Rastislav
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Arc 8 Chapter CIV: Earthing One's Self
🕑 Added 2025-03-25 01:15:01 +0000 UTC(Reyvin's POV)
We appeared within the walls of Raven Rock with barely a sound, the quiet port/ex-mining town turned bustling military garrison failing to notice us even as dozens of off-duty soldiers passed us by, even as they were meant to be on high alert.
"Hmmm" I narrow my eyes.
Minthara pats my shoulder "Give them a break, you can't expect them to be strung up the entire time."
"Not the issue" I correct her "Some of our followers are missing."
"Trouble?" She ever so slightly tenses.
I allow my sight to expand, searching the near future for potential clues for a full minute before finding my target, safe yet touched by both trouble and the enemy. I blink and return to the present, shaking my head as I do "They should be fine, but if they do not return soon I am going after them."
She gives me a searching look "If you are sure..."
"That I am" I force a disarming grin and begin walking "Now let's go and startle the locals."
I hear her clear her throat behind me and pause, my eyebrow raising in curiosity.
She lightly kicks the large skull beside her and grins "I am still not carrying this."
"Of course" I deflate.
Her clear amusement was worth a bit of a detour anyway.
-----
"I am afraid that whatever concerns you have will have to wait, citizen" The First Councilor did not look up from his writing as we entered, his awed guards failing to so much as twitch as we passed them by "Raven Rock is currently in a state of emergency and I don't have the time to address petitions, you may submit your request to my Second or return at a later date and I will not treat it as being late."
"Fair and honorable" I chuckle.
His hand stills utterly as he ever so slowly raises his head "Ah" And promptly stands "Your Grace" And as if only just realizing I wasn't alone he also greets Minthara "And your Highness, forgive my disrespect I was not aware of your return" His eyes twitch towards the doorway behind me with a subtle glare.
"Nobody was" I correct and wave for him to sit back down "We have just returned via teleportation and I came to inform you that a strategy meeting will be taking place this evening as we've made our first moves against the taint troubling your home."
The man's shoulder shudder as if a massive weight had just been lifted off his shoulders "Those are encouraging news indeed" He bows his head, both towards myself and Minthara "The people of Raven Rock are forever in your debt."
Holding back an eyeroll, I wave my hand, though not dismissively "Don't speak of debts when it is our duty to act in the first place."
The Redoran noble offers a small but genuine smile "Of course."
"That aside" Minthara interjects after a few moments of pleasant quiet "Did anything of note happen while we were gone?"
Lleril looks at her, then directs a quick curious glance my way, before he speaks "A few brawls between the bored farmers and their hands, the fear had kept them in check before you arrived but boredom is starting to set in now that they are safe."
"Unavoidable." I shrug.
"Indeed" He nods tiredly "I have my Second dealing with such disputes but I've had to direct more of the Redoran Guard to keep the peace as a result. There are over five hundred of them so almost all of my soldiers are necessary for the job if we count in the rest of the population."
The Redoran Guard of Raven Rock was heavily undermanned, down to around one hundred and twenty or so soldiers, so that statement wasn't all that surprising.
"That is unfortunate" I frown and seeing his concerned look I explain "We will need most of our forces for the second phase of pacifying the island, more peacekeepers means less fighters on the frontline."
"I'd offer the Dragon Banner to keep the peace but neither the people nor my followers would like that." Minthara shrugs apologetically.
Lleril gives her a quick nod of thanks.
I cup my chin, considering everything before voicing my thoughts "I guess I will just have to ask Captain Fridvar of the Jagged Crown to move out of port and support the forces fighting along the coasts, leaving behind a few dozen more soldiers to man the walls should work if he agrees."
"As if he would ever say no" Minthara rolls her eyes.
"Don't be like that my dear" I drawl and point upwards "It is the principle of the matter!"
She just nods indulgently and pats my shoulder.
Lleril pretends he sees nothing and exhales "My people will certainly prefer veteran Dunmer protecting them, no offense meant of course" Minthara just waves him off and he goes on "As for other happenings, I do believe Lord Davos had spoken about some concerns but that is all I know, everything else is in perfect order."
'A Lord Davos who was currently missing' I frown but do not speak of it "Excellent" I grin at the elf instead "Thank you for your time, Councilor. I hope you get some rest, the evening is likely to be long."
"By your will, Your Grace" He bows and we leave.
---
We did not immediately meet with the rest of our subordinates, instead moving to the manor given to us by Lleril when we first arrived and barring ourselves into one of the larger rooms.
"Alright then" Minthara clapped her hands and sat down in a meditative pose, waving for me to do the same. She stares at me for a long while, considering where to begin before frowning in frustration "Now how did master Paarthurnax make this look so easy..."
I can't help but snort "Just take your time, we are in no great rush."
