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]

Although, ripping out his own eyes? That sounds painful. Ah well, he'll probably grow a new face and become an Ash vampire in short order.

Exactly. Because he's the Nerevarine! (Insert the "'Cause he's such a good fellow" melody here)

Let the brutality begin! Hehehehe!

You haven't yet seen half of it!

Chapter VII

Two weeks. Two long, long weeks. Perhaps they were actually months. Maybe years. Decades, even… After all, Raynari had lost all sense of time after he transformed into this creature. At least I have my eyes back. This was his only relief, for ever since he was deemed worthy to become a ‘priest’, he had been hearing voices; sometimes whispering, sometimes yelling. They were always in his head. Or maybe, always around him – he wasn’t so sure.

Raynari was suspecting the strange altar, which he was told to protect, as the cause of all this madness. He had seen them on several occasions back when he was a simple Ordinator, and every time he would approach them, a chill would crawl down his spine. There was something… something evil about those ‘altars’, something which he seemed to be able to sense much better as an Ash Ghoul.

Raynari wasn’t the only guardian of the altar – there were many more creatures in this strange cave, and all answered to him. Dreamers, Ash Zombies, Ash Slaves… All lowly creatures, with their enormous strength being the only thing keep them alive. All victims of the dreaded Corprus… yet they seemed to be more acceptant of their fate than Raynari.

Like thus was Raynari living for the past few days – guarding a cave that he guessed to be some sort of a ‘chapel’; surrounded by creatures that considered him their leader; slowly drifting into madness. From time to time, he would feel an urge to put his hands on the altar, feeling as if something depended on it. Yet, nothing would happen, no matter how he would press his hands against the thing.

He was disappointed with the fact that nothing would happen, and yet, even now, Raynari was making his way towards the large, red statue, driven by this almost beastly urge. He wasn’t expecting anything to happen, but he still laid down his hands upon the cold, rough surface of the accursed thing.

Raynari almost yelled out in surprise after a loud voice boomed. Like with the other voices, he couldn’t make out whenever this was only in his head, or coming from somewhere around him. Yet he was certain regarding as to whom the voice belonged.

“Dagoth Ur greets you once more, Indoril Nerevar. I am glad you have accepted another bit of the True Power into your body.” Even if Dagoth Ur wouldn’t have introduced himself, his voice was unmistakable.

“But I haven’t called you only to congratulate you for successful service. There is a need for you to prove yourself to me once again, like you did earlier.”

“A group of the followers of the False Tribunal had set up a camp nearby their pilgrimage site. They are nothing more than a minor threat, though their attacks had disrupted some of my plans for the area. I want you to crush them for the good of the Sixth House, so that I may concentrate on more important matters at hand.”

‘I want’… Like it differs much from ‘I order’. Raynari sighed. He had no other choice than to nod in agreement:

“I shall do it, for the good of the Sixth House.”

***

Raynari could barely hear the sound of the guarskin drum being beaten. After he had changed again and recovered his eyes, his senses seemed to become… blunter. When he was but an Ash Slave, he could easily hear the drums, even in the middle of a storm.

Still, if he couldn’t hear it, his Ash Slave could easily. Thus, the group managed to march in cohesion, organized into three squares. The front one was made up of Ash Slave. In the middle marched the Ash Zombies, and finally, behind them, the Dreamers.

In such order, disguised by the ash and the wind, the forces of the Sixth House advanced towards the Ordinator Outpost. Raynari was worried his troops might not be able to stand up to the Ordinators entirely in close quarters, though there was no turning back at this point.

***

“Priest Raynari,” One of the Ash Slaves, sent out as scouts, kneeled down in front of him. Raynari gestured him to carry on impatiently. “We have reached the heretics’ outpost. They seem to be unprepared.”

A good sign. If not a false one. Raynari nodded, before dismissing the scout. Then, he proceeded to turn around, facing the drumbeaters, who were all Dreamers.

“Guide the Ash Zombies to the front, then form them up in a three-ranks-deep line. The Slaves are to be placed behind the main line in three colons, four-ranks-wide and eight-ranks-deep, and between every servant there is to be an amount of space equaling the amount the Slave himself takes up, in all directions. The servants behind the first line of the colons are to stand in a place that if they were to take a step forward, they would fill the gaps. The same applies to the line behind, and so on.”

The drummers nodded. These orders were unusual, though the Dreamers did not actually have much of a mind of their own, so they obeyed without questions.

While the Ash Slaves and Ash Zombies were assuming positions, Raynari positioned the Dreamers in the back of the entire formation. They would serve as the reserve, since there were no other troops to spare. The Dreamers weren’t the best of the Sixth House, yet they were better than nothing.

Finally, the forces were arranged and, at Raynari’s signal, advanced again. According to the scouts, they would catch the Ordinators unaware.

