So yeah... without further ado, on with the show!
-x-X-x-
"-y, you! You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial Ambush, same as us and that thief over there… and the Altmer too, I suppose."
"Damn you Stormcloaks… Skyrim was fine until you came along! Empire was nice and lazy! If they hadn't been looking for you, I'd have stolen that horse and been halfway to Hammerfell!"
"I don't… w-what's happening? I don't understand what's going on…"
The first two voices, as I swim in and out of consciousness, are strangely familiar to me. Almost like I remember them from something I watched or played. They're also coming from above me… which is more than a little disconcerting, considering there shouldn't be anyone standing over my bed. Certainly not talking about… about Skyrim of all things.
Except this isn't my bed. The surface beneath my head and back is hard and uneven, not soft and comfortable like it should be. Slowly opening my eyes, I'm greeted not with the sight of my bedroom ceiling, but a blue sky overhead. What… what the fuck?
With a loud groan, I interrupt the three talking as I move to sit up. That's when I find out my hands are bound together with multiple coils of tightly wrapped rope. That's also when I discover that my hands… are no longer my hands.
Except they are. Those are the hands that I remember having… in one life. Blinking rapidly, trying to get my bearings and only drowning in memories that were splitting my head in half, splitting my very sense of self in two. On one hand… on one hand, I was a purveyor of smut, an erotic writer who made a living via my debauched writings. I was a human man in my late twenties who had just spent the last year working on improving my health and losing the majority of the hundred plus extra pounds of fat I'd been lugging around for a decade and a half.
On the other hand… I was none of those things. Instead, I was a Thalmor Agent, an Altmer who had grown up within the Third Aldmeri Dominion, indoctrinated into their beliefs. I was convinced of my superiority as a member of the Thalmor, and that all who were not my kin were beneath me in every way.
At nearly seventy years of age, my Thalmor side had a lifetime of experience compared to my human side, but ultimately with a life span of three hundred to four hundred years on average, I was far from old by any means. Certainly, I was neither aging nor growing frail like I would be if I were still a human.
The only thing truly protecting my human memories from the supremacist thoughts of the Thalmor half of my mind… was the bone deep certainty that this, all of this, was just a game. I may have only had just under three decades of human experiences, but they were so outlandish and far flung from my Altmer experiences that it was impossible for either to overwhelm the other.
"Come on, friend. Up with you. Here, help me get him onto the cart."
"Urgh, fine."
As equally bound hands both reach to grab my arms on either side, I have to quell my initial reaction to jerk away and bark at them not to touch me with great difficulty. I can't be in the business of making enemies right now, not if this is what I think it is… and after a moment, the Thalmor in me reluctantly agrees. And so, I'm yanked up and shoved onto an empty spot on the bench between two men who are both bound at the wrist as well.
Across from us, on the other side of the wagon, are two women… and I can't help but do a double take as the man on my left slaps my arm and gestures with his hands to me and one of those women.
"I'm telling you both… we shouldn't BE here. It's these Stormcloaks who the Empire wants!"
This is… Lokir, the Horse Thief. The guy who gets himself shot at the start of the game by trying to pull a runner. Which makes the man on my right who is quick to answer him Ralof, the Stormcloak.
"We're all brothers and sisters in binds now."
I have to admit, I'm only paying the two bickering on either side of me half a mind at best. Most of my attention is on the two women sat across from me. One of them is completely unfamiliar to me, but nevertheless incredibly gorgeous. Even the Thalmor in me is rather taken with her features, despite his instinctive prejudice against so-called 'inferior' races. But then, just because the races of Men and even the other types of Mer are all naturally inferior to the Altmer, didn't mean they couldn't be admired for… aesthetic purposes.
Heh, shit, I think the two halves of my mind had just found something else they could agree on. Indeed, even dressed in the sack cloth that our captors had clearly changed her into, the unfamiliar girl is beautiful, with shockingly red hair and a perfect face, complete with bright wide eyes and a button nose. She's also looking singularly out of her depths, though from what can be seen of her arms, she doesn't look soft.
Indeed, the trained agent in me says that she's capable of putting up a fight, for all that she's doing a remarkable job of seeming small, helpless, and scared right now. It just wouldn't be a very honorable fight. Instead, I find myself imagining her with daggers, or perhaps a bow… and a set of form fitting leathers designed to keep her steps quiet as she pads along, taking only what kills she needs to on her way to her target.
My Thalmor instincts, honed from decades of training, were telling me that the girl was a thief, likely a much better one than the Horse Thief to my left. But my human instincts, honed from multiple playthroughs of this whole thing as a video game were telling me something else.
Because if I was sat between Ralof the Stormcloak and Lokir the Horse Thief, and the other woman sat across from us was who I thought she was, as impossible as that seemed… that could only mean this seemingly unassuming girl was the Last Dragonborn, destined to save all of Tamriel from the World-Eater's Return.
While the part of me that is supposed to be a deep undercover Thalmor Agent reels from the thought, Lokir gestures to the other woman in the cart… the one currently wearing a thick, heavy gag over her no doubt pretty mouth.
"What's wrong with her, huh?"
Ralof, of course, is quick to jump to the gagged woman's defense, confirming my suspicions and at the same time shocking me to my core.
"Watch your tongue! You're speaking to Ulfrida Stormcloak, the true High Queen!"
Reeling back as if struck, Lokir shakes his head wildly.
"Ulfrida?! The Jarl of Windhelm? But… but you're the leader of the rebellion! If they've captured you… oh gods, where are they taking us!"
Ralof gives his customary doomer answer and Lokir starts to panic, forcing the Stormcloak to try and calm him down. I've already tuned them both out at that point though, to be honest… especially as we're finally entering Helgen, and something, or rather, someone has caught my eye. As our cart passes through the town gates and begins to turn left along the road, I see General Tullius astride his horse, speaking with First Emissary and Thalmor Ambassador Elenwen astride hers.
For a brief moment, the briefest of moments, her eyes flicker away from the General and manage to meet my own. Its only for a second, but once again my decades of service as an Agent to the Thalmor come in handy, and as it turns out, my Thalmor side is able to get quite a lot from that glance… which my human side is then able to provide further context on.
Elenwen looks grim… but also resigned and almost content. Like she's willing to let what happens here today play out in its entirety. Which… given what I know from the lore as well as from serving the Thalmor, DOES make sense. Skyrim is in the midst of a Civil War… and the Thalmor want nothing more than for that Civil War to continue.
Not only does it serve their interests to see the Empire further weakened, but it allows them to continually meddle in Skyrim's affairs. One of the concessions they'd forced from the Empire after what was known as the Markarth Incident, was the ability to send what were effectively Inquisitorial Death Squads into Skyrim.
Usually traveling in groups of three, the Thalmor Justicars had free reign to root out all Talos worship… and used that free reign to be menaces and in turn prop up the Stormcloak cause, driving more and more Nords into their arms and forcing the Empire to dedicate more and more manpower to retaking the province.
