Stormyx

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Only the Road.

“Goodbye is the hardest thing to say to someone who means the world to you, especially when goodbye isn’t what you want.” - Unknown

---

The pestle in her hand ground down at the herbs in the mortar, the petals tore to a blackened mush. The charcoal that she added milled down to a fine powder. "Whatever that is, I ain't drinking it," came a low voice from behind her, masculine and deep - but friendly.

"It's not for eating," she replied with a half smile - the lips that were usually full, now thin as she sucked them in. Shrinking away at the thought of company.

"Oh aye? What for then?"

"My hair," she said candidly, pouring oil into the bowl to combine everything until it was a slick liquid - black and thick. "To change it." Raelynn admitted, her eyes briefly meeting Fjolte's before she took her comb from the ground and dipped it. It was then that Fjolte noticed that Raelynn's belongings were folded neatly around her. Clothes in two piles, accessories in two piles. He raised a brow.

"Why are you changing your hair?" he asked with a curious smirk.

"Because I'm going away for a bit." Raelynn replied after a long pause in something of a snappy voice. Like a petulant teenager put on the spot and forced to explain herself. She brought the comb to the roots of her hair, and dragged the mixture through her blonde locks from root to tip, the fingers of her free hand worked to unwind and pull her curls straight.

“Seems drastic, and… a little out of nowhere if I’m being honest,” Fjolte asked with a raised brow, “what’s really going on?”he added, there was concern in his tone, if not also joined by a measure of incredulousness. He dropped to his haunches in front of the temperamental Breton, half tempted to hook a finger under her chin to bring her eyes to his. Instead, he remained relaxed and open.

“It’s too dangerous here,” she sighed, volatility melting away. “We’re going to die you know? One by one. It’s like Zaveed said… There’s more even still than that,” Raelynn confessed, her voice breathy and words coming quick. She thought back to the conversation she’d had with Aries. The vague threats in the Imperial’s speech of arrests and of punishment - the reminder of her crimes. The way she’d been shaken to her core afterwards. Her jaw trembled, buckling under the weight of silent panic but she held it back. Continued her combing, her focus on that alone.

Fjolte’s eyes narrowed as he watched her, he’d observed her dance between being aloof and haughty to slipping into states of shock and upset like this since they’d reunited in the prison. But to her credit, since Gregor’s change she had been mostly stoic and steady — even though there were very clearly cracks under her surface. He watched her hands as they worked, black dye dripping into a pool at her side, splattering against her clothing. “You know, there’s at least three people over by the camp who are still breathing ‘cos of you though, you know that right? You did good, blondie. Heard you even shot an Orc with a fucking cannon, that’s a solid eff-”

“I wake up alone-” Raelynn said, interrupting the inspiring pep-talk that Fjolte was trying to bring forth. The comb was stuck midway through her curls as she turned her head to finally face him. He blinked and was about to say something, but her grim expression harboured a loneliness she had been burying and she had allowed him to look into it. Any smile that remained on his face was whisked away. “I wake up alone and every day is cold. I’m walking over eggshells around my friends, around… Even around Gregor. I don’t want to upset him anymore than he already is. I can’t help him. I’m not strong enough. People don’t trust me.” Her jaw clenched and her eyes shut tight, but there were tears that formed between her lashes.

“Take your time,” Fjolte breathed reassuringly as he let his bottom touch the earth beneath him and stretched out his legs. “I’m listening.” Gone was his tone of humour.

It took her a few moments to collect herself, and all the while, she simply combed darkness through strands of silver hair.

“Back before… It was just me and him. We made our own world. He said the most beautiful things,” she smiled reflectively as a redness came to her cheeks and her expression softened some. “He built me palaces with his words that I felt safe and adored in.” Her smile held up, but the joy was fleeting and was stripped and torn away from her almost immediately. “He would hold me for hours… I’d lie with him and in the silence and breathe him in. Nothing could break into what we’d made for ourselves. Now it’s…” Raelynn’s voice tapered to a whimper and the comb slipped from her fingers as she brought her hands to her face to shield the expression from the outside world.

Fjolte picked up her comb, shuffling over to her with a half-smile, before he tentatively brought it to her hair. “Tell me,” he said, as the teeth slipped through her lengths. “You can tell me.”

Raelynn sniffed and cleared her throat softly.

“Everyone knows what we’ve done, everyone knows everything about us. When he… the prison, when he did that… When Sora told me she knew. When he…” Her small, shaking hand came to her chest and she paused… “It was as if everything we had, our palace? It all came tumbling down to the ground.”

Raelynn had always had a way of speaking poetically. Fjolte supposed it was her upbringing, her education, her family having been wealthy. He just spoke as he thought, and how he thought it. But even then, he still understood what she meant by it. The feeling of safety and comfort she had been given by Gregor. That they’d made together. He understood her when she had said it had gone. “You’ve always lived in a palace blondie,” he said quietly, his hands now black with dye as he worked through Raelynn’s hair - hoping he was doing it right. “You’ve always had walls up, always kept yourself shut out of the world. Held everyone who came to you at arms length and then some. Sounds to me like you finally let someone in and thought you could just keep it like that forever, eh?”

She nodded, placing her finger under her nose as her breath caught in her chest. “Something like that…”

“Thing about life is, we can’t just hide in our own fortress you know? You miss so much of everything else. Truth is, everything is still the same with you. You still love each other… By Kyne I’ve never seen you look at anyone or anything like you look at him, even now. The core of what you both were, that’s the same - isn’t it?” Fjolte asked, stopping to face her with an easy smile. He placed his other hand on her shoulder and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

Raelynn thought about it, and glanced off into the distance - at the flames of the campfire she could just about make out from behind the rows of trees. “Yes... I mean I think so…”

“You talk to him about all this?”

“No, I don’t want to add to his trouble,” she said in a small voice. “I just… I don’t know that we are the same.”

“Not even if he can help you? Wouldn’t it hurt him more to learn you’ve been going through this alone?”

“You don’t understand,” Raelynn began, her voice sharp and irascible again. “It’s more complicated than that now…” Her eyebrows furrowed on her forehead and an ugly crease appeared at the centre, until she became aware of the tension and sighed pitifully. “I’m pregnant, Fjolte. I’m carrying Gregor’s child. I’m going to be a mother… I can’t protect everyone, I can’t help everyone. Not even Gregor-”

The Nord stopped again, that was certainly some news. That was… He wasn’t expecting to hear it. So he placed the comb at his side before wrapping his huge arms around the shrinking Breton, holding her tightly. He didn’t say a word, but he could feel her heart pounding hard against him, and her breaths were quick and sharp. Tears landed against his arm and rolled down. He rocked her back and forth slowly as she began to sob. “In the eons of his immortality, my own life will be but a breath. I will age, grow ugly, grow ill, break, and die… In a single breath of his life, mine will be over. Do you understand?”

Fjolte could feel her shaking, and the tremble in her voice rang out the internal agony that plagued her. “I think so…”

“Don’t you think that forever has changed, Fjolte? It doesn’t mean the same thing anymore.” The quality of her voice changed, what was usually honey had turned sour, and her eyes were suddenly cold.

Fjolte took in a deep breath and thought about her question. “Forever is just a word, a concept. It doesn’t have to mean anything. I think that your lifetime is a forever of its own. Mine too, an Altmer lives a great many years longer than people like you and I. Gregor is… I’m not sure I can really imagine it. Your forever will be full of love, but his will be lonely until the end.” He instinctively scratched the tip of his nose and let his words carry themselves to her ears in the most consoling tone he could - although, his words were probably not the easiest to hear.

Choosing not to respond to that, Raelynn instead got to thinking over the journey she had taken. Everything she had done. From torturing N’Blec, to being held prisoner by Zaveed - the moments that led her to influencing Gregor’s fractured mind. Convincing him to kill Razlinc Rourken. The balmy afternoon she spent preparing potions over the alchemy table in her father’s residence. If she closed her eyes, she could take herself there and imagine each detail; the way that the outside sun warmed the leather bindings and crisp pages of the books on the tables. The scent of pistachio and rosewater traveling through from the markets. The scraping of steel and popping of hay bales in the courtyard as Gregor danced through them with his claymore.

Would she change the decision? Her lip curled at the thought. No. I’d just be better prepared…

She chastised herself for her answer, dragging her thumbnail across the bare skin of her thigh as if that little flicker of pain would be a reminder that the days of that kind of vengeance were over. That kind of vengeance did not do to keeping her friends safe. Were they truly her friends? After everything? “I have been trying to be strong,” she croaked at last, releasing her thumb from flesh, leaving behind a fingernail shaped welt. "I try to help out and protect everyone. But everything I do means nothing. It feels as though no matter what I do, I’m just the woman who was complicit and hid Gregor’s secret. The woman who helped him… am I evil?” Her lower lip stuck out and her voice was merely an exasperated rasp. “I’m evil,” she repeated, deciding it for herself as she set the words free to linger in the atmosphere.

For once, the Nord had no words. He couldn’t say anything to her that would make that better, and so he let her go slowly, the severity on his own features was masked by the growing darkness that surrounded them. It was as though Raelynn herself drew it in with each of her shuddered breaths. As the sun continued its descent, it left behind a gloom and murk that seemed to suit the tone of their meeting so well. The two sat in silence for some time as Fjolte fumbled his way through her hair. If nothing else, he could say he’d learned a new kind of skill, and he came to wondering if his nieces would like such a thing. He wondered how long their hair was now. Astrid liked hers long… He supposed it must be to her knees by now and it was that realisation that hit him in the chest as hard as Raelynn’s cannonfire had hit Maulakanth...

“Then you can’t leave alone.” Fjolte sighed, quashing his own emotions and trying to conjure a smile to his heavy countenance. He brought a hand to his face as if in disbelief at his own change of heart, but Sora had given her blessing, had she not? “I don’t think I could let a friend do that, I’ll... take you to Rorikstead with me, eh? My sister and my mama, they’ll take care of you. They know about all… that stuff. They’ll keep you safe, alright? Does that sound alright to you?”

Nothing was said for a while between the two, until eventually Raelynn nodded. It was true that she couldn’t go alone, if she did - then she would only put herself in more danger. If she went it alone, there was more chance she would be followed, at least traveling with someone who had proven himself in combat might lessen the worry of the the party. Her eyes flickered to her shoulder, Fjolte was behind her still combing through her hair and so she placed her hand on top of his. “We leave tonight then. We can take Lady. The camp is quiet and nobody will know until morning. We’ll ride for Rorikstead but… There are things I want to do, there has to be more to this journey than me running from fear,” Raelynn said softly.

“What is it that you want?” Fjolte asked, “anything that we can do, we will.”

“My abilities - I want to learn more about them. My father gave me a book in Gilane. I have to finish it, I think I can help more people if I uncover the secrets of that tome.” She sighed wearily, glancing to said tome as it sat atop a pile of her clothing. “There have to be answers out there, Fjolte…” she explained, her brow creased. “Ways to help Gregor, maybe fix him. I can’t help him or myself as our companions look on at our every move, do you understand?” she continued, her voice grew quieter still and her eyes fell dark, voice hollow.

The Nord only nodded, taking her hand in his own and squeezing it. “I’ll help you, but Raelynn, be careful that you don't lose yourself by trying to find that might not even be real… Yes?”

“I know… I know.” Raelynn responded, turning her face away again so that Fjolte could finish.

---

At Fjolte’s insistence and to ease her own worries, Raelynn had taken from her journal the letter that she had already penned to her lover. As she held the parchment, pinched between her fingers, the words no longer felt right. They were the panicked words of a woman devoid of hope, and so she tore it up and began again.

By candlelight, she bore her soul for him to keep in the form of the truest words that came to her. Leaving the letter neatly folded where her head would lay. Sitting on top, the last sprig of lavender she had on her person. It was drying now, and the stem was so brittle that she dared not hold it too tightly lest it snap. Beside the flower, the same brooch that bore her family crest. The same that she had entrusted to Zhaib in Gilane. She ran her thumb over the wings of the hawk in its centre.

My beloved Gregor,

Would that I could join you, but my words must be enough.

I am taking short leave, and there are things I can’t explain to you in writing and that you aren’t yet ready to know. But out there are answers to questions that only I can find. Ways to help you, ways to help myself. It is time to help yourself too, without me in your way.

I am a broken woman still, and you did your best to protect me and to keep me safe. I could not have asked for a more valiant Knight, but a Knight deserves a true Lady - and so I must become one.

You’re the only man I’ve ever loved. I don’t think I told you that and perhaps I should have. I want you to know that you had my heart in Anvil. Do you remember when we walked arm-in-arm through the town? We’d had such a long journey to that point but it seems like since then our journeys have only been longer and more dangerous. I dream of the day we can walk arm-in-arm again, to see your smile against the fading sunlight. For a morning where peril is not on the horizon and we can watch for the breaking of dawn together without fear of the violence lurking in its shadow.

I know that there is a good man in you, my love, and I know that you can find him. I hope that in my quest for knowledge I can find that there is still a good woman in me too, someone that deserves everything we’ve promised each other. So become yourself again, Gregor Sibassius, and I will make my way through fire and rain to find you there as your worthy Lady.

Last of all, know that I will never give up on you, and when everything falls to darkness, I will be there. I will be your strength. Because after all, the only thing that we need in this life to survive is to have one person who loves us, and you have her.

For as long as I live, I am yours.

I am counting my heartbeats backwards until we meet again.

R

The letter, she felt, was overly saccharine. There came a certain vulnerability in leaving it there as she left the tent. Fjolte was there and waiting for her, his fingertips smudged grey with charcoal from the letter he had written to Daro’Vasora. While Raelynn’s penmanship was exquisite, the same could not be said for the Nord, who had struggled with the written word. Even the parchment that he had put his word onto was creased and torn at the corners. Left under a rock by the Cathay’s bed. It had been such a rush for him to complete his own task, that he hadn’t taken the greatest amount of care in preparing it all, it would be lucky if the Khajiit even became curious enough to look at the scrap.

