The Tale of Sudhendra Vahl: Power, You've Got It, I Want It! Options

[OverrideB1]

Yestere had been spent bringing some sort of order to my collection of artefacts, as well as dealing with the various issues that had arisen on my estate while I was away. Kallin wished to know if I was willing to send more miners to the Vassir-Didanat Mine since, according to the mine foreman, there were still some sizeable ebony deposits to be mined. Raissu Asserbas reported that a Yokudan blacksmith had requested permission to establish a forge on my estate, a wandering Bard had been arrested stealing from Gorven Menas and was incarcerated in the lower dungeons, and that a young lady in Hlaalu colours had approached the Tel, wondering if there was a vacancy for a cook. Raissu Asserbas also reported that the sale of the Glass from the nearby mine had accrued twelve thousand, five hundred and sixty Septims from a broker in Ebonheart on the Mainland ~ estate expenses were ten thousand, nine hundred Septims.

It’s no wonder I retired to bed early yestere and woke early this morning, I hadn’t realised that running an estate was such hard work. Raissu sympathised, reminding me that, as soon as everything was settled to my satisfaction, running of the estate would become almost invisible to me. I liked that idea. There was a reason I was keen to deal with the accumulated administrative details.

My sojourn to Mournhold had taught me a couple of valuable lessons. I am becoming extremely handy with an axe, so much so that it had become my primary weapon. There were times, as the tunnels in Old Mournhold had shown, when an axe wasn’t a viable weapon. And my sword-fighting skills, while much improved during the time since I’d stepped off the ship in Seyda Neen, were not good enough for me to use a blade efficiently as a secondary weapon. Then there was the magic. I had a small arsenal of utilitarian spells but I desperately needed some more powerful offensive spells as well as other spells that I could use at need.

I had a plan to deal with my lack of fighting prowess. I didn’t like the plan but it was the best I could come up with: I wanted Baladas to hear it before I put it into operation. I had also been asking some discrete questions about Jaron Scorchblot, the dispossessed Telvanni Llunela Hleran had spoken about. Turns out he was quite the legend and, up to eight hundred years ago, he was feared and respected by every Telvanni. I wanted to know how and why.

I translocated to Sadrith Mora and, after depositing some of my funds in my account, I water-walked across the Bay to the small rock where Jaron was currently residing. There, in a small lean-to hut, I met the oddest Telvanni I’ve ever encountered. For a start, he was Orc-Tall ~ much taller than any other Dunmer I’ve ever met. Secondly, he affected a totally bald head, which was covered in strange swirling designs. Thirdly, the Mer virtually hummed with power
.
“So,” I said, “you’re Jaron Scorchblot?”

“And you,” he replied with an engaging smile, “are Sudhendra Vahl or, should I say, Sed Telvanni Vahl? Oh yes,” he said in response to my question, “I’ve heard of you and been quite impressed. Now, what brings you to my palatial abode?”

“Power,” I said simply. “You have it, I want it. Or, to put it less bluntly, I want you to teach me how to wield whatever power made your name feared and respected.”

“Ahh,” he sighed, “those were the days, the glory days. Before my… problem. Tell me Sudhendra, do you know what a Theurgist is?” I shook my head and he snickered. “Hardly surprising, there are very few of us left nowadays. A Theurgist is a Mage who manipulates certain elemental powers: very powerful forces indeed. Because of my problem I oft-times find myself bereft of funds. Although it goes against the grain somewhat, I will train you as a Theurgist for five thousand Septims.”

I nodded, handing him two thousand five hundred Septims ~ all I had on my person at that point. The rest, I told him, would be available when he had shown me what he had to teach was worth such a princely sum. “Fair enough I suppose,” he said. “I will teach you a useful spell right now, and then I want you to go and fetch me some reagents. These I will use to create a potion for myself ~ in return I’ll teach you a spell that will prove that what I have to teach is worth the money.

“Now, there is one last thing I need to know, and that is what elemental power do you wish to control?” he asked. “I have knowledge of Fire and Storm, although I can also teach you about the power of Ice or the power of the Earth.”

“Ice,” I responded after a few moment’s thought.

