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Arc 8 Chapter XCVII: Temples And Shamans
🕑 Added 2025-03-11 22:34:11 +0000 UTC(General POV)
The ancient elf of many lifetimes who was Moon and Star found himself feeling increasingly regretful of his life choices as he observed the wife of his successor swoon at the sight of said successor incinerating a small army and walking off like nothing happened.
Not that he particularly minded the deed itself of course. He'd done much worse in his many lives, he just didn't find it as... risible.
The odd vampire woman looked mostly amused as she asked "Plan on gushing for much longer?"
The future Empress looked at her and sniffed in faux disdain "I will gush as much as I like thank you very much."
Serana smirks and begins to speak "Oh how nice it is to be a chi-"
"Ladies" Nerevar cuts in flatly "We have work to do."
The two stare at each other for a moment before turning to him and nodding.
"Fine." Minthara crosses her arms "You are no fun."
Nerevar's eyebrows rose under his helm "Lady, I forgot to be fun thousands of years ago and your man dragged me here the moment I got a free second."
"He did say something along those lines..." She muttered before shrugging "Well, you were the one to accept his call though so all you have to blame is yourself" She did not wait for his response and began walking north.
'Not like I knew how to do anything else.' The old elf found the thought petulant the moment it came up and shook his head, beginning his own march after his current charge.
He did find the contemplative stare on his back a bit odd but ignored it easily enough, he had work to do.
-----
"That is one impressive temple." Minthara whistles from atop a tall stone outcropping, one which gave her little party a perfect view of the place "Doubly so when you realize it is probably five times as big on the inside."
The edifice looked like the tip of a large bastion tower of ominous oily green sticking out of the ground, its crenelations disregarded in favor of large imposing arches that all surrounded a tall dome in the tower's center, making it seem like one tower contained the other.
"What worries me is the sheer number of guards." Nerevar nudges his armored chin at the multiple patrols of bonemold clad and masked cultists "Not surprising considering the attack on Raven Rock but still a considerable defense."
"Likely the response of whoever controlled the reiklings losing the connection." Minthara points out "Not that they will slow us down much."
"True." Nerevar nods "Still, we best keep our wits about us, never know if one of those" He points at the just around dozen overgrown dragon skeletons strewn about below the temple "Decides now is the time to make use of their supposed immortality."
"I'd love it if they did." Serana smirked while playing with her claws "Even if I do find it odd that they were just left there in front of a dragon priest's temple."
"They won't be waking up." Minthara said with certainty "Their souls have been devoured."
Nerevar frowns "How can you be so sure?"
"Besides not being able to sense any trace of a soul within?" The Dragonborn asks rhetorically "Miraak didn't build his temple to serve the dragons but to defy them, these are but the remains of one single battle he had with them."
Serana blinks "Impressive."
Minthara nods in agreement before adding "What is even more impressive is that it wasn't a dragon that defeated him in the end but a Dragon Priest." That immediately drew their attention "A surprisingly honorable one if the stories have any truth to them named Vahlok the Jailer" She elaborates "Supposedly their battle was so devastating it rent a sizeable chunk of land from the coasts of Skyrim, creating an island."
"Solstheim" Nerevar mutters in realization.
"Exactly" Minthara nods "Vahlok was about to kill Miraak once he defeated him but Mora intervened and dragged him into Apocrypha, saving his life and no doubt imprisoning him with some kind of deal. Valhok was then tasked to stand guard on the island and ensure Miraak never rose again."
The complete lack of response to her story had her turning around to meet the raised eyebrow of Serana and the as always blank-faced helm of Nerevar "What?" She bristled "I can do a bit of research, I will have you know!"
Serana titters "Research? Or did Reyvin merely inform you of everything?"
Minthara's face heats up ever so slightly before it twists into a smirk "Jealously isn't a good look on you."
The vampire huffs and prepares to retort but Nerevar raises a hand to forestall the tow of them "Shh" He hisses "Someone is approaching the temple."
The two ladies practically forgot their little back and forth in an instant and looked to where the elf was pointing.
"Huh" Minthara frowned "She doesn't look like the rest of them."
"Could be one of the Skaal?" Serana posits, noting the decidedly Nordic ornamental steel plate their target of observation was clad in "The Councilor did say they may have some kind of defense against Mora's influence."
"Seems like it." Nerevar nods at the most probable explanation "She looks like she is planning on doing something incredibly stupid."
"Or something incredibly brave." Minthara quips, though she obviously doubted the Nord woman's chances herself.
"Nothing says she can't be both." Serana interjects "So how about we go and save our convenient little guide from herself?"
---
Frea of the Skaal scowled as she observed the disciplined cultists marching about with weapons ready, their steps were perfectly synchronized and their schedules timed so that none may approach without being revealed.
It was unnatural.
Still, she had come to find a way to set her people free, and she would not let such a small thing as an army of mindwashed fools stop her from doing so, even as the back of her mind corrected it to 'trying so'.
She began planning her assault, mentally going through all the possibilities even as she knew they would all be thrown away the moment the first blow was struck.
