» Wed May 30, 2012 8:05 pm A wizened Dunmer, clad in a mammoth-ivory bonemold suit, emerged from the darkness to the front. He raised his arms and wheezed, "Nelos Venim will lead us in song." There were no books, hymnals, psalters, or songsheets as was the custom she knew from childhood. The Dunmer seemed to just know what the songs were.
From ash we are made and to ash we shall return
Vivec makes the stones rise and he makes them fall
One day we will finally learn
The true purpose of it all
During the song, dancers threw perfumed bits of ash into the air, creating an intoxicating fragrance.
"We invited a learned one to read from the text," the bonemold-clad officiator announced. Several men stood up, eyed each other, and made quick motions and utterings which Heidi could not understand. She took the opportunity to look more closely at the walls and saw short painted obelisks covered in Dunmeri writing. Each obelisk also bore the image of some sort of ancient hero.
Finally, one of the men stepped forward and took up the book from the podium. “Saint Jiub's memoirs, page 90. Brothers, let not the enemies separate you, for you are all thinking feeling people. If we are to defeat the cliff racers then we cannot abide petty politics and fiefdoms any longer. We rise as one but we fall separately. For I was once a prisoner and slave owned by my own kinsman, and I gained my freedom by alliance with rival bloodlines and even...” he seemed to read ahead a bit, "...Khajiit. Verily, I ARE ALL WE.” With that, he returned to his seat.
One of the women sitting near Heidi opined, “He chose a good passage to read.” Another woman rumored, “I heard that his his son is a respectable businessman.” One of the men sitting right next to Heidi even noted, “Truly, a masterful and careful selection of text.”
The officiator clared his throat and smiled. “Thank you for the reading, Ulas Sarethri. And now, we convene the Tribunal. Come one, come all, forth and receive the blessings of the Four!”
Two men and two women stood up from the front row, keeping their backs turned to the audience, and donned metal masks. They walked to flank the officiator and turned around. One of the women wore a mask of solid gold. The other woman wore a mask of half ebony and half gold. One of the men wore a mask of solid ebony. The final man wore a mask of gold with silver designs and a grand mohawk on top.
At first, only a few came forward. One of them was an elderly woman, with bells and bones hanging from her hair. The one with the half-gold half-ebony mask put his hands on her shoulders and asked, “How may the Tribunal aid you?”
She struggled in a hoarse voice, “I have suffered from the Blight for hundreds of years, but was forbidden to seek the help of the Tribunal. But now I am almost dead and wish to pass away in peace.”
"Drink of Vivec's Tears and be healed,” and his mask began to ooze sparkling blue-white magicka from its eyes. He rubbed it off of his mask and wiped the woman's face with his hand.
The woman was enveloped with light and stoop up straighter than ever before. She gasped, “Oh thank you, servant of Vivec!” and the whole crowd cheered and clapped in celebration.
Heidi knew this was the right place. She stepped forward. The gold-and-silver-masked man hugged her and took her aside. “What brings you to the Tribunal?” spoke a warm voice from behind the mask.
Heidi stuttered and stammered, “I, uh, I , I've been...” as tears flowed uncontrollably. “I’m in great pain,” she was finally able to declare.
“What kind of pain?” was the curt reply from the stolid expressionless mask.
She pulled down her shirt to reveal a mess of black, blue, and dark green.
“How did this happen?”
“I can't say. I'm so scared!” She shuddered with the memory of how these wounds were inflicted.
“You can trust the Tribunal. Everything that happens here is confidential. All secrets are safe with us.”
“Well... my boyfriend said that if I were a true Nord woman then I wouldn't have these marks. He...”
“Go on.”
“I can't go to Talos for help because of who my boyfriend is. If I go to Talos then it will only get worse!”
The man behind the mask was totally still for a moment, then asked, “Your boyfriend does this to you?”
“Every! Every day!” Heidi wailed.
If I may ask, who is your boyfriend?”
“Leofric Stormcloak.” Ulfric’s younger brother.
“You have done well, daughter of the sky.”
“I have?”
“Only a true Nord is brave enough to seek help in such matters as you have done.”
“I... I am... thanks.” She was able to breathe a bit easier now.
“Just as the Nerevarine conquered corprus, so shall it be done for you.” He laid hands upon her ribs and wiped away the bruises with soft blue light.
“Thank you, thank you,” she let out in relief, and pulled her shirt back up. The pain was gone.
The man added one last statement, “Know that Nerevar will mete out justice and defeat the enemy.” Then he turned to aid the other petitioners.
