I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Renee]

"They caught an intruder" Teinaava says. Uh oh. Wonder if it is who I think it is.

Yep. Sure is (Rayenna). Oh gosh. They fed from her??? Dang. As fIcked up as I think Rayenna is, now I feel bad for her. Then again, who did she think she is, trying to sneak into their hideout that way?

Wow, and she's sticking with her 'traitor' story, trying to frame Lena, after all this. Guess she doesn't remember any of what happened.

Sheesh, this is depressing. But as I said... who did she think she is.

"Rayenna will wait for the Night Mother's judgement. The vampire will not touch her until then."

Yikes.

Here

[Lena Wolf]

"They caught an intruder" Teinaava says. Uh oh. Wonder if it is who I think it is.

Yep. Sure is (Rayenna). Oh gosh. They fed from her??? Dang. As fIcked up as I think Rayenna is, now I feel bad for her. Then again, who did she think she is, trying to sneak into their hideout that way?

Do you choose justice or mercy?

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - A dream

Lena was lying on a beach, her chest slashed open, her heart missing. A dragon was standing over her. "Take up arms, newly Arisen," he said. "Come and face me."

Lena sat up with a jerk. Her heart was beating fast, it was still in her chest, with an ugly, rugged scar over it. She looked around. A room with many beds, an inn perhaps. Smells of cooking wafting in through the curtain in the doorway. Salty sea air coming in through a window. Voices downstairs... Familiar voices. Cassardis. She'd simply had a bad dream.

Her head hurt. Was there another party at Pablo's last night? Did she overdo it again with his whiskey? She tried to remember what went on. She remembered being in the Rift, fighting... God? That must have been the whiskey or another dream... That didn't seem possible!

And before that? The Everfall, fighting tough monsters for no reason, collecting wakestones... The world of Gransys all dark, overrun by monsters from the Bitterblack Isle... That didn't feel like a dream. She pressed her hand to her chest, feeling her heartbeat. She had defeated the dragon, got back her heart, but the world crumbled in response... She had to fix it... She didn't know what to do, they'd been trying to find out what happened, but ran out of leads... Scorpio should be there somewhere, getting coffee, perhaps?

She got up and went downstairs. Pablo was there, smiling, pouring her a cup, Benita popped in for breakfast, other villagers were coming and going, fishermen brought in their catch of the morning... But Scorpio wasn't there. She asked Pablo about him. "Haven't seen him, no," Pablo shook his head. "Isn't he with you? I haven't seen you come in, you must have got here during the night... Sorry, cousin, don't know."

She felt a pang of panic in her chest. "No, wait, calm down," she told herself. "He must be here somewhere..."

Lena went outside. The sea was calm and life was back to normal, at least in Cassardis. "A good start to any task is talking with others; let's begin with that." She remembered what every pawn would tell her every time she was about to rush into something without so much as a thought... "Perhaps I should listen to them for once," she told herself. She went around talking to everyone, but it didn't help - no one had seen Scorpio, or any of the other pawns for that matter, although there was talk of the dragon's second coming... "But there's always talk of that, pay it no mind," was the common consensus. Finally, Lena decided to have a look outside the village, to make sure that the world really got back to normal. She went towards the village gate...

...

Rook was being recalled. "There is a new Arisen," he was told. "You know what to do." A portal opened and he stepped through it.

...

"Cassardis?" Rook landed on sandy ground, he looked around, recognising the village. "Gransys again, then. Who is it this time?" There was a guard by the entrance, a few fishermen carrying fish, children playing... "Wolf?" A woman with a bow and daggers was fumbling with the village gate, her dragon leather vest and hydra skin boots contrasting with everyone else's simple summer attire... "Wolf?!" She spun around. "Rook!"

...

"As far as I'm concerned, you are the newly Arisen," Rook was looking her over. "That's what I've been told - there's a newly Arisen, and so it is my duty to guide you until you get your own pawn," he was scratching his head. "This is most strange."

"This riftstone isn't working, and I can't find Scorpio," Lena looked at Rook with worry. "And I am not the Arisen, my heart is still in my chest."

"Once an Arisen, always an Arisen," Rook dismissed her argument. "This riftstone is only peripheral, not guaranteed to work. Let's try the encampment."

...

"Well met, newly Arisen! Can you hear our voice?" Lena received the standard greeting when she touched the riftstone on the encampment. "Pray, prove your valor now!"

"What?! Bloody Legion with their bloody tests!!!" Lena's dagger was about to shatter the riftstone when Rook caught her hand.

"Don't," he restrained her. "Not until you get Scorpio back." Lena sighed and relaxed. "Come on, there should be a monster in need of slaying here somewhere..."

A cyclops slain and goblins scattered, Lena returned to the riftstone. She touched it, and this time she was offered to select a pawn.

"Scorpio," she said.

"Are you sure?" The voice sounded doubtful. "This is your chance to pick someone else!"

"Scorpio."

"Still that one, is it? As you like..." The voice sounded deeply disappointed. Scorpio stepped out of the Rift.

...

"But what is going on?" Lena was looking at Rook and Scorpio in turn. They returned to Cassardis and were sitting in Pablo's inn.

"You are back, cousin, that's what matters most," Pablo was putting more and more food on the table. "And your pawns with you. The dragon can come back anytime, I don't care, for you'll slay him again. I have faith in you, cousin!"

"The dragon was supposed to be gone for fifty years though," Lena squinted at him. "I don't understand." But Pablo just shrugged - he didn't understand it either, and didn't care, besides.

"I would ask aught of you, cousin," Benita rushed in. "I need those flowers... Oh, hello, Rook!" She blushed, just only noticing Rook and Scorpio at the table. "Err... the flowers... you know, the ones you collected before... for the medicine..." She couldn't take her eyes off Rook for some reason.

"Sunbright and moonglow, yes," Lena patted her hand. "I remember."

"Right, I'll see you later then," Benita nodded, still looking at Rook, then turned around and dashed out of the room. Lena looked at Rook, he too was blushing.

"Umm... Is there something we need to know?" Lena said softly.

"Not yet," Rook shook his head, and Lena didn't insist.

...

"So, let's review," Lena was having the hardest time getting her head around what happened, separating dreams from reality. "The Everfall is a portal, a complex series of portals in fact, Ok, I can live with that," she pulled a grape off a bunch and put it on the table. "There are many worlds similar to Gransys, all connected to the Everfall, and you pawns can travel between them. The space in between is known as the Rift." Another grape went down.

"The Rift is then actually the same as the Everfall," Scorpio ate her last grape.

"Mmm... No, not the same," Lena plucked another grape. "The Everfall is a portal to the Rift, how abou that?" She put the grape down.

"All right," Scorpio inclined his head. "We pawns travel between those worlds, but Arisen cannot do that, so you never meet other Arisen." He picked a grape and put it down.

"Except the ones that are in this world already," Lena objected, but didn't remove his grape. "Like the Duke, the Dragonforged, Selene's Arisen, Barroch on the Bitterblack Isle..."

"Yeah, the ones that have given up," Rook nodded. "But not other Arisen who are still chasing the dragon."

"But what happens if, say, Barroch all of a sudden decides to go after the dragon?" Lena raised her eyes to both of them.

"He can't."

"Impossible."

"I disagree," Lena shook her head. "It's unlikely, yes, but not impossible. And obviously you don't know of any such occurrence," she grinned.

"All right, skip that." Rook plucked a grape and ate it. "What about that duel with the Seneschal? You fought him, killed him, became one yourself, then killed yourself. Who is the Seneschal now?" He plucked a grape and held it in the air.

"No clue," Lena shook her head. "No one?"

"The Legion will have put someone there to replace you," Scorpio looked dubiously at both of them. "Because the dragon is back, and if you go through with it all again, you'll be back in the Rift, and there must be another Seneschal there to face you."

"But the Seneschal doesn't do anything," Lena was getting very confused. "What is the point of his existence?"

"To make you stop asking questions, perhaps," Scorpio smirked. "It worked for a while, too."

"Hmm... We are not getting very far with this," Lena looked at the very short string of grapes that they had laid out on the table. "I killed the previous Seneschal upon his own request with his special sword, but if he always had that sword with him, why did he not just kill himself already? Like I killed myself afterwards?"

"Because killing yourself is not easily done, perhaps?" Scorpio took her hand. "You are an assassin, he wasn't."

"I am an assassin, true," Lena nodded, playing with the Arisen's Bond on Scorpio's finger. "But that doesn't explain why I am still alive, and he isn't."

"D'you know, I had the strangest dream..." Scorpio gave her a long look. "When you stabbed yourself... Or may be it wasn't a dream, I am not sure..." He paused for a moment, then continued. "The misty chamber we were in, turned into a portal - the floor vanished an we were falling, you and I, or rather, your dead body and I... Like falling through the Everfall. And I felt as if... Now, this is really weird..." He paused again, and blushed. "I felt as if my body was transforming into yours... I was becoming a girl... Err..."

"Finally, your true nature reveals itself!" Rook erupted with laughter. "I always knew you were..."

"I am no such thing!!" Scorpio looked very angry, but of course he could see it was a joke.

"Bestowal of spirit is what it was," Rook said quietly. "You were supposed to look like your Arisen, but in your case it was more than just a change of hairstyle."

"But bestowal of spirit presumes that the pawn is an empty vessel, ready for the Arisen's spirit to enhabit and to modify," Lena mused. "It might have worked with Selene, but I'd rather say it didn't work, because she still couldn't make any decisions of her own afterwards... Show me your pawn print," Lena said suddenly, turning Scorpio's palm upwards. "Still here." She sounded releaved and disappointed at the same time.

"If it had gone out, you would not have been able to find me in the Rift," Scorpio pointed out. "When you killed yourself, my pawn bond to you was released."

"Which is why the Legion had said I could pick a different pawn," Lena nodded and grinned. "Fat chance!"

"But I still don't understand why you have been resurrected," Rook picked another grape and ate it. "If you were such trouble for the Legion to begin with, why bring you back?"

"They didn't..." Scorpio said slowly. "Wolf was supposed to be dead, or at best her spirit was supposed to live out its life in my transformed body. But I resisted..."

"You execised your will," Rook said softly.

"My pawn bond had been released, but not the Arisen's Bond... Its magic is indeed most powerful."

"Not its magic," Rook shook his head. "It was your own doing. Your will. You brought her back."

They sat silent for a while, taking in the full meaning of it.

"If a pawn who exercises his will, can defy death itself, I wonder what else such a pawn can do?" Rook mused, looking out into the street, watching the locals go about their business, Benita among them. What else indeed.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The events described in this and the previous episode are the actual events in the game - this is the path you have to take to unlock New Game+. It isn't called like that in the game itself, but this is a feature common to many games - the story is restarted from the beginning, but you keep your character, skills and inventory as it was at the end of the previous game. In Dragon's Dogma, a few other things are carried over as well.

