54 What happened after next

Rictus found himself sitting behind a large carefully carved stone desk going over some reports. With the expanding of their network came a corresponding increase in reports to delve through for interesting bits. The work wasn't too bad though. Most of the mundane information was being sorted through by some trusted people who reported directly to him and Ken. They summarized the reports which allowed Rictus to get a general idea of things going on, and if he wanted more, he could easily get the full report on a situation.

One thing which he had been following was a growing number of Falmor sightings and raids. He had already been aware of the rumors, but it was more widespread than he had initially thought. From the reports he had gathered, he could infer a war was going on under Skyrim. It was not uncommon for explorers of the dwarven ruins to stumble upon scenes of destruction from where the automatons had clashed with the Falmor. The explorers also sighted significantly more of the automatons than previously found in the ruins. A couple surprising reports even mentioned seeing a couple of the dwarven spheres moving above ground between ruins.

All professional deep dives into the Blackreach caverns had completely stopped. There had always been fights and battles going on down there, but the size and intensity of them had grown significantly enough that no one wanted to risk going down there till things calmed down. Rictus had been tempted to lead an expedition down there himself to get a better idea of the situation, but he decided against it in the end. Although he could bypass most of the dangerous things by tunneling through the earth, the rewards were just not quite worth the risks at the moment. Maybe once the Restored consolidated more of their power and a large, dedicated group of delvers could be assembled. Right now, most of the Restored were working as guards for travelers and caravans, which greatly increased information gathering. Only a few small groups had been tasked with dungeon diving. 'Maybe once they get some more experience a great delving could happen, I bet some of the Companions would be up for such a quest.'

Another thing recently brought to his attention was a cult of pyromaniacs. They had been accused of burning small farms and homesteads near the borders of northern Whiterun, southern Dawnstar, and Eastern Morthal. They were not a huge priority right now and could be bandits or deserters, but it was something to keep an eye on.

Something more interesting had caught his attention though. The orc strongholds had been united under one banner and had left for the mountain city of Orsinium. The city of the orcs had been sacked earlier during the fourth era. Many of the survivors had been brought to Skyrim by the Imperial Legion. The city was later rebuilt in the mountains between Hammerfell and Skyrim, and it seemed most orcs were going back there instead of staying in the strongholds.

A new warlord had apparently risen from the stronghold Largashbur, which was near Riften. He had taken over the clan and then began going to the other strongholds and defeating their chiefs. Such a thing did not really bother most people living in Skyrim though since the orcish strongholds only rarely interacted with the outside world.

The warlord went by the name Orgrim. The orcs following him called him the Doomhammer since he wielded a massive warhammer which was blessed by Malacath himself. He was an amazing warrior who wore danced across the battlefield as if his extremely heavy orcish armor did not weigh anything at all. No one had pierced his armor and he never ran out of stamina while wielding his warhammer.

The large migrating group of orcs had even started calling themselves the Horde. If that wasn't telling enough, their elite units would have a painted white hand on their faces. Noticing the parallels with a couple of well-known films and games from his world, Rictus easily deduced that Orgrim was most likely one of the Skilled. 'Seems someone was well versed in nerd culture if he likes the Horde and the White Hand.' He wasn't sure which Skill Orgrim possessed exactly but figured it would be either two-handed or heavy armor. His bet was on heavy armor though despite the hammer he used. The fact Orgrim was leaving Skyrim was quite praiseworthy in Rictus's eyes. He personally had overlooked that as an option, even if he wouldn't have done it just yet.

His identification of the other Skilled was progressing decently as well. The magical ones were almost all accounted for. He was alteration. Morrigan was enchanting. Dante was restoration. The man named Solomon was Conjuration. This left destruction and illusion. He was pretty sure the Skilled of illusion was working with Ulfric based off some information he collected about the killing of the High King and some of the battles going on in the civil war. The Skilled of destruction was a complete mystery to him though. Maybe that cult of pyromancers would know something?

