Sombra visits Skyrim

by Blackdrag-rose

51: Vahlok the Jailor

It had taken Sombra and his friends an entire day to plan how they were going to go about finding out the best way to gather the missing Black Books, though their host wasn't too pleased with the idea himself. Once they had determined that they needed the help of the Dragon Priests that stopped Miraak in the past, the same they believed that had hide the missing books, they realized that they were in need of a way to speak with the Priests. Luna had jumped at the idea to head back to Equestria, hunt down Trixie, explain the situation they found themselves in, and then come back with one of the original masks she had collected.

Sombra had agreed that getting Trixie back would be in their best interests, so while Luna embarked on her quest to find Trixie he and the others set out to find out where one of the Priests had been buried. It wasn't an easy task to accomplish, as nearly every piece of information on the whereabouts of the barrows had been lost to history, save for a few scraps that Neloth had salvaged from rotting books. According to the elf one of the Dragon Priests was said to have been buried near Raven Rock, but the only barrow in the area was still being dug out and there was no telling when they'd be able to go in and look around.

The had scoured every book and scrapping that the elf could provide them, but after hours of searching they came to the same conclusion that continued to plague them; the locations of the barrows of the four Dragon Priests may have been lost to history. That was until a historian by the name of Tharstan came to the door of Tel Mithryn, asking to speak with Sombra and his friends for a couple of minutes.

"So, Tharstan," Sombra said, looking up at the nord as he took a seat near a table, "What can we do for you?"

"Well, I found a new crypt and I was going to explore it," Tharstan replied, seeming eager to tell his tale to them, "but, I am not an adventurer and I wouldn't last more than two minutes once the draugr woke up. What I need is someone, or a group of someones, to help me move through the crypt, so I can study whatever we find and compile the notes into a book for all to see."

"And why should we care about your crypt?" Chrysalis asked, curious as to why they would need to abandon their quest to help him search an old crypt.

"Because it is the final resting place of Vahlok the Jailor," Tharstan told her, watching as everyone's eyes lit up, "Its just south of the Skaal Village, though they referred me to all of you and told me that you, and I quote them here, 'require the help of the leader of the Dragon Priests that ruled over Solstheim'. But I know that's impossible, because all four of the Dragon Priests that ruled this island in the ancient days are long since dead at this point."

"You'd be surprised then," a voice said from behind him, causing everyone to face the walkway and found Trixie standing there, with Luna right behind her, "After I slew Nahkriin the other seven Priests woke from their ancient slumber and converged on the Labyrinthain, where they waited for me to arrive. Before that happened I met Rahgot and defeated him, though they knew what I was doing to their order. If these Dragon Priests are anything like their counterparts in Skyrim they've already felt the deaths of the other eight and are eagerly awaiting my arrival in their barrows."

"And who would you be my dear?" Neloth asked, curious as to who this latest Equestrian was so he could document her with the others he had already met.

"I am Trixie Lulamoon," Trixie replied, pulling out an ebony mask and a glowing staff, "Archmage of the College of Winterhold, Bearer of the Staff of Magnus, and Slayer of the Skyrim Dragon Priests. I understand the Dragon Priests better than anyone else in Skyrim, so I am fairly certain that I can calm down Vahlok before he tries to kill us all. Say, where is Raika anyway? I haven't seen her yet."

"Miraak's captured her, remember?" Luna told the young mage, not surprised that she had already forgotten that piece of information, "We suspect that he plans on using her to escape from Apocrypha, but the only way we can get into the realm of a Daedric Prince is by summoning a special portal. We need the seven Black Books of Hermaeus Mora to do so, but while we have three at the moment we need Vahlok and the other Priests to tell us where the rest are."

"That's right," Trixie said, turning to Tharstan for a moment, "Just point us in the direction of Vahlok's tomb and we'll be sure to meet you there later this afternoon."

Tharstan quickly jotted down a note, handed it to Sombra, wished all of them luck gathering whatever equipment they would need for the journey into the crypt, and then left them all to whatever they needed to do. Trixie waited until the nord was long gone before she even asked what had been plaguing her mind since Princess Luna had informed her of what had transpired since she had left Tamriel.

"Princess Luna told me that we found out what was causing Raika to change," Trixie commented, tapping the staff against the floor, "something about a dragon that was called Yolrahtoor?"

