Skyrim: The Faces of Death

by Blackdrag-rose

Solstheim: The First Seal

Upon returning to Raven Rock, to give the Second Councilor the news that the assassins had been taken care of, Amaryllis found that Arano was surprised by her ability to deal with Morvayn's enemies, that she had slain all of the assassins with no need for allies, and he had news to share with her. Apparently he told the First Councilor about her actions, or at least part of them as she soon discovered, as he was surprised when Arano brought her to him and learned of the situation that had been prevented, where Morvayn discovered that the Severin family had been sent to end his life and that they had been allied with the Morag Tong. Amaryllis had figured that out in no time, given the unique armor of the assassins and some of the information she had learned before she killed all of them, and discovered that neither Councilor was pleased to learn that Vendil, the head of the family, had sided with the group of assassins, but they were happy to hear he was dead and that she had crushed the assassins. It was what Amaryllis was working for, making sure Raven Rock was safe from harm, though at the same time she intended on leaving the building and regrouping with the others, since they had to be close to finishing their own tasks, so they could return to Tel Mithryn, to tell Neloth about his new Steward, if Wind and the others had found someone to replace Varona.

What she wasn't expecting was what happened after Arano stopped talking, as the First Councilor informed her that he had a far better reward than some gold, as the belongings and possessions of the Severin family had been forfeit due to them being criminals, so while Raven Rock would be taking the few holdings the family possessed, to keep themselves stable, he was giving her and her companions Severin Manor and everything inside it.

Apparently she and her companions had learned their citizenship in Raven Rock, as Morvayn realized that they were good allies to have in case things happened, and he was hoping that they would consider staying on Solstheim as members of their community, before Arano handed over a sack filled with ten thousand septims, the reward he intended on giving her for her great deed. With that in hand, and she informed the councilors that it would be an honor to stay in the settlement as residents, Amaryllis left the house before walking over to Severin Manor, finding that the bodies of Mirri and Tilisu had been cleaned up while she was gone, meaning Arano had taken care of them while she was busy taking out the Morag Tong and Vendil. One thing she knew was that they needed more beds, as the main bedroom would be Za'kera's and the side bedroom would be Lydia's, just for the time that she and Wind were traveling with the pair, but once she was sure the manor was fine, and nothing was out of the ordinary, Amaryllis headed outside and glanced around for a time, waiting to see Za'kera and the others to tell them what she had done. Based on how long the group had been gone Amaryllis was sure that the others were doing something that would benefit Raven Rock, as finding a new Steward shouldn't take them too long, but there was no way for her to know until Za'kera, Wind, Lydia, and Ma'jera returned to the settlement, so she had to be patient.

Sure enough they arrived a few moments later, coming from the direction of the now freed Stone, where they walked by her for a moment and talked to one of the guards for a few seconds, who directed them to a house on the other side of Raven Rock, though it wasn't long before the others returned to her side and she found a Dragon Priest, in robes that were different from what those in Skyrim had, floating into Raven Rock. She informed them that she had taken out the threat to First Councilor Morvayn, in fact she earned them a place to live for the remainder of their time on Solstheim, and it proved to be a good place for them to talk, as she gave Za'kera a rundown on what happened, which also gave them a chance to tell her what happened on their end. Apparently they found the new Steward with ease and decided to check out the mine, to fulfill a request from the local blacksmith, which lead them down into the depths, through a nordic ruin, and brought them face to face with a Dragon Priest, who identified himself, or at least Wind was sure it had been a male in life, as Zahkriisos, before mentioning that there were three more buried across Solstheim. When Wind mentioned that a Black Book had been at the end of the ruin, and they had added it to their collection, it told Amaryllis everything she had to know, that tracking down the other three, so named Ahzidal, Dukaan, and Vahlok, would likely bring them into contact with the remaining three Black Books, as they had three right now, Neloth had the fourth, and that left three to find, and this seemed like a clue as to where they might be.

Wind agreed with her thoughts on the matter, that tracking down the other Dragon Priests might be the key to finding out where the remaining Black Books happened to be resting, but Amaryllis could tell that she had been debating whether or not it was time to head into the tomes and learn whatever it was that her mentor wanted her to learn, or take down since she had seven seals that needed to be destroyed.