"No great rush, huh?" She deadpans.
All I do is grin cheekily.
She continues with her empty stare for a while longer before her draconic eyes sharpen and brighten "Earth" She speaks and the room shudders just under the power of what one may call an earthquake.
"Gol" She 'repeats' and the room stills utterly, the fabric of reality seeming to firm around us and all things coming into greater focus. As if their existence had become more weighty, sharpening as their metaphysical relevance for the lack of a better word increased.
'The result of which is greater magic resistance' Old experience reminded.
"The first word of the shout you called Bend Will" Minthara went on "And utterly useless for the task itself save for one minor detail."
"It makes one's self and their target as firm as the earth, thus resisting any attempt at making it otherwise?" I quip.
Her serious demeanor flickers as she begins to roll her eyes but she stops herself "Focus" She half-snaps "I will not waste hours fighting you just because my older brother got a lucky shout off."
"Did you really have to call him that?" I deadpan, only mildly disgusted by the idea.
"Yes" She sasses back "Now shut up and listen to me or I will turn this into resistance training." Her eyes sharpen dangerously "And I assure you the tests will not stop until I am satisfied."
Challenged with such barbarity, nay treachery! What could a real man possibly do but "Yes dear, I am sorry dear, please enlighten me of your great ways dear."
-
In the end she did end up testing the shout against me, ostensibly to test her theory that it really was just resistance the first word offered but in truth my teasing may have gotten just a bit too far when I refused to explain what 'stoned' meant as she was explaining the difference between Golz and Gol.
Golz being stone instead of earth.
It worked just as advertised (even if I did deactivate my shroud for the attempt) but being the little shit that I was I pretended to fall under her control and dimmed my eyes to look like a braindead zombie while giving her a soulless stare.
She almost fell for it but one did not consume the wisdom of a dragon and direct it all into a word of power without understanding its nuances, and I was promptly frozen into a block of ice save for my head and she proceeded to pout at me for a full ten minutes while the ice melted.
Honestly, how did she expect me to stop when she made it so fun?
-
Five hours later, we were still seated on the stone floor, staring intently at each other as Minthara revised her own understanding and I internalized all she had spoken of.
Had I still been a ye olde mortal, I don't doubt this would have taken me days or even weeks, the concepts so easily grasped by someone with a dragon soul would simply slip off a lesser mind like so much gibberish.
The Greybeards for all their dedication and understanding would have immense trouble internalizing something that was so beyond them even their religion would possibly protest it.
I was not a mortal however, neither in soul or mind, and my experience with metaphysics surpassed Minthara's by an order of magnitude, stolen soul knowledge or not. The weight of a soul and its impermeability was a subject that I was well and truly masterful in.
All these factors combined, including the fact my soul was paradoxically adaptable because of my status as Unbound, meant that I could internalize and accept the meaning of a word and project it into existence without spending years on understanding it.
All it took was but one afternoon.
That was not to say that the effort was greatly lessened, in fact many of those factors merely served to permit it to occur to a dragon-less soul in the first place.
Everything else was deep meditation, and subjective days of effort condensed into hours.
The word finally clicked and Minthara's eyes instantly focused on me, my soul surging (or momentarily jerking to be more accurate) towards my throat as I spoke the deceptively complex word "Gol."
The wave of sickly orange came as expected, but the effect it had on the space around us was like a candle compared to Minthara's bonfire, even as the effect within came much closer to that everdistant goalpost.
My already odd soul was made even weirder as I felt it become both more malleable and unyielding at the same time, the former permitting me greater access to magics tied to it while the latter protected me from others who tried to meddle.
An appreciable amount of progress indeed.
And the system agreed.
[Expert Tongue => Master Tongue]
"Such a long road it was..." I mutter to myself, feeling a bit wistful at the sudden confirmation.
"Hm?" Minthara perks up, curiosity and concern in her eyes "Did it protect you like it did me, or do we need to spend more time on it?" Her gaze softens briefly "No need to rush things if you aren't ready-"
"No, no, it worked perfectly" I raise my hand and smile "It's just..." I shake my head "It has been quite a long time since I sat on the walls of Winterhold practicing my first words, and today's lesson reminded me of just how much effort that took."
"Ah" She blinks before smiling brightly "Well we can always go through more words if you feel like it." She looks away, face ever so slightly reddening, and mutters "It was nice to finally teach you something."
As if I could ever say no to that "It would be this poor student's greatest pleasure" I bow dramatically and grin.
Her smile was the sun, even if it was smothered almost instantly as she got up "It is getting quite late, isn't it?"
"Yes?" I nod.
"Shouldn't you check on our missing friends?" She asks, hesitation radiating off her.
In an instant I am on my feet "Shit, I lost track of time" I stop myself and turn to her, drawing a confused look before I came in for a quick peck and gave her a wink "Don't worry, we will get back to yelling at each other later."
