Viree stared at me with some concern, "Are you sure everything will play out like you want it to? Didn't you want to recruit the gourmet? and stuff like that?"
I sighed, "Unfortunately I realized things wouldn't play out so smoothly. We will still acquire the gourmet. A few hired mercs will capture the man smoothly. If they fail, I'll send a letter. If they don't fail contact will be made directly."
I paused at the steps of the shrine of Meridia. Viree looked up at me and sighed, "You realize you might be doing to much?"
Her eyes focused in on me and I sighed, "That's why I decided to step out of the way. If I stayed in Solitude while things hit the fan I suspect a storm too big would've been created."
She frowned, "So you decided to meet a god? Ah, what a step away from the chaos."
She wasn't wrong, it wasn't the best transition. "Well, we are only here to finally receive a long over due reward. While everything that is gonna happen in Solitude, we can be related and even suspected. However we cannot be there while it goes down."
I paused and added, "Yes, I mean we. As despite the ownership of our information guild we aren't technically citizens of Solitude. I doubt they can tie it all together, but leaving now will prevent any hiccups."
She shook her head, "Fine, Fine. You know I will follow you. I'm not interested in all the schemes, so let's change the topic. What are we here for? You said a reward?"
I scratched my head, "Truth be told I don't actually know. You see my reward was to literally define an artifact. It is like creating a divine domain and placing those artifacts within that domain."
Viree rolled her eyes, "If you think that information is valuable." Viree supported my ambitions, but she didn't see the obvious path. She paused, "Should I wait here?"
I shook my head, "Follow me up, maybe you will get something out of it."
She shrugged and we arrived at the top of the shrine shortly after. I scratched my chin with some thought. I took out Sable Wave and shouted, "MERIDIA! TIME TO FULFILL THE DEAL!"
Light filled the sky and a beam shone down onto the statue, "Look who it is..."
My eyes widened, I didn't expect that to actually work. "About time for my reward don't you think?"
I felt Meridia's attention on me, the daedric prince stayed silent for a while. However when she spoke her power radiated into the shrine. "Yes, I remember our deal Vek. I offer an apology as well due to my lack of attention to it. Though you can hardly blame me. Thanks to you I have ended up in an Alliance with allies I didn't expect to ever be made."
I raised and eyebrow and looked over at Viree who shrugged. Meridia sounded like an 8 year old making friends. "That's nice?"
Meridia's attention refocused, "I believe Vaermina explained a little bit of the effects of your actions. You see the Ebony sword contained a large portion of Mephala's power. This weakened Mephala greatly allowing her realm to be invaded."
I paused, "So I accidentally initialized a war between the daedric princes? I was told this by Vaermina, but I suspect there is some specifics you want me to know."
Meridia responded, "Yes, With Mephala weakened her realm was first invaded by Molag Bal. Once he did this it became a brawl between several of us. Ultimately in the end, myself, Vaermina, Malacath and, ugh, Boethiah, though my alliance with her is temporary."
I raised an eyebrow, "I thought you were enemies."
I felt the eyeroll in her voice, "We are, however Boethiah much like Malacath have an overlapping domain with Mephala. So we are in a truce currently until Mephala is... killed."
Viree jerked and looked at me. I looked at the statue of Meridia, and I made a guess. "You managed to occupy her realm. Does this mean Mephala is banished from her realm?"
Meridia's attention focused on me and I felt a weight on my shoulders. "You really are annoying. This is why I hate free will. Yes, Mephala has been exiled, though she is greatly weakened. My truce with Boethiah is due to both of us holding down Mephala's territory."
This explained why Vaermina and Malacath still wondered about. I paused, "Well, I was pretty much told about your war with Mephala. I can understand the stuff about Mephala too. My new question is how did you ally with Vaermina?"
Meridia let out a sigh, "She appears to have a rather deep... connection to you. I do not understand her reasons, however she came to me offering peace. She made a rather effective argument. I suspect she has her own plans that do not relate to me and only include you and..." Meridia's focus shifted to Viree.
I took in that information and processed everything quickly. "Alright! I think anymore will cause problems for both of us."
Meridia refocused on me, "Yes, let me provide your reward. This is why you have called me here and I need to check back into the realms of oblivion soon. Close your eyes, I cannot speak this allowed."
I rolled, but closed my eyes. Suddenly I felt a flash of light on me and I shook my head in pain. "That hurt."
Meridia scoffed, "You have your reward. I am taking my leave now." Meridia's presence disappeared, leaving me and Viree at her Shrine.
I sighed and Viree looked at me, "So you know the method for your thingy?"
I looked at her, "You mean the method to create a domain?"
She nodded and I shrugged, "Yes, pretty much. It is rather easy and I could see how many did it in the past without the info. I took out all my artifacts and focused on each of them. Picking up Sable Wave I swung it around. "I can feel the connection now."
I blinked as I received a level up. I looked at my skill levels and paused, "Huh, all my magic leveled up. That's neat."
Viree smirked, "Aren't all your magic levels almost legendary now?"
I rolled my eyes, "More or less, the important thing is I received an overall level up. Those are getting harder to achieve. I'm at level 134, training skills is becoming harder and harder. I've been reduced to practicing lockpicking. FUCKING LOCKPICKING! You can break chests open, you have no need for such a skill."
Viree laughed, but she paused. "Hey, Meridia said the Daedric Prince Mephala was banished right? and she basically lost her realm due to you right? Won't she seek revenge?"
I sighed, "Yeah, that is gonna be a problem. Though ultimately not a huge problem. Mephala's influence was already incredibly... niche. Her blessings really only help very few and the moment they capitalize on her blessing they lose much of their societal positions. Many do worship her, however they are isolationists. So yes, she will likely plan something, but I honestly find the Aedra more threatening than Mephala."
Viree seemed to think about it. "I suppose so, she is still a divine being though."
I shook my head again, "Mephala placed most of her divine power into three things. Her realm which is a spidery heaven where she traps people. With her banished from her realm she lacks this prison of webs. Second her artifacts are all based around betraying and sacrificing people to empower them. The power infused into the weapons slowly are absorbed by her. However I reforged the Ebony blade which cut out a chunk of this power. As for the third, it has little effect on anyone other than her cultists. So about a fourth of Mephala's power is wrapped up or removed from her."
I paused and added, "If she attacked with her main body I would be worried. However she contacts people through whispers, which hinders her ability to really create a storm. The best way to put it is the daedric prince is limited by a funnel. If she exerts more than the funnel can handle she would be putting her own domain at stake."
Viree nodded, "Gotcha. As for the domain thing, how does that work?"
I rolled my head with some thought. "Some daedric artifacts are shared by daedric princes. Taking Mephala for example she shares the Ring Of Khajiit and the Threads of the Webspinner. If she lost either of these artifacts it wouldn't hurt her divinity. While certain other artifacts are infused with the domain or will of the owner. An interesting example of this is Barbas and Clavicus Vile."
Viree continued for me, "Barbas is Clavicus Vile, but Barbas is not at the same time."
I nodded, "They are separate entities that share a connection. My sword Sable Wave is the closest thing to being a domain artifact. The only problem is I lack anything like a domain. So I will need to work on that."
Viree nodded, "What about me?" A grin spread across her face, "Can I become part of your domain?"
Her grin turned mischievous and I took a step back coughing. "Let's, uh, set up camp. We need to wait out here for some time."