"We'll walk. It's usually better not to teleport in without a full attack force including healers. Too risky, in the off chance the scouting reports underestimated their presence. You and I will walk, and if it looks like more than we can handle from a distance I'll know, and we'll retreat for reinforcements. If you'll excuse me, I am going to go pray for guidance from Vivec and the Nerevarine at the Temple shrine. After that I'm going to eat a light meal and grab some potions and scrolls of my own. Meet me in one hour's time at the gate out back, so we can begin our little sojourn. It should be fairly uneventful until we reach our destination. Saint Jiub drove the Cliffracers out of Vvardenfell. I'll tell you a little bit about how that happened sometime if you'd like. He was a remarkable fellow, and a powerful crusader. Anyhow, I'm off. You have one hour to complete your preparations."

Danar nodded politely in her direction and left the office, heading towards the Shrine, where he would kneel in silent prayer for the next fifteen minutes. Vivec no longer spoke to him directly, as He once had. In fact Danar was not sure he could sense Vivec's presence in this realm at all, or any of the outer realms, and that worried him. He COULD sense the Nerevarine, however, somewhere far to the East on another continent. He prayed for a portion of that Champion's strength instead...

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Gnisis

The first wave of Ants had been cleared. Their twitching bodies lay in various stages of dismemberment as the elite Idaram brothers strode forward, followed close behind by Darius and his men, and a few local Orc and Dunmer mercenaries and Fighters Guild members, and one Bosmer battlemage. An Ant suddenly leapt towards Birer from the shadows, but the powerful Buoyant Armiger simply caught it in midair in a powerful Telekinetic spell without even looking in its direction. He scoffed and focused his mental energies, causing its body to implode upon itself, crushing its organs. The dying beast crashed to the dirt with a thud, bleeding pale green blood from its cracked exoskeleton.

"Darius...take your men and clear the main passageway. We suspect the Hive Queen, if she's here, will be located near the Dwemer ruin down below, near the stream. My brothers and I will assault the inner sanctum alone. No need to risk your men."

Darius nodded and gave the order. "Follow me, soldiers." Weapons were unsheathed and spells were readied as they charged ahead, Darius' Imperial Broadsword already hacking away at the nearest ant. Birer gave a wordless hand signal and his two brothers followed him through the wooden door leading into the stream passage.

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A hidden cave, somewhere in the world

The ancient Sorcerer watched the battle unfold on the large Viewing Crystal across the room in front of him. His facial features were hidden in the shadows, but it was apparent this was a Man and no Dunmer. The large human stroked his white beard and hummed thoughtfully to himself as he watched his Ant soldiers being defeated. But he also grinned, knowing of the trap he'd set for the Idaram brothers...

He would have his revenge on their kind, for what had happened to him as a boy many years ago. He would have his revenge on the Dark Elf scum. Devils the lot of them.

OOC: if you want me to pitch in any other charicters for any of the other events your mentioning to help the story out let me know

Vanessa noded and bid him luck though thinking about it she figured it wasent in praying that they would need the luck. Considing herself to a chair she filped open the book she had been handed and began to read. As she did so she pulled out a leaf of hackle-lo and started chewing and svcking on it. After she finished the book she got up and after a quick stretch tried applying some of the things she read. After some intresting experimentation she managed to cast a spell with an endridibly high fire resistance, however the spell lasted only three seconds and half the time she failed the casting. This done she realized the hour was near up. Giving a quick prayer to the nine she gathered her supplies, scrolls, soulgems and potions and shoving a bit of food into her mouth she headed to the back gate.

OOC: Sure, you can create a second character for an event happening elsewhere. I plan on beginning a little event pretty soon near the ruins of Ald'Ruhn (according to a developer named MK, Ald'Ruhn was completely destroyed during the Oblivion crisis, which takes place prior to my RP.) The town is being rebuilt by Redoran loyalists but the defenses are still weak, and an Ant colony is going to just happen to appear suddenly. So think over what type of character you would like to be to help with that and possibly meet up with the others later.

I'll post an in-character post tonight or tomorrow morning.

OOC: I have a very intresting charicter to use. A dark elf assasin who happend to have served the sixth house and has a very intresting soultion she has in mind to rid the land of these ants.

ooc: That's fine. Just make her an "awakened sleeper" instead of still serving the Sixth House, since technically she would no longer be evil with Dagoth Ur dead. Any other personality traits would be fine to keep.

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Ghostgate

Danar nodded to Vanessa as she joined him out behind the Ghostgate, on the road that was once contained within the Ghostfence. The Fence now lay dormant, as it's no longer needed to protect Vvardenfell against the Blight, and as the Tribunal seem to have ascended to another realm anyway. Danar, ever the faithful Temple servant, knew that his great Lords and Lady were doing this for the good of the Dunmer, having sacrificed even their own Divinity to give the Dunmer more Strength, Courage and Fortitude to handle situations on their own. He was certain that these Ants were a test of faith in the Good Daedra, whose spheres the Tribunal had ascended to join soon after the Nerevarine defeated Dagoth Ur. This was the Temple's official position and Danar had no inclination to question it.

