Mori Pro Imperio: The Story of Pliton Calleius

“Awake my son.” I heard, “There is no need to fear.”

I opened my eyes, and saw a realm of light blues and whites. In front of me, stood a man with a long beard, and a large crown on his head. He had a large sword at his side, and was wearing the finest clothes.

“Where am I?” I asked, “Who are you?”

“You are on the border between Aetherius and Nirn.” The man said, “And I, am the father of your people, the warrior-king.”

“Talos?” I asked, immediately bowing my head. “Forgive me, I have failed you.”

“No,” he said, putting his hand on my shoulder. “You have served your purpose.”

“But what of my father?” I asked, looking up, “And Twilight, and Ernand?”

“They are all safe.” Talos nodded, “They have broken the Siege of Stros M’Kai. Without your sacrifice, they never would’ve defeated the Daedra. Come, there is a place in Aetherius for you beside me.”

He turned to walk away. I stood up, and exhaled.

“If you will it,” I said, “I will come.”

“I expected as much.” Talos said, “Your family is waiting for you.”

Those words brought an unlimited amount of happiness to me. I followed after Talos, until I could see where the border ended, and Aetherius began. I could see Sovngarde, the paradise for honored Nords, in the distance. Straight ahead of me was a huge city, larger than the Imperial City would ever be.

“Welcome,” Talos said, “To the City of Aetherius.”

My eyes widened at the scope of Aetherius. There were palaces to the Divines in the center, which towered over all buildings. All except for one immense castle, this in itself was as large as the Imperial City. The city was built around the Temples and Castle, in a nonagon pattern, which was no doubt because of the Nine Divines.

“There are Ten Districts of the City,” Talos said, “One for each Divine, and the Central District, where the Temples and Castle Aetherius lie. The city is ever expanding, as more and more pass into Aetherius. Elves, men and beastfolk all live in perfect harmony.

“There is also Sovngarde,” he continued, “Which Shor created for honored Nord dead. All other Nords pass on to Aetherius.”

To our side, horses materialized. Talos climbed onto one, and motioned for me to get onto the other one.

“Do you greet all who come here?” I asked as we started to canter towards the city.

“No,” Talos chuckled, “Only those who I have chosen as my Champion.”

“Why did you pick me?” I asked, “I don’t mean this in a hurtful way, but why me, if I was destined to die with the Daedra still walking Tamriel and Molag Bal King of the Daedra?”

“It was destined for you by birth.” Talos said, “It might not seem that it was, but I smiled upon you the day you were born, and knew you would grow to be my Champion.”

I was going to ask more, but he held up his hand, and said, “I know you have questions, but I have important matters to attend to. Since you are my Champion, you may accompany me.”

He giddied his horse, and it sped down towards the city. I followed, and found out the horses moved faster than anything on Tamriel. I followed after Talos, speeding through the streets of Aetherius.

The houses were large and exquisite. There were large patios, and all were at least two floors. The more honorable the person was, Talos said, the larger their estate in Aetherius. He also said that the more honorable dead lived closer to the Castle and Temples, while the less honorable lived closer to the gates.

We came up to the Castle, and Talos instructed me to come inside with him. We walked through halls, where the most honored dead were walking through the halls.

We then came into a room in the center, where there was a round table, and nine chairs surrounding it. The other Eight Divines were sitting and arguing. Akatosh, Mara, Stendarr, Kynareth, Julianos, Arkay, Dibella, and Zenithar were apparently waiting for Talos to sit down.

There were various people around each of the Divines, which Talos said were their Champions throughout the ages.

“Talos,” Akatosh said, “It’s nice you decided to join us.”

Akatosh chose to appear as a human, with short blonde hair, and facial hair. He was tall, and was wearing the finest clothes in red with a long flowing cape behind him. He had piercing red eyes, and he had the largest crown out of anyone there. He also had his own set of the Amulet of Kings, and I saw none other than Martin Septim at his side.

“Akatosh,” Talos greeted, “I needed to welcome my Champion properly.”

