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skyrimkinkmeme) wrote2011-10-29 12:36 pm
skyrimkinkmeme) wrote2011-10-29 12:36 pm
Meme Announcements!
ANNOUNCEMENTS: UPDATED 12/16/2017
Happy Holidays, fellow Kinkmemers! I have returned and have no reasonable excuse for my absence except LIFE. I will be working on updating the archives. If anyone sees anything amiss, please let me know.
I am also hoping to find another Mod and an Archivist.
The more dedicated people we have in this Meme the less chance of it dying. I admit that being the sole keeper of the Meme is not great for the fandom. If something were to happen to me, for good, this place would go the way of the Fallout Kink Meme. Let's not let that happen! If anyone would be interested in Modding/Archiving, please drop me a line. Thanks! <3
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.9
(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 08:57 pm (UTC)(link)“Are you all right?” he asked as she sipped at the wine. It was cheap Alto wine but right then Elisif couldn't have cared less. It helped.
“How in Kyne's holy name am I supposed to be all right after all that,” Elisif whispered. “I lost my husband and my baby and oh gods, I never told anyone about the baby before.”
He was sitting next to her on the bed, rubbing her upper back but otherwise sitting about six inches away from her, no part of him touching her and that was a surprise but a nice one.
“It gets easier to bear,” she heard him say quietly, sounding like he knew first-hand and Elisif remembered hearing Torygg speaking of Ulfric, telling Elisif what a great man the Jarl of Windhelm was, how he'd smashed the savages of the Reach, torn their resistance movement apart, overthrown the treacherous usurper who'd led them, heroically reclaimed the Reach for Skyrim, and Elisif had lapped it all up unquestioningly. Now here she was hearing it all from the other side, and she was questioning everything she'd ever been taught. Here she was, trapped in a prison with said murdering usurper, and here he was, comforting her.
“What was your story?” she said, looking at him properly. “I mean, apart from being king and then getting dethroned – Torygg told me that one.” She didn't mention Torygg gleefully recounting about how Ulfric had shown those murdering witchmen a thing or two, or how she'd snuggled up with him and thrilled to the details. It didn't seem right to enjoy the victory when you knew innocent children had died, and not by the hands of the so-called witchmen either.
Silence, and he'd let her go, hands in his lap, just looking at the ground. He picked the wine bottle up and took a swig straight from it.
“I had a daughter too, four of them once,” he said softly. “Eldest was called Eithne, she'd be thirty four, thirty five maybe, if she'd lived. Married maybe, out there leading the fight perhaps, I might have grandchildren, you know. I'd have loved grandchildren.”
Elisif hadn't even realised what she was doing before she'd taken his hand, squeezing it.
“Could still happen?” she said hopefully. “You've still got one daughter at least!”
Madanach smiled bitterly, still not looking at her.
“Eithne was the reason I took over the tribes, turned them into the Forsworn, started all this. I wanted a better world for her than the one she'd been born into. She was my heir, my princess. And then when she was fourteen, the Nords found the camp we were living on – just me and her, the other three were at Karthspire with their mother. Ulfric was with them, he was Jarl himself by then, but he left Windhelm when he heard they were storming my camp. Apparently he hated unfinished business. It was a bloody fight, but I could have carried the day – it was me, Ulfric, Thongvor and Thonar, and Igmund left standing. Four against one, but I could have won. At least until my daughter, who I'd told to hide and stay out of sight, decided to go for Ulfric. He just shouted her down with that voice magic of his and ran her through. I surrendered after that. Dishonourable? Perhaps. Should I have fought and avenged her, even if it meant my own death? Maybe. But she was my little girl, my reason for fighting. Didn't seem a lot of point going on without her.”
Elisif remembered the days after Torygg's death, when she'd just stayed in bed, lying there as the miscarriage took her, sobbing her heart out or just staring into space, barely aware of anything. She'd got better since, got better at going through the motions anyway, and since the whole Dragonborn thing, she'd had things to take her mind off it. What had he had? Just four walls of his prison cell and a rebellion to lead.
