Quarrels and Quills

Devrin Olan

Devrin seemed relaxed, almost professorial as he settled in to brag about his work.

"Oh, the creation of a vampire is simple enough. A bite, a touch of infection with the Noxiphilic Sanguivoria, and if you want to make sure it takes, keep them locked up for awhile till it's too late for a priest to cure. Soul eternally bound to Molag Bal, but oh... the abilities that come with it. The delight of hunting, of feeding... but I digress. That wasn't your question."

"Our project was rather more... ambitious. We hoped not just to create more vampires, but to improve the entire vampiric strain. To make ourselves stronger, faster, more agile and fearsome. It took novel and forbidden magic. The creation of a new form of magic, in fact, the red soul gem. We hoped that once the strain was perfected, we would use it to advance as well - but we needed to test it on others first, obviously. Sellia was the first. I selected her myself. I had high hopes for her. From the ashes of her human life, she would be reborn as this new form of vampire... and in her enormous gratitude for this incomparable gift, she would beg to become my bride, and we would be wed for all eternity."

"It appeared the magic had failed. She was reborn weak and helpless. I was convinced she would never improve, and agreed to dispose of her. As you can see, she has survived. I will make good on my error by bringing her back into the fold and making my consort as intended."

Nairn Tuckamore

When the argonian left the camp proper to pursue the vampire Devrin, Nairn had stopped honing her blade and sat for a moment in contemplation before rising to follow. She was fairly certain that she was the only one remaining who was aware of the ongoing drama between the vampires and a certain level of concern propelled her onward. Well, perhaps more curiosity than concern. What did Fira think she could accomplish? Why did she even think this was her problem to solve? Hadn't Sellia proven she was more than capable of taking care of herself?

As she approached, a shout echoed off the cavern walls, but she maintained her pace. A door slamming. Low voices. Or rather, what constituted 'low' for the scaly woman. Fira was not the subtle sort and this was something Nairn neither begrudged or approved of. It simply was.

She could make out Devrin's words as she finally closed the distance, holding back out of sight and hopefully out of scent. While Fira was forward, Nairn was well aware that her position was forever in the shadow. It was her strength. It usually allowed her to hear and see things that others didn't mean to share. But for some reason, Devrin was willing to tell all to Fira everything while she stood right in front of him. This surprised her, but she held her tongue and listened.

Her legs carried her away from the conversation more quickly than she'd approached. While she didn't completely understand everything Devrin said, it sounded like a problem. A problem more of the sort that might require intervention more than an ex-lovers tiff. She found Anakita and Stefan and stopped short, glancing around.

"Is Ulga back yet? There is something I wish to speak to her about. And until then...I think we should detain the vampire that came back with Sellia, Gwindor and I."

Anakita and Stefan

"Ulga isn't back yet," Anakita told Nairn. "I guess things got more complicated with the kid? They got it sorted out, but she won't be back until he's a little more settled."

She didn't ask what the question was. Since Nairn hadn't volunteered it, the Ranger assumed it was Ulga's business only, and had simply provided the requested information.

"We can definitely detain the vampire, though!" Anakita added perkily.

"Is he bothering Sellia?" Stefan asked darkly. He assumed he knew the answer to that.

So, for that matter, did Anakita. "We could just fight him," she said. "I wouldn't mind that. But also. I could set some traps. If we got him to walk into them, we could get him stuck there and tie him up without having to confront him outright."

Anakita was clearly excited about her idea. She bounced on her toes a few times, then dropped to her knees and started tracing runes on the dusty floor of the tunnel... just in case.

Nairn Tuckamore

The norn took the negative response in stride. She didn't need Ulga right away, anyway. Devlin was more of an immediate threat. Anakita's enthusiastic response brought a small smile to Nairn's lips.

"He is bothering Sellia, though Fira-Nar has distracted him. Of greater concern is that he intends to force Sellia into a relationship with him forever. He seems to think he owns her."

It would be all too obvious from her tone that the latter was the point of contention for her. She hadn't liked the sound of triumph and cold desire in the man's voice. How casually he spoke of his plan.

"We should detain him as he is not acting alone. But it may come to an altercation. I am certain the lizard woman will detain him until we can get there."

Fira-Nar

All pretense of her casual curiosity had disappeared, replaced with a slack jaw and a look of horror. Not only was he performing unholy experiments on the damned, but the audacity of the man to think he was doing something good. That he thought he had a right to Sellia just because he had been her torturer...was too much.

"You pig. You evil, stuck up pig." Fira couldn't think of any other insults as her anger seeped into her brain and her hand closed around the hilt of her weapon.

