Story of a Breton Farm Girl from Cyrodiil, Ch.02, part 17

• Posted by Eviltrain August 7, 2012 - 950 views

  

  30th of Last Seed, 4E201

  Upon entering the College of Winterhold, the three travelers returning from Solitude found the place was abuzz with news of Yisra's death. She was now the fourth student to die since the 19th of Second Seed. Brelyna broke away to find her master and the housecarl entered the dormitory to find her bed. Nephili proceeded into the Arcanaeum to deliver Shalidor's text to Urag gro-Shub; she found him with his usual scowl, speaking to Master Mirabelle Ervine. Reaching into her satchel, the young mage presented the tome to the head librarian.

  "Excellent, you're still in one piece and more importantly, so is the book. I'll get started translating this right away."

  After watching the exchange, Master Mirabelle spoke to the younger Breton. "How did you like your first assignment for the College?"

  The Novice turned to the Master Wizard. "It was harrowing. I... we nearly lost Brelyna in that cavern. There were powerful conjurers attempting to resurrect Queen Potema."

  Urag looked up at hearing the name. "They were summoning Potema? Are you certain?"

  "Y..yes, the name was chanted repeatedly."

  "Hmmm, interesting. I assume you stopped the ritual?"

  "We believe so. The energies being collected dissipated once the conjurer's had been killed." Nephili slowly wrinkled her brow. "Did... you know they were there all along?"

  Urag studied the apprentice for a moment. "Yes."

  The young mage struggled to contain herself as she wrapped her mind around the librarian's answer. Remembering her place, she carefully presented her next question. "...Are all of the College outings so dangerous?"

  "Not often, but often enough."

  "Master Urag... why did you not tell us about the conjurers?"

  The big Orc cocked his head at the question as his scowl deepened. "Tell you about them? And, what would you have done if I had? Listen. Whether you or I knew about the situation in the cave at the time I gave you the assignment is irrelevant. The one who can best ascertain the risks and rewards of your efforts at the time you encounter a challenge is you. The decision to attack or retreat was up to you. Since you attacked and you are here, than your decision was sound. If you had lost, well then, we would not be having this conversation now, would we? Any other questions?"

  "... ... no..."

  "Good." Urag gro-Shub returned to gently perusing the ancient text.

  Mirabelle studied the young Novice trying not to get upset over Urag's answers. "Nephili, why don't we sit over there and talk."

  The two moved to a table outside the inner ring of bookshelves. Sitting down, the Master Wizard waited for Nephili to do the same before speaking. "What is your concern child?"

  The young mage looked to her elder with hesitation. "I guess I'm just... surprised that the College would send someone like me into such danger."

  Mirabelle absorbed the statement for a moment. "If Urag's sentiment surprises you, then prepare yourself, this institution will be a very harsh place for you. Our ability to be a repository of magical knowledge is largely dependent on the efforts of all of us conducting field research. That means stepping into the unknown. Given the history and expanse of Tamriel, it is a rare thing to understand the full extent of the dangers out there. On the occasions when we do know of a great challenge, the Master Mages will take those on themselves, assuming the end result is of interest to us. Otherwise, we do not deny or judge anyone else's pursuit of knowledge."

  The Breton girl sat, her face slightly fallen in the cold light of reality.

  "So the question is, do you wish to continue your stay here?"

  Nephili shifted her focus down to her callused hands for a moment. "...I want to learn to become a more powerful mage. Illusion, conjuration, destruction, alteration, restoration; I brought myself here to learn as much as I can."

  Mirabelle smiled at the student. "You wish to press on is it? Well, good. I had hoped that would be your answer. Since you are seeking to be a generalist, I might be able to help you. Given your success against those necromancers..., you show promise, and I like that. Come talk to me a bit later. I think perhaps you are more skilled than the Novice you were expected to be. Assuming your determination is genuine and you continue to progress, perhaps later we can discuss the interdisciplinary aspects of being a jack of all trades."

  Sitting up to gain height, Mirabelle continued. "Be warned, do not expect me to simply tell you what you should learn. I will only share my perspective and advise if I find your efforts are worthy of them, understood?"

  Nephili nodded her head and shyly introduced a smile.

  *     *     *     *

  The Master Mages sat quietly around the table having just heard Savos Aren's official announcement of Yisra's death. Several days had passed since Drevis and Faralda's return, giving enough time for rumors to bloom and die and bloom again until finally, everyone had concluded what could be the only truth. She was dead and everyone had expected it.

  What they had not expected was the Arch-mage announcing that Yisra died as a vampire. Naturally, the mages fell into an uproar as almost everyone engaged the round with shock, dismay and conjecture. Savos waited for the din to subside somewhat before continuing. "I had asked Faralda and Drevis to withhold the news to you all to give Colette a few days to examine the body in peace. Master Colette, please tell us all what you've discovered."

  Colette Marence gratuitously nodded at the Arch-mage and piped up in her typically shrill manner. "We can safely say that she died no more than a week prior to her discovery. Given the terrible state of the burned body, the only other finding I can present to you is that she had shackles around her ankles at one point. There wasn't much else I could discover. As for her vampirism, unfortunately, I have nothing to add. I've gone over the Arcanaeum with Master Urag but there is very little research available regarding these creatures."

  "Thank you Colette. There we have it. With this information perhaps we can conclude that Yisra was imprisonned at one point, possibly for being a vampire. Though, if that was the case, it brings up troubling questions as to why her pursuers chose capture a vampire. There is also the question of whether her captors had turned into her killers. Regardless, it would appear that she had escaped and was perhaps making her way back to the College."

  Master Drevis, having had the time to consider several possible theories, spoke the one that he could not set aside. As the table discussed the findings, he murmured, "Perhaps Falion or Estiredain might know something..."

