Landfall: Day -1 - Citadel Design Chamber
Light from the red candles flicker over an ancient parchment stretched out over the
table. A charcoal stick scribbles notes and diagrams over the old Dwemeri parchment.
Nearby, a large gear whirs unseen.
Seht moves across the room, clanking and whirring himself. “Your final delivery is here
[NUMINIT].”
Sigh. “Just call me Nerervar. Have your fabricants put the head in the assembly room.
Can they attach the head themselves? Nevermind, I’ll handle that myself.”
“So you’ve finally embraced that name?” Seht chuckled; his mechanical voicebox
echoing strangely through the design room.
Another sigh. “With the timelines the way they are, it stands to reason that one of them
connects me to him. It’s simpler this way.”
“Have you completed your plans?”
“No not quite; there are a few sticky points. Can I melt down some of your gears to
make up for the parts I can’t find?”
Seht chuckles again. “That would be...unwise. You’re fluctuating again”
Nerervar looks down at the hand clutching the charcoal.
Altmer/Dunmer/Argoninan/Nord. He closes his eyes and concentrates until the
waveform collapses.
Almost on cue more gears began to whir frantically in the distance.
“Let’s get that head attached. We’re running low on time. Well out, but you knew that.”
“My fabricants have lowered it into position while we spoke.” Seht parted his hands and
smiled. Well as much smile as a half-working face could muster.
“Without all the parts this won’t work as well as it should” Nerervar notes, finishing his
sketch.
“You could just...make them” Seht grinned.
“Yeah, let’s just wake Anu and just cease to exist. Fucking great idea. Just because
Septim doesn’t think about consequences doesn’t mean it’s a good idea to CHIM things
into existence.”
AKULAKHAN IS ASSEMBLED
A fabricant announces as it scampers into the room.
Seht and Nerervar walk to the assembly room and behold AKULAKHAN reassembled.
“Took a lot of years to track down the pieces after Red Mountain erupted” Nerever said
quietly, surveying the golem. “The Blades did it once, the Blades did it again.”
“You are aware Numidium’s world refusals can eliminate you from time itself? Of course
you are.”
“Of course. That’s why I intend on shielding the golem with this.” Nerervar reaches
beneath his robe/armor/shirt and holds a golden scroll case aloft.
GASP
“You! Are surprised!?”
“Lord Nerervar, pardon my surprise. But even gods rarely see an Elder Scroll.” Seht’s
eyes gleam. “May I...study it?”
“Back false god! No you may not.”
His quantum fluctuations increase in speed until he flickers indescribably; his form
indefinable.
Beneath them gears rumble loudly, shaking the chamber.
“Watch your tongue! Am I a god? Yes as much as Viv...”
“I care not. Did I not trap “Lexie’s” soul within Azura’s Star? Did I not slay Dagoth Ur?
Let’s not go down this path old friend.”
At the mention of Almalexia’s fate, Seht settles back on his artificial legs. The gears
quiet down. Some of them reverse. “We were both betrayed by her. Be it her lust for
power or desperate clinging to it. If she only knew what she’d become.”
Nerervar laughs, putting the scroll back underneath his [robes]. His pattern settles into
an argonian wizard. Fuck it, good enough.
She unfolds a diagram of brass tubes, musical notes, and lenses. “I have some
thoughts on the Scroll matrix. Can your minions assemble this?”
The challenge of a new creation seems to invigorate Seht, he stands taller and for a
second resembles the Sotha Sil of ALMSIVI. Eyes both biological and crystal take in
the diagram. Without a word, the fabricants scatter and begin gathering the necessary
components.
Nerervar turns and strides back down the hall. “Oh have them fix that magma damage
too will you?” she shouts over her shoulder. Seht makes no reply. None was needed.
For the last time; Nerervar pulls an oddly shaped key from her robe and unlocks the
door to the portrait room.
Landfall: Day -1 - Portrait Room
Of course there was no need for a key. The door would never open for anyone else. It
just felt ‘right’ to have a key for a place of such importance.
