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After Oblivion: Adventures of a Dark Elf	By : Syentaru Category: +A through F > Elder Scrolls - Oblivion Views: 13978 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Elder Scrolls series. All rights and credit goes to Bethesda. I make no money from this fanfiction, this is purely for entertainment. Please rate and comment, and critiquing is encouraged!

Chapter List
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“Wait, this isn’t right,” Gwen said, coming to a stop as she and Laurian jumped the small stone wall in front of the Garden of Dareloth. “Laurian, did you…?” the question trailed off as she saw no soul gem in the girl’s hands, and the questioning look on the younger woman’s face did not inspire confidence.
      “Did I what, Master Thief?” Laurian asked when Gwen just stood there, seemingly entranced by the blade. “Hey, did you use Azura’s Star or something? Why is it glowing again?”
      “Neither of us did anything,” Gwen replied, amazed by this unheard of event. “I don’t think we should let this blade go before it is tested. I’ll take it to the Mage’s Guild, where a full investigation can be conducted, then we can decide what to do next.”
      “And lose time and money? We need to get rid of that item as quickly as possible. I apologize for the insubordination, Master Gwen, but this will rake in enough septims to keep guild members from needing to take any more of those risky commissions for months! How can we let this chance go to waste?” the breton asked, her eyes glowing with ambition at thethought of being known for taking part in a potentially legendary sword heist.
      “I’m sorry Laurian, really, I know you had your heart set on this item but….wait a moment, how did you hear about this artifact in the first place?” Gwen asked, motioning for them to get into Dareloth’s House before the guards heard them talking. Once inside she inquired again.
      “I was at the Feed Bag late one night,” the young breton began, “and I heard some of Seval’s hired help talking. They said how weird it felt to be alone next to the sword while they were guarding the house, and how expensive it looked. So I decided to take a peak in the windows to see what all the fuss was about, and that’s when I got hooked. Just look at the hilt. Have you ever seen so many gems on one blade?” Laurian gazed at the sword, needing to shake herself out of her trance. “I have to admit though, something doesn’t feel quite right now that we have it out of the crazy bastard’s house. But we can’t return it, we’d be the laughing stock of the entire guild!” the woman exclaimed, sliding down the wall she was leaning against to sit on the floor, feeling defeated. “I guess testing it is the best thing to do.”
      “It’ll be ok Laurian. I’m sure the mage scholars at the University will be able to give us some answers,” Gwen said, careful not to mention the high position she held in the Mage’s Guild as well.
      “How do you expect to get in there anyway? I know you went in there when the Gray Fox asked you to put a note in the old Arch Mage’s dresser, but what makes you think any of them will help us, let alone give us the time of day?” the mage-thief inquired.
      “You just let me handle that, ok? Now go get some rest while I take this some place safe. Everything will look better in the morning. And try to keep this quiet. We don’t need any novice members getting wind of this and spreading the news about the city,” Gwen said, hugging the young woman good night.
      She headed straight for the Arcane University, rousing her most trusted associates. Everyone was asleep at that early hour except for Jorvaine, an Imperial that loved to test out his new destruction spells at all hours of the night, and Arc, an argonian who had devoted much of his life to the study of the arcane arts, and whose real name, Arcdrethi’droshan, could be hard to pronounce for scholars in a hurry.
      She called for an emergency meeting in the Council room, asking all of the higher wizards to give her what information they could when she presented the sword. A few of them gasped, but most just shook their heads and shrugged, baffled by what she had placed before them. They did not ask where or how she had obtained the object, as mages were not prone to asking too many questions in that area. It was not odd for an arch mage to gain a new artifact for study from another guild anyhow. She dismissed the mages who knew nothing, sending them back to bed or to their studies, keeping only the ones who showed any interest or knowledge about the item in question.
      Most of them gave her names of old scrolls and texts that they thought would give her the information she wanted, and they too returned to their chambers for the night. Only Arc and Prinani, a tiny bosmer woman, were left to help her seemingly futile quest for knowledge.
      “So, what do you two have to offer me?” the Arch Mage asked, her voice and demeanor showing how tired she was. Prinani was the first to speak.
