Their timing wasn't quite right. The sun was just cresting the horizon as they reached the camp, only to find Alandro already up and looking over papers by the long-dead fire. Vivec braced himself for a "Where have you been" lecture. Instead, it seemed that luck was on their side; Alandro seemed quite genuinely surprised to see them.

He did actually ask, "Where have you two been?" but in a way that was perplexed rather than chiding. Internally, Vivec went weak with relief at their second success of the evening.

"I couldn't sleep," Sil said with surprising ease, taking off Voryn's cloak. "Vivec offered to walk with me until I could."

"We just went down the hill. There's a group of wild netch down there, and they're always more active early in the morning," Vivec added breezily.

Alandro looked between the two of them, sitting back. After a moment, he nodded. "Well, listening to Vehk for too long must have tired you out," he said to Sil with a grin. "Nerevar told you the plan, right? We're just making preparations today, so you can go back to sleep if you'd li..."

He trailed off and leapt up to his feet. Both Sil and Vivec turned to follow his gaze.

In the distance, along the road, a line of people were slowly making their way through the ashen, rolling hills. There must have been hundreds; Alandro murmured something about an army, but made no move for a moment. Armies, after all, usually had trebuchets and weapons, not wagons and guar. And, distant as they were, there was something distinctly downtrodden in their gait and golden in their skin.

It was Chimer coming their way, treading the road like their ancestors had with Veloth.

Without a word, Alandro disappeared into Nerevar's tent. When he came back out, he had Neht in tow, with Voryn not far behind. The three of them spoke in sharp whispers; Vive

They met the first of the migrants a fair way from camp, with Nerevar practically sprinting up to the first mer in the train. "What's happened?" he asked, hands falling on the man's shoulders. "Where have you all come from?"

"Hofstaag," he said, expression pained. "There's been a new edict. Every mer's been ordered out of the city." The woman beside him choked back a wail, and he wrapped a hand around her arm comfortingly before looking back to Neht. "We had hardly any time to gather our things, and we've no instruction of where to go. Just...out."

"That's hardly unexpected with Nords. Impulsive n'wah," Voryn hissed through his teeth. He gathered himself, standing up tall and regal as he looked over the couple. "Rest assured, House Dagoth will do whatever we can to ensure all the mer here are cared for."

"Is there some sort of leader among you?" Alandro asked, ready to get to brass tacks. He gently dislodged Nerevar's hands from the man's shoulders; Neht's eyes had gone distant, thoughts clearly starting to roil. "I don't suppose you'd have a mayor, but someone you look to? Let us speak with them, and we can come up with an idea of what's to be done."

Nerevar stepped back for a moment as Alandro and Voryn spoke with the man, the line of mer drifting around them to see what was happening. Vivec drifted up to his side, Sil not much further, both staying quiet.

"Azura really has provided," Nerevar murmured to himself. "This is just what we needed."

Vivec saw Sil start to speak, but he quickly shot a look his way, finger going to his lips. There was more than just getting the mer out that needed to be done; if the others thought it was divine, then all the more reason for them to listen to Azura's Chosen Son. He looked back to Nerevar.

"You should say something," he said. "They...they must be in shock, but our group must not act and speak as if asleep." He gripped Nerevar's arm, face very serious. "Wasting this opportunity means wasting allies."

Neht looked back to him, brows drawn together. After a moment, he nodded, and strode back over to Alandro and Voryn. The crowd surrounding them was massive, a cacophony of questions and worries around them. Nerevar looked about, then held up his hands in a motion demanding quiet. The mer nearest to them went silent first, and those just past them followed. Soon, silence covered the clearing, with only the distant sound of silt striders' mournful calls breaking it.

Nerevar looked about the group, then took a breath.

"What happened," he said, voice ringing out across the grazelands, "is unacceptable." A murmur of agreement came from the crowd, followed by the return of silence. "Resdayn is our birthright. We are the heirs of St. Veloth, and no matter what the Nords have done, we must, we must regain the land that is ours. This hurts, I know, to be driven from a place you know, a place that I'm sure many of you love. But those of us who know the Three know that from such pain comes progress. By driving us out, the Nords have only strengthened our resolve to take it back from them!" A louder murmur from the crowd. "The Nords have their brute strength, but we have trickery, we have strategy, we have blessings from Moonshadow among ourselves. And so I, Indoriil Nerevar Mora, promise to each and every one of you, that we will have Resdayn back! In their act today, the Nords have declared war on the Chimer, and it is a war that we are destined to win!"

A roar came from the crowd, despondency replaced with wild fervor. Amid the cacophony, Voryn slipped back to stand with Vehk and Seht; he'd never been much for crowds.

"That was easier than I thought," he said quietly, arms crossing as he watched several mer descend on Nerevar for more answers. Vivec, heady from his and Seht's success as well as the rousing speech, gave him a grin.

"Of course it was," he said. "Now they see him the way we do."

