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EnragedBard

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Hey, it's Destana again.  Last time, I closed the loop on my revenge plot and got into some light bondage.  And then my daughter Runa became a member of the Dark Brotherhood.  When presented with three victims, I was told later that she killed all three.  Apparently, they were all very, very bad people.  I don't feel much better about her getting into my business of killing lots of people, though. 

 

It's 2E 210 now, winter in the beginning of the year.  Current events are:

- Ulfric is getting pretty pissed at the other holds since the Stormcloaks (and me, occasionally) have cleared out nearly all the Imperial forts, improved five of the holds with war funds, and still the moot hasn't met.  

- Lots of Thalmor activity on the borders.

- Even more dragon activity.  Maybe if there was some kind of High King who could talk me into investigating the return of Alduin, I'd push forward on it.  But I have my family to consider right now.

 

We showed up to the sanctuary the same morning as Runa's shack trial and I let her open the door first.

"What is the music of life, sister?" 

"Oh they fixed the door to not call everyone brother," I muttered.

"Silence, my brother door," Runa said, and the door opened for her.  I chuckled.  Brother door.  That's what I said when I entered it for the first time!  It shut behind her, then opened automatically for me, seeing me as a member.

"Well I'll be damned!" Nazir said from the doorway, "It's been an era since you were here, sister.  I was wondering if you'd quit.  But Astrid seemed to want to leave you alone."

Astrid was talking with Runa now.

"Say, how do you guys keep afloat?  I mean, either you eventually kill everyone in Skyrim or you go bankrupt," I asked.

Nazir chuckled, "How very astute.  No, we're the only brotherhood sanctuary now.  We take contracts all over the continent.  We charge a hefty premium for jobs very far away.  Maybe you'd know that if you ever showed up."

"Nothing in Morrowind though, I assume?  Because of the Morag Tong..." I trailed off, then looked over to Astrid, "Where did Runa go?"

"I sent her to mingle.  You should, too," Astrid was back to looking at her table-chart.

As I passed by her, she added, "Also, she's going to spy on the jester."

"She acting weird?  I mean, weirder?" I asked, "Runa is not great at stealth."

"Might want to teach her something about it," Astrid said as I walked down the stairs.  

I peered around the common room, and greeted a few of the long-time members who'd only seen me a few times.  

"We all knew you were away doing business," Babette said, "Astrid told us you're the Thieves' Guildmaster and you were a member here to sorta... keep our communication lines open with them.  Delvin hasn't been in communication with us in a while.  Seemed legit."  Babette hadn't aged a day since I last saw her.  It was strange, since she only looked a couple years older than Runa when I adopted her and now Runa could almost pass as an adult but Babette never changed.  It must be sad being a vampire sometimes.

"Oh gods!  Talos!" I heard a voice shout.  It was Runa!  I rushed, others in tow, into the room where the call came from.

"What?  What treachery!" Cicero was yelling at the open coffin, the Night Mother's twisted wreck of a form displayed for everyone to see.  And underneath her - Runa.

"What did you do?" I said as I entered.

"She has violated the sanctity of the Night Mother!" Cicero's eyes were burning with anger, "Speak worm!"

"Darkness rises..." Runa replied, "As silence falls."

"What?!  That's... impossible..." Cicero said, "Who told you this?"

"She spoke... to me..." Runa replied. 

The Night Mother Spoke?  I blinked.  What were the odds she was waiting for some poor sap to be locked in the coffin with her?  But no, I'm sure Cicero had tried that in her years of 'caring' for the NM.

"Those... those are the binding words, written in the ancient tomes.  Secret words.  A neophyte like yourself would have no access to this knowledge.  Unless... unless," Cicero giggled a little, "A cruel joke played on noble Cicero by the Night Mother herself."

With that, Cicero started to dance, "She's back!  She has chosen a Listener!"

Astrid rushed in, "Where is the accomplice?  Reveal yourself!"

"Oh I spoke only to the Night Mother!  I spoke but she didn't speak.  She only spoke to the Listener!  Her!" She pointed at Runa.

Astrid and I exchanged a glance.

"It's true!  The silence has been broken!" Cicero continued dancing.

Runa walked over to Astrid.

"If she spoke to you, what did she say?" Astrid asked.

"Go find Armand Motierre, in Volunruud."

"Never heard of him.  But Volenruud I know," Astrid sneered, "For the time being, do some jobs for Nazir while I sort this out."

She looked at me, and I just shrugged, "I'll help.  Down for some mother-daughter time?"

We cleared out of there and in the common room, Runa said, "You're... surprisingly okay with this, mom.  I mean, that was kind of a big deal in there, right?"

"Yeah!" I smiled, "But really, if you are the Listener, is there a more safe position in the Dark Brotherhood?  You'd just be the mission giver, not the person in the field.  I never do crimes FOR the Thieves' Guild anymore.  They're doing crimes for me and giving me a cut.  Those boys know how much they owe me.  I made them rich."

"So, ready to go do some bonding?  Or would you like to divide and conquer?" I chuckled as we got over to Nazir on the side stairs.

"What you got for us?" I asked.

"Perfect timing for you to get back into the game," he responded, "I'm starting to get more of these by the day.  Two contracts.  One easy, one hard."