The door closed behind her, leaving him (yes him now) in complete darkness. No
lantern nor torch could light this room for it was not really...there. It was here that
Nerervar fully understood the Sermons Vivec had laid out for him. Here His form never
wavered for this space was beyond the dragon’s binding. Fortunate even more so now
that the Thalm(or) had completely broken poor Akatosh.
He was alone with his thoughts.
I AM AND I ARE ALL WE.
Who built the Citadel? Nerervar had no idea. That’s not to say he wasn’t interested, he
was. That’s also not to say he couldn’t find out, for he could simply open his eyes and
see (mentally mind you. Though he could probably do so physically too.) but he
preferred to not know. There were few mysteries left to him. He wanted to preserve
those that remained.
It was just there waiting off the West coast of Vvardenfell. So he took it. It was a good
place to begin his work. Rumors were that he was spending time in Akavir. He saw no
reason to dispel the good people of Tarmiel of that notion.
Landfall: Day 0 - Portrait Room
Refreshed, Nerervar stepped out from the space that was not a space. He donned his
Indoril armor and Akaviri sword. Almost as an afterthought he picks up Wabbajack and
tucks it in his belt. The only remaining artifact which had not yet left to find a new owner.
He suspected Sheogorath had something special in store for him. That thought made
him nervous so he dismissed it.
Lastly he removes Azura’s Star from the room, it’s pale blue glow spilling over him as
the soul of a furious god twinkled inside.
He left the portrait room, not bothering to lock it behind him. Vehk himself wouldn’t be
able to get inside.
Seht had not moved from the night before. His body was rigid, his mind literally
elsewhere.
Overnight the fabricants had done their work. Akulakhan’s damage was repaired, and
the newly christened Scroll Matrix sat in the opened chest cavity, right above the heart
compartment. Fabricants swarmed over the colossus like a pack of Nix hounds over a
fresh kill.
In place of the missing left fore-arm a curved blade has been attached.
The system the Sharmat had created to spread corpus was somehow connected via
tubes and tones to the Scroll Matrix.
Nerervar levitated from the floor of the assembly room, landing in the chest cavity.
Gingerly, he sat Azura’s Star in the heart compartment. It didn’t quite fit. This was
expected. He wedged it in as best he could and then connected the leads.
“I will be interested to see what happens when you activate this abomination” Seht
intoned from across the room. The echoes eerily transforming his artificial voice into a
one almost natural.
“You’ll have a close up view.” Popping open the golden scroll case, he slid the Elder
Scroll into one of the brass tubes before floating out and closing the chest cavity.
“Just what...time” Seht chuckled, “are you waiting for?”
“I’ll know when the stars begin to fall.”
“To the observatory then?”
“Indeed.”
The gears deep in the earth were especially loud today.
Landfall: Day 0 – Observatory
Seht and Nerervar sat under the crystalline windows of the observatory. A bottle of
Cyrillic Brandy floated between them, filling their goblets. It’s exactly how you would
expect gods should behave during the apocalypse.
“What is left for us to do?” Seht asked; trying to sip his brandy. A small trickle poured
from the corner of his mouth which was not connected quite right. Quite undignified for
a god. Nerervar didn’t seem to mind.
Nerervar shrugged. “Watch the sky.”
Landfall: Day 0 - Drunken Gods
4 hours and 6 bottles of brandy later Nerervar spills his goblet. Seht’s mechanical laugh
somehow makes the scene even funnier. If not for his mechanical legs automatically
balancing, he would have fallen over.
Nerervar mops up the drink with a cloth. “Get that ancient Dagoth brandy! If there’s a
time to enjoy it, it’s right now.”
One of Seht’s fabricants quickly arrives bearing the beverage in its claws.
“One for you ol’ Seht, and one for me.” The goblets filled, Nerervar dashes the bottle to
the floor, scattering the rest across the ebony tiles. “and that’s for Vehk and Ayem. Ur
too, if there’s any left over!” He/she laughs heartily, briefly losing control of this form.
Seht raised his goblet and clinked with Nerervar. “To us and those who want to be like
us”
The two gods downed their drinks. Nerervar held the last gulp in his mouth for what felt
like an eternity, savoring the flavor of houses and friends long gone. Seht more
methodically drained his goblet and went back to maintaining the timelines.
