AN// This is a continuation to...
Making Connections
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AN// This is a continuation to http://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/threads/that-first-step-si.5342/. If you have not read it yet, I recommend you do or things might be a bit confusing. This is the forth story in the series.
Anyway, on with the story.
_____________________
The wind whistled past me as I beat my wings, the frigid sea far below went by quickly as I soared.
In the distance, close to the horizon the Nexus reached towards the skies. Just above me the cloud layer was heavy, snow was heavy in the air and the sun was quickly starting to set.
I really, really loved flying.
Pulling up I rolled, swooping around in a barrel roll as I crossed across the shores of Coldarra.
Flying was freedom.
A kind of freedom that was all too rare. The only times I could really justify it was when going hunting.
There was simply to much work too do. Going through and administrating the research teams, reviewing the results of the information gathered by the Azure Consortium, and the teams that then researched uses and possible modifications to be used by other Branches.
Dragons from all Flights but the Black were members of the Azure Consortium. Or rather, the research teams. The Consortium in a way only operated off world.
I had thought about bringing Venir and the company into it though. But... the knowledge that could be gathered like that we could only get from the Dragon flights.
It would let us sell it, a way to spread knowledge on Azeroth easier. Bring in more money as well that could be used to purchase other information.
On one hand, the Flights already had 'a lot' of money.
But on the other claw, I disliked pulling on Flight resources unless I really, really, needed to.
My goal with this 'was' to improve everyone's life if I could, and that meant getting that information out there and on sale.
I needed to discuss the matter with Venir.
Diving down slightly I avoided a full sized Dragon heading out for a hunt, letting out a cry of greeting and getting one back as we passed in the air.
Folding my wings, I let myself drop through the air, rolling before I spread my wings and swooped down the mountain side, making use of the ground effect to stop myself from hitting the ground.
Banking slightly to the right I avoided a pine tree before pulling up, flapping hard and pulling into a loop before doing a lazy S turn to bleed of speed.
One more powerful flap of my wings and I set down in the soft white powder snow, sinking down to my stomach.
Yawning I stretched before I let myself relax, dropping to lay down in the soft snow, sinking down to the middle of my body, closing my eyes.
Damn, this was comfortable.
"Atregos."
I opened my eyes, looking up at the blue dragon standing, looking down at me, "Masagos."
He tilted his head, "Good hunt?"
Nodding I got up, stretching my wings as I sat down, "It was. Caribou."
"A nice snack." He chuckled, "But not really worth hunting for me."
True that.
A adult Dragon really needed something a bit meatier. A Caribou left me very full. He would need at least three for a full meal.
"You wished to speak to me, Masagos?"
He nodded and laid down to bring us to more of a 'even level'. It wasn't as bad as when talking to a Wyrm, but he was still at least three times my own size.
"We finished preliminary results of enchantments from the Skyrim province."
Masagos was very, very good at enchantments. He made Sheila look like a schoolgirl.
Although... that's an idea...
...An idea I should put away and save for a special opportunity and not think about now.
He was leading the team working on enchanted objects... and he was not very happy with me being in charge of it all.
It was 'rare' that a Drake was put in charge of anything. As in almost never happened. But it was decided by ability and I was the most qualified one in this circumstance.
I was the expert on those worlds.
He could challenge me for it if he thought he was a more qualified leader, but he had not yet. Which I was very thankful for because he could most likely squish me.
Not that it would get physical. It was really rare for a challenge to proceed past what was mostly a debate, and if it actually got to the fighting part, it was to surrender or death.
It almost never got to the actual death part unless somebody got very unlucky.
"It is not enchantment. Not as the way we use it in any case. They use the energy released by the death of a being, binding it into the object and use it to power the effects of their choice."
I started up at him for a long moment.
I didn't bother asking if he was sure. He wouldn't have come to me with the result otherwise.
"They use necromancy to power their enchantments?"
He tilted his head, "In the strictest meaning of death magic, yes. But it's not the actual soul of the creature that is used, but rather the energy released upon the passing of it. Without an actual manual on the subject or without seeing the act preformed, we do not know. If you could acquire either a manual or a filled soul gem, that would clarify things."
Getting up, I nodded, "I'll see if I can find either on the next trip. It's in a few days so you should not need to wait for too long."
AN// Many thanks to Zebrin for betaing this section. I'm not happy with the title, that is the hardest part of writing, but it will have to work. Better than the alternative of 'Dragon things on'. It might change in the future though.
Anyway, on with the story.
_____________________
The wind whistled past me as I beat my wings, the frigid sea far below went by quickly as I soared.
In the distance, close to the horizon the Nexus reached towards the skies. Just above me the cloud layer was heavy, snow was heavy in the air and the sun was quickly starting to set.
I really, really loved flying.
Pulling up I rolled, swooping around in a barrel roll as I crossed across the shores of Coldarra.
Flying was freedom.
A kind of freedom that was all too rare. The only times I could really justify it was when going hunting.
There was simply to much work too do. Going through and administrating the research teams, reviewing the results of the information gathered by the Azure Consortium, and the teams that then researched uses and possible modifications to be used by other Branches.
Dragons from all Flights but the Black were members of the Azure Consortium. Or rather, the research teams. The Consortium in a way only operated off world.
I had thought about bringing Venir and the company into it though. But... the knowledge that could be gathered like that we could only get from the Dragon flights.
It would let us sell it, a way to spread knowledge on Azeroth easier. Bring in more money as well that could be used to purchase other information.
On one hand, the Flights already had 'a lot' of money.
But on the other claw, I disliked pulling on Flight resources unless I really, really, needed to.
My goal with this 'was' to improve everyone's life if I could, and that meant getting that information out there and on sale.
I needed to discuss the matter with Venir.
Diving down slightly I avoided a full sized Dragon heading out for a hunt, letting out a cry of greeting and getting one back as we passed in the air.
Folding my wings, I let myself drop through the air, rolling before I spread my wings and swooped down the mountain side, making use of the ground effect to stop myself from hitting the ground.
Banking slightly to the right I avoided a pine tree before pulling up, flapping hard and pulling into a loop before doing a lazy S turn to bleed of speed.
One more powerful flap of my wings and I set down in the soft white powder snow, sinking down to my stomach.
Yawning I stretched before I let myself relax, dropping to lay down in the soft snow, sinking down to the middle of my body, closing my eyes.
Damn, this was comfortable.
"Atregos."
I opened my eyes, looking up at the blue dragon standing, looking down at me, "Masagos."
He tilted his head, "Good hunt?"
Nodding I got up, stretching my wings as I sat down, "It was. Caribou."
"A nice snack." He chuckled, "But not really worth hunting for me."
True that.
A adult Dragon really needed something a bit meatier. A Caribou left me very full. He would need at least three for a full meal.
"You wished to speak to me, Masagos?"
He nodded and laid down to bring us to more of a 'even level'. It wasn't as bad as when talking to a Wyrm, but he was still at least three times my own size.
"We finished preliminary results of enchantments from the Skyrim province."
Masagos was very, very good at enchantments. He made Sheila look like a schoolgirl.
Although... that's an idea...
...An idea I should put away and save for a special opportunity and not think about now.
He was leading the team working on enchanted objects... and he was not very happy with me being in charge of it all.
It was 'rare' that a Drake was put in charge of anything. As in almost never happened. But it was decided by ability and I was the most qualified one in this circumstance.
I was the expert on those worlds.
He could challenge me for it if he thought he was a more qualified leader, but he had not yet. Which I was very thankful for because he could most likely squish me.
Not that it would get physical. It was really rare for a challenge to proceed past what was mostly a debate, and if it actually got to the fighting part, it was to surrender or death.
It almost never got to the actual death part unless somebody got very unlucky.
"It is not enchantment. Not as the way we use it in any case. They use the energy released by the death of a being, binding it into the object and use it to power the effects of their choice."
I started up at him for a long moment.
I didn't bother asking if he was sure. He wouldn't have come to me with the result otherwise.
"They use necromancy to power their enchantments?"
He tilted his head, "In the strictest meaning of death magic, yes. But it's not the actual soul of the creature that is used, but rather the energy released upon the passing of it. Without an actual manual on the subject or without seeing the act preformed, we do not know. If you could acquire either a manual or a filled soul gem, that would clarify things."
Getting up, I nodded, "I'll see if I can find either on the next trip. It's in a few days so you should not need to wait for too long."
AN// Many thanks to Zebrin for betaing this section. I'm not happy with the title, that is the hardest part of writing, but it will have to work. Better than the alternative of 'Dragon things on'. It might change in the future though.
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I slowly opened my eyes, purring softly as I took a slow breath of the frigid air of the Nexus. Rengosa shifted next to me, her head resting across my neck, keeping me from moving without her noticing.
Closing my eyes again, I just enjoyed the moment. The only thing missing was Sheila, but she was visiting her parents on their farm for a week.
While I missed her, it was nice to get a week to just be a dragon. Not like she would have enjoyed sleeping here anyway. Too cold.
A thought slowly made it's way into my head and I purred deeper. Actually getting to sleep until I woke up on my own was a rare thing unto itself, especially while at The Nexus.
Ren had been right back then, I needed to delegate.
Even so, the last year had been somewhat stressful, even though I kept my trips to the branches to once every three months.
That still meant one trip a month as well as some exploring in between. It seemed I had been either lucky to find three worlds with people in a row or I simply ended up in uninhabited areas on trips since.
I had thought about expanding the time spent exploring, but quite frankly, even with delegating a lot of the research, I still had my claws full.
Another thing Ren had been right about was that I had a lot of volunteers to help, even from the other Dragonflights.
Oh, most were from The Blue Dragonflight, but a good number were from the other flights with the Black Dragonflight being the exception. They didn't have the people.
Hence why I was not very surprised when I opened my eyes at the sound of steps as a dragoness padded into the chamber, bowing her head slightly, "Atregos."
"Zrazta." I said and lifted my head, causing Ren to open her eyes and move her head off my neck before closing her eyes again and relaxing, "Good Morning."
"Good morning." She said as she moved to lay down, resting her head on her frontlegs as she faced me.
Zrazta was the granddaughter of Alexstrasza, a rather beautiful red drake, just over seventy years old. She was larger than me and Ren. Almost fifty percent larger than Ren.
"You have results for me." I said and yawned, shifting to lay on my front, crossing my forelegs, still trying to wake up.
She lifted her head slightly and nodded, "I do, World Walker." as she shifted her wings, "The agility potion can be replicated, if with somewhat lower results using local ingredients found in Westeros. However, according to our information several of the plants are not available in Essos."
Zrazta was very talented in the area of potion making and she could use Green mana. I had to have some sort of qualification required to be approved or I would drown in requests. Everyone working on this had to be capable of using Land mana. Even better if they had a mana bond.
Zrazta had both.
Also, I really disliked the title I had been given.
It wasn't official like Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, but it seemed to have caught on. I found it more embarrassing than anything else.
I nodded, "Good work. That mean we can add that recipe to the next information package."
Zrazta nodded, "We can." and she put her head back down on her frontpaws, watching me, "Would it be possible to get more samples of 'milk of the poppy' from that world? While a weak poison and a strong sedative, I believe it might be used to improve several other sedative potions while limiting the toxic and addictive properties. But I am out of supplies."
"It should be possible. While somewhat expensive, it is not extremely so. Can it wait until the next scheduled drop off?"
"It can. It was simply a request." She said, looking quite happy, her tail club twitching as she shifted her wings, "Thank you."
"You do good work, Zrazta." I said, "Seeing what you come up with next is a pleasure. If keeping you supplied with exotic ingredients is the price, it is well worth it."
Getting up she moved closer, her eyes locked on Rengosa as she gave my shoulder a quick bump with her muzzle, "I should return to the lab, World Walker."
"I will be stopping by later to pick up a full list of ongoing projects."
