Miraak found himself in wonder as they made their way to the headquarters of the Vindicators. That was the name of the organization the two young women he had encountered in the Crey facility belonged to. Apparently, Ms. Liberty was in fact their leader.

When he had heard that he almost couldn't believe his luck. He had managed to make a positive impression on the head of a major military organization already, not a few minutes after his escape from that horrid dimension called the Shadow Shard.

They had taken something called a mono-rail to a different part of town, known as Founder's Falls. The neighborhood that they had left was called Skyway City, a major manufacturing and industrial district. Founder's Falls was more focused on finance and government. He had gained a wealth of information on Paragon City during the ride there, and found himself distinctly impressed with it.

For one thing, it's sheer scale was almost mind boggling. From the descriptions patiently given by Ms. Liberty and Mynx, Paragon City could've held ten Windhelms within it, with room to spare. He was skeptical at first, but a quick look out of the window disproved him as he saw some of the truly massive neighborhoods.

Another thing he noticed were the extremely conspicuous walls that divvied up the city. They were enormous constructs, and they seemed to be reinforced with some kind of magical barrier. When he asked them about it, their moods took a turn south. They explained that they were the "War Walls" constructed to divide up territory within the city during something known as the Rikti War. When they gave a basic description of the conflict, he was distinctly reminded of the Oblivion Crisis in Tamriel. Daedra warping in to conquer the world with a nearly endless stream of troops and war engines, seemingly without warning. He had been in Apocrypha during the events of the Oblivion Crisis, of course, so he really couldn't claim to understand what they had gone through.

He quickly changed the subject when it became clear that it was a sensitive topic for them. Ms. Liberty in particular seemed agitated by the discussion. He asked them to tell him more about the Vindicators, and their role in Paragon City.

"We're a team of heroes based in Founder's Falls, but we operate pretty much wherever we're needed. Most of our members are actually the sidekicks or former sidekicks of Freedom Phalanx."

Miraak simply stared blankly at the girl. She had mentioned several terms that he sensed were important, but he had no context to draw conclusions from. He had no idea what 'sidekick' meant.

Sensing his confusion, Mynx decided to get a word in and elaborate. "A sidekick is like...an apprentice. Our team is made up of 'em, since we decided to prove that we're ready to strike out against the baddies on our own!"

Ah. Like apprentices. So...he was dealing with the apprentices of the more experienced protectors of this city. So...that left the 'Freedom Phalanx'.

"Freedom Phalanx is the most experienced and powerful group of heroes in Paragon City, or America, really. My grandfather, Statesman, is their leader." Ms. Liberty continued with a hint of pride.

Well. That was a useful piece of information. These children should really be more careful with that sort of thing. Miraak supposed it just went to show that he had earned a decent measure of their trust. He nodded his acknowledgement, satisfied for the time being. Unfortunately for him, the same could not be said of the two Vindicators.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, until Mynx abandoned the pretense of tact and asked him what her friend was wondering.

"So...what about you? What'd you do where you come from?"

Miraak paused for a moment. He would have to come up with a simple, easy lie. Obviously he couldn't tell them the truth in this case. After all, he doubted they would be pleased to hear about the...problems...he has had with authority figures in the past. However, in his long life he had discovered many things about the niceties of political maneuvering and bandying of words. One such observation was that the best lies contained within them a kernel of truth.

"I was a member of a...'team' of sorts as well. We considered ourselves to be freedom fighters, going into battle to free all of mankind from the tyranny of the dragons. My heritage as a Dragonborn gives me a unique advantage against dragon-kind, so I would often venture out alone. My overconfidence proved to be my undoing, however, when the ones known as 'Crey' abducted me from my world and brought me here." He could tell that he had their rapt attention.

Over the next few hours he went over a few lies about his past that he had devised to hide his true intentions. Sprinkled with bits of truth, he led them to believe that he had been a valiant hero, fighting against the dragons with the aid of Gormlaith Golden-Hilt and Hakon One-Eye. It got him thinking, then. Of what his life might have been like if he truly had thrown in with Hakon and the others. What might have been if he had slain Alduin, all those years ago.

