#dagoth uthol

[unknownhomosapien]

5 of 7. Dagoth Uthol

Dagoth Uthol - The Ruler of Kogoruhn, called "Aphotic Contriver" and "Ash Marshal". Martial arts, tactics, and strategy are his primary focus. Teacher of venom blooded lessons, he made diamoncut warriors forged for conquest, but not changing, only improving their form and skills. Impeccable in conduct and mindful of ceremony. His deeds prove that the Dunmer are perfect and do not need miracles to gain power, only conditions and the appropriate attitude. He was true heir of the House, but died early and as sign of respect, was trusted to rule Kogoruhn as it supposed to be in the beginning. inspired by @ijiwaruuma ash vampires design and this topic in particular Uthol Vemyn Tureynul Araynys Odros

[the-elder-polls]

dagoth ur doesn't get invited to the poll due to his crimes. thank you to @trickstarbrave for the suggestion!

[elderscrollsconceptart]

Dagoth Uthol

Art for The Elder Scrolls: Legends

Art by Nuare Studio

[dxwnfxll]

My friend @dani-fox made an art challenge lolz

Challenge: Draw a character as canon as possible on one side and then your hc version on the other

So here's Dagoth Uthol lolz

Og version

Bonus doodle with Uthol, Araynus and Gilvoth

[aladaylessecondblog]

Severed Destiny, pt. 19

https://archiveofourown.org/works/49342666/chapters/161920126

Haj-deek expected to be uncomfortable at Kogoruhn, considering...everything. The discomfort she hadn't expected was being somewhere with no visible water. Mournhold was like Ebonheart but bigger. Even Vivec had been on the water, despite not having much of a port. But Kogoruhn...

...this place was a desert. She would not want for water, but not to be near any, not to smell fish or hear the bells or the calls of sailors to one another?

It was almost as unnerving as the ash monsters.

I was made to live near the water, she thought ruefully on looking around the courtyard of Kogoruhn, I want to be where the ships are...

The water wasn't too far away, she could probably make a quick trip if she wanted to; Sunchaser had been let loose and immediately headed north. But with Ulen shadowing her, it would be near impossible for her to do the same. It was unlikely he'd take his (eyes? did he even have any?) off her, seeing that he'd apparently been told to watch her every step and where she went he went too.

At least, she thought, she was alone when she decided to sleep. The door would be guarded - but at least she was alone.

Haj-deek laid out her bedroll on the floor, and stayed in it until the door was closed, and brought out her bag. She thought of trying to write Vivec a letter, but after thinking a bit decided against it. Ashes might be hard to explain away...or maybe not, but it was better not to risk it.

So instead what she did was bring out the paper and a bit of charcoal. On the paper she drew the sigil of House Dagoth - and atop it she placed the chunk of Morvai's bone she'd brought with her.

"I'm--I need guidance," she said quietly, "If you are listening, I want advice on how to...fit in, I guess. How to...make them believe me."

There was a slight chill before her face, and she stayed kneeling and looking at the sigil. For the first time since she had prayed like this, she got what all the other Dunmer talked about. The feeling of being seen and acknowledged.

She couldn't help but smile.

"I'm at Kogoruhn," she went on, "And Dagoth Uthol is...is the one here. What can you tell me about him?"

"Uthol," came Morvani's voice from (somewhere, she didn't know where), "Is perhaps one of my most agreeable sons, though not as much as Odros. Speak to him and ask your questions genuinely, and he will answer them."

"And he won't be suspicious?"

"Whatever your plan, forget it while you are here. You will not be able to accomplish it at Kogoruhn, so there is no need to be anything but a child returning to the House of her father. Listen, perhaps. Listen for things you may find useful, but never tell them your true purpose."

"I wasn't going to tell them, but...but thank you for reminding me." Haj-deek took a deep breath. "Can you think of anything that might be helpful for me to bring up with Uthol?"

"Speaking to him at all about something that isn't about my youngest son's ambitions would help. I can only imagine how long it's been since he had good conversation."

Haj-deek nodded, thanked her grandmother, and felt the woman's presence fade.

Then she felt the tap-tap-tapping of the dovahfly on her shoulder, and got out the sheet of letters for it.

MOTHER DAGOTH SUPPORT?

"Yes," she said, "She doesn't like the idea of helping--"

Here she tapped out "Vivec" on the page before going on.

"--but I managed to convince her."

PLAN?

She went over it again, tapping it out on the off chance Ulen was listening outside the door. The first step was trying to convince her father, and if that failed, to use...whatever Vivec had given her...on either him or the Heart.

NUMIDIUM, IF NOTHING ELSE

"What?"

DAGOTH HAVE NUMIDIUM. DWEMER STYLE CONSTRUCT LIKE TIBER SEPTIM USE CONQUER. ACTIVATE

"What would activating it do?"

EVERYTHING

"I'd need all Kagrenac's tools," she said, remembering reading certain of Vivec's books, "And I don't have a single one."

The dovahfly didn't respond to that. Its head rotated a few times, and...she thought maybe it was thinking.

But about what?

-----------------------

Haj-deek woke relatively early (or at least, she was pretty sure it was), and changed into a robe that had been left folded up on a box in the corner. It was the type she'd seen the ash 'poets' wearing. She had the red one with a bunch of House Dagoth sigils on the collar, but thought...best not to presume too much at the moment. Morvani might have acknowledged her, but she thought if she seemed careful, they might see her as no more than what she said.

