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

[Lena Wolf]

Last Seed, 4E203 - Glimpses of the past

"Let's just get to Gran Soren and be done with it," Lena and her companions stood on top of a cliff overlooking much of the land before them. "There - you can see the city in all its splendour."

"It isn't Gran Soren," Scorpio said quietly. "This is Vernworth, the capital of Vermund. We are not in Gransys."

"It does look awfully similar though," Lena squinted at the horizon. "The layout of the city, the ruined aqueduct in front of it, down to the watchtowers and coastal outline... It's just bigger."

"Well, they do say that all these worlds were designed by the same hand," Rook agreed, also surveying the area. "We pawns see a lot of them, it's hard to keep them apart. Let's go and get you arrested, as planned."

This was one of the rare occasions when Lena actually planned to get arrested. She had a letter for the Captain of the Guard which should get her off the hook. In theory.

...

"So, you are indeed a true Arisen," the Captain was satisfied, having read the letter and closely examined the scar on Lena's chest. "And your heart is missing, indeed. And you have pawns with you. Hmm... I guess I have to believe it. You must be the current Arisen, Ser..."

"The current Arisen?" Lena looked up in surprise. "Do you mean to say there are more Arisens here?"

"Oh yes, past Arisens who failed to kill their dragon or simply walked away," the Captain shrugged. "Plenty of them around. They are immortal, of course, but pawns stop following them, pawns only follow the current Arisen."

"Arisens are not immortal," Lena wasn't sure just how much the Captain knew about this whole Arisen business. "Arisens can fall in battle and die. All past Arisens also perish when 'the current Arisen' as you put it, kills the dragon and regains his or her heart. Unless this world works differently somehow?"

"No, this is about right," the Captain agreed. "Only the past Arisens here don't perish when the dragon is killed. They only perish when the current Arisen ends the cycle instead of killing the dragon... Except that the cycle then restarts again... I think... The Great Reset they call it... But it is only a legend. All great past Arisens have killed their dragons, that's the right thing to do because that makes you the Sovereign of Vermund. Until such time that one of the future Arisens kills their own dragon and replaces you... Err... I've never known a king who would willingly relinquish his crown though..." He added in a low voice, seemingly to himself. "The details are shrouded in history!" He confidently continued. "It has been centuries since the previous King of Vermund killed his dragon, and no one knows what happened to the sovereign who reigned before him! This is also not important. What is important however, is that we are currently without a king at all. Yes, Arisens are mortal, and I should have thought of that, because our last King, our last reigning Arisen, was murdered! We have Queen Regent now instead, the last King's wife, and she wishes to crown her son as the King of Vermund. Except that he is not an Arisen, and therefore cannot be our king..." The Captain looked at Lena triumphantly, having talked himself out of that corner. "Our rightful sovereign is you, Your Majesty!"

"WHAT?!"

"I pledge my fielty to you, the true Sovereign of Vermund!"

The Captain went down on one knee and bowed his head as he pronounced his oath, leaving Lena utterly stunned.

"Err... Umm... Captain... please rise," she finally managed to say. "That's rather unexpected."

"Perhaps," the Captain continued in a more relaxed tone, standing up. "But it's how it is. It is your duty, Your Majesty, to seek out and kill the dragon, not to shirk it, not to fail, it is your duty to the people of Vermund, as you are our true sovereign."

"Riiiight..." Lena squinted. "So by addressing me as 'Your Majesty' you plan to have me undertake all sorts of tasks for the good of the people of Vermund. Clever, Captain Brandt."

"You are either the true Arisen and therefore our rightful sovereign, or you are an imposter and I'll have you quartered and hung by the morrow. Your choice." The Captain put his hand on the hilt of his sword, his face impassable.

"Well, as long as we understand each other, Captain," Lena smiled at him. "As your true sovereign to whom you just now pledged your fielty, I need you to prepare the ground and make a list of those tasks that need doing..." She sighed with resolve. "While I start asking around about the dragon."

"As you command, Your Majesty!" The Captain clicked his heels. "Oh, and by the way... you are now persona non grata at the castle because Queen Regent will not suffer a true Arisen at her court. The Guard is sworn loyalty to her, but they answer to me. You will therefore be allowed to walk the castle grounds, but should you set foot in any of the buildings, you will be arrested and thrown in the gaol. Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I must do my duty. So a little discretion on your part would not go amiss..." His voice trailed off as he took in Lena's appearance - her dark leather armour, her daggers, her soft, quiet boots. "A thief, is it?" He grimaced, but quickly straightened his face. "It is of no import, Arisens come from all walks of life."

"Thief - no. Thieves die by my hand." Lena suddenly recalled in all vivid detail the bloodbath in Riften.

"I see," the Captain nodded approvingly. "Good luck to you, Assassin."

...

"What a mess!" Lena was retelling that interview to Rook and Scorpio. "I have no wish to become the sovereign of Vermund!"

"It doesn't look like you have a choice in the matter," Rook shook his head. "At least not yet. Getting quartered and hung is the less agreeable alternative. Did the Captain say what he wanted you to do?"

"Find and kill the dragon," Lena shrugged.

"A mere trifle," Scorpio nodded. "Where do we begin?"

...

As it turned out, Captain Brandt did come up with a number of tasks for Lena to do, mostly involving sneaking around the castle at night, preferably without getting caught. He had no idea how to locate the dragon however, so he suggested to travel the land and see if anything turned up.

"You might want to start in the village of Melve, Your Majesty," he pointed it out on the map. "They've recently suffered an attack by the dragon, so that may be a lead."

Melve was a coastal village like any other. When Lena and her pawns arrived there, it was just being attacked by a dragon.

"How convenient!" Lena cursed. "All right, let's join in the fun." She drew her daggers and charged at the dragon without hesitation.

"Has she gone soft in the head back in her own world?" Rook turned to Scorpio as they started preparing their respective incantations. "Daggers against a dragon?"

"No, you just watch," Scorpio grinned, hitting the dragon with a lightening bolt. The dragon stopped spitting fire for a moment, then shrieked in pain and surprise watching thick red blood spilling from deep gashes on its leg. It tried to lift off but found the wings perforated too... It didn't take much longer and a combined force of the village militia and Lena's pawns had the dragon lie dead. That was too easy.

"This isn't a dragon," Lena was examining the body. "It's a drake of course, so may be a wyvern or some such," she got up turning to her pawns. "Small and sickly, too. You do not kill a real dragon with daggers."

"It wasn't your daggers but the strength of your will, my hero!" A young woman with a bow wrestled her way through the crowd to where Lena was standing. "You are the Arisen! You must be!" Her eyes were sparkling, her lips were parted, her chest was heaving with excitement...

"And you are..?" Lena tried to cool things off.

"I am Ulrika, I lead this village in the fight against the dragon!" She answered proudly. "I welcome you to our village, Ser Arisen!"

"Your village is fighting against the dragon..?" Lena looked dubious and was about to say something unflattering, but Scorpio quickly intervened.

"Ser Arisen will be delighted to avail herself of your hospitality, Ser Ulrika," he offered gallantly. "We live to serve."

...

"That Ulrika is a bit odd," Lena was musing when they finally left the village of Melve the next day. "She fussed around me as if I am a knight in shining armour..."

"Well, some women prefer..." Scorpio started saying but Lena cut him off.

"Yes, I know!" She nearly screamed. "Just like that Queen What's-Her-Name in Gransys!" She rolled her eyes. "But don't I get a say in the matter, too?!"

"Apparently not," Rook chuckled. "Although it does make for decent entertainment..."

They walked in silence for a time, only interrupted by screams of goblins and howls of wolves that foolishly crossed their way. When the night fell, they set up camp on a clearing. With the four of them sitting around the fire, Dennis, their third pawn, casually observed: "Incidentally, I notice that all of us pawns are men. I wonder if it says something about the Arisen's preference."

"Yes, it does," Lena looked up sharply. "Women are annoying."

"Interesting," Dennis continued, grinning. "But this one Arisen whom I served, insisted on hiring exclusively women... I wonder why..."

"So how did you get in, then?" It was Scorpio who looked up this time.

"He couldn't find a female fighter with the right skills," Dennis shrugged. "He had me wear a petticoat all the while..."

"Each to their own," Rook closed the discussion. "Slaying a dragon while wearing a petticoat still counts. Come on, it's time we slept. I'll take the first watch."

...

The roads of Vermund and neighbouring Battahl were long and winding, circling around high cliffs and deep ravines, and although neither country was very large in area, travel took a lot of time. Travel and battles, as the lands were filled with aggressive beasts.

Days turned into weeks, weeks into months. The tasks that Captain Brandt penned for Lena, sent her all over the place, and often it was up to her to decide what to do next. Between the fighting and court intrigue, she had little time or energy left to think of home since she could not leave until she got her heart back from the dragon. And even then, finding a way to get back to Tamriel would prove a task in itself, just like it was in Gransys.

One night they were camping among red clay cliffs of the desert of Battahl. The night was pitch black as it could only be in the desert, with stars shining brightly above their heads. The world was reduced to a starry sky and a circle of light from the fire with four people gathered around it. Crickets were heard in the dark. All else was still.

Rook quietly got up and walked into the darkness, sitting down on the edge of a cliff, his back turned to his companions. He just sat there, looking at the stars.

After a while Lena joined him.

"You miss Benita, don't you?" She said quietly. "It's been a long time. Have you often been recalled since last we met?"

"Occasionally, yes," he nodded. "For Benita it only lasts a few hours each time, perhaps I'd be gone overnight at most. For me, however... it varies," he sighed. "You know how it works. Time loops and we are returned to the same night as when we were recalled, more or less. At least Benita doesn't age while I'm away, that is my only consolation."

Benita was Rook's human wife, she would grow old and die like all humans must, while Rook would go on living the life of an immortal pawn.

"I shall release you the moment you ask for it," Lena looked at him, but he kept looking at the stars. "It's been three months. Surely, that's long enough for anyone."

"Ordinarily, yes," he nodded. "But you are not just another Arisen. You're a friend, and I'll stay for as long as it takes, for as long as it makes sense for you to have me around. After all, there are mages more powerful than me, to be sure."

"To be sure, but I'd rather have a friend," Lena replied. They sat in silence for a while.

"You and Scorpio have to work it out," Rook suddenly said, looking at her sideways. "You're acting like two strangers while you're nothing like that."

"He built a wall around his heart again," Lena sighed. "Likely because I married. And I... if I had to choose, either choice would leave a wound that I would not survive... One has my heart, the other has my soul. And my child... yet with another man... I made such a mess of my life..."

"Life is a mess to begin with," Rook said quietly. "Which is why I married. My time with Benita is short and fragmented, yet those shards of warmth and light will remain with me when she is gone. It is a human tradition to marry, and so I did, to make her life less of a mess. Why did you marry since you could not choose?"

"My child," Lena paused. "It was a surprise, I never thought it possible. And when it happened... of course I kept it. But what a mess..."

