Rastislav
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Arc 8 Chapter XLVII: Greeting Notables And Cleaning Undesirables
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 11:55:34 +0000 UTCA/n: Me vs the unending urge to create dozens of characters in every new area I write about...
My attempts at a joke aside, do enjoy yet another beeg chapter. I may have rushed the ending slightly but at this point I have to either double and triple down with this minor battle or bite the bullet and continue on with the more important parts of the story.
Have no fear though, I am not handwaving the whole Argonian issue away, merely delaying it until it is actually relevant for actual progression.
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We met them at the gates, the house nobles under my nominal command marching a step or two behind me as I confidently stepped before a force of thousands of elves with only less than a dozen by my side.
"Hail!" A voice called from the army "It is good to see you yet live, Lord Faren."
Almeril answered with a simple "You know I am hard to kill, Savin."
"That you are, my lord." A relatively youthful warrior steps out from the group of Redoran Guard, soon followed by what I guessed were the representatives of the other houses.
The two Redoran elves share a quick nod before the younger one turns to me, a slight hesitance in his tone "Lord Dagoth I presume?"
"You presume correctly." I drawl with just a tinge of artificial empowerment in my voice "A bit late to the party but still, I can make use of you all."
He keeps his somewhat jolly expression but I can feel his impulse to frown "So it is true then, you have taken command over the city?"
"Only temporarily I assure you" I wave his concerns away "I have no designs on rightful Redoran land, but I also have no patience for being told no while good Dunmeri lives are on the line."
He does frown now "And someone as young as yourself, no disrespect meant of course, would know better than a veteran of many conflicts in how to lead Mer into battle?"
"Calm yourself Savin" Almeril interjects in a perfectly neutral tone "Had I a need of you to defend my honor I would have informed you of it. Lord Dagoth may be young but he has shown both with and experience, or did you forget those reports from Skyrim I had you read?"
He looks like he wants to protest but under the stare of his superior he backs down "Of course, my lord. My apologies for the presumption."
"Apology accepted." Almeril answers flatly "And I assure you, had it not been for Lord Dagoth, the city would have fallen three times over."
"As should be expected of one rumored to be an archmage before twenty." An old gravely voice fit more for a man's deathbed than actual conversation interjects and a short weathered elf steps forward, garbed in imposing Telvanni robes that honestly made him look even smaller "Master Vels Karvanni" He ever so slightly bobs his head "I trust it is you I have to thank for my fool daughter not killing herself yet?"
Said daughter ignored him utterly, fiddling with something under her robes and looking anywhere but at her father.
I offer him a commiserating look "She certainly tried."
He snorts loudly "Yeah, that sounds about right."
Cyna, who was obviously pretending to ignore the conversation, reddened but still refused to meet his eyes.
"I trust that you plan on dealing with the animals promptly?" The Telvanni Master shakes his head at his daughter one last time, grumbles something about a waste of good favors, and turns back to me "I did not march ahead of the army for nothing I hope?"
"We plan to march out a day hence" I answer easily enough "Speaking of the army however, would you kindly tell me of its composition?"
"Let the child deal with it." The Master snorts once more, drawing an immediate sputter from the Redoran leader beside him "What I am wondering is why I should subordinate myself to you and not take charge on my own?"
"Ah" I pretend to just realize what he was getting at "Well you see, it is rather simple" And before he can get another word in, I slam the entire area around me with my presence, making the entire army before me flinch back a step "I am far beyond your ability to do so." I finish.
The Telvanni however only grinned at me widely, his long, sharp, and narrow teeth, no doubt deformed by some ritual on full display. I noticed a bit of sweat going down the side of his head but he still kept grinning as he spoke "Consider my complaints withdrawn."
"But of course" I smile back at him beatifically "Now, are there any other notables waiting to present themselves?"
It took a bit for them all to compose themselves but we got things rolling quickly enough.
The Sadras and Dres representatives were both distinctly unimpressive. The Dres offered apologies for the lack of numbers they sent but he made the understandable point of their lands being threatened by a possible incursion as well, he was of the same rank as Merin and split the forces between the two of them before telling Almeril to organize them as he willed.
The Sadras was a fat old merchant looking fellow who gave one look at Regnild and promptly tossed all the responsibility on him. The Sadras who had slowly been winning my respect did whisper about it on first opportunity "Help me take full credit for everything and you will have an ally in me."
I made a quiet noise of agreement but did not react visibly. I could see the in-house politics being played before me and if some fat piece of lard wanted to rise on the efforts of someone I had seen fight and nearly die, even while complaining about it, I would always support the actual fighter.
The offer of alliance also helped of course, doubly so if he raised in rank after this.
And last but most certainly not least, a figure bearing the same heavy armor as the rest of the Indoril silently walked up to the younger Redoran, eyes fixed at me with an almost burning intensity.
Vayrin seemed to be quite worried at the figure's presence but deigned not to say anything just yet.
While the man continues posturing I take a moment to note his oddly flame-shaped sword, it wasn't anything mindbogglingly powerful but the design was unusual enough to merit mention. Seemingly noticing my growing disinterest with his person, the Indoril finally spoke "Spawn of the Sharmat."
