Evelyn takes Artemis to her home in Riften. She doesn't want to go to far just in case. He takes a moment to look around the main floor. Inside one of her display cases in a greenish looking sword. Along side it are different daggers and a wall of other weapons. She slowly sits down at her table, watching him. There's still a few things she doesn't know about him. "I have to ask, where did you get that sword?" She points to Charon's Claw. He pulls out the blade and lays it out on the table for her to get a closer look at it. The sword has a slender, razor-edged, gleaming red blade, its length inscribed with designs of cloaked figures and tall scythes, accentuated by a black blood trough running along its center. It's skull-bobbed pommel, with a hilt that appeared like whitened vertebrae. Running from it toward the crosspiece, the hilt was carved to resemble a backbone and rib-cage, and the crosspiece itself resembled a pelvic skeleton, with legs spread out wide and bent back toward the head, so that the wielder's hand fit neatly within the 'bony' boundaries. All of the pommel, hilt and crosspiece was white, like bleached bones—perfectly white, except for the eye sockets of the skull pommel, which seemed like black pits at one moment and flared with red fires the next. There's a part of her that wants to try and wield it, but the way it looks gives her pause. "I removed it from it's owner.." He pulls out a gauntlet from his bag. "The gauntlet can block it's effects, but it has other uses as well." She looks at the gauntlet before looking at the sword again.
"What can it do?" "It has a few abilities, the sword leave trails of ash in the air, creating temporary opaque walls ." She rises her brow. "It takes a large amount of will power to handle the blade." "It's remarkable, dangerous....but I can see why you would hold onto it...so what about the gauntlet?" "Besides handle the sword, it can also absorb magic, then turn it back against the user.." Both her brows shot up at this. "Really, now that's useful..." He slowly joins her, putting his sword back into it's sheath. She crosses her legs as she watches him. "So what was your home like, where you came from.." He frowns a bit as he looks at the table. "I was born in Memnon...located in the desert..." He glances up, wonder if she knew what that was. She takes a moment to give it some thought. "Oh like Hammerfell, mostly hot dry air covered in sand. I've read about them, but I've never seen the deserts.." He nods his head slowly, keeping his eyes down. "I was born in Memnon, but was relocated to a different city, Calimport.." He was leaving a lot out. He's never openly talked about what happened to him. Jarlaxle only found out because of the flute. Still it's a open wound he's not ready to poke at just yet. "I ended up working for different Pasha's....guild masters. One of them was Pasha Pook....he hired me to go after one of his thieves, Regis for stealing a powerful ruby he fell in love with." She leans forward a bit as he spoke. But he goes quite after a minute or so, looking lost in thought. "It feels like that job changed everything. Something so simple.." She chuckles slightly. "Oh don't I know the feeling. Just wanted to travel, next thing I know I'm chasing dragons.."
His brows knit slightly as he looks up at her. "You don't have any other family?" Her head tilts slightly. "If I did I never found out about them. I think Mernon tried, but little was known about my father. And my mother never spoke of where she was from." "Mernon?" "A Dark Elf, he raised me, he's the one that found me after they found my parents. The Thalmor left one hell of a trail..." He rubs his chin, but says nothing. "You have Dark Elves here?" "Um...yes?" It was a strange question, but she has to remind herself he's not from here. Which is why she wants to learn more about this mystery assassin. "Dunmer, they mostly live in Morrowind. But you'll see a good number of them roaming around." Artemis goes quiet again, he doesn't really say much. Much like him she grew up alone, however she ended up with a group of fighters. She wasn't this mindless killer most people end up as. "Tell me more of this Alduin, you said he was one of the first dragons created...so why kill him?" "Ah see it's in his name Al-Du-In, Destroyer Devour Master. he would have devoured everything if I allowed him. And mind you we are talking about the end of all things as we know it.." His eyes go wide, he had no idea a dragon could even be that powerful. "I imagine with Alduin gone I'll be the last person named as Dragonborn. Which isn't a bad thing I would imagine. Just means dragons will be here for awhile since the Thalmor wiped out the Blades.." "Why not rebuild them?" She hesitates for a minute. "I wanted to...when I first discovered all of this I ran into a woman named Delphine."
