Skyrim: A Sorcerer's Tale

by Rastislav

A bored old man gets thrown into the divine playground that is Tamriel, as a descendant of a religious madman no less! Will he content himself with merely finding his way in this new world? Or will his newfound ancestry lead him to defy the vagaries of fate? Find out in this senile scribble of mine! Should you wish to descend upon the dreaded pp site do search up Rastislav156

6. Arc3 Chapters 19-26

Chapter XIX: Preparations

(Reyvin's pov)

Everything after I was almost mind raped by the old fart living in the mushroom nearby turned into a bit of a blur. I spent most of my time thinking of a plan to end the fucker, but after I went through every possibility I realized that sometimes simple is best.

I asked around town for a bit, disguising my investigation as idle questions, and learned that there were about twelve Dunmer serving Dyrren at his tower, a rather small amount for a Master, but he is in Skyrim and more would be considered threatening.

Sergius helped me with modifying the enchantment of the staff so that it would still give me the signals it was intended to do, just without the mind rape part. I thanked the old Imperial and he warned me to be careful, even giving me a speech about how my life is more valuable than revenge.

Since Mephala deigned to look at my vengeance with interest, I decided to go for her preferred method of poisoning the bastard and killing him that way. No reason to displease the Eldrich entity that could fuck with me for eternity.

Naturally, he would have some protection against poison, so I would have to work around it in some way. What I finally chose was the most potent Magicka burn poison I could find, which should bypass his defenses and weaken him enough for me to stand a chance in actually killing him without getting maimed myself.

When I asked Morrigan if she could concoct something along those lines, she said that she barely knew how to brew middling poisons at best at the moment. Continuing my search, I discovered that no one in the college really made poisons to any great extent, frustrating me to no end.

As I was walking around the gardens to cool off a sudden thought struck me, the merchant scroll!

I quickly left for a summoning chamber in the Hall of Refinement, and after checking around the place for any possible issues, used the scroll.

Suddenly a tall grey-skinned horned Dremora appeared in front of me "Hello stranger!" he says in a gravelly voice before looking me over in some surprise "Oh, you aren't the previous customer, guess that she got caught then" and shrugs.

I nod "Yes, she bit on a bit more than she could chew, anyway you are a merchant yes?"

He smiles and spreads his hands, an ornate wooden stall appearing next to him "Indeed I am Xelzaz the purveyor of the finest goods from mundus to oblivion, what might you need oh honored customer?"

Deciding to make sure before I accidentally offer my soul or something equally ridiculous I ask "You take gold?"

He scoffs "Of course I take gold, what do you take me for?" Before he interlocks his hands with a greedy look "I also take other goods and services, after all, I need to get my wares somehow"

I hum "You want some enchanting done? I can do that or gold, your choice"

A happy smile appears on his face "Ah indeed, enchantment is always very lucrative. Very well what is it that you require?"

"The most potent Magicka burn poison you can get" I reply bluntly.

He scratches his chin a bit "I could provide you with a dose" He turns toward his stall and searches through it for a bit before pulling out an ornate vial "Ah! There it is, the shadow-scales sold some of these to me after they got done with that whole invading Morrowind debacle. Used it to weaken even the strongest of Dunmeri mages if they are to be believed."

My eyes widen a bit and he notices this, the greedy look deepening "Oh, I've hit the mark then?"

I nod "Yes, this would be perfect for what I have intended, what would you want in return?"

He pretends to be calculating "Oh, say a dozen enchanted rings of differing boosting effects no less than above standard quality"

I immediately shake my head, noticing what he is trying "I said I would provide enchantments, not enchanted items, and a dozen is far too many. Try again."

He coughs, annoyed he was caught in his attempt "Sigh, fine, fine I will provide you with the materials and power source, while you will finish the enchantment of course." He then turns serious" The amount is fair considering the potency and rarity of the poison, trust me when I say it is very much worth that, and the price is non-negotiable."

I grit my teeth but end up accepting "Fine, as annoying as it is, it is doable. Do you have more scrolls to summon you or?"

He nods and hands me the scroll and vial of poison "You will summon me again in a week and we will conduct further business, the materials for my order will be delivered at that time as well." before he suddenly stops "Ah but how can I be sure you will deliver on your promise after you already get my goods?"

I wave him off "Having a merchant with specialized goods accessible at all times is an extremely useful thing, it is not in my interest to cheat you."

He nods enthusiastically "Good, good! Truly you are a mer of great wisdom. It has indeed been a pleasure doing business with you young mage. Until we meet again!" and disappears with a *pop* alongside his stall.

When he is gone I finally let my guard down, he might have been portraying himself as a harmless merchant, but he was still a Dremora... and those are always dangerous.

Well, at least the enchanting will be good practice, and honestly having a business contact in the form of Xelzaz is a very big boon.

Later that day I met with Thorfinn and some other guards that fought beside me behind the guard house, even Thorgrim was there despite his newfound dislike of me.

Thorfinn was the first to speak "So why have you gathered us here Reyvin? You said it was something serious."

I nod "Indeed. I am afraid that I am in great need of help from all of you."

Everyone gets interested and listens closely.

I use my sight to scan around the place just in case, finding no one I continue "I have been betrayed in a rather disgusting manner, the Telvanni Master Dyrren sent me a staff disguised as a gift... said staff was meant to take control of my free will."

The guardsmen grow furious and are about to start shouting in outrage, but I quickly signal them to remain quiet so we don't get caught before even planning anything.

"Naturally I am going to kill him, but his servants might get in the way." Before I can be interrupted I continue "No, I don't want them dead, I just need someone to hold them back while I deal with the tower's Master."

Garm, the guard that stuffed the sock in the Thalmor's mouth speaks up "Why not just have him arrested? He could face justice and you wouldn't need to risk yourself like this"

I shake my head "He would just teleport out of the city if that were to happen, and besides it is proper Dunmer custom to gut whoever tries to enslave you. Even his own great house won't frown on me killing him, they would just laugh at him for dying to a youngling"

Garm mutters "Dunmer are fookin weird man" and everyone chuckles.

I turn serious "So, you boys in?"

Thorgrim who was silent for most of the time finally speaks up "Aye, Flame-tongue. We will help you." with everyone giving a cheer in agreement.

