Skyrim: Band of Thieves

With the lesson concluded Capper found that his thoughts were correct, Tolfdir was only concluding this portion of it and fully intended for the five apprentices to follow him out into the snowy environment that was outside Winterhold, so while Rarity and Mah Oh followed their instructor for a time Capper told the others to relax for a while. With the message given to the others he headed outside and tracked down the group that was making their way to the ruins of Saarthal, where he found that they were heading up a short hill before heading down the mountainside for a time. It was rather easy to spot their destination, due to a number of storm atronachs that were guarding the outer perimeter from bandits and trolls, the latter more common than the former since Capper spotted three dead ones nearby. Saarthal itself, from out the outside, was a large place and it seemed like it had been buried in a avalanche in the past, since they had spent a lot of time digging it out of the snow and ice, and so far it looked like they had only located a single entrance to enter the ancient ruin.

Despite all of that, however, Capper could feel something pulsing in the ground below them, a faint source of magical energy that the mages hadn't noticed yet, meaning it was likely his Princely powers allowing him to see and feel more than the mortals did, but he decided to just keep quiet since he wasn't totally sure what he was feeling right now.

"And here we are. Marvelous, isn't it?" Tolfdir commented, though at the same time he opened the only door in the area and ushered them into Saarthal, where it was clear that he thought Capper was just another mage, maybe even a mentor, since he didn't have any problems with him being there, "As some of you may know, Saarthal was one of the earliest and largest nord settlements in Skyrim... but not much is known about it's history, other than it was sacked by the elves in the 'Night of Tears'. I want all of you to appreciate the opportunity we've been granted, to study such an early civilization and the types of magic they might have used."

As they entered the ruin it was easy to see that a number of the stone walkways that had been chiseled by the ancient nords had collapsed, forcing the workers to make scaffolding to carefully excavate the area and build down to the lower levels, so they could see what else this place had to offer. Tolfdir even had tasks for each apprentice to complete so they could learn about the people who once called this place home, like how he tasked Brelyna to search for intact warding magic, Onmund was to search for residual energies, and J'zargo had to verify that they were, in fact, the first ones to come here. For Rarity and Mah Oh, however, he wanted them to check in with someone else that was further inside the ruin and help him out, a man called Arniel Gane, but he really didn't have much to offer Capper at this time, to which the trio headed deeper into the nordic ruin, where it wasn't long before they spotted a man standing over a small table. Based on what they could see Arniel was distracted by something else and Rarity had to tap his shoulder multiple times before he realized that Tolfdir had sent one of the apprentices to assist him with his portion of their work in Saarthal, and all he wanted from her was for her to look in the area that was around them.

Capper had to admit that Arniel wasn't very impressive, he was too distracted and didn't seem to care about Saarthal at all, but Rarity and Mah Oh searched the surrounding area for a few moments, finding three enchanted rings, each baring the same health boosting enchantment, and a amulet on a wall that, when removed, raised some iron bars to keep the pair trapped in the small chamber they were in.

"I don't mean to question the ancient nords, but... this seems stupid." Rarity remarked, because she had done quite a lot in the years since Twilight arrived in Ponyville and had learned a number of things, and occasionally read the books Rainbow liked since there were subjects in them that appealed to her, even if the adventure aspect was a minor aspect, before she put on the amulet and fired a spell at the wall in front of her, breaking it down, "I can understand hiding a secret passage, but... hiding the key to breaking it in the nearby area seems just plain stupid. Should have put it in another part of Saarthal, or even another ruin that had no connection to this place."

"Seems the residents of Saarthal were trying to keep something hidden... something magical, given the power that is below our hooves." Capper commented, as he could now feel the source of the magic more than when the wall was intact, which told him that the fragments had warding magic on them and drastically limited what was let out into the rest of Saarthal, to which he glanced at the pair for a moment before stepping back, "Just like with Azure and Tuk Ur, this is your show... I'll be in the back, gathering anything of value."

Rarity and Mah Oh nodded their heads and Tolfdir joined them, as he heard the commotion and found that they had broken down part of the wall, in fact he was willing to listen to what the pair had to say as he lead the way down the short winding tunnel, only for the air around them to shudder as a blue light overtook everything in a small chamber.

