#ulennus

[tonal-modulator]

of course now I'm trying to figure out how Morrowind must have gone in Ulennus's timeline. I was originally going to just assign her one of my existing nerevarines but I can't ignore the likelihood that she'd have them killed. so I need someone who's at least as schemey as they are and probably part of the morag tong.

[razaks-wheel]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil & Caius Cosades, Caius Cosades & Original Character Characters: Sheogorath | Hero of Kvatch, Caius Cosades Additional Tags: background Martin/HoK, Based on UOL, Post-Oblivion Crisis Series: Part 3 of From bad to worse - the Ulennus Hlethi extended universe Summary:

Ulennus, twice-former agent of the Blades and current Sheogorath, drops in on Caius's visit to Uriel VII's grave.

[tonal-modulator]

Ulennus Hlethi - Crassius Curio replacer

Adds a new NPC, Ulennus Hlethi, to replace Crassius Curio, who has met with some ill fate.

So yeah, this mod replaces Crassius Curio with my OC, Ulennus Hlethi, who does not call you dumpling or make you strip for sponsorship. I made it for my own playthrough, but I figured I'd share, at least until I get death threats or something.

[razaks-wheel]

Chapters: 2/2 Fandom: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil/Martin Septim, Martin Septim/Sheogorath Characters: Martin Septim, Original Dunmer Character(s) (Elder Scrolls), Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil, Sheogorath | Hero of Kvatch, Nonbinary Hero of Kvatch | Champion of Cyrodiil, Avatar of Akatosh | Martin Septim, Akatosh (Elder Scrolls) Additional Tags: character who is afraid of intimacy experiencing intimacy, knight-and-liege to lovers i guess?, Vaginal Fingering, Penis In Vagina Sex, Light Dom/sub, Praise, night before the Battle of Bruma, and also post-Great War, Trauma, non-standard body configurations, Shapeshifting, tentacles in spirit if not in precise definition, Anal Sex, Double Penetration, Frottage, blowjob, Identity Weirdness, Genderfuckery, Porn with Feelings, Incorporeal Sex, Crying During Sex, penetrative sex in miscellaneous holes Series: Part 4 of From bad to worse - the Ulennus Hlethi extended universe Summary:

Ulennus has never been one for intimacy of any kind, but on the eve of the Battle of Bruma, Ulennus and Martin finally accept their feelings for one another and spend the night together.

The next time they see each other is nearly two centuries later, long after Martin has become an extension of Akatosh and Ulennus has become Sheogorath. Despite Martin's challenged history with daedra, they make up for lost time, unconstrained by mortal laws of nature.

---

As Squidward Tentacles once said: Well, here you go.

[razaks-wheel]

Tumblr doesn't want to embed, but I've posted ch. 3 of The Hero's Demise, which focuses on what Ulennus is doing while Ereval is doing Morrowind. Mostly, she's plotting to kill him. In this chapter, she has tea with Queen Mother Barenziah and confirms her intelligence that Almalexia is dead, while Barenziah tries to warn her not to do anything rash.

[razaks-wheel]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

I'm working on another Ulennus miniseries, this one being what she's doing during Morrowind (more specifically, how she's planning on killing the nerevarine).

[razaks-wheel]

[Ereval, the new Blades agent that Ulennus has been spying on, approaches her for sponsorship in House Hlaalu, allegedly. Ulennus figures out why he's in Morrowind and starts plotting his demise.]

"Come in," Ulennus called when she heard Lona's footsteps approaching her study and being followed by an unfamiliar set. She must be bringing a visitor.

When the door opened, her eyes lit up. She recognized the mer her Housekeeper had in tow: he was the agent who had been shipped over from the Imperial City last month. What an incredible boon—and incredible danger—to have a person she had been spying on walk right into her home.

"Lord Hlethi," Lona said in Cyrodilic, "may I present to you Ereval Bralen, Lawman of the Great House Hlaalu. He comes to ask for your support for his adoption into House Hlaalu as a full member."

"Ah, thank you, Lona. Please shut the door on your way out." And stay armed just outside, she did not need to say.

Then she turned her smile on the youth in front of her. He was short and lanky, wearing a pack so big it looked like it should tip him over, and he carried himself with more confidence than was probably earned. She motioned for him to sit across from her.

"I was hoping you'd stop by," she said. "It's good to finally meet you, Ereval. I have heard so much about you."

If this frightened him, he made no indication. Good actor, perhaps? Or had he not even done his research?

"The pleasure is mine, Lord Hlethi," he replied with an easy smile.

"So you wish to be adopted into the Great House Hlaalu? I must say, I am honored that you would ask me to sponsor you." Caius sent him, most likely. "Allow me to collect the paperwork."

If he were here to assassinate her, now would be the perfect time to do it. Ulennus kept her attention on all of her detection effects even as she turned away to reach for the papers. Though his eyes followed her, he made no move for a weapon nor spell—must be a longer-term information-gathering endeavor, then. That was for the best—she'd hate to have to kill him so soon—but of course it also meant she would need to keep her guard up at all times around him. Unfortunate, but relatively routine.

She turned back with the papers, signed her portion and passed them across the table.