“Hehe, so you prefer the cold and calculating approach eh?” he chuckled. “Personally, I prefer the cleansing power of Fire. Now, I’ll need three exceptionally fine pearls for my potion ~ you should be able to find plenty in the waters hereabouts. I think fifteen should be fine ~ I’ll pick the three finest and you can keep the rest.”

“The spell?” I reminded him. “You were going to teach me a spell before sending me out to collect the reagents.”

“So I was, so I was,” he said, scratching his bald dome. “Very well, attend closely…” For the next hour, Jaron taught me how to breathe water. When we’d finished, I stood on the shore of his small island and carefully spoke the phrase he’d taught me, “Na Awyra? Ad 'u anadl ddyfrha.”

I was delighted with the result of the spell, it allowed me to stay below the water’s surface for great swatches of time without having to surface and take gulps of air. In fact, the only problem with the spell was the tendency of everything to taste as though it had been over-salted for several hours after the spell dissipated. Meanwhile, I was able to swim about underwater and collect pearls from the vast beds of Kollops that existed in Zafirbel Bay. There were a couple of nasty moments ~ a run in with a couple of Slaughter-Fish that fancied salt Dunmer for lunch and a very odd encounter with a Dreugh that swam alongside me for several minutes.

Finally, I resurfaced with a large pile of pearls and, after drying and getting dressed, I took these over to Jaron. “Hehe, these are excellent, just what I need,” he said. “Now, I will teach you the first spell on your road to becoming a Theurgist. This is a little something that’ll make your handshake something to remember.” He took me, step by step, through the technique required to create the spell and allowed me to practice it on various bits of flora so that I could perfect it. “Now,” he said once we were sure I had mastered the powerful spell, “is that worth the balance of my fee?”

It certainly was and I offered to go straight to the bank and bring him the twenty-five hundred Septims immediately. “While you’re doing that,” he said, “I recently sent a courier over to Suran. For some reason, Arin hasn’t returned. I can’t abide sloppy work so I want you to go there and tell him he’s fired. Oh,” he added as I turned to leave, “and remember to get the shoes I lent him back.”

I translocated to Balmora and got the silt-strider to Suran. Even though it was quite late by the time I arrived in the sleepy little town, I decided to have a quick look around. “Hey you,” a voice called from by the dockside. I turned and saw Elvil Vidron standing in the shadows. I tensed, but the Mer seemed genuinely pleased to see me. “I’d like to thank you Ser Vahl,” he said, stepping from the shadows to reveal a brown Temple robe, “for returning me to the ways of the True Faith. If there’s anything I can do for you?”

“Actually,” I replied, “there might be. Do you know of a Mer named Arin? I don’t know his last name I’m afraid.”

“Arin?” Elvil replied. “You mean that Telvanni courier? He’s here quite a bit ~ always stays at Desele’s.” Thanking him, I made my way into the House of Earthly Delights and, after standing at the bar for a while, managed to catch Desele’s eye.

“Don’t get many of your sort in here priest,” she laughed. I slipped back the robe’s hood and she immediately changed her tune. “Well, well. If it isn’t my mysterious benefactor. I’m guessing it’s you I have to thank for getting the Camonna Tong off my back?” I nodded. “What can I do for you? Drink on the house, bed for the night?”

“Some information,” I replied. “I’m looking for a Telvanni courier, name of Arin. I’m told he comes in here…”

“Arin Darethi?” she interrupted. “Old Jaron’s Mer?” When I confirmed that this was most probably the person I was looking for, her face went grave. “He had an accident, if you know what I mean. I’m told he fell in the Nabia River and drowned. Which is odd, ‘cause he was such a good swimmer. Look, much as I’d like to help you, I think you’d better speak to the guards about this.”

Sensing I was making her uncomfortable with this line of questioning, I inclined my head and took my leave of the Inn. Finding a guard wasn’t difficult and, like all Hlaalu everywhere, he proved amenable to the odd bit of extra cash. “Not much to tell really,” he said, pocketing the coins. “Darethi fell in the river and drowned, right over there by the docks. We’re a bit short-handed at the moment so couldn’t spare any men to drag him out. Besides, we figured it was a Telvanni matter and shouldn’t get involved.”

