[X] Ask for something.
-[X] How's things going back home while I was gone?
-[X] Did you go anywhere fun while looking for me?
-[X] You found an helmet. It kinda makes your hands itchy. Does she know what's up with it?
[X] "Thank you."
[X] Find Mirabelle and give the Nirnroots to her.
You tilt your head and look into the Library, considering the question. There isn't anything back home you really want - well, maybe a piano or two, but they don't travel well, and they need Remilia's accompaniment anyway - then clap your hands and nod. "Yes, actually! Um, back home, in Gensokyo? How are things going? Is anything happening?" Remilia looks thoughtful for a moment.
"Want a fun Incident to happen for your friend's visit, hm?" You start to nod energetically, because why wouldn't Lutecia love seeing top-class danmaku battles? But then you think again - an incident means things are happening, and places might be unavailable, and …. A chuckle from your sister brings you out of your worry, and you glower at her. "I'm sorry, Flandre. Of course, the younger Scarlet travelling Gensokyo will likely be considered an Incident itself, let alone that you'll have a friend with you. As it stands, though … not so much has happened in the months you've been gone. No Incidents, no major political plays, just those two popes on their mountains bickering over the proper way to do things. Well, if anything else has happened, no one's told me about it …." You tilt your head again, confused - Remilia knows as much about the political happenings in Gensokyo as the Tengu, if not more! - and Remilia's face darkens. You study your sister - apprehension? Guilt? "I … have not keeping up with my duties as much as I had been, these past few months. Haven't been paying attention to things that have been said, changes that have occurred, and I may have missed something that I ought to have noticed." You shrink a little - Remilia's been neglecting her duties because of you - but she shakes her head and smiles gently, stroking your cheek. "Now, now, it's alright. Think of something happier." You try to smile back at her, but you're not sure how successful you are.
"Did you at least get to do anything fun?" She tilts her head, and you put your arms behind your back. "Um, you said Patchouli made you stop watching me, and then she lost track of me. You didn't spend all that time worrying?" She sighs and shakes her head, smiling wryly at you.
"Ah. Yes, I did some … venting. An interesting world," she pulls the portals around and you see a ruined, melted city, "ancient and foolish. When she first lost you, I had to do something foolish or I would have injured her, and so I went there. I think … I think even you would have tired of the killing." You snort and put your hands on your hips. "Really, Flandre. Wolfkin, feral and half-mad, directed by powerful and intelligent but blunt and short-sighted leaders. Few humans, for their civilizations had been sacked by the beasts. Giants with stone bodies and ogre slaves. Little enough in the way of challenge … though I did bring back some trinkets. After that? A few jaunts, to set things in motion should they be required, but nothing of use or interest." She smiles as the portals move back, showing the Library again. She hugs you, preparing to leave, but you struggle out and take a step back as she flinches.
"Ah, one more thing!" Remilia relaxes as you take out the strange helmet you found in Blackreach. "Do you know anything about this? It's kind of … itchy. I thought about asking the magicians here, but …." She shakes her head as she takes it from you.
"They're poor excuses for magicians anyway. Hmm … anti-vampire enchantment. Designed to repel them, doesn't really work without the support, though. A low-class vampire might find itself unable to strike a properly-accoutered warrior, at least in melee, and would probably feel uncomfortable being around an individual for any period of time. Why the interest?" She gives you a calculating look over the helmet, and you shrug.
"I found that when I was looking for the plants, and it seemed like they were fighting the goblins down there. But if they're vampire hunters …." You trail off, not sure how to continue, and a green tentacle spears the helmet. Remilia shoots it an annoyed glance, and you turn to see a mass of tentacles and eyeballs poking out of an inky blackness. Remilia sighs.
"Flandre, this is the local equivalent of Yukari, although I trust it rather more than I do her." You watch it curiously, then jerk your head back to stare at your sister as she continues. "It's a Daedric Prince, Hermaeus Mora, and its sphere is Fate and Knowledge." Another tentacle steals the helmet away from the first, then a third bats it away to lie at your feet, whole and undamaged. "I suppose you know something, then, if you're making your presence plain?" It … speaks, sort of; it certainly makes sounds, but its words also reverberate through your head, echoing oddly.
"Indeed, little Scarlet. These … Dawnguard, have recently acquired an … outsider. It threatens to disrupt some interests. It will not … desist, and I will learn its knowledge so it shall not be lost. Of course, it is not so … simple. Perhaps another outsider might intervene?" You can tell Remilia disapproves, but now you're curious. Such a powerful entity needs a middleman?
