Rastislav

Arc 8 Chapter LXVIII: Folly, Fear, And Courage

A/n: Beeg chap because I felt like yammering!

------

(Reyvin's POV)

Groans of the wounded surround me on all sides, the constant noise of new casualties being brought in barely cutting through the constant wailing. The mixed smell of blood piss and shit did not help either, getting rattled in the helm with a club did not leave one in good control of one's body.

Aaaand promptly suppressing those senses.

"Let's see here" I mutter as I scan the barely living elf bel...

Arc 8 Chapter LXVII: Lightning Strike (Part 2/2)

Almeril Faren felt oddly at peace as his kinsfolk followed him through the sea of tents and shacks that was the Argonian encampment.

His heart beat with a purpose he did not know in his lifetime, his shield protected his comrades who advanced on the enemy with the same vigor as they did when the battle started, and his blade sang through the air as it cut down yet another worthy foe, the Argonian's leather and scale armor failing to protect its vitals as it clutched at its throat.

Arc 8 Chapter LXVI: Lightning Strike (Part 1)

A/n: Planned on fitting the whole battle into one chap but that would have been waaay too rushed.

-------------

The humidity in the air split around me as I patiently tapped my foot on the forest floor, it was odd how certain biological tendencies remained even when I theoretically should not have them.

I could feel the pre-battle jitters spreading across my mostly silent troops so seeing me relaxed should give them a small boost in confidence. Or at least that is the excuse...

Arc 8 Chapter LXV: On The March To Mournhold

The war tent grows silent as the scout, a Morag Tong agent quite plainly, finishes recounting the second wave of reports she had just been directed with, the tension around me growing with each word that left her mouth.

"Well" Davos breaks the silence dryly "That is unfortunate."

The masked Tong agent feels like she wants to shrink into herself but remains silent. Understandably being the bearer of bad news to a room filled with high nobility is never fun.

Feeling the slight...

Arc 8 Chapter LXIV: The Staging

(General POV)

Two days after the first meeting of the newly elected Hortator's council, a quartet of figures found themselves walking through the heavily guarded gates of Old Ebonheart, all of them drawing salutes and nods from the guards as they passed.

"This place feels like a deathtrap." Almeril Faren mutters, his eyes rapidly scanning the near overcrowded walls.

The elf closest to him, clad in colors of House Dagoth unlike Faren's Redoran heraldry, shrugs "They got their...

Arc 8 Chapter LXIII: Of Zeal And Strategy

A/n: The winner of this month's side story poll is (cue distinctly unskilled drumroll) The political waves made by Reyvin's ascension!
Probably going to place it just after last chapter but I am not sure when exactly I will be writing it all.

---------------

I hold back a groan as I finally get a free moment to myself.

Me being declared the sanctified dictator of an entire kingdom was of course a great achievement the vast majority of people could only ...

Arc 8 Chapter LXII: Hortator

A/n: A cheeky super early chap, enjoy!

-----

(General POV)

Vasilor of the Erabenimsun, the Ashkhan of that selfsame tribe of proud warriors and protectors, found himself standing at the edge of Ald'ruhn for the third morning in a row, his eyes still unused to the sight of lands bereft of their curse.

Rolling rocky hills replaced dunes of ash, clear skies of blue overtook endless gray and a pleasant morning breeze caressed his face and beard, not the deathly ash winds ...

Arc 8 Chapter LXI: Of Death And CHIM

My steps were as childish skips as I stepped out of the Heart Chamber, or was it Tree Chamber now?

Not important.

As I was saying, I was feeling both literally and metaphorically reborn as I left the core of the mountain, that ephemeral childish glee we all lost upon growing old and cynical burning within my heart without the smallest indication of ever disappearing.

Truly, I felt like nothing could possibly bring my mood down.

Which is why when I stepped past a silent...

Arc 8 Chapter LX: A Special Breed Of Knife Ear

(Reyvin's POV, earlier)

For what felt like the millionth time I found myself cursing my childish arrogance as the far too violent energies of a gods damned death mountain attempted to turn me into soul slush and use me as a snack.

'Oh yeah Reyvin, just piggyback an ascension off a ritual, what could possibly go wrong?!'

It felt like a decade had passed as I sat there in the storm of ash, even if I knew intellectually that it had only been minutes, most of my thoughts and rea...

Arc 8 Chapter LIX: Carve Thine Name Upon History

A/n: An early happy new year to all of you!

--------

(General POV)

Dagoth Ulthis felt his eyes and skull throb in dull pain for probably the one hundredth time that day as he caught the slightest hint of the thing being constructed within the chamber. 

There were far too many shapes for mortal eyes to comprehend, he concluded with a shiver.

