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"Gods bless you, Jon Dare! Dragonborn! You're a Nord Hero and you deserve all the blessings of the Divines!" Dengeir of Stuhn hugged Jon Dare so tightly like a kid hugging his parents with a smile from ear to ear.
"Thank you, Jarl Dengeir. Falkreath has regained its stout defender." Jon tried to get away from the short bald man's hug but it was just getting awkward.
"I hear you have become Thane in Solitude and Whiterun. Now you are only a Thane in one Stormcloak hold that is Winterhold, the one you really care for I know, but that won't really do." Jarl Dengeir said.
It seemed that the short Jarl Dengeir, who just regained his Jarl title, had intended to do something fun. He jumped on the table of the negotiations and announced it to all the noblemen present in the meeting as it was finally over.
"Everyone, listen to me, by Talos! I, Dengeir of Stuhn, Jarl of Falkreath and a follower of Skyrim's true High King, Ulfric Stormcloak, take my first action as Jarl of Falkreath and appoint the Dragonborn Jon Dare as Thane of Falkreath."
To this sudden announcement, all the Jarls and Headmen present in the hall were in awe, and most if not all congratulated Jon Dare and Jarl Dengeir.
"With this, the Empire Holds had no advantage against the Stormcloak Holds with their luck in the Dragonborn. He is Thane in four Nord Holds, two of the True Sons of Skyrim and Two of the Empire." Dengeir of Stuhn added proudly while considering himself the one who brought this equalizer, "Thane Jon, I hope we work together in rebuilding Helgen and doing what's best for the people."
"Thank you, my Lord." Jon thanked Jarl Dengeir and accepted the new position given to him.
"No no no! That won't do." But someone interrupted the moment from the Imperial side.
It was Jarl Brina Merilis of the Pale, the replacement for Jarl Skald the Elder.
"What's wrong, Brina?" Dengeir asked, "You may hold the respect of a veteran but that gives you no right to question my decisions, even if you are Jarl."
"I'm not questioning your decisions, Dengeir. It is your family's Hold and you can burn it to Oblivion for all I care." Jarl Brina replied, "But you were mistaken when you said that Thane Jon Dare is Thane to Two Imperial holds. He may be Thane in Whiterun but Jarl Balgruuf only sits with the Empire but he always considered himself neutral to this war."
As Jarl Brina said that, everyone looked at Jarl Balgruuf who didn't really deny it. He doesn't like the War, he chases out the Thalmor whenever he can, he still worships Talos, and he doesn't allow the Imperial Legion to have its way in the city of Winterhold.
Brina was right. She stood among the Empire's faction and called out to Jon.
"Thane Jon, Dragonborn. May I ask you a question?" Brina spoke.
"Go on." Jon nodded.
"You promised Jarl Dengeir to aid Falkreath. I think that's noble of you. But you have always been a rival to the former Jarl of the Pale, Skald the Elder, and quite frankly, you raided our docks once and burnt our ships, and you've always harassed our economy." Brina said.
"Guilty as charged." Jon replied.
"I know it was Skald's fault but now that he is no longer in power, will you be willing to open a new page with Dawnstar?" Jarl Brina asked.
"Why not?" Jon shrugged his shoulders, "But that depends on you, Jarl Brina."
"Then my first act as Jarl would be appointing the Dragonborn Jon Dare as Thane of the Pale." Jarl Brina replied firmly, "It is the highest honor a Jarl can bestow and I hope that you work for the betterment of the Pale and the rest of Skyrim."
Authority for Prosperity, Jarl Brina Merilis and Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn offered Jon just that. So long he is Thane, he is free to develop and invest in their hold however he likes.
Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn was the former Jarl of Falkreath before his nephew, Jarl Siddgeir. The two Jarls had different opinions about whom to support in the Civil War and so the Empire organized a coup d'etat in Falkreath and made Siddgeir the Jarl.
Siddgeir was an incompetent Jarl and while he had no reason to have an ill relationship with Jon, he fancied himself to be the rising star among Jarls yet the limelight was always focused on Jon, the reason why Siddgeir only grew jealous of a rival he couldn't even rival.