Darivazora,
I tuk on yore advys. I shud go bak to Roriksted and Raylin sed she wil go with me. she is wureed for her chyld with Gregor and i think my sister kan help her and kip her sayf from the daynjers owt ther. I will leev her with them and mayk my way if i kan to fynd my band. I want to stil help yu and if i kan fynd them i kan bring them to you. but if i karnt then it was gud to see you agen. and if this iz reely gudby then i hohp to see you in anutha lyf.

---

Fjolte greeted her, noticing at first her bloodshot eyes, and the way that even the skin below them was red as though she had been rubbing at it. “Are you sure you don’t want to say goodbye to any of them, blondie - err, I mean… Raelynn? They’re going to miss you.” The mixture had been rinsed out, and now her hair had been changed from the silver ash to the colour of raven's feathers. Beautifully black and strange. It made her eyes appear bigger and brighter, which considering their current state was not quite a compliment.

“No one mourns the wicked, they’ll move on.” The Breton answered dryly, in a hurry to move before she changed her mind. Now that the letter was placed, she wanted to be gone. She wanted to be miles away before Gregor found it. If she waited a moment longer to move she would be frozen in place.

And then she moved. One foot in front of the other, she moved. Heading to the place they had left the calm palomino, Lady. Their bags were slung over her saddle and her eyes were full of patience and grace. It was Raelynn who mounted her first, she stared only ahead, whereas Fjolte was far more tentative. His eyes persisted on the campfire in the distance, and his fingers twitched at his side. He was abandoning his new friends too…

There was Gaius, a man whom he thought he may grow close enough to be friends with. Zaveed his rescuer. Sirine, the beautiful sister of his brother, Bakih. Then there was Sevari too - the grizzled Ohmes with whom he’d toasted and shared an evening of mirth. The tall and timid Anifaire, he had not yet spoken with her but he had enjoyed hearing her voice when she spoke. His friend Judena, short of memory - would she recall him after he left? Had he made impact enough?

His nord brother, Calen. Younger than Fjolte but just as big in spirit - a beautiful voice too. The Ambassador Aries, and her incredible magic. Maj the conjurer - friend of… of Maz. His green goddess. There was Jaraleet and Finnen - the latter who'd taken his own abrupt leave. Then Sora, someone who had only recently forgiven him for his mistakes, someone who really needed a friend... Gregor - the man he’d sworn to help… But he knew in that task, he’d done all he was capable of.

Meg. Scraps, she wasn’t around and all he could think about was how free he’d felt the evening they had shared together. How it had been so nice to hold her… He swallowed down a lump in his throat and turned his back - mounting Lady. His heart felt heavy and he hoped it wouldn’t weigh down the poor mare. As he cleared his throat, he noticed that Raelynn trembled in the saddle, and that her hands were wrapped tightly around the reigns.

“Release your feelings, Raelynn. You can cry if you need to,” he whispered, placing a soft touch on her arm.

“No,” she said quickly, “I have no more tears. There’s only the road now.”

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Dead in the Water

@Dervish @Leidenschaft @Hank
& a special appearance by @Greenie

Early Morning, 15th of Sun’s Height, 4E208
Trailing the Southern Druadach Mountains, West of Falkreath Hold

---

“I told you to stay back,” came a breathy pant from Raelynn’s lips in Sevari’s direction. Her ears ringing from the blast. The gratitude in her sparkling eyes betrayed her choice of stern words. Mazrah was as stable as she was going to be, for now. But it wouldn’t last, and Raelynn’s own energy was tapering out. Her hands unclipped the satchel at her side, revealing several glass bottles - only one had broken in the scuffle by the looks of things. “I need you here,” she said, lifting a golden vial and placing it on the ground beside the unconscious Orc beneath her. Then she took into her hands two vials - cobalt and gleaming under the sunlight.

“And let you deal with the Orc?” Sevari muttered low, still staring dagger-eyed into the distance where the beast had left.

Her fingers worked to uncork one, and she brought it to her lips, drinking it as quickly as she could and immediately she felt it’s effects take hold. Her body began to shimmer, almost pearlescent in quality and she groaned. It was a bitter tonic that she felt go all the way down and then some. The empty vial rolled to the side as she took in the second one.

There was something wrong with Finnen, terribly, terribly wrong. He needed her, and having done enough for Maz, her head turned to the direction of her fellow Breton. His body lay mangled and twisted in a crater that Maul had punched him into. “No,” she whispered as she tried to bring it into focus - the potion coursing through her veins had tripled her vision, and she brought her open palm to her forehead to block out the blinding sun. “Sevari!” She barked out at the Ohmes-Raht, “stay with her and give her the potion.” Raelynn’s voice was shaking, but it was not fear or emotion that caused that tremble, but the sudden reinvigoration of magicka into her body.

“Alright, then,” Sevari took a knee next to the big woman, uncorking the vial he had. He wasn’t sure how he was going to do it, but he figured there weren’t many ways. “You’re going to have to open up.”

He cradled her head, putting the vial to her lips and watched it go down, a small part of it dribbling down her strong jaw.

Her left hand shot up and grabbed Sevari by the collar of his clothes with blind, unwieldy strength. Mazrah’s eyes were bloodshot and out of focus, but they were open, and they stared up at him as he forced the potion into her mouth. She almost choked on it as she swallowed it down in her urgency to speak. “Maul,” she stammered, her voice hoarse and weak. “He did this, papa. He hurt me.” Tears formed in her eyes and ran down the sides of her head. Her face scrunched up and she cried, hurt and confused, like a child. “Why, papa?”

---

Raelynn slipped to her knees at his side. His three faces trembling in her eyes until they came together as one, a singular mangled mess. She found him in his bloodshot eyes. "Finnen," she said. It was all she said as the space between her fingertips and elbows erupted in white.

Her eyes closed, her hands working against the sands of time as they drew closer to being empty. It was as though she could hear each grain filtering through. "Hold on, just hold on," she breathed - emotion missing from her tone. The Breton's head tilted as she connected to the magicka that had filled every gaping wound he had, bathing him in yellow like he was lying amongst a bed of sunflowers. He was so broken inside, every contusion and gash told a story and she relived it in her own body, she felt every echoed blow as she worked to stitch him back together.

"Just hold on," she whispered, her voice cracked as emotion began to bleed through.

“Grrgh...” The small Reachman’s lithe fingers brushed against Raelynn’s arm before dropping limp.

“Finnen? Where the hell are you…” Daro’Vasora’s voice called through the brush. In the aftermath of the fight with the Centurions, she realized that Finnen and several others were nowhere to be seen, and a deep-seated fear gripped her. The Khajiit hurried towards the back of where the party was and when she found Raelynn kneeling, she almost smiled in relief.

Then she saw Finnen.

“Oh gods…” she breathed, running over to Finnen’s side. The harm inflicted to him was grievous; he shouldn’t have still been breathing. Her hand reflexively shot to her mouth, dampness in her eyes. “Finnen!” she exclaimed, brushing the hair back from his forehead, she looked up to Raelynn wide-eyed. “Tell me how I can help. Please. What the fuck happened?!”

“You can’t,” Raelynn replied dryly, her gaze fixed on the wounds. She meant no ill-will by it, but fraught emotions could not be brought to the table. She was working hard enough to hold her own in - she couldn’t be responsible for Sora’s too. “Take his hand,” she offered, softly, after a moment. “Let him know you’re here, that’s what you can do.”

“O-okay.” Daro’Vasora replied, trying to collect herself the best she could. Raelynn’s cool tone help ground her a bit, but it at least implied that Finnen wasn’t…

No, it was best not to think about that.

She took the Reachman’s hand in her own, running her hand through his hair. She began to sing quietly, to help comfort him and distract herself from the visceral horrors wrought upon Finnen’s body.

“This one weaves a song, she'll sing it to you all day long... will you love her? Will you love her? She'll steal a thousand jewels, she'll even play the fool... say you love her, say you love her. Well, your father will never give his blessing, true, but let's be honest dear, that's what you want to hear…” her voice sang sweetly, and slightly off key, a bawdy song she’d known so well from her youth.

---

“Quiet, now.” Sevari said, glancing over at Raelynn and Sora with Finnen. He swallowed some of his nervousness, taking one of Mazrah’s large hands in his own. “It’s alright… It’s alright. You’re okay.”

His hands felt useless now that the serum was gone. He tossed the empty vial out of sight and settled for folding his other hand over Mazrah’s own, “He’s gone now.” Sevari tried at cooing, and for a moment he wondered at being someone’s Papa. The thought was pushed aside, not a time for wistfulness, he chided. His voice was as comforting a whisper he could manage, “He can’t hurt you.”

The delirium that drowned Mazrah’s mind in the fragmented memories of her youth was pierced by a moment of clarity. She stopped crying in an instant and gasped, for with lucidity came agony, and she worked her jaw through the pain until her eyes found Sevari’s face. “He has to die,” she breathed. A groan escaped her throat, raw from the rage-screams of her fight against the thing that was once her brother. “The Dwemer… they did something to him.” Mazrah’s hand threatened to crush Sevari’s. “He’ll never be right again. I know it. He has to die.”

Sevari only nodded. “Yeah, I caught onto that pretty quick.”

He was a little relieved that Mazrah was no longer acting like a child. This big Orc was the last thing he wanted to play father to. “You think you can walk?”

She was silent for a little while. Tears welled in her eyes again and she averted her gaze. “No,” she whispered. Every part of her body ached and she was so weak that the hand she’d used to seize Sevari had already fallen back by her side, fingers trembling. She was alive, but that was about the extent of the good news. “You’ll have to…” she added and stopped, unable to finish the sentence.

---

Raelynn’s own cuts and gashes began to hurt the more that she tended to her wounded subjects on the battlefield. She briefly turned her eyes to the torn fabric, and torn flesh underneath from the grazing bullet of earlier, and there was a bitter bite to the breeze as it touched her hot cheek. As she pursed her lips in concentration, she could feel that blood had dried there, painted red cracks against her flawless porcelain skin.

With her hands on Finnen’s chest, she searched for a heartbeat as wisps of magic caressed him. Thoughts of their conversation came to her - of the promises that they’d made each other under moonlight. Of payback and togetherness. They were together here in this moment, and she would payback the Orc in kind by undoing his violence.

The Three Crowns infirmary came to mind too - of the last time she’d mended him, how she’d turned his rib cage back to how it should have been. His rib cage was in pieces now. Raelynn growled uncharacteristically under her breath, unwilling to bend to the desire of the God’s who had their clutches around the battered half-corpse beneath her. Raelynn had claws too, she wasn’t about to let merciless God’s win today.

She caught Sora out of the corner of her eye. The Khajiit looked so gentle and frightened while she painted harrowing images behind her eyes. A mournful melody became the only piece of ribbon holding her upright. “Listen to Sora’s voice,” Raelynn commanded - a contradictory fury in her voice that was folded in comforting silk - drowning in honey. “Let her guide you to us.”

A dead god come to life appeared behind Sora and Raelynn and cast his gaze down on Finnen’s broken form. Gregor, his armor torn by bullet and blade, face once again hidden behind his scratched and blast-blackened helmet that he had retrieved from the battlefield, had stumbled over to see if he could help his lover in any way. For the first time since his ascension to lichdom he felt a sense of exhaustion, and he moved in discomfort as the grave wounds the Centurions had inflicted on him healed slowly and imperfectly. There was a limit to the power of the magic that animated him, apparently.

“Great gods of nowhere,” he whispered, his voice having half-returned to him. Finnen was on death’s door, that much was obvious. A glance over his shoulder confirmed that Mazrah had been too, and it was only Raelynn’s intervention that had kept her alive. Gregor knew a thing or two about Restoration magic as well -- enough to know that Raelynn must have been exhausted. “I can help,” he said, his voice a little stronger now, as he stepped into her line of sight.

Raelynn’s mind was too deep in her work, and her focus entirely on the man beneath her. The voice of the lich could have been as quiet as the coo of a dove or loud as the roar of a lion and it would have had just as little of an effect at tearing her eyes away.

In the heat of it she stopped everything and leaned back from his body - watching, watching, watching. Her smudged eyes narrowed, an intensity radiated from her, and she held out her hand so as to stop anyone who dared disagree with her suddenly having stopped treatment. With bated breath she continued watching - nothing was happening, to Finnen at least. In the lengthy silence, the moment that seemed to take forever to pass, the blue of her irises was burnt out by white light, a shimmer that flickered over her face and spilled over her lips - from the crown of her head and out towards Finnen. Raelynn lowered her head, and then it happened.

The place where the man was most broken ruptured again and the empty cavity that was his chest filled once more. “There you are,” Raelynn muttered, and with a flash the energy that she had summoned left her, finding that very spot she had tested. Liquid gold flowed into Finnen’s chest, and Raelynn’s hand turned as if she was holding something in it. Her thumb twitched rhymically at the nothing in her hand. A gentle, beating rhythm. “You don’t get to die today,” she said with conviction - her jaw so incredibly tense, her own brow sweating from it all, the heat of the sun, the burning of the magicka, and the ache of the spent energy that was starting to riddle her.

The hands of the Breton turned this way and that as each of Finnen’s bones moved and pulled back into place. She was the macabre artist sculpting a broken man from clay. The munificent auteur whose hands reformed his body as best they could from memory. The beautiful, graceful Latro of her memories becoming one with the warrior Finnen. His body would not be the same. His hair was limp on the ground behind him, stained with blood. Shredded in places from movement.

His body contorted under her will, ribs visibly popped and snapped as the cage locked once more. Ripples of movement crawled under his skin, bruises grew darked until they began to fade – leaving behind only redness. Finnen’s skin was left patterned with residual impact, but it was closed. It was just skin again, not a hole through him, not a rip nor a slash. What had been severed was whole, but there was no more that Raelynn could do. Her expression was blank, eyes vacant as water broke back through the blinding light to refill her eyes with colour again. But that was all, just colour. No life.

