» Sun Jun 12, 2011 2:54 am Disclaimer: This fan fiction is not aimed to be completely true to the lore.
There are a few inconsistencies that I dont care enough to change. Please do not complain.
Prologue
A day in Mania always starts off the same. It is always bright out, and the weather is perfection. Mania is the north half of Crucible, the capital of continent. The south half is Dementia, the segregation here is unbelievable. In Sheogorath’s realm of madness everything south of the line is shrouded in suffering, clouds circle around striking any poor soul trying to make meets end. When you live in Mania at first it seems like heaven, but days go on and on and you start to notice the reverberation. Life here is routine and never changing, I refuse to consider it life no matter how grand and perfect it may seem.
The Golden Saints ordinate the city, and anyone who commits a crime either pays gold or is thrown in a cave somewhere out in the wilds. If you make it out of the cave you are free of all charges, if not… Well I think that is pretty self explanatory.
My name is Artyom and I live by myself in Mania, I am 17 years of age. If you are wondering why I live by myself, I have no real answer for you. I’ve never known a parent, or a guardian. I woke up in an empty house from a distant slumber at the age of 8. The only friend I have ever had is Karina, a girl about my age who seems to have a story similar to mine. She lives in the house next to me, an empty, yet grand house where we live our lives with the seemingly endless bundles of supplies stored in it.
Let me tell you about Karina, she’s a rebel, a rambunctious girl who seems untouchable, walking in arguable perfection with no opposition to what she does. I’m not sure how she gets away with everything she does, but she has things stored in her house worth more than my life to many. I never knew how she got away with everything she did, but it finally came crashing down on her that one day.
Chapter 1
It started off routinely; I woke up and ate my breakfast consisting of toast and cereal. After I was done someone came in asking my name, after further inspection I saw it was a Golden Saint. “Are you Artyom?” asked the guard. “Yes, that’s me” was my response.
“Your friend Karina was caught stealing from Ripper earlier today, she was thrown to the caves as she had no way to pay the fine. I thought I might let you know, do you know anything about it?”
“No, I did not. Thank you for telling me.” I said calmly, though deep down I was scared, scared that she wouldn’t make it out, scared that I would lose the only person who makes me feel like life is worth living. I didn’t know what to do with myself. Something that has never endingly been a part of my life was gone.
After a few hours of contemplating, I realized that the only thing I could was try to break her out. I knew where the caves were, and I knew she still had plenty of Ripper’s items in her house. I walked out into the comforting air of Mania’s streets, and observed the golden walkways, and decorative houses. At the time, I didn’t understand why anyone would risk losing Mania, but after a long time you realize that although you have the comfort and welcoming aura, there is absolutely nothing for the average day-to-day person to do. It was an existence of boredom that just wouldn’t fit Karina’s bill.
Chapter 2
I walked into her house; it looked just like anyone’s houses. I knew she had the weapons somewhere, I don’t know where she could hide them. I looked thoroughly from cabinet to cabinet, chest to chest. I didn’t have a clue where to look. Soon afterwards however, I found a note on her bedroom.
Artyom, if you are reading this you are in my house, and I am in some kind of trouble. If you want to help me you will need some of the things I’ve been stashing. . I am going to give you a hint, remember that nursery rhyme we used to say to each other?
Two bodies have I,
Though both joined in one
The more I stand still,
The faster I run.
It all came to me in a rush, and hourglass. I had seen one sitting in the basemant on one of the beams. I sped down to grab it, there was another note inside. I didn’t understand. Why was she trying to keep me from it? Nonetheless I broke open the hourglass and found the note.
By now you have found the hourglass. If you are wondering why all the notes, it is to keep the stash safe from the saints. On the wall next to the beam you found this on you must touch your hand to the wall and whisper ‘Eleswyr.’ The wall should open, revealing all the items you need to aid me.
