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(A/N: Don't forget to give those power stones to Skyrim everyone!)
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The light snapped back into place. Aerion and Lupin reappeared, looking entirely unbothered and perfectly immaculate. Aerion smoothed the front of his dark robes, stepped out of the blind spot, and walked confidently through the towering gates of Whiterun, joining the flow of traffic heading down the winding, cobblestone path toward the stables.
The walk down the winding, cobblestone path from the massive gates of Whiterun to the bustling city stables was significantly more relaxing when Aerion wasn't actively plotting the psychological manipulation of a reigning monarch.
The morning air was crisp and clear, completely devoid of the suffocating political tension of Dragonsreach. The distant sound of the city's aqueducts faded, replaced by the earthy smells of hay, leather, and horses.
As Aerion and Lupin approached the low wooden fences of the stable yard, he immediately spotted Jenassa.
The Dark Elf assassin was already mounted atop her sturdy bay horse, fully armored, her new, glowing blue Steel Sword of Frost resting securely against her hip. She sat with perfect, relaxed posture, her crimson eyes scanning the perimeter with perpetual vigilance.
Standing patiently beside her horse, chewing lazily on a mouthful of fresh hay, was Revan.
The massive black destrier's ears perked up the moment he heard Aerion's boots crunching on the gravel. Revan turned his massive head, letting out a series of excited, vibrating snorts. He stomped his heavy iron shod hooves against the dirt, tossing his mane and pulling slightly against the reins Jenassa was holding to greet his master.
Aerion smiled, reaching out to firmly pat the warhorse's thick, muscular neck. "Good to see you too, my friend. I trust Skulvar treated you well last night?"
Revan huffed, nudging Aerion's chest with a velvety snout.
Jenassa looked down from her saddle, offering a crisp, professional nod. "Patron. Is whatever business you were conducting inside the city walls concluded?"
"It is, Jenassa," Aerion nodded, picking up Lupin. The fox offered absolutely no resistance as Aerion gently stuffed him into the fur lined, magically expanded leather saddlebag hanging off Revan's flank.
Aerion swung his long leg over the saddle, dropping smoothly onto Revan's back. He grabbed the reins, expertly guiding the massive warhorse out of the stable yard, turning left onto the main cobblestone road that headed east.
"So, where do we go to acquire this capital, Patron?" Jenassa asked, spurring her horse into a steady trot to pull up alongside him. "Are we hunting a specific bounty from the Steward's board, or simply looking for trouble on the roads?"
Aerion didn't answer immediately. He closed his eyes for a fraction of a second, mentally accessing his comprehensive system map. The topography of Skyrim unfurled in his mind's eye, littered with hundreds of undiscovered icons.
He didn't just want a few stray septims from a random bandit camp. He needed a massive, highly valuable haul. Furthermore, he needed to start setting the pieces on the board for his next major political maneuver. He fully intended to join the Imperial Legion in Solitude eventually, but he had absolutely no desire to be treated like a standard, expendable foot soldier.
In the game, the Dragonborn enjoyed a massive amount of autonomy within the military ranks. Aerion needed to replicate that freedom. He needed to present General Tullius with an artifact so incredibly valuable, so politically devastating, that Tullius would have no choice but to grant him special status and direct reporting privileges.
His mental gaze drifted north of Whiterun, sweeping over the snowy mountain ranges of the Pale, until it locked onto a specific, ancient ruin icon.
'Korvanjund,' Aerion thought, a sharp, calculating smile touching his lips.
It was the ancient resting place of High King Borgas. More importantly, it was the hidden location of the Jagged Crown, the legendary, mythical symbol of absolute high kingship in Skyrim. The civil war factions would eventually tear each other apart searching for it.
If Aerion acquired it first, he would hold the ultimate political leverage over the entire province. Furthermore, the ruin contained the Ebony Dragon Claw, which would undoubtedly unlock a highly lucrative treasure vault.
"We are not hunting a mere bounty, Jenassa," Aerion finally answered, opening his eyes. "We are heading to the ancient Nordic crypts of Korvanjund. It is a massive place of royal burial. I have it on excellent authority that there is a wealth of forgotten treasure and highly potent artifacts buried in those ruins."
