Riel Stories Epic

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 20.1[67]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Olisha, and Samsal, went out into the Shades and were soon meeting confused, worried, Shadefolk. There was the sudden Imperial Quarantine declared over the Grand Imperial Undercity, the steadily growing number of burning deaths and other factors of concern to the people in that sector.

 

They met Dogget, another Guild Investigator, taking statements from folks.

 

There was also a Sheriff of the Shades Sheriffs Office who shrugged before stating that her office was going to be much more cooperative, and friendly, from then on. It was clear that some strong pressure had been put on the Shades Sheriffs Office to make them change their attitude.

 

They were in a typical Undercity tunnel except that there was an Aldmer wall section quite close that was quite different from the Imperial construction work around it.

 

Samsal was examining the remains of a burning death victim, a mature aged woman who had no record all of being a skooma addict. Forensic magic was often tricky to use but he had gained some odd clues to what had happened. He looked up at Olisha and spoke. "The strange skooma, could it be part of an experiment of some kind? Could it be an attempt to halt the burning deaths?"

 

Olisha, like Samsal, was in traditional Slayer leather armor. She looked thoughtful for a moment before she spoke. "Why do you say that?"

 

Samsal spoke words with care. "More survived of the poor woman than might be normally expected. She appears to have been suffering from some kind of malady common to the Shades that causes some light reddish rash, some nausea and other 'light symptoms'. Shaders call it the Red Rashes. If the Red Rashes is a..."

 

Dogget, a rather hard eyed man who gave the impression he had seen many things mere mortals should not, was standing in a leather jacket and using a new kind of technomagical device known as a camera-box. He had already taken four greyish photographs, as they were called, and had taken one 'processed' one out of the device. It showed the burned remains of the woman, the two Slayers, the Sheriff, some other people in the background and the woman's ghost floating translucently quite close to her burned remains.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 20.2[68]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Olisha, and Samsal, could see the ghost but no others in the immediate area. Olisha turned to the dead woman's spirit and spoke to her as if doing so was an everyday occurrence. "Do you know what took your life?"

 

The ghost turned her head to look at Olisha with a vague expression of surprise. "You can see me!" Then she frowned. "You are of the cursed blessing, of the mageborn who should not exist, and you are ancient but young. A burning death took me for the Red Splash Plague, that never truly went away, is returning. The plague merely slept inside its many living victims in the Shades, the infestation passing through the generations. I must go soon for the Divinity is calling me for judgement."

 

Olisha was not really surprised by what the recently killed woman said. "Have you used skooma?"

 

The ghost looked offended, in a vague sort of way. "I have never been an addict of skooma or any other substance of addiction, not even alcoholic drink. Whisper stories spoke of somebody offering special half price skooma but most people considered it a trick. Only a few went willingly to seek it where it was supposed to be found close to the Dark Temple Zone. Others vanished. Now, that I am dead, I see it important that you go to the Good Freshing Temple close to, but not inside, the Dark Temple Zone. The Thirteen Divines bless your troubled soul."

 

Then the ghost, of the woman, was gone (to be judged by the Divinity).

 

Dogget spoke. "We have a thin X-File on the Good Freshing Temple. It was not officially classed as a dark temple and the cult that used it was officially classed in the same manner. The Good Freshing Following offered a chance of true pure immortality, a blessing of better than natural life. Lots of folk suspected it of being a front for a necromancer circle, or cult, but such was never even close to being proven. Emmet Quando was one of the leaders of the cult but not its primary one. The Investigators Guild has restarted to investigate Emmet Quando. We would appreciate having a chance to look at his housement, that is the one that you have set up as your base of operations."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 20.3[69]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Samsal stood up and looked hard at Dogget. "What do you know of the mysterious Emmet Quando?"

 

Dogget gave a smile, as if trying to mollify the Slayer. "That in reality there was no such man named Emmet Quando! Yet many actions were carried out under 'his' name. There was the ownership of property, the hiring of people for specific purposes, the payment of imperial taxes and much else. In theory he was in important leadership roles in many organizations that, in most cases, never existed. The role of Emmet Quando was to disguise, to divert, to create cover stories for a great range of activities including the hidden movement of imperial coinage and even secretive research projects."

 

Samsal frowned harder but it was Olisha who spoke. "How did you manage to gain so much information on this man who never existed?"

