Loved the balancing of revelations between the two sides! Aela did not reveal more of her abilities than that of turning the archaeon to herself. Likewise the mages on the other side didn't reveal theirselves*, either.

*(and no, that is no typo, but done on purpose)

I also liked Valen's thinking, that the north wall will be the new target the next day. It's exactly how I would do it, were I Dark-Eye, too.

Just one nit I spotted (it's late at night, and I'm building a small modification into my Oblivion game patch). I think the possessive apostrophe got impatient and jumped in ahead of the 's' rather than after it.

Turning a summoner’s summon against him is such fun! It just seems so. . . elegantly efficient.

And I'm still liking how you have brought ward spells to this story.

Valens and Co. are reading things pretty well, and it seems wise that they held back on revealing more of their defensive abilities than necessary to do the job at the time.

‘Aela nodded, feeling a wave of relief wash over her. She hated fighting without Ungarion. It felt like going for a walk with only one shoe. Worse, she hated the idea of him fighting without her there to protect him.’ - - This is a beautiful sentiment, and so very well phrased.

Aela knew that he never could sleep the night before a battle. Even on an ordinary day, the high elf was filled with pent up energy. But get him worked up, and he might not sleep for days.
This is perfect for Ungarion. You have painted him so vividly that Aela’s thought made me nod and smile as if I knew him as well.

The archaean began his march once more. With just a few giant strides he mounted the steep slopes of the ditch. Agrigentans scurried away to either side, and Aela shouted to them that it was safe.
Lol. There were a few soiled britches over that situation, I imagine.

I loved the moment when Aela thought of Talun-Lei as “the Argonian warrior.”

Valens’ assessment made great sense after Aela’s observations that neither side was making much progress during the battle. I particularly enjoyed her thought that there were poisoned arrows out there meant for her.

The probing to try and reveal the enemy's strengths an weaknesses on both sides is quite instructive. I'm left wondering, however, to what extent the mages' interactions reveal their identities to each other. Do the nagas now just know that there's a mage on the Agrigentan side that can take over their summons, or do they have an idea who it is? It strikes me that some spells show who's casting, and others don't. You can track a fireball back to the sender, just like an arrow's path reveals the location of the archer, but taking control of an Archean takes place wherever the creature is.

I'm assuming the ward spell works like Skyrim's, so you can see who's behind it. They'll know Aela's a mage, but they probably also know there's more than one, and the distribution of the staves will make it look like more. So is Aela worrying too much that she's the one with the bullseye painted on her?

3.6
If nothing else, the dummies will take some arrows and spells that would otherwise be aimed at a flesh and blood being.

I wonder who is the bigger threat? The leader or the wizard? Wish they would just shoot them in the parley and be done with it. Not like they are honorable generals anyways. Scum, to be shot like rabid animals.

3.7
Will they attack at dawn?

Why must she leave the wall? Can she not wait for it to get closer before banishing?

Ah, this spirit must not be in control of the wizard they saw earlier. I anticipate anything he brings would be more difficult, unless all the power resided in the staff…

Talun-Lei’s acting like a leader!

haute ecole rider: That sense of cautiously measured tit for tat is exactly what I was hoping for in that episode, as the bandits try to learn more of the Seven's capabilities, and our heroes try hold back from showing everything. Sort of like a first date.

Valens is really showing his stuff as a leader in that scene, and the next few ones. While he might not remember who he is, he does remember a lot about strategy and tactics!


Acadian: I am so glad for the wards in Skyrim. They really round out Aela's repertoire. Not to mention her talent for summoning.

Aela's 'one shoe' line partly inspired by the movie Gettysburg, where Gen. Longstreet says on day two: "I don't like going in without Pickett. It's like going in with one boot off."


Grits: I am getting that part of Ungarion from someone I once knew who was also a hyperkinetic ball of nerves. You would think he was on speed the way he always had energy. except that was just normal for him. Egads, I would hate to have seen him if he was on speed!

Talun-Lei has certainly come a long way since that first, inauspicious meeting in Bravil. I suppose the next question is will he remain the 'Argonian Warrior' when it is all over?


ghastley: The bandits actually learned a lot from the nightly festivities. They already had a brief, chaotic look at Aela and Ungarion the night of the ambush. Now they have had a second look, at opposite sides of the village. So now in the very least they can separate the two. Aela's stealing of spirits is not visible to all. OTOH, her ward is, and now they have seen that Breton with the ward twice where spirits have been stolen. Since the red-haired Altmer was that the other side of the village, they have a pretty good idea she was the culprit.

TBH, I think every war mage in the ES Universe ought to be worried about a target painted on them. They are like the heavy artillery, something the enemy is always going to want to silence with counter battery fire or airstrikes.


King Coin: We will see a lot more of Dark-Eye and what he is capable of in the next few episodes. He's a lot more scary!

I am not sure what you meant about leaving the wall. Unless you meant leaving the roof of the brewery? It was indeed because she needed to get closer to the spirit in order to banish/take it over. You are right in that it was not under Vishta-Zaw's control. He is actually not a summoner at all, but purely a destruction mage. But he is much better at destruction than any other bandit mage.

Talun-Lei is really proving his worth in Chapter 3.


Previously On Seven: Our last episode found the bandits making a night-time probe against the village's defenses. Rather than being an all-out attack, it was a series of measured incursions at several points in the walls, apparently meant to discover the Seven's abilities. Aela was forced to take control of a bandit spirit, which she used to kill its summoner. But otherwise none of the bandits appear to have been killed in the fighting in her section of the wall. Nor were any of the villagers. It went much the same in Ungarion's section, though one Agrigentan was lost from bandit fire magic. After the fighting was over, Valens predicted that the bandits would attack in force at the north wall sometime the next day.

Note: This will be another big one, but I did not want to end it with a cliffhanger.


Chapter 3.8


Aela woke with a start, reflexively filling her left hand with her ward. However, before she could pour her magicka into the defensive spell, she realized that nothing was untoward. Taking a moment to relax, she looked around to see that the first rays of Magnus were spilling over the eastern horizon.

Along with Ungarion and the half of Seridwe's Century that was not on duty, she had slept at the north wall. Their reed bedrolls were spread out at the foot of the embankment's gentle inner slope. Some were still occupied by sleeping villagers, but most of their occupants appeared to be stretching themselves to wakefulness, just as Aela found herself doing.