She swayed from side to side in her spot, her vision once again tripled and she couldn’t make sense of which of the three bodies was Latro. No, Finnen… Who? Had she put his pieces back in the right place? She blinked, her eyes were dry and yet they watered. The last drop of her magicka found its way to the teardrop that rolled down her cheek. “Was it enough?” she whispered out at the space between them. “Did I do enough for you?”

---

The sky above was grim and foreboding, and a murder of crows that Raelynn vaguely remembered hearing earlier was now perched upon the broken and splintered branches that had surrounded Maul’s battlefield - waiting for scraps to pick at. Cawing out aggressively at the barren dirt. The woman had stepped away from her patients. It was Sevari who had lifted her from her knees as she had frozen there, so spent of energy that she hadn’t even enough to lift herself. The Ohmes-Raht had taken the help of Fjolte in moving Finnen to a safer place as she had suggested. The rest of the party had worked hard, against their own exhaustion, to erect a series of tents. Raelynn hoped she had done enough for Finnen, enough so that Gregor could maintain his condition until she was rested enough to try again the next day. And the next. And the next. Would he know what she’d done? Would Finnen know it was her? If anything was not the same with him - would he blame her for it? Would Sora?

Mazrah too had been moved. Left behind were two crimson outlines in the dirt, blood soaked through each. The evidence of what had been. Everything seemed slow around her and she couldn’t ascertain as to why that was. She brought her hands up to her face and peered at them, the kohl that had so delicately lined her eyes was now rubbed to smoke - blackening out her features like war paint, mixed with the deep red of blood, she looked in some way as if from a distance she could be mistaken for a Forsworn warrior. Painted to terrify, ripped furs adorning her.

Raelynn’s blood. Sevari’s blood. Mazrah’s blood. Finnen’s blood. It was now just a series of odious stains. From fingertip to elbow, across her chest. She stood, trembling like one of the branches of the trees amidst the breath of the forest, a tired sigh of disgust at the bloodshed. The crows swooped down and into the pools, pecking for flesh.

"I think it might be time for you to take some rest as well." Quiet yet clear, Sirine's voice broke through the sounds of the squabbling corvids. Though she had been one of the lucky few not to suffer any injuries during the sudden and violent attack, by the end she had found herself exhausted and in need of recuperating her wits. The former pirate had taken to catching her breath after escorting Calen to safety and helping what she could with the tents, which wasn't much. From her vantage point it had been clear that there were too many injured and not enough people to help heal them all.

It was one of those moments where she wished she had even the smallest drop of magicka within her. Alas, all she could do was watch, until now.

She knew the Breton mage still felt uncomfortable around her, and with good reason, but somehow Sirine felt that this was the moment when deeds of the past were pushed to the side to focus on matters at hand.

"Come on," she continued, taking a gentle but firm hold of Raelynn's arm. "Let's get you to a tent."

“Are you hurt?” Raelynn stammered out in response automatically, falling in the woman’s grip to whichever way that Sirine was going to take her. There was not an ounce of resistance in the usually imperious Breton now. The fingers of each hand were crooked and splayed, rigid in what looked like an uncomfortable grip. Her eyelids fell heavy and she focussed on Sirine’s face after blinking past the initial blurring of her features. “A tent… That’s right.” At the realisation that she needed assistance, Raelynn looked at the Imperial with adjuring eyes, leaning into her for support. There was no time or energy to be uncomfortable with vulnerability.

"No, I'm not," Sirine quickly replied, shaking her head in the negative as well. Even a blind person would be able to tell Raelynn was beyond exhaustion at the moment- she sounded depleted of energy and as if she would topple over if Sirine let her go for even a second. "I'm fine, I wasn't hurt, thankfully." A look of concern passed over her before she looked forward, spotting the closest unoccupied tent. Carefully placing a strong arm around the smaller woman, Sirine took the lead, making sure the Breton would have to make as little effort as possible to follow along.

It wasn't long before she finally pushed open a tent flap and ushered Raelynn within. It seemed someone had seen fit to furnish it with a bedroll at least, which was more than Sirine could as for, given the circumstances.

As Raelynn stepped into the tent, she breathed in relief - the privacy of it allowed her to reflect on the events. “Thank you,” she offered graciously. She brought her trembling hands to the buttons of her robe, unable to put a grip around the buttons. “Are you… alright?” she asked quietly, there may have been no physical injuries on Sirine, but perhaps she wanted to talk about it.

"I'm fine," Sirine replied, shaking her head slightly. It was hard to think of her own fatigue when the woman before her couldn't even unbutton her own robes. "Here... let me help you with that." Her eyes focused on the task before her, though her mind felt heavy, reminding her of even not too long ago. "Perhaps fine was wrong to say. This was a much too familiar reminded of what happened to my crew... an attack out of nowhere by th dwemer, violence, blood... you would think a pirate like me is used to such, but even the most seasoned fighters wavers when it is the blood of their companions."

Her lips tightened as she continued with her task. "They had gone out to scout, Meg... Zaveed." Even a glance had been enough for her to see that there was only one Cathay Khajiit amongst them, Daro'Vasora. It didn't make sense- those two would have warned the group of an incoming attack... but they clearly hadn't and they weren't here. "I'm worried about them."
It took a moment for Raelynn to register what Sirine had said, and she felt guilty for not having noticed earlier that Meg and Zaveed hadn’t returned. Not that she could be faulted for it, she’d been busy elsewhere. “I’m sure… they’re safe,” she offered, her voice hoarse enough to mask the comfort she tried to convey in her words. As she continued her thoughts on it, however, it did cross her mind that perhaps there was some foul play. Would Zaveed have betrayed them? She glanced at her hand, the scar was hidden beneath red paint. No, she didn’t think that he would.

The Breton blinked quickly, watching as Sirine undressed her. It was a strange favour indeed, but one she appreciated regardless. The robe then slipped from her shoulders, revealing a cream undershirt that had not been saved from the staining, but it wasn’t quite as drastic, or sticky, as the robe. “They’ll be back, Meg is good,” Raelynn said, taking her stiff arm and placing a hand against Sirine’s shoulder. “Zaveed can survive anything.”

It wasn't wrong, what she said. The little she knew of him, she knew he was a survivor, having got through probably worse shit than she had. As for Meg... the young Nord had travelled from Skyrim to Gilane and back and seemed all the stronger. Still... How could two people survive those centurions and that monstrous being that was supposed to be an Orsimer?

She sighed softly before stepping a little back, looking at Raelynn. "You're right... we have to think positively." She didn't think either of them were weak, and she knew both of them were fighters. "If anything, they would be the ones to escape... perhaps try to find some help." She hoped...

Focus on who is here. "You should lay down, recuperate. You've saved plenty today, but unless you yourself rest..." She paused before continuing, forcing herself to smile. "Anything I can bring you... food? Water?"

“If someone has captured them, I feel like they’d let them go quite shortly after. The two of them are… annoyingly verbose and loud,” Raelynn confessed, unsure momentarily if it was a joke to ease Sirine, or a genuine criticism she had of their companions. She was too exhausted to decide. “I… water, would be good. You should drink too… Everyone should drink, just not from the river… You should go upstream. There’s-” Raelynn cut herself off, she didn’t need to remind Sirine of what had been mixed through the water today.

That caused her to smirk, a small unforced twitch of her lips. She could agree with that completely- Meg and Zaveed knew how to talk. Surely they would be able to lift each others' spirits.

Sirine nodded, tentatively reaching over to pat the smaller woman's shoulder. "I will, don't worry. Just... rest." Something told her that this wouldn't be the last time they would be needing Raelynn's expertise. "I will be back soon."

She didn’t need to be told twice. No sooner had Sirine left the tent, Raelynn had gotten down to the bedroll and placed her head on the pillow. The world became dark, but there was to be no peace that evening.

Final Fantasy XIV RP

All these Squishies need a tank to hide behind. Don't worry there's enough muscle for everyone to hide behind

@Fabricant451

Nobody:

Dragoon:

Final Fantasy XIV RP

Interested!

Thinking Monk or Warrior!

RPGN // Issue No.2 - July 2019

Maintaining a player base is a key to keeping a roleplay running for a long time. But sometimes as GMs or even as a fellow player, we struggle to do this. This issue of the People's Press I'd love to talk about both the why is this such a struggle for so many roleplays as well how do we resolve this.

A strong foundation or core is the key to any structure. If you don't have a foundation, there's nothing to support anything you might add on top. Adding new players constantly isn't going to solve your issues if you can't keep a core group who drive the roleplay. So how do you reward those players for their commitment and consistency while keeping the RP open to any newcomers who might come your way?

Players like to feel valued and as a GM it's very important to communicate with your players. So many of us are guilty of relying on that little 'like' button far too often. I read your post, I pressed the 'like' and that's it! Well, what does that really tell anyone? By my own admission, far too often I used 'likes' as a way to track what I've actually read. I've yielded far more positive results from commenting on my players' posts than I ever have from leaving a reaction.

A wonderful edition of RPGN, so thank you for that!

For the discussion at hand, keeping a roleplay alive and maintaining your playerbase. It’s a difficult one isn’t it? There are so many factors that determine the success of a roleplay. From the perspective of a GM, it starts with the initial idea we have. (All my amazing ideas come to me in the shower, anyone else?). So I’ve got my idea – and then I want to take it to the boards. It would be very easy for me to create the IC there and then, get some response, and dive right in! But that’s not the way.

Others have got it right. Plan plan plan, get a timeline mapped out. I personally love Google sheets! If anyone would like my RP template that I use in Google sheets, holler! Think of several events, how they tie together etc (this is relevant I promise). Having a good OOC thread is fundamental to attracting a good playerbase.

I’m a strong believer in by being authentic to yourself. By laying your expectations down, you’ll attract the right people from the get go. You want to get the quality players for your needs who will share your values when it comes to the RP – and having quality players is where it’s at!

I also strongly believe in being the player you want to see. Being helpful and kind goes a long, long way. Usually when I join an RP, GM or not, I review character submissions and give my own feedback. This for a start gives me an incredible knowledge of the characters in the game. My mind will start buzzing about how my character might react to theirs. I once joined a roleplay and about 2 weeks after we’d started there was a fellow player who actually still didn’t know the name of my character which I remember being very disheartened by at the time. I make it a goal to know the characters in the roleplay I’m in. To read sheets, give feedback and compliments and shed praise.

I try to do the same when new posts appear IC. Sometimes I’m too busy to do this, and I can’t do it absolutely every time – but it’s always lovely to give someone a genuinely kind word on something they’ve worked hard on. 1 million times out of 10 it’s going to make their day and encourage them to do more.

As a GM, there are many things I’ve done to uplift the RP experience for the players in my group. I find a character wish survey to be really effective in getting players to think about their characters beyond the current plot. Are there any individual storylines they want to tell that they’ve been shy to ask? Any struggles they want to face? What kind of development would they like to see happen? When I get the surveys back, I can discuss with my GM partners and we can create things like subplots, specific NPC etc to make sure that everyone gets a chance to shine in the RP. We can then put these important wants of our players in the aforementioned timeline Google sheet so they’re not forgotten, and we can map out when things can happen with little overlap on other stories.

We have frequent character and plot discussion, after every GM move along I will tag each player with a collab concept idea so I’m always touching base with them. I touch base privately every now and then to make sure everyone is happy.
Which brings me to Discord! Gosh what a tool?! Perfect for instantly messaging your players, sharing links, images, having VC, planning OOC events. An absolutely vital resource to keep an RP alive and your players engaged imo.

I recently got to meet the wonderful @Hank irl and that was through a friendship that has come about through Discord, and our fabulous VotD roleplay!

Something else I’d like to touch on, for those of us out there who GM. It’s so important to take care of yourself too. Often times we spend a lot of our time engaging our players and helping them with their own characters and with our plots, that we stop to take a breath and help ourselves. It’s okay to slow down, it’s okay to be vulnerable and share that you’re finding it hard, and you need to take a step back for a moment. When you have those moments of needing to re-evaluate your own direction and character related issues – take the moment.. Don’t burn out trying to help everyone else. I’ve recently experienced this, shared my pains with the wonderful @Dervish and he was as understandable as I would have been had one of the players had the same feelings.

Lastly, as a GM and a player – sometimes you have to take a step back and smell the roses! Look at the amazing RP you’ve made, the friendships that have come about from the RP you’re engaged in! Celebrate your success, pat each other on the back for the amazing writing you’re doing together.

Shout out to @Dervish and @Leidenschaft for being my favourite partners in GM crime, to @Hank for being my partner in all crimes to ever exist, and the fantastic playerbase of VotD who continue to surprise and amaze me on this crazy journey! 😊

Redux: A Superhero Roleplay

This is absolutely open for everyone, no characters have been chosen yet so there are no claimed spots so to speak.

I’ve been sat on this for a while, that’s all. I want to give it a proper effort to make it as good as I can see it in my mind.

I’m a little busy today, but will try and update the thread to move over to the Roleplay section, with character sheet template etc.

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Behold Now, Maulakanth

[@all the biffles]

Early Morning, 15th of Sun’s Height, 4E208
Trailing the Southern Didgeridoo Mountains, West of Falkreath Hold

---

In the clearing of the path, Raelynn could not distinguish between what was mist and what was the smoke of rifles. The sound had been so loud and so abrupt, Lady had fussed but had remained with her, turning in circles. The healer hung on to her tightly and coughed suddenly, her heart was racing in her chest - she was eager to move from the treeline, her view completely obscured. There was a searing pain too. Her arm. She glanced to it, seeing a huge tear through the sleeve of her coat, and the flesh underneath was bleeding. She’d only been grazed by a bullet, she knew that much. Had she have been only inches in another direction it would have been worse, no doubt about it.

