Wisdom of the Ancestors - An Elder Scrolls RP

[SoulofChrysamere]

Suetin Marczon: Karthspire Mountain - Skyhaven Temple Courtyard

 

 

"So, where do we go through the mountains to get into Cyrodiil, Gregor? The pass south of Helgen?" Suetin asked.

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Sorinyarie: En Route to the Labyrinthian

 

 

After Adrynn's expert dispatching of the adolescent troll, Sorin heard the deep-toned screeches of adult trolls not very far off.

 

"I think we've pissed them off..." Sorin began as the trolls came over a snowy dune. "Yep, get ready!" She called as she conjured a pair of ice spikes in her hands and then loosed them at the trolls.

 

The battlemage's accuracy was precise, and both ice spikes planted themselves in the skulls of two trolls, putting them down into the snow.

======================================

 

Serrabinashiah Masseribalit: The Reach - To the Karthspire.

 

 

"C'mon, this way." Serra said as she started off down the road.

 

After a short while, she deviated off to the left and led the Ordinator around Kolskeggr Mine, making sure no Forsworn or Thalmor noticed the pair. However, pre-dusk eventually set in, and Serra knew it would be too dangerous to keep on when nighttime arrived.

 

"We're going to have to start building a shelter and getting a fire going. It's too dangerous to travel through here at night." Serra said as she scanned the hills and cliffs. The Forsworn were the masters of ambush, and they could materialize from any where in the Reach seemingly at will

[AurianaValoria1]

Sandhya quickly maneuvered behind one of the trolls and stabbed her daggers into the back of its neck, severing its spinal cord. With a spin, she plunged one dagger into another's eye before slashing across the chest of a third.

 

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

 

Faeryn glanced around. There weren't many good places for shelter at all. The area was quite similar to what the West Gash of Vvardenfell had been....hilly, with sparse vegetation, save scraggly scrub and stunted trees. He gestured to the juniper bushes with a gloved hand, "Don't suppose we can use that for anything? Looks too flimsy for a shelter, but perhaps we can burn it? I must admit, I'm not familiar with the uses of Nordic plants."

[Zephyr2011]

Ra'Qasar was about to tell them to stand down, but then it was too late. The battlemage loosed icy spears at two of the trolls and Sandhya was flying among them. He sighed slightly, so much for just conjure a fire he thought. The trolls shied away from flames well enough if done properly, but it was too late, there were only a couple left though, there was only room for maybe ten trolls around Labyrinthian. Not enough food and territory for more than that, even when they decided to be sociable. Ra'Qassar felled the last two with a couple of well placed shots from his bow that tore through their eyes.

 

When the last troll lay still he called, "Let's keep moving and get inside, it's not any safer in there, but it's warmer." He made his way down the steep steps towards the great door and nearly fell when he tripped on something in the drift he was wading through. He looked down and cleared away the snow. "I believe we've found them." He hollered, holding up the mutilated body of a Thalmor by the collar.

 

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Galus was barking orders left and right, he only had 13 Thalmor left about half women, he had nothing against the women, yet he was agitated that discipline fell apart when you were in Labyrinthian, none thanks to the idea that they would all die soon. Four of his troops were a little sore from "enjoying their last night" and it was liable to have been there last night at this rate. The draugr were everywhere. He had his troops ring up around the mages and himself as they loosed fireballs at all the undead and cast different wards and defensive spells. The swordsmen and macemen were holding off the draugr as they came. He hoped it would be enough. Already there was a small bank of bodies around them of the nordic dead, but there was still a score of them left. He noticed another skeleton in the distance with pale blue eyes just staring at them. That disconcerted him.

 

"Watch around the pillar! There, up on the gallery! Fire!" He barked and spelled and fought. Eventually it looked like they would make it through this gods forsaken chamber, he looked up in time to see the skeleton walk off. That was odd, it just walked away, didn't run, it didn't even have a weapon. What in Oblivion have we stumbled upon? he thought.

 

When the chamber was clear they pressed on to a hallway and found a suitable sideroom that was far more defensible. They set up camp. He had lost two more, a man and a woman, both from arrows. He was getting worried. His plan was sound, but it didn't matter when he set it into motion if he couldn't get out. This was getting very dicey. He had to hope that they were getting close, or that those damned things wouldn't repopulate the areas they had already swept. The things seemed to breed like rabbits even if they were already dead.