Jenassa raised a scarred eyebrow. "Korvanjund. I have heard rumors of the ruin, mostly from drunken tomb robbers who never had the courage to actually seek it out. I do not know its exact location in the mountains."
"Do not worry. I know exactly where it is," Aerion assured her, giving Revan's reins a sharp flick.
The black warhorse surged forward, transitioning from a trot into a powerful, ground eating gallop. Jenassa immediately urged her mount to match his pace, following closely behind the towering High Elf.
They thundered east down the main road, the cobblestones quickly giving way to packed dirt and gravel. They blew past the massive wooden vats of the Honningbrew Meadery, the smell of fermenting honey thick in the air, before taking a hard left turn at the primary crossroads.
They rode north for an hour, the golden, rolling plains of Whiterun slowly beginning to rise into steeper, rockier terrain. They passed the sprawling wheat fields of Loreius Farm, keeping a steady, relentless pace.
Just past the farm, the environment shifted dramatically. The green grass faded, replaced by patches of white frost and eventually thick, packed snow as the road began to climb into the foothills of the Pale.
"Hold on," Aerion called out over the rushing wind.
He pulled hard on the reins, guiding Revan off the main, somewhat established path and making a sharp, aggressive right turn directly into the treacherous, snowy hills. They essentially executed a massive 'U-turn' in terms of overarching geography, climbing high into an isolated, bitterly cold mountain pass that seemed to lead absolutely nowhere.
The snow was thick here, dragging at the horses' hooves. The wind howled through the narrow, jagged rock formations.
Jenassa pulled her fur cloak tighter around her shoulders, peering through the blinding white landscape. "Are you absolutely certain this is the correct direction, Patron? There are no markers here. We are riding blind into a blizzard."
Aerion didn't even consult his map. He knew the layout perfectly. "Trust me, Jenassa. We are extremely close."
Just a few minutes later, the howling wind broke, and the narrow mountain pass suddenly opened up into a massive, hidden valley of ancient, crumbling stone.
It was Korvanjund.
The exterior of the ruin was monumental. Sweeping stone arches, half-buried in centuries of snow, framed a massive, multi-tiered excavation site. The actual entrance to the crypt was located deep below ground level, accessible only via a series of wide, treacherous stone steps that descended into the earth.
However, the ancient temple was not abandoned.
Thick pillars of black smoke rose from several crude campfires scattered around the upper perimeter. Crude wooden barricades had been erected between the ancient stone pillars. And patrolling the upper ridge, heavily armed and wrapped in thick furs, were at least a half dozen ruthless bandits. They had clearly claimed the exterior of the ruin as a fortified staging ground.
Aerion immediately pulled Revan to a halt behind a thick outcropping of frost covered pine trees, completely out of the bandits' line of sight. Jenassa smoothly stopped beside him.
They both dismounted silently.
Aerion stepped in front of Revan and Jenassa's horse. He looked the two animals directly in the eyes, tapping into a subtle thread of his Animal Affinity.
"Find a place out of the wind. Keep yourselves warm, and stay completely out of sight," Aerion commanded softly. "When I whistle, you come to the entrance to pick us up. Not before."
Both horses offered a low, intelligent rumble of agreement. Without needing to be tied, they turned and trotted obediently back down the snowy path, seeking shelter in the thick pine forests away from the ruin.
As they left, Lupin scrambled out of the saddlebag, dropping lightly into the soft, deep snow. The fox shook his coat, entirely unfazed by the freezing temperatures, and quickly padded over to stand loyally at Aerion's boots.
Aerion gestured for Jenassa to follow. They crouched low, utilizing the natural cover of the heavy snowdrifts and the thick bushes to creep toward the edge of the excavation site.
They reached a vantage point overlooking the upper ridge. They had a clear, unobstructed view of four bandits currently warming their hands by a fire, and two more patrolling near the top of the stone steps that led down into the crypt.
Aerion turned his head, his golden eyes locking onto the Dark Elf assassin.
"Can you shoot those patrols down before they have the chance to raise an alarm?" Aerion whispered, his tone entirely clinical.
Jenassa unslung her heavy hunting bow from her shoulder. She knocked an iron arrow to the string, a cold, vicious, highly professional smirk crossing her scarred face.
"Of course I can, Patron," Jenassa replied, her voice a deadly purr. "They are standing still in the open. It is barely sport."
