Vacation

Ah, summer. I love it. Im taking a break for june and ill be back in july prolly.

Right now im going back through some of my older, but still great games. Warcraft III:Frozen Throne, Worms Armageddon, and Roller Coaster Tycoon. What are you all up to?

23: Strange, isn't it?

We rested a short while, and I examined the interior of the chapel. The hallowed stone was charred and pockmarked in places, and the bell tower had a huge hole in it. It made me question what exactly had happened here the night of the siege. Something had obviously breached Kvatch’s walls, but there were no sizable holes to speak of. Also, the entire city of Kvatch seemed to have turned to rubble, which was certainly not something a Dremora’s mace could do. The Daedra had something up their proverbial sleeves, and I intended to find out what it was exactly. Still, I didn’t want to cause the survivors of Kvatch any more anguish than they felt necessary, and questioning them so soon after the invasion seemed inconsiderate. I decided to let it go for a while, but had no intention of stopping myself from wondering.

I moved about the chapel, praying to each of the nine gods at their individual altars. It had been sometime since I had visited a wayshrine to any of them, and so I did not receive any blessings, save for one from Kynareth. In truth, my attention was focused more on the sleeping bags piled around the altars. They were nothing more than a few sheets, and yet everyone had been reduced to sleeping upon them. The rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy; all had to sleep out that horrible night on little more than a piece of cloth separating them from the hard stone floor. Many of the bags were stained with urine or blood, and the collective smell was unbearable; not necessarily because of the strength of the odor itself, but because of the horror that each bore witness to. A man is truly petrified beyond words when he would soil the only thing he has to sleep on. Looking upon this did not bring a tear to my eye, however. These cots represented the lucky few who had made it to safety in time. They were the ones who had not been driven out into the streets to be cut down and ripped apart by Scamps. I did not cry, but I said a prayer for all of them. Hatred and anger were all that I felt. Realizing that these blood-stained and soiled cots belonged to the LUCKY people made me make a vow right then and there: I would hunt down the bastards who started this whole mess and cut them to pieces. My mind was racing with murderous rage when the captain called us to battle. The time to rest was over. The time for revenge had come.

We burst from the chapel and into the central square, cutting down all the daedra that stood before us. I myself took down seven scamps and two Dremora. We fought terrible odds, at least eight to one, and yet we emerged victorious. I healed what I could in the momentary lull in fighting, but we were soon off again to retake the castle. Unfortunately, the portcullis was down, and there was no way to open it from outside. The captain quickly formulated a new plan. It would be difficult for me, but it was critical for our success.

I was to return to the chapel and find the guard who had been posted there. Berich Inian was his name, and he held the key to the North guard tower. In that guard tower was a secret passageway that led into the castle gatehouse. From there I could raise the portcullis and the captain would rejoin me. It seemed simple enough if you didn’t factor in all the daedra that stood between me and the guard tower.

Nevertheless, I had a job to do, and I jogged back to the chapel to find Berich. He was conversing with three imperial legion soldiers, and I nearly jumped for joy when I saw them. The legion is much better trained than the city guard, and the war that was going on could really use their help. They all looked at me, and I strode purposefully forward.

“Come on, I need your help.”

“What for? Have we retaken the castle already?” Berich seemed torn between terror and boredom. Obviously he didn’t like being posted at the chapel.

“I need to get into the North Guard house. Can you help me?”

“Well, I have the key to it, but it is a fair distance from here, and the way is crawling with Scamps. You’ll need my help, and the help of these three if they’re willing to give it.” He gestured towards all three legion soldiers. The lead one smiled.

“We’re ready for battle. Just tell us where to go.” He drew his sword slowly and looked at me. “You’re in command now.”

“Thank you. Berich, which way to the guard house?”

“Well, we’ll have to go through the chapel undercroft. There’s a way out from down there.”

“Very well. Berich is on point, and I want you three to kill anything that’s not human.”

“We can do that.”

Berich took us down through the dank undercroft and out into the fire. My little platoon and I were quite effective; breaking through several score of Scamps. Eventually we came to a tower that was missing half of its walls and Berich sighed.

“Well, it looks like you didn’t need my key after all. What were you looking for inside?”

“A passage into the castle gatehouse. Can you help me find it?”

“Sure. Its right under that big piece of rubble. Shouldn’t be too hard to move that rock though.”