A Bloom spell chased away the night's funk, and the Breton rose to her feet feeling as clean and fresh as if she had just emerged from a bath. A glance down showed that Ungarion still slept beside her own mat. Aela decided not to wake the high elf just yet. She imagined that he had been up most of the night, given what a font of pent up energy the wizard was under even ordinary circumstances.

Instead the Breton Witch turned to the parapet, where she saw Seridwe standing watch clad in her golden elven armor. She had taken but a single step toward the elf, when the archer turned and shouted.

"To Action!" Seridwe cupped both hands around her mouth to make her voice louder. "Here they come!"

Then the archer turned and raised her golden Valenwood bow to fire. But rather than loose, she eased up on the string and crouched behind the safety of one of the merlons that rose like teeth along the battlements.

"Take cover!" she shouted.

Aela reflexively threw her ward up before her, and went down on one knee to brace herself. The roar of flames filled her ears, and a moment later she was rocked by the force of an explosion against the main gates. The heavy wooden timbers splintered and bent inward under the impact of the fireball, even as they went up in bright red and orange flames.

Aela regained her footing and raced for the battlements. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ulpia - who had apparently already been awake - draw a scroll and summon an undine to put out the flames. Seridwe did the same as Aela approached, and the two spirits brought a wave of water down upon the burning gateway.

Aela stared out between the high merlons of the battlement just in time to see another ball of fire come roaring in. Beyond it she saw that the rice paddies bordering the northern edge of the village were blanketed in mist. Rushing forward through the vapors was a horde of Nagas and Argonians. It was hard to tell for certain in the split-second glance, but it appeared that the entire bandit host was descending upon the wall.

Once again she held up her ward to protect herself, and again the force of the explosion staggered her. She felt the two scroll-cast undines wink out of existence in the resulting inferno. Worse, the wooden timbers of the gateway burst apart, sending shards of burning fragments everywhere. The village now lay wide open to attack…

She heard Valens shouting for everyone to start drinking their potions to resist fire, and to shield themselves from physical harm. She took his advice, but began with a brew to enhance her magicka instead. One could never have too much in a battle like this after all. She was lifting a shield potion to her lips when she felt a salamander forming in the air outside the walls.

Sliding the potion back into her pocket, she reached out with her right hand and caught the fire spirit's essence. It was child's play to rip him from the control of his summoner. She looked out from an open gap between merlons to scan for the destruction mage who had been blasting the gateway. The salamander would keep him busy for some time, as the mage's fire spells would be useless against a spirit comprised of the same element. Then she saw a bolt of fire headed directly for her.

Aela raised her ward just in time to meet the attack. This was not another fireball, but a smaller and far more concentrated bolt of energy. The power that washed over her ward was simply prodigious. It felt as if a burning mammoth had charged headfirst into her. Aela had only felt such power once before: from the staff of the bandit mage Vishta-Zaw. Just as when he had attacked her at the end of their parley, her magical shield crumpled under the assault. But also just as before, it left nothing of the firebolt left to actually harm her.

That is when her eyes were filled by bright blue-white sparks. A bolt of lightning from the bandit conjurer slammed into her an instant later, before she could recreate her ward. The hair on her body stood on end, and in spite of the elemental protections on her clothing - and her race's natural resistance to magic - her body burned. She felt herself lifted from the ground and hurled back through the air, as if she had been tossed by some giant's hand.

The sky and ground spun in her view, and she realized that she was tumbling through the air. There was a crash as she felt her body smash through a rattan wall. Then hard brown wood came up in front of her eyes. The last thing she was aware of was a loud crack as her body slammed against its unyielding surface.

* * *

"Get Ungarion back to the square," Valens shouted to two of the Agrigentans. The reed arrow that sprouted from one of his arms did not look fatal. But the Altmer mage was stiff as a board, with naught but his eyes able to move to and fro. "Tell Meen-Sa he's been poisoned. See if she can do anything about it!"

The villagers silently nodded and took the slender high elf by his armpits. Dragging his heels through the dust, they quickly vanished from sight. Valens turned and scanned the wreckage of the gates before him, and then the chaos on the walls to either side. Yet he saw no sign of Aela.

Blast it! he silently cursed. Just minutes into the battle and both of his mages were down. It could not be a coincidence. The bandits had obviously planned to flush out each and finish them off. They had lost mages of their own in their probes the previous night. But apparently that had been enough for them to learn how to anticipate - and trap - Aela and Ungarion.

"What are we going to do!" Valens heard an Agrigentan scream. The rice farmer's eyes were wild with fear, and his spear lay in the dust at his feet. Without thinking the Nibenean grabbed the villager by the shoulder, and leaned down to pick up his spear with his free hand. Thrusting it back into the Agrigentan's fingers, he turned the man back around to face the oncoming Nagas.

"We fight!" Valens shouted to all. "Form on me in the street! Shield Wall!"

Seridwe came running moments later with a group of Agrigentans from the wall. Soon after Ulpia joined them with the rest of the defenders. The villagers were plainly terrified, but they did not flee. As Valens had hoped, the hundreds of hours they had spent in training seemed to take over, and they dutifully formed up into a line of overlapping shields.

"Where's Aela?" Ulpia asked, gripping the Breton Witch's white staff in both hands.

"She must be down," Valens shook his head.

"I haven't seen her since it started," Seridwe frowned. "She was on the wall one moment, then she was gone."

Then the bandits were upon them. They came like a tidal wave, and crashed against the Agrigentans with a terrific clatter of arms. The front line of shields buckled, and wavered. Valens, Seridwe, Ulpia, and the villagers not in the first rank put their shoulders to the backs of those who were, and pushed back.

The shield wall held. With the initial energy of the bandit charge spent, the Naga and Argonian brigands began jabbing their spears at the villager's shields. The Agrigentans stabbed back. Dust kicked up in great clouds, adding to the smoke from the scorched gates. A fearsome racket of shouts and screams rose up above the smashing of weapons. It seemed as if the street had been transformed into a slice of Oblivion.

Valens strode through it all with a calmness that was by now as familiar to him as a well-worn glove. He knew that he felt the same fear as everyone else. His heart raced, his palms sweated, his mouth felt dry as a desert. He knew that any moment he might be struck dead. Yet somehow he felt at home, as if he was made for this, and this alone.

"Where are their mages!" he shouted through the din. "They have at least two left. Does anyone see their mages?"

"There's no sign of them," Ulpia shook her head at him.

"The last I saw of them, they were fighting with a salamander out in the fields," Seridwe shouted back from across the street.

Valens smiled wolfishly. Either Ungarion had summoned the spirit before being paralyzed, or Aela was still alive somewhere. Either way, they had taken the bandit's own mages out of the fight, at least for now.

