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[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwToTZc9qOk][Mood Music][/url][/center]
[center][h3][u][b][color=white]Prologue[/color]
The Shift[/b][/u][/h3][/center]

Armand rode hard through the night. The sun was peaking over the horizon, though its light was dulled by the morning fog. The air was cool, and morning dew shimmered on the leaves and blades of grass. In the fog, a looming silhouette could be seen. [i]The Spyre[/i]. Almost as old as Dawnguard, the Spyre was a massive tower that functioned as a school for Vahkranite court sorcerers. The Spyre was one of three such sorcerer collegiums, where people would come to learn the ways of magic within their legal rights in exchange for servitude to the emperor.

Armand was glad to see the torches lit in the windows of the Spyre. He remembered his days within those stone walls, studying the various methods needed to access the aetherwinds, and conjure magic. There was a strange comfort in seeing the building as its highest point touched the clouds. Armand had once stood on the highest balcony for the briefest of moments, before stepping off of it and letting the aetherwinds carry his body to the ground. He was the first to ride out then, when news had reached Dawnguard that half a dozen students fell to their deaths when the aetherwinds simply vanished.

[color=white][i]"Hold there, stranger."[/i][/color] A guard said as Armand approached a checkpoint, [color=white][i]"You enter state grounds. Explain your business here immediately."[/i][/color]

Armand drew the reins back on his horse, and brought it to a stop. He looked down at the gaggle of guards, three of them, all looking like they hadn't seen any real combat in their lives. [color=white][b]"My name is Master Armandus Treyathal, Sorcerer Superior of the Court. I come as ordered by Grand Master Ustizor to investigate reports of aetheric phenomena."[/b][/color]

The guards all looked between one another for a moment, then brought their eyes back to Armand. The most senior one their held out his hand, [color=white][i]"Surely you have orders from the Grand Master in paper, Master Treyathal?[/i][/color]

Armand nodded and reached into a saddlebag. He produced a scroll, which he promptly handed to the man in charge. Armand waited while the guard read the order. He felt strange, like the air around the Spyre was different. Surely, the gloom of death was there, but Armand had felt that many times over and had grown used to it. This was something different, like the life surrounding the Spyre was simply gone. He heard no birds in the morning, nor saw any insects flying over the small river he'd fish at during his days off. No fish jumped from the water. Hell, he couldn't even see them swimming below the surface either. Armand's horse whinnied, and he patted at its neck to keep it calm. [color=white][i]"Everything is in order, Master Treyathal. I'm not a sorcerer, but... It doesn't take one wise to aetheric energy to know something is amiss here... Best be wary."[/i][/color]

Armand nodded once to the guard and kicked his stirrups into the horse's side. The horse picked up its pace and closed the final distance to the Spyre. As he rode toward the great black oak doors at the base of the Spyre, Armand saw three figures stepping down the marble stairs to greet him. One wore blue robes with white trim similar to Armand's, the Sorcerer Superior of the Spyre. The two flanking either side of him were both in red robes, battle magi. One was an older looking man with a burn scar that dominated half his face. The other was a young woman, perhaps not even twenty years of age with raven black hair and striking emerald green eyes. The Spyre's master spoke first, bowing his head as he did, [color=white][i]"Master Treyathal. It's been too long, I trust things are well in Dawnguard?"[/i][/color]

Armand dismounted his horse. A young apprentice ran from the stables to take the horse away, all apprentices had side jobs when they were free from their studies. [color=white][b]"Better than here t'would seem... Though the news of the incident here has cast a shadow over the Citadel. I hope you can shed some light on the circumstances, Master Rense."[/b][/color] Armand said as he lowered his blue hood. The man was fairly young for a Sorcerer Superior, just about thirty winters old. His hair was blonde and neatly cut. His azure blue eyes were sharp and focused.

Master Rense nodded, [color=white][i]"The aetherwinds in the valley have become completely still, Armand. I have my most talented scholars looking into it, reading through all historical records of aetheric phenomena in our archives- none of which match this event. The winds have shifted and changed directions, but never vanished entirely like now."[/i][/color]

Armand stepped closer, nodding to the grizzled battle mage. The mage nodded back with familiarity, though his face was grim. Rense continued, [color=white][i]"Worse yet... With the aetherwinds gone, our sorcerers are having difficulties conjuring even the smallest of sparks. I'm afraid without the winds, the Spyre is nothing more than a light house without an ocean."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"Let us walk and talk, Master Rense. I wish to stand on the balcony and feel the air."[/b][/color] Armand said as he passed the trio of sorcerers, and entered into the Spyre.

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[color=white][b]"I didn't want to believe it, Master Rense, and for that I apologize. You are right... The winds are completely dead."[/b][/color] Armand said, holding his hand out over the highest balcony. He could feel the air move through his fingers, but he couldn't feel the usual electrifying sensation that a sorcerer normally would from the aetherwinds.