For the first time in a long time, she smiled.
------
When she opened the door, he was waiting. She did not remember giving him the key. He must have gotten it from his older brother. “Where have you been?” he asked, arms folded across his chest, his feet tapping nervously.
“I went to buy some food, see?” She presented a sack full of fruits and vegetables.
“And why do you smell like the Gray Quarter?” he continued, biting his lips and tilting his head.
“You know that they often throw ash into the air...”
He leapt out of his seat and grabbed her long braided blonde hair, sending the sack of food tumbling and spilling all over the floor. “Where have you been?”
“Shopping! You can ask the ---! Let me go, I beg of you!”
“Liar!”
“Please don't!”
“Shut up!”
She felt herself falling face-first into a table.
WHAM!
For a moment, there was nothing, and then sudden stinging shock piercing her whole head.
“You were in the Gray Quarter! Confess!”
“I swear to you, I was shopping! You can ask Hillevi Cruel-Sea!”
She was tilted back again and choked on her own saliva.
“You harlet!”
WHAM!
A tooth fell out of her mouth, followed by a trickle of blood. Her tongue was probably cut, too. She muffled through the blood, “Stop it, Leofric, please don't hurt me!”
“A true Nord woman could make me stop!”
She felt herself falling to the cobblestone floor. She tried to get herself up, but her arms and legs would not listen. She could do little more than roll her head a bit and try to get the blood and saliva flowing out rather than in, her throat seizing up from the pain.
“harlet! You are cheating on me!”
She felt her dress being pulled hard until it tore off.
“Who healed you? HUH? HEY! Who restored your health? HUH?”
“I bought a potion...”
“With MY money! Who said you could spend MY money on a potion? HUH?”
“I don't feel good...”
“A true Nord doesn't need a stupid potion! Why are you so stupid, HUH? You dumb strumpet, I know you are sleeping with a Dark Elf!”
“Ask Elda Early-Dawn... I bought it from her..."
“Shut up!”
Suddenly, her insides folded over themselves and compressed into half the space they usually did. This was, sadly, more usual for her, and she knew that she was being kicked in the stomach. She found the breaths of air to be too few and far in between, and the respite was always brief before another round of kickings came.
Finally, there was a break that felt like it lasted longer than five seconds. “Why... why are you doing this...?” she coughed out.
“You know why!”
“Stop...”
“Make me! What kind of a Nord woman can't fight back, HUH? Piece of trash!”
Her hands started to respond again. She reached for the leg of a chair to remind herself that she was still alive. Her neck hiccuped but at least she could get more air now.
“Why are you so noisy, HUH? I need to pray to Talos, begone!”
Finally, she was rolled out into the cold snow and stone of the street, and the door of her own house slammed shut behind her. She buried her face in the icy powder to make the pain stop. When she withdrew her head and blinked her swollen eyes, she saw a crystalline bloody-red death mask shaped like herself. The shock of the cold kickstarted her heart and she was able to regain control if her elbows and knees. She tried to push herself off the ground but could not make it more than a foot before her body gave out again.
She turned her head to see an armored man with a pointed helmet and blue tabard. She croaked, “Help me...” with all of the breath left in her.
The blue soldier said, “Leofric's word is law in all his civil affairs,” as he simply walked faster than before.
She rested on the ground for at least a minute, the cold keeping her from passing out. The shock was finally starting to fall out of her body, leaving her with the slower but deeper pain of broken bones and bruises. The cobblestones were just large enough to serve as handholds and footholds. If she could just travel a hundred more feet, she could make it. With a great push and pull, she heaved forward by one foot. She was left gasping for air, but at least now she could breathe. She only needed to do this a hundred more times.
But after the tenth push, she found herself beginning to drift out of consciousness. She was so exhausted that she could no longer concentrate on breathing as much as she needed to. Instead, she just let some more blood dribble onto the street.
A golden-skinned woman cast her shadow on Heidi. The woman also cast a comment, “Oh my, someone clearly doesn't know how things work around here,” and continued on her way.
Her throat was starting to get dry so she coughed, and it hurt so much to cough that she could not bring herself to do it again. She simply had to endure the burning feeling in her mouth and throat that told her she needed water badly. Perhaps if she let herself fall asleep here, a kind soul would take her to a warm place. Perhaps a servant of Talos would take pity on her, although that path was sure to lead her to Ulfric and therefore back to Leofric. She wanted to stay as far away from Leofric as she could. Perhaps if she fell asleep, she would simply die.
