Oasis chapter 4, The sign of prophecy. Options

[jack cloudy]

chapter1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Alright, I couldn't stop writing so you'll get the start of the fourth chapter early.



Chapter 4: The sign of prophecy.

My first action was to gulp down all the potions I had, but even they could not remove the power of the curse. Already I could feel it draining my mind and my will. I could slow the curse with my own magicka, but I could not stop it.

I realized that I was doomed and sank to the floor. It would be best for the island if I destroyed the entrance to the cave and made it my tomb. Yet, there were still a few things I had to do. To clear my mind, I looted the chamber and was rewarded with two gauntlets of a strong material. I put them on and then sat down with a few bits of paper and began to write.

,,You’re back? Good, I was worried.” Caius said when I stumbled into his home. He then noticed that something was wrong.
,,What happened?”

,,I killed Dagoth Gares. He gave me the Corprus. I am a death man, Caius. Take these papers. It will tell you everything you need to know. Ajira will receive the Warlock’s ring and the staff of Magnus. Felisa Ulessen of the Telvanni will get my stronghold. You will get the money and my weapons. If you excuse me, I’ll leave now and go kill myself somewhere quiet.” His response to those words surprised me.

,,Fool! Do you really want to give up that fast?! I will not let you do this! As your commanding officer in the Blades, I order you to go out and get yourself cured.” He grabbed the paper out of my hands and ripped it into little pieces.
,,It is no use to give me a last will if you are not death. As a matter of fact, I have been doing some research while you destroyed that base. A Dunmer named Divayth Fyr is apparently the leading expert on the Corprus disease. Find him and see if he has a cure. But first, you need to rest.”

My objections that his bed might become infected with the disease were met with a smile. Caius wasn’t expecting to use his bed any more. I cast whatever spells I knew to slow the curse and went to sleep. I was once again assaulted by nightmares of the man with the Golden mask. This time, I knew it was Dagoth Ur. He was alive, and not happy with my existence.

,,Luper! Wake up! We’ve got guests of the bad kind!” Caius shouted which caused me to awaken. Through my blurred vision, I could barely make at that there were two people in the room, trying to kill each other.

I tried to get up, but the Corprus seemed to have taken hold of me which made moving very difficult. I pulled my ring of my finger.
,,Caius, catch!” The blurred figure who was coloured the lightest turned towards me for a bit. I threw the ring before dropping back into a slumber.

,,Luper, are you awake?”
Caius towered over me with a worried look. Clearly, sleeping when infected with the Corprus was a bad idea.
,,I’m fine. What happened?”

,,It looks like the Sixth House is getting worried about you. One of their minions paid us a little visit.” Caius handed over my ring.
,,Interesting weapon you’ve got there. It saved our lives. I’ll give it back to you, you’ll need it when you seek out Divayth Fyr. Unfortunately, I don’t know where he lives.” Caius said. He also gave me the last of his money and a Dwemer artefact. He called it a little investment.

Caius didn’t knew where to find Fyr, but I did. We were neighbours, sort of. I’d never spoken to him, but I knew where to find his mushroom. One recall later, and I arrived home from where I could begin my journey.

Travelling was the easiest bit, keeping my sanity wasn’t. By the time I made it, I could feel my mind beginning to slip away. Fortunately, I didn’t need to say a word. One of Fyr’s “daughters” took me straight to him where he revealed his plan to me.

He would give me a potion that theoretically should cure the disease, except for that small detail that it killed everyone who tried. In return, I would take a walk in his Corprusarium and pick up a bunch of boots from Yagrum Bagarn. I was not allowed to hurt any of the other victims, even if they tried to kill me. Brilliant as usual. Any other ways to get myself killed?

I had barely made a single step inside before the first corprus victim moved towards me. My first idea was to simply forget about it and just hack my way through, but I needed the potion. Seeing no other way out, I started running.

I ran and ran, picking my direction at random. At one moment I came across something best described as a humanoid body slapped on top of a Spider Centurion standing next to a pair of Dwemer boots. I grabbed the boots and kept running till I found the exit. The warden slammed the door shut behind me, and a dozen Corprus victims slammed into it.

Before me stood Fyr, clapping his hands and smiling as if he had just seen the most amusing thing ever.
,,Splendid, just splendid! It is a shame that you didn’t tried to raid the chests on the way. I love to tempt a thief. Anyway, a promise is a promise. I’ll take the boots and give you the potion which you should drink immediately.” He said.

I could only nod and the last remains of my mind were now slipping away. It took the help of the warden to restrain me as the Corprus took control of me. I never remembered what happened in those few seconds. Fyr must have given me the potion.

It was all over in a few seconds. When I realized that I was alive, I realized something else at the same time. Not only was I alive, but I was completely back to the way I was before being infected. The only sign that reminded me of ever having been infected where my muscles that had grown while I was cursed. Fyr took me over to his office where he explained things to me. I was not freed of the Corprus. Merely all the bad effects had been removed. The good effects, which included immunity to disease and a stop to the aging process of my body were still there.

Aging process? According to Fyr, I would live far longer than any Redguard and even far longer than an Elf if I didn’t met my end on the blade of a weapon. He suggested that I took things slowly, for I now had plenty of time. I merely smiled and didn’t told him what I really thought of that. I’d seen Therana, who had gone crazy through her age. No, if I was immortal I would have to be impatient in order to preserve my sanity.

I took up the offer to spend the night in the guest room. When everyone was asleep, I got up again. So Fyr liked to tempt thieves to rob his Corprusarium? Well I felt more for robbing his house.

