章節 431: Honourable Clean-Up
The orc raises his head and roars, "I AM UZGARUL, CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS! WHO ELSE DARES FACE ME!?"
"Er, I do?" a voice says as a man in grey armoured robes steps out of a strange rectangular portal. "Huh, I came kinda late..." he mutters to himself as he looks around at the carnage.
"And who are you, Champion of Hircine? Or should I say, World-Hopper?" Uzgarul says, inwardly cautious as he currently lacked any weapon. Along with the many injuries he'd already sustained.
"Michael Tahlin." he shrugs as he casually walks over.
"Hmm, if you think you can best me, you will die like the re-"
*CRACKLE!*
A Laguna Blade blasts through Uzgarul's chest, cauterizing the wound as its burns his heart, lungs, and other internal organs.
"Ah, wait, where's your artifact." Michael awkwardly asks as he lowers his smoking finger, only now realising that the orc lacked his Daedric artifact.
Uzgarul attempts to spit at Michael but only succeeds in vomiting blood onto the floor and his own mangled chest, afterwards dropping to his knees and expiring on the spot.
Michael lets out a sigh as he runs his hand through his hair, "Man, I'm really dropping the ball today... Actually... Isn't preventing Hircine from gathering more Daedric artifacts a good thing? Maybe leaving it lost is the better decision."
Shaking his head, he makes his way over to the Understone Keep and knocks on the giant locked doors a couple times, "Oi! You guy's inside!? Seriously, this is becoming a theme now!"
"M-Michael!?" Jarl Igmund tentatively asks through the door.
"Yeah! It's me! Took care of those guys for you... Again..."
The large door opens to reveal most of the city of Markarth waiting inside the large entrance, along with Jarl Igmund and the many alert guards surrounding him. "Did you really rid us of that monster? And the Forsworn?"
Michael nods, "The vampire's dead, the orc's dead, the Forsworn are dead. The city is safe for now." he lists off and Jarl Igmund quickly clasps his hand.
"Then Markarth owes you even more. We were waiting on help from Solitude but, when troubles start you've always assisted us..." he gratuitously says before turning around to address his people.
"Citizens of Markarth! Our saviour Michael Tahlin has helped us once again by ridding our city of those fiends! Go! Reclaim the city and begin your lives again! Guards! Assist the people with anything they might ask, our inability to hold off the enemy is a fault in our stead, so we must make up for it!" Jarl Igmund declares which has people cheering and quickly shuffling out into the city, wishing to get their things back in order and also to address the damage that might've been done to their homes.
With Michael and Igmund left in relative privacy, the Jarl begins pacing around in thought, an unsure look on his face. "Michael, I know you will refuse any position I wish to give you, but all that you've done for my city cannot simply be forgotten. An honourable Nord's debt is a promise, and this is my promise to you... Markarth will support you in whatever endeavour you have." he holds his hand up as if Michael was about to interrupt him... Which he wasn't, "I have tried to rely on King Torygg, but it's like wringing blood from a stone. I on with the King in this war but, it is clear that respect does not flow both ways... This promise of mine is not just meaningless words, if you need something, want something, Markarth will support you." he earnestly says, despite his somewhat unclear rambling...
Michael was pretty taken aback if he were honest. All he'd done is kill that orc, the vampire was already dead so he felt like he was just picking up the pieces. Plus, he could read between the lines. The Jarl had essentially said that Markarth would follow Michael, even if he chose to support Ulfric Stormcloak. Meaning he could turn the tide of war if he really wanted to.
He didn't intend to do anything with the war, of course, he'd save this debt for another time when he really needed... He suspected that Markarth would need some time to recover from the almost constant attacks it'd been receiving.
"I'll remember that, Jarl. If that's all, I have other things I need to attend to... Oh, and, you might get some more... Visitors while the Blood Moon is in the sky."
...
"W-what do you mean?"
Michael wets his lips, "Well, I can't really tell you without breaching an oath, so... Honestly, my warning is alone is on the verge of receiving retaliation." he admits.
"What should we do then? Another vampire attack like that and I fear there won't be any guards left to keep order, even if you return again..."
Michael shrugs, "Just... Just tell whoever comes that the vampire is already dead, and the person responsible has moved on. That should stop any more battles... Now, I really need to get going, shit like this could be happening all over Skyrim."
The Jarl nods, "Thank you again, and may the Divines protect you from, whatever this is.
Michael pulls out the Vessel of the Hunt as he leaves, making sure there weren't any more guests in the city. Fortunately for Markarth, the next closest Champion seemed to be in... Somewhere around Solitude?" he concludes as he looks over a map to figure out which direction the strongest scent was coming from.
"Well, that's my next destination then." he says as he rolls the map up and shoves it in his inventory, preparing another Dimension Gate while he's at it.
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Niggross
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章節 432: Wabbajacked...
