Chapter 606 - Gearing Up
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Transporting a gargantuan mammoth was not an easy task to anyone unless that one was Jon. He can just store it in the Cube and take it out somewhere else without a single shred of inconvenience.
Dropping this dead mammoth in Whiterun, however, caused an uproar so huge that it got the Jarl himself down from the palace to watch the insane hunt that is worthy of a champion. Jon made himself invisible while Wulfur was the one to cash out the dead mammoth at the Drunken Huntsman backyard which could barely fit the beast.
Before he leaves, Wulfur claimed the six tusks of the mammoth, which were unrealistically durable, and a large portion of its hide for crafting purposes before heading to Skyforge and readying himself for a big request.
"What are you thinking of?" Jon asked Wulfur.
"Lots of Cold Ebony alloy." Wulfur said.
"That would be ruthless to anyone getting punched by that." Jon replied.
"Heh! This time, you are the one lacking in imagination." Wulfur laughed, "I was just starting with the inner layer."
"Sigh! My poor arms." Jon lamented the fact that his arms will be carrying something made by a wild Wulfur in a creative mood.
"The mechanism shall be strong enough to deliver an insane amount of force at whatever it is pointed at."
"Mechanism?" Jon asked with a puzzled face, "I asked for Bracers or Gauntlets."
"Yes, yes, just let me think." Wulfur hushed Jon, "After that, we are going to put the armaments on three angles at 120 degrees from each other to ensure balance and penetration."
"Penetration?" (Jon)
"Indeed. The problem is that the thrusting process isn't going to be easy." (Wulfur)
"Thrusting?" (Jon)
"Naturally. A threeway is the best." (Wulfur)
"I know but… can we talk about the thing I…" (Jon)
"One at the top, two at the bottom. That's a good shape right?" (Wulfur)
"… No." (Jon)
"Well, we need balance. Two at the top may be hard for you to control." (Wulfur)
"I assure you, I am the one who's always on the top of it." (Jon)
"No worries then, as long as you're confident. But I must warn you, you'll need a lot of Stamina for this one." (Wulfur)
"What the fuck are you talking about bro?" Jon finally had enough with that conversation.
"The mechanism bro." Wulfur replied as if it is the most obvious thing.
"You know what, I am not going to ask anymore." Jon backed away.
"I'll keep it a surprise then." Wulfur waved to Jon who walked away, "I know you like it tight."
"…" Jon rolled his eyes, stopped his pace with a tied face, and turned to Wulfur, "That is?"
"The straps." Wulfur pointed to the straps of his own bracers.
"Sure. Whatever!"
***
Long ago, Jon managed to recover a mysterious armor that fit the description of a famous legendary armor. An armor so important to humankind on Nirn that Alina had to store it in her personal vault just for safekeeping and researching.
The Lord's Mail was found by Jon and his friend when they were playing around Whiterun during a battle between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials over fort Greymoore when the giants got involved and Jon joined their side against the two armies all while drunk. While the matter caused Alina to lose her cool for three days straight (especially when Jon told her that he went to the Daedric Realm of Sanguine afterward), the Armor was a good compensation to elevate her mood.
As one of the daughters of Kyne, getting her hand on an armor blessed by Kyne herself was a big deal. The problem, however, was the fact that the armor in its current state was cursed.
It was also interesting how the armor was cursed. Aside from the function of that curse, its reason probably revolves around who is worthy and who is unworthy to wear the Lord's Mail. That much was decided after Alina had a meeting with the people from the Guardians of the Grove.
As for the function of the curse, it was interesting to say the least. The curse would cause the body to accumulate fatigue without gaining any benefit from resting. For example, if one becomes tired while wearing the armor, they continue being tired no matter how much they rest.
This doesn't just stop here. Alina also confirmed that it is impossible to heal someone who is wearing this armor as well as regaining their Magicka.
In other words, the Cursed Lord's Mail causes its wearer's Health, Stamina, and Magicka to stop regenerating. A powerful curse indeed and when it was put to human trial, the effect was extremely lethal.
Imagine for an instance not being able to recover from getting tired or wounds or mental fatigue. This level of curses escalates from a living agony all the way to a dreadful ending very quickly.
