EPIC OF FATES (RESTARTED) STORY OF STORIES

[Maharg67]

0008(01)008: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: THE IMPERIAL UNDERCITY?

 

Jadekin awoke to a chamber that was both the same and yet not the same. There were no high back chairs, no board, no steel chains or other things to bind her. In her underpants, and undershirt, she crouched in the same position that she had been bound in but it was not quite the same position. The warm female voice spoke deep in her mind.

 

=-=The bindings deep in your mind have been broken, removed, and once more I can communicate with you. You have read Karlz Vagen's THEORIES OF POTENTIAL ALTERNATE EXISTENCES. You are now in an Alternate Existence, another Imperial City or, more accurately, Imperial Undercity.

 

With a little difficulty, her strength returning, she stood up. She was damned thirsty and could use some healing serum of some kind. The chamber was better lit than the other one had been because of a small glowcrystal lamp, crude but effective, on a rickety looking wooden table. Glowcrystal was elegantly beautiful and falsely fragile looking. It grew in the Underlands of Tamriel and was said to have been created first in the Mythic Age.

 

=-=You want very much to get back home!

 

Yes, that was true but she wanted to survive and she had to admit she was curious about this 'other Imperial Undercity'.

 

=-=You will need to build up energies, to grow stronger, to heal, before you can return home the same way you came here, the same way you escaped from the three hooded robed men in that other chamber.

 

There were some items on the rickety table, apart from the glowcrystal lamp. They were not much to look at. There was an iron knife with a blunt, nicked blade. Next to it lay a slightly rotten apple. Then there was a stained pocket-book, a hair brush missing a few bristles and a jug of tepid water. Then there was a iron spoon, a half burned away candle, some square picture-cards and some dirty rags.

 

On an impulse, that she could not explain, she pushed all of the items closer together to each other. Then she focused on them. There was a soft sparkling shimmer and then there were rejuvenated items, three copies of each one that had been there. She took one of the three apples and one of the jugs of water. The water was cleaner now, was healthier to drink than it had been.

 

Jadekin=The burning sensation, the fear of the three fools, the strange claims that they made, the words that blurted from my mouth when I fronted the Emperor, what does it all mean? Why have I not wondered more about the puzzles of my life before, the inconsistencies?

 

=-=Powerful inner bindings were lain on your mind so that you did not consider such matters. I suggest you focus on your immediate survival. My sensors have picked up strong traces of undeathly emanations. There are zombies out there and perhaps other forms of lesser undead.

 

She cut a finger and then used her own blood to draw symbols of the Divines, of life, of Gaea, of the Burning Light of Purity and others. Wards and reinforcers, links to deities, links to the living energies of the cosmos and all bounded, protected by the GodGoddess. The door was the weakest point to the room, as sturdy as it seemed. She 'sensed' that the walls were very thick.

 

Jadekin felt a little more drained of energies. She took the three iron knives, now in excellent condition, and sat against a wall close, but not too close, to the door. There were easier ways to kill zombies than with iron bladed knives but she knew how to do so quite well with what she had.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Terminals%20Used/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-new011.jpg

Edited September 13, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0009(01)009: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: ZOMBIES AT THE DOOR

 

Jadekin awoke with a start with a 'sense' of growing danger, of approaching undeath. She had needed sleep and her subconscious mind had made a decision for her. Now she felt better for having slept for over an hour.

 

=-=Prepare yourself!

 

Something heavy cumbersome, heavy, smashed against the door. Then there was a strange burning sound as a zombie was destroyed as if from spontaneous combustion. Another zombie shambled too close to the other side of the door and was also destroyed. Quietness fell but Jadekin was not fooled. Something was out there, something that was like a zombie but which was not a zombie.

 

=-=A ghoul, an intelligent zombie able to use weapons and tools, to wear armor, to do basic maintenance but not intelligent enough to invent things, to do fuller repairs. They are not found very often in Cyrodiil and many other parts of the Tamriel that you grew up in.

