Beta'd by TheMegaEvolvedPony (this dude is great y'all)
Review Responses:
Xerozo LotCN: Holy shit dude. You think I'd have a bunch of sexually abused women join a 12 y/o's harem? The fuck?
Anyways, I love the Elder Scrolls with all my heart y'all.
As I write this A/N, I lay in bed dreaming of the future.
Hope.
That is what we as human beings need to survive. I think everyone deserves to have a ray of that. Just to have their chance in life. I thoroughly hope for those who have lost theirs, you rediscover it. It isn't over. Kinda random and off-tune for me, but I promise it isn't over. Doesn't mean much coming from an internet stranger, but I believe you all got this. Much love y'all!
I looked at my companions from across the throne room, a grin stretching across my features. "Ah, you all made it! Like the decor?"
Where had that come from? Bit of an odd comment.
It took awhile, but as they crossed the room, I finally managed to notice the pile of notifications sitting in the corner of my vision. Looked like some level ups, new skills, more perks, and a species change? Some others were there too but I'd get to them. That and the little notebook I had found in a room that I presumed to be the fat man's. Within was a bounty of information that made my stomach churn.
First things first; the old stuff.
.
(Status)
Inigo
Race: Cathay Khajiit
Level: 10
Experience: [5712/10000]
Age: 25
Title(s): None
Rank: None
Magicka Capacity: 150/150 (Novice)
Strength: 17/100
Durability: 15/100
Endurance: 22/100
Agility: 18/100
.
Seemed about right. If I recalled correctly, his parents began training him somewhere around thirteen or fourteen. One of his lines when asked about his past notes that he spent most his childhood in an orphanage, so my guess seemed about right. His stats didn't seem unreasonable to me.
The specific notation of his breed of Khajiit was fascinating though. But considering I, a changeling existed, it wasn't a big stretch to have more than one Khajiit variant represented.
It made me wonder if there would be any alfiq in Skyrim. They typically didn't leave Elsweyr due to discrimination, but it'd be neat.
And rather useful. They're often touted to be extremely intelligent. Having a genius at my disposal would be invaluable. I felt I could probably out-plan some uneducated bandit morons, but actual military strategists? I'd get crushed ruthlessly. Someone with a massive intellect would actually be a bit of a requirement to be honest.
Next, I looked over my own status page which had changed greatly.
.
(Status)
Thaion
Race: Changeling ({?} Vampire)
Level: 6
Experience: [235/6000]
Perk Points: 1
Stat Points: 5
Age: 12
Title(s): None
Rank: Fledgling Vampire
Magicka Capacity: 100/100 (Student)
Strength: 40/100
Durability: 45/100
Endurance: 30/100
Agility: 35/100
.
I coughed at the sudden leap in stats. They were...monstrous. Presuming each point was more valuable than the last as the system hinted, then I was massively empowered. It would line up pretty well though. Vampires are apex predators with absurd abilities. What about the stat points though? That was new.
Why the question mark by vampire? I felt pretty safe in assuming that was the type of vampire I was, or the bloodline. Though, why wouldn't that appear? Was it related to my vengeance quest? That was fair enough since just straight up handing me the answer would tell me precisely where to go. Even if I didn't know who it was, I could just massacre everyone in the hideout to be safe. Still though, what kind would I be? The only obvious answers was Volkihar or some feral bloodline. Given the proximity to Castle Volkihar, it was safe to assume it was one of them. Who though? His face was entirely new to me.
.
[Stat Points allow you to enhance your stats without
having to train them endlessly. With each level-up, you
are granted one Stat Point. This may be allocated to
any stat.]
.
My immediate thought was to dump them all into something like strength. That sort of increase would net me even more effective combat. However, I also wasn't completely sure what all the stats covered. For example, what exactly constituted durability? Was it like hit points? Or was it the toughness of my skin? Maybe it was a general amount of damage I could take instead?
And what was endurance? Just how long I could run? How long I could function in general without ingesting more nutrients?
