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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
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Finding Ourselves - the Twins' Tale; - and we hope, freeing a dragon
Topic Started: Jul 31 2017, 07:56 PM (1,134 Views)
Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Lappy! Yep, this one might take a while to sort out....
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neildarkstar
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:thumb:

What's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? Why, a cave full of Vampires of course! :)
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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*giggling* Thanks neil!
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 23: Serana talks to Tiercel

I followed Tiercel into the kitchen of their home. She turned to me and smiled. “So. I thought you might need to talk. Let’s take another cup of kaffe out into the marsh; Var can deal with the rest of the damned Jarls this morning.”

“I’m guessing you’re absolving yourself of that label?”

“Right. I’m the only Jarl with half a brain these days!”

We laughed together - and what a genuine relief it was to me that I could react.... like a human being! Of course, that was causing problems not only with Valerica but with the remaining Volkihar.... I sighed, as we settled to a mossy hummock under one of the odd trees that looked all but dead though they were, Melki had said, still living.

“Is this about the Volkihar?”

I shook my head. “No. I’d be less uncomfortable if it were.” I grabbed a breath and blurted “Melkioran wants to marry me.”

Tiercel laughed. “Yes. He does. Where’s the problem?”

“I - I don’t know.... anything about marrying.... about men! I’m just now sixteen - plus or minus five millennia! I’m just recently human again! And I have a life work ahead - to mitigate the ills that Molag Bal perpetrated on other girls like me....” I slanted a glance at her, to see a smile still on her lips - though she nodded meditatively as I spoke.

Then she asked “What does Melki say about all that?”

“That - he has enough love for both of us. And that he will share the work with me.”

“And where’s the problem then?”

“It’s.... that - how can I be a part of a life without being a part of it? Melki shouldn’t accept that he will bear the whole of either love - or the work of turning girls back into human!”

Tiercel gazed at me soberly. “Do you think you don’t love him?”

“I don’t know. I - don’t know what love is. My parents loved no one but themselves - certainly not me. And that loving themselves did not extend to each loving the other....”

She took my hand and squeezed gently. “See you. You are already worthy of the love he has for you, by virtue of thinking you cannot love him since you don’t know how. But you do know how - or you would not be distressed about this. And should you two marry, would you not also help him with his work - whatever he turns his hand to?”

“Well, of course I would! After all if he’s willing to help me with this, then how should I fail of helping him in turn?”

Tier smiled again. “Well. One more question. What of children?”

That question threw me into something approaching panic. “I - I don’t know, Tiercel. How could I know? I was a child when my parents handed me over to be raped by an evil daedric prince. And I’m still not much more than that child, for all I’ve been more or less alive for five thousand years. I suppose - I think I should have children eventually, to mitigate the horror of my own life. But whether I could love them.... How do I come to know that?”

Tiercel gave me a brief hug and laughed. “If you had no ability to love, you would not be asking me these things. Listen to your heart instead of your head. In other words, sister-to-be, tell your busy mind to shut up, and go about life on your heart’s terms.”

She stood and sighed, “I suppose I’d best go play High Queen for a bit. Go find my brother and - do what seems right.”

And in a few minutes, I did - after wondering how I could become as wise as Tiercel is.
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Areial
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Et'Ada
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:clap: Excellent read! Love it! Poor Serana.. emotions are a hard thing to wrangle.. if one has never seen a cow.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Heh. Yep. But she has determination.
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Kane
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Imagine how strange it must feel to be five thousand years old, but really only sixteen.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Yeah. That was the first thing that hit me about her (besides how annoying she is as a follower). Thanks Kane!
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Kane
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Heh, I think I'm one of he few that don't mind her as a follower. Her comments can be annoying, but at least they gave her some character depth. I like that they continued that trend with Fallout 4, too. Every companion has their own story to unravel, and some even have quests for them.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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I mind anyone as a follower. I especially dislike the ones games force on you.
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Lapuaboy
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Thane
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Nice! While Serana is struggling with her new found emotions, she also has to take comfort in that there are now people that actually care about (and love!) her :)
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thank you Lappy! Too bad I can't make her really "human" in game.... Well, I suppose I could convince her to get cured - but that wouldn't fix the uglies the devs left with her.
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Kane
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This seems like a reasonable mod to activate once she is cured: https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/22382/
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 24: Terlinna - I think we’ve got this all wrong

I needed to do some serious thinking. So as per normal for me, I headed out into the marsh - where the first thing I saw was ma heading back to the house with Serana. Yeah, I’m pretty sure Uncle Mel is going to convince Serana to marry him. And - while she’s not ever going to be my favorite person.... at least its our uncle, not my brother! No - I don’t know why she bothers me. It’s not germane to the issue.

The issue.... which is - yes, curing vampires as a quest to be completed for the Ideal Masters.... a good thing all told. But.... we have no guarantee that even though we can do what they asked, they’ll do what they said they would in the end. These Masters are tricksy - just look what they did to Valerica. I mean, I’ve no use for her, but damn. She asked for asylum - and they imprisoned her for thousands of years!

I found my favorite perch: the rock which got all the sun the rest of the marshes didn’t. Settling down, I just let my thoughts roam free while I sipped the mug of kaffe I’d brought out with me. At some point my mind grabbed a chance thought from somewhere: the tale g’ma Veri had told of the first chat she had with Durnehviir.