She lets out a heavy sigh as she shakes her head slowly. "It was her, then a man named Esbern. We later relocated a old temple. Sky Haven Temple, where we learned of Alduin. They stayed at that temple while I ran around with my head cut off, trying to find a damn Elder Scroll." She rubs the back of her neck for a minute. "Anyways when I came back from dealing with Alduin they hit me with an ultimatum. Kill Paarthurnax, a dragon that helped me more then they did. Or they wouldn't help me anymore. Honestly I would have left it at that if they didn't suggest they would do it themselves at some point." Her eyes narrow as she speaks. "I wasn't about to let them try so I might have used my Unrelenting Force Shout and knocked them off the cliff...shame I kind of liked Esbern..." He doesn't bat an eye on her murdering two people. "You spoke of this Elder Scroll before. What is it and what can it do?" She bites her lower lip as she gives it some thought. "It's hard to explain, no one really knows who made them, why and how they work the way they do. Some people do study them, but over time it either drives them insane or blind for reading them. I think the only reason I was able to come out of reading the scroll was because I read it at the Time Wound. Or where the Nordic hero's had used the scroll on Alduin." He's no doubt lost by now, but she's doing her best. "No one knows who made these scrolls, how many are there?" "They used to be many, but they vanished over time." She could only shrug slightly. "I have three of them, all locked up tightly. Well two, I let Urag have the dragon scroll. I'm sure he has it in a safe place.."
Artemis leans back in his chair. This place held many mysteries, as well as powerful items. It's remarkable she's of sound mind with everything's she's dealt with. "So what about you, you said you traveled, but you didn't talk about your parents." He scowls at this. "Nothing to say, my mother is dead and my...'father' now is as well.." If Yinochek really was his father then he was very much dead. Not that it really maters to him in the end. Seems she hit a sore spot as she rises her hands. "Apologizes. I didn't mean to pry at an old wound." There's still a scowl on his face, but says nothing. After some rest and a bit of food they leave her home. She still wants to wonder the area before heading back to Whiterun. She just wants to make sure they cover everything. Darklight Tower is one spot she wants to check. The place often attracts Hagravens. Which is strange since most Hagravens stay near the Reach. "I should warn you of Hagravens if we step in here." He gives her an odd look as they head towered the old tower. She turns back as she lets out a low hum. "Witches, I don't know the whole prosses. But they strike a deal with Hircine, losing what humanity they have to become half bird like creatures.." He's quick to pull out his blades, ready for anything. With nothing else to say she enters the tower. The place is dead quiet, but she can smell magic in the air. It reminders of a rainless thunderstorm, which drives her to pull out her own blade. She leads the way, making sure Artemis was behind her every once in awhile.
The tower itself is empty. They don't run into any problems, until the reach the courtyard. The place had been cleared out, slightly in place of a large stone table. On the table is a dead body with several bandits in the middle of disemboweling it piece by piece. There's bottles all over the ground, so these people were far from being saved. One bandit is in the middle of eating, something Evelyn doesn't want to know when he sees her. He lets out a wild scream as he holds out his dagger. He rushes her as she swings out her sword. Artemis joins the fight as the others quickly take notice. They fight like madmen with nothing to lose. He finds himself rolling one way and using his dagger on one of them. However he's careful to not take their life force, just in case. He uses Charon's Claw on one of the other bandits. The bandit jolts at the hit, frozen in pain. The others soon turn and watch as their friend turns to ash. Panic follows and they soon start to make a run for it. However in the state of mind they were in, they couldn't seem to figure out how to get the gate down. Evelyn pulls out her bow and just starts to fire at them. Her bow sparks with a powerful lightning enchantment so killing them took no time at all. They managed to get all of them, but she keeps her bow out as she scans the area.
Artemis holds onto his blades tightly, but he could feel the pulse from Charon's Claw. It was still trying to take over his mind. It only seems to have gotten worse since he had used his dagger on the shade. He tries to let the sword go, but he's quickly finding it almost impossible. Evelyn turns to him, only to see his body jerking wildly. He seems to be trying to let go his sword, but is having difficulty doing so. "ZunHaalViik!" Her disarm Shout works like a charm and both his blades end up on the ground. His body sways a bit as she walks over to him, helping him steady his balance. "Whoa now, easy.." He places his hand on his head. She would sit him down, but seeing the ground in the state it was in didn't seem like the best idea. "You okay?" He Takes a moment, trying to clear the fog in his mind. He soon starts to scowl again as he glares at his weapon. "Maybe you should not use the blade for a bit?" He's about to argue, but she might have a point. For right now it doesn't seem like the best idea. She picks up his dagger and hands that back to him. "Sorry for using my Shout on you. It was the only thing I could think of that would disarm you, but not hurt you." He takes his dagger, sliding it back into it's sheath. "It's fine..." She glances down at Charon's Claw, the blade glowing ever so slightly. "I take it if it doesn't like me, me picking it up might end poorly.." "The sword will turn you to ash.." he's not about to lie to her since he's seen it for himself after all. "Who knows, maybe you can lift the blade."
