The Ordinator, The time of change is approaching... Options

[Gaius Maximus]

So, I decided I would psot it ehre as well. Enjoy!

Chapter I

Raynari Vandareth sighed in relief, taking off his Indoril helmet. Sweat gushed down his brow, and he could feel the same was happening to his back, which gave him an uncomfortable feeling, since he could do nothing with his armor on. However, he wasn’t an Ordinator captain for nothing, so he could endure this feeling, like he endured the hits that came from Corprus monsters a mere several minutes ago.

“Captain? Are you alright?” A voice distracted Raynari from the dead body of a once-man in front of him.

Turning around, he was faced with an Indoril helmet, worn by one of his Ordinators, with whom he was tasked to clear out a nest of Sixth House heretics.

“Yes… Yes, I’m fine. Only several dents in my armor… Those damn monsters know how to pack a hit.” The Ordinator Captain replied, cleaning the sweat off of his brow with a gauntlet-less hand. The gauntlet that was supposed to rest on the hand was lying in dirt, deformed to the point where it was impossible to use it for its original purpose.

“Casualties?” Raynari finally asked after a moment of silence.

“We’ve got at least half a hundred of those beasts. Yet at a high cost, they took at least a quarter of our own men, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s double the number of them left in this cave.” The lower-ranking Ordinator replied with a sigh. Raynari shook his head slightly.

“Tell the remaining men to regroup into a schiltron. The heretics aren’t known for patience, they’ll come at us soon, so we have to be ready.” The Ordinator Captain ordered with a weary voice, again cleaning the sweat from his brow – it was still pouring. “Dismissed, Suleri.” Raynari added, cleaning the tip of his spear into the ground, which was also stained in blood.

With a salute, the Ordinator called Suleri hurried off, leaving Raynari alone with his thoughts once again. However, those thoughts weren’t the nicest ones, as the Ordinator Captain could hear footsteps approaching them – more Corprus beasts were coming into the cavern in which the Ordinators were trapped.

If this lasts for long, we’ll all be dead. Apparently, the informant underestimated the Sixth House while gathering information about this goddamn cavern… Vehk save us if no reinforcements come. Raynari sighed again, then shot a glance at his Ordinators. They were all weary, yet still more than willing to fight for the glory of the Temple and the Tribunal. They didn’t have much hope of surviving, and the little hope they did was in the form of a circular schiltron, a forest of spears deadly against cavalry and useful against infantry.

When the second wave of Corpus monsters finally began, the spear-armed Ordinators met it with grim face expressions and tightly gripped spears and shields. However, the mad beasts did not stop for even a moment of consideration, slamming into the schiltron. The tight formation retreated slightly, yet suffered light casualties, while leaving many bodies of Corprus monsters on the ground.

The Corprus monsters slammed into the schiltron again, suffering more casualties, yet making the circle of spears retreat a bit more. This was certainly not a welcomed situation, as soon enough, the Ordinators would be pushed into the wall, and their formation disrupted. Raynari had to quickly think a way out of this. However, it wasn’t that hard.

When the Corprus monsters slammed into them for the third time, he yelled out the command that could either doom the Ordinators or save them:

“ATTACK!”

Thus, when the Corprus monsters slammed into a part of the schiltron, their flanks were crashed into by the other Ordinators. Soon enough, the Corprus monsters were forced into fighting on three sides – their flanks and the front. Now was the time when Raynari had to lead a handful of Ordinators to smash into their rear, an action that the Corprus monsters would not expect.

As fast as possible, the party of some ten Ordinators separated from the main force, trying to stay away from the fighting. It didn’t take long for them to reach the location from which they could charge down on the rear of the Corprus beasts, hopefully turning their attention away from the other Ordinators long enough for the fighting to turn the way they wanted.

Raynari smirked, looking at the temptingly vulnerable rear of the Corprus monsters. However, the smirk was left unnoticed by his companions, since his head was covered with the Indoril helmet, which was in turn smeared with blood, as was his whole armor. He knew that soon enough, his armor would receive a new layer of blood, and a new set of dents from the monsters that fought ahead of them. Since there was no time to be wasted, the Ordinator Captain lifted up his spear into the air, then yelled out the phrase that all of the Ordinators were eager to hear:

“CHARGE!”

It took several moments for the Corprus monsters to realize what happened when the handful of Ordinators slammed into their back, and when they did, several of the monsters’ numbers were already dead with spears in their backs. However, when they did realize what happened, they turned to fight with ferocity that Raynari had not foreseen.

The Captain himself, though, fought with ferocity that equaled, if not surpassed, the ferocity of his enemies. However, his ferocity blinded him temporarily, which almost cost him his life. As he impaled a Corprus monster with his spear, another one lunged at him from behind, knocking him on the ground.

Raynari was unfortunate enough to land on a rock with his unarmored hand. With a sickening crunch, he looked as his arm twisted in an unusual way, indicating that it broke. As if that wasn’t enough, he cut it quite deeply, and blood started gushing out of his wound. But it wasn’t the only of his problems – the Corprus monster jumped on him, pressing him to the ground.

