The Tale Of Sudhendra Vahl: Mad Gods, Being the ninth chapter... Options

[mplantinga]

Rl = RL = real life = something annoying that keeps us from the forums

[pixiewoo]

I am eagerly awaiting the next installment.

[OverrideB1]

I'd like to thank everyone for their patience while RL work consumes my life. I really can see the light at the end of the tunnel now (and this time, it's not an oncoming train ) and should soon be back and writing. As soon as I have filled the holes between Sudhendra being in Mournhold and back on Vvardenfell I will start to update.

I have a glorious 14 day break up and coming and plan (once the inevitable festivities are out of the way) to fill them with as much writing as possible so I can get back to updating W4O on Sudhendra's exploits. To tell the truth I have to do it soon - she's muttering Telvanni curses under her breath and sharpening those Nordic blades in a very meaningful way...

[Alexander]

Woohoo, :celebrate:

I can't wait override, I can't wait

[minque]

Oh Ihave the greatest understanding...as you may have noticed I haven´t updated mine for a long time now.....and I don´t know when I´ll do it either. I have a severe writer´s block and I see no light in the tunnel.....ah maybe there will be but then it would certainly be an oncoming train!!

[mplantinga]

I'm glad to hear that RL will let up a little; it will be good to have you back and hear more of Sudhendra's story.

[Tellie]

Well, I guess we have to wait a little more for an update on our favourite story, but I shall be as patient as always.

Just love your story, love it love it love it.....sry for that I wrote there, hope you mods and admins wont take it as a spam...he he.

Keep it up, we're dying to get more Sudhendra.

[OverrideB1]

There was no doubt in my mind as I returned to the Temple, the swirling ash scouring the armour clean of blood. I was Telvanni now and forever. I had tried to fit back into the Imperial lifestyle and found it shallow and vaguely alien. I had tried to fit into the Temple but had found its bigotry and closed minds deeply offensive. The Skaal were as close to an ideal I had found but ruling a Meadhall in the middle of those frozen wastes was not the life for me. In Great House Telvanni I had found an acceptance that I’d never had before, an appreciation for what I could accomplish, the power I could wield, all without the complication and duplicity of the Empire.

Almalexia must have felt the change within me, for she eyed me in a manner that ~ were she not a Goddess ~ would certainly be described as nervously. And the doubts about her divinity, and that of Seht, and Vehk were already circling around my mind. After all, if she was as powerful as she claimed, the Lady Ayem could have demonstrated her power without recourse to an ancient Dwemeri device, could have cured Salas Valor in the wink of an eye, could have ~ should have ~ known about the Fabricants’ attack on the Citadel and stopped them instantly, should have known about the Crimson Plague and cured it instantly.

“Salas Valor is dead,” I said haughtily, “and whatever threat to the peace of Mournhold he may have represented is ended.”

“YOU HAVE DONE WELL, WE ARE MOST PLEASED WITH YOU SUDHENDRA VAHL,” Almalexia said, and was that a hint of uncertainty in the chorus of voices, the merest trace of discord? “WE ARE MINDED TO REWARD YOU.”

I gasped as dull fire filled me from head to toe, an unearthly ringing sound filling my head as, dimly, I heard the Goddess say, “WE GRANT YOU OUR DIVINE BLESSING SUDHENDRA VAHL, NOW AND FOREVER MORE WE STRENGTHEN YOUR ARM SO THAT YOU MAY SERVE US AS WARRIOR-CONSORT.”

“WE BELIEVE YOU TO BE THE REINCARNATION OF OUR HUSBAND,” Almalexia said in matter-of-fact response to my astonished request for an explanation. “IT WOULD BE UNSEEMLY IF YOU WERE NOT OUR CONSORT AGAIN. AND, BY THE DEFEAT OF SALAS VALOR, YOU HAVE PROVEN TO US THAT YOU HAVE LOST NONE OF YOUR OLD SKILLS AT WAR.

