Chapter 1
Five years, that's how much time had past since Artemis had left Memnon, and Calimport. He had changed his name and location, he needed a new start. It had been awhile since he had given the place any real thought. He mostly returned to Calimport to make sure his only true friend was doing okay. Dwahvel had wished him well on his travels. He had somehow made his way far up into Baldur's Gate. Here he was just known as Barrabus the Gray. The name given to him because of the grayish tone to his skin. It happened shortly after he had used his dagger against a shade. The undead creature had tried to take his prize sword Charon's Claw. Tried, and failed. Still, sitting in his tiny apartment, he couldn't shake this odd feeling he had. Something was wrong, he wasn't sure what it was, but before he could think on what he was doing. He was out the door, and soon heading for the main gates. He keeps his head low, until he reaches a point where no one was around. He pulls out a small statuette of a horse. He places it on the ground, summoning a nightmare. The fiery horse snorts as it becomes solid. Artemis places his hand on Blackfire before hopping unto the magical stead. He kicks the horse, and starts to head south once again. Using a magical horse had it's uses. He only had to stop when he really needed to. He wasn't sure why, but something was compelling him to go south. It still takes him about four days or so to reach Calimport. As he got closer to his old home he feels this strange unearthly caress. He feels it on the back of his neck. Like a mothers touch and it jolts him so bad he almost falls off his horse. He snaps his head this way and that, rubbing the back of his neck.
Something was going on and he slows as he sees large pillars of smoke drift into the air. It wasn't long until he saw that most of the city was in flames. He gets to close and the magic of his horse fails. He hits the ground hard without any idea what just happened. He slowly gets up, the air here was so heavy. he felt heavy, like he could hardly breath. He places his hand on his sword and pauses. he felt nothing from the powerful blade. He glances down, it's magic wasn't working. That can't be right, it was as if all magic here was failing. He covers his mouth as he heads into the city. The streets are lined with the bodies of mages, clerics, and even different races are among the pile. He moves slowly, unsure of what was going on. But it seem like an all out war broke out. He slowly makes it to the Copper Ante, only to see it too had been taken out. He moves slowly as he finds Dwahvel, dead. He has half a mind to try and use his dagger, but that to is just dead weight. It's just a dagger and it's getting harder to breath. He has no choice but to make a run for it. Without much thought he heads for the port and gets on the nearest ship heading out of there. He makes his way to the bottom of the ship. The same feeling as before washes over him. A mothers touch, a gentle voice. "Sleep." His eyes roll back and he remembers nothing else.
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Meanwhile, standing out on the shores of Dawnstar a lone woman stands outside in the cold. Not that the Imperial noticed. She could hear the quite hum of the black door behind her. Evelyn had been a part of the Dark Brotherhood for the better part of a year. It's been about two since she made the journey to Skyrim, and discovered she was the Dragonborn. Why she was outside at the moment, she wasn't sure. She could feel something odd, like magicka hanging in the air. "Cicero will like to know why the Listener is standing out in the cold...." Her head turns to a fellow Imperial dressed in a old jester motley. He was shivering from the cold, the north was as cold as it got when it came to Skyrim. Only the toughest of Nords could live in a place like this. "I didn't ask you to come out here..." She was only wearing a simple black tunic, with tight black pants. Cicero was stuck wondering how she wasn't turning blue. But all he had to do was get close to feel the warmth radiating from her. The perks of having Dragonsblood. "You didn't answer Cicero on why you are out here.." She gives him a slight shrug. "I...don't know, I think Mother wants me to keep my eyes open.." Cicero gives her an odd look, but it's unwise to question the Night Mother. It was midafternoon, so for her the weather was pleasant. Her eyes are still out on the ocean as she sees something shimmer. It looks like magic, but she can't tell. Not until she sees this strange flash of light. She covers her eyes and blinks to see a large ship crash into the waters. It tilts to the side, and then starts to sink. "Uh...you're seeing this too right or have I finally lost it?" Cicero has to rub his eyes, but he sees it as well.
