The Lost Cults, Part 6

[Khadir]

Just some idea I had ... (can be added to the mod as a book if wanted ) Still a work in progress.

 

The Lost Cults

A Compendium of Primary Sources on Covert, Folded or Destroyed Sects and Dædric Cults

Part 6

by Reminus Secundus Verrano

 

The following report, written in the troubled year of 3E121 by captain Serio Eterias of the Rihad city guard and found to this day in the archives of the same, mentions yet another of the seemingly infinite sects and splinter groups of the main Dibella worship. As with the other parts of this series the author will restrain himself on commenting, unless the context of the text passage is deemed to be unclear for modern readers and requires explanation.

 

------------------

 

To be filed as closed:

 

On the 11th of Midyear 121, a report of a blood bath some miles outside town was delivered to the Watch by a merchant coming from Skyrim. Fearing it might involve the citizens reported missing since last week I investigated myself, taking with me some of my men. Among them were lieutenants Carius and Jerena, our scribe Nadiya as well as [partially unreadable, likely K’Shara or K’Shera] as our scout.

 

At the scene of the crime we found nine severely mutilated bodies of the dead, three more dead with just minor wounds, as well as two wounded survivors. Ten of the twelve dead were women of all ages, while both survivors were elder men. Of the severe mutilations, the most common was the removal of legs, in eleven of the cases, two of them partially, followed by removal of the breasts, which all female victims had to endure, and followed by the partial or whole removal of arms, which was the case for four of the dead. [Note: The captain’s counts don’t match here. Likely, he didn’t consider breast removal as severe mutilation in his first count of nine such victims, just limb amputations] Of lesser injuries, all seemed to have endured damage around the genital area, with five of the dead women missing a large amount of the flesh to cuts and one of the surviving males having been gelded. All victims, surviving as well as dead, had lost or broken some teeth due to what appears as impacts with blunt weapons, clubs or fists. Some fingers, toes, ears and noses have been lost as well.

 

After searching the surrounding areas, all body parts aside from a lower arm with attached parts, some teeth and three fingers have been recovered. In addition we found an extraneous male gænitus [sic], which is assumed to belong to one of the attackers. Those were all gathered to be transported back to town and given there a proper burial, which happened.

 

The location itself seemed to be a place of worship for these men and women. It had man-sized stone statues of the obscene kind carefully arranged in a sunny grove and beds of sorts where the cult members could pursue their debauchery in full view of everyone else. A large amount of cultist gear was also found and gathered, with the full list following. We found 34 long objects of uncomfortable diameter and size, clearly meant for insertion into bodily orifices. Of those, twelve were of stone and another score of wood. We further found eight leather straps and harnesses of various kinds, for unknown use, but seemingly meant to be fitted around a human or mer’s body. Seven more implements of strange shapes were found, all of them of wood.

 

On the next day, and having no further clues as to the originators of the crime, we decided to visit a nearby Sanguine shrine, as they seemed the most likely of such an action. Both survivors accompanied us. The gelded one however was stricken with fever by the time we arrived and couldn’t help us. Having arrived there, we found just two people at the scene, one Imperial named Erismus Derbollo and a young woman called Astania, who was naked, heavily bound and on all fours serving as his stool at this moment, and claimed to be this man’s lover after freeing her of the gag in her mouth. Both claimed not to know anything about the crime, nor about the place of worship we just visited, and neither did the survivor recognize them. In accordance with guard regulations 107-69 [the captain most likely means 107-68 here, which deals with how the guards should approach dædric worshippers who aren’t guilty of any other crime, not 107-69, which deals with who is supposed to deal with fresh elephant dung in private taverns], we took them for questioning back to town. As the only misdemeanor on file for the man was mating with a mudcrab in public, which he to this day claims was a valid religious practice, and no file existed for the woman, we, again in compliance with abovementioned guard regulations, let them go with a stern warning not to cause civil unrest, damage or death with their practices.

 

Further investigation yielded no clues, and the case was decided to be closed after a sufficient waiting time of a full month.

 

Rihad, 19th of Sun's Height, 3E121, Serio Eterias, Captain of City Guards of Rihad

 

[signature of the captain]

 

I was there, and testify thereto. Jerena, Lieutenant of City Guards of Rihad

 

[signature]

 

Signed before me, Artuhiel, Count of Rihad’s notary, on the said day, month and year.

