A/N: WARNING: There are EXTREMELY VAGUE references to nudity in this chapter. The reason? Hermes. There is no and will never be any direct or explicit sexual content or references in any of my work.
That said. Here we go! This chapter is shorter than recent ones have been, but that's only because I want to save the big fight for next chapter. I almost made this chapter part of the last one, but that would have made it too long. Speaking of last chapter, I didn't even realize that chapter 20 pushed this story over 100,000 words! (Not counting these notes) I had no clue. Didn't even realize until I'd published it.
Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this. I hope you continue to enjoy what I've been writing.
One thing I want to clarify before I start is that when gods enter the Dungeon, they have to suppress their divine aura. It's not even using it, just having it not suppressed is enough for the Dungeon to react. Now, the thing is, this seems like something they would have to either wear an item to accomplish or be constantly suppressing it. Considering that they are in mostly mortal bodies, it would be ridiculously easy for them to get bashed over the head and lose control of their aura. With that in mind, I am making one change/clarification to the canon. Gods CAN suppress their aura by concentration, but there are also items that will do it just as effectively, so long as they aren't taken off. This allows them to move about as normal, without having to constantly concentrate.
I greatly appreciate the comments and reviews. They really are amazing to see and read. Please don't hesitate to leave a comment or question. I try to answer every question I'm asked.
Hearthfire
Chapter 21
Bell
"Welcome, Comrades" Bell read aloud from the sign over his head.
"This is Rivira, the town within the Dungeon." Ms. Ais said, standing just to his right. Gathered with them were Welf, Lili, Mikoto, Ouka, Chigusa, Ms. Asfi, Lord Hermes, Ms. Tiona, and Ms. Tione. They had come to Rivira hoping to explore the town, so the members of the Loki Familia had offered to serve as tour guides.
"Honestly for a town that was build piecemeal like this, it doesn't look too bad." Welf commented as they walked through the gate.
"According to the stories, it has been rebuilt 344 times because of monster attacks." Ms. Tiona said, skipping along beside them.
"And because it's in the Dungeon and the Guild's laws don't apply here, everything is ridiculously expensive." Ms. Tione added.
The group continued on through the town with the twins and Ms. Ais pointing out important buildings or shops.
"Holy crap!" Welf exclaimed a few minutes later, staring at a whetstone one of the stalls was selling. "13,000 Valis for this shitty whetstone?! That's robbery!"
"If you don't like it, you can shop someplace else." The grubby shopkeeper said from his chair.
"You weren't kidding about everything being expensive." Mikoto said as she examined a simple sword that was priced at V70,000.
"The inns are even worse!" Ms. Tiona grumbled, her hands behind her head. "That's why we're camping in the woods. It'd bankrupt us if we tried to have everybody stay in the town."
"I see…" Bell muttered, still looking around at the makeshift buildings. He couldn't believe that there was really a town in the Dungeon! He had known it existed, of course. It had come up in his studies, but to see it in person? It was incredible!
"Oh?" He turned around. "Where did Lord Hermes go?"
"Hm?" Ms. Ais looked around. "I'm not sure. He and Andromeda must have slipped away," she said, using Ms. Asfi's last name. Bell was still turning, looking around for Lord Hermes when he accidentally bumped into someone.
"Oh, excuse me." He said, apologizing to the man. The person he bumped into was a large, brawny man who looked to be around 30 or 40. With a scarred face and beat up armor, he looked more like a bandit than an adventurer. There were two other people behind him. A brown-haired man with a nose-ring and a blonde man with face paint and a large shield on his back.
"Huh?!" He growled angrily.
"Well, if it isn't the Rabbit Foot. Orario's new super rookie." Mr. Nose-ring said.
"Him?!" The first man demanded. "What are you doing this deep, you shitty newbie!" The man grabbed Bell's face angrily. Bell struggled to break loose, but the man's grip was surprisingly strong.
