Skyrim: Band of Thieves

Following their meeting Capper and Nocturnal oversaw the addition of the species that the latter had offered the former in exchange for Mercer, who was now following his mistress around, though since Nocturnal was staying in the Opulent Lands for a time that meant he'd be staying as well. This allowed him to see that the Shrikes were scantily clad ladies that were tall and beautiful, also intelligent as Mora told him, with the only differences between them being that the lesser ones had slim metal collars around their necks, which they were fine with. The two types of Twilights were interesting, as the winged ones were similar to harpies, they had beautiful bodies covered in scales, their wings were similar to a bat's wings and happened to be merged with their arms, they had claw-like feet and the fingers of their wings were clawed, and had spiked tails. The grievous ones were totally different from the winged ones, as they were masculine and their arms were separated from their wings, but they appeared to be more brutish than their female counterparts, like enforcers.

The Wraith-of-Crows were more like scarecrows in appearance, merged with the appearance of a crow no less, and Capper quickly realized why Nocturnal had only offered five of them, as they were definitely stronger than the rest of the offered daedra, plus they had fully functional crow wings growing out of their backs and carried scythes as weapons.

"So, what will you do with them?" Nocturnal asked, speaking after the seventy-five daedra were brought in from her realm, as she returned to the Evergloam for a time and picked out the ones that would serve as her side of that bargain, before returning with them and making sure that Mercer followed her at all times.

"Honestly, it purely depends on their skills and abilities. I don't judge based on appearance or what they did before coming to my realm." Capper replied, where he gestured to some of the groups of kobolds that were walking around the city and all of the buildings, allowing Nocturnal to take a good look at them now that she would be working with them for quite some time, at least until she decided to release Tri Ki from the Nightingale contract, "Some of the souls I've collected are obvious, the warriors remained warriors, thieves stuck to their former profession, mages continued down the path of magic, and so on and so forth. Others are only skilled in certain things, like smithing, alchemy, and other such skills, and those that don't have a profession are either happily working in the mines, of their own choosing, or they're working with a mentor to learn new skills. For now you and those that were traded for Mercer can get used to the sights of the city, Ithelia will show you to your own room in the castle, and Mora will point out interesting things or information you might want to know... we can go over your role in the Opulent Lands once the new Nightingales are chosen, the Key has been returned, and the Guild is back at full strength."

"I see... I shall make arrangements to induct my Nightingales into the order, then you can be on your way." Nocturnal said, as it would allow her to focus on her own activities before focusing on the fact that she was now serving another Prince, like the two that were happily serving Midas, though while she knew he had a mortal name she preferred to address him by what all of Oblivion knew him as, "There is an old abandoned Standing Stone outside Riften, one that Karliah can lead you to... I will make Tri Ki and the others Nightingales in the area she brings you to."

Capper nodded as he made his way towards the portal that could bring him back to Riften, though along the way he did stop for a moment, focusing on Rarity as she walked over to the practice area that they had set up for mages, another area that was on the outskirts of the city.

"You know, before I return the Key, I could unlock your inner magic door a bit, give you more mana to work with." Capper remarked, which was the truth, he could still use the Key and give the others some boosts to their existing powers, though at the same time he knew that if they said 'no' he wasn't going to force anything on them, and he could see that the rest of the group that traveled with him was gathering nearby, "I can do the same for each of you, use it to raise something to make all of you stronger, if you want."

"Darling, as nice as the offer is, I don't need it... and I don't think the others need it either. Besides, I get what I need from the blood of my enemies." Rarity replied, as the more blood she drank the stronger she became, because she learned spells and skills from those that she consumed the essence of, and at times she found that it also included the amount of damage her body could take before bleeding, her overall stamina, and how much mana she had.

Capper didn't say anything else as he left them to their chosen way to pass the time and passed through the Riften gate, and a few seconds later Karliah and Brynjolf joined him, along with Tri Ki, Mercer, and the now harpy Nocturnal, though she did find that Capper had returned to his mortal form and that she was now sporting far less power than before.

"So this is how you get around everything... taking on a mortal form, a vestige of sorts, and using a small portion of the great power you have." Nocturnal commented, because she and other Princes had realized what Midas was doing, even though none of them could actually walk in this Plane like he could, and yet here she was, walking on Nirn like it was nothing, and for a moment she made sure no one was going to smite them for their crimes, from the Divines or the people, only to find that they were ignored.

