Dawn of a new age

[boneless1]

Late Evening. Bloated Float Inn

 

The sun had retired, giving its' sister moon time to present its white gaze. Stone arrived within the Bloated Float a good while ago. He had assigned about three of his men to hide themselves within the inn. They did a fair enough job for Stone could not see them. This for him reassured him he was not an amateur. He slowly drummed his fingers upon a round table he had always been reserved since he had taken over. Sitting within a corner where many ears were out of distance and where eyes would rarely travel. The inn was dimly lit with the candles that sat upon the table. Flickering about to the slight air movement within the float. Stone wore his same attire he had worn when he was given the duty of welcoming the Crimson Crow.

 

The laughter the voices, the music and even the dancing kept him distracted from his nearing meet. Stone had been watching for some time and now his eyes flickered to a new approaching figure. The figure was female. She wore a black leather attire as she took her seat in front of Stone. He nodded as she returned the nod.

 

"You hear about the arrival Anise?" Stone said at the moment she sat. Her blue eyes gaze a startled look but her emotional expression unchanged. She shook her head as she replied.

 

"I have not Stone. Please do elaborate if you wish."

 

"My elaborations are not needed Anise. You'll know soon enough." Stone gave a coy smile. Anise shrugged as she then spoke. Her voice melodic and soft.

 

"You asked for my presence....boss?"

"Mmm..yes I need your assistance again Anise. This business is odd..not very odd..but odd enough." Stone spoke with a rather contemplating tone as if he was not sure but had to be careful.

 

"I suppose caution is reasonable..."

"It is Anise. What I need you to do is strictly you and I. Understand?"

 

Anise nodded as she tapped the table. Stone dropped a hefty leather bag containing a large amount of imperials. She took it, feeling its weight and smiled.

 

"We have a deal then.." Stone said

"Yes. We do. Tell me what you need Boss."

 

"I need you to look into the Crow case. Then double back and follow up on the relation between the Alrien Family and the Crow. Somethings up. There has to be. The Crows aren't ones to simply come into a city that threatens with disease, poverty and a crime rate that the divines gasp about." Anise nodded. Seeing where Stone was going she had already taken notes mentally. She continued to listen to Stone as she flicked a stray black hair from her tan cheeks.

 

"You believe the Alriens ties to the Crows would be strong enough to persuade the Crow to return....and..kill you?"

"Why not? House Alrien threw a large sum of imperials at them so he might as well have them on the pay roll. Or at least a hundred and some odd number of them."

"And a imperial emissary came to you and informed you of their impending arrival? I do not see why the officials would want you dead."

 

Stone shook his head and smiled. "That is the thing. I have come to a reasonable conclusion that they do not know. Even though the emissary is a bloke I do not think they knew of there arrival. I have Midas at the docks speaking to ship masters. Those that passed by the ship that carry the Crow keep us in the loop of how long we have till then. I...in the end will have to create a big festival to greet them."

 

Anise thought quietly for a moment. Joining Stone with a drink as a waiter came by. She sipped the ale thoughtfully as she pondered her moves.

"What if you wrong?" She said as she went for another sip. This gave Stone a jolly chuckle as he shrugged. Anise sighed shaking her head.

 

"What if I am m'dear..that is the question that haunts everyone in my occupation. Although one can never know the answer. One must always be prepared in my line of work. So here I am Anise. Trying to be prepared for a damn good party or a damn good blood bath." He smiled as he chugged the rest of his ale then stood. He tossed a few coins on the table and then looked at Anise.

 

"Find out what you can before dawn tomorrow. Report back to me once you have the information." He patted Anises little black head as he walked by. She smiled as she watched him leave. "It was good to see you again...boss."

[Zephyr2011]

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Baltis Llervu, Northern Cyrodiil

 

The snow crunched under Llervu's feet as he walked down the winding stone road from Bruma. Fresh powder fell and lightly dusted his shoulders and the cowl of his travelling cloak. His hood was pulled well over his head so that his ghoulish face was obscured and he leaned slightly on his cane as he walked. By all accounts he fit the bill of your average traveler with a family heirloom for a walking staff picking their way carefully down the decaying roadside.

 

The lich stopped for a moment and waited. He sensed a presence. His sight was completely ethereal by this point. He had been missing real eyes so long that he didn't know how to use the false ones he summoned to disguise himself with when in his human form. Until now he had only noticed the occasional squirrel caught out in the cold, wolf looking for its next meal or hibernating bear in a shallow cave but now he sensed men. They trotted up to him from all sides from behind some trees. The rear ones thought themselves stealthy as they stole up but it didn't take magical perception to hear their chainmail clanking, fur flapping and boots crunching heavily in the snow and disturbing rocks. Three of them approached from the front. One held a rather ornate steel sword in his hands, unenchanted. Fool. The other two flanked him holding iron war axes. Behind Baltis were three more, one with a mace and two more with swords. One of the swordsmen had a very weakly enchanted iron blade but it was fire. Unfortunate. Two others came from the sides, one with another war axe, orcish. Impressive for highway bandits. The other would-be-flanker held a greatsword, silver but very worn.

