Rastislav
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Arc 8 Side Story 4: Mephalan Mischief
🕑 Added 2025-04-04 23:20:39 +0000 UTCAn: Changed Savos' statement that the ritual would take thousands of black soul gems to hundreds (a bit too ridiculous even for what they were doing) in chapter 109.
That aside, I am once again asking that you direct upon me your feedback. The recent lack of interaction has made things feel less interesting and as much as I'd prefer to "tough it out" a bit of engagement is always appreciated.
The actual chapter should be coming in a few hours (probably 4 to 6 if I am being honest... hopefully... I will try!)
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(General POV, before the ritual)
Away from all the excitement on Solstheim, within the very heart of Tamriel's empire, a figure of pale grey skin and midnight black hair stood atop the balcony of the mansion turned Morrowind embassy that belonged to its new Hortator.
The valet currently pouring her wine stilled as he saw her smirk, her gaze directed to the distant north-east as if she could see something in the skies that others could not.
"Ever so bold" She muttered approvingly.
"My lady?" The valet asked.
"Do not worry yourself over little old me, dear Gelin, I am merely remembering something" She directed him with a soft smile that still shook him to the core.
Still, he was hired for his professionalism and discretion, so instead of pressing the issue, he bowed "As you say, Lady Mephys." And swiftly walked away.
Though not without a certain stutter in his gait.
The disguised Mephala rose her hand to hold back a titter of amusement but ultimate failed. Truly, mortals are ever so amusing.
"And they call me the mad one" Her delectable surprise of a guest scoffed "The poor lad will not sleep through the night."
"Such excitement is a gift, is it not?" Mephala smirked "His life was so very monotone before I graced him with my presence."
"With your pestering, you mean?" The pale, red haired warrior woman rolls her eyes "I can see why the boy treats you like he does, you have too much time on your hands."
"A gift that keeps on giving" Mephala's ensuing smile was paradoxically genuine as she said that, even if no one would ever truly know it "Not planning on turning him to paste anymore, dear?"
"He is family now" Ulrika/Sheogorath shrugged.
"It really is that simple to you?" The Webweaver couldn't help but ask.
The once Nord's answer was as instant as it was absolute "Shouldn't it be?"
'Not an ounce of doubt to her, how very refreshing' Mephala shook her head "You may have a point."
"Right" Ulrika nodded "Now where is the whiny one? We've been waiting for over an hour."
"So very impatient" Mephala tutted "You are one of us now dear, an hour or an era, it is all much the same."
"Well, if you want to wait for an era go right ahead" Ulrika rolled her eyes and stood up "I'm too busy turning the idiots in my realm into proper warriors instead of whatever the senile one made them."
Just as she was about to leave, the door to the balcony was practically shoved off its hinges as a large Dunmer-looking man dressed in an oddly familiar suit stepped out of the manor.
His eyes swept across the two Daedra waiting for him and he frowned "You have a lot of nerve facing me while wearing that skin, Sheogorath."
"Uncle Sheo is currently asleep." Ulrika grinned threateningly "So unless you want me to humiliate you once again, sit down and shut up."
Mehrunes Dagon nearly ripped his new suit to pieces as the two arms he was hiding beneah shivered with rage "You little-"
"Must we do this every time?" Mephala sighed theatrically "I will admit it was entertaining the first few times but now it is all turning rather droll."
The two immediately pointed at each other ""Then tell him/her to stop provoking me!""
She covered her mouth with a dainty hand "How charming." She looked to Mehrunes "Please do take a seat, we have work to do."
"For once" The Lord of Destruction growled but did as asked.
"Thank you" She gave him her best smile.
He was unmoved.
Seeing as the tension would not fall for a while yet, she decided to actually focus on the point of their meeting "How go your preparations?"
"The fools under me are still playing at war" Ulrika shrugged "But they will serve well enough for now."
She looked to Mehrunes who scoffed "My puppets relish the idea of a good war, they've grown... sluggish in their current state, but not enough to be a problem."
"Excellent" Mephala smiled "My dearest colleagues are finishing their own preparation as we speak and I myself have done a small bit of reconnaissance with the others."
"So, what are we looking at?" Ulrika asked.
"Most of them are either distracted or disinterested." Mephala decided to be concise for once "Namira is currently doing her best to help her dwindling worshippers, while Vaermina is bound by our pact not to interfere."
At the mention of Namira, Ulrika's face twists into a scowl of disgust.
"Molag and Meridia are still recovering from their little blunder so I don't expect they will do much if anything" Mephala goes on "Malakath, Clavicus, and Hircine have been invited by Sanguine for a party to... enjoy the show as he explained it."
"The little shit" Mehrunes grunts, mostly to hide his annoyance at not being invited.
"Quite" Mephala smirked knowingly "So in short, we will only truly need to focus on Hermaeus, baring any grand shifts of course."
Mentioning Jyggalag or Nocturnal was of course, superfluous. The two simply did not play the 'game' like the rest did.
"Wait..." Ulrika frowned, deep in thought for a long moment before she asked "What about Peryite? All the others are accounted for but in all our meetings we never mentioned him."
Utter silence descended upon the balcony, swiftly broken by a loud snort as Mehrunes directed her with a look of utter ridicule, quickly joined by Mephala's own titter that soon transformed into soul-deep laughter between the duo.
As the two continued laughing, all the poor Nord woman could do was blankly repeat "What?"
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Mephala's amusement followed her well into the following morning, long after her two guests had left and their preparations were finally agreed upon. She couldn't help but wipe at her eye as poor Ulrika's words once more surfaced within her mind.
