Chapter 656: A New Sanctuary

A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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And so the Dark Brotherhood survived with more members than it was supposed to have. In the game, the worst-case scenario would only be Nazir and Babette surviving the massacre with Cicero being the third survivor in a best-case scenario.

Yet not only was it Babette, Nazir, and Cicero, but there were Festus Krex and Gabriella as well as Serana.

Jon even took the Black Door from Falkreath and stored it away before joining the rest of the members at the borders of Whiterun and Falkreath.

There, they dug a grave for both Astrid and Arnbjorn and laid their bodies with Nirn. As for Veezara, Jon looked for Nazir and instructed him…

“Take him to the Sleeping Tree Giants camp. There, you will find a unique tree known as the Sleeping Tree. It is a premature Hist Tree that somehow grew around there. It would be best to lay his body there. Once you’re done, come to the Nightgate Village on the road where Winterhold, Eastmarch, and the Pale meet.”

“Yes, Listener.” Nazir obeyed Jon and took a horse carrying Veezara on its back.

As for the rest, Jon teleported them to the Nightgate Village and found a location not too far from Wayward Pass that leads to Saarthal.

There, he found a fitting place and took out the Black Door before installing it in a location hidden from view.

It didn’t need much for the Black Door to install itself and fix a door frame around its location.

“How marvelous, Listener.” Festus Krex applauded Jon, “I have never known such a thing would ever be possible.”

“It is my first time seeing that as well.” Babette followed up.

Installing a Black Door.

Realistically, it wasn’t possible but Jon discovered that each Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary is a pocket dimension that was imported from the Void of Sithis.

The Void contains many realities, many possibilities, many forms of the future. It also contains fragments and clones of things that exist.

During his adventure to Hammerfell, Jon visited a place known as the Abyss which is a series of looping and repeating realities woven together by the Void. There, one can walk in a Nordic Crypt for example before finding himself in a Dwarven Ruin, a Goblin Cave, a Daedra Den, or an Undead Tomb in the next turn.

As for the Black Doors and the Sanctuaries, they would function the same. (A/n: my own Theory.)

Each Sanctuary comes from the Void by linking a Black Door to a suitable door frame. Most of the Black Doors were already placed in places that are impossible to construct anything behind.

For example, the Falkreath Sanctuary was built under a road with an interior that seemed very large on the inside compared to the space on the outside.

Another example is the Sanctuary of Dawnstar which is basically a building that was carved inside a mountain.

This doesn’t mean that a sanctuary is completely isolated behind a Black Door. There were recorded cases of breaking into a Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary without going through a Black Door. Such cases were like the case of the Troll in Dawnstar’s Sanctuary and accessing the Sanctuary through a well as it was in Cheydinhal.

All in all, a Black Door imports a space from the Void behind itself and integrates it into reality in order to create a hideout for the Assassins of the Brotherhood. That’s why a Black Door was technically impenetrable without a password since you would be banging and ramming against a piece of stone leaning on a mountain.

But the Black Door can receive damage and the inside space may collapse from that as well.

The thing that gave off the most obvious clue was the existence of a water current that formed a small waterfall inside the Sanctuary of Falkreath while in fact there was no active waterway around that area.

But now it was time to witness what this newly established sanctuary will offer.

Jon approached the Black Door and touched it. The eyes glowed with red aura and spoke.

“What is Life’s Greatest Sin?” The Black Door asked.

For such a question to pop up. A question about sins for the man who holds his sins in his hands.

Jon smiled and his smile kept growing wider.

“Audacity, my Brother.” Jon replied

“Welcome… home!” The Black Door replied and became unlocked.

Jon pushed it slowly and noticed a stairway leading down and a well-built brick corridor.

“Let’s go.” Jon said.

As he walked in and the remaining Assassins followed, they all arrived at a hall with many pillars and a basin that had a fountain. The whole thing was built with mountain stone and resembles the old Falkreath Sanctuary in terms of layout.

It seemed that the Black Door had a layout that was somewhat constant but the theme would change depending on the location it is planted in.

Right now, it has taken a style somewhat similar to that of Windhelm and Winterhold.

“Alright. I’ll give you a day to prepare and get this place running.” Jon said, “Cicero, I’ll leave some funds in your hand so go and make this place feel like home.”

