Give Feedback
Grim Tales - A Princely Favor - Champion of Fenrir Book IV - Chapter 8 Part 2
-
Endorsements
-
Total views1.3k
Grim Tales - A Princely Favor - Champion of Fenrir Book IV - Chapter 8 Part 2
About this image
Notice
This user's image description contains 28 images. Some authors like to showcase more of their work in their image descriptions or use the image description to provide a storyboard for the image provided.
You will need to be logged in before you can see this user's image description.
28 comments
While I am hanging on the edge of my seat because of this "Jesse style cliffhanger"
I must say my favorite part was Wolfgar trying to unlock that door and considering that more difficult than defeating a Dardra lord!!
Also the banter between Akrioh and Serana was golden! The points!
LOVED this!
Now on to the next set!
Taking down a humanoid is pretty easy for Wolfgar - not a lot of finesse. But a door ... those nasty things with their tricky keys and slippery handles. A true wolf challenge!
I loved writing the banter with Akrioh and Serana. For some reason I found that so much easier than the banter between Grim and Serana.
Wolfgar... you had me smiling at the cheerful image in my mind of when a canine companion knows it has pleased. Enjoy that cow... and hopefully you will have a big field of grass to go with it.
So happy that Serana now knows that she is part of the group, the awkward bonding over. Yes, I would say that your impression of bonding between males is accurate. The jokes never meant to be mean. But allowing a female to be bonded to the group, especially her, doubly difficult. I would have to say that it takes at least three times longer to accept them to our circles. Always worrying about saying the wrong thing.... and we usually do.
So now we are to have a battle between them and Despair, I do think that she is going to find that it is not as easy as she thinks. Though the group may have been through a lot and worse for the wear, they are one now, trust and friendship will give them the upper hand in this.
A great tale Wolf and loved the shots
The battle ... well it is going to be different than what I people are possibly expecting. We shall see. I have a long weekend and my goal is to get chapter 9 out, no matter how long it is, by Monday.
It is very fortunate that Grim had two who taught him the magics of healing, knowing how useful they could be to him in dangerous lands, him being able to bring Aela back to her feet. Was kind of Serana to think about some way to help Aela despite that slight tension between them even though the awkward feelings she felt made her wary of doing so lest she refuse her help. It is good that Serana was there to suggest a better plan of escape, one that would avoid the traps that had likely been set in case they escaped, shows they have more trust in her that they accepted to head into the soul cairn once more.
I am sure that anger of Despair was a terrifying thing for that vampire that interrupted her to face, her promising death to those that had failed her, her cold eyes glowing all the more menacingly as she ordered the other to head to the hidden entrance. Seems slightly unwise of Despair to drain some of her power to teleport about when she noticed that Serana had not gone where she expected. I see those vampires protecting Valerica's room found quite the swift fate at the hands of Grim and friends, the urgency of their escape making them fight even harder. Seems Despair's detection spell had the unexpected effect of warning Serana, giving them time to prepare as they could to try to hold her off. Looks like despair brought in a rival for Wolfgar, him and the hound locking eyes, growling at each other. With his keen eyes Grim was sure to notice how dangerous a foe Despair is, seeing that she was not one prone to be drawn into doing something foolish unlike some of her arrogant servants. One can really feel that tension build as that sure to be intense battle is about to begin. I am very curious to see what will unfold. Fantastic work, Jonathan
Wolfgar is very pleased with himself. More importantly he is happy Grim and his friends are free, even the strange empty-one named Serana.
I think men tend to relieve tension and bond more with jokes and humor (I could be wrong, that might just be a stereotype I have from to much locker room antics and hollywood movies) than women do. Regardless of how accurate that is it was how I decided to approach things. I know Sofie and Danne give tons of love and support to Serana yet Grim and Erik, while they have their mushy moments, tend to resort to jokes and rough punches to the shoulder and the like. I just figured it would be good for Serana to figure that out finally.
Grim is meant to be very talented - that was my goal from the start as he is a Champion and eventually heir to be the Guardian of the North (Fenrir's main domain). So he had good trainers and his restoration is on the Adept level (a step below masters I believe). He had limited energy but he knew how to heal Aela pretty well and get her back on her feet. Sadly he can't do much about her trauma - time will be the best cure there .. that and perhaps a visit from Selina from Shivering Isles.