There was no time, she could make out the shape of Sevari on the ground, she could hear his grizzling breath. The Breton gritted her teeth, and began to slip down Lady’s side, in the opposite direction from which the bullets were spraying in rounds. She surely was Zhaib’s steed, ever stalwart and dedicated to Raelynn’s safety. Unlike Stranger, Lady had been lucky.

Once free from the mare, she slapped the horse on the rear allowing her the permission to bolt from harm's way, and away from the terror. Raelynn dropped to all fours, breathing as calmly as she could, and yet her exhalations were shuddered, her eyes wide and her face suddenly smudged with flecks of dirt as she scrambled across the ground to reach Sevari. “Can you hear me?” she asked, now at his side - golden light glowing in her hands immediately - her expression serious, eyebrows upwards in shock at the sight. She’d dealt with worse, but not while bullets were still flying at her. “You’re not dying, do you hear me?” she commanded, fighting past her own fear to bring the stability and authority that she needed to reach Sevari through his own pain. Raelynn placed a hand behind his head to lift him enough so that he would not choke, her other hand went to his wound and slowly he became bathed in her light.

Another round was fired, and instinctively she dropped flat on top of Sevari - her healing hand remained in its place but her face burrowed pressed to the ground and she shut her eyes tightly - as if that would undo it all, as if it were a nightmare she could wake up from. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, knowing that it may have hurt him.

---

The only sound Gregor could hear was the ghostly stampede of his steed’s rotten hooves, a phantom out of hell galloping through the river crossing towards the trees, when their hitherto mysterious enemies revealed themselves.

Four Centurions, the new and terrifying machines they had first seen on the streets of Gilane, stepped forth from the forest, armed with massive rifles on one arm and a melee weapon on the other. Gregor saw a sword, a hammer and an axe before his mount carried him upon them and his world was turned upside down as rider and steed both barreled into one of the Centurions. The machine stumbled in place but maintained its footing and the undead horse impaled itself on an outstretched blade, flinging Gregor from the saddle to land on the forest floor in a crumpled heap. He did not lose his claymore, however, iron grip firmly around the hilt, and Gregor rose to his feet armed and ready.

Only one of the Centurions, the one that had snuffed out the spark of his conjured steed, turned to face him. Gregor was alone among them but he would not be for long, and the other three killer animunculi kept their focus on the others in the river crossing, rifles at the ready. Gregor grit his teeth and began to whirl his heavy blade around him in the way that Zaveed had taught him. He would demand the full attention of one of them, at least.

Ignoring the Imperial’s challenge to melee combat, the Centurion raised the rotating, triple-barreled arm-cannon and shot him again.

Gregor swayed in place but remained standing, defiant. The machine cocked its head, an almost human movement, as if to say ’curious,’ and brought its axe to bear at last. Gregor advanced, sword whistling through the air.

What Daro’Vasora was seeing and what her mind was willing to believe weren’t one in the same at that exact moment; Gregor took a shot from the arm cannon of one of the Centurions and remained standing; she would have believed it had missed had she not seen chunks of the necromancer violently fling out the other end.

A haunting whizzing sound brought the Khajiit back to the moment; a tree trunk cracked violently behind her. The shot had missed her head by less than a meter. The only thing keeping her and Fjolte safe was the speed of the horse; the more analytical part of Daro’Vasora’s mind wondered if it was because the Centurions weren’t capable of leading targets like a man or mer might with a bow. The exact function and design of the alloy monsters was still a mystery. Perhaps Rourken had rushed them into service. After all, it had been only a couple days between first seeing them demonstrated and put out into the streets. Was this simply an early batch of “good enough” prototypes?

She noticed a ring around the Centurion’s waist; the thing wasn’t nearly as large as a typical Centurion, but it was far more agile. Instead of lumbering, it moved gracefully and its torso could rotate independently of its feet. Still, she had an idea.

“Fjolte, Bring us around to the cannon side; I’ll need you to hop off and keep the thing busy. It shouldn’t be able to hit you with its melee weapon if you keep to its gun side.” She shouted. “I’ll try to draw its attention a bit and join you as soon as I can and hit it from behind, I might be able to damage the rotating parts or the leg joints.”

“You got it, chief,” he replied, digging his heels into the horse in the right spot to kick up the speed once more. He clung to the reins with one hand while the other reached over his shoulder, fingers wrapping around the handle of Faithkeeper on his back. Soon, the weapon was freed and he let the weight of the head drag him to where he needed to be as he charged in. He judged the moment and twisted his wrist, bringing the armour piercing spike of the head to the direction of the Centurion as he closed in.

Fjolte held out his arm, aiming for a weak spot, with one well-timed swing he landed the hammer in its body with a heavy punching sound. He gave the horse another nudge, and held tighter to the handle of his hammer with both hands now. He came down from the steed, and pulled hard on the hammer, making the Centurion wobble with the strength he had behind him before pulling back at Faithkeeper to peel back a section of the outer-alloy - revealing the vulnerable inside of the gargantuan.

He did not remove the hammer, and instead began his swift movements in front of it. He’d stolen it’s attention; now he needed to keep it. The Nord narrowed his eyes, his usual carefree and happy expression was nowhere to be found, hidden beneath the steeled and readied mask of a hardened warrior. As his feet kept him moving out of the way of the blows, his hands moved behind his back to a pair of gauntlets secured to his belt. He snapped them free and a smirk played upon his lips as he gloved up. He brought his hands into balled fists and tapped his knuckles together, causing the first sparks of lightning to appear and crackle around the leather. “Not on my watch,” he said with confidence, before bringing his first powered swing to the Centurion...

---

Before long, the group were moving in, and as she came back up to sitting, she saw Fjolte rush in on horseback with… Sora? As the group moved in, the gunfire changed direction and she was able to focus again. “I need you to breathe, long and slow,” she said, both of her hands on his chest now. She could feel the tear through his body, it had entered him and ripped through his lung, but with her careful application she could feel the flesh of his insides knitting itself back together. This could not be rushed, but she wasn’t exactly free to take all the time she needed either. “You’re going to have to cough it up,” she told him, her eyes looking deep into his, as if she really had to search to find him there. “I’ve got you.”

Anifaire, blocking out the sound and smell of the situation as best she could, rushed towards the fight. Fear was coursing through her strongly, but she trudged forward, lifting the skirt of her dress for more mobility. Determined that there was something she could do to help, she scanned the area for anything the could use as a weapon - boulder, logs, discarded debris - but instead, her eyes landed on Raelynn, couched over a bloody mess. Unable to make out the situation clearly, she hurried toward it. As she slowly recognized Sevari’s injured form, horror grew within her.

She stumbled over, remembering the ways Sevari had helped her in the past. She dropped the skirt of her dress and kneeled next to the pair, a mixture of mud and blood soaking and staining the fabric of her clothes. “Raelynn,” Anifaire said as forcefully as she could to get the focused healer’s attention. “Raelynn, how can I help?”

Raelynn knew that, of course Anifaire should not rush beyond where they were. Not until the strongest of the group had dealt with much of the threat. She was mostly finished with Sevari, he was barely awake but was going to live. That said, there was the literal dead weight of the horse on top of him. She was not a soft woman when working, and her words may have sounded sharper than intended but they were not aimed at the Altmer, "we have to move the horse. Right now, he's going to live but if we don't free him soon, he'll be crippled." Icy blue eyes broke from Sevari to look at Anifaire, the Breton's grey cloak was soaked through across her chest with crimson, it had smudged across her face, and dyed the ends of her braids red too. She looked almost as frightful as the Ohmes-Raht.

Anifaire nodded, muttering, “move the horse. Right.” She shifted her idle hands to the animal’s corpse, trying not to focus on the scent of blood, or the dead look in its eyes. Touching it daintily, she thought, move the horse, move the horse… lift something heavy. She could tell the Breton was focused on her work, and wanted desperately not to get in the way. The Altmer pushed her hands more firmly onto the horse, and, squinting, the cast a feather spell on the corpse.

Eyes widening, she felt it work, despite her fear that she would fail in a critical moment. Anifaire spent a split-second startled at her success before jolting herself into reality; the horse still had to be lifted. Lifting it herself would be too difficult, she surmised, after briefly considering its unwieldy size. She tried to slow down her quick breaths, yet didn’t take the time to do so properly, instead throwing all her energy into telekinesis. The precision she and Judena had practiced so carefully in their time paid off as she was able to life the corpse off Sevari without making matters any worse. The body toppled only about two feet away, and Anifaire rocked back onto her knees, tired more from nerves than exertion.

Pain.

That was the first thing that greeted him. He tried to move. Desperately, he tried to stir himself with the same thoughtless effort of a reflex. What was happening? Where was he? Finally, finally he could feel his fingers scratching at the dirt, his fingernails filling up with it with each twitch of his fingers. He tried to open his eyes as he realized he almost couldn’t breathe. Panic set in but he had no strength to thrash, instead just turning his head to the side as his entire body seemed to tense in one, grand agonizing moment.

He retched once, gagged again, and again until he found himself curled like a sick child on his side. A puddle of black blood surrounded his head as it spewed from his mouth, soaking into his own hair and making it stick wet to the right side of his face. He desperately gurgled at the air like a man drowning and his eyes shot open.

Everything was so loud, it was chaos everywhere. Explosions, guns… guns, he thought. His hand shot to the place he remembered having a hole in. There was none, though his shirt and chest were still sticky from the blood. He looked around himself, all around until his eyes settled on Anifaire, then Raelynn, and finally Stranger. He made to speak but had to turn to his side as he retched up another gob of blood. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve, looking at her again with a new ferocity to him, “Where’s the fucker that shot my horse?”

---

“Where are you, Sleet,” Gaius hissed quietly, almost mournfully, as he ran full-tilt towards the sounds of combat. He hadn’t seen his horse since the Imperial City had been sacked, and it seemed more than likely that she was quite dead by now. And so he continued running, the somewhat ill-fitting armor clanking around him. He kicked himself mentally for being so far away from the group. Hard. Some soldier of the Legion you are, came the silent admonishment as he sprinted, desperately hoping nobody had died yet. The gunsmoke floating by was a stark reminder of the lethality of the Dwemer weapons, and by the colossal noise these made, they must have been remarkably powerful ones. He emerged into the clearing. And as soon as he saw what they were fighting, for one absurd moment, he wished desperately that he could’ve not emerged into that clearing.

He’d seen Centurions before, during the fall of the City. Granted, he’d never seen them up close, but they’d seemed formidable but ungainly; immobile powerhouses, yes, but something immobile was easy to exploit. These smaller versions were anything but. The small roundshield on his arm, one that he’d managed to trade some service for back in the Alik’r, suddenly felt very small and ineffective. Almost comical, really, compared to what he was used to carrying into battle, and the strange curved Hammerfell scimitar felt unfamiliar in his grip as he tore it from its sheath on his belt. As ineffective as it would be against the Dwemer metal of the Centurions, it was comforting to have a weapon in his hands.

His eyes darted over to where Raelynn was kneeling over Sevari’s prone form, and inside of his half-helm, his mouth tightened into a hard line. Breath heaving and legs beginning to feel leaden from running in armor, he nonetheless dashed straight for one of the Animunculi as it broke away from the others and began to move in the direction of the defenseless Breton and Khajiit, bellowing at the top of his voice.

Gregor’s sword and the Centurion’s axe clashed, sending sparks and arcs of shock magic flying. It was faster than Gregor had expected and it did not fear the strength behind his blade, easily able to match it with its own hydraulic power. After a few strikes back and forth, lich and machine parrying and deflecting each other’s attacks, both went for a powerful strike at the same time, Gregor’s overhead strike meeting the Centurion’s axe halfway. The edges of their weapons sang with the impact and a contest of strength followed, both determined to overpower the other. Gregor grit his teeth as he fought to resist the inexorable machine. His arms held but the force it exerted was too strong and his knees buckled under the weight, leaving the Centurion free to swat his claymore aside. It immediately followed up with a slash that dug deep into Gregor’s shoulder with a sickening crunch. His arm went limp and he dropped the claymore.

Satisfied, the killing machine pulled its axe free and prepared to turn and face a new enemy. It stopped mid-turn when Gregor refused to fall over and instead rose to his feet, claymore in one hand, and stabbed the Centurion in a weak spot in the joints of its shoulders. The steel blade’s enchantment fired on all cylinders and lightning coursed through the brass Animunculus, disabling its servos momentarily. The lich pulled his blade free, swung it high and brought it down on the paralyzed Centurion with all the might his one good arm could manage, denting the plating on its chest, sending more crackling electricity up and down the Dwemer contraption. Behind Gregor’s helmet, his face was a mask of death.

Not a moment later, a large one-handed Nord sword was slammed into the knee joint of the Centurion's leg. Sirine let out a grunt as she yanked her sword back to her, panting a little as she did. The sudden attack had winded her, and she had barely managed to duck under a barrage of bullets. Seeing Sevari down and out for the count had been sobering to witness, and there was no way she wanted to end up in that position if she had a choice in the matter. Her usual orcish dagger had been replaced for the time being- she didn't see it surviving attacks against these metallic sons of bitches, and though sentimentality was amiss in such a situation, she figured the sword she had swiped in the desert would do her better right now.

Self preservation had always been at the top of her bucket list, and the former pirate knew better than to charge at full speed against an enemy she had no idea about. This wasn't a merchant ship or pirates on an enemy vessel where she could simply slice and dice; these dwemer built monstrosities were something she'd never thought she'd see even in dreams. And so given the choice, Sirine had made a split second decision and raced after Gregor, figuring with his undead state he would probably be the easiest to aid.

Sword now returned to her, Sirine didn't waste time in slamming her blade into the other leg's joint, unwilling to take a break lest the Centurion began its attack again.

