[Encanto] 20 – Travels

[A/N: A lot of info this chapter, :p]

As it turns out, Azura was quite specific about the Shrine I was to build, and, of course, it just had to be even more grand of a building than the 'Temple of the Divines' in Solitude, Skyrim's current capital. Said temple wasn't exactly a grand temple, all things considered, but it was the best temple in Skyrim, all things considered, but it was the best temple I could go off of.

Another thing to note is that the explicit and public worship of the Daedra is...well, not exactly welcomed by most of civilization. An order existed that actively hunted down Deadra Worshipers and the users of Dark Magic, or Cursed with Lycanthropy or Vamparisim. These were the Vigilints of Stendarr, and they roamed Skyrim in groups of one to three. They even had an outpost south of Dawnstar in the Mountains where they could recuperate and resupply. 

During the events of the game, their headquarters and everyone present would be wiped out by Vampires, leaving the few wandering Vigilints of Stendarr to fight the Vampire menace alongside the aid of the Dawnguard, essentially professional Vampire Hunters.

The problem is that if I were to create such a place for worship Azura, these Vigilints would no doubt cause trouble for me and the worshipers. So...I'd need to set some rules or keep everything secret, but that would be a problem for me in the future.

If I was going to make a dedicated temple and shrine to Azura...why stop with her? Some other somewhat agreeable Deadric Princes existed. Do not get me wrong; there were some pure evil Daedric Princes, the prime example being that of Molag Bal, the Prince of Domination, Enslavement, Schemes, and more. Of the Daedric Gods, he was the best example of the typical 'Devil' or 'Demon' Archetype from Earth.

There was even a 'Good' Daedric Prince among the group, that Prince being Meridia, Goddess of Light. She had a temple here in Skyrim, south of Solitude, but it was decrepit, and she had little to no following in Skyrim.

Besides her, the others were either neutral in some way or downright evil.

Of the neutral Deadric Princes, there existed, in my opinion, Hircine, Prince of the Hunt, Hermaeus Mora, Prince of Knowledge and Secrets, Malacath, Prince of Vengence and Orcs, and Sanguine, Prince of Revelery, with the possibility of including Sheogorath, Prince of Madness, and Nocturnal, Prince of Luck and Thievery. 

The rest, Mehrunes Dagon, Boethia, Mephala, Clavicus Vile, Vaermina, Peiryte, and Namira, were no-goes.

They'd all likely kill me for the hell of it, or backstab me, or curse me with nightmares for the rest of my mortal life, or even curse me with sicknesses and diseases, the Neutral Princes and Meridia could likely be bargained with.

So, what exactly was I planning? The answer was simple: Why stop making such a grand temple solely for Azura's worship alone? 

That's right; if I could, I'd make a deal with these other Princes in exchange for some of their particular artifacts and favors, but once again, that was all for the future, as I'd need to acquire Gold to build the temple in the first place, along with getting into the town's good graces.

Taking a deep breath, I felt my arms begin to shake as my arms struggled to stay up.

I sat atop one of the college towers; my arms were raised to the side of my body, and my hands faced the sky. Flowing around my body was a constantly rotating sphere of snow within a rotating around a shifting dodecahedron. I manually rotated each particle of snow as these shapes constantly rotated and shifted around my person. This was one of the training exercises I was doing regarding my gift to help me with my control and endurance. 

The more I trained with my gift, the more I found that it grew like a muscle. This meant I could strain my gift and weaken it temporarily if I messed with more than I could chew. So, once every day, I trained with my gift, pushing it to the extreme but stopping myself from moving further and straining myself too far.

Freezing all the snow in the air, I lowered my arms, releasing my hold on the snow and letting it fall to the ground around and on me. Because of [Sun's Embrace], it quickly melted and dissipated into steam. Yet despite the apparent heat of [Sun's Embrace], the snow around me didn't melt, and I felt only a warm coat around my body.

Floating up to my feet, I walked to the tower's edge and looked out to the Sea of Ghosts. Icebergs littered the Sea of Ghosts alongside a sparse few Ice Wraiths, making it a treacherous sea to traverse, yet out in its waters was the repaired ex-pirate ship turned fishing vessel I gifted to the Jarl. With a slight wave of my hand, Magicka flowed to my eyes, shifting their shape to resemble more like a bird's, gifting me unparalleled vision, allowing me to see the men aboard as they hoisted up nets made of rope. Inside these nets were fish, crabs, and other oceanic creatures that would supply the city with plenty of food and yet another source of income if they decided to sell some of the fish they caught.

Though they'd need to sell further south, past Windhelm, which had its fishing vessels, it would probably sell better in Whiterun, the city that sat near the middle of Skyrim and sat at the center of all the roads paved across Skyrim.