She nodded, "I will see you then." before she turned and padded out.
"She likes you." Ren purred and nuzzled at my neck, giving a small nip, "Wants to be your consort."
"I know."
"Wants you to bite the back of her neck while you..."
I rolled my eyes and turned to nuzzle softly, giving her a lick between the eyes, interrupting her with a small growl "Behave."
"Zrazta would be a good addition. I need to talk to Sheila about it."
Oh yes. That would go over well.
Sheila tolerated Ren because she was my best friend. It took a month before they became actual friends.
While they did cuddle from time to time now, especially while we were all reading on the couch, neither of them was actually interested in females.
Which meant adding Zrazta to this, no matter how good looking she was, would have a rather adverse reaction from Sheila.
There was no way I was subjecting Sheila to that again.
Even so...
I sighed and nodded, "I will tell her. So she is not as surprised as last time."
Ren purred softly, "I will..."
"Do nothing." I said, looking down at her, "I will tell Sheila so she can say no properly."
Ren tilted her head and rolled onto her back to look up at me, giving me a curious look, "But you find her attractive."
Growl.
It was kind of hard not to. Intelligent and extremely good looking? Like I could help it.
"I do. But that is all it is. Attraction. Sheila has gotten used to you. She had to force herself to, even though she likes you. I refuse to put her in that situation again!"
"It is not your choice, Atregos. It is up to your First Consort. She will need to know that you like Zrazta and that is where your participation in the matter ends." Rengosa growled back, "It is up to Sheila who she approve or not."
"She won't approve it." I said and nuzzled at her neck.
Ren nodded, "Likely not. But the choice is hers to make with all the information available. Not yours."
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
Closing my eyes again, I just enjoyed the moment. The only thing missing was Sheila, but she was visiting her parents on their farm for a week.
While I missed her, it was nice to get a week to just be a dragon. Not like she would have enjoyed sleeping here anyway. Too cold.
A thought slowly made it's way into my head and I purred deeper. Actually getting to sleep until I woke up on my own was a rare thing unto itself, especially while at The Nexus.
Ren had been right back then, I needed to delegate.
Even so, the last year had been somewhat stressful, even though I kept my trips to the branches to once every three months.
That still meant one trip a month as well as some exploring in between. It seemed I had been either lucky to find three worlds with people in a row or I simply ended up in uninhabited areas on trips since.
I had thought about expanding the time spent exploring, but quite frankly, even with delegating a lot of the research, I still had my claws full.
Another thing Ren had been right about was that I had a lot of volunteers to help, even from the other Dragonflights.
Oh, most were from The Blue Dragonflight, but a good number were from the other flights with the Black Dragonflight being the exception. They didn't have the people.
Hence why I was not very surprised when I opened my eyes at the sound of steps as a dragoness padded into the chamber, bowing her head slightly, "Atregos."
"Zrazta." I said and lifted my head, causing Ren to open her eyes and move her head off my neck before closing her eyes again and relaxing, "Good Morning."
"Good morning." She said as she moved to lay down, resting her head on her frontlegs as she faced me.
Zrazta was the granddaughter of Alexstrasza, a rather beautiful red drake, just over seventy years old. She was larger than me and Ren. Almost fifty percent larger than Ren.
"You have results for me." I said and yawned, shifting to lay on my front, crossing my forelegs, still trying to wake up.
She lifted her head slightly and nodded, "I do, World Walker." as she shifted her wings, "The agility potion can be replicated, if with somewhat lower results using local ingredients found in Westeros. However, according to our information several of the plants are not available in Essos."
Zrazta was very talented in the area of potion making and she could use Green mana. I had to have some sort of qualification required to be approved or I would drown in requests. Everyone working on this had to be capable of using Land mana. Even better if they had a mana bond.
Zrazta had both.
Also, I really disliked the title I had been given.
It wasn't official like Alexstrasza the Life-Binder, but it seemed to have caught on. I found it more embarrassing than anything else.
I nodded, "Good work. That mean we can add that recipe to the next information package."
Zrazta nodded, "We can." and she put her head back down on her frontpaws, watching me, "Would it be possible to get more samples of 'milk of the poppy' from that world? While a weak poison and a strong sedative, I believe it might be used to improve several other sedative potions while limiting the toxic and addictive properties. But I am out of supplies."
"It should be possible. While somewhat expensive, it is not extremely so. Can it wait until the next scheduled drop off?"
"It can. It was simply a request." She said, looking quite happy, her tail club twitching as she shifted her wings, "Thank you."
"You do good work, Zrazta." I said, "Seeing what you come up with next is a pleasure. If keeping you supplied with exotic ingredients is the price, it is well worth it."
Getting up she moved closer, her eyes locked on Rengosa as she gave my shoulder a quick bump with her muzzle, "I should return to the lab, World Walker."
"I will be stopping by later to pick up a full list of ongoing projects."
She nodded, "I will see you then." before she turned and padded out.
"She likes you." Ren purred and nuzzled at my neck, giving a small nip, "Wants to be your consort."
"I know."
"Wants you to bite the back of her neck while you..."
I rolled my eyes and turned to nuzzle softly, giving her a lick between the eyes, interrupting her with a small growl "Behave."
"Zrazta would be a good addition. I need to talk to Sheila about it."
Oh yes. That would go over well.
Sheila tolerated Ren because she was my best friend. It took a month before they became actual friends.
While they did cuddle from time to time now, especially while we were all reading on the couch, neither of them was actually interested in females.
Which meant adding Zrazta to this, no matter how good looking she was, would have a rather adverse reaction from Sheila.
There was no way I was subjecting Sheila to that again.
Even so...
I sighed and nodded, "I will tell her. So she is not as surprised as last time."
Ren purred softly, "I will..."
"Do nothing." I said, looking down at her, "I will tell Sheila so she can say no properly."
Ren tilted her head and rolled onto her back to look up at me, giving me a curious look, "But you find her attractive."
Growl.
It was kind of hard not to. Intelligent and extremely good looking? Like I could help it.
"I do. But that is all it is. Attraction. Sheila has gotten used to you. She had to force herself to, even though she likes you. I refuse to put her in that situation again!"
"It is not your choice, Atregos. It is up to your First Consort. She will need to know that you like Zrazta and that is where your participation in the matter ends." Rengosa growled back, "It is up to Sheila who she approve or not."
"She won't approve it." I said and nuzzled at her neck.
Ren nodded, "Likely not. But the choice is hers to make with all the information available. Not yours."
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
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"No."
I nodded. "I just wanted to warn you." I said. "Zrazta might approach you or she might not."
Sheila did not look happy as she glared up at me. "Do you like her?"
"He does." Ren injected from my other side on the couch.
Not! Helping! The hell, Ren!?
Glare!
"Not like..." I started and sighed. Fuck it. "She is pretty, that is all. Just thought you deserved a warning."
She glared at me for another moment before she sighed and got up from the couch. "Dragons. I'm going for a walk."
"Sheila, I didn't mean that..."
Slam.
I twitched as the door shut behind her and I sighed, collapsing back against the couch.
That went well.
"..She reacted more strongly than I thought." Ren said and frowned.
I growled and got up as well. "You made it worse."
"I didn't mean to! But you were not telling her what she needed to know."
"You have been learning about humans for a year! How did that possibly sound like a good idea!?" I exclaimed before I sighed, running my hand down my face. "Sheila had the right idea. I'm going for a walk."
Slamming the door closed I stalked down the stairs and onto the street, taking a right.
Fuck it all.
I loved Ren, but sometimes she had such problems with the human viewpoint of things. I know she was just trying to help but...
It's going to blow over when we all calmed down, but right now, things were a bit stressed.
Spotting a familiar shape in white I headed over there. "Hey." I said softly.
Sheila was sitting on the edge of the canal and threw a small rock into the water before looking up at me. "Hey. Can we.... not... right now."
I nodded but sat down next to her anyway. "I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Not your fault." she said, looking down at the small rock in her hand. "Ren was... Ren is one thing. You love her and she is one of my best friends now. I don't mind it anymore. But I... I can't..."
"You don't need to. I told you, I just wanted to warn you so it was not out of the blue." I said as I put my arm around her shoulders.
Sheila shrugged my arm off her. "I know! It's just..." she started before she looked at me, tears in her eyes. "For how long? Sooner or later, there is going to be someone else."
"For forever if that is what you want. I would never hurt you like that."
She let her head drop slightly against my shoulder. "...I know. But is that what you want? What's best for you?"
I nuzzled softly at her hair. "You are what's best for me." I put my arm around her again. "You are who I want."
Sheila smiled sadly up at me. "But Ren said..."
I shook my head. "Ren says a lot of things. All of them true from her perspective, she grew up as a dragon. For her, all of this is very natural and makes complete sense. She thinks the way mortals do things is just as odd as you think the way dragons do things are."
Sheila nodded against my shoulder. "...Tell me honestly what you think of Zrazta?"
"She is... impressive, intelligent and attractive." I told her carefully, "But not worth it."
She looked up at me for a long moment and nodded before she sighed. "Thank you for the warning."
I smiled softly. "At least now you know not to slug her if she kisses you."
Sheila rolled her eyes. "I know how to say 'no thank you' properly now." She shifted up to kiss me on the cheek. "Next time we go to the Nexus, I'll spend some time in the potion lab, give her opportunity to ask. I have some things I need to do there anyway."
"Speaking of which..." I said and ran my fingers through her hair. "Would you consent to a magical scan by Kalecgos?"
"What for?" She asked, looking curious.
"He want to compare them to scans of Lady Proudmoore to make sure that long exposure to Dragons is safe for mortals, so you don't develop some kind of magical allergy or something." I explained, lying through my teeth. "It shouldn't take more than a hour at most. Prolonged exposure for generations created the Dragonkin, we just want to be sure."
The hell it was, even though it could likely be used like that too.
What it was for was to get a clear scan of her magical field to see if it could be integrated into the ritual. If it just needed to turn her into a dragon, just the body and instincts, not the soul and magic, it would be possible to cut away three fifths of the complexity and control needed.
It might actually be possible to do that way.
Kalecgos didn't want Lady Proudmoore to die from old age any more than I wanted to lose Sheila. If they were turned into dragons with the new ritual variation, they would be limited to their magic as it was now instead of the boost as a dragon. But they would gain the immortality.
But it would cut Sheila's connection to Fel magics, booting her back down to what she had before.
If it even worked, which was why he needed scans for the calculations.
I didn't want to get her hopes up in case the calculations didn't work out. Nor did I want to worry her.
When it was done, then I would ask her. Then it was up to her.
Sheila nodded. "Sure." She frowned and continued, "But we should get back, it's getting cold."
I looked up at the dark night sky and then nodded. "Come on." I said and helped her to her feet. "I... should probably apologize to Ren too. I yelled at her a bit."
She smiled faintly and took my arm, hooking hers around it. "We should be able to find some flowers on the way back."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I nodded. "I just wanted to warn you." I said. "Zrazta might approach you or she might not."
Sheila did not look happy as she glared up at me. "Do you like her?"
"He does." Ren injected from my other side on the couch.
Not! Helping! The hell, Ren!?
Glare!
"Not like..." I started and sighed. Fuck it. "She is pretty, that is all. Just thought you deserved a warning."
She glared at me for another moment before she sighed and got up from the couch. "Dragons. I'm going for a walk."
"Sheila, I didn't mean that..."
Slam.
I twitched as the door shut behind her and I sighed, collapsing back against the couch.
That went well.
"..She reacted more strongly than I thought." Ren said and frowned.
I growled and got up as well. "You made it worse."
"I didn't mean to! But you were not telling her what she needed to know."
"You have been learning about humans for a year! How did that possibly sound like a good idea!?" I exclaimed before I sighed, running my hand down my face. "Sheila had the right idea. I'm going for a walk."
Slamming the door closed I stalked down the stairs and onto the street, taking a right.
