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"If I call for aid I’ll try not to drag you into a fight with a thousand-year-old necromancer and a pack of daedra." |
The grin we shared was mutual, and for a brief moment we grasped each other’s arms firmly. "Safe travels Kaius. May the Green assist you in your travels." |
We turned away from each other, and I took a moment to glance up at the stars to gain my bearings, and down to the dagger that I held in a fist. It was almost more of a work of art than a killing tool, and what such a gift represented was not to be taken lightly. It was a sign of the utmost faith and trust and a pledg... |
Turning to say my parting farewells I found myself alone in the darkness as Malulain and his kin vanished as quickly and as easily as they had appeared, and leaving me on my own. Blood was congealing on my clothing and armour, my body was battered, bruised and bleeding in places and I would have trouble walking for a ... |
The oppressive heat of the smithy was suddenly and abruptly replaced with the cool salty coastal air, lifting the sweat from our flesh. Viconia and I had spent the past hour in discussion with Varel Morvayn as we arranged for our battered, damaged and worn armour to be stripped, repaired, replaced and otherwise refurbi... |
In the end we departed slightly lighter of our collection of wealth, and armoured in only our breastplates. The rest was left arrayed across a table, the chainmail thrown into barrels filled with sand for scouring, and the worst pieces simply dumped into buckets to be fed into the smelter. It was concerning the number... |
"Well, that will keep them busy for a while." I commented offhandedly as I closed the door behind Viconia. |
The sign displaying the anvil and tongs symbol of Morvayn’s shop creaked above our heads as Viconia simply shrugged her shoulders. "Three days. I’m surprised that it’s going to take that long with how much he pointed out with your armour." |
"It was only a few busted links, buckled pauldrons, crushed vambraces, split back plate, cracked faulds, dented rerebraces..." I trailed off, realising that not only was she making a joke but the sheer amount of damage I had sustained during the months was a little overwhelming. Especially how Viconia’s armour was goi... |
"Well, you will go out of your way to fight people and monsters. It’s not my fault that you come back beaten and bloody from the wilderness." |
The smile on her face lit her expression for a moment as she glanced in my direction. Ever since I had returned from patrolling the county she had been a mixture of relieved, annoyed and amused. Especially after I informed her and Azzan of my encounter with the Bosmer Rangers. Azzan was particularly pleased to know th... |
And now we both found ourselves in Anvil, together once more and with less and less work to keep us occupied. In the weeks since our arrival the city had improved, the mood had been lifted and eve despite the ever growing numbers of pilgrims, refugees and travellers the situation was contained. Where there had been a ... |
Dozens, if not hundreds of new traders, merchants and craftsmen had relocated themselves into the city, along with their families and unemployment was soon becoming a past issue. Every street corner, alley, or communal place were growing new stalls and there wasn’t an empty building within the curtain walls. Those who... |
It wasn’t to say that all things were going smoothly. Riots and brawls were still common place and the city guard had its hands extremely full dealing with the increasing number of robberies and petty crimes that were occurring on a daily basis. Pickpocketing was rife and on my return I had some urchin attempt to lift... |
Azzan had been completely correct though. our presences alone were calming to the city’s population and our actions had a vastly increased effect over what would normally be expected. While little more than a drop in a pond in comparison to the actions of the local guard and the guildsmen our actions were a lot more p... |
As we made our way from Morvayn’s Peacemakers and along the city streets we could feel dozens of eyes watching and looking upon us in awe. My hearing caught snatches of conversations discussing us and not for the first time I cursed the articles that the Black Horse Courier had been distributing about our feats. It wa... |
"What makes the Legion so special?" Viconia asked abruptly as we made our way down the street, shifting our way through the throngs of people going about their daily business. The mid-morning markets were doing very well for themselves and there was no shortage of customers. |
"What do you mean?" My reply was almost cut off as I moved around a pair of servants bearing their lord’s heraldry on their tabards, moving from place to place with their arms full of goods and foodstuffs. |
Viconia too shifted around them and they both started slightly at the sight of our swords at our hips and our ebony-mithril breastplates. "No matter where we have been, the Legion is spoken about almost reverently or in awe, and yet as far as I can tell every province... By Shar, every city on the surface has its own ... |
"That’s true." |