"You alright?" The short Ashlander asks him with arms crossed "That is like the tenth time you hissed li...

Arc 8 Chapter LVIII: Come And Look Upon The Heart

In an instant, everyone except for Junior and myself are shoved outside the protective bubble, the very air within slowing down to a crawl before time itself seemed to stop.

No, it did not stop I realized as I used my third eye to look behind me and noticed Savos' expression ever so slowly twisting into a panicked fury as his Magicka went into full battle mode.

But I could not pay too much attention to his inevitably late reaction as the ash and dust of the once Heart of Lorkhan c...

Arc 8 Chapter LVII: Kogoruhn

A/n: The time is nigh!

-----

(Reyvin's POV)

"My lord" Dagoth Ulthis shuffles after me with hesitance in both step and voice, his eyes focused to the south-west and up above us "Are you... Are you certain that it will be fine?"

His question was obviously referring to the massive volcano above us currently spewing forth even more poison, fire, and detritus than usual, all of it started when I blew up old Molly's temple without even bothering to enter.

'Still worth ...

Arc 8 Side Story I: Side Story I: Merish Marshalling

A/n: Do note that this side story is meant to happen right after chapter 46. Timing them to fit in perfectly with the current pace is pretty much impossible so some finagling is sadly a must.

-----

(General POV, A day before the army of Dagoth set out to Morrowind)

Davos sighed contentedly as he strolled through one of the now inhabited parts of the once Forgotten Vale. Work was getting done at a breakneck pace with hundreds of Mer migrating to the rumored promised land ever...

Arc 8 Chapter LVI: A True Mer of Culture

A/n: I was so bored today I went and did this. Do enjoy a double double chapter! (previus one is 3k words and this one is 3.5k)

But wait, there is more!

Tomorrow awaits the dreaded side story! Am I not a generous god?

-----

The large wooden boat rocked almost rhythmically as Sarushta-Kai, whom I learned was a lifelong Retainer to Divayth Fyr like his ancestors before him, steered the way to the small archipelago to Vvardenfell's west.

There were allegedly hundred...

Arc 8 Chapter LV: A Cheesy Situation

A merry christmas to all of you that celebrate it!

Previous chapter has been edited, mostly for flow and a slight improvement to the little slap battle Reyvin indulged the poor orc lad in.

-----

"These winds grow more insidious by the hour." Savos comments on the second day of our trek south, a deep frown on his face "I can barely scry the edge of the sea from here."

"Good thing we have the Orb™ then" I comment "Or we wouldn't be able to send messages out either." No...

Arc 8 Chapter LIV: Throwing Hands

(General POV)

Dagoth Ulthis was not having a good day today, in fact he would go so far as to say he was having the worst day in his life. First they enter a Daedric temple without a care, then the very Daedra drags all of them into a vision, and now... this.

"We meet once again." The Daedra spoke in an amused gravely voice "Little Aedra."

Naturally things only got wors...

Arc 8 Chapter LIII: Pushing Loyalties

(Reyvin's POV)

The four Dunmer look stricken as I pose my question, understandably shaken by having their entire being scrambled by dear old grandfather's bullshit. And yet I still found myself annoyed with how long they were taking to compose themselves "Too embarrassed to answer a simple question?"

The apparent leader jolts awake from his stupor and quickly shakes his head, lowering his gaze in the process "Apologies, your lordship. I do not know what just happened."

...

Arc 8 Chapter LII: The Unmourned

(General POV)

He observed them as they approached the encampment, only ever moving his actual eyes from his current customer as the Mer herself turned to see what the commotion was about.

'So that is what he wanted...' He was unsure if he wanted to curse the one who sent him here or thank him, he supposed he would find out soon enough.

His... Ashkhan, as he chose to call himself now, had sent him north under the pretense of orichalcum trade so that he may ...

Arc 8 Chapter LI: Vvardenfell

(General POV)

Vayrin Indoril had been having a rather stressful time of it for a few days now, ever since the head of his house got himself strangled to death under a fully valid Honorable Writ of Execution.

And in most cases that would have been that, corrupt and incompetent nobles were removed often enough for everyone to accept it as a fact of life... Except for the fact that the heads of a Great House could only ever be written off by the Grandmaster of the Morag Tong, someone...

Arc 8 Chapter L: The Conclave Of Resdayn

A/n: Writing this felt like pushing my brain through mud but I think it still turned out aight. Hopefully.

---

(General POV)

The Rootspire of Blacklight was an ancient edifice towering over the rest of the city by a wide margin, once the home of a powerful mage, now the nominal seat of Morrowind itself, said to have been blessed by the direct touch of the Good Daedra once its new function was chosen.

Its hallowed halls were eerily silent as the once five, now six title...