Fuck it all.
I loved Ren, but sometimes she had such problems with the human viewpoint of things. I know she was just trying to help but...
It's going to blow over when we all calmed down, but right now, things were a bit stressed.
Spotting a familiar shape in white I headed over there. "Hey." I said softly.
Sheila was sitting on the edge of the canal and threw a small rock into the water before looking up at me. "Hey. Can we.... not... right now."
I nodded but sat down next to her anyway. "I'm sorry."
She shook her head. "Not your fault." she said, looking down at the small rock in her hand. "Ren was... Ren is one thing. You love her and she is one of my best friends now. I don't mind it anymore. But I... I can't..."
"You don't need to. I told you, I just wanted to warn you so it was not out of the blue." I said as I put my arm around her shoulders.
Sheila shrugged my arm off her. "I know! It's just..." she started before she looked at me, tears in her eyes. "For how long? Sooner or later, there is going to be someone else."
"For forever if that is what you want. I would never hurt you like that."
She let her head drop slightly against my shoulder. "...I know. But is that what you want? What's best for you?"
I nuzzled softly at her hair. "You are what's best for me." I put my arm around her again. "You are who I want."
Sheila smiled sadly up at me. "But Ren said..."
I shook my head. "Ren says a lot of things. All of them true from her perspective, she grew up as a dragon. For her, all of this is very natural and makes complete sense. She thinks the way mortals do things is just as odd as you think the way dragons do things are."
Sheila nodded against my shoulder. "...Tell me honestly what you think of Zrazta?"
"She is... impressive, intelligent and attractive." I told her carefully, "But not worth it."
She looked up at me for a long moment and nodded before she sighed. "Thank you for the warning."
I smiled softly. "At least now you know not to slug her if she kisses you."
Sheila rolled her eyes. "I know how to say 'no thank you' properly now." She shifted up to kiss me on the cheek. "Next time we go to the Nexus, I'll spend some time in the potion lab, give her opportunity to ask. I have some things I need to do there anyway."
"Speaking of which..." I said and ran my fingers through her hair. "Would you consent to a magical scan by Kalecgos?"
"What for?" She asked, looking curious.
"He want to compare them to scans of Lady Proudmoore to make sure that long exposure to Dragons is safe for mortals, so you don't develop some kind of magical allergy or something." I explained, lying through my teeth. "It shouldn't take more than a hour at most. Prolonged exposure for generations created the Dragonkin, we just want to be sure."
The hell it was, even though it could likely be used like that too.
What it was for was to get a clear scan of her magical field to see if it could be integrated into the ritual. If it just needed to turn her into a dragon, just the body and instincts, not the soul and magic, it would be possible to cut away three fifths of the complexity and control needed.
It might actually be possible to do that way.
Kalecgos didn't want Lady Proudmoore to die from old age any more than I wanted to lose Sheila. If they were turned into dragons with the new ritual variation, they would be limited to their magic as it was now instead of the boost as a dragon. But they would gain the immortality.
But it would cut Sheila's connection to Fel magics, booting her back down to what she had before.
If it even worked, which was why he needed scans for the calculations.
I didn't want to get her hopes up in case the calculations didn't work out. Nor did I want to worry her.
When it was done, then I would ask her. Then it was up to her.
Sheila nodded. "Sure." She frowned and continued, "But we should get back, it's getting cold."
I looked up at the dark night sky and then nodded. "Come on." I said and helped her to her feet. "I... should probably apologize to Ren too. I yelled at her a bit."
She smiled faintly and took my arm, hooking hers around it. "We should be able to find some flowers on the way back."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
"Are you sure about this, Ren?" I asked and gave her a small nuzzle.
She nodded, said: "I am." and sat down, flexing her wings. "I have to."
Sigh.
We did manage to copy the creation of soulstones by using Black mana which was really, really, good. That meant that we could survive a single lethal hit.
However, there was a problem. To make one, we needed a swamp or bog or similar place. Which meant either being in one or getting a connection to one.
While moving out would be easy enough, we just needed to visit a swamp and let Ren make one, but... without a connection, we would need to find a Swamp on the other side for her to be able to return.
That was way too risky.
Which meant that Ren planned to go stay in a swamp until she found a way to connect to it, some kind of emotional bond to it.
"I should go with you."
She shook her head and sighed. "No. I'm going to hate it and that might be what I need to get the connection. If you were there, it would all be okay. I have the necklace, you will know I'm safe."
She was wearing a metal collar with a gem in it, it was connected to one in my lab. As long as the one in my lab glowed, I would know she was fine.
I shifted closer to nuzzle her. "Be careful."
"Always."
Ren purred softly and gave me another nuzzle and a lick back before she turned and opened a portal before padding through.
Letting out a breath I laid down on the stone floor, looking at the place the portal had been.
"I know you are worried, I am too. But she will be fine, Atreus. She can handle herself." Sheila said gently and scratched softly between two of my neck horns.
"...I know."
She smiled softly and shifted to give my eye ridge a small kiss. "Go get your armor on, we need to move out too."
I nodded and got up, giving her a big lick across her face before I moved to pad out of the portal chamber at her 'yek!'
Chuckling, I made my way to my lab before examining my armor.
Brand new and self-enchanted. It covered more than my old one and was made entirely of that dwemer metal and as such was very heavily enchanted.
Agility, strength and magic channeling.
Casting the telekinesis spell I started to float the armor on.
Armored, clawed gauntlets for all four legs up to the 'knees'. Armored plates along my sides, neck and tail, covering my back and sides, armor covering my wing bones up to the first joint. It also had a saddle built into it just in front of my wings.
It was a bit tricky to put on as it had holes for my neck horns and needed to align just right.
Putting my helmet on was not very hard by comparison. It actually covered my nose horn, making it a bit longer and sharper but it did leave my jaw free to move and bite.
Giving a shake I tried to shake the armor off but the enchantment held it on as long as I didn't cast the 'unlock spell'.
With that I lifted the satchels up and hooked them onto the rings set into the armor just ahead of my wings, just under the saddle.
"Done?" Sheila asked as she walked in after me, putting her soulstone in the left bag before starting to undress, her clothes soon following the soulstone.
I nodded and gave her a small lick on the forehead. "Ready to move out. Got everything?"
She nodded and put her arms around my neck. "I think so. Let's go."
Closing my eyes I focused, channeling my mana before 'stepping' out of reality into what could only be described as anti-reality.
XXXXXX
Walking back into reality there was a bright flash of light and I looked around before looking up at the sky.
Shaking my head I opened a portal before tossing one of the bags through and triggering Sheila's soulstone. We were halfway across the world... and quite frankly, I had no idea where exactly, but it was way too cold for Sheila to be comfortable.
My consort reformed in fire and shadow before squealing as she ended up knee deep in the freezing snow. She snatched the last satchel from me and then dove through the portal, letting me close it behind her.
Chuckling, I shook my head and laid down, closing my eyes and starting to shift to mortal form.
I was getting faster, I was down to ten minutes. Way too slow to be useful in the middle of a crisis, but at least it was approaching practical speeds.
Opening my eyes again, I finished the spell, stood up and stretched before I frowned in thought and felt a sudden urge to facepalm. Bloody hell.
I forgot my damn spear at home!
Well, I was not going to go get it. It's on a different world. If my and Sheila's magic can't deal with the problem, we should likely not be fighting it anyway.
Besides, it was just a dropoff/pickup, there shouldn't be any fighting anyway!
Shaking my head, I pulled a portal stone from my belt pouch and opened the portal to Whiterun once more.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section. This is tomorrows part today as I will be busy all day tomorrow. At least to busy to be at the computer.
She nodded, said: "I am." and sat down, flexing her wings. "I have to."
Sigh.
We did manage to copy the creation of soulstones by using Black mana which was really, really, good. That meant that we could survive a single lethal hit.
However, there was a problem. To make one, we needed a swamp or bog or similar place. Which meant either being in one or getting a connection to one.
While moving out would be easy enough, we just needed to visit a swamp and let Ren make one, but... without a connection, we would need to find a Swamp on the other side for her to be able to return.
That was way too risky.
Which meant that Ren planned to go stay in a swamp until she found a way to connect to it, some kind of emotional bond to it.
"I should go with you."
She shook her head and sighed. "No. I'm going to hate it and that might be what I need to get the connection. If you were there, it would all be okay. I have the necklace, you will know I'm safe."
She was wearing a metal collar with a gem in it, it was connected to one in my lab. As long as the one in my lab glowed, I would know she was fine.
I shifted closer to nuzzle her. "Be careful."
"Always."
Ren purred softly and gave me another nuzzle and a lick back before she turned and opened a portal before padding through.
Letting out a breath I laid down on the stone floor, looking at the place the portal had been.
"I know you are worried, I am too. But she will be fine, Atreus. She can handle herself." Sheila said gently and scratched softly between two of my neck horns.
"...I know."
She smiled softly and shifted to give my eye ridge a small kiss. "Go get your armor on, we need to move out too."
I nodded and got up, giving her a big lick across her face before I moved to pad out of the portal chamber at her 'yek!'
Chuckling, I made my way to my lab before examining my armor.
Brand new and self-enchanted. It covered more than my old one and was made entirely of that dwemer metal and as such was very heavily enchanted.
Agility, strength and magic channeling.
Casting the telekinesis spell I started to float the armor on.
Armored, clawed gauntlets for all four legs up to the 'knees'. Armored plates along my sides, neck and tail, covering my back and sides, armor covering my wing bones up to the first joint. It also had a saddle built into it just in front of my wings.
It was a bit tricky to put on as it had holes for my neck horns and needed to align just right.
Putting my helmet on was not very hard by comparison. It actually covered my nose horn, making it a bit longer and sharper but it did leave my jaw free to move and bite.
Giving a shake I tried to shake the armor off but the enchantment held it on as long as I didn't cast the 'unlock spell'.
With that I lifted the satchels up and hooked them onto the rings set into the armor just ahead of my wings, just under the saddle.
"Done?" Sheila asked as she walked in after me, putting her soulstone in the left bag before starting to undress, her clothes soon following the soulstone.
I nodded and gave her a small lick on the forehead. "Ready to move out. Got everything?"
She nodded and put her arms around my neck. "I think so. Let's go."
Closing my eyes I focused, channeling my mana before 'stepping' out of reality into what could only be described as anti-reality.
XXXXXX
Walking back into reality there was a bright flash of light and I looked around before looking up at the sky.
Shaking my head I opened a portal before tossing one of the bags through and triggering Sheila's soulstone. We were halfway across the world... and quite frankly, I had no idea where exactly, but it was way too cold for Sheila to be comfortable.
My consort reformed in fire and shadow before squealing as she ended up knee deep in the freezing snow. She snatched the last satchel from me and then dove through the portal, letting me close it behind her.
Chuckling, I shook my head and laid down, closing my eyes and starting to shift to mortal form.
I was getting faster, I was down to ten minutes. Way too slow to be useful in the middle of a crisis, but at least it was approaching practical speeds.
Opening my eyes again, I finished the spell, stood up and stretched before I frowned in thought and felt a sudden urge to facepalm. Bloody hell.
I forgot my damn spear at home!
Well, I was not going to go get it. It's on a different world. If my and Sheila's magic can't deal with the problem, we should likely not be fighting it anyway.
Besides, it was just a dropoff/pickup, there shouldn't be any fighting anyway!
Shaking my head, I pulled a portal stone from my belt pouch and opened the portal to Whiterun once more.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section. This is tomorrows part today as I will be busy all day tomorrow. At least to busy to be at the computer.
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I followed Sheila out of the backroom of the local branch, "Galkir." I said and gave the local leader a nod as he looked up from the book he had been reading behind the counter.
The operation here was actually smaller than in Meereen.
The half nord/half imperial had divided things up, setting sub branches up in each of the holds and he had plans to expand to the rest of Cyrodiil as well.
