Rastislav
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Arc 8 Chapter CXIX: Of Tomes And Towers
🕑 Added 2025-04-24 22:31:57 +0000 UTC"Come on Phineas" I loudly tap on said lich's doors "You knew it wasn't going to last for long, stop sulking."
The door is swung open with all he force of a hurricane, revealing the burning eyes of a furious undead "I am not sulking!" Dust is thrown all over the place "You fools just had to rush me before I could get all the data I needed! Now I have to work on an entirely new prototype and it will take me weeks!"
Liver poisoning really brought the mood down, apparently.
"Sounds like a skill issue" I dodge the flying vase and nearly flick his skull off with some light telekinesis "Now stop pouting and let me throw some books at you to make things easier. We will be leaving soon and I don't want to take credit without actually contributing to the final product."
He clenches his skeletal fists, vibrating on the spot before visibly forcing his anger down "Fine, what do you have for me?" He doesn't bother telling me to follow him as he walks back into his chambers.
Mentally searching through my inventory my eyes land on a duo of downright fat tomes that I then summon with the snap of my fingers, the books landing on an empty table with a loud thud.
"Menders Manual 14th edition." Phineas reads the first one aloud and gives me a dubious look "We are sitting on the 26th edition right now, what use is an older version?"
"My scrying told me it would be useful to you" I shrug and point at the next one "Admittedly this one feels like it will be far more useful but sadly it will take some translating."
"Old Ayleid script" Had he eyebrows they would be raised as he grasped the closed tome "This could either be completely useless or my luckiest break yet."
A few moments later he very hesitantly leaves the book where it lay and casts a quick communication spell, and after only a minute of waiting a set of heavy steps alerts us to a new arrival.
Urag Gro-Shub looked just as gruff and imposing as he ever did, his natural orkishness making him unreasonably broad even if he spent the vast majority of his time sitting around in the Arcaneum of the college.
And yet for all the menace he projected, I could feel a tinge of cautious respect in him as his eyes landed on me. The master of conjuration was said to have a better connection to Oblivion than most, and he could feel I had done something momentous, even if he could not identify it.
"Urag." I greet him with a simple nod.
"Dagoth" He grunts back "Good to see you haven't forgotten your roots."
Chuckling I shake my head "I doubt I ever will" And point an open hand at the table "Alas, as much as I'd like to reminisce, our dear Archmage needs your help with translating this."
He doesn't bother complaining and merely grunts once more before bringing out an even heavier tome that looked to be some kind of dictionary, one that after a quick scan I realized held every single known dialect of Ayleid recorded.
'Big orc man does not fuck around' Scorch whistles mentally.
Urag spends some ten minutes alternating between leafing through his book and staring at the title of my tome, rapidly narrowing down his search before nodding to himself and saying "Looks to be Royal Ayleid, used by their highest nobility to differentiate themselves from the masses."
"Promising." Phineas nods, skeletal grin clear on his skull.
Urag merely grunts once more and gets back work, his fingers slowly trailing the series of ancient symbols as they landed on specific words, causing him to speed up even as he frowned at whatever he saw.
Finally, he paused as his eyes settled on a final word and exhaled "The tome is titled Flesh As Clay, appears to be the journal of the personal Flesh Gardener of Umaril the Unfeathered."
"The same chucklefuck Pelinal Whitestrake ripped apart" I cup my chin, eyebrows raised.
The reasoning behind the title of 'Flesh Gardener' needed no elaboration, the Ayleids deserved their fates at the hands of Alessia's rebels.
"Indeed" Urag grunts.
Not likewise gripped by our historical fascination, Phineas was stuck practically vibrating in excitement, or the undead equivalent of it as he visibly held himself back from simply grabbing the book and trying to smash it into his skull.
The reaction, for whatever reason, seemed to unnerve the orcish librarian.
