Aries’ story begins along the far western coast of High Rock in the affluent city-state of Daggerfall. This begins her saga on a rather bleak note, though it is not clear on the surface, because indeed – the city’s luster and splendor knows no bounds. Fabulously wealthy and ripe with trade, even the impact of the Corsair Republic’s takeover of Wayrest, the seat of the Breton’s High King should such a day ever come again, is but an inconvenience to the economics of Daggerfall Castle. The comings and goings of grand merchant ships have stopped at the edge of the Iliac Bay and has perhaps even cemented this grand city’s monopoly on sea trade. One of the city’s major competitors were knocked off the global stage for a short time.
It's a peculiar and rather convenient consequence, one which many noble families tried to take advantage of.
One such noble family was that of the Machellas. The family tree bore the fruits of two faithful sons following in their father’s footsteps as soldiers, ready to take up the sword and live and die by the Empire, and a daughter, who was instead urged towards politics. Indeed, though, womanhood in the knightly orders were no rarity, a noblewoman’s preservation was of the utmost importance in the name of marriage alliances and keeping an heir who was
not eager to die upon another’s blade. The mother and father, Esther Machella and her husband Florentius, was one such marriage.
Esther of the Machella family was nobility. Her family possessed a disgusting amount of wealth and has been cozy in Castle Daggerfall’s court for as long as she could remember. Florentius Machella, originally a Vindicari, wasn’t born as nobility, but he was a high-ranking member of the Imperial Army and had friends and connections that led all the way to the advisors of Imperial government. The Machellas have been a family loyal to the Empire for a long time, using its influence and favor to its advantage, so it was no surprise that one of them eventually married an Imperial captain.
The family itself has produced a notably high number of daughters over the years, Esther herself had three sisters, one of which, Janelle, wedded into the Lariats of Shornhelm, and there was Belle who had a gay marriage with a Bridwell. Catherine was out making her own living through trade in Camlorn. Yet most of the Machellan women remained the determinators of their own lineage, and often led to the men being forced to change their names. As influential as they were, they rarely met with disagreement as simply wearing the name Machella guaranteed a successful and lazy future. At least, this
used to be the case until Esther’s father gambled half of their fortune away through a bad deal with the noble Motierre family. Half of what was left was spent on alcohol in his attempt to forget his failures before his wife, Esther’s senile mother, stabbed him to death. This meant that Esther had to step up to the plate and take control of the Machella family’s future. Even in her capable hands, they didn't have the same power and influence they once held.
When the time came for children of her own, first came the first-born son, Gabriel. An oddity to be certain, breaking the long-standing trend of first-born daughter. He was often the one most level headed and had the tendency to think ahead with remarkable insight and empathy for others, even if he could sometimes get carried away and become laxadacious in nature. That trait would not last long however, as a year later, Esther became pregnant again, and gave birth to her second-born son, Stefan. Now it was certain that whatever genes that Florentius had, it had provided the Machella family with sons that they had not seen in years. Stefan was much more serious than Gabriel, though more gullible. He didn’t have the same kind of critical thinking and skepticism that was prevalent in most Machellas, taking after his father in this regard. It was a foreboding trait, given the fate of his maternal grandfather. Last, but not least, came a daughter three years later. Florentius never knew his own mother, who perished in childbirth. He wanted to give their daughter an Imperial name after her grandmother: Aries.
Though she bore an Imperial name after her paternal grandmother, she was a Machella and was as much a Breton as any girl came. That is what Esther systematically drilled into her daughter’s head for years.
However, as the years passed and her daughter grew into her personality, it became clear that she was a little more spirited than she let on as a toddler. Entitled? Of course, like any child is and then some, considering her pampered upbringing. Aries found it suffocating. Familiarity bred resentment, and the lack of privacy and freedom afforded to her made her lash out in ways not before seen in her brothers, Gabriel and Stefan. Though truthfully, it was mostly directed at the maids and servants, for the busy political lives of her parents often kept them away from their homes until the end of the day -- busy playing and maneuvering through the game. When they arrived home, they would typically coddle the young girl and give her everything she asked for except for the freedom she wanted. However, the attitude she directed toward the servants and towards them was unbecoming of a lady and would not be tolerated for long.
The School of Julianos usually only took in those who were worth the investment. Distinguished mages or promising students were provided with an unrestricted learning experience unlike anything the rest of Tamriel could offer outside of the Crystal Tower in Summerset Isles or the Arcane University in Skyrim. However, you did not simply refuse a Machella when one arrived at your doorstep. It is difficult to say how swollen the coin purse may have been, but it was certainly enough to cinch an early and comprehensive education for the young Aries. It was a way to discipline the young lady and to keep her babysat, but here she wasn’t being coddled like at home, she was going to be taught. They couldn’t possibly start with magic, oh no, they’d have to start with arithmetic, language, and the sciences; the “general education requirements” so to speak, before they could even touch upon the subject of magic. However, the colorful, dramatic, and arcane displays of their magicka was enough to captivate the young noblewoman and the promises of how “one day, you could do it too” was enough to keep her rapt attention during her lessons.
Every now and then, her own parents made the time to attend her lessons and teach her what
they knew as well. Florentius shared what he could, mostly strategies and tactics, and taking Aries out for a few training sessions in dueling with a blade like he did with her brothers. He valued the ability to defend oneself, especially in the snake pit of Daggerfall, though this concern was lost on Aries who only saw this as a fun recreational time that she got to spend with her father. She spent countless hours with rapiers and sabers; swords that used her grace to her advantage instead of the brute strength she lacked. What her mother had to offer on the other hand was something she couldn't easily teach to her martial-minded sons: she was a master of speechcraft and a shrewd politician. She could aptly manipulate other people by using their ideas, preconceptions, and emotions to direct them down a path as she saw fit, while also remaining mindful of cultural influences and her own sex (and how that would impact others' perception of her). The subtleties, nuances, ironies, and paradoxes of some of her lessons were mind-boggling and well above her level at the time, but repetitive lessons eventually drove them home whether she liked it or not. One of her first lessons was that every lady must have her own secrets to keep.
