A very Annoying and Terrifying Object

As the camp came together, so too did the business. The people of the city came in droves to the tent city of the caravan. We did end up finding the families of a good number of the girls who were captured. While many were not direct members of their family they did their best in taking them in. 

With their crash course learning of trades this became helpful to them as well. Such trades, while everywhere, were also needed everywhere. It helped to reintegrate them back into society outside the caravan.

For myself, I took to walking about the city. Finding a tavern I decided to relax there during the hours leading to night. Speaking with the tavern owner brought a bit of the rumor mill my way. He apparently noticed an increase in military personnel recently. 

A noticeable increase as they moved from the south. Apparently some contingents were moving north soon. That being the case there was also some news of Tamriel. The empire was having some difficulties with the Aldimeri dominion after the hasty treaty they had set. The White Gold Concordant, while mostly unchanged from my very old memories still held one explicit detail.

The banning of the Worship of Talos. 

Tensions were rising recently as Ulfric Stormcloak had decided to rescue the city of Markarth. Proclaiming as he did so the city would allow the worship of Talos as payment for his deeds. Talks of rebellion against the empire after the Dominion, or more accurately the Thalmor, pressed against the Empire to stop this caused tensions to rise.

A decent number had already thrown their lot with the man, having fought with him during the war. So soon the northern half of the continents would soon be under fire. The Dominion would most likely be the final winner in any continuation of the conflicts.

With two powerhouses aiming their weapons at their respective continents it would soon turn to a blood bath. Only that wasn't the only thing to worry about. As I recognized a poster on the wall of a young woman with pale white hair. 

It was a recent updated one as she had been seen close to Novagrad by Nilfgaardian forces. A child of prophecy, the first of of the two in this world, Ciri The Lady of Time and Space.

With Tamriel, or more specifically, Skyrim soon to be in a civil war. The next child of prophecy would be the Dragonborn. But I could sense a few years before any dragons began reeking havoc. First of which that would need to happen is the death of a certain high King. 

The tavern owner was also vocal of a certain cult that had come into power recently. It worshiped one of the Dedric Princes. This particular cult took in madmen and madwomen declared by the people and were mostly not a bother to the general populace. 

They only sought to keep to themselves in most cases and didn't cause harm. They were also protected by the newer laws of Nilfgaard. In their efforts to make the general populace more inclusive they did not outlaw any form of religion. Only violent acts committed would be pursued. Such that even Dedra worship had been acknowledged. 

As such the Cult of the Mad One was able to live in peace. They apparently made some of the best cheese as well and made their profits from the practice. Which brings the topic to that which they worshiped.

Dedric Princes. 

Beings of untold power capable of miraculous things, as long as it was in line with their domains. In the case of the Cult of the Mad One, they worshiped the Dedric Prince of Madness Sheogorath. A lovable personality with the sanity of a loon. 

He was considered both tame and absolutely and utterly terrifying. This was more in due part to the tales of the Mad One. Written out in great detail by Scholars who upon writing out the details of the exploits were declared touched by Sheogorath. 

They were some of the first to declare the cult in the name of the Prince in the Old Continent. But, point in their favor they never succumbed to violence. They made sure to keep in line their members to avoid such a fate.

Their main tag line did throw people for a loop though. All has been touched by Sheogorath, It only takes one bad day to realize it. 

In keeping with the subject, there were a few other princes who were worshiped in the open. The Tribunal of the Dunmer were openly worshiped by them. Known as the three good Dedra, even as they crossed the seas, such practices never stopped. Azura, Mephala, and Boethiah were the governing body and beings of worship to the Dunmer people.

Azura while also held in high respect by the Khajiits, was considered the leader of the tribunal by most Dunmer. As the being who lead the cursing of the Chimer, the form of elf they were before, She held the greatest respect, and fear of the Dunmer people.

Her sphere of influence consisted of the Moon and stars, The lady of Dawn and dusk. 

Mephala comes next. A being who weaves a tale as old as time. Lies, her weapon. Her sphere of influence consisting of Lies, Murder, Sex, Deception, and Secrets. With many names the most common she was referred to as, the Webweaver.

