章 558: IsRan-Away

"W-what are our options..." Jarl Elisif the Fair stutters out from her throne, looking imploringly at General Tullius.

The situation had fallen completely through as far as their position in Skyrim was concerned. They'd lost almost all their allies, with the exception of Morthal, but even then that Hold looked ready to collapse under the constant assaults of the Stormcloaks.

The Thalmor's actions in sending their navy to attack Winterhold, actually destroying the College, had put most Nords against the Empire if they weren't already. While Nords truly despised magic, they hated the loss of their culture far more, and the College just so happened to be one of the most culturally important locations barring Jorrvaskr and the city of Windhelm.

Falkreath was now back in Stormcloak hands too, making it almost impossible to get any Imperial troops into the Province, leaving them stranded and all but locked inside of Solitude, awaiting assistance from either the Empire or the Thalmor.

This is not even mentioning the return of the dragons. With the Dragonborn being a staunch Stormcloak supporter, it basically left Morthal and Solitude on their own... While neither city had been attacked by one of the flying lizards yet, the farms and villages around them had been...

"From what I've seen and read, Jarl Elisif? I believe our position is untenable. With all support structures in Skyrim lost, we are barely surviving with imports from the East Empire Company, and that will only last until Ulfric decides to send his own navy, which is possible given the destruction of the Thalmor fleet at Winterhold..."

"But... We can't just let them win! THEY KILLED MY HUSBAND! SLAUGHTERED MY CITIZENS! I WON'T LET THAT ULFRIC RULE SKYRIM!" she screams, looking rather deranged to what was left of her Thanes... Most of them had been assassinated by someone, leaving her alone to handle the problems in her Hold.

Tullius lets out a sigh, "What you want doesn't matter, Jarl Elisif, you wanted options so I'll give them to you. I have requested ships to be sent from the Empire, I and the rest of the Imperials Legion will board them and leave Skyrim. You have the option of coming or not I will not convince nor stop you, just know that your fate will be in Ulfric Stormcloak's hands should you remain here."

Jarl Elisif and everyone else's eyes widen at this proclamation, General Tullius was pulling his troops out from Skyrim? That meant the Empire was abandoning them to Ulfric's rule... "Y-you can't! The Emperor won't allow this!"

"The Emperor, has already been informed. I won't waste any more good men on this doomed venture. Accept it for what it is, Ulfric has won, for now at least. You can either come with us, lick your wounds, and prepare to retake the territory, or stay here and endure whatever punishments he'll inflict on you."

...

"N-no... I won't accept this!" she stands from her throne, "GUARDS CEASE THE GENERAL AND HIS MEN!"

Half the guards move forward, while the others stay put, not wanting to insult General Tullius by following such insane orders.

Tullius himself is surprised by this, he didn't have many of his men with him, leaving him at Jarl Elisif's mercy... He's cuffed and forced to his knees before her. "Lady, you don't know what you're doing... You're not in your right mind!"

"BE QUIET! You're the coward wanting to flee from battle! You're the fool who led all of our men to their deaths! You're the reason Ulfric is winning!... Guards! Imprison him and send notice to the Imperials in the Castle Dour; Continue fighting or General Tullius' life is forfeit!"

"Elisif! You're dooming us all!" Tullius shouts as he's dragged away with the rest of his men.

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"Ahhh, home sweet home." Michael yawns as he and the others step through the Dimension Gate into the lobby of the Eye of the World.

"Yes, let's wait for a while before going out again... I like you sister but, having to erase the memories of your parents every time they come home gets tiring." Tiffania sighs.

"Thanks for helping me visit my family." Megumin chirps with a bright smile before running up to her room to unload all the souvenirs she'd acquired... That and continue playing Skyrim, she's a properly addicted gamer now. It's kinda weird to be honest, she's going to be playing Skyrim in Skyrim...

Yeah, I'm going to take a long bath... Unless you've got any more reality-shattering secrets you wanna tell us?" Saya inquires.

Michael shakes his head, "No? Unless you're referring to the fact that your breast size is considered below average in the grand scheme of the multiverse?"

. . .

"I'm going."

Maria steps past Saya and arrives on the ground floor, "Have fun? Good, because I've been keeping track of your mail..." he states, dropping huge pile of letters at his feet. "Enjoy!" she says as she leaves... Was this revenge for leaving her here to manage things?

"Have fun." Tiffania says, deciding that this wasn't her problem and leaving too.

"Is this the curse of vacations? Have a break then come back to five times the work?..." he sighs, levitating the pile and heading to his office.

There he begins reading through all reports of recent events, along with the letters sent by various parties... Another one from Ulfric asking for his allegiance, nope. Another from Elisif demanding his subservience, nope...

One from a man named Isran requesting assistance with a new threat that's emerging... Vampires... Huh, is that happening so soon? None of his reports suggests anything about vampires...

"Hmm... Is it worth even getting involved? Serana is pretty hot... But, crazy girls are one thing, but crazy vampire girls without souls? Eh, that's just asking for trouble..."

There is also Surtr to consider, the Dragon Elder Scroll is required to find the Bow of Auriel, but letting him deal with it meant splitting his attention between the Vampires and Dragons... Alduin is a REAL threat, so... "Guess it's time to become this world's Van Helsing..."