Skyrim: Band of Thieves

After setting up Windhelm's portal to the Opulent Lands, Capper picked a hidden area between two houses to the right of the main gate, Capper regrouped with everyone else and the new carriage got underway, heading down the path they had used to reach this area before the destruction of their old bandit clan. Thanks to them coming this way in the past, and all of the travelers that seemed to be using their route to travel between Riften and Windhelm, the group was able to relax for a time, which gave him time to explain the situation to the others, within his ability anyway. It was clear that everyone was surprised by the information, not that he blamed them since he was still coming to terms with what had happened, but for the time being it seemed like La'nari's statement of not bothering to understand a Prince's power seemed to convince the rest of the group not to question his story. Other than that there didn't seem to be anything else for them to worry about, so he had time to think about what had happened inside his realm, plus the new resident that was no doubt hanging out with Ithelia right now, which he knew was going to annoy the other Princes at some point.

As it turned out his thoughts were right, the journey back to Riften turned out to be rather boring, causing him to just use a bit of his new power to modify the inside of their new carriage, making it more roomy, giving them proper beds, and all of the other comforts they had grown used to so far.

Along the way, however, Sharva woke up and Rarity tended to her immediately, making sure she was well rested since her last battle had taken quite a lot out of her, where it was clear that the ashen khajiit was drifting in and out of sleep, like she only had some of her energy back. It was a step in the right direction, since she had taken a nasty blow from a nasty mace before the group had known she was fighting outside Winterhold, but that didn't stop the others from tending to her and making sure her body was well healed when she decided to fully wake up. While that happened La'nari reported that there wasn't too much happening outside the carriage, where she told them that both the Imperials and the Stormcloaks had cleaned up the area before their arrival, as there happened to be a number of dead bodies around part of the road, plus a few dead animals as well. Fortunately someone had cleared the road so carriages and wagons could pass through without having to stop and clear the area, which might have lead to both sides fighting each other, but Capper wasn't about to argue with it since this meant they could travel in peace for a time.

Eventually they reached the outside of Riften, just in time for night to truly fall, where he had the others stay back for now as he and Tri Ki headed inside, because this was going to be a quick visit and then they would be able to rest before worrying about whatever mission Mercer had for them next, and it didn't take them long to reach the cistern.

"Ah, good, you and the little one are back. So tell me, did Gulum-Ei give up any information on our buyer?" Mercer asked, as the moment the pair entered the cistern he waved them over, because he was interested in hearing if they were successful and what they had to do next, showing that he had faith in Capper's skills and trusted that the cat would have only come back if he had something to share with him.

"Yes, he mentioned that 'Karliah' was behind all of this, and that she was a murderer." Capper replied, where he noticed that there was a shift in the air as Mercer understood what he was saying, especially since this was someone none of the others had told him or Tri Ki about, which meant there was information he could gleam from the leader of the Guild, "So, was he telling the truth, or was he pulling our legs?"

"No, he was telling the truth... Karliah destroyed everything the Guild stood for, murdered my predecessor in cold blood, and then betrayed us before disappearing." Mercer stated, though at the same time Capper detected a hint of treachery in the man's voice, like this was a practiced lie that was told whenever someone asked about Karliah, but he didn't say anything as he and his kobold companion listened to his words, "We were like partners, she and I, and I went with her on many heists and jobs, acting as her backup... if Karliah is back then that means that I'm her target, since I'm the only one here that knows her techniques and her skills, and if she kills me then no one will be able to stop her. If only we knew where she went."

"Well, Gulum-Ei told us that she mentioned 'where the end began'." Tri Ki said, as that was the other piece of information the argonian had given them, which seemed like a clue on where she was planning on confronting them, and sure enough they could see that it had a reaction in their leader, confirming that Karliah was after him and that he understood what it meant.