"Excellent," Aerion nodded. He raised both of his hands, his Magicka instantly surging to life beneath his skin. "I will provide the heavy artillery. The moment I give the signal, drop the archers. I will obliterate the melee fighters with Frost and Lightning."
He took a slow, deep breath, visualizing the complex, highly volatile geometric matrices in his mind. In his left hand, the ambient temperature plummeted violently as he wove the dense, swirling magic of an Ice Storm. In his right hand, the air crackled and popped with the raw, untamed fury of Lightning Bolts.
"Execute," Aerion commanded.
Jenassa moved with terrifying, blinding speed. She rose into a half crouch, drawing the bowstring back to her ear and releasing in a single, fluid motion. THWIP. Before the first arrow even hit its mark, she had already knocked a second and fired. THWIP.
THUD. THUD.
Two heavy, wet impacts echoed across the snow. The two bandits patrolling the steps didn't even have time to scream. One took an iron broadhead directly through the eye, snapping his head back violently. The other took an arrow straight through the throat, collapsing instantly in a spray of crimson.
The remaining four bandits around the campfire jumped in sheer, panicked terror. They scrambled for their weapons, shouting in confusion, trying to locate the source of the lethal, silent strikes.
They didn't get the chance to look for long.
Aerion stepped out from behind the brush, his towering figure silhouetted against the snow. He thrust both of his hands forward simultaneously.
From his left palm, a massive, roaring, horizontal tornado of jagged ice and freezing wind erupted, tearing across the upper ridge. It slammed into the campfire, instantly extinguishing the flames and engulfing two of the bandits in a lethal vortex of absolute zero.
Simultaneously, from his right palm, three rapid, blindingly bright arcs of jagged lightning tore through the air. The crack of thunder was deafening. The lightning struck the remaining two bandits with overwhelming voltage, throwing them violently backward like ragdolls, their armor smoking.
"We're under attack! Mages! On the upper ridge!" a rough voice screamed from below.
The explosions and the thunder had alerted the rest of the camp. From the deep, excavated pit at the bottom of the stone steps, a second wave of significantly heavier, better equipped bandits surged upward. These were the veterans, clad in heavy iron armor, wielding massive battleaxes, accompanied by a pair of hedge mages crackling with low-level fire magic.
Aerion did not retreat. He advanced.
"Keep firing, Jenassa! Do not let them crest the stairs!" Aerion ordered, stepping to the very edge of the ridge.
He unleashed a relentless, devastating barrage. He didn't just cast once and wait for Magicka to regenerate; his massive, impossibly deep 500 point Magicka pool allowed him to operate like a magical Gatling gun.
He rained continuous, staggered blasts of Ice Storms and Lightning Bolts down the narrow stone stairwell. The heavy, armored bandits rushing up the steps were caught in an absolute meat grinder. The ice slowed their advance to a crawl, shattering their stamina, while the sustained lightning strikes bypassed their armor entirely, frying their nervous systems.
Jenassa, standing beside him, operated with mechanical, lethal precision. She fired arrow after arrow down into the pit, targeting the gaps in their iron helmets or pinning their unarmored legs to the stone steps.
The bandits took catastrophic losses in a matter of seconds. Realizing they were charging directly into a kill zone, the survivors broke.
"Fall back! Into the ruins! Fall back!" the bandit leader roared, abandoning the charge and retreating frantically back down the steps to the flat ground in front of the locked temple gates.
Aerion ceased his elemental barrage, allowing the smoke and freezing mist to clear slightly.
"They are regrouping below," Aerion noted, his Magicka pathways humming with power. He raised his hands, shifting his focus to the dark, purple aura of Oblivion. "Let us give them something else to focus on."
He channeled a massive surge of power, visualizing the freezing, brutal depths of the Daedric realms. Two large, swirling portals tore open in the air at the top of the stone stairs.
With a deafening sound of grinding glaciers, two massive Frost Atronachs stepped into the mortal plane. They were hulking, towering golems constructed entirely of jagged, enchanted blue ice, wielding massive, club-like arms.
"Clear the pit," Aerion commanded the elementals.
The two Frost Atronachs let out deep, grinding roars and lumbered heavily down the stone stairs, an unstoppable vanguard of freezing death.
