DRAGONBORN Z - Tumblr Posts

Visiting Rosewood Manor/Meeting Viggo

     It's been a long road to Ustengrav, and Ravenna is about fed up with it by the time they get back out. With arms filled by only disappointment and a mysterious letter and no horn to speak of, the four adventurers trudge back to Dawnstar for some decidedly necessary time to process and decompress. Ravenna makes sure to take a bath at the inn that lasts nearly an hour, and she comes out with her hair tied half-up, smelling of roses and lilies. Lucien ducks into the backroom of the inn right after her for his own bath, and Ravenna sits down in a far corner of the inn, experimenting with her magic while she listens to Inigo hum along to the awful singing of the innkeepers daughter. Kaidan, who had been sat at the bar, shuffles over to check out what she's doing, and maybe get a better grasp of her character, after the young boy who lives in the inn takes notice of it and asks Ravenna to turn him invisible (which she only pretends to do).

"What have you been getting up to over here?" he asks.

"Playing with light refraction to see how it affects my illusion spells," she says, too focused on her work to notice the awkwardly vacant expression that washes over Kaidan's face. He exchanges glances with Inigo for help, but the Khajiit shrugs unhelpfully. Ravenna pretends she doesn’t notice any of this interaction from her seat between the two of them.

"Go on," he says slowly, unsure of himself.

"Well, doing this is quite tricky, but it seems like this method could reduce the magicka cost on illusion casting exponentially- I just need to refine the method a little bit." Kaidan tries very hard not to show how utterly lost he is as he nods along. "Yeah, of course," he tries. Ravenna suddenly drops her hands, her spell fading from her fingertips. She turns to look at him.

"You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you Kaidan." She is not asking. "Not a damn clue," he admits, "It's interesting to hear you talk about it though-”  “It’s a curse! It has to be! I - “ a woman across the inn breaks down before a priest of Mara, and suddenly, Ravenna gets tangled in someone else's weird drama and they end up leaving early and moving to finish recuperating at Ravenna's family manor.      Rosewood manor is a distant home on the border of Falkreath, the Reach just past its backyard. The home itself is large and equipped, with a showroom and training space in a separate building, a forge outside between that and the main house, a lovely outdoor kitchen for entertaining guests, and a study that is already covered in Ravenna's magical resources - journals aplenty have been filled in her handwriting over the years. She tours them through the home, shows them the balconies, archery perch, her own room in case they need help finding their way around, and anything else she can imagine they might need. They do have to discuss who stays where in the house, as there are two guestrooms in the main wing of the house and a last guest space in the loft of the master bedroom where Ravenna herself will stay; the space is cramped and seems like it was added in almost as an afterthought, and Inigo decides to volunteer for that space, being the smallest of the three men, and certainly the most comfortable with Ravenna so far, despite being the newest addition to their travelling company. Once that is figured out however, Ravenna retires for the day almost immediately after showing them around. It's nearly 2 in the afternoon already, and she still has to bathe, so as her three companions retreat to the other wing of the house for the day, they all expect not to see her again for several long hours.      "AAAAAAH!!!!" Ravenna shrieks from somewhere upstairs, the sound accompanied by a loud thud. Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan collectively waste no time rushing upstairs from where they had been reclining in her exuberant living room - and in Lucien's case, the kitchen, to see what exactly is amiss. When they start up the spiral staircase, they see the beginnings of why she is in such distress. When she gave them a tour of her family's manor earlier, the mannequin at the very top of the stairs had been, in fact, at the top of the stairs. Now, however, it seems to have relocated itself to block the doorway into the master bedroom. Ravenna's hair is still wet, and the floral scents of her soaps and perfumes waft into the stairwell from the room behind her. She's wearing only a short, blue silk nightgown - like she's about to go to bed, which she probably is. The whole scene paints a fairly clear picture of what's happened, leaving only one question unanswered.

"Uhm, how did that mannequin get there?" Lucien asks Ravenna, who is breathing heavily. Inigo flicks his tail curiously and scrunches his face. "Something smells off in here," he says, and it seems to be all the khajiit really has to add for the moment as his head swivels around, searching for answers. Kaidan is looking over Ravenna first, the room second, joining Inigo in his search for answers, though probably not seeking the same answers as their feline ally about the vampiress. Their view is quickly blocked off, however, by a herculean man with long salt-and-pepper hair and beard, both combed and braided meticulously to keep them out of his face. He towers over the scene, standing at what must be almost 9 feet tall, maybe taller, and the finery he wears is uniform, like something you might expect to see on the chief housecarl of a noble house. His skin is deathly pale, in a way that echoes Ravenna’s paleness. Putting it plainly, he looks as if he could be her father, other than the drastic difference in their stature.

“What have I taught you, Little Bird, about how to behave when an enemy has caught you off guard?” He asks. His voice is low, and deep; his tone, authoritative and commanding. The accent he speaks in is not the more current, modern Nordic accent, but instead an ancient ancestor to the modern Nordic accent.

“Never let them know how surprised I truly am,” Ravenna answers back with a huff as she pulls herself off the ground, “As if any intruder in the estate could ever get past you, Viggo.” Viggo’s lips quirk briefly, the barest hint of a smile he’s likely to offer his student while her allies are present. He glances back at her party, not to look at them exactly, but as a cue to Ravenna. “You have chosen your allies well. As soon as they believed you were in danger they came running.”