Pleased you picked up on the unexpected side effect of Despairs spell. Seems it was a two way conduit. Despair could link to Molags blood in Serana but it also let Serana do the same in reverse. An interesting side effect of the spell (and something I have talked about with Nataly indirectly - the idea that Molag might be able to "see" through any of his "daughters" eyes via his blood. Lore says Hircine can talk to any of his were children when he wants so there is some credence to this).
So yep - lots of tension - and things are going to get pretty bad quickly I suspect.
Looking forward to the next chapter for sure. This is sure to be a great finish.
Banivan (slayer of hope) the death hound is pretty much on par with Wolfgar. Banivan is a special breed of Death Hound (like an Alpha) with additional powers thanks to Molag. I expect that to be a fierce fight. Banivan's advantage is his collar, which protects his throat - something Wolfgar doesn't have. Banivan also has a frost effect (which Wolfgar will ignore) and can drain life in pulses - that will be rough on Wolfgar. Wolfgar, on the other hand, is far more agile, more intelligent (smarter), and has some resistance to magic.
The vampire Dreyri (female) is a True Daughter of Coldharbour and very ancient - older even than Valerica. She is more powerful than Serana as she wasn't asleep for 2000+ years - she used those years to get more powerful.
Fjorlag, the male, is an Ancient Vampire Lord and a powerful battle mage. He is as old as Dreyri and a true-blood although not a daughter, of course. He is more powerful than Losti but slightly weaker than Serana.
Erik and Akrioh combined could take down Fjorlag or Banivan with some luck and plenty of preperation.
Aele, while having the blood of Hircine, is not like Grim. Hircine mated with one of Aelas ancestors in stag form while in his mortal avatar on Nirn. His blood is more diluted (although still true blooded) in Aela than it is in Grim (as Grim has Hircines actual blood in his make-up). Aela is close to Serana in power level. She has exceptional agility and speed and is much bigger than most werewolves. She also heals faster and has some innate magic resistance from both her blood and as a blessing from Hircine that helps to protect her from Despairs Aura (but not completely - she can only hold out for a limited amount of time - in wolf form that time is extended). While Grim has truer blood he is mortal as well and more susceptible to emotions so he doesn't have the same level of resistance that Aela does. He counts on his link to Nature to counter the effects of Despairs aura.
Grim used to be the equivalent of a Greater Daedra. Before he lost most of his divine powers he would have been an equal match against Despair. Now his power level is about the same as Serana's. Consider them a "moderate Daedra" halfway between a lesser and greater daedra.
Consequently Despair brought her three friends along more to learn the capabilities of her enemies. She is not concerned for them at all. She only cares about Molag. Overall it is an unequal fight weighted in Despairs favor. She has Stormbringer - one of the most dangerous daedric weapons ever created - and she is almost fully charged - perhaps at 70-80% capacity after two teleports. On the other hand Grim is exhausted. He has used up all his reserves. He was drained in the Soul Cairn and then captured and drained his mental strength from resisting the collars charm. He helped Wolfgar and now has nothing left to draw on but his own life energy. That means no recharging of his stamina or health like he can do outside. Worse his main defense against Despairs aura, besides his divine blood, which offers some resistance, is his link to nature ... which is cut off while inside of Molags influence, i.e. while inside his Temple.
Going to be a hard fight!
You write Akiroh very well. I love his playful, Geralt-like, dry humour and finally, after weeks of being exposed to it, it seems that Serana understands and enjoys his humour too! It's a different way of showing friendship and a love of sorts than what she's used to; but how else would Grim's 'pack' show affection?
All our gang had their moment to shine this chapter; each bringing his or her special gifts to try and get them safely through the temple. All except for Aela who seems a little traumatised (no wonder) but I think she's about to go explosive during the impending battle (impressive wolf form on her).
So now they meet, face-to-face. No more games, (foolish Daedra to think Grim and co might have even considered her offer for a heartbeat) no more running. I'm very keen for Ch 9 now!
I like Akrioh a lot. Not to get too off tangent but growing up all of my friends were either female or very straight masculine men. I picked up some of the behavior and attitude from my highschool and college male friends to have at least some rough idea how Akrioh might act. It didn't hurt I had also just finished reading the 4 Witcher books plus a bunch of books by Michael Sullivan that added the right mix of chauvinistic male with semi-hero type.