"That can only be one place: where she murdered Gallus. There's a ruin called Snow Veil Sanctum, near Winterhold, that's where we're going." Mercer remarked, though at the same time he pulled out a fairly sized coin purse and tossed it to over to Capper, who caught it with a smile on his face, since he was playing at being an ordinary thief, before their leader turned and collected something from one of the containers behind him, "Yes, I'm going with you two, and together the three of us will hunt Karliah down and put an end to this. Make your preparations and meet be there as soon as you can, because this might be our only chance to capture her or take her down."

Capper decided to check in with the rest of the main leaders of the Guild, those that served under Mercer, mostly to make it look like he and Tri Ki were preparing for their new job, but he could tell that there were some mixed feelings in regards to this mission, and not because they were given it. The Guild was on the fence about Karliah, as many had overheard them due to Mercer being loud in announcing that she was back, when he and the kobold told him about her return, and while he chatted with the other thieves he was able to tell a few things. Back when Gallus died the Guild was sundered, many left the group after Mercer tried to take over, though Brynjolf told them that Mercer loved to tell a tale about how there was a long bloodbath that resulted in the deaths of many thieves, though while a few had fought him, and had died, the reality was that many of their former friends left for the other provinces. This told Capper that the rest of the Guild's former members were alive and well, as far as Brynjolf knew, and there was a chance that he could use the figure's contacts to visit the various other thieves guilds that were scattered around the provinces.

It left Capper with a lot to think about, that much was true, though he eventually pulled back when Mercer left the cistern at long last, causing the pair to leave as well as he tracked the Guild's leader for a time, finding that he was heading towards the north gate so he could get his horse and head for their destination.

Instead of focusing on Mercer, even though one of the kobolds was following him to let everyone know when he reached the area Gallus was murdered in all those years ago, Capper focused on Sharva as he and the others slipped into the Opulent Lands, setting her down in one of the houses he had constructed when forming the city. Based on what he was seeing it sure looked like she had been pushing herself to the extreme, exhausting herself in her search for her target, meaning that when it came time to actually fight Xylia she was running on whatever reserve power she had. With that in mind it wasn't hard to see why the ashen khajiit had suffered so much, the wounds that had been inflicted upon her by her foe's mace were due to her own exhaustion and the vampire taking advantage of her weakness, which seemed to be what Xylia had been planning the entire time. The only downside to the imperial vampire's plan was that she neglected to realize how much Sharva would push herself to make sure her hunt was brought to an end, the lengths she would go to, and had the vampire been smart he knew that the battle would have ended in Xylia's favor, but she was caught and Sharva killed her.

"She likely needs a new more hours of sleep before she'll be up and about again." Rarity remarked, because while she wasn't skilled in the arts of healing she could see that the ashen khajiit was recovering quite well, even though it seemed like she was still drifting between being awake and being asleep, as if finishing off Xylia had awakened something inside her, "You know, I've been thinking about it, but there must be a reason behind her hunting down the vampire, more than what Sharva told us in the past... I think there's more to the story, but until she wakes up we'll never know for sure."

"She's the Last Dragonborn, the hero that will save the world multiple times over." a voice said, where Capper found Ithelia approaching them, her eyes locked on the slumbering ashen khajiit, though at the same time she seemed sad, reminding him that she was the Prince of Paths, a being tied to fate itself, meaning that she could see more than all of them could, and that sight was causing the frown they were currently seeing, "I need to get used to being the Prince of Paths again, not to mention being able to fully see the Threads of Fate again... I didn't get a good glimpse of what might happen in the future."

"At least now I understand why it was so hard to learn, since it was natural to you." Mora added, as the newly transformed Prince was beside Ithelia, though her comment was the truth, it had taken her a long time to learn how to wield Ithelia's power to the degree that caused the mortals to call her the 'Prince of Fate', a headache that was now back in the hands of it's original owner, "Also, Alduin has returned at long last."

