(Reyvin's POV)
'To think that a mere five years ago I'd be sharing in their reaction' I snort internally as I observe the bunch of chucklefucks gaping at me as if I was some Daedra descended to take their souls.
Admittedly a fair comparison but not the point.
Seeing as the lot of them were wise enough not to speak unless spoken to I looked back to the disarmed guards and pointed to a corner between the tavern and a tall bunkhouse "You will all sit here and not make noise, if any of you idiots tries something I will know."
They did not need to be told twice, the lot of them shuffling into the corner without a noise with only a couple having to be pushed through their daze.
Satisfied, I turned to the priest "Done pissing yourself yet, kids?"
"I-" The priest began but stopped immediately, forlornly staring at the corpse below me and giving me a silent nod.
The cat on the other hand looked like all of his hairs completely straight, the image would have been funny if not for the fact he was shaking in fear and looked just about ready to bolt before I hit him with an invisible calm spell.
"Pardon the question, sir" The 'totally not a hidden noble' leading a bunch of what looked to be retired guards finally managed to shake his stupor away "Who... are you exactly?"
"If you want to ask me if I am about to liquefy the rest of you, you can just do that." I deadpan and he winces "If we are going to talk however, I am not doing it standing in the middle of the street." I motion to the tavern with my head "Good thing we have a convenient spot nearby."
"Ah, of course." He gathers himself and waves for his little band to follow him "Come on then men, we best show our hospitality to our... guest."
The way he was still trying to sound as if he was in control of the situation made me let out a loud snort, the poor man pretending he didn't hear it even as his face took on a slightly more red hue.
Remembering the small mound of corpses I left behind I called out "Akulakhan, clean this up."
I will admit when the lot of them finally noticed the giant who was apparently standing among them the whole time and they began to scream like little girls I almost broke character and began to roll on the ground. Almost.
Still, credit where credit was due, they managed to collect themselves respectably quickly so which warranted at least the basest of respect.
(General POV)
Janus was still barely holding himself back from visibly shaking in fear as they all slowly took their seats inside, many of the ex guardsmen he managed to recruit remaining standing while the mage outright summoned a plush chair out of thin air and lit up some kind of alchemical stick before placing it in his mouth and drawing in the blue fumes that came from it.
The silence continued for a moment longer before the mage let out a long breath of blue seemingly magical smoke and removed his crowned helmet, revealing a rather youthful Dunmer face, which could mean anything between twenty and a hundred years old in some cases.
"Right then." The mage spoke, his voice no longer infused with deathly terror "Introductions." he stated instead of asked.
Thinking to take back some form of control over the conversation, Janus began introducing everyone "The priest is Deacon Corvinus of Zenithar's Temple, the Khajiit is Ma'zaro, an ex Fighter's Guild member, the gentlemen and women behind me are ex members of the city guard, led by Captain Gravus, and I am Janus, owner of this tavern." He ignored the taverngoers who were not yet let go so as to not spread the news, something which they no doubt appreciated.
The mage simply stared at him, those red eyes carrying a knowing glow as he wordlessly demanded something.
Something Janus was reluctant to give but as the silence stretched into a full minute and the very air begun turning heavy once more he accepted his fate and nodded "Janus Caro, if you must know."
The admittance immediately drew surprised looks from the rest of his fellow Leyawiinians but the mage merely smirked, seemingly entertained by his attempts at subterfuge.
"A hidden bastard of some sort?" The mage rose an eyebrow.
"My parents were happily married." Janus almost snapped at him "I am merely descended of a distant branch."
"How incredibly boring." The mage rolled his eyes, earning a glare from the not quite nobleman "Very well." He finally nodded "I am Reyvin Dagoth, Lord of House Dagoth of Morrowind, a guest and ally of Emperor Titus Mede II, and holder many other titles which I will not bother naming."
If before his fellows were silent, now he could hear the shifting of the captured guards outside the tavern as everyone held their breaths at the revelation. One had to be blind and deaf not to know of that name.
Janus licked his suddenly dry lips and for the first time in a long time found his tongue failing him utterly as he realized he realized he was well and truly out of his depth here.
"One of the slayers of Alduin?" He heard Corvinus mutter as he met the elf's eyes "Pardon me, your exalted lordship, but what are you doing in Leyawiin?"
Ma'zaro gives his friend a sideways look "You are just going to believe him?"
The apparent godslayer who decided to take a stroll trough their city simply rolled his eyes instead of being offended like Janus expected, earning him another amused glance from their esteemed guest as his shoulders sagged in relief.
"He carries the appropriate emblem." Corvinus spoke, completely unknowing of the game the mage was playing with Janus "And I doubt many would dare impersonate someone rumored to be able to see across a whole province effortlessly."
"As amusing as the verbal fellatio is." Lord Dagoth spoke, earning only confused looks from his 'hosts' and looking just a tad disappointed "I do believe you gathered here for a reason?"
Feeling emboldened by the fact the elf was at least acting reasonable, Janus took command of the conversation again and began explaining everything they had come up with in gratuitous detail. He almost felt in control again in fact, if not for the constant minuscule shifts in the Dunmer's expression, seemingly holding himself back from delivering a snide comment at every step of their plan.
By the time he was finally done, Janus felt like he had just ran a mental marathon.
(Reyvin's POV)
'Admittedly not a terrible plan.' I hummed as the scheming little shit finished his explanation "Very well." I spoke "Your ideas carry some merit, even if you would have all inevitably gotten utterly slaughtered by the end of it. The numbers difference is simply too great and you do not have the time to convince more to join you."
