Flags of Darkness
An Alternate Timeline RP

Everyone knows the tale of Dagoth-Ur ? Lord Voryn Dagoth, the Chimer warlord who was tasked by Nerevar to defend the heart of Lorkhan. Everyone knows how He was seduced by the Heart, and how He used the Tools of Kagrenac to gain His own divinity. For years He was trapped in His citadel on the slopes of Red Mountain, sealed in by the powers of the Tribunal. For years He waited, biding His time, plotting His revenge; But in the end His powers availed Him not ? and He was destroyed by the Nerevarine.


But what if there had been no Nerevarine?

Fragments

3 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Ghostgate, Vvardenfell
From the Journal of Salyn Sarethi
ALMSIVI be praised! This infernal ashstorm seems to be dying at last. It has raged for a week now, and has shown no signs of abating until today. It is by far the strongest ashstorm I've ever seen, easily strong enough to strip a mer's flesh from his bones. And I've certainly seen a fair few. Not surprising perhaps ? today marks the end of my fifth year of service here at Ghostgate.

Five years! How time flies.

Enar Dralor (who caught Corpus nearly a month ago during a raid on a Sixth House stronghold) fell on his sword this morning. He'd fought off the disease as best he could, but it was claiming him against his will. Better to go this way than submit himself to the slow death. He was a good man. He'll be missed.

By Oblivion! What are they going on about down there? What are they thinking, putting up such an uproar? I suppose I must investigate?

3 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Tel Vos, Vvardenfell
Letter from the Telvanni Council to Master Aryon
Upon examination, the Council has confirmed the information in your report concerning the Ghostfence and the Blight. It appears the magical bonds of the Ghostfence are dissolving, and certainly no one can dispute your claim that the Blight is spreading at an unprecedented rate. The Council has concluded that these are indeed indications that the power of Dagoth-Ur is growing, and that soon he will be powerful enough to break through the Ghostfence.

Furthermore, the Council has concluded that House Telvanni is powerful enough at this time to resist any magical incursion by the Sixth House. Master Aryon is advised to take no further action at this time. Under no condition should representatives of the other Great Houses be notified?

5 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Balmora, Vvardenfell
Letter from Sjorvar Horse-Mouth to Caius Cosades
I know this report is not encoded properly, but there is simply no time. Ald'ruhn has been sacked. I could see the smoke last night, but I did not understand until this morning when a band of refugees stopped to speak with me. Prominent among them was the family of the Redoran Councilman Miner Arobar, who claims he is the only surviving Redoran Councilman. They told me that Ghostgate has fallen and a horde of ash monsters and Corpus creatures are pouring out of Red Mountain. I hardly know what to think!

I've heard nothing from Gildan. Arobar told me that a great many of the townsfolk were taking refuge in Buckmoth Legion Fort. He doubted the fort could withstand the onslaught.

I shall be following this report south as soon as I may. I think it would be best if I receive my next set of orders from you directly?

6 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Vivec, Vvardenfell
Announcement from the Office of the Watch to the People of Vivec
The City of Vivec shall be sealed shut tonight at precisely 7 P.M. on the orders of Lord Vivec and the Order of the Ordinators. No traffic by any means shall be possible in or out of the city after that time, and all non-resident outlanders caught within the city after that time will be summarily executed. Food rationing will begin at once.

Citizens are advised to stay calm. These measures are solely for their protection as necessitated by a crisis currently developing on Vvardenfell. The Office of the Watch expects the consent and cooperation of all citizens as long as the present State of Emergency exists?

7 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Ebonheart, Vvardenfell
Letter from Duke Vedam Dren to King Hlaalu Helseth
Beseech us, Lord Helseth, in Vvardenfell's hour of need. Dagoth-Ur's armies must be stopped, but we here are powerless to do so. Ebonheart is packed to the brim with refugees from Peliagrad and Balmora. If assistance does not come from the Royal Army now, I fear the whole island is lost.

Our Lord Vivec has sealed off his Holy City for good. It is encased in a magical barrier, much like the Ghostfence. Well, much like the Ghostfence was?

8 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Ebonheart, Vvardenfell
Letter from Cauis Cosades to Emporer Uriel Septim
I fear we are already too late. Even if the Legions could reach Ebonheart today, what could they do to hold back that deathless horde?

10 Sun's Dawn, 3E 427
Ashlands, Vvardenfell
Last Words of the Wise Woman Nibani Maesa
The time of prophecy is at hand. Why does the Nerevarine not arise?

