บท 163: Trials of Hircine III

"Fuckin' idiots, the lot of them!" The veteran Nord curses before thinking up a plan.

Putting away his bow, he pulls out a small axe.

Then as the next arrow hits his cover, he dashes out to the cabbage cart, propping it up to act as a giant shield as he charges closer to the deadly prey across the street.

Arrow after arrow thumping against his cover, with another ice spear just barely missing his head as it rips through the cover, but it did its job, and the veteran Nord is now in the same set of buildings that his prey is.

'Alright, he's an archer and a spell caster, so all I have to do is close the distance, and his hide is mine.' The veteran Nord assures himself as he makes his way through what looks to be a fancy clothing shop.

"Come out peacefully, and I promise to make your death as painless as possible!" The veteran Nord shouts before listening carefully for any signs of life.

"That's a nice offer... Unfortunately, I won't be giving you the same." A rough voice whispers from behind the veteran Nord, prompting him to slash behind himself with the small axe, but he hits only air.

"Oh? What happened to your previous promise?" The voice whispers again, though the voice seems to echo around the clothing shop.

"Enough games! Fight me like a man, coward!" The veteran Nord shouts in anger as he slashes behind himself once more, again hitting nothing.

"If you insist..." The voice says before a gleaming sword swings down from above, which the veteran Nord just barely managed to block with his small axe.

Looking at the direction of the swing, the veteran Nord sees a buff orc, in light Imperial armor holding a sword while hanging from a rafter in the ceiling by his knees.

But before the veteran Nord has a chance to do a follow-up strike, a booming echo launches the orc from his perch and impales the veteran Nord through the chest with his sword.

"Why...?" The veteran Nord tries to choke out a question, but blood is all that escapes his lips.

"Seriously? For the same reason as you, I may be the prey, but I'm far from a meek little rabbit, and I need to win this little game. No hard feelings. You fought well enough. Hope you enjoy Soverngarde or wherever your soul will go." The orc says before ripping his blade from the now lifeless veteran Nord's body and staring with a displeased look at a wall.

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[Wave 1/9 Completed... You have 1 hour to prepare for the next wave...]

"Damn... This might take a while..." I curse before looting the hunters' bodies, taking all their money, arrows, and alchemy ingredients before remembering something.

"I wonder if I get to keep the things I find here... Might as well try to grab that too..." I say to myself before running over to the Thalmor embassy to grab the dossiers the Thalmor have been keeping.

It only takes me a few minutes to run through the abandoned embassy to gather all the documents, plus a couple more that I didn't expect to see.

I read through them quickly to see if anything changed from the game.

First is Ulfric's File...

[Ulfric Stormcloak]

[Status: Asset (uncooperative), Dormant, Emissary Level Approval]

[Description: Jarl of Windhelm, leader of Stormcloak rebellion, Imperial Legion veteran]

[Background: Ulfric first came to our attention during the First War against the Empire, when he was taken as a prisoner of war during the campaign for the White-Gold Tower. Under interrogation, we learned of his potential value (son of the Jarl of Windhelm) and he was assigned as an asset to the interrogator, who is now First Emissary Elenwen. He was made to believe information obtained during his interrogation was crucial in the capture of the Imperial City (the city had in fact fallen before he had broken), and then allowed to escape. After the war, contact was established and he has proven his worth as an asset. The so-called Markarth Incident was particularly valuable from the point of view of our strategic goals in Skyrim, although it resulted in Ulfric becoming generally uncooperative to direct contact.]

[Operational Notes: Direct contact remains a possibility (under extreme circumstances), but in general the asset should be considered dormant. As long as the civil war proceeds in its current indecisive fashion, we should remain hands-off. The incident at Helgen is an example where an exception had to be made - obviously Ulfric's death would have dramatically increased the chance of an Imperial victory and thus harmed our overall position in Skyrim. (NOTE: The coincidental intervention of the dragon at Helgen is still under scrutiny. The obvious conclusion is that whoever is behind the dragons also has an interest in the continuation of the war, but we should not assume therefore that their goals align with our own.) A Stormcloak victory is also to be avoided, however, so even indirect aid to the Stormcloaks must be carefully managed.]