Now with Dengeir back to Jarlship, Siddgeir was banished and his hold, Falkreath, is now open for business as much as Jon desires.
On the other hand, Dawnstar always had an advantage over Winterhold before the rebuilding of the city thanks to its flourishing mining and dock businesses. However, Winterhold toppled this advantage and became the new Dock of the North as well as possessing the strongest fleet in the Sea of Ghosts.
Brina Merilis was once a Thane of the Pale and was a very strong opposer to Jarl Skald the Elder and all his policies. As a veteran of the Legion from the Great War, she had her loyalty to the Empire and was once selected by General Tullius to be the candidate for the vacant seat of Jarl of Solitude after the death of Jarl Elisif the Fair but that job went to Jarl Bryling thanks to Jon's help.
All in all, Brina Merilis was a straightforward woman and sought immediate friendship with the Dragonborn Jon Dare even if she was once his political opponent.
And with this, Jon Dare became Thane to the Pale and Falkreath in addition to Whiterun, Haafingar, and most importantly Winterhold.
"That won't do."
But another woman spoke, this time it was Jarl Lela Lawgiver.
"Maybe Jarl Brina was right when she considered Whiterun neutral but we all know that Winterhold is Neutral just as much if not even more." She said and then announced proudly, "While not the wisest or the strongest of the Jarls, I, Jarl Lela of Riften, shall be the equalizer and name Jon Dare Thane of the Rift. Gods know he just saved my hold from falling to Imperial hands and that must be rewarded."
"Winterhold is Neutral?" Jarl Igmund of Markarth asked, "Jarl Balgruuf may have sat away from the Empire to make it clear that Whiterun is neutral but Jarl Korir has always been sitting behind Ulfric. No way in Oblivion is this Neutral. I say you Stormcloaks only want to have better luck with our Hero, the Dragonborn. Thus, as a gesture of gratitude for not allowing Markarth to fall into rebel hands, I name Jon Dare Thane of the Reach."
And another two holds went under the wing of Jon Dare.
From the Stormcloak faction, Jon is Thane to Winterhold, the Rift, and Falkreath. From the Empire's faction, Jon is Thane to Haafingar, the Pale, and the Reach. He's also Thane of the neutral Whiterun.
Seven of the Nine Holds of Skyrim had Jon as Thane.
"I really appreciate all of this. Such honor is too much for me to…" Jon wanted to show his gratitude for this unplanned event he suddenly found himself in but he was interrupted.
"I name you Thane of Hjaalmarch!" Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone said in her old slow voice "The spirits of the mountain advised me to do so."
The mystic and eccentric Jarl of Morthal, Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone, was a woman who was blessed with the gift of the Sight. She could see, hear, and know things out of the scope of perception and was a known user of the arts of Divination. Even Alina Dare would pass by Jarl Idgrod every time she crossed Morthal and pay a visit to ask for her wisdom for the visions she struggles with.
"Alright." Jon was weirded a bit but he accepted the title honorably, "Thank you, my Lady."
Now it has become Eight holds out of Nine. Every Hold except Eastmarch, the domain of Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak.
Suddenly, all the eyes were now looking at Ulfric instead of Jon, anticipating, waiting.
"You don't really have to." Jon looked at Ulfric and laughed awkwardly.
"I know." Ulfric, on the other hand, seemed tense and uncomfortable with the situation.
He can't trust Jon Dare, the man who opposes his war, who puts hurdles against his army's provisions, and who brews one scheme after the other in order to make himself the most iconic hero of the land.
It was Ulfric whom songs were sung about, now it is the Dragonborn and Jon Dare. But just as this meeting is over and the participants leave High Hrothgar, the entire Skyrim will know that Jon Dare is the Dragonborn and the Dragonborn is Jon Dare. He will become an epic, a legend, or even a Divine.
Just like Tiber Septim, one day Jon shall sacrifice his allies and make a mountain of their corpses to lay the foundation of his Empire.
That's how much Ulfric recognized Jon.
He had no doubt that Jon Dare is the future of Tamriel, a future that will cover the heavens and pierce through the Aetherius.
