Skyrim: Band of Thieves

Following the brief battle that they witnessed outside Winterhold, and ended up meeting up with an old friend, Capper sat up front with La'nari while she directed them back to Riften, since he figured it was time to deliver the information to Mercer and get whatever his and Tri Ki's next job might be. He was still amazed by the fact that they had been brought into contact with Sharva again, after quite a while of only hearing bits and pieces of what she was up to, and that, once again, she had been beaten by a mace by the imperial vampire she had been chasing. The only difference between this time and the last time they had seen her was because Sharva had killed Xylia, her target, and it ended up giving them a new Daedric Artifact, the Mace of Molag Bal, so now he had two thanks to the Sword of Jyggalag. It also gave him a tainted golden soul gem that held the soul of one of the Prince of Domination's followers, which he was still thinking about since it might come with a price that they weren't aware of, but for now he wasn't touching it, it could remain in the gem state.

As they headed for Windhelm, a stop Capper wanted to make to set up another portal in the city, he thought about how to contain the artifacts they had collected so far, especially since there was a chance that they might end up finding more in the future, but before he could ask about them he felt the magic nearby shift as Ithelia stepped out, causing La'nari to stop for a moment.

"My Prince, I know you are busy, but... there's been a development in the Opulent Lands. One of the other Princes is trying to get into your domain." Ithelia stated, as she knew that Capper was focused on setting up his portals and having his revenge on the one who took the bandit clan from him and his friends, but at the same time this wasn't a matter that could be set aside for a time, not when she knew who was trying to enter her brand new home.

"It's either Molag, coming for the soul of his slain follower, or it's another one seeking something else." Capper replied, only to sigh for a moment as he understood that this demanded his immediate attention, causing him to get off the carriage as he turned towards La'nari for a moment, since she would need to tell the others what was going on later, "Just keep going and stop outside Windhelm until I get back... given the time difference between Nirn and Oblivion I should be back before you reach your destination, but you never know. I'd like to set up Windhelm's portal before we return to Riften."

La'nari nodded before Capper and Ithelia stepped into the portal that the latter had used to reach them, though as Capper crossed back into the Opulent Lands he let his power wash over him, allowing him to change back into his Midas form as he found that his Chamberlain had brought them to the outskirts of the continent, a flat area that gave them space.

"So, who is it?" Capper asked, because he was still learning about the other Princes of Oblivion and had no idea who might be trying to invade his realm right now, but based on the frown that was on Ithelia's face told him that it was one she knew and really didn't want to deal with, meaning they had some history she'd rather not think of.

"Hermaeus Mora, the Prince of Forbidden Knowledge and Lord of Secrets." Ithelia replied, where her tone confirmed that she knew this Prince and didn't like him, though when Capper considered how he found her, using the crystal to hide, it was easy to figure out that one of the Princes had wronged her in some manner and had likely stolen her title, "He also stole my title as the 'Prince of Fate' and holds a fragment of my true power... honestly, I wanted to confront him in a month or two, after everything had settled down and your realm was fully recognized by the other Princes, but sometimes things don't go as we plan. I was waiting for a better time to mention this, but I still have a few servants in my own Plane of Oblivion, and one of them has been safeguarding a special staff for me, one of my artifacts to be exact... may I request your permission to allow him to enter your realm? Since it seems like fate is catching up with me, sooner than intended, I'd like to have the staff in hand before Mora arrives."

Capper thought about it for a few moments before granting her permission to summon her servant, because Ithelia, despite the short period of time they had known each other, had proved that she had his best interests in mind and felt that doing this would repay some of her deeds and trust. Her servant was a daedra who wore pants and not shirt, but his chest and arms were adorned with special tattoos that seemed important to Ithelia herself, who carried a silver staff with a crystalline tip, which had to be the artifact that the transformed Prince was after. Of course the pair looked at each other for a couple of seconds, the servant completely surprised by his Prince's brand new form, plus he was surprised by the presence of a Prince that was unknown to him, but since Ithelia was okay with Capper that seemed to be enough for her servant. That told him that the odd daedra understood that he wasn't like the Princes who sealed his Prince away, rather he understood that he was her ally and would stand beside her, even if that meant facing another of their siblings, the other Princes that ruled over the vastness of Oblivion.

Eventually, however, the sky above them darkened as Capper found that their uninvited guest was making his entrance, as a few dark patches opened in the air in front of them and revealed a number of floating eyeballs, some small while one was far larger than the others, and there were dark tendrils coming out of the portals the Prince was using to manifest himself in this realm.

