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R.I.P. neildarkstar. Haven will miss you dearly.
| Finding Ourselves - the Twins' Tale; - and we hope, freeing a dragon | |
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| Topic Started: Jul 31 2017, 07:56 PM (1,136 Views) | |
| Serethil | Sep 18 2017, 04:39 PM Post #141 |
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Et'Ada
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Yep. I imagine an atom bomb sort of confrontation at some point! Thank you Lappy! |
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| neildarkstar | Sep 18 2017, 05:30 PM Post #142 |
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Overlord
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Interesting, indeed! Y'know, there's always been something about the masters that made me want to give them a colonoscopy using a double-handed Steel axe. |
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| Serethil | Sep 18 2017, 05:37 PM Post #143 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks neil! I've - been that way about them since the first time a character talked to Durnehviir. |
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| Serethil | Sep 21 2017, 10:51 PM Post #144 |
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 17: Home.... are the hunters - The Twins We dragged our sorry tired and muddy butts into Morthal finally. The weather was.... grim - unbelievably ugly even for Skyrim, and for some reason Morthal seemed to be getting the worst of it. There was rain edging into sleet - and Hjaalmarch isn’t normally cold enough for that, so it was - seriously weird. The house was lit up like - oh gods, Da must have a major court going on. We looked at each other soberly. Holy Hells. No. We can’t go there. G’ma Verinne. We turned as one, and slipped as quietly as possible down the way to her house. “Well, I didn’t expect you, but I’m damned glad to see you - alive, well, and NOT vampires.” UGH. We didn’t even want to think about that. “G’ma.... what....? “Well, something got - loose - about what you’re doing. And - there have been vampires showing up here for months, seemingly doing one of two things: trying to find you hoping for a cure - or trying to find you hoping to prevent you offering a cure.” Oh GODS. All we had to do was - just - stay home. “G’ma. We need beds. Tomorrow.... well.... it’s another day. We’ll - figure it out.” |
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| Areial | Sep 21 2017, 10:55 PM Post #145 |
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Et'Ada
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Sometimes, all you have to do, is have patience, but you don't know until you know. Good read! |
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| Serethil | Sep 21 2017, 11:02 PM Post #146 |
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Et'Ada
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Yep. Remember - the twins are.... young yet. And even that's not the entire thing - NO ONE knew that what they were doing would have repercussions outside the Cairn.... or the vampire community. Thanks Sis! |
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| neildarkstar | Sep 24 2017, 03:12 AM Post #147 |
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Overlord
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Late to the party again, I am... Ah well, this is a fun little bit, eh? Reminds me of that olde saying "You can dash madly about chasing vampires, but if you sit and wait quietly, one may come and land on your shoulder..." - eh, or was that butterflies? Happiness? Well, damned if I know! It's almost certainly one of those three things! :) |
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| Serethil | Sep 24 2017, 08:50 AM Post #148 |
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Et'Ada
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*giggling* Nice, neil! Thanks! |
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| Serethil | Sep 24 2017, 08:58 PM Post #149 |
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 18: Vaer - G’ma Veri and Serana set to coming up with a plan We dragged out of bed in the morning, wanting baths and food. Ter took off for whatever warm pool she normally used out in the marsh, and I opted to just wash up good with hot water - the bath here was.... well, it just reminded me too much of g’da Ger. I - couldn’t use it without winding up in tears, and right now I didn’t need that on top of everything else. Meeting again at day-meal, we found that g’ma Veri and Serana were talking plans. Ter gave me a look - meaning don’t put your foot in it brother mine - so I shut my mouth on what I’d been about to say. Ter forked up a mouthful of eggs with meat and peppers, chewed a while, then drank some ale. “So then. What’s toward? This business of vampires showing up here.... that’s odd, is it not?” Serana sent us a feral grin. “Not so much, twins. Most, according to Verinne, are