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

[DarkHunter]

Thats suicide... both what you did to Vivic and what you did in Mournhold you'd never get away with being a Vamp there (I know I've tried)

[Agent Griff]

I knew Repul was bound to be Luper from the moment I saw that the name was spelled backwards. Anyway, keep on with this excelent story, I will try to update mine meanwhile but school is eating me ALIVE! And don't forget, you still haven't told us why Aureus is so uber. Did he max out his skills with the console or something because it sure looks like it.

[Taillus]

I definately have my suspicions that Aureus used the "~" key lol. He is way too strong! I would love to see him get into it with Taillus. I bet they would both give each other a good challenge.

[Agent Griff]

A good chalenge? With his 1337 skills Aureus would mop the floor with Taillus! No matter how much Molag Bal helps Taillus. Heck, if Aureus getts mad he might even go after Molag Bal himself!

[jack cloudy]

Tsk, young people just haven't seen true wisdom.
It isn't the size of the muscles that counts, it is the knowledge.
As they say, brains beat brawn. And mister Aureus has had plenty of time to stock up on knowledge and uber spells of doom. So, Taillus is pretty much toast unless Molag Bal comes along with all his daedra. And even then it will be pretty close.
Anyway, an update.


Argonia, next day

,,The same dream as always, won’t I ever get a different dream? Silvery mountains are getting old.” Jana muttered next day while she stood in front of the mirror. Her attempts at using make-up to make her look younger had turned out to be a disaster.
,,Now you’re up early.”
Jana turned around to see Luper standing in the doorway with an irritating big grin on his face.
,,Never heard of knocking?” She snapped back.

Surprisingly, the man’s grin could actually become even bigger, which it now did.
,,Nah, after nearly getting killed for knocking several times, I learned to just barge in with a sword in one hand and a fireball in the other. Besides, I wanted to test out your response. Well, you’re pathetic.”
,,Hey! That’s not nice, you know!” Jana was really frustrated. For a hero, Luper sure knew how to annoy people.
,,Come outside when you’re finished with the paint.” Luper was gone before she could respond with a particularly nasty insult.

Skyrim

The snow muffled the sound of his landing, but he had no doubts that he was already spotted. In front of him, the flanks of a silver mountain ascended up into the clouds that had blocked the sun for as long as he could remember. It was the first time he had seen the mountain outside his dreams since many years. He cast a life detection spell and saw the familiar purple hue enveloping the flanks of flowing silver. He frowned and drew one of his katanas. The same flowing material and the same response to the detection spell graced the blade of his sword.

,,Living steel. That I haven’t realized this sooner.” He muttered in amazement, without bothering to remember the official name of the material, which was much longer and more descriptive. He shook his head. This was no time to wonder why a mountain made of a material that wasn’t supposed to even exist on Nirn could be found in Skyrim.
Two vampires appeared in the opening with large spears in their hands.
,,I have returned. You shall either let me pass, or you shall try to resist me and seal your fate. Either way, I shall speak with your master.” The old man told them.

The man looked up when a vampire entered his room, followed by several more.
,,Aureus. So, you’ve come back. How long has it been?” He said with an evil smile.
,,Roughly 2500 years. I am not here to talk about the old days. I come here for more important matters.” Aureus responded with a dead serious face.
The man waved at one of his servants who came forward with a glass filled with a red substance.
,,I suppose this is because my men wrecked your lovely sanctuary? Are you thirsty, some wine?”

,,Don’t play the fool with me, Gerinj. I may have grown old, but I have not become rusty. If you believe that you can feed me blood without me noticing, you are mistaken. Besides, I am already well fed. Your men have attacked my sanctuary and have slain its inhabitants. We had an agreement. You wouldn’t bother me and I would let your people live.”
Gerinj laughed.
,,I believe it is you who broke our little agreement. Didn’t you help a little Dunmer slay part of my clan 400 years back?”
,,I only created his sword. I had no knowledge at the time that Athus would hunt down you. Speaking of Athus, what have you done with him?”

Gerinj laughed again.
,,Just some poetic justice. He’s still under the command of my first lieutenant. I’ll wait till the blessing of my blood has fully manifested itself before releasing his mind. The vampire hunter who becomes that which he hunts. Amusing, isn’t it?”
Aureus wasn’t laughing.
,,Your sense of humour is as horrible as ever. So you have cursed him with the blood. I agreed that I wouldn’t attack your men, but I never spoke of you.” Aureus said as his face stretched across his skull and his eyes turned white.

