Clark in Skyrim, A continued report from across the border. Options

[ghastley]

If mALX is back, then Clark should return too.

We left him in Evergloam at the beginning of the 4th Era, where Nocturnal had just inducted him and Minx as Nightingales, to join Dralsi. The two other members of the first trinity had been slain by Ogrim the Restless, who was the original occupant of the cave complex that became the Twilight Sepulchre.

He's about 225 years old now. Nocturnal and Azura made him immortal, rather than risk having to train a new one. He retired as a Nightingale some time ago, and went back into business managing brothels, and other enterprises that remain profitable in times of war. Much of the other intervening history should emerge as this unfolds.

-------------

Part 1 - Over the border

"So Gilda, have you been into Skyrim before?" Clark asked the young woman sitting next to him. Ahead of them, the horse plodded onward, pulling Clark's carriage along the road towards Helgen. He gave the reins a jiggle, but the horse's gait didn't change. It only knew slow and steady.

Gilda wasn't really paying attention. She was busy looking at the scenery, which is why Clark had asked. "Oh, what? No, I barely got a mile from our farm before now. Mother didn't like me wandering off; she was scared I'd run into bandits."

"Is that how your nose got broken?" Clark guessed.

"Yes, the one time I did get away, she turned out to be right. When the bandits found out I didn't have anything valuable, they ... well, you can imagine what they had in mind. I gave the first one who tried anything my knee, and he did that in return. The others didn't stop me when I ran off, they were too busy laughing at our discomfort."

"How long ago was that? It looks like it's been that way for a while."

"About five months, I think. One day was much like another at our farm, and I lost track of time. I can't thank you enough for getting me away from there."

Clark wasn't sure what had made him offer to take her with him. He did need a new apprentice, that was true, but why he'd suddenly decided it could be her was beyond him. It wasn't her looks, for certain. Apart from her nose, she had crooked teeth, and looked like she never ate anything. Her mother was the exact opposite, so it was clear where all the food went in that household. She was wearing one of her mother's hand-me-down dresses, which fit her like a sack.

But he'd stopped at the farm for directions when he left Bruma, and she'd caught his eye. Before he knew it, he'd told her mother she could have a good career as a merchant's apprentice, hinting that she might be able to send some of her earnings home.

And if she'd persuaded him to do that, she probably had some speech talent, so she might work out well. He'd need to heal her nose, and fix her teeth first, and that would need more magicka than he had. Once he got to Whiterun, he'd be able to use the Alchemy lab at his house to make some fortification potions, but until then he couldn't do anything.

"We'll be in Helgen before long," he told her. "It's just over there, where you can see the smoke rising..." Clark's voice trailed off, as he realised that there shouldn't be that much smoke. Something had apparently set part of the town on fire, if not all of it.

They soon met a ragged bunch of imperial soldiers coming the other way, telling of a dragon attack on the town. Clark didn't think there were any dragons in Tamriel.

"Nor did we, until that one swooped down on us," the legionary told him. "We were preparing an execution for Ulfric Stormcloak and some of his men, when it was interrupted by a blast of magic. Threw everyone around like dolls. We'd heard that Ulfric could use the Thu'um like that, so we had him gagged, but a beast that size doing it was something else entirely."

"General Tullius and the Thalmor Ambassador were there too," one of the other men put in. "We have no idea if they got out."

Nobody knew if it was safe to try passing through. There were trails to Falkreath that might be preferable, as long as you weren't hauling anything heavy.

"But watch out for bandits if you go that way," another soldier advised. "That applies any time you leave the main roads in Skyrim."

Clark had heard much the same from legionaries in Cyrodiil. In his opinion, the roads weren't any safer than any other route, just better paved. He let his horse continue down the road.

Helgen was deserted when they got there. Most of the population seemed to be lying dead in the streets, scorched by the dragon's breath. Anyone alive had presumably fled, and the dragon itself was nowhere around. Clark decided to continue down into Riverwood and let them know what had happened. If the dragon didn't attack there next, of course.

---

Riverwood was intact, but they'd seen the dragon fly over. Gerdur, the mill-owner, told Clark that her brother Ralof had escaped from Helgen, and she thought that Hadvar, the legionary from the town, had too. Ralof had brought a stranger with him, and she'd gone on to Whiterun to warn the Jarl.

