40 Starting again

The sun was rising over the sleepy little town. Birds were chirping at the morning sun as they searched for food. Fish were swimming in the large river beside the town. A dog watched over some chickens moving imperiously through the middle of the street. Normally, people would be going about their morning chores already, but the town was still quiet. A large group of people were passed out around a large fire pit which was between the sawmill and the river. One of the figures rolled around on the ground a moment before raising up to a standing position. They then moved over to one of the still sleeping people who had another person curled around his feet and a small animal curled up against his side. A few kicks later and the sleeping man finally started stirring.

"…Uuuuuhhhh…what happened?"

Not expecting an answer, Rictus flinched when a voice responded.

"The Daedric Prince Sanguine happened."

Rictus looked up to see Roluth standing above him. He then took a moment to survey where he was at. It appeared he was in Riverwood out by the sawmill. A muddy Miruma was curled up around his feet and doing an excellent job of keeping them warm in the cool morning air. There were people laying all around with some finally starting to stir. A goat was also cuddled up to his side.

"I've about had it with these goats. Why do they keep appearing? It's like some sort of cheap gimmick I can't seem to get away from…"

Rictus extracted his feet from Miruma and moved away from the goat as he stood. The goat did do a good job of keeping him warm though. He pulled a cup of water from his storage to wet his parched throat and used some restoration magic to heal his aching body.

"So, how bad was it this time? I hope I didn't lose too much time. Also, what happened to your arms?"

Roluth was standing stoically still in his armor, but there was a distinct lack of arms on the man. The man didn't seem bothered by it which was a bit unnerving.

"You decided to take them away again. Do you not remember your note and action before you started a drinking contest against the Daedric Prince of Debauchery?"

Thinking hard, the memory slowly came back to him. While Rictus had never wanted to see Sanguine again, he had made some little plans. The note was about who he was and told the person they should try their best not to let him do anything too crazy or travel too far. It said it would be best if they could stop him from drinking at all. He also remembered thinking it would be a good idea to remove Roluth's arms so he would not be able to drink. The idea was to make sure there was one sober person who could watch over him. Rictus felt his embarrassment rising that he actually went through with such actions.

"Ah…let me see. Here they are. Let's fix you up then you can tell me everything that happened."

Pulling a pair of arms out of his storage, Rictus fixed up his faithful and stoic follower whose only response was "you gave them to me so you can take them back whenever you need them." It was nice having such dedicated followers, a little scary but very convenient.

According to Roluth, it was actually only the next morning from when they entered Sanguine' s domain, already a much better start. Things had gotten a little wild in that misty grove, but nothing too terrible. Rictus had apparently taught the daedra a few drinking games which were a massive hit. Ale pong was now a thing in Skyrim. The party then moved to Morvunskar where all the mages tried to help beat Sanguine in the drinking contest, which was quite impressive despite them failing. The daedra then offered to send Rictus and his new posse home, but he was adamant about going to Riverwood to see if the 'shouter' was there yet. Once in town, he somehow persuaded everyone to join in a celebration. He had run off into the woods for a bit, but he came back with a group of women which caused all the men in town to cheer and be more willing to party.

A lot of competitions happened during the celebration which used logs. They saw who could throw the large logs farthest, which Rictus had easily won by cheating. They tested balance on logs set into the river, again won by cheating. They saw who could hold up the heaviest log, which someone cheated to win. Finally, they had two teams get on both sides of a log and saw who could push it the farthest. That one ended the games since so many people got hurt. Luckily, a bunch of mages were there so healing was done quickly.

The night ended with them around the fire. It was during this part Rictus had pulled out his lute and began singing songs the people had never heard before. The people had been amazed at the novelty of the songs and raw emotion some of them evoked, especially the sad ballad about a man who wrecked a carriage and shared a last kiss with the love of his life before the lord took her away from him.

By the time Roluth was done explaining the previous events, the townspeople had finally woken up and everyone was going about their business despite the late start. Overall, it went much better than last time for sure. There was something Rictus needed to ask though.

"Miruma. Why were you cuddling my feet, and why are you so muddy?"

The woman began blushing after being called out directly like that.

"Ah..well… you see my lord…"

Thankfully Roluth was there to quickly explain that as well.

"She took offense that one of the townspeople was leading on two different men instead of being plain with them. They had a little argument which you broke up. You then demanded they fight to resolve their differences."

Rictus scratched his head trying to figure out why he would do something like that.

"You then proceeded to make a mud pit where you told them to wrestle. Somehow, they both agreed. It was quite popular based off all the men's cheering. Miruma won easily of course. The other woman then went off with the two men fighting over her. A few other women then tried to fight Miruma, but none prevailed. All went off with a different man that night. When some men made unwanted advance on Miruma, you threw them into the river, sat her at your feet and told her to stay there."

Rictus felt his face heating up at his actions. He couldn't believe he had women mud wrestling…and he couldn't even remember it! Not that he was into that kind of thing, but it would have been cool.

