Skyrim: A Sorcerer's Tale-Chapter 479 - XCVI: Conscripting The Mushroom Dweller

(General POV)

Master Neloth of Great House Telvanni, an elf who inspired terror in his foes and wonder in his supplicants for centuries without end, found himself rather disconcerted with the current state of affairs.

Scratch that, he was absolutely fucking livid!

The very reason he had come to the shithole that was Solstheim was to get away from the constant politicking of his lessers and enjoy a few decades of retirement studying Mora's tomes before he found something more interesting to catch his attention.

He was especially smug with his choice once he heard of some infant playing at being king doing the improbable and removing the curse of Vvardenfell from the entirety of Morrowind, an act that sent ripples as far as his own tower.

Leave the fools to deal with the animals without bothering him, simple, right?

It would seem he has... miscalculated.

A thought that offended him beyond belief.

"Come on then, we have a dragon to greet." The child did not even bother looking at him as he simply jumped down his tower, quickly followed by his trio of sycophants.

He was sorely tempted to just ignore him and arm his wards, but then he remembered the feeling of being held within the grasp of that magic, a feeling akin to the one coming from the black book he had in his possession, and yet oh so different.

Something beyond mere magic.

And Neloth found that he very much wanted to understand what it was, and grasp it for himself.

With great reluctance he got up on his feet, and patiently levitated down the trunk of his tower.

The sight that awaited in the skies outside of his domain almost made him regret it, a massive creature with two wings and four legs, and an oddly elongated jaw hurtling down towards them at speeds he'd imagine were quite dangerous if not for the inkling in the back of his head telling him it was his tower that would break before the beast.

He knew it to be a dragon, he wasn't bloody deaf, but the creature was odd.

Instead of the glittering or smoldering scales, proud horns, or the famed furious wisdom in its eyes, the thing looked more akin to a skinned snake, its jaws looking more like those of a slaughterfish instead of the serpent he expected.

"What an ugly motherfucker." The child Hortator apparently agreed with his assessment. He almost looked like he was going to use that power once more to simply bat the creature away but then all of them felt the slightest buzz of magic coming from his belt and he disregarded the dragon utterly, instead pulling out a white glowing orb and focusing on it fully.

A few moments passed as the dragon kept hurtling at them and the beast took in a sharp growling breath before hissing at them "YOOOL TOR SHUUUUL!"

Falling back on centuries of experience, Neloth, and even his fool apprentice, began casting wards even as their 'guests' ignored the wave of flame that threatened to consume them all, the tonal magic far too potent to fully stop with only their effort.

His useless apprentice made an acceptable effort, even if he would never admit it.

As he expected, the wards held for a short moment before shattering, and Neloth felt such impotent rage as his life flashed before his eyes he would never forget this moment.

And then, without the slightest indication or shift in Magicka, the towering construct following the child around rose its hand, and a ward of incredible potence shoved the flames away without seemingly any effort.

Dagoth finally looked up from his orb, rose an eyebrow, and spoke "Joor Zah Frul." The sudden wave of blue tonal magic slammed into the dragon and an instant later a large runic circle formed under it, bursting forth with jagged chains that enveloped the dragon and dragged it down to the earth, smashing it into the ground just a few meters in front of Tel Mithryn's accompanying settlement.

Faster than Neloth could react, the child summoned a staff and pointed it at the fallen beast, before striking it with a burst of crimson lightning that temporarily blinded everyone that looked at it directly. frёeweɓηovel.coɱ

The result was the steaming, twitching headless torso of a dragon.

"Well, that was disappointing." He heard him mutter "But not unexpected."

The Telvanni scoffed "Couldn't have done that immediately?"

"Hm?" The child quirked an eyebrow at him as if just remembering he was there "An important message came through on my Orb™ so I thought I'd let someone as esteemed as yourself deal with our guest."

"Oh?" Aren, who had remained completely silent until now, grew curious "What message?"

