The cursed blood., Chapter 1: The celebration. Options

[jack cloudy]

Alright, this is my next fan fic. Know that I don't have the whole storyline thought out yet, so it might become a bit messy.

Also, it takes place approximately 2 years after the events of Oasis.


The cursed blood.

Chapter 1: The Celebration.

Seas around Vvardenfell.

Slowly, the ship drifted amongst the waves. The only sign of life were the torches burning on the bow and stern. Or was that all? No. At the bow one man stood, gazing at the sky. He was old, with long flowing hair as white as snow. He stood there like a statue, only moving on his heels to compensate for the boat’s movements.

A High Elf opened the door and looked over the deck. There was the man he’d been looking for. He took a quick glance at the sky and sighed. Then, he moved over to join the old man.

,,In a few nights, the moons will be full again.” He said. The Old man remained silent. Finally, after two long minutes, he spoke.
,,You know I don’t fear the servants of the moon.”
The High Elf touched an amulet hanging around his neck, lost in deep thought. The amulet was beautifully crafted and looked just like the moon.

,,I know, how could I forget? I was merely speaking to myself.”
,,Yes, so I noticed. We should reach the island before the moon is full. It has been a long time. Perhaps you should join the hunt once more.” The old man said.

,,I will think about it. We are drinking a bottle of whine below deck. If you like you may join us.” With those words, the High Elf left.

The old man however, remained behind. He didn’t go downstairs and instead waited till he saw the land appear on the horizon. The land had called him and he realized he had much to do with only little time. He smiled at the thought. It had been many years since he had last worried about not having enough time at his disposal.
,,So we’ll meet again, old friend.” He muttered and finally joined the people below deck.

Venim Manor.
The room looked as if a tornado had passed through it. Actually, that was exactly what had happened, with the only difference that the tornado was made out of two people rather than wind. One of the two was a Redguard who wielded her sword with precision, making sure that not a single movement was wasted. Her opponent, was different. Much younger, the Dunmer girl fought with the enthusiasm and unlimited stamina of youth.

The two went back and forth as their swords clashed over and over. In the end, the Dunmer girl got the upper hand and forced the Redguard against the wall. She smiled as she prepared to land the final blow. Her sword hit the wall instead of the Redguard who had dove around the blade and was now behind the Dunmer. Instead of feeling her sword hit the Redguard, the Dunmer felt the tip of a sword on her own neck.

,,Not bad, mylady. For a moment, I really thought I had much work to do. Most mainland people aren’t very experienced.” The Redguard said and smiled.
,,Admit it, you were worried that you were going to lose for a moment.” The Dunmer replied.
,,Now don’t go too far with your pride. Your technique still needs a lot of work and it will take a while before I can truly call you a warrior.”
The Redguard took the two swords and returned them to their weaponrack, after putting the rack back in the position it stood in before it was knocked over.

There was a polite knock on the door and after a few seconds, a Dunmer entered the room.
,,Tsk, are you busy again.” The man said and shook his head.
,,I know I can’t stop you from doing this, Jana. But please, don’t go challenging people to duels in the middle of the night. You two are keeping everyone awake with all that noise.”
The man continued with a smile that took the sharpness out of his words. He then turned to the Redguard.

,,So Neminda, how is she?”
,,Not too bad, but not too good either.” The Redguard responded. She didn’t knew what to think. Maybe it was stupid for her to have gone along with the idea of the young Dunmer, but that enthusiasm was simply contagious.

Athus Mirhtri had recently arrived from the mainland and taken residence in Venim manor. He was a high-ranking member of House Redoran but also a man who didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the house. The biggest problem that most people had with him was the fact that despite being in a House that demanded of its members that they knew how to fight, he’d never held a weapon in his entire life.

,,I see. Could you, teach her a few tricks perhaps? That should keep her satisfied and out of trouble. But not before the sun rises.” Athus turned around to leave.
,,By the way, your dress for the celebration just arrived. You might try it on to see if it fits. But first, go take a bad.” He said and walked out.

[jack cloudy]

Update alert, don’t you love school?
Anyway, a bigger one this time and the return of an old favourite of mine.



