Unfamiliarly familiar
[A/N]: Early release this week. Had it done so thought I would post.
Traveling with the Companions was surprisingly comfortable. Rictus was worried at first, but the journey had been quite pleasant so far.
There were 4 Companions on the journey with Rictus. Aela was there as the leader and ranged support. Mathred the Mute was there as the experienced muscle and heavy hitter. Thrull Thrullson was their shield bearer. Finally, Ria was there to prove herself as one of the newest members of the Companions.
The Companions preferred to travel light and fast. The fact they all were riding horses made the traveling much faster than riding in a carriage. So instead of having to be on the road for 4 to 5 days, they would get to their destination on the third day.
Normally, riding on a horse for so long while not accustomed to it would be torture. Thankfully, Rictus had quickly figured out a way to avoid the pain and make the ride more comfortable. All it took was casting telekinesis on himself just enough to make him levitate above the horse a bit. Then he just got a little rope around his waist and Bam! Rictus became Skyrims first human kite.
This had the added bonus of keeping Rictus steady enough to review his grimoire while on the road. This lead to a discovery Rictus really should have had before. At the end of the grimoire was a section of other spells. Apparently, this section held a list of spells Rictus knew which were not alteration spells.
As of now, it wasn't a very long list. There were only 6 spells mentioned: Flames, sparks, healing, healing hands, calm, and conjure familiar. While thinking back on it, Rictus could tell that he had this spells from the beginning. He knew they came from his 'other' memories and because of his background.
Casting these spells was different than his normal alteration spells. The alteration spells were as simple to cast as thinking. Rictus hardly had to focus at all to get them to cast or to even change them. His normal spells took a bit more work.
The difference of practice was greatly amplified for these spells. The difference between casting calm and flames was quite large. Flames was a spell cast quite often. Whenever a fire needed started, or a torch lit, this spell was used. Rictus had many memories of casting the spell and could feel the overall ease of using it, especially for small scale uses. Trying to shoot out a jet of flames was more challenging. Calm was a spell he had just recently "learned" because he thought it would be useful for different occasions or to diffuse a tense situation. The calm spell took quite a bit of focus before he was able to cast it, so it would need lots of practice before it becomes practical.
'It's good to know I can cast spells from other schools of magic. I figured I would be able to, but it's nice to have proof. Now I have another thing to learn and practice. Maybe I will be able to figure more out about alteration from other schools or maybe even how to use alteration to change the spells from those schools. Still can't believe it took me this long to figure it out. I guess I'm not as smart as I like to think I am.'
Rictus was quite happy with most everything he found out. There was one disappointment from the spells.
Rictus was at first really excited for the conjure familiar spell. While it was one of the weaker ones, Rictus always liked the idea of the wolf familiar following him around. Casting the spell for the first time changed some things though.
"… are you serious... what the hell is this?"
Rictus couldn't hide his disappointment. Looking at his familiar, Rictus began to wonder what this means. There was no majestic wolf familiar ready to follow his commands and fight his enemies.
It was a goat.
Instead of a wolf, he got a goat.
Rictus knew there would be variations of the familiar spell, but not to this degree. Looking back, Rictus remembered his spell always being a goat which was weird. Having 2 sets of memories were still a little strange for Rictus, but they were integrating nicely and most times he completely forgot about it.
His background had mentioned his father was a merchant, but it failed to mention his father sold predominantly goat products while his mother was traditionally a goat shepherd.
His family had taught him the conjure familiar spell early on in life so he could have a companion to help watch over him. From that first cast and every one since, his had appeared as a goat.
At least his goat familiar was quite large. It was somewhere between the size of a wolf and a horse. Even though it was a goat, it seemed quite capable and even protective of Rictus.
Rictus had cast it while they were bedding down after their first day of travel. He was awakened from his stupor by a small chuckle. Looking over he saw all the Companions trying to hold back a laugh. When the goat moved up and sat down at Rictus's feet like a dog, the Companions couldn't help laughing at the strange mage and his familiar.
The next day had Rictus and the Companions changing their tune about the goat.
Rictus had kept the summon out most of the day in order to practice the spell and as an additional meat shield. He was currently trying to work on ways to alter the sheep with magic to increase its destructive abilities. So far, Rictus had been able to make the goat larger to about the size of a horse and sharpen the horns to point out beyond its head.
Before the group bedded down for the night, they heard the howls of wolves closing in on them. It didn't sound like a large pack so they must have been desperate to attack the group of heavily armed warriors.