 

Yet she knew about ghouls, had an impression she had dealt with them before. They were more cunning than zombies and that was what really made them more dangerous than zombies. Then the ghoul turned out to be not cunning enough and it burned away, was destroyed, as the zombies had been.

 

For a time there was quietness and she relaxed again but did not go back to sleep. After a while one more zombie came up and was burned away. The night passed like that with zombies appearing every so often and then burning away. Mostly it was single shambling lesser undead but once there were three of them and twice there were two of them. No more ghouls appeared.

 

When she opened the door it was day and, to her great surprise, the big hallway tunnel outside was filled with sunlight. The sunlight came from crystal tubes growing along the ceiling of the tunnel. Clearly sunlight came from the surface, down through the crystal, and filled the tunnel with sunlight. The undead could then no longer survive there. The hallway stretched out in both directions and nothing moved but some insects and spiders. She got the 'sense' that even they had been hiding from the undead, had learned to do so in order to survive. It was very much like hallway tunnels found in the Imperial Undercity that she was far more familiar with.

 

Where the ghoul had been destroyed, a former Imperial City Guardsman by the look of the armor, was not just the body-armor but a steel longsword and a steel longknife. They were in reasonable condition, some effort having been made to keep the blades sharp and free of rust. She managed to get a tunic from the ghoul, the armor, the weapons, a bronze bracelet and the boots. Then she took them into the room and transduplicated them, again gaining three rejuvenated duplicates of each item. Now she had been weapons and gear to put on though the items did not fit as well as she would have liked them to; it could have been worse.

 

She took one of the bronze bracelets and examined it. The original had been a gift to the man from his family and engraved on it, along with his name and his family name, was a blessing from the Thirteen Divines. Yes, the 'Thirteen Divines' and not the 'Nine Divines'. This was clearly not the same Tamriel though many things were the same such as the symbol of the Imperial City Guard. There was a sadness about the bracelet, a dark irony that the blessing had failed to protect the man in such a profound manner.

 

Jadekin sat just inside the room with the door open and the bright, warm sunlight energized her in a way that was hard for her to explain. She expected it would last for some hours, that she would soon be able to move on while it lasted, but then everything abruptly went dark again.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0010(01)010: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: CHILDREN ON THE RUN

 

Again she firmly closed the door and carefully renewed the wards on the inside of the door. Jadekin again sat against the wall, in the same spot, and did sitting meditation with crossed legs. The meditation rested her, helped her heal from the subtle injuries done to her and prepared her better for both physical and magical fighting.

 

It was no zombies that came to the door, or ghouls, but the running feet of humans. She 'sensed' their life energies. With amazing speed, and agility, she went to the door and opened it. A male teenager stood there, shocked to see her, so she pulled him into the room in a gentle but firm manner. A teenage girl followed with an odd baby figure in her arms and then a younger girl. All of them were filthy, hungry looking, dressed in crazy mixes of dirty gear and clutched items in bags. She carried a rather blunt iron shortsword and he held a small steel bladed axe. Each of the teenagers had a backsack. The girl child clutched a dolly that had seen better days.

 

Jadekin closed the door firmly again. She looked to the newcomers and smiled. “Very good, I always did like having guests. Please sit down and relax. My name is Jadekin.”

 

=-=The FategameLords have conceded to you a contract. You would become a FategamePlayer! There is reason beyond curiosity or amusement, for this, but the FategameLords grow bored. You have done this before! Though Fategames can be dangerous, at this time I advise becoming a FategamePlayer for you badly need the resources offered.

 

Jadekin was already feeling overwhelmed by events but she had the strong impression that it was important that she accept the contract.

 

Jadekin=I accept the contract!

 

On each of her middle fingers appeared, with a sparkling shimmer, a black ring with a black disk fronting it and on that a golden wheel symbol. The children did not seem to notice it except the sleepy baby like figure who 'gawped' at them.