"I have been all over Tamriel, and nowhere have I found any business as cutthroat as Dunmeri House politics. Whatever you have seen on the Imperial City streets, it is nothing compared to what you are getting into. And make no mistake: you are no safer from your fellow Hlaalu than you are from the rival Houses. If you are to make this your life, Ereval, you will need allies. That is what this agreement is: your first alliance. I am a valuable ally for a young Hlaalu, if I may say so myself, but there is something you need to know, and I'd prefer that you learn it the easy way: you can only trust me as far as I can trust you." She scanned his face for any discomfort, but his easy smile never faltered. That would be good if he were a typical applicant, but she preferred the targets of her spying to be a little more open—but she was sure her web would manage regardless. "If that sounds satisfactory to you, then sign and House Hlaalu will welcome its new kinsman."

He signed the papers without much more than a glance at their contents.

As he was passing them back, Ulennus nodded in the direction of his bag. "That's quite a hefty pack. Where's Caius got you off to this time?"

Ereval's head tilted slightly, in cautiously feigned confusion. "Caius, my lord?"

"Cosades. Your employer." She held his gaze for longer than she hoped was comfortable, though she let no malice show. "You must have assumed I would look into you before adopting you into my House."

"Of course," he smiled as if through a mouthful of undercooked bittergreen. "Are you a friend of Caius's, then?"

So Caius hadn't even told him about her, much less sent him to spy on her? Now that was interesting. He could turn out to be an open book if she could convince him that they were allies.

"We go way back."

"I see. Well, I'm sure you can understand that due to the sensitive nature of my assignment..."

"I understand completely," she assured him. "I only thought I might offer some advice if I had any."

The mer's ears all but perked up. Wherever he was going, it must not be pleasant. He still hesitated, but eventually his curiosity won out.

"He wants me to clear out a cave on the Bitter Coast."

"Smugglers?" she asked just before it occurred to her. "Sleepers."

"Enough to wipe out the last unit of Legionnaires who tried."

She sat back in her seat, arms folded in contemplation. "Have you done something to upset His Majesty?"

Ereval chuckled bitterly. "I've asked myself the same thing, but Caius promoted me before he sent me off. I think it's that if I die, I'm not the one they were looking for anyway."

So it was a matter of prophecy, then. That made enough sense; why else would the Blades hire some nobody out of prison and send him to a different province? She would need to review her sources, but she had a pretty good idea which one, and it was not necessarily good for the people of Morrowind—at least not if the Emperor was getting involved. Perhaps he could be nudged off the path...

"So he's sending you to your death, unless you happen to be, what? Favored by the gods?" Ulennus asked. "Are you comfortable with that, going on a suicide mission just because your employer told you to?"

"It...is not my place to question the Emperor's will," he said, letting his eyes drift downward.

"Of course not," she accepted with a smile. The seed was planted. "I'll hold off on giving you any assignments until you've returned safe and sound. Fight well."

He took the cue and turned to leave. Ulennus caught Lona's eye through the doorway and gave her a look that said, "Come back when you've seen him off." Once alone, she slipped into the hidden chamber where she kept her most sensitive intelligence and dug out the folder on prophecy. There was really only one thing it could possibly be, especially given the whispers floating around lately, but she had to be sure.

The environmental circumstances were certainly right for it, but everyone knew that. The information had gaps, but what she did have mapped on well enough. Orphan, foreigner, and she would need to find out his sign, but she had her suspicions. There were a few mentions of cursed flesh that could even explain why Caius was testing him by sending him into a Sleepers' den. She snapped the file shut and brought it back into her office just in time to see Lona returning and closing the door behind her.

"Damn Uriel," Ulennus hissed, sliding the file across the desk to her assistant and falling into her seat. "Memorize that, and find me anything else you can on it."

Lona picked the documents up and began to leaf through them. "The Nerevarine...what does the Empire want with an Ashlander prophecy, and a Daedric one at that?"

"According to Ashlander theology, Azura is the enemy of the Tribunal. And as long as the Tribunal are in power, we have the right to self-govern."

Lona put it together from there. "He wants to remove our last bastion of defense against total Imperial control."

"And he's using that poor fetcher to do it."

Lona knew when to let Ulennus think, and so the two of them sat in contemplative silence for a few moments longer. If they were lucky, the problem would solve itself in that cave. If not, Ulennus would need to instruct her web double the effort they were putting into keeping tabs on him; she might still be able to nudge him off his course. If all that failed, though, she would need to seriously consider grimmer options, which would be a pity. That young mer could have a bright future in House Hlaalu, if he ever had the chance. She sighed. As unfortunate as it was, it was best to lay the plans now.

"Have Firil follow him to the cave. If he comes out alive, I'd like you to get an estimate from the Morag Tong."

[razaks-wheel]

Epilogue for Ulennus

[I just finished Daggerfall, so I wrote a little epilogue for my Agent, a couple years after they return home. I'm sure it'll be fine and nothing bad will happen ever. Note: Ulennus is genderfluid and uses any pronouns, and I spun the proverbial wheel and went with she/her today.]