Except that the story does not add up. This is the biggest gripe of Dragon's Dogma fans with respect to the story: the ending shows the "bestowal of spirit" happening with your pawn effectively becoming you: he's got your body, your soul and your love interests... err... something is wrong here... Other questions remain, such as who is now the Seneschal since you killed yourself, and why the world of Gransys is once again the same as it was before. In this episode I tried to offer my own explanation in order to link it all together. In my mind, time does not get "rewound" to the beginning, but instead we have the second coming of the dragon.

This is the first time I am playing NG+ because this is the first time I managed to avoid the problem of an incredibly overpowered character in an unleveled world. This time I have mods.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The second coming

The events followed an eerily familiar pattern. Olra stood on the pier in Cassardis at night calling Lena to explore the Bitterblack Isle. A hydra attacked the encampment, but retreated once one of its heads was cut off. Ser Mercedes from a neighbouring duchy was back, leading the men of the Enlistment Core, and once again she insisted on taking the hydra's head to the Duke as a tribute. "He will want to know of this attack," she said. "And the head will serve to convince him that yes, once again it was a hydra." She was young and ambitious, but she was making sense. She blushed recognising Lena, but made no mention of some embarrassing events from the past, even though her attitude was visibly changed.

"The Duke is well, I trust?" Lena asked and Ser Mercedes nodded. So, the curse was lifted, it seemed.

"He'll try to have you killed again," Scorpio said in her ear. This was to be expected, after all, who was to say that Lena wouldn't take the dragon's bargain this time around?

...

Gran Soren had been rebuilt! The citizens were back in their original homes, or at least in new buildings where their original homes had stood. No one seemed to mind, and everyone was praising the Duke for rebuilding their city so quickly. "Overnight, can you imagine?" People were saying, attributing all the glory to the Duke.

"How are things here?" Lena greeted Barnaby, the pawn in charge of the door to the Everfall.

"The Everfall had been quiet after... you know," he shuffled uncomfortably. "It closed again as soon as you jumped in... Then the hole in the city was covered and the buildings restored overnight." Barnaby sounded a bit surprised. "Made me realise that what we... I... do here at the Pawn Guild, is not guard the Everfall itself, but just the door to it. Oh well."

"Do you ever go in at all?" Lena squinted at him.

"Err... we don't normally, no," Barnaby admitted. "We dust the riftstone, at best." He patted the riftstone. "If I might ask aught of you, Arisen..." Lena smiled, she thought she knew what was coming. "We felt tremours again. Would you go and check what is going on?"

"Sure, why not," Lena nodded. "I know what to expect."

...

"The light is back," Lena informed Barnaby when they returned from the Everfall. "We were chased by the tentacles again, it's a gazer, but the gazer itself wasn't there. Nothing you can do about that," she shook her head as Barnaby was about to say that they would redouble their efforts in guarding it. "Now that I've seen it, the gazer won't show up until I kill the dragon again," she assured him. "You'll see."

"So you are going after the dragon, are you?" It was Barnaby's turn to squint. "Why? You still have got your heart, don't you?"

"I do," Lena nodded. "But I have other business I wish to discuss with him," she answered evasively. This time Lena wanted a portal to Tamriel.

...

"The dragon cannot transport you to Tamriel," Scorpio objected when they left the Pawn Guild. "You know that, right?"

"Yes, but he speaks for the Legion."

"I don't think it'll work."

"We'll see."

"Hmm."

"Having the last word does not mean that your will is stronger," Rook observed, shaking his head.

...

"Scarlet!!!" Lena rushed at a girl in the lightest of heavy armours with an impressive cutlass on her hip.

"Excuse me?" The pawn turned around - it wasn't Scarlet.

"Oh, sorry," Lena apologised. "Thought you were someone else."

"That's all right, Arisen," the girl smiled. "If you ever need anything else, do not hesitate to let me know," she winked, walking away.

"We'll find her, give it time," Rook said quietly. "Have you tried searching in the Rift?"

...

"Ser Maximilian will be glad to see you," Scorpio smiled at Lena after she was once again presented with the Wyrm Hunt License. "Especially after what happened with that attempted arrest."

"Erm... How did you know?" Lena squinted at him and blushed a very deep red.

"Someone saw you," he said evasively. "But not to worry, I'm bound to you again, whatever you do," he winked.

What Scorpio was alluding to, was not the day when Lena went to see the Duke and got accused of witchcraft. It was true that Ser Maximilian and his men of the Ducal Guard did not manage to arrest Lena then, but it wasn't for the lack of trying. They chased her to the edge of the Everfall, surrounding her on all sides and cutting off every possibility of escape... except into the Everfall itself. Lena jumped, setting further events in motion.

When she returned to Gran Soren later, the guards in the city had no quarrel with her, but then again, they did not belong to the Ducal Guard either. She wanted to speak to Ser Maximilian though, she felt it was important, but wasn't sure why... Important to herself, perhaps. She fancied the man, yes, but there was more to that than a mere attraction.

One evening Lena went to the castle. Of course as soon as she entered the walled part of the city, she was set upon by the Ducal Guard. Ser Maximilian appeared, but Lena dashed through the lowering castle gate into the castle grounds, and there into the dungeons. The castle was largely devoid of guards, and she was hoping to find a quiet corner to talk. Her gamble paid off - the dungeons were not only unguarded, but following a familiar route through a hole in the wall in one of the cells, she ran out of the city walls altogether.

"What the..?" Ser Maximilian saw the hole in bewilderement, realising that it had been there for a very long time. However, he continued chasing Lena until they stood on large rocks that formed the foundation of Gran Soren, looking out into the sea. The path that used to run along the city wall, had collapsed, and there was no where further to go. "Aha!" He exclaimed. "In the name of the Duke, I hearby arrest..."

"Stop," Lena said softly, shaking her head, and put her finger across Ser Maximilian's lips. "There's no one here."

"My duty does not end with the city walls," Ser Maximilian objected, but didn't continue.

"I know," Lena nodded. "Which is why I wanted to tell you a few things. Come, let's sit down."

They talked for a quite a long time. Lena told Ser Maximilian of the events in the Tainted Mountain Temple, first with Salvation ("Salvation, again!"), then with the dragon. She told him of the dragon's bargain, and he was gobsmacked.

"It is bizarre, completely out of this world," he shook his head. "The Duke's duel with the dragon was such a long time ago... No one alive was even born when it took place. Of course we all assumed that the dragon greatly increased the Duke's longevity..." He shook his head again. "And he did, in a way..."

"Point being, the hole in the middle of Gran Soren is not my fault," she looked at him and smiled. "And I did not curse the Duke, nor do I want his throne."

"I couldn't believe that myself," Ser Maximilian nodded. "But the Duke has been good to us, he has been good for Gransys all these years... and I am sworn to uphold his word."

"I understand," Lena nodded too. "But you also do not stop to use your brain. You understand the tasks of the Wyrm Hunt now, don't you?"

"Designed to capture everyone's attention and try to get you killed in the process," he smirked. "Clear as day. But understandable. Damned politics! That's why I joined the Guard and not the Court..!"

"Against your family's wishes, I hear," Lena thought she read it in his expression. She'd heard some talk, and now it seemed it was true.

"My family..." He smirked. "I am sharing quarters with mere soldiers and fraternising with an assassin... of no noble descent, I presume..." He smiled and took her hand. "It would have been the talk of the entire Guard, if not for the destruction of Gran Soren... That night at the Greatwall Encampment... we weren't exactly discreet." He kissed the palm of her hand.

"Assassin... not in Gransys," Lena shook her head. "How did you..?"

"I saw you fight, didn't I?" He grinned, sliding his hand under her jacket and retrieving a box of poisoned shivs. "You are a dangerous woman."

"To some, more than to others," Lena smiled, removing her weapon belts.

What happened next, made no logical sense, yet it felt right to both of them.

...

"When did you learn of that?" Lena turned to Scorpio, her face still fiery red.

"Soon after it took place," he said. "Someone made it a point to make me aware of your 'outing'."

"Yet you said nothing, and still came when I called for you in the Rift." Lena came close to him, looking into his eyes. "You kept the Arisen's Bond too. Why?"

"This isn't a wedding ring," he raised his hand with the Arisen's Bond on his finger. "This isn't that kind of a bond. I can't explain it... but it holds, I know. Perhaps time will tell. It hasn't matured yet."

[Renee]

Do you choose justice or mercy?

Me? As in, me, personally? I'd choose some sort of mercy. Maybe keep the traitor locked up, or somesuch. But it's never really up to me; it's up to the characters in the story. That's the roleplay way!

Uh oh. Night Mother has spoken. Wow, what a punishment. That's actually worse in a way than death. Every time she sleeps, she faces judgement. Bravo, what an outcome!

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Do you choose justice or mercy?

Me? As in, me, personally? I'd choose some sort of mercy. Maybe keep the traitor locked up, or somesuch. But it's never really up to me; it's up to the characters in the story. That's the roleplay way!

True, but you are the one writing the story. Anyway, the Night Mother is not known for her merciful nature.

Uh oh. Night Mother has spoken. Wow, what a punishment. That's actually worse in a way than death. Every time she sleeps, she faces judgement. Bravo, what an outcome!

In some of the conversations between the members of the DB or possibly conversations of others about the DB, it is alluded that exile means facing the Wrath of Sithis every time you sleep. At least this is what I remember. Not just once as it is done for the player, which is ridiculous. So Rayenna gets the standard punishment.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Release

"So it's true, the dragon is back and you are still the Arisen," Ser Maximilian smiled, greeting Lena near the castle grounds. "I've got tasks for you... err... rather similar to last time," he grimaced. "But duty is duty, so here you are." He handed her a list of tasks. "Are you still..."

"...going after the dragon?" Lena finished his sentence. "Oh yes. See you around, Max."

She gave him a quick wave and he blushed.

"Max?" Scorpio grinned.

"'Ser Maximilian' is rather long, don't you think?" Lena grinned back. "It will be easier going this time, now that we know what the tasks are all about."

"Staying alive."

"Precisely."

...

Lena wanted to confront the dragon in order to demand a portal to Tamriel. Demand, ask, beg - whichever, as long as it worked. She intended to grab Scorpio's arm and pull him in with her as well - she wasn't losing him again. She didn't know if it would work, or if Scorpio would object... She ignored all such concerns for the simple fact that she needed that portal first.

"The dragon doesn't go about burning the countryside as soon as he arrives," the old woman at the textiles shop in Cassardis shook her head when Lena said she wanted to force the matter and face the dragon right away. "You won't find him now. He sleeps first, gathers his strength. For how long? Who is to say..."

"So, how will I know when he's ready?" Lena furrowed her brow.

"You'll know," the old woman smiled. "You are the Arisen. He'll tell you, just like last time."

"How do you know all this..?" Lena was perplexed. She never told anyone, not even Scorpio, that the dragon could talk to her inside her head. But the old woman seemed to know it somehow.

"Faith knows," she inclined her head. "All anyone needs to do, is listen closely to their sermons and prophecies. It's all there. And I am an avid church goer," she smiled.

...