"Then why are they so special?" |
I spared her a glance as we continued through the busy streets, my hand hovering in the vicinity of Sunchild and wary for pickpockets. Technically we were both were in our own time but the two of us walking about constituted as a patrol in the eyes of the Guild and the local Guard. |
"It’s the training." Shrugging for a moment I made an apology and squeezed through a small group of people lining up to buy poultry from a nearby stall. "For the most part at least." |
"The guards and militia we have encountered seem adequate enough." |
"Yeah, in a way. But they aren’t professionals. Most of the guards you will see spend only part of their time in mail and only a portion of that training. A Legionary signs up for life, for all intents and purposes. Not everyone who takes the Empire’s Septim will live to see retirement." |
Her gaze lingered on me as we managed to extricate ourselves from the press and into a calmer portion of the city streets. "What is it about the training then?" |
"Well, for one thing it’s a lot more intensive physically and mentally. Most join in their mid to late teens. A bit older if they are elvish and a bit younger if they are orcs." For a moment I chewed on my lip in thought. "When you take a teenager when they have almost finished growing and put them through the sort of... |
"You create a soldier." Viconia replied, looking somewhat deep in thought. |
"Exactly. The strongest swords are made by heating and folding the metal dozens upon dozens of times until the last of the imperfections in the material have been beaten out of existence. In the same way, the training and breaking and mending of an individual, especially when they are on the cusp of adulthood makes th... |
"The Legion uses pain to temper their minds and breaks their bodies to allow them to heal stronger..." She said. It was a statement rather than question but I nodded anyway. "What about starting the training process at a younger age?" |
"It has been attempted and done. A couple of times I think. Some of the more... free thinking Legates during the reign of Pelagius the Mad tried making Legionaries from recruits taken as young as six." |
"Did it work?" |
I shook my head, both to Viconia’s question and the handful of citizen’s offering me a portion of their meagre rations. Their clothing was so threadbare from their journey that they were little more than rags and if it wasn’t for the daily bread that the Countess had decreed be handed to every inhabitant they would be... |
"I don’t know the full details but I know that they proved that it just wasn’t as cost effective. There was a higher amount of injuries obviously, the cohorts had much higher discipline and were harder to break in combat but within a few years it was obvious that the use of restoration magicka during training had disa... |
"Is all this why you seem so much more capable than the others we have met?" |
Not knowing how to answer, I chose to shrug instead. "I guess." |
"You are much more used to pain, and are certainly stronger than most I have seen in our travels." |
"That’s not entirely a result of being a member of the Legion." Pausing uncomfortably, I grimaced and saw her expression mirror mine in more of a humorous fashion. |
"Within the first days of meeting you were going to brand yourself with a red hot sword blade before I stepped in to stop you from making a wael of yourself." Her laugh was pleasant and I realised how much I had thoroughly missed her during my short time in the wilds. "Surely you were at least somewhat proficient befo... |
It was my turn to chuckle darkly. "Somewhat. Managed to hold my own during the yearly tournaments within the 14th and even managed to be proclaimed sword champion for my cohort once." |
"Which proves that you know which end of a sword not to stab yourself with at least." |
The curve of her eyebrow was the only sign of amusement on her face as she returned to her usual dour look, but I couldn’t help but grin. |
"Well, what about the Drow? Do they have anything comparable to the Legion?" |
"Organisationally? No. By skill of arms I would say that most Drow who have reached adulthood are more than a match for any Legionary." |
"Really?" I was surprised, but only partially. Viconia had never made any attempt to proclaim that she was a trained warrior and without my vampiric nature there would be little help that I could contend with her. |
"The Drow are violent and cruel and exceptionally capable as warriors, mages, thieves and assassins, but that is as individuals. We fight for ourselves and even during battle it is rare for any Drow to come to the aid of another. Death on the battlefield can come from any direction and even those who we fight alongsid... |
"Sounds inefficient." |
Once again she laughed, but this time it was full throated and drew the attention of most passers-by. It was not an entirely pleasant laugh and for those who weren’t accustomed to her it was enough to send shivers up the spine. "Yes, yes it is. I always thought that the Drow were superior to everything and everyone, t... |
"How do the Drow fight wars?" I asked simply. |
