Klipple's Cripples

This place was a dump, literally and figuratively. Rictus was amazed a part of Whiterun was this bad. It always seemed like such a good place overall, but even the best cities can have bad areas.

The place the member of Scar's guard took him really was the dump of Whiterun. Rictus hadn't really thought about it, but trash had to go somewhere. It was on the farthest part of what could still be considered the city. There were still some shacks standing along the road leading further into the dump, but they were barely even standing. The youth who had lead Rictus here had quickly ran off once they reached this area. He wanted nothing to do with this part of town.

Rictus could detect people around the area, but he could not clearly see them. Rictus did get the occasional glimpse of a person and most he saw were missing at least one body part. It was getting more and more worrying as he progressed.

It didn't take too long for people to start stalking Rictus. Before they could act, someone moved out from one of the many piles of garbage. The man was covered in a dirty brown tunic which ended mid-thigh. A couple things stood out about them. They walked with a rigidness which seemed to indicate some kind of military training. There was a raggedy salt and pepper beard on his face. The man was also missing some parts. His left eye was covered by a dirty looking cloth. He was missing the entirety of his left arm, as well as his pinky and ring finger on his right hand. He sported a peg leg which stopped just below the knee. His face was full of hard lines and wrinkles. He looked like a man who had lived a hard life where life constantly knocked him down, but he refused to bow his head.

"You should leave stranger. Nothing good will come of you being here."

Rictus was a little surprised this man would offer a warning to him. Most people would have avoided him and whatever conflict was most likely to ensue. Instead, this man had limped away from what he was doing to give a warning to a stranger.

"Ah I probably should leave, but my curiosity has sadly gotten the better of me this time. I don't think I will be able to convince myself to leave before I can meet the infamous Klippel's Cripples. You wouldn't happen to know where I could find them would you?"

Rictus finished with a smile. His smile only grew when he watched the shocked man's face. The man never expected this person would have come here looking for the very trouble he was trying to warn him about. The man finally gave Rictus a good look over. There was something about Rictus which was difficult for him to read. Rictus appeared calm wearing slightly used black robes. The man could tell they were a common style worn by the mages of Skyrim. He thought if Rictus was a mage, it could explain his attitude of walking into trouble. Still, 5 people ambushing a mage in close quarters will easily defeat most mages. Still, Rictus was young so the chances of him being an exceptionally powerful mage was low.

"I don't know what you are after mage, but it will not end well if you keep going. You already are being followed. A moment of distraction or weakness, and those people will pounce. I doubt your magic will be able to save you. There are too many of them for you to fight. Then you will regret your decision of coming here. Enough people have suffered here, you do not need to join their ranks."

Curiouser and curiouser. Rictus was intrigued by this man. First, he had come to warn him when no one else bothered. Then, he continues to try and get Rictus to leave as a way to protect him from what was going on. Finally, the man spoke with some elegance and cunningness which did not match up with his appearance at all. Just who did this man used to be?

"I truly appreciate you trying to help me, but my mind is made up. If you are wanting to help, I have some questions. Why is that gang mutilating people? Are they also killing people or just removing body parts? How come no one had done anything about it yet? How many people are in this little gang?"

The old guy could only sigh. It seemed youth never changed. He had to learn many lessons growing up, and it seemed Rictus was the same. Hopefully, Rictus's lessons would not be as difficult as his were.

"Young people these days. No sense of self preservation. Fine. It is on your head now. I tried to warn you. As to your questions, I only know a little. They are not killing people, or if they are, it is not many. They do this because then it lowers the likelihood of anyone official investigating. A bunch of dead bodies is a threat. A bunch of worthless beggars losing an arm or leg is of no concern to them. I don't know or care to know the why of it. As for members, there are a few of the core members, but they get a lot of help from other beggars. Not losing an arm is a great motivator. Almost as good as not losing another arm. You don't have to worry about finding them. They have already found you."

The man nodded towards a group of people moving towards them from where Rictus had come from. Rictus also noticed another group of people were blocking off the area ahead, as well as a few people hiding along the trash to either side. Most of them were quite grungy looking. There was one man in each group who seemed to be the leader. Rictus was surprised by the appearance of these men. One was wearing a good set of leather armor and had daggers along his waist and strapped to his chest. The other one was wearing a full set of iron armor with a huge Warhammer in his hands. It seems there may be more to this group than Rictus initially thought.

The old man let out a sigh as he moved away back to the trash.

"If you live, come find me. I will be willing to give you some tips on how to live while missing an arm or leg."