He turned and smiled to Vanessa as they walked calmly up the steep incline of Red Mountain towards their destination. "So tell me a bit about yourself and your combat experiences, Vanessa. Where were you trained? What types of combat situations have you been in before? I need to know how to use you when the fighting begins."

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Gnisis

The Idaram brothers advanced deep into the Queen's lair, fighting through wave after wave of powerful Drones to reach the Gnisis Queen, apparently not the true Queen of all ants but one of her egg laying daughters. The bloated, magically deformed beast was suspended from strings of saliva and balanced in the middle of the large room, surrounded by dozens of elite Drone bodyguards who spewed powerful fire magic at the Idaram brothers. They took little notice, having all been highly trained to resist magicka by Lord Vivec, and being Dunmer afterall the flames did little to deter them. Giras fired up a Lightning spell and scorched one of the ants, while Tidras loaded up another glass arrow and pierced the skull of another. As they approached the Queen, however, Birer suddenly sensed something was very wrong. He quickly raised both hands, grasping her egg laying sack in a powerful Telekinesis spell and causing it to explode from within. He then ripped her head from her body with a similar spell and crushed it in midair. But he became nervous soon after.

"This room..it's..an illusion of some sort...it's....FALL BACK."

But it was too late. The trap had been set, and the Idaram brothers found themselves being svcked into a portal of some sort, into an Oblivion Realm. They screamed out for help but by the time Darius and his men arrived only the smoldering remains of the Oblivion Gate which had svcked them in remained.

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Ald'Ruhn ruins

The Redoran Captain stood by and watched the laborers and craftsmen as they rebuild Ald Skar, the giant Crab shell building in the center of what was once the House Seat of Redoran. He knew that this reconstruction would be a symbolic victory for the struggling House, which was devastated during the Oblivion Crisis and which was now under constant attack by Nords and their Orc allies. All was going according to schedule, but one of the Craftsmen had not showed up for work this morning. This upset the captain and he decided to personally investigate. Walking up the hill towards the man's tent, he peeked inside. A giant Ant was bent over the headless corpse of the unfortunate Bosmer, picking the meat off his bones.

The Captain flew into a rage, unsheathing his decorative silver mace and mashing the monster to a bloody pulp. "This is no good at all..no good. I must alert the Councilmen at once." He ran as fast as he could towards the temporary Council Hall on the edge of town...

ooc: well actualy the plot I had with her was to be some kind of friction as she still felt loyal to the destoryed sixth house and later on would reveal her plan to use corpus desease to kill the ants by infecting the queen. I guess that might not work so well so I guess I can think something else.

Vanessa followed at a steady pace
"Well my skills are a mixture of what I picked up from both the fighters and mages guilds. You could imagine they sent me on various tasks requiring various skills in poth physical and mental ablities. I have had to once take care of a problem in a Kwarma Egg mine so I know a bit about bug scructure, but aside from that most of my experience is in fighting Daedra and the ocaional Bandit who mades a bad choice concerning how I fit into his choice of career."

Danar threw his head back and laughed heartily. "Bandits, indeed! I detest them myself. Although Lord Vivec taught me as a boy that the noble Thief - that's with a capital T, mind you - is actually the truest of all professions and the closest to the human condition, that bandits on the other hand are petty scum. My Lord wouldn't even need a sword to deal with them. He'd throw them a glance and their mouths would be stuffed with birds. But I digress. Enough about my Lord. I've personally dealt with many bandits, marauders, sea reavers and other assorted scum. Mostly Nords. Now, I've no prejudice against any race like some of my fellow Dunmer, miss. I have enjoyed the company of several Nords whom were fine people indeed. Noble Knights and Priests, among other professions. But as a whole, as a nation, I can't abide by Skyrim and the Nordsmen, trying to take what is rightfully ours." He was silent for a moment, and noticed Vanessa was nervous and aloof. "I digress again. I ramble. Ants is our mission, is it not? Good. Ants. I'm glad to hear you've been in Kwama nests before, for the structure of these nests is very similar. Most have several chambers, including a nursery and the Queen's lair itself. I slew four lesser Queens myself during the last campaign, but we suspected the main Queen made her home near the abandoned citadel of Dagoth Ur, as you read in your briefing."

A man approached them on the road. The figure raised his right hand in a gesture, which Danar returned.

"That would be Lord Salyn Sarethi" he said as an aside to Vanessa "One of the more elite fighters of my Order. A Master of stealth fighting and battle magic."

"Well met." Sarethi said simply as he stood before them, tall and athletic, stoic and serious, glorious in his full suit of shimmering glass armor, a personal gift enchanted by Lord Vivec himself to greatly increase the man's vitality and fighting skills. "Pleased to meet you, young lady. I am Lord Sarethi, a justicar and Knight of the noble Order of Buoyant Armigers." He kissed her hand like a gentleman, and regarded Danar. "Am I to assume this hired hand is your help in clearing an Ant colony?"

"She is, milord." was the simple reply.

"Don't suppose you'll require my help, do you? I have a bit of a cramp from slaughtering that colony earlier."

They both lauged, and Danar patted Lord Sarethi on the back. "No, sera. We'll be just fine. Your expert abilities won't be required for this modest job. But thank you so much. You truly emulate Lord Vivec in your words and deeds."