She thought back to that morning when Lucien asked her to marry him. "Whatever for?!" She had exclaimed. "Mara can add nothing to what binds us already!" It was true, but Lucien's reply had brought her back to reality. Her child. "Marry me so that our child would have both parents," he had said. Her child, that was or wasn't his. The child that he had pledged to raise regardless. The child that was now in his care while she was on another world, with another man.

"Scorpio doesn't want to get hurt again," she sighed. "He opened up to me once and I married another man. And even though at the time I had thought I'd lost him forever, he was still hurt, of course... At least he came when I called for him in the Rift."

"Of course he came, he has a piece of your soul," Rook smiled at her. "Have faith. Your Arisen's Bond still holds, does it not?" A sliver of golden light wrapped around Lena's finger. She shot a glance towards the fire, and a sliver of golden light wrapped around Scorpio's finger as well. He looked up. They would have to work it out, but not on that night which was already turning into dawn.

[Lena Wolf]

Scorpio is now on PS5 servers, currently level 59. He alternates between a Fighter and a Sorcerer. He does get called up for pawn duty, like every other pawn.

This is Dragon's Dogma II by Capcom!

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Apr 8 2024, 08:26 PM

[Acadian]

Lena, what game are those screenshots from?

[Lena Wolf]

This is Dragon's Dogma II by Capcom! Sorry, I forgot to say. It is all new, just came out on 22 March this year. I've been playing it since on my brand new PS5. So the story is also from there, although I won't be telling it as such, so no spoilers. What I told so far was only introduction.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Apr 8 2024, 08:35 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Is there something behind me?

I keep forgetting taking screenshots as I play. This cyclops was particularly annoying, but it slumped in this peculiar pose in the end. It is well dead in this picture.

One big improvement of Dragon's Dogma 2 compared to the original title, is in the postures of NPCs. A lot more variety here, as you see with that elven lady trying to look at the cyclops without turning around. All my screenshots are from the game itself, no mods, I play on PS5, so mods are not possible to begin with! And I wouldn't use mods until I played the game in vanilla through and through anyway. Got to discover what it has of its own, and this game has A LOT.

[Acadian]

Glad you're enjoying Dragon's Dogma II!

[Lena Wolf]

Hearthfire, 4E203 - Life is not meant to make any sense

Lena was once again waist deep in politics of the world she was in, regardless of how much she disliked to be mixed up in politics. She was being called upon to perform all sorts of "duties" to the "people of such and such kingdom" from thwarting regicide to abating rebellion to thwarting said rebellion...

"How can all of it be for the good of the people?" Lena looked at her pawns in turn when once again they were camping in the desert of Battahl. "Surely, most of these tasks have conflicting interests?"

"Well, they all serve at least some of the people," Rook chuckled. "Just not necessarily the same ones. You're the Arisen, you get called everywhere. You don't have to accept each request, you know."

"I cannot not accept," Lena sighed. "If I am to understand what is going on, I have to get into all of it. How else am I to track down that damnable dragon? No one knows where it is!"

"Or no one is telling you - yet," Scorpio looked at her with significance. "Remember how it was in Gransys? Someone knows, but won't tell until much later. I bet it's the same here. First they'll try to get you killed, until they eventually give up and tell you about the dragon in the hope that the dragon would finish the job. I don't know for sure, but it seems a logical course of action."

Lena was getting frustrated with the tasks, with the negative attitude and derisive stares of people of Battahl towards her pawns, she was getting tired of the incessant fights with bandits, of goblin packs appearing from nowhere, of cyclopi and golems hiding behind every cliff... But most of all she was frustrated with Scorpio behaving like an exemplary pawn. The wall around his heart was thickening, without a sign of it breaking down.

One day they were crossing a ravine over a rope bridge when they got attacked by harpies, and even though Lena tried to urge her pawns to cross quickly and fight afterwards, the harpies were too fast for that. They hit the bridge and it collapsed, sending Rook and Scorpio into the river below and to certain death. One harpy also grabbed Fairy, their fighter, who had crossed the bridge with Lena. A moment longer, and Fairy too would be dropped into the river... It was luck more than anything that Lena managed to shoot down that harpy before it reached the ravine, and Fairy was saved. Together they brought down the entire flock, but that of course could not save Rook and Scorpio. Lena stood on the cliff edge looking down into the waters far below.

"It's dangerous to stand so close to the cliff edge, master," Fairy said quietly. "They are not permanently perished, you know that, right?"

"I know," Lena answered in a low voice. "I've been around the block a few times before..." Her voice trailed off as she was trying to stop tears running down her face. "I still can't bear it..."

Fairy put her arm around Lena's shoulders and gently moved her away from the cliff edge. They sat down on a rock a few paces away.

"These things happen," Fairy said quietly. "They didn't even fall in battle... It was an accident. There was nothing you could have done..."

"Yes, there was!" Lena suddenly cried out. "I could have told you all to wait before the bridge, I could have shot down most of those harpies from a distance, or else ran over the bridge myself and dealt with them... I could have..." Her sobs interrupted her outburst.

"But why, master?" Fairy was perplexed. "We are immortal... No pawn perished in a harpy attack as yet... Not these harpies, anyway... These don't petrify... You'll get your pawn back at the next riftstone... and even if you don't, you can always have another. It's not like he's got a piece of your soul..."

Lena didn't say anything, she was silently crying, her chest filled with grief. Yes, she would get Scorpio back at the next riftstone. Scorpio, her pawn, not Scorpio, her friend. She had tried everything she could think of to change his attitude, but her efforts had so far been in vain. Rook thought she should keep trying, as their Arisen's Bond still held, not showing any signs of fading. So what was she doing wrong?

"Scorpio is not just another pawn," Lena finally said. "Rook isn't either. But I am not worried about Rook - I know I can call on him again. But Scorpio... I don't know what to do with him, see. He's changed."

"Do you not wish him as your pawn any longer?" Fairy's voice fell. To be abandoned by your master was the worst fate any pawn could suffer.

"No," Lena shook her head. "I want him back as my friend." She turned to look at Fairy who was even more perplexed than before. "He does have a piece of my soul."

They sat in silence for a while, then Fairy suddenly got up and said in a decisive tone: "Come, master. There is a riftstone not far from here. Sitting here sobbing will not do anyone any good." She took Lena by the elbow and lifted her up. "Follow me."

Somewhat bewildered, Lena followed. Weren't pawns supposed to follow their master instead..?

Arriving at the riftstone, Lena again followed Fairy's urges and touched it, and Scorpio stepped out of the Rift.

"Here I am again, master," he said quite dispassionately. Lena turned away.

"Why don't you go and fetch Rook, master," Fairy said matter-of-factly. "We'll wait here."

As Lena stepped into the Rift to look for Rook, Fairy turned to Scorpio.

"You are the biggest dunderhead I've ever met!" She hissed at him. "And I've met a few in my day, pawns and Arisen both! What's that around your finger?" She pointed at the Arisen's Bond, glowing in the dark. "How many pawns do you know that got that from their Arisen? One or two, perhaps. But you've got something else as well, I hear - a piece of her soul! So what's your problem? Playing hard to get?!"

If there ever was a scorned fury, she was now glaring at Scorpio. Stunned, he took a step back.

"How did you..?" He was too surprised to say anything sensible. What business was it of hers, anyway? "That's none of your business!" He finally caught himself. "That's between my Arisen and me!"

"And have you seen what that does to your Arisen?" Fairy wasn't giving up. "What happens to her when you fall to your death? Well? You can see into her soul, so do it!"

Fairy's tone was commanding, but Scorpio was having none of it.

"Is this some sort of female solidarity or something?" He squinted at Fairy. "She made her choice - she married another man. I've been set aside. I am her pawn still, but that's as far as it goes."

"Idiot!!" That was all that Fairy could say before Lena emerged from the Rift with Rook. Rook took one look around and understood what was going on.

"Shush, everyone, I need to focus," he took out his staff and started incanting a spell. "Wolf and Fairy require healing."

...

"I want to stay in this world until the end of time, provided you stay with me."

They were back in town and Lena was sorting through herbs, fruit, bits of horn, bone and ore that they collected on the road. Scorpio stood behind her holding more bags of bits to sort. He spoke softly, as if to himself.

"I miss you too."

Lena remained silent, taking the next bag he handed to her and resuming sorting.

"My heart is slowly dying behind the wall I built to keep you out."

Lena stopped sorting and stood up to face him.

"And my soul hurts every time I run up against that wall."

"I know, I can feel it too."

"But?"

"But..." Scorpio sighed, taking her hand and touching the wedding ring on Lena's finger. "I cannot figure it out, Wolf. Your first bond was with you since before we met. I always knew it... Why did you give a piece of your soul for me when I perished? Why did you forge the second bond when you already had the first?"

"I could not face losing you..." Lena shuddered, instantly transported to that moment in her mind. "My bond to you had already been forged before that... and I didn't know what I was doing to you by giving a piece of my soul. I should have let you go and dealt with my loss... but instead... I was selfish."

She gave him a quick peck on the cheek, pulled out her hand and resumed sorting materials.

"Is the Arisen at home?" A voice spoke outside the window.

"She's inside, sorting materials, I think," Rook replied. "She'll be out soon enough." He said something else, keeping the visitor from entering the house.

"Your young elven admirer is seeking your company again," Scorpio looked out the window. "Why are you leading him on?"

"I like him," Lena grinned. "He's polite and he blushes easily... Didn't he just have his adulthood ceremony or something? He's too young for me, I'm sure he realises that."

"He's an elf," Scorpio shook his head. "This makes him well over a hundred years old. Hardly a child any longer..."

"In which case he should know not to fall for older women," Lena shrugged. "Or women who already have previous bonds."

She stood up facing Scorpio again.

"Life is not meant to make any sense." She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him, ignoring the icy response at first, then feeling the ice melt away. The young elf outside glanced into the open window.

"Isn't that... her pawn?" He turned to Rook with a look of incomprehension.

"This Arisen makes unusual choices," Rook smiled. "Defies convention... a bit like yourself, keeping company with humans and all. I think that's why she likes you. Give them a moment. She'll come out and grant your request, I'm certain."

[Lena Wolf]

Evening Star, 4E203 - Coronation

Lena killed the dragon and became the Sovran of Vermund, but she didn't get her heart back. The day of the coronation was all a haze to her. The best royal beauticians spent hours reducing the puffiness under her eyes and the inflamed redness of her face as she had spent the night crying.

"I just don't see a way out..." She was saying over and over, sobbing. "Where did I go wrong? I killed the dragon, should I not have received my heart back? I got it back last time..."

"This world works differently, it seems," Scorpio didn't have any answers, so he just sat next to her, stroking her hair. "This is evidently not the end. We'll just need to figure out how things really work here."

"And in the meantime they are crowning me into a Sovran!" Lena's sobs redoubled. "I am no queen! I don't want to be a queen! But I cannot refuse - if I do, they'll hang me as a false Arisen!"

"And we want to avoid your untimely demise," Scorpio tried to calm her. "It is not as bad as that. You get to live in a castle, you'll have the best garments, the loveliest jewels..." Lena's sobs were only getting worse - she didn't care for any of those things, not at all... not really... well... may be a little... that part wasn't too bad, in fact... but definitely not worth being stuck there for all eternity, and without her heart!