Ulennus grasps her mug of kaveh in both hands and takes in the rich aroma. She had the beans imported straight from Rihad and roasted them herself in her manor. The drink is hotter than anyone ever made it on her travels outside of Morrowind, but for her it's the perfect hand-warming temperature. She brings it to her lips and takes a sip, letting the scalding liquid warm her insides as well. Balmora may not exactly be on the coast, but it is far enough from Red Mountain that it still gets chilly on Frostfall mornings.

After a moment, she snaps her attention back to the world around her. It is not wise for someone of her reputation to let their guard down for very long. Footsteps approach. She makes no indication that she notices at first, but she is listening intently. The steps are neither hurried nor cautious, and their rhythm is one she recognizes. She is not in danger, for the moment. She puts on an easy smile for her Housekeeper and sets the mug down, being sure to catch a stray droplet before it lands on the new nightwood table.

"Good morning, Lona," she greets the woman.

"Good morning, Serjo Hlethi. You're up early." Lona's smile is practiced and unreadable.

"I wanted to get some extra work in," Ulennus says with a lighthearted shrug. She has no intention of telling Lona about the nightmares that have been keeping her up.

"Then may it be a productive day. I've left my intelligence reports on your desk as per usual, but your web has picked up some whispers that you may find...concerning. I thought it best to tell you myself."

The levity in Ulennus's expression fades. Her enemies extend far beyond those expected in House politics, and so she makes sure her spy network—her "web"—does as well. Unfortunately, that also expands the ways things could go wrong. She runs though all the possibilities in her mind. If it were something as simple as a Writ of Honorable Execution taken out on her, Lona would have called that "pressing," but not concerning. She has an assassin of her own on the payroll, so these things are typically dealt with swiftly and without issue. Something else, then. A double-agent in her web's ranks would be concerning, but they're usually taken care of before word even reaches her. Perhaps they've caused more trouble than her employees could handle on their own? Has something been leaked to the Empire?

She shakes the thoughts away. There's no use troubling herself with what might be when she could simply ask what is.

"Go on."

"An agent of the Blades has moved in across the river."

Ulennus's brow furrows in question. "There are already a few Blades in town. Are you having trouble keeping tabs on them?"

"Not at all, serjo," Lona assures her. "It's just that this one is Caius Cosades."

She sits bolt upright, wincing as she jostles the table and spills some of her kaveh. "The spymaster?"

Lona nods grimly.

"Any clues as to why he's here?"

"None yet, but we will redouble our efforts."

"Good," Ulennus says. Her gaze drifts away as she makes a plan. "I'll re-arm my wards for good measure. I will also need guards. Assemble dossiers on candidates you think would be a good fit. Oathmen or higher, and make sure they understand subtlety. I don't need the place to look guarded. I'll also need you to ensure that every strand of my web is completely loyal. If you get so much as a whiff of doubt, tell me. More than a whiff, and you have my leave to kill them." She is not normally so brutal, but this is not a normal situation. "And you, Lona, will have a raise, as thanks for your continued loyalty." There is a thinly veiled threat in there, yes, but the girl does deserve the raise. More importantly, it will keep her happy and less likely to be bought out.

"You are ever a gracious lord," Lona says. Her polite smile does not change. Her fluency in House etiquette will get her far. "I will go to work immediately. Fair day to you."

Ulennus hardly notices her leave, distracted as she is. It has been just five years since she betrayed the Emperor. She had given the Totem of Tiber Septim to the King of Worms—God of Worms now—and he had kept his promise and harmlessly departed the plane with it and the Mantella, gifting her with enough fame to make her too important for the Empire to do anything too blatant in retaliation. She had hoped that would be enough, but that was before (or was it during?) the Warp. By the end, everyone had gotten what they wanted—except for Ulennus. For years she played the loyal Blade, all the while relaying the goings-on of the Emperor's inner circle back to her House and the Temple, and biding her time. She had thought she had an opening, a chance finally to get the better of the Empire for getting her father killed in what would become the beginning of her career. But somehow the Emperor had still been able to use the Numidium for his own ends, and now, with more power and less unrest to worry about, he has more resources to come after her.

She fetches a bottle of Cyrodilic brandy and adds some to her kaveh.

That's the funny thing about fame. It got her a seat on her House's council, an impressive manor, her pick of luxury goods, and all the connections she needs. There's gold in it too, of course: her high profile makes her her a desirable sponsor of House enterprise, allowing her to grow her fortune and making it easier to maintain what she has. On the other hand, it makes it very difficult for her to hide. All of the caution of the past half decade has been but a prelude to this. This is something new. This is fear.

The nightmares worsen in the following days, but she hardly sleeps anyway. Her employees must think her paranoid, even soulsick. Is she? ...Does it matter? Her new guards take on various pretend roles: a gardener, a chef, a lover. She reads and rereads intelligence reports, scouring them for anything she may have missed on the first pass, or the second. The attack never comes, of course—the local Imperial spymaster has other plans—but this is her life now. She wonders dimly if this was the Emperor's plan all along. She played a long game with him, now he's playing one with her, letting her live in fear until one of them dies.

At least time is on her side.