"Ah! Master Atreus." he said with a grin as he closed the book and got up, "Lady Stark, a pleasure meeting you again."
"Good to see you as well, Galkir." she said with a smile, "Anything interesting going on?"
He shrugged, "I finished composing that report you wanted on Alteration. Other than that, just some more visitors from the College of Winterhold."
"They are still trying to bully information from you?" I asked with a frown. Maybe I should give a bit more hostile negotiations a try.
They kept trying to get him to join or give them the secrets for much less than what they were worth.
Not going to happen.
galkir shrugged and the large bald man stood up, "I hired some guards and the local Companions. I increased security too, brand new safe and hiding places. Put up some wards too."
I nodded, "I'll do some enchantments before we leave to. That should fuck nicely with anything they try." I said with a thoughtful frown.
Galkir didn't know we were not from this Plane, but he knew we were not from around here.
"Sounds good." He said and nodded, "Are you two staying long? Anything interesting to drop off?"
Sheila grinned, "A couple of days. And we have some things, mostly potion related. There is a variation of the regeneration potion in there that also restores mana, making it twice as effective without losing any strength."
Zrazta really was a genius. I really hope Sheila let her down easily.
"Really?" he asked as he smiled, "Now that is something I would be interested in having a look at."
"Any other news?" I asked and he shrugged.
"Just some rumors. The biggest one that are circulating is about Helgen being attacked by a dragon. I'm not putting much faith in it though." he said as he took the scrolls Sheila handed over, "Dragons have been extinct for a very long time."
I shared a glance with Sheila before I nodded, "Exactly what do the rumor say?"
He shrugged, "Not much more than that. Some say that the dragon burned the place to the ground and some say it simply burned a couple of houses. Either way, I don't believe a word of it. What worries me more is the Stormcloaks"
"Stormcloaks?" I asked and crossed my arms.
Galkir nodded, "Ulfric Stormcloak. He murdered the Highking and is now leading a rebellion against the Empire. Claiming to be the new Highking and to speak for all the Nords. The Legion is working to defeat the rebellion. I'm surprised you have not heard about it already."
Sheila nodded, "Think you can have a full report ready in a couple of days?"
He smiled, "Of course, Lady Stark."
"Good. We will be out of your way until then, then." She said and took my hand, leading the way outside.
We headed down the street and around the corner where I pulled her close, "So what do you think?" I asked softly as I put my arms around her.
"Not sure." she murmured back, "It might be true. I don't know."
"It's not my kind of Dragons at least." I said as I ran my fingers through her hair, "But we should investigate this if we can. I'm more worried about this rebellion. Those things have the potential to seriously destabilize the region."
Sheila nodded, "Yeah, me too. We might need to visit more often to keep a eye on what's going on. It wouldn't do to return and portal into the middle of a battle while naked."
I grinned at that, "That mean you have to get dressed before we open the portal in the future."
"...You just like a excuse to watch."
Chuckling I gave her a small kiss, "So, so guilty."
She smiled playfully and pulled back, "Come on, let's head to the Tavern. I'm hungry, they make a great mead and we can listen in and see what the locals think about the entire thing."
Actually, for mead it wasn't that bad. They stocked something from 'Blackbriar meadery' and it was actually okay. Sweetish and with no fucking mint in it.
They also did some fucking amazing roasted pork.
"Sounds like a plan." I said and took her hand again.
She grinned and pulled me around the corner, "Come on, I'm hungry, It's late and we still need to find a room. We can discuss the future of the world later."
We were always by The Bannered Mare, the local Inn when the sound of a loud voice echoed through the air with a crack of thunder even though the sky was clear.
"Dovahkiin!!"
We looked at each other before I glanced around and said what we both were thinking, "...The fuck was that?"
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
The operation here was actually smaller than in Meereen.
The half nord/half imperial had divided things up, setting sub branches up in each of the holds and he had plans to expand to the rest of Cyrodiil as well.
"Ah! Master Atreus." he said with a grin as he closed the book and got up, "Lady Stark, a pleasure meeting you again."
"Good to see you as well, Galkir." she said with a smile, "Anything interesting going on?"
He shrugged, "I finished composing that report you wanted on Alteration. Other than that, just some more visitors from the College of Winterhold."
"They are still trying to bully information from you?" I asked with a frown. Maybe I should give a bit more hostile negotiations a try.
They kept trying to get him to join or give them the secrets for much less than what they were worth.
Not going to happen.
galkir shrugged and the large bald man stood up, "I hired some guards and the local Companions. I increased security too, brand new safe and hiding places. Put up some wards too."
I nodded, "I'll do some enchantments before we leave to. That should fuck nicely with anything they try." I said with a thoughtful frown.
Galkir didn't know we were not from this Plane, but he knew we were not from around here.
"Sounds good." He said and nodded, "Are you two staying long? Anything interesting to drop off?"
Sheila grinned, "A couple of days. And we have some things, mostly potion related. There is a variation of the regeneration potion in there that also restores mana, making it twice as effective without losing any strength."
Zrazta really was a genius. I really hope Sheila let her down easily.
"Really?" he asked as he smiled, "Now that is something I would be interested in having a look at."
"Any other news?" I asked and he shrugged.
"Just some rumors. The biggest one that are circulating is about Helgen being attacked by a dragon. I'm not putting much faith in it though." he said as he took the scrolls Sheila handed over, "Dragons have been extinct for a very long time."
I shared a glance with Sheila before I nodded, "Exactly what do the rumor say?"
He shrugged, "Not much more than that. Some say that the dragon burned the place to the ground and some say it simply burned a couple of houses. Either way, I don't believe a word of it. What worries me more is the Stormcloaks"
"Stormcloaks?" I asked and crossed my arms.
Galkir nodded, "Ulfric Stormcloak. He murdered the Highking and is now leading a rebellion against the Empire. Claiming to be the new Highking and to speak for all the Nords. The Legion is working to defeat the rebellion. I'm surprised you have not heard about it already."
Sheila nodded, "Think you can have a full report ready in a couple of days?"
He smiled, "Of course, Lady Stark."
"Good. We will be out of your way until then, then." She said and took my hand, leading the way outside.
We headed down the street and around the corner where I pulled her close, "So what do you think?" I asked softly as I put my arms around her.
"Not sure." she murmured back, "It might be true. I don't know."
"It's not my kind of Dragons at least." I said as I ran my fingers through her hair, "But we should investigate this if we can. I'm more worried about this rebellion. Those things have the potential to seriously destabilize the region."
Sheila nodded, "Yeah, me too. We might need to visit more often to keep a eye on what's going on. It wouldn't do to return and portal into the middle of a battle while naked."
I grinned at that, "That mean you have to get dressed before we open the portal in the future."
"...You just like a excuse to watch."
Chuckling I gave her a small kiss, "So, so guilty."
She smiled playfully and pulled back, "Come on, let's head to the Tavern. I'm hungry, they make a great mead and we can listen in and see what the locals think about the entire thing."
Actually, for mead it wasn't that bad. They stocked something from 'Blackbriar meadery' and it was actually okay. Sweetish and with no fucking mint in it.
They also did some fucking amazing roasted pork.
"Sounds like a plan." I said and took her hand again.
She grinned and pulled me around the corner, "Come on, I'm hungry, It's late and we still need to find a room. We can discuss the future of the world later."
We were always by The Bannered Mare, the local Inn when the sound of a loud voice echoed through the air with a crack of thunder even though the sky was clear.
"Dovahkiin!!"
We looked at each other before I glanced around and said what we both were thinking, "...The fuck was that?"
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
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The next morning I headed downhill along one of the main streets of Whiterun, heading towards the smithy.
I promised the smiths back at the Nexus to pick up some Orichalcum. They wanted several bars for some sort of experiment. Apparently it was like Mithril back home but green and less magical.
They thought it might be used as a sort of magical resistor without losing the strength of mithril. Mithril and Adamantium were both magical conductors.
While that didn't matter much for weapons, it might for unenchanted armor and as components in magical trinkets.
So they wanted a bunch of bars of it for testing.
Sheila, on the other hand, was spending her time in the Inn listening in to the normal rumors and then she had planned to head to the general store which left me to do this on my own. At least she was going to try to get her hands on those filled Soul Gems Masagos wanted. With any luck, she might even be able to find an instruction book. If nothing else, Galkir might have something.
It was simply more effective to split up and I would feel sorry for whatever fool tried to attack her. At least for a little moment before feeding him his own spine.
As I got closer to the main gate the sound of metal against metal started to ring through the air. I wasn't surprised, Adrianne was normally working the smithy at this time. At least she had been every time I met her in the past.
I thought about saying Hi, but instead I walked straight to the store and pushed the door open. If she was working, she would likely be too busy.
We were not friends exactly, but with everything I purchased here each visit, we were at the very least friendly.
Not that that would stop her from yelling at me if I interrupted her at the wrong time again and caused a sword to go crooked and need to be reforged.
She had looked like she wanted to beat me over the head with it and I think I might have been damn lucky that I was about to drop a big pile of cash anyway.
"Atreus. Have you been flirting with my wife again?"
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "If being chased around the smithy with a half-finished sword is flirting, I must have been doing it wrong all my life." I chuckled and crossed the store to shake the hand of Ulfberth. "Good to see you again, Ulfberth."
"You as well, Atreus." he said with a grin. "Didn't dare to say hi to Adrianne?"
"I didn't think I would risk it."
He chuckled. "Might be for the best, she has been working on this large order for the guard and is a bit irritable."
"Yeah, better keep my head down then."
"So what can we do for you?"
"I'm looking for bars and ore, primarily orchalcum. Not overly much, maybe ten bars or so and some ore."
"Are you sure you can work it? It is a tricky metal." He said. "I know you think yourself an amateur smith, but..."
Grinning, I shook my head. "I could likely work it, but it's not for me. I know a mage who wants to experiment with it and while I was this way I figured I might as well pick some up for him."
I was actually getting decent at working metal, I really did have a talent for it. Which was kind of funny because I was awful at sculpting and art.
I even made my own armor for my dragon form and enchanted it as well. My spear too... which I forgot back at the Nexus.
He nodded. "Well, I do have what you need. I could get you ten bars and five ore for... five fifty?"
"Five hundred even."
"You are a robber baron, you know that? Five forty and only because you are a valued customer."
Chuckling I nodded, said, "Fine, fine. Five forty." and dug into the belt pouch.
That was a more or less fair price. Hell, I could afford the first price, but it was the principle of the thing.
The door was pushed open and I glanced back to see a young Nord walk inside, wearing a full set of iron armor, carrying a shield and a one handed sword, a pack on his back. "Greetings. Do you buy used weapons?"
Ulfberth looked at me and I shrugged. "Go ahead. Would take you a while to go get my bars anyway, I don't mind waiting. I'll check out some of your stock meanwhile." I said and walked up to the closest wall covered in weapons.
Most of it was cheapish iron and steel work, but there was a couple that were interesting. A green glass axe of all things.
I heard of that, there was some kind of secret way to treat glass to make it as hard as steel while still keeping the glass cutting edge.
That would be interesting to know. Not sure how good it would be for a axe though. On a dagger, on the other hand... I'd better ask if he has one or can get one for the next time I visit.
"Where did you get all this crap!?"
I looked back over my shoulder at Ulfberth who was going over what looked like a couple of swords and an axe.
"A group of bandits attacked me on the way back to the city." the nord said and shrugged, taking his helmet off, revealing a nose that looked like it's been broken more than once and long blonde hair. "I objected."
Ulfberth snorted and shook his head. "Well, most of this isn't worth anything. I'll give you a hundred for the lot. We might be able to use it for raw materials."
"...Fine." The warrios said and offered him his hand. "I'm Halgar."
