Deception, Domination, and Dragons (Skyrim Self-Insert)

Labyrinthian. As we begin to ascend the large staircase towards the Nordic ruin’s massive stone door, I can’t help but marvel at the size of the place. It truly is majestic, to be sure, almost like an ancient castle, rather than a tomb. But then, where the biggest, most extravagant tombs not palaces to the dead, in the end?
 
Stepping onto the dais at the top, the door just in front of us, Savos turns towards our little group, his face set in a grimace as the Arch-Mage clears his throat.
 
“Right. I must ask that you all follow my lead from here on out. Labyrinthian is not for the faint of heart and-!”
 
“Come on, we’re finally here! Let’s not waste any more time!”
 
The way the Arch-Mage’s face pales as he’s cut off by his own voice is a little comical. I manage to refrain from laughing, but on the inside, I’m snickering like a maniac, confirming what I already knew about myself… I am not a good person.
 
Whipping around, Savos watches along with the rest of us as a ghostly reflection of himself, along with the five apprentices he’d originally come to Labyrinthian with, all those years ago. As they converse among themselves, with the Argonian Apprentice raising her concerns and everyone else brushing her off, the Savos in the present shakes.
 
“How… how can this be? I’m not… I’m not dead. They’re not ghosts…”
 
“A psychic impression, clearly. What happened here… had a lasting mark.”
 
As Mirabelle steps forward and gazes upon the assembled apprentices and their little vision of the past, her eyes are sharp and flinty, her tone clipped. Savos flinches away from his Master Wizard, likely recognizing how… displeased she is with him. Regardless, after a moment the glimpse into the past fades away, and the four of us are left alone on the outside of Labyrinthian once more.
 
“Mirabelle… I must once again voice my concerns. The monster at the bottom of these ruins is contained. Surely, we’re smarter than a group of Apprentices and can make the right choice to turn back now. If not for mine or your sakes, then for the Apprentice and the Dragonborn, perhaps?”
 
Mirabelle’s eyes sweep over to me and Svanna, and I just give her an encouraging smile. Svanna, meanwhile, is busy playing with an arrow, sharpening its head. My lithe little Dragonborn is and always will be the cutest, most eager Stealth Archer. She’s only become more deadly since I gave her that first set of enchanted gear. Hm, before we leave for Riften, I’ll be sure to make her a new set off of the things in the Arch-Mage’s Quarters, once they belong to me. I’ve been preparing for a while now, and with access to an Enchanter and Alchemy Table in close quarters, it will be child’s play.
 
“… We press on. We are indeed smarter than the group of Apprentices you led here to die all those years ago, Arch-Mage. More capable too. And we are not cowards. You’re welcome to leave… but I would caution against returning to the College.”
 
For a moment, Savos hesitates, and I wonder if he’s honestly considering taking Mirabelle up on her offer. But perhaps once the Arch-Mage was willing to live in secret ignobility and disgrace. Now, it seems he’s found a little bit of backbone as his shoulders slump for a moment before he straightens his back.
 
“… Very well. Though, it’s not fair to say I led the expedition. This whole thing was Atmah’s idea to begin with…”
 
Those last two sentences, he mutters under his breath though to no avail. Mirabelle gives him a truly quelling look, before moving forward and using the Torc of Labyrinthian to finally open the Nordic Ruins once more, after all this time sealed.
 
From there, there isn’t much time for chit-chat and conversation. In the foyer of the dungeon, we quickly find ourselves in combat with multiple skeletons. They’re not much of a threat to me or Svanna, of course, but I also want to keep Mirabelle alive. Luckily, she’s not Master Wizard for nothing. Protecting herself with Alteration Magic and holding a Ward in one hand, she proves to be a competent walking artillery mage, firing out from behind her ward spell and taking out skeleton after skeleton.
 
I draw the majority of the ‘aggro’ of course, tanking with my immense health pool and continuing to abuse the fuck out of the first sets of Ordinator Perks for both Heavy and Light Armor. By wearing two pieces of Light Armor and two pieces of Heavy, I’m gaining experience in both so long as I’m in the fight. Combined with my XP Spells boost, and I’m leveling up every few seconds against these skeletons.
 
The only downside to an otherwise enjoyable combat is that Savos proves to be just as capable of a mage as Mirabelle. The Dunmer Arch-Mage certainly isn’t going to die to skeletons of all things, not even the ones who prove capable of casting magic.
 
That said, we make our way deeper into the ruins, even as I constantly open my menu to take new levels and prestige Heavy and Light Armor again and again, racking up quite the leveling spree in the process. At this point, since hitting level five hundred didn’t unlock anything new for me like when the Ordinator Perk System showed up, I really wasn’t getting much out of it anymore, as I already had enough perk points to take every perk in every one of Ordinator’s trees.
 
However, increasing my Health and Stamina, and once in a while my Magicka for good measure, was always worth doing. Carry Weight was King after all, and the more Health I had, the harder it would be for anything in Skyrim to kill me.
 