      “Well, Arch Mage, as you know my studies lie in the realm of rare artifacts, and just the other day I read about a sword enchanted by a daedra. The author did not know the specifics, but it seemed that the sword was meant to give that daedra the power to see anything it desired, wherever that object or person currently resided. You see, this magical being fell in love with a mortal, and created this sword to keep an eye on the mortal, and its other possessions. Nothing is known about what happened to the mortal, or how the sword left the realm of the daedra, or wherever it was kept.”
      The bosmer seemed disappointed that she could not provide more information, until Gwen reassured her. “Thank you very much Prinani, you have been most helpful. I will look into the texts you and the others mentioned before to see if I can find anything else out about it, after I’ve heard what Arc has to say on the matter. Get yourself to bed now, and don’t trouble yourself over it ’til you’ve had a good night’s rest.” She finished her statement with a smile, dismissing the bosmer, who had a slight bounce to her step at feeling useful to the guild leader.
      Once she had left, Arc told her what he knew. “There are even older scrolls, kept in the other provinces where I have studied,” he began, digging through his own memory for the right information, “that I believe speak of the artifact you have there,” he gestured to the sword on the Council’s round table. “But it was not a daedra that crafted the object, nor a man alone, but a combination. A few summoned creatures gave their power so that the sword would stay enchanted even when drained, as you described earlier. They faded back to their own realm upon giving up their essence so the sword could keep its charge. Now there was a man, a very ambitious man, who craved power and knowledge to an extreme degree. He wanted to be able to see daedra and keep his artifacts safe, so he made a pact with Clavicus Vile, a very powerful daedra. In exchange for such power, Vile was the only one he would not be able to see, and it cost him his mortal eyesight as well. Mephala and Meridia, whose spheres of influence are normally obscured from mortals, took insult to this affront on their privacy and dominion, as the man could see into their realms and look upon them. The man also found that he could see Malacath’s Scourge, a weapon that could kill daedra, but he knew, as do we all, that the weapon is cursed, so did not seek it out. After threats from many of the daedra and the subsequent cursing of the sword, the man refrained from using it and swore to keep its powers dormant. That is, until it was stolen after his death by treasure hunters and sold to the former Emperor. Or so the story says. There are many different versions. I’ve found two conflicting views on who or what created the blade. A scroll in Summerside states that it was clearly a daedra wishing to claim the Scourge for his or herself, another version says it was indeed to watch over a mortal at all times because he or she had a jealous streak. The version I just recited for you is the most common. I hope it helped you, Arch Mage,” he finished with a small bow, pleased with how well he remembered the tales he had read.
      “Yes, Arc, you have been very helpful. I sometimes wonder why you never ask for advancement,” the dark elf mused, looking the argonian over with interest. He was getting on in years, for human standards anyway. For any race other than the imperials, nords, and bretons, he was only middle aged, still a long way to go before he retired from duty.
      “You know I never require a change in rank to know how good my skills are,” the lizard man joked, a grin showing all of his sharp teeth. “But in all seriousness, you should tread lightly, and be careful not to activate more of the sword’s power. The results could be disastrous. ”
      He made to leave when Gwen asked him one more question. “Did the scrolls say anything about how to lift the curse, or what would happen if awakened, or where to put it back?”
      “I do not remember reading about what to do if the sword was ever found,” Arc said, turning once more to look at her. “But there should be some good reading in the Mystic Archives, as you’ve been told. I would suggest keeping it in a very safe and secure location, away from where any Thieves Guild member can get to it. I don’t want to know where you found it either, but it probably would have been best to leave it there.” And with that, the argonian left, leaving Gwen with a great deal of information to mull over.
      She went up to her rooms at the University, locking the sword in her private drawers and setting a magical trap so that anyone who picked it would have a nasty head ache and an angry arch mage to deal with when he or she woke up. Next on her list of priorities was to peruse the archives in search of a dusty tome that would give her the knowledge necessary to get the sword back where it belonged, and hopefully give her the real story.
      She took a quick nap in her rooms, but could not get much rest as frightful dreams of daedra coming to take her in her sleep kept waking her, so she grabbed a plate of food and went to the Mystic Archives as all of her Council had suggested, and got to work on finding out about the mysterious weapon.