Strength was sort of obvious, as was agility. Though, did agility affect my flexibility? Or would that be something tracked separately?
The questions kept piling up and I didn't have the answers.
Just to be safe, I kept my urges in check and decided to not just dump my points into something. Probably for the best since I also didn't know if there was a level cap.
My eyes roamed over the other notifications. It was mostly a giant pile of experience notifications. Seems slaughtering those bandits gave me a ton of the stuff.
Next were my skills and perks.
First, perks.
.
[Vampiric Physiology]
As a creature of vampiric nature, the sun is a fatal danger
that WILL kill you if caught in it's light. Though, being a
vampire isn't without its upsides. That said, there is a
trade-off for power. You are now required to sustain
yourself using the life-force of other sentient beings.
Doing this will advance your vampiric powers.
Aging is also another method to increase your power.
However, becoming Blood-Starved would reverse certain
abilities.
-Weakness to sunlight
-Weakness to fire
-Disease immunity
-Poison immunity
-Night Vision
-Greatly increased base stats
-Massively increased senses
-Natural healing factor
-Natural Fangs and claws
-No longer need to breathe
-Access to the [Bodily Control] perk
-Access to the [Sanguine Magic] perk
-Access to the [Vampiric Illusion] perk
.
[Bodily Control]
Due to one reason or another, you possess an
abnormal amount of control over your body.
You can do things such as fold yourself into
a suitcase, bend your limbs backwards,
and manipulate your body in other unique
ways.
-Able to move in abnormal ways
.
[Sanguine Magic]
Thanks to your vampiric nature, you have gained
control over blood magic. This will be tracked in
the spell-book.
-Access to Sanguine Magic
.
[Vampiric Illusion]
Thanks to your vampiric nature, you have gained
control over certain powers associated with vampires.
Along with this, you naturally possess a far higher
amount of charisma. Your illusion magic will be
more powerful.
-Greatly increased chances to activities related
to charisma
-100% more powerful illusion magic
-Access to the [Vampire's Seduction] skill
-Access to the [Vampire's Command] skill
Access to the [Predator's Presence] skill
.
That was certainly a lot to take in. What precisely did a weakness to sunlight mean? I'd have to conduct a test to figure it out.
The other bonuses seemed to line up perfectly with the game. Disease and poison immunity would be great boons to my general safety. Poisons weren't terribly uncommon and with how many there were, I doubted I could carry cures to all of them at once. However, a healing factor? If that was what I thought it was, then it was...genuinely broken. I'd presume it would be like the healing that vampire that killed me demonstrated. Even just a fractured bone being able to mend on the spot was invaluable.
As for bodily control, that was absolutely new. Though, I can appreciate the utility. Being able to fold myself up would be useful for infiltration. The other two perks just seemed to represent the powers and spells vampires get. The spell-book is something else new. Its notification was deeper and I'd take a look later.
Next was the skills.
.
[Vampire's Seduction]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
A power that subtly enchants an individual. This
skill can influence victims to favor you, give you
better prices, and more. This ability can work on
particularly intelligent animals. Attempting to
force someone to do something extremely
offensive to their moral compass could cause
the skill to fail.
-5% increase to influence an individual
.
[Vampire's Command]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
A power that forcibly hijacks a victim's mind. The
afflicted lose all autonomy over their form. Taking
damage can interrupt the control. Leveling up can
increase how much damage the afflicted can take
before the skill drops. This cannot be used to force
someone to do complex tasks such as answer any
questions beyond yes or no nor solve problems.
-5% increase for the skill to ignore damage
.
[Predator's Presence]
[Novice]
Level 000: 000%
Prey should fear their predators. And that is what
you are; an apex predator. Your simple presence
is more enough to strike fear in the hearts of
men and mer alike. They are pests in the face of
a snarling lion.
-5% increase for the skill to affect strong opponents
.
My eyes roamed over the screen idly, taking in the information carefully. I could feel the powers brimming underneath my skin. Notably, there was something that craved violence like one did with water. It let me feel something in everyone around me, but what?
