Iconoclast Chapter 1

Story by Bennu on SoFurry

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#1 of Iconoclast: an Elder Scrolls series

Note: this is largely the same as the 'Prologue' only rewritten from rough draft to decent. I keep going off on tangents with it, as well as running into lack of lore, which is annoying since I wanted a story in lands we hadn't seen in game but ironically that makes it harder to write about.


TES ADVENTURE: Iconoclast Legal stuff: This is fan fiction, everything relating to Elder Scrolls is copyright Bethesda and I am not connected to them other than buying their games, etc ad nauseum. Due to the lack of or my inability to find certain lore, I have shamelessly fabricated a reasonable facsimile in places, may Sheogorath have mercy on me.

Chapter 1 195, Fourth Era

I was from Skyrim, my family has a farm near Markarth and named me Hrothmund after some ancient warrior but I am not a normal Nord; instead of bulging with muscles and rolling naked in the snow I was small and cold so the kids called me Sun Lover. I learned to hunt and sneak in the wilds, but also studied Dwemer relics when I could, and worked as a scout and ranger, wandering with traders and eventually settling in Chorrol. I rented a house on the edge of the lower class district in the old city next to the chapel of Stendarr, going with something frugal but still nice. I got it for cheap, Chorrol had done well and grown large as a city of refuge and a Mede power base. That is where I met Makari, a Khajiit girl who had recently turned old enough to join the trade caravans, and we became friends, sharing knowledge of alchemy and other crafts on long travels across Tamriel. We danced around being more than friends, always there seemed to be an excuse to just keep things as they were, but the long days and nights together made it hard to resist, especially when you heard others doing things, and we often slept close together, or would go bathing in the same stream. I was inexperienced in serious relationships, having had flirtations and brief courtships that are all forgotten easily, so I hesitated to make things more serious, but in Skyrim and Elseweyr marriages are often swift, and changing your mind as you grow older is not uncommon. As much as I worried about rushing into things and making a mess, I was more afraid she would get tired of waiting and move on, she had plenty of other offers so I had no time to waste, plus I had already proven myself to be a decent friend. So on a slow journey back to Chorrol, I planned out how to woo her, and as we flirted I knew she was interested, so when we got to town I suggested she could stay at my house with the excuse of talking about some of the Dwemer artifacts I was trying to repair. Certainly she could tell from my blushing and mumbling that I wasn't just being platonic, and she smiled and took my arm as we walked into town. I open curtains and light the fire to warm up some venison 'n' veggies, then we gather up our bundles of clothes and head down to the river. "Maybe I can invent some sort of machine for this, like a tub that spins around so you wash a bunch at once." "Oh, don't plan on having a wife to beat clothes on rocks for you?" "It's not fair to make a woman break her back just so I can have clean undies." "Ah, to keep her pretty sounds nice but it's the pretty ones that cause trouble, you'll never sell any to jealous husbands." "I'll give you one to try out." "And how am I supposed to carry it on the road? Trying to make me a housecat, I see, lock me up and feed me your cream every day. You even have a yard where I can go bury my poop." "Good, you're already housebroken, I just need a bell- ha!" I dodge her first splash but eventually we get each other wet all over, which worked out fine since we needed to bathe anyhow, but then came the moment where it meant actually getting naked. We stripped out outer garments, not shy yet as we had seen this much of each other plenty of times, but got awkward as we realized how much fun we were having seeing each other strip. I look at her and try to say something but kept stumbling, so finally she says "Yes I get it, so just say it- it's not hard... oh wait it is, heehee!" I bite my lip and grab a breath, then step over and wrap my arms around her. "Oh Mara I love this woman... Makari, move in with me and be my wife." "Mmm, sweet moonsugar! Not even a question huh?" "Vaba Do'Shurh'do, it is good to be brave..." "Fusozay Var Var, Enjoy life, for yours is short- but as long as it's as long as mine..." Then there was some romantic babbling and kissing and such, it's too sappy to say out loud, you know how it is. We almost forgot to take a bath, except we were fondling each other and stripped down checking out our new toys when some old housewives headed our way and we had to wash fast and get decent before they fussed at us. We went home and spend the evening chatting about plans and looking at my various items. I wanted to go on a reasonably safe plundering expedition, and she thought for a while and suggested we go to Elseweyr, as there were plenty of small places in the desert where only Khajiits go, and with her family helping (for a share of course) we could get some decent coin for our effort. I agree and we sketch out a plan that we could start the next day, then we had a snack and cuddled together in bed, and soon I was aware of her warm pillowy rump rubbing against my hardness, and I bury my face in her hair as my hands slowly explore her warm soft fur, and hear her purring as I pull her close, with my staff of fire nestled between her cheeks. Almost silently she slides the covers down and slips out of my arms, although I can't really see anything in the shuttered room, I hear her stretching grandly and slipping out of her silky pajamas, she runs her hands along my front, helping me lose my shorts, and I feel her start to suck on me. I lay back and enjoy it, gently stroking what parts of her I can find, then she grunts and says "Keep down..." as she swings her leg over me, and suddenly her crotch is at my nose, I smell her light scent and cautiously find her vulva with my fingers, hoping I am doing it right since cunning linguistics is not my specialty. I gently lap at her lips as she wraps her scratchy tongue around my bits, and lightly tease her clit when she teases my head. On it went, until finally we both exploded, and I heard her grabbing our dirty clothes to wipe down with before slipping next to me again and we lay there naked and tangled.