"Seri, climb up there and see if you can get a clear line of fire!" Valens pointed to the house behind the high elf archer. "I'll stay down here with the shield wall."

The Altmer tucked her bow away and leaped for the building. Given that the walls were made of only rattan, she was forced to grab hold of one of the thick durian wood posts that framed the home and scuttle up it. Valens could see that it would be slow going for the archer, and turned his attention back to the battle in the street.

He slapped the shoulders of Ulpia and several of the Agrigentans waiting behind the main line to get their attention. With a wave, they formed around him. "Open the wall!" he shouted to the men and women in the line before them. The villagers did as they had been taught, and drew back to either side. A gap opened between them, and the bandits rushed in.

The first was an Argonian. He was met by a bolt of frost from Hrive Amaurea, and fell to his knees clutching at the great chunk of ice impaling his shoulder. His comrades slithered around him, but fared little better against the spears of the Agrigentans. The villagers crowded in on them from all sides, stabbing everywhere. Valens himself stepped up to the point of the incursion, and grabbed the spear of the kneeling Argonian with one hand. One of his ebony swords gleamed in his other fist, and buried itself neatly in the brigand's heart.

Valens pushed forward against the bandits. He felt spears break upon his ebony mail, and struck out with spear in one hand and sword in the other. In moments all of the bandits inside the wall lay dead in the street. Stepping into the breach in the shield wall, he found himself face to face with the bandit leader - Dark-Eye.

The Naga was easily recognizable in his boar's tusk helmet and cuirass of swamp leviathan scales. Valens did not know how he recognized the latter. Like so many other things, he seemed to remember it, without recalling where or when he had actually gained the knowledge.

Now that he was up close to the bandit, Valens could see that not only did a black leather patch cover one of the Naga's eyes, but that the entire side of his face was laced with wide scars. A torc of solid gold wound its way around the bandit leader's neck, and similar gold and jewel-encrusted rings, bracelets, and armbands decorated the rest of the snakeman's frame.

"This one stinks of roses," Dark-Eye snarled. The Naga thrust his ebony spear overhand at Valens' face. The Nibenean ducked underneath the strike, and dropped his stolen bandit spear. Before Dark-Eye could withdraw his weapon, Valens grabbed hold of the bandit's wrist. The Nibenean tried to thrust his sword in at the same time, but the Naga moved in too close, and likewise grabbed hold of Valens' own sword wrist.

They struggled breast to breast. The hot breath of the Naga stank of blood, and his body gave off a musk more powerful than any normal Naga, to the point of being repulsive. It reminded the Nibenean of an open grave.

Namira, the name rose unbidden in the back of Valens' mind. Dark-Eye was Namira's champion…

An amber-hued elven arrow cracked against the scales of one of Dark-Eye's pauldrons. Valens glanced up to find Seridwe precariously balanced upon the edge of the nearby house. The high elf wasted no time, and was already nocking another arrow to fire down upon the Naga leader. Valens turned back to face the bandit in time to see the brigand's jaws rush for his face.

The Nibenean jerked his head aside, and the Naga's double-row of needle-like teeth clamped shut on empty air inches from his ear. Valens countered with a head butt into the bandit's nose. But Dark-Eye merely smiled back, blood now running freely down into his mouth and staining his fangs crimson.

Then an elven arrow sprouted from Dark-Eye's neck, in the gap between his gorget and helmet. Anyone else would have fallen from the wound. But the bandit leader merely let go of Valens' wrist, and grabbed the missile. He snapped it in half, leaving the head still buried in his flesh. Then before Valens could strike with his sword, Dark-Eye buried his fist in the Nibenean's face.

Valens rocked back, seeing moons and stars before his eyes. He unwittingly let go of the Naga's spear, and found himself being pulled backward. The next thing he knew he was behind the wall of shields once more, and saw that two of the Agrigentans had moved forward in his place. He looked up to Seridwe just in time to see a reed arrow rise up from the mass of bandits and slam into her chest. But it ricocheted off her golden armor, and a moment later the high elf returned the shot.

"Dark-Eye?" Valens shouted up at the elf, cupping one hand around the side of his mouth to make his voice louder.

She looked back down and shook her head. "Gone!" she shouted back.

Valens frowned. That had been his chance to literally cut the head from the snake, and deprive the bandits of their leader. He had let it slip by. Blast it!

Still, he knew that all in all things were going well, especially given that he had lost his only two mages. Dark-Eye was out of the fight for the time being, and so long as the bandit spellcasters stayed out of it as well, he knew that the villagers could hold the line.

For while Valens had little doubt that man for man the bandits were far better fighters, they lacked either the training or inclination to fight as a unit. Instead they fought singly, throwing themselves forward against the shield wall, or falling back to catch their breath. None of them moved in concert with the others.

The Agrigentans stood in stark contrast. Not one of them fought alone. All stood shoulder to shoulder as he had taught them, neither advancing nor retreating without an order. Rather that attack the bandits directly in front of them, the villagers stabbed at those to one side. So the Nagas never saw the spears that skewered them, yet at the same time each Agrigentan was protected by the man or woman beside him. When those in the front rank tired, they filtered back through the line to rest, while the next fighter standing behind them moved up to take their place. They were a thick wall of shields and spears with a single mind and heart, and Valens knew that would make them unstoppable.

So long as the bandit mages stayed out of it.

With that thought in mind, Valens once again opened the wall to allow more of the Nagas in to be slaughtered. They had to win the battle before the bandits mages came on line. This time three of the bandits were cut down by the villagers, and when it was all over, Valens saw Nashira, Do'Sakhar, and Talun-Lei racing up the street to join him.

"There's no activity on the other walls," Nashira reported.

"The bandits have put everything here, as Valens said they would," Talun-Lei said.

"So these ones decided to join the excitement!" the Do'Sakhar finished.

At Valens' direction, the Khajiit ascended to the roof of another building and added his own arrows to Seridwe's. The others joined in the shield wall, and they opened it once more. This time half a dozen bandits were slain the dust behind the wall, half of them to Nashira's scimitar. Even Valens found himself staring at the Redguard in awe. He found himself thinking that the rest of them could go back to the square, and she could kill all of the bandits herself!

* * *

Aela opened her eyes and felt her body burn. Gasping for breath, she called up her magicka and sent it down into her nerves, deadening them to pain. Turning her head this way and that, she realized that she was inside the ruin of an Agrigentan home. The roof and two walls had collapsed, strewing bent and broken wicker everywhere. But the thick posts of durian wood that buttressed the structure still rose tall and straight, and the hardwood floor remained solid under her back.

