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As we watched she managed to skilfully disarm one of her opponents, flicking his katana away with the gleaming edge of Dragonbane and knocking him to his back. The other Blade, stepping in to strike missed entirely as Viconia gracefully flipped off the ground with her free hand, ducking under the strike and sweeping t... |
The numbers of Blades in the fortress had grown over the previous fortnight and now over fifty of them moved and training and ate within the heated halls. They slept, trained and rotated on sentry duty over the valleys below, ensuring that nothing and no one would approach unannounced. Messengers from below would come... |
What snippets of information we heard or were provided were troubling. In the wake of the murders of the Emperor and his heirs, unrest was increasingly building throughout the Empire. Plots, both imaginary and real were being investigated and fingers pointed in all directions at those deemed responsible. The destructi... |
The list of suspects seemed to be dwindling rapidly but Jauffre’s mood in particular was souring as day after day. Hundreds of messages and notes from other Blades did little more than strike names from the list of those potentially responsible. As of yet there was no clue on who exactly was the guilty party. While th... |
The Elder Council was stagnated and wracked with indecision. Where they should’ve been choosing a leader to take over in the growing crisis they instead bickered and jostled for power and position amongst themselves. Individual counts, dukes, kings and rulers politicked and quarrelled, spent favours like septims and b... |
And everywhere the cracks were forming. Blackmarsh, ever fractious and brought into the empire with treaty and diplomacy was already looking to secede. Now that the firm rule of the Emperor was no longer holding them back against the depravations of Dunmer Slavers of House Dres the beginning of a militia or resistance... |
The threads were unravelling and what was worse, the armoured might of the Legions remained behind the stone walls of their fortresses and did nothing. Some even going as far as reducing the number of patrols throughout the countryside. Without the authority of the Emperor or someone nominated to lead in his stead the... |
So I found myself becoming increasingly interested in training and learning my new skills and abilities just that little bit more with every passing day. Under the tutelage of the Blades I knew I was growing even more lethal with a sword until I could my own against some of the best within the Empire. It was at the po... |
"Viconia, Kaius. The Grandmaster requests your presence." |
I narrowly parried a strike from Belisarius’ blade centimetres from my throat and he nodded in the recruit’s direction. "Best you don’t keep the old man waiting." He said simply, sheathing his sword in the same liquid movement that I doubted I could ever match. |
Viconia disentangled herself from her own practice session, leaving her sparring partners to continue on against each other and making our way up the short steps towards the oaken doorway. We had spent little time together since our arrival but there was still that strange layer of familiarity between us from the few ... |
We entered the hall and made our way quickly through the carved hallways to the officers’ quarters and where Jauffre made his study. The pile of messages and written sheets of parchment were strewn across the desk that he was habitually seated behind. Every so often one of the recruits would be seen with armfuls as th... |
He looked up as we entered, the muffled sound of our armour barely echoing in carved stone rooms. It looked as though he had barely slept since our rapid journey from the priory but his mind was no less sharp for that. |
"Ah. Grab a seat you two." He motioned to the several seats that were placed seemingly at random throughout his office. A barely slept in bed lay pressed to the far wall but other than it, the desk and the chairs there was nothing in the room other than piles of written parchment. "I have news regarding our mutual ene... |
Our attention was immediately gained and we took up seats facing him. Wordlessly Martin appeared in the doorway and took up a seat as well against the wall, a pair of books that he had obviously been studying in his hands. |
"We have finally managed to track those responsible not only for the death of the Emperor and his sons, but also for the attack on the Priory and the destruction of Kvatch." |
Seeing that he had both our undivided attentions he continued, shuffling a few of the sheets out of the way and leaning back in his chair. "They call themselves the Mythic Dawn and they are a cult who worships Mehrunes Dagon." |
"Mehrunes Dagon?" Viconia asked, and we all realised that she was unfamiliar of the gods and demons of the surface world. |
"The Daedric Prince of destruction, bloodshed and betrayal. You both have been to his realm when you closed that portal and as far as what we can tell these cultists are seeking to turn all of Mundus into the same. So you better than anyone understands what fate lays in store for us if they manage to succeed." |