'Blood.' I realized after a moment. The feeling of the life liquid flowing through every person in the room with me. I'd have to experiment with this power somehow.
I closed out of my skills and opened a new tab on my main menu: [Spell-Book].
.
[Bal's Blade]
Send a razor-sharp wave of blood out
in a short-range crescent blade.
(20 magicka)
.
[Dark Artistry]
Cause a victim's blood to burst out from
their orifices.
(65 magicka)
.
[Crimson Spike]
Produce a long-range spike made of blood.
(40 magicka)
.
[Make Them Beautiful]
Make a victim's body to explode in a
shower of gore.
(250 magicka)
.
[Polarizing Pull]
Manipulate the blood in a victim's body to
pull them in any direction. This is a non-lethal
spell.
(75 magicka)
.
[Vampiric Drain]
Drain a victim's vitality from afar.
(6 magicka per second)
.
I bit back a hiss at the high magicka requirements. It made sense, but it still hurt to see. I would need to see about getting my magicka way up. One hundred was basically nothing. Testing would have to be conducted. Maybe some bandits would still be in the area? Having some dummies would be nice.
And some snacks.
Next notification was Grimmolf's stat page which I had still not looked at.
.
(Status)
Grimmolf Iron-Wolf
Race: Nord
Level: 8
Experience: [1247/8000]
Age: 16
Title(s): None
Rank: None
Magicka Capacity: 0/0 (Non-magical)
Strength: 19/100
Durability: 16/100
Endurance: 20/100
Agility: 14/100
.
I'd have to ask for more information on his clan. They seemed to make sense though. If he had been properly instructed in martial practices since he was a young boy, then he'd have a massive head start on others. It was hard to believe the guy was sixteen though! He was a mountain of a man.
The small gap in strength points despite the obvious deviance in strength between the two reinforced my theory about each point being more valuable than the last. Unfortunately I couldn't get a real sense of scale without an average person. However, comparing between me and them, it was clear I had been pushed to the vampiric baseline. Maybe a bit higher. Speaking of, what kind of vampire was I?
Different strains existed and they separated all vampires into different clans. Generally Volkihar would be one I'd consider more "pure". Pure only in that they've killed those who were weaker off. That and if I'm not mistaken, they got their gift directly from Molag Bal. Or since Bal created Daughters of Coldharbor, maybe his wife or daughter passed the "gift" onto him?
Thinking of the process Bal employed to create vampires made me unconsciously begin tapping my foot. The mere idea of it was positively repulsive to me. He was...not even a little better than the slavers I had slain.
And that fuck-head had divine power!
Truly fate has a sick and twisted sense of humor.
While I could think of a handful of ways to prevent the creature's influence, I had no way to slay him. Not now anyway.
After my long bout of silence, I finally answered Itarus's question. "Well, I slaughtered the bandits and freed all of these people. That's the short answer. I can elaborate more later." With that, I stood from the throne. I had tried to just bum around but the women pretty much forced me to sit on the throne. I got a sneaking suspicion they were developing an obsession.
"The new look is...uh...rather...lively." Inigo commented slowly, squinting at me with a scrunched nose. No doubt I reeked of death as did the rest of the fort. It would take plenty of work to clean it of my rampage.
Grimmolf looked around at the many women who didn't seem to mind their presence too much. It seems a friend of mine was a friend of theirs. "And what of the women? How will we get them home?"
"None of them are from around here. They've elected to stay here and form a community." The women were quite insistent with that one. As soon as I suggested slowly bringing them back to their homes over time, they vehemently refused. I was insatiably curious as to why they wouldn't want to head home, but I also knew better than to pry. They'd open up on their own time.
Itarus fixed a look at me. His head was tilted back a bit and his eyebrow raised. "And let me guess; they want you to rule them?"
I cringed and dropped my head into my hands. He hit the nail on the head. Over the course of the night the women's demands for me to stay and guide them only grew. They had formed a group chant- though it looked more like a prayer directed towards me- using the name the Khajiit woman earlier used: Zati Fa. Somehow, they had collectively gotten it into their heads that I was a great man of some sort. I had only done what was natural!