He was right on both counts. With the help of the three legionnaires we moved the huge rock aside and descended down into the passage. Berich said he would return to his post. Obviously terror overcame boredom. The passage was short, and soon we were back above ground in the gatehouse. I went directly for the winch to open the portcullis, but I required the help of a legionnaire to rotate the thing.

As soon as the portcullis was up, the captain and his men charged into the courtyard, slicing up the Daedra within. Things were good to start with, and we cut most of them down. As soon as the doors to the Keep opened however, we were inundated with Scamps. We all fought bravely, but soon we were forced to fall back to the gatehouse. It was more easily defended, but there were simply too many Scamps. I lobbed fireballs over the first line of defense and into the sea of Scamps, hoping to damage them as much as possible. Healing the primary defenders was also a top priority, and between the fireballs and healing spells my magicka reserves were soon drained. I rummaged through my pack and found a potion to restore my magicka, and soon I was back in the fight. We fought like this for what seemed like ages; five strong men holding a line against the Scamps and rotating out during a lull in the fight, and me rushing about, healing guards and killing scamps.

Eventually, we struck down the last of them. Sadly, we lost seven of our men, reducing us to the captain and I, two city guards and the three legionnaires. The legionnaires were bleeding profusely, but refused to stop. I admired their bravery, but cursed their stupidity. I healed them as best as I could, but it was not enough. They would certainly be dead in a few hours.

We pushed aside the mountain of dead scamps and stumbled into the keep. The Daedra seemed to have exhausted all their troops on the fight in the courtyard, as the castle was deserted. We found no traces of the counts guards anywhere. Finally, we came to the count’s room, but when we found him lying in a pool of his own blood, the captain burst into tears. He knelt at the counts side for a long while, his anguish flowing in rivulets down his face. I was about to console the captain, but then I realized that I did not know his name. I had fought alongside him in the bloodiest battle I had ever seen, and I did not even know his name.

It is so strange that times such as these will cause one to slaughter beast after horrid beast, and yet not know the names of those who slaughter alongside you. Dark times are coming. The siege of Kvatch is only the beginning…

22: Martin

The guards’ were overjoyed! By closing the Oblivion gate, I had given them hope. Our work was not done though, and I rallied the men and prepared them to storm the city gates. The captain was shocked that I had closed the gate, but overjoyed nonetheless. I spoke with him as the guards were getting ready to attack.

“You know the city better than I do captain. What’s the plan?” He pulled out a hastily drawn map of the city and explained the plan.

“What we have to do is rescue any survivors, obviously. However, our main goal is the castle. If we can retake it we should be able to drive any remaining Daedra out. Now, the church is a good target to start out with. I believe that a small group of survivors is holed up there, although I don’t know if they have been successful in repelling the enemy. From there, we will move through the main square, across the draw bridge and into the castle. It’s as simple as pie.”

“Yeah, a big, stinky, Daedra-infested pie. Just like mom used to make.” This came from one of the guards, although exactly who I do not know. The captain frowned in the direction of the comment, but rolled up the map and clamped on his helmet.

“Lets go, we can’t let the Daedra barricade the main gate. Will, you are up front with me; we’re gonna push these bastards back to the hellish void they came from!” He drew he sword and charged towards the gate, I did likewise with my axe, but gave out a hearty battle cry for good measure.

We led the guards to the gate. When we pushed through into the city, we were met with several blasts of fire from Scamps and Dremora inside. I was mostly unaffected by them, due to my newfound resistance to fire. I felt the warmth, but other than that I was unaffected. I used this newfound talent to block many of the fireballs from hitting my fellow soldiers. We faced about 15 scamps and 4 Dremora; bad odds for the first battle, but we were able to cut them down with only the loss of 4 men. I did my best to heal the wounded, but I was drained from fighting, and my talents are not restoration-oriented. We secured the chapel, finding it filled with only 10 or so survivors. The air was heavy with sorrow, and I bowed my head at the altar, saying a few words of prayer for the dead. I was interrupted just before I finished.

“It’s no use to pray. The gods have left us. Our enemies triumph, and the world will shatter before them.” The old man who said this had tears running down his cheeks. How sad it is, that a man of his age would give up. He had obviously lived a long life, and was probably blessed by the gods. I could not understand how he could desert them so easily. A young priest walked up to me and muttered in my ear.