  The table grew quieter when those who heard him stopped in mid conversation. The Arch-mage gave the Master Illusionist a knowing look. "Yes, such a possibility exists. The Master Conjurer and the Restoration scholar were both independently researching vampires. I think it's time we paid both of them a visit. I'd like to send Tolfdir to visit Falion... but he couldn't even be bothered to step away from that orb for this meeting. Sergius, you were on friendly terms with Falion were you not? Can you make a trip to Morthal and talk to him?"

  The old enchanter frowned at hearing his name and the name of his once colleague. "If you're asking me, I suppose I can make the trip. But if turns into too much trouble, don't expect me to keep a lid on it."

  The Arch-mage gave the old man a rueful gaze but nodded his agreement. "That leaves Estiredain. Colette, you were her old teacher, perhaps you would be willing to go?"

  "I was her old teacher yes, but we had our... differences. For the time being, I'd much rather exhume the other bodies and see if I can make any connections between them and the new one."

  "Hmm, I see. Then who should we send?"

  Seeing no volunteers, Master Mirabelle answered in her capacity as the College's superintendent. "I could go in her place. Estiredain and I had a few conversations off and on while she was still here. She might be willing to talk to me."

  "Thank you." The Arch-mage smiled appreciatively at the Breton mage.

  "Now, after the last death some two month's back, there was a great deal of consternation about how... events were handled. I believe a part of the reason was that not everyone was convinced that the College was under threat. Does anyone believe that we are only experiencing a series of unfortunate incidents at this point?"

  No one around the table objected. "Good. I'd like everyone to consider the previous deaths in a more... unfortunate light for the time being. Since we are all gathered, let's talk about the deaths of Ilas-Tei, Rundi and his twin brother Borvir under the assumption that they were murdered. What can we say about them?"

  Master Faralda, who had been barely listening to the discussion surrounding her dead student, looked up at the mention of the other names. "...If we assume the students had been attacked, then we should conclude that Ilas-Tei's death was an attempted cover up of the crime. She was, after all, partially eaten by the Skeevers that she had caged."

  The arch-mage nodded. "Yes... you may be right. The Argonian's horrible death may suggest that possibility. Unfortunately, given the manner of death, we can infer very little else. What of Rundi and Borvir?"

  "Rundi died of several deep cuts across his neck and chest, if I recall correctly. A town guard found him laying against a makeshift altar and a rare treatise on Mannimarco on his person. If there had been another corpse, we might have assumed he had died attempting to raise a thrall."

  Phinis Gestor shot Faralda a defensive look. "I want to make very clear I had absolutely nothing to do with Rundi's or Borvir's demise. Everyone heard Rundi's disappointment when I denied him the master level Dead Thrall spell. I certainly would not have given him Mannimarco's version as some perverse consolation! He simply was not ready."

  "Yes, of course." replied the Arch-mage. "Getting back to Rundi, thanks to Colette's examination of his body, we can at least rule out that he himself had been thralled. Given his keen interest however, I think we should continue to assume he had acquired that book precisely to get around Phinis' denial. This still leaves us wondering how he got such a rare treatise in the first place and whether there had been a corpse for him to use at all."

  The room full of mages considered the question at some length. Most of the discussions centered around how he might have acquired the tome. There were also a theory or two regarding the cuts. Not hearing anything new, the Arch-mage offered another thought to the group. "Very well, I'll propose my own theory. We should assume that Rundi did not go to the trouble of creating an altar and acquiring that book if he had not already found a way to acquire a body. The question of whether Rundi had successfully or unsuccessfully raised a thrall is perhaps irrelevant. The more interesting question might be, what happened to the other body?"

  A few responses were brandished about until the deep voice of the head librarian cut through the table. "Rundi was killed so he couldn't reveal the nature of the thrall that was being raised. I can't imagine why anyone would kill a mage simply for having power but I can imagine being killed for raising the wrong dead."

  The din around the table came to a halt after hearing the librarian's words. Master Sergius guffawed as he jumped into the conversation."Now that is interesting! If we are assuming his death was not an accident, that would strongly imply someone else was there at the time. Incidentally, this might explain why Borvir had accused Phinis of being witness to his brother's conjuration efforts don't you think?"

  "Look you, it's already been established that I never left the College with Rundi! I hope you're not implying otherwise. Arch-mage, say something!"

  "I'm sure Master Sergius is not accusing you of involvement. You've already proven your case."

  Master Faralda nodded at the telling. "Speaking of Borvir, he had left to deal with his brothers corpse but instead, was found full of arrows near the body of a bandit further out west some days later. We of course assumed that they had killed each other, though why he had left his brother's corpse alone and was found so far away had remained a bit of a mystery. Still, given the presence of the the other body, it's hard not to assume his death wasn't just an unfortunate circumstance."

  The Old Enchanter responded back, "Faralda, if we assume Rundi had been murdered than we should also assume the same for Borvir. Perhaps getting killed by that bandit wasn't accidental. Makes me wish we had examined the bandit's body as well. It could have been this missing thrall."

  Faralda shook her head. "I know we're assuming everyone had been murdered but even for me, your theory seems a bit too far fetched."

  "Hmph, I'll agree with you that it's far fetched but let me say this much. Just as the Arch-mage finds it curious that there appears to be a missing corpse that should have been found with Rundi, I find it curious that Borvir was convinced that Phinis had gone after his brother the night he died. Borvir may have been wrong about Phinis but what if he was right about someone following his brother? And now, given Yisra's note about being tailed presumably right after she had left the College, I'm starting to think the unthinkable."

  The room fell quiet at the old enchanter's ruminations.

  *     *     *     *

  "Murder by numbers, 1, 2, 3"