Skyrim: Band of Thieves

Capper and the others found that the trek back to Riften was uneventful, which was due to them traveling through the area a few times in the past and the armies that were no doubt outfitting their forces for the big battles that were ahead of them, or so it seemed. This meant that they didn't have to worry about having to stop every now and then to do battle with either the wildlife or bandits, which was a shame since Capper had been thinking they might be able to gather a few more bits of treasure, but this was fine as well. While they traveled he slipped into the Opulent Lands for a time and found that Mora was interested in some of the kobolds, or rather the few in front of her were more interested in her and the knowledge she had access to, like they were mages wanting to be scholars. They weren't the only ones either, as he could see that there were a lot of kobolds looking at other jobs now that they were being given a second chance at life, some were checking on the small meadery, others the stores, one the fields, and so on as he looked around his realm.

Such a thing put a smile on his face as he warped back to the carriage and sat with La'nari, as it seemed like everything was fine for the time being and he'd fully check on everyone once he was done with the Guild and Umbra, but for now he had a lot of work to look forward to.

After some time they reached the city, the southern entrance like usual since that was the one they used the most, before the group headed inside once more and found that nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, as all of the vendors were just trying to sell stuff and, more importantly, there were no thieves getting themselves killed. That was something that Capper had been annoyed by when they saw it happen in the past, seemingly novice thieves dying because they were either stupid, greedy, or just unlucky, but he could see that many of the newcomers were waiting in the shadows. It was like they were just waiting for something to happen, as if they had heard that Capper was the best thief in their business and was waiting for him to bring glory back to the Thieves Guild before they bothered to risk their lives for loot. With that in mind he walked over to the secret entrance as Rarity and the outstanding members of their group remained on the surface, allowing him, La'nari, and Tri Ki to head down into the Cistern before crossing over into the Ragged Flagon.

Sure enough Capper found that Delvin and the others were talking while they stepped into the area and the conversation just died down when they stepped into view, which confirmed that he was likely the topic in question, something he was fine with since it meant his fellow thieves might be done checking that he did his jobs.

"I'm going to say it: I have no idea how you did it, but we've got word from Whiterun that you did the jobs that were given to you... and Windhelm... and Markarth... and even Solitude. All in one day." Delvin said, where it was clear he and the others had no idea how to go about handling this information, that Capper had done more for the Guild in a short period of time, and a whole list of jobs in four separate Holds in a single day, than they might have done in a lifetime, "As it stands I have four unique jobs available to you, and you alone: there's Thane Erikur in Solitude, Olfrid Battle-Born in Whiterun, Endon the silversmith in Markarth, and Torsten Cruel-Sea in Windhelm. Each has a unique job that requires your expertise."

"Is that so?" Capper asked, where he took a seat across from Delvin and had a smile on his face, because this was what he was after, the people were talking about the Thieves Guild again, sending special jobs their way since they were likely the only ones capable of doing said jobs, and this made him very interested, "Do tell."

As it turned out Erikur was having some trouble with one of the ship captains in Solitude and had a plan to ruin him, Endon had an item stolen before it could reach Markarth and likely wanted it recovered, Torsten was having trouble with a rival guild of thieves, and Olfrid needed help with his friend. From what Capper gathered each of the four would give him more instructions upon his arrival in each of the cities, which meant he could do whatever he wanted, go to whichever Hold was more interesting to him, and then do one of the jobs before moving onto the next one. In addition to that Capper realized he could go after Umbra first, chain the sword down before it went somewhere else, and decided that this was the best course of action, start with Clavicus' problem first and then worry about the Guild's jobs after that. Even Tonilia had something for them to do, as the Guild was growing and this meant they would need a reliable way to transport goods, so she wanted him to bring the leader of the caravans a satchel of moonsugar to secure a deal with him.

With that in mind Capper just decided to do them in order of going around Skyrim, as in hit Windhelm, cross to Whiterun, head over to Solitude, and then circle back down for Markarth, before heading back to Riften to deliver the good news, and before that point he'd make sure to deal with Clavicus and his cursed sword.

Once he was done speaking with Delvin, and the rest of his thief group had a chance to relax for a time, Capper departed from the Ragged Flagon, followed by La'nari and Tri Ki, where it didn't take them long to head outside, regroup with Rarity and the others, before heading for the main gate of Riften. After leaving the city, and getting on the carriage again, the group headed down the path that was in front of them, heading towards the fort they had seen in the past, which was now in the hands of the Stormcloaks based on the blue flags that were on it's walls. With that in mind La'nari lowered her head as they passed through the center of the fort, since the Stormcloaks were racists towards everyone who wasn't a nord, but for once it looked like none of Ulfric's followers wanted to bother them. Such a thing allowed them to let out a collective of sighs as La'nari continued down the path and brought them to Shor's Stone, before they turned and headed to the east, since that was the directions that had been given to Capper when he ensured Clavicus took Barbas back.