They gave a customary bow to one another, and Lord Sarethi continued down the path towards Ghostfence.

"Great man." Danar said to Vanessa after he'd passed out of earshot.

Vanessa couldent help but blush as her had was kissed but managed to retain her curtosy. She returend the greeting heartly and respecfuly curtsied in turn.
"What a noble. I've had few dealings with them however. Nevertheless to business. I have never been up to the citidel of Dagoth Ur and this truely is my first time on Red mountain. We Altmer tend to not favor the elements to much as they easly disagree with us. That being said however I have always wanted to see much of the world myself, well with the exeption of Skyrim. Your not the only one uncomfortable with the Nords and even we back at Sumerset Isle find ourselves uncomfotably close to the kingdom of Orsimer at times. But I also have learned to judge people by deeds not race."
Vanessa continues hikeing and passes the while with some small pvssyr. eventulay she comments on the book she was given and then brings the topic to something she has been curious about
"It must have been nice to have had your respective deity in your own realm, to be able to have something firm and seeing to belive in. Honesly I am rather intriuged by your cultres worship of the tribunal. Reason being is because unlike the nine devines they are physicaly manefested and unlike the daedra lords they dont allow themselves to be governed soley by one field of attention and desires. the tribunal seem...more...organic I suppose. No I dont mean as in weak just...able to change and grow while the other gods dont seem to do that."

Danar nodded solemnly. "Our Lords walk among us..or they did. They are as people - flesh and blood, with all of the passions and tempers of mortals as well, but with the divine power to help those in need and to squash those whom would bring harm to our people. Things began to change a few years back, though. My Lord Vivec assembled his Armigers and told us that the Tribunal were departing this Realm to fight evil and seek truth elsewhere. He would not be more specific, but he informed us that the Temple was being restructured and the worship of the three Good Daedra and Ancestors would be phased back in, with the Tribunal regarded as the highest of Saints. Of course, we Buoyant Armigers will always worship Vivec as a god, for we know the truth about our Lord - he IS a god. It is only his humility and his grace which allows himself to lower himself back to mortal status in the eyes of the people. This is his 37th Lesson, you see - the Grace of Servitude. He lowers himself so that we may learn to be more humble and to stoop to help even the lowliest of beggars - the lamest of lepers."

He paused to think. "That's not to say your Aedra are weak, of course. The Church of the Imperials has grown significantly in recent years. Even I can not deny that Akatosh appeared on Earth to combat Mehrunes Dagon. This is verified fact, even by the secular mages guild. What we do NOT agree on, and no disrespect to you dear, is Akatosh's place in the grand scheme of things. Your High Elves consider Auri-El, as you call him, to be the original and strongest Divine, whose sphere is Time itself. We Dark Elves, especially the revisionists, have come to see him as an avatar of Boethiah, the anticipation of Almalexia, who shares his abilities to alter history. Through her power, as the Champion of Boethiah, she Broke the Dragon and thus was always a god, as was Vivec and Sotha Sil - and thus, we believe that your Auri-El did appear - an avatar of Mother Almalexia, to vanquish and break the body of Dagon as she did in Mournhold all those years ago."

He thought for a moment. "I've nothing against your Church of course. Many great Knights, Paladins and Crusaders from your religion helped with the Oblivion Crisis, and I grew to know and respect its priests and fighters. Morrowind is changing, politically. The Temple's lost power - even I must admit that. Vivec told me to be tolerant and understanding of other beliefs, even those who follow Sithis or the Bad Daedra, for there is truth in all things, and a clever Thief may ascend to the top levels of the Tower and learn the secret symbol of royalty."