"Thank you all, after this is done drinks are on me!" another cheer.

Chapter XX: Ritual

The following day I spent pretending to be going about my business as usual, while spying on Edrasa's movements and planning on how exactly I would get her out of the college for an interrogation.

Getting no immediate ideas I decided to focus on other things for now, I visited my usual blacksmith and bought the most jagged dagger I could find, apparently I was a very petty mer when it came to taking revenge.

Xelzaz thankfully left me with some instructions for the poison, it would remain on the weapon for up to three days, so I took some time to coat the dagger thoroughly in preparation for what was to come.

My murderous preparations were however interrupted by the Archmage popping into existence right next to me, this time I didn't react as I learned to sense the disturbance slightly after the last time he did it.

He noticed this and seemed to pout like I took his toy away, but quickly gathered himself "Getting ready for sweet sweet revenge I see Reyvin"

I shrug "It isn't really revenge, it's more like natural selection at this point. A dumbass who deigns to try and control me with his flimsy ass enchantments should obviously be removed from the gene pool for the good of all"

Savos snorts before saying "Yes, your generosity knows no bounds oh great lord of Dagoth, but I am not here to talk about that"

"Obviously, this is great house business." I say with great amounts of sarcasm.

He rolls his eyes "Naturally, as I was saying one of the requests you made for the animanculi schematics is ready" He then takes a pose as if making a proclamation "Using my mighty and endless experience-"

I facepalm "You aren't Shalazar, it doesn't work"

He pouts again "Oh come now, I have enough charm to pull it off!"

I just give him a half-lidded stare.

He sighs in defeat "Yeah yeah ruin my fun why don't you? In any case, the ritual you requested has been mostly finished, I just have one last question."

I move my hand as if to say 'go on'.

He nods "Most of the early enhancement rituals have the same basic components, but the final parts need the least amount of preparation while actually having the most influence on the ritual itself. Basically, you have a choice, I can infuse you with the explosive strength and night vision of a saber cat or the durability and slight regeneration of a troll."

I scratch my recently regrown stubble in thought for a bit before asking "Side effects?"

He nods "There are some, the saber cat would make your eyes a bit more feline and extend your canines a bit, the troll would in turn bulk you up and make your hair grow faster and be rougher."

"So nothing life-changing but still noticeable"

"Indeed"

I think for a bit, and while stacking healing and regeneration would be good, I already was very durable and able to heal myself relatively fast. On the other hand, being stronger and faster is something that I always seemed to lack, except when boosting myself with magic but that Magicka could be used for other things if I was already strong or even boost me further.

After a couple of minutes, I finally decide and turn to Savos "I choose the saber cat"

"Very well" he stands up from his chair and claps his hands, teleporting us to what I guess are his quarters, and let me tell you they are more opulent than what little of Ulfirc's palace I managed to gleam.

He signals me to follow him to a ritual circle, filled with all manner of ingredients. He starts pulling out different parts of a saber cat from his storage magic, filling some indentations with blood mixed with something else, he even pulls out four rubies and places them around the circle.

Damn, this must be very expensive to do, but realistically this is chump change for him compared to what he is getting in return.

After about ten minutes of meticulous work, Savos is finally done. He turns to me and waves his hands "Well, what are you waiting for? Into the center you go."

I follow his instructions and position myself in a central circle that connects all the other parts of the ritual, I nod at the Archmage and start channeling my Magicka.

Nothing happens for a good ten minutes but then all the ingredients start reacting, slowly and steadily melting into a red ball in front of me, this takes another twenty minutes of me constantly having to channel Magicka and follow the circle perfectly.

Finally, everything seems to fit together, and the blob of the blood-looking substance launches itself into me and is absorbed into my body in less than a second.

Surprised, I raise my eyebrow, thinking it is over, but then the itching starts.

My life for the next hour is hell, some of my skin falls off while my canines grow a bit making my mouth slightly uncomfortable with the unusual sensation.

My sight becomes sharper and I see the shadowy corners of the room more clearly but also blinding me a bit whenever I look at the windows.

The worst part however is the constant, merciless itch in my everything! At this point, I might have preferred pain, at least I would feel victorious for enduring it pain! This would just leave me feeling disgusting.

Blessedly the ritual comes to a close and I start rolling on the ground with Savos laughing his ass off nearby.

[Str: 11.5 = 15]

[Dex: 13 = 16]

[Trait gained: Night vision]

I get up slowly while glaring at the older mer which just seems to entertain him more "Thanks for that old man"

He clutches his heart "Oh you hurt me Reyvin, I thought we were buddies!"

I roll my eyes "Yeah whatever, see you later."

I am about to pass next to him but he stops me with a hand and says in a serious tone "While I cannot directly interfere, that doesn't mean I can't or won't help you. The little worm dared attack one of my students, if I don't have at least a bit of a hand in his punishment I would be disgusted with myself" before taking off a ring from his hand and giving it to me.

I raise an eyebrow and he laughs "Oh I still want it back, that one is expensive even for me"

"You do realize I am going to copy everything carved into it down to the last detail, right?" I ask.

He looks at me and winks, apparently, that was the intent.

"Thank you Archmage, truly" I give him a slight bow and go to leave.

Just before I close the door I hear "Good luck Reyvin, give him hell" I smile and go toward the dorms, finally having gotten an idea on how to get Edrasa alone.

Chapter XXI: The Interrogation

As I walk toward the dormitories, new strength coursing through my body, I get a devious idea. I quickly turn toward the conjuration tower with what must have been a look of menace.

I enter Phineas' office and see the Breton without his usual glamor covering him, ivory white bone with glowing purple eyes, almost every single part of said bone covered in ornaments or runes.

He looks at me, practically radiating annoyance, not at all flustered by me seeing him like this.

I shake my head and speak "Professor, I was looking for a specific type of soul gem and was wondering if perhaps you had one in stock"

He seems even more annoyed by the interruption now but speaks in an ethereal voice "And what might you need such an item for?"

I grin "Why to punish an old fool of course"

He deadpans at me "And I should care because?"

I roll my eyes, not caring about showing disrespect to a creature who probably already lost most of his emotions "Do you have one for sale or not?"

"Good, I don't like when children waste my time trying to finagle free things from me. I have one, a thousand septims, take it or leave it."