Hold, mage... and lizard creature... and... Daedric Prince?! a voice stated, which appeared to be a male high elf wearing a nice yellow mage robe that was unlike anything they had seen in Skyrim, meaning he was likely from one of the other mage organizations that existed across the whole of Nirn, where the figure just stared at Capper for a few moments, who stared back and raised an eyebrow, causing the figure to cough and refocus, Hold, mages, and listen well: know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped... judgement has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing about the danger that lies ahead of you. However, you will be judged on your actions in the coming days, and how you deal with the obstacles you will face. This warning is passed to you, mage, because the Psijic Order believes in you... you have the potential to prevent disaster... take great care, and know that the Order is watching.

Capper wondered who the Psijics were, since they seemed more knowledgeable than one would assume, though once the figure disappeared time seemed to resume and Tolfdir started to move again, where he actually asked about the fact that he felt something strange just how. Rarity told him that they, and by that she meant her and Mah Oh since she knew Capper wanted his identity kept a secret from everyone, had been visited by an apparition that told them about danger and a short warning from the Psijic Order. He informed them that the Psijic Order was older than the Empire itself, were very powerful and extremely secretive, and that no one has seem them for over a hundred years, not since the Isle of Artaeum vanished from the face of Nirn. Of course there was the other thing that he said, the old man didn't necessarily believe Rarity or Mah Oh when they told him that they had seen a Psijic Monk, which was odd since Capper was sure it should have been 'mage', causing the older mage to step forward and study the chamber that seemed to be a dead end.

Two of the coffins opened open and one revealed a hidden path leading deeper into Saarthal, though Rarity and Man Oh did lash out at the pair of draugr that emerged from the coffins, the former lashing out with shards of ice while the latter used a small torrent of flames. Capper found that it was exactly the same with Azure and Tuk Ur, the mages were skilled on their own and didn't need him to do much, so he stuck to checking out the slain draugr and a number of urns, mostly collecting gold coins since it didn't appear that the residents of Saarthal had much in the past. Following that the group reached a large circular chamber that had a number of coffins lining the walls around them, but only four opened and Rarity found that the enemies who came out happened to be the weakest of the draugr, something that allowed her and Mah Oh to wipe them out with their spells. Tolfdir was surprised by what they were seeing and actually told them to head on without him, due to the fact that he wanted to stick around here and study the area, which was just odd when Capper thought about it, but the trio decided to let him do what he wanted as the iron bars blocking the way forward were lowered.

On the other side of the door Rarity and Mah Oh moved forward and started to explore the ruin, Capper hanging back so he could check out the urns that were scattered everywhere, finding more gold and the occasional gemstone, while the pair focused on what was ahead of them. Such a thing meant discovering something new, a circular bit of magic that was resting on the floor, which Mah Oh recognized as one of the rune spells that a mage could learn, magic that could be placed like a trap, so when someone walked on them it exploded with the element that was part of the spell. Since this one was red she had to assume it was a fire rune, though she also revealed a way to get rid of them, a mage could just blast it from afar and not get caught in the explosion that would come from the destruction of the spell, causing Rarity to loose an ice bolt at it not a second later. In that moment she discovered that the kobold was telling the truth as the rune detonated, though it also woke up a few draugr that were sleeping in the area, where once more these were the weaker draugr that one could find in a nordic ruin, so the pair of mages were able to bring them down in a short period of time, ice freezing them and fire taking them down.

Following that Rarity found that the path brought them to a iron door and a hallway that had a number of alcoves for the dead, but there were only a few draugr that woke up to fight them, since most of the alcoves either had bodies that stayed down or were empty. This told her that the people of Saarthal likely didn't have enough time to fill the various places that their dead would be resting in and this was as much as they could get before they sealed the secret area, though she was fine with this since it meant she could gain some confidence with her powers. While she and Man Oh dealt with the undead, clearing the way while carefully ignoring the various traps that had been placed in the ground by the builders of Saarthal, she did have to wonder what was down here that it would require the defenses they had seen so far and the ones that they had yet to see. At the same time she had to wonder if she should check in with all of the master mages in the College once they were done with Saarthal, to see what spells they might be offering to teach her so she could expand her knowledge and make herself more useful to the overall group.