wanting a cure - though it’s still quite likely that some of those will.... recant. And some few of those who recant will seek out Valerica, to learn the way to synthesize blood. “The real issue is those - mostly Volkihar unfortunately - who are seeking.... recompense and retribution for this family having killed Harkon, and helped me to remove the taint of Molag Bal. These are the vampire-kin who most wished for the prophecy - such as it was - to be true, so that they need have no fear of the Sun. So that they could - reap blood as they wished.” G’ma shook her head sadly. “Serana - do they not understand that wishing to live in freedom, though in the dark, is no life at all?” Serana turned to g’ma. She said softly and gently, “No, milady. They do not understand themselves at all. Every one of them survived - unimaginable torture - at the hands and body of Molag Bal. In the rapine, Bal implanted - an imperative, I suppose you might say: that the one overarching point to the entirety of possession by Bal is that he will own your body, mind, and emotions ever after. “How I escaped that imperative, I do not know. And the ‘how’ at this point is far less important than the ‘why’. Because I escaped and survived, I must find the way to help those who were, like me, sent to Bal unwilling in the extreme. There have been a few in those we have cured. But - this is like to be my life’s work now...." G’ma Veri put her arms around Serana and hugged her gently. “Then we will help you as we are able. Today, we should talk to Var and Tier - assuming they can get away from a court full of idiot Jarls.” Still? Ach. Poor ma and da. Gods forbid I EVER get elected to High King. |
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| neildarkstar | Sep 24 2017, 09:51 PM Post #150 |
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Overlord
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:thumb: Almost sounds like a war is a-brewin'... |
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| Serethil | Sep 24 2017, 09:54 PM Post #151 |
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Et'Ada
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Yes. It's probably going to get ugly. I'm - not much good at writing ugly.... |
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| Areial | Sep 25 2017, 12:55 AM Post #152 |
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Et'Ada
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very good read... and no, ugly is not easy. |
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| Serethil | Sep 25 2017, 09:25 AM Post #153 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks neil and sis! |
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| Serethil | Sep 29 2017, 06:55 PM Post #154 |
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 19: Terlinna - ma and da join in, with an unusual guest After we finished eating we all headed for Highmoon Hall. I stopped by the house to see if I could get ma and da out of there before the jarls all showed up again. Fortunately, they were still eating, so I dodged in quickly and asked them to come along up the Hall before the jarls got around to dragging out of their beds. We gathered around the big dining table in the Hall, catching up on moons’ worth of all that had gone on. Da was annoyed that the vampires had started hanging around Morthal again - way too much water under those bridges of course! Ma and g’ma Veri just shrugged and shook their heads. Serana explained again why the Volkihar were showing up. I asked finally “So - are the Volkihar making more vampires?” I certainly hoped not.... “No. Thankfully. As far as we can tell, they’ve holed up in - predictably - Movarth’s bolt-hole. There seem to be only five of them. We’ve enforced curfew in Hjaalmarch, so our people stay safe - and after word got out it was Volkihar, we haven’t had any trouble at all with people being out after dark! Hard to believe some Nords actually have good sense....” I laughed internally - pretty sure da was referring to idiot jarls as the ones without sense! We talked over what we could do about it but got nowhere. So we settled to gloom, a gloom that was interrupted by of all people, Valerica. “Serana. Are you coming home soon?” Valerica seemed determined to ignore that Serana was cured. “No, I’m not. We still need to offer the cure to a few more vampires. And now, we have Volkihar Clan problems to solve.” “Ah yes. I had heard that some had come ‘out of retirement’ as it were. It seems foolhardy in the extreme that they have gone to ground here of all places.” “Well, they’re here to kill Verinne and her family for daring to disrupt Harkon’s prophecy - which was of course nothing but a ploy by the Snow Elf Vyrthur to kill Auri-El. Madness....” Serana watched her mother closely; I thought she was perhaps wondering if Valerica might be part of the Volkihar conspiracy. Valerica’s brows flew toward her hairline. “That’s - madness in truth! Should they succeed, Skyrim