"So, you are the upstart that dares to call himself a Prince of Oblivion?" the figure, Hermaeus Mora, stated, where it was easy for Capper to see that he wasn't too pleased with what was going on, which made sense since it seemed like he and the rest of the Princes had dealt with a few 'problematic' Princes, since he didn't agree with their treatment of Ithelia.

"Correct. I am Midas, the Daedric Prince of Greed and Lord of New Beginnings." Capper replied, though he stood his ground and didn't back down, because he suspected that if a Prince were to bow their head to another one it would be seen as a sign of weakness, and right now Capper didn't want to open that can of worms, "Welcome, Hermaeus Mora, to the Opulent Lands, the Plane of Oblivion that is my domain. To what do we owe the pleasure of your company?"

"I have heard whispers of your existence, from the Thalmor that roam Skyrim, and from Urag gro-Shub, the librarian for the College of Winterhold, who have had encounters with your... kobolds." Hermaeus Mora said, which Capper thought was a good thing, because if the Prince of Knowledge had heard about him, about a new Prince, he knew that it was only a matter of time until the other provinces of Nirn and the rest of Oblivion knew of his existence, before he noticed something, the pair that were standing near Capper, "It looks like you have found Torvesard, a dremora that I believed was lost to time, and you have uncovered another new creature that I have not heard about before... your realm is a treasure trove of knowledge, and I would like to add this knowledge to my library."

"I am pleased that you find us worthy of your attention, but isn't it a little early to be pestering us for information, when we have barely done anything and have yet to establish ourselves?" Capper inquired, which was actually the truth, what he had done in Skyrim was just the first steps and that meant there was nothing for Hermaeus Mora to gain from coming here, at this point in time, especially since he and his daedra were so unknown to the people of Nirn.

"That might be true, but that is not the only reason behind my decision to come here." Hermaeus Mora replied, though as he floated off to the side for a moment he found himself looking at the dragon figure that was beside Torvesard, as she was an interesting figure and he wanted to know more about her kind, especially since she seemed to be high ranking in this new Plane of Oblivion, "You see, there are individuals that I keep an eye on, such as my own servants or even special beings, such as Torvesard... or even energies that might be of interest... and not that long ago I felt the presence of a power I have not felt for a long, long time, and it came from this realm. In fact, the figure the energy is coming from is among us."

"What, you mean me?" Ithelia asked, where she trapped her staff against the ground for a moment as she noticed a shiver run down the tendrils that Hermaeus Mora used, while his eyes went wide as he realized what had actually drawn him to this place, to which he turned his eyes towards her as he saw her in a new light, "Hello, brother."

"...Ithelia... I... I don't understand. You opened a path to a world without magic or daedric influence, to keep yourself in check, and I helped you into exile before the Vestige broke the path." Hermaeus Mora said, where it was clear that he was caught off guard by this discovery, as he was expecting to meet another Prince, not meet the one Prince he feared above all others, as she was far worse than Jyggalag when she got serious, "How... How can you be here?"

"Oh brother, I thought you would have figured it out... I sent my mad self away, but kept my main conscious in this timeline, and with my new body I can fully control my power." Ithelia stated, because in the moment of her defeat at the hands of the Vestige, which was partly due to her being weak from being released from her prison and had been in the middle of taking her power back, she had seen a path to keep herself in this timeline and took it, hence the crystal Capper had found, but as she said that the tip of her staff pulsed with her power, "However, you have something of mine... and I want it BACK!"

Capper found that in the next instant Hermaeus Mora sent his tendrils at Ithelia, who jumped out of the way as her follower dived to the side, before the dragon figure lashed out at the Prince of Knowledge, the magic of her staff revealing a silvery glow inside his main body, though at the same time Capper held his hands out as golden barriers surrounded the rest of the floating eyes and tendrils.

"Midas! You would side with the Unraveler?! You have no idea how dangerous she really is!" Hermaeus Mora stated, where he was surprised by the fact that he was basically being double teamed by two Princes, though he was able to confirm that Ithelia had greater control over her power, in fact now he realized that she might not be the danger he first thought she was, while the newest Prince, who should be incredibly weak, was actually quite strong, which was maddening.

"Hermaeus Mora... you enter my realm without my permission, then you attack my Chamberlain? Someone ought to punish you for your hubris." Capper said, as he could understand the desire for knowledge, it was like his desire for gold and jewels, but at the same time he wasn't about to let someone walk into his territory and just do whatever they wanted, even if that person happened to be another, and older, Daedric Prince.