When the sun rose she went and warmed up some spiced oatmeal, sausage, bacon, and moonsugar cinnamon rolls. I opened the shutters enough that I could see, and watched her nibble with her hair a mess and pajamas askew, smiling at her like an idiot till she noticed and got embarrassed, so I sat next to her and we molested each other and smooched till the street outside got noisy from the daily traffic. I went to find and hire Bob the Argonian and Zed the Redguard, who have worked for our company for a while and are reasonably trustworthy. I knew going into an area that we might run into Thalmor could be a problem for humans, but Zed was from the desert of Alikr so it made sense to have him. We didn't need anyone else yet, she had lots of cousins who knew the area and planned to hire some of them when we got there. We loaded up the mules with bags of alchemy ingredients and head east to the Imperial City. This road at least is well patrolled and has plenty of traffic, and in a couple of hours we reach the suburbs on the hither shore, sun shining in our eyes beyond the White Gold Tower. The tall white walls of the city are still stained and scarred from the war, and not all the surrounding area has been rebuilt. We find a good sized caravan as it was leaving and head southward, making our way into Elseweyr without incident, travelling to several towns in the north and making decent gold. Outside Dune we head to Makari's home village to sell the last of the goods to her clan for cheap to butter them up, and take time to socialize with the locals and learn about the hazards and terrain. As welcome guests they gave us Khajiit clothing, each of us receiving a budi or brightly colored robe that covers to keep out the sun, and the movement of it creates a small breeze against the body We spent a lot of time talking to her cousins. Jidargo is tall, handsome, strong for a Khajiit, tiger colored, and cousin on her mom's side. Krinrah is slender with girlish hips, has a sandy spotted coat with a blondish mane, and her cousin on her dad's side. So they aren't cousins to each other, which I should say as they are married, as I learned when we went to their tent and Krinrah came out with tea dressed in women's clothes and sat with his husband while we discussed our plans. I had thought that a traditional desert tribe would be more uptight, but it turns out if they had big enough families, they would allow same sex marriage, as well as interracial, and Makari smiled at me as it was mentioned. That night the village had a small feast with many sugarcakes, and we stay up late, I don't know how long but I woke up with the sun high and Makari snuggled tight against me in her bed, her as the big spoon with her hands on my chest and nose on my neck. When her mom walked in I expected the Eye of Fear but she just said it was time to eat, and I asked Makari and she smiled and said her parents accepted us as lovers, but to remain polite just in case. The rest of that day was spent in the shade practicing the Ta'agra language and . Her parents made sure Makari still had her traditional leather and metal armor and that it was repaired properly, insisting she use it. I had my own cobbled from chain mail and pieces of glass they seemed to like.

