#it's like how in skyrim serana was an it to isran and THEN she became a she to him

[slime-crafters]

Honestly love when video games use it/its for the player character

[darksaber87]

Richter’s Bio

Base information

Name: Richter Tepes

Status: Noble of Winterhold, King of Vampires, Black Emperor

Titles: Count, Lord, Jarl, King, Emperor

Height: 6’4” ( 195 cm)

Weight: 232 lbs ( 105kg)

Hair: Medium long, Black

Facial Hair: Goatee Medium length, Black

Eye Color: Green(Before Vampirism) Orange/Yellow/Red

Age: 608 Looks 32 (Immortal)

Morality: Lawful Evil

Distinguished Features: Various scars on body, Black corruption on Right side of body with red runes

Birth Date: 3E 1

Birth Place: Winterhold, Skyrim

Death Date: 3E 33

Age at Death: 32

Death Place: Anvil, Cyrodiil

Resting Place: Anvil Cemetery, Cyrodiil

Manner of Death: Killed by first wife and turned into a Vampire Lord

First Rebirth: 3E 33

Place of First Rebirth: Anvil Cemetery, Cyrodiil

Second Death: 4E 203

Second Place of Death: Fort Dawnguard, Skyrim

Second Resting Place: Ashes discarded near fire pit at the entrance of Fort Dawnguard

Second Manner of Death: Betrayed by Isran and The Dawnguard aftering protecting them

Second Rebirth: 4E 206

Place of Second Rebirth: Tepes Family Tomb, Winterhold, Skyrim

Likes/Dislikes

Likes: Protecting Seras, Order, Information

Dislikes: Harm to Seras, Betrayal, Vampire Hunters

Wardrobe/Equipment

Accessories: Necklace with Realm of Oblivion symbol, Winterhold Signet ring, Tepes Bloodline ring and Wedding ring

Most Prized Possession: Mother and Father’s Winterhold Signet rings, Black Stone of Molag Bal and Bloodstone of Lamae Beolfag

Most Valuable Possession: Tepes Bloodline signet ring

Family/Friends/Love

Immediate Family: Seras Victoria (Wife) Lilith(Daughter with Seras) Gabriel(Son with Seras, Deceased) Lisa and Alaric II Belmont (Twins with Maria) 

Close Relatives: Thelia Tepes (Aunt)

Distant Relatives: Cortan Lothad (Cousin)

Ancestors: Alaric Tepes (Great Great Grandfather)

First Love: Anellia Amel

True Love: Seras Victoria

Love Interests: Anellia Amel (First Wife) Hilda Teth(Ex-Lover) Seras Victoria (Second Wife) Maria Belmont (Ex-Lover) 

Marital Status: Married

Significant Other: Seras Victoria

Enemies/Acquaintances/Factions

Acquaintances:  Viktor Dragon-Oak, Eavan Zorah, Hilda Teth

Allegiance: Black Empire

Allies/Friends/Followers: Trevor Dynasty, Serana Volkihar, Merlin Agel, Morgana Thel

Enemies: Aidan Belnades, Alistaire Tagnel, Helena Dragonheart, Maria Belmont, Alaric Belmont, Lisa Belmont

Subordinates: Cortan Lothad, Galen Duriel 

Biography

Childhood:

Richter was born into Nobility, mother died during childbirth so he was raised by his Father and the help around his father's home. Bit of a loner in his childhood, Richter did show interest into wanting to help others around him.

Adolescence:

During his teen years, Richter became a bit more confidant gaining friends quickly, using his Noble wealth to do what he wanted. Becoming a bit arrogant in the process. During this stage of his life his love of knowledge became apparent always reading old books within his family’s library.

Adulthood:

Was during this time Richter fell in love for the first time with a commoner by the name of Anellia Amel, knowing due to his Noble heritage and next in line for Jarl this love was forbidden by his father. Forgoing his Birthright and Noble rights he wed Anellia and left Winterhold for Anvil in Cyrodiil, became a Merchant. Making a name for himself outside of his Noble heritage Richter lived quite well and even started to travel to other Provinces to sell his wares.

Afterdeath and Rebirth:

Richter was killed 3E 33 by his wife Anellia after she could no longer control her bloodlust, but not before he struck a fatal blow against Anellia. Richter was reborn a Vampire 3 days later, there he was met by a Coven of Vampires hiding among the humans of Anvil. Was within this Coven Richter learned how to control his baser abilities and feed only when necessary to keep the humans from not knowing. After spending time with the Coven Richter left to travel Tamriel learning about other Vampire Covens and Clans. Eventually he made his way to Skyrim and contact with the Volkihar Clan where the leader Harkon threaten to kill him if he did not leave Skyrim. 