Back in Gran Soren, Lena was behaving strangely. She chased people down the street, picked them up, even threw one person off a parapet and into the river... He wasn't seriously hurt, but Lena got promptly arrested anyway.

"Back again?" The jailer grinned, recognising her from her previous stays. "Well, you know the drill: 5000 gold coins will buy you freedom."

"I don't think so," Lena shook her head, turning to the rats for bits of wood and bone to make a lockpick. Once she was out, her belongings would be returned to her - such were the rules.

And once out, she continued behaving badly.

"Don't!" Scorpio stopped her once or twice when she attempted to grab another person. But she pulled out her daggers and took a swing at a citizen, missing him by a long mile, but still earning herself a trip to the dungeons.

"What is wrong?" Scorpio held her by the shoulders when she was out again. "You are not yourself."

"I am," Lena's eyes looked empty. "I just... umm... You just haven't seen this side of me so far."

"What side?" Scorpio squinted. "This isn't the assassin at work, the vampire at feeding or the wolverine on a hunt, not the fury incarnate or the reckless adventurer delving into every cave without thinking... It isn't even the cornered Arisen jumping into the Everfall. What side of you are you talking about? You are no petty thief or town troublemaker."

Lena didn't answer. She slumped her shoulders and walked away, avoiding Scorpio's gaze. She was back in the dungeons by nightfall.

...

"What's gotten into her?" Scorpio was saying to Rook with worry, waiting for Lena at the dungeon exit in the sewers. It was once again locked from the inside. "Why these senseless arrests? She is making a nuisance of herself on purpose. D'you think she is possessed?"

"By what?" Rook smirked. "A rebellious teenage spirit? Don't be silly."

"I don't understand," Scorpio shook his head in desperation.

"I think... hmm... it looks like she is trying to shake you off," he squinted at Scorpio. "To make you dislike her... but why, I am not certain."

It's been several days, but Lena wasn't leaving the dungeons. Scorpio started to worry that she might have gotten herself into some real trouble this time, for she would not have been held that long for a petty offence. He decided to ask around.

"Criminals are held for a few days, then either executed or released," a guard told him. "That's the law. Your girlfriend's offences don't warrant an execution, so unless she keeps re-offending while locked up, she should be out by now."

"She's not my..." Scorpio started, then dropped that argument, deciding to focus on a more important issue. "How can she possibly commit another offence while being locked up in the dungeons?"

"She can insult the jailer," the guard shrugged. "Or pick the lock of her cell, or attempt to escape, or brawl with other prisoners, or... hmm... plenty of ways to get re-arrested."

...

"And that is for requesting a bribe," Lena was kicking the jailer as he was rolling on the floor of the dungeons, offering no resistance at all. "And for hitting me on the head with a rock... for not giving me any food... for stripping me naked while I was knocked out... for..." She paused. "Why aren't you resisting?"

"You're not wearing boots, which is why we strip all incoming prisoners naked and have them wear prison rags," he didn't seem to be in any pain. "And lack of food keeps you weak. I'm not interested in any part of your person, apart from your purse. And you can't hurt me 'cause I'm wearing armour," he grinned. "Oh, and we confiscated your shivs."

"Hey, Jacob! Need any help?" Another guard was looking in through the bars at the top of the stairs. "This one seems angry..."

"Nah, she just got her fine doubled," the jailer suddenly got up and pushed Lena back into her cell, locking it again. "She'll have to eat eventually, and I know she's got money."

...

Several more days have passed, but Lena was not coming out of the dungeons, not escaping and not getting released. Scorpio was seriously worried. "Something's not right," he kept saying. "That's not like her at all." Finally he decided that desperate times required desperate measures.

"Good morning, Ser Maximilian," he walked up to him when Ser Maximilian had a few moments free. "I know I'm not supposed to... but could I please have a word?" Needless to say, pawns were forbidden from talking to officials.

"Ser Arisen not with you?" Ser Maximilian looked around and squinted. "What's the matter?"

"It's about her," Scorpio didn't know how much time he had before the guards would drag him off, so he decided to be blunt. "She's in the dungeons... and not coming out. The back door is locked and I can't get to her... you know how it is. We're not allowed into the castle."

"And you want me to check on her," Ser Maximilian smirked. "Well, if the Arisen chooses to be a public nuisance, there's nothing I can do..."

"Please."

"Hmm..." Ser Maximilian looked around and lowered his voice. "It's not like her, granted. But I can't just leave my post. I'll go at night. Wait for me by the aqueduct exit outside the city walls... you know it, don't you?"

...

"Is there a problem, Commander?" Ser Jacob the jailer peered at Ser Maximilian through the bars. "We are not with the Ducal Guard."

"And I am not on an inspection," Ser Maximilian smiled at him - he had no jurisdiction in the dungeons. "Rather... err... I wondered if you could see it as a personal favour."

"That depends..." Ser Jacob twisted the strings of his coin purse. "What did you have in mind?"

"I would like to speak to one of your prisoners," Ser Maximilian casually produced a purse from his pocket and held it in his closed hand. "The Arisen," he smiled again. "She is supposed to be doing tasks for the Wyrm Hunt, but instead she is lodging here with you."

"She has several fines outstanding to her name," Ser Jacob leafed through a ledger.

"By all means," Ser Maximilian nodded. "I am not asking for her release. Just to visit her here."

This was enough for Ser Jacob to raise the bars and let Ser Maximilian in, who accidentally dropped the purse he was holding. Ser Jacob busied himself lowering the bars again and making sure no stray objects were left lying on the ground...

"Come with me," Ser Maximilian pushed the door of Lena's cell, realising that it wasn't locked.

"No," she backed off against the wall.

"Now." He stepped towards her, intending to grab her arm and lead her out, but she leapt forward, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing him until he started struggling for breath. "You can thank me later," he grinned. "Let's go."

"No."

By that time Ser Jacob was finished with the bars and started walking down the corridor towards Lena's cell. Ser Maximilian couldn't understand why Lena insisted on staying but felt it was the wrong thing to do, and remembering how she had picked him up and carried him from under the feet of a raging chimera, he now did the same, picking her up and carrying her out of the cell, just before Ser Jacob turned the corner. Their previous chase through the dungeons was still fresh in his memory, and he now silently thanked whoever dug out that hole in the wall... With another cell unlocked with his master key, he dashed to it, still carrying Lena over his shoulder.

"Now, explain." He said decisively, putting her down in one of the dead ends of the barred off section of the sewers. "You could have gotten out any time." But once again, Lena wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him, cutting off his words and offering no explanation. As much as he was enjoying it, he knew that something was off. He lifted up his lantern to have a good look at Lena's face. She looked gaunt, her skin turned grey with a tinge of green, her bloodshot eyes had yellowish mucus around them, her lips were cracked, her hair matted and missing in places... "What have you done to yourself?!" He exclaimed in horror.

"It shouldn't take much longer," Lena smiled. "You are too late, Max." She let go of him and dropped to the floor, scattering spiders and snakes, and only smiling when one of them pierced her leg with its fangs.

"What?!" Two swings of his sword cleared the place of vermin, but the lantern was now illuminating Lena's body as well. Her legs and arms covered in poisoned bites - small festering wounds left by repeated visits to the section of the sewers they were in. "How long?"

"A week, ten days perhaps," Lena smiled. "With no food... it won't be long now. The poison isn't strong, but..." She seemed to be getting tired from speaking alone. Even weak poison from spiders and snakes could kill, if repeatedly re-applied.

"But why..?!"

"Scorpio was right," she made another effort to speak. "The dragon will not grant me passage home. My staying here is trouble for all. You can do better than romancing me... Scorpio can do better than being bound to me... This is the only way to truly release him... I am an Arisen no longer, I still got my heart... The Legion cannot force him... He'll have his life back..." She closed her eyes and passed out.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - The Arisen's Bond

Commander of the Ducal Guard Ser Maximilian Eizenstern was seen leaving the castle dungeons by the door to the sewers, a limp corpse of a prisoner hanging over his shoulder. A few pairs of eyes squinted but no heads turned, as the people who dwelled there, were long used to various guards disposing of dead prisoners by carrying them out the aqueduct gate and throwing them into the sea. No one recognised the Arisen in that dirty corpse of a female with bloated legs and arms covered in festering warts.

Sir Maximilian pushed the bars of the aqueduct gate and stepped onto the rocks outside, looking out into the sea. The night was dark, with very few stars showing through the clouds, the waves were crushing onto the rocks. "Ideal," he thought, getting a grip on the corpse over his shoulder.

Two men without lanterns stepped out of the darkness. One quickly took off his coat spreading it on the rocky ground, the other started intoning a spell. Ser Maximilian nodded and put the corpse down.

"Poison," he said, and his words were drowned out by the sea. "She is very weak."

"Who did this?" Scorpio clenched his fists, having laid Lena on his coat and checked her pulse.

"She herself," Ser Maximilian shook his head. "I was too late... She stalled me, too," he blushed uncomfortably. "Before I realised what she had done. We must save her."

"She's got a lot of poison in her blood, infection too," Rook shook his head, casting spell after spell. "I can keep her alive for a while but she needs conventional healing. And even then..."

"You must try," Ser Maximilian squeezed Scorpio's wrist. "She said something... I didn't fully understand... She thought the dragon's second coming was her fault somehow, that she brought it onto Gransys... She said the dragon would never grant her passage home, that you were right, and that she had to release your bond... Her thoughts were all of you."

He fell silent. The only light and sound on that desolate rock was from Rook's incantations, and even that was swallowed by the crushing waves and gathering fog.

"Here, take this," Ser Maximilian handed Scorpio a polished ferrystone. "Fournival saw us talking this morning, put two and two together... She's got friends, you know. Take her to Cassardis, I'll forward on your things..."

They sat in silence. Scorpio opened his palm, his pawn print was all but extinguished.

"This is what she meant," he smirked with sadness in his voice. "Release my bond to the Legion. Her death would grant me life, would end my immortality... I would be a pawn no longer."

Rook's healing spells made the droplets of fog sparkle with soft greenish light.

"We should go," he said, putting away his staff. "We'll do all we can," he turned to Ser Maximilian. "Thank you. Letting go is never easy."

"I like her... a lot," Ser Maximilian nodded to Rook, then turned to Scorpio again. "I don't think I could have done much better than romancing her... Her words, those," he hastened to add. "But her bond is to you." He touched the Arisen's Bond on Scorpio's finger and the ring shone with warm golden glow.

They shook hands and Ser Maximilian stepped through the aqueduct gate back into Gran Soren proper. Rook tossed the ferrystone into the air, there was a flash of light and the night swallowed all.

...

Weeks passed, may be months. Lena was lying in bed on the top floor of Pablo's inn in Cassardis, her eyes were closed, her breathing regular, she was asleep. Scorpio was brushing her hair. Benita brought another vile of medicine, Rook was casting another spell. Lena just wouldn't wake up.