Founder's Falls was truly a sight to behold. Huge towers of steel and glass sprung up from the bay, and waterways sprawled out in the place of streets. Numerous bridges and elevated platforms around the buildings allowed for foot traffic, and Miraak marveled at how clean and sleek the place was. It was almost like a city unto itself, dwarfing even the mighty Imperial City in sheer material scale.

They had gotten off of the mono-rail an hour or so ago, and the girls smirked as they saw Miraak's awe at their city. They offered to show him on a brief tour of the area before they brought him to their Headquarters, which they shared with Freedom Phalanx.

They were walking down a bridge to make their way to a place called Williams Square when it happened. Miraak stopped for a moment to appreciate the view of the water, glistening in the light of Earth's single moon. The two girls stopped and waited up for him, but he paid no mind. After an eternity in the alien worlds of Apocrypha and the Shadow Shard, he had learned to appreciate the natural beauty of the world where he found it.

But his reverie was rudely interrupted by a screaming woman from the other side of the bridge. Ms. Liberty and Mynx immediately turned their attention in the direction of the noise, and Miraak sighed at the interruption. They had informed him of the higher-than-average crime rate Paragon City suffered from, which seemed obvious in a city of this size.

They had also informed him of the strict policy against the use of lethal force. He had been confused at that. The guards of Tamriel wouldn't hesitate to cut you open at the slightest hint of resisting arrest, even for minor crimes. He had merely nodded his assent, of course. It wouldn't be prudent to antagonize his sole contacts in this new world for the sake of a few penniless bandits.

'N-No! Please, just leave me alone!" The woman screamed at the top of her lungs. She was struggling against a couple of hooded figures. One was garbed in a gaudy robe of gold and bright blue, with glowing golden eyes and an absurdly tall headdress. He blocked the woman's escape by standing on the corner of the sidewalk platform. The other assailant was similarly dressed, but wore a raiment of gray, white, and light blues. His eyes glowed neon blue, but his headdress was equally voluminous. He also bore two glowing red orbs embroidered upon his belt, from which Miraak could sense faint Magicka.

Hmmph. He could see that this might require his attention. The last thing he needed was for the leader of the City Guard's granddaughter to turn up dead with him on the scene. Especially when things were looking swimmingly for him up to this point. She could probably handle herself, given her position as the captain of a team of heroes, but he would take no chances with his only foothold in this dimension.

"Hey, you two creeps! Leave the lady alone! You've got bigger things to worry about, now!" Shouted Mynx. In the blink of an eye, she was on the blue-and-gold clad wizard. Unfortunately, he proved to be much more resourceful than the mages of Crey.

In the blink of an eye, he encased himself in a whirlwind That spun around his body like a cyclone, with he himself located in the eye of the storm. Mynx was buffeted by a few pieces of trash and some pieces of stone chipped away from the adjacent building. It was a huge tower, and only minimal space was between them and the precipice of the walkway. It left them little room to maneuver. While Mynx was momentarily incapacitated, the cunning blue-and-gold wizard let fly a volley of lightning bolts from his hands! They struck the feline heroine dead in the chest, and she fell to the hard pavement.

Not good... Miraak thought. Ms. Liberty was fairing little better. He turned to see that she had been encased in a block of ice, and was struggling to break free. Her head remained exposed though, so the wizard in white prepared a spell of his own, no doubt planning to execute his trapped victim before she managed to escape her icy prison.

Miraak needed to do something, common hedge mages were about to ruin everything... Time to demonstrate why the dragons had feared him...why Mora had chosen him to be his champion.

"WULD!"

It was more of a quick yell than a true shout, but it served his purpose. It propelled him to the end of the bridge where Ms. Liberty was encased in ice, which he could already see the cracks forming in. He would have to end this quickly if he wanted to take all of the credit for saving the day once again. Such a move would serve to cement their opinions of him as a hero and trustworthy ally. A quick bolt of fire burst from his hands as he quickly summoned a good portion of his Magicka reserves. Simultaneously, he threw down a lightning rune in the ground before the blue-robed wizard. Such runes were difficult to spot if they were not of your own creation. He wondered whether such wizards as these had even seen a proper rune in their lives. He very much doubted it. Only true amateurs would dress in such gaudy and flamboyant clothing that screamed out their mysticism so.

