Open Fading Hope

[Colonelscout312]

(Ok, I'll delete it.)

 

[Colonelscout312]

Nomad awoke near Winterhold. He shivered in the cold air. He was covered by nothing but the hair on his body. He decided to walk toward Winterhold. His mind raced, trying to remember how he got here. Oh, that's right, Whiterun. He tried to recall what had happened when he was a werewolf. He remembered bits and pieces, running off, hunting animals, running into a group of hunters, he grabbed is right forearm. Oh right, his arm was gut by a dremora. He had probably lost quite a bit of blood, he would bandage that up when he got to Winterhold. He would also need to return to Whiterun and collect his gear. He soon reached the city, if it could be called that, and found some armor at a blacksmiths. He rarely travelled to Winterhold so he did not know his was around. He knew he needed some rags or something to tie on his arm. For some odd reason the blacksmith had no leather strips. He looked for something to use as a bandage, feeling fainter and fainter as he looked. Suddenly, it looked and felt like the entire world was tipping on its side. Nomad fell over, and soon fainted.

 

[Dabiene Caristiana]

After interrogating the lone man Severus and Jeroo found out Molag and his 'daedra pals' as the vampire Nord called them, were advancing toward Dawnstar and Winterhold. But at a very slow pace due to the extreme cold. Hopefully Jeroo and Severus could beat their competitor's sluggish pace through the ice and snow and alert Winterhold.

Before they set off they fueled up on some bottled blood potion, left a note on the guard's barracks door without being spotted (much to the confusion of the locals), warning them about the incoming attack. The man they found assured them it was true. The guards continued to question him as to why there was a note and said he had a few friends that saved him from the daedra that hunted him. Severus threatened him saying that if he told the guards they were vampires he would be gutted by the guards due to safety concerns.

The man complied and they were in the all clear. Now they were a few miles off from Winterhold, by the old excavation site of Saarthal. A storm was coming in fast, both of the vampires trying in vain to get the site door open and after a careful debate, decided it was best to push on and stick very close while holding on to a piece of rope.

Meanwhile at the College it was a few hours after noon, breakfast was done as was lunch and Mirabelle was wrapping up the plans for the ball that would happen the next night. Soldin had just started doing his rounds on checking security and safety measures while Dabiene laid out the ground work on the 'What ifs'. The Breton also was finding out ways on how to contact Herma Mora for answers, without Soldin or any of the College members finding out. Especially the two girls.

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Snow crunched under his foot as he struggled to move forward, his friend at his side as they both plowed through the storm. Snow drifts threatened to put them down but they continued on, determined to get to the city of the fabled College.

Severus gasped for breath as he was buffeted by another gust. Despite having drank a while ago he was exhausted, as was his friend. His ebony cropped hair was frozen, his lashes dusted with ice. His friend faired no better.

The Nord vampire looked over at his Argonian vampire clan-mate, Jeroo-Shei. He hadn't talked much after they left Dawnstar and the Nord was getting worried. Then again why waste much needed energy on talking when you could be fighting for your life?

"We're getting close.. I can feel it! Just a little further!" The Nord grounded out.

Another gust blew at them and they both crouched on the ground, regaining some footing. In the distance both vampires heard numerous "rawrs" close by and they looked at each other in concern.

"Trolls... Frost trolls..." Getting up quickly they both fought harder against the conditions set on them, trying to get away from the danger that they couldn't see.

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"Are you sure about this Mirabelle? This "Ball of Renewal"? Maybe this isn't the time..."

"Of course it's the time. A ball with the theme of New Hope and a New World will bring back some spark!"

"And how are we going to put this together in less than 24 hours? We need to map out guard shifts, drink and food duties, clean-up groups, etcetera! How on earth-"

"You can summon a few Atronachs can't you?" The Arch-Mage lifted a brow at her friend, Dabiene, who was arguing with her.

"I don't know if you have noticed, my dear friend, but in case if you haven't there seems to be an issue in which there are Daedra after us? In which they are trying to take over Nirn? So tell me where in that little smart head of yours did you think it was a good idea to summon Atronachs and Daedra?"

"I know you rival Phinis in Conjuration as well as rival Faralda in Destruction. You'll think up of something." The woman smiled at her friend, knowing that Dabiene had an arsenal of Atronachs and Dremora who were bound to her service.

Knowing she was beat the werewolf conceited. "Very well. How should the ball be decorated? I'm hoping not a frost theme. I remember Onmund and J'zargo trying to see who could stick their tongue on the iced gate the longest without freezing it off." Both women chuckled at the memory.

"So, how are the College's two top ladies doing?" Soldin waltzed in with a grin on his face, holding a checklist with all the evaluations updated.

"I'm guessing the safety examination of the College went well?" Dabiene asked.

"Yup, bit surprised but you're no liar Arch-Mage. This place is in pretty good shape."

"I told you so. Now, what do you think of the ball? The theme is "Renewal" or "Rebirth"." The short woman looked at the Nord expectantly.

Soldin scratched the back of his head in thought. Looking around the Arch-Mage's quarters for ideas he saw the floating lights above the garden, then at the plants.

"Uh, Life! Um. Yes! What about Restoration too?" The ladies looked at him in confusion, so he explained the best he could. Which wasn't saying much.

Striding over to the indoor garden he gestured to the lights and the plants. "It's like these plants see? Y'know, the Daedra want us dead, and many of us have died protecting our lives, our planet. And what better way to spread hope than to bring and celebrate life? Restoration helps protect life, these balls of life which are..."

"..Of the Alteration school..." Dabiene put her gold piece in to help, "Right, and Alteration and Restoration are schools that manipulate life right? Well, what if they are portrayed in a good way? To show that even though Daedra are bad, maybe they can't co-exist with life, like with Dabiene having mastered Conjuration and Restoration."

The whole thing was confusing to the two women but Dabiene soon figured out what he was saying. "What you're saying, is that even though death is looming upon us, it doesn't mean we should forget about new life, and forget that there are those who are different who want to share life with us on Nirn too? Is that right?"

"Yes! Exactly! I think... Well, anyway I'm going to check the town. I'll be back in a few hours!" He dashed out the door before the women could say anything.

"Well, he definitely has some state of mind on things." Mirabelle put in.

"You could say that..." the werewolf trailed off as she saw the Staff Of Magnus flare up. Mirabelle looked at the staff, then at her friend. "A Daedra is here."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." The Arch-Mage grasped the staff. "Or more specifically, a vampire."

(OOC: Part II coming up!)

 

[DurableDiction]

Athramz's helmet did little to guard his eyes from the ash storm. His lungs filled with soot and his throat soon became sore. After all his planning and preperation, he had let slip the simplest necessity: a guard for the ash.
He Dwemer continued in what he assumed was West, hoping to stumble upon something that could give him an inclination of where he was exactly. So far, he had found nothing but ash.
Visibility was poor, but in the distance, Athramz could make out a silouette. At first it appeared to be a small tree, but on closer expection, Athramz could make out arms and legs.
As the person drew closer, more details revealed themselves: Dark black and green armor, a Nordic style beard, hate filled eyes. Athramz's knees became wobbly once more as he placed a name on the hateful legend before him. Jurgen Windcaller sucked in deep and bellowed "LOK VAH KOOR!"
Athramz stumbled at the force of the words. The ash storm died almost instantly and the sky became clear. He could see Windcaller in all his terror now. The Nord towered at six feet, imposing and mighty. He stood defiantly at the sight of Athramz, his piercing blue eyes practically radiated disdain and malice at the puny elf that dtand shaking before him. The Nord unbelted his great sword an pointed it at Athramz. "Rahgol. Nahkriin. Dinok."
The warrior rushed forward, bloodlust filling his eyes."

