A New Sun Rises - Maxical's Adventures, The Truth Behind The Oblivion Crisis Options

[mALX]

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A New Sun Rises

This story covers the daily events in the two years leading up to the Oblivion Crisis. It begins following the life of a semi-typical Khajiit girl who inadvertently finds herself the pawn of a powerful necromancer just as factions and forces begin moving into position.

When motivations are revealed it drives out the secrets of forgotten pasts, and another Khajiit girl whose life was an intertwined mirror of her own till both were altered irrevocably by the same necromancer in whose power they both found themselves.

The diverse paths their lives took merge once again in an explosive revelation that leaves one wondering how much of her skills and personality were ever her own; the other in a desperate struggle to keep control of her life, keep from being used against the Emperor as the crisis that will change Cyrodiil and the rule of Tamriel forever begins.

Maxical

Prologue

Sun's Dusk ( 3rd Era, year 432 )
Ma�Thjizzrini Qa
15 years after her parent's deaths

Fate is an invincible enemy in a battle you�ll never leave unscathed. It stalks you as prey and strikes regardless of shields or armor. The gods and other realms can find entertainment in manipulating your path on a whim; or ancient vampires dabble with your life, alter your mind without you even knowing it. Sometimes you don�t find out till it is too late.

I�d like to blame the gods for where I found myself, but the truth is that somewhere between the void and the Dreamsleeve lies fate; a place where time and space meet; where even the blackness of the void doesn�t reach, and the gods make wagers on the outcome of lives caught in the �tween.

Wedged into that fold are damned souls, souls that have been marked for paths they can�t change, to destinies they can�t escape. Ancient vampire's eyes see them as beacons, follow them as scents, control their minds without their ever knowing.

They are targets for revenge of an enemy they don't even know exists, pawns in a game they didn't even know was being played; whose contestants their worst nightmares couldn�t envision.


That�s where I found myself fifteen years after the game started. That was the day I found out that everything I�d ever known about myself had always been�her. Amiela.

Amiela was a 137 years old demon of a vampire that thrived on destruction and usurped whatever she could from others. She died a century before I was born, but the wars being fought over her didn�t end with her death. Her soul was marked�and inside me.

For me, fate was my parents bringing me through the heavy forested area of the Gold Road just outside Skingrad at the same time the second worst necromancer of our time was in a battle for the soul of Amiela. And there I was, a convenient hiding spot.

That was the day my parents died. All I ever knew of them was where they died and what killed them. I was twenty years old before I even learned my mother's name. I was twenty years old before I remembered Nisaba. Nissy.

*******



Nisaba

Nissy�s beginning didn�t just match mine, it was mine; though neither of us knew it before we�d both turned twenty years old. That was the year our paths crossed again and we learned the only scraps of our histories anyone was ever able to recover. That's when we learned our destinies were intertwined long before our lives began.

Nissy and I were born within a month of each other in the year 412, both born in the 'no-man's' land of wild mountain passes between Vvardenfell and Cyrodiil. Our parents were traveling together and we were born en route, but our histories began long before that.

From early childhood our parents were owned by Hlormaren, a Dunmer Stronghold on the Bitter Coast of Vvardenfell. Before that they were housed in the same children's slave pen on the mainland. Maybe our histories began long before that, but that was the furthest back any information went that we were able to find.

Nissy�s mother died giving birth to her. Her father dropped her off at the Imperial Legion Orphanage for the un-adoptable when she was two. Three years later a Legionnaire dropped me off there when my parents were killed in a minotaur attack.

Fate once again found Nissy and me four years later in the middle of the night, right there in our room at that orphanage. We were both nine years old when our destinies were wrenched into the hands of the worst necromancer Tamriel has known since the King of Worms. Both of us have been in his power in one way or another since. Dagoth-Malan.

That was eleven years ago, eleven years that Nissy waited for me to keep a promise to save her...eleven years that all my memories of her were stolen by Dagoth-Malan so I couldn�t keep that vow. Until fate brought us together again when we both turned twenty.

