on Solstheim.
'Right, where are those two Dunmer planning to go now that they've arrived...?' she thought to herself.
Looking back out as she casually looked over her parchment, the two Dunmer in question could be seen in their regular seated spots. They appeared to be jostled to attention with the fact that the ship had landed as well. A moment or two after the ship had come to a complete stop, one by one they stood from their seats. That strange bag in their possession was hefted over the male's shoulders.
Rather than immediately stand up herself, Delphine remained in her bench momentarily. She held the parchment just a little close to her face to maintain the visage that she was still studying it, when she actually peered over the top edge of the page.
The Dunmer pair were conversing something in silence between themselves briefly, proceeded to make their way towards the edge of the boat. The boarding plank had been placed out upon the adjoining wooden dock next to it, providing a quick walkway towards land. The Breton waited for a good five seconds... then proceeded to make her move herself.
Delphine folded up her 'wordless' parchment she'd held in her hand this entire time and pocketed the item. She then stood up on her own feet, where upon she was greeted with the feeling of soreness in all parts of her legs. She must have been sitting for who knows how long, not even allowing herself to walk about on the ship during the trip. Hopefully this feeling was temporary and wouldn't hinder her in the slightest.
Delphine began to make her way towards the boarding plank herself while giving the ship's captain a quick and silent nod of thanks. The wood creaked beneath her feet until she stepped onto more stable wood of the dock. Finally, she was well and truly off of that boat; now then, where exactly was she now?
Looking directly in front of her the drab grayish soil mixed with ash could be seen in clearer detail with it being closer to her. The stone that marked the edge of civilization contrasted greatly as well in its own color as well as its texture; the ash soil was often sandy looking, while the stonework looked rough and bumpy. Definitely not any sort of architecture she was used to seeing before.
Beyond the bulwark and where the wooden dock met the stone, a few distant figures could be seen. Even from this distance their grey, almost bluish skin was unmistakable. Dunmer civilians and even a few garbed in rather strange, bulky looking yellow armor could be identified.
The two Dunmer themselves rather hastily made their way across the wooden dock and proceeded along its length inland. As Delphine began to follow after them, a trio of Dunmer suddenly stepped out from around a corner inland and walked opposite along the wooden dock as well. One of them was dressed in rather professional and fancy clothes while two of the apparent guardsmen flanked him on both sides. She watched as this group and the two Dunmer she was trailing briefly stop before each other. They appeared to be acknowledging and even conversing quick words between themselves, though the Breton couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Before she knew it however, the two were allowed past the trio and proceed along their way.
Delphine's eyes widened in mild surprise; they were moving on! She had to make haste and follow them, or else she'd risk losing them!
She took one more step forward across the wooden dock when a voice suddenly spoke out.
"You however; I don't recognize you."
The undercover Blade directed her attention up to the individual addressing her. She could see that it was in fact the fancy dressed Dunmer talking to her, his arms crossed over his chest. The expression on his face was stern and most cautious, almost as if he were studying her intently even while speaking to her. Delphine could feel her heart begin to sink within her chest; just what she needed, to get held up!
She momentarily considered simply disregarding the Dunmer and moving along her way, if not for the two guardsmen. They too appeared to watch and regard her, staring right at her through those strange, bony looking helmets that covered their heads. How easy it would be to simply rush past them all, but she needed to maintain a cover story for herself. That cover story unfortunately required that she NOT do anything that might cause a scene.
"I'll assume this is your first visit to Raven Rock?"
"Um, yeah, I guess it is," Delphine said. So this place was called Raven Rock? Good to know, "I was just passing through. I'm... an adventurer. I was just traveling across the sea in search of... greater fortunes."
"Fortunes, eh? If only such 'fortunes' would visit our desolate town for a change..." the Dunmer sardonically spoke, "Well, be that as it may, while you're here, you will be expected to abide by our laws. Solstheim and Raven Rock are under the guard and protection of House Redoran."
"House Redoran?" Delphine asked.
