With Throgor's return around noon, he took the time to eat a meal with us explaining what he did to light the flame. Which was happily burning above New Sheoth now.
When he arrived at Cylarne he was greeted by a battle between the Saints and Seducers. At the time he didn't quite know what to do but one of the Dark seducers noticed him and called out to him away from the battle. This led him following the Dark Seducers into the next battles joining their side.
It was hard fought as the days went by and kept gaining ground on the Saints. Finally resulting in the battle for Cylarne going to the Dark Seducers. The commander of the unit sacrificed herself to be reborn later, thus becoming the fuel for the lighting of the Torch.
His reward when he lit the flame on the side of the Seducers was to be able to summon one to his aid. A new Conjuration spell he gained. He also wrote the spell out for me so I can study it. Maybe I could bind my two recent training partners if I can reverse engineer the spell. Though it would take awhile as it seemed to be on the Adept level spell.
By the end of lunch Sheogorath spoke with him once more for his next task. Sadly I was asked to head and deal with a few members of Bliss were attempting to try a new spell out. Said spell happened to "Attempt" to summon all of the calipers in Nirn... The mad wizard just wanted to help his friend to create a "Skyboat". Only in the Shivering Isles I swear.
The spell did work though. Just happened to kill the mages under the literal mountain that was formed from the spell. A mountain of calipers.
The Smith was having a field day though since now she had a near limitless supply of iron. She was sad it wasn't amber though.
By the time I finished clearing up the mess with the help of some of the mad mages around (tricking them into helping more like) I missed out on Throgor getting his next task. Which was slightly disappointing.
So Throgor was off to figure out how to kill the Duke for now and I was back to being an observer for the time being. Granny was a help to relieve boredom though. She found out I was struggling with reinforcement so she decided to help. Said help though, I found I wish I could have avoided.
Enchanted stick did wonders for my focus though. I hadn't noticed how scatter brained I was becoming since coming to the Isles, A side effect that was diminished when around certain things such as my mother. Granny now fell into this category with her threatening stick.
Though something funny did happen when Sheogorath decided to come by one time. With Sheogorath offering to enhance the stick, in his own way. It was mildly amusing to see Sheogorath was unnerved by a grandma giving "the stare". He excused himself very quickly after that.
The truth of the matter was Sheogorath was becoming weaker as the days have gone by. He was noticeably less, Sheogorath. It was slightly creepy when he would just stare off into the celling for a time.
Which just meant it would soon be time. Time to make a man become a god, officially.
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(Shirou POV')
This week of roaming around the Isles was an, interesting affair. Walking into the various settlements and strangers of the Isles was somewhat, enlightening. With each attack from the Obelisks surrounding the Isles I had found myself feeling, free.
For so long I just did things as I was told. My first little bit of rebellion was trying to kill my former self before he could become me. And while I will be the first to admit, it wasn't the healthiest of options... It would have been cathartic at least.
So long I was drifting from one mission to the next and then, bam! Randomly shuttled to another world. And I found this place comforting in its own way. Even this Madhouse. Actually this Mad Plane considering what it actually is. It had helped me open my eyes. In reality I was insane long ago. Maybe not nearly as bad as the inhabitants here in the Isles, but yeah.
My "Job" as a Counter Guardian wasn't doing me any favors. After relaxing and opening myself up for my new little brother, I felt the changes. It wasn't until I came here into the Isles that I was able to see them.
For so long I wasn't able to justify myself, too myself. My Ideals and how they were trampled by reality. Leaving those who loved me behind. I was utterly broken. Now, I've been picking up the pieces. Time to move forward.
And the first start of it was being a little more selfish. Big start, I know. But it was for me. So long I just followed directions or charged off to the next problem.
Now I had my own goal, or at least the start of one. Azarius tended to speak of the things that would happen in this world. Future events that would lead to atrocities that even I had frowned upon hearing. When this was all over... I wouldn't follow him. Not yet at least. My selfish wish, I would act on it, even if the world didn't think it was one.
My inner musings were interrupted by a spike in energy nearby. I was near the costal regions of The Isle on the Mania side. Moving quickly through the brush and mushrooms dotting the area I found the next Obelisk. The forces of Order were noticeably becoming stronger as time went by this week. Gripping the mushroom to my right I stopped next to it and then I hoisted myself up onto it.
Next I took stock of the enemies before myself. 4 priests of Order and already 10 knights, 11 as one came out of the crystal structure. Thinking of how I wanted to fight this group I decided a bit of close quarters wouldn't feel bad.
Gripping the edge of the Mushroom I leapt into the air above the forces of order. Getting into a stance holding the grip of my sword I waited for gravity to take hold. The red shroud flapped as i gained speed from the height I fell from.
Closing my eyes I felt around me using my mindseye to focus. Slowly but surely I was improving, Taking in the experience of fighting without the many noble phantasms in my reality marble.
The memory of the time the dog of Ireland mistook me for a saber servant made a smirk appear on my lips as I closed in on my target. It was one of the priests, and it was the one I had felt the most Magicka from. Just before I touched down on the ground I drew my blade.
As the dust scattered around myself from the impact of me touching down, the other enemies only saw the mask of the priest flying in the air. My eyes still closed feeling the others around me I went to work. Reinforcement slightly filled my body using my own reserves. A challenge I had set upon myself for combat.