The firebolt intercepted the ice mage's spell as he threw it in a gambit to finish off Ms. Liberty quickly. Steam filled the air before the mage as the shards of ice he threw melted away in an instant, even as the firebolt continued on it's course straight into the wizard's still-extended palms. The results were predictably agonizing as he screamed in pain and doubled over, gripping his scorched hands together. Miraak smirked at the amateur wizard's foolishness.

"Y-you have no idea what you have done, interloper! You will rue the day you crossed the Circle of Thorns!" Miraak rolled his eyes at pretentiously grandiose name these bargain-basement maleficars had selected, and merely let his arms fall to his sides as the enraged wizard charged at him, all thoughts of Mynx forgotten in his anger, straight into the lightning rune.

Miraak saw an explosion of sparks from his peripheral vision, and new that the mage had foolishly charged right into his cleverly placed rune of lightning. He had deliberately undercharged it, only using about a third of the required magicka, just as he had done with his firebolt. The result was a spell that was much weakened, but could be cast almost instantaneously. The blue wizard was probably out cold now, having been sufficiently fried to keep him down for awhile without killing him. The ice mage's hands had been badly burned, rendering his threat negligible as he writhed on the ground. Still, Miraak walked over and casually knocked him out with a swift kick to the temple.

He checked Mynx to see if she had survived her shock. As a pleasant surprise, she was merely unconscious. Perhaps she was made of hardier stuff than was readily apparent. Ms. Liberty had freed herself already, but had downcast eyes as she was shamed by needing to be rescued for the second time in a single night. Miraak contemplated saying nothing, but decided against it. It would be best to take full advantage of this opportunity.

"Are you unharmed? The civilian appears to have fled." The woman had fled after the two girls momentarily distracted the gaudily dressed wizards. Miraak was honestly very underwhelmed by the apparent combat prowess displayed by the Vindicators so far…or lacktherof. Mynx was beginning to stir on the ground as she rubbed the back of her head to shake off the unconsciousness. Ms. Liberty helped her up.

"I can't believe we got our butts kicked by a couple of thorn casters…today really isn't our day." Mynx said, still a little wobbly on her feet. Miraak silently agreed.

"They seemed…different somehow." Ms. Liberty thought out loud. "I've never seen thorn casters use spells like that before. But they were definitely dressed as 'casters." She trailed off there.

He supposed that they had been more competent than the run of the mill hedge wizard from his word, but still hardly imperial battlemages. Certainly no match for a sorcerer such as himself.

"So…" He drawled. "Do we arrest them, or something?"

"R-right!" Ms. Liberty finally snapped out of it and remembered to do her job. She took out some sort of strange wrist-held device, which folded out to project a light of some kind on the two unconscious mages.

"It's called a police scanner. All of the registered heroes around here carry one. We use 'em to monitor crimes in progress or review clues in an ongoing investigation. They also carry a built in medi-porter connected to the prison network, where the cops take over after any wounds the bad guys might've sustained are taken care of." So it allowed for heroes to make several arrests in a few minutes while more mundane officers handled the menial tasks, freeing up the more powerful heroes to continue making further arrests. It actually sounded like a very efficient system. He found his respect for the cities law enforcement department growing, if only a little.

"I see. Perhaps we should search for the woman and question her?" He asked, if only to appear to care about the case. Wizards often needed ingredients, or bodies to experiment with if they dabbled in necromancy. Most likely they were simply looking to the nearest available source; the citizens of Paragon City.

But Ms. Liberty shook her head after the blue light emanating from her wrist-device encompassed the second wizard, leaving nothing behind as the unconscious body vanished through a miniature portal. "She's long gone by now. We usually leave the follow up investigation to PPD, the non-powered law enforcers here. The circle of thorns probably just needed some new muscle, and they were 'recruiting'" She explained.

Mages recruiting through coercion? That seemed odd. Many a disenfranchised apprentice would in his time would've loved to study under a master capable of performing the feats he had seen those two wizards achieve. Many of them would have also been attracted to the mystique of magecraft and wizardry, which he had assumed to be the purpose of their overly-intricate robes.

"Well…" Mynx smiled mischievously. "At least we know you're not a member of the Circle, now!" She chirped.

…

"You thought that I was one of them?!" He asked, offended beyond all belief. To even think of comparing the First Dragonborn to those third-rate mages was preposterous. He cursed himself as he had momentarily lost control of his usually monotone voice, ascending into a higher pitch for his terse query.

