kogoruhn
Ku-vastei stared up at the massive flat-topped pyramid that was the ancient Dagoth stronghold Kogoruhn through her ash-dusted goggles. "Do you know this place?" she asked her companion, voice muffled through the scarf covering her mouth and nose.
"Yes," said Ashiri, fiddling with her own scarf. "All Ashlanders — especially the local Urshilaku — know to stay away. It is a cursed, taboo place, vacation home of the Sharmat himself."
"Has it always looked so…abandoned?"
Ashiri glared at Ku-vastei. Her red Dunmer eyes didn't seem bothered by the ash carried on the wind. "I'm not that old, s'wit. These are from the Resdayn period, built in the early First Era before the Battle of Red Mountain. I was born in the Second Era."
"I was just asking." Ku-vastei looked away from her lover and up towards the top of the fortress. A handful of smaller structures dotted its peak, made of the same old stone. It certainly seemed like there was no one there — but surely cultist and Corprus beasts lurked within, cloaked in darkness and dim red candlelight.
Corprus would normally be a concern, delving here — hence the tribal taboo. But Ashiri was a former vampire, infected and cured long ago, but still immune to all disease — and Ku-vastei was Nerevarine, and immune to disease by Divayth Fyr's magic cure.
(At least, Ku-vastei was a claimed incarnate of Indoril Nerevar. She had completed the trials thus far, at least. The ambiguity was frustrating.)
"Shall we climb, or fly?" asked Ku-vastei.
"What do you think?" Ashiri scoffed back. She raised her hands to cast a violet-sparked spell and leapt onto a hidden stair in the sky.
"…Very well." Ku-vastei wore a pair of well-worn trousers for just this purpose. She spoke the incantation stitched into the waistband of the pants and rose into the air after Ashiri. The two walked the airborne ash up the sloped fortifications of Kogoruhn.
They landed softly in a bed of ash that seemed undisturbed for centuries. The broad expanse of the pyramid's upper platform seemed completely devoid of any life. Ku-vastei's goggles had a detect life enchantment on their lenses — good for making out danger during heavy ashstorms — and they revealed nothing. If there was anyone — or any thing — inside, the walls of the stronghold were too thick for the spell to penetrate.
"There!" hissed Ashiri, grabbing Ku-vastei by the shoulder and pointing up at the top of one of the small buildings atop the larger fortress.
Ku-vastei followed Ashiri's gesture and thought she saw what Ashiri had. A shadowy figure, seeming to peek over the battlement before disappearing behind it.
"What was that?" Ashiri asked. "Did the goggles give you a reading?"
"…No," said Ku-vastei. "It was probably a far off cliff-racer, too far to detect." This rationale didn't comfort either of them very much. But they settled in to begin exploring the compound, seeking out the artifacts Sul-Matuul requested for his "warrior's test."
Ku-vastei began to wade through another ashdrift, but tripped over something hard and fell face-first onto the floor, earning a snout-full of ash and dust.
"Ku!" Ashiri called from across the compound. "Are you alright?" She caught herself and quickly changed her tone. "Be careful!"
Ku-vastei pushed herself up on her elbows and looked back. There, amidst the grey, was a single exposed hand, wrapped in the tell-tale gilded gleam of an Ordinator's Indoril-style plate armor. Still on her knees, Ku-vastei began to unearth the gauntlet and discovered it belonged to an entire set, still worn by some long-dead fetcher who came to the wrong stronghold.
(Not many right strongholds nowadays, mused Ku-vastei. But this gods-forsaken place was clearly the worst.)
"Who's that?" asked Ashiri, now standing over Ku-vastei.
"Dunno." Nerevar's face stared back at her, golden eyes vacant. She grabbed the helm with both claws and tried to wrench it off.
She nearly tumbled over backwards. She had tugged with too much force, expecting the resistance of decaying flesh. But it popped off cleanly, the only lingering evidence of life some blood-red dust that poured out of the helm.
"Dead for some time," she observed.