I definitely was ready to do the hard one and leave the easy one for Runa.

"Lurbuk, an orc bard and Hern, a vampire.  He's been blending into society for years.  But he also has a mate."

"Two vampires?" I asked, "I'd probably better take that one.  You think you could handle a bard?"

"Probably," Runa replied, "I'll get him drunk, invite him outside, then cleave him in half with my greatsword."

"That's my girl.  Of course, there's something to be said about precision and subtlety," I mused, "Alright.  I can handle two vampires.  Meet back here tomorrow morning.  If the other doesn't come back, go looking for her.  Trade orders and read."

"That is damn smart," Gabriella said from behind me.  I nodded.

 

Runa (who told me about this later) talked to Lurbuk and expressed an interest in having a private concert.  I'm not sure if I should be skeeved by this - she's 15, but looks like she could pass as a slightly short 18 or 19.  She led him to the hill overlooking the town.  While he played she walked around behind him and speared him through the chest with her greatsword, just like she said.

My job was equally unchallenging.  Rather than fight two vampires I decided I wanted to fight no vampires.  I silently used a high level rage spell on Hern.  A passing by guard and his own woman fought him and killed him.  

 

It only took me a couple of hours to finish my job (significantly closer) so I waited with Astrid in the receiving room.  A few hours later, Runa walked in.  

"Easy, right?"

"Yeah," she said.

"Alright," Astrid said, "I don't know what's going on.  But I've decided you should go to Volunruud.  Figure out what's going on.  It's pretty far to the northwest."

Runa nodded, "Still got a lot of daylight left."

We set out and got there by noon.  

"Go ahead, you take point this time," I said to her.  Immediately inside there was a dead imperial with notes concerning the ruin.  I tucked it away for later (seemed like this dungeon had a crawl to do, later), and we ventured further in.

She turned left and opened a wooden door.  No stealth.  I should've expected as much.  

"By the almighty divines!  The Black Sacrament actually worked!" Amaund said, guard next to him.

"The Night Mother answered," Runa said.

"Yes, well, I'd like to set up a contract. Several, in fact."

"Who?" I asked as I entered.

"You should know these targets are a means to an end - the most important target - the Emperor."

"You want us to kill the Emperor - of Tamriel?" Runa asked.

"No small feat, of course.  But you represent the Dark Brotherhood.  This is what you do, no?  This is the result of much planning and preparation.  But I have many more preparations still to make.  Rexus!  The items!" Amaund clapped, and the guard produced a satchel for us with a sealed letter and jeweled amulet for fencing, to pay for expenses.

We returned to the sanctuary, arriving in the rain around 10 PM.  

"What's the target?" Astrid said, leaning against the post in the entryway.  I could tell she'd been waiting there with bated breath.

"He wants us to kill the Emperor," I spat.

"You're joking," Astrid replied.

Runa handed her the letter and amulet.

"You're not joking," she said, amazed, "The brotherhood hasn't done anything like this in centuries.  I'm not sure what's going on here."

"Are we going to accept?" Runa asked.

"You're damn right!" Astrid said back, "If we pull this off, the brotherhood is back!  They will fear us again."

"So what now?" I asked.

"We need to have a meeting.  Think about our next moves.  And have that amulet appraised."

"I've got a guy," I said, "You stay here, Runa.  Sit in on the family meeting."

I traveled all night and slept in my bed in Honeyside, then ventured down to the Ragged Flagon.

"Oi!  If it isn't our lovely guildmaster, gracing us with a visit!" Delvin called out to me from the ladder.  He was sitting at his usual table.

"Hey boss!" Vex shouted from the room full of faces; some old, some new.  

"Dude, I show up at least once a week," I folded my arms.

"Yeah, but it's always to get your cut.  Never a, 'hey Delvin, how's business, how is everything going, got a girlfriend?"

"Okay, that's fair," I said, "How's business."

"I would tell you we're making a killing, but I heard you started working with the brotherhood again, so I figured that'd be in poor taste.  We're doing very well," he replied.

"How is everything?  Got a girlfriend?" I asked.

"Now you're just pandering.  But yeah, me and Vex finally made it official.  Y'know, after that pretty boy she recruited got sent the right 'message,' if you know what I mean.  Backed off real nice," he smirked.

"I'm happy for you," I said, "Got a question for you, since you're the official liaison for the brotherhood."

"Shoot," he said.

"I have this from a job," I produced the amulet.

"Where oh where did you get this?  My, my.  This is an amulet of the Emperor's Elder council, specially crafted for each member.  Worth a small fortune!"

"Can we fence it?" I asked.

"Fence?  An Elder Council amulet?" He thought for a minute, then got a grin, "Oh yes.  Yes, indeed.  And here is a letter of credit for Astrid, per our usual arrangement."

"Anything I should know about?  Being guildmaster and all," I asked.

"You're more of the executive producer down here.  You know, ever since you stopped doing jobs for us.  We keep the wheels spinning.  You ride the cart.  Ever heard the saying, 'I don't need to know how the sausage is made?" Delvin smirked.

I chuckled, "As long as you don't knife me while I sleep, you guys run it however you want to."

"Fine by me," Delvin chuckled back, "We're all rich down here.  I got no qualms with your ways."