As she thought about that, however, both she and the others discovered a short passage that had six indents leading to a single lever, and in each indent there was a rotating pillar, but behind each pillar was an engraving that had either a while, an eagle, or a snake, allowing them to see the combination.

"Another simple puzzle... I often wonder why the ancient nords built their ruins like this." Mah Oh commented, because this was the part of things that didn't make much sense to her, why the puzzles would be so simple, and she hadn't figured out why the ancient nords did something stupid like this, since it made it far too easy for intruders to enter their ruins, "I know they had their reasons, but I can't understand why they would design things this way."

"Maybe it's to keep the draugr out... like simple is too much for their dead brains? Or whatever state their brains are left in... I don't want to think about that, actually." Rarity offered, it was about the only thing she could think about, though as she said that she checked the various pillars and moved them to match the symbols that were behind each one, and once each of the pillars were ready she pulled the lever, finding that she had been right as the iron gate ahead of them raised into the ceiling, opening the way forward.

There was a short passage that brought them to a small chamber with two floors, the second being where they found one of the stronger draugr, since it was more armored than the basic ones they had fought so far, where the pair continued to lash out with their elemental magic. Since the draugr didn't have magic that made it far easier for them to bring it down and open the door it had been guarding, revealing another short passage with two more rune traps, both shock types based on their coloration, so Rarity used a bit of fire to take care of them. Following that they reached another area with a puzzle, this one seemed to be four pillars around a lever, where she and Mah Oh found that one pillar moved the other three, the second moved two of them, the third only moved the last one, and the last one moved nothing. It was another situation where the puzzle was rather simple and straightforward, all they had to do was match the one that moved all of them with it's symbol, then moved the next one until all four were matching, and once that was done she pulled the lever and the iron gate that was in front of them moved out of the way.

The passage on the other side was short and curved a bit, which was also around the time that Tolfdir decided to catch up with them, thus allowing them to reach what appeared to be the final chamber of the ruin, where a large orb surrounded by magic floated, and there was a draugr fueled by it's power, sitting at a stone slab. Sure enough Capper's thoughts were right as Rarity, Mah Oh, and Tolfdir lashed out at the draugr with their magic, finding that the spells slipped through him like they were nothing, all while he was able to use his own magic against them in the form of torrents of ice. Rarity kept herself and Mah Oh protected with a ward, as she realized that this spell was definitely useful in the grand scheme of things, though as she did that Tolfdir had an idea come to mind as he rushed towards the barrier and struck it with his magic, causing a bit of a change in the magic around the draugr's body. This caused the magic around the undead to shift between fire, ice, and even bits of lightning, meaning Rarity and Mah Oh could use their own spells to harm the draugr and did so without delay, a fact that allowed them to bring him down in no time at all.

As they did that, however, Capper found that the draugr had a fragment of a powerful amulet around his neck and claimed it, and there was a strong staff on the stone slab that their foe hadn't used, but Rarity and Mah Oh were focused on the orb and what it might mean for them.

"I have never seen anything like this before... Rarity, Mah Oh, can you head back to the College and tell the Arch-Mage, Savos Aren, about this discovery?" Tolfdir asked, because it was clear that he wanted to stay and study this artifact some more, as it was unlike anything he had seen in the past, and right now he trusted the pair more than anyone else in Saarthal right now, even though he was unsure of what to make of Capper since the khajiit had remained on the sidelines during the fight.

Rarity and Mah Oh found that there was a door leading out behind where the teal sphere was floating, which brought them and Capper to one of the strange stone walls that none of them could interact with, allowing Capper to loot the large chest that was in front of it before using a secret entrance to reach an area they had passed through when entering Saarthal. As soon as they were back near the entrance the trio headed outside and started to retrace their steps back to the College, all while keeping an eye out for hazards on the way, before a group of bandits decided to attack them. Rarity figured that they were thinking that they had artifacts and treasures from a ruin that no one had explored yet, which was true despite the fact that they weren't carrying anything too expensive on them, but there were only three bandits to worry about, allowing her and her companion to knock them down. Once the bandits were weakened, and she was sure that there was no one around to witness her secret, Rarity drained all three of their enemies of their blood in no time, sating her vampire nature while she let Capper take the loot that was on the bandits, before burning all three of them to prevent the rise of new vampires.

