The Scroll, the Priest and the Angry Imperial, Formerly known as, 'Dawn of a New Era' Options

[redsrock]

Author's Note

My new fan-fic focuses on the 'new' Count of Skingrad, and the 'new' Cyrodiil. This story takes place three years after the Oblivion Crisis, and the story simply tells the Count's adventures, mishaps, etc. The first chapter is more of a 'telling' chapter, rather than a 'doing' chapter. It might seem boring, but I assure you, it has to be this way. I have to lay down all the ground work so that you don't get confused down the road. Trust me; there will be plenty of action in this fic. That is what has been lacking in my other tales.

Feel free to ask any questions about what's going on, I'd be glad to answer them for you. And of course I'd appreciate some feed back as well.


The Scroll, the Priest and the Angry Imperial


PROLOGUE

When the Gates of Oblivion were finally closed, and once Mehrunes Dagon and the Mythic Dawn were eliminated from existence, the province of Cyrodiil was still left with an enormous problem. They were without an Emperor, and without an Emperor Cyrodiil went into an immediate mode of panic.

Ever since the Oblivion Crisis, the cities of Cyrodiil have had to fend for themselves, resulting in several alliances. The territories of Cyrodiil have changed, and the map at the bottom explains everything.

As of now there are four regions spread out through Tamriel. These regions are simply classified as North, South, East and West. VERY simple, yes, but what's the point of making fancy names? Nobody cares anyway.

The North region, as you can see from the map, consists of Bruma and Chorrol. Essentially the entire area of the Jerall Mountains is under Northern control, and that in its self would make them a formidable foe if war were to break out. (Thankfully that has yet to happen) The leaders of the North are Countesses Arriana Valga (of Chorrol) and Narina Carvain (of Bruma). Both are skillful leaders in their own right, and Lady Carvain is a shrewd and tactful negotiator. As of now the Northerners are fairly quiet, and for the most part keep to themselves.

The East region consists of Cheydinhal and the Imperial City. The leaders are Count Andel Indarys (of Cheydinhal), and High Commander Adamus Hieronymus Lex (of Imperial City). Lex took over as leader of the Legion once the Chancellor Ocato was assassinated by an unknown assailant. It is rumored that Lex had something to do with the killing, but nothing is factual. After Ocato's death the Council got scared and decided to let Cyrodiil fend for itself as a whole. Yes, that does sound a bit absurd, but that is what has resulted.

Count Indarys lets Lex do most of the talking, though it is also rumored that Indarys wishes to employ a more Dunmerian influence within the Eastern leadership. It is highly unlikely for Lex to agree with that. Whatever is left of the Legion lies in the Eastern region. Though their area is the second smallest, they hold all advantages in terms of military because of their massive army-size.

You see, once Lex was formally named leader of the Legion (though of course he did this himself oddly enough, no doubt with a swift and iron first) he recalled all Legion troops from foreign lands. Now Morrowind stands Imperial-less, and Helseth is now the main-man over there, battling his way through the angry Ashlander tribes of course.

The Easterners are very active, fighting with the Southerners for area control. Also, the troops of Cheydinhal are currently dealing with some rebels in the northeast. As of now they have not bothered the North and West, but it is inevitable that something will happen sooner or later.

The South region includes the cities, Leyawiin and Bravil. Leaders of the region are Counts Marius Caro (of Leyawiin), and Regulus Terentius. The two leaders are power hungry, plain and simple. It is almost safe to say that the South and East are the 'bad guys' of Cyrodiil, but if one had to be chosen as the 'good guys' it would probably be the South. The East wants power all to them selves, and they pose the greatest threat. Either way the two forces are equally dangerous.

And last but not least is the West, which includes Anvil and Skingrad. The leaders of the West are Countess Millona Umbranox (of Anvil), and myself, Count Louis Vero (of Skingrad). There's no doubt in my mind you're wondering where Janus Hassildor is, correct? Well, I'll tell you.

The former Skingrad Count stepped down shortly after the Oblivion Crisis, one year to be exact. Nobody knows the true reason for his departure, but I have my own theory. Count Hassildor was a vampire, though not many knew this. I myself knew because I was a personal diplomat for the former Count of Skingrad. Somehow a few others found out about his dirty secret, and in my eyes Janus felt the need to leave before a riot started. Either way it doesn't matter, I (along with my lovely wife), am the present and future of Skingrad.

Like the Northerners, we Westerners like to keep to ourselves and not cause a ruckus. Out of all the major cities in Cyrodiil I'd say Skingrad is the most prosperous. Many merchants come to my city simply for the fact that I will let just about anyone open shop, as long as their items aren't illegal of course. I don't want a city full of skooma and moon-sugar addicts, mind you.

