#talvini

[razaks-wheel]

[Talvini needs to fulfill a Daedric contract, which is totally chill and has never caused problems before.]

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"I was thinking of taking a...pilgrimage, if you will. A sabbatical. To the Telvanni Peninsula," Talvini said over dinner.

"Is that so?" Milia asked with a raised eyebrow. She knew her partner well enough to know there was more to it that Talvini was just waiting to share. "What sort of pilgrimage-sabbatical?"

"Oh, you know. Check out the libraries on the peninsula, see my ancestors in Necrom, investigate the whispers that might be related to a Daedric contract I got myself roped into that deals with the fate of the world, that sort of thing."

Milia set her fork down and opened her mouth to protest.

"It's fine, though, really!" Talvini said before her partner could say anything. "It's not going to be a repeat of the Clavicus Vile thing. The Three trust us, right? When the world is at stake, we're allowed to go around doctrine by a little bit. I know that now." With the right words, she might even be able to convince herself.

With a sigh, Milia found her fork again, though it did not make its way back to her plate quite yet. "Well, it's not one of the Good Daedra or you would have led with that. Bad, then? Or neither?"

"Neither." She watched Milia begin to relax, almost reaching for a bite of food, and decided it was best to drop the identity before she could get too complacent. "It's Hermaeus Mora."

The fork went back down, and her shoulders rose and fell in a deep breath. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you why this is a bad idea, right?"

"I've...dealt with Daedra before."

"You're avoiding the question. You're a mage. He preys on mages."

"Which is why I'm going in knowing that I need to be careful. You know I'm not that reckless, as mages go. I have a good Tribunal education on top of my magical one. I know not to give into the temptations, no matter how much knowledge he offers. Plus," she reached out and took Milia's former fork-hand, "I might just have my Buoyant Armiger girlfriend there to help me if I get in over my head. I bet Vivec would approve you for a field mission."

---

"Your field mission has been approved!" Vivec said, completely unprompted, when Milia arrived at the temple the following day.

"Of course you knew about it," she mumbled.

"Of course I knew about it!" Vivec agreed happily.

"And you really trust Hermaeus Mora not to try to pull in a Telvanni mage?"

"No. I trust the protections my companions and I have over Morrowind, I trust Seht's Coldharbour Compact of which Hermaeus Mora is a part, and I trust the two of you." Still, hir usually confident smile faded somewhat, and ze leaned in and said in a quieter voice, "Just keep an eye on Talvini. I know that she knows not to give into Mora, but she doesn't know that. She's more afraid than she lets on. She needs you for more than just a jaunt to the tombs, romantic as that may be."

Milia nodded pensively. She didn't really need to be told, but it did help to have it laid out so concretely. "I will, muthsera."

"Good!" ze proclaimed, snapping back to hir usual jovial tones. "Enjoy your time in Necrom!"

[tonal-modulator]

i was ready to imagine talvini making a point of sitting on the gorne dude's ascension hearing just to be like "oh? you didn't realize you were dealing with a house superior when you said you'd steal that guy's notes and pass the research off as your own?" but then the daedra killed him and like that works too

[tonal-modulator]

if i were to play necrom which is a big if because it's a big purchase but if! what if i did it on talvini, with milia as the implicit tagalong instead of the other way around

[tonal-modulator]

i literally just got eso running and took talvini to the telvanni peninsula and then was like. wait should I write a bridge for her to get here? just so I don't forget about all the stress working with daedra brings her?

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unrelatedly it's funny when gadayn is like "we need a plan to get into the conclave where all telvanni masters are required to assemble" and in theory talvini should be able to be like "buddy i've got great news for you"

[tonal-modulator]

thinking about whether talvini would consider hiring vabdru, considering she doesn't have a mouth. but she might want to learn more about him even if "didn't want everyone to get exploded" is a promising start

[razaks-wheel]

[Llevura and Talvini unpack Ildari being the Nerevarine following the events of Tribunal.]

Llevura arrived at Tel Galen and triggered the alarm rune at the door to alert the tower's mage-lord to her presence.

"It's Llevura," she called up the tower's shaft once she was inside.