Identifying the other Skilled was not going nearly as well though. He knew Ken was the one handed Skilled. The others were mostly educated guesses. Orgrim was mostly likely the Skilled of heavy armor or two-handed, but he had not heard of anyone else fitting those two Skills. One of the caravan guards for the Khajiit was most likely the one for Block. Someone working for the Forsworn was Smithing. He also had a feeling the eccentric Imperial woman travelling with the Dragonborn was the Skilled of Speech, but he had not heard anything proving this assumption.

Less educated guesses put sneak, pickpocket, and lockpick with either the thieves guild or the Dark Brotherhood. He had been hearing tales of a rapidly growing bandit group in southeast Skyrim which were skilled in long range ambushes, but that was all he had to go on for the archer. Light armor and alchemy were totally unknown.

Identifying the others was not a major priority, but it was something Rictus had an interest in just like he did with all the major factions and other noteworthy people. Knowing one's potential enemies was always a good course of action though. 'I think Sun Tsu had something to say about that. Or was it Tzu? Zoo? Eh, doesn't really matter who wrote it I suppose.'

He stood up and made his way over to the display on a large table in the side of the room. It was a stone map of Skyrim he had made more realistic by adding in actual topographical features like mountains and rivers. It also had marks identifying important factions or people. He also had it color coded flags showing the sides of the civil war. Currently there were 3 major sides, the empire, the stormcloaks, and neutral. The holds of the empire were Solitude, Morthal, Falkreath, and Markarth (technically). The Stormcloaks had Dawnstar, Windhelm, and Riften. The neutral parties were Whiterun and Winterhold.

The neutrality of Winterhold had come as a shock for many people given its previous support to the Stormcloaks and Ulfric. Korir had decided he would not put his people through more battles after the fight with the Blood Horkers. He had even gotten assistance from the Mage's College to strengthen Fort Kastav which protected the only real road into the hold.

Regardless, the war was still in full swing as the two sides fiercely fought. Whiterun had even been receiving missives/threats from both sides about joining. It probably would not be long until a decision would have to be made. Unlike Winterhold, Whiterun was too important and centrally located to leave neutral.

The Stormcloaks had suffered a major setback though, and it wasn't even from the empire. Dawnstar had suffered immense damage after a dragon attack. The docks were in ruins as well as a significant portion of the surrounding farms. There was no conveniently timed arrival of the dragonborn to save the day, nor were the guardsmen able to slay the beasts as they strafed the city while breathing fire. The dragons did not conveniently land and give the defenders a chance to fight it on the ground either. The dragons had eventually been chased off after hours of fighting. 'More like they got bored or full and left.'

Still, this attack had proven a boon for the Restored. Rictus had sent Dravynea Stonewielder with a large group to help with the restoration of the town. The process would not be quick, but it was significantly faster with Dravynea there helping get at least some basic living arrangements made. Such kindness had greatly swayed public opinion in favor of the Restored. This led to a significant increase of recruitment as well as financial incentives from the Jarl for their continued assistance.

The Dawnstar situation was just another thing which shows the difference of the world with the game. Dragon attacks were picking up as the smaller no named settlements were hit the hardest. Things would only get worse as time went on though as more dragons were raised. Alduin had thankfully been taking his time with it, or else things would be much worse than they are currently.

These thoughts really made Rictus rethink his previous intentions of ignoring the dragonborn. It really did not make sense when he gave it some though. This was not a game where she could just respawn infinitely until the quest was completed and Alduin defeated. The dragonborn was the only real hope of solving the dragon crisis. If something happened to her, the world was in trouble. Because of this, Rictus it would be best to assist her. The main support would be in money and supplies. The Restored were not hurting for weapons and armor which would be a nice bonus for the dragonborn and her party. He would do his best to supply them with information if they needed it. He was not decided on letting them use his teleportation system, but if the situation was deemed appropriate, he would be okay sharing. He also thought he could give the dragonborn a bit of teaching in some alteration magic if she had the time. Even if it was only the simple armor spells, that bit of extra protection could be the difference between life and death.

Rictus stretched as he put away the status reports on his desk and stopped his thoughts on the potential end of the world. He had done enough reviewing that kind of information for today. It was time to look at something a bit more fun.

