Rastislav

Arc 5 Chapter XLIII: Labyrinthian (Part 2)

(Reyvin's POV)

My brilliant retort is met with a deafening silence "Huh" I mutter "He did not answer... Must be shy or something." I shrug carelessly.

Savos' only lightly bloodshot eyes snap to mine as he mutters "Why by all the gods would you ever provoke that creature?"

Both Durrak and myself give him odd looks before I wave him off "We are here to kill him and pillage his long dead corpse, there is no point in being polite about it."

"Besides" I add offhandedly "He ...

Arc 5 Chapter XLII: Labyrinthian (Part 1)

The cold winter air of Skyrim's central mountain range whipped at our faces mercilessly. Thankfully we were all fully prepared for such a thing, Savos and I wore enchanted robes, and Durrak... well Durrak was just too much of a beast to even care about something as petty as 'cold weather'.

The well over two meters tall Orc looked far too cheerful for someone wearing metal armor in sub-zero temperature but then again it might have something to do with his idiotic decision to become a wer...

Arc 5 Chapter XLI: Journey To The Labyrinth

"Reyvin I... I can't go back there." Savos says pitifully as I go through my large selection of automatons and select the most potent among them to bring with us "I cannot face that place again." My apparent failure of a grandfather mutters.

"You are going whether you like it or not." I say tersely as I check my stock of gatecrasher-grade ammunition.

Savos chuckles ruefully "And how do you plan to make me?"

I turn to him with a raised eyebrow "Oh so you have enough of a spin...

Arc 5 Chapter XL: Augur

The two of us sit in companionable silence for a good while, enjoying our drinks and battling with our thoughts. Well, one of us was anyway...

And just as said person was taking another sip of his drink I fired off a question "So, how does it feel to share a position with Dagoth Ur?"

The ensuing explosion of beverage bursting through the Archmage's nose and mouth followed by a fit of coughing and glaring was most definitively worth my patience. Truly, a spit-take for the ages!

Arc 5 Chapter XXXIX: Family Matters

"Think they will know what happened to him?" I ask Tolfdir as we finally manage to stop guffawing.

The old man shakes his head, still lightly chuckling "No, I do not believe so. The Psijik Monks are an awfully arrogant lot thinking they should only interfere 'when the times are most dire' or something equally inane" He explains with only light disdain lacing his words "The one that arrived here was probably working on his own and the wards shattered him to the point of near non-existenc...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXVIII: Saarthal (Part 3)

Just as I was about to open the ancient gate I heard the sound of jogging coming from behind us and Tolfdir yelling out "Hold on my boy!" The old mage ran up to us and greeted us with his signature smile "I believe it is high time I joined you."

"Is everything behind us secured?" I cannot help but ask, my paranoia had been growing more rampant with each and every second I spent down here, as even the tiniest mistake could spell our end.

One might ask oneself why take such a great ...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXVII: Saarthal (Part 2)

After spending a bit more time bantering with Minthara the time had finally come and I summoned everyone to the entrance of the ruins. The gathered apprentices were giving off an air of nervousness and excitement while the more experienced among them looked like this was just another Morndas.

Without any preamble, I opened the door and was immediately greeted with the sound of moving machinery as a bunch of mages were currently directing my automatons to proceed with the excavation.

Arc 5 Chapter XXXVI: Saarthal (Part 1)

Following the usual MO of Skyrim, the news about Saarthal's opening took all of an entire hour to spread through the whole college. Similarly, it took the administration less than a day to decide to employ some of the students to gather the many low-value artifacts spread all around the entrance to the ruins as a... learning experience.

The truth was far more chucklesome to those who were in the know however, as enticing the overenthusiastic students to crawl through dusty caves was far...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXV: Firelord!

(General POV)

The news of Reyvin's deed had spread quickly among the nobility and a small feast was swiftly prepared within the throne room of the Blue Palace.

The Dunmer Thane spent an entire hour retelling how he hunted down each and every member of the brotherhood, properly curated of course, while also making sure to keep insulting the intelligence of whomever decided it was a good idea to send the 'pathetic amateurs' his way.

Sybille Stentor had a great time watching th...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXIV: Welcome to Hell

"...And I would thoroughly recommend that you all study up on the arcane script before you finish your first year of magical education as going on without such basic knowledge will leave you in the dust behind your peers." Savos Aren finishes his lecture and lightly bows to the students "Thank you for coming to the lecture and welcome, once more, to our great college."

He then promptly disappears from his position.