I clapped him on the back, went to see the new magic shop by the old bunkroom (we had a veritable black market down here now) then I went back to the Sanctuary.

"So will Delvin buy?" Astrid asked.

"Yeah," I replied, producing the letter.

"Alright.  First target.  I hope you have something nice to wear.  You're going to kill Vittoria Vici at her wedding."

"Well, the trick is not to be seen.  Though we both do look pretty amazing," I said, "Where is it?"

"Solitude," Astrid replied.

I tilted my head, "What's her relation to the emperor?"

"First cousin," Astrid replied, "So the Emperor will have to show face in Skyrim to clean up the mess."

I turned to Runa, "I'd like to deal with this one.  An imperial royal in Solitude.  Couldn't be more tailored to me.  Unless the minister was an Aldmeri official."

She shrugged, "I'm alright with that." 

Astrid nodded, "You might as well hang out and watch her work, though.  She's pretty good."

When we got there, I led her to the Castle Dour wall to get a good vantage point.  Resting my foot on a gargoyle, it started to move.  

"This is right above the bride," Runa said, "I wonder..."

"You have a good eye," I pushed it, and she helped.  It rolled down and crushed the little wooden archway they'd been standing in.  People screamed and ran.  

"Huh, looks like it didn't finish her off.  Probably just broke her legs," I said, "Too easy."

Runa drew her bow, "How about I finish her off?"

"Don't hit any bystanders," I got out my bow as well.

"Oops!" She said.  Then, "Oops," again.

I plunked the bride in the back, definitely causing her to be dead.

"Looks like they noticed us," I smiled, "Gotta run!"  

We charged out of there, running across the walls.  Eventually we jumped from the edge and landed in the Sea of Ghosts.  It took us nearly a day round trip back to the Sanctuary.

"Gods, everybody's talking about it!  Crushed under a gargoyle statue!" Astrid laughed, "Go see Gabriella.  She's got the next phase."

We walked up to the Alchemy station two rooms over in the cave and found her.

"Ah!  Hello.  The Emperor is definitely coming to Skyrim now.  We're going to break the head of his personal guard, a man by the name of Maro.  You will slay his son, and plant evidence on him implicating him in a plot to kill the Emperor.  He's leaving Dragon Bridge and inspecting each city for security."

"Aren't we enemies with the Empire now that we've flushed them out?" Runa asked.

"I imagine Skyrim wouldn't want to provoke an all-out war with the Empire with their full might," I folded my arms.

"Won't this put them on guard?" Runa asked.

"It will make the commander weak; prone to manipulation and mistakes.  And it'll lull them into a false sense of security, thinking the plot to assassinate the emperor has been foiled," Gabriella replied, "You get a bonus for killing him in a hold, but not in Dragon Bridge.  So the letter is discovered faster."

We walked outside.

"You know we can slow down if you want.  This speed of completing missions can take its toll on someone inexperienced," I said.

Runa shook her head, "I'm enjoying being the special one, even if the Night Mother only spoke to me once."

"Well good thing we're doing this together.  Makes it much easier," I said as we got on horses, "You know, we should check Dragon Bridge to see if there's an itinerary there.  The Imperials love their schedules."

We rode to Dragon Bridge.  As we neared the bottom of the ridge, we paused.

"Father, you worry too much.  I'll be fine," Gaius said.

"Just remember what I taught you.  Stay safe," the Commander said.

"See you soon," Gaius replied, hurrying off.

Runa shut her eyes, "Suddenly, I feel less good about doing this."

"I understand.  Something to remember though, is our enemies are all people too.  They have families.  They have lives.  They fight us knowing what can happen to them," I said.

"I guess.  These people aren't our enemies though, in a personal sense.  This mission is all political maneuvering.  And I don't know if it's going to help humans fight the elves either," Runa said.

"You're very persuasive.  But we do have a job to do.  I'm not sure what the Night Mother is, but disobeying something like that sounds like a bad deal.  We're pretty deep in this now," I replied.

After Gaius walked away, I walked into the guard station on my own (somehow still a station for the Penitus Oculatus).

"What are you doing here, citizen?"

"Oh, I was just wandering around.  Did I walk into the wrong house?" I asked, playing dumb.  I quickly readied a Calm spell and fired it, then slipped the paper into my pocket, having glanced at it while I was talking.  Then I walked out to rejoin Runa.  We jogged down the road.  And there he was, on foot.

"I guess we really didn't need the itinerary.  I didn't figure we'd actually just meet him on the road," I said, "We can just tail him to the next hold.  Says here he should be in Solitude tomorrow morning.  That's not too far from here."

"Does he know he's going the wrong way?"  

We followed him for a couple hours.  At midnight, he stopped in the road.  Then he did a 180 and walked back the way he was going.

"What an idiot," I said, "Been walking the wrong way for hours.  Finally checked his map."

We had to hide, of course.  He proceeded to walk back the way he came, then back over the bridge at Dragon Bridge, through the town and toward Solitude.  

"How about this, we go to the Solitude stables and wait for him here," I said.  Geez, this guy just walking around 24 hours a day makes me want to kill him already.

Runa nodded.  We rushed to Solitude.  She pointed out a rock overhang where she could see down the road a fair distance, climbed up there and sat, "I'll keep lookout."