"I have more magic in my little finger than those morons have in the entirety of their souls! The blue-clad one didn't even know the first thing about runes, and the white one has yet to grasp the idea that fire typically melts through ice!" He ranted for a moment, before he remembered himself. He needed to maintain his cool in this situation, lest he let slip some inconvenient bit of information to the wrong people. Such behavior was unbecoming of his age.

It was quiet for a moment as they processed his spiel, but they eventually seemed to just take it in stride. He was thankful that they did not overly question his claims. Although in hindsight, he supposed that he had acquitted himself rather well in the only two times they had seen his magic in action.

"Well…since we're all done here, it'd probably be best to get back to HQ. We can probably find somewhere for you to sleep in the guest quarters." And with that, the three of them took off towards the Freedom Phalanx base of Founder's Falls.

The HQ was a huge building, even compared to the rest of the Falls. It was held up by white marble columns, and built in stone. It more resembled a familiar sort of castle rather than the towers that surrounded it. The interior was equally impressive, with a massive lobby that had what must have been the Freedom Phalanx symbol emblazoned on the tiled floor. There were personnel and guards up and about, even at this hour. They all wore uniforms of red and white, with stylized stars of the opposite color serving as their emblem. They all carried heavy, black, mechanical looking weapons. A few of them eyed Miraak with suspicion, but cooled off when they saw who he was following.

The two Vindicators had shown him up the stairs into a stately looking room, which reminded him of the opulence that reminded him of the Blue Palace in Solitude. It had a fine carpet with intricate patterning, several expensive pieces of finely crafted furniture, a vanity, even a queen sized bed, complete with curtains.

"Surely you have something less…tacky?" He deadpanned.

Ms. Liberty smiled apologetically, but Mynx interjected. "Sorry! Manticore was the interior decorator…" Miraak had no idea who this 'Manticore' was, except that he clearly did not live up to his namesake. This looked less the den of a mythical beast and more the bedchambers of a spoiled imperial noble.

"It will do, I suppose. I…thank you, for providing me with shelter." He said, careful to keep a neutral tone.

"We'll let you get some rest now. You must be exhausted after everything that happened today. The others will want to meet you in the morning, too." Miraak nodded as they bid him good-night. He would be interested in meeting more of these 'heroes' on the morrow. But they were right about him being tired. He plopped down on the comfortable bed, and drifted off to sleep for the first time in the what must have been centuries. He dreamed of the many sights and sounds he had taken in of this brave new world, in scant few hours. He could see a bright future ahead of himself.

The next morning, Miraak opened his eyes to the greeting of warm sunlight. The room was illuminated by the solar rays that flooded in through open curtains, producing a wide beam of concentrated light that engulfed Miraak's sleeping form. He woke up with a yawn beneath the heavy golden mask he had worn to sleep the night before, and found himself sweating in the heat of his heavy robes.

Looking around, he found himself in the same room as the previous night, but now brightly lit by the morning sun. It showed the colors of the room in a new light, but still retaining the elegance of it's design. Miraak heard himself scoff at the absurdity of sleeping in such luxurious accommodations, especially after hundreds of years of sleeping in Nordic ruins or his spartan chambers in Apocrypha.

It didn't matter. He had no possessions save the clothing on his back and the mask on his face. It suited him well enough. The only things he really missed of his previous life were the sword and staff, ironically being gifts from Hermaeus Mora. Obviously Mora had not allowed him to retain those during his imprisonment in the Shadow Shard. Most likely, the Last Dragonborn was even now wielding them in Miraak's place as Mora's Champion.

Perhaps he would find a sword of sufficient power to suit his needs in this world. After all, they were much more technologically advanced, here. They had probably discovered new alloys and metals, more advanced techniques of forging iron and steel. It may not compare to the Daedric blade he had wielded as a servant of Mora, but Miraak was certain that he could find something to suit his needs well enough, here. After all, he thought. They cannot have abandoned the sword entirely, no matter how advanced they have become in magic or technology. Even the Dwemer used blades.

He wandered around the compound for a while after taking leave of his temporary living arrangements. The first thing he noticed was all of the new people. Compared to the relative emptiness of the previous night, the building was now teeming with military personnel. Men and women garbed in form-fitting red and white uniforms busied themselves in the day-to-day tasks required of running an organized military outfit. Another thing he noticed was the presence of civilians in the area as well. People in plain clothing without any visible weapons were going about their business as well, organizing papers, chatting with each other, hauling metal carts, and other such clerical work. Many of them conversed with the red-and-white soldiers.