"Ulfberth." the smiths husband said and then quickly counted out the coin. "Need any new weapons or armor, this is where you find it."
"So I figured." Halgar said and put the coin away, putting his backpack back on. "But now I must take my leave. I have to return back to the Jarl."
Hmm? What would the Jarl want with a guy in cheap armor?
"Better not keep him waiting then." Ulfberth said and turned to me. "Give me a moment and I'll get your purchase." he said and headed towards the back.
"While you are there, could you check if you have a glass dagger?"
"None in stock." he called back as the young Nord left the store.
Damn.
Well, maybe Sheila would have some luck finding out what the hell that sound was about yesterday.
Hopefully we would be able to track the source down because that was not a normal sound.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I promised the smiths back at the Nexus to pick up some Orichalcum. They wanted several bars for some sort of experiment. Apparently it was like Mithril back home but green and less magical.
They thought it might be used as a sort of magical resistor without losing the strength of mithril. Mithril and Adamantium were both magical conductors.
While that didn't matter much for weapons, it might for unenchanted armor and as components in magical trinkets.
So they wanted a bunch of bars of it for testing.
Sheila, on the other hand, was spending her time in the Inn listening in to the normal rumors and then she had planned to head to the general store which left me to do this on my own. At least she was going to try to get her hands on those filled Soul Gems Masagos wanted. With any luck, she might even be able to find an instruction book. If nothing else, Galkir might have something.
It was simply more effective to split up and I would feel sorry for whatever fool tried to attack her. At least for a little moment before feeding him his own spine.
As I got closer to the main gate the sound of metal against metal started to ring through the air. I wasn't surprised, Adrianne was normally working the smithy at this time. At least she had been every time I met her in the past.
I thought about saying Hi, but instead I walked straight to the store and pushed the door open. If she was working, she would likely be too busy.
We were not friends exactly, but with everything I purchased here each visit, we were at the very least friendly.
Not that that would stop her from yelling at me if I interrupted her at the wrong time again and caused a sword to go crooked and need to be reforged.
She had looked like she wanted to beat me over the head with it and I think I might have been damn lucky that I was about to drop a big pile of cash anyway.
"Atreus. Have you been flirting with my wife again?"
I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "If being chased around the smithy with a half-finished sword is flirting, I must have been doing it wrong all my life." I chuckled and crossed the store to shake the hand of Ulfberth. "Good to see you again, Ulfberth."
"You as well, Atreus." he said with a grin. "Didn't dare to say hi to Adrianne?"
"I didn't think I would risk it."
He chuckled. "Might be for the best, she has been working on this large order for the guard and is a bit irritable."
"Yeah, better keep my head down then."
"So what can we do for you?"
"I'm looking for bars and ore, primarily orchalcum. Not overly much, maybe ten bars or so and some ore."
"Are you sure you can work it? It is a tricky metal." He said. "I know you think yourself an amateur smith, but..."
Grinning, I shook my head. "I could likely work it, but it's not for me. I know a mage who wants to experiment with it and while I was this way I figured I might as well pick some up for him."
I was actually getting decent at working metal, I really did have a talent for it. Which was kind of funny because I was awful at sculpting and art.
I even made my own armor for my dragon form and enchanted it as well. My spear too... which I forgot back at the Nexus.
He nodded. "Well, I do have what you need. I could get you ten bars and five ore for... five fifty?"
"Five hundred even."
"You are a robber baron, you know that? Five forty and only because you are a valued customer."
Chuckling I nodded, said, "Fine, fine. Five forty." and dug into the belt pouch.
That was a more or less fair price. Hell, I could afford the first price, but it was the principle of the thing.
The door was pushed open and I glanced back to see a young Nord walk inside, wearing a full set of iron armor, carrying a shield and a one handed sword, a pack on his back. "Greetings. Do you buy used weapons?"
Ulfberth looked at me and I shrugged. "Go ahead. Would take you a while to go get my bars anyway, I don't mind waiting. I'll check out some of your stock meanwhile." I said and walked up to the closest wall covered in weapons.
Most of it was cheapish iron and steel work, but there was a couple that were interesting. A green glass axe of all things.
I heard of that, there was some kind of secret way to treat glass to make it as hard as steel while still keeping the glass cutting edge.
That would be interesting to know. Not sure how good it would be for a axe though. On a dagger, on the other hand... I'd better ask if he has one or can get one for the next time I visit.
"Where did you get all this crap!?"
I looked back over my shoulder at Ulfberth who was going over what looked like a couple of swords and an axe.
"A group of bandits attacked me on the way back to the city." the nord said and shrugged, taking his helmet off, revealing a nose that looked like it's been broken more than once and long blonde hair. "I objected."
Ulfberth snorted and shook his head. "Well, most of this isn't worth anything. I'll give you a hundred for the lot. We might be able to use it for raw materials."
"...Fine." The warrios said and offered him his hand. "I'm Halgar."
"Ulfberth." the smiths husband said and then quickly counted out the coin. "Need any new weapons or armor, this is where you find it."
"So I figured." Halgar said and put the coin away, putting his backpack back on. "But now I must take my leave. I have to return back to the Jarl."
Hmm? What would the Jarl want with a guy in cheap armor?
"Better not keep him waiting then." Ulfberth said and turned to me. "Give me a moment and I'll get your purchase." he said and headed towards the back.
"While you are there, could you check if you have a glass dagger?"
"None in stock." he called back as the young Nord left the store.
Damn.
Well, maybe Sheila would have some luck finding out what the hell that sound was about yesterday.
Hopefully we would be able to track the source down because that was not a normal sound.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
Returning to the Inn, I took in the scent of food with a smile before I looked around.
The inside of the Inn seemed to be centered around a single large fireplace with tables spread around the edges.
Currently, it was about half full but it wasn't hard to pick Sheila out of the group. She was sitting by one of the tables close to the kitchen, talking to a massive Khajiit.
Seriously, he must have had a giant ancestor or had some kind of magical accident, like falling into a cauldron of growth potion as a child.
Normally Khajiit, even males, were short enough to have to look up at me. This guy was as wide as a barn door, had a bit more feral features than normal and looked to be at the very least a head taller than me. He barely fit in the chair!
His white fur really made him stand out even more than he would have otherwise, too.
Should I interrupt?
Sheila looked up and smiled as she noticed me, giving me a small wave over so I nodded and headed for the bar first and picked up a bottle of that sweet mead before I crossed the room to pull out a chair and join them.
"Ajani, this is Atreus, my husband. Atreus, this is Ajani."
We decided to simply call it that. It was the closest human term that didn't draw questions.
"Nice meeting you." I said with a nod, putting the bottle of mead on the table as I looked up at the massive white feline.
"You as well." he rumbled, giving me a bit of a strange look.
Hmm?
Most likely he had been flirting with Sheila. Not that I could blame him for that. I mean, look at her!
"We were discussing the sound from last night." Sheila continued. "Apparently there is a local legend about somebody called a dovahkiin, somebody able to use voice magic. The word means 'Dragonborn'."
"It is not magic exactly, not as far as I have been able to research." Ajani said, picking up his tankard. It must have held a liter or more and still almost disappeared in his massive hand. "As far as I have been able to determine, it's a way to manipulate the natural mana field with your voice, rather than directly casting spells. At least from what I heard of it, without seeing an actual demonstration, it's hard to tell."
"Fascinating. You are a mage then?" I asked and tried the mead.
Ugh.
Even good mead is still mead. Fuck, I miss soda. All my attempts to recreate it simply failed. Best I managed was carbonated water which I didn't like.
"In a way." Ajani answered with a nod. "But it would be more accurate to consider me a healer."
"That's a branch of magic I'm always trying to get better at. I try, but I'm not the best mage in the world in the first place." I sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I'm a better smith than I am a mage."
As sad as that was, it was the truth. I could make my dragon form a suit of armor more easily than I could enchant the same armor... and that was with less training in working metal than I had in magic. Oh well, it was good to diversify and I wasn't horrible at magic, it just took me longer to cast the more advanced stuff and I was getting better at it.
Sheila rolled her eyes. "That's because you for some reason find working in a smithy relaxing. How, I have no idea."
There was something satisfying about beating the hell out of a piece of metal you simply didn't get from studying a book. Especially after having to interact with the Nobles of Stormwind.
I shrugged as Ajani chuckled and finished his drink. "May I ask what brings you to town?" he then asked.
"We are members of a new guild." Sheila explained and sipped at her wine. "The Azure Consortium. We trade knowledge and information, we are here to pick up a shipment. And you?"
The giant Khajiit shrugged. "Exploring. Research. Might go looking into this Dovahkiin."
I grunted and nodded. "Wish I had the time to do the same. That sounds like it could be really interesting." I rubbed my forehead and continued, "That's the problem with responsibilities. They keep getting in the way of more fun things."
"Indeed." the Khajiit rumbled and put his empty tankard down. "The tribe should always come first."
"Yep."
He got up, pushing his chair back revealing that he was actually even taller than I first thought. "I need to get going. I am sure we will meet again, Atreus." He said and tilted his head slightly to Sheila. "Lady Stark."
"Safe travels."
I looked after him as he slowly and rather carefully made this way through the inn towards the door.
"Did you find everything?" Sheila asked and I turned back to her, shrugging.
"Pretty much. At least the ore and metal bars. I thought about picking up a glass dagger as well, but they didn't have any. I custom ordered one for the next time we visit. And you?"
Sheila shook her head. "You know about as much as I know. At least about the entire strange sound issue. As for the rest... I think the dragons really are back. There was a Nord here not to long ago who said he was at Helgen. It really was burned to the ground by a dragon. I did find a book about enchanting, though, and one filled 'soulgem'."
Well, damn.
"Any description?"
She nodded. "It sounded like a big protodrake from his description. But this is a different world."
I frowned in thought. "Yeah. Anything else?"
"Just that this civil war might end up being a bad one." she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Latest news is that both sides are kind of measuring each other up right now and that the Jarl is neutral in the conflict, but that things might heat up at any moment. The rebels want to free Skyrim from the Empire."
"Well, damn." I cursed softly and crossed my arms. "That's going to be a complication."
"To say the least." Sheila sighed.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
The inside of the Inn seemed to be centered around a single large fireplace with tables spread around the edges.
Currently, it was about half full but it wasn't hard to pick Sheila out of the group. She was sitting by one of the tables close to the kitchen, talking to a massive Khajiit.
Seriously, he must have had a giant ancestor or had some kind of magical accident, like falling into a cauldron of growth potion as a child.
Normally Khajiit, even males, were short enough to have to look up at me. This guy was as wide as a barn door, had a bit more feral features than normal and looked to be at the very least a head taller than me. He barely fit in the chair!
His white fur really made him stand out even more than he would have otherwise, too.
Should I interrupt?
Sheila looked up and smiled as she noticed me, giving me a small wave over so I nodded and headed for the bar first and picked up a bottle of that sweet mead before I crossed the room to pull out a chair and join them.
"Ajani, this is Atreus, my husband. Atreus, this is Ajani."
We decided to simply call it that. It was the closest human term that didn't draw questions.
"Nice meeting you." I said with a nod, putting the bottle of mead on the table as I looked up at the massive white feline.
"You as well." he rumbled, giving me a bit of a strange look.
Hmm?
Most likely he had been flirting with Sheila. Not that I could blame him for that. I mean, look at her!
"We were discussing the sound from last night." Sheila continued. "Apparently there is a local legend about somebody called a dovahkiin, somebody able to use voice magic. The word means 'Dragonborn'."
"It is not magic exactly, not as far as I have been able to research." Ajani said, picking up his tankard. It must have held a liter or more and still almost disappeared in his massive hand. "As far as I have been able to determine, it's a way to manipulate the natural mana field with your voice, rather than directly casting spells. At least from what I heard of it, without seeing an actual demonstration, it's hard to tell."
"Fascinating. You are a mage then?" I asked and tried the mead.