Clearly enough I did what the letter said. Afterwards the wall opened revealing a chamber decorated by all sorts of ordinance. I didn’t know how to fight, but I wasn’t sure I had much choice in the matter. I grabbed the nearest sword, and put on some light leather armor. I made my way out of the house when I realized that I was wearing stolen items. I quickly dashed to the shadows, and made my way building to building trying to reach the exit. It soon occurred to me that I had to walk through Dementia, just to get to the main gates. I wouldn’t have to sneak around there but if you have been following closely enough Dementia is not a fun place to be. The buildings are warped, and desolate. The sky is shrouded in clouds with the sun barely piercing through. I was walking through the streets, when suddenly a man in robes was standing in front of me. “Come with me, quickly now.” He said, I asked him why but he ignored the question and began running. I had to find out who he was so I presumed to chase him.
After rounding innumerous corners trying to keep up with the mysterious man we reached an old cellar door behind one of the buildings. “Come inside and hurry. They are watching” he said. I didn’t think I had much choice in the matter so I followed his instructions. We walked into the cellar; it was run down and covered in broken furniture. I followed him closely as we came to a peculiar door, it just didn’t seem to fit in… Maybe it was the lighting, or maybe it was the glowing red skull in the middle of the door.
The touched the door, and seemingly from nowhere it spoke, in the tone of a whisper, yet distinctly loud. “What is the color of night?” Said the voice, the man simply responded “Sanguine, my brother” and the door unsealed, and opened up to the both of us.
He motioned for me to follow him and we both walked into the misty sanctuary that this man seemed to call home. He spoke once more saying “Walk down the corridor in front of you and follow the path to Lucien, he is waiting” and suddenly without warning he dissipated into the mist surrounding the room. There were strange beings looking at me from all around the room, in dark robes with hoods up. I figured that Lucien must be the leader, and if he wanted to see me I had nothing to worry about. I did as the man before said and walked to meet this Lucien character. Upon seeing him I realized he looked different from the others, his cheeks were gaunt and his skin discolored. He was a vampire.
“Come in Artyom, I’ve been expecting you.” Was the first thing he said to me, so I walked towards him and beckoned for me to sit down at a table with him. His room was dimly lit, with a stone slab that he seemingly used as a bed. When we sat down he spoke “You and your friend are in a lot deeper than you think, she is being used as bait to get at you. It seems the mad god has taken an interest in your presence.”
I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I stayed silent and he continued on to explain. “We know all about you and your friend’s ‘dealings’ with Ripper. She was never actually getting away with it, though when the time was right they took her to the dungeons because they knew you would go after looking for her. We can help you, but first we need a favor.” Afterwards I responded “What do you want me to do?” and he explained further. “This is one of our many sanctuaries in this realm; we tend to remain unnoticed to Sheogorath, as he has other things to attend to than our measly outpost in the middle of his run down suburbs.
Though usually we can operate unnoticed with the recent happenings we find ourselves sending our agents out and they don’t come back. We know why Sheogorath is doing this; you are what our group calls the ‘Nerevarine.’ The nerevarine is an incarnate of Lord Nerevar, a man who struck down Sheogorath in his first reign. Sheogorath being a Daedric lord was expelled to Oblivion, though he resurfaced within the recent centuries.”
“How do you know all this? If what you say is true then you must be hundreds of years old.”
“Vampires know not age; we live eternally as long as we keep out of physical harm. Now about the task, if you are to do what you are destined to, we need you to prove your worth. Otherwise we will not aid you in the coming storm. There is a Guard retiring from service who made it his business to obstruct all our dealings. We will not let him have such a service; he has been untouchable until now. Take this bow, and use the Sanguine Rose to harm him with it. If he is not wearing armor it will go without a hitch, death is not punishment enough for his actions. The sanguine rose sends his soul to the depths of Oblivion. Go now and do what I have asked, also wear this hood. We do not want the Mad Gods guards recognizing you. After you are done do not return here. Help your friend, and if you have really done what we have asked Sheogorath will not be able to intervene.”
