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

[Lena Wolf]

Chapter 5

Bonds

30 Morning Star, 4E203 - Scorpio

Lena finally got to Crucible in the dead of night. Dylan was no where to be seen, she stopped by Sickly Bernice's for some food, then was about to go straight to her house when she noticed a familiar face in a dark corner of Bernice's dining room. No, it couldn't be! Must be a trick of the light, she figured. She looked again.

"Hello," she approached a mage in the corner who was paying no attention to her, absorbed in his book. "This trick won't work again, Scorpio," she sat down next to him.

"Hi, Wolf," he smiled at her. "It's been a while."

"You are back."

"I never left."

"Not true!" Lena exclaimed hotly. "You disappeared in the Rift, you wouldn't come and wouldn't let me find you!"

"You would have never left Gransys, I had to do something," he objected. "It was time for you to return to your world, your life."

"That again!" Lena looked cross. "I was happy with you."

"I am not mortal," he objected. "And that wasn't a life. Always repeating the same thing. We knew it by heart in the end."

"That's true," Lena nodded. "I am grateful to you, you know." She leaned to him and he pulled her close. "Look." Lena produced an amulet shaped as a hand that she was wearing on a long chain under her clothes. Scorpio took it, and the mark on the palm of his hand glowed brightly.

"The jeweller who made it told me about it," he nodded. "And about your plunge into the sea afterwards. He blamed me for your suicide, you know. The same as the rest of them."

"But you knew I would not die," Lena pressed her cheek against the top of his arm. "Otherwise you wouldn't have done it. What did you think I'd do when you disappeared?"

"Something stupid," he grinned. "Like attacking a flock of harpies or jumping off a cliff."

"But an arisen can die! Many of them have died! Why was I any different?"

"You were not of that world."

Sickly Bernice was watching them from behind her counter. She couldn't hear every word, but she heard enough. She walked over to them.

"This handsome young man has been waiting for you for weeks now," she looked at Lena with reproach, shooting an appreciative glance at Scorpio. "You should come more often, Lord Sheogorath," she smirked. "You mustn't abandon your flock."

"The Prince is back on his throne, and I distinctly remember losing that title," Lena objected. "What is going on, Bernice?"

"I'm just saying," she sat down at the table with them and poured herself a goblet of wine. "Enjoy it while you can! Wish I could..."

"Bernice!" Lena looked stern.

"All right, all right, don't bring out the torturer - he's enjoying it too much," Bernice shook her head. "You need to go see the Prince. Do the whole thing again. The Knights of Order are back."

"I've seen them," Lena nodded. "We've fought a lot of them with Dylan - poor Dylan, he took all the heat... Speaking of which - where is he?"

"Passwall," Bernice said with disgust. "The Fringe cannot decide whose side they are on. Typical."

"Strange... I haven't seen him when I was passing there today," Lena mused.

"No, he'll be down the catacombs," Bernice shook her head with sadness. "Grummites, you know. They are working with them."

"Whom?"

"The Knights of Order."

"Impossible!"

"But true!" Bernice was adamant. "There's a lot more to grummites than people think. They've got aquanostrum, for one." She drew herself up.

"No, they use the natural spring to rear their young," Lena shook her head. "But anyway. It can't be happening again, surely?"

"Oh yes, you'd better go see the Prince," Bernice got up, taking her wine with her. "Lord Sheogorath."

Scorpio was watching the exchange and smiling to himself.

"I was right to make you return. You are wanted here," he said.

"But what of you?" Lena looked into his eyes, but they were calm, devoid of emotion. "You wear that mask well, but I know better." Scorpio smiled at that, his eyes springing into life.

"It's what's expected of me in Gransys. 'Pawns have no emotions, no will of their own' - remember?" He winked at her.

"Yes, well, I think we debunked that story pretty quickly," Lena smirked. "But you didn't answer my question."

"Oh, you know how it is for us - my arisen had died, so I was dismissed into the Rift," he shrugged his shoulders. "They don't allow new arisen to pick pawns who'd already been claimed."

"Where do you come from?" Lena suddenly realised she didn't know. "I mean, the dragon comes every fifty years, creates another arisen, who then needs a fresh pawn, and this has been going on for ever and a day. There must be new pawns for this to work."

"We... well... we are not daedra," Scorpio looked at her sideways. "We are not created and we are not immortal in the same way. We are people who had been cursed." He rubbed the mark on his hand and it glowed brightly. "We all had lives before... we can have lives again... but it is rare."

"You mean you are from Gransys?" Lena looked at him round-eyed.

"Yes," Scorpio nodded. "But I lived a very long time ago. I spent an eternity in the Rift before you picked me."

"And now?"

"Now? You know the fate of a pawn whose arisen had died!" He smirked. "You are dead to Gransys."

"Well, you are here," Lena pointed out. "How did you do it?"

"The same way as those pawns did it that we met in the underworld in Gransys," he sipped his wine. "I left. It's not true that we have no will of our own. It took a while, but I found the portal you came through, and here I am."

"You've been to other worlds," Lena realised.

"Yes, this wasn't the first portal I tried," Scorpio smiled. "And I didn't know what your world looked like. I've been to Albion, too."

"No!" Lena turned bright red.

"Yes," Scorpio grinned. "Dumpling."

"Oh gods..." Lena moaned, shaking her head.

"Not to worry, I am still your friend," he grinned again. "And I hear you are married again."

Lena nodded. "This time it's for real though."

"Yeah, I heard the stories," he nodded. "But the child? They say it's not his."

"Who says that?" Lena sat up, shooting an angry glance at Bernice.

"Yeah, Bernice and the rest of them," Scorpio confirmed. "They wager it's from your other friend, the battlemage."

"Hauk... yeah... they are probably right," Lena agreed, in a much quieter tone. "I just don't know."

"They say it's a Nord's child - they can tell by the shape of the belly," Scorpio didn't seem to believe it himself.

"Nonsense," Lena shook her head. "Nonsense, and you know it."

They chatted all night, Lena had completely forgotten about sleep, and even Bernice decided to forgo the slumber in favour of eavesdropping. Finally faint sun rays started coming through the windows and Bernice put the coffee on.

"Oh thank you!" Lena accepted a cup with gratitude. "Did you enjoy our conversation?"

"I..." Bernice was taken aback, but didn't blush. "Whatever do you mean? I'm a sick woman!"

"Quite," Lena grinned, then turning to Scorpio she added: "Oh never mind them, they mean well."

...

"Was there any particular reason you came here or was it just your regular time out?" Scorpio asked Lena when they finally left Bernice's Taphouse.

"Nothing special," Lena shook her head. "I come here regularly. Of course I'll need to go see the Prince now, you heard what Bernice had said. And other things will come up as well, no doubt. Where are you staying?"

"I bought a house in Crucible," Scorpio smiled. "I'm staying. Gransys is dead to me."

"That's nice!" Lena hugged him right there in the street, and all passers by stared. Displays of emotion were for the Maniacs! "Dementia for you, then?"

"Remember Bitterblack Isle?" His smile was sad. Yes, Lena remembered. It was the place many pawns went to after their arisen had died, a place of despair. Compared to Bitterblack Isle, Dementia was overly manic.

"Plus, Bernice likes you," Lena grinned. "Handsome young man."

"She's too young for me," Scorpio retorted. "I don't date women under five hundred."

"Five hundred what?" A passing Seducer guard overheard their conversation. "Years mean nothing when you're immortal," she smiled at Scorpio.

"Oh, I didn't mean anything," he smiled back. "I'd date you any time, darling."

"Find me later," the Seducer gave him a big grin and continued her patrol.

"Well, well!" Lena chuckled. "You've been busy!"

"I like them," he grinned. "They are friendly. Not like the Saints next door."

Lena and Scorpio looked at each other, each reading the same in the other's eyes. They were glad to walk the same world again. Their romance was over, but their friendship remained. They knew each other's secrets, sins and desires, and it was fine. Their bonds were stronger than that.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Scorpio was Lena's companion in Gransys - Dragon's Dogma. He finally made it to Tamriel to be Lena's companion there, when he's not busy dating Seducers, that is. He is an elemental sorcerer and brings new spells with him which he might teach Lena some day, once her mastery of the elements is high enough.

Scorpio is one of Lena's Companions to be released at a later date.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: May 13 2024, 05:20 PM

[Lena Wolf]

31 Morning Star, 4E203 - Lord Sheogorath

"So, who is it going to be this time? Thadon or Syl?" Prince Sheogorath was squinting at Lena when she came to see him. "Although I know the answer, of course," he smiled.

"I would rather not kill either of them," Lena suggested hesitantly. "Especially since you are going to recreate them afterwards anyway."

"What? A break with tradition?" Sheogorath cried out in indignation. "You must earn the respect of the people, and get either the Mazken or the Aureals to serve you, and you can only do that by becoming the Duchess of either half!" He looked furious. "I explained it last time already!"

"But My Prince..." Lena's voice was shaking a bit. "Must we follow the same path every time?"

"Yes, we must! Always have done!" Sheogorath was still angry. "Who are you to break with tradition, anyway?" He glared at her. "Oh, wait, yes, the one Champion who actually got things done..." He reminded himself. "Better than those clowns... or clouds... whatever." Suddenly he smiled radiantly, his anger gone without a trace. "So, how do you propose to get the Mazken to serve you then? For it will have to be the Mazken, of course, what with your special favourites and all," he winked. "Well, woman, speak up!"

"I gave them Cylarne..." Lena started cautiously.

"Cylarne - yes, and then lit the Great Torch for Mania!" Sheogorath objected. "What were you thinking?" He glared again.

"But I am of both sides, I cannot choose," Lena gathered her courage. "And it is pointless for me to replace the Duke or the Duchess because it won't last since I'm supposed to replace you in the end." She looked straight at him, noticing that his eyes were smiling.

"One of both sides, yes," he said softly. "As Lord Sheogorath must be."

"My Lord, if I may," Haskill suddenly joined the conversation. "Perhaps this Breton should do other tasks to prove her worth again."

"An excellent idea, Haskill!" Sheogorath beamed. "He does get them from time to time," he added quietly, turning to Lena. "That's why I keep him around. That, and the parties, of course." He shot a sideways glance at Haskill, who rolled his eyes. "He loves that, he does," Sheogorath smirked. "But enough of that! So what shall we have you do? If you are going to break with tradition, then do it right! Do something different! Go! Do it! Chop-chop!" He flicked his hand.

"Do what..?" Lena stared at him, perplexed.

"Prove that you are still Lord Sheogorath," he replied quietly. "What would I do in your place? Figure it out and do it. Come back when done. Then we'll see."

Prince Sheogorath sat on his throne, quietly smiling at his Champion, certain that she would rise to the challenge and step into his shoes once again, and fill them. All she needed was a gentle nudge in the right direction.

...

"The Prince wants me to do something to prove my worth as his Champion," Lena was saying to Scorpio over lunch at Bernice's. "But he didn't say what," she sighed. "Last time he had a whole series of tasks all planned out, but this time it's up to me." She poked her smoked baliwog leg with suspicion. "The Greymarch is just beginning, he's still the Prince, he's still here, but I need to prepare to replace him when the time comes. Which is when exactly? How much time do I have? It is all so confusing," she complained, lifting her eyes at Scorpio and finding him grinning. "What's so funny?" She asked defiantly.

"You are," he smiled. "You know exactly what to do, yet you convince yourself that you don't."

"What..?"

"Things have been different here lately," Bernice joined in, having listened to the conversation in her usual manner. "Some of the new residents are quite mad," she shook her head. "Why Sheogorath lets them in, is beyond me!" She rolled her eyes. "Of course he might not have. Everyone can get in now, since you killed the Gatekeeper - again!" She glared at Lena.

"But I had to..." Lena started hesitantly. "Wait... What are you saying?" She gave Bernice a long look. "Rebuild the Gatekeeper?"

"That's the obvious bit, yes, but that won't stop the Greymarch," Bernice nodded. "Gosh, woman, even I can see what needs to be done!" She threw her arms in the air in desperation, quite an unusual display of emotion for a Demented like herself.

"See, it's that obvious," a little voice in Lena's head piped up. "You must be finished well before your child is due, and even before your next visit to Mephala," the voice continued. "Do I really need to spell it out to you? You're supposed to be Me!" The voice added with anger.

