Skyrim: Band of Thieves

Capper stared at the path that was in front of them as La'nari got them underway, his mind wondering about the couple of assassins that made up the Dark Brotherhood, though in the end he returned that idea to it's shelf, because it depended on what Midnight decided about them. With that in mind he focused on the main thing that was happening right now, as some of the shadowy kobolds returned from the areas that were nearby, in terms of where the remaining Stones were located, as the ones on the eastern side of Skyrim, for example, were still busy. Those from the western and southern sides had loot for him to look through, namely their Stones of Barenziah which he added to the collection, and some had some decent hauls, either in terms of magical items, tomes and books, or even usable items for his realm. As such he, Mora, and Ithelia went over the loot that was brought in when a group of kobolds returned, the gold coins, gems, and ingots going into his Vault as usual while the rest of the loot was distributed to the rest of the city for the other kobolds to use.

When they got near Labyrinthian, as La'nari was cutting through the mountain without going around the long way, Capper found that one group returned with a unique looking wizard's staff, in fact the top looked like a phylactery of some kind, but he confirmed that there was no soul inside it and stored it with the rest of the staffs he had gathered so far. He made sure to remove each collected Stone from his main map, just to remind him of which ones they needed to obtain and which ones had been claimed, and it was quickly reaching the single digits, with only the Solitude Stone and a few others left. They did stop in the middle of the old stone city, as that was what Labyrinthian must have been at one point, to get something to eat, just to relax and stretch their legs for a time, but they were able to do so in peace since no one had moved in since they last came through this area. Once that was done La'nari found the path out and returned to the northern road, allowing them to head towards Dawnstar at long last, and along the way Capper found two more groups returning, both having dealt with a necromancer in some manner, both having claimed their Stone, and one had a unique looking flute.

In addition to collecting the Stones Capper used his power on the golden soul gems, as the kobolds seemed to be able to produce them without needing his ring, meaning they were definitely his people, to make more residents for his realm, and it wasn't long before they reached Dawnstar.

"So, we're looking for one of the miners, correct? Shouldn't be too hard to find them." Rarity remarked, though at the same time most of them remained with the carriage, as there was no reason for everyone to search the small town for whoever Midnight had been sent to eliminate.

"Yeah, I'll find Beitild and deal with her. Shouldn't be too long." Midnight said, climbing off the carriage as she headed into the port town, leaving the others to rest, relax, and do whatever they wanted while they waited for her to return with news of her success in this task.

"Mora, I've been thinking about something: sometime after we regrouped with Sharva, after she hunted down her target, we encountered tracks that were a combination of vampire and werewolf." Capper commented, thinking that it was time to tell the Prince of Knowledge about this discovery, and he could see that Mora appeared inside the carriage to listen to what he had to say, while the others split between watching for Midnight and relaxing, "What do you make of this?"

"It shouldn't be possible. What you're suggesting would be a 'werepyre', a myth... Molag is the Father of Vampires, while Hircine is the same for werewolves, and they'd never work together." Mora remarked, but even as she said that she had to wonder about the information her Lord had obtained, because it seemed like his presence might be causing more changes than any of them had assumed, making her wonder if such a creature might be possible, "But if you are right, well, such a creature would likely have the strengths of both beings, and none of their various weaknesses... a killing machine that would be a danger to everyone."

Capper nodded as he remained on the carriage, before he decided that it was time to do something he had put off for some time, which was help the couple of kobolds that were their personal companions, like Tri Ki, compose a letter to the agent in the Thalmor Embassy, Alerion he was called. This was due to the fact that he had been interested in the new Prince that had made himself known, since Capper and the others kept pretending that 'Midas' was someone else, and they hadn't sent him anything so far, so he figured it was about time to do so. Capper decided to set his 'Summoning Day' in Second Seed, though he did have to think about a proper 'quest' for those who wanted to approach his statues for one of his artifacts, and it came with a unique idea, he was planning on making a number of unique artifacts, he would have four once they finished making the tome and the unique satchel, so the quest would depend on which relic the summoner wanted. By the time he finished with the kobolds, and shared information with Mora so she knew everything that was going on, especially since she knew all of the dates and made sure his Summoning Day didn't land on the date of another one.

After that they found that Midnight returned to the carriage and allowed them to depart for their next destination, which was the mill down the road from Windhelm, and while they were on the road she informed them that she had found Beitild inside her mine, near the entrance, which was why it had been an easy job.

