OOM: Vivec City, 18 First Seed, 3E 428

[moonandstar]

Garyn hadn't felt the need to involve Ibani in his last little spy mission. Retrieving a skull from a tomb for an alchemist who is a little TOO insistent that she isn't a necromancer had been an easy enough job. But this? This was going back to Vivec...a place where he very much had meant to make himself scarce from. What's more, one of their contacts would be in the Foreign Quarter - the very same place where a number of corrupt Fighters Guild members had been killed by a booby trap he had set.

So a little bit of Sith discretion and underhandedness would be welcome, in addition to backup.

They're approaching from the bridge that leads from the silt strider dock - the Guild Guide would bring them too close to the Fighters Guild for his liking.

The buildings are massive ziggurats crossed by canals - not big enough to be impressive by her standards. But it's far from a typical city in Garyn's.

Comments

[last_kallig]

Ibani was perfectly prepared to take on the city and all comers until she crossed the threshold from Milliways and felt a Force Presence so massive that it is distorting the Force for kilometers in every direction.

On instinct, she places her body between Garyn and the presence. This would be a lot more heroic looking if a wall wasn't in the way.

"What in the FORCE is that?" She is, not coincidentally, looking right at Vivec's temple.

[moonandstar]

Garyn cranes his neck, looking down the central canal. The Temple is some miles down, all the way at the end of the watery thoroughfare. He, of course, cannot sense the living god at the end of it.

"You mean that rock in the distance? That's the Ministry of Truth. I heard the story from the Temple priests in Gnisis. It's said that Sheogorath threw it at Vivec and he caught it and held it suspended above the city. Apparently the Temple hollowed it out to make a prison."

[last_kallig]

"Not a rock, it's alive. Like a person, but too MUCH. Their Force presence is distorting the Force for kilometers in every direction."

[moonandstar]

"Hmmm...interesting. Vivec himself, perhaps? Good to know they aren't fibbing about there being a living god in that palace, I suppose."

They make it across the bridge over the lagoon. The broad avenues that surround the lower level of the canton is girt by scaffolding and wooden shacks that supplement the stone edifices, which by themselves are not enough to sustain the bustling city.

"The first person we're looking for should be in the Lower Waistworks. That's one level up. We'll ask at the Black Shalk Cornerclub first."

[last_kallig]

Ibani does not look super thrilled about Vivec. "Could be. I hope he doesn't....notice me. That could be very inconvenient." And fatal, or worse.

"Loud, inconsiderate asshole of a god," she mutters. "Having to retune my senses to account for all the distortion he's doing."

She nods in agreement with the plan.

[moonandstar]

"He'd have to notice you over two-hundred-some-odd-thousand other souls in this city. I would hope he had better things to be doing."

They head up the wide, covered stairs that lead to the next level up. The sounds of the city at mid-day echo around the walls.

"The one we're looking for is an Argonian. Scaly, with a tail. This is the Foreign Quarter, so that won't narrow things down as much as it otherwise would, but it's a start."

[last_kallig]

Ibani keeps an eye out any Argonians. "This way feels right," she offers. The Force is seldom precise when it offers directions.

[moonandstar]

"I know where the tavern is, at least," Garyn offers.

He turns to open the door to the Waistworks, and the enclosed city-within-a-city.

[last_kallig]

"Interesting, from a defensive standpoint," she offers. Things echo differently in here. "I'm guessing this style isn't typical?"

[moonandstar]

"No, very much not," Garyn says. "They say Vivec built it all himself. I'm not certain how much stock I'd put in it, but it was certainly built as a show of power and splendor."

Garyn leads them around a corner, around what seems to be an inner atrium. The sound of running water can be heard through the walls, and there are plants and trees decorating the center of the large room.

They turn into a hallway - a banner with what seems to be a black stag beetle beckons them to the end of it.

[last_kallig]

"Could be true, with that much power," Ibani allows. "Lifting the stone at least wouldn't be a problem."

"That looks like our destination to me."

[moonandstar]

It won't take them long at all to find who they're looking for in the Black Shalk Cornerclub. Unfortunately, that's because the Argonian is being boisterously confronted by a trio of Dunmer.

Garyn remembers his Frandar Hunding, the section of the Book of Circles on Fighting Without Fighting, and springs into action.

He walks up to Huleeya with a smile, ignoring the Dunmer hoodlums no matter how much they protest.

"Huleeya! Sorry I'm late, I had to help a friend haul some fabric over to St. Olms. Did you have time to read the new manuscript?"

He walks arm in arm with him toward a nearby table as the three would-be assailants stand by, uncertain how to proceed.

[last_kallig]

"I've heard that it's quite good," Ibani adds, following along with the plan. "I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on the matter."

[moonandstar]

"Our friend Caius will be glad to have your feedback as well."

Huleeya nods, at last understanding as he sits down at the corner table with them. "Yes, of course."

The Argonian lowers his voice to speak to them.

"I welcome you as the friends of my friend. But I wish to go to my friend's bookstore, and these troublesome fools are in my way. I have tried to persuade them, but the sight of a free Argonian offends these racist thugs, and I fear they will not let me pass without violence. My Morag Tong honor would be tarnished if I slew them."

Garyn smiles and turns to Ibani. "There are ways of handling such people, are there not, Ibani?"

[last_kallig]

Ibani grins. "Oh yes, I can be quite persuasive. Shouldn't take long to bring them around to my point of view, my dear." she says to Garyn.

