E'ermore; Tombs of Unrest, The Awakening.

• Posted by Lucid June 5, 2015 - 1,003 views

  Forelhost Ruins

  The air was stale, thick with a cool dampness. There was no natural light that could penetrate the thick chamber walls but there was nothing that could keep these particular magics out. The braziers lit with a flourish of flame and a rush of light swept through the dark stone croft. A dull blue life crept across the floor spreading out like a fog as its tendrils seeped into the tombs of the lifeless. Their eyes - a glowing blue - opened once again and the seals were broken on the stone caskets as the sculpted covers each fell away to the floor with a bang. Strings of matted hair pasted to the boney pallid grey flesh of their long faces scarred by time. The Draugr emerged from their tombs clad in the ancient armor of the Nords. Primitive weapons hung from their hips in tattered leather scabbard.

  The undead tread upon the icy stone floors through the halls of the cryptic ruins again for the first time since the defeat of their Dragon Priests Masters in the Merethic Era. They filed awkwardly through the passages delving deeper and deeper until they came to the Holy Chamber of Rituals where their dead master rest and his High-Acolytes were entombed. The High-Acolytes, known as the Lords of Death had already emerged from their slumber and had pried open the seal that held the decorated stone tablet in place on Priest Rahgot's Tomb. As the Lesser-Acolytes filled the chamber, they were sent throughout the croft on errands to find specific supplies by the four Deathlords for the coming Ritual of Awakening.

  Taking their orders in an old and ancient tongue, the Lesser's understood their tasks. Others who were given no errand were charged with patrolling the sacred ruins and protecting their master while awaiting his return to power. As the Draugr returned one by one bearing the objects they had been tasked with finding, the long stone table adjacent to the tomb was prepared. Upon it, a collection of golden urns bearing salted water and sacrificial blood, a wrapped up leather case filled with assorted embalming tools, a stone mortar and pistol of an alchemist, a myriad of moss and fungus, Rahgot's own Dragon Ritual Blade, five black candles, a silver tray containing five silver bowls and one Shrine of Akatosh. With their errands complete, each in turn was dismissed to join the patrol with his brothers. The Awakening Ritual was about to commence.

  Priest Rahgot's body was picked up from his tomb by the four High-Acolytes and placed upon the Alter across from his resting place; his skeletal-like hands and feet were bound to the carved horns located at each of the four corners of the Alter. Black wax candles were placed unlit near the hands, the feet and between the knees of his Holiness. One of the High-Acolytes placed the Shrine of Akatosh above the Dragon Priests head, upon it was an amulet depicting the symbol to the likeness of the Divine; he removed the effigy and hung it around his own neck. Another of the High-Acolytes picked up a small blade with an extreme curve and a lengthy handle and began to cut just under the rib that would have concealed his master's heart. The First of the High-Acolytes retrieved a flat looking scissor and used it to hold open the incision while the Second replaced the small curved blade and grabbed a short saw from the leather case of tools. The two Lord of Death worked carefully to remove the rib, communicating with dry raspy voices in the ancient tongue while sawing at it with the stunted shallow-toothed blade. They pried the rib up, exposing the chest cavity and handed the bone to their third undead brother who placed it in a shallow silver tray filled with the salt water solution. As the second Deathlord continued to make room within his master's chest cavity the third cleaned the rib and broke it open and retrieved a scraping tool from the same unbound leather case on the stone table and dug out the marrow from within, emptying the contents into the alchemist's mortar. Stone tools in hand he worked the dark marrow into a thin palpable paste. The fourth of the High-Acolytes had been preparing the five silver bowls at the furthest end of the long stone table, each bowl elevated upon its own filigreed base. In one he poured the blood contained within the golden burial urn that a Lesser-Acolyte had managed to collect from a giant frostbite spider lurking one of the chambers off of the crypts corridors. In the others he placed a bed of shredded hanging moss; a mixture of crushed and dried namira's rot and blackened blisterwort pouring over the contents with a bath of salt water. Retrieving from a second golden urn containing the salted water, the third Lord of Death added the pasteurized marrow to the silver bowl containing the spiders blood and mixed the two contents together with the tip of the sterilized ritual knife of the dead Dragon Priest. Once the mixture was combined thoroughly he made shallow cuts on the inside of the his master's ankles, wrists and upwards along the sides of his neck being cautious not to damage the dead priests throat. While he took care of creating the wounds he directed another to place the four silver bowls of incense atop of the four corner candles and the fifth with the blood mixture over the candle between Rahgot's knees. The High-Acolyte wearing the Amulet of Akatosh retrieved a bundle from the table, handling it with great care as he removed the package from its linen wrap and placed it within the chest cavity. Rahgot's soul, contained within a pulsing purple-black soul gem. The five black candles upon the Alter were now lit, their flames throwing of a green hue. The Lords of Death took their places on each side of the Stone Alter surrounding the body of their dead master. Bound to each other hand-to-wrist they chanted in prayer to Akatosh with their faces turned skyward, their voices a harsh rasp accentuated by the coarseness of the old tongue. Evil circled throughout the chamber. One could feel it in the air.

