User:Piratesahoy/The Tales of Porkchop/Chapters 21-30

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Chapter 21: The **** Hits the Fan[edit]

Porkchop dove like a speeding bullet at the nearest guard, his feet replaced where his head used to be as he flipped over onto his neck by the force of the Tusked Warrior. A dozen more guards charged Porkchop in a wave. Porkchop plunged underneath in order to break the tide, and chopped out the legs of three guards in the middle.

Only a few guards remained, Porkchop ran away for a second, then ran back to gather speed. Headfirst he plunged into the shield of a Legionnaire. His mindset had been to break the shield entirely, but only his tusks pierced the steel, and the shield was stuck flush to his snout, blocking his vision. Jumping and flailing he tried to get it off, yet it stayed in place. The guards, seeing the struggling blinded warthog on the ground...advanced.


Bravil had been holding out against the goblins and the legion for the entire day. Finally, darkness and temperature caused the goblins to retreat to their tents, and the Legion vessels fell back to the safe waters of the Niben bay. However, the Bravil watch had yet to realize another army advanced.

Coming over the hill to the south, the marauders ran screaming. The archers had to reset and begin attacking these heavily armored berserkers as they careened down the trail. Again, guards began the hail of arrows. But the marauders were smart enough to have taken all the equipment needed for capturing a fortress like Bravil.

They waded across the river with their shields over their heads, and began pounding at the wall with a battering ram. The people of Bravil were forced to reignite the river in order to save the city. The screaming of the marauders burning alive awakened the goblin horde. Mistaking the marauders for those that took their totem staff, the goblins charged.


Now trapped in a house with almost no ranged weapons, the company tried to hold out. They propped themselves flush against walls, and they boarded up the house. Not one of the crewmembers had any experience with firing a bow, and as the battery of arrows rained down upon the house, it was turned into a pincushion.

"Soon they'll figure out they need fire arrows."
"And were trapped in this hellhole, *****ing excellent."
"Wait. What happened to M’aiq?"

They looked around and it was evident the Khajiit was gone.

"Now even he ditches us."
"What are we gonna do?"
"I don't know, I guess we hold out for as long as we can, hopefully Porkchop will finish off the legion at his battle then he can attack their rear."
"Some of us must sleep, the rest will stand guard."
"When i get my hands on that filthy Khajiit..."

But that "filthy Khajiit" was already a mile or so away, walking into Valenwood looking for something important....

Chapter 22: The Tables Have Turned[edit]

As Porkchop struggled with his new appendage, the guards tried to avoid him and kept trying to stab him when he was close enough. One of them was unfortunate enough to get bucked by the shield, but he wasn’t thrown away. Porkchop felt something slide into the guard, then he remembered with a wry smile; the other side of the shield had a six-inch long spike...


The goblins charged upon the marauders. The marauders were armed to the teeth however. As the goblins threw themselves upon the marauders they were thrown away by claymores or had longswords thrown through their abdomens. Although the marauders were quite good at killing, the goblins still overwhelmed them with sheer numbers.

From the sea, the Legion boats sat out there just out of reach of the archers. The men on the ramparts began to feel the tension. What were the boats waiting for, surely not reinforcements, no matter how many boats they had; the walls had proven to be too much of a challenge to get over.

They did not know that two miles north, six full battalions of Legionaries marched down the Green Road.


Back at the Isolated House, Odryn tried to get some sleep. The battery had subsided, and now only a few arrows occasionally would hit the side of the house. The mages had torched the wood around them, so now the rangers took cover behind burned logs and stumps.

The rangers hadn't tried to find a way up the large hill that the Isolated House was nestled into, so they continued to simply bombard the front. Odryn felt safe in the back for that, the struggle of the siege continued to force insomnia upon him.

Odryn had just drifted off to a dreamlike state, when the noise of a trumpet blared. Turning to Voriahen, who was in the bedroll nearest him, he asked.

"What was that?"
"The Legion?"

His mind raced, had Porkchop been killed? What was his owner doing right now? How far away was the Legion? Could they escape?

But then, as he looked out the window, a swarm of arrows engulfed the foresters who had tracked them down. The light was blocked out, and within a few minutes of bombardment, the foresters had been killed.

