Well, we’ve arrived here again, an old witch telling her story to those who will listen…how are you all doing today? I hope everything has gone well with you. I very much enjoy seeing the antics of my fellow mages, so I hope you all know it means even more to me that you’ve taken the time to scry through the net to learn more about me.
My last few tales have shown me as a sort of hero, a noble witch who helped those who needed help, had daring adventures with allies, and even fought back against legions of hell to protect some assholes who truly did not deserve our time. I look back on those times with such glee, knowing that I truly did hold a spark of humanity in me that wanted to do the right thing and could say I was truly a good person. These next few tales, however, act as more of a confession to the crimes of my past that I had tried to keep hidden.
This is just a warning for all those who like me, I am going to confess some truly heinous crimes this time. They might seem minor to some of you, but please keep in mind one simple fact: I am not a god, I am not some special being, I am simply a mortal. Without further ado, have a little background on what happened after the town of Farlon was destroyed.
After the legions of hell had leveled every building but one in the town, Mona, Har and I talked about what would be the best move to help those affected by this disaster. We had just buried Magnus, and I was still so angry that my first suggestion was to storm Goradel Mansion and reclaim it for the people. This idea was quickly, and thankfully, shot down by both my companions. We had been given a large sum of cash for our involvement in this battle, so we decided to put it to good use.
We gathered the townspeople up, and discussed the possibility of founding a new town using the money we had earned. Har was worried that the legions were going to return to attack them, as the warning everyone received was that the legion was going to try and destroy everything associated with the Goradel name. They seemed receptive to the idea, even offering their services as they could in helping to build our new town. Some decided to stay behind, mostly out of debt to the Goradel house, but the others and us left to make our own claim.
We set up a small, temporary campground while the three of us searched for suitable land. A chunk of our earnings had gone simply to food and tents for everyone, so we knew we needed to find something good fast. We didn't have excess cash to burn, we had enough to start the beginnings of a town and each day we spent without a set location was going to cause us to afford less and less for the people we were trying to help. Har talked with people in his church for suggestions of any unclaimed land that could house around 150 people, and they offered what they could. Those people were so nice, they offered us food and blankets for no charge as well as a good lead on a location! We knew we had more time now, so we left. Har decided to stay behind and act as acting chief, which helped him stay in contact with the church of Theia, and Mona and I set out to investigate the land.
We had brought enough food for about a week of travel, bedrolls and tents for protection against the elements, and various other supplies just to be safe. As we followed the map, Mona and I started to talk and grow closer. We shared our life stories, our experiences, and our hopes and dreams for the future. Turns out, even at her age, Mona had lived quite the life in such a short time!
She shared that she was always alchemically gifted, beginning the learning process of brewing and concocting at the age of 4 with her father. Her father was a Master in Alchemy, running a bar known as the Bronze Dragon where he combined the fun of alchemy with the excitement of alcohol. He sounded like such a fun guy. She shared that her father would teach her about potion brewing whenever he got the chance. He never put pressure on her to follow in his footsteps, he was more than happy for her to pursue any path she deemed interesting; he just enjoyed spending time with his daughter and watching her brew all sorts of crazy concoctions.
Once she reached the age of 16, she was already an Expert in Alchemy and had plans to begin enrolling into an academy that could help her enhance her skills even further. Except, she never went. During one of her late-night brewing sessions, she stumbled upon something by complete accident. She did not share her recipe, but she told me that with the right combination of ingredients, she could imbue herself temporarily with the powers of a God. She is still not sure how she managed to unlock this secret, but that once she shared her findings with the Alchemical Council, they promoted her to the rank of Archmage of Alchemy without a second of hesitation. Archmage titles were always reserved for those who managed to discover a hidden truth, or a new path in their field, and she had done that better than anyone before her.
It really made the journey that much more enjoyable getting to know each other even better. We had become acquainted before our mission, but it was all very surface level. Getting to know her as a person instead of a simple ally, it was a blast! She seemed very interested in my tales as well, so it was safe to say we were becoming good friends.