~

It was no small miracle, really, that they had an influx of mer. The original plan had featured the spiders from the Dwemer as help, but even so, it was hard work for five mer and a handful of mercenaries. Now, they not only had extra bodies, but people who knew Hofstaag intimately. Several mer had joined Alandro and Nerevar at the planning table, pointing out weak points, entrances that even Vivec hadn't found, and the guards' schedules. With the fire of persecution burning bright in the bosom of every mer, plenty were willing to join the cause, even if it meant their death.

As they strategized, Voryn stepped fully into his High Councilor role; this, really, was where he thrived–speaking with people, beckoning them in, giving directions in a way that was firm yet inviting. The refugees couldn't all stay with them, out in the middle of nowhere, so he organized a plan to get them toward the north; Ald'ruhn, small as it was, would likely be a safe haven, and easier to get to than the Mourning Hold.

Sil, surprisingly enough, inadvertently became a teacher; what started as someone no doubt trying to engage the boy quickly became several mer crowded around him, listening to his explanations of how Dwemer spiders–and his own, which he was trying to make a full-sized version of before their strike–worked. It made sense, in its way; if it was easy enough for a child to understand, then surely adults could puzzle it out as well. Not many did, but the few that could follow along were just as invested as Seht.

As for Vivec, he was a messenger, flitting between groups giving and gaining news among each. He felt like he was cheating, really; getting to speak with so many mer was a delight after so many years of wandering, and he worried that he was having too much fun to be helpful.

Nerevar had been tempted to launch the attack immediately, but both Alandro and Voryn had coaxed him into waiting the few days they'd already planned for. It gave the ones who didn't want to fight time to leave, and the ones who did time to temper their anger into strategy.

The evening before the strike, the five of them took a moment to themselves, surrounding the fire as they had just a few nights before; if one could ignore the hundreds of others surrounding them, it felt nearly the same as it had then.

"One of us ought to lead them up to Ald'ruhn," Alandro said, rolling a stick between his hands. "Voryn?"

"There's an unfortunate Redoran population up there," Voryn said as he pulled a comb through his dark hair. "I wouldn't want them thinking everyone with us was House Dagoth."

"You wish they would be, though, don't you?" Vivec teased, earning him a thoroughly unamused look from Voryn.

"If they choose to join my house, I certainly wouldn't turn them away," he said, turning his focus to a particularly tough knot. "We could do with more."

"Well, then who should go?" Alandro asked. "Not Neht and I. We'll need Sil for the spiders."

"And I'm not leaving Sil's side," Vivec said firmly as Alandro and Voryn's gaze turned to him. "He's never done anything like this before."

If Sil was listening, fiddling as he was with a new mass of metal parts, he didn't acknowledge them.

"Voryn, we can't let petty house politics get in the way of our revolution," Nerevar said quietly, eyes flicking up to look at him. "And I'm sure once they hear what's happened, there should be no animosity." He shrugged. "You know politics better than I do. Would mentioning my attachment to House Indoriil help?"

"In and of itself, no." Voryn set the comb aside, tracing his lower lip as he thought. "But...if I do mention the alliance between our Houses, and if we can get a few of the Hlaalu to come and say their piece on our getting them out..." He looked over at Nerevar. "Your becoming Hortator would be easy as anything."

"Well, that settles that, then," Alandro said, using his stick to poke at the fire. "Sil, what about your spiders?"

Sil didn't answer.

"Sil."

No answer. Finally, Vivec nudged him, and he jolted up like someone waking from a dream. He looked up at him, then over at Alandro.

"Did you say something?"

"Your spiders, Sil. Will they be ready by tomorrow?"

"And if they're not, we have plenty to work with," Nerevar added quickly.

Sil let out a breath. "Technically, everything I have is still in the prototype stage. There's one that will work; it should be able to spit out multiple fireballs before it breaks. And the Dwemer spiders are easy enough to adjust to act as..." He squints down at the brass on his lap. "...bombs, for lack of a better term. There's not a lot, but it should be able to get over closer to the governor's house than any mer could."

Alandro nodded. "I have no idea what that all even looks like, so I'm taking your word for it, Seht." He looked back over at Nerevar with a smile. "And your boyfriend Dumac? Does he know about this?"

"Not like he's done much to help to begin with," Voryn muttered, picking up his comb again.

"He's done plenty, Voryn," Neht said sternly. "He...doesn't know the specifics. Or, at least, he hasn't heard them from me. But this should be a pretty big declaration of war."

"And you're certain the Dwemer will be on our side?" Voryn asked coolly, working on a stubborn knot.

"Of course they will be. They want the Nords out just as much as we do, and this will prove that we're excellent allies." Nerevar gave the group a smile, face bright in the glow of the fire. "And because of that, we'll be starting a new chapter in the history of Resdayn."

"If we're rested," Alandro adds on, standing up to stretch. "Which means I am heading to bed for the night. If we all end up dying, I'd rather enter Oblivion without shadows under my eyes."

That caught Vivec's attention. "You think that's likely?" he asks.

"Azura wouldn't have granted us the boon of that order if we were just going to die," Nerevar said confidently, which earned a push to the head from Alandro.

"It's always a risk, Azura or not," he says, shaking his head. "Sil, you'd best get to bed as well. Sil."

