Interlude: Rielle
Amaryllis found Wind rather easily, as she was standing outside Ma'jera's tower, where it looked like her mentor was busy with whatever spell or ritual she was working on, or maybe she was communing with her father about the situation with Miraak, but regardless of whatever happened to be going on in the structure she didn't want Wind nearby, meaning it was something she didn't want them to find. Lydia, on the other hand, had spent her downtime after the meeting with the Jarls in the training area, making sure she was ready for whatever might be coming their way next, and as soon as she spotted the pair she stopped swinging her battleaxe and walked over as she wiped the sweat from her forehead, showing them that she was totally ready to move out and face her Thane's enemies. For the time being Amaryllis didn't tell them exactly what was going on right now, as she didn't want to cause a panic among those that were around them, where Wind understood and Lydia just shrugged for a moment before she fell in line with them, to which she lead both of her companions back to the front of the fort, as Za'kera had made sure the others were working while they did this. With the four of them ready to go they climbed onto the carriage and Lydia got them underway once more, where this time Amaryllis informed her of the path that would bring them to their destination, before delving into what she discovered thanks to the courier that showed up to deliver a letter to Za'kera earlier that day, during the meeting with the Jarls.
She revealed that the Mythic Dawn was active in Skyrim, new recruits eager to do Dagon's will, and that they were currently planning on piercing the Liminal Barrier between this world and Oblivion, no doubt to launch a pincer attack on them while they were distracted by either Miraak or even the Aldmeri Dominion, and if his plan worked they would be smashed before even realizing the grand destiny that Akatosh had for Za'kera.
"What I don't understand if why Dagon would have Sharva join us, if he intends on laying waste to everything we and our allies hold dear," Za'kera said, as that was the one piece of the puzzle that didn't make sense to them, because each agent of the Divines or the Princes of Oblivion had a reason for joining her forces, the first being tracking down their artifact, in the case of someone like Mehrunes' Dagon or Hermaeus Mora, while the second was to join them, but in Sharva's case she wasn't the kid of a godly figure and didn't recover the artifact of her master.
"I think Dagon wanted us to get to a certain point, and to make sure we did he sent someone to help us," Wind replied, as it was the only thing that made sense when she thought about it, other than the fact that she could have been someone whose job was just to distract her target from what her master was doing, so Skorvild kind of ruined that if her thoughts on the matter were right, "or she's a distraction, to ensure we don't succeed in doing something... given everything that we have done so far, I don't think that's the case... or maybe we're just overreacting and she's not in on this at all, and we're just thinking she is since she's Dagon slave."
"There's no way she's in on this, otherwise she would have killed the courier before he reached the fort," Amaryllis said, as that was one of the keys to understanding this situation, that Dagon would have forced her to kill anyone who wanted to ruin his plan, especially since he had a cult following all of his orders and demands in another part of Skyrim, so she had a feeling that they were wrong to think the ashen Khajiit was an enemy, "but there's something we're not figuring out, so for now we should focus on reaching our destination and figuring out where this Greater Welkynd Stone is... if we find that we should be able to cripple his plan."
"We must be cautious, this is a Prince we're dealing with." Lydia remarked, where she moved the reins as she shifted her body for a couple of seconds, because she was still getting used to her altered form, though that happened to be the only thing she had to share with her Thane, Amaryllis, and Wind, something that caused the others to nod their heads before falling silent, even though she was joined by the first person who joined her and her Thane.
Amaryllis gave Lydia all the instructions she needed to navigate them to the area that they needed to travel to, where they headed through Riverwood and headed for the ruins of Helgen, though once more she found that there were no bandits or enemies waiting for them, something that was incredibly odd and made her wonder if another Daedric Prince or one of the Divines happened to be behind it. The only reason she thought about that was due to the fact that it seemed like what one of them would do in this situation, to make sure Za'kera reached her destinations in a timely manner and didn't spend all of her time fighting the robbers of this world, but without one coming and telling them it was hard to know, so she just turned most of her attention to their current mission. Of course she knew that they had to be focusing on figuring out how to get to Solstheim, to deal with Miraak, but right now the fact that the Mythic Dawn was working to possibly end the world put that plan on hold for the time being, if not forever depending on what happened in Rielle, and Za'kera wanted to stop Dagon's plans before he ruined everything she was working towards right now. As such her mind was focused on heading to the Ayleid ruin and seeing if they could find the Greater Welkynd Stone that Vanos seemed to think was resting deep in it's depths, while the others seemed to be readying themselves in their own ways as they stared at their surroundings and thought about everything that was going to happen when they reached the ruin she had found.
