Sitting around a campfire at the side of the road, Jon and Bryling sat together and started studying a map of the old Shrine of ridia.
"I say we should take this way."
"What?"
"This way! We should take it."
"Speak up!"
"WE GO THIS WAY!"
"Alright…"
"Goodness! I think I made her deaf."
It was Jon and Bryling who had to et the Daedra ridia upon the arrival to Mount Kilkreath and Jon played a prank on Bryling to let her hear the deafening voice of ridia.
So much for a prank, it was. Bryling and even Jon himself were badly deafened after the encounter with the Daedric Prince.
ridia elevated the senses of both Jon and Bryling above the clouds and spoke to them through an aura of light. She then gave them the command to cleanse her shrine of the Undead infestation and the Necromancer responsible.
Bryling signed up imdiately after knowing that there is a necromancer this close to the city and stated that she respects ridia for her hate towards Undeath and Necromancy but her true heart is with Akatosh. Sothing that ridia didn't bother with.
Jon also promised ridia aid and alliance as they have many mutual enemies.
This agreent with the Daedra led to the small side campaign in the shrine in order to cleanse it from the undead.
"So, you said you have the sa enemies as a Daedric Lord?" Bryling asked.
"Yes." Jon replied.
"Hm?" Bryling furrowed her brows as she didn't hear him well.
Jon let out a sigh and pointed his staff near her head before channeling a fast healing spell.
"I hope you can hear better now." He said.
"Ah! Barely. The world is still ringing." Bryling said.
"As you say, I share a few enemies with Prince ridia. Aside from Necromancers and Vampires, I have a big grudge with Molag Bal, I rember fucking Clavicus Vile once, I had a falling out with hrunes Dagon, Hermaeus Mora supports a rival of mine, and I can't stand either Malacath or Peryite."
"Goodness!" Bryling frowned, "You have an entire Pantheon of enemies."
"True." Jon nodded, "There is also the Worm God but nobody likes Mannimarco either way."
"Who are your allies then?" Bryling asked.
"I have the support of Azura, Boethiah, and phala… even though one wouldn't rely on those deceitful three for anything good. Still, a good portion of their worshippers live under my protection and I allow them to worship freely and openly within the limits of Law. Sheogorath is a long-ti ally and sohow, he feels like an uncle to . Hircine is also treating well and hopefully, ridia joins the party."
"That's 6 enemies and 6 friendlies."
"Indeed. The remaining 4 are the ones neutral to so far. Namira and Vaermina are too much even for so I tend to avoid them even though my wife has managed to be on good terms with Vaermina. Nocturnal is also one I need to forge an alliance with and lastly Sanguine invited to a Realm Party once."
"A Realm Party?"
"The Biggest Philanderer in Oblivion and the Biggest Philanderer on Nirn. It surely was a party."
Bryling looked away from Jon and stared back into the campfire.
"So, what are we supposed to gain from this?" Bryling asked.
"Aside from knowing that a neighboring Necromancer is dealt with, there is also a good artifact lying around sowhere." Jon said.
"What's it about?" She asked.
"Smiting the Undead back to Oblivion." He replied.
"The fact that you want this ans that the main thing we are after is also Undead." Bryling concluded.
"You're a sharp woman, Lady Bryling. You'll make a good Jarl." Jon confird her thoughts and retreated to his small tent.
"But the guards we brought are too few for such a thing. Our entire party will be in danger if anything…" She started worrying but Jon interrupted her.
"The 20 Guards we brought along aren't here to fight." He said.
"Then? Are you okay with them being put to danger down here?" Bryling asked with a stern face.
"Relax!" Jon smiled, "All we need are 20 witnesses."
"Witnesses?"
"Sure. Soone who witnesses how aweso the future Jarl is. You'll be doing all the fighting in case you didn't notice. I'll be protecting them from the sidelines while you spearhead."
"And you're just telling that?" Bryling seed disturbed, "If I am to serve my Hold, I don't need witnesses or words of thanks and Glory."
"Goodness!" Jon sighed, "It's just so propaganda. Just leave it to and focus on solving problems."
Getting in terms with soone as lawful as Bryling is a pain in the ass but Jon can't go back now especially after killing Jarl Elisif. If he doesn't appoint a strong ally in Solitude, he would lose a lot of connections especially after the supposed death of Vittoria Vici.
The plan had to succeed.