As if a switch was flipped the entire crowd disperses, leaving the...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXIII: Firsties

"Needs more firmness" I state as I poke a rather flimsily made artificial bone atop the table in front of me.

I hear a huff to my right "That much is evident Reyvin, it is after all merely the preliminary result." Phineas explains in a patient drawl.

My eyes move to Tolfdir who was up to that point patiently watching over our work "I feel..." He trails off "That we rushing as is, we should focus on making a working prototype with functional marrow before we focus back on the actua...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXII: Upgrades People, Upgrades!

We spent the following three days just relaxing within the sanctuary. There was no training, no research on the residual magic in the air, just... chilling.

The peaceful atmosphere did wonders for my mind and I finally managed to deal with the constant tension created by my lifestyle. Say what you will about standing defiantly before the very gods of this world but doing so repeatedly was going to chafe on any mortal, no matter how arrogant or protected from their influences.

I wa...

Arc 5 Chapter XXXI: Vacation

(General POV)

In the western reaches of the southern marshy plains of Windhelm nature stood undisturbed for many years. Most humans preferred not dying of disease at the tender age of 30 so people generally avoided settling in such areas, and even when they did they would usually do so because of an ore vein being turned into a mine or something similar, always at least some ways away from the actual swamps.

Much to a certain dark elf's disgust a certain kind of creature did settl...

Arc 5 Chapter XXX: Sun And Shadow

The battered and broken form of Malyn's corpse stood before me as I took deep breaths. At first, I was just going to whack him a bit but then I remembered the wording of Azura's task and proceeded to beat the shit out of him... literally, just in case she decided to play games.

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As the life faded from his pain filled eyes I was snapped out of the star and back into Azura's domain, the Daedra was sitting and daintily sipping on some immensely fragrant tea while...

Arc 5 Chapter XXIX: Azura

For an instant, I felt like I was about to get completely erased, the near-direct stare of the Daedra was a terrifying thing no matter how experienced one was. So terrifying in fact that I felt just a tad angered at the unnecessary posturing. The light annoyance was enough for my inheritance to bubble to the surface and the Daedric influence was reduced to a mere trickle.

As the Daera's gaze left me something finally clicked, the feeling of being observed from time to time, notably at B...

Arc 5 Chapter XXVIII: Truth Bombs

(General POV)

The Lord of Dagoth sighed a tired sigh and grumbled inaudibly to himself while the Jarl and his Housecarl were staring at him. Balgruuf looked about to start asking questions but Reyvin interrupted by raising a hand tiredly "Let us just go somewhere private and sit while we talk, I promise to tell you most of what you wish to know."

The blonde Nord looked at his protector questioningly, and while she was unconsciously gripping her sword so hard her grey skin turned w...

Arc 5 Chapter XXVII: The Ebony Shank

We stayed the night at the hunter's camp, the two huntsmen eagerly praising us for bringing them the head of the werewolf that killed their friend/relative. The speed at which they got to taxiderming the whole thing was honestly a bit worrying though.

They even tried to invite us to stay over at their village so they could at least prepare a modest feast for us but we were in a hurry so I decided to just ask them to guide us out of the forest and as near Whiterun hold as possible.

Arc 5 Chapter XXVI: The Hunt

A/n: The previous chap has been edited to seem more natural and whatnot, do check it out.

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Dealing with the captured students took us far longer than dealing with the necromancer's lair itself. Instead of being able to just shove them at the Jarl of Falkreath, who was an Ulfric supporter, I had to march the dozen or so malnourished mages all the way to Riverwood and then wait for Balgruuf to send someone to pick them up and ship them to Solitu...

Arc 5 Chapter XXV: Ilinalta

"I am genuinely impressed that they managed to make the place habitable" I mutter as I look over the barely above water level tower that served as the entrance to the necromancer's lair "How by Dagoth's saggy sack the place didn't collapse yet I will never understand."

"Could it be they used magic?" Nightshade gives me a look of subdued mockery.

I give her a deadpan look in return and she chuckles "You've been growing way more cheeky in the past few days." I cannot help but point ...

Arc 5 Chapter XXIV: Unbound

As the key passes through both my robes and flesh as if they weren't even there I feel something within me begin to shift. My clairvoyance starts working overtime as I begin seeing the numerous possible ways in which I could use the key's quite frankly ridiculous powers.

The amount of things I could 'unlock' is staggering.

Still, attempting to do too much would no doubt get me dwemered, so after thinking for what felt like an entire day yet in truth was less than a second I twist ...