As expected, many a pale face met my declaration "So we truly never stood a chance?" The surprisingly canny priest asked quietly.
"I said would have, do keep up." I drawl at the now sheepish man, who the fuck named their blond kid Corvinus anyway? "I could butcher everyone in the city on my own probably." Before the obvious reactions can happen I roll my eyes "I will obviously not be doing any of that."
All of them sigh in relief as one.
Slightly annoyed I scratch at my goatee 'I am not that terrifying, am I?'
'Pops, you fucking unmade six people right in front of their eyes.' Scorch deadpans 'I'd say you are more tan a 'little' scary to the mortal shits.'
Point.
"Forgive my impertinence." The priest interjects "At a risk of repeating myself, my lord, why are you here exactly?"
I give a quick look around the tavern, my eyes meeting with the civilian non-conspirators as I quickly put all of them to sleep, them actually moving to make themselves more comfortable quickly dispelling any idiotic idea that I may have killed them.
Happy to be rid of loose ends for now, I looked back to the Zenitharian "Titus has grown rather annoyed by the fact Leyawiin is all but kissing the Dominion's ass. I too am rather miffed at the fact that you lot are basically a puppet of them already."
Cue shouts of outrage and a blast of magical presence to shut them up.
"Or at least your leadership is." I continue as if I was not just rudely interrupted, to much grumbling agreement.
I lean in and they shut up again "What I was downright apoplectic at however, is the fact that I quickly found out that whatever is happening in the Temple District includes Daedric fuckery of the highest order, fuckery I plan on stopping posthaste."
Corvinus sucks in a breath "Daedra, my lord? In the temples?" With each word spoken his voice grows more furious, an almost physical fire appearing in his eyes.
"Quite." I nod "Which is why I will not be aiding you directly in dealing with the traitorous Count, that will fall onto someone else to deal with."
"Your... bodyguard?" Janus Caro ventures.
"No" I shake my head "Akulakhan will be helping me directly. Fortunately for you lot, I did not come without a plan, even if your little rebellion is a nice stepping stone to add to it." They looked distinctly too proud at essentially being called a glorified distraction "The Dragonborn has been tasked by His Imperial Majesty to lead a force in exterminating a den of goblins north of the city."
All of them grew very excited even before I was done.
"That is naturally complete bullshit." I snort "She is still going to slaughter the little shits of course, but her actual task is to sneak that force to the city and apprehend Count Marius Caro for the crime of treason."
"So we could have just sat down and done nothing..." The Khajiit mutters dazedly "Huh."
"And what of the city?" Janus speaks up "Removing Marius is all well and good but even the Legates we plan on allying with have some connections with the Thalmor at this point, they would have been complete fools not to."
Tilting my head I ponder aloud "I will likely interrogate the lot of them and cull those who went to far while fining the rest for all they are worth." I shrug "The rest will of course be up to Titus to deal with, I am after all only an ally at the moment."
Not being a complete fucking idiot, Janus quickly realizes what I meant and his entire expression shifted into one of someone who had just sucked on one lemon too many.
"What?" I smirk at him as he fumes silently "Did you think I was about to give you the city on a silver platter?" I laugh aloud as he looks down, the rest of them shifting glances between the two of us.
"No" He grits out "Of course not. I only want the best for my home city."
"Cute how you barely held yourself back from calling it your city" I point at him and his face reddens "But tell you what" His eyes meet mine with almost respectable intensity "Prove yourself sufficiently and I just might give a recommendation to Titus."
Stick shown and carrot offered, the ambitious lesser noble's back straightens and he gives me a determined nod "Of course. I will ensure the path of the honored Dragonborn is not impeded and that the city remains as peaceful as possible while you deal with the Daedric threat, my lord."
"Good." I nod and snap my fingers, summoning Scorch atop my shoulders "I would still like to offer some assistance, so my familiar will be remaining with you to help in both the planning and the fighting."
The prospective Count mouths 'planning?'
Poor fucker.
"Alright then you featherless degenerates!" Scorch wastes no time as a good number of them recoil at the fact he could speak "Your asses are mine while pops goes and deals with the gold bitch. Don't worry though I will be gentle."
Ignoring the pleading looks of Scorch's newest vic- subordinates, I grace them with one last grin before walking outside and preparing to do some aggressive recon on the Temple District, though I do make sure to put the surrendered guards into a prolonged sleep just in case.
But before I could lift off, the oddly youthful priest ran up to me, only slightly slowing down as Akulakhan's gaze fell atop him. His eyes meet mine, the same fire glowing within with a righteous fury that had been building up ever since I told them of the Daedric presence in the temple "Take me with you."
It was a demand, but one I could respect "Can you even fight?" I quirk an eyebrow.
"It does not matter." He grits his teeth "My brothers were slain by Count Marius' servants, and for days I wondered why he would commit such an offense to the gods, but now I know he never accepted the Aedra to begin with. Whatever they are trying to accomplish I must be there to face them, in the name of my lord Zenithar!"
As he invokes the name I feel the slightest bubbling of divine power from within him.
Most interesting.
"You know what? Fine." I accept, seeing someone channel the divine power of another, as Corvinus seemed close to doing, from an outsider's perspective ought to be educational at least "But do not expect me to babysit you, if you are too weak to survive you will die and I will not even bother picking up your corpse."
"Acceptable." He nods immediately, literally not a millisecond of hesitation.
Shrugging I snap my fingers and begin levitating the both of us into the air as Akulakhan simply disappears "Your funeral."
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The stone...
It calls to me!
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