There were a few minutes of silence.

Then there was a knock on the door.

Odryn walked over to the door, and cautiously opened it, one of his men held up a sword in case it was a foe. Odryn slowly opened the door, to find a wood elf.

"Greetings master, me and my men come to bear the news that we will fight for Bravil's cause. The city of Arenthia has already thrown away the Imperials that controlled it, and now they spread the word of revolution to the rest of Valenwood."


M'aiq finally broke through the thick forests of Valenwood across the border. The city of Dune lay in his eyes, he could now run without worrying about hitting a tree. These people would be easier to persuade, as he was one of them.

Without hesitation, he broke into a long-strided run towards Dune.

Chapter 23: Payback Time[edit]

The company of knights and the Bosmer army held a provisional meeting in the isolated house. There was the chieftain of the wood elves, talking with Odryn, who had established himself as the leader of the company.

"My army is yours, oh honorable leader"
"Please, we would be dead now if it wasn't for you"
"Still, you are finally free, and we shall fight for your cause"

Odryn pondered his next move, he could continue towards Anvil, or maybe they could take a risk. Looking towards the spires of Skingrad, he had an idea. The Legions nearby were kept at bay by Porkchop, and any guards or foresters had just been killed. Skingrad was a golden opportunity. He looked towards the chieftain, and he could tell they were thinking the same thing. He ran to window of the Isolated House, and seeing his company of Knights and Mages, and the giant mass of wood elf archers and a few awkwardly small warriors, he let out a shout.

"TO SKINGRAD!!!!"


The battle of Bravil had calmed down quite a bit. The Marauders had retreated back to a nearby fort with heavy casualties, as did the goblins to their encampment. The Count was finally looking forward to some good sleep. Even though his windows had been covered with iron grates and boarded shut, he still dozed off in a matter of seconds, he didn't sleep for long however.

He was awaked to see the Speaker face to face with him. He tried to let out a scream, but she covered his mouth.

"I understand our murderer didn't do the job"

The count only nodded, because he couldn't speak up.

"Very well, as retribution for our credibility, you now have an extra assassination on top of your old one, It can be anybody. I noticed a large army of Legionaries marching towards here, that’s an opportunity."

She let her hand off his face, and once again, he was able to speak.

"Who...," he sputtered, “Who commands them?"
"Why, a rather fat Imperial in need of a shave."

Dammit, he thought to himself. That was Kendraali. Although he was a rather unattractive person to look at, he was a brilliant tactician, and he would find a way to get in.

"Kill him."
She smiled, “You’re finally getting the hang of things, I will do it myself this time."

She got off him, and the count finally got up, he looked away for a split second, and the listener was gone...

Still shaken up, he got back to an untroubled sleep...


Porkchop dove recklessly at any sound of noise, it was just like way back at the gilded carafe, and he was dodging the silver axe and jumping at its holder. Every few jumps he would hear the pleasing slice of the spike entering flesh. After five minutes of this, there was no more noise.

Suddenly realizing how tired he was, Porkchop took a second to lie on the ground. Then, he got up and sniffed around for a while, finally finding a tree. He shoved the shield into it, and managed to pry it off himself.

The light stunned him at first, but then he was able to look down at the battle that had just taken place. On the ground nearest him lay guards with various deep puncture wounds from the shield. Farther down, the remains of guards with broken bones, tusk gores, and other injuries from each other’s swords. And down below the hill was the mound of horses and men, some still alive.

Porkchop looked at the aftermath for a second, and then began a slow walk towards the Isolated House.

Chapter 24: Infiltration[edit]

The situation felt less desperate by the minute. Soon after they had departed the Isolated House, Porkchop had returned. The army was then joined by a huge battalion of Khajiits. And after that, two scouts returned. One assuring them that Skingrad was near defenseless, the other stating that Bravil was doing fine without them, Odryn thought of not only securing Bravil's freedom, but of the whole empire....No, too ambitious, one battle at a time.

As he thought this, the wood elves were sneaking around Skingrad Castle under the cover of night. They sniped various guards, and then motioned for the Khajiits. Ropes were thrown and secured, and Khajiits scrambled up the walls.

