Rastislav
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Arc 8 Chapter CVIII: Grand Theft Book
🕑 Added 2025-03-31 23:45:15 +0000 UTCI giggled like a little child as I fiddled with my Orbβ’ and changed Neloth's nickname for the tenth time today. Having sifted through every possible bald insult I could come up with (he was notified about each and every one) before settling on Maldy and ignoring the ensuing rant.
'Won't play the jester my grey ass' I snorted, drawing the freshly returned Minthara's exasperated sigh.
"Finally done with our dear Sahrotaar?" I look up with a light smirk "I do hope I didn't damage his pride too much." Poor fucker was so far under Miraak's domain even his name reflected it 'Mighty Servant' is not a name the usual dragon chose willingly.
"Damage?" She crosses her arms and directs me with a pointed look "The poor thing was already broken before you decided to just handwave him into the dirt."
I raise my index finger in protest "To be entirely fair his buddies annoyed the shit out of me first."
"Uh huh." She nods in a deadpan "Very enlightened of you."
"The picture of wisdom am I" I grin playfully before shrugging the entire topic away "Newest additions to your menagerie of distant kinsfolk aside" Her face twitches in a disturbed wince "I do believe it is about time we sped up our schedule."
Without any prompting from me, she pulls out her own Orbβ’ and looks over the map within, raising an eyebrow as she did "So I get to babysit the old man while you go and dig out a legendary enchanter and fell a giant, is that right?"
"Yup" I grin.
Her lips thin, once more in exasperation "You are lucky your constant scheming is cute."
I ever so slowly quirk an eyebrow while placing a hand over my heart "Oh my."
She kicks my shin, nearly stumbling as her foot just passed through it, armor included. She naturally rights herself instantly and narrows her eyes "You are explaining that after this is done."
"Sure thing dear" I grin, still somehow managing to fluster her "But seeing as you already have things nice and ordered here-"
"Reyvin, don't you dare" She narrows her eyes.
"-I will leave you to it" I give her a shiteating grin and promptly disappear.
(Minthara's POV)
'That little shit has no right using his looks to escape all the work!'
As the thoughts register in my mind I still and give the area around me a very careful look before exhaling in relief.
"Good gods Minthara, get your mind out of the gutter." I mutter before cupping my chin "Still, if you think you can drop your chores on me and escape unscathed you've got another thing coming mister!"
I nodded in resolution (not smugness) and returned to my work, utterly ignoring the little part of me that said 'Yeah, keep telling yourself that.'
-----
(Reyvin's POV)
Before I arrived at my destination, I made a quick stop at the central force's position to ensure Miraak didn't attempt a cheeky spite blow while I was dealing with the other position.
And thankfully, save for a number of dead and heavily injured, everything was in good order. Nerevar didn't even get nicked, Serana was too nice and drunk on dragon blood to care about a bit of incineration and the rest were more than happy to continue with their own end of the cleansing.
The little pack of werewolves did try and bother me about their future place but I just told them they wouldn't be uprooted and left it at that. Might as well let the discomfort of uncertainty build some semblance of a need to please me (knee-jerk reaction that it was) before I tried actually integrating the little furries.
My stop was short and I left after only a good two hours, appearing an hour of brisk walking to the east of Raven Rock just in time to see a dead tired Karvanni sit his diminutive ass on the dirt while sweating like a pig.
He looked up at me and blinked, eyes only half-focused "Ah, using the Hortator to break me are we? Fucking liches." He spat on the ground, making even his spite sound tired.
With a wave of my hand, the admittedly serviceable wards the Telvanni Master had set up are promptly overridden by ones of my own making, and additionally imbued with Aedric Magicka, clearing the metaphysical miasma pouring from the mostly unearthed barrow within seconds.
Karvanni's eyes clear up but instead of getting up to greet me he just slumps further into the dirt, closes his eyes, and lets out a long breath of relief "Took your sweet time didn't you, Dagoth?"