The first few days were hectic, with Rook and Scorpio scouring the woods for medicinal herbs and fungi, but at least it gave them something to do. After that all that was left was to wait. "She'll wake up when she's ready," Benita would say every passing day. "We've cleared the toxins, closed the wounds, there's nothing left that would be ailing her body... but her spirit needs healing too."

...

"She did this for me," Scorpio was sitting by her bed, holding her hand, stroking her hair. "But I never wanted to lose her... What's the point of a life if it's not shared?" He twisted the Arisen's Bond on his finger, the ring filled with warmth. "The magic in this ring..."

"The magic in this ring responds to your heart," Rook entered the room and pulled up a chair. "I've read this some place. Doesn't this bond represent what you hold most dear?"

They sat in silence for a while.

"You've been a pawn for too long, my friend," Rook put his hand on Scorpio's shoulder. "I, too. We pawns are condemned to loneliness till the end of times... No bond can last us a lifetime, for our lifetime has no end... And so we avoid all bonds, so as to spare us the pain of separation. Mortals are not like that. And I for one intend to try their way. Do you think she'll like this?" He suddenly produced a golden ring.

"Benita?" Scorpio smiled. "I don't see why not... Except that of course you are a pawn."

Rook left and Scorpio remained seated by Lena's bed, watching her sleep.

...

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered today to celebrate the union of this man and this woman..." The priest gave a broad smile and the congregation cheered. "The first in Gransys, I daresay... But the scriptures do not forbid it!" He beamed with joy at them all. "And thus it is my honour and my privilege to bless this marriage and to pronounce you husband and wife!"

The village chapel erupted with applause, cheer and laughter, flowers were thrown into the air and dancing commenced in the streets.

The top floor of Pablo's inn was quiet, with only some sounds of music coming in through the windows. "Rook and Benita are getting married today," Scorpio was saying to Lena, stroking her cheek as she slept. "I miss you so... Come back to me... This pawn needs his master..." He smirked at the canonical phrase. "No... this man is missing his bond..."

He took her in an embrace and kissed her like he never had done since that one night after they faced the dragon. They had a bond, yes. A bond strong enough to bring her back from the dead, yes. They were close, very close, but except for once, not in that way... Why not? What was he afraid of? A force of habit... he'd been a pawn for too long.

...

The weeks that followed were no different from the weeks that came before, except for the fact that Rook and Benita no longer needed to keep their love under wraps. Rook was a pawn, so what. He was their resident healer, and between his magic and Benita's herbs, no one in Cassardis ailed with anything for long.

Quina came to see Lena most days. "First the dragon steals her heart, and now this," she would shake her head. "Oh cos... I wish I knew what to do." She'd sigh, talk to Scorpio for a while, bring a new herb or flower from time to time to make the room more cheerful. "You don't know when she decides to wake up. We must make sure the room looks nice when that happens," she'd say with a smile. Like most villagers, she accepted the wait like people accepted rainy days, always knowing that the sun would appear again sooner or later.

Rook's wedding gave Scorpio a lot to think about. Pawns did not age, and so inevitably Benita would grow old while Rook would not. Then Benita would die but Rook would go on living... Would he marry again in another land? Was that worth the pain? "That's the pain that I am suffering now, with Wolf's spirit gone from her body," Scorpio realised one day. "Except that this is worse, for our bond is incomplete."

...

Lena was the Seneschal. She dwelled in a chamber covered in mist, looking down onto a world she did not know. She saw a village, a town, a city; it reminded her of Gransys, but Gransys it was not. A dragon descended onto the land, picked an Arisen; Lena knew what would happen next, if that Arisen survived long enough and didn't give up half way - a tall order indeed. Centuries passed, no Arisen challenged her reign. Lena felt empty. Her heart was beating evenly inside her chest, nothing ever causing a stir. She wasn't bored, she felt no pain. She felt nothing at all.

Sometimes a fleeting thought would make her wonder whether something was missing... whether someone should be with her... But then she would look into the mist of her chamber and shake her head. No. This was her cross to bear, and hers alone.

A cross? Or a ring? A tablet? Confusing images would rush through her head sometimes, but vanish before she could capture the meaning.

It was like a dream.

"A ring, definitely a ring," an image appeared long enough for her to see it properly. "A magical ring, too, look how it glows," she smiled to herself. "Was that mine?"

She saw herself flinging the ring into a far corner of a cave, behind some rubble. "If I cannot give it to the one I choose, it is of no use to me," she heard herself say. Her hand touched another person... Who was that? The image vanished - she couldn't recall.

Days replaced nights in the world below, life went on as before. Another dragon descended upon the land, another Arisen was chosen, another link in the endless chain was forged. How far would this Arisen go?

An Arisen entered Lena's chamber. "Greetings," she said. "I have tests for you." "Tests?! Insolence!!", was the Arisen's reply. "Ah, an angry one," Lena thought.

Yet the Arisen failed the test, failed to see that the shadows of friends that Lena had conjured, were just that - shadows. The Arisen went with them. "Ah, that's the end of that cycle," Lena thought, turning away. How many more times would that play out until one Arisen came close enough to remove the ice from her chest, the blade that could grant her oblivion... "The blade is not a blade, it is a piece of ice bracing the heart," she pressed her hand to her chest but felt no pain.

...

Lena was peering into the mist - was that another Arisen? Did she miss a dragon descending onto the world? She couldn't recall, there had been so many. The person approached, raised his hand in a greeting, a pawn print shining bright on his hand. "A pawn, here?" Lena was surprised, her heart skipped a beat. "What was that?" She saw a ring on the pawn's finger glowing with a golden light.

"My bond is incomplete," said the pawn. "We are close, so very close, you and I, yet not close enough. I've always held back, kept that last wall up, that final safe space for myself... But no more. Come what may. I miss you. I want you back." He stood quite close to her now, so close, she could feel the warmth of his body even without touching. She liked his face... but who was he? She could not remember.

He took her hand and put it around his waist. That felt familiar... the scene with flinging away the ring rose before her eyes. But... who was he?

"I never wish to lose you again," he said, taking the ring off his finger and putting it onto hers. "May the bond now be complete." He kissed her, her heart skipped a beat, he pressed his hand to her chest and pulled out the Godsbane blade. He threw it to the ground and it shattered into tiny shards of ice. Lena woke up.

...

"Aye!" Lena sat up with a jerk, a sharp pain in her chest making her cry out.

"Sshhh, I'm here," she heard a familiar voice, felt familiar touch.

"I had such a strange dream..." She put her arms around Scorpio's neck, responding to his kiss.

"It wasn't a dream," he said in her ear. "But no more ice, I promise."

She felt the warmth of a ring around her finger, she saw Scorpio's ring still on his finger too, glowing with a golden light.

"How..?"

"The Arisen's Bond has worked its magic. The rest is up to us."

[Renee]

True, but you are the one writing the story. .

For me that doesn't matter much. It's all about what my folks want.

Ah, so Lena has also faced the Wrath of Sithis as well. So she knows, by now. Did she know Rayenna was hunting her that whole time?

That's neat. Lena and Lucien are playing in the water. Killing slaughterfish, too.

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Ah, so Lena has also faced the Wrath of Sithis as well. So she knows, by now. Did she know Rayenna was hunting her that whole time?

In my story (as yet unwritten) Lena and Lucien were both exiled for a long time during that dreadful business with the traitor. Lucien was suspected to be the traitor and Lena was exiled for refusing to purify the Cheydinhal Sanctuary. Of course once they found the real traitor, the exile was lifted. This is what I'm alluding to here. I've got a large mod in the early stages of development that completely revamps the second half of the DB questline from the point of Purification, and this story is one of the possibilities. This also explains why Ungolim is still alive and still the Listener as before.

Lena didn't know it was Rayenna behind the attacks, but she did have her suspicions. It only became certain when they caught Rayenna.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 6 2023, 09:30 PM

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Come what may

Lena had been asleep for several months, immobile in bed. Her body had long recovered from poison and starvation that she had inflicted upon herself; her blood was free of toxins and her skin free of festering warts. Yet when she finally awakened, she found herself barely able to walk - her strength failed her.

"But what do you expect, cousin?" The villagers would tell her. "You've been abed for months! You've got to take your time to rebuild your strength!"

When she was finally strong enough to walk and run along the beach in Cassardis, she insisted on going straight to Gran Soren. But barely out of the village they ran into some goblins and then into some wolves, and if it wasn't for Scorpio attacking everything in sight, Lena would not have survived any of those encounters. Eventually she had to agree that perhaps some basic training was in order.

And thus, half a year or more had passed since the night when Ser Maximilian carried her out of the Gran Soren dungeons hanging over his shoulder like a lifeless corpse.

"Ser Arisen? Wolf?" Ser Maximilian had to look twice, but the slender woman with a bow and daggers was indeed Lena, finally back in Gran Soren. "You gave us a fright," he grinned, squeezing her in a hug - he was no longer worried of rumours. "Ah, let the tongues wag," he shrugged. "I'm just glad you're back. Don't do that again!"

"I won't," Lena grinned. "Not like that..." She broke off. "I am an assassin, remember?" She winked. "Taking lives is my trade. Next time I won't fail."

"Well, if you insist on taking lives, I've got a job for you," Ser Maximilian looked serious. "Salvation is back, and they are making a nuisance of themselves again. Skeletons and things... You remember, I trust?" He looked up and Lena nodded. "It's probably going to be a repeat of the previous affair, but could you go after them again? A good scare would bring the populace under control, even if the chief zealot slips away." He paused. "And if you find sensitive information... Come to my quarters in the barracks at night," he smiled and blushed slightly. "You will be seen, and they will all assume that we... you know. No one believes that you could prefer a pawn." He looked at Scorpio standing a distance away facing in the opposite direction. "But I know better."

"I'll come when I've got something," Lena hugged him and planted a kiss on his lips in full view of the surrounding guards. "Since you don't mind the rumours," she grinned. "We've got to do it right. See you later." She waved and walked away, with Scorpio following.

"Salvation again?" He asked and Lena nodded.

Their next stop was the Pawn Guild. Barnaby greeted them inside.

"Business with the Guild, Ser?" He made a wide gesture at the riftstone. "You are also welcome to hire any pawn walking the streets, as you well know. But I must warn you: pawns have neither will nor emotions, even if it sometimes appears otherwise. There can be no closeness with a pawn. Beware, Ser, lest you get disappointed."

"Err... thanks," Lena muttered, turning around to leave.

"Your pawn serves other Arisen as well," Barnaby added after her.

"He isn't lying about that last bit," Scorpio said somewhat uncomfortably. "I am in service with you, and can therefore be summoned to walk with other Arisen for a time, just like the pawns here."

"And?" Lena had an idea where that was going, and didn't like it.

"And... well... I've had a lot of women," he said with some finality in his voice. "Some not that long ago, either. Best you hear it from me."

"Hmm."

They stood in front of the inn, and Lena decided to postpone that conversation until they had some privacy. They entered and she asked for the key to their room.

"A fellow would think there are plenty of real men in this city," Asalam looked at her, his brow furrowed. "If it's closeness you wanted, several suitors were asking after you. I wouldn't say no myself," he grinned. "There's no need to resort to their kind," he looked at Scorpio and scolded.

