(General POV, earlier that day)
"Damn it Corvinus I have orders not to let anyone into the district and that is final." A guard clad in white stallion livery snapped at him "I don't care if you are right or wrong I am not losing my job and getting whipped for your stubbornness."
Deacon Corvinus' shoulders sagged as he was denied for the fifth time "Very well Gallus, but know this" His gaze met that of the guard, the righteous fury burning within making the man pause "The gods see all and remember all, whatever treachery is happening in the district will not go unanswered."
Both startled and annoyed the guardsman moved his hand to his sheathed sword and narrowed his eyes "I will not repeat myself you fool, get moving now."
Shaking his head and muttering about the blatant impiety, the priest left, making his way to the less prosperous parts of the city and being joined by a pair of locals on the way.
"Ma'zaro has warned you." The bulky gold-furred Khajiit swordsman spoke softly "You waste your time with all this begging and pleading."
"Hate to agree with the cat." The other Imperial present, a craftsman by the look of him, snorted, drawing a glare from said feline "But he is right, the boys managed to jump over a few roofs during the night and returned about an hour back, the whole place looks completely abandoned."
"And what of the bodies Janus?" Corvinus questions "What of my brothers?"
"Gone." The 'craftsman' winces "Like nothing happened at all, and you already know the excuse Marius" He spits on the name out "has been giving out."
"Have a care how you speak." The priest chastises habitually "He is still the Count."
"The same failing cunt who has been keeping your brothers 'safe for questioning?'" Janus scoffs, making the priest look away, unable to answer "Yeah, that is what I thought."
"This still does not answer Ma'zaro's question." The Khajiit interjects "What do we do now?"
"What can we do my friend?" Corvinus sighs "Even if we were to force our way into the temple that would accomplish naught but bring certain death to any who would aid us."
"Better than to sit and do nothing." The cat man retorts instantly.
"Say, think we could get some help from the Legates?" Janus speaks up after a minute or so of silent walking "Get enough of them together and they could challenge whatever Marius is doing."
The priest remains silent but is obviously intrigued while the Khajiit holds no such compunctions "And how would you convince them to help us? Does Ma'zaro need to remind you that most of their families have been detained or are under watch?"
"So we organize a breakout" The Imperial shrugs "Can't be that hard with how shit the guard have become ever since anyone who spoke out against our esteemed Count's new trading partners got sacked and had their property confiscated."
He stops in his tracks, the light of realization in his eyes "Wait! That is exactly what we need!"
Corvinus looks back at him "What is it?"
"We gather all the 'retired' guards and have them help us free the Legates' families" Janus grins "Then we go and capture Marius and have the Legate Council petition the Emperor for an investigation!"
"Quiet" The Khajiit hisses as he notices some passers by moving in the distance as they approach the end of the alleyway "Do you want to alert the entire city you fool?"
Janus rolls his eyes but nods "Still, not a bad idea, right?"
"It has merit." Ma'zaro scratches his chin "Though Khajiit feels it is a bit too complicated for a trio of streetwise fools to accomplish."
"Better than nothing." The man throws the Khajiit's words back at him.
"Your words bring me hope" Corvinus finally speaks up "If we can do this legally and with the least amount of innocent blood spilt, I think we should move on with this plan. I certainly do not have the mind to come up with a better one."
"You are far too preachy for a young man." Janus smirks at the priest "But I am glad you agree. Before that though, we need an actual plan of action. Let's go to my tavern, should be the least amount of eager ears listening in there."
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It did not take long for them to agree on a plan, more out of a need for expediency than any actual competence in truth, which left Corvinus and Ma'zaro waiting in Janus' little tavern while the socially savvy Imperial went around the city to gather those interested in aiding them.
Corvinus was not blind to the hidden undertone of his fellow Imperial's ambition however.
Even if Janus hid it well, his countenance was suspiciously similar to others of the Caro line which had ruled the city throughout the eras, that he was not either invited to the keep or outright removed just went to show how much of a care he took that no one made the connection.
That or the lack of care the current Count held for actually ruling his city beyond doing the bare minimum and spending the rest of his time cooped up in his keep doing Aedra knows what.
Still, the priest of Zenithar would not judge his fellow prematurely, for that way lie folly akin to the worship of The One, and no sensible man, elf, or beast would ever wish for a return of those accursed times.
The heavy silence proved too much for the young Deacon and he spoke "Do you think we are doing the right thing, my friend?"
His Khajiit companion looked back at him, abandoning his vigil at the window for the moment "Ma'zaro thinks you still cling to the naivite of solving this without conflict." The cat man shakes his head "You are a priest of Z'en, are you not? You should know well that one may not create and improve without growing a few scabs first."
"Your words are wise." Corvinus admits "And yet I hate them all the same."
The Khajiit lets out a light chuckle and returns to his vigil, his eyes narrowing at what he saw outside "Curses! Hide quickly!"
His warning came too late, as before either of them could move the door of the tavern shook and even cracked in some spots as their visitor knocked on them non too gently "Deacon Corvinus, we know you are in there. The guard has some questions for you!"
Ma'zaro cursed under his breath and reached for his scimitar but stopped as the young priest rose his hand to forestall him.
"And what might the honored protectors of this fair city wish of a humble priest?" Corvinus asked loud enough to be heard outside.
"I do not want to repeat myself you ingrate." The leader of the guardsmen barked back "Get out of the tavern right now or I will set it and whoever else is within aflame!"