 

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Baltis kept sensing the energies. Most were the faint blue metalic pings of the Thalmor, but then he felt something different. There was another high elf, farther away, but more powerful. Then there was something else different, closer... With the Thalmor. It was familiar, it stunk of salt spray, waving grass and musty stones, that was familiar to him, but there was also the crisp odor of the North, the frozen tundras, the snow fall and the great ice flows. This was an interesting presence, it was the power of tradition, but tradition educated in the North, a College student no doubt.

 

A skeleton servant returned and as per usual, Baltis absorbed the insight from it. And then he knew. It was a bloody Faramel child. The paler skin rather than the more obvious gold of most Altmer and the sandy blonde to brown hair, it had to be Faramel, no other family's energy was like that, wreaking of Ayleids and the Gold Coast. What is he doing here? The Faramel's hate the Thalmor. Almost as much as they hate my kind.

[darkedge42392]

Adrynn pushed through the thick wet snow to Ra'Qassar, his blade still dripping with the blood of the troll he had slain. He glanced down and nodded. "Indeed so, Thane of Whiterun. Come, we need to get inside. I sense a battle."

 

It was true. The sharp and disctinct flashes of magicka that were bouncing off of the Redoran's consciousness were dizzying. They smelt of burning and death; tasted of flame and anger. Destruction magick. And a lot of it.

 

The Thalmor... Adrynn thought, clenching his gauntleted fist around his sword tighter. Only they would be foolish enough to expend so much magicka in this place. He could still feel the Labyrinthian trying to tug at him, dig into his magicka and drain it from him. This place was hungry, no starving to fuel itself. Such was the way of ancient magickal places.

 

Adrynn pushed through the snow, annoyed at his slow progress. Cursing himself for going back on his word, he slung his shield over his shoulder and threw his left hand forward. A blistering, billowing stream of flames erupted from his palm, melting the snow to the door in a torrent of heat. Gritting his teeth, he quickly sloshed forward.

 

As soon as he crossed the gaping doors into the ruin, Adrynn was struck with a sudden and sharp wave of cold. Staggering momentarily at this unexpected intrusion, he looked around wildly for who had attacked him. But nothing was there but the way leading down. And he was unharmed. Yet the cold persisted. He pushed back at the cold with his magicka, feeling it fade, but not dissipate. It wasn't the lurching seeking fingers of the ruin, nor was it any kind of frost attack. It was just cold. A very familiar cold.

 

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Adrynn stood upon the deck of a ship, the great Shrine of Azura on Vvardenfell before him. But something was wrong. The door was blasted from its hinges and a dark menacing figure stood in the doorway. Azura's wrath coursed through him, and he leapt from the deck onto the entranceway as soon as the keel hit the shore. He unsheathed his Daedric Katana and stepped forward, every inch of his body throbbing with energy, his brand like a sun in his palm.

 

"You made a foolish mistake coming here today, Mage. For you face Azura's Chosen, and this day you die!" Adrynn cursed, flinging himself at the Dunmer Mage who dare desecrate Azura's Shrine.

 

----------

 

Adrynn shook himself back to the present. No time to dwell on the past.

 

Be watchful this day, my child... Azura softly whispered.

[Zephyr2011]

Ra'Qassar trudge on through the snow, shoving it aside as he went with his shield. He had no magic of his own to help clear the way. He had tried to learn once, only to learn that he was completely mundane, he could not wield magic in any form or in any manner save for enchanting. Enchanting was different though. It was not grasping at the magic around you or within you, it was inside a gem and with powerful tools already accessible. It was a small burden that rarely bothered him, but just now, some magic would be helpful.

 

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All of a sudden Baltis felt it, a great rush of heat, fire and passion. A noble spirit to be sure. The presence was extremely familiar, one he had known a long time ago, he could not place it though, it had been too long, and he had not slept in centuries, one sees much, feels much and learns much in that time without slumbering.

 

The warrior lunged at him. He was not in the mood for another affront today and his fury coursed through him. He did not let down his guise but instead unleashed his magicks. Sending fire and ice and lightning from his fingertips. They raged back and forth with the spells clanging off the chamber of the shrine. He summoned a bound sword to parry the warrior and alternated loosing destructive spells and raising defensive wards as the Redoran came at him. It was the most emotion he had felt since he had ventured into undeath, such anger and fury filled him. This mundane fool was daring to attack him.