"Oh, how nice! Come in!" Talvini called down to her.

She cast a levitation spell and floated up to the next level to meet her friend.

"Would you like some coffee?" Talvini asked. "I have a pot that's just about ready."

"That sounds lovely."

She sat down at the table while Talvini poured two mugs of coffee. Knowing Talvini, it was likely more than "just about ready." She had a tendency to forget about coffee she had brewing while she worked on her projects. It was sure to be nice and strong—and, thankfully, kept hot with magic.

"So, what brings you all the way to Vvardenfell?"

"Would you mind casting a rune?" Llevura asked. It was a phrase uttered between them enough that she knew Talvini would know what she meant: a rune to block any divine onlookers from perceiving potentially dangerous conversations. As soon as the request left her mouth, however, she realized how futile it would be. Still, it was a source of tenuous comfort, and so she let Talvini cast it anyway.

Talvini joined her at the table once the rune was cast and looked at her expectantly, with a hint of worry in her eyes. Of course she knew that Llevura would not have asked her to cast a rune if she did not have something important to talk about.

"The Nerevarine—Ildari—she's your granddaughter, isn't she?" Llevura asked.

Talvini took a sip of her coffee and nodded slowly, as though she had been expecting the question for some time.

"She is. But she doesn't know about me. She can't know about me yet," she said. "Do you remember the Ildari we knew in the Second Era? Ildari Melas, she called herself."

"Melas...like Faryn," Llevura said. She did remember her, at least vaguely, but she had not put it together before today. "Faryn, who raised your granddaughter. But, how is that possible?"

"Several years from now, she'll travel back to the Second Era," Talvini said. "I don't know the details, since it hasn't happened yet."

Llevura sat in thought for a few moments as she sipped at her coffee. It was no wonder Talvini—and Milia, when she was still alive—had grown so evasive over the years. They had a timeline to protect.

"So you've always known what she would become? What she would do?"

"We knew she would be the Nerevarine, and vaguely what that would entail," Talvini said. She looked more closely at Llevura with a question in her eyes. "I assume there's something I don't know?"

"I suppose so," Llevura said carefully. She wondered for a moment whether she should even tell Talvini what had happened, but as Ildari's ancestor, she should have some special rights. "Ildari may have killed both of our patrons."

Talvini set her mug down quickly, barely wincing as a few droplets splashed onto her hand, and leaned in.

"Sotha Sil and Almalexia are dead?" she asked. There was a mixture of incredulity and devastation on her face. Although her orthopraxy from her younger years had faded with age, there was no doubt that her gods still held a place in her heart. "And...Ildari...?"

"I don't know exactly what happened," Llevura said. "I'm still processing it all, myself. What I know is that Almalexia told Ildari that Sotha Sil had gone mad and had to be dealt with, and that Ildari might have to kill him. She sent her to the Clockwork City and followed her soon after, saying that she might need help. Too much time passed, and my colleagues and I all lost access to our divine-granted abilities, and then Ildari returned alone.

"The next day—yesterday—Ildari came back to Mournhold with Vivec. They spent some time with Fedris and Archcanon Gavas; I suspect they may have all gone to the Clockwork City to see to...the remains. Then, when they were done, Vivec addressed the Hands and confirmed that both ALM and SI were dead."

She steadied herself with another sip of coffee, letting the heat on her lips ground her. This was not the time for a breakdown; she had done that enough already.

"They haven't told us exactly what happened. If Sotha Sil had truly gone mad as we were told, then perhaps he killed Almalexia, and tried to kill Ildari, who defended herself. But—Three forgive me—I don't know if I believe that.

"Almalexia said that Sotha Sil released fabricants to attack Mournhold. But she went to the Clockwork City immediately before the attack. It is...possible, if unthinkable, that they coordinated the attacks together in order to lure Ildari to the Clockwork City, where they could face her together. I got the sense that Almalexia resented Ildari's role in Azura's prophecy, and maybe Sotha Sil felt the same, and they wanted to...remove her—if you'll forgive my coarse phrasing—but thought they would have a better chance if they teamed up against her.