Vanessa nodded and listened takeing no offence to what he said
"I see. Its just lately so many thinges have changed and even the gods themselves arnt exept to the changes. I dont think these ants are anything major that will cause a huge change. however I wonder if it is an omen to things to come."
~~~
Some distance away a shadowy figure made off with haste. Behind her an angry argonian gave chase. Clutching a package to her chest she leaped nimbly across rocks looking for a place to hide. While she might have a head start she knew that she had little chance of outpacing the lizard in the water. Luckly for her a emperor toadstool offered the perfect place to hide and after a quick cimb she jumped on top of it. Several seconds later the swearing Argonian ran past and off into the night. She allowed herself a quick breath but soon that turned into a silent chuckle. she couldent help but find the irony that of all times when she had to steal something some fool of a telavani would allow it easly. True she had made her intentions clear to lord Fyr that she meant to plunder his corpusarium but what she hadent mentioned. However she dident have much time as that filty lizard would be back soon. quickly peeking into her sack she secured it to her waist and jumped off disapearing into the night

Near Bthanchend

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

Danar and Vanessa approached the ancient Dwemer stronghold, now crouched into as stealthy a position as they could. Danar instructed the Spellsword to stay back a farther distance, as she wore heavier raiment and was less trained in the stealth arts than he. He crept silently forward, scouting the situation, and returned to her. "Just as expected. It's a small colony. Probably no more than a few dozen of the things. Very likely to be a queen-daughter inside. We absolutely must kill any egg-layers we find, and smash any eggs. It seems a gruesome and barbaric thing to kill them when they're unborn and defenseless, but for all we know each of those eggs may contain another Queen who can spawn millions if given time. Best to nip it in the bud. Let's sneak forward as far as possible before attacking..."

The two warriors crouched and crept forward slowly. They actually managed to get pretty close before the first of the Ants twitched its antannae and heard the clanging of Vanessa's weapons and armor clanging together slightly. He raised a pheromone alarm and soon the other ants were scrambling to attack.

"Go time. CHARGE." Danar announced, and without awaiting a response unsheathed his Ebony Mace and ran forward very nimbly, smashing the first ant's head in with a sickening thud, then spinning on another. He was already bashing away at a third as Vanessa caught up.

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Gnisis

Darius and his men had searched the caverns for nearly an hour. No sign of the Idaram brothers. The Queen had very obviously been obliterated, and the remains of her eggs fried by powerful Destruction spells. The disappearance of the elite Armigers worried the Captain, so he sent messengers to Ghost Fence and to the Guildmaster of Fighters in Vivec bearing the troubling news. He and his men returned wearily to the Modach Tradehouse to rest up and discuss farther strategies.

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Sorcerer's Lair, somewhere in a pocket dimension

The ancient Nord stepped forward into the light, ever so slightly. He was dressed in red robes bearing Daedric runes, but his face was still well hidden in the shadows, masked by his Illusion powers. He spoke in a deep, powerful voice as he circled the Idaram brothers, whom were suspended in midair by magical means in a shaft of purple light.

"Dark Elven champions...I salute you. Your kind are as stupid as you are arrogant. Your life forces will feed and empower me in my campaign against your Temple and its heathen followers. You are definitely going to die, but we'll make it nice and slow...agonizing, the way my humiliation has been all these years."

He laughed in his Nordic accent and strapped enchanted wrist irons onto the three brothers. Almost immediately, they began writing in discomfort as purple and red strands of life force rose from their body and into the old Nord. The age lines of his flesh on the face began to diminish and he visibly aged in reverse as he sat down upon his throne, the grey in his beard being replaced by red. He drummed his fingers, covered in enchanted rings, on the chair arm and waved his other hand at the huge crystal ball in the center of the room. The eggmine in Gnisis lay ruined, the Queen shattered, her eggs squashed. It was of little matter. The Sorcerer would breed more in due time. He'd gotten what he wanted. A grin crept onto his now young face, as the Idaram brothers withered away more and more in their bonds. "Morrowind will suffer its appointed fate... if Oblivion couldn't crush it then I will. I promise."

Vanessa was by no means late into the action. As she ran she threw a gerater frostball between two ants and sundered their frosted heads open as soon as she got there. Ever cautious of the flames however she figured direct melee would not be wise. Keeping an eye on her comapnion she cast a shockball at another distant and and then a second to finish it off.
"Yup, good thing its not cliffracers. At least their numbers make easy hitting with larger area spells."
~~~
Having sucesfully evaded her persuit the shadoy figure uncovered her face to reveal a sharp chined female dunmer. her name was Dar-ahet and was a rather unknown figure mostly due to the fact that she kept most of her working secret. She however was happy about her recent sucess and pocketed the parsel. As she travled she passed one of the many ancestral tombs of her people and did a small yet strange religious gestre in respect to the dead as she passed. However as she did so she noticed that the door to the tomb was charred and blackend and inside she heard a scuttling. Angrly she swore
"These filthy creatures! As if they couldent cause damage to all my lord stood for they have to go and defile the bones of our ancestors!"
With a growl she drew a sword in one hand and a throwing star in the other and kicked open the ruined door ready to start her well practiced art of murder.

Bthanchend entrance

Danar laughed as he performed an athletic kick against the head of another ant, knocking it back against a wall. He extended his hand and drew the Ant's life force into himself using a powerful Restoration technique that svcks health. With the increased vigor and strength he gained from that act, he spun around fast and smashed another ant in two pieces completely. He turned and glanced at Vanessa. "Here's a little something for you." He cast a strong Fire Shield spell on her, and a weaker one on himself since he had Dunmer blood. It was good timing because an Ant immediately rounded the corner and unleashed a jet stream of magic fire at him. He stood his ground, completely unharmed. Not even his armor was singed. He then gave a mighty war cry and raised his palm, releasing a torrent of lightning magic from his fingertips, charring the ant to nothing but exoskeleton. As the smoke rose from its ruined shell, Danar beckoned Vanessa forward. "Inside we go, my friend. Your fire shield should protect you for some minutes - you're a spellcaster anyway, so your Willpower should help sustain it longer than normal. This is a small ruin. The Queen's lair won't be far. We'll split up half way through. You handle the eggs and nursery ants, and I'll fight the stronger drones and Queen."

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Ald-Ruhn council hall

Grandmaster Athyn Sarethi, whom had survived the Oblivion Crisis and now ruled all of House Redoran, sat and listened to the report from the guard captain. "Very well then. If the ants have a presence here, we'll put a stop to them before they can do much damage. I will personally lead the assault on the nearby ant colony. Captain, you're coming with me. Bring your best men. We'll also hire some local mercenaries, Fighters Guild and Legionaires. If you'll excuse me I'm going to get dressed for this campaign."

The Grandmaster spun on his heels and strode towards his Armory.