Other than that Amaryllis glanced at the shadows and made sure no one was following them, just to make sure none of their enemies surprised them, and readied herself, as there was no telling what might happen when they reached Rielle and the area that was resting outside it, especially with a dragon resting there, though she was hoping to crush the rest of the Mythic Dawn and end this madness so they could return to dealing with Miraak.
It took some time for them to reach the path that lead to the ruins she had seen, and when they reached where the lone dragon had been resting Za'kera climbed off the carriage as Lydia brought the horses to a stop, though they stared out at the area in question as Amaryllis lead the way forward, finding that the dragon she had seen was either sleeping or might have flown off after seeing her the first time. Regardless of what happened to the beast she brought them to the tunnel that the Mythic Dawn had created some time ago, something that caused Za'kera to draw her blades as Wind readied her staff, along with Lydia heaving her battleaxe over her shoulder, finding that it was easier to wield in this form, as Amaryllis remained without weapons, figuring that if they found enemies she could arm herself when it was time. With them ready to go she lead the way into the tunnel and proceeded to fade into the shadows once more, where Za'kera followed her as she did that, either due to her innate Dragonborn nature or the trust that she had in someone like her, laving Lydia and Wind to walk behind them, just in case enemies arrived to aid the rest of the Mythic Dawn that might be lurking in part of Rielle. Based on what she was seeing it didn't look like Vanos had guards posted near the entrance, to make sure they had no uninvited guests, and while she wasn't going to look the gift horse in the mouth she had a feeling that this was too easy for them, and her companions seemed to think the same thing as they walked through the tunnel and headed for Cyrodiil, since that was where the Ayleid ruins existed, but no one spoke, just in case.
Of course it took some time for them to reach a turn in the tunnel, though when they did Amaryllis emerged for a second and beckoned for the others to stop, where she stepped into a larger cavern and noticed that it lead right into the side of an elegantly crafted stone wall that was far different than the walls of a Nordic ruin, with a hole at her height, though she found that no one was near and beckoned for Za'kera to join her.
Once everyone was back together they stepped into the Ayleid ruin, finding that it was more orderly and neat than what all of the Nords made with their barrows, rivaling the Dwemer in how neat their ruins were, with the room being made out of smooth stone and was designed in a far different manner than what Amaryllis had seen so far, and she found what looked like a circular chest made out of metal, possibly iron or something unique to the Ayleids. Even though the place should be falling apart, due to the age of it and how long it had been since anyone had walked through these halls, almost everything was in perfect condition, as if some magic lingered in this place and was preventing it from collapsing on top of itself, which they might have figured out if they brought Ma'jera, but it was better if mortals did this. Interestingly enough they found a pair of skeevers in the first chamber of Rielle, meaning they had either wandered if after the Mythic Dawn or both had been left by their enemies, though it didn't take them long to take their foes out, not with Wind loosing a bolt of lightning that chained off the wall she struck and hit both of her targets, without damaging the walls at all. After that they discovered a set of stairs in a tunnel that seemed to be the only way forward, as there were no other passages for them to use, though Amaryllis checked a few of the containers and found that they contained some flawless gemstones, as in the most expensive ones, and some rather strong looking potions, so she took them for later, since they had no idea what was lurking in the depths of Rielle.
The tunnel in question brought them to a larger chamber that had a locked door, whether or not it lead down to the main section was something they would answer in due time, though Za'kera found a shriveled corpse walking to their left and drew her blades on it, cutting it down before it could do anything to her or her companions, finding that it looked similar to the Draugr they had seen in the past. They followed the walkway that they were on, which allowed them to find that a few sections of the floor and walls, at least in this area, were definitely ruined, and Amaryllis found another Ayleid Wight standing at the bottom of a set of stairs that lead to the central part of the chamber, one that she cut down with a swing of her daggers, opening the way for the others to join her. She then discovered a few scattered blue stones that were resting on the ground around a few slain members of the Mythic Dawn, no doubt lesser Welkynd Stones, which she collected as Wind picked one up for her studies, before finding that one of the cultists had a journal on them as she searched them for anything of use, adding more gems and potions to the collection. What she learned was a bit of information that quickly confirmed what the four elements were, in the eyes of the Ayleids, and that there were shards that represented those four elements, which served as keys to the hidden chambers that existed within all of the Ayleid ruins, or certain ones anyway, but it didn't go into detail about where these keys might be, other than the fact that there was a set up in the crypt that had four pedestals, Air to the North, Earth to the South, Light to the East, and Water to the West.
What that told her was that they needed to find and track down the four Elemental Shards, even though it seemed like it might be impossible since not even the Mythic Dawn could do such a thing, but Za'kera agreed with her statement before telling them that they would be sticking together, since they had no idea what else might be lurking in this place, to which they continued searching Rielle and left the chamber behind.