As the massive ice golems reached the bottom of the pit, the remaining bandits panicked. They immediately focused all of their attention and firepower on the towering Daedra, hacking desperately at their legs with iron axes and hurling weak firebolts at their frozen chests.
It was the perfect distraction.
With the enemy completely occupied, Aerion and Jenassa calmly walked halfway down the stone steps, taking up an elevated, highly advantageous firing position.
"Prioritize their mages," Aerion instructed calmly, pointing to the two hedge wizards hiding behind the rubble. "Their fire magic is the only thing that can damage my summons."
Jenassa nodded. THWIP. An arrow buried itself to the fletching in a mage's chest, instantly dropping him.
Aerion pointed his right hand, unleashing a highly concentrated, single arc of lightning that struck the second mage directly in the forehead, killing him instantly before he could even finish casting his spell.
With their magical support dead, the remaining melee bandits were effortlessly slaughtered. The Frost Atronachs crushed them with massive, sweeping blows of their ice arms, while Aerion and Jenassa picked off the stragglers from above.
Within a minute, the exterior of Korvanjund was entirely silent, littered with smoking, frozen corpses.
Aerion dismissed the Atronachs with a thought. He walked down the remaining steps to the flat, excavated floor before the massive iron doors of the crypt.
"Area secure," Aerion announced. "Begin standard loot recovery."
Jenassa immediately slung her bow and drew her hunting knife, moving systematically from corpse to corpse, checking their coin purses and cutting away valuable jewelry. Aerion did the same on the opposite side of the camp.
As Aerion searched the heavily armored bandit leader, a massive, highly satisfying cascade of golden text flooded his vision.
[Destruction (Lightning) Leveled Up to 93!]
[Destruction (Lightning) Leveled Up to 94!]
[Destruction (Lightning) Leveled Up to 99!]
[Skill Mastery Reached: Destruction (Lightning) (MAX LEVEL - 100)]
[Destruction (Frost) Leveled Up 16 Times! Current Level: 43]
[Conjuration (Summoning) Leveled Up 8 Times! Current Level: 54]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 81!]
[LEVEL UP! You are now Level 82!]
Aerion smiled as the raw, cosmic power settled into his core. Two attribute points gained. Given the massive weight of the treasures he fully intended to loot from the crypt, he needed to bolster his physical endurance. He channeled both points directly into his stamina.
[Stamina increased by 20! Current Stamina: 370/370]
[Maximum Carry Weight increased by 10 KG!]
His muscle fibers coiled tighter, and his dimensional void expanded, increasing his maximum capacity to a highly comfortable 485 kilograms.
Aerion finished looting his side of the camp. He stood up, dropping the acquired goods directly into his inventory. He got 158 Septims, 3x Silver Ruby Ring added, and 2x Silver Necklace added.
Jenassa approached, holding a bloody leather pouch.
"I recovered one hundred and thirty seven septims, and two silver amethyst rings," Jenassa reported in her usual, gravelly tone. She held the pouch out to Aerion. "You take them, Patron. I do not have the pouches to carry them comfortably, and they are vastly safer secured within your spatial magic."
"A practical decision," Aerion agreed, taking the pouch. The items instantly vanished into his void.
[Inventory Weight Increased by 0.35 KG]
Jenassa looked down at her simple, unadorned hunting bow, a slight frown touching her scarred lips. "Though, considering the wealth we are generating, I would request that if we encounter a higher quality enchanted bow within these ruins, I be allowed to claim it. This hunting bow lacks the penetrating power required for heavier armor."
"Absolutely," Aerion nodded without hesitation. "Your lethality is my security, Jenassa. The next enchanted bow of suitable quality we find is yours."
With the exterior fully looted, they turned their attention to the entrance of the crypt.
A heavy, rusted iron gate blocked the stone archway leading down into the darkness. There was no lever or chain mechanism visible on the outside.
"Locked," Aerion noted. "Jenassa, if you please."
The Dark Elf stepped forward. She withdrew a pair of delicate, highly refined steel lockpicks from her belt. She inserted them into the rusted mechanism, her sensitive fingers feeling the tension of the ancient tumblers. With a quick, smooth click, the heavy iron gate swung open effortlessly.