Now, my role was not to be one of those Justicars, which is why I had been trying to cross the border into Skyrim on the sly, only to be caught in that damn ambush. Fuck, it was freaky having two conflicting sets of memories of the last few days. In one, me playing my latest playthrough of Skyrim. In the other, me planning my entry into the province on the sly so I could further the Thalmor's plans on the down low, rather than out in the open like my peers.
Ironically, if only I'd experienced this meld a few days before, I might have avoided that damn ambush altogether. Then, I wouldn't be in this position, hung out to dry apparently by the First Emissary who clearly knew who I was from that moment's glance, but also wasn't going to do anything to help me.
Tch. This was bad. Like… really bad. Ralof is still blabbering along in the background, but the cart is almost to its ultimate destination now. Which means… it's almost time for the execution.
Relying on a dragon to swoop in and save the day, let alone the World-Eater himself, sounds like insanity to my Thalmor half. But at the same time, what the fuck else am I supposed to do? I have… I have magic. I'm not some level one player just starting out. Heh, I'm not even the Dragonborn. That's the cute redhead across from me.
As a Thalmor Agent intended for long-term deep undercover work, I am fully trained in the Illusionary Arts. In fact, I have a favored spell that I'm pretty sure wasn't even in any Skyrim playthrough I ever did. Charm Magic… that wasn't from Skyrim, that was from Oblivion. Still, the ability to change the target's disposition towards me would be insanely useful and from my Thalmor memories HAD been insanely useful… and pleasurable, many times before.
But not right now, not surrounded by so many guards who would almost instantly see me casting a spell and fill me with arrows just like they were about to do to poor, poor Lokir.
Right on schedule, as we're told to get out of the cart, Lokir's panic comes right back.
"You've got to tell them we weren't with you! This is a mistake!"
The Imperial Captain, much like both the Dragonborn and Ulfrida, is much more beautiful than she was in the game. Whether that's because this is now the real world or might be a sign that something I'm hoping for with all my heart is indeed true, I don't know yet. Still, for all that the Captain is beautiful, she's still also a complete hardass.
"Step towards the block when we call your name, one at a time!"
As she reads out Ulfrida's name, and then Ralof's name, I straighten up, briefly considering stopping Lokir and saving his life. After all, if all goes to plan, literally only one idiot of a Stormcloak is going to die here. Too eager to visit Sovngarde for this own good, that one. But… no. I don't try and stop Lokir. I don't say a word, as the Horse Thief's fear of death finally gets the better of him.
"N-No! I'm not a rebel! You can't do this!"
"Halt!"
"You're not going to kill me!"
"Archers!"
And like that, Lokir is littered with arrows before he can so much as make it a dozen steps up the road. I watch him fall dispassionately, leaning heavily on the half of me that's currently Thalmor… because honestly, my human half is quaking in my boots. For all my knowledge, I was never very courageous. I was an introvert who stayed in my room all day. Sure, I was interacting with technology beyond even the Thalmor's wildest imaginations, but there was still a massive breadth of experience between my two sets of memories.
I was honestly a little grateful for it… if I was just the human me, I would have already thrown up by this point, and been absolutely quaking in fear. If I were just the Thalmor me, I might have already tried something and likely died for my troubles. As it is, I'm just me… and the me that's me knows to wait and remain calm.
"Wait. You there. Who are you?"
I perk up at that, as Hadvar calls out to the girl I think is the Dragonborn. Fidgeting in her bindings, bouncing from foot to foot, she puts on her best puppy dog eyes and even affects a wobbly lip.
"M-My name is Svanna sir. F-From Riften."
Well now, that had all sorts of implications, didn't it? The Thalmor in me is VERY interested in what the human in me takes away from that, to say the least.
Looking to the Imperial Captain, Hadvar frowns.
"She's not on the list, ma'am. In fact, neither is the Altmer. The list ends here."
The beautiful Captain's dispassionate eyes flicker over both of us… and then her gorgeous face contorts in an abject sneer.
"Forget the list. They all go to the block."
As Tullius steps forward to give his speech and we all assemble near the headsman's block, I confess, I'm not actually listening to the General. Rather, I'm doing two things at the moment. One, I'm stepping a little closer to Svanna then is strictly necessary, and when she glances my way, startled, I give her my warmest, kindest smile. A smile that I have used many a time to get a woman's guard down, in fact.
Svanna blinks, and for just a moment there's something akin to suspicion in her eyes… but then she's hesitantly smiling back, still looking like the scared little girl she's pretending to be.
The other thing I'm doing… is listening. And sure enough, there it is. A distant roar that all but guarantees my foreknowledge of this moment is correct. As the Priestess begins to give us our last rites, only to be interrupted by the foolhardy Stormcloak who rushes straight forward to his death, I clench my hands together into fists.
On one hand, I'm convinced now that the events I remember from the game are about to play out right here and now, in this suddenly very real world I'm stuck in. On the other hand… while that DOES mean an indefinite stay of execution, it also means the arrival of the World-Eater, the destruction of Helgen, and the death of who knew how many NPCs. And hey, would you look at that, I was pretty sure I wasn't the fucking main character of this goddamn story.
And so, even as the Stormcloak's head rolls and Svanna is immediately called up next, just as scripted… even as the roaring sounds of an approaching Alduin continue to fill the skies… I tense up. Not because the headsman is about to bring his axe down on Svanna's neck… but because I see Alduin ahead of time since I'm looking for him. I see him coming for us, coming to land on the tower.
Before Svanna can lose her pretty little head, Alduin lands with a crash and only my foreknowledge lets me avoid stumbling like everyone else does. Instead, I rush forward and yank Svanna to her feet as Alduin roars out a raging gout of fire over our heads.
This is it. Execution interrupted, Massive Fuck-Off Dragon aiming to burn us all to a crisp. And unfortunately, I couldn't just run for the hills as much as I wanted to. There was only one path I was SURE that would get me out of here… and it was right next to the Dragonborn's side. If I stayed glued to her, then maybe, just maybe I got to live. If I deviated even slightly, then I most likely died.
It was time to see if I could survive this first encounter with the World-Eater with zero plot armor and zero prophecy backing up my survival. Fuck my life.
-x-X-x-
A/N: As always, feedback is greatly appreciated and acts as the lifeblood for free write fics like this one. Let me know what you think!
Oh and if you need art for 'Ulfrida Stormcloak', here's an approximation of whats under that gag/those noble's clothing.
Spoiler: Ulfrida Stormcloak
Writing the menu/interface bits of this chapter were like pulling fucking teeth, because I had to open Skyrim on my other monitor and bounce back and forth to make sure I wasn't fucking shit up. This is why I've always been leery about writing a Gamer Fic lol.
Expect there to be less and less mention of menus/levels/interface and all that junk as the story progresses I think. Once we get to the cheating, all of it should become a lot less important...
Bear with me until then, heh. And hope people enjoy!
-x-X-x-
"Come on! The Imperials aren't going to give us another chance!"
When Ralof grabs for Svanna, yanking her from my grasp, I don't try to stop him. I just follow along, not wanting to trigger any sort of frenzied attack from the Stormcloak. I am, after all, still an Altmer, and though he doesn't know it, a Thalmor Agent.
