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skyrimkinkmemeANNOUNCEMENTS: UPDATED 12/16/2017
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Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.4
Date: 2013-12-10 07:41 pm (UTC)The Cistern had been cleaned up by the time Brynjolf got back – the bodies removed and the mess cleared. Sapphire and Karliah were sitting together at the table on the far side, a bottle of Black-Briar mead each and Sapphire going over the diary. The original was written in a language Brynjolf didn't recognise, but the writing looked like Gallus's. Sapphire was reading a translation written out and signed by Enthir of Winterhold, and Brynjolf definitely had seen his handwriting before. Enthir had been Gallus's best friend, it stood to reason he wouldn't have wanted to protect Gallus's murderer.
“Well, what do we have?” Brynjolf asked, taking a seat next to Sapphire.
“It looks legit, Bryn,” Sapphire said, brooding over it. “Gallus was talking about irregularities in the Guild's accounts, things going missing, and he was fairly certain it was Mercer. Also that the Guild's luck had turned and he wasn't certain Mercer hadn't caused that either. Something about Mercer having profaned the Twilight Sepulchre and betrayed the Nightingales. I don't know what that means and she won't tell me. Said she'd explain when you got back.” This was said with a glare at Karliah, who shrugged apologetically.
“Let's just say it's not the sort of thing I want to have to say twice,” Karliah said quietly. “Brynjolf, how's Delvin?”
“Going to live,” Brynjolf said, unable to stop himself smiling at that. First bit of good news he'd heard since he got here. Karliah actually smiled at that, and Brynjolf wondered if perhaps they'd all been wrong about her.
“Glad to hear it,” Karliah said in that soft voice of hers. “So now what, Brynjolf? Going to kill me yet?”
“Not yet,” Brynjolf said, flicking through Enthir's notes. They confirmed everything Sapphire had said, and if Mercer really had killed Gallus to cover his tracks... Brynjolf felt his blood chill as he realised this had been twenty five years ago, Mercer had been Guildmaster ever since, he'd had full reign of the accounts. If Mercer had been embezzling, no one would have known. He pulled Delvin's vault key out and passed it back to Sapphire.
“Sapphire, this is one of the keys to the vault. It was Delvin's. There's only two others, me and Mercer have one each. Needs two people to open the vault and it's not pickable. Come with me, we need to check everything's in order there. If Karliah's right about Mercer... come on.”
Sapphire nodded and followed, Delvin's key in her hand. Brynjolf slid his into the vault door, heard the lock click into place then motioned for Sapphire to try the other one. She did so and the door swung open.
The vault was empty. Cleared out – all the gold gone, all the jewels gone. Nothing. Not. A. Thing.
Sapphire was first to react.
“That lying, thieving, no-good son of a skeever, when I find him, I will kill him!” Sapphire shrieked, tearing at her hair, eyes blazing with cold fury. Brynjolf could barely even speak. All the Guild's money, gone. All the years he'd spent trusting in Mercer, trusting his Guildmaster could turn things around... and the son of a bitch had been on the take all along.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.5
Date: 2013-12-10 07:43 pm (UTC)“I have my suspicions,” Karliah confirmed. Brynjolf decided right there and then he was half sick of secrets.
“Is it do with what Gallus was writing about? The Twilight Sepulchre?” Brynjolf asked. “And... Nightingales? You don't mean to tell me they're actually real.”
“Nightingales?” Sapphire asked, scratching her head. “What, like in the stories? Sort of super-thieves that watch over the rest of us in life and in death?”
“That's right,” Karliah nodded. “There's three at a time, the Trinity. They serve Nocturnal, the Queen of the Night, Mistress of Shadows, and when they die, they become one with the shadows, guarding Nocturnal's Temple and protecting thieves here in Mundus. Mercer and Gallus were both Nightingales... and so was I. We served Nocturnal and got rich... and then Mercer got greedy. Like you read in that journal, he profaned the Twilight Sepulchre, Nocturnal's temple and conduit to our world. That's how he was able to open that vault – he took her sacred artefact, the Skeleton Key. That's also why the Guild's luck has turned – with the Key gone, Nocturnal's conduit to Tamriel was severed and the source of our luck dried up.” She indicated the remains of the Cistern. “You see the results for yourself.”
Brynjolf didn't want to believe it, but it made too much sense for it not to be true.
