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The Siege of Caelia [This Missive would be placed all over Haelun’or and some of the other great southern cities] 4,000 Scanarii Invaders 402 Brave Caelian Legionaries Let it be known to all the great cities of the south that the Legio Caelii defeated an army almost ten times its size. As they tried to sack our city we slaughtered them all like the dogs they are, not a man lives from their pitiful Scanarii warband. Their bodies are put up on crosses to let the rest of their kind know what will happen if they try to sack the great city of Caelia again. It has not even been a year since the Legio last defeated a great trouble of the south and we have beaten another. But we are not just making this missive to gloat about a great victory but to also to warn the rest of the Scanarii to stay out of the south, and pray to their Northern God far away from us. For we are a merciful people and we do not wish for the rest of your ilk to be hung up like the dogs you are. Barely a Legionnaire or Avxillarivs was harmed by your greatest warriors so all your effort is for not. We also send out this missive to say all men are welcomed to join the Legio Caelii, to join our great fight against darkness. We will accept you if you are Cannonii or pagan, man or woman, human or other. All you have to do is come to Caelia and look for a Legionnaire and ask to enlist. CAELIA INVICTA LEGIO CAELII VICTORIAM LEGATVS C. RAMNESIVS DENTATVS

This is a combination of the previous 4 novels. However, unlike the individual novels, which individually I consider non-canon, I wish/intend for this complete/combined edition to be considered 100% canon. This is a prequel to Volume V. A Volume IV+V (4.5) may come at a future point. ============================================================================================================= It’s been a long time, friends. You may be asking how I am writing to you when I am “dead?” Well the answer is shocking. The truth is I never died. The gold block and the suicide note? Fabricated to keep your eyes away from my abduction. I didn’t find out how they made you think I was dead until recently when their whole plan went up in flames. The Skanarri are far more conniving than it would seem at first glance. How does this tie into me vanishing with a gold block in my place one night? Well to answer that question, we need to go back to before Balon was king, or before he even married Hilda. It all started shortly after it was announced that they were getting married. I was walking back home from the animal pen. I was getting wool in order to make some banners for my clan, as well as the ingredients for cakes for the celebration. I was happy for one thing as people had been shipping me and Hilda for a while, much to my annoyance. As I walked a couple of bounty hunters jumped me. I swiftly pulled out the Herald of Justice in order to defend myself but before I could do anything else a third one came up behind me and knocked me out. They dragged my unconscious body away while another group of roughly four or five stood by with a large gold block, a fake suicide note, and a fake last will. Those were the very same ones you all would find the next day. They tied me up and loaded me into a caravan headed for the center of Skanarri territory. Two days later I was offloaded from the caravan and carried into a fortress of some kind. I knew this wasn’t good and I began to struggle to no avail. One of the bounty hunters looked at me trying to wriggle free then turned and asked one of the others if they should have used chains instead. Not like it would matter though. I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in two days and so I wouldn’t be going anywhere. As they handed me off to a guard they were motioned to follow him in. I noticed banners on the wall and recognised them as those of the Skanarri. As I was placed down I saw who had ordered my abduction. I recognised him immediately. It was none other than the High Chieftain of the Skanarri himself, Clygar Stonehead. He motioned one of the guards. “Make sure they are paid.” He turned back to me. “Long have I waited for my grandchild to come home.” I looked up, glaring at him. “I think you got the wrong guy.” Clygar smirked. “Your father changed his surname to Taalios, did he not?” Fear shot through my body like lightning through copper. “You knew?” I gawked. “Yes… My son went through a great deal to avoid detection, but he failed to keep his facade up forever. As a result he is gone leaving only you, my bastard grandson to rise up and oppose me. A loose end. One that needs to be rectified.” I continued to struggle with the bonds. Clygar smirked. “You're quite stubborn, aren't you? Just like your father, and me before him. Tell you what… you’ve learned a lot since you cowered in battle and let a comrade lose an arm and a leg.” He motioned his arm towards a painting of the battle of Vjardengrad. There I was in the bottom left trying to avoid getting hacked to pieces, fear in my eyes. Clygar continued with a challenge. “Show me what you have learned since then. Beat me and I will let you go free. I considered the offer but he said the most horrifying thing next. “But if I beat you, however…” He paused, “I made a deal with a necromancer. My end was that I gave him the bodies of my dead in exchange for immortality.” My pupils dilated like the flesh around a wound. “You mean…?” He laughed “Yes, you are of the dark, yet you also have