Skyrim: The Faces of Death

by Blackdrag-rose


War: The Missing Mane

With Riverhold falling to the might of Amaryllis' plan, leading to everyone being liberated from the Dominion's hold, they were able to turn their attention to the other cities that rested throughout Elsweyr, as there was a benefit to spreading all those rumors around the city and merchants. Those who left the city, before the big event, would take the rumors to the rest of the province and spread them like wildfire, opening the way for Amaryllis, Deathtail, and their allies to open the minds of the people and liberate everyone so they weren't trapped under the Dominion's dark thumb. For now they were focusing their efforts on the rest of the northern cities, such as Dune, Orcrest, and Rimmen, and once the northern half was free they would turn their attention to the southern half of the province, to free the cities of Alabaster, Corinthe, Senchal, and even Torval. Once all of the cities were free, and the people were liberated, she would return to Za'kera with news of her success and see if they had to advance on Valenwood, as there was a chance that some of her remaining forces were dealing with the mess over there while she was in Elsweyr.

She discovered something interesting as she stood around the map table with her allies, Khajiit, Argonian, and Altmer alike, which happened to be that Torval was the seat of the Mane's power in Elsweyr, where she determined that the best place to hide the Mane would be in the city they ruled from, as it seemed like a move the Dominion would make. Sadly none of the now freed Altmer could back her up, as none of them were ranked high enough to know that information, but that didn't stop the Khajiit from agreeing with her as they considered it, especially when they thought about her earlier proposal, that the Dominion was keeping the Mane around to execute them and blame the Empire. Such a thing lead them back to the idea of using the merchants to spread the rumors, as there was a chance that all of the high ranking Dominion forces would hear of this and stop the planned execution, before it was too late, to focus their efforts on calming down the province and forcing the Khajiit back into their submissive position. Of course such a thing meant they had to ensure that their enemies in the dark for as long as they could, because if the Dominion knew what was going on it would lead to the start of a war in Elsweyr, though the more people they saved the more allies they would have for when it was time to march on the Summerset Isles.

One other thing she discovered was that the Tojay-raht monk insisted on being near her at all times, either because she was thankful for the plan that saved Riverhold or she wanted to make sure Amaryllis was safe from harm, though in the end she decided that it didn't matter and welcomed the monk's aid. She discovered that the monk's name was Sakaia, an unusual name for a Khajiit, and she was known by two titles, the first being 'Lightning Fist', no doubt because of her speed and reflexes, while the second was 'Ghost Fist', a combination of her monk skills and the fact that many felt that Khajiit, no matter the breed, were just thieves or assassins. Amaryllis knew that people had to stop judging others based on the race they were born as, like how everyone mistreated the Khajiit, or how all Nords were seen as barbaric warriors, even if that was a bit extreme when she thought about it, to everything else she had heard of the other races, and there was a chance those sayings would disappear once Za'kera was in control of the continent. The Alfig, on the other hand, simply laid down in her corner and got over her drunken headache, showing that she could be an alcoholic and drink too much, but right now she knew that they had a plan to save all of Elsweyr and she needed to be sober to help them out, though she slurred her name, due to being drunk.

Amaryllis wasn't too sure if the Alfig was calling herself 'Sereyne' or if she meant to say another name, though for the time being she decided that it didn't matter and focused her efforts on the map in front of them, as there were more cities for them to liberate before Elsweyr was free from the Dominion's grasp.

"So you're telling me that everyone who was sent into Black Marsh is alive, and that no harm came to them?" Deathtail asked, as he, like many of the members of the Silent Tails, had been worried about their brethren who were sent into the marsh with the Altmer, never to be seen again, and talking with Amaryllis meant they were able to get information on what happened, even though they could speak to the individuals if they so wanted.

"King Abiru insisted that capturing and liberating any intruders was the best course of action... so yes, they're alive and all of them are unharmed." Amaryllis answered, though while that was still amazing, not to mention the fact that the rest of the Silent Tails were overjoyed to have their missing friends and family members back, her focus was on the task in front of her, one that she intended on fulfilling to the best of her ability.

From what she gathered Deathtail's younger sister had been in one of the groups sent to Black Marsh and Amaryllis did what she could to see if her group could be returned as well, causing her to draft a letter to the Argonian king and send it by carrier hawk, so it would reach it's destination in due time and they'd have an answer in a few days. After that they did everything they could to prepare for the other cities of Elsweyr, as everyone knew that the same trick wouldn't work twice, and if it did than that meant that the Dominion's forces weren't as sharp as they assumed, and they had to be prepared for the possibility of being discovered by their dark enemy. So far the plan was the same as what happened to Riverhold, they were going to set up an event to cause a rift to emerge between all of the Khajiit and the Dominion, opening the way for them and their allies to liberate the city and the people who called it home. If they found out where the Mane was, and managed to free them, well, that would boost their chances of freeing Elsweyr and making sure their enemies lost this province as a supply base for their war against the other races of the world, before worrying about Valenwood, the last of the provinces between them and the Summerset Isles.

