Rastislav

Arc 6 Chapter XIV: The Nick of Time

(Reyvin's POV, on route to Helgen Pass)

The wind whips around me as Scorch cuts through the air at full speed, leaving behind a trail of fire, the massive flaming bird purposefully showing off to the black blur following behind us with contemptuous ease.

Those wings that were usually tacked on to the form of a vampire lord making them look like some kind of skinned chicken were apparently far less decorative in the case of a Daughter of Coldharbour.

I shook my head at the me...

Arc 6 Chapter XIII: Helgen Pass

(General POV, the morning of the same day)

A light mist covered the narrow pass that connected the western part of Skyrim with the east, only the flickering torchlight placed atop the thick wooden palisade blocking said pass allowed the soldiers of undermanned legionary garrison to observe anything further than their own noses.

Only three hundred men and women were stationed in the freshly constructed fort as mere days prior the vast majority of their comrades were called to press...

Arc 6 Chapter XII: Suspicions

We did not get even halfway to our meal before we were intercepted by a guard messenger and called back to the keep. I had to hold back my snickers as I watched the poor man wilt in fear while Tolfdir grumbled on and on about impatient youths and not even letting their elders have a meal in peace. The old man was probably doing it on purpose.

Judging by how pale he was when we finally reached the keep, the man would probably have a nightmare or two in the following days.

There wer...

Arc 6 Chapter XI: Cleaning House

Having offered their insults and challenges, both the rebels and loyalists focused on the only thing that mattered more than their motivations from that point on. That being making their enemy very, very dead.

Thorfinn wasted no time in aggressively slashing at Thorgrim while attempting to slip his dagger in between his armor plates. The old guardsman was skilled and experienced but his disdain for magic put him at a massive disadvantage when facing his former comrade.

Yet for all...

Arc 6 Chapter X: Revolt

(General POV)

The early midsummer morning in the ancient city of Winterhold was, as usual, a mess of fog and cold winds blowing in from the Sea of Ghosts, there was barely any visibility and it would remain as such until later in the day.

The residents hated it with a burning passion.

One might imagine that they would at least appreciate the small amount of warmth in the air and a general lack of snow but no, the air was wet, the roads were wet, and as soon as they left thei...

Arc 6 Chapter IX: Unrest

I leave the passed out Sorine in a bunkbed within the barracks of Fort Dawnguard. The woman was so damn enthusiastic about questioning me and grilling me for all I knew she straight up didn't stop until her body itself decided to shut down due to exhaustion.

Not that I really minded helping her out with the more basic designs she was trying out. It isn't like she could have kept me there if I wasn't at the very least amused by her behavior and also a tiny bit interested in what she woul...

Arc 6 Chapter VIII: By Zenithar!

I remember watching Sybille butcher everything in front of her with such graceful ease that it would look more like a shadow moving around a bunch of armored pigs, I also remember being rather impressed at the time.

My current vampiric companion made all that seem like the movements of a newborn child as she barrelled through the reanimated dead as if they weren't even there, remembering spell after spell as the fight went on. She seemed to prefer a mix of shadow magic, electromancy, an...

Arc 6 Chapter VII: Ramblings on Permanence

"Aaaand done!" Alor proclaims happily and places the disorderly mess that is his journal/grimoire back into its holster "Anything else that needs doing, my lord?"

"You can relax now." I wave him off "We are just waiting for our new friend to finish with her... cooking session."

And it could quite literally be called that, as instead of just simply draining the corpses Serana pulled out some supplies from her own oblivion storage space and set up an alchemy station with surprising ...

Arc 6 Chapter VI: Serana Volkihar

I approach the stone pedestal at the center of the chamber, my sight working at full power to ensure I wasn't about to get bombarded by some ridiculous trap array that only an immortal mage with too much time on her hands would have the patience to create.

Though imagine my surprise when I learned that the only thing of consequence that the chamber held was a large-scale stasis ward of immense power and efficiency intertwined with another smaller one of its kind.

Preparing myself ...

Arc 6 Chapter V: Dimhollow (Part 2)

"Want some?" I offhandedly ask a very twitchy Nightshade as we observe a literal wave of spiders crash into about a dozen powerful vampires and their many death hounds.

She shudders at the wave of blue smoke that passes near her and shakes her head "No thank you, I need my mind clear even if we aren't fighting right now."

"Your loss" I shrug and take another drag, an appreciative whistle leaving me not long after as I observe a Nord vampire bisect an utterly massive specimen of fr...

Arc 6 Chapter IV: Dimhollow

"Here we are sir, the Lord Stone, just as you asked." The gruff Nord goatherder informs me while pointing at a stone platform in the distance.