Then there was Boethiah. Deceit, Murder, conspiracy, and Treachery. Her game was the one where even the winner would feel as they lost something. Her sphere of influence had caused and will continue to cause many to fall from grace as they embraced her teachings. 

But they would be strong. Known for their skill in combat, her champions were always considered strong. But there is no form of "Honor" in their combat. Only those who remain. To be the victor... is to be alive. 

Other notable Dedric Princes would be the three who tried to take over the world, in their own distinct ways. First among them was the most "recent" in Tamriel's history Mehrunes Dagon. Dedric Prince of Destruction. Perpetrator of the Oblivion Crisis which caused the end of the Septim Dynasty. As well as the current Dragon Veil covering the planet which somehow survived and strengthened after the convergence.

Next on the list of beings I really don't wanna mess with is Mollag Bal. Dedric Prince of Domination and... other things, he attempted to take all of Nirn into his Dedric Plane of Cold harbor. The attempt was known as the Plane Meld. He was also injured in the process and has been recovering since. 

At least that was until the Convergence. As the Witcher world held Vampires, He as the creator of Tamrielic Vampires wished to control them as well. And for the most part succeeded, until he came into contact with the oldest generations. It has been said he carries on a shadow war with the Unseen Elder to this day.

And for the third offender of trying to take over the world is, Nocturnal. The Dedric Prince of Shadows and the night. She is considered the Patron of Thieves as her shadows are considered a blessing to their members. The Khajiit have even taking to acknowledge her as Azura's sister and credited her as the "First" thief. In their myths she is known as the Shadowed one.

There are many more I could get into but it seems as if my time in the Tavern had brought me a bit of work, as the Tavern owner had come to my table.

"Excuse me, Sir. The... People, from the caravan, had said you were considerably strong. I was wondering if you could maybe take a job for me. A unique job."

I gestured with a hand to the empty seat across from me to the nervous owner. He quickly sat down, no doubt hearing of some tales from the caravan of the raid on the bandits. Not really the most subtle of things, us guardians rarely needed to be.

"You see, I have an object. A-a strange man had decided to pay with this thing and, I'll admit... I-I was entranced by it's beauty." The Owner was shifting in his seat now. 

With a bit of conspiracy he leaned forward and cupped his lips with a hand. Whispering he said, "I need you to take this object off my hands and deliver it. I can't promise no harm would come to you but.."

Waving him off I interrupted him and said, "Depends on this object, If I really don't see a problem with it I can take it. There's also the depending where it needs to go."

With a conflicted look he rushed to the bar and took out a box. It was the size of a music box. he carefully placed it onto the table with both respect and absolute fear. I was curious as to the object in question. As soon as the box was placed though another joined in.

Spark phased next to us immediately. I was a bit surprised to this but didn't think much until she spoke, "Strange, I am getting a distinct feeling of a paracausal form of light, only it isn't our light."

The owner, tense before, nearly jumped out his skin as she phased into existence. Thinking on her words I tried to remember what could cause such a reaction. There were two main culprits though.

The first being Auri el or Akatosh. The Chief of the Divine pantheon. An interesting facet was soon after the Convergence a form of "Divine war" happened. This led to the Church of the Eternal flame being subsumed by the Pantheon of Divines. This was because, witnessed by every person, an Avatar of Akatosh battled with the flame and "Ate" it. The projections of the battle were now considered bardic tales and recorded in history books as the Atherius wars. 

Several battles occurred as conflicting deities and Divines fought. There were also Deities consumed by Dedric Princes leading to a form of growth and expansion for them. This is part of the reason Mollag Bal Wishes to consume the Unseen Elder.

As for the second subject who this Object could belong too? That is where I put my money. Raising the lid of the box reveled a stunning stone. Round in shape but it held flat sides meant to reflect light. I gripped Spark in my hand and drew her away from the stone as I saw her gravitating to it. 

Closing the lid I looked to the man. "Who was the man who had this. What did he look like." My face serious as I looked to the man. He became pale at my questions. but still answered me. "He wore a hooded robe. Fancy coloring not seen in common folk. Couldn't see his face."