 

Dogget responded honestly. "I can not speak of all of the details but the Investigators Guild has been working with the Imperial Eye on this case. We suspect that the identity of Emmet Quando may have been linked with secretive activities of the Imperial Thirteen Guardians. In theory they always served the Emperor, the Imperial Court, but may have also had other loyalties to an ancient pledge. In any case the Emperor began to suspect their true motives and actions but they vanished before he could question them with the use of the Dragonthrone's special abilities."

 

It was extremely difficult to deceive the Emperor's truth sense when the Emperor (or Empress) sat upon the Dragonthrone.

 

The Guild Investigator went on speaking. "The False Guardians then began to act. We have company!"

 

A company of paramilitary Legionards marched past with their magical armor and weapons gleaming new and ready for trouble. Amongst the standard fighters were battlemages, battlehealers and other specialists. The Legionards used big backpacks but also had mules with large panniers of equipment and supplies. They also had a fair amount of steammagic weaponry and a few hulking metallic golems and slimmer, shorter, golemites.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Robert55]

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 20.4[70]

Of Burning Deaths

 

When the Legionards had gone past, Olisha spoke. "Those are fake Legionards though a goodly effort was made to disguise them. They move wrong and their are many inconsistencies of equipment and armor. The mules are fake mules, are animagols (animal shaped golems?). The Legionards are not even human but are perhaps a kind of humagol (false human golem?). That is with the exception of the mages and battlemages, the mages probably being in control of the synthetic beings. I have doubts that the Empire would use such entities for they can be unreliable, even dangerous, to employ. They could easily be heading towards the Dark Temple Zone or an area close to it."

 

Dogget shrugged. "There are many whisper stories, and unofficial reports, of the corrupt Imperial Guilds increasingly using such creations. There is a thick X-File on the subject."

 

Samsal turned to the Sheriff. "You need to send a message to others, alerting them to what is happening."

 

She frowned, went to say something and visibly thought better of it before signaling a constable to come over from where four constables were keeping eye on the dead woman's traveling group of family and friends. The Sheriff was mageborn but she must have known that Samsal and Olisha were far more dangerous than she was. Nor would they put up with any foolishness from her. The constable was soon racing off but not alone for even the Sheriff's people never went alone; three constable rode tunnel ponies away.

 

It was at that moment that Olisha had a closer look at the section of Aldmer wall, as built by the Grand Aldmer. She walked over it and examined Aldmer symbolisms and word-symbols of great complexity and subtleness. They were largely beyond her understanding or beyond her current interest but one symbol stood out. It was of an ambiguous figure burning inside a symbolic circle and, somehow, she knew it was of a burning death. Turning, she soon realized that the symbol was directly across from where the woman had suffered a burning death.

 

Olisha looked into Samsal's for a long moment, both nodded almost as one, and then she turned to Dogget. "We need to find out if that image triggered the burning death of the woman and if other burning deaths have been instigated by other Aldmer power symbols."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

Zero 6.1[71]

Of the Orbis Observing

 

The Orbis observed Willow (in her special courtyard) receiving cats, dogs, beggars and other lifeforms drawn to that area that was somehow 'bigger inside than outside'. Even peaceful bonekynes came, being called nobikynes, and were sent off to Sanctum after getting some food, water and fussing over. In their own way, each lifeform gave over to Willow some information of value. Some humans, orcs, or others who came to her transformed but went back out into the city as if with new purpose; they were rejuvenated and with new resources to call upon.

 

The Orbis observed the hoblins, in the Slayers' Housement, opening walls to find blocked off stone chambers and just cave like areas. Hoblins were traditional underground dwellers and were gifted at finding secret, hidden, places. Then the Slayer Battlemages joined the search, through the housement, when magical wards were found that were only non dangerous because they had run out of magicka charges. Then they found the ancient cave chamber with chalk drawings on the walls, and ceiling, protected by ancient faded magics that could still be felt as a light tingling, indicating that they had been very powerful indeed. It was a place of the very mysterious FirstOnes that only very few people even knew had existed; the FirstOnes had been in Tamriel for hundreds of thousands of years even before the Aldmer arrived there. Some images, of various shapeforms taken by shapechanging FirstOnes, were shown suffering from burning deaths.