Over in Solitude, High King Torygg had been meeting with his Thanes to discuss the raising of taxes and levying recruits to prepare for a potential escalation in the war. The Blood Moon had caused things to pause but under Sybille Stentor, the Court Wizard's assurances, it wasn't an immediate threat from what she could tell.
Torygg did have Solitude reinforced however just to make sure nothing untoward occurred... Which in the end seemed to be the right choice, as he soon found himself standing on the exterior wall and looking down at the army that'd amassed below him.
"W-what in the Divines..." he breathes before turning an eye to his Court Wizard, "'Nothing to worry about' you assured me, 'Likely nothing'..." he gestures over the wall at the tens of thousands of mud crabs slowly marching towards the gate.
Many were of the smaller variety, only really able to pinch off a finger if you let it, but others were the sizes of horses, and that's not even mentioning the one at the back of the army, which was the size of a fat giant... Indeed, it seemed to be continually getting larger as it picks up its brethren and forces them into its mandibles, eating them.
It'd also grown an additional thin claw that protruded from its back and held a rather conspicuous staff... The Wabbajack. Which would occasionally fire off a red projectile at creatures and humans in its path, turning them into yet more mud crabs that reinforced its army.
Sybille Stentor crosses her arms as her camouflaged crimson red eyes narrow, "I accept my mistakes, my Jarl. But no one could have anticipated something of this scale... The Blood Moon is usually linked with Hircine, so I anticipated some potentially Werewolf attacks, even equipped the guards and hunters with silver weapons. Obviously, these preparations failed... The Wabbajack's involvement means the Prince of Madness is involved somehow..."
Torygg nods while tentatively listening, wondering if things could somehow get worse. He doubted that the mud crabs would be able to breach the walls, especially after he'd mobilised all of his forces, and even the Imperial soldiers present in the Castle Dour.
He'd already had the Ballistae that he'd purchased from the SkyRend corporation, so even the bigger mud crab's thick shells wouldn't be difficult to deal with. Not to mention the many mages that called the city home, Solitude should come out of this just fine... If economically weaker due to the mud crabs annihilating a few villages in their march.
"Have the Ports been evacuated yet? That'll be the first place to go if the crabs take that route."
Sybille nods, "Some from the East Empire Company refuse to leave their goods, but everyone else has been safely secured within the walls."
"And what of my Thanes? How are they responding?"
"Thane Bryling has granted us use of her personal guards, along with a stockpile of weaponry for any who wish to assist with the defence. The others have done their own part, whether through economical assistance or keeping the peace of the city. Though, I must say that Thane Erikur's insistence on paying for the fees of prostitutes for the soldiers is only likely to be an obstacle for us." Sybille explains.
"Yes, well, we can't expect Erikur to be anything but useless... Why did my father make his Thane again?" Torygg asks, knowing that his unaging Court Wizard would be the one to know.
"Thane Erikur was the one to introduce your mother to your father, and continued to help him court her afterwards. He felt that was enough to justify the title, especially with Thane Erikur having his hand in most businesses in Solitude by that point."
Torygg lets out a low chuckle, "Hm, I can believe something like that. The thought of Erikur in battle or doing a grand service to the city boggles the mind." he shakes his head, "The enemy'll be at our gates in around six minutes judging by their speed. Have all the-"
A red light shoots from the Wabbajack on Sheogorath's Champion's back, straight towards Torygg who's unable to respond to the surprise attack. Indeed, even Sybille was surprised that it was so fast and accurate over such a large distance... Was the mud crab even intelligent enough to realise Torygg's importance?
*Chink!*
Just as the projectile was about to hit the High King, a black blade forces itself in front of him, blocking the projectile and causing ebony sword to begin rapidly shrinking.
Torygg and Sybille look over and spot Michael awkwardly standing there with an exasperated look as his sword shrinks... "Hey, I see you've got a pest problem. So I'm here to help you out."
"And who might you be?" Torygg asks just as the ebony sword fully morphs into a rose flower...
"This should be Michael Tahlin. The mercenary who's been assisting people all across Skyrim, even helping Markarth deal with some of its Forsworn problems." Sybille explains, causing realisation to light up in Torygg's eyes.
"Don't forget my work in Falkreath either..." Michael adds before letting out a sigh at his ruined sword/flower. "For you, my lady." he jokingly says as he presents the rose to the mage.
"Oh? Must I add a charmer to that list?" the vampire neutrally remarks.
Michael shakes his head, "No, that's the payment for another ebony sword you owe me. I think sacrificing my sword for your king is worth repayment, right?"
Sybille scowls, "Protecting the ruler of Skyrim is a reward on its own. Be thankful my Jarl is soft-handed in such matters-" she starts, completely forgetting about the threat, even as another projectile is launched from the Wabbajack, this time with Michael blocking it with his ebony dagger, which again, turns into a rose flower.
"Okay, that's two ebony weapons you guys owe me. Let's get down from the wall before you cost me any more. Alright?" Michael hastily says, and isn't argued against since Torygg had nearly been hit two times already, all without any intervention on Sybille's part.
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