"Oi, Mord." The blonde man said, pointing behind Bell.
The now named Mord looked up and paled. "You know the Sword Princess?" He asked, nervously releasing Bell's face. "Let's go." He said to his friends and walked away as fast as he could.
"What's with those thugs?" Ms. Tione asked.
"So lame." Ms. Tiona grumbled.
"Are you alright, Bell?" Ms. Ais asked.
"I'm fine," Bell replied, rubbing his chin where the man had grabbed him, "but what was that about?"
"Probably jealous over your quick level-up." Ms. Tione hypothesized. "They look like people who capped at 2. They won't get any stronger and get really jealous of people who do."
"The rough and tumble types are pretty common around here." A large man with an eyepatch said as he walked up. "You should watch your step, Rabbit Foot."
"Oh, Bors!" Ms. Tione said, happily greeting the man. "Everybody, this is Bors. He's about as close to a mayor as this place has."
"Mayor?" Ms. Tiona cut in. "More like a mob boss."
"Gahaha! You're not far off, Amazon." The now named Bors laughed. "Still, I'm surprised to see so many new faces in town. Who are all these people?"
"I'm Bell Cranel," Bell said, quickly introducing himself. Whatever his supposed title was, if this was the man in charge, he didn't want to make a bad impression. "I'm from the Hestia Familia, as are my friends, Welf and Lili." He gestured to the two, who greeted the man. Bell then proceeded to introduce the group from the Takemikazuchi Familia.
"Well," Mr. Bors grinned after the introductions were through, "you're all welcome in Rivira. Congrats on making it this far. Just remember the rules and keep out of trouble, and you'll always be welcome here."
"Rules?" Welf asked. "What rules?"
"Absolutely no fighting on this floor." Mr. Bors answered, ticking off rules on his fingers. "No monsters in town, even tamed. Obviously, no murder or thievery. All prices are final, take it or leave it. Oh, and the town is a neutral zone. Whether it's personal or a Familia problem; grudges and vendetta's stay outside. No starting shit in town. You wanna start something on 17 or 19? Go ahead, but 18 is a safe zone."
"So, basically no fighting, no stealing, and no murder?" Ouka asked. It sounded like simple enough instructions to Bell.
"Yup." Mr. Bors nodded. "Now come on, I'll help show you around."
The continued on the tour for several more hours, before finally winding back up at the front gate. Bell stared out into the woods, contemplating. He knew that Mr. Torrhen had wandered off into the woods that morning, though not why and was rather curious about them himself. He wanted to go exploring.
"I'm thinking about exploring the woods before I head back," he said. "Do any of you want to join me?"
"I might join you in a bit." Welf said. "I want to poke around town a bit more."
"Same here." Ouka nodded.
"We'll be headed back to camp." Ms. Tiona grinned. "Gonna get some stuff done before we take the girls on a little excursion."
"Excursion?" Mikoto asked, confused.
"There's a set of springs and pools near to our camp," Ms. Tione said. "It's a wonderful place to take a bath. We were thinking about going this evening and were hoping you might join us."
"That sounds great!" Lili smiled. Suddenly she turned towards Bell and the other guys. "No boys allowed!" She yelled.
"I would never!" Bell shouted indignantly. He pointedly ignored the disappointed expressions on Welf and Ouka's faces, as well as the fact that Mikoto and Chigusa were now bright red. He definitely tried to ignore the fact that Ms. Ais was blushing lightly. Bell could not allow his mind to go where it wanted to go. That way lay madness.
Soon enough, the group separated, with Welf and Ouka staying in town and the girls headed back to camp while Bell headed off into the woods. Having grown up in a remote mountain village, he'd been playing in forests since he was a kid. He loved walking through the trees.