 

[T. Rakinson]

The first impression of the ruins were blank; nothing seemed different from when people had been holding out in the ruins. Crates of salted food rested in piles around the small chamber, Weapons from training practice littered the floor, as if their carriers had been in a rush, or even as if they had just dissapeared. As the five figures descended into the crypt, a shadow flashed across the back of the room. It dissapeared before anybody had a chance to register its shape, but as their descent into the room continued everyone gripped their weapons tightly.

Shork's senses were not bad considering his age; where the others saw omnious shadows and dust-coated walls, Shork saw potential hiding spots & wet trails creating slanted lines across the ground, as if something had been... slithering across the ground. The staircase led down quite deep, and at the bottom a hole had been dug into the hard rock that formed the cave floor. It went on for a long time; none of them could even see the bottom. Noticably, several streaks of blood littered the holes, all of them leading straight into the hole, as if someone had been pulled inside against their will.

'So... all in favour of going down there?' said one of the Redoran guards nervously.
Shork was concerned about what was inside, but as nobody spoke up or raised a hand he couldent help but blame them. If whatever was in there had seemingly wiped out over a hundred battle-hardened men & women, then what chance did the five of them have?
'We have no choice'. Shork turned to look at his four companions, none of which were looking up at each other. They wanted to help, but only Shork seemed to have the courage.

Nikulas was slow to respond, and when he replied everyone finally looked up.
'He is right. Frea sent us here on purpose. I for one thi-'
He never had time to finish the sentence, for the tentacle that had been lurking in the hole had just lodged itself through the Skaal's ribcage, shattering the mans ribcage and crushing his lung almost simultaneously. Without hesitation, one of the guards drew his blade and brought it down on the flailing appendage, severing it in half.
As if on cue, sveral more tentacles flung themselves out of the pit, each grabbing one of the group members. Shork tried to grab at one of his maces, but his tentacle had wrapped him by his ribs, preventing him from moving his arms at all. One of the guards had managed to reach an elven dagger, but as he gave a last ditch effort to escape the tentacle squeezed him tighter, canceling out the Dunmer's breathing and making him limp.
As the three remaining men struggled the break free, the tentacles began to start collapsing back into the hole pulling their prey with them.

 

[Simus]

After everyone was ready Simus moved over to the lever that would open the Sigillum Sanguinis and the Sigil Stone. Eliphas was surely waiting for them and it would take all their strength to bring him down.

"Remember, once we enter this room there's no turning back. We will destroy Eliphas and steal the Sigil Stone or die trying. Here we go."

He pulled the lever with both arms and the doors slid open. They made a slick, wet sound. like blood on rock. It was as if that was what was used to lubricate the door mechanisms but Simus did not want that confirmed. They entered into a short curved hallway that led to a gentile ramp on either side leading to elevated exits. Through the exits Simus could see what looked like a crimson rotunda. Most likely the ceiling for the main room. He could also see a bit of another ramp against the walls just like the ones that flanked them. They probably lead to the platform the stone and Eliphas were at. Walking up the rams and hallway would be effortless but there wouldn't be any cover in the main room and anything in there was well hidden from his viewpoint. As Simus turned back to the group however he saw something even more urgent. Against the wall, unconscious and right in front of them all, was Marek! He was out cold and looked like he'd been moved there forcibly. Probably as bait for them. It didn't really matter. He needed help and they would need him in the coming fight. Simus grabbed a bottle of healing solution from Marius' bag and uncorked it. He moved it around under Marek's nose, then tilted his head back and poured some of it down his throat.

"Marek? Marek it's Simus. Can you hear me?"

 

[Simus]

It was afternoon over Winterhold and the sunny day had held. Cilla had helped Dabiene make breakfast while Soldin drooled over it, then they had brought it to Alice. The food helped chase her vision away and after she was done Cilla took her tray of dishes and Dabiene tucked her in for a nap and hugged her goodnight. She was feeling much better after an hour's sleep and by lunch she was her old self again. Dabiene and Mirabelle had to plan the boring administrative parts of the ball before the fun stuff so Alice and Cilla were sent outside to enjoy themselves after finally getting dressed. Soldin had security rounds to do but Dabiene promised them that once he was done he could play later.

The girls were up on a hill to the left of the bridge that led into the College from the town of Winterhold. They were hunkered down in a small snowfort Feralda and Brylina had helped them build. The four of them had had a furious snowball fight against Onmund, J'Zargo and Edwin, a sticky-fingered Breton apprentice here at the college who encouraged J'Zargo's prankish side. That was half an hour ago and most had gone back inside to get warm but Alice and Cilla were still outside, vigilant for any other targets of opportunity in the ongoing snowball fight of boys vs. girls. J'Zargo and Onmund were in a fort on an opposite side of the path to the College. As of now it was a stalemate.

"Hey J'zargo! Why don't you come out and go back up to the College! You must be getting cold!"

"Nonsense Alice!" J'Zargo yelled back. "Khajiit has both fur and clothing to keep him warm! You would be colder than I, why don't you go up!"

In truth both sides were cold. The sun would begin to set in a few hours and the day would only get colder. Alice and Cilla were bundled up in their college robes with their fur lined hoods up and tight around their heads as was standard for the female variants. They also had warm fur gloves and soft knee-high fur lined boots. Snow never got down into their boots, Dabiene saw to that, so the pants they were over stayed dry as well as their feet and their hoods never came undone so their backs stayed dry. Same with their gloves. Plus they each had one a warm two piece set of long tundra cotton/wool underwear under their robes. These went a big way towards keeping them warm while outside and Dabiene always made sure they were properly dressed before letting them go out, especially Cilla. Even with this protection their clothes were wet on the outside and their cheeks were rosy red. They would have to change and warm up before dinner.

Despite the cold, neither side would go inside first because the first that did would get pelted by the other. They weren't allowed to hit the face but J'zargo tended to forget that.

"You're just scared because you know we'll blast you as soon as you come down!" Cilla taunted, sticking her tongue out at the Khajiit.

"Why would we be scared of you!" Onmund shouted. "It's not fair teams!"

"Yeah it is! It's two on two!"

"No Cilla, it's one and a half on two!"

"Hey! I do so count as a whole teammate you brickhead!"

"It's okay Onmund! Even though Dabiene took half your manhood after you asked her out we still love you!"

"What!? Onmund likes Dabiene! Ewww!"

"Why you little...!" Onmund yelled at Cilla, charging out of cover with J'zargo.

"Works every time." Cilla said mischievously to Alice.

"Do us the honors sis." Alice said, returning the smile and handing Cilla a big fluffy snowball. She threw it with force and precision and it hit Onmund square in the chest. J'Zargo attempted to return fire but Alice was too quick. The ball hit him one of his large left ears and he furiously scratched it out. A dirty trick but an effective one. Cilla took two more balls and chucked them at Onmund but he summoned a ward spell just in time.

"Hey! No wards!"

"No ear shots!" J'Zargo yelled.

"But they're just so big I HAD to hit them!" Alice said as she deftly hit both the boys with two more balls. Then J'Zargo had an idea. He could make a frost spell that summoned snowballs instead of ice shards. Use it like a frostbite concentration spell and he'd have an unlimited supply of snowballs to pelt these children with and establish the boys as victors once and for all! He started to channel a basic frostbite spell and started working the tiny shards of ice into snowballs but before he could complete it he saw two figures approaching the bridge. They had a smell that only vampires could have and they were...they were already on the bridge leading to the College! J'Zargo's blood ran cold as he remembered he was supposed to be on watch last night but he had gotten drunk and fallen asleep before he activated the College's atronach defense network for the night, or the enchantments that locked the gate! Normally registered students at the College could pass through the gates as if they weren't there but they were always closed and locked with enchantments. No one knew they weren't locked because it was his job! Those vampires could just walk in!