The child smiled, practically radiating satisfaction "Dres just got done with the initial census, our first harvests came in and it appears we had a bit of a bumper crop. Not that we can actually know if it is one considering it is the first, but it is the thought that counts."

Aren shared his descendant's satisfaction, nodding happily "That is great to hear, it is about time Morrowind got a chance to truly recover."

Neloth felt his eye twitching "You... let a dragon nearly burn my tower to the ground for some measly crops?" He did not yell, that was undignified, but it was a rather close thing.

Dagoth's dry look told him all he thought of his complaints "You appear to be under the impression your tower is somehow more relevant to me than a report I could literally have read tomorrow. I'd advise against such arrogance in the future."

Even the fucking lich had the temerity to chuckle.

Oh how Neloth wished to throttle the lot of them.

Dagoth paused briefly before rounding on the dragon's corpse "Oh no you don't!" And casting an impressively complex (not that Neloth would ever voice the thought) mysticism ward on the spot, completely encasing the semi-divine soul within.

Neloth could almost swear he heard the distant whisper of 'What the-' but the current excitement was too distracting for him to properly register it.

(Reyvin's POV)

Narrowing my eyes at the attempt I barely remembered, I turn back to my shithead of a host "So, are you going to cooperate now or do I need to restart negotiations?"

He hid it well but I could feel a flicker of unease within him as he scoffed "Don't bother, I am no fool." Doubtful "What is it that you needed my expertise for again?"

'Bald fucker wants something.' Scorch chirps in.

'I know.'

'If he tries to fuck us can I have his eyes?'

'Tell you what.' I smirk at the increasingly uncomfortable elf 'If he doesn't fix his attitude before we are done you can do whatever the fuck you want with him. And no, you don't get to egg him on, that is my job.'

The bird radiates eagerness before subsiding back into my Magicka reserve.

"How about we take this inside?" I propose "The tale will take us a moment."

He looks like he wants to do anything but but still nods "Very well, follow me." He turns to his apprentice and barks "Talvas, get the cooks moving!"

His rather sluggish student blinks before startling "Yes, master." And rushing off.

"Useless waste of space." The bald Telvanni scoffs.

-----

By the time I was finished with my edited story, the old enchanter looked halfway disbelieving "So you wish to go against Hermaeus Mora, arguably one of the most powerful Daedric Lords in existence, who has a creature as powerful as the First Dragonborn in his service, did I get that right?"

"Your auditory receptors appear to be in working order." Akulakhan informs him bluntly.

He scowls at my bodyguard before directing me with a deadpan look "And I don't suppose you will be letting me loose once I tell you what I know?"

"Ha." I deadpan back as I toss away the ashes of a burnt cigar "You are not wiggling out of this one I am afraid, especially since you seem to be the only one who has done proper research on the Black Books strewn across this island." I idly point at the well warded shelf holding one of the items in question.

"Yes" He gives the tome a tentative look "A passing interest of mine, a Daedric artifact yet not in the usual sense, serving more as a pathway to Apocrypha itself than an item of power as one might expect." He pauses, mulling his words over for a moment "I am... unsure as to why they were thrown here specifically-"

"Miraak." I inform him generously.

He frowns "Explain."

Ignoring the demand in his tone I do so "I sincerely doubt it was Mora who initially started tossing the things about. More likely the Dragonborn imprisoned within Apocrypha well know for his hunger for power was planning on making his escape through those things, using his tentative connection with the island he had built his temple upon to create a way out."

"That does sound plausible." The Telvanni hums, finally showing some genuine interest in the topic "I have managed to cast a sympathetic spell on the book I have in my possession and found that there are seven such tomes in total, unfortunately I have only been able to locate two so far."

"Just knowing the number is quite helpful." I reassure him "Finding them should not prove too big a challenge considering the size of this place."

He makes a noncomital noise before frowning "It is this Miraak that is taking control of the weak willed on the island then?"