      She started in the section containing all of the research regarding currently known daedric artifacts. Once she had exhausted those resources, she started pouring over tales of the daedra themselves, and once again turned up empty handed. She didn’t bother with the regular weapons guides, as she had looked through those volumes when training for advancement in the Fighter’s Guild. She turned to her last resort: fairy tales. The Mystic Archives had a modest collection of children’s books and legendary tales. They were kept to teach moral lessons to the younger apprentices, or references on why certain races believed in different myths. But for once, Gwen thought, she could put these stories to better use.
      She had nearly come to the end of the last row before she pulled out a small, nondescript leather bound book. It had no title on the cover, but upon opening it, she saw on the first page the words “Legend of the Sacred Sword: The Vow”. This caught the Arch Mage’s interests, so she read on, and found a similar story to the one told to her by Arc, but this one also mentioned the love story that Prinani had spoken of.
      The tale began with a mortal man who fell in love with the most beautiful woman in the kingdom. The woman was locked away, however, by her overly protective father. The book gave no mention of race, class, or province, but it seemed like a universal fairy tale to Gwen. The young man would not give up his quest, no matter how hopeless it seemed, and finally made a pact with Clavicus Vile for a weapon that would help him attain his goals. The man offered the daedric lord his help in forging the blade, being unnaturally gifted for a mortal in the art of mysticism. He received the sword in return, and when he wielded it, he could see any adversary before they knew he was upon them, and found his lady, spiriting her away from her father’s castle and to his humble home. Vile had watched the young man’s quest, and the woman caught the attention of the daedra. His original price for the sword was to attain ownership of the blade and total control of its power once the man was finished with it, for he could use the enchanted item to keep watch over the other daedra and their business with mortals. He changed the deal, however, when he saw how beautiful the young woman was, and coveted her for himself. He stole the young woman away, locking her in his realm, where she cast a sleep spell on herself out of desperation, afraid of what spending time with the daedra would do to her, and has slumbered ever since. The man, devastated at losing his beloved, vowed to take revenge on Vile, perhaps to use the sword to find the Scourge, and since he was not a daedra himself, could wield it without consequence. The other daedra would not allow this, and sought to take the sword from him and return the girl, since Clavicus Vile was not one to break a pact. If the sword could be set at the entrance to the daedric realm where Vile resided, then the woman would be returned to him. Vile made this difficult for the mortal, and the man eventually died, the sword resting at his side and buried with him by missionaries passing through the mountains that had become his final resting place.
      Gwen could surmise what had happened from there. Grave robbers, or treasure hunters as they liked to be called, had taken the sword, selling it or having it taken from them by the Emperor’s men and kept in the vault, until Seval had found it, and now it was in her possession. She had no way of knowing if the sword she now held in her possession was the one from the fairy tale, but the description fit and she couldn’t take any chances by letting the blade fall back into the hands of the unsuspecting former owner, and there was no way she could let the Thieve’s Guild sell such a precious artifact. She had to make the journey started by the young man in the tale, and finish what he had begun. She had no idea where to search, but she knew that that was where the sword came in. She could use it to find the man’s resting place. The blade was supposedly cursed, however, and it was written that anyone who used it would have a lesser daedra sent to their location to eliminate them, which was how the man died. He had used the sword to locate the ever changing entrance to Vile’s realm, and the last time he had called upon the blade’s power it brought a clannfear running down the mountain towards him, ending his quest. She had not found any mention in the tale of the man being blind, but perhaps the tale Prinani had heard originally meant he was blinded by love. Gwen could only guess the origins of the other stories, and who the author of the leather bound children’s book was.
      She had a large list of preparations to complete before she left for her trip, and the first was to inform Laurian of her findings. The breton was not happy to hear of the blade’s origins, but agreed that it was best return it and reunite the lovers even if it was in the unnamed man and woman’s next life. Next she told her mage scholars what she had found and that she would be gone for the next few days on her quest. Raminus was left in charge, as usual, a position he was getting used to filling for her. She prepared her travel bag, taking out her favorite pieces of heavy armor for the trip, her own self enchanted blade, daggers, and heavy shield, Spell Breaker. Once everything was packed all that was left was to use the blade to find its former owner.
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After Oblivion: Adventures of a Dark Elf