"You never heard of House Redoran?" one of the guardsmen flanking the fancy Dunmer spoke. His voice appeared muffled due to the helm that he wore covering the entirety of his head, "It's the greatest of the ruling Houses of Morrowind. Only through them has true order and peace been maintained in our territory."
"Alright," Delphine said, "So then, who's in charge of this Raven Rock?"
"That would be Councilor Morvayn, House Redoran's representative on Solstheim. As he is mostly busy these days, the responsibilities of day-to-day ventures in Raven Rock fall to me, Second Councilor Arano."
"Er- right, right, I'll definitely keep all that in mind," Delphine hastily said. More than once she cast her gaze over the shoulders of the Dunmer trio in front of her, desperate to not lose sight of the original duo she had been following, "Say um, the two Dunmer you were just speaking with. Do you happen to know who they are?"
"What? Our own temple priests?" the other guardsman spoke up, skepticism lining his voice, "What business could they possibly be to an outlander?"
"Ahem, they are priests of our own temple, yes," Councilor Arano cut in, "They'd just returned from a pilgrimage to Skyrim as I understand, though their names escape me at the moment. Their exploits of what they did there is their business alone."
"And where are they now? Or where are they going?" Delphine spoke while attempting to casually peer over the shoulders of the guards before her.
"Returning to the Temple of the Tribunal, I'd assume..." Arano said. His head tilted slightly, and his eyes narrowed as they looked upon Delphine, "Is there... some business you have with our priesthood?" Immediately, Delphine ceased her actions. She heard that slight edge in the Dunmer's tone; he was getting curious; a little 'too' curious. Worse still, she was making her own actions a little too obvious and known.
'Calm down, Delphine, you're not gonna help anything if you don't go about this carefully...' she thought to herself. A sharp, silent breath and a quick shaking of her head, she spoke again.
"It's nothing, really. Just... wondering, in general."
"Very well," Arano crossed his arms over his chest. His new tone didn't necessarily promote reassurance with Delphine, but at least he didn't seem to be pressing any issues any further, "In any case, mind yourself, and again welcome to Raven Rock, traveler."
With that, one of the flanking guardsmen finally stepped to the side, just enough to allow Delphine to slip past. With no one else before or in front of her, she was able to make her way across and onto the shore completely. From behind she could hear the Second Councilor's voice speaking with the captain of the ship.
The small sound of crunching filled her ears as she finally stepped onto solid land. This wasn't the familiar crunch of snow as she was used to hearing; this felt 'flakier', less compact and stable. The ash beneath her boots left a noticeable ring of light gray along the bottom as well. After spending so long on a wooden ship on the open waters, some actual ground beneath her was a welcome change, no matter how it felt.
Unfortunately, her visibility was reduced due to the sun having set around this time of day. It was only thanks to a couple of lit torches, from nearby stands and from the occasional guardsman walking along a beaten path that she had any sense of location.
To her left she could see a couple of stationary guardsmen standing next to... rather strange looking structures. Delphine made her way towards this location to find that it was in fact a large, rounded open area with a single well in the center. All around were a number of wooden tables and chairs. The structures themselves held doors designed in that strange Morrowind style she'd remembered seeing in years past. There really was no denying this place was Dunmer territory. Judging from the stalls all around and even that smithy off to the side, it was clear that this was a market area of sorts. Although where were the actual vendors? And the people?
"Outlander, if you're looking for a place to rest, you can head on over to the Retching Netch Cornerclub," the voice of a nearby stationed guardsmen called out to her. Delphine turned to see the man indicate to one of the buildings he stood guard outside of.
'Little else I can do with it being dark out and no one else around...' she thought to herself. With a quick nod to the guard, she made her way to the aforementioned door and entered.
The change in atmosphere was small and subtle, but still noticeable. No longer did Delphine feel that slightly dry taste of ash in the wind. The relief came in the form of an aroma of some sort of food filling the air. Whatever that was, Delphine's mouth almost began to water. When was the last time she'd had a decent meal? All that time sitting on that travelling ship with little more than potatoes and limes for food; her stomach's growls practically demanding that she eat something.