Ugh.
Even good mead is still mead. Fuck, I miss soda. All my attempts to recreate it simply failed. Best I managed was carbonated water which I didn't like.
"In a way." Ajani answered with a nod. "But it would be more accurate to consider me a healer."
"That's a branch of magic I'm always trying to get better at. I try, but I'm not the best mage in the world in the first place." I sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I'm a better smith than I am a mage."
As sad as that was, it was the truth. I could make my dragon form a suit of armor more easily than I could enchant the same armor... and that was with less training in working metal than I had in magic. Oh well, it was good to diversify and I wasn't horrible at magic, it just took me longer to cast the more advanced stuff and I was getting better at it.
Sheila rolled her eyes. "That's because you for some reason find working in a smithy relaxing. How, I have no idea."
There was something satisfying about beating the hell out of a piece of metal you simply didn't get from studying a book. Especially after having to interact with the Nobles of Stormwind.
I shrugged as Ajani chuckled and finished his drink. "May I ask what brings you to town?" he then asked.
"We are members of a new guild." Sheila explained and sipped at her wine. "The Azure Consortium. We trade knowledge and information, we are here to pick up a shipment. And you?"
The giant Khajiit shrugged. "Exploring. Research. Might go looking into this Dovahkiin."
I grunted and nodded. "Wish I had the time to do the same. That sounds like it could be really interesting." I rubbed my forehead and continued, "That's the problem with responsibilities. They keep getting in the way of more fun things."
"Indeed." the Khajiit rumbled and put his empty tankard down. "The tribe should always come first."
"Yep."
He got up, pushing his chair back revealing that he was actually even taller than I first thought. "I need to get going. I am sure we will meet again, Atreus." He said and tilted his head slightly to Sheila. "Lady Stark."
"Safe travels."
I looked after him as he slowly and rather carefully made this way through the inn towards the door.
"Did you find everything?" Sheila asked and I turned back to her, shrugging.
"Pretty much. At least the ore and metal bars. I thought about picking up a glass dagger as well, but they didn't have any. I custom ordered one for the next time we visit. And you?"
Sheila shook her head. "You know about as much as I know. At least about the entire strange sound issue. As for the rest... I think the dragons really are back. There was a Nord here not to long ago who said he was at Helgen. It really was burned to the ground by a dragon. I did find a book about enchanting, though, and one filled 'soulgem'."
Well, damn.
"Any description?"
She nodded. "It sounded like a big protodrake from his description. But this is a different world."
I frowned in thought. "Yeah. Anything else?"
"Just that this civil war might end up being a bad one." she sighed and leaned back in her chair. "Latest news is that both sides are kind of measuring each other up right now and that the Jarl is neutral in the conflict, but that things might heat up at any moment. The rebels want to free Skyrim from the Empire."
"Well, damn." I cursed softly and crossed my arms. "That's going to be a complication."
"To say the least." Sheila sighed.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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Pushing the door open, I walked into the local headquarters, almost running into that Nord from before.
"Sorry." He said and moved past outside, seeming to have changed his shield and sword for a two-handed battleaxe.
"My fault entirely." I answered and shook my head, walking inside to spot Galkir behind the counter. "New customer?"
"Potential employee." he stated and shook his head. "He said he knew some stuff about potions so I sent him to find me ten Nirnroots. It's somewhat rare so if he passes that test, I'll hire him. He seemed capable enough."
I nodded and glanced back at the door. "Well, he did take out some bandits on the way to town. I overheard him as he sold their weapons at the smithy."
"So what can I do for you?"
"What kind of pull do you have with the Jarl?" I asked and leaned against the counter.
Galkir shrugged. "Not a lot. I've done some business with his court wizard but that's about it."
Hmm.
I nodded. "Very well. I'll just have to petition for an audience normally then."
"What are you planning?"
"I just want to meet the man, get a read on him with this entire civil war going on." I sighed. "Bloody ugly business."
"He might be neutral now, but I think that when push comes to shove, he will support the Empire." Galkir said. "To much trade goes through here for him to support cutting ties with the Empire."
I slowly nodded. "That's one of the things I want to get a feel on, but that makes sense. Well, I'd better get going then, see if it's possible to get to talk to him before we leave."
"The package will be ready tomorrow." Galkir said as I turned to leave. "I have some requests if you are able to find something about them as well."
"I'll look it over." I said and stepped outside again, glancing up at the skies.
Looked like it would start to rain. Hopefully it wouldn't.
Turning down the street, I started to wander up the hill towards Dragonsreach. The Jarl's palace.
Apparently it had been named that way after it had been used to keep a dragon imprisoned. That was not a comforting thought and one I very strongly hoped was not a bad omen.
It was located at the top of the hill, in the center of town. Around the wooden palace was the so called 'Cloud district' which was basically where the Nobles lived.
This being the place it was, though, it didn't look much different than the lower parts of town other than people wearing slightly fancier clothes.
"Halt! What is your business in Dragonsreach?" one of the guards demanded, raising his hand in a stop sign.
"I seek audience with the Jarl." I told him.
"The Jarl is busy. Who are you? I have not seen you around before."
"My name is Atreus. I work with the Azure Consortium. I worry how this rebellion will interrupt trade in the region. Also, these rumors about Dragons..."
And possibly getting my people killed and their stuff stolen.
"The Jarl is busy." the guard said. "But you might be able to get a meeting with the Steward, Proventus Avenicci."
I rubbed my chin at that.
I could see how the Jarl could be busy with a war brewing and all and I wasn't that important in the great picture, not even in my flight. I might be high up there among Drakes, maybe even seen as one of the more important ones, but I am still just a Drake.
Here, I was just a merchant. While I wanted to get a grasp on how the Jarl was, I supposed that the Steward would have to work.
"That will work. Thank you."
"Come with me." The guard told me and lead the way into the palace, leaving me to follow him into the great hall and towards the left side.
The air smelled like food and smoke, the Jarl's throne was at one end of the hall, a pair of large tables seated for over a hundred people laid out before it so he could easily see everyone, a fireplace between the tables.
Other than servants setting out food, cleaning and getting things ready, there was nobody there.
"There is going to be a feast?" I asked as I followed the guard closely before coughing as I dropped a glass bead on the floor to cover the sound up. Scrying focus. Outside of line of sight scrying spells were hell of a lot easier if they had a focus on the other end.
He nodded. "In celebration of slaying the dragon that burned Helgen."
I blinked. "You killed it already?"
"It was killed by the new Thane of Whiterun when it attacked a watchtower. It's going to be announced during the feast."
"I see. Well, clearly the entire dragon thing is already well in hand."
Seriously? Dragons were hardly unkillable, but if that dragon was anything like the Dragons I was used to, that Thane had to be a serious badass. Hell, even if it was a proto-drake that was still impressive as all hell.
As we approached a door flanked by two more guards my guard looked back at me. "Stay here, I will see if the Steward has time for you."
"Many thanks."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"...So you see, Atreus, there is nothing what so ever to worry about." Avenicci said as we exited his 'office' an hour or so later, "The Empire should soon defeat this so called rebellion and even the Stormcloaks will not be foolish enough to interrupt trade. Nobody wants that."
"I'm not sure I agree with your optimism, but I suppose it's the best I'll get." I said and shook my head.
While I was not overly worried about shipping, most if not all that the local branches traded between each other was transported as scrolls or books. Small parcels.
Also, it was not a courier that carried it, but normal people who traveled between the holds. Merchants, priests, even imperial couriers and normal ones.
Under normal operations, they didn't even know who they were carrying it for which made it really, really hard to intercept and steal.
But this meeting had been really interesting and told me a lot.
At least all those meetings Kalecgos kept pulling me into as his 'assistant' and the parties Venir kept conning me to go to were useful in some ways.
I hated Nobles and while not being a Noble, Avenicci hit all of the spots of what I disliked about them.
Slightly pompous and way too damn secure in his own position while having little to actually back it up.
But apparently he was Adrianne's father and if he managed to raise her, there had to be more to that man than what met the eye.
He did, after all, survive in Skyrim.
"I am curious about your new Guild." He said. "I have heard you trade in... information?"
I shook my head again. "Not exactly and not like you are thinking. We sell and trade knowledge, how to make potions, how to cast spells and where to find plants. How to make swords and axes. Even military formations. We don't spy on people."
Well... The Azure Consortium doesn't spy on people.
"I see."
"I see the feast is starting soon." I said and looked over at the business side of the great hall where the first of the warriors, nobles and the richer merchants had already started to gather. The Jarl was nowhere to be seen yet.
Avenicci nodded. "Indeed it is and I am afraid I am about to get quite busy. However, if you wish, I believe I could get you a place among the merchants."
I hesitated at that. It would allow me to listen in, eat good food.... damn, some of those things from the kitchen were smelling good... but Sheila was waiting back at the Inn by now.
I had the scrying focus planted, I could still find out what was being said if I wanted to.
"As much as I would want to, Avenicci, I am afraid I have to decline this time. My wife is waiting for me and letting her wait would be... trouble."
He chuckled at that. "Now that is something best to avoid. You better get going, then, before you end up wishing for a dragon to drop from the skies."
I couldn't help but grin at that. "You would be surprised." I said, thinking about Ren. "I hope you enjoy the feast."
Avenicci shrugged. "Doubt it. I will be working. I am the Steward after all, I need to make sure everyone else is doing their jobs. That said, I have to make sure everything is ready. If you would excuse me?"
"Of course."
XXXXXXXXXXX
I sighed and collapsed onto my back on the bed. "Well, that's not working."
"What?" Sheila asked and sat down next to me, her back against the wall as she pulled a hairbrush from her bag.
"That bug I planted?"
"Yes... and I still don't understand why you call it a bug?"
I shook my head. "Actually, not sure. Just what they were called on Earth. Anyway, making one out of a glass bead was a bad idea."
"Someone stepped on it?"
"No, it could handle that. One of the kids took it and all I get is a chest full of toys. I should have used a small rock instead."
Sheila grinned and started to brush her hair. "Harder to enchant rock."
"I know, I'm just complaining."
Damn it, having a view and ear in the Jarl's throneroom would have been invaluable. Sure, there were other scrying spells that could do it without a focus point and still remain out of LoS, but they were a lot more difficult and tended to lack in resolution as well as usually needing some sort of reagents/artifacts.
"Well, complain later." she said and scooted to lay down. "We need to get some sleep if we are leaving tomorrow."
Sighing, I pulled the blanket up and put my arm around her, pulling her close. "Yeah. Back to work again."
"...You miss Ren." she said and rested her head on my shoulder.
I just nodded. "She is alone in a swamp."
"It's the best chance she's got to get it to work."
"I know. So, how is it going for you?"
Sheila frowned. "Still no connections, I can still only use the area I'm in."
We had a breakthrough a couple of months ago and she managed to use this 'Land magic'. Still no permanent connection, but at least it was something and gave her some much needed versatility.
"You will figure it out, love."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section. Sorry for being late, was playing Skyrim.
"Sorry." He said and moved past outside, seeming to have changed his shield and sword for a two-handed battleaxe.
"My fault entirely." I answered and shook my head, walking inside to spot Galkir behind the counter. "New customer?"
"Potential employee." he stated and shook his head. "He said he knew some stuff about potions so I sent him to find me ten Nirnroots. It's somewhat rare so if he passes that test, I'll hire him. He seemed capable enough."
I nodded and glanced back at the door. "Well, he did take out some bandits on the way to town. I overheard him as he sold their weapons at the smithy."
"So what can I do for you?"
"What kind of pull do you have with the Jarl?" I asked and leaned against the counter.
Galkir shrugged. "Not a lot. I've done some business with his court wizard but that's about it."
Hmm.
I nodded. "Very well. I'll just have to petition for an audience normally then."
"What are you planning?"