"Yes, My Prince," Lena replied out loud, making Scorpio and Bernice look up. "I've got three weeks," she added, looking at Scorpio. "Everything needs to be finished in three weeks. Come on, we've got work to do." She got up decisively, beckoning Scorpio to follow. Then dashed back to the table to pick up her half-eaten smoked baliwog leg. "Finish this on the way," she nodded to Bernice, patted her belly and really marched towards the door this time.

...

When Lena and Scropio reached Passwall, they found it changed. Obelisks of Order were everywhere, not looking orderly at all, Knights of Order were rushing back and forth fighting everyone they could find, and grummites... well, grummites were no where to be seen.

"Of course not, what did you expect?" Scorpio raised an eyebrow when Lena commented on it. "They are only animals!" He shrugged. "What I would rather like to know, is whom are these Knights fighting?"

Sounds of battle were coming from just ahead, but they could not see what was happening as several obelisks were blocking their way. Then a bone arrow flew past Lena's ear nearly grazing it.

"Jayred Ice-Veins!" She exclaimed, rushing forward. "We must help him!"

Jayred had climbed onto the roof of a nearby house and was shooting arrows at the Knights of Order below, while the knights were attacking the obelisk that had risen near the entrance blocking the door...

"Not very clever, are they?" Jayred shouted, grinning. "But tough! Too bad they've got no bones under that armour... Hey, watch out! They've seen you!"

His words of warning were drowned in the clanking of metal, now that the knights saw Lena and Scorpio approach and figured that'd make for more rewarding sparring partners than the obelisk they'd been attacking. However, they were no longer at full strength under Jayred's arrows, and soon they were reduced to piles of shiny metal.

"What is going on?" Lena turned to Jayred as he climbed off the roof. "Your eyes!" They were grey and cold, just like the shiny metal around them. "What happened?"

"We've been turned, the Fringe fell to the forces of Order," Jayred shrugged his shoulders. "Except that turning my eyes grey won't make me join these tin soldiers," he prodded one with his boot. "I was lucky to be outside when they descended. Most people are trapped in their houses - look, there's an obelisk blocking every door!"

"This is actually good news," a voice said from behind. "This way they won't get killed." Dylan appeared from the rubble. "I sent word - the Mazken should be here soon."

"But not soon enough!" Scorpio exclaimed pointing at a fresh group of knights running towards them. "Here they come!"

Lena tried to circle around them looking for an obelisk that brought them forth, but couldn't see anything active - all the obelisks in the Fringe were passive, static things, no more dangerous than any rock. The active obelisk must have been hidden. She had to talk to Dylan, see what was going on, regroup, think it over... But there was no time for any of that, the knights kept coming in waves, and each of their crushing blows could easily kill her on the spot...

The battle was fierce. Jayred quickly climbed onto the roof and was raining arrows onto the knights, while Dylan and Scorpio took the heat of the melee combat, allowing Lena to do something stealthy. Except that none of her usual methods would have any effect here - you could not assassinate a knight with a stab through the heart because they had no beating hearts, they were immune to poison and impervious to most magic. In addition, Lena's growing belly made her movements slower than usual, and she didn't have armour capable of protecting it. There was only one thing for it: climb onto another roof and shoot arrows at them. She couldn't match Jayred's skill of course, but as they say, every little helped... And so she summoned a daedroth.

The daedroth roared as he cast his woad, shaking tip to toe. "Go get them, Toothy," Lena encouraged him under her breath, focussing on regaining her magicka for Toothy's replacement. As the daedroth starting thrashing through a group of knights and metal limbs started flying in all directions, Scorpio took a step back, seeing his chance to strike. Scorpio was a sorcerer, but his spells required concentration, something he couldn't muster in the heat of a melee battle, so he let his axe work instead. With the daedroth effectively taking his place, he tucked the axe into his belt, planted his staff into the grey soil before him, and started charging his spell.

...

"What was THAT?!" Dylan was looking around, prodding some of the metal bodies with his boot. Not shiny, they were corroded and charred by a massive explosion that blinded everyone for a second. An explosion that should have killed them all, knight, mortal and daedra, but that somehow only struck the knights... Toothy the daedroth took a few more swipes at the collapsed knights, crushing some of the pieces into dust. Then he too stood still until Lena dispelled him.

"That was one of the bigger ones, wasn't it," Lena rushed to Scorpio who was sitting on the ground holding onto his staff. "Here, drink this," she handed him a bottle of mead. "Sorry, I haven't got the proper potions," she added apologetically. Scorpio accepted the bottle with a nod, still too weak to speak. "The stronger the spell that he casts, the more energy it costs him to cast it," Lena explained it to Dylan and Jayred. "It's not just magicka that he uses, but also his physical strength, so right now he is exhausted," she added, handing Scorpio another bottle and a loaf of bread.

"Mead will set him right," Jayred nodded his approval.

"We need to find the obelisk though," Lena looked at her companions with worry. "Otherwise the knights will just keep coming. Yet I haven't seen anything active around here - these are all just rocks!"

"It's inside Xeddefen," Dylan jerked his head in the direction of the ruin. "I've been patrolling it these past few weeks, saw several obelisks growing there, and there was that sound... like what you hear around the active ones. Didn't see where it was coming from though, it could be underground."

"We'll have to go there to deactivate it," Lena's face was set in resolve.

"Delve into a crumbling ruin, avoid the grummites, try not to get impaled onto a rising obelisk, find the source of the strange noise, fight waves upon waves of Knights of Order, then somehow manage to overload an active obelisk while avoiding death by electrocution courtesy the local Priest of Order... Why, that's a job for Sheogorath's Champion," a hoarse mocking voice sounded behind them. "You do that. We'll just stay here and await your return."

"There is no need to be so haughty, Grakendo Udico," Dylan turned to a group of Mazken standing behind them. "This is exactly what Wolf will do."

"In her condition?" Grakendo measured up Lena's belly with a glance. "Mortals have a tendency for disfiguring afflictions."

"You see, not all of them are actually friendly," Lena said to Scorpio, rolling her eyes. Then, turning to Grakendo Udico, she added: "Yes, this is what I'll do. Again. I distinctly remember you being rather more polite last time."

"Last time you were our Duchess," Grakendo pointed out. "This time we are only here because one of ours sent word," she squinted at Dylan. "Even though he isn't a warrior and is officially expelled from the Order. Why My Lord even lets him walk this Realm--"

"Enough!" Lena decided to take control. "We can discuss it later. The Realm is under attack! Is it not your duty to Your Lord to protect it?" She glared at Grakendo. "So do it! While I and... err--" she shot quick glances at her companions, "While we go and deactivate the obelisk somewhere inside Xeddefen," she finished firmly.

"Well, if you put it this way..." Grakendo started another sentence, but a fresh wave of Knights of Order appeared from the dust cloud ahead. "Prepare for battle!" She shouted, addressing her troops and dismissing Dylan all in one glance. Jayred leaped to the rooftop, Scorpio shook off his tiredness rising to his feet, and Dylan took the lead putting himself between a charging knight and Lena's belly.

Dylan, Lena and Scorpio flanked the raging battle and ran towards Xeddefen.

[Renee]

They are in Fort Dunstad, which is a fun place to visit. Oh wow. They are in Dawnstar Sanctuary.

In Silverdrift Lair Lucien calls her "Dragonborn". Did she do all the Main Quest in Skyrim, or she just has DB powers like shouting?

Yeah that is true--when bandits in V say "That's close enough!" what better invitation is there to ignore them?

Up to page 7 / post 132

[Lena Wolf]

In Silverdrift Lair Lucien calls her "Dragonborn". Did she do all the Main Quest in Skyrim, or she just has DB powers like shouting?

Never did the entire main quest - got bored. In this playthrough she went up to High Hrothgar where she was told to go fetch a horn, so then she went to fetch a horn but found Delphine's note instead. If only the Dragonborn could get in there, it makes Delphine Dragonborn, right? Makes no sense. So she went to see Delphine who promised to explain everything as soon as Lena proves she's Dragonborn. "I have nothing to prove to you," says Lena and leaves. Delphine is a Blade through and through, it's amazing that no one can see it. Hauk had figured it out as well - "Never seen a maid command the ale to stop fermenting," he noted. And Lena had had enough of Blade business back during the Oblivion Crisis, and didn't want to see another Blade ever again. So she never went back to Delphine, which of course means this is the end of the main quest for this playthrough.

Up to page 7 / post 132

Wow! You're catching up!

[Lena Wolf]

1 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Xeddefen

"Finally! I've been waiting. What took you so long?" Shelden stepped from behind a false wall in a dark corridor inside Xeddefen after Lena, Dylan and Scorpio put down the last of the Knight of Order in the room.

"Excuse me?" Scorpio turned around, his axe at the ready. "And who might you be?"

Shelden was visibly taken aback by such blatant ignorance, so his reply was uncharacteristically muted.

"I am Shelden, the Mayor of Passwall of course," he mumbled, eyeing the axe. "You must be  new here!" He concluded, brightening up. "And obviously you need my help!" He added excitedly. "Of course you need my help!" He drew himself up and put on his usual aura of superiority. "Well, I am glad to provide it. I shall escort you out of this place. Follow me!" He turned towards the dark corridor littered with piles of metal that just before was the Knights of Order. The sight of so many fallen knights seemed to have shaken him, because he turned around again to look at Lena and Dylan. It seemed he only just noticed them.

"It's all right, Scorpio," Lena decided to diffuse the situation. "Shelden is one of the residents." Shelden perked up at that and was about to object to the "one of the residents" designation, but Lena didn't give him a chance. "Shelden, you can follow us. Stay behind us and try not to get killed - these knights mean business. We need to find the main obelisk before we can leave though. Or you can stay here and wait until it's all over - it might be safer that way."

"Stay behind and wait for the whole thing to collapse around me?" Shelden shook his head vigorously. "No, thanks," he added firmly. "Have you seen the state of the masonry? Why do you think this is a ruin in the first place?" He glared at Lena. "It is only kept together by grummite egg mounds, but since the grummites are no where to be seen, I'm not staying either!" A column suddenly collapsed next to them, illustrating Shelden's point.

"Suit yourself," Lena shrugged. "I'm not pulling you out like last time."

"Last time--" Shelden started protesting, but the others were already too far down the corridor to hear. "Hey, wait for me!"

...

Xeddefen was exactly as the Mazken commander predicted it to be, minus the grummites. Obelisks were suddenly rising under their feet, Knights of Order were everywhere and the buzz of lightening was heard in every corridor, yet the main obelisk must have been deeper in still. Fighting through endless waves of Knights of Order while trying to avoid getting crushed by falling rubble and collapsing masonry was both tiresome and disheartening. But the buzz of lightening seemed to be getting stronger, which meant that they were moving in the right direction - towards the main obelisk.

"It cannot be much further, the noise is almost deafening here," Dylan noted when they finally sat down for a rest. "We should take a break and prepare for battle," he added, handing out cheese, bread and ale to his companions.

"Prepare for battle?" Shelden looked at him as if Dylan had just said something crazy. "Battle? And what have we been doing so far then?"

"Getting to the main battlefield," Dylan grinned, speaking over Shelden's continued objections. "Look, Mayor, we can debate afterwards. You know what's coming - you've done this before!" Dylan's deep hoarse voice covered Shelden's, and Shelden had to give in, rolling his eyes in defiance. After all, Dylan was a daedra.

...

A huge obelisk shut down with a screech, and the lightening powering it gave out the last spark. The floor was covered in scratched and battered metal limbs and weapons, no longer as shiny as they had started out. Four people were wading through it knee high.

"Come on, we've got to get out of here," Dylan helped Lena climb onto higher ground. "With the obelisk shut down, the walls will start collapsing around it - they were only held in place by the same current that kept the obelisk open." He pointed at a column that was about to explode, with cracks visibly running through it. "Try not to get squashed!" He shouted, pulling Shelden from under the falling stone just before he could be flattened. "Mayor."

They ran for their lives. Caved in corridors had plenty of evidence of similar collapses in the past, as this was not the first Greymarch in the history of the Shivering Isles. Shelden seemed to be either out of breath or out of common sense because he kept falling behind, and Dylan and Scorpio kept urging him on, with variable success.

"What are you doing?" Scorpio shouted. "You will perish here if you stay behind!"

"I will find a way out!" Shelden shouted back. "I am the Mayor! I know this place! I don't have to follow anybody!"