From there they headed down another set of stairs and discovered another chamber, though this time they had to be a bit more careful, as Amaryllis found some traps that were off to their right and left, ones that happened to drop sharpened slabs of metal at whoever triggered them, guillotines basically, though she tackled them alone and found that each area ended in a chest, so they were little perches to look out over the area. Of course she looted the chests of valuables, just to add to their arsenal, before they passed through a door that lead to another chamber, one that happened to have a set of stairs that lead back into the one she and her companions had just left, though a rather powerful and more armored foe, another Wight, stepped out of the lower passage and attacked them. What they discovered was that the Wight Lord was far stronger than the normal Wights they had faced so far, as it was able to tank more damage and made everyone back off whenever it attacked them, but in the end they took it down and Amaryllis smiled as she discovered what was in their foe's possession, a large green crystal that had to be one of the four they were looking for. Based on the journal she found this had to be the Sercen Stone, or the Earth Stone, meaning they needed to find three more unique colors, one for Wel, or Air, another for Alata, Light in the Ayleid language, and one more for Nen, which was Water, to which she carefully put it in her pack before she and her companions resumed exploring the rest of Rielle.
As they continued their exploration they found a number of lesser Wights guarding the chambers and passages, as they had been awakened by the Mythic Dawn, though while Za'kera and Lydia engaged them both Amaryllis and Wind stayed back and focused on taking out any newcomers who were late to the party, preventing their companions from being taken down by the guardians of Rielle. Amaryllis continued to search every cask, chest, and urn they walked by, finding more for them to take back to the fort when this was done, as gems could help pay for their expenses, the potions could be used in the upcoming war, and the arrows would be put to use with the archers, though she claimed every Welkynd Stone as well, as there was no telling how useful they would be one they were out of here. Eventually they found the second of the four Elemental Shards, as it appeared that one of the Mythic Dawn had found a white one, no doubt the Wel Stone, before he was slain by the Wights, to Amaryllis took it as Za'kera continued to search the rest of the ruin, as it seemed like they might be in luck, that they wouldn't have to fight four Wight Lords to get the Elemental Shards. The third shard, as it turned out, was back near where they found the journal, where Wind found that their target must have unlocked the door when they passed through the area earlier, though it didn't take them too long to bring it down and discover that it held a blue stone, the Nen Stone, meaning all they had to do now was track down the Alata Stone and then find the pedestals that the four keys needed to be returned to.
Of course they searched the section of Rielle that they were in and didn't find it, though Wind located a door that linked up with the depths and they walked through it without wasting time, where they quickly discovered a small chamber on the other side of it that had another Wight Lord, who carried a yellow stone, as in the Alata Stone, that they claimed as soon as it was brought down. With that done they made their way deeper into Rielle, finding more containers to loot while finding a number of doors that seemed to have no way to open them, save for the floor panels that Lydia stepped on, her weight triggering each one and allowing them to progress even deeper into this place, even though the next chamber had a far more dangerous trap, a raising floor one that they had to avoid. After that they found their way to a door that opened with ease, as it wasn't locked and it didn't look like a pressure plate had been installed in the area, so they were able to enter a large chamber that seemed to be square shaped in nature, with a central pillar that had four pedestals resting around it, to which Wind stepped forward and studied them as Amaryllis and the others kept an eye out for enemies. It took Wind a few seconds to realize what she was seeing, which had to be because Ma'jera was her mentor and that meant she must have been taught a thing or two about the Ayleids, before she found the Nen symbol, the Secren symbol, the Wel symbol, and the Alata symbol, to which she beckoned for Amaryllis to place each one on their respective pedestal and she did so in the next few seconds.
Once all four were placed in their respective positions, however, they stood there for a second before they went dark, as it was either a bad sign or a good sign, and it was followed by a section of the wall moving down into the ground, allowing all of them to head into the passage it revealed before Lydia stepped onto a pressure plate and brought down another wall, one that revealed the hidden chamber that the Mythic Dawn had been looking for. It was far more intact than the rest of Rielle, as nothing was damaged and it seemed like they were the first ones to enter this place since it was sealed, though in the middle of everything was a circular structure that had a larger Welkynd Stone resting on top of it, the Greater Welkynd Stone that they were looking for. There was also a stone coffin in the middle of the back of the chamber, opposite from the area they had entered from, though nothing happened as they entered the chamber and Za'kera beckoned for Amaryllis to take the Greater Welkynd Stone, where she carefully approached it and swiped it from where it was resting, but as she did that all of them found that the coffin opened as an undead burst out of the coffin. The lich, as that had to be what they were seeing right now, wore robes that indicated that it had been an important figure when it was alive and carried what looked like a pretty powerful staff into battle, which might rival the power of the Staff of Magnus, where the lich floated in the air, much like how Ma'jera did, before sending bursts of lightning out from his weapon and hands, showing them that it was in the mood for a fight so it could get the Greater Welkynd Stone back.