***
Getting into the Temple was one thing, getting through it was another. ridia's temple was built hundreds of years ago and the undead attacked it many tis before thus it is an easy stronghold to defend.
What Jon did was to imbue Thane Bryling with a lot of Magical Energy that her Mace was shimring with Sun Energy. An effect deadly for the undead.
The Guards following her were ordered into two formations and took the flanks. Jon took the rear and sent many Atronachs and Familiars to assist Bryling in the front.
Against such force, the Temple was breached easily but the sight of the undead creeped out the simple City Guards who couldn't handle their appearance.
Walking Skeletons is one thing but the things that guarded the Temple of ridia were Corrupted Shades, incarnations of dead war soldiers that wandered by mistake into this Temple and got caught by the Necromancer.
So of them were Imperial Legionaries, so were Hold Guards, so were Stormcloaks.
What was more horrific was the fact that many corpses of those soldiers were lying around almost everywhere.
The Corrupted Shades themselves were not walking dead but more like Ghosts, beings enshrouded in Shadow Energy that felt dark and empty as they floated around and wailed as if they were expecting the mont of their death over and over.
"Don't fear the Dead, brave n! Those are war martyrs, people who fought on both sides and departed valiantly. However, the Necromancer sent his minions and broke their souls from their corpses in order to make them into his minions as well. The Nords among them didn't get to go to Sovngarde but rather to the dreadful pits of Oblivion. By putting down the shades, you free your brethren and send them safe to Sovngarde. Rejoice, brothers, for today you are the ssengers of Kyne and the Warriors of Shor."
Jon had to boost morale and speak powerful words in order to indoctrinate the narrative he wants to be spread into the minds of those Guards.
If 20 Guards return to Solitude and spread the rumors, things will go very well in Bryling's favor.
But he went lengths beyond that. He personally made the guards witness how the Light of ridia cos and travels through her Temple and how it must be channeled in order to protect Haafingar from the Undead hordes.
By doing that, he displayed his arcane craft and his work for the betternt of the people through any ans possible.
That said and done, the party delved to the deepest of the Temple's inner sanctum and confronted the Necromancer who fortified the last chamber with a large number of Undead.
There, Jon had to take the lead.
"Necromancer Malkoran! We know you are holed in there. You have committed cris against Skyrim and her people, what say you in your defense?" Jon shouted outside the room.
The Hold Guards following him looked at each other with signs of amazent at how clean that line ca out.
"You dirty Bastards! You can't leave a man to his work when he is bothering nobody." From inside, the Breton Necromancer Malkoran spoke.
"Hmph! You Worm Cult Bastard! You think I don't know what you are?" Jon said, "You're one of those Worm Cult executives who worship that Worm Demon Mannimarco."
"Damn you! Don't you insult my Lord!" The Necromancer seed frustrated when Jon said what he said.
"Heh! You Worm Bastards were almost wiped out in Hamrfell by the Citadel of Ebonarm at Hegathe. I was there and I witnessed the massacre." Jon said as he enjoyed taunting the Necromancer out.
"Bastard! I'll kill you personally." The Necromancer was enraged but still held his anger to not make a mistake against those who cleared out his stronghold in a few hours.
"I rember the masked man, though. Do you rember him? He's the one who broke through Hegathe and destroyed the incarnation of Mannimarco… What was his na? Krilon?"
That was the mont when the Necromancer took it no more.
"You have a death wish! Fine! Fine! I'll show you! Consider this the punishnt that you dared to…"
*BZZZZZT*
As the Necromancer seed to be letting his minions out of the chamber, Jon imdiately sent a spell rushing through the enemies ahead of him and turned anything in its wake into ash.
"… What was that?" Bryling asked as she just witnessed a spell that employed a terrifying rush of Lightning which caused her heart to jump off its place and her eyes to be blinded for a few seconds.
"Couldn't hold it." Jon said and moved ahead, "Let's go."
Jon went down into the inner sanctum where the Necromancer was taking shelter and the mont he walked in, he raised his staff once again and…
*BZZZZZT*
… he shot another oversized Lightning Bolt at the Shade of the Necromancer which was his second phase boss mode.
With the Necromancer dead, the place was now returned to ridia's control and both Jon and Bryling had to remove a blade from a pedestal that was blocking the Light of ridia to travel to its goal in the temple.
That blade was the ever famous and most wanted artifact an adventurer would hope to possess.
This was the blade that destroys the undead and cleanses the evil, the heroic sword, Dawnbreaker.
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