For the next 150 years Richter traveled and survived. Wounded and near death he was found and saved by Seras Victoria a farmer on the outskirts of Bruma. Tired of traveling and at first wanting a place to hide from Vampire Hunters, Richter offered his help around the farm in exchange for saving his life. Eventually as the time went by Seras and Richter grew closer and eventually in love. Richter now finally able to live a peaceful life and an expect dad grew to comfortable in this new life as his past eventual caught up to him, Vampire Hunters tracked his location to Seras’s farm where they slew her and his unborn child, despert Richter had Seras drink his blood to become a Vampire, but it looked to not take, so Richter buried his wife and unborn child and sent himself into an exile hoping to die, he started to attack Vampire Hunters and his own kind looking to end his suffering. During his exile Richter created a weapon the end his existence, but unable to do it himself he wielded the weapon to vanquish his own kind.

 His travels eventually made him return to Skyrim where he met Maria Belmont a fledgling Vampire Hunter, but unknown to her Richter was the prey she was after. After letting her rest at his camp Richter became a bit smitten with Maria, asking what Vampire Hunter group she belonged, to Maria’s shocked he knew she answered Dawnguard. Richter asked to bring him to them to relay information about local vampires in Skyrim, she agreed. Upon arrival Isran knew exactly what Richter was angry he scolded Maria and was about to strike Richter down but the Fort was attacked by vampires of the Volkihar clan, having help dealt with them Isran allowed Richter to stay. There he trained Maria to wield the weapon he created sensing great power within her. During her training Maria became Richter’s lover, unable to fully commit to a full relationship he was happy. Until he was betrayed after Isran found out Maria was sleeping with him. 

Richter was slain and his soul sent to the Dark God, Molag Bal’s creator of Vampires and ruler of the realm Coldharbour. He was contacted by Lamae Beolfag who set in motion to overthrow the Dark God and seize control, unbeknownst to her Richter has his own plans wanting the power for himself and tired of being betrayed, Richter killed Molag Bal and infused the Dark Gods power within himself. Lamae mad about what he did tried to slay him only to fall to Richter herself. Master of Vampires and new ruler of Coldharbour, Richter’s soul was pulled from the realm and he was reborn a second time. There he was reunited with Seras who with the help of Aidan returned his soul to the mortal plane.

Having been reborn Richter traveled back to Skyrim to research ancient names and people which the Volkihar clan had within their library thanks to Trevor by some counts is one of the oldest living vampires. Having to be split from Seras due to Aidan’s deal to help bring back Richter, but Seras working in secret to relay information back to Richter’s via his familiars who always have their watchful eyes on her and protect when they can. Making his way to Volkihar his welcome was met with hostilities, Richter gave them an ultimatum cooperate or be destroyed, agreeing to join forces the fledgling Black Empire roots were planted.

[whispersafterdusk]

In Your Hands - ch 4

They'd backtracked to Windhelm after the storm had passed.

The stable master had seemed surprised at Ralsten's request to stable Unli there; he'd asked after the cost to leave the horse for a month, then had given the man three times that.

"Just in case," Ralsten had insisted.  They'd stood together to register the transaction in a little ledger, and then Ulundil had led Unli away -- while Ulundil had at first refused to take the horse for longer than a month they had eventually agreed that Ralsten would receive whatever gold he was owed if he came back before three months had passed, and if he hadn't returned in time then Ulundil was free to sell the horse.

"We'll hire a carriage," he'd explained to Serana once he'd come out of the stables.  "Their horses are sturdier and more suited to the roads, and if we get caught up in a storm we'll have the carriage to shelter inside or under, if we can't find any other shelter." ((Continued below cut))

They'd quickly visited Windhelm's markets and bought up what supplies Ralsten could find - he at least had a meager supply of potion for healing and, with some embarrassment that Serana either didn't notice or chose to ignore, a few for curing diseases; the only thing that had seemed to catch her attention was the size of his coin purse and how he spent without too much worry, but she didn't comment on that either...or at least, not until they were walking back to the stables and to where the carriage driver waited.

"You'd be surprised at how well adventuring pays," he'd answered.

