An illustrated Skyrim story beyond the fall of the Dark Brotherhood~
After a surreal event, Cicero is inexplicably thrown back into a clear state of mind and his memories from his life prior to his madness return. We begin to learn who he really is...
The new year is off to a great start! Since the Night Mother's return to the flesh several months ago, the Dark Brotherhood has taken a fresh breath of life itself. The souls of the five children of Sithis have been placed into mortal bodies to lead the future Uprising. Each will become a Speaker for one of the old Sanctuaries around Tamriel. Mother has tasked me to instruct them in both combat training and the knowledge of the elders. No longer a mere Keeper, I've been honored with the new role of Knower. Being the last of the original Dark Brotherhood following, it is my obligation to make sure that this knowledge is carried forth. Never again can we allow another occurrence like what happened in Falkreath. Faith in the words of the Night Mother and the rule of the Dread Father must be instilled into future generations of the Brotherhood.
The former Listener and Dragonborn has abruptly resigned from the Family and I only have myself to blame. Due to the personal nature of that situation, it does not need to be documented here. However, her absence is noticed. At least, by me. Mother has instructed me to move on and focus on the future of the Uprising. The Listener's role is no longer required so my commitments to her are severed. I am sworn to obey.
For reasons unknown, the Wrath is still present in the Sanctuary. I was led to believe he was merely a flesh vessel to bring the direct word of Sithis and to perform the ritual to resurrect the souls of the Ancient Blood. While interactions are few and far between, I'm quite surprised to find that the Daedra himself has his own separate personality; one resembling that of an angry adolescent. Ironically, he lives up to his moniker in way of threatening attitude. With his stature being well over seven feet and his mass close to that of two grown men, it's best to just let him throw his weight around and simply stay out of the way. When inquiring to Mother about his purpose, she seems to deflect. I suppose it's none of my business anyway. The Uprising could use all the help it can get.
The Children of the Ancient Blood have been divided into two groups for more targeted training. Wrath announced that he would be taking Meegs the multi-skilled Argonian, Quen the destruction mage High Elf, and Tripp-... I'm still not sure what that Khajiit is skilled in besides smoking ungodly amounts of skooma while downing tankard after tankard of mead all without moving an inch for hours at a time. He wears mage robes, but I feel it's merely for comfort to compliment his lazy lifestyle.
Wrath has given me the "honor" of training the melee students. Krow the Redguard and Rage the Orsimer. Krow is small and very agile, but after my foiled attempt to retrieve his body for soul transfer which resulted in his death... his cognitive skills appear limited and sporadic. He has been quite a handful. Keeping his attention is almost impossible and he seems to be confused by the memories of his own murder. He has tried to assail me many times. I've unfortunately sustained a few injuries from the blade-like talons he wears on his fingers. Though they are very useful for him in hand-to-hand combat and even aid in his uncanny ability to scale porous surfaces, I am unfamiliar with the skill involved when utilizing such a weapon. Hence, I am unable to train him with it any further than his vessel's previous knowledge.
As for the Orc, she's also taken to making my job more difficult than necessary. She may be physically the strongest of the five, but her head is also in the clouds. Focus is not her strong suit and having Krow also constantly doing his own thing, I've found it challenging to get anything done. Rage's disturbing flirtatious nature has also made things... awkward.
I understand that these vessels carry the souls of the Night Mother and Dread Father's children who were sacrificed as infants. But therein lies the problem. I've been basically trying to give advanced stealth and combat training to a couple of kids with the bodies of mentally disturbed adults. The potential is there, I know it is. I just can't seem to tap into it. Their former identities remain intact within their brains, which was the point of their acquisition. We want those pre-existing skills, but there seem to be a lot of factors disrupting the souls' ability to properly utilize them-... Well, Krow gets a pass on that one. My blade penetrating the back of his skull would be the disrupting factor in his case... I suppose I deserve this. I've sabotaged myself.
14th of Morning Star, 4E 202
I've decided today that I'm going to take my students out for their first real assassinations. Mother has permitted me to choose the targets myself based on local and personal knowledge of their societal standing. In other words, these marks may not have been officially contracted, but objectively, they have it coming. I've made sure to set the date for the assassinations for the 15th of Morning Star. Tomorrow. It is the day of the South Wind's Prayer and the masses should be too distracted by the event to notice even if there's a slight error.
The first target is for Krow. This one is quite personal to me and I feel he would learn a lot from it. He is to take out a farmer who resides just outside of Whiterun. We will arrive early in the morning just before sunrise. To test his stealth, Krow will be instructed to not alert the wife and vacate the residence after the kill without being detected. It would be a simple job for me, but with Krow's inability to stay focused, it might prove to be a useful learning experience for him. No matter what happens, I'll be there as a backup to clean up any mishaps... and I assume there will be plenty.
And of course, the other target goes to Rage. Her mark will be in the city limits of Whiterun; a wealthy and well-despised Redguard who also owns a farm near the city. There's been gossip that his wife has been considering ordering a hit, so this one's on the house, so to speak. He spends very little time at his farm and is almost always spotted near the marketplace toting political and condescending banter, often riling up locals with his toxic rhetoric. His sudden absence will be quickly noticed, but also easily forgiven by the residents. With the South Wind's Prayer event calling the masses to the temple of Kynareth at the center of town, the target should be pretty easy to take out amongst the chaos. I feel Rage has a bit more potential to pull this off cleanly than her brother does with his task. But, as stated, if things go south, I will pull them out and clean up the mess myself.
On a personal note: I've grown quite confident with my physical capabilities in the last few months. Not only have I been training the Ancient Blood, but I've been retraining myself. I've regained much of my muscle mass from before I went into hiding in Cheydinhal many years ago. In other words, I'm back to being as physically fit as I was in my early twenties. I'm pleased to no longer be slipping into the life of a frail old malnourished man. ̷I̷ ̷d̷o̷n̷'̷t̷ ̷t̷h̷i̷n̷k̷ ̷J̷a̷d̷e̷ ̷w̷o̷u̷l̷d̷ ̷e̷v̷e̷n̷ ̷r̷e̷c̷o̷g̷n̷i̷z̷e̷ ̷m̷e̷.̷ ̷S̷h̷e̷ ̷a̷l̷w̷a̷y̷s̷ ̷h̷a̷d̷ ̷a̷ ̷t̷h̷i̷n̷g̷ ̷f̷o̷r̷ ̷m̷e̷n̷ ̷w̷i̷t̷h̷ ̷m̷u̷s̷c̷l̷e̷.̷.̷.̷ ̷m̷a̷y̷b̷e̷ ̷s̷h̷e̷'̷d̷ ̷ ̷a̷c
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As for my mental state, I've been able to think clearer as the weeks go on. Not having that Daedric weapon influencing my judgment has definitely helped. However, my dreams have been haunting my subconscious lately. Occasionally I recall something emotional that I can't quite put my finger on. A lingering anxiety as if I'm supposed to be doing something or be somewhere... but I just can't remember. I think the stress of my current assignments is messing with my sleep. I wake up sore and restless... not that it matters. I've got more important matters to worry about than stress-induced nightmares.