Lena only shook her head. She found it hard to navigate the debris, to dodge falling stones, to duck under wrought masonry, all while holding tight her belly and trying to protect it from any accidental bumps. "Next stop - Cutter's Weapons," she promised herself. "The elf must be able to make me some armour. Surely, I am not the first heavily pregnant woman in an epic fight, am I?" She smirked to herself, wondering just how many heavily pregnant heroins came before her. All sensible women were spending the final three months of their pregnancies in the comfort of their homes making baby clothes. But then again, Prince Sheogorath would not have picked a sensible woman for his Champion.

"Ah! You are the worst escort ever!" Shelden's angry voice brought Lena back out of her considerations on pregnant heroins. Shelden's constant falling behind finally got him cut off - a falling grate blocked his way. Now he would really need to find his own way out.

...

The Fringe lay in ruins with metal limbs and Mazken bodies covering much of the ground. The fighting must have been ferocious on the surface as well. Lena, Dylan and Scorpio climbed out of a hole in the ground and walked towards Passwall. All was quiet, no more waves of Knights of Order were emerging from Xeddefen. Yet sharp screeches were heard every now and again - some of the obelisks were retreating into the ground, until the next Greymarch.

"Well, Passwall survived it again, thanks to my efforts and leadership!" Shelden had found a way out too.

...

"What do you suppose we should do next?" Lena moved her eyes from Dylan to Scorpio watching them consume one grilled grummite egg after another. The obelisk blocking the door to the Wastrel's Purse had retreated and Drewen was serving all those things she prepared while being locked inside - the noise kept waking her up and she found cooking to be a welcome distraction.

"Gosh, that elf can cook when she wants to!" Dylan commented, shooting her an appreciative glance. "Do what, sorry?" He realised suddenly that Lena had asked something.

"This wasn't very different from last time," Lena mused. "Sheogorath wants me to do something different to prove my worth again," she explained, noticing Dylan's confusion. "So I figure retaking the Fringe wasn't it. There's got to be something else."

"Bernice hinted at rebuilding the Gatekeeper," put in Scorpio.

"But that's exactly what I did last time after retaking the Fringe..." Lena sounded unsure.

"That doesn't mean it shouldn't be done this time again!" Dylan objected. "Without the Gatekeeper, there's too much riff-raff getting in."

He had a point, that chore needed doing. So Lena decided to stop worrying whether or not it was different enough and just take care of it next, especially since Xaselm was literally around the corner.

"I'm not sure Relmyna will be thrilled to see me again," Lena sighed, "but what needs to be done, needs to be done. We'll go tomorrow," she added decisively. After all, they earned some rest first.

[Lena Wolf]

2-4 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Relmyna

"Well, look who's here again!" Relmyna squinted as Lena entered the room. "Former Lord Sheogorath. What do you want?" She glared and bared her teeth.

"Relmyna, we have a job to do, the same as last time," Lena was hoping for a civil conversation. "We need to rebuild the Gatekeeper."

"We?" Relmyna glared. "You killed my baby, you killed both of them!" She exclaimed with grief and anger. "So you can rebuild him! Or use that thing inside your belly to take his place!"

Ouch. Before Lena could register what she was doing, she flew at Relmyna, knocked her on the ground and had her dagger at Relmyna's neck. Stop! Stop. As much as she hated the woman, she needed her to rebuild the Gatekeeper, and Relmyna knew it and grinned.

"Well, Assassin, why did you stop?" Relmyna said mockingly.

Lena got off her and put her dagger away. She was burning with rage and restraint - she was trying to restrain her rage resulting in a huge internal battle. This job was going to be tough.

"Let me handle it," she heard Scorpio's voice in her ear. "Take Dylan and leave the room."

Lena obeyed.

...

The doors of Xaselm were made of thick iron and bronze, but even so flashes of light and high pitched noises were coming through. After some time, Scorpio returned, scorch marks and fresh scars covering his arms.

"We need to go to the Gardens of Flesh and Bone to collect a few things," he said calmly. "But I suppose you already knew that. It's the same as last time."

"Relmyna?" Lena ran her eyes along Scorpio's new marks.

"Alive and well," he smiled. "We need her. Oh, and this... I'll tell you later."

As they were making their way out of Xaselm, they bumped into Nanette Don walking down the corridor, lost in thought.

"Oh, hello!" She greeted them joyfully. "Back again?" Her smile was somehow strained. "Relmyna is further in."

"We already spoke to her," Lena replied, scrutinising Nanette's face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" Nanette protested. "Why do you ask?" Then, casting a quick glance at Scorpio's scars, she asked with worry: "Relmyna..?"

"Alive and well," Scorpio repeated. "All you have to do, Nanette, is show her that you've mastered her methods."

"I would not dare!"

"You must."

"I can't!"

"Then why are you here?"

This was a fair question. Nanette gave Scorpio a sharp look, then turned and continued her way into the depths of Xaselm.

...

The Garden of Flesh and Bone was in Passwall, so they retraced their steps. The sun was already setting - this was enough excitement for one day. They hoped that Drewen had cooked something again.

"What did you do?" Lena asked Scorpio at dinner, but he wouldn't tell her, saying that he'd rather enjoy his meal.

3 Sun's Dawn

The Garden of Flesh and Bone was a dungeon like any other, with the usual dangers strewn inside. They had to collect four items, and it took them through every corridor and tunnel, sometimes repeatedly.

"This Garden is different somehow from what I remembered," Lena was saying when they sat down for a rest. "More Flesh Atronachs, may be."

Neither Dylan nor Scorpio had been there before, so they couldn't answer, but somehow each of them doubted that the Garden had changed.

"May be it is you who had changed rather than the Garden," Dylan suggested. "You know that Flesh Atronachs make no difference. So what's troubling you?"

"Nothing," Lena suddenly got defensive, surprising even herself. "May be it will become clearer later. Better tells us what you did to Relmyna," she turned to Scorpio.

"I treated her the way she treats others," Scorpio shrugged his shoulders. Horrified looks on Lena's and Dylan's faces made him laugh. "What did you think I'd do?"

"But you are still alive and largely in one piece," Dylan put in.

"As are most of Relmyna's subjects," Scorpio nodded. "You know what her interests are, don't you? She studies flesh. She thinks it's the fifths element."

"So Flesh Atronachs..." something dawned on Lena. "They are her invention, aren't they?"

Scorpio nodded. "She doesn't kill people to resurrect them afterwards like Necromancers do. She transforms them while they are still alive. Using surgery."

That sounded painful and revolting, and Lena pushed away the bowl of stew that was before her.

"I've had enough to eat," she grimaced. "So, did you cut her up?"

"No, I joined her in the study of pain - another of her interests, and of course related to the flesh," said Scorpio, continuing with his own stew. "Look, if you can't stomach it, don't ask. As you say, I am still largely in one piece, as is Relmyna. Her purpose is not to kill but to torture, and I gave her a taste of that. I don't think anyone else did. Of course she responded in kind, she is an exceptionally powerful sorceress - much exceeding my abilities. I am surprised that she allowed me to do what I did at all. She must be a masochist in part as well as a sadist. So there. Now you know. Finish your stew."

This lecture was delivered in a matter-of-fact tone that made Lena shiver. Yes, Scorpio had many facets to him, and his immortality meant that suffering could continue forever. Suddenly Lena realised why so many dejected pawns made their way to the Bitterblack Isle - a place of pain as well as despair. Pain had become their normality, and they stopped seeking diversion from it, instead they embraced it.

"I am glad you came here instead," Lena said softly. "Bitterblack Isle was terrible. Dementia is nothing like that."

"Even if it has one or the other sado-masochist in it," Scorpio smiled. "Yes."

4 Sun's Dawn

The following day saw them collect the remaining items from the Garden of Flesh and Bone and head to Xaselm. "Best get it over with straight away," said Lena, finding it sickening to look at the bits of flesh and sacks of blood in her pack. Relmyna was going to use that to create a new Gatekeeper. No, they didn't actually come from her womb, although Lena suspected that the seeds for the Garden of Flesh and Bone did. "Sickening," she said under her breath, supporting her own pregnant belly.

Entering Xaselm through the back door, they found themselves right in Relmyna's laboratory.

"Oh hello!" She greeted them with an unexpected cheer, not taking her eyes off Scorpio. "Back for more?"

"No, we are back to make a new Gatekeeper," Lena replied, stepping forward. "You leave Scorpio alone!"

"Or what, little girl?" Relmyna sneered. "I could kill you on the spot. Or remove that bulge on your front."

"Now, now, ladies, stop it!" Both Dylan and Scorpio lunged forward seeing the flash of Lena's dagger and the sparkling of Relmyna's lightening. With hostilities averted, they really had to focus on the job at hand.

"Normally it's Sheogorath who chooses what goes into the new Gatekeeper," Relmyna pointed out. "But I haven't seen him in a while... Not since... oh..." she seemed to be lost in thought, which must have been pleasant, as she started smiling. Then, returning from her reverie, she added with a scorn: "But since he is not here, you will have to do."

"Why can't you choose the parts yourself?" Lena asked, suddenly realising that she never gave much thought to the ritual of creating a Gatekeeper.

"A child must have two parents," Relmyna rolled her eyes. "Even one born from magic," she added. "Didn't you realise that you had killed your own child with the last Gatekeeper? You created it with me, you were its parent!" She watched as Lena stood dumbfounded and terrified by this revelation. Relmyna's study of pain wasn't limited to its physical manifestations, and she knew very well that mental pain was far superior.

Lena pushed away the pain and the guilt. She couldn't have been an actual parent to that monster, could she? It was just Relmyna's trick, that's all. And the new Gatekeeper had to be created, regardless. She shot a glance at Scorpio noticing him watching her face. "I can do this," she told herself. And then she recalled Sheogorath's words: "Figure out what I would have done and do it." He would have fathered a monster with Relmyna, and make that monster - his child - to be fated to die in the hands of his future champion, a champion who would then have to father another monster fated for the same thing... And if that champion died prematurely, it would have to be Sheogorath fathering monsters over and over again. And now it was Lena's turn.

"Let's do it," she turned to Relmyna. "I am Lord Sheogorath."

[Lena Wolf]

6-7 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Another emergency

"So, you figured it out," Sheogorath smiled at Lena when she stood before him in Crucible, having defended the Fringe from the forces of Order and rebuilt the Gatekeeper with Relmyna. "Well done. Yes, of course it's like last time - how did you think I knew what you were supposed to do?" He winked. "It's the same thing over and over again, every time. With some variations... like now." He nodded at a Mazken and an Aureal approaching the throne. "What is it?" He turned to them. "Not both of you this time?"

"My Lord, the forces of Order have broken into our Sanctuary and cut off the Wellspring!" The two missionaries exclaimed in chorus. "We are doomed!" They looked definitely panicked.

"See, this is what happens if you don't take sides," Sheogorath turned to Lena. "Had you replaced the Duke or the Duchess, only one side of Madness would have been affected, but now both of them are in trouble! It's all your fault!" He looked furious.

"No, it isn't!" Lena retorted, not fooled by Sheogorath's fury. "It's the forces of Order doing it! Not me! Definitely not me! I'll have nothing to do with Order!" She exclaimed hotly, surprising even herself.

"Well, you aren't exactly orderly, I'll give you that," Sheogorath chuckled. "So, what are you going to do about it?"

"What is there to do?" Lena smiled at him. "Go and free their Wellsprings, of course. Starting with..."

"Mazken!"

"Aureals!"

The two missionaries exclaimed simultaneously.

"Mazken," said Lena. "But you knew that already." She looked at the uncharacteristically joyful faces of the Mazken guards in the throne room and equally uncharacteristically dejected faces of the Aureals. "Oh, don't worry, I won't desert you. I'm only letting you wait because you're tougher," she winked at the nearest Mazken, and the Mazken nodded.

Out in the yard, Lena turned to Dylan and Scorpio.

"Dylan, you'll need to sit this one out. You are not coming with us," she said quite decisively.

"Why..? What..?" Dylan was taken aback.

"While the Wellspring is blocked, any Mazken killed remains killed, right?" Lena glared at him. "And you are asking why?"

This wasn't quite like that, to be fair, but yes, with the Wellspring blocked, there was a risk for the fallen Mazken to actually be permanently destroyed. And Lena was not prepared to take that risk with Dylan.