It made him bitter, it made him unwilling to allow Jon to pass him over.
He doesn't have to follow the line of those idiotic Jarls and make Jon anything.
Jon understood what was going on in Ulfric's head and almost burst into laughter. The Thane of Eastmarch is the hardest Thane Title to acquire in the game after all. One must finish the entire Civil War for it to be acquired either by siding with Ulfric and letting him win the war or by siding with the Empire and getting rid of Ulfric.
So…
"One must offer his services for the Jarl's land and its people to be given the title of Thane." Ulfric spoke, "It seemed that Thane Jon has done very well everywhere else."
"As I said, it is not necessary." Jon smiled bashfully.
"It would seem so." Ulfric shrugged his shoulders and started walking past Jon and everyone else.
He wasn't dissatisfied with Jon but he can't trust him and Jon can't force Ulfric to give him the Thane title like everyone else… or can he?
As Ulfric passed Jon, a strange movement attracted Ulfric's eyes as something fell off Jon's side and Jon hurriedly went down to catch it before it touches the ground.
"Whoops!" Jon exclaimed as he held that object up and spoke sarcastically, "Kitty cat, stop pushing expensive things off tables."
While Jon seemed to be scolding his famous black cat and rubbing her head with his left, his right had an item that made all who looked at it just freeze. Some were so stunned they even forgot their mouths go round and some exclaimed by the names of many Aedra and Daedra.
Jon then stopped what he was doing in one of his silliest acting moments and looked at those people who were looking at him and acted as surprised as he was.
"Oh, God! I totally forgot I brought it with me." He said while taking note of the item he was carrying, the item that attracted all of that attention.
Ulfric himself was looking at Jon as if he was hit by a mammoth's trunk and got his face stomped by its arse. His head felt light and he was seeing stars from the shock he was having.
"This is…" Someone spoke while pointing at the object.
"Yeah." Jon laughed awkwardly, "I planned to use it to throw some weight if you people weren't going to agree to the Truce. It's useless now."
"By Oblivion, what is that?" But it seemed that one individual, in particular, wasn't aware of the identity of that item, namely General Tullius.
"It is one of Skyrim's most treasured legends… and a lost artifact that is honored by all Nords." The one that replied was Legate Rikke, whose head went light as well.
"It is the true symbol of the High King of Skyrim." Jarl Balgruuf the Greater spoke with an obvious grin.
"Maw unleashing razor snow, of dragons from the blue brought down.
Births the walking winter's woe, the High King in his Jagged Crown."
Ulfric chanted for he knew the song even though he was doubtful of the crown's existence, but as the most well-versed in the Thu'um of all Jarls present, he knew what this is without a doubt.
The Jagged Crown appeared in the hands of Jon Dare.
"The Jagged Crown." Jarl Idgrod Ravencrone approached Jon on her cane, "It heralds back to a time before jarls and moots. Back to the time when a king was a king because his enemies fell before him, and his people rose because they loved him."
"How does this crown work exactly?" Foreseeing the trouble Jon was brewing, General Tullius asked.
"High King Harald Hand-Free, descendant of High King Ysgramor, forged this crown from the teeth of a Frost Dragon." Jarl Idgrod replied.
"Legend holds that a portion of the power of every king who has worn it is said to be contained within." Master Arngeir said, "For the Jagged Crown to reappear before us in High Hrothgar, the Greybeards will sing the honor of this day."
General Tullius realized what sort of a pro-gamer move Jon has just pulled out on them and how the Jarls from both factions now see Jon. In a way, neither the Empire nor Ulfric could have done what Jon just did as he united the Jarls of Skyrim by heart, not by sword.
The General laughed and shook his head. Jon may have opened the road for the armies to fight but he may have just taken away their desire to do so.
As for Ulfric, he was at a loss for words as he simply watched the Crown.
"Congratulations." Ulfric spoke and his mind raced to make this situation advantageous for him as soon as possible.
Only one answer remained.
"You have done Skyrim and her children a great service by retrieving the Legacy of the Ysgramor's Dynasty, the founders of Skyrim." Ulfric spoke and let out his words heavily, "It would be a pleasure to have Jon Dare, the Dragonborn, as Thane of Eastmarch."