And now, as I stand here on my balcony with the cool, evening wind blowing in my face, I can only feel lucky to be in the position I am now. Skingrad has been lucky to have had a peaceful atmosphere for the past few years, and that of course has made my transition to Count smooth as well. However, something tells me that the peace will not last much longer. I don't know why, but I have a very bad feeling something major is going to happen. I just wish I knew what it was.


http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll18/re...nt=Cyrodiil.jpg

This post has been edited by redsrock: Apr 20 2008, 02:35 PM

[redsrock]

CHAPTER TWO

The closer we got to the Imperial City the more and more I thought about what was to come of my little meeting with Hieronymus Lex. Then again, there's always the chance of him not even being in the Imperial City. He's been known to actual be on the battlefield for many of this battles, commanding his troops. After all, before the Oblivion Crisis he was an Imperial officer.

Come to think of it, even if he is present I'm not exactly sure what I'll say. I suppose it'll be something along the lines of, ‘Hey, why are you sending spies into my castle?', but of course it will be worded more formally than that. The one good thing about Hieronymus Lex is that he isn't stupid. The southern leaders, now they aren't that intelligent, especially Terentius. However, Lex knows how to weasel himself out every situation, and I expect him to do the same with me.

"How long do you think we'll be in the Imperial City, sir?" Torlin asked after about thirty minutes of riding in the carriage.

"I don't know, hopefully not too long. I just want to make sure he isn't up to something; not that he'd tell me if he was, but I'll be able to tell for myself by the tone of his voice. And then of course he might invite me to dinner, though I doubt it."

Torlin chuckled at the last sentence and then started staring outside the carriage. Vaden was still thinking deeply about the spies from last night, so I decided to pick his brain with a few of my own questions.

"What's you're theory on our spy, Vaden?"

He looked at me, smiled, and then began. "If you ask me, it's only a matter of time until the East invades us anyhow. I believe the spy was searching for something in particular; something that would aid in a smooth invasion into Skingrad. If Lex captures us he essentially has the entire region. Everyone knows Anvil's army isn't anything to sneeze at."

"So what do you think the spy was after?" I asked.

"To be honest, I think the spy was looking for any hidden entrances inside the castle. Also, he was probably looking at our numbers and trying to figure out exactly how large our army is. But, there's also something else I've been thinking about."

He paused for a second, and now even Torlin was interested in what he had to say.

"He wants total control of Cyrodiil as whole. I think it's pretty safe to say about him."

He said this almost in a quiet tone, though I don't know why. Torlin was now sitting on the edge of his seat, and I can't blame him. Vaden is a deep thinker, and was always coming up with complicated ideas about pretty much everything in the world. I simply nodded and he continued.

"I think, and let say this is just a gut feeling, that he will hire people on the inside once he finally decides to put his plan in motion and invade our region."

"You think there will be a traitor in our midst?" Torlin asked, a little surprised by Vaden's comments.

"Yes, of course. Doesn't it make sense to you? Lex is a dirty rat, and he will of course hire someone on our side that is a dirty rat as well. It would only help him, and Lex isn't stupid. He knows it will take more than mere brute force to sack our city."

Those were certainly some ideas to think about it. I didn't want to even begin to think that someone would betray my trust and the trust of my beloved city, but it did make sense.

"That is rubbish. No one here is low enough to do something like that! I can't believe you would even suggest such an idea!" Torlin said, probably a bit too harshly.

And here we go again. Torlin and Vaden are always debating. Sometimes things got out of hand and they would actually yell at each other. There was even one instance where they got into a fist fight over an argument. They tried to hide it from me, but they couldn't hide the bruises. I punished them by fining them fifty septims each. I can take the arguing, but I will not tolerate actually fighting with one another. Needless to say, I haven't had that problem since. It was one of those moments where I actually yelled at them, and I don't do that very often if I can avoid it.

"Oh really, Torlin? Do you really thing that nobody would betray us, even if they were tempted by the sound of gold coins pitter-patting on a wooden table? Think for second; our world is a greedy place. There's always someone who would do an evil deed if it brought them fame, fortune, or any other benefits."

Vaden had an excellent point, though I wasn't about to admit it out loud. I don't took sides in these arguments. It always ends with a mess and one or the other not talking to me for the rest of the day.

"I don't know, Vaden, it just seems like rubbish to me. You are right about the world being greedy. I'll admit that," Torlin said depressingly, sad because he was forced to partially concur with Vaden. "But I just don't want to believe that someone would double-cross us."

Vaden smiled widely at the fact that he was able to get Torlin to agree with him. "You actually agree with me? That's actually kind of scary," Vaden said, and then winked at me. Torlin was looking outside the window again, shaking his head in disgust.




We arrived in the Imperial City at around six o'clock in evening. After ordering my men to stay by the stables, and of course actually stabling my horses and carriage, courtesy of a friendly Orc, my honor-guards and I walked up to the two Imperial City soldiers guarding the entrance.

"Good evening, I am here to speak with Hieronymus Lex. Is he present at the moment?" I asked one of the guards.

The guard looked at his partner, then back at me and said, "Commander Lex is currently residing in his chambers, and is in the middle of a meeting. If you don't mind, I can escort you to the castle lobby, and there you may wait for him to finish."

"Yes, that will do. Lead the way then, please."

