The OP3RaT0R
Call me Op. Or Smooth.
Dawn over the Red Mountain crater was an eerie sight, the way the soft sunlight filtered through the cloud of ash that hung over the mountain and created a dreamlike scene against a pale blue sky. A squat silhouette stood out against the sloping black earth that loomed over it. It was Fort Bodhol'a, a garrison and research post built into the mountainside that was designed as a springboard for exploration of the newly calm Red Mountain crater. Thick stone walls plated with a weathered Adamantium face looked up the volcanic plain, and from behind those walls, ten faces looked up as well through the narrow, sturdy windows.
One face, that of a grim Dunmer clad in heavy chitin and Adamantium, turned to the others and paused. He was Captain Hran Helseth, and he was preparing to lead those nine men up and over the crater's edge. Again. He sighed quietly before speaking up. "Azura guide our eyes. Boethiah keep us sharp and forge us in these fires. Mephala make us one with this smoke and brimstone. HoonDing plow our way. Ebonarm guard us in life, and Lorkhan lead us valiantly into death. Baan Dar give us wit to survive by, and moons light our faces in the dark. Juleion'r bless us." Hran's men had bowed their heads, closed their eyes, done something to show they were placing their fates with the gods. Hran simply looked ahead. "That all? Follow me." He lifted his helmet onto his head and put his goggles in place over the small eyeholes. His men did the same, and they stepped out into the peril of the mountain slope. The heavy metal door latched shut behind them with finality.
To the south, Queen-Regent Alussanah beheld the dawn in reverie as it danced across the city's ebony curtain wall. From her quarters in Castle Ebonheart, she looked up the coast to the east, down the coast to the west, and south, as far as she could see across the Inner Sea. This dawn rose on what was hers. She had fought and bled for it, and now she could shape it to her will. Her hard, curiously attractive face curled into a smile. She closed her window and strode out of the room, headed for the city streets. Two bodyguards hurried to flank her on her unexpected journey, but the procedure wasn't necessary to protect the expert battlemage who regularly went out in her royal armor, heavy ebony armor and a red cape.
"I'm on to the temple, men. Don't follow me in." Her followers nodded, and they were out into the open. Across the bridge from the keep to the city proper, where men and women were just beginning their day of work, setting up market stalls, opening storefronts, and going about a hundred different tasks. Alussanah confidently strode through the streets of granite, unfazed by the people scuttling about around her. One man, clad in finery, ran in front of her. "My Queen! My proposal, did it reach you?"
"That it did," she replied, her eyes rolling at the earnest parasite.
"And?"
"You've asked me about this three times already. What did I say to you then?"
"...No, but-"
The Queen-Regent put an armored hand on the merchant or would-be noble or whoever the hell this man was again and began to lead him toward an alley. "That's not all I said to you. What else did I say to you?"
"That, uh, that Undil Caemir was your final choice for the contract, but-"
"I don't believe I said anything else!" Alussanah put a heavy right hook across the man's face, sending him tumbling to the dirt. "Now if that's all, I'll take my leave." The sprawled man drew no attention from the busybodies who went to and fro in the street, and Alussanah continued on her route. Soon enough, she came to the great temple, a stone edifice of considerable size and ornate grandeur, and walked up the long, wide set of steps leading to the great hall of the temple, where the twin guards took their post. In the reddish arcane glow within, the youthful face of Archcanon Wulf awaited her.
"My Lady," he said, "the Ilaahyo Badan smile on you. How are you?"
"Excellent. Come," she said, taking off in the direction of Wulf's study. "We have work to do. Work much greater than anything done yet."
One face, that of a grim Dunmer clad in heavy chitin and Adamantium, turned to the others and paused. He was Captain Hran Helseth, and he was preparing to lead those nine men up and over the crater's edge. Again. He sighed quietly before speaking up. "Azura guide our eyes. Boethiah keep us sharp and forge us in these fires. Mephala make us one with this smoke and brimstone. HoonDing plow our way. Ebonarm guard us in life, and Lorkhan lead us valiantly into death. Baan Dar give us wit to survive by, and moons light our faces in the dark. Juleion'r bless us." Hran's men had bowed their heads, closed their eyes, done something to show they were placing their fates with the gods. Hran simply looked ahead. "That all? Follow me." He lifted his helmet onto his head and put his goggles in place over the small eyeholes. His men did the same, and they stepped out into the peril of the mountain slope. The heavy metal door latched shut behind them with finality.
To the south, Queen-Regent Alussanah beheld the dawn in reverie as it danced across the city's ebony curtain wall. From her quarters in Castle Ebonheart, she looked up the coast to the east, down the coast to the west, and south, as far as she could see across the Inner Sea. This dawn rose on what was hers. She had fought and bled for it, and now she could shape it to her will. Her hard, curiously attractive face curled into a smile. She closed her window and strode out of the room, headed for the city streets. Two bodyguards hurried to flank her on her unexpected journey, but the procedure wasn't necessary to protect the expert battlemage who regularly went out in her royal armor, heavy ebony armor and a red cape.
"I'm on to the temple, men. Don't follow me in." Her followers nodded, and they were out into the open. Across the bridge from the keep to the city proper, where men and women were just beginning their day of work, setting up market stalls, opening storefronts, and going about a hundred different tasks. Alussanah confidently strode through the streets of granite, unfazed by the people scuttling about around her. One man, clad in finery, ran in front of her. "My Queen! My proposal, did it reach you?"
"That it did," she replied, her eyes rolling at the earnest parasite.
"And?"
"You've asked me about this three times already. What did I say to you then?"
"...No, but-"
The Queen-Regent put an armored hand on the merchant or would-be noble or whoever the hell this man was again and began to lead him toward an alley. "That's not all I said to you. What else did I say to you?"
"That, uh, that Undil Caemir was your final choice for the contract, but-"
"I don't believe I said anything else!" Alussanah put a heavy right hook across the man's face, sending him tumbling to the dirt. "Now if that's all, I'll take my leave." The sprawled man drew no attention from the busybodies who went to and fro in the street, and Alussanah continued on her route. Soon enough, she came to the great temple, a stone edifice of considerable size and ornate grandeur, and walked up the long, wide set of steps leading to the great hall of the temple, where the twin guards took their post. In the reddish arcane glow within, the youthful face of Archcanon Wulf awaited her.
"My Lady," he said, "the Ilaahyo Badan smile on you. How are you?"
"Excellent. Come," she said, taking off in the direction of Wulf's study. "We have work to do. Work much greater than anything done yet."