Chapter 103: Abuse devotion

The fear (well-founded or not) that Apelles Matius and his Legion cronies might at any time decide to 'liberate' Wolfen castle from me spurred me into action. Falorn - and my guardsmen - were right: I needed to prove to the world that I could be trusted. The course chosen for me (by a bunch of scared and I daresay drunken guards - but nevertheless) was to work with the Tribunal Temple - and of course I was already member and had worked with them before... which could only help.

In fact, I had never reported to Endryn Llethan - at the High Fane in Vivec - that I had completed my pilgrimage to the Sanctus shrine. Matters on Solstheim had distracted me - and then when I returned from the frozen island...

I decided to pay Endryn a visit: straight away, before the evening grew too late. Until then I had not dared remove my armour, for fear of attack: I had not changed since before becoming a vampire... since before my three-day trek around the island, in fact. After addressing my staff I retreated to my chambers to remove the Netch and Adamantium armour suit, before washing myself quickly in the breaking waves outside the castle walls.


I appeared outside the High Fane wrapped in a dark, hooded robe - hopefully indistinguishable from any other commoner or member of the Temple who had just used Almsivi Intervention to shorten a journey. Indeed, with my tell-tale glowing eyes hidden by the robe's hood, none of the golden-armoured Ordinators stationed about the Temple took the slightest notice of me. Light was showing through the windows and around the door to Endryn's office in the High Fane, so it appeared that he had not left for home yet.

I pushed my way through the door and came face to face with the priest. Unsurprisingly, Endryn started when he saw me... but so did I. The very instant I entered the room, it felt as if I had been dumped in scalding water! In fact, smoke was starting to issue from beneath the folds of my robe: the pain was terrible. Was it Endryn's doing?

"Stop it!" I growled, grabbing hold of his arms.

But the Dunmer priest merely looked confused - and terrified.

"Wh-what?" He gasped.

I glanced over his shoulder, and immediately had to squeeze my eyes shut. Several triolithic Temple shrines in the adjoining room were visible from where we stood, but I could not even look at them: it was like staring at the sun.

Throwing the petrified Endryn over my shoulder, I burst through the door and back into the night air. The burning sensation was gone as fast as it came, leaving my skin red and raw. So that was it... I could not even pass within holy structures anymore. Perhaps I was truly cursed in the eyes of the Temple.

I had a more pressing problem though: the Ordinators on duty there did not take kindly to the abduction of one of their priests, and were bearing down on me, weapons at the ready. Calling on my new 'Touch the clouds' spell, I leapt up to the top of the High Fane, well out of their reach. From there, still with Endryn over my shoulder, I leapt high, high into the sky, to land lightly on the top of the moon 'Baar Dau', that floated uncannily just above the Temple.

I set Endryn down, but kept a hold on his wrist, in case he tried to escape and fell from the massive floating boulder. He certainly looked scared out of his mind: too frightened to speak, even. I had to use both my Calming Touch and Charm spells to relax him enough for us to talk.

"Endryn, I'm very sorry for this: but I need to talk to you."

"Frost..." the priest said slowly, "you're Edward Frost. I sent you on the Sanctus pilgrimage... what happened? What have you done?"

"I completed the pilgrimage," I replied, "but..." And I told him my story: how I had let myself become a vampire to avoid dying - and how I wanted to prove myself to everyone by continuing to work for the Temple.

Endryn began to appear more relaxed, though still obviously under the effects of my Charm spell:

"Well Sera Frost, you'll understand if I can't send you on any... sensitive assignments. The rest of the Temple would likely throw me out if I sent you to cure the diseased, or somesuch - and they would refuse to recognise your contribution, too. However... recently they have been baying for the return of a particular relic... But I must say, this is quite unusual! A vampire asking to work for the Temple..."

In any case, Endryn went on to describe the relic they wanted returned, and afterwards I levitated the both of us back down to the great stone platform the High Fane rested upon. I set the priest down behind the building, out of sight of the swarming, searching and very angry Ordinators. I teleported away, leaving Endryn to return to his office and the inevitable questions as to what had happened.


So Endryn Llethan sent me on the first of a series of dangerous assignments (or 'shows of devotion') for the Tribunal. He, and later a priestess at the Ghostgate Temple named Uvoo Llaren, sent me all over the island to retrieve 'sacred relics' that had been somehow lost in hostile territory, or somewhere deep in the wilderness. Sometimes there was no pretence of an assignment being to recover Temple property: they simply sent me to kill someone - or a group of people. It was always Daedra worshippers, and I justified it to myself by reinforcing in my mind what everyone knew: Daedra worshippers were - without exception - dangerous murderers.

Still, I knew I was being used. At least my continued acquiescence seemed to be enough for those in power in the Temple: they were actually acknowledging my contributions - though not without a certain number of vocal objectors, of course. I needn't have worried about word of my actions reaching the Imperial Legion - and Apelles Matius in particular - either: according to Falorn and other members of my staff, "Frost, the vampire who works for the Temple" was all anyone in the nearby towns and cities could talk about.


A week or so passed, and I fell into a uneasy routine. I usually slept through the day, either in the secret vault or in my chambers - with the shutters closed and the doors barred. I found that I did not actually need to sleep anymore, but there was not much else I could do when trapped inside during the daylight hours. Occasionally I would visit the various Mages guild halls, as I could teleport directly to the Balmora hall, and from there to the others. The Vivec guild hall was housed within the Foreign Quarter; so I could also range throughout that entire canton, if I wished.

Doing so was not without its dangers, though. If someone suddenly threw open a door, or a window...

My nights were spent on Temple business, usually travelling far and wide beneath the stars to retrieve some saint's 'sacred shoes' or 'blessed axe'. Each night began and ended with the hunt for someone to feed from. It was always the first and last thing I did because I was - for obvious reasons - unable to hunt during the day; meaning I passed every afternoon in a state of perpetual starvation. The stolen blood in my body really only lasted until around midday...


Was it like that for all vampires? Was that why I was attacked by those gaunt, wild-eyed vampires just before dawn all those times?

This was just one of the questions regarding my new existence that had begun to nag at me. I had begun to discover some things about my vampiric nature on my own, but there was so much I didn't know! Perhaps I could even do things I had no inkling about yet... there was no way for me to tell.

I needed answers. I had to find my vampiric parents.