Old Habits Die Hard Part Six, some old habits never die Options

[haute ecole rider]

Hello all, and welcome to the final thread of Old Habits Die Hard. Those of you who are familiar with the Main Quest know that we are fast approaching the end game. Only three more artifacts to obtain, then we can recover the Amulet of Kings and light those Dragonfires and see Martin to the Dragon Throne at last. Right?

For those who are coming late to the party, here are the links to the other five threads:

Chapters 1 − 7: From the Prison to finding the Path of Dawn.
Chapters 8 − 13: From Dagon’s Shrine to Bravil.
Chapters 14 − 18: From Sheogorath’s Shrine to the start of the Grand Tour of Cyrodiil.
Chapters 19 − 22: From Leyawiin to Skingrad.
Chapters 23 − 25: From returning home to Anvil to the final Mages Guild recommendation.

Here in this last thread we will see the Main Quest through to its tragic conclusion. Some questions will be answered, including who is the man Julian loves? Other questions will be raised, including what’s next for Julian? Those of you who have suspected a second story in the making, you are correct.

After a year and a half of writing this story, I am happy to bring this to a close, yet I am sad to bid it adieu. Hopefully I won’t let any and all of you down as we wrap up.

This post has been edited by haute ecole rider: Jun 26 2011, 01:10 AM

[haute ecole rider]

@SubRosa: No, you're not the only one who noticed the bromance in Interregnum. For my part I wondered if it was just the typical buddy system favored by so many military cultures or a true bromance. Only Destri knows the truth at this time, I suppose. I think this duel ended rather quickly, in spite of Julian's fatigue.


@Acadian: I doubt Julian is that skilled a fencer to utilize the longer reach of the dai-katana (I assume we're talking Japanese swords here, not Akaviri). It would take some pretty strong wristwork, and while Julian is a skilled blader, she is no Blademaster. I'm glad you are enjoying these fights so far. Personally, I'm glad it's the last one for a while, and so is Julian!

@Olen: I agree about the repair hammers. They're kind of useless for anything more than hammering out dents and straightening bent weapons without a decent forge. If repair hammers could repair anything in the field, then why do we have forges in Nirn? What kind of work would smiths have? The way I see it, these repair hammers have to have some kind of limitations. Full repair of Julian's armor will have to wait until she gets back to Cloud Ruler Temple.

@mALX: I decided I'd better go ahead and relieve Cliff sooner than I've been doing, if only to save your neck.

@Grits: Good, I was hoping someone would appreciate Julian's wry humor. It's surfacing more and more as she gets more confident in her new role as a Blade. Now that she is no longer an active pilus, she can let it rip from time to time. Northwind is a pretty decent blade in the game, but I find that I'm preferring a custom shock enchanted light sword. The katanas overall remain my favorite of all the swords, though the ebony blades come in a close second. I've always liked Goldbrand, though I hate having to do a Daedric quest to get it. Umbra is pretty cool, though the quest to get it is so somber and sad.


It's time to let Cliff off the hangman's noose and continue on with the fight, if only for mALX's sake. After freeing three of her Blade brothers, Julian is in the midst of her attempt to do the same for the fourth.


Again, many, many thanks to Destri for the inspiration of Interregnum, and D.Foxy for his combat expertise. Without these two I couldn't have raised the bar on the Sancre Tor quest. Judging from the comments this chapter has generated, it seems that I've been successful in doing so.


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Chapter 26.9 The Witchman's Son

I now stood with the stairway behind me. Did I do him real harm? He's hit me twice already, and I've hit him only once. Is this enchantment effective against bone as well as armor? My questions were answered when he charged me again, that katana flashing as quickly as ever. White magic and red sparks mingled as I parried his blow on my stronger blade. As he brought his full strength to bear against my dai-katana, I could see the Akaviri steel of his weapon nicking, spitting scarlet sparks beneath the enchantment of Casnar's gift.

Somehow I managed to step sideways, letting his blade slip off of mine. For a brief moment he was over-extended, and I seized the rare opportunity and struck him again with Casnar's weapon. This time the blade sparked against his spine and ribs before his recovery knocked it away.

My own recovery was quicker, as I had remained careful to keep my body centered over my own hips and knees. My feet found the lower steps of the stair and I darted upward into the darkness. Without hesitation the skeleton ran after me, almost as fast as I. Again I struck at him, the red enchantment catching his shield and gouging yet another deep gash in the blue enamel. He swung it away from his centerline, forcing my blade to my right. Time lengthened as my eyes tracked the silver sparkle of his weapon arcing toward my left hip.

He's going low, but his head is exposed. The bones's shield was still sweeping backwards behind the skeleton's body, its momentum briefly overcoming his control. I can parry that sword in time, but he'll recover before I can take advantage of his exposure.