"All that respect for my title gone so quickly?" I quirk an unimpressed eyebrow, my voice a lazy drawl "Why, I feel so very betrayed right now."
He snorts, his eyes snapping open as he glared at me from the dirt "Your warning about the mental pressure was quite the understatement Your Grace."
'Sounds like a you problem, bitch.' Scorch grumbled.
"An admittedly unavoidable mistake" I shrug and blast him with a wave of healing magic, jolting his ass into getting off the ground, nearly jumping up with the sudden onrush of energy "I was aware of the existence of the issue, not its magnitude."
"Should have just prepared better I suppose" He scoffs at himself after brief consideration "Little bastard was insidious though, didn't even notice he got me until it was already too late to react."
There is that Telvanni philosophy, you were either good enough, or you were not.
"You couldn't retreat?" I ask.
"Ha!" He snorts "I could still command the automatons, and I sure as ash am not missing the chance to get a look at Ahzidaal's work. That bastard is legendary, even to my house."
"Enchanting insights are quite useful in ritualism" I nod, his main 'school' was rather obvious with all his unnatural traits "And I always reward dedication."
He grins as if to say 'Exactly what I've been banking on.'
Rolling my eyes, I summon a bar of silvered tin (yes, tinfoil hats would unironically work against mental attacks in this world and no I am not sharing that information with anyone) and transmute it into an amulet, filling the rune grooves with diamonds and slapping the entire thing with a grand soul gem.
The gawking Telvanni nearly drops his rewards as I toss it to him, practically stumbling over himself as he began scanning it with multiple spells.
"Nothing short of a concentrated grandmaster is getting through that" I explain to him and begin walking to the tomb "Now get moving, we've wasted enough time as it is and your tiny legs will cost us precious minutes."
Still rather discombobulated by the past few minutes, the elf stumbles after me with an almost giddy air around him, barely managing to gather himself enough to actually put the damn trinket on.
The things I do for loyalty...
---
The halls of Kolbjorn have been excavated with impressive precision, my spider automatons enchanted to not damage any of the historical artifacts as they went about their work managing to preserve many an urn or lesser relief, even if they still inevitably had to slap a few awakened Draugr to death.
Not that the barrow itself was any kind of unusual until we reached a rather considerable Hall of Stories, one that told of Ahzidaal's deeds in life and undeath in very grim detail, and surprisingly impressive artistry as well.
... It wouldn't surprise me if the Dragon Cult still respected him even after he betrayed them for Miraak, the little shits valued power over most things in life.
"Well" Karvanni mutters as we pass the final relief of the Falmer genocide "At least he was dedicated."
"Oaths of vengeance never made sense to me" I shrug as we approach the next series of reliefs, these ones showing the ancient enchanter's service to the dragons "But then again I never experienced enough loss to consider one."
The shorter Dunmer chuckles with obvious discomfort "Here is to hoping that day never comes, I quite like the world intact if you do not mind."
My own responding chuckle was far darker than his.
A few more reliefs and suicidal undead later, we approach the puzzle lock, and after about one minute of fiddling the way further is opened, Karvanni staying well behind me as I instructed him as we stepped into Ahzidaal's burial chamber.
Immediately, I felt the familiar miasma burst from his sarcophagus, assaulting my mind with no true words or intentions but pure, unadulterated hatred and loathing, a sensation that lasted for but a moment until the thing burst in all directions, showering the walls with shrapnel and revealing a bronze armored Dragon Priest.
Those were some pretty damn good enchantments.
He did not hesitate for even a moment before blasting me with a wave of flame suspiciously similar to dragonfire, swiftly followed by a firebolt that was more akin to a high powered super laser than anything else, and one more wave after that.
His spells struck again and again and again, and he did not bother stopping, at all.
"See that would usually hurt." I step out of the wall of magical fire without a single hair out of place, I felt quite nice and refreshed in fact "But sadly for you, fire is my BITCH."