It wasn't long, perhaps half an hour, when he wandered out onto an outcropping near a large crystal. He sat on the edge of the cliff, staring out at the woods and crystal structures stretched out before him. It was so peaceful, he almost wanted to fall asleep. Bell sat there, on the edge of the cliff for some time. He had even begun to nod off when the sound of breaking twigs caught his attention. Turning, he saw the bandit-looking man, Mord, and perhaps a dozen others coming out of the woods behind him. Bell stood, nervously. He was boxed in. The only ways out of his current predicament were over the cliff or through the group of likely Level 2 adventurers.
"Don't even think about it, rookie." Mord growled.
"What do you want?" Bell asked, trying to keep his voice from wavering.
"Simple," the bandit-looking man said, "you got here in what, a month? It took the rest of us years to make it this far. You've had it easy, so it's our job to show you that being an adventurer isn't all fun and games. Not to worry, though," He gestured to the men behind him. "They're not going to join in on this. This fight's just gonna be between you and me. A duel."
"A duel?" Bell muttered. He'd never been in a duel before. He'd never even met any of these people before that day! Even their reasons didn't make sense! Sure, he'd been doing well but that didn't mean he thought adventuring was a game! Maybe when he'd started he hadn't taken things seriously, but after training with Mr. Torrhen and all the times he and his friends had nearly died? Bell was well aware of just how dangerous being an adventurer could be.
He'd seen the effects of being around horrible people had done to Lili. Heard Naaza describe the horror she went through when her arm was eaten by a monster, right in front of her. Ms. Ais had gone into great detail about how her team had been badly injured and nearly killed on the 59th floor. Bell himself had been badly injured and nearly killed multiple times! He'd only gotten to the 18th floor because a group of adventurers had left him and his friends to die!
"Just a duel," Mord continued. "Simple, right? The winner gets to order the loser to do whatever he wants. If I win, you give me everything you own." He drew his sword.
Bell snarled at the man. Thankfully, he had no other clothes besides his beat-up bodysuit and his armor because it meant Bell was fully armed and armored for a fight. Even if he hadn't been expecting one. Mr. Torrhen would never have forgiven him for wandering around without a weapon.
"If I win, you leave immediately." Bell demanded. If this was going to happen, he would make sure they never tried something like this ever again. "You'll apologize and never approach me or a member of my Familia ever again."
The crowd behind Mord laughed. "Oh, I like your spirit." The man said. "But you misunderstand, you shitty rookie. This duel is about tormenting you to death!" He smashed a crystal on the ground, throwing the shards towards Bell's face.
Bell quickly covered his eyes, but when he opened them again the man was nowhere to be found.
"Where did he go?"
Out of nowhere, a fist collided with Bell's cheek, sending him sprawling.
Hermes
"That's amazing!"
"He really is invisible!"
"Get him Mord!"
"Cut off that cocky rookie's nose!"
"Magic Item. Hades Head." Hermes said, as he watched the fight below. "It's quite a sight, isn't it, Asfi?
The cheering coming from the crowd of brutes below was easily carrying up to his vantage point on a cliff overlooking the battlefield. The god adjusted his cloak, making sure it was properly fastened. Visually, it was more of a cape than a cloak, but it wasn't the aesthetics that mattered. For a god to be in the Dungeon, they had to suppress their divine aura or the Dungeon would react badly. That was where the cloak came in handy. It was a special item that concealed his godly aura without him having to focus. So long as he did not take it off, the Dungeon would never know he was there.
More than any other being, the Dungeon despised gods. Having one within its' halls would cause it to react violently. Hermes could, of course, suppress his aura without the use of an item like his cloak, but that would require him to constantly focus. The slightest dip in concentration might allow some of his aura to leak out. Likely not enough for the Dungeon to notice but, better safe than sorry.
"Even for you, this is seriously perverse." Asfi said.
Asfi would never disobey him, but she didn't always agree with his methods. The item the brute, Mord, was using was one Asfi herself had made. After seeing the confrontation between the man and Bell, the god had seen an opportunity to test the boy. Hermes had given the 'Hades Head;' a helm of invisibility, to the brute and casually mentioned that the young Cranel had wandered into he woods alone.