Just like Dabiene's friend Soldin walked in last night! If Mirabelle finds out that I never activated the system she will know I lied to her when I told her I let the werewolf in after talking with him! She'll turn me into a rug for this! I've got to stop them!

"Hold it right there cat! You haven't received your snowball quota for passing this bridge!" Cilla declared after she got in J'Zargo's way.

"This game is over Cilla, I need to get up to the College..."

"Not until I'm through with you..."

"Move Cilla! It's an emergency! I have to get up there now!"

"Just hold still and I'll..."

"BY THE TWO MOONS MOVE YOU FAT LITTLE BRAT! MOVE!" As he finished he blasted Cilla right in the face with a frostbite spell. The force of it knocked her down and she screamed in surprise and pain as a cone of tiny ice shards hit her full force. Her face was pink from the blast of cold and several cuts appeared on her cheeks, nose and forehead, along with several microshards getting into her eyes and she desperately rubbing them to try and get them out. She cried in pain and tears rolled down her face and onto the front of her robes. Alice was shocked but she immediately rushed over to her sister and knelt down beside her. She hugged Cilla tightly and she hid her hooded head into Alice's chest. Alice kept her head covered and stroked it gently while hugging her little sister and doing her best to wipe the frost and blood off of her face. Cilla's eyes were shut tightly as her tears tried in vain to flush out the ice and her nose was bleeding. Alice gave J'Zargo a deathly stare, the stare she gave men and daedra before she killed them.

"Cilla! Cilla I'm so sorry!" J'Zargo yelled in panic. "I didn't mean to..."

"Go get Dabs and Mirabelle." Alice said cold as steel.

"Alice, please, you know I didn't..."

"Go in the next three seconds or I will rip of your tail, throw it into the Sea of Ghosts and send you after it. Get! Them! Now!"

The two boys flew up the bridge towards the College. Alice was as bubbly and cute as a basket of kittens but her temper was terrible to behold. It wasn't as fiery as Dabiene's, it was cold steel and just as dangerous. She could and did kill for her little sister and J'Zargo knew this firsthand. Alice then turned back to Cilla and comforted her as best she could, holding her close to keep her warm.

"It's okay Cilla. It's okay. Dabs is on the way. She's gonna fix you right up. She'll be here soon. It's okay Cilla, I'm right here and I'm not gonna let go..."

 

[fellowknight]

As Simus ran to Marek's side, healing potion in hand, Baroth looked around the room. Daedra and Death knights alike littered the floors, their dismemberment varying. Poorly crafted balconies and stairs decorated the room, along with their spiky rail cousins protecting the upper floors. But the most distinctive feature of the room was the large beam of dark orange energy spiraling upwards from a red stone well. At the near top of the room, stood a balcony, clawed stairs leading up to it on either side. This was where the Sigil Stone was, and undoubtly. Eliphas. But, before the group could make a move for the stairs, Eliphas appeared from behind a pillar on the Sigil Stone balcony. His face was burnt to a near crisp and multiple gashes in his armor revealed his recent battle with Marius.

"Ah, Baroth. Took you long enough. And you..." His gaze bored into Marius. ".....slayer! I will deal with you soon enough. I admit, you caught me off guard, but never again." He looked over his shoulder, like as if looking at something behind him, and said. "Kill them. Leave the slayer alive for me."

Suddenly, Death Knights, Daedroth, Scamps, Clannfear, Archers, Swordsmen and Xivilai appeared on the upper floors, the balconies, the Sigil Stone balcony, and the space around them. Baroth had only time to unsheathe his sword and raise his shield, backing towards the walls where Simus was healing Marek.

"Defensive positions! Hurry! Simus! Get Marek on his feet and ready to fight! We work our way to Eliphas! Everyone, remember the plan and stick to it! It is our only chance of survival! FIGHT!!!" Baroth said, charging towards a Xivilai, sword flailing.

 

[DurableDiction]

The blade missed Athramz by mere millimeters, and only because the ash had given way when the Dwemer stepped back, flooring him.
Windcaller did not let up. He swung the black blade down in a viscious arc. Athramz rolled left to avoid it. He leapt to his feet and in belted his hammer.
Black and gold metal clashed as the great weapons collided, showering the ash with sparks.
Athramz swept his armored foot into the Nord's shin, causing him to tilt. Athramz reacted quickly, attempting to slam his hammer down as Jurgen fell. Jurgen was faster, however. He tucked his arms in and used gravity to roll out of harm's way. His sword dropped to Athramz's feet.
Jurgen rose, arms raised defensively. Even unarmed, the legend was terrifying, as if his hands were more formidable than his greatsword. Athramz kicked the sword clear. Jurgen smiled, clearly amused. He thrust his hand out and clenched his fist. A glowing ethereal sword shimmered into existence.
'A bound sword?' Thought Athramz. 'Magic?'
His thoughts were interrupted as Jurgen sucked in a deep breath. Athramz instinctively shifted his weight to the left. The burly Nord shot pst him with the cry of "WULD!" Athramz barely dodged. The violet blade sliced through his thick armor like butter, barely missing his skin.
Jurgen turned in time to dodge a hefty swing by Athramz, but was caught off guard as the elf pivoted and swept his foot under him. Windcaller crashed to the ground, but immediately rolled back out of harm's way. Athramz didn't lay up as he relentlessly swung his deadly hammer at any moment the Nord was open. He rolled to his feet and sucked in deep. Athramz dropped his hammer at once and held his hands up, mumbling in ancient Dwemeris.
"FUS RO DAH!"
Athramz thrust his hands forward.
The shockwave and the Thu'um collided, sweeping both warriors off their feet and tumbling through the ash.

 

[Gregor Moon Fang]

As Dian’Mie and Qiana watched the others charge further into the room they walked out to prepare for their mission: to prevent any daedra from intervening in the charge. Qiana nervously surveyed the area slightly tensing up from cries of daedra falling one by one. She then noticed the gallons upon gallons of blood splattered on the ramps and along the walls.

"How many people have fallen in these halls to these…things? A rather loud noise startled her more than normal as she conjured a bow and aimed it at the source."

“Hey hey calm down and put that away.” Qiana realized it was Dian’Mie and released the bow into the air.

“Anyway what did you find out Dian’Mie?”

“Well with that wall that you guys broke down no one can get through from that ramp. But this side…” Dian’Mie pointed to the right of him. To the other ramp. “It seems that the smart ones of the group have rallied the second group and are heading this way. Oh boy this will be quite fun.”

“The more I know you it seems you get slightly more insane.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment Qiana. Qiana slapped her palm on her forehead in disbelief. “However..” Dian’Mie slowly pulled out his customized ebony cutlasses and closely observed them. “I may need to use Azura’s “gift” with this siege and I don’t know if I’m walking away from this. But I will promise this. None of those bastards are getting past this point. That is what I’ll guarantee. Baroth is counting on us. Qiana nodded at his statement.

