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92.94% Dragonborn Saga / Chapter 697: The Skaal Siblings

Chapter 697: The Skaal Siblings

A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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In the eyes of an outsider, the abundance of goods, foods, and welfare in both Saarthal and Winterhold was massively unfair if not outright unrealistic. Those who live in tribes away from the densely populated cities have to survive year in year out through the harsh winters and unstable living conditions.

Winterhold was basically just like them 6 years ago but now, people are too busy to greet one another in the streets. Some are even walking around with their minds occupied with their business and living expenses, and some are haggling upon things that outsiders would find bizarre.

Alfhild and Fengrim of the Skaal were repulsed at times by the situation of the city when the people seem unfriendly and impatient, and amazed at other times when they see the riches and goods displayed in the market which can feed their clan for 10 years to come.

Despite being young, the two had a feeling of being content in their hearts. Being a Skaal is akin to being one with the world and it is both healthy and mind-opening. They don't want to get as ill-mannered as those city folk even if it meant they would have everything in the world. Tranquility was much more important to them.

But that was the case for the city of Winterhold. When they arrived in Saarthal, however, they were introduced to a very organized city built on an open space with wide roads and less density in structures. Moreover, the tower standing in the middle of Saarthal gave them the shock of their lives as they had never seen such a towering man-made thing before.

According to the information they've obtained, the man they came to meet is a strong warrior wizard who lives in that Tower. Not only that, but he is some sort of a folk hero to the people of the mainland. This would definitely make him a difficult man to approach but that just got more difficult the moment they got near the tower.

Before they got close enough to see the tower's entrance, they expected some large shut gate where no one goes near out of respect for the authority and they would have to knock on the gate or something but that wasn't the case at all. The gate of the tower was open wide and hundreds of people were coming and going. Moreover, there are guards and warriors gathered around the gates and even inside the tower.

This was bound to be a different kind of difficulty, maybe as difficult as seeking an audience with a king.

But they can't back down, while the image of their heads about Jon Dare was that of a strong warrior who had relations with their people, they never imagined that he would be something of such high peerage but that can't stop them now. Their people depend on the help they can get from this man, and he made a promise to the elders to be there whenever they call for his help.

And so they decided to enter the tower.

Yet contrary to everything they expected, no one stopped them from entering. Not the guards, not the warriors, not the busy people rushing in and out while hauling packs of rolled documents.

This gave the two a sense of existential dread. They relied on the fact that if anyone sees strangers from strange lands entering an important building, they would be stopped and questioned, and from that point, they would talk to someone that may lead them to Jon Dare.

But that's just absolutely bizarre!

Fengrim then decided to take the lead and walk in confidently until he finds someone not busy enough to talk to.

Just as their eyes got adapted to the lighting of the interior, they found it to be built in the same cold Nordic stone architecture with a flavor of classiness. The place was lit by hanging chandeliers that didn't carry candles but rather something magical that casts light in a very calming way.

As they got through the entrance hallway, they found two circular hallways going left and right with many side doors opening to more interiors within. There was also a straight way that led to a very large circular hall where some sort of a meeting was happening.

Well, that was it for Fengrim's courage, he felt awkward and didn't know where to go. He wouldn't certainly be able to walk into that large hall without causing a scene.

On the other hand, Alfhild seemed to have found an important-looking man standing behind a pedestal and seemed like he was waiting. She tapped the shoulder of her brother in a way that indicated that he should follow.

As they stopped in front of the man, she took the lead to speak.

"Greetin…"

"If you are here for the employment office, Please follow the blue paint on the floor. Just remember that you need your evaluation certificate from the company branch you want to be employed in." The man, who seemed to be a Breton, started talking with a tired tone as if he said this line to anyone who came in before.

"Wha…"

"We're looking for Jon Dare."

While Alfhild was confused, Fengrim managed to push the awkwardness aside and asked about Jon Dare right away.

The Breton, whose eyes were glued to a ledger on the pedestal, stopped looking at his work and raised a single brow as his eyes moved slowly between Alfhild and Fengrim in a sense of superiority.