“Ah yes,” Akatosh replied, “This is your first Champion? An Imperial too, if I do say so myself.”

“Lord Akatosh,” I said, kneeling down, “It is my honor to meet, let alone speak to you.”

“Calm, my child.” Akatosh said, “You are a Champion of the Divine, as close as one can get to divinity. Now, what can you tell us about the Daedra?”

“So much, my lord,” I said, “Molag Bal has merged the Planes of Oblivion with his, and has declared himself King of the Daedra, and solidified his position by killing Mehrunes Dagon.”

“He killed Mehrunes Dagon?” Arkay asked, “This is not good at all. If a Daedric Prince dies, his Plane of Oblivion and forces are taken by the victor.”

“It gets worse,” I said, “Boethiah and Hircine and most of the other Daedric Princes have declared loyalty to Molag Bal. Boethiah and Hircine have even sent forces into Tamriel, and Hircine has unleashed the Hunt.”

“We never should have let this go too far.” Stendarr said, “I have always been one to plead for us to send an army to help the mortals. If they fall to the Daedra, our power will be severely weakened, and that would give Molag Bal a chance to sack Aetherius!”

“Calm yourself, Stendarr.” Julianos said, “Sending an army would leave us even more vulnerable to attack.”

“But we have an unlimited supply of Magika while we still have our powers.” Stendarr replied, “We can fight off a Daedric attack now, but if our power is weakened, there is little chance we can win.”

“Let us be reasonable!” Mara said, “There should be no reason to send an army to die before we see if Molag Bal will topple. There is a chance that can happen.”

“I stand behind Stendarr,” Talos said, “As Divines, we should not bide our time while our patrons and worshippers die by the thousands every day. Akatosh, you should know this, you fought Mehrunes Dagon the first time this happened!”

“Let there be silence!” Akatosh shouted, slamming his fist onto the table. Everyone was silenced at this, and Akatosh looked at everyone in the room.

“I know that there is great division between us on the subject.” Akatosh said, “But I have seen what will happen if we bide our time here in Aetherius. Molag Bal ultimately conquers both Tamriel and Equestria, and invades and conquers Aetherius, and makes us his eternal prisoners in Oblivion.”

Mara and Julianos looked to each other, and Mara stood, and said, “Akatosh, we know now that waiting forever would be disastrous. But Julianos and I are just saying sending an army now would be reckless, especially if Boethiah and Hircine decide to wage war against Molag Bal.”

“Mara is right, Lord Akatosh.” I said, “Boethiah herself told me that she will not side with Molag Bal forever. She will probably wait until Tamriel is conquered, and he is stretching his forces thin in Equestria and Aetherius, and then she and Hircine agreed that they would fight and kill him in Oblivion. Then would be the perfect time to capitalize and fight both sides while they are weakening each other.”

“Finally,” Julianos said, “Talos decides to smile upon someone with a lick of sense!”

Akatosh then sat, with his fists holding up his chin. His red eyes were deep in thought while the other Divines bickered around him. Zenithar and Kynareth stayed silent as well, I guess they really could go either way on this issue.

“I have come to a decision,” Akatosh said. Everyone fell silent as he spoke, “We will send an army to Tamriel, led by Talos, the Hero of Kvatch, Martin Septim and the Champion of Talos. But we will not send it now, we will wait until the Battle of Stros M’Kai is over, that will be the deciding battle in this war. Once there is a victor, we will mobilize. I call this meeting adjourned.”

Everyone got up, and dispersed. Talos let me mingle with the other Champions, and left. I gravitated towards Martin Septim, and he turned to acknowledge me.

“Hello there,” he said, smiling, “I guess you know who I am.”

“Yes, my Emperor.” I said, “I am…”

“The First Champion of Talos,” he said. “You have been quite the talk of us Champions, especially between the Hero of Kvatch and myself.”

“He is here?” I asked, “The Hero of Kvatch?”