After about five minutes of waiting, the Khajiits opened the doors. In the courtyard, the sleeping guards, the count, the royal court and the prisoners were all bound and gagged when Odryn entered.

He had never been to Skingrad before, but it was beautiful. He hadn't even seen the city from the streets yet, only from the citadel. There was an informal ceremony where his loyal supporters crowned him king, and he immediately put Voriahen in to rule in his place, he was not done yet.

One clever wood elf had found a loose block in the city walls. With patience and some wriggling, Odryn was able to remove it and put Porkchop in. Porkchop walked through Skingrad, which was now completely empty other than the night watch.

He ran through the city streets, hunted down, and killed every guard. They didn't even have time to scream.

Porkchop then walked to the west gate, and opened the door for the army....


The speaker waited in the inn of ill omen, planning her strike. She was surprised when the general Kendraali walked in and talked to the bartender.

"By order of the Imperial Legion this establishment is seized!!"
"Says who!?"
"Says I, Kendraali, General of the Imperial Legions."
"Why.... well of course, how long will you stay?"
"For the night, give me your best accommodations."
"Of course sir, that would be in the basement."

Kendraali saw the speaker and sat down next to her.

"Bartender, can this lovely woman have another drink?"
"No, I'm fine."
"I insist."
"Well, alright then."

They conversed well through the night, and the speaker did a great job keeping him interested. Finally, the General asked if she would come with him to his room, to which she gladly accepted.

They descended the ladder into the basement; he helped her down. He grabbed her arm and they entered the room. Alone.


"Why do you call me to speak to you on my ship?"
"M'aiq knows where you can get plenty of decent pirating done."
"Oh, is that so?"
"M'aiq believes it better than illegally transporting cattle and a challenge too."
"What's the challenge?"
"M'aiq knows there is only the fear to worry about... and an armada of Imperial boats."
"Well, they wouldn't call me the Legendary Captain Gusar the Corsair for nothing, count me in."


With that, M'aiq walked off towards the Hammerfell border. He had recruited a few ships and a few soldiers to fight for their cause. And now Bravil would have a decent supply line too.


A boar named Bacon, watched from the boat as M'aiq ran into the distance...

Chapter 25: Ruining the Blockade[edit]

The Niben bay filled with the noises of battle. Gusar maneuvered his ship along with the rest of his fleet into the heart of the Imperial armada. Looking at the enemy vessels, Gusar could tell the Imperial ships were underfunded. The galleons of Gusar's fleet were fortified with glass with iron frames underneath the thick wood cut from the forests of Valenwood.

Although it costed more, they were faster, stronger, and able to carry more, and they easily overwhelmed the Imperial vessels, which far outnumbered his. All of his ships were outfitted with huge grapples, which could rip enemy carracks in half. The Imperial galleons were forced into the west side of the lake, where arrows from the city rained down upon them.

As a heavy rain poured upon the lake, the Coratzatta flung its grapple into the nearest Imperial galleon. The shell was penetrated, and the grapple was able to grip the frame. "Release the Blocks!" shouted Gusar, and the cement blocks from the back of the turret were released, falling to the lower decks. The rope was pulled taught, and the galleon was ripped in half. Bodies flew through the air and landed in the tumultuous waters.

Countless Imperial ships fell to the same fate. By the time dawn came, the fight was over. The remainder of the great Imperial navy had limped away upriver. Imperial armor and driftwood now floated freely throughout the bay.

As the Cortazza and its brethren sailed into Bravil, Gusar wondered why nobody tried to board his ship. His was larger, stronger and the flagship for his fleet, yet no Imperial ship would sail near it.

He shrugged, took a moment to pet Bacon, who had been above deck the entire battle, and walked down to get some shuteye.


Porkchop made himself at home in his new city. He and his owner had claimed a large house within the city. In fact, they got first pick because Odryn would live in the castle. Plenty of rooms in their new manor, and they rented the rooms out to other soldiers in the wood elf and Kajiit forces.

The citizens had been expelled from the walls, and now the city was pretty much a barracks for the huge army that had been amassed. Kajiits and wood elves were perfect guards for the ramparts; Khajiits had keen eyes and wood elves excellent marksmanship, and the combination made the rest of the army feel very safe.

The safety however, was short lived. A meeting was soon called in the court of king Odryn to discuss the army's next move.