"It appears that the dragon whose soul gave Raika her Dragonborn powers was none other than one that had turned on Alduin," Sombra replied, sighing as he recounted the information, "but, instead of telling us about this dragon, Raika chose to keep the information to herself. I doubt she knew that she was the host for such a dangerous dragon who, according to what the Skaal told us, is supposed to be the Goddess of Fire. All we ever saw was Raika's rage, which apparently served as the perfect catalyst for the dragon to begin her hostile takeover of Raika's body, as each of us saw.

We came here to defeat Miraak and save the island by shattering his influence over its people, but instead we ended up delivering his greatest ally right back to him. Now Raika is trapped in Apocrypha, though there is no doubt that Miraak is likely tormenting her in an attempt to force her to give into Yolrahtoor's power. We can only hope that Raika is resisting both the dragon's powers and whatever Miraak is tormenting her with, because the longer she resists the more time we have to find and save her. In order to do any of that we need the help of the Dragon Priests that ruled Solstheim, which only you can communicate with at this point Trixie."

"I'd rather not keep Vahlok waiting," Trixie said, slipping Nahkriin's mask on over her face, "though I only hope that he knows where the rest of these Black Books are located and this won't be a waste of our precious time."

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An hour later they were standing outside the area that had once covered the hidden tomb of Vahlok, which Tharstan told them that it had been revealed a day or two ago. Sombra thought it was odd that the tomb had only revealed itself so soon, as if it had somehow been unlocked the moment that they had traveled into Miraak's temple. According to what they could find on the strange leader of the Solstheim Dragon Priests it was said that his tomb was somehow linked to Miraak's own, so he could maintain a vigil over the land. It made complete sense that he might be awake even now, working on how to find his ancient enemy on his own instead of working with his old team.

The inside of the tomb they came to was nothing impressive at first, just a simple hallway that eventually lead them to a large open chamber that rivaled the one they had found in Miraak's temple. Two statues, similar to those they had found in previous barrows, rested before a locked cage, each of them baring a keyhole that resembled the strange claws they found in other dungeons. Behind the cage was another opening, but the more Sombra looked at it he found that there was a chasm between the cage and the other opening. He also spotted two more tunnels, one on their right and one on their left, and suspected that they might find the keys down either side.

He spotted a pedestal resting above a flaming pit, one that was covered by an iron gate, with a lever resting below the pedestal, though before Sombra could comment on it Tharstan approached it.

"Ah, an ancient inscription written in the dragon tongue," Tharstan said, his eyes scanning the text as if he was translating it in his mind, "this may hold a key as to how we might be able to move on through the tomb. Let's see here; it says..."

"'A sacrifice will bring you closer to that which you seek'," Trixie finished, stepping past him and glancing down at the pit, "It means that something needs to go into that pit so we can move on, though I'm thinking that we could easily use one of the draugr's bodies that are already scattered around us."

Sombra approached the pit and grabbed one of the bodies by the leg, gently moving it across the chamber before he laid it across the iron bars that rested above the flaming pit. He nodded to Trixie, who reached out for the level and pulled it, which in turn caused the iron bars to open and drop the corpse into the waiting flames. At first nothing happened, which made Sombra worry that they might have misunderstood the riddle, but then the torches lining both tunnels burst into flames. He suspected that the doors that had been locked must have opened, so he beckoned to the passage on the pits left and they made their way towards it.

The moment they entered that area of the tomb they found four Dragur Deathlords waiting for them, leaving Trixie and Tharstan to watch the fight. Celestia and Luna grabbed the first two that came their way, parrying the attacks and dragging them away so the others could have room for their own fight. Chrysalis, not even caring about the undead, draw her weapon and cut her opponent down in a single swing, letting the halves fall to the ground before moving on. Sombra parried a few of the attacks, giving his foe some chance for a decent fight, but eventually cut the dragur down just like Chrysalis had done. Not moments after they finished both Celestia and Luna also finished, pushing their foes into the walls and cutting them down.

The next chamber they reached was similar to the first one they found, in the way that there was a pedestal for them to read and a riddle for them to figure out. The odd thing was that there was a pillar in the center of the chamber, with three smaller stones resting around it, each of them colored differently and facing a different symbol. Sombra circled around it, finding a symbol that resembled a sword, one that resembled an arrow, and a third that resembled a staff that was surrounded by magic.

"'All men must die'," Trixie recited, staring at the pedestal and translating the words, "'often by their own means.' I guess this means that we might need to activate each of these stones, likely by whatever their side of the main pillar shows them."