"You have my thanks, Eskel." I summon a pouch of septims and toss it his way "Safe travels."

He swiftly pockets the money and nods "Kyne guide your path." He says as he walks away.

As the man finally disappears from our sight Nightshade speaks up "Our destination is near, yes?"

"Some ways east." I answer as I start walking, we h...

Arc 6 Chapter III: The Dawnguard

"My lord." Alor calls out from behind me as we ride closer and closer to our destination "A question if you do not mind?"

I briefly look at him and see an expression of focused curiosity "Ask."

"Can you tell me more about the general abilities of a vampire?" He had already pulled out a thickly bound book and quill "I feel that knowing about our enemies' strengths and weaknesses would be wise before we engage."

"A wise precaution." I nod "Very well then, vampires are stronges...

Arc 6 Chapter II: Uppity Nords and Uppity Magi

Davos appears within my study without a sound but a moment after Karsus left, the light barely moves as he practically glides through the barely opened doorway "You called boss." He waves cheerfully.

"That I did." I nod in greeting "It seems that the vampire scenario has occurred earlier than we expected." I toss the letter to him with a light push of telekinesis.

He grabs it without blinking and swiftly reads through it "This Isran seems like quite the character" He notes with a ...

Arc 6 Chapter I: Ripples

Within an ancient, dusty, and near ruined hall something that can only be described as a pack of ravenous beasts wearing human skin feasting on the flesh of their once brethren was taking place.

Yet to the youthful man sitting at the jagged throne at the hall's head, this was but a nightly occurrence. More refined than his... lesser servants, the brooding man wiped the tiny splotch of blood from his mouth with a silken handkerchief with all the manners of a king.

"Tell me Garan" T...

Interlude III: Shady Happenings

A hooded figure clad in a grey traveler's cloak sat in the corner of Dawnstar's most prominent inn patiently listening to the fruits of his labor.

"Is it true what they say? That the Jarl is the one behind the nightmares?" One of the patrons asked the innkeeper in a hushed tone, the others pointedly ignoring the known rabble-rouser.

The innkeeper nearly smacked the man as he hissed quietly "Keep your voice down you dolt, we don't want the guards offing us for 'causing sedition' be...

Interlude II: Donning The Storm-Cloak

A tall blonde Nord winced in pain as he marched on the road leading up to Windhelm. His face was covered in bruises and his left eye was almost black from a punch he received in his most recent fight.

He frowned deeply upon thinking of it causing himself to wince once more due to the movement.

Rumors of Ulfric's righteous uprising had spread like wildfire but they all seemed as if spun by a spider, all spoken in such a way to cite the Stormcloak as a fool and someone without honor...

Interlude I: The Empire Stirs

(General POV:)

South of Skyrim, at the center of the fertile heartland of Cyrodiil, stood the greatest city on Nirn. This great city carried many names throughout its long history but its current residents settled on merely calling it the Imperial City, for that is exactly what it was, the city that was the Empire.

At the city's center stood an imposing tower, one of the towers that held the world together in fact but that was not widely known. The White Gold Tower, or si...

Arc 5 Chapter LVI: The End of The Beginning

After my abrupt revelation, Torygg had us retreat to his office deeper within the palace. We spoke at length about what was to be done about our new situation and the upcoming crises. Later in the night, we were joined by the Steward and proposed plan after plan, countermeasure after countermeasure, ideas were thrown about, some angered shouting was had but by the time the sun had started to rise we had settled on a plan of action.

The King would immediately send a request for reinforce...

Arc 5 Chapter LV: Shaking Oblivion

(General POV)

Within the unknowable realm of Oblivion an upset not seen since the breaking of Jyggalag shook the usually unaffable Daedric Princes. The ancient beings observed an event yet unseen within this Kalpa, a mortal directly harming a Daedra.

A couple of them instinctually checked on their own fragments on Nirn but quickly discarded the idea of withdrawing them to safety. A bit of risk only added to the fun after all.

Within a sickly green forest of books, a mass of ...

Arc 5 Chapter LIV: Blasphemy

(Davos' POV, a bit before Reyvin flew away)

My crossbow produces barely any sound as I shoot down yet another idiot fighting to the death for no apparent reason. I reload my weapon out of habit just in time to shoot another chucklefuck trying to backstab Jarl Balgruuf. His Dunmer housecarl seems to notice this and sends me a quick nod before returning to the fight.

I scan across the utter moshpit that the fight had turned into and lazily snipe yet another dumbass that chose not to...