“Are you all right?” she asked, her turn to comfort him now, and of all the people she thought she might share a grief with, all the people who might understand, she'd never expected it to be the leader of the Forsworn.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.10
(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 08:58 pm (UTC)(link)“One day, we will have our freedom,” he said quietly. “One day, I will see them pay, the bastards who killed my family, threw me in here, ravaged my land... Thonar, Thongvor, Ulfric, I'll see the Void take them all. All things must die.”
She didn't know Thongvor at all, but as far as Thonar and Ulfric went, she was quite happy to see them bludgeoned.
“I'll give Ulfric a stab from you,” she promised. “Thonar too. If you get me out of here.”
Madanach finally looked up, actually smiling, sly grin that might have unnerved her once but now actually gave her hope.
“Yes, you and I have business to discuss, don't we. Jarl Elisif, known as the Fair, and recently Dragonborn. The Fair suits you. I'm not sure about the dragon, not unless you've got scales somewhere.”
Elisif took her hand from his, and shoved him in the side, but in all honesty, she didn't feel terribly offended and nor was he, just laughing and lounging back against the headboard.
“I don't have scales! Or a tail, before you ask. I just... can take a dragon's soul when it dies. Stop it coming back.”
“Like you did at Karthspire,” Madanach said, nodding in understanding. “That's how I knew it was you, by the way, I'd been wondering why the Empire's choice for Queen of the Nords could go from helpless figurehead to being idolised just by adopting a warrior name like Dragonborn. So it does actually mean something. A useful talent to have now they've come back.”
“I could wish they'd picked someone else,” Elisif sighed. “But they chose me so I guess I have to do this.”
“And what do you do with the souls once you have them?” Madanach asked, actually looking fascinated. “Can you enchant things with them?”
“I've... never tried,” said Elisif, thinking of the two inside her right now and starting to wonder if she could actually enchant things with them. An interesting possibility, but she really needed to hang on to them in case she found another Word Wall. “I use them to learn how to Shout – once I've learnt a Word of Power, I can use the soul to learn how to use it.”
“Voice magic,” Madanach breathed. “You can Shout. Like Ulfric.”
“Better than Ulfric,” Elisif said proudly. “It took him years to learn the few he does know. Me, I can learn words in seconds, I just need to see them written down. And then I just use a dragon soul and I can shout it. Of course, I have to kill the dragon first but even that's getting easier, and now I've got the Blades with me, I've got help! That's who they are, they're the guards of the Dragonborn, they're an order of dragonslayers. They served Reman Cyrodiil, but if they'd already made arrangements with you, that was why they stopped his Empire wiping you out. But when Talos arrived, a full Dragonborn again... if the arrangement had weakened or broken down, they'd have had to obey him.”
Madanach nodded, eyes flashing angrily again. “I see. And the current full-blooded Dragonborn, where does she stand on the Reach?”
A difficult one to answer. On the one hand, the Forsworn had killed an awful lot of people. But on the other, they'd been effectively Thonar's puppets for years, their king trapped in a daedra's bargain and too grief-stricken to care about anything else... or at least he had been. The man in front of her didn't look heartbroken at all, in fact he seemed cheerful. Pleased. A certain vibrant energy radiating out of him.
“Torygg hated you all,” she said quietly. “Thought you were all murderers. Animals. Traitors. But he also admired Ulfric and look where that got him.” Elisif considered her opinion on the Forsworn. Murderers, perhaps, so they'd have to stop that. Traitors? Well, insurrectionists yes, but given what currently passed for the government of the Reach, she found herself no longer blaming them. And as for animals... when you started treating any sentient being as less than a person, that was usually when the trouble started.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.11
(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 09:00 pm (UTC)(link)Madanach was grinning, and there was very little evidence of remorse there at all, but he did nod in agreement.
“Oh, don't worry, my little deal with Thonar is drawing to a close. And if the High Queen of Skyrim is considering giving us our land back, well, I can agree a little amnesty for a while. May I take it your Blades friends won't be destroying any more of our camps?”
“I'll talk to them,” Elisif promised. “It really was just the Temple we wanted, now we have that, we're good.”
“I hope so,” Madanach said. He was still watching her, something clearly still bothering him.
“What is it?” Elisif sighed. “What else do you want?”