They stepped through the archway, moving out of the howling wind and into the silent, suffocating darkness of the ancient Nordic crypt.
The air was stale, smelling of dust and undisturbed centuries. The hallway before them was wide, constructed of massive stone blocks. However, just a few dozen feet in, the ceiling had partially collapsed. Massive piles of stone rubble completely blocked the main passageways, rendering further immediate progress impossible.
Tucked into a small alcove to the side of the rubble, completely untouched by the collapse, rested a massive, heavily reinforced steel chest.
Aerion approached the chest, eyeing the intricate, master level locking mechanism securing the heavy lid.
"Allow me," Aerion said, feeling strangely confident. He had mastered the arcane arts, bent reality to his will, and manipulated monarchs. How hard could a mundane metal lock be?
He opened his inventory and materialized his two iron lockpicks. He knelt before the chest, inserted the pick, and applied pressure.
SNAP.
The brittle iron pick broke instantly.
Aerion frowned. He inserted his second, final lockpick. He tried to be gentler, attempting to finesse the tumblers using pure, physical intuition rather than thieving experience. He turned the pick slightly.
SNAP.
Aerion stared at the broken piece of metal sticking out of the lock, utterly dumbfounded. His absolute, god like magical superiority apparently did not translate into fine motor lockpicking skills.
Behind him, Jenassa let out a soft, highly amused snort.
Despite his utter failure, the system registered his attempt to understand the mechanics of the lock.
[Lockpicking Leveled Up 12 Times! Current Level: 35]
"It appears," Aerion sighed, standing up and brushing the dust from his pristine robes, "that brute forcing ancient mechanisms is somewhat beneath my current skill set."
Jenassa stepped forward, a smirk visible on her face. "Magic is a blunt instrument, Patron. Subterfuge requires a vastly more delicate touch. Step aside."
She knelt before the chest. She didn't even look at the lock. She stared at the ceiling, feeling the feedback through her tools. Within three seconds, a loud, satisfying CLACK echoed in the small stone room. Jenassa threw open the heavy steel lid. Aerion peered over her shoulder, his golden eyes scanning the interior of the chest.
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[Main Panel]
Name: Aerion
Race: High Elf (Altmer)
Health: 350/350 Stamina: 370/370 Magicka: 500/500
Level: 80 ➝ 82
Skills: Animal Affinity (MAX LEVEL), Fast Skill Levelling (MAX LEVEL), Fast Magic Mastery (MAX LEVEL), Instant Shout (MAX LEVEL), Destruction (Fire(+1)/Lightning/Frost) (Level 43/MAX/43), Restoration (Healing/Purify) (Level 63/37), Alteration (Level 27), Alteration (Level 20), Illusion (Level 42), Conjuration (Necromancy/Summoning) (Level 37/54), Persuasion (Level MAX), Smithing (Level 22), Sneak (Level 33), One Handed (Level 67), Two Handed (Level 65), Lockpicking (Level 35), Archery (Level 72), Enchanting (Level 34), Light Armor (Level 53), Block (Level 60), & Pickpocket (Level 8)
Shouts: Fus (Force)
[Inventory Panel]
1x Steel Dagger, Small Sack, Poacher's Axe, Mammoth Tusk, Iron Shield, Steel Mace, Steel Warhammer, the Golden Claw, Calm Spellbook, Arvel's Journal, Inkwell & Quill, Thief Book, Scroll Of Summoning (Wolf), Scroll Of Healing, Steel Dagger of Minor Souls, Weak Potion of Paralysis, Ancient Nord Bow, Dragonstone, Ancient Nord Battleaxe Of Blaze, Potion of Minor Pickpocketing, Golden Staff of Flames, & Parchment Rolls Of Mammoths Farm And Loan
2x Iron Mace, Steel Axe, Steel Greatsword, Silver Amethyst Ring, & Silver Necklace
3x Iron Greatsword, Steel Sword, Scroll Of Fireball, Glowing Mushrooms, Potions of Minor Stamina, & Silver Ruby Ring l
4x Potions of Minor Magicka & Spider Eggs
5x Lesser Soul Gem
8x Iron Arrows & Ancient Nord Arrows
9x Potions Of Minor Healing
Weight: 109.42 KG / 485 KG
Septims: 78,225