The RP

Hoecake, so I am picturing this as a kind of mixed war/quest type of RP, with some players fighting out the war and others playing heroes seeking to destroy Dagoth-Ur. That may change, depending on what kind of turnout we get, but I'm hopeful. This is what I guess you'd call an "open-ended RP" - meaning I only have a vague sort of idea of where the plot is going. For that to work, we need players on both sides, so anyone who wishes to play on the side of the Sixth House is welcome to it. You can be either a custom character or a NPC from the game. I'm talkin' the cool NPCs too - Vivec, Dagoth-Ur, King Helsth, Caius Cosades, Almalexia.

Tomorrow I'll post the exact situation in Vvardenfell as of 10 Sun's Dawn, but basically all that needs to be know as yet is that the armies of Dagoth-Ur have broken through the Ghostfence and are spreading throughout Vvardenfell. Vivec has sealed himself off in his city to recuperate. And both Helseth and the Emperor are sending forces to relieve the island.

Rules:
- Common sense stuff - No flaming, spamming, etc. No ubering or godmoding. Players playing Vivec or Dagoth-Ur will have a bit more leeway, but don't go crazy.

- No one-liners. I hate 'em. And don't sacrifice post length for speed in posting either. I don't demand that every post be super long, but sometimes it's better to write more even if it takes more time.

- As yet, I'll put no restrictions on the amount of players, but if I feel its getting out of hand , I'll shut it off.

- Romance (and other side plots) will be allowed.

- Players can have more than one character. Characters may be NPCs or custom (NPCs are encouraged!) Send all c. sheets to me, and wait for approval before posting. Use the character sheet provided.

- Try to have good spelling and grammer.

- Be Creative!

- Please sign up! Please!


Character sheet:

Name:

Race:

Age:

Birthsign:

Physical Description: (Describe your character, not his/her clothes and armor. Clothes can change.)

History:

Weapons:

Armor:

Misc. Items: (Enchanted Rings, necklaces?)

Companions: (Do you have a servant or body guard hanging around like an NPC or a secondary character?)

Faction Sheet:( If needed)

Faction Name: (Dunmer Factions: Temple, Hlaalu, Redoran, Telvanni, Dres, Indoril; Imperial Factions: the Legion, the Blades; House Dagoth)

Rank: (King, Cavalry Commander, Spearman, Peasant Archer?etc)

Troops: (Reason out the number of troops to the best of your ability. I may take away or give more troops.)

'Cake, I think that's all. All post somemore info tomorrow, but feel free to start signing up now!

(pleasesignuppleasesignuppleasesignup)

Here is my char. sheet, Im busy writing the post right now

Im starting as Ebbonhearts commander and Vvardenfell Legion co-ordinator.


Name: Darthil (or Dart) Gastler

Race: Redguard

Age: 26

Birthsign: The Shadow

Physical Description: Tall Muscular. Being in the Legion keeps him physically fit and vigilant. Angry scars on torso from being tortured and a few other scars from his time in the legion.

History: Dart grew up in Hammerfell and eventually joined the legion where he furthered his training with a sword. His legion duties carried him around Tamriel until he landed on Vvardenfell. He stayed in Vvardenfell for about a tear until the Sixth house invasion struck. Now he has gathered whats left of the Imperial Legion in Vvardenfell to his command. Most of the legions were pulverised but he managed to salvage two intact legions.

Weapons: His ancsestral sword Derzanon: a dwemer longsword strengthened by adding flakes of ebony when forged (making a Dwemer-Ebony alloy). A very handy enchantment was laid upon it when it was enchanted with absorb health. Other than that he keeps a couple steel daggers on him.

Armour: Legion plating armour stripped from the previous commander. Leather vest and pants under it.

Misc Items: An Enchanted ring that lets him breath underwater

Companions: Dart has his good friend Gleethal a Wood Elf rouge/assasin whos primary jobs are assasination, Information gathering, interrogation etc...
Faction Name: Imperial Legion

Rank: Unofficial Vvardenfell Legion Commander

Troops: Dart has control of 2 of these legions

ONE IMPERIAL LEGION REMANNANTS ON VVARDENFELL:
5000 units (approximately)

3000 heavy infantry and archers (Chainmail with briast-plate, pikes and long swords for heavy infantry)(Chainmail, Short swords and Longbows for the archers)
1000 Cavalry (Full plating armour with full face helm, longswords, lances)
500 Battlemages (chainmail, and longswords)
500 Scouts and light Cavalry (Leather and longswords for scouts)(Chainmail longswords and lances for light cavalry)
25 trebuchets, 50 ballistae and the crews to operate them, (Crews have leather and shortswords) (Unfortunately these are of no use in the current struggle)

OOC: This is my first attempt at being in an RP so just try to bear with me


IC:

Darthil looked down at the mass of bodies that were the refugees and legion soldiers in Ebbonheart. Since the Invasion by Dagoth Ur's realm all of Vvardenfell was in disarray.