Gerinj bared his teeth.
,,Oh, you had to purge your blood. So you believe you need all of the abilities I gave you as a vampire to win? I granted you immortality, I deserve some gratitude. You are foolish, Aureus. With every passing day, we’ve grown stronger. Yes, you are more powerful than any mortal man, but I am the oldest. Every day I have worked to transcend my limits. You are nothing but a miserable bug and I shall crush you as one. Making the most skilled mage on the continent the first member of my clan has been a mistake.” He said and laughed again.

,,Tell me something, Areus. I see that you bear two katanas. Then why did I hear that you only use one?” He continued, calmer now.
,,I prefer to save that one for special occasions. Like now.” Aureus responded as he drew his weapon.
,,You are the oldest, but I have travelled the most.” He said and raised his blade.

The smile had disappeared on Gerinj’s face. He didn’t like to be confronted with something he didn’t recognize. Aureus’ katana was the strangest weapon he’d ever seen. It didn’t even look real. It seemed as if light itself had decided to become solid to form a ghostly blade.
,,What is that thing?” He muttered to himself and shut up when he noticed that he’d shown a weakness.
,,This sword is me. So it is two against one. Are you still so sure about your self?” Aureus responded with a thin smile.

[minque]

Oh la la Mr Cloudy! very interesting.....It´s a pleasure to read this one!

I present you with a and a

[Agent Griff]

Brilliant writing Jack! I just loved the discussion between Aureus and Gerinj, very epic. I also liked the cliffhanger ending. I expect a well written battle as the one you wrote between Arthago and Taillus. Keep up the great work!

[jack cloudy]

*Bows humbly in front of the audience.*
Thank you, thank you.
Now an epic battle is going to be hard. I mean, what can I do to make it interesting when I have two guys with enough power to blow up Balmora in one big bang? I can't let them snipe at each other with little 1pt for 1 sec destruction spells, that would be silly. Anyway, update time.



Argonia

When she came out of the tower half an hour later, she was ready for anything. But she hadn’t expected what she saw right in front of her eyes. A werewolf was using its inhuman strength to knock over trees which would then be dragged away and chopped in usable pieces by the villagers for later use in rebuilding the village. A bit further, a couple of children, including Jalin’s sister were playing hide and seek with the zombie. Jana shook her head. This was one weird place.

,,Catch!” Jana turned around just in time to have a wooden stick smack into her face.
,,Ouch! What was that good for?!” She yelled in frustration and promptly hurled the piece of wood back.
Luper easily caught it and threw it back to her, a bit slower this time.
,,Well sorry, I didn’t know your reflexes are that pathetic. You’re a vampire, for Daedra’s sake. I hate to think how slow you were before you got infected.” He said with one of his grins.

,,Now I prefer to keep my job as simple as possible. So to make sure that I won’t have to watch you all the time, I decided to turn you into something more useful. Swing it.” He continued in a serious tone. Jana was in quite a bad mood. For some reason, the man constantly got on her nerves. Still, she swung the stick.
The Redguard shook his head.
,,No no, you’re doing it all wrong. You’re too slow. Even my grandma is faster, and she never even existed. You freeze at the end of each swing. Don’t try to stop the stick, you’ve got to use the weight and momentum of it to help power your next swing. Like this.”

For the next few hours, Jana embarrassed herself in front of the village as she got sword-lessons from the Nerevarine. She wasn’t all that bad, but next to the Redguard she was just horrible. Redguards truly were the best swordfighters in all of Tamriel.

,,The idea that Redguards are simply born to be swordfighters is just a fantasy. Redguard kids just get sticks to play with and a bunch of parents who are usually quite proud on whatever sword-skills they might have. It is cultural, not natural. Besides, I only look like a Redguard. I’m really just Azura’s latest toy. I’m a Daedra. So who said that only Redguards are good with a sword? Now go try that spin again.” Was everything Luper was willing to say about the subject.

Skyrim

Aureus lunged forward with a quick thrust and then backed away to look at the vampire’s response. He hadn’t seen the man for about 2500 years and he had never fought him before. Rushing in without thinking would be suicide.
The vampire dodged the thrust and took a Daedric Claymore of a rack that stood against the wall. The weapon glowed with a deadly enchantment.
,,Your sword may be nice as a torch, but mine is made from the most powerful material found on Nirn!” He shouted and swung the mighty blade down with enough force to shatter a rock the size of a man.