Shaking my head, I stepped off the tower's edge and began falling towards the ground before catching myself with my gift and slowing my descent. As I glided through the air, I reached out with my power as I sailed over the Sea of Ghosts. I was looking for a particular Dwemer Vault hidden under a small island north of Winterhold.

A certain Daedric Artifact was held within said buried vault, or at least it will be if it's not already there. This artifact, known as the Oghma Infinium, was a large book with a cover made from 'skins' that was said to 'Contain the knowledge of the Ages' and was written by Xarxes, the 'Ageless One,' Wizard Sage, and Scribe. Hermaeus Mora, the Deadric Prince of Knowledge, Secrets, and Fate, owned the Daedric Artifact. Hermaeus Mora was by far the most eldritch of the Deadric Princes, and he was quite...prideful and, without a doubt, would try to extract all of my secrets and knowledge, as that is what he desired and kill me once he thought he had everything. 

In the game, he would betray his last champion in exchange for the service of a new one, the Last Dragonborn, the player. It was a poisoned chalice of a deal; it would be sweet at first, but the poison would quickly take away your sense of taste and leave you wanting for more, slowly poisoning the rest of you, your body, mind, and soul, till there was nothing left but a husk of what you once were. 

However, his influence outside his realm was...limited, so I was not afraid to confront him, especially since I planned to add more...arcane protection to myself in the coming weeks that would prevent him from doing anything to me outside his realm. Besides, if I were stuck in Skyrim for a few more years, I'd undoubtedly interfere with his champion's plans on Solstheim and try to obtain the Black Books, another set of artifacts created by Hermeaus Mora.

Stopping in the air, I took a deep breath before extending my range massively, feeling everything around me for a few miles with my gift, and that's when I noticed something that was, much to my surprise, invisible to my senses. That hasn't happened before...

Flying to it, I reached out, feeling the void in space, and floated down to a small island. Reaching out, the dirt and sand beneath me parted, forming a small tunnel straight down. Before floating down the tunnel, I shoved the dirt around me away, making incredibly compact dirt walls as a small chamber formed around me.

A large metal boxular structure, the vault I was looking for, was lodged within the dirt wall before me. Feeling out with both Magicka and my gift, I frowned in annoyance at feeling nothing; not even with my gift could I feel or touch the giant vault before me.

Reaching out with my hand, I placed my hand on the surface of the metal box, and I tried channeling my magicka and gift directly into the golden dwemer metal, but I still felt nothing. How? That did not make any sense; it was as if the vault didn't exist and repelled everything around it. Was this some tonal magic at play? 

Tonal Magic, the specialization and forte of the Dwemer Race, allowed them to manipulate reality through unique sounds. It was how they built their cities, automata, and many grand artifacts, such as a vault explicitly constructed to house an Elder Scroll. 

With the Dwemer's disappearance, their unique magic disappeared with them, and if I remember correctly, you needed dwemer blood to open the vault. However, the mage that would have excavated this vault in the future managed to bypass it by using blood from the Mer races. How did that translate to artificial Dwemer blood? I had no idea, but if he could do it, so could I... I thought that would require some research and experimentation to see if the vault had any defenses that my tampering would set off.

Sighing, I floated out of the chamber, refilling the entrance, and flew back to the College. With that out of the way, I could start preparing for my little trip across Skyrim to get Azura's Star, but not before I talk to my teacher. As much as I did not want to, I knew I'd have to discuss my deals with him, especially concerning my plans with the College, Winterhold, and Skyrim in general.

I suspected he already knew I had some ambitious plans but was waiting for me to tell him myself. He was annoyingly patient like that, but that was a good quality a teacher can have, in my opinion. Forcing a student to tell you about something could make the situation so much worse if my first life were any indicator, not to mention the fact that the teachers here were far more competent than any I knew from Earth, besides a select few.

Descending to the central tower's roof, above the Archmage's quarters and the College's library, I expanded my senses, feeling the Archmage in his quarters, tending to his small alchemical garden.

Taking a deep breath, I awkwardly opened the doors atop the tower and descended a flight of stairs, stepping into Savo's quarters.

"Salem," Savos greeted, not even turning around. His hand glowed a soft green light that basked over the plants at the center of his quarters.

"I need to talk to you," I babbled, not meeting his eye as he turned around, curious.

"Yes, Salem? What is it?" He asked, stepping away from his plants.

"I haven't been entirely truthful," I answered with a hesitant smile, getting a raised eyebrow in response.

"As you know, I didn't exactly arrive here intentionally," I spoke, getting a nod from Savos.

"Yes, I am well aware," Savos chuckled, gesturing to a table with two chairs nearby. Thanking him, I sat down across from him.

"Despite your unintentional arrival, we are proud to have you here, and I am proud to have you as my student," he smiled as he took a sip from some tea that magically appeared in his hands.

Taking a deep breath, I spoke, "I am not from this world."