 

[signature]

 

[Grumpf]

Seems complete and perfect to me. Will do a good book in the fortress of the Amazons. Check CLS forum for other books as someone needs to make them so I can integrate them into the esp.

 

Cheers!

[Khadir]

Well, I think it can need some rephrasing and at least another paragraph with the content of "we asked the survivors, but they were too hurt to remember much", in some more words. Oh, and an idea how the cover could look like (with the letters having a bit of a metallic effect):

 

 

 

Still looking for comments and critique!

[Grumpf]

I'd darken the font for the cover as it's hard to read.

I'll stain it a bit too.

 

For the text: if you want hard review, here it is :

 

 

partially, followed by removal of the breasts, which all female victims had to endure-->

We do imagine men breasts were not removed… Although all victims were females, as the two men survived…

 

…five of the dead women… Aren’t they ALL dead? Why this precision?

 

…one of the surviving males… (male), aren’t they both survivors?

 

…All victims, surviving as well as dead… --> all victims

 

…given there a proper burial, which happened. -->Given a proper burial.

 

…with the full list following… --> Needs to be a list.

 

..visit a nearby Sanguine shrine.. -->THE nearby Sanguine shrine, they’re not that common…

…107-69, which deals with who is supposed…--> Excellent!

 

[Khadir]

I'd darken the font for the cover as it's hard to read.

I'll stain it a bit too.

 

For the text: if you want hard review' date=' here it is :

 

 

partially, followed by removal of the breasts, which all female victims had to endure-->

We do imagine men breasts were not removed… Although all victims were females, as the two men survived…

 

…five of the dead women… Aren’t they ALL dead? Why this precision?

 

…one of the surviving males… (male), aren’t they both survivors?

 

…All victims, surviving as well as dead… --> all victims[/quote']

 

Ok, I need to make this text slightly clearer. What was meant was: There were 10 dead females, 2 dead males (12 in total), and 2 alive, but badly hurt males. 14 victims, 12 of them dead.

 

 

…given there a proper burial' date=' which happened. -->Given a proper burial.

 

…with the full list following… --> Needs to be a list.[/quote']

 

That's actually part of me trying to get the reader the feeling that the text is a bit older, and thus the language and phrases used slightly archaic. So, "..., which happened." after the end of a declaration of action to mean "... We sent a few people to make sure it happened, too." And the "list" not being a list like we are used to, but a listing of items, still in text form.

 

..visit a nearby Sanguine shrine.. -->THE nearby Sanguine shrine' date=' they’re not that common…[/quote']

 

You're right, though not for quite this reason. It should be "visit the Sanguine shrine." The captain would just assume that the reader knows which (nearby) shrine is meant, since it was basically an internal document. 300-odd years later, the shrine might not even exist anymore ...

 

…107-69' date=' which deals with who is supposed…--> Excellent!

 

[/quote']

 

 

Glad you liked it. That's another of the semi-hidden details: "107-69" means basically 69th guard regulation from the year 3E107, but both the original author and the one who copied it into his book simply assume the reader already knows this.

[Grumpf]

You can add more admin non sense again, it never hurts!

 

Like the proper burial justify the purchase of a new handle for the regulated shovel model 001-02 for two septims and twenty-seven cents after accidental break against hard rock (accident model 23-burial-002) or something similar...

[Khadir]

Next version, rewritten the first part to be clearer about the amount of victims, and added a part where the captain recounts the testimony of the surviving victims.

 

The Lost Cults

A Compendium of Primary Sources on Covert, Folded or Destroyed Sects and Dædric Cults

Part 6

by Reminus Secundus Verrano

 

The following report, written in the troubled year of 3E121 by captain Serio Eterias of the Rihad city guard and found to this day in the archives of the same, mentions yet another of the seemingly infinite sects and splinter groups of the main Dibella worship. As with the other parts of this series the author will restrain himself on commenting, unless the context of the text passage is deemed to be unclear for modern readers and requires explanation.

