Taking on a New Job II

Marcus takes a seat at his table before shouting and slamming his fist down on it, "Damn it all! I should have posted Atulg and Bugdul at the entrance like I said earlier!" Marcus takes a breath to calm down before continuing, "Thankfully you and your company ere there to stop those men before they had a chance to get what they came here for."

Marcus pauses to pour himself a drink before continuing, "Before I go on, I need to express my gratitude for not only delivering that letter, but also for saving my daughter. Here's 500 gold for the delivery, and 1,000 for dealing with those men." Marcus says handing me a hefty sack of coin.

Damn! That's more than I made in that Thieves Guild job! But I'm starting to think this might be a more intensive quest mod than I originally thought, I might need a little more time to level up in order to properly handle this… I'll hear him out though, and it's definitely not for the money, "Thank you for the payment and your gratitude, but what happens now?"

"I'm going to need to ask you a big favor, but first I owe you an explanation. Those men were most likely scouts. An attack force will be dispatched when they fail to report back. It will take some time for my assistance from Euphoria Palace to be sent to their assigned locations around Jonestead. I pray they get here sooner rather than later." Marcus explains.

"Are you sure these are the same men you've been afraid of all these years?" I ask, hoping he pissed off another group of less trained and organized individuals.

"They must be. Why would anyone be standing outside the entrance? They were waiting, not only that, they even attacked you on sight! Did you happen across anything interesting they were carrying? Any clues to their identity?" Marcus asks.

"Their armor had an emblem of an axe, mace, and tree, like this." I say, pulling out a piece of armor with the emblem on it.

"Hmmm, that emblem sounds familiar, though not the one I was expecting. Then again, this isn't the first time the enemy has hired mercs to do their dirty work. I'll do some quick research and see if I can find anything matching your description. Anything else?" Marcus asks.

"Yes, I found this assassination order on their bodies." I say, handing over the note I found earlier.

"There you have it! The proof is all there that they were here for me! They were even ordered to attack enemy scouts! That explains why they didn't bother to ask questions when they saw you and Kasia. My daughter has the looks of an Ashen, most of the assistance I'm requesting from Euphoria Palace is Ashen…" Marcus exclaims before trailing off.

"… And since most of the Ashen here in Skyrim have links to the Palace, well, you can fill in the blanks from there." Marcus says, taking a drink from his wine bottle.

"Alright, but I need to know what I'm up against if we're going to win." I say, prodding him to explain more,

"These are secrets I've had to keep since the day I was born! Telling them in such a hurried manner is difficult. Please understand that." Marcus implores before continuing, "About 200 years ago, around the time of the Oblivion Crisis, there was an incident involving a certain legendary hero you might have heard of. The Hero of Kvatch… The Champion of Cyrodiil…"

"Yes, he was the hero who saved the Empire." I reply.

"Indeed. He went by many names, given honorary titles. Some say he even managed to unite many of Cyradiil's many guilds under his command. The details have been lost in time. The point is that he was no stranger to answering the calls for help from Cyrodiil's citizens. That is where my family comes in. One of my ancestors was captured by an Argonian mercenary named Desann. The bastard did wretched things to the women he captured. Enslaved, tortured, and mutilated them. At the end of the day, they were locked up in his own private palace to perform favors for anyone who was willing to pay." Marcus pauses to take another drink.

"They had no choice. All of them had been poisoned and under the influence of sap of a unique Hist tree from the depths of Argonia. Their wills bent by men who bought their services." Marcus says in disgust.

"What happened to your ancestor?" I ask.

"She had a sister, a traveling maid that stumbled upon the Champion's home in Charrol. The sister had also been poisoned and begged the Champion to rescue the captured women. The champion obliged and confronted Desann…" Marcus says trailing off.

"And let me guess, this Champion let Desann live?" I ask barely able to hold the mockery in my tone.

"Surprisingly, yes. Whether out of honorable mercy or sick admiration of Desann, the Champion let him live, but in exchange for my ancestor's life. Unfortunately, the other women in the palace were forced to remain. All those who left the palace were doomed to suffer from an endless life of embarrassment as the sap removed all inhibitions… And amplified their urge for pleasure. My two ancestors went on to serve as the Champion's maids at no cost as a token of their appreciation. Eventually, they all parted ways. The Champion, like all legendary heroes that came before, vanished." Marcus explains pausing to drink once more.

"But my family had been given hope and were destined to grow. Then Project Purity stepped in…" Marcus says turning even more dower.

"Project Purity?" I ask internally wondering if that is a Nuclear Fallout 3 reference.

"A clandestine organization that has been around for a very long time. It is composed of some of the best mages, alchemists, and philosophers in Tamriel. They were the ones pulling Desann's string, giving him the gold and resources to expend along the path they desired. That is of course until they assassinated him for demanding more than he deserved."