Cutting through the area turned out to be somewhat easy since most of the animals seemed more interested in hunting or resting, so the carriage navigated the trees and the hills before reaching the snowy area, and it didn't take La'nari very long to find their destination, the cave known as Champion's Rest.

"And here we are. Umbra is somewhere inside this place." Capper commented, though at the same time he, Azure, Rarity, Midnight, La'nari, and their kobold companions got off the carriage before facing the entrance that was in front of them, as there was no telling what might be waiting for them inside this place, "Let's go claim another daedric artifact."

As the others nodded the group walked into the passage and found that it brought them to the start of what could have been a mine in the past, with ore on a table and a journal confirming the presence of miners, so Capper decided to let the collector kobolds get to work as his group made their descent. There was a stream leading into a hidden nordic tomb, which Capper realized were dotting the landscape of Skyrim and there was likely no map or markers of their existence to the rest of the land, something he thought about pitching to Mora in the future. As they looked around the group discovered that it was just like all of the other nordic ruins, in that it was collapsing and that whoever had been buried here didn't have much to offer them, and when they entered the first chamber a phantom of a warrior in ebony armor vanished. Such a thing told him all he needed to know, Umbra was no doubt watching the entrance and might be coming at them at some point, though at the same time he nodded to the others and found that everyone readied their weapons and magic without delay.

The chamber beyond that had two paths available to them, while the main path was sealed off, where Capper simply took a moment to glance at the others for a moment, because if this had been when they first started exploring he would have made sure they stayed together, but not anymore.

"Let's split up. Midnight, Rarity, Sharva, I leave the right path to you. La'nari, Azure, with me. Collectors, split evenly between the two groups." Capper said, where it didn't take long for the others to move into formation, along with the kobolds that fought and those who would be focused on collecting, before he closed his eyes for a few seconds and expanded one aspect of his power, the aura that created golden soul gems, only to open them a moment later, "There, now my aura is covering every inch of this place, meaning you'll be able to spot and collect golden soul gems without me being near you. Oh, and all of you, remember to have some fun while we're here."

The others nodded as the two teams headed into the paths he had assigned to them, where Azure stood at the front of his group while La'nari kept her bow at the ready, though while the first chamber had nothing to offer them, save for a chest that one of the collectors looted, the next had a single draugr. While Azure crushed it Capper glanced at the rotating pillars to their right and then glanced up at the slightly damaged icons that were diagonally across from them, before turning the three pillars to match the whale and two snakes that were on the other wall. Sure enough pulling a switch after that opened the passage that was in front of them, allowing them to pass by a lone nordic desk that had a number of gems and even a few soul gems for them to take, additions to the collection, only to find that this was literally the end of the passage. Capper stood there for a moment, wondering what in the world the ancient nords were even thinking with this since he expected it to take longer to reach the end, far longer than this, before letting out a sigh of frustration before they doubled back to the main chamber.

Sure enough the locked chamber was the scene of some action as a number of the coffins opened to reveal a number of the draugr wights and even a few deathlords, but as the group dealt with their enemies, leaving the collectors to do their job, Capper found that the main flames were lit, meaning pulling the chains near the main passage lowered the blockage.

"We're getting a lot of ebony from this place." La'nari commented, as the couple of deathlords they had taken out so far had given them a few swords, a couple of axes, two shields, and even a warhammer to add to the collection, though Rarity did take a sword in case an enemy got through her magic, which was the smart move, "And something tells me we'll find more as we delve even deeper into this place."

Capper nodded as he stepped into the now opened passage and carefully walked down the passage, eventually coming to a smaller chamber that had a single strong draugr, the death overlord he guessed, but he wasted no time in cutting it down with a swing of his blades, before pulling a lever to open the next gate. This one allowed them to step into a decent sized chamber with a hole in the center of the floor, containing a set of wooden steps, causing him and his companions to walk down it before ending what appeared to be a tomb area full of traps. They came in the form of hidden pressure plates that were stones hidden in the slightly high water, even though they were able to walk through it with ease, but his steps ignored the traps and the others avoided them with ease, while the kobolds were too short to be bothered by the flame traps. The larger chamber that was connected to the trapped area only had two more draugr to deal with, a scourge and a wight, but yet again Capper had no reason to worry as the others tore through them while the kobolds continued to collect everything they could find, some going to the Vault while the rest would be taken back to the Opulent Lands later on.

