After I managed to calm down a very pissed off Sybille and inford Davos and Marco that they are free for the day, at which point the young bard fell asleep then and there, forcing Davos to carry him off, we headed out toward Castle Dour.
As we were about to leave the palace we crossed paths with the King himself followed by Falk Firebeard and Bolgeir Bearclaw.
Torygg imdiately perked up when he saw us "Ah good, I was hoping the two of you would join us." His eyes shifted to my own for a mont holding a hint of confusion within, but he quickly hid it.
How perceptive is this man?
Sybille sighed "As much as I don't like dealing with the common soldiery it is unquestionably wise to reach an understanding with the command structure if we are going to be trusting them to stand between us and the enemy."
I chuckle "I wouldn't put it in so many words but yes that is pretty much the case."
Torygg shakes his head "If only everyone could be so dismissive."
"If only you chose to beco a mage instead of a monarch." I say faux-sadly "Woe is you."
Falk coughs forcefully and sends a slight glare.
The King on the other hand rely joins in my amusent "True, I should stop complaining." and claps his hands "Now, off to the castle!"
He starts walking off enthusiastically and we are all forced to run after him.
Castle Dour is very much built to fit its na, every corner is a kill zone, every ceiling a murder hole. Instead of the dozen or so soldiers I saw doing exercises when I first arrived, the courtyard was filled to the brim with proper Imperial legionaries wearing high quality steel armor and equipped with swords and shields. Most were Nords, but there were a couple of r and Bretons dispersed among them.
In front of every group of ten was a Decanus, wearing more ornate and lightly enchanted armor, but otherwise equipped in the sa manner.
For every ten of them stood one Centurion, a plud helt decorating their heads and a respectable aura coming from their more individualistic gear.
And finally, above the five centurii, there stood the Legate herself, Rikke if my mory serves. Even ignoring her enchanted ebony Imperial segnted plate I could practically feel the danger coming off the middle-aged woman, she would definitely snap like a twig in a fight.
The mont the King stepped into the yard the legionaries moved as one and presented a pristine formation with everyone saluting.
Rikke stepped in front of her cohort and gave Torygg a shallow but respectful bow "King Torygg, the troops are ready for your inspection."
The young King's smile was just a bit strained as he said "Rikke, how many tis must I tell you that there is no need for such formality."
The Legate smirks "And how many tis must I tell you that the legion must always follow proper discipline or we will no longer be the mightiest force on Nirn."
"And how nurous is this mightiest force at the mont?" I ask hoping to speed the et and greet along.
"If it isn't the new court mage himself." Rikke looks over "Say... you look familiar."
I raise an eyebrow "I don't believe we have t ma'am."
She stares at "No, I am quite certain I have seen you sowhere."
Guessing that she had known my father while he was still alive I roll my eyes "Why are you beating around the bush Legate?"
She huffs "It's called being polite, you could try it soti brat."
I stare at her, dead in the eyes, and say with slow certainty "No."
She actually snorts at this "You really are Vyren's brat."
"In the flesh" I bow with an exaggerated flourish.
"A sha he went and got himself killed, he was a good soldier and a better commander." She shakes her head, but I sense a tinge of hidden fury.
I shrug "He chose to make the risk that led to his death, besides the last ti I spoke with him he seed content with his end."
Among those present only Sybille, Firebeard, and surprisingly Torygg seem to imdiately get what I am talking about, while everyone else gives weird looks and one of the Oricsh legionaries even takes an unsure step back, likely earning himself latrine duty if his Decanus' glare is anything to go by.
Rikke eyes weirdly "What do you a-" Then she makes an 'O' with her mouth and shakes her head "I never could get my head around Dunri rituals."
I rely smile, and Rikke turns to Sybille "Stentor" she says coldly "I see you managed to force yourself out of your tower today."
"Rikke." Sybille answers with just about the sa amount of venom in her voice "How unpleasant it is to see you today."
It is at this mont that Falk, bless his heart, decides to get between two pissed-off won "While I am certain that the two of you have much to talk about, please do leave that for when the King is not present."
Both of them glare at the brave soul, but he doesn't even twitch and stares them down. After a tense silence they both back down and I sense just a smidge of smugness from the steward. With a contented smile, he turns to Rikke "Now Legate, if you would answer the court mage's question about the troop count, that would be a good way to get started with the eting."
She grunts "Of course Steward" then looks at and explains "We are currently five hundred strong, all heavy infantry, with a force of fifty auxiliary scouts and ten elite spellswords." "I am guessing that cavalry would be pretty useless where we are going." She nods with a hint of approval in her eyes "Yes, we will mostly be engaging in ground assault combined with magical bombardnt when possible."