“TOGETHER, HUSBAND THAT WAS, WE SHALL RULE MOURNHOLD, A MOURNHOLD FREE OF IMPERIAL OPPRESSION. FORGE ANEW YOUR ANCIENT BLADE NEREVAR,” she hissed, “LET TRUEFLAME AND HOPEFIRE ONCE MORE BRING RUINATION TO THOSE WHO WOULD OPPOSE US. ONCE THOUGHT LOST AT RED MOUNTAIN WHEN LAST YOU WIELDED IT, WE NOW KNOW THAT THE PARTS OF THIS BLADE ARE HERE IN THE CITADEL. FATE HAS BROUGHT THEM HERE FOR YOU, MY WARRIOR, BELOVED. SEEK THEM OUT, RENEW THE BLADE AND TOGETHER, TOGETHER WE SHALL RULE.”

I was in a confused state of mind as I left the High Chapel: Almalexia had named me Reborn, the reincarnation of the ancient Dunmeri Warlord and her husband, Nerevar. While I could subscribe to the concept that the Empire had sent me here to masquerade as the Promised One for their own ends: that the Blades had set me up to play the part of the Nerevar; even that Nibani Maesa was mistaken as to my part in the Lost Prophesy; there was no reason for Ayem to play their games. No reason at all. Since the moment that Cosades had first broached the subject, I had harboured the belief that there had been some monumental error, that I had been mistaken for the real Incarnate ~ whether by malicious design on the part of the Empire, or by sheer desire for a saviour on the part of the Dissident priests and the Ashlanders. This belief had been shattered by Almalexia’s words.

Even the insanity that I thought I sometimes glimpsed behind Ayem’s divine facade couldn’t explain her words to me. I couldn’t see what she stood to gain from her declaration ~ thankfully a private one ~ that I was the Nerevarine. I needed time; time to process this whole idea. Meanwhile, Fedris Hler was talking to me at a great rate of knots ~ obviously having been instructed to assist me in any way he could by the Goddess.

“I have been instructed to give you this relic,” he said, his faced flushed, his manner excited. “It is an ancient piece that is said to have belonged to Nerevar himself. The Lady shows you great favour in allowing you to have such a wondrous artefact.

“The lady has also instructed me to tell you if I know of any other such pieces ~ which, I’m afraid I do not ~ and to tell you of Yagak gro-Gluk, an artisan at the Craftsman's Hall who is a master at forging blades.”

The ancient lacquered box contained a fragment of metal, obviously broken from the edge of a much longer blade. There was something about the glistening white metal fragment that rang a bell. Somewhere, and quite recently, I had seen something very similar.

“It certainly seems to be part of the same weapon,” Karrod said in his soft, whispery voice. “Please, let me see…” Reluctantly, I handed the fragment of blade over to the Redguard. He laid the fragment on a silken cushion and then drew the short-bladed weapon from its place on his hip. The blade on Karrod’s weapon had obviously been shaped and sharpened but there was no mistaking the fact that the jagged spikes on the back of his blade fitted perfectly into the jagged slots on the metallic fragment.

“My father gave me this blade,” he said, returning the fragment to me. “And his father to him, and his father before him for generations uncounted. It is said that the wielder of this blade cannot be beaten in combat save by the true owner of the blade.”

Dropping to his knee in front of me, the Redguard extended the short-bladed weapon and said, “It is obvious that you are the blade’s true mistress and that it belongs to you and no other. My family has had the honour of guarding this for you for millennia, now we have the honour of returning it.”

Thanking Karrod clumsily, I took the blade from him and, wrapping it in fabric from the silken cushion; I placed it reverentially into the wooden chest with the other part of the blade. “My pardon,” Karrod said as I turned to leave, “but I cannot help noticing that the blade is still incomplete. May I make the suggestion that you speak to Torasa Aram of the Citadel Museum? She has oft expressed an interest in the blade, claiming it to be a Dwemer weapon and claiming to have a shield of contemporary origin.”