"Or met a very grisly fate," suggested Ashiri. Neither of them wanted to ponder that overmuch.
Ku-vastei flipped the helmet and examined the back, reverse of the mask. Engraved in ornate Daedric lettering was the tag: "F. Salmyn."
"Some fetcher named Salmyn," Ku-vastei said. "Wonder what an Ordinator was doing way out here."
"Some get sent on special quests by the Temple," answered Ashiri. "Seeking out lost artifacts, etcetera."
Ku-vastei looked up at Ashiri. "And why would you know that?"
"I worked for the Temple in…let's say a freelance capacity during the Second Era." She shook her head and waved away Ku-vastei's question. "Loot him. See if he's got anything nice."
"The armor looks nice."
"Don't risk it. You know how those lunatics are with their armor."
"Could sell it at least — to some unscrupulous n'wah." Ku-vastei was already unfastening the buckles on the pauldrons.
"S'wit," said Ashiri, shaking her head again. But a crooked smile crept along her lips nonetheless.
As Ku-vastei pried the breastplate of the cuirass from Salmyn's torso, she revealed a strange article of clothing hanging from his ribcage. She set aside the breastplate and reached out to touch it. Soft, but bristly. "Ash, is that…?"
"Hairshirt, yes."
Ku-vastei resisted the urge to recoil her hand. "Gross."
"They're common among Tribunal penitents," Ashiri explained. "Takes many years to grow one and weave it together. The most famous such shirt would be Saint Aralor's."
"How likely is it that this is his?"
"Not very. But maybe someone could be convinced, with the right spell, or some Bug Musk."
"Are you going to just stand there and watch, or are you gonna help out?"
Ashiri kicked Ku-vastei, nearly pushing her over on her side. "You're forgetting why we're here."
Ku-vastei hissed and swiped at Ashiri's offending leg, but she swept it back to protect it. "No, I haven't."
"Do you see the Shadow Shield, Corprus weepings, or Dagoth cup on this Ordinator's person?"
Ku-vastei made a show of closely examining the corpse, even dug around the ash a bit, before admitting, "No."
"Then come on. The looting can wait until we've secured Sul-Matuul's requirements."
"Weren't you the one who…" Ku-vastei rubbed her snout and sighed. "Whatever." She stood, glancing wistfully one last time at the golden Indoril plate as she rose. "Let's check that building first." She pointed at the largest of the three upper structures, the only one not domed like a Tribunal temple.
They approached the place to examine it. It took up nearly half of the upper platform of Kogoruhn. Some sort of plaque stood out above the round-topped door. Ku-vastei reached up to wipe ash and dust from the crevices of the etching. "I still can't read this," she said. "Old Dunmeris, I reckon."
"It says, 'Temple of Fey,'" Ashiri said. "I don't know who or what 'Fey' is. Some old Dagoth priest, maybe. I've never heard of any deity by that name."
"Hm." Ku-vastei wiped her ash-ridden hand on the legs of her robes. "Let's go inside."
The door squeaked with millennia of neglect. Surely these Dagoths have access to oil or wax of some kind, she thought. But perhaps they wanted to hear when someone was coming. "On your guard," whispered Ku-vastei as she stepped forward into the shadows of the interior.
She couldn't see a damned thing. Neither could Ashiri, evidently, who said, "Dark as Mephala's cunt in here."
"What?" said Ku-vastei, forgetting her volume. Then she lowered her voice to a sharp hiss. "Quiet, s'wit! And who says that, anyways?"
"I do."
Ku-vastei sighed — as quietly as she could — and said, "We shouldn't use a magelight here. We don't know if we're alone."
"Since when do you take such precautions? You sound like Llethym."
Ku-vastei mulled that over. The comparison horrified her. "…Fine. Give us a magelight."
A blue-white spark rippled up Ashiri's arm, through her fingertip and out into a small orb of brilliance, shining on their strange surroundings.