By the time she began understanding the political intricacies at the tender age of fourteen, the school was already prepared to teach her magic. It was an incredible accomplishment to be certain, but it was born out of opportunity, and it was hardly an opportunity she deserved. Being bought the finest education at a young age and receiving such careful attention and special treatment, this process of streaming and differentiated experience eventually made her a legitimate prodigy. So, when they first began teaching her the fundamentals of magicka, she absorbed it like a sponge. This is what she had been waiting years for! This would be worth suffering through all her mother’s boring lectures! The Daggerfall sect of the School of Julianos was the premier branch for battlemages, so the best type of learning they could provide the young Aries was in Destruction. The other schools they could teach to a lesser degree; illusion, they thought, would be a reliable defense that would also come in handy in the political minefield that awaited her.
Unfortunately, her father wouldn’t live long enough to witness Aries cast her first spell.
On Sun’s Dusk 23 4E 193, returning home to the family estate, Aries was met with her mother sobbing over a draped coffin. No word was sent to her, so she was completely blindsided by the discovery of who exactly it was resting peacefully inside. The soldiers adorned in Imperial armor held their salute and stood as still as statues, patiently allowing the family as much time as they needed to grieve before the ceremonial preparations could be made. Esther was of little comfort to Aries, seemingly too swept up in her own grief to properly console her daughter. It was a night of seemingly endless weeping until the tears ran dry.
Aries did not have a proper way of coping with these feelings. This was the first time she ever had to deal with any kind of loss, and her first experience being one that was so overwhelming, she cut herself off. After a sleepless night of ceaseless crying until her eyes were dry and couldn’t cry anymore, she cut herself off in some form of forced dissociation so that she could do better to process and face her father’s death as logically as she could. She turned to her mother for answers. Why did this happen?
Her answers were brushed off for now, urging only that now was the time to study and to study
hard. Aries, now angered, refused. How was she to focus on her studies now, immediately after her father’s unexplained death? Her intense line of questioning aimed at her mother caused Esther to give in. She said it was the fault of the Motierre clan. Florentius was not careful enough in navigating through the politics in High Rock and this is what it got him. This was why she wanted Aries to study more, to study harder. Aries thought this meant that her mother wanted her to be safe and sound, protected from the cutthroat politics of the city, but all she could think about was revenge.
So, the young noblewoman hit the books with a fervor not before seen. Her education, Aries felt, was now more a tool of survival and self-defense than anything else. If she were to compete on the same level, on the same political stage as the Motierres and the other nobles. She had to think ahead of them, outmaneuver them, do whatever she could to have an edge over her opponents. Her mother constantly reminded her that with the Montierre clan’s decisive power looming over the other castes in Daggerfall, literally anybody could have been paid to eliminate competing houses or find ways to reduce their power and influence, and if the time ever comes that Aries just so happened to slip up, she had to be prepared to defend herself. So, they both looked to her instructors to teach her all they could of the Destruction school and then some.
She was not a self-made prodigy; perhaps money had done much of the legwork for her, but there was no doubt that it was her own drive that made the most of all the opportunities before her and made her a prodigy nonetheless. She became a capable mage in record time; fire and lightning could flow interchangeably between her fingertips Illusion spells also became a part of her repertoire thanks to the defensive utility they provided, and a few lessons in the school of Conjuration promised her a worthy defense if she suddenly needed a weapon, which she supplemented with further swordsmanship training through her brothers. They were difficult to use at first, but quickly learned that the weightlessness of a bound sword complemented her swift and precise style. In addition, the multiple lessons from her mother meant that her education was finally sufficient enough at this point that she could begin gaining practical experience in Daggerfall politics at the meager age of seventeen.
There was one more important lesson she received in politics before she entered the fray as Esther dolled her up in a beautiful dress and laced up her bodice: “politics is as much about making the peasantry happy as it is about maintaining your power among the other nobles.” Peasants are ubiquitous; if you ignore the peasantry, you’ll be worrying about them more than the other nobles. If you have them on your side, then you don’t have to worry about them being used as a weapon against you. A people-first campaign was the best way to ensure your own safety and undermine your opponents who had no problem with taking advantage of them. The lesson wasn’t about being nice to those who were less fortunate, but about taking advantage of the different social structures in place and using socioeconomic status as a leveraging tool. It was the synthesis of two fundamentally differing ideologies.
One of Aries’ first experiences in the public eye as a full-fledged lady occured when she attended court with her mother. There she saw the lords and ladies of the other houses, including the Motierres. She watched her mother meander through the court, setting an example to Aries as she approached the other nobles to engage in conversation. As she did so, Esther told Aries to find out everyone’s names and remember their faces. They certainly wouldn’t forget her’s.
Lorelei Motierre. Eleanor Julliard. Marquis Tariat. Bellamy Bridwell. Mirabelle Tarys. Laurent Bellamont. Gale Wickerman -- these lords and ladies and plenty more were scattered across the court, and by day’s end, she seared their names and faces into her mind. She personally met King Guilliot in a brief introduction and was quickly drowned out by the sea of sycophants, but it was a productive day. She got her foot in the door, and now she just had to make her entrance. The following year was spent essentially shadowing her mother. It was one thing to learn what it was like to be a lady and another thing entirely to be practicing it and watching all the other masters at work, but she was able to pick up on it quickly. More disturbingly, she was perturbed by the number of gross old men who couldn’t keep their lecherous eyes off of her, but her mother convinced her to tolerate them for now. Being born a woman by coincidence meant she had the opportunity to use it to her advantage. So she would pretend to be at least slightly interested in these men, give them what they want; the idea that a future with her could even be remotely possible. It wasn’t.
Within the next year, the Hawkfords, an aristocratic family, invited the noble families of Daggerfall to a ball being hosted at their own estate. They themselves weren't nobles and it was for that reason that Aries could see through the charade -- it was a ploy to cozy up to the people who
had power, but Esther was able to convince her to attend anyway. It was as much an opportunity for her as much as it was for the Hawkfords, and her argument was supported by the number of rumors of who would be attending the ball. Among them was the young lord, Fontaine Motierre. Aries then realized that this ball would be her ticket into undermining the Motierres.
Arriving at the ball in an elaborate gown, it was clear that she wasn't the only one with her sights set on Fontaine. Aries was of the mind that it was her family’s tumultuous history with the Motierres that would lure him in to her over the others. It would be a great success for the Motierres if they could quell the bad blood between the two houses and take the Machellas off of their list of enemies. It would be one less angle from which to expect a stab in the back. It was perhaps for this reason that Fontaine was receptive to Aries’ approach and blew off the young Hawkford girl.
