A Knight Without Fear or Blame mk. II, Yes, yes I'm trying again. Options

[TheBrume]

Well, here I go again, trying again with this story. I've completely rewritten it, it has only a few resemblances to the first incarnation (well, it actually has quite a lot, but none of you know that, because you didn't read those parts, because I didn't post them ).
I'll post the prologue now, and the first part tomorrow. From there, I'll try to stick to a schedule, with one update per week, but... I suppose it'll be ready when it's ready and the schedule will probably be out the window by Sunday so....
So, without further ado...

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Prologue

18th Morning Star - 3E 407

Captain Darius shivered as he watched over his men at work, it was incredibly cold, even for Morning Star, he would have liked nothing better than to return his men to Castle Wayrest. But he couldn't, he had to search this town for survivors.

They had received the message late last night.
"The town of Grimdale is under attack by an Orcish warband."
His generals had immediately dispatched Captain Darius' men to the town of course, but they were far too late.
Now, the town was a smoking ruin. Only a handful of the wooden buildings were still standing, even many of the stone ones had collapsed.
There weren't many survivors. A small group of them had been huddled in the chapel of Stendarr. It seems he didn't deign to show any of his mercy on the townsfolk.
They had dug out one or two other survivors from the collapsed buildings, but most of the people they found were dead.

Darius was just about ready to abandon the recovery of bodies and send a scouting party after the Orcs, when he heard some of the dogs barking.
He looked over towards the animals, a couple of Legionaries had started shifting rubble from a collapsed building.
One of them called over to him. "Captain Darius! We've found another survivor!"
Darius brought his horse around and headed towards the growing huddle of soldiers, all trying to clear rubble.
"What have you found?" Darius asked, putting on his best officer's voice.
"A survivor." One of his Bosmer archers said simply.
"A boy." A Nord added.
"Alright." Said Darius as he dismounted and inspected the scene. "It looks like he might be trapped underneath that beam." He thought for a moment. "You four." He pointed at a herd of four cold looking Nords. "Try to lift this beam. You two." He shot his glance at two other soldiers. "Get the boy out, everyone else back away."
The soldiers did as ordered, Darius moved a safe distance away.

He called encouragements as the Nords lifted the beam, grunting with effort, and the two other soldiers darted in and lifted the boy out.

"Excellent work men." Darius said, genuinely pleased at their ability to comprehend orders. "Get the boy to the chapel, put him in front of the fire and fetch the healer."

---

Some hours later, Darius returned to the town, his sword bloody. His scouts had found a band of Orcs at the lake not far from the village, he had taken his force down there and slaughtered them. He didn't like it and it wasn't easy, but justice had been done.

He decided to check in on the boy they had found earlier, so he made his way through the broken town and entered the chapel.
He bowed respectfully at Stendarr's altar before descending down into the priest's rooms which had been serving as a makeshift hospital.

He found the boy, lying in a bed near a crackling fire, a Dunmer woman sat nearby, crushing herbs with a mortar and pestle.
"Is he… awake?" He asked the woman.
As if in answer the boy rolled over and looked at Darius. His eyes were blue and sad, his light hair was a mess, matted and filthy. He had a large cut on his forehead, no doubt he had had a few broken bones too, though perhaps they had been healed.
"Hello." Darius tested.
"Hello." The boy said in response.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Lucius." He licked his lips. "Lucius Andronicus."

*******

Queue musical intro...


This post has been edited by TheBrume: Oct 2 2012, 09:20 PM

[TheBrume]

Everyone
Sorry I can't answer your comments right now. I'm sort of in a rush. I'll just paste this here and do what I need to do.
I'll answer the comments on the previous part later, when I have time, probably tomorrow.
Sorry.


III
Fight for the People
4th Last Seed 4E 422

“She’s perfectly balanced.” The grey haired old Redguard said, offering the blade to Lucius. “The best steel, straight from High Rock. Made by the best swordsmith in the Imperial City: me.”

What the man lacked in modesty he more than made up for in craftsmanship. The sword was rather pretty and seemed to be strong enough, though he wouldn’t know until he actually used it.

“How much?” Lucius asked, warily.

“Three hundred drakes. A bargain.”

Lucius coughed. A bargain it may be, but it would hurt his purse.
“Let me think for a few moments.”