But I'm also the human being who 'played through' this opening sequence just about a week or so ago, and so I know what to do. I follow closely after the lithe young red head that I've pegged as the Dragonborn, and make sure to do as she does. We go up the tower, and I keep well behind her as Alduin strikes near the top, killing an unlucky Stormcloak mook right in front of Svanna's eyes.
As she falls back, yelping in shock, I'm there to catch her. Internally, I curse to myself. This would have been the perfect opportunity to cast a bit of magic on her, save for two things. One, my hands are still bound together most effectively, making pretty much any magic all but impossible to do with any degree of subtlety. Two, if I fuck around here, if I interfere whatsoever, who's to say Svanna will survive this? And I do need her alive… the Last Dragonborn has to stop Alduin. I know that much.
Of course, my Thalmor half might not agree entirely, but my human half's conviction is enough to stay my hand for now. And so, I catch Svanna, so she doesn't go tumbling down the stairs and possibly break her pretty neck, something she shoots a grateful look my way for, even as I give her a half-smile, half-grimace in return.
"See the inn? Jump through the roof and keep going! We'll follow when we can!"
Ralof is right on time with his advice… and after a moment's hesitation, Svanna takes it, leaping clear of the tower. I take it as well… I have to, there's no choice in the matter. Follow after the Dragonborn or stick close to Ulfrida and Ralof. Tempting as it is, even knowing that Ulfrida escapes Helgen alive… I'd rather not put myself at the mercy of the prejudiced Stormcloaks when I'm a Mer. Just not smart.
And so, I leap, and thanks to my Thalmor training, land on the upper floor of the inn with little problem. Svanna looks a little surprised by my presence for a moment, but the moment is broken by another roar from the World-Eater, and then we're up and running again, sprinting through Helgen. Hadvar is, of course, right where I expect him to be. For a moment, Svanna nearly jumps back at the bared sword in his hands. But then the Imperial's face softens at the side of us.
"Still alive then, Prisoners? Stay close to me if you want to keep it that way!"
Svanna relaxes, and the two of us follow after Hadvar as he leads us through the burning town. There are a couple more encounters with Alduin, a couple more moments where I fear that that moment will be my last. There's also a moment when we pass by Helgen's closed gates, where General Tullius and the Imperial Archers are trying to mount a pitiful defense.
Elenwen and her Thalmor guards are nowhere to be seen though, and thankfully the General doesn't try and stop us. After all, we're no one special… not even dressed in Stormcloak colors either. And so Hadvar gets us through with ease and leads us towards the relative safety of the keep. When we pass by Ralof, there's the usual banter, and I'm cautious, waiting to see which direction Svanna runs in. This is, after all, one of the earlier choices you can make in the game. Go with Ralof into the Keep or go with Hadvar into the keep. Either way, I wasn't splitting up from the Dragonborn, that was for shit sure.
But whether she just doesn't notice Ralof, or whether Hadvar's willingness to get us away from the Dragon and even away from his own superiors swayed her, Svanna doesn't even hesitate. She follows Hadvar, and I do the same, the three of us escaping past the doors and barring them shut behind us.
It's not like the game though, I find. It doesn't all of the sudden go quiet once we're out of the open. The ground is still shaking with Alduin's passing, and I can still hear his roars and the roaring of flames as well as the plaintive screams of the civilians trapped outside with him. As Hadvar steps forward, face drawn and solemn, I shiver a bit, knowing I'm far from out of the woods yet.
"Here, let me get your bindings."
As he does so, starting with Svanna and then moving onto me, he nods his head to the weapons and armor racks behind him.
"Get some gear. You'll need it if you're to survive this."
I don't miss the grateful look that spreads across Svanna's face. And honestly, it's probably mirrored at least a little bit on mine. Hadvar might have been willing to follow orders and execute us a little bit ago, but at his heart, he was a decent man. And fuck off dragon attacks had a way of bringing out that good man, it would seem.
As Svanna gravitates towards Imperial Light Leather Armor, I move over as well, reaching out to grab something. Only, to my utter shock, to see the armor I'm reaching for disappear the moment I pick it up. Blinking stupidly, I hear a surprised noise from my left and glance over to see the nascent Dragonborn staring at my empty hands, even more surprised than I am.
With no other choice, I immediately try thinking 'Menu'. And to my surprise and distinct pleasure… it works. The world around me abruptly grays out, everything stopping and coming to a standstill as I find myself staring at the game menu for Skyrim. Specifically, the compass that points towards Skills, Magic, Items, and Map.
The Thalmor would be baffled, but the human in me knows exactly what is happening, and its only further evidence that my human memories aren't some strange mental illness, or a fabrication meant to trick and confuse me. This is real… but it's also a video game, isn't it? Heh, god this was exactly what I needed.
Moving my thoughts 'up', I select Skills and am immediately beset with information, as well as the constellations that represent each of my skills. My name is this world, which I'd already known, is Vayral. My Race is of course High Elf. But much more interesting is the fact that I'm apparently already Level Twenty-Five.
To be fair, the starting level makes sense… but doesn't exactly fill me with overwhelming confidence even still. After all, the creatures in Skyrim, the video game at least, scaled with your character's level. Did that mean we were about to be fighting Level Twenty-Five Stormcloaks? Was I going to get Svanna killed just by being around her? Was SHE already Level Twenty-Five, or had she started 'the game' at Level One like the normal Dragonborn Protagonist did?
These questions and more plagued me… but I was in no rush to get back to it. I had all the time in the world apparently, since I could freeze time whenever I wanted. Checking out my skills, I'm not surprised to find most of them are in the low twenties at best. Some are higher though. My Illusion Magic, for instance, is already at Seventy Five. And I've got all these Perks to spend thanks to being Level Twenty-Five…
I quickly take every Perk I can to make my Illusion Spells as powerful as possible. I especially like how several of them say they're cumulative with the others, making them stronger and stronger. The Thalmor in me is amazed by this concept of… easy advancement through video game mechanics. After all, for him, or rather, for me, I earned my experience with Illusion Magic through sweat and tears over decades of hard work.
And now those decades of hard work would be backed up with some serious game bullshit it seemed, as I also went ahead and put my saved up points into Magicka and Health. I would probably need to stack Stamina eventually as well, because that was directly tied to inventory space, but for the time being, I just didn't want to die… or run out of what I needed to cast spells.
Moving on from Skills to Items, I find the Imperial Armor in my inventory and equip it. Immediately, I feel the armor settle over my shoulders. The leathers aren't uncomfortable… but it does feel weird to be wearing it, especially for my more… Thalmor sensibilities. We didn't fight and win a war against the Empire, just to be wearing their colors, now did we? But then, the alternative would be to wear Stormcloak colors… so yeah, that shut up that part of me right quick.
Moving over to Map shows little more than the local area we're in, but that's to be expected. I quickly swap to Magic and look under Illusion. While I'm tempted to 'equip' Charm and use it on Hadvar and Svanna right here and now, my Thalmor memories tell me that that takes time to work properly and is best used for one on one experiences. No reason to alienate allies just yet.