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Sorcerer's Lair, somewhere in a pocket dimension

The skeletal remains of the Idaram brothers lie in a heap on the floor as the now fully rejuvenated Nord Sorcerer slipped on some Nordic ringmail armor and grabbed a hefty battle axe from the wall. He was going on a little trip to Cyrodill to collect some items, for his own dark Master. The ant plot was a ruse, to buy time for greater things, and his Master had need of some very specific items. The Sorcerer would not fail in his mission....

With a wave of the hand, the Teleportation spell worked its magic...

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Dark Fissure, Great Forest, Cyrodill

In a purple flash of light, the fully armored Nord Sorcerer appeared before a great stone altar, bathed in black light. He moved forward, laying the skulls of the Idaram brothers upon it as a sacrifice. He knelt, and a dark, powerful voice filled the air.

"My loyal servant. Your offering of these three powerful souls pleases me greatly. Know that you will be rewarded for your servitude towards the God of Worms."

The disembodied voice of Mannimarco paused, considering its next assignment for the Nord. "I need powerful servants here in Cyrodill to sew chaos and reap souls for me while your ant distraction simultaneously assaults Morrowind. The first of these creatures was named the Udyrfrykte Matron. She lies dead at the foot of the Jerall Mountains, her body preserved by the bitter cold. Bring her to this altar, and my dark power shall revive her as a Worm Thrall. She will then terrorize the land, creating many beautiful corpses for my use. Go now, Servant. Do not disappoint me or you shall be eaten by a flock of crows."

Vanessa shakes the gore from her weapon and follows Danar. As she listens to his orders she feels somewhat upset by the fact that she's getting the gravy job but she reminds herself that Danar is doing what he feels is best.
"Right, nursury. I think I have a few wide area spells I can use. shouldent take more than three to dispose of them if its in a agerage sized room."
~~~
Murduring ants as she progressed Dar-ahet kept up a vigorous pace stoping for nothing. Usualy she would use stealth but in her anger she found she lost reason to agression and with the exception of a few cuts and burns it was working well for her.
~~~
An imperial in Ald-ruhn paused to stretch after laying down a large block. As he stretched he noticed various men in arms moving with purpose. He figured they were doing something important but never the less the man couldent hold his curiosity. Firmly setting the block he jumped from his work. He dident have to worry about what the overseer would say as for reasons beyond anyones guess the man worked entirly for free, voulintiering his time and boundless energy to the simple reconstruction. True the overseer would probably be upset at his loss but he wasent getting paid so little would be albe to be done. Of course then again many considered this man to be rather strange. His simple clothes and apperance led many to belive he was a beggar, but as he had no money they couldent tell what he was. His manners were plesant and humble but still the strangeness of this man confused many. The truth was actualy rather simple, he was what few knew as a forsaken monk. It was a rarely heard of order of individuals who forsook everything and owned only the clothes on their back. It was their creed to be posessionless. However as such there were no better people in the land with their fists and his mucsles were strong and wirey from long hard use. He was a peacekeeper when possible but just because he had no weapon dident mean he was dangerous and his fists alone were more lethal than many were with a sword.

Sprinting up to the group of armed men this humble man named Joshua Lowry spoke and inquired what the force was about

OOC: Yea, i fealt that this charicter would be a good additon at this point. honestly though I did make him in morrowind. his unarmed and unarmored as well as altletic and ther skills that required no items built so high he could do lots of cool things like punch out many opponets who had proper swords and arms, jump clear over underwater canols without a jump spell, outrun any opponet (Id often run them in circles then once their fatige was down wail at them) and tons of other things.

Sounds like a fun little roleplay. I'll join, although I might not be too active here.

Name: Abel Grentaunt

Age: 49

Race: Breton

Gender: Male

Eye color: Brownish green (hazel)

Hair: Long, dishevelled white hair hanging loose to his shoulders and an unkempt beard

Tattoos/piercings: None

Birthsign: The Shadow

Class: Tracker

Specialization: Stealth

Major skills: Sneak, Acrobatics, Athletics, Security, Short Blade, Hand-To-Hand, Illusion

Minors: Mysticism, Alteration, Light Armour

Equipment: Wears broken manacles, a dirty, patched-up shirt, netch leather chaps and boots, and torn trousers. Has a rather rusty and degraded Daedric dagger, taken from a Dremora during the Vivec attack, that he wears strapped to his leg. Keeps a satchel of rocks around his waist that he throws at things.

Spells: Night-Eye, Light, Fenrick's Doorjam, Wild Open, Detect Enchantment

Short Bio/Personality: Born in High Rock, and lived there as a rat-catcher in Wayrest. Picked up a few tricks of theft and some tricky spells thanks to some Thieves' Guild members he met in some of his rat-catching liaisons. Unfortunately, he caught Typhoid Fever due to his grimy work conditions. He survived, but has gone completely mad and thinks that he's Lord Kain. Because of his madness, he was detained and sent to Vivec's Foreign Quarter. During the chaos when the Daedra attacked Vivec, he escaped, and while looking for things to do, he came upon the Bouyant Armigers. Now, he serves them with his stealth and limited magic skills, even though he's quite a bit crazy.