 

The boy frowned but could not help but stare at Jadekin. “Well this is our room, so there.”

 

The teenage girl was older. She frowned also but more at her brother than at Jadekin. “This place is a safe room or it was until the undead swarmed this area five days ago. Aranble stated we need all the help we can get and we need to form tighter alliances with other factions. I am Petra, this is Peter, the baby boy is Nibby and the girl is Sanchy.

 

Chubby muscular, the baby boy was a neobaby. He would not grow bigger. He stared at Jadekin with big, adorable brown eyes.

 

=-=You gain 0.1 fategamecredit per second and one fategamepoint every 100 seconds. You get one spinling every 1,000 seconds.

 

Sanchy smiled shyly at Jadekin but there was a core of hardness behind the shy sweetness. There was also something else odd about her but not evil.

 

Jadekin smiled. “Do not touch the markings on the inside of the door. They are powerful wards I have lain down there. They have burned away one ghoul and many zombies. Best not to go near! Show me what resources you have and I will show you a neat trick I can do though not too often and not with some kinds of items.”

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0011(01)011: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: A NEW ALLIANCE

 

Jadekin found herself becoming friends with the children in a very short time. They seemed as surprised as she was about this except for the neobaby who automatically accepted Jadekin as if he had known her for a long time.

 

“You can take what you want from items I have to spare.” She indicated the transduplicated items, the armor, the swords, the knives, the candle stubs and much else. “Now, please show me what you have. I can only do the transduplication trick with a limited mass of items and with only certain kinds of items.”

 

She had given the basics of some of the things that she could do and had spoken briefly of coming from another world both like and unlike the one they were on. Apart from the neobaby, they had stared at her in wonder as the young woman had spoken.

 

Still with some wariness, the older boy and girl quickly displayed all of the items that they had. There were some clothes, sandals, soap, a hair comb, eating utensils, some bowls, cooking oil in a flask, a tinderbox, a sealed bag of kindling, a small tin soldier, some copper imperials, a cracked hand mirror, a bag of dried apples, some wild berries, string, a short length of rope, two hand towels, a small teapot, some steel arrowheads, a small book and a few other such items. Most of it looked old and some of it was damaged.

 

Jadekin picked up a copper coin, a 10 copperworth, and examined it. “So you have the same Emperor, that is Uriel Septum VII.”

 

Peter shook his head. “He died when the undead swarmed into the Imperial City because of traitors like the necromancer dominated Mages Guild. They say if Archmage Traven had not been assassinated by the Dark Brotherhood, things might have turned out better.”

 

Sanchy gave an odd hissing noise. “Damphirs are not undead!”

 

“Never said they were!” Peter was sitting next to Sanchy and ruffled her hair in a friendly way. “Nnnaaa, you are the wonderful Sanchy.”

 

Sanchy smiled warmly up at the older boy for just a moment and then her shields slid down again.

 

“I heard other stories about the Dark Brotherhood, how they have declared a secret war on the undead followers of the Daedric Prince Molag Bal.” Petra shrugged. “They have as much to lose as anybody else. Also the Night Mother is said to have declared that the Dark Brotherhood did not assassinate Archmage Traven, that they took the blame for something they did not do. For the Dark Brotherhood has always had a special list of those it would never strike at, for practical reasons of survival, and the Archmages have always been on that list.”

 

Jadekin responded. “I know of the Dark Brotherhood and that would make sense to me. The Night Mother is too smart to ever condone a contract being carried out against such an important figure in the Empire. Is there an Emperor?”

 

Petra shook her head with a look of disgust on her face. “There are too many Emperors. It is the Empress that brings us all hope. The Emperors are fools and traitors. One openly serves Molag Bal, the Lich Emperor, one serves the Grand Guild, the Sage Emperor and the third is linked with another Daedric Prince, Mehrunes Dagon, being the Mad Emperor. Only the Empress has the Dragonblood. Only she has a rightful claim to the throne, but she struggles.”