[mythicdawnmaster]

Sienna stepped into the ruins with no small dose of trepidation, looking around with the same feeling of paranoia she had felt as they entered the ruined walls, inside it was so much more intense. This place was alive with the evil magics that sustained it, despite whatever dragon and it's priests that had lorded over the vast kingdom being long gone, their magical energies remained, remained within the walls of the ruin itself, the stones themselves were voracious, whispering in silence omens of evil.

 

"I don't like this place." She commented simply, her blade drawn and pulsing with crimson energy.

 

----

 

Gregor had not asked for an escort nor did he require one, but he was not about to refuse. Grinning wickedly as Suetin asked if they were headed down the pass south of Helgen, the gnarled old necromancer laughed huskily. "And be found immediately? No, no, no. There are a number of caves of a... questionable residence dotted around Skyrim, and we shall be heading through Necromancer territory, so I implore you lad, don't try anything unless you want to end up dancing in undeath, my disciples aren't so forgiving." Leaving the Karthspire their journey was cold, covert, and dark.

[AurianaValoria1]

Sandhya's hackles rose as they progressed further into the ruins. She kept her daggers at the ready, her tail swishing from side to side. Her ears were backed as she hissed, "This one hears the sounds of battle...the Thalmor are close."

[darkedge42392]

Adrynn kept moving with the others. He could tell the Thalmor had been here. The signs of a rushed passage were plainly evident. Overturned urns, busted burial jars, a few singed draugr corpses here and there. They had come this way. And done so with haste. Adrynn frowned and picked up his pace.

 

After rounding a few turns and going down steadily, they came into a small chamber lined with niches carved into the rock. Most were empty. But a few stirred. A handful of draugr slid from their niches and raised their weapons, their dead throats echoing with hate.

 

Adrynn moved forward. He ducked under the swing of one draugr and split it in half with his sword, before disarming another by taking off its spell casting arm at the elbow. He kept moving, leaving the rest of the undead warriors for the others. They were weak, and posed no real threat other than as a nuscience.

 

As he reached the entranceway to the next room, the cold he had been feeling the entire way into the ruin suddenly spiked. He stopped and gasped, his breath having left his body. Snarling, the Redoran pushed back against it with his magicka, feeling the warmth flood his body again. He knew this feeling from somewhere....

 

Adrynn fought against the Mage with a fury he had not known before. Every strike, every swing, had one single purpose. To end this being before him. But he could not get an advantage. The magicks used against him forced him to duck, dodge, parry, and block. The Mage was fighting just as furiously as he was. But, here within Azura's very own shrine, Adrynn was like a god. He felt a steady surge of power from both his brand and the great statue of Azura against the far wall. He pressed forward with a renewed fury, bring his own magic to bear against the Mage, flinging fire and ice and lightning.

 

Finally, luck was with him. The Mage stumbled over the fallen body of a Winged Twilight. Adrynn kicked the bound sword from the mage's hand and raised his Daedric Katana high over his head.

 

"I told you this was the day you died!" Adrynn snarled, before swinging down with all his might, intent on splitting the Mage in two.

 

Adrynn was brought back to the present by a sudden and extremely unnerving sound. An earsplittingly deep and gutteral roar echoed from the passage before him. It was so great it shook the walls and long undisturbed dust fell from the ceiling, forcing the Redoran to cover his ears. The magic of the ruins surged against him again and he flung it back with great effort. A deep fear sunk into Adrynn. Never had he heard such a sound. Magic suddenly pinged against his consciousness. A battle was raging against something deeper in the ruin. And he was sure the Thalmor was involved.

 

"My friends! COME!" He called behind him, jogging deeper toward the sounds of battle, his sword raised and a ball of flame sprouting from his empty left palm.

[Zephyr2011]

Ra'Qassar moved through the corridors with his bow at the ready, loosing arrows at passing draugr until the quarters became to tight to manage that well and he switched to sword and shield. The draugr were only a nuisance, as some of the others had observed, but that was exactly what was concerning. There were scores of dead draugr and a few dead Thalmor around the ruin. The Thalmor must have carved a bloody swath through the draugr someway or another. The worst of the foul undead were dead already which spoke of the experience and expertise of the Thalmor. Suddenly a massive roar shook the ruins and a shiver went up the Khajiit's spine, his fur rose as he recognized the horrible sound. "Be careful companions. Up ahead is a large chamber where we will likely find the Thalmor and one of the most fearsome creatures that lurk the plane. An undead dragon." Ra'Qassar moved with great trepidation down a flight of stares and found the doors destroyed at the base, staring at an immense cavern populated by about a dozen Thalmor, two score of skeletal warriors and a large skeletal dragon.