"Thane… Thane Jon Dare." The Breton spoke while pressing on the word Thane.

"Yes?" Fengrim frowned.

"His name is Thane Jon Dare. I have no qualms with how brash you Nords can be but even the Nords don't drop the titles of their Jarls and Thanes. Thane Jon Dare is how you address him." The Breton said, educating these two complete outlanders.

"Yes, right. Thane Jon Dare." Alfhild didn't even try to argue with the haughty Breton and cut right to the chase, "We're here to deliver him a message from the Skaal."

"I have no clue what that is." The Breton dismissed them.

"We're a clan from Solstheim." Alfhild stated.

"Then you should have sent your message through the Solstheim outpost." He replied while closing his ledger.

"It was attacked." Fengrim said.

"Excuse me?!" The Breton man was surprised by what he heard, "Solstheim is the realm of House Redoran, a very close ally to the Company. We would have been informed…"

"Raven Rock is under attack as well. The Redoran guards won't help us, the Dare Company people seem to have gone missing too." Alfhild spilled everything.

The man was somewhat baffled but he didn't dismiss the two teenagers. As a professional employee, he had to go through the procedures of such an event.

This was a very important clause in the employment contract: "If any employee was to receive any critical piece of information that would affect the flow of the company affairs and report it, they would be rewarded by the significance of the gains their information achieves or the risk it prevents. Withholding such critical information, however, will result in punishment."

It is safe to say that this previous clause was a game changer in the career of many employees who used it to gain many benefits in their fields such as promotions, raises, rewards, and many other things.

Without any hesitation, the Breton employee said "Follow Me!" and darted off to a hallway.

The siblings followed him and found themselves in a very large office where the Breton employee was talking to other employees. In mere seconds, he took them outside the tower and ran northward to a large building with many carvings and artistic beauty.

"We are lucky." The employee said, "Lady Alina is in the Temple today."

"Lady Alina?" Alfhild asked.

"Lady Alina Dare!" The employee said, "The wife of Thane Jon Dare… what kind of place is Solstheim to not know such a thing?"

While the Breton employee was clearly not aware of how far an island like Solstheim is, the two teenagers didn't get worked up with his attitude and simply followed him to the temple.

Unlike the Dare Tower whose people were running around instead of walking normally, the Temple was way calmer and had a very friendly vibe to it. With the symbols of the Hawk carved on the marble walls of the temple and many flowers and magics surrounding it with a calming mood, the first thing they could see inside was not quite calming at all.

In the garden of the temple sat a beast with long wings, piercing eyes, sharp talons. One look from those piercing eyes would inspire terror and leave many frozen in dread, however, that beast just sat over there in complete harmony with the atmosphere of people and visitors around it.

Not just that, but some children would actually pick flowers and go to the beast directly and put them around it before coming in contact with it at the sight of their cheering parents

These people are total nuts, that was the first thought that came across the minds of the paled Fengrim and Alfhild.

"Oh! You're in luck." Even The hurried Breton employee stopped his tracks and turned towards the Beast sitting in the garden, "The Snow-Capped Gryphon of lady Alina is here."

"That beast?" Fengrim asked while pointing at Lokthur.

"It is a Holy Beast to the Cult of the Hawk, a manifestation of the spirit of the Nordic Deity Kyne. You haven't heard about it?" The Breton asked.

"No…" Alfhild replied, "But to let children this close to it?!"

"Well… the Nords are too fond of this majestic beast and so are the High Elves. Some people would come from far places with their children to let them meet the Beast of Kyne who may bless their children with a strong vitality and healthy physique." The Breton explained.

"Such a thing is truly wild." Alfhild commented in complete amazement.

"The fact that you are a Nord and you are unaware of this is quite odd. What do you people worship on Solstheim?" The Breton asked.

"The All-Maker." Fengrim replied.

"Is it like Anu the Everything?" The Breton narrowed his eyes while asking.