"On the other hand, Almalexia had her reforge Nerevar's legendary blade before sending her to the Clockwork City. So maybe everything she said was true, and Sotha Sil was beyond reason." She sighed. "I shouldn't try to understand the intentions of a god."

Talvini, who had been listening intently for the whole explanation, her face difficult to read, simply asked, "How are you doing?"

"Honestly? Not great," she said with half a laugh as if it would help draw attention away from her pain. "I won't pretend I didn't notice their decline; Almalexia had been struggling to hold on for some time. And while I don't know exactly what happened when Ildari defeated Dagoth Ur, I do know it changed them. Still, I wasn't expecting something so drastic to happen so soon. I've been trying to process it on my own when I can, but it's hard to mourn someone I loved and devoted my whole being to when I have to act like she's not really gone."

Talvini nodded sympathetically. "How is Tilora doing?"

"Tilora doesn't know," Llevura said quietly, as if she could otherwise hear them all the way from Mournhold. "She noticed that something was upsetting me, of course, and she knows I can't tell her the details, so she might have some guesses. But she has her duties as a priest, and priests are generally not supposed to assume their gods are dead. She'll learn what happened soon enough, but in the meantime, I'm more or less on my own." She took another sip of coffee. "What about you? Sotha Sil was your patron. Are you okay?"

Talvini's eyes drifted far away, and she offered a pensive shrug. "I knew he would die sometime between the prophecies and Ildari's jaunt into the Second Era. I didn't know it would be immediately after the prophecies, and I certainly didn't know Ildari would be involved—or, could be involved, anyway." She brought her eyes back to the present. "It's a lot to unpack."

"It is," Llevura agreed.

"Maybe someday Ildari will tell us what really happened."

"Not sure I want to know," Llevura said. "On the other hand, guessing is worse."

Talvini raised her mug in solemn agreement. Her eyes floated into the distance once more. "The weight she was carrying...the whole time we knew her..."

"I can't imagine."

"Nor I. Poor thing." She snapped her eyes back to present and added, "I mean, assuming she didn't just murder them both in cold blood, but I highly doubt that's what happened."

Llevura shook her head. "No, I can't imagine that's what happened. She looked as devastated as I felt when she returned to Mournhold. Hers was not the face of a foul murderer."

"Good, I suppose," Talvini said. "I just wish I could offer her...anything. Instead, I have to keep pretending I don't exist."

"You'll see her again someday," Llevura said. "How old was she in the Second Era?"

"Thirties, forties? I expect it'll be in the next decade or so. Good thing I'm not going anywhere."

Llevura smiled. "Good thing, indeed. Hope I can say the same." Her smile faded slightly. "Everything is going to be very different, very soon. I'll admit I'm afraid of what our world might look like tomorrow, let alone in a decade. But I'm glad to have a friend I can talk to. Thanks for having me, Tal."

She stood up to leave, and Talvini joined her.

"You're welcome any time. It gets lonely out here in a tower that's blocked off from most prying eyes. Bit of a self-imposed loneliness, granted, but I enjoy the company nonetheless."

She offered a hug, and only in her friend's embrace did Llevura realize how much she needed it. It lasted a bit longer than one might have expected, but she hoped Talvini wouldn't mind. They did just lose their gods, after all.

When they finally let go, Llevura took a step back.

"Thanks again, Tal. See you soon," she said as she cast the recall spell to take herself home.

[tonal-modulator]

You've been visited by the random OC question fairy! :D ~☆

What excites your character? What do they enjoy doing? What motivates them?

:D I'll answer for Talvini.

Tal is really into her research. She pretty much has her choice of what projects to pursue, so she only studies things that interest her. She'll find some topic that excites her, and pretty much hyperfixate on it until it stops being exciting or until some new topic comes up, and maybe put it on hold until some later date when she can come back and start hyperfixating on it again.

Many of her projects involve some magico-mechanical stuff, and since she can't realistically move to the Clockwork City, she relies mostly on studying Dwemer tech and using parts to build her own constructs. So while she normally doesn't love to travel, she will if it means getting new supplies for her research. (She followed Milia on her Markarth adventures partly for this reason.)