"Run ahead and tell the Mazken to prepare," she turned to the messenger. "I'll join you shortly - I know the way."

There was something she needed to do before yet another battle.

...

"You want what?" Cutter's eyes grew so big, Lena thought they were in danger of popping out of the sockets. "There is no armour for pregnant women!" She exclaimed with desperation. "Pregnant women don't fight!"

"Well, but look here, Cutter," Lena tried to reason with her. "I'm sure you've heard what's going on, you read the papers, don't you? Or at least frequent Bernice? Then you know we're in for a series of epic battles, and I happen to be the Champion. Please? I need something to protect my child!"

She stood there, in Cutter's smithy, hugging her belly for the full effect.

"Well, I suppose I could come up with something..." Cutter softened, measuring up Lena's shape. "How soon do you need it?" Then looking up at Lena, she read the answer on her face. "Yesterday, right? Literally. Ok. You'll have it by the morning," she said dismissively. The Mazken would just have to hold out until then.

7 Sun's Dawn

As usual, Cutter surpassed herself and produced a "pregnant woman's" Madness cuirass, much to Lena's delight and gratitude. With that, she and Scorpio set off for the Pinnacle Rock - the Mazken Sanctuary.

"It's a disaster!" The Mazken Captain met them at the door. "They've captured the Commander and are about to block the Wellspring! Then we'll be all petrified! Forever! Death! Death!!! Noooooo!"

Leaving panicking Captain behind, Lena gestured Scorpio to follow her inside.

"I've been here before - Dylan took me to the Wellspring a few times. It's easy enough. We go in, find that Commander, then go further in, and there in the depths there's the Wellspring, blocked by some Order crystals, no doubt. Lots of fighting before us, so get ready."

"What's that about being petrified though?" Scorpio squinted at her.

"Pay no mind to that," Lena shrugged. "They think that if the Wellspring gets blocked, all Mazken will immediately be petrified - turned to stone. Nonsense. The only Mazken that get petrified, are the ones standing right by the Wellspring, everyone else continues like before. There is a risk of being permanently killed if they fall in battle though. The risk we mortals face every day," she added with a shrug.

"Right," Scorpio nodded. "Good thing I'm not mortal."

The first wave of Knights of Order was upon them.

...

Going through the corridors of Pinnacle Rock was as straightforward as Lena had said, but even so, the Knights of Order made it anything but easy. The battles were intense, the Knights were tough, and Lena and Scorpio were getting tired.

"Where is this Commander?" Scorpio was peering into a dark corridor, something was flickering in its depths. "If she is not completely overjoyed to see us..."

Another wave of Knights interrupted him. It is said that every disaster has a silver lining, and in this case it was shimmering ever brighter right ahead of them. A wall of Order Crystals stood in the middle of a hall, with sparkles of lightening jumping from crystal to crystal. The crystals formed a cage, and a Mazken warrior was inside.

"There she is," Lena smiled at her. "Wait, there's a trick to these crystals..."

She walked around the room searching for something, while Scorpio held his axe at the ready - he expected another wave of Knights of Order to jump out of the crystals any minute. But that didn't happen. Instead, Lena found the "trick" and the crystals just crumbled.

"Impressive, mortal," the Commander stepped over the shiny rocks. "How did you know what to do?"

"Oh, it's... well..." Lena hesitated. "I've done something similar last time, it's the same as..." Last time Lena was helping the Aureals with exactly the same predicament.

"WHAT?!" The Commander flew into a rage. "Don't you dare say that! It's nothing like... Arrrghh!!"

Scorpio froze on the spot, not understanding what just happened. The Commander was glaring at Lena and Lena looked guilty, shuffling her feet and blushing a little.

"Well, would you like me to put it back up?" She finally said, sighing and looking at the Commander. "And then try to find a definitively different way to crumble that wall?"

"Well..." The Commander was cooling off. "That wouldn't be very productive, would it? Only a mortal could come up with such a stupid idea, really..."

"Err..." Lena decided to move things along. "Shouldn't we hurry to the Wellspring?"

"Yes, of course!" The Commander exclaimed automatically, her sense of duty pushing everything else out of her mind for a moment. "It's that way..." She turned to show the direction, but Lena had already grabbed Scorpio's arm and was running down the corridor. "Hey, how do you know where it is?" The Commander cried out, running after them.

"Been there before!" Lena shouted back. "Got the cure..!"

Another wave of Knights of Order put an end to that discussion.

When the dust settled, the Commander was looking pleased with herself and evidently decided to forgive Lena her earlier transgression.

"Why did she get so angry before?" Scorpio whispered in Lena's ear.

"Last time I did the same thing for the Aureals," Lena explained, also in whisper. "Their Sanctuary has exactly the same layout as this one, their Commander was captured in a cage of crystals exactly like the one here, and their Wellspring..." She looked around to make sure that the Mazken Commander was still out of earshot. "Their Wellspring is housed in exactly the same way as the one here. It's Sheogorath's duality, of course they are one and the same, or rather two sides of the same coin. But they won't hear about it! Not even a suggestion of a possible similarity between the Mazken and the Aureals can be tolerated..." At that point the Commander turned towards them, and Lena loudly concluded: "Shall we go then? We're done here, right?"

...

The next section of the fort held the Wellspring.

"It's right through there..." The Commander started pointing down the corridor, when suddenly she froze... No, she was petrified.

"It's blocked already," Lena gently touched the Commander's arm, feeling only stone under her fingertips. "The forces of Order have blocked the Wellspring," Lena turned to Scorpio. "This is what the Captain outside was so afraid of. Well, it's up to you and me to deal with those Knights and Priests now."

She cast on a shield, drew her sword and summoned a daedroth. Scorpio took a few steps forward, peering into the darkness where shiny shapes started appearing. Then quickly he stepped back, hiding behind the daedroth.

"Buy me a minute, will you," he shot a glance at Lena and she nodded, hunching forward her shoulders and gathering fire in her left hand. The daedroth shook casting on his shield, then lunged forward. The battle was on.

The Knights of Order were making a lot of noise when their metal limbs hit the stone floor and walls of the fort around them. They were also making a lot of noise while running, dodging and attacking - sometimes hitting other Knights instead of Lena and the daedroth. It was a complete chaos, with sparks and bursts of light flying everywhere, but Lena's objective was not to advance but to hold the line, protecting Scorpio behind her. He didn't need much time, it would only take a minute...

"Falling anvils, really?" Lena laughed, realising just what those falling rocks were reminding her of. The Knights got an anvil each, hitting them with a great force and knocking them on the ground. The daedroth gleefully stomped on the ones that weren't quite dead.

"A trick I picked up in Antaloor," Scorpio grinned, sipping a restorative potion. "Just as effective as rocks but so much more fun." He corked the bottle, looking serious now. "Quick - get that Priest while he's down, more Knights will be here in no time. I'll start on another spell..."

"Falling Sigil Stones this time?" Lena's eye twinkled.

"You'll see..." The sorcerer was entering his trance.

[macole]

Great job! Falling anvils, sounds like a Midas Magic spell. Iwould have liked to have seen that one.

This post has been edited by macole: Sep 12 2022, 03:52 PM

[Lena Wolf]

It is actually from Two Worlds II - one of the more advanced spells there. They also have falling rocks, but hey, who wants rocks when you can have anvils! Scorpio brings this spell to Oblivion - he will be eventually released after thorough testing of his mettle.

[Renee]

They are in Fort Dunstad, Lu and Lena. Yes, so true about the goblins keeping rats for pets .... and sustenance. Quite a parallel that these bandits also keep skeevers, probably for the same reasons. Not like there's any lack of them around, right? Much easier than trying to take down a mammoth.

Yikes, they're in Dawnstar Sanctuary! How does Lena feel about Astrid?

Wait, I'm looking at the wrong post. Hee hee, yeah I am. Okay. I'm up to the part when they're in Windhelm, inquiring about the murders. That's one of Skyrim's quests none of mine ever got around to doing. Maybe that'll change this winter.

Okay, NOW they're back in Dawnstar Sanctuary. Did you do some refurbishing in there?

Geralt lives in Lakeview Manor by the sound of it. I like that place. Or maybe Geralt just happens to be there, and Lena owns it. Ha, he's getting a unicorn. Funny.

Up to page 7 / 135.

This post has been edited by Renee: Sep 12 2022, 10:31 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Hey Renee! I think skeevers probably don't taste as good as a mammoth though. But hey - bandits are cheap.

That murder quest in Windhelm... Yeah, we solved it, witnessed the murder, and the guard was literally standing right there and doing absolutely nothing! No wonder they've got necromancers running amok.

Dawnstar Sanctuary: yeah, I tidied it up a bit. For one, they needed a double bed... There wasn't one. I didn't want them to use the floor... Hehe.

How Lena feels about Astrid? No love lost there. Astrid is essentially an imposter, certainly from Lena's point of view. Not in vanilla TES5, but this is not a vanilla TES5 story. In our story DB is not dead and Astrid's group is not DB. This is how I felt about it when playing TES5 anyway - it didn't feel right at all. Lena actually agrees with their mage - Festus Krex - he thought that without the structure and discipline of the original DB, their group was nothing but a bunch of lowlife murderers. He was right.

Lakeview Manor: yeah, it's nice. I like the location, too. Geralt is staying there, but it's Lena's house really. I'll be making a player house in the equivalent location in TWMP Skyrim Alive - it didn't make it into this release, but it will be added later. Wouldn't want to give it up!

The unicorn reference

[Renee]

Mm, that's what I figured. The Dawnstar Sanctuary in your gameworld has been given the Lena Wolf treatment.

Yes, my character who did DB in Skyrim despised Astrid for some reason. I don't really remember all the details. But my character (here she is) loved Babette and Cicero. Babs because my character always wanted children, yet could not bear. And Cicero because even though he's really annoying, he's at least quite lively. My Listener would "listen" to Cicero mumble and rant to himself for hours, while watching Babette sleep.

Congrads on making all the work you've been doing with TWMP, too. Really proud that a Chorrolite has been involved with that.

[Lena Wolf]

7 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - The fight

Fireballs were falling from above, hitting each and every Knight of Order in the area. Lena was sneaking between them, leaving them to their fate, trying to get to the next Priest instead. The Priest was out of reach of the rain of fire though, standing all the way at the back, behind tall obelisks of Order. Seeing his Knights burn up and crumble infuriated him beyond reason - he was shooting lighting in every direction without any particular target, and Lena tried to make sure not to become one.

"Kill the Priest, then quickly stuff three Hearts of Order into the obelisk," she kept repeating to herself as a mantra. That was definitely easier said than done. The Hearts had to be harvested from fallen Knights, which was easy, except for the part of making living Knights into fallen ones. Putting each Heart into the obelisk caused it to produce several fresh Knights for you to fight. The third heart would shut down the obelisk, but unless you had done it all quickly, the Priest would have been revived again and would try to reactivate the obelisk. And finally, even after both the obelisk and the Priest were out of action, the Knights would continue fighting until you killed each and every one of them...

Lena cast invisibility and quietly approached the Priest from behind, her Sufferthorn with paralyzing poison at the ready. One stab through the heart would kill any man, but Priests of Order were immortal as long as their Obelisks functioned. Yet, that magic-infused poison-coated dagger used from behind would be sufficient to knock out the Priest long enough to overload the obelisk with hearts and break the cycle. And should he wake up too early, the paralyzing poison would keep him down. In theory.

In practice it was all a lot more difficult, and it took Lena several stabs with her dagger to get the Priest down, which shaved off precious seconds from the paralysis duration. He would wake up any moment now... well, so be it. Lena dashed to the obelisk and started on the hearts.

The first heart produced three fresh Knights of Order who immediately rushed towards Lena. There was no time to cast two spells, so she cast invisibility and moved away. Confused, the Knights stopped, searching for something else to charge at. There was no time to lead them away... So Lena put the second Heart into the obelisk, dispelling her invisibility and instantly becoming the target of the three existing Knights and five fresh ones... Oh. Several swords hit her armour as she cast invisibility again.

Just one more heart to go...

At that point the obelisk produced a sharp lightning beam reviving the Priest of Order. It would take a few seconds and the cycle would start again! Not waiting for it, Lena threw the third heart into the obelisk which broke off the beam, but not before four fresh Knights of Order emerged from the lighting cloud. The Priest was on his feet too. A bit shaky, but alive and angry, he was charging his spell targeting the obelisk, trying to reactivate it...