While the others were confused Capper assumed that Mora was referring to the black wyvern they had seen during Helgen's destruction, it was the only thing that made sense to him when he thought about it, before Ithelia bowed her head and went back to her duties, taking Mora with her while promising to come back and check on the khajiit later.

"You seem to have gotten a new follower... though I don't remember seeing anyone that could have made a creature like that." La'nari commented, because the newest addition had been a wonder, even though that fact was the lesser one when she considered that Capper apparently had another Daedric Prince serving as his Chamberlain, which was just insane, even if everything connected to the cat was just insane.

"Yeah, that's Mora... Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of Knowledge, actually... remind me to tell you about her and Ithelia in the future." Capper stated, because there was a lot of information he had to tell the others at some point and right now his focus was on Mercer, though once he completed his work with the Guild he knew he would have plenty of things to do in his realm, especially since the rest of Oblivion would be drawn to them thanks to Mora's transformation.

"Capper, darling, we're talking about an existing Prince of Oblivion... this sounds like something we should talk about now, not later!" Rarity remarked, because if Capper had the power to transform a Prince's existing form into something new, and seemed to force or convince them to serve him, it meant there was going to be a struggle for power once the other Princes realized that the newcomer was a threat to their existence.

As Capper opened his mouth, however, the kobold that was tasked with following Mercer indicated that he had arrived at his destination, and the reason he knew that was due to a small golden shard he had given the kobold for communicating that fact to him, causing him and Tri Ki to depart, finding that Mercer was standing outside a nordic ruin.

"So, this is Snow Veil Sanctum." Capper commented, where he and his kobold companion walked out from behind the large rock that the other kobold had been hiding behind, who was now heading back to the Opulent Lands, though the pair made it look like they had been following after Mercer for some time, while they noticed that the ruin appeared to have a dome around it, with an open top he assumed, plus there was a dead horse behind them, "I take it Karliah is here?"

"Yes, and she left her old method of transport out in the open... I have disposed of it, to make sure she can't escape if this is a trap." Mercer said, though he showed no signs of confusion by the fact that they had followed him here as fast as they had, meaning he had been so focused on Karliah that he hadn't even bothered to look behind him to see if they were behind him, to which he turned towards the pair, "Let's get moving before she knows we're here... Capper, you take the lead."

That raised some red flags in Capper's mind, that the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild wanted a newcomer to take over one of the most important missions in the Guild's history, even though said newcomer was one of the greatest thieves they had seen in a long time, before he nodded. With that done he and Tri Ki headed up the dome's edge, finding that their leader was right behind them and seemed to be observing their movements, like he might be plotting to murder them because Capper was a threat to his position as the leader of the Guild. The main door to the ruin was locked, this time it had curved locks on it that seemed impossible to open, though Capper stood by a nearby barrel as Mercer tried in vain to open the door, like he was used to something being there and realized that he couldn't open the door without it. Capper knew it was the Skeleton Key, this was just Karliah confirming that the man had stolen the item, though he sighed as he pulled a hidden lever that was behind the barrel and the locks came undone, and since Mercer was looking at him when he did it that meant the man knew Capper was smarter than he gave him credit for.

Once the door was open the trio headed inside, though instantly Capper and Tri Ki crouched and started moving, while at the same time Mercer seemed to complain about the stench while remarking that they should be on their guard least they alert Karliah to their presence, all while he was the one being loud right now. The first chamber that they moved into had a pair of coffins that were linked to a rigged chest, Capper could see the wire of the trap, only for Mercer, in his stupidity, to trip the blasted thing and caused the pair of lids to open, revealing a pair of strong draugr, the scourge type. The two draugr didn't even notice Capper and Tri Ki, rather it was like they were invisible to their eyes, but Mercer found that the scourge zeroed in on him and him alone, forcing him to draw a special looking dwarven sword and a daedric dagger, items Capper wanted for his own collection. It was actually quite interesting to watch him defend himself, because while his movements were somewhat graceful he was loud, he shouted at both draugr, and his feet made too much noise, like he was stomping for some reason, making Capper wonder if he was cursed in some manner.