And so, I equip Calm and Fear instead, before taking a deep breath and leaving the time stop I found myself in.
Even Hadvar lets out a yelp when I suddenly go from rags to wearing leather armor in the blink of an eye, and Svanna leaps back a little, eyes wide as if the little Nord is spooked. Giving them both a smile, keeping my hands at my sides and nonthreatening as possible, I just chuckle.
"Sorry… magic. I am an Altmer, after all…"
"… Right."
Under his breath, Hadvar wonders what the hell I was doing with the Stormcloaks. Meanwhile, I quickly equip the rest of the leftover gear that Svanna doesn't grab, noting how she still has to put everything on normally and carry her things on her. Which means… she doesn't have the same game abilities as I do? She's definitely the Dragonborn, I believe that with all my heart, but she's not a Gamer. She's a real person, who will soon find herself buckling under a destiny that might just be too big for her.
Svanna from Riften… just who was she really?
Well, one thing was for certain, I wanted her alive and healthy. And so, as we follow Hadvar deeper into the Keep, I use my Thalmor memories and experience to their fullest. My Calm spells do the work of pacifying any Stormcloaks we run into, allowing us to actually keep our hands clean, something Hadvar even looks grateful to me for.
Of course, eventually we run into a group of Stormcloaks too large for me to pacify all of them, and the ensuing fight requires a bit more finesse. I take an arrow to my shoulder at one point that… I don't even feel it, not like I should, based on my Thalmor memories, but it knocks a chunk off of the red health bar that shows up in my vision, and that's more than enough for me to panic cast Fear in that archer's direction until Svanna is able to get to him and finish him off.
When we finally come to the bear, it might be the first time in my life that I take Hadvar's advice. When he suggests we sneak past it, Svanna nods solemnly and drops into a crouch, and I do the same. I even get a level in Sneak while we creep on by, the Cave Bear never actually waking up. An odd experience, given I would normally pepper it with arrows from far enough away until it died… but I wasn't willing to take the chance this time around.
Shortly after the bear encounter, we reach the end of the line. Coming out into daylight, we're just in time to duck down as Alduin goes roaring high overhead and flies off into the distance. The World-Eater completely fails to notice us, of course, and thank fuck for that. I didn't fancy our chances of taking him down in a straight fight, that was for sure.
In that moment, when Alduin is flying away from us, I open up my menu, freezing time again and checking the Map. Now that we're out of the cave, it's the World Map… and what I see there takes my breath away and fills me with excitement. Because its not the vanilla Skyrim World Map I see… no, it's A Quality World Map, the World Map Mod I was using on my latest playthrough of Skyrim, before I somehow woke up here with memories of a life lived as a Thalmor.
And if this mod was installed… then that meant other mods I'd had installed were probably functioning in this world as well. And that could mean… that could mean everything. Because I wasn't the type to play fair. I'd cheated my way through most of my Skyrim playthroughs, in fact. Especially after I found out about SexLab and all of Skyrim's myriad of pornographic mods.
At that point, I'd just needed the levels to get to the points in the game where I wanted to get so I could set up or force certain sexual encounters. There'd been times when I'd simply used console commands, but no amount of thinking really hard opened up those. I might have had a gamer interface and even a gamer body, but I didn't have access to console commands in this playthrough, unfortunately.
That was okay though, because if this was indeed my modded version of Skyrim, there was a barrel in Whiterun with everything I needed in it. But if this was also a living, breathing world… that barrel could be discovered and looted by some random fucker at any time. The thought fills me with as much dread as the thought of it being there fills me with hope.
… I needed to get to Whiterun on the double, no matter what. It was imperative. Literal god-like power depended on it, and that had even my Thalmor half VERY interested.
As I come out of the menu, Hadvar straightens up from his instinctive crouch and clears his throat.
"Right… if you care for it, my advice is for you two to keep your hands clean from here on out. Neither of you were on the list… so I don't think the two of you are involved with the Stormcloaks, are you?"
Svanna and I mutely shake our heads, prompting a nod from Hadvar.
"Good. That's… good. The Dragons being back… that's bad. I've got family in Riverwood, if you want to head there. We can put you up for the night. But… people will need to be told that Helgen is gone. People need to know that a Dragon destroyed the entire town. You two, if it's not too much trouble… will you spread the word?"
Seeing no reason to disagree, I just nod.
"I need to get to Whiterun anyways. I'll tell the people there. Or maybe… we'll tell the people there?"
I give Svanna a hopeful look, which causes the gorgeous red-haired Nord to blink in surprise. I've tried to be nothing but kind to her so far, to try and build something of a repertoire with the young woman I KNEW would become Dragonborn. And yet, still she hesitates, the adrenaline wearing off, and the NEED for us to work together finally fading away now that we'd escaped.
Before she can reply, Hadvar clears his throat.
"Right, well I'll leave you two to discuss that amongst yourselves. The sun is setting soon, and I want to reach Riverwood by nightfall. If you don't decide to stop in the town before heading to Whiterun, best of luck to you."
And like that, the two of us are alone, Svanna fidgeting nervously and me watching her. In that moment, as Hadvar walks away and disappears around the bend… I know exactly what I have to do. It takes less than a second to 'equip' Charm Magic, and what would normally take minutes of preparations is ready in an instant as I raise my hand… and Charm the Dragonborn. Svanna stiffens, but I can see the magic taking hold, her lips parting but no words coming out as her eyes glaze over slightly. Smiling, I cock my head to the side and offer her my other hand in friendship.
"What do you say… friend?"
Nothing more than that. I'm not pushing for anything further. It takes time to truly worm your way into someone's mind, even with Charm Magic. If I can have uninterrupted access to Svanna in the coming days, weeks, and months… I can make her into whatever I want her to be. But for now, all I need is her to want to be around me, to want to continue traveling with me.
I could just leave her here and head for Whiterun myself… but the roads of Skyrim are dangerous, and I know traveling with someone is infinitely safer than trying to go it alone. And what better traveling companion then the Dragonborn?
After a moment that feels far too long, but is only a second or two in truth, Svanna smiles broadly… and takes my hand in her own, giving me a nod.
"Sure, friend. Let's travel together for a while longer."
Holding in the sigh of relief, I begin walking down the road with Svanna at my side, Whiterun our destination. It was there I would find out whether or not I could become a god.
-x-X-x-
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Jan 3, 2022Report
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The plan is simple. But there's all that rot about mice and men. I have every intention of making a beeline from the cave to Whiterun and finding out if my suspicions about a certain barrel are correct. Its what I did in my most recent playthrough of the game, after all. Passed straight through Riverwood and never looked back. Didn't have any time for any main quest nonsense, no sir.
But that was a video game. This… this was all too real, even if my existence seemed to be Gamer-esque now. Which meant all too real things could happen. Like for instance, we could start making our way down the only road in sight of the cave… and almost immediately catch up with Hadvar since the three of us happened to all be going the same way.
It would have been rude to just walk right on past him, and so Svanna and I both instinctively slowed our steps to match his. I could sense a fellow introvert in the young Nord woman if I was being honest. Always easier to just avoid confrontation where possible.