This night was mellow instead of manic and we went out to look at the stars before going to bed early. We got up before the sun, borrow camels that we load with only basic gear, and eat a good breakfast. I talk to everyone to make sure they are ready to go before daybreak, Zed, Bob, Jidargo, Krinrah, and linger a while with Makari while her parents gave us last minute advice. Finally we get to walking, leading the camels down a dusty path out of the village. Beyond this oasis is stony brushland and for some days we follow the nomad trails, until we have to head into the higher hills, snaking through badland canyons and up gravel slopes, and over a crest into a new watershed. Nestled in the hills at the head of the valley is the ruins of a small city, limestone blocks scattered, with a large domed building still standing near the center, with a canal lined with trees and bushes leading away from it. Some small animals scatter as we look for signs of enemies, but this place seems to be free of bandits and monsters. I decide to check closer myself, and bring Makari in case we meet Khajiit nomads, leaving the rest of the party hiding in a roofless ruin. We creep along staying in what cover we can find, her ears perked for any sounds, and I see the only tracks are from harmless wildlife as we approach the domed spring house. We peer through the door, smelling the water and gazing at the mosaics on the wall and floor, and step in, our boots roughly clumping on the delicate tiles. A large shallow pool fills half the room, with water bubbling up at the far end and flowing down into a smaller pool apparently meant for bathing, before going out into the canal outside. If anyone had been in the habit of coming here, this would be the place they had to visit, but there was no signs of recent visitors other than birds and lizards. I lean out to signal to the party that all is well and to cautiously approach, then glance around pondering if there is a good spot to camp in the ruins. I turn around as Makari fills her water gourd and says "I need a bath, but am not sure if it is safe here yet." "Well, I'll stay here and guard you then, that way at least you will be refreshed if something pops up and later the rest of use can wash while you guard." "Only if you don't get distracted by me dear- eh, wait, you can't guard if you don't look... but if you look too much, you won't be guarding, yes?" and digs into her inventory for bath items. I close and latch the door, stepping into a corner where I can ambush intruders, and watch as she removes her armor, carefully placing it aside. She glances back and says "It's not easy being furry and wearing armor in the hot sun all day. My fur gets quite sweaty-" pointing out the salty dusty crust in the fur on her back as she slipped into the water, dunking down underneath for a few seconds before popping up and stretching. Scrubbing briskly, she runs her hands along her body, glancing over suddenly as she handles her breasts, and I notice her blushing nipples poking out from under her fur, then she quickly grabs her comb and sload soap. I casually hid my erection and listened for movement outside as she washes, nothing remarkable until she reached her lower parts, a brief muffled purr as her hands, hidden under water, cleaned thoroughly. Then suddenly she rises, combing the water out of her fur and I bring her a towel. She steps onto dry ground and turns, moving backwards into my arms, and I wrap her up and pad her with it, feeling her rump bump into my crotch teasing me, and finding my hardness she snorts and smiles. Having helped enough I let her finish herself, and peek outside as she sits on a bench roughly brushing herself into a respectable state, and slithers back into her undies and armor. "OK, now your turn." "Hey, wait, you just got it all full of fur- why couldn't I go first?" "You didn't ask, silly- plus the current cleaned it out already, so stop making excuses." I knew she wanted to tease me more but I did need a bath and it was safe enough, the only danger was creaming myself, so I stripped down and tried to hop in without my boner bouncing around too much. I scrub and rinse as quick as I can, then step out, and she returns the towel favor I did for her. I lean back against her, feeling her armor as she wraps around me and dries my front, teasing my penis and gently cupping my balls, and I start to get aroused again. Her nose and whiskers tickle at my neck, her fast breath warm on my skin as she lets the towel slip down and her fangs nibble at my shoulder. I can't take any more teasing so I push away, grab the towel and huff at her, feigning anger as I dry my hair and grab her brush. She giggles as I brush away, smoothing my hair but getting hers all over me. I smack a few bits of fur off and get into my shorts and shirt. I notice her looking at my body with more interest than before, watching my muscles move, then peeks out and says the party is coming down the street now, and I finish putting my armor on as the others arrive. We explore the town, which only has a couple of rows of houses along the canal, with overgrown fields and orchards along the valley below where we find a nomad trail. Makari suggests that they lived here once, although we couldn't agree on why the houses were stone instead of just tents. I said it must have been some lost kingdom, and the nomads think it's cursed because of some disaster, why else avoid the ruins. She said they don't like buildings for various reasons, which made sense, but if they built them why avoid them now. We were busy scouting the area and clearing a campsite till dark, so no chance to investigate further. We used the ruins of an inn by the springhouse, as it seemed logical in spite of no roof, and I took a room with Makari, lying near each other and looking up at the stars as we fell asleep.