The dark trees and murky waters of Argonia made place for a less dense forest that was filled with green plants and small streams of clear water. Jalin stopped his Unicorn and took in their surroundings.
,,There’s a village to the east. I think we should stay away from the roads and move through the forest. It will slow us down, but I don’t want to be seen by anyone while I’m riding on one of these. It would be too hard to explain where we found these Unicorns. Too bad Aureus never felt anything for breeding normal horses.” He noted as he looked around.

,,Have you been to Cyrodiil before?” He asked once they’d begun moving again.
,,Only the east part, a stone’s throw away from the border with Morrowind. Some official business between my father and someone else, so I never got the chance for some sightseeing. It sure is beautiful. Much nicer than Vvardenfell. There are plants everywhere. Where I live, the land is like a desert. Say, where are we going anyway?” Jana responded and sniffed the fresh air.
,,We’ll spend the night in the forest. Tomorrow, we should reach the capital where I want to check out the library. Aureus never actually told me where his clan lives. I’ve got a note with a couple of fancy signatures that should give me access to the emperor’s personal library. It’s a bit old but knowing Aureus, I bet I could give orders to Uriel Septim himself with it. If I can’t find the information I need there, I don’t know where to look.”

With the help of both Jalin’s skill at finding small paths through the thick forest and the spells of Jana’s amulet, they managed to travel without being seen by any of the people who lived in the province. The local wildlife appeared to be frightened and ran as soon as they got into view. The night in the forest proved to be quiet and peaceful. Next day, they continued their trek into the heart of Cyrodiil. A few hours after the sun had reached its peak, they got to the edge of the forest surrounding the capital where they left the Unicorns behind. The brilliant walls of the capital rose up before them.

,,Well, this is it I guess. I’d never thought I would actually trust a Lich someday.” Jana muttered as she took out one of the silver vials. The taste of blood was both disgusting and delicious. Her whole body was filled with new energy. She carefully took off her hood and looked into a nearby pool. Her reflection looked just the way she did before being infected and the sun no longer burned her skin. It was definitely an improvement.
,,Nice. I’m ready now, so let’s get going.”

The guards in front of the massive gates barely noticed them as they walked into the city. Once inside, Jalin headed directly for the palace and left Jana behind to look around. For a while, she just aimlessly wandered the streets. Cyrodiil showed that it deserved its reputation as the center and capital of the Empire. It was not only a huge city, but also one of the most crowded. People of all races and all professions wandered the streets while vendors where praising their wares on the market. She could see the guards walking around to keep the peace and always just behind their backs, the thieves, robbers and other people with a not so legal profession. Above all that, the massive tower of the palace rose up into the air as a symbol of the might that had made the Septims the rulers of Tamriel.

She also took the chance to look around all the different shops. Unlike most times, this time she only bought things that where useful for anyone who wanted to take on a lot of vampires. She bought a couple of torches, some small prongs for necessary sword-maintenance and a good meal at a tavern. It was nice to be in a city again without staring at people’s neck. After the meal, she went back to shopping. In the Apothecary, she was met by the sound of an arguing Breton and Redguard.
,,What, 300 Septims just for some lousy potions?! Ajira makes them twice as good for half the price! Too bad she is still on Vvardenfell.”

The Redguard wore a brown cloth that covered most of his armour but the Dwemer gauntlets, Indoril boots and the big Claymore on his back gave away his identity.
,,Luper? What are you doing here?”
Luper turned to see who had spoken and looked at her for a while. It was the first time he saw her in a well-fed condition.
,,Oh, hi sweety. Say, did you do something with your hair?”

Jana couldn’t help but laugh for a bit. It was obvious that the Nerevarine hadn’t planned to be in Cyrodiil. She loved to see him when he wasn’t in full control of his situation.
,,So, how did you end up here? And why the change of clothes?” She asked in a mocking tone.
,,Alright, I get your point. Now stop laughing at me before I shout out your little toothy secret. If you want to know, I left my Magicka restoration potions on my bed so I ran out of steam for my levitating. And the cloth? I simply don’t want people to see me with my armour all visible. I would hate it if someone recognizes the Lord’s Mail. They would know instantly that I am the Nerevarine. Call it the burden of fame if you like.”