"No, you don't!" Lena charged at him, drawing her sword this time. No time to cast a summoning spell - the Priest had to be interrupted before the obelisk would reactivate fully, and with its cap starting to lift up already, it had to be now!

Bzzzt!

Darkness.

...

Lena wasn't sure whether her eyes were open or closed, or whether she was alive or dead. Was this the Fade? She couldn't tell. The air around her seemed to be infused with lightning and shining, blinding flashes of white light. So many reflective surfaces... was she in a hall of mirrors?

Slowly the buzzing around her reached her consciousness and woke her up. Her eyes were open and she seemed to be alive. The shining reflective surfaces around her were the polished facets of the limbs and bodies of many Knights of Order, immobile and inactive. A huge ball of lightening above an obelisk was disappearing under the cap that was now moving down. "The Priest!" Lena remembered, scrambling to her feet. She had to prevent him from reactivating the obelisk. She looked around... yes, there he was, on the floor.

The Priest wasn't dead, but at least he was down. He could not be killed as long as the obelisk was active, and that was exactly the problem - the Priest and the obelisk kept reactivating each other. With the obelisk shutting down, Lena had to keep the Priest down as well, but he was stirring already. Wasn't this what happened just before she went down?

Still shaky from her own knock-out, Lena had no energy for a paralysing spell, and no time to coat her sword with a paralysing poison. This whole fight would restart in a moment...

A sudden frost permeated her body, she got hit with a frost spell, but who cast it? The Priests were masters of lightning, not frost, and the one before her was more concerned with reactivating the obelisk than with fighting. Frost... Lena felt a sudden surge of energy and hunger. With one leap, she fell onto the Priest who was about to cast his spell. Her fangs craved blood.

...

"This fight is too hard for you, mortal," Lena startled, hearing the Mazken Commander's voice just behind her. Mortal? Not quite, but the daedra looked down upon the immortality of vampires. "But I thank you anyway," the Commander continued. "You freed the Mazken Wellspring from the forces of Order!" Lena let go of the Priest's neck, using his robe as a napkin, and turned to the Commander. She didn't remember freeing the Wellspring, only fighting the Knights... But if the Commander was restored to her lively shape and biting language, then she must have freed the Wellspring somehow. "I grant you the power to summon a Mazken warrior to help in your battles!" The Commander continued in a rather solemn voice. "The Mazken will serve you now, Lord Sheogorath!"

She gave Lena a curt bow, turned around and marched off, leaving Lena standing amid the shiny remnants of the forces of Order. A tall figure in a Madness cuirass worn over a robe was approaching from the gloom of the corridor ahead.

"Glad to see you regain your strength," Scorpio said. "And sorry about that frost spell... but without it you were fading."

"Yeah, this fight was indeed too hard for me," Lena nodded, suddenly realising that her vampirism did not recede even though she drank mortal blood just now. "What happened? Did you free the Wellspring?"

"Yes," Scorpio was checking Lena's pulse. "You were doing all right with those hearts, but you lost a few moments, it seemed, and the Priest was waking up before you could get to him. I called up the lighting storm hoping to confuse them all as well as knock them out, but the Priest was immune to that... I couldn't get to him, so it had to be you."

"And you triggered my vampirism with that frost spell," Lena smiled at him. "That certainly gave me a kick!" She chuckled.

"You took down the Priest, the obelisk shut down, and after another lighting storm to clear the remaining Knights, I went and rang the chimes that crumbled the cage around the Wellspring," Scorpio concluded. "Then of course the Commander was here to thank you."

"While I was still feeding," Lena laughed. "Although that doesn't bother them at all."

"Job done, I'd say," Scorpio looked relieved. "Except... why are you still a vampire?"

"I shouldn't be," Lena agreed. "I'll have to feed again, sometimes it takes several goes. Or may be I'll keep it for a while - it is rather helpful in a fight, and we still have the Aureals' Wellspring to do!"

"But not before you get a good rest!" Scorpio took her arm and started walking towards the exit. "We'll return to Crucible, have a good dinner at Bernice's, then a proper night's sleep, and only then..."

They kept talking all the way to New Sheoth, where the Mazken guards greeted Lena with the new found respect for her as Lord Sheogorath.

[Lena Wolf]

8 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - A repeat of the day before

"I'm coming with your this time, end of story," Dylan was quite adamant at breakfast with Lena and Scorpio. "Resorting to triggering vampirism is going too far, especially in your condition," he added, pointing at Lena's pregnant belly. "And with the Mazken Wellspring restored, you cannot have any objections!" He concluded hotly.

"All right, all right," Lena was quite taken aback. "Sheesh... Let's just hope the Aureals will let you in, that's all."

...

Brellach was the Aureal Sanctuary and it had suffered the same fate from the forces of Order as the Mazken Sanctuary: it was invaded and the Wellspring was about to be blocked. The task of freeing it was nearly identical to the task of freeing the Mazken Wellspring that Lena and Scorpio accomplished the day before. The fighting had been heavy and fierce, probably too heavy for Lena, because she couldn't quite get those obelisks shut down and Priests killed without the extra strength and agility of a full-blown vampire. But every time her vampirism was triggered, it was getting a little more difficult to get it to recede again, so even though she fed on living blood since, she was still a vampire, which could not be good for the child she was carrying, as Dylan pointed out.

And so Lena, Scorpio and Dylan stood in front of the gates of Brellach, ready to undertake its rescue.

"He is not coming in!" The Aureal Captain glared at Dylan. "It is already a transgression to let a mortal in, but we'll make an exception for you as Sheogorath's Champion," he turned to Lena. "But no Mazken scum will drag his filth into our Sanctuary!"

And if his words weren't enough, he promptly attacked Dylan and a good old brawl followed.

"Hey!" Lena tried to put a stop to it. "HEY!!! By Sheogorath, STOP IT!!!"

The Prince's name worked its magic and the Captain and Dylan let go of each other's throats.

"Look here, Captain," Lena decided to try diplomacy. "Your Wellspring is about to be blocked by the forces of Order who have already invaded your Sanctuary and captured your Commander, right?"

"Y-yes," he nodded, looking worried. "How did you know about the Commander?" He squinted at Dylan.

"No, Dylan didn't tell me," Lena said decisively. "Sheogorath told me," she lied. It worked, and the Captain gave her his full attention. "It is not going to be easy to defeat them, and as soon as the Wellspring gets blocked, all of you will be petrified and won't be able to help," she added, stressing the word "petrified". The Captain winced and reluctantly agreed.

"Well, when you put it this way..." He eyed Lena's pregnant figure. "A mortal Champion, especially one with such a disfigurement, would require all the help she can get..." He eyed Scorpio as well, but seeing his robe, turned away in disdain. "And your only other friend is a mage! He'll be of no use in battle, I reckon." Scorpio raised an eyebrow and gave a little laugh, but didn't say anything. "Well, all right," the Captain sighed. "But don't make it into a habit!" He glared at Dylan. "This is a one in a lifetime exception, you hear me?!"

And before Dylan and the Captain could start another brawl, Lena grabbed Dylan's arm and hurried to enter Brellach.

...

Lightning was still fizzing around shiny metal objects on the floor that used to be Knights of Order. As soon as Lena, Scorpio and Dylan entered Brellach, they got attacked by a large group of Knights that were guarding the entrance hall. Dylan rushed right at them, Lena followed just behind him, and Scorpio stood back for a minute summoning a lightning storm. As soon as the storm hit, the battle was over.

"No use in battle, indeed," Dylan smirked, bashing in the last half-dead Knight's head. "But it must have been hard on you to take the heat every time," he turned to Lena. "Especially when you had to juggle those hearts trying to shut down an obelisk."

"Yeah, it was tricky," Lena nodded. "This time it will be a walk in the park," she smirked. "Come on, more shinies are just ahead."

...

"We've been betrayed!" The Aureals Commander screamed with rage when the crystals forming the walls of her cage were shattered. She glared at Dylan, then lashed out at Lena: "Traitor!" Her sword made a clanking noise when it hit Lena's Madness cuirass and was repelled by it. It seemed Cutter didn't just put her skill into that cuirass, but also her allegiance.

The Commander's outburst was quickly subdued by the combined forces of Dylan and Scorpio, and Lena had to jump in to prevent them from killing the Commander.

"No, you can't!" She bellowed and everyone froze, not quite expecting such a booming voice from a little Breton woman.

Zul Mey Gut!

"What..?" After the shock of Lena's bellowing scream, came an eerie sound, quite loud but not overpowering, sounding here, there and everywhere... "What was that? Who said that?" Dylan and Scorpio let go of the Commander, and the Commander sheathed her sword, more concerned by the sound than by the would-be traitors before her.

"We are no traitors," Lena said calmly. "We are here to rescue your Wellspring from the forces of Order. I am Sheogorath's Champion."

"But I heard a dragon," the Commander turned to her. "That was Alduin's call."

"Not Alduin's," Lena shook her head. "I am Dragonborn."

"Oh." The Commander measured up Lena with her gaze. "Previous Dragonborn were more impressive," she added in her usual haughty tone. "Well, mortal, you freed me, and now you will assist me in freeing our Wellspring. You may bring your... companions," she added, throwing disgusted glances at Dylan and Scorpio, then lingering on Dylan, she breathed in, ready to utter a new objection to this "Mazken scum" no doubt, but Lena already started marching down the corridor, with Dylan and Scorpio following. "Hey, how do you know where it is?!" The Commander shouted, running after them.

"Done it last time already," answered Lena, without stopping. "But you chose to forget that bit," she added after a moment. She'd had enough of daedric insults.

...

"Well, that's the Aureals out of the way," Lena sighed with relief when the Commander and a few Aureals around her turned to stone in the next section of the fort. "The forces of Order have finally blocked the Wellspring, so it's up to us again to deal with them," she added, turning to Dylan and Scorpio. "At least we know what to do."

"The same as yesterday," Scorpio nodded, taking up a position in a dark corner.

"But this time I'll take the heat so you can run around the obelisks," Dylan readied his mace.

Lena was just going to summon Dessos as well, or may be a Mazken warrior, or at least a daedroth, but just like the day before, a wave of Knights of Order was upon them before she had time to make up her mind. Too many choices can make life difficult at times. So, without thinking, she summoned a clannfear - a spell she had practised so many times, that it came to her almost like a reflex. The clannfear let out a high pitched shriek and tore through the Knights of Order like a hot knife through butter. Lena threw the last glance at the chaos behind her, made sure that Scorpio was well out of sight, cast invisibility and focussed on locating the nearest Priest and his obelisk.

...

"That wasn't nearly as hard as yesterday," Scorpio came out of the darkness when the last Priest of Order and his obelisk was dealt with. Dylan was finishing a few remaining Knights that weren't quite put out by the fire, frost and lightning that Scorpio kept raining on them.

"No anvils today?" Lena looked around in slight disappointment.

"That spell takes too much energy to cast," Scorpio shook his head. "Elemental magic is far easier, and I had to cast a lot of it today," he kicked some shiny bits out of the way. "They are less susceptible to it than to the brute force of a falling anvil, but it still works well enough," he smiled. "Shall we ring the chimes and remove the blockage from the Wellspring?"

"Not yet," Lena winked. "We are in no rush."

Dylan laughed with gratitude and Scorpio spotted a bench and dropped onto it, his tiredness obvious now. "No rush indeed!" He nodded smiling, reaching for his last restorative potion.

Lena left them to sit and relax and proceeded to check every Priest on the ground. Was any of them still alive? "Yes, you will do nicely," she finally found one that was deeply unconscious but still breathing. She hadn't fed for over a day, and with all the running around and fighting, she was famished as well as tired. Hoping that this time she would not be interrupted, she bit his neck.

...

"Ah, you look better!" Scorpio smiled at her when she returned to their bench, her cheeks pink and her eyes amber.

"It was time to put vampirism back in remission," Lena nodded, "and those Priests weren't supposed to survive anyway. Let's ring the chimes and free the Wellspring, I've had enough of this place."

...

"...and the Aureals will serve you now, Lord Sheogorath!" The Commander finished her speech of thanks, and Lena, Dylan and Scorpio could finally leave for New Sheoth.

"So, what's next?" Dylan asked, shaking off the "golden mud", as he put it.