Eventually they returned to the College and Rarity found that the door to the Arch-Mage's quarters were unlocked, allowing them to enter the domain of Savos Aren, a male dark elf who seemed to be in the middle of reading a book when the group stepped into his quarters, which had an alchemy area and an enchanting area, plus a rest area.

"You two are relatively new here, are you not? I am Savos Aren, Arch-Mage of the College, and I am content to see nearly every school of magic explored and investigated." the figure said, as he noticed them standing there and closed his book, all while addressing Rarity and Mah Oh as apprentices, because he knew that Capper was just a visitor, he didn't seem like the apprentices he had seen in the past, causing him to focus on the pair, "So, what brings you to my humble domain?"

"We were in Saarthal and found a secret passage that brought us to a strange floating teal sphere that gave a draugr some unusual powers." Rarity replied, which was the basics of what happened, even though she was sure Tolfdir would give Savos a much more detailed and accurate tale on what happened in Saarthal when he returned, or when the Arch-Mage made it to the ruin to check on what they had discovered, "Tolfdir told us to come tell you about the discovery, while he stayed back to study the orb we discovered."

"I see. Well, it would appear that I must see this discovery with my own eyes... though while I do that you two should check in Urag, our librarian, and see if he's got any information on what you found." Savos stated, where it was clear that he believed what Rarity had said, that there was something in Saarthal that demanded his immediate attention, causing him to place his book on the nearby table as he stood up, crossing over to a dresser before pulling out a pair of staffs, "These staffs should help you in case you find yourselves exploring another nordic ruin and are low on mana... they have magelight engraved in them, and can cast the spell as long as they have energy."

Rarity and Mah Oh took the staffs from him, finding that the kobold's shrunk to fit her form, before the Arch-Mage departed from his quarters, though as he did so Rarity discovered that Capper was catching up with them, where he had one of the red stones he had found previously, no doubt having stolen it from Savos' room. She wasn't sure it was a good idea to steal something from the Arch-Mage, but then considered that he was going to busy for the foreseeable future, speaking with Tolfdir and figuring out what the teal orb really was, so she decided not to question this decision. Following that the trio left the Arch-Mage's quarters and crossed over to the other stairway that was across from the one that was on the left on the main entrance of the College's main lecture hall, allowing them to reach a large circular area with a large number of books on the ground, and bookshelves lining the walls. There was an orc sitting at the main table, looking like he was reading one of the books from one of the various shelves, and for the time being it looked like there was no one else in the area, though as they walked up to his table he closed the book.

Capper had to wonder how much knowledge was in this one chamber, because the library, or whatever it was called, had a lot of books and that meant this was a treasure trove for mages, in fact he was sure Twilight would have a field day in a place like this, making him a little interested in what the orc might have to tell the pair.

"You are now in the Arcanaeum, which I am in charge of... it might as well be my own Plane of Oblivion. But heed my warning with care: disrupt my domain and I will have you torn apart by angry atronachs." the orc, Urag, stated, which Capper thought was a little extreme, as he was basically threatening the students of the College with death if they stepped out of line, but the pair just stood there for a moment, because they knew a true Daedric Prince, causing the orc to sigh, "Now, what can I do for you? And what is that?"

"I'm a kobold, a daedra from the Opulent Lands, the Plane of Oblivion ruled by Midas, the Prince of Greed." Mah Oh said, to which the orc raised an eyebrow for a moment as he stared at her, showing that he likely didn't believe her statement, not that she cared all too much since she knew they would find a way to spread word of Capper's Princely side, "You know, the Thalmor are going to be the first to learn about my kind and our Prince... anyway, we're here to learn about a magical teal orb we found in Saarthal."