“Everything’s glowing” the Hortator smiled.
“It is” Seht replied. “Interesting.”
It was true, not just a drunken hallucination. Every enchanted item was glowing; as if
being overcharged with magicka. Nerervar’s sword is visible through its scabbard.
Even Wraithguard, its enchantments long faded, comes to life.
A second sun has appeared in the sky. A new hole to Aetherius. “That certainly
explains the magicka surge” Nerervar mumbles. “Stop staring Seht, your eyes are
bleeding.”
Seht clucks, wiping away the blood. “Is that your sign Nerervarine?” A bronze finger
points to a fiery point of light streaking across the sky.
“It is dear Sotha Sil.” He stands on legs no longer uncertain. “Calculate its impact.
Then send a memospore to Actual. The Dwarves have returned.”
A curiously monotone voice booms throughout the CItadel.
TRAJECTORY CALCULATED - IMPACT CYRODILL - IMPERIAL CITY
The Citadel shakes as the gears deep beneath whir furiously.
Landfall: Day 0 - Imperial City – Weirship
“Memospore incoming commander!”
“What’s the word?” Thalm(or) commander Drel shouts; buckling his armor.
“It’s Sotha Sil Sir! I’m putting it on the Tok-box now.”
NUMIDIUM IMPACT IMMINENT - LANDFALL EXPECTED T MINUS 6 HOURS GATHER YOUR MER - INITIATE LAUNCH FOR SECUNDA BASE OR FACE WORLD
REFUSAL - THE GODS ARE WITH YOU
“Blast, I was hoping those prophesies the Nerervarine spouted were Guar-shit. Well
don’t just stand there; get the transports loaded!”
Drel pauses, looking through the crystalized sunlight that formed the windows of the
Weirship. Gleaming brass from the Numidium’s armored shell was visible even at this
distance. “This is going to be Alinor all over again. Maybe the lessons we learned in our
greatest tragedy will help now.”
He turns, for a moment looking resplendent in his golden armor and snow-white hair.
“Airmer Llervu! Scramble Ghost Choir squadrons 1 through 10. The rest on reserve.”
Landfall: Day 0 - Citadel Assembly Room
Nerervar sits in the head of Akulakhan behind its third eye. He/she is flickering.
“Here’s your chance Seht! Witness the birth of a god!” (a silly notion considering he
was present for the birth of at least 3).
Sotha Sil looks up from the floor. The voice does not come from his mouth.
THE ELDER SCROLL EXISTS OUTSIDE OF TIME AND SPACE - IT SHOULD BE
BEYOND THE NUMIDIUM’S TIME DISTORTIONS
[NUMINIT] flips the first of a bank of switches. Far above the roof slowly separates and
opens.
“My dear estranged wife. Shall we consider this our reconciliation? Or is this a divorce
decree?”
The second switch is flipped. Energy from Azura’s Star surges through the body of the
second Numidium. Its eyes flicker briefly before settling on a solid red glow.
Nerervar would deny this to this day, but at that instant he heard the tortured scream of
Ayem; her soul mangled and metamorphosed into something...new.
Switch three. The Scroll Matrix comes online. To a mortal observer, Akulakhan would
seem to briefly fade somehow, returning with ever more THERENESS.
The modified Corpus-spreaders began to emit [uncolor] energy with the next switch.
Nerervar tentatively twists and turns, flexing Akulakhan’s arms and legs. “Alright you
sons of bitches, refuse this!”
Akulakhan leaps straight up, assisted by jets mounted on its back. Nerervar had made
some improvements.
The colossal being lands on the island pausing only briefly to get their bearings before
leaping SouthWest towards the Imperial City. Towards Numidium.
Landfall: Day 0 – Skyrim/Morrowind Border
Akulakhan slams into the ground in a three-point landing pose like an enormous
armored super hero.
For miles around the ground quakes. Mountain mer look up from their fishing and gold
panning in terror. A Khajiit sneaking into a dragon’s lair wets himself while the dragon
raises its head towards the sound in concern. Those close enough to witness
Akulakhan’s traverse across Tamriel experience shock, terror, elation, & confusion.