“When you’re fighting don’t worry about any that creep by. If they get by you they definitely won’t get by me. That I swe-” A great rumbling behind the two interrupted what Qiana was going to say. The two got in position; Dian’Mie readying his swords, Qiana conjuring a bow a few yards behind him. With a few lous raps on the door, It bursts open, dremora, clannfears, scamps and Xivial (sp?) all flooding in the room. From a quick head count there were about 70 in the group. Could be more, could be less. The dremora in the front pointed it’s sword at Dian’Mie and shouted something in the daedric tongue. It must have ordered to attack as all of the daedra went on the offensive. Help us Tall Papa.

 

[Andre Marek]

The first sense Marek received was pain. He felt like someone had stabbed him several times in the back and his whole left side felt as though he'd suffered from third degree burns. His head didn't feel too wise either. The next sense he was aware of was sound. Someone was saying his name, but it sounded distant and muffled,. All he was able to catch was, "Marek? ...ek it's Simus....ear me?" He tried to listen but his hearing faded again. Then he felt someone lift him slightly, then a bitter liquid was poored down his throat making him gag, and cough. Immediately afterwards though, he felt his head clear and some of the pain lessened. He slowly managed to open his eyes and was able to make out the indistinct shape of Simus leaning over him with a small empty bottle in his hand. As his vision cleared, he was able to make out the shapes of a few others close at hand.

Blearily he looked around. He was startled to see that dozens more daedra had poured into the room and surrounded Simus and the others. And standing up on one of the balconies overlooking the circular room was none other than Eliphas himself. Must have been him that hit me. He thought with a groan. Glancing back at Simus, Marek blinked a few times before sitting up and spitting out a globule of blood onto the ground beside them. "Simus... Hell, I was starting to think you guys stopped for coffee." He stopped to cough again, then he looked at the group of advancing Daedra. He had to get to his feet and find a weapon. "Ahh... Give me a hand," He grabbed Simus' shoulder as the General pulled him to his feet, "You got a weapon I can borrow?" He winced as pain shot through his back again but it was short lived.

 

[Dabiene Caristiana]

(OOC: wow, a month since I posted. I'm a bad, bad person. Well, I can remedy that. Enjoy)

Severus and Jeroo could be seen bobbing up and down the snow drifts, trying to outrun the sluggish trolls. Severus flung a few spells at them to slow them down, even a paralysis spell at what appeared to be the biggest before fully focusing on running away to safety. Saarthal was way behind them, which meant Winterhold was an inch away.

Unfortunately Jeroo was barely hanging on. Sure he was a vampire but he was still an Argonian. The poor guy could barely get through, and no doubt hadn't fed since the attack. Severus was better off, his Nord blood however small portion it was, combined with his vampire blood that was gifted to him by Harkon no less helped fend off most of the chill. Although he was born to a vampire fledgling and a mortal, Harkon really unleashed the vampire prowess within him. But this... he was on the verge of collapsing.

But a miracle happened. Winterhold was in sight!

"Thank the gods..." he grounded out. "There it is!"

Half carrying his friend the trudged through and soon they made it into town. The trolls wandering off for their next potential meal. 'Hmph... Better luck next time.' The Nord mocked silently at them.

The last time he was in Winterhold there had only been a few buildings. But now... It was heavily fortified compared to a few years ago. There were actual people bustling about, well maybe five or six. Sadly there were no guards to deal with and while that may have been a good thing for the two of them that meant they were lacking security. Definitely a bad thing.

He saw a crumpled form a few feet away and shook his head. Just another victim. "Wait here." he set his friend down against what appeared to be the Jarls Longhouse and quickly walked over to the poor soul on the ground. Checking for a pulse he found one. "Lucky bastard..." Looking around he saw a woman cloaked in heavy garb walking from the inn. "Miss!" he called to her hoping his voice wasn't cast away by the wind. The mountain that flanked the town did protect them some from the storm on the other side, but it was still there.

The woman turned around and after a moment came running toward them. He immediately recognized the woman as the one who ran the pawn shop, "What happened?"

"I have no idea, but he's still alive and no doubt freezing to death. Why no one has noticed him is beyond me."

The woman narrowed her eyes, "We dare not venture far from shelter without reason, especially with these times. Only the mages from the college come down during guard shifts to keep us safe during the night."

Severus paused, "I see... My friend and I were hoping to gain entry, looking for help."

"Ha! Help? A man yesterday, a Nord warrior, came by to see a friend of his. He also was looking for 'help'. I doubt they could be of use to someone as yourself. For anyone really except protecting this town. But if you really want entry you are in for a real treat. If you thought entry was difficult before this Oblivion on Nirn crisis started, you're in for a REAL treat."

"Indeed."

The woman knelt down and gave the poor man a healing potion, as well as a anti frost potion. "Some food and rest will do him some good. I'll take it from here. Good luck up there, you and your 'friend' will need it."

"Yes... Thank you."

"... That is if they don't kill you first, leech." he heard her mutter to the wind, followed by a grim chuckle and the vampire scowled. Severus walked briskly back to his friend. Jeroo was almost unconscious. Swearing under his breath he draped his friends arm across his shoulders and together they marched toward the College.

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"Two? How can there be two? Wouldn't the guards--"

"The guards are having a day off from what I heard. The Jarl is relying heavily upon us it seems."

"A break? I never heard of such a thing. Why would they need breaks?"

"Really Dabiene? The same reason that we do, of course."

The women opened the door just in time to see J'zargo almost run into them both. "Arch-Mage! Madame Caristiana!" The Breton werewolf rolled her eyes, "I told you to quit calling me that, now what is it?"

"J'zargo may have erm... accidently hurt the girl Cilla..."

"Accidently?" Her eyes narrowed and her lips formed a frown of suspicion. She heard Soldin march up behind both of the women, ready to give the details.

"Well you weren't kidding Madam, everything seems to be in good order. But the town guards should be on duty."

Mirabelle smiled, "Even gods need a bit of a break don't you think Snowknight?"

"Naturally you would talk about gods when they have abandoned us..." Dabiene muttered scornfully. Her boss gave her a sharp look before turning to J'zargo as he said his next informing words.

"There are also two vampire males coming up to the College, one is ancient yet powerful, the other young but almost just as powerful, what do we do?"

Soldin stepped forward, "I'll deal with it..." The Nord growled deeply and walked off toward the bridge.

"Soldin!" Dabiene called out but to no avail. "Damn it! Where are Cilla and Alice!" The khajiit pointed in the direction of the two girls and she marched off as well.

As she approached she saw Cilla on Alice's lap trying to sooth her. Obviously it wasn't physical pain much at all, Alice knew some healing that she could do, she taught her a few spells after all. It obviously had to be emotional. "What happened?"

Before Alice or Cilla could answer she heard yelling and shouting, along with spells flying off the college walls. "Stay here or go inside," she turned to the girls urgently, "I'll be back shortly."

With that she trotted over to the mayhem of Soldin and the vampires.

-----------------------------------------------------

The sight that greeted her was astounding. Soldin never showed aggression, not on this scale anyway.

"Can someone kindly take this dog off my person? I can hardly believe people of such high esteem would resort to having a mutt as a guard dog." A deep, yet silky arrogant voice rung out. "Well?"

Soldin was holding one of the vampires by the throat while the other was barely holding on for dear life. The Argonian looked positively ill. "Soldin! Put him down! This instant!" Shouting at the half crazed Nord.

She looked close at the vampire he was holding. The man was handsome, in her opinion. High cheekbones, a small scrap of hair on his chin made him look distinguished. His hair however looked like it was crudely cut by an amateur at best, yet it made him look like the handsome scoundrel in those fairytale books. He bore a bored expression yet his lips formed a taunting smirk, most likely due to amusement.

"Soldin, I will not ask again!"