"I see. Well, I do know of one book that could help you with your research, but it was part of three books that Orthorn stole when he ran off to Fellglow Keep." Urag replied, which explained why he was so protective of his library, since someone had robbed him in the past, though at the same time he kept his eyes on Mah Oh, like he was debating his decision not to believe her, and Capper could see that he might chat with her in the future, "I don't know if he's still there, but I would recommend checking there for the books... the keep is located near Whiterun, just so you know. The books you're looking for the 'Night of Tears', 'The Last King of the Ayleids', and 'Fragment: On Artaeum'."

Rarity thanked him for the information and departed without delay, where the three of them left the Arcanaeum, though Capper knew that Urag would ask about the kobolds and Midas when they returned in the future, though none of the other mages approached them as they headed out into Winterhold, only to find Azure and the others outside, along with two new people clashing on the road leading out of the ruined city.

"Looks like Sharva caught up with us again." Capper commented, because one of the figures that was fighting happened to be the ashen khajiit they had helped in the past, while at the same time he noticed that her foe was the female imperial, who wore black clothing, that Sharva had said was a vampire, "And it seems like Xylia caught up with her as well."

This time around it looked like Xylia had a demonic looking mace, something that was designed to inspire fear in the hearts of her enemies, while Sharva now carried a pair of daedric swords in her hands, likely the same ones she had wielded before being captured by the Imperials. Xylia wielded ice spikes in addition to the mace, the pair moving around the area that was in front of the small town, before Sharva pushed her out into the snowy area, no doubt because it would give her a larger area to work with, and she used that to her advantage moments later as she leapt into the air and swung her right blade down. Such a thing forced the vampire to defend with the mace, which Capper was sure was a Daedric Artifact, though it was clear that Xylia wasn't used to actual combat, because Sharva, who was bloody from having been hit by the mace at the start of the battle, forced the head of the weapon down into the ground. As Xylia realized that fact, however, Sharva gripped both of her weapons and drove them down into her foe's heart, the tips coming out of the vampire's backside, before the life faded from her foe's eyes as she dropped the mace into the snow.

Sharva huffed for a moment as she tore her blades out of the dead vampire's chest, blood dripping from her blades as blood stains the snow around her, before she dropped her weapons and fell into the snow as well, causing the group to rush over to where she collapsed, finding that it was the same as before, she was wounded and tired, to which Rarity used another of her healing potions on her.

"At least she took down her target... and, at the same time, we claim the Mace of Molag Bal." La'nari commented, because that was what the mace was, the artifact of the Prince of Domination and Rape, one of the worst Princes in existence, given his dark desires and the bits of information that she knew about him, before she noticed that Capper had something else in his hand after collecting the mace, "What is that?"

What she was looking at was Xylia's soul gem, which was a tainted golden color with blood drops on it's surface, which were part of the inside by the looks of it, causing Capper to stare at it for a few moments, because this was his power at work and he was interested in the meaning of this discovery as well.

"I think the change represents that she was the follower of a Daedric Prince... which means I've stolen the soul of someone who was destined to go to Coldharbour." Capper commented, as that was the only thing that made sense right now, and he was sure that it meant they might be visited by Molag Bal at some point in the future, which he honestly wasn't interested in or even happy about, before he slipped the twisted golden soul gem away for the time being, "We aren't going to be able to bring her with us, not with the current set up of our travel carriage... and I might have an idea that can help us out."

Rarity found that Capper manipulated their carriage, shifting the back area that they sat in and changed it into what looked like an area with a roof, like it was a moveable house that reminded her of Trixie's home, causing her to find a door on the back that, sure enough, lead to a large area that was impossible for the original carriage.

"It's perfect." Rarity stated, because it looked like there were windows in the inside that couldn't be seen from the outside, allowing them to see what was around them and react accordingly, and it seemed like there was more than enough room for everyone, including Sharva, and she could see that none of the guards were even paying attention to them, which explained why Capper had done this.

That caused Capper to nod his head as most of them climbed inside the new and improved carriage, which he would have to outfit at some point in the future, though Rarity and Midnight carefully moved Sharva inside as Capper stashed the Mace of Molag Bal away, all while wondering what the future held in store for them this time around.