Rastislav
patreon
Arc 8 Chapter LVII: Kogoruhn
🕑 Added 2024-12-29 19:27:22 +0000 UTCA/n: The time is nigh!
-----
(Reyvin's POV)
"My lord" Dagoth Ulthis shuffles after me with hesitance in both step and voice, his eyes focused to the south-west and up above us "Are you... Are you certain that it will be fine?"
His question was obviously referring to the massive volcano above us currently spewing forth even more poison, fire, and detritus than usual, all of it started when I blew up old Molly's temple without even bothering to enter.
'Still worth it.' Scorch and I think at the same time.
I look up to Red Mountain for a long moment before shrugging "It shouldn't turn catastrophic too quickly." My eyes narrow "At least not before I do as I plan." And I would most assuredly do as I wanted, even without the obvious political and magical boons awaiting within my decision had been reinforced by forces beyond such petty things.
[Quest issued: Save the lands of Morrowind from a slow death.]
[Reward: A Comprehensive Guide to Stepping Through the Dark Forest]
A reward I straight up salivated at upon seeing it for the first time.
"And what is your master plan anyway, Reyvin?" Savos appears next to me "You have been rather vague about it this entire time and frankly I am starting to get worried."
"A ritual." I actually answer, surprising him.
But instead of accepting that he narrows his eyes "That is all I am getting, isn't it?" His frown deepens as he begins muttering "Still, a ritual of that scale, cleansing a mountain saturated with the power of a dead god would need a focal poin...t." He stills and looks up at me, mouthing a terrified "No."
My grin threatens to split my face as I begin walking faster "Oh yes."
"Damn it Reyvin get back here!" Savos yells after me.
And so it was that the remaining stretch of my 'pilgrimage' was spent dodging Savos and his constant nagging. Seriously, I did much dumber things before but the moment I try and do something a bit ambitious he loses his shit.
Old folks these days...
Still, I was also slowly beginning to decipher the little shit spying on us gave off, too bad I would not fully manage it before the time came... A worrysome thought, and something I could not permit to threaten me right now.
Guess I will just have to be ten times as paranoid as usual, what could possibly go-
Fuck no I am not finishing that thought.
---
"You are certain it is here?" I ask Ulthis in a mildly impressed tone. My ancestral home was concealed so perfectly even I could not detect it as it was right now.
Probably for that exact reason as they could actually perceive weaknesses, unlike most people.
"I am, my lord" He bows deeply "Kogoruhn welcomes you home." He raises and with appreciable theatricity snaps his fingers, causing a small jolt of his magic to touch the suddenly visible wards and temporarily unravel them.
The large mound of ash covered stone extending from Red Mountain itself splits in half, revealing a long and very tall corridor within, dozens of my own banners dominating the pillars at perfectly equidistant intervals.
I take a long breath of the oddly welcoming air and grin "Home sweet home."
The moment my voice spread, all thirty of the panicking warriors in full plate orichalcum prostrated themselves on the ground, not a one of them so much as twitching as they awaited my response.
'Way to fucking ruin my mood' I roll my eyes and splash them with a wave of my divinity. Something told me things were about to turn far, far more irritating.
-----
The confused guardsmen led me through the great tunnel, most of them still unwilling to speak while the leader silently questioned Ulthis about what exactly just happened, looking quite rattled by the change happening within him as he did.
Due to Fyr's request, and a bit of my own curiosity, I spent the last two days of travel closely examining the changes in Ulthis' little band and came to some interesting discoveries. Firstly, now that their sight was their own it had become sharper and could take in more information, pretty much making a lesser version of my own bloodline. Secondly and most importantly, the lot of them gained a small healing factor instead of their previous resistance to bleedout and an extra century slapped onto their already prolonged lifespan.
All in all, a grand thing for my new servants to have, and something to invest more time in as rewarding the loyal with a direct family line boost was a no-brainer... After a lot of refining, of course.
Leaving such thoughts for later, I focus back on the tunnel as we reach a grand gateway, engraved with the masked visage of my ancestor stylized to hell and back to look downright intimidating.
Like a god looking down at his subjects in fact.
Four of the guards walk by me with heads bowed and activate runes on both sides in a particular order, sending a shudder through the gate and causing it to open on its own.
The sight beyond was... not what I expected.
The Kogoruhn I knew was basically a half-underground stone fortress barely worth the name after centuries of disrepair. What I saw now was an underground city seemingly built around that one simple keep, its ceiling almost a third as tall as that of Blackreach itself...