Following that they found their way to what appeared to be a darker tomb, where the purple specter was waiting for them before it vanished, but no enemies rose to fight the group, allowing them to reach a large chamber that seemed to be where Umbra was sealed, based on the stone ritual circle in the center of it, where the phantom was resting.

"And there it is. Umbra." Capper said, because the phantom had a powerful looking longsword that could almost pass as a claymore, a weapon that had a jet black handle, a curved crescent guard, a dark silver blade, and a slot near the guard that looked like where a soul gem could be inserted, plus he could feel it's power from here, causing him to draw his blades for a moment, "Leave this to me."

Sure enough he found that the phantom took on the form of an actual person in ebony armor, which had to be what Umbra wanted whenever it took possession of someone, and in the next moment the dark blade made contact with his golden swords, the air around them vibrating slightly. It was as Capper expected, the weapons of two Daedric Princes were clashing, their powers colliding somewhat, yet at the same time Umbra seemed to find that the golden blades didn't back down, as if the warrior had been expecting them to break. Rather both remained pristine and at the ready, parrying incoming attacks as Capper pushed his foe backwards, something that caused his opponent to summon what appeared to be phantoms that were like what they had seen before this point, causing him to glance at them for a moment before vanishing. In the very next moment he lashed out at the copies of Umbra, slashing them apart with his swords like they were nothing special, and he ended his attack by delivering six diagonal slashes to his foe's chest, three coming from the right and three coming from the left.

Following that Umbra displayed a few high powered spells, one designed to paralyze everyone in the area for a short period of time and another that was a large swirling vortex of ice that the warrior put in one area, though it wasn't enough to stop Capper as he cut down his foe, leaving a pile of treasure behind, just like before, as he glanced at the fallen ebony armor and the dark blade that was floating there.

"I see, it needs a worthy wielder to draw out the fragment of Clavicus' power that's inside it." Capper remarked, though as he said that the area around him shook as Ithelia and Mora stepped out of his realm, and he even summoned the Storian for a moment as well, allowing the two a chance to look at the artifact that was in front of them, "I have found and recovered the artifact known as Umbra, and have promised Clavicus Vile that I would imprison it, but to do that I require the Storian's vast power to seal Umbra away."

"It is a powerful artifact, and dangerous in the wrong hands, if what happened with Jyggalag's sword earlier is any indication. I agree, it should be sealed away." Ithelia stated, as she had been studying the information of the world, thanks to Mora being there to fully explain everything she had questions about, and agreed with her Lord, this was an artifact that needed to be sealed away so no one could use it's terrible power against Clavicus Vile.

"While I don't care one way or the other, sealing Umbra would place Clavicus Vile in your debt." Mora pointed out, though this time around it looked like she was more willing to assist him in his endeavors, especially since there was a chance that the Prince in question could offer Midas plenty in return for this special favor, "And having another Prince in your debt would be a powerful thing. It would seem that we are aligned: the Storian will be used to seal Umbra, this time forever."

Capper nodded as the seal on the Storian's container came undone for a moment, where he took the quill before he wrote on the piece of paper that Mora offered him, and in the following seconds Umbra was contained in a wooden container with a glass window for them to see it, before lines of magic wrapped around it and locked the sword inside it.

"As before, we three must be in agreement to undo the seal, and this time we must have Clavicus Vile's blessing to draw the blade, so it will remain locked away." Capper said, as he found that sharing the burden of responsibility seemed to be best right now, because it seemed to relieve some of the annoyance Mora was feeling about this situation, though once Mora and Ithelia confirmed that the container wasn't opening he returned the Storian to it's sealed container and moved both boxes to his Vault, "And the deed is done. Umbra is sealed away at last... be warned, Clavicus Vile will no doubt come by to check on the cursed weapon."

"Then I shall make sure we are prepared for his eventual arrival." Ithelia replied, though she was pleased to see that her Lord was getting used to being a Daedric Prince, the ins and outs that came from being such a being, and understanding how he had to deal with the others of his kind, even though there was one thing she knew he needed to know before she left, "Also, there is a chance that Nocturnal might come by as well, since you did take the soul of one of her followers, who she'll likely be asking for when she comes to visit."