It's worth a try, she has always been a bit of a risk taker. If she can't, he has his gauntlet. But as a last resort. She moves slowly and picks up the deadly blade. She holds it tightly as it starts to pulse in her hand. It starts to fight her immediately as she feels her Thu'um vibrating in her throat. She says something in what sounds like dragon to the sword. "Pahlok(Arrogance). You think you can enter the mind of a Dovah(Dragon)?" He watches closely and soon she's holding the sword with ease. She shakes her head a little, blinking her eyes a few times. "Wow that thing fights nasty...I think I got it though..." The sword is glowing slightly in her grip, but other then that nothing else seems to happen. Seems her being Dragonborn was enough to compel the sword to obey her, at least for now. They take one last look around the area before letting themselves out. She leads the way back to Riften as Artemis walks beside her. "Well at least I have a large collection of weapons, but I think I know which sword will suit you." They enter the back gates into Riften as she leads him back to her home. With Charon's Claw now at her side she opens one of her cases. It's the sword he was looking at earlier. "This is Chillrend." He takes the sword, looking it over. "It does frost damage, but it also has a small chance to paralyze." "What is it made from?" "Glass, Malachite, it's tougher then it looks I promise." He gives the sword a few swings. It's not as useful as Charon's Claw but at least it's not trying to get into his mind.
"I have other blades you can try." He gives it some thought but shakes his head after a minute or so. It's light, but it could prove to be useful. After a moment or so she places her Ebony Blade on a open holder. She opens one of her side cases for a dagger she slides out. It's looks like a normal dagger with a pure black pommel. However it has this strange other worldly shine to it as she shows him the dagger. "Mehrunes' Razor, a small gift from Mehrunes Dagon himself. He's one of the Daedric Princes..." Artemis recalls the name from one of the books he read. "What can that dagger do?" He's curious because it looks so normal. "There's a small chance that even the smallest of cuts can kill a person instantly. I figured this would be a good match for Charon's Claw, that and I rarely use the poor thing.." He eyes the dagger for a moment, it sounds like a good match. "How many of these items do you have?" She looks up as she gives it some thought. "I think I have just about everything from all the Daedric Princes...well all but Namira. Even I have limits, and I won't dive into cannibalism." She's normally not one to judge, but there's some lines people shouldn't cross. When she learned of a person eating the dead in Markarth, she put a stop to it very quickly. "Out of all of them, what's the most useful?" He can't help but ask, Jarlaxle never went into great detail over the large amount of magical items he owned. "Oh there's a good chunk of them from the Ebony Blade, to the Ebony Armor I got from Boethiah. Hermaeus Mora's Oghma Infinium a book of course. Interesting read, but it vanished once I was done with it. He's knowledge always comes with a price after all. Azura's Star, an unbreakable soul stone which is very useful."
"What is a soul stone?" She's talked about it before but he couldn't place what it was. She heads downstairs, then returns showing him a crystal. It's the same clear gem he saw in her other home. "Are they magic, what are they used for?" She chuckles slightly, she's never heard him ask so many questions. "As the name implies, they hold souls, which requires magic. Filled soul gems can be used to either enchanting items, or recharging items of magic. I normally just use creatures, or bandits, not like anyone will give notice." He looks at the gem before looking at her. "You have a lot of these." "I tend to use them a lot, they're very useful and they break after using them." He looks back to the gem, there's an odd beauty to it. "I'll give you a few for Chillrend, in case it's magic starts to get weak. But it lasts for a good while before you'll have to." He's not sure, but he takes the gem and stuffs it into the small bag he carried. "We'll remain here for a few days, when it's safe we'll return to Whiterun. I'll still have to report this to the Companions. With any luck we've seen the last of this mess. For now anyways.." She lets out a low sigh as she rubs the side of her head. She turns her gaze to him, looking him over. "You sure you're okay?" His eyes narrow slightly. He's not really used to someone worrying over him. "I'll be fine, I think I just need time away from that damn sword.." He needs time to figure out if he'll be able to wield the sword like before. But there's a part of him that doubts it. At least as long as she kept it it would always be close by. He just won't use it for the time being.
