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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
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Man and Dragon, Dragon and Man; ....with a side-excursion into vampires and so on
Topic Started: Jun 15 2017, 08:41 PM (1,216 Views)
neildarkstar
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I can sympathize with Var. Some people think you can rule loosely, and let people do as they please, but it really doesn't work out well that way. I have experience to back me up on that point, but... that's a different story.

It's all very well done and good reading, Sere! :)
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thank you Sis and neil! In my view - Var got to a breaking point. Not because his family was hared off on some dam'fool quest - but because he's had a snoot-full of.... inbred idiot jarls who can't find their butts with both hands and a torch....

And if they do find that spot..... well.... the conflagration is likely to become bard-fodder for CENTURIES.
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Kane
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Teehee, I would have gone off on the Jarl's long ago. Bunch of dunderheads. 'Cept Tier, of course. :D
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Kane! Eh, Tier has had her dunderheaded moments too, but not generally being Jarl.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Seven - Just stop my heart, why don’t you!

Before I could decide whether to faint, drop over the bridge on the rope, or scream bloody murder, I realized the person who’d opened the door was Arngeir.

“Oh. I must have startled you. I heard noise out here....”

“That was me, climbing up here by rope. My twins are down below, let me tell them I’m fine!”

I turned to the edge of the bridge, leaned over a bit and whistled our “all clear” signal - the piping of one of the marsh birds. Two whistles sounded in return.

Master Arngeir waved me into the room ahead of him. What a strange place it was too! The room was actually well-proportioned. There were benches, and an area atop a platform which Arngeir was using for a sleeping place. He had a table and chair, plus a pallet with a bedroll on top.

“Master.... you’ve been here a very long time. What - have you - been.... eating?”

A strange grin crossed his face. “Well. You see, it turns out that both Valerica and her daughter had returned home at some point after your grandmother killed Harkon. So.... they’ve been making sure I have ‘human food’ as opposed to what they - uh - feed on. I roast vegetables and meat on the little fire there. It doesn’t take much to ‘keep’ me....

“I of course had to explain what I was doing hiding out in her study, but Valerica has been kind enough to let me stay here all this time. Now, I know they are a sort of undead, but they have been helpful and kind, so I am fine with the situation.

“Now, why are you here, and your twins, Tiercel Ravenwing?”

“We’re here to talk to you about Alduin’s soul, and your quest to get Durnehviir released from his cursed state, and moved to Sovngarde once dead in truth.”

His eyes lit from within. “Ah! But your grandmother?” His anxiety showed fully on his face.

“She’s alive and well - but ‘tottery’. She said she told you so in her last letter....”

“Aye. I was just hoping she wasn’t.... dead. But then, if she was, I’d see her in Sovngarde eventually, wouldn’t I? I am glad for her family’s sakes though!”

He seemed so much more human to me than g’ma’s stories had made him out to be. I didn’t think saying so would be politic though....

“Oh we’re by way of being glad as well. G’da - died about six months back - and we’re not....” My eyes welled with tears as they always did when I thought of him.

“So. That is sad, for all of you, but especially for Verinne. I suppose I missed much of life, shut away at High Hrothgar all those years - but I am certain I do not miss the sadness of losing a mate.”

“Well, there is much happiness before the sadness though. And you’ve missed that as well! But let’s get to business. You may be welcome here, but poor Durnehviir....”

“Yes. Here, sit, and tell me what you need.”

I settled on the bench near his table, and he sat in the chair. I went into the details of how I came to be here, and what I needed: a direction, toward finding where Alduin’s soul might be. I reminded him that g’ma hadn’t absorbed Alduin’s soul, and that she thought what Arngeir had said to her when she asked him about it meant perhaps that his soul was wherever his spirit wound up.

He went off into abstracted thought, for a long while - an hour perhaps. While I was waiting for him to surface, I pulled my cloak and pack off as it was warm in the room. I dug around in my pack for whatever I had to leave for him, and thought we’d send the rest of the food up as well - we could hunt and forage where he could not, after all!

Finally, he became present again. “Well. I’m not - sure.... but. Hmmm. I think - perhaps we should talk to Valerica. Because - about the only place I can think you might find Alduin’s soul - would be in the Soul Cairn itself.

“I would have thought that Durnehviir would know that? But perhaps not - perhaps he would not know of a soul by its owner’s name. We should ask Valerica.”

I nodded. I knew all about Valerica and Serana - g’ma’s stories had been very thorough. And very explicit - about things like Daughters of Coldharbour, and Volkihar vampires.
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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Jeez I'm glad it was Arngeir who opened the door! Very good, now I'll just wait for more! :D
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Areial
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Et'Ada
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Beautiful... suspenseful... Love it..

caught up... Inventory and then doing the variance report.. long hours.. but we did really good.. shrink was only 1.7% and the major "mis-labeled" items where in our favor.. only one, but it made up the smaller $$ items that went the other way.

Neil... :wub: U 2
Edited by Areial, Jun 19 2017, 09:57 PM.
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Serethil
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Thanks guys! Talk about winging it.... I still - don't have any idea what's going to happen. Or where they'll be going.
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Serethil
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Eight - Valerica the Vampire isn’t happy about the situation

as who could blame her really. Here’s the granddaughter of the woman who “corrupted” Serana now wanting help to find Alduin’s soul, so that Arngeir and Durnehviir can go off to Sovngarde together.