Arc 8 Chapter XLIX: Blacklight

The first thing that clued me in we were near our destination was the distant smell of the sea cutting through the constant ashy taste of the air, an hour later it was joined by the sound of waves endlessly flowing across the rocky coast, and finally the long mountain road was replaced by a vast coastal plain.

"I had not expected to return home so soon." Almeril mutters softly "Or at all for that matter."

Davos, who was riding just next to him, snorts "You are a tough bastard, Far...

Arc 8 Chapter XLVIII: The House Of The Warrior

My mount's assured trot did not slow down even as my entourage tensed, the nobles and their guards that accompanied me as we sped ahead of the rest of the returning army all understanding the sudden and almost tangible gravity of the situation.

Admittedly, one does not need a great political mind to understand that being stared down by over ten thousand professional Dunmeri troops is a situation with gravitas.

Even Almeril looked ready for the dressing down of his life.

"You...

Arc 8 Chapter XLVII: Greeting Notables And Cleaning Undesirables

A/n: Me vs the unending urge to create dozens of characters in every new area I write about...

My attempts at a joke aside, do enjoy yet another beeg chapter. I may have rushed the ending slightly but at this point I have to either double and triple down with this minor battle or bite the bullet and continue on with the more important parts of the story.

Have no fear though, I am not handwaving the whole Argonian issue away, merely delaying it until it is actually relevant for act...

Arc 8 Chapter XLVI: Reinforcements Galore

A/n: Finally about to finish up with Kragenmoor. When I first started the Morrowind arc I fully expected this bit to take like four chapters tops but my dumb ass can't follow a plan to save my life. God do I love my tangents.

-----

(General POV)

Merin Zadir of House Dres cursed his pride as he hobbled after the group of nobles and officers. Oh it was most certainly satisfying to refuse healing for those in greater need but when Dagoth snorted loudly and simply left while sha...

Arc 8 Chapter XLV: The Battle Of Kragenmoor

A/n: Felt like going into detail would be dragging it out too much but also didn't feel like handwaving things away.

In short, do enjoy the double chapter.

-----

(Reyvin's POV)

I could practically taste the big lizard's hateful glare as he understood I invalidated his initial plan without taking a single step. I would begrudgingly admit his reaction to it was much more reasonable than I expected.

The besieging army began shuffling about, their shock troops replac...

Arc 8 Chapter XLIV: They Come

Savos and I kept chatting throughout the night, him talking about the new batch of students, now including numerous Nords due to the rising reputation of magi within Skyrim and Winterhold specifically. He was sad he had to give up his position to Phineas but one did not simply leave their sole remaining family when they were capable of helping.

He waved it all off by saying it was nice to be back home at least, but I could feel his sense of loss, well hidden as it was. Teaching gave him...

Arc 8 Chapter XLIII: New Recruits

(Reyvin's POV)

'I am really going to need to set some boundaries with Mephala if this shit keeps happening' I grumble internally as I keep patting and cooing at the surprisingly cute spider...

Now there was a sentence I never expected to even think.

Still, as annoyed as I was with my eldrich horror/demonic patron/maybe friend?, the glint of intelligence in Nimhe's too many eyes meant she was now far, far more useful than she could ever have been without Mephala's interferenc...

Arc 8 Chapter XLII: A Full Hand

(General POV)

'One foot before the other, one foot before the other...' Was all his mind could focus on as he kept himself moving forward, barely managing not to disturb the others marching beside him as he forced air into his lungs.

His hands still shook from the feeling of an Argonian monstrosity trying to yank his spear from his grip, the beast were so, so much stronger and yet... Yrel, the young cobbler from the poorer parts of Kragenmoor, just another face in the numberless m...

Arc 8 Chapter XLI: Opening Clashes (Part 2/2)

(Reyvin's POV)

Scorch lands on my extended hand and a series of images blasts into my mind "Whoever is leading the central detachment seems smarter than we expected." Scouting with the dreaded bird man was something I was starting to do consciously instead of just scrying about, got my sight blocked too many times to trust it implicitly.

"How so?" Legate Furius asks, his eyes slowly trailing the Kragenmoor phalanx which was only now, a good ten minutes after the clash, beginning t...

Arc 8 Chapter XL: Opening Clashes (Part 1)

A/n: A bit earlier today since I will be away in the evening, hope y'all enjoy!

--------

"They were said to be extinct." Vayrin Indoril mutters as he shuffles after me, his reserves were trained well enough that he didn't end half-comatose after my lesson "To think a Shadowscale would appear so openly..."

"And die like a complete failure." Regnild Sadras scoffs in disgust "These things were supposed to be nightmares."

"I doubt it was meant to be a decapitating strike."...