Such was her focus on what was in front of her that she did not hear what was behind and would have no doubt shrieked in surprised terror as someone put an armored hand over her mouth.
"Shhh" The distinct gravelly tone of a Dunmer came from her captor "Don't make a sound-"
That was as far as he got before she slammed her head back with enough force to knock him out and instantly regretted it as her scalp met metal and she felt her world twist as dizziness struck her.
She did not know how long she lay on the ground but when she came to it was to a duo of distinctly unimpressed faces of Nord women and what she guessed was the elf armored in armor of Dwemer salvage.
"You done?" The pale and red-eyed one asked "Or do you want to draw all the cultists here with your thrashing first?"
Frea held back a wince of shame and shook her head "Nay, you merely startled me." Admitting it stung but she found she could not truly care at the moment "Who are you?"
The red haired one cupped her chin and shrugged "You could say we are here on imperial business, investigating the troubles plaguing Solstheim and all that. You are of the Skaal, yes?"
She nodded "Frea, Shaman."
"A mystic." The elf's dry voice translated unhelpfully.
"Interesting." The red haired one hummed "Well, I am Minthara" She points to the pale one "This is Serana" and then to the elf "And this here is-" She pauses and frowns.
"But a humble Prisoner." She feels the elf's deadpan through his helmet.
"Right" Minthara gives him a long look before shaking her head and turning back to Frea "You were looking to get into the temple?"
"Aye" Frea finally manages to gather enough presence of mind to stand up from the dirt "Some of my people have fallen under the thrall of whatever foulness has spread, and I am here to free them."
Minthara stills "...and what exactly are they doing while under this control?"
"Building some kind of monument around the Wind Stone near our village." Frea spits out "They keep chanting about some bastard by the name of Miraak while working without end like puppets on strings."
Minthara deflates and lets out a sigh of relief, and noticing Frea's confused, and somewhat accusatory look, she explains "The reiklings and reavers around Raven Rock were under control as well, all of them were incinerated by magic this morning."
She absently filed the mention of the Wind Stone away in her mind, understanding it was likely yet another locus of power no doubt meant to channel Miraak's escape somehow.
"Ah" Frea blinks "I thought- No matter" She shakes her head "Your worry honors you." Her thoughts catch up and she asks "Raven Rock still stands then?"
"Indeed" The elf answers "The Good Daedra" One would have to be deaf not to notice his obvious bitterness on the subject "Have seen fit to give them a fighting chance, and now that reinforcements have arrived they are quite safe."
"Good" Frea nods "The less people suffering under this the better."
That she said it without a hint of guile despite her own people's situation impressed the trio quite a bit, even if they didn't show it.
"Heartwarming as this all is." Serana breaks the ensuing silence "We should return to the matter at hand." Receiving a trio of nods she goes on "Frea, would you care to share what you know of the temple with us?"
"Aye" The Shaman nods "Even if is not all that much. I simply tracked where the power was coming from, and it led me to this temple." She gives the edifice in question a sideways glance "Father always warned me away from visiting the place as he said it was cursed by Herma Mora but after days of my people not getting better I grew desperate enough to try. All-Maker willing with four of us we may even stand a chance."
The mention of the All-Maker had Serana and Nerevar somewhat confused but Minthara, having already been informed of the Skaal faith, interjected before the question could be asked "I am afraid things are a bit more complicated than that."
And then she proceeded to dump every bit of pertinent information she thought she needed to on the poor Shaman without mercy.
By the end of the tale, Frea found herself leaning against a tree and wiping sweat off her forehead, the weight of her task, and the folly she nearly committed in her eagerness, now thoroughly known to her.
"Since you know what you do now, will you still join us?" Minthara asked patiently.
"I..." Frea shook her head "I've no idea of how we may stand against a Dragonborn and live but we must try anyway."
"Good thing we have a Dragonborn of our own." Minthara smirked, and without bothering to elaborate began marching at the temple not making the slightest attempt at hiding her approach.
The patrols noticed her almost immediately, dozens of masked faces turning on her as one and raising their weapons in preparation.
Dovakren, her hammer, appeared in her hand and she grinned "TIID KLO UL!"
In the blink of a mortal eye, two of the dozen groups of cultists were turned into fine red mist, and another was blown apart by a wave of force but a moment later.
The rest were not as lucky as they may have seemed though for another flank was quickly struck by a potioned up Nerevar, his own hammer blurring through their forms even as his shield hand drew dreadful spikes from the ground, impaling and herding his enemies so as to make the slaughter as efficient as possible.
And the less said about Serana's victims currently strewn about the temple stairs in so many fine chunks the better.
As for the brave Frea, she found that her fight had thoroughly left her as she had barely made it halfway to the clash (if it could be called that) before it looked to be nearing its end, the Shaman did not even notice as her feet stopped moving and all she could do was stare in morbid fascination as near a hundred lives were reaped like so much summer grass.
What, by the merciful All-Maker, did she get herself into this time?
Comments
Hakkira
Thank you kindly for the chapter π
StarlightGhoul
ππππΌ thanks for the chapter