'Maybe that was it? That it felt natural? Like I had dispensed justice?' My mind mused quietly. It sort of made sense. I could see the thought process.
"Something like that." Came my reply after awhile.
"So, you're a king now?" Grimmolf asked with a chuckle.
A snort left me. "This is no kingdom. Its a solitary fortress."
"You possess territory. That is more than enough to qualify." The armored man countered. While he was technically right, I didn't legally own this fort. If I wasn't mistaken, it would belong to Winterhold. Of course, they didn't occupy it or bother to take it from the bandits. Did that make it mine then? No idea how property rights worked in Skyrim really. Maybe it was something one could gain via combat?
I descended the dais and walked up to my friends. The first to comment on my natural appearance was Itarus. "And your face has miraculously changed?"
In response, my skin shifted as I adopted a transformation with my [Change] skill. A moment later and I was a Khajiit child of similar proportions. They didn't seem to react very much to the reveal. To be fair, it was hard to top vampirism. "I'm a changeling."
They nodded amongst themselves. "Sounds about right. I had a bit of a feeling something was off about you." Inigo said, looking my transformation over. I dropped it after a few moments, reverting to my normal form.
"Oh? What gave me away?" Was it a gut feeling or something more? It would be important to address such a thing.
Inigo seemed to sniff the air for a moment. "Your scent. I've never met one before, but you have a distinct sort of smell. That of clay almost, but more natural. I don't think any normal man could smell it, but other Khajiit and Argonians probably could."
That was fascinating. It was clearly some sort of reference to how my form was like clay in that it could change. Did other races have a certain scent to them?
"What do Grimmolf and Itarus smell like then?" The question was important. That and I was incredibly curious.
The mercenary once again sniffed the air. "Like a pine forest in winter." He seemed to smile before he tacked on another thing. "And like they desperately need baths."
The other two men chuckled in a good-natured way. "As do you." Grimmolf fired back.
This made Inigo crack a little smile.
It was nice. Being with them felt so natural. Like I belonged.
"I think everyone in the room does. There's some sort of bathing room closer to the dungeons. You guys can go outside and get snow to melt for water to use. I'll have to wait here since its daytime." That sounded fine. Was it what a ruler would have said?
Ah, who knows.
"Gotcha." Itarus said, heading off back the way he came, Inigo and Grimmolf in tow. A handful of women went off with them.
I stood in the shadows of the entry hall, avoiding the sunlight. Just being this close caused a bit of a burning sensation on my pale skin.
"Its...beautiful." I whispered, looking out longingly to the courtyard where the sun shined down. A sense of loss overcame me. Not long ago I managed to finally get outside, but now I couldn't feel the sun's rays on my skin. I couldn't do that ever again.
My hands clenched as my jaw tightened. While becoming a vampire was a more than welcome boost of power, the inability to feel the sun hurt. It hurt almost as bad as losing my family did. Like my own freedom was restricted.
Suddenly, I could understand why Harkon wanted to blot out the sun so badly. If I were in the same position, I would have had a difficult time controlling the urge.
'No better time I suppose...' My arm slowly raised up as I tentatively closed in on the sun shining into the hall, casting the shape of the doorway onto the floor. Just inches away from the light, I stopped. My face scrunched up in preparation as I pushed my hand into the light. There was the smallest of delays before-
An inhuman screech left my lips as I yanked back my left hand and threw myself across the room, crossing it like a shadow. I hid behind a banner, nursing the skin. It had been scorched. The surface was blackened like wood. With some delay, the skin slowly began to heal. Carbonized material flaked off, revealing skin that had bubbled up grotesquely underneath. That also slowly turned into blisters which eventually smoothed out into my normal skin.
That was...more than excruciating.
Now I definitely understood Harkon's desire.
But at the same time, plants require sunlight to grow and all living creatures require plants to some degree. The carnivore eats the herbivore after all. People eat both.
