Chapitre 663: M for Evil
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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Mercer Frey was contacted by Maven Black-Briar one night and she summoned him to her estate outside of Riften. But once he arrived, there was no Maven meeting him. It was a Dunmer Wizard with a bald head along with a prosthetic arm and eye, Mecinar.
Rumors had it that Maven employed that wizard couple of months ago and he seemed to be behind the chaos around Riften since he came for a certain Artifact that he turned the entire hold upside down for.
Still, once Mercer asked about Maven, he was shown to a withered old lady whose body is beyond the limits of its natural life. She woke up, spoke a few words, and the look on her eyes was filled with hate and malice, all before she collapsed again.
These eyes were Maven's alright.
Mercer understood that something terrible had happened and now, his patron Maven is at open war with Jon Dare, a war she is losing.
The Thieves Guild seemed to have slipped from Maven's hand now that Mercer can't affect the big picture with Delvin breathing down at his neck. That's why he decided to use a branch of men he hired to empty the vault of the Thieves Guild that he was leeching on for years.
Getting to that Vault was not a problem since the Guild had a big heist planned for one night and all members were participating. All Mercer needed to do was to use the secret entrance from the Graveyard to access the Guild vault directly and open it using the artifact he managed to reacquire as of late.
The Skeleton Key.
Now that he emptied the treasury, the Thieves Guild should be crippled and Jon Dare shouldn't have much use of it. Next on the list is to hurt Jon Dare indirectly.
Earlier, Mercer assigned Jullanar with an investigation that he thought would yield nothing. It was about a certain sabotaging operation that was targeting the Black-Briars and the Thieves Guild at the same time.
At first, Jon Dare was the prime suspect in Mercer's mind but knowing how much money Jon was pouring into the Guild, things didn't add up. However, after some investigation, Jullanar returned with a name… Karliah.
Mercer Frey, Hlaalu Karliah, and Gallus Desidenius were the legendary trio of thieves from around 20 to 30 years ago. They led the Thieves Guild through its best times and increased its popularity by leaps and bounds. Not only that, but those three were the Nightingales, a secret order within the Thieves Guild that serves the Lady of Luck and Shadows, Nocturnal.
With the Twilight Sepulcher being the sacred temple of Nocturnal on Nirn, the Nightingales were its sworn protectors and from it, Nocturnal blessed the Thieves with luck and fortune.
In the Sepulcher, there lies an item called the Ebonmere. While it is simply a portal to Noctornal's realm, it is also some sort of a conduit that can pass the influence of Nocturnal into Mundus. This influence is what gives luck to the Thieves at night and shrouds them with mystery and shadow.
To keep this portal open, the Skeleton Key must remain inserted within it and remain there or else the portal shall be closed and the thieves of Tamriel shall be left without Luck.
This was the secret behind the Curse that haunted the Thieves Guild for long years.
Mercer has been stealing from the Guild for years. He lived a lavish lifestyle and kept his actions without ever stopping. Gallus Desidenius found out and tried so hard to expose him but Mercer was craftier and forced Gallus into a trap near Winterhold where he slew Gallus by Karliah's blade. Once he reached Riften, he used her arrows to injure himself and pinned it all on her.
Karliah escaped Riften and went back to the collapsed House Hlaalu in Mournhold where she spent years planning her revenge. The moment she amassed enough fortune, she started going against Mercer from the shadows in order to bankrupt the Guild and make them all turn against him. There, she will be able to expose him as a betrayer to Nocturnal and the entire Guild.
But Mercer caught onto that and realized who was the actual saboteur of his ongoing operations, and if it wasn't his old friend Karliah, not Jon Dare. He was even able to find that out thanks to Jon Dare's girlfriend who was hanging around with the other Thieves from Delvin's circle.
Still, once he wanted to seek help from Maven Black-Brair to eliminate Karliah, he found her in the sorry state she was in thanks to Jon Dare and realized that Jon's involvement in the current affairs of the Guild is not as minor as he was led to believe. According to Maven, he had to work with Arch-Wizard Mecinar to eliminate Jon Dare as well.