A faint whistling began piercing through the air. At first, it sounded little more than one of the centurians releasing a blast of steam, but as it quickly became louder, it brought back memories of ships trading volley after volley of kindlepitch ballista bolts. However, there was no such machinery here except for the deadly weapons of the dwemer automatons. Sirine instinctually ducked down, expecting to dodge a brass colored bolt, but instead a bolt of fire as hot and red as the Deadlands of Oblivion itself screamed past in the blink of an eye and collided with the exposed abdomen of the centurion. A sudden explosion filled every nook and cranny of the machine with roaring fire and sprayed the air with shrapnel, scraping across Gregor’s armor as he held his ground, the force of the hot air blowing his helmet off and causing his hair to whip back and smolder from his close proximity to the blast. Golden drops of molten dwemer alloy dripped beside Sirine’s feet.

A spooked whinny rang out in the direction from which the fire was thrown, and atop the rearing white stallion, was an agitated Aries resisting the urge to tug on the reins, but all the same, trying to keep her seat in the saddle. As soon as the horse became reacquainted with the ground, she gripped the reigns and turned the horse away from the centurion. She glowered toward the plume of smoke, expecting the machine to be reduced to scrap metal. Her eyes spared a momentary glance toward Gregor, who had gaping holes in his torn-up armor, and yet he remained standing all the same. Her stomach churned with disgust. Too bad she couldn’t catch him in the blast. An amusing thought entered her head, ‘Hmph, I missed.’

As the smoke cleared, it revealed that the centurion was still standing -- albeit barely -- and what’s more, it was raising it’s gun toward the source of the destruction magic. Aries growled in a fit of frustration and shouted, “Hyah!” as she spurred her horse into a gallop with her reins. The slow hail of dwemer artillery kicked up dust where Aries and her horse were just moments ago. She was loathe to participate in these battles, but it was between this or letting her entourage perish. The most she could do now it provide the heavy artillery and keep her distance from these killing machines… but why were they here? Had they really been tracked down so quickly? So easily? It gave cause for concern. Where was Zaveed?

The fiery explosion that Aries had conjured and brought to bear against the Centurion burned with enough heat that Gregor, after his initial resilience in the face of the shockwave, realized that he could feel it. The opportunity to relish in the sensation was stolen away by another realization that hit him a split second later; it hurt terribly. He stepped away from the smoldering Centurion and shielded his face with his gauntleted hand, hissing in pain. The machine’s axe had cleaved him with naught more than a dull ache, a mere acknowledgement of the hole in his shoulder, but the heat of Aries’ flames cut straight through him. Gregor immediately knew why. He was undead. It made perfect sense, and yet it wasn’t something that had occurred to him until then.

Smoke wafted from the Centurion’s hull and obscured its form. Gregor narrowed his eyes as he advanced once more, the heat fortunately diminishing as the spell dissipated, and raised his claymore high, ready to strike at the interior exposed by Aries’ spell while the Centurion was busy training its cannon on the rider-mage.

Taking Gregor entirely by surprise, the Centurion’s torso whirled around and the haft of its axe caught the lich on his chin. His neck snapped with the force of the blow and he dropped like a marionette with its strings abruptly cut, glowing eyes staring uselessly into space, face slack and limbs limp.

---

Daro’Vasora rode Tullius around the perimeter of the clearing, her heart was racing in her chest to the point that she could not distinguish it from the beating hooves on the ground. Concern was painted over her features and her ears pulled back, the amount of noise was deafening, a riot was happening. Sevari and Raelynn had found better cover at least. Her eyes furiously scanned for him, where was Finnen? Where was he? Alas, little time to think too much about it when her steed was weaving through the bronzed form of the automatons, her companions racing in now too.

At least one of the monsters had been brought almost to its end, and she made out the shape of the last of their horses on hind legs - red haired woman sat astride, scowling, “Aries,” muttered the Cathay under her breath. Her own eyes narrowed after having been stung by the blistering wave of heat that licked at the air following the timely incineration. She had to make it back to Fjolte, and with any luck the Nord was commanding enough of it’s attention with whatever it was he was doing. She clicked her tongue, prompting the horse to move again. She’d had an idea.

This is fucking ludicrous… she thought, chastising herself —but there was that tiny, almost child-like voice inside that was so commanding in its acknoweledgement of such a ludicrous idea... The doubt was silenced under that almost playful whisper as Tullius came closer to Fjolte. Any other noise in her mind was drowned out as it approached— Now!. Her moment came. Fjolte had successfully danced his way towards the treeline, drawing the Centurion’s gaze with him and away from the group, but the cannon still fired sporadically in between the swings it was taking, and the sword was slashing in the direction of the incredibly nimble monk, who was reflexively dodging them all with agile changes of focus, and countering with his own vicious attacks.

Fjolte’s hands were balled into heavy fists with the leather tugged taught over his knuckles. He was wielding the power of storms as deftly as any practiced mage might; and with every hit he landed, the alloys of the Dwemer rang out like a loud gong. The striking lightning that caught to the plating was little-by-little slowing the beast down, the release of steam had been halted as the spike of Faithkeeper remained lodged in the chest, a cavity that had been torn back like a floorboard revealing the precise mechanisations that powered it. There was something in the way that Fjolte fought against it that suggested he was holding back, that he was deliberately targeting the spots closest to that cavity so that his thunder was absorbed. The Centurion shuddered and blared out, the jammed steam release caused the cannon arm to lock in place...

She moved as swiftly as she could, placing her hands square against Tullius’ neck, pushing herself up with one quick movement until she was standing, soft footed, on his back. Balancing on a horse as it cantered was not an easy feat, but she held herself with enough of a level poise until she was just close enough to— Yes. She bent her knees and jumped. Daro’Vasora was like a well-coiled spring that had been pressed and released, and the height she attained was more than enough to land her clear and gracefully upon the Centurion’s shoulders.

“Competing for best entrance are we?” Fjolte remarked, catching her gaze to give her a grin— his voice underpinned with admiration.

“Not the time!” Daro’Vasora shouted back, exasperated as she clutched onto whatever she could do to make purchase, squinting and flinching under a gust of steam as she struggled to access the power core, jamming the handle of her mace in a basket, not unlike she had done so many weeks ago outside of Skingrad..

Fjolte clapped against the Centurion again, harder now that he had to provoke its attention again, now that Sora was on top of it, her legs wrapping around the neck to steady herself. It bellowed out in an angry response, swivelling the torso to shake the Khajiit loose, but she could not be moved. Sora brought down her mace to crack it atop the head, hoping to mess with its optics or whatever sensors it had buried in the face like visage it bore. It’s face resembled man or mer, but this thing was not a human in any way. These were elaborate suits of metal and their sole purpose was to terrify— they were nightmares made real. Built and designed to intimidate and squeeze the last drops of resistance out of anyone who stood in their way. By the Gods, she was going to stand in their way today.

With a defiant shout, she brought down her mace against the basket she had loosened earlier and it began to budge.

This was going to work.

---

The sleepy conjuration mage could see very real, imposing Centurions quickly closing the space between themselves and their targets. Rubbing at the grit on her chin (dust accumulated there from free falling drool she had from her unscheduled nap earlier) gripping the elderly argonian at the reigns of their horse, Maj choosing to ride with someone else as opposed to attempting to ride on her own. Judena kept tight hold upon her reigns, steering away, her beard inflated as the danger escalated while others engaged.

Judena spared a look to the mage sitting behind her, mind whirring through multitude of ideas to help, she felt a distinct pat on her shoulder. Maj began lifting herself up from her seat in the saddle.

“Sit down! Do not get thrown off!” Judena warned.

“This is about as steady as the bow of a ship dipping down to ride a wave in the middle of a storm.” Maj responded with a crooked grin, really there was no reason why she had to stand, she could confidently complete the spell from where she sat. Later she would justify standing with needing a better view to take aim. As if conjuring an atronach from the depths of Oblivion wasn’t already challenging while moving. Steadying herself against Judena’s shoulder with one hand, a boot in the saddle and the other against the rim - taking aim with a conjuration spell, deep cloudy pools of indigo swirling in her hand, magika calling to open a portal to Oblivion. “Keep moving, don’t let those big bastards get a shot on us!”

Judena nodded with a frown, turning her focus back to the horse.

Taking time with a spell of her own, Judena’s mage armour shimmered to life around her.

They would need legitimate firepower to topple the machines, crack them open and reveal the soul gems powering them. Maj wanted to put something between them and her own, eyes narrowing at the one wielding a hammer, keeping an eye on it’s feet, planted - ready to swing at the closest target. Next to its right foot Maj threw her spell with a hand whipped across her body releasing the spell - it sailed through the air landing a few steps shy of her intended spot. The inky pool swirled like a whirlpool expanding out revealing the rocky, asymmetrical face of Furgur Blitzcloud her aptly named Storm Atronach. Its misshapen arms lifting the foot of the hammer wielding Centurion, lightning dancing across it’s armour, dark clouds swirling around the base of the atronach.

A menacing entrance to anyone on the ground.

With the deadly cannon arm jammed at an awkward angle, and Sora sat around the neck of the Centurion, Fjolte knew that he couldn’t take any more swipes at it’s centre. It was too big of a risk of hurting the Khajiit, but the arm… Oh the arm. That was a challenge. The Nord moved again, backflipping out of the way of a slow swing of the sword arm, his tightened his fists and felt the energy of the lightning hum as if it was charging. He moved hastily once more to the automaton, his right hand pointed towards the shoulder joint of his enemy.

The first hit wasn’t strong enough, the angle had been all wrong, and he hadn’t gained enough height on the beast to inflict the damage required. Try again he told himself, tapping his fists together again as he came back down, casting a quick glance up to Sora to check she was still busied and as safe as she could be, at least for sitting astride a live Dwemer centurion. Fjolte’s lips curled into an impressed smirk, and this time as the Centurion swung its sword - he held his ground, and held it, and held it, and held it until he was inches from being impaled. Then he moved. With great dexterity he leapt up and the sword kept moving until the blade had buried itself in the ground, causing the Centurion to jolt and shudder violently. Whatever it was that Sora was doing had slowed the thing down exponentially, and it was in trouble.

“Fjolte!” The Khajiit screamed in alarm, seeing the Nord hold back the massive blade brought back painful aches to her own palms as she recalled her encounter with the Falmer in the Jerall Mountains and how she had held back her own gruesome demise much the same way Fjolte was doing. With a relieved sigh, she saw him turn the blade until it sunk harmlessly into the dirt beside him.

The Centurion couldn’t move for a few moments, it couldn’t buck her off. It was now or never.

With both hands on her mace and legs wrapped tightly around whatever she could grip onto, Daro’Vasora smashed the basket with all of her might, causing the alloy to buckle and give way under her unrelenting blows. Soon, a familiar red glow of the dynamo was seeping through the damage and she began to pry at the basket, exposing the dynamo even further. Ramming the end of her mace into it like a large gear shifter, she began to force it out of alignment and from completing its rotations; the machine jerked and spasmed in turn, struggling to act as it was designed to but being limited by the molestations occuring to its very core.

Fjolte then landed on the elbow joint of the stuck arm, yet his feet did not remain there for long as he sprung forwards again, his fist once again charged with the full power of his enchantment. He brought down a solid and heavy blow onto the Centurions shoulder, the lightning circled around and around the joint until it began to smoke. Back on the ground and with the creature doubled over, he slammed two more precise hits under the arm. With a resounding crunch, the cannon arm fell limp and the Centurion once again screeched out, but this time it was feeble and discordant.

The Monk flipped back again, grabbing a hold of the hand of the broken arm. Still stuck in the ground, the Centurion was held in place and using his full might Fjolte pulled on the cannon arm until it was torn free from the socket -- leaving but a hole spitting sparks and steam in its place. He threw it behind him, steam and smoke blowing from the valves of the dismembered limb. It landed with a crash by Raelynn and Sevari, turning in circles with the forceful blasts of steam, the alloy caging locked around it increasing the pressure.

---

“C-come to me, Akatosh,” spoke Calen, the bard’s voice shaking, “for without you, my resolution falters, and my pen is still and dry, though all the seas were full of ink, and the sky my parchment of dawn... Come to me, Talos, for without you, my Lord and Emperor springs from rootless dust, and the Empire is scattered before the winds of war and ignorance... Come to me, Julianos, for without you, my wit is weak to sort the wheat from the chaff, and my eyes should neither know the true from the false, nor sense from folly, nor justice from prejudice and interest. Come to me Kynareth, for--”

A shot splintered across the bark of the tree trunk that he and Danish hid behind, causing him to recoil and whimper, shrinking down to make himself a smaller target. Yet, he couldn’t help but to turn around and witness the carnage playing out before him. Sevari had already been taken down, and the others -- all the others -- they were out there fighting. Mages and warriors, frightening conjured monsters, and even the steeds. Even those he did not think were fighters, those he knew were not fighters, and yet they fought all the same. Sora, Raellyn, even Aries and even Anifaire, they ran towards danger because they knew it was the right thing to do. Even Gregor. Even after all he’s done, he was still doing more to save the party than Calen was. He clutched the throbbing memory of pain in his torso from the last time he took one of the dwemer’s bullets.

Even Gregor.

When the smoke from Aries’ fiery spell cleared, Calen’s eyes had gone wide when the still-standing centurion spun around and struck the side of Gregor’s head and, like a ragdoll, he was thrown to the ground where he lay lifeless and still. Suddenly Calen wasn’t remembering him as the man who betrayed everyone’s trust, but the friend he used to know. At least the friend he thought he used to know, but that was enough. He still felt his heart skip a beat and his throat clenched, and no longer did he feel frozen in place -- he was restraining himself in a brief moment of doubt as adrenaline rushes through his body and commanded his legs to take off sprinting in his direction. It was as though he heard Talos’ voice in his head, encouraging him to run… but he needed a plan. A half-baked one, at least, even if it was reckless and stupid. Everyone else could fight in some way. Calen had to use his brain.