After 6 days of travel, we had finally found the designated location. It was pretty far off the path, a small forest present with a river cutting it in two. It was going to take some work, but we truly believed this was it! We had even agreed on a name for this new town: Mardul, inspired by our fallen comrade so that he could forever remain in our memory and in the memory of those he protected. I told Mona to stay put and begin setting up some potions of plant growth for crops, some potions of strength to help people cut and haul the cut trees, and potions of stamina to help those who might be feeling tired to keep working if they desired. I, meanwhile, decided to take a shortcut to our camp.
My body burst into flames as I began to change my form, mostly just doing that for the dramatics, but the results speaking for themselves once the fire was out. I had beautiful blue wings covering my body, a strong pair of wings that could help me fly quite fast, and plumage that, honestly, just felt very pretty to have. I had turned myself into a Blue-Flame Phoenix, except instead of being 2-3 feet tall, I remained my 6’2” in height. With a nod, I spread my wings and flew my way back to our soon-to-be townsfolk.
I won’t bore you guys with the details of breaking ground on and building up a small town, so here I’ll be nice and sum it up very easily for you: It was worth it in the end, but most of us and the townsfolk nearly went insane when it came to planning everything. Eventually, we had to elect a small council composed of myself, Mona, Har, his husband Verdant and Daniella, the daughter of a construction company owner that helped with getting supplies and qualified workers to make sure everything was done correctly.
After 5 months of work, our work was finally finished. We had a genuine town, complete with a smithy, a few supply stores, we had farmers growing crops and raising livestock, houses for our townsfolk, and a town center! The town of Mardul had now been officially founded, and with it we could begin a brand new life. We were completely spent on our earnings, even having to ask everyone, including ourselves, to work odd jobs in other towns to make enough to continue funding the construction projects.
Being the witch I am, I decided to build my own small castle on the edge of town. Thankfully it did not take long to build, thanks to the efforts of Undead Construction and Repair. They’ve offered me a small amount of gold to sponsor them, and they did such a good job with my castle 550 years ago, so I think they deserved it. If you need any housing work done or are looking to build the castle of your dreams, look no further than Undead Construction and Repair! UCR, “Our bodies might have died, but that doesn’t mean your dreams should too!™”
Anyways, after the town was finished, Har and Gabriel decided it was time for them to move on from the little town and return to their life back in the city. I bid them farewell, thanking them for everything they ever did for me, and sent them on their way with a donation of gold for their temple. It was the least I could do, given I had taken them away for so many months. Mona, thankfully, decided not only to stay, but move in with me! I was more than happy to have her as a roommate, so without any hesitation I told her she was more than welcome to live with me.
We got settled into the castle, and I began to decorate as best I could. I had gathered many trophies from my many battles, as had Mona, so it was easy to decorate in that regard, but we were still without real furniture. We had to sleep on some bedrolls the first few weeks as we continued to work odd jobs in other towns, but after a few weeks we had enough to afford to furnish our wonderful new home. We were happy, finally having a place to call our own, and electing two replacements for the town council. They were Elizabeth and Demetrius, a mother and son who had worked for a while with the Goradel’s and learned about politics and local government through their unfortunate employment.
However, I still held hatred and anger in my heart. This wasn’t fair to Magnus, he deserved to be here and enjoy the spoils of this town as we did! Those bastards were going to pay for what they did, it was their fault Magnus died in the first place! They meddled with the forces of hell, they pissed off some devil, why was Magnus punished with death because they were careless and selfish?! So, I began to work…
I had a secret room placed into the castle as it was built, nobody knew about it but myself. It was my own private laboratory and study room, a place where I could study in silence without worrying about anyone stumbling onto it or what was inside here. I opened my bag of holding, dumping out the specimens I had gathered from our battle, and began to lay them out. I had enough to put together a full Hell Cobra and Nightmare Corvid as I named them, and I knew enough about standard anatomy to put together muscle connections for the severed legs, arms, neck and heads to their torsos.
I spent months studying these abominations, slicing and cutting, grabbing muscles and pulling to see what moved and what twitched, fusing them together to make sure they would work once the form was complete. I spent multiple sleepless nights researching these horrid things, but in the end, it was all worth it. Once my research had been finished, I decided to use their bones to fashion myself a scale model of their skeletons so I’d always have a reference for how big I needed to be. They were so large, so terrifying, they were exactly what I needed to get my revenge on that bitch, Cordelia and her horrid family!