“He called me Qahnarrin. He offered me his assistance on the field of battle should I require it. And he said that the reason he wanted to be called to Tamriel was that he was so bound to the Soul Cairn through the trickery of the Masters that should he leave, he would only be able to stay for a short time before losing strength; and if he stayed too long, he would die.”

I thought about that. So.... the poor dragon could suicide? If he had the will to do it? Perhaps, perhaps. I rose, intending to head back to talk to Vaer. As I turned, one of the Volkihar moved toward me out of the mist.

“You take a chance, being alone in the marsh.”

“As do you.” I had no option other than confrontation.

“Well, I can take your life-essence, and your blood - for what your family did by killing our Lord, Harkon.”

I shrugged. “You can, but of course I can be cured before there’s a problem. Perhaps you didn’t get the information, though?”

She looked askance at me. “What - information?”

“That the ‘prophecy’ if completed does nothing but ‘put out the sun’ for the hours of daylight - in one day only. And thereafter, must be redone - for each following day - with another Daughter of Coldharbour sacrificed for her blood.”

Shock crossed her face. “You - you’re not lying. I can tell.”

“No. I’m not. I would not lie to you about this. Serana and Valerica spent thousands of years without anything approximating a life - to keep Harkon from sacrificing not only the two of them, but all of the rest of you.”

She went as pale as the snow on the height of Paar’s Aerie. “The - matriarch - said that wasn’t how it would be.”

“The - matriarch? The eldest of you now living in Movarth’s Lair?”

“Aye. She was.... Harkon’s concubine - all the years his wife was missing.”

Oy. Well.... in for a copper, in for a bucket of gold. “She was misled - as were so many - by Harkon himself. It’s not hard to see why - if the truth got out, well....?”

“How - was your family.... able to kill such a powerful vampire lord? No one could believe it.... But he never returned....”

“I have to say that - first, there is the fact that the prophecy was nothing more than something produced by a paladin of Auri’El; himself a vampire, he wanted revenge on his god who abandoned him instead of protecting him.... and second, that my family has the great good fortune to not only be able to call on Talos, but on two of the daedra - and we have the good will of various lords among dragonkind.

“I think that you should consider wisely - think on what I have told you, and make your own decision. If you like, I can arrange for my father, the High King, to verify what I have said.”

She waved a hand abstractedly, then her eyes caught mine. “Your father would - talk to me? Not - kill me?”

“Aye. We took in Serana long before she was cured. And now that she is human once again, well - she keeps trying to do the same for you all, you know.”

She bared fangs - but not at me. “The matriarch has much to answer for. Thank you. You have been honest with me - as she has been with none of us. Do not think to see us further in these environs. We - the others and I - will deal with her. And then.... we will discuss what to do and where to go.”

“If you do not wish the cure, you may go to the Castle, where Valerica can instruct you in synthesizing blood, rather than needing to bleed humans.”

She nodded curtly, and dissolved into a cloud of - hmm - bats I guess. I headed for home, shaky, but it certainly could have gone much worse!
Edited by Serethil, Oct 18 2017, 08:06 PM.
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neildarkstar
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Nicely done (and the section before as well that I just found moments ago).

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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Thank you neil!

In general.... I just wait for a poke from someone before adding to tales....
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Areial
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Et'Ada
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Nice read... hmm someone might have to remember to carry a knife.. or three..
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Yep. We'll get to that eventually.
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Serethil
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 25: Vaerlon - Stunned, all of us....

I didn’t even open my mouth. Didn’t have to - da, ma, g’ma Veri plus Uncle Mel and Serana were doing a fine job of raking Ter over the coals. I’d have a grim little chat with her myself - later.

As far as lambasting a family member goes, the aforementioned did a FINE job of it. Ter, shaky when she came in, got paler and paler, and then redder and redder - and finally burst into tears (which I know she hasn’t done since she was very young - well.... me either) and that effectively shut everyone up.

“I know I know - I just have a hard time thinking of my home as a place I can be threatened! Anyway - you’ve all had your say, now did you even listen to what else I said?” That was accompanied by one of her dagger-glances at me - so she knew we’d be fussing later.

“Eh, not so much” da said. “We - ah - were too....” He stopped when ma poked him in the ribs.

“I did.” Serana nodded at Ter. “So at the very least this crop of Volkihar are off away from here. Let us hope that word gets out....”

So then Ter had to tell all of that over again, since it appeared that only Serana had paid any attention to what my twin had considered the most important part of the whole thing! And after we all got the story straight, well, I had to admit that Ter had various points in her favor. Then I finally got a dig in myself; “So, are you going out the marsh naked of blades again any time soon?” She just gave me the stink eye.

G’ma Veri was off in one of those brown studies. Eventually she said, “But - that doesn’t regain Durnehviir’s soul, does it?”

“I - think.... it’s not his soul the Cairn holds. It’s his life-essence. Because what he said was that if he stayed away too long from the Cairn, his strength would wane and then he would die.”

“Ah! So he did - but I hadn’t thought about it for so long....” G’ma Veri stared into space for a while, then turned back to us. “It’s too bad we can’t do something to turn their nastiness over this - cure thirty vampires for Divines’ sakes! - back on the Ideal Masters.”

Serana smiled - and it wasn’t precisely friendly. “I’m thinking about it. I - might have an idea. Eventually.”

And there we left it. I did not in fact further chastise my twin. She was doing a very good job of it all on her own.
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Areial
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Et'Ada
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very good read.. think we all hate getting a dressing down.
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