I came up with the fur of some creature made into a cuirass. hanging in a closet. It looked expensive and all, so I took it. My second prize was a bit harder to obtain. It all started when I took up a key and used it to open a small chest from which I took an amulet. Out of fun, I put the amulet around my neck.

Before I knew what had happened, I was standing inside a Daedric shrine.
,,So, mortal! You have come to challenge me, Dregas Volar?! I shall bathe my Crescent in your blood!” A voice boomed through the shrine. A Dremora leapt out of the shadows, holding a sword with two blades shaped in half a circle.

I ducked around the first blade and parried the second with my summoned sword. Daedric against Daedric, if I was still using my Glass Longsword, it would have snapped like a twig.
For a few minutes, our swords clashed. I was grateful for the excellent protection of the Lord’s Mail, as well as my new Flamelance spell that focussed what would have been a large fireball into an area the size of a coin to cut through its target. Finally, I gained the upper hand and defeated the Dremora. I just managed to grab hold of its sword before the amulet transported me back to Tel Fyr.

After that, I decided that it would be safest not to find out what would be protecting his other treasures and performed a Divine Intervention back to Sadrith Mora from which I travelled to Caius.

[jack cloudy]

Thank you, here's another update.



My nap was rudely disturbed by a member of Dagoth Ur’s gang. Unfortunately for him, my bedroom resembled an armoury and he tripped over the piles of weapons and armour that filled it. I just grabbed the first weapon within reach and pounded on it till it was dead.
My own home, he even send his people to my own home without asking for an invitation. Alright, I would go take a look to see if there was a Sixth house base nearby and when I found it, those cultists were toast. The islands near Sadrith Mora would be perfect for a hideout so that’s where I began my search.

Well, in the end I never found the Sixth House base. I did find a cave filled with a bunch of Atronachs and two women. They attacked first so I took them out. The Dark Elf of the two was wielding a unique Claymore known as Chrysamere. Too bad for her, but she really should’ve put more practice in before relying on the sword for combat. I took it and later made a stylish scabbard so I could wear it on my back. I should’ve come to Vvardenfell years ago. I just kept tripping over legendary artefacts which was great.

Back in Sadrith Mora, I remembered another thing I had forgotten to do. While I was out rescuing Milo, I never had the chance to ask her what she’d learned about the Dissidents. That left me with no further choice but to go look for them myself. I’d earlier decided that they were most likely on one of the islands in the southeast, so a trip to Tel Branora should take me past them.

I hopped on the boat and asked the captain if he met other ships often on his route. He responded by saying that he sometimes saw a fishing boat near a somewhat larger island. A fishing boat, my smuggling parents just happened to use a fishing boat. You could hide your goods underneath a load of fish and if you didn’t had anything to smuggle, you could still enter the fishtrade for a while. I hopped of the ship when no one was watching and waterwalked to shore.

My suspicions turned out to be right. On the island, I found a strange structure without a door. I whacked the nearby Cliffracers and decided to camp out at the foot of the structure while deciding how to get in. Maybe the entrance was through a cave underwater like the place where I found the Lord’s Mail. When the sun sank beneath the waves, the whole structure shifted to reveal a door and solved my little problem.

I was first met with hostility, but the story about how I freed Milo who turned out to be one of the Dissidents herself quickly cleared things up. I bet that my little Ordinator impersonation was going to be one of their favourite jokes for years.

Gilvas Balero, their leader spoke to me for a long time about the Nerevarine phrophecies. He also mentioned something about Kagrenac’s tools which where supposed to be both the source of Dagoth Ur’s power and the only thing that could undo that power. One particular part describing the Nerevarine caught my attention.

From seventh sign of eleventh generation,
Neither Hound nor Guar, nor Seed nor Harrow,
But Dragon-born and far-star-marked,
Outlander Incarnate beneath Red Mountain,
Blessed Guest counters seven curses,
Star-blessed hand wields thrice-cursed blade,
To reap the harvest of the unmourned house.

I wasn’t an expert, but it clearly meant that the Nerevarine would not be a native of the Island. Dragon-born seemed to refer to the symbol of the empire, the dragon. But I wasn’t an Imperial, nor had I ever been a citizen of the empire. So why did it say that the Incarnate was Dragon-born if I was the Nerevarine?

Was I the Nerevarine or not? My own feeling said that I wasn’t, and so did my mind. Most things seemed to suggest that anyone could be the Nerevarine and that I was just a Redguard with delusions. But there were a few things I couldn’t ignore. Dagoth Gares had recognized the mark of Nerevar, whatever that was. On top of that, I had effectively fulfilled the second trial when I was cured of the Corprus and became an immortal of sorts. And finally, I looked like a Redguard but deep down, I had always known that I was something else. And that else wasn’t a long death Elven hero either. So what was I?

While the priests were busy with the Nerevarine prophecies, I took the time to read up on the few books about weapons and stuff. I had won most of my fights with tricks and a quick tongue. If I was to confront Dagoth Ur, I would need more than that to survive. It was time to become what every Redguard dreamed off. A warrior with no equal.

I needed time away from my destiny to think. If I was this hero, I would have no choice but to do as the prophecies told. If I was not, what use would it be to throw myself into danger and sure death?

The next few month’s were uneventful. I rose up further through House Telvanni and became a councillor. I also further enlarged my mushroom and took up a mouth of my own who I stayed away from as much as possible. During this time, my list of possible people who could be draining enchantments all over the island shrinked to one and I wasn’t ready to face him.

It was another attack by a minion of Dagoth Ur that made up my mind. Nerevarine or not, I was not going to let the filthy piece of Guar to ruin my life like that. I picked up the notes on the lost prophecies and headed out into the Ashlands to meet with the Urshilaku.