Chapter 25
“Hello Mr. Hammerfist.” Harry idly said, looking at Vili as he entered his kitchen.
“How the fuck did you get in my house?!”
“Unimportant.” Harry drawled as he stood up. “And before you think about threatening to report me to the Ministry, do you really think they’d take the word of a dwarf? Especially about their darling boy savior?”
Going by Vili’s mutinous expression, that was exactly what he had been planning on threatening.
“Now, how far along are the sepulcher plans?”
“Mostly done.” He ground out. “Just gotta work out some stability issues.”
“Well, my timetable has moved up some, so we’ll need to start construction soon. Now, let’s see the plans.”
As Vili went to recover the plans, Harry sat back down, just as a woman entered the kitchen.
“Ah, Mrs. Hammerfist. My apologies for knocking you out when I met with your husband.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I told Vili you’d want to meet him alone. Really, someone getting in touch through Agnar? It’s a miracle he thought something wouldn’t happen.”
“Yeah, well, Angvar’s cleaned up his image. Can’t blame me for not knowing he still had clients like that.” Vili said, reentering the room.
“He’s colleagues with a Lovegood, dear! And he immediately threatened Angvar to get his way! Really, no sense in you. Now, if you’ll excuse I’m heading back to the forge.”
“Okay, so we can scrap the intricacies in the temple room, I’ll be working on that by myself. Same goes for the majority of the traps, though we’ll keep the arrow traps.”
“That’ll cut the build time a decent chunk.” Vili responded. “Any other adjustments?”
“Your notes say you plan on using the mountain’s parent rock?”
“Yeah. Any issues with that?”
“Not particularly. If we’re using the cavern as the base low, are there any glades near where the entrance would go?”
“A pine grove. Think there are some aspen trees as well.”
“That is perfect. What would the ETA be with the removed pieces?”
“Before, I’d have said north of eight months. Now, probably about five.”
“Then accounting for glyph transcribing, implementation of the gate, and sanctification…” Harry murmured. “Mm, no too long. If we cut the amount of arrow traps in half?”
“Probably four, three and a half if I use more magic than I usually would.”
“We’ll go for the latter then.” Harry replied. “The first installment.”
As Harry stepped into the shadows, he chuckled as he heard Vili’s shock at the amount of valuables.
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“So, who are we waiting for?” Ron asked.
“Us!” The Twins yelled as they and Luna entered the train compartment.
“Now that the last of our members are present, the first official meeting of the Order of Aurbisal Envoys is called. The first topic on the docket comes from the Aureal One. Lovegood, the floor is yours.”
“Pending approval by majority, I have devised a guild emblem.” Luna said, showing off a pad of paper.
On the paper itself was a ringed design. In the center lay a stylised version of, presumably, the Many Paths bordered by spokes on which the names of each of the Aedra were written in Norse runes. Outside the inner ring were lines connecting to the last layer of the design, with glyphs clearly inspired by the rune traps of the Destruction school filling the space. The writing on the glyphs was Daedric, each representing an aspect of the three Princes spoken for within the guild. Forethought, for Hermaeus Mora, stealth for Nocturnal, and awareness for Sheogorath. The external ring held the birth signs of each member, if they had been born on Tamriel, surrounded by a ring with the emblems of each of the Aedra and Daedra.
“All in favor?” Harry asked, then looked around the compartment. “Motion approved. The guild’s emblem is now official.”
“Very good. The last item is the guild amulets.” Luna said, passing around amulets which, once again, bore a stylised representation of the Many Paths, along with a red gemstone in the center. “They’re enchanted to allow us to sense if any guild members are near.”
“Next topic.” Harry said, pulling the amulet over his head. “Shrines. Lovegood, if you would.”
“These-“ Harry said as Luna handed Ron and Hermione two bags. “Are the supplies you’ll need for the amulets, and then the shrines. These are guides on construction and consecration.”
As he said that, he pulled two separate books from his bag, handing them to their respective recipients.
“Which brings onto the final note. Which shouldn’t be spoken about in public.”
Grabbing hold of Ron and Hermione, with the Twins and Luna grabbing a hold of him, he looked them in the eyes.
“Hold tight. This might be uncomfortable.”
Transporting five people rather than the usual single person trip took, comparatively speaking, more concentration than Harry typically needed when stepping through the shadows. After all, it wouldn’t do to lose his guildmates in the shadows.
“Wow, that was uncomfortable.” Ron immediately remarked, looking around as he did. “Where are we?”
“This, my primary companions, is why I was so irate at the beginning of last year.” Harry said, sweeping the door to the main shrine room open. “Ron, Hermione, I present to you, my shrine to Lord Mora. Welcome to the Apocryphal Arcaneum.”
“Fascinating.” Hermione whispered, tracing her fingers across the fluid, shifting glyphs carved into the wall.
“I have brought you here to reveal a part of Lord Mora’s plans.” Harry said, noting that he now had all but Luna’s rapt attention. “The Arcaneum, Lovegood, myself. There is one truth that binds us all. We, all three, are dimensional nexūs, touch points that anchor the Aurbis to our realm, to Terras.”
“The Twins are slowly becoming their own touch points.” Harry continued, turning his attention to Fred and George. “It can be accelerated by using Tamrielic magic, of course. They happened into this plot, unaware of what would happen to them, unaware of how pivotal they would wind up being.”
“You two, however, were chosen.” Harry stated, turning his attention to Hermione and Ron. “The day I revealed the truth to you two, Hermaeus Mora chose you two as the final human parts of his plan.”
“But what part is that?” Ron asked.
“Six agents. Two for the Aedra, four for the Daedra. The former relatively inactive, the latter quite active.”
“The cosmological guide you provided us…” Hermione began.
“Mundus, Oblivion, the Earthbones, Aetherius, the Void.” Ron listed, picking up the thread Hermione had laid. “But that leaves one figure out of place, off the board.”
“Perhaps, but a Missing player, that acts as an agent of Change?” Luna piped up. “That’s rather… entertaining, wouldn’t you say Archivist?”
“I had thought you would understand, Aureal One.” Harry replied before turning his attention back to the group at large. “Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to reveal more, as yet. Without the Sepulcher, or the other shrines the possibilities aren’t tied down enough.”
“Well then, guess we’d better cracking, right Hermione?”
“Indeed.”