While it would have been wiser to take Devrin by surprise, and in such a way as to ensure his survival for questioning, Fira's sense of justice simply could not abide any further delay. The blade rang as she pulled it free of its sheath and levelled it at the vampire.

Anakita Snakecharm

Devrin did not hesitate in his response. As soon as he heard the first sound of the blade being drawn, he was preparing to match his vampiric strength against her steel. He hadn't eaten in awhile. He hoped that was about to change. The vampire lunged at the Argonian knight, fangs and claws bared, ready to fight.

Anakita caught the sounds of the ensuing chaos. "Time to pivot!" she said cheerfully. "New plan! Violence! Let's go!"

In truth, she wasn't disappointed. Neither was Stefan. Neither wife nor husband had patience for pushy men who didn't take no for an answer, supernatural creature of the night or otherwise.

Anakita was no longer strictly bound by the guidelines of a nonlethal plan. If they took him out - well, that solved a potential later problem before it occurred. Stefan too swung his shield from his back to his arm and drew his sword, while Anakita threw a Ranger's nature magic at the vampire and then drew her bow.

Devrin struggled to keep his footing in the the muddy morass that had somehow arisen from what had been a bare stone floor just seconds before - an obstacle that affected only him, and not the Ranger's allies. "You will all pay for this!" he hissed.

Nairn Tuckamore and Fira-Nar

The norn fairly sighed when she heard the anger in Fira's voice followed by the sound of a large sword being unsheathed. The other woman was brash. She had watched her in battle. It seemed like the argonian relished the fight. Nairn wasn't put off by that, of course. If anything, it was easy to believe that she was surrounded by fellow norn. But norn didn't always make the wisest decisions in battle and Nairn was concerned that this might be one such time.

Fira, for her part, was aware that she was letting her anger get the better of her. She could perceive the red fog descending. Swirling around her target, framing his snarling face like a strange filigree frame. Vaguely, she was aware that the vampire was moving more slowly than usual. That was probably tied to the shouts and sounds she heard from behind her. Assistance? It must be. They were coming to catch this guy...

Catch. Her blade was falling through the air toward Devrin at an alarming rate, aimed at the spot between the man's neck and shoulder. She'd cleave him in two. How then would they make him talk? The red mist hadn't fully closed in and she twisted her wrists last second to bring down the flat of the blade on the man's shoulder instead. She raised her blade again and pulled it up on an angle away from her, taking a step back, evaluating.

The step back left Devrin wide open for a thrown knife to embed itself in the man's right pec. It wasn't a throw meant to kill, but the poison on the dagger would surely slow the vampire down - if vampires were affected by that sort of thing.

Anakita Snakecharm

Well, this got complicated again, the Ranger thought.

It didn't make her feel particularly good about herself to think that, but it was the blunt truth - a vampire prisoner was going to be a lot trickier to deal with than a vampire corpse.

She understood the reasoning, though, and she wasn't just going to flat out murder this guy (even if he maybe deserved it?) when everyone else was trying to keep him alive. She sighed audibly, and threw another snare at him.

The poison did not seem to be affecting the vampire as it would a human. Tamrielic vampires were not only immune to poison, but vampire blood in fact directly counteracted poisonous agents and - in desperate circumstances - could be used in small doses to cure poisoning victims. In that, Nairn would not have luck.

The dagger itself did slow him down, however, as did the blunt strike from Fira and a shield bash from behind from Stefan. Devrin seemed slightly dazed as Anakita's snare wrapped around him.

"Teamwork!" Anakita said with a grin. Meeting Devrin's glower, she added, "Not you, of course. Them, I mean."

She turned back to her comrades. "So, what now? I guess we lock him up and let him stew a little while we make peace for the elves?"

It probably wasn't actually going to be as simple as 'make peace for the elves,' but the evidence they'd obtained would certainly put them on that path when leveraged correctly.

Fira Nar

While the vampire seemed dazed, Fira reached forward and pulled the dagger from his chest. She tossed it in the tall woman's direction, never taking her eyes off Devrin, or her hand off her sword. Stalking over to a pile of supplies, she plucked up a coil of rope.

"Yes, we will lock him up. We will lock him up and then ask him a good many questions."

Of course, all she had was rope. Devrin would be able to shrug them off like they were nothing with his enhanced strength. Fira didn't possess the runes or magic that would keep a vampire at bay, but she supposed that the heel of a greatsword could be its own kind of magic. When applied to the head with the correct amount of force one could bring down the mightiest of foes - albeit temporarily. The rope just made her feel better about moving him afterwards.

