Riel Stories Epic

[Maharg67]

Riel Epic Stories

Zero 5.1[58]

Of the Orbis Observing

 

The Orbis observed the Empire start to seal up the Imperiarna Undercity, placing it under quarantine as Legionards set up sentry outposts and patrols. The Hubs became officially a place where resources could be brought into the Undercity in a special fashion.

 

The Orbis observed the flow of bonekynes, leaving the Imperiarna Undercity, heading for one place in Northern Cyrodiil as they changed from going in many directions. It was as if some powerful influence had begun to draw upon them.

 

The Orbis observed Imperial Blades, Imperial Rangers and other Imperial Special Forces trying to track down and deal with bonekyne swarms. Odd wary alliances were formed with tribal goblins, tribal humans and other folks that no alliance would normally would be formed with. Yet such alliances were also formed with tame goblins (gobbers) and tribal hoblins along with other 'friendlies'.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Epic Stories

One 17.1[59]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Emperor Uriel Septum VII awoke on the fairly impressive looking Dragonthrone that was far less impressive looking than the statues, wall tapestries and other ornamentation in the Dragonthrone Chamber. He had been dreaming and had glimpsed again the past, the present and even the future though less so than the others. Sitting up he looked upon the people of the chamber that lay 'inside' the amazing WhiteGold Tower. The tower, in a 'sense', was bigger on the inside than on the outside.

 

He spoke out. "How long did I sleep this time?"

 

Guardian HavenfaVi stood gracefully in her hooded robes and she bowed. "Sire, roughly two and a half weeks."

 

The Emperor sighed. "Has the false Emperor made any more attempts to breach the WhiteGold Tower?"

 

HavenfaVi nodded. "Yes but the efforts are almost habitual in nature."

 

The Emperor nodded. "What of the Guardians?"

 

The Guardian showed her sadness, frustration and anger in a quiet manner. "Sire, the attacks on the Guardians continue and two more have been forced to remain in the WhiteGold Tower for long term healing and safety. That means that 89 Guardians are down and only 35 are active. Of the 35 only 12 are at full strength, having been in reserve, but now they are suffering from attacks. The 13 Traitor Guardians have done a great deal of damage."

 

The Emperor sighed. "Yes, they will suffer for their crimes one day as will the false Emperor. Bring to me dancing girls, female acrobats and female bards to perform for me so that I might focus my thinking."

 

Then they came rushing gracefully into the room, all seminaked and beautiful in silken garments. Soon they were performing in different ways as the Emperor looked upon them with a strange expression on his face.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Epic Stories

One 18.1[60]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Emperor Uriel Septum VII, the real Emperor, sat upon the Dragonthrone in the Dragonthrone of the Grand Imperial Palace. It was a fortress that was close to the WhiteGold Tower itself where the False Emperor was under siege by the Empire. It was a secret war that was going on and one of a nature that would deeply surprise most people.

 

The Emperor looked tired despite the support given to him by the Dragonthrone. He spoke to the genuine Imperial Thirteen Guardians before him, all of which were exhausted and at least half of which carried noticeable damage. RevastoTi, the leader of the thirteen, spoke. "We have damaged most of the false Guardians, forcing them to remain in the WhiteGold Tower, including the one that thinks it is me. They are superclones and we are much stronger but they outnumber us, even the ones remaining free."

 

There were Blades, Imperial Bodyguards and Pledged Slayers in the chamber along with the Imperial Battlemagelord CoralaDo and her Imperial Battlemages. There were also the Imperial Wizards who were pledged not to the Arcane University, or Mages Guild, but directly to the Emperor. They were spread out in the big chamber but they were quietly prepared for trouble.

 

The Emperor sighed. "One wonders at the nature of the enemy (in the WhiteGold Tower) who is both so cunning, and yet so naive, so lust ridden and yet so puritanical of its followers."