"In the morning we should head to Tel Mithryn... it's time I started tackling whatever is waiting for me inside the ancient Black Books," Wind said, showing them that she had been thinking about it for some time and, now that they had three of the seven books, possibly four if Neloth let them into the room that held his staff enchanter, it was time for her to step up and do her part to prepare for the upcoming war.

Za'kera nodded her head in agreement, as part of the reason behind why they came to Solstheim was to deal with Miraak and the other was to gain knowledge or power for whatever might happen when they left the island, before focusing on their new residence and the rest they would be able to get before seeing what the next day held for them.

---

When morning arrived Wind and the others emerged from Severin Manor and headed for the eastern edge of Raven Rock, finding that miners were heading back inside the mine to resume searching for ore, though Za'kera made sure to pick up some breakfast so they could eat while they walked back to Tel Mithryn, because she wanted to see if the new Steward had arrived or if someone had killed him on the way. Wind informed Amaryllis that the person they had found was a male Dark Elf by the name of Drovas Relvi, who had nearly jumped at the chance to work for a 'crazed Telvanni wizard', which told her that he might have been in some sort of trouble and that he was using Neloth as a defensive mechanism to keep himself safe. The only reason she thought about that was because he left literally everything he owned behind and there was an Orc, Morgul, who approached them and claimed that they owed him money because they set up Drovas with a job in Tel Mithryn, making him untouchable, not to mention a threat if they didn't pay, that he would be sending thugs to get his money from them. Za'kera ignored him as Amaryllis remembered his face, as she might come back later and take him out, while the others focused on leaving Raven Rock, heading out into the ashen landscape between this settlement and the tower that Neloth lived in, choosing to focus on whatever might be out there this time around.

What they discovered was that they were able to get to Tel Mithryn without anything happening, which they were fine with since it allowed them to conserve their energy for later, and when they entered the tower it was easy to find the Dark Elf working for Neloth like nothing was wrong, as he didn't seem to care about the twisted figure in the cage, causing them to feel sorry for Talva.

"It seems he's working out quite well," Za'kera said, as from what they could see Drovas was already fitting in with Neloth and his new job, cleaning the area, making sure to avoid the corrupted milk, bringing Neloth his tea, and whatever else he had to do, causing the others to focus on the rest of the upper tower, finding that everything seemed to be fine, while at the same time Wind focused on the locked room.

"That Drovas man?" a voice inquired, where they found that Neloth must have been waiting for their arrival, speaking while his new Steward was on the side opposite of him, though he shrugged and pulled himself off his chair, where he downed the rest of the tea that he happened to be drinking before their arrival, "I suppose he'll do... he makes dreadful canis root tea though. But, I should be grateful, since you did go out of your way to find him.... here, take this for your efforts. Oh, and you may use my staff enchanter if you want... provided you let me see the Black Books you currently have."

"Be warned, Neloth, that trying to create a 'normal' copy of a Black Book will open unwanted doors... well, for you, to be exact," Ma'jera commented, once more showing them that she didn't care for mortal lives, in fact Amaryllis was sure that the Demiprince was trying to provoke Neloth into destroying himself, making her wonder if a new Black Book would be formed if someone tried to copy one of the existing ones.

Wind, however, wasted no time in collecting the key from Neloth, who seemed to be wondering what sort of threat had been made against him, allowing her to unlock the door and collect the fourth Black Book, The Hidden Twilight as Ma'jera informed them, before she and Za'kera stood near each other as she pulled out Epistolary Acumen, giving her mentor a few seconds to set the other three near Neloth before wrapping a barrier around them... where not a few seconds later they appeared in a new section of Apocrypha.

"We had best be careful," Za'kera commented, pulled her blades out as Wind tapped her staff on the ground, all while the pair found Ma'jera floating above them, resting near an eye that had to be one of her father's, meaning the Prince of Fate was interested in observing their progress, even if they were here for different reasons, "we have no way of telling what sort of obstacles we'll have to face before reaching the end of this place."

"Especially since we have no idea what form the Seal might have taken," Wind added, as her reason for coming was due to the fact that one of the seven seals that had been placed on her true magic was somewhere in this Black Book, because her mentor knew that she would need her true power in the future and this happened to be the quickest way to unlock it, to make her earn the right to command what was her birthright.