“Oh, Listener! You’re giving Cicero money?” The Jester snatched the purse that Jon passed to him.

“Hmph! It’s only for food and furniture. If I find out that you wasted my money, you will suffer the Thousand Claws of Annihilation.” Jon said and Nefertiti extended her claws in front of Cicero.

“Of course!” Cicero waved his hands, “I was just thinking of buying something nice for our dear Mother.”

“Get on with it.” Jon said, “When Nazir gets back, he will handle the money and I will share the upcoming plan with you all. Rest for now.”

And like that, Jon established the new Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary outside the Nightgate Village just outside his doorstep in Winterhold. With that, he can start focusing on the plan to go on with the Emperor’s Assassination plan.

***

By the next day, all the Assassins were gathered in the Sanctuary and they grouped around Jon who sat at a large chair in front of a stone table.

“As it is the first time you work for me, I would love to clarify a few things.” Jon said, “I don’t care what you do so long you don’t break the Five Tenets.”

This was the first introduction Jon gave for the Assassins. Cicero, Nazir, Babette, Festus, and Gabriella. They never worked with him before so they had to understand him through this brief conversation.

The Five Tenets were simple just as follows:-

• Tenet I. Never dishonor the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet II. Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet III. Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a Dark Brotherhood superior. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet IV. Never steal the possessions of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

• Tenet V. Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

All in all, it was all about honoring the Night Mother, keeping the Brotherhood’s secrets, obeying superiors, not robbing, or not killing other Assassins.

Thinking of Astrid and her reasons to abolish those five vital rules, the Assassins present understood that they surely waned and became unworthy.

Jon then continued the introduction.

“My identity will be kept from all of you because I want to keep it that way.” He said, “My Speaker is and always has been Serana, a member of the Black Hand. So far, Serana will be the Speaker, Cicero will be the Keeper, and I am the Listener. The rest of you shall do the administrative affairs.”

“Nazir the Redguard.” Jon then called.

“Yes, Listener.” Nazir replied.

“You will be in charge of finance. I want you to keep bringing outside hits and contracts outside the normal Black Sacrament jobs. Also, you need to make sure that you don’t pick high profile targets and run the names with me once every month.” Jon said.

“Yes, sir.”

“Babette the Vampire.” Jon called.

“Yes…” She replied.

“I have heard you have a talent for working with unusual creatures. Spiders, Trolls, and such.” Jon said, “You will find an abundance of those things in the nearby caves. I want you to go and make some friends with the locals in this neighborhood.”

“Yes, Listener.”

“Festus the Mage and Gabriella the Alchemist.” Jon called.

“Yes.” “Yes, Listener.” The two replied.

“You two are obviously my seniors and out of respect, I won’t give you more than what you usually did in the past but I will call upon your expertise from time to time.”

“Thank you greatly, Listener.” Gabriella nodded.

“Yes, thank you, my Listener. At my age, it is hard to be overworked this way.” Festus said and glanced over to Babette.

“Hey!” Babette slammed her hand on the table, “You want to laze around, don’t you.” She then turned to Jon, “Listener, he is just lazy. I am his senior and he just wants to lay down and watch me work.”

“Haha! Listen to this little girl.” Festus chuckled while looking down on Babette.

“You two.” Nazir called in a stern time, “Show some respect. The Listener is not finished yet.”

They all immediately noticed the look on Jon’s face which was void of tolerance towards their actions. If he wants to, they would face some consequences they are not prepared for.

Currently, Jon was using the Chaos Infection to mask his identity by looking like a man with full black eyes and mystical black tattoos. His appearance was nightmare-inducing even for those old Assassins.

After all, they’re under new management.

“Cicero, you will keep the Sanctuary in top condition.” Jon said, continuing distributing the jobs.

“Oh! Thank you! Thank you greatly, Listener. Cicero, your loyal follower, will make sure not a speck of dust lingers in the sanctuary.” Cicero replied with over-excitement.

“As for you, Serana, you and I will head out to finish this Emperor contract… together.”

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A/n: 13 Early Access Chapters on P4treon and MORE! ➡️ https://linktr.ee/donovel ⬅️

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