Nissy and me, we were both in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fate.

** The Beginning **



Where Memories Begin And End

Legion Office, Imperial City
3rd Era, year 417 (memories of events that occurred when Maxical was five years old)

The earliest memory of my lifetime begins and ends in the Legion headquarters in the Imperial City. I�ve never been able to remember a single moment of my life before finding myself in that office.

It was a coming awake. A dark void of nothingness, and then in a blink my eyes were open and there I stood in that office with no idea where I was or how I got there.

An odd putrid odor I couldn't name seemed to be clinging inside my nostrils and roiling my stomach, even the pungent stench of sweat emanating from the large man behind the desk was a welcome relief in comparison.

There was an odd feeling of having forgotten something important that niggled irritatingly, a barb that probed against my mind to remember, but there was nothing to answer its incessant prodding. Nothing. It was like a journey through a maze with only dead ends at every turn. I didn't know where I had come from, where I belonged, or who I belonged to.

At first I barely understood what they were saying; strange sounding words spoken so harshly and rapidly that it was impossible to grasp even one to decipher. They couldn�t understand me at all when I spoke.

Somewhere deep inside me in a place as unconnected to me as the lost memories of my life before that office there was the oddest sensation; a stirring, as if that part of me was just now waking. Suddenly their words were striking a chord of recognition It almost felt as if I could speak their tongue, but when my mouth opened the words still came out in the only language I knew.

*******

The large sweaty man behind the desk pointed at me. "What is that?"

"Don't know, only that it's the get of some beasts killed by a minotaur up on the big curve of the Gold Road in County Skingrad. Couldn't tell what they were either. The mother was a bloody mess; but the male...fur black as coal soot, and the same flattened face as that one's." He indicated my face, then added, "Too big for a cat, never seen anything like him. Both bore slave tattoos so they can't be from Cyrodiil. No travel papers or identification on either body."

The large sweating man's chair groaned loudly as he leaned over and gave me an intrusive and extended eyeing. "That ain't no Khajiit, not with that white coloring. That face gives me the creeps, you said the male looked the same? This one must be an albino then. No telling what you'll find in those other Provinces, all barbarians." He spat a large wad of brown cud into the urn beside him.

"The male had been looted; they even took his clothes, naked as a jaybird he was. Found this in the brush near the female's body." He held out a blood spattered travel pack. "When I moved her body this silver dagger was underneath her, and this gold locket fell off her neck. Chain was broken, likely in the attack."

The rotund man tossed him a cloth to wrap the items in, then pointed at me. "How old do you think it is?"

"Too small to be very old. Can't be much more than a couple years. It walks well enough, though. And mark it as female, it squatted to relieve itself on the way here."

"Two year old female." The large man wrote something down.

"And a bad tempered one at that. She scratched me up good trying to get her on the horse." That was met with raucous laughter from the men gathered.

"It's that red hair!" Someone called.

The mocking laughter and insulting treatment I understood without the help of that strange place within me that seemed to know this language. I didn't know anything about myself or how I got here, I was confused and up till that moment terrified. But at that moment I learned that I had a temper. I could feel it building inside me like a fire about to go out of control.

In my rage I nearly missed that their odd contortions and rudimentary gestures to communicate were attempts to get my name. My name. That would be important to find out who I was.

�Ma'Thjizzrini Qa.� A girls voice squealed from behind me. I turned to see a Khajiit girl in the doorway staring at me wide eyed.

"Ma'Thjizzrini Qa!" She started running toward me, but one of the armored men grabbed her and pushed her back out the door.

As soon as she said it I knew that was my name, it struck a familiar chord immediately. I repeated it, imitating their miming gestures by pointing to my chest. �Ma'Thjizzrini Qa.�

"Name, Maxical." The rotund man wrote something down, then stamped his seal on the document.