Mirabelle however took charge, "Soldin if you do not let go this instant I will have no choice but to remove you from College grounds." She talked in a monotone but it still held authority. The man hesitated but he did drop him, the human vampire rubbing his throat to relieve some pain.

"Good, now that your dog has been told off, I'll gladly state our business. But first, my friend needs help..." When no one made a move Dabiene heard a broken man almost break even more.

"Please.. Our coven... He's the only brother I have left..." The man's eyes showing deep remorse. Dabiene had never seen a man so broken.

 

[Simus]

Alice had healed Cilla's face as best she could but it wasn't an expert job. Her eyes were okay and she had stopped the nosebleed but it was still red and sore and there was dry skin all over it. It looked like Cilla had a bad skin condition and the cuts that were still there sung with pain in the cold wind. Dabiene was a sight for sore eyes but the girls weren't her immediate concern. The two vampires were near the gates and their motives were unknown so they had to be stopped.

Soldin grabbed one of them by the throat and his friend, a very familiar Argonian, was powerless to help. In fact he looked near death. Dabiene and Mirabelle were able to convince Soldin to drop the vampire and then he pleaded with them to save his covenmate. Alice felt it was an acceptable risk and there was no time to lose. She looked down at Cilla.

"Stay here." She said.

"Alice, isn't that...?"

"It sure is and we're going to help him. He needs blood but he could use some healing. Reach into my bag and get a healing potion. I'm going to put a bit of my blood in it. Open Jeroo's mouth and have him drink it. Are you ready?"

"Ready."

"Let's do it."

The girls had taken a small bag of snacks and potion with them to wait out the boys during their snowball fight and to take care of any emergencies. One healing potion was inside and Cilla handed it to Alice. Alice closed her eyes for a minute and a red mist formed between her fingers. A tiny ball of her own blood she had extracted through a bit of conjuration magic she had read in a book last week. She let the ball fall into the healing potion and then gave it to Cilla, who immediately shot off to deliver it to Jeroo. She uncorked it and shoved it into his mouth. Alice got in front of both of them to stop anyone from interfering.

"Listen everyone! We know who this Argonian vampire is! His name is Jeroo-Shei and he was part of the group that rescued Cilla from vampires two years ago. He's a friend and we can trust him. I've never met this Nord here but if he's a friend of Jeroo than he deserves at least to come inside and be heard. He's not a threat to us, even if he wanted to be."

 

[Dabiene Caristiana]

Severus looked up as he saw two females, one almost a young teenager and the other a young adult. He looked back at the werewolf Nord and scowled scornfully at him. The man called Soldin was it?... Yes, Soldin. Odd Nordic name indeed, but his wasn't even Nordic in Origin. It was Cyrodilic. Soldin returned a hateful gaze. His eyes could rival his own in intensity at a staring contest.

"Listen everyone! We know who this Argonian vampire is! His name is Jeroo-Shei and he was part of the group that rescued Cilla from vampires two years ago. He's a friend and we can trust him. I've never met this Nord here but if he's a friend of Jeroo than he deserves at least to come inside and be heard. He's not a threat to us, even if he wanted to be."

Jeroo knew these girls? He had told stories of his long life but didn't go much into detail. He never mentioned a little girl or a young adult in his travels...

Severus then spoke up, "Finally, someone with common sense... And here I thought that was a dying quality amongst the locals..." He then pointed his gaze at Soldin who got the message.

"Better to be cautious than a fool." The werewolf said through his teeth.

"Better a regular fool than an insolent closed minded twit," The vampire flashed a smirk. Soldin worked his jaw in frustration at the vampire's lack of respect.

"Enough!"

--------------------------------------------------------

Dabiene had enough of Soldin's behavior. "I swear you spent too much time with Isran boy!" Glaring daggers at him he finally allowed his shoulders to droop in defeat.

"Fine," He bit out, "But if he so much as lay a finger on any of those two young ladies--"

"Oh please, has it come that stereotype? We may be grotesque sometimes to look at but we aren't savages who take any women or children we find off the road and have their wicked way with them," the vampire looked over at the girls and scowled, "but especially not children..."

Dabiene pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a ragged sigh, "Dear Julianos give me guidance... May I ask who you are?" The dark haired man stopped rubbing his throat finally and stood up straight, half carrying his companion.

"Severus."

"..."

"..."

"Not very Nordic is it...?"

"Oh, how very astute of you dog, would you like a treat?" If it was at all possible his scowl deepened even more. "Now, my friend and I didn't come here to make pillow talk!" he snapped at all of them. "And as the girl stated my friend needs help and so do I! You want answers? Well so... do... we. Now... I will only ask this one more time, politely help us would you!"

Dabiene stood still for a moment before she and Mirabelle took action. "Dabiene, why don't you put Jeroo in one of the spare rooms next to Collete? I'm amazed we haven't used the makeshift medical area in a while. Severus.... Perhaps you can--"

Soldin cut in tersely and a deep rumble came out of his throat as he spoke, "I'll take him. I got my eye on him."

Chuckling, the vampire smirked and replied, "Oh dear boy, while I'm humbled you have your eye on me, I dare say I don't swing that way so to speak. Besides, you're not my type."

Dabiene let out a guffaw at Soldin as he dropped his jaw in shock, looking like a slaughterfish out of water. The woman liked this stranger already. Someone with the same dark sense of humor she liked. "Soldin calm down, I'll show Severus to his rooms after I get Jeroo taken care of." She looked over at Cilla as Mirabelle spoke next.

"Cilla, I'll see to your wounds while Dabiene shows our... Guests... to their rooms. Oh and J'zargo... You're not going anywhere." She said with smug satisfaction as he heard him swear while trying to make an escape for his actions. She almost forgot he was there. He had been so silent after all. But he was a Khajiit...

With that Dabiene led away the two vampires to Collete while Soldin grumbled back to his rooms. 'Damn vampires.'

 

[Simus]

"Simus... Hell, I was starting to think you guys stopped for coffee." Marek said as Simus helped him up. He stopped to cough again, then he looked at the group of advancing Daedra. He had to get to his feet and find a weapon. "Ahh... Give me a hand," He grabbed Simus' shoulder and he pulled him to his feet, "You got a weapon I can borrow?"

"Here you go." Simus said as he handed Marek one of his ebony swords, Ashes and Cinders. He gestured toward its twin, The Chill of Death. "If you can wield both, do so. If you're not trained don't try. It'll just make you forget right from left. I'm gonna give you a little something to get you going. It's gonna hurt but it'll keep you alive."

Somehow, Simus' small bag of emergency potions was still on him. He held Marek's arm and stuck him with a needle-ended bottle of his special "Wake-Up Juice." A concoction of health, stamina, and rage potions that numbed the user to the point where he didn't feel pain. It also made him stronger and much more aggressive but dulled his wits. Judgement became impaired and the mind quickly became enthralled with bloodlust. Simus only ever used it himself three times and he only ever gave it to another person as a last resort. Alice had never felt it thank Talos.

He stuck Marek and turned him towards a large daedroth that was about to charge Baroth. The knight was already in a fight and wouldn't be able to stop it.

"Kill that daedra." Simus said before pushing Marek out into the open and charging up two lightning bolts. The general gave both of them covering fire as the held the line. Dian'Mie had joind them and Qiana was giving archer support but things were bad. Marius was badly wounded and unconscious and Hale and Donath were missing.

"They're probably dead by now" Simus muttered as he continued to fire.