I swore under my breath. "But how in Oblivion’s name do they hope to achieve something like that?" |
Martin spoke up this time, looking almost as tired as Jauffre and I realised that he had been working just as hard as the aged spy. "By killing the Emperor and stopping the Dragonfires burning for the first time in history." |
"That sounds absurdly simple." |
There was a sigh from Martin and he rubbed his eyes. "Unfortunately in theory it is. In practice though you would have to kill the entire line of the Emperors and ensure that a coronation couldn’t take place to relight the Dragonfires. With the loss of the Amulet of Kings there is no way that the ritual could work, ev... |
"The Amulet of Kings," He continued. "is old. Exceedingly old. Saint Alessia was granted it by Akatosh who, as the legends and stories go placed a piece of his soul and bound it together with hers to forge the central stone. Since then the blood and soul of every reigning Emperor is apparently bound in the Amulet and ... |
"So this bond is now broken with no way to renew it unless we can find the Amulet." |
"Exactly. On top of that it is the only thing at this time that could stop the Empire from fracturing apart and war breaking out. Only those of Septim Blood or suitable to rule can wear the Amulet and as such only someone wearing the Amulet will be able to be unanimously recognised by the Elder Council. That we believ... |
"So how does this assist in these daedra worshippers in bringing about the end of the world?" Viconia’s interest was flashing behind her eyes now and I felt uncomfortable with the way she seemed entranced at the darker side of magicka. |
"The barriers are already weakening, gradually decaying from the level they have been reinforced to over the past millennia. Oblivion Portals such as the ones that destroyed Kvatch have been known to be possible, but never for anything longer than a few minutes at most. With the barrier decaying conjurers are going to... |
I violently spat a curse and Jauffre nodded with agreement. |
"How long are we looking at before all hell literally breaks loose?" |
Jauffre and Martin shared a glance that did nothing to sate the growing fear in my belly. "About eighteen months. Two years at the very most." Martin eventually replied. "Once the barriers are broken, the creatures of Oblivion will flood into this world and Mundus will simply become part of that accursed realm." |
"So we find the Amulet, get you to the Temple of the One and relight the Dragonfires to save the world?" |
"You make it sound overly simple but yes, that’s the general plan." |
Viconia and I shared a look and I could see the burning hunger of the awaiting challenge in her gaze. "Where do we come into all this? We’re not spies and I’ve never been good at unravelling mysteries." |
"Lucky for you, you don’t have to worry about investigating these cultists. The entire might of the Blades is currently searching for them wherever they may try to hide and thankfully we have been given our best lead in the Imperial City. Young Baurus; the survivor of the Emperor’s bodyguards has managed to unearth a ... |
"And you need us to help him find them?" |
Jauffre’s head shook. "I’m not sending you there to investigate... I’m sending you to exterminate. Normally I would rely on the Imperial Watch or the Legion for these sort of activities but without the support of the Elder Council my authority is hindered. There are too few of us to spare in this initial phase but onc... |
Over the next few hours the four of us plotted and discussed what was to come. Viconia and I were to travel to the Imperial City and meet Baurus within a Boarding House in the Elven Gardens District. One of the many hundreds of safe houses scattered throughout the Empire it was here that Baurus had been living and wor... |
As the journey was short we didn’t take much, leaving with little more than our armour, weapons and clothes and carrying very little food and water. Jauffre had provided us with a fairly substantial amount of septims to pay for lodging and supplies while within the city for however long that it might take. Once we had... |
The plan was simple but simple plans always seemed to work better and had higher chances of success. Once morning broke over the horizon Viconia and I said our farewells and began the trek to the south. Neither of us were impressed with riding again, our bodies remembering all too well the agony of the journey through... |
As the waters of Lake Rumare drew closer so did the towering, sprawling majesty of the Imperial City. Gleaming walls of white stone and marble rose spectacularly into the sky and I watched with a grin at Viconia’s open expression of astonishment as we boarded one of the many barges to cross the calm waters of the lake... |
The Imperial City was unlike anything to be found in all of Tamriel, and judging from Viconia’s expression; in the Underdark as well. A curtain wall six kilometres in diameter and thirty metres tall, formed a perfect circle that carved out a section in the island it was built into. However as we drew closer to the nor... |