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0012(01)012: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: TRICKS AND LEARNING

 

Transduplication caused three rejuvenated copies of each, this time. The children were amazed and pleased, even the neobaby. The little girl managed a smile since now she had three rejuvenated dollies instead of just one. Nibby, the neobaby, got very excited though the others were not sure why. Jadekin took him into her arms and gave him both a kiss and a cuddle, so he chortled in glee before promptly falling asleep even as he snuggled up to her chest.

 

They sat around eating what they had, sharing it out evenly. Even the neobaby was woken so he could have a smallish amount of food. The children did not know a great deal about the world they had grown up in. It had been about fifteen years ago when the undead swarmed out of the abandoned Ayleid cities across Cyrodiil and when they were joined by treacherous uprisings of necromancers and vampires along with other undead.

 

What made matters worse were the bizarre undead lesser daedra, the undeadborn who somehow did the supposedly impossible; they gave birth to new undead generations. These were not vampires or ghouls or zombies as named or even such as lichs or wraiths. They were the bizarrely dremora like undead, the necromora, the pale haired scamp like necroids and the winged, bat like monsters, the necromoyns. Molag Bal created great low moving gray fogs that not only protected the undead from sunlight but strengthened them.

 

Enemies of Molag Bal had created ways to drive back the fog. The reason the suntubes, the strange crystal tubes, could not always bring down sunlight from above, even when it was on a bright summer day, was the movement of the undeathly fogs through the Overcity above; they simply blocked the sunlight.

 

Who had created the suntubes? That had been done by the Grand Council of Artisan Sages only a few years before Molag Bal's sudden invasion that had begun with a massive surprise attack on the Imperial City. This had taken place from beneath, from the ancient Ayleid city there, from within the city by traitors and from with out.

 

Petra spoke proudly of the history of the war. “The Emperor revealed his true powers as a Dragonborn. They say that the Divine Akatosh himself came down and entered the Emperor who became for a while a mighty dragon. Molag Bal not only failed to fully conquer the city but he lost over a hundred thousand followers, puppets and created or summoned monsters. His invasion plans were badly damaged. Emperor Uriel Septum VII died gloriously and killed the much hated necromora warlord, who led the invasion force, before he did so. The undead hordes were smashed, scattered and driven from the Imperial City except for smaller hordes.” Then she lost the sound of her pride. “Trouble was, the Emperor was dead. His three sons died trying to come to his rescue at the head of a large force of Blades, Legionaries and.... probably lots of others.”

 

She went on. “From the stronghold city of Crosswayne rose the Sage. He is supported by the Grand Guilds but also by the Artisan Sages. There are dark whispers that the Artisan Sages may have helped lead to the great disaster by carrying out dangerous experiments of sorcery science. That is why Emperor Uriel Septum turned against them.”

 

Petra shrugged. “The Empress is Marian Septum, the illegitimate daughter to Emperor Uriel Septum VII. She was in the Lesser Imperial City of Kvatch when it was attacked by Mehrune Dagon's forces and by the treacherous Mythic Dawn Followers. The Empress helped to successfully defend the city, driving off the attackers and badly damaging the great quasiliving siege-engine, a great big thing on legs, that smashed into the outer wall but got no further. That was when she was but a priestess in service to Akatosh.”

Edited September 14, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/Dragonpen61/Terminals%20Used/TERMINAL-IT-Workit-new032.jpg

Edited September 13, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0013(01)013: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: ANOTHER WAY OUT OF THE ROOM

 

Jadekin did not attempt to learn, relearn, too much about the Fategames, the FategameLords or anything linked with them. That would come later. For now she had enough to get used to. Or so was her plans. What she did do was to investigate some of the more immediate, practical resources that she could call upon. All of this was strangely familiar to her before, as if she had done this many times in the distant past.

 

She began to have doubts about her own life, her own recollections of her life, about what she knew and did not know.