During this portion of their journey they found that there were definitely groups of Imperials and Stormcloaks out, both of them continuing their pointless information gathering while they waited for Jarl Balgruuf to make up his mind on which side he wanted to join. Capper and the others had to wonder what in the world they were waiting for, as it seemed reasonable to assume that either could move and invade the city while the other was just sending couriers, meaning that the tide of the war could be changed in an instant if one side made the first move. He knew that some of the warriors might see that as a disgraceful thing, since the Jarl had yet to pick a side, but he figured that Balgruuf's neutrality could only last for a specific amount of time before either or both sides got tired of his attitude and made their move. Even the others had no idea what the two factions were waiting for, even La'nari, who was used to living in Skyrim, was lost and confused by this reasoning, a fact that made them travel in silence for a time since no one had anything good to offer to that topic.

"You know, given Alduin's return, and the people know a Dragonborn is somewhere in Skyrim, maybe the Imperials and the Stormcloaks are waiting for me to make a decision." Sharva remarked, something that caused the group to think about her comment for a moment, because to Capper it made sense, the nords put a lot of focus on their traditions and, despite not carrying about the legends, even the Imperials had some respect for what the Stormcloaks believed in, even if they didn't want them to worship Talos, "If that's the case, we control the pacing of the war... and once I decide which side to join I'm sure the war will begin in earnest."

"It's a reasonable assumption... I suspect Ulfric, at the very least, is waiting for the Dragonborn to come to him, even though he'll be disappointed to learn that you're a khajiit." Capper stated, as Ulfric and most of the Stormcloaks were racists, that he and the others knew, so they would be thrown into either a panic or a murderous frenzy when they learned who their grand hero really was, before he glanced up at the sky for a moment, "At the very least Tullius didn't seem like he'd be annoyed by such a thing... in fact, if you talked to him, he might just be happy to have another soldier in the army. Honestly, I doubt think any of us are going to side with Ulfric, because he seems like the type to try and expel everyone who isn't a nord if he gained full control over the province... I guess it's something we can talk about in more detail at some point."

"Later. I don't care enough right now." Sharva said, though the look on her face suggested that she didn't care about Ulfric or his Stormcloaks either, making him and the others wonder what else she might have been through before they caught up with her again, as it seemed like something else might have happened before they found her after she killed her target.

Capper nodded as they continued down the main path and headed for Windhelm, since Midnight's second target was near the city based on what her contact inside the Sanctuary had told her, where they passed by the camps that the Seducer clan of bandits had been stationed in. There was nothing else for them to loot from those areas, as Capper had cleared them out in the past, either with his own hands or by the Collectors that he had sent out to scour the land for information, so La'nari followed the path as they found that the road was bringing them to the mill. What was interesting was that they passed by the figure that was camping by the river, the waterfall section anyway, and Midnight realized that he looked exactly like the description she had been given on her second target. It meant the figure had been paranoid and likely left his job to avoid being assassinated, though he didn't look very impressive from afar, though he hardly noticed the carriage coming and that was more than enough for Midnight to slip in, slit his throat, and collect his golden soul gem after the body hit the ground with a soft thud.

With the deed done the group continued down the road once more, though this time around La'nari focused on heading to Riften, since it happened to be the best route to take to reach Iverstead, which rested at the base of the Throat of the World, the mountain that High Hrothgar rested on. Capper also knew that this would allow him to visit the Thieves Guild, check in with Brynjolf and the others, maybe check out the tribute chest while he was at it, before they continued on their way to their final destination, for Midnight's contracts anyway. On the way to Riften they discovered a vampire standing over a pair of dead travelers, farmers by their outfits, likely fleeing an area that a dragon must have been in, but Rarity simply sprung up behind the vampire and drained the figure of all it's blood, sating her thirst once more, before looting the corpse and then set it on fire, as was her custom. Other than that there wasn't much else for them to do while on the road, though Sharva did focus on the dragon sounds while they traveled, keeping herself ready in case another one decided to attack them, purely to defend the carriage from an attack.

In the end it was nighttime when they reached Riften, to which Capper let the others use the Gate to head into the Golden City, to their residences, while he checked on the Guild for a time, just to see how they were doing, chat with them, and get his share of the spoils before returning to his realm.