“But if our luck's gone, why... why'd the Embassy job work in the first place?” Brynjolf demanded. “It's the riskiest thing I've ever done, but it all worked, I got inside, the distraction went without a hitch, I got in and out with the goods. I thought I'd got away with it!”
“Well, the Thalmor got your name and allegiance and the Cistern's location out of someone,” Karliah returned. “Clearly not that lucky. But you did this job for a client, right? And you were able to carry it out without getting fingered, and when the Thalmor did come, you weren't here. I'm wondering if perhaps something else was watching over you. Some other source of good fortune that wanted you alive and the job doing.”
“Like what?” Sapphire asked, looking at Brynjolf suspiciously. Brynjolf was not a religious man, and belief in Talos was decidedly unhealthy right now... but he couldn't help but wonder if a certain dispossessed Aedra hadn't been involved. It was ridiculous but for the Blades work to go flawlessly and everything the Guild touched turned to ash... no, no good could come of this line of thinking.
“Couldn't say,” Karliah shrugged. “Not without knowing who Brynjolf's client was and what they were after. But maybe this is a discussion for another time. Right now, we've got a Guildmaster to find. He must pay for what he's done.”
“The Thalmor took him, I imagine he'll be paying soon enough,” Sapphire snorted. Karliah shook her head.
“You don't understand, he had the Skeleton Key with him. We need to find it and return it to Nocturnal, or we'll never get our luck back. Try and rebuild all you want, but without Nocturnal, the Guild's doomed.”
Sapphire digested all this, looking thoughtful. “Bryn, what do you think?” she asked finally. Both women were looking at him as if they expected him to mysteriously solve all their problems, but damned if he could think of anything. All the same, Key or no Key, Brynjolf wanted to chase down Mercer. Mercer couldn't have spent all the Guild's money, he had to have stashed it somewhere. The Blades could use that money.
“We need to find where the Thalmor may have taken Mercer – they took him alive, they want to interrogate him, they won't have gone far. Sapphire, where'd they take him, what direction?”
Sapphire indicated the ladder leading up to the mausoleum. As Brynjolf had suspected.
“In that case, there's a trail of blood leading away from the tomb gate. Follow it, both of you, see where it goes, ask around if the trail goes cold. The Thalmor tend to stand out if you get my meaning.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.6
Date: 2013-12-10 07:45 pm (UTC)“I'm going to see Maven,” Brynjolf replied, dreading this next bit. “Need to see if we still have a patron after all this.” That was assuming Maven hadn't been the one to sell them out, of course. It was a slim possibility... but Brynjolf really couldn't rule it out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Still early, but not so early it would be unreasonable for a thief to call on his Guild patron. Brynjolf knocked on Maven's door, hoping someone was up and the Thalmor hadn't been here too.
He was in luck. Maul opened the door, sword drawn, but he sheathed it when he saw Brynjolf.
“About time you showed up. Get inside,” Maul growled, hauling Brynjolf into the Black-Briar house. Brynjolf swallowed nervously. Maven clearly knew something, that much was certain, and his certainties didn't decrease when Maul ushered him into the Black-Briar dining room, where Maven was sitting at the table, drinking a bottle of her best mead. That was definitely bad. Maven looked gaunt and pale, her hands shaking, and Brynjolf didn't think she'd slept.
“So you're finally back,” Maven snapped, a brittle edge to her voice that had never been there before. “Am I to take it you're the reason the Thalmor were here? They were asking questions. Not terribly friendly questions. About the Guild. About the Blades. About a certain break-in at the Embassy and some elderly dissident who'd been hiding in the Ratway but fled before the Thalmor could round him up. Your name kept coming up.” Maven stared pointedly at him, toying with the mead bottle in her hand. “I warned you, Brynjolf. I warned you I couldn't protect you if you were mad enough to rob them.”
Yes, she had, she'd been very forthright on the matter at the party, furious he'd be stupid enough to show his face there. Brynjolf guessed someone had observed their conversation and decided rumours of Maven's involvement with the Guild were worth following up.
“I'm sorry, Maven,” Brynjolf said, doing his best to sound contrite. “I didn't know they'd find me. I went to a lot of trouble to cover my tracks, but someone sold me out and when I find them... well, it'll make the Thalmor look positively merciful.”