The Tradehouse in Suran proved to have a spare bed I could use for the night and, after a pleasant meal with the proprietor, I retired for the night. There was something odd going on here ~ I didn’t know what, but I hoped the morning light would help me find out.

[OverrideB1]

Yestere had been an exciting, but profitable day. I’d scoured various likely looking caves around Gnisis and met a lot of not-very friendly people who make their living transporting valuable items that they’ve acquired at minimal cost. Not only had I… borrowed four bottles of Skooma from them but had also acquired a number of other very valuable items ~ scrolls, interesting swords, Ioun Stones, and the like. I had also found another of those Sixth House cult places, this one in the caverns of Subdun. In accordance with Temple doctrine, I had put the place to the sword and cleansed it with fire.

I had also had a most strange encounter. Whilst exploring the caverns of Milk, I had come across an insane nobleman and his retinue. Although the Mer had seemed quite stable when I first approached him, his self-claimed title of ‘The Lord of West Gash’ the only sign of instability, he had become increasingly agitated as we spoke. Not knowing better, I confirmed that I was of Great House Telvanni when he asked and he went totally berserk ~ yelling something about Tel Fyr and amulets. I tried to dissuade him from attacking me, but he was already frothing at the mouth in a kind of battle-frenzy and, like any rabid beast, he had to be put out of his misery.

Jaron, of course, was delighted by my ‘gift’ and was visibly trembling by the time he’d taught me the spell ‘Blizzard’. His next task for me, spoken so quickly that the words tumbled together, was to travel to one of the old Dunmeri Forts: Andasreth on the Bitter Coast, just north of Gnaar Mok. There I would find three elemental beings that I needed to return to their respective realms. In so doing, I would release an ‘essence’ ~ these I needed to return to Jaron so he could create a robe for me. Barely were the last words out of his mouth and he was gone, the door of the lean-to hut slamming behind him. Yeah, I’m sure he could overcome his Skooma problem anytime he wished.

With a moue of distaste, I cast the void-walk spell that would transport me to Ald’ruhn. From there, it was simply a matter of striking out westwards along the dusty trails towards the coast until the austere scenery of the Molag Amur changed to the rolling hills and gentle valleys of West Gash. I say ‘simply’, but that does not convey the annoyance of continued Cliff-Racer attacks and the attentions of several very aggressive Nix Hounds. I did find, however, that the transition from West Gash to the northernmost tip of the Bitter Coast brought blessed relief from the harassment.

After about an hour of hacking my way through the undergrowth, I came to a steep hill that was, blessedly, free of vegetation. When I reached the crest of the hill, I found myself looking down into a ‘bowl’ formed of a ring of hills ~ open to the west so that the Dunmeri fortress that sat brooding at the bottom of this hollow had a view of the sea. Andasreth looked eerily deserted, but I wasn’t about to let appearances fool me. Telasero had caught me out; I wasn’t about to be caught out a second time by Andasreth.

I was right to approach Andasreth with caution; the place was a hive of bandits. This sad fact I learned almost the instant I entered through the massive double doors. I found myself in a transverse corridor which took a sharp turn at each end ~ these ends being only a dozen or so paces from the main entrance. I’d been so relieved to discover a dearth of flickering red candles that I’d quite overlooked one of the principle properties of a fortress such as this. Defensibility. I’d assumed that, upon breaching the doors, all I had to do was search out the elementals and deal with them ~ quite forgetting that the whole layout of the place would be designed to provide anyone inside the best opportunities for dealing with those from outside who got in. It was a lesson I was never to forget again.

A little way to my left was a deep alcove, set at the back of which was a guttering torch that provided fitful lighting for a short stretch of the corridor: much of the rest was dark and gloomy beyond this small patch of light. These alcoves were repeated throughout the Fortress. Moving quietly, I continued down the corridor until I reached the corner. Turning the corner, I saw another stretch of corridor leading away. I grinned, this was going to be easy: of course, the moment I thought that, one of the bandits who’d made the ruins their stronghold turned the corner at the bottom of the corridor.