“Well. That’s a rather strange thing to be looking for.” She rather looked down her nose at me.

“I suppose; though since Durnehviir has been stuck in the Soul Cairn to watch over you forever, even though you’re not there now.... well, it’s a bit sad from my point of view. If he hadn’t somehow ‘melded’ with the Cairn, he could be here with you and still fulfill his original function.”

Her eyebrows flew toward her hairline. “I don’t want him here, thank you! Having him hovering over me in the Cairn was bad enough!”

“Then, perhaps you’ll be inclined to help me figure this out in the other direction? That would be, finding Alduin’s soul so that the Ideal Masters will work some intricate magic to give Durnehviir a way into Sovngarde.”

“All right. I will see what I can do to help.”

I looked at her curiously. “How long were you and Serana shut away from the world? Seems as if it must have been a very long time.”

She frowned a bit. “Harkon, Serana, and myself were born in the Merethic Era - the exact years don’t correspond to the current dating system, but about halfway through the period known as the Middle Merethic Era. And a hundred years later, Harkon made compact with Molag Bal, and the clan of Volkihar was created.”

I just goggled for a moment. “You and Serana are the oldest people in the world then. See you, I know you Volkihar to be a form of undead - but you are still people, and react as such at least some of the time. Of course, I find I consider some of the dragons to also be people, which I expect causes others to view me in rather a bad light....”

She laughed a little bitterly. “Even the normal sort of dragons are more ‘human’ than Serana and I are. Though you don’t seem to be particularly afraid of us.”

“I don’t think you hold any intent to make me a vampire. As my grandmother refused Harkon’s ‘gift’ so I would refuse. It’s not something I have an interest in. That’s neither here nor there though.

“What I need to do is find Alduin’s soul. After long thought Master Arngeir came to the conclusion that the only place it could be would be in the Soul Cairn itself - though how that’s a possibility I haven’t a clue. No one soul-trapped him.... and of all the dragon souls g’ma’s holding, his isn’t one of them.

“Also, Master Arngeir thinks that it’s possible that Alduin’s soul and spirit remain somewhere, together - because when it truly is the end of time, Alduin will be returned to Nirn to perform his actual function as the World Eater, as it should be.”

“Hmm. Interesting. Let me think on this for a bit, if you please. I will need to do some research. But let me ask you - if it is that his soul is in the Cairn, how will you go to find it? You realize you can’t go there alive and ensouled....”

Shrugging, I replied “I’d be willing to let Serana partially soul-trap me the way g’ma did.”

Valerica sent me a startled glance. “This - quest - means so much to you?”

“Aye. It does.”
Edited by Serethil, Jun 20 2017, 07:40 PM.
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neildarkstar
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M'aiq thinks it is not very pleasant to be soul trapped...

:thumb:
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Serethil
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Heh. Well, "partial" is the operative word.... Thanks neil!
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Areial
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The thing's we do for friends!! beautiful!
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Kane
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Valerica is still stuffy I see. You think she'd be grateful for what Veri did for her.
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Serethil
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Thank you sis! Not just friends in this case - part of this is for Veri, who can't do it herself now.

You might think so Kane, and me too - because we're more or less "normal" humans. Things are different for a 5000 year old Daughter of Coldharbour (or at least seems it would be to me).
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Serethil
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Nine - No telling how long her “research” is going to take

so I went back down the rope to tell my twins how things were going (after securing it to the stonework so I didn’t need them to manage it.)

Which of course is - things are going slowly! “Shall I ask Valerica to let us all in the front way? Though I think I remember g’ma saying there’s no longer a direct route from the castle to the study....”

“No - I think we’ll hunt and forage a bit across the sound. Whatever we don’t eat we can leave for Master Arngeir - probably make him happier than eating what the vampires can provide, even if it is real food and not blood!” Ter looked at her brother, and he nodded.

“Fine then. I’ll stay down here a while yet. I set the rope secure up top, so don’t need you to hold it.” I caught the look that passed between them. “What?”

“Da’s going to be unhappy enough already.... if you climb alone and something happens, WE aren’t going to live over it.”

“Vaer....” I sighed. “Fine. How long do you expect to be?”

“Couple hours - not longer. Will that work for you?”

“Well, considering that you just took all choice away from me, I guess it’ll have to do.” I flumphed down in a heap on a bedroll, and waved them away. After they were out of earshot, I settled to grumbling under my breath. Var was going to pitch several fits, I feared. I hoped I managed to do everything I knew he was going to be unhappy about - before he caught us up!
Edited by Serethil, Jun 21 2017, 05:59 PM.
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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I guess if I'd been through what Valerica's been through, I'd be bitchy too. And with Molag Bal...UGH!! Makes my skin crawl. Tier is wonderful, to go through even a partial soul trap! Very good!! :clap:
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Serethil
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Thanks Sis! Well - I suppose, she could have told Harkon that she wasn't playing the game. So I kind of think she must have been hungry for that power as well. What bothers me more is that they co-opted Serana into their fun and games....
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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LOL, I love this!! hehe

(you posted while I was) :D
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Serethil
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Heh.... happens a lot with us!
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Andra Hawksdaughter
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Harkon. Worst. Father. Ever.

Mom wasn't a whole lot better, but better than him.
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