Rather than look down to see her wounds, the Breton Witch closed her eyes once more to better concentrate. Her magicka moved through her body, creeping along burned skin, roasted muscle, and fried cartilage. Breathing deep and slow, she calmed her racing heart, and went to work.

As she had with the wounded Naga scout, she started inside and worked her way out. The lightning bolt had scorched her chest, but thankfully had not pierced her ribs to the delicate organs beneath. She expected that she could thank her enchanted clothing for that. Otherwise she imagined that it would have burned a hole clean through her body, and killed her on the spot.

Channeling her magicka into the ruined flesh, she rebuilt her body one piece at a time, starting with her ribs and the cartilage that attached them to her sternum. Roasted tissue sprang back to vibrant health. Working her way out, she healed muscle, then skin. Finally she rose with a brief wave of dizziness, as the strain of healing crashed over her.

Aela stifled a yawn, and reached down into her potion bag. A stamina potion chased away the post-healing weariness. She followed it with more brews, one to resist fire, another to protect her against shock, and finally one to armor herself from physical harm. Only then did she rise from the wreckage and look around her.

She could see that the bandits had gotten into the village behind her, and were fighting in the main street leading to the town square. The Agrigentans had formed their shield wall there, and were holding them back. They were doing better than that in fact, for Aela could see that while the Nagas were slowly being cut down, the villagers stood firm.

Valens had been right after all, Aela thought absentmindedly. When all was said and done, they would crush the bandits with their shield wall.

But only if the bandit mages had nothing to say about that. Her eyes went from the battle in the street to the abandoned parapets and the ruins of the gateway. She was just in time to see a Naga slither through the gate holding a staff in one hand. For a moment her heart leaped in her chest. This was her chance to kill one of their leaders! Then she realized that it was not Vishta-Zaw. For this bandit did not have skulls decorating his body. Instead he was content with rings and armbands of gold and silver.

As the bandit drew nearer, she could feel the shock enchantment upon his staff. This was the mage who had blasted her down, and nearly killed her. Obviously he and Vishta-Zaw had planned it ahead of time. With the lieutenant breaking down her ward, and the lightning mage following it up an instant later with an attack of his own. She vowed that they would not get the same opportunity again.

Before she could raise her hands to attack, the bandit mage called up a dryad. The great tree spirit towered above the homes to either side, and took a ponderous step down the street toward the battle. Aela knew that the spirit would smash the villager's shield wall to kindling. But only if she could reach the line…

She reached out for the spirit, and as she had done so many times already, she ripped it from the bandit's control. The Naga whirled to face her, eyes widening with what could only be shock. Aela smiled back and raised her ward with one hand. The bandit mage lowered his staff and blasted lightning at her. But Aela's magical shield - full charged and ready - brushed the attack aside.

Aela glanced at the dryad. The great tree spirit turned, and reached down to grasp the wooden support beams of one of the homes beside the street. It twisted the wood this way and that, and a moment later ripped the entire house up from the ground. The dryad turned back to the Naga mage, and Aela saw the bandit throw up a ward of his own to protect himself. Then the spirit flung the house down upon the hapless conjurer, and he vanished under the wreckage.

A great cloud of dust rose up in the aftermath of the crushing blow. The dryad stepped into the ruin, and brought a tree-trunk sized leg down with a great thump. She ground her wooden foot around in the dirt, and the light from the Naga's ward went out. Aela knew that bandit mage would trouble them no more…

A great shout rose up from the street behind her, and Aela turned to see the bandit warriors turn from the shield wall and flee. The Agrigentans followed slowly, keeping their formation. Arrows chased the bandits from nearby rooftops, and Aela saw that Do'Sakhar and Seridwe were their authors. Then she realized that to escape the village, the marauders were going to have to come directly through her and her dryad.

She turned the spirit around to face the Nagas and Argonians. The dryad bent low with her branches, to catch as many of the bandits as she could. But then a great bolt of fire rose from the field outside of the village. It blasted a hole through the spirit, and sent tongues of flame leaping across what remained of her wooden frame. A moment later the spirit slipped from Aela's grasp, and faded back into the ether.

The bandits continued to flee however. They paid Aela no heed, rushing right by her in their haste to escape the deathtrap the village had become. Aela was careful, and kept her ward up the entire time. Reaching out with her absorb health spell, she ripped the life from one as he passed, suffusing her body with the Naga's stolen energy.

Then the gaggle of bandits had vanished beyond the walls, and the Agrigentan shield wall ground itself to a halt just a few paces away. The villagers shouted and cheered, beating their spears against the rims of their shields in a great din. Aela felt no elation however. Instead she scanned the ranks of the fighters, looking for the dark red hair of Ungarion. Her heart sank when she found no sign of the Altmer mage.

Then a shout pierced the celebrations of the villagers. "Did anyone leave a few for me!"

Aela's eyes followed her ears, and she could not help but to laugh at the sight of the high elf mage running up the street, hands waving over his head. "Tell them to come back!" he shouted. "I'm not through with them yet!"

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 19 2014, 02:54 AM

"This one stinks of roses," Dark-Eye snarled.

My jaw dropped at this observation. I was hoping for a confrontation between Valens and Dark-Eye! Yay! Dark-Eye was even scarier when he didn’t try to blast Valens with magic.

Namira, the name rose unbidden in the back of Valen's mind. Dark-Eye was Namira's champion…

Oh my gosh! I loved seeing the battle from Valens’ POV. Very exciting! What a relief to see Aela heal herself and Ungarion on his feet at the end. I loved this episode!

I'm with Grits on this one! It was awesome to see this from Valens' POV, and to see A&U back at the end.

What got me about this one were two things:

One, the double-pronged attack on Aela that knocked her (literally!) off the wall and out of the fight for the time being. Someone on the other side sure has a set of brains!

Two, the comparison between the Naga and Argonian bandits and the solid shield wall of the Agrigentians. It reminds me of the histories of the Roman Legions and how their own formations were able to hold up against enemies that emphasized individual achievements rather than unit cohesion.

This was quite the stirring battle right here!

Uh oh. Aela’s down!

‘Valens rocked back, seeing moons and stars before his eyes.’ - - I can imagine the smile on your face as you quilled this about Azura’s champion!

That shield wall has turned out to be brilliant testimony to Valen’s tactical acumen.

Aela’s back – with a vengeance!