In the end he and Tri Ki drew their weapons and stabbed the draugr in their backs, allowing them to bring them down in no time, though Capper collected the pair of golden soul gems that were dropped from their foes, before unlocking the chest and collecting the loot, some gems and coins, that were inside it.

"Those are unique looking soul gems... might be worth a lot if we could sell them. Shall we split them?" Mercer inquired, as if being the leader entitled him to some of the reward, though while Capper would have been fine with this he knew that the man didn't deserve anything from him, not with that poor performance.

"Yeah, no. Maybe if you show me why you're the Guildmaster of the Thieves Guild, and do well, I might share some of the loot with you." Capper replied, though before Mercer had a chance to react to his statement, and the fact that he wasn't going to share with him, both he and Tri Ki resumed their sneaking and headed deeper into the ruin, as they had someone to find and a truth to uncover.

The next room happened to have a spike wall trap that would swing into someone's face if they triggered something, where Mercer loudly stated that the lever near it was likely it's activator, and it would raise the door, though sure enough his loud stomping woke up the draugr, who, again, focused on him. It was hilarious to see, that the undead didn't care about Capper or Tri Ki, though as that happened Capper decided to feel the air around the man and felt a daedric curse on him, meaning one of the Princes didn't like him, and when he considered that the Skeleton Key was Nocturnal's a picture formed in his mind. Of course he and Tri Ki came to his rescue time and time again, though he made sure that Mercer didn't claim any of the loot, both because of his natural nature and the fact that the man didn't deserve any of the items they were claiming, but he did find that these draugr had plenty of coins and gems on them. Such a thing told him that Karliah was likely tempting Mercer into feeding his thief nature and might be using the curse to try and kill him, for what reason he didn't know, but he and his kobold companion saved their leader multiple times and collected many bits of treasure thanks to his stupidity since he kept waking up the draugr.

The outrageous thing was that Mercer even claimed that they were, in fact, the ones making the noise and alerting their foes to their position, to which Capper decided to ignore their leader and left Tri Ki to stab the draugr, while at the same time he called in a few of the collector kobolds to collect the items from the undead they killed.

Capper found that the spike wall didn't swing when he pulled the lever, while Mercer had to jump back when he tried it out, which all but confirmed that Nocturnal was screwing with him, and there were bear traps that he and Tri Ki avoided, but the leader of the Guild stepped on them and they stabbed his legs. Such a thing also woke up more draugr, forcing Mercer to kill them and use his health stealing enchantment, which his unique dwarven sword had, to heal his wounds after he removed the traps, but it only confirmed something else in Capper's mind, the Guildmaster was worthless. They even found an area with some fire and oil traps, which Mercer tripped like an utter moron and blew up the part of the barrow, though they had to save him again, thus allowing Capper to collect more items from the now dead draugr before they moved deeper into the large barrow. Capper did stop at the various chests that were along the way, making sure they were opened the right way before looting everything that was inside them, usually gems and gold with a few bits of armor and weapons mixed into the treasure, all while he tuned Mercer out as they delved into the ruin's depths.

His disappointment was raised to new levels when Mercer walked into bone chimes, items that were easily avoided, and woke up a few deathlords, so when those draugr were dead Capper was able to add a few ebony weapons to the growing list of items they were gathering from this venture.