 

------------------

 

To be filed as closed:

 

On the 11th of Midyear 121, a report of a blood bath some miles outside town was delivered to the Watch by a merchant coming from Skyrim. Fearing it might involve the citizens reported missing since last week I investigated myself, taking with me some of my men. Among them were lieutenants Carius and Jerena, our scribe Nadiya as well as [partially unreadable, likely K’Shara or K’Shera] as our scout.

 

At the scene of the crime we found twelve dead and two alive, but wounded people, all fourteen henceforth referred as victims. Nine of the dead had severely mutilated bodies, while the other three had just minor wounds and seemingly died of blood loss well after the assault. Ten of the twelve dead were women of all ages, the other two were men, and both survivors were elder men. Of the severe mutilations, the most common was the removal of legs, in eleven of the cases, two of them partially, followed by removal of the breasts, which all female victims had to endure, and followed by the partial or whole removal of arms, which was the case for four of the dead. [Note: The captain’s counts don’t match here. Likely, he didn’t consider breast removal as severe mutilation in his first count of nine such victims, just limb amputations.] Of lesser injuries, all seemed to have endured damage around the genital area, with five of the dead women missing a large amount of the flesh to cuts and one of the surviving males having been gelded. All victims, surviving as well as dead, had lost or broken some teeth due to what appears as impacts with blunt weapons, clubs or fists. Some fingers, toes, ears and noses have been lost as well.

 

The surviving victims, one Gerinomus Andrellus and one Brollios, couldn’t recount a consistent story about what happened. The few facts both remembered which matched were that at least a score of attackers, most of them heavily armed and armored, fell down upon them some time in the morning. The attackers had caught them by surprise and broke down what little resistance the victims could muster quickly, then began torturing and [the next three lines are illegible due to improper storage of the document], though there are no doubts that these statements are mere fiction induced by the horrors the victims had to endure. Also according to those witnesses, the attackers had beasts in their ranks, chiefly two big Orcs.

 

After searching the surrounding areas all body parts aside from a lower arm with attached parts, some teeth and three fingers have been recovered. In addition we found an extraneous male gænitus [sic], which is assumed to belong to one of the attackers. Those were all gathered to be transported back to town by lieutenants Carius and two more men and given there a proper burial, which happened.

 

The location itself seemed to be a place of worship for these men and women. It had man-sized stone statues of the obscene kind carefully arranged in a sunny grove and beds of sorts where the cult members could pursue their debauchery in full view of everyone else. A large amount of cultist gear was also found and gathered, with the full list following. We found 34 long objects of uncomfortable diameter and size, clearly meant for insertion into bodily orifices. Of those, twelve were of stone and another score of wood. We further found eight leather straps and harnesses of various kinds, for unknown use, but seemingly meant to be fitted around a human or mer’s body. Seven more implements of strange shapes were found, all of them of wood.

 

On the next day, and having no further clues as to the originators of the crime, we decided to visit the Sanguine shrine, as they seemed the most likely of such an action. Both survivors accompanied us. The gelded one however was stricken with fever by the time we arrived and couldn’t help us. Having arrived there, we found just two people at the scene, one Imperial named Erismus Derbollo and a young woman called Astania, who was naked, heavily bound and on all fours serving as his stool at this moment, and claimed to be this man’s lover after freeing her of the gag in her mouth. Both claimed not to know anything about the crime, nor about the place of worship we just visited, and neither did the survivor recognize them. In accordance with guard regulations 107-69 [Note: The captain most likely means 107-68 here, which deals with how the guards should approach dædric worshippers who aren’t guilty of any other crime, not 107-69, which deals with who is supposed to deal with fresh elephant dung in private taverns.], we took them for questioning back to town. As the only misdemeanor on file for the man was mating with a mudcrab in public, which he to this day claims was a valid religious practice, and no file existed for the woman, we, again in compliance with abovementioned guard regulations, let them go with a stern warning not to cause civil unrest, damage or death with their practices.

 

Further investigation yielded no clues, and the case was decided to be closed after a sufficient waiting time of a full month.

 

Rihad, 19th of Sun's Height, 3E121, Serio Eterias, Captain of City Guards of Rihad

 

[signature of the captain]

 

I was there, and testify thereto. Jerena, Lieutenant of City Guards of Rihad

 

[signature]

 

Signed before me, Artuhiel, Count of Rihad’s notary, on the said day, month and year.

 

[signature]