"You want me to take this outsider to you?" It chuckles, and some of the eyes fade away as more tentacles pop into existence.
"Disarm it and bring it to me … or enslave it, or send it away. It is … a distraction." You cross your arms over your chest.
"And what would I get out of this if I help you?" One of the eyeball clusters draws near to you, the various pupils all focusing on you.
"Corral or kill the outsider, and I will … shield you from the other Princes. Give me the outsider, and I will … show you how to heal what you did not know was damaged." You raise an eyebrow - if you didn't know it was damaged, does it really matter if it gets healed or not? Still, not needing to worry about something that powerful would be helpful, especially since Remilia said you couldn't - wouldn't be able to - fight them. You glance at her, and she's standing still, frozen. But then she relaxes, frowning; maybe she knows something, or maybe she just has a guess. Either way ….
"Hmm …. So if I deal with this outsider my way, you'll stop the other Daedric Princes? But this wouldn't be a binding contract - if I decide to leave this outsider alone, I won't be reneging." The eyes spin around within their cluster dizzyingly.
"Haha! Yes …. Fail to deal with it appropriately, and I will take actions. Ignore it, if you wish. Now, the … knowledge to find it …." A trio of tentacles spiral lazily toward you, but Remilia steps forward, interposing herself with a blazing wall of scarlet energy.
"No. Tell her." Hermaeus Mora chuckles, and the tentacles are sucked back into their abyss.
"Very … well. To the west, on the isle of the dead, it will … come, eventually. To the south, near the city of … waste, it makes a lair. Now, it waits above the … caves, of Blackreach …." Remilia relaxes, and you curtsy.
"Thank you for the information. I'll try to use it promptly!" Your sister inclines her head as well, then gestures at the glowing orb.
"Thank you for your assistance. Your payment." A dozen tentacles capture the orb, twining around it instead of spearing it, and draw it outside reality, the inky blackness billowing out without increasing in scope before popping as Hermaeus Mora vanishes. Remilia sighs, wings drooping, and you step forward and hug her from behind.
"Thank you, Remilia." You bury your face in the side of her neck where it meets her shoulder. "For all this, for letting me go even when you wanted to come and make sure I was safe. For trusting me." You feel her hands clasp yours.
"Of course, Flandre. And we'll have a wonderful party for you when you return, won't we? Shall I invite the friends you're sure to make?" You release her, but she holds onto your left hand with her right, spinning to face you before pulling you into another brief hug. Her wings wrap over you comfortingly once more, and then she pulls away, eyes sparkling. "Anyway, I should go now, right? Take care of yourself, Flandre." You nod, vision blurring, and she darts into the portal. They fade away as she leaves, and you wait in the cool gloom until you're calmer. Then you take out one of the ivory rods - put it away - take it out - put it away - giggling all the while as portals burst into view then fade away. But that's enough fun, and you don't want to risk anything going wrong. You sigh and turn away from the hall, heading for the entrance. Time to find Mirabelle and get rid of these blasted plants.
Except …. Smiling happily, you rush to the entry hall and up the staircase to the room where Lutecia had been waiting. Safe from prying eyes, you change into your newly-reinforced clothes. Now that you don't have to worry about them being too worn or damaged, you can meet people properly! You spin, admiring how the skirt settles properly against your leg, then click your shoes together before finally poofing your hat. Such perfect elegance cannot be matched! However, a thought strikes you - the plants are red, and while you aren't exactly a fan of their tone, Meiling might like them! And of course you wouldn't think of this until after Remilia left. Still, you could always go back through Blackreach … unless you forget. After a few more moments of debate, you take one of the plants out and store it safely away - if you remember to get more, that's good, if you forget or can't, you still have something.
Now you're ready to finish the task you agreed to, and your first stop is the rest of the tower. Another door by the one you came up leads to another staircase, this one leading up. Since that's almost certainly roof access, you ignore it and head back down to see what's behind the other door. Which turns out to be a modest library, although you can tell that the top row of shelving on several bookcases have enchanted books of some kind. You open one of the normal books, curious, then scowl and toss it back onto a table - the necklace you're wearing might let you understand what people are saying, but it's no help understanding written language. You sigh and head back down to the entry, only to run into Mirabelle, Savos, and Ancano, along with a green-skinned old man who simply walks past you up to the library. Rude … but understandable if he's the librarian. Even Patchouli can be rude to Remilia if she's worried about her books. You grin and hold the pack out to Mirabelle.