*******

They said I was found beside my parents, was there when they were killed. I didn't remember any of it. It felt like they talked abstractly about strangers. The greatest shock for me that day and so many days since was that I didn't even know my mother's name; wasn't able to bring an image of her to my mind, or even a glimpse of a moment with her or the sound of her voice. It was like she disappeared into the void, taking every remembrance of her.

That day in the Legion office though, that I will never forget. The smell of pipe smoke and tobacco, male sweat and steel; those odors bring back the memory of that day as if it was still alive within me, still happening to me.

It has stayed fresh in my mind all these years; but not because I wanted to remember it. It was that haunting memory that was just out of grasp beyond it, the sheer number of times I�d come to that stopping point in my memory and tried to force beyond it to find something, anything of who I was; of my life before that Legion office. Of my mother.

That day, those men staring at me as if I were an insect as they tried to determine what I was, what I was saying...what to do with me. All through it my mind burned with trying to figure out who I was and how I got there. I'll never forget that day.

*******

This post has been edited by mALX: May 4 2019, 07:13 PM

[mALX]

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The Arcane

Chapter 9: Graduation And The Golden Armor




Fathis was proud of me, I'd read that in his eyes. Maybe for the first time in my life I was proud of myself. He did a wonderful thing for me, funding my education here at the Arcane. I couldn't remember ever even thanking him for it. I tried to throw him a look of gratitude while it was fresh on my mind.

Raminus Polus paused in his recitation, hissing under his breath, "Eyes front." I turned my head back slowly, scanning the audience for S’Jirra and Alix. Raminus’s breath exhaled loudly.

He was nearing the classes I didn't do well in, I wished he'd just stop now. I never understood why they'd drag up a student's failures to shame them with at their graduation.

"Expert in the Daedric Deities, Novice in the Divine Deities." A rumble from the crowd followed the pronouncement. Without looking, I felt the censure of eyes on me.

Actually, I learned so much about the Daedric Lords from Arch Mage Traven; who enjoyed debating the Acceptable Blasphemes with me while I was restricted to his quarters for punishment. It was harder to learn about the Divines because I invariably fell asleep in that class, being it was the first class of the day.

Raminus's voice droned on. "Apprentice rank achieved in Enchanting and Alchemy. Novice in Restoration Arts; Speechcraft; Block; Archery; and Calculations. No certification for Battlemage will be issued at this time."

That was humiliating. I already knew I'd only earned a general diploma, but did they have to announce it to all Nirn? Almost six years at the Arcane, and my only real skill is still in Blades.

The truth was that I could have studied magic for another six years and still get no better at it. Achieving Master only means you can cast the highest level spells, but you still have to be able to aim them. That was my problem. I couldn't hit a target to save my life, not even when the target was myself.

Not just that. My magic was unstable and volatile. My conjures spawned hostile Daedra no matter what I cast, and anytime I cast fire there was a good chance something would explode. When it didn't, my fireballs curved around in wild arcs that always hit at least one student.

The same thing happened in Archery class, the arrows would fly every direction but where I was aiming, it was like they were honed in on finding a student. Arch Mage Traven said because of me he had become an expert in healing injuries that involved arrow wounds.







***


When I stepped down off the stage Arch Mage Traven came and clasped my hand. He indicated Fathis with a conspiratorial twinkle in his eyes. "I very nearly had an apoplexy when Fathis woke me this morning. I was afraid we'd seen the last of him after you bearded him with that vow."

"I had the same fear."

He handed me a list of trainers in Restoration. "See that you follow up on your training immediately, I expect to hear you've at least earned your apprentice in Restoration before the year ends."

"Can't I come here for that?"

Arch Mage Traven's face paled visibly. Maybe I'd better give him a break from me before re-approaching him on it. I gave him a warm and heartfelt hug, then moved out of the way so he could greet the next student stepping down off the stage.

Fathis was working his way through the crowd toward me, his arms filled with several packages. That was a good sign. A warm glow of joy spread through me. The last months without him had been a hellish nightmare of regretting bearding him with that vow, and dreading a lifetime of never seeing him again.