"Good thinking.  Shout to me if you see him coming," I said, then laid down nearby, nestling into the leaves.

He finally passed by after an agonizingly long amount of time.  I let Runa take point.

"We need to work on your stealth.  Even if you are a greatsword-wielding bruiser, you can use subtlety," I said.

"Too bad I can't shout down doors."

"That's why lockpicking is essential," I said.  We went ahead of the man into the city and continued to wait for him to go into a building where his demise wouldn't be easily seen.

We perched up on the wall again, this time in a different spot (thank the divines nobody actually saw us when we pulled that stunt a few days ago).  He went about checking the fortifications.  Looking at the guards' armor.  Looking at the walls.  Et cetera ad infinitum.  I guess we could've just killed him and ran again, but I wanted to teach her patience.  And we had time to talk.

"So what's with you and dad?" She asked out of the blue.

"What do you mean?"

"He seems like he's changed a little," she replied.

"Well, he is an immortal daedra.  He's probably bored," I replied.

"You know, Damien wants to visit the college," Runa said.

"Yeah, I've been meaning to take him," I replied.

"Maybe while I do a job or two for the DB you can take him to learn magery."

"Well, if everybody's going on a field trip, where should I take Fenrir?" I asked.

"Well, either leave him with dad.  Or take him to see Ulfric," Runa shrugged.

I nodded.  Alright.

Then she pointed, "Look!  He's going into Castle Dour!" 

We hopped down and went into the front entrance.  When we got in, he was sitting in the guards' room where I'd gotten Dragon Oath.  

"Now?" Runa asked.

"Looks like they're all asleep but him," I replied, "Think you can be quiet about it?"

"I'll do my best," Runa said.

She took a step forward, then I stopped her, "There's a guy sitting in the chair across the room.  They're both facing this way.  Better wait."

The guard got up.  I thought he might leave the room, but he sat across from Gaius, with his back to us.

I nodded to Runa, "I'll take the guard."

I bonked him on the back of the head while Runa rushed over to Gaius.

"Excuse me, citizen..." was all he got out before she skewered him in the chest, then placed the damning evidence.  We'd been pretty quiet.  Well, I had.  At least Runa didn't scream a warcry or anything.  But, the guards didn't seem to wake at that so we ran out of there and back to the Sanctuary.

"Good, I was expecting your return.  We have a situation below, though," 

We went down to the common room. 

"Just try to relax and let the potion do it's job, Veezara," Babette was saying.

"Good, you're back.  Cicero went berserk and attacked Veezara!" Astrid said.

"She was ranting and raving, saying the Night Mother was the true master and Astrid was just a pretender," Nazir added.

"Best search her room and figure out where to look for her.  And go after her.  Arnbjorn chased her and he's still gone," Astrid said.

"Bested by the fool.  Now who's the fool?" Veezara sighed.

Runa and I headed to the Jester's room and tore it apart.  

"Her journal!" Runa said, flipping through it.  She rushed over and gave it to Astrid, who flipped through as well.

"The Dawnstar Sanctuary?  Whatever for?"

"Don't worry.  We'll go get her," I said.

"Oh, hey.  Take Shadowmere, my horse," Astrid said.

We went outside and climbed on this shadow horse that rose from the black pool, together.  This boy had amazing speed and got us across Skyrim extremely fast, stopping for a moment to admire how good Dawnstar was looking these days.  We came around the cliffs and found the black door.  

Arnbjorn was sitting there, bloodied, but not dead, "Should've figured Astrid would send you.  The dynamic mother-daughter duo.  I gave as well as I got.  I'll be fine, but I'm pretty sure I severed an artery in her.  She's tougher than I expected."

"What's the passphrase?" Runa asked.

"No idea," he replied.

"Astrid told me," I replied.

I walked up to the black door.  

"What is life's greatest illusion?" The door whispered.

"Innocence, brother door," I replied.  We ventured inside.

As we walked, Cicero's voice echoed through the sanctuary, "Listener?  I knew you'd come.  This isn't at all what mother would want!  Either the Listener or the Keeper dies."

We kept on, silently, killing the ghosts of brothers long fallen.

Two ghosts emerged in an open room and I stopped Runa.  As they tread forward, two barrels of oil fell from the ceiling and ignited into flame, killing them.  We waited until it dissipated.

"Idiotic jester," I said.

We kept pressing on, into an ice cave she'd added (somehow), with a troll we felled together.  

"I respect your skills, but could you maybe, move a little slower?" Cicero bellowed through the halls.

Then, "I must admit I did attack that harlot and the lizard got in the way, but the Night mother is the true master!"

After we'd slain a swathe of ghosts and bypassed traps (thanks to my thieving skills), we reached the final door and walked in.

"You caught me.  I surrender," she said, lying there in a heap, bleeding from Arnbjorn's wound.

Runa walked closer.  Neither of us said anything.

"Oh, the Listener prefers to listen, eh?" Cicero said, "Listen to this - don't kill me.  Just lie.  I will disappear.  Nobody needs to know."

"What do you think?" I folded my arms.

"Hmm.." Runa sat down next to her, "I want to let her go."

I raised an eyebrow, "You know... this could come back to bite us later."