Capper nodded and followed the pair back into the Opulent Lands, allowing Ithelia and Mora to return to their tasks while he headed into the Vault, returning the Storian to where he had placed it previously before having Umbra's container float in the air, at least until he had a proper place to place it's prison. With that done he returned to the others in the tomb and the group headed for the exit that was beyond where the warrior had been waiting, though he did find that the collectors had taken the ebony armor as well, not that he was surprised by this. Such a thing allowed them to track down the final chest of the dungeon, since each had one and usually they were full of treasure, so he let the kobolds collect the items that were in it before they found the path leading back to the entrance. With that discovery they were able to head back outside, found that it was barely any later than when they entered the cave, returned to the carriage, and were soon on their way to the city of Windhelm, to track down the first of Capper's new contacts.

Getting to the city took a bit of time, allowing them to arrive in the afternoon, but it hardly mattered since he knew that the man he was here to see would likely be in the inn, so he had everyone else remain outside while he headed inside, where it took him no time to track down Torsten Cruel-Sea, as Delvin gave him descriptions of his contacts, and the man was right by one of the stone walls.

"Torsten Cruel-Sea, Delvin sent me to help you with something." Capper commented, standing beside the man while he was focused on the city behind him, just to be sure the guards didn't come towards him while he was here, as he didn't want the racist guards to bother him and the Guild's client.

"That's correct. My daughter, Fjotli... well, she used to wear a lot of jewelry and she was murdered, and one of the pieces that was stolen from her body was a family heirloom, a special silver locket." Torsten replied, where he must have been told who to expect, since he barely looked at Capper, save for the first glance to be sure he was speaking to the one the job had been given to, and was focused on the wall, like he was reading history or something, "The one responsible was a bloody altmer, if you could believe it, but he's not around anymore... let's just say I'm a firm believer in an 'eye for an eye' and leave it at that... but he fancied himself a thief for a new guild that was setting up shop nearby. I don't know if they murder their marks or if they just rob the dead, and honestly I don't care at this point, I just want the locket back... and you can take out a rival guild in the process. The only useful information I was able to get out of him was a name, Niranye, who has a house in Windhelm, but I figured this was more your area of expertise."

"Very well. I'll talk with her, find the rival guild, and get the locket back." Capper said, where he was slipped a piece of paper and found that it held a description of the one he needed to track down next, causing him to nod as he departed from the wall and headed out to find the altmer that was his next target.

As it turned out Niranye was walking in a nearby street, between some houses, and when he approached her he found that she was defensive for a short period of time, no doubt from the racism that was in Windhelm, but when he brought up the rival guild she seemed very nervous. That much made sense, since it appeared that the rival guild, the Summerset Shadows according to the altmer, weren't above killing those that opposed them, even if their leader preferred to steal from the Hall of the Dead, the same leader that demanded that she fence for the Shadows, least they kill her. In the end it was easy for Capper to convince her to agree to help him out, he didn't want to hurt her and she promised that if the Shadows were dealt with she'd return to being a fence for the Guild, even telling him where their camp, Uttering Hills Camp, was located. With that information in hand Capper headed out to the others and they started to head up the road, like they were heading to either Winterhold or Dawnstar, since the camp was near the mill that people passed by.

Fortunately there was someone camping near the area that they had to cross and he ignored them as the carriage moved over the small river, though once they headed up the hill Capper found the Summerset Shadows, two of them, hanging out outside their base, and both Capper eliminated with his twin swords.

"This ought to be interesting." La'nari remarked, though she and the others stood back for the time being, aiding the group of collector kobolds in collecting the bits of gold and treasure that the Shadows had gathered, including the golden soul gems as well, because if Capper was using his swords that meant he was going to be fighting for a while.

As they entered the cave, however, the group found that it was inappropriate to call this a 'fight', as the thieves discovered that intruders were inside their base and rushed at them, causing Capper to dodge out of the way before delivering a single slash at each of the Shadows that came at him. Sure enough there was a trail of gold and items for everyone else to collect as Capper found a buried ruin the thieves had turned into their base, with an alchemy table for the ingredients they stole, all to make potions and poisons no doubt, and a few cells for prisoners, all of which were empty. He tracked down his target in no time, as the leader of the Shadows had a more shadowy version of guild armor and carried an ebony sword, but for the most part he was a disappointment as Capper slashed him apart and picked up the silver locket that had ebony engravings in it. With that done he used a bit of fire and burned the banner that the Shadows had set up, while at the same time Tri Ki and the collectors made sure to collect the various bits of gold and treasure, and as they left the cave Capper utilized some of his power to give the Shadows a new life as kobolds.

After that it was only took them a few moments to get back to Windhelm so he could hand over the locket, causing Torsten to inform him that he'd speak with Delvin about setting up the framework for the Guild to reclaim their influence, causing him to smile as the group departed for the next city, as he was eager to see what the other jobs had to offer him and what else the future held in store for them.