Jon can't be the High King, he is no Jarl, he doesn't desire it.
But he is the one who holds the Jagged Crown, the symbol of a King, as deserving as he may seem, he is now too much to compete against. Something must be done.
"It seems we are witnessing an unprecedented moment in Skyrim's History." Ulfric spoke, "The Dragonborn Jon Dare retrieved the Jagged Crown that was lost for 4000 years and became a Thane in every Hold in Skyrim. I see that the title of a Thane won't cut it anymore."
Ulfric was planning something, and they all smelled it. He was trying to keep Jon in check.
"If my young friend Jon was to accept it and all the Jarls were to let me speak on their behalf, I would like to suggest a greater title." Ulfric looked at all the Jarls and secretly winked to Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn to support him.
"A Greater Title?" Jon asked, "I don't deserve all that honor."
"No, you do." Jarl Dengeir popped up behind Jon, "Jon Dare, Dragonborn. Since the Jagged Crown is in your hands and you don't desire to be High King, then one day after this war, you will decide who the High King is to be."
Jon wanted to shout "YOU SLY BASTARD!" but he was actually enjoying where this is going. It seems that Jarl Dengeir is a sly fox and has a head for politics more than Ulfric and the rest of the goat-headed Stormcloak Jarls.
"That's too much duty for me." Jon implored with an awkward smile.
"The Dragonborn Emperor always assigned Skyrim a High King via the result of the Moot." Jarl Dengeir of Stuhn said, "You are no Emperor… yet… but you are a Dragonborn. You should keep the Crown until a King is appointed. An honor to Skyrim's traditions."
The sly Jarl Dengeir hid the word "yet" to provoke the Empire's faction but he made a point to which all Jarls agreed.
"What say you, my Lords?" Jarl Dengeir asked the other Jarls, "Should the title be Thane Regent?"
Regent is a title that was imported from Akavir in the Second Era and it meant for a Man to rule a Kingdom or an Empire at the behest of its absent or incapable monarch. Jarl Dengeir slyly added Thane to Regent in order to make it clear that Jon is merely a Thane who holds the crown until a High King is apparent.
But it seemed too official for Jon's taste.
"Jarl Ulfric suggested a title greater to a Thane." Master Arngeir interrupted the talks, "It would be an honor to consider my simple suggestion and turn it into Grand Thane."
Grand Thane!
Not just any Thane… but a Grand Thane.
The Grand Thane of Skyrim, The Dragonborn, Jon Dare.
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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The night was long and full of terrors. Winterhold was sleeping soundly and Neo Saarthal had started its curfew a little bit earlier than usual.
Yesterday, a corpse was found drained of blood and the culprit was being hunted since sunset. Since it is a Vampire, people started hanging braids of Garlic at their windows and doors and would toss anyone they meet in the street a silver coin before interacting with them.
While silver coins and garlic braids were the most affordable anti-vampire solution, those who could afford it would purchase Divine Amulets that ward off evil and hang it behind their doors.
It was weird how prepared the people of Winterhold were. These countermeasures were widespread the moment it was announced that a Vampire had attacked someone outside the city. What was even weirder was how the Dare Company had managed to keep the Dawnguard in check. In the rest of Skyrim, the Dawnguard were acting a bit wildly, especially in Riften and Falkreath, where the Vampires are running the scene, but in Winterhold, the regulations taken by the Dare Company and the Guards were too severe that on two separate occasions, a vampire was found dead in the streets where they found nowhere to run from the pursuit of the guards and ended up either dying to sunlight or burning by a thrown torch.
But the Vampires were relentless and tried many times to infiltrate Winterhold's main settlements. Once, they rode horses into the Whispering Mine village and attempted to lay it to waste but the village was saved by two brave hunters who launched fire arrows at the vampires and caused their horses to panic and even killed a few of their death hounds on the expense of burning three houses.
It was then announced that a prize will be put on discovering any Vampire Den within the Hold, the news which led the Mercenaries to rally outside the walls and leave no stone unturned before stumbling upon three structures that resembled gothic castles. As they were reported, the Dawnguard went in a massive force and laid waste to the Vampire hideouts.