"Now we return to Sheogorath just in time to watch him transform into Jyggalag," smirked Lena. "I'm sure he'll wait for us to actually see it. Quite a spectacle! He'll break his cane in the process, and his cane is not just a walking stick, it's an enchanted staff, and I'll have to get my own. That's more dungeon delving and fighting, with a few twists along the way. And then, soon after that anyway, I'll have to face Jyggalag in a duel. If I fail to defeat him, this Realm will crumble, as it has done many times. But last time I won, and I intend to do it again," she concluded firmly. "So, get ready for the show."

[Lena Wolf]

11-15 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Symbol of Office

"You again!" Dyus looked bored. "I already told you how to get Sheogorath's Symbol of Office! What are you doing here, anyway?"

"You told me last time," Lena sighed. "History is repeating itself - there's another Greymarch going on, and I am the Champion again."

"Oh, I hadn't realised it's already another era," Dyus sighed too. "I must have dozed off for a few centuries... It's not easy being a Chamberlain to a Prince that is never there."

"But... Why are you still here?" Lena suddenly realised she never understood why Dyus was kept alive. "If you used to be the Chamberlain to Jyggalag when Jyggalag was a proper Prince, then why did Sheogorath not kill you when he took over?"

"You aren't as smart as you should be," Dyus clicked his tongue. "If I was dead, who would have produced Sheogorath's cane for you? Eh? That Haskill isn't up to it!" He snorted.

"Tell me about Jyggalag," Lena said suddenly. "About the time before Sheogorath. I know it was the other Princes who created him, but I don't understand why Jyggalag keeps resurging."

"Well..." Dyus smiled and shifted in his chair. "If you must know..." He was about to start his tale when a suspicion made him reconsider. "Actually, why do you need to know this? Just get on with your saving-the-madness business! Jyggalag will vanish again, whether you defeat him or not." He squinted at Lena.

"It's not the madness that I am saving," Lena shook her head. "Although being Sheogorath's Champion undoubtedly qualifies me as mad, I like to think that I'm not crazy," she smiled at her own pun. "I'm doing it because of the people who inhabit the Shivering Isles. It's their home. They are - as orderly people like to put it - not right in their heads one way or the other. They are different. They don't fit in the societies that they come from. But here in the Isles different is normal, eccentricity is expected. If Jyggalag wins the battle, the Isles will crumble and everyone living here will die. It is for them that I fight."

"That doesn't explain why you need to know about Jyggalag," Dyus wasn't convinced.

"I don't need to know, I want to know," Lena tried again. "Is it that the Daedric curse had failed and the other Princes didn't manage to fully transform Jyggalag into Sheogorath? Is it because they've done it on purpose so as not to allow madness to take hold? Or..?"

"None of it and all of it," Dyus' expression softened. "Sanity is considered to be middle ground to everything - a perfectly sane person is moderate in every aspect of his life. He is as grey as my robe," Dyus smirked. "I used to think of myself as perfectly sane... as did Jyggalag. But look around you. The obelisks are perfectly symmetrical, mathematical even... The metal is perfectly smooth to the point that it shines... The Knights of Order are all exactly the same..." Dyus' glance became wistful. "Does that sound like middle ground to you?"

"It's another extreme," Lena nodded. "Then the duality of Sheogorath is not just in Mania and Dementia, but also in life versus order... life versus death."

"Death?" Dyus jumped in his chair. "You equate Jyggalag with death?"

"His Knights' hearts do not beat," Lena looked thoughtful. "His Priests are under a coercion spell of some kind, and the people that they convert, come under that spell too. They give up their lives. They are still breathing, but I've seen zombies with more creativity."

"Ah," Dyus was smiling. "So, what is life?"

...

This discourse with the Keeper of the Library of Jyggalag took the better part of the day. Strictly speaking, Lena didn't have to come to him yet, she could have simply gone to collect the two ingredients that she knew she needed for her Symbol of Office of Sheogorath, but since Dyus had to make that cane, she thought it polite to see him first.

"Would you like to be released from this place?" She suddenly asked, remembering how Dyus had complained of being imprisoned there.

"Released?" He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, the official tale..." he smiled. "I complained of being imprisoned here, didn't I?" He chuckled. "Well, it is officially true. In reality however I could walk out those doors any moment, but where would I go? And more importantly - why? The world outside is too chaotic for the likes of me. No, thank you, I quite like my 'prison'."

"Then you belong in the land of Sheogorath," Lena smiled.

...

The two items that Lena needed for her Symbol of Office were the Eye of Ciirta and a Branch of the Tree of Shades. Ciirta was supposedly the only survivor of the previous Greymarch, and she had seen with her very eyes that Sheogorath was not there to defend his Realm when Jyggalag appeared. However, she had no idea that Sheogorath and Jyggalag were one and the same, and so she proclaimed that Sheogorath had "run off" and abandoned them. With that mighty knowledge she founded an anti-Sheogorath cult, and her eye would therefore form a nice topping for Lena's Symbol of Office.

But this was the last time around, and it made sense then. Now things were different. Ciirta was by no means the only survivor of the previous Greymarch because Lena had defeated Jyggalag in a duel and the Realm did not crumble. Everyone survived! Except Ciirta who died by Lena's hand, so that Lena could have the eye for her Symbol of Office then.

"I bet there's another Ciirta though," Lena was musing on her way to the Howling Halls. Fanatics didn't need the basis of their cult to be true, they just needed it to be catchy. She had no doubt that some woman calling herself Ciirta would be there claiming to have seen Sheogorath running off and abandoning his Realm. "So getting her eye simply equates to rooting out a nasty nest of cultists," Lena concluded. It was almost too sane for the Isles.

13 Sun's Dawn

The Howling Halls was filled with heretics - deniers of Sheogorath. There were quite a few of them in the Shivering Isles, and the most fanatical ones seemed to have flocked here. Their fanaticism however also made them blind to the possibility of being removed, one by one, by Sheogorath's Champion. Lena remembered the difficult battles she got into last time; these heretics were formidable fighters, and their magic was very strong. There were two ways of going about getting Ciirta's eye: the hard way and the clever way. The hard way was fighting the heretics, the clever way was to confuse them, get straight to Ciirta and minimise the fighting. After all, put on one of their robes, and they would think you were one of them... Up to a point, as Lena found out on many occasions. The heretics weren't complete idiots, after a while they attacked you anyway.

No, Lena didn't like either of those ways very much, and so she chose the third way: quiet assassination. Yes, there were a lot of heretics to deal with, but Lena had enough poisons for all of them. What better opportunity to practice her chameleon spell - she was still nowhere nearly as good at it as Lucien.

She proceeded methodically from room to room using the same strategy: cast on chameleon and stay out of sight; cast frenzy on a group of heretics and wait until they start fighting; then shoot poisoned arrows at them, one per person, so as not to attract attention. Beware of their summons. Keep to the shadows. Finish off any survivors with a dagger from the dark.

Finally she found Ciirta. Not the same woman as last time of course, but she was the leader of these heretics and that's what counted - her eye would do.

...

With the heretics eliminated, Lena returned to Crucible for some rest, after all she had been out in the field for over three days. Dylan and Scorpio were not keen to let her go on her own, but she insisted that getting her Symbol of Office was a task for her alone, in particular the task of getting a Branch of the Tree of Shades that she had to do next.

15 Sun's Dawn

The Tree of Shades stood in Milchar. It was a very large ruin filled with the usual monsters, and although Dylan or Scorpio could very well have helped Lena to get through those areas, she decided to do the whole thing on her own. She spent the previous day making poisons for the creatures and potions for herself, while Dylan insisted on going over her gear and having Cutter polish out every last dent on Lena's armour, even though Lena had protested that she was going to a fight and not a fashion show. "You are going to want to be sneaking in heavy armour," Dylan shook his head. "It must fit you perfectly, or you'll be heard from miles away." This was a good argument, she had to admit.

Going through the halls of Milchar, Lena was mentally thanking Dylan for his diligence.

Finally, she reached her goal - the Grove of Reflection. The Tree of Shades spread its branches there, just cut one off and leave. But Lena knew that it wasn't that simple. Any minute now... she readied her Shadowhunt with a poisoned arrow knocked on.

There was a hollow sound and an assassin in Madness armour appeared in the centre of the grove, readying her own Shadowhunt... But Lena shot first, then summoned a daedroth while the assassin was momentarily staggered by the shot. The poison was silencing her, so no second daedroth appeared.

Lena knew the assassin's weakness: she wasn't strong in a head on melee combat, and her Apprentice birthsign made her vulnerable to magic. But she had a bag full of poisons and antidotes, as well as some shielding jewellery, and Lena was determined not to allow the assassin to use any of that. Another arrow with silencing poison followed, and the daedroth started pressing the assassin into a corner. A shock bolt or a fireball would be helpful too, Lena thought, as long as she stayed away from frost spells as those might trigger the assassin's vampirism, and that was the one advantage that Lena did not wish to face - a vampire's invisibility spell could not be silenced.

But there was no time for an arrow and a fireball, Lena had to choose, and decided for another arrow with an electrocution poison - her specialty. The daedroth was keeping the assassin busy, preventing her from drinking potions or poisoning her own weapons.

Then - puff! The daedroth was gone, banished to Oblivion.

"I've got poisons too," the assassin grinned, knocking on an arrow. "I've had a few weapons poisoned in advance, Sister."

A sharp pain tore through Lena's shoulder - the arrow got her under the pauldron. She felt her blood boil with poison, then cold braced her, and she thought she would faint... what kind of poison was that? She wondered.

"Excellent stuff," the assassin came closer, watching Lena convulsing with pain on the ground. She unsheathed her Sufferthorn, also glistening with poisonous coating. "I like the paralysing effect, makes it so much easier to get things done. Here, let me finish it."

But before the tip of the assassin's dagger could make contact with Lena's side, just under the arm, at an angle to get her heart, Lena was on her feet leaping away in an unbelievable jump that left her astounded and the assassin confused. Lena touched her teeth - the fangs had returned. Evidently, paralysis got wiped away by resurging vampirism.

The battle was quickly ended after that. Hidden by the Embrace of Shadows, Lena approached the assassin from behind and put her own Sufferthorn through the assassin's side, just under the arm, at an angle to get the heart. It was all over. Lena bent over the assassin's corpse, putting a hand on the belly - there was no heartbeat inside. "The clone isn't perfect," Lena reflected, as the new life of Lena's unborn child had not been duplicated. She took the assassin's new weapon - Shadowrend - and claimed a branch from the Tree of Shades.

...

"Well, well! The vampire returns," Dyus greeted Lena with a smile. "You were a vampire last time as well, I remember. Got triggered fighting yourself, did it?" He took the Eye of Ciirta and the Branch of the Tree of Shades and busied with making the Staff of Sheogorath for Lena.

"Yeah, she is a nasty piece of work," Lena grinned. "But she forgot to avoid poisons with frost effects. And there was no child in her belly."

"Ah, that is interesting!" Dyus turned around, nearly dropping the staff. "We didn't consider that the Champion might be pregnant! Most interesting indeed! I would need to adjust the calculations..." His eyes glazed over in thought, and Lena hurried to bring him back from his trance.

"Yes, later! Don't drop that staff!" And when Dyus got back to it, Lena remembered something: "What do you mean - we will have to adjust the calculation? Who is we?"

"Sheogorath and I, of course," Dyus smiled. "Why do you think he keeps me alive?" He winked, handing her the finished staff. "Now, you know what to do with it - dip it into the Font of Madness to activate. Go on, I've got work to do..." And with that he walked off into what used to be the Library of Jyggalag, and Lena got the distinct impression that the Library was still there, simply veiled rather than destroyed.

She got her staff, so she left too.

[Renee]

Page 7, post 135: I like this title, A Woman's Scorn! Wow, Lena's being spied upon by Rayenna, whoever that is. Doesn't really matter though, I bet Rayenna won't make it to the end of this episode. Oh wow, you're giving an entire backstory to this scorned Redguard. What a pleasure.

"Rayenna met Lucien on many occasions - she made sure to create them." -- that's intense! Hmm, and she thinks Lena is just in her 20s, as well.

Up to 137.

[Lena Wolf]

17 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - The Duke and the Duchess

"So all I have to do now is dip this stick into the Font of Madness," Lena grinned pointing at the staff she got from Dyus - her Symbol of Office of Sheogorath.