"Yeah," she stood, "We've killed a lot of people.  And I'm sure we'll kill more.  Maybe someday, she could be an asset."

I sighed, "Alright.  I hope you know what you're doing, Listener."

When we got back, I told them we'd killed her.  And we had one more target to get to the Emperor.  Well, two, actually.  Question Anton Virane about the Gourmet to find his location and kill him, then kill the Gourmet and take his or her place.  

Word doesn't travel instantaneously in this world.  It's a four day ride from Solitude to the Imperial City, but that time had passed to inform the Emperor of the wedding, then four more days to get the word back to check the security.  From the time Gaius Maro's death was reported, it would've taken four days to inform the Emperor.  Then probably another week to recheck the security.  And four more days for the ride here, or three by boat.  So about two weeks from now the Emperor would be here.  And it should be right before the Gourmet goes to serve the Emperor when we actually kill him.

"So how about it?" I asked Runa, "Do you want to stay here until then and meet up at Anton Virane the Morndas after next, or go back to Windstad with me?" I asked.

"I think I'm going to go off and train a little bit," Runa said, "I don't think I would've made it through this without you, and I want to be able to stand on my own."

"Don't get killed," I said, "Stay away from dragons.  If you face a huge force or something you can't handle, just run."

She nodded.

I took Shadowmere and rode to Windstad, which only took a few hours rather than a whole day.  What's more, we saw a pack of wolves on the way and I got off and unsheathed my sword only to find Shadowmere ripping them apart even without my help.  The murderous gleam in the beasts eyes locked onto mine.  I wasn't sure but it seemed the horse was smiling.  I'm not sure what a horse smile looks like.

Anyway, the first thing I got when I walked in was, "Ma!  You're home!"  From Fenrir and Damien.  They were both dirty and scuffled.  

"You two been fighting?" I asked, stern look in my eyes.

"No!" They both said, and ran off to their rooms.  Those boys.

"Took you long enough," Sanguine said from the table in the great room, "Runa alright?"

"Yeah.  We killed a lot of people.  Next thing is in a couple weeks.  Only thing I want is a good fuck right now," I said, splaying out on the big bed.

Afterwards, he rolled over and looked at me.

"I know that look.  What is it?"

Sanguine sighed, "I think... I need to go away for a while."

"Go away?" I asked, "How long?  What's happening?"

"There's something brewing.  You know, mostly we daedric lords keep to ourselves.  But Hermaeus Mora seems to be gathering a lot of cultists to him in Solstheim.  I don't usually get involved in such things, but some of the others are saying he's going to be making a play for other Oblivion realms," Sanguine said, "As for how long... who knows..."

I sighed, "I wondered..."

"Wondered what?"

"How long you would stay with me," I said, "I knew this day would come."

"What 'day?" he asked.

"You measure time differently than I do.  You might not be back here in my lifetime.  Before you came on this little jaunt, how long had it been since you visited Nirn?"

"Two hundred years," he replied.

"Welp, guess I need to find the secret to immortality," I said, chuckling.  After a silent moment, I said, "You better tell your sons.   They're going to be heartbroken."  I had already readied myself for this moment, but they had no idea their father's history (other than that he was a Daedra).

"I intend to," he replied.

It was hard.  He'd planned on leaving when I got back from this trip.  He talked to Damien and Fenrir, and said he would find Runa before he left.  It was a tearful goodbye, and then he got on the road.

"Why did he have to leave?" Damien asked, eyes full of tears.

"Don't worry.  He'll be back," I said.  But I was lying.  

"Soon?" Fenrir asked.

"Not soon.  It's going to be a while," I said, not technically lying.

"But you know what?" I said.

"What?" Damien asked.

"I have something for both of you," I replied.

"What's that?" Fenrir asked.

"Because I want you to follow your hearts and chase your dreams, and I can't seem to get you both past the point you're at - I want to offer you both a place to go to get better at what you want to do with your lives."

"What do you mean, mom?" Damien asked.

"Well, you, I'm going to take to the College at Winterhold.  You can go to classes and become a proper mage," I said, "Their entry test is easy enough I think you can pass it."

"You mean it?" Damien asked, excited.

"And I have a second surprise.  I heard about a secret magic school you can only access by teleportation.  When you get good enough, you can attend classes there as well," I continued, "Double dipping to be the best sorcerer in Skyrim!"

"That's so cool!" Damien wiped his eyes, "But I think you mean in the world!"

I patted him on the head.

"What about me?" Fenrir asked.

"First, I'm going to take you to meet your father," I said.

"But, dad just left," he replied.

"Not that father.  Your birth father," I explained.

"My..." Fenrir looked at me like he'd never thought about it before - why'd I'd never taken him to see Ulfric before.  I'd of course told him, but different families are different.

"I have two weeks before I need to get back to what I was doing with Runa.  Why don't we go in the morning?" I asked.

The kids cheered.  I know, mom of the year, sending all her kids away.  But really, they both needed proper schooling in something.  I am not the most responsible or present parent, but I'm decent at getting people the things they need.

The three of us rode on Shadowmere, who seemed to snort at being used as a kiddie ride.

"Wow!  That horse is so cool!" Damien shouted when he saw it.  Shadowmere seemed to smirk at that - again, if horses can smirk.