"Sorry about that Miruma. That was no way for me to treat you. I hope you can forgive me."

He tried to apologize but was waved off.

"There is no need to apologize. It was actually very convenient to keep all those men pestering me away. I have no time for them. I am too busy training and following you. The fighting was also all in good fun with no one getting hurt."

At Miruma's insistence, Rictus dropped it.

"Well, if there is anything you want as a reward, let me know."

He then moved his sight to the people still hanging around the campsite. There were 13 people standing there. All of them were mages too. 5 were mages from Morvinskar, including Reysera. The other 8 seemed to be the coven of witches he had met not long ago. Reysera and one of the witches covered in a hood and long cloak approached him. Reysera was the first to speak.

"I am truly impressed. I knew following you would be a good decision, but who could have known you had a friendly relation with Sanguine. Enough for him to even reward you with a staff and not pledge your soul to him."

At her mention of a staff, Rictus recognized the feeling of one on his back. He was not sure how he missed it before, but it was definitely there now. The staff was made of dark green wood and seemed to fit perfectly into his hands. A stunning looking rose sat at the top of it which despite its appearance, was harder than iron. It seemed Rictus had still managed to get the Sanguine Rose.

A small note appeared in his hand out of nowhere.

'The rose is the important part, not the staff. If you use it too much, you'll lose it. Have fun with it and don't forget to let loose. -Uncle SG.'

Looking at the staff, Rictus could tell the magic was all centered in the rose and not the wood. Most staffs had some portion of the wood used to amplify them, but not this one. Maybe he could alter the staff into an amulet instead? That could be done later though.

The hooded woman was next to speak.

"We greatly appreciate you including us in your little celebration. I wish I could join you, but I must answer the summit. I am sure there will be quite the stir this time. Things are changing. If you show this pendant, you will be welcomed in the Reach despite the changes I believe are about to happen. I am sorry to trouble you, but I would ask you look after some of my coven for me. They expressed interest in joining your group, and I approved it as long as you do not mind."

Rictus saw 4 women separate themselves from the others to come stand closer to him. Rictus thanked the transformed hagraven and wished her luck on her journey as her and her coven quickly left. There was a total of 9 mages now. Gaining 9 mages was quite an accomplishment. This would greatly improve the Restored's versatility. A strong magical force was necessary for any faction wanting a wider influence on the world. These 9 were a great start for building up his Restored. They were all trained in combat spells and had above average talent as a mage. He could work with this.

Rictus began informing his new followers about his faction and things he thought they should know. He appointed Reysera as the leader of the mages since she was the strongest and most experienced of the group.

He was going to observe them and see how they behaved before he tried to make any of them his True Minion. There were only 9 available slots, and only the best would do. If the best were not available, then the most loyal would be rewarded. If someone proved their loyalty and dedication to him, he would return the favor. Reysera would most likely be granted the position of direct disciple much faster than the other mages who have joined. She was powerful enough that such a boost would be very practical for their organization. There was also something about her which made him feel she would dedicate herself to the cause once she saw the full operation, especially if he improved her magical potential by making her a True Minion.

She also gave some more news which was always good to hear.

"I believe there are a couple of acquaintances of mine who would be very interested in joining you as well. I know one would love to try and learn to move stone like you do. I will send for them and see if any are interested. One can never have too many experienced mages under them."

Rictus could only smile and agree. With Ken and the other veterans reaching out to experienced warriors, and Reysera reaching out to more mages, his Restored were quickly gaining more experienced members to fill their ranks. If only he could get some reliable rouges of some sort, he would have the holy trinity of classes. The thieves guild was out because they were too unpredictable. The dark brotherhood was definitely out as an option for obvious reasons. He did not want people who were more dedicated to some immortal spirit or daedra. The details were a little fuzzy on the night mother, but he wanted nothing to do with any more powerful otherworldly beings.

Actually, the three major factions all seemed to be under the influence of a powerful being. The Companions were technically following Hircine because they are werewolves. The Thieves guild has Nocturnal influencing them. The dark brotherhood directly follows the Night Mother. It was interesting to think about, but nothing could really be done about it for the moment.

The group began preparing for departure as it was time to return home. It had been a good time in Riverwood, but there were things which needed to get done. Expanding the information network to the other major holds was a top priority. Ken would know who would be best to send in order to start this expansion. Once it made some progress, Rictus would then be able to go and seal the deal with some of the people by healing them. It worked so well in Whiterun there was no reason to change the formula.

The other major task was to go back to Winterhold. Rictus had been away for a while and wanted to see how things had been progressing. The Jarl was most likely back as well, and it would be interesting to see his take on Ulfric's actions. Even more importantly, it was time to get Morrigan to enchant him some objects. He planned on trying his hand at enchantments more, but it would be dumb not to take advantage of what should be the best Enchanter in Skyrim. He may even be able to get some items for his followers.