I nod and drop a bag on his table, grabbing the black soul gem he levitates to me "It has been a pleasure professor"

He waves me off "Get out, I am busy"

Well, at least he is the cranky kind of lich instead of the murderous type.

After I am done with that final bit of preparation I go to meet my Dunmer colleague. I find her in the dorms, thankfully alone.

"Hey Edrasa, I was wondering if you had some free time, I need to select some clothes for a thing they are planning in the Jarl's keep sometime soon"

She smiles "Of course Reyvin, when did you want to do this?"

"I was thinking right now, that is if you aren't busy"

She gives me a sarcastic smile "I would be busy if someone remembered to give me the damn notes I wanted"

I facepalm, pretending I forgot "Ah! Of course, I knew I forgot to do something, I will give them to you when we get back, deal?"

"Deal"

We soon leave the boundaries of the college, and head toward a tailor I purposefully chose that worked at the edge of town.

Just as we are passing an empty looking street I take one last look around and with no hesitation launch her behind a corner with my telekinesis.

She grunts as she hits the ground and goes to stand up, but is met with my burning eyes which make her freeze in place. She shakily tries to speak, but I raise a hand, lightning covering it "Now, miss Moabain, you will in great detail explain to me what your retard of a father thought he was doing when he tried to mind control the lord of a great house?"

Her eyes widen at the final part "What do you mean a lord?"

I chuckle "Ah but of course, I never did fully introduce myself. Reyvin, Lord of house Dagoth, at your service" and give her a mocking bow.

She now looks even more terrified and stars shaking like a leaf.

My annoyance grows "Well, little Telvanni, I am waiting. Speak up!"

She calms down a little bit and stutters out "H-he w-w-wanted to get your spid-d-der schemmat-t-tics" before breathing a bit more and speaking somewhat normally "I warned him that you were being watched by most of the Masters due to your progress, but he needed more money for his hobbies" she looks absolutely disgusted saying the last word.

"Oh, and what are those hobbies if you would be so kind to enlighten me?" I ask genuinely curious.

She shakes her head "I am not going to tell you that, he would kill me"

I raise an eyebrow "You do realize your situation right now?"

She rolls her eyes "Oh please, even if you let me go I would be killed"

I laugh out loud "Oh this is precious, you think he will live after today?"

She looks genuinely shocked at my response "You think you can kill a Telvanni Master?"

I scoff "If a bunch of farm tools can kill the Archmagister, a Lord can kill a measly Master"

She looks extremely offended by my words, but I channel Magicka into my eyes and she goes back to a shivering mess "Now, Moabain, you will tell me what I want to know"

She goes to refuse, but I hit her with an underpowered sparks spell while forcefully shutting her mouth with telekinesis, she lets out a muffled scream but I continue not caring one bit.

After a minute of asking, shocking, and asking again she finally surrenders "Fine, FINE! STOP! please..." I shrug and let her continue, I am beyond caring at this point "He is a cultist of Namira, he uses most of the servants as cattle, constantly re-growing their limbs after eating them... most are broken by now" she shivers, apparently more uncomfortable with what she said than with what I just did to her.

I facepalm and sigh heavily "Seriously, what is wrong with your entire house? I know my own doesn't have the best track record, but there is like one Master that I don't immediately disrespect in your entire great house... No matter, tell me about the towers defenses, number of guards and everything else, keep in mind if you try to lie to me your fate will be worse than death" I pull out the black soul gem and cast terrifying gaze again, she is naturally scared shitless and starts listing off details and numbers.

The questioning goes on for a good ten minutes, one Nord seems to notice us, but a calm spell and a hit to the back of the head sends him to dream land.

Edrasa finally gets done with the layout and enchantments of the tower and I nod, writing them all down. After I finish I turn to her "Now for the final matter"

She gives me a defeated look and I continue in a grave tone "You now have a choice to make. There is only one way you are making it out of here alive, you knew what he would do and didn't warn me, now I know that he is your father and I a mere colleague, but at the moment I am not feeling terribly reasonable."

She lets out a shaky breath and asks "What do you want?"

I straighten myself up and speak harshly "You will either immediately swear loyalty to me, the Lord of house Dagoth, or I will kill you and burn your body."

She starts shaking on the still snowy ground, and seems to be very deep in thought but I interrupt that "Tik, tok, your time is running out, if you do not give me an answer soon I will chose for you."

She stands up and I allow it, we both know she stands no chance even if she tries to attack me, after a minute of silence she kneels on the ground and speaks in a very forced tone "I, Edrasa Moabain swear to serve the house of Dagoth until my last dying breath or until my Lord Reyvin releases me from service"

Not perfect but it will suffice. I grin "Good, very good. Welcome to the sixth house retainer, now sleep well" She looks at me surprised, but I am already swinging the butt of my summoned spear at her head.

She falls to the ground unconscious and I carry her toward the back of the guard house where I planned to meet with my guard friends.

When I arrive, most of my co-conspirators are present, everyone gives me a weird look when they see me carrying Edrasa, but after a quick explanation of who she is they all seem to understand.

I soon feel a tug on my mind, it seems dear Dyrren wanted to meet me soon... perfect.

Chapter XXII: Dark Deeds

I take a breath to center myself once I am close to the compound surrounding the mushroom tower, it is somewhat late in the evening so most of the residents are resting which should allow me to focus on my quarry.

I turn to my co-conspirators and whisper loud enough for all of them to hear "When you start hearing spells going off quickly charge in and disarm everyone, the menial workers probably won't be fighting back so just move them somewhere and stop them from running around. I will probably take some time before springing the trap so be prepared to wait a bit"

Everyone nods, and they disperse around the place, pretending to be drunk after a night out in the town, playing up the usual rowdy Nord stereotype.

I start walking toward the tower while putting on the ring the Archmage lent me, I immediately feel as if my Magicka reserve has almost doubled, will definitely have to copy it down when I am done with this mess.

Before I get closer, a system prompt interrupts me.

[Quest issued: Kill Dyrren Moabain][Reward: New system function, further insight into stealth and poison making]

Hmm... Robert did say the system would get expanded when I do something major, guess killing a Telvanni master counts. Well, I will have to actually kill him first, so after reminding myself about overconfidence being a slow and insidious killer I finally approach the tower.