"The Head Shaman mentioned that name once." Alfhild replied as she struggled to remember.

"How refined! There are Nords who worship Anu?!" The Breton was somewhat impressed to hear about Elf-like Nordic worship that happens in such a rural place, "Well, let's not waste any more time and go to the second Beast of Kyne."

"There is a second one?" Alfhild asked.

"Oh yes, the Mad Bull." The Breton replied.

"That sounds way nicer than an actual Gryphon." Fengrim said since the sight of mad bulls was something quite frequent in rural villages such as the land of the Skaal.

But a few seconds later…

"I'll take back what I said." Fengrim said as he stood in awe in front of the so-called Mad Bull.

Deep into the temple stood an 8 feet tall gigantic creature with the head of a bull and the body of a humanoid. Despite the savage vibe emitted by that creature, it was dressed in a golden silk robe that was imported from Cyrodiil and was fashioned into a habit of a priest.

"Greetings Brother Jax, I present two members of the Skaal Clan of Solstheim who have relations to the House of Dare. They came with a plea for help from Thane Jon." The Breton said.

Addressing the Minotaur as Brother Jax was quite the shock to the siblings but Jax was working as an official Priest of Kyne during his stay in Winterhold.

Officially called Javeliaronfiuxos Drum-Hoof (shortened by Jon to Jax at ch.429), Jax was a Minotaur fighter slave from the Grand Arena at the Imperial City. In his early fights, Jon faced Jax and instead of killing him, Jax was spared and freed by Jon who became the Grand Champion. Since then, Jax has served Jon as his carriage driver and other jobs but lately, he has joined the Cult of Kyne, the Mother of Man and Beast. And since the Minotaurs are the descendants of the Demigod Morihaus Breath-of-Kyne who was a winged Man-Bull, it helped Jax to become a Priest at the Temple after proving his gentle nature and high intellect.

"The High Priestess is inside!" Jax spoke to the Breton and with one hand, he pushed a large gate open as effortlessly as one would open a simple door. That gate led to the inner sanctum of the Temple.

Before they could freely walk in, Jax assigned someone to guide them inside since they were in the "staff only" section of the building.

Just as they passed the first corridor, they found themselves in a grove with a ceiling made of glass and metal. The light of the sun was shed in and it made an atmosphere of magical scenery, where one can't even begin to imagine how such kinds of plants were brought to grow into the barren and cold Winterhold. The garden at the Temple's yard was one thing but this thing right here is both out of place and out of season.

"Ah! I've heard about this, a chamber whose temperature was altered by magic to allow all kinds of plants to grow. Brilliant, isn't it?" The Breton said with all the excitement in the world.

Magic? Temperature? Exotic Plants? Towers? Cities? Trade Companies? The siblings were absorbing all of these new things they were witnessing for the first time in their lives and from their point of view, this was all too much for just normal people to have. The identity of the people they were sent to meet must be way beyond what they can even fathom.

But these thoughts didn't last long for there was something which their senses started to pick on, something that crawled under their skin and made the very air they breathe much heavier.

Simultaneously, the siblings turned around in the direction where they picked on that feeling. Fengrim started sweating while Alfhild was holding her chest.

In front of them stood a tall beautiful lady who was confused by their reaction and seemed not to know what to do.

"Are you two alright?" Alina asked as she came to meet the visitors but their appearance made her worried over them.

"Watch out!" Alfhild spoke, "Something very bad is here."

This state of alertness made Alina focus all her ocular powers and scan the surroundings for anything that may have threatened the two teenagers but there was no such thing.

"What is going on?"

At that time, someone came from behind Alina, and just as they got closer, the teenagers stepped back as if they were ready to run.

"Master? It's nothing, I am just having visitors." Alina said as she turned towards Nurina.

But just as Nurina saw the two teenagers, the look in her eyes sharpened and she stared at them for a second or two before looking away.

"You'd hardly call those things visitors. I'll leave you to your affairs. Let's meet tomorrow." Nurina said and immediately walked out of the inner sanctum for the teenagers to slowly calm down and for Alina to be completely bewildered and befuddled.