Once I had perfected their forms, I began to test them in the nearby wilds to become used to it. As luck would have it, a green wyvern had recently taken residence in our woods and had been causing quite the disaster for our hunters and explorers. So, I decided it would be the perfect target to test my new capabilities. I entered the forest that night and headed right for the trail of poison left behind by this asshole. He made such a mess of things, tearing animals in half and letting us hear their horrid screams of pain as they slowly bled out and died. He was trying to anger us, trying to make us fight him so he could kill us and take over the town. My town! He didn’t know who he had messed with, though.
As I arrived in the cave, I saw him carrying a large bear we had lovingly named Hank in his mouth. Hank was such a fat bear, and so gentle. He was one of the only bears I’ve ever met that didn’t need to be charmed in order to be okay with people, he would just ask for some food and when given, he’d snuggle up to you before going on his merry way. I realize that feeding wild animals is dangerous and can cause them to potentially become aggressive to humans as they start to view them as their main source of food, and not getting it can cause them to attack, but Hank was our town mascot and I wasn’t gonna let him die!
I slammed my tail onto the ground, the echo causing the wyvern to look back and see my form. I let out a loud hiss, venom practically oozing from my open maw as I ran towards him with claws outstretched. He dropped Hank, who ran away as fast as his chubby little body could take him, and began to take a defensive stance. I slammed myself into him, claws pinning him down as my tail stiffened at the tip. I had figured out how to harness the sharpness the regular snakes had on their tails, and I used that to stab right into the Wyvern. It let out a shriek of pain as I pierced its shoulder, but managed to throw me off by kicking me in the stomach with its legs. It crawled back onto its feet, its body beginning to secrete the poison we had all become far too familiar with in the past as it charged at me. My body was far too big to dodge, so I had to take its head ramming into my chest at full speed. I had tried to stop it, my arms grabbing its body, but it was still powerful.
I felt the poison start to absorb into my skin, causing my claws to start feeling numb and burning. I couldn’t give up, though, this was my first fight and I was going to win. I opened my jaw wide as it slammed me into the wall of its cave, and I clamped right down onto its wing. My teeth sank into the fleshy membranes and the bone of its wing, easily crushing it with a mighty and stomach-churning SNAP. It reeled back in pain, giving me the chance to counter attack. I slam it onto the ground, one of my feet planting itself onto his back so I could keep it pinned down. I gave one final hiss, and my tail struck true. I stabbed it right through the brain, going through its skull and embedding the tip right into the ground.
I couldn’t believe it, I had won! This asshole now twitched under my heel as its body became more and more limp, until it finally stopped. This bastard was dead, and we were finally free from its terror!
Even better, I had my next form to study. It was as large as I was, 15 feet tall with an impressive wingspan, so I got to test the capabilities of my next form. I spent the next few minutes changing back into my normal form, downing a potion of cure poison from Mona, and spending the next few minutes shifting into my Nightmare Corvid form. I was now much taller than it, almost too tall to fit through the opening, but I made it work. I grabbed it in my beak and began to drag it out. Once we were in the clearing of the forest, I gave my wings a flap to lift me off the ground. I hovered myself over the wyvern and sank my talons into its wings. I didn’t need to be gentle, it was dead, so why would I care if it sliced up the membrane of its wings?
It was now much harder to get off the ground, but with some strong flaps from my mighty wings I was able to lift it up into the air. I flew back to my castle, letting out a deep breath as I stuffed the corpse of the wyvern into my secret room, again barely managing to fit it through the tunnel. I had transformed back to my normal form, so hauling it in required the rest of my magic for the night. I was exhausted, tired, I had just spent the last 30 minutes carrying this thing here. I crashed hard that night, I think I slept for 13 hours without waking once. I was so happy we had real beds, trying to do that on a sleeping roll would have made me absolutely miserable.
Once I awoke the next morning, I acted surprised as I heard the news from my townsfolk. The Wyvern had been defeated! No one had seen how, but a trail of blood and splatters of skin and viscera told a story of defeat for the bane of the town. They cheered as they felt a weight lifted off their shoulders, they seemed so happy to be free of the fear and burden of this creature, and it made me even happier to know I was the one to bring them that joy.