Emerging from the dust, staying low, I was upon the next priest. Gripping the sword with two hands I brought the blade from below nicking just the neck. And before blood even flowed I was moving. only to be intercepted by the knights. Parrying one to force him into attacking his comrade I kept deftly moving around them. I had noticed their blades could injure me unlike standard blades.
The years Avalon was with me through my journey, I still questioned before why it had left me. But now I realized why. I had abandoned my Ideals along ago. So I would make sure, at least now, to keep moving forward.
Sidestepping a wild swing I counter attacked with a simple chop into the joints of the arm of the knight. With the arm unavailable to the knight I followed through ending the knight with a slash cutting off the crystal head. As I continued to move around the battlefield, My thoughts went to my weapon and the slow improvements I have made to it.
At first it was easily chipped and dented by these knights. Their crystal armor wasn't the most friendly to blades after all. Kamaitachi was slowly being reborn after many forges to rebuild the blade. The green and gold blade shined near the spine, but the edge held a new metal that just so happened to be very against that of Order.
Madness ore after refining was melded into the edge and happened to give just the right amount of kick when fighting the forces of order. Though it did have one side effect.
"Aria!" My shouting accompanied the chaotic winds surrounding the blade. They were wild but more powerful as well. The enchantments didn't rely on myself to fuel them so it was a welcomed addition to the challenge.
I followed the winds as they guided me through the enemies and in no time there were only a newly emerged knight and one priest who was running on fumes from Magicka exhaustion. Feeling only a slightly tamed wind left on the blade, I used it to channel a wind slash ending the two remaining enemies.
Walking close to the most recent knight I gripped the chestplate of the Knight and ripped it from him. This revealed the crystal gray body with a heart like crystal as the only remains left of an actual body. They were more like constructs or homunculi instead of the Dedra I had come to know in my travels.
Tossing the heart into the Obelisk I could feel it needed two more and it would close. Just as I was about to toss the last heart a final Knight was spawned from the obelisk. Which led to the knight lunging at me. A side step with a trip behind it's legs lead to it being on it's back. I drew my sword stabbed down with one arm into the head and it went still.
After so many times of doing this it had become almost second nature to deal with the jump scares. A disdainful "hmph" left me as I tossed the last heart into the obelisk and began to walk away. The crashing sound and small explosion almost like music to my ears, almost. It was number 32 in this week alone. While I may have just gone back to what seems like my old job, at least it was cathartic, and on my terms. Maybe ill try to hit 35 before heading back today.
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(Azarius POV)
Towards dinner time we finally welcomed back our last guest. Shirou came back just in time to enjoy some Carbonara, or at least what we could make to pass like it. Making pasta was a nice change from some of the dishes around Nirn.
Around the table we told stories of our times through the week. Sheogorath though was happy to tell of his times wandering Tamriel. Though some of them were a little on the graphic side, hence spoiling some of our appetite. Which now that I think on it a little, it was probably on purpose. He did like the food after all.
Shirou did get around to showing off the improvements he made to his sword. I hadn't needed to change my own blade too much due to the materials so far. Just regular maintenance for it was fine for now. Did find some issues in the blade that we could look to improve later on though due to the repeated use.
Due to the magical energies running through the blade it generated a lot of "heat" in the metaphorical sense. This would eventually lead to stress on the blade with overuse in the long run. One of the things to fix eventually. Another was while it may work well as a foci for my gate spell, It wasn't the best for all of my magic.
Just the random thoughts in my head as we rambled amongst each other around the table. Though my plan for the evening was a different story.
It was time to advance to a magician, not to mention I was going to a special place to advance as well. As I discussed with Arrodes before I wanted to save the mutation to build a stronger one when I advanced to faceless. Due to this I wanted to be awake for the change at least.
The special place in mind for my advancement. I wanted to go to another plane of oblivion. My mother had invited me to come see the Evergloam as it had completed it's changes. I saw no reason to deny her but I still warned the others of my departure. Shirou still had the independent action ability so I could be away for a little while.
When the night came upon the Shivering Isles I welcomed a purplish black portal opening in my room. Happily walking through the portal led me to a place inside a goth girl's wet dream.
The area I was welcomed to held a reddish brown dirt path lined by blackened trees with dark purple leaves adorning them. The grass that lined the path was a very deep green color that matched well with the trees. The pathway was wide enough for at least 4 people to walk side by side. The trees were at least 10ft on the shorter end of them. 15ft for the taller ones.
The sky is what did it for me though. The sky didn't hold a single star in it but was still brightened by the purple and red nebulas scattered like clouds across it. The moons still held above the plane of oblivion, while the light of Atherius did not.
Walking along the path it opened up to an open meadow. Inside the meadow there was only one thing inside besides the various flowers everywhere. A small cabin stood in the center with the path leading up to it. My mother stood in the doorway leaning against the side of it.
The air of the Ebonmere stirred and a sensation from my bond and the realm itself echoed through me. Her words reached me no matter how far I was.
"Welcome home, My son"
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To the WINDOWSSSS!
To the WALLS! (to the walls)
STOP, YOU VIOLATED THE LAW!
Stones for this Khajiit to crawl?
AN:// Had a bit of fun writing this different perspective. It will happen between our two main characters especially when Azarius goes world hopping, more often. I hope this helps to show a few things if you can read into them. If not... meh, its the Shivering Isles. people always say when you hang out with stupid people it may be contagious... hint hint.
But I digress. Happy news also as due to your guys' unwavering support of stones we might get on the power stones list by the end of the month. It's close since I'm in the 200's range.
We Got This!
Love you guys,
Peace!