Just now, Nurina, who is nice to all children 200% of the time and oversaw an orphanage for more than 20 years, acted that harshly towards children?

And did those children just have that kind of reaction to her?

Even with Alina's foresight, she didn't see that one coming.

Just what is going on?

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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️


next chapter

Chapter 698: The Greedy Man

A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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So far, Alina was keeping an eye on anything abnormal regarding the visitors to the temple. Those late visitors from the Skaal, however, were the oddest bunch which led her to ask them many questions regarding the circumstances that drove them to Winterhold. 

First of all, those two siblings were the survivors of an aid-seeking delegation that couldn't leave Solstheim due to abnormal reasons. The second thing Alina asked about was this abnormal situation which was quite a shock to her.

Solstheim is under attack by something mysterious and evil. Many people from the Skaal village, the settlement of Raven Rock, and the Dare Dragon Company outpost started to disappear every night and weren't seen until the hunters of the Skaal scouted the stones of the All-Maker.

The missing people started to be regularly spotted around the All-Maker stones at random times of the day. They would come, go, appear, disappear, and reappear again with every ash storm in the ashlandic part of Solstheim.

These phenomena worried Alina but not for just any reason, she was told by Jon that once those signs appear in Solstheim, another threat shall rise from there.

A Dragon threat, a Vampire threat, and now a Threat from Solstheim. Aside from the usual threats the Dares deal with daily, Jon made it quite clear that only he will have the final say in those three matters.

Like any good wife, Alina would worry about the workload that weighs her husband's shoulders. If she can at least cushion the impact of those situations for him, she would happily do it.

"Should I send the Storm-Fists to deal with it?" Alina thought to herself about sending out her personal shield-thanes from clan Storm-Fist, that was subdued during the Battle of Winterhold and swore allegiance to her.

That particular clan was on the frontline against the Dragon Cult for months now. They have done a lot of good and whatever it was out there in Solstheim, their Warriors, Heralds, and Voice Masters can hold their ground for as much time as Jon would need.

"About Thane Jon Dare, will we meet him any time soon?" Asked Alfhild of the Skaal.

Alina looked at the girl who was around 5 to 6 years younger than her and smiled.

"My husband has left Winterhold this morning and headed down south for an important errand. I don't mean to make little of your trouble, children of the All-Maker, but give it four days until he gets back. Once Jon returns, he will see your situation through."

Her answer wasn't at all what the siblings wanted to hear. With every passing minute, the danger grows tighter around their clan. It took them a week to come to the mainland and they need another week to get back.

Alina noticed the dejection on the faces of the siblings and knew that her obligation as a woman of status is to assure the weak and protect them. To uphold that, she decided to go with the plan she suggested.

"The Dare Fleet shall move by the morning. I will summon my shield-thanes and send them to Solstheim. They shall be there in two days."

Such as the ability of the Dares, the siblings were overjoyed to hear that. Still, Alina had one thing left on her mind.

"Earlier as you came, you met a woman who was here with me." Alina mentioned that even with Nurina and watched the expressions of the siblings shift from the happiness they just felt to the memory of something worrisome.

"It's… nothing…" Alfhild seemed trying to dodge the question but as Alina looked at her brother Fengrim, he seemed to have had something at the tip of his tongue before taking it back while looking at his sister.

"I understand you have been brought up in a secluded place but…" Alina said with her brain working rapidly to make the siblings talk, "… you may run into more people like the lady you just met… I just want to know if I can help you with that thing, whatever it is until Jon returns."

Her words were chosen carefully and clearly with a mature smile and a reassuring sensation in her voice. She played the stick and the carrot in a single sentence by bringing up fear and offering protection from it, this made the two siblings look at each other and slowly decide to talk.

"It is just… the All-Maker keeps the Skaal safe from… from the Greedy Man." Fengrim said.

"The Greedy Man?" Alina frowned because it was a word she had heard once but was not totally familiar with.