With my strength secured, and another specimen ready for study, I decided that it was time to start enacting my plan now a full year in the making.
It’s a messy thing, revenge. In a lot of ways you can view it as a wound. If treated probably and correctly, it can become a simple scar that reminds you of where you once were. However, once it’s allowed to fester, it will continue to spread further, deeper, become worse, and cause permanent damage. The longer it goes unresolved, the worse it’s ultimately going to be when you finally do seek to treat me. Originally, I had simply wanted the Goradel house to lose their nobility status, or to give some large amount of money as an apology to Magnus, or to get beat up. You know, simple stuff that could be healed or recovered from.
But, the wound had festered. The stress of dealing with running a town mixed with the recent wyvern that was causing us so much trouble sent me over the edge. I wanted them dead. They deserved to be dead. The world would be a better place with them dead!
So, I got to work tracking them down. Last we heard, the town they had destroyed was abandoned and they had moved. I began to collect pieces of information overheard in town, I would volunteer my services to other nobles who might have a lead on their whereabouts, even practiced my Scrying to try and find them by spying on them. Unfortunately, it seems something was protecting them. My attempts to scry were met with protective ward after protective ward, preventing me from even getting an idea of where they could be hiding. Bastards were smart, but I had all the time I needed.
It took almost two full years of searching before I finally found a solid lead. I was now 120 years old at this point, and our little village had grown into a full town at this point! We were now a point of interest on a map, somewhere to stop in for some nice rest or to get away somewhere quiet. We didn’t have the amenities and spectacles of a real city, but we made up for it with a quiet, comfy stay in a nice area. Magnus would have been so proud to see it…
As night approached, I said my goodnights to Mona and headed to bed. I waited for about an hour to make sure she was asleep, and put my plan into effect. Just in case, I left a note in my room that said I would be visiting Ralin for a few days or more to help her deal with some drama that had occurred in her clan. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence for us to see her every now and again to visit or ask for advice, so it was an easily believed excuse. I packed myself some supplies and turned myself into a small, unassuming Raven so that I would not garner any attention. With my wings spread, I jumped from my room and began my flight. The city they lived in was only a 2 hour flight, so I would still arrive in the dead of night and hopefully away from prying eyes.
It was an uneventful flight, except for seeing a Roc fly overhead in a blaze of glory. My mind was racing as I began to think of ways to take it down and add it to my collection, but I was no match for a mythical bird of its grandeur. Even partially insane, I still knew not to punch outside of my class and anger something that would end up causing me a lot of harm. Once the flight was finished, I landed on the perch of the rumored Goradel manor. My suspicions were confirmed very soon, as I saw that absolute bitch Cordelia currently barrating one of her lady’s maids for…who even cares. This complicated plans, as I did not know how many servants were in the manor with them. They didn’t deserve to die, they were just innocent people trying to make a living.
So, I began to plan my next move far more carefully. I decided I needed a more easily accessible form to get inside and investigate, so I took on the second most classic witch form: An unassuming, fluffy little kitty cat. Like my other forms, I kept my brown eyes and decided on a bright orange coat. There were many cats in the alley nearby, so the sudden appearance of one more would not be cause for alarm. It was the perfect disguise, who would expect a cute little kitty?
I spent the next few days scouting out the house and getting a read for entrances, exits, various points of interest, and seeing if I could get a count on servants. By pure luck, one of the footmen had taken a liking to me. The first day of my arrival he had been taking out some garbage, so I approached him. I let out a soft little meow as I ran up to him, almost causing him to slip from jumping the way he did. He was a halfling, his hair a jet black, and looking absolutely dapper in his suit. He saw me there, put a hand out to me, and let me sniff. His hands smelled very clean, at least, and I will admit that it felt amazing to have him pet me. He was so gentle as he ran his hand across the back of my neck, I couldn’t help but start purring and rubbing up against him.