The same lawman that gave me the staff waits at the entrance, I pretend to have a vacant look and simply follow him. When we get to the center of the ground floor he signals for me to go up and I levitate, leaving him behind. Thankfully the only real defensive measure in the tower is the levitation-locking enchantment, but seeing as I am already up here that is no longer an issue.

Once I am upstairs I am greeted by the sight of Dyrren eating some kind of meat that I really don't wish to have identified at the moment, we appear to be alone at the summit. Good.

He turns from his meal toward me, snaps his fingers making my staff glow and says in a mocking tone "Ah Reyvin, the new prodigy of the college of Winterhold. If only your amateur of an Archmage knew how foolish one of his favored students was tricked by a simple staff."

He laughs "If you really thought that I, a glorious Master of the grandest house of Resdayn would teach YOU, a mere commoner my ways of staff making you really do deserve what I will do to you" He looks at my blank and absent stare for a moment before scoffing "Well then boy, speak up! What do you think about my little scheme?"

I hold back the urge to roll my eyes at his monologuing and say in a dead tone "Truly you are the greatest among mer Master Dyrren, the foolish college mages would never guess your devious plans"

He nods rapidly, satisfied "Yes, soon this entire pitiful city will bow before me"

Is he really going to continue to monologue at me?

He does, much to both my chagrin and satisfaction "When I first arrived here the filthy n'wah Jarl had the gall to call me a foul mage! ME!? He wanted me to 'earn my place in his hold' as if it wasn't an honor to have me anywhere near his filthy hovel!" he waves his hands angrily, genuinely seeming to believe his own value was so great.

"Naturally, after the fool kept refusing me I had to turn to more drastic actions."

So it was him that had the Jarl killed after all...

He then scoffs "Unfortunately some arrogant college mage DARED to save his disgusting family of n'wahs from the bandits I sent. But no matter, after I am done with you I think I will be sending some gifts to the Jarl as well." A devious smile was now on his face.

After his little temper tantrum and monologue he comes closer to me "Well then boy, give me those animanculi blueprints so I can get on with my meal, I don't want to waste more of my ti-"

His arrogant speech is stopped in its tracks by me suddenly summoning my battle robes, casting giant's might, and ramming the jagged dagger I had hidden until now as deep into his gut as I could.

He falls to the ground and stutters "Y-you! How did you escape my control?!"

I roll my eyes "I was never under your control you disgusting fetcher" and summon my spear, hitting him on the side where I previously stabbed him with the butt of it, making him scream in pain.

He looks at me, pure fury in his eyes "YOU DARE!?" and launches some weird red lightning at me, thankfully I was able to predict it as my third eye was turned on the moment I approached the tower. The spell still grazes me slightly, but not enough to go through my robe's defenses.

I laugh at the Dunmer panting on the ground "Do I dare? What a grand and intoxicating innocence, how does a mere Telvanni dare make attempts at a Lord of a great house?"

He seems a bit stunned for a second but then cackles "Don't make me laugh boy, you are no Lord" and launches more red lightning, which seems a bit weaker than before, thus allowing me to disperse it with my wards.

He looks dumbstruck "Wha-" but I kick him again and speak with an arrogant tone "Is this how you honor the sixth house? By trying to control the last of its blood?"

He actually shakes a bit "The six- wha-" then firms his resolve giving me a smile "No, that house is dead and buried, you are a charlatan and pretender, no one will believe you and neither will I" he launches a couple more spells at me but they don't even penetrate my robes, the poison has already spread through his entire body at this point.

I chuckle "Your belief is of little relevance worm. It seems you still don't realize it yet, so let me enlighten you, you won't be leaving this shitty tower alive"

He grows angry again and tries to cast a spell but nothing comes out now, there is terror on his face, further amplified by me now casting my fear spell. He starts to crawl toward a shelf covered in different vials of potions, probably to seek an antidote, but I grab his leg and drag him back.

I pull out the dagger once again "Oh but don't worry, you won't be dying just yet, after all your punishment must be more severe" Once I say this I also pull out the black soul gem.

The Telvanni master whimpers like a child as I approach his downed body, the next ten minutes are filled with screams and begging, then crying and more screams.

As I toss him down the levitation circle of the tower, breaking his body upon impact and finally feeling the disgusting sensation of filling a black soul gem, time seems to stop.

I suddenly see spiderwebs everywhere, different strings connecting the space in a haphazard yet surprisingly organized manner, I also feel a powerful presence behind me.

Well fuck.

Chapter XXIII: The Webspinner

Without turning around I mutter with some fear in my voice "Welcome to my parlor, said the spider to the fly"

I hear a melodious laugh behind me and finally turn around, there at the table previously belonging to Dyrren, sat an unnaturally seductive woman, yet still utterly alien with spider legs sprouting from her back and elaborate chitin covering her body instead of clothes.

I force my fear down and give her a respectful bow "To what do I owe the unending pleasure of your visit, Prince Mephala?"

She, gives me another melodious laugh before speaking in a voice made to play with ones mind "Oh, do not pretend to be happy I am here young Dagoth, I can see within your eyes the lies you are trying to spin"

I shrug uncaringly, this Daedra can read me like a book, so if she won't indulge my attempt I might as well be honest. "A mer has to try at least"

She chuckles as if she heard a child say something funny "Truly, one must. But that is not why I invited you to my parlor as you call it"

I raise an eyebrow "Then how may I be of service?"

She scratches her cheek in what must have been an attempt to be cute or disarming, but I steel my mind, this creature in front of me is the literal embodiment of all lies of this world.

Seeing my lack of reaction just seems to entertain her further, finally after an entire minute of seeing if I would break she speaks "Your little spat with dear Dyrren here has amused me greatly, not because of any great showing from you, mind you, but I do have to admit seeing a Master Telvanni get killed by what compared to him is a child did entertain me greatly"

I scoff "Yes, but if that was all you wouldn't deign to show yourself"

She raises an eyebrow at my sudden brazenness and says teasingly "Oh, and do you really think it wise to speak to me in such a manner, I might throw a tantrum as we Daedra are known to do"

How the hell does she know my opinion about them, seriously?