Magical advances.

There had been quite a lot of them recently since Rictus had personally gone out less. The additional mages joining the Restored also added more people available for magical experimentation and discussions. This allowed delegation like he had done to Reysera when she got their messaging system up and running.

Some of the most important advances were involving the mana stones. After some research, the stones functions incredibly similar to Varla and Welkynd stones. Rictus still preferred calling them mana stones though since it was easier to understand. Once he heard of the similarities, they tested the mana stones and found they worked excellently at recharging enchantments, better than all but the best grand soul gems. Having a steady supply of mana stones for enchantments was a significant boon since it allowed them to start having more enchanted gear since they did not have to waste time and money finding soul gems. They did still get some soul gems, especially when the magical anomalies appeared, but it was no longer as pressing need as it was before.

Having a good easy source for recharging enchantments also led many of the Restored getting lifestyle enchantments. These were simple and easy to learn enchantments which made life a bit easier or better. Socks which could resist cold and easily keep toes warm was very popular with those serving up north in the snow. Magical lighting cut down on the smoke from fires inside and provide steadier lighting compared to torches. Tunics were made which would resist the heat of the sun for those who worked outside in the warmer climates. Pots enchanted to keep food warm or cold were also very popular. For many, they would use most of their salary on getting these items since it was normally only reserved for nobility.

The other application of the mana stone was much more martial. Magic staffs were becoming less rare among the Restored, both mages and warriors. The majority were normal magical staffs which had mana stones embedded on them. Many staffs while powerful, did not have many charges on them. Adding the mana stone gave a free easy refill on the staff. This led to more of the elites among the Restored getting staffs as an added distance weapon since recharging them was becoming easier and cheaper.

Many of the mages also had some of the magical staffs with mana stones on them. These staffs were used as a training tool for many of the new recruits. The very basic ones were simply a wooden or metal pole with a large stone sitting on top. Adding and taking small amounts of mana from the stones allowed them to work on their fine mana control which was important for any spell work. Charging the mana stones also gave them an additional source of mana which helps cover one of the biggest weaknesses of new mages. The staff could also be used in conjunction with their own mana to overcharge spells and make them more powerful than usual.

In fact, most all the Restored have at least some basic understandings of magic or were taking some quick lessons on it. Rictus had really pushed all members knowing at least the basic healing and flames spell. This was to provide trauma support during battles which kept people alive. The flames spell would be used more as a distraction and utility spell, like lighting a fire, than for true combat purposes. While most did not have any talent with magic, mana was an ever present constant in the world, so everyone at least had a mana pool, even if it was negligible. The healing spell would most likely only be used in dire situations since many of the Restored did not have a large enough mana pool for constant spell work without getting exhausted.

With the magic staffs giving a magic attack to those who aren't mages, it prompted another avenue of magical research. They were working on simplifying runes and trying to condense them to smaller sizes. The results were partially successful, but not where they wanted yet. So far, they had one time use shields with the paralyze rune on the surface which could be powered by a mage or mana stone. This allowed certain peace keeping forces of the Restored to quickly incapacitate their foes with a paralyzing shield bash. Rictus had the hope of being able to condense the runes further and try attaching them like tattoos. He was not quite there yet, but it seemed promising based off some testes they had done on larger animals.

One of his minions had also created a new spell which was great for training the restoration skill and could have great potential further down the line. Danica had figured out how to reverse a minor cure disease spell into a minor sickness spell. It worked as a great training tool for the medical mages under her prevue. One of the ways they are being trained is by curing the sicknesses. The minor sickness spell was currently very weak, and casting required some medical knowledge, but it had potential. The more knowledgeable mages could now cast minor sickness on the apprentices who had to cure it or else deal with a runny nose and sneezing. 'I suppose people really do learn better and faster with practical applications. It sure made me learn the spell a lot faster at least.'

Rictus had also finally found some time to play around with the bound weapons spells he had learned from the College of Winterhold. They had always been one of his favorites while playing the games, especially the bound bow. It had taken a few days experimenting, but he was able to cast bound armor now. He had some faint memories of the spell being a thing in Elder Scrolls Oblivion and other games, but they did not really appear in Skyrim. Now on top of his normal alteration armor spells, he had the option of summoning some bound daedra armor for a short period of time.