We reached Winterhold by 9 AM, only about half the time it would take on a normal horse.  I led Damien and Fenrir up to the bridge.

Faralda waved to me, "Who are these youngsters?"

"These are my sons, " I said.

"Just showing them the grounds?" She asked.

"Well, actually..." I started, then Damien shouted, "I want to be a mage!"

"Spirited lad, that.  Tell me, what can you do, kid?" She asked.

"Give him the same exam as you did me," I said.

"Alright," she thumbed her chin a bit, "Cast a Magelight spell."

"Go on, I showed you that one," I smiled.

Damien gathered power and casted a magelight.  Easy.

"All right.  Well, you're in," Faralda nodded, "Go talk to Mirabelle."

As the kids and I were walking in, Damien whispered to me, "That's it?  They must be hurting for membership."

"That's what I said!  I didn't even know the spell she asked me for and they still let me in," I said as we got to Mirabelle.

"Hey!  Haven't seen you in a couple weeks," she said.

"Have they figured out that orb thing yet?" I asked.

"Nah.  And the Psijics aren't willing to help either," she replied, "What have we here?" 

"This is Damien and Fenrir, my sons," I replied.

"Pleased to meet you," Mirabelle said, sounding stodgy and stiff like a scholar.

"Damien wants to become a member."

"Oh really?  Get past Faralda?" 

"Yeah.  He's got more skill than I did when I started here.  Half my age too," I explained.

"Hmm... since you're so young, I wonder," Mirabelle said, "What's the strongest spell you know, kid?"

"I know Banish Daedra."

"Whoa!" Mirabelle exclaimed, "How old are you?"

"Eight.  I haven't really been able to practice it, for obvious reasons," Damien said sheepishly.

"He can share my room if you need the space," I said, "And I have a tome for you."

"What's this?" Damien asked.

"I mean, read the cover.  This is a spell to Teleport to Manantis.  It's the other magic school I was talking about."

"Ah," Mirabelle said, "I think that school is better suited for children.  Maybe you should start there and transfer here at a later date."

I thought to myself, 'Well, they do have better magic in Manantis, but ok.'  Come to think of it, I have no idea how Manantis came to be so good.  Maybe, because you have to have a certain amount of knowledge (call it worldlyness) to access the spell, a certain level of skill to use the spell, and, I presume, a certain level of natural giftedness to enroll.  And, of course, you can access the worldspace (our word for demi-planes) from anywhere in Nirn, so I guess out of every magic user in the world the hundred or so students lucky enough to be enrolled there would have access to the best magic around.

After some discussion with Savos Aren, Tolfdir and Mirabelle they agreed to let him stay there and help him prepare for entry to Manantis, then allow him to come back when he was older to round out his education.  I made Damien promise he would come back to visit even after he got into Manantis.

Fenrir and I got on Shadowmere and trotted over to Windhelm, making it there by lunchtime.  Ulfric and his most trusted men were sitting down to a feast when we walked in.

"Stormblade!" Ulfric shouted, and the men all cheered, raising their mugs.

"What brings you here?" He asked as we neared.  He eyed the boy warily as he stepped down from his throne.

"How old are you, Ulfric?" I asked.  It might've broken the ice, because he looked a little confused by this.

"Uhh... 55," he replied.

I blinked.  Now I was taken aback, "Wow, really?"

"I was seven when they sent me to train with the Greybeards.  Nine years later I joined the Imperial Legion.  I was with them for five years before the White-Gold, in 175.  It's 210 now, thirty-five years later, but not my birthday yet.  Hard to believe it's been so long," he explained.

"Well, I'm 27.  Not my birthday yet either," I paused, "Old man."

"Ugh!" He reacted like I'd stabbed him in the side, jokingly.

"Anyway, the point is, why did you never take a wife?  Start a family?"

He blinked, "That's pretty personal.  Are you proposing to me?"

We were each taking our turns saying shocking things to one another.  I replied, "No.  I just wanted to know if you wanted to meet this boy."

Then I leaned in and whispered, "Teach him a little bit about courage and believing in something."

Ulfric pursed his lips, "Sure."

He stood up from his throne, "You're Fenrir, right?"

He nodded, meekly.

"I am Ulfric Stormcloak, son of Hoag the Great Bear of Eastmarch," he said.

"Wow, your dad was a bear?" Fenrir asked.

"No," Ulfric chuckled, "That's just a nickname.  Like your mother was called Stormblade during the campaign.  Or you might be called Shadow Wolf."

"Is that an official nickname?  A Jarl's decree?" I smiled.

"Alright.  You will be known as Shadow Wolf, Fenrir," Ulfric started to walk with him.

"I like it," he said, "But how can I live up to it?  I'm not brave like you or mom."

"Heroes are forged in the crucible of battle," Ulfric was leading the boy into his war room, "Courage will come with time.  The challenge is not to be without fear, but use your fear as a weapon."

"You're... not allowed to sit there," Jorleif said to me (Ulfric's steward).

I'd settled onto the throne as I watched them walk away without even thinking.

"C'mon, Jorleif.  If anybody was allowed up here, it would be me.  I'm just keeping it warm for him," I joked.

He raised an eyebrow sternly, folding his arms, "No.  Not allowed."

I groaned, getting up, "Sorry.  Accident."