Seeing my expression she chuckles "Oh please, you are not the first nor the last to think themselves above us just for being 'rational' as some of you mortals like to portray yourselves"

My eye twitches and I drawl out "While the character breakdown of my mortal self is most riveting could you please get to the point?"

She waves her hand, and even that is somehow seductive "Of course, please do forgive me my ramblings, it is oh so dull spending eternity by my lonesome" she drawls back, making my hairs stand up and my eye twitch again.

She laughs at me "Fine, fine, the reason I am here is that a great web is being spun around you, by both you and others, it will be a most entertaining series of events for me so I decided to... throw in a bit of investment you could say"

I immediately stop her in a firm tone "I am not under any circumstance swearing myself to a Daedra, you could burn everyone I know and love in front of me and it wouldn't change my mind."

Mephala scoffs with a bit of annoyance, almost making me feel sorry on instinct but I rein in my emotions "If you would let me finish then you would know there is no need for such visceral reactions, but you have piqued my curiosity, do tell me why you abhor serving a Daedra so vehemently?"

I shrug "I don't mind providing services for payment, as any businessman does. What I do abhor is adding any tether to my soul"

She raises an eyebrow "Oh, skittish about sharing your essence are you?" purposefully wording it as if we were talking about something other than my soul.

I give her a deadpan look.

She pouts "Fine, keep your little secrets. What I was going to offer to you before I was oh so rudely interrupted was to give you a bit of a hand with the future entertainment you will provide me, naturally I might make some requests of you later on, but don't worry your soul will be safe and sound"

I raise an eyebrow "And what is this bit of hand you speak of?"

She pulls out a locket from Dagoth knows where and tosses it at me.

I inspect it and see that it is made of ebony, radiating no power but still covered in an aura shared with its presumed maker, there is a spider engraved into it.

Mephala speaks again "This locket will show others that you are in my favor, it will also lead you to those who are my followers and give you the right to make requests of them. It will naturally make spinning webs of lies far easier for you"

So, access to some assassins and a speechcraft boost I guess, not bad. I turn from the locket to the Daedra "And what will this cost me in truth?"

She smiles "Oh nothing at all"

I deadpan again.

Just as I am about to ask again a system prompt pops out

[Daedric Prince Mephala offers their favor, in return Reyvin Dagoth shall use the power of said favor to assist and entertain the Prince. If he fails to do so the favor shall be withdrawn, and access to any followers or blessings of Mephala is forever lost.]

I blink "That is surprisingly very generous"

She sighs, a tiny bit of defeat in her voice "You are paranoid to the point that if I offered anything more binding you would have refused out of hand. So go ahead, use my blessing, and bring me some delicious mortal drama."

"Fine" I grit out, getting a system prompt confirming my acceptance.

She nods in satisfaction and then gives me a seductive smile "Or you could stay here and we could have some fun right now"

I scoff "The thot has no power over the honest hardworking mer"

She laughs, probably having expected this "Oh I can see right now that you will be a treat, do go on, there is a web waiting for you to spin, I will be watching" and with one final wink she disappears and I am back to normal.

"Well, that was an experience" I mutter, disoriented.

I hear yelling downstairs, but it is not what I expected. I notice the voice of Hjolmir, who was definitely not part of my group yelling at someone... Well, time to face the music.

I hope the college will be there to bail me out if I fuck up.

Before I levitate downstairs I check my quest rewards.

[Quest completed]

[Stealth-novice = Stealth-apprentice]

[Alchemy-apprentice: +poisoncraft]

[New system function unlocked: Identification]

While the two first rewards are completely expected, and I file the new knowledge entering my mind rather quickly, the third reward gives me a great bit of surprise. The identification function might not be ridiculously powerful, but the knowledge it might provide is sure to be useful in any situation.

Deciding to try it out at least once before I leave the tower I take a look at the locket Mephala gave me.

[Mephala's favor (Minor Daedric artifact): A locket gifted to Dagoth Reyvin by the Webspinner, it is both a status symbol and a powerful artifact enhancing the wearer's ability to hide the truth, this goes for any and all ways of obfuscation up to and including spells. (Take note that while the item doesn't possess any inherent corruptive elements, it does make the wearer tend to lie on instinct while worn)]

Holy shit! Maybe she wanted me to discover the effects on my own, or it's just in her nature to hide the truth, but this will be very helpful in the future, even if the side effect will be annoying.

Deciding to put the locket on just in case I prepare for what will no doubt be a long interrogation by the authorities.

Chapter XXIV: Getting away with murder

I levitate down the tower and am greeted by the sight of Hjolmir yelling at the Nords that decided to help me, while a bunch of Dunmer servants or workers are standing in a corner looking kind of lost, some of them sporting completely blank looks.

He turns toward me with an expression that tells me he might be a tad annoyed with me "Reyvin what the fuck did you do?"

I raise my hands placatingly "Can we all calm down first? I have the perfect expla-" I suddenly hear someone rushing behind me and see that same lawman jumping at me with a dagger.

Almost instinctively I point my fist at him and summon my spear making him impale himself on it.

Surprisingly I feel barely any strain holding him up one-handed with my new strength, I guess that being 5 over average is far more than a mere 50%.

Remembering I am not quite alone I stop my musing and turn to the other Dunmer "Anyone else feels like they want to get shishkebabed?" there are no takers "Good"

I turn back to Hjolmir while unsummoning my spear, making the body hit the ground "As I was saying before the rather uncouth interruption"

He gives me a blank look.

*Cough* "I have the perfect explanation for this, though it does concern the Jarl personally so it might be better explained in the keep"

Hjolmir stares at me for a bit then nods "Very well, you didn't give me a reason to distrust you yet, but if I so much as see a hint of you trying to run off we will be having words"

I nod "Of course" and look toward the Dunmer "Your master has been given his due punishment, wait for me here until I am done and I will sort out your futures" Some of them fearfully nod, while others merely continue with their empty stares.

The guard Captain raises an eyebrow "You speak as if you think them your servants now?"

I shrug "Basic Telvanni customs, winner takes all. After I explain what Dyrren did you will appreciate my actions in a new light, I assure you"

He gives me a stern look "This is Skyrim, not Morrowind"

Once again I shrug "Let's just go to the Jarl please?"