Cities such as Anvil and Leyawiin could lay claim to being the largest cities in Cyrodiil and even the wider empire with over a 120,000 souls living in and around their walls. Far away Daggerfall too had claim to a massive population of an estimated 110,000 but they were nothing to the incomprehensible numbers on City... |
Only the most affluent and well-off could live within the city walls for any period of time. The wealthy could afford to rent apartments within the Elven Gardens or Talos Plaza Districts but only the most exceedingly rich could ever possibly hope to own anything more within the walls. Even inheritance was no guarantee... |
But the Imperial City was the heart of the Empire, the city where-all-roads-led. The sprawling multitudes and the secured trade routes both by land and sea by the might of the Legion and Imperial Navy ensured that goods from throughout Tamriel could be found within its bustling marketplaces. Arms and armour from orcis... |
Outside of the walls, the powerful and wealthy held little sway as the thousands who called the city their home were born, raised, matured, had families, grew old and died. Many would live their entire lives in the shadow of White Gold Tower, never leaving the Isle and the bustling throngs that swarmed over it. Within... |
It was this world within a world that Viconia and I soon found ourselves in, the press of bodies heavy around us as we moved in our full armour and feeling uneasy with the sudden press of the crowds after so long within the wilds of Cyrodiil. Viconia was full of wonder at such a place even as she recoiled from the mas... |
We threaded our way through the streets and through the enormous gatehouse on the North Eastern side where the pristine path lead from the Imperial Prison to the central ring around the base of White Gold Tower. The four gates located around the walls were heavily crowded by buildings built up over the centuries but t... |
While the docks brought in trade from throughout the Empire, the Bridge brought uncountable tonnes of food and supplies from the counties of Cyrodiil, each bag and wagon ensuring that famine and starvation was only barely held at bay for the city. It took almost the entire harvests of counties Cheydinhal, Bravil, Kvat... |
It was in this place of teeming numbers and appearance of a humanoid anthill that Viconia and I had come to find and kill a tiny nest of a dozen or more. Such a task should have been impossible but simply served to show the incredible skill and ability of the Empire’s spies. |
Our destination was a seemingly innocuous affair in a city of wonders. While fastidiously maintained by a literal army of street sweepers and cleaners there was no hiding the fact that this particular series of streets within the Elven Gardens district were rougher than most. It was the little details of weather beate... |
It was here that we found the Boarding house run by an associate of the Blades and that possibly provided the only safe house for the members of the order in the entire city. Solidly built and smelling of unwashed bodies and stale alcohol there was little to recommend to the place. However, in an area frequented by th... |
Until the early hours of the evening we waited within the dining room of the boarding house, having arranged for individual rooms and resting comfortably. The advice from Jauffre was to arrive, make ourselves known and simply wait for Baurus to show himself before rendering whatever assistance we could. Luther Broad w... |
We settled in and made ourselves at home, shedding most of our equipment in our rooms and remaining in the dining area near the lit hearth that left the room somewhat stuffy from the temperature. From the chill of the southern Jerals it was a pleasant experience despite how I kept myself armoured while I sat at the ba... |
Viconia found herself drawn into one of the various games being played through the room. The Boarding house seemed to be a popular place for the working classes of the City, and a glance around the room showed over two dozen individuals from a variety of trades and professions. Masons, carpenters, smiths, guildsmen, c... |
As the evening approached the numbers inside seemed to grow and more and more men and women of all races began to finish their shifts or duties of the day and slink into their favourite watering holes. Meals began to be served as the fifth hour tolled across the city from the dozens of chapels and churches across the ... |
My thoughts were broken by the portly form of Luther sliding a pair of copper pieces across the surface of the bar with a meaty hand. |
"Ere’s your change." He growled, staring at me for just long enough that I was forced to look at him for a moment. |
For the second that our eyes met he frowned and darted his eyes in the direction of the door and not for a second did a single muscle move or his expression change. I hadn’t ordered or paid for a drink in over an hour and knew a message when I saw it, turning my head slightly and looking across to the entrance and see... |
There was nothing about any of them that were of the slightest interest, each no different from the two dozen others that were already frequenting the dining hall and the rest of the boarding house. Mumbling some half-hearted form of response, I dragged the pair of coins over to myself, pocketing them in one of the fe... |