Of course, now Aela has to explain to the Agrigentan whose house was thrown at the naga mage that it was really necessary, and nothing else would have worked.

I was going to ask why the naga mages hadn't got the point that their summons wouldn't stay theirs, but I guess they don't get the opportunity to learn on an individual level, being dead and all that. I'm assuming that it's less magicka-intensive to steal one than to summon one, as Aela's being using theirs more than her own.

Very vivid description of the shield wall operating the way it should. And you didn't get that from either of the films!

Valens versus Dark-eye a draw so far, although we don't yet know what they learned from each other in that encounter. I suspect Valens got more information than his adversary.

As with another story that I had been following closely back in August, I am now woefully behind on this one. I just finished reading Chapter 1.7, to give you an idea. So I am going to comment in The Big Commentasaurus Thread until I have caught up, which hopefully won't take very long to do.

Grits: I had a lot of fun writing the showdown between Dark-Eye and Valens. It was high time I had the opportunity to get the main villain on the page so we can all get a good look at him. We will be seeing even more of him in today's episode, and learning even more about his abilities.

When I was writing this scene I realized that I needed some way to show events while Aela was unconscious. I could have just glossed it all over until she came back, but I think I would have left too much out. So once I did decide to write that inbetween section, Valens rose to the top of the list of contenders for POV character. He is the general after all, so showing him running the battle was ideal. It also gave me one more opportunity to take a peek under the hood of our man of mystery.


haute ecole rider: I wanted to show that the bandits were not a bunch of schlubs. They indeed made the most of their probes from the night before, and laid traps for both A&U.

Your observation about cultures that emphasize teamwork vs. individual achievement is exactly what I was working for. I have been wanting to make the Agrigentans comparable to the Greek phalanx or Viking/Anglo-Saxon shield walls. While the bandits are more like the Celts, fearsome fighters, but individuals at the end of the day.


Acadian: It was originally going to be stars that Valens saw before his eyes after eating Dark-Eye's knuckle sandwich. But I could not resist slipping in the Azura reference.


ghastley: I was thinking about that conversation with the poor villager whose home that was too! Now Aela might be regretting vowing to remain to rebuild the village after the battle is over. Before things are done, there will be a lot more like that too.

Back during the night ambush I went into Aela's spirit stealing, and gave all the reasons why she was able to do it: that the Nagas did not have her formal education, they were not from a race blessed with magical ability (like Bretons and Altmer), and they were not Ardhanari. Basically she just has the brute magical muscle to arm-wrestle the spirits away. It probably is not any cheaper magicka-wise. But it is a real psychological blow to the enemy conjurer. Plus instead of summoning up a spirit of her own to counter the enemy spirit, and thusly creating a 2 vs 2 situation, by turning the spirit against the summoner she creates a 2 vs 1. They can always summon another one, but she can always take over that one too. Stymieing any effort on their part.


ThatSkyrimGuy: It's good to see you back SkyGuy! Wow, 1.7 is a long time ago. So you are still sailing across the Niben and having your hair braided. I am surprised at how long this story has turned out to be. It will be about 68k words when I am done. So it's a novel.

You can leave comments here, it is no big deal. Just edit the same post with any new additions until the next week's episode.


Previously on Seven: Our last episode saw the bandits making their big push on the village. They started out by destroying the gates with fire magic, and ambushed both Aela and Ungarion, taking each out of the fight at the very start. Valens took charge of the villagers and formed a shield wall in the street, stopping the bandit advance with the superior cohesion of the shield wall. He briefly went face to face with Dark-Eye, and discovered that he is Namira's Champion. It turned out to be a stalemate however, and Dark-Eye withdrew into the bandit ranks after being shot in the neck by one of Seridwe's arrows. Eventually Aela returned to consciousness and healed herself, and got back into the fight just in time to meet one of the bandit conjurers entering the village. She killed him with his own spirit, and then the bandits broke and ran, fleeing the village.


Chapter 3.9

"Are those ones finished then?" Hathei asked with an expectant voice, "is it over?"

"I doubt it." Valens shook his head.

Talun-Lei said nothing as he glanced away from the council of war that had gathered in the town square. To one side Aela and Meen-Sa treated the wounded. Nearby was a line of still, blanket-covered forms, blessedly short. Only those villagers struck by immediately fatal wounds had been lost. The others - even those suffering from injuries that would have eventually taken their lives - had all been saved by the healing powers of the mikumari and landstriding Witch.

"Their leaders are still alive," Valens explained, "and plenty of them escaped to fight again another day."

"But surely after their defeat this morning, the bandits would not try again?" Stalks-The-Marshes almost begged the Nibenean to answer differently.

"Won't they just move on for an easier target?" Ulpia added her voice to the debate.

"Perhaps," Nashira shrugged, "Perhaps not. All we do know for certain is that they still retain the strength for one more attack."

"These ones must also consider their leader's position," Do'Sakhar said. "If that one retreats, it will be taken as a sign of weakness by the others."

"And one thing bandits do not tolerate, is a weak leader," Seridwe declared.

"Aye," Valens agreed. "If Dark-Eye is still alive, he will attack again. He has to. So we have to be ready for it," Valens said. "All centuries remain at their posts, and we continue sleeping in shifts on the walls."

"Do'Sakhar doubts they shall be returning again today however," the Khajiit said. "Those ones are licking their wounds, just as these are."

"Right," Valens agreed. "We need to use that time to shore up our defenses, starting with the front gate. We can take the wreckage from the ruined homes and use it to create a barrier there."

"They will just burn that down," Ungarion shook his head. Then his eyes went to Aela. "I suggest we dispense with the idea of a gate altogether. Once she is finished with the wounded, Aela can simply extend the moat and embankment to fill in the gap."

Talun-Lei listened to the conversation in silence. Valens and the others certainly knew more about tactics and strategy than he did. It seemed that the only thing they did not know for certain, was what the bandits would do next. He wondered if he might be able to do something about that.

* * *

Talun-Lei glided silently through the rainforest. He had dispensed with his shield and spear, and instead armed himself with one of the shorter weapons used by the bandits. Likewise, he had fitted himself with a bandit cuirass of animal bones, and even found a gaudy silver bracelet and turquoise armband to round out his disguise.

He had been sneaking around the fringes of the village for nearly an hour, without finding any trace of the outlaws. He had begun to hope that Stalks-The-Marshes and the others had been correct, and the brigands had decided to find easier pickings elsewhere. But the crack of a twig dispelled that thought as quickly as a candle in a rainstorm.

