Party Crush

A meeting was taking place in a secret location within the Blackwood, within the overgrown and ruined remnants of an old fort the invitees were gathered from all over the Empire, eagerly awaiting an update on their efforts to bring back their lord.

The main hall had been cleared of rubble and the corpses of those who had once defended the place, with new furnishings being added to placate those of higher standing in attendance.

Large oak roundtables lined the room, and a small band played quietly in the corner, creating a soothing atmosphere. No one had said a thing until now, simply enjoying the meal they'd each been given on arrival, as they'd usually expect during meetings such as this.

At the very end of the hall was three individuals... One was a portly man sitting in a fine chair, gorging himself on food and wine, Clexto Lalellus, head of the Lalellus family who provided a good portion of the parchment the Empire used.

Two people stood behind him, a short man wearing full ebony armour, with an ominous pure black sword, that seemed to whisper into the minds of those who laid their eyes upon it. The other person was a short-robed figure wearing the Masque of Clavicus Vile and a staff affixed with a blue gem.

No one questioned why they were present, nor what qualification they had that allowed them such a position... Mostly due to their display of loyalty wielding artifacts of their lord, Clavicus Vile.

Once everyone had sated their hunger, Clexto stands from his seat and raises his cup of wine to them, "Friends! I thank you all for accepting my invitations! It is an auspicious day, but I'm sure many of your have questions about our lack of masks this time around!" he pauses eyeing everyone to see their reactions, "I assure you! The time for secrecy is almost at an end, the time of our lord will soon be upon us!

But first! It is us that must serve! If we wish to be rewarded for our service, we must prove ourselves true!"

"What must we do!?" more than one person eagerly shouts.

"I'm sure you all already know! We must remove the monument to our sin! Our sin of failure! That heretical tower in Skyrim, obstructing our good lord from carrying out his work! 'The Eye of the World' as many plebians have called it!" he spits on the floor in disgust, "Our lord spoke to me, and made known his plans!" he pauses again, unable to hold back his grin at his guest's excitement.

He takes a foreign-looking gold coin from his pocket and raises it up high for all to see, "Our lord requested us to use this divine artifact! It has been a close companion of mine for many years, but it has been decided to use it to annihilate the heretical tower from existence!"

He gesticulates erratically at the excited crowd who were barely staying in their seats at the announcement. Some even had ideas of simply charging Skyrim at this instant, with only their wish to hear further from Clexto holding them in place.

"Once the tower is gone, it will be OUR time! Our Lord will deliver us this world! WE ARE IT'S RIGHTFUL RULE-" Clexto roars but stills when the coin goes flying out of his hand, across the room and towards a table in a dark corner.

A man with his feet resting casually on the table snatches it out of the air with a huge grin on his face, "You're going to use this to destroy my tower?" he asks incredulously while looking the coin over... He could sense the tens of thousands of souls stored inside it, so it wasn't impossible for it to actually be capable of it...

Everyone in the hall gets to their feet at this, this man had just stolen the key to their victory right in front of them, and even claimed to be the enemy their lord wished dead...

Clexto shakes his head from the shock of having the coin taken and glares owlishly, "Are you claiming to be Michael Tahlin, creator of the 'Eye of the World'?"

"Yeah, I am." Michael grins while dropping a sack on his table, allowing two heads to roll out, one belonging to Keo Umpiel and the other his bard friend who Michael had stolen the invitation from. "Ah, before you do anything else, what's that?!" he suddenly exclaims, pointing at the front of the hall.

"Say cheese!" he laughs as they all turn to look, their eyes rapidly blinking from the flash of a camera he was telekinetically manipulating. It zips into his hand and he kicks the table over while standing up, "You know, the Empire hasn't tolerated any Daedric worship ever since the Oblivion Crises... What do you think will happen when I show them each of your faces?"

. . .

The place is silent, the more prominent and cowardly members in attendance quickly pale and begin to sweat at the threat. If their membership in this organisation was made known then not only them, but their families and businesses would be utterly decimated not long after.

"YOU DARE THREATEN THE SERVANTS OF CLAVICUS VILE!?" Clexto roars, more at seeing his congregation cower than anything else.

Michael snickers, "Of course I do! What're you going to do about it!?" he gestures at the robed figure next to Clexto, "And don't think I forgot about you, shorty! I'll pay you back for what you did!" he states to what was obviously Tabitha. They don't so anything in reply of course, the continued subjugation of Clavicus Vile all but removing any ability to control herself.

He looks to the armoured guy next to them, the stench of evil was pretty apparent, and reminded him somewhat of Barbas mixed with the Ebony Blade. "You? I don't know. But you're going to die today either way!"