"My oh so very distant cousin" I fired back instantly, the wording of which drawing immediate looks of shock and confusion.
The two other Indoril warriors who had followed him share a quick look, practically radiating surprise and a mild sense of panic. Vayrin on the other hand nodded to himself in validation.
The yet unnamed Indoril narrows his eyes behind his masked helmet "I share no kinship with you."
"Remove your helmet" I wave him off "You've wasted enough of my time already."
He tries to protest for a bit but quickly realizes he had drawn far too much attention already and sighs, slowly lifting the visage of Nerevar from his head and revealing bright golden eyes and skin almost too pale to belong to a Dunmer.
The surprisingly young elf, going by his rather powerful voice at least, offers me an annoyed glare "Happy?"
"We are all both children of stolen divinity, why pretend otherwise?" I ask in a bored tone "Your poor attempts at subterfuge aside, I was told your house would probably not show themselves. How come you are here?"
He scowls now "Our 'Venerable Grand Ascendant'" Every word was laced with waves of bitterness "Was quite open in telling everyone willing to hear that he had no interest in helping the rest of Morrowind fight for itself. My comrades and felt no need to follow such treason."
"Respectable." I offer the slightest nod, surprising him quite a bit "I am guessing that unlike the rest of them, these are all the forces you've brought?"
The descendant of Almalexia nods.
"Hold on." Merin Dres interjects, pointing a finger at the Indoril "Are we truly going to allow this... thing to fight with us?"
Ever so slowly I turn to look at him "Do you see me giving a single shit about his ancestry, Dres?"
He looks at me with confusion "Well, no bu-"
"But nothing" I shut him up "If he wants to bleed for his people neither you nor anyone else is to stop him, it is that simple."
A few grumble but none truly protest after that.
The Indoril also gives me a genuinely baffled look but soon shakes his head "I have been remiss, I know your name but you do not know my own." He offers a practiced aristocratic bow "Indoril Alandro, at your service."
"Happy to have you" I offer the platitude as easily as breathing and refocus on the real issue "But we are getting off track, the Indoril detachment is understandably undermanned, what of the others?"
"That goes for the Sadras detachment as well, I am afraid. They are too far to offer direct support quickly enough" The young Redoran officer interjects "Only houses Dres and Redoran were able to send any real force, and sixteen thousand elves are marching south after the initial muster."
I can't help but chuckle at this "We call for a third of Morrowind and a mere expeditionary force still outnumbers us." I outright snort as I put it to words "Gods that is fucked."
Some prisoners were taken and a picture of the Argonian effort was slowly being made. The little shits were pretty resistant to interrogation but we managed to confirm that the army that attacked Kragenmoor was basically an advance strike force meant to gauge our reactions and gather information in the most aggressive manner possible.
Foolish, but who was I to deny my enemy their mistakes?
While the rest offer words of agreement, the Telvanni simply huffs "As if a hundred of those animals could even be compared to a single Dunmer in value."
"Valuable or not" Alandro cuts him off "They still posses the ability to fight us."
"Fight you maybe" The Telvanni raises his nose at him.
Having enough of the posturing I cut in "Now that we have established our situation, I do believe you should all take a rest. We must march hard tomorrow if we are to strike the enemy efficiently."
Some more platitudes were shared and soon the newly arrived army was marching into Kragenmoor. When they noticed that forces loyal to me, and the militia was most assuredly more loyal to me than it was to the Redoran, outnumbered all of them, none questioned my right to lead again.
That the professional legion of House Dagoth standing in perfectly spaced parade rest to their sides as they marched in probably helped as well.
-----
The meeting that night was long and exhaustive, and it was decided that only the militia and mercenaries from Cyrodiil would be left to protect the city while everyone else would move out to simply overwhelm the enemy as quickly as possible.
I spent a while scrying at them and concluded that simply blowing our way through was more than feasible, the objective I chose being incredibly simple: Retake Andrethis, refortify the place, and try and find any enemy plans to use as proof.
Of course, the existence of said plans was the main reason for the plan in the first place, which was an opportunity I would be an idiot to miss.
-
Alandro Indoril found me later in the night, accompanied by Vayrin who seemed conflicted about something. We spent hours discussing the false tribunal and their betrayal, and the reasoning behind me calling him a distant cousin. My utterly secular view of things was oddly soothing to the both of them and they left with no conflict between them and a promise of support for me.
Imagine being able to garner favors by just not being a dick, the Cyrodiilics would go wild at the concept.
Vels Karvanni also made sure to visit me later, subtly thanking me for his daughter's safety now that he could actually show it. The Telvanni were all about personal strength and power, and the vast majority of them had to invest immense effort into maintaining their veneer of unflappability lest their rivals abuse it.
Which inevitably caused a rather toxic feeling of detachment from their children, for they would only be perceived as yet another weakness.
Only monstrosities like Divayth Fyr could truly afford not to give a singular shit about therest of their house. People like Vels though? Well, they had to fight for every scrap, or so was my conclusion after sharing a few words with the man and reading his emotions like an open book.
-----
We marched out in the morning, our multi-origin army somehow acting with enough coherence as to not slow us down while we followed the road south.