No sunlight means no people.
No people means no food.
No food means vampires also go extinct and the world becomes essentially a barren rock with water on it.
Fucking FUCK! Yet another thing I'd have to go and take care of eventually.
[Ping!]
[New Quest!]
[The Tyranny of the Sun]
" Among the night's children,
a dread lord will rise.
In an age of strife,
when dragons return to the realm of men,
darkness will mingle with light and the night and day will be as one. "
A prophecy written by Arch-Curate Vyrthur sometime
in the late Merethic Era. It is the driving force behind
Harkon's madness.
Objectives:
-Slay Lord Harkon OR Fulfill the prophecy
Rewards:
-The sun may or may not be blotted out depending
on your choices
-New Title: (Hidden)
-250,000 EXP
-1 Perk Points
Of course.
I flexed my hands as I read the prophecy. Nothing about it specified the Dragonborn to be this "dread lord". Maybe that was supposed to be Harkon?
Fair enough.
The similar rewards to the Alduin quest were definitely interesting. A fraction of the experience of course, but a perk point? The more the better I'd presume. That would have to be next. Blotting out the sun wasn't an option though. If I wanted to escape the effects of the sun, I'd have to find a method to gain sun immunity. Perhaps one day. Speaking of, how long had Harkon had to find a solution? That lead into my next question.
How old was Harkon? That was an excellent query. Vyrthur was a snow elf that had been driven from Skyrim but managed to escape the Dwemer's trickery. That means it was at least after 1E 143. That was roughly when Snow Elves were kicked out. Despite that, Serana never comments on meeting any Dwemer or Snow Elves when in the ruins in Skyrim despite having hired elven artists. She also comments on visiting the College of Winterhold before. On top of that, she also directly gives a time of roughly a thousand years.
But one of the developers stated that she was sealed sometime in the first era.
That really didn't make a whole lot of sense. The wiki page for Harkon calls the fraction of the prophecy he found as "old". Knowing Elder Scrolls lore, old would mean pretty damn old. At least a few hundred or more.
Serana also expressed surprise at hearing that Cyrodiil formed an empire. That could mean that she was sealed before 1E 243 but after 1E 143, or before the start of the Reman Empire which was 1E 2703. The First Empire, or the Alessian Empire fell in 1E 2331. So, presuming Harkon was born some time well after the fall the First Empire, then the idea of a Cyrodiilic empire would be a foreign concept to Serana, thus explaining her reaction.
So, Harkon has had maybe fifteen hundred years or more to find a solution to sunlight. One thousand and five hundred years.
Assuming my mental math was correct, there was an error of about two hundred years in either direction.
Still, that wasn't encouraging at all.
My steps echoed in the hall as I slipped into the halls and began navigating to the dungeon area. I intended to talk to the only surviving bandit. Or...communicate somehow. It took quite awhile of walking actually. The underground segment of the fort was pretty expansive. Architecturally, it reminded me distinctly of Windhelm. Specifically the palace. I liked it to be honest. All the hard edges and whatnot were a lot like the European castles back in my old life.
As I passed various women, they looked at me reverently, like they'd just met Talos himself or something.
Yeah, they were totally going to make some sort of shrine to me. I could feel it in my bones.
After a few minutes, I arrived in front of the cell.
What was this guy's name? Looked like a fat pile of shit to me, so that's what I'd call him.
"Hey, Shit-Pile, how's it goin'?" I asked, a smirk slowly taking over my lips as I loomed in front of him from the other side of the bars. At the mere sight of me, he began flailing wildly, pushing himself against the wall flat. He looked at me with wide, panicky eyes like an animal. A soft exhale came from him, visibly straining to just get that noise out.
A rancid scent filled the air. It also seems he had pissed himself.
Pathetic.
"I figure you guys were selling these girls off. They'd mentioned that some of the women would disappear after awhile. All of them assumed they had just been killed by whatever sick and twisted shit you all did but..." I slowly gripped one of the bars, pushing my face close to them. "...a little notebook I found says otherwise." I said in a sing-song voice.