Clark knew from his earlier trips that Ralof was a Stormcloak, and he asked Gerdur if he'd been one of the men the soldiers had mentioned as due for execution. Ralof hadn't mentioned that part, just that he'd escaped from the dragon. But now it made sense why Hadvar had been there at the same time. "I'll make sure Ralof stays well hidden," she told Clark.

She turned back to what she'd been doing when they arrived. "When the dragon flew over, I was so startled, I dropped this firewood I'd just split in the river. I was trying to dry it out with a flare spell, but it looks like I'll just have to split some more."

"There's an easier way, you know," Clark told her. He took one of the pieces of firewood and stood it on a stump. "Cast a frost spell on it," he told Gerdur. She did so, until Clark told her to stop. "Now dispel the ice"

Gerdur didn't know that spell, so Clark taught it to her. "Now try the flare."

The wood caught immediately, and she quickly dispelled the flames. "I hardly used any magicka doing that. It was a lot easier than the way I was trying."

"Right, especially as the frost comes easily to you. Here, I'll help you finish these."

"You make it look so easy," Gerdur told him. "Are you sure you're an Imperial, not a Breton?"

"It's all practice, not magicka reserves," he told her. "It looks easy because I'm using less magicka than you would. Just like you know how to roll a log instead of doing it the hard way by lifting. But some spells are beyond my normal reach. That's why I have to wait until I get to Whiterun before I can heal Gilda's nose."

Gerdur noticed Gilda for the first time. "I can help her with a good meal, and you too. I owe you for that firewood trick."

"I hoped you might. Cooking is where you show your skill."

---

"Looking at her, I expected she had no appetite," Gerdur whispered to Clark. "But she's on her third helping of the stew already."

Clark told Gerdur that he suspected her mother had been starving her. Whether that was to keep her thin, or just because the mother ate all the food, he didn't know, but the mother was really fat. "She didn't think enough of Gilda to get her teeth straightened, so I doubt she had any positive feelings for her."

"If Gilda eats like that all the time, she might take after her," Gerdur warned.

"I don't expect she will. I'll get Lydia to look after her, and she'll keep her fit, not fat."

Lydia was Clark's housecarl in Whiterun. She'd been part of the deal when Jarl Balgruuf made Clark a Thane of the city, for his services to its people. He'd forgotten what he'd done for them; nothing major, just a lot of small things that added up. And the Jarl had noticed his effect on the local economy. Even the Khajiiti caravan that camped outside the gates seemed to be more prosperous after Clark had arrived.

They'd be at his house, Breezehome, by the end of the day, if there weren't any problems on the road.

---

"Oh, It's you, Thane," the guard at the gate knew Clark, even if he didn't know the girl. "Is she with you? I have orders to keep strangers out, with dragons sighted in the area."

Clark vouched for Gilda, and the guard opened the gate for them.

"That's a new development," Clark remarked. "The only ones not allowed in before were the Khajiit traders. They have an unjustified reputation as thieves. Well, maybe it's partly justified, but they're not the worst. They just have a more sharing attitude to property than the Nords are accustomed to, and it's often misinterpreted."

---

"What have you got in the sack?" Lydia asked.

"That's not a nice thing to say," Clark admonished. "Even if that is a good description of her outfit. This is Gilda, my new apprentice, and we'll be exchanging that 'sack' for something better-fitting as soon as we can. She's about your height, so is there something in the wardrobe she can try on?"

"You know I only keep a few changes of armour. If you're looking for a dress, you're probably out of luck."

"Leather armour might be more comfortable, if it fits."

Gilda took a look in the wardrobe, but there weren't any dresses, and the leather was loose, even with the straps tightened all the way. She put the "sack" back on, and tied the string back around her waist.

"We have to go to Belethor's in the morning anyway. We'll find you something then. Come out to the back room while I brew up some potions, and then I'll see what I can do about your nose," Clark told her.

Lydia was already back at the cookpot, stirring up some food. She could see that the poor girl needed feeding, even if Clark couldn't.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Oct 2 2014, 07:52 PM

[Acadian]

Quite a challenging trek through the Vile puzzle-mine.

Hopefully, the combined power of both Azura and Nocturnal can undo Vile’s foul work on Greta.

One more room for Clark and Gilda to clear while the Daedric Sisters work their magicks on Greta. Hopefully, this last room will not pose any more surprises.