[Update: Spies within the Palace of Kings have reported a recent collaboration with a potentially hostile mercenary force (Named the Dragon's Maw Mercenaries; see attached dossier) in the region, recommend disrupting their collaboration to prevent additional aid from tilting the war in Ulfric's favor.]

"Huh... It seems I've gotten on their radar... Let's read the other files first before checking the new ones." I say, opening up Delphine's file.

[Delphine]

[Status: Active (Capture or Kill), High Priority, Emissary Level Approval]

[Description: Female, Breton, mid 50s]

[Background: Delphine was a high-priority target during the First War, for both operational and political reasons. She was directly involved in several of the most damaging operations carried out by the Blades within the Dominion. She had been identified and was slated for the initial purge but by bad luck, was recalled to Cyrodiil just before the outbreak of hostilities. During the war, she evaded three attempts on her life, in one case killing an entire assassination team. Since then, we have only indirect evidence of her movements, as she has proven extremely alert to our surveillance. She should be considered very dangerous, and no move against her should be made without overwhelming force and the most careful preparation.]

[Operational Notes: She is believed to be still working actively against us within Skyrim, although we have no location on her. Assumed to be working alone, as no other Blades are known to be active in Skyrim, and she has in the past avoided contact with other fugitive Blades for her own security (one of the reasons she has so far evaded elimination). Her continued existence is an affront to all of us. Any information on her whereabouts or activities should be immediately forwarded to the Third Emissary.]

"Okay, so nothing new with Delphine, what about Esbern..." I say, flipping through to his file.

[Esbern]

[Status: Fugitive (Capture Only), Highest Priority, Emissary Level Approval]

[Description: Male, Nord, late 70s]

[Background: Esbern was one of the Blades loremasters prior to the First War against the Empire. He was not a field agent, but is now believed to have been behind some of the most damaging operations carried out by the Blades during the pre-war years, including the Falinesti Incident and the breach of the Blue River Prison. His file had remained dormant for many years, an inexcusable error on the part of my predecessor (who has been recalled to Alinor for punishment and reeducation), in the erroneous belief that he was unlikely to pose a threat due to his advanced age and lack of field experience. A salutary reminder to all operational levels that no Blades agent should be considered low priority for any reason. All are to be found and justice exacted upon them.]

[Operational Notes: As we are still in the dark as to the cause and meaning of the return of the dragons, I have made capturing Esbern our top priority, as he is known to be one of the experts in the dragonlore of the Blades. Regrettably, we have yet to match their expertise on the subject of dragons, which was derived from their Akaviri origins and is still far superior to our own (which remains largely theoretical). The archives of Cloud Ruler Temple, which is believed to have been the primary repository of the oldest Blades lore, were largely destroyed during the siege, and although great effort has been made to reconstruct what was lost, it now appears that most of the records related to dragons were either removed or destroyed prior to our attack. Thus Esbern remains our best opportunity to learn how and why the dragons have returned. It cannot be ruled out that the Blades themselves are somehow connected to the dragons' return.]

[Update: We have recently obtained solid information that Esbern is still alive and hiding somewhere in Riften. Interrogation of a possible eyewitness is ongoing. We must proceed carefully to avoid Esbern becoming alerted to his danger. If he is indeed in Riften, he must not be given an opportunity to flee.]

[Update: With the proficiency the Dragon's Maw Mercenaries have shown in combating dragons, it is possible Esbern has made contact with them and, more importantly, their Dragonborn leader. Advise dispatching a retrieval team immediately to Riften.]

"Hold on... They think I already met with Esbern... Shit, I need to get him out of Riften before that retrieval team gets to him. What about these other files?" I quickly flip through the several other files I found while searching the embassy.

(Author's Note: Hey, everyone! Thanks for reading the story, sending stones, and commenting; it really helps me stay motivated to keep writing. I hope you enjoy this slightly more lore-y chapter and the next one. I try to keep the lore dumps as condensed as possible or lightly spread out in the story, but sometimes you just gotta lore dump.)