Near Ald-Ruhn

The leader of the Imperials, a Nord in Templar armor named Imsin the Dreamer, regarded Joshua. "We've answered a call to arms by the Redoran to come assist them with a mutated ant colony nearby. I would advise you to steer well clear of the area, civillian. These creatures are dangerous. They can snap iron in two with their jaws and can breathe magical fire."

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Bthanchend

Danar and Vanessa stepped into the dimly lit old Dwemer ruin. Danar raised his hand and held a magical scroll in it, peppered in Daedric Alphabet. He chanted under his breath and the scroll dissolved. A powerful Light spell emanated from his body then, making it much easier for Vanessa and himself to see in the dark. More Ants lay ahead, and Danar surprised a small group of them with a Firebloom spell, which went off like a grenade near them, splattering their remains onto the wall. Another group scuttled forward to investigate, and he unsheathed his mace again, charging in close.

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The Jerall Mountains, Cyrodill

The old Nord Sorceror galloped fast on his Hell Horse, a specially summoned Skeleton steed that his dark lord had gifted him with. The supernatural mount could move much faster than any living horse as it never tired and didn't need food, water or even air. He knew the location of Dive Rock. He'd visited Cyrodill before, several years back, to help his Master prepare for a different invasion. That particular foray had proven unsuccessful, but different tactics would be used this time. They would attack in shadow, using beasts to do their bidding.

He cast a powerful Detect Enchantment spell, knowing the residual particles of the enchanted weapon used to slay the beast would still be lodged in its bones, and thus would show up. He saw a faint sparkle in the distance and closed in on the frozen, dead corpse of the large troll-like creature. The Nord smiled. "Ah..one of these things. Haven't seen one since I was a boy. I thought they were extinct."

He squatted down and hoisted the creature over his shoulder, carrying it to his Hell Horse and slinging it across, as he mounted up again and made due haste towards Dark Fissure to begin the reanimation process.

Bthanchend

As Danar and Vanessa descended deeper into the Dwemer ruins of Bthanchend, they suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Alloo? Alloo? Open the door for your Lord!" came a voice from outside. Then, a rock was heard colliding with the door. When the door was not opened, the person on the outside swung it open himself. Out from the darkness stepped a smelly, ragged white-haired Breton in old clothes and leathers, carrying a worn Daedric dagger and a bag of stones. He strode over to Danar, grabbed him by the shoulder, and extended his hand in a welcoming gesture.

"Lord Kain of Lianlyn, sir. Brother of Baron Shrike. Don't know why I'm-a here in Vvardenfell, but thought I might go an' do somethin' here." said Abel, the delusional ex-prisoner. "And what-a in da hell's goin' on here with ye? What are 'dose thingummywhubbits back there?" Abel gazed back through the darkness at the giant ants. "Why a-look, big ol' buggie monsters! Gonna give them a piece o' mah mind!" he yelled out.

Abel took a rock out of his satchel and chucked it at an Ant. It hit the creature in the head, knocking it over on its back, alive but crippled. "BOW BEFORE YOUR LORD!" he cried, and started volleying his stones at the ants.

Bthanchend

Danar's face contorted into an almost comically horrified expression, eyes wide, jaw slacked.

"Good SIR...I am going to have to ask you to kindly evacuate the premises... this area is off limits to civilians and very, very dangerous...good sir?"

He could see that the Breton was completely ignoring him and kicking the ant around a bit. He walked over and shook the man by the shoulder. "Sera? Come this way, please?"

He looked at Vanessa pleadingly, as if she'd somehow know how to deal with this crazy man. Danar could easily cripple or paralyze the man with a spell, but he'd prefer to handle this the civil way.

"Hands off your Lord!" Abel snapped at Danar. He drew his dagger and pointed it at the Dunmer's throat, but then sheathed it again after inspecting him closely. "Is dat buggie blood ya got on ya mace 'dere? So ya must be fightin' off dem ants here as well."

The Breton bowed, his gentlemanly demeanour contrasting with his dirty appearance. "Been here in Vvardenfell ever since I found m'self in Vivec one a-day. But later dem Daedra stormed da place an' gave me a good chance to get m'self outta dere. Since them days I thought a Lord like m'self would find me a good place ta call my own, but nobody seems ta treat me how I deserve. I gotta find me own entertainment nowadays, so I took care to go 'round fightin' off dem critters. When I heard da noise comin' from outside this a-ruin, I thought I'd go in an' do some investigatin'. Since ya two seem ta be fightin' dem ants as well, would ya care if a Lord like me helped ya out?"

Before Danar got a chance to say anything, Abel went over to Vanessa's side. "Well, an' a g'day ta you, m'lady! Say, ya got any folks 'round dem parts dat are after ya? Say, m'lady, ya ever heard of courtly love before?" The mad Breton playfully nudged Vanessa with his shoulder as he finished talking and winked.

"But enough a' dem small talkin', let's get ourselves some big ol' ants!" he yelled, suddenly changing to a more serious mood as he drew his dagger and cast Night-Eye over himself as he ran into the darkness.