Before I could deliver to him the beating of his unlife, the cheeky little shit decided to blast me in the face with a lightning bolt.
"Alright" I mutter and nod "Hard way it is."
(General POV)
Vels Karvanni adopted a distant, dead look as he observed the absolute beatdown happening in front of him. His scholarly mind tried reasserting itself as he was given the chance to observe a full-on umbramantic soul binding while the target of said ritual was still attempting to incinerate the practitioner... Who had just beat it to near dissolution with his armored fists...
It was in that moment that the old Telvanni Master, destroyer of hundreds and knower of terrible secrets, came to a resounding conclusion.
He needed a fucking vacation.
(Reyvin's POV)
"Arise!" I grinned widely as the Dragon Priest's shade rose from the few bits of bonemeal that remained "Yesss" I chuckled "You shall be a fine addition indeed."
The usual flash of memories was more vague and loose than usual but the soul itself was stretched dangerously thin already so taking it apart would be a project for later. I did catch a few sights of the massacres of the merethic era, and they were not pretty.
The shade, looking much like the dragon priest except with the odd twist of adopting Krein's gold and black instead of the usual black and purple, bowed deeply before me. Ahzidaal kept most of his previous shape but I could feel it in the back of my head that his fire had probably only turned more dangerous now that he was connected to me.
Nodding to myself, I waved a hand and unsummoned him.
[Summon Added: Enduring Hatred, Royal Guard 13 => 18]
'Chunky little fucker, ain't you?'
"Karvanni" I speak up, nearly laughing as the poor fucker startled awake "Once I am done interrogating my new friend, I will copy the insights for your perusal." I of course pocketed the loot, just in case the shade turned out less talkative than I expected.
"O-of course" He clears his throat to hide his discomfort "I will await eagerly."
"Mhm" I hum with amusement and move to the hidden chamber I detected "Do not follow me now."
Thankfully he doesn't question it and soon I am in the chamber holding the Black Book, its aura actively working to conceal itself but failing utterly before my sight.
Suddenly a premonition strikes me.
But I do not move.
Tentacles burst from every corner of the room, moving at blinding speeds and impaling me from each and every direction reasonable and not, except for the one aiming at the unmentionables, that one gets incinerated on instinct.
A rather unfortunate mistake as that reaction already warned my assailant of his poor decision making process but not a complete one, as the room burst in grey flame a moment later, trailing after the retreating appendages and cursing the absolute shit out of them even as they fell back into Apocrypha.
"Now that was fucking disgusting" I snort, good thing I could just flip all physical sensation off.
Hopefully Minthara didn't have similar surprises waiting for her as well...
---
(General POV)
A very irritated demigoddess walked out of the barrow of Benkongerike, two large chain bound tomes and a dull grey Dragon Priest's mask hanging off her back... and immensely disgusting tentacle guts clinging to her armor.
Lydia's sharp breathing earned her a swift glare from her liege, an act that drew attention to her more silent, if equally entertained companion.
"Not a word" Minthara growled.
Both bodyguards clamped their mouths shut, even as they continued internally giggling all the way until they reached the nearest creek.
---
(Reyvin's POV)
Poor Karvanni seemed terribly tired by the time we were done so I just told him to return to Raven Rock as I teleported to the distant north of Solstheim, the guards at the entrance of the cave that led into Karstaag's castle immediately standing at attention and saluting.
"Report" I ordered, not stopping for even a moment as I entered the cave.
The four guards jogged after me, and their leader spoke as we walked "All reiklings and other beasts have been cleared out, a few of us got nearly mauled by a feral were-bear but Lords Alor and Faren dealt with the creature without great issue, the castle ruins up-top have been secured as well."
"Excellent" I grin "Hopefully the lord of the castle will prove more entertaining than his servants."
The guards seemed confused but followed me without hesitation.
-----
...I wasn't exactly sure what I expected to happen here.