“They searched my house, Brynjolf,” Maven said quietly. “And the meadery. Probably the Lodge too. Threatened me, my business, my family, if they found any evidence linking me to the Guild. Ingun's still in shock after what they threatened to do to her. Oh don't worry, they won't find anything. I'm not such a fool as to leave written evidence lying around. But this is going to have knock-on effects on my business... after all these years, after generations of Black-Briars making the Rift their home... I am half-tempted to sell it all and start over in Hammerfell.”
“You're not serious,” Brynjolf gasped. To lose Black-Briar support when they needed it the most... but after a visit from the Thalmor, anyone would be jumpy.
“No, not yet,” Maven laughed bitterly. “I'm not completely finished. I might even be able to turn it to my advantage yet. But you'd better get yourself out of Riften for a while, Brynjolf. Lie low, change your name, your looks – does the Flagon still have that face sculptor?”
No, Galathil's corpse had been one of those littering the terrace in the Flagon.
“The Flagon doesn't have much of anything any more, Maven,” Brynjolf admitted. “They attacked the Flagon in force, broke into the Cistern, killed virtually the entire Guild. They've got Mercer in custody, and I've got four people left to me, one of whom's lucky to be alive and will need extended recovery time, and the other's nerves are shot to Oblivion by the whole thing and won't be much use for anything. We've got no Guild left, Maven. I think we're all going to have to go to ground for a bit. I'm sorry.”
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.7
Date: 2013-12-10 07:46 pm (UTC)They were still like that when Brynjolf found them, moving quietly towards them.
“What happened?” he asked, surveying the scene.
“Mercer used his Nightingale powers to make the Thalmor turn on each other and got away in the chaos,” Karliah explained, her voice shot through with bitterness.
“He can do that??” Brynjolf gasped, mind boggled. “But if he can do that, why not do it when they first attacked...” He stopped, inhaling sharply as he reached the same conclusion Sapphire had. “Son of a bitch.” He knelt by Sapphire, taking her off Karliah and holding her to him, stroking her hair as a distraction, to remind himself not to completely let his anger consume him.
“That does it,” he said, voice a low growl that would have sent hardened killers fleeing. “He dies. I don't care what he has to say any more. First Gallus, then ruining your life, Karliah, then stealing all we had, and now I find out he could have saved the Guild but didn't? We kill him. End of discussion.”
Karliah closed her eyes and bowed her head in acceptance of the judgement. “We need to find him first,” she said. “Any ideas where he'd go?”
“No idea, he could be halfway to Morrowind by now,” Brynjolf sighed. “But we can search this place, find out if there's anything here that might tell us where he's gone. This is his stronghold, his sanctuary, if he was making plans to flee, this is where he'd keep everything.”
Sapphire dried her eyes and let Karliah help her up and the three of them began searching. No sign, nothing of interest, a bit of miscellaneous loot but nothing to indicate any sort of heist or secret hideout.
At least not until Sapphire thought to wonder why there was a wardrobe in the side pantry, and Brynjolf took a closer look. Once he might not have noticed anything, but that was before meeting Delphine again and seeing the secret passage in her bedroom. Hidden in a wardrobe just like this one. Seconds later, he had the false back open, revealing the steps going downwards.
“A secret lair,” Karliah murmured. “Cunning. Very cunning. Of course, there'll be traps all over the place, Mercer wouldn't want to leave it unguarded.”
No doubt. But that also meant there was something down there to find. Steeling himself, Brynjolf entered the passage. Time to find what Mercer was hiding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were traps all right. Traps involving firejets in the floor, where all three had to take different routes over the room and leap over the final tile to avoid getting toasted. Then the long tunnel with the battering rams and swinging blades. Karliah told them to wait while she dropped to her knees and slunk underneath, dropping and rolling in precise co-ordination with the blades. Finally she made it to the other end where conveniently there was an off switch for the whole thing.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.8
Date: 2013-12-10 07:48 pm (UTC)Then there were the plans. Oh, the plans. Rather detailed plans, indicating Mercer was going after one of the last great heists.
“The Eyes of the Falmer??” Sapphire gasped. “Are those even real??”
“They're real,” Karliah confirmed. “Gallus was going after them before... but he never got the chance. He'd been planning and researching for years – I'd wager Mercer found his plans and has been building on them.”
The Eyes of the Falmer. Two large diamonds the size of a small baby. Said to have been the eyes of a great Snow Elf statue hidden somewhere in Skyrim. Worth a fortune, enough to both help the Blades out and maybe get the Guild back on its feet too.
Enough to make sure Mercer was set up for life if he got them first, and that made Brynjolf's blood boil.