"Take a cut to break a bone." Once again Jelin's voice saved me. All right, Blademaster. You're right. Resist the urge to parry. Go for the greater strike.

Now I brought my dominant side to bear as I snapped the dai-katana back toward him, my left arm pulling it in a vicious arc toward his head. His frosted katana struck my hip, but this time it was his turn to stagger as Casnar's weapon split his ancient helm from his skull in a shower of scarlet motes. I screamed at the frozen agony that surged through my hip, bringing back old memories of crippling pain.

The skeleton leaned his right shoulder against the wall as the clattering faded away. My teeth ground from the frost magic surging up my flank as I took advantage of the brief quiet to limp up and back another step, bringing the dai-katana back in front of me. Now. Finish him off. Ignoring the injury, I used the height advantage to leap toward him while Casnar's weapon darted toward his head from his left in an attempt to pin him against the wall.

But the bones wasn't finished yet. He blocked my slash with his shield and bashed me away. I flew over the side of the stairway and landed on my right side on the rough stone below. The bluish glow from the brazier dimmed alarmingly as pinpoint grey flecks danced in the blackness of my vision. Gasping for air, I managed to shake sight back into my eyes and looked up toward the stairway. My left fingers twitched another healing spell into swirling motion.

I expected him to follow me over the side of the stairs, but the skeleton descended to the floor in the conventional manner. I picked up the dai-katana, which had landed nearby, and struggled to my knees before he was on me, the shield hanging in two pieces from his left arm. His katana rose in a silver blurred arc above me. Desperately I swung Casnar's weapon in a sidewise slash toward his knees, using the momentum of my strike to fling myself away from that descending blade.

The dai-katana shattered both legs at the knees as sparks flew from the weapon striking the ground next to my boot. I gained my feet as his bones fell to the floor, Casnar's blade moving of its own volition toward the exposed neck of my crippled opponent. The skull spun away and landed in the brazier, disappearing in that mystic flame as my left hip screamed in protest. Both of us collapsed at the same time, the bones losing the pink glow, and me my breath and magicka.

I struggled to my feet as the final phantom appeared. He rose to his full height and started past my left side. "Yield or pay the price! I must go to do my lord's last bidding." The Breton accent confirmed my suspicion that this was Alain. He stopped shoulder to shoulder with me, his gaze on the round shield still resting on my nearby pack. "Wait, that's the shield I gave Valdemar!" His gaze roamed over me, lingering on the Kvatch Wolf on my chest before fixing on the dai-katana in my right hand. "And that's Casnar's cleaver! I can feel Rielus's amulet on you as well. What did you do to them?"

"The same -" I managed to get the words out between gasps, "- thing I did - to you!"

Alain turned and glanced behind him, seeing his own bones for the first time. Ghostly brows rose beneath a transparent helm. "You - you freed me? Freed my brothers?"

"Yes, all three of them await you at the Shrine," I answered, my breaths slowing and deepening.

Alain's brows rose beneath the helm. "Valdemar too?"

"I promised him I would do my best to send him to Sovngarde," I answered. "Though how, I'm not certain. I'm just an old Redguard pilus who joined the Blades only recently."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Just because your mother was a Redguard does not mean you lack the magicka necessary for it." He pointed a ghostly finger at my left wrist, hidden behind Valdemar's shield. "I can sense a magical connection there, on your wrist."

"What?" I stared at him. "That is my mother's bracelet, but what the enchantment is, I don't know."

Alain regarded me a moment longer. "You will find out someday. I see pain and loss in your past, and in your future. But beyond that, joy and hope awaits. Get through the dark times ahead, and you will find light and freedom." Now he indicated the katana laying discarded among the bones. "Take my katana. I'd tell you to keep it, but you already have a pair of your own. If you like mine better, carry it in my stead. Otherwise hang it in the Hall of the Blades."

I picked up the weapon and bowed to him. "It will be done, sir." Involuntarily I held out my hand to stop his departure. "But how is it you know of me?"

Alain was silent, his gaze on the stone wall beyond us. "I was never much for magic," he remarked softly. "Though my father was a Witchman, the talent did not come down to me. But being undead lets me see both the mundane and the magical." His eyes moved to me. "And I see much that is magical about you." He shrugged. "I believe you will somehow keep your promise to Valdemar, and free him from that ancient curse. For that, I am -" he paused, then smiled slowly, "- forever indebted to you. Now I must go to join my brothers. We will wait for you there." He turned and walked away from me.

There is much that is magical about me? I stared after his departing shimmer. Of course, between Daedra Slayer, Valdemar's shield, Rielus's amulet, Matius's cuirass and Casnar's cleaver, I'm loaded down with magicka! Or did he mean more than enchanted gear? No, he can't have - I have little magicka of my own to speak of. I glanced around at the empty chamber, then followed the trailing afterimage of Alain's passing.