"Do you have something against Bell Cranel?"
"No," Hermes shook his head. "In truth, this may be how I show my love for him. Young Bell doesn't seem to have encountered much of humanity's dark side. I don't know if it's my 'perverse tastes' as you called them but I want him to experience that darkness. To confront that side of human nature." He chuckled. "Though, I won't deny that I've been getting some amusement from this."
"And what if this breaks him?" She asked.
"Then it just means that he doesn't have what it takes." Hermes replied, simply. "Oh?" something had caught his attention. Making their way through the woods were the young Welf and Ouka, both armed. Not far behind them were the Pallum, Lili and the girls of the Takemikazuchi Familia. "They must have seen the group leave town and gone to get help." He mused.
Hermes watched as Chigusa opened fire with her bow, catching the attention of the crowd of brutes. As one they turned, catching sight of young Bell's reinforcements.
"You cowards!" Ouka shouted.
"Don't let them interfere!" One of the brutes called to the others. As one, they drew their weapons and charged. It was fascinating to see just how well talent could shine, even in the inexperienced. While most of the brutes had years of experience under their belts, the small group of Bell's comrades had talent and, in the case of the young Welf and Lili, the training of a true master to fall back on.
Despite being outnumbered and with most of their group being a level behind, the team of five were seriously holding their own. Unfortunately for them, the boost their talent gave them simply meant that they were evenly matched. Not getting the upper hand.
Still, the surprises kept coming. Little Lili was about to take a bad blow from behind when a figure bashed her attacker away. Standing in his place was Ryuu, the elven woman from the Astrea Familia.
"If nothing else," Hermes mused as he watched the fighting. "Young Bell has some very good friends."
Bell
Bell rolled, trying desperately to get away from his assailant long enough to regain his footing. So far, all he had been able to do was scramble away. The invisible assault had been relentless. He got his chance when the sound of shouting at combat rose up from behind him.
"What?!" He heard the voice of his attacker shout. Scrambling to his feet, Bell rushed away from the area the voice had come from. The group of thugs who had been watching were no longer standing nearby. Bell's friends had come to help him! They were engaged in a struggle with the thugs, trying to reach him.
"Right." Bell thought. "Time to finish this."
Of the many lessons Mr. Torrhen had been slowly teaching Bell, one of the strangest had been fighting blind. In the Dungeon, there were more than a few areas where the light level was extremely low. There was also the chance of an attack or some environmental effect rendering an adventurer temporarily blind.
With this in mind, Mr. Torrhen would occasionally have Bell spar blindfolded as a way to improve his danger sense. Allowing him to detect threats he could not see. Now that he had been given a moment to compose himself, Bell drew on that training. When the next blow came, Bell could sense the direction it was coming from. Rolling away, Bell kicked out, hearing a muttered curse as his foot lightly brushed against something solid.
"You can see me?!" He heard the brute's voice. Bell closed his eyes, letting his training and his senses take over. "Damn you!"
Mord was charging again. Fluidly, Bell moved his body away from the oncoming blow. Again and again, he dodged the relentless attacks. He could hear the man's breathing becoming labored.
"I'll cut you in half, you bastard!" Mord panted. Bell could almost see him charge. Slipping to the side, Bell raised his hand and brought the hilt of the Hestia Knife down on where his senses told him Mord's head would be.
The man crashed to the ground, the shards of a strange black helm scattering around his head. "Damn you," he growled, moving to rise. Bell readied his knives, prepared for a proper battle.
"Enough!" A powerful voice carried through the air. Standing just outside the tree line was Captain Finn. Beside him were Mr. Torrhen, Ms. Ais, and the twins. As Bell watched, Bors and several other adventurers from Rivira emerged from the woods.
"Braver," Mord cursed, using Captain Finn's alias.
"You will stand down!" Captain Finn shouted. "Do not resist!"