“We have to find him,” Brynjolf said firmly. “Before he can get those gemstones and go to ground. It's our only lead – once he's got those, who knows where he'll disappear to. He's got a headstart, but he's injured, he'll likely need to hole up for a bit before he can get moving. We can catch him, we can do this...”
“Not as we are,” Karliah said quietly. “He's a Nightingale, he's used the Key to unlock more than just doors. He's powerful. If we need to bring him down, we'll need help. We'll need Nocturnal's assistance. We'll need to rebuild the Trinity.” She looked expectantly at them both.
Brynjolf looked at Sapphire to see if she was thinking the same thing he was. Had Karliah just offered to induct them both into the Nightingales?
“You mean... me and Brynjolf. Nightingales,” Sapphire gasped. Karliah nodded, actually smiling now.
“Inducting you both as Nightingales, yes,” Karliah said. “We won't have full access to Nocturnal's gifts until the Key's returned, but we can have the armour. I think you'll find it to your liking. What do you say?”
What was the catch, was what Brynjolf wanted to say – fortunately Sapphire wasn't born yesterday either.
“But there's a price, right?” Sapphire asked. “I mean, I wouldn't agree to a deal where I wasn't getting anything out of it – you're not telling me the goddess of thieving is going to.”
“You're smart,” Karliah said, nodding approvingly. “She's going to like you. Basically, it's a business deal like any other, a Guild contract in a way. We take the oath as Nightingales, and in return get given the armour and powers of Nocturnal. We can use these to do whatever we want. But we're sworn to protect the Twilight Sepulchre, Nocturnal's conduit to our realm, keeping it safe and open so her influence can protect us. In life... and in death. When we die, our spirits guard that temple, and eventually once Nocturnal's decided our time is up, we become one with the shadows, our influence and skills helping to guide and guard thieves still living.”
Enhanced thieving gifts at the expense of an afterlife. He knew it. Service to a Daedric Prince in the afterlife, what fun. At the same time... one with the shadows. Protecting his fellow thieves, along in spirit for every heist, ensuring things went their way when it mattered... there was something to that. He'd always liked mentoring the younger ones, spotting talent, helping them develop their skills, seeing his wide-eyed raw recruits go on to make something of themselves. He'd hated seeing them fail, seeing them get caught or shot by the guards, their luck running out. To be able to stop that from happening... and an edge against Mercer too.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.9
Date: 2013-12-10 07:49 pm (UTC)“I'm in,” he heard Sapphire say, and he found himself nodding along.
“As long as it doesn't take too long,” he told Karliah. “We can't risk Mercer getting away.”
“Spoken like a true thief,” Karliah laughed. “Don't worry, the place I'm taking you to is just outside Riften. We shouldn't be long.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nightingale Hall turned out to be barely fifteen minutes out of Riften, right near the mysterious stone monolith that generations of thieves had whispered was some sort of symbol of the Nightingales and might bring you luck. Some thieves whispered leaving an offering would bring good fortune, going so far as to leave septims and gems out here. Brynjolf had believed them once, as a young footpad just starting out, right up until Glover and Delvin had caught him doing it one night, nearly wet themselves laughing and told him brighter thieves just spread that rumour so they could lie in wait and help themselves to the goodies.
He'd avoided the place since. Now here he was ready to actually join the order behind it.
The entrance was hidden under the cliff – locked but he could tell on sight the lock was a puzzle one that would fox most thieves. Karliah, it seemed, had a key.
Inside, the place had a vast hall with a river running through it – a little rundown but not bad. Karliah led them through to where three stones which she called armour stones were waiting.
“Touch one, it'll give you your armour. Then get changed into it and follow me.”
Brynjolf glanced at Sapphire to see how she was taking this. Apparently in her stride.
“Saff, are you sure about this?” Brynjolf murmured. “It's a contract with a Daedra, they're not exactly trustworthy.”
“If it ends Mercer and gets us our Guild back, I'll do it,” Sapphire said, her face stony. “Why, having second thoughts?”
“Not exactly,” said Brynjolf, although he wasn't entirely sure about this. “I just... thieves and temples. Normally we're robbing the gods, not swearing loyalty.”
“It's not about religion, Brynjolf,” Karliah announced, emerging in her Nightingale gear. “It's business. We make this deal on behalf of all thieves, ensuring all benefit from Nocturnal's gifts. We don't do it, our entire business falls apart. But if you're not sure, go. Hopefully Sapphire and I will be enough.”