A few moments later Ithelia tore the fragment of her power, the sliver of herself that happened to be her power as the true Prince of Fate, out of Mora's main body, allowing the last bits of her power to wash over her body and restore her to her full potential, causing a slight smile to appear on her face in the process. At the same time Capper's own power found the area that the fragment came from was now a receptacle for someone else's energy, and his energy surged into the gap, taking advantage of the weakness in the Prince of Knowledge's armor. The golden energy washed over Hermaeus Mora, where all of the eyes seemed to converge into a single mass in front of the trio as he was surrounded by a golden light for a time, sort of like what happened when Capper made Ithelia's new form. After a few more moments the light faded and Capper found that Mora had been forced into a more humanoid form, though he was shorter than both him and Ithelia, and while his new form was scaly it wasn't like a dragon or a kobold's, rather it was more like a fish.

Hermaeus Mora had a slim, almost feminine, body that looked like the legs had been replace by the tail of a serpent, before Capper found that the Prince was now definitely a woman, based on Mora's new chest area that was covered with a bra, like how there was a loincloth around her waist, and the tendrils Mora had used had been turned into her hair, while the color of her scales were a dark eerie green.

"Wh... What have you DONE?!" Mora asked, his voice now sounding like a woman's, mixed with a serpent's since that seemed to be the theme of what was going on with him, though as he, or she, got up the Prince thrust one of her hands forward, at Capper, before finding that nothing happened as golden runes appeared on both of her arms and around her neck, "Why... Why can't I use my powers?"

"Well, sister, it looks like you were reborn by my Prince's magic... and can't use your powers against him, his denizens, or his realm." Ithelia said, though this did confirm something in her mind, they needed to teach Capper how to fully control all of his powers, because while his strength was impressive, in fact she was sure he might rival Jyggalag or herself if they were to use their full power, there were times where he still lacked control, as he seemed surprised by this as well, "You are still the Prince of Knowledge, like how I'm the Prince of Paths, but in the Opulent Lands we are servants of the Prince of Greed and Lord of New Beginnings... I am his second, his Chamberlain, while you would be... the Archivist, I guess. This is your new form, so I would get used to it, but my Prince is not without mercy and will no doubt allow you to head back to your realm at some point..."

"Well now, this is something worth crowing about." a new voice said, where Capper found that it was a man in a suit, which was split down the middle and happened to be orange on one side and purple on the other, though Capper also discovered that this was more like a projection, the Prince wasn't actually here, "I was in the middle of enjoying my vacation when I felt a change in the wind. A new Daedric Prince, one that is nicer and more pleasant than Jyggalag... no one likes him, you know, as even Malacath is more popular at parties than the Prince of Order. And not only that, but the return of an old Daedric Prince, one everyone loved and cared for, until we were made to forget... and now, through messing with the old floating eye, we have remembered what we have forgotten! Plus old Mora has changed as well... good on him, or her, because we daedra are the embodiments of change, and it was about time someone brought her into the fun. Oh, but where are my manners... I'm sure I had them somewhere... I am Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness. Charmed."

"The, um, pleasure is all mine." Capper replied, though he wasn't sure what to make of another Prince showing up, in some form, but at the same time he knew not to overstep his boundaries, because he was sure Sheogorath would brush off his magic and turn him into something for a time, likely cheese since that was a favorite of his, "I am Midas, Daedric Prince of Greed and Lord of New Beginnings. I take it you became aware of me after I collected Jyggalag's sword?"

"Give the Prince a biscuit! That's correct, and, as a favor for preventing my realm from colliding with the mortal world, I have kept your realm hidden from the others... or at least the barrier was supposed to do that." Sheogorath said, telling Capper that the Chamberlain of the Shivering Isles must have convinced his Prince to do such a thing and that the Prince of Madness must have created a different barrier than what he had been told to make, since Mora had found them, before the Prince shrugged, "Oh well, cheese for everyone! Now, if you'll excuse me, I must return to the fishstick... it's a very delicate state of mind... and to my vacation... oh, and if either of you are ever in New Sheo, do look me up, as I'd love to share a strawberry tart with both of you, my siblings new and old."