The old man left after those words. Rictus was surprised to see the gang members let the man go about his business. He was expecting some kind of reaction, but they totally ignored him to focus on Rictus. The man in the leather armor approached after the old man left.

"Ah it seems we 'ave found our next donor boys. So nice to get some fresh meat in these parts. Now, come along like a good lil boy, and we won't have to get rough with ya. I'm sure Klippel'll luv a pretty thing like you."

The rest of the group brandished their weapons at Rictus. Most of the weapons were rusty or broken, with a couple wielding large sticks. Still, a weapon is a weapon. Besides, Rictus wanted to meet their leader.

"Lead the way then." Rictus said with a bow.

The leathered armored man scowled at his attitude. He quickly got over it as he imagined the way the new person will scream. Softies always let out the best screams and begs for mercy, and to him, Rictus seemed like a softie despite him being well muscled.

They seemed to go through a maze of trash. The area seemed to much larger than it had any right to be. Rictus thought it much just be a trick of the mind and the winding pathways through the trash. After a little while, they entered a clearing with various broken building materials creating a makeshift wall. There also seemed to be small areas branching off to create rooms. It was fairly bare there minus some chairs, a large wooden tabletop which was covered in blood, and a poor recreation of a throne.

A surprisingly handsome man was sitting on the ruined throne. He had long bright blond hair, strong facial features, and a strong body. His appearance was ruined by the sinister expression on his face and the cruel look in his eyes. He was wearing a very nice looking set of steel plate armor and had what looked like an executioner ax resting against the side of the throne. He seemed to perk up at the entrance of his followers as they brought new prey.

"Excellent! I was just starting to get a little bored. It looks like you found a good one today boys. Nice work. This one barely made it before collection time."

The jovial tone of the made did not go with the situation. Rictus figured he may be slightly unhinged. Not everyone who had escorted Rictus here stayed. There were probably still around 8 people there though who had formed a semicircle around the clearing and blocking the exit. The man Rictus assumed was Klipple began making his way over towards the bloody table top as he casually held the ax on his shoulder.

"Well? What are you all waiting on? Bring him over here and tie him to the table. I am thinking maybe an arm and leg today? Maybe just all of them. We are getting really low on health limbs after all."

They were all surprised when Rictus began making his own way over to the table. This made Klipple smile.

"Haha! That is the spirit! You don't need all those pesky appendages. Your donation will be used for a great cause."

Rictus stopped after hearing this.

"What's the cause?"

Klipple was not really expecting Rictus to talk back. He was in a good mood at him being so complacent, so he decided to humor him.

"Ah the cause. You see, I have a business partner who happens to need healthy body parts. He also happens to have a lot of money he is willing to pay for those parts. The most important cause though is to cure my boredom. The way my beautiful Lucille cleanly separates an arm is pure art. I am simply an artist, Lucille is my too, and your body will be the canvas."

Klipple began running his tongue along the blade as he was finishing his little speech and squirming in an insinuating way.

Rictus was starting to get a little uncomfortable by the whole display. It also provided all he needed to see. He was curious on if he could reason with the group, but after seeing Klipple's little display and the pure excitement in the eyes of his followers, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He normally would have bantered a little bit, but not this time.

Rictus cast burden on Klipple as he began walking towards him. He was not holding back on the power either this time. Klipple immediately collapsed backwards as the weight of his armor suddenly increased by a few hundred pounds. He let out an indigent squawk as he contacted the ground and flailed around like a turtle stuck on his back. The rest of the people their stared on in shock at the sudden scene.

Rictus called the man's executioners ax towards his hand. Once it was there, he moved over to the downed man. Before Klipple could even begin begging for his life, Rictus brought the ax down and separated his head from his body.

"Sometimes an animal just has to be put down and out of his misery."

The rest of the people there were still frozen in shock. This random dude they had brought to mutilate ended up killing their leader who was one of the strongest men then knew. The entire sequence of events had happened faster than they could respond. Their shock allowed Rictus to channel and cast one of his most useful Aoe spells. The mass paralysis washed over the remaining 8 people there. Rictus was lucky they were standing still in a semicircle around him still. The executioners ax flew through the air serving its life's purpose on the trapped men.

Finally, there was only one man remaining. It was the man who was wearing the leather armor who had been leading the group to capture Rictus. The poor man's mind had gone almost completely blank at this point. Watching everything crash down around him so quickly had made him freeze up. There was still one decently sized group left, but most of them were not the best of the group. The people who had stayed behind were the strongest and best equipped people in the gang. They would not recover from this.