He took note that none of the soldiers wore any blades that he recognized. Many wore boxy and angular weaponry that reminded him distinctly of the firing mechanism of crossbows, but without any bow in sight. In any case, they were obviously projectile weapons, and apparently powerful enough to warrant being used as primary equipment in place of melee weapons. Miraak himself was rather disappointed with that possibility. He had never practiced with a bow, only the sword. He could doubtlessly pick up the skill quickly enough to become proficient in a relatively short amount of time, but it would never equate his mastery of the sword, and there were bound to be more experienced marksmen amongst the denizens of this world.

Mixed in with the soldiers and civilians were more of the 'hero' types. Irregularly dressed in bright colors and coming in all shapes and sizes. The two Vindicators he had met yesterday had explained to him that heroes in Paragon City were from all walks of life, unlife, and even from other worlds such as himself. They were a truly diverse bunch, counting among their membership scientific geniuses, werewolves, mages such as himself, beings from other planets, and even ordinary soldiers or the like, or untrained civilians who happened to find a mystical artifact or were involved is some kind of alchemical accident that granted them powers above and beyond ordinary men. Whatever the case, a hero was simply an extraordinary person who used their talents or abilities for the common good of their society, protecting their city from whatever threat may arise. From what they had told him, such threats included 'heroes' who used their extra-normal abilities for less charitable purpose. Villains, in other words. People like him.

He was certainly glad that he had not murdered the two Vindicators as soon as he saw them in that Crey lab now. They had provided him with a wealth of information, and a way to get his foot in the door of Paragon City. Doubtlessly they were impressed with the power he had displayed on two occasions the night before, and now wished to induct him into their little group of law-enforcers. Not a single day spent in this new world, and already he was offered a position of power and authority. He didn't know what god or Daedra was responsible for this stroke of good fortune, but he doubted that it had anything to do with Mora. Perhaps the squid had done something to irk Sheogorath or some such, and Miraak had been freed out of mad spite. It would hardly be outside of the mad-god's nature.

As he was observing the hustle and bustle of the daily comings and goings of the Freedom Phalanx HQ, he almost failed to notice his host walk over to join him by the safety rails he was leaning over to observe the lower floor.

"Oh, hey. I was just going to wake you up, but I see you decided to go exploring." Ms. Liberty said to him by way of greeting. He turned to face her, and saw that she was also still in her Vindicator uniform. He supposed it was unsurprising, as the costume was too flimsy to provide any real protection. Now that he thought about it, though, perhaps she was a mage like him, and used wards or spells to protect herself. But that would hardly explain why she alone among the people of this new dimension he had thus far met actually wore a sword, small though it was.

"Yes. Your organization seems to count many heroes and soldiers amongst their members." He gestured to the crowd on the floor the walkway they stood on overlooked.

She made a dismissive gesture with a gloved hand. "Oh! Most of those guys aren't actually members of Freedom Phalanx. The heroes are considered 'Associate Members'. We can call on 'em if something's too big for our team to tackle, but they mostly operate on their own." That reminded him of the methods of the old Imperial Mage's Guild. Stuffy old frauds, the lot of them. They had no idea the true power of magic. Bound to Apocrypha as he was at the time, Miraak could only smirk with smug satisfaction as he watched the guild burn in the advent of the King of Worms during his migration to Cyrodiil.

"The guys in the red and white uniforms are in Freedom Corps. They're involved in a lot of emergency and rescue operations in the city, but they're armed in case they have to take down a bad guy or two. The military arm of Freedom Corps is the division I founded, Longbow." She said proudly. Miraak raised an eyebrow at that statement. If it was true, then she would be the one in command of most of the organizations firepower. It would be well to cultivate an amiable relationship with her if such was the case. He nodded his acknowledgement, and followed her when she turned to go.

"I wanted you to meet some of the others who're on-base right now. It's a shame that Infernal and Swan are held up on a mission, right now. They would've loved to meet another magic origin as strong as you." So…there were other wizards associated with the Vindicators. He was skeptical that they were of like talent to himself in the mystical arts, but then again nothing was impossible in a completely alien world. His defeat at the hands of the Last Dragonborn was bitter medicine to his arrogance. He would do well not to underestimate any of his future opponents.