His mood lightened up again and he grinned.
,,Now I’m not the only one who makes mistakes here. Did you really think that you could hurt those vampires with the poison you just bought? The answer is no. Anyway, want to tag along?”
Jana frowned. She really didn’t like to have people pointing out her mistakes. And Jalin always said that Luper was a drinker. If he wanted to go anywhere near a place with alcohol, she’d pass. The Nerevarine was annoying enough when he was sober, who knew how bad it was when he was drunk.
,,Where do you want to go?” She asked warily.
,,I just heard that an old friend of mine is in town so I want to pay him a little visit. You’ll love his clothes. They’re very elaborate and fancy!”

Luper’s friend appeared at first glance to live in the palace, but the Redguard entered a small alley before they reached the gates and opened a small door in the massive wall of the palace. Inside, a long winding stair descended into the depths.
,,What by Akatosh is this dump?” Jana complained while seriously considering if she should kick the rats that were everywhere. She decided not to. Who knew what those rats had been crawling in.
,,This my dear, is the prison. Ah, it brings up memories. Bad ones, I mean.” Luper answered and lighted up their descent with a fireball in his hand.

At the end of the stairs was another door which led to a small office that was fortunately completely devoid of rats. Behind the desk, a somewhat fat guard was sitting.
,,Visitors, what can I do for you?” He said with a very bored tone as he eyed them over. His eyes remained on Luper and he frowned.
,,Do I know you?” He grumbled.
,,Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten about me. It’s me, Luper Alkad! I’m back! Did you miss me?!” Luper’s grin couldn’t have been bigger.

The guard shot out of his chair with wide open eyes and grabbed his sword from the floor.
,,You?! They sent you to a prison colony on some freaking island covered in snow! You can’t be here!” He cried.
,,This girl, is an old friend of mine. We go way back. Don’t worry, his bark is much worse than his bite.” Luper told Jana without even paying any attention to the guard who held his sword high over his head.
,,This is the friend you wanted to visit?” Jana answered in disgust. She couldn’t believe she had actually been dragged along to some revenge action of sorts.
,,Nah, the friend I wanted to visit is supposedly around here somewhere.”

The guard finally seemed to have gotten over his shock and was now actually smiling.
,,I always hated you and your big mouth. I am so going to enjoy this.” He said and brought his sword down to the Redguard’s unprotected head.
Luper raised his left hand and effortlessly caught the blade of the sword with his Dwemer gauntlet.
,,Still no manners I see. So how do you like Wraithshield? I made it as a left hand version of Wraithguard, which I have on my right hand. And you’re going to love this. They dropped me off on Vvardenfell instead of Solstheim where I made a small career change. I beat up gods now, how do you like that?” He said with one of his trademark grins before punching the guard in the face with his other hand while simultaneously kicking him between the legs with one of his boots. Both hits looked rather painful.

He walked over to the guard ,who was now lying on the ground in pain, and took his keys. He then picked up a large book from the desk and looked into it.
,,Now where could good old skoomie be? Hey, that’s my old cell!” He kicked the guard again and walked towards the row of cells.

Jana picked up the book as she followed him and took a look for herself. There it was, right after the number 013: Luper Alkad. As she went through the pages, she noticed that the spot behind 013 was taken up by the same name for about fifteen years. After that, the spot was empty for a while before being taken by a new name: Caius Cosades.
,,Ten, eleven, twelve…thirteen. This should be the one. Hey shirtless, how are things going?” Luper shouted through the bars.

In a dark corner of the cell, something moved.
,,I know only one man who used to call me that. For your information, they gave me a shirt to wear.” A voice said and its owner stepped within range of the light cast by Luper’s fireball. He was an old Imperial with a largely bald head and a beard that had been growing for a long time. Despite the dirt and dust that covered him, he carried himself with dignity.
,,Nice to see ya, Caius. Mind if you step away for a moment? I’m going to bust the lock.” Luper said and lowered his hand. The fireball shrinked till it was the size of a coin before shooting towards the lock which was melted by the intense heat.
,,I always dreamed of breaking out of this place, never of breaking in.” He laughed. He then realized that it wasn’t necessary for him to melt the lock.
,,Meh, I never liked keys anyway. They always get lost.” He said and threw the now useless keys on the ground.