Oasis 2, Free from Destiny. Options

[jack cloudy]

Here is the link to: Jack Cloudy's Other Stories


Ok, I've got to be crazy. Starting a third one before finishing the last two? Yeah, definitely crazy. More crazy than Tarhiel, Curio and M'Aiq combined. Ah well, I guess I can't be stopped. (Note to self: Make an Agent update tonight.)





Oasis 2: Free from Destiny.

The task I’d been sent to do had been finished. No, I hadn’t just been sent to do this, I’d been made for it in a quite literal way. Yes, that task was the only reason for my existence. Now that I’d completed it, what was left?

Anyone in my position would probably try to retire and live the remainder of his or her life at peace, preferably with the comfort of nearby friends. I had friends and I could retire easily enough. During the course of my life, I’d amassed a large amount of wealth, including a house big enough to accommodate a whole village. In fact, my house was a village. Then why did I leave? Why was I walking here at this moment, so far away from civilization?

The truth was, I couldn’t. I hadn’t realized at the time, but the reason why I fought was because my friends needed me as much as I needed them. I’d fought to protect them, to keep them near. Yet what should have been my moment of everlasting glory was my moment of defeat. I could no longer see those I considered friends. It would undo everything I’d done.

The sun began to sunk beneath the horizon and I sat down next to the nearest shrub. A small wisp of fire, and I had created a small circle of light to keep me company. The fire was bad company if it was the soul that required comfort instead of the body. Nothing opposed my train of thought. I relived the last moment, the moment it all became clear.

I stood on the slopes of a mountain. Beneath me, several tents had been placed in the ashcovered ground. People milled about like ants. Banners flapped in the gentle breeze. A smile crept across my face. These were the people of Vvardenfell, my people. Most were unknown faces to me but that didn’t matter. In the end, they were all a part of the island. And I would be their hero. Society had been at the brink of collapse but now, everything would be fine. The Houses had united, the Ashlanders received the respect they deserved. The time of politics and struggles for power had ended. There was nothing left to fight over. And I would be right in the middle of it all, basking in glory, everyone would call me their greatest hero. Like a child’s dream come true.

The smile vanished. It would not be fine. There was still something for them to fight over. Ironic as it might seem, that something was me. To win the favour of the land’s champion, the Houses would return to their internal strife, bloodier than before. Those around me would be the victim of it all, as they would be pulled into this conflict. Politics was a plague, hard to control. There was only one thing I could do to prevent this from happening. I would have to leave, vanish into myth.

And leave I did. I never even took the chance to properly say goodbye. I couldn’t say goodbye. If I tried, I would end up staying and make my nightmare into reality. It was a bit of an anti-climax. Whenever I thought about what would come after defeating my enemy, the only things I saw were scenes of fame, glory and perhaps even a bit of worship. I couldn’t let any of that happen though. It would be as destructive as having let him have his way.

Perhaps this is how the guy who killed Jagar Tharn felt after he’d claimed victory in the Imperial palace. He too left right after his greatest moment. To this very day, no one knows his name, or his race, or even his gender. I say guy, but it could have been a woman for all I know. I’ve heard a few stories, but they’re quite conflicting. Some talk about a Redguard pirate, some about an Imperial Battlemage much like Tharn himself, yet others about a scarred Orc or your stereotypical knight in shining armour. Then there are those who take it into the extremes, saying that this nameless champion was none other than Tiber Septim himself or Akatosh or a spirit of death or even a Goblin, though I seriously consider that last one a joke. Well I knew one thing for certain, Akatosh was not involved there. Because Akatosh, that’s me.

Whatever is the case, the champion vanished and I was about to follow his or her example. Where would I go? If I had taken the time to think, I would have concluded that leaving Tamriel entirely would have been best. The legendary continent of Akavir would be a great place for a fallen hero to hide. But I decided otherwise. Instead of going east to Akavir, I would go west, to the place where I was born, all the way on the other side of Tamriel. Despite my achievements, which happened to include the killing of a supposedly immortal being, my fame was still only local.

Hammerfell would be the perfect place to make a living. There, no one would care about Luper Alkad, Nerevarine, the godslayer. There I would be just another Redguard, albeit one who was in possession of several unique artefacts. Yes, Hammerfell would be perfect. But how to get there? Vvardenfell had been saved of the Blight, a horrible disease that turned everything it touched into a raving monster. There was the Corprus which was even worse but likewise, its threat had ended. Despite that, the island was still strictly quarantined. No one could enter or leave, at least not through legal channels.