[ghastley]

@Acadian: Well, slightly surprising.

----------

Previously: Azura and Nocturnal have sent Clark and Gilda to deal with the remaining Succubi, while they work on Greta.

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Part 92 - Andariel's Lair

They soon found out what that cryptic remark meant. The boss Succubus bore a strong resemblance to Diablita, with the same horns, and wings that looked like they actually worked. However, she was at least nine feet tall, and her face bore an expression of hate the Dragonborn never could have worn.

She hurled a cloud of poison in their direction, and her entourage of succubi added their spells too. But Clark already had his impenetrable ward up, and he could sustain that as long as he liked. So far, an impasse, unless Gilda could sway the balance somehow. She stepped out from behind the ward, and fired off a bolt of lightning at the nearest succubus.

It had little effect. "I think that one's using shock herself, and they're probably immune to their own spell," Clark suggested. "Try her again with ice, or fire."

The succubus had already moved across to the other side, trying for a different angle. Gilda suspected the blue-skinned succubi used frost spells, so she tried her lightning again on one of those. It was much more effective, and the creature staggered. Before Gilda could fire again, however, she had to dodge the counter-fire from a couple more of them.

"The ones wearing red are using fire spells," Clark announced. "I can tell from the way they hit the ward. And you're right about the blue ones using frost."

There were a few Dremora there, too, armed with swords, but Clark was able to block with his sword, and riposte. Since they lacked any coordinated attack, he managed to deal with them one at a time, without having to interrupt his ward. Gilda, meanwhile, had had her first success against the succubi.

"I'm trying to take out the shock-casters first," she told Clark. "I don't want them to drain my magicka. I can stand a few hits of frost, so the blue-skinned ones can wait."

"Don't let them draw you away from the ward," Clark reminded her. "All their spells will slow you down, and you'll get hit again, before you can get back to safety. Step out, fire, and duck back as quick as you can."

"I'm already doing just that. But unless we can lure them closer, they can use the pillars the same way."

"Then let's back up a little, and see if they follow."

"We can't go far, or we'll end up in the doorway, and I won't be able to go around the ward."

There was just enough room. The succubi came out from behind the pillars, still firing off their slow but relentless stars of elemental force. Because they could just cast one spell after another, without any consideration of magicka cost, they did so at a predictable rate, and Gilda was soon able to time her counter-strikes accordingly. One by one, the succubi succumbed to her spells, until only one frost-caster, and the boss, remained.

"While they're close together, we can advance without worrying about flanking fire. Let's move!"

As expected, their adversaries fell back and were soon herded unto a corner of the platform.

"You take out the blue one," Clark told Gilda, and swigged a potion before drawing his sword. He dropped the ward and stepped forward into the barrage of spells. Although they slowed his progress to a crawl, he was already close enough to swing, and the huge woman burst into flames as he struck. He had only a couple of minutes before the poison resistance wore off, but it looked like it would be enough.

Before Clark could finish her, however, she was pulled back to her Daedric origins in a flash of crackling lightning. Clavicus Vile's voice spoke to them.

"Fine, so you've won this round. Take your Greta and begone. I'll just find another way to recruit my legions. There's always someone greedy enough to accept my offers."

---

When they got back to Greta, she was already released from the pillory, and her wings had disappeared. Hopefully, that hadn't been as painful as the process of implanting them had looked.

"You know, I like the look of these outfits," said Nocturnal. "What do you think?" As they watched, her skin darkened to the glowing black that Clark remembered from the first time they met. A red pair of thigh-high boots replaced the slippers she'd been wearing, and matching gloves appeared on her arms. Finally a red thong took the place of her skirt.

Clark noticed, even if nobody else had, that her proportions had become more ... proportionate. Nocturnal wasn't lacking in the boob area, but she wasn't looking as top-heavy as when she arrived. They'd brought Greta back down to merely awesome, too, when they purged her wings, and now Nocturnal was matching that.

"Spectacular," agreed Clark, "especially the way the red matches your lips. A nice detail, that."

"I prefer blue," Azura remarked. "Always have." She proceeded to demonstrate her version, which Clark found equally appealing.

"I'm glad you didn't go for blue lips, they wouldn't looked right."