"Something amuses you, my lady?" An Imperial noblewoman brought her back to Nirn.
"A private joke, Lady Esswood." 'Mephys' smiled at the mortal "I dare not speak it for its crassness but the way it was delivered was quite charming."
The noblewoman quirked an eyebrow but decided she was better off not knowing. She instead took the overpriced porcelain cup filled with tea and took a short sip of the imported beverage, failing to hide a quiet moan of surprise at the taste.
'For someone with so many fingers in the moon sugar trade, the girl is certainly innocent' Mephala hid her amusement and, in a tone that was perfectly polite, quipped "I am happy our hospitality is adequate, my lady."
Varina Esswood's arm twitched but she hid the rest of her reaction "Indeed" She smiled woodenly and turned to the other guest "What about you, Queen Janette?"
The Breton Petty Queen merely raised a dainty eyebrow "The tea is indeed adequate. I feel I must applaud Lord Dagoth on stocking such however, getting imports from all the way in Elsweyr has proven rather difficult for my factotums in these trying times."
Annoyed that her predicament was not shared, Varina simply agreed with a nod and shifted topics "I am surprised you would care for such luxuries, my lady. Was Jehanna not facing some trouble from your- what were they called again?"
"Reachmen, and I remind you they are most certainly not mine." Janette looked at her pointedly, but only for a split second "Fear not my lady, for I assure you that Jehanna has experienced nothing but growth in prosperity since my dear Uthred directed his veteran knights to assist my own."
The Petty Queen's-
'Aspiring High Queen's' Mephala's endless experience corrected.
-eyes grew sharper in the next moment "Such filth shall soon be cleansed from the land, and soon Wrothgar shall prosper like never before."
'Well done hiding that mania, child.' Mephala smirked internally "Impressive progress, dear Janette" She spoke with a small smile "And what of your plans after you've cleansed your lands utterly? Someone of your delectable ambition would not simply leave it at that, would you?"
And just like that, all of the girl's confidence shrunk in on itself as she simply said "Uthred will decide our next move."
Mephala tutted "Now, now, that just will not do my dear."
Both of the highborn ladies gave her looks of shock and surprise at her audacity.
"Say, the good lady Varina here has some rather... interesting contacts." Mephala nodded at the lady of Blackwood who stilled before ever so slowly relaxing "You wish for your intended's success, do you not? Why hesitate to help him in his goals?"
"I.." Janette hesitated "May have made a few foolish miscalculations in my youth."
'The poor thing thinks she is a child no longer' How amusing "And those were but lessons for your ascent." She patted her shoulder gently "Now as I was saying, dear Varina has certain connections in need of unloading."
The fool who owed her far too many favors scowled.
"And you are in need of a next step" Mephala went on as if nothing had happened "I hear the good King of Wind Keep is growing weaker by the day, his lands swarming with orcs and bandits" She gave Varina a pointed look "If you were to wait for the old man to fall to his illness, you and your dear Uthred could rescue those innocent people."
The once more perfectly composed Breton blinks "We could?"
"Why yes" Mephala smiles "And who could judge you for doing what the previous rulers could not? It is after all the duty of the nobility to keep the commonfolk safe, is it not?"
The ruler of Jehanna's eyes brighten with each word.
Mephala went in for the final strike "Now just think of how much your beloved may appreciate you if you came up with all this all on your own."
And that was that.
Hours later, an amused Mephala left the two noblewomen, the two of them quickly falling into an unease cooperation through the sheer force of Daedric scheming even if they could barely stand each other to begin with.
"That should give him a perfect port to watch over the Iliac Bay, all that is left is to kill the fool from Wind Keep" Mephala smirked to herself as she walked. Now if only she would be shown the proper appreciation for all she did...
Ah, but she could wait! The reluctance only made the chase all the sweeter in the end after all.
"What to do now..." She hummed happily, seeing through the eyes of one of her agents as her devotee read through a series of reports, detailing anything between a wealthy merchant buying out a large batch of automatons to the Imperial Grand Marshal still speaking poorly of the recent ceremonies...
"Stubborn little fool" She narrowed her eyes, partially agreeing with the man's annoyance, even if for totally different reasons, and partially fuming at the little upstart for daring to even think of interrupting her dearest Chosen.
"Simply stabbing him will not do though, he is too useful for that..." She frowned and swiftly pulled at one of her grand webs, sending forth a ripple through the minds of thousands.
A day later, through a series of minor events and words spoken in just the right time, the great grandson and sole descendant of the Grand Marshal would take a walk outside the city where he would encounter a particular beast akin to one of Mehrunes' chimerae.
The poor boy would fight bravely but in the end he would end up struck by the thing's scorpion tail, leaving him poisoned and comatose, only to be found almost immediately by a patrolling Valenicus who swiftly began panicking and looking for any way to heal the last of his blood.
By the time the sun started setting, she already owned him body and soul.
"Truly" Mephala 'lamented' grandly to herself, even as the call for the attack on Hermaeus came and she sent forth her Daedric hordes without a care "Only I could tolerate being so underappreciated."
For all her words, she could not hold the anticipatory grin from forming on her face.
All in due time.
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter 😁 Keep up the great work author 💪
Rastislav
She is enjoying the chase, and she is aware of his immortality. She can wait.
Sleeping Dragon
I'm kinda confused on something. Does Melphla want the Mc to drag her to bed and have a fun night while he married? I mean the Mc seems like the non cheating type, so I don't see how she going get to do it without a angry Dragonborn going after her and Akatosh backing her up.