[razaks-wheel]

@the-greymarch​ Hi thank you! :D

(prompt source)

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A familiar smell greeted Milia when she opened the door to her home after returning from work. Familiar, but...unexpected. Talvini stood over some pots on the stove, with the hint of a smile that looked like she was up to something.

"Whatcha making?" Milia asked, crossing over to the kitchen area.

"Oh, just some nix and ash yam stew." The smile looked like it was getting hard to contain.

Milia tilted her head. She had mentioned recently that that was her favorite meal, but it was just a passing comment. Had Tal really remembered?

"I didn't know how you liked it, so I popped to Balmora to talk to your parents and ended up grabbing some of the spice blend that they said you liked and couldn't get anywhere else. Then I hopped to the Farmers and Laborers Hall in St. Olms, because I know they have some of the best meat and produce on Vvardenfell—Vivec made sure you weren't on patrol in the area while I was there—and then I came home and set to cooking, and it's been stewing all day. The saltrice is just about ready, too."

Her expression had morphed into one of focus as she scooped some saltrice into two bowls, and then topped each with a helping of stew.

"I hope it turned out okay; I don't often make stews."

"It smells amazing," Milia said.

The smile returned. She picked up the bowls to bring them to the table.

"Hey, set those down for a second?"

As soon as the bowls were safely back on the counter, Milia threw her arms around Tal and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thanks for thinking of me."

[tonal-modulator]

i think talvini lives a very long time simply because she has no interest in dying. death approaches from her periphery and she’s like, “no, thank you, i will be staying alive.” and death is like, “oh, my mistake,” and moves on

[razaks-wheel]

@nostalgic-breton-girl​ Hi thank you!

(prompt source)

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4E 2

Talvini lit a candle and brought it to the Waiting Door on the upper level of Tel Galen. She set it on the shelf that held Milia's effects: her staff, her cuirass, her lute, her favorite mug. She pulled up a chair and sat down, and spent a few moments in quiet meditation, preparing herself to speak.

"Hey Mils," she said when she was ready. "I got to see Ildari today. She just got back from the Second Era—did the whole thing in one day, from our end. So, no more need to hide and watch over her from afar.

"She asked about you. Honestly, I don't think she fully expected either of us to be alive when she got back, so she seemed pleasantly surprised that I was still around, but still saddened to learn that you're gone. I told her I'd take her to the Llothri tomb in Necrom sometime—she should get a chance to see all of her ancestors; she has some catching up to do—but I also attuned her to this tower, so she can get past the cloak and come see you at the Waiting Door whenever she wants.

"Faryn was there too. It was nice to see her; she doesn't often visit now that she lives in the Imperial City, but I told her Ildari would want to see her, and she came right over. She was immediately taken with Dreveni, if a bit surprised to learn that she was a grandmother of a four-year-old." She laughed. "And, gods, you should have seen the look on her face when Ildari told her who the father was. I think she was about as shocked as I was when I first learned."

She passed her hand over the candle's flame, close enough to keep herself grounded, but high enough that the warmth did not bother her too much.

"It's strange to see Ildari grow up so fast. I know we knew her back then, but it was so long ago. I spent the past few years watching her stumble through her prophecies and try to find her place in the world, and then suddenly she's a whole adult with a few more prophecies under her belt and a daughter. I know they say time flies, but I don't think they're accounting for time travel. Eight years in a few hours is really something."

A few more seconds passed while she considered whether she had anything else to say, or if she should release her wife's spirit's attention from the mortal world.

"I wish you could have seen them again."

She sat in meditative silence until the candle burned out.

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WIP Wednesday+/-2

I was tagged by @alxxiiswrites​! I’ve been kinda slumpy lately but I finally started writing something (even if it’s not super serious) so here’s a snippet:

Milia folded her arms. "Careful, Hand. Rivalries aside, when you disrespect the Buoyant Armigers, you're disrespecting Vivec hirself."

"I have no disrespect for the Armigers, and certainly none for Vivec. All I'm saying is that when one needs real muscle, one wouldn't exactly call on a poet," she said. "I mean, let's be honest. Any of us could take on any of you in a fight."