 

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The draugr had overrun the Thalmor encampment earlier and they had been forced to flee, shooting fireballs and other spells over their shoulders until they reached the great stone chamber. The dragon had just awoken when Galus turned and saw an interesting group of adventurers, one in bone mold, two khajiit, and several heavily armored warriors and battlemages. The Altmer barked orders and coordinated his forces to focus fire on the undead dragon while a few others took care of the skeletons. He set his jaw, this was going to be a very difficult fight.

 

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

 

Baltis felt a great warmth, a blazing fire really, it shone like a beacon on the horizon. He felt the heat and he thought about the feeling more, he had felt it before, not just in Labyrinthian, but many times long ago.

 

The warrior had surprised Baltis by his powerful use of magic, but Baltis was more powerful. This warrior was extremely powerful and he could sense the blessings of Azura flowing through him. The Redoran shouted, "I told you this was the day you died!"

 

Baltis's lips curled into a cruel smile as a vicious strike with the Daedric Katana came towards him, "I already have!" As Llervu spoke the words his flesh melted away to reveal his partially decomposed body, less rotten then, but still decidedly dead. As he did so he brought his hand up, filled with a corrosion spell and then delved into the depths of his power and put all his might in it. The blade and hand came together in a crescendo of energy and a soft bloom of light erupted. When the light and mist faded the lich's left hand was gone and the fearsome katana lay in pieces on the floor of the shrine.

 

Baltis's eyes widened in recognition. He turned rapidly and glided to the symbols on the floor of Labyrinthian, the metal was still there. He stooped to examine them. Daedric. And suddenly the lich knew.

[SoulofChrysamere]

Suetin Marczon: To The Imperial City

 

 

"I take it we're heading through a cave system in Falkreath, then? That's the closest region bordering Cyrodiil to us, although we're going to have to sneak around a couple of Forsworn nests before we're clear of the Reach." Suetin asked as the pair headed around the Karthspire Mountain and then southward. Reaching Falkreath wasn't going to be an easy affair.

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Sorinyarie: Inside the Labyrinthian

 

 

The astronomically vast veins of intrinsically inherent magicka contained within the Labyrinthian's very physical architecture had momentarily overwhelmed the veteran battlemage, forcing her to entrench her being against tsunamis of arcane energy that would have baffled and possibly even injured or killed lesser mages. Not long after she had managed to adjust, Sorinyarie heard sounds of battle and Adrynn's call to arms as he ran toward the commotion.

 

"Wait up, Adrynn! No good to charging them by yourself and getting overpowered!" Sorin called as she unsheathed her blade and sprinted double-time to catch up to the Dunmer.

 

Sorin pooled primed electrical energy in her empty left hand and matched Adrynn's pace. Eventually, the hallway opened up into a room that displayed an ongoing battle of an ilk that the Altmer hadn't seen before. In the air, a massive skeletal dragon zipped to and fro, sending freezing blizzards groundward toward two different groups of combatants - the remnants of the Thalmor strike team and a throng of undead warriors. Whether the dragon was indiscriminate or not, the large orbs of frost didn't seem aimed at any one kind of target in particular; the whole affair appeared fated to devolve into an icy bloodbath.

 

"Think we should wait for them to wear each other down, or are we going to get involved right now?" Sorin asked Adrynn, shaking the initial surprise from her mind.

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Serrabinashiah Masseribalit: To the Karthspire

 

 

"The juniper bushes will work for shelter, and the berries are actually edible - a little bitter, but they'll do in a pinch. If you like, you can tear some of the branches off of the ones on the sides and use them to kind of thatch over the tops of the middle ones. I'll see about getting a fire started, and then we can hunker down for the night. I've still got a decent amount of rations here in my pouch, so food isn't much of an issue for me right now." Serra suggested as she scanned the surroundings for more substantial sources of firewood than the wispy junipers.