"You won't have to worry about being chased or targeted by people... Riften is pretty chill, given all the kobolds they've seen, plus Ithelia and Mora from time to time." Capper said, where it was easy to see that the guards only glanced at the group for a second before turning away, while the people didn't seem bothered at all, in fact one of the newcomer thieves approached to talk with Tri Ki, since she was usually seen with him and that meant she had to be skilled, "Honestly, you'd think that the people of Skyrim would be more wary or concerned, but instead most of them are pretty accepting of other races... save for Windhelm, but they'll let you enter and keep a close eye on you if you aren't a nord. It's interesting how the 'land of racists' is really just a land of snow and hardship, with a single racist city... honestly, it is quite refreshing to see that so many are more open minded than the people of Windhelm. Now then, Karliah, if you would?"

The dark elf nodded and headed for the exit that was near the orphanage, which had someone new running it since the old lady had been slain, allowing Capper to see that many of Riften's people did glance at Nocturnal for a moment before simply nodding and going about their business. Karliah brought them outside the gate she had chosen and walked away from the city, where it didn't take them long to find the large stone with a hidden Nightingale symbol on it's backside, one that caused some stones, a secret door, to move out of the way when she touched it. Such a thing revealed a hidden door that brought them into a hidden tunnel and, in the end, an abandoned living area that looked like the domain of the Nightingales, likely due to the fact that no one had been here for twenty years or so. Nocturnal and Karliah lead the way into the core of the old hideout, where they passed by three special stones that actually magically dispensed armor for Karliah, Brynjolf, and Tri Ki to take, midnight armor that looked like ebony despite being leather, with a cape and mask as Capper found that everything fit them perfectly.

They looked like Nightingales now, as the armor was the official gear of the sect, and once the armor was on Nocturnal had Tri Ki and the other two follower her into the final portion of the Hall, an area with three circles for them to kneel on while there was a central one for Nocturnal to stand in.

"So, Mercer... where did you stash Gallus' plans for his various heists?" Capper asked, figuring that it was best if he let the other Prince complete her ritual without him eavesdropping in on the conversation she was having, while noticing that she let Karliah start things off for some reason.

"There's a mine near Maven's estate, one that I killed the miners of and set it up to make sure people would be scared off, so I could recover them at the right time." Mercer said, knowing that it was best to answer Capper's questions and not anger him at all, a lesson he should have learned after his dealings with Nocturnal, and right now he knew the heist plans weren't going to do him any good, so it was best to return them to the Guild, or the new Guild Master to be more specific, "You'll find them in a chest behind the waterfall."

Capper nodded his head as he filed away that information, allowing Nocturnal to continue the elevating of the trio into being her newest Nightingales, and it wasn't long before she stepped out of the chamber with her new Nightingales following after her, meaning she was done with her ritual.

"It is done, they are full Nightingales now." Nocturnal stated, where she could tell that Brynjolf would take some time getting used to his newfound powers, while Tri Ki would no doubt start using them before long, because it seemed like the kobolds had a greater affinity for whatever skills and powers they were trying to learn, like they were geniuses or something, so she suspected she'd start showing them off in no time, before she focused on Midas, "So, what will you do now?"

"I have something to pick up, first, but then I'll return the Skeleton Key, as I promised." Capper replied, because he had no need of the Key at this point in time, especially since he was great in the art of picking locks and had figured out how to make his own picks as unbreakable as the Skeleton Key, so he only needed one and was collecting the others so they could be given to the rest of the thieves in the Opulent Lands, "After that, well, we'll have to see... I did tell Sharva that we would visit the Greybeards when we were done with our guild work, and now that we're done with the Thieves, Companions, and the College... well, it might be time to speak with them and see what's going on."

"Of course, the dragons have returned." Nocturnal commented, as she and the other Princes knew of the events that were shaking Skyrim, even though a new Prince had been the most unexpected thing they had uncovered, especially one that was as smart as Midas since he had seized the chance to exploit her error before she had realized it, "I shall head back to your realm and speak with Ithelia... her knowledge will benefit me greatly right now."

Capper said nothing to that as he headed out of the Hall and returned to the area outside Riften, where he made his way around the walls and headed in the direction of Maven's estate, though he made sure to remain on the outskirts since his current objective wasn't the actual building. As he did that he found that some vampires, it was easy to figure out who they were thanks to their outdated clothing, chasing a bandit down a hill, but for some odd reason they turned on him the instant they realized that someone was coming their way, one coming to rob him and three coming to drink his blood. In the next moment he shifted his stance as he separated Avarice into the two one handed blades that went into making it, allowing him to slash his way through his foes before they even realized what had happened to them. As expected a pile of gold and gems was left where the bodies landed, where a few collector kobolds, his personal ones that were constantly watching him and moved in when he was done with his enemies, so he allowed them to get to work as he kept moving.