would work to wipe them out for all time.” I arched my own brows at Valerica’s use of the word “them”. Did she no longer consider herself a Volkihar? Interesting if true. Ma glanced at Valerica. “Them? Are you not ‘one of them’ yourself?” Obviously she’d picked up on that too. Valerica dropped her gaze to her hands. “Well, of course I am a Daughter of Coldharbour - as is Serana. But I no longer use the Volkihar name - they have caused far too much pain over the millennia.” “I’m not a Daughter of Coldharbour any more. Thank the Divines! And as you see, I have not disintegrated to dust blown away on the first breeze.” “But - you will die, Serana!” “Yes, I will. That is as it should be - none should be forced to remain undead, vampires - unless they are truly happy with the situation. It is likely that I will spend what is left of my life on this plane trying to release those given unwilling to Bal from his influence. Perhaps you were not aware that his ‘implanted imperative’ was never part of my psyche.” If a vampire could go pale, Valerica did. “You.... have never had that - connection?” “Never. I tell you truly - had you not shut me away for five millennia, I would have chosen a cure as soon as I realized there was the possibility of finding it.” Oh dear. |
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| Areial | Sep 29 2017, 08:13 PM Post #155 |
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Et'Ada
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:clap: oppsie! good read! |
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| Serethil | Sep 29 2017, 08:16 PM Post #156 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks Sis! I began to realize that Serana is 5k years old - but still.... deep into young-woman angst. So.... heh. Here we go. |
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| neildarkstar | Sep 29 2017, 10:55 PM Post #157 |
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Overlord
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Interesting perspectives, for sure. :thumb: |
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| Serethil | Sep 29 2017, 11:20 PM Post #158 |
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Et'Ada
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Thanks neil! |
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| Serethil | Oct 1 2017, 06:52 PM Post #159 |
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Et'Ada
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Chapter 20: The Twins Sometimes all we have to do is glance at each other to know what we’re thinking. Right now, both of us wanted out of the house soonest - before Valerica and Serana came to blows. Talk about putting a cat among the pigeons! Serana’s statement was tinder to Valerica’s fire.... We began edging toward the kitchen - the back door was closer and would drop us out into the marsh. We didn’t get that far - ma and da both glared at us, and we froze in place. Family. Can’t live with them, and if you try to live without them, they won’t let you! Da began trying to play peacemaker. “Now, Valerica - Serana’s her own woman at this point; certainly she’s not as old as my daughters, but the fact of five thousand years behind her surely stands for something.” Valerica just stood still as stone, glaring at all and sundry, beginning with her rogue daughter and continuing on around the circle. When that glare got to g’ma Veri, well.... Valerica deflated. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to - deal with all this. Serana, if you continue to face down vampires of whatever ilk, eventually you will become one yourself again. What then? Will you go searching for the cure again?” “No. I know how to do it, thankfully. The material components are not cheap, though they aren’t impossible to obtain - about the rarity of the false-blood herbs as a matter of fact. And.... I have had gifts from certain of the Divines - Azura and Meridia principally - that keep me safer when in combat or contact with all undead, not just vampires. I was also granted the use of the Lord-form even though I am no longer a Volkihar - unfortunately that’s got around now, so it’s less useful than to begin with.” She stared Valerica full in the eyes and said, “Again I offer you the cure. This will be my life. You would be of much help to me, and to others who were unwillingly turned. Will you say me nay again?” As answer, Valerica turned into her cloud of bats and disappeared. Serana shook her head as Uncle Melki edged into the room from the kitchen. “Kitten, are you hungry? I have some nice venison steaks to cook!” We looked at each other, then at ma, da and g’ma Veri. WHAT? |
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| Lapuaboy | Oct 1 2017, 09:17 PM Post #160 |
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Thane
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I knew it! Good ol' Melki ;) Love the update Sere! |
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4:46 AM Jul 11