"I'll handle him. If you could send Ulga to see us when she gets back? I don't want to take my eyes off this guy for a second."

Nairn Tuckamore

Nairn had caught her dagger without batting an eye at how it was passed to her. She carefully wiped the blade before returning it to its sheath. Fira's method of dealing with Devrin merely meant that she could return her focus to Anakita.

"Agreed. There have been too many distractions lately - one of which is the elves. I suppose it is best to ensure they live to see the worlds not end, but their timing was poor."

Sellia and Gwindor

They now had a captive vampire. Fortunately, they also had a convenient cell to lock him up in. The bandits had maintained a couple of small cells, presumably for locking up hostages for ransom - or perhaps just keeping the treasure they had looted safe from other bandits. In any case, there was an area that would do well for Devrin that could be locked up tight, such that even a vampire wouldn't have an easy time making an unauthorized getaway.

Eventually, Sellia rose from her spot beside Gwindor - brushing a kiss against his forehead as she did so - and said, "I need to step away for a moment. I left something unfinished out there. I'll be back as soon as I can."

But as it turned out, the problem of the unwanted vampire that she'd expected to have to solve on her own had already been taken care of. Relief welled in her heart; she was still getting used to not having to handle things alone. She thanked her rescuers profusely, retrieved her displeased sparrow from her perch in the rafters, and returned to Gwindor.

"You remember the feeling I told you about before? The doom, you called it?"

He nodded.

"Well, it's gone now. I think we escaped it."

He smiled, and kissed her hand. "Good. Then not even doom can keep us apart."

Tempest Rutherford and Ulga gra-Shatul

When morning had dawned, and Ulga had returned, they met with Melar Sadus for an impromptu council meeting. They had the evidence to present now - proof that far from being a hostile invasion force, the elf refugees had been stranded here against their will. It was vindication.

"But will it be enough?" Melar wondered aloud. "It will help, certainly. I hope it will turn the tide, and ease some fears. But it won't sway everybody."

Tempest nodded. "I was concerned about that too. Especially because of Sol-- I mean, because of the Dread Wolf. We can present all the evidence we wish that these elves here mean no harm, but if people see that other elves are trying to tear down the Veil between worlds and destroy everything, it may be difficult to make them see the distinction, at least now and with things so fraught."

There was a moment of silence as people pondered.

Tempest asked, "How exactly would the Veil be torn down in this world? Specifically, I mean. Magic is different on every plane."

"It's just a legend," Ulga replied. "But there's been a lot of interest in those legends lately, from many sources. First the forces of Molag Bal. Now your Dread Wolf. The legend is that the Veil is held in place by a series of towers, each with a stone. When all those towers are destroyed, the Veil will fall."

Tempest nodded acknowledgement, though she didn't fully understand. "What kind of towers are these?"

"Well, they're all different," Ulga replied. "Some are actual towers, made by people like you'd imagine. One is a mountain. One is volcano. One's a tree. One's... some kind of walking Dwemer construct? And there's another one I don't know anything about. They're considered the bones of the world, and exist with their own sense of space and time."

Tempest pursed her lips. "So they weren't all created at the same time, then? A mountain or a volcano would surely be older than a structure..."

Cullen seized on this train of thought. "Maybe a stupid question, but - can't we just make more of them? Yes, I understand that not every pointy building is a capital-T Tower, but could the arcane energy be replicated? Erm... somehow...?"

A corner of Tempest's mouth quirked up. "Maybe we don't have to. Maybe we just have to convince him that we can. If he thinks we can replace the towers as fast as he can tear them down, he'll likely abandon his plan and attempt a new strategy."

"That will be difficult, though," Cullen mused. "Building a tower does take much longer than knocking one down, and is hard to do in secret."

"I... might have an idea for that." It was Githia. The Tieflings present had been quiet for most of the exchange, but she had finally piped up. "There's an artifact from our world. Mind you, we'd have to locate it. We don't have it. I'm not sure where it is. But it does what you're asking. It creates magical towers. It's called Crenshinibon. We'd have to be careful with it - it can only be used by a powerful mage, and it has a tendency to corrupt - but I think it would be exactly what we need to convince this Dread Wolf to back off."

"A good idea," Melar agreed. "We will present the evidence. Meanwhile...?"

"Some of the rest of us will go look for this artifact," Tempest volunteered.

With at least a partial plan decided, they were ready to begin.

Before they left, though, Ulga found Fira and Nairn. "Anakita said you needed me?"