“A father’s wealth doth not a lady make,” she remembered him saying. So instead he danced with Aries. Though Fontaine led the dance, Aries led the conversation by leading it away from her personal life. She didn’t share much of it, only enough of her personal feelings to allude that there was perhaps little to glean from the Machella family or that she knew too little of her own family’s affairs to take advantage of. She played her deception well, but Fontaine on the other hand seemed quite proud of his heritage and had little to no problem bragging about how far the influence of his family’s name reached, how significant the power they held truly was. He was trying to impress her, of course, but he also clued her in on the ripples she could make if she played her hand right. He told her that a Motierre was on the Elder Council. Their family also acted out of Chorral in Cyrodiil. How else could their family wield so much power?
She left the ball that night with Fontained wrapped around her finger. He asked for her hand in marriage, to unite their houses and to invite Aries into the most powerful family in High Rock, perhaps in all of Tamriel. She made no promises, though she entertained him with the idea of an Aries Motierre, the first ever Machella woman to change her name. Fontaine thanked her for the dance, and she thanked him too, and they went their separate ways for the night. The young Motierre thought he had her hook, line, and sinker, but Aries didn’t tell him that she really thanked him for the inspiration. It was thanks to Fontaine that she now had a new plan: she wasn’t just going to undermine and destroy their house, she planned on
ascending. To meet them on the same level if not utterly surpass them. If a scumbag Motierre could reach the Elder Council, then why not her?
That’s what she prepared herself for in the following four years.
It wasn’t enough to be conversant in the politics of Daggerfall and High Rock. She had to immerse herself in Imperial politics as well, study Imperial history and Imperial law, as well as the relationship between the Empire and the Bretons of High Rock spanning as far back as the First Era when St. Alessia became known as the Slave Queen. The politics between the Empire and the other provinces; becoming conversant in the politics of all the major power was crucial. It was also in the time that she became a frequent visitor of the Motierre estate. Her relationship with Fontaine looked to be a budding one, but she was careful to play it slow, being ever mindful of her endgame.
Speaking of her mother, all that Aries had done in the four years following the Hawkford ball did not just comprise of study and warming up to the Motierres. She was not wed to Fontaine and therefore did not owe them her allegiance, but their acquaintanceship seemed to have created a sort of tentative bond between the houses that promised a shaky political alliance. Not wanting to jeopardize the potential rewards it would yield, it allowed the Machellas to become more active without the threat of the Motierres quashing their efforts looming over them. Esther and Aries were able to cash in on their family’s investments and Aries’ brothers, Gabriel and Stefan, acted as a sort of muscle or enforcement for the family.
They were trained soldiers, which provided them connections to the Daggerfall army and the authorization to oversee safe transport of trading goods within their family’s interest. They didn’t study politics like Aries did, but Gabriel was at least savvy enough to spread some influence among their ranks. With this connection, Aries suggested that they leaned into their supportive stance for the throne, its military, and the Empire as a path back to power. Whatever skepticism her mother might’ve had for her daughter’s plan was quelled when she brought up the Motierres again. Any action they made against them at that point was unlikely; they already arranged a sort of cease-fire, and any action in undermining them may very well be acting against the interest of the Empire and of Daggerfall, provided the Machellas got far enough.
Her strategy came in the form of redirecting investments into mines, quarries, blacksmiths, and lumber mills. Not only did this support the local businesses in the region, but also given the Empire’s fragile state after the Great War with the Dominion, the best way to make quick friends with a weak Empire is to support the recovery efforts of their infrastructure. Investing in stocks and reselling them to the Empire at a discount price only turned out a marginal profit, so the other half would be sold to kingdom of Daggerfall itself. Eventually however, their support for the local business allowed those businesses to grow and increase production. With increased production meant a greater share for the Machellas, and with a greater share to sell to the Empire, the Imperials began sending their own ships to retrieve the building materials in bulk, which took the cost of shipping off her family’s shoulders. Later in the third year, the Empire wished to renegotiate their trade deal with the Machellas.
The deal entailed less gold in exchange for the resources, but they offered shipments of Skingrad wine in exchange with the bonus of being sold at a slightly lower cost in hopes of her family’s continued support and lasting relationship with the Empire. Aries, knowing that her mother detested gambling, knew she would never accept the offer. So she accepted the offerwithout informing Esther and, through a few of the family’s retainers, sold the wine to Castle Daggerfall and to taverns throughout the city and even to neighboring cities. Although it was a gamble, the family’s income had never been higher, prompting Esther to question her daughter after the numbers in her ledger weren’t adding up which ended up in a massive, heated argument. Still, since Aries’ actions had reaped their intended benefits, there was never any real resolution to their argument.
The year Aries turned twenty-two years old, Skyrim’s High King Torygg was killed by Ulfric Stormcloak, breathing new life into their civil war. This barely affected Daggerfall in a significant way, but Aries knew that it wouldn’t be long before the city would feel the strain of a weakening Empire. They’d have to divide their resources to handle the situation in the North, meaning that their current trade agreement could be strained. The tension between her and her mother had been slowly but steadily rising ever since their first argument as Aries had been making decisions of her own accord, so with that still fresh on her mind, she took a moment to swallow her pride and confront her mother with her new idea. She knew that there might be repercussions of significant enough impact to warrant discussing them with the matriarch.
In order to anticipate the Empire’s strain, Aries pitched the idea of preemptively modifying their trade agreement with the Imperials and organizing support within Daggerfall for the Imperial army in Skyrim, campaigning on behalf of the Empire. Especially with news of a cave-in blocking one of their only routes to Skyrim, auxiliary forces from the West would be a boon that they couldn’t refuse, and hopefully, the payoff would mean less long-term profit loss from their trade agreement and the increased support of a grateful Empire. Earning a little less now was better than losing the entire deal later or being undercut by a much more significant margin. Though Esther was hesitant, she was grateful for her daughter’s disclosure, and tentatively agreed to her suggestion.
Only, Aries didn’t disclose everything. She didn’t disclose the fact that she had been talking with the Motierres about them taking a similar course of action. She hid just enough of her family’s finances from them that she put them under the impression that the Machellas couldn’t perform this maneuver on their own, and if they did so anyways, a less powerful family was doing more to aid the Empire than the most powerful noble family in Daggerfall who also had an Elder Council member among them. What would that look like? And why on earth would Aries want to marry into a family that didn’t support their own? Not only did she preemptively negotiate a better deal with the Empire and began organizing support for Imperial troops, she manipulated the Motierres into funding her campaign efforts. Most of the Daggerfall public didn’t seem to care much for the conflict or felt like they had a stake in the war to the East, but some loyalists or those desperate for a wage signed up and slowly, troops were being sent eastward towards Solitude.