"I heard you." Sil's pale eyes looked up at Vivec, wordlessly sharing the same discomfort of knowing Azura had nothing to do with this. After a moment, he gathered up his bits and bobs and headed for their tent.

"And I'm playing guarherd tomorrow, from the sounds of it." Voryn rose to his feet, looking down at Nerevar. "Despite what Alandro says, you'd best not die. The last thing I need is planning funeral arrangements. Do you know how hard it is to make a funeral mask after death?" Despite the haughty toss of his head, there was a clear note of sincerity in Voryn's tone, and he looked over Nerevar for just a moment longer before sweeping toward his own tent.

Once they were alone, Vivec spoke up before Nerevar could head to bed as well. "Neht?"

Nerevar looked over to him, half-smiling. "Don't tell me Alandro's words are getting to you, Vehk. Surely you know by now he's always the pessimist."

"I...well, I mean, we've never done anything to this caliber before. And..." He pressed his lips together tightly, trying to find the softest words for what he wanted to say. The truth, however, had a terrible habit of bursting out of him ugly and unfinished, and now was no exception. "It wasn't Azura who caused the edict. Or the Nords. It was me."

Nerevar blinked. "What?"

"Well, Seht and me. He..." Vivec took a shaky breath. "After you told us your plan, Sil was...well, you know how he is by now. He started thinking, and he said that...that I should write something to get everyone out. So I...I wrote the edict, and we snuck back into Hofstaag the night before everyone else marched out here." He swallowed. "We both knew it was against orders, but...but we couldn't let all those Chimer get caught in the crossfire, Neht."

He turned his eyes to the fire, unable to look Nerevar in the eyes. He didn't want to see him crumble and lose his religion and be angry with him and Seht and...

"You did this?"

Vehk nodded, head down. Nerevar was quiet for a very long time.

"You know," he said after a moment, voice soft, "it's very rare that the daedra actively intervene with us mortals. For all I say that Azura will keep us safe, it's more...following her guidance will lead us to our victories. I'm certain her compassion is what guided you and Sil into your plan. But the execution..." He puffed out a laugh, coaxing Vivec's gaze back up to him. "I don't know if Mephala herself could have created something so cleverly plotted."

"So...it's all right?"

"It's more than all right. It's...inspired, and it's done so much more for the Chimer than our original plan did." Nerevar's tongue poked against his cheek as he looked into the fire, thinking. "If we do prove Sul wrong and survive tomorrow night, I'd like to talk with you." He gave him a smile as he sat up. "You've been a scout for far too long, Vehk; I've worried over your heart so long, I completely neglected to look at your hands and mouth."

Vivec frowned. "I'm...not following."

"Your words, Vivec. You can use them as deftly as any warrior can use his blade, and it's saved us this time. We need to rely on them more." Nerevar set a hand on his shoulder. "Voryn and Sul would never forgive me if I made you a councilor when you're not even fifty, but I still think you'd be invaluable as one once the revolution really starts to pick up." He gave Vehk a wink. "If we tack a 'junior' onto it, maybe they won't be so upset."

Vivec stared at him. There was an odd sort of flush that spread through him as Nerevar's words set in. It wasn't pride, which he knew very well. Nor was it uncertainty, which he unfortunately also knew very well.

It was vindication.

His words had been valuable, he had been overlooked. For such a long time, he felt as if he could do no right when he knew he'd done nothing wrong. And now, finally, he could be more than an urchin picked up out of charity, more than a netchiman's wayward child, more than just Vivec.

"Yes..." His voice was vague and breathy, a thousand possibilities now hitting him all at once. "I would...I'd like to discuss that." He caught himself before his imagination could run too far. "If we survive, of course."

Nerevar laughed. "Of course." He squeezed Vehk's shoulder, then pushed himself up. "Well. We'd best get some rest. Tomorrow's a day that's going to be full of beginnings."

~

The next day, as the records would later show, was a momentous one in the history of Resdayn. Under the cloak of night, hundreds of Chimer crept into Hofstaag, some with enchanted fire in their palms, others with torches waiting to be lit. Whether it was Azura, Mephala, or even just a well-executed plan, they slipped into the edges of town, lighting whatever they could.

Meanwhile, survivors would report that they'd seen metal creatures creep in through the waterways by the governor's house. Several of them came to a halt after so many steps and simply exploded into deadly bits of flying shrapnel and flame. One, a few different people said, jumped up along the manor, spitting out fire like a small, metal dragon before it too burst into pieces. Between the flames consuming the building and the continuous barrage of metal bits, there was no chance that any of the governor's household made it out alive.

There were a few casualties among the Chimer; a few, still burning with rage from their eviction, decided to cast aside their stealth and fight guards themselves. Others found themselves surrounded by the flames with no way out. Later, they would be honored for their sacrifice.

A majority, however, found their way out of the city unscathed, and dozens of Chimer stood, firelight burnishing their golden skin in the darkness of the night. And at the forefront stood Indoriil Nerevar Mora, Alandro Sul, Sotha Sil, and Vivec. Each stared at the flames that consumed Hofstaag, with one thought at the forefront of their mind.

The war to free Resdayn had truly begun.

~
END PART I.