That had gotten him a curious look.  "I suppose hunting vampires is pretty adventurous."

"It can be.  So can hunting other things."

As they were climbing into the carriage a Nord man clad in winter clothing with a ragged cloth cap came rushing up to them; he looked young and too thin, his face haggard and gaunt, and he was out of breath as he caught up to and leaned against the back of the carriage.

Serana and Ralsten looked to one another in mild confusion, then Ralsten had squatted down at the edge of the benches in the carriage's rear.  "Are you all right there?"

"I'm-" the man wheezed, sucking in a noisy breath.  "I'm glad I found you.  I've got a message - you're Ralsten, right?  Dragonborn?"

"That's me, aye," Ralsten answered.  He quickly glanced over a shoulder to find Serana staring at him, expression unreadable.  "What can I help you with, lad?"

The Nord reached into his shirt and pulled free a rumpled, folded letter.  "Here.  I'm glad I caught you here and didn't have to run all the way to Winterhold."

Ralsten reached out to pluck the letter free, then clapped the courier on the shoulder.  "Many thanks."

The man nodded and turned to jog - much more leisurely - back across the bridge to Windhelm.  

The wood elf stood and moved to plunk down on the bench near the front of the carriage; the driver, Alfarinn, looked back at them.  

"We ready to be off, then?"

"Aye," Ralsten answered.  

The carriage lurched into motion, and Ralsten turned the letter over in his hands a few times before unfolding it.

In cramped, messy writing were the words "Overheard you speaking - Imperial scholar arrived in Skyrim recently.  Rumor he was spotted while staking out a road.  May be a Moth Priest.  Do not have the men to spare to find him."  

It was signed with Isran's name, and Ralsten read it several times while trying to make sense of how lucky they'd just gotten.

He looked up and met Serana's gaze, folding the letter back up.  "It's from Isran - he thinks a Moth Priest has come to Skyrim."

Her eyes lit up, and she sat up straighter.  "Really?  Where?"

The wood elf tapped the folded letter against his palm.  "That I don't know - Isran didn't say where the priest was seen.  He could be...anywhere in Skyrim, really."

Serana considered that a moment, then leaned toward the carriage driver.  "Have you heard of any Moth Priests?  Or seen any traveling the roads?"

"Moth Priest?" Alfarinn repeated, giving her an incredulous look.   "Can't say I've heard of or seen anyone calling themselves one of those."

She nodded and sat back in her seat.  "-if a scholar - Moth Priest or not - has come to Skyrim, I bet their first destination would be the College."

"A good call," Ralsten said, nodding in agreement.  "At least we know one is here...might take awhile to find him, but it's better than having to travel all the way to Cyrodiil to speak to one."

"And while I have the Scroll my father doesn't have what he needs to figure out this prophecy," Serana added.  "It might take US time to unravel it, but HE won't be able to."

Ralsten nodded again with a chuckle.  They rode along in silence, though sometimes Alfarinn sang to himself.  As they approached Winterhold it became bitterly cold but while the sky grew overcast it thankfully didn't start to snow on them.

"Vampires can't really feel cold," Serana had said at one point, her voice low enough that Alfarinn did not hear.  "But even I can tell it’s chilly...you must be miserable."

Ralsten had merely nodded at her - he was very cold, but wouldn't admit to it.

The carriage stopped just outside of Winterhold proper, in a flattened area with space enough to turn around in.  They hopped out and waved Alfarinn on, and then tugged their cloaks tighter around themselves and trudged through the snow into the town.

The streets were deserted but every visible window was lit with light; a single group of three guards each carrying a torch was patrolling the street, and once close enough Ralsten hailed them.

"Greetings, there."

"What do you need, travelers?" the guard in the frost asked.  "It's a poor night to be out in the cold."

"We're looking for a Moth Priest and thought he may be traveling here," Ralsten replied.

Immediately the three guards drew their weapons; Ralsten held up his hands in a placating gesture, but they moved to surround him and Serana just the same.

"Wait a moment, here - what have we done wrong?"

"A Moth Priest was supposed to come here," said a guard - Ralsten wasn't sure if it was the first one who'd spoken or not as they all looked identical in build and wore the same armor and uniforms.  "He disappeared along the road.   What would two strangers like you know of that?"

"Nothing," Serana replied, frowning at the guard nearest her.  "We came looking for him, that's all.  We need him to read this for us-" she pointed to the Scroll on her back.

