Seeing the way that she had begun to rise and draw Dragonbane at the same time, Ramauld twitched and spun in his seat to see what had drawn Viconia's attention. Unlike my own reaction of astonishment and instinctive fear, his reaction was one of welcoming as he regarded the enormous being in black walking into the central hall.

  "Ah, Sir Gaz'kern! You have returned?"

  Viconia's initial reaction and way she identified the being as a daedra was not entirely unfounded as the towering figure turned to face Sir Ramauld. He was truly enormous, clad in a pure ebony plate armour that was a dark as a moonless night. Unlike the other plate armours throughout the empire, this one was fluted and curved, each graceful line in sharp contrast to the bulky steel plate or the segmented cuirasses of the legions. It gave me the strange impression of the pleated clothing that I had seen on occasion during our brief stay in the Imperial City but for the moment I was struggling to comprehend the sheer size of the man wearing it.

  He was huge in a way that I had only seen orcs. In fact, he would have easily out muscled every single other being I had ever laid eyes on, including every legionary champion. Each arm under the armour plating was as thick as my thighs, hands large enough to grasp my entire face and even when I rose to my full height I didn't even reach his shoulders. The term gigantic wasn't enough to describe him, especially due to the fact that the armour alone would have weighed just as much as tournament plate and he moved about in it as though it was made of silk rather than ebony.

  "I have. The Mace remains elusive." He said simply, his voice a deep growl that seemed to vibrate my stomach. There was truly a daedric quality about him until he removed his helmet. Without it he was well over two metres tall, but the pair of winged horns jutting from the top of his full helm ensured that he stood at two and a half metres when fully dressed. "Unfortunately I must rely on your hospitality for a while longer."

  I knew my jaw was hanging open, as was Viconia's. The dark skinned Redguard wearing the suit of armour was too enormous to appear to be a mere mortal but the humanity in his features was undeniable. With the quickest of glances, I estimated that his plate armour alone was sixty to seventy kilograms, and the man himself was closer to two hundred. Even if fully dressed, I would have only just weighed half as much as he did and this fact was not lost to me as he crisply bowed to Sir Ramauld, pressed his fingers to his lips and turned and walked away with all the power of tectonic plates.

  "Well. That, was Sir Falid Gaz'Kern." Sir Ramauld said as he turned and regarded our expressions of astonishment.

  "Is he a titan, or was mother a giant?" Viconia stammered.

  "Nothing of the sort. At least nothing that he's admitted to." Ramauld replied in good humour. "He's from a tiny order of Knights dedicated to Talos near Rihad."

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "Didn't think that the Redguards were big on Talos worship." I replied, watching as the towering colossus of a man walked towards the stairs leading to the living quarters. There was a sword strapped to his spine that was as large as what he was; a greatsword as long as I was tall with a handguard the length of Sunchild's blade. Only with my vampiric nature would I have been able to wield such a weapon but I doubted that I would have had any skill with it.

  "They're not, but some of them seem to consider that Talos is merely a different face of their god of war or some such. It's so difficult to keep track of all these different gods and religions but Falid is certainly not one to cross."

  "Did he come for the Mace?"

  "Indeed. He and his Order are big on retrieving and protecting relics of the gods, the Nine included. There's not many of them from what I've heard but they are all supposed to be huge, powerful warriors."

  "He certainly looks like it." I replied as he vanished from sight.

  Turning back to Sir Ramauld, he was still grinning and I knew that he enjoyed witnessing everyone's reactions at seeing Sir Gaz'Kern for the first time. "But back to our previous discussion, the Order can certainly help you out. No one will be able to join until the Order of the Nine is made official again but we can certainty start on the restoration by sending builders and craftsmen to the old priory. You'll just have to show where it is exactly."

  "As for finances." Viconia added, unclasping one of the pouches of gemstones and money she had that we had agreed to use. "This should be sufficient in starting the repairs. We will have to travel to the bankers in Skingrad for any further amounts."

  Sir Ramauld caught the flung pouch in a meaty had and it was his turn for his eyes to widen at the sight of a king's ransom of jewels in the fist sized pouch. "Ysmir's breath, I didn't think you were quite this wealthy."

  "When you go diving into ancient ruins every second week you tend to accumulate wealth quickly." I replied simply.

  "Only if you make it out alive." Nodding, he closed the pouch and tucked it to his belt. "I can also assist with guides into Blackmarsh. There's an Argonian couple who live here in Leyawiin that the Order has used on occasion to guide us through the eastern portions of the county. They may have been born and raised here but they've spent more time in Blackmarsh and the area than many of the lizards who currently live in there."

  "Trustworthy?"

  "For the most part. Weebam-na is a bit of a scoundrel but he's loyal when you pay him well. I trust him and his mate enough to leave the lives of my knights in their claws when they are on long distance patrols, so you won't have any issues with them."

  "When can we meet them?"

  "Tomorrow I expect. I'll send for them in the morning and tonight at dinner you can make the announcements of the renewal of the Knights of the Nine and your quest to Blackmarsh. How soon are you planning on leaving?"

  "Within the next few days. We'll gather supplies and ensure that the farriers and hostlers have what they need to care for our horses. I doubt that where we are heading is any place for horses."

  "You are correct. If the fort isn't near any Imperial highways, then they are better off staying here. They will be looked after well in your absence." Looking between us both thoughtfully he nodded at his thoughts. "I will speak to the Count this afternoon in regards to your intentions and I should have some form of response by dinner. In the meantime, unless you have other business I suppose we better start making preparations."