"What..?" Lena was perplexed.

"I'm just saying," Asalam smiled pleasantly at Lena. "Pawns are for fighting. A lovely young lady like yourself should look for company among her own kind. We have feelings, they don't!" He added with defiance.

"Err... I'll see if I can find lodgings elsewhere then," Lena said coldly, taking her key. "Lest my choice of company should offend the sensitivities of the gentlemen of my kind."

Lena was fuming. Her private affairs were no one's business! She even forgot about Scorpio's confession for a moment. But just for a moment. However, the short walk to their room was enough to cool her head.

"All right, let's review," she dropped into a chair when they were alone. "Barnaby warns me against closeness to you, while Asalam warns me against intimacy with you, but why? How is it any of their business?"

"You forgive me then?" Scorpio looked up at her.

"For what?" Yes, she did forget about that for a moment. She so wanted to forget it and never remember. "Oh... yes. I don't like it, and I'm very jealous, but I think someone is trying to make me jealous on purpose right now... which is why I choose to ignore it." She sighed. "Our bond still holds, whatever you do. We are bound by bigger things."

"And someone is trying to break that bond," Scorpio nodded, visibly relieved.

"The Legion."

They fell silent. Scorpio got up and poured them drinks.

"You don't believe that rubbish about will and emotions," he handed Lena a glass and she nodded. "But it is true that you can normally never get close to a pawn - we resist that. I have resisted that all this time, that's why I never... except after the dragon..." He sat down and took a sip of his drink. "We forged a bond so early on, you and I, a bond of friendship, we've been so very close... add intimacy to that, and the bond would be complete. You would have gotten close to a pawn," he smiled. "Of course, now you have."

"And someone doesn't like it," Lena mused.

"Consider also, that when there is no bond, intimacy has no meaning either," he smiled thinly. "I never betrayed our bond... but I could have controlled my flesh better."

"By Sanguine!" Lena exclaimed, laughing.

The conversation turned light for a time, then Lena furrowed her brow again.

"So Asalam is working for the Legion," she said grimly.

"They had to be spying on us to know that we... you know."

"Well, it's not like there are no holes or splits in that door," Lena smirked. "Or someone could have simply told Asalam to say those things. He didn't seem to have heard of me and Max," Lena added, blushing a bit. Then a thought struck her. "Say... who told you about me and Max last time? Because, you see, in order to have seen us, they would have had to be flying... or else to have come from the Everfall..."

Scorpio laughed bitterly. "Barnaby. Spared no graphic detail, either. You had a lantern there, he had a perfect view. Apparently, you take off your weapon belts first..." He looked at her and winked. "Or else the fellow is your target."

...

Salvation was animating skeletons at night along the roads around Gran Soren, sometimes even very close to the city walls. Salvation sorcerers would gather in large groups of ten to twenty people and cast spells in unison, reinforcing one another. It wasn't easy to fight them. Many of them would run off too, to return another night. Lena tracked them down to the catacombs again, witnessed another massacre of the undead, but Salvation did not stop.

"This is all small fish," Lena was recounting the events to Ser Maximilian on one of her nighttime visits to his quarters in the castle guard barracks. "Even Lord Julien is small fish. Even Ilysius, that one-eyed chief zealot with his proclamations of the ultimate truth being the dragon... He's just mad."

"But he's the one inciting the people to join the cult, so he's dangerous," Ser Maximilian objected. "If you can remove him, it would help."

"He will just get replaced by another equally mad zealot," Lena shook her head. "I'll try of course, but I don't think I can get close - he uses teleportation."

"All right, what of Lord Julien?" Ser Maximilian squinted. "He is in charge of the Northern fortifications."

"He wants to overthrow the Duke and to rip up the ancient pact between Gransys and the neighbouring duchies that requires them to send help when the dragon strikes."

"What?!" Ser Maximilian exclaimed a little too loudly, but quickly caught himself. "That's treason!"

"Yes, but he isn't going to succeed," Lena smiled. "Or cause anyone any significant harm. Small fish."

"But my duty..." Suddenly Lena jumped off her seat, threw Ser Maximilian off his chair and onto the bed and landed on top of him in a rather suggestive pose. The door creaked - someone was peering in. "What?!" Ser Maximilian raised his head looking at the door - he heard it too. "Can't you see I'm busy?!" He barked at it.

"So sorry Ser Commander," a small voice replied. "Didn't realise you... hehehe... had company... hehehe... Ser..." The door was pulled shut and they heard the sound of small feet running away.

"That damned jester!" Ser Maximilian swore, getting up and walking to the door. "Men!" He half-opened the door, standing in the doorway unclothed from the waist down. Several guards looked up, some stood to attention. "I want no more interruptions!" He barked. "That damnable jester is not to be permitted in! And I don't care that he's got the Duke's leave to come and go wherever he pleases! My orders are from now on to keep him away from my quarters!" His face was red, he looked very angry. "Is that understood?"

"Yes, Ser! As you command, Ser!" There was a shuffle among the guards - no one was keen on making their Commander angry, for whatever reason.

"All right, that'll buy us some privacy," Ser Maximilian turned to Lena, having closed the door. "What did you do with my pants?"

...

It wasn't easy to navigate castle intrigue, but the rumour of an affair between Ser Arisen and Ser Maximilian became more than a rumour after their stunt at the barracks, with the jester alluding to it for the amusement of the court and the guards swearing of having witnessed their Commander "in action". "It is amazing what a little suggestion can do," Lena would grin to herself every time she was at the castle. Their "affair" afforded them a perfect cover to keep exchanging information for the good of Gransys. Ser Maximilian's sworn fealty was to the Duke, but he felt that his true allegiance should be to the people, and in most cases it was one and the same. The Duke had been good for the people, regardless of how he got his throne, he was far better than many of his predecessors, and for Ser Maximilian that was enough.

"If you should kill the dragon again," he said to Lena one evening. "Don't come here to see the Duke, for it will be my duty to try and arrest you, or may be even kill you on the spot," he looked straight at her. "Our affair has a downside - I am no longer seen as an impartial force."

Neither of them realised at the time just how many more years this was to be going on. Salvation, as any cult, could not be fully rooted out, treason was never far away, but people grew used to the monsters, and all in all, life continued, the dragon stayed silent and Lena wasn't sure what to do next.

...

"Perhaps I should just give up?" She looked at Scorpio as they were walking through the woods without any particular purpose. "Settle down in Cassardis, live out my life? Would you stay with me?"

"Of course I'd stay with you!" He pulled her close. "But would you give up your home? Your friends back in your world? The other piece of your soul?"

"The other piece of my soul..." Lena felt a sharp pain in her heart. "I don't... I can't even... How did you know?" She stopped, facing him.

"I can feel it," he smiled. "We have a bond. You have another bond, it is just as important, or more... It was there first, anyway. Without it, you are incomplete."

"But you... still let me get close..."

"You see why we avoid bonds," Scorpio smirked. "Arisen die or move on, we remain. Those pawns that had gone mad in the Everfall or on the Bitterblack Isle, they had allowed their Arisen get too close, then could not survive the loss of that bond. But you mortals are different," he paused, then resumed walking. "You form multiple bonds in your lives, bonds that are often cut short by the death of the other person, you grieve for a time, then go on living."

"Some people can't, just like those pawns," Lena objected. "We aren't that different at all."

"I could not stand the pain of separation when your spirit was gone from your body," he said in a hoarse voice. "The pain was worst because I had never let you get close... I don't know if that was what was driving those pawns, but for myself I knew I had to get you back and let you in, no more walls, let the bond be complete. Then... come what may."

They stood by the witch's cottage, the old home of Selene and her Arisen, now empty.

"You should not give up your other bond. You should look for a way home. Pursue the dragon. Jump into the Everfall. Explore the Bitterblack Isle. Whatever it takes."

"I won't go without you." Lena put her arms around Scorpio and pressed her cheek to his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "The other bond... He..." Another pang of sharp pain went through her heart. "He is my Speaker... my master in our order... I could never..." She swallowed back tears. "I would not dare."

"You are my master," Scorpio said softly, taking her in an embrace. "It doesn't matter. But the time has to be right. It took me that long, perhaps you just need more time." He kissed away her tears. "I'm with you... before and after... come what may."



22 Sun’s Dawn, 4E203, Shivering Isles

"And then you vanished!" Lena poked Scorpio in the chest. "What kind of a promise was that? You said you'd stay with me come what may!"

"I said: before and after," he smiled. "How many years did we spend looking for a way to get you back here? Quite a few. That was 'before' - before you could get home. And now I'm back with you again - this is 'after', after you made it back. It took me a while to find you, sorry about that," he grinned.

"So you always knew you'd have to vanish to get me home?" Lena stopped, facing him.

"No, I didn't, if I had known it earlier, I'd have done it earlier," Scorpio shook his head. "We couldn't find a way out, remember?"

"Face the dragon, hear his bargain - he was ready to send me home, but I had to give you up. No deal. Find a dragon in the Everfall, hear the same bargain. No. The same with the dragon on the Bitterblack Isle. No again. The Seneschal - no deal. The Legion really wanted to keep you," she sighed.

"And they have," Scorpio raised his hand, his pawn mark clearly visible. "But you died to them when you jumped off that cliff, and so they can no longer recall me."

"But what about when I really die?" Lena pressed her hand to Scorpio's, a thin band of gold glowing around her finger, touching his own Arisen's Bond. "Will you get your life back then?"

"My life? I've got it back already," he smiled. "The print doesn't bother me, and immortality has its perks... Our bond has started as a bond of friendship, it is a bond of friendship once again. True intimacy once shared, never goes away - I think your husband knows that."

"He does," Lena smiled and kissed him like before. "For the old time's sake."

They walked the roads of the Shivering Isles waiting for Dylan to be reborn. Dylan - another of Lena's bonds, her Mazken friend who fell in the battle of the second Greymarch.

"You were right about us making multiple bonds," Lena was thinking of several people who were close to her. "But every bond is different, and not every bond is equally strong or equally deep. Dylan, for example..."

"Dylan is your dear friend, it is plain to see," Scorpio interrupted her before she could say something stupid. "A playmate, too. Am I right? But you mean to him more than he means to you."

"You are probably right," Lena sighed and blushed. "I am ashamed of myself..."

"Don't be. Such is life," he shrugged. "I had to give you up in part as well - what did I say: come what may. The bond still holds."

"And Hauk..." Lena caressed her heavily pregnant belly. "The child is his, I can feel it. He is my best friend, and we are very close... But we each have another bond that means more... Oh gods... I made such a mess of my life..." She rolled her eyes. "But I wouldn't change a thing." She held Scorpio's hand as they walked, and the glow of their combined Arisen's Bonds illuminated the path before them.

"And there's another," Scorpio smiled. "Of a different kind."

"Sanguine," Lena nodded. "The lover I can never refuse... How do you know all this?" She squinted at him.

