The Sea Vipers' Plot
Ian S. McClure
Upon arriving at the Shattered Shoals, we were treated with a sight both beautiful and devastating, for the golden, sun-lit sands were marred by the wrecks of ships and the corpses of soldiers. Elereth and I contemplated this in silence, until we heard a woman, faraway, shouting: “Can anybody hear me?”.
We rushed to the source, discovering a Bosmer woman, clad in heavy bone armor and wielding a large battleaxe. Despite her obviously non-standard armor, she was identifiable via the eagle insignia on her pauldrons as a Dominion soldier.
Upon seeing us, she waved her left arm- her right, clearly wounded, remained limp at her side. “You folk! Have any of you seen my squad?” she asked.
Elereth replied: “If you mean other Dominion sailors, you're the first we've seen today.”.
She sighed dejectedly. “Name's Sergeant Firion. We- my squad- we were on the Little Alkosh, part of the Dominion fleet sailing to Khenarthi's Roost. Then, a hurricane blew up out of nowhere. Sails tore, hulls cracked, and we were thrown into the ocean. Ended up here, but I can't find the rest of my squad… Thought I heard one of them calling out, though. Could you two keep an eye out for them? They answer to Edhelas, Onglorn, and Nistel.”.
“Of course.” I said. Thankfully I had put on my armor prior to leaving the Plantation.
Soon after leaving Firion to begin our search, we saw a very curious creature- reptilian, squat and with with a huge mouth. “Alit.” Elereth whispered. “They're dumb, but pretty ravenous. They've been known to snack on travelers.”.
“Then we'll just have to be careful.” I said, drawing my sword.
The alit heard the metallic sound, and with a roar, charged us. With a clinking of armor, I sidestepped easily, slashing at the beast's hide. As it collapsed, Elereth snorted. “You make it look easy.”.
I sheathed my blade, and observed the dead alit. Within its' innards, I spied a glittering object of some sort. I pointed it out to Elereth. She said: “Huh. Don't know what that could be… Alits are known to eat almost anything. Maybe it's jewelry or something.”.
Elereth then crouched, taking out a crude knife, and began the messy work of extracting the unknown object. After a bit, she finally got it out. It was a bottle, full of slightly luminescent green liquid. “Glow juice.” she whispered.
“What is glow juice?” I asked.
She stood up, the slimy bottle still in her hand. “Old Bosmer healing remedy- actual name's Torchbug Treacle, but we- the Dominion, I mean- we mostly just call it glow juice.”.
I nodded. “If it's a healing remedy, perhaps there's more along the beach. We can use it to heal any soldiers we find.”.
The three soldiers, all of them Bosmer, where in pretty rough shape. The sea had not been kind to them during the hurricane. Still, using the various bottles of Torchbug Treacle Elereth and I found along the coast, we managed to heal them quite nicely. As the last one, the bearded elf named Onglorn, grimaced and drank the juice, Elereth said: “Well, that's everybody in your squad. We should head back to Sergeant Firion.”.
Onglorn held up an arm. He said: “Wait a few. Lieutenant Gellin dragged me out of the water. He'll want to know that we're alright. He should be in a cave nearby- seeking shelter.”.
I nodded. “Well, the more soldiers we help the merrier.” I said. My greaves clinked as I got up from my crouch. “Shall we be off, Elereth?”.
But it soon transpired that Gellin was dead. His body was soaked in blood, from numerous shallow cuts throughout his body. The sanguine fluid was tingled with a strange green foam- venom perhaps. Perhaps more disturbing was that the blood was purposefully spread to create strange, wave-like patterns across his body. “Y'ffre's bones.” Elereth whispered. “A sacrifice.”. I nodded.
“Indeed. We need more information. I suggest we-”. I was interrupted, however, by a horrible, echoing hissing. I drew my blade, turning to see a frightening monster- a giant serpent.
It lunged without warning, mouth agape. I blocked its attack with my shield, creating a loud metallic sound. Elereth rolled aside, drawing her bow.
“Ardolan!” she cried. “I'm going to shoot it! Get clear!”. I backed away, but the beast lunged again. This time, I bashed it away with my shield, dazing it. “Now, Elereth!” I cried. She fired a few arrows, puncturing the snake's hide. With another hiss, it turned to Elereth, who began to run. “Green protect me!” she cried, panicked. I ran as fast as my armor- and my stamina- allowed, but the giant serpent was obviously faster. The Bosmer girl gasped as it bit off a chunk of her leg, as though her medium armor was simply not there. Luckily for us both, I reached it then, and before it could react, I beheaded it.
Elereth's breathing was ragged as I searched desperately for a bottle of the Treacle. But there was none to be found. The wound did not seem to be poisoned, but it was deep, and Elereth was clearly unused to injuries of this caliber. So I instead began searching for a bandage. Before I found one, however, I was interrupted again.
“We'll handle it from here.” Firion said. “Onglorn, Edhelas! Patch her up and give her some glow juice. Nistel, search the cave, see if there are any more of those snakes.”.
Outside the cave, Firion and I sat, under the light of the late afternoon. After a little bit, she said: “Your Bosmer friend's going to be fine. She'll need to recover though. The cave seems to be clear- we're keeping her there with Nistel. Best fighter on my squad- she's safe with her.”
I nodded. She sighed, and continued: “Squad found Gellin, by the way. Some kind of sacrifice. Too big for our squad to handle alone. We spotted a beached ship nearby, intact and with Dominion sailors aboard.”.