 

"Alright, cough up all your gold old man! And that pretty little cane of yours too!" The center-most man barked at Llervu.

 

The lich only chuckled.

 

"What's so funny traveler? Look around you! You're trapped!" The bandit said with a smirk. Llervu could tell he was fairly young. Youth meant arrogance and hot headed-ness. What fools. Llervu only laughed harder, he did not turn his head at all.

 

"Alright, so that's how you want it eh? Club 'im!" The man behind Llervu with the mace jumped as high as he could and struck Baltis in the back of the head with all the force he could muster. That blow would have killed a normal man but a normal man wasn't nearly as brazen as Baltis and would have easily side-stepped it. Llervu just laughed as the mace did nothing to his ethereal existence. It just thumped into his hood. Iron, beyond being one of the most easily manipulated metals in the world, was also extremely easy to magically ward against. Any foe foolish enough to tempt Baltis's wrath needed to be better equipped than that to bypass his numerous wards against the excessively mundane weapons of the realm.

 

The bandits all stepped back in shock. Llervu slowly lifted his staff and turned to face his assailant, who was paralyzed with fear. A supernova of blue-white flame engulfed the man as a bolt of light shot forth from Baltis's cane. The bandit flailed and rolled and tried to put out the fire as his blood boiled and skin bubbled in his death throws. The man started to clutch at his throat as his companions watched in horror as their friend died right in front of them. Llervu laughed and turned to face the leader again.

 

"W-what are you?!" He yelled frantically.

 

Baltis slowly and deliberately brought his leather-bound hands to his hood and pulled back the cowl of his cloak revealing his undead face and terrifying visage, "Your worst nightmare Nord."

 

Several of the bandits sprinted off to get away from the horrible lich-at least they would have had Llervu not paralyzed them with a combination of sheer terror and magic. They were held, quite literally, spell bound as Llervu brought his hands together before unleashing a ring of icy spears in every direction. The bandits were rendered into pin cushions as the frigid projectiles sliced through fur and punctured any plate mail, the links of the bandits' chainmail froze to their bodies and they quickly died from having their organs and blood freeze in their bodies. It was an impressive feat but it was made very easy by the bandits' lack of willpower and foolish choice of equipment. Even the nords fell easy prey to the cold spell and they all stood like macabre statues in the softly falling snow. Llervu replaced his hood and continued his walk, taking care to smash the bandit leader's face with the top of his cane, shattering it and causing his body to fall over and break into several large chunks.

Edited September 10, 2012 by Zephyr Kronos

[nethgros]

Rend was forced to take a human form again as he struggled to remain conscious. He had quite a bit a blood loss, and several strikes to the head. He leaned up against a tree and rested while his lycanthrope blood began to heal his wounds; it wouldn't be immediate, but it would happen quick relative to most people. He knew he couldn't wage a one man war against society, so he figured he would need more subversive tactics to destroy the foundations here.

 

He snuck onto a farm sometime after dusk, heading southwest toward Hircine's shrine. He was still naked, so he needed some sort of clothes if he was going to remain incognito. He snuck through the window, and in the nearby room was the farmer and his wife, sound asleep. He went into there kitchen, located a common knife, entered their room, and stealthily stole a outfit of poorly made flax clothing. As he was leaving the farm to continue to the shrine, Rend went to the family's drinking well, where he let his tainted blood drip into, with the hopes that when next this family drank, they would change soon after.

[mythicdawnmaster]

The sound of wood being drummed upon echoed within the throne room of castle Skingrad, while everything else was silent. Selene sat, one hand supporting her chin, the other drumming it's fingers into the arm of the throne. The lady Selene was growing impatient. The air in the throne room was freezing cold, and the only illumination was from that of the large chandelier, which was lit rather dimly, it's flames dying. Selene's eyes shone brilliantly in the dull light, as did her diamond earrings, which dangled down either side of her head, in cascades of gemstones. Suddenly the vampire ancient arose from her throne, snatching up the ornate cane that rested near her throne, and walking hastily out of the hall. She made her way to a narrow corridor, at the end the office of her steward, who was inside doing paperwork.

 

Selene pushed open the door, and stepped briskly inside, her face showing nothing. As the steward looked up, he was met with the head of the cane crashing into the side of his face, causing him to fall off his chair.

 

"M-m'lady! Mercy! What have i done?!" He pleaded, fear in his eyes.