For several tense moments there was silence, then the guard nearest Ralsten sheathed his weapon but only one of the other two followed suit.

"Well like I said - he disappeared on the road.  He never got here."

Ralsten huffed out a sigh - of course their stroke of luck from hearing about the priest would end like this.  Why wouldn't it?  "Where did he disappear?  How long ago?"

"He should have been here a week ago.  We don't have a lot to go on, but it sounds like he was last spotted somewhere around Dragon Bridge." The guard paused.  "Don't know why I'm telling you about it - there's not much you can do."

"Maybe there is, actually," Ralsten replied after a pause.  "We need to speak to this priest...maybe we can find him."

"I don't trust this one," said the guard nearest Serana.  He came close to prodding the woman with the tip of his sword.  "Look at those eyes."

Disguising it as a casual movement Ralsten dropped a hand to his waist to rest it near the hilt of one of the maces he wore on his belt. "What of them?  Smitten, are we?"

Serana gave him an odd look but took a single step toward him; the guard snorted loudly.

"They glow.  That's not normal.  I say we take them both in, right now."

The other two guards seemed to consider that; Ralsten cleared his throat.  "Now, gentlemen, let's not be hasty.  I'm sure it'd be terrible for the reputation of the guard if the citizens heard you threw two weary travelers, innocent of any crimes, into your jails.  Especially after they've graciously offered to help rescue a missing person."

For several breaths there was silence.  Then, the first guard that had spoken (or so Ralsten assumed), grunted and waved them passed him.

"Go on.  They've not done anything wrong and we've seen stranger things than glowing eyes come out of that College.  Go warm yourselves in the inn."

The other two guards clearly didn't agree with that, but they made no move to stop Ralsten and Serana as they nodded and headed passed the guard that had waved them on.  They walked in silence until they were climbing the steps to the inn's door.

"I can't believe you convinced those guards to let us go."

Ralsten chuckled and gave her a roguish wink.  "The right words in the right ears at the right time is all it takes sometimes."

She smiled at that.  "I could have convinced them to let us go, too."

"I know you could, but I'd prefer you don't.  Leave the talking to me - I've got the tongue of a merchant."

"Going to sell me the stars, are you?" she asked, clearly amused.

"Only if I thought I'd get paid for it," he laughed, and pushed the door of the inn open, bathing them both in warmth and light.

---------------------------------------------------------

Much like the caverns and crypt he'd found Serana in Forebear's Holdout - the only named cave he'd found near Dragon Bridge on his maps - was crawling with the undead, vampires, and their gargoyle and dog beasts.

Whether any of them recognized Serana was anyone's guess but it was a difficult, violent slog that only got worse the deeper they went and after the third or fourth ambush Ralsten had instructed Serana to remain behind him at all times.

"I can take care of myself - I still remember how to fight," she huffed, sounding offended.

"Look -- I'M the big armored idiot here, and you're not," he'd replied, plunking one of his maces off a metal plate strapped over a shoulder.  "Let me take the blows and you shoot your magic over my shoulder."

She'd agreed to that arrangement then, and while he'd meant the first part of it in jest it occurred to him that he was fighting like he still had his heaviest plate armor on rather than this lighter set...little wonder he was having such a hard time with this.

After bandaging himself up for what felt like the hundredth time he quietly vowed to actually fight with what he was armed with, rather than what he was used to; steadily they moved forward and down, until at last they reached a chamber that was mostly lit only by strange, runed stones arranged in a circle in the center of a round dais.  They glowed a strange teal and between them they projected a magical field that rippled like the surface of a pond; trapped within them was a older man - bald and bearded, dressed in rumpled and stained gray robes.

Pacing around the stones and the field were three vampires and one of the vicious, black hounds they kept as pets.  There was an orc there as well - he was dressed in the same sort of armor he'd seen the Volkihar vampires wear, though his were...well, either a white or a pale gray - it was impossible to tell their true color in the stones's glow.

The orc vampire was speaking to the trapped man, but due to distance and the emptiness of the room in general all that reached them were murmurs they couldn't make out.

"Do you recognize him?  Either of them?"  From their vantage point at the doorway to the chamber, Ralsten took in the scene and tried to plot an attack -- the first thing he (no, THEY) would need to do was kill that dog and subdue or kill the lesser vampires, or else they wouldn't likely stand a chance against what looked to be their commander.

Serana shook her head.  "No.  His armor is familiar, obviously, but as for him...I've been gone a long time, I don't know how many my father may have spawned while I was gone."