The speaker lay naked next to Kendraali. She had waited there for two hours for good measure. Finally thinking it was enough waiting, she slid her finery back on and walked out. She took one moment to look at the general’s gutted, nude body, and then continued on her way.

Two officers of the army sat at the bar having a drink. They watched her as she departed, and she giggled back at them. After she had walked out, one of the officers turned to the other and said,

"Lucky bastard"

Chapter 26: The Calm before the Storm[edit]

The Speaker quickly stole away from the scene, off towards Rock Back Cave. That goblin was dead, she knew it. She had a fool proof plan, and she would not make the mistake the young murderer had.

As her horse ascended a hill overlooking the inn, she heard a shout. Someone had found his body apparently. She smiled. The Imperial had screamed like a woman.


The Cortazza was repaired in Bravil's port that night, mostly cosmetic changes if anything. The ship had barely taken a beating at all. In fact, only two ships were destroyed compared to the Imperial's two dozen. The battle was, in fact, a rout.

The rest of the day was very calm. The goblins didn't appear smart enough to grasp that Bravil could get food from sea routes, and the marauders still hadn't worked up the courage to come down and face them.


Odryn and an elite company of soldiers set off for Chorrol. According to a scout, M'aiq had gotten aid from them now, and the combined forces would capture the city. However, ever since the capture of Skingrad, Imperial security was tight, and a direct attack would fail miserably, Odryn needed to think of a new plan.

With him traveled the original loyal band of knights, without Porkchop, his owner, and Voriahen. The generals of the wood elf and Kajiiti armies were still holed up in Skingrad, which was quickly turning into the military center of operations. A few elite wood elves and Kajiits came with them too, but they were without siege equipment, and a Skingrad style infiltration would be expected.


Haberci finally slogged his way out of the marsh and into the capital of Black Marsh. His horse had been abandoned, his clothes ruined, but his message was very important. His meeting with the Argonian count had been planned well in advance, and they met while court was held.

"The Imperial Palace beseeches your aid."
"Yes," the Argonian said in a sickeningly hissy voice, “What is needed?"
"Well, the navy is having a bit of trouble..."
"Aah, so you call us only when you need swimmers."
"No sir, we require special soldiers."
"What kind?"
"Ones that can swim and immobilize galleons."
"How much money is offered?"
"Plenty."
"We'll work those details out later."
"Yes, ahh... well then."
"You will have an elite squad of 200 Argonians in less than a day, patience."

Chapter 27: The Storm[edit]

Porkchop was left behind in Skingrad. It would be too risky to bring him along, as he was currently one of the Legion's most wanted. So he lay at Voriahen's right hand as he held court. There was quite a bit to be done, land requests, plots and homes had to be assigned. Many of the Kajiits and Wood Elves wished to bring their families to Skingrad. The Mages and Fighter's guilds were refounded, and the farmland was resettled.

Although the affairs were time consuming and important, there was only one thing that could take priority. A full regiment of Legion soldiers marching from only two miles away was enough to interrupt the daily routine.

In two hours, they were almost within archer distance. Now, the fine details could be seen by the scouts. Siege towers dwarfed the rest of the division, Trebuchets stood every thirty soldiers.

It was obvious that the Legion would not be content with a siege; they wanted Skingrad back, within the next few days. At about 400 yards away, the trebuchets opened fire.


The city of Chorrol was well prepared for its invasion. As soon as Odryn reached the hilltop, they were bombarded by arrows. Quickly diving behind a tree, he was pinned down immediately. He checked casualties, barely any he saw. Next to him, a wood elf archer ducked out of cover and unleashed a frighteningly fast arrow into the throat of an archer on the wall. He fell comically out of the ramparts and landed in a twisted heap upon the ground.

Now, the plan came into effect. The wood elves climbed the trees, and half the Redguard army was distracting the main force with its own invasion from the Northwest. There, siege towers were being burned into furnaces with the soldiers still inside them. They pressed onward with heavy casualties, and then finally landed a tower on the ramparts.

Meanwhile, a few elite soldiers carried heavy shields, created a dome wall, and slowly walked towards the door, as their shields were turned into pincushions. Underneath were three mages, fully prepared to destroy the door.


