The secret of Thaldorn Manor Options

[Lopov]

What I first intended to post as separate snippets / texts in the Where are you? thread, alongside with screenshots in the Screenshots thread, I now decided to post as a full story instead. Mostly, because it will be easier for me to post stories and screenshots at the same time. At first I didn't intend to make a story out of it, but lately I've been getting some ideas, so I decided to flesh them out.

It'll be sort of a horror story and will revolve around Rieltar Brunos Thaldorn, the mage and the former necromancer, who returns to his home - Thaldorn Manor.

I don't know how long will the story be, but definitely as long as I'll feel inspired to write and as long as I'll have time - I'm estimating anything between one to three months. I'll post one or two stories per week, in the beginning just one. For now I'll just copy the first entry alongside with screenies and with the comments, and with some added extras at the end.

---

I

Not many Cyrodiilians want to talk about the Thaldorn Manor. Five years ago it became publicly known, that in the noble house east of Pell's Gate, horrific deeds have been going on for years. Myraan Thaldorn, the high-ranking battlemage in the Legion, and his wife Deurexia, the respected teacher at the Arcane University, have been keeping a group of young maidens imprisoned in the manor basement. By sheer luck, one of them one night escaped and on her way to Pell's Gate, ran into a group of patrolling legionnaires. Before Thaldorns even found out that one of their captives was no longer chained, the patrol already stormed the manor and rescued two more maidens. As soon as they realized that their scheme has been exposed, Myraan and Deurexia committed suicide. The house was locked by the Legion and since that day nobody has stepped inside.

Myraan and Deurexia had one son - Rieltar Brunos - who was at that time a student at the College of Winterhold. News of his parents' death reached him a few weeks later, along with the key to the manor, he was after all the only heir.

*five years later*

Conjurers that have been occupying Sardavar Leed, the Ayleid ruin close to the manor, saw tonight for the first time light inside it. But not the light of candles, but of someone casting spells, they assumed.

The only heir returned home.

---

"You cannot walk on water or move mountains without faith. Or at least without a proper spell. I bought my water-walking spell from Trayvond in Cheydinhal. The bridge was probably intentionally collapsed after...deeds of my parents were revealed."

"South of the Imperial City, between Pell's Gate and Fort Alessia, lies the Thaldorn manor, in old records mentioned also as Thaldorne manor. It's where I spent my youth. I like the surname of my ancestors - Thaldorne - better. "

"Welcome home, Rieltar. Please, make yourself at...home. Your father is upstairs, polishing his armor. Go and greet him, right son? Except that there's no one to greet."

"This door is forbidden to open, Rieltar. It must remain locked at all times. Beasts lurk below. Ugly, abominable beasts! Beasts from all planes of Oblivion. They'll burn you alive and your mother won't be able to help you!"

"Pieces of the past, secrets of my parents."

---

Extras:

The abandoned manor in my hometown, that served as an inspiration for the Thaldorn Manor. The manor as such is the work from another author, but I edited a lot of stuff to my own liking, both outside and inside.

The name of the protagonist is a nod to Baldur's Gate I, specifically to the leaders of the Iron Throne organization. Their names were Rieltar Anchev, Brunos Costak and Thaldorn.

---

First comments from the other thread, so the authors don't need to repeat themselves.

A new adventure begins in 3rd Era Cyrodiil it seems?

The scowling necromage has returned!

Oh noes!!! Well now we know how he got that spooky manor. Picutres!

Goodness, what were his parents up to? Those poor maidens.

I love his shorts! That's a first for me.

Thaldorn Manor looks extremely appropriate - overgrown, cobwebs, mysterious doors, chains. . . .

Now, that mysterious door he is never supposed to open. I'm sure he never will. Nope. Not a chance. . . .

Thaldorn Manor looks like the kind of place the Scooby Gang would visit. I wonder if there are any ghosts! They would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for that meddling Rieltar...

When do we go through that door!

This post has been edited by Lopov: May 13 2020, 11:00 PM

[Lopov]

@SubRosa - the sun always shines after the storm, or in this case, a disturbance.

@Acadian - thanks! I figured that it'd be more interesting to include actual NPCs in the game, instead of just modded ones, and also to include the same people that've already been captured in the Thaldorn manor.

@macole - turn them back off. Maybe the mother will come then...