Hermes
"Well, I guess that's it." Hermes sighed. He had been quite impressed by young Bell's performance. He'd done better than the god was expecting. "We should get out of here before we're caught." Motioning to Asfi, the god made his way back into the woods.
It would not do at all for anyone to catch them there. Especially not Torrhen, who was looking particularly grumpy. Thankfully, he had disguised himself when speaking with Mord and his brutes, so they had no clue who had actually directed them towards the young Cranel.
Hermes and Asfi made their way back to the Loki Familia camp as stealthily as they could. Pretending like they had no clue what was going on, it was easy to slip back into the camp. Perhaps an hour or two later, as the crystal ceiling began to dim, the group who had been involved in the fighting made their way back.
Keeping up the façade of not knowing what had happened, Hermes learned that Mord and his compatriots had been fined heavily, with most of it being paid to Bell, and that they were lucky not to be worse off. Torrhen had apparently been on a warpath, and it was only young Cranel himself who kept his mentor from demanding the right to 'punish' them himself.
Luckily for Mord, Bell was able to convince his teacher to let Bors handle the punishment. He was the man in charge of the 18th floor after all. It was better to let him handle any troublemakers. To Hermes' relief, it did not appear that anyone was aware of his involvement.
Since the serious situation had been resolved, and he hadn't been caught, Hermes allowed himself to relax. Especially when he overheard the amazon twins of the Loki Familia ask his Asfi if she wanted to join them at the springs for a bath! Amongst the gods, the only person Hermes had met who was more proudly perverted than himself was Zeus. The two had spent many an enjoyable day peeping on goddesses and female mortals alike. To observe beautiful women was his duty as a man! To have a harem was the true dream of every man! Hermes would allow nothing to convince him otherwise!
At first, he contemplated roping the young Bell into joining him. Letting him see the pleasurable side of human nature, after his encounter with its' dark side. The issue was, the boy was rather beaten up and being healed by Torrhen. Hermes didn't want to get anywhere near the Dragonborn if he was remotely angry. If Nocturnal was to be believed, an angry Dragonborn was not something even a god wanted to deal with.
Hermes and the Daedric Prince had… history. Like most of the Daedric Princes, Nocturnal did not have a true gender, but chose to appear as a female nearly all of the time. She even referred to herself as female multiple times, with her preferred form being a very… curvaceous woman.
Since they shared patronage over thieves and Nocturnal was… pleasing to the eye, Hermes had spent many a pleasurable day in her company. With her being a patron of stealth and clandestine activities, she didn't even have a problem with him peeping!
Giggling perversely to himself, Hermes stealthily followed the girls towards the pools. Finding a good vantage point, Hermes lifted himself into the trees. As quietly as he could, he crept out onto one of the branches that hung over the pools. Covered by other branches and leaves, he had a perfect view, yet could not be seen from the ground.
He giggled quietly to himself as he watched the girls in the pool. So distracted was he by the beautiful sight, he failed to notice that the branch he had chosen was partially rotted. His added weight, slight as it may have been, was too much for it. With a loud 'Crack' the branch snapped and Hermes plunged into the water below. Desperately righting himself, Hermes tried to stand but slipped, plunging face first into something soft.
The next thing he heard was a terrified "WAAAAAAAGH" coming from young Lefiya as her hand came up. Striking Hermes in the face with surprising force, he was sent flying out of the water and into a tree. It took a moment for the god to come back to his senses and stand. As he rose, he became aware of a multitude of terrifyingly angry glares being directed at him by the women in the pond.
"Eh-heh…" He stammered, nervously. "What, uh… what a coincidence?"
Before Hermes could attempt to talk his way out of a beating and punishment by the angry women, the earth began to rumble. Losing his balance, the god seized the tree he had been thrown against. Looking down, he saw his cloak crumpled on the ground where he had lain; the fastenings having been knocked loose by his fall into the water and impact with the tree.