 

RevastoTi, one of his hands being wrapped in bandage, spoke out. "What matters is that we Thirteen Guardians can better fight his evil minions. We ask for access to the Imperial Magical Armory and, most of all, to the Imperial Magical Artifact Arsenal."

 

The Emperor shook his head. "The real RevastoTi would not come asking for such. You are clones of the thing in the tower that has no compunction in exploiting those like you." He made a small hand signal and the false Guardians were fallen upon with a powerful magical spell that caused them to slowly drop to the marble floor and into quiet, safe, slumber."

 

The Emperor frowned softly. "I take it that (my son) Martin has been taken from Kvatch to the Cloud Ruler Temple."

 

The Imperial Secretary Ivanhoe Corris bowed gracefully before he spoke. "Sire, it has been done. Already he is looking into some of the deeper problems that confront us."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

The above post was added to, edited.

 

Riel Stories Epic

One 18.2[61]

Of Burning Deaths

 

The Emperor nodded, as if to his own thoughts, and responded. "What of the real Imperial Thirteen Guardians, has there been any new findings or do they remain missing?"

 

Corris responded. "Sire, they remain missing but we have found a small chamber where some journals were hidden, along with other items, with indications that they belong to Guardian SashiinTi (sister to RevastoTi). We are now trying to authenticate them lest they be a trick of the False Emperor. The Investigators Guild has been assisting us."

 

The Emperor nodded again. "Yes, our mysterious scholars with false backgrounds. Have you found out anything more about them?"

 

Corris nodded. "Sire, they do not appear to come from any known part of Tamriel or even of Nirn though it must be added that we, ourselves, know little of our world."

 

That was painfully true though the Empire had sent sailships as far as the Friendlies Archipelago, an expedition that was kept as a deep secret because of what it had found in the great chain of islands and a dozen minicontinents plus one actual continent. They had also sent expeditions to other areas, many returning with little more than reports of islands with out civilizations or ones with fairly primitive societies. Others had returned to be also declared secret. A few expeditions had been halted by divine intervention or by other powerful forces of differing natures.

 

The Emperor nodded. "Keep on observing them, quietly, and do the same with the Slayer Twins Olisha and Samsal."

 

The Imperial Secretary spoke with care for his words, as he always did. "Samsal visited the Investigators Guild Offices. There was also some kind of violent incident at the housement that the twins have begun to use as their own base of operations. The troubles, in the Slayers Guild, appear to be effecting the two."

 

The Emperor closed his eyes. "I must consider what you have said, unless you have more to add."

 

Corris shook his head. "Sire, not at this moment but I am sure more reports will be arriving soon. It appears that we live in interesting times."

 

The Emperor grinned mildly at the mention of an ancient Tamriellan curse.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 19.1[62]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Other chambers, in the housement, had led to some useful stuff and a good deal of junk or semijunk. The hoblins got to have all of it except a box of good quality cottage industry journals needed by the Slayers.

 

The forensic healer departed abruptly, returning to the Slayers Guild, but her departure was not mourned for she had proven to be only of moderate skill, and even less commitment, at her job. The forensic alchemist departed soon after but where he went was a mystery; he was stopped from stealing some expensive medicants as the fool left. One clerk was efficient, hard working, and remained while the other was lazy and was kicked out.

 

The tracker, with his two special dogs, was eager to get out and do something because he was bored and also because he wanted bonus pay to assist with some petty gambling debts. The twins paid off the debts for him but he would have to pay them off with far more time to do so than he previously had.

 

The Fighters Guild withdrew its guards because of the growing troubles with bonekynes at places that the guild had strong, long term, high priority contracts with. Generous compensation was paid to the twins. The guards were replaced with over twenty tough, skilled, experienced hoblin warriors who had fought many types of threats. There were even five shaman-warriors, a tribal version of battlemages.