"How many fighting men do we have?" an exhausted Dart asked Gleethal.

"We have two full legions," the ever optimistic Bosmer replied. "You need sleep, you haven't slept in thirty-six hours."

"I'll sleep when I have time. How many refugees are capable of fighting?" asked Dart in a heavy voice as he gripped and fiddled with his sword Derzannon.

"I'll find that out as soon as possible. Anything else?"

"I want to start shipping refugees incapable of combat to the mainland while we still have water superiority. Get remaining great house guards to escort them to Mournhold itself."

"Why all the way down to Mournhold?" asked a puzzled Gleethal.

"It will put Helseth in a position where he has to openly abandon his people or send aid," Dart stated matter of factly. Over the past few days Dart has collapsed the bridges leading to Ebbonheart and fortified the Castle. "And find me Caius Cassades, apparently he's here too, we will need his experience."

Gleethal strode out of the room with haste. Dart looked at the bed in the corner longingly, "And wake me up in nine hours!" he called after the departing Gleethal.

Character sheet:

Name: Uther Eldern

Race: Breton

Age: 26

Birthsign: The Atronach

Physical Description: His build is slim, slightly muscular, with an almost elvish face, and crimson shoulder length wavy hair.

History: Born to a wealthy family of High Rock, Uther had no problem with getting training in war and magic. He soon became a member of the Imperial Battlemage's Academy, and trained to become a memeber of an elite squadron called the Spell Breakers, swordsmen who could absorb and reflect their opponent's spells with ease in the heat of battle.

Weapons: A silver falchion named Weaver, and a silver dagger tied to his upper forearm.

Armor: Adamantium half-plate, looking much like mithril but with sections of the chainmail covered by thick plates.

Misc. Items: A map & compass, and whet stone.

Companions: His lieutenant Julius.

Faction Sheet:

Faction Name: Imperial Legion----1st Spell Breaker Squadron.

Rank: Commander

Troops: Roughly 25.

Uther let loose another vicious warcry and hacked away at the nearest corprus beast, hoping to render it armless. His maneuver worked, and the creature fell backwards off of the railing and landed in the water, floating face-down in the murky seas.

Whoever's in charge of checking the cargohold is in for a real bashing! Uther thought to himself. The Legion ship had been docked at a small makeshift fort northeast of Khuul when the corprus attacked. Apparantly, before his squad and some refugees made off for Ebonheart, some infected men reached the cargo of the ship.

Uther brought his sword, Weaver, directly upwards, severing both hands of the infected man reaching for his throat. With a powerful kick, he felt the man's sternum collapse on itself, hopefully ending the pitieful creature's life. Two more foes, these both sixth house members armed with clubs and strange armor that looked like it grew from their skin, rushed him, only to be thrown off-board by a blast of lightning from Uther's palm.

Within the hour, the fighting was ended, and, to Uther's joy, noone had been seriuosly hurt. As he cleaned off his sword, he thought he could make out the shape of Ebonheart in the distance, along with the sound of battle.

Two hours more, and the crew could see the city. As they began to make their exclamations at it's sight, the hull of the ship began to creak violently, and soon the entire vessal was rocking back and forth, until at long last, it capsized. Uther, thrown off the port bow, fought upwards against the violent currents, yelling all the while, "They've got mages! End them!"

After a minute of hard swimming he and his men caught sight of their objective: two dark-robed men at the edge of a large mass of tumor-covered monsters.

We must make an impressive sight, He thought to himself, as he and his squad rose from the waves crashing against the beach, all raising their swords and other respective weapons. As he marched forward, the mages shot off bolts of eneergy towards him, though the seemed to merely disipate after touching him. The magicka he absorbed from their attacks went well to refreshing his energy after fighting on the ship and swimming hard. When the mages sent off a pair of fireballs, Uther rose his palm, catching one of the blazing orbs, and threw it right back, incinerating the man's chest. Soon, one of his faster compatriots had cut down the mage with a silvered axe.

As the first tumored monster rushed towards him, he brought his blade downward in a vicous arc...

Dart awoke from his sleep, feeling much better than he was last night. Gleethal stood over him with a much more relaxed look than he would expect.

"I have the estimates for capable refugees. We have almost a legion of men capable of combat and we are putting the experienced ones in commander roles."

"And Caius?" asked a curious Dart.