Talun-Lei froze in the underbrush, and waited. He watched, listened, and even smelled for the author of the sound. Was it a bandit, or merely an animal? Long minutes dragged by, until the sight of a handful of blue feathers rose from above the bushes nearby. Without moving his head, Talun-Lei watched, and moments later saw that the feathers were attached the scaled head of another Saxhleel.

The Argonian bandit paused to lean on his spear, and shook his head as he stared toward the village. With a hiss of what could only be frustration, he moved on, disappearing into the brush to Talun-Lei's left.

The young Argonian warrior waited until he was certain that the sentry was long gone. Then he padded forward, taking extra care to be quiet. Soon the sweet smell of burning wood came to his nose, and the sound of voices to his ears. Keeping an eye out for more sentries, Talun-Lei pushed on, and the noise of talking grew louder. Soon he realized it was an argument that he was listening to.

"These ones should move on!" one voice shouted. "Coming here was a mistake."

"These ones leave when Dark-Eye says," another voice growled back. "Not a moment before."

"These ones are hungry!" a third voice called out. "Where is rice they were promised?"

"Where is the meat?" another grumbled. "Saxhleel have not eaten for days!"

"It was Dark-Eye that led half of these to their graves!" the first voice cried. "This one says he is no longer fit to lead."

"And who is fit?" the second voice rumbled. "You Okan-Shei? Come then, if you have the scales for it!"

Talun-Lei parted the leaves before him to find the remnants of the bandit warband gathered in a clearing. A fire roared in its center, with a steaming iron pot hanging over it. Spread out all around were Nagas and Argonians. Now that he had time to really look at them, Talun-Lei noted that they were lean. Leaner than a fit swamp-dweller ought to be.

That is when the bandit's words struck home in his brain. They were starving! He had never thought of it before, but now Talun-Lei realized that by adding the Argonians to his band, Dark-Eye had made it all the harder to feed them all. No wonder they were so eager to get into the village. They were not after loot -after all, there was nothing left to steal in Agrigento - they wanted its food!

"Okan-Shei has more than the scales for it!" Talun-Lei saw that the author of the first voice was another Argonian, like himself. He wore a triple-disc cuirass of dwarven metal, and a carried a shield of golden elven steel in one hand. His other hand gripped a sword whose mithril blade glinted in the shafts of moonlight that filtered down through the forest canopy.

Standing across from him was the owner of the second voice, none other than the bandit leader Dark-Eye himself. The Naga hefted his ebony spear, and without saying another word he flung it across the fire at the Argonian. But the Saxhleel leader ducked with the speed of a striking crocodile, and the spear harmlessly buried itself in the trunk of a banyan behind him.

The challenger grinned with a mouth full of sharp fangs, and raced forward against the now unarmed Naga. Dark-Eye raised one hand, blue light trailing from his fingers. With a whooshing sound, a long sword of jagged, reddish brown metal took shape under his fingers. Talun-Lei saw a look of surprise cross Okan-Shei's features, and the Argonian tried to skid to a halt. But it was already too late.

Dark-Eye's greatsword came crashing down in an over-handed blow. The Argonian raised his shield, but the otherworldly weapon simply knocked it aside, out of the challenger's grasp. The Argonian countered with a sword stroke for the Naga's side. But Dark-Eye reversed his grip on his weapon, holding the blade with his left hand, the ricasso with his right. He parried the Argonian's sword with his ethereal blade, and pushed it down to the ground. Continuing the same motion, Dark-Eye hooked his crossbar behind one of Okan-Shei's ankles and yanked back.

The Argonian challenger went crashing to the ground. Dark-Eye slithered forward and once again spun the greatsword in his hands. Holding it over his head like a massive ice pick, he brought it down into the Argonian's chest. Blood spurted, and the sickening noise of cracking bone came to Talun-Lei's ears. Okan-Shei's hands vainly gripped the blade, but Dark-Eye jerked it free, and his next blow struck the head from the Argonian's body.

Afterward Dark-Eye stared at the Nagas and Argonians surrounding him. "Do any others think they are fit to lead?" he roared. Like the bandits, Talun-Lei stared back in stunned silence. The bandit leader did not seem to be a mortal Naga, but rather an irresistible force of nature.

"That is better!" Dark-Eye growled as he stalked around the fire. "These ones leave when Dark-Eye says they leave, and not a moment sooner."

Now the bandit leader leveled his one eye squarely upon Talun-Lei. The Argonian froze, realizing that during the fight he had stepped from the cover of the forest to stand within the ranks of the bandits.

By the Hist, what had he done! Talun-Lei's mind reeled. Like all the others, he had been so entranced by the battle that he had forgotten everything else. Now he would pay for it. His eyes darted from the bandit leader's single, black eye to the jagged greatsword in his hand. He knew that he should do something. Throw his spear, turn to flee, anything. But it felt like his scales had turned to stone, leaving him rooted to the spot.

"Give this one a drink," Dark-Eye murmured. "Killing always makes this one thirsty."

The bandit leader's hand reached out, still splattered with his rival's blood. Talun-Lei found himself lifting his water skin from his hip, and passing it to the Naga. Dark-Eye lifted it to his lips and threw back his head, draining the entire flask with one gulp after another. Lowering it, he wiped the errant drops of liquid from his chin with the back of his hand.

"Ahhh, soju!" the outlaw chief sighed in appreciation. "This one has been saving this no? For a special occasion? Well that occasion has come!"

Talun-Lei nodded, too stunned to form words. Dark-Eye handed him the empty skin, and casually draped one arm around his shoulder.

"In this living of ours, one must always be prepared no?" the bandit leader mused aloud. "Dark-Eye is always prepared. Always ready for anything."

"You don't say much eh?" the Naga turned his head to stare Talun-Lei in the eye. "Well that is just fine. Just let Dark-Eye do all the talking right! You will go far in this company young Saxhleel. Far indeed. Mark my words."

Finally he let go of Talun-Lei and turned to the other bandits. "Tomorrow we will all slake our thirst with soju, and the blood of those mercenaries!"

A half-hearted cheer rose from the assembled brigands. Talun-Lei found himself joining in with the others. He shouted with just as little enthusiasm as they did, albeit for an altogether different reason.

"But now," the Naga leader said as he slithered back to Okan-Shei's corpse, "we feast!"

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 19 2014, 03:07 AM

Loved the discussion among the townsfolk about what to do next. I agree that the gate should be left as is and Aela put her Archons to work extending the moat and embankment. After all, the villagers aren't going anywhere, and completing the defensive circle like this has to send a loud, clear message to that effect.