The few patrons who still chose to remain after Janus' request that they leave for the day shifted uncomfortably, the quintet of drunken dockworkers suddenly looking terribly worried for their lives and directing said worry at the priest.
Before he could watch them fall prey to treachery, Corvinus sighed and went for the door "I will come out, there is no need to get violent."
Ma'zaro hissed something at him but he ignored his friend's warning tone and opened stepped out of the tavern, the sight of twenty guards and one officer greeting him with their shields up and weapons out.
"Should have guessed you'd still be a coward." The officer scoffed "Some things never change, do they Corvy?" The name which was once a term of endearment now carried naught but disdain.
"Juliana." Corvinus' tone carried no hint of emotion "Why am I not surprised that it is you who rampages through the city like some Orsimer barbarian?"
"Be silent fool." The woman, once a beloved friend and now an arrogant servant of the corrupt, snaps back at him "Save your useless babbling for those who care for it."
"Ah yes, I do forget sometimes that you have found new gods to follow." Corvinus surprised himself with how venomous his voice suddenly was "I hope the coin they give you to sell your brethren lets you sleep well at night."
Some of the lesser guards shift uncomfortably.
"I don't need to take this from you." She snarls, before her expression calms into one of vindictive satisfaction "The Count has grown tired of your attempts to stop his work, he has ordered that you be put to death for fermenting rebellion in his city." She sentences him without blinking "Thank you for making my work simpler by being a sentimental idiot."
The irony of the fact that while the accusation may have been a false one when it was made he really was fermenting rebellion made the young priest let out a weak chuckle "I am a citizen of the Empire." He attempted to stall, uselessly as he knew "I have a right to a fair trial, not... this farce!"
"The recent crisis has made the Count institute a regime of martial law." The guardswoman 'lamented' "I am afraid your execution shall be summary." She sneered "But do not worry, we will certainly permit a thorough investigation when the unfortunate state of the city passes."
"How far you have fallen." Corvinus spits on the ground.
She scoffs and looks to a guard next to her "Morbeus, kill him."
The man looks like he is about to follow through but thinks better of it and shakes his head "I will not strike down a priest, ma'am."
She does not even look at him as she punches him in the face and sends him sprawling onto the ground, those guards who looked unsure before were turning either terrified or furious by this point. They knew nothing of their orders before this moment.
"Traitorous worm." Juliana growls "Very well, I will do it myself." She gripped her sword tightly and approached the priest, her intent quite obvious.
But as she swung, and her sword was about to reach his neck a loud hissing battle cry came from behind him, Ma'zaro's scimitar deflecting the legionary blade and almost throwing it out of Juliana's grip with the thunderous force it carried.
The other guards, surprised and confused, either rushed to help their leader or stayed behind, watching in abject horror as they realized how utterly ruined their reputations would be if they attempted to follow their orders to the letter.
A counterstrike sent the Khajiit back, his large furry hand barely managing to grab onto Corvinus and shove him back against the wall as he deflected an overhead swing and prepared to get shieldbashed by five guards clad in medium armor.
And yet, just as they were about to close into charging distance, tankards and chairs began striking their shields, the stubborn tavern goers either too drunk or too furious to care about the difference in equipment and skill between them and the blasphemers who wished to strike down a priest without trial.
Corvinus could swear, even as he tried and barely managed to cast some healing spells on his friend, that he could see a blur of black to the left of the group of guards but his attention was drawn back to the fight as a collective grunt announced a renewed push.
And while the tavern patrons were more than happy to keep throwing things, they were less idiotic about actually charging the soldiers, their attacks if they could even be called such barely slowing them down as they slammed into the Khajiit as one, nearly throwing him onto the ground and stabbing at him from multiple angles.
Ma'zaro managed to deflect a few more blows but his disadvantage was great and soon he begun to slow down, finding himself slammed into the wall next to his priestly friend as Juliana went in for the kill with a full force stab at his throat.
Only for the lightly enchanted blade to stop in its tracks as a black... no, as an ebony gauntleted hand gripped it firmly "Nice knife." a voice that sent chills down everyone's spines rung out as the blade shattered a second later.
Corvinus, seeing what was about to happen and a devout follower of the Nine at that, cried "Wai-!"
But it was already too late, all he could do was watch as the five guardsmen who chose to follow Juliana's folly were cut into tiny pieces of flesh by the scales of their own armor, the swarm of bloodied metal immediately rounding onto their leader and proceeding to almost cut her to pieces as it was embedded into her causing immense agony.
The crowned mage, for he could be nothing else, grabbed the screaming woman by her chin and roughly made her meet his eyes "Let's see what you are hiding..."
Both Corvinus and Ma'zaro felt their bowels loosen as they watched Juliana's eyes liquify in seconds, every single orifice of her head bleeding profusely.
For a moment there was stunned silence as the rest of the guards' training kicked in and they attempted reforming into something resembling a formation but one gaze from the newcomer stopped them in their tracks.
"You have five seconds to disarm." The tall mage spoke simply "Five, four, three- Good." Their weapons hit the ground as fast as they could physically throw them away.
It was exactly at this moment that Janus returned with seven others, all of them gaping at the scene which welcomed them.
Corvinus' mind was still reeling as the innkeeper began asking his terrified questions, but even delirious as he was, he could not fail to notice the emblem at the back of the mage's cloak.
A purple three eyed beetle.
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As children, we all yearn for the mines
Do you feel the yearning still?
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