The giant specter of ice and magic swung his club, with admittedly impressive force, but after having faced enemies so far beyond it that it wasn't even funny, its movements and admittedly impressive ice magic for a dead giant were almost... disappointing.
Hearing my sigh, the specter of Karstaag paused, his confusion swiftly replaced with fury as he roared in indignation and redoubled his attacks, summoning atronachs and ice storms without a care for his reserves.
Shaking my head I merely spoke "Scorch, dinner time."
"Taste the sun bitch!" Bird man declared, and then there was light.
Shaking my head as the phoenix proceeded to utterly dunk on the poor thing I moved to rejoin my subjects, who were all observing the battle with appreciable professionalism.
Alor, ever the overachiever, even brought out a small booklet and began sketching the thing.
Made an old man proud it did.
I snapped my fingers and summoned a whole ass feast, and we proceeded to enjoy supernatural bloodsport as Scorch decided merely defeating the giant was not enough.
No, his waste of my time deserved a proper humiliation.
---
The ritual ended, and much like Ahzidaal the memory of an undead provided far less feedback than that of the living, not that the giant would ever be useful for anything other than battering people into submission, even if his manner of taking command of the goblinoids gave me some ideas.
Yet ideas were all they would ever be. I wouldn't be caught dead ruling fucking goblins of all things, and I'd burn as many worlds as I needed to to prove it!
[Summon Added: Broken Glacier, Royal Guard 18 => 20]
Powerful as he was, Karstaag was still just a particularly skilled giant, which made the difference in his weight on my crown perfectly understandable. Still, a good sledgehammer was always useful so I didn't grumble too much.
I gave the western group their final directions for the cleanup, and teleported to Tel Mithryn, where our final preparations would be made.
-----
(General POV)
The ancient burial grounds belonging to one of the rare good and honorable Dragon Priests echoed with the sound of armored boots, the invading demigoddess entering on her lonesome and leaving behind her bodyguards and old guide.
The tomb did not react to her intrusion at first, but once she tapped the sarcophagus the air finally seemed to shift and instead of bursting outwards it ever so gently levitated off its lid, revealing a lich who just as patiently left his resting spot.
His garb of copper and purple coloring somehow remained pristine even after thousands of years of had passed, and the ancient armor the majority of his fellows wore still shone in the torchlight.
The priest scanned the tense demigod, and then to her surprise inclined his head "Dovahkiin." He greeted, his raspy voice echoing far more distantly than one might expect.
"Priest" Minthara greeted a bit tersely, in perfect Dovahzul "...You are not going to attack me?"
"Your soul is of Lord Akatosh, father to Great Alduin." The priest made an odd sign with his free hand, likely one to honor the two gods "None may bar where you tread, unless you are a traitor of course." The air shimmered with powerful magic at the final word.
But not powerful enough to so much as startle her. Her lips twisted into a smirk as she crossed her arms "That depends entirely on how you define 'traitor'." She was already calming her breathing in the case she needed to turn him to ash.
The Dragon Priest's grip on his staff firmed as he leaned forward, his masked face coming unnecessarily close to her face "Explain." He commanded.
"Alduin is dead" Minthara answers simply, a proud smirk escaping her "By my hand."
Bafflingly, instead of immediately trying to shout her apart, the priest ceases all movement, and she feels a wave of Magicka emanate from within him, bearing the distinct tinge of divination.
"I see..." Vahlok the Jailor spoke after a full five minutes of stillness "By the decree of Great Alduin, you have conquered what he had in combat and thus shown your might" He bows low, face almost touching the stone below them "What is thy bidding, Thuri?"
'Well, that certainly did not go as expected...' Said Overlady concluded, even as her brain fought to bring itself back into working condition.
Thankfully the priest was patient, and turned almost eager once she explained Miraak's current situation, and soon the group of four humans, turned four humans and one lich, turned south and made way to Tel Mithryn.
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter π
Speide Hardy
Thanks for the chapter