Ms. Liberty continued with her speech. "But so far Malaise, Valkyrie, Luminary, and Aurora Borealis are all here and accounted for, and eager to meet you. You've already met Mynx." He nodded. The girl who dressed as a cat was difficult to forget. She had an annoyingly bubbly personality to his mind, but he would earn no friends here by saying as much, so he held his tongue. She was like a wellspring of positive energy and youth, both resources that had long been exhausted in himself. A younger Miraak might have found her presence refreshing, or at least condescendingly amusing. As it was, he was merely irritated by her naïveté. She knew nothing of the world, of the horrors men would visit upon each other. He could tell merely from her excruciatingly immature attitude and curiosity that she was as green as they come. She would be in for a rude awakening one day, just as Miraak himself was, the day his lord turned on him.

They came to a stop in front of a strange set of double doors, cast in stainless steel. Above them were two arrows, pointing down and up. The arrow pointed upwards glowed brilliant green, and the doors opened up to reveal a small, boxy compartment filled with mirrors on all sides. Ms. Liberty entered the tiny room, so Miraak followed her, with some hesitation. Ms. Liberty seemed to notice his confusion, so she explained the idea behind what she called an elevator. Miraak was of course familiar with similar devices employed by the Dwemer throughout their ruins, but such platforms were always big, hulking things that shook the very foundations their underground cities were built upon as they rose or fell at great speeds. Compared to that, the ride a mere five stories up was somewhat...underwhelming.

They then walked down a hallway into an open area, through a wide doorway without any doors, and into some kind of meeting area. A huge table took up most of the room, smack in the center, and enormous windows made up the walls as the cityscape could be clearly seen from the inside. Most interesting, though, were the people who sat around the table. All of the seats were identical, and the table was perfectly round, so there was no 'head' to speak of, although he noted an empty seat furthest from the door that most likely served that purpose.

Seated closest to the left window was a man in garish, swirling purple hues with dark colors thrown in the pants and a mix of deep blue blended in with the shirt. His colors reminded him of the sphere of magic that would appear in his hands whenever he prepared a spell of conjuration. The man grinned at him haughtily, and wore a goatee upon his chin. His hair was done up in a short ponytail.

Most troubling, though, were his eyes. Miraak could not see them beneath the polarized lenses of his electric blue tinted goggles. When he still served the dragons, he had received advice from his master, Durnevhiir. Never trust one whose eyes you cannot see, he had said. Given the masks all dragon priests wore, and Durnevhiir's somewhat unique "survival" among the dragons, his message could most probably be taken at face value.

Next to him was a woman seemingly cast in gold. Miraak would have thought her a statue had her eyes not moved to follow them as they entered the room. Her eyes were illuminated with a light-green glow, reminding him of the color of spriggans. Intricate patterns were embedded in the woman's skin, and parts of her seemed to be attached to the rest, like some sort of assembled person. If she even was a person. Miraak took note of her unflinching stare, and of how she displayed no readily visible breathing.

A distinctly Nordic-looking woman was seated next on the other side, after having skipped over the 'head' of the table, where he suspected Ms. Liberty usually sat. The woman wore magnificent golden armor and wielded a huge spear, as well as wearing an intricate golden headdress with decorative wings mounted on the sides. She could have passed for a Skaal were it not for her manner of dress. She was also smiling warmly at him, something he doubted few of the Skaal would be want to do.

Seated to the woman's right was Mynx, one of the Vindicator's he had rescued the previous night. She was grinning toothily, but her eyes took away any sting to show she only meant it good-naturedly. Miraak rolled his eyes beneath his mask.

Lastly, the woman next to Mynx was dark-skinned, and probably could have passed for a redguard if not for the silvery hair. Her costume was even more distracting than Mynx's; her skin-tight, cream colored outfit was literally full of holes, revealing patches of skin at her chest, stomach, thigh, and arms. She had metallic rings around the base of her limbs, and wore metallic ribs around her waist like a belt. She regarded him somewhat neutrally.