The Speaker calmly placed another poisoned apple into the stew. The goblin chef lay drunk next to her. She sliced and stirred, hopefully the goblin shaman would eat this, or else she’d have to do it the old-fashioned way.

After she was done with her creation, she calmly walked out, disposing of the goblins she murdered upon her entrance in dark corners. I hope that they won't be discovered until the shaman is dead.

Red beady eyes watched her as she left...


When the Imperial Navy immediately staged a counterattack upon the Niben Bay, Gusar sighed, hadn't he gone through enough work the day before? He left the Cortazza in port. Instead, he took the smaller Jagare.

The battle began the same way. Gusar's faster ships immediately opened fire, and two Imperial galleons were destroyed instantly. Gusar's ship alone ripped the mast off one of them, and crushed the bow of another.

Then something strange began to happen. The ship next to his suddenly began sinking. The pirates were immediately tossed ropes to join on the Jagar. Even then, more ships began sinking, and some were not fortunate enough to have an escape route.

Gusar searched for the culprit. Finally, he saw it, a gleam of greenish fin.

"Argonians! All hands on Deck!"


On a small camp north of Skingrad, the count and his advisors slept in bedrolls next to commonfolk. The count hadn't fed in days, and it would be noticable now that he was in such close proximity to the commoners.

Finally, urge and desperation forced him. He crept up next to a merchant who had been forced out, and bit into his neck.


The Imperials, now leaderless, charged upon the goblins. Without Kendraali at their helm, they were a disorganized jumble, and the goblins easily isolated soldier after soldier and overwhelmed them with sheer force.

The Imperials were forced to retreat and abandon their weapons. The goblins were now not only ruthless killing machines... but also well armed as well...

Chapter 28: The Battle of Skingrad Vineyards[edit]

Flaming boulders rained down upon Skingrad. Houses were crushed, a bridge was broken. The lush vineyards and farmland now was charred, black soil. Citizens fled in terror in seek of cover. The wood elves pulled the longbows back as far as they could, but even then, they couldn't reach nor damage the trebuchets.

The walls were thick however, and they held. It was obvious that they wanted the main army out of the city so it would be easier. Voriahen had no choice. Porkchop was readied for another attack. With him traveled some mages and archers, and Porkchop would provide the rest of the entertainment.

The cavalry charge began. All of Porkchop's comrades were mounted, and the wood elves proved extremely adept at firing while moving. The mages threw spell after spell at the oncoming horde, and four at a time would be thrown backwards into their own ranks.

The cavalry was now upon Porkchop, he leapt onto the nearest guard and gored him off of his horse, where he was trampled. Porkchop ended up leaping from horses back to horses back, all the way through the charge.

He made it through like a hot knife through butter, he stumbled for a second, then picked up the pace again, full speed towards the trebuchets. Dust kicked up and the soldiers guarding the siege machines thought Porkchop was much bigger than he was. Some fled in terror, others stood strong, and unsheathed pikes.

Porkchop never even had to fight these ones. A well-timed hail of arrows cut down most of them in their tracks. Porkchop had reached the row of siege machines. Unguarded, they tempted him. But, the siege engineers were not his job; he secured the area for a mage on his way.


The dome wall warily advanced towards the door of Chorrol. Inch by inch they creeped up to the door. They were determined not to let a single beam of sunlight shine through. The mages were cramped inside, they were nervous; all they could see was darkness, and the constant pang of arrows against the side of the wall.

The guards of Chorrol had a trick of their own up their sleeve. As the dome reached the entrance, three gaurds let loose a huge vat of boiling oil upon the dome. The dense liquid sickeningly splashed and on the shields. The shields wilted and melted under the immense heat. Sizzling liquid seeped down onto the mages. As one felt it, he screamed out in horror, running away trying to escape the pain. His life was ended by an arrow through the back of the head.

A similar fate held the rest of the shield dome. One unlucky mage was drenched in the boiling liquid, and an arrow was put through him by his own side as he squirmed before the gate, just to put him out of his misery. The soldiers making up the dome shield were cut down as they attempted to escape. This just as the last remaining siege tower of the Redguards toppled. The invasion had failed.