Of course, that didn't necessarily mean either of us had forgiven the man for being party to our would-have-been execution. We were grateful enough to not be rude and just pass him by, but when he tried to engage us in conversation about the Civil War, both of us were quite… uninterested in discussing it.
Instead, Hadvar ended up doing a lot of the talking as we spent hours getting to Riverwood, rather than the minutes I had assumed it would be. The town was not just down the road as it was in the video game… another oversight on my part. By the time we reached Riverwood, it was already late afternoon, and while the sun hadn't set yet, it would soon and then it would be dusk… and traveling Skyrim at night sounded like a really bad idea.
But also… staying at the Sleeping Giant Inn sounded like a REALLY bad idea. Especially as an Altmer, given what I knew about the Innkeeper, Delphine. Heh, and wasn't that a shock to the Thalmor half of me. The last remnant of the Blades, hiding out in a small town in the Province of Skyrim. Given the Thalmor's zealous hunting of the entire organization after the Empire betrayed them with the signing of the White-Gold Concordat, some of my instincts were screaming at me to go and off the Nord woman.
But no… no, I would be avoiding so much as coming into her vision, if I could help it.
Luckily, Hadvar was at least aware enough to not offer us his place for lodging. Or maybe it was the fact that there were two of us, instead of just one. Either way, we parted ways at Riverwood's gates, and Svanna, still enthralled by my magic and willing to follow me for the time being, if not quite to the ends of Tamriel, willingly followed me right past the Sleeping Giant and down the road a little further.
I'd resigned myself to staying the night in Riverwood… but that didn't mean the Inn and Hadvar's place were our only two options. No, there was another option… the Riverwood Trader.
As Svanna and I step inside the Riverwood Trader, the sounds of bickering immediately reach our ears.
"Well, one of us has to do something!"
"I said no! No adventures, no theatrics, no thief-chasing!"
"Well, what are you going to do then, huh? Let's hear it!"
"We are done talking about this! Oh, a customer. Aha, sorry you had to hear all that."
Lucan and Camilla Valerius are right where I expect them to be, having the exact conversation I expect them to be having when I step through the door. Which… is odd, isn't it? On the one hand, the world around me feels real, and I've confirmed through my experiences so far that I'm the only one operating on video game physics at the moment.
So then how did Svanna and I end up showing up just in time for the brother and sister's argument? Was it because they had been arguing about it all day? But those were the lines from the game, verbatim. What was the answer? I didn't know, and at the moment, I supposed I didn't care. The Thalmor in me was too busy drinking in the appearance of Camilla Valerius to question it too much. Honestly, the human in me was admiring her as well.
Like the other women I'd encountered so far in this real Skyrim, Camilla looked nothing like she did in the game. Rather, she looked like an idealized, incredibly beautiful version of herself, with flowing dark locks, pouty and kissable lips, gorgeous eyes, and a perfectly cherub-like face. On top of that, her dress was showing quite a lot of cleavage… just as much as Ulfrida Stormcloak's attire had, in fact.
As she turns to regard us along with her brother, I plaster a smile on my face and give her a respectful nod, before turning my attention to Lucan.
"Evening, good sir. Not a worry… it sounds like you've been dealing with a thieving problem of some sort?"
Lucan groans… and then proceeds to launch into the whole sordid tale regarding the Golden Claw and the thief all the same. I nod along as he speaks, while out of the corner of my eye, I watch Svanna prowling the shop, looking at his wares curiously. Of course, Camilla is also watching Svanna, and from the look of things, the red-haired Nord Girl realizes it. She keeps her hands to herself, even as Lucan looks at me hopefully.
"If you're going out that way… to Bleak Falls Barrow… well, I could offer you some coin if you could find the claw for me."
Camilla makes a noise in the back of her throat at that, even as I just smile, cocking my head to the side.
"Well, my traveling companion and I are planning to head for Whiterun on the morrow. We've been tasked with delivering critical news to the Jarl there. But if this Bleak Falls Barrow is on the way, then perhaps something can be done…"
I'm very careful not to promise anything. Despite knowing that Bleak Falls Barrow is the first 'main quest' dungeon in the game, and that you get sent back there by the Whiterun Court Wizard to find the Dragon Tablet or whatever it's called even if you ignore the Golden Claw quest, I'm really not inclined to go dungeon diving until after I've visited Whiterun. Fighting wolves on the road is one thing… delving the depths of trapped and undead infested tombs is another entirely.
Still, Lucan's eyes light up, while Camilla crosses her arms over her ample chest and scoffs.
"So then, this is your plan, Lucan? Waylay a pair of travelers with critical information for Jarl Balgruuf and send them off on a treasure hunt?"
"Well now, you were the one who was saying I had to do something, were you not? Now you don't have to go!"
"Yes, well… they'll need an escort to the Barrow if nothing else."
"Wha- no! Absolutely not! I forbid it! I… f-fine! To the edge of town, but no further!"
Before the bickering can continue, I raise my hands, stepping between them.
"Please, let's calm down. The sun is setting anyways, so me and my companion are looking for beds to rest our weary heads, not to run off into the night searching for adventure. I was hoping you might have some extra space here, if it's not too much trouble. And in the meantime… I also have some wares to sell."
Lucan's mouth is open, ready to deny me, when I bring up the wares. His teeth click shut at that, and suddenly there's a look of avarice in his eyes. There's on in Camilla's as well, as she leans forward, suddenly curious.
Smiling, I hold up my empty hands.
"Don't be alarmed… I'm a Mage."
And then I bring out several of the things I collected during our escape from Helgen. Maybe running around showing off my pocket dimension isn't a good idea, but to be fair, it's not like I have a pack to put things in or pretend to take them out of… yet. I'll pick one up eventually. For now, I sell everything I can to Lucan… though I think better of bringing out the multiple sets of Imperial and Stormcloak armor I'm holding at the last second. No one bats an eye in the game if you sell the armor of your defeated foes despite them being the uniforms of either the rebels or the law of the land, but this isn't a game.
I still come away with a tidy some of a few hundred Septims for my troubles, all of which disappear back into my Inventory. The last fifty Septims, however, I push back to Lucan and give him a smile and a nod.
"Please… for the beds, if it's alright."
Needless to say, the trader's greed takes over, even as he looks at me with a newfound wariness and respect. Right, he might be a capitalist and an Imperial, but he's living in Skyrim, where they disdain and fear magic. It seems his Nord neighbors' superstitions might be wearing off on him.
"… Very well, kind sir. Beds for you and the young lady, for tonight."
But thankfully, not enough to influence him just yet. And so, night falls as we get to bed, and after a quick dinner that the four of us share, everyone does indeed bed down for the night. Except, as I lay there in my own bed, I don't sleep. I'm not sure I can sleep anymore, but even if I can, I'm not testing that particular game feature tonight.
Instead, I wait a good ten minutes, before slowly sitting up. We're all in the same room, the four of us… which is why I start by casting Pacify on both Svanna and Lucan. The two are already sound asleep from what I can tell, and the Pacify Spell will keep them that way, leaving them all but dead to the world, and without a care of it. Theirs would be a deep and restful slumber.