After a bit of struggling, Raynari managed to turn himself around, coming face to face with the disfigured face of the monster. A sickening stench blew at his face, though he did his best to ignore it, hitting the monster in the face. This didn’t seem to have much effect, though, and in return Raynari got a hit that broke his nose. He felt warm blood on his face, yet ignored it, moving his head to avoid another such hit.

What the Corprus monster failed to see was that Raynari’s fine arm managed to grasp the shortsword that hung at the Ordinator Captain’s side. Just as the creature was going to land another hit, Raynari swung the shortsword. It too several moment for the monster to realize what had happened, yet it soon roared in pain, staring at what was left of its arm. The rest of it landed nearby, cut off by Raynari’s shortsword.

Blood poured out of the remaining part of the beast’s arm, mixing with the blood on Raynari’s face and arm. The Dunmer frowned in disgust, then drove the shortsword in his hand into the creature’s neck, causing more blood to pour on him and mix with that of his own. With a one last roar, the monster fell down on Raynari in full weight, hitting his head against a rock.

The last thing Raynari heard before passing out was cheerful shouts and heavy footsteps of many armored feet.

***

Raynari looked around a large room, seemingly made out of gold. He did not know where he was, nor how he got here, yet what he knew was that he didn’t want to be here. Still, the room was so beautiful, and the wooden door leading outside seemed so ugly in comparison, he couldn’t make himself leave. What drew him more were other doors, made out of precious gems and diamonds of all sort.

In an oddly sluggish way, Raynari walked towards the diamond doors. It took only several moments for him to reach them and open them. However, when he did, he felt himself falling through the floor before he could even see what was inside. As he fell into the abyss, darkness surrounded him. The Ordinator Captain heard someone laugh, before opening his eyes.

Sweat gushed down his enormously hot brow. Raynari felt weak and sick, which was probably the case, as the first thing he saw upon opening his eyes was a man in blue robes – the Ordinator healer. Raynari was back in Vivec.

[Gaius Maximus]

Chapter IV

Raynari sighed, the sigh sounding a lot like a moan. It was, however, distinguished by the sound the Dwemer mechanisms caused, and once again, he regretted choosing to think alone for a while before making his decision. Already he had developed a headache from the unstoppable clanging, puffing and humming of the mysterious machines, and the pulsing of his head made Raynari believe that this headache was only getting worse.

Attempting to ignore the horrific noise, he buried his face in his disfigured palms, closing his eyes to think about what Dagoth Ur had told him of his supposed past.

Can I even believe him? All the things about the Battle of Red Mountain, how the Tribunal are evil, how they claimed the Heart of Lorkhan for themselves after Indoril Nerevar was dead… How Nerevar was tricked by the Tribunal into killing him, Dagoth Ur, who was actually still loyal to Indoril Nerevar… How Dagoth managed to survive and bind himself to the Heart… How he is actually fighting for the good of Dunmer, while the Tribunal are trying to hide their past and thus proclaimed him as evil… Many thoughts swirled around in his head chaotically, and the noisy engines only made it harder for him to put them in a more orderly way.

Raynari covered his ears – or what was left of them – with his hands, clenching his teeth tightly, trying not to hear the annoying din. To no avail though, as the noise seemed to get past his hands, through his ears and all the way to his brains. Has to stop… Sooner or later it will stop… or I hope so. He was exhausted from all this noise, and slowly, a twitching feeling developed where he knew his temples were when he was a Dunmer, yet he wasn’t sure if they were still there… Or still his.

***

“Ah, Nerevarine. You have made your decision, then?” The already-familiar white figure inquired, moving forward towards what remained of Raynari. The torchlight danced on the golden mask Dagoth Ur hid behind, creating the odd illusion of him making faces. However, the somewhat-Dunmer knew that the Devil had only one expression, and it was the cold stare of the golden mask.

“Y- Yes, I have.” The only reason he stammered was that his own voice made Raynari unnerved – he couldn’t accept that he was what he used to kill, and hung on the illusion that there were Corprus beasts behind him. At the same time, though, he realized that such hope was stupid. And yet, he couldn’t let go of it.

“So?” Dagoth’s voice obviously suggested he was getting curious, as much as a daemon could get. However, it also hinted that he wasn’t going to wait long for Raynari’s answer. Knowing this, he hurried up to answer.

“I- I have decided… to accept your proposal. I shall serve your cause.” Again, he was scared by his own voice.

“I am glad to hear it, Indoril Nerevar! We shall again be friends, brothers in arms against the world, perhaps… But now, I shall need to know that you are willing to be loyal to me. For because we can become friends again, I need to make sure that the Tribunal hold no more power on your minds, and that you are free of their lies that have made you turn on your most loyal ally.” Dagoth Ur paused for a slight moment, as if enjoying what he was going to say now. Finally, the words came:

“I want you to rip out your eyes.”

Silence occupied the cavern for a moment, as Raynari tried to realize what words were thrown at him. The realization struck him like an enormous hammer, like a punch in the face, dealt with an iron gauntlet – he had to rip out his eyes, or he would almost surely die. After all, he was quite certain that Dagoth Ur wouldn’t take well if someone – even more so someone whom he apparently believed to be the Nerevarine – would come to his lair, reject the offer to join him and leave in peace.