 

=-=Your mind has been bound, under a very potent but subtle form of control. Not total but strong enough, influential enough, to direct your life from since you were born. You are not alone in this but I do not know know else is controlled. I am certain that there are members of your family, your family-clan, your clan, who are under the same kind of control. Yet has been losing its grip on you for years, or so I estimate, and thus you blurted out those words before the Emperor. The urge to do so came from your subconscious and thus you informed him of the award for the crayon drawing. Congratulations!

 

Jadekin had to focus on the world she was in, in getting to a safer place than that room. Which did not necessarily mean going through the door. She began to examine the walls, the stone blocks so cleverly placed and joined by a hardened substance she could not identify. Not human and not Ayleid! It was the same mystery that arose about many areas of the Imperial Undercity that she was more familiar with. The children slept, even Peter and Petra who seemed determined to keep an eye on Jadekin.

 

It took time but she found the very cleverly hidden loose block and, with a little difficulty, drew it out from the wall. To her great surprise there was an ancient metallic handle lever. She checked it carefully but found no clues to what it did. The loose block, the lever, where in a side wall.

 

=-=Sensors indicate it is a quasimagical electromechanical type device that opens part of the back wall opposite to the one that the door is in.

 

Jadekin=Not made by the Empire or the Ayleid! At least not that I know of. Most strange!

 

=-=The Dwemer were commissioned by the Ayleid to create part of what later became known as the Imperial Undercity. I do not know why or how but I do know that the work was done by a particular faction of Dwemer who had their own unique quasimagical technologies and knowledge. They vanished even before the rest of the Dwemer did and also for mysterious reasons.

 

Jadekin=Why no Dwemer emblems or other symbols of accomplishment. Dwemer were not known for humility when it came to bragging about their knowledge or works.

 

=-=Again, I have no answers.

 

When the children awoke, except for the neobaby, Jadekin had them prepare to move. The children were amazed at the well hidden lever and at learning that the Dwemer had created part of the Imperial Undercity. They grabbed up all they wanted, and needed, to carry. Everything else was left in case others came to find shelter in the safe room.

 

When Jadekin pulled the lever, part of the back wall proved to be an amazingly well concealed door. With some noticeable difficulty, and creaking of parts badly needing oiling, the door swung backwards to reveal a much bigger chamber that was in darkness except for the light spilling through the open secret door.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0014(01)014: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: THE BIG STRANGE ROOM

 

She did not close the secret door because they might have to make a hasty retreat that way. Instead she threw out an illumination spell and the big chamber glowed so that now it became exposed. The teenagers were obviously surprised by her power but the neobaby snoozed on and the smaller girl just nodded a little to herself as if confirming to herself what she had already suspected.

 

The chamber was Dwemer designed and built of more of their stonework. It also had in its center a great quasimagical mechanism, a metallic disk with metallic arms rising from the rim, inwards, like flying buttresses to all end at a horizontal metallic ring. Inside this sat a transparent globe and inside that was yet another and inside that was a WhirlaKey of Fate. It looked identical to the one that Jadekin had carried in a lidbox through that other Imperial Undercity.

 

It emanated power and she could easily 'feel' it. Nibby became restless in his sleep against her chest. Jadekin was more easily able to carry the neobaby and so did so but could tell that Petra missed having the small one with her.

 

Jadekin examined the big mechanism, which was far more complicated and sophisticated than it appeared to be on the surface. There were many emblems, symbols, warning of danger against anybody interfering with the Dwemer device.

 

The glowcrystal lamps, on the ceiling, came on even as her illumination spell faded away. She closed the secret door but not all the way. It was less well hidden this way but could be opened more quickly for escape purposes. Other quasimagical machines became revealed, another row of them against a wall. One had three upright semitransparent cylinders, another also had a vertical false-mirror, while another had what looked a metallic door, in a doorway, that seemingly went nowhere except into a metallic cube that was not much higher or wider than the door. The metallic cube had no other doors into it and was otherwise featureless on the outside.

