Thanks for the comments. Taillus is right, Luper did lose it a bit. For those people who believe that the Redguard is too powerful, (I'm one of those) Imagine a berserking, adrenaline rushed Redguard who is really pissed.
But Griff had a point, it was a bit too uber. So I gave him a small price to pay.
I was a whole lot less proud when I looked in a mirror before going to bed. What I first believed to be just some tired muscles turned out to be muscles that had been used a bit too much. My whole body ached all over and especially my left arm hurt. When I broke that guard’s spine, I nearly broke my arm in the process. I also had a few minor cuts and scratches. And finally, my armour was in pretty bad shape. If this glass stuff hadn’t been so hard, I would’ve been dead. Maybe I should’ve used my head and hit them with fireballs till they dropped instead of freaking out like a berserking Orc.
I used some magicka to take care of my physical state, but my armour would require a smith and quite a lot of money. I dropped my suit of at the local Telvanni smith. It would be fixed by morning. After that, I took a well-earned night’s rest.
The next few days I spent with small chores to improve my standing as well as learning a few minor spells. Most of those spells were meant to be used on disobedient slaves, but I expected that my targets would be free people. As for my investigation into the drained enchantments, that turned up pretty empty. As I expected, the culprit wasn’t a Telvanni. If it was, I wouldn’t be seeing attempts to charge enchantments all over the place. Some of those attempts met with fatal results, such as when one mage attempted to channel his own magicka directly into a staff. The life was sucked right out of him.
I did learn a few things about the Telvanni themselves. Unlike popular belief, the Telvanni weren’t all psychos. In fact, most of them were just ordinary people who preferred a quiet and safe life. Most of the psychos were the councillors. It was probably due to their age, none of the councillors were young. Except for one.
Felisa, who had become a good friend of mine directed me to this councillor, saying that she would love to see me attain the rank of Mouth. Aryon was the name of this councillor. He was the youngest by far and in Felisa’s own words, unique. He lived in Tel Vos. I still remembered that place from when I was looking for a Wise Woman to meet Skink.
One boat trip later, and I arrived at the home of master Aryon. The unforgettable sight of a Telvanni mushroom growing in the courtyard of an Imperial fort rose up before me. I asked the first guard I could find to the chamber of master Aryon.
,,I hope you know how to fly, Redguard. His room is high above the ground in the organic part of Tel Vos. Look for a door facing north. You’ll have to levitate to reach it.” No matter how much this Aryon liked Imperial architecture, he still felt the need to live somewhere where some stairs would be highly appreciated. I took the flight in steps. First I levitated to the roof of one of the towers on each corner of the fort and then I flew to the door of Master Aryon itself.
Master Aryon was indeed much younger than the other councillors I’d seen, though I tended to avoid those. When I entered, he was busy reading.
,,Oh, I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I am Master Aryon, what can I do for you?” He said when he finally noticed me. He then looked me over from head to toe.
,,Hmm, a Redguard dressed up in Glass Armour wearing a blue robe. I take it that you are Luper Alkad, a Telvanni Lawman? Oh yes, I know all about you. Now what can I do for the mage guild?” He continued.
I was in shock and speechless. All these days, and not a single Telvanni ever uttered that question, nor did they ever show that they knew where I came from. I took a few steps back so that I could both watch Aryon and his guard at the same time.
,,Now now, don’t be afraid. I do not intend to worsen relations with the mage guild. Things are bad enough as they are, especially with what is happening right now. I have a proposal, want to hear it?”
He didn’t looked very aggressive. That could change in an instance, but the chance of me surviving a confrontation with a councillor and his guard was rather small. I knew that councillors had to be constantly on their guard for assassins and the like. He would know how to fight.
,,Alright, what do you want?” I responded.
,,As you may have noticed, the Telvanni councillors aren’t particularly….observant. I believe that with our current leadership, house Telvanni is doomed in the upcoming war. I might tell you about this war later, but first I want you to go to Baladas Demnevanni and convince him to join the council. Together, we might give the house a chance. If you do this, I shall become your patron to consolidate your position in the house. On top of that, I will aid you in any way I can and I shall prevent any Telvanni aggressions towards the mage guild. Do you accept?”
Die or get a huge reward and a mighty ally, tough choice.
,,I’m in.”