For a second my eyes alighted on the young looking Redguard, skin a dark bronze and looking no different from the dozens of other labourers that filled the city. In a second I recognised him even despite the fact that the last time I had seen him was fully dressed in his Akaviri splint mail armour and drenched in the ... |
Seemingly at random he seated himself at the bar, dragging up a stool beside me and motioning to Luther and one of the various alcoholic drinks arrayed in casks and barrels along the wall. A handful of coins appeared, and vanished into Luther’s hand before a flagon slid in front of him as though conjured. |
Baurus nodded his thanks, taking a mouthful of the potent mixture frothing in his cup and seemed to talk without even moving his lips. |
"I’m going to get up in a minute and walk out the back." He said, his voice travelling no further than my ears as he simply seemed to go about relaxing at the bar. "That guy in the corner wearing the brown shirt and leather boots who came in after I did will follow me. I want you to follow him..." |
I swung around on my stool, looking about the room quickly and picking out the man that Baurus had spoken of. The short, grey haired Breton seemed to be intently staring at Baurus with a nervous energy that his attempts to appear relaxed did little to dissipate. To any of those in the room it appeared as though I had ... |
Turning back around I raised my own flagon and drained a sizable amount of the remainder, before making a show of wiping my chin clear of dregs on the back of my gloved hand. "Ready when you are." I breathed, placing the mostly empty flagon back on the bar. |
Baurus’ voice was a whisper that no one other than me could hear in the room. I still couldn’t see any hint of his lips moving. "Good. Wait for him to follow me. I want to see what he’ll do." |
He knocked back the rest of his own drink in a single, well-practiced motion, sliding the flagon and its foamy remnants across the bar and standing with all the appearance of needing to relieve himself. There was no trace of the man that I had seen in the catacombs and nothing that revealed that the young Redguard mov... |
The Breton moved with almost a comical haste, rising as soon as Baurus had dropped out of sight and almost elbowing his way through the press in the room between him and the door. I watched from the corner of my eye as he moved, waiting for him to walk behind me before pushing my mostly empty flagon across the bar and... |
Viconia too watched our disappearance with hooded eyes, staying at her seat after I gestured to her to wait where she was. I somehow knew that if things got out of hand that she would have my back and in a place where a barroom brawl was almost guaranteed I knew that I could rely on her. Quickly but carefully I made m... |
The smell of musty damp and leaking casks and barrels of alcohol immediately hit me as soon as I crossed the threshold, the several short flights of stairs lit at every corner by a closed oil lantern where they angled away to the left. The cellar of the Boarding house was where the numerous reserves of food and alcoho... |
It was less than a dozen metres long but much wider, filled with rows and rows of bottle racks, stacked wine casks, and barrels of salted meats, beers, meads and other various varieties of alcohol. Of Baurus there was no sign, he somehow managing to disappear into the room with greater effectiveness than with a spell ... |
I made no sound as I stepped down from the last step and onto the cellar’s stone floor despite wearing more than thirty kilograms of armour and chainmail. My vampiric nature and the fortnight of practice moving and sneaking in my equipment at Cloud Ruler allowed me to almost materialise within the room behind the fran... |
His mouth hung open for a second, realising that he was not only found out but trapped in the cellar with my armoured form between him and escape. For a moment he almost appeared to consider running or attempting to make it past me before his panic truly set in and he began to whisper short sharp syllables that felt l... |
Exploding into action at the first sounds I rushed forward the few short paces between us as his daedric armour began to materialise around him with every crawling word. For a second he almost appeared to look triumphant as the familiar snarling mask consumed his face with its otherworldly appearance and an obsidian b... |
With his nose jammed through his brain the spell failed, armour fading and dissolving away like all those others Viconia and I had faced. The bloody and ruined form of the would-be assassin was left looking extremely mortal and frail in death. |
Baurus appeared from between a pair of shelves containing rows of wine bottles, looking over my handiwork with some distaste at the way I had taken care of his would-be assassin. "Overkill is not something you believe in, is it?" he remarked as he saw the ruin of the man’s features. |
"I’m fairly certain that if they’re dead, they can’t complain about it." I replied bitterly. "Besides, I’m not one for playing fair with daedra worshippers." |