However, even if he does allow me to leave if I refuse to rip out my eyes, where the hell will I go? Everybody will want to kill me, almost surely…I’ll probably have to live nearby the Red Mountain, due to the Ghostfence…

With such thoughts, it didn’t take long before Raynari nodded. “I will do it.” With such words, he brought up his hands to his face, trying to see as much as he could with what he believed would be his last look at the world. With a deep sigh, he tried to suppress the scream, to ignore the pain that slowly filled him…

When Raynari removed his hands from his face, his eyeholes were empty, and blood covered his hands. Before he could say something more, he collapsed to the ground, fainting from the pain.

***

Raynari was waked up by the sound of howling wind. He couldn’t see anything, but he could feel that something was hitting against his face, and that it was entering his mouth whenever he opened it. An Ashstorm. He finally realized, struggling to get up on his feet. However, it proved that this was much harder to do without his eyes than with it, and he fell down a few times, tripping over something.

When he did get up, he tried to clean off the dust that he guessed to be on his body. To his great surprise, though, his skin was much softer than it was before he had to get rid of his eyes. It was the same way as when he was a Dunmer… However, to his great pity, he couldn’t see what happened to him, though, and had to be satisfied by assuming that he had changed again during the time he was out.

However, Raynari’s thoughts were cut short when a voice yelled something. It seemed oddly loud, louder than any voice he hard heard. It didn’t take him long to recall the stories of blind men, how their senses increased after they lost their sight.

Yet, once again, he had to force himself to drop the subject, as the voice began yelling something again:

“Prepare for the march! We have been given a task, to scout out the enemy movements spotted nearby their stronghold they call the Ghostgate, and we shall do it for Lord Dagoth and the Red Mountain!” Only now had Raynari realized how different this voice was from a Dunmer’s voice – it sounded much more like moaning and groaning, similar to the noises he made when he spoke while in what he assumed to be the first stage of Corprus.

He had to forget the voice when someone began beating what he assumed to be guar skin drums. A command “March!” was given, and Raynari heard several tenths of pairs of feet begin walking. After a bit of hesitation, he himself began moving towards the direction from which the noise of drums being beaten came.

Thus, the small scouting party, made up from some thirty Ash Slaves, among them Raynari, and led by an Ash Priest, began marching towards the direction of the Ghostgate.

***

Raynari was used to such marches, given that he used to be an Ordinator Captain. Thus, it didn’t tire him at all, the short march. It did give him a good chance to become at least a bit accustomed to moving without his eyes. However, he wasn’t the slightest bit ready for what was to come soon.

They weren’t marching for longer than half an hour, when Raynari heard a noise which made him stop – the noise which he recognized as an arrow being fired. Apparently, he wasn’t the only one to notice this, as the drum beating ceased, as did the sound of footsteps of their small party. The only sound that remained seemed to be the whistle of the arrow – it looked to Raynari was if it was louder than the Ashstorm.

If the sound of the arrow seemed loud, then the short yell and the sickening gurgle that came after that was even more so. However, even those noises weren’t louder than the yell “ATTACK!” that came from somewhere to Raynari’s right. The yell “AMBUSH!” drowned in the many war cries of their ambushers.

To his great surprise, Raynari could make out one set of footsteps very well. He didn’t know why was this happening, but it seemed like these footsteps were louder than all others, for whatever reason. From the noise that was made each time when the owner of these feet took a step, he could assume that this runner was armored heavily, maybe even an Ordinator.

Instinctively, Raynari ducked. He only narrowly avoided the spear that was thrust at him by his attacker, the owner of these same feet he could hear so well. What Raynari didn’t know, was that this was Suleri, the same Ordinator who was his second-in-command in many assignments, and who was promoted to a Captain after Raynari disappeared.

Purely out of habit, Raynari reached out to grab his shortsword, yet grasped only air. Thus, without knowing what he was doing, he thrust his hand forward. It hit against a breastplate, and, without even realizing it, Raynari pushed forth a shockball.

A spell from so close staggered Suleri. Realizing what happened from the step back he heard his opponent take, Raynari leaped forward, throwing himself straight at the chest of his opponent, and bringing him down.

A hard ‘thunk’ suggested Raynari that his opponent hit something on his way down. Taking advantage of that, he did the first thing that came to mind, and slammed his head against that of the Ordinator. After such an attack, he proceeded to grab Suleri’s neck, first with his left hand, then with his right, trying to strangle him.

With his Corprus-enhanced strength, it didn’t take long before his opponent stopped struggling, and Raynari realized – whoever was in front of him, was now dead. He had no idea, though, that he had killed one of the few close friends he had in the numbers of the Ordinator.

It took several moments for Raynari to get back on his feet. As soon as he did, however, cries filled the air. He could make out such yells like “The Captain’s down!” ”RETREAT!” and “Press on, for Lord Dagoth!”. He could only assume that their cause was the body of the Ordinator in front of him, still warm.

This post has been edited by Gaius Maximus: Mar 15 2008, 08:37 PM