Realm of Games #1: Skyrim

Chapter 16

"Solsteim is an island off the coast of Morrowind, which is the home of my people. After the Red Mountain blew chunks, Solsteim, a once fertile and thriving island, became covered with ash.  Now only three settlements remain on the island. Raven Rock is the port we will arrive at first. It's a dark elf settlement with one or two Nords. Then there's the Skaal village, a settlement of Nords up on the mountain. Finally, there's Tel Mythrin. An eccentric old wizard lives there with his servants, it's rather bizarre."

They listened attentively, so I continued. "There is a Thalmor presence there as well, hiding up the mountain from Raven Rock.

"Now about Miraak. He's a tough old bird to beat and even more so because he's in Apocrypha, Hermaeus Mora's realm of Oblivion."

Celesty looked puzzled. "How do we get to him? Is there a portal?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes. There are five portals to Apocrypha, and we will have to go through them all. They're known as Black Books, books full of forbidden knowledge. That is what Apocrypha is, the realm of forbidden knowledge."

Ventus and Celesty looked excited. "That sounds fun! Are there lots of enemies to kill?" Celesty asked. For a mild mannered wood elf, she was surprisingly bloodthirsty. Good at it, too.

"Yes, there are, you bloodthirsty freak," I laughed. She grinned and blushed. "It's a dungeon of a sort, just in Skyrim's version of hell rather than in Skyrim itself."

"So, Apocrypha is, what? A pocket dimension of hell?" Arina asked.

I nodded. "Put simply, yeah, that's exactly what it is. It's just pretty dangerous.  There are a number of enemies in Solsteim itself, but the main ones are ash spawn, and they're susceptible to ice magic. That's all for tonight. Let's get to bed, guys."

As Celesty climbed into bed, I went to roll over when she asked me one more question. "Can we beat him?"

I smiled at her. "Of course we can."