"Jorleif!" Ulfric shouted from the war room.  Out of spite, as he left the room I sat back down.

The whole party came back into the room, Ulfric first.

"I think you make your intentions clear," Ulfric chuckled.

"Oh really?" I asked, "Truth be told, it was an accident.  I was just tired of standing."

He walked up to me, picked me up, and sat under me, laying me on his lap.

"That's better," he said, "I think I'm going to conduct business like this today.  You can keep me warm.  An old man would call for a blanket.  But, this is better."

I laughed, "Yes, it is."

"Fenrir, please, pull up a chair.  Between court proceedings your mother and I can tell you stories of old," Ulfric said.

"Wow!  Well what about the Rebellion?" Fenrir asked, sitting in a cushioned chair Jorleif got for him.

We sat there the rest of the day, taking in dinner and watching over court proceedings.  At the end of the day, Fenrir got a small bed and I slept with Ulfric.  In the morning, I packed up.  

"So, you're leaving, then?" Ulfric asked.

"I can't stay still for long," I said.

"You have a husband to get back to, right?"

"He's gone," I replied.

He shook his head, "What kind of man abandons..."

I stopped him, "It's not like that.  But, suffice to say, I don't have a husband to go back to."

"You can leave the boy with me.  I'll teach him to be a man," Ulfric said.

"Well, not forever, of course.  And don't you teach him to hate Argonians and Dunmer and such."

"Yeah, well.  You're a Redguard.  I think your influence has swayed me quite a bit.  My father never agreed with my views on the mer and others."

I strapped my weapons on.

"Hey, Destana..." Ulfric started.

"I'll be back," I said, back to him, "Don't worry about that."

I walked down to Fenrir's new room.

"Mom, are we leaving?" He asked, reaching for his stuff.

"You're going to stay here a little while," I said, "I'll be back in a couple weeks."

"Promise?" He asked.

"Promise," I replied, then I took something out of my pack.  I stood it up against the wall, "This is for you."

"This is the Sanguine Rose.  This is the staff your father... your other father gave to me before we were married.  You can use it to summon a daedra."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why give this to me?  Damien is the mage."

"Very soon he's going to learn to summon them without aid," I held it forward to him, "Use this and it summons a daedra that works for your dad.  You can give it a message to take to him.  If you ever need his help.  Also, it takes no skill to use a staff."

He took it, putting it with his stuff.

I hugged and kissed my boy, then I got on the road.  One more day, another day of adventuring.

 

So, I guess I no longer had an excuse to avoid pursuing this dragon problem.  So I did what any logical person would do.  I went over to Helgen.

 

Spoiler

Pretty vanilla this time around, except for Project Proteus shenanigans, of course.  And female Cicero.  She's much cuter.

 

Also, I messed with Ulfric's age a bit, stretching canon.

 

Sanguine did actually leave.  I have no idea where he went... So this is my way of explaining this.

 

Edit:  Also just realized how long this is.  My apologies.

 

Destana18.jpg

Edited by EnragedBard

11 Comments


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Nothing wrong with abit vanilla questing. As a side note: I like how you got Runa involved in the DB questline, making her the listener. Nice touch.

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Thank you.  At some point, I struggled with what a lot of people struggle with in this game:  Gigachad Dovakin can't do literally everything that happened this year and be leader of every faction.  That's also why I spaced it out over years, got the maximum number of "I don't want to lead" mods that are available.  Listener is kinda unavoidable, but I thought of a way around it.  Project Proteus is amazing!  I also really like DB and have two mods (that work together) to extend the questlines.  I thought it made more sense to not have the leader/most important member of the faction doing all the dirty work (though she does, but she's got Destana to protect her and do most the actual killing).

 

Also the fact that there's nothing to do after TG questline and doing all their radiant quests, I wanted to give a little flair to how the guildies feel about it.  

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I hear you. I am one of those "struggling people". Playing as the hero of everywhere and savior of everyone was never very appealing to me.

Sidenote: Is there a reason why you keep referring to your house in Rifton as Breezehome? I noticed that in several entries, including this one. I think that should be Honeyside. And yes, I am being quite nitpicky here. I am enjoying Destana's exploits regardless. ?

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Oh wow.  You are correct.  I don't know why I was doing that.  I don't think I've even set foot in Breezehome this playthrough.  I guess I never really looked at the label and they all sound kinda the same.  I'm gonna go back and change that for every time I used it now!

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6 hours ago, HM1919 said:

I hear you. I am one of those "struggling people". Playing as the hero of everywhere and savior of everyone was never very appealing to me.

Sidenote: Is there a reason why you keep referring to your house in Rifton as Breezehome? I noticed that in several entries, including this one. I think that should be Honeyside. And yes, I am being quite nitpicky here. I am enjoying Destana's exploits regardless.  ?

I had notice the Breezehome thing too but just chalked it up to creative license.

