NABC Chapter 144: Chapter VII: Securing A Beachead
Chapter 144: Chapter VII: Securing A Beachead
Chapter 144: Chapter VII: Securing A Beachead
I spread my arms dramatically and run to my part "Welcome ladies and gentlemen to Fal'Zhardum Din, or as it is more widely known to us mere mortals: Blackreach." I explain most generously.
Marco claps enthusiastically and stops after realizing no one is following his lead, he shyly scratches his cheek and retreats to the back of the group eliciting chuckles from most of us.
As everyone takes a breath of the... surprisingly fresh air, I turn serious and start giving orders "Edrassa start raising walls, Marco, Minthara you two will follow me to the right" I turn to the rest of my vassals "Davos you and the brothers will secure the left."
(General POV)
As Reyvin's orders are heard everyone quickly gets to work.
The lift they exited was positioned on high ground compared to their immediate surroundings so Edrassa got to work rising walls at the more obvious edges of the small hill. The high ground was as many know a most potent weapon, even more so when fortified, and considering how many Falmer Reyvin detected at a glance they would need every single advantage they could get.
Davos' group, which was heading south (not that they had any idea about that while underground) found themselves exploring a small cluster of Dwemer houses, the walls were in pristine condition and there wasn't a hint of rust anywhere in sight.
"Bloody mad that" Varen mutters and turns to Davos "How old would ya recon this place is bossman?"
Davos shrugs as his eyes remain focused on their surroundings "Thousands of years obviously, don't know much beyond the fact that the Dwemer were active in the Merethic era and disappeared after the battle against Saint Nerevar." He scratches his chin in thought "Something about attempting to turn themselves into a god or something resulting in them deleting themselves from existence." He shrugs once more "Ask the Lord if you are curious, I ain't the scholar here."
Varen looks at him worriedly "Wouldn't that be improper?"
Davos thinks the question over for a moment "At the moment? Not really." He explains simply "In the future? Most likely yes."
"Oi, you two!" Oren calls them over "Something you might want to see over here!"
Davos approaches the oldest brother and his eyebrows lift with both surprise and annoyance as he looks upon a somewhat fresh skeleton wearing necromancer robes sitting slumped against one of the houses, a dead red herb resting in one of its bony hands.
"Keep quiet" Davos begins sternly "The Falmer have very sharp ears and your yelling will alert them" Oren winces and nods. Davos grabs the red plant and the satchel resting beneath the skeleton "Lord Dagoth will know what to do with this, let us continue with our work."
(Reyvin's POV)
"Go out and explore they said" Marco grumbles as he and Minthara are forced to trudge through the shallow waters leading up to a murky tower "It will be a right fun time they said" He throws his arms up "Well does it look like I am having fun right now you twats?!"
"Marco!" I turn to him abruptly, my movements eased by the fact that I am levitating above the water, he flinches as my glare lands on him "Language."
The Altmer looks ready to strangle me and is only distracted by Minthara lightly laughing at the constantly changing colors of his face.
Soon we finally stand before the tower's entrance, the webs encasing some of it giving me a very good impression of what might await inside. I open the doors confidently and march in like I own the place, the local spiders stiffening and standing at attention as I approach very much justifying said confidence.
I look at the collection of twenty massive frostbite spiders that had probably gorged themselves on the Falmer for years, natural selection making sure that they were among the most powerful of their species.
My voice is filled with Mephala's aura as I command them "Hunt none but the Falmer, ambush them and feast on their bodies, make sure you are not discovered."
Not even a moment passes and the spiders get to work.
"Well... that was" Marco trails off.
"Utterly disgusting." Minthara finishes for him.
I shrug and head for the massive cluster of eggs "Waste not, want not." I run my hand across the eggs and feel the literal thousands of lives inside, eagerly waiting for their chance at survival.
A shame that they will not get said chance "Hatch" I command and as one all the eggs burst and the newborn spiders gather in front of me, almost in perfect order I note absent mindedly.
I turn to my students and tell them to guard the door, and as they rapidly exit the room, likely trying to get as far as physically possible from the mass of spiders, I get to work.
First I draw a circle around the roughly two and a half thousand spiders and they quickly stack upon each other to make sure they all fit. I start adding runes and as I do so I can almost feel a hand guiding my work.
I guess Mephala approves of the idea.
Finally, nearly half the chamber stands covered in mostly Dunmeri script and some weaker soul gems, I clap my hands and a burst of Magicka ignites the ritual. I feel the infant spiders' panic for but a moment before their lives are extinguished and the sea of small memories and impressions starts to batter against my mind.
Soon the ritual is complete and I feel yet another connection attach itself to the outer shell of my soul.
[Conjuration Adept => Expert]
[Summoning bonds:]
[Scorch]
I chuckle at her insinuation, causing her to raise an eyebrow "Oh I am not nearly foolish
enough to do something as stupid as they tried to do, I value both my freedom and my life far too much."
She nods happily, and to my great surprise it almost looks like a weight had been lifted off her shoulders "That is very good" She smiles in her usual seductive manner "In any case, I have
come here to give you a bit of a warning."
"Oh?" I raise a questioning eyebrow.
"The void's followers have set their sights on you." She states ominously.
I tilt my head "The murderhobos?"
She looks at me for a long moment before bursting into merry laughter, she slaps her thigh
multiple times before she calms down and gives me a wide grin "Yes indeed... the murderhobos" She confirms before falling into another fit of giggling.
The atmosphere turns infectious as I too join in the honorable act of deriding Sithis' bunch of
murder happy madmen.
"I admit I am a bit surprised" I begin after we finally calm down "I thought you preferred to
see how things played out instead of interfering directly."
She waves me off daintily "That is for the lesser followers dear, you are my chosen and it
would reflect very poorly on me if you were to get taken out due to the temper tantrum of a gold skinned whore."
I tilt my head "Elenwen actually decided to try and remove me did she?" I cup my chin
"Probably the wisest decision she could have made, not that anything she did could have made a difference in any case." I quickly add.
Mephala nods in satisfaction "Indeed, the little fool thinks herself wiser merely because she has gold skin" She chuckles "Making her an even greater fool."
"I do wonder..." I begin tentatively "Some theorise that you are the one posing as the night
mother, and you should know by now how I deal with threats..."
She blinks "Oh..." and once again begins laughing "I haven't done that in two centuries" She
explains happily "Good times..."
"Right" I drawl "Well, I am most thankful for the warning" I tilt my head "If that was
everything?"
"Actually" Mephala interrupts and brings out two cups filled with a familiar steaming brew "How about you and I chat for a while?" She smirks invitingly.
Hmmm, on the one hand prince of lies and betrayal, on the other hand... supernatural coffee.
Fuck.
Bunch of tiny spiders
chewing on your bones
they will eat your liver
if you don't give me stones
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