Besides Grim and Erik tease each other all the time. Erik's fat ass jokes is really his way of saying those words that terrify Sam so much.
Aela is badly traumatized. Personally I could so see her slapping Grims hand away if he tried to help her. She seems like the type who would rather keel over dead then have help (although she doesn't seem to hate men like Serana does - she actually seems pretty gender neutral in regards to acceptance). That being said, those first few minutes when she came to and saw Grim she was more relieved than she would ever dare admit. Hence the quick hug with Grim.
Probably a damn good thing she saw Grim first though - in her current condition, tortured by vampires and servants of Molag, she might have though it had been Serana who arranged it all (remember Aela is in trauma and the brain works different then). But Aela greatly respects Grim and that is one reason Hircine wanted Grim on the job - he is one of the few Aela trusts completely.
So yes ... now it is time to rumble. Going to be pretty brutal though. Something I am worried about but guess I see how it goes.
So the team was not sitting idly while Wolfgar was for the rescue... Grim is much more tougher and far harder to break then Molag's minions have anticipated. Also it was so very pleasant to see Akrioh using hos knowledge for his benefit and the benefit of his new team. And Serana... she sure became one tough lady too, for no Zzed mockery not the sense of impending doom put her in hysterics. She sure has gone a long way from being depressed melancholic.
The scene of Wolfgar freeing Grim's team was wonderful! Great thing that Akrioh's dagger was enchanted so he could take off those collars an finally let poor Erik become himself. also i loved Akrioh playful jokes with Serana... she finally understood that men acceptance might be very different from acceptance shown by women. But in her defense I can say that Serana has zero experience when it comes to interactions with men, but she sure doing fine with Akrioh, joking about half bad full points. Her zapp of Grim was so in her character! she is gentle only with Dannee and Sofie besides she never studied healing spells, so Grim had rough awakening.
By the way, no matter what creepy Zzed did to Aela Dannee could join Serana's club of wanting to rip off his balls and make him eat them... so if he ever encounters these two fierce ladies, he would be maimed and killed. Aela showed herself as very fierce warrior and even despite being barely alive and having troubles to stand she still has fight left and would rather die then become a prisoner of Molag again. The moent of understanding of Aela, pain by Seran was eautiful, since like it was rightfully said before this case, Serana saw Aela only as smelly werewolf and a rival in affection of Dannee, who considers Aela her shield sister. Now however this was changed and hopefully Serana won't judge all werewolves by some false assumptions.
Too bad that Serana quite witty idea of hiding in soul cairn did not work out for mistress Despair has arrived and what worse she tracked Serana by her blood of True Daughter...
And speaking of Despair, she must be very irritated that Grim did escape and that what happens when the work is given to some underlings. However she is no Zzed and Grim will have probably one of toughness (if not most toughest) battles of his life! I can't wait to see the continuation and thank you very much for sharing your awesome work!
I recall in a couple of yours stories that when Serana got really angry she could become an incredibly tough person ... so hopefully her biting back at Zzed (so to speak) when made was appropriate. She has been a bit moody the whole time during this adventure - with only a few bright moments (when Grim trusted her with his soul, Wolfgar nudging her hand, etc) but other wise more morose. I think some of that was in my head more than it was written down. That is the hard thing with your style of writing - can be hard to remember everything you want to explain that is happening inside someones head. I really admire how well you do that.
I don't think it will be a spoiler to say the following - I also tried to make a point of highlighting when Serana had some issue and how later she was made to feel better about it. For example the occasional praise from Grim, acceptance by Wolfgar, joking with Akrioh, Grim trusting her, all of that is meant to help her later on in the story. So I was trying to build that all up.
I suspect there will still be friction between Serana and Aela but there is also mutual understanding and respect between them. True Aela was not raped by Molag (although that was the plan - Molag just hadn't arrived yet to do it) but she was emotionally and physically abused and tortured by Zzed and Despair. I did not write about all her emotional torture and what the vampires did to her ... as she hasn't been aware enough (or had time) to tell Grim what it was about. Knowing her pride I suspect she many never tell anyone, except possibly her shield sister Dannee. I suspect Hircine will know what has happened, one way or the other, as well.