Sombra nodded and approached the stone that rested before the sword symbol, taking a swing at it and nailing it in the center before it started to glow red. Celestia summoned a small amount of magic and approached the stone that bared the symbol for magic, allowing it to pass through the stone before it glowed blue. Luna, having gone out of the chamber to grab an arrow, quickly approached the final stone and stabbed at it with the arrow, causing the stone to start glowing green. Once all there of them were glowing the gate in front of them opened up, though none of the Equestrian's lowered their weapons as they entered the chamber.

Sure enough three Draugr Deathlords came out of their coffins and approached the group, but before they reached them Trixie held out the Staff of Magnus and blasted each of them into the back wall, killing each of them with the magic alone. Sombra made sure to search the fallen corpses for anything that might be able to aid them, finding half of a claw that had to have been made out of amethyst, something that he knew they would need later on. Tharstan made a comment how the word wall told of a Guardian that did battle with Miraak long ago, which meant that they were definitely in the right place.

They entered a sarcophagus that rested against the wall, walked through the tunnel they could easily see from the chamber, and found themselves back in the main chamber. Once they climbed off the edge they found themselves on they then made their way to the second tunnel they had opened. The tunnel they traveled down, oddly, did not have any draugr to fight, but when they reached the end they found yet another pedestal with another riddle written upon it.

"Let's see here, 'Continue along the path,'" Trixie began, reading the latest riddle while the others gathered around her, "'don't tread where you've been'. I'd have to guess this means that one of us would have to walk along this stonework, never touching the same square twice until they have touched each one once."

Luna chuckled and stepped onto the first stone, following the path backwards until she had stepped on the three stone, before turning and following the path by stepping on two more stones. Once those ones were pressed she made sure to step onto the one right next to the one she had stepped on first before moving onto the last stone, the one in the middle. At first nothing happened, but as Luna was about to comment on how she must have done something wrong the iron bars lowered into the floor, allowing them to pass into the next chamber. This time five draugr stepped out of their coffins, four of them looking ordinary, but the fifth was another one of the Deathlords that they had fought many times already.

"We don't have time to waste on these creatures," Chrysalis said, swinging her sword around her for a moment before approaching their enemies, "I'll make this as quick as possible."

Chrysalis let the first draugr approach her, spinning around and bringing her sword down hard enough to cleave it in half, before the other three got near her. Two of them approached her, though she laughed at them and spun around, arching her sword at an angle that cleaved the head of one clean off before cutting the second in half, after delivering a diagonal gash to its body. The fourth draugr approached her, but instead of swinging her sword Chrysalis just punched it in the chest and tore the rotten heart free, killing the undead as she dropped the heart.

The Deathlord roared at her, but she grinned at it and beckoned for it to come at her, which made it pick up the battleaxe that it carried and run right at her. It swung its weapon at her, as if the sight of the weapon would make her surrender, but Chrysalis backed up just a bit and let the weapon hit the pillar that had been behind her. The Deathlord pulled on the weapon, but the attack had been so hard that he had stuck the blade deep in the stonework and that, in effect, left him without his weapon. Chrysalis, deciding to finish it in one attack, approached the annoyed draugr and swung her own weapon, cutting off her opponents head and letting both it and the body hit the ground.

As Tharstan commented on how the Word Wall in the back mentioned how the Guardian inspired both men and dragon alike, Sombra noticed that the Deathlord had been carrying the other half of the claw he had picked up earlier. He had no idea what the purpose of the two halves of the dragons claw was, but he was sure that they were going to find out before they were done with the tomb.

Once they were done in the chamber they made their way through one of the coffins that had opened, walking through another hidden tunnel and coming out on a small edge near the main chamber. It was then that Sombra noticed the two statues near the caged pedestal each bared a keyhole like the Puzzle Doors he had seen in the previous barrows, though these ones were cut in half. At first he had no idea what to do with the two keyholes, but then he realized what the answer was and pressed the halves against one of them, using the half found in the left tunnel in the left hole and the right fragment in the right hole. Once he had pressed them in he heard a click and the cage in front of him opened up, though he made way for Trixie to read the next riddle, knowing that they were one step closer to finding Vahlok.

"Ah, 'Stay your course.'" Trixie commented, running her hand over the riddle before noticing a small lever, "'To idle is to die.' I guess that we're supposed to pull this and..."

The moment that she pulled the lever a light blue circle appeared on the ground in front of the cage's second opening, resting above the open chasm that had been built into the tomb. Trixie smiled and approached the circle, stepping onto it and causing a second one to appear out of thin air, though she realized what the riddle had meant almost immediately. She followed the pathway that the circles laid out for her, twisting whenever they happened to twist and making the turns that were required of her, before she reached the end of the walkway. She wondered if the others would have to repeat the process she had just gone through, but then she spotted the walkway that connected where she was to where the rest of her group was.