Arc 5 Chapter XXIII: Lock And Key

My talks with Maven went on well past midnight, we went over all of the necessary details of what I wanted her to do and how my own people could help her out, exactly how far she was to push without getting discovered, and which contacts were to be trusted.

I also asked her about any information she had on the Dark Brotherhood, just in case, and seeing as she did betray them she immediately told me all she knew about the gang of murderhobos. Apparently, the organization was as small as ...

Arc 5 Chapter XXII: The Negotiator

(General POV)

As day made way to night, the miserable aura of the busy streets of Riften shifted into a more energetic and enterprising one, the number of people milling about barely shifting while their intent and profession might as well have been of another city altogether.

Even as Reyvin made his way toward the manor near the Jarl's keep he could easily spy three or four deals being made between the different gangs of the city, the wannabe thieves' guildsmen running around in ...

Arc 5 Chapter XXI: Onwards To The Rift!

I rode out of Winterhold the following morning, followed by Nightshade who was clumsily attempting to remain atop the tamest horse I found in the entire city. My own steed, the warhorse carrying the glorious name Glitterhoof, was far more rowdy but a nice bribe now and then had him eating out of my hand... literally.

Traveling by horse was far swifter than I was used to, go figure, and we arrived in Bjarnstead a mere five hours after leaving Winterhold. Instead of wasting daylight by st...

Arc 5 Chapter XX: A Quest Divine

"Enter" I command, barely keeping the annoyance from poluting my voice.

Moments later the priestess enters and after a nod from me takes a seat opposite my table.

We stare at each other for a while, unsure as to why I should keep wasting my time I speak first "well then" I begin while crossing my palms "It isn't every day I receive a divine emissary."

The priestess seems confused by my reaction but then begins her own spiel, almost as if she rehearsed the whole thing "I am A...

Arc 5 Chapter XIX: Guests Invited And Uninvited

Our return to Winterhold was met with rampant celebration by the residents. The fact that everything we did down there was for the college and personal profit seemed to fly over everyone's heads but I guess that their relatives coming back with great riches might have had something to do with their elation.

The adventurers that came back with us were definitely happy to be welcomed in such a way.

Once we arrived at the college things were far more subdued, duties and schedules wer...

Arc 5 Chapter XIX: Ye Olde Scrolle

"Ugh" I groan as I try and blink my eyes open, they seem far heavier for whatever reason so it takes me a minute. After what feels like an eternity I finally see light and in a single instant my consciousness returns fully, my ears pop and I see the others looking at me worriedly while Tolfdir blasts me with restoration magic.

"What the hell happened?" I croak as the pain assaults my everything.

(Flashback)

After we made sure that the automata were well and truly inactive we...

Arc 5 Chapter XVII: Mzark

(General POV)

As the group slowly and cautiously entered the ancient tower their steps echoed loudly through the empty halls, none among them wished to be the first to speak for fear of incurring the wrath of whatever metallic abomination they imagined awaited deeper within.

Upon leaving the first hall they finally started seeing the signs of the tower's ancient occupants, discarded clothes, dropped utensils, and even books and scrolls standing atop stone pedestals, likely left op...

Arc 5 Chapter XVI: Approaching The Tower

"And the foolish big dragon was boastful no moreeee....

When his ugly bronze head got smashed down to the floor!"

Marco finishes his rendition of the famous song with a dramatic flourish and the gathered partygoers cheer and laugh, tankards clinking and ale flying all over the place, and a bunch of them toasting Minthara Dragonbane, the young woman going completely red at the praise all the while I cackle as I was the one who let out that it was her that delivered the killing blow...

Arc 5 Chapter XV: Dragonslayers

I feel the massive explosion of power wash over me for a moment, a tiny bit unexpectedly sticking to my headpiece, only to suddenly surge in a singular direction. I see Minthara panic, not sure what to do with all the light flowing toward her through the cloud of dust we were covered by, as the majestic combination of soul and divine energies slams into her I hear her gasp loudly.

The dragon soul takes all of ten seconds to be consumed but for us, it might as well have been an eternity....

Arc 5 Chapter XIV: Vulthuryol

(General POV)

The battle stills completely as the new arrival makes himself known, the invaders gaping at the terrifying sight while the defenders all shivered as their instincts screamed for them to flee.

The dragon sniffs the air with a mix of disdain, as his eyes pass over the mortal armies he cannot help but grumble "Which of these mortal fools dared to wake me?" his words sounding more like a growl to most of those present "Have you fools finally deci...