However, the Ordinators apparently figured out that enemy was present – Raynari was greeted with four square schiltrons six-ranks-wide and six-ranks-deep, arranged into a line.

Raynari, who was currently between the front line and the colons, yelled:

“Line, down! Colons, first two ranks, down! Colons, first four ranks, bold fire!”

The drummers echoed the respective part of the orders through the ranks they led, and, soon enough, the Ordinators were faced with a rain of magical lighting bolts that flew right above the Ash Zombies.

“Colons, third and fourth ranks, down! Fifth and sixth ranks, bolt fire!”

Much to the dismay of the Ordinators, the bolts continued to rain on them. Unwilling to take more of the ranged attacks, the Ordinator line moved forward.

“Colons, fifth and sixth ranks, down! Seventh and eighth ranks, bolt fire!”

Even though several more Ordinators fell, the schiltrons pressed forth. Given their marching speed, they would soon reach the thin front line of the Ash Zombies. Raynari didn’t really need to have it pushed back:

“Colons, close in ranks! March forward!”

The noise of guarskin drums immediately passed his order to march through the ranks of the Ash Slaves. The colons moved, filling up the gaps as they did.

The colons reached the Ash Zombies’ line almost exactly after the Ordinators did. At first the thin line was pushed back slightly; however, after they were reinforced with the colons, the balance was tipped for the favor of the Sixth House – the deeper ranks managed t start pushing the schiltrons back.

However, when it seemed that the battle was going in their favor, another schiltron moved out of the camp, with the obvious intentions of outflanking them. There was nothing more Raynari could do than send the Dreamers to engage the new threat. And while the Dreamers outnumbered the Ordinators two-to-one, he was almost certain that they would be destroyed.

In hopes of inspiring his followers, Raynari decided to lead the Dreamers personally. And this action, in fact, was what practically decided the outcome of the battle.

The lightly armed and unarmored Dreamers quickly reached the Ordinator detachment. The enemy, apparently, thought they would deal with the assault easily, and turned to face the oncoming force. They, just like Raynari, however, underestimated the inspirational power of fanatical faith, which was further strengthened by the presence of a priest, who was Raynari himself.

At first, the engagement was rather even – the Ordinators had superior weapons and armor, which gave them an edge. However, even the trained soldiers of the Temple and House Indoril were taken aback by the ferocious fanaticism of the Dreamers. Slowly but surely, the schiltron was being pushed back.

Raynari, taking a guess that he was the reason for all of this, made sure to be fighting in the front lines. This seemed to help - the Ordinators slowly began crumbling under the pressure. In an attempt to rally his force, the Ordinator Captain that led this force jumped into the fighting.

However, after their captain fell with a crushed skull, it was obvious that the Ordinators had enough. The schiltron began retreating; however, the retreat soon turned into a rout.

Seeing his chance, Raynari didn’t allow the Dreamers to pursue the fleeing enemy. Instead, he ordered them to re-group into a six-ranks-wide and eight-ranks-deep colon, then turned to the temptingly vulnerable flank of the Ordinator line.

However, just before his colon engaged the Ordinators’ main force, Raynari had to duck to avoid a large fireball. Predictably, the spell flew above him. It did not completely miss, though – moments later, a loud explosion roared as the stone that symbolized the Red Mountain pilgrimage site was destroyed.

At first, the Ordinators didn’t notice that – they were more than busy with the mater of another colon pushing its way into their ranks. However, almost immediately after several of the Ordinators decided it was time to run, it was realized that the very object they were defending was destroyed.

The result of this, combined with the flanking attack, was disastrous for them – after a few more minutes of desperate resistance, their force began crumbling, before all the remaining soldiers turned and ran in an all-out rout, intercepted by magical lighting bolts.

***

Some half an hour later, Raynari was inspecting the battlefield with a guard of some five Dreamers. After what happened at today’s battle, he was already making plans of turning the Dreamers into an elite, well-armed and armored fighting force.

However, he pushed those thoughts back once something else dragged his attention – a small yellow metal door. It was probably uncovered by the explosion… Raynari sped up with the intention of investigating this door, which seemed to be of Dwemer origin.

Moments later, the doors were opened, revealing to Raynari a room about the existence of which everyone seemed to be unaware for a very, very long time, probably even thousands of years.

The room wasn’t very large. It was built out of the same metal as all the Dwemer building in Vvardenfell. There were many mysterious devices inside, more than a few of them broken. From the look of them, Raynari assumed that they were related to alchemy.

What caught his eye, though, wasn’t one of the devices. No, it was a table in the corner. Many books were lying on top of it, which was the thing that interested Raynari most – he had been spending some of his time reading the past few days mainly about Dwemer.

What might we have here? Curiosity arose in him as he took of the dusty books. He could read Dwemer very well, but he remembered some of the letters rather well. As far as he was aware, the title of the book read:

‘Notes on the subject of the Black Powder’