Za'kera nodded for a few seconds, as she understood why Wind was here, before they found that the area the book had brought them to was a platform in the middle of the dark water of Apocrypha, complete with a device that had to be linked to the raised walkway in front of them, but since neither of them knew where their enemies were they stepped forward with their weapons at the ready. As it turned out the only thing they could do right now was tap the eyestalk device that was in the middle of the platform, where it sunk down and some pieces raised up to form a shell, though it was definitely connected to the walkway since it lowered into position, allowing them to walk on it. Of course it didn't reach the next part, a moving tunnel that seemed to be shifting at both ends and both seemed to be moving in different directions, so both of them had to time their jumps to move forward, only to find that another raised walkway was between them and the next part of this area, so they had to wait a little longer. The reason for that was because Wind found another eyestalk device that needed to be activated and she jumped over to it's platform, as she felt that using her wings might be cheating and if she did use them her mentor would ban them, but in the end she activated it and returned to Za'kera's side so they could jump over to the next platform.

That brought them to a glowing book on a pedestal, which had a bunch of moving runes, no doubt in the Daedric language as Za'kera looked at it, though Wind nodded her head and they touched the tome, causing them to disappear from where they were standing and placed them inside a circular tunnel, made out of walkway pieces, that had some spinning papers in front of them. At the very end of it they spotted another eyestalk device, located between two Lurker head statues, so it was the first thing Za'kera headed towards, where it caused the tunnel to unfold and form a platform for them to stand on, even though there were a few Seekers, the floating tendril beings, and a few Lurkers waiting for the protective barrier to drop so they could lash out at their enemies. In response to that Za'kera rushed forward and swung her blades at the first Lurker that she spotted, slicing into it's leg before it had a chance to fight back, though as she did that Wind focused on the pair of Seekers that were studying her, taking in her unique nature while trying to figure out what sort of powers she had, meaning her mentor didn't share anything about her with them. As such she took advantage of the fact that they were distracted by what they were seeing and summoned her magic, sending out a Thunderbolt that raced through the air and struck the first one right in the chest, as she was capable of using Expert level spells and preferred to use the lesser ones, to conserve her energy, but right now they were in Apocrypha and she knew not to hold back.

In fact she was sure that her mentor had been preparing her for this day, that she would come here to unlock her power, so Wind dodged the incoming magical attack from the second Seeker and blasted it in the chest with a pair of Ice Spears, taking it out in a matter of seconds, though as she did that Za'kera finished off the second Lurker, allowing them to search the area.

One thing Wind discovered was that the Seekers didn't die, rather it seemed that her attacks did enough damage to harm both of them and they left before she killed them, but they did leave three tomes each, meaning it was either what they had been reading or it was a peace offering to make sure she didn't come after them again. Either way she collected every tome that was left behind, this time moving them over to her with her magic, Telekinesis to be exact, and found that most of them were tomes she hadn't read yet, meaning that when she wasn't heading through the Black Books she would have some normal reading to do. Once they were done Za'kera found another eyestalk device and activated it, opening a gate that lead them right to another glowing tome, another chapter of this Black Book, and sure enough they were teleported to another part of the book, this one appearing to be a large chamber-like area with no ceiling, with a few platforms and a few sets of stairs, though there were only two Seekers in this area. Wind held her staff out for a second, stopping Za'kera in the process, before having her staff float in the air as she gathered her magic, releasing two Thunderbolts that forced her targets to back off, just like what happened to the other Seekers, allowing them to step out and see what else might be in this part of Apocrypha.

The stairs brought them to a raised section, which had to be the true core of this book, filled with moving tunnels, a square area off to the side, and a large cage in the air that Wind suspected was their true destination, where the knowledge of this Black Book rested, though off in the distance she spotted a black mass that seemed to be waiting, causing her to sweat for a moment as she saw it.

"There it is, the first Seal that I have to overcome," Wind said, confirming that they were in the right spot, which was good since it meant they could ensure Za'kera cleared out her own task while she located and dealt with her own, though she had a feeling that this was going to be a hard fight when she engaged it.