the light in you. The Long Dark and the All-Father both see you as vital to their overarching plans. One who will irreversibly damage the other. An asset that can change the tide… the pinnacle of light and dark.” He let his words register inside me. But unbeknownst to Clygar, spending two days in the back of a carriage tied up let my fingernails grow much longer than usual. As he was talking I used my sharper than usual fingernails to cut the ropes binding me. Before the guard next to me knew what was happening I had taken a sword and had stabbed them in the chest. The Skanarri weren't exactly the most heavily armored of folk. Looking at my grandfather and remembering my trial by fire in Norland and the demon in my head, I threw the sword at him, desperately hoping it would impale him. He ducked and it grazed the middle of the top of his head. But as he ducked he didn’t realize I was charging right for him and I tackled the High Chieftain to the ground. He was about to pull out his sword but I stepped on his hand preventing him from doing so. As he yelped in pain he looked up while I punched him repeatedly, the ferocity never seen coming out of me. Whether it was the All-Father or the Long Dark remained to be seen. I snapped out of my violent trance when he was a blow away from ”death.” I looked down with rage in my eyes, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to kill him. He may have killed a lot of people but he was defenseless, and my grandfather no less. That one split second of hesitation was all it took for a guard to shove me off of the High Chieftain, saving his life. Before I knew it I was being beaten into unconsciousness by guards, and the last thing I saw before blacking out was Clygar struggling to get up. At this point in my adventures it is important to mention that Clygar Stonehead may have been the High Chieftain, but his grasp on Skanarri territory was unstable, with smaller warlords regularly causing problems. There was only one tribe who could really do anything. The tribe of my mother; Talios. The lack of the second “A” is important. My mother did not want to be a part of the warring factions, just like my father. They met, fell in love, and had me plus my younger sister, Lhaura. When my parents were killed we split up to keep Clygar’s cronies away from each other. I hadn’t seen her since then until this part of my tale. Turns out she knew I was in Norland ever since the battle of Vjardengrad, when one of my grandfather’s troops made it back and confirmed rumors that I was alive. I had previously explored much of the northern half of Solstheim, including a shortcut through Skanarri territory. That’s all it took for those rumors to start, and they had been planning my potential abduction ever since then. It’s a lot to unpack, but it is important for understanding what happened while I was unconscious. Then again me being alive is a shocker in of itself. While I was knocked out, Cylgar sent a spy to pose as a childhood friend of mine to keep people away from the truth. I would later discover that this spy brought a baby back to Norland that he found in the woods. He was killed for doing so by an undead assassin sent by the necromancer. The Necromancer had somehow gotten ahold of my old armor set and put the armor on a corpse to pose as a zombified version of me. In addition, Clygar put my unconscious body in a caravan bound for an even deeper part of Skanarri territory. Before he did that though, he had my left arm cut off. The whole arm. Up to the shoulder. He didn’t want me escaping on my way to his necromancer friend. It turns out it wouldn’t matter as a team from the Talios tribe busted me out led by, you guessed it, my sister. She carried me over her shoulder all the way back to the Talios fortress, all while I was still unconscious. I woke up unable to feel my left arm. I looked to where it was, only to find it was gone as like I said, it was removed to make it harder for me to escape. There were some runes protruding from the stump left behind. A few more than would usually be seen on the point a prosthetic would be attached to. The slightly higher number of runes is key to a function my new arm had. The Talios folk had somehow managed to get a Slayersteel blade built in that could be deployed with a flick of my prosthetic wrist. One of the doctors noticed I had woken up and she told me to stay down. She dumped some kind of potion in my mouth that knocked me out again so they could more easily attach the prosthetic. I woke up several hours later. The operation had been completed flawlessly. I got up and tripped almost immediately. My new arm was plated in Carbidium, and as such it was heavier than my flesh and blood arm. As I fell, I accidentally deployed the blade, so it got stuck in the floor. Lhaura, who had been in the room the whole time snickered as I stood up and got my bearings. I turned and glared but recognized her almost immediately. She pointed to her wrist and made a flicking motion. I did so and watched in awe as it retracted into a hidden compartment. I looked around and saw the people of the Talios tribe. Unbeknownst to me at the time, within a few years I would be in command of all of the people in the room. We will now skip forward by roughly five years. Clygar raided Aaun twice. Both times he succeeded in his plans. The saboteur he sent is dead. Killed by the necromancer after he unintentionally gave Norland a decisive victory. As to whether they know of their victory remains