"I just want to meet the man, get a read on him with this entire civil war going on." I sighed. "Bloody ugly business."
"He might be neutral now, but I think that when push comes to shove, he will support the Empire." Galkir said. "To much trade goes through here for him to support cutting ties with the Empire."
I slowly nodded. "That's one of the things I want to get a feel on, but that makes sense. Well, I'd better get going then, see if it's possible to get to talk to him before we leave."
"The package will be ready tomorrow." Galkir said as I turned to leave. "I have some requests if you are able to find something about them as well."
"I'll look it over." I said and stepped outside again, glancing up at the skies.
Looked like it would start to rain. Hopefully it wouldn't.
Turning down the street, I started to wander up the hill towards Dragonsreach. The Jarl's palace.
Apparently it had been named that way after it had been used to keep a dragon imprisoned. That was not a comforting thought and one I very strongly hoped was not a bad omen.
It was located at the top of the hill, in the center of town. Around the wooden palace was the so called 'Cloud district' which was basically where the Nobles lived.
This being the place it was, though, it didn't look much different than the lower parts of town other than people wearing slightly fancier clothes.
"Halt! What is your business in Dragonsreach?" one of the guards demanded, raising his hand in a stop sign.
"I seek audience with the Jarl." I told him.
"The Jarl is busy. Who are you? I have not seen you around before."
"My name is Atreus. I work with the Azure Consortium. I worry how this rebellion will interrupt trade in the region. Also, these rumors about Dragons..."
And possibly getting my people killed and their stuff stolen.
"The Jarl is busy." the guard said. "But you might be able to get a meeting with the Steward, Proventus Avenicci."
I rubbed my chin at that.
I could see how the Jarl could be busy with a war brewing and all and I wasn't that important in the great picture, not even in my flight. I might be high up there among Drakes, maybe even seen as one of the more important ones, but I am still just a Drake.
Here, I was just a merchant. While I wanted to get a grasp on how the Jarl was, I supposed that the Steward would have to work.
"That will work. Thank you."
"Come with me." The guard told me and lead the way into the palace, leaving me to follow him into the great hall and towards the left side.
The air smelled like food and smoke, the Jarl's throne was at one end of the hall, a pair of large tables seated for over a hundred people laid out before it so he could easily see everyone, a fireplace between the tables.
Other than servants setting out food, cleaning and getting things ready, there was nobody there.
"There is going to be a feast?" I asked as I followed the guard closely before coughing as I dropped a glass bead on the floor to cover the sound up. Scrying focus. Outside of line of sight scrying spells were hell of a lot easier if they had a focus on the other end.
He nodded. "In celebration of slaying the dragon that burned Helgen."
I blinked. "You killed it already?"
"It was killed by the new Thane of Whiterun when it attacked a watchtower. It's going to be announced during the feast."
"I see. Well, clearly the entire dragon thing is already well in hand."
Seriously? Dragons were hardly unkillable, but if that dragon was anything like the Dragons I was used to, that Thane had to be a serious badass. Hell, even if it was a proto-drake that was still impressive as all hell.
As we approached a door flanked by two more guards my guard looked back at me. "Stay here, I will see if the Steward has time for you."
"Many thanks."
XXXXXXXXXXX
"...So you see, Atreus, there is nothing what so ever to worry about." Avenicci said as we exited his 'office' an hour or so later, "The Empire should soon defeat this so called rebellion and even the Stormcloaks will not be foolish enough to interrupt trade. Nobody wants that."
"I'm not sure I agree with your optimism, but I suppose it's the best I'll get." I said and shook my head.
While I was not overly worried about shipping, most if not all that the local branches traded between each other was transported as scrolls or books. Small parcels.
Also, it was not a courier that carried it, but normal people who traveled between the holds. Merchants, priests, even imperial couriers and normal ones.
Under normal operations, they didn't even know who they were carrying it for which made it really, really hard to intercept and steal.
But this meeting had been really interesting and told me a lot.
At least all those meetings Kalecgos kept pulling me into as his 'assistant' and the parties Venir kept conning me to go to were useful in some ways.
I hated Nobles and while not being a Noble, Avenicci hit all of the spots of what I disliked about them.
Slightly pompous and way too damn secure in his own position while having little to actually back it up.
But apparently he was Adrianne's father and if he managed to raise her, there had to be more to that man than what met the eye.
He did, after all, survive in Skyrim.
"I am curious about your new Guild." He said. "I have heard you trade in... information?"
I shook my head again. "Not exactly and not like you are thinking. We sell and trade knowledge, how to make potions, how to cast spells and where to find plants. How to make swords and axes. Even military formations. We don't spy on people."
Well... The Azure Consortium doesn't spy on people.
"I see."
"I see the feast is starting soon." I said and looked over at the business side of the great hall where the first of the warriors, nobles and the richer merchants had already started to gather. The Jarl was nowhere to be seen yet.
Avenicci nodded. "Indeed it is and I am afraid I am about to get quite busy. However, if you wish, I believe I could get you a place among the merchants."
I hesitated at that. It would allow me to listen in, eat good food.... damn, some of those things from the kitchen were smelling good... but Sheila was waiting back at the Inn by now.
I had the scrying focus planted, I could still find out what was being said if I wanted to.
"As much as I would want to, Avenicci, I am afraid I have to decline this time. My wife is waiting for me and letting her wait would be... trouble."
He chuckled at that. "Now that is something best to avoid. You better get going, then, before you end up wishing for a dragon to drop from the skies."
I couldn't help but grin at that. "You would be surprised." I said, thinking about Ren. "I hope you enjoy the feast."
Avenicci shrugged. "Doubt it. I will be working. I am the Steward after all, I need to make sure everyone else is doing their jobs. That said, I have to make sure everything is ready. If you would excuse me?"
"Of course."
XXXXXXXXXXX
I sighed and collapsed onto my back on the bed. "Well, that's not working."
"What?" Sheila asked and sat down next to me, her back against the wall as she pulled a hairbrush from her bag.
"That bug I planted?"
"Yes... and I still don't understand why you call it a bug?"
I shook my head. "Actually, not sure. Just what they were called on Earth. Anyway, making one out of a glass bead was a bad idea."
"Someone stepped on it?"
"No, it could handle that. One of the kids took it and all I get is a chest full of toys. I should have used a small rock instead."
Sheila grinned and started to brush her hair. "Harder to enchant rock."
"I know, I'm just complaining."
Damn it, having a view and ear in the Jarl's throneroom would have been invaluable. Sure, there were other scrying spells that could do it without a focus point and still remain out of LoS, but they were a lot more difficult and tended to lack in resolution as well as usually needing some sort of reagents/artifacts.
"Well, complain later." she said and scooted to lay down. "We need to get some sleep if we are leaving tomorrow."
Sighing, I pulled the blanket up and put my arm around her, pulling her close. "Yeah. Back to work again."
"...You miss Ren." she said and rested her head on my shoulder.
I just nodded. "She is alone in a swamp."
"It's the best chance she's got to get it to work."
"I know. So, how is it going for you?"
Sheila frowned. "Still no connections, I can still only use the area I'm in."
We had a breakthrough a couple of months ago and she managed to use this 'Land magic'. Still no permanent connection, but at least it was something and gave her some much needed versatility.
"You will figure it out, love."
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section. Sorry for being late, was playing Skyrim.
"You seem troubled." Targos asked as he held a gnome made powercore up to the light.
I sighed and rested my head on my frontpaws, "Thinking." We were in his lab in The Nexus.
"About?" The wyrm in human form asked before mounting the powercore in the small mechanical welp.
A gnome designed automaton he modified with some of the ideas from the automatons salvaged in Skyrim.
I was better at enchanting than actual engineering like that even if it was rather interesting. He was just way better at it and I had way too many projects running currently to try to get better at it.
"Ren. The situation in Skyrim. A million other less important things."
Lifting up the automaton he shook his head as he flipped it over to open the chest section, "Rengosa will be fine. As for the situation in Skyrim, wars, governments, empires. They come and go. It's better to stay out of it and let the mortals do as they like."
I rumbled at that and then sighed.
He was likely right. There was not really anything I could do about it anyway. I had employees there but they could handle themselves... and he was right.
Things changed. Maybe even for the better. I knew as much as that the Empire was rather heavy handed at times.
They actually reminded me a bit of old school Romans.
As for the issue with Ren... if I interrupted her and she had to start all over again in another horrible swamp, she would make me eat my own tail.
"You need to relax." Targos continued, "Take some time to do something else."
I growled softly at that.
That would be nice, but it wouldn't be the same without Ren here.
"Some other time."
Targos shook his head, "There is always another time, Atregos. You need to learn how to make time to relax. You are a Drake and a young one at that."
"I did take some time to relax."
"A year ago for two weeks."
That had been the most amazing time. Two weeks on a tropical island with Ren and Sheila. Two weeks of things I should probably not think about with Ren's father in the room, dragons or not.
I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them again, raising my head, "It would not feel right without Ren being able to join us. But perhaps mixing things up a bit would be a good idea. Go explore for a bit."
Other than deliveries back and forth, my normal stuff just consisted of research here.
It would be good to stretch my wings again, explore new worlds and new civilizations. To go where no dragon has gone before.
"I need to discuss the matter with Sheila."
"Does she still work in that store?"
I raised my head, "She enjoys it."
I think it gave her a sense of normalcy the rest of her life kind of lacked. Besides, her friend was the owner and it let her do enchanting which she liked.
"It just seems a bit... beneath her station." Targos said and reached for a tool and started to wind the thing up.
"Would you dare tell her no?" I asked and raised a eyeridge. Not that I ever would, I wanted her to be happy and if working in a store made her happy, then she works in a store with her friend.
Targos paused for a second before he nodded, "Good point."
Sighing I put my head back down, "She might not want to head out again so soon. We are going to need to step things up anyway due to the civil war in Skyrim. At least once a month, it simply wont due to show up after three months and find out that everyone in the Consortium has been killed and need to start over from scratch."
"Don't she like traveling?"
"She does, but... it's dangerous and tiring. Especially exploring."
He nodded and then picked up the mechanical welp and turned it over before pressing a button, causing it to sit up and look around, working it's jaw.
"Is it working?" I asked and got up, padding closer to get a better look.
Targos took a step to the side to give me room, "I believe so." he said and waved his hand before it's eyes, causing it to follow the hand with it's red eyes.
"How long does the power last?"
"Just a couple of hours. It's just a test bed after all." he said and gave it a hard shove off the work bench, causing the mechanoid to try to keep it's balance but failing, crashing to the floor before getting onto all four paws and shaking it's head as if clearing it before starting to roam the room with the clicking of gears and claws against the stone floor.
I nodded and looked after it for a second before I put my head on the work bench, "I think you are right though. I need a break from managing research teams. Having a look around new worlds actually sounds like a good idea."
I couldn't help but wish that Ren could come though.
But not until she was able to make a soulstone without a convenient swamp. Too dangerous.
Shaking my head I got up again and stretched my wings, careful so I didn't knock something over before I turned to watch the automaton.
"Targos?"
"Yes?" he answered idly, flipping through his research notes.
"The welp is eating your layline research."
"What!? NO! Stupid machine!"
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
I sighed and rested my head on my frontpaws, "Thinking." We were in his lab in The Nexus.
"About?" The wyrm in human form asked before mounting the powercore in the small mechanical welp.
A gnome designed automaton he modified with some of the ideas from the automatons salvaged in Skyrim.
I was better at enchanting than actual engineering like that even if it was rather interesting. He was just way better at it and I had way too many projects running currently to try to get better at it.
"Ren. The situation in Skyrim. A million other less important things."
Lifting up the automaton he shook his head as he flipped it over to open the chest section, "Rengosa will be fine. As for the situation in Skyrim, wars, governments, empires. They come and go. It's better to stay out of it and let the mortals do as they like."
I rumbled at that and then sighed.