Aureus blocked the blade and then performed a quick spin that caused his own ghostly blade to flow through the Daedric Claymore as if it was a mere illusion. The sight and sound of the Daedric blade falling onto the ground however proved that Aureus’ sword was very real. The vampire looked at the hilt and the small bit of the blade that he still held in his hands. His expression was that of utter shock.
,,The smith who has created my sword is not from Nirn, nor is the sword itself.” Aureus calmly said.

Nearly simultaneously, both men raised there hands and conjured two waves of Magicka that crashed into each other in a devastating explosion. They both raised a magical shield to deal with the Magicka that washed over them.

The man who stood near the entrance looked at it all, with jealousy. So this was the power that Lucis had. He was furious to know that he would never be as powerful as the man whose place he had taken 2000 years ago. The outer edge of the massive explosion caused his skin to burn. He decided that it would be best to let the Imperial get killed without watching the fight. It would be much safer if he went to check on their captive.

The Dunmer was where he’d left him, with Daedric shackles around his limbs that tied him to the floor instead of the wall as would be the usual method. That was one of the things the man found annoying about this place. Every single time they tried to cut a hole in the strange silvery walls, the material would fill up the hole before they could do anything useful with it. Only the natural rock underneath the ground made normal construction possible.

An evil smile took hold of the man’s face when he finally released the spell. Athus came to his sense and noticed soon enough that he was securely pinned to the floor. Resistance was futile.
,,Why didn’t you just kill me, abomination?” He whispered and stared at his captive.
,,Trust me, that would have been easy and my preferred course of action. But my master decided otherwise. No, he has something much more painful and infinitely more satisfying in mind. Enjoy your last free moments, for they are all you shall have before facing eternity as our slave.”

[Agent Griff]

Strange village that is. Anyway, some things were a little confusing, for example, who is Lucis? The guy that took Athus captive? I thought Aureus was fighting Gerinj but anyway. And btw, is that "My grandma is faster than you!" bit borrowed from the Redguard in the Arena or is it just me? I liked that guy. Well, keep up the great work!

[Taillus]

I do agree that it is wisdom that is true power. Taillus is really nothing... He got whooped by Xander who is definately not into the brawn department as much as most... anyway nice update for sure. You definately deserve some awards for the cursed blood story because it is world class. You should be proud!

[Agent Griff]

Weren't there some awards given to writers? I thought there was some kind of competition because I read a post in the former Oasis chapter I thread that congratulated Jack for his award. Anyway, I agree with Taillus. You truly deserve an award!

[Sirin]

Holy Cow!!! I started reading this yesterday, and only just finished. INCREDIBLE!!!!!! That is one captivated story. I find myself wishing that I was like Aureus so I could level my school! Yup, this is a fantastic one. If I had an award, I'd give you three of em.

[jack cloudy]

First of all, thank you for liking this. Now I'll try to answer a few questions.
1: Who is Lucis?
Lucis is the last name of Aureus. His full name is Aureus Lucis. I'll stick to Aureus to keep things simple.

2: the "My grandma bit"
I don't remember any Redguard from an Arena. At least not in Morrowind (only TES game I ever played.), though I only popped into the arena to beat up Venim and the Archmage. Basically, the my grandma is better than that souns like one of the standard things to say when you try to tell someone how bad he is.

3: the rewards.
For as far as I know, those rewards are just another way to say that you like it or as a comment on something. For example, Mplantinga gave me a reward early in Oasis for updating often. I updated like crazy back then, but I've slown down quite a bit.

And Sirin, I know what you mean. Aureus is just anything I would want to be. He's got style, wisdom, more power than you can imagine and he is practically immortal. Oh yeah, he doesn't hit on every woman he sees, like James Bond. (Stylish fellow, but he should stay away from the women. That's just sick.)
Now, update!


Athus bent his head so he could look at the back of the leaving vampire. If only looks could kill. He shook of the thought. It wouldn’t bring him any further if he somehow managed to kill the monster. There would be more of them. He inspected the chackles that held him as good as he could in his current position. They were made of Daedric material, so brute strength would not help him, even with the power the vampirism had brought. If only he could make them disappear.
,,Nice dreaming, Athus. Wake up, you old fool.” He told himself and laid down his head to rest. At least Jana was now safe with the lord of Kalom in Argonia. He heard a low rumble as if there was an explosion somewhere.