"Hmmph...well, there goes the hope that you could maybe reason with or order him away."

"I appreciate your confidence in me," she whispered, smiling at him briefly before turning her attention back to the spectacle ahead.  "But, even if I did know who that was, if they're loyal to my father then they'd follow his orders, not mine.  At least that looks like the priest we've been searching for."

"At least there's that, and it was worth a thought.  All right."   Ralsten blew out a sigh and carefully inched away from Serana, giving him enough space to unstrap the crossbow and bring it to bear.  "I'm going to try and take that dog down - you focus on the other vampires first.  If I can get the dog in one or two shots, I'm going to close in with the orc.  If we hit them quickly and suddenly, the surprise will work in our favor."

She looked at him skeptically.  "You really think you can kill one of those in one or two shots?"

With a chuckle Ralsten shrugged.  "Think?  No.  Hope?  Absolutely."

He wouldn't have a clear enough shot from here; silently, and ever so carefully, Ralsten led Serana closer to the others, his crossbow up and ready.  The nearer they came the louder the voices got, and finally they could hear the man and vampire talking.

"The more you fight me the more you will suffer, mortal," the orc growled.

The man in the magical prison turned his back to the orc.  "I will resist you, monster.  I must!"

The orc chuckled - it was a velvety soft, smooth sound, and it sent a chill up Ralsten's spine.  "How much longer can you keep this up, Moth Priest?  Your mind was strong, but you're exhausted from the struggle."

The priest lowered himself to the dirt, shuddering, and struggling not to look at the orc as he circled around to again stand in front of the man.  "Must...resist..."

Again the orc laughed.  "Yes, I can feel your defenses crumbling at last.  You want it to end.  You want to give in to me.  Do it.   Acknowledge me as your master!"

Ralsten crept closer, and then-

"Yes...master..."

"New plan-" the wood elf hissed to Serana.  "Hurry!"

He stood and fired.  The bolt lodged itself into the flank of the dog; the beast yelped, and all four vampires looked up as Ralsten dropped the crossbow and came charging down at them with a loud yell.

The impromptu battle cry assured their attention was on all him - he barreled into the three lesser vampires and managed to land a kick backed by his momentum and send one crashing to the floor; the other two scattered, and as the dog leaped for him with a snarl a bolt of ice came whistling from the darkness - Serana's spell pierced the dog's skull and sent it to the floor, twitching in its death throes.

A glowing red energy struck him then; one of the vampires -a Nord female, white hair in braids and with a black bar painted across her eyes - was channeling a spell at him and he felt his strength beginning to drain away.  His maces found their way into his hands and he swung at her, cracking the head of one into her arm and knocking it down and away from him.

The follow up swing he had aimed for her head was met by the war hammer that one of the others wielded; his arms stung as the weapons met, the shock traveling up to his shoulder, then he was sent stumbling backward from the man (it wasn't bright enough to tell if he was a dirt-smeared imperial or a breton) as the third vampire (another Nord female) let loose with a gout of flame that only singed him -- the breton-or-imperial man was more or less between Ralsten and the woman and she apparently was not willing to injure her companion in an attempt to set the wood elf on fire.

Ralsten raised both maces and brought them arcing down as the other man was readying a swing of that hammer, only to go horribly off-balance as he struck empty air; a flurry of ice bolts rushed around him, close enough that he felt the chill of their passing on his face, and embedded themselves in the chest of the man.  As he'd crumpled Ralsten's swing had missed, and while the wood elf tried to catch his balance the Nord woman armed with the fire blasted it toward him again, this time without needing to worry about anyone else in the way.

He hit the ground and threw himself into a roll, hissing in pain as the fire blistered the skin across his cheeks - the only bare skin visible on him - and the rest of his armor heated up to an uncomfortable degree.  As he rolled a blur rushed over him; Serana landed on the stone nimbly, between Ralsten and the vampires but to the side of the line of flames, and began channeling some red-tinted spell of her own at the fire-wielding Nord.

Serana's sudden appearance in close quarters gave Ralsten the chance he needed to get onto his knees and as he did so suddenly the orc vampire was on top of him.

"More Dawnguard filth?" the orc snarled.  He jabbed downward with his sword - it looked ancient and had a darkened, dirty blade.  "Destroy them!"