Nocturnal chuckled, and asked Greta for her opinion. "I like black. Whoever picked my outfit for me knew what he was doing." She still wasn't sure about wearing anything this ... sexy. She'd been trying not to attract attention, ever since she grew large enough to do so. Black was a good shade for avoiding attention. And there was no way she'd ever have walked around topless before she joined the monastery, but if all these women thought it was good, maybe they had a point.

"He also did a good job on the enchanting, so hang on to it. It has frost shield, so you can wear it anywhere, and more magicka fortification and regeneration than you could possibly need. Did you learn the spells, too?"

"Just the fire one. Which surprises me, I'd have expected him to give a Nord frost."

"You weren't going to be a Nord any more, after the transformation completed. The basic Succubus spell is a fire spell, and the Snow Witches get frost, the Soul Burners get shock, and the Hell Spawn a stronger fire spell again. We'll teach you all of them, so you won't have to worry about anyone being immune," Azura told her.

"What's your preference, Gilda?" asked Nocturnal.

"I'm with you in liking the red," Gilda replied. "but I like myself the pale shade of Nord I am."

Azura snapped her fingers, and Gilda's outfit changed to match her choice.

"Don't you all look at me like that," said Clark. "I'd look stupid in any of them."

---

It wasn't until they were back up in the Monastery that Clark noticed that Greta was wearing an amulet.

"They gave me one like Gilda's. Told me I'd find it helpful. They were right!"

She noticed that the priestesses and acolytes looked strangely different. She turned to Clark with a quizzical expression on her face. "What happened up here, while I was gone? Everyone's smiling, and there's something about their posture."

"I enchanted their robes with the same one that's on your amulet. They're feeling a lot more comfortable now," he replied. "And they're smiling because you're back, too."

"Are you planning to stay here, or come with us?" Gilda asked her cousin. "Now you've got those spells, you can look after yourself a lot better."

"I still don't know how to deal with the men I'm going to encounter," Greta replied. "I won't want to set them on fire, just for taking an interest. And I'm not going to learn that here. So, yes, I do want to come with you for a while, if you'll have me."

"I probably shouldn't be saying it while he's listening, but you won't find a better teacher than Clark. And he has the additional benefit of being immortal, so if you do decide to fry him, freeze him, or zap him, it won't matter."

Gilda smiled at Clark. "I know you'll teach her everything else she needs to know, won't you?"

---

"Why didn't you summon Drelka for the final show-down? She wouldn't have any of the problems we did."

"Because I suspected Clavicus Vile was aware what was going on, even before he spoke to us. If I'd used her, he'd probably have summoned a counter of his own, like a Daedroth. Something with a physical attack that would have introduced a whole new set of problems. Like Hircine, he prefers a contest that's not too heavily biased in his favour, so he gets to bargain with his opponent, and enjoy the inevitable double-cross in the agreement."

"And do you think he's found a way to cheat us with Greta?"

"I'm sure he expects her to be more of a handful that we'd bargained for."

"You could be right," Greta said. "I know I should feel violated after all that, but I can't, because I know I was the one who started it all. Clavicus Vile didn't cause my cravings, he just let them out. All the things I did with that Necromancer, I wanted, and they felt good. I even thought I was in control, at least some of the time, and I liked that.

"But now I'm just confused. I don't know what was me, and what was Succubus."

Azura tried to be reassuring. "At least Barbas didn't get involved. He's a shape-shifter, and his idea of doggy-style can be a little too literal." When she saw the look on Greta's face, she wished she hadn't mentioned that.

"Not me, but I did see a dog sniffing around the others. Do you think that was ...?"

This post has been edited by ghastley: Feb 12 2020, 03:19 PM

[Acadian]

You did a nice job of blending Clark’s ward with his blade and Gilda’s spells. Having to sort out the most effective spell for the various flavors of succubus was a nice touch.

Finally got Gilda back, not much the worse for wear.

I enjoy how you, like McB used to, provide plenty of interaction with Daedra Lords where they get a chance to really develop personalities.

Barbas. . . bad dog!


Nit: Ar{z}ura tried to be reassuring.

[ghastley]

@Acadian: "Personality" is part of bringing them down a bit to merely "mortal plus incredible power" which is the way I think the Greeks imagined their pantheon. Since Bethesda went down that road, I feel obliged to follow.