 

The remaining clerk sat in his small room and quickly wrote down notes in a book keeping ledger, doing large calculations in his head. He studied the pages through exotic glasses of brass and glass, of multiple movable lens. He hummed softly to himself at times, at others tapping his fingers that was annoying to the invisible young woman who was there with him.

 

She spoke softly. "Oh, would you stop that, Charlie!" She shifted position where she sat on his lap so that he felt her against him and he smiled. "You are wicked, Charlie Atkins! I see you are adding to the wealth of the twins in some clever fashion that even they will find hard to discover."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Epic Stories

One 19.2[63]

Of Burning Deaths

 

"Of course, Narrinda!" Charlie grinned. "Or so I hope. Olisha, and Samsal, are sharp geniuses. I have managed to sneak another 1,000 goldworth into their accounts with the Imperial Banking Office. I have also managed to secretly pay some of their bills. The Septum Imperial accountancy system, the official one, is surprisingly efficient and hard to cheat with."

 

Narrinda, his nakedly invisible wife, shifted a little. "I know that much though being a book-keeper is not my focus. The twins have caught onto you."

 

Charlie frowned softly. "How do you know that?"

 

Narrinda sighed. "Because they are standing at the open doorway of this room."

 

Olisha, and Samsal, were standing there looking most relaxed but in the way of very dangerous predators. The two had half-smiles on their faces.

 

Olisha spoke. "Who do you serve and, yes, we can see you perfectly clearly, Narrinda!"

 

Narrinda slipped quickly off her husband's lap and slipped on a thin robe. "Well, so much for that supposedly infallible arcane spell."

 

"No spell is infallible!" Samsal smiled. "Narrinda, you are very attractive. Who do you serve!"

 

Charlie shrugged. "We serve you, though we are given instructions to assist you. We are not allowed to do anything that would even might harm you. We have been doing this a very long time. Like you, we are mageborn. We serve what is named the Mageborn Collective and the coming event known as the Mageborn Gathering. We know very little of either except that they are seeking to save we mageborn from a terrible fate, a fate worse than death."

 

Olisha nodded. "We have heard hints of both the Mageborn Collective and the Mageborn Gathering. Before the Splintering, when we wore different shapeforms and were married, we belonged to the Mageborn Collective. We thought it destroyed by the Splintering and the Scattering that followed it. Yet it is no surprise that it could have survived given the nature of we mageborn and our bizarre histories."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Epic Stories

One 19.3[64]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Narrinda, who had looked odd inside a floating robe, became visible. She was very attractive in an albino like fashion that was much like that of Willow. "Thank you for the lovely compliment, Samsal. We can get you another 10,000 in goldworth as tradable artworks, as finger-ingots, as imperial coinage, as expensive wines or much else."

 

Olisha and Samsal looked briefly into one anothers' eyes and then looked back to the other two. Olisha spoke. "We will leave it up to you except that we want at least 300 goldworth of top quality alchemy equipment and supplies."

 

Charlie gave a mild grin. "Oh we have over 10,000 goldworth worth of equipment, and supplies, coming separately. How does work go with the magical gateway?"

 

Samsal shrugged. "We are going through the large tomes that the Guardians sent us."

 

Charlie shook his head. "Amazing that the False Guardians should choose to assist you, and many others, that go against the purpose of their master, the False Emperor, who is besieged in the WhiteGold Tower by the real Emperor."

 

Olisha frowned softly. "We have heard strange whisper stories that make more sense, given that what you say is true, such as there are three Dragonthrones but only one of them is the primary while the other two are the secondaries. The trouble is that they are extremely difficult to identify, for they seem to be identical. If there are False Guardians, then there must be True Guardians."

 

Narrinda nodded. "Yes, all of them being mageborn. They are the Thirteen Imperial Guardians, sometimes known as the Imperial Thirteen Guardians, and they serve the Emperor but also a special pledge to keep the Dark Temple Zone sealed off. They have vanished with out a trace and have been gone for months, hence my statement about False Guardians serving people like you who are going against the agenda of the False Emperor, as far as we know."