The room was cluttered with furniture. One precarious stack of chairs reached nearly to the ceiling. Red paint covered the walls, in foreign symbols and gibberish Daedric. At least, Ku-vastei hoped it was paint.
A dark shadow suddenly cast on the wall. Ku-vastei and Ashiri held their exhale.
"Coming, Lord Voryn!"
The wretched voice came from around the corner of a thick pillar. "I didn't expect you so soon, you know," it said, "or I would have cleaned up a little. Send more warning next time. Don't let things get to your head, young mer."
From behind that pillar shuffled in a monster, shrouded in purple smoke by Ku-vastei's goggles. It was vaguely humanoid, but its crooked stature was unnatural. Its head was a massive tangle of tentacles, eyeless. Four empty sockets fixed upon Ku-vastei and Ashiri with surprise. Ku-vastei fiddled with her ebon ring. "You're not Lord Voryn," it said. "Neither of you."
"No," said Ku-vastei, surprised at her instinctive response.
"Ah, well. This is awkward. I take it you're Nerevar?" The beast nodded at Ashiri. "But she looks nothing like his wife. Alma-something-or-other."
"No," said Ashiri, rolling her eyes. "I'm not Almalexia."
"Well, don't let me forget my manners," said the Ascended Sleeper with a shallow bow. "I am Dagoth Uvil. I take it you are here to kill me."
"Yes," said Ku-vastei.
"Well, don't let me get in the way of your attempt. Though I doubt you will succeed. Lord Voryn will have more waiting to do for your proper return."
"Why do you think I'm Nerevar?" asked Ku-vastei.
"Well, you must be, yes? To come this far? You're not the first. I doubt you'll be the last." Uvil stroked his fluted tentacles as if they were a beard. "Well, Nerevar. Be you star-blessed hero, or Daedra's pawn. I'll give you the first move out of courtesy."
"What do you mean, Daedra's pawn?" Ku-vastei insisted. Her fingers twitched at her side; she was going to keep him talking as long as possible so she could come up with a battle-plan.
"What? You think it coincidence that everything you're doing is purely in Azura's favor? Or are you just in the habit of trusting Daedra lords implicitly?" He laughed, the sound like the tolling of heavy bells from far away. "Have you forgotten what treacherous, scheming fiends the Daedra are? You're not that much of fool, are you? Or else Voryn wouldn't be so fond of you, surely." He gestured Ku-vastei towards him with his gnarled, skeletal hand. "Come. You're wasting time, trying to stall. I can tell. Or are you really not prepared?"
Ku-vastei caught Ashiri's anxious glance. She had finally noticed her empty hands, nothing on her back or hips. Ku-vastei had come to Kogoruhn unarmed.
At least, seemingly so.
Ku-vastei raised a rather rude finger towards Dagoth Uvil, and the red-marbled black band wrapped there dissolved. It seemed to vanish entirely — but then a blood-dark mist gathered and coagulated, heating up until it ignited into something new: a dark, spike-laden halberd as vicious and deadly as a Daedroth, flaming like an Atronach.
Uvil sighed, a shambling sound from deep in his supposed lungs. "Always cavorting with Daedra, Nerevar. Waste no more time. I offer you first blow."
So Ku-vastei wasted no more time. She rushed forward and slashed straight through Dagoth Uvil.
Like smoke.
She pushed up her goggles to dispel the enchantment. He had vanished into a red mist that filled the room corner-to-corner, rising in tendrils to the ceiling.
Laughter boomed in the hazy chamber, shaking the red flames of the candles covering the floor. "You take me for a fool, Nerevar?" The voice came from every angle. "Perhaps young Voryn would trust you so implicitly. I do not."
Ku-vastei slowly backed towards Ashiri, scanning the fog as she pulled her goggles back down.
"Anything?" Ashiri asked as Ku-vastei bumped into her.
"No. Useless." Ku-vastei ripped the goggles off to clear her vision, tossing them to the floor.
"One of the many boons of our divine disease," called Uvil. "But you have forsaken our gifts, for your 'cure.' Why cure perfection?"