There was a fair amount of gold and gems inside the tribute chest, his cut of the spoils from what the rest of the thieves did, and he pocketed the loot before he focused on tracking down the ones he wanted to check in with, as he wanted to check in with Brynjolf, Tonillia, and maybe Karliah. What he discovered was that Karliah, despite being accepted into the Guild, spent her nights in the hidden hall of the Nightingales, which was outside Riften, no doubt because it was her calling despite being a thief at heart as well. Brynjolf was up for having a chat with him, allowing Capper to learn about the new recruits that were joining the Guild, some passing and some perishing because they failed to pass the first night test Vex had come up with to be sure they were hiring skilled thieves and not novices. Of course this meant the ones who failed ended up dead, which caused Capper to decide to assign one of the kobolds to Riften, to collect the souls of the slain thieves for him, though after that he checked in with Tonillia, sold her a few of the items none of his group needed, and headed back to his realm.

Once morning was upon them he and the others had a light breakfast before departing from Riften, where Capper ensured that the group of kobolds, seven of them, knew what to do and even arranged for them to have ownership of Mercer's old place, since Maven was letting the Guild have the house for some reason.

Following that they headed out through the other gate, found an area to summon the carriage in, and were on their way in no time at all, allowing them to enjoy the early morning while traveling down the road, the only dangers being some bears and the occasional spider. One thing Capper noticed was the orc stronghold that happened to have a dead giant outside it, though this time it looked like the orcs had survived without being harmed, and based on their constant troubles Capper had a feeling that speaking to them might bring them into contact with Malacath. Instead of worrying about that, since he had enough to worry about with the Princes he was connected to or had connections to, he focused on the road and found that nothing happened, no thieves came after them, no assassins were laying in wait, and the few animals knew not to bother the group. With that in mind it took them no time at all to reach Iverstead, where it was clear that the guards were still getting up and there was a burned down house on the other side of the river, plus there was a burrow, an inn, a mill, and a couple of houses, but Midnight pointed out the beggar by the destroyed house.

Since that was her target the others crossed over to the other side of the river, crossing a stone bridge in the process, before Midnight found the beggar and mercifully ended his life before the guards even realized it had happened, allowing her to catch up with the others as Capper dismissed the carriage.

"It's time to climb the Seven Thousand Steps and see what the Greybeards want." Sharva said, as she knew that this was her time to shine, this was her event and she was grateful for the group bringing her to the mountain at long last, before she took a deep breath before taking the first step forward as everyone else followed after her.

The reason Capper sent the carriage away was because he knew the path wouldn't allow such a thing, even though he also knew that a single horse would be able to walk along the Steps with ease, but at the same time he was fine with this since it meant they could get some actual exercise in since most of them had been riding for a long time. Azure did spot some stone tablets off to the side of the path, which seemed to be written in what Sharva identified as the Dragon Language, which she could read thanks to her Dragonborn abilities, despite there being a translated version off to the side of each one for those who didn't know this language. In addition to that there were a few random critters for them to deal with, such as a couple of spiders, a few wolves, a pair of saber cats, and even an ice wraith, causing Sharva and Azure to slash through their foes, La'nari to put an arrow in hers, Rarity to freeze the ones coming at her, and Midnight stabbing hers in the back, all while the kobolds did their best to aid them as well. The only foe they weren't expecting was the frost troll that was higher up, when they had already expanded a decent amount of energy to reach that point, but Capper drew his blades and cut it down so his Collectors could collect the treasure it produced.

Following that they found their way to a nicely carved stone structure that was definitely made out of the mountain's stone, but seemed imposing and official, where Sharva steeled herself as she stepped inside, the others passing through the iron doors and found a number of carved statues that looked like dragons, to a degree, with four grey robed monks walking into the entry chamber.

"So... a Dragonborn appears, at this moment in the turning of the Age." one of the monks, the youngest based on what the rest of the group was seeing, said, while he and his order looked at the rest of the group for a moment, appearing to silently converse with each other without moving their lips much, before he turned back towards them, "And you have brought such interesting companions with you... but we must see if you truly are Dragonborn. Let us taste of your Voice!"

Capper knew the Greybeards were surprised by Sharva's appearance, her ashen fur, the crimson lines of daedric lettering all over her body, and her daedric swords, but for the most part they were willing to accept her and her companions, though in the following moment Sharva released a Fus that staggered the speaker for a couple of seconds.