“I do have an antique shield,” Torasa Aram said when I asked her about Dwemeri weapons and armour. “It is said to have been used at the Battle of Red Mountain although…” she gave a self-deprecating laugh “…obviously we haven’t been able to verify that. Here, let me show you.” Torasa disappeared into the bowels of the museum, returning after a couple of minutes with a heavy sack. Opening it, she drew out a Dwemeri shield. In the centre of the shield was a jagged silver metal lightning-shape.

“May I take this shield to be examined?” I asked.

“Absolutely not!” she exclaimed, “although… Since the shield has no provenance, it remains nothing more than an interesting item. Now, if we were to have something to replace it, a donation to the museum, I could let you have the piece.”

There was little problem complying with her request. I made a few queries of her and found a couple of items that I thought she’d like: the Dagger of Symmachus was something I was eager to be free of and Phynaster’s Ring was something I’d never used and so probably wouldn’t miss. Torasa was delighted with the donations and freely gave me the shield. My next stop was the Craftsman’s Hall.

“Yes,” the Orc gro-Gluk rumbled, “I can see how that piece and that piece go together. But,” he added, “the blade is still incomplete.”

“I’d like you to take a look at this,” I said, handing over the shield.

“Hmmm,” gro-Gluk mused. “Nicely made piece, but this bit in the middle here, that don’t belong there. Look, it’s loose. I bet with a good yank it’d… ‘Ere, you know what? That decorative piece don’t half look like the missing bit of that there sword of yours.”

“You know,” I said, “I thought that that might be the case.”

Ripping the fragment of blade free, gro-Gluk compared it with the other two fragments, nodding as he did so. “Yeah, yeah,” he said, baring his canines in the Orcish equivalent of a broad grin. “’S gonna be a challenge,” he said, “matchin’ up those metals. Forging the blade anew is probably a much better idea ~ if I can get the mix right. Give me a couple of days squishy, and I’ll fix it for you, fix it real good.”

Ignoring the Orcish insult, I returned to Velas manor through the dust-choked streets of the Citadel. I didn’t want to remain in Mournhold for the next couple of days ~ the atmosphere was positively funereal. So, you can imagine my delight at the strange letter that Fast Eddie had had delivered to the Manse.

[OverrideB1]

As you may have guessed, Sudhendra Vahl is back -- alive, well and as bloody-minded as ever.

I'd like to thank you all for your patience -- real life has dogged me and kept me extremely busy for many months but (at long last) I have time to put quill to parchment and continue the story of my favourite Dark Elf. There are some holes I need to fill up (fight scenes and some descriptive work mostly) but I have been turning out fresh pages for the past 2 weeks so you can expect fairly frequent updates again.

And to everyone who voted for my story (so many, many moons ago) I'd like to thank each and every one of you

[minque]

Oh what joy to have you back, writing this remarkable story.....Now I will re-read the last chapters to get updated again.....yummy!

And for the contest.....really...Sudhendra was and still is..the most outstanding story of them all!

[Fuzzy Knight]

Great to have you back Override! I'm going to do what Minkey does, re-read the last chapter

[Tellie]

Ah, finally, our dear Sudhendra is back...being a woman before my time, I got a hunch for a couple of weeks ago...so I started to re-read the entire story, and I read your last update, before this one, for five hours ago...and the suddenly there was another one here, I can hardly describe the joy I felt when my favurite story was updated...thanks alot Override...

[mplantinga]

Welcome back, OverrideB1. I have missed your story immensely.

I enjoyed Sudhendra's introspection after being called Nerevar-reborn by Lady Ayem. I will be curious to see how she internalizes this information now that she has been forced to reconsider it as reality.

[Wolfie]

Override and Sudhendra are back!! YAY!!!!!!

[treydog]

What a joy to see this story continued. Like Minque, I never doubted that this is the best of the stories we have been priviliged to read. Sudhendra and Almalexia.... sparks are going to fly there.

Her realization that she is Telvanni was wonderfully portrayed- the idea that there is a place where one "fits" has a strong resonance.