"They don't allow pawns in the castle," she continued sobbing. "They won't let you in and I'll be all alone here..."

"Well, but you will be the Sovran," Scorpio shrugged. "You can change that." Lena stopped sobbing. "In fact, the previous king had his pawn with him here, as his bodyguard. I shall be your bodyguard then."

"Hmm..." Lena stopped sobbing and looked at him. "My consort. Not bodyguard."

"They won't allow it, pawn or no pawn," Scorpio shook his head. "Your hand in marriage is too valuable as a diplomatic commodity to allow it to go wasted on a consort."

Lena rolled her eyes but didn't say anything. On the one hand, Scorpio was probably right, on the other hand, if the gentry of Vermund decided to crown her as their Sovran, they may be getting more than they bargained for - this Arisen was not a fraud and had a will and stubborness to match.

"All right, we'll start with the bodyguard," Lena nodded. "In appearances at least..."

...

The coronation the following day was as pompous as could be expected. Lena's head felt heavy, her speech was sluggish, her thoughts were somewhat confused. "Surely, this could not be because of all the tears last night?" She wondered, trying to shake off the haze and being unable to do so. Time and time again she turned around to make sure that Scorpio was still right behind her, that he had not been removed while she wasn't looking. As the ceremony progressed, some twenty or thirty pawns were led into the Great Hall and made to kneel to her, demonstrating her power over them, the power of a true Arisen. But it wasn't she who was commanding them... it felt odd, she felt being set up. At the culmination of the ceremony, newly crowned, she was offered a goblet of wine to be raised for the glory of Vermund. She raised it. The crowd cheered. She drank... and everything went black.

...

"Well?! I can do this all day!" Lena heard Scorpio's angry voice between clashes of steel and shrieks of pain. "The Arisen is not accepting visitors!"

Lena opened her eyes. She was lying on a luxurious four-poster bed in a richly decorated chamber. Her coronation gown was draped over a stand nearby. She was wearing... prison garb? How odd...

She rubbed her eyes and looked around. This was the royal chamber, she recalled it from her sneaking around the castle previously. Scorpio was fencing with several opponents, it seemed, not allowing them to enter... What on Nirn was going on?!

Whatever it was, appearing in prison garb was the wrong thing to do, she felt instinctively, so she threw it off... but not finding anything else to replace it, and not having the time or assistance to get into the coronation gown, she wrapped herself in a bedsheet - after all, togas never went out of fashion.

"What is going on?" She stepped towards the door, keeping her hand on the hilt of her dagger hidden in the folds of her "toga".

"Your Majesty!" The knights on the other side of the door immediately stopped combat. "By the order of Lord Chancellor, we are here to guard your person," one of the knights turned to Lena, "but this... pawn..." he glared at Scorpio, "is preventing us from fulfilling our duty!"

"This is Ser Scorpio, my personal guard," Lena tried to sound as official as possible. "Have you not been informed? I shall have a word with Lord Chancellor about that," she looked sternly at each of the knights, and they each took a step back. "You may guard my chambers from the outside. Make yourselves useful and fetch me my maid. And bandage those cuts - you're dripping blood all over the floor!" She glared at them another time and closed the door into their faces. "What the..?" She started saying, but Scorpio signalled her to be quiet and went about checking every alcove, every closet and every window. When he was satisfied, he tossed her some clothes from a chest in the corner - her old assassin's armour.

"Glad you have a clear head again," he said, watching her dress. "You were drugged at the coronation, probably before the coronation as well. You fainted and were brought here, they tried to kill me but failed, I got in through the window, found you on the bed unconscious wearing prison garb... I believe the plan was to have these knights come in and discover that their new Sovran is a false Arisen... But it didn't work out like that," he grinned.

"Where did you get my armour from?" Lena was checking her pockets - poisons, potions, lockpicks - everything was in place.

"Rook," Scorpio was watching shadows in the castle gardens as the sun was setting. "He seems to have known what to expect... somehow..."

"There's a lot more to Rook than what meets the eye," Lena nodded. "Level ten mage my foot," she smirked. "But anyhow - what do we do now?"

"It's your choice: either we escape and you become a fugitive, or we stay and you play the Sovran. I believe your life is in no immediate danger, at least not tonight."

"We stay," Lena said firmly. "This court intrigue needs to be unravelled. I need to find who is pulling the strings. It can't be the previous Queen Regent, surely?"

"I think not," Scorpio nodded. "I think it is whoever was manipulating her... whoever murdered the previous king, perhaps."

"How delightful," Lena grimaced.

At that moment there was a knock on the door and a maid laden with clothing and accessories entered the room.

"Your Majesty called?" She panted. "I gathered these and came as quickly as I could... I hope at least some of these garments will fit Your Majesty's person... until more suitable garments can be made... I didn't know what to do... there have been no orders..." She blushed, clearly confused. "Oh... Your Majesty is all dressed already! But how..?"

"It's fine, thank you," Lena tried to be soothing. "Let's see what you brought. I don't expect my armour would be appropriate to wear to dinner anyway..."

...

When Lena appeared at dinner that evening, dressed in a suitable attire and accompanied by her personal guard, heads turned, and some surprised glances were exchanged. The Sovran of Vermund was taking her place. With the dragon slain and the Arisen to guide them, the people of Vermund were looking forward to many years of peace and prosperity. All hail the Sovran! All hail..!

[Acadian]

The new queen of Vermund! The coronation could have gone better methinks. Yikes, plenty of courtly intrigue about but I imagine Lena is right - the gentry of Vermund is getting more than they bargained for. . . .

[Lena Wolf]

Indeed... A lot is still to come. Without her heart, and without a way back to Tamriel, Lena is stuck in that world and needs to figure it out so that she could leave. How long will she end up staying there? That's a very good question. Last time in a parallel world, it took years to find a way out. She thought this time she could "skip" it but it seems this world works differently, while still being so very familiar... She's having the deja vu effect all the time, yet is still stuck.

The story that I'm telling here is NOT the story told by the Dragon's Dogma game. It is loosely based on the introductory cinematic and on a few ideas hinted at during the game. As such it is not a spoiler as it does not retell anything that takes place in the actual game.

There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the game is new and too many people haven't played it yet and I don't want to spoil it for them. Secondly, Capcom is not very good at story telling... As brilliant as both Dragon's Dogma games are, the stories in them are filled with gaps and inconsistencies... if you can fill something with gaps... it's worse than Swiss cheese! So instead I am telling my own story, and let's hope it will lead Lena back home some day...

[Lena Wolf]

Evening Star, 4E203 - Strike where it hurts most

"That was a brilliant plan, congratulations!" Someone was gazing into a crystal ball. "Look - now she went and killed the dragon! And ended up right where she began! Genius!"

"You wanted her out of the picture," another voice replied. "We've so far been trying to get her removed - killed, teleported, transformed - but she managed to thwart it all and even escaped back into her own world for a time. But the answer was much simpler than that: this Arisen cannot leave injustice well alone; she cannot leave her goals alone. She will always try to slay the dragon. So we let her. It's just that the dragon no longer carries her release..." He chuckled. "She followed her instincts and they led her astray."

"She's well and truly mired in this quicksand now," the first voice laughed. "The stronger her will, the greater her efforts to free herself, the deeper in she will sink... Congratulations, my friend. I believe the Legion can breathe easy again."

"Perhaps we should not become complacent, however," the second voice sounded cautious. "She is resourceful. She may surprise us again."

"We'll keep watch, to be sure," the first voice grew somber. "We need to give her something to do, an impression of purpose... Get to it."

...

The weeks after the coronation were peaceful. Lena was getting acquainted with the court and the gentry of Vermund, for if she was to figure out who was plotting intrigue against her, she had to know the players. Her life thus resembled the life of any noble, with receptions, dinners, social gatherings, dances and luncheons in never ending succession. Wherever she went, Scorpio was never far behind, for the Sovran would not be seen without her personal guard. Both of them were getting very bored, and yet Lena had not learned anything of value.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," she was saying to Scorpio one evening after a particularly long and boring soiree. "All these lords and ladies seem too inconsequential to be plotting against me... They seem happy to have me here as long as I indulge them in their favourite passtime... even if I honestly cannot see how they can stand it, day in, day out."

"I wouldn't mind fighting another dragon instead," Scorpio nodded. "I feel numb. And I'm not the one having to engage in conversation with them... I don't know how you can stand it at all."

...

The next morning, like every morning, Lena was taking a walk in the Castle Gardens among the roses, the fountains and the bird song, nodding and waving to lords and ladies doing the same. As usual, Scorpio was with her, a few steps behind. He still wore his half plate armour, having rejected larger and heavier knight's full plate, even though his position as the Sovran's bodyguard warranted the best and most fanciful armour. "It's too heavy and we are not fighting a golem, I don't need that protection," he would say. "Agility is more important for a bodyguard." And so, his slender hips and half-exposed chest with a dragon tattoo attracted many a glance, both of envy and admiration.

"Do you suppose there's anything going on between the Sovran and her bodyguard?" Lena finally overheard. "Such an attractive young man..."

"Hardly a young man! And keep your voice down!" Someone hissed back. "He's a pawn... he may be centuries old... time loops for them, I heard... there's no telling how old he is. Pawns aren't people."

"He certainly looks like a man to me!" The first voice disagreed. "And a touch of experience makes him only more attractive... I would not be at all surprised if he was more than a bodyguard... Doesn't he stay in her chambers?"

"Of course he does, he's a bodyguard!"

"Well... Perhaps someone needs to check on them some time."

The voices went quiet. Lena tried to see who the two people were, but rose bushes were too dense to see through. "Two older men," she thought. "One voice seems familiar, the other one new. Lord Chancellor and someone unknown. Interesting."

The truth of the matter was that of course Scorpio was more than a bodyguard, and he didn't sleep on the floor in her chamber either. Lena had been very surprised so far to not have received a reprimand from the likes of Lord Chancellor for it. Did they not want to make her marry some prince from a distant land for the good of the people of Vermund? That was the way of royalty in every world Lena had known. She was therefore relieved to finally hear concern in Lord Chancellor's voice.

"We may receive a visit in the middle of the night one of these days," she told Scorpio when they were alone. "I overheard a conversation..."

"Yeah, I heard it too," he sounded rather annoyed. "I told you they would not allow a consort."

"I wonder who the other man was."

But the night came, and there was no visit, no mention of the matter to Lena in any way. She didn't like it, and Scorpio liked it even less. "They are plotting something," he would say, his eyes red from the lack of sleep. "I'll have to sleep eventually, and then..."

Several weeks passed, and nothing happened. Scorpio finally relaxed and resumed sleeping at night because pawns had to eat and sleep just like everyone else. The only edge that he had, was in his training which was superior to most guards. But then again, palace guards didn't normally have to battle dragons.