Maven had power over him and quite frankly, she had him by the balls for a long time. She knew about his whole situation with Gallus and Karliah and convinced him that she could offer him protection if he was at her service in the underground world.
Still, Mercer was reluctant to go against Jon Dare. Despite Jon being a junior to him and previously a member of the guild, he is now a giant and with a lot of power backing him up. Mercer researched Jon for the past two years before the appearance of the Dragons and tried to come up with a single-man heist in the Dare Tower but that was an impossible plan without the Skeleton Key.
At some point, Mercer actually lost the Skeleton Key for at least 3 years, and recently did he recover it. According to what was told to him, Aedric and Daedric Artifacts have wills of their own and sometimes can choose to appear and disappear. Mercer really panicked when the Skeleton Key disappeared but a year ago, it emerged from the shadows right in front of his eyes.
He knew it.
The Key calls to him, it wants to be with him.
They have a connection.
Nocturnal is the lady of shadows and two of her Artifacts are simply the most incredible tools any thief can have. One is the Skeleton Key which can unlock anything in the physical and mental aspects and the second is the Gray Cowl of Nocturnal, a mask which its wearer can be forgotten from the memories of all those who know them.
If he was after anything now, it is the Cowl that would make him disappear without anyone knowing who he ever was.
But the Cowl is currently lost and if he wanted safe passage away from Jon Dare's influence, he would need to rely on Maven, or better, rely on the Arch-Wizard by her side, Mecinar.
Mecinar and Mercer met on a few occasions and they managed to strike a good deal together to solve each other's problems. Mecinar seemed interested in and terrified by Jon Dare and for some reason, he refused to speak about that thing that terrifies him but at the same time, he wanted to get rid of him almost as much as Maven, and thus the two of them got to work together.
First, Mecinar asked Mercer to lead a small band of thugs and capture a living Vampire. A dangerous task but with the Vampire situation happening around Riften, Mercer managed to ambush a Dawnguard caravan that was transporting a captured Vampire from a fortified carriage and brought him to Mecinar.
As for the next step of their plan, it was to capture or kill two figures that would lead Jon Dare to fly in rage and go to a place where they will lay a trap for him. Those two figures they are after were Jullanar and Karliah.
Jullanar is known to be one of Jon Dare's women and a very close person to him. The reason why she could hang around anywhere around Riften is that she is something of a monster herself. All the Dares are monsters by normal people's standards and that's why it had to be done where they least expect. That's why Mercer led Jullanar to the Snow Veil Sanctum where Karliah was hiding in order to assassinate the two.
Jon knew Mercer would try to assassinate Jullanar and warned her of the possibility. He also gave her enough items to kill Mercer and blow him to dust along with Karliah whom she met once before in Morrowind. (When Jon was returning to Skyrim, Jullanar traveled to the Morrowind to aid the Old Woman of Mournhold as a Dare Mercenary.)
What Jon didn't expect was the involvement of Arch-Wizard Mecinar and Maven in this affair with Mercer. It was as if all the scum whose names start with the letter M decided to work against him all at once.
Mecinar and the Maven's Mercenaries attacked Jullanar in the Snow Veil Sanctum and tried to capture her. Even with all the preparation she had on her, Jullanar was cornered badly and couldn't defend against an Arch-Wizard for too long.
The attacks all came from behind as Mecinar, Mercer, and Maven's Mercenaries were following her with all sorts of tactics. She managed to easily drop a score of them but whenever she kills one, two would come at her.
There, she ran into Karliah who found out that the back exit of the Snow Veil Sanctum was also surrounded by Mercenaries. With the Evil M gang closing on them from all directions and Mecinar almost about to lay his hand on them, Jullanar dejectedly used her last card that she never imagined she would need.
An Escape Scroll.