Hjolmir grunts and as we are about to leave turns to the guards "You lot and I will be having words later, depending on what Reyvin has to say some of you are looking at latrine duty" surprisingly they all laugh without a care, knowing that we were justified.

We enter the Jarl's keep, and waiting there is the Jarl, his mother, and the court wizard.

Just as I am about to start my spiel, Savos pops into existence next to them, making the boy jump in surprise with a girlish 'EEK' to which we all chuckle. The young Jarl's face turns red but he calms himself down quickly, probably used to Savos' shenanigans.

The Regent mother speaks first "Reyvin Flame-tongue you and a group of guardsmen have without authorization assaulted a respected resident of Winterhold, I hope that there is a very good reason for this or no amount of college protection will help you."

I smile, showing no signs of being worried "Of course, I am not foolish enough to ignore the laws of Skyrim on a whim. The reason I attacked hi-"

She interrupts me "Assassinated."

I smile "It was merely pre-emptive self defense I assure you" Savos snorts and I continue "You see, the 'respected' Dyrren sent me a staff as a gift, said staff was enchanted to enthrall me into his service so he could gain access to my knowledge about the animanculi I displayed recently"

She nods and the steward who arrived while I was talking starts writing something down.

"So naturally as is Morrowind custom, such things were to be paid in blood." Before I am interrupted I raise my hand "Please, let me finish." She seems annoyed but still lets me go on "I did consider informing you of this, but even if you deemed him guilty he would have just teleported outside of the city and continued his schemes"

She shakes her head "This still just seems like a merely personal vendetta of yours"

I fake a guilty smile "Indeed, it did start as one I will admit. But once I was confronted with the Telvanni, still pretending to be under his control, he revealed some very interesting information to me. Namely he admitted his offence at the departed Jarl Korir insisting on him earning his place and using said reasoning to justify to me or himself, I am unsure, the assassination of your husband, and the attempted assassination of yourself and your child"

She shakes as if struck "A-are you certain of this?!"

I nod solemnly "Yes, the fool spent a good ten minutes grandstanding about his schemes controlling the foolish n'wahs that dared disrespect him. He even mused about sending a couple of his 'gifts' to the Jarl"

The poor woman is constantly shifting between grief and utter fury, her son on the other hand is looking at me with admiration, good.

And to put the final nail in the coffin of his last shred of dignity "I do have to mention, while we are still on the topic that he was a cultist of Namira that used his servants as cattle"

The steward takes over since the poor Jarl Regent is still in a state of mild shock "There were no reports of his servants going missing, we are a large hold and I am sure people would have noticed the change over the years"

I shake my head "He didn't change servants, he regrew them with alchemy as he butchered them"

Everyone shares a look of pure disgust, Hjolmir spits on the ground and turns to me "Are you sure of this?"

I nod "His own daughter told me about it after some diligent persuasion"

Now everyone turns to me with looks of markedly lesser disgust.

Even Savos looses his usual playful aura and sternly tells me "We will be having some very choice words about that later Reyvin"

I sigh "Yes, it was not the most ideal of solutions but I think I was justified in this"

He just continues staring at me for a bit before pulling back, hopefully I will be able to finagle out of this later.

The Jarl's household whisper among each other for a couple of minutes while a servant brings me some refreshments, I use my new identification skill to check the drink just in case, you never know when people will make stupid decisions so I might as well train myself to be on constant watch.

Finally the young Jarl speaks up "While we will have to confirm your claims, we are prepared to give you the benefit of the doubt in this case, seeing as you have fought honorably for our hold."

His mother interrupts "Naturally, if you have told us the truth we will have to spin the tale to the people, something along the lines of you investigating him under our request"

I smile and say humorously "I see no issue with my misdeeds being ignored" The Regent rolls her eyes.

She mutters "We will also have to deal with the inheritance of the tower itself"

I shake my head "I am afraid that under the customs of house Telvanni, that tower and it's servants are now mine"

She looks at me like I am joking "Are you sure you aren't overreaching right now? His daughter is still very much alive and by the laws of Skyrim the tower is hers"

I nod and smile "True, but his daughter also swore loyalty to my own house just yesterday"

Thaena shakes her head "That doesn't matter one bit in Skyrim, besides since when do you have a house?"

The Archmage butts in "I can confirm that Reyvin is indeed a noble of Morrowind, the name of his house has been held back due to it's relative infamy" and then turns back to me, his gaze stern once again "And she swore said oath under great duress and what I guess was a threat on her life."

I don't back down and stare back at him "She didn't even warn me Archmage, I could have literally been eaten alive and she didn't care, so neither shall I. If she betrays her oath I will end her one way or another"

He seems irritated at my talking back, but decides to leave it for later.

The Regent sighs, very tired from the emotional rollercoaster I just put her on "In any case, we will not allow you to take ownership of more land just like that, you already got a sizeable plot of land within the city and the people would grow angry if you were suddenly to get more."

I grit my teeth and go to protest but she interrupts me "You may, however due to your service, intentional or not, to the hold take what you wish from the tower and offer employment to the servants, the tower itself shall fall to Edrasa Moabain who may continue serving your house if you get the Archmage's agreement."

I nod in satisfaction but she raises her hand "But, this is only under the condition that you tell us what house you serve exactly, we made the mistake of offering foreign powers land in our city and will not do so again, no matter your previous service"

I sigh "Very well, but I must have your word that you will not spread this around unless I do so myself first" everyone nods and I straighten myself, sending a pulse of Magicka to my robes I cause the purple beetle symbol to appear on them "I am the last living descendant of house Dagoth"

Their reactions are somewhat subdued, but I see recognition in most of their eyes, well except the child but that is understandable.

The regent looks me over appraisingly "You haven't given us cause to suspect you yet, so despite your house's history we will honor our end of the bargain."

I sigh in relief, thankfully Dagoth Ur has been dead for long enough for humans to generally forget the impact he had on Morrowind and possibly the surrounding provinces.

"You may leave for your discussion with the Archmage now, we have a lot of work to do. You will be informed if anything changes in the meantime." she says and turns back to her son who is still looking at me with awe.

I look at Savos, who is still giving me the disappointed old man stare, but seeing as I am also an old fart it has little effect on me, still I hope he won't make my life hard with the coming conversation.