The scrib is paid less notice than the shalk, she remembered Vivec saying, For he wears humble ash, while the shalk bears obsidian black. The ash is overlooked and the obsidian is harvested.

So, she thought - if I act humble, they might be less suspicious of me than if I came in making demands.

When she stepped outside, Ulen was there as if no time had passed at all.

"Don't you get tired?" she asked. That he didn't seem to have moved was unnerving.

"I sleep on my feet, you might say," Ulen replied, "But I thank you for your concern. Now, have you eaten? Lord Uthol is quite eager to know you, and a meal is as good a time as any to speak."

She still felt that nervous sensation in her gut, despite Uthol's welcome last night - and tonight she met him not in the tunnels beneath Kogoruhn, but the Dome of Urso.

"I assumed you wouldn't care for the corpusmeat," he said, giving her a nod, "But we've saltrice and ash yam, so I had a porridge made."

"I might...at least try the corprusmeat," Haj-deek said, her tone showing maybe a little too obvious her discomfort. "I assume I'm immune to it, my mother was, after all."

"It's not unheard of for children to inherit such things from their mothers. Here, sit. Don't stand like a stranger in the door."

"But I am one," she said, taking the seat he gestured to, and trying not to stare across the room at the pile of oddly-stacked chairs she'd just noticed. "To the House, I mean. I learned early not to presume I was welcome."

"A life among the beastfolk will do that to you," Uthol said easily, "It is a thing I would not wish on the child of any Great House."

"It wasn't that they weren't kind to me...because they were," Haj-deek said, "My mother asked them to keep me safe, and they did. They told everyone I was left on their doorstep."

She paused and ate for a few minutes. Thank you. That was another thing they taught her. Say thank you for everything, it makes you look like you know your place, but at the same time it's polite. And causes people to underestimate you.

"An unlikely thing to happen. I'm surprised anyone believed it."

"Well, it was Ebonheart, maybe everyone thought I was some unwanted sailor's child. Some assumed my father must have been argonian if I was left at their embassy."

Uthol snorted.

"The argonians told me, after they gave me the ring--the moon-and-star," she went on, "That it was better for people to think what they would than risk them finding out who my father REALLY was."

"Perhaps a wise move. Your father had no sleepers in Ebonheart, although Orvas Dren would have brought you here earlier had he known."

"That's good to know. I had worried...the argonians warned me he was dangerous. It's what took me so long to take his offer of help." She took a deep breath. "I'll learn of my...my father later, but since I'm here now..."

There was a pause.

"What is he like?"

"Overwhelming, your mother called him," Uthol said, "Lord Dagoth was the head of our house even before his first death, and accustomed to arranging things to his satisfaction. If you are in his family he judges your talents and finds you a place - and unless you do something to earn his ire, it remains yours. Given your mother's death..."

She looked up.

"Your mother was here, years ago. Something about wanting to see the sun, perhaps do some thinking. Azura was...none too pleased, as you can well imagine."

"She hasn't been with me, either." Haj-deek gave a weak laugh.

There was a slight smile.

"No, the daedra lords are never pleased when one refuses to slavishly obey." Uthol made a broad gesture. "Lord Dagoth in particular is the target of Azura's anger, for stealing away her champion."

"She had a journal and...said she loved him. That...really...REALLY didn't help."

"She came back through here, saying she meant to retrieve Wraithguard and then return," Uthol went on, "But she never did."

"My mother got attacked by ordinators and..." She stopped, wondering how much she should say, and settled on, "Her wounds wouldn't heal by spell or potion, and she wrote that she had to constantly hide."

"Strange that she would not return. It was made clear to her that she was welcome...the sleepers or dreamers alike would have protected her."

Haj-deek always assumed it was because her mother meant not to return at all. But if she was as badly off as the journal had said - why not, if she didn't have Wraithguard?

"Something must have kept her away, but I can't think what," Haj-deek said. And then aware she should probably change the subject and avoid saying too much by accident, she said, "What about you?"

Uthol seemed surprised by the question, but she found that within a few questions that he had been fond of the sea too, and they spent an enjoyable few hours talking over Ebonheart's port and the way it had changed since HE had last been in the area.

She hadn't much to give, but when he mentioned she should set out for Dagoth Ur (the building), she remembered she had one of her fishing lures still in her bag, a thing with a bright feather and tiny chunk of fool's gold - and handed it over. "I don't think I'll need it in there, and if I come back here and go to the shore I can just make another one."

Uthol would accept it graciously, and see her off amiably.

-----------------------------

Despite everything, she felt a sensation of going home - and wondered if her mother had once felt the same.

The walk to Dagoth Ur was terrible. The ground was either too ashy or too rocky, and she was very glad she still had that boiled netch leather helmet to keep the blight winds from blowing ash into her face.

Ulen lead her along, by the hand when the terrain started getting steeper. When the corprus monsters approached he put himself between them, and blasted until they stopped moving.

(It felt oddly familiar...)

The entrance to Dagoth Ur was set into the side of the mountain right beside a pool of lava - and Haj-deek was suddenly VERY glad she was a Dunmer, and not some other race. Surely, she thought, if I was something else, this would be way too hot for me to bear.

The feeling didn't much improve as they walked in - the ash ghouls and ascended sleepers making their greetings or noises that sounded like greetings.

She said hello in return, and was more than a little disturbed by the bowed heads that followed.

Not until they entered that last room did Haj-deek feel anything more.