I turned away quickly and raked my fingers through my bangs, spiking them to gap the middle of my forehead so he would see my blue show. Fathis would know what it stood for.

Fathis chucked me gently under my chin, turning me to face him and looking into my eyes. Whatever he originally meant me to read there was replaced by shock when the full impact of my blue show met his eyes. He was startled by it, but recovered quickly. Fathis is too much a diplomat to gape.

I was torn between feeling a sudden shyness and wanting to hug him for returning to me. Instead I took his hand and rubbed the back of it on my cheek; the same as I always had since I was a child, to leave his scent with me.

"That peddler you talked to as you were leaving here last said you were leaving Cyrodiil. I was afraid I'd never see you again."

"The man with the cowl by the gate? Nae, Ma'Thjizzrini Qa; you must have misunderstood. He was a messenger sent with an emergency message from Skingrad Castle. I went there straightaway when I left here."







***


“You’ve done well Ma'Thjizzrini Qa. You have really grown up and made me very proud of you. I've brought you a few presents for your graduation, and an early birthday present. You won't be 18 for a while yet, but I couldn‘t wait to give it to you.”

I fought blushing and hope I smiled. I wanted to thank him for everything like the adult he said I was becoming, but instead I blurted out, “Presents?”

Fathis’s face lit up in a smile, obviously pleased by my response. “I see you have grown into a typical woman.”

I was eyeing the large packages curiously, trying to see a store mark to hint what might be inside when a ‘tap-tap’ sound made me look up. Delphine was in the window above me; her fingers circled around her eyes like two spy glasses and pretending her eyes were popping out of her head at all the presents from Fathis.

Fathis pulled an official looking parchment and folded map out of his pocket. "First, your graduation presents. This is the deed to a tower built specifically for a Mage. It is a bit isolated, quite far up in the Jerall Mountains; actually almost on the Skyrim border."

"A...tower?" I tried to keep my expression from showing the horrified shock I was feeling. Why would Fathis give me an isolated tower? If he was accepting my promise, wouldn’t I live with him? And if he wasn’t, why would I leave the Faregyl? The only consolation was that at least this verified that Arch Mage Traven hadn’t told him how badly I'd done with my magic.

“One of your very own. It is quite modern as compared to my tower, and I‘ve furnished it much better than my own as well. You will find quite a few surprises in there that should delight you. Magic items, many you won't find even here at the Arcane.“ He unfolded the deed to show my name listed as owner.

"Fathis, I can't accept...this is too much...er...I mean, uh...thank you, but...huh? Why is it signed with only an 'X'?" I pointed to the name listed as seller.

"A guest of Skingrad Castle offered it, but preferred to remain anonymous. Count Skingrad acted as proxy, in fact approached me about the tower. His acquaintance had suggested it to him as a most appropriate gift for one who had worked so hard to master the many disciplines of magic. Worry not, this is frequently done and is perfectly legitimate. I have used proxies myself when dealing with a party I am not closely acquainted with.”

"You talked about me graduating to someone not acquainted enough to sell property to you?"

That wasn't like Fathis, discussing anything about his private life with a stranger...or giving me a tower. Even I knew how inappropriate a gift like property was to give a minor, especially since his guardianship of me ended today.

There was no doubt his change in treatment of me had to do with that horrid vow I'd sprung on him. For the millionth time I wished I could take it back, even now when there could be no clearer indication that my promise to him had been accepted. That tower felt like a symbol marking the end of the wonderful dynamic that had always been between us.






***


More tapping. Delphine was pointing at the packages and giving a signal to hurry up. Then she mimed ripping a box open and looking overly surprised. I put my hand up and shook my head at her, and know she caught my bleak look by the change in her expression. She immediately stopped her playfulness, leaning forward and watching us with the intensity of a condor spotting prey.

"I've circled the location of your new tower, but it can be seen from quite a distance once you are in the Jeralls."