On behalf of all thieves... and on behalf of all spies too? Maybe the reason the Thalmor had been able to hunt down the Blades the way they had was because they were benefiting from Nocturnal too. Delphine, I promise, I'll make sure the Nightingales help you... or at least, this one will.
“Don't worry,” Brynjolf promised. “I'm still in. I'm just wondering, why me? You've not seen me in years and I was just a nineteen year old kid back then.”
Karliah's face was hidden behind her hood but he had a feeling she was smiling.
“In that time, you've gone on to be Guild Second, universally liked by everyone in the Guild by all accounts, a finder of many great thieves, very very good at your job, and now you tell me you managed to rob the Thalmor without getting caught? Of course I want you as one of us. As for you, Sapphire, you survived that Thalmor attack with barely a mark on you, and you came back fighting. You're strong, resilient and you're going to make a fantastic Nightingale. You both are. If you're willing?”
Sapphire emerged from where she'd been getting changed, face flushed as she prepared to pull her hood on.
“Never more so,” she whispered.
“Come on then,” Karliah said, leading them both to Nightingale Hall's inner sanctum. “Let's get you sworn in.”
~~~~~~~~~~
In the end, it was all a little anticlimactic. Nocturnal came at Karliah's summons but not in person – just taunting her almost. But she accepted the terms in the end, accepted both Brynjolf and Sapphire as Nightingale, and restoring Karliah to the same.
Re: The Wolf Queen Awakens 17.10
Date: 2013-12-10 07:53 pm (UTC)“Normally new Nightingales would be taken to the Ebonmere, there used to be an entrance to it from the Hall,” Karliah replied. “You'd get your new powers there. But with the Key gone, none of us have them, not even me. It's how Gallus knew the Sepulchre had been defiled, our gifts vanished, and only another Nightingale could have got as far as there. Which is why we have to find Mercer – he's stolen more than coin.”
“The plans said the Eyes of the Falmer were in the Dwarven ruin of Irkngthand, up near Lake Yorgrim in the north,” Brynjolf recalled, remembering the plans left on Mercer's desk. “If we go there now, we might be able to catch him before he can get away with the Eyes. Or we can lie in wait if he's not there yet.”
“This is one daedra of a slim chance,” Sapphire snapped. “And if we don't find him, what then? I've sold my soul to a Daedra for nothing? I want coin and power, Karliah!”
“We'll find him,” said Karliah, eyes flashing darker than usual. “Nocturnal came to us, I don't think she'd have come if the situation was hopeless. I think we still have her favour, I think there's still a chance Mercer can be caught.”
“There'd better be,” Sapphire muttered. “In the mean time, I'd better go steal myself a sword, this dagger's nice but it won't do me much good in a Dwemer ruin.”
Karliah sighed, and unbuckled her own sword, handing it over.
“Here. Take mine. It was Gallus's once. I don't really need it, I always preferred the bow. It's the Nightingale Blade. I think you could put it to good use.”
Sapphire actually whimpered as she admired it, and Brynjolf let out a low whistle on seeing it.
“Nice! I'd appraise it for you, but I don't think you'll be wanting to sell that in a hurry.”
“No way,” Sapphire breathed. “This baby's mine.” She gave it a few experimental swings before sheathing it. “All right, Karliah, if being a Nightingale means more shiny toys like this, I'm in.”
“You're already in,” Karliah laughed. “But thank you. I assure you, when the Key is restored, we'll all have the chance to heist as many shiny things as we could ever want. But for now, we have a job to do.”
“We do,” Brynjolf said, fingering Chillrend's hilt. “Come on. We've got a renegade thief to find... and punish.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: And that's how to do the Guild questline in a hurry when your Dragonborn's not actually a thief. I'm so sorry about the Guild though. It'll rise again in time but for now, the Nightingales are it. Pretty badass Nightingales though.
Hope you like it so far, insofar as you can like a plotline where virtually all the Guild got massacred by the Thalmor. I'm so sorry, but it felt sort of inevitable that the Thalmor would want revenge and Bryn is a bit of a high-profile thief, he's not some underling the Guild can just sacrifice. As it is, I saved who I could, principally magic-resistant Bretons and half-Bretons who inherited their dad's magic resistance.
Next up, the Nightingales hunt down Mercer, and then it's time to start working out where they all go from here.