“If you’d like to speak to them, they are right there,” Ravenna replies flatly.

“Indeed, forgive me for being so inhospitable,” he replies like he isn’t going to do it again for the next group of so-called friends she takes up with, before finally turning to face Ravenna’s allies.

“Come, a lady’s bedchamber is no place to conduct introductions,” he instructs, moving the mannequin and herding them all back into the living room. Nobody dares raise an argument with him, and they all settle into the living area, including Ravenna, who seems to be the only one really at ease with him in the room. Even the usually jovial and unflinching Inigo is abnormally rigid.

     “Well met,” Viggo says, in a tone that suggests this meeting is quite the opposite, “I am Viggo Eskildsen, housecarl and steward to Ravenna and the Rosewood estate.” He looks at them all expectantly.

“Err, good to meet you?” Inigo tries, regaining his confidence as he continues, “I am called Inigo. I am grateful to be considered welcome here, in my friend’s home.” This seems to appease Viggo, more or less, and the hulking man offers him a respectful enough bow of his head. 

“My name is Kaidan, good to meet you,” Kaidan offers, ripping off the bandage without enthusiasm and barely making eye contact. Viggo’s gaze on the other hand becomes more pointed in response.

“Right,” is all he says.

“Uhm, my name is Lucien Flavius, sir. It is wonderful to meet you and an honor to be traveling with miss Ravenna,” Lucien replies, his voice shaking hinting at his true anxiety but otherwise keeping his composure surprisingly well.

“Very good, then. Well, for as long as you all have Ravenna’s approval, you gentlemen are welcome in this estate. I will probably more often be in my own home while all of you are here, but it is not far. If I am needed, Ravenna will always be able to reach me. And, Ravenna?” He turns back to her again, and her eyelids are drooping heavily, but she is listening, nodding to him, “I would like to speak with you in private.”

“Funny,” she says in a sleep-softened voice, “I was about to ask the same of you.” Viggo nods, standing and following the drowsy Ravenna further into the home, leaving Inigo, Lucien, and Kaidan to their own devices in the living room.

     “Soooooooo,” Lucien is first to open the discussion once the intimidating Nord has left, “He’s a character.”

“That is one way to put it. He did not seem pleased to be meeting us, that is for sure,” Inigo agrees.

“Yes, I wonder why that is? After all, it’s not like we did anything wrong, that I know of.”

“Personally I don’t hope we’ll be here long enough to find out. He seemed off, for more reasons than just the obvious,” Kaidan comments.

“It is hard to distinguish since Ravenna is a vampire also, but I think he must have been one too. They don’t smell exactly the same, but they did smell similarly undead. Do you think that might be what seemed so strange to you?” Inigo asks.

“Probably,” Kaidan admits, folding his arms and leaning back in his seat, “I can’t stand vampires.” Lucien raises a brow at that. “If you can’t stand vampires, why travel with Ravenna?”

“It’s not as if I necessarily want to. But I owe her a debt, and I don’t like owing people. Especially not vampires,” he says. Inigo whistles. “What kind of debt must a man like yourself owe to make you work with a vampire, if you mistrust them so much?” Kaidan sighs heavily, before he finally answers.

“Ravenna saved my life.”

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     Ravenna and Viggo step into her study, away from her three allies.

“Things have gotten very complicated,” Ravenna starts immediately once they’ve settled in.

“Complicated how?” Viggo asks patiently, “Start from the beginning.”

“On my way back here from the crypt, the Vigil of Stendarr cornered me just outside the hold capital in the forest. They know.”

“That is very near to the estate, are you sure you haven’t led them here?”

“I don’t think so, Lucien sent quite a few of them tearing through Cyrodiil looking for me instead, and the last handful followed us out to Riften, but we were already leaving right when they got there.”

“Good, if any others were in pursuit, I would’ve found them out already. That little Imperial helped you?”

“They are all helping me. They all know that I’m a vampire already.”

That makes Viggo raise his eyebrows at her. “Ravenna, are you certain that is wise?”

“Who knows. We’ve been through worse than just having three people who know, but in every case it was prompted by circumstance. I’d argue we’ve all got bigger things to worry about now, anyway. Have you heard about the dragons coming back at all?”

“I have. I have also heard that a new Dragonborn has been summoned to High Hrothgar. The gods are already working to set things back into balance.”

“Right. And speaking of that newly announced Dragonborn, guess who that is,” Ravenna announces with pretend enthusiasm. Viggo’s whole face shifts.

“No - you? Are you sure?”

“Sort of hard to misunderstand suddenly absorbing the souls of dragons after it’s happened to you, I’m afraid. I’ve already been learning words in the dragon language too - and using them. This is happening, whether we want it to or not.”

“Oh, Little Bird,” Viggo sighs sympathetically, “The burdens of destiny should never have fallen onto you.”

“I feel like the godly idea that any one person should be responsible for saving the world is frankly a major design flaw, even if having a giant spotlight the size of all Skyrim suddenly being put on me wasn’t sure to cause issue enough,” she replies with her face scrunched in distaste.

“You will have to be even more careful from now on, that is for certain. But, whatever becomes of this, know that I will always be here to support you. I hope your chosen allies will continue to feel the same as well, divines save them if they do not.” Ravenna nudges him with her elbow.

“I’ve been with them for a week and a half, you’ve met them for fifteen seconds. It’s too early for making threats.”

“Agree to disagree.”