Fathis had unfolded the map and bent over it, his head close to mine as he traced the route up into the mountains with his finger. The scent he always wore wafted from him, filling my nostrils as I breathed in deeply to capture it. Something about the familiarity of it gave me hope that this awkwardness between us would pass and the old friendship rekindle.

"And here is your key.” He dropped the key into my hands and reached for the largest of the packages. "And now for your Birthday present. This golden armor comes from another land, a place called Shivering Isles. You can’t find another like it in all Cyrodiil."

Armor was exactly the type of gift Fathis had always given me before, maybe all really would be right between us once again. My eyes lit with excitement as I untied the ribbon and pulled the lid off the box. When I lifted the tissue covering, I heard myself gasp in shock.

The breastplate of the cuirass had molded breasts that formed to points, and a heart shape cutout above them that would bare the real breasts almost entirely. The midriff was cut out, entirely exposed; and the skirting for it was angled and cut short enough on one side to reveal one's privates. Fathis couldn't expect me to wear this, he was staring at it almost as stunned as I was.

"Er...did you go to this Shivering Isles place and see this modeled?"

"Nae, it was ordered through a contact of the Castle Skingrad guest. This is my first time actually seeing it." Fathis lifted it out, turning it around to view the back while I struggled to bite back saying what I was thinking.

Again with the stranger? Fathis never let someone else order gifts for him, what kind of influence did this guest have over him? Fathis was staring at a large flourished 'M' engraved on the center of the back.

"Er...what does that letter stand for?" I could barely choke out the words.

"You don't recognize your own hand? Your letters to me have all been signed with that 'M'. I believe it was the Count's guest that suggested I had Hans Black-Nail receive the shipment and engrave it exactly as you write it."

"Hans saw one of my private letters to you?" I couldn't keep the shock from my voice. The Fathis I'd always known would never allow our private correspondence to be seen by another.

It wasn't just that. The very idea of engraving the armor with my signature was one of those sickeningly romantic gestures Fathis was never prone to. I'd have given anything to have the old Fathis back, giving me a nice set of plain leathers with no engraving on them just like he'd always done before.






***


I had the sickening sensation of a racehorse being driven to the finish line under whip. It was my fault, I was reaping exactly what I'd asked for. I'd put a price on myself. There was no way to back out now without paying off the entire amount owed him.

Before Fathis's gifts I'd been feeling like an adult for the first time in my life, graduating the University and the guardianship ending. Suddenly I had an overwhelming feeling that way too much had changed between us, way too fast.

I wasn't ready for anything to change between Fathis and I from the way it had always been, just wanted our friendship. I needed time to feel ready for the next step.

Fathis's voice seeped into my thoughts and I suddenly realized he'd been talking steadily since mentioning that etched 'M'. I hadn't heard a word he'd said.

"I'm glad this is settled between us."

“Huh? Oh...er...yes. The armor is beautiful Fathis, thank you so much. And the...uh...tower. I don't mean for the presents, but for everything. You know what I mean to say.” I stammered out, glancing up into his eyes so he could see I was truly grateful to him.

"Nae, don’t thank me with words. You thank me by doing well for yourself. Keep making me as proud as you have today. And now I have to go."

"You...you're leaving? Have you seen Alix and S'Jirra? I have to find them."

"They are not here."

“Not here?” I squeaked, looking around in case he'd missed seeing them. "Why wouldn't they come?"

"There was much that needed to be said between us, Ma'Thjizzrini Qa. I came in their stead."

"But..."

Fathis brushed his hand on my cheek, just as he always had when leaving. I felt a huge relief that he hadn't tried to kiss me or something.

It wasn't till I was watching Fathis make his way through the crowds and out the gate that I realized no one was escorting me home. I'd be walking all that way alone. I'd never traveled anywhere without Alix escorting me before. I felt very alone suddenly, even in this crowd of people.



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This post has been edited by mALX: Aug 7 2013, 06:31 AM