"I have a piece of your soul," Scorpio said simply. "Quite literally. I am and always will be your pawn."

They came to a campsite with a breathtaking view of the foggy hills of Dementia. They cleaned off the blood and the dirt of whatever took place there before, and settled down for the night. As Scorpio started unpacking food and drink for their supper, he asked, quite casually: "What happened in Albion? Tell me about it, Dumpling," he grinned.

"Ha!" Lena laughed. "That is a crazy story! I grew so fat on all the pies, they started calling me Dumpling! I lost weight after a while," she added with an embarrassed smile. "I was married... five times... six perhaps? Wasn't supposed to, you understand, just didn't care... It was wild..." She laughed. "Westcliff, Bloodstone... Liqueur, blood, sex, all to excess... Like being back in New Sheoth with Sanguine at the helm," she smirked. "But scary too. And brutal at times. And they had him - Sanguine - can you imagine? They captured a Daedric Prince! They were sapping his magic... He may be a drunk, but he's still a Prince, and he's got powers like any other. But he was drained, subdued..." She fell silent, looking grim.

"You saved him," Scorpio offered.

"I was saving a mage whose help we needed to stop a disaster," she nodded. "A mage of remarkable power. Of course when I saw who the mage was, I knew just how much danger that world was in. I got him out of that prison and he could have left, but he didn't. He stayed and played the part of the mage in our party. Incredible. He wasn't even drunk at times..." She smiled at the memory, then furrowed her brow. "I had to make a terrible choice in the end... Take the least bad of three awful options... Without Sanguine, I would have never returned."

[Renee]

Of course once they found the real traitor, the exile was lifted. This is what I'm alluding to here. I've got a large mod in the early stages of development that completely revamps the second half of the DB questline from the point of Purification, and this story is one of the possibilities. This also explains why Ungolim is still alive and still the Listener as before.

Nice. You really are building something here. I make a stories through the use of quests and dialog, but you are making an entire world.

Lena didn't know it was Rayenna behind the attacks, but she did have her suspicions. It only became certain when they caught Rayenna.

I see.

[Lena Wolf]

This episode is a fairly faithful recount of Fable 2, as seen through the eyes of Lena Wolf.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


23 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Albion

"It was another portal," Lena started telling the story of Albion to Scorpio, the fog of Dementia floating low over the ground. "We weren't partying at the time, Sanguine had been gone for a while and calm had returned, serenity even. I touched something... the New Sheoth palace is a dangerous place. The next thing I knew I was falling from a tall tower..."

"Splat," Scorpio grinned.

"Yeah, you weren't there to catch me," Lena grinned back at him. "I must have lost consciousness, because I woke up some time later in a wagon in a gypsy camp. A blind woman greeted me, said I had a destiny to fulfil..." Lena shook her head. "The dog was nice though."

"Dog?"

"Apparently I had a dog. And I fell from that tower some fifteen years previously. Seriously? And the dog was still alive? He didn't even look old..." She rubbed her chin.

"Magic."

"But you see how I was not inclined to believe anything she'd say?" Lena looked up at Scorpio, her head resting in his lap. "Still, I had to figure out where I was and how to get back, so I listened to her explanations. Also, she could talk in my head..." Lena shuddered.

"Like a certain dragon."

"Like a number of Daedric Princes, too! What is it with everyone wanting to be inside my head?!" Lena frowned, then continued. "Anyway, it seemed that the reason I fell out of that tower was that someone named Lord Lucien Fairfax decided to take over the world, to which end he needed to destroy four individuals with extraordinary abilities, of whom I was apparently one. So he shot me and my older sister, she died but I fell out of his tower. And survived. Which proved conclusively that I was the actual person with those extraordinary abilities, because only such a person could have survived that fall... Does that make any sense to you?" She looked up at him from below, but Scorpio only smiled.

"Yes," he nodded. "I always knew you were different."

That wasn't the answer Lena was hoping for, so she continued.

"Well, the first order of the day was to find the 'Hero of Strength' and to recruit her. She was a particularly muscular young monk belonging to the most pacifist religion you could imagine... And I had to recruit her to fight a great evil! Ha!" Lena scoffed. "And pigs can fly."

"But you succeeded," Scorpio brushed some stray hair out of Lena's face. "How?"

"By provocation of vengeance," Lena blushed. "Not nice. Their temple got attacked while she and I were away fetching some holy water, and when we got back, we could just witness her adoptive father being murdered. I had the feeling it was a setup... It left such a bad taste in my mouth that I was ready to say a few things to the blind gypsy woman and just leave her fight this Lord Lucien Fairfax on her own."

"Leave and go where?" Scorpio squeezed Lena's hand - he guessed what was coming.

"Exactly," Lena frowned. "I swallowed my principles and stayed in the hope of finding a way back once that Lord What's-His-Name was defeated. The gypsy woman was the key, and she would not have let me leave until she got what she wanted."

"I see where liqueur and sex comes in," Scorpio nodded.

"Well... There was a lot of smaller stuff going on as well, you understand," Lena smiled to that. "Not all bad, not at all. The people there were generally easy going, quite a few oddballs among them... Quite fun, in fact. Bowerstone was a solid middle-class city with proper solid middle-class people in it... Most of them... Err... Some of them..." Lena grinned. "Anyway. The next task was to find the 'Hero of Skill' who was a dashing fellow with particular mastery of guns. You've been there - you know what guns are, right?" She looked up at Scorpio again and he nodded. "Right. Nasty loud things, glad we don't have them here," she grimaced. "But effective for ranged combat, although give me a good bow, and I'll get the job done quicker, quieter and without fuss."

"And that fellow was in Bloodstone," Scorpio prompted her.

"Yes. You remember the town?" She grinned. "Unbelievable. Was there anyone there who was not a prostitute? I doubt it. And the fellow I was after, was the self-appointed mayor!" She snorted.

"So you indulged yourself," Scorpio grinned too.

"Well, it isn't often that you walk into a town where the entire population is 'open to experimentation' and tells you so, is it? I had my fun. But it wasn't going to get me that fellow's help, oh no, he wanted some real favours. He actually wanted my soul."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Lena paused. "Turns out, he sold his, or leased it at least, and the time for repayment was near, so he sent me in his stead. The deal was to keep paying them souls for his continued luxurious life."

"But you survived," Scorpio squeezed Lena's hand again - he did know her very well.

"Yes," she nodded, looking grim. "I sacrificed an innocent soul."

"Innocence is life's greatest illusion..."

"I know, Brother!" Lena cried and sat up, her eyes hard on Scorpio's. "It wasn't the same! We take lives, yes, but there's always a reason. It takes a lot of money and determination to contact the Dark Brotherhood. People don't do it on a whim! And even if not all of the lives that we take actually deserve it... it still isn't the same! The soul I sacrificed had been specifically picked for her innocence. That was the point. Besides, they took her soul, not just her life."

She turned away, looking into the distance. They were sitting on the deck of a raised campsite platform, the fire had died down, but the embers were still giving off enough heat to keep the chill of the night at bay. Scorpio moved closer to Lena and put his arms around her until she relaxed, pressing her back against his chest.

"When I first realised you were an assassin..." he said into her ear. "Remember? At the Union Inn in Gran Soren. We'd had a hard time fighting harpies and wolves that day, bandits too, our wounds were deep, you filled a bath tub with ice, stripped and submerged... Then made me do the same. 'Modesty is a luxury we cannot afford,' you said... Then offered to release me if your occupation went against my morals." He kissed her softly. "No one talks to a pawn like that. You saw a person in me, not a pawn. Yet I still saw an assassin..."

"But you refused to be released," Lena ran her fingers through his hair.

"That was one cold bath," he smirked. "You were challenging every established order. Of course I had to stay. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do. What would have happened if you chose to spare that innocent soul?"

"They would have taken my soul instead," Lena said softly. "Even Sithis would not have been able to get me back."

They sat quietly for a while, in a close embrace, memories of many difficult choices running through their minds. "Your husband will have to forgive me," Scorpio breathed in her ear, his kisses getting hot.

...

The sky in the East was turning golden with sunrise when Scorpio threw some fresh logs onto the embers awakening the fire. He brewed coffee and handed Lena a cup. "Another campsite, another morning," he smiled. "Shall we stay here today? The best part of your story is still to come, I feel."

Lena wrapped her hands around the warm cup and let her memories flood in.

"The mage, or the 'Hero of Will', was the most difficult member of the party to recruit. He had been kidnapped and imprisoned by the very Lord Lucien Fairfax that we were supposed to fight. The reason for it was that Lord Lucien was building a huge tower just off the coast of Albion, the design came from some old texts and was important in itself. The top of the tower would have a special contraption to focus magical energies, and with that he would control the world. Destroy it first, most likely, then control what's left over," Lena smirked. "That was the disaster that had to be prevented, and to do that we had to halt the construction of that tower. Problem was, Lord Lucien already got himself a source of magical energy that he wanted to harness - Sanguine. Or rather, to start with, we just knew it was this incredibly powerful mage, the 'Hero of Will'. He was being held in the very tower they were building, and in order to get to him, I had to join thousands of people working there - I had to become a slave. It was clear to us that it was nothing but slavery, but the people actually thought they were getting a pretty good job with generous wages... Trouble was, no one ever returned from that job, and no one knew what was going on inside. There was even a competition or a test you had to do in order to be accepted, can you imagine?" Lena shook her head.

"Make something hard to get and everyone will immediately want it," Scorpio nodded. "Clever."

"So when I inquired about getting a job on that tower, I was told that all positions had been filled and unless I could prove that I was truly capable, they could not be bothered... I had to become a gladiator, and if I survived and became the Grand Champion, then perhaps Lord Lucien would consider me suitable to work on the construction of his tower!"

"Ah, the 'blood to excess' part," Scorpio squinted. "Isn't it? I didn't think you were referring to regular adventuring."

"Yes, it was pretty brutal. Not only did I have to survive, but I had to be artistic in my slaughter!" Lena scoffed. "The opponents were mostly beasts, but there were a few groups of bandits as well - 'mercenaries' they called them. Well, they never got their wages." Lena sipped her coffee. "And the worst part - you had to do it all from start to finish without rest or pause. It was a series of arenas, there'd be a weapons trader here and there in between, but otherwise you were supposed to keep going. Ten or fifteen fights, several rounds each... Boethia would have approved. Not many people came out at the other end. Your rank was determined by your score - how fast, artistic and entertaining your performance had been! I had to try several times before I became the Grand Champion, that is beat the previous high score."

"Several times going through ten or fifteen arenas with several rounds each?" Scorpio couldn't quite believe it.

"Yes," Lena nodded. "Blood to excess it was."

Lena sipped her coffee for a few minutes before continuing.

"But that was still nothing compared to what came next. I went to see about the job at the tower and was reluctantly accepted. I was to board a ferry along with some twenty other new recruits which would take us to the tower. Suddenly the gypsy woman appeared and told me to make sure I had all my affairs wrapped up before going, as I might be away for a long time. How long? She would not say, but insisted that absolutely all affairs had to be wrapped up, that I should visit each of my spouses and each of my lovers and say good-bye to them all... That didn't sound encouraging, I must admit."