Capper stood there as the phantom image of Sheogorath disappeared, leaving behind a basket full of cheese, causing him to sigh as he rubbed the back of his head for a moment, as he honestly wasn't expecting all of this to happen when he decided to respond to Ithelia telling him that they had an unexpected guest. With the Prince of Madness gone, for the time being, he turned his attention to the transformed Prince of Knowledge, where he pulled out one of the mages robes they had found on some of their slain enemies and carefully slipped it over Mora's new head, where it was clear that the changed Prince was still coming to terms with everything. Capper also noted that he had been wrong with his assumption, Mora seemed about half as tall as him and Ithelia, though at the same time it seemed like the changed Prince didn't seem to care about her new body that much, or maybe she did and was simply taking the time to come to terms with what had happened. In fact if one were to look at them now he was sure that someone would think that Mora was a child, since the Prince was standing next to two, though he was also positive the mortals wouldn't be bothered by it too much since they'd assume he manifested the eyes to prevent people from seeing her true form.

Despite the fact that there was some clear history between the pair, since the transformed Prince had wronged Ithelia in the past, Ithelia helped her changed sibling into the robe, since Mora wasn't used to having arms or a head, since she preferred the eyeballs as what mortals saw when interacting with her, and it didn't take her long to finish her task.

"You turned me into a female tsaesci... why?" Mora asked, where they found that the changed Prince knew the species that she had been turned into, even though Capper had no idea what she was talking about since this was the first time he had heard of such a creature.

"Actually, you look more like a naga. The tsaesci are different from your new form." Ithelia commented, because she knew the snake people in question and could see that there were some similarities between the two, but there were differences that made her call her transformed sibling by the name of a brand new species, which seemed to be a pattern with Capper's transformation magic, "Though if we're being honest, Midas is still coming to terms with his power, so your form might have been an accident... we'll need to focus on honing his powers so this doesn't happen again in the future."

"I know, practice to make sure accidents don't happen... I'll get started on the lessons soon." Capper stated, as he agreed with Ithelia's comment, there were powers that a Prince could wield that he needed to master, before something like this happened to someone else in the future, causing him to turn towards the rest of the Opulent Lands as he started to head back to the main city, "For now, I will leave Mora in your hands, Ithelia, while I return to the others and continue to Riften so I can see what else the Guild has to throw my way."

"Wait... are you talking about manifesting on Nirn, in your full power? Because that's..." Mora started to say, something that was followed by Capper reverting to his more mortal state, while at the same time Ithelia and Mora were teleported out of his realm, appearing outside what appeared to be Windhelm, near what appeared to be a carriage with a group she had never seen before, and Mora also discovered that she and Ithelia were in a sealed state, their powers nearly nonexistent based on what she was feeling, "...impossible? What just happened?"

"Midas' power allows him to manifest himself, and other Princes, in the Mortal Plane, even though we do have to seal most of our power in the process." Ithelia stated, where she could see that her transformed sibling was interested in what she was seeing right now, and was no doubt imagining the potential knowledge that could be gained from working with the newest Prince of Oblivion and the one Mora had tried to erase in the past, "Come, sister, join me in the Opulent Lands... become the Archivist of Midas' castle, learn from the newest Prince and add more knowledge to both of our libraries, because they are going to be writing the greatest epic that Nirn and Oblivion has ever seen. Don't you want to be a part of that, writing the tale with your own hands and ensuring that it is historically correct, while being the first one to write about the newest Prince of Oblivion, his realm, and the races that serve him?"

Capper could see that the lure of knowledge, and potentially being the first one to discover this knowledge, was all that Mora needed, which confirmed that he was the Prince of Knowledge and that was all she seemed to care about right now, as the naga allowed Ithelia to bring them back to the Opulent Lands. He still wasn't sure what to make of this situation, the fact that he now seemed to have two transformed Princes working with him, even though dealing with Mora's addition, and her new form and the golden seals that were on her new body, was going to be a headache. He still wasn't sure how he had changed the Prince of Knowledge into her new form, plus he had no idea how he had sealed her power in a manner that prevented her from using it against Ithelia and the Opulent Lands, confirming that once he knew what his next job was he would need to stop and get some lessons before he did something else that was incredibly stupid. At the same time he knew that he had to tell Rarity and the others about this discovery, and deal with whatever consequences might come from this, which just caused him to sigh as he realized how busy his future was going to be, now that the Princes of Oblivion were no doubt slowly becoming aware of him and his realm's existence.

With that in mind Capper turned and started to walk towards Windhelm, because he was going to put a portal inside the city and then get on his way to Riften so he could see how Mercer reacted to the information he gleamed in Solitude, all while worrying about what the future held in store for them next.