“Of course, take all the time you need.” The Redguard said, pulling the sword back and securing it in a chest. Lucius stepped back from the counter and surveyed the room. There were a lot of swords on display, plenty of other weapons and armour too, but mostly swords.
He walked over to a display case. Inside, there was an ebony longsword. It was almost pure black, but it had gold veins running up its length. It was different from the other ebony swords he had seen, though he had seen few.

He decided to ask the old Redguard.
“How do you create the patterns with the golden part of the metal?”

“First, it’s not a metal, it’s a volcanic glass, found only in Vvardenfell, Solstheim and a few isolated parts of the northern provinces. Second-”

“Which northern provinces?” Lucius asked.

“Skyrim. There are also a few veins in High Rock, Hammerfell and Cyrodiil, but they’re so close to the Skyrim border that it makes no real difference.” The man almost smiled. “Now, as for the patterns, they’re made with heat. The gold and the black parts are both ebony, there’s no difference except the colour, its just that ebony changes colour depending on the temperature. So, what I do is I use alteration magic. I shield some parts of the sword - the parts I want to be black - from heat and heat up the rest to make it gold.” The Redguard’s almost-smile faded. “I made that in the House Redoran style.”

“House Redoran style?”

“There are different styles. The Cyrodiilic pattern has a lot of gold colour, too much if you ask me. The Skyrim has almost no gold. The Hlaalu uses the gold to create intricate patterns and writing. The Redoran, as you can see, uses gold conservatively, only creating simple patterns on some areas of the weapon.” The Redguard paused for breath. “If you want to buy, it’ll be two thousand gold.”

Lucius shook his head and returned to looking at the sword.
“Are you cheating, Lucius?” He heard a familiar voice ask.
“Anthony.” Lucius smiled. “Do I have to run into everyone? First Madali and now you? We haven’t even been out a full two days.” He wondered how long he’d been in the room.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, gesturing at the multitude of swords lining the walls.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Lucius said defensively.
“You certainly could. But I asked first.” He grinned.
“I’m buying a sword.”
“Clearly. Why?”
“Because these ones,” he said, lifting his own, iron, County Chorrol supplied blade, “are simply awful, mine seems ready to crumble to dust. It‘s only temporary.” He paused a moment. “Why are you here?”
“I’m buying a sword.” His grin widened.

“Excellent.” Intoned the Redguard. “I have an excellent specimen right here,” He pulled out the blade he had offered Lucius. “Its yours for a mere three hundred drakes.”
“I’ll take-”
“Not so fast.” Lucius interrupted, “You were going to sell me that sword.”
“It’s just business. But I’ll sell to you for three fifty.” He narrowed his eyes.
Lucius looked at Anthony. “I won’t bid against you, Lucius.”
“Thanks.” He returned his gaze to the Redguard. “Three hundred.”
“Three thirty.” He countered.
“Three hundred.” He repeated, “And my old sword.”
“This isn’t a pawnshop… Fine, you have a deal.” The man agreed. “Now my friend,” he turned his gaze towards Anthony, “what can I get you?”


After Antony had purchased a new, temporary, sword, he and Lucius left the shop together and entered the bustling Market District.
They walked together for a few moments, Lucius tried to think of a way to start a conversation, Anthony beat him to it.

“I have a job to do.” He began. “There are some necromancers to the northeast of the city, in an Ayleid ruin called Vilverin. They stole some corpses from some people in the Waterfront district. I have some descriptions of the ruin from a few adventurers.” He looked at Lucius expectantly.
“Okay.” Lucius said, knowing where the conversation was going.
“I want you to help me.”
“Why? We’re knights, not mercenaries.”

Anthony stopped and turned to face him, frowning. “What did the oath say again?” He though for a moment, “‘Safeguard the helpless, defend the defenceless, and fight for the Nine and the people of this most glorious Empire.’ I think this task would be fulfilling all of those.”

Lucius looked down into his eyes and smiled inwardly as he realised he was taller. For good this time. As children, it was as if they had engaged in a competition to see who would be the tallest. Lucius had won, it seemed.