“I have some more questions, if I may,” Madanach said. Elisif nodded for him to go and ask them. “If you're so against murdering the innocent, why are you working with the Dark Brotherhood? Don't tell me you don't have one of them with you, I have eyewitness accounts of a little red-haired daedra called Cicero swearing he'd send us to the Void in the name of Sithis. Well, he's not one of us, and the only other organisation who believe in Sithis and the Void are the Brotherhood. Going to get them to stop murdering innocents too?”
“If I have to,” said Elisif, remembering Veezara lying dead on the floor of her bedroom and Arnbjorn bleeding out on the road through Falkreath. “They tried to kill me once. They'll try again, but I don't intend to let them win.”
A sharp intake of breath from Madanach, and she'd never thought she'd see fear in his eyes, but he looked genuinely worried.
“They have a contract out on you,” he gasped. “Sithis, Elisif...”
And this was what Elisif had feared, the Dark Brotherhood and Forsworn being in league.
“You have an agreement with them,” she said, prepared to run if she had to – but where, that was the trouble. So it was she could have cried when Madanach shook his head.
“We used to. Many years ago when they first got started. We trained their assassins, they helped us out. Sithis is one of our gods, they worship Sithis too.” Then his eyes hardened. “But we drifted apart years ago. Sacrament doesn't even work any more. There's no one in the Forsworn remembers the old days personally, and I think they've abandoned us. So you're planning to take them on, are you? Presumably this Cicero's a renegade member.”
“Yes, although he doesn't see it that way,” Elisif explained. “The Dark Brotherhood's down to one group, according to him. They lost their Cyrodiil Sanctuaries after the war, there's just the Skyrim one and it no longer follows their leader, the Night Mother. Cicero still does, but he's the only one. There was a fight over it and he had to flee the Sanctuary. We saved him and now he's working for us. He thinks they're liars and heretics, not the real Brotherhood any more, so he's willing to help me fight them. He's... a bit odd, all right, very odd, but he can be really nice and he's already taken care of one of them for me!”
Madanach's worry had eased, and now he just looked sad. “So the Brotherhood have abandoned their Matriarch. No wonder the Sacrament stopped working.” He did smile then, grinning at Elisif in the candlelight. “In that case, I'd say they've got it coming. All right, next question. How exactly did you end up here anyway? My opinion of the Nords' intelligence has never been high, but even they aren't stupid enough to throw their own queen into prison, right? Surely the Jarl recognised you, he was up in Solitude at that Moot thing they held after the old High King died.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.12
(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 09:02 pm (UTC)(link)Laughter from Madanach as he refilled her tankard and drank more of the wine himself. “And that's Thonar all over, judging everyone else by his standards. Honestly, I have daughters, I don't go around raping and abusing innocent young women, or even the guilty ones for that matter.” His face turned sombre, shadows in his eyes. “So if Thonar knows who you are and is in contact with Ulfric still, he's probably sent word to him already. If Ulfric wants you alive, and there's a good chance he might if he thinks he can use you, he'll be sending people for you soon. We don't have a lot of time.”
No, they really didn't, and Elisif was a sitting duck here if Ulfric did decide to collect her.
“You wouldn't let them take me,” she whispered. She wasn't sure quite how far she could trust Madanach but he'd not want to let an asset like her fall into Ulfric's hands, right?
“Never,” Madanach growled and Elisif felt a little nervous. She'd hate to have that anger turned on her – Madanach was a frightening man when he was angry. But it passed as soon as it had arrived.
“Don't worry,” he said gently. “I'll make sure that doesn't happen. I just have one last question. Are you serious about learning to be a better warrior so you can kill Ulfric and avenge your husband?”
“Very,” Elisif said, remembering the blood on the Blue Palace's tiles and the screaming, gods she hadn't even sounded human. “He broke my heart, destroyed my family. He pays.”
Madanach didn't seem remotely worried by her anger, in fact he looked delighted.
“A woman after my own heart,” he laughed. “Tell me, have you given any thought to what happens after? You'll need back-up to get you in there and then out again without his guards killing you, and then that city's going to need a new Jarl. Unless you were planning to run it yourself.”
Truth be told, Elisif hadn't really thought about it – that was all General Tullius' area.