The change was subtle and gradual and worthy of a proper Courtly Intrigue. Scorpio got noticed by the gentry. He was no longer perceived as one of the statues behind the Sovran, he was now seen and treated as a member of the court. People would greet him personally. Engage in small talk. Invite him to gatherings and soirees. Ser Scorpio became the news of the moment, and Lena was surprised to realise that he was just as good at sophisticated conversation and gallant dancing as he was at thrashing goblins. And he didn't learn it walking with her, so... oh yes, he was no young man.

"You seem uneasy," he said one evening. "Do you not wish me to engage with the members of the court? I can be mute, if you prefer."

"No-no, it's not that," Lena lied. "It's..."

"It's a nice try, but please don't lie to me," Scorpio smirked. "I've been around the block a few times, you know. With you, as well as with other Arisen. Courtly intrigue is always the same. You wanted to know what was going on, and this might give you a lead. But I shall stop if you want me to stop, my all is yours to shape, master..." He laughed as Lena shot him a glance - not that again! They were long past the master-pawn stage.

"Well, I guess I am jealous," Lena said, blushing. "And I have no right to be, I know. But it doesn't work that way."

"I wonder if someone is trying to make you jealous," Scorpio mused. He got up and took a careful look at the wall opposite the bed revealing a well-concealed peephole that didn't look new. "A standard device to monitor the current sovran," Scorpio smirked. "They always use this room as the Royal Chamber, do they not? And this bed looks so solid and heavy, it surely never moved from the spot. Indeed. So they know that you and I... and nothing so far occurred... I don't like this at all."

Any good Courtly Intrigue involves each party knowing everything about the other party and the fact that the other party knows everything about them, so when someone makes a move, it is anticipated by everyone else, making the response one of the anticipated responses to which then... Are you with me still? Lena's head was spinning. Did she in fact know what the other party's response to Scorpio might be? She did not, she was playing it by ear, and may be that wasn't enough. One morning she woke up alone - Scorpio was missing.

Lena's first thought was to find Rook and ask him for help, but pride and shame stopped her in her tracks. "This mess is of my own making," she thought. "What did I expect, exactly? It is for me to solve on my own." She didn't have many leads and started with Lord Chancellor.

...

"Your Majesty!" Lord Chancellor greeted her when she entered his office. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Do you wish to pass a new decree? Is there a rebellion to be quelled? A new royal gown to be ordered, perhaps? The Chancery is at your disposal."

"I wish to select a new personal guard," Lena said pleasantly but firmly. "My old one is... indisposed."

"Indeed?" Lord Chancellor looked astonished. "That is most... err... I mean... Does Your Majesty insist on the new guard having the same duties as the previous one? Or perhaps... err... the knights outside Your Majesty's door might suffice?"

"Lord Chancellor, what are you saying?" Lena looked sternly at him. "I am aware of the rumours regarding me and my previous guard, and I wonder whether that is the reason he has been removed. What is your take on this?"

"Well, since you put it like that," Lord Chancellor sighed a sigh of relief. "We cannot allow for a royal consort, Your Majesty. Not even one that is as close to you as your pawn. Yes, we are aware of the... err... rumours. But with that said... Even Queen Regent before you... carrying on the way she did... I never interfered. Forgive me, Your Majesty, I am an old man, and love is a game for the young..."

Lena silently smirked at that. Lord Chancellor must have been taking her at face value, and she looked in her twenties.

"I thank you, Lord Chancellor," she nodded and smiled. "The knights outside my door will certainly suffice for now. Please keep me apraised of any unexpected developments, should any occur..." She turned to leave, then turned back to face him again. "Whatever happened to the previous ruler - Queen Regent? You didn't hang her, I hope?"

"Oh gods, no!" Lord Chancellor stepped back in horror. "She is the widow of the previous sovran! Her life is sacred! Queen Regent and her son still live in the castle... Perhaps her son Sven might make for a suitable company for you, being equal to Your Majesty in age and standing... He is the late king's son, after all... or the son of the late king's widow, at least... for Arisen cannot sire children, I hear..."

"On the account of being in fact living dead, yes," Lena looked straight at him. Lord Chancellor seemed to be more at ease talking to her about her missing heart than about her missing lover. "I thank you, Lord Chancellor, for your candid response."

She left the room. She had heard rumours about Queen Regent and some foreign dignitary before... But was it of any importance? "Arisen cannot sire children, yet the previous king had a son... and no one bat an eyelid," she smirked to herself. "I wonder who his father might be." Sensing that answering that question might lead her closer to the core of the matter, she decided to befriend Sven. "Close to me in age in standing," she smirked again. "But he's like... twelve!"

Sven wasn't twelve but twenty, with all the rebellious spirit of a teenager cooped up within castle walls. Guards had their hands full extricating him from street fights and brothels alike. He was, in a word, a regular young man. And he was a prince, but without any hope of the throne. The laws of Vermund required the sovran to be an Arisen, not a mere child of such. Befriending him was easy, he was glad of new company and soon was accompanying Lena everywhere she went, almost like Scorpio did before him. A week had passed, then another. The courtiers had all but forgotten about Ser Scorpio and focused on Regentkin Sven. The search for Scorpio went stale and cold.

[Renee]

Pinevale, nice. I'm getting Pinevale. Wow. So we have to remove border restrictions to get there, that's great. They're talking about changing the borders line of code in Oblivion.ini, correct?

Oh nice. Going straight into Skyrim. Dwemer Ruins with TES4's art style, whoa.

How're you able to get it so that Lena's vision is blurry? I'm guessing that's part of the Red Hall. This is a freaky scene! All these NPCs passed out on their beds.

http://chorrol.com/forums/index.php?s=&...st&p=339934

[Lena Wolf]

Pinevale, nice. I'm getting Pinevale. Wow. So we have to remove border restrictions to get there, that's great. They're talking about changing the borders line of code in Oblivion.ini, correct?

Yes. It can also be done with a mod, but Oblivion.ini is better.

How're you able to get it so that Lena's vision is blurry? I'm guessing that's part of the Red Hall. This is a freaky scene! All these NPCs passed out on their beds.

It's Red Hall doing it. Geralt was having a great time apparently, didn't want to leave.

[Renee]

Yes. It can also be done with a mod, but Oblivion.ini is better.

Graci. Asked because Pinewatch's mod author stated he or she used 'a mod' to disable borders but it didn't work. But then he/she never said which method eventually works.

but another question: after disabling borders and then reaching Pinewatch in the game, will the place be surrounded by all of those 'lower-texture'-looking trees & surroundings? Know what I mean? Like, first time I had a character go past a former border the actual landscape isn't as detailed.

[Lena Wolf]

Yes. It can also be done with a mod, but Oblivion.ini is better.

Graci. Asked because Pinewatch's mod author stated he or she used 'a mod' to disable borders but it didn't work. But then he/she never said which method eventually works.

The "mod" method is very simple, really. It sets the same game setting, that is all. However, there have been reports that this method is not always working. If you want to disable borders permanently, editing Oblivion.ini is best.

but another question: after disabling borders and then reaching Pinewatch in the game, will the place be surrounded by all of those 'lower-texture'-looking trees & surroundings? Know what I mean? Like, first time I had a character go past a former border the actual landscape isn't as detailed.

Actually, no, I don't know what you mean. The trees and textures over the border are exactly the same for me as elsewhere. And anyway, Pinevale is only just over the border, so everything should be the same regardless.

[Lena Wolf]

1 Morning Star, 4E204 - A new year, a new perspective

"A new day, a new perspective" was what Scorpio used to say rounding up their party ready to set off again after a night's rest. It was the duty of the Main Pawn to keep an eye on the other pawns in the group and make sure they didn't try to idle, shirk combat or avoid carrying items. He didn't really have much to do in that respect, because Lena would immediately get rid of such pawns, sometimes within half an hour of hiring them, as tendencies usually became evident pretty quickly. She would also get rid of anyone who talked too much, who always wanted to lead, who tried to advise her when advice wasn't asked for, who was being over-protective, who walked too close to her, who ran too far ahead, who kept repeating how devoted they were to her, who constantly needed help in battle, who... in a word, she would quickly get rid of anyone annoying, and for the most part those were women. "All pawns in this party are once again men, I notice," one of the pawns would remark every now and again. "I would not at all mind if that were to change." But when asked who would be willing to leave to make that happen, invariably there were no volunteers.

"A new year, a new perspective," Lena told herself on the morning of the new year. She'd been dreaming of past adventures, of the pawns she walked with, of the friends she made and the worlds she visited, of Lucien, of Scorpio, of Geralt and Hauk... Where were they, she wondered, how did they fare? She looked around the Royal Chamber and it seemed like a prison to her. Her friends had been replaced by the lords and ladies of the court, there was no more room in her life for adventure or freedom. She felt bound, restrained, mired in her royal life, a life without end, for without her heart she was nigh immortal... "Scorpio needs to be found," she told herself sternly, shaking her head. "I've been going about it the wrong way around. I am no queen." She sat in front of the mirror brushing her golden blond hair, her amber eyes glinting in the sun, jewels around her neck filling the room with reflections centered around her person. "Scorpio did not just run off," she told herself firmly. "Someone must know something."

She tried carefully talking to Lord Chancellor about Scorpio's disappearance, but he simply shrugged and declared that Regentkin Sven was a much better companion for Her Majesty anyway, and why worry about a runaway pawn. "Pawns are like people in many ways," he suddenly added. "Wasn't Ser Scorpio enjoying the favour of this court just before he... left?" He looked at Lena as an older parent might look at a child - with regret that the child was about to make an unpleasant discovery. "Perhaps he found someone to his liking? The ladies were very fond of him, from what I have seen, and with Your Majesty no longer engaged with the dragon... his duty by Your Majesty was thus fulfilled."

"You know of the ways of the Legion," Lena said in a hoarse voice. Even though she did not believe that Scorpio simply left with one of the ladies, hearing it like that still hurt.

"Pawns are welcomed in our Kingdom, as Your Majesty knows," Lord Chancellor replied with a little bow. "The ways of the Legion and the pawns' duties are well known to us. A pawn is only bound to remain with the Arisen for as long as the Arisen is engaged with the dragon, and after that it is that pawn's choice. The Arisen no longer holds sway over them once the dragon has been defeated. So Ser Scorpio's disappearance is nothing but his own choice..."

...

"You seem distraught today," Sven touched Lena's arm, startling her. They were taking a walk in the Castle Gardens, Sven was telling her something... she could not recall. Lord Chancellor's words kept ringing in her ears: "Ser Scorpio's disappearance is nothing but his own choice".

"No, I don't believe it," she said aloud and Sven looked at her with incomprehension. "I am sorry, yes, I am distraught today," she pulled herself into reality. "My... pawn is missing," she brought herself to call Scorpio that. "He's been missing for a few weeks already, and it's not like him at all. I am worried."

"Your... pawn?" Sven was even more perplexed. "Don't they just leave after you've defeated the dragon? Why do you worry about a pawn? When the dragon returns, you'll have new pawns to help you fight it again... Father did, that's how it works."

"How many times did your father face the dragon?" Lena suddenly realised that if anyone could tell her anything about the previous sovran, the previous ruling Arisen, that it would be Sven.