All of them seemed to be studying him, looking to see what they could learn from his countenance. It was a futile effort, as his mask blocked any tells they could determine from his face. For his part, he merely kept his head straight as his eyes surveyed the room and kept his hands held together behind his back. The horizontal slits in the eyes of his mask actually allowed for excellent peripheral vision, and he could see the entire room by standing near the entrance. Ms. Liberty addressed the assembled heroes.

"Everyone, this is Miraak. He's the one who, uh...saved us last night."

At that the hero known as Malaise probably raised an eyebrow, but the only thing visible was a toothy grin that seemed to revel in the humor of the situation at the expense of Ms. Liberty.

"Yeah, you told us how a couple' a thorn casters took you and Mynx to school, till our new buddy here opened up a can of magical whoop-ass on 'em." Malaise chuckled, and punctuated his words by making boxing gestures with his hands, assuming a mock hand-to-hand stance from his seated position. He clearly found the whole incident fairly amusing.

"Hey!" Mynx interjected. "They were way too strong to be regular 'casters! I've never seen one of them use a storm like that..." She defended her ineptitude. Miraak felt no sympathy for one who was floored by such a parlor trick. He only regretted that he had been forced to spare their meagre lives in order to maintain his cover as a 'hero'.

Ordinarily, he took a sort of relish in the anguish and suffering of his enemies. They were agonizingly educated in the foolishness of their resistance against his power. His temple had been filled with the remains of his many enemies, to serve as a warning to his servants and minions. To betray Miraak was to court hell.

He spoke none of this aloud, of course, and simply watched quietly at the unfolding scene before him. This was a rowdy group of children he had found himself minding, but perhaps he could ingratiate himself with "Freedom Phalanx' if he replicated further incidents in kind with the previous night. Ms. Liberty had informed him of the Vindicator's status as former and current apprentices to Freedom Phalanx's core members. It would behoove him to cultivate an amiable relationship with traditional authorities in Paragon City in order to smooth the way for himself. Things would be far easier and a lot less risky for him if he had friends in high places before he made any moves to establish a power base for himself here.

He took note that the woman with the revealing attire and dark skin maintained her silence throughout the banter, opting instead to observe much like himself. However, it was obvious to his experienced eye that she was watching him in the corner of her eyes, inconspicuously watching his every movement. It would seem that he has peaked her interest.

She was more than she seemed, that was for certain. The way she held herself, coolly observing the conversation yet remaining aloof from becoming fully engrossed in it. She was clearly more experienced and jaded than the younger heroes, and perhaps took his somewhat ghastly appearance at face value. He would have to ensure that he made no overtly suspicious movements around this woman. She seemed to be on the verge of outright studying of him, and yet maintained a demeanor of outward disinterest. He made a note to himself to approach her later, in private if possible. She bore further investigation, even more so than the other Vindicators. He did not dare risk the use of his Bend Will shout upon her, lest she possess greater than typical willpower and break free long enough to inform anyone of his treachery. But he knew other ways to influence people. He was had learned much about people during his very long life. He had long since learnt that developing a friendly relationship was a simple matter with just about anyone so long as you were careful to never arouse their suspicion. Even the most paranoid cynic can be placated with a complete lack of evidence of any wrongdoing, along with a tongue cast in silver. So far Miraak was in possession of both. So long as he maintained his present course, all he had to do was sit back and let nature take it's course.

"You two should mind your manners. We do have company after all..." The golden-clad spearwoman contributed to the conversation. They had been mildly bickering and lightly teasing. Miraak suspected that there was some history between Mynx and the man clad in the purple-and-blue blend.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Valerie Kellum, but I am more commonly known as Valkyrie." Miraak recognized the term, surprisingly. Valkyries were an obscure Nordic myth, which predated even himself. They were the warrior-maidens of Sovngarde, who defended Shor's hold while their men went off to war. It was an old tale, and he had only found hints and notes in a few of the many ancient tomes he had scoured during his time in Apocrypha. Perhaps there were more similarities this world had to his own than was previously apparent.

"Malaise." Said the man with the blue and purple costume. He regarded Miraak with a cocky grin beneath goggled eyes. "I'm the finesse in this outfit. Infernal may be able to bench a station wagon, but I can fry somebody's brains from ten blocks away and be back in time for breakfast!" Miraak found himself paying rapt attention despite himself. It would be a good idea to learn the various abilities of his new allies before he even began to formulate any plans, and it seemed they were volunteering the information themselves. It was certainly telling of their naïveté that they were perfectly willing to share their strengths and weaknesses with someone they just met for the sole reason that he had saved some of their friend's lives.