The sea was immediately lit up by arrows. Gusar's men cheered as bloody Argonian bodies drifted to the surface. However, Gusar knew there were still some down there. Grabbing two cutlasses, he hesitated a moment, then dove into the depths below.

He thanked himself for wearing his amulet of water walking, then set to work on finding the Argonians. Near the stern, three were ripping planks out of the bottom of the ship using axes. Gusar came upon them, and stabbed through water as hard as he could. Although the stab wasn't as strong, it effectively wounded the Argonian so it would no longer be able to swim.

The other two swung the axes. Gusar managed to dodge them, and then he flipped in the water, delivering a roundhouse kick to the jaw of an Argonian. He finished it off with a dagger to the throat. The water was now filled with blood as he and the last Argonian prepared for a slow motion battle.

The Argonian grabbed at him, and ripped off the amulet. Gusar yelled out, but only bubbles came out. He stabbed at the Argonian a few times, as it dragged him to the depths by his foot. He was being pulled to the bottom of the bay, and that would be his crypt...

Chapter 29: The Lair of the Titan[edit]

Gusar repeatedly stabbed at the scaly hand with his dagger. He landed blows on himself and the Argonian who had seized him, filling the water with crimson blood. Finally, they reached the bottom of the bay. The Argonian threw him towards the sandy depths, smothering his head in what could be his final burial.

Gusar struggled and struggled, miraculously, his dagger found its way into the throat of the Argonian, it gasped bubbles for a second, then its grip slackened, and Gusar kicked free. He feverishly scoured the sea bottom for his amulet. Oh, where could it have gone? Finally he discovered it, half buried next to a mysterious trapdoor.

He put it on, and the tension of holding his breath for so long was immediately slackened. He sighed in relief for a minute or so, and then he checked his surroundings. Judging by the fresh Argonian bodies drifting to the sea bottom, the rest of his crew were able to fend off the assault, but the blood was attracting large amounts of slaughterfish, and Gusar quickly realized that he would not be able to survive with a school that huge.

He decided to take a chance, and fled through the trapdoor...


Voriahen scanned the battlefield from the ramparts of Skingrad castle. Having the castle outside the city walls made it easier to defend, but saving the city was a liability. Either way, Skingrad castle was the key to holding the entire area, the castle had a commanding view of the entire county, as well as the provinces of Valenwood and Elsweyr.

It was no surprise that nearly the entire Imperial army was marching upon their position. Skingrad castle would be nearly impossible to take normally, but the huge size of the Imperial Legions, along with the extra heavy armor that the berserkers wore, they could just march across the bridge if all that the defender's had were arrows, even if the only possible way was a two column line.

On the bright side, all of the siege weapons had already been destroyed, and only brute force could take the castle now. As the front-runners of the army were climbing up the hill to reach the bridge going to the castle, Porkchop was let out.

As he began walking down the torch-lined path, he heard the heavy noise of the giant bolt being locked in place.


The speaker had realized that no goblin had eaten her "special" stew after two days of carefully watching them. In fact, activity seemed to be livelier than normal at Rockback Cave. She was pondering ways to get to the shaman, sneaking wouldn't be easy, neither would a direct charge, but when she found a den of ogres only a half a mile away, she new that a distraction would work wonders.

Using her command spell, she got the ogres to calmly follow her through the woods to the goblin lair, she immediately sent them on an all out assault into the cave.

One ogre ran at the entrance and sighted a goblin, the goblin barely had time to cry out to his friends before his face was smashed into the side of the wall, the ogre was then swarmed by four or five of the goblin horde.

The speaker took one last glance at the chaos and carnage she had created, and continued down into the depths.


"BERSERKER!" Shouted one warrior as another goblin found its way through the hole.

The walls of Bravil had finally given way to the pounding that they had been given from the siege weapons and the elements, and had shown a small hole near the base just large enough for a person... or a goblin, to crawl through. Now it was up to the young squire Satria and the other defenders of Bravil to hold the square.

The berserker swung its huge axe at Satria, but despite his heavy armor, he was able to dodge the attack. He immediately distanced himself as the berserker attempted to pry its axe out of the stone wall it had been stuck six inches into.