She stands up, as if she's going to fetch a drink. When she approaches the thugs she smiles, makes a familiar hand gesture. "You gentleman have better things to do with your time than hang around here." They're not the sturdiest bunch, mentally, it shouldn't take much of a push with the Force to get the job done.

[moonandstar]

The central figure of the trio, clearly the "dominant" moron of the three, gets a sort of glazed look on his face.

"Yes...I have better things to do with my time than hang around here. Many...things that need, ah...doing."

Another one nods. "Yes, we should go do those other things."

A third pipes in. "The things will get done faster that way."

They make a hasty retreat out of the tavern to go do whatever it is they think they need to do. The way out is now clear.

Huleeya chuckles and nods, clearly impressed by whatever Illusion magic the human had just cast. "Thank you. The way is clear now. Follow me to Jobasha's Rare Books and we can continue our conversation there."

[last_kallig]

It's always nice to be appreciated by a fellow professional she isn't going to have to murder shortly. Ibani follows, steps light, careful.

Huleeya might be getting 'assassin' vibes from her right now, you never know.

[moonandstar]

He might, but his face does quite a good job of hiding it.

Huleeya leads the two of them out of the alley where the tavern is located, circling around the central atrium once again.

"I assume our mutual friend sent you to ask me about something?" the Argonian says.

"He has indeed," Garyn says. "Specifically, what you might know about about the cult of the Nerevarine."

"Very fortuitous that you have asked me," he says. "In my private life, I am a student of history. I know more than most...I've even collected some notes on the subject. But that can wait until we've reached Jobasha's bookstore."

[last_kallig]

"Very fortuitous indeed." Ibani is very glad she came along. Although she doesn't believe in FORTUNE so much as the Force.

[moonandstar]

After some walking, they finally make their way to Jobasha's store. The first thing they see inside - before a single book, even - is an Ordinator, standing watch with that permanent scowl on his mask. Something tells Garyn that the Temple didn't put him on guard just to prevent thievery.

They head downstairs to the heart of the shop, where most of the shelves are located.

"Yes, thank you very much," Huleeya says. "We should be free from distraction here. Now, I said I'd tell you about the Nerevarine cult so you can report back to Caius. Here is a copy of my notes so you can summarize."

He hands Garyn a collection of notes and continues.

"In brief, to understand the Nerevarine cult, you must understand the history of the Ashlanders. Nerevar means something very different to the Ashlanders from what he means to Dunmer of the Great Houses. You should also know about the persecution of the Nerevarine, and the legacy of the False Incarnate, for the Nerevarine cult is at the heart of the ancient conflict between the nomadic Ashlanders and the settled Great House Dunmer.

"The Ashlanders hate the House Dunmer, who have become soft, and who have abandoned traditional ancestor worship for the gods of the Tribunal. And the Ashlanders hate outlanders, who invaded and stole their land, and forced them to live as a subject people. A reborn Nerevar who could drive out the outlander invaders, destroy the false worship of the Tribunal, and restore the pure traditional life and faith of the nomads would be a very popular hero to the Ashlanders.

"The Temple treats the Nerevarine prophecies as heresy, and the Temple imprisons and executes heretics, unless prevented by Imperial law. But, since the Nerevarine cult is hostile to the Empire, the Empire does not interfere when Temple persecutes the cult. Ashlanders hate the Temple, and particularly the Ordinators, for their ruthless treatment of Nerevarine cultists.

"In the past, some have claimed to be the reincarnated Nerevar. The most recent is known as Peakstar, a figure of legend among the Wastes tribes for the last 30 years. The Temple says these false Incarnates disprove the prophecies, since the false Incarnates fail and come to nothing, but the mystical Nerevarine cult glorifies rather than shrinks from contradictions, citing the appearance of 'failed Incarnates' as certain proof of Nerevar's coming rebirth."

He breathes deeply and gestures again to the papers he's handed Garyn.

"As I said, all I've told you and more will be in those notes."

[last_kallig]

"It sounds a complicated mess, but one that grew organically."

The longer the assassin talks, the more certain the Feeling in the Force becomes that this is important for both Garyn and Ibani in a very personal way.

[moonandstar]

"Indeed," Garyn says. "Thank you, Huleeya. These notes will surely be helpful."

He nods in Ibani's direction.

"I think we'll have our leave now. Farewell."

They make their way out of the store.

"Our next contact will be somewhere in St. Olms. We'll need to take a gondola."

[last_kallig]

"I can feel it in my bones, that that mess is going to be personally important to you and I."

"Ah, a boat. Hopefully this won't be the day I REALLY regret not learning how to swim. Things keep coming up." Like Civil Wars.

[moonandstar]

"Considering I'm being asked to find out as much as I can about it by an agent of the Emperor himself, it doesn't take much of a leap," Garyn says.

And that's before one considers the dreams.

If nothing else, the trip to the bottom level to flag down a punter is a short one.

"The Sixth House worries me a good deal more than these rustic folk do. If nothing else, I can understand idolizing General Nerevar. A great mer, he was."

He keeps the conversation within his mind to prevent too much from being revealed.

[last_kallig]

"They do seem the more immediate and dangerous problem." she replies, inside his mind.

"Was he? I admit I'm reluctant to trust to history as I know how readily it can altered to suit the whims of those in power."