Haj-deek looked up, saw a man who looked near identical to Dagoth Uthol, and felt a sudden strange mixture of terror and grief. Her knees trembled, and her throat was choked suddenly -

He stared at her--or rather glared.

"So," he said, "You are the child who claims to be a Dagoth. I am Dagoth Gilvoth."

A pause.

Words in her head, from where she didn't know.

Stay gone...

Stay gone, and I will keep your secret...

He stood aside and let them pass, but not once was it unclear how deeply Gilvoth disapproved of this. Of her.

[rucow]

dagoth uthol, voryn's younger sister 😊

she's one of the middle children of the endless dagoth siblings. she's butch. she likes adventuring and she wants to be an explorer. she's got short hair. she likes her backpacks. she's gay. she thinks its cool that she's 3 minutes older than her twin, odros. she's said to be one of the friendlier dagoths. along with voryn, she's one of the only girls in the family. she's sweet on an ashlander girl she met Once and could never forget

[redyn-nerevarine]

What really happened in chapter 32.

Kogoruhn is a dangerous place.

[garzzum]

[zhenyakon]

the problem with writing fanfiction about the War of the First Council is you start to get feelings for certain Ash Vampires

[uesp]

"Lord Dagoth says it is not your way, to leave a thing well enough alone."

--Dagoth Uthol

Image is his appearance in Legends.

[unknownhomosapien]

6 of 7. Dagoth Gilvoth

Dagoth Gilvoth - Vassal of Dagoth Ur, called "Scorial Claviger". Bestial in disposition, Gilvoth is quick tempered and depraved. Holding a collection of the still beating hearts of his enemies, he bound their spirits to the service of the Sixth House and presided over all revenants indentured to the Sixth House as wraith liege. inspired by @ijiwaruuma ash vampires design and this topic in particular Gilvoth Uthol Vemyn Tureynul Araynys Odros

[sub-urbanwitch]

My best account of the appearances and relations of the nobility of House Dagoth. I have refrained from including extraneous details not pertinent to the current state of House Dagoth, particularly the members of the nobility who did not survive the extermination of the House after the War of the First Council.

-Falcus Vandacia, Imperial Geographical Society

My ash vampire designs, ft. some headcanons under the cut.

Araynys is a Telvanni through-and-through. She’s more than happy to let other people hold the titles, but she’s got her fingers in every pie from Mournhold to Blacklight. Anyone who knows anything knows she’s nearly as powerful as Dagoth Ur himself.

Tureynul has near-constant headaches from his nearsightedness. He wants everyone to leave him alone so he can read in peace.

Odrosa spent the better part of her childhood reading about history and law. She’s ambitious and competitive and, despite how young she is, probably better qualified than her brother to be running the joint.

Uthol is a shockingly normal teenage boy with a penchant for getting in trouble. He and Odrosa are attached at the hip. He’d love football if it existed in Morrowind.

Vemyn is angry at life. He consideres it a personal offense that he isn’t in charge, that he was forced to marry a Dwemer of all things, that his son is a useless drunk…

Endus decided to cope with his father’s cripplingly high expectations by diving straight for the bottom. He can’t be held to impossibly high standards if he’s blue-blind drunk half the time. He’s rather amicable, considering who his father is (and all the years of chronic alcohol abuse…)

Gilvoth, on the other hand, internalised near everything her father told her. She deals with her abysmal self-worth by taking it out on everyone else around her.

Divayth sends his daughter and his grandchildren birthday presents every year. He has been doing this for centuries at this point, and they still haven’t been able to figure out how he gets them past the Ghostfence.

[changelingsandothernonsense]

Fic ramblings- shit i've copied and pasted about Etana and Josh from discord.

Oh Etana, you have so many complicated feelings here First you bond with Joshi's predecessor, only to watch her fall to Dagoth Uthol whilst she destroys half they guy's body in the process Then he's made a pariah for joining her on that trial, so his draw fingers are removed

essentially Etana joins Peakstar during the trial of the warrior, watches her fall to possession, gets attacked and ends up having to kill her. When he returns he is punished for breaking Harrowing and has his draw fingers removed as punishment, which was considered being lenient. He's left with his left arm amputated just above the elbow, a large scar that runs up his face and the loss of his left eye. Then he suffered the indignity of having his ability to fight and provide removed completely.

He's a mage with a lot of talent for Restoration, but can't practice it within his clan due to gender expectations (only women are trained in anything that's not destruction). So he and his family rely on Erra to send back coin after he was semi-exiled. Before that Erra did all the hunting. He then watches his baby brother bring the next Incarnate home and he's stuck watching the whole thing happen all over again.

And then, when Erra dies fighting the same Ash Vampire that killed Peakstar he loses it a bit and starts blaming Josh. Because why should Josh get to live when this whole bullshit was meant to kill him in the first place.

He comes around because his wife and daughter latch onto him pretty early on and Erra's ghost is upset that Etana's not speaking to Josh over something that no one could have predicted. Erra maintains that he would have made that leap no matter what and reminds Etana that he would have done the same

so by 4E 5 he's come around, there's still bitterness there but he's slowly letting go of it then the Ashkhan dies in the eruption and Etana's the first to suggest Josh take on the role since it's what Erra, who was meant to be the next Ashkhan wanted. And they've been in limbo over who's got the title for 200 years since Josh won't take it officially even if he preforms the same rites whenever he's asked. But they're pretty much as close as siblings now, and fight in the same way I have them pairing up to do an old man cripple hobble to Vvadenfell to sort out shit with the burial caverns that ties to Ralis being a dick.

[dxwnfxll]

Stayed up all night working on this so I hope you all enjoy my version of the Dagoth family

So here's Ma Dagoth (Merva) and all the bros (Araynys being the oldest and Voryn being the youngest)

I apologize for the doodles in advance but i'll explain them better don't worry lolz

These are pretty much my ocs at this point

Gilvoth, Uthol and Voryn are full blood brothers (as i have it in Chimer culture it's very common to have open relationships/multiple partners. Especially if you are a part of one of the major houses, it was only after the Tribubal began their god hood that Dunmer began to practice monogamy as the tribunal kinda pushed it onto them)

Gilvoth is the eldest and Voryn the youngest between these bros (and to explain the symbols, i decided to have it that the symbols represent their magical abilities which i may explain in a different post)

Gilvoth is a gay man who has an unrequited crush on king Dumac, he also doesn't get along very well with Tureynul (why? Nobody knows anymore)

Uthol is Bisexual and has a dwemer gf named Tann, He's a big mamas boy similar to Voryn. He's terrified of Voryn at times

And Voryn, head of the Dagoth house, councilor and a spoiled lil kid with a crush on his best friend. Do NOT trust child Voryn with scissors if you value your hair.

They both come from a Chimer father (don't have any info on the dads yet so)

Next! Endus and Odros

They're twins! I thought it'd be a cute idea to do so lolz

Both of them are very talkative, love throwing parties and are chubby boys!!

They both hail from a dwemer father who isn't really in their lives much (mainly due to distance + working under the previous King)

Tureynul isn't full blood related to any of the other bros, and somehow he's worse than Voryn at times. Very snobbish and uptight, kinda sour he didn't get picked to be the head of the family

He hails from a snow elf father! Which people are almost confused on how they're related since his dad is super sweet

Vemyn is adopted!

Thought it'd be funni that Uthol just found him on the street and dragged him back home like 'can we keep him pls?'

Possibly the most sane of the brothers, He's just chilling in the corner

And finally the oldest Araynys who was stuck on babysitting duty for a good majority of his life

And is also sour that Voryn got picked to be head of the house, he also has a small big crush on Almalexia. He's currently glaring at Nerevar lol

Tired older bro

They all love their ma !!

I have it that Merva is a very caring and loving woman, though she can be 'mean' at times when it comes to those 'messing' with her family (ex: She wasn't fairly kind around Tann or Nerevar for a bit, until she realized they weren't just trying to get into their house)

She's very proud of all her sons no matter what they're doing with their life, she's a good ma to her sons and to her sons friends

In order from first born to last

Araynys, Gilvoth, Tureynul, Uthol, Odros, Endus, Vemyn, Voryn

[aladaylessecondblog]

Fallen Star, pt. 7

Author's Note: Warning, long. 5k words, no smut. Sadara goes to Kogoruhn. There is the breakdown of a cliffracer carcass in this chapter.

------------------------------

The trip was largely silent, for certainly Rather couldn't speak. He knew exactly what route to take, so Sadara let him lead her by the hand despite how cold, deathly, and rough his skin felt.

When the occasional corprus beast or cliffracer threatened them, Rather was the first to charge magic, to put himself between her and the threat, and blast it until it stopped moving. He didn't seem puzzled that she joined in, but he DID when she grabbed the (now bloodless) cliffracer and started shoving it into one of her empty bags.

He gestured briefly at the cliffracer's body, then waved his hands.

"You eat corprusmeat," she said, "I don't. There's good eating on these things. V--Lord Dagoth sent me out with rations, but...meat is meat."

That answer seemed to satisfy him, and he lead her onward. East of Vemynal, according to the map, though Rather didn't seem to need one. She wondered if none of the Buoyant Armigers knew of this way in...if they did, then they weren't able to take it. Kogoruhn WAS a large base after all, and if it was inhabited by one of Voryn's brothers--ash vampire, the thought came a second later--then it wasn't going to be easy to conquer.

She'd come through Kogoruhn before, somehow managed to sneak past most of those within. But two she remembered.

Dagoth Ulen had mocked her for what he perceived as her devotion to Azura. "Ah, she's sucked you in with her pretty prophecies. Promised you power, did she? Promised you justice, did she? And when did a Daedra Lord ever fulfill a promise? Such a faulty memory you have."

She'd responded that she didn't even worship Azura, that she had been brought up to fear the daedric princes--that now remembering Voryn, Lord Dagoth as the sleepers all called him--she wanted to see him first, before she did anything more. Before she obeyed Azura's commands, obeyed her much farther--

"Mortals are but simple sport to the Daedra Lords. They pull the strings, and you poor fools leap and dance..."

"I dance to no one's tune but my own," she'd replied, "I am only here because--I want to see him before I--make any decisions."

That had seemed to calm him, temporarily. And as Rather lead her into the tunnel, she wondered then what Uthol would have to say. Him she'd told the same thing--that she wanted to see Voryn before doing anything else.

Sadara started to remove the scarf covering everything but her eyes and let it hang about her neck. She tensed when she saw another ascended sleeper up ahead.

What if this was all a trap? What if they meant to kill her here? What if--

Rather stopped in place, and turned back, patting the back of her hand. Perhaps trying to reassure her, she couldn't be entirely sure. But the other sleeper neared, and when it spoke she was sure it was Ulen. That thin, reedy voice that heightened into something more like a trumpet when he grew excited. Like a living wind instrument, like words spoken through them--wrong, utterly wrong. But still he was.

"Nerevar, how glad we are that you have seen the light!"

Rather shuffled aside so Ulen could approach; the latter raised his (shaking?) rough hands to her face.

"No more a puppet of prophecy. No more a tool of Azura. We welcome you, Nerevar Sadara."

"I...thank you." Sadara knew not what to say for a moment, knew not where to look. There were holes on Ulen's face, but none of them looked like proper eyes at which to direct her own. "There's no need for the fuss. Not that I'm ungrateful for V...Lord Dagoth's welcome, it's just..."

"Come, come." This time it was Ulen who lead her by the hand. Rather followed along behind them. "Lord Uthol expects you."

"It's really not necessary to bother him, I can't imagine he'll be very thrilled."

He'd let her through before, but she was sure he'd be as ill pleased as Gilvoth had been. She wouldn't really blame him for it, either. Someone calling themselves the Nerevarine waltzes in, spreads her legs, and thinks THAT's all it takes to--

It is not you he wants, but Nerevar.

"We are always happy when we receive a new follower. But for Nerevar to return and join us? THAT is worthy of celebration!" Ulen was all excited flutes now, "It has pleased our Lord greatly, and his joy is our joy."

"He's told you already?"

"Did you think our Lord would keep your presence a secret from the rest of his House? He would never treat you so cruelly."

"I...I didn't expect such a greeting, was all," Sadara went on in a slightly less shaky voice, "Considering the prophecy, I was certain that I'd be viewed with more suspicion, like everyone else on Vvardenfell has--"

"Such malice is the domain of Azura, she who thought herself the architect of your destiny, the designer of your misery. You are wiser than you at first seemed, and I offer my abject apologies for the assumption that you would fulfill those prophecies."

"No, there's no need to apologize. Really. I...I would be suspicious too, if I had been..."

Everything is fine. You're just in some tunnel underground with a couple of ascended sleepers and you're not wearing armor at all. It's not as though they would kill you and leave you here.

They could.

Sure, she had a longsword at her hip and a dagger hidden beneath the robe, but they were strong enough they could make short work of her before she could even lift a blade.

But they didn't.

"If I were one of you," she finally finished.

"That you are not, yet soon you shall be, by the grace of Lord Dagoth."

Sadara swallowed nervously when they approached a door. She still couldn't get Gilvoth's last look out of her head, that dour tone. Uthol had been friendly enough when she'd last come through, but...at the same time, she wasn't sure how he might take...the situation. She didn't know how much Voryn had shared, or how he'd worded it. He didn't exactly tell her these things...

Gods, what a fool I am.

The door opened, and Ulen let go of her hand, moving forward and turning toward someone she couldn't see as she entered, with Rather following close behind. She realized she was sweating, and took the scarf off to dab at the sweat on her brow.

"And there she is," came Uthol's voice. "Well met, Nerevar, well met indeed. Fortune smiles. You have survived the journey, made your submission..."

Sadara lowered her hands, and absent-mindedly wrapped one a few times over with the scarf. "And now here I am."

Uthol's eyes trailed slightly downward from her face, and she noticed a strange little smile.

"I didn't think you would take my suggestion quite so literally."

Sadara was confused, but reached up to touch her neck when Uthol gestured. There was pain over the spot--

Oh, gods, I COMPLETELY forgot about the bite mark he left!

She flushed with embarrassment and instantly said, hoping he didn't notice that too, "You can blame the Dagoth Brandy for that. I was...I wanted to clear the air about some things I didn't remember, and...well, there's no need to go on about it. I...I hope not to bother you overmuch, I know Gilvoth certainly wasn't happy about--"

"Gilvoth is never happy about anything," Uthol said, waving one hand absently. "And given the way Lord Dagoth's vision of your future in our House has changed, I can surmise the reason fairly easily. Perhaps he would simply like peace and solitude once more."

Again, she blushed.

"I...I hope," Sadara stammered slightly, "Still, that my presence will not...be an annoyance."

"Annoyance?" Uthol snorted and laughed. "Annoyance? You come to Lord Dagoth, you swear you mean neither him nor the House of Dagoth any harm, and you are to join us. Nerevar. And think we would find your presence grating?"

"It has not been an easy road getting here," she said quietly, "Native Dunmer are...quite hostile to outsiders. One gets the feeling that one is annoying simply by existing from the direction of the Empire. But considering all that the Empire has done, I understand. But House Dagoth is the first time I ever felt welcomed, and...it's been a breath of fresh air."

Really, it had been. It was, she was sure, part of the reason she'd fallen so easily into Voryn's arms. For the first time since her mother had passed, she felt truly wanted somewhere. But that was just Voryn. She hadn't considered the rest of his House, though given Gilvoth's reaction she'd been reasonably sure they'd be just as ill pleased.

"Even if V--Lord Dagoth insists on sending me here with an escort. As if I couldn't make the journey myself. Has he always been so cautious?"

"We were informed of your condition, so in that case, I cannot say I fault him for this caution. Is it true--your wounds will not heal by spell or by potion?"

She almost felt she shouldn't answer the question, but Uthol seemed genuinely concerned.

"It's true. I've tried several times on smaller wounds. I heal like anyone without magic, but it seems...Lord Dagoth himself is the only one who can outright heal my wounds with spells." And now she felt sheepish for even protesting at the escort. "I can only assume Azura is responsible for it, considering. At first she scolded me for my disobedience, but now she's gone silent."

"At any rate," Uthol said, changing the subject, "We're glad to have you join us here, and some of the sleepers have prepared a room."

"I'm--grateful for that, thank you," Sadara said, "And I'd be more than glad to keep talking. But...and I hate to ask even more from you, I...killed a cliffracer, would you happen to have a kitchen area I could break it down in?"

She pulled out the cliffracer's plucked body from one of her bags. Once more she expected a negative response.

Once more she was greeted with the opposite of what she expected.

Uthol laughed. "Not as such, but I'm sure Ulen could find you an appropriate place to do it in. Do mind the ash poets, though, they may start...piping at you, considering what your presence means. When they're excitable they tend to break into music."

"I'll keep it in mind, Lord Uthol."

He nodded, and added as she was leaving. "If I may, it will be good to have a lady in the house again. Not that I dislike the company of my brothers and the sleepers, but House Dagoth has a sad lack of women."

-------------------------------------

Rather was her shadow into the makeshift kitchen, but it was Ulen who provided most of the conversation as he helped her break down the cliffracer.

"It has been some time since I had need to do this," he said, "But it is like a light spell, once you learn it, you never forget."

"You tended game fairly often?" she asked.

"Certainly. I remember fairly little, but," Ulen replied, sorting through the daggers in her weapons bag until he found some appropriate for carving, "I know I had a daughter, and that I enjoyed the domestic side of life."

"...what brought you here, then? To--to House Dagoth."

Ulen's trunked head lowered as he hacked off the head of the cliffracer. "A bandit raid. My daughter was caught...and by the time I found her=...it was too late."

"I'm so sorry. I--I lost my mother fairly early, though they're not quite the same thing. It was just illness with mine, not...did you have no one else?"

"No one. I was alone, until the Sixth House. Lord Dagoth could not fully erase the pain, but he could blot from my mind the horrors I witnessed. I did not want to remember my daughter as she died, but as she lived...and he gave me that."

Sadara gave a weak smile, but then shifted as a question occurred to her. She cut off the lower fin of the cliffracer, then made a small lateral cut below the breast so she could start removing the skin. "He can make you forget things?"

"Indeed he can, but this he does only for those who move higher in his service. Perhaps it shall be different for you. I do not know, it is not my concern. You are different from us, Nerevar."

"Please," she said suddenly. "Call me Sadara. It is not that I reject who I am, but...as I told V--Lord Dagoth, it feels almost disrespectful. I am him, but if I'm here, then he isn't. He suggested taking Nerevar as the name of my House. I didn't want to use Indoril, for obvious reasons."

"An excellent idea, until the time you join House Dagoth." Ulen pulled the cliffracer breast away from the neck and back, and Sadara, having cleaned her hands and a dagger again, reached for a jar to drop the more inedible organs in. "Lord Dagoth is ready to welcome you, but you seem to know that already."

"It's...overwhelming," she replied in a weak voice, "To go from nothing, to this prophecy, to...a god's open arms...I never thought to find myself secure, let alone..."

Even if I am just Nerevar to him...even if he never sees me as more than that. If I can only change his mind...maybe, maybe...I can finally just REST. I don't need to be a King or a leader like Nerevar was, I'd be happy just being the woman on Voryn's arm...

"...let alone welcomed as I have been. Given what I did about the corprus..."

"Lord Dagoth is not angered by that, we know. It was a way to know that you were Nerevar reborn, after all."

"He said it would be a pity to...to mar a thing of beauty, even with the bounty of his divine disease." Sadara blushed briefly, and looked back to the carcass as Ulen was pulling out the crop, gizzard, and intestinal tract. "I'd never heard such compliments before. It's strange...when I prayed to the Divines, I would ask Mara for a heroic knight, and now I find that I've been sent a god. Perhaps someone wishes to make things up to me."

"Have you considered that that person may be Lord Dagoth himself?"

"'Wisdom, a firm friend, and all the power you need to set the world aright,'" Sadara quoted the note, "He called himself a respectful servant...and a loyal friend."

That of Nerevar's memories which had returned only confirmed that. Voryn had never been anything but loyal, that she could remember. Said what he meant, and meant what he said. Her heart leaped at the idea that it could extend into what had begun to grow between them.

"My only fear in all of this," Sadara lied, "Is Lady Azura's wrath. She has already gotten angry at me for not doing what she sent me for, and...I fear that more may happen the longer this goes on."

"She shall have no opportunity to enact any vengeance; you shall be well-guarded. Lord Dagoth wants no member of his house to worry for their safety." He worked with her in silence for a minute or two, then waited as she cleaned her hands again. "Least of all, his lady."

his lady

How sweet that sounded.

She had a few ash yams and some saltrice, and made a fairly decent stew out of it and the bulk of the cliffracer's edible meat. The scent seemed to draw in some of the other Dagoths, and she looked about for other bowls.

"We need no sustenance but the corprusmeat," Ulen said, "So do not feel obligated to share."

"Nonsense, a guest in the house should be willing to...and besides, I've other food."

She served out the stew to those who sat waiting, then ate from her own bowl with a spoon. The ash ghouls simply tipped their own up and ate that way.

I wonder if this comforts them...if they still remember eating anything before...

It was not a pretty thought, that she might continue doing this, but--even if Voryn did change his mind, these poor things likely wouldn't be able to return to what they were before.

"We thank you, lady Nerevar," one finally spoke once they were all done, "And we are pleased to welcome you into House Dagoth."

"I am not of your house--" Sadara started, but when the moment seemed tense she added, "Yet. But you're all welcome."

"If you intend to see the sunrise," Ulen suddenly said, "And get a good night's rest, I recommend you not linger overlong and proceed to the room we've cleared for you."

"A little longer," she replied, "I've got a lot on my mind, and...plucking at my lute always helps settle my head."

Sadara turned away as several of the ash ghouls tidied away the dishes, and pulled her lute from her bag.

I need to think. If I could have a moment alone that would be better, but...

At least Rather couldn't speak...she assumed he would simply continue to shadow her until she returned to Red Mountain. When she emerged in the morning to watch the sunrise...that would be her best opportunity. As alone as she would get, while she was still within Voryn's circle of influence.

Something slower and quieter. Ah, I know...

She chose The Star-Eyed Bride of Alinor and began to pluck at the strings, the lyrics rolling in the background of her thoughts.

My star-eyed bride of Alinor, lost in storm and spray

Kogoruhn was a palace of death, but they had welcomed her with open arms. Uthol had been more friendly than she'd expected, and Ulen...Ulen had been overjoyed to see her. The ash ghouls...well, they hadn't said much of anything, but they'd been curious enough to take her stew, so she would assume they'd at least not seen her there unhappily.

They were victims as much as any other, though...except Ulen. No, especially Ulen. He'd chosen this, but his grief...

My star-eyed bride of Alinor, that cruel fate took away

A willing soul did not make all this perfectly innocent...grief could make people act dangerously, make them desperate either to forget or to mask over the pain.

Sadara took a deep breath. Voryn wanted to help them, she could see that, and yet he didn't see he was really hurting them. What kind of a life was this, confined to Kogoruhn, never more speaking to anyone who wasn't a member of the family. Not even a chance to do so.

"They deserve better," she murmured under her breath.

White swan feathers fluttered from her ivory bridal gown, and unsung vows slipped from her lips, eager to be found

She could not save them...but if she could just persuade Voryn, perhaps she could stop anyone further from falling into this sort of state. Or like those corprus monsters she'd met on the journey to Kogoruhn.

The next few verses she couldn't seem to quite remember--but the tune stayed the same, so on she went with it. Another thing lost...had he made her lose it? No, no, something in her mind said. He wouldn't do that, he WANTS you to remember all that came before.

Voryn himself, he was in there, inside that one that all of Vvardenfell called a mad god, that one who was spreading the blight across the island. Surely there must be something she could do to save HIM. If Sotha Sil could figure out how to use the Heart of Lorkhan, then SHE could figure out how to free someone from the darker parts of its influence.

"One step at a time," she said, once more under her breath. Soft horns were echoing--

She looked up, to find that Ulen, currently at the end of the room, had been the one making the noise like a soft set of horns.

"By all means, Lady Nerevar," he said, his trunks raised, "Continue."

She looked down at the lute and, shutting her eyes, began again, thoughts staying on Voryn as a verse she did remember rose.

My star-eyed bride of Alinor, whose last words were my name

A moment later she heard Rather from his spot behind her, begin the notes as well (if at a lower pitch) creating a strange trio of sound with her performance and Ulen's.

Then an ash ghoul, its sound a somewhat higher note, and another, somewhat lower. A third, a fourth.

My star-eyed bride of Alinor, I still weep from the shame

Before Morrowind, music was how she made herself seen, and she had never felt so much so as now. To play a song, to have others join along, it was (despite the circumstances) everything she'd dreamed it would be. She lead, they followed, they caught up and every note was harmony.

And then, a thought. A thought that was definitely not her own.

In his flesh and of his flesh.

A slight smug joy not her own, along with the words.

Gares? she thought. Those words, she would not forget those words so easily. It was faint...so very, very faint, on the edge of hearing, just barely audible.

Did I not say you would come to our lord, Nerevar?

Sadara kept playing, feeling a sudden anxiety beneath her skin. The room suddenly felt paradoxically too small and too large, too bare and too crowded. She felt linked to someone, someones. These ash ghouls, Rather, Ulen, most strongly, then somewhere in the mental background was Uthol, and outside Kogoruhn, others. Like the strings of a spider's web moving at the slightest touch she was still, yet was sure she felt--

And here you are.

Yes, she thought, Here I am.

But there was nothing further. She didn't know if the others had heard what she had, or if perhaps she'd simply been hearing things. The ash ghouls did not speak up, and neither did Rather or Ulen. The song finished out, and for a moment there was an almost appreciative silence.

She did not know how she knew that they were glad of the song they'd shared in, as she hadn't looked up to see anyone smiling or anything like that.

What she did know was that she felt their gladness. The echo of the last note passed on, though, and with it came an end to her surety. It was as if a connection established had been suddenly severed.

The ash ghouls got up one by one and left, thanking her or bowing their heads by turns. Eventually, she was left alone with Ulen and Rather.

"I think I will go to sleep now," she said, "That...seems like a good note to go out on."

A sound like whistling flutes, musical laughter. Ulen replied, "In the most literal sense. You truly do belong here, Lady Nerevar."

Sadara gave a weak smile and nodded, then let herself be lead away. The room they'd prepared for her was fairly empty with no windows. There was a bed, only barely qualifying as one with its single blanket and pillow.

Ulen told her that Rather would be standing guard on the other side of the door, and she was finally, finally left alone. She set up her bedroll beneath the blanket, and, shivering just slightly, settled herself into it and sipped quietly from her waterskin.

