“No, and it turns out Reach-magic doesn't work as well outside the Reach,” Keirine added. “Delphine, we need to move and move soon, we don't have the resources to stay here forever. Close on a thousand Forsworn here and food's running low, soul gems are running low – you may not think it important but with no soul gems, we don't have the illusion shield and if we don't have the illusion shield, the Nords will realise we're here and we lose the element of surprise.”
Outside the Reach? What? But if they weren't in the Reach... where were they?
“Delphine, what's going on?” Elisif asked. “Where is this place? I just got here by some weird teleport thing...”
All four of them looked up and Elisif saw Madanach's eyes widen as he looked her over, Crown and all... and Delphine began to grin.
“And there she is. About time you showed up, Dragonborn. We were worried we'd have to start without you.”
“Start what?” Elisif asked, making her way over to look at the plans. They weren't in the Reach, so where were they, where else was there a plain surrounded by mountains? It wasn't the tundra of Whiterun, Elisif knew what that looked like, but she'd thought the mountains looked a little like the Anthors... and then she realised Skyrim's only other plain was the volcanic Aalto. She'd never seen it before but the more she thought about it, the more she realised how much sense it made... except when it didn't. “Wait, are we in Eastmarch??”
“We're in Eastmarch,” Madanach confirmed, recovering himself and breaking out into a smile. “And you are a sight for sore eyes, come here, Brenhina.” He made his way round the table to face her, clad in Forsworn gear, Cidhna Mine's grime gone, skin and hair scrubbed clean, stubble shaved off, the King of the Forsworn looking very much the part as he placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her up and down and seeming very pleased to see her.
He would likely not be pleased for much longer.
“Madanach,” Elisif said, feeling a little nervous around him. The smiling face and the charming letters hid a very dangerous man, she knew that, and their alliance wasn't so firmly cemented he'd automatically forgive her anything. “Hello. I came to find you.”
“Of course you did,” he smirked at her. “Did you miss me?”
Ah yes. Making her want to slap him, she'd wondered how long it'd be before that happened. She restrained herself to just narrowing her eyes.
“No, but I made you some promises and I needed to keep one,” Elisif said, glaring. “You don't really deserve it, but Argis seemed to think you should know.”
“Argis!” Madanach's face lit up even more. “He's here? Of course he is, Aela said he'd found you. How is he? Doing well? Being a good bodyguard?”
“Yes, apart from the unnatural teleportation talisman you gave him,” Elisif said. “Do I want to know how they work and can you really all travel anywhere?”
Chuckle from Madanach as he glanced at Keirine.
“We wish, cariad,” he laughed. “No, it requires a lot of planning to set one of those up.”
“It's not the opening the portal at the point of departure that's the problem,” Keirine added. “It's controlling the landing and making sure you don't appear in a cliff-face or impaled on a tree or something. Special landing points have to be set up and kept constantly clear, like the one you arrived on. So it's a quick way of getting home, but not terribly practical for going anywhere else. Also requires a charm or a lot of skill to be able to do. That said, this whole venture is letting us test an awful lot of experimental magic. Even if it fails, we'll have learnt all sorts. We might even be able to set up a fixed teleportation network for anyone to use one day.”
“We might!” Madanach said gleefully. “Whereabouts in Solitude's good to build one? Means I can come and visit you more often. I've heard it's a lovely city – certainly looks it from a distance.”
“Absolutely not!” Elisif cried, scandalised. “You aren't setting up a teleportal in my city! Gods know what might decide to travel down it.”
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timeasmymeasure
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 27.5
Date: 2014-04-25 08:35 pm (UTC)Outside the Reach? What? But if they weren't in the Reach... where were they?
“Delphine, what's going on?” Elisif asked. “Where is this place? I just got here by some weird teleport thing...”
All four of them looked up and Elisif saw Madanach's eyes widen as he looked her over, Crown and all... and Delphine began to grin.
“And there she is. About time you showed up, Dragonborn. We were worried we'd have to start without you.”
“Start what?” Elisif asked, making her way over to look at the plans. They weren't in the Reach, so where were they, where else was there a plain surrounded by mountains? It wasn't the tundra of Whiterun, Elisif knew what that looked like, but she'd thought the mountains looked a little like the Anthors... and then she realised Skyrim's only other plain was the volcanic Aalto. She'd never seen it before but the more she thought about it, the more she realised how much sense it made... except when it didn't. “Wait, are we in Eastmarch??”
“We're in Eastmarch,” Madanach confirmed, recovering himself and breaking out into a smile. “And you are a sight for sore eyes, come here, Brenhina.” He made his way round the table to face her, clad in Forsworn gear, Cidhna Mine's grime gone, skin and hair scrubbed clean, stubble shaved off, the King of the Forsworn looking very much the part as he placed his hands on her shoulders, looking her up and down and seeming very pleased to see her.
He would likely not be pleased for much longer.
“Madanach,” Elisif said, feeling a little nervous around him. The smiling face and the charming letters hid a very dangerous man, she knew that, and their alliance wasn't so firmly cemented he'd automatically forgive her anything. “Hello. I came to find you.”
“Of course you did,” he smirked at her. “Did you miss me?”
Ah yes. Making her want to slap him, she'd wondered how long it'd be before that happened. She restrained herself to just narrowing her eyes.
“No, but I made you some promises and I needed to keep one,” Elisif said, glaring. “You don't really deserve it, but Argis seemed to think you should know.”
“Argis!” Madanach's face lit up even more. “He's here? Of course he is, Aela said he'd found you. How is he? Doing well? Being a good bodyguard?”
“Yes, apart from the unnatural teleportation talisman you gave him,” Elisif said. “Do I want to know how they work and can you really all travel anywhere?”
Chuckle from Madanach as he glanced at Keirine.
“We wish, cariad,” he laughed. “No, it requires a lot of planning to set one of those up.”
“It's not the opening the portal at the point of departure that's the problem,” Keirine added. “It's controlling the landing and making sure you don't appear in a cliff-face or impaled on a tree or something. Special landing points have to be set up and kept constantly clear, like the one you arrived on. So it's a quick way of getting home, but not terribly practical for going anywhere else. Also requires a charm or a lot of skill to be able to do. That said, this whole venture is letting us test an awful lot of experimental magic. Even if it fails, we'll have learnt all sorts. We might even be able to set up a fixed teleportation network for anyone to use one day.”
“We might!” Madanach said gleefully. “Whereabouts in Solitude's good to build one? Means I can come and visit you more often. I've heard it's a lovely city – certainly looks it from a distance.”
“Absolutely not!” Elisif cried, scandalised. “You aren't setting up a teleportal in my city! Gods know what might decide to travel down it.”