"Many times, but it was all before I was born," Sven rubbed his chin. "The dragon only comes every fifty years or so. Father married mother some time after the previous dragon's demise. I remember him saying he'd had enough of being a ruler, and mother... well, you know how she is. She ruled the land in his stead until you appeared..." Sven stopped talking and blushed a deep shade of purple.

"There was an intrigue, I know," Lena tried to put him at ease. "Quite understandable, really. The law demands that the ruler be an Arisen..."

"The most recent Arisen, to be precise," Sven corrected her, regaining his composure. "There are plenty of old Arisen in this land, the ones that failed to kill the dragon and father had to deal with it himself in their stead."

"Wait - what?!" Lena turned to him sharply. "Say that again," a recollection of how things worked in Gransys suddenly clicked into place. "An Arisen who kills the dragon becomes the Sovran of Vermund, replacing the previous sovran, you say? What happens to the previous sovran then?"

"Nothing," Sven shrugged. "I have no idea. They retire, perhaps? They aren't killed, if that's what you're asking. With every new dragon and every new Arisen, father could have been replaced. But when the newest Arisen fails to kill the dragon, then the last successful Arisen - that is, the Sovran - has to deal with the dragon instead. As father always had done... never failed... he was a true Arisen..." Sven's voice trailed off.

"You miss him, don't you," Lena said softly. "You miss your father."

"I do," Sven nodded. "For him to die just as the signs of a new dragon appeared... He was murdered, you know. I just hope it wasn't so that I could be king..."

Lena watched Sven taking control of his emotions and thought that he was no longer a child. Far from it. Grown up in the castle amid courtly intrigue, he could say things by saying the opposite, he saw more than he let on, and he used his boyish appearance to make people forget he was the royal prince.

"Well, enough of this serious stuff," Lena said cheerfully. "It's the first day of the New Year! We should be celebrating! I feel completely cooped up in my Royal Chambers amid our most pious gentry," she winked at Sven. "I hear you know a place or two where one might have fun... Perhaps you'd let me in on a secret? With all that dragon slaying business I never had the chance..."

"But of course!" Sven grinned ear to ear. "Say no more and follow me..!"

And with that he leaped out of the window with the ease and assuredness of someone who'd done it many a time before. The narrow balcony outside opened onto a ledge wrapping around the building, and a few minutes later they stood in a sparingly lit corridor covered in carpets and tapestries that muffled sounds and gave the impression of luxury and comfort.

"Welcome to The Rose," Sven smiled. "Madam Wilhemina should be here somewhere. I shall need to introduce you... even though you're quite well known in the land," he winked. "But you haven't got one of these," he pulled an elegant card out of an inner pocket. "Officially you've got to have it. So come along."

They walked along the corridor, Sven knocked on a few doors, and eventually Madam Wilhemina stood before them. She welcomed Lena with an unexpected cordiality, vowed to personally see to her every need, then she sent Sven on his way (and it looked like he knew where he was going), and ushered Lena into a luxurious bedroom that far outstripped the Royal Chamber in taste and comfort.

"Coffee?" Wilhemina brought a silver set. "Or do you prefer champagne for breakfast?"

"Coffee would be fine," Lena smiled, wondering whether Wilhemina understood the reason for her visit. "This is a lovely room."

"Indeed," Wilhemina was sizing her up with a glance. "And so very secure. So, speak freely, Your Majesty - what is your desire?"

"Scorpio," Lena said without thinking, then regretted it the moment she said it, but it was too late.

"He is not on our books, I am sorry," Wilhemina replied after a short pause. She did not seem surprised. "We do have other pawns though, both male and female... Perhaps Your Majesty would care to choose..?"

Lena was leafing through a thick ledger with pictures of some of the most attractive men and women presented with taste and care.

"This is quite a selection," she looked up at Wilhemina. "Why, this is... Lady Nel, surely? I remember her from some of the soirees..."

"Nel is one of our agents, yes," Wilhemina smiled. "Very sophisticated. She is mostly in charge of recruitement. But even she could not get Ser Scorpio to join us... So I don't know where he is. Because this is what you wanted to know, was it not, Your Majesty?"

...

The conversation with Wilhemina proved most fruitful indeed. While The Rose was eyeing Scorpio as a potential recruit, there were other forces at play as well. The Rose never insisted on anyone joining, for a good service could only be rendered if the person was willing to do it. With the wages that The Rose was paying, they never had a shortage of personnel. So when Scorpio refused their offer, they left him alone.

"It is not uncommon however for people to change their mind," Wilhemina smiled slyly. "Our offers do not expire that quickly. He'll be still welcome to join when he returns..." Lena looked up at her and blushed - she did not like the idea. "It isn't the first time we've arranged things this way. The Sovran is not permitted a consort of their choosing."

"That... is interesting," Lena said slowly. It dawned on her that The Rose might well have been offering other types of private services too. Such as spying. However, she felt that Wilhemina's good will had all but run out, and some contribution to the establishment's prosperity was expected. She briefly considered to simply offer money for the information that she received, but then thought better of it. She was in a brothel. A brothel that was very keen to be regarded as such. A brothel that definitely did NOT want to be seen as a place to buy information. And so Lena smiled pleasantly and asked for another cup of coffee. "And if I may look through that wonderful book of yours," she smiled radiantly. "I think I spotted someone I would be glad to get to know..."

She took her time leafing through the pages. She recognised a few "lords" and "ladies" from the social gatherings, but for the most part the faces were all unknown to her. And then suddenly...

"What about this fellow?" She pointed at a picture of a skinny mage looking at her from the page. "He seems nice."

"I see Your Majesty prefers the gentle type," Wilhemina smiled. "His name is Rook and he will be summonned for you presently. Please help yourself to the refreshments while you wait..."


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

We do not have the picture of Rook that was prepared for the ledger of The Rose. We understand it was most flattering. However, here are a few pictures from Lena's adventures, when she was still free to go where she pleased.

Camping for the night (here is the entire picture)


At the docks on a rainy day


Dressed for the desert (here is the whole picture of taking a ride on a cable car)

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Apr 21 2024, 05:39 AM

[Lena Wolf]

2 Morning Star, 4E204 - Never thought I'd meet you here

"Your companion for tonight is here," Madam Wilhemina ushered Rook into the room Lena was in. "This room is yours for twenty four hours, or longer if you wish it," she smiled. "We do not skimp on time. Do ring for room service for refreshments."

She left, with a glance of encouragement towards Rook. He gave her a curtly nod and turned to Lena. "Good evening, My Lady."

...

"I never knew you had an alternative occupation," Lena was looking at Rook with interest once they were alone. He wore his usual mage's coat and had his staff at the hip - not the look she had imagined for an escort. "I am not lecturing or complaining, but I am surprised, to say the least..."

"Surprised?" A slight offence in Rook's voice made her sit up. "Should I demonstrate?" He started unbuttoning his coat, not taking his eyes off her, and she blushed to the roots of her hair.

"I didn't mean it that way..." she managed to say. "I... please forgive me." She jumped up from the bed and hugged him. "I've seen you naked already, so I know what's underneath," she pulled away, still blushing. That had been very awkward of her! "Please sit down, there's fresh coffee..."

"Alright," Rook smiled, sitting down and proceeding to load his coffee with cream. "Why am I here?"

"Scorpio is missing," Lena said in a near whisper. "Been missing for weeks."

"And naturally you came to a brothel looking for him." It was Rook's turn to tease.

"Rook!"

"Wolf?"

"Umm... yeah, I know how it looks."

"No, you don't," Rook was watching her, sipping his coffee. "It looks like you should have called me as soon as he disappeared, but instead you tried to solve it on your own, and as a result we lost a good month to your obstinence. When you didn't make contact within the first week, I enlisted here because sooner or later I knew you'd come looking. Fortunately, there wasn't much work for me in the meantime... This isn't really what I do."

"I am sorry," Lena knew he was right. But then, something he said... "How did you know that Scorpio disappeared?"

"Word around town," he shrugged. "He was popular with the court, so the gentry and mostly the guards were talking about it all day long. Then he vanished. That didn't go unnoticed. As well as your friendship with Sven. Word is, you are engaged to be married."

"WHAT?!" Lena's coffee went flying.

"No? Well, one shouldn't take rumours at face value," Rook grinned. "But everyone thinks it is the logical thing to do, you two being of the same age and standing..."

"Rumours are getting out of control," Lena said grimly.

"As rumours always do, pay it no mind." Rook sat his cup down. "Tell me what you've found out."

"Not much," Lena sighed. "I learned that the Legion releases the pawns once the dragon is slain, which means that Scorpio is no longer bound to me. He can come and go as he pleases... he could be anywhere."

"Which also means that he could be abducted and forcibly held somewhere without the Legion coming after the perpetrators," Rook looked at Lena with significance. "They couldn't do it while he was in your service, they'd have the Legion to answer to. But now it's another matter. They could kill him and the Legion would not respond. There are always more pawns. You'd just have to pick someone else when the dragon next appears."

Lena shuddered at the thought.

"What about you?" She was trying to get her head around it. "You have no master."

"Except for the Legion, of course," Rook smirked, rubbing a glowing mark on his hand, the mark of a pawn. "I could be recalled to guide a new Arisen, for that is my job... There's always a new Arisen somewhere..." He looked wistful. "But until then I'm yours to command, My Lady."

He leaned back in his chair waiting for Lena to decide their next move.

"It's late and my head is spinning," she suddenly realised just how tired she was. "I don't want to go back to the castle... Stay with me, please..."

"Of course, that is why I am here."

Rook got up and started incanting a spell. Lena fell back on the cushions and breathed a sigh of relief. She slept without dreams that night.

...

Lena was woken up by a sun ray streaming through the gap in the curtains, the morning seemed to be well underway. She looked around, shaking off the sleepiness. Rook was lying next to her, reading a book. Neither of them wore any clothes.

"I don't remember undressing... What happened?" Lena rubbed the back of her neck - she had not been knocked out again, surely?

"You fell asleep and I had to make sure we didn't look out of place here," Rook shrugged. "You remember where we are, right? This is a brothel."

"But I thought Wilhemina had said this room was secure..."

"Meaning that it has fewer peepholes than the others," Rook smirked. "Plus, there's the maid. We've got fresh coffee." He got up to pour Lena a cup. "But worry not - for Wilhemina knows what's good for her. I simply wanted to ensure that the maid would not be wondering about Her Majesty not making use of her escort. That would have looked suspicious."

"But the fact that Her Majesty's escort is actually her old friend - that wouldn't look suspicious?"

"Nah, they've seen all sorts." He took Lena's cup from her as she finished her coffee, set it aside, returned to Lena and kissed her. And before she could utter any surprise or protest, he whispered into her ear: "Remember the peepholes..." A minute later she had no wish to protest.

...

"What do we do next?" Lena was watching Rook fussing with jugs of hot water to ensure the bath was of exactly the right temperature.

"Next I take you out for a walk," he put down the jugs, satisfied. "After the bath. You need to get some colour into your cheeks."