"Oh no…" Hermes stared up at the ceiling as the 18th floor was plunged into darkness. "Uranus… what about your prayer? What happened?"
The crystal ceiling of the dungeon shattered and with a mighty roar, two massive figures emerged, crashing into the ground.
The 18th Floor
The earth rumbled as the crystal ceiling of the floor went dark. The snarls and howls of angry monsters filled the air, with crashing sounds coming from the stairs to the 17th floor. The sounds of the commotion were enough to draw Torrhen and the many members of the Loki Familia from their tents. In the town of Rivira, the locals rushed into the street, trying to figure out what was happening. They emerged just in time to see the crystal ceiling shatter. Falling to the ground, surrounded by boulders and crystal shards were two massive figures.
Out of the woods near the Loki Familia camp, the girls who had been bathing were rushing towards their tents, half dressed and searching for weapons.
Within the camp, Torrhen, who was frantically pulling on his sword belt, came to a rest next to Finn with Ryuu not far behind.
"No way," Finn muttered. "This isn't possible."
"Goliath?" Ryuu muttered, staring at one of the figures. It was different from the normal Goliath. Instead of having a natural human skin tone and black hair, the skin of this Goliath was as black as night. Its' hair as white as snow. As for the other figure…
"And Udaeus…" Finn muttered, staring at the massive horned skeleton. It too was different from the normal boos, which was supposed to spawn only on the 37th floor. While the normal Udaeus had glowing red eyes and crystals at each of its' joints, this version's were glowing an eerie white. The ribcage, which normally showed the Monster Rex's floating crystal, was covered in a layer of rotting flesh as black as the bones that made up its' skeleton. In its' hands, the monster carried a massive sword.
The abnormal Goliath let out a bellowing roar, causing a sonic blast that destroyed a swath of forest. Screams of fear and pain filled the air as the adventurers who had been camping in that area were hit by the blast. Udaeus swung its' sword, carving a massive trench in the ground below.
"The stairs have caved in!" Gareth shouted, running towards Finn and Torrhen. "There's no way back up."
"Then we have no choice but to fight." Torrhen said. He turned to Finn. "If you can distract one, I can take out the other."
"These are not normal, Torrhen." Finn cut him off. "We don't know how strong they are. Andromeda!" He called to the blue-haired girl as she ran towards them. "Round up the adventurers from Rivira! We've been cut off from the surface. Fighting is our only option and we need more people!"
"On it!" She called, touching her boots and lifting off into the air.
Finn turned back to Torrhen. "We need as many hands as possible dealing with both the Rexes and the monsters on the ground. If you can…" A strange ringing roar filled the air followed by pained screams. Ryuu Lion went pale. Just below the two hulking Floor Bosses, another figure could be seen. A huge, black, lizard-like skeleton with glowing white eyes, tall enough to reach Goliath's knee was rushing through the woods faster than any monster Finn or any of the Loki Familia had ever seen.
"No," Ryuu muttered. "No no nonononono."
"Ryuu, snap out of it!" Torrhen shouted, shaking the girl.
"That's it…" She whispered. "That's the thing that killed my Familia." Torrhen's eyes widened.
"Right, new plan." He said, snapping to Finn. He pointed to the skeletal lizard. "That thing is wicked fast. Just one of those is responsible for the eradication of the Astrea Familia." Finn and Gareth's eyes went wide. The Astrea Familia had been well regarded for their strength and dedication. Being made up entirely of Level 3 and 4 adventurers, even the Loki Familia would have thought twice about going against them in an all-out war.
Torrhen continued. "Ryuu and I are going to handle the skeletal lizard. Alone." The elf girl's head whipped around, a terrified expression on her face. "It should be reasonable to assume that the Udaeus is still stronger than the Goliath. Split your forces."