Master Rense nodded slowly, [color=white][i]"It is a difficult thing to comprehend. We all felt a powerful surge of aetheric energy before everything went silent. Might you have any idea what could cause such an occurrence, Armand? After all, you've always had a natural sensitivity to the aetherwinds. What does your intuition tell you?"[/i][/color]

Armand stood right at the edge of the balcony where an apprentice would step off. He crossed his arms, rubbing his chin between his right thumb and index finger. [color=white][b]"Grand Master Ustizor once spoke of the cause of the aetherwinds. Leylines he called them."[/b][/color]

Rense nodded, [color=white][i]"I am familiar with the leyline theory, yes. That they were once connected to the Nexus before its destruction, much like the roots of a tree. Though since the destruction of the Nexus in the First Age, no proof was ever found to confirm the existence of the leylines."[/i][/color]

Armand shook his head and looked back to Master Rense, [color=white][b]"Do you know why the Spyre was built here, Master Rense?"[/b][/color]

The older Sorcerer shrugged, clearly not privy to the same information that Armand was as one of Ustizor's most trusted men. [color=white][i]"Because the aetherwinds here were stronger than any other point within the valley. Sorcerers could wield magic here with greater ease."[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"T'is only a half truth, Master Rense."[/b][/color] Armand said, [color=white][b]"The base of the Spyre was very precisely placed on top of a convergence point, where a leyline breached through the earth and expelled aetheric energy, thus creating the aetherwinds in this region. The same goes for every other sorcerer's tower the Imperium has ever built. The towers act as waypoints in an attempt to map the lost leylines."[/b][/color]

Master Rense took in the information but didn't appear too shocked. He had spent enough time being the apprentice to know that one was never finished learning. [color=white][i]"What is it you are suggesting, Master Treyathal?"[/i][/color]

[color=white][b]"The only other time in recorded history that there was a shift this major in the aetherwinds, was when the Nexus collapsed and the leylines were snapped out of place. My theory for now is that perhaps the leylines themselves are shifting. For what reason, and by what means, I am still unsure. It just a theory crafted by my findings in this moment."[/b][/color]

Master Rense raised a brow at that, [color=white][i]"Say you are correct then... What could this shift mean?"[/i][/color]

Armandus looked out to the horizon, his blue eyes watching a murder of crows flying away the Spyre in the distance. The sun's light shining over half of the valley. [color=white][b]"I do not know...[/b][/color]

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[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U2_x4svbX_o][Mood Music][/url][/center]
[center][h3][u][b][color=white]Chapter 1[/color]
As the Crow Flies[/b][/u][/h3][/center]

The sun light shined over the mountain peaks and into the valley, causing Gwynne to narrow her eyes and pull her hood over her face a bit more. She looked over her shoulder, back to the looming Spyre in the distance. Gwynne had sensed the change in her surroundings not long after she connected the Spyre's leyline to the Force Orb. Things were more peculiar in the woods leaving than when she entered. She was used to it, however. In the eleven years that she has been searching for the leylines, she had only found four. Every time the orb connected to the lines, the surrounding areas seemed to pause. It was a curious thing, and Gwynne had spent a great deal of time pondering on the long term effects of her actions.

The Force Orb glowed and orbited around Gwynne's body. [color=dodgerblue][i]"And there you go thinking again. I swear, you've got to be the quietest sorceress I've ever known."[/i][/color] A voice emanated from the orb. Every time it spoke, the orb would light up in little pulses.

[color=white][b]"We stole aetheric energy from a school, Topesh. You saw what we caused as we were sneaking out: students falling to their deaths in hopes the winds would slow their descent..."[/b][/color] Gwynne sighed.

[color=dodgerblue][i]"Are you getting soft, Gwynne? Don't forget how many have died by your hands for getting in our way..."[/i][/color] The voice in the orb sounded sinister.

Gwynne shot a sharp glare at the orb, [color=white][b]"All of which rose up in arms to capture an apostate. Those apprentices were young and not involved, and they died anyways. It isn't right."[/b][/color]

[color=dodgerblue][i]"You're speaking to the soul of one of the world's greatest evils about the morality of killing. I should remind you, Gwynne, that I started out the same way you did: Noble despite your circumstances."[/i][/color] The orb drew closer to Gwynne's face so the voice could speak in a deeper tone, [color=dodgerblue][i]"Remember that you are [b]my[/b] chosen. And your fate has already been decided as I wrote centuries ago. You will kill, then kill some more, and finally kill more until my goals- our goals, are realized. You may try to avoid the killing as much as you'd like, Gwynne... But the will of the Legionnaire is natural law. It is unbreakable, pinpoint focused, and absolute. You've had eleven years to get used to it, the time for complaining is over."[/i][/color]

Gwynne rolled her eyes as she walked, [color=white][b]"Ever the brutally honest little soul, aren't you, Topesh?"[/b][/color] Gwynne waved her hand dismissively, [color=white][b]"So you have me ensnared in your universal design, so be it. But don't think that I like doing what you've forced me to do."[/b][/color]

[color=dodgerblue][i]"No? If I remember correctly, you were grinning from ear to ear when we connected that leyline beneath the Spyre. I can feel your emotions, Gwynne. They betray your words. You know if Talmuth were here, she'd reveal to you your future, and show you just how far from your nobility you'll have strayed. I'll say it again, this is all by de-"[/i][/color] Topesh is cut off.

[color=white][b]"All by design, yes yes, Topesh I've heard that now for the past eleven years."[/b][/color] She then raises her hands and speaks in an almost mocking tone, [color=white][b]"I'll become the new scourge of this world and forcefully usher in the Fourth Age by means of chaos and strife in this age."[/b][/color]

[color=dodgerblue][i]"Word for word. So the apostate does listen to the orb with a voice every now and again."[/i][/color]

Gwynne sighs, [color=white][b]"Better to give the orb a voice than to listen to your whispering in the back of my skull. At least when you speak through the orb, I can't hear you over great distances."[/b][/color]

The orb vibrates slowly, [color=dodgerblue][i]"Wait... I know what you're alluding to. Don't throw me away like I'm some cheap child's toy~...."[/i][/color] The orb launches off a few hundred feet ahead of Gwynne at the mere motion of her finger.

Gwynne watched as the orb smashed into a cluster of trees, sending a murder of crows into the sky, making a lot of noise as they flew away. She took a deep breath and counted the crows as she walked in silence, glad to have her thoughts to herself for the time being. Gwynne was completely unaware that another potent sorcerer was counting those same crows as they flew.
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