@Renee - Rieltar insane? What if he's doing it all for the benefit of Cyrodiil? Maybe Branwen is Lord Dagon?

Today's story was at first longer, about twice as much as it is now, but then I decided it to split it into two parts, so instead of posting the next part on Sunday, I'm going to post it on Wednesday on Thursday.

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IV

***10 days before Branwen's capture***

*clank clank clank clank clank*

His head ached and a constant sound of metallic footsteps in the hallway certainly wasn't alleviating the pain.

Careful not to make it worse, he slowly opened his eyes, staring directly in the jail door. With his head slightly raised from the dirty pillow, he checked his surroundings. Some prisoner was sleeping in the other bed.
Cheydinhal. Cheydinhal jail, to be precise. Vesuvius Lex sat upright in the bed, his head throbbing like it would burst anytime.

"Damned hangover."

Vesuvius vaguely remembered what had led to his imprisonment. He stopped at Roxey's to have a beer. As usually, one beer wasn't enough and so one beer led to another and so on and so forth...

"You shouldn't drink so much, Ves" his beautiful former girlfriend told him a few years ago. "You're a good man, but when you're drunk, you're worse than a savage troll."

This girlfriend was right of course, and when he was sober, Vesuvius realized where his problem lies. But once he started drinking, his problems seemed to vanish. That is, until he woke up in some cell. Not appropriate for someone as young, and even less appropriate for a former legionnaire. Lex was only 29 years old and he was already dishonorably discharged from the Legion.

He remembered that some patron in Roxey's called him "a drunkie". This patron was no one else but rogue Claude Maric, the arrogant and shady adventurer from the Imperial City. Thinking back, Vesuvius didn't really regret punching Claude Maric, because he had deserved it. Nonetheless, a whole ruckus ensued in the small roadside inn after Claude got hit in his nose. Some traveler summoned a bound Daedric mask, maybe he was afraid that Vesuvius would hit him in the nose too. Another traveler summoned a scamp, but it was all in vain, because the legionnaire that had been before the event calmly drinking at the bar, stepped in front and arrested Vesuvius.

At least he spared him the usual "rot in prison" and "criminal scum", maybe out of respect because Vesuvius used to be a guard captain or because out of respect to his older brother Hieronymus.

.
.
.

“Awake at last, har har, har.” Vesuvius turned left and saw an old long-haired Nord on the other bed, laughing at him with only a few teeth in place.

“So why you here, Imp?” continued the Nord. “I’m here for horse theft, har har har. I like ‘em black so I went for black. Got caught. I’m Khetto, and you, Imp? What’s your name?”

“Just shut up.” Vesuvius wasn’t in a mood for Khetto’s jokes.

“Sure, sure, as you wish, Imp. Just tell me what you here for and I give you peace.”

“I got drunk and hit someone, alright? Satisfied?”

“Har har har, that’s good, that’s good. I’m here for horse theft, you know. But just between you and me, Imp…”Khetto leaned forward and whispered…”I’m here for horse theft but they don’t actually know that I’m a wine smuggler. I smuggled liters and liters and liters of wine. From Tamika’s to Surilie’s! Har har har! Stupid soldiers! Har har har har! There once lived a battlemage…”

“Just shut up!” Vesuvius laid down, his head ached even more after being forced to hear annoying Khetto’s laughter.

.
.
.

After sobering up, Vesuvius was released from the prison. The jail keeper returned him his rusty iron armor, the family sabre, a few healing potions, a magical hourglass and around four hundred septims. Most importantly, he was at the stables reunited with Odysseus, his faithful black horse, purchased right here in Cheydinhal. For the past two years he and Odysseus have been inseparable. If he recalled correctly, the guard that had arrested him, put Vesuvius on Odysseus’ back, before leading him to the jail.

"Good to see you, old beast." He patted his horse and swiftly jumped on his back. After every imprisonment Vesuvius told himself that now it would be high time to change his behavior, to get back on the right track, ...but he didn't really believe himself anymore. Nonetheless, it was time to get back in shape, and he decided to explore some of Cheydinhal’s outskirts. It's been a while since he was in that area, and he was sure, that there were some lairs in need of cleaning.