In the meantime, Aureus was doing the best he could to keep the endless supply of summoned swords away from his throat while simultaneously dodging spells. His sword was capable of cutting through the Daedric blades with ease, but that wouldn’t help much if said blade would then fly into his face. He was forced to block the swords before cutting them into pieces. At the same time, dodging spells from point-blank range wasn’t easy, even for him, so he had to keep up a shield constantly. This was getting him nowhere.
He leaped up towards the high ceiling where he floated as he waited for Gerinj to make his move.

The vampire launched a barrage of spells after him. Aureus summoned another shield and frantically dodged as much as he could. He couldn’t afford the battle to go on for much longer. Gerinj was right, he was the older and more powerful vampire. Aureus would stand no chance once he ran out of Magicka. As he was fighting, he couldn’t help but be reminded of the words of his old master, back when he was still a young mage, before he became a vampire.

,,Any mage who believes that Magicka exists and works on its own is mistaken. Magicka solves many things, but it is the mage who turns the idea into reality. Without the mage, Magicka is empty of meaning and holds no power. Likewise, without Magicka the mage would not exist. They are united and inseparable. To use Magicka, you must create the idea of Magicka yourself. Have many ideas, Aureus, and you may find a solution to a problem that knows no solution.” Aureus had never truly understood what it meant, but he didn’t want to think of it now. Staying alive was enough of a problem.

Aureus raised his sword to stop the incoming strike of the vampire who’d jumped after him when he got an idea. He aimed with his free hand and launched a spell bolt, missing.
,,Your aim is getting worse, Aureus.” Gerinj told him.
,,You’ve miscalculated my target.” Aureus responded with a smile before vanishing in thin air.

He reappeared at behind the vampire and pushed Gerinj up against the ceiling before driving his blade through the man’s back till it came out again through the chest. The Silvery material of the mountain glowed and trembled where Aureus’s sword sank into it.
,,A ranged Mark spell. A simple idea, which can be used in multiple ways.” He said as he kept the vampire pinned against the ceiling.

Argonia.

,,Alright, better. There’s still some work to do, but I think that we’ve done enough for today. While you go and have a heartattack, I think I’ll go fishing. Nothing makes you relax better after a hard day of work than fishing. Well, looting a ruin comes close.”
Jana gratefully sat down on the ground after hearing those words. She was utterly exhausted. How in the name of Akatosh was it possible for the Redguard not to be tired after they’d been busy all day with swords?

,,Say, you two haven’t seen Aureus today, have you?” Jalin said as he walked up to them and brushed of a bunch of twigs that had gotten stuck in his hair.
,,Nope, did you check the library?” Luper asked while he checked his fishing pole.
Jalin sighed. ,,That was the first place I looked. He isn’t in the tower, nor in the village. Oh, great. I know where he is.” He said and sat down.
,,Aureus must have gone after the vampires. It would be just something for him to throw his life away. And all I know is that the vampires are somewhere in Skyrim.” He muttered to himself.

,,Really, no need to worry about it. By the time any of us gets to Skyrim, he’s either dead or on the way back. Why don’t we get something to eat and decide what to do later?” Luper said with a grin before walking back into the tower. No fishing for tonight.

[Sirin]

Clever little trick, there, with the ranged Mark spell. The grandma comment, by the way, is from the arena in Oblivion, I believe. Your...uh..."guildmaster" guy is a Redguard who often comments about how his grandma could kick your butt (and many other such things).

Pinned to the ceiling, though? That's a painful one.... Same thing happened to the Snow Prince, I think, in Bloodmoon, right? Anyways, keep it up. edit: Oh, Oh, Lucis is a really cool last name. Thought I'd throw that in there...

This post has been edited by Sirin: May 7 2006, 03:23 PM

[Agent Griff]

The Redguard in the Arena is the local Blademaster. He is a real wiseguy and always cracks comments at the character. His voice acting is top-notch and it really immerses you into the game. One of his comments is:
"Even my grandma could beat you...and she's dead!"
He is, in many ways, much like Luper, very fun to be with. You should get Oblivion, it has some bad points but the good ones mostly make up for it. Anyway, to comment on the story, it's been a great experience so far and that advice also sounded really wise. Any self-respecting mentor would say that. I also liked the trick with the Mark spell. I'm also loving Luper's personality. Keep up the great work!