"Mortals! I am the goddess Nocturnal!" "What!? Where?" I startle and fumble, realizing something heavy, warm, and fuzzy covers me. "Here! Heed me, and be my champion!" "Why is that purple haze there? Did I eat more moon sugar?" Makari blinks, her face next to mine with a whisker up my nose and her arm wrapped tight around my back. "NO! I'm Nocturnal, Daedric prince, and I summon you to help me." "How do I know you are? I thought Nocturnal was some hot chick with crows." The orb pulsed and burned with octarine light, then settled into the shape of a young woman in a very loose and revealing robe. Unnaturally large and black ravens swoop and land on the wall tops around us, heads flicking around with strange eyes flashing. I want to sit up, feeling very naked and unarmed, but Makari holds tight and I pet her where my hand can reach. "Does this help?" She frowns down at me. "oh- yes lady- lord- dude-" "Listen- I once had a shrine here, some traders favored me enough to build one, but mortals are fickle and no longer travel this way. Uncover my statue and repair the shrine, and I will give you the treasure within. I know you're here looking for it, so I might as well get something in return." "Fair is fair." I say as I realize my arm is around Makari, and she leans lightly against me. In spite of the fairly tame appearance, having a supernatural being wake you up is a bit stressful. Nocturnal vanished in the obligatory puff of smoke, and the ravens flew off in all directions. We shivered together, and I pulled the blanket up around us, feeling her soft fur over half my skin as her warm body pressed into mine. Aside from that, in the dark she is very human, well other than that tail and the whiskers and ears... She sits without speaking or groping me, starlight touches her eyes as I try to divine her emotions. After some time I speak- "I am perfectly fine with accepting Nocturnal's offer, it seems harmless enough..." "She isn't one to care about temples, so it's a bit odd. I'm worried, love." I nuzzle her neck and kiss her fuzzy cheek "I love you too sweetcakes." She blinks, hand squeezing mine as a purr starts. "Why have you not taken advantage of me yet?" "I don't want to take advantage of you... I want you to give yourself..." She turns and bumps noses with me, turning her head to lightly put her lips, such as she has, on mine. "Makari knows you love her, the smell is there, my family knew. I have known your mind long enough to feel it, even if you are different in some ways..." her fingertips slide along my thighs and up my belly to my chest, as she gently pushes me back. "Have you ever had sex? I've been too afraid to ask." "Makari has been a virgin long enough, and Hrothmund will mate with her now, yes, mother approves of you, that is why my cousins are letting us be together alone." "Oh good I..." "Don't talk, you are so hard and I am so wet..." she growls as she straddles me, pressing her labia against my erection. I grasp one of her thighs as I maneuver my penis with my other hand, slipping the head between her lips, both groaning, as we get our bits in line and it starts to go in, and I let her settle down on me, my hands gripping around her waist as she sits down completely. It is tight but she has played with toys before and can handle it in spite of my thickness. She leans over and we kiss, and begin love making for some endless time before falling asleep again.