Sure enough he found the hidden mine that Mercer told him about, where he discovered some skeletons that were likely the miners the former Guild Master had slain, and it didn't take Capper long to track down the chest behind the waterfall, which was just a minor stream of water.

"There we go, all of Gallus' potential heists." Capper remarked, as there were some for Skyrim, including the Blue Palace and the vaults of the other Jarls, some were for Cyrodiil, others for buried locations in Morrowind that Gallus had confirmed to be undisturbed, and the rest of the continent, each province had something to offer, "All sorts of potential wealth, mine for the taking. I'll have to go over these later, when I have the time to do so."

With that information in mind he handed the chest to the kobolds and had them bring it to his personal chambers, since that was the best place for it to rest right now, before heading back out into the area outside Riften and quickly made his way to where his Gate was located, eventually allowing him to return to the Opulent Lands.

"Oh, Capper, you're back. Good, I was thinking that it was time to return to Windhelm and tell the boy the good news before it slips my mind." Midnight said, speaking as Capper returned to his realm, though it looked like she had been patiently waiting off to the side so she could catch him upon his very brief return, which was interesting to see, causing the former lunar guard to rub her arm for a few seconds, "Just thought it was best to tell you, before you wondered where I wandered off to."

"I appreciate the warning, even though I wouldn't have stopped you either way." Capper replied, though in that moment, as he found that everyone from his group was standing nearby, as in Rarity and the others plus La'nari and Sharva, he held out a hand before focusing, allowing them to witness as strands of silver pooled together above his hand, forming elegant silver rings with a golden gem set on top of them, and each one had a strand of blue lettering on the bands, "Here you guys go: a ring for each of you, which will allow you to collect golden soul gems while I'm not nearby... meaning if you go on your own adventures and I'm not in the vicinity, and each of you are more than welcome to do so, you can collect more souls for the Opulent Lands. I've enchanted each ring to be weaker than mine, so it'll be a smaller area for each of you, and each will have it's own Collector associated with it, so you can ensure that all loot is collected... and, of course, if we travel as a group my ring and power will be the dominate one, so yours will be nice accessories during that time."

Rarity and the others took their rings without delay, allowing Midnight to slip hers on before heading to Windhelm, though as that happened Capper found that the others were going to hang out for the time being, thinking about what they wanted to do, even though he nodded to Sharva, indicating that her time was coming. With that done he slipped through the Gate that brought him to Falkreath and stepped out into the small settlement that served as the hub of this Hold, though instead of heading into the village he headed out into the forest and headed back to the keep Sharva had raided for a fragment of Mehrunes' Razor. He found that the road was calm, there was no one coming to try and rob him while none of the wild life were interested in him, allowing Capper to walk towards the west for a time before he spotted the path in question, where he made his way through it and located a hidden iron door. It was clear that it was hidden by magic, so that only those that were Nightingales or permitted by Nocturnal to see this place, and since he happened to be Nocturnal's boss now that just meant that he was allowed to see everything she had hidden.

Sure enough he found a short tunnel leading to where a hidden temple was located, one that was nordic in design but was also focused on the shadows, since he could feel Nocturnal's energy or signature in this area, likely the lock he was here to place the Key inside, and standing in front of the stairs rested a transparent shadowy figure of a Nightingale.

I don't recognize you, and yet, while I can tell that you aren't one of us, I can sense that you are... more. the specter said, looking like he was here to guard the place, even though Capper could tell that his power was weak, the open lock had no doubt deprived the spirit of his powers, and it seemed like his acquisition of Nocturnal might have allowed her followers to understand that another power existed in this world, Who are you?

"The new Guild Master of the Thieves Guild, Capper... but, to really answer your question, I am Midas, the Daedric Prince of Greed." Capper replied, where he walked around the figure for a moment and studied the magic that was holding him in place, bound to this world as a guardian of the Sepulcher, before returning to where he had started as he tapped the air for a moment, "Hey Nocturnal, would it be alright with you if I took care of the guardians of this place, but brought them back as a mix of our two daedra? I might be able to make a type of kobold that's half the size of a person, but possesses the powers they had as a Nightingale... eternal guardians who can actually make a community here, maybe we can give them a special name as well, to set them apart from the other Nightingales."

"Lord Midas, I would appreciate it if you left my souls ALONE." Nocturnal stated, stepping out of Midas' personal Gate, like how she had seen Ithelia and Mora do it, or how they described it anyway, though she really didn't need him taking more of her followers from her, while at the same time noting that the Nightingale spirit in front of them was stunned by what he was seeing right now.