“Yes,” he said, “He is the Champion of Julianos, due to his natural aptitude of magic. As you can imagine, Akatosh chose me to be his most recent Champion. You are the first to be chosen as a Champion since the First Oblivion Crisis, there is a lot of pride in that.”

“Thank you,” I said. “So, what usually happens here in Aetherius?”

“Us Champions usually reside here in the Castle,” Martin explained, “Eat well, and attend daily meetings of the Divines. It gets a tad boring at times.”

“Thank you, Martin Septim.” I said. I left his company, intrigued to find the Hero of Kvatch. I found him conversing with other Champions. He saw me, and walked over to me.

“So you must be the Champion of Talos.” He said, “I reckon you know who I am?”

“Yes,” I said, “Hero of Kvatch, Seventh Champion of Cyrodiil, Knight Brother of the Blades, and now Champion of Julianos.”

“That I am.” He said, pushing his long black hair from his brown eyes. “So you are Imperial, like Martin and I? That is good; it would have been very awkward if Talos chose an elf.”

“That it would,” I said.

“So,” he said, “Did you witness Molag Bal crowning himself King of the Daedra?”

“Yes,” I said, “He used my blood to merge the Planes of Oblivion and to make him the most powerful Daedra to kill Mehrunes Dagon.”

“This is very bad,” he said, putting his hand to his chin, pondering what I said. “Yes, very bad. So, how did you die?”

“I fell by the hand of a Daedra in the breaking of the Siege of Stros M’Kai.” I told him.

“Dying by the blade,” the Hero of Kvatch said, “I wish I had died that way, and not by Brain Rot. I died miserably, but Julianos smiled upon me the day I died.”

We conversed small talk, nothing too important, and we parted ways. I walked out of the Castle, and wandered the city. I found there was an Arena, where the Champions battled against each other. Although they were never killed, the fighting was still entertaining.

I walked past the Arena, and sat down in a garden. I looked to the stars, and found the constellations of the Warrior, Mage and Thief in the sky. I looked to them for hours, but when I got up, I immediately went to my knees.

“What’s happening to me?” I said through gasps of pain. Aetherius was fading away from me, and I couldn’t do anything about it.

I closed my eyes, and fell back.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a dungeon, with Twilight standing over me.

“Pliton!” She said, hugging me, “You’re alive!”

“Everything seems to be in order.” I turned, and saw someone standing on the other side of me, with a dog by his side.

“Thank you for lending me your magical powers. He will live now. I have to leave now, I have important matters to attend to.”

He faded away, and I turned to Twilight.

“Who was he?” I asked her, “What did you do?”

“I’m sorry,” she said, tears running down her face, “I just couldn’t stand being here without you. I prayed for something to help, and he came. He called himself Clavicus Vile, he said he knew you.”

“Clavicus Vile?” I asked, “Twilight, he is the Daedric Prince of Wishes and Bargains! What did you give him in return for me?”

“He asked me to lend him my magic.” She said, “He said he would give it back to me.”

I looked aghast to her, but she said, “He gave it back to me. Watch, I’m going to…”

She stopped in her tracks. Her eyes grew wide, and she stuttered, saying, “I-I-I c-c-can’t use m-m-magic.”

She looked to me, and mouthed out “I’m sorry” before running out of the room.

Ok, what Twilight did was she gave Clavicus Vile, the Daedric Prince of Bargains, her magic so that he could bring Pliton back from the dead. But Clavicus Vile disappeared before he gave back Twilight’s magic, so she can’t use any magic. Also, the Hero of Kvatch in this is Imperial; I’m going with the default model here. I elaborated with the Dragonborn, but he’s still a Nord. I’m sticking with the default race so as not to show any bias to any race. That might seem far-fetched, because most of the characters in this are Imperial, but as the war progresses, I will bring in more Nords, Bretons, Dunmer, Altmer, Bosmer, etc. etc. Next chapter: How will Twilight cope without her magic, and was her barter with Clavicus Vile worth it? Find out in the next chapter for Mori Pro Imperio: The Story of Pliton Calleius!