2 large ice wolves burst out of the forest in front of the group. Rictus also noticed there were another 3 trying to sneak around and flank them. Detect Life was very good at spoiling ambushes.
Before Rictus could quite get the warning out of his mouth, his goat familiar let out a loud bleat and charged one of the wolves in the woods. Rictus watched stunned as the charging familiar speared the wolf with its large horns and pinned it to a tree. With a shake of its head, the familiar threw off the bleeding wolf carcass and turned around to find more enemies. As it saw the other 2 wolves in the forest, it charged again.
This time, one wolf was able to get out of the way, but the other one had no such luck and was impaled by the mighty goat. Tossing the wolf off its horns, the goat reared back and stomped on the head of the dying creature.
Seeing the pack get brutalized, the wolf ran off into the forest. Rictus surveyed the field to see the Companions standing over 2 slain wolves and staring wide eyed at his familiar.
The familiar then went over to the corpse of the wolf it stomped on, and picked it up by implying it again with its horns. It then went and got the other wolf and impaled it as well. It then dragged the corpses over to Rictus and plopped them down at his feet. Letting out a happy little bleat, the familiar sat down on its hind legs like a dog asking for praise.
"….umm good boy?" Rictus reached out and tentatively petted the head of the goat which seemed to make the familiar happy as it seemed to lean into Rictus's pets.
"Talos guide me. What in all oblivion is that monster? Good thing we have you on our side huh Goatherder."
Rictus gave a glare at Ria who couldn't help but speak after witnessing his familiar brutalizing those wolves.
At the mention of Goatherder, the rest of the Companions couldn't help but chuckle as they looked at Rictus petting a giant ghostly gorey goat.
And so the legend of the Goatherder was born.
-------
Thankfully, the group reached the high gate ruins the next afternoon. As the group got closer to their destination, the casual atmosphere seemed to disappear. Each of the warriors seemed to be mentally preparing themselves for the upcoming battle. They knew they would be exploring a n ancient crypt and those things had a way of being filled with draugr.
Climbing up to the entrance, they were met with the typical architecture of the ancient Nords. Large arches made of stone with small dragon like statues pointed to this being a typical ruin filled with all sorts of nasty surprises and traps. Near the door leading into the crypt, there was a dirty looking nord woman. She was covered in older looking fur armor and only had a dagger attached to her wrist. Rictus could tell she gave off a larger magical aura and would most likely be a mage. As they approached her, relief was evident in her face.
"Thank Talos you are here. I was beginning to worry you would not show up, and I would have to go by myself."
Aela looked a little annoyed by the woman implying they were late, but she maintained her aloof nature as befit a leader of the Companions.
"We are here now. Are you Anska? Your request was retrieving a scroll from here. Is there anything more you can tell us of this place?"
The Nord woman began to pace around in anticipation of exploring the ruins finally.
"Yes, I am Anska. This place is called High gate ruins. I have not explored it yet because I know better than chance these ruins alone. If I had to guess, it will be filled with draugr and probably some traps as well, just like most of these ruins. A noteworthy thing about this place is it is the suspected resting place of a dragon priest called Vokun. The scroll I am looking for has to be here. Most likely in his crypt chamber."
As soon as he heard dragon priest, Rictus began sweating a little bit. Those were some strong enemies in the game, and he was not looking forward to facing that thing. He was even more glad to have the rest of the Companions here to help fight him. Rictus did not really remember this quest, but it should be fairly straight forward regardless.
Rictus could not help but get a little excited though. Dragon priest masks were usually pretty good and had fun enchantments. It would make an excellent collection piece for him.
Seeing the rest of the Companions do a weapon and gear check, Rictus went over his gear one last time before they entered the ruins.
Aela took a look at the group she was about to delve into the ruins with. She had heard about the dragon priests and truly hoped it was not as bad as the tales said. She knew her Companions were solid, but was not quite sure about the mages, especially Anska. If the dragon priest was anything like the stories though, she would be happy to have some magical support. Taking one last look over her group, she finally gave a nod of approval.
"Okay Companions. Let us see what awaits us in these ruins."
With that final word, the group began their delve.
L’AVIS DES CRÉATEURS 
Pepey_LePew
Pepey_LePew Well, now we are about to get into the first dungeon dive of the book, and it is against a dragon priest. Hope it goes well for our MC. If you have any ideas or thoughts, please let me know. If you are still reading this, whoa. You are impressive in your dedication to read. You deserve a high five.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone