#pov: enthir

[soulstealer1987]

Interlude: Enthir

Ziist Grozein

While Gallus is on his way to Dawnstar, someone else who may or may not have known him pre-amnesia is still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Gallus is, apparently, not dead.

Crossposted from AO3. Masterpost is here.

Arc 1, Chapter 11 ~ Arc 2, Chapter 1

Enthir’s last few weeks have been… stressful, to say the least. Stressful might not be the right word, but what is the right word for absolutely everything going to shit at once and someone you’d long since given up for dead turning up alive, well, and apparently with a bad case of amnesia. That last part’s a given, because the fact that Gallus didn't recognize him was a rather obvious indication of that. There's also the fact that Gallus looks a little too similar to how he'd looked the last time Enthir had seen him in person, which was over twenty-five years ago.

Gallus should be an old man by now, not to mention very dead. Enthir never saw his old friend’s body, but he'd spoken to someone who had. Someone who may or may not have had a hand in Gallus’ death.

Someone by the name of Mercer Frey.

When he'd taken over leadership of the Thieves Guild, things began going downhill almost immediately, almost like something or someone had it in for him. Being a mage himself, Enthir knew a curse when he saw one, and so he distanced himself from the Thieves Guild. It retrospect, it was one of the best decisions he'd made for some time, although that didn't keep him from feeling a little bad about it. They'd only just managed to stay afloat for the past few years, after all, and it had gotten to the point where Enthir was beginning to wonder how much longer they could keep this up for.

Of course, if Gallus was alive - amnesia or no - this changed everything. Enthir considered contacting Mercer for a time, except that Enthir doubted it was an accident that the Guild had begun going downhill as soon as Mercer became Guildmaster, and he was reasonably certain that Gallus hadn't trusted Mercer for some time before his death. Personally, Enthir had never trusted the man, but the vindication from being right was vastly overshadowed by the tragedy of Gallus’ death.

Except, Gallus wasn't dead. Enthir suspected some sort of magic was involved, because people didn't just come back from the dead. Regardless, someone needed to know, and if not Mercer…

Karliah.

For a time, Enthir wasn't entirely sure how he would meet with her, or even get in touch with her to begin with. After all, rumor had it she'd fled to Morrowind, where she could disappear easily. However, Enthir suspected she had not, because if he knew her at all, if Mercer was lying through his teeth about the circumstances surrounding Gallus' death, she would be searching for a way to bring him down.

Eventually, Enthir recalled a dead drop just outside Winterhold, one that supposedly, only he and Gallus had known of, and used to communicate occasionally. (Gallus had always been… paranoid, which made the circumstances surrounding his death more suspicious.) Somehow, Enthir suspected that Karliah too knew of it, and with that in mind, he left a letter there in the faint hope that she would actually check it.

The night after Gallus left for Dawnstar, when Enthir had all but given up hope on getting in touch with Karliah, was the night a hooded figure that was unmistakably her stepped into the Frozen Hearth.

Enthir was having a drink with Nelecar, listening to his complaints about the soul gem that had gotten him and others kicked out of the College, when he saw her enter, and take a seat at a table somewhat obscured from the entrance. Enthir hastily excused himself, made his way over, and sat across from her.

“Enthir,” she greets evenly, and any doubt Enthir had that this was her evaporates. It's been twenty-five years, but she looks much the same as she did before everything went wrong. The main difference is the grief written all over her face and especially visible in her signature violet eyes.

She’s still mourning Gallus, Enthir realizes, even after all this time. As far as Enthir knew, Mercer hadn't mourned Gallus at all. Some could have attributed it to a need to move on, Enthir supposed, but he knew better. With that in mind, a ny remaining doubt Enthir might have had about Karliah herself and whether she could be trusted evaporates as well.

“Karliah,” Enthir replies in the same, even tone of voice. “I was beginning to think you wouldn't come.” Karliah’s gaze meets his, and Enthir doesn't look away.

“I considered not coming,” Karliah says, and her gaze, already piercing, hardens. “If this is a trap-”

“This is no trap,” Enthir says a little too quickly. Karliah only looks more suspicious, and Enthir winces. “Look, I am, and always have been, Gallus’ friend first. I never trusted Mercer.” Apparently, that was the right thing to say, as Karliah visibly relaxes. She's still very much on edge, but at least now she doesn't look like she'll disappear into thin air on him.

“You know, then.”

Enthir shrugs, and says, “I do now.”

“Oh,” Karliah says, quietly. She looks to the ground, then back at Enthir. “I… as nice as it is to catch up, you said you had something important to discuss.”

“I did,” Enthir agrees.

“What...?”

Well, Enthir could just tell her outright that Gallus is alive, but for one thing he has no idea how Karliah is going to react, and for another…

“Enthir?” Karliah asks, and his decision’s made. He gulps. While he'd like to think he can keep a level head in any situation, ‘any situation’ clearly doesn't extend to informing his dead friend’s lover that said dead friend may not actually be dead. “What is-?”

“Were you there when Gallus died?” Enthir blurts, and internally curses. Karliah’s eyes go wide. Enthir’s don't, but clearly neither of them were expecting this question.

“Yes,” Karliah says softly. “He was meeting with Mercer at a Nordic ruin north of Windhelm, alone. He made that quite clear, and yet… I followed him. I watched him looking for Mercer, and… he never stood a chance. One moment, he was looking around, wondering where Mercer was, and the next, Mercer had stabbed him in the back. I… if I'd moved then, I might have been able to save him.”

She stops talking, staring off into space, and Enthir can tell she's reliving what happened. He clears his throat.

“What happened after?” Enthir prompts, partially out of curiosity, and partially because if this is what happened… how in Oblivion is Gallus still alive? Magic must be involved, then, although Enthir supposes that if Gallus hadn't died in the first place that he wouldn't look the same as he did then. Things would be much, much simpler if there was some way for him to have not died in the first place.

“By the time I’d managed to move… he'd dumped his body down a hole, into the ruins below. That's when I attacked.” Karliah smiles sadly. “I almost killed him, too.” She doesn't offer any more details, and Enthir doesn’t press for any more. Instead, he decides… it’s time he got to the point.

“Did you see him die?” Enthir asks quietly, and much to his dismay, he’s greeted with a nod.

“I didn’t want to believe it until the end, I still don’t, but… he died quickly,” Karliah says. “By the time Mercer… got rid of his body, he was quite dead.” Enthir’s heart sinks. Karliah might be a thief, but she doesn’t stretch the truth. If she believes she saw Gallus die, then chances are that he did… which makes Gallus being alive, albeit with amnesia, even stranger. Magic has to be involved... either that, or Karliah didn't see what she thought she saw.

“Are you sure?” Enthir asks.

Anger blazes in Karliah’s eyes, replacing the quiet melancholy in them up to now, and Enthir has just enough time to realize he’s made a mistake before she’s stood, and she’s drawn her bow, and Enthir soon finds himself staring down the shaft of an arrow aimed at his throat. He gulps.

“Enough of this,” she says. There’s more than a bit of bitterness in her words, and Enthir could guess at why, if of course he wasn’t staring down the shaft of an arrow that may well be his doom if he doesn’t get his act together fast. “You implied in your letter that you had something important to tell me. Tell it. Now.” Enthir nods.

“You’re not going to believe me,” Enthir says. “I wouldn’t have if I were in your position.” Karliah narrows her eyes.

“Try me,” she says.

“Gallus is alive,” Enthir blurts out, and Karliah freezes. Anger turns to shock, but swiftly becomes anger again. She doesn’t lower the bow. Instead, she pulls the arrow back further, and while Enthir will never admit this, he’s on the verge of soiling himself. He’d always known Karliah as the soft-spoken Dunmer girl who practically worshipped the ground Gallus walked on, and who eventually became a proficient thief in her own right.

Clearly, these twenty-five years have changed her, and it’s debatable whether it’s for the better.

“This isn’t funny, Enthir,” Karliah says.

“I’m telling the truth, I’ll swear on anything you like,” Enthir says, raising his hands in the universal gesture of surrender in a last, desperate attempt to convince her, “and I don’t know how, but he is, I swear.” Karliah regards him for a few, tense seconds, then silently puts the bow away, puts the arrow back into her quiver, and takes a seat like nothing happened. Enthir risks a glance towards the bar, and realizes that the bartender’s left, probably when she drew her bow on him. He doesn’t blame the man.

As he lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, Enthir makes a mental note to slip a few extra septims into Dagur’s pockets when he gets the chance. The guy deserves it for putting up with the dubiously legal deals he can't conduct within College grounds.