Many of the kidnapped were found in these hideouts; some of them were enthralled, others were in terrible shape between the eaten, the sick, and even those who were carrying the effects of vampirism. Those who could be saved were sent to the temple and those who had no luck were disposed of on the spot.
But on a certain night, the one when Jon was having a meeting with the Lords of Skyrim at High Hrothgar, a cabal of Vampires gathered at the doorsteps of Saarthal, a battle was about to begin.
***
It wasn't an hour past sunset and the gates were being readied to be closed, orders of Thane Alina Dare. The Vampires were expected to appear at any moment, many of them would just arrive at the gates and start killing the guards in order to hunt inside the city.
This type of attack may seem suicidal in the human sense but the Vampires have some abilities which let them phase through small objects like the arrowslits to enter the city. Once they enter, their goal is to cause as much mayhem as possible and kidnap any desirable blood and flee.
The vampires would use their thralls as meat shields and speed past the guards on horseback if needed before hitting the key areas in a city. The temple would always be a key area since the blood of the holy men and women had a higher worth to the vampires than most and it would be of use to their corrupting rituals.
Even though many magical traps were readied to expose the Vampires before they came, these kinds of Vampires have a nature adept with magic and they were extremely sensitive to it thus they would recognize and avoid any traps effortlessly.
But that's where they were actually trapped. Alina realized this advantage Vampires have and turned it against them. Instead of being actual traps, Alina made it so that the Vampires would follow a set of routes that are clear from those traps which turned this situation from Total Defense Warfare to Tower Defense Warfare, a type of defense where the enemies move according to expectations and get hammered in prepared kill-zones.
And as the cabal of Vampires gathered outside Saarthal, they were to throw themselves against the strategic genius of Alina Dare.
They gathered in four groups, each with a specific mission. The first would rally the hounds and the thralls, creating a shock force. The second would hunt down the defenders at Saarthal's gate. The third would cause as much mayhem as possible with flashy magic and big spells while providing backup and support. The fourth would be the group that would be on standby only to move when the fight's objective is achieved.
The goal of the group would remain mysterious since it is no ordinary hunting force. After all, the main character from the Vampire side was known as the Nightmarshal, a male vampire whose age and strategic planning are lost to annals of history. No enemies survived to record anything. [A/n: Yes, I played V-Rising.]
And so it began.
The Shock Force of the Vampire Cabal moved through the wastelands of Winterhold and crossed the suburban area outside the city wall, where houses were fortified with garlic braids on their corners and silver coins on their windows and doorsteps. The Shock Force, which consists of mindless attackers such as hounds and thralls, wouldn't get attracted to anything other than a living target ahead of them.
They skipped the huts outside the city and rapidly closed in on the gates where the defenders were patrolling. There, the first confrontation occurred.
The "Houndmaster" targeted the first patrol they ran into and tried to take it out immediately. As it only consisted of simple hold guards, there wasn't hope for them to resist. The hounds ran with the darkness of the night and jumped the first guard before ripping off his throat with their cold fangs and targeting the next and the next. Three guards fell right away before the last two guards on the patrol were alert.
One of the two was a defender with a round shield and the other was a sharpshooter with a longbow. While the two wouldn't last more than a few seconds, the defender blocked the first hound that attacked him with sheer luck and swung his axe at the second one to keep it at bay but against the deathly fangs of a death hound, common iron and wood weren't anything special and the shaft of the axe was shattered away.
The defender tried to put as much resistance as they could to give the sharpshooter time to do anything, meanwhile, the sharpshooter notched an arrow and set it on fire before attempting to launch it at a death hound. Just a split second after that, another death hound leaped at the sharpshooter and bit his arm causing the fiery arrow to fly away and the sharpshooter to fall victim to the death hound followed by the defender soon after.
Still, this resistance wasn't futile and despite the fact that five members of the guards had already fallen, that fiery arrow that just flew away landed on the straw rooftop of a hut at the suburban shanty town outside Saarthal and the fire spread wildly.
"Fire! Fire!" Someone shouted from a guard tower and a bill started to ring.
