hapt

          (4E-201 15th of Second Seed)

     Galeron's Crying Corps, as he had taken to calling his now more than four hundred Crying Corpses, had been as trained as they needed to be and they had already laid down the necessary enchantments around Helgen, approximately ten feet underground.

     The enchantment was already activated and was being powered by a method similar to how the Dunmer powered their Ghost Fences. Dozens of living sacrifices were made, their bones were integrated into the enchantment by Galeron, and their souls were then bound to their bones. The actual sacrifices themselves were all Falmer he had collected from Blackreach. 

     Venerus, just prior to his discovery of Dimcrypt Hollow, had summoned Galeron to the Tower of Mzark. It was there that his master reached into the cage-like structure, with his Telekinesis, surrounding a lever operated lift and pulled another lever inside the cage. This pulled lever had opened up the previously sealed cage, allowing them access to the lift. 

     Once activated, the lift took them down into a mesmerizing Dwemer room holding and extravagant contraption. This room then led to a dark and massive underground space identified by Galeron as Blackreach. He had expressed regret about not having time to explore and ended up leaving as soon as a portal was installed. Yet, it wasn't this portal that he had used to acquire his Falmer sacrifices.

     Of course, Galeron hadn't neglected to retrieve the Elder Scroll of Dragon along with the Oculory Room while he was down there. Venerus, after all, had found Calcelmo for him and assisted in retrieving the Dwemer lockbox. As a result, both the Runed Lexicon and the blood extractor were in his possession.

     One of the few things for which Galeron was still willing to readily use the Eye of Magnus, were massive or otherwise extraordinary alterations to either Fort Doomguard or Planal Canyon and, one thing he had set his mind to after first entering Blackreach, was to connect Fort Doomguard's lowest level with the section of Blackreach over which it was located. This, of course, was dependent on Blackreach actually extending that far out but, surprisingly, it seemed to go even further. 

     As a matter of fact, he wasn't entirely certain how far Blackreach extended but he immediately set about turning all the Falmer in the vicinity into Crying Corpses. Those corpses were then used to begin establishing a city of the undead that Fort Doomguard could use as a foothold and staging point within Blackreach.

     Having acquired two Elder Scrolls and having another laying just outside of his grasp, another alteration to the Fort was made in the form of a room large enough to contain several dozen copies of the circular platform that held Serana in Dimcrypt Hollow.

     After this platform was teleported in, the Dwemer lockbox was enlarged to a size capable of containing the Dwemer Oculory from which Galeron retrieved the Elder Scroll.

     The Dwemer lockbox had already been opened and the Ohgma Infinium taken out and placed in a magically secured safe in Galeron's personal quarters. The Dwemer Oculory was then placed inside of the lockbox and the capsule for containing the Elder Scroll was modified to hold three in total. The two Elder Scrolls were then placed inside and the Oculory and lockbox were resealed.

     The circular platform, along with the coffin that had held Serana, was then enlarged to a size such that the coffin would be capable of containing the newly enlarged Dwemer lockbox.

     Suffice it to say, once all of the size modifications were completed, the circular platform had well over a mile long radius and the Dwemer lockbox, now securely fitted into the stone coffin, was sealed up and lowered back down to its original position.

     Galeron was then able to modify some of the enchantments required to unseal the coffin and, ultimately, created a far more complex arrangement for the braziers, an assortment of 'summoned upon activation' undead containing the essence required to activate the braziers, and even necessary spells and materials that had to be utilized in order to successfully align the braziers and unseal the coffin.

     Finally, he had only one bridge connecting the platform with any of the surrounding walls and that one bridge led to just that, a flat wall. Galeron completely sealed off the entire room and the only way in and out had been a portal at the end of the bridge. As soon as he finished his work, however, even that portal was destroyed and the entire room laid in pitch black darkness.

     With all of this accomplished, he felt as though he'd done everything possible to make sure the Elder Scrolls were secure when he wasn't using them.

     He had many things to worry himself over, what with the destruction of the College of Winterhold, the imminent return of the Dragons, and even the possibility of his two most powerful assets just packing up and hitting the road. At least the matter of the Elder Scrolls' security could be set aside, without him having nightmares about their potential fates.

     Galeron had a few other things he wanted to test before making his last big pre-Dovahkiin move, the inclusion of which he had decided was appropriate after having named his organization. Originally he had planned this move as the first part of his post-Dovahkiin movements. 