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Finally caught up it seems. Looking forward to the next chapters. Great story so far, pretty different from my usual playthroughs. While technically the whole game is just about killing I still can't keep myself from at least trying to be the good guy. Reading this makes me wanna try a different style ... but I know it wouldn't last long before my character would repent and change his ways. ^^ Still worth a try and the reformed criminal is at least a bit different, no? ^^

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9 hours ago, Talesien said:

While technically the whole game is just about killing I still can't keep myself from at least trying to be the good guy. Reading this makes me wanna try a different style ... but I know it wouldn't last long before my character would repent and change his ways. ^^ Still worth a try and the reformed criminal is at least a bit different, no? ^^

 

Yeah I usually end up playing this way.  I would describe it as generally neutral, being good when it suits me or when it furthers the goals of the factions I like, but sometimes when the chips are down just pure evil.  Usually standing up for the downtrodden and the little guys.  And Destana is distinct in that she hates slavery and people being oppressed (because of her past experiences) and is a Talos/Stormcloak fangirl.  I don't always do that.

 

Thanks for that Breezehome thing.  It's why real novelists professional novelists have editors.  Sometimes the details can slip away.

 

I'm probably not going to keep up the pace of 1/day like I was last week.  That was like a marathon.  But I was enjoying it.  Also this has greatly slowed my actual progress in the game (writing about it).  I'm excited to try out more mods!  But first I do DB, DG, and the main quest (finally).

 

Also, sidebar, I really appreciate everybody who is reading this.  And the comments.  

Edited by EnragedBard
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35 minutes ago, EnragedBard said:

I'm excited to try out more mods!  But first I do DB, DG, and the main quest (finally).

 

Aren't you worried about breaking your saves by adding more mods? I'm not doing that anymore, heck I'm thinking twice about updating mods as I seem to have the worst of luck in that regard. So many games got broken and abandoned due to adding mods to it as I went. (And yes I'm using FallrimTools to clean my saves.)

Also side question what's your frame rate like in the major cities with all those mods? That's another thing I always need to carefully balance. Especially adult mods seem inherently heavy on the system in cities (well that or badly coded or perhaps even both).

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Yeah, I am definitely wary about adding mods mid playthrough.  At this point I'm still summarizing the past, and a lot of the mods I plan on trying are sitting there untouched already in the world (they were a part of my initial load).  (Beyond Skyrim: Bruma and Reach, Moonpath, Moon and Star, Folkstead, Falskaar, Haafstead, Nyhus, Unslaad, Forgotten City)

 

But for the time skip I was very deliberate about adding mods.  I made two saves, and the second save I would add one or two mods at a time, let the MCM load, save and make sure nothing was broken before I continued.

 

My framerate isn't bad.  I don't actually have a full retexture or ENB or anything like that (I think this is what gets a lot of people).  And I'm running an Intel i7 2.60GHz, 16.0 GB RAM system.  It usually takes about 5-10 seconds to load a SL scene.  The most bad thing I have experienced is what I set Deadly Dragons to 3 dragons, and then I got an attack of three dragons doing breath weapons at the same time (and optional weather effects that I truned off afterward).  I could barely move.  And the druids from Organic Factions use a windstorm that destroys me and my framerate.

 

Also, side side note I forgot to mention, this is my first ever playthrough with Sexlab.  (And I didn't use many mods in the past either, nor have I played it since it was generally new).  I didn't know this existed a few months ago.  But Skyrim modding has really come a long way.  I think the coolest stuff right now is the VASynth stuff.  You can see I added the Synth premade voices to a lot of the SL stuff, Cutting Room Floor and etc.  

Edited by EnragedBard
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2 hours ago, EnragedBard said:

 

I'm probably not going to keep up the pace of 1/day like I was last week.  That was like a marathon. 

 

To be honest, I was wondering about that. Please make sure you pick a schedule you can actually maintain, while still enjoying the game as well as the writing.

 

2 hours ago, EnragedBard said:

 

 I'm excited to try out more mods! 

About the more mods part: You mentioned Delzaron's work a few entries ago, and that you would like to add some of his mods at some point to Destana's story. I looked over some old screenshots of previous games of mine, because something had rung a bell. And indeed I had tried two of D.'s mods before: A forsworn story and Dark Arena. Unfortunately both where rather short lived affairs, due to technical issues, that I was unable to fix. I will say that it's entirely possible, that it was due to something on my end. It was also quite a while ago (1,5years+) so it may have been fixed.

On the other hand: I recall reading a post here on LL regarding D.'s work that stated that his mods tend to be rather intricate and therefor unfortunatly prone to malfunctions. How accurate that assessment is I can not say.

I suppose what I am getting at is: Pls be careful when adding new things. I think it would be a shame if Destana's story would get cut short, due to technical issues.

In the end it's up to you, tough.?

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18 minutes ago, HM1919 said:

On the other hand: I recall reading a post here on LL regarding D.'s work that stated that his mods tend to be rather intricate and therefore unfortunately prone to malfunctions. How accurate that assessment is I can not say.

I suppose what I am getting at is: Pls be careful when adding new things. I think it would be a shame if Destana's story would get cut short, due to technical issues.

In the end it's up to you, tough.?

 

Thank you very much for that.

 

I have already done part of A Forsworn Story, and yes, it is VERY hard to get anything done (had to use a lot of console commands to bump things forward), the English is not great and everything is confusing.  But I do like a lot of what it does and I'm generally a fan of the stuff he's doing.  I actually talked with him about me editing his work a little and he seemed open to the idea.  But the conversation kinda dropped off.

Edited by EnragedBard
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