Chapter XL: The Solitude Catacombs
(General pov)
"Explain." commanded a frowning Rikke.
After taking one last look at Savos and confirming that he was no longer bleeding out Reyvin started pacing around to calm his nerves and spoke: "Unfortunately it seems that the spirit of Potema these idiots summoned was not completely banished to the afterlife when I destroyed her body, she is likely reconstituting herself within her resting place and if we follow usual Nordic traditions she is most likely already raising the followers that were buried with her."
A nervous Torygg shifted uncomfortably "You are certain that it was Potema?"
Reyvin raises a tired finger "Highly proficient in the thu'um" then another "They were quite literally calling her out when we entered." and one final finger "A lich so powerful it laid Savos on his ass."
The King sighed and nodded with a grumble "Yes, that doesn't leave all that many options but her."
Pretending not to already know Reyvin asked "Where was she buried anyway?"
Torygg cupped his chin in thought and after a moment answered with fear in his voice "I do believe she was still given the honor of the Solitude catacombs, even after her crimes."
"We need to get there yesterday." Reyvin said immediately.
Torygg paled "You don't mean..."
"Yup." Reyvin nodded with false cheer "Ole' Potema is probably resurrecting herself in one of the greatest concentrations of powerful remains in Skyrim as we speak, and if we don't get there quickly there won't be a city to come back to."
Rikke's almost perpetual frown deepened "It would take at least a day for our tired men to reach Solitude, and that is if we left the wounded behind which is not happening."
"There is a way to deal with this." Reyvin's tone was grave "If we were to get there quickly enough we could interrupt her revival and stop her from unleashing whatever she would do in her maddened state."
Sybille could see where he was going with this and sighed deeply.
Torygg looked at him oddly "We already established that it would take us a day to get there."
"Yes, it would take you a day to return."
Rikke rolled her eyes "Just get to the point Vy- *cough* Reyvin."
Chuckling at Rikke's slip of the tongue Reyvin pointed to Sybille and then to himself "The two of us could get there very quickly and gather a force to enter the catacombs, we would need written orders from the King to expedite things, but if we were to leave now we could get there in time."
Torygg didn't even wait for a further explanation and immediately commanded Falk to bring out some parchment and ink, which he carried with him for such situations.
Reyvin blinked in surprise, and while he was waiting for the King to finish his work he felt a cold hand grasp his shoulder and turned to see a somewhat annoyed Sybille giving him a half-lidded stare "How nice of you to volunteer me for this little quest." she drawled quietly.
He merely huffed "Oh come off it, you know damn well that if that city falls and Potema of all damn dragonbloods gets to live again we won't be just fucked, we will be-" He goes on to describe in great detail the depths of depravity only imaginable in a hentai.
Sybille blanches, making him laugh quietly "You rip a man's heart out with your bare hands, but a little degeneracy is what makes you flinch, eh?"
She gave him a disgusted look that screamed the question 'a little!?', but then her expression shifted to a more mischievous one as she purred into his ear "Is this what you fantasize about whenever you stare at me?"
"Of course not woman, I am a man of culture, not a degenerate." He huffed in faux-offence.
Her look was now stuck in a transition from amused to completely baffled, and before she could ask what exactly he meant, the King was done with his work and handed a sealed letter to her "Show this to Ingvar, he should get you the plans of the catacombs and gather the Thanes and guards to follow you down."
She nodded and turned to Reyvin, who was busy feeding another regeneration potion to the unconscious Savos. She rolled her eyes "You said it yourself that he will live, why waste the potions if he can just regenerate himself whenever he wakes up?"
He shrugged and continued with what he was doing "And me helping him out with it could be the difference between him being in time to help save us or being too tired to move."
Sybille blinked "That's fair."
Once Reyvin was done with Savos he got up and clapped his hands "Well, enjoy the trek back to the city kids, I am off to possibly die and become an eternal slave to a mad queen!" and with a loud pop he disappeared from his spot.
Sybille giggled at this and looked at the now baffled group "What he said." and also disappeared from her spot.
Falk grunted in annoyance "This is why I hate mages."
Rikke chuckled "You are just jealous you can't do it yourself."
Before their banter could go on a cough from the King "We should get back to the troops, they might be weakened but the vampires and necromancers could still push us back."
Rikke looked a bit ashamed at this and quickly rushed downstairs.
Falk however, stopped next to Torygg and placed a hand on his shoulder "Your father would be proud if he saw you today."
Torygg smiled melancholically "He is no doubt in Sovengarde, feasting with the great heroes and making jokes about the foolish mistakes I made."
The Steward chuckled "No doubt with a proud smile the entire time, now let us get back to the fight, eh?"
With a determined look, the King once again unsheathed his blade and headed back to finish culling the undead.
