Oblivion: 16 Accords of Madness - I - Azura

Sheogorath came to Azura with a proposition. He had just receieved a challenge from Mehrunes Dagon to pit two of his Dremora against two Golden Saints. He needed a piece of neutral ground for the contest, and perhaps a little assistance.

Sheogorath knew that Dagon's satisfaction came from the destruction of the battle, and he had little regard for its outcome. Just letting it happen would be conceding a victory to Dagon, and that wasn't in his plans. With Azura's help, there would be no battle.

Azura had no love for Dagon, so she listened attentively to his ideas. Her realm of Moonshadow, with its permanent misty twilight, was the perfect venue. And yes, she could provide the Seducers to complete the plot.

The Seducers are a wide range of related Daedra. Sheogorath's own Dark Seducers are permanently of human form, while Azura's Winged Twilights are fixed in a bat-like aspect. The majority can shape-shift anywhere in between, by a magic that seems to combine Alteration and Illusion to transcend both. It is hard to tell which of the many forms they take is their true one, if that even exists.

A particularly skilled Seducer can tailor her appearance to the tastes of her victim, making herself totally irresistable. Azura chose two of her best for this, and helped them prepare.

On the appointed day, the Dremora arrived early, as Sheogorath had predicted. They like to scout the area, and seek out any advantage they could gain from holding higher ground, or attacking from cover. One of them was clad in heavy Daedric armor, with a shield amd longsword. The other wore a black robe, with a staff on his back.

They weren't the first arrivals, but the two women waiting for them weren't Golden Saints. They carried no weapons, and wore no armor, and not a lot of clothing, either.

Azura had chosen their aspects carefully. One was a pale-skinned blonde with huge blue eyes. She looked innocent in a way that hinted that she was anything but that. And if she personified temptation, her companion personified challenge. She had horns like a Dremora, deep red skin, hooves and a tail. Curvacious to an extreme, with an attitude that dared you to take her on. Naturally, she was the spokeswoman for the pair.

"We came to watch the fight," she said. "That's such a turn-on, especially if we get to reward the winners".

"That will be us", the armored one responded. "without a doubt."

"If you're that certain, then we could give you your reward right now." she suggested. "Your opponents aren't due to arrive for a long time yet. Assuming, of course, that you can handle the extra effort."

The plan was that the Golden Saints would arrive while the Dremora were naked, tired and helpless. The Seducers normally operated in a similar manner, except that they would transform and attack as soon as their prey disarmed. This time they were to drain their victims' fatigue in the most enjoyable way, and make their defeat even more inevitable.

The Dremora would be forced to surrender without being able to put up a fight, a particularly maddening experience for one of the Kyn. Worse, they would have accepted a reward they did not deserve, a mark against their honor.

The Seducers weren't sure when they all collapsed into sleep, but when they woke, the Dremora were gone. There was no sign of any Golden Saints, but they assumed that the plan had worked. In Moonshadow, the passage of time was hard to reckon, so they had no idea how long they'd slept. They'd find out when they flew back to Azura.

Except that they couldn't sprout their wings. They appeared to have lost their ability to transform. Azura sensed their fear and came to them instead. She quickly diagnosed their problem.

"You're both pregnant," she told them. "which means that you just slept with mortals, not Daedra. I have a suspicion that Dagon wasn't involved in this at all. It's well within Sheogorath's powers to disguise two of his mortal minions well enough to fool you."

"The spell to prevent conception is so simple, but you have to know you need it. Maddening, isn't it? You'll have months of discomfort to consider that fact. And you'll be stuck in your current form until you give birth, which will be an additional annoyance. Probably not enough to drive you into Sheogorath's clutches, but close."

"Your babies will be mortal, and grow to resemble your current selves, as a child always takes after its mother. However they won't have your ability to change."

Azura wondered if that was the additional anxiety factor that would take the mothers into insanity, or whether it was the daughters that that Sheogorath had in mind. If they truly resembled their mothers, they'd be irresistable to most mortal men, and not have their mothers' defences. They'd have to learn spells to make up for that. And Azura would just have to watch this play itself out over their lifetimes.