The Argonians left some traps and obstacles, numerous obstacles actually, along said road but with the presence of three archmagi and a few masters, those did not slow us down one whit as we could simply fling the trees and rocks away.
Half a day later, after a particularly scorching day of walking, we came upon the walls of Andrethis.
The border fortress that was once a market town was almost completely demolished save for its walls and towers. It had three layers of protection that faced south composed of a moat and a double wall, but the one facing north was left far weaker, left as both bait and open ground for the artillery and archers upon the walls to reap a heavy toll for anyone looking to exploit the seemingly weaker flank.
That and it also made reconquering the place far easier if someone came full force from the north, the Redoran knew their shit, even if I'd have still fortified the entire place to hell and back just in case.
There is no need to reconquer a place if it never falls in the first place.
Then again I had more money than I could reasonably spend in my lifetime so my perspective may have been just a tiiiny bit skewed.
Speaking of skewed "They certainly booked it faster than I expected." I mutter as I observe the distant walls.
"Bah" Vels Karvanni scoffs "An animal knows when to run and hide at least."
"As much as I fear being the voice of reason" Alandro Indoril interjects "There are still over ten thousand lizards in that fortress."
"Ten thousand corpses as far as I am concerned" Almeril looks at the grave of thousands of his fellows with barely contained hatred in his eyes.
"Quite" I nod "Best be done with them as quickly as possible then."
As orders began to flow out from our makeshift basecamp, courtesy of gramps and yours truly, an air of excitement seemed to overtake the army. Scouts were sent out and targets chosen, and a mere two hours after we arrived we were ready.
The battle began with our magi, myself and the other most powerful ones included, bombarding the everloving shit out of the walls.
A similar if more structured ward appeared above the fortress, no doubt made by that same Argonian archmage I fought mere days earlier, but even if it was better rooted into the ground it lacked the direct support of its creator.
The bubble above Andrethis cracked within a minute, and its walls followed suit in seconds.
The first wave had already reached it by that time, the small force of Indoril warriors, now joined by Vayrin and his Ashlander followers, smashed into the disorganized and disorientated defenders like a hammer into glass.
Their armor was far stronger than it seemed initially and they were more than capable of holding the breach open long enough for the Redoran to follow after them and into the main concentration of the enemy around the keep.
Alandro revealing himself as an expert fire mage with rather well put together firewalls also helped with their advance.
They would have still been drawn into a stalemate though, if not for my own soldiers climbing up the remaining and now clear walls with ropes hooks and spikes, the marksmen and the automatons immediately turning every single living Argonian in sight into pincushions with their ridiculous rate of fire.
I may or may not have received many a deathly envious look as my fellow nobles realized the effectiveness of those repeaters and days later I'd keep getting visits from the different representatives looking to get their hands on a supply. The moment I quoted them the price for the enchantments though, they found one reason or another to be content with their ole' reliable.
The combined force of Telvanni and Sadras were maneuvered to the other end of Andrethis, their magi tasked with allowing their comrades to ascend the double walls rapidly. They announced their success in their mission by Vels Karvanni levitating himself above the wall and telekinetically grabbing onto a crumbling tower and smashing it into the fortress keep from the south.
The Argonians were beginning to crumble and as the Dres began streaming through the many wall breaches, I decided it was my time to act. Openly summoning my wings, I flew into the sky before descending into any area that proved capable of offering more than the barest resistance.
They fell to my sword and dagger like wheat to a scythe, officers and what passed for their magi falling left and right as I scried their positions while their subordinates were soon to follow, cut and broken by a freshly repaired, and rather frustrated Akulakhan.
Anondor also followed from atop Scorch and the two soon proved themselves a deadly pair, the dreaded bird man burning entire units on his own while the snow elf Paladin cut down anyone stupid enough not to flee as quick as their lizardly little legs allowed them.
So well did the two work together that Scorch even made a point of being disdainful to him only sometimes instead of all of the time.
Some losses were still inevitable by the time the last resistance crumbled but as we counted the dead none found it fitting to complain. The entire garrison had been cleared out and hundreds of prisoners taken at the low, low cost of just over two hundred elven lives.
And when Davos returned from his task and I announced to my fellow leaders of our 'discovery' of the enemy plans to invade full stop in a few months it was unilaterally decided that the sacrifice was well worth the reward.
Once the excitement, and honestly fear for most of them, died down, we fell upon the task of ensuring the position from any further attacks and planning our next steps. Most of the army would be left here to protect against counterattacks while some of the Redoran and Dres troops would return north to be stationed elsewhere.
As for the rest of us? Well, my own task would be to politick the entire kingdom into a state where it could weather the oncoming storm. Easy, right?
Still, before any of that, the fortress needed repairs, and guess who showed off being able to transmute stone with disdainful ease?
-----
Our return north some four days later was greeted with the sight of an entire army camp now surrounding Kragenmoor. The banner of the Redoran stood prominently above a large tent in the middle of it all, and the moment the force accompanying me came into sight a messenger greeted me with a polite invitation to meet with the Archmaster.
Time to face the music.
And set an entirely new tune.