 

The Orbis observed that the attempt, to seal off the Grand Imperial Undercity, led to less bonekynes appearing to cause trouble in other parts of Tamriel but the flood had only been halved, at best, though it stopped growing in volume. The Empire tried to discover the destination of the bonekyne migration but failed to do so. The good news was that bonekynes seemed so keen, to get to the destination, they stopped attacking others unless those others got in their way. Imperial military forces were ordered to get out of the way.

 

The Orbis observed the five Hero Demidivines continue their researches, and other preparations, in Hawkhaven for trouble and the tasks they had to carry out.

Edited April 1, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 21.1[72]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Answers were arising and changes were taking place!

 

Olisha, and Samsal, were joined by a flood of others fleeing from the growing madness in the Slayers Guild. Numbers tripled and then tripled again but then continued to grow. The decision came quickly to abandon the housement as a base of operations, it being too small, which was when another huge surprise came.

 

An Imperial Envoy arrived to inform the twins that they, and their people, were now official the Imperial Slayers Guild. The Septum Empire had deregistered what had been the Imperial Slayers Guild.

 

The Imperial Envoy did not come alone but with equipment, supplies and people. Amongst the people was Paulina who went at once to Samsal to stand by his side. She informed him that she was no longer an agent of the Imperial Eye because they considered her loyalty to be compromised towards Samsal. She would serve the new Imperial Slayers Guild.

 

The new contract tied the Imperial Slayers Guild even more closely to the Imperium but it also gave the guild a good deal more authority and service-support, including the borrowing of other Imperial Guild forces. This did not mean any of the corrupted 'Imperial Guilds' that the Imperium was investigating.

 

A new base were provided, being 'next door' to that of the Imperial Investigators Guild whose status had also changed. Somehow it was no surprise when other factions sent people to join what was a quickly expanding operation. Legionards, Legionaries, Shades Sheriffs Office, Undercity Sheriffs Office, Mages Guild and others came to assist, to take some part in planning and decision making.

 

The Imperium began the evacuation of all folk from the Shades, sending them to be carefully tested and put into 'secure quarantined zones'. From the start this operation had problems as did the operation to seal off, and keep sealed off, the Undercity.

 

The puzzle of the strange force, that Olisha and Samsal had encountered, remained unsolved. It was not the only such force witnessed moving, through the Undercity, towards the Dark Temple Zone. Not all were strangely exotic, many being of humanoid mercenaries and animals with steammagic technologies.

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 21.2[73]

Of Burning Deaths

 

The housement became an official investigation site with the hoblins being relocated to the new Slayers Guild base. Much of value was being discovered there but the cave, of the FirstOnes, was the most amazing of them. Even the magical gateway, being rare, was nowhere near a shocking find.

 

The Guild Sage Errinius, of the Sages Guild, indicated the chalk drawings. "The few fragments found, of FirstOnes records, indicated that the people were elemental shapechangers who dwelt in huge underground colonies, as big populations. Most FirstOnes were basic in nature, serving as unskilled labor, and the higher the caste was, the smaller it was, with only some special exceptions. None of the FirstOnes were oppressed for all were well cared for from the bottom most caste to the most elite of high castes, the leaders. At a glance you might easily assume that the FirstOnes were primitive but there were castes that altered materials with their minds, with differing skills and tasks. They also had other tricks of what might be called mind-magic."

 

Errinius indicated a picture of a FirstOne humanoid suffering from a burning death. "Of the very small number of FirstOne records found, a very few of those are of the burning deaths but such are found at every site where FirstOne records have been found."

 

The redhead sage slipped a thick scroll of pages out of her practical kneerobe and passed them to Scully, who was there with Olisha, Mulder and Samsal. Others were further away from them doing work on sketching pictures of the chalk drawings, taking measurements and other work. Forensic magic soon turned out to be impossible, in the cave chamber, thanks to the FirstOnes magic in the chamber, faded as it was.

 

She spoke on. "The FirstOnes numbered in the many millions, at their height, but by the time the Aldmer came to Tamriel there were but a few thousand of them left. Most of their underground colonies were long abandoned and many of those were part destroyed as if a terrible war had been waged."

 

There was something odd about Errinius but it was not threatening, or so Samsal and Olisha 'sensed'.