 

[Simus]

Now that the situation had calmed down the girls decided they should explain what happened. Dabiene had Jeroo over her shoulder in a fireman carry and Soldin was ready to "escort" Severus. He was taking every opportunity to be rough with the man but they knew he wouldn't cause any real harm. At least not while Dabiene and Mirabelle were around. Cilla stepped up to Mirabelle and presented he cut up, flaky face for healing while Alice went up to the wolves. J'Zargo was caught in Mirabelle's iron gaze with his ears flattened. He was in big trouble and he knew it.

"Dabs..." Alice started "Cilla and I were in the middle of a snowball fight with Onmund and J'Zargo when he spotted the two vampires coming. Apparently he forgot to lock the gates last night, that's how Soldin was able to walk right into the courtyard. The vampires would be able to walk in as well and he tried to intercept them when Cilla got in the way, still wrapped up in the fight. He warned her to move, she acted like the 10 year old girl that she is and out of frustration J'Zargo blasted her face with the full force of a frostbite spell. Then he ran out to get you."

J'Zargo was slack-jawed as Mirabelle bored holes into him but said nothing. He was eating himself alive under her searing gaze.

"I was able to save both her eyes and stop her nosebleed. That's where the blood on her collar came from. I couldn't do much more than that, healing spells drain my magika like a sieve. The whole thing...well...it really scared her and it was more pain than she's ever felt but I held her and convinced her that she was going to be okay and that calmed her down. If you or the Arch-Mage heal her she'll be good as new."

"J'zargo lost his temper with Cilla for a moment but his actions were in defense of the College. What happened was an accident, nothing more. Please take that into account Arch-Mage."

"Be that as it may Alice he left the gate unlocked. He compromised our defenses and let that...Dawnguard...onto College grounds. He put everyone in danger. What if that had been a squad of vampires? Or a mob of zombies or angry geists? What would have happened then?"

"Then we would have been woken up and fought them off!" Cilla protested. "J'Zargo made a mistake Miss Mirabelle but everybody makes mistakes! He won't do it again because I'm gonna personally remind him. You all know how pestering I can be, it's gonna work one way or another. And Alice is right about J'Zargo attacking me. He didn't mean to do it, it was an accident! Like when you fall on the floor because somebody's foot's too close! It hurt a lot and still does but I was in his way and I should have blocked with a ward. I should be better at magic. It was my fault." She ended with a sad look.

Mirabelle gave Cilla an odd look. She was surprised at the girl defending her attacker and she couldn't really argue with the pestering bit. Getting hit wasn't her fault though and she clearly felt guilty about it but Mirabelle wasn't sure what to say.

"Please Miss Mirabelle, Dabs, Soldin. I know J'Zargo's in trouble but everybody's okay! He wasn't trying to hurt anybody, he just got a little lazy, and haven't we all gotten a little lazy?"

Cilla looked everyone in the eye, desperate for them to see her point of view and to defend J'Zargo.

 

[fellowknight]

Not even two minutes after the weapons of the two warriors clashed, Baroth had nearly defeated the foul vision of a creature. With his legs wrapped around the beast' waist and his chest against it's back, Baroth buried his sword deep into the creature's left shoulder which earned him a loud shriek of pain. After the shriek wailed throughout the large room, Baroth proceeded to stab into the back of the Xivilai several times before it reared into the stone wall, hard. Forced to let go of the Xivilai, Baroth fell on his arse and narrowly dodged the colossal foot that would have creamed his brains. Rolling to his sword and dented shield, Baroth regained his footing and faced the wounded monster fully, shield level with his shoulders. He gripped his sword more cautiously as the beast slowly walked towards the armored knight before breaking into a charge. Baroth was lifted into the air as the beast' horns crashed into his rib cage, sticking him and lifting him off his feet.

Baroth took in what little air he could after his lungs had been emptied and rammed his knee into the creature' face, using the back of it's head for support to hold himself up. At the same time, the Xivilai smashed both fists into Baroth's rather exposed sides, breaking a rib or leaving a nasty with every other punch. After a few second of the heated tangle, Baroth raised up his right boot and reached for the dagger within. Grabbing the light handle of the weapon, Baroth wasted no time as he jabbed the dagger into the back of the Xivilai' neck causing it to yank it's head up throwing Baroth off it's horns and into the air a few feet before crashing to the ground. Dazed and dizzy, Baroth watched as the monster irritatingly pulled the knife from it's neck and turned to face the knight. But by the time it had fully faced him, Baroth had already scrambled to his sword and jammed it into the beast' stomach.

Screaming out in pain, the beast simply leaned down to Baroth face and yelled out in both rage and pain. Baroth took his chance and slapped both hands on the monster's face, jamming his thumbs into it's eyes. After a few seconds the beast' eyes exploded, spraying black blood and material on Baroth's hands and arms. In both escalated pain and adrenaline the beast swung blindly and hit the knight in his left side, breaking several rib with the one punch and carrying him into the stone wall. While the beast swung blindly at nothing and shrieked in terror and anger, Baroth gripped his side and groaned loudly in pain before scooting to his immediate right, dodging the blade of a scout. Running into the small creature and holding the blade with his left hand, Baroth shoulder bashed the mongrel to the ground, flipping the blade around and stabbing the scout in it's chest, killing it within seconds.

Not even moments later, two other scouts ran up and stopped, eyeing the body of their fallen comrade. Baroth ripped the sword from it's chest, pointing it offensively and crouching in a battle-ready pose. "Come on, scum!" He taunted, as the scout's only response was a snarl, one charged forward, blade striking downwards. Baroth leaned out of the striking range, blade extended horizontally over his back as it parried the stroke. Turning on his heel, he caught the scout off guard as he sliced into it's side then stopping in a kneel, he sliced the scout's chest upwards, finishing him off. Baroth turned to the last scout. Ususally, the scout would have got him while he finished the other, but the various thunderbolts and lightning spells through out did any thing but help him focus. One in particular made him flinch slightly, which gave Baroth a chance. He ran up and kicked the scout as hard as he could in the crotch, making him double over in absolute pain. Baroth raised his sword to block the scout's as he doubled over, then he took his own blade, placed one hand at the top of the hilt and top of the blade, and swung it horizontally, cutting the scout's throat.

As the scout fell, Baroth turned back to the screaming Xivilai who had now found his location. Charging up, the Xivilai jumped and smashed into the concrete where Baroth once stood. Had he been a second later, Baroth would be a human pancake. Rolling behind the blinded beast, Baroth stood into a kneel and sliced into the upper thigh then stood and pushed the blade deep into it's back, causing it to fall to it's knees. Twirling the blade for a second, Baroth leveled it with the back of the beast's neck and shoved it forward. Stepping away from the bloody mess, Baroth looked up and saw a Daedroth charging him with both clawed hands raised. Baroth was unready and if Marek hadn't intervened, he would probably be dead. Probably. Marek ran in with a flying knee to the twisted demon's cheek, causing it to stumble greatly to the side and snarl deeply at the arrogant mortal before it. Immediately, the two were engaged in battle, one swinging blindly and the other with precision and caution.

Wiping his sword against his boot, Baroth scanned the room and looked for battle to join in on. Simus was locked in a battle with two deadly looking Xivilai but had it under control with that hammer of his. Qiana and Dian'mie held true to the plan and held off what looked like hordes of Daedra at the exit doors. Hale had yet to be seen, being a ranger and all, Baroth suspected he was up in the ceiling somewhere, scanning the room from a ledge. And Marius....Marius! He lay unconscious in a heap in the middle of gathered Daedric warriors. Letting his rage and loyalty take over his body, Baroth flew across the room towards his fallen brother. But before him lay a large maze of bloodshed and snarling faces. All of which he would have to push through to reach his friend. Baroth popped his neck, broke into a jog, then into a run towards his friend, coming up on his first enemy, an armored scamp.