Camilla's, on the other hand, would not be. Rising from my bed and moving over to the beautiful sister of Lucan Valerius, I look down upon her with a smile. The magic comes to me easily… this is actually something that my Thalmor half has done before, with great success. Silencing the area so that no sound leaves our part of the room, I disrobe, pulling free my golden cock and stroking it to full hardness.
Then, I climb atop Camilla, reaching up and casually grabbing one of her breasts through her own sheer nightgown, giving the sizable tit a good, hard grope. She wakes up with a squeal, but the sound never materializes, even if I can tell from her parted, pouty lips exactly what's happening. Her confused eyes stare up at me for a moment in shock, before widening as she realizes what I'm doing.
I just grin, already in the process of casting Charm on her. Those very same eyes of hers, far more intelligent then her brother ever gives her credit for, glaze over as I push hard with my Charm Magic. I didn't dare go this far with Svanna just yet, not until I was sure I could make her mine… but where Svanna was the Last Dragonborn with a mysterious past that I'd only received the barest of hints to, Camilla Valerius was just an Imperial Girl living with her brother in a small town in the Province of Skyrim.
She longed for adventure, that much I knew from the games, but that didn't mean she was at all prepared for it. Indeed, as the Charm Magic takes hold of her mind and I twist and corrupt the beautiful Imperial Woman to serve my ends, her glazed eyes fill with lust and adoration, and her pillowy lips curl into a wanton smile as she moans up at me… once again silently.
Chuckling just as silently thanks to the magic muffling any noise from the bed, I pull down the top of her nightgown, causing her huge tits to spill free. Then, I put my cock between them. Without missing a beat, Camilla brings her hands up and pushes her tits together, still mewling and moaning from the way her mouth is forming an o, even as she happily forms a valley for me to fuck into.
Thrusting in and out of her cleavage as I titfuck her, I reach down and pinch at her nipples, pulling and tugging on them, elongating her huge mammaries to enhance my pleasure even further. It's a little odd, not having any sound for the entire experience… but its also insanely pleasurable, having Camilla's fat chest wrapped around my length.
Imperial cunt deserved no less than to be made into a fuck toy for my Altmer cock. This should be the fate of all the Races of Men on Tamriel. When the Thalmor finally succeeded in proving their superiority over everyone else, I would make sure to take a dozen women as beautiful as this one as my slaves and-
… That was definitely the Thalmor Agent in me talking. Though, it wasn't like I entirely disagreed with him. Even as I tip over the edge and spill my seed all over Camilla Valerius face and tits, much to her enthralled delight, I can't deny that I want to mind fuck and physically fuck my way across all of Skyrim. There are so many babes from the game that I want to wrap around my cock.
But I still don't know if that damn barrel is in Whiterun or not. That… that barrel is my future, if it does in fact exist and contain what I need it to contain. But that's for tomorrow. For now, I slide down Camilla's body… and grab her by the hips, spinning her over. My Thalmor half disdains looking down into an Imperial bitch's eyes after I just covered her face and tits in my cum. My human half… just doesn't mind doggystyle, if I'm being honest.
Pulling Camilla up onto her hands and knees, throwing the back of her nightgown up so the garment is bunched around her waist, I proceed to thrust into her cunt from behind unceremoniously. The Imperial woman is quite tight, and feels amazing wrapped around my cock, even as I start to fuck her hard and fast. It's the sort of vigorous, powerful fucking that would no doubt rock the bed, and is no doubt drawing all sorts of moans and cries and begging for more from my bed partner…
But even as Camilla's back arches and she tosses her head backwards, her eyes rolling around in her skull and her mouth wide open as her tongue lolls out madly, not a single sound emanates from our part of the room. We fuck in absolute silence, because while the Pacify Spell will certainly keep Lucan and Svanna deeply asleep, that's only if no loud noises knock them out of it.
Still, reaching around and grasping Camilla's swinging, shaking tits from behind as I suckle at her neck, I must admit, I'm having the time of my life. This is my first sexual conquest in all of Skyrim, and honestly… I wouldn't have it any other way.
When I finally spill my seed inside of Camilla, cumming a second time and blowing my load deep in her womb, I'm momentarily concerned about knocking her up with some sort of half breed… but the Thalmor in me declares that the Imperial Bitch should be honored to bear my child, if that is what happens… and honestly, I can't really find it in my human half to argue.
Pulling out of her as Camilla collapses face first down onto the bed, I set about fixing up her nightgown and tucking her in. The smile she gives me before dozing off is one of contentment and satisfaction. She loved what I did to her, and when she wakes up in the morning, will remember loving everything we did together. Charm Magic, when used on the weak and defenseless, was incredibly scary, incredibly powerful stuff.
Making my way back to my bed, I lay down and do not close my eyes or try to activate Skyrim's sleep function for even a second. I stay up the entire night, and honestly… it doesn't hurt one bit. I'm not remotely tired, when the next day finally comes, and the others finally begin to rise.
-x-X-x-
Camilla does show us to the edge of town and point us in the direction of Bleak Falls Barrow. Svanna and I even head that way… but as soon as we're out of sight of Camilla, and she's out of sight of us, I direct us back to the road.
"Whiterun first. We might double back… but I'm not putting this off any longer than necessary. We NEED to get to Whiterun, as soon as possible."
Svanna blinks at that, cocking her head to the side for a moment, and I consider whether I should use more Charm magic on her, especially now that we're alone. But finally, the so far rather quiet and timid seeming Dragonborn nods.
"Okay."
Heh, man I really want to know her story. If I was a better person, I might actually take the time to get to know her and earn her trust for real in order to learn it. If I were a worse person, I wouldn't care. The Thalmor in me certainly doesn't care, beyond being very interested by the thought that she's actually the Dragonborn.
But me, the me that's an amalgamation of Thalmor Agent and Twenty-First Century Human? I'm going to find out everything there is to know about Svanna. Maybe not through the most moral of ways, maybe not by taking the long road to get to know her properly… but my hunger and curiosity would be sated, one way or another.
First… Whiterun. And finally, with the sun just rising and a full day ahead of us, I was sure we'd be able to reach our destination before the day's end.
-x-X-x-
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Jan 3, 2022Report
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encounter with the Companions, followed by our SI finally reaching his cheat codes. His OP hacks have nothing on console commands or most other cheats, but they'll do the trick for him all the same. All he needs now... is a little bit of time.
-x-X-x-
As we come over the hill and finally lay eyes upon the Province's central-most Hold, I can't help but grin a little goofily. This was it. This was-
A loud roar shakes the very earth that we walk on, startling me out of my thoughts before I can even begin internally monologuing. And I was definitely about to, my Thalmor half LOVED to monologue to himself, and my human half wasn't much better. Alas, such plans were put on hold because there in the distance, in the middle of a farm field between us and Whiterun, was a fucking Giant.