"Oh, I think you've managed that already," she grinned, seeing this entirely new side of Rook. "Is that standard practice for an escort to take their clients out for a walk?"

"It may be... it depends," Rook answered matter-of-factly. "It depends on the client. We aim to please."

She stared at him for a moment, then sank deeper into the tub.

"It's not that different to walking with an Arisen," Rook said softly. "Pawns are the ones who know what needs doing, yet it is the Arisen who calls the shots. We are here to serve, yet we are often superior to our masters... Many masters scorn that. Not every Arisen treats us well... but I think you have an inkling of that."

"I think you are superior to most people, to be honest," Lena mused. "And not just in combat... Do you like being an escort?"

"I might have liked it if I got to choose my clients... but it doesn't work that way," he smirked.

"We need our freedom back, both of us," Lena said through clenched teeth. "We need to find Scorpio too... but I have no idea where to start..."

"You started already, this is the right approach," Rook objected. "It is all in the royal court. The Rose caters only for the gentry, every person of standing comes here sooner or later. And now that I got picked by Her Majesty herself, my fee has been doubled. Oh, have no illusions - the word has already spread," he smirked, noticing Lena's surprise. "Your patronage here brings more clients to Wilhemina, and she in turn may reveal a thing or two to you when she trusts you enough. She has an eye for people, you cannot buy her trust."

"You seem to respect her."

"I do," Rook nodded. "She runs a business, to be sure, but she treats us well... and doesn't stand for... well... certain practices that some clients are fond of. I wish the Legion cared for pawns as much..." His voice trailed off, then he caught himself. "But you don't want to hear those tales, I'm sure. I am glad to have met you. Friends are rare among us pawns."

Finding Rook employed as an escort specifically so that she would stumble upon him when she ran out of leads in her search, had a sobering effect on Lena. Just how far was he willing to go for friendship? For Rook was married, his heart belonged to Benita, yet instead of returning to her, he linguered in this world in order to help his friends... Had he expected that Scorpio would get into trouble once Lena was established as the Sovran? He probably had. Had Scorpio himself expected that? Yes, for certain. But still, neither of them could prevent it. It was now up to Lena to act. "Pawns know what needs to be done, but it is the Arisen who calls the shots." Rook's words resonated in her mind.

...

"Am I permitted to walk in the town outside the castle walls?" Lena looked at Rook with uncertainty when he suggested a walk along the pier. "I was under the impression that the Sovran was supposed to stay put..."

"Well, yes, but there's no law against walking in town either," he winked. "Besides, you have escort, My Lady. Walking alone might have raised eyebrows, yes, but not when you're being escorted."

"I shall never understand these practices..." Lena rolled her eyes, accepting his arm. "Sven has been running off to town all on his own for years."

"Sven is a young man," Rook objected. "He can walk on his own... But on the flipside, he could not have anyone from The Rose escort him in public - that would be a scandal. While for a lady it is a perfectly natural thing to do..."

It felt good to stroll through town again and not be caged in the Castle Gardens. They went to the market and to the armoury, to the Pawn Guild and to the inn, greeting the shopkeepers that they used to frequent in the Times of Hunting the Dragon. Heads turned and glances followed them around, whispers were exchanged behind their backs, but Lena didn't care what was being said. An illusion of freedom tasted sweet, too.

"I wonder what the talk of the town will be on the morrow," she said when they sat down for a drink at the tavern. "That Her Majesty dropped Regentkin Sven in favour of an escort from The Rose? Or that the escort from The Rose was in fact one of Her Majesty's most loyal pawns?"

"Probably both," Rook shrugged. "And also that Her Majesty took as long as a month to find herself a new escort since her previous one disappeared..."

"No one had any illusions then, right from the start."

"Of course not."

Returning to the castle grounds, Lena fully expected that Rook would have to turn back since pawns were generally not allowed beyond the castle gate. And indeed, a guard on duty watched their approach, but instead of stopping them, he gave a nod to Rook and allowed them to proceed.

"I shall accompany you to your chambers," Rook said to Lena. "The word had already been sent. You can call for me whenever you wish, or come to The Rose... I should be glad to see you."

They walked in silence for a few minutes - Lena felt stunned.

"I don't understand... You have been assigned as my consort..?" The suddenness and absurdity of it completely confused her.

"Your escort," Rook corrected her. "You can have another, if you prefer."

"No, I don't prefer!" She cried, then hushed herself - raised voices were frowned upon on the castle grounds. "I don't prefer another," she repeated in a hiss. "It's just... this is so strange... you are my friend... but also... and no one thought to ask me on the matter..."

"Your actions were clear enough, My Lady," Rook smirked. "I am to be your escort until you pick another. If you were pleased with my services, that is..."

They were walking through a colonnade flanked by rows of rose bushes dense enough to hide anyone from view. Lena quickly pulled Rook behind the bushes into an alcove of the castle wall.

"I may be confused by the courtly intrigue but if this is how the game is played, then you'll find me a willing player." She kissed him and got a kiss in response. "You got yourself a client, you can tell Wilhemina that. I don't want to find you engaged when I call."

"Exclusivity will be expensive."

"Lord Chancellor will have to foot the bill."

...

"Such passion!" Rook wiped his brow, still panting. "You're a fury not just with goblins. And you're the coldest assassin, too... I never imagined..."

"You'll see it one day, I'm sure," Lena smiled, cooling off. "Scorpio discovered it quite early on, way before we became close. I expected him to leave, but he stayed... for some reason..."

"He couldn't leave - he was bound to you."

"I offered to release him but he refused."

"Interesting..." Rook pulled her close and kissed her again. "I see what Benita meant... She said your heart would burn the dragon from the inside for swallowing it... You're not just another Arisen."

"How could she have known? I am not from that world."

"Perhaps this is something we'll both discover one day. Come, I'll take you to your chambers. It's time to return to the Courtly Intrigue, My Lady. The world has changed today."

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Apr 21 2024, 05:39 AM

[Lena Wolf]

4 Morning Star, 4E204 - Engagement

"Word is - Her Majesty the Sovran and Regentkin Sven are engaged to be married!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"I heard others say the same!"

"Happy days!"

The rumours spread like wildfire, and within a day or two of Lena's outing to The Rose, the town was talking about her being engaged to Regentkin Sven. Which made no sense what-so-ever, apart from it being the logical thing to do.

"Do you really believe that they went to see different people at The Rose?!"

Even the fact that Lena appeared with Rook around town, could not change anything.

"Of course Her Majesty needs an escort on her walks," people would say. "Someone older than Regentkin Sven. A pawn is most appropriate."

Some went further, considering the services of an escort from The Rose, but even that was found "most appropriate" - much more appropriate than having Regentkin Sven appear in that role. People were happy because a union of the current Sovran and the child of the previous Sovran could only mean improved prosperity and stability of the kingdom for years to come.

...

"This is getting worse by the minute!" Lena was lamenting the rumours to Rook. "They'll have me marry the nipper before I know it! This cannot be happening!"

"Calm down, calm down," Rook was trying to diffuse the situation. "No one can force you to marry anyone! It's just talk, pay it no mind."

But Lena took the rumours to heart and was very worried, especially since Sven seemed to have vanished from the royal court.

"Where could he have gone to?!" She exclaimed for the fifth time within half an hour. "Perhaps his mother is getting him ready?"

"Ready for what?" Rook was trying to be patient, but Lena's worry was overwhelming. "Snap out of it, Wolf! It's only been two days! He's probably still at The Rose..."

"But what am I supposed to do??? He's almost under-age!!"

"He is not, he's twenty!"

"A baby!"

"An adult, by all accounts..."

"Two hundred years my junior!"

"Well, but people here don't know that..." Rook held the door for the maid in their room at The Rose. "Here, have some coffee. And some of these..."

"Chocolate unicorns and marshmallow bunnies..?" Lena stopped in her tracks staring at the tray. "Where on Nirn did you get these from..?"

"Wasn't it the first complaint you made when you realised which world you landed in?" Rook grinned. "That you would have preferred to be in a world with chocolate unicorns and marshmallow bunnies? It took some work with the court kitchens, but The Rose is very persuasive. I thought it might cheer you up."

"In a word, you had enough of me complaining..." Lena smiled, nibbling on a unicorn. "Thank you."

Rook breathed a sigh of relief while Lena got to work on the unicorns and bunnies, after all, someone had to. When half a tray was cleared, she fell back in her plush chair, her mood markedly improved.

"We could use those rumours to our advantage, you know," Rook said cautiously, half expecting the complaining to restart. But Lena remained calm, and he continued. "You will have to revoke your exclusive rights on me, too. You cannot be courting Regentkin Sven and have an exclusive escort at the same time. Besides, I might hear a thing or two from the other clients, but not if I can't have any."

"You are right, of course," Lena sighed. "Our goal is, after all, to find Scorpio. But what do you want me to do with Sven?" She looked up at him and he grinned.

"Well, I think you have a pretty good idea..."

"No!"

"I am not saying drag him into bed," Rook shook his head. "He's too smart for that. He is really not a child. And... no offence... but I don't think he wants to marry you either."

"But that's the thing with royalty," Lena pointed out. "They don't marry for love but for politics. If his mother thinks it's a good idea - and I bet she does - then Sven may not have any choice."

"Talk to him, you might be surprised."

"Hmm."

As sceptical as Lena was regarding Rook's suggestion of talking to Sven, she still followed up on it, mostly because she couldn't think of anything better. So when Sven reappeared at courtly gatherings a day or so later, she put on cheerful airs and invited him to join her at the royal luncheon, the royal soiree and every other royal event on the agenda. To her great surprise, Sven gladly agreed. They also resumed their walks in the Castle Gardens.

"I hear you enjoyed your time at The Rose," Sven smiled at her when they found themselves in a quiet corner of the garden. "Met an old friend, too?"

"News travels fast," Lena smirked. "Yes. It seems he was in need of coin," she lied. "But actually... oh, never mind," she smiled brightly. "It is a nice place, The Rose."

"Lady Wilhemina does run a tight ship," Sven nodded. "Not like some other places, there're no strange goings on at The Rose! But if you wanted something more exotic, I could mark a few spots on your map," he grinned.

"Err... not right now, thanks."

"Hmm... that's not what I imagined."

"What did you imagine?"

"Well, you being a true Arisen... walking with pawns all this time... mostly men, I hear..."

"Yes..? And..?"

"You must have... you know!"

"Really? We mostly were busy fighting monsters, to be honest. Then treating our wounds. Romance under the dragon's wing is not my preference... or atop a unicorn, for that matter..." she added absent-mindedly and smirked to herself, remembering Geralt's complaining about Yennefer's preference.

"Atop a unicorn..? Wow, you really do get up to things!" Sven whistled.

They walked in silence for a while. It was nearing lunch time, and the garden was getting quite empty.

"My mother wants me to marry you," Sven said suddenly, making Lena jump. "So that I could be Regent King."

"I heard."

"Look, I like you and all, but..."

"You're too young for me," Lena said quite firmly, facing him. Sven stopped too. "Do you know how old I am?"

