Rastislav

Arc 7 Chapter XXVI: Of Greed And Dungeons

The walls and towers of Dawnstar became but distant spots on the horizon as Scorch carried me south, the two of us having left as soon as we were able. I still had to ensure my troops knew to return to Silruhn Fell to prepare for the next phase in our expansion and that Tullius would not have any problems in the near future.

It wouldn't do to have our army slowed by pigheaded malcontents still stubbornly holding on to Ulfric's shattered cause and I was nice enough to only ...

Arc 7 Chapter XXV: Dawnstar Finale

[Fury of Dagoth - Awakened: Your power over the concept of blasphemy grows, its direction drawn toward the denial of greater being you consider evil, false, or wrong. You may now invoke your powers at will and now hold the potential to permanently harm such beings.]

I do not know how long I stood there, staring at where the staff once stood, but by the time I came back to my senses, the bonfire that was my soul slowly retreated into the mere flicker of a candle and my fellow temple raid...

Arc 7 Chapter XXIV: Nightcaller

My consciousness returns partly as I absently note it moving through innumerable images, scenes I have seen, and those I have not changing, mixing, evolving before my very eyes.

The scene shifts once more and I find myself standing atop a veritable sea of corpses, all of them clad in a familiar blue sash splayed over their different armor styles. As I notice the shift so too do the corpses, as all of their eyes snap open, a chilly blue flame replacing their once lively orbs.

They ...

Arc 7 Chapter XXIII: Jarls, Clans, And Priests

With a complete lack of care for the supposed solemnity of the situation I took Skald's axe and started flipping it in my hand while looking down at the kneeling man. For a moment I debated just cracking his head open for being such a massive idiot and leading thousands of his people to die but that thought disappeared as quickly as it came... No, wasting effort for this prick just wouldn't do.

"Get up." I command and offer the axe to Tullius who had approached with his group behind me....

Arc 7 Chapter XXII: Don't Make Me Come Up There!

With my rush of adrenaline finally settling I found myself staring into the distance while chainsmoking without even noticing it at first. The day's events replayed in my mind even as a full hour passed and the troops were busying themselves dealing with the bodies and giving medical aid to the wounded.

The only times I would be distracted from my mental descent were when a dying legionary was brought before me, only to be removed just as quickly as I brute-forced them back to full heal...

Arc 7 Chapter XXI: Battle of Dawnstar: A Broken Fist, A Shattered Rebellion

We did not slow down as we emerged from the forest canopy, whatever few reserves still remained outside were cut down just as swiftly as their comrades before them.

My emotions were a numb mess as I simply continued advancing toward the main enemy base, lazily batting the hastily redirected artillery shots coming from that direction. At this point, I was completely focused on simply being done with this whole fucking thing once and for all and any poor fucker who thought it a good idea ...

Arc 7 Chapter XX: Battle of Dawnstar: A Slaughter

Two more days had passed since the initial big clash of our armies with neither side gaining all that much ground from the other. The Stormcloaks were still resting and Ulfric was likely scrambling to repair his side's still flagging morale while Tullius felt that taking any ground we did not hold in the first place was tactically unsound and quite frankly a waste of lives.

We were the defenders here, and attacking an enemy when time was not in their favor was just plain idiotic.

...

Arc 7 Chapter XIX: Battle of Dawnstar, The Rout

The battlefield around us seemed to quieten once more as I rested a foot on a mangled corpse to my side while giving the remaining 'elites' of the enemy a mocking smirk they could more feel than see at this distance.

Now that we were not attempting to rend each other into tiny bits, Ulfric finally got a good look around him and the dozens upon dozens of corpses of his shield brothers, all of them looking like they belonged at a butcher's shop and not a battlefield.

His eyes found ...

Arc 7 Chapter XVIII: Battle of Dawnstar, First Clash

(Reyvin's POV)

The cacophony of battle surrounded me on all sides but seemed to recede the closer to me and my challengers it got, almost forming a bubble of relative silence as Ulfric and his most powerful warriors glared daggers at me.

"A good morning to you all." I bow grandly, my hands empty of weapons for the moment "I'd bring out some mead but I am afraid the weather is a tad too tumultuous for such."

Grimnir Shatter-Shield grips his hammer so hard I see his hands go w...

Arc 7 Chapter XVII: Battle of Dawnstar, Prelude

(General POV, about a day earlier)

A group of some ten gaunt figures dressed in plain black robes covered in nondescript light armor stood around in a circle, the haunting growls of the Draugr walking all around them failing to disturb an of them.

"Are the preparations finished?" The eldest among them asked a pair of youths that just entered the chamber.