Sora. She was able to ride in on horseback and jump, but Calen was arguably the best equestrian here. ‘I can do that,’ he thought. As she worked with Fjolte to tear the centurion apart, the faint red glow in its chest sparked a memory from long ago; just before his world was turned upside down by the dwemer.

"Oh? You know ayleid?" Asked the girl in the back of his carriage with feigned awe.

"Oh yeah.” Calen insisted, continuing his tall tale. “It especially came in handy when I went delving into this deep dwemer ruin and had to decipher the ancient texts to procure a centurion... dynamic core."

"You don't say?" She replied. "You wouldn't happen to have it with you, would you?"

"Oh Gods, no. Something that valuable is safe and sound back home!" Calen proclaimed.

"Well, if you happen to go back and decide to bring it with you, you know where to find me in case you'd like to prove it. The name's Freya."

He immediately jumped onto Danish and clicked his tongue a few times, kicking his heels into his sides, and the pony immediately followed Calen’s lead. Though the noise ahead was normally too much for the spooky pony, it was perhaps giving the pony too little credit to be calling him spooky now after all that he’s been through with Calen. After coming out healthy and intact every single time, their trust in each other was pretty well deserved for what it’s worth.

The way the bard rode in and pushed himself up onto the saddle almost seemed to emulate Sora, but he looked like a natural in the saddle. For a boy that grew up raising and riding horses, a known equestrian among the party, that wasn’t what was so surprising. It was the fact that Calen, of all people, was running towards danger. The man who wouldn’t hurt a soul. Unfortunately for the centurions, his code of pacifism didn’t really apply to lifeless automations and his desire to protect his friends was stronger than his survival instincts. His heart pounded against his chest, but he kept repeating the words in his head: “nothing ventured, nothing gained. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!”

As he rode closer and closer to the centurion, who was occupied with its damage, the now incapacitated Gregor, and the more immediate threat of Sirine, Calen focused his eyes at the center of the damage: the dynamo core in its chest was coughing smoke and spitting sparks. As soon as Danish rode past, the bard pushed himself off the saddle in thus-so-far never-before-seen acrobatics with a massive leap aimed toward the center of the centurion. His clumsy landing, scrambling to grab hold against the now blistering hot metal chassis of the centurion, didn’t end his efforts in vain as his fingers finally found purchase along one of the rings turning weakly around the dynamo core. The heat immediately caused his hand to hiss and blister, prompting the bard to squeeze his eyes shut and grind his teeth in pain, but he fought against the urge to let go. He planted his boots against the lower part of the machine’s abdomen and pushed away while tugging at the dynamo core with all his might. He was trying to rip the centurion’s power source free from its cavity.

“Sirine!” Calen bellowed out, reaching his free hand out for her to grab. “Give me a hand! Quick!”

---

“You stay here, take this,” commanded Raelynn as she sat Sevari upright against a boulder, away from the line of fire in cover. His wounds were closed, and he was free of the weight of Stranger thanks to Anifaire, but he would surely be in pain. She handed him the golden vial - forcing it into his hand. She squeezed so that as her fingers folded into a fist, his did too. “I have to check the party, you’ll be alright,” she added reassuringly, taking another look into his eyes - there was a light there, and that’s all that mattered - that would be enough. “I promise,” she added with finality, squeezing on his hand again. She knew that she couldn’t stray too far from his side.

As she peered over and out across the landscape for the first time, she could see that the Centurions were busy with her comrades, one was burning, the other was moving to Gaius, and Sora and Fjolte were dismantling another - there was a fourth taking shots as and when it could. There was a sound close to her, a hissing and clanking of metal, and her eyes tracked it to the broken machine arm twitching just beyond her point of cover on the ground. It was releasing both steam and smoke and looked dangerously close to firing another round off towards those fighting

“Damnit,” she growled under her breath, she could make out on the arm that there were a series of valves attaching the alloy frame to the cannon-rifle sat in the centre. She could recall from reading and observing sketches of Centurions, that the arms were different, but the Breton recalled Daro’Vasora’s explanation that these were a different breed and creation entirely. Everyone else was busy. Everyone else had their hands full… Quickly, her eyes narrowed as Aries’ words came to mind, “you don’t have to be the victim.” Empowering words spoken by an empowered woman. If Raelynn could find a way to unlatch the cannon from the frame, it could be useful to the party - it could be useful right now... There was no harm in trying.

She moved briskly to it, dropping down to her knees and removing a lockpick from her satchel. She’d picked locks aplenty, but… using such a tool for a different purpose was a different story entirely, wasn’t it? She stared nervously at it, wafting away the clouds of smoke with her hand while she rolled the lockpick between her thumb and forefinger. This is a dumb idea, she told herself, and yet as she turned to look at her friends fighting - it seemed they were all caught up in the execution of an emalgamation of atrociously dumb ideas. Calen was leaping from a horse, Sora was straddling one of the Centurions and bashing it with her mace, Aries was moving around on horseback firing spells. They were all in this together, and as she gazed back at the arm she realised it was no different to anything her father had asked her to tinker with. It was no different to an artifact she’d cleaned up and appraised - apart from the fact that, it was filled with live ammunition and may well fire at any of her companions at any moment. Suddenly, her jaw clenched in defiance of her own doubt, and in another growl she spoke her affirmation; “I’m a fucking Hawkford.”

Raelynn’s hands got to work in disarming the device.

Divines damn it, damn it, damn it all! Gaius wasn’t quite to the Centurion before it lifted its cannon-arm, levelling it at Raelynn as she...what was she doing, tinkering with one of the Centurion’s cannons? On the battlefield? A strangled growl ripped out of his throat at her apparent complete lack of awareness of her surroundings. Digging deep into himself, he let his mind go blank as he pushed out the last bit of speed that he needed to interpose himself, and violently flung himself into the path of the weapon. There was a bang-clang-thud as the weapon fired, punching a neat hole through his shield only inches above his arm and leaving a sizable dent in his cuirass. He grunted as he felt the impact on his collarbone, though between the shield, the plate, and the gambeson, it was thankfully unbroken. He positioned himself solidly between the machine and the Breton, chest tight against his armor as he hyperventilated madly.

Another shot fired in rapid time, leaving another gaping hole in his all-too-fragile shield before tearing off into the trees, and then a third, which smashed into the direct center of the shield. If you listened closely enough, you could hear the crunching sound as it shattered Gaius’ arm. He screwed up his face, letting out a bellowing scream that was part pain and part fury.

Finally, after a few wasted efforts, Raelynn managed to prize the cannon free from the caging. She’d had to force several of the screws but it came loose eventually. There was no time for celebration over it, as the Centurion that had been busied with Gaius had charged once more, firing at the Imperial as he stood watch over her and Sevari; “damn,” she cursed, releasing her grip from the weapon - chiding herself for having been in a vulnerable spot. That hadn’t been clever, and now the Imperial was paying for it - a hole was blown through his shield. There was little time to waste.

Raelynn rose to a standing position, bringing her hands together, a ball of light materialised and grew in her palms. With a graceful movement of her hands she propelled the ball in his direction, and as it landed arrived upon his head, it burst, releasing a fast stream of shimmering magicka that coated him from head to toe. The ward cast would hold back the attack for the moment. The mage needed to reach him, but it was impossible and unwise to do so with the machine in full motion-- but then it wasn’t. It had stepped to continue its launch but it was stopped with a violent jolt - as if hooked from behind...

Fjolte was there, the piercing end of Faithkeeper was wedged into the Centurions back and the Nord dug his heels to the ground as hands gripped tight around the wrapped handle of the warhammer. “Strike the centre, brother!” he called out to Gaius, voice strained from the work of holding the thing back as it struggled.

That was the only in she needed. Raelynn sprung to Gaius’ side and grasped at his arm, in her hands, just enough restoration magicka had coalesced and worked its way to the break at his elbow. “It’ll hurt until it doesn’t,” she said, her tone was assured, and the severe look etched on her features was more so. The Breton was entirely focussed on her task at hand, that she hadn’t realised or responded to whatever piece of debris it was that had sliced part of her left cheek, cutting her from below the eye to her ear in a clean curve, the blood that fell from that wound simply combined with the smudges already on her face. As she glanced upwards, she noted that it was unlikely that Gaius was going to be able to take on the Centurion alone, even if Fjolte was there too - they needed something more, Fjolte was not going to be able to hold it forever.

As Gaius’ arm began to knit itself back together, he took one look at the bent, warped, ruined shield on his arm and shucked it off, swearing profusely. Then, taking the sword in a two-handed grip, he lunged at the Centurion, hammering it with blows over where he thought the dynamo core would be. Useless blows. The graceful curve of the scimitar was appealing, yes, and very effective at cutting through people. Dwemer metal, though, was a bit tougher than meat, and so whacking at it accomplished nothing but blunting the steel. So he tossed the sword to the side and, sucking in a heavy breath, belted out a ”Let it go, Fjolte!” before sprinting at the machine and lunging at it, tackling it to the ground. He strained against the pain in his mending arm and the Centurion’s struggling as he began to pull with his armored fingers, doing his damndest to pry the thick piece of metal that covered its chest away from the rest of its flailing body and hoping that, if nothing else, he would at least give Fjolte time to strike. “Rrrrrr…”

It was all that the Nord needed, as the Legionnaire charged into the beast, Fjolte tore back - using yet another chunk of stamina to do so. Each muscle in his arm rippled and glistened with sweat, his jaw was as tense as it could be and his eyes were steeled and for a fleeting moment rage passed over his irises like clouds blocking out the sun and his features fell dark. A growl rumbled from the depths of him and he swung his hammer, using the weight of the steel, the handle, the momentum and the power that had built up within his entire being. The deathly weight of complete impatience, fury, and desire to inflict pain.

The battle had been waging for too long, the sight of Sevari over by the rock bleeding black - Raelynn covered in crimson from the neck down, Gaius fighting with every breath despite his injuries. He had even witnessed Gregor fall a bag of bones… It was just…

Too much.

“This ends!” He called out at the end of his rumble, bringing down the hammer onto the alloyed face of the grounded Centurion. With an ugly, piercing screech the flat end of Faithkeeper plummeted into the mask, and with just one movement he felt it crunch through the mask to the hard ground beneath where it remained as he let go of it. The creature twitched and moved, blasting steam from it’s shoulders as the Imperial worked at pulling free the casing to reveal the core. The arms still swung around…

Fjolte’s lip twitched and he cracked his knuckles from within the leather of his gauntlets, his two hands began to glow blue as lightning danced over his fingers, the familiar crackle was almost comforting as he brought his fists closer to his face, emitting light from the magicka hit his eyes and turned them to a terrifying electric blue and he chuckled slowly. The Nord channeled the magicka through his fists before charging down and slamming them against the shoulders of the Centurion as if they were pressure points. He remained there, letting the power of storms course through their enemy in a singular direction. The chest was about to blow off…

“...rrrrRRAUUUGH!”

Within a singular sound, Gaius’ animalistic growl of exertion, pain and rage fled through triumph, surprise, and even more pain as, with his coaxing, the Centurion’s chest exploded off. Still grabbing onto it almost unconsciously through suddenly-scalded fingers, he was launched backwards by the blast of steam and lightning. After a few whistling moments of flight, there was a stomach-juddering smack as he collided with a rock that cropped out of the ground. With a zwisshhhhh, the last of the ward that Raelynn had given him shivered away, and he hacked a surprised, painful cough, eyes wide with shock, as the pain hit. He dropped to the ground, only barely managing to support himself with his mostly-uninjured arm. It took a moment for him to find his breath again, and when he did, it was through a heavy cough and a mouthful of blood where he’d bitten down on his cheek upon impact.

“You bloody madman!” he roared at Fjolte, red spittle flying from his mouth, “Divines damn it all! It worked, but [i]fuck[i/], that hurt!” Another hacking cough, and through the cough, another, more unexpected sound: laughter. Loud, near-hysterical laughter, as the Legionnaire managed to pry himself off of the bloody grass, leaning against the rock and watching as the obliterated Centurion finally stopped twitching. He couldn’t see Fjolte through the rising cloud of steam; he could only hope that the Stormcloak had made it through unharmed. He laughed harder. “Nicely fucking-well done!”

The crashing centurion was a welcome sight to Aries’ eyes, who ran a perimeter around the battlefield while atop her horse (it wasn’t exactly her’s, but digression aside). Most of the other centurions were already engaged with footsoldiers and weren’t in good positions for her to cast any more of her destruction spells without the risk of collateral damage. She had to admit that she felt impressed by what a few men were able to accomplish with just their own blood and steel against the might of these dwemer contraptions; a sense of pride even, especially in regards to Gaius who represented the Imperial legion, but it was short lived as her eyes found her next target engaged with Maj’s storm atronach. Watching the two behemoths was like witnessing a clash of the titans as their rumbling shook the earth, their blows scraping off bits and pieces of metal and rock respectively. The faster they took these things down, the better.

So she leaned forward and spurred her horse on in a gallop, sprinting past Fjolte and Gaius as she shouted, “On your feet, men! There are plenty more where that came from!”

As she finished her last word, she took her left hand off the reins and a blazing fire erupted from her palm before she hurled it towards the centurion engaged with the atronach, creating an incinerating explosion that caused shockwaves of heat to ripple through the air. A robotic arm went flying across the battlefield and even caused Furgr Blitzcloud to recoil, but the atronach caught its balance on its hind foot. Still focused on its target the atronach reared back and swung wide against the damaged centurion, and with its mighty, rocky fist, slammed the centurion into the ground, sending a spray of nuts, bolts, and gears to scatter across the dirt.

---

”Sirine! Give me a hand! Quick!”