Milia raised an eyebrow and reached for her staff. "Is that a hill you want to die on?"

Talvini cringed. There was no way this would end well. She considered intervening, but no—not yet. It would be better to let them blow off their steam for now and throw up a ward if things were to get ugly.

"If I were wrong, sure—but I'm not," Llevura said. "But if you're intent on putting my words to the test, then let's take this out to the training yard and duel. To the death."

Milia's grip on her staff loosened. "To the death?"

"What, out of soul gems? Don't worry; I've got plenty."

I’m going to tag anyone who wants to do it even though it’s definitely not Wednesday anymore.

[razaks-wheel]

[Talvini convinces Llevura to evacuate before the Argonians reach Mournhold. Kind of a companion story to this one, a conversation that happens offscreen because the other fic is from Ildari's POV.]

The lobby of the Mournhold Temple was a chaotic sight in the hours before the Argonians would reach the city. A jumble of people flowed in and out, crowding the Hands of Almalexia and High Ordinators who were handing out supplies for those who planned to evacuate, and arming those who planned to stay. Amid the chaos, Talvini caught the eye of one of the Hands, an old friend named Llevura, and motioned her aside. Llevura finished supplying the mer she was talking to and then came over to meet her.

"We'll be leaving once we've helped open portals for everyone else who plans to evacuate," Talvini said.

"Good to hear," Llevura said. "Do you need any supplies?"

"No, we have what we need. When are you leaving?"

"Me?" Llevura seemed surprised at the question. "I'm staying."

"To do what? Die?"

"If it comes to that."

"It will."

"Then, so be it. It is my duty to Almalexia to defend her holy city with my dying breath, if I must."

"Almalexia is gone," Talvini said quietly.

"And yet I still owe her this much," Llevura said. "What's your point?"

"You owe it to Almalexia to die when thousands are in need of aid?" she asked. "You think the Healing Mother wishes for you to die on principle when you could instead live and help those who need it?"

Llevura hesitated. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. But my place is in Mournhold. Let me do this one last thing for my Lady."

Talvini folded her arms across her chest. "No. I will let you do many more things for your Lady. You can come with us and continue to aid in the relief efforts. You can share the Healing Mother's Mercy with those who are suffering. You won't be able to do that if you're dead."

Llevura sighed. "I don't want to die, Tal. I would love to keep helping the relief efforts. But it would be wrong for me to leave."

Talvini's hand floated up to her chin, as it did when she was deep in contemplation. She had a couple more cards to play, but they were harsh ones. Was it really the time to play them? But if not now, when?

"Llevura, my friend, you know I don't blame you for Milia's death. But the fact remains that she did save your life at the cost of her own, and I think I have the right to leverage that. If you die senselessly, you will be wasting my wife's sacrifice, and I will not have that. I would ask you to honor her by evacuating the city and joining us in the relief efforts. If you would not do that out of respect for Milia, then I will drag you through the portal myself. You may have muscle, but I doubt even you could resist one of my paralysis spells."

That seemed to shift Llevura's perspective.

"Right," she said softly after a moment. "I wasn't thinking of Milia's sacrifice, but you're right. I do owe it to her—and to you—to live and continue to do good. I'm not exactly going to be happy to leave Mournhold to be destroyed, and I'm not even certain it's the right choice, but I will come with you."

Talvini finally cracked a smile and threw her arms around Llevura.

"Thank you, my friend," she said. "I thought I was going to lose you."

[tonal-modulator]

every time I log into an eso character I'm like "wow i forgot how much i love them! i want to talk about them and make sure everyone also loves them"

[razaks-wheel]

@tesruinedmylife​ thank you! :D

Prompt: “temple” from “an Elder Scrolls writing prompt list”

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Barely a year since the disaster, barely a dent put into the relief efforts, and already they would have to leave Mournhold. Vivec had argued, naturally. Though ze had gotten much better about turning hir guilt into action, this new threat of invading Argonians seemed to have triggered something and caused hir to revert to hir initial response. Ze had already let hir own city and its residents be destroyed; ze did not want to let the same thing happen for Ayem's. Ze would rather suffer and die alongside those who chose to remain.