(Sorry if my fighting is rusty. Just jumping from here to The Hunt feels weird. Different ages and all that. But i'm good. Also Gregor, when would you like to have your character and my orc do battle? He's currently ransacking Gilane.)

 

[Gregor Moon Fang]

Dian'Mie stirred whatever it was that froze his legs and charged into the fray. He ducked a swing of a Daedroth and stabbed it in the chest, killing it. A dremora came through the crowd swinging its claymore. Dian’Mie parried several blows before deadlocking the dremora. Two more dremora came out and swung at Dian’Mie causing him to maneuver his head to dodge the swings. Dian’Mie and the dremora he deadlocked with broke off and both took a swing at a dremora.
“Wait what?” Dian’Mie looked over to see Qiana’s right hand enveloped in a crimson light. She must have summoned one to help out. Qiana's summoned dremora then disappeared into thin air. Dian’Mie gave a quick nod to Qiana and went back to work. A scamp came out of nowhere and took a right at Dian’Mie’s head but he simply sidestepped it and sliced its’ neck. The scamp stood frozen as Dian’Mie grabbed the scamp’s head by the face and slammed the scamp down to the ground. Hard. Dian’Mie did a little spin with his swords and charged further. He ran through and cut down about 10 scamps and a flame atronach, one by one. Two clannfear ran towards him aiming to crush hiim but Dian'Mie used the dead Daedroth as a jump board and jumped up high enough to cause their heads to fatally collide with each other. As Dian'Mie was admiring his work, he was struck in the back by a battleaxe. He turned around to find himself face to face with a Xivilai. Dian’Mie struck at the daedra but his blows were seen as ineffective. The Xivilai thrusted the point of the battleaxe at Dian’Mie in which he dodged the attack, but barely. Dian’Mie stumbled a few steps back and fell down. The Xivilai took a few steps forward before stopping in its tracks and falling down on its back. Confused, Dian’Mie noticed an ethereal arrow sticking through where its heart is. He turned his head and saw a few clannfear and a daedric spider with the same situation. He was taken out of his admiration when he heard a frustrated scream from his behind. He saw Qiana without her bow shooting blasts of ice as three scamps and a dremora headed her way. "Ah hell." Dian'Mie quickly got up and ran back through the crowd of daedra, cutting down a few scamps, a dremora, a couple of clannfear and a daedric spider.

Qiana frantically searched on her person and found a magicka potion and consumed it. She conjured up a frost spell and a shock spell in each hand. Qiana shot blasts of ice at each of the scamps one by one, killing them.
“You like that? Huh? Get away from me!” A large ball of fire came hurling at Qiana from her blind spot to which she ducked. She then shot a large bolt of lightning at the dremora’s chest, causing it to scream out in pain, stopping its movements for a moment. The dremora got down to one knee due to the pain, but stared holes into Qiana.
“You will not..leave this place alive mortal!! Your life is forfeit!! Lord Dagon will-“ The dremora was cut off by the scream and equal if not more murderous look from Qiana. She slowly touched the large strand bunch of hair laying on her chest and slowly and angrily stepped forward.
“M-My hair… You singed my hair!! How dare you!!” Qiana cast a strong burden spell on the dremora and walked over to its’ head. The dremora looked up at Qiana with a look mixed with anger and fear. Qiana then conjured a greatsword and repeatedly beat the dremora senseless with it. “Die monster die!!” She kept doing this until the sword dispersed in the air. When it was gone she decided to use her heeled boots instead.
“Whoa whoa Qiana calm down.” Dian’Mie finally reached Qiana and grabbed her away from the dremora. However she simply broke the grip and went back to curb stomping the dremora. Dian’Mie then put more strength in his grip and pulled her away. “Woman will you listen?! It’s dead already! Calm down!” Qiana saw Dian’Mie’s seriousness and relented her anger.
“I’m sorry. It’s just..it ruined my hair with that fireball and you know singed hair doesn’t grow back that easily.” The two looked around the ramp and saw all of the daedra were either dead or retreated unnoticed.
“Besides I think we did a pretty good job. Now what do you say we join the others?” Qiana conjured up another bow and nodded.

“Ready when you are.” The two turned around and charged into the Sigilum Sanguis determined to assist the others.

 

[fellowknight]

Sprinting into his focused mode, Baroth came up on the armored scamp who had raised a claw to strike. But he was far too late. Baroth slammed his sword into the demon's gullet, the blade coming out the other side. Using the momentum from his run, He turned on his heel, doing a small spin, and slashed across the eyes of a daedric summoner. Spinning clockwise, Baroth raised his shield and smashed the edge into the throat of a waiting Daedroth, smashing it's esophagus. Then turning to his left and dropping to one knee, he extended his sword outward and allowed a dremora to slid onto it. Turning and standing from the kneel, Baroth slashed upwards across the chest of the Daedroth, finishing it off. Turning and continuing his path to Marius, Baroth kicked the blind summoner in the chest, knocking him on his back. Baroth then walked over to the fallen summoner and stabbed him in the chest, lifting his head to survey the long run ahead of him as he ripped the sword from the demon's chest.

Several scraps and smalls fights filled the room along with an abundance of swearing, insults, and taunts. Ahead of him, exactly five yards, Marius lay in a heap surrounded by Daedric Warriors who took pleasure in kicking his ribs. Several scamps, Daedroth, and Xivilai turned their heads and dispatched from their current battles to deal with the arrogant mortal. Baroth roared in anger and charged forward. The first enemy, a scamp, jumped with it's claws raised. Baroth raised his sword and sliced the demon across it's gut as it landed then did a backwards slash as he passed it, cutting deep into the back of the creature. The second enemy, a scout, ran forwards with a scream of furry but simply met the front of Baroth's shield and fell to the side of his charge. The third, an archer, stabbed in the stomach and slapped on the back of the head with Baroth's shield. Using his momentum, he blindly threw the elbow of his sword arm into the face of an Xivilai, breaking it's nose and momentarily stunning it. Spinning back to his left, Baroth side-shield-based the beast aside shortly before kicking another demon in the stomach. As it bent over, Baroth smashed his knee into it's face, causing it fall back and over.

He blindly slashed to the right, cutting a scout's throat, which it gripped helplessly with both hands as it fell to it's knees then to the floor. Slashing to the left, he landed a hit on a Daedroth's shoulder, finishing off by slapping it across the face hard with his shield as he ran by it. He thrust his sword into the stomach of another demon he didn't care to recognize, then slapped his shield down on his sword and bashed the demon off it. Remembering the Xivilai, Baroth turned to his left-rear and threw his shield into the beast' upper chest, forcing it back and to the ground. Turning back to his current predicament, he saw that he was only a few feet from the beat down on Marius. Two Daedric warriors turned from the fray and arrogantly charged at Baroth, sure that because they beat down one mortal that a mere knight wouldn't be a challenge. They were wrong. The first charged in with what looked like a grin as he cut downwards to the knight's forehead. Baroth swung up his blade with both hands and blocked the stroke, kicking the demon in the crotch as the second approached. Quickly slashing outwards, Baroth's blade dug deep into the demon's neck, stumbling it past him. Then to finish off the first, he brought his blade down into the creature's skull several times, splattering blood and meat alike on his face and chest.

