Retalia

3rd Generation Temporal Rifter
Allison -> Achillee -> Brenilde -> Me

Just how did she get here and when did she join the band of Assassins known as the Dark Brotherhood? As embarrassing as it was to admit, she had literally been beaten into the faction. Retalia loved chaos, just like her parents and siblings, but her focus was a little more.... refined... a little less random. She had no idea how her mother felt about it but Retalia had her own set of morals which she developed herself, and would always obey. When she felt like causing chaos, she often tracked down people who didn't follow what she believed in and who truly seemed evil at heart. Aside from her family of course, her family was a part of her morals.

What were Retalia's morals, you may ask? Well she's happy to tell you.
Number One: Never dishonor your mother or father
Number Two: Never betray your family or its secrets
Number Three: Never disobey or refuse to carry out an order from a superior in your family. Unless the order is in direct violation of a different moral.
Number Four: Never steal the possessions of your family
Number Five: Never kill a family member

Trust and loyalty, as alluded to above, were always important to her. However, she also despised those who abused their power. So, naturally, when she heard of a hag in Riften torturing a band of misfits she just had to have some fun. The old git barely finished her annoying speech before Retalia was behind her, slitting open her throat and feeling the warm blood spray between her fingers. She didn't care that the nice girl saw, she was surprised that the children were happy, all that mattered was the old hag's death. Now with minimal chaos semi restored and feeling fulfilled with her recent kill Retalia decided to head home to the honorable city of-she didn't care. It was home, why should the name matter? She forgot all about the name awhile ago anyway.

To her great annoyance some courier rushed up to her and she barely paid attention as this panicked man spoke. Something about a shady fella, paid well, told him to give this to her or whatever. Then the letter, a letter with a black hand on it which had the words We Know written below the hand. We know what? she questioned to herself. Was this a threat or a promise? She didn't really care, if they wanted to mess with her they could show up at home. "That's it, got to go." Yeah, yeah, whatever courier. Just keep on running along.

As her head hit her pillow Retalia immediately passed out, perhaps it was exhaustion, perhaps there was something in the air, but whatever had caused it couldn't have prepared her for what came next. She had been kidnapped, still fully armed too. What kind of a fool kidnaps somebody and leaves them well armed AND unrestrained. Talk about a fool. "Ah, good, you're awake" some shadowy bi*** was lounging around on a dresser near her, and Retalia didn't pay attention to the rest. She instantly lunged for her assailant, ticked off that her restful sleep had been interrupted just for her to wake up to some idiot in a shack who didn't think to remove her weapons. The fight didn't last long, this creepy lady was able to cut her down in no time. Instead of giving up a regeneration Retalia decided to use her powers to go back in time and try again. The Tachyon cells within her emitted a low humming, and a personal portal pulled her back through space and time. She died, again and again and again and again. Trying all sorts of tactics, the bow, the sword, even an exploding flame atronach! She was beginning to realize why this Astrid character-as that was her name from what Retalia had learned-was so confident as to leave her her weapons. The magic circles, the daggers, the poison, she couldn't even pick pocket her!

Retalia finally gave up, but instead of yielding she pulled back time once again. Was this a fixed point in time? Could it ever be changed? Retaila finally realized that the old hag's death was related to this string of events, and that no matter what, if the hag died and she fell asleep, she would be kidnapped by Astrid. God's, she was beginning to hate this blonde. She didn't want to leave the hag alive though, not with the wretched behavior she had displayed. Finding those cuffs in her bedroom only proved further that this old bi*** was up to no good, probably tortured her orphans.

Retalia resulted to killing the hag, taking great satisfaction from it and training and having fun with all sorts of creative methods. She burned her, froze her, hit her with lightning, caught her in explosions and more. Even when she stealthed and no one could see her the outcome was always the same. Grelod would die, the nice lady would panic and the children would celebrate. After awhile of being stuck in her own personal time loop, which she played with for fun, Retalia finally got bored. Doing the same thing, no matter how many times, would always get boring after awhile. She couldn't keep killing Grelod over and over again if she wanted to continue being satisfied with her chaos. She couldn't leave Grelod alive, and it seemed like no matter what she would always die to Astrid. She could pull back time and train over and over again like a mad woman, sure, but that was too boring. So, she tried to kill Astrid again.... and again..... and again. Eventually, she just had to give up.