He came to visit me twice a day in the garden, bringing me whatever leftover veggies or meat they had as he vented his troubles to me. After eating I would sit in his lap, make myself comfy and just enjoy his petting as he let out the gory details of his work. Seems these assholes truly were as terrible as I thought, and treated their servants like shit to the surprise of no one. I also came to learn that there were 13 servants in total that worked the manor. There was my new friend, who was one of three footmen, a valet who waited on Zavier, a butler, a chauffeur, a cook, the cook’s assistant, a ladies maid each for Cordelia and Helena, two maids and a head housekeeper. A very long list that I’m shocked I still remember, to be honest.
My friend got up to leave, and I decided to try and enact the next phase of my plan: infiltrating inside. It was one thing to see the servants of this place, it was another thing to gain their trust and get to know them better. So, I let out a long, pleading meow as I followed him. He told me he wasn’t allowed to bring animals inside, but I continued to meow and paw at him until he finally caved. He scooped me up and brought me back inside. As we arrived inside, I got a good lay of the land. The servants were currently sitting down for lunch, and did not seem too happy that I had been brought in.
My new friend made my case, however, spouting something about how ‘a cat would be good for morale’ and ‘they could help catch any critters that try and enter the kitchen’. Eventually, others started to join in as I walked around, all agreeing with the same lies. None of them wanted to say it, but I know exactly what they really wanted to say; “This cat is very sweet and we want to keep them as a pet”. After a few minutes of debate, I was given permission to stay on the grounds I did not cause trouble. I was even given a name and a collar. They named me Gabby, and I still have the collar to this day.
Weeks started to pass, and I got to experience first-hand just how shit they were to their servants. Oftentimes they would come down on the verge of tears or crying outright after being chewed out for some dumbass reason, or be rushed due to receiving some almost impossible to fill request. My rage just built further and further as I saw these poor people suffer, definitely making my thirst for revenge all the worse. I knew it was time, and I just hoped that it would go well. Once the servants had gone to take on the day, I decided to finally drop the act.
I turned myself back into my true form, a bit shaky and unfamiliar with being in a human body after spending 3 weeks as a cat. You forget how nice it is to be 6’2”, but it feels weird going back to being bipedal and not being covered in hair. I kept the collar on my neck to hopefully make it clear to them I was the creature they had befriended for all these weeks, and waited. I decided to brew myself a cup of tea as I waited, taking one last look around the downstairs of the manor to remember the kindness these people had shown. After my self-guided tour, I sat back down in the dining area and waited. I knew they’d be back for lunch eventually.
Once they arrived down to begin lunch, they immediately froze as they saw me. With a wave of my finger, the doors slammed shut, and all 13 of them looked at me in fear. I stood up with a sigh as I put down the empty cup, and decided to spill the beans about who I really was. I told them all about my time these last few weeks, how truly sorry I felt for them that they were being forced to work for such horrid people, and how I meant them no harm. I opened the doors back up to them, even used my magic to bring the lunch in for them to enjoy, and told them I would leave if they desired.
They still seemed scared, but decided to humor me as they slowly sat down to eat. As we continued discussing things, I extended them a lifeline that I knew many of them wanted desperately. Mona and I were very lonely in the tower that had been created for us, it was quite large and seemed a waste to use it to just for two women who used a combined total of maybe 7 rooms, including the bathrooms. I offered them employment back at my tower, making sure they knew they were free to refuse. The lunch was wrapping up, so I told them to take the rest of their limited break to think about it.
I bid them good day, and made my way out of the downstairs back to the outside. I did not want to tell them I planned to kill their current employers, so I only hoped that they would join as a whole and I would not be forced to scare the rest of them off with what was about to occur next. By sheer luck, only a few hours had passed before the halfling, who I now knew as Bartholomew, found me in the garden. It was growing late, the sun was setting, but there was still plenty of time before the real plan could start. He reported that the servants had discussed it over many times, and that they agreed to my offer. They would return to my town to serve new Ladies who might actually appreciate them. As their dinner time rolled around, I returned back downstairs and heard it again from them. Many were just excited to leave, some seemed hesitant but said they would be willing to take the offer and see if it was better indeed, and the rest said they were just excited for a change of scenery. With a smile, I took off my hat and pulled out a few scrolls of teleportation.