As for Despair - she is very powerful and I know some folks think she is outnumbered ... but the reality is the death hound and two vampires are just cannon fodder - to see what Grim and his team will do. Despair has more than enough power at her disposal to wipe the floor with them ... unless ....
As they start to wonder what is going on...if some drunk is trying to open the door...nope it's just Wolfgar trying to unlock the door. And I agree with Akrioh...That is one impressive wolf !....but I stand with Serana...more impressive then Akrioh..but he'd never admit to it hehe. I take note that he said he'd buy wolfgar an entire cow after this...I will hunt him down if he doesn't now !!
So the dagger was blessed by Arkay, very useful in their particular situation ! I chuckled at the little jokes between Akrioh and Serana..about the points ! Would seem they finally are accepting her..though seemed that Serana did not quite realize that acceptance coming from a woman is different then the one coming from a man. She was simply looking at the wrong place. I'm sure Erik was very grateful to not be a drooling goon anymore. She sure didn't put any white gloves to wake Grim up...just zap him with lightning and be done with it lol...though Losti proved a little more complicated because of the paralysis spell he was under..but she still managed to dispell it...and earn her full point !
I guess poor Serana will not have the pleasure to rip Zzed jewels off. Well now that they finally rescue Aela...now comes the hard part...getting out of this cesspit filled with vampires.
Despair sure isn't very pleased, i'm sure, about her lackeys incompetences and allowing the prisoner to escape ( Though i'm sure someone else...Lord Ty...must be quite amused.)..she probably regretting having to put Zzed in charge while she was away...if you want something done right..you have to do it yourself !
The team route of escape sure are very limited..and they have no time to argue on which is the best...as both options are as equally risky. Though it seems that confrontation is inevitable as Despair was able to track Serana because of her link to Molag Bal...which is total bad news. I like Akrioh's quick mind to come up with a plan...now that they know that it's only a matter of minutes before Despair is upon them. Aela sure isn't gonna go down without a fight !
And Grim and Despair finally meet face to face...for once Grim have a foe that can look at him straight in the eyes without having to be force on his knees cuz he's just that bloody tall lol. I guess he was in for a bit of a surprise to see that Despair did not start to gloat or taunt ..but instead started calculating and adjusting her tactic already...not a foe he'd be able to taunt into doing something overly foolish or play on her overconfidence. Sure is promising to be a rough fight...leaving to wonder if those sudden though of his are truly is are is he already falling under the influence of Despair...and either or not if its just her very presence..or her aura. Her horrible voice affecting everyone except the Wolfgar and the Death hound...as they are way too busy having a staring and snarling contest. ( My money on Wolfgar).
Something I think Despair would do, a nod of approval when she's facing a foe she deems worthy...and not just some 'cattle' for the slaughter. And...Oblivion about to break loose ... *gets 3D glasses and popcorn and wait for next chapter* I'm ready !
Wonderfully done dear !
Between you and me I think Serana rather enjoyed giving Grim that ZAPPP! When I played with Serana in the game (for real, not for a story) I tended to see her more as a mage and less as a vampire. So for the story I really played up on that. I like to see her as a powerful mage first, and then a vampire. Certainly Grim would tell her that if she cured her vampirism that she would still be powerful and useful for her friends as a battle mage.
I suspect Tyr has an agent or two in the temple, besides the banished Zzed (who is NOT going to get the welcome from Tyr he was hoping for when he reforms), and that he is taking lots of notes :p
To me Aela has NOT broken but is close. She knows she could not handle being capture again. There will be no taking her alive if she can help it. She would dine on Despairs heart and liver if she could (and if Despair even has such).
Glad I got the nod right - I spent about 15 minutes debating it while I read through notes and posts. But for all her evil she is Molags creation ... and Molag actually has some small sense of honor. In the end of ESO main quest he gives respect for being defeated by the hero. Consequently I figured Despair would show that.
Not that it means she will hold back - the very opposite. Knowing her mission and who Grim is she has taken off any kid gloves and put on steel spiked gloves with razors embedded all over them.
Got some major stuff lined up for chapter 9 and I expect no one will come even remotely close to what I have planned.