Gregor’s eyes moved in their sockets, searching for the source of the voice. That was Calen. It had to be Calen. What was he doing? He wasn’t a warrior, he had almost died the last time they had been in a scrap together. A powerful pang of fear and regret jolted through Gregor’s heart as he remembered the face of the Nord just before he had retreated from the trial -- it was the last time the two of them had looked each other in the eye. Gregor couldn’t let the boy die now, with so much left unsaid. He tried to draw breath to call out and warn Calen not to do something reckless, but his lungs were ripped apart. He tried to clench his jaw and force himself to get up, but his jaw was broken and his body wasn’t responding. He was useless.

Up, damnit.

Magic surged through him, conjured through sheer willpower, without the use of his hands. It wasn’t any particular spell, or even any particular school of magic. It was the will to continue given form in a raw expression of magicka, nothing more than fuel for the eldritch spell that animated his undead body, and Gregor’s lips split in a shattered rictus grin with the effort. He would not be defeated by these machines. He was better than that. He was the Pale Reaper.

Up!

With a horrifying and sickening crunching sound followed by a loud pop, Gregor’s vertebrae slipped into place and he regained control over his body. Using the claymore for support, the blade digging deep into the earth so that it could hold his weight, Gregor clambered to his feet. His armor was ripped and torn from the wounds he had received -- wounds that would have laid low any mortal man thrice over, and his jaw was set into his face at a lopsided angle. His eyes, however, were afire with a wrath that had crossed time and space. What they saw astonished him. Calen, astride the Centurion, ripping at the molten alloy with his bare hands. Gregor froze for a moment and marveled at the sight. Such bravery!

He locked eyes with Sirine and nodded. Together, they could take down this metal abomination. Together, they were stronger than its powerful hydraulics. He motioned for her to take Calen’s hand and then offered her his own.

It took a moment for Sirine to ground herself once more, the sudden explosion having caused her a bit of disorientation. She stumbled backwards, not wishing to get burnt by the seeping molten metals, though her head jerked upward when she heard her name being called. Her forehead creased, unable to recognize the voice with all the ruckus, but that was only a split second's concern as she looked back at the centurion and saw the golden haired bard getting his hand burnt.

"Shit." Her gaze swerved and she saw Gregor look her way. It would seem the higher beings truly had a warped sense of humour, pitting a lich, a pirate and a bard against a centurion. However, if they were to live, they had to work together. Without another word, Sirine grabbed onto Calen's hand first and then Gregor's tightly, as if her very life depended on it. The three formed a chain of men and wom[a]n, Gregor using all of his supernatural might to keep them grounded and Sirine what she could to help Calen pull the dynamo-core free from the centurion’s chest. The machine itself was flailing wildly, trying to get Calen off of its chassis, who was screaming and snarling in pain as hot metal and steam burned his hand, the smell of cooking fleshing invading his lungs, but used all of his resolve to keep holding on. He tugged at it with all the strength he had left. He could feel the connections inside weakening and pulling free with each jerking motion of the centurion…

Until finally, pop!

Between the strength of Gregor and Sirine, Calen was promptly yanked out and crashed against the rocky forest floor of the Reach with the core in hand. The centurion, hammering arm still raised in the air, poised to once crush Calen against its own frame, stood frozen, the steam being jettisoned from its body now slowly dissipating. The bard threw the core aside, hissing and groaning in pain as he clutched his severely burned hand and in too much pain to realize that the crash landing had possibly fractured his shoulder. Still, he was able to open his eyes just enough to see the red glow of the dynamo-core and smile just a bit at his accomplishment before the next wave of unbearable pain kicked in.

Sirine hastily let go of Gregor's hand, not from disgust or discomfort, rather concern for the young Nord who had done more than his fair share in destroying the Centurion. "You're sure an idiot," she muttered under her breath, steadying herself before pulling Calen away from the still imposing dwemer creation. "Come on, we need to find you some healing." Bravery wasn't to be followed by stupidity after all, and it would be rather regrettable if he ended up with irreparable injuries due to delays that could have been abated. Though she herself was still a little shaky, Sirine attempted to help him to a stand. "Let's find Raelynn."

Gregor had been thrown prone as well by the sudden eruption of kinetic energy when the dynamo core came loose, and he was too slow to get back up on his feet to offer to take a look at Calen’s hand himself before Sirine had already taken charge. Then again, Gregor still couldn’t speak, so he merely resigned himself to gently feeling at his jaw with his fingers. The way it popped back into the hinge of his skull sent a shiver down his spine. He frowned and looked around the torn and smoky battlefield for his helmet. As he stumbled between the ripped and shattered corpses of the Centurions, he looked like a dead soldier doomed to haunt the battlegrounds where he had fallen, searching forever for something he would never find.

Then it was all over. As quickly as it had started, all that remained was smoke and the winding down sounds of the centurions dying down, and the atmosphere of terror drifted away as quickly as it had bolted through with the cannon fire. Immediate threat over, and yet nobody could relax. People had been hurt, and in some kind of panicked daze, Raelynn turned slowly in circles, her eyes skimming the scene - she began to count those that she could see through the plumes of smoke.

The Breton’s cloak felt heavy and uncomfortable as it clung to her undergarments from the slick wet blood of Sevari’s harrowing injuries. The crisp, dry ends of her hair blew away from her face and finally the cut across her face stung. She brought her fingers to it, feeling the blood that was clotting and closing the wound. Her throat was dry, so much so that when she spoke out, no sound left her lips; “Gregor?” she mouthed uselessly, her eyebrows pinched together as she made out some shapes off in the distance beyond the water… She brought her hand to her forehead to block back the bright and blinding rays of sunlight so that she could focus beyond the scene she was in — to something else entirely. She swallowed hard.

---

Mazrah flew through the forest at breakneck speed. More sharp cracks had followed the first and echoed between the trees; the unmistakable report of those damnable ranged Dwemer weapons. Finnen was right behind her, for while her legs were longer than his, he was light and quick on his feet. They were getting close to the convoy now and Mazrah craned her neck in her desperation to peer past the leaves and see what was going on. Just a few more--

The world came to a sudden and abrupt halt. Something dark and mottled, like the thick branch of a tree, had swung into view and knocked her to the ground. She gasped for breath and blinked fiercely, trying to dispel the spinning of her head, but whatever it was gave her no respite and Mazrah was forced to roll backwards to avoid the downwards strike of something -- something. What the hell was it? “Finnen! Help!” she called out, panic threatening to strangle her voice, and she scrambled to her feet, her spear in her hands in a flash.

She had just one second to look at her attacker. Her heart stopped in her throat. A hulking, monstrous Orsimer, so large his shoulders brushed the tree branches above her head, with tusks the size of daggers and braided black hair down his bare back and chest. Everything about him was enormous, hands like shovels and legs like pillars, except his eyes; two deep-seated, beady little things, that managed to exude an aura of menace wildly out of proportion with their size. They were gold.

Like hers.

Redux: A Superhero Roleplay

So this is an old IC, but I’m currently working through a plot line and aiming to kick this off very soon!

I’m finishing up the OOC to be posted soon, at which point I will open for character submissions! So those who are interested still, this is absolutely still happening. Thank you for all the patience and interest!

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Well first of all, just remember that you can definitely die for doing stupid things, @Fetzen.

Second, it occurs to me as I prepare my post this round that Stormflyx didn't post at all in the last round, and that she hasn't actually been online in the last 13 days. I hope she's alright, is basically it.

@BCTheEntity

I am well! That's so thoughtful of you to notice. But yes I'm all good. Apologies for the radio silence, I've been overseas on vacation, and just generally horrendously busy for the last few weeks. I had messaged Poo prior too so that I could be on hiatus for a while until things settled down again, hopefully end of this month.

I've had in the last 6 weeks a vacation to plan, a huge work project, and I've had to find and apply for a new rental home (which I'm moving to in 2 weeks!)

But ye, I'm good and once things relax I'll try and get back into this :)

Hope you're all well too!

The Elder Scrolls: Vengeance of the Deep

Setting the Stage

@Dervish @Hank @Leidenschaft @Stormflyx

Early Morning, 15th of Sun’s Height, 4E208
Trailing the Southern Drippytaco Mountains, West of Falkreath Hold

---

There had been a red sky that morning. Scarlet and gold in stark contrast to the clear blue to which they had grown accustomed to in so far in the mountains. It was lurid and yet still captivating. It was the kind of remarkable sky that was found only in the Reach. That burning glow that painted the undersides of the clouds was contradictory to the peaks of snow and ice that coated the highest mountains on their horizon.

The trail was slate and verdant - the trees towering either side as their guidelines through the treacherous pathways. The path less travelled, clearly. They moved in pairs for the most part. There were so many colours that even a painter would have had difficulty capturing the saturated hues which they walked under on their way.

Amidst the heightened colour was the familiar chilling bite of morning accompanied by a mist that snaked between each of the trees, lurked behind every stone, and crept further onto the winding pathway until ankles and feet were obscured by it.

Company came in the form of thrushes darting through the tree line, singing and chirping to each other, and there would have been deer deeper in the forest beginning their day too. This land was so alive, teeming with nature, and as the group was in rather quiet spirits— the music of nature could be enjoyed to its fullest. In the front, there was the sound of careful hooves trekking the gravel, the metal of their shoes kicking back the smallest of stones, crunching them down into compacted prints for the others to follow.

Horses were one of the few animals that Raelynn liked. There was something so beautiful about them in her eyes, and none that she had seen had been quite as beautiful as the palomino she was guiding through the trail. Her golden coat shimmered in the early morning light, and the mane of the mare was almost identical to Raelynn’s own ashen locks. She was quite simply, stunning. “I think I shall name you Lady,” said Raelynn quietly with a smile and one hand on the reigns, the other slowly caressing the horses neck.

At her side, was an unusual companion — Sevari, with a horse of his own. She gave him a quick and almost unsure glance with her glacial gaze, eyeing him from toe to tip. They’d barely shared a word, and yet had experienced so much together. Finnen seemed to trust the man, and that was about enough for her to manage to spark something of some small talk with him. “Does yours have a name?” She asked, in as affable a voice as she could - even if the words did fall slightly quieter than she’d have liked. It was difficult to speak boldly to the man who’d tried to kill Gregor, after all.

Sevari shrugged, nodded, the rifle slung over his shoulder jostling just so with the motion as he patted his midnight-black horse’s flank, “Stranger.” He said, the horse huffing almost as if in response, “Had him for a while now, think he likes not being stabled all day like he was in Gilane.”

He looked to the horse Raelynn had, its reins in a dainty fist, and Sevari made to speak until his eyes picked out the scar on Raelynn’s hand. That never would go away. But Sevari was done apologizing for other men, eyes on the task, like he used to be. He regained himself well enough, “Lady?”

That made her smile. "That's mysterious, I like it. It suits him," she said with a nod of appreciation - noticing where Sevari's eyes landed. She should have put the gloves on. "I know. It's something of an obvious choice," she remarked, slightly bashful all of a sudden. "I was never any good at picking names… She belonged to someone, well, my bodyguard in Gilane. Strange that she made it all this way." Her voice trailed off and she looked forwards again.

Trailing a little ways behind them, close enough to hear the two talk but not close enough to make out the words, was Gregor. He kept his eyes on the road and on their surroundings while his tireless legs plodded onwards. It was supposed to be a futile exercise, really, given that Mazrah and Finnen were scouting ahead, but Gregor kept it up either way. The idea that he was helping out, even if it was only a little bit, made him feel better. It was a beautiful day and Gregor was struck by a pang of regret at the thought of the cool mountain air and the fresh breeze that he could no longer feel.

His eyes fell on Sevari when he heard his voice again. It was only in moments like this that the two of them had been remotely near each other ever since the incident in the bowels of the prison. Gregor had apologized to some of the other and made decent headway, he felt, but the Imperial was at a loss as to how approach Sevari. He had been so angry. Rightfully so. Gregor grit his teeth and looked away, his eyes scanning the treeline for any movement, but his mind wasn’t on the task.

Sevari and Raelynn had fallen silent for a moment, and in the quiet space between he’d felt something niggling at his back. He looked back to see Gregor, not looking at him. Whatever evil had been in his eyes in that prison seemed absent. He almost didn’t trust it, but word around the camp was that he was making an apology tour as of late. He’d yet to have his turn. Wouldn’t even know what to say if it came, even. “Hey.” He said over his shoulder at the man, repeating it when he didn’t turn towards him, “Hey. Gregor.”

Had Sevari noticed Gregor staring at him? Given the man’s reputation, from what Gregor had learned so far, that did not entirely surprise him. “Yes, Sevari?”

“You’re quiet.” Sevari slowed his pace until he was shoulder to shoulder with the other man, his presence almost making his skin buzz with nervousness or some such other energy. Maybe it was the magic. Or maybe it was because he was the first necromancer he’d come across and hadn’t killed. Or maybe he was the first necromancer he’d come across that wasn’t trying to kill everyone. A part of his mind was still waiting for the moment he tried at it. “To me. Been doing the rounds, making amends?”

The Breton felt something in their atmosphere too, "right then," she gave Sevari and Gregor both a dose of cautious side-eye. Whatever this was, she wasn’t about to be part of it. “The path narrows, I’m going ahead,” she announced once Sevari had slowed down. Raelynn began guiding Lady in front of Stranger, her hand tightening on the reins. The horse nickered as she passed her friend and then brushed her nose onto Raelynn’s hand. “That’s it, easy girl…” she said reassuringly once they’d switched into single file.

"Yes," the lich admitted. "I wasn't sure what to say to you, though." Gregor felt honesty was the best policy now. He fell silent while his mind raced. He hadn't expected to be put on the spot. "You were right to aim your weapon at the man you saw in the prison. I'm sorry you had to see that."

Sevari felt anger rise in him, a quick flash of it like the immolating fury of a flame and just as intense as it was, it lasted about as long. Which as he looked into the eyes of the man next to him, wasn’t all too much at all. “Is that what it is now? The man I saw in the prison?” Sevari felt it again, turned his head away and spat, “Maybe when I start apologizing for the things I’d done I’ll take a point from you. ‘Oh, good Miss Thalmor, your son never came home and you’re right to hate that man who killed him.”