Luckily, Ildari had managed to convince hir. They would work with the other mages to open portals so that anyone who wanted to escape could do so, and then they would leave for themselves. There was still so much to do, and they would be of no use to the relief efforts if they were dead. Besides, they had her daughter Dreveni to think about, and her grandmother Talvini. While the latter was perfectly capable of making and acting on her own decisions, Ildari did not want to put her in a position to choose between her safety and her family.

They had also picked up one of Almalexia's Hands, Llevura, an old friend of Talvini's. Judging by Llevura's distressed expression when she met up with their party, Ildari suspected that Talvini's persuasion methods might have involved the leveraging of an old life's debt and possibly some threats of force to get her to leave her post and join them rather than die senselessly when the city walls were inevitably breached, but she was glad to have her all the same.

They had heard of more relief efforts being centered all the way up north, in Blacklight. Normally, that would have been quite a trek, but with two mages and a former god who was familiar with the city, it was only a matter of minutes to open the portal when the time came. They stepped through and arrived at the steps to the Blacklight temple.

"Interesting choice of target location," Ildari said quietly. "Not planning on keeping a low profile to start with?"

"Temples are still hubs in magicka-space; they're easy to teleport to," Vivec said. "We'll need to make ourselves known sooner or later, anyway. Might as well be now."

"Fair enough."

Ildari led them inside. While she looked around for a high-ranking priest, Vivec pointed Talvini in the direction of Sotha Sil's shrine, and she led Dreveni off under the pretense of allowing the girl to commune with her father. The rest of them began walking in the opposite direction until they saw a priest with an ornate stole and an air of authority around him. He seemed to notice Llevura's armor and came over to meet them.

"What brings a Hand of Almalexia all the way to Blacklight?"

Ildari prepared to answer for her, in case Llevura wished to pass the responsibility onto her traveling companions—either out of respect or disapproval—but she responded smoothly enough.

"Reporting in from Mournhold, serjo," she said. "Have you heard of the trouble there?"

"Vaguely. Something about Argonians?"

"Indeed. They've made their way up the Deshaan region, pillaging everything in their path, and are likely sacking Mournhold as we speak."

"And you left your post?" the priest demanded. "You abandoned Almalexia's holy city to be destroyed by invaders?"

Llevura's jaw tightened, but before she could respond, Vivec spoke.

"Peace, Nilas. In Almalexia's absence, Llevura answers to me."

The priest's eyes narrowed as he turned to Vivec as if just now noticing hir.

"And who would you be, to hold such authority over a Hand of Almalexia?"

Most days, Vivec loved the theatrics of the big reveal. Ze would put on hir now-illusory two-toned skin, pull hir legs up into hir favorite levitating position, set hir head aglow, and flash a bright smile and maybe a wink.

Today, however, ze simply responded, "Vivec."

The priest's face paled as he realized his misstep. He bowed deeply and said, "My sincere apologies. You are not, ah...looking like yourself. I did not recognize you."

"No offense was taken," Vivec said. "I prefer to keep my identity relatively quiet while my companions and I work for the relief efforts, if you would afford me that respect and not inform your subordinates." Ze motioned to hir side. "My friend Ildari here tends to lead our little team."

The priest turned to her. "Ildari, as in—?"

"Ildari Llothri," she said. "Nerevarine and former Hortator of the Great Houses on Vvardenfell. We'd like to help in any way we can, as well as coordinate the sending of aid to the areas affected by the invasion. First, though, I think we need to take a few moments to regroup. We'll be in touch."

The priest bowed once more and gave them their privacy.

"I need to meditate," Llevura said as soon as the priest was gone. "I'll be at your command when you need me."

Without waiting for confirmation, she turned and walked away, leaving Ildari and Vivec alone. Ildari waited until the Hand was out of earshot, and then turned to Vivec.

"You okay?" she asked. "I know we need to start working as soon as possible, but you seemed like you needed a minute."

Rather than offer a verbal response, Vivec turned and began walking back the way they came. Ildari followed hir to the door to Almalexia's shrine.

"Do you want me to wait out here?" she asked.

Ze gestured for her to follow and went in.