Trixie, taking the lead as she knew how to use the walkways, activated the next three magical walkways that they came across, which were only activated by pulling the lever near the beginning of their path. The first one was as slow as the one she had completed by the gated riddle, which meant that she was done with it in a matter of a minute or two. The second walkway was a tad bit faster than the first one, though she watched where they appeared and made sure to keep in pace with the circles. The third and final walkway was even faster than the previous two, as they appeared in rapid succession and required her to keep up with them, least she be dropped into the waters below where they were standing.

In the end Trixie stood at the end of the challenge, though she was out of breath as the others eventually joined her, so they could delve deeper into Vahlok's ancient tomb. That was when the reached the Hall of Stories and the Puzzle Door, which told Sombra and his companions that they had finally reached the main goal of their small quest.

"Ah ha!" Tharstan exclaimed, rushing to one of the walls and running his hands over the stonework, "The Hall of Stories, just as I predicted! With this we can open the door and finally see Vahlok's ancient body for ourselves. Perhaps there's enough undamaged text in these etchings to tell us the combination. Ah, yes, here's something. The first one has to do with a breeze, or maybe it's wind. The second one mentions the night sky, and the moon. And the third has something to do with fire. It also seems to mention scales."

Sombra, having studied the various inscriptions that had been in the books they had been reading earlier that day, thought that he knew exactly what the combination was. He approached the door and spun the largest ring around, moving it around until it was showing the symbol of an eagle, lining up with the wind. The middle ring was next, which he continued to move around until it was showing the symbol of a wolf, which he connected to the moon. The final ring he moved until it was showing the symbol of a dragon, which lined up perfectly with the fire and scales the wall mentioned. Once the work was done he connected the two halves together and pressed them against the keyhole, causing the rings to spin before the door opened before them.

The room in front of them was like a giant oval, though there were a bunch of coffins that lined the walls and one rather large one that sat in front of a third Word Wall. Neither Sombra nor the rest of his friends needed to be told who was sleeping in the coffin, as they had dealt with plenty of Dragon Priests during their time in Skyrim. Chrysalis merely guessed that was who was resting in the coffin, but she was in no hurry to walk in and wake whatever it was from its ancient slumber. Trixie sighed and walked into the chamber alone, letting the echo of her staff touching the floor be the only noise that filled the ancient chamber.

The moment that she neared the coffin the lid slid right off and the Dragon Priest that had called the coffin home, Vahlok, rose from his slumber for the first time in two thousand years.

"Who dares awaken me from my...!" Vahlok nearly shouted, speaking in the Dragon Tongue as he realized who was standing in front of him, "Oh, its you. The Slayer of Dragon Priests. Tell me, have you come to end my life as well? Have you come to kill me, so that Miraak might finally triumph over the one that bested him in combat?"

"No Lord Vahlok," Trixie said, giving the old Dragon Priest some respect, as he had bested Miraak at one point in his own lifetime, "but Miraak is why my companions and I have roused you from your ancient slumber. We're afraid that Yolrahtoor has returned to Tamriel and that Miraak might have already claimed her power once again. We need your help to open a gateway into Apocrypha, so we can take the fight to him and defeat him before he has a chance to use her power against the rest of Tamriel."

It wasn't her attempt to make him trust her, which she had gone out of her way and had called him a 'Lord', which could have been accurate considering everything the dragons had given him. Rather, it had been the threat of Yolrahtoor, the very dragon that had taught him much of what he knew and had later betrayed everyone because of Miraak, that caught his attention. It was almost as if whatever blood still remained in his body had chilled at the mention of his former master returning, but then he turned fierce once more.

"If you expect me to be your ally in this fight you'll have to explain how this came about," Vahlok moaned, picking up his staff before turning to the open doorway, "I need to know exactly how Yolrahtoor returned to Tamriel before I do anything else to help any of you stop my ancient foe."

Comments

[HB_DS2013]

Vahlok's NOT fighting Trixie!?

[Sonata Blaze]

6044461 I think the threat of Miraak and Yolrahtoor returning was enough to make him stall. That, or he knew what she had done to the others in Skyrim and wanted nothing to do with a fight. But it seems like Vahlok and the others will be helping the gang out...at least, that's what I think might happen.

[Vigilant of Stendarr]

I am somewhat surprised that Vahlok didn't outright fight Trixie, but his fear has to be taken into consideration.
Time to take the fight to Miraak and end this nightmare.