Barely even a year later, while Aries was attending a banquet at the Motierre estate and buttering up the lords, ladies, and their sons, one of their personal couriers had delivered a newspaper. Its headline was emblazoned across the front: “EMPEROR TITUS MEDE II, MURDERED!”
Amidst a room of startled gasps and crocodile tears (for she thought she knew that none of them cared for anything outside of themselves), she excused herself from the Motierres’ table, returned home, and began organizing movements to be made to send gifts of condolences to the Mede family.
It wouldn’t be long after the death of the Emperor when the civil war in Skyrim reached its end. General Tullius brought the fight to the gates of Windhelm with the aid of the Dragonborn, but it left an Empire in a fragile state with a weakened province and depleted resources at their disposal. The war had left the land in dismay, infrastructure destroyed, and lives shattered and displaced. After a brief affair of correspondence between herself and some Imperial financers deep in Cyrodiil, Aries sought out her mother to discuss one of her biggest gambles yet: she planned on visiting Skyrim personally, stationing herself in Solitude, and using her own personal funds to aid in the reconstruction of a bridge and a roadway to reconnect Skyrim to High Rock and Skyrim to Cyrodiil. Her mother immediately refused.
If Aries didn’t keep a presence in Daggerfall, Esther argued, her influence would weaken, and her name would mean nothing. On the other hand, Aries argued that a Machella personally had to be there to serve as emissary and to discuss and sign a deal. Showing investment was the best way to catch the attention of the Empire. Her mother was exasperated with her and didn’t understand why she had such a fixation on a weak Empire that barely did anything for them in return. Only then it was revealed to her why Aries was trying so hard to appease them – the Motierres. Aries admitted that she knew Amaund Motierre was an Elder Council member and hoped to show that a Machella could reach the same level as well, but to do that, she felt like she had to take advantage of the Motierres and play the game better than they could just to get there. Only then did Esther finally understand what was driving her, and she admired her daughter’s ambition.
She gave her daughter some crucial advice: stay home. True, it would be helpful to be there personally, but it would be harder to manipulate the Motierres if she was gone for as long as it took to oversee the reparations of Skyrim’s infrastructure. Furthermore, if she spent all that time trying to fix another country, her status back home in Daggerfall would plummet. She should visit, yes, but only for as long as it took to sign her name on a deal. As soon as that was done, Aries’ brothers could move in to represent their presence. There was plenty of dirt to be found on the Motierres, Aries just had to dig deeper to find it. Simple dinner parties weren’t going to cut it.
So that is what happened: Aries organized a trip to visit Solitude in a horse drawn carriage and a small caravan of horses. She was being escorted personally by Gabriel and Stefan, the two who would be the most reliable means of defense. Along the journey was filled with awkward chit-chats which eventually broke down into humored and long-winded conversations. It had been some time since she had been able to talk to her brothers on a personal level. The few times they were actually home, Aries had so often been either studying or in the middle of her own work, playing the stuffy political game, that it had probably been years since they interacted like real siblings. For a while, her brothers had thought their baby sister had gone all stuffy on them, but after a day or two of travelling on the road, they had managed to find each other once again and all her plots and worries had temporarily ceased to be. Though admittedly there wasn’t much talk about the good old days since they were far and few between, but some of the attending retainers were caught quite off guard by the laughter and laid-back display Aries was openly displaying in her brothers’ company. It was quite nice to have her first vacation in a very long time; she didn’t have to hide herself here.
They were also caught off guard by a sudden bandit ambush a few miles past Camlorn, and perhaps equally as much when Aries proved herself capable of defending herself by setting fire to the trees in which their archers were hiding. A sudden, eruptive display of blinding flame was enough to breed fear in those remaining who weren’t immediately charred to a crisp and cause them to flee. It was the first time she had used her magic for self-defense, and for some reason, she always thought that her first time would’ve left her jarred and shocked. It didn’t. Yes, the adrenaline pumping through her comprised the fine tuning of her control, she used a bit more fire than she needed, but she didn’t feel remorseful about what she did. She didn’t feel haunted, she just did what was necessary. The amount of foliage burning hid the smell of burning flesh, and as she assessed the aftermath with a curious passiveness, her brothers looked at her as though a dragon had just swooped down. Partially, they felt useless, but mostly they felt a little intimidated and even a little disturbed. They knew she had studied magic, but not to such a degree. Neither did they know that their baby sister could be so ruthless.
Aries seemed eager to return to business as usual, but her brothers seemed to step more carefully around her from that point onward. It wouldn’t last, however, as eventually her caravan passed through the rest of High Rock and crossed the Skyrim border, rested her horses at the local Smallwood Stables, and met with Imperial officials at Castle Dour. The deal was quickly agreed upon, as it was weighed heavily in the Imperials favor, but organizing the logistics of the deal took hours and Aries wanted to make sure that every step of the plan was precisely calculated before she signed her name on any parchment. Once they figured out approximately how many stone bricks would be needed by number per few meters of road, where the road was going to be laid, it’s approximated mileage, and the schematics of the bridge, Aries didn’t have any qualms with signing her name on the dotted line. After spending a day or two to rest, she embarked on her return journey to High Rock with her brothers. After a long and tiring journey, her brothers would stay for a short while to rest before taking the journey once more, and that time they would stay until the project was complete.
In the meantime, however, Aries would be hard at work in her infiltration of House Motierre. If she wanted dirt, then she’d have to go deeper. Become more involved. She attended all the dances with Fontaine, slimy a man though he may be, spoke publicly in favor of their House, and for years, do whatever else she could do to get in their good graces. She found that Amaund had joined the Elder Council almost thirteen years ago, but beyond that, very little. They were a careful sort. They were so good at keeping secrets that there was no wonder they’ve reached the heights they have. She must’ve spent a couple years of fraternizing with the Motierres, for her brothers had finally returned home following the completion of the rebuilt road and bridge in Skyrim, with an official written recognition of House Machella by the Elder Council. In addition, her brothers Gabriel and Stefan were formally inducted into the Knights of the Dragon by King Guilliot in acknowledgement of their faithful service and ability – though it had more to do with their status, than anything. Regardless, it was a momentous occasion and the ceremony was wonderful, but the Council’s recognition meant little if she couldn’t achieve her objective in Daggerfall.