"Ward the door, please," ze said once she was inside.

She cast a locking spell on the door, followed by a sound wall, and then wrapped the whole thing in a thick barrier. When she turned around, Vivec was kneeling by the shrine. Ze drew a dagger from hir waist and set it on the ledge, as if making an offering to an honored ancestor's spirit.

Ze looked like ze needed space. Ildari sat on a cushion along the side of the room and did some meditating of her own.

She always felt strange at shrines to Almalexia, much more so than the other two. Vehk's shrines carried no great weight, since ze was still alive. She could know where she stood with hir at any given moment, just by living with hir. Shrines to Seht had a comforting air. Their last meeting had been on happy terms, and he'd known how it would end. She could assume—or, at least, hope—that Seht was looking on at her as a friend.

Ayem's shrines were challenging. Ildari's last meeting with Almalexia, all the way back in the Second Era while being just four years ago from her perspective, was also a happy one. But at Almalexia's last encounter with Ildari, twelve years ago, well, Ildari had killed her. She had no idea where she would stand with her. In death, would she remember Ildari as having once been a friend? Or would she only remember her as an adversary, the destroyer of her divinity, and her killer? She might not know until her own death, and it felt wrong to address her as though everything were okay.

Instead, she turned her thoughts to the room itself. While it was still clearly upkept, she could detect some early signs of disuse. The magicka flow of the space did not reflect the high traffic that one would expect in a big city. The prayer books were kept in neat piles rather than strewn around the room, as if untouched since they were last tidied.

She wondered where this temple community was in their transition away from the Tribunal. Given the complete lack of anything relating to the Good Daedra that she had noticed, it seemed likely that they had been waiting as long as possible. Maybe they had waited too long, and many of the people, with no gods ready to turn to when Baar Dau fell, had lost their faith altogether. Vivec would be upset. While ze hated seeing hir people forced to turn to Daedra, ze hated even more to see them alone. Ze might have a nice, long lecture for the priest Nilas at the next opportunity.

She heard a broken sob and turned to see Vivec reaching an arm out for her. She approached carefully, half worried that her presence would spark Almalexia's anger and wash away all of Vivec's prayer. But ze pulled her down to hir level as soon as she was close, squeezed her tight, buried hir face in her shoulder, and broke down.

"I let her down," ze breathed between sobs. "I let her city be destroyed. I let her temple burn. I let her people die. Just like I did with my own city."

Ildari wished she could offer advice, but she knew it was a feeling only a god could understand. She settled for squeezing hir back and letting hir get it all out. She knew they would have so few moments of privacy in the days to come, and Vivec needed the time to process what had happened, and what was happening.

After a while, Vivec's breathing slowed down to normal. After another moment, ze released Ildari and helped her up. Ze turned to the shrine and whispered one more apology, and then wiped hir eyes and turned back to Ildari.

"Well. Shall we?" ze asked.

"Did you want to talk about that at all?"

"What is there to talk about? I let her down, and now I need to make it up to her by helping the survivors as much as I can," ze said. "Now, shall we go find Nilas? There's work to be done, and then he and I need to have a chat about this temple's transition process."

[razaks-wheel]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Elder Scrolls, Elder Scrolls Online Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Talvini (Vestige OC)/Milia (Vestige OC), Vestige OC/Vestige OC, Female Dunmer Vestige/Female Dunmer Vestige, Vetige OC & Vestige OC, Vestige OC & Vivec, Vestige OC & Almalexia Characters: Milia Nyrandil (Vestige OC), Talvini Llothri (Vestige OC), Llevura Ranith (Vestige OC), Tilora Uvanil (Vestige OC), Vivec, Almalexia Additional Tags: they pass the pov by touching don't @ me, Vestige trauma, PTSD Summary:

Milia and Llevura hand their brain cells to Talvini and decide to fight to the (temporary) death to see whose faction is cooler. Milia is reminded about her trauma around dying.

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This started as a joke about how Llevura could outparse Milia and how that would annoy Milia (and does annoy me because Milia is supposed to be my best dps), but Milia also has Vestige Baggage that needed to be unpacked, so here we are.