It's been about a month since Malakaus had left the Imperial City for his journey. His quest was simple enough: Go to the guilds and learn more about Levitation Lore. Malakaus wondered why the spell had been banned in the first place, it’s not as if Levitation has any ethical issues like necromancy. And even so Malakaus didn’t really care about it, seeing it no worse than the usual conjuration controversy regarding dealing with daedra. The roads have been clear of bandits so far, and aside from some wolves giving him the eye he hasn’t run into any trouble yet.

Malakaus was about half-way along when a band of travelers crossed his path. Yet despite the size of the group, they looked ill-prepared for a long journey: most didn’t even have backpacks and were carrying boxes or sacks. When Malakaus met them he asked what news they had. Apparently they were fleeing Kvatch after some sort of massive disturbance. No one knew [i]what[/i] exactly had happened, only that it seemed like a gate to Oblivion opened up and daedra started pouring in. Hearing this didn’t frighten Malakaus however: Quite the opposite.

The realms of Oblivion were dangerous but also bountiful. Even for it’s hellish landscape there were many powerful and potent alchemical ingredients inside, and Daedra hearts were legendary in all crafting circles. They had potent magic for alchemy, the blood necessary to daedric smithing, and often used as a catalyst in enchanting. Not to mention that for the fortunate few, one may even go into Oblivion to meet Daedric Lords themselves. Malakaus had heard of Malakath’s own realm, the Ashpit, where land floats through the skies and the air is filled with poison. Levitation and the ability to breath one’s own fresh air was necessary, and Malakaus hoped to meet him one day. Ideally while Malakaus was still alive.

Thus this news about an oblivion gate opening up piqued Malakaus’s interest. What sort of power lay beyond that gate? And why was it here in the first place? Surely such a cataclysmic event couldn’t be done by a mere cult or even a powerful wizard. There had to be a daedric lord behind this. Only question was, who? So for a moment Malakaus decided to put his quest on hold. No, not quite: a new objective in his quest was discovered. In his pursuit of knowledge he shall investigate Kvatch and get to the bottom of this Oblivion Gate. Figuratively of course. He imagine that the pits in oblivion are bottomless or at least very, very long.

Sometime later Malakaus arrived to the base of Kvatch. He knew he was close because the skies were red and darken, despite arriving sometime during the day. Or was it night? Frankly, being this close to an Oblivion Gate was bound to skew time and space. Didn’t matter, time to investigate. The orc approached the makeshift fortifications made to protect the former citizens, looking for anyone who knew what happened. Ideally, there may be a guard or soldier of some sort who may be willing to accept Malakaus’s help. If needed he could even say that he’s an Imperial Soldier, albeit one who’s on leave.