The only thing that Aries could do to punch a hole through the Motierres’ defense was to reopen the discussion of marriage. The Motierres weren’t in the same position as many other families though, the groom this time would have no need to change his name. So, when Aries broke tradition by suggesting the possibility of changing her own surname, that was something of an achievement that the Motierres didn’t want to pass up. Petty and relatively insignificant it may be, but House Machella was one of the long-time contesters to their power and having one of their daughters – one who was intelligent and powerful – join their family, it cemented their position in Daggerfall society. It
would cement their position.
It left them open is what it did. Made them soft.
Complacent. They were overconfident in thinking that they had her in the bag already, were planning the largest and most extravagant wedding that Daggerfall had never seen, and for some reason that made them think that it was time to treat her like she was family. Honestly, who thought it was okay to let their fiancée in on their family’s financial affairs? To help in their budgeting and financial planning? To be fair to them, she was quite good at it, and for a couple months, Aries helped them streamline their process and provided insight on big financial gambles… but it also gave her direct access to their ledgers. There were a few nights where she felt she could comfortably slip out of bed and wander through their lengthy, empty hallways and find the Motierre ledger in their office. Some nights she spent staying up studying the ledger. Where did they get their money? What did they spend it on?
She noted the additions and subtractions, the totals – and then she double-checked her work. Triple checked. Something wasn’t adding up. There weren’t nearly enough deposits to meet their total sum. Invisible money was being added from somewhere, they were laundering money from
somewhere and it wasn’t being listed in this ledger. With a spare parchment from the desk, she grabbed a quill and began working backwards to find the value of the missing variables. It was like she was back in school practicing arithmetic all over again. She found that the first value was at least eight hundred septims, but then the next missing value was different. She found that the missing values weren’t consistent, the invisible numbers were constantly changing. She figured it was probably in the event of being found, someone couldn’t just plug one number in and multiply it by the number of invisible deposits. The only question now was where the gold is coming from. She went as far back in the dates as she could to see if she could find when they first started receiving this gold; 4E192 – almost thirteen years ago, around the same time Amaund joined the Elder Council.
The Motierres have been siphoning money from the Empire for over a dozen years now, no wonder they were so well off. She finally found the dirt she was looking for! It was so strange, she thought as she took a moment to reflect, that the Motierres found their fortune around the same time the Machellas fell into their rut. Not long before her dad…
Her dad!
He was the reason why she set out on this crusade in the first place. How did
he factor into everything? She was told for the first time so many years ago that the Motierres were responsible for his death, reminded so often since then, yet she still ended up losing sight of her purpose in the shadow of her ambitions. She looked through the ledger again, scanning for the day her father died a year later. The date itself didn’t have any transactions listed on it, but the surrounding dates did see the handling of large sums of gold with generic descriptions of the transactions like “human resources”, which seemed out of place amidst the specificity of the other records within the ledger.
Guided by candlelight, she scoured the office looking for where they kept their history of correspondence until she found a wooden cabinet with stacks upon stacks of folded letters. They were organized by date. She looked as far back as she could – it was about midnight by this point – found old letters, likely kept as proof of business and transactions between parties, but all the letters she could find on or surrounding the date of her father’s death had nothing to do with her family. Curiously, there was few to no correspondence at all from Amaund Motierre. She looked back even further, her eyes glazing over the dozens of tax papers, only mildly intrigued by the personal communications between the Motierres and other parties, until finally she found mention of a Machella in one letter sent by a Bellemont.
“Frostfall 29, 4E 193
Dearest Roswell,
You will be pleased to know that you are found in likeminded company. You have my most gracious sympathies upon my learning of the dishonor visited upon you and your prestigious family. The loss of Wayrest is a very real and mutual tragedy, and it would be utterly abhorrent – unthinkable, immoral even – to take advantage of such grief to gain the upper hand in a shallow political game.
I, too, have unfortunately come to conclusion of finding the conduct of Florentius Machella in poor taste, but an Imperial is as an Imperial does; following the orders barked at them by those above their stations, his intrusions are most assuredly directed by the machinations of Lady Esther Machella; his wife. I tried to advise against her dealings, but you know how Machella women are.
As Florentius is an Imperial captain of the Emperor’s army, I know him as a matter of fact to be of the honorable sort and a newcomer to Daggerfall’s political arena and that perhaps he was not made aware of the rippling effects of the path his wife had set him on, but speaking of facts, one still remains that a diplomatic confrontation is not advisable in your unique situation and neither is allowing him to continue his current trajectory.
We will remain in contact and I lend you my best wishes in hopes of a satisfying closure to your predicament.
Sincerely,
L. Bellemont”
Looking back through time and seeing the mention of her parents was a haunting feeling. Yet she knew that wasn’t likely to find the evidence she needed here; any correspondence implicating them of wrongdoing would’ve been burned. It was still a promising sign, and even through the early hours, she continued skimming through pointless mail received through the surrounding dates, no longer looking for mention of her family’s names. At this point, she was just looking for anything that could give her a hint. It must’ve been another hour of searching until she came across an odd letter will very little written on it and with very plain, stylized handwriting.
“Mr. R,
The highest offer the noblewoman’s man would give us was 1,500. Congratulations sir, you have yourself a new business partner.
Now it would seem that our mutual headache is overreaching – I might just accept their offer for the free pocket change and mail off the diamond a week after you drop off your promised 5,000.
I have to admit I feel a little bad*, but let this be a lesson to them about being cheap with their money. You get what you pay for.
*Just kidding. I don’t.
– K ♥ ”
The letter wasn’t dated, but it was located between letters written on Sun’s Dusk 6, 4E 193 and Sun’s Dusk and Sun’s Dusk 10, 4E 193. It would’ve been written somewhere between those times, from the seventh to the ninth. It was a long shot, but the mention of “a noblewoman’s man” raised red flags in her mind… and there was no way anyone would spend five thousand septims on a diamond unless the diamond mentioned was a codeword for something. She cross referenced the ledger – Sun’s Dusk 13, 4E 193, 5,000 septims were withdrawn. Three days later, there was another invisible deposit equal to 5,000. A week later would’ve been Sun’s Dusk 20, 4E 193. Her father died three days later that year.