“Okay then. When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”

--
5th Last Seed 4E 422

“Alright.” Anthony said, scratching his head. “Once we enter, there’ll be stairs going downwards. Then there’ll be a small chamber with a semi-circular staircase also going downwards. Another long set of stairs will take us into an antechamber where there’ll be a few-”

“Wait.” Lucius held up his hand. “How many undead are in there?”
Anthony shrugged. “I‘m not sure. A few… a dozen maybe.”
“Which is it? A few or a dozen?” Lucius asked, suspiciously.
“A few dozen.” He averted his eyes.
Lucius sighed. “All right then, lets get in there.” He turned around and looked at the door. “How do we get in? Push or pull?”
“There’s nothing to pull.” Anthony pointed out.
Lucius nodded and pushed at the door, hands spread wide. It didn’t budge.
“Push the centre, the circular part.”

Lucius did so and the door opened inwards. Red faced, Lucius drew his sword, readied his shield and entered the ruin.

---

Lucius kicked something metallic and winced as it clattered down the stone steps, the sound bounced off the stone walls, seemingly growing louder as time went on before it finally faded away.

“You idiot! What’s wrong with you!?” Anthony yelled as screams of fury resonated from within the ruin.
“I’m sorry.” He responded. “Quickly, form a shield wall.”

Anthony nodded and the pair locked their shields together and readied their swords, blocking the narrow passageway.
They had barely even entered the ruin and already they had been detected, it was not a good start.

Out of the gloom, Lucius spotted a zombie shuffling up towards them, when it came close, Anthony stabbed up beneath his shield, piercing it in the chest. It stumbled back with a half hearted moan before coming at them again. Anthony stabbed at its knee this time and it fell forward onto the shield, gnashing at the Imperial’s face. He pushed with his shield and the monster fell back, Lucius finished it with a stab through the head before linking shields again.

More unearthly moaning came out of the depths.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourself, Lucius.” Anthony said as a skeleton leapt from the darkness, its axe smashing against his shield. Anthony countered with a sword thrust which passed through the ribs and struck the spine, the skeleton fell apart as a result.

“It was an accident.” Lucius said, irritated. “I didn’t see it, you should have cast a light spell or something.”

Anthony didn’t respond, instead deigning to stab at another zombie which had come forth.
“Push forward.” He said, once it had been dispatched.
They moved forward, stopping at the top of the stairs.
“I would have done,” he finally responded. “If you’d given me time and space to do so.”

A pair of ghosts lit up the stairway and began floating up towards them.
“My sword’s steel!” Lucius said. As he slashed at the first one, to little effect. Anthony grunted in response.

The pair retreated a short distance, Lucius readied himself and cast a shock spell at the ghost, it struck the spirit and sent it slowly floating backwards.

“You’re losing your skill Lucius.” Anthony said as he lobbed a fire ball at the poltergeists, they screeched as they were consumed by the conflagration.
Lucius almost slipped on the gooey mess as the pair moved back towards the stairs.

“Should we move down?” Anthony asked.
“I think so. There are still more down there, and the necromancers have probably reigned them in for now.”
“You’re right. I’ll cast a light spell, then you go first.”

Lucius took a few cautious steps downwards as light flooded the area before him. He moved slowly at first, but more quickly as he mustered his courage and confidence.
At the bottom, another zombie came waddling forward, Lucius swung his sword at its rotten at its head, re-killing it.

Silently, Lucius and Anthony made their way down another set of stairs and came upon a large antechamber. It was mostly empty, except for a few zombies and skeletons shuffling around aimlessly.
The chamber was, like all Ayleid ruins, made of white stone and almost completely bare. It was dark, Anthony’s spell didn’t have a great range, but there was some light. At regular intervals welkynd stones at upon stone pedestals. They were a little high for Lucius to be able to reach, but he had no interest in taking them anyway.

“Where to now?” Lucius whispered.
“Well, we could go left… or we could go right.” He responded in an equally quiet register.
“What? You don‘t know anything else?”
“I can’t remember!” He was still whispering.
“Alright.” Lucius swallowed. “We’ll go left.”
“Right.” He said, simply.
“No, left.”
“I know, that’s what I said.”
“No you said right.”
“Yes, right like we’re going left.”
“What?” He asked, thoroughly confused.
“What? Are we going left or right?”
“Righ - I mean left.”
Anthony looked at him. “Follow me.” He moved to the right, Lucius followed.