"Unlike the surface, that’s for certain. Most battles I have experienced or heard of are nothing like Kvatch. The Drow rely almost solely upon slaves to fight, sending them forward in mass waves until the enemy is either destroyed or worn down enough that the handful of warriors can finish off the survivors." |
"It sounds extremely inefficient..." |
She nodded. "In one battle against the illithids, Menzoberranzan lost three thousand slaves. That was almost a quarter of the total slave stock and several of the lesser houses were subsequently destroyed in the coming months with the loss of so much property and wealth. The illithids force had only numbered a thousan... |
"So in Drow society a handful of elite trained soldiers lead a much greater force of conscripts?" |
"Effectively yes." She made a gesture that seemed to convey utter hopelessness. "And all it does is keep the Drow trapped and reliant upon Lloth’s blessings and power to survive. Most of the "professional’ Drow soldiery consist of mages and clerics with a handful of what you would compare to foresters. An even smaller... |
"It is what the Legion does." |
"Indeed... I have been comparing the surface to the Underdark and have been struggling to comprehend the differences, let alone understand them. I have also seen enough to understand that while you don’t compare to a Drow, you and other members of the Legion far exceed them at the same time." |
"I... guess that is a compliment?" I said hesitantly. |
The way she rolled her eyes was almost audible. "Sometimes you are really thick headed mrannd’ssinss. The Legions does with science and sorcery in mere months what has taken the Drow hundreds, if not thousands of generations to accomplish." |
"I wouldn’t go as far as that..." |
She twisted and stared me right in the eye and poked my breastplate with a finger. "You said it yourself; they break you down into absolute nothing and then with magicka and determination they build you back up into something more... Something greater than what normal men and mer would normally become. Kvatch is proof... |
I couldn’t help but fall silent at her words and after she turned and continue on I hurriedly followed in her footsteps. There was no way that I or any other legionary would ever consider themselves superhuman. Well training and fit yes, but nothing more than that. |
"What makes the Drow so deadly?" |
It was my turn to give Viconia pause but it didn’t last for long. "Detholusin kyuvrem lu’ dro'xundus" |
"Surviving and what?" |
"Selective breeding." Despite the steeled edge in her voice there was no emotion in her tone. "The weak were actively culled as infants, and those who couldn’t survive to adulthood didn’t breed anyway so only the strongest would pass on their heritage. Do this over the course of, I don’t know... Centuries? Millennium?... |
"So you believe the Legion is superior in creating soldiers?" |
Again she rolled her eyes. "It is obvious that they are. It takes a lifetime to train a Drow warrior, and while they are better than Legionaries, the Legion can turn anyone into a warrior. Not only that they can do so in only a few short months." |
Clicking her tongue in thought she lead the way, shifting through the press until we found ourselves in one of the many streets where the crowds were significantly thinner. A tavern nearby was filled to bursting and the sound of music was audible even over the chorus of locals singing along with enthusiasm rather than... |
Over the sound of the tavern, the city was suddenly filled with the sound of tolling bells and for a heart stopping moment I thought that it once again signified an assault on the city. I quickly realised that the bells were sounding out the eleventh hour, somehow conspicuously absent of the bronzed thunder of the cat... |
Viconia’s attention was caught by the bells and she cocked her head momentarily at the sound, silently counting the tolling and grimly smiling. "Well, looks like we have places to be." |
"Places to be?" I watched her as she gained her bearings in the city, turned and motioned for me to follow. "What sort of places." |
"You’ll see..." |
Of all of the places in Anvil that I was expecting her to lead me, the courtyard in front of the Cathedral of Dibella was not one of them. Nor were we the only ones moving towards that portion of the city. As noon approached there was an obvious stream of people from all walks of life moving towards the towering spire... |
"So why are we here?" I asked Viconia and we shifted our way through the press with our armed appearances and the deference afford to us by our honorary titles. |
"With the Cathedral still closed the priests have been holding their sermons in the courtyard." |
I stopped in mid motion, ignoring the tutting annoyance from behind me as a woman and her children were forced to come to a halt lest they walked into me. "Sermons? Viconia..." |
She saw my expression and grinned. "Don’t worry mrannd’ssinss, I’m not converting to your gods. I’ve just found that this is the best entertainment in the city." |
There was no way that my expression of confusion could go unnoticed, even in amongst the crowd that was building. "Entertainment?" |