"Still haven't found him," Gleethal said in a slightly disappointed tone. "But he will turn up eventually."

Dart grabbed Durzannon and belted it to his waist. "I want to see If we can send someone to communicate with Vivec. We might be able to co-ordinate a counter attack and link up with allies in other sections of Vvardenfell."

"Okay, I'll send a squad to the city," the little bosmer said writing on a piece of paper. Dart snapped on his armour piece by piece.

"Do you have information about the rest of Vvardenfell?" asked Dart.

"Ald'ruhn is in ruins and I suspect Caldera is much the same, being right between Ald'ruhn and the razed Balmora. Suran might have evaded destruction for now because its so far off the beaten path. But Suran won't last much longer if its still there."

Dart snapped on the last piece of armour. "If we launch a counter attack now we might take the region south of the Fields of Kumu. But only if we have Vivecs support." Dart went over to the window and looked outside at the fleet of departing ships on their way to the mainland. Each of them is holding over a hundred refugees. Dart then looked to the north and to the smoking land of Dagoth-Ur's invasion. The combat had eased a bit as the blighted army reached the impromptu wall. Two options a stalemate giving time for aid to reach them, or take as much land back as possible.

"If we have Vivecs support we will push them out of the surrounding area, if not we hole up and stay here," Dart decided.

Uther and his men stood in shock and disappointment as they stared at the city. The battle with the Sixth House's beasts lasted maybe an hour, and the fighting had worn them out. The refugees who could swim and survived the attack were huddled together near the spell breakers.

The damn bridges are down?! Uther thought to himself. Scanning the area with his eyes, he decided the best chance at getting in was a long shot. He would try a group intervention spell. If he succeded, the entire squad, plus the refugees, would be safely inside of Ebonheart, but if he failed, they could end up in some ruined imperial city.

He took the chance, channeled some magicka towards using the spell, and disappeared. It seemed like maybe a second had passed, and then they were there. A squadron of heavily armored troops and some civilians, right in the middle of Ebonheart...

"Sir," one of the commanders entered Dart's room. "Another band of refugees and a few soldiers have come in."

"How many?" Dart asked abruptly.

"We estimate about 20-30 warriors and we haven't counted the refugees yet," the legionnaire responded. "We are placing them in the usual thirty-six hours quarantine until we have them checked out for diseases. Corpus or anything else."

"Where are they from?"

"One of the refugees said they were from Khuul," the man said still standing at attention.

"Did you issue these orders?" Dart asked curiously. The soldier nodded. "Identify yourself," Dart ordered the soldier.

"Centurion Vorenus Galies, ninth legion, sixth cohort," Vorenus said stiffly.

"Make that: Primus Pilus, Vorenus Galies, ninth legion, sixth cohort.

Vorenus's eyes lit up in amazement but was subdued as he remembered their position on Vvardenfell. "I am very grateful sir," Vorenus bowed to his commander.

"Take me to them," Dart ordered grabbing Durzanon on his way out. Mabey they know somthing about the rest of Vvardenfell. I think most of the refugees are safely at the mainland but Vivec has not responded yet. It had seemed like the whole island had been brought to a standstill. The sixth house monstrosities were no longer attacking Ebbonheart's fortifications and there has been no word of aid from anyone.

Uther and his troop had been placed under quarantine in the prisons of Ebonheart. They ate well, but were treated like dirt none the less. Uther's clothes had become quite dirty in the dank cell, and he feared that his scale armor and his weapons were going to be stolen by some lower-rank soldier.

The centurion who placed them here had asked Uther to identify himself, then did the same with each other person. This quarantine would last thirty-six hours, which seemed an eternity for Uther. The first two hours had flown by, for he was sharing the cell with a refugee who just happened to be a war veteran, and the two entertained each other with tales of battle.

Just as Uther was about to describe a raid he had taken part in on an Ayleid Ruin, the sound of armored footsteps came down the stairs.

Dart descended down into the dungeons of Ebbonheart where the new arrivals were being kept under close inspection for general unpleasantness. Dart could tell at a glance who was the leader of the bunch, and that they were being treated poorly. I will speak to the jailers about that later, Dart made a mental note to reprimand the legionnaires watching the men and women under quarantine.

Greetings legionnaire, Dart looked down at the breton. They don't look too happy Dart thought immediately when he saw them. I am Commander Darthil Gastler of Sentinel. Dart stared at the rising breton. And you are Dart looked inquisitively at the man with the crimson hair.