She huffs, trying to hide her eagerness "I will hold you to that."
-----
The moment we stepped out of the room, the eyes of the elite guards made up of Sworn Mer and the Dragon Banner (who just happened to form up as they realized we were back) turned to us.
"Any news of Davos and Stormcloak?" I ask the closest elf.
"I don't believe so, Your Grace" He bows his head "We are keeping an ear out for the news but none have come so far."
"Fine-" I go to voice my intent to search for them but feel a Woodsman appear in the nearby shadows.
"Your right hand returns from the mines, oh Chosen" The voice echoes in such a way that only I may hear it and the agent disappears.
Well, that simplified matters.
-----
The group looked... less than fine "At least you idiots are alive." I point out dryly as they are looked over by a patient pair of Falmer, the Black Book they secured now firmly under my wards and bound to my back until Akulakhan returned.
My thoughts returned to their battered states, all they would ever need to do was come back alive and the consequences would not matter one bit, but that did not mean I wouldn't make them squirm for it.
"Don't look at me, Boss" Davos shrugs, the sword Blodskaal resting on his thighs "I just followed after them" He points a thumb at the rest of the group "Couldn't leave them to die and all that."
Some grumbling ensues as blame is thrown about, Alor and Ulthis blaming Minthara's posse and the ladies of said group blaming Marco who not so obviously redirected all of it to Skirnir.
All Stormcloak had to say was "It worked, didn't it?"
Palm, meet face "Nords" I sigh "Yes, yes it did work."
"Did you at least find anything beside a fancy sword?" Minthara asks dryly.
"Aye, Dragonborn" Skirnir grins "The entire mine is full of ebony, and now that the Draugr have been dealt with it is free for use."
"That is quite worthwhile..." I point out hesitantly.
"Exactly!" The Nord booms to my immediate regret "We also found an exit that leads to a hidden cove (formerly) filled with reavers, and some fancy magical ice rocks that seem to be akin to ebony, or at least so the clever ones say" He points his thumb at Alor and Ulthis.
I raise an eyebrow at them and Alor answers "An ice Magicka charged facsimile to ebony, or so it appears at least. We did not have the tools necessary to excavate it so we left it behind."
'Stalhrim, was it?'
"Wise of you" I nod and look to the rest of them for an uncomfortably long time "Well... I can't say I am all that thrilled about the risks you all took but neither can I say you were entirely wrong to take them." I turn to Minthara who nods "I will let you off the hook this time but only because you secured a critical asset for the campaign, even if by accident."
"What is that book anyway?" Marco asks.
"Something not relevant to you." I immediately retort.
"Ah" He blinks "Daedric fuckery, un-der-stood sir, please don't tell me." He salutes lazily and promptly does his best to forget all about it.
Thus satisfied I prepare to go on but the blade sitting on Davos catches my eye.
"You want this one, Boss?" He asks, without a hint of hesitation.
My eyes narrow as I scan the enchantment "That a fucking sword-beam enchantment?" I mutter.
His eyes glint with mirth "Yup."
I snort "Fuck that."
As I leave I hear Marco grumble to himself before tossing a bag of septims to Alor.
I never said I wouldn't check the sword out, but the expectant look on the Altmer's face was too difficult to miss.
And letting him off the hook wouldn't be all that sporting of me, now would it?
Shaking my head I unfurl the note Davos tossed me without anyone looking and immediately frowned.
"What is it?" Minthara asks.
"Molly tried making a move" I inform her "Someone tried stabbing the Telvanni guarding the dragon scorpions."
She narrows her eyes "So he is finally making a move, is he?"
"Yup" I incinerate the note "All that means is we have to move even harder."
Had anyone been observing us, they would see the bloodthirsty looks on both our faces.
-----
Another day dawned as preparations for the advance continued, the previous evening's meeting quick and to the point, much to my chagrin, serving merely to begin the move and not direct it as mine and the 'elite's' speed was far too great for the rest to organize.
As I approached the emptied Retching Netch Cornerclub I could feel the invisible struggle between my own patrons and Mora, who grew increasingly 'curious' about what I was doing, his pressure growing with each passing hour we weren't chasing after him.
'Don't worry you failed calamari dish, I will be coming for you soon.' I glared at the skies before shaking my head and entering the half-underground building.
Within awaited the vast majority of my subordinates, all of them standing around a large table with an impeccably precise map of the island and its contents placed upon it.
Everyone, save for Minthara, straightened their backs as I entered and none spoke as I walked up to the map, I looked around, meeting the eyes of every single person present, before speaking with all the authority I possessed, natural or otherwise.
"Let us begin."
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter 😁 Looking forward to a tasty serving of calamari 🦑😋😂
Speide Hardy
Thanks for the chapter