Scorpio picked up the staff, twirling it in his hands. Dylan watched, his eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"And of course the Font will have been clogged, or blocked, or defiled, or otherwise made unusable, right?" He smirked.

"Well, we don't know it yet, officially," Lena winked. "But last time there was a bit of a problem, yes."

"And this time we're coming with you," Scorpio concluded firmly. "Where is it?"

...

The Font of Madness was located by Sheogorath's throne in the Palace in New Sheoth. The entrance to the source was concealed behind the throne, guarded by a Mazken and a Golden Saint. Nothing could breach this double security, could it? And yet...

"The Font of Madness has been taken over," Haskill informed Lena, Dylan and Scorpio when they approached the throne. "This is like My Prince said: because you didn't take a side this time, both the Duke of Mania and the Duchess of Dementia are against you. It's doubled your troubles," he added with some excitement.

"I thought as much," Lena nodded.

...

The root tunnels leading to the source of the Font of Madness were normally peaceful, the vegetation tended to by domesticated gnarls. These gnarls were still roaming the tunnels, minding their own business. But there were also other creatures there, and they were attacking everything and everyone, including the docile gnarls.

"So how do you tell a docile gnarl from a mad one?" Scorpio was examining two dead gnarls which looked exactly the same.

"The mad one attacks you," Dylan grinned. "They are the same otherwise."

After some time the Knights of Order made their appearance and the fighting intensified. Finally the tunnel opened onto a large cave with two platforms in it - the Pool of Mania and the Pool of Dementia. As expected, the Duke and the Duchess in full Order regalia were presiding over their respective platforms, surrounded by Priests of Order and innumerable Knights of Order. This was going to be tough!

"The traitor is here!" Bellowed Thadon. "Kill them!!!" He didn't need to issue that order really because by the time he stopped shouting, the fighting was already in full swing. Syl stood quietly on her platform, propping herself up on her Nevershatter, watching the fight. Her time would come later. Where Thadon was optimistic about the odds and the possibility of the winning that battle, Syl expected unpleasant surprises, setbacks and losses, but that did not reduce her determination. If anything, she had more resolve than ever - she would see it through, the traitor would be stopped. She would do it herself, if need be.

The first round of fighting saw an army of Knights of Order reduced to a smouldering pile of metal parts, with a few Priests from either side falling to Scorpio's magic, Dylan's arrows and Lena's backstabs. Suddenly, Thadon called off the assault.

"You know you can't win, right?" He said softly, looking straight at Lena. "We're both here this time, Madness falls to the forces of Order!"

"Does it?" Lena smiled at him. "Grey eyes don't suit you, Thadon. I preferred your eyes green and your robe less... err... metallic," Lena smirked. "Is your mind clear of greenmote now? Surely, that can't be good!"

"How dare you speak to the Duke of Mania like that, traitor!" Syl couldn't keep her calm. "You will die here!" She gestured to her Priests of Order and they resumed their attack. Another round of fighting followed.

...

"All right, all right, stop it!" Thadon called a pause in the fighting again after several more Priests lay dead in the waters of the Pools of Madness. "This is sheer madness! You shouldn't be fighting us, you should join us! Together we'll overthrow Sheogorath once and for all!"

Scorpio was watching this outburst with curiosity but Dylan felt his anger rise in him - Sheogorath was his Prince, his Lord and his Creator, and he would not have anyone call for Sheogorath's demise, and least of all some Maniac who flipped to the forces of Order. "You'll pay for that!" He bellowed and lunged towards Thadon, his mace aiming at Thadon's crowned head.

"Mazken scum!!!" Thadon bellowed back, sending some shock bolts towards Dylan and knocking the mace out of his hand. Without his mace, Dylan simply fell onto Thadon, they dropped on the ground and started wrestling, rolling around in the dust.

Surprisingly, Syl called off the remaining Priests who were ready to intervene, walked over to Thadon's platform and joined Lena and Scorpio to watch the wrestling. Everyone seemed to be too perplexed by it to continue fighting.

Thadon's crown rolled around the platform and came to rest at Lena's feet. Lena picked it up and put it on. Syl watched her, then broken into a smile. "You wear your enemy's crown - only a Demented would do that. I always knew you were one of us," she said, touching Lena's Madness armour. "As are your friends," she shot a glance at Scorpio who too was wearing Madness armour. "The next Sheogorath will be Demented," she concluded with satisfaction.

"The next Sheogorath?" Lena raised an eyebrow. "You do not expect Jyggalag to persist, then?"

"Don't listen to Thadon," Syl smirked. "He's a bit... over-enthusiastic." She looked at him fondly as Dylan was working his skin into the colour of his own. "You've done a good job last time overall," she raised her eyes to look at Lena. "But I wasn't there to guide you and when I returned, Dementia was full of colour! That Sheogorath was too Manic, it took me a long time to put everything back where it belonged. But this time you will relinquish control to me immediately and I'll see to it that colour is wiped out from the Shivering Isles! Dementia will rule!"

"Syl, you are forgetting yourself," Lena said coldly. "I am Lord Sheogorath. I am in charge."

"Then you die, traitor!!!" Syl bellowed, swinging her Nevershatter at Lena, who only just managed to dodge. Scorpio shot a fireball at Syl, pushing her back, the Priests of Order joined in and another round of fighting engulfed them all.

...

"All right, all right, you win!" Thadon was trying to cover his face with his hands - he had long given up attempting to defeat Dylan. "It's enough!" He half-moaned, half-screamed.

"Say you take it back!" Dylan raised his fist, ready to land it on Thadon again.

"Take back what? Yes, I take it back! Whatever! All of it! Just stop!" Thadon was pleading.

With all but one Priests of Order dead, Syl called a pause to the fighting, and Lena walked over to Dylan. "That's enough, I think, you got him," she whispered in his ear. "We don't need to actually kill them," she added softer still. Dylan nodded and got up, still glaring at Thadon who let out a great sigh of relief.

"Hand over your Nevershatter," Lena turned to Syl. "We need to end this."

"Indeed," Syl replied, smiling, but something in that smile put Lena on guard. Syl raised her hammer, as if to hand it to Lena, and when Lena stepped towards her, Syl swung it forcefully, aiming at Lena's head. Lena dodged - she had expected it.

"I'll cut your heart out again, if I have to," Lena hissed, tossing a fireball. Syl recoiled, but swung the Nevershatter again. Lena dodged again, drawing her sword. They started circling each other, every now and again Syl would attempt another swing, Lena would dodge and lunge with her sword in one motion, Syl would dodge Lena's sword with agility unexpected in a small woman wielding a heavy hammer. But then, Syl wasn't just any woman, and she aimed to wear out Lena who, although not wielding a heavy weapon, was wearing heavy armour, the type of armour that wasn't designed for jumps and dodges. Syl was right - Lena was getting tired.

"Figure out what I would do, and do it," Lena heard Sheogorath's voice in her head again. But Sheogorath was gone, transformed into Jyggalag, surely, he couldn't be speaking to her? Perhaps it was just a memory. Not dwelling on the origin of the voice, Lena focused on the words it spoke. What would Sheogorath do if he found himself loosing a stalemate?

He would cheat.

He would appoint a champion.

He did appoint a champion.

Lena summoned a daedroth. Now, why did she not think of that earlier? Syl shrieked and jumped back, losing her focus long enough for Lena to step behind the daedroth and for the daedroth to cast on his shield and step forward.

"Do you want help?" asked Dylan, helping Lena to get off Syl's platform. "I thought you didn't want to kill her."

"I don't and I don't," Lena smiled. "The daedroth with loose interest as soon as Syl is knocked out."

...

With both Pools of Madness cleared of the corruption of Order, Lena, Dylan and Scorpio returned to the throne room of the palace and Lena dipped her Staff of Sheogorath into the restored Font of Madness. She then took her place on the throne and the Mazken and Aureal Commanders pledged her their loyalty. Any moment now a messenger would burst in announcing the appearance of Prince Jyggalag in New Sheoth... Did Lena have enough time for one more task in between?

"My first order as renewed Lord Sheogorath is..." she started saying.

"My Lord, the forces of Order are attacking New Sheoth!" An out-of-breath messenger burst in from the courtyard. No, it seemed she didn't have time for another task.

...

The battle in the courtyard of the Palace in New Sheoth was epic, as was befitting any battle with a Daedric Prince. Sheogorath was gone, the Prince in the courtyard was Jyggalag proclaiming loudly that no mortal or daedra would stand in his way. Mortal courtiers ran back for cover, while daedric guardians ran forward to face the many Priests and Knights of Order that accompanied Jyggalag on his march. Even Dylan and Scorpio involuntarily took a step back for a moment.

Prince Jyggalag looked exactly the same a Knight of Order, except that he was at least four or five times taller than any of them. How do you defeat such a metal giant?

"Aim at the joints," Lena winked to her companions. "Every hit counts. He will fall eventually," she added with certainty.

The battle was fierce, as expected. The obelisks in the courtyard were producing endless Knights of Order who were engaging equally endless waves of Mazken and Aureals. This time Lena didn't bother trying to close the obelisks - they would freeze as soon as Jyggalag fell.

"You hold the staff but you are no Daedric Prince!" Jyggalag bellowed insults at Lena, but she just ignored his words and focused on hitting his knees - this was as high as she could reach. She was also doing her best to avoid getting hit as she feared that one strike with Jyggalag's sword would spell her end. This was a game of cat and mouse, and the cat was winning at first, having impaled Dylan fairly quickly and having sent Scorpio flying into the corner of the courtyard with a single strike. But Lena kept close to Jyggalag's ankles, in the blind spot of his sword.

Finally, one of Jyggalag's legs faltered. He stumbled, bending backwards, but then steadying himself and continuing the fight, albeit with a limp. Lena redoubled her strikes, switching to his other leg. The battle seemed to last forever.

...

"Enough! I am beaten," Jyggalag's voice sounded hollow as his huge hulk collapsed on the courtyard lawn. "You win. Again!" He sounded surprised, Lena noticed.

...

The courtyard of the Palace in New Sheoth was covered in bodies. Lena walked between them, looking for Priests of Order who were mortal, for any unfortunate courtiers or citizens who got caught up in the fighting, and for Dylan and Scorpio, who were not mortal, but whom she still dreaded to find dead.

She found Dylan first. A great wound in his chest had stopped bleeding, but his heart wasn't beating - his heart had been sliced in two with Jyggalag's sword. Dylan was dead.

Of course, Dylan was a daedra, so he would be reborn, and Lena kept telling herself that, and yet... Dylan was dead. He was lying on the lawn, his eyes closed, and he wasn't breathing. Lena broke down in tears, dropped to her knees and found she couldn't get up.

...

"He will return," Scorpio said softly in her ear. "He will be reborn. We had cleared the Spring." Of course Lena knew that. It were not the words that comforted her, it was the arm that Scorpio put around her shoulders and the fact that at least one of her friends didn't fall in battle. Lena turned to look at him through her tears. He looked bruised, he was wounded, but he didn't fall.

...

"What are your orders, Lord Sheogorath?" A Mazken guard approached Lena as she and Scorpio stumbled into the Palace. No rest for the wicked, as they say. A ruler has to rule. Lena straightened her back.

"First of all, find Thadon and Syl below in the Pools of Madness and take them to the dungeons." The guard nodded, but Scorpio raised an eyebrow. "What?" Lena smirked. "They did revolt against Lord Sheogorath, remember? They will now receive their punishment." Then, turning to the guard, she continued: "After that, clear the courtyard. Bury the mortals, remove the daedra... however you normally dispose of daedric bodies until they are reborn." She realised that she didn't know the ways of daedra and wondered what would happen to Dylan.

"They will be reborn in their bodies which will be repaired in the Wellness Springs," the guard replied, noticing Lena's confusion.

"Good," Lena nodded. "Then..."

She walked with the guard, giving orders. Scorpio stood back, letting Lord Sheogorath assume her familiar role. The Greymarch was over.

[Lena Wolf]

1 Morning Star, 4E203 - Home, at last

"Finally!" Hauk dropped heavily onto a chair in his house in Balmora, exhausted. "What a mess!"

The new year 4E 203 had just started - it was 2 a.m. and Hauk was not only tired, but also wounded, bruised, hungry and ill. He was really getting quite enough of the Blight Disease and the variety of common diseases so easily caught from anything and everything in Morrowind, it seemed. He didn't remember it being quite so bad during his visits before... Could it be that his age was catching up with him? He shook his head and downed another Cure Blight Disease potion, which, in itself was a story and a half.