He ran down the corridor towards me, drawing his sword as he came. “Dywyll chymylau, yn nadu bwrw eira, angheuol brythwch,” I chanted, extending a hand towards him. I gasped as the spell swept through me, a vast tumult of power. The corridor darkened, a thin rime of frost forming on the walls as the temperature plummeted. The Mer running towards me slowed, the same sheen of frost forming on his Bonemold armour. Improbably, thick flakes of snow began to swirl around his now stationary form. Rushing towards him, I swung the Wish ~ and then dearly wished I hadn’t. There was a sound like glass shattering and the whole of the Mer’s left arm simply… broke away. Even worse, the whole thing shattered on the floor when it hit: red, white, and skin-coloured fragments scattering everywhere. The Mer blinked ~ apparently that was all he could do. As I watched in horror, tiny cracks began to spread up the stump of the arm I’d partially removed and bits began to fall off…

Feeling much better, I stepped from the alcove and wiped my mouth. Carefully not looking at the steaming gobbets of flesh that now decorated the floor of the corridor, I advanced until I reached a door. Behind the door was a large chamber and a very aggressive Dunmeri armed with a short dagger. Brushing the dagger aside with the flat of my blade, I thrust forward, impaling her through the heart. The dagger she had been wielding was extremely interesting ~ the curved steel blade was etched with an Imperial dragon and the hilt was covered in thick, hard leather that I thought might be dragon-skin.

As I rounded the corner, I felt the temperature drop and, as I advanced down the corridor, it continued to get colder and colder. Finally, at the end of the hallway, I came to a door that was covered with delicate patterns of frost. I nodded to myself ~ if I were looking for an Ice Elemental, this would be an ideal place. Sliding the sword back into its scabbard, I unhooked the Wish from my pack and took a firm grip on the shaft. I also took a moment or two to search through my scrolls for some suitable spells. Having selected them, I took a deep breath and kicked open the door.

A bizarre sight met my eyes: standing in the passageway leading into the room was the frozen figure of a Mer. So thick was the ice covering him that it was impossible to tell if he had been Altmer or Dunmer. Behind him, I could make out two smaller figures standing ~ one on each side ~ of a much taller figure. At first glance, these figures might appear to have been Men but they weren’t: these were the ice elemental Shadowshard and its retinue. Using the frozen figure as cover, I unrolled the scroll and read the words of the Elemental Fire Blast spell.

The temperature soared and, with an unearthly scream, the two lesser elementals vanished. Shadowshard, however, was made of sterner stuff ~ striding through the flames towards me: glowing spheres of arcane energy forming around its hands. Shoving the Mer to one side, I rushed the elemental ~ bringing the Wish up and over in an aggressive smashing motion. The blade struck, the Dwemer metal ringing like a bell as the whole axe shivered in my hands. Shadowshard grimaced, its features contorting as the spell woven into the axe caused licks of flame to bloom on its pale skin. With a frenzy born of fear, I struck the unyielding figure again and again – each blow making the axe ring and vibrate. Slowly, relentlessly, I drove Shadowshard deeper and deeper into the chamber.

“[b]Enough,”

“I seek the essence of your realm,” I said, watching the creature warily. “And I wish you gone from this plane.”

“[b]The Latter I Grant Thee Freely,”

“Erm,” I said carefully, “by wishing you gone from the mortal realm, haven’t I, well, banished you?”

Pale, colourless lips curved upwards in what could pass for a smile. “[b]Mortal, Thou Art Too Clever For Thine Own Good. Take This Essence And A Warning. Mine Brother Elementals Art Not As Civilised, Them Thou Wilt Have To Banish By Force Of Arms Or By Magic.” With that, the blue-robed figure faded from view: where it had stood there was a small bottle. I hissed, drawing my hand back rapidly as I went to pick it up. Blowing on my fingers to get them warm again, I scouted out the room ~ finally finding a rough garment I could use to wrap the freezing bottle in so I could handle it.

Leaving the chamber, I continued down the corridor, mulling over Shadowshard’s words. The ice elemental had proved far easier to defeat than I had feared although, since it considered itself ‘civilised’, I suppose the fact it had yielded to me shouldn’t have come as a surprise. It did though ~ of the many creatures I’ve faced, both before that day and since, Shadowshard was one of the very few that didn’t press a battle through to the inevitable conclusion.