 

The sage turned to them. "Willow, the Wild Divine of Life Protection, transformed me from an arrogant, corrupt, overly opinionated fool into a rejuvenated person of better qualities. When my work here is done I will go to the green haven of Sanctumus."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 21.3[74]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Mulder shook his head in wonder. "Tamriel is both like, and yet unlike, our home realm of Earthriel which is linked to the original home world of our people, Terra." He turned to Samsal. "Unlike your home realm of Englorfere where men ride giant crickets."

 

Olisha sighed. "Samsal was joking! We come from Terrariel, a realm similar to Tamriel and also to your Earthriel. Our original world was also known as Terra but was largely destroyed in a terrible war; we do not know if anybody, or even anything, survived. What year was it in your original home world when you left it?"

 

Mulder nodded, as if to himself, and answered after a short time. "2015AD! The Exodus was taking place as humanity was forced to leave the home world by the ETEA (Extraterrestrial Entity Alliance) and to go to Terrariel. The ETEs did force the Exodus but helped with a massive amount of resources and other forms of help. Humanity took with it much flora and fauna along with some odd items like massive international landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and the Great Pyramid of Giza, thanks to ETE assistance. The Exodus was barely controlled chaos that would have been total chaos with out the ETEs. As we went through the ancient alien Waygates, we were rejuvenated along with everything else. Many were young again and all had extended lifespans."

 

Olisha frowned softly. "In terms of that Christian Calendar, we departed from our original home world in 3115AD, that is almost exactly a thousand years later than you did from your home world. We (mageborn) fled from the Nameless Enemy knowing that it would try to follow it and thus leave alone the others of our world. It was the least we could do anyway the other peoples of our world wanted us to go; can hardly blame them considering what we did. We also went through ancient alien Waygates and were rejuvenated but the process had odd side-effects on us (mageborn) that were not all positive."

 

Errinius sighed. "This is fascinating but shouldn't we stick to the subject of the burning deaths?"

 

Olisha turned to the Imperial Guild Sage. "One of the negative side effects, of we mageborn going through the Waygates, was over ten million of our people suffered burning deaths."

 

Mulder then spoke. "The same thing happened to many Terrans who passed through the Waygates from Terra to Terrariel except that over a hundred million people perished from the same fate."

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

Riel Stories Epic

One 21.4[75]

Of Burning Deaths

 

Errinius looked shocked. "Then your populations must have been decimated, if so many died."

 

Scully shook her head. "Over seven billion people made it from Terra to Terrariel so the great majority survived. The problem is that the burning deaths continue to plague our people, killing at least five million people every Terriellan year. We were sent to Tamriel, in secret, to try to discover the truth of the burning deaths and to help try to find some kind of cure. Seems others have been doing the same."

 

Samsal frowned. "Over half a billion of our people (the mageborn) made it from our version of Terra to Earthriel, along with another four billion followers, allies and people who just sought a new home. Each Earthriellan year at least a million die from the burning deaths but, for unknown reasons, no mageborn have suffered from that fate after we came through the Waygates from our original home world. We (mageborn) are drawn to what is the source of the burning deaths and the bonekynes, or so our visions, prophecies and researches tell us. The source seems to be here, in Tamriel, or closely linked to somewhere in the Shades."

 

The Imperial Guild Sage shook her head in shock. "The whole Septum Empire has just over two hundred million citizens."

 

Scully shook her head. "No, the Septum Empire has at least a billion citizens, semicitizens, subcitizens and demicitizens along with non-citizens. We have three satellite-drones in geostationary orbit above Tamriel. They are no longer fully functional but continue to make some partial scans and sweeps. They are damaged but we do not know why. We fear that they have been attacked."

 

Olisha shook her head. "It is more likely to be the exotic nature of Mundus that has caused trouble for your hitech gadgets."

 

The Imperial Guild Sage shook her head in amazement. "Willow warned me that I would meet people from amazing realms. I have something to show you that now makes more sense to me and should interest you."

 

The line drawings, of the FirstOnes, showed two sets of items. One showed what looked like helicopters, wheeled machines and other devices from Terrariel. The other showed saucerships, hovering robots and other devices from Earthriel. Both sets showed humans and the second set showed genetically engineered humanoids. How had the FirstOnes about such things?

Edited February 4, 2014 by Maharg67