...

The last two weeks went like a blur. The last thing he could remember clearly, was him arriving in Gnisis with the purpose of joining the Imperial Legion to establish a credible cover. For a Legion veteran of thirty odd years that he was, the notion no longer seemed ridiculous - he'd done it several times throughout his service. Optio of Special Division... No, he was to be a fresh recruit once more.

General Darius understood the real reason for Hauk's joining the Legion, and he also knew of Hauk's recent involvement with the Blades. However, a credible cover required that Hauk went through the motions convincingly enough, and not just for the locals, but also for fellow recruits. It would not do if some Spearman started spreading rumours that the new recruit wasn't all that he seemed to be - an ageing Nord in need of funds. And so Hauk performed a few tasks in Gnisis, none of which seemed particularly suited for a new recruit... Get a land deed from a recent widow, which turned into a murder inquiry; rescue a rich pilgrim from the ashlanders without killing anyone; rescue a tax collector from imprisonment without drawing the ire of a powerful mage; investigate a cult plotting to murder the Emperor... These tasks were more suited for an Optio of Special Division than a fresh recruit, but the others didn't know the details, and Hauk's quick advance to Agent didn't surprise anyone. At which point General Darius thanked Hauk for his services, saying that the next rank would be Champion, which Hauk firmly refused.

With the cover established, Hauk considered his options. He was out of poisons, he had caught Blight Disease several times but had to continue going, resulting in greater wounds and more severe battle fatigue than he would normally have experienced. "Is that what being a Bosmer feels like?" He wondered. Bosmers were not considered heavyweights when it came to fighting, a few exceptions notwithstanding. The problem with Blight Disease, besides its debilitating effects, was that Hauk could not find any potions to cure it, and had to retrace his steps to a shrine to get a blessing. He even used a scroll of Divine Intervention at some point, expecting to be teleported to Gnisis, but somehow ending up at Fort Frostmoth on Solstheim, then spending a day sailing back to Khuul in the company of a half-frozen Argonian. "Why do Argonians insist on coming to Skyrim?" Hauk thought watching the slow movements of Basks-In-The-Sun. "Even his name tells you he shouldn't be here..."

Finally back in Gnisis, Hauk went straight to the Imperial Shrine to get his Blight Disease cured. But when he inquired about some potions against it, he was told that alas, those were not available. "I have plenty of potions to cure common diseases though," the alchemist beamed at him. "But not against the Blight - we have a... ah... disagreement with the Telvanni," he added with a grimace. The Telvanni. That had to be Hauk's next stop.

But first... The trek to the other side of Vvardenfell was long and tedious, full of blighted creatures and people and devoid of shrines that could cure the disease, so before he went any further, he had to be able to stock up on these potions. "I'll have to call in a favour, there's no way around it," he thought.

...

"That should do it," Hauk stood over the corpses of three "friendly" smugglers who turned very unfriendly the moment Hauk attacked them. Murder in Morrowind was the business of Morag Tong, but with his reputation and especially after his meeting with Eno Hlaalu previously, Hauk expected to be watched. If so, a representative should be contacting him soon enough, just making sure that the murdered smugglers were not subjects to a writ, and to remind Hauk to stay out of Morag Tong's way. Checking the corpses, Hauk's attention was caught by an impressive bare bone spine and ribs worn by one of them. "Oh, a Trollbone cuirass!" His eyes lit up. "Rare even in Skyrim! So what is it doing on this Dark Elf?" He pulled at the cuirass and the slender body of the elf slid out of it with ease. "It was too big for him anyway," Hauk grinned, trying it on. The fit was perfect.

Picking up a few other useful bits and pieces and uncorking a jug of shein, Hauk settled on one of their hammocks fully intending to wait for the Morag Tong representative awake, but then falling back and falling asleep within minutes.

...

"You sleep soundly for a murderer," a quiet voice said in his ear. Hauk opened one eye and saw a face with a black hand tattoo looming over his. "Hello." Azarath Salvel smiled, picking up an unopened jug of shein and pulling up a crate to sit on. "You called?"

"Indeed," Hauk sat up, grinning. "I thought you'd be watching. I need a favour." Azarath looked up but waited for Hauk to continue. "I have to travel across Vvardenfell to the other side, and the area is filled with blighted creatures. Yet the alchemists at the Imperial Shrines or at the Mages Guild here cannot sell me any potions against the Blight Disease because they once again managed to quarrel with the Telvanni. So I was wondering..."

"Whether Morag Tong could help restore the supply lines?" Azarath looked at him shrewdly. "We can do better than that. It is high time to make that potion less of a mystery. Next time you go to an Imperial alchemist, you will find them hard at work brewing the potions to cure Blight Disease - each and every one of them will find the recipe under their pillow. The Telvanni have kept it a secret long enough."

"But not from Morag Tong," Hauk chuckled. "Thank you."

Azarath inclined his head with a smile.

"Next time just one will do," he jerked his head towards the corpses at the back of the cave. "We are watching." He got up and walked out, vanishing from view even before he reached the door.

"I'll see you later, Brother," Hauk said into the empty tunnel.

...

With the supplies of potions restored, Hauk decided to take a detour to Maar Gan where he was supposed to locate a propylon index for a mage from Caldera Mages Guild. Then he would head South, stopping in Caldera to drop off the index and finally continuing on to Balmora for a bit of rest. His guar was in good shape, and Hauk did not expect the journey to take too long.

Leaving Gnisis early in the morning, he took the road that went past a large fortress - a Dwemer building housing one of those propylon teleportation nodes. Hauk was admiring the stark architecture when suddenly...

"Damn and blast!" He was thrown off the guar with a fireball, leaving him scrambling to get back to his feet. "Damn you, madwoman!!" A woman in netch leather armour was throwing spells at him while at the same time hacking at his guar!

...

"Poor Henk," Hauk stood over his dead guar a few minutes later. "He didn't stand a chance. But that madwoman... that was some spell!" He bent over the dead woman next to the guar, trying to see whether she belonged to a cult or a tribe of some sort. Her spells were far more powerful than anything Hauk encountered so far in Morrowind.

"You killed her! Now you will die, m'wa!" Two more women of similar appearance ran downhill from the direction of the Dwemer building, each throwing those powerful spells.

"Damn you!!!" That was all that Hauk could manage, as he went down heavily, knocked out by two spells at once.

"Huh? Serves him right," the women nodded to each other, retreating.

But a true Nord never backs down, and as soon as Hauk came to, he summoned a flame atronach and went after the women. He didn't even think to recover his health first, and sure enough, he was soon knocked out again. And again. Eventually he remembered to drink a healing potion and to use stealth against these impertinent women with their overwhelming spells. Cloaked in invisibility, he took them out quietly one by one, and peace was finally restored.

Sitting by their fire to catch his breath, Hauk was looking at the Dwemer building on the hill, with its impressive architecture. It was already late morning, and without his guar, Hauk didn't feel like walking all the way to Maar Gan. "Return to Gnisis and take the silt strider from there," he thought. But Dwemer architecture was too intriguing to pass up... "Not a usual Dwemer ruin with its towers, no, this one is quite different," he thought. "I wonder what it's like inside..?"

...

"Phew! Daedra," Hauk shook his head, looking at a collection of daedra hearts, clannfear claws and scamp skins in his travel sack. He also found a key between the ribs of a skeleton, but no lock of any kind anywhere, and was wondering what that key was for. He decided to keep it on him for now. It was time to travel to Maar Gan.

...

The silt strider was rocking softly as it moved, and Hauk quickly nodded off. The incessant chatter of the silt driver was also to blame for that. Finally, he stood in Maar Gan overlooking the town from the raised silt platform. Was there a place to eat and sleep there? He wondered. Out of the corner of his eye he saw something big where nothing big was supposed to be - high in the air right behind him. Turning around, he saw a Dwemer airship.

"Whaaa--?" He wondered aloud.

"Have you not heard? It just appeared out of thin air! No one is coming near it!" The silt driver exclaimed with excitement. "Here - even the Black Horse Courier wrote about it!"

"The Black Horse Courier wrote about something that happened in Maar Gan..?" Hauk couldn't quite believe it, but sure enough, the driver thrust an issue of Black Horse Courier at him. In all fairness, it did not mention Maar Gan, just the Dwemer airship. "...and no one has got the stones to go aboard," Hauk read. "Hmph..."

...

"Blimey, you're a tough Dwemer ghost!" Perhaps there was a reason that no one had claimed the airship so far. Hauk found himself fighting a ghostly shape of a Dwemer Sphere Centurion that was a lot stronger than similar constructs that he met in Dwemer ruins. But eventually the Centurion was defeated. "So, how do you drive this thing?" Hauk wondered, looking around.

The ship had several compartments that must have felt spacious to a dwarf, but that Hauk found rather cramped. However, the ship had everything one could want, and the bed in the Captain's quarters was certainly big enough... "Sleep here tonight and think about it tomorrow," Hauk concluded. After all, it was 2 a.m.

Hauk slept well and by the time he awoke, he got so used to the sounds of working machinery, that it no longer registered with him. He hopped off and went in search of the propylon index that was supposed to be found in the local Temple Shrine. The priests wouldn't hear about selling it ("How dare you, it's an offering!"), so when full of indignation they retreated into the depth of the shrine, Hauk simply took the index. "So this is why the mage didn't come for it himself - it's up to me to do the stealing," he thought, but did it anyway. No guard came to arrest him, so Hauk shrugged his shoulders and left.

He spent the rest of the day figuring out how to drive the Dwemer airship and eventually sailing to Caldera, with just a few mishaps along the way.

He arrived late at night, parked the ship by the Northern Gates and went into town, hoping to find an empty bed at the Fighters Guild. Why did he not sleep on the airship again? Perhaps he should have.

The Fighters Guild was buzzing with activity even late at night - no one seemed to sleep in that town. A great big yellow barricade blocked his way inside the building, but he climbed over it and got to the dormitory upstairs. There it became clear why everyone was pacing downstairs and not sleeping, even though it was already well past midnight: the beds had the worst bed bug infestation making them unusable. The source of that might have been the yellow barricade or possibly one of the beds that had all sorts of foodstuffs under the mattress...

"Stop! You violated the law! Your stolen goods are now forfeit! Pay the fine or go to jail!"

"Umm... What..?" Hauk raised his eyes to a grinning Imperial Legion soldier that nevertheless meant business. "Stolen goods? What goods?"

"Whatever you took from under that mattress," the soldier explained, looking rather unsure. "You probably don't want to eat that anyway. Hand it over. Your fine is 15 septims - are you paying it or shall I escort you to the dungeons?"

"You are going to escort me to the Fort anyway, aren't you?" Hauk handed over 15 septims with a sigh. "All right, let's go. At least I'll sleep at home tonight."

The trip to Fort Moonmoth near Balmora was remarkably swift - Hauk suspected teleportation. He paid his fine, took the opportunity to get a blessing to clear his diseases, restocked on potions against the Blight, and after a short quick march he finally reached his house in Balmora, forgetting to check whether the guards had also removed that stolen propylon index from his possessions. Perhaps it was that and not the dubious food from under the mattress at the Fighters Guild that earned him the fine. In which case he would have to return to Fort Moonmoth to get it back from the Evidence Chest...

"What a mess!" He shook his head again, opening another bottle of mead. Mead! Not shein, not mazte, not even Telvanni Bug Musk that came so handy a few times and didn't taste half bad... Mead. He'd need go see that Nord trader again. And buy another guar. And check on that propylon index. Return to Caldera. Fetch the Dwemer airship. Back to Balmora to report to Caius Cosades. Then join the Telvanni on the other side of Vvardenfell...

Hauk dreamed of lush meadows in Cyrodiil, sleeping in his chair, not having managed to get to bed.

[Acadian]

Urgh, too bad Hauk can't find potions to cure Fight like a Bosmer Blight Disease.

WooHoo! An airship! What a neat way to get around.

[Renee]

She's going to choose between Hauk and Lucien, huh. I hope she chooses Hauk eventually, although Lucien might get mad. :mad

Her description of her friends turning on her after she contracted vampirism... how sad. That also is true that she wouldn't just get welcomed into some already-established coven or cult. Whoa...

She becomes mortal again, but she is OLD. Yeesh. Almost like, what's the point of returning to humankind!

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