User:JohnB/Fanfiction/Joining the Sixth House

Mallas Sedas was a Dunmer boy of about ten living among landed gentry somewhere in the Telvanni-dominated region of Vvardenfel. His family was well-positioned to pack him off to a theological seminary because an elder brother was set to inherit the family holdings.

Given that the life expectancy of the Dunmer was some two to three times that of humans, a population explosion was to be avoided in order to maintain the agricultural livelihood of the Dunmer. An equilibrium could be maintained by not having more than two children per family. Primogeniture was also practiced in order that the family property not be subdivided, and custom also dictated that a land holding not be administered by more than four generations at the same time—four are a company; five are a crowd. The elderly and second children had to fend for themselves elsewhere so as not to be a financial burden.

Of course, there were myriad ways they could make their way in the world. However, that this family chose theological training in the face of Telvanni fidelity to the lore of magicka raised some eyebrows. Whispered musings behind their back, whenever the family attended social events, suggested the family was ultraconservative and wanted to leave its mark on the xenophobic bent among the Dunmer.

Of course, the parents had no such intention. They merely wanted to get him out of the way. Maybe they weren’t aware that this radical branch of ultra-conservatism espoused a violent ethnic cleansing of Vvardenfell, but then maybe they were.

However, to give the proceedings a semblance of free-choice, his parents asked him what he thought of entering the Holomayan Monastery, which would have been the better choice given that the dissident priests were more anti-Tribunal than xenophobic. But even a boy of ten can see where this is going. He did want to marry and start his own family by and by, and this was no way to go about it. He nixed that suggestion out of hand.

He was sent to a kind of ashram in a certain town, where he was highly welcomed, as neophytes always are. He learned to read the ancient tomes and heard lectures on the supremacy of the Dunmer race and its native doctrines about the Aedra and the Daedra. He had never heard otherwise, so all of this had to be true.

However, he was entering his teens when their welcome became less pronounced. The ashram began discussing commitment, but commitment to what? Well, that wasn’t altogether clear.

“Are you in favor of expelling the foreigners?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Then what are you going to do about it?”

There was the rub because this particular ashram was militant in appearance more than in fact. Yes, what does one do about it? There were non-Dunmer everywhere from all walks of life, so though Mallas could accept the annihilation of foreigners in principle, he never gave the matter that much thought. Maybe if the cultists got enough small guys like himself worked up over this, something will happen, but don't hold your breath.

Mallas came to realize this ashram wasn’t practicing what they were preaching. He packed his things and slipped out when nobody was looking. This was easy to do because nobody was going to track him down and drag him back. They had as much need for him as he had for them. He wanted to make his way in the world and earn his fortune, for which he headed towards Balmora, the seat of the Great House Hlaalu. The Telvanni taught him nothing about magic, but the Hlaalu offered “wealth beyond measure”.

It was soon after settling in to his new environment that he began having strange dreams, on the one hand enticing, on the other hand troubling. It was as if he was being summoned, but the dreams were very indistinct and not easily remembered due their topsy-turvy nature. However, over time they became more distinct. Yes, he was being called, but to where? One dream was like an out-of-body experience in which he flew through the night sky toward Moonmoth Fort, then over the mountain and along the foyada to a nondescript cavern door.

Upon awaking, Mallas decided to go investigate and see what this was all about. He followed the route shown him in the dream and found the cavern door. He opened it and peered inside, but it was very dark but for red candles that lit the way.

He followed the way and stopped abruptly when he saw a woman, not wearing a stitch of clothing, standing before him. He averted his eyes and wondered what this could mean.

“Friend or foe?” she asked a bit sharply.

“I don’t know yet. You see, I had a dream last night and...”

“A friend then. Follow me.”

She turned and led him deep into the cavern, and they were met by an ash zombie. When Mallas saw that his upper face was seemingly gouged out, he realized for the first time that this cavern was a 6th House outpost.

"Follow me," the ash zombie said and led him the rest of the way into a large chamber where an ash ghoul was praying and doing prostrations on a raised platform. His face was likewise hewn out, but he sported an elephantine proboscis that was a horror to look at. Behind him was a row of large bells hanging from a rack.

"He is here," the ash zombie announced, and the ash ghoul turned to go into the inner sanctum. Mallas began to follow.

"No!" the ash ghoul barked. "Remain here!"

The ash ghoul went to speak with Dagoth Fovon, a more highly ranked ash ghoul who was governor plenipotentiary of the Hassour Cavern and the district of Balmora. The ash ghoul returned and ordered an ash slave to ring the bells to summon all 6th House minions in the cavern, except the ascended sleepers, who took too long moving about with their slug bodies that it took a whole day to get from the inner recesses of the cavern. The tonal relationship between the bells was so slight that it was hard to distinguish any melody. All the minions assembled and stood in a close circle around Mallas and the ash ghoul.

"Disrobe!" the ash ghoul ordered.

Mallas removed his shirt, trousers, and shoes. These were carefully folded by ash slaves and conveyed to the inner sanctum where they were to be deposited among the belongings of previous initiates.

Standing there in the buff was not so bad considering that all the dreamers were also stark naked.

The ash ghoul snapped his fingers, and two ash slaves brought a small table and a wrapped corprusmeat hunk on a tray. It emitted an atrociously foul odor and dripped with pus, commonly known as corprus weepings, and is highly prized by the denizens of the 6th House. The ash slave placed the gooey pack onto the table then licked his fingers.

"Before we begin," the ash ghoul said, “I must inform you what is to happen. You are to eat of this divine food. If you choose not to, be warned that you may not exit the cavern as you entered—you will be infected with the divine disease and stay, and we will harvest your flesh for our sustenance. Also be warned that ash slaves will cut the flesh from your living body in the most painful and merciless manner. You would do well to answer yes to the following question: do you submit body and soul to the Lord High Councilor of the House Unmourned, Dagoth Ur, and help drive the foreigners from the land they stole from us?”

Mallas gulped.

“I submit myself body and soul to the Lord High Councilor of the House Unmourned, Dagoth Ur, and help drive the foreigners from the land they stole from us.”

The ash ghoul took a dagger from his belt and cut open the wrapped corprusmeat. The foul stench intensified, and Mallas gagged. The ash ghoul cut a slice of meat and commanded.

“Open your mouth.”

“Would you mind very much if I held my nose?” Mallas asked.

“As you wish.”

Mallas pinched his nose and opened his mouth wide. The meat went in.

“Chew!” the ash ghoul barked. “Now swallow!”

Mallas felt a strange sensation come over him. It was as if all memories and will power were immediately erased from his mind. Now he was a dreamer destined to live an endless living dream in the service of Dagoth Ur. And now that he was insensate to who he was, where he was, or why he was here, the ash ghoul told him what was to become of him hereafter.

"The corprusmeat has already activated in your body, and it will be the only substance you eat for the rest of your life. You will gradually metamorphose in stages, first as an ash zombie, then as an ash ghoul like myself, and finally as an ascended sleeper. Then our Lord High Councilor will decide what to do with you."

This doesn't sound very encouraging.

But the new dreamer didn't care.