“Listen not to him. He watched his five grandchildren ripped apart before his eyes y the Daedra. He will recover in time.”

“One can only hope so. Without faith, what are we? Empty shells of what we once were. Empty shells.”

“Well said. My name is Martin. We are all thankful for your help in rescuing us, whatever some might say.”

“Martin?” My mind raced back to Jauffre’s assignment. “You’re alive! Thank the gods!”

“Aye, and thank them heartily, but you act as if you know me. Why?”

“I must explain. My name is Will Syras. I was a witness to the assassination of our Emperor, Uriel Septim. I have come to save you because you are his son. You are the last living heir to the throne of Tamriel.”

“What? You speak madness, friend! My father was a simple farmer, not the Emperor!”

I knew that he wouldn’t accept the news well. Still, I had to convince him somehow that he was the true heir! My mind raced, and eventually I came up with a plan.

“Listen Martin, you are the heir to the throne. You must believe me.”

“What if I don’t believe you?”

“Then come with me to Weynon Priory. There we will find the Grandmaster of the Blades, he can explain it better to you than I can. Besides, you have nothing left here. Please, when Kvatch has been retaken, you must follow me to Weynon Priory.”

“Hmm, I suppose you are right. There is nothing left here for me. Still, I need to think about it. Meet me at the camp the survivors established, down near the base of the mountain, when you have retaken Kvatch.”

“Count on me being there.”

The Captain had been conversing with a few guards that had helped defend the chapel through the night, but now that he was finished I approached him to see about the second part of the plan. We would make our way through the main square and into the castle. Hopefully we would meet up with the count and his personal guards there, and then we could push the Daedra out forever.

21: Sigil Stone

My dreams were surprisingly peaceful. I esd wandering through beautiful plains of lush grass, the wind slapping gently against my face. Suddenly I was at the gates of the Imperial City. They opened before me and I walked through into the famed Talos Plaza. The large dragon statue moved to face me, stretching and flapping its wings sleepily. It smiled down upon me, and I felt a glorious rush of cool run through my veins. The statue reared up and blasted fire upon me, but I was unfazed by it. Seemingly satisfied, the statue returned to its former position, and I was suddenly back in the golden fields.

When I awoke, the same coolness was still about me, yet now the fields of grain were the ashen slopes and ruins of Oblivion. I breathed deep, enjoying the feeling of healed ribs and lungs. I pulled myself to my feet and looked around for any signs of the Dark One. Nothing was around me except for ash, lava, and the huge spire. I did find my pack and my axe nearby, and as I strapped them on I realized that the heat really wasn’t effecting me at all anymore. I looked at my skin very closely and was able to distinguish a very slight shimmer to it. The effects of a resist fire spell, obviously. I did not know how long it would last, so I opened the huge doors and entered the immense spire.

The column of flame was still burning its way up to the ceiling, and everything else was the same. I did notice a rather large pool of coagulated blood near the corpse of a half-melted Dremora, and shuddered when I realized that it was my own. There was nothing else to see down there, so I went to the door that was hidden rather well at the side of the room. It had no discernable way to open it, so I simply laid my hand on it and gave it a push. Whether the push was necessary or not I don’t know, but the door started sliding open. I found myself in a corridor with a very high ceiling that turned into a very cramped stairway. This led me to another high room similar to the first corridor. I was wary, and when a scamp jumped out at me from the shadows I was ready. A swing from my axe connected with the Scamp’s face, stunning it long enough for me to reach in and freeze its heart (or whatever organs Scamps have).
A blast of fire whizzed by me as the scamp fell to the floor. I spun and launched a fireball back at my attacker. My blast missed as well, but it illuminated the face of another Dremora, this one clad in a dark robe. It was obviously more magic-oriented than the first I had met, and it summoned a scamp out of thin air. I used the scamp as cover from the Dremora’s fireballs and charged at them both. The Dremora accidentally fried its own Scamp with a fireball, and I pushed through the dissipating form to meet the Dremora head on. It defended itself, but a few cuts from my axe and blasts of frost ended its unholy life. I searched through its robe and found several useful health potions, as well as a few scrolls.