She could see directly in front of her was a single round room with the light of a nearby cooking furnace illuminating the gray of the surrounding walls. A couple of Dark Elves sat in chairs all around next to the wall that paid her little more than a glance as she walked in. In addition, the center of the floor held a set of stone steps that appeared to descend down into a lower section; more light could be seen down there.
"Hm? Oh, evening milady," a Dunmer standing in front of the cooking pot turned over his shoulder to regard her, "Head on downstairs; Master Geldis will see to your needs."
Looking at the Dunmer that spoke to her, Delphine could see that he was wearing an apron as he was tending to the cooking pot before him. Most likely he worked at this establishment and thus had little reason to appear as anything else. With a shrug she made her way down the stairs and towards the lower light that was seen within.
She now found herself within a larger area beneath. With curved stone pillars connecting the floor to the ceiling at various points this place was easily three times the size of the upper level. There were also many more Dunmer patrons walking about as well as seated at a number of tables. Delphine supposed she shouldn't have been surprised to find the majority of them were Dark Elves; that Second Councilor had mentioned that this place was primarily a Dunmer settlement, sovereign territory of Morrowind no less. Still, something familiar like the occasional human would've been nice as well.
"Don't think I've ever seen you here before."
Delphine turned to her left. A nearby bar was seen with a couple of barstools positioned before it. On the other side stood a Dark Elf wearing clothes that she could swear were almost the same shade as blood. Still, in contrast to that morbid visual, the bartender himself still greeted her with a friendly smile as well as a wave,
"Come on over at take a load off."
The woman made her way towards the bar. All around her the nearby patrons either curiously glanced towards her or paid her little mind as they continued their own conversations. Delphine didn't like having undue attention focused upon her, not just because of who she secretly was but because it tended to make her feel self-conscious in general. She slowly took a seat on the barstool.
"Welcome to the Retching Netch Cornerclub, ma'am," the bartender greeted her warmly, "Home of the finest Sujamma that will ever grace your lips. Geldis Sadri's the name; what can I get you?"
"I'll just have a regular ale, if you have it," Delphine said simply.
"We have that," Geldis said, briefly ducking down beneath the bar. The woman took a moment to fetch forth a small handful of coins from her coin-purse as well. The Dunmer stood back up with an ale bottle in one hand and an empty flagon in the other. He poured the contents into the empty cup and then presented it to her, "There you are."
"Thanks," Delphine pushed the coins towards him on the countertop and took the flagon in hand.
Her mouth was instantly flooded with the familiar, thirst-quenching taste of ale. Although, this kind tasted rather... different, for lack of better word. The sort of ale she was used to always had the flavored sweetness power through, yet this kind felt a little more downplayed alongside a strange bitter taste that she couldn't quite place. All in all, it was different, yet not at all unpleasant. Still, a stronger bit of familiarity would've been nice.
'Sometimes, you have to simply try new things,' she recalled Brenis telling her in the past, 'Don't matter if you're feeling scared or whatever; strange things will always remain strange until you've experienced them.'
And just like that, the simple act of tasting a new brand of ale had to remind her yet again of Brenis, and then the other Blades... She'd loved every one of them, her own family not-of-blood. The first time she had been chosen as a recruit for the Blades, she was absolutely overwhelmed at the prospect. What exactly would've been expected of her? How would actually being in the Blades stack up against how she'd merely read of them in the past? Her only prior knowledge was that they were these faceless warriors who were damn good at protecting the emperors.
Which is why it thoroughly surprised her when she first met them. The actual 'them' and not just 'faceless Blades' behind unidentifiable helmets. Nearly all of them were inviting of her as a recruit; some were firmer in expectations than others, but she still at least came to learn of them from names and personalities. Charismatic Brenis, eccentric but wise Esbern, fiery-tempered Erneane; she had never known such a colorful group of Tamriel's dedicated protectors as them. She was absolutely honored when she joined them... and devastated by what happened to them on that day.