"I am Luminary. It is a pleasure to meet you." The golden statue-woman with the glowing eyes stated politely. She maintained eye contact with him despite the obscuring nature of his mask's horizontal eye slits, seeming to conform to social norms perfectly. Her stare was somewhat uncomfortable, but he had endured far worse in his time. Employing Draugr as minions tends to desensitize one to such things.

Miraak turned his vision to the last Vindicator. She still maintained a neutral expression, but she managed a polite smile as she introduced herself. Her eyes never changed, even for an instant. "Aurora Borealis. I'm the most recent addition to the team." She concluded with a trivial bit of information, so as not to seem unfriendly, most likely. Now it was his turn in this little game.

"I...am Miraak." He hesitated for a moment. "It means 'Allegiance Guide.'" His name was somewhat ironic given his relationship with his former Dragon masters, as well as Hermaeus Mora. Still, he could tell that he had their undivided attention. Even the rambunctiously inclined Malaise kept his peace. Ms. Liberty had hitherto maintained silence in order to allow her teammates the opportunity to introduce themselves, and had been reclining against the window-wall.

The conversation was now at an impasse. No one said anything to alleviate the awkward moment, and it became obvious that they were waiting for him to divulge further information about himself. He supposed he made sense, given that he was meeting them all for the first time and that they already knew each other well enough. Now was not the time to arouse any suspicions about his past, so he mentally went over the spiel he had given Ms. Liberty and Mynx about his past and his arrival here in Paragon City and Rhode Island.

So he told them about his harrowing journey through a portal he had been investigating while out on 'patrol' in his old world. He told them of Hakon, Gormlaith, and Feldir. How they had all been friends and allies fighting against the tyranny of their Dragon overlord's who sought to enslave all of mankind. They listened in fascination and indignation as he told them of how the Crey had attempted to imprison him as soon as he breached the portal, but he had been able to fight them off in the ensuing struggle. The fire that consumed the buildings and killed all of the Crey had been the result of one of their armored soldiers ("Power Tanks", Ms. Liberty deducted) loosed a reckless shot from his gauntleted hands that hit the portal's power supply, causing an intense explosion. Miraak had just barely managed to escape the blast zone, and was on his way to get help when he ran in to Ms. Liberty and Mynx.

He could tell that all of them, even the originally skeptical Aurora Borealis, had bought his lie. When elaboration from Mynx and Ms. Liberty about his 'heroic' dousing of the fire with 'awesome' frost breath seemed to confirm his side of the story, they believed themselves to have a clear idea of his origins. Valkyrie herself had been the result of Crey interference, as had Mynx, surprisingly. It would seem that Crey got into mischeif on an extremely regular basis, distinguishing themselves with vast resources and completely amoral attitude towards scientific discovery. He could almost respect them had it not been for their ineptitude.

"What I want to know is how you managed to easily subdue two members of the Circle of Thorns who had managed to incapacitate Mynx and Ms. Liberty." Said Aurora. She looked at him inquisitively, with a hint of a challenge on her smooth features, along with a raised eyebrow. He realized with indignation that she was questioning his ability to defeat a couple of hack mages simply because they had been able to get the better of the two girls who had rushed in blindly at an enemy that had unknown capabilities. It certainly reflected poorly on Ms. Liberties leadership skills, at least.

Of course, he doubted that questioning Ms. Liberty's leadership skills would earn him any friends at this stage, so he held back his instinctive response. Deception came easily to him, and he merely described the most logical conclusion if he disregarded his far greater power than the two young women who had been all but vanquished.

"I am a fairly competent sorcerer." He stated. Not quite arrogantly, but matter-of-factly enough that it was shy of any true humility. He was, after all, one of the most powerful wizard's in all of Tamriel, even discounting his superior Dragonborn heritage. "However, I arrived a few moments behind Ms. Liberty and Mynx, who had drawn the attention of the two mages to themselves. I managed to get the best of them because of the opportunity created by them. It was not an individual accomplishment." He elaborated. Aurora seemed almost surprised by his response. Perhaps she had