She waste no time however as she braces herself. "WuldNahKest!" She uses her Whirlwind sprint to fly across the open waters. She lands on a single jet of rock as she looks for survivors. She sees one body bob up, limply hanging on a plank of wood. She has to be careful here, even she's not safe from the deadly waters. It takes some maneuvering but she's able to fish out a single man. He's limp and cold and barely breathing. She holds onto him tightly as she turns back to the shore. "WuldNahKest!" She had never been more thankful for her amulet of Talos. Cicero is jumping on the balls of his heels. "You saved someone." She turns to the man, not knowing who he is, but she can hear the Night Mother. It's the softest of whispers only she can hear. Cicero watches her closely. "What is it Listener?" "The Night mother is speaking, she wants her son home...he's one of us.." Without another word she brings him into the Sanctuary. He's ice cold so she gets him into her room as quickly as she can. She has no choice but to remove his wet clothes and hang them to dry. She's careful of his weapons belt, the sword made of bone is giving her some pause. She doesn't know what to make of this person, or what just happened. She's never seen magic teleport an entire ship. Either someone messed up or, she's not sure what else it really could be. Still this means staying on body patrol for a few days.
He's breathing at least and it's rare for the Night Mother to go out of her way like this. Who ever he is, he must be good. Still she's a bit worried about how he looks. His skin is this strange grayish color. It takes a few hours before he slowly starts to come around. Evelyn blinks as she slowly wonders up to his side. "Whoa, easy there, you took one hell of a ride there." He groans, rubbing the side of his head. Everything is a blur of memory. He recalls jumping onto a ship and falling asleep? He rubs the back of his head as he takes a moment. He's not on a ship anymore, he's in a room that looks as if its caved into rock. It's warm, but he quickly takes notice of his lack of clothes. "What happened?" His voice was a bit rough, just how long had he been out? "Your ship crashed, the waters up here are deathly cold so I had to remove them. Don't worry, they're drying." She points her head to a nearby fireplace. His brows knit, he was in the dessert, how could it be cold? Just where was he? "Where am I?" She hands him a small waterskin. "Dawnstar, your in our Sanctuary." He takes a long drink, but he's even more confused now. She licks her lips as she turns and heads for her desk. She pokes around a bit as she finds a map and shows him. "Here." She points to a town far up north in Skyrim. But the longer he looks at the map, the more questions he had. Just what happened to him and how did he get here. Wherever here was.
She places the map back on her table. "You still look really lost my friend. What do you remember?" She grabs a chair, sitting next to him. "I boarded the ship in Calimport. I didn't even ask where it was going. That's all I remember." She tilts her head, the place didn't sound familiar. "Does Toril ring a bell?" He ask and she shakes her head. "Can't say that it does.." His brows knit as he slowly starts to become angry. "Faerûn?" She shakes her head again. "Then what continent am I on!?" She rises her brow at him. "You're in Tamriel, we're in the northern province of Skyrim." There's a pause as he slowly sinks into the bed. So not only did he somehow end up somewhere else. But he's somewhere he's never even heard of. He lets out a deep sigh after a moment. There's really nothing he can do about it now. He's here and he gets the feeling there's no going back. Not that he was really in a rush to go back after what he saw. She said something about being in a Sanctuary. "Fine, who are you and what is this place?" She smiles warmly, she has a soft face. She looks so young with her shiny black hair and deep blue eyes. "I'm Evelyn, there are others here. We are a part of the Dark Brotherhood. Assassins for a better word." He almost laughs, she does not look like a killer. "I'll go into more details when you're up for it. For now just take it easy.." He flexes his fingers, toes, making sure he had the feeling before getting out of bed. His clothes are still damp however.
She heads over to a lone mannequin she has in the room. It was outfitted with her old shrouded armor. "It might be a bit big, but you can wear this.." She hands over the armor and he runs his fingers over the dark leather. It hums with a strange magic but he puts on the armor. It's a tight fit, but he finds he kind of likes it. He takes notice of the black hand stamped on his abdomen. "I never got your name.." She's been watching him closely. He's movements are so smooth, but shaky after being in the cold waters. He takes a moment, wondering what to tell her. "Artemis...Artemis Entreri.." It's not like anyone here is going to know who he is. So there's no worry of a certain Dark Elf finding him here. "Artemis, alright then, if you like I'll show you around." He regards her for a moment but decides to take up on the offer. He's surprised with how large the place is. There's a chill in the air, but the place is well lit. She leads him to the main dinning hall, but the only person there at the moment was Nazir. He was reading when they entered. "That's Nazir. He's in charge of handing out the contracts." The Redguard nods his head. "It's not every day we pull someone out from the Sea of Ghost. Let alone someone still alive." Artemis just bows his head to the man, not knowing what to make of him just yet. She shows him the small training pit they had before going back to the main area to a side spot. The room was meant to be a torture room. But Evelyn was against the idea and turned it into a smithing area. They still didn't have a permanent smith, so it fell on her. Not that she minded. "If you need your armor repaired or anything else just come see me. We lost our last smith so I'm the only one here that knows how to make repairs."