Delphine shook her head and took a sharp but deep breath. No one else knew of these feelings she held, and she planned to take them to the grave with her. The only thing that mattered now was why she was here in the first place. Speaking of which...
She casually glanced at the barkeep as she took another swig of her ale. A man behind the bar counter was likely a perfect source of rumor and gossip. But only a fool would ask for them outright, and especially in the presence of potential onlookers around her. No, for her to learn anything substantial, small talk would have to be made. Actual meaningful small talk. The question is: how to start?
"So... the 'Retching Netch'? That's... quite the name for this place," she off-handedly remarked.
"Ah yes, been running this place for quite some time now," Geldis replied, "Heh, there's actually a funny story as to how it came to be named that, if you're interested."
'Oh, this is good, I got him to engage in small talk!' she thought to herself, 'If I can keep this going, I'm sure I can gain something the least bit helpful...'
"Hm, sure," she said, "How did this place get the name?"
Swiftly and quietly the two Dunmer made their way into the Temple of the Tribunal. Favene very carefully closed the door behind them so's not to alert anyone to their presence. It was not only preferred that anyone outside not know where they were going, but also any of the priests within were not to know their true destination either. The less risk of running into Elder Othreloth or his toady assistant the better.
"Looks like none of those priests are around..." Neldrus quietly noted as he looked around, "We're safe to proceed, come on." The male Dunmer led the two of them down the stone steps into the depths of the temple's ancestral burial mounds.
"Brother... tell me you noticed it too?" Favene quietly as she followed after him, "There was... there was someone on that boat that we were on... Something felt strange about that person."
"Are you worried that we'd been followed or tracked? By her or someone of the like?" Neldrus asked, "I wouldn't worry; we weren't followed when we entered in here, nor did I see anyone following from before when we departed that ship."
"I hope so; it was just a strange feeling I had thinking about her..." Favene felt a shiver run down her spine.
She nevertheless followed after her partner as the two deftly made their way through the crypt. Certain as they were that no one was around, they still maintained caution and took light and careful steps to avoid unnecessary echoes of footsteps.
Their destination came in the form of a section of wall located at the very far end of the crypt. At first glance it appeared as little more than a piece of the wall, built sturdy and sound. To people like Neldrus and Favene however, this was their method of silent passage to completely avoid wandering eyes as they would leave Raven Rock. The section in question came in the form of a rectangular piece of stone, just barely taller than the length of their own legs. A gentle but firm push allowed the stone to be pushed outward and expose to the world beyond.
Neldrus held the way firstly for Favene to slip through, with he himself following right after. Once they were both through, he pushed the stone 'door' back into place. The two Dunmer now stood outside in the gentle calm of night. A small wind blew and lightly whipped their skin with the familiar coarse feeling of ash on the wind. The air was also filled with the sounds of Ash Hoppers chirping their night song in the distance. More importantly, not a single unwanted soul to risk finding them here at all.
"So, there you are."
Neldrus and Favene looked up towards the source of the voice. Neither were surprised; they knew who the voice belonged to as well as how it knew they would be here.
"Brother Alvadrar," Favene cordially greeted, "It's good to see you again."
"Brother Neldrus, and Sister Favene," the other Dunmer, Avaldrar spoke; his voice carrying that raspy edge to it, "I trust your mission was a success?"
"Indeed Brother," Neldrus said. Gently but hastily, he shuffled the bag off of his shoulder to place it down. He undid the clasp on the front and opened the top, revealing what lay within, "We have found and recovered 'the' Oghma Infinium itself."
The book was slowly removed from the bag, revealing its entire mass before the eyes of the three Dunmer present. Whereas before Avaldrar maintained a stoic face before his two subordinates, even he could scarcely conceal his eyes practically widening at the mere sight. He gazed upon the thick, multi-paged book, the colors of the many stitched patches that comprised its cover awing him. One was seldomly afforded many honors in life, but even Avaldrar found himself truly humbled before the book, unopened as it was.