"The Adversary sends the Greedy Man to test the children of the All-Maker and… to lead them astray." Alfhild said, "The Shamans say that the Greedy Man comes in many shapes and forms, sometimes a man, sometimes a woman, always bringing tribulations and hard times to the Skaal."

The Adversary is an aspect of chaos to the Skaal, worshipers of the All-Maker, the aspect of Infinity and Order.

The way the people of Tamriel understand Anu the Everything (the universal version of the All-Maker) is greatly different from the philosophy of the Skaal. To the Skaal, the All-Maker as his name suggests is one single deity that is supreme to all other supernatural spirits like the Aedra and Daedra. While their philosophy is not as clear as one would hope, this can be the only monotheistic religion on Nirn.

[A/n: strap in for a Philosophical Theology analysis with Uncle Don.]

It can be said that their version of Anu, the All-Maker, is far greater than Anu itself since it probably encompasses Padomay as well. After all, Anu the Stasis isn't an "All-Maker" without Padomay the Change.

As the Skaal unite the two primordial forces into one, the image that is created from their ideas becomes easier for the mind to comprehend. After all, both Anu and Padomay are Infinite Entities and by default, you can't have two Infinite Entities at the same time. If two of them exist, we'd need to put a barrier between them and if infinity is subject to such a barrier, it can't be called an Infinity since it would have a limit that we have just perceived.

An Infinite Entity has no limits whatsoever. This means that it can never be defined by the limited imagination of man, can't be perceived by the narrow thinking of man, and can't be understood by the common sense of man.

This is a realm far greater than simple understanding.

To start off, an infinity must exist before anything and remain after everything thus it can't be measured with time since time itself is a construct made from the Infinity.

That Infinity must contain not only Time but also Space. This means that everything in existence and all of the Universe exists within the Infinity as both Time and Space exist in Four Dimensions.

But if we stopped at the Four Dimensions and put the Infinity within it, this Infinity would be limited, and thus to be an actual Infinity, it must break beyond the Fourth Dimension into the Fifth and the Sixth and the Eleventh and beyond any of the Dimensional count or concepts. After all, Dimensions are just limitations that help define the Perceivable Reality.

So to be an aspect of such Infinity, that must be more than just a supreme existence on the scales of the Temporal and Existential realities. Infinity encompasses everything that includes knowledge, senses, and power. In other words, the All-Maker should be Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. In fact, Infinity should be Omni-everything.

Whether the Skaal people have this level of depth in their own doctrine or not, Alina was aware of these arguments thanks to the top fan of the All-Maker outside the Skaal clan, Jon himself.

Jon has always shown indifference towards the polytheistic ways while at the same time, he was honoring those ways as Traditions rather than worship. While Jon only cared about Cats in regards to supreme beings, he had a lot of philosophies that he would always toss around regarding the fanatical practices which may cause disharmony and discord between people. Thankfully, he keeps them to himself and his arcane studies.

While being a Child of Kyne, Alina always held a great deal of reverence towards Kyne and all her aspects but Jon's words always had such sense to them in regards to everything Deity-related. He once said that if there is one true God who is being worshiped on Nirn, it would be the All-Maker.

Those words are the reason why Alina took the situation between the Skaal siblings and Nurina very seriously and asked many questions about their understanding of the Adversary and the Greedy Man.

The Adversary has always been the soul of tribulation which tries to lead the Skaal astray from their ways and takes delight in their suffering. As a devil figure, the Adversary would either manifest as or sponsor an entity known as the Greedy Man.

Alina could easily figure out what happened at that moment. The Skaal are worshippers of the balance between Anu and Padomay and their total power. To them, a being that breaks that balance like Nurina, who is the High Priestess of Sithis, is a great threat herself.

"Would all the Skaal realize that there is a Greedy Man if they were to ever come across one?" Alina asked out of curiosity.

"I… we… it is our first time sensing that." Fengrim said.