“It was me, Gregor. I killed them. Every single one, and I don’t hide behind anything because even if I dodge every blade coming for my neck, there’s no dodging the Gods.” Sevari frowned heavy at Gregor, “I don’t know who makes it out better in that deal, you or me. I might go to whatever realm of punishment they send me, but you’ll have to be hounded by your own conscience until everyone who knows your sins is dead and in the ground years ago.”

“Say whatever you want to me, Gregor. Maybe I can respect you as the man I drank with in the Haunted Tide again.” Sevari said, a little crack in the hard shell where forgiveness shined through. He found the more years and more bodies he put behind him, that crack grew bigger. Years ago, Marassa might not have even had the displeasure of hearing him speak. Just a knife for an enemy to the back of her neck.

Gregor smiled a sad smile behind the impregnable and inscrutable steel faceplate of his helmet. “You’ve never died, Sevari. It changes you. I say that man because he is not who stands next to you today. I don’t feel things the same way anymore. Not just the cold or the heat or the taste of food, but anger and sorrow and joy too. I’m sorry I laughed in Sirine’s face after I made her a part of my crimes, but the man who did that, who would do that, is dead. Do you understand?”

Sevari huffed, looking sidelong at Gregor. They shared a silence, almost like the held breath before loosing an arrow at an enemy, but then Sevari nodded. “Sure.”

There were a few moments behind Sevari where he had to tell himself to move past whatever was in the past. The second week of training with the Bhaanu Sasra, Zaveed and Marassa a thing of the past now. Three hours after finding his brothers strung up and gutted. Betraying his oath to Elsweyr and joining the Penitus Oculatus with his only living brother. And there were things he could never forgive. The deaths of his mother and his father, though he never knew the man well. The deaths of his brothers, for a time.

But maybe this didn’t have to be one. He uncurled his fingers from the sling of his rifle and held his hand out for Gregor.

“Bury the hatchet.”

---

Daro’Vasora had been looking over a map when the column shifted; she had been more towards the middle, knowing that those in the front were most familiar with the lands, and those in the backs were tough enough to handle any surprises that might sneak up on the group. She didn’t realize the shifting of horses until Fjolte’s own steed bumped into her leg as they tried to rearrange into the single-file line.

“Ah, shit. Sorry about that; I was lost in thought.” she said, taking the reins in one hand, a frown still creasing her face; her perpetually aloof expression had returned in force in recent days. Soon, she had her horse stopped and lining up correctly for its turn. “This isn’t far from home for you, is it?” she asked

“Hey, don’t worry about it. Hard not to be out here,” he replied with an easy smile, holding back the horse for Sora to regain her comfort again. “Should be watching where I’m going myself,” the Nord chuckled, running a hand through his hair. It was particularly messy this morning, and he pinched his fingers on it to gauge the length. “Getting out of control…” he commented quietly, bringing his hand through his beard which was also sprouting at a rapid rate. “As for home, you’re right it’s not. If I were alone, it would be a day or two ride at best to Rorikstead." He looked over longingly for a moment, it would be quite easy to do such a thing, to take off - but he had sworn his services, he was part of the group now. "How do you fare, anyway?" He asked, as politely as he could.

“If you want, I can help you trim it. I can’t promise it’ll look all that fetching, but it should be a bit more comfortable.” Daro’Vasora offered, leading her horse ahead but nimbly turning around in her saddle to face Fjolte directly. She thought about what he asked, and she found herself surprised to realize that a lot of the weight seemed to be lifting as the altitude diminished and the green pillar of energy wasn’t so readily visible. The hard part was over; now they were scaling down and hopefully on a much more temperate leg of the journey. The Reach’s climate was a lot more agreeable than the damned desert, by any rate.

“I’m doing well, actually. Sleep’s come a bit more easily and I feel more certain of the path ahead. I almost feel hopeful…?” her voice trailed off. Fjolte had been nothing but a gentleman since his abrupt return to her life, and a part of her was wondering if maybe her earlier experiences with him were shaped by her worldview at the time. He was much more pleasant and agreeable now, but he hadn’t changed.

She had. It was a sobering thought, at the very least.

“You know, Fjolte, you don’t have to travel with us if you want to go home. Nothing’s keeping anyone here other than a sense of obligation, and if you feel you’d be better off with your family or friends, I understand. This wasn’t your fight, and I don’t want you to feel like you owe us for helping you out of a tight spot.” Daro’Vasora offered, a slight upturn of a smile breaking her countenance. She meant every word, but a part of her would miss his presence if he said yes. His cheer had helped everyone through some hard times, and him and Gregor seemed to be keeping to the latter’s rehabilitation sessions. It suddenly occurred to her that she never asked Fjolte if he was okay with the arrangement; everyone was handling Gregor’s turn in different ways, few of them positive.

“And miss all of this fun?” he asked with a laugh. “I like being around people, around tribes. There’s much to be learnt. It’s true, you may not be my tribe but I am more initiated every day.” He sighed, his face grew serious all of a sudden. He knew he’d hurt the woman by having shared certain tales with Mazrah, he should own up to it. Now seemed as good a time as any.

“Y’know, it was pretty fucked of me to talk about, well, us.” He’d observed the way Sora had looked at him since, and while she had softened some - he felt bad all the same, and his words were sincere, even if he wasn’t used to confronting his mistakes like this. “I didn’t think I’d be sticking around, I figured it was why you didn’t want me to stay… I thought nothing of it-” he fumbled, the words falling without him really thinking about them. “I mean, not of that. That was special, I have fond thoughts of it-” Fjolte blustered again, for a man so good with words and spinning a yarn, he was struggling with this. “I mean, I don’t think of it often - not like that. Just sometimes, but- ah!” He stopped for a moment, distracting himself by running a hand through the mane of the horse.

“Fuck it. I don’t regret us, I’d do it again. I’m not ashamed or embarrassed by it, but it’s the past. We’re both different people now, you have Finnen and truly, from the bottom of my heart I’m happy for you. To see you happy, that is.” Sometimes just speaking the truth in the way he knew best, was in fact, the best way to deal with things. Having found his words, he smiled at her again, feeling much less flushed.

Daro’Vasora couldn’t help but smile at Fjolte’s fumbling, the clumsy way he handled the situation. It was surprisingly endearing, and genuine. “You know, if you acted more like you do now back then, I probably would have had fonder memories of that time. It’s okay; I forgive you. It’s nothing I should have been worked up over… I just always have been so guarded and feel like the more people know about me, the more they can hurt me or manipulate me.” the Khajiit explained with a sigh, scratching behind her nose and running the hand down her neck.

“It always felt like you felt that was a time to boast about, and it felt like it diminished me as a person. Just another notch on the belt, the wild Daro’Vasora tamed by Fjolte the daring. That kind of petty shit. I’ve had a lot of people hurt me, but Fjolte? You were never one of them.” she said, her eyes meeting his. “The way I handled things, the way I looked at the world, it was ignorant and selfish. I was so preoccupied with my own perception of you I never bothered to think of who you actually were.”

“If it bothers you, then be worked up. Just don’t let it eat you. It’s good to feel what we feel. I used to be an idiot. Still am occasionally,” he added with a wink and an open mouthed smile. “I feel differently though. There’s power in wearing everything on your sleeve, I don’t hide a damned thing, if someone wants to use it against me… well, to that I say… ”and?” y’know?” He shrugged almost nonchalantly at it. “Fjolte the Daring though eh? Quite like that one,” he added with yet another wink. “Truth is, I do regret the way I’ve treated people in the past but it is what it is. I have sisters and nieces and I want to be a good example to them of what a good man should be I guess… Is that ridiculous?”

As they continued forwards on their path, a thought crossed his mind - and had he given it any longer than a second to consider, he might not have said it at all, “you’re a good person Sora, with a good heart in there, you’re worth boasting about.”

“Well, maybe one day I’ll believe that.” the Khajiit replied with a noncommittal shrug. Still, the compliment was nice, but she didn’t want to boast or come across as arrogant. “I’m better today than I was yesterday, and it’s enough. I’ve got enough things to worry about than things that happened years ago, especially when they weren’t objectively bad. Objectively bad would be having a hand in bringing an extinct race back from somewhere in Atherius who immediately went about ruining things for everyone.” she grunted, looking over her shoulder to see where they were headed, as if it was the source of all of her issues.

“You know, I nearly abandoned everyone in the middle of all this, before everyone looked up to me. Last thing I did before taking off and nearly making the biggest mistake of my life was accuse the woman who lead us into those ruins and gave up everything, even her life, to keep us safe, of being responsible for everything and that everyone’s suffering was on her.” Daro’Vasora said quietly, her gaze turned downward and she closed her eyes, trying to picture Rhea’s face. Thankfully, she could remember the Imperial woman almost as clearly as the days she knew her.

“I wish I hadn’t done that.” Daro’Vasora admitted.

“If wishes were horses, beggars would ride,” Fjolte said, shrugging his shoulders. “I’m sure they all tell you to be kinder to yourself, nobody blames you for this. Including the woman of which you speak,” he added, trying to be as kind as he could. There was more he wanted to say, but as it so happened, he was stopped in his tracks by the sudden rushing of birds into the air...

---

Gregor and Sevari shook hands. And of all the damnedest things in the world, Sevari felt a weight off his shoulders. He turned around to speak to Sora, leaning past behind him to get a view of her, “That map telling you where we-”

Daro’Vasora turned in her saddle at the sound of Sevari calling her name, her eyes widening with shock.

All hell had broken loose.

---

Hot blood on his face. No air in his lungs. It was numb, everything was. He couldn’t hear anything. There was a weight on top of him heavier than anything. Stranger was on top of him, red meat standing out from the black of his coat, his body limp with that big, red hole. His face scrunched up with confusion, he was on the ground but couldn’t recall falling. He made to speak but none of his voice came to his ears. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, finally, and then the pain came, but his screams were useless though his face surely betrayed all the misery running through his veins about then. He tried to call for help, tried to scream for all he was worth but still nothing but gurgles until he turned his head and let loose a good gout of black, thick blood from his lips. He remembered he had hands, as odd as that sounded even to him, and he felt along his stomach and his chest and it was all wet, fingers sliding slick over his chest and his shirt stuck to his skin until he felt the hole still drooling blood in his right breast. The blood around it bubbled with every shallow and laboring breath of his.

His eyes went to the shape above him. Gregor? Raelynn? He couldn’t see through the tears and all the pain and all the black…..

The bullet had come seemingly out of nowhere, but the muzzle flash and the loud discharge of soul gem energy from the treelines betrayed its origin. Gregor turned to face it and saw strange shapes in the greenery -- large and humanoid, but definitely not human. Too big. Their armor was like brass.

A strange and alien instinct made itself master over Gregor and he found himself in front of Sevari and Raelynn, shielding them with his body. Another loud, crackling boom preceded a heavy impact in his chest and Gregor had to bury his heels in the dirt to stay upright. Another lung shot, but this time he was the target. He tried to draw breath to speak but found that he couldn't.

Fortunately, he no longer needed to breathe in order to fight.

He drew his claymore with one hand and prepared a spell in the other. Not seen since his haphazard escape from Nadeen's poison, the undead steed that the Ideal Masters had bequeathed onto Gregor burst forth from a shimmering portal. With his great strength, the lich hoisted himself into the saddle and charged towards the enemy -- whatever they might be, Gregor was determined to buy his allies the time they needed to organise and defend themselves.

“Shit,” Fjolte uttered, gritting his teeth as he veered out into the distance, his horse was spooked, trying to buck him from the saddle. He gripped the reins tightly but it was no use, he was thrown from it’s back after the first cracking sound. His natural dexterity prevented him from falling too hard, and he landed on his feet. “We have to move,” he said, panting, before he leapfrogged himself onto the back of Sora’s steed. “Afraid you’re coming with me,” he concluded, taking the reins of Sora’s horse, his eyes suddenly piercing now that he was on task.

The shock and sudden brutality had Daro’Vasora dazed for a moment that she didn’t register Fjolte jumping up behind her immediately onto Tullius, her horse. The sudden jerk of the stallion jerked her back to her senses and they took off from the others; she was about to protest leaving the others behind, especially with Sevari lying prone in the dirt as if he were seriously wounded, but then she realized that Fjolte wasn’t running from the fight.

He was running right towards it.

“You better not get my fucking horse killed!” she snarled, gripping on where she could so she wouldn’t fall off the horse as it bucked, likely terrified itself of what it was being commanded to do. It wasn’t a trained war horse, at least not to this degree, and she felt that the nature of warfare was never going to be the same as they charged the cannon that killed Stranger, whose life unintentionally spared Sevari’s.

---

They were making good ground, but all ground gained was good when it was a contest to be had. He knew this country, but Mazrah seemed to know the ground. Every inch, her feet adjusting and every leap and bound seemed calculated to the last minute twitch of muscle in her feet. Finnen knew why they called her the Huntress. But a Reachman always knew his home.

And so they raced. Through the trees, over logs, heedless and stinging through overgrowth whipping at their faces as they went. “You’ll have to try better at this! I’m no hare, Mazrah!”

The two of them laughed, nothing but the sound of their contest around them, the beating of his heart and the breath in his ears. Then he heard a sharp crack. Not a stick, their feet were not careless enough for that. Something else. Finnen turned to look and found Mazrah doing the same. Above them and a ways away, a flock of birds taking flight from the trees, spooked. The pair looked to each other and without words, they knew they had to get back. With even more of the vigor of their contest, they took the same path back to the others. Finnen’s mind raced, was it Sora? They were in danger. Sevari wouldn’t have let off a shot otherwise. No, no, no, his mind was flooded with the word, the tempo of it like his quick footfall until it almost lost all meaning. The mourning bleat of an animal in distress.

To be continued...