"I'm just offering you a way to keep the Key safer, so only the truly skilled can steal it." Capper said, where he walked up one of the stairs that were behind the Nightingale specter, who was just totally confused by what was going on, before pausing as he glanced back at Nocturnal, who was still getting used to all the changes in her life, "Just so you know, you would have retained ownership of their souls, instead of me stealing them like I did with Mercer's soul... would have waved the potential payment."

Nocturnal said nothing to that, she wasn't sure she believed Midas when he said he would have waved the payment, he was greed incarnate like how she was the night, each embodied their concepts to the fullest, and suspected that even for this he would have extorted her in some manner to add to his realm's growing wealth. Instead she said nothing and allowed her new Lord to head into the Sepulcher, since the connection between here and the end had been severed shortly after the Key was stolen by Mercer, where she found that Mercer kept his head down. She understood why that was instantly, because the specter in front of them was none other than Gallus, a fitting punishment for allowing himself to be blinded by Mercer, killed in action, and allowing the Key to be stolen, and it was possible that his time as a kobold had changed something in the traitorous former Nightingale. In the end she decided that it would be best to let the two guess at who the other was, since all they knew was that the other was a Nightingale, so they were simply staring at each other, allowing her to stand off to the side as she waited to see what Midas did inside the Sepulcher.

While that happened Capper headed into the temple and quickly reached what appeared to be a meeting hall, with seats and a podium for someone to stand at, where he detected more of the specters and found that they were aggressive, as in they were patrolling in silence, keeping an eye out for potential dangers. Since there were only two of them he slipped down the stairs in the center of the chamber and entered a passage that went to the second portion of the temple, an area where someone had to walk in the shadows while avoiding the light. He let a faint smile appear on his face, as it seemed like those who made this place really made it far too simple to get through, as he was able to bypass the tripwires that were lining the steps that went up and down through the area. He really doubted that this was made to honor Nocturnal, in fact he could see why she would ignore such a thing in the first place, as it didn't take him long to get through that course, nor did it take him long to figure out to pass through the following area all he had to do was pull two levers, one on either side of a statue of Nocturnal.

The last one was rather simple, he could walk through a short passage and bypass swinging blades or he could unlock the door to his left and go the long way around, where he simply twisted and turned for a time as he bypassed the trap, which allowed him to reach a short well at the end of the passage.

"We're here... that was far too easy for me." Capper commented, where he suspected that this place had been designed to test would be priests or followers who wanted to work beside the Nightingales, in fact he could see ways to make this a true trial while keeping the Key and lock safe, before he held the Key out as the floor opened and allowed him to drop into a final chamber with a lock in the ground.

In the following moment he slipped the Skeleton Key into the lock and it sunk into the ground, and while he backed up the lock opened up as the conduit of Nocturnal's power was opened, with three icons appearing on the ground around what appeared to be a circular altar, before he stepped through a blue portal and appeared near the entrance.

"And done... I'll be honest, I would rebuild this place from the ground up. Now I see why Mercer got away with stealing the Key in the first place." Capper remarked, where he found that Nocturnal and Mercer weren't even surprised by this, rather it seemed like they had expected such a thing when he stepped into the Sepulcher, while the other specter seemed unsure of what to make of everything that was happening right now, before he let out a sigh, "Well, that's what I would do if this place belonged to me and was under my control... this is your place, Nocturnal, so I'll just leave my opinions at the door."

Nocturnal already knew that Midas, as her new Lord, had the power to enforce such decisions on her if he really wanted, he could easily force demand her to do these things and she'd be forced to comply, but it was odd for him to not enforce such a thing on her, so for now she stored the information away for later.

"As you wish, Lord Midas." Nocturnal said, as she decided not to bother with his remarks about this place, at least not right now anyway, before she thought about something that came in from Ithelia while she and the two former Nightingales had been waiting for Midas to return, "According to one of your underlings it would appear that two figures drugged Midnight and are running off with her... Mora says they're part of the Dark Brotherhood."

"Really? Well, I was wondering when we'd hear from them... looks like the final Guild is ours to claim." Capper stated, as he wasn't worried about Midnight all that much, she was a former Lunar Guard and that meant she was skilled in whatever field she had been trained in before they came to this world, so he knew she'd kick her way out of wherever she ended up, which caused him to head for the exit, "Well then, it's time we returned to the Opulent Lands and see where they're taking her... this ought to be interesting, and a good distraction before we assist Sharva in her quest."

He was curious as to what this meant for Midnight, even though he suspected that she would reach a high position in this shadowy guild, just like Rarity and the others, and was very eager to see what the coming days had in store for them and the rest of Skyrim as a whole.