"They are, Jonas." The young man of the pair answered "After the final count we have some seven hundred or so Draugr, that...

Arc 7 Chapter XVI: The Encirclement

Cleaning up the close to two and a half thousand corpses took us the better part of the day. The losses were heavily in our favor as the Empire lost only around five hundred in the fighting with the twice as many wounded being treated with my usual uncaring efficiency.

The Stormcloaks on the other hand died in droves, they may have held an advantage to begin with but the sudden assault combined with my hammer attack stopped them from retreating in time to preserve their numbers and what...

Arc 7 Chapter XV: Icevein

(General POV)

To the men of Jarl Skald tasked with guarding the only shallow point on the Icevein wide enough for an army the day began as any other they could remember in the past weeks. Ever since the Imperial Legion broke through the fort that guarded the roads from both Morthal and Whiterun the invaders had set up camp as close as they could and simply waited there, doing absolutely nothing.

The Dawnstar Raiders, all three and a half thousand of them stationed outside their be...

Arc 7 Chapter XIV: Rambling And 'Recruitment'

(Reyvin's POV)

As the now former Champion of Boethiah falls unconscious I make a show of wiping my gauntleted hands, lazily pulling Blasphemy out of the legendary armor without making a sound and depositing it back into my soul space "Someone take him to a tent and let him rest, do not touch the armor if you can help it."

The veteran who was standing at the ready beside Oren immediately got to work dragging Terryn's limp body to a nearby tent, the sound of armor bein...

Arc 7 Chapter XIII: Machinations

(General POV)

Within a hidden clearing, situated atop a hill to the east of the Icevein River sat a fortified camp, its walls either raised by magic or mechanical labor and its interior filled to near overflow with warriors from three different groups.

At the camp's center, a small gathering of what looked to be officers and leaders were sitting around a fire and discussing their plans.

In one corner sat idly Thane Thorfinn of Winterhold as Lieutenant Garm of the Winterhold ...

Arc 7 Chapter XII: Dawnstar

(General POV)

In one of the many passes carved through Mount Anothor, a large, if somewhat disorganized, military camp dotted with blue banners with the symbol of the snarling bear stood firmly against the cold night winds threatening to batter its inhabitants down the many dangerous inclines which dotted its surface.

A large fur lined tent stood at its center, heavily armored guards standing tall and doing their best to ignore the shouting currently happening within.

An age...

Arc 7 Chapter XI: Dovahkiin

Even as she kept muttering curses at the now very dead dragon, the proud part of Minthara basked in the adoration the crowd of battered warriors offered, her back straightening just a tiny bit with every word of praise she heard.

That same part of her made a stray thought enter her mind unbidden 'This, this is where I belong!' The thought was fleeting but it was something she knew would remain in the back of her head for a long time.

She was not preening, and she would smack anyon...

Arc 7 Chapter X: The Western Watchtower

As soon as the panicked guardsman finished speaking, Balgruuf started rapid firing one question after the other, getting as much information from the now sobbing lad as he could before standing up and issuing his orders "Irileth gather every blade willing, get the clans involved as well." He barks to his Housecarl and turns to his Steward "Avenicci announce a bounty of three hundred septims for every soul brave enough to face the beast and a thousand for any who do true damage, Farengar-"

Arc 7 Chapter IX: Grabbing A Few Blades

"See to it that the people are provided anything you deem necessary for their recovery. In times such as these, they must know they are cared for by their leaders." I tell the imperial quartermaster as he finishes with his report "A couple of words on the High King's efforts would also not be remiss."

"Aye sir, no need to tell me how to do me job." The old quartermaster grumbles and offers a lazy salute.

Tullius had left the town half a day ago as he also got news about the Dawnst...

Arc 7 Chapter VIII: Souls, Realizations, And Plans

"Hate you." The annoyed, grouchy voice of my fellow semi-divine being reaches my ears as she forces herself to get up "Hate you so much."

"You should not just fall asleep in the middle of nowhere then." I shrug my shoulders, ignoring the fact one of her hands was twitching toward her blade while the other was trying to remove the snow from her hair.

It had been a few minutes since she consumed the souls of the twins and once Krein had declared it safe, I proceeded to wake her up i...

Arc 7 Chapter VII: Soldiers, Smiths And Dragons

My customary session of patting myself on the back lasted me for only an hour or so before I grew bored once again and stepped out to be a general bother while I waited for my guests to rest themselves.

First I made my way to the training grounds and barracks, a large walled off part of the city positioned to the side of the main canyon entrance. My troops were advancing nicely in both numbers and experience, the constant skirmishes with the feral Falmer allowing them to get blooded wit...