  "Bormah, Rah do Rah, hon un rot ol mu laan fah daal do un in, hin aar, Rahgot, wah kos drun amativ einzuk kotin daar lein ful rok uld aam ont zuk. Alun ko ul faal Dovah avok faal Zaag do Jul, inaak naal suleyk wah drun pah muz tum us hi, Dovah do Dovah ahrk Rah do Rah. Bormah, hon mii ahrk daal wah mii un in fah eternety los vozah ahrk suleyksejun do muz lost naram kaarn. Faal World-Eater lost daal."

  ("Akatosh, God of Gods, hear our words as we ask for the return of our master, your servant, Rahgot, to be brought forth again into this world so he might serve once more. Ever in eternity the Dovah over the Cult of Man, lead by power to bring all men down before you, Dovah of Dovah and God of Gods. Akatosh, hear us and return to us our master for eternity is infinite and the realm of men have grown unruly. The World-Eater has returned.")

  The Lords of Death broke their circle over the Alter as the prayer finished. The salt water began to steam bringing the scent of the incense alive. Upon each of them a large glow mushroom was placed. The blood mixture began to churn as it slowly boiled in its silver bowl. The black soul gem began to pulse faster as it became a more vibrant purple.

  "Nii los tiid." ("It is time.") One High-Acolyte spoke aloud to the others, his voice a mere scratch.

  He picked up the silver bowl containing the boiling blood. The amulet around his neck swaying from his chest as he reached and spilled it first over the ankles in front of where he stood at the foot of the Alter; he rounded the ceremonial table and continued to pour the blood-mix over the cuts in each of the wrists; next the blood was spilled across the wounds in their masters neck; and lastly the remnants of the silver bowl's contents was emptied over the soul gem buried next to the dried up heart within Rahgot's chest. The Ritual of Awakening was complete and the amulet that rested upon the High-Acolyte's chest was placed around the Dragon Priests neck allowing him to rule himself as both servant and master. All that the High-Acolytes could do now was wait for the incense to draw the soul from the gem so it might reenter the body.

  As time passed, the glow mushrooms began to fade. The gem within Rahgot's chest grew brighter. The heart next to it, less shriveled as the blood seeped its way back into the body. Around the Alter, spectre's of blue light began to appear but did not take any particular form. Just one at first, and then two, but now there were dozens. As the mushrooms faded and the crystal within the Dragon Priest's chest grew brighter, the spectre's took on their forms. The spirits of the Dragon Priest Cultists had returned. They stood vigil over their master as he regained his strength. The pulsing soul gem screamed in a high pitch shriek before it burst and shattered into millions of shards, a beam of red light burst forth from Rahgot's chest and shot high into the sky rupturing a hole in the stone roof above him as the impact shook the ruins and the eruption of stone rained down around the ancient ruins of Forelhost.