What they discovered was that the robe that the lich was wearing was far stronger than a normal robe, as it seemed to be made of light metal that was altered into a flowing robe, or at least it sure looked like it, because it was able to tank both attacks from Za'kera and the swings from Lydia, while it also used magical wards to protect itself from Wind's magic, which meant it must have been an Arch-Mage when it was alive. In fact it was hard for Amaryllis to hit him as well, as if he had a way to sense her coming, though as she thought about it she realized that the answer was the Greater Welkynd Stone, as it was crafted by the Ayleids and they must have a way to sense the power within the stones, so she had no way of keeping it hidden from their foe, even if she used the powers that Dagon and Sithis granted her. Wind continued to weave her own spells and counter everything that was being thrown at them, showing the lich that she wasn't going to let it do whatever it wanted, even though this was one of the few times that she wished that she had a staff like her mentor, but her spells did have the desired effect she wanted, it gave Amaryllis a chance to hand over the stone to Za'kera, which allowed her to slip into some of the shadows without the lich following her movements, causing all of them to smile. Amaryllis had been one of the best assassins she had seen during her time in Skyrim, or at least based on what she learned about her contracts, and gaining the attention of both Dagon and Sithis, while bad in some sense, had been a boon as well, as she was able to slip in and out of shadows without being seen, her magic had been sharpened to a point where she might be making new spells for herself or using ones she never used before, and she was a hidden blade without equal.
In fact Amaryllis was able to appear behind their foe and stab the lich in the back, causing it to stagger for a moment as it got close to the ground, which allowed Za'kera to move up and stab it with both of her blades, where they watched it for a few seconds as the lich collapsed, allowing Wind to claim the elegant looking staff as Amaryllis found an elegant stone key, likely used to open a door somewhere in Rielle, before they turned towards Za'kera.
"Let's get out of here... we have to track down the Gate and stop Vanos." Za'kera said, though she tapped her pack, which contained the Greater Welkynd Stone, because while it might seem foolish to carry the stone into the heart of the Mythic Dawn's base, and bring it close to the reformed Oblivion Gate, she had a feeling that they would be able to kill Vanos and stop his plans from becoming a reality.
Amaryllis nodded as they started to move, as it was as Za'kera said, they had to track down Vanos and kill him, because he was the last piece of this puzzle, though even as she thought about that she also knew that this was Dagon's plan and that they were missing something important, but for now they were going to have to deal with their main target and hope that was the end of it, so they could focus on Miraak.
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placing the stone on the correct pillars...i got distinct Fifth Element vibes...
11072974 Yeah, I kind of got that feeling as well when I went over the information about Rielle.
11073036
so, is there going to be a Leelou running around?
11073290 While there is no Leeloo character in the Cause mod, there's always a chance that one could show up, probably as a demigod and not a demiprince.
11073308
oh u tease! i have to admit, i have been debating if i should upgrade my game to the anniversary edition of Skyrim...but i remain unconvinced...if all that different is Creation content, i dont much see the point...
11073340 I aim to keep people interested in the story. As for the new edition, I wish they had created something new as well, to make it worthwhile, instead of just taking mods and making them official like this.
11073354
well, if they have some QoL improvements in those mods...
11073359 Honestly, I have no idea on that part.
11073367
ive been trying to look up just whats included, but im not finding anything...
11073376 Push Square seems to have a full list of what's in it, or at least it seems like it... there's a lot of armor, weapons and artifacts, houses, and quests.
11073384
yeah, not on a playstaition here...on my computer...
11073396 Still, it's a list of what's in the pack... maybe. I have no idea, since I haven't gotten the new edition either.
11073401
theres supposed to be over five hundred Creations in this thing...
11073407 Five hundred?! Geez, that's a lot of content.
11073413
ten years worth of mods, its all supposed to be included...given how large the Skyrim modding community is...
11073422
Really? Ten years worth of mods? That's... incredible.
11073434
something like that, five hundred gameplay assets, something like 74 Creation groups? i dont know, every time i look at a new page i get a different story of just whats in the damn thing...
11073454 Well, for right now the only one I'm planning on using is the Cause.
11073459
ok, well, i was doing all of Saints and Seducers while ur doing that in story. also, i found some You Tube reviews of the added content and creations, looks like, for newbies, its well worth it, less so for oldtimers, but still interesting
11073473 I see. Well, I might add stuff later, after some research into what's in this edition.