Rictus made his way over to the shocked man. He caused the stone to encase him while leaving his face exposed. He then dispelled the paralysis so he could ask a question.

"Who was the person buying the body parts and when can I expect him?"

The trapped man didn't respond for a second. Then, a slight gleam of hope sparked in his eye.

"…ha…Haha…. HAHA! There is still a chance! You may be strong, but you stand no chance against him! He will teleport here any minute now and definitely kill you, then I will be able to take over for Klipple! With that psycho out of the way, I will make us great! We will rule all the slums, and then slowly take over the entire city! HAHAHA YEEESSSS!"

Rictus shook his head at the man's ravings. He then caused the stone to stab into the back of his head and instantly kill him. The man seemed to have become unhinged, and Rictus doubted he would get much more out of him. He did say something interesting about teleporting. Rictus was not aware of any way besides glyphs or magical objects to teleport. He began scanning the area for magical signatures.

In the exact center of the clearing, Rictus found it. There was indeed a glyph which had been carved into stone and covered up by a bit of dirt to hide it. When studying it, Rictus found it to be different than the one he used. This one seemed much less complicated and powerful. Based on his observations, the glyph would only allow short range teleportation. It seemed the mysterious buyer would have to sneak near this spot, then use another glyph to teleport here. To someone who does not understand, it would seem as if the caster could teleport at will. Instead, they had to work with prearranged materials to pull it off.

This was a relief and saddening to Rictus. It was a relief because it indicated the mystery person was not able to freely teleport which would be troublesome. It was saddening because Rictus thought for a second, he may be able to get the secrets to teleporting with magic without relying on glyphs. The glyph also indicated it was a relatively powerful or knowledgeable mage. These types of glyphs took a fair amount of power to operate so it was not a novice.

The sun was starting to set, but Rictus decided to wait and see if the mysterious backer would appear. He did take some precautions such as laying down some runes of paralysis around the teleporting glyph. Rictus also made a copy of the teleporting glyph in his grimoire just to have it for future reference. He was also prepared to disrupt the glyph so the other person could not just teleport away. Finally, Rictus hollowed out a couple holes around the glyph then fitted them with stone spikes. Telekinesis would allow Rictus to throw the spikes faster and harder from a distance than earth bending.

Rictus got comfortable on the trash throne in order to wait for his guest. It was not long till Rictus felt the magical discharge he associated with teleportation. A figured covered in a black robe appeared. His robe hid his physique, but Rictus guessed he was on the skinnier side. When the man turned towards him, Rictus could see he was an elderly dark elf with blood red eyes. His robe also had what appeared to be a faded green skull on the front of it. Seems Rictus was dealing with another necromancer.

The man seemed surprised to see Rictus sitting on the throne instead of Klipple. Looking around, he was even more surprised to see all the dead bodies laying around the clearing. He looked suspiciously back at Rictus.

"Who are you and why did you kill my helpers?"

"Well, they tried to take away my arms and legs, and I took offense to that."

Rictus continued to calmly stay on the throne while observing how the man would react.

Surprisingly, the man did not seem too bothered by that. Internally, the man thought it only right that the weak would fall to the strong.

"I can understand. If they were not able to subdue you, then they deserved to die for their stupidity. Pity. Good help is always hard to find. They still will serve a purpose in death. The dead should be made to serve the living. I will take them, and their other offerings. Here is a payment for their bodies. Vals Veran pays his debts. It was about time for me to be moving on anyways. I found a tomb which will better suit my purposes."

The dunmer seemed to dismiss Rictus as he started making his way to the bodies. He was distracted by Rictus's appearance and the new study materials. He did not notice the slightly obscured rune he walked right into. As the man was falling, multiple stone spikes shot out of the ground and impaled him. He was dead before he could even hit the ground. Rictus just looked on impassively at the now dead necromancer.

"Well, that's that I suppose. It is getting late though so I guess I can come back tomorrow to finish my plans. Maybe the Bannered Mare has something good tonight? They tend to have some good sweet rolls."

Rictus began making his way back to the inner city. He had a long day and was ready for a good rest. His plans could be continued tomorrow.

-------

[A/N]: Ooo some original content with a character in the game how original of me. It hasn't happened yet, but one of Rictus's plans is getting closer to being completed.

If you like me adding in original quests, let me know if you have any good ideas. If you prefer him sticking with quests from the games, let me know some of your favorites. If you want a mixture, well that isn't too bad either.