Chapter XXV: Servants

The Archmage teleports the two of us to his chambers and takes a seat while pointing me to another one.

As he sits down he takes out a bottle of mead and takes a long swig.

We sit in silence for a minute before I decide to ask, half-joking "Alright, how fucked am I?"

Savos stares at me for a bit and shakes his head, running his hand through his hair "Honestly, I am not sure what to do with you right now Reyvin. On the one hand, I would have done the same, or worse in your position." Understandable "On another, you did torture and force into service a fellow student of yours."

I let out a long sigh and say "I would have preferred to keep her as a friend to this."

I shake my head "Unfortunately, reality is often disappointing... the moment her father decided to try and enslave me was the moment that he died, inevitably ruining said friendship. If she warned me I would have been far more lenient, but she didn't care one bit, so I have decided that I will give her the same treatment."

He takes another swig of his drink and is silent for a time.

Finally, he says "Well, at the end of the day you didn't permanently harm her, just ruined her life probably." He snorts self-deprecatingly.

I suddenly get the feeling that he is saying this more because he has to than him really caring about Edrasa's fate... that is rather odd. Why would I know that?

I take a suspicious look at my system and there sits the answer.

[Trait gained: Mephala's blessing: You are able to sense the motivations of others and have an easier time hiding your own.] Yup, that'd do it.

Deciding to shelve those thoughts for later I explain with fake compassion "I wouldn't go so far as saying I ruined her life, she will still own the tower and possibly have some servants, and while I did force her into my service it doesn't mean I plan on torturing her as some form of sick revenge."

Savos slowly nods "Fine, while I don't like the way you went about your business with her you were technically within your right... I will leave this alone for now, gods know I have tolerated far worse from my students before, just try and keep any future drama to a minimum, please?"

I snort "We both know I didn't choose this Archmage."

"Just please try and not make any more work for me Reyvin" he grumbles.

Ah, so that is the actual issue here. I almost laugh when I realize this.

"Sure sure, wouldn't want to take time from your experiments eh old man?"

He rolls his eyes "Off you go, you have a mess to clean up"

That I do, I stand up and turn to leave.

Just as I am about to leave the room I hear behind me "And I want my ring back by tomorrow at the latest!"

I chuckle "Sure old man, I'll try and keep it at least somewhat intact"

I hear a 'HEY!' behind me but I am already skulking away.

(General pov)

Deciding that he really doesn't want to deal with a million questions from his colleagues, Reyvin sneaks out of the college grounds as best he can, his first destination is the guard house where he left Edrasa.

As soon as he enters, he sees all the guards that helped him attack the Telvanni compound inside, they turn to him and greet him with a cheer. Reyvin approaches Thorgrim and asks "Seeing as you are all sitting here in good cheer, Hjolmir didn't make any problems for you?"

The old Nord grunts "No, the moment you informed him that the fucker was the one to kill Korir we were all suddenly too drunk to remember doing anything today and he was inclined to believed us. We were let off with some extra training."

The Dunmer laughs "Truly, Nord mead is one hell of a drink" everyone joins him in laughter, and after a bit he speaks again "All right lads, tonight we will meet at the inn, my treat for everyone." they give him the expected reaction and he goes on "But first I have to deal with the aftermath of everything, so I will be seeing you." He receives nods from everyone and walk toward Edrasa, who is sitting in the corner, a somewhat dead look on her face.

Reyvin approaches her and signals her to follow him, she does so reluctantly and they walk outside.

After a bit of walking Reyvin speaks up, still feeling a bit vindictive "So, still think I can't kill a great Telvanni Master?"

She sighs "What do you want me to say Reyvin? Congratulations on killing my fater?" she seems completely done with life, but Reyvin senses that it is more to do with her now actually having to work to live instead of her father dying.

His new sense will take some getting used to.

Reyvin rolls his eyes "No, that is not what I want. I don't for a second regret what I did but I do regret having to do it."

He then says in a falsely sad tone "We were after all becoming friends and now that is forever ruined due to your fathers foolishness." He shakes his head "What I do want now is to deal with the aftermath of everything and make the best of this situation."

Edrasa chuckles dryly "Oh yes, make the best of taking my family fortune and my servants, how very generous of you my Lord" the 'Lord' she says with utmost sarcasm.

He scoffs "Oh please, it's not like I am going to keep you from your father's knowledge. Just because you always had everything handed to you doesn't mean that you can't learn how to actually get your own wealth and power"

She gives him an incredulous look "What, do you expect me to become a Master in a year?"

Reyvin snorts "Not with that attitude. In any case, what I do want you to do is actually get serious with your magic training, the whole Lord thing is mostly ceremonial for now, but I will not have anyone in my house be a spoiled princess, of that much I can assure you"

Edrasa goes to give another sarcastic comment, but one stern look from Reyvin is enough to remind her that they were no longer equals.

It is at this moment that the new reality of her life finally clicks in her mind.

She gives a defeated nod and they continue walking toward the tower.

When they arrive they are met with four Nord guards and the servants milling about the compound, there are about ten of them with six looking completely out of it.

Reyvin approaches the bored looking Nords and says "Thank you for staying boys, I'll take over from here"

The lead guard seems relieved and says "Aye flame-tongue we'll leave you to it" and they walk off.

The heir of Dagoth turns toward the servants, coughs to get their attention and speaks up imperiously "I regret to inform you all that your master has offended someone he shouldn't have, and has thusly received his due punishment."

He sees a mix of relief and disbelief on their faces.

His gaze then turns compassionate "Now since this might cause turmoil in your lives I have decided to offer employment to all of you." before they can answer he continues with a stern look "Before you give your answer I want to know who among you was involved in your previous master's eating habits, know that if you hide anything the punishment will not be light"

One of the coherent servants fearfully stands in front of them all and says "It was the one you impaled Serjo, he was the only one that was ever allowed into ma-" he goes to say master but corrects himself "Dyrren's private rooms, even the young Lady Edrasa wasn't allowed there."

Reyvin senses no lies and nods "Very well, so who among you is interested in following me?"

The same servant asks with surprise "You are giving us a choice?"