Arc 5 Chapter LIII: Royal Rumble

(General POV)

The sun had barely moved after the issuing of the challenge yet the entire courtyard of the castle had been turned into something resembling a tournament arena. The seats had been moved around to create space and give everyone a good view of the fight while the center of the courtyard had a fighting ring assembled within.

This was after all a military garrison where legionaries trained so the set up took a ridiculously short amount of time, just as the challenger had...

Arc 5 Chapter LII: Kingsmoot

(General POV)

The courtyard of Castle Dour, the legionary garrison of Solitude, had been refitted to host the upcoming kingsmoot. Seats and tables had been arranged in a circular fashion with the seat of the High King being opposite to that of the Jarl of Windhelm.

When the Jarls supporting Ulfric arrived at Solitude they were offered to spend the night in the palace and rest, as was customary, but the belligerent Stormcloak demanded that the moot be held immediately and openly ac...

Arc 5 Chapter LI: Kingsmoot Prelude

I appear within the Blue Palace's mage tower with Davos and Nightshade by my sides. A nostalgic smile forces its way onto my face as I feel the familiar aura of Solitude, already an entire year had passed since I worked here daily and the place was still as bustling as ever.

A shame that was all about to come to a crashing end...

Before my mind can continue on its downward spiral of dour cynicism I feel a familiar presence in a nearby room and signal for my servants to get on with...

Arc 5 Chapter L: Project Snow Blood

'The chambers under the great cliff of Winterhold are surprisingly warm considering they are covered in ice most of the time.' I muse as I descend down the tunnel parallel to the one leading to my ancestral shrine. It was rather obvious that they could be kept warm but the contrast was rather jarring when one could look from each perspective simultaneously.

Speaking of my underground base, the whole thing was now as large as all my above ground property. Much to my pleasant surprise, th...

Arc 5 Chapter XLIX: Cooking... Cigars?

A cauldron bubbles with what can only be an extremely deadly acid while multiple tubes feed even more outrageous liquids into it. The annoying sound of nirnroot resounds all around the great alchemist's laboratory while fumes obscure most natural sight. The lab looked like something that one might within a caricature or some mocking image representing chemists of both persuasions, legal or otherwise.

A dark-skinned man lay knocked out atop the table, and an emptied out nargila-esque gla...

Arc 5 Chapter XLVIII: Gaze of Magnus

The large fireplace affixed to the inner wall of my mansion's dining hall crackled comfortably as multiple subdued conversations were being had all across the room.

After the whole 'not Thalmor' attack fiasco I invited everyone involved to a small feast, the day had been stressful for most of them and I remember quite vividly how terrifying seeing actual high level magical combat was for me so ending the day on a high note would do them all well.

'And some of them might even devel...

Arc 5 Chapter XLVII: Poking Eyes

(Reyvin's POV)

As the final attacker has their head unceremoniously ripped off by a disturbingly gleeful Fishy the grand chamber falls silent. Well, it would be silent if not for a certain cat man wailing in pure agony while clutching his now far shorter tail.

I land next to him, causing him to stop his yowling "Do you have the bit that was cut off?"

He nods rapidly and points to a corner where a small length of furry spine is lying. I levitate it toward me and without ...

Arc 5 Chapter XLVI: On Wings of Fire

"Ah! Fresh air, how I have missed you!" I exclaim dramatically as we finally exit Labyrinthian.

Durrak gives me an odd look "We haven't been inside for that long."

I shrug "Maybe, but it sure was stressful."

This time it is his turn to shrug.

"Oi, gramps." I turn to Savos who raises an eyebrow "Can you re-seal the place? I don't want some randoms finding our gold mine on accident after all that."

He huffs "Don't you have an entire vault full of gold?"

I giv...

Arc 5 Chapter LXV: Of Divine Staves and Elven Goons

(Reyvin's POV)

Thoroughly stumped by the lacking enchantments upon the mask I sit down with a huff. My disappointment was immeasurable and my day was most thoroughly ruined.

Likely seeing my mood Durrak, bless his heart, asks "Is it not powerful though?"

"It is" I answer absent-mindedly, the thing gave a nice fat Magicka regeneration and reserve bonus, but the fact of the matter was it was only powerful and not intricate or efficient...

"So what is the problem then?" T...

Arc 5 Chapter XLIV: The End of Glory

(General POV)

Morokei the glorious observed the blasphemous invaders of his master's domain, two Dunmer mages and an Orc that stunk of the beast Daedra. The priest could not do much else in his current imprisoned state, his earlier attempts had failed so spectacularly that he had to focus all of his considerable skill on replenishing his power for when the true fight came.

He clutched hard the divine staff that had shown itself to him all those years ago and resumed his observatio...