"Dragonborn, it is you... Welcome to High Hrothgar, I am Master Arngeir, and I speak for the Greybeards." the monk said, to which he and his fellow monks noticed something almost immediately, Sharva seemed to become more nervous, maybe even submissive, at the mention of him being a 'master', "What is doing on? What is wrong, Dragonborn?"

"I... Capper, could you...?" Sharva inquired, which was something that Capper was expecting, Sharva wasn't fully free from being Dagon's slave, as she had spent so long being under his thumb that even being told that she was free didn't seem to break the chains that were still connected to her, so Arngeir's title was messing with her.

"Certainly." Capper replied, where he walked over to where the monks were standing while Rarity started to speak to Sharva, no doubt to ease her out of the barriers she had instantly thrown up after discovering this information, especially since she didn't react much to when the kobolds and the other Princes referred to Capper as their 'Lord', before he lowered his voice as he stopped in front of the Greybeards, "Sharva's... well, she's had a rough life, being enslaved by Dagon for almost her entire life, so to her the title 'Master' is the one that owns her and, given who actually owns her soul, she's learned a number of things, while also subconsciously becoming submissive when speaking to a 'Master'."

"I see. She needs to know the meaning of the word is different when dealing with us." Arngeir said, showing that he clearly understood the situation, even though he was also surprised that such a whipped warrior was the one chosen to be the Dragonborn, allowing Capper to stand to the side with the others as the monk faced Sharva once more, "Dragonborn, to us the word 'master' is more akin to 'teacher', as we are here to teach you how to wield your powers, not control your fate and make you bend the knee."

Sharva nodded as she tried to focus on the new version of the word, reminding Capper that they needed to find some way to break Dagon's hold on her, truly break it so she could fully live her life without fear of him dragging her back down, only for Arngeir to get started on the lesson he had in mind. Apparently the Greybeards had heard the first moment Sharva had Shouted, using the knowledge of the dragon she had slain to project her Voice into a Thu'um, or Shout, and that the word she knew, Fus, meant 'Force' in the Dragon Language, and when combined with 'Ro', or 'Balance', the Unrelenting Force Shout would become even stronger. One of the monks said something and the word appeared on the floor, allowing Sharva to absorb it just by looking at it, though they also granted her the knowledge on how to properly use this World of Power, to which she spent the next few moments going 'Fus... Ro' at spectral Greybeards that were her targets. This impressed her mentors, since this was the first time they were teaching someone with the Dragonblood in them, and that caused the monks to bring them outside, to a courtyard with a path leading to the top of the mountain, with an odd gate to the left and a lone tower near the windy path.

This was training to use an entirely new Shout, one called 'Whirlwind Sprint', and the first Word was 'Wuld', 'Whirlwind' as he told them, and, sure enough, she was able to learn the Word just by staring at what one of the Greybeards created on the ground, while the knowledge was granted to her by her mentors. Following that there was a demonstration for her, one of the Greybeards opened the gate and another one rushed off like he was spurned by the wind itself, passing through the iron gate before it closed, something that caused Arngeir to instruct Sharva. Of course she did look back at the group, who gave her smiles and nods of encouragement, before she stood next to her new mentor and took a deep breath to focus her mind, so when the gate opened she could unleash the power of her new Shout. Capper watched as she rushed through the gate before it closed on her, showing them that her abilities of the Dragonborn definitely allowed her to do much more than what the Greybeards had been expecting, as Arngeir looked like they had been planning to teach her for weeks, not minutes.

It made him curious about what Mora had said, that Sharva's fate was to save the world, and how Sharva knew it would be up to her to stop the war, though they waited for her to come back to where everyone else was standing, though it did look like Arngeir had something else to say.

"We have more to teach you, Dragonborn, but first we have a trial for you: retrieve the horn of Jurgen Windcaller, he who founded our order, from his tomb in the ancient fane of Ustengrav." Arngeir said, where he noted that Sharva was focusing on the mentor part of his title still, thus allowing her to focus on what this meant and not what she had been trained to do when she encountered someone with his title, meaning traveling with the group was good for her, "This is just a test of your skills, Dragonborn, and when you return we will teach you the final Word in Unrelenting Force."

Sharva nodded as she regrouped with Capper and the others, after discovering that Ustengrav was located near Morthal, giving them another tomb to clear out in the future, something that made them all curious as to what the future held in store for them and the rest of Skyrim.