Mehrunes Dagon watches as Akulakhan leaps again and again. A single tear forms and
falls from his eye. It drowns a village.
Nerervar is chasing the falling star. Each jump leaves behind craters deep enough to
hide a giant. The brass colossus crosses the snow-strewn plains of Skyrim; a
Greybeard shouts himself to pieces as Akulakhan jumps past Higher than High
Hrothgar. Dovah scatter from their path like startled birds.
Cyrodiil was just over these mountains. The shell of White-Gold is visible over the
horizon.
The falling Dwemer god glistened in the sky; fire and brass shining a reddish hue over
the former capital of the Empire. For a brief few moments, it looked majestic again.
Nerervar savored those moments.
5. Jump!
4. Land!
3. Leap!
2. Splashdown! (in Lake Rumore)
1. Akulakhan crouches and turns defensively
0. Landfall
Numidium slams into the ground sending shock(time)waves across Tamriel. The walls
around Imperial City crumbles into dust. White-Gold didn’t so much as fall but rather
simply ceased to exist.
Walk Brass stands in the crater of its own making. Spikey plates orbit the god. A star
shines between its antennae(antlers?). It heads out of the crater and straight towards
Imperial City.
Weirships are launching ahead of the assault, evacuating the citizens. Ghost Choir 2
dives toward Numidium, determined to win glory for themselves. Vaped.
GC 1 and 5 take a more defensive pose by flying high above and pelting Walk Brass
with logic bombs.
Mirror Logicians, weary from the Siege of Alinor, erect their prismatic mirrors – forcing
Numidium to acknowledge its own existence.
NO!
And those logicians cease to ever have existed.
GC 8 unleashes an assault of fractal missiles, mathematical symbols trailing their path.
Some missiles explode and knock plates loose from the armored brass shell; others
pass harmlessly (to Numidium) into another time stream.
Numidium’s tremendous hand swats most of GC 4 from the sky while it continues its
march into Imperial City. It stomps and destroys everything within reach. A lone weirship
struggles to launch. Elves and Khajiit run up the loading ramp, their doom imminent.
Landfall: Day 1 – HIGH NOON
Nerervar/Akulakhan walks slowly and deliberately towards the scene. They shout (the
one thing consistent across all timelines)
STAND DOWN, MY SWEET NUMIDIUM, OR I SWEAR BY THE FIFTEEN-AND-ONE
GOLDEN TONES I WILL KILL YOU AND ALL YOUR PEOPLE.
Numidium looks up at its cousin. Tamriel falls silent but for the sound of the weirship’s
pulsing engines as it lifts off. The wreckage of GC4 tumbles between the giants.
NO!
Akulavarine stands firm, [uncolor] energy flaring around them.
They smile. YES
Akulavarine charges Numidium.
NO!! Numidium bellows in disbelief (how’s that for irony?)
Akulavarine activates their jets and slams into the Dwemer. The metallic kaboom of
brass-on-brass is heard from Akavir to Yokuda.
The titans crash outside Skingrad, leaving a canyon behind them. Akulavarine tries to
capitalize on the surprise by plunging its arm-blade into Numidium’s chest. Instead
Numidium pushes Akulavarine off, the blade merely shaving a off a number of armor
plates. The orbiting plates quickly begin landing on Numidium to repair the damage.
They trade blows, the two most enormous boxers to have ever existed. Each punch
could level a city. The only ref for this fight is existence itself.
Numidium shoves Akulavarine back, loosing a bolt of pure energy from its eyes that
damages one of Akulavarine’s many gyroscopes. In response Auklavarine tackles
Numidium, activating its scroll matrix.
FACE IT FOOLISH DWEMER – WE EXIST
Numidium looks confused for a moment before grabbing Akulavarine by the legs and
throws them across the Colovian Highlands.
NO!
Akulavarine is thrown so far and high that they recover, steadying themselves to land
gently.
The tok-box above Nerervar squalks.