Artemis takes a look around. There's a table covered in ingots. Some he can recognize, others not so much. His eyes turn to the weapons rack and he spots a bow unlike any he's seen before. It's pure black with this other worldly red glow to it. "That's a Daedric bow I finished." He picks it up, pulling back the sting. It's good, heavy but not to heavy. "You made this?" Again that smile. "I did, it's not to hard but it takes a bit of knowhow." He doesn't normally use a bow, but it's really impressive. She hears a rustle of sound as Cicero pops into the room. "Listener, I came back inside. It was to cold for poor Cicero to handle..." He looked like he was close to freezing. "Cicero I didn't ask you to freeze your fingers off." She lets out a low sigh, taking his hands into hers. He stops shaking in minutes. "So did you find anyone?" He shakes his head. "Cicero looked, but, no one washed ashore...Cicero wonders what kind of magic we saw." She turns to Artemis, but shrugs. He wouldn't know, he was out cold. "Can't say for sure. I'm not familiar with anything that would be strong enough to teleport a whole ship. Let alone make it sink so quickly..." Well it was one less thing to worry about. Cicero is just enjoying the warmth by now. "This is Cicero, he's...in charge of keeping the Night Mother safe." Artemis rises his brow. "Right, so allow me to explain how we work, come." She lets go of Cicero, leading the way to where the Night Mother is kept. It's a nice spot and Cicero does a good job of keeping it clean.
He wasn't expecting a corpse, but what surprises him is the same feeling as before washes over him. It's as if it was welcoming him home. But it vanishes in a second, leaving him feel cold. She watches him closely as she places her hand on his head. "You okay there, you looked like you were going to faint." He shakes his head slowly, stepping away. "I'm fine." It's a strange feeling and he's not sure what to make of it. "Right, if your sure. This is the Night Mother. When people become desperate they preform a ritual known as the Black Sacrament. Then the Night Mother speaks to me and that's how we get our contacts. Honestly anything goes, whoever preforms the Sacrament will pay you. Sometimes they'll ask for something extra like to make it look like an accident which normally leads to better pay." her shoulders roll a bit. "It all depends, but you get the idea." Artemis just looks at this so called Night Mother, then to her. It's strange, but it's not like he really knows what else to do. "But we wont send you off on your own. Skyrim is a big place. Even after living here for two years I still get lost. So I'll show you around." It's not like she really minds but the last thing she wants is for him to get lost. Skyrim is a harsh land after all with many dangers. Cicero goes about his normal activates so Evelyn leads Artemis back to the kitchen. It's a large area with a glass window covering a exit. It's pure black with skulls, bones and what looks to be children. Artemis isn't sure what to make of the strange window.
After awhile she leads him out the Black Door so he could get a better look at his surroundings. He eyes the door as it closes. It's magic is unlike anything he's seen before. "If you ever find yourself locked out the door will ask you What is life's greatest illusion. Just answer innocence, my brother and the door will open." "What sort of magic allows it to speak?" She blinks, looking at the door before looking at him. "Um...good question." She crosses her arms, she never gave it much thought on how they worked. "I don't even know who built them, or even if you can change what it says. I might have to look into that." Which answers the question of who she would even ask. "Then again that knowledge might be lost.." He turns away from the door, looking out into the open waters. There's nothing but ocean, and no sign of the ship he was once on. He shivers from the cold, but he doesn't move to go inside. He wants to try and understand what happened to him, but he really has no answers. She stands beside him, looking out into the ocean. If anything, she did save him so he shuffles. "Thank you.." It's not often he thanks people, but he's not ready to die. "No problem, I'm surprised you survived. No offence of course. The waters out here are unforgiving." He just nods slowly, looking down. He has no idea how he's going to get used to all of this. But all he can do is take things one step at a time.