And it was not a mere shanty town of tents and tunnels but an actual underground settlement! All of it made from suitably dark volcanic rock with numerous farms powered by low level magical artifacts, animal pens holding the dozens of stolen kwama and many, many mineshafts.
Even the central residential area looked surprisingly lively, with shops, taverns, and to my great amusement, large homes connected by clotheslines.
A light burst of happiness bubbled from within me at the sight.
"That is" I pause "Hm."
Seeing my confusion, Ulthis steps in "The house has been focusing on recovery for centuries now. We rarely leave the ruhn but recently our numbers have grown enough to risk it."
"No, no, I get that" I wave him off, my eyes still looking at the oddly bustling town "I just expected a lot more gloom I suppose."
"The house would never lose faith." The leader of the guards cuts in, immediately bowing at the perceived rudeness "My lord."
"Yes, I can see that" I nod at him and begin walking down the stairway, and right next to numerous defensive emplacements manned by dozens of awestruck elves.
The way to to the core of the settlement is a winding one, leading us to pass through most of it before we reached the grand dome shaped keep in the center of it, all of the Dunmer inbetween reacting to my presence much the same as I've come to expect so far.
'Even the children were not spared' The realization brought only disgust.
"Vardis, what is the meaning of this?! Who told you to abandon your post?" A rough scratchy voice rings out the moment we step into the central square, a decrepit looking Dunmer with holes seemingly rotten into his cheeks followed by six warriors clad in full ebony.
'Them having ebony would make sense, what with ebony pretty much being Lorkhan-charged volcanic glass...' I note absently. A rather useful discovery that easily raised this place from 'nostalgic curiosity' to 'strategic point of interest'.
And that is as far as the old elf got before his eyes widened as he stepped into my range and his guards, imposing and powerful a mere moment before, found their heads in the pavement.
The old elf still stood though and audibly choked as his eyes met mine. His back straightened, a hand moving to his heart as he did a perfect aristocratic bow "Your-" He chokes on his voice again before visibly forcing himself to go on "Your Divine Majesty."
"That is odd" I say with light amusement "You are not simpering like the rest of them."
My mere voice makes him visibly flinch but he does raise his head "Your eyes tell me that would be disappointing, and my very blood boils at the mere thought." He hisses through gritted teeth "High Councilor Althis greets thee, Lord Dagoth. Kogoruhn welcomes its true master."
"And I am quite glad to be welcomed" I smirk at him and he holds back a shudder, turning my smirk into a grin "A spine grown by age I see."
He grins despite his instincts no doubt screaming at him to not offer offense "Quite so, my lord." He says with difficulty "The previous Lord's blessings are... a heavy burden to carry, but I shall continue doing so no matter the cost."
"I see no reason to put you through such torment" I say simply and his eyes narrow but I was already going to do this no matter what as my voice rose, tinged with all my power "Gather at the town square, carefully."
The fact I felt the need to add that last part once a few of the fools nearly threw themselves off a tall building really illustrated just how much of a piece of shit Dagoth Ur was.
---
By the time everyone, and I do mean everyone within the city gathered, I stood surrounded by some one thousand seven hundred elves. A bit more than Ulthis told me but not massively so. All of them were staring at me with awe and reverence, something I had to order them since they had been cursed into preferring their heads in the dirt.
Not on my fucking watch "Your loyalty to the house..." I pause as my voice carries through the crowd, best to start with a bit of praise to stop any foolishness "Astounding." A good number of them shudder at the approval "Such dedication is unseen from Summerset to Atmora... And yet..."
A tension grows in the air.
"I will not be party to forced obedience and the domination of the mind!" My voice raises, now tinged with my inner fury at the very idea "You may serve me, as you have served my ancestor, but you will do so of your own free will. Unbound by a curse most of you did not accept willingly!" I finish it with a growl "Such is my decree."
Before anyone can do something insultingly stupid again, a wave of my divinity bursts out in a wave, immediately catching all of them within its radius and dispelling the final remnant's of Lorkhan's stolen power.
Althis completely stills before slowly looking down at his shaking hands, even as his once ruined face slowly began restoring itself, his once half-hypnotized eyes looking up at me with genuine free willed astonishment.
The entire square is completely silent.
"This..." Althis rasps "From the moment of my birth I had been under command and thrall..." He looks up at me as his face is stuck in a momentary paralysis, almost as if he was having a heart attack, tears flowing freely from his eyes.
"You are free now" I tell him gently.