The thing was huge, even from this far away. But then, to be fair, its size was made a lot more apparent by the even smaller people flitting around it. From this distance it wasn't easy to make them out, but there looked to be three or four individuals fighting the Giant in the field. This… this was another scripted encounter.
At this point, I was getting downright suspicious. First Lucan and his sister, and now the Companions and the Giant? That was beyond a little odd. One could wave away Lucan and Camilla's argument by just assuming they'd been having it since the Claw was stolen in the first place. But this particular Giant fight happening right as Svanna and I arrived? Well, if I wasn't sure that my companion was the Dragonborn before, I was sure now. Events were literally happening around her, just like in the game. As if, even if this world didn't run on game physics, it DID run on the game's narrative.
… Could that really be the case? And more importantly in the immediate… what were we going to do? A glance in Svanna's direction shows the lithe Nord is fidgeting in place, her eyes wide as she takes in the Giant from afar. She looks like she's very nearly ready to drop into a half crouch already, about to enter what I would term 'stealth mode', but really would just let her disappear into the tall grass nearby.
Clearing my throat, I draw her gaze sharply to me, before shrugging my shoulder.
"Shall we assist? The Companions are a tentpole of Whiterun culture. A good word from any of them might open doors for us…"
I phrase it specifically in that way because if there's one thing, I've learned about Svanna since we started traveling together, its that she prefers to avoid danger where possible. And indeed, when the Nord looks between me and the Giant, I can see the indecision warring in her features. She's not too sure about this… maybe she's only even considering it because of the Charm Magic I already cast on her?
"… Don't want to get too close…"
Her response, when it finally comes, draws a laugh from me as I shake my head.
"No, I suppose not. Neither do I But then, that's what that bow and the arrows on your back are for, hm? And I'm more than ready to help your aim."
Raising my hand, showing her the glow of my magic, I watch her eyes dance over the sparks for a moment… before she finally nods. With that, we move forward carefully, watching the battle from afar. The Companions are holding their own for the time being. Whether they're winning or not… well, if this encounter really is scripted, then they will always finish off the Giant, even if we fail to interfere. But if its not, the Giant could kill them all. And considering one of them is the smoking hot, supremely fine Aela the Huntress, well…
Svanna finds a hill quickly enough and drops to a knee as she pulls her bow from her back and notches an arrow. The way she holds the bow all but confirms my suspicions. The Last Dragonborn isn't just canonically a Nord… she's a Stealth Archer.
Sighting down the sideways held bow, Svanna breathes in deeply, and before she can pull back on the drawstring, I reach out and cast Rally on her. The Illusion Magic fills her, and her eyes widen as her pupils shrink to pinpricks, a temporary strength suddenly pulsing through her body.
Before my eyes, Svanna draws back and looses an arrow. Then another. Then a third. Before I can even blink, she's fired five arrows at the Giant. Two miss… but three strike true, and whether she hits some incredibly critical spots in the massive creature's body, or the Companions had just weakened it for her… she delivers the killing blow to the thing all the same.
As the Giant topples over, I laugh in wonder that I do not have to feign, legitimately impressed. Of course, that's the human me speaking. The Thalmor half of my mind is already considering how best to use Svanna in future plans. The human half is just boggling over her skill. Seriously, there's no way she's level one, right? Or… well, at this point she might be level three to five. But at the same time… those were some fucking stellar shots.
Pushing up to our feet, we begin making our way down to where the Companions stand surrounding the felled Giant. As expected, Aela herself is the one to step forward once we're within speaking distance.
"That was some solid shooting. It's nice to see a fellow Nord with an interest in the bow. A Giant is certainly no easy foe to take down with just arrows."
She doesn't so much as look at me, and… yeah, that kind of stings. Aela is one of the game's biggest waifus, and as is becoming the pattern, she's even more gorgeous here in this world I find myself in, then she ever was in the games. She's smoking hot, for all that I know she's also capable of turning into a massive hulking werewolf monster at the drop of a hat.
Still, it irks a little, the way she completely disregards my contribution. Not that she knew I had contributed, but its obvious from the way she has eyes only for Svanna that she doesn't even think it possible that I could. Racism towards Altmer, more than likely? Interestingly enough, Svanna picks up on it as well, and after a moment, shrugs her shoulder in my direction.
"Couldn't have done it without… without my companion here."
I blink, both in appreciation at her giving me some credit, and the realization that I've literally never told her my name. To be fair, she hadn't either. I only knew it because she'd told Hadvar her name and where she was from, right before we were both about to die. And in all fairness, my name was a bit of an odd thing for me at the moment. Who was I, really? Was I the Thalmor Agent Vayral now? Or was I Cambrian, the smut writer?
It wasn't so simply decided, even if I was leaning more towards Vayral than Cambrian at this point, if only because Vayral was the body I was inhabiting, Tamriel the world I was now living in. There was barely anyone who actually knew me in all of Skyrim, to be fair, but those few who did would know me as Vayral.
Regardless, Aela's brow raises slightly at that, and she finally pays me the time of day, her eyes flickering over to me… and clearly filled with disdain as she assesses me and finds me wanting in her warrior-like world view. Smiling thinly, the Thalmor in me wanting nothing more than to put this Nord bitch in her place, I incline my head, confirming her suspicions for her.
"I am a traveling mage. When my companion here wanted to step in and assist you, I assisted her with a bit of magical enhancement. All I did was give her the ability to fire faster. The aim… that was all her."
For a long moment, silence falls as all the present Companions assess us. In the end, Aela just nods at me, the very tiniest bit of respect in her eyes.
"It is good that you know your contribution, mage."
Then, she immediately turns back to Svanna, who is quietly bristling on my behalf, to my amusement and surprise. Honestly, I wouldn't even be able to tell if I hadn't spent the last day and a half traveling with her. I'm beginning to pick up on the Dragonborn's little tells. As is, Aela clearly doesn't detect anything, from the way she smiles warmly at the other Nord.
"As for you, you would do well with the Companions. We operate out of the Jorrvaskr over in Whiterun. Feel free to come and see about joining up. For now, we need to get this Giant cleared away."
Svanna makes a noncommittal noise in the back of her throat, even as I file away that last bit as a curiosity. Indeed, corpses tended to… hang around for a while in the game, before disappearing while you were in a load screen elsewhere. Certainly, none of the Companions ever cleared away the Giant's body during the game's scripted encounter, but as Svanna and I step away, that's exactly what Aela and the other three with her are preparing to do.
Its incredibly easy to put the entire encounter out of my mind however, as we finally make our way over to Whiterun, traveling up the winding defensive path that goes back and forth before finally delivering us to the city gates. When the guards stop us, I'm not surprised… but I am a little impatient, admittedly.
"Halt. The city is currently in lockdown with reports of a Dragon out near Helgen."
Smiling thinly, keeping my impatience and irritation under wraps as best as I possibly can, I nod confidently.
"That's why we're here. The two of us are survivors of Helgen… the Dragon Attack was very real, and we were tasked by the Imperial Legion to deliver a detailed report to Jarl Balgruuf immediately."
Technically true. Hadvar WAS part of the Legions, as far as I knew. And he had asked us to deliver the news. Honestly, as always, is the best policy hands down.
