Flash Fiction February 2023 Day 13: Odd Nocturnal Ritual (Anna)

A/N: Another  very short and sort of all over the place one today because brain is mush and I find the fact that Neloth doesn't try to do anything about the shrine building weirdness rather amusing.

 Prompt: Odd Nocturnal Ritual

Between the odd glowing shrines being built around the island, Master Neloths tower mysteriously going into a less than ideal state, and people having no memory and yet a certain familiarity with the name Miirrak there is seemingly no end to the insanity going on around Solstheim. From what Valan tells me, that seems to typically be the case, and is one of his many reasons for avoiding the island in its entirety if he can help it. Unfortunately I have rather important business that brings me to the tiny pile of rock and ash in the middle of nowhere after a strange series of events involving cultists, dragon souls seemingly being sucked somewhere else into the void despite landing the blow myself, and someone or something named Mirrak. The cultists unfortunately for them decided to make their stand on the bridge going to the College of Winterhold and after a few words landed rather unceremoniously at the bottom of the chasm that separates the college from the rest of the town of Winterhold. A very poor strategic choice but at least the bodies were relatively easy to recover and with a bit of help from Valan passage to Raven Rock was booked to investigate further.

Upon landing at the site of the former Imperial outpost on the island it is obvious something is afoot when looking around the market and attempting to make small talk. Everyone seems to know who or what Mirrak is but can’t quite verbalize it, and upon encountering Master Neloth for the first time Farkas and I find him observing the townspeople as they toil away on the shrine by the outskirts of the settlement. Upon being questioned the old wizard simply remarks that he is fascinated by the entire thing and mentions the other shrines throughout the island which we later come to discover ourselves before taking his leave back to his tower further to the east. After spending more time exploring the island and all its mysteries Farkas and I eventually find ourselves at Tel Mithryn one night as Neloth and the rest of his household attempt to figure out the source of the towers withering and their own misfortunes.

Neloth seems more annoyed than actually concerned about the matter, Talvas doesn’t seem to care much as he is already overworked and far too tired, and the mycologist seems to be in desperate need of a raise for dealing with Neloth and his behavior. After watching them squabble for a while longer it becomes boring and I decide to head to bed only later to wake up at the sound of a door opening and find Neloth standing in the doorway of the tower looking out of it. Confused more than anything, though I really shouldn't be given what Telvanni wizards seem to be like on a regular basis, I ask what’s wrong and briefly startle the old mage. Joining him by the doorway he points out into the darkness at the forms wandering about, they’re people he explains and this happens every night. Why he doesn’t try and stop it goes back to the point he first made when we originally met that the behavior is fascinating…and waking them up doesn’t seem to work. Things around here seem even stranger than in Skyrim, High Rock, or Cyrodiil, even counting each country's own odd nocturnal rituals.