"Oh of course. Last week I was here with the guards and I had to help stop a riot. At mid-day the clergy allows some of the travelling priests to speak or perform their own rituals. Some are the usual boring platitudes and rambling that seems to be usual for your faith. Others like the one I dealt with seem to be real... |
Moving half way through the crowds, we found a suitable location near the stone-brick walls of the townhouses, excusing our way through some of those nearby until we could lean against the wall. Nearby a towering knight and his squires bearing the heraldry of Wayrest made their own way through the crowds. There were o... |
"Sometimes religion isn’t boring." I muttered softly, feeling the hard stones push the sheathed Light of Dawn into my spine as I leant against them. |
Viconia for her part chuckled darkly, in turn moving up against me and leaning back against my chest as we watched the courtyard fill. The way she pressed into me was somehow affectionate and yet wasn’t. She was treating me almost as though I was a fixture of the wall itself or even a doorframe, leaning into me with a... |
"Some of your priests have very interesting views. Ones I wouldn’t find amiss amongst the followers of the Spider Queen. All the talk of death and suffering in the afterlife and fire and brimstone from the skies. It’s all very... poetic." |
"You should listen to the Legion chaplains and priests then." I replied. "I believe they would fit well in the Underdark." |
With Viconia leaning against my chest, I thought deeply for a few moments. I had never considered myself on speaking terms with the gods, and believed that a man needed to rule his own fate. It was partially this belief that made me desert the Legion to make my own life, and it was one that I was not going to change e... |
The courtyard was a simple affair and just like Kvatch the very entrance to the cathedral opened up into the massive cobblestone filled expanse. It was large enough to contain a hundred legionaries standing shoulder to shoulder, and anywhere up to two hundred ranks deep. |
Filing in from all sides and from every part of the city the crowd grew until there was barely space to move. The general murmur of the crowd was growing and swelling in size as well as more and more voices added to the background noise, and soon as the numbers of people grew together so tightly packed that they resem... |
Roaming the crowd with my eyes, I took in the dozens of expectant looks and eager faces, seeing many eyes almost brimming with tears. Most of those nearby seemed to be clutching at tiny symbols and talismans, made holy by their make of poor quality silver or blessed at some shrine or another. What struck me the most h... |
"Just how many of these have you attended since I have been gone?" I asked, my eyes continuing to take in the sights and faces of those nearby. |
"Every day for the past three weeks." There was honesty in her tone and I felt her shrug. "The first few it was part of my duties with the guard. Such a gathering of people has been problematic even without the few doomsayers causing problems." |
A dozen metres away from us I saw another one travelling knight. Unlike some of the others who travelled with several attendants and squires at all times he was alone and his armour had long since seen better days. Dents and gouges marked every plate and while his sword was notched and chips in places it was sharpened... |
The crowd hushed, almost like the minutes before a mighty storm would unleash its fury upon the world and I felt Viconia suddenly grow excited as we watched a single figure walk unsteadily up the short flight of steps onto the stage on the far end of the courtyard. |
"Excellent." She said simply. "I was hoping to hear this man again." |
From where I stood there appeared nothing too out of the ordinary about the individual moving his way towards the centre of the stage. His clothing was worn like many of the pilgrims and despite his obviously advanced years there was a strange energy about him. "One of the firebrands?" |
"He is in his own way. His speeches though a much more interesting and sometimes seem more like history lessons." |
There was another shrug. "I’m not sure if anyone knows. I’ve heard him simply called "The Prophet’ for some reason and the local priests seem to be content with letting him speak." |
"What does he talk about?" |
"As far as I can tell, everything and anything. Lately he seems to be concentrating on what I think is ancient history but I’m not sure. I’m still not familiar with the surface." |
"Fair enough." I replied, looking over to him as he carefully walked across the wooden platform. As close as I could estimate he was close to eighty years old, hunched over by the weight of the years pressing down on hgis shoulders. His face was partially obscured by a mane of unkempt hair and he looked almost the sam... |
With the expectant hush building in the crowd he gave a smile and cleared his throat, gesturing to the crowd and even before he spoke I could identify the signs that he was a highly skilled orator. When he did begin to speak he was somehow able to cast his voice over the crowd to allow every being present to hear his ... |
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