"Color of the clothes? How tall was he? Can you tell me anything like that?" Might not know the person but moving around with THAT, he can't be normal.

"He was wearing black mostly and a bit hunched over so no way to tell." he quickly said. In the end I just sighed and asked, "Did you touch it?" to which he answered by repeatedly nodding. 

"It's alright now, I'll take it off your hands. Common folk like you would just be slaughtered in a task like that." Spark became free and asked, "So what is it?"

Leaning back as I was sure she wouldn't touch the thing I said, "Meridia's Beacon. A lesser artifact of a Dedric Prince. The Dedric Prince of Light and dawn. She abhors undead, not sure how she would think of us to be honest."

The tavern owner bowed and thanked me and quickly scuttled off away from us. "So I was able to get a quick scan of the object, or as you called it the Beacon."

I raised an eyebrow to her as she was lucky she didn't trigger it. She continued, "The "light" stored in the object while not nearly at the same level as our own is a comparable force. And it doesn't follow the same "rules" as Magicka. In fact, it seems to be more Paracausal in nature as opposed to Magicka."

I looked at the box on the table. "So what are you suggesting?" 

"What if we use it like an aspect? I'm sure we could augment your abilities with it?" She suggested as she really had no clue as to what we were dealing with. 

Leaning back I pinched my nose. If it really could augment them it would probably push my abilities towards Sun like abilities. Like enhancing the knives I throw to be more effective on undead. Could be useful but, there is the problem of it belonging to Meridia. 

"I'm sad to say we shouldn't use it like that. If the artifact was to lose it's stored light I'm not sure we could handle a Dedric Prince anytime soon. But I will say this. Were going to have to deal with it sooner or later so we will head back to the camp."

"Is it the reason you didn't want me to touch it?" My simple reply, "Yup"

We made it back to camp with no issues until a certain Nans butted in just as we got to our tent. 

Like a whirlwind she arrived and was stuck staring at the box on the ground in front of me. "Sooo, Argus. Why is there a Dedric Artifact all of a sudden in my camp." She said breaking the silence.

"Because a Tavern owner is a dumbass and accepted it as payment from a complete stranger not knowing what it was and the danger it was going to pose." My face a deadpan as I spoke. 

So she found a decent spot away from me and laid down, "This ought to be good then."

I directed a slight glare at her as she apparently knew of what was going to happen. Grabbing at Spark's shell I opened the box and gripped the Beacon.

"A New Hand Touches The Beacon... Listen. Hear me and Obey! A Foul Darkness has seeped into my temple. A Darkness That You Will Destroy. Return my beacon to Mount Kilkreath. And I will make you the instrument of my cleansing light."

The voice was even louder than I anticipated. It rang out everywhere, but notably Nans did not react to it. So Myself and spark were the unfortunate duo of sufferers for this event. 

"What the Hell was That?!" She said as she finally recovered. 

"The Dedric Prince Meridia, That's who. And man it was worse than I thought. You would think there was a mute function or something?"

"Ughh, Yep never touching anything like that if we can help it. I felt her influence through the message. I even felt HER for a moment. Like she was watching us as we listened to it."

My back fell upon the bed of pillows. Great, well... maybe it wasn't so bad. She did apparently get a good look at Spark. Hopefully she doesn't get possessive, please?

"So, You two will be going to Skyrim?" Nans announced as she was circling the Beacon in my hand. Making sure not to touch it but she did have Magicka flowing around it.

"Was part of the idea in the first place. Once we got to Novagrad I was hoping we could find Voyage to there." She nodded, her little witches hat apparently had a new addition. A little bell was adorned on the top, Tingling away.

"Then allow this one to assist you. I see even if you are invisible to fate, there will be much happening there. And a strong strange fellow Like you will be needed." 

that made me sit up, "What do you know?" The second time I grew serious today.

"Not much I am afraid. I only see signs of incredible danger and where it originates. The other sign come from Novagrad, A sign of hope. I wish to see this sign as It may allow me to grow in my path."

I sighed and looked to the cloth celling. I spoke only one word for this mystic who has helped our path so far. "Alduin"