It finally managed to release it, and now looked at Satria seemingly with a sneer. It pulled its axe over its shoulder and began to charge. Although nearby archers pelted it with arrows, it kept coming, shrugging them off like nothing, it took one long-strided gallop, and swung its mighty weapon for Satria's head.


Odryn marched swiftly through Crumbling Mine, to be honest, the whole place gave him the creeps, but it had a way in at least. Wood elf scouts had reported the end of the mine led into the Chorrol sewer system.

At his back was an elite group of Redguard warriors. He could see sorrow in their eyes; the attack had seen them lose many a friend. Either way, they were eager to extract revenge, and if that meant sneaking in and opening the floodgates for their allies, that’s what they would do.

Odryn was still spooked. Although there was plenty of blood around the cave, there was not a single body, they had all been removed. He could understand they were probably miners, but what could've killed them?

He was not in a large hurry to find out, but still he crossed the threshold into the Chorrol sewers.

Chapter 30: Phobas Anomaly[edit]

Odryn and the redguards crept through the sewers, the dank smell of sewage infected their senses, and they soon found it hard to focus. The Chorrol sewers were maze like, winding, curving passages with skeletons littered everywhere. What had put them there? Odryn was dumbfounded by the design. Huge arched cielings, with the halls large enough for some type of titan.

But the sewers didn't contain a single entrance into the city above, and after several hours of searching, Odryn wondered if they were even used anymore, the sewers were huge and complex and multilayered, surely not all of it was being used.

The band finally reached a huge room in the center. It was a huge circular atrium, in the middle was a circular pool of water, Odryn couldn’t estimate how deep, but it was bubbling, and he guessed it was about 40 or 50 feet in diameter, surrounded by the cement walkway that he now stood on.

Eight or so corridors led into this atrium, but the corridors too had water trenches running down the middle, Odryn had led his men down one of them, only the nine must know where the rest lead off too, he imagined secret societies of vampires, isolated goblin tribes even fiercer than the Rockbacks, even Daedra cults, but he was rapidly brought out of thought.

A long, sharp whiplike appendage was suddenly thrust through the Redguard next to him. Odryn looked on in horror; the action had taken faster than he could even register the movement. He saw the Redguard impaled into the wall beside him, saw him give one last gag of life, and finally slump in death. Then, the nonhuman weapon was extracted, and as the Redguard clumsily fell to the floor in a pool of his own blood, Odryn followed the tentacle with his eyes as it eerily crept back into the water.

The men were not sure what had just happened, they stood dumbfounded for the longest time, and then one fearfully dropped his weapon and fled to the nearest corridor out. Odryn watched as the huge forelimb of the largest creature he had ever seen in his life suddenly crushed the Redguard into the wall, creating an explosion of blood and gore that cascaded in all directions, as well as blocking the route for any others who wished to escape.

Odryn stared at the behemoth in front of him. He followed the crablike leg that had brutally slain his comrade up to its torso, which was still half submerged in the pool. His eyes traveled up to its shoulder, the arm was a long claw-like war machine with two man-destroying talons at the end.

The tentacle on its back was still dripping wet with the blood of the first Redguard. It quivered, hanging over its master in a menacing way, as if ready to strike and murder the entire company in a single blow. Odryn finally forced himself to look at the face of the "Cthulu Mythos".

It had been waiting, and as soon as he locked eyes at the thing that should not be, it let out a shriek which deafened him and his allies so much that he clutched his ears and dropped his weapon. It was then that he realized that he was facing a sixty-foot long land dreugh.


Satria dodged the first swing of the axe by half a foot, the second by less than a hair. He brought up his shield to defend himself, but it was knocked away by the next swing. The goblin lunged, and now Satria was pressed against the side of a house, and the goblin was holding the axe hilt at his throat, pressing against his neck.

The squire struggled against the force that was overwhelming him. Where was everybody else, surely they hadn't abandoned him to take on the berserker alone, he wasn't even a full knight yet.

At this point he prayed to every deity he knew. Akatosh, Dagon, Talos and Namira were all praised in his mind, and to his surprise, one of them answered him.

Suddenly the berserker was thrown off of him. He immediately collapsed on the floor and struggled for breath, in the corner of his eye, he saw a boar ripping the downed berserker to shreds as it shrieked in agony.

What? Porkchop had saved him? He wasn't supposed to be here.