Chapter 3
It seemed simple enough, take the bow and shoot the man with it. I left the sanctuary and left to find the retired Guard. It was easy enough, as Golden Saints have a certain distinction between normal civilians, and if he is retired he should not be wearing his armor. I found him relaxing in the lake in Mania. I had never used a bow and I didn’t want to miss, I got as close as I could without revealing my presence to him. I strung the bow with the Sanguine Rose, and let it off. It hit its target, though I heard someone yelling. I had to get out of there, I dashed to the gates but they had be closed and locked. I wasn’t sure what options I had when I remembered there is a second gate. There was only one problem; I hate to walk past Sheogorath’s palace to get it.
I knew the saints could not close Sheogorath’s door as simply stating there was none. It was just an arch; I snuck into the courtyard when I noticed the full reality of my peril. There were numerous guards patrolling so I ran to the nearest cover. Someone looked over, I held my breath, but he figured it was nothing and continued to walk. It was simple enough now; if I made it through the archway the saints could not follow me. That was Dark Seducer territory, and although Dark Seducers were also servants of Sheogorath they were not already alerted to my presence. I ran for all I was worth past the Golden Saints, I made it through though I was once again in Dementia. I had the hood, so I stayed to the shadows and walked through the gates to the open landscape. I knew where I had to go so I continued on to the cave. I wondered what Sheogorath would have had in store for me had I not helped the Dark Brotherhood. The caves are usually full of Grummites, stubby little creatures who fancy cutting things up. Not the safest place to be.
I walked into the cave; it was faintly lit by a few wall torches from when it was still in use. Immediately there was a Grummite coming after me, I unsheathed my weapon and prepared for it. Out of nowhere however an arrow flew to pierce the back of its head. I looked to see where it had come from and it was Karina, standing valiant as ever. Honestly, I never understood why I thought she was in danger. Or even more, why I thought I could help her. Though I did, and the events preceding happened purely because of that fool notion.
“What took you so long?” snidely said Karina. “I had a few errands to run” I responded. There wasn’t much more to add to the conversation, so we silently grouped together and continued to walk on. When we left the cave, we realized we were in there along longer than we had first presumed. The sun was falling, and the moon dauntingly lit the bleak sky.
We walked all the way back to Mania when it had occurred to me what Lucien had said, the Mad God, Sheogorath, was after the both of us. With that realization, Sheogorath appeared.
He was clapping, “Bravo” he said, “I honestly didn’t expect you to make it, and what really surprised me was that you made it right past my palace. Travelling right under my nose and I didn’t notice you, a feat well worth beholding. That’s over now, this ends here Artyom.”
I knew what he was talking about immediately, I was the Nerevarine and fate it seemed chose me to end his rule. If that was what fate had in store for me I guess there was no turning away. I tightened my grip on my weapon and went at him, I swung right at him. The sword went right through him but it didn’t seem to have helped because he quickly regenerated right back to his old self. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to get out of it, when one of the dark robed assassins appeared behind him and threw to me a stone. He told me to touch my sword to it, when Sheogorath became aware to his presence and he vanished back again. I did as he asked and my weapon suddenly began to glow a dark red tint. I figured this was some sort of enchantment and decided to slice at Sheogorath once more; it seemed to me that he realized what had just happen when I saw the fear in his eyes as it began to tear through him. He fell to the ground, mortally wounded.
Right afterwards, what seemed like an angel started lowering towards me. “Congratulations, young one, you have done what we thought not possible. You will take Sheogorath’s place as the ruler of this realm. You have earned it”
With that though, the divine being was gone. I didn’t know what to think after that, I guess it was over. I walked to what I guess is now my palace with all the Saints looking at me, awestruck. I sat down on my throne, and life had a new purpose. I am a ruler now, and that is what I am destined to be. A new trouble will come it seems, and I must prepare for it. This newfound peace was not to last.