“So what are you going to do?” I asked.
“Well, I'm going to warn them, at least. Maybe get them to give us reinforcements, find out who did this.”.
“I'll go with you, then.” I said, grunting as I stood.
“Suit yourself. Shouldn't be far.”.
“You aren't a slick-arsed Sea Viper, or a cabbage-mouthed castaway.” the Khajiit said, eying me warily. “State your business with the crew of the Prowler.”.
“A marine was murdered in some kind of ritual.” I explained. “His squad needs reinforcements.”.
The Khajiit nodded. “Oh. Well then, the Prowler's like a hen in a wolf den until she's seaworthy again… Well. Maybe your marines can prove they're more than two-legged cargo. They pitch in, I'll consider reinforcements. There's patching in the hull to be done, a replacement helmsman's wheel to be found- Oh, and our sun-sighter! Some Maormer ran off with it.”.
I smiled. “We'll help in any way we can.” I said. “Oh great.” I thought. “A fetch-quest.”.
Firion and her squad (sans Nistel, who was still with Elereth) were livid. Firion said: “These aren't Dominion sailors, they're privateers! Just our luck.”.
“You heard the Khajiit?” I asked. Firion nodded. “Yep. Edhelas is the best scrounger in the regiment. He can find a replacement wheel. I'm handy with a mallet- I'll patch the hull. And Onglorn's our best tracker- he can recover the sun-sighter.”. “
Excellent.” I said, privately relieved of having to do all of that myself.
One hour later, as the sun was beginning to set, the Khajiit man- whose name was Oblan- was impressed. He said: “That was fast. All right, there's room on the ship for your friends, as long as they work for their meals. As for you, go talk to our captain, Jimila. She has something to say- something you'll want to hear.”.
So, I went aboard the Prowler, and found said captain at the helm of her ship. Jimila turned to me, and said: “Due to your efforts, the Prowler is free to set sail once again- and your friends too, of course. I have no reinforcements, but I offer something better- I know who's killing the sailors. And I know how to stop it.”.
“What in Auri-El's name do you mean?” I asked. “We witnessed the Sea Vipers drag your marine into a cave. If we weren't so short-handed I'd have ordered his rescue. But before we understood the danger, I sent three of my crew to investigate the Maormer pirates. Only one has returned, and she tells a harrowing tale. The Sea Vipers intend to create another hurricane.”.
“How is that possible? No magic I've heard of can generate storms like that.” I said.
“The Maormer are well-versed in storm magic- more so than any of your kind. My sailor, Mastengwe, claims that the other two, Suhr and Virkvild, are captured, being used to channel another storm. And if you look over there- (here she pointed with her clawed hand)- you will see that there is indeed a mighty storm brewing...”.
I looked, and indeed, there it was- ominous, greenish clouds circling over a beached ship.
Jimila continued talking then. “Mastengwe says that the Maormer use 'lodestones' to hold my sailors. If you kill one, grab his lodestone and use it to free them and stop the ritual.”.
“What makes you think they're alive?” I asked, grim. She shrugged. “My gut. And it's usually reliable.”.
I nodded. “So, stop the ritual. I suppose I'll have to do this alone?”. Jimila sighed. “I'm afraid so. Your marine friends are still finishing up repairs, and I can't spare anyone from defending my ship. It's up to you.”.
The Maormer saw me before I saw him. Drawing his greatsword, he cried, “Altmer scum! You cannot stop us! Your precious Dominion will fall!”. Finished, he charged me, greatsword swinging for my head. I ducked, dodging the large weapon, and slashed the mer's legs. As he collapsed, I beheaded him. I felt the usual pang of regret, of disgust- for despite what the tales may tell you, it is no easy thing to kill another sapient being. But, I had a job to do. I grabbed the dead man's lodestone, which was a small rock charged with lightning. Just then, it began to rain. A little at first, but it still filled me with dread. It meant that I had little time before the ritual was complete.
Getting onto the beached ship was difficult. In the end, I only managed it due to some convenient rocks and a fair deal of climbing. I have heard stories of people who can jump up mountains, particularly in Skyrim- I am not one of those people. After a moment of catching my breath amidst the now-soaking downpour, I looked to my right. There, a Khajiit man, portly and afraid, was magically bound to a strange totem.
I grabbed my lodestone. “Hold on!” I told him. “I'll get you out!”. I fired the stone's lightning at the Khajiit, shattering the totem. “Those Sea Vipers are insane!” he cried, running away at full speed. I also freed the other sailor, a thick Nord man, from his sacrificial prison as well. As he was freed, the storm rapidly began dissipating- the greenish clouds vanishing as the rain quickly lost its intensity.
“Heh.” the Nord said. 'They won't kill me today.”.
The man, Virkvild, accompanied me back to the Prowler. I hadn't noticed thanks to the storm, but night had already fallen. There, I found that Elereth had gone to the ship as well- she was still limping, but clearly recovering. “Glad to see you made it back safely.” she said. “Shame I couldn't help you out.”. “It's fine.” I said, removing my helm.
She smiled, then said: “Well, the captain wants to speak with you. Best head up there.”.
Virkvild turned to me. “I suppose I'm off, then. Thanks again for freeing me from that deathtrap.”. At that, we went our separate ways, me heading up to talk with Jimila and report my success at stopping the ritual.
I think that will suffice for today. I'll write again when we reach the other location Razum-dar mentioned- the Temple of the Mourning Springs.
-Ardolan Larethbinder
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