He laughs bitterly as he takes a step back and allows his backside to simply fall onto the staircase leading to the keep "A part of me wants to lash out at you for taking it away..." He pauses, as if expecting the Corprus to punish him but obviously feels nothing.
"Blissful slavery will never surpass even the worst suffering of your own free will." I tell him with conviction.
He shakes his head and looks up at me with bitterness "And what can a thrall of centuries do, when his masters abandon him?"
"Learn." I smirk "And no one said anything about abandoning you." He stills "Unlike my ancestor I do not plan on fooling you into greatness. Oh no" I grin "I will drag you there kicking and screaming."
He exhales, nearly snorts really, and picks himself up with strength he previously he did not have, the rest of the nearby Dunmer slowly waking from their stupor "Then by all means, my Lord Dagoth" Altihs bows to me once more, this time freely "Lead us onto glory."
-----
To say that things were hectic within Kogoruhn following my speech and subsequent 'blessing' as they were calling it would be a massive understatement.
The kids and those of strong wills dealt with the change rapidly, adapting within minutes as they all suddenly felt a small surge of strength and a sense of freedom followed by a lack of what one teen best described as 'Doesn't feel like my father is constantly staring at my back with judgement in his eyes.'
The rest took hours to bring into lucidity, some of the older ones outright begging to be taken back into the sweet embrace of oblivion.
Something I would not grant as even the oldest among them now had decades upon decades left to live.
The sense of chaos in Kogoruhn lasted for the rest of the day as I was brought up to speed and did much the same for the rest of them.
Almost customarily by now, I summoned previously prepared food and organized a feast for all of them, patiently letting the prominent and talented among them introduce themselves to me as I learned more about my ancestral home.
The Dagoth brandy was even better than what Fyr had in stock!
I was slowly beginning to genuinely like this place and its people, the sense of kinship I felt to most of them was not something I could find in the rest of the world, even if I knew within my mind that it was all artificial.
Yet another insidious thing to 'praise' my ancestor for, I supposed.
The feast lasted well into the morning and the people were still joyous both to finally have their prophesized leader return, and at what many of them described as my saintly gesture.
It was after all, merely another proof of my divinity to most of them.
Still, all good things must come to an end, and my conversation with Althis and the lesser Councilors below him, inevitably ended at my purpose for coming here, and my promise back at the Rootspire.
"So, Althis." I speak up, cutting through the silence following my tale "Would you care to lead me to the heart chamber now?"
The Mer looked like he wanted to do anything but, and yet the conviction and certainty in my eyes told him I would be doing this with or without his help.
And so I was lead through the original Kogoruhn, the keep itself, through the many winding tunnels and grand chambers within, I even got to see a chamber that was by right my own and had been maintained in anticipation of my coming!
I had no time for rummaging through ancient Dagoth vaults though, and soon we had reached a heavily sealed and warded hatch, for it was too small to be a gate, in one of the southernmost tunnels.
"My lord" Althis bowed as my party and I approached it "Are you certain you wish to proceed? The mountain, it is not safe."
"Have no fear, High Councilor" I pat him on the shoulder lightly "I did not come all the way here just to fail."
He bows his head and casts a moderately complex spell, opening the way forward.
"Well then" I clap my hands "Into the bowels of hell itself."
Savos was not very amused by my choice of words, even as he followed after me.
-----
The insides of Red Mountain roiled with power, the seemingly endless lava flows looking almost eager to devour us as we abused the shit out of magic and my own partial command of all things Lorkhan to cheat our way through what would doubtless have been a gauntlet straight out of hell for most people.
It still took us a full day before we reached our destination, as the place was filled to the brim with flaming atronachs of all forms and even some feral Sleepers that had somehow adapted to fire.
I killed them quickly as an apology for what was done to them.
Our destination, what once was the complex surrounding the Heart Chamber was mostly destroyed, much as I've come to expect, leaving only the smallest traces of what was once a grand palace, as alien as it was magnificent.
All of it was destroyed, save for the Heart Chamber itself.
For the destroyed corpse of Akulakhan the Elder still held some power and a bubble of energy had formed within, preserving the site of the explosion and making me almost go berserk with how much of the heart's power still shone within.
We stepped through the somewhat unstable bubble of power, sighs of relief coming from all over as we were finally away from the blistering heat. Though their relief did not last long as a mere second later we were greeted by a voice, powerful and resonant.
A voice that echoed from everywhere and nowhere.
A voice that was oddly similar to mine, if a lot older.
A voice, that could only ever belong to a god.
"Welcome, Sun and Shade."
"To this place"
"Where destiny was made."