He shook his head vigorously, his greasy orange hair flapping around his face.
"Lying? I know you are. Ledgers, records of customers..." I pulled the book from my belt, holding it up for him to see clearly. "...and a few names I know pretty well. You're one of the many sex slavers around Skyrim, aren't you?"
Shit-Pile shook his head faster, tears flowing freely down his eyes. Clearly he was more scared of whatever the customers would do to him than I.
That's okay, I had plenty of time to get that from him.
"I have a simple proposition: you're going to nod for yes, and shake for no. With that, you WILL answer all my questions." I ordered, my voice rising as I focused on activating [Vampire's Command]. What felt like some sort of mental connection formed between me and Shit-Pile. His eyes glassed over and his movements ceased. He was effectively a mindless puppet now.
A level notification popped up in my vision. I didn't let it distract me.
"First, has this specific outpost been established within the last year?"
A shake of the head.
"What about within the last decade?"
A shake of the head.
"The last century?"
With another shake of the head, I could practically feel my blood pressure rising. A century minimum. Winterhold's jarl, Korir, and his pathetic, close-minded line have had at least a century to wipe out this operation here but they haven't.
"Is the jarl aware of this operation?"
A nod of the head.
Now my blood was boiling. I clenched my hand so hard my own nails pierced the skin. Fresh blood dripped down my hands onto the dirty floor. My whole body shook in barely contained rage.
I took some time to let it go. My fists relaxed after a few minutes of stewing in a silent anger. The holes in my hands closed over easily, causing about as much pain as a paper-cut would.
So, Korir had to be in on this. There was no other explanation to it. How else could someone justify it?
"Is Jarl Korir a client of yours?"
A nod of the head.
I curled my lip in disgust. Of course. It seems the high-society here was just as depraved as Earth's. Was it just human nature to be corrupted by wealth and power? That was...depressing. It felt like for every example of a wonderful person, there were countless more monsters hiding in their shadow.
'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.' I recalled. I couldn't think of who had said it, but it definitely applied here. There were plenty of heroic people in this world, so it was only natural that the darkness grew darker and darker.
"Nature does strive for balance." I snorted as I looked at the monster in front of me. He was as naked as the day he was born and sitting in a pile of hay almost thirty women had been confined to just last night. In summary: he had pretty terrible conditions. Yet, for all he did, and for all the power he formerly held, he was now less than nothing before me. Quite the whiplash for him, I'm sure.
But now was the newest question on my lips: how in the fuck was I going to take down the jarl? I knew damn well it wasn't as simple as going in and killing him and his cronies off. Just as nature strives for balance, natural abhors a vacuum. Someone even worse would probably set-up shop in his stead. So, what to do?
"Are there numerous clients amongst the high-ranking nobles of the town?"
A nod of the head.
Normally, I'd be livid. However, that worked perfectly in my favor. I had official documentation stating their business! There was probably an official ledger somewhere.
"Did your group keep a ledger of all buyers?"
With the next nod, I felt giddy like a schoolgirl.
"And is it in...uh...the vault?" I asked hesitantly. I remembered seeing a sort of cross-hatched mechanism of metal poles. Like the vault in Cracked Tusk Keep actually! Though, in my bestial haze, I didn't bother exploring.
Shit-Pile nodded though, so it didn't really matter. Hopefully it wasn't some sort of fucked up sex dungeon.
I released my mental hold over him, leaving him sprawled out in a mess. He was sweating like a pig and huffing like one too.
Well, no time like the present. I tore my burning gaze from Shit-Pile and began moving towards the vault I had seen earlier.
I stared at the door. The button to open it was locked behind a grate of some kind. I didn't particularly want to damage it as I could use it later, but at the same time, those ledgers would give me official blackmail of the highest order.
With that thought, I slipped my fingers through two of the grate's bars and shimmied my hand, eventually bending the metal in the middle, allowing room for my hand to go through and push the button.