Regardless, pressing onward, we come to the next psychic impression left behind by Savos and his friends. Each word they speak is like a punch to the gut for him, but I don’t pay it any mind. After all, the next big challenge is a dragon of all things, albeit a skeletal one. Not that I’m supposed to know that. Heh, well, one of us here should be able to warn us, right?”
 
Clearing my throat, I draw the attention of the party to me.
 
“Arch-Mage… those skeletons didn’t give us much trouble, so I suspect there are greater forces waiting for us further in? What should we expect from this point on?”

Savos’ eyes widen in remembrance, just as I expected they would.
 
“R-Right! Ah, right… there’s… there’s a Skeletal Dragon in the next large chamber. It will only form from the central pit when we get close enough, so be on your guard…”
 
Mirabelle scowls, crossing her arms over her chest.
 
“And you’re just telling us about this now?”
 
Savos blanches and tries to apologize, while I hide a grin by turning away for a moment. Honestly, watching the Arch-Mage work so hard to get back the respect of his colleague and subordinate is hilarious to me. Mirabelle has every reason to have lost all respect for the Dunmer male, but more than that… she’s my thrall now. So, it doesn’t matter what he says or does. She belongs to me and only me.
 
We find ourselves facing off against the Skeletal Dragon and its minions mere minutes later. It’s a great opportunity for us to possibly kill off Savos, I figure… but alas, he’s not the Arch-Mage for nothing. In fact, in a bigger chamber like the dragon’s chamber, he’s able to bring out the really big guns without fear of friendly fire. While I engage with the dragon itself to make sure it doesn’t get a lucky hit on Mirabelle, and Svanna fires her arrows with deadly accuracy, both Mirabelle and Savos are tearing through the skeletons with massive waves of fire and ice and lightning.
 
The combat is hectic, but ultimately short, and once we’re done looting the room of its valuables, picking up the coins and jewels from the urns scattered about it, we head on. The next encounter with the ghosts details how one of them died to the dragon before the rest were able to flee, and I note the way Savos’ shoulders shrink in, his breathing hitching.
 
It’s soon after that, however, that we’re hit with the first instance of Morokei’s voice.
 
“Wo meyz wah dii vul junaar?”

 
Just hearing the Dragon Priest speak drains you of your magicka in the game… something that happens at least partially hear. All of us gasp and double over in pain, and Savos drops to his knees completely.
 
“No… no, how can he have the power to reach even this far? It shouldn’t be possible. He…”
 
“Savos… Savos, what was that?”
 
Mirabelle’s question forces the Arch-Mage to look to us all.
 
“That… was the Dragon Priest Morokei. That was the monster that me and my fellow Apprentices found at the bottom of Labyrinthian… the monster we sealed away. He… he must be beginning to break free. The bindings… they couldn’t last forever.”
 
Mirabelle’s face hardens with resolve, even as Svanna comes over to my side and takes my hand. I give it a squeeze in comfort, even as the Master Wizard of the College straightens up.
 
“Then it is good we came. Your folly must be remedied, once and for all.”
 
“… Yes. You are correct, of course…”
 
And so, on we go, fighting our way through the draugr that haunt Labyrinthian’s halls, while encountering more of those psychic impressions left behind by Savos and his fellows all that time ago. Meanwhile, Morokei is not silent.
 
“Nivahriin muz fen siiv nid aaz het.”
 
Once more, his words cause us very real pain as our magicka is drained from us. Of course, Svanna and I are the least affected, while Mirabelle and Savos need to take a break each time before continuing on. I almost wish I didn’t have to worry about Mirabelle, because otherwise I could just force Savos to push forward with less resources, until eventually a draugr got lucky and sent the Dunmer to his final rest.
 
But no, in the end, we press forward even through Morokei’s dialogue. Though at least his next words are actually understandable, as he finally gives up trying to communicate with us in the dragon tongue.
 
“Must I use this guttural language of yours?”
 
The sheer power in his voice doesn’t disappear, however. Still, if he’s expecting a response, he doesn’t get one. All we can do is keep moving towards him, the draugr opponents we run into feeding me more and more levels. I easily surpass Level Six Hundred in the first half of the dungeon, and then Level Seven Hundred, such is the sheer amount of combat and the bullshit brokenness of my leveling system.
 
“Have you returned, Aren? My old friend.”
 
Morokei’s next words have quite the impact on the Arch-Mage, beyond simply draining him of his magicka. Aren pales and looks downright stricken, his newfound courage taking quite the hit as he trembles once more.
 
“Fuck… fuck, he knows I’m here.”
 
“Arch-Mage, keep your nerve. The only way out is through. This time… he WILL die.”
 
My words, backed by the sheer power of my maxed Speech and my auras, actually have an effect on Savos as well. He looks at me… and slowly nods. Apparently, he counts as an ally right now, because it looks like my Illusion Perks specifically designed to bolster any allies close to me, are doing so for him.
 
“Yes… yes, quite right.”
 