Ralsten rolled again and the sword's tip slammed into the stone beside him; he came up on all fours only to shift his weight backward and launched off his toes forward at the orc -- in the back of his mind he hoped Serana could handle herself against the two, possibly still three, vampires, as he wouldn't be able to help her now that the vampire's leader had finally joined the battle.

His quick recovery must have surprised the orc - he could see it in the orc's expression and how the sword wasn't quite back into position to parry both of Ralsten's blows; the left mace bounced off the sword's wide blade but the other slipped in to thud heavily into the orc's side, then both weapons went flying as the orc responded by dropping his sword to send a double-handed blast of lightning to the elf's chest that sent him staggering back with a lack of control over his body as the spell arced and crackled around him.

The vampire followed the first blast with another, more concentrated spell; Ralsten dropped to the floor and writhed under the lightning shooting through him.  His armor was heavily enchanted to guard against magical attacks and he knew that if it hadn't been he would probably have been dead off the first blast given how it’d been point blank, and certainly dead by the second one if he'd somehow survived the first one.

Just as quickly as the spell had struck him it abruptly stopped; Ralsten lay on the ground, groaning and unable to control his limbs.  At times like this his heaviest armor - the armor he normally wore - would have kept all but the most precise stabs or blows from harming him; it was full steel plate, one of the hardiest, sturdiest sorts of armor, and the only part of him visible was what you could see through the eyeslit of the helm.  There were several tense moments in the past when he'd been knocked senseless or, such as right now, dropped to the floor with a spell, and the armor had saved his life every time.

But, he wasn't wearing that armor right now, and that orc's blade absolutely could pierce the mixed leather and plate he currently wore....but, the killing blow didn't come.  In fact, the entire room had gone silent aside from his groans of pain as feeling slowly crawled back into his limbs.

Serana stepped into his view then, standing over him looking - well, very, very worried.

"Are you all right?"

"I will be, in a moment," he managed.  "Are the others...?"

"Dead.  I got them while you kept the orc busy.  I don't think they knew how to fight someone directly...once I got close, they just...crumpled."

Ralsten swallowed hard and lay there for several minutes before he was finally able to sit up.  His entire body ached, his head throbbed, and he felt something hot and wet on his injured arm - either the fighting had broken the gouges open again or the sudden, concentrated jolt of lightning had, but he was certainly bleeding and would need to bandage himself.  Again.  

The three lesser vampires lay dead not too far away. Two of them had ice shards jutting out of their necks and bodies, and the Nord that had tried to set him on fire was oozing blood and brain matter onto the stone -- he had no idea what Serana might have done to blow half the woman's head off but he was nonetheless grateful that they were dead.   The orc's throat also had a shard of ice through it, and there was a blood stain spreading across the chest of his armor.

Serana herself seemed relatively unharmed; the front of her clothing looked a little scorched and the stench of burnt hair clung to her but she wasn't bleeding and the parts of her skin that he could see didn't seem blistered or burned.

She'd noticed his burn, however; brow furrowing she reached out a hand to touch his face, but hesitated when he managed a weak laugh.

"That looks like it hurts."

"I'll endure -- are YOU all right?"

"I'm fine."

Ralsten nodded.  "And the priest?"

She turned toward the magical barrier; it gave off a faint noise, like distant wind, and the priest was still huddled within it.   "He...looks frightened, but not hurt."

"We need to get him out of there."  With a pained grunt Ralsten pushed himself to his feet, taking a few unsteady steps toward the barrier.  "Do you have any idea how?"

"I'm...not sure."  She stepped closer to the barrier and began to study the stones that projected it.  "It seems to be coming from the stones, but magic like this...should have a place, a source, where the spell is controlled."  Looking around, she gestured to a set of stairs at the back of the dais that led up to a small platform with a pillar or pedestal of some sort partly hidden from view behind a stone railing.   "Let's look up there."

Ralsten waved her on, still trying to get full control and sensation back in his legs; she lightly hopped up the stairs and to the pedestal, and a moment later he heard her call out to him.

"I think this is it - it has lines on it like the stones, but it looks like you need to put something into it."

"Something?  What kind of something?"

"It's - some kind of spherical thing.  About the size of my fists put together."

Ralsten scanned the floor around him, seeing nothing but the dead vampires.  "Is it not up there?"

A few minutes passed before she answered.  "There's nothing up here but an old chest, and the only thing in it was a few coins.  It didn't look like it'd been opened recently."