She could take Karliah with her before the two got captured and the moment they emerged, they were in Honeyside Manor in Riften. With her terrible injuries, Jullanar refused to go anywhere other than the Thieves Guild.
She needed to tell Jon.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
Chapitre 664: Hard Answers
A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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Jon nursed Jullanar back to health by using a mixture of healing magic, energy circulation, and health potions. She soon was staring at the ceiling of the Guild Hall with a depressed look on her face.
"For the first time… I failed you, Jon." She said.
"No, you didn't." Karliah replied, "It was too overwhelming for you alone to handle and you escaped flawlessly."
Jullanar didn't listen to Karliah and turned to Jon. The look between them conveyed a level of understanding. Jon was clearly angered by what she has gone through and decided to handle the situation by himself in his own way. As for her…
"You have done more than well." Jon said and approached her ears before whispering something.
"Really?" She widened her eyes.
"I promised you once." He said, "Don't worry."
Not sure what he told her, the others watched Jullanar roll to his side and snuggle down with a smile.
"Alright. I'll wait for you." She said in a sweet and calm smile that didn't lose any of her psycho personality.
With that, Leon's stormy attitude calmed down for the most part and most of the frightened Thieves were introduced to a whole new Jon, one that they only heard about in the stories but they thought he was still the same boy that grew up among them.
"So, can we finally get down to business?" Delvin asked.
Jon looked at him and the two were on some baseline understanding that this situation will now take their full attention.
"Alright." Delvin said, "The guild's money was now solved by a contribution from one of us. He even left us his cut until this shit storm passes through. This is 10,000 Maormeri Gold Coins which can fetch up to ten times their worth. Tonilia and Vekel will handle the situation about the liquidation of those coins and we will fill the vault with what you can estimate as 100,000 Gold Septims. In other words, we are functioning just fine."
The thieves were hardly trusting the situation they were in but for now, they are stable and aware that Jon Dare and Delvin Malory are on their side. But then, there was a whole new problem here.
"You better have a damn good reason to be here, murderer." It was then when Brynjolf stood up against Karliah.
The situation was intense as Karliah was known to be the murderer of the Previous Guild Master, Gallus Desiderius. Not anyone here, except those who were here for a long time, knew about Karliah and the situation of her betrayal but those who lived those days still remember.
"Please, lower your weapons so we can speak. I have proof that you've all been misled!" Karliah replied in a tired and quiet tone. She seemed not threatened by anyone here other than Jon, who snapped just a minute ago.
"Just hear her out." But to her good luck, Jon sided with her in front of the guild members.
This gave them a sense of acknowledgment as if they followed his orders despite being his seniors.
"No tricks, Karliah, or I'll cut you down where you stand." Brynjolf walked to her without showing any trust but willing to hear her out, "Now what's this so-called proof you speak of?"
"I have Gallus' journal. He had it on him when he was killed and… I didn't have time to translate it since it was written in Falmer but I am sure there is something in it that clears my name." Karliah said.
In the game, Karliah translates the journal before bringing it to the guild but from the accident that happened and Mercer bringing allying with Arch Wizard Mecinar and Maven Black-Briar, the events have shifted greatly. But Karliah is right, this Journal is the evidence she needs.
"Well, it needs to be translated first." Brynjolf didn't lessen the hostility, "So in the meantime…"
"I'll translate it." Jon handed out his hand to take the journal.
"You can read Falmeri?" Karliah asked.
"Heh!" Jon put on a mocking smile, "A Mysticism Master doesn't know a thing such as a Language Barrier."
He then passed the Journal to Brynjolf along with a magic scroll.
"You can use the spell inside the scroll on yourself and read the journal. I am doing this because others trust you more than me so you do the translation yourself, Bryn." He said.
"Thank you, Jon." Brynjolf appreciated Jon's gesture as the two had some baseline trust in one another.
As he used the scroll of the Mysticism Expert Spell "Linguistic Comprehension", Brynjolf started skimming through Journal before the spell wears out.