On hand, she felt like she was so close to the truth, but on the other hand, it could’ve been coincidence. It wasn’t like it was mailed the same day or anything. She sighed and returned to the pile of letters. Perhaps she could skim through and look for more letters from whoever this “K” person was. Flipping through a few more, she found another barren letter.
“Mr. R,
Everything is stable in Wayrest.
– K”
Wayrest? But Wayrest was under control of the Corsairs at the time and three days away—
Oh Gods.
It took everything from Aries to keep herself from burning down the Motierre manor. For second, she had a fireball in her hand that was ready to bring the building down, but she controlled herself. She extinguished the flame and instead gathered the letters together and took with her the entire Motierre ledger. She was racing against time now, as it was a matter of when they would notice its and her disappearance. She dashed through the streets of Daggerfall barefoot and in a silken nightgown, tightly clutching a large book and several papers to her chest towards the Machella home. There was something she needed to check on before informing her mother. Much like the Motierres, her mother also kept a long stack of correspondence in her private office. She’s been in the room many times, and she studied her family’s history, but she never thought to investigate it. From the sounds of that “K” person, they were also in correspondence with her mother at the time. So was an L. Bellamont. She had to make sure.
It was easy enough to find. Her family didn’t receive nearly as much correspondence, and she already knew what date range to look for.
“Ms. E,
Your husband’s generous 1,500 offer is greatly appreciated.
You should receive a present very shortly.
– K”
“Frostwall 25, 4E 193
Dearest Esther,
Your strategy is ambitious, and I can appreciate what you are trying to do, but I feel that I must advise you that the Corsair Republic cannot be trusted. Just because they call themselves a Republic and pretend to suppose the mantle of governor does not make them a sovereign country; Wayrest is a nation held hostage by pirates. Indeed, though that may make them willing to do the work you would hire them to do, that does not make them willing to behold themselves to their word. Their only loyalty is to money. They will stab you in the back.
That said, if you insist on this venture, then perhaps you would think against sending Florentius in your stead. He may be capable and Imperial, but he is not Breton – he does not know how to dance the political ballad like we do. I fear you may be risking too much for what you will be getting in return.
As always, with love,
L. Bellamont”
It only took a minute for Aries, with her arms full of papers and books, to march towards her mother’s bed chamber, toss the ledger and letters at the foot of her bed, and abruptly light a wall sconce with the fire of her destruction magic. She confronted her and demanded to know the full truth of her father’s death, and it wasn’t long before the footsteps of her brothers came rampaging through the house, only to arrive in the room brandishing their swords with confounded expressions on their faces as they saw Aries fuming at their mother. She demanded again, in front of her brothers, the full truth of their father’s death… so they got it.
Esther had a plan to use the Corsairs to raid rivaling trade vessels – namely, the Motierres. If she could take them out of the picture, the Machella family would practically be second to only the King of Daggerfall himself. She felt responsible for staying home in Daggerfall to manage business as usual and behooved Aries’ father to go in her stead. She supposed that he didn’t know how to properly manipulate the situation, but the Corsairs backstabbed her metaphorically and Florentius literally, as well as stealing the money they originally offered them.
Aries revealed that Esther wasn’t just backstabbed, but outmaneuvered, and revealed to her the evidence she found in the Motierres’ estate. This didn’t mean she forgave her mother, though. Aries was furious, but she found herself in a rather unique predicament. She had the power in her hands to send her mother to the dungeon for a very long time, and the only reason why the Motierres didn’t do it themselves is because they were hopelessly tied to the situation and would’ve incriminated themselves in the process as well. However, she also had proof in her hands that the Motierres’ were not only responsible for the murder of her father as well as captain of the Imperial army, they paid for it using the money that they were stealing from the Empire. She didn’t even need her mother’s letters to incriminate them. They were just bonuses.
So Aries gave her mother an ultimatum: step down as matriarch of House Machella and make her the inheritor of the title, passing down all deeds and right to her, or to be imprisoned in the Daggerfall dungeon, making Aries the matriarch anyways. This was her punishment for being partially responsible for the death of her father and being stupid enough to leave a paper trail of evidence behind her. Though there was a hint of disappointment in Esther’s eyes, and a lifetime of guilt, she looked upon her daughter with a proud smile. Though she wished to have been succeeded in a more dignified way, her daughter outplayed her, and she wouldn’t have any reason to worry about her career as a politician in her retirement. She agreed to Aries’ demands.
The room went quiet for a few moments and the air was still. Esther looked at the old Motierre letters and looked at Aries expectantly, who nodded in understanding and then told her brothers to find Laurent Bellemont and kill him. The snake knew far too much about House Machella’s dirty laundry. Though there was hesitation from her brothers, everyone eventually concluded that their family would be torn apart again if they didn’t do what they could to preserve it.
In the meantime, Aries knew exactly where she was going next. Though she had a long night of little to no sleep, it was nearly sunrise when she personally marched into Castle Daggerfall and demanded one of the palace guard to see the captain immediately, as well as alerting the steward, on grounds of conspiracy. Upon their summoning, they were directed to a private room, and though they were sleepy, they were quickly awakened by the news Aries shared. Cross referencing the history of written correspondence with the ledger and the date of Captain Florentius Machella’s death strongly suggested a link to the Motierres. Also, with the help of the captain and the steward, tearing pages out of the ledger and dividing up thirteen years of money laundering since the induction of Amaund Motierre into the Elder Council, the total average of money estimated to have been stolen from the Empire was 127,660 septims, five thousand of which was spent to kill one of the Empire’s own high-ranking officials. If the steward was drinking coffee, he would’ve spit it back out.
Though it would be challenging to pin the murder on the Motierres thanks to their ability to play the system, it would be incriminating enough to get the public to turn on them and there was no possible way they could weasel their way out of the laundering and corruption charges. Perhaps on another day they could’ve bought their innocence through bribery, but the conspiracy was far too big to risk their own heads when the Elder Council launches their own investigation into the issue. When the patriarch of House Motierre, Roswell Motierre, was summoned to the court of Castle Daggerfall by King Guilliot, he was accompanied by his son, Fontaine, and his wife. Though the proceedings resulted in no one being tossed in a dungeon cell and their noble status remained (likely through what remaining influence they had), the fines were exorbitant and steep, and many of their titles and holdings were seized as punishment. Though there was not enough evidence available to hold them accountable for the murder of Imperial Captain Florentius Machella without Esther’s own correspondence, the heavy implication of their involvement was enough to damage their public perception. They couldn’t drag Esther down with them without damning themselves, either.