Vanessa looked to Danar as if she dident know what to say
"that was diffrent, and unexpected. I have a scroll of cure desease....if that could help....if anything could help that guy."
Vanessa pulled out a scroll and checked it before nodding
"probably best to make sure he dosent die. Sadly this slows things down a bit. We have better things to do than babysit a chap who's lost it. But I couldent smell any skooma on his breath so I dont know what his case is."

Danar removed his helmet and scratched his bald head thoughtfully, then replaced it. "No, Vanessa. That man is not diseased. I am a Master of Restoration and I could not detect a disease or blight upon his flesh up close. It's possible he's touched by Sheogorath, but in either event he's headed down the path leading to the egg nursery, which should be less densely guarded than the area I'm headed towards. He appears to have some proficiency with a blade despite his...particular mental condition, so just stick close to him and make sure he doesn't get killed. He may be of some help destroying the eggs too. Now I am off to confront this colony's Queen before she can spawn any more ants."

He patted her on the shoulder as a sign of confidence and crouched into a sneaking position, moving quickly but stealthily down the long corridor leading to the Queen's chamber. He met minimum resistance as he chose to svck the life out of the ants from the shadows with his Restoration powers. As he approached the large antechamber where her royal highness of bugs was located, however, he was spotted by the elite drones, whose senses were far more advanced than the average creepy crawler. The nearest Drone stood tall on its hind legs and shot a powerful fire spell off at Danar, whose special abilities caused him to take only minimum damage. He unsheathed his mace and began battering the monster, whose exoskeleton was considerably harder than other ants, more akin to the texture of Dreugh armor than the crunchy squishy exterior of worker ants. Nonetheless he managed to beat it down while most of its own claw attacks slid harmlessly off his chitin and glass armor.

A heavy blow came from behind, however, and he found himself confronted by two drones at once, who slashed hard at his cuirass. It absorbed most of the damage but he felt his ribs being a bit bruised, so he decided to get serious smash one of the drones right between its bulging deformed eyes as hard as he could. He spun around fast and drained the life force of the other just as it was charging its fire attack. He felt magical blood enter his veins and rejuvenate the minor wounds he had sustained, the bones of his ribs healing their hairline fractures, the internal bleeding slowing. He turned around and shot lightning from his fingertips at another ant approaching fast, knocking it cold and dead. Only the Queen remained. He smirked as he approached her. "Foul, blighted beast. You do not belong in this world. In the name of Lord Vivec, I declate Exterminatus on this colony. Rest in peace."

He raised his mace to attack, but she surprised him with a rapid fire attack, knocking his mace back out of his hand. Her fire was of such intensity it actually burnt through his magical shield and knocked him against the wall. He reeled from his burns and jumped behind a rock, cursing under his breath as he focused his magicka into healing himself. "Curse my stupidity...making a grand speech to a non sentient life form. Gave her just enough time to gather her internal powers for that attack! And now she knows I'm here... got to distract her."

He reached and grabbed his mace, then flung it across the room, where the metal clanged loudly against the wall. The Queen jerked her head to the right and sprayed fire in that direction, which gave Danar the split second he needed to use his Acrobatics ability to springboard across the room and onto her back. He grabbed her around the throat and gave a loud battle roar as he allowed lightning to surge through his hands and into her brain, killing her. Leaving no stone unturned, he spun on her egg sac and released another torrent of magical lightning, exploding it into tiny pieces. He stomped the few eggs which fall unharmed with his chitin boots. Collecting his mace, he sat down to meditate and rest a moment.

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

The Great Forest, Cyrodill

The old Nord had detected something funny in the air, and had dismounted to investigate. It was the remains of an Oblivion Gate, left over from the Crisis, a few hundred yards off the main road between Bruma and the Imperial City. He collected some of the rare specimens of plant life growing in the tainted soul around the deactivated portal, and then reached into his satchel, collecting a special sort of Gem, large and rare. He chanted in an alien tongue as he drew the residual reddish hued summoning energy lingering around the portal into the Gem, and returned it to his satchel.

"This materia will be quite useful in my future plans, and those of my Master." he said quietly under his breath.

He did not know that he himself was being watched by unknown forces, even as he worked in secret...

Vanessa noded in agreement and undestanding
"Sheograth, I shoud have guesse. Well time to make sure the ants die and he dosent."
Vanessa ran off towards the nusury having to kill a few ants along the way. Inside the nusury she readied a large area spell but unsure of where the man was she halted it. Trying her best to not cause to much attention to hersef she shouted quietly
"Hello? Hello? Sir where are you?"
As she looked about in the gloom she made sure to stab and step on any eggs she passed on her way. However in a bright flash of fire she found herself face to face with a large caretaker ant. Caught somewhat off guard she stumbled and stepping on a slimy egg lost her footing. Grabign her sword she readied to defend herself against her attacker.

Vanessa fought the ant for quite a while, but the battle was suddenly interrupted when the ant was brought to the ground with a stone tossed at its head. Abel walked out from the back of the nursery with his dagger and plunged it into the caretaker's neck, bringing it down with a spurt of yellow blood. Abel placed the dagger back in its strap and walked over to Vanessa.