As he was calmly riding Odyseeus past the Lodge of the Knights of the Thorn, Vesuvius thought of his days in the Legion and his dishonorable discharge. Truth be told, he was never popular among Legion commanders. He had too many critiques regarding the purpose of the Legion, like that soldiers shouldn't be stationed only in cities and on a few marked roads, but at other, more remote places as well. Every damned fort around Lake Rumare was besieged by bandits, goblins, undead or necromancers. If it weren't for brave adventurers, those forts would remain occupied by enemies, because the Legion wasn't doing anything to liberate them.

The sewer system beneath the capital of Cyrodiil was so dangerous that workers avoided going down. Creatures, goblins, mysterious red-robed cultists, even vampires and some maniacal lizardman lurked down there. Was the Legion doing anything to ease the situation? Not at all.

Vesuvius was also the outspoken opponent of "By the Nine Divines, if you need to travel, stay on the roads..." statement, because it felt, like they were intentionally trying to get residents of Cyrodiil killed by saying this. The roads could be far more dangerous than wilderness. Bandits, wild beast, trolls, even will'o'wisps were "patrolling" the roads more frequently than legionnaires.

He didn't have problems just because of being critical, he also had troubles because of his unusual haircut.
"You really should consider visiting a hairdresser," his older brother Hieronymus often told him. "Or at least wear a full-faced helmet at all times."

"It's not my problem, if you're all so damn conservative. My haircut is ahead of time, Hieronymus. In the future, when you and I will long be gone, Men and Mer will proudly carry this particular haircut." However, neither critiques nor the haircut, were the reason for his dishonorable discharge, but they both contributed to it for sure.

An old witch has lived by the shores of Lake Rumare, Leiunomei is her name, however one pronounces it. People say that she came to Cyrodiil through the Mysterious Door that appeared out of nowhere in the Niben Bay. She moved into an abandoned shack directly across Vilverin. The entire Legion knew that this witch has been performing forbidden experiments in her shack and from time to time her "creations" like flesh atronachs escaped, wandering off to the Imperial City. Hostile, aggressive creatures, flesh atronachs would cause troubles and though most of the time legionnaires or brave adventurers defeated them, it wasn't always like that. One day one of Leiunomei's atronachs killed Barnacle Bertha, the popular Waterfront beggar.

"Pfft, what's one dead beggar to you?" was his older brother's reaction. "She worked for the Thieves Guild, no doubt."

After getting sloshed on the day of Barnacle Bertha's death, Vesuvius just couldn't agree with his brother's perspective. So that's when he decided to take justice in his own hands. He rode to the witch's shack and knocked the door off its hinges. He came just in time to see her summoning another flesh atronach!

Not completely sober, Vesuvius lunged at Leiunomei but underestimated the witch's agility, not to mention that his insobriety contributed to his slower reflexes. The witch cast a stunning spell at him, and left him to deal with her flesh atronach, while she escaped to the Imperial City, screaming for help like mad. Leiunomei's yells got attention of the soldiers and they hurried back to her shack, where they found raving Vesuvius in battle with Leiunomei’s abomination. Because he didn't calm down even after the atronach was disposed of, legionnaires were forced to arrest their own member.

"Unbelievable," said Hieronymus as they brought Vesuvius in shackles in front of him. "You're a disgrace to your own family! You're a disgrace to the entire Legion! And to your own race of course!"

Taking justice in their own hands was strictly prohibited in the Legion, and Vesuvius was dishonorably discharged. Nothing happened to the witch of course, except a reminder that she should be more careful with her creations. The life of the beggar wasn't important enough for the Legion to take any precautions against her, it seemed to Vesuvius. As far as he knows, Leiunomei still lives in her shack across Vilverin, but she's more careful with her experiments now.

What followed the discharge, was a life full of adventuring and unfortunately, also full of alcohol. Even his girlfriend Branwen, the same one who told him that he should drink less, couldn't bear with him anymore and thus left him.

Branwen.

Vesuvius wondered what was going on with her. Did she already fulfill her wish and make it to the Arena? He sincerely hoped that she hadn’t, because the Arena wasn’t a place for her.

Loud roar interrupted his pleasant thoughts, as he and Odysseus were nearing the Ayleid run known as Kemen. The wild brown bear came from behind the large rock, eyeing the potential prey.

Vesuvius quickly dismounted Odysseus and readied his sword and shield. “Time to get back in shape.”

---

"Who are you calling drunkie?"

"Time to break your nose!"

Panic at Roxey's

"Har har Imp!"

Release

Odysseus

Fresh air up there

Power of the shield

Younger brother Lex

Kemen