"Where are the scouts?! I sent them out days ago!" She said, frenzied madness burning in her eyes, desperation in her voice

 

"I-I don't know your ladyship... b-but they should be back soon!" He said in a reassuring tone, laced with his terror.

"They had better be!" Selene said coldly, turning to leave once more.

 

She walked down the dark, stone halls of Castle Skindgrad, her heels clacking loudly on the hard floor, echoing through the halls of the large castle, as she headed for the war room. Upon entering, she was greeted by two guards, one either side of the door, each clad head to toe in black-steel. Once inside, she leant over her war-table, and looked at the figures arranged upon it. There was different coloured figurines for each of the factions, black for the Brigade. She looked to the light blue of the Knights of the thorn... they were growing in number, and they were prospering... just how much would be revealed by her scouts once they returned.

[Brutii]

"A Joorre village, recently seeded. This will be the perfect place to begin reconquering." VulViingKonahrik said, watching the village situated in the north of cyrodiil, roughly half way between Bruma and Cheydinhal. "Tiid wah Krii" VulViingKonahrik landed upon a watch tower in the village. Many of the citizens watched him with fear, they had heard the stories of dragons laying waste to places in the past, they rightly feared the Dov. "BOW BEFORE YOUR LORD!" The dragon bellowed, there was a pause followed by screaming as citizens fled and guards came to hand with their bows "RII VAAZ ZOL"VulViingKonahrik shouted, and many a guard fell, before raising again, turning on their former comrades. The town was in uproar now, arrows flying like streaks of light. " STRUN BAH QO " The dragon shouted again, and storm clouds surrounded village, zapping fleeing people "ENOUGH!" The dragon bellowed, the resurrected guards ceased fighting, and VulViingKonahrik looked upon the survivors "Bow before me and I shall spare you. Serve me and your reward will be great... But fight me, and death will come for you" The dragon landed near the crowd and picked out a terrified young man "Will you serve?"

"I... I will sir..." The man whimpered. The dragon looked at the crowd

"Will you all serve?" He asked

"We... will lord." Many replied, those which didn't were dragged away and executed

"Good, rebuild your town Joorre, I do not wish to see you in ruins." VulViingKonahrik replied, he looked at the undead guards "Oversee them" he ordered, the guards nodded and watched the towns people "CHANGE THAT FLAG!" he roared, and the flag of the hold was taken down by one of the undead guards, and replaced with VulViingKonahriks coulors. The first blow had been struck, now was time to wait for retaliation.

Edited September 9, 2012 by Brutii

[Zephyr2011]

Baltis Llervu, Weynon Priory

 

Llervu approached the old abbey on his way to Chorrol. He had long since lowered his traveling hood and was using his magic to disguise his true appearance. His immense reserves of magic allowed him to maintain this illusion indefinitely but it made the casting of other spells slightly more exhaustive and time consuming, a price he was willing to pay at the current moment.

 

An old man was tending a small flock of sheep and a particularly young friar was leading a horse into the stable, evidently he had just returned from travelling. Llervu passed by the small farm that sustained the priory and neared the archway, his intention was to head straight to Chorrol but he stopped by another very young individual, this one was in a very tattered surcoat, it was blue with a white oak emblazoned on it, quite faded. Beneath the surcoat was a set of rusty chainmail and the young man held in his hand an equally rusty mace and a chipped and battered wooden round shield with the same color scheme and symbolism as his surcoat. "Halt! State your business in Chorrol!" The man called to Baltis. His voice was still that of a young one. He was 16 years old at the most, what a sorry state of affairs. The main guard hasn't even entered manhood yet.

 

Baltis did not stop but continued advancing towards Chorrol, "I am here to speak with your leader, the count I presume. And I will not be hindered. Stand aside and I won't have to bring you with me." Llervu spoke with a slight smile, an odd expression for the threat his words carried.

 

The guard hesitated, he lowered his weapon for a second and bit his lip before lowering his eye brows and steeling his face. "No you will not enter the city until the count permits it!" The guard now brandished his mace authoritatively but it was clear he did not know how to use it very well, boy that he was.

 

"Very well. I did not want to have to do this but-" Llervu suddenly twisted the head of his cane and withdrew the glistening blade from the cane. In one fluid motion he lunged forward and ducked his blade under the boy's guard, stabbing him through the gut. "-You leave me know choice." Baltis finished as he stepped forward and brought his eyes to the guard's. The guard grunted in pain and blood started to spill out of his mouth as Baltis brought the sword up through his intestines and vital organs. The guard gasped one last time, blood and spittle spattering as he did so, and expired. As the body dropped to the ground the ankles slowly snapped to rigidity, then the knees and hips, before the corpse could crumple onto the dirt it lifted itself back up with blood still dripping from its middle and mouth. A dark, sinister blue clouded the once bright green eyes as the thrall was resurrected.