The guard opened the gates and led us through the city and toward the palace. My two honor-guards and I received plenty of stares, but that was quite common for my guards. They were definitely used to that by now.

Their armor is not regular Skingrad armor. Theirs is custom-made Imperial Knight Templar, all the way from Morrowind and forged by an expert smith. Its gold, red, and shiny brass colors are absolutely gorgeous to look at. It's no wonder they are stared at by many. I get attention myself, but that is only because I am a Count. I do not wear armor for simple traveling, usually just a nice blue-green robe outfit.

When we arrived entered the castle the three of us sat down at a circular table. Then the guard motioned for one of the servants. They spoke a few words and then the guard left and went back to his regular duties. Within minutes our table was full of some delicious looking food and plenty of wine to drink as well.

We ate lot, drank a little, and barely talked at all. In about twenty minutes down the steps walked Lex and following close behind was Count Indarys, co-leader of the Eastern Region. But what surprised me was who was walking behind Indarys. It was Countess Umbranox of Anvil.

"What is she doing here?" Vaden whispered just before Lex made his way over to our table.

"Louis, how good of you to drop by. Is there a problem?" Lex asked, trying to sway away from the fact that one of his enemies was walking peacefully through his castle.
"Yes, actually there is," I said, as Indarys and Umbranox quickly exited the castle. "My men caught one of your spies walking about through our corridors yesterday morning. I'd like to know why."

Lex poked his around as if to make sure the others were gone, and replied, "Follow me to my room, please. I assure you there is nothing going on, but I'd like to talk in private if you don't mind."

Torlin and Vaden looked at me, and I nodded for them stay put while I talk to Lex. So I followed him up the stairs and into his personal chambers. He closed the door behind us, and even locked it as well, which I thought to be kind of strange. Of course then again, like I've mentioned before, he is extremely paranoid.

"Please, sit down, Louis. So, you say you found one of my spies lurking around your castle?" Lex asked.

"Yes, yesterday morning to be exact," I replied after taking a seat in a nice comfortable arm-chair.

"Well, I can assure you it wasn't my spy," he said quickly.

"Yes, it was your spy. He said so himself and was wearing a Legion belt."

"Louis, I know you are not that naïve. Anybody can get there hands on an Imperial belt. It's not that hard. Plus, my spies are true professionals; meaning one, they don't get caught. Two, they wouldn't be wearing Legion material, because that just wouldn't make any sense. And three, why the hell would I send him to spy on you in the morning?"

He was brining up some very good points, but I didn't believe him. And also he was speaking very fast, and it was very odd in the way he was doing it; almost like he had planned this beforehand. But that still doesn't explain why he sent the spy in the morning.

"But the spy said he was sent by you. Doesn't that account for at least something?"

"Did you torture the spy to get that information?" he asked wit his arms crossed, looking rather impatient.

"No, he said it willingly without us doing anything to him."

"That why in the world would he tell you that? Not because he's a snitch, because I wouldn't hire a snitch to do my bidding, now would I?"

He said this with a rude and sarcastic tone, one that I didn't appreciate. So I decided to give him a little sarcasm of my own.

"I don't know, Hieronymus, you tell me."

He knew exactly what I was referring to. It was the way he obtained the seat of power in the Imperial City. He used a lot of dirty and shady tactics, and ever since he's been given a bad reputation. It was probably immature of me to refer back to that, but I couldn't help it. Beside, he set himself up for it anyway.

"I'll tell you for the last time," he said with an angry tone while point his finger at me. "I did not send that spy. Now, is there anything else you want to ask me? I have important business to attend to."

He was so mad with me right now; I could just feel the anger flowing off of him. "No, that will be all. But just to let you know, whether the spy is yours or not, the next time I catch a spy who says they are from the Imperial City I will take action."

"Louis, you are not Hassildor. Just remember that from now on…" he said with a mischievous little smile.

He opened the door and I marched out angry as ever. I knew what he was getting at. He was trying to bait me into an argument by hinting that I was not a good a leader as Hassildor was. But I was not weak, unlike him. I wasn't going to bite at the bait. Besides, I don't even agree with that statement. Just take a look at my city. It has never flourished as much as it is now.

I left his room and told my honor-guards to come with me. They knew I was angry and did not say a word in return. Once we were in the carriage and on our way towards Skingrad I simply looked out the window in anger. I very well knew that the spy was his, even if he wouldn't admit it. The honoured user is always trying to wiggle out of things. Though I don't believe he was after anything specific, contrary to Vaden's beliefs. I just think he's being his regular nosy paranoid self.

When neither Vaden nor Torlin said anything for a long time I broke the silence and explained to them of everything that went on. To some that might seem a bit strange, that I was giving information to my honor-guards. But I am what you would call ‘different'. I consider Torlin and Vaden friends, not just bodyguards. There are a lot of things that I do that are contradicting to what the other rulers believe in. But those are stories for another time.

This post has been edited by redsrock: Apr 15 2008, 09:52 PM