He knew he should be working and branching out his own magical abilities, but it was difficult. There was still so much he did not know about his own magic. The conundrum of becoming a master of one or a jack of all trades struck again. Yes, he was technically a master of Alteration, but he had merely scratched the surface of it still. There was so much more potential and versatility in this area of magic than any other, at least in his very biased opinion. He could use alteration magic to mimic the effects of the other schools as evidenced by his invisibility spell after all.

Rictus had initially really wanted to get good with enchanting and alchemy, but it was nowhere near as simple as the game made it seem. He had spent a little bit of time on them as a test and was greatly disappointed. Enchanting seemed so easy in the game. Get an enchanted item, deconstruct it, and BAM. You now know that enchantment forever and can casually imbue a new item with that enchantment. Alchemy was similar. Mix some stuff together and then you could get immensely powerful potions to constantly stack and make even more powerful potions.

Turns out, enchanting is tough. Maybe if runes were still a thing, like in the old days of ESO, things would be easier, but not so anymore. Deconstructing an enchanted item took time. You had to painstakingly go through every aspect of the item to find out how it worked. These enchantments had to be understood at a primal level by destroying them and absorbing its nature. Sometimes, it took more than one try to truly understand it in a way which allowed you to reproduce it. It wasn't as simple as memorizing a rune or pattern and redrawing it.

It was more similar to taking apart a machine, then having to rebuild it with different parts. Some enchantments were easier to understand than others, but each person was different. You also couldn't follow someone else's instructions because their understanding of magic, how it should act, and their perceptions about it was different than yours. Even after learning an enchantment, it was not always a guarantee you could reproduce it with 100% efficiency. It took practice and perseverance to get to that kind of level.

It was also very expensive. Powerful enchantments required powerful soul gems and for those soul gems to be filled with a powerful enough soul. Supply of these soul gems was very limited and hard to come by, not to mention the cost. A greater soul gem was already expensive but buying a filled one required someone with the soul trap spell to kill a creature like a giant to fill it. Not many mages were out hunting monsters on that level. Lower-level soul gems were much more common, but they were not nearly as powerful. All in all, it was a timely and costly endeavor to practice enchanting which Rictus was not sure he wanted to commit to at this time.

Alchemy was quite similar in complexity. It wasn't just pour it all in some water, mix it, and done. It had the advantage of being able to follow a recipe, but these were still difficult. Finding the right diluting agents, getting the ingredients, having proper alchemical tools, it all took time. Then blending an ingredient just right, making sure your ingredients are of similar quality, following mixing patterns, keeping perfect temperature, adding in the correct ratio and at the right time, cooling in just the right way, it was all a complicated art. Sure, once you got more experience learning new recipes became easier, but that took time.

It also wasn't like you could stack effects like in the game which allowed you to make infinitely powerful items. There were enchantments and potions which could boost you, but it was only to a certain degree. You couldn't keep boosting the effect of a potion or enchantment to take them to god like levels. This was actually a very good thing though. If this was possible, there would be all powerful warriors and mages doing whatever they wanted in the world because no one could stop them. It was sad he couldn't create an iron dagger which would allow him to kill a dragon with a single scratch, nor some crappy looking hide armor which a dragon could not even scratch, but that was an acceptable price to pay for no one else having those items.

Maybe once he became more confident in his own abilities, he would branch out more. Right now though, Rictus was content with working on his alteration abilities and using it to replicate and enhance magic from other branches. If he could make his summon familiar spell so powerful by mixing alteration magic with conjuration, how powerful would the atronachs get? He also now had a staff which would grant him a powerful daedric follower.

Thinking of the staff, maybe he could quickly change it. The staff definitely looked cool, but it was a bother to carry around all the time. Utilizing telekinesis, he held the staff up then caused his ax to quickly cut it right below the Rose. He then pulled out some iron from his storage which was then shaped into an amulet and transmuted to silver to complement the Rose. Placing the Rose in the opening he made, he caused the metal to flow over its base and secure it.

Rictus was now the proud owner of the Sanguine Rose amulet. It was a large amulet, but still much less conspicuous than carrying around a staff. It could even be hidden under his robe with only a small bump as evidence. He could still feel the ability to channel the Rose which would allow him to summon the daedra. Overall, it was quite a nice improvement to his gear.

A rumbling in the air broke Rictus from his inner thoughts. The flow of magic in the air had become strange. Something was going on, and it was nothing good.

It did not take long for everyone else to notice something was off. The rumblings grew louder. It wasn't long before Rictus figured out what was going on. It wasn't rumbling. It was roars.

Alduin had finally shown up.

---

(A little before and not too far away)

"Hey, you. You're finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there."

Slowly blinking eyes revealed 2 other bound prisoners in the wagon. A confused look appeared on the person's face as they took in the strangers' conversation.

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[A/N]: Well now you know what happened this time with Sanguine and have finally completed the first real quest Rictus went on. It just so happened that as he finished that quest, the main cannon started up. Almost seems like the story was planned that way from the beginning…..it wasn't, but it could seem that way at least.

I know it wasn't a lot to go on, but next chapter will give more details on the dragonborn.