Alina nodded in understanding. If that was actually the case, the Skaal would teach their younglings to be wary around every outsider since no one knows if a Greedy Man would ever appear. However, it may be rare for the Skaal to come across a Greedy Man this way.

Alina wanted to learn more and for the remaining four days, she would have those two siblings as her guests in order to satisfy her curiosity until Jon returns from Riften.

***

*The Rift, South to the City of Riften*

Not too far from the Shadow Stone, two figures traveled on the moonlit trail to a nearby grove until they reached a small body of water. There, the two of them seemed to be giggling and laughing before tossing one another in the water until they lay down with their drenched clothes on the ground.

Slowly they turned to one another and started kissing. They didn't even give it too much thought before one of them was lying down and the other was on top doing all sorts of amorous moves. The two didn't even bother to muffle their voices with magic and kept acting like beasts in the wild as they exchanged kisses and words of desire.

The temperature of their bodies kept rising but despite all of that, they were still far from finishing their edging foreplay. They were yet to do the real deal.

Slowly they calmed down and looked at one another, those two, who were with each other for six years and a lifetime yet to come, were beyond happiness at the moment.

Today was the day of promise, Jon promised Jullanar to take her as his second official wife.

"Will you marry me?" Jon asked, offering no Amulet of Mara unlike the traditional norm but rather a ring made of Amber and forged in the Shivering Isles.

Was there a need for a reply? Jullanar simply slid her torso down against his and once his man parts met her lady parts, they slid together in perfect motion to produce a new brand of madness.

The smile on Jullanar's lips grew wider as she lowered herself to his chest and surrendered to ecstasy. She looked at the ring he still held in his right and offered her hand. Slowly and gently, he slid the ring around her finger.

Their hands and fingers intermingled and the energy they had exploded in a fanatical ritual of motions and body heat that caused the nature around them to suffer. They both felt so fulfilled and weren't planning on stopping any time soon.

As they flipped around and she was on her back, he touched her torso and lowered his hand slowly to start teasing her clitoris as he gently rammed his penis against her womb. They smiled, laughed, and kissed before continuing for a few more rounds of wild sex.

At one of their breaks that happened to be their last, the voice of a gasp was heard as a woman emerged from the push.

"Uh! Wh- What have you done?"

This voice attracted Jullanar as she turned around with her eyes wide open, one violet and one amber. Her chest was bare but it was drenched in bloody red.

This red came from her mouth and extended all the way to her chest and torso and even covered Jon, who was lying down.

In this moonlit sanguine sex scene, the white teeth of Jullanar shone brightly as she seemed to be struggling to turn around to the one who called her. It was nothing less than that of a vampiress crouching over her prey.

The madness in her eyes was enough to send shivers into whoever met them and just as she knew she was seen, a dagger appeared in her hand and was almost thrown at whoever spoke to her.

But just as it was about to be launched, Jon reached out and stopped Jullanar's arm from swinging. Meanwhile, Karliah was stiff in her boots as Jullanar was staring at her like a beast. A couple of seconds later, that stare was no more and Jullanar got away from Jon to dive straight into the water bond.

"What… What was that?" Karliah asked.

"Sex." Jon replied as he pushed his upper body up, "An intercourse adults perform for sexual climax and preservation of species."

"I'm not… fuck!" Karliah held her head as she looked away from Jon, "And what's with the blood?"

"What bloo… Oh! Raspberries… we like to do food play." Jon replied before standing up and walking butt naked into the bond to wash up with Jullanar.

"Fine. Finish up and meet me at the mountain road." Karliah shook her head and turned away from Jon before taking her leave.

Meanwhile, Jon and Jullanar looked at each other slyly while washing.

"You sensed her didn't you?" Jullanar asked.

"And so did you, psycho." Jon laughed, "You still wanted to kill her though."

"If she was smart enough to watch from a distance and not interrupt… I am still considering killing her." Jullanar said quite casually before pointing ah her own head, ,"The voices don't really like her much."

"She is of value." Jon said and walked out after washing, "Get yourself ready. Tonight, we become Nightingales."

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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️


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