"Most likely." I shrug "I have my own reasons to believe Mora himself has been getting more involved recently but I sincerely doubt Miraak is aware of that little fact. No matter what the case is, our goal remains the same, find all the books, close of their influence from the island, and thoroughly fuck the two of them over."

He doesn't say anything for a good while before giving me a calculating look "You are either a fool who has no idea of what he is doing, or you actually know what you are talking about, and I am unsure which I would prefer at this point."

"Hah!" Savos barks a laugh "A quick learner, this one."

Neloth gives him a dry look but my sole worthy grandfather remains unmoved, on the contrary his amusement only seems to grow by the second.

"Now then" I clap my hands "You have one book in your possession and know the location of another, I'd say that is the perfect way to start our little campaign against evil, wouldn't you agree Master Neloth?"

He gives his vault a hesitant look before spiritually deflating before my very eyes "Very well, I trust that you have a way to contain its power during transport?"

"Have no fear Master Neloth" This time I use the title a bit more mockingly "I am after all, the greatest enchanter on Nirn."

His head moved so fast to face me I think I heard a slight snap.

-----

"An utter impossibility" The bald mage keeps muttering "How does one stack so many runes atop each other without the enchantment detonating? Utterly ridiculous!" At this point he had been grumbling to himself for a full hour.

Honestly at this point I was starting to feel kinda bad for him... Maybe I should not have shown him the truth of my robes, even if for only a split second.

Before he could descend into yet another full blown tirade however, the sounds of fighting in the distance had dissipated and Marwyn limped back into our sight "Finally finished with all of them?" I ask.

The site before the ruins of Nchardak, the flooded Dwemer outpost the book was supposed to be at, was guarded by two dozen or so middlingly well armed reavers and other outcasts and I found it a perfect chance to give the lich a moment to shine.

Something he accepted with minimum grumbling, even as his baleful eye-flames flickered with annoyance at my question "Yes, once their 'friends'' corpses started biting at them they broke rather quickly."

"Congratulations on your victory then." I incline my head ever so slightly before turning to the baldie "Oi, Neloth!" His eyes snap to mine "We've arrived."

"Ah, yes" He blinks and nods to himself, focusing with impressive speed "Nchardak, an ancient Dwemer archive if the few markings I could translate are correct." He leads us forward as he speaks "Its contents were mostly destroyed by simple erosion but I suspect some metal plaques still survive in pockets of air."

We approach the gate and he telekinetically pushes it open "I first found this place some two years ago, its wards were still active even after all this time." He pauses as we all enter and come onto the sight of a Black Book covered in impressively warded glass "This damnable thing has been mocking me with its presence ever since."

"You weren't able to open it?" I ask.

"Unfortunately not." He scowls "I managed to extract a control cube of some sort from the ruins beyond, it was damaged but I surmised it was used to control the pumps that would no doubt, if configured correctly, release the lock placed atop the tome."

He snaps his fingers with... acceptable theatricity and a rather rudimentary lexicon flashes into his hand "I managed to, after much trial and error, repair the bloody thing, even if we will likely have to find more of them within." Much more quietly he mutters "Hopefully repairing them will not be as frustrating."

He goes to explain further but I raise a hand, smirk at him ominously, and begin humming.

The entire complex around us shudders and I hear multiple pumps beginning to work as one below us, directing the massive flow of water outside of what was once the city of a hundred towers.

And then the protective vault holding the Black Book decouples and raises our prize atop a neat little platform.

Neloth stares at the book, then stares at me, then at Savos who was holding back his laughter. The old man twitches violently before with a shriek straight out of the abyss, throws the lexicon in his hand against a wall, shattering it utterly.

Truly, Scorch's wisdom was the only reasonable response to such behavior 'Cope and seethe bitch.'

-------

Neloth did not provide stone when requested.

Don't be like Neloth.

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