Aries and Esther Machella both demanded for them to seek out and interview Laurent Bellemont as a witness and confirm their involvement in Florentius’ death. Laurent was found dead in his home. Too little evidence was left behind in the wee hours of the morning to trace who had done the deed, and though there was no evidence that the Motierres did it, they seemed to conveniently benefit the most out of his death. There was one murder implication stacked upon another. The Motierres cried out for justice, accusing House Machella of foul play and conspiracy, but they had no ground to stand on and no evidence to prosecute them with. Then Fontaine Motierre came forward, hurt and betrayed. In his rage, he invoked his right to a duel in the defense of his and his family’s honor, and challenged his ex-fiancee: Aries. Under the eyes of the Divines themselves, it would be in the hands of fate who would be deemed innocent.
Gabriel and Stefan both jumped to offer themselves as her champion, but she turned them down. Though warned that the Motierres may have likely poisoned their blades, she insisted. She knew Fontaine well, so she knew that he did not have very many hours of practice with a blade. In addition, she also knew that his mind would be clouded by revenge while her’s was steel cold. After finally putting her years of swordsmanship practice to practical use, her duel was over in seconds. She publicly embarrassed Fontaine in front of King Guilliot himself and the Motierres were found guilty on counts of fraud.
Many of the trade agreements the Motierres had were revoked by their business partners to severe their association with the family. The king seized some of their holdings and their trading vessels. This left open many opportunities for not just the Machellas to take advantage of, but other houses too, inadvertently rebalancing the power of the noble houses in the kingdom. Claiming their property, the city-state itself would find itself prospering a little more. The invisible money income dried up, ending the siphoning of gold from the Empire, which over time, will be reimbursed what was stolen. Only a few days later, a newspaper spread around Daggerfall; Elder Counsel member Amaund Motierre was forced to denounce the actions of his own family and issued a public expression of gratitude to House Machella for their faithful loyalty to the Empire and their pursuit of justice.
It was an enormous victory for House Machella after a long twelve years, but now it was more important than ever to remain diligent. The Motierres were backstabbed and lost an immense amount because of Aries, so they were going to be gunning for them in the future. They gave a lot of money to Castle Daggerfall to buy their protection and between the money, the influence that her brothers have been spreading among the ranks, their status as Knights of the Dragon, and the years of support that House Machella has shown the guard, they were assuredly all but in their pockets.
They could afford such an expense because the trade and holdings the Motierres once had were up for grabs, and the money being returned to the Empire meant that they were able to afford fairer trade agreements and the rebuilt roads through Skyrim gave them better access to their resources. House Machella was seeing an economic surge.
Though protected, Aries’ mind seemed to fall back on the Motierres quite frequently as the months passed. They were without a doubt trying to plan something and they had to stay ahead of the curve. The reason the Motierres lost everything is because they became complacent. The Machellas had to work to keep them from trying to regain too much power. On that same note, the other houses were steadily gaining power too. What Aries would probably do, if she was in their situation, is to recover their reputation and try to use the surrounding houses to quickly elevate themselves by association. If she did that first, it would rob the Motierres of that opportunity, as well as giving her own house enough influence to be virtually untouchable… and she had two dashing older brothers to do it with.
It took as little as a couple weeks to organize a proper dinner with the Julliards and the Wickermans. She had already spoken to her brothers about the importance of being wed – their duties and responsibilities has already stolen away so much time from them, they deserved a bit of happiness, yes? From women of Houses deserving of them, of course, not from some common tart. She was forthcoming with her brothers that yes, her intentions are politically motivated, but her reasoning for them to be personally invested wasn’t flawed. She personally knew the daughters of the other houses, and she guaranteed that they would be happy. She wouldn’t dare give her brothers anything less.
So they had their dinner and her brothers met the families and talked to their daughters. Gabriel hit it off with Chey Julliard and Stefan with Matilda Wickerman. Aries talked to their fathers – she expressed her wish to support them and, in turn, be supported by them. Their daughters will lead happy and fulfilling lives with her brothers as their husbands. At first, they laughed at the idea of a sister arranging her own brothers’ marriages, as it was usually done by their parents, but there wasn’t any humor in the offer itself. Though the Machellas had been working hard for years to get where they were now, to the other houses, it looked as though they had cut down House Motierre in one fell swoop and suddenly became one of the richest houses in Daggerfall. Having the Machellas on their side would be highly beneficial. So, they agreed to her offer.
In as quick as a month, and in the span of a week, twice could wedding bells be heard from the chapel. Through marriage, Houses Julliard and Wickerman allied themselves with House Machella.
Aries was only the matriarch of her house for a year when, during her time in the court of Castle Daggerfall, an Imperial arrived with the accompaniment of an armored guard. The nature of their armor resembled the armor her father used to wear, but it was brighter and adorned with golden filigree and red paint. Horse hair was sticking out like a mohawk from the top of their helmet, and their discipline was absolute as they walked robotically alongside the man they were escorting. The Imperial introduced himself as a diplomat of the Empire, and pulling out a parchment, he read aloud an official invitation on behalf of the Elder Council to Aries Machella to become an ambassador of the Empire in recognition of her dutiful and steadfast service, political and diplomatic ability, and history of working for the betterment of the Empire.
She was allowed as much time as she desired to mull over her decision and the diplomat will remain in Daggerfall until she has given her answer. In truth, her decision was made right away. The few days she spent before accepting the offer was in preparation of her absence, discussing trading plans, plots, and other topics of intrigue. She talked with her mother about all these things to make sure that they would be well suited in her absence, and later renamed her the matriarch of House Machella in a public announcement during the same speech she made it known that she accepted the Empire’s offer to become an Imperial Ambassador. She took the ship to Cyrodiil where she would begin the next leg of her journey.