Something dark and massive lunged at the edge of her sight. She reacted too late. It clawed at her — like a nix hound playing with a toy. She was flung across the room—slammed into a precarious stack of furniture. Dresser drawers and their shelves tumbled around her. Ash statues clattered across the floor.
"Ku!" Ashiri's voice was muffled. Ku-vastei looked up to see her holding her scarf tight to her face, careful not to inhale the mist. Ku-vastei followed suit, refastening her own scarf before anything else. Then she pushed a drawer off her head and stood, crushing an ash statue underfoot.
Struggling to blink away a concussion, she saw a spark coming from a red cloud, just a flash of a second before — "Duck!"
Ashiri dropped to the floor as a bolt of lightning streaked over her head and blackened the wall near Ku-vastei. Every hair on her scalp reached up in a twisted column towards the arc of energy as it passed. She crawled over to Ku-vastei before picking herself up.
"Invisibility?" whispered Ku-vastei.
"Something worse, I suspect," said Ashiri. She ran her fingers through her hair to lay it flat again. "But two can play this game."
Ashiri gestured vaguely and suddenly shone with a yellow glow before half-fading into the fog. Sanctuary, thought Ku-vastei. Coward's spell. She made sure not to share this opinion aloud.
Careful to avoid Ashiri's blur, Ku-vastei made wide, blind swipes near from where that spark had come. Inferno found no flesh, only cleaving through smoke, which filled in its scars too quickly, unnatural. Recklessly she clattered the halberd against the walls and stacked furniture, decapitating a tower of chairs and scattering a pile of sofas.
"Blind!" cried Dagoth Uvil, his laughter rattling Ku-vastei's skull. "More like 'Alandro Sul incarnate,' eh?"
The voice felt behind her, so she spun, striking at thick air. She watched as the hazy silhouette of Ashiri danced around the room, as if chasing ghosts. But there seemed more method to this than madness — Ashiri pursued strange, dark clouds, ebbing and flowing throughout the mist, formless but dense. Every and now and then a claw emerged from one, failed to find purchase on Ashiri's robes, and was nearly chopped by her chitin axe.
"Wretched…mortal…" gasped Uvil. "Cease this!" A dark light emanated from a cloud behind Ashiri before she could spin to face it, and it caught her through the Sanctuary. Ku-vastei couldn't tell what it did, but Ashiri dropped fast.
"N'wah!" screamed Ku-vastei, sprinting to Ashiri's side to guard her.
Another cloud grew across the room, darker than the others. "Foolish Nerevar," it bellowed, "always pretending to protect. Hortator! What a sham. How little you actually cared for them, the little people of Resdayn. A false guardian of a false religion. And you died trapped by that role. And so you will die again."
Another spark appeared in the middle of that cloud. Inferno ignited. Without thinking, Ku-vastei took a chance.
She launched Inferno dead-center.
And found her mark. The room seemed to exhale, and then all the mist filling it sucked into the cloud, and suddenly it was Dagoth Uvil again, impaled on a blazing halberd.
"Oh," wheezed Uvil. "Always full of surprises, you were." Then he crumbled to dust, his robes billowing down to the ground around the pile.
Ku-vastei didn't bother retrieving her weapon. She dropped to Ashiri's side. She was still flickering from the Sanctuary, but it was fading. Ku-vastei laid a hand on her lover, and felt for her heart.
Still beating. The hand stilled the shimmering, and she saw her face. Gaunt, nearly shriveled. He'd cast some kind of vampiric spell on her.
But nothing Ku-vastei couldn't fix. She laid both hands on Ashiri's chest and channeled blue-white energy into her fingers, and slowly Ashiri's cheeks filled out again, her eyes returning from their sunken pits.
They fluttered open and stared blankly at Ku-vastei for a few blinks. Then she smiled. "You got him?"
Ku-vastei smirked. "Naturally."
"Something tells me," groaned Ashiri, "that there's going to be a lot more of these n'wahs in this wretched hole."