Za'kera could see that the mage was worried about living up to her mentor's expectations, especially since she was under the thumb of the Demiprince daughter of Hermaeus Mora, though it made her wonder what Ma'jera was expecting, much less planning, especially since it seemed like Wind was plenty strong right now, which lead her to the idea that maybe this was connected to the weakened Daedric Prince. In the end, however, she decided that there would be time to think about it later, hence why she and Wind moved over to the moving tunnel and crossed without much resistance, since she swung her blades at a Seeker, cutting through it's body and robes before it fled, showing her that while they were willing to give up everything to learn they weren't willing to die. Plus, given that they were in Apocrypha, it was possible that they would be displaced, giving them a period of rest before returning to life, but she decided not to worry about that either as both she and Wind finally reached the tunnel and moved forward, which brought them to an eyestalk device and a locked door, the former unlocking the latter when activated. Of course the tunnel on the other side of the pair of doors, as there were two and not one, happened to move like the ones they had been in before and it eventually reconnected to one side of the area they were walking through, involving another eyestalk device that moved the doors once more, allowing the pair to continue deeper into the Black Book.

Of course they found a couple of Seekers along the way, some falling by Za'kera's blades and others falling to Wind's more powerful magic, not to mention a Lurker that fell before their combined might, before they reached a chamber that looked like one from Miraak's temple and a tunnel beyond that, where a few Seekers were floating. Of course the Seekers tried to hit them with their spells, just like they had been doing since the pair entered Apocrypha, but most discovered why Za'kera and Wind couldn't be stopped by those who defended the secrets of this Black Book, causing them to flee once they knew that defeat was coming. Wind made sure to collect whatever the Seekers left behind when each one fled, mostly to see if anything new had been dropped or if she had to give anything back when they were done with their mission, before they found another glowing book at the end of the tunnel, one that brought them up to a building that was level with the main cage, meaning their goal was in sight. Once both of them were ready Za'kera tapped the eyestalk device and activated it, which caused a walkway to rise up and form a path for her and Wind to use, which they did so without delay, allowing the pair to watch as the cage came undone and revealed a larger Black Book on a pedestal that rested in the middle of what they were walking towards.

Their goal was in sight, where once they reached it Za'kera raised a hand, after sheathing one of her blades, and the book opened up, revealing pages flowing in Daedric runes and came to a stop on one page that contained three circles that had to be somewhat important, though she and Wind could feel new knowledge flowing into them, all while Hermaeus Mora's eye and several tentacles appeared in the air behind the large book.

Dragonborn, you have done well to reach this point... for your efforts, the second Word of Power is yours, the Prince stated, where Za'kera felt a rush of power surge through her body for a few seconds, understanding of the next Word that went to the Bend Will Shout, one that she had only used to crush Miraak's creations that were surrounding the Stones of Solstheim, all while Ma'jera floated nearby and said nothing.

"I'm grateful for growing closer to Miraak's strength, but... even if I did well, you would never give me something like this for free," Za'kera said, as she had learned a lot during her time with all of the Demiprinces that were springing up, as some did things without asking anything in return, some seemed to give things as rewards or punishments, or some made deals like this, and given who she was dealing with she knew that the second Word was only the appetizer, bait to entice her to make a deal for the third Word, "I'm assuming you want something for the third Word of Power?"

My daughter carries a crystal that will take in the knowledge of the Skaal shaman, but he must give it willingly... acquire that knowledge and I shall grant you what you seek. Hermaeus Mora replied, causing Za'kera to raise an eyebrow for a few seconds, as it seemed weird that the Skaal would have something that a Prince of Oblivion might want, but given the barrier it was possible their magical knowledge was what he was after, to add it to his library, I have ensured that he will not come to harm... you would ruin everything if I killed the shaman to acquire the knowledge, so this is the middle ground for this situation.

Wind paused for a moment, as it seemed strange that Hermaeus Mora was even willing to compromise like this, but as she thought about it she realized something, the potential activation of the Aldmeri Numidium, which Ma'jera and the rest of the godly children agreed existed, could result in the total destruction of this world and the death of everyone who called it home, including her and Amaryllis, meaning the Prince of Fate would lose out on so much knowledge if they died, since the two of them were the keys to their home world.

"My apprentice has figured it out." Ma'jera said, where Wind detected a small trace of pride in her mentor's voice, as in she was proud of the fact that she was proving to be as smart as she thought she was, and she was sure that a smile was on her face, even if it was hidden by the mask she wore almost all the time, "The last time a Numidium was activated it lead to the Warp in the West, and given that the Aldmeri Dominion are planning on ending the world it's likely that another Warp, at the very least, will occur when it's activated... if it reaches the Adamantine Tower, well, it's game over for this world, as an event in that area will be the end of Nirn. We can't afford to walk off the path Amaryllis started you down, so killing the shaman is off the table..."