The seafaring journey was long and tiring, and Aries didn’t have her sea legs yet, but the sight of Anvil lighthouse on the Gold Coast of the Abecean Sea was a beacon that heralded promise beyond it. The rested in Anvil and took a carriage up the Gold Road, and from miles away, The White-Gold Tower came into view. She crossed the Talos Bridge, entered the Imperial City – she was met with a detachment of Imperial Watchmen who escorted her through the Talos Plaza District and directly to the Imperial Palace. She stood before the Elder Council, taking in each and one of their faces, looking for Amaund Motierre among them. They didn’t hesitate in getting to the point and beginning the process right away, at least by Breton standards. The process was expected to last a few hours for what was essentially just an interview and personal assessment, but if it was easy, then everybody would be an ambassador.
They began with introductions, and the High Chancellor personally discussed the history of observation of her actions and how they have benefited the Empire, hence the cause for this proceeding. Other Chief Councilors have given additional context, lacing their segments with humor as they mentioned that they may have extended the invitation sooner had Chief Councilor Motierre sooner agreed to have her here. He apparently had changed his vote to invite Aries not long after denouncing his own house. One of them mentioned that it was refreshing to see the objective good of the Empire being prioritized over politics.
Moving on, Aries anticipated that although the answers to their questions mattered, it mattered just as much as how she responded to them. They were critically reading her every movement and gesture. A passing comment was made on the impeccably clean streak she has had over her career, and when Aries so much as breathed, another councilor would pounce.
One thing Aries noticed during the proceeding is that they seemed to be focused on Chief Councilor Amaund as much as they were on her. Surely, he had some burning questions of his own, but he made no mention and asked no questions of her involvement with House Motierre. When he was finished with his segment, a Nord councilmember asked why he did not address the mammoth in the room, Amaund said dismissively that the matter of the Motierre house in Daggerfall has already been concluded.
By the end of the proceeding, Aries had answered every question tactfully and directly. She was sure not to dodge any of their questions in any way, knowing that they would catch it and call her out on it immediately. They asked what felt like a hundred questions about the history of the Empire and its current relationships with the neighboring sovereign powers. When it seemed clear that she had a clean record, had a working knowledge of the world, and was totally devoted to the betterment of the Empire, they held her ceremony where she recited an oath of loyalty.
The next couple of months was spent learning about the job from other diplomats and ambassadors inside the Imperial Palace and spending a disgusting amount of time on study and research of current events and the history of Imperial relationships with the other powers. It introduced her to an entirely different world by exposing her to information that wasn’t otherwise shared with the public. If she had enough free time in the week, she would spend a day to walk around the Imperial City with the escort of a city guard, hoping to familiarize herself with the beautiful city and its people, because she knew it wouldn’t be long before her real job would begin and take her away from it all.
The next two years of her career had her hard at work. In some ways, it was a transformative experience. It had been far too long since she was in a position of servitude. It took some time to transition from being at the top of the pecking order to serving the Elder Council, but she kept reminding herself of perspective. No matter who she was before, or who she
thought she was before, she was less than she is now; an ambassador was far more important than the leader of a noble house. Aries was sent off from place to place, namely where there were still Imperial interests, such as Skyrim, to see how the reunification process was going.
However, the real focus over the course of her career is the relationship between the Empire and Hammerfell. The Great War and the White-Gold Concordant placed a massive wedge between the two powers, and the fact that Hammerfell defeated the Thalmor invaders had likely only reinforced their decision. Her efforts over the past two years have mostly been working towards attempting to negotiate an alliance with Hammerfell – not as a province of the Empire, but as its own sovereign power, with hopes that it would
one day lead to Hammerfell once again becoming an Imperial province (of course, though, she left that part out.)
In some ways, she had made great strides. She broke the ice with the locals through displays of humility and a willingness to understand their culture and history on a personal level. She wasn’t too enraptured in the hubris seen in past diplomats -- as a woman who’s political experience was outside of Empire, she had that advantage, and was better at hiding her shortcomings. She made headway through trade deals and a willingness to support parts of Hammerfell that weren’t exactly lucrative, but in hopes that a divide and conquer strategy would help raise support for the Empire among the majority of people if not the rulers themselves. She wore their clothing, ate their food, and followed their customs, showing that merely the respect for their traditions goes a long way to developing a meaningful relationship between people.
However, all of it seemed to have come crashing down with the arrival of the dwemer. She couldn’t believe her eyes as massive ships sailed through the sky and occupied the once noble and proud Redguard of the Alik’r under the threat of massacre, still too weak from the aftermath of the Great War. The initial invasion force was sudden and ruthless, characterized by a display of power, superior resources, and callous tactics. They cut down the defense force of Sentinel with little difficulty, and like the palace, the Imperial embassy also found itself besieged. It’s soldiers and Aries’ own guards were being overwhelmed, and their resistance would’ve been meaningless if Aries stood idly behind them and allowed her forced to be routed.
A controlled arc of lightning bounced between the dwemer’s armored foot soldiers, that electricity contracting their muscles long enough for Aries to summon an ethereal sword through her conjuration magic and personally leading her men in the charge against the squad of dwemer. With her men at her back, Aries showcased her years of swordplay practice. Her footwork was measured and meticulous, her precision with the blade was unprecedented given her status as an ambassador. To the redguards who had witnessed the scene as her and her bodyguards cut a bloody swathe towards the palace, who valued strength and swordsmanship so highly in their society, her prowess, though not on an expert level, was a demonstration worthy of respect.
Unfortunately, their plan to hole themselves in the palace proved fruitless when they discovered multiple centurions upon their arrival. With few other options left, Aries decided to retreat from Sentinal. With the help of her bodyguards, they found some camels and began riding south with the dwemer following close behind. One by one, they picked her guards off from afar with their rifles until she was accompanied by only one. By that point, they were too far into the desert for the dwemer to follow.
They had since traveled from village to village, spreading the word of danger. It would seem that not long after their arrival, the dwemer would soon follow. When they could finally reach the next major city, they found it already occupied by the dwemer. After spending some time undercover in the new city, Aries was able to ascertain some of the current events over west. The Empire had fallen and the White-Gold Tower was under Dwemer control. News of the Dominion moving in to take advantage of the chaos had also spread. Now stranded in enemy-occupied Hammerfell, without her vast wealth and influence, Aries vowed vengeance against the Dwemer. She now operates out of the shadows, covertly attempting to sabotage the dwemer and the Dominion, and trying find a way to defeat them and recover the Empire. She hopes to stoke the flames of rebellion in Hammerfell and rekindle their faith in the Empire through joining forces against their mutual enemies. Under the guise of a merchant woman, she made her way southbound to meet her contact in Gilane.
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