"Not twenty."

"Smart," Lena nodded.

"That makes no difference to mother, though. She says a royal marriage is for politics only."

"What are we going to do?" Lena wanted to hear Sven's take on the matter, especially since he brought up the subject himself.

"I don't know..." he sighed. "You look in your twenties, you are the Sovran, you are unmarried. You won't be able to stay that way."

"Your father was unmarried for a long time," Lena objected.

"No, he wasn't," Sven said slowly. "It is all rather hushed up, but I read the archives... Father was married several times, to various princesses of the neighbouring countries... They each died under mysterious circumstances around the time the next dragon appeared... He had no children with any of them. Arisen cannot sire children."

"So you know."

"Of course. Don't know who sired me, but father was the one who raised me." He turned away for a moment. "Do you think it strange?"

"No, I do not," Lena replied, and bit her tongue. Her own child was being raised by a man who wasn't his sire. But speaking of children was dangerous for a Sovran, and pointless too, seeing how it was in a different world. Sven was not a friend, she reminded herself. Confiding in him had to be avoided.

They resumed walking, the Castle Garden was now completely empty.

"Your mother has connections in Battahl," Lena said softly, making sure that no one would overhear. "I know, I found some documents... I wonder whether your sire hails from there."

"You think they are still in touch?"

"I would not be surprised."

A long pause followed, and each of them knew that the other had something important to say.

"We shall have to trust each other," Sven said in a near whisper. "I cannot help you find your pawn if you don't tell me what you know about Battahl."

"Figured it out, did you," Lena smiled. "What gave it away?"

"Your choice of escort."

"Well, he's an actual escort, it's not a fraud..."

"I know, I saw it."

"You what..?" Lena laughed. "Oh yes, the peepholes."

"And rose bushes."

"Alright, but why? What difference does it make what I choose to do with my escort?"

"It shows intent, commitment, trust," Sven stopped to face her. He suddenly looked much older than his age. "He enlisted after your pawn disappeared, I checked. Next to no calls on him, considering his looks. Then you appear, request exclusivity at first, then revoke it, and suddenly he's the most requested escort at The Rose. Still the same looks, but if what I saw was real... wow." He smiled at Lena. "Are all pawns like that?"

"Pawns are people, Sven," Lena shook her head. "They are all different. That was just... Rook."

"And you think your pawn was forcibly removed, you don't think he just left... And after what I've seen, I tend to agree..." Sven paused. "So then, shall we help each other?"

"Come to my chambers tonight," Lena smiled. "Make sure you're seen. There's a peephole, but we can cover it up. I've got something to show you. The game is on, Sven."

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 4E204 - Strands in a web

It took many weeks collecting every little piece of information they could find - both about Battahl and Queen Regent's past and present connections there, and about anyone with designs to remove Her Majesty's personal guard, that is, Scorpio. Between Lena, Rook and Sven they figured out that it was all connected, but were still uncertain about the particulars. The three of them could not be seen together, so Lena acted as a link, courting both of them. The rumours of her liason with Sven were growing stronger with every passing day, and people were openly speculating when their engagement would be announced.

"They will allow it to mature for a year or two," some were saying. "It is a matter of wealth. Is the Arisen wealthy? She is, as our Sovran, but was she wealthy before she was crowned? That needs to be assessed."

"No, they won't wait that long," others disagreed. "Just look at her armour and that of her pawns! Of course she was wealthy! She owns a mansion in the Noble Quarter, besides. And a house in town. There is no question of wealth!"

"Does she still command pawns?" Yet others wondered. "With the dragon slain, does that power wane? They want to make sure she remains in control, dragon or no dragon."

But the most salacious remarks were about her and Sven, as could be expected. That was on purpose, for people were most likely to focus on something saucy. Sven would visit Lena's chamber on a regular bases, noises would be heard, and some would swear to have seen action, too... What they really heard and saw however, was a performance not unlike the performance that Lena and Ser Maximilian put on back in Gransys so many years ago. The peephole in Lena's chamber had been securely blocked, and glimpses through a half-opened door could be easily manipulated.

"Why do you not put on a performance with Rook?" Sven asked one evening.

"We meet at The Rose, it has to be real. Too many experts would know the difference," Lena shrugged. "Rook never stays here."

Sven thought there was more to it, but didn't ask. They still weren't friends.

"Here, have a look at this," Lena and Sven were sitting in a blind corner of her chamber, certain not to be seen or heard. She put an old letter on the table. "That's a Battahli crest."

"The letter speaks of a 'service' to be rendered to mother," Sven read. "But the person to render it is only named as 'His Lordship'," he sighed. "That doesn't help at all... Although... The service appears to be of intimate nature."

"There is no date on the letter, although it is old. But is it old enough?" Lena thought that the 'service' might have been that of ensuring that the Sovran of Vermund had a child.

"Hmm..." Sven wasn't sure. "But look at this," he produced another old letter from his pocket. "This is quite intimate, and it is signed."

"Lord Allard," Lena read. "But not nearly old enough... the paper isn't discoloured. Lord Chancellor mentioned something... that he never intervened. The 'service' might have been repeated. Lord Allard still lives in this very castle."

"I wonder if father married mother for love or was it... Hmm..."

"Only she can tell us that now, I fear." Lena sat back in her chair. "And I am not about to ask."

This was a typical conversation between Lena and Sven, with each of them producing one or the other letter of more or less intimate nature and trying to figure out whether it was of any importance at all. The royal court seemed to have an infinite number of such letters, and everyone of the gentry seemed to have been involved with everyone else at some point in the past. Considering how easy it was to find these letters, just left behind in desks and drawers, unlocked and unguarded, they didn't seem important. Unless of course one of them was...

"If someone wanted to hide an important letter in this castle, they would just put it in some old drawer along with all the nonsense," Lena shook her head. "To find what we seek among all of this... seems nigh impossible."

"We need to start discounting people," Sven looked up. "Like this Lord Allard, for instance. He's been around the court for ages, well before I was born. But this letter is recent, and means probably nothing... We need to know more about him. And who is this 'Lordship' from Battahl? Keep every Battahli letter, as there are not many of those..."

Considering such goings on, Lena's visits to The Rose hardly attracted gossip - it was, after all, a common thing to do.

"Her Majesty is still frequenting one and the same escort," people would say. "One of the pawns she used to walk with... I wonder if there's anything more to that."

"Her Majesty likes a man with experience," others would shrug. "She found one she likes, and that's that. Mayhap she knew his worth from before he joined The Rose..."

People would grin and move on to more juicy news of the day.

Rook was doing well at The Rose. He was in constant demand. His fee rose above most others. As such, he was assigned a room of his own, with all the luxuries and conveniences of that. But with all this, alas, information was still not forthcoming. Instead, he was being asked more than he was told.

"What does Her Majesty like?" His clients would ask. "Show me, I want to know."

"Your Ladyship would not want me to show Your Ladyship's likes to others," he would decline with a smile. "The Rose guarantees the clients' privacy."

One day as the maid was serving coffee and the door stood open, they heard loud voices from the lobby.

"I want the Sovran's escort! He is not in this book!"

"These are all the escorts that answer Your Lordship's preference," a much quieter voice of the receptionist tried to calm down the client.

"Nonsense! I just said what I wanted!"

"That's Lord Allard," Rook's client sat up, listening in. "Wanting you... I would not recommend it."

"Lord Allard seems to have quite a temper," Rook noted, also listening in.

"A temper and a name in the court..." the lady nodded. "Everyone avoids him now. Everyone. Even Queen Regent... and they were close once."

"He served the court for many years, I hear."

"Since he was young..." She got up to look at him from behind the door. "He isn't what he used to be any longer... There's been talk that he fathered Queen's child, Sven. If you can father a child after it's born!" She chuckled. "No, he was with me when the Queen... you know. She'd been away for a time, then Sven was born half a year later."

She stepped back into the room as Wilhemina walked past the door towards the lobby.

"I must ask Your Lordship to keep your voice down," she said firmly. "The Rose is a peaceful retreat. Kindly select your escort from the ledger."

"The Sovran's escort isn't in it!" Lord Allard replied angrily, but in a lowered voice. "What game are you playing?!"

"You are confusing us with similar houses in the Lower Town," Wilhemina answered evenly, but with an undercurrent of disdain. "Our agents determine what services they provide. The Sovran's escort does not cater for your preference."

"Whores! All of you!!!" Lord Allard bellowed, there was a sound of steel against steel, then all went quiet.

"Escort His Lordship outside," Wilhemina said to someone in the lobby. "His membership is thus revoked."

"You are lucky to work here," Rook's client accepted coffee that he handed her. "Wilhemina understands what makes for good service... for pleasant times... unlike Lord Allard down below."

...

"So Lord Allard isn't your sire," Lena related this information to Sven next time they met. "The lady said your mother had been away, then you were born. Away to Battahl, perhaps?"

"It certainly looks that way," Sven agreed. "But to meet whom? And could Lord Allard still be involved in your pawn's disappearance?"

"I think not," Lena shook her head. "He seems out of control. It isn't easy to abduct a fighter such as Scorpio... They failed at the coronation, so they planned better this time. This job was served cold."

...

The next piece of the puzzle also came from Rook. He had a new client, and as soon as she entered, he felt dizzy and somewhat confused. He felt compelled to do what she asked, going far beyond his normal bounds. When she left, his head cleared. His body was scarred and burned in places, a practice not endorsed by The Rose.

"What happened to you?!" Lena gasped when she saw it. "I thought The Rose didn't allow..."

"It doesn't," Rook nodded. "I don't understand it myself... It is as if I was in a haze..."

"We have to tell Wilhemina," Lena was adamant.

"Godsway," Wilhemina concluded with disgust. "A substance that controls pawns. There's been talk of it in recent years... but this is the first time we had it in our house!" She added with anger. "You are off duty for the rest of the week! I won't stand for this! We have a lot of pawns!" She stormed off.

"Godsway," Lena repeated, examining Rook's bruises closely. "Tell me what you remember."

Godsway appeared to have clouded Rook's judgement and suppressed his will but not affected his memory much. He knew exactly how he got every bruise, yet could not oppose the hand that inflicted them.

"I do remember resisting somewhat," he looked apologetic. "Perhaps that's what she wanted..."

"I wonder if the dose you got was only little," Lena mused. "Since you could resist. But what if it was increased? May be that's what they used on Scorpio?"

...

"Godsway is prohibited in our Kingdom!" Sven exclaimed with indignation when Lena told him about the incident at The Rose. "Exactly because it affects pawns in this way, and pawns are welcome here. It is imported... I don't know how it is made. It's used... well... the way it was used on Rook. He got a standard dose. We'll catch the smugglers, but I wonder... What if the dose was increased? What then?"

The smugglers were caught, a quantity of godsway was recovered.

"This was a medium size operation, Your Majesty," Captain Brandt was delivering his report at the Chancery. "The substance will be incinerated."

When he finished, Lena quietly followed him out of the Chancery office.

"Captain," she spoke softly. "I wonder if I could have a word."