Hearing me clear my throat, Phineas snapped out of his fugue and turned to face us, pausing as he noticed Urag's look "Don't stare at me like I am about to follow those fools in their time wasters, the Ayleids may have been skilled but they were complete fucking idiots when it came to making use of those same skills." His skull twists into a scowl "The mere implication of it makes me want to break something."
"I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to." Urag states bluntly, not even the slightest hint of shame in his voice "Just make sure this doesn't fall into untrustworthy hands."
The lich gives him a scathing look that may as well be screaming 'Who the fuck do I look like to you!?'
"Don't worry, Urag" I chuckle "Something tells me the results are going to be far more benign this time around."
The orc grunts and nods "The only reason I didn't immediately burn the damn thing is that I trust you all. Don't make me regret it." He doesn't bother waiting for our answer and strolls out, dictionary left behind.
The sheer balls on this man...
"Bloody orc still scares me." Phineas drawls.
"A thought occurs." I hum "Why hasn't he been invited to our little society yet?"
"Ask Tolfdir" Phineas shrugs "Green bastard probably doesn't want to bother."
"Fair" I snort "Probably should keep him in mind considering the age of some of the books I got..."
Shaking my head I look to the lich slowly inching towards the book "I see you aren't going to be resisting your temptation anytime soon. See you later Phineas." I wave and turn to leave.
"Off with you" He waves his hand at me dismissively "I will inform you of any spells I come up with from this one."
What a terribly shy fellow.
---
A short stroll later I found myself standing within the college's northern garden section, the trio of Volkihar vampires arrayed before me as they prepared to leave for their island castle.
"Do be sure to visit when you have time" Serana says with a small smile as she steps back from our hug "The castle actually feels livable now."
"Now that is an unexpected thought" I chuckle, hopefully they managed to get the blood out of the floors "And sure, I will be taking the time to visit Silruhn Fell soon enough as well, so a quick jump over shouldn't be an issue."
For only a moment, Valerica's face twisted into a scowl that could have curdled milk.
"And you" I snap my fingers at the vampire I dragged from Apocrypha.
He blinks away whatever haze had taken him "Yes?"
"Do make sure not to blab about what happened, or we will be having issues." I threaten lightly before turning to Serana "Ensure he isn't a monster and either recruit him or let him on his way, he did me a service so killing him out of hand would be quite low."
"Sure" She doesn't even twitch at the implied command.
"And what did happen to require such secrecy?" Valerica cuts in.
"Ask your liege if she feels like telling you" I shrug without facing her "She should know if she can trust her subordinates."
Boy how I love riling the bitch up.
"Hush now" Serana hides her amusement behind the admonishment "You've had your fun already."
"As the lady commands" I bow dramatically and wink as I get up "Thanks for coming to our little adventure, be sure to remember I actually owe you a favor for it this time."
"Hmm" She cups her chin "I don't know... I might just keep it for later."
"As you like" I roll my eyes at the mischief in her look "Be seeing you."
She waves a good bye, and in a flash, the trio disappears.
"Finally finished?" Minthara approaches me as she sees them leave.
"Eyup." I nod "You done packing yet?"
"I've been done for hours now" She deadpans "We are all just waiting for you."
Unable to contain a sigh I mutter "This whole 'rulership' thing is really starting to irritate me."
"Maybe I'd commiserate if you didn't practically groom me for it" She deadpans.
I nearly miss a step at the wording "Why did you have to say it like that?!"
She blinks, genuinely confused "But that is what grooming means? Preparing someone for a position? Right?"
I hold back the desire to kill myself on the spot and ever so slowly nod "Right."
And of course, Scorch decided now was the best time to imitate police sirens directly into my brain.
This was a memory I'd never live down, wasn't it?
Shoving it all as deep into the void of my mind as I could I sharply switched topics "Want to teleport back to Cyrodiil this time?"
She immediately groans "I thought you'd never ask."
No way was I wasting time on marching when I had an entire library to go through.