He was likely right. There was not really anything I could do about it anyway. I had employees there but they could handle themselves... and he was right.
Things changed. Maybe even for the better. I knew as much as that the Empire was rather heavy handed at times.
They actually reminded me a bit of old school Romans.
As for the issue with Ren... if I interrupted her and she had to start all over again in another horrible swamp, she would make me eat my own tail.
"You need to relax." Targos continued, "Take some time to do something else."
I growled softly at that.
That would be nice, but it wouldn't be the same without Ren here.
"Some other time."
Targos shook his head, "There is always another time, Atregos. You need to learn how to make time to relax. You are a Drake and a young one at that."
"I did take some time to relax."
"A year ago for two weeks."
That had been the most amazing time. Two weeks on a tropical island with Ren and Sheila. Two weeks of things I should probably not think about with Ren's father in the room, dragons or not.
I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them again, raising my head, "It would not feel right without Ren being able to join us. But perhaps mixing things up a bit would be a good idea. Go explore for a bit."
Other than deliveries back and forth, my normal stuff just consisted of research here.
It would be good to stretch my wings again, explore new worlds and new civilizations. To go where no dragon has gone before.
"I need to discuss the matter with Sheila."
"Does she still work in that store?"
I raised my head, "She enjoys it."
I think it gave her a sense of normalcy the rest of her life kind of lacked. Besides, her friend was the owner and it let her do enchanting which she liked.
"It just seems a bit... beneath her station." Targos said and reached for a tool and started to wind the thing up.
"Would you dare tell her no?" I asked and raised a eyeridge. Not that I ever would, I wanted her to be happy and if working in a store made her happy, then she works in a store with her friend.
Targos paused for a second before he nodded, "Good point."
Sighing I put my head back down, "She might not want to head out again so soon. We are going to need to step things up anyway due to the civil war in Skyrim. At least once a month, it simply wont due to show up after three months and find out that everyone in the Consortium has been killed and need to start over from scratch."
"Don't she like traveling?"
"She does, but... it's dangerous and tiring. Especially exploring."
He nodded and then picked up the mechanical welp and turned it over before pressing a button, causing it to sit up and look around, working it's jaw.
"Is it working?" I asked and got up, padding closer to get a better look.
Targos took a step to the side to give me room, "I believe so." he said and waved his hand before it's eyes, causing it to follow the hand with it's red eyes.
"How long does the power last?"
"Just a couple of hours. It's just a test bed after all." he said and gave it a hard shove off the work bench, causing the mechanoid to try to keep it's balance but failing, crashing to the floor before getting onto all four paws and shaking it's head as if clearing it before starting to roam the room with the clicking of gears and claws against the stone floor.
I nodded and looked after it for a second before I put my head on the work bench, "I think you are right though. I need a break from managing research teams. Having a look around new worlds actually sounds like a good idea."
I couldn't help but wish that Ren could come though.
But not until she was able to make a soulstone without a convenient swamp. Too dangerous.
Shaking my head I got up again and stretched my wings, careful so I didn't knock something over before I turned to watch the automaton.
"Targos?"
"Yes?" he answered idly, flipping through his research notes.
"The welp is eating your layline research."
"What!? NO! Stupid machine!"
AN// Many thanks to Firethorn for betaing this section.
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10
Kalecgos somehow managed to look remarkably like a large cat with his head resting on his frontlegs, curled up slightly, his massive tail club on the floor close to his head.
I was laying on the stone close to his head, feeling really, really tiny... like always when I was around a wyrm in their natural form.
His head weighed more than I did.
But that was not what I was focused right now. What I was looking was in the center of the large chamber.
"Ready?" Lady Jaina Proudmoore asked with a smile.
Sheila nodded. "Whenever you are." and scratched her felhound behind its horn.
I am still not entirely sure how we ended up here.
Sheila and Lady Proudmoore did get together from time to time. I mean, they did have a lot in common, being not only interested in magic and they were both dragon consorts.
They likely discussed things I really did not want to know anything about, but how that evolved into magic practice duels, I have no idea.
Jaina started with flinging a frostbolt in Sheila's direction and the demon snarled, the frostbolt dissolving in mid-air.
Wonder if it would be possible to convince them that instead of magic, they should practice their wrestling? Preferably in mud.
However, even if I didn't think Kalecgos would outright step on me for making that suggestion, I would end up in a ton of trouble with Sheila, never mind Lady Proudmoore.
Sheila responded with fire and curses, using the Felhound for defense while Jaina danced around the return spells with counterspells, shields and blink teleports.
"I heard you are heading out again." Kalecgos said softly as we watched our consorts dance the dance of spell fire.
I nodded and raised my head, my tailclub moving across the ground as I tensed when a fireblast almost hit Sheila but she was able to get out of the way in time.
It was safe, really. Jaina was hell of a lot better than Sheila and Sheila had her soulstone for safety.
That didn't mean that watching this didn't make me tense as hell, though.
"We are. In about a week... Sheila wanted time to get everything ready, but she seemed excited about it."
Careful! She is about to... oh. Damn, that was close.
"It is a skill I wish I could learn." My Flightleader said with a small sigh, his eyes locked at the duel. "But it seems to be one inherent to you, World Walker."
I winced at that. "Please, don't call me that."
Stupid Drakes!
Kalecgos turned his head to give me an amused look. "I thought it was fitting. But very well, I won't. I can't speak for the rest, though."
Covering my muzzle with my front paws I whimpered. Damn it. It felt so... pretentious.
The large wyrm chuckled and looked back at the duel where Jaina was playing teleporter tag keeping away from the felhound while keeping Sheila busy with a water elemental.
"While they are distracted." I said quietly while watching them closely. "Have you managed any progress?"
The large wyrm sighed and then nodded. "Just preliminary calculations. The readings from your ritual is of great help and I believe it can be done if we limit it to physical form and instincts, leaving their souls and magical power alone."
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
He put his head down again. "But it is still years out before we can try it. It is still an insanely complex set of spells and I no longer have the Aspect of Magic. Everything is harder now."
I nodded, but I didn't ask how much he lost when he gave it up. It was likely a lot.
Not that you could notice, normally. Seriously, I've seen him do magic that made me look like a whelp trying to figure out how use his breath.
Maybe it was a stupid idea to compare my ability to the former aspect of magic. No, there was no maybe about it.
Sheila cried out as Jaina caught her in a polymorph, turning her into a sheep before blowing the felhound to bits.
A couple of seconds later, Sheila turned back to find Jaina standing a couple of meters away, a fireball in hand. "Give?"
My consort sighed and relaxed back against the stone floor before she nodded, panting softly. "Y-yeah. Damn it. I thought I had you for a second."
"You are getting a lot better." Lady Proudmoore said with a smile, canceling the fireball and walking up to offer Sheila her hand, pulling her back onto her feet.
Sheila smiled, ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Not up to your level, though." as they started to make their way across the chamber.
"You will get there. I was not ready for that counterspell, I didn't know you could use Land magic."
"As Atreus's Consort? How could I not." Sheila said with a grin as they reached us and she stepped up to give me a small kiss on the tip of my nose.
"Still, that kind of magic is very difficult." Lady Proudmoore said and sat down on Kalecgos' frontpaw. "I only managed it a couple of months ago myself."
"Do you have a link yet? I haven't managed it." before Sheila giggled and pushed at my muzzle to try to get me stop licking at her hair. "Stop that!"
Jaina shook her head. "No. That's out of my reach right now as well." She grinned at my antics and continued, "He seems like he might need a bit more traini- eep!" She squeaked as Kalecgos pushed her over with his tongue.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
I was laying on the stone close to his head, feeling really, really tiny... like always when I was around a wyrm in their natural form.
His head weighed more than I did.
But that was not what I was focused right now. What I was looking was in the center of the large chamber.
"Ready?" Lady Jaina Proudmoore asked with a smile.
Sheila nodded. "Whenever you are." and scratched her felhound behind its horn.
I am still not entirely sure how we ended up here.
Sheila and Lady Proudmoore did get together from time to time. I mean, they did have a lot in common, being not only interested in magic and they were both dragon consorts.
They likely discussed things I really did not want to know anything about, but how that evolved into magic practice duels, I have no idea.
Jaina started with flinging a frostbolt in Sheila's direction and the demon snarled, the frostbolt dissolving in mid-air.
Wonder if it would be possible to convince them that instead of magic, they should practice their wrestling? Preferably in mud.
However, even if I didn't think Kalecgos would outright step on me for making that suggestion, I would end up in a ton of trouble with Sheila, never mind Lady Proudmoore.
Sheila responded with fire and curses, using the Felhound for defense while Jaina danced around the return spells with counterspells, shields and blink teleports.
"I heard you are heading out again." Kalecgos said softly as we watched our consorts dance the dance of spell fire.
I nodded and raised my head, my tailclub moving across the ground as I tensed when a fireblast almost hit Sheila but she was able to get out of the way in time.
It was safe, really. Jaina was hell of a lot better than Sheila and Sheila had her soulstone for safety.
That didn't mean that watching this didn't make me tense as hell, though.
"We are. In about a week... Sheila wanted time to get everything ready, but she seemed excited about it."
Careful! She is about to... oh. Damn, that was close.
"It is a skill I wish I could learn." My Flightleader said with a small sigh, his eyes locked at the duel. "But it seems to be one inherent to you, World Walker."
I winced at that. "Please, don't call me that."
Stupid Drakes!
Kalecgos turned his head to give me an amused look. "I thought it was fitting. But very well, I won't. I can't speak for the rest, though."
Covering my muzzle with my front paws I whimpered. Damn it. It felt so... pretentious.
The large wyrm chuckled and looked back at the duel where Jaina was playing teleporter tag keeping away from the felhound while keeping Sheila busy with a water elemental.
"While they are distracted." I said quietly while watching them closely. "Have you managed any progress?"
The large wyrm sighed and then nodded. "Just preliminary calculations. The readings from your ritual is of great help and I believe it can be done if we limit it to physical form and instincts, leaving their souls and magical power alone."
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!
He put his head down again. "But it is still years out before we can try it. It is still an insanely complex set of spells and I no longer have the Aspect of Magic. Everything is harder now."
I nodded, but I didn't ask how much he lost when he gave it up. It was likely a lot.
Not that you could notice, normally. Seriously, I've seen him do magic that made me look like a whelp trying to figure out how use his breath.
Maybe it was a stupid idea to compare my ability to the former aspect of magic. No, there was no maybe about it.
Sheila cried out as Jaina caught her in a polymorph, turning her into a sheep before blowing the felhound to bits.
A couple of seconds later, Sheila turned back to find Jaina standing a couple of meters away, a fireball in hand. "Give?"
My consort sighed and relaxed back against the stone floor before she nodded, panting softly. "Y-yeah. Damn it. I thought I had you for a second."
"You are getting a lot better." Lady Proudmoore said with a smile, canceling the fireball and walking up to offer Sheila her hand, pulling her back onto her feet.
Sheila smiled, ran a hand through her hair and shook her head. "Not up to your level, though." as they started to make their way across the chamber.
"You will get there. I was not ready for that counterspell, I didn't know you could use Land magic."
"As Atreus's Consort? How could I not." Sheila said with a grin as they reached us and she stepped up to give me a small kiss on the tip of my nose.
"Still, that kind of magic is very difficult." Lady Proudmoore said and sat down on Kalecgos' frontpaw. "I only managed it a couple of months ago myself."
"Do you have a link yet? I haven't managed it." before Sheila giggled and pushed at my muzzle to try to get me stop licking at her hair. "Stop that!"
Jaina shook her head. "No. That's out of my reach right now as well." She grinned at my antics and continued, "He seems like he might need a bit more traini- eep!" She squeaked as Kalecgos pushed her over with his tongue.
AN// Many thanks to Grey Rook for betaing this section.
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