Oooh, this Talun-Lei has some seriously big, hairy cojones! Sneaking into the enemy camp and keeping his cool (and his piss, apparently) when Dark-Eye slugged his soju! This youth has a future in covert ops, fer shure.

What a revealing display Talun-Lei observed!

Then a massive surprise for all of us who were expecting the young warrior to simply slip back into the jungle. Whew! The clever disguise worked! Once again we see the 'gang of individuals with weapons' instead of a properly trained and led military unit. The band is not all that large, so it speaks volumes that Dark-Eye does not know each of his warriors on sight.

I can now imagine imagine Talun-Lei, decades in the future, talking to one of his grand-hatchlings and recounting this story!

So the Nagangstas are starving! Something tells me that this will not be resolved by simply inviting them to join the Agrigentiles for a BBQ feast.

From Talun-Lei's notes: "Must take two water-skins, next time - and fill one with poison!"

I wonder how they'll take advantage of this information? Can they drive the bandits mad with the smell of BBQ sauce - wafted towards their camp by a Sylph?

haute ecole rider: I was thinking exactly what you were about the gate. No one is going in or out for the duration of the siege, so why bother having a gate at all?

You mean Talun-Lei has big scaly ones! I would not start calling him, Bond, Talun-Bond just yet though.


Acadian: Going back to what I was saying in the Writing Process thread a few days ago about shifting POV characters, I thought being able to show what was happening in the bandit camp was well worth the POV shift. We got to learn that the logistics of a large group is kicking the bandit's rear, that they are indeed not a closely knit group, that there is a challenger to Dark-Eye's leadership due to the defeat, and that Dark-Eye himself is one really dangerous fella. I could have done it from the POV of a bandit, but having Talun-Lei sneak in and witness it all was just too good to pass up, as it yet again shows how far he has come since being whacked on the head in Bravil.


ghastley: It might have had some Nightshade flavoring, Argonians are immune to poison after all! But then Nagas probably are too. It is a clever idea though.


Previously on Seven: Out last episode found the Seven and villagers licking their wounds in the aftermath of their victory. When asked if this meant the bandits would leave, Valens replied that there was no way to be sure, as their leaders were still alive, and they still had the power to make one more attack. So afterward Talun-Lei sneaked off in the night and found the bandit camp. He discovered that adding the Argonian bandits to the Nagas has strained their food supply to the breaking point, and they are all starving. He also witnessed the Argonian leader Okan-Shei challenge Dark-Eye for leadership, and be killed by the one-eyed Naga leader. Afterward Dark-Eye drank the soju from Talun-Lei's water flask, not recognizing him as an outsider, and declared that they would attack again the next day.


Chapter 3.10

"So where do you think they will attack this time?" Aela asked.

She stood upon the roof of the brewery with Valens and Ungarion, waiting for the next attack. Aela turned from Valens to cast her gaze out across the village spread out beneath her. Even in the dim pre-dawn light she could see that many of the wood and rattan homes near the walls had been smashed or burned from the previous day's fighting, especially those near the gate in the north wall.

A gate which no longer existed, Aela mused. Her eyes traveled along the main street leading from the town square to the northern wall. It dead-ended there at a turf embankment which she had built up the previous night. Now all of Agrigento was surrounded by the palisade and moat, with no way in except over the walls. However, those walls were not what they had once been. Without new timber from the forest, they had been forced to make do with whatever was at hand to rebuild the shattered walls. They had used wood and wicker from ruined homes, the wagons the village had once possessed, even scraps of bamboo leftover from the creation of their weapons and obstacles. In some places nothing but bamboo stakes planted atop the embankment stood in an attacker's way.

"They hit us hard in the north yesterday, and did a great deal of damage there," Valens stroked his goatee with the fingers of one hand. "But I don't think they will try there again. Now that you've filled in the gateway, it's no easier to attack there than anywhere else."

"They will come from the east then," Ungarion said. Aela followed the Altmer's eyes to the eastern wall. A long stretch of timber there had been burned down during the Naga's probes two nights before. Now only wooden boards and bamboo stakes filled the gap. Along with the former gate, it was clearly the weakest area in the defenses.

"Probably," Valens said. Then he frowned and shook his head. "But you never know, Dark-Eye is…"

"Is what?" Ungarion asked.

"Trouble," Valens said. "He's no ordinary bandit. We cannot underestimate him. I keep thinking that he has some trick up his sleeve. Something we haven't prepared for."

"Because he's Namira's champion?" Aela asked. "You might be wrong you know. It's not like you all carry banners."

"He's her champion," Valens insisted. "I could smell it on him yesterday. He reeked of it. Besides, Talun-Lei said he ate his rival last night, and those of his men who did likewise were healed of their wounds. He has the Lady of Decay behind him."

"Well then," Aela said, "it is a good thing we have the Queen of Twilight behind us."

As she expected, Valens said nothing at the pointed remark to his relationship with Azura. Instead he merely stared east, and the Breton realized that the sun would be rising at any moment. She had known the Nibenean long enough to realize that along with the sunset, it was his special moment of the day. So she was not surprised by his wordless stare.

Valens' eyes squinted in the dim light, and Aela turned her head to follow his gaze. There to the east, she saw a long line of Nagas and Argonians emerge from the tall grass. They advanced upon the village as silent as ghosts, gripping bows and spears at the ready. Aela's eyes scanned their ranks for their chief, and his very distinctive helm of boar's teeth. Yet while her eyes soon picked out the mage Vishta-Zaw in his skull-festooned attire, there was no sign of the bandit leader.

"Raise the alarm!" Valens shouted. He pointed to the east with one arm, and in moments the warning bell began to clang out loud and clear in the square below. "To the east!"

That is when Aela felt her stomach drop out from under her. For a moment she staggered atop the single, wide beam that ran the length of the roof, and felt a comforting hand from Ungarion steady her. At first she thought that the ground was shaking. But a glance at the Altmer and Imperial revealed that neither of them appeared to be affected.

The she realized that it was not a sensation of shaking or falling that turned her guts inside out. Rather it was a sense of wrongness in the world around her. It was as if the spirits of the land and air were crying out in horror. The Witch turned her eyes to the north, and witnessed the source of that revulsion.

A single Naga slithered across the rice paddies there, wearing a cuirass of white scales and carrying an ebony spear. But he was not the source of Nirn's abhorrence, it was the thing that took shape in the air above him.