"That you are not." He strode over to me and shook my hand with gratitude. "I am glad to see you but you seem to have a knack of catching me at a bad time." |
"Nothing I can do about that." |
"I know, but you can help me do something about this." He motioned to the fresh corpse even as he knelt over it and began patting down pockets and sleeves. "I don’t think Luther will appreciate having to clean this up." |
Motioning to the far end of the cellar he began dragging the body by the armpits. "There’s a grate down there that drops down into the sewers. Luther uses it to dispose of any meat that’s gone bad so it’s perfect for getting rid of this fellow." |
Between the two of us we managed to manhandle the corpse and stuff it down the chute into the darkness beneath the city. Rats and other creatures that I didn’t particularly want to think about would not take long in disposing of the body and there would be little evidence of the man’s fate. Even if the corpse was foun... |
Together Baurus and I returned back to the dining hall and Luther noticed the distinct way how three men had gone into the basement and only two had returned. He didn’t even spare a sideways glance at the two of us and provided even less of one as I nodded once to Viconia and waited for her to finish the current round... |
Without a word he motioned us inside his room, locking the door behind us and moving over to one of the several sturdy appearing cupboards built along and against the walls. Each were large enough to hide in comfortably and it didn’t surprise me when he opened one, shifted some clothing aside and pushed the false pane... |
Carefully hidden and completely unnoticeable on the floor that it was situated a secret room had been built in the decades or centuries past. It was hidden in one of the many crawlspaces that allowed the collections of plumbing, pipework and ventilation to snake through between rooms in most Ayleid constructions. With... |
Closing the cupboard doors and the false panel behind us I felt the tingle of magicka as the enchantments sealing the room ensured that any sound, spoken or otherwise would go no further than its confines. It was a consistent hum in the back of my mind that was felt as though preceding a headache but I knew that for t... |
"Now that we have some privacy I guess it’s about time that I let you know exactly what is going on." he said, after introducing himself to Viconia. "This evening’s event has unfortunately pushed things over a precipice somewhat and we are now running out of time." |
He motioned for us to take seats in the tiny room, Viconia lifted herself up onto a chest mounted to the wall and somehow managing to appear completely at ease but quivering with a dangerous energy at the same time. I leant against the wall next to a suit of Avakiri armour and waited for Baurus to seat at the desk in ... |
"As Jauffre has certainly told you, the Assassins who killed the Emperor and his sons were part of a daedric cult known as the Mythic Dawn. I’ve been tracking their agents in the City, but they have obviously noticed. The Imperial City so far appears to be their primary recruiting location but the members of this cult... |
"Jauffre said that they were good at covering their tracks." |
Nodding sombrely, he clenched his fist and began rapping his knuckles against the wood of the desk. "They are. Too damn good. Unlike most cults they don’t start as a little club banding together in the sewers or meeting for book readings or twisting sermons to suit their own interpretations. They are a lot more esoter... |
Viconia’s eyes shone in the darkness, glints of malice and strangely familiar with such situations. "How do they recruit members?" |
"With these." With a heavy thump he pulled a trio of books out from a drawer and lightly dropped them on the desk. "These are the Commentaries on the Mysterium Xarxes, written by the leader of the cult; Mankar Camoran." |
"I don’t understand." Viconia said, running her fingers lightly over the surface of one of the books and feeling the vellum as she lightly flicked through the pages. |
"There are four of these books, together they apparently show the way to the home of the Cult, but it is extremely difficult to get all four. Books one and two are easy, and as far as any of our investigations have found there are copies in nearly every bookstore and market across the entirety of the Empire. Book thre... |
"And book four?" I asked, picking one of the books up and briefly leafing through the pages and trying to discern what appeared to be the words of a madman scrawled throughout it. |
"Book four can only be given by a member of the Cult, and only after you manage to find the location by translating and discerning it from the first three. An associate of mine in the Arcane University is an expert in daedric cults and has my other copy of the third book. Tar-Meena may be an argonian but she’s got a s... |
"So if we get our hands on the fourth book, we can find out where their home is and then Viconia, myself and a group of Blades can go and destroy them?" |
"Exactly, but hopefully retrieving the Amulet of Kings in the process. Without it all we’ve done is buy ourselves time before the end." |
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