Tasks of Peryite

Part of the Peryite Arcana Series

[Attachment: The following two documents were found together, written in what appears to be green ink. The first seems to be a prayer, while the second is the telling of a worshipper’s rise to acceptance.]

####Orison of the Taskmaster All that can be touched will be touched by Peryite. From his breath the affliction spreads and takes hold in the flesh, and seeps from the wounds. Those that believe they are protected from his touch are waste that needs to be cleansed. This realm is a body, and Peryite is its disease. Let him flow in and infect you.

He resides at the bottom for the weak reside at the top.

His wings spread the sickness as well as the cure.

One is the sword and from it he brings hacking death to his enemies.

One is the shield and from it he revives the ill-willed to serve under him.

He never leans to either side, for he encompasses both in his claws.

Come into Peryite, and let him seep into your wounds.

####The Taskmaster’s Balance I stood with the rest of the Afflicted in the haunted ruins of Cyrodiil, and scratched at the pulsating flesh of my arms. Today was the Ninth, and we were to speak of him to accept us into his realm. The others coughed and wheezed as they spoke into the purple fumes, and like mud creeping through a crevice the Taskmaster leaked through the Void into Mundus in his terrific form. Serpentine and emerald green, his body wrapped around the whole of the room and his wings concealed the ceiling. His eyes glowed yellow, bright and terrible, and stared down at us with a look of curiosity and annoyance.

“Because of you, I must begin again my work in my realm. Be quick with your words, as my patience already grows thin.”

Our leader, who hacked before speaking, said at the top of her lungs, “Peryite, Conjurer of Contagions and Caretaker of Cures, we wish to enter The Pits and serve you until time itself unravels!”

At those words the god blinked, and she fell to the ground as dead. We all gasped and stared as her body smoked before turning into a blob of revolting flesh. Fumes escaped the dead carcass, which the Dragon breathed through his nostrils.

“Did you think it would be that easy? To serve under me?” Peryite bared his teeth, and contaminated venom dripped to the floor. “Fools. To enter my realm you must first have knowledge of why you shouldn’t and why you should. Tell me, what has the truest form of balance?” He turned to the first man, who said with certainty:

“Power, which must be shared among the weak and the elite!” It was as soon those words escaped his lips did he die, and fell to the floor with blood oozing out of his neck from wounds previously unseen.

“I care not for power,” The Taskmaster said, and turned to look at the woman that stood next to the dead man, who shook nervously.

“Family, which can be shared amongst blood or strangers!” Like the man, she too fell to the ground. But her death was slow and painful, hives sprouting all over her body until she finally gasped her last.

“If cared not for power, why would I care for family?” The Taskmaster said, and turned to the next in line. “I grow tired of this; speak.”

The process repeated this until there was nothing I was the one left, the last of the Afflicted. Peryite stared at me curiously, as if I was young lad or lass trying to clean his boots for a septim.

“You are the last, and I wonder if I should offer the same choice to you. But I know I shall, for it would be strange if I did not. Tell me, my last worshipper, what has the truest form of balance.”

I knew what must be done. I picked up a dagger from the belt of one of the deceased, and dug it into my own heart. I gasped in pain, and succumbed to my knees, feeling my life rapidly fade away.

“Life…and death. For you…must leave through…one…door…to enter…another…” And with that, I was dead and my body hit the floor. But suddenly I found myself standing at Peryite’s side, ethereal staring at into his glowing eyes.

“You speak the truth, last of my Afflicted. Tell me your name.” I did so, and the Taskmaster smiled. “The Pits are only traversable to those who know the true balance, like you. Enter, and see.”

I traveled into the Blighted Lord’s realm and became equal in all things.