"How long?" Scorpio froze with a pot of coffee in his hand.

"Eleven years."

He shook his head without a word and refilled their cups.

"All prisoners... err... workers were fitted with collars that cut magicka flow and could administer shocks as punishment. The overseers controlled the collars, and punishment was administered freely and without limitations due to minor ailments like death. The overseers themselves wore such collars too, controlled by their overseers, and so on. In order for me to be able to move around the tower and try to find the mage, I had to move up the ranks... Which meant administering a lot of punishment, both on the orders of my superiors and on my own initiative. The initiative was necessary to increase rank. If I had been told in advance what was expected of me, I would have stuffed that gypsy woman onto the ferry in my stead and found the tallest tower in the land to jump out of... As it was however, stuck on Lord Lucien's construction site, the choice was to move up the ranks and hope to find a way out, or take punishment for breathing and perish. No one ever left that tower alive, did I mention that?"

Lena fell silent, coffee getting cold in her cup. Scorpio moved close to her and put his arm around her shoulders.

"This is far worse than even the Bitterblack Isle," he said softly. "If you don't want to continue the story, then don't."

"And miss all the good bits?" Lena smiled through the tears. "Let's just skip the rest of my time on that tower. Suffices to say, that I eventually advanced far enough in rank to have access to the secure cells where Sanguine was held. Of course I didn't know at the time it was Sanguine, I was just looking for a mage. I would recognise him by his markings - bright coloured marks on dark skin, lesions left by excessive use of magic, I was told. What I saw was a dremora with scorched red markings on his dark skin, dull red eyes and broken off horns."

"Dremoras don't quite look like that, I thought..." Scorpio tried to recall what a dremora would look like - they were very rare on the Shivering Isles.

"Of course not!" Lena exclaimed. "He was drained... He wore another collar that was draining his magic and transmitting it to some contraption... He is a Prince! He has vast reserves of it, he regenerates all the time... But it looked like they were sapping more than he could regenerate. In a word, as long as that collar was on, he wasn't going anywhere, even if he could withstand the pain they would punish him with. And the same went for me."

Lena paused, looking into the distance.

"I found the keys to the collars... Don't ask what I had to do for it..."

Scorpio didn't ask. Lena was squeezing the hilt of her Sufferthorn and her hand was bleeding where the nails dug into the flesh. After a while she continued.

"Once our collars were off, every single guard aimed to kill us. The first few that we killed, provided us with weapons, for neither of us was in any condition to cast spells... It was a long and protracted battle. We wore clumsy suits that made stealth impossible, we had to stand and fight every time. Eventually Sanguine regained enough magicka to teleport us out of there... Didn't I say he was a Prince?" Lena smiled at Scorpio's surprise. "He opened a portal and we stepped through it... but alas, it didn't take us very far - we stood on the shore opposite that tower. But then the gypsy woman appeared, and this was the one time when I was glad to see her! She opened another portal and whisked us away..."

"And let me guess - your dog was still alive," Scorpio smiled.

"Yep," Lena nodded. "The longest living dog in Albion..."

"What happened to all your spouses and lovers from before? Was any of them still waiting for you?"

"No," Lena shook her head. "That could have been my own fault however - they've had enough time to learn about one another and to file for divorce," she smirked. "And I couldn't care less."

The sun was almost in zenith, and most of the fog had cleared away. Soft greens and browns of the landscape before them looked almost idyllic, if it weren't for the warped roots of the mushroom trees and long streaks of tar hanging off the branches. Yet they found the view peaceful and comforting.

"The gypsy woman wanted us to go after Lord Lucien as quickly as possible, but I simply refused. If she thought it fair to lock me away in that tower for eleven years, she could now wait for me until I regained my strength. Until Sanguine regained his strength, too, for his wounds were far greater. I still don't know if she never understood who he really was, or whether she just kept it to herself. At that point or soon after Sanguine could have left, but he didn't."

"So you took your time to recover," Scorpio added some logs to the fire and started a fresh pot of coffee.

"Yeah..." Lena was musing. "I'd never seen Sanguine like that... We found a farm in a quiet village and simply spent our days not doing much of anything... No liqueur, no blood, no excess. The Prince of Debauchery was the most laid back person you could imagine."

"Perhaps you've had enough of excess for a while."

"Perhaps..." Lena nodded. "But then of course we got interrupted. Lord Lucien got quite annoyed with us for removing his source of magicka - Sanguine - and he tried to recapture him on several occasions. Lots of fighting followed, lots of hostile magic... But we never saw our evil Lord face to face, he always sent his Commandants to do the actual fighting. I wondered why."

"Did his name bother you?" Scorpio asked suddenly.

"It did at first," Lena admitted. "But it's just a name. I came to realise pretty quickly that it was an entirely different person. And then, when we finally faced him... Well, he stood there, an old scholar, a man grieving deeply the death of his wife and daughter. He drove himself to insanity... He was no threat to us in a fight, it was the tower that was the source of the danger. Our 'Hero of Skill', the man with a gun, shot him dead."

"That's a rather anticlimactic ending to such a gruelling tale!" Scorpio exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes, it was," Lena nodded. "With Lord Lucien's death, the tower he was building magically collapsed... I find it extremely suspicious myself, you know. And then I had to choose the future for that world."

"The three terrible choices."

"Choose love, and all those I loved would live, but everyone who died while building the tower would remain dead - that's thousands of people. Choose sacrifice and all that I loved would die, but the people would be resurrected. Choose money, and I'd just get rich, with everyone dead. The worst choice of all," Lena smirked.

"When you say 'everyone you loved', whom do you mean exactly?" Scorpio froze again.

"I don't know," Lena shook her head. "Was that just about the people in that world or did it mean everywhere? I wasn't of that world, and neither was Sanguine, I took one look at him..." She sighed. "And stabbed myself through the heart."

"Again."

"Again," Lena's voice sounded hollow. "I took the fourth option. There is always another way."

The afternoon entered its golden hour and the rays of the setting sun were turning the fog of Dementia into a golden mist.

"I woke up on a peaceful island, it was late afternoon or early evening, like now. Waves were gently rolling onto the sandy beach, fire was crackling, a faint coffee aroma was floating in the air. Sanguine was lying next to me, massaging my heart. 'Don't do that again,' he said. 'I am not a healer.' But he was."

[Renee]

Lena's doing one of Umbacano's latter quests, I see. Still never finished those quests. But that's a good reason to eventually go back to OB, right? I do remember there was some mishmash going on with the Collector quest, too. Some decisions to be made. Looks like Lena decided to take from the Collector. 🏆

Do Lucien and Hauk know about each other, in the sense that they both share the affections of the story's protagonist? I kinda sense not, eh? Wonder what would happen if...

"Ah" - Lucien didn't look surprised. "Well, I know about you two - it's not exactly news."

See, doesn't seem as though they're knowledgeable. Or maybe one knows, but doesn't really care.

a was tugging on Hauk trying to wake him up. She'd been to Chorrol the day before to arrange for the month's supplies to the Battlehorn Castle,

Ha! My Joan of Arkay does this exact same trip! Except she never seems to have enough money for an entire month's supplies! Usually, a few days' rations are more like it.

Whoa, she just took down Umbra!

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Lena's doing one of Umbacano's latter quests, I see. Still never finished those quests.

This was the first time I did that quest as well. I think I went to Malada before, but never all the way to the end... At least I don't recall. No, I would have remembered. It was really really really really really really hard! Did I mention it was hard? Those undead were just unbeatable... Yeah, the Royal Guard. Of course we got them in the end, but at what cost!

Do Lucien and Hauk know about each other, in the sense that they both share the affections of the story's protagonist? I kinda sense not, eh? Wonder what would happen if...

"Ah" - Lucien didn't look surprised. "Well, I know about you two - it's not exactly news."

See, doesn't seem as though they're knowledgeable. Or maybe one knows, but doesn't really care.

I am not going to say anything to that, you'll see. Life doesn't come with all the answers written up at the back of the book either. They know, as you've seen here, and yet there isn't any jealousy going on... Perhaps they don't care, or perhaps they care too much? Or may be... Well, you'll see. Lena is very much in the dark about it, and so should be the reader!

Glad you're enjoying it so far.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Years of Confusion

As Lena kept being pulled into portals that led her into other worlds, time progression in her life was getting more and more confusing. The years she lived seemed to run in parallel to the years passing on Nirn, which was one of the reasons she stayed away. Although many people she knew were sufficiently long-lived to breach the gap, seeing them suddenly aged half a lifetime when only a few years had passed in her own life, was more than unnerving. "Stay away from Nirn" had been Lena's solution, even though it smacked severely of the tactic of large prairie birds that she'd read about in a book - apparently, when danger was approaching, they'd bury their heads in the soil, although not being able to see the danger hardly made it go away...

For the benefit of the readers however, we shall try to establish a timeline relative to the passage of time on Nirn.

With the conclusion of the Oblivion Crisis, the 4th Era had begun. During this time Lena was a vampire, and trouble was brewing in the Dark Brotherhood - there were rumours of a traitor, with the events around the Purification of the Cheydinhal Sanctuary soon to be set in motion. This would take a few years, ending with the memorable night in Bravil that was an intensely private affair for Lena and Lucien, and unless either of them decides to share it, we won't by prying. After that night, Lena disappeared to the Shivering Isles where the Greymarch was slowly gathering strength. The exact dates of these events are unknown.

In some ten or twenty years that followed, Lena found a cure for vampirism and defeated Jyggalag, thus ending the Greymarch. She became the sitting ruler of the Shivering Isles, Lord Sheogorath, while the Prince was away undergoing the transition from Jyggalag back to Sheogorath. It should be noted that time passes differently on the Shivering Isles, so this period didn't feel to her like twenty years - it felt a lot shorter.

After the Greymarch Dylan joined Lena in her explorations of the Shivering Isles and became a trusted friend. At some point he took her to the Mazken Wellspring that restored Lena's appearance ruined by the cure of vampirism - after the Wellspring visit she no longer looked like an old woman but instead looked like her youthful self, never to age again.

The next hundred years or so were mostly spent in other realms, with the most notable and lengthy stays being Gransys and Albion, in that order. In Gransys Lena met Scorpio, but then lost him again with her return to Tamriel. Albion came some time after, taking another twenty years of her life and forging her bond with Sanguine. How much time had passed on Nirn in the meantime, is unknown, but that was the period when Lucien almost lost hope of seeing Lena ever again appearing in his fort, so it must have been a very long time.

Some time around 4E160 Prince Sheogorath returned to the Shivering Isles and Lena returned to Nirn. She found her property confiscated and her house in Bravil repossessed, for the feeble reason that she had missed the Imperial Census more than a few times and was suspected to be dead. She found the news extremely distressing, boarded a ship bound "elsewhere" and left Tamriel with the intention to never return. The ship was bound for the Northern Realms, yet another world where Lena would spend some time. She met Geralt there, learned that he was her brother, but when the war in that world turned it upside down, she decided to sail back to Tamriel. Another bond forged and left behind, it seemed.