Soon the sky grew light and the others stirred, stoking the fire to cook a Khajiit breakfast, they caught some small game in the bushes nearby and had it sizzling by the time we walked out together. I thought Makari looked beautiful, with loose hair and in her bright robe, but avoided mooning over her, thinking of the job ahead. Shovelling sand is frustrating, and we would need a roof which means felling trees, and of course beware of scorpions, all of those things. Then I mentioned Nocturnal, and found they had all seen it as well. I explained my plan, reasoning it would be polite to leave things nicer than we found them so she wouldn't get mad about us borrowing her stuff, and they agreed it was a good idea. We spent all morning cutting and trimming some palms, making them into beams before laying sticks and fronds across as a temporary roof, then taking a siesta in the afternoon. I went with Makari to the canal and played in the water for some time, and in the evening we did more work on the roof, since it seems the sand blew in over the walls, and the building was rather small so it wasn't hard to be thorough. Then we went to bed, laying with Makari looking up at the sky again, talking randomly as we explored each other and made love in various ways.

I woke when she got up, before the first light, kissing and bundling me up and explaining she needed to go to pee and such. I dozed for some time till I smelt food, and went around the corner to pee myself. I rinsed my hands in the canal and sat by the fire, where Makari was stirring a stew stark naked. Her cousins lounge together shamelessly nude as well, and I had to ask "So is it a Khajiit nudist holiday?" and they laughed and explained it was custom to carefully cover the torso in public, but since this was obviously private, they didn't bother putting anything on since they had just washed after getting dirty and bloody catching rabbits the 'wild way'. Makari smiled at me with fangs flashing and told how she had chased one down, and I was almost unsettled, but remembered how gentle they were on my body last night. We managed to get the sand cleared out by noon, and had a light lunch and nap while wondering what to do next. We agreed as it was already hot we should open that door that goes down to the treasure chamber, after all the Night Mistress won't be around till the sun goes down. Between three Khajiits we got the lock picked and went down into a cool basement with dusty furniture. There was another more solid door, and I suggested we clean up this room and stay in it till dark, so we dusted and swept and made ourselves at home. Everything was well preserved, so we were quite comfortable, and spent a couple of hours enjoying the cool air and telling stories before I decided it was time to go up and finish, we got more fronds piled and fixed the doors and got it looking as good as possible. We ran into the bath house one last time, and I got an idea- "Let's pack the camels now and when we get our loot bugger off before bandits get here, our luck has been too good to waste time now. I know it's nightfall but we can get to the closest camp while it's cool out, and the Khajiits can see well enough to guide us." Everyone agrees that the whole thing was peculiar, and we readied ourselves to flee. Finally darkness comes. We gather around the statue, and after a minute I realize that I have no idea what we're supposed to do, and there are no books left that might help, which is odd since you always see random books lying all over Tamriel. None of us could figure out what to do, so I just said "Nocturnal! Night Mistress! Come check things out and tell us if you like it." "Tell us if you like it!?" "Not fancy but it works." "So what if she doesn't show up?" "Then we try to break down the door. At the worst we had a nice vacation and found a safe campsite." Then a funny noise and an orb appeared, shifting into a woman. "Nocturnal is pleased with your efforts, and will reward you! There, the door to the treasury is unlocked now. Now go- and remember I will watch over you in darkness." She vanished with no other explanation, and we relaxed and went down to look, and indeed there were a couple of chests with enough gold and loot to make everyone happy. Then we grabbed it all and in ten minutes were saddling up and heading out in the moonlight. We moved with a marathon pace and arrived at the village in good time. Everyone was happy we were back, and extremely happy there was loot. We also finally told them officially we were going to marry, even though they knew we were lovers, they were happy with a useful son-in-law, especially one good at acquiring shiny things. So we had to have a wedding party, and spent a few days busy with that. Zed patiently waited talking to elders about history, while Bob found a comfy bed with Jidargo and Krinrah, but that's another story.

After a few days they relented and let us go home, but we were already planning a return trip, using the town we found as a base on the way, to another ruin that had interesting mechanical artifacts. First though, I'd need to find someone who knew about daedra...