to be seen. We sent our own messenger in response to Clygar doing so. Like the one my grandfather sent however, he was killed before he could complete his mission. Unlike my grandfather, we didn't order his death. Norland’s community of intelligent rats have taken over since where he left off since then. They are keeping the secret of my survival. I fear if I return the revelation that I am of both the light and the dark may get me killed, as well as the baby Lhaura hid there; Rhea Kvytravn Taalios… My niece. They are going to find out eventually, one way or the other. I need to clear up a lot but this is it for now. Should Norland want to ally themselves with the Talios tribe then we will forever be in your debt. I've skipped over a lot but that is the gist of it. Just send me a bird. We are desperate. -Oldoln Taalios, Cheiftain of the Talios Skanarri Tribe

This story is my HEADCANON We will now skip forward by roughly three years. Clygar raided Aaun twice. Both times he succeeded in his plans. The saboteur he sent is dead. Killed by the necromancer after he unintentionally gave Norland a decisive victory. As to whether they see it remains to be seen. We sent our own messenger in response to Clygar doing so. Like the one my grandfather sent however, he was killed before he could complete his mission. Unlike my grandfather, we didn't order his death. Norland’s community of intelligent rats have taken over since where he left off since then. They are keeping the secret of my survival. I fear if I return the revelation that I am of both the light and the dark may get me killed, as well as the baby Lhaura hid there; Rhea Kvytravn Taalios… My niece. They are going to find out eventually, one way or the other. I need to clear up a lot but this is it for now. Should Norland want to ally themselves with the Talios tribe then we will forever be in your debt. I've skipped over a lot but that is the gist of it. Just send me a bird. We are desperate. -Oldoln Taalios, Cheiftain of the Talios Skanarri Tribe

This story is FANFICTION At this point in my adventures it is important to mention that Clygar Stonehead may have been the High Chieftain, but his grasp on Skanarri territory was unstable, with smaller warlords regularly causing problems. There was only one tribe who could really do anything. The tribe of my mother; Talios. The lack of the second “A” is important. My mother did not want to be a part of the warring factions, just like my father. They met, fell in love, and had me plus my younger sister, Lhaura. When my parents were killed we split up to keep Clygar’s cronies away from each other. I hadn’t seen her since then until this part of my tale. Turns out she knew I was in Norland ever since the battle of Vjardengrad, when one of my grandfather’s troops made it back and confirmed rumors that I was alive. I had previously explored much of the northern half of Solstheim, including a shortcut through Skanarri territory. That’s all it took for those rumors to start, and they had been planning my potential abduction ever since then. It’s a lot to unpack, but it is important for understanding what happened while I was unconscious. Then again me being alive is a shocker in of itself. While I was knocked out, Cylgar sent a spy to pose as a childhood friend of mine to keep people away from the truth. I would later discover that this spy brought a baby back to Norland that he found in the woods. He was killed for doing so by an undead assassin sent by the necromancer. This assassin had somehow gotten ahold of my old armor set and was posing as a zombified version of me. In addition, Clygar put my unconscious body in a caravan bound for an even deeper part of Skanarri territory. Before he did that though, he had my left arm cut off. The whole arm. Up to the shoulder. He didn’t want me escaping on my way to his necromancer friend. It turns out it wouldn’t matter as a team from the Talios tribe busted me out led by, you guessed it, my sister. She carried me over her shoulder all the way back to the Talios fortress, all while I was still unconscious. I woke up unable to feel my left arm. I looked to where it was, only to find it was gone as like I said, it was removed to make it harder for me to escape. There were some runes protruding from the stump left behind. A few more than would usually be seen on the point a prosthetic would be attached to. This slightly higher number of runes is key to a function my new arm had. The Talios folk had somehow managed to get a blade built in that could be deployed with a flick of my prosthetic wrist. One of the doctors noticed I had woken up and she told me to stay down. She dumped some kind of potion in my mouth that knocked me out again so they could more easily attach the prosthetic. I woke up several hours later. The operation had been completed flawlessly. I got up and tripped almost immediately. My new arm was plated in Carbidium, and as such it was heavier than my flesh and blood arm. As I fell I accidentally deployed the blade so it got stuck in the floor. Lhaura, who had been in the room the whole time snickered as I stood up and my bearings. I turned and glared but recognized her almost immediately. She pointed to her wrist and made a flicking motion. I did so away from the blade and watched in awe as it retracted into a hidden compartment. I looked around and saw the people of the Talios tribe. Unbeknownst to me at the time, within a few years I would be in command of all of the people in the room.