The bound armor/weapon spells were quite fascinating to Rictus. The caster essentially pulled a lesser daedra from Oblivion and contorted it into the object they cast. A more powerful spell caster with a greater will would have more control over the entire process. Conjuration magic was very much influenced by domination. One had to have the power and determination to dominate their summon and bind them to their will. If someone could do this, the conjurer would have much greater freedom in manipulating the outcome of the spell. Most spell casters were more interested in rote memorization and doing exactly as the spell tome described instead of looking deeper into the meaning of spells. This was why most casters had to have a different spell for each bound item they tried summoning. Bound weapon spells cast this way by the average mage were generally a bit faster to cast and slightly more powerful for the amount of mana placed into the spell. Custom casting the bound spell though gave a huge amount of flexibility and customization. This type of casting better suited a talented, powerful, or well-studied mage.

A lot of this information had been gained from Rictus's newest helper. He had finally gotten around to trying out the new Sanguine Rose necklace for summoning a daedra. Normally, the Sanguine Rose would summon a different daedra depending on the strength of the caster, at least he thought that was something it was supposed to do. Rictus had been expecting a draemora lord or something like that. Imagine his surprise when a Mazken, or Dark Seducer, appeared from the artifact.

These humanoid daedra normally served the Daedric Prince Sheogorath and guard Dementia in the Shivering Isles. It appeared female with gray skin and dark hair. The Mazken wore dark black armor which could barely qualify as such with all the skin showing. It was strange seeing someone so scantily clad yet them not really appearing seductive. Must have been due to them being daedra. Thankfully, the Dark Seducers are known for being more patient, introspective, and humble when dealing with the 'lesser races' which made cooperation easier.

Rictus had taken to calling her Maz since it was the same one which was summoned every time. Maz had apparently been gifted to Sanguine by Sheogorath in return for an old jar which smelled of musty cheese. Regardless, the Mazken had been quite helpful in regard to bound weapons, at least when Rictus could get her to talk.

The final major magical advancement had been something he had been planning for a long time now. Rictus had been working on integrating the abilities of creatures and monsters into people. The process had been slow so far, but there were high expectations. Alterations so far were nothing drastic. Minor changes had been the most successful. Major changes were still being tested.

He had experimented with the larger changes on some criminals who were slotted for execution. Good thing too since many of the large-scale changes he had tried to imitate had led to madness in his subjects. The one he had been most excited for was a trolls regeneration ability. The first five test subjects had all quickly succumbed to massive and quick replicating cancerous growths throughout their body. The test subjects with gaining the reaction speed of a sabre cat had torn their muscles from their bones. He had been successful with granting a portion of the abilities though. These abilities were not on the level of the actual creature, but they were better than what a normal person possessed. Only a couple of the most dedicated Restored, like Miruma, had opted to test it out. So far, the results were quite promising.

A sigh escaped Rictus as he looked down at the invitation in his hand with mixed feelings. While the party invitation from Elenwen was not something he really wanted to go to, he felt it could be a good opportunity. He was sure the Thalmor had a reason for inviting him, and he was curious as to what would happen at the party.

It also reminded him that Ancano's arm was still in his storage. 'I'm pretty sure that what they called the Eye of Magnus is not the actual Eye of the Aedra Magnus. I mean the people at the College seemed fairly clueless about it and started calling it the Eye of Magnus without doing any research on it. It does still hold immense power though. Magical anomalies are still appearing even after all this time after all. Hmm maybe something could be gained by trying to…'

Those thoughts were interrupted by Ken quickly making his way into the study without bother to knock. The look on his face meant it was likely something important. Maybe a new bit of information? Rictus's curiosity was quickly satiated as Ken wasted no time in saying what happened.

"The Dragonborn is here looking for you."

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[AN]: I wonder what they could be wanting from Rictus? Maybe Rictus will help on a little quest with the Dragonborn for a bit before getting in some bigger trouble..