That connection, whatever it was, had been frightening, and yet at the same time--she had felt the last embers of her fear of loneliness burn out. Was this a small version of what the others with corprus felt? Were they all so connected? Perhaps she had been imagining things, and yet...and yet, she was sure she was right about it.

But it was triggered by music. Specifically, when there was a harmony. Maybe because her case of corprus was stilled, frozen in time, she could not fully feel what they did.

It confused her, as much as Voryn did, but feeling the fatigue of the day's journey she lay back on the bed and shut her eyes.

If it had linked her to the others, she wondered sleepily, then why had she not felt Voryn?

Suppose he is the link? Suppose...

The questions circled puzzlingly in her mind until sleep finally took her.

----------------------------------------------

When she opened her eyes again she wasn't in that dim little room in Kogoruhn, but a large, airy, brightly lit...palace, she wanted to say.

It was crowded but not overwhelmingly so. Everyone was dressed finely, and everyone was golden-skinned. Yet there seemed to be a rainbow of colors otherwise in their robes and armors and various dressings. Jeweled coronets glittered from some brows, and gold from most necks. She was wearing what she had been when she lay down to sleep--the red robe with the leather belt bearing the symbol of House Dagoth, which in the crowd made her feel severely underdressed.

She distracted herself with how this all felt familiar, overwhelmingly so, and as she made her way through the room she got both nods and bows.

I've been here before, Sadara thought, I know I have been here before!

A memory, maybe, a memory she'd forgotten. Or perhaps just a dream, her mind trying to make sense of the new memories that were moving through her mind. Perhaps it was just a jumble of things...and yet...

Sadara managed to find her way to one of the walls, where were lined a small row of chairs and--a mirror. With the crowd still talking behind her she looked into it, seeing none of them in it--not even herself.

The face that looked out of the mirror was a golden-skinned Chimer, with white hair that stood up, and eyes so blue--

Nerevar! she realized suddenly, and raised a dusky hand to her face. In the mirror the hand was Nerevar's. So this is what I was before?

It unnerved her, to look into those eyes, despite the reflection being, well, her own. Yet it was not her own, and the stare of those eyes into her own had a strange guilt settling over her. What would he think, she wondered? How would he see what she was doing, or rather, not doing? Eyes this blue were an obvious sign of devotion to Azura...surely, Nerevar would be angry.

And yet...

...even if that is not what Azura wants...

Was Nerevar there somewhere in the back of her mind, doubting his lady's commands just as much as she was? The eyes in the mirror seemed worried...hopeful, in some minute way, but they were full of concern for certain.

Sadara turned away from the mirror suddenly, not wanting to look at those eyes any longer. She looked about the crowd, seeking any particularly familiar face. Seht, Vehk, even Ayem she'd have taken, some certainty in a place where everything was familiar but vague at the same time.

Like a painting of a place she knew she'd been, with definite details impossible to note. Faces were clear but no details jumped out to scream that this person was so-and-so, or that person was--

The crowd parted before her to let her pass, and the music coming from some nebulous, unclear point in the room rose into a gentle symphony of strings and flutes.

The ink-dark hair, the stiff posture...

He turned.

The golden mask.

The red and black robes and the golden pauldrons she didn't recognize, and yet again there was that feeling of deja vu. She did not remember him wearing this, and yet in her mind there was an echo of the memory, saying that yes, he HAD worn this. She had seen him here once before. Long, long ago...only without the mask.

"This," Voryn said, in a voice softer than any she had yet heard him use, "This is the last time before it all went so wrong."

Am I dreaming?

"Of course you are," the smile was evident in his voice, even if unreadable on that impassive gold, "Did you think I would neglect you?"

"I...I thought you would be busy." Sadara gave a brief smile, and then turned to look over the gathered crowd. "I remember all this, and yet I don't...I know I was here, but...everything...is hazy. Like an echo of a memory."

"Your lady would have you believe you do not need such memories," Voryn replied, "But to have Nerevar reborn without Nerevar himself...for a tool of the daedric princes, it would suit. You...you were made to do her bidding, and for no other reason. What pain he must go through, to see and to lose so many times."

Sadara was unsure how to respond, so she nodded to let him see she was paying attention, and to tell him to continue.

"This time....this time will be different, I swear it. I will see that the Tribunal do not get the chance to pour their lies in your ear; that Ayem does not poison you, that Vehk does not stab you. We shall rise over the Tribunal like a wave and drown them. We shall choke them with their own hubris, and then--show them the might and majesty of a true god."

He took her left hand and held it between both of his own.

"Do not fear to speak. Azura cannot touch you here."

"I know, but...I believe Seht could tell you that the daedric princes could lay waste to one's home and hearth easily."

"Seht had his vengeance," Voryn brushed it off, "And should the Lady of Dawn and Dusk think to harm you, I shall have mine."

He lay a hand on her face, turned it so her gaze crossed his own.

Once more, the flutter in her chest.

"What you see here will be again, once I have Wraithguard."

"'When the land is swept clean of false friends and greedy thieves, the children of Veloth will build anew a garden of plenty in this blighted wasteland,'" Sadara quoted.

"And you," he said, leaning in, "What do you hope to gain from all this?"

"Only security," she replied, heart beating rapidly in her chest as she spoke, "Give me that, and--"

Voryn silenced her with a kiss, and the noise of the crowd faded in her ears.

[rucow]

where are all my fem voryn enjoyers? i know ur hiding here somewhere