     He wanted to test out the possibility of magic circles, basically the circles one would normally see in rune traps and the like only manifested in and around ones hand during a normal spell casting, and he also wanted to dabble a bit in creating flesh Atronachs.

     Galeron was inside Fort Doomguard, floating towards his magical laboratory wearing his training armor, when suddenly, blocking the entire hallway before him as a black gooey writhing mass of tentacles punctuated by individual bloodless eyeballs, a voice spoke out!

     "Mortal, be still a moment. I, Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of forbidden knowledge, would speak with you." The monstrous black mass greeted him.

     "Ah, Mora, I was wondering when you would arrive. I've had your book for quite some time. I assume you're here to collect it, yes?" Galeron replied calmly as if he had been genuinely expecting this Prince's appearance and, indeed, he had been expecting him ever since sending Venerus to retrieve the lockbox. Not only was he expecting him but he had prepared himself well for this moment.

     "I see. So, you were holding onto it for me. Is that it? Tell me. Do you not desire the secrets contained within? I've been watching you and you're undoubtedly an interesting mortal. You appear to be aligned quite strongly with my domain and I can tell that you're a seeker of knowledge. Already, you've uncovered so much just by your own efforts.

     "You possess the Augur of Dunlain and so you must've been responsible for the destruction of the College of Winterhold. You possess two of the Elder Scrolls and, based on the company you keep, it seems you could grasp the third anytime you wish. You've repeatedly rediscovered long lost magics and you possess both the Eye and Staff of Magnus. Building spirit barriers around Skyrim's cities seems to suggest that you're somehow aware of Alduin's imminent return and also the methods he'll be using to take advantage of the destruction he causes.

     "Furthermore, your fate seems to be uniquely obscured from me and I can only view bits and pieces of what the future might hold for you. I can honestly say that you intrigue me mortal and I'm keen to uncover your secrets." Mora explained his position.

     "Well let's clear the air first, then I'll deal with the details. I certainly do desire the knowledge held by the Oghma Infinium and, in time, I will have it. However, I must clarify that I have no intention of becoming your champion or follower or becoming in any other way entangled with or subordinate to you."

     Galeron floated towards the tentacled mass while holding out his right hand, a black credit card sized chunk of obsidian was clenched between his index and middle fingers. It was completely blank on one side but on the face up side it had inscribed upon it the Daedric rune for Oblivion. Coursing through the grooves that formed this rune was a purple flavored magika that flashed sporadically with specks of white. The magicka looked like a constantly flowing stream of purple liquid energy.

     "This is my calling card. Call me The Dread Merc."

     One of the greasy tentacles slithered its way towards Galeron's hand and nimbly plucked the obsidian card from his grasp.

     "As you can see, the card itself is designed to transfer an understanding of its functions and purpose to whomever looks at it. 

     "The short version is that this card is connected with a pillar here in my fort. I call it the Obelisk of Petitioning. If you, or any other Daedric Prince possessing this card, send your intentions to hire me into it, those intentions will be transferred and represented in a detailed manner in the form of writing on the Obelisk."

     Galeron held up his left hand and exposed an obsidian ring transcribed with several runes, all of which were coursing with the same purple and white energy as the card.

     "This ring can, when in close proximity to the Obelisk, accept or decline petitions displayed there. Once accepted, the ring will be able to display for me any and all relevant details of a mission wherever I am. The ring also displays the reputation I have with the client and the reputation they have with me, this being information that the Obelisk tracks and updates upon petition transfer. 

     "If Meridia, for example, hires me to wipe out a gang of necromancers but fails to deliver the agreed upon compensation, her business relationship with me will suffer and I'm unlikely to accept any more requests from her, until the debt has been paid.

     "This, in a nutshell, is how the card I've given you functions but, of course, you must be asking yourself 'why would I think a Daedric Prince would ever need or request my help?'

     "For this there's a simple and obvious answer. All of the princes already request assistance from mortals with some regularity. It is just that the requests are usually demands and the people acquiescing to them are typically swearing their allegiance to you.

     "You may not currently see the value in hiring an unaffiliated third party to carry out tasks for you but just hold onto that card. Remember me whenever you're lacking a champion or any reliable followers but you still have things you wish to accomplish here on Nirn and give me a call. So long as the price is right and paid on time, your will shall be done, on Nirn as it is in Oblivion.