"Have our highest-level members deal with Udaeus," Finn cut in, picking up on his thoughts. "Let the guys from Rivira handle Goliath, reinforced by our lower members. They kill Goliath regularly; they should know how to handle him. Even an irregular version. They can also handle the smaller monsters on the ground."
"Once either of our groups defeats their target, they join whoever is struggling worst." Torrhen finished.
"Done." Finn nodded. "Good luck."
"You too." The two shook hands and took off: Ryuu following Torrhen and Gareth following Finn.
As he passed by the members of his Familia, Torrhen called to them. "We're splitting up!" He shouted. "Half the Loki Familia will deal with Udaeus. The other half will reinforce the group from Rivira. That's where I want you! Back them up but be careful!"
"Right!" They agreed, scrambling for weapons and gear.
"Where will you be?" Bell asked.
"Ryuu and I will deal with that huge skeletal lizard!" Torrhen said. "We'll join you once it's dead." With that, the Dragonborn took off, Ryuu hot on his heels. Barely a few seconds later, the Hestia and Takemikazuchi Familia members were sprinting towards the gathering crowd of adventurers from Rivira.
Within Babel
"Hermes has been found." Uranus rumbled as the ground shook. "The Dungeon is angry."
"What has it unleashed?" The eerie voice asked.
"Two irregular Rexes and worse."
"What could be worse than that?"
"An irregular Juggernaut."
A/N: What do you think? Should be exciting, right? I hope I do it justice.
Just to head off the question. I know the Juggernaut is already an irregular monster. I'm saying this is a Black version of the Juggernaut. It's even stronger and has the same regen ability as the Black Goliath.
For later. The following characters will be getting new armor/clothes. Riveria, Finn, Ouka, Mikoto, Chigusa, Welf, and Lili. Any suggestions for how their new stuff should look? Before anybody mention Gareth, his will look the same as his old armor. If you know a mod or an armor from any elder scrolls game or something else that might fit for one of those characters, please let me know!
I think I have an idea for Riveria's. I was thinking about giving her a cross between her old clothes and the Alteration Master set (the green one) from the Opulent Outfits mod. What do you think?
As to the next chapter. I think the fighting will all be contained in that one chapter, which means it might be a bit on the long side for me. I'm still blocking it out, but I'll try to get it out soon. After that, things in-story are going to slow down a little. I know everybody is excited to get to the Apollo War Game, but there are things I want to get done before that happens. There's conversions, training, new gear, enchantments, meetings, and a couple investigations I may have mentioned will need to be done before I do the War Game. We will be seeing Apollo and the lead up during that, but I'm not just jumping straight into the War Game.
Answers to Questions
On FFN
demigodninja21: As a former member of the Companion's Circle, he is a former werewolf. In the backstory I have written for him, he spent some time making sure that none of the Daedra had a claim on his soul. That included cleansing his lycanthropy and helping Farkas and Vilkas do the same.
nexusplayer: I'm excited for Alduin too, but he won't be a major concern for a while. It'll be a slower build to that conflict. Durnehviir could show up. It is a possibility. The problem is why would Torrhen summon him in the Dungeon? It wouldn't make sense unless he was way down on the deep floors. As for those shouts, Whirlwind Sprint definitely works, as does Soul Tear. For Dragonrend, the only things it would work on now are Alduin and gods. Oh, and about Zanis. Kill him! Do it! I wrote that he reminded Torrhen of Nazeem and I always kill Nazeem. I'd have killed Zanis if it wouldn't have caused a story problem.
Kezman1993: I am looking into the characters from Orario Rhapsodia and a few other places. I think I have a good number of OC's, minor characters, and references to use now.
deacon94: As with this chapter, I will occasionally reference Daedra but I don't think I'll have them showing up and messing with things. In Nirn, there isn't really a whole lot that the Aedra can do to stop them. In Genkai though? They'd have a much tougher time of it.
On Ao3
shiroraven: Thank you! I was literally writing these responses when your comment came in so I thought I'd give you a shout out.