"Hehe! Seven Crimson Nirnroot for you." You hop back and drift into the air, amused at the obvious nervousness of the magicians in front of you.
"Then … they're really there? And not as hard to find as we thought?" You shrug at her question.
"Well, the goblins are down there, and their pet bugs, and there are some kind of ruins. And you can find some around the water, but about … oh, forty or so kilometers north of the entrance you sent me to there's a mushroom forest. Straight line, of course - if you follow the roads around it's a good bit longer. Anyway, it seems more of them can be found underneath the really tall mushrooms. I guess the goblins can't find them, because they're blind and the plants are too far to hear unless you have really good hearing." The magicians frown at your explanation.
"Er, 'goblins?' What sort of creature are you referring to?" You tap your cheek thoughtfully, then shrug again.
"The same creatures that attacked the caravan. Sedris had my drawings, right? So that's what they look like - pallid skin, like white fish meat, shriveled eyes, and so on. Seem to be blind, or incapable of identifying things by sight. Use some kind of large bug-thing as pets and material for armor, weapons, tools." You shrug. "They die pretty easy, though. Oh, and there were some … Dawnguard people down there as well. They killed a bunch of the goblins at some point." Ancano starts shaking his head angrily as Savos looks at him unhappily.
"No, no, no, they aren't real -"
"The Falmer are real, Ancano. She wouldn't even know why they're important." You manage to keep your eyes from narrowing. Falmer? Dunmer and Aldmer, those are elves. So the goblins are elves, too.
"What about the ruins?" You take the face mask out, ignoring Mirabelle's stunned expression. "They made stuff like this." Savos nods.
"Dwemer work. It would explain why some ruins are more dangerous than others." He looks again at Ancano. "Ursa Uthrax's hypothesis seems to bear out. Falmer living in Dwemer ruins, apparently subsisting on fungi, -"
"No! This will not stand!" Ancano turns and storms out of the hall, then turns and levels an accusing finger at Savos. "This … this Blackreach does not exist, but if it does, if this is not some hoax, then I will see it destroyed!" He spins and stalks away, kicking at the snow in a fit. Savos sighs and shakes his head.
"Well … he'll be leaving soon, probably. If I may ask, what happened to the Eye of Magnus?" You blink and look at him confusedly.
"Eye of Magnus?"
"The orb that was in the hall. It … activated, yesterday, when we were trying to study it. Something …." She winces and puts a hand against her head. Hmm … maybe your sister is keeping a low profile? You shrug. That gets you a glower, but it's nothing to worry about, and Mirabelle sighs again. "Great. Well, you can stay here for now, if you wish, in the same room you were in earlier. Good night." She heads up the staircase leading to the library. Savos watches you curiously, then shakes his head slowly and smiles.
"Yes, good night, Miss Scarlet. I'm afraid it's too late to be doing anything else tonight. I'm not quite sure what has happened … but so long as the College remains secure, I'm sure it will all turn out alright." He bows and shuffles up the stairs leading to the room upstairs. You wonder how he'll react when he sees the tree. Oh, well. You drift outside, luxuriating in the fresh night air. Where to go, where to go? To the west, to find this … isle of the dead? South, to the 'city of waste?' Or back to Blackreach, to explore and see if you can find the outsider directly? You pat your stomach. You're not really hungry, right now, thanks to your sister, but you should probably grab a snack or two, keep the rest of the blood packs for when you need to feed but can't do it properly.
What do you do?
[ ] Go back to Blackreach.
- [ ] Stopover in Winterhold to feed, first.
- [ ] Explore to the west of the cavern.
- [ ] Explore to the north of the cavern.
[ ] Go south, try to find the city of waste.
- [ ] Stopover in Winterhold to feed.
- [ ] Stopover in Windhelm to feed.
- [ ] Avoid fights.
[ ] Go west, to find the isle of the dead.
- [ ] Stopover in Winterhold to feed.
- [ ] Stopover in Dawnstar to feed, if you travel that far.
- [ ] Avoid fights.
[ ] Other?
DM Note: And there goes a great opportunity to learn more about the current portal locations. Also, first post has some more pictures, because I've been meaning to do that for a while.
Oopsies! Fixed.