"I get it now." Za'kera stated, as the Prince of Fate and his daughter were making sure not to annoy her, because they were worried that she might turn against them and put the future of this world in jeopardy if they forced her to do things that she didn't agree with, but for now it seemed like a good compromise, before she focused on the large book and found she could pick between three powers, picking 'Dragonborn Force' in the end, "I guess my mission is over..."

"Mine is just starting." Wind said, where she stepped over to the edge of the area and spotted the dark mass she had seen earlier, causing her to step forward for a moment as she opened her wings, allowing her to fly down into the area that her target was in, finding that it transformed into an oily black version of her and that it possessed a ghostly white aura, but it wasted no time in rushing towards her.

Wind had to wonder which burden this was, because in the past, a week after she became Ma'jera's apprentice, she had been told that she was plagued by what her mentor called the 'Seven Burdens', the same seven that became the seals on her power, which came in the form of her doubt, anger, despair, violent nature, hatred, pride, and fear, most of which she had sealed away a long time ago. Her mentor knew that she had to conquer her personal flaws, even if she had assumed she had done such a thing in the past, to unlock her true magical power, that was why she had summoned them from the bottles she had sealed them in all those years ago, when she decided to abandon her mother's path and forge her own destiny. As Wind thought about that, however, she weaved her magic together and formed a barrier around her, blocking a punch from Doubt that caused dark energy to race over it, before reversing the direction and knocked her foe back for a moment, allowing her to rush through the air as they moved away from where Za'kera was standing, just in case her dark emotion tried to take a hostage. While she did that, and found that Doubt was following her, Wind turned around for a few seconds and loosed a Thunderbolt at it, striking her target in the chest and knocked it down towards the ground, but she stayed away, as she had a feeling that this was a trap.

As she waited for Doubt to come back at her Wind thought about the colors she had seen earlier, as Doubt was oily black, Anger was likely red, Despair might be dark blue, Violence could be purple, Hatred might be gray, Pride was likely an icy blue, and Fear might be pitch black, darker than Doubt, but she would figure all that out whenever she tracked down the rest of them.

A few seconds later she found a wave of energy coming at her, matching Doubt's color scheme, where she launched a bolt of magical energy from her staff and shattered the attack, though this told her that her foe was coming to get her, and not even a moment later Doubt flew out of the area she had landed in and rushed right at her. Wind moved out of the way and wrapped some of the wind around her, intending on lashing out with it, though her foe proved to be smarter than she had originally thought and avoided the attack before it could hit her, causing Wind to sigh, as she had been hoping to end this quickly, before blocking another wave of energy. Instead of letting that get her down or annoy her, since the burdens knew all that she knew and were using Equestrian spells in how they fought, as it seemed like Doubt was using something from one of the stories she had heard from her mother, Wind focused on the fight and formed a lance made of lightning, just a modified Thunderbolt that would fly faster and packed the same amount of power. It proved to be quite effective for her as she sent it flying through the air, where it smashed right into Doubt's chest and pierced her heart, which caused the first of her seven burdens to convulse for a few seconds before shattering into a thousand pieces, the energy disappearing as she felt something inside her come undone.

As she returned to Za'kera's side, however, Wind knew that the other six Burdens wouldn't be this easy to take out, in fact they were likely going to push her to her limits and force her to grow before being able to defeat them, meaning she was in for quite an ordeal as she hunted down her remaining targets and had to wait and see what the future held for her and the rest of her group.

Comments

[Night_Moon60606]

ah, improving Unrelenting Force, its what i usually choose myself

[Blackdrag-rose]

11097285 Same. I pick it more often than the other two.

[Night_Moon60606]

11097290
its certainly the most usable of the three, and might i add, when the time comes of course, that the Daedra Merchant is the better choice of that particular set of three? u can get weapons and equipment from him easily enough, and summoning a merchant to sell extra stuff to at any time or p[lace is a useful...

[Blackdrag-rose]

11097320 Yeah, the merchant is the better of those three. Of course, when I play Skyrim on the pc, I have a summon chest mod to help me carry loot, so that's why I pick up the merchant power from that Black Book.

[Night_Moon60606]

11097333
well, i dont really play with mods, so, i just get the Merchant to offload excess goods in a hurry...