This story is my HEADCANON. I continued to struggle with the bonds. Clygar smirked. “You're quite stubborn, aren't you? Just like your father, and me before him. Tell you what… you’ve learned a lot since you cowered in battle and let a comrade lose an arm and a leg.” He motioned his arm towards a painting of the battle of Vjardengrad. There I was in the bottom left trying to avoid getting hacked to pieces, fear in my eyes. Clygar continued with a challenge. “Show me what you have learned since then. Beat me and I will let you go free. I considered the offer but he said the most horrifying thing next. “But if I beat you, however…” He paused, “I made a deal with a necromancer. My end was that I gave him the bodies of my dead in exchange for immortality.” My pupils dilated like the flesh around a wound. “You mean…?” He laughed “Yes, you are of the dark, yet you also have the light in you. The Long Dark and the All-Father both see you as vital to their overarching plans. One who will irreversibly damage the other. An asset that can change the tide… the pinnacle of light and dark.” He let his words register inside me. But unbeknownst to Clygar, spending two days in the back of a carriage tied up let my fingernails grow much longer than usual. As he was talking I used my sharper than usual fingernails to cut the ropes binding me. Before the guard next to me knew what was happening I had taken a sword and had stabbed them in the chest. The Skanarri weren't exactly the most heavily armored of folk. Looking at my grandfather and remembering my trial by fire in Norland and the demon in my head, I threw the sword at him, desperately hoping it would impale him. He ducked and it grazed the middle of the top of his head. But as he ducked he didn’t realize I was charging right for him and I tackled the High Chieftain to the ground. He was about to pull out his sword but I stepped on his hand preventing him from doing so. As he yelped in pain he looked up while I punched him repeatedly, the ferocity never seen coming out of me. Whether it was the All-Father or the Long Dark remained to be seen. I snapped out of my violent trance when he was a blow away from ”death.” I looked down with rage in my eyes, but I couldn’t find it in my heart to kill him. He may have killed a lot of people but he was defenseless, and my grandfather no less. That one split second of hesitation was all it took for a guard to shove me off of the High Chieftain, saving his life. Before I knew it I was being beaten into unconsciousness by guards, and the last thing I saw before blacking out was Clygar struggling to get up. To be continued in volume III

This story is my HEADCANON It’s been a long time, friends. You may be asking how I am writing to you when I am “dead?” Well the answer is shocking. The truth is I never died. The gold block and the suicide note? Fabricated to keep your eyes away from my abduction. I didn’t find out how they made you think I was dead until recently when their whole plan went up in flames. The Skanarri are far more conniving than it would seem at first glance. How does this tie into me vanishing with a gold block in my place one night? Well to answer that question, we need to go back to before Balon was king, or before he even married Hilda. It all started shortly after it was announced that they were getting married. I was walking back home from the animal pen. I was getting wool in order to make some banners for my clan, as well as the ingredients for cakes for the celebration. Suddenly I was jumped by a couple of bounty hunters. I pulled out the Herald of Justice in order to defend myself but before I could do anything else a third one came up behind me and knocked me out. They dragged my unconscious body away while another group of roughly four or five stood by with a large gold block and a fake suicide note. Those were the very same ones you all would find the next day. They tied me up and loaded me into a caravan headed for the center of Skanarri territory. Two days later I was offloaded from the caravan and carried into a fortress of some kind. I knew this wasn’t good and I began to struggle to no avail. One of the bounty hunters looked at me trying to wriggle free then turned and asked one of the others if they should have used chains instead. Not like it would matter though. I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink in two days and so I wouldn’t be going anywhere. As they handed me off to a guard they were motioned to follow him in. I noticed banners on the wall and recognised them as those of the Skanarri. As I was placed down I saw who had ordered my abduction. I recognised him immediately. It was none other than the High Chieftain of the Skanarri himself, Clygar Stonehead. He motioned one of the guards. “Make sure they are paid.” He turned back to me. “Long have I waited for my grandchild to come home.” I looked up, glaring at him. “I think you got the wrong guy.” Clygar smirked. “Your father changed his surname to Taalios, did he not?” Fear shot through my body like lightning through copper. “You knew?” I gawked. “Yes… My son went through a great deal to avoid detection, but he failed to keep his facade up forever. As a result he is gone leaving only you, my bastard grandson to rise up and oppose me. A loose end. One that needs to be rectified.” To be continued in volume II...

Posters are found throughout Norland and on roads to other northern realms. They appear hastily made, the rough hand betraying the fury of the writer. The edges are emboldened with the red and green of Clan Vildr. It has come to my attention of a grievous crime and injury afforded to my wife, Herilissa Vildr, by the Skanarri of the north. Under pretense of peace talks, the Skanarri attacked our King and his envoys, my beloved among them. In her arms was my son, not even a year old. Sindri Vildr, who thankfully was unharmed. This did not stop the Skanarri from attacking her, a woman barely recovered from childbirth, with a swaddling babe in her arms. Two javelins struck my wife, dealing her grievous injury, though the swift actions of a healer saved her life. This wounding of my wife, and risk afforded to my son, will not go unpunished. I, Edric Vildr, challenge and demand satisfaction from the Skanarri - give me the head of the man or men that did this, or I will make it my purpose on this plane to bring death and destruction to your people until the flames of my life expire. There will be no haven for you to take refuge in. No fortress that will protect you, no shadow that will hide you, and no distance that will save you. Retribution will be had. Signed, Edric Vildr On the road to Nueva Tierra, still occupied by the Skanarri, a unique message is attached. Beneath the poster dangles a pair of severed hands from a Skanarri warrior, and a message: Savages. I do not know who among you committed this violation, and until I am afforded retribution I will make it my purpose to deprive each and every man hailing from your tribe of both of their hands, on the off chance that it was them.