Cyrodiil Options

[Alexander]

Ok, so for the unavoidable introduction babble, as most of you know I was rather pleased with Morrowind. I thought it was far better then the dribble I wrote prior to that, and most people seemed to agree with me. After I finished Morrowind I already had an idea for a sequel, I actually wrote the very first chapter of said sequel while I was posting up parts of Morrowind. Unfortunately though, after that first chapter I kind of lost interest. I didn’t think the ideas I had back then were enough to weave an entire story together, and I was probably right.

But as these things have a habit of developing themselves, over the past months I kept thinking back to the sequel, and kept adding ideas to the pile I already had. Now it’s done. I once again enjoyed writing this, and I hope you’ll have similar fun reading it.

As I’ve explained in the past, I’m not very good at making up things like titles, Akatosh knows it took me about as long to come up with the various titles of the chapters as it did to write the entire thing, so I’ve named the story “Cyrodiil” (catchy wot? )

Before I end my babbling and get on with posting the story, I once again would like to thank Treydog for agreeing to help with my story as editor, and for fixing the many, many, many grammatical and spelling errors, and placing every comma, semicolon and whatchamacallit in the correct place. And thanks to everyone who ever read Morrowind, and commented. I really enjoy the comments.


Now, while you don’t have to have read Morrowind, I believe in order to get the most out of Cyrodiil, it would be recommended.


So, enough babbling and on to Cyrodiil.

[Alexander]

Chapter 6. If at first you don’t succeed.

Arriana was very pleased with herself; so far her plans had been successful. Two counts opposed to her divinely-inspired plan had been replaced with a Count and Countess who would vote in favor of it. And just this morning, while at her room in the All Saints Inn, she had had a meeting with Andel Indarys, Count of Cheydinhal. Even as he was raving and shouting at her, she was able to keep her cool. She had known long before the meeting that no matter what he said or threatened her with, afterwards he would vote her way no matter what she proposed. It was awful, but sometimes someone didn’t know what was good for them. Luckily for them, Arriana was there to guide those lost sheep back to the flock.

There was one more stumbling block, Narina Carvain, Countess of Bruma. They had met last night after Count Indarys had left, and had talked through most of the evening. No matter what she said though, Arriana had not been able to break through Narina’s indecision. She had nothing against Countess Carvain personally, for like herself she had always been a devout follower of the Divines and they had enjoyed many inspiring conversations about their faith in the past. Since the Bruma siege though, Narina had changed a lot. It seemed to Arriana as if she couldn’t even decide about what to eat anymore, let alone how to vote during council sessions.

While someone like that usually could be persuaded by Arriana’s divinely-inspired presence, it became harder when two people were telling her two different things. Apparently Corvus Umbranox had also had a meeting with Narina, even before Arriana spoke to her, and he had talked so convincingly as to make it impossible for Narina to do the right thing. Yes, the more Arriana thought about it, the more obvious it became to her that Corvus was, if not the evil force influencing the Elder Council himself, then surely he was a high ranking agent for it. How else could he explain his long absence from Anvil? But he had made one mistake; he should have kept his hidden agenda hidden. By exposing it to Arriana he had let her know upon whom she should focus her next actions. Surely he never suspected Arriana was working for the Divines themselves.

Putting on her coat, she again wished Verata-Ves could be there with her, but he had been right in saying it would be better to minimize the chance of his being seen. Anyone working for the other side would know Arriana for what she was if she saw a messenger of the Divines alongside her.

Walking outside towards the palace, she was surrounded by a number of Chorrol guards. She trusted them more then any others and had respectfully refused a Blades escort, knowing her own guards would be more than up to the task. Walking past the common people in the street, she often muttered a blessing or two to the ones most unfortunate. Some beggars and handicapped asked her for money, but Arriana knew money would not solve their problems. Surely they had insulted the Divines in some way, and unless they would repent their sins, they would remain in their current station for the rest of their lives.

As Arriana entered the Elder Council Chambers she found the others were already seated. Her musings had made her tardy. She quickly sat down and waited for Chancellor Ocato to start the meeting.

“Welcome all. As I’m sure you are all aware, two of our fellow Council members have been brutally slaughtered this past week. I will spare you the details as I’m sure most of you have heard them already. The preliminary investigation by the Blades points to a large band of Argonians who did the deed. Several corpses of Argonians were found near the bodies, and from what I understand from Countess Caro, one of them was captured alive but died during the questioning. Countess, would you explain to the others what you told me?”

Arriana didn’t have to listen to her daughter to know what she would say. The Divines had made it clear lying was forbidden, but not of course when you’re serving a greater purpose. She had gone over the story with her daughter and the young Count Gellius Terentius. It told of how one Argonian was wounded in the fight and left for dead by its comrades, how under torture it had confessed to being part of a plot to disrupt the Empire and so on and so forth. Arriana had had to make sure Gellius was so scared of her he would be too afraid to use any skooma that day. And Arriana noted that while sober, he was surprisingly coherent. She would have to remember that.

Once Alessia was done, Arriana rose from her seat to address the Council; “Council members, I am shocked and outraged at what has happened. This was a vile attempt to undermine the rightful rule of the Empire, a vile underhanded attack straight into the heart of the Council. We need to make sure whomever did this is punished severely for it.”

“My heart goes out to Count Terentius; your father was a brave and noble man. I also must express my sympathy for Countess Caro. Your husband was a close friend of my late husband, and perhaps it is a comfort, that they are finally together again.”

“Through all this though, I would be remiss if I did not once again mention my proposal from the last meeting. Had we started withdrawing Imperial Legions back into Cyrodiil then, this tragedy might not have happened. But alas, what is done is done, and not even Akatosh can reverse these tragic events. I implore you though, not to make the same mistake twice. Let us once again put this matter to a vote and, with the help of the Divines, I hope we will choose more wisely than before.”

Looking at Chancellor Ocato while she said the last words, she slowly sat down. Arriana knew the Chancellor had to put this to a vote. He had no choice.

“Well then, as you request Countess, I hereby put to the vote the proposal of the Countess from last time. That is- withdrawing all Imperial Legions to Cyrodiil, and keeping them here for a duration of at least ten years during which time we will improve them and after which we will send them out into the other provinces once again. I shall ask for your votes in person.”

“Countess Caro, how do you vote?” “In favor.”

“Count Terentius, how do you vote?” “In favor.”

“Countess Carvain, how do you vote?” “I’m, I’m so sorry, but I really don’t know yet, perhaps if I give it some more thought, yes, yes some more thought. For now I abstain. I’m so sorry, but I’m just not sure.”

“So the count is two in favor, and one abstention. Countess Umbranox?” “I vote against.”

“Count Indarys?” A silence ensued. Arriana looked at the Count of Cheydinhal pointedly, and after some further silence he grudgingly proclaimed, “In favor, damn it all; I vote in favor.”

“Count Hassildor?” “I vote against.”

“And finally my own vote, against.”

Arriana had trouble not jumping up in joy. Truthfully, she had never expected Countess Carvain to vote with her; it would have been a bonus, but was not required. Even without her, she had four votes, which beat the three votes against. The will of the Divines had been served. Now she listened intently to Chancellor Ocato, he had no choice but to announce the vote had gone in her favor.

“So, all the votes have been cast. Since Countess Arriana has submitted the proposal, she automatically votes in favor of it bring the total to four votes in favor, three against and one abstention. With that the proposal has...”

“A moment if you will, Chancellor.”

Arriana turned to look at Count Umbranox. Even though not a ruling Count, he was always there during the meetings, advising his wife and often raising issues himself. Why would he interrupt the Chancellor, Arriana asked herself.