I scratch my chin "There are going to be three of us, two Wizards and an Archmage so the bombardnt idea should work." Rembering just who I am talking about I quickly add "Well that is if Savos doesn't have other plans."
"Yes, we were all quite relieved when we heard of Aren's participation." She agrees.
"Now what about..."
I proceed to ask an obnoxious amount of questions, and while it wasn't exactly necessary we did notice so discrepancies in the supply organization and marching order that were corrected thanks to being annoyingly ticulous which earned so respect from the local soldiery.
After the et and greet was done Rikke invited over for a drink with the officers and she regaled with stories of my father's achievents, and if even half of them were true my father was a certified badass.
She also made retell so of my own battles and adventures, seeing as my na was known even here among certain circles. She seed rather impressed and lanted that I didn't join the legion to which I simply replied the sa way I did to Tiberius or my father
when they suggested it.
It just wasn't worth it.
The legionaries grumbled but most showed understanding of my views.
I left the senior Legate in good cheer and returned to the tower. Sybille seed inordinately pissed that I decided to spend ti with her 'rival' or whatever it is they considered themselves "What were you doing with that hag for so long?" "Really Sybille?" I ask in exasperation "Even if it was any of your business, and let make it clear that it isn't" I notice the tiniest flinch "The woman just wanted to talk to about my father and his soldiering days, why are the two of you so pissy at each other anyway?" She seems just about to snap at but catches herself and simply slumps deeper into the armchair I found her sitting in "We grew up together." She says quietly after a tense silence "We were always in competition with each other, but that wasn't what made hate her."
Sybille levitates a small bottle of 'wine' from sowhere and takes a long swig "No, that started when she found out I beca a vampire thirty years ago."
"She found out that quickly?" I ask with so surprise.
She nods "Yes, we were good friends then, god enough that she noticed the changes almost imdiately... After I was found out she blackmailed into using my new power for 'good' lest she inform the vigil of Stendarr."
"Cruel." I say slowly "But unsurprising... you do realize she was quite rciful don't you?"
"Yes." she forces out "She was, and I still hate her for it."
"Why?"
"What do you an why?" She snaps "Tell , why do you pursue magic?"
Oh? "That is a rather odd segue but I do so so I can be truly free."
She gets up "Exactly! And that witch denied my freedom!" "And are you saying that your current position is not to your liking?"
"It is" She sighs "But I feel as if a noose is around my neck all the ti."
"Why not simply leave for the college?" I ask.
"That would be just another prison, just one of my own making."
"Fair enough, I also left it because it was starting to feel suffocating." I agree truthfully and
decide to try and cheer her up "I can't really help you with the Legate but I could cook us up
sothing if you are interested?" I ask with a smile.
"Fiiiine" she rolls her eyes playfully "Anything to get my mind off the bitch."
(tiskip)
The following two days were spent in a rush of preparations, I no longer had the ti to waste training up Marco and Davos so they were left to their own devices.
Marco grumbled about not being allowed to join the fight this ti, but this was an actual
battle and he would just be in the way unfortunately. He did promise to write a song for our victory which is sothing I will hold him to.
Davos spent his ti getting his gear in order and stocking up on enchanted bolts and scrolls, he would be my shadow in the fight as always.
Sybille didn't leave her room at all, and if the aura coming out was an indicator she was going through multiple rituals in preparation. I just hope she didn't make a mistake in the rush.
As for myself I was focusing on mastering the next level of solar magic and helping Sorch master his own new abilities.
I did visit Winterhold again to grab so materials for a ritual of my own, and I also brought a spider worker with ... just in case I needed sothing expendable for a cunning plan. The ritual I prepared was one of general Magicka infusion and was of a more mild nature than my previous one, it included sacrificing a varla stone, a rather rare and not to ntion considerably pricy item containing crystalized Magicka, ant to enhance one's reserves. The reason I didn't do it earlier is that I wanted to grow my reserves more naturally as forcing them to expand repeatedly would just make my spellcasting a complete ss for far too long. This ti it was a far more pleasant experience, thank all the gods, and felt like a long soothing bath instead of the monstrous itch that was the saber cat infusion.
About the sa ti I was finished with that I also managed to rapidly cast a solar cloak and a solar burst, making my restoration touch upon the realm of an expert.
The morning of our march ca soon after, before I left to pick Sybille up I decided to check
my progress.
[Str: 15 => 16]
[Dex: 16.5 => 17]
[Mind: 23 => 25]
[Mag: 300 => 350]
[Restoration adept => expert: suncloak, sunburst]
[Enchantnt expert: scroll inscription, seamless runic inscription]
Watching numbers go up was as satisfying as always, now if only I could gut Potema and her
goons without getting possessed by ridia...
Bippity boppity bone, you must now give your stone.
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