The gate guards both startle at that, glancing at the two of us, and then at each other for a moment before standing aside.
"Very well."
And like that, the last barrier between me and the city of my dreams is gone. Hah, okay so maybe that was a little overly dramatic. Whiterun was probably one of my two most visited cities… Riften being the other one on account of preferring to use the Fence there and what not. Whiterun, meanwhile, was the very first city you ended up traveling to, so of course I used it a lot.
But it wasn't REALLY the city of my dreams. More accurately, it was the city that contained the barrel that contained all of my hopes and dreams in it. And as Svanna and I enter the city proper and the gate closes behind us, I waste no time stepping off of the beaten path. Up behind the blacksmith, along the edge of the wall was where it should… there!
Svanna follows after me, no doubt curious, but I don't pay her any mind in the moment. All of my attention is on the barrel that's pressed up against the wall, a barrel that would not be there in any unmodded version of the game. The fact that it was here, in this world… it meant that all of my dreams were possible.
That is, so long as the books were inside of it. For a moment, I am the definition of tension as I reach the barrel and pull it open. There's always the possibility that someone else has noticed this random new barrel and actually checked it out. Like a guard, for instance.
… But no. They're there. I quickly add every single one of the Spell Books to my inventory, and just as Svanna is stepping up beside me to peer into the barrel, visibly intrigued, I'm pulling up my menu, freezing her and the rest of the world in place around me as I quickly learn every single one of the spell books without hesitation.
It was a simple mod, at the end of the day. I'd always been a filthy cheater, when it came to Skyrim. As soon as I found out you could cheat, I'd done so to varying degrees in ALL of my playthroughs. In all fairness, part of it was because I discovered the joys of Loverslab, and in order to properly set up any number of smutty, pornographic encounters within the game, I'd used cheats to get myself where I needed to go.
The console had been my friend on quite a few of my more heavily modded playthroughs, that was for sure. But as time went on and Bethesda released more and more versions of Skyrim, and Nexus Mods got a little bit more confusing with every new iteration each time I went back and had to redownload it and all my favorite mods… I'd eventually gotten lazy.
In fact, in my last two playthroughs of Skyrim, the one I'd been doing before I woke up here included, I hadn't downloaded a single Sexlab mod. I hadn't used Nexus Mods at all. Instead, I'd simply used the in-game mod database for my modding needs. A much smaller catalog to be sure, and I'd probably missed out on all sorts of cool overpowered stuff that I was kicking myself for not having access to now… but it was what it was, in the end.
And even in the in-game mod database, there were still cheat mods. The one I'd used extensively in my last two playthroughs was this barrel. Titled 'XP Spells' and made by a guy called The-Nerdy_Dragon, it was a small mod. Nothing too extensive at all. All it did… was add XP Spell books to a barrel in Whiterun. THIS barrel in Whiterun.
The spells multiplied the XP that the player character gained from doing activities by certain amounts. On the low end, you could multiply your XP gain by one times the amount, making for double the amount of XP you would normally earn from doing activities that advanced your Skills. It went up from there, from one and half times, to two times, to two and a half times… and so on and so forth.
But where it was slow at first, with the first fourteen out of nineteen spell books covering one to ten times XP multipliers, after that was when it got… better. Twenty five times. Fifty times. One hundred times… and finally, one thousand times the normal experience gain.
Normally, I restricted myself to either the ten times multiplier, or the twenty five times multiplier. In truth, I just wanted a moderately faster leveling experience, nothing too silly. I wanted to be able to level Alchemy to one hundred in one session at the table, and then Prestige it immediately after I was done. If you went much higher than twenty five times the normal experience gain, then you would end up hitting One Hundred Alchemy within one or two potions.
But this wasn't the game. And as much as I was a Gamer, I still felt significantly out of my depth in this world. The knowledge that this version of Skyrim was my modded version, that I had the modded map and even a modded inventory and that meant this mod was probably here too… it was the only thing that had kept my human half sane these past two days. My Thalmor side was doing a lot of the heavy lifting there too, to be fair… but even the Thalmor me was shaken by the revelations my human self had to share, and the fact that we'd survived an encounter with Alduin the World-Eater.
I don't even hesitate to 'equip' the 1000x XP power, and as I come out of my menu and immediately activate it, I have a broad smile on my face. Svanna glances from the barrel to me curiously, her nose wrinkling as the smart girl realizes whatever was in there had already disappeared into my pocket dimension before she got a chance to look. As she sees the flash of energy from the 1000x XP effect swirl around me, her eyes flash with something like greed.
"… What was it?"
Grinning, I step away from her for a moment in lieu of answering. Naught but a few feet away from the barrel are a grouping of wild Blue Mountain Flowers. I pluck one from the lot and looking back at Svanna, I bring it to my mouth… and bite down.
As I eat the flower, it tastes… well, it tastes like a fucking flower. But it also takes like victory, because I get the notification that I've just jumped from fifteen to one hundred Alchemy immediately. Maxed out Alchemy, and another two levels, all because I tasted a plant I hadn't tasted before. And since most people didn't go around eating everything that they got their hands on, there were a LOT of alchemy ingredients out there I hadn't tasted yet.
But alchemy was only one of my options. Every skill in my menu, I could now level up near-instantly, and then Prestige so I could do so again. All of the experience, all of the levels, all of the Magicka and Health and Stamina in the world… was mine.
Svanna, of course, is looking at me like I'm crazy. Feeling a bit mad with power, I chuckle as I step up to her, Charm Magic bursting from my fingertips.
"Don't fret, darling. I'm on top of the world… but I've already decided to take you with me."
I croon as I begin to cast another Charm Spell on her. Now that I have the ability to become all powerful, I don't have to hold back in corrupting and twisting her mind into service to me anymore. I can take her right here in the backstreets of Whiterun and make the Dragonborn mine and mine alo-
I blink, as I look down and see her hands have closed over mine, interrupting the spell and stopping me before I could get the Charm Spell off. For a moment, icy fear fills my veins as I realize how badly I've fucked up… but then I look up into her eyes, and to my surprise… she's smiling. It's a small thing, but there's a smile on the young Nord's face as she shakes her head.
"You don't… you don't have to do that. It didn't work on me the first time anyways. Just like it didn't work on me last night, when you were with the Imperial Woman. I watched the whole time… I watched as you fucked her in that spell of silence, bringing her to the heights of ecstasy all the while."
Well, fuck.
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A/N: You can thank the folks over in my personal channel of the SGO discord for convincing me to incorporate the twist at the end there into the fic. A few people both here and in that discord had suggested it, and once they did, I had in fact been thinking about it over the last couple of days.
The idea of Svanna being immune/resistant to the SI's illusion magic because of the Dragon Soul, but sticking around anyways after he tried to Charm her for her own personal reasons... I found myself rather interested in it.
But I still could have gone either way, so in the end I put it to a vote over in the SGO discord. 69 people voted Yes to the idea, while only 6 people voted No. So, here we are!
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Last edited: Jan 5, 2022
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