OOC: I hope some more people sign up for this, we need a Vivec, Caius Cassades and Dagoth-Ur

"I am Uther Eldern, Commander of the 1st Spell Breaker Unit of the Imperial Legion's Cyrodiil Garrison. I feel some angst with this quarantine, as I can assure you that myself and this man here are under no infection, though the others I cannot guarantee. I need to speak with you, but in private, and in my own attire. That will require the return of my arms." Uther glared Dart, not knowing whether to respect or pity this man, left to defend a dying city.

Dart looked and noted Uther’s glare, perfectly understandable given the situation. Dart could tell (with a little help from the mages) that Uther himself wasn’t infected. “Your arms will be returned and let out of here. I apologize for the treatment you have suffered. The jailers here are used to criminals.” The jailers shifted uncomfortably behind him. If he knows anything he can help set up the counter attack, Dart thought hopefully. “I’ll be one minute in retrieving your arms while I have the men let you out.”

Dart left and looked at Gleethal who seemed to detach from the wall when they were out of sight. “Well?” Dart looked expectantly at the spry bosmer.

“I like him so far.”

Dart smiled and picked up Uthers equipment. “I’m glad we agree.” Dart slung the heavy bundle over his back as if it was filled with feathers. When he returned he unlocked the cell door and dropped the bag at Uther’s feet.

“Welcome to hell. I’ll give you time to suit up if you need. Your men will have to stay here for the rest of the quarantine time, my mages need preserve as much magica as they can.” The man I sent to Vivec should be here tomorrow, then I’ll know if we can strike back and hopefully re-take the are south of the mountains and possibly Suran.

“My quarters are this way,” said Dart when Uther finished.

Uther redonned his steel scale armor, and belted Weaver to his waist. He turned to Dart and spoke hastily, knowing each second was a needed moment.

"The sixth house have been regarrisoning the ancient dunmeri across Vvardenfell, and use them as bases for their operations. Large number of troops are stored there, and the fortresses themselves are guarded by enourmous corprus infected animals. Before we were forced to flee from the site, me and my unit gathered information of a secret passageway that leads to Red Mountain. Normally, to take Dagoth Ur's stronghold, we would have to fight through many legion's worth of horrors, and where Ghostfence once stood is a huge ring of camps." Uther took a moment to rest his voice.

"Located in the lower parts of Kogoruhn is a passageway that leads well south of the camps, near the Mountain. However, Dagoth Ur knows of this and has posted one of his Ash Vampires to guard it. You know their strength, and just let it be said that my group was fourfold as large before meeting with this beast. I will help however I can, but this information cannot be wasted!" Uther's urgency in his voice was well-pinned.

Dart thought hard about the new information, after what seemed like eternity he spoke. "We need to eliminate Dagoth-Ur. But the problem is that we are surrounded ourselves. I have sent messengers to Vivec and if he gives us his co-operation we can launch an assault on Dagoth-Ur's forces in the south. If it is half successful we can use it as a diversion for our own infiltration attempt," Dart said this to himself as much as to Uther. "Gleethal get in here!" Dart yelled at the door.

"Sir?" the little wood elf walked in.

"I want the legions at maximum readiness in the morning. Prepare to hit these bastards as hard as we can," Dart gave the orders in a sharp commanding tone while moving to the map of Vvardenfell. Dart grabbed coloured rocks representing the army and started moving them around. "And I want all my high commanders here to discuss battle plans. And you are going on my personal command staff, we need your Intel," Dart pointed at Uther.

OOC: Sorry, pc down!

IC:

Uther nodded, then picked up a silverish rock that was next to the map. "We need to decide first what choices we have. We could send the armies head on northwards and try to push back those Sixth House armies, but that would probably end in the destruction of our armies and give the enemy the time it needs to assault us." Uther placed the silver rock between two blue ones near the ruins of Ghostgate. "We could also try to break through the lines just enough to insert a small team of fast moving operatives to take down Ur himself, though once again our forces could be obliterated in the attempt." Uther picked the rock up again and placed it on Koguruhn's location.

"My personal choice would be for a small team, consisting of myself and others, to make it's way through the ashlands and, rather than sneak into it, we could try to assault Kogoruhn, drawing Ur's attention. At the same time, other groups would take more key locations around Vvardenfell, spiltting up Ur's forces, and then comes the tricky part. While my group," Uther dragged the stone downwars towards Red Mountain, "Sneaks into Dagoth Ur's facility, a legion could attempt not to attack Red Mountain, but rather attack here," Uther placed a blue stone on a ruin in Molag Amur, "Where much of the Sixth House is nested."

"The catch is simple." Uther eyed the group. "At any point, we could fail to catch Ur's attention for too long, and he could march out of his mountain and take Ebonheart. Suggestions, anyone?"