Karliah’s been silent for some time now, and eventually, cautiously, Enthir risks a look up at her. Her hood does little to hide the hope in her eyes, although she quickly masks it with skepticism.

“I wish I could believe you,” she says softly, “but I already told you… I watched him die.” Enthir nods.

“I know,” Enthir says. “I’m not arguing that. I don’t know how he’s alive, but if you watched him die, then magic’s likely involved. What kind, I don’t know. The closest any conjurer can achieve would be a mindless thrall, and Gallus clearly isn’t that.”

Karliah blinks hard. “So he… Nocturnal’s grace, he must hate me.” (Enthir raises an eyebrow at this, but says nothing.) “So he’s… here? In the College?”

“He was, until yesterday,” Enthir says. ”I don’t know that he’d recognize you, however. He didn’t recognize me.”

“What do you…” Karliah trails off as she realizes just what Enthir might be saying, and her gaze falls to the table. She glances up again, and slowly, Enthir nods.

“Amnesia,” Enthir confirms. “Took a bit of asking around, but word is that he showed up some time ago knowing nothing but his name, and hoping to find out more about himself. I was… out, at the time, unfortunately, when he first arrived.”

“Shadows preserve us,” Karliah swears under her breath. “He must be so lost…” Despite the fact that she’d looked very ready to kill him if need be just minutes before, Enthir offers her a reassuring smile. While the years clearly haven’t been kind to her, she’s still very clearly the same Dunmer girl who thought the world of Gallus, and still does.

He hopes, for both of their sakes, that she can figure things out.

“Then you should go find him,” Enthir says. “He’s left for Dawnstar, in the hope that someone there might be able to help with his amnesia. Even if he doesn’t remember you, he’d be significantly less lost with someone to help.” Karliah takes a shaky breath, and slowly, carefully, shakes her head.

“I-I couldn’t,” she says. “After what… what happened, I… don’t think I can face him.”

Enthir sighs.

“Then don’t,” Enthir says. “Protect him from the shadows. Keep him from dying a second time. As I said… Dawnstar. If you hurry, you’ll be able to catch up with him.”

Karliah nods, slowly, deliberately, and stands.

“I think… I’ll do that,” she says softly. “Enthir… thank you. Words can’t express…”

“It’s quite alright, Karliah,” Enthir replies. “You don’t have to say a word. Just… I’d appreciate it if you’d try not to draw your bow on me in the future.” Karliah nods, and has the decency to look sheepish.

“Sorry about that,” she says. “I’ll just…”

“Get going?” Enthir offers. She nods.

“Thank you,” she says, and is out the door in a quiet, sneaky flash. Enthir doesn't go back to the College immediately. Instead, he waits for Dagur to come out, and when he does, he orders another drink. Partially because he needs it, and partially because the man could use the coin. Even as he drinks it, his thoughts go to Gallus, and by extension, Karliah.

That night is the last he sees of her for a long time, although it's not quite as long a wait as before.

[neofolk-telvanni-wizard]

Summer finally melted Winterhold. Swimming season in our beloved College is open!

[in-the-mud]

The Hali: Sylac-Teth

Rahhe Runeth Govel of Sylac-Teth, The Mad, The Witch-King, rumored to be immortal and certainly immoral. The living vessel of Malinue, two gods as one, and the most powerful magic user of his kind. Arguably the most powerful magic user on the continent. Hedonistic and eccentric, any Mazieh messengers that make it out of his cursed forest alive tell tales of edible flowers that make the sky turn purple and feasting tables laid with platters of insects.

Ariah of Sylac, the right hand of the Rahhe, Runeth’s queerplatonic partner and the wife of Senora. The outside world knows little about her beyond the fact that she’s rumored to have dangled a foreign emissary by his ankles at the command of her king.

Tovle of Lani, the left hand of the Rahhe. They are what the Behial call nueri, a moonchild, something not man nor woman and entirely unknown to the people of Mazuri. Next to nothing about them is known to the outside world beyond presumably that they dabble in witchery, and they are Runeth’s partner, as well as the partner of another man.

Senora Famenkha, wife of Ariah. Based on information gathered by Mazieh spies, might possibly be gifted in fortune telling? Unknown.

Enthir of Danaelac, partner of Tovle. Seems to like animals. Mazieh spies observed him cuddling his partner quite a lot. Unknown.

[pov Mazieh]