He grunted and again looked to the bodies -- the key to freeing the priest must be on one of them as they wouldn't have put the man inside that barrier if there wasn't a way to free him somehow.  As he stumbled toward the lesser vampires first (they were closer, after all) Serana came back down the stairs and went to the body of the orc; Ralsten found nothing of value on the three, but when he turned around Serana made a pleased noise and cut a pouch free from the orc's belt.  "This has to be it."

The pouch was tied shut, and the tie had a knot in it - she deftly cut it loose and pulled out an object that was vaguely seed-shaped, with swirled designs on it in the same teal as the stones and three thick stone bands around its middle.

Again Serana hurried up the stairs; Ralsten heard a click and the rush of unfelt wind, and then the magical barrier fell away.  He slowly limped toward the priest as the man stood.

"Sir?  Are you all right?"

The priest turned around slowly, a wild look in his eyes.  "I...I serve the master's will....but my master is dead, and his enemies will pay!"

With an unnatural speed and strength the priest was suddenly on top of Ralsten, knocking them both to the floor and in his surprise the elf roughly kicked the man to the side with more force than he would have if he'd not been startled by the attack.

The priest quickly recovered and seized a dropped dagger from one of the dead vampires, then dove for Ralsten again; the wood elf caught the man's wrist and kept the dagger at bay, then groaned as the priest swung a haymaker into the side of his head.

He tried to catch the man's free hand as it flailed and fought to grab Ralsten's own but only got pummeled a few more times for his effort, then lost his grip on the hand holding the dagger.  The blade came darting in to scrape along the elf's ribs (his armor thankfully kept it from penetrating) and out of sheer irritation Ralsten balled a hand into a fist and decked the man square in the face; his knuckles slammed into the cheek near the nose and the force behind it toppled the priest backwards.

Ralsten leapt on top of him, fist cocked back for another blow, when the priest raised his hands screaming "I yield I yield!"

The elf hesitated and when the priest only moved to cover his head with his arms he slid off the man and sat beside him.

The priest sat up slowly, panting and shaking.  "Wait, stop...I yield.  That...that wasn't me you were fighting. I could see through my eyes, but I couldn't- I could not control my actions.  Thank you for breaking that foul vampire's hold over me.  Thank the Divines for you!"

The fact that this man had endured who knew what at the hands of vampires was currently at war with how...not exactly charitable Ralsten was feeling toward him at the moment, especially when one considered how his head ached from the beating he'd taken after he'd already been electrocuted and burned.  "Are you all right?" he finally asked.

"I'm quite all right, thanks to you.  Dexion Evicus is my name.  I'm a Moth Priest of the White Gold Tower.  These vampires claimed they had some purpose in store for me, but they wouldn't say what...  Probably hoping to ransom me, the fools."

Ralsten glanced to Serana as she walked up to them; she was staring at the priest curiously, but didn't seem overly impressed with him.

"-I know why they needed you, because we need you for the same purpose," Ralsten said after a moment.  "We need you to read an Elder Scroll, and I'll explain why later."

The priest's expression brightened?  "Really?  I will be happy to assist you with your Elder Scroll.  Just tell me where I need to go."

"Fort Dawnguard," Serana answered.  Her gaze shifted to Ralsten briefly.

He met her gaze with a reassuring, if tired, smile, then looked to Dexion.  "Yes, there - but after the trouble we took to rescue you, I'm not risking you getting captured again.  Give me some time to rest, then we can all three travel together back to the fort.  --and I imagine you're probably hungry, if they've had you down here for any length of time," he quickly added, looking Dexion up and down.

"Well, I wouldn't say...overly hungry, but..."  The priest trailed off, clearing his throat and looking embarrassed.  "I have been down here for some time, yes.  And they were looking to break me any way they could."

"I've a couple apples in my bag here, you're welcome to them."

"I'd be thankful for it."

"Should we stop here, or try and find a way out and then rest?" Serana asked.

Ralsten bit his lower lip, thinking.  They could mostly trust that the way they'd come in was free of vampire and draugr.  "Did you see another door up there?"

She nodded.  "I'm not sure if it's locked, but yes."

"...let's push on and see where it goes.  Just...let's push on slowly," he said with a tired chuckle.  "I'm a bit worse for wear."

Serana frowned, looking between him and the nearby stairs.  "Maybe we should stay here to let you rest after all."

"I'll be all right, but I'll definitely feel better to have the sky over me again."

"All right.  Let's go then."  She reached down to offer him a hand up.