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(Reyvin's pov)
With a loud pop I appear in my room atop the wizard's tower.
Thankfully after Savos' little slip up I made sure to add stabilizers to the marked spots so I didn't have to spill my guts this time.
I made my way to Sybille's room and knocked, she quickly opened the door now dressed in completely new robes. I give her a blank look "We are in a rush and you had the time to dress up?"
She scoffs "We are about to descend into the lair of Potema, if I am to die I will die looking good."
I roll my eyes and head to the tower's balcony, not caring one bit about the dumb law I levitate down to the bottom and, followed by a Sybille who simply jumped down I rush to the throne room.
As we rush through the palace, the servants and guards step out of our way almost on instinct after seeing us, and we quickly find ourselves in the throne room, where the Thanes and palace steward are gathered for an evening meeting.
Everyone's gazes shift to us and the surprise turns into confusion when they remember where we are supposed to be, before they can start questioning us I rise a hand and say "Long story short, we won but Potema Septim is about to revive herself in her catacombs, we need maps and we need men, now!"
It takes me a good five minutes to calm everyone down, but after I explain the situation in more detail and Sybille shows them the King's message we quickly find ourselves standing in front of the temple of the divines, followed by a troop of palace guards and housecarls, before a very worried looking priest.
"What do you think you are doing, bringing armed men to this sacred ground?" The same old man I met when I first visited asks, offended.
Without a care for propriety I grab the man's shoulders and stare him down "We need to enter the damn catacombs now old man or the entire city is fucked."
"I can't just let you in!" He stammers.
Holding back an eyeroll I take a deep breath "If I am wrong, may the gods strike me down, we don't have the time to bicker so, the key if you please. NOW."
The bearded old man stares into my eyes, looking for something, after a while he nods gravely "The first time you came you did pay proper homage to the gods, and you seem burdened with purpose." He untangles himself from my grasp with a huff and waves at me to follow "Very well I will take your oath seriously."
He lets us in and shows us they way to the entrance of the catacombs.
"If you truly are right and the city is in danger, then may Arkay sharpen your blades and Stendarr embolden your shields." The priest prays as we descend, as I am about to enter myself I hear him say "And may Kyne grant your her breath."
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(General pov)
The group of guards and nobles trudged through the ancient burial grounds with unease, none of them expected to be forced into a fight today, especially not against a foe this daunting.
Erikur was a perfect example of this, as the twitching Nord Thane made sure to place himself in the rear of the formation, even behind his pet mage, and armed his shaky hands with an expensive looking crossbow, made more for decoration than combat.
Bryling was another story, she bravely and boldly walked at the speartip, followed by her own housecarls who, much like her, were armed with grim determination and heirloom blades.
The two court mages and palace steward were busy looking at the map and directing the formation toward the correct tomb from it's center, one mistake here and they could get lost for days.
After almost an hour of uncomfortable silence and shifting tunnels, they found themselves before an iron door, engraved upon it was a crowned wolf, bearing the symbol of the Septim dynasty.
"This is definitely the place" Reyvin muttered "Even without the iconography, the aura practically screams 'big bad lich bitch'"
Erikur shifts uncomfortably and hisses "Are you sure you should be joking right now, she could hear us!"
Reyvin lets out a hollow laugh "My good man, I just stabbed the madwoman with Meridia's sword, if she needed a reason to be angry at me it surely wouldn't be a bit of mockery."
"Oh..."
"A tale worthy of song, if true." Bryling says, doubt lacing her words.
As Reyvin is pushing the doors apart he shrugs "Well to be fair, good old Savos did batter her and practically throw me at her, but I did end up stabbing her so it counts!"
Before she could comment, and the moment he opened the door a wave of dread spread among them, it wasn't a spell or a curse, just the pure feeling of death and power waiting inside.
With false cheer Reyvin clapped his hands "Well ladies and gentlemen, time to die a horrible death!" and with a cackle rushed into the damned tomb, leaving behind a bunch of scared Nords.
Sybille rolled her eyes and followed him while muttering "That damned boy will be the death of me."
The rest were stunned by the mage's nonchalance, but quickly collected themselves and rushed in.
(Reyvin's pov)
Wheew, if I wasn't about to be buried down here and have my corpse molested in all manner of uncomfortable ways I would consider the place to be beautiful.
White marble all the way holding statues and engravings of past deeds and accomplishments, even a plaque begging the god's forgiveness for the Queen's deeds.
I do slow down for the rest to catch up, going in alone is idiocy.
As we go deeper, the marble halls make way for grey stone, slowly shifting from a work of art to a classic Nordic burial ground. And as the look shifts, so does the magic, and the moment I stepped into the next level a wave of necromantic magic exploded and we were met with the growls of draugr.
Here we go again...
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I shall require your powerstones to contain Potema's soul!
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