LORD NERERVAR – IT BECOMES DIFFICULT TO COMPENSATE FOR THE
NUMIDIUM’S WORLD REFUSALS. WE FACE…ACE…CE…[unknown
language]...CLOCKWORK CITY CANNOT...BROKEN GEARS….TIME
LINES..LINES..LINES
Akulavarine stomps their way back to the fight.
Through the lush jungles of Cyrodiil.
Landfall: Day 1 – QUIETUS
Akulavarine finds Numidium in High Rock under attack from a dozen squadrons of Hist
bombers. Floating mats of plant and trees rain down exploding seeds of devastation.
Numidium angrily swats at the plants, its hand becoming ensnared in the roots. The
bombardment ceases, only to be replaced by rappelling figures. Argonians. Smiling, a
glint of hope in her eyes, Nerervar joins them as an argonian. Hermaphrodite. You
never know when you’ll want to fuck yourself.
Akulavarine fires a salvo of irrational numbers at Numidium’s legs, knocking It to one
knee. Argonians pull an eye from Numidium and flee to their floating swamps. More
roots fall and bind the golem.
Nerervar urges Akulakhan forward, yanks a control rod and backflips. Two giant brass
feet collide with Numidium’s head snapping it back, cogs and gears falling like rain.
The profane Dwemeri abomination roars, growing in size. It doubles, no triples in size.
Roots snap and Numidium destroys several of the Hist bombers. Those remaing retreat.
Akulavarine grows to match.
DUMAC DWARF-ORC! YOU CANNOT REFUSE US! WERE YOU NOT IN OUR
WEDDING? STOP THIS OR THIS TIME I WILL EAT YOUR HEART!
The titans now tower over Tamriel, standing far above the clouds.
NO!
Numidium reaches out with an enormous, tremendous, [thesaurus insufficient] hand,
grabs Masser and smashes it into Akulavarine’s chest.
Reeling, Nerervar tries to stay upright. Huge shards of armor fall, but those pale in
comparson to the HALF A FUCKING MOON which crashes into down onto that poor
starry heart that is Tamriel.
Earthquakes, Red Year, nothing could compare to this sort of geological damage. The
planet itself begins to crack.
NERERVAR! ABANDON…LOST CONTROL – Seht’s mechanical voice takes on the
tone of panic.
Looking down into the broken world, the legendary wheels of Lull were visible. Spinning
clockwise, some counterclockwise. Were those eyes? Nerervar blinked, then quickly
shrunk back to normal size, dodging a kick.
Akulavarine sprints towards.Cyrodiil, leaping over the newly exposed lava, a new
mountain range that was once the moon, and the whirring gears and wheels of the
world. Nerervar secretly suspected that was Seht himself, but didn’t want to think too
deeply about the implications or consequences.
Walk Brass follows, shrinking to match Akulavarine A hail of differential fractions pelts
Numidium, knocking more spikey plates from its shell.
NO!
Back to fisticuffs. Akulavarine’s fist, surrounded in flames, bashes Numidium again and
again. Numidium returns the favor.
Clutching onto one of Numidium’s spiky chest plates is one lone argonian. On instinct,
Nerervar pulls Wabbajack from his belt. He points at the argonian, what’s the worst that
could happen?
The argonian disappears, replaced with Zurin Arctus; Imperial Battlemage of Tiber
Septim; Underking.
The Underking reaches out one boney finger, touching the glowing jewel in Numidum’s
chest. The Mantella. Its power source.
ZURIN ARCTUS RECLAIMS HIS SOUL
Numidium explodes.
Nerervar recalls herself to Secunda; prophecy fulfilled.
Akulakhan is torn in half by the exploding Brass God. It falls to Nirn outside Kvatch.
The explosion knocks Numidium back (well most of it). It falls into a crack in the world;
pulverized by the wheels of Lull.
Epilogue
The sky outside Kvatch turns red.
Much like the start of the Oblivion Crisis in the 3rd Era, an Oblivion gate erupts outside
Kvatch.
The four arms of Mehrunes Dagon tear open the chest of Akulakhan. They delicately
pull the Elder Scroll from its chest cavity.
For the first time this kalpa; the Leaper Demon King smiles. And LEAPS.