While Lena was away in the Northern Realms, Tamriel was fighting a war of its own - the Great War with the Aldmeri Dominion raged between 4E171 and 4E175. Iver and Hauk Serck-Hanssen were just twenty years of age when it began, twin brothers and Imperial battlemages. They were drafted to fight the war, Iver on the front lines and Hauk with the Special Forces division to act behind enemy lines. Being a Nord, he was sent to Skyrim where he spent most of the war. He met a woman there whose husband had run off a month after the wedding, yet she gave birth to a son in due course. It was impossible to say whether the boy's father was her runaway husband or indeed Hauk, but Hauk was the one who kept coming back to her and the boy when his Legion duties permitted. She died some twenty years later.

Hauk and Lucien met for the first time during the Great War as well. The Aldmeri Dominion considered it a merciful thing to do to employ an assassin to quickly end the lives of their agents who got captured by the Imperials, and Lucien was sent out with just such a contract. Sending a Speaker to kill a weak and defenceless prisoner was a wise choice - it wasn't the prisoner who presented a challenge, but his inquisitor, and Hauk, or Animal as he was known in the Legion, had made a name for himself by then.

That meeting followed by several others, until towards the end of the war the Empire had need of its best and most loyal citizens to infiltrate the Aldmeri Dominion itself, and Hauk and Lucien found themselves on a ship to the Summerset Isle on a mission that forged their bond for the rest of their lives.

Around the year 4E195 Lena was finally back in Tamriel. Her house was still not her own, but with her status restored from "dead" to "living" in the Imperial Archives, she could breathe easy. Meeting Geralt in the Northern Realms and learning that she had a brother, brought back what memories of her childhood she still possessed. She did not remember her mother who died when Lena was just four years old, and she never knew her father, although it seemed that the bond between her mother and father had been strong. Lena's adoptive grandmother knew who they were, the bond had been real, and there was a reason why her father was staying away. But it wasn't the time to reveal those details yet. Lena's grandmother died when Lena was just sixteen, and all that she knew was that some day, when the time was right, she had to go to Skyrim for answers. So, her father was a Nord... but beyond that, she knew nothing.

Lena decided that that "some day" had come and went to Skyrim. She didn't have any particular purpose there, and it wasn't her first visit either, but she had a peculiar feeling about it. One thing led to another, and Lena discovered that she was Dragonborn. She also discovered that Geralt arrived in Skyrim after too much turmoil in his own life back in the Northern Realms. With her head spinning, Lena returned to Cyrodiil.

These chronicles start at about that point. Lena met Hauk soon upon her return, and they quickly became close friends, spending much time adventuring around Cyrodiil. Lucien appeared in Lena's life again, as her Speaker and oldest friend, and later.... Well. It would be a futile attempt to try and summarise in a few words the tribulations of the soul, so we won't even try.

...

Back in the years before the Great War, Lena and Sanguine were lying on the warm sand of one of Sanguine's islands upon their return from Albion. Sanguine was massaging Lena's heart that she had pierced with her dagger some moments before, ending her stay in that world. Once again, death seemed the only way out, and Sanguine was not about to accept that.

"Don't do that again, I am not a healer," he said when Lena opened her eyes. "Your heart is working again, but only just. You mortals are too fragile for such adventures."

"How..?" Lena looked around, realising where they were.

"Teleport," Sanguine shrugged. "I wasn't going to try anything there, with all of them watching," he grinned. "My powers work best in my Realm, anyway."

"So you could have teleported out of there any time," Lena gave him a long look.

"Any time after you got me out of that prison," Sanguine nodded. "That damned collar... it was sapping away all I had."

"Then why did you stay?"

"Couldn't leave you behind," Sanguine shrugged again.

"You are not making sense," Lena shook her head. "Obviously, you could have taken me with you. So, why stay?"

"Well..." Sanguine coughed uncomfortably. "They were having a bit of a bother with that tower there, it seemed they could use some help from someone like me..."

...

Some time later Lena was fit enough to leave. As much as she treasured her time with Sanguine, she wanted to get back to the Shivering Isles, perhaps even visit Nirn again. Sanguine would never be far away, however.

"What do you see in mortals, My Lord?" A dremora from Sanguine's clan asked cautiously. "Their lives are fleeting."

"They are," Sanguine nodded. "But they fill them with passion, with strife, with love and care, jealousy and murder... Well, some of them. The boring ones don't interest me either."

"Hmm... And this mortal, that just left... She killed a lot of our kind in her time, yet you make love to her now. Why, My Lord?"

"They served Mehrunes Dagon!" Sanguine exclaimed and spit. "She deserves all the loving for killing that lot!"

"As you say, My Lord," the dremora said with a bow, not wishing to push his luck. Sanguine was known for his bouts of temper.

"If I may serve, My Lord," a female dremora approached, baring her breasts. "We will be here when that mortal is dead, why concern yourself with passing matters? What is your desire, My Lord?" She looked at him longingly, removing the rest of her clothing.

"I should banish you all to Oblivion for an epoch or two!" Sanguine exploded in anger. "My desire! You know nothing of that!"

"That was the wrong thing to say, sister," the male dremora pulled the female out of Sanguine's reach. "He isn't in the mood."

"He's never in the mood for us, what's all this stupid obsession with mortals?!"

...

Sanguine's temper vanished as quickly as it flared. He opened another bottle of Cyrodilic brandy, downing half of it in one swig. Mortals... mortals had to take their lives a day at a time and try to stay alive. They had no escape to Oblivion when the going got tough, they had no return when it overwhelmed them. They had the drive to make every moment count. "Not like this lot," Sanguine squinted at a group of dremoras a distance away. "They have no idea what life or love actually means..."

He snapped his fingers and teleported away to another island. The island of Everrest was quiet and empty, apart from the birds and the fish, the butterflies and the crickets. Sanguine entered a cave that was a burial crypt. Yes, mortal lives were fleeting, but he treasured every memory of the time spent with his lovers, past and present. Strong women, all of them, determined, wilful, driven and passionate, now lying at rest in this cave. Many more were buried in family crypts with their mortal ancestors, but those that felt they belonged no where, had a place on the Everrest. "They live in my memory," Sanguine smirked at the dremora's remark. "Dremora females have such lovely bodies and remarkably empty souls... Lorkhan really laughed at us with that. What a creation! No, give me the lesser bodies of mortals, for their spirit compensates amply."

Out of the cave, Sanguine sat by the water watching the sunset. The sun was always setting in his Realm, it was that magical time of day between the afternoon and evening. Why let it slip away when you can hold it still forever? It was his Realm, he was the Lord.

"What would Lena be doing now?" He wondered. "Return to the Shivering Isles, Sheogorath isn't back yet, so it's more of the same looking after the people business for her. Sheogorath really hit the jackpot this time... Why did we have to condemn him to this stupid cycle? Isn't order just another form of madness?" Sanguine shook his head, his thoughts returning to Lena. "She will return to Nirn, of course," he thought. "To the man she loves yet doesn't dare to love... She will go to his fort when he's not there, she will feel his spirit and imagine the rest... Talking about a sacrifice..." He shook his head again. "But why? Because they are not ready yet. Because love is not about holding, it's about setting free... Something that those dremoras will never understand." He sat quietly for a while, sipping his brandy. When the bottle was empty, he opened another. Brandy didn't have much of an effect on a Daedric Prince. "She will fall asleep in his bed... He will return, finding her there. He won't touch her, apart from perhaps a light kiss without waking her up. She is back. He will be patient until such time when she is ready to touch him with her eyes open."

How did he know all this? Sanguine knew mortals, and much of it was simply what he deduced. Some of it was what he gleaned from Lena's mind. He tried not to pry, but when she lay dead in his arms, he used the one power he knew would bring her back - the power of possession. He gave some of his life to her, he could see the world through her eyes, he knew what she was feeling and saw the feelings she denied to herself. He saw her memories, he understood what Lucien meant to her and she to him. "One day," he thought. "One day they'll face it. But not yet." Time proved him right, of course.

[Acadian]

What a nice summary of Lena's many travels! Thanks! I chuckled over Sanguine's observations of dremora women vs mortal women.

[Renee]

I am not going to say anything to that, you'll see. biggrin.gif Life doesn't come with all the answers written up at the back of the book either. wink.gif They know, as you've seen here, and yet there isn't any jealousy going on... Perhaps they don't care, or perhaps they care too much?

Sure, that's fine. But yeah, as I intuited, it seems at least one of them knows. But it's a different universe than Earth is. Sure, some folks are able to sustain open relationships here on Earth, but they're few and far between. Maybe the social norms are different in Tamriel.

So now it is Sun's Height 9, Year 202. They are in Culotte. Full of rotten-smelling zombies. 👺 Yicch. Great pictures in this chapter. Hauk is making seared slaughterfish without a pan!

Oh wow, they're actually travelling with Umbacano. Didn't know he eventually comes along; I never got that far into the quest (yet).

Whoa, so Umbacano plays a trick! Gets some minions to try to defeat us, eh? Why am I not surprised? -- Thing is, all of this is spoilers for me but I don't mind. I kinda thought this is how his quests end up. And in a way teh spoielrs are good. This means Joan'll really have to prepare for this battle.

Here now

[Lena Wolf]

Oh wow, they're actually travelling with Umbacano. Didn't know he eventually comes along; I never got that far into the quest (yet).
... This means Joan'll really have to prepare for this battle.

That depends on the choices you make earlier in that quest. This is how it played out for Lena, it may be different for Joan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A note for the readers: I am taking a bit of a break from the story at the moment because I'm busy modding again. The story will logically continue with Lucien Lachance going to Mournhold in order to try to prevent a war of assassins between the Dark Brotherhood and Morag Tong. To do this however, he needs his game fixed up. In the story he is already in Morrowind - we've seen him rescue Hauk from that fateful Nebula Manor with the ominous Club Dagoth. So Lucien is travelling South at the moment. We shall pick up the story from there in a week or so, I think.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Mar 24 2023, 02:58 AM

[Renee]

Ah, was wondering where you went. I am up to 11 Sun's Height, 4E202 - Cheydinhal home. Lena's eating a cheese sandwhich, yumm. Just had one myself for lunch yesterday.,

I just read Traven is still alive and just banned summoning, and it's Year 202! This is intriguing. So Traven wants all battlemages to officially transfer to the Legion, Or else, it seems. Yeah, because he's a control freak.

They just met Delphine. The Blades need her help, which LW is not keen on. But Delphine's trump card: Help us and then you can learn about your father. Cripes. Wonder what that's all about. Lena + Hauk are about to head to Olav's.

I need to start writing the next 'prima. Sometimes it helps to read others' stories first; gets me in the mood, especially if I'm not actively gaming! 🧑‍🚒

I am here

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 5 2023, 02:59 PM