He understood the words and realized that they were all true and not fabricated illusions. What he read terrified him and he couldn't stop his hands from trembling with visible anger.
"No, it... it can't be. This can't be true. I've known Mercer too long..."
"It's true, Brynjolf. Every word. Mercer's been stealing from the Guild for years, right under your noses." Karliah knew what was inside the journal judging by Brynjolf's reactions.
"We opened the vault." Brynjolf said, "What is written here is all true."
"Wait just a blessed moment, Bryn. What's in that journal? What did it say?" It was then when Delvin asked Brynjolf to reveal what was in the note.
"It says Mercer's been stealing from our vault for years. Gallus was looking into it before he was murdered." Brynjolf replied, clearing Karliah's name for good.
The whole guild fell silent as the truth can't be darker than this. Not only did their Guild Master steal from them but he even killed the former Guild Master and pinned it on Karliah. They may have had some trust in Mercer as he was a very good thief and led the Guild during its darkest hours and even with the inner struggle in the guild, this was too much.
"How can Mercer open up a vault that needs two keys? It's impossible. Could he even lockpick his way in?" Delvin asked both Jon and Brynjolf, "Jon said to me that wouldn't the Best Thief in the guild be able to open the two locks all by himself if he really wanted to… I didn't want to believe it but now I want to know how."
"That door has the best puzzle locks money can buy. There's no way it can be picked open." Vex stated.
"He didn't need to pick the lock." Karliah replied.
"What's she on about?" Delvin didn't seem to be able to comprehend it.
"You opened the vault with your keys, right?" Jon said, "The door was just fine."
"I've used my key, right, but the vault was still locked up tighter than a drum. Just how?" Delvin shouted, "Enough with the puzzles! Reveal it now."
Brynjolf himself was confused even though he read the journal Gallus wrote. Karliah and Jon knew the truth and as Karliah was sworn not to reveal the secrets of Nocturnal, it was Jon who had to explain.
"I am sure you all heard the legends about the best Thieves on Tamriel, the Trinity of the Nightingale Order." Jon said.
"It's a myth, Jon." Vex didn't buy it.
"It appears not." Brynjolf said as he raised the Journal, "Gallus, Karliah, and Mercer, they were all Nightingales."
"An Order within the Guild?" Vex asked and mistrust was written all over her face.
"Don't get us wrong, girl." Karliah spoke, "The Guild and the Nightingales are one and the same, always have been. It was like that for centuries until Mercer's Betrayal. Why do you think the luck of the guild has run dry? Why do you think everyone was having a terrible time with the guild's work?"
"So… it really was a curse!" Delvin asked.
"We're cursed!"
"By the Eight and Nine!"
All the thieves exclaimed.
"Yes. What Mercer stole was the Boon of the Shadows that hid our tracks and watched over us as we thieved. He stole our luck and with it, he became the most powerful Thief in the world. If we don't stop him and restore the blessings of Nocturnal, we will all face certain ruin." Karliah said.
"Nocturnal?" A Thief asked, "So we are worshiping Daedra now?"
"No." Karliah shook her head, "But it is Nocturnal who is the patron of all thieves. When you rob and steal, you draw luck from her. You don't need to worship her but you need the boon of Lady Luck. We all do."
"Then I believe we are all understanding our situation here." Jon said, "The Guild is going to pursue Mercer until we restore things to order. Until then, I will operate here to hunt Mercer and Maven and to settle my grudge with that Wizard Mecinar for hurting my woman. Also, we will start treating the situation about the Nightingales with a degree of importance. I am sorry Karliah but from now onwards, there is no Shadow Organization behind the Shadow Organization."
"I am fine with that." Karliah nodded, being the only follower of Nocturnal in this gathering.
"All in favor?" Jon asked the thieves.
"Aye." Brynjolf nodded.
"Finally." Delvin clapped with his emotions on fire.
"I'll be killing Mercer." Vex said, driven by her anger.
The entire guild seemed united for the first time in years and with that, Jon stood at the center of it all.
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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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