With a seething hatred she looked up at her for what felt like the billionth time and asked Astrid "Who are you?" Her response, infuriated her even further "Who I am really isn't as important as what I am. And what I am is an admirer. Of sorts." "An admirer, you kidnapped me! What type of a bit-" This Astrid had the gall to interrupt her, ooooo, if that wasn't something. "Old hag gets butchered in her own orphanage? Things like that tend to get around. Oh, but don't misunderstand. I'm not criticizing. It was a good kill. Old crone had it coming. And you saved a group of urchins, to boot. Ah, but there is a slight... problem." Retalia's head tilted to the side, one eyebrow narrowed in confusion, the other raised in questioning and a small frown on her face "A problem?" she questioned, it didn't take long to get her reply "You see, that little Aretino boy was looking for the Dark Brotherhood. For me, and my associates. Grelod the Kind was, by all rights, a Dark Brotherhood contract. A kill... that you stole. A kill you must repay." Really? It was all about some stupid contract, some silly piece of paper? The old crone, as Astrid called her, was dead. So what did it matter? and who was this Aretino boy? During her silent comprehension Retalia's temper flared up again as Astrid spoke "Am I to take your silence as acceptance? Then you know where we stand. Make your kill, and we're square. Repayment of your debt is but a discreet knife thrust away." Why, the gall! Retalia must have forgotten Astrid's power over her, because she was beaten down again and had to restart this conversation. She owed this Dark Brotherhood nothing and she was going to prove it! "a kill you must repay." was spoken once more as Retalia tried to speak.

"I'll have no part in this little game of yours, lady, this isn't a game to me." Astrid's voice boomed with an authority that burned deep into Retalia's pride "Now that is a shame. But what you fail to realize is that you involved yourself in this "insanity" when you took Grelod's life. You made your choice. Now it's time to face the consequences of your actions. You don't leave this shack until someone dies." Pft, Retalia began to growl in anger, before the silent line of acceptance was spoken. Oooo, she was so angry... she was going to cause hell.

Some explosions, burning the wall for hours on end, trying to kick down the door, no matter what she did the shack wouldn't come down. Grelod's death was inevitably linked to this event, her death was undoubtedly part of a scripted and fixed event where Retalia had to kill Astrid-which she still couldn't do-or carry out her ridiculous commands. She talked with each of the prisoners, roasting them with threats and anger before rewinding time and comforting them with encouraging words. Any other time traveler wouldn't be fooled by these tactics, due to the non linear perception they had on time, they would know that time was being pulled back and forth and could pin point who was responsible for it. However, these three prisoners had nothing like that, and were easily manipulated towards Retalia's whims. The cowardly sell sword, the cranky lady or the conniving cat. It was probably the sell sword or the cat, but Retalia didn't really care about getting this right. She was angry, she was upset, and she was trapped here because of the three of them-and because she wouldn't let Grelod live-but that was besides the point.

More explosions, more arrows, she released all of her anger and turned the three into living pincushions. Even took their execution hoods as trophies and mementos before turning around to face Astrid in her fury. She was the picture of a mad woman, of a crazed assassin with a wild look in her eye and covered in blood. She had killed all three.... Retalia would make for a perfect assassin. Retalia's back was still turned towards Astrid, her hand holding out the three hoods to the side, dripping in blood as her head looked towards the right. But her eye, her eye remained faced towards Astrid. The blonde knew she had the kid's attention

"Well, well. Aren't we the overachiever. Three possibilities, three victims. Must have been one of them, right? So why take chances..." Retalia spoke quickly, just wanting to leave as the screams of the dead still echoed in her mind. She was in a blood frenzy, she needed to kill again in order to quench her rage "You told me to kill, and I killed." "Indeed. For you, my friend, seem to understand what's truly important. When I give an order to spill blood, you follow it. No questions. No remorse." Another re-set had to occur, because Retalia had lost yet another 10 times against this woman.

When she finally yielded, yet again, she repeated the same actions, the same poses, the same posture. It just felt so good to let all of her anger out on these defenseless opponents. Though she would prefer if they didn't see her coming in the dark. "So... I'm free to go?" Retalia pouted, still resenting the fact that she just couldn't win against this Astrid. "Of course. And you've repaid your debt, in full. Here's the key to the shack. But why stop here? I say we take our relationship to the next level." Retalia stopped turning the key in the lock, was more killing available for her? "I would like to officially extend to you an invitation to join my Family. The Dark Brotherhood. In the southwest reaches of Skyrim, in the Pine Forest, you'll find the entrance to our Sanctuary. It's just beneath the road, hidden from view. When questioned by the Black Door, answer with the correct passphrase: "Silence, my brother." Then you're in. And your new life begins. I'll see you at home." Hmmm, interesting, if all of them were as strong as Astrid then... Retalia could get stronger, she could learn more and she could return to this time in order to kill Astrid while still having fun. It wouldn't be a mundane grind for power!