[jack cloudy]

I'll be sure to buy Oblivion someday. But then, there are many games I want to buy someday. (Oblivion, GOTY Morrowind, the Movies, one of Derek Smart's Battlecruiser games, Bridge Commander and anything else that might have found its way to the wishlist.)

Now time for the update. It's a small one and I know that it might sound a bit too convenient, but it would be a quick end otherwise.



Skyrim

A foot caught him in the chest with nearly enough force to crack his ribs and caused him to plummet down towards the floor. Aureus managed to stop his fall before breaking his neck on the hard rock and looked up with a surprised expression.
Now, I must admit that you did surprise me, Aureus. However, it appears that I’m having my lucky day. Who would think that a sword that cuts through Daedric as if through paper would be unable to do as much as scratch me?” Gerinj said and burst out laughing as he slowly descended towards the floor.

Aureus looked at the descending vampire, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Not even a vampire of his clan could survive such a wound, but it appeared that beyond making a big cut in the man’s shirt, the sword had failed to do any damage at all. The only time this had happened before was when he accidentally hit himself with his sword, an incident he still felt somewhat embarrassed over. It was in the sword’s nature not to harm its master, for they shared the same life.

Aureus threw the ghostly blade away in frustration. He knew what had happened. Gerinj and him where both vampires of the same clan and shared the same blood. The sword saw no difference between the vampire and himself and would not harm Gerinj for that reason. In other words, his most powerful weapon had just proved to be useless. Aureus drew his other, somewhat less exotic katana and prepared for the fight that had just become a lot harder.

Argonia

Jana looked in the mirror and muttered a couple of curses that would make her father get a heartattack if he heard them.
,,Stupid mountains, stupid explosions and stupid snow. Why can’t I have a normal dream for once?” The rest of what she was trying to say was drowned in more curses and a handful of water she splashed in her face. She then got dressed and walked out of her room. A short walk through the village might take her mind away from the missing Aureus. Strange, she knew almost nothing about him, but he was still the closest thing to a grandfather she’d ever had.

She cocked her head to the side and moved her pointy ears around. Did she just hear something? She couldn’t see anything unusual in the dark corridor but still decided to activate the detection spells in her amulet to ease her mind. She was convinced she was becoming paranoid.
The enhanced sight of the amulet revealed a humanoid shape slowly wandering away from her. The massive glow gave her an idea who she was looking at.
,,Now where do you think you’re going in the middle of the night?” She said with a grin.

,,What? Hey, I’ve got the amulet of Shadows. You’re not supposed to see me. Now what are you doing here in the middle of the night yourself?” An annoyed voice responded.
,,I just couldn’t sleep. And do you realize that you’re a walking beacon to anyone with an enchantment detection spell, Nerevarine?”
Luper threw of his Chameleon and sighed.
,,Right girl, you’ve got me. Now I know that enchanting everything, including my socks, was a bad idea. Now if you excuse me, I’m going to take a nice peaceful stroll through the village.” He said before turning around and continuing his walk through the corridor.

,,In full armour and with that big sword on your back? Not very peaceful.” Jana commented while still having a big grin on her face.
,,I think you’re going after Aureus, right? Didn’t you say we should wait before running off? I thought you didn’t care.”
Luper rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. This was hopeless.
,,Fine, so I’m not the big jerk I pretend to be. Now if I skybolt as far as my potions and Magicka reserves take me, I should reach the border of Argonia within two hours and Skyrim within a day or four. You stay here. I prefer to work alone. Besides, you would just get in the way.”
He walked off and ignored everything the Dunmer said. In the meantime, he kept having this feeling that he’d forgotten something.

[Agent Griff]

Interesting, Luper goes to help Aureus. I hope it's not to late though, it would be a shame to loose such a man as Aureus. The problem with the ghostly blade was also a very original problem, well done! I also like the fact that Luper is practicaly a walking Enchantment machine. Anyway, can you do me a favour Jack? Reply in my thread please since I don't like to double post. Anything is enough. Even a "Get back to work!" would do, just post and let me continue the story.

[Sirin]

Brilliant! Keep going! Onward!

[Taillus]

I think the cursed blood story has become my favorite to read on this entire forum. So artfully worded and it is so fun to read. Absolutely love it!

[minque]

Ah yes..sweet Jana has really got right to me! Fascinating story, a definite "must-read!"