A metallic sliding sound met my ears. The poles slid back, revealing a metal door that had yet another lock on it.
Yeah, I'm too lazy for this.
I stepped up to the door and planted my foot just to the left of the lock and took a step back. I then put all my might into the kick, cleanly sheering the deadbolt with a screech of protest from the metal. It didn't matter though since it gave way.
The inside wasn't lit, but my vampiric eyes let me see in the dark just fine.
There was...actually a shit-ton of money. Like a lot. Makes sense since this was a well-established operation, but still. Organized stacks of gold and silver septims sat on tables along the walls of an octagonal room roughly seventy-five feet across. The ceiling was a dome structure with arches traveling along the corners to support said ceiling and the may tons of rock above. Every other wall had a thick metal door, presumably leading to more money, maybe even treasure.
That was a side show to a podium in the middle of the room though. A thick leather-bound book sat innocently on the podium with a inkwell and quill next to it. Seriously, it was huge. Biggest book I've ever seen in my life. It was probably ten pounds or more.
I opened the cover, leafing through the pages. Sure enough, the first pages were dated over a century ago. 4E 96. Seems the first buyer was an Imperial by the name of Cylius Lornheart. A noble of some kind long dead.
More and more names I didn't recognize popped up, but it showed me their occupations and where they lived at the time of the deal. It actually took a long time to get to the more recently filled in pages. Names I began to recognize showed up.
'Maven Black-Briar. Of course.' I scoffed, reading over the paper. She ordered ten elf women of various types, but all were very young. Like seriously, some of these girls were barely out of their toddler years! My skin crawled as I read what she had ordered them for. Bile crawled up my throat but I forced it back down. It wouldn't do to barf on my blackmail.
Other big names popped up as well. Someone by the name of Stormcloak too. Not Ulfric, but seemingly one of his clan. Lots of big nobles in Solitude buying young women. As far as I could tell, they're Cyrodilic migrants in a lot of cases. Not to say the locals weren't fucked in their own ways. One nord noble in Riften specifically ordered young girls who were mentally impaired it seems. I had a few choice words to say to him, but it would have to wait.
I searched relentlessly until I found Jarl Korir's record. It wasn't mountainous nor outstandingly horrendous, but it was something. What was more interesting was that his wife had been making semi-regular orders for "exotic" women. Mainly beast-folk. That was...something. Her record in particular went quit a bit back.
"Hey, Thaion! Snow melted and the baths are ready." Itarus called, stopping in the door of the vault. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he eyed all the coin scattered about.
"Alright. Probably for the best I put this down anyway." I mused, setting the book down carefully before stepping out of the room. With another press of the button the poles emerged, closing off the room. I then bent the bars of the grate back into place, blocking access to the button.
Itarus tapped the vault's bars. "Solid. A pretty talented smith made this. Actually, reminds me of those old Nordic tombs. Never been inside one mind you, but I've seen a handful of little trinkets people retrieved. Doesn't have any of the swirls and whatnot though."
At his comment, I raised an eyebrow. Upon closer inspection, I realized he was right. It was ancient Nordic metalwork. This fort was pretty damn old then. I didn't know when they generally switched from this style of forging to more "modern" techniques, but this made at least a thousand years old. That'd place it squarely in the middle of the second era. Probably young, but who knows? Maybe it would be on a map of some kind somewhere. Like an ancient Nord war map.
"We can investigate it more later. For now, I think I'd like to get this blood off me and change into new clothes." I spoke up, pulling Itarus's gaze from the ancient metal. The blood on my skin had slowly began flaking off, but it was no excuse to not clean myself.
He nodded with a grin. "Yeah, but I think red suits you just to be clear!" He laughed as he walked off towards the bathing room.
Well, he wasn't wrong.
As I walked it also occurred to me that I had forgotten to address the perk shop. Well, it wasn't going anywhere so it would be fine...probably.
I cooked this one up super fast. Honestly I'm impressed with my motivation to write. Got a little stuck at the end, but it's okay.
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