There was also a chamber with a fair amount of draugr that, as usual, Mercer woke up, so Capper left him and Tri Ki to deal with the undead, since he trusted the kobold more than he trusted their idiotic Guildmaster, and he did find an area with an interesting looking model ship, which he claimed before rejoining his companions. Of course it was on a pressure pedestal, to which Capper replaced it with one of the nearby urns and slipped it into the stash he was carrying, along with a few more ebony weapons since there had been a few deathlords among the draugr that were recently awakened. Another path just so happened to bring them to another area where Mercer remarked that this must have been child's play for Karliah, like he was blaming Capper for everything they were experiencing, causing Capper and Tri Ki to just frown at him for a few seconds before continuing on their way. The path even brought them to an area that had a large number of deathlords and a couple bone chimes, the latter resting between the main path and some chests, and since Mercer just woke up all of the enemies in the area Capper was able to loot the chests before he joined Tri Ki in cutting down the undead.

The best part about this entire venture was the loot they were gathering, the amount of gold and jewels alone were worth a small fortune since some of the gems were more pristine than the other ones, gems that people would pay good money for, plus there were a number of ingots, some of which were also valuable on their own. Then there were the pieces of armor, a number of them elven and dwarven interestingly enough, but Capper was sure that he could sell them for a good price once they got back to one of the cities, especially since they seemed fairly new and pristine. After those items came the ebony weapons, swords of gleaming midnight, axes sharpened more than any other axe he had seen, maces that would likely hold up to the Mace of Molag Bal, greatswords with razor sharp edges, warhammers that were ready for battle, and battleaxes that looked ready to behead people. The ebony gear happened to be the biggest score he could have asked for, because it was both expensive and happened to be some of the best gear around, and that was before he added the shields that were like gleaming scales, bows that radiated grace, and fierce looking ebony arrows.

The final chamber also seemed to have a few more draugr, one deathlord and a few lesser types, plus a large chest for him to loot as he spied a wall that Sharva might be interest in if Ithelia was right about her being the Dragonborn, before they found their way to a familiar looking stone door.

"Ah, one of the infamous nordic puzzle doors... how quaint. These are normally impossible to open, especially without the matching claw key, and since I'm sure Karliah has done away with it we're stuck." Mercer commented, where it was clear that he was considering something as he stared at the ringed door, like he would have done something in the past but couldn't do that now, almost like further confirmation that he had used the Skeleton Key to break all sorts of rules, before the rings started to move.

"Except there's a hidden switch behind some urns for us to use." Capper remarked, though he was tempted to remove the leader of the Thieves Guild here and now, Mercer had proven that he wasn't worth being the leader, even when he quickly considered that part of this was the curse that was screwing with him.

What they discovered on the other side of the door was a large chamber that seemed to have plenty of hiding places for one to hide in, where he noted that part of the ceiling was damaged and snow was coming in, but that was the least important thing in his mind right now. Capper could feel Karliah hiding in the shadows, studying them and debating how to go about her plan, especially since he and Tri Ki were now in the way, and he could sense that she was readying an arrow, though at the same time Mercer put a hand on her back and thrust him forward. In the next moment Capper made up his mind about Mercer and reacted accordingly, though he snatched the arrow that was coming his way out of the air and stabbed it into the man's chest, causing the paralysis poison that was apparently on the arrowhead to course through Mercer's body. While he crumbled to the ground, however, Capper realized that Karliah wanted Mercer alive, for some reason, and decided to use a bit of his power, bringing Mercer's feet together before turning them to gold, he trapped the man's hands by his sides, and he sealed Mercer's mouth.

He could have just turned him into a statue and extracted Mercer's soul, he knew that, but he also knew that Karliah had her own plans for him and figured that this might be fun, in fact she might have something for him to do while she transported Mercer to whatever end destination she had in mind.

"Come, Karliah, let us talk about things." Capper remarked, showing her that he had no desire to fight her, because after he listened to the stories of the other Guild members he had to wonder what the truth was, especially when he focused on how Mercer claimed she was the one who murdered Gallus, so she might have more information to share with him.

As Karliah, a dark elf with purple eyes who wore the attire of a member of the Thieves Guild, stepped out of the shadows he knew that the future was going to be more interesting for him and the others, and he was looking forward to seeing what might happen next in this grand adventure of theirs.