Arc 7 Chapter VI: Of Alliances and Advancements

(Flashback, General POV)

The peaceful rustling of Bruma's northern forests was broken as a small group of mounted men rode through its less overgrown paths at a rapid pace, a pack of large hunting dogs guiding them forward and after a magnificent boar moving at speeds high enough to shatter whatever was unfortunate enough to find itself in front of it.

As attested by multiple trees turned into fine chunks.

One of the horsemen handed the older man riding next to him a loaded ...

Arc 7 Chapter V: Silruhn Fell

(General POV)

As the Court Mage made the entire group disappear to who knows where General Tullius allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. The task given to him by his liege was now far harder to complete and his honed mind failed utterly in not thinking about the amount of work it would take to deal with it all.

And then there was the sudden challenge of his faith in the gods...

He knew the elf was not at fault but he still felt like cursing the young mage, if only to ma...

Arc 7 Chapter IV: The Silent Rubble

(Reyvin's POV)

Consciousness slams back into me like a hammer, the sudden lack of deathly suffocation forcing me to take in deep gulps of air before I finally manage to calm down.

My freshly rebuilt eyes sting as they snap open and take in the scene above me, a leveled city, a panicking redhead held back by the eternally patient Paladin, and the frowning Davos getting up from just having stabbed me with a potion syringe I had made for such situations.

Tapping myself down hab...

Arc 7 Chapter 3: The Taste of Defeat

Time seemed to slow down as the mass of pitch black scales barreled straight toward us, his eyes briefly twitched in my direction but his attention was swiftly taken by Minthara glaring at him and greeting him with her own voice "FUS RO DAH!"

I could practically taste his contempt as he simply stated "Bo." and ripped through the space in front of him, appearing directly above her, already mid swing with his front claws.

Which was exactly what I was waiting for as ...

Arc 7 Chapter 2: Black Wings In The Cold

(Reyvin's POV)

Complete silence descended upon the central square of Helgen.

My sudden entrance and the question that followed it stunned most people on the imperial side and even a good number of the Stormcloaks, judging by the gaping of what I presumed were the newer recruits. Most of the idiots probably didn't even know Ulfric had a son.

Just as planned, the usual reaction to my existence gave me a perfect opportunity to give my long-missing apprentices a quick once-over....

Arc 7 Chapter I: The Unbindening

The first thing she felt was the sound of a cart moving down an uneven road, the hooves of the horse pulling it following soon after. The next was the smell, the sweet smell of mountain spring, 'the smell of home' a large part of her almost leaped for joy.

Realizing that she was awake, her eyes snapped open rushing to absorb the sight before she was otherwise distracted. But, as always, the world had other ideas as she swiftly realized she had gone to sleep in her armor and her neck was...

Interlude II: Sparks of A Brighter Future

A/n: Felt like visiting the vaunted quarter once again, also I kinda went wild with it so it turned into a 3k words chonker.

We shall return to the usual program in the next chapter.

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As winter approached, an almost permanent fog once more settled onto the narrow and dreary streets of Windhelm's Grey Quarter, plummeting the mood of the residents even further and then shooting it in the head.

This was not helped by the fact that if a day was warm, the...

Interlude I: The Quest for Aetherium

(General POV, a few moons before Harkon's demise)

A small group comprised of seven elves and one human can be seen moving down a narrow path to the south of Markarth's hold. Five of them were simple guards, armed with halberds and armored in the usual dark hue preferred by their lord, all of them were relaxed and chatting amongst each other while one held the reins of the singular horse drawing a small cart behind it.

The scene on the cart was less relaxed.

One corner was oc...

Arc 6 Chapter XCIII: The Ashes Settle

The sweet taste of victory lasted me only for about a minute longer before the irritating realities of warfare reasserted themselves as Rikke barged into the ruined chapel and browbeat me into checking on every single legionary and Dawnguard member to make sure none of them were about to die or worse yet, turn into vampires.

As for my own forces, Gelebor and Nightshade were more than enough to ensure a lack of Molag Bal rated STDs among our meager numbers so I did not even bother lookin...

Arc 6 Chapter XCII: Fall of Volkihar (Part 4/ Guardians of The Dawn)

A splash of red flashes next to my right eye as I barely dodge the rapid swing of Harkon's blade, the damned thing easily cutting into my mask with barely any resistance. I channel a spontaneous blast of sunlight next to me but he is already moving on to his next target as he simply continues his swing, now aiming it at Valerica's neck.

Numerous iron spikes are risen from the ground with the barest twitch of the vampire matriarch's fingers, positioned perfectly for Harkon to barrel into...