Being face-down in the street was taking its toll. The whole front of her body was aggravated by the knobby stones poking into her flesh. She tried to sniffle but her broken nose refused. With one last push, she rolled herself onto her back. Something at her waist tinkled. She brushed away at her hips to remove whatever it was that was tinkling, but that only made the sound repeat itself more. The she remembered the potion she bought just in case. It was as if she knew this would happen to her. Nothing ever got past Leofric. He taught her this truth in her bones with every strike.
She struggled to sit up and look down at her waist, but her ribs exploded in flaming pressure, sending her flat on her back. She would have to do this by touch. She felt for where the metal of her belt buckle ended and the potion began, finally getting her finger through the ring on top of the potion. It was a good thing she ordered the one with the steel frame to protect its soft red glass body, or else it would have surely shattered by now. She pulled at its ring but it refused to unhook from her belt. She then pushed it inwards but still it did not come off. Finally, after three more twists, she had the potion in her hand. It felt quite heavy for its size.
Just a little bit further. She touched its cap to her teeth and felt something like a knife cutting through her incisors. She would have to open it the hard way. She held it above her face, her hands quaking with cold, and tried to slowly twist it open. Glowing red liquid splashed all over her face and chest, sinking in and cutting away at the pain. She tried to put her lips around it but it was coming out too fast, and she choked and snorted on it. The potion eventually stopped coming, except as small drips, but it was just enough. She pulled herself off the ground and walked slowly to her destination. Every time the wind blew, she was afraid she would just fall right back down again, but somehow her legs remained true.
It was too cold, even for her. She could not make it all the away. Instead, she turned and stumbled through a different door, and she felt as if she was being cooked alive from warmth. The sounds of merrymaking, the smell of mazte and flin, the clanking of bone sticks all filled her senses and she forgot where she was. It all faded away and she was left with lonely silence.
"What is the matter with you?" asked the bartender.
"I need help..." she whispered, and emptied her stomach on the floor with a stream of bile and blood before finally passing out.
------
"It seems pretty cut and dry to me," said Meler Saryoni, "We just hide her away in the back of the temple."
Serevar Indoril disagreed. "I promised her that justice would be delivered and the enemy would be defeated. Furthermore---"
Ralana Dren cut him off with, "It is astounding that we are allowed to have this temple in the first place. You would dare jeopardize that? After all the hard work we put into building it?"
"Indeed, we must choose our battles wisely," agreed Meler.
Serevar turned to the fourth person in the room. "And you, Omicron sul-Aryon? What say you?"
Omicron shook his head, "Well, um, well..." He tried to figure out what to say by moving his hands in the air. "There are many Stormcloaks in the city and only a few of us. And besides, we just run the temple, we don't have legal---"
"Enough!" Serevar slammed his fist into the table. "Show me where the rest of the Ordinator gear is!"
Ralana and Meler stood up to him. "Serevar! Cease this foolishness at once!"
"Show me where the Ordinator gear is!"
Meler took Sarevar by the shoulders and held him at bay. "Vivec said that it is better to suffer a wrong than to do one."
"I'm sure Vivec said something like that. Show me where the Ordinator gear is." He threw Meler to the side.
Ralana explained, "If you are caught then we never knew you. The bearer of the Mask of Nerevar was another. Do you understand?"
"I know exactly what I am getting into. Show me where the Ordinator gear is."
Omicron handed Serevar the key. "Look... the odds are not good. This is Leofric Stormcloak we're talking about here."
Serevar was already putting on the golden bonemolded armor and taking a few practice swings with the spiked ebony mace. "You are all so naive. Have you ever stared a Dremora in the face? Seen the hatred it bears for all living things? Felt it smash its sword into your body?"
Ralana shook her head, "We all lost something in those dark days."
"Hey, I'm not finished. Have you ever see your own sister pecked to death by a flock of cliff racers? Have you ever seen an Argonian eating your comrade while he's still alive?"
Meler stomped his foot, "So what's your point?"
"My point is, the Stormcloaks have twice as much hatred in their eyes as I had ever seen from the angriest of any foes past. I know that look. I know it when I see it. And I made a promise to this woman. I made a promise and I am going to keep it, and no man or god will stop me."
With that, Serevar covered himself in a bulky cloak and marched off to the other room where Heidi lay fast asleep. He knelt down, took her hand, and kissed her forehead. She shivered from memory and pulled the blankets tighter around herself. "Nerevar will surely mete out justice, and the enemy will be defeated."
He threw open the portal to the eternally-snowing wasteland of stone called a Nordic city and passed through to another world.
(to be continued...)