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Previously: Clark and Greta defeated Andariel to reclaim Gilda from Clavicus Vile. This episode is rather short, serving only to link into Clark's ESO story.

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Part 93 - Aftermath

Nocturnal left them to go down and see to the other women in the necromancer's "surgery". She'd see which ones could be saved, and which were too far changed. Even those might find a new home in Evergloam, or Moonshadow. She'd be on the lookout for a "stray dog", too.

Azura stayed behind to talk with Clark. "I need to speak with you here on Nirn," she told him. "I can explain things here, without it causing any complications, because you won't remember it when it matters."

Clark was curious. "Why does it matter what I remember?"

"Not what, so much as when," Azura replied, "because my next job for you already happened. You need to follow Clavicus Vile, and prevent him from causing more problems. And don't argue, now. You already did."

"Did what?"

"Travel back into the past. Stop Clavicus Vile from interfering with the Tribunal, and disrupting history. I'll be helping you. We both will. But because it's your past, you won't remember anything about now, or that would cause as many problems as Vile does."

"Will I still be immortal? You'll be sending me back before that happened."

"Yes, because we did that in Moonshadow, where time is ... different. You noticed when you first came, that it's always twilight there; the sun is always just rising or setting. And Evergloam is always night. Time passes the way we want it to pass, even backwards if that's what is needed.

"I'll take you back to Moonshadow, move you back to the right time, and then send you to Vvardenfell. You've visited some of that island, so you'll know the older parts. And my shrine is where it always was, if you need to go there."

Gilda was curious. She'd only known of Vvardenfell as an uninhabitable volcanic waste. You could see the smoke from Red Mountain from the Skyrim coast, or Solstheim. Had Clark gone there before it erupted?

"Yes, briefly, shortly after Morgiah and Rinalla went to Mournhold. I paid a visit to Morrowind, and played tourist for a while," Clark told her. "it was mostly so I could see them ouside the Mournhold court, where Helseth's spies would be breathing down our necks all the time. Every family seems to have an ancestral tomb or two over on the island, and pilgrimages are common. They made a short trip over, and I met them there.

"They were back in Deshaan, and I was back in Cyrodiil, when the eruption happened. House Hlaalu was ruined by the subsequent events, but I believe they went into hiding under different names. Resourceful people like them always find a way."

Azura probably knew, but she wasn't telling. None of them would be around in the period Clark needed to go to, not even Barenziah. "About the only person who could be there is Divath Fyr. He's probably as immortal as you are, Clark, although he's not had any help from the Daedric Princes. He was a contemporary of the Tribunal, and we think he found his own way to do it, without using the Heart of Lorkhan."

"I never met him, so that won't really be an issue," Clark pointed out. "But the Tribunal: Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec, are all dead now, aren't they?"

"Yes, they never completely separated themselves from this world, so their immortality needed to be sustained by artificial means," Azura responded. "They depended on the Heart of Lorkhan, but Dagoth Ur, and the Nerevarine, got in the way of that. I think the only one of those five that survived at the time was the Nerevarine, ironically the only true mortal among them."

"So like the Champion of Cyrodiil, he'd have become a victim of time," Clark surmised.

"Well the Champion gets to live on as part of Sheogorath. His time as the Madgod changed the Shivering Isles and in turn its master, when he returned. He became the Madgod, so the Madgod became him, at least partly. And he's much better for the addition. I don't think Jyggalag will be returning any more."

Gilda was patiently waiting to ask a question. "What about our plans for Greta, if Clark's going away?"

"Oh, don't worry about that. When it's all over, I'll bring him back to now. So he'll return about the same time he left, and the interruption will be minimal. He'll just have a lot of extra stories to tell - if he wants to."

That just took away Clark's last objection, too. It looked like he had a trip coming.

[Acadian]

Since moving among era's will eventually become part of Buffy's story as well, it is fabulous to see how Clark is doing so. And via Azura's Moonshadow is a wonderfully creative idea. Once again, I like your depiction of the Daedric Princes.

Will this story be resting then until Clark's adventures in the 2nd Era are complete?

[Grits]

Yikes, a succubus factory!

"Don't you all look at me like that," said Clark. "I'd look stupid in any of them."

I’d have to see it to judge.

I love that Azura uses Moonshadow to move Clark to when she wants him in the Second Era. Now, on to his ESO adventures!