I was feeling much stronger than before. The resist fire spell was doing wonders to keep me protected from the heat, and my magical reserves were hardly dented by the battle I had just won. Things were looking good, and I proceeded up through the tower. Winding passages brought me back into the central chamber of the spire, but I was on a higher level up. The ceiling was still out of sight, but the bottom level was a fair way down as well. I continued up in this fashion for some time, meeting the occasional scamp and dispatching them to the Void. I also found a number of dead Daedra and charred remains. Obviously someone was making their way up the tower ahead of me. I quickened my pace and hoped to catch up to them.

The corpses were mostly fresh, and finally I came to a door that couldn’t have been opened by the person ahead of me. I searched the rest of the level for them, but eventually had to go out a door that took me outside the spire. A long bridge extended from the main spire to one of the smaller towers, and I practically ran along it. I opened the door into the smaller tower and heard the sounds of battle coming from above me. I ran up a twisting ramp until I reached the top. What I saw there was almost beyond words.

The Dark One was swinging a longsword of Daedric construction and practically dancing amongst a crowd of no less than ten Dremora! He dodged and weaved through the Daedra, cutting at them and blasting them with the occasional spell. I didn’t want to intervene, as the Dremora looked extremely powerful and incredibly angry. I simply watched in awe as the Dark One reduced them to ash and bloody corpses. The floor was soon littered with corpses, and the Dark One didn’t seem to have received a single scratch! He sheathed his longsword and started digging through the corpses. I slowly emerged from the shadows and announced myself.

“Its me... Will. That was… amazing!” I stood a fair distance from him and gaped.

“Thank you, I am simply glad they weren’t all from Mehrunes Dagon’s personal guard. Now, if you would please help me find the key.” He hadn’t even looked up at me, and simply continued searching the corpses. I bent down and searched through the corpses, although I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for.

“Ah! Here we go.” He held up a small red crystal and stood up. I assumed he had found the key he was looking for, and stood up as well.

“So, what’s the plan?”

“Well, we need to shut this gate now don’t we? I am sorry I left you lying in the ash at the base of the spire, but if we do not hurry then many more will die.”

“So we continue up the tower?”

“Yes, we must reach the top and pull the sigil stone from its pedestal. Then we will return to Kvatch. Now come, we have a fair way to go yet.”

I followed him out of the tower and back across the bridge to the main Spire. He inserted the crystal in a small hole in the locked door, and the door slid open. He said that there shouldn’t be too much danger ahead, and allowed me to lead.

When we encountered a Dremora patrolling the corridors, the Dark One refused to help me unless I truly needed it. As I fought the Dremora he made some helpful comments about my spells and fighting, and I took them all to heart. They turned out to be extremely useful tips, and I improved greatly simply from listening to him. We worked our way up to the very top of the tower, and found ourselves in a very different room.

The floor of the room was mostly the usual metallic stone, but there was also a large section of the floor that was made out of a reddish crystal. The pillar of flames came out of a gap in it, and though it continued upwards, I could see where it stopped. The flames entered the bottom of a large, circular pedestal and stopped. I immediately knew that the sigil stone was in that pedestal, and started to climb the stairs towards it. The stairs themselves were huge spikes jutting out from the wall, and they led to a second floor that was overhung by what appeared to be a huge canopy made of meat! I gagged at the smell, and the Dark One took the lead at this point. We circled around to where the canopy met the floor and proceeded up it. The Dark One blasted a Dremora and we continued. The meat squelched under my feet, and I had an overwhelming urge to vomit. I held it in however, and we finally came to the pedestal.
It was chained to the walls and ceiling and hovered in the pillar of flame. The circular base had four spikes that held the sigil stone in place. The Dark One walked up to it and stopped, then turned around and looked at me.

“You must take it. Remove the sigil stone, but keep it close.”

I walked up to the stone and looked at it. It was surrounded in flames and pulsated slowly. I reached out to touch it ad found that it was not hot at all, but when my fingers hit the stone, it started vibrating and the pedestal began swinging chaotically. I jumped slightly, but grabbed the stone and wrenched it from the pedestal. The pillar of flames shot up towards the ceiling, filling the room with fire, and as I began to panic the Dark One simply smiled and grabbed my shoulder. Things started shifting in some unusual way, time and space were altered, and I found myself flung back onto the ground in front of Kvatch.

I turned and saw the Gate collapse in on itself, breaking the supports and closing violently. I let out a sigh of relief and heard a cheer go up from the guards at the barricade. They all rushed up to me and began thanking me profusely, I simply smiled and said it was really not my doing, that the Dark One had done it all. But when I looked around for him, he had vanished…