The sky had been ripped in half, like a piece of cloth cut in twain by a knife. Through the great rift in the natural world Aela witnessed a shadowy landscape. Jagged black stones and waving tendrils rose form an unseen soil, like the fibers of horrific plants, or perhaps even the webs of some colossal spider. Ambiguous forms scuttled and squirmed through the tenebrous realm, making Aela's stomach all the more queasy.

One of these forms turned toward the gateway between realities. It stretched out its long body, and a moment later its gargantuan head loomed through the rift and out over the rice paddies. Semi-circular in shape, the monster's head seemed to be covered in a black shell. A triangular-shaped maw gaped in its underside, filled with spiky teeth. Small, dark holes lined both sides of its skull, and Aela wondered if they might be nostrils, or even eyes?

The rest of the behemoth's body followed moments later. It was long and sinuous, and its belly was likewise encased in what seemed to be a carapace of overlapping black plates. Its back however, was made of a black, gooey substance from which tentacles sprouted and fell. Numerous long, spindly legs held it aloft, each ending in a single, pointed talon that pierced the ground with every step. Aela lost count of the legs after a dozen, and raced to the end of the roof nearest the monster. That is when she realized that she stood eye to eye with the creature, even though she was a good thirty feet above the ground.

"Oh bloody bollocks," Ungarion sighed, "can this get any worse?"

"Can you banish it?" Valens asked.

"It wasn't summoned." Aela shook her head and pointed toward Dark-Eye in the rice paddy behind the gargantua. "He opened a gateway to the Scuttling Void. That thing is just what happened to come out."

Aela stared intently at the Naga, and even past her revulsion, she felt the power in his eye. Not the one flesh and blood eye that remained in Dark-Eye's skull. But the other one, which lay hidden behind the Naga's black eye patch. She could not say exactly what it was, but she was certain that the eye was not of the mortal realm. For it seethed and squirmed with the same energy that she felt roiling in the darkness beyond the gateway to Oblivion.

"His eye is a Daedric artifact," Aela declared. "It opened the gate."

"How long can he keep it…" Valens' words trailed off as the hole cut between realties shrank. It seemed to fold in upon itself, becoming ever smaller, and eventually vanished from sight altogether. Blessed blue sky took its place, and Aela found herself breathing a sigh of relief. But only momentarily. For the monster the gateway had spewed forth still scuttled across the fields toward Agrigento.

Aela felt another disturbance in the air behind her, and the crackle of flames filled the air. But the salamander that took shape there - a creature of Nirn's own elemental forces - was a welcome sight. With a snap of his tail the spirit flew away from Ungarion and darted toward the monster. Aela summoned his twin a moment later, and sent him the same way.

"Let's get cracking shall we?" Ungarion said.

Aela and Valens followed the Altmer down through the hatch in the roof and onto the interior balcony of the brewery. Even though they raced as quickly as their legs would speed them, the Breton Witch could not help but feel that they were going entirely too slow. For every moment brought that monstrosity nearer to the village.

By the time they reached the ground the streets were gripped with chaos. Agrigentans - both noncombatants and warriors alike - fled this way and that in a panic. Valens quickly took charge: shouting, grabbing, and even kicking the villagers back into some semblance of order. He sent the elderly and youths to evacuate to the brewery according to their normal plan. The fighters returned to their posts on the parapets, and messengers were sent to order all of the Seven to the north wall.

Aela took a moment to pause and begin casting spells to fortify her body with greater speed and endurance. Shield and elemental resistance potions followed, and finally one to enhance both her magicka and the quickness with which it regenerated. She could see that Ungarion was doing likewise beside her. Then while Valens was still busy organizing things in the square, the two of them set out for the north wall with all the speed their ensorcelled limbs could muster.

Ungarion hurled a ball of fire as he ran. It roared down the street before them, and rose up into the sky beyond. A moment later it struck the leviathan squarely upon the nose, and burst into a wide ball of fire that completely engulfed the monster's head.

A cheer rose from the walls before them, and now Aela noted that arrows were winging their way from the battlements to the monster as well. But the horror came lumbering from the smoke moments later, seemingly unfazed by the assaults. It paused, and its jaws snapped out to bite down into Aela's salamander. The spirit fizzled out of existence like a campfire under a bucket of water, and the monster continued its advance.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jan 26 2014, 07:41 PM

Lady of Decay vs Queen of Twilight. I love it!

"Trouble," Valens said. "He's no ordinary bandit. We cannot underestimate him. I keep thinking that he has some trick up his sleeve. Something we haven't prepared for." -- This was certainly prophetic.

Leaping lizards and and snapping salamanders! *Gulp* I wonder if it’s time for A&U to seek their escape tunnel? Something tells me the likelihood of that is close to zero though.

Azura! Help!!!


Nit? ‘Without new timber from forest, they had been forced to make do...’ - - Your call of course, but this seems to perhaps be missing a ‘the’ before forest?

Since whatever it is wasn't summoned, but simply escaped through the gate, one can hope that it doesn't necessarily side with Dark-eye. However, there's only one of him, so the Agrigentans are a more tempting prey.

Nit: Not the one flesh and blood eye remained in his skull. I think you meant "that remained" or "remaining". The sentence fragments are a bit odd, too, and the next part uses "it" to refer to the creature, when the last subject was the eye. That paragraph could use an edit.

I agree with ghastley on the sentence fragments in the the paragraph he references to as well. I was momentarily confused as I thought those about the eyes referenced to Namira's monstrosity, until I read about the eye patch and realized that we are now talking about Dark-Eye's -- umm -- orbs.

In what is an otherwise excellent episode, this jumped out at me: Ain't that the truth! I really get a kick out of how NPC's identities are instantly revealed in the game, but IRL it takes us a bit longer to find out those things! Loved this sly reference to a silly gameplay feature.

Now the bandit leader leveled his one eye squarely upon Talun-Lei. The Argonian froze, realizing that during the fight he had stepped from the cover of the forest to stand within the ranks of the bandits.

Uh oh. I can’t blame him. I was mesmerized by Dark-Eye’s actions, too! What a chilling scene with the pretend bandit and Namira’s champion!

(next episode)

The whole scene with the Scuttling Void was just breathtaking. The giant centipede-thing made my palms sweat!

Ambiguous forms scuttled and squirmed through the tenebrous realm, making Aela's stomach all the more queasy.

I have to single out this part for the outstanding word “tenebrous.” Dark-Eye’s Daedric ocular accessory brought a chill as well as the thought, ‘That’s so cool!’

"Let's get cracking shall we?" Ungarion said.

Ungarion is pure awesome!!