As they neared the passageway, a skeleton spotted them and charged. Lucius swung at its unprotected left side and watched it clatter to the ground with a screech.

“Where does the sound of their screaming come from?” He asked as more of the undead were drawn to the noise.
“Who cares?” Anthony said as he kicked a zombie in the midsection, sending it stumbling backwards into a skeleton which promptly shattered.
“I’m just curious.” He dodged a headless zombie’s attack and slashed it across the back. “And how do the headless ones know where we are?”
“It doesn’t matter, just kill them.” He responded as his fireball engulfed two more skeletons, sending their bones flying through the chamber.

“You’re going to regret coming here!” A merish voice called out from the shadows.
Lucius heard the whoosh of magicka and saw as a portion of the room was flooded with ghostly light, revealing the Altmeri necromancer.
He sidestepped as a ball of frosty magic flew lazily towards him.
He responded with his own spell, when it struck, the ghost turned tail and floated away.

“Blast.” The necromancer cursed and threw fire at Lucius. The spell struck his shield, but it still burned.
“Deal with him Lucius, I’ll deal with these three.” Anthony was beset upon by a trio of headless zombies who were bumbling towards him.

Lucius charged at the mage, dodging and blocking two more spells before slicing elf’s stomach open. He finished him with a stab through the chest.
He paused for a moment to catch his breath, Anthony was having no trouble with the blind and deaf zombies.
As he focused his breathing, he saw a mace pass by his face. He recoiled and fell to the ground.
A skeleton loomed above him, grinning menacingly. It brought the weapon down towards Lucius’ face. He only barely managed to block. It struck again, and again, and again before it screeched and Lucius was bombarded by bones.

“That was a close one, eh?” Anthony offered his hand, Lucius took it gladly.
“Thanks.” He breathed as he was pulled up. His arm was burning, his shield was a broken and burnt mess - one could no longer see the white oak tree of Chorrol.
“Right, that was a little more difficult.” He mused. “But, onwards and upwards. I say we go this way.” As he began walking towards his destination, Lucius heard the cackling of lightening and watched as Anthony was thrown backwards.

“Coming here is the last mistake you’ll ever make!” He heard a voice cry out as another lightening bolt flew out from the gloom. Lucius dived behind a stone column and saw the lightening fly through the air where his face had been.

He breathed steadily, pressed his back against the pillar and poked his head out to have a look at his assailant. He was greeted by another lightening bolt screaming out of the darkness, the spell struck the column, scattering chips of rock and dust everywhere.
Lucius dashed to the next column, a fireball beat him there, obliterating it, sending its welkynd stone skittering across the floor and caking him in dust.
He veered to his left and charged in the direction of the spells, ducking as another fireball hurtled towards him.

As he approached the source, there was a flash of yellow light and a Dunmer woman charged at him with a wicked looking dagger. He easily parried her thrust and responded with a diagonal slash across her chest. The dagger evaporated as she fell to the ground in a heap.

He tensed and waited a moment, cautious for more bursts of magicka. When he was sure there was no more, he ran to find Anthony.
At the opposite end of the chamber, he found the knight’s sword, but no knight. Lucius approached a ledge which had previously escaped his notice and peered down. Anthony was lying in a heap on the ground, surrounded by smashed pieces of crate and de-crated vegetables.
He rushed down towards his fallen comrade, fearing the worst.
At the stairs, another zombie confronted him, Lucius kicked it in the chest, sending it tumbling down the staircase in a comical style. He jumped down the last half dozen steps, landing on the monster’s head and silencing its moans.

“Anthony?” He called, cautiously as he kneeled beside him. “Are you… alright?”
“What kind of stupid question is that?” He groaned. Lucius sighed with relief.
“I think this crate of cabbages broke the fall. Can you move?”
“Not easily.” He moaned as he tried to roll onto his back. “It’s nice to know I’ve been saved by a cabbage, though it didn‘t manage to save my arm.”
Lucius laughed nervously. There was a large hole in Anthony’s surcoat where the lightening bolt had hit.
“We should leave this place.”
“There’s another chamber, Lucius.”
“Forget the other chamber. We’ve given the necromancers a scare, they’ll probably have left this ruin by the end of the month.”
Anthony groaned again as Lucius tried to lift him.
“Lets get you out of here.”