 

There were also some Ayleid mechanisms, added later than the Dwemer ones. Jadekin figured that the Dwemer had done their task and had departed but where to? Or was that too simplistic an explanation for what had taken place? Was there such a hidden Dwemer chamber in her version of the Imperial Undercity?

 

=-=Your version of the Imperial Undercity?

 

She decided she did not what to face the implication that the Imperial City she assumed was her real home was not actually so. There was enough for her to deal with at that time. It felt like the solid floor of her her reality was crumbling beneath her and she did not like it.

 

=-=Your transduplication abilities have changed, have improved. Everything is now rejuvenated and you will always gain, at least, multiples of three of the original item. Such outcomes depend upon variable conditions outside of your control.

 

Jadekin had, to her surprise, not really thought about the change to the transduplication process. In general she seemed enhanced of mind, body and spirit. Her mageborn abilities were strengthened, her spell-powers were more effective, she had more magicka and regenerated magicka more quickly. She did not think that she had gained new spell-powers but had not really 'checked' on herself enough to know. Certainly the illumination spell she had thrown had been brighter, more spread out in its influence, and had lasted longer than past ones she had used.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67

[Maharg67]

0015(01)015: Of JADEKIN OF THE MAGEBORN: MORE OF THE BIG STRANGE ROOM

 

Peter grinned, reverting to being the survival hungry child that he had grown up as. “We could grab that thing in the middle and sell it, make a fortune.”

 

Jadekin turned to him. “Do not be so foolish, Peter. Touch the mechanism and you will only suffer pain. Anyway, I would stop you. This is no mere mortal plaything. The Dwemer placed it there with great difficulty and they were great scholars and workers of exotic artifacts. There are many safeguards with this mechanism though you can not 'sense' them.”

 

Peter frowned. “Okay, okay, so it was not a great idea but why bother just put it there?”

 

“That is what I want to find out.” She turned to examine the rest of the room. One wall was lined with boxy quasimagical machines humming softly with power. There was one that had a top of it a great square mirror except that its image was non reversed. It was odd to first look at it, was disturbing until one realized what was happening. It showed the room that they were in and it showed the five of them in the room.

 

What were the different quasimagical mechanisms for? It was a very good question and, she suspected, very relevant to what was happening her. Jadekin had a strong, subtle 'sense' that it was no accident that she had ended up in that place, that 'something' had been influencing where she ended up being. Yet there was also the strong 'sense' that she retained her free will to make decisions for herself.

 

It was with an unpleasant feeling that the mageborn realized she had not felt that way for many years, that her mind, her free will, had really been bound. Except she had been fighting the bindings, subconsciously, and had been slowly winning against them.

 

How much of her life had been robbed from her? What had she actually done while her mind was bound, especially when more heavily bound? Had she done anything evil or lurid? The idea shocked and angered her.

 

=-=There would always be sever limits to what the mind bindings could make you do, especially against a powerful mageborn mind as you have. No, they would be more focused on stopping you from doing anything rather than making you do anything.

 

She went to approach one of the quasimagical machines closer but was not surprised when an invisible field of energy pushed her back gently but firmly. As it did so there was a soft shimmering effect where it touched her.

 

Peter frowned. “Well that's no good! What is the good of that?”

 

Petra frowned at him. “Oh, stop it, Peter! Jadekin will find a way to get to those things. I wonder what they are meant for. That one over there almost looks like a chapel organ, the ruined one we saw in that half collapsed chapel to... one of the DemiDivines... I think!”

 

DemiDivines? There were no such thing with the Tamriel that she was familiar with. Just what else was different between the two Tamriels?

 

Which was when the amazing beam of energies spat out, from the WhirlaKey, to strike her. Jadekin cried out and then fell to her knees as her whole body was infused, was surrounded, by a mass of swirling, sparkling, crackling energies.

Edited September 3, 2012 by Maharg67