“I'm assuming I'll have the Legion at my back,” Elisif said, shrugging. “But if I don't... well, I'll go in alone if I have to. I just want him dead. I don't care about anything else, I never even wanted to be queen, that was all Falk and Tullius' idea. If I don't make it out of there, at least I get to go to Sovngarde. I get to see Torygg again.”
Madanach said nothing, lowering the wine bottle to the floor, eyes never leaving hers, face sombre and Elisif could almost swear he looked sad about this, but why would he? He'd known her only a few hours, not like it'd break his heart to lose her or anything.
“That sounds like a colossal waste,” he said eventually and Elisif closed her eyes, not even sure why the tears were coming again, but there was just something in his voice, some wistful yearning there, as if he'd actually miss her if she died.
Well, she'd probably miss him too if he died. He wasn't a monster at all, just a man like any other – well, not like any other, he was a smart, charismatic battlemage who led an entire movement after all. But he wasn't a wild animal like Thonar had claimed either and while she didn't know if she could entirely trust him, the fact remained she liked him. Felt safe around him. Comfortable. In other circumstances, she had a feeling they'd be friends.
They still could be.
“Was there anything else you wanted?” Elisif asked, desperately wanting to get off this subject before she starting sobbing again.
“Just one thing. A little favour if you will,” said Madanach, still lounging back, hands behind his head, still that odd wistful look in his eyes, accompanied by a faint smile.
“What sort of favour?” Elisif asked. Hadn't she already agreed to talk the Blades round to non-hostility against the Forsworn, get Thonar killed and look into possibly getting them their land back?
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
(Anonymous) 2013-11-11 09:04 pm (UTC)(link)“What, you want me to get arrested again?” Elisif asked, before seeing the twinkle in his eyes and realising no, he had no intention of staying in Cidhna Mine any longer than he had to.
“There's a Forsworn camp in the north of the Reach, in the Druadach Valley, just north of Karthwasten, on the southern bank of the Darkfall River,” Madanach told her, his voice soft and low but his eyes alive with promise. “It's called Druadach Redoubt and it's going to be my command centre. You want to see me, you'll be quite welcome as long as you don't bring an invading army with you.”
“You're breaking out of here,” Elisif gasped, hope flaring inside. She was getting out of here, they were all getting out of here!
Madanach nodded. “Yes. We've planning it for months, but recent events have convinced me now's the time to execute it. Want in?”
“Yes!” Elisif cried, ready to cry with relief. “Yes, of course. And I'll be sure to let you know when I'm going to Windhelm as well, so you know to start listening out for the news.”
“Yes,” Madanach said, still grinning. “Of course I'll want to do that, yes.” He got off the bed, patting the back of her hand. “Listen, we can't go just yet. I've got to make some arrangements first, get everything in place. But it shouldn't take too long, not more than a day at the most. In the mean time, you can stay in here with me. I know it's not much but it's better than anywhere else in this prison. There's facilities just down the corridor, food and wine here, and you can have the bed when you get tired. Make yourself at home.”
“But won't you need the bed,” Elisif asked, feeling the wine starting to go to her head. She was tired, a nap wouldn't hurt, but wouldn't he need to sleep at some point?
“I slept earlier,” Madanach told her. “Don't worry about me. You just rest and leave it all to me.”
“Thought you weren't going to make it all better for me?” Elisif said as she laid down on the bed, grinning sleepily at him.
Madanach stopped in the doorway of his room, laughing softly and glancing back at her.
“Not just for you,” he told her. “But if it makes you happy, I can live with that.”
Then he was gone, leaving her alone in a prison cell in the toughest prison in Skyrim, in a bed that wasn't hers, separated from her entire previous life and utterly at the mercy of and dependent on the man known as the Scourge of the Nords. So why she felt safer than she'd done since Torygg died, Elisif had no idea. She just crawled under the furs, closed her eyes and let sleep claim her.
~~~~~~~~~
A/N: And there you go, there's Elisif making friends all over.
Next chapter, Cicero and Eola, unaware of all this, start planning their own jailbreak operation... with mixed results.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
(Anonymous) 2013-11-13 01:20 am (UTC)(link)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
(Anonymous) 2013-11-13 01:18 pm (UTC)(link)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
(Anonymous) 2013-11-17 12:04 am (UTC)(link)Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 13.13
(Anonymous) 2013-11-17 12:01 am (UTC)(link)