“Do you seek to finish that which you could not?”
 
The next time Morokei speaks, Savos Aren’s spine has become like steel. He does not bend; he does not falter. He and Mirabelle are still greatly weakened by the magicka drain, but at the same time, there is a determination in the Arch-Mage’s eyes to see this through. And so, we press on.
 
“You only face failure once more, Aren.”
 
Morokei’s words, as we get closer to his sealing chamber, grow more and more sinister. Eventually, we get close enough that he can apparently identify us properly, because his tone changes.
 
“Ah… there you are, Aren. I half-expected you to have sent someone else in your place. “
 
“… I shall not falter, monster. This time, your doom is at hand…”
 
Savos mutters his response under his breath, though it’s not quite clear if Morokei could have heard us if we’d called out to him either way. As it is, we all continue on, continuing to fight our way through Labyrinthian’s armies of undead and spectral foes.
 
“But no, you came… with new allies. Do they know what you did to the last ones?”
 
Morokei’s words, for all that they drain us of our magicka, have little effect on the group at this point, Savos included. However, the psychic impressions that we continue running into, showing Savos and his fellow Apprentices losing more and more as they continue on, certainly impact the Arch-Mage most severely.
 
It’s obvious that this entire experience is taking years off of the Dunmer’s life, but as I watch him carefully in between battles, I see exactly what I’m hoping to see. There’s a certain fatalism mixed with determination beginning to spread across his face. He is… prepared to die down here to see this mission realized. Perfect.
 
“Come, face your end.”
 
We reach the final stage of the dungeon soon after that, and even though Morokei falls silent, the magicka draining does not stop. Instead, it happens twice more without warning… but alas, both times Savos is able to recover before any of our enemies can get to him. One might wonder why I don’t stab him in the back myself, but I’ve decided to hold off on that. If he goes down to the draugr, that’s fine, but if he goes down to Morokei of his own volition, going out in a blaze of glory, that’s even better.
 
After all, it means the story we will tell when we return to the College without him, will actually be the truth.
 
One way or another though, we’re finally reaching the final boss room. As we arrive in the chamber where Savos sacrificed Atmah and Hafnar in order to seal Morokei all these years, I immediately notice the two spectral enthralled wizards, their essence being drawn to the dome of magic energy covering the Dragon Priest in question.
 
“Ah… finally, you arrive. Come to finish what you started, Aren? Let’s see if you prove capable of it…”
 
As I look upon my first Dragon Priest, I realize… I can’t risk it. I might want Savos to die here, fighting the Dragon Priest of his past and ultimately dying a hero’s death, but if it means I’m risking Mirabelle and Svanna at the same time… no, I just can’t bring myself to do it. As Savos steps forward, intent on confronting Morokei once and for all, I reach out and grab him by the shoulder.
 
“I will engage with the Dragon Priest in melee and draw his attention. When I’m in place, you and Mirabelle will end the suffering of your former colleagues and then support me from afar.”
 
“What? Apprentice, this foe is beyond you.”
 
I roll my shoulders and smirk.
 
“Maybe if I were using magic to fight him… but I won’t be. Do as I say. The Dragonborn and I will do the heavy lifting.”
 
When the Arch-Mage opens his mouth to respond again, Mirabelle cuts him off with a hand on his wrist, a show of support and even affection that completely silences him. Of course, she’s only doing it, so I’ll get my way, but it does the trick all the same. Drawing my blades, I make my way over to the dome beneath which Morokei sits. The Dragon Priest narrows his eyes as he gazes upon me, and I just smile back at him.
 
“You’re a confident one, aren’t you?”
 
I don’t even flinch as he reaches through the dome sealing him in place and drains my magicka. I just smile, before glancing back to see Savos and Mirabelle in position. I don’t see Svanna anywhere of course, but then that’s kind of the point. I know my Dragonborn is there, with an arrow already notched and trained on the Dragon Priest’s head.
 
Pointing a sword at Morokei, I give him a big, shit-eating grin, to really infuriate him and focus his attention on me.
 
“I’m going to destroy you, Priest. And then that Staff of yours will belong to me.”
 
Being undead, his facial expressions are limited, but I see his skeletal fingers tighten around the haft of his shaft, and the glow in his eye sockets blazes all the more furiously.
 
“We shall see mortal. We shall see.”
 
Good, his attention is on me. That’s… perfect. Looking back at Mirabelle and Savos, I make eye contact with both and give them a nod to show I’m ready. Then, I turn back to Morokei and prepare for a fight that might be even tougher than the dragons Svanna and I have faced together. It wasn’t that I was afraid for her or I, but I was beginning to regret bringing Mirabelle to this place. I didn’t want to risk the Master Wizard.
 
Savos and Mirabelle strike at their respective enthralled wizards as one, and as the spirits of Savos’ fellow Apprentices are finally allowed to move on, the dome surrounding Morokei begins to fade.
 
“Yessss…”
 
I tense up… and throw myself forward into the battle.

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