//------------------------------// // Frenzied // Story: Order and Chaos // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// As soon as he couldn't sense Sheogorath in the Isles anymore, Discord slipped the Ring of Khajit off his talon. His face was contorted in pure, unadulterated fury. The grey man had come, and he had twisted his father out of all recognition, to the point he didn't even act like himself...and now he was gone. Discord was not about to stand for that. He was going to teach the grey man a lesson. He was going to face the grey man, beat him, annihilate him, and prove to his Dad that he didn't need to be protected anymore, and then they'd hug and celebrate and everything would be good. Determined on his course of action, he spoke to the Isles. "Haskill!" Haskill appeared in a flash, then blinked in surprise. "Young master? The old master-" "I don't give a damn what Dad said!" Discord snapped out. "The grey man is coming, and that's unseated Dad's unreason! I won't let him erase my home or my father! He's got another thing coming if he thinks I'm going to run with my tail between my legs!" Haskill blinked a few times. "That...is an accurate assessment of events, as far as it goes," he admitted. "But what do you intend to do?" "When the grey man shows up, I'm going to kick his ass!" Discord snapped. Haskill frowned. "Jyggalag - the grey man - is the Daedric Prince of Order, the most powerful of the Daedra to ever live. It took all the power the other Daedric Princes possessed to bind him before. Even if you could match your father's power...Order is antithetical to your power of Chaos. You cannot face him as you are. This is why you were banished-" "Then how do I face him?" Discord demanded angrily. "How do I make him back off, and show him this is my home?" Haskill rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "...claim the land," he stated finally. "W-what?" Discord asked, confused. "If you claim the throne of Madness, its power will protect you from Jyggalag's Order, allowing you to meet him on even footing without taking undue harm from the nature of his power," Haskill explained. "But to do that, you will need to restore the Staff of Sheogorath." "And I do that how?" Discord demanded. He wasn't sure how he felt about claiming his father's throne - wouldn't Dad be out of a job if he did that? - but he knew he wasn't about to let Jiggy get with it. "Dyus will be able to instruct you," Haskill explained. "You can find him in Knifepoint Hollow-" Discord snapped his talons and vanished. "...this will not end well," Haskill murmured as he vanished. Dyus was an elderly man with white hair, grey skin, and garbed in grey robes. Everything about him was grey, from knowing for eons exactly how everything would play out. After all, when one serves the Prince of Order as the head Librarian, all things can be predicted by the formulas that had been crafted from endless study of every living creature, whether creature, mortal, Daedra, or Aedra...things grow grey and boring. As such, Dyus knew that a Hero would appear in the next few years - down to the exact date - as a result of the Oblivion crisis to stop the Greymarch. He even knew how he would react. Which is why he did not take well to seeing a creature appear that was never listed in the Library of Order, and thus never calculated for. His reaction, as such, was not as controlled as he would have hoped. "What the fuck are you?" he demanded, his voice momentarily shifting out of his normal dull monotone. He hoped his Lord would forgive his momentary lack of control. Discord lunged forward, pinning Dyus to his chair. "Tell me how to restore the Staff of Sheogorath or I'll feed you your own testicles! While they're still attached!" Dyus blinked in shock. Unfortunately for him, being a servant to Order made one a firm believer in logic. "I am not entirely certain that's anatomically possible-" "Would you care for a demonstration?" Discord snarled, the walls shaking from the force of his anger. "You need the Eye of Ciirta and a branch from the Tree of Shades," Dyus said quickly. "Got it," Discord responded before vanishing. Ciirta was startled out of her preparations to overthrow Sheogorath as Discord appeared before her. "Borrowing this," he stated bluntly as he plucked her eye painlessly from its socket before vanishing. She blinked several times. She had seen things no mortal should ever have seen...but this was new. Perhaps Sheogorath had not abandoned the throne...so much as abdicated it. She had heard about a son, but hadn't believed it... Discord reappeared in Knifepoint Hill, eye and branch in hands. "Now what?" he demanded angrily. "Afix the eye to the branch, then touch the staff to the Tree of Madness in the throne room of the palace to energize it," Dyus explained. Discord vanished again. Dyus slumped back into his chair. "Jyggalag forgive me...but if I'm to try and calculate him, I need a drink..." As Discord appeared before the Tree of Madness, he paused. He could recreate the Staff of Sheogorath...but he wasn't his Dad. He couldn't just step into his Dad's shoes...that was playing Jiggy's game. His Dad had taught him better. When going into battle, you made your own rules. Staring at the branch, he grinned as an idea struck him. There were all those points... He started with a strand of fur from the Savior's Hide he was wearing, tying it to one thorny point. He then slipped the Ring of Khajit onto another, and embedded Sanguine's Starlet in a third. He braced the Skeleton Key in the top, and bound Azura's Star to it with a vine of Poison Joke, the special bloom he'd made with Peryite. He jammed Sting into the top next to the Skeleton Key - hilt in - then wrapped a strand of Nightmare Silk around the whole thing. The strand of silk - made of spun dreamstuff - had been a gift from Vaermina, to celebrate them still being an item after a full year, something no Daedra of any rank had ever experienced before. At long last, he affixed the Eye of Ciitra to Sting and the Key, then slammed the completed artifact into the Tree of Madness to charge it. In a flash of light that was all colors and none, the artifact was complete. The staff carried powers from all the artifacts that had been bound into it, and powers unique to itself derived from Discord himself. It was a solid wood with twisted points sticking out, topped with Discord's own horn and antler. Discord took in its true nature as he stared at it. Mad Psijic When raised, one of the following occurs Voice of Command - all targeted freeze for 10 minutes Greater Invisibility - when active, wielder cannot be perceived, even when striking (lasts 2 minutes) Open Door - automatically unlocks all barriers enThrall - summon random Daedra to serve wielder Joke's On You - Randomly curse target Darkness of Heart - target undergoes nightmare scenario, inflicting permanent Fear status Following effects are permanent No Cast - Magic Resist 50%, 25% chance to cancel any spell that targets wielder Phenomenal Cosmic Power - this artifact never runs out of charges Itty Bitty Living Space - this artifact has zero weight and encumbrance Mine! - this artifact can only be wielded by Discord, Prince of Chaos and Madness With the staff complete Discord turned, feeling the approach of Jyggalag. He would make his Father proud.