     "Now, on to the details. Well, honestly, there aren't many details. I just wanted to clarify that, at the time that I stole the Augur, I had no idea that he was a critical part of holding the College together. Although it's not like I made any real effort to understand the situation beforehand, I was in a bit of a rush. It's also not like I would've just left a prime research specimen unclaimed, even if I had known. I just wanted to make sure you understood that this incident wasn't some senseless act of mayhem, on an institution that was likely adjacent to or even entwined with your domain." Galeron explained.

     "Hmmm… I see. Intriguing. Truly intriguing. The Dread Merc… It's an interesting concept. I can see that this card was also made to be easily duplicated with a simple injection of pure mana. I'm assuming you wish me to pass on duplicates to the other princes."

     "I would appreciate it if you did but, at the same time, I'm not making a request out of it. You have to understand that, as a mortal struggling to gain power and uncover the secrets of the Universe, it's inevitable for someone such as myself to come into contact with powerful beings like yourself. While my actions may often be subtle or covert, my ambitions are entirely too grandiose to remain off of your radar.

     "This role as the Dread Merc is simply a way of drawing a line in the sand for all you princes to indicate that I'm not on your side and never will be but I'm also not against you. I'm on my own side only and I can treat you like enemies if you wish to go there with me. However, I'm far too practical minded to pass up an opportunity to sit on the fence, play for whichever side hires me even if it's all of you, and keep you all out of my hair by reminding you of what's truly important to you."

     "Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha! Galeron the Dread Merc! Hahahahaha! You've truly earned the title of the most interesting mortal I've ever encountered. I can say in all honesty that a mortal has never managed to make me laugh before and you have my respect for that.

     "It would seem that you're quite brazen but also, as you say, quite practical. You aren't wrong to wish to sideline yourself from the standard dealings with us princes, since we do tend to get the better end of most of our deals. However, the question is 'can you successfully maintain that position?' What exactly is this thing that you believe is most important to us?"

     "Simple, it's the advancement of your ambitions here on Nirn. I would think anyone would know that, mortal or not.

     "The reason I'll be able to maintain that position is because I'm not an actual threat to any of your ambitions. Even if I'm used as a tool against other princes, the idea to use me and the method to employ my services all comes down to the discretion of the prince who hires me. If a prince used a tree to derail another prince's ambitions on nirn, would the defeated Prince then destroy all the trees?

     "That really wouldn't be smart at all. The tree, by playing a role in defeating his schemes, has proven its worth. Destroy the trees and your plan of action remains weak and new trees will eventually emerge. Factor the tree into your next plan of action and now the power of the tree is your power.

     "Put simply, my presence from the perspective of you princes, with the exceptions of, ironically, Meridia and Molag Bal, is a net positive. Use me wisely and your ambitions here will go over much more smoothly and see greater success. Make me your enemy and, every time one of your representatives fails to kill me, me and my organization will become even stronger and I will then have a motivation to actively work against you and your future endeavors. Besides the noted exceptions, there exist no reason for the princes to refuse my offer and every reason for them to accept.

     "Of course, that's no guarantee that any of you will but, at the very least, you now have the Dread Merc as an option. Do as you always do, which is what you please. I only ask that you leave me be, unless you can pay for my time and effort."

     "Hahahahaha! Yes, brilliant! What a wonderful answer! I will leave you now, Galeron the Dread Merc, and I'll take your card with me. As for my Oghma Infinium, I'll let you hold onto it for now. 

     "You really do intrigue me to no end and so I'll be keeping my eyes on you. Who knows? Perhaps I'll even petition you for a job now and again. Hahahahaha! Hahahahaha!" Hermeaus Mora's laughter began to recede at the same time that his tentacled apparition began disappearing.

     Once the laughter and tentacles fully dissolved, Galeron turned around swiftly at a sound of Serana approaching him quickly from behind. As soon as he'd turned around, Serana's lips met with his and her tongue almost immediately started invading his mouth.

     'What the fuck!' Galeron exclaimed inwardly.

     Serana's passion continued to increase by the second, as she began rubbing her body against his and trying to stuff her hands inside his armor to get at his groin.

     'Ah, well, I'll figure it out later.' Galeron sighed, as he consigned himself to endure whatever madness Dibella had stricken her with.