"The Book of Supreme Knowledge. The artifact of Hermaeus Mora himself..." he said as he gently took in his hands. He glanced back at the two Dunmer and smiled sincerely to them, "You have done very well; this would most definitely earn favor with him."
"Of course, we live to serve after all," Neldrus commented with a nonchalant shrug.
"Yes, it did come with extreme cost, however..." Favene chimed in. The subtle edge in her tone was just barely recognized by Neldrus.
"Sister..." he spoke as he shot her a look.
"What do you mean by that?" Avaldrar asked, "Or rather... wait, where is Brother Vondeth?"
"Brother Vondeth... He is gone," Favene spoke in equally soft tone herself, as if barely holding her emotions back, "That... that damned lockbox, that DAMN Imperial and his thrice-damned plan! It was all his fault!"
"Sister-!" The female Dunmer was practically raving as she turned to Neldrus.
"There had to have been another way! We shouldn't have thought that was the only solution! But for us to simply-!"
*SLAP!*
The sharp sound rang out through the edge of the woods nearby. The screaming was effectively silenced and the two Dunmer were left to stare in shock at what had just happened. Brother Avaldrar had stepped forth and slapped Favene square in the face!
"That will be quite enough out of you," the Dunmer spoke low as well, yet with his own undertone of danger, "Not simply to keep your damn voice down and prevent the whole town from being alerted to us, but need I remind you of who you are? Of whom 'we' are?"
"Brother Avaldrar, I-I apologize on her behalf! She-"
"Each one of us received the vision, did we not? We received that vision of promise, of authority, of a supreme power that is greater than anyone of us could've ever known before!" Avaldrar spoke forcefully and firmly, yet still managing to keep the sound of his own voice barely at normal volume, "The one true Dragonborn spoke to all of us; he called to us to aid him in returning from Oblivion itself to Tamriel! To be granted his favor with this feat... Do you not see how great of an honor that is?! Didn't Vondeth himself understand that?"
Favene kept her gaze away from the other two; her embarrassment and shame were too much to bear. Every word leveled at her and Brother Neldrus was true, in spite of everything.
"He... he did..." she muttered meekly.
"I would expect so. Sounds like he understood there was no worthy a sacrifice..." Avaldrar said. He cleared his throat to recompose himself, "Spare me the details of how we lost our brother. The only thing that matters is that the task you were all assigned with is complete. The Oghma Infinium is now in our possession, and Miraak is one step closer to returning to our realm. So instead of lamenting so trivial a loss, we instead move forward with our plan as initially intended. Understood?"
"Of course, Brother," Neldrus bowed his head. He then glanced to his side and gently nudged Favene with his elbow. His action quickly knocked her out of her hesitant state.
"Er- y-yes, Brother... I understand," she replied.
"Good..." Alvaldrar said before giving a deep sigh himself. He then turned around in the direction of the edge of the forest where he had come from, "Alright, let's be off. I'm sure the others will be waiting for us by now..."
"Will I be glad to be back and out of these damned robes!" Neldrus muttered as he followed after the Dunmer, "The Tribunal and their thrice-cursed cloth... Tell me our own robes and masks were saved for us this whole time?"
"They were, Brother Neldrus," Avaldrar replied, "Although with the loss of Brother Vondeth, I suppose it falls to myself to fill the void left by him..."
"Oh yes, that's true..." Neldrus said.
Favene picked up the rear as she trailed after the other two Dunmer. She herself remained silent, her sudden outburst as well as being slapped apparently having drained her of her will to put up any further argument. Before she herself ducked into the thick of the woods, she spared one last glance towards the stone wall that was the crypt. The sensation of a shiver running down her spine chose to return yet again, even as she turned and followed after her brothers.
-So as you can see, MAJOR plot changes for this one. Instead of the Dragonborn going to Solstheim, this time it's... Delphine? Wherever could I be going with this? I suppose you'll have to stay tuned to find out! Keep on reading! -