Finally looking back to the fray, Baroth saw that the demons had scattered and left Marius to bleed out. Baroth sheathed his sword and knelt by Marius' side, feeling his various puncture wounds. Without medical assistance, he would die. Picking Marius up and slinging his left arm over his shoulder, Baroth carried Marius a few feet, calling out to Qiana. "QIANA! MARIUS NEEDS HE-" He was cut off as the foot of the same Xivilai smashed into his side, throwing him into the stone wall of the chamber and leaving Marius to fall on his side, hard. No sooner than Baroth smashed into the wall, the beast was upon him, smashing it's fists into the knights ribs, chest, and stomach. After a few seconds of blocking helplessly and sliding down the wall to the floor, a bright blue light flashed with a savage hum as the beast froze in place. Falling on it's side with a sizzling back of smoke, Qiana was revealed with Dian'mie close behind. Qiana offered Baroth a hand up, which he took and pulled himself to his feet. She looked him over after a second, giving off a concerned expression.

"Geez Baroth, you're gonna need some serious-"

"Forget it. Marius needs far more healing than me. Can you help him?" He asked, pointing to the heap of bloody, broken slayer. She looked as her eyes widened, nodding slowly in acceptance. Baroth nodded and walked past her towards Dian'mie, slapping a hand on his shoulder. "Cover her?" Dian'mie nodded. "I got her." Baroth nodded and ran past them, to his shield. Picking it up, Baroth peered through the crowd to find Marek and Simus. He found them. "MAREK! SIMUS! WITH ME! WE CHARGE TO ELIPHAS! COME ON!" He yelled at them, before pushing and slicing his way to the clawed stairs where he waited for the others.

 

[Gregor Moon Fang]

It was early dusk above the sands of Hammerfell, the breeze of the winds dancing across the lands in a gentle breeze. Echoes of birds bounced off of the mountains. It would come off as a regular day in the land of the Ra Gada. However the invasion of the Daedra heavily influenced the atmosphere. They have pushed forward and ransacked every city save for two. Gilane and Skaven were the only ones that have yet to fall. The daedra look to change that, but there are plenty that are willing to fight tooth and nail to prevent it. The Redguards were willing to fight to the death if they had even a small chance of coming out of this victorious. It was a desperate gamble and one they were willing to make.
A figure covered in a violet cloak was slowly walking through the lands, forcing his body to fight with the strong winds. Step by difficult step he forced his way forward until he found himself at the foot of a tall hill. At the top of that hill stood a makeshift camp with flags the same color as the man’s cloak with a symbol of a gilded circlet with a longsword and a dagger forming the shape of a cross in the middle of the circlet. “Found it.” The man took a deep breath to ready himself for the trek then continued his step by step trek up the hill.
The man made his way up to the top of the hill and was met with a Breton guard clad in steel armor. “What’s a Dunmer going in Hammerfell?” The dunmer took a slight offense to the Breton’s words but straightened himself. “I’m of the evacuation squadron and I wish to meet with Master Khugar. I was told that I would find him somewhere around here,” said the dunmer. The guard sized the man up and down and nodded when he approved. He turned to walk a few steps, then turned his head and folded his index and middle finger a couple times, telling the cloaked figure to follow him. The guard with the dunmer in tow walked through the camp, as the dunmer saw soldiers sparring in hand to hand combat and spectators screaming at them as if they were watching a boxing match. There was also a line around a tent with a high elven woman pouring soup into wooden bowls. The dunmer looked at the soup with watering lips. A grunt from the guard took him out of his imagination as he ran over to catch up. The guard took a few more steps before stopping in front of a tent about 3 times those of the ones they passed. “We’re here,” said the guard. “Thank you,” said the dunmer. The guard walked off to return to his post as the dunmer entered through the slit of the tent to find himself in a somewhat barren tent. There was a decent sized bed in the corner and a couple of lamps lit all over the tent. His eyes came towards the large table in the middle covered in a map with colored tags all over. Upon closer inspection he noticed that the tags were all placed on the cities. The fallen ones covered with red tags, the erected ones with violet tags.

Can I help you with something, lad? The dunmer turned around in a frantic shock as he was greeted by a large Nordic man wearing a blue and gold civilian outfit carrying a rather large book. He was slightly taller and bulkier than the average nord making him look like a goliath. The white hair, scruffy sideburn moustache, and many scars on his face showed that he was well in his years, probably somewhere in his 50s. “I-I’ve come looking for Master Khugar.

You’re speaking to him lad. The dunmer gave a sigh of relief and stood up straight, a renewed confidence surging through his body, with his right hand in a salute position. “I come with a message from the evacuation squadron. All citizens have been transferred to Gilane safely. We’re waiting on your orders sir.” Khugar walked over to the table in a slow but strong stride and set his book down on the table. “I thank you for braving the elements to bring me this information. Tell them to send half of the evac squad to the makeshift city. They may be needed. Oh and expect an upgrade in your pay.” The dunmer’s mouth grow into a huge grin at the news. “Oh thank you sir. I must get going now. May Azura watch over you.” The dunmer man opened the flaps of the tent and walked through.

Looks like it’s time to rumble. Khugar War-Searcher was the leader of the widely known Amethyst Fang. From Morrowwind to High Rock, from Skyrim to the Summerset Isles, people knew his name. He along with his group traveled everywhere in Tamriel looking for major disputes to help solve. He reveled in the chance to put his skills to the test, both through combat and through strategy. There is one story that he would always tell where he held off an elven army of 100,000 with only 800 men and women. Not many believed him when he told it, but his most trusted people remember it like it was yesterday.
Khugar searched through his book, The Art of Battle, an ancient relic detailing numerous strategies for victory in war written by Tiber Septim himself. He never let this book leave his side. He would rather die than let this book get into the hands of an enemy. Throughout several pages he found what he was looking for. Khugar gave a small smile to himself as he closed the book and walked over to his chest to find his armor. He had a chestplate of dwarven make with the shoulder plates taken off and hued in violet and gauntlets and boots with ridges hued the same way. But what got his attention was his trusty warhammer that’s seen the deaths of every type of creature to roam Nirn at least once. He was quite proud of it. With himself fully fitted Khugar walked out of his tent as a warm yet slightly dusty breeze jumped onto his face. The rest of the people in the camp stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to their leader.

Alright troops! It is now time to commence the battle plan! Remember your assignments and this should go off easily. The daedra assault stops here! Khugar pounded his fist into the air as the troops gave off a battle cry. Everyone got fitted in the armor, grabbed their weapons and ran out to the top of the hill in an arrow formation: Khugar in the front and his soldiers lines diagonally to the left and right of him. A soldier from the camp ran up to Khugar out of breath.

Why are you out of position, lad? The plan needs to go smoothly if we are to halt the assault. The soldier slowly held out an extendable lens to Khugar who swiped it from the soldier’s hand. He put it to his eye and looked around the city walls. He saw many daedra walking around carrying something that he could not put his tongue to identify. Khugar turned his attention to the right to see many daedra infiltrating the city. Khugar could not be any happier with this.

Whoever is the commander is way over his head. He probably thinks this is actually Gilane. It’s nothing more than a makeshift city erected in a day. A total waste of manpower but this needed to be done. Khugar raised his hand in the air and quickly struck it down to his side to signal his men. With a loud sound of ricketing wood a giant flaming rock hurled its way toward the city and hit square on a giant puddle of liquid. Little did the daedra know, the liquid on the ground was actually oil. The flames connected with the oil, igniting all throughout the city. The daedra were caught off guard by this as it engulfed a large chunk of them in flames. The screams were able to be heard from the hidden spot on the hill. Khugar along with his soldiers got onto their horses and guided them towards the edge of the hill. With one last observation he rested his hammer on his shoulders and charged down the mountain, the rest following suit. The daedra threat ends here!! Charge!!