An arrow swiftly flew at the guard and hit him right in the back with enough force that it launched the man off his feet and threw him off the watchtower but it was already too late since several patrols had seen what had occurred.
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
"ENEMIES!"
"LIGHT THE SIGNAL!"
It all happened too fast and many guards started to flood out of the houses with shields and spears, many others were still unarmored and hastily put on some hard pieces of armor and held their weapons before strategically retreating towards the gate.
It seemed that the defenders of the city were somewhat ready to put up a fight faster than the enemy would ever anticipate but that was just it, it wasn't anything special. Just as the guards would join up together, they would get flooded by death hounds or get mauled by a large-bodied thrall wielding a sledgehammer.
Some areas outside Saarthal were already putting up some decent resistance but they were fated to meet their end before the guards of the city gate would even get alerted. The fate of those who survived the shock force with injuries was written in grim destiny when the second wave of attackers came and the Vampires themselves were hungering for the blood of mortals.
Screams echoed, horror ran wild, and those on the walls of Saarthal watched with a hand of cold gripping their hearts.
"They are here!" Akara, Sargent in the Dare Corps, spoke and hissed out hot air running with her breath, "Sound the alarm!"
"SOUND THE ALARM!"
"SOUND THE ALARM!"
The voices of the lieutenants echoed on the walls and the bells rang. Those who were fighting outside retreated back into the walls or were killed trying. The vampire shock force overwhelmed the initial defenders and it wasn't until the gates that the true damage was estimated.
Over 18 were killed from the guardsmen that were stationed outside the city. It was a dear price to pay but in the scale of that attack, it was lucky not more than this were taken.
"Prepare the Fire Arrows!" Akara commanded and an archer line spread on the walls around the braziers.
Once she commanded to shoot, tens of flaming arrows rose to the sky and landed on the shanty town outside the walls.
It was brutal how the defenders and the attackers cared none for the shanty town or its residents. The Nightmarshall looked with his glowing eyes and intensely focused on the town without any emotion on his monstrous face. He realized that they were expected.
This surely meant that the shanty town was already empty. It was only filled with guards to ambush the vampires that hunt for villagers.
Whether Winterhold was expecting this scale of attack or not was unknown to the Nightmarshall but he was already involved in this plan and he was comfortable with whatever result it yielded for now.
{Houndmaster!} The Nightmarshall called.
{My lord?} The Houndmaster replied.
{Do it.} The Nightmarshall commanded.
{By your orders.} The Houndmaster, at the vanguard of the attack force, let go of his restraint and started to transform.
It was gruesome how a Vampire Lord comes to their true form. While their normal forms are already beyond saving, their transforming is the stuff of horror and the Houndmaster was already spreading his wings in a supernova of blood and filth whose power toppled the huts nearby.
"All empty, huh?" The Houndmaster noticed that the huts were indeed not filled with even simple furniture.
In other words, the guards of Winterhold used this makeshift shanty town as a checkpoint to sort out travelers and vampires.
Not bad, but that won't save them from what was coming.
As the night arrows burned the town, many Death Hounds and Vampire Thralls started rushing towards the city, unbothered by the flames. Even if they were to be caught in the fires, they would still run ahead with fire eating them away.
The snow had dried around many parts of Winterhold a month back and the fire easily spread in the hay and ate away the wooden structures. Those inside the city could look up to the east and feel the sky lighting up from the fire beneath. Still, this wouldn't harm the high towers and walls of Saarthal.
The fires lit the view below and the smoke mingled with the scenery as the corpses of the Death Hounds and the Vampire Thralls piled up on top of each other at the gatehouse. Even the ones that were incapacitated started clawing and crawling to the gate till the bitter end and the Houndmaster emerged.
He floated in the sky in his grotesque form and he was visible to all the defenders. His eyes radiated with its sickening piss-like color and his voice echoed.
"Mortals!"
A dangerous amount of Magicka gathered around the Houndmaster as he cast it at the pile of corpses.
"Tremble!"
Corpse Explosion!
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A/n: Help me reach my Goal on P4treon & Join Discord! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️
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