 

Llervu looked around and noticed the friar standing by the horse stalls, eyes wide in shock. His frame was positively quivering and he dropped his key to the priory on the hey-strewn, cobble road. Baltis then pointed towards the friar and his new thrall walked directly to the priest and stared at him in the face, life essence drying slowly on his visage. The friar quivered even more, his knees shook violently and he was white as a sheet. Then the thrall stooped to the ground and picked up the friar's key and handed it to him, "I believe you dropped this." The friar's eyes rolled into the back of his head as he grasped the key and fainted, falling over backwards into the horse stalls.

 

Baltis laughed as his thrall came to his side, "Now let us go speak with this count of yours."

[Flipout6]

"I thank you for your gifts, Neh'Taniel, on behalf of us all. In case it's not obvious, the locals may not come to trust you anytime soon. But nevertheless, you're welcome to stay." Rilgomm turned to a priest near the church, and tossed him the bag. "You heard him, copy the signs from the amulets onto the graves. I will have nobody deserve their well-earned rest." The priest bowed and went to do so. Rilgomm noted that dusk was almost upon the world. He checked the weapons in the bag, and took a single silver ingot to bring to the blacksmith's forge, so he could smith himself a simple silver dagger. He wouldn't be replacing his war axe, he'd be having it enchanted. Until then, a backup weapon that could affect all creatures might come in handy. He looked back to Neh'Taniel.

 

"Feel free to stay in town for as long as you like. Just try not to cause any trouble." He turned and went to the nearest forge. The blacksmith gave him a few leather strips, and Rilgomm got to work smithing the dagger. It was done perhaps a half hour later, and by now it was almost dark. He tucked the dagger into his belt and headed back to Castle Cheydinhal. He walked back out onto the balcony, and watched. None of the locals were trying to kill Neh'Taniel yet, that was a start. And then he scanned the countryside, half enjoying the view and half tactically scanning for any large group approaching. He saw nothing at the moment, until it happened.

 

Something large and black flew down from the skies somewhere very far away. It was a clear night, yet a sound much like thunder reached even Cheydinhal. Flashes of multiple colours highlighted a small village, and a large, winged shape.... a dragon. It shouted something, using the ancient Thu'um, and clouds gathered around the time, lightning struck down on the defenseless village, as if the gods themselves had been angered. Rilgomm wasted no time. Within minutes he was back down in the town, and conversing with the captain of the guard.

 

"A dragon has attacked a small village to the north, close enough by to be a serious threat. Alert your men, those who are on duty will be ready for battle. Those who are not, have them notified as well. We cannot have our defenses scattered in the event of an attack."

[Brutii]

The dragon watched his new people intently, they feared him, but he hoped in time they would come to respect him. It was really no different to them being conquered by another of their kind, and he thought that they should come to understand this. VulViingKonahrik felt a small degree of pity for those who had been killed, but now was a time of war and suffering. The dragon couldn't understand their mortality. They were so easily destroyed... so unlike him. Why had there been so much death? Why couldn't they just accept their place? Mortals were fools, doomed to repeat their mistakes because they were so short lived. The dragon began to speak "No doubt this is one of the darkest hours in your lives. Attacked by a dragon, your friends and family killed. You must hate me, think I'm heartless, but I doubt you know what your kind did, thousands of years ago. You committed mass genocide, slaughtered us dragons like beasts. You killed my friends. You used our own voice, corrupted it with anger and hate. By the time you were done, there were few dragons left alive. All others were slaughtered. I admit when I came, I was hoping you would just surrender. I don't take joy in killing you." The dragon said

[BaldurAnthology]

Neh'Taniel soared towards the Castle, hearing the Dragon's roar but ignoring it, as it wasn't close enough for him to worry. He arrived at the castle, where the guards nervously let him pass. He glided into the Throne room and looked around, curious to see life and luxury after so long a time in a tomb.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Syynove walked calmly, and stood next to her lord as he adressed the guard captain. "I hope you know something of dealing with dragons lord, they are tricky opponents, and incredibly difficult to kill... your men are either going to die, or they will survive... diplomacy can work with those creatures... but it's rare, this beast seems intent on taking land, else it would have burnt the village in a flurried shout."

 

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

 

Selene then darted her eyes to Chorrol, and Bravil... they were the weakest, least fortified of the cities, and they would fall with little push... it was simply the getting there that was a problem, she could march her men to Chorrol, and then have to march around Cyrodiil to get to Bravil... in which time her movement would be noticed... perhaps she could kill them in other ways? There was always the matter of supplies, and with the weald under the Brigade's control, none of it's grapes, wine, and other crops were being distributed to the other cities, so there farms were the only source for them...