But the warthog moved too quickly to be questioned, he was immediately engaging another berserker which had found its way through the hole. Satria was too busy running over to prove himself in front of the great and Noble Porkchop to see that the pirate ships had once again returned.


Bravil's count slowly walked along the ramparts to his castle. He was drunk into a stupor, and depressed, very, very depressed. He watched as his beloved city was ripped to shreds by goblins. He looked down for a moment and saw a young knight having his life choked out of him by a berserker, and immediately turned away in disgust.

This was his entire fault he thought to himself, he could've done something while the rockback tribe was very young, he could've defended the city better. Why couldn't he save anybody? The Dark Brotherhood? He had sinned against the gods.

He reached the opposite side of the castle, and looked out over the Niben bay, the other side was shrouded in darkness and mystery. At the base of the castle, he saw the fierce waves thrash against the rocks at the base of the walls, and he knew at that point, he could take no more.

He slowly lifted himself over the battlements, hesitated, and then let himself fall down to his death.


Darkness. Nothing but darkness. Why did it have to be so cursedly dark in this cave? The speaker was used to the shroud of night, but this was ridiculous, you could cut it with a knife.

She had only a few scattered torches to light her way, and in between were rocks and stalagmites blocking her progress. She still crept deeper and deeper, until she had lost all sense of where she was.


M'aiq was running, faster than he ever had before. The snow plains of Skyrim were slowing him down, and the Imperial guards that were chasing him were all on horseback. He had been chased for several miles now at top speed, and even he was starting to feel fatigued, but if he was going to make it out of this alive, he would need to keep running, there was no where to hide, and a Kajiit was not at home in the fierce cold of Skyrim.


As the legion guards charged upon Porkchop, they were immediately bombarded by arrows. Some found their mark, some missed completely, and others were deflected off the legionaries’ thick armor. Porkchop stood his ground unflinchingly against the oncoming horde, in the castle, his owner stood with Voriahen watching the battle about to unfold.

"4,000 Imperial Legionnaires against Porkchop and a dozen wood elves."
"Take away the wood elves, and it’s almost a fair fight."

At those words, the first legionnaire swung his claymore at Porkchop, Porkchop casually sidestepped it, and charged four ranks deep, bucking with his tusks as he dove into the horde. Some legionnaires were gored and killed instantly; others were thrown off the bridge to fall to their deaths on the road beneath them.

Porkchop began in the middle of the bridge; he parried and knocked off a lot, and made up ground only when necessary. Before long, he had been pushed all the way to the door of the castle, the bridge in front of him tightly packed with legionaries.

The mages gladly helped him out. A couple of very good fire spells and before long, flaming legionnaires were jumping off the bridge by the dozen. But the legionnaires were relentless, and soon enough, Porkchop found himself once again locked in intense tusk to sword combat once again.


Gusar was now face to face with a two-foot wide mouth, lined with two layers of teeth. The giant slaughterfish gazed upon him as his next meal. Gusar stood dumbstruck, his mind could not comprehend what was going on, but soon, stress kicked in, and he quickly stabbed the huge fish in bottom of its throat.

The fish shrank back, and swam away to one corner of its cave. Gusar took the moment to pull out the cutlass he had just recently recovered from the bottom of the cave; he got ready for another strike from the slaughterfish.

The fish toyed with him, swimming around as fast as it could, and he tried to track it through the water, but it was much too fast. After he was sufficiently dizzy and tired enough, the slaughterfish lashed out for his leg.

Gusar screamed in pain, as the slaughterfish prepared to thrash and rip him limb by limb. He threw the cutlass into the top of the slaughterfish's head out of pure desperation. Now it was the slaughterfish's turn, and it shrank back once again, the cave filled with the blood of both beast and man.

The pirate prepared for the strike of the Slaughterfish, he concentrated all of his strength and energy on predicting its next move. The slaughterfish may have been desperate, or it may of been tired, but all it did was a straight dive for Gusar's head.

Gusar quickly threw his cutlass towards it, and closed his eyes and flinched back, expecting his life to be taken. Surprisingly it was not, and Gusar took a moment to risk a glance. There was the slaughterfish, impaled through the roof of its mouth into the top of its head, Gusar had won.