Reyvin raises an eyebrow "While my robes are inspired by Telvanni fashion, I assure you I am not a member of that house. So yes you do have a choice in following me or remaining in miss Moabain's service"

They mutter among each other before the spokesman turns back to him "And what would we be doing for you? if you don't mind me asking Serjo"

"I plan on opening a rather sizeable inn with a bathhouse" He responds, and quickly adds "Before someone asks no it will not be a disguised whorehouse. I am also building a mansion for myself and will need someone to keep the place clean. naturally you will be given fair compensation for your work."

The servants go back to talking among each other again, and after a good five minutes of debate, with even the broken ones nodding absently. The lead servant returns "While two of the maids would like to remain in Lady Edrassa's service, the rest of us are willing to follow you"

Reyvin nods, satisfied "Good, you may pack up and come to the north-western part of town. A part of the inn has already been built, so you can stay there. We will discuss payment and other conditions in more detail when I am done here."

The servants quickly get to packing up, showing a great amount of eagerness to get out of there.

Reyvin senses that all of them just want to get out of this 'cursed' place, and from what he overhears from the two maids and Edrasa, they seem to have practically raised her so they chose to stay.

After he confirms that they are all getting busy, he turns toward the tower.

'Time to loot this place for all it is worth'

Chapter XXVI: Loot

Reyvin enters the mushroom tower once more and the first thing he sees is the still-warm body of Dyrren, scanning it just in case and confirming that there is no after-death spell trickery on him, he gets to stripping him of his valuables.

The old elf wore a necklace and a couple of enchanted rings, one of which was indeed a poison resistance ring, but much to Reyvin's confusion it was of surprisingly poor quality.

Reyvin scratches his head with a perplexed expression 'He lived in Morrowind for who knows how long and this is the best ring he was able to get as a gods damned enchanter? I was joking when I told Savos that I am doing the gene pool a favor by killing him, but now I am not so sure I was wrong.'

The rest are the usual rings one might expect to find on a mage and will be very useful for funding Reyvin's own set later as he already had a set planned out that he wanted to make himself. Unfortunately, the rather high-quality robe was bound to the dead Telvanni so that will be going in the trash alongside its owner.

Deciding to toss the body into someone's pigsty later, Reyvin levitates up the tower. Finally having the time to look around without being in a life-or-death situation he finds that it is even more opulent than he expected, with beautiful porcelain vases holding Morrowind flora, Dunmeri tapestries with Telvanni symbols or the visages of saints, and a very respectable personal library in one corner.

Looking through said library, and avoiding a very potent frost explosion trap set up in the middle of it thanks to his third eye, he finds mostly the same spell books he might find in the college library, with some specialized modifications that have to do with regeneration and regrowth, but there is one spell book that draws his attention.

It is called 'the art of true destruction' with a red lightning bolt inscribed on the cover. Deciding to inspect it, the young Dunmer is pleasantly surprised with what he finds.

[The art of true destruction: A spell book passed through the Moabain line, containing a way to combine the abilities of both fire and lightning in destruction spells making them far more potent in combat. These spells are capable of disintegration on higher levels.]

'Oh, this is really good, and now it is mine! Fuck you Dyrren you old fart!' "Hehehehehe"

Finishing his giggling fit he moves on, keeping his guard up just in case he starts to explore the rest of the tower before he begins his complete pillaging of the place.

He finds an enchanting room filled to the brim with soul gems and manuals which makes him once again giggle like a very creepy child. To his partial satisfaction, he also finds an alchemy room that is similarly stocked full, with a groan he accepts that he will have to actually start studying alchemy again if he doesn't want to be wasteful.

After he is done with his exploration there is only one room left, the one he was trying to avoid the whole time he was there, it practically radiated the feeling of hunger and decay, making him consider just blowing it up.

Unfortunately, his greed for potential loot wins out, and steeling himself and casting every possible spell for protection he opens the small door and enters what he guesses is a shrine of Namira. The pieces of meat, grey skin, and ominous butcher's table with the symbol of a bat disperse any doubts regarding that.

He looks around the room hoping that entering this accursed place might have been worth the lost sanity, but all he finds is nothing but even more disgusting effigies of flesh and remains of some very fucked up rituals if the residual aura is anything to go by.

Shaking his head in disgust he gets ready to burn the damn thing to the ground, but just as he is about to apply some heavy flamer treatment to the place Reyvin is assaulted by the sudden feeling of hunger, it is so overpowering that he starts salivating and almost grabs the closest piece of the presumably Dunmer flesh. But the 'little' nudge he suddenly received is pushed back by a sudden burst of power from the locket hanging on his neck.

Screaming internally for a bit and calming down, he thinks 'My thanks Prince Mephala' and gets a seductive purr in response, somehow making him even more uncomfortable than the hunger he just felt.

Before any more mental fuckery can happen the enraged mage quickly points his palms toward the room and casts two large gouts of blue flame, turning everything inside into ash. As the final part of the disgusting temple is all but disintegrated, Reyvin turns to the side and starts to retch.

After finally managing to calm his disturbed insides he mutters with anger in his voice "Fucking cannibal bitch, I swear if I so much as see a follower of yours I will take them and their souls as a generous donation to my enchantment business."

Mephala's gleeful laughter assaults his senses.

On the other hand, the hungry feeling was replaced with fury.

"Yeah yeah, fuck you both"

He feels the wrath of Namira reach a boiling point before it disappears after a promise of vengeance.

"Are you cursing me or offering?" He hears Mephala whisper in his ear.

Reyvin just groans.

After the events in the tower Reyvin focuses on just getting everything out of there as fast as he can. With some embarrassment he goes to his inn and grabs a couple of his new employees to help him transport everything, he may or may not have forgotten that he does need to actually carry everything out in his excitement for glorious loot.

During the entire time of him going up and down bringing out the previous Master's belongings Edrasa was standing to the side and kept giving him a death glare, which just got worse and worse the more he brought out.

Deciding to instill some discipline into his new vassal, he made her carry some of the heavier stuff with the servants.

'What did those kids use to say? Cope and seethe.' He thought with some amusement as he saw his friend-turned-servant's expression when he told her to help out.

Transporting everything took him the rest of the day, and when he finally returned to the college followed by Edrasa, he was surrounded by his colleagues who gave him curious looks mixed with either anger or light fear, it appears that some rumors have already spread.

'Troublesome' Reyvin thought as he realized this was going to be a long evening.