"Ok... I may be interested" Retalia mused in a sing song voice which sounded oh so sweet despite the blood from her victims which flowed in rivers off of her. "Remember, the Sanctuary is in the southern Pine Forest. Just beneath the road, and away from prying eyes."

What Retalia wasn't expecting was to find like minded individuals such as herself. She still hated Astrid, she certainly disrespected her and mouthed off whenever she could, but she liked the others. They even had a set of Tenets, which were practically carbon copies of her own morals. Why not stick around and see where this could go?

Tenet 1: Never dishonor the Night Mother. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 2: Never betray the Dark Brotherhood or its secrets. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 3: 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 4: Never steal the possessions of a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Tenet 5: Never kill a Dark Brother or Dark Sister. To do so is to invoke the Wrath of Sithis.

Then she learned how Astrid abandoned The Tenets, though most within the group still followed them to some extent. To abandon the tenets was to insult them, to insult them was to insult the Night Mother-Retalia's new mother-, and to insult the Night Mother was to insult her. Astrid, was going to die... but then she thought about it.

If Astrid died... she wouldn't get to meet her dearest little demented friend Cicero. If Astrid died, she wouldn't get her amazing steed Shadowmere. If Astrid died she would never meet her friends Babette, Nazir, Veezara, Gabriella, Festus or even the annoying mutt Arnbjorn-who was a werewolf devoted to the bit** called Astrid. She wouldn't get to keep her friend Lis either, which was Gabriella's pet spider.

Retalia loved giving that spider raw mammoth snouts, it was just so cute when the thing ate with it's creepy little fuzzy mandibles! Yes, she doted on it, and Gabriella talked about it with her often. They both had a sweet spot for the little Frostbite.

Making matters worse, killing Astrid would mean killing her friends.... her family... her morals.

She just couldn't do it anymore.

She hated Astrid but she loved everyone else, she loved the Night Mother, she really loved Cicero. Who cared what the others would think, the Listener could love who she wanted to love. Cicero seemed to like her as well, always invading her personal space, always making sweet faces at her. Retalia was so into the insane man. They both adored the Night Mother, they both followed the tenets with an absurd devotion and they both hated Astrid. He would even kill for her! What wasn't there not to like? He told jokes, he was funny, he was devoted to her as well....

He was powerful two, certainly worth respecting and..... chaotic. Surely her mother would approve of him.... He was so alike to her own father in his prime, but different, maybe even worse. When Retalia became the ruler of the Dark Brotherhood, and let Astrid die to her own stupidity-refusing to deal the final blow herself-Retalia utilized her authority to build a new home.... and took Cicero as her lawfully wedded husband. The two were going to cause so much chaos together, they were going to kill for the Night Mother and their family, and unlike Astrid Retalia was going to lead them well.

---

As for being a leader for eons along with her partner Cicero wouldn't last forever as she found that her time to seek new prospects came to the tables. The deep bonds and friends were now a part of her. However staying there turned into risks and fates that would make her family vulnerable to enemies or The Organization at the worst. There was higher threats leading to more deaths that became a concern to not only Retalia, but Cicero too. Some of the Brotherhood members began to question her status as a leader. Then things had gotten worse from there, but Ciero had offered the idea of himself taking on the lead role. Retalia had hated the idea in the first place until she faced being stabbed by a random member.

It was time to branch her venues further which was a blessing saving her from a fate of death sooner than later. The unfortunate exit came with little time to speak to her partner Cicero whose last words were, "If you find another person it matters to me that you would love them as much as you did to me and know I will always remember you giving me a purpose and fullfilled life. Now go before its too late!" Retalia was ultimately crushed, but likely knew that her existence would be gone if she stayed. Retalia left not knowing where to go or connect with really anyone who was not apart of the Dark Brotherhood or surrounding circles of the faction.

She wandered for a long time until finding her sanity with strengthening her time abilities to beable to transport her spirit to different worlds and realities. It was a period of isolation which took a hard toll on her self in general. The silence of the forest surviving with little skill sets except knowing how to kill any living thing was only apart of the most difficult test she had ever done. Retalia though finally harnessed her powers enough to transport herself to the kingdom for recovery then found some distant relatives willing to offer help and support which she didn't refuse, but wasn't long when she left again. Also had some allies who gave her skills that she took with on all the new adventures and travels in the future. The old family that was once by her side would always be with her even as she was already a master of time itself including being a summoner to turn things in her favor.