I knew that there were plenty of smugglers and pirates. I could try to make contact with them, see if they were willing to transport me. While the idea appealed to me at first, I soon changed my mind. So far, the smugglers I met here were a lot more aggressive than the bunch that had raised me. I was unlikely to get a single word out of my mouth before I was parrying daggers, clubs and whatever they were using to kill people. No smugglers wouldn’t help.

I went through a few more ideas. I was too well-known among the mages and the independent ones were usually Necromancers who would rather have me as their next test subject than give me a quick teleport to the mainland. Buying, building or stealing a ship wouldn’t work. For one thing, ships weren’t for sale here and I would be hunted by the coast guard. Waterwalking might work, but I had no real idea of just how far it was to the mainland. It would be rather embarrassing to run out of Magicka and get devoured by Slaughterfish and Dreugh. In the end, I knew of only one organization that could give me a quick and secret way to the mainland. The Blades, the spy service of the Emperor himself.

I waited till dawn before continuing my trip across the island. I took my time because this would likely be the last time I would see Vvardenfell, the island that had become my home. There was a silent beauty in the Ashlands, now that the dreaded storms which plagued this region had fled. The transition from dry ash to a swamp teeming with life was quite sudden, only a single mountainous ridge between them. Like everything I saw, it brought back memories. Memories of fighting against slavery, getting my leg cracked by a Mudcrab. It had been less than two years, yet it felt like eternity separated Luper Alkad, the badmouthed prisoner who was all bark and no bite, from Luper Alkad, the badmouthed hero who is even more bite than he is bark.

I walked up to the nearest Mudcrab and placed a single hand underneath its shell. With a simple flip of the wrist, I threw it upside down and sent it sliding down a hill. It was a feat of incredible strength I wouldn’t even dare dream about in those early days. I’d definitely changed, beyond recognition. The everburning flame of the Lighthouse told me I was nearing my destination. Seyda Neen, where my journey began and where now a new journey would begin.

[jack cloudy]

Thank you, BSD-IES. And welcome to the boards.

Mallet, you're right. That was the Black Dart gang. And yeah, they didn't know who they were dealing with. News of semi-immortal heroes travels slowly these days.

Blockhead, Telekinesis is one of my favourite tricks and I regret to this day that it can't be used for any fancy moves ingame.

Now for the update and stuff.



The sewers went deeper underground and I soon came upon a place where my only chance at progress would be swimming. I looked at the filthy water for a long time. Grime, general trash, mud, weeds and the occasional dead fish floated past. Who knew what else was in there. All in all, diving in was the last thing I wanted to do. But the map was resolute at this point. To reach Old Mournhold, I had to swim.
,,Well, it isn’t going to dry up anytime soon.” I grumbled and stepped up to the ledge. Just when I was about to dive in, an idea struck.

Half a minute later, I was walking over the bottom of the canal. The shield I projected around me made sure not even a single drop reached me. Above me, the ceiling was smooth, as if it had been stroked by centuries of flowing water, which was probably the case. Over time, the ceiling rose again till I could jump back to the walkway.
,,Well, that was interesting. Now all we need to do is pass a door and we’re all set.” I muttered while drawing my sword. Velas had warned me that there was something in Old Mournhold, something nasty but he didn’t say what. If my experience with nasty things was any indication, it would stop being nasty after a few swordstrokes.

I kicked in the door for good measure, causing a hail of damp woodfragments. When it comes down to it, I always enjoy to go in with a bang.
,,So, you’ve come, Luper.” I froze for a split second. Then I frowned as suspicion kicked in. The person standing before me was covered from head to toe in some sort of armour. But still, that voice could only belong to one man.
,,Revan? What are you doing here?” I asked. When the Dark Elf didn’t respond, I threw another question his way.
,,The danger Velas spoke of. That wouldn’t be you, would it?”
As fast as lightning, Revan pulled a pair of Wakizashis out of the shadows and charged.
,,In your case, I am! Defend yourself, dragon!” He shouted.

If I hadn’t drawn beforehand, that first attack might have disembowelled me. Now, I blocked a shot at my throat with Velas’ cloak and parried the stab at my stomach with the Ebony saber.
,,So this was all a trick? To get me to come here?” I asked as I jumped away from the whirling blades. Revan didn’t answer but continued to press the attack.
,,Then why?” I tried next, using the lamest and most useless of all questions. The reason doesn’t matter, being cut to pieces hurts all the same.

