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58.34% Unbound Familiar / Chapter 416: Moon Sickness

Chương 416: Moon Sickness

Nothing happened immediately after the changes to the moon, but weeks afterwards, news started coming in from both the Empire and Elsweyr primarily... It wasn't good, and was potentially an end to an entire species...

Khajiit in every country were reporting still-births or mutations. To know why this was, one had to know a bit about the race... Khajiit, despite being one species, actually came in many variants. From unintelligent tigers to cats, to knee-height Khajiit, to regular Khajiit, and to what were essentially just catgirls... Humans with cat ears and tails...

The subspecies were numerous and were, unfortunately, entirely determined by what state the two moons were in when the child is born. Michael himself couldn't imagine having the chance to birth a monkey or a super-intelligent human... It was the pinnacle of a genetic lottery... Especially since some Khajiit were clearly superior to others, an example being the 'Manes' who were essentially Khajiit royalty.

The flaws in this were obvious, which was displayed when births were disrupted by the change in the moons... Now, every Khajiit born was either stillborn or mutated beyond survival. Every birth was a failure, and thousands had already been affected.

That's not even mentioning the religious significance of the moons to the Khajiit. Many had simply lost their mines as soon as they looked up at the sky, and the chaos in Elsweyr was severe. There hadn't been a response from the Mane, the Khajiit leader yet, but Michael was sure it'd come soon... Begging for help in figuring out how to resolve this issue.

A similar phenomenon had happened before, the Void Nights, which the Aldmeri Dominion as 'solved'. In Michael's opinion, they were the ones responsible for it to drag Elsweyr back under them, but there wasn't any proof of it...

He was sure the Thalmor would try and help them this time too but, he doubted they'd be able to do anything significant. It was obvious to all that'd seen the Shrine of Azura collapse that a Daedric Prince was likely responsible for it.

This incident had been named the Moon Sickness, and had all but stopped the Aldmeri Dominion from waging war with Hammerfell. The Khajiit in the military had almost all left to return to their homeland, leaving the Thalmor armies weak and outnumbered.

Michael wasn't sure what he himself could do, if he should even do anything at all... Khajiit all around Skyrim were fleeing to Elsweyr in hopes of assisting their now dying race, but it'd likely do nothing but cause even more chaos via overpopulation.

Michael just shakes his head and focuses on his own problems... The excavation of Saarthal had been delayed by a massive rockslide... Some retard got the bright idea of gathering stone for his property by mining out from the other side of the mountain... They'd removed the ice holding the shattered stone in place and ended up collapsing a large portion of the mountain atop the god-damned ruin...

In response, he'd fired that guy. He would have punished him further but having his two legs crushed by the collapse was good enough. He'd be crippled and would likely starve to death since he was unable to work. And to make up for the delay he'd hired some foreign mages(not from the College in order to not alert Tolfdir), to conjure some skeletons to pick up the slack. Dremora would have been more effective, but he wasn't willing to allow any Daedra to get anywhere near the Saarthal ruins.

With everything delayed, Michael decided to dedicate some time to learning with the Eredar. Specifically, how their magic system works. Along with anything he could learn about gem-crafting.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A month passes, and more news had arrived detailing what was happening outside of Skyrim... And boy, was shit really hitting the fan.

Apparently, the Moon Sickness coincided with a ritualistic slaughter of Azurah worshippers in Elsweyr. But more significantly, it was a 'rogue' group of Empire soldiers that'd committed such an act.

Azurah worshippers had gathered in a village to rebuild all of the Shrines of Azurah that'd been destroyed but had suddenly been attacked by hundreds of soldiers, resulting in an absolute massacre.

The Emperor says that these men had gone against orders and attacked them in retaliation for having their supplies sabotaged and caravans ambushed. But no one really cared why it happened, only that because of it, the Khajiit were basically doomed.

Strangely though, Elsweyr didn't immediately declare war on the Empire... The Mane was quiet, and all of his retainers refused to speak on the subject. Elsweyr's borders were reinforced, but no retaliation had come yet.

Unfortunately, the reason for this was revealed not long after. The Mane, representing the Khajiit race as a whole... Had made a deal.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flashback :

Within the capital city of Elseweyr called Torval, the Mane Ja'nir sits despondently on the comfortable mat that'd been laid on the floor. Surrounding him were his many friends and allies, usually having everyone gathered would be cause for celebration... Yet the mood today was nothing if not dire.

"Ja'nir... What do we do? Our people will not last like this, our falling population will not be the death of us, it will be the despair that resounds the loudest." Ja'kir, Ja'nir's uncle says, the fur around his eyes matted and dull as he'd not slept in days.

"What is there to be done!? Our mages and scholars have found nothing! The Dominion has failed to render aid like last time, and not one single child has been born since the Moon Sickness!" the large, black-furred Mane retorts, his voice pained since the extinction of the Khajiit could be under his own reign...

...

The room goes silent. No one present had any idea on how to resolve this, some had even started preparing for the extinction of their race, so certain they were of it.

"Hooouuu? Then I don't 'spose I could be of any help." a voice asks from the entrance to the room, revealing a short figure wearing a hooded black cloak that obscures their face, along with a glowing necklace prominently displayed around their neck.


SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

If you like my content or want to read ahead please go to : https://www.p.atreon.com/Nagross, I'd appreciate it.

Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :

ShinAmazake

Kingsprovince

Faruk Ereng

Chương 417: Dealing with THE Dealer

Ja'nir and all other combat able Khajiit in the room quickly get to their feet, weapons drawn as they prepare to engage the stranger. "Identify yourself! Now!" Ja'nir demands, a low growl powerfully echoing from his chest, as if a giant tiger had been standing in his place.

"Now, now. Let's not harm my littler friend here." the voice says, the neckless pulsing with light as it does so, as if it was the origin. The cloaked figure taps their staff on the floor, causing the weapons in the Khajiit's hands to turn freezing cold, causing many to drop them.

The few who manage to resist and retain their weapons are surprised to find ice and frost crawling up their hands and arms, allowing numbness to quickly spread through the limb.

Ja'nir gives a scowl and smashes his hand into the nearby stone wall, destroying the ice as he steps forward, "Explain yourself now. Or this one will carve your arms off and have it tortured out of you."

"Ahaha! Hear that? 'This One!', oh, my sister really does like her quirky pets!" the voice laughs from the necklace. "Now, I couldn't help but overhear your plight. As an honourable and gracious person, I decided to see if I couldn't help you out with it."

...

"What would you know of our plight!? Mothers end their own lives in despair after their young dies, succumbing to the vile sickness sewn among the Khajiit! My people flee from their homes and return to Elseweyr only to find nothing but despair!" Ja'nir's pupils shrink to a pinpoint as he glares a hole through the stranger, "You know nothing, and offer nothing!"

The voice hums, "I wouldn't be so sure of that. You haven't even heard what I can offer! The first steps to trade start with common ground. We can't deal if we are 'clawing' at each other's throats." it says, jokingly emphasizing 'clawing'.

"You would jape!? Joke while we suffer!?" Ja'nir growls, his patience quickly drawing thin as he takes another step toward the cloaked stranger.

"Oh! Lighten' up pussy cat! I am the one person who can help you now, understand that killing my little servant will doom your people. I care more about them than a bunch of flea-bitten fur-balls!"

...

Ja'kir rests a hand on Ja'nir's shoulder almost causing the Mane to run him through in response, "Calm down... Let us hear them out first, then we can deal with them how you wish."

...

Ja'nir reluctantly nods but doesn't let go of his sword, "Speak."

"As I said earlier, I am willing to help your lot out. I have already developed means of healing it, actually." the voice says, drawing suspicious and hopefully eyes. "My friend, show them."

The cloaked figure reaches into a pouch on their hip, pulling out a palm-sized circular crystal of some sort. It was a pale white opaque, barely allowing one to see through it.

"And what is that? Snake oil?" one of the Khajiit sneers, they themselves knowing the ins and outs of scamming folk out of their coin.

"Aha! Good one! But no, this is a Moon Gem." the voice states as the cloaked figure continues showing the Khajiit.

...

"No one curious enough to ask what it does? My, the saying 'Curiosity killed the cat' must be true if all the curious ones are already dead..."

"Enough with the jokes!" Ja'nir exclaims while pointing a sharp claw at them, "This one has not the patience to continue this! Get to the point now!"

The voice lets out a seemingly mournful sigh, "Fine, take my fun... When the sickly moonlight shines through the Moon Gem, it will purify it. Hold it above a pregnant Khajiit and... Well, you can guess, can't you?"

...

"Guards! Retrieve a pregnant woman, we will test this. And if it fails... You die." Ja'nir states.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A few days later, they had tested the Moon Gem on a Khajiit woman who was close to labour, shining the sickly green moonlight through the gem, resulting in a soothing pale white beam to focus on the woman.

The air around her shimmered, and her eyes lit up, no one could find anything different with her or the child, however. The Moon Gem did disintegrate immediately after a single use, causing a few raised brows at the time.

A couple days later, the child was born... And they were... Healthy!

There was some strange additions to them however... While they looked like regular two-legged Khajiit, they had two small horns sprouting from the top of their head. They were blunt nubs at the moment to prevent the mother from getting harmed by them, but they'd grow larger soon enough.

Despite this, everyone was overjoyed by the successful birth, especially the mother, who burst into tears of happiness that continued for days afterwards.

The Mane Ja'nir and his other confidants regathered with the cloaked figure, now knowing that they did indeed possess a solution to their problem. "Where did you discover these 'Moon Gems'?" he asks, still suspicious of the stranger.

"Hmph! No thanks for saving one newborn?" the voice huffs before returning to the subject at hand. "As you probably guessed, Moon Gems are not naturally occurring things. I had to personally create them. And sadly, I doubt anyone else would be able to do the same."

"Why? Are you so greedy that you would keep the method despite it now being essential to our people? We would pay you handsomely for it, yet you wish to trade in pieces!"

The voice laughs, "Any good merchant will be the first to tell you that keeping your customers coming is better than single purchases! I know of a few Khajiit Mages who choose to cure the symptoms of a disease instead of the disease itself. It's just business, isn't that right, Mr Ja'kir."

...

A few Khajiit glance over at Ja'kir who was shrinking into himself. Sure, he ran a few less than honest businesses but, could he be blamed? Gold is gold... It wasn't like he was doing anything illegal... Just, dishonourable..."


SUY NGHĨ CỦA NGƯỜI SÁNG TẠO
Niggross Niggross

Hope you bois liked the chap, if I missed anything please let me know. Thanks!

Also, thanks to my patrons for their support :

ShinAmazake

Kingsprovince

Faruk Ereng

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