Despite that, the signs were evident and clear. This sacred item of Kynareth has been put out of use for too long and it demands a suitable champion. It wants to choose its new master.
It was within a heartbeat that the Cult of Kyne immediately associated the appearance of the Lord's Mail and the Emergence of the Dragonborn to be linked events and right away, they entrusted Alina to purify the Armor's Curse and deliver it to the Dragonborn.
This led Alina to take a drastic decision. While Jon needs the Armor in order to battle the hidden Dwarven Colossus down in Blackreach, she had to invoke a great power from the Goddess of the Sky in order to repower the Armor once again. Sadly, the Cult of Kyne didn't possess such power at the moment.
In order to do so, Alina had to commune with Kynareth instead of Kyne. While the Goddess is one and the same, Kyne represents the raging power of storms and beasts while Kynareth represents the gentle power of healing and protection. As most of the people follow Kynareth rather than Kyne, it is clear which side is easier to invoke power from even though it is something Alina wouldn't like doing.
And so, she took the Armor and a number of her followers as well as all the people associated with House Dare and traveled to Solitude through teleportation.
While she chose to teleport far from the eyes of people outside the city, the sudden appearance of the envoys from Winterhold was a shocking event to the garrison of Solitude since Winterhold itself was on the side of the Stormcloaks. However, the red and black Dare Banner was something so great that the entire city was put on alert.
As soon as Alina, Jullanar, Isha, Miranda, Mirren, and at least 100 men from Winterhold's Sergeants appeared in non-militant clothing carrying some sort of a palanquin carrying the Ebony Armor bearing the Red Diamond, the Crest of the First Empire.
The Lord's Mail was something very easy to recognize in Solitude since it was paraded through the town the first time it arrived and by seeing such a sacred item being transported by the Easterners, confusion spread through the city even before Alina took her first step inside.
Jarl Elisif the Fair immediately started moving from the Blue Palace along with the Steward Falk Firebeard and Thane Bryling all heading out to personally see why Alina Moonblade of House Dare is asking for an entry to Solitude and the Temple of the Eight.
Meanwhile, Castle Dour was buzzing as if it was hit by a catapult early in the morning and both General Tullius and Legate Rikki were walking down the castle as Elisif was passing by on her horse.
The moment Elisif and Tullius saw each other, Elisif tensed up all of a sudden and felt every urge to retreat yet her fear of the Imperials was greater and it immediately made her hasten her ride towards the city gate.
Tullius expected to see Elisif but the fact that she raced him ahead to the gate made it evident that she is wary of his attitude. She is the Jarl of Solitude and eventually the soon-to-be High Queen of Skyrim selected by the Imperial Authority but right now, he is the Imperial Authority. No matter how much Elisif tries to struggle her way out of Imperial control, she is all the way in his hand even if she acquires the friendship of House Dare.
"But for those crazy Dare people to bring back the Lord's Mail?" General Tullius was somewhat at loss for words in this situation.
He was the one who purposefully threw the Lord's Mail in an old Nordic crypt and paid out a mercenary to use this cursed armor and attract people. His idea was to eventually lure the Dragonborn into acquiring this armor since the Lord's Mail will be seeking a worthy champion and through that, he will make relationships with the Dragonborn who will seek help from the Empire in order to dispel the curse off the Armor.
Of course there was a probability of this armor falling into the wrong hands but whatever the wrong hands may be, it has been 200 years since the armor was put to use by an actual champion that was deemed "worthy".
According to the Imperial Tacticians and the Cult of Ancestor Moth, the armor will only co-respond to someone like the Dragonborn. There were fears that Jon Dare would be deemed fit by the Armor but in any case, this is something only Kynareth has the last say in.
But what everyone seemed to forget is that Alina Moonblade is called the Child of Kyne. While not recognized by the Empire or the Cult of the Eight Divines, this is a Nord tradition that has ancient roots and the relationship between the Gods and Mortals can take odd special turns. After all, there is a war waged over a similar reason.
But the appearance of Alina in Solitude with the Lord's Mail wasn't by any means a peaceful visit. This is the Cult of Kyne officially barging into the territory of the Imperial Cult, an unexpected turn of events that will definitely leave an impact.
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