 

There was a pause and then they turned to where the hoblin leader was standing with a troubled expression on his face. "I am sorry to interrupt but the Empire has managed to seal off most of the exit-entrances of the Undercity except for some special designated sections. A whole Legion has been called in to make sure the Grand Imperial Undercity remains quarantined."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

One of the previous Zero Posts (Chapter of Posts) has been changed to Story Two (Of Hawkhaven Challenges). Story Two will continue as Story One (Of Burning Deaths) continues but the emphasis will remain on Story One.

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

Two 2.1[65]

Of Hawkhaven Challenges

 

The five Demidivines could now consume the substances of Hawkhaven and not be transformed to be caught there in a trap that they could only escape with some difficulty. They went in their original gear to a local tavern where the local Hawkhaveners did not react at all to their particular garbs for they were not normal folk. This was supposedly for good reasons though those reasons were hard to understand even by the Demidivines. Five household nymphs came with them, in flexible metal armor, as bodyguards but only drank water.

 

Hawkhaven had always been slowly, steadily, expanding but there was more than 'one Hawkhaven'. They were in, it turned out, in a Hawkhaven less like the mortal realm of Nirn than other Hawkhavens were. There were some Hawkhavens more exotic than that one. Yet they were all Hawkhaven! All were expanding and, now or then, one more Hawkhaven would be added to Hawkhaven. Less often a Hawkhaven would vanish or two would merge into one or one would split into two.

 

RedSonja spoke after eating a bite of quite oddly nice tasting apple pie. "Hopefully we are ready to undertake our first task."

 

The 'oddly nice' taste of the tavern was reflected through out it, including the architecture, other items and the 'people'. There were ghosts, phantoms and other oddities amongst the customers but not the staff.

 

"Or defend Hawkhaven in some fashion." Xena shrugged. "Or do what ever else we must."

 

They had begun to study the tomes, as given to them by the LittleFatMan, only to find them to be the Hawkhaven Chronicles that were both exotic and puzzling in nature. The books were powerful, ancient, artifacts that reflected the mystical nature of Hawkhaven itself.

 

At that moment they heard the sound of cathedral burns ringing, a sound that seemed to be not just physical but of a psychic nature also. At once the customers began to depart and the staff began to close up the tavern.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

Two 2.2[66]

Of Hawkhaven Challenges

 

The army of bonekynes came swarming towards the fortress gate of Hawkhaven, both highly aggressive but also seemingly confused and oddly clumsy at times. Creatures tripped over things that did not appear to be there or crashed into each other for apparently no good reason. Now, and then, one would suffer a burning death. They came across a great plain of something that was almost a great grassy plain of ghostly appearance. The bonekynes came along a great, wide, highway made of what looked like flat clay fish scales of large size.

 

The Hero Demidivines, now in divine magical armor of metallic nature, fired off magical arrows of elemental energy. They did so from the high battlements of the tall, very thick wall. Pulling back the string of each elemental bow caused elemental magic arrows of sparks, flame, solar and others to form out of air and these were shot at the bonekynes. The bonekynes exploded, burned, died but the five women felt no sense of achievement for it was a one sided massacre.

 

Exotic humans, and other humanoids, of Hawkhaven were archers shooting arrows or battlemages hurling magic from mage-weapons or other fighters using typical Tamriellan type devices. Yet a small minority used odd weapons, as not related to Tamriel, such as bolt-action rifles and bizarre looking rayguns.

 

On the battlements were animated warrior statues, of massive hulking status, that hurled great metal balls or fired off great arrows or other projectiles that exploded. They were very much like ancient Aldmer warriors in general appearance.

 

Gabrielle spoke out just before she shot off an elemental energy arrows of solar burning. "There is much more to learn about Hawkhaven if we are to be successful."

 

It was a grand understatement!

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67