,,If you are truly what you are, you will reveal yourself!” Revan answered cryptically. I had no idea what that meant. All I knew was that I was losing the fight. It was two blades against one, which normally doesn’t mean much. Revan though, was nothing short of an expert so he had the advantage. I gave up ground without even trying to duel. I’d already realized that at swordplay, I couldn’t match him, not without a Claymore. But Magicka was another story altogether.

I reached out and hurled a wall of air at him. The Dark Elf glided back yet managed to retain his balance. This was the breathing space I required and I followed up my opening with a barrage of other spells. Revan was quick to dodge, slipped through the door I’d kicked in and then hid on the other side of the wall. He was a quick one, that’s for sure. I kept a fireball trained on the dooropening in case he leapt out.
,,You told me that the line between master and pawn is very thin here, Revan. Whose pawn are you?” I asked.
,,Moon and Star, Luper. Moon and Star.” Revan replied, still in hiding. More cryptic mumbo-jumbo. That wasn’t too helpful.

,,Wait a minute. This doesn’t make sense. I’m the Nerevarine and I’m sure I didn’t hire anyone to knock own my head off. Nerevar wore the ring but he’s been dead for like forever.” I muttered to myself in confusion. Then I realized the other option.
,,You mean Azura?” I asked. Even though I got no answer, I knew it was true.
,,Man, and just after I was done with the damn oppressive queen of all I hate.”
Revan still hadn’t come out of hiding which I found rather odd. Surely he wasn’t expecting to stay there forever? It was too easy to launch a mirror and then reflect an offensive spell on it, right into his hiding place. I cast a life detection spell. He was gone.

Gone? Any movement of him would have brought him back into my sight. Even a jitter of his hands to cast a spell would have accomplished that. Did he teleport away? He had a dealing with becoming invisible. He’d done so before, at the palace. If so….

Something wooshed through the air and I ducked, narrowly avoiding one of the Wakizashis. The other came down on me so I blocked it with my sword. Before I had the chance to counter, Revan had vanished again. But invisible is invisible, so I cut at his former location for good measure. I only hit air.

Again Revan attacked out of nowhere, this time from the left. I raised my cloak and managed to block both hits, though at the price of two large tears in the fabric. Velas’ cloak had been a lifesaver so far, but it wasn’t going to last long like this. I knew I couldn’t beat him. I had to escape, somehow or else I would die. This was crazy. I hadn’t met a foe I couldn’t beat in months. But I remembered the words of my father when I once found a fish in the stomach of another fish.
,,No matter how powerful you are, there is always a bigger fish, one more powerful. If so, run with all the strength your legs can muster. Don’t forget that, son.” I had to run, and the sooner I began running, the better.

I started with the standard method of escape, teleportation. My recall fizzled, so did the Divine intervention. Panic began to close in on me as I tried an Almsivi. No luck either. Somehow, I’d managed to fail three spells of teleportation in succession, and Revan had moved into position to harass me again.
,,By decree of Queen-Mother Almalexia, teleportation is not allowed neither above nor below Mournhold!” Revan spoke from wherever he was now.

I couldn’t teleport, so I had to run physically. I lunged for the water and tried to trigger a skybolt. Like with the teleportation earlier, it failed and my speed remained within my mortal limits.
,,Almalexia keeps an eye on all those within her walls. No self-alteration of any kind but healing is permitted by her.” I couldn’t help but wonder how Revan then managed to use a spell of invisibility. I dove into the canal and swam to the submerged section as fast as I was able. Maybe, just maybe I could outrun my nemesis without the use of spells. Just to try, I used a light spell of invisibility myself. Fizzled again. Just how did Revan manage to dodge the damn rules put in place by that trice-cursed fake goddess?

When the ceiling rose again, I climbed out and began to run. So far, Revan had not yet interfered with my escape. Perhaps I did manage to outrun him. Something hit me on the head and I crashed into a wall. I spun around to face Revan, only again I was pushed up against the wall. I tried to move but I couldn’t. Apparently I wasn’t the only one with a touch of telekinesis.
,,In the end, no matter your skill, you are still a child.” Revan said. He rose both Wakizashis into my sight.
,,Go home, to Oblivion. If you don’t go there willingly, I shall send you. Go, Aedra!” I saw the two blades slice through the air, moving in two arcs that would intersect at my throat.
,,Go home!” The blades touched and the whole world seemed to explode into countless fragments. Then, even those fragments shattered.