-----
(General POV)
Titus Mede II kept his breathing steady as he felt the elixir settle in his stomach, the previous words of his bodyguard's Commander slowly registering within his mind "They arrived early this morning you say?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty." The leader of the Pennitus Occulatus nods "They arrived via portal in Dagoth Manor with a retinue of some hundred soldiers, apparently the rest of their group was sent to Dagoth's hidden city to rest and recuperate."
"Caladon always did say relying on wards to be absolute was foolish." Titus said wistfully "Did he comment on how likely they were to be breached by anyone else?"
"About that..." Maro shifts awkwardly.
"Commander" Titus gives him a look "I asked you a question."
"Of course, Your Majesty" The man snaps a salute "It is just that..." he looks away "Caladon has spent the past three hours following Dagoth around the White Gold Tower like a lost puppy, as the Prince-Consort... rearranges the warding scheme..."
Feeling just the slightest of headaches coming on, the Emperor of Tamriel ominously leaned forward "You are telling me... That you failed to inform me of my home's protection being messed with?" A part of him wanted to yell at the man but experience had taught him that expecting Dagoth to be stopped by something as petty as propriety was a fools errand.
"You were resting" Maro's words came out as pre-practiced, the unsaid 'it happens rarely enough' not going unheard "And the Battlemage was... Well, he looked just about ready to threaten to incinerate anyone who would interrupt the Prince Consort's work."
Yes, that sounded about right.
"Caladon's wards are said to be some of the best in the world." Titus mutters mostly to himself "If he is acting fascinated by what he sees, then that must mean whatever my heir's husband is doing will benefit us greatly."
Once more Maro shuffles a bit "His automaton did enlighten us on the basics, sir."
Titus waves for him to go on.
"Most of the technical terms went over my head but in essence" He pauses "The wards should be at least four times as potent, with only those permitted capable of teleporting around the tower."
"And the city?" The Emperor prompts.
"I asked much the same" Maro nods "And the Prince was the one to answer, telling me that expecting to cover that amount of ground without using... black souls" The mere mention makes him scowl with disgust "And hundreds of them at that was a fool's errand. He said merely making things difficult was the best siege defense reasonable."
"A shame that" Titus reminisced in the privacy of his mind "An assurance against what the Thalmor did once already would have made me sleep easier."
"Well he did also have something to say about that." Maro's eyes light up with a vindictive glee "He said that stopping teleportation on that scale was near impossible, but redirecting it was something he'd be able to do with ease."
Titus found himself blinking "Redirecting it as in sending them to a trap instead of their destination?"
"Indeed, Your Majesty." The Commander of the Pennitus Occulatus grinned.
An expression soon mirrored by his Emperor "Good, let him keep going then. What of my heir? Has she returned unharmed?"
"Even if she was harmed I doubt it would show" The Commander's brow twitches with irritation "And the very idea that she should not rush to danger feels foreign to her."
"She is a Nord, and one of the dragon blood at that" Titus shrugs.
"I know, sir, it is just-" Maro shakes his head "I find it difficult to make peace with the fact that my future charge is so beyond me that the very idea of protecting her is laughable."
"She can still not be everywhere" Titus points out "And there will always be work for the loyal and the brave, even if it may not be as glamorous as taking arrows for someone capable of ignoring them outright."
"True enough" Maro exhales, deflating slightly.
"What is she up to anyway?" Titus asked with a curious glint in his eyes.
"The Crown Princess and Prince Consort have finally decided to make use of their apartments within the Tower." Commander Maro answers "Her Highness has spent the last few hours" He coughs into his hand "Dragging a vault's worth of trophies to the top of the tower... by hand."
Titus' palm swiftly found its way onto his face "Well, at least gathering trophies is a sign of prestige..."
The uncomfortable look of his guardian made the Emperor not ask the question for once.
At this point, ignorance was bliss as far as he was concerned.
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter ๐
Nazarickk
Thanks for the chapter