As they started to liberate the other cities of Elsweyr, sticking to the northern half for now, Deathtail asked how they were getting all the sap to free both his people and the Altmer who were ordered to seize control of the other provinces, only to find that King Abiru provided them with a fair amount of sap, even though Amaryllis was sure that most of it went to their efforts in Valenwood.

After the liberation of Riverhold it only took a day for them to do the same to two of the northern cities, freeing them so they were no longer trapped under the Dominion's thumb, while liberating the people so they could move on and help them do the same to the rest of the province. It was quite refreshing when Amaryllis thought about it, she didn't need to kill anyone with her weapons, rather she and Sakaia staged their 'fights' around some part of the city they were planning on liberating next, never using the same location twice for fear of a pattern emerging. Of course no one escaped to tell the tale of what happened, if they could help it, but that didn't stop them from making sure that the blame was laid squarely on the Dominion's shoulders, so if anyone did observe their events it would be passed on that the Khajiit were under fire from their own allies and cause more cracks to form between the two races. Once they were liberated the people finally understood why they were going through things like this, to save them from a terrible fate, but before that they said next to nothing to avoid being revealed to their enemies, a system that was working far better than Amaryllis dared to hope when she considered that things could, and usually would, go wrong.

Somehow by the fifth day after Riverhold had been liberated they were in total control of the northern portion of Elsweyr, without losing a single life no less, something that caused Amaryllis' forces to cheer as she considered their next options, they could either move onto the Mane's domain or circle around and liberate the southern end. There were problems with both options, she knew that much, so she had to decide what was more important right now, tracking down the missing Mane or liberating the southern end to launch a pincer attack on the center of the province, which would trap the rest of the Dominion's forces in this province in the center. In the end she decided on the latter, because if they provided such a wide area of escape she was sure that they would lose some of the Altmer and the Dominion would learn of their efforts in no time, so she, Deathtail, and Sakaia focused on the southern cities for the next few days. Such a thing meant those who were being sent into the center of Elsweyr had more time to spread their rumors, while also keeping themselves safe from harm, to lure the Dominion into a false sense of security so when it came to ambush them they wouldn't be able to stop them from saving the province.

Of course many of the Khajiit wanted to go to Torval first, to save the Mane before something happened to them, but they knew that her idea also had some merit and went along with her plan, though with all the work their forces put into their rumors she had a feeling that it wouldn't be long before the southern half was freed as well.

Sure enough it only took a day for them to save Senchal from the Dominion, liberating the tail end of Elsweyr, before they turned around and started spreading out to the other cities and villages, allowing them to spread around Torval as slowly as possible, without their enemies seeing it coming. One thing she eventually discovered was something called the Great Divide, which seemed to be a long stretch of road in the Quin'rawl Peninsula of the southern half of the province, one that Sakaia told her contained something called the 'Halls of the Colossus'. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the name meant, it was an area built to either construct and house the Numidium, or it was a testing ground that lead deep into the caves below the ground, away from the prying eyes of everyone else in the world. Such a thing told her that they might have discovered where the Dominion's Numidium might be resting, before it was used to smash down the Adamantine Tower and end the world as a whole, so she swore to come back and see whatever was inside it, once she had saved the Mane, their people, and all of Elsweyr.

After thinking about that, and liberating all of the southern end of Elsweyr, Amaryllis and her forces surrounded Torval in no time, making sure to block the exits so none of the Dominion's forces could escape while bringing no attention to them at all, while she, Sakaia, and everyone else vital to the show moved into their positions.

Sure enough it wasn't long before they started another riot, with the Altmer under fire from the Khajiit, though while the others focused on liberating their captives, like they had done since she showed them what to do, Amaryllis found one of the enemy commanders heading towards what appeared to be a special building, like where a spiritual leader might call home. Such a thing told her all she needed to know, they were going after the Mane and she had to stop them, though as she reached the temple area a few guards, wearing special leather armor for the climate of the southern end of Elsweyr, stepped out of wherever they might have been hiding and knocked the Altmer out. After that they turned and formed a path of sorts, half of the group on Amaryllis' right and the other half on the left, before she found out why they bowed for a moment, the Mane, in all her glory, stepped out of the temple, meaning she had either been imprisoned and had been freed by her guards or she went peacefully to deceive the Dominion as they waited for the right time to strike. The Mane was armored like her guards, only more elegantly and make her look like a spiritual leader who did battle with her foes, all while having some braids attached to her helmet, though she had no idea what made a Mane so special, as she looked like a Cathay, but she bowed her head as well, to show respect.

With the Mane freed Amaryllis was able to focus on liberating the rest of Torval as she waited to see what the future held, especially in regards to the Halls of the Colossus, because if they were lucky they could cripple the Dominion's machine before it could be used against the rest of the world, she just had to be patient as she waited for her allies to come and see what, exactly, she had discovered.