Within the span of their dinner, each of them had been sent to our manor with a note from me to explain the situation to Mona. I had instructed them to not tell the truth about how I found them, just that I had found them during my travels and invited them to work for us. I made sure they knew not to say which noble’s house they came from, as to not raise any alarms for Mona, just that they were seeking better employment and had found their way to us. Once the last of them was gone, it was time to enact the real plan.
I didn’t want to be coy, or subtle about it, I wanted them to know their doom was coming. I stepped into the main foyer, and transformed into my Nightmare Corvid form. I let out a piercing shriek as I began to tear through their house, causing all three of them to arrive with a look of shock and fear. I laid my eyes on them, and they ran into their drawing room. I made sure to burst through the front, causing quite the commotion. The townsfolk saw me plain as day, tearing through windows and walls without a care in the world. To them, I was just one of these hellish abominations destroying this manor, succeeding in the attack that had occurred 3 years ago.
As I slammed through the barred doors of the drawing room, I turned myself back to normal and set my hands ablaze. Immediately the carpet under me caught, followed by the furniture I passed, and the wooden supports nearby. They were absolutely terrified, quivering in fear as they saw my grinning, crazed face getting closer and closer.
“Do you remember me?” I asked, holding my hands up to let a pillar of flames begin to consume the entire room behind me. “Did you even bother to learn my name after I nearly died protecting you? Do you remember his name?!” The flames began to collect into a form near me, the form of my fallen comrade, the form of the one I convinced myself would want this and that this was all for. Magnus stood there for a second before the flames spread even further, consuming his form as the flames drew closer and closer.
“He died protecting your worthless existence. He died because you fucked around with forces you shouldn’t! It’s your fault he was killed, now you’ve got to see the true consequences of your selfish, horrid actions!” The flames began to collect into a new form, that of chains that lashed out and wrapped themselves around their arms, necks and legs. The chains pulled them to the ground, their pathetic voices screaming out and begging for mercy. They apologized for trying to gain the favor of a devil, insisting that they could make it worth my wild if I spared them and reported back to the Archdevil I worked for that the job had been finished. I just laughed, and laughed, and laughed as I forced their heads up to look me in the eyes.
Why was I laughing so much? I just couldn’t control myself, it was just so funny! They thought I was some grand creature of hell coming to finish the job! I pulled the chains tighter as the flames began to make their way up their bodies, making sure each of them heard me through the maniacal cackling. I pulled my hat off, sending it away so they could get a good look at the face of their killer. “You think I work for one of them? Ha ha ha ha! I am Catherine Louise! Mistress of Flames, Master of Forms! I don’t work for some fucking devil!” With a burning hand in front of me, I placed a rune onto each of their heads. “A visitor from hell would have been far, far nicer than me…”
With a snap of my fingers, a casting of Slow Immolation had been cast on each of them. The runes flared to life, and their bodies burst into flames, their shared screams filling the burning room as it began to collapse around them. I could see fire spewing from their mouths as they writhed in pain, the chains disappearing from around them. They collapsed as they tried to roll out of the flames, and I could only watch my handy work. Helena was the first to go still, the flames turning her from woman, to skeleton, to ash in a matter of seconds. Zavier was the next to fall, and finally, down went Cordelia. Their ashes were swept up in the inferno, erasing all traces of their worthless forms.
With my handiwork complete, I calmly made my way out of the manor. The flames parted for me as I went out the back, running a burning hand over their precious and treasured garden to let it be consumed as well. As I got to the river, I just watched it burn with a smile. The manor started to collapse as the flames engulfed the structure, lighting up the darkness of the night like a mini sun, smoke rising into the air and carrying the ashes of truly awful people into the sky.
It was done. The house of Goradel had been wiped off the face of history and their bloodline destroyed.
I think it would be best to end my story corner here for the time being…I know I have taken up much of your time, and for that I apologize. I have many things to apologize for, including the crimes I have just confessed above. I truly regret my actions that day, I have the presence of mind to know now I was starting to lose myself. Things will only get worse from this point on, but it’s important that it be known. I swear, I have changed, but these are secrets that should have come to light centuries ago.
Until next time…thank you again.

He didn’t even last for more than 3 minutes.
Goodnight my sweet prince 🥲
Also it’s funny how that Khajiit is craving for a sweetroll after literally witnessing someone getting murdered.