"Well, 'tis a good thing ta see ya here, m'lady! Do tell, where's the big one you were with?" Abel asked her. Before Vanessa had a chance to answer him, Abel turned his gaze to the dead ant lying on the floor. "T'was takin' care of dem buggies here 'til ya came in. Felled another big 'un, if I do say so m'self." The Breton pointed to another caretaker ant that was lying dead on the floor behind him. He pulled his Daedric dagger from its sheath and held it up to what small source of light there was at all in the ruin, gazing upon it in pride. "The Dragonsword of Lianlyn. Too bad I couldn't get its enchantment-majiggies to work. Don't know too much b'out dat."

As he returned the dagger to its resting place, Abel also pointed out his right arm. Around his bicep he had wrapped a crude bandage that he had torn out of the cloth lining his satchel. "Dem bug did manage to sink 'is big ol' chompers into m'arm. I don't have me ol' Knights of the True Horn to help defend me down 'ere, but dis bandage'll better help heal m' arm up."

After he had finished his recap of the events, the deranged Breton picked up an egg from the floor. "So, somethin' in me tells me dat these big ol' balls are dem buggie eggs. I bet dat we can help to stop dese buggies if we give 'er eggs hell. Tried ta smash it with me Dragonsword, but da damn thing seems too strong. And I thought dat dis thing'd help, but if one thing in dis world's for sure right now, it's that dem eggs don't break easily. What'd you say we do?"

Vanessa suprised at the Bretons appearance but still somewhat relived managed a smile.
"well at least your safe and alive. thanks for your help back there. concerning these eggs I have several large area spells that should do the trick in a few castings, but before we worry about that I think it would be best if I healed that arm of yours."

The Egg Chamber

As Danar sat meditating in the floor, slowly healing his wounds and resting his mind, a voice suddenly spoke up in his mind. One that he had not heard in quite some time.

"Loyal knight, hear my words."

It was a strange voice, seemingly mortal and divine - male and female all at once. "It is I, your Lord."

Danar's eyes suddenly opened. He looked excitedly around the antechamber for any physical sign of his beloved Master, but he saw nothing. "Lord Vivec? Where are you?"

Silence for a moment. Then...

"I AM ALL ARE WE. We are everywhere, and every time. But that is irrelevant to the linear tasks I have for you, my child. As you are me and I am God and God is Love, We have tasks to complete, here and elsewhere. I fear our enemies move against us in shadow, and use these insects as a distraction. You must quickly locate and destroy the main Hive Queen so that we can focus on larger metaphysical issues, my dear child."

"But miLord..why can't you aid me bodily? Why can't you manifest yourself?" His voice was pitiful, almost pleading. He longed to see his Lord in the flesh again, to embrace him and follow him bodily into adventure.

"I can. But won't. Truth owes its medicinal nature to the establishment of the myth of justice. Its curative properties it likewise owes to the concept of sacrifice. Princes, chiefs, and angels all subscribe to the same notion."

Danar blinked. "I...I am afraid I do not understand, dear Lord."

"My point, child, is that Faith and Love are as powerful or more powerful than any of the acts that a so-called god could perform in service to his people. You shall act as my Champion in the days ahead. Make of your love a defense against the horizon. Pure existence is only granted to the holy, which comes in a myriad of forms, half of them frightening and the other half divided into equal parts purposeless and assured." The god-king paused. "That is to say, on a level more to your understanding and from a vantage point more pertinent to your immediate value in the Mundus, you shall act as my Holy Knight, and form a new Order of the Silver Hand, a multi-faith organization. You shall unite other Knightly orders across Tamriel towards a true and noble cause, and attack those wicked institutions and individuals which threaten to undermine the quest for Truth at their very roots before they can gain enough momentum to crack the Egg of Time again. In other words : Similarly, all the other symbols of absolute reality are ancient ideas ready for their graves, or at least the essence of such. This scripture is directly ordered by the codes of Mephala, the origin of six and murder, defeated only by those who take up those ideas without my intervention. The religious elite is not a tendency or a correlation. They are dogma complemented by the influence of the untrustworthy sea and the governance of the stars, dominated at the center by the sword, which is nothing without a victim to cleave unto. This is the love of God and he would show you more: predatory but at the same time instrumental to the will of critical harvest, a scenario by which one becomes as he is, of male and female, the magic hermaphrodite."

Danar scratched his head. "You quote...some obscure scripture..from the future perhaps?"

Silence. Long, unbroken silence.

"Milord?"

Another voice speaks. "I am the Ruby King, the Uniter, the Throat of Mankind. You must become a Knight in the cause of all things Good. Your mind shall be your church. Your religion shall be to do good deeds. But not yet. Not now. Not openly. My loyal Legionnaire, my eternal champion, you must maintain your current course of action for your Temple. Cleanse the land of these abominations and meet me in Cyrodill. You will find pieces of me in hidden wayshrines, in the aspects of the Imperial Gods, but even they are not all of what I am. I am the Godhead. If the Sharmat was older than music than I am older than even the devil, but we shall speak no more right now. Back to the Mundus with you...and remember what you've been told."

Danar opened his eyes after what seemed like hours, but it had only been mere seconds. His body felt lighter, refreshed. He felt very young, and strong. More so than in years. In his pocket was a strange map, but he decided to keep that for later. He stood up slowly and walked towards the exit to the antechamber, calling out for his companion. "Vanessa? Is everything going alright on your end?"