It wasn't too hard to convince the Captain to hand over godsway to her. She wanted to know its effects when given in larger doses, and Rook reluctantly agreed to test it. The Captain too wanted to see the effects. It required some preparation, but eventually guard training was arranged out in the fields, thus leaving the barracks free.

"Don't make me fight you, I am not that bad of a mage," Rook joked nervously as they were getting ready to start. "There is no telling what it will do..."

The effects were astounding. Rook remained conscious throughout, he could walk and talk, and indeed fight, and he executed every order to the letter, even though they had agreed that he would try to resist. But as soon as the crystal was moved a distance away, he regained full control of his will.

"It's strong but of limited range," the Captain concluded. "Dangerous stuff. This will be incinerated. I shudder to think what it could do if it was refined..." He gathered up the crystals. "And you should know... it is imported from Battahl."

The pattern was becoming clear. The strands of the web led to Battahl.


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

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Apr 21 2024, 05:54 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Sun's Dawn, 4E204 - A grain of sand in a desert

"This is like finding a grain of sand in a desert!" Sven shook his head when Lena told him they had to look for clues in Battahl. "How to tell which one is the right one? We have a stack of letters from Battahl, intimate and otherwise, signed and unsigned, old and new... Which one would point to 'His Lordship' that is my sire? Which one would lead us to your captured pawn? Is the same person behind both? Twenty years apart? That seems unlikely..." Sven sighed. "Yet at the same time I sense it is exactly the case... But why..?"

"There is something else at work here," Lena mused, looking through the letters on the table again. "Something that we are yet to uncover. I too feel that the same person may be behind both... I just hope that Scorpio is still alive..."

"I haven't considered that," Sven looked up with sadness. "It's been... what? Four, five months? If he is being tortured... strong as he is, that's a long time... assuming they didn't kill him directly..." He stopped talking, noticing Lena's heartache, but she got the distinct feeling that he said those things on purpose. Perhaps in order to see her response.

"Yes, I miss him, if that's what you wanted to know," she said with rebuke and Sven blushed slightly. "It isn't an act."

"But you have Rook now..."

"Rook is my friend. Scorpio is... more." She kept her eyes on Sven trying to figure out why he was asking these questions, and what it was that he wasn't asking but wanted to know.

"I've watched you and Rook," Sven met her gaze without blushing. "You seem completely at ease with each other. He's not guarded with you as he's guarded with his other clients, you are not a client to him. I do not understand... And you say there can be more?"

"Rook is married, did you know that?" Lena smiled. "Not to me, that is. But we are old friends, we've been through so much, I trust him with my life and more... But yes, there is another level... more than one level, in fact..."

"But if he's married... Why did he become an escort?"

"To help me find Scorpio." Lena paused, watching the puzzled look on Sven's face. "Or do you mean to ask why Rook is such an excellent escort? Because that's Rook. When he decides to do something, he does it right. He doesn't skimp, doesn't shirk, doesn't try to fake it. He took the job for a different reason, but it is now his job, and he does it well. His clients can sense it, which is why he is in demand. Not just because he's the Sovran's escort."

"I never imagined that slaying the dragon could bring people together like that," Sven said softly, still puzzled.

"It wasn't the dragon..." Lena thought of the times she would lose a battle in order to save her pawns, of the times her pawns would keep fighting for her and die when she could not save them, the times she really lost a pawn, not merely sent them back to the Rift... "Pawns are not completely immortal," she smiled at Sven. "Yet they do not falter, and not all of it is driven by duty or their magical bonds to the master... I've had pawns that..." She stopped talking, suddenly realising that speaking of that would be betraying their trust. Not all pawns were equally loyal, despite the common belief. "It wasn't the dragon that brought us together," she closed the topic. "But it is between me and them."

...

One evening Lena slipped into The Rose from a particularly boring soiree - there seemed to have been secret passages from every part of the castle. She didn't know whether Rook was with a client, and didn't want to go barging in. She linguered in the corridor, trying to make up her mind.

"Your Majesty," she heard Wilhemina's voice behind her. "Your escort will finish shortly," she smiled. "But until then, please come with me."

Wilhemina led Lena into an empty room, closed the door and kissed her.

"Not interested?" She stood back, surprised. "Not many clients get my attention."

"Forgive me, Lady Wilhemina," Lena smiled. "But..."

"Say no more," Wilhemina smiled back. "It is unusual, but not unheard of. But may be I can still please you with something else..."

She walked to a framed picture on the wall and flipped it aside, revealing a peephole. Lena looked in.

The room on the other side seemed empty, but then she noticed movement in the curtains. A masked man silently stepped forward, and a masked woman appeared from another corner of the room. Lena recognised Queen Regent, because, let's face it, masks didn't work for people who knew each other well, such as members of the same court. The man, however, was unknown to Lena, and his mask would indeed prevent her from remembering his face.

"Disa..." he said, taking Queen Regent into his arms. "You wanted me to stay away, and I did. It's been a long wait... but you look just like you did twenty years ago."

"You flatter me, Phaz," she smiled. "But the wait is nearly over. Sven will marry the Arisen and then..."

"How long do you plan to let her live?"

"Just long enough to calm the waters," she shrugged. "Her pawn does complicate matters, though."

"Her pawn? But we removed him, surely?"

"Her other pawn... her escort here at The Rose. We cannot touch him here."

"That is most unfortunate."

"But equally... he's just an escort," Queen Regent made a gesture of brushing off an annoying fly. "Not a bodyguard, as was the one before him. And he's just a mage... Not a match for you, Phaz."

"You want that I kill him myself..?" The man she called 'Phaz' sounded surprised.

"If need be..." She sighed. "Just send him back to the Rift, that will do."

"Easier than killing him outright," Phaz agreed. "Her main pawn is still alive... somehow... we've done all we could think of... it's been five months."

"Alive?" Disa pulled back, surprised and worried.

"We could have sent him back to the Rift, but that would have served no purpose," Phaz explained. "She'd get him back right away. No, he needs to die a proper death, there are ways... he seems unconsious and his body is ailing, yet he still lives..."

"That is enough," Wilhemina covered the peephole with the picture again. "Your escort awaits you, Your Majesty."

Lena followed her to Rook's chamber and didn't come out until the following afternoon.

...

"Sven has been watching us," Lena told Rook when she finally stopped crying. "He's been asking me about your... skills," she grinned. "Whether all pawns are like you."

"And what did you say?" Rook smirked, pouring coffee.

"That all pawns are exactly the same, of course, powered by secret magic, just like golems," she laughed. "What did you think I said? There's no one quite like you, Rook."

"I wonder why Wilhemina lets him watch," he mused, settling down in a large plush armchair with his cream-laden coffee. "I didn't think it was a part of a standard service."

"Education? His mother does want him to marry me."

"For political reasons, yes," Rook objected. "Besides, he's been running around brothels long enough now not to require any further training..."

They didn't know what to make of it, but ultimately it wasn't important and they didn't care, so they spoke of it no more.

...

Hearing about Scorpio's condition gave an increased sense of urgency to their investigation, but still they could not move any faster than they did. The man named 'Phaz' was in the centre of it all, but his identity was unknown, and although they surmised that he must be the mysterious 'His Lordship' from the old correspondence, it didn't actually help them to figure out who he was. Lena thought he was a sorcerer, but Rook pointed out that Queen Regent's words would have worked just as well if the man was a knight.

"Any vocation is stronger than a mage when it comes to battle," Rook objected. "He could even be an archer, for all we know. Although I would probably be able to deal with an archer..."

"I still think a sorcerer is most likely," Lena was being stubborn. "And anyhow, we have a register of noteworthy sorcerers, and there are exactly three of them in the whole kingdom, as opposed to literally hundreds of knights."

"Let's start with sorcerers then," Rook grinned. "Except... aren't you looking in the wrong kindom? He's supposed to be from Battahl."

"With so few sorcerers around, they all are bound to know each other," Lena was pouring over the map of Vermund. "We have a court sorcerer here at the castle... An old man with his nose in books. I don't think he's involved in any plots - too busy reading. There's an Elven sorceress up in the Sacred Arbour..."

"As if Elves ever minged in human affairs!" Rook shook his head.

"True. Then there's Magister Myrrdin living in a small town near the border with Battahl. I think I shall pay him a visit."

"Hold it - hold it!" Rook pulled the map out of Lena's hands. "Your Majesty cannot go visiting some random sorcerers in small border towns. I'll go. You stay put."

...

"Magister Myrrdin is not receiving visitors," a stern-looking maid answered the door. "State your business."

"I thought he wasn't receiving visitors?" Rook smiled at her. "I heard much about Magister Myrrdin's learning and was hoping to discuss ways to improve my battle spells... I am but a mage, you see, battle is not my speciality."

"Then you've come to the wrong house!" The maid barked at him. "Magister Myrrdin does not teach dilettantes!"

She slammed the door in Rook's face. This matter required a different approach.

...

"I saw you trying to get into Myrrdin's house," a shady character in dirty leather armour sat next to Rook at the tavern that evening. "We've been trying it for weeks. Best give it up, mate, that house is a fortress."

"I wasn't actually..." Rook started saying when another unsavoury character interrupted him.

"You lot will never get in!" He said to the other thief. "You ain't got class. Stick out as a sore thumb... This fellah on the other hand, he stands a chance... If dressed right... I reckon... may be..." He took a step back, eyeing Rook head to toe. "I'll tell you what you need to do, but we take half the cut."

"There won't be any cuts, so there's nothing to take," Rook said firmly. "I daresay I don't need your help."

"You won't get past that door without us!" The thief retorted angrily. "And I have a rush order on an opal orb from that house, so you WILL go in!"

"Not for you, I won't."

"We'll see about that!!"

Daggers flashed from several directions, an arrow flew past Rook's ear, someone even tried to stab him, but Rook was completely unharmed.

"That does it, really!" He pushed away one of his attackers and quickly cast a spell. A lightning bolt hit in the middle of the fighting crowd, the sparks latched onto the weapons, jumping from fighter to figher, some people fell to the ground, others were still standing, shaking. Either way, the fight was over, and the barman was quick to throw them all outside. The crowd dispersed as quickly as it had assembled, out of sight and out of reach of the city guard.

"It's always the same here," a guard addressed Rook and spit. "They start the brawl, but they are too quick for us. You, on the other hand... In the name of Her Majesty the Sovran, I arrest you for disturbing the peace in this town." He put wrist irons on Rook who didn't resist. "It's this way to the gaol..."

...

Stripped of his coat and staff and dressed in prison garb, Rook woke up in the morning on a pile of dirty straw in a rat-infested gaol of a small border town. His head didn't hurt and he remembered everything that happened, but he felt empty and hollow. The wrist irons - they sapped his strength and magicka, leaving him defenseless.

"How do I get out of here?" He asked the guard who brought him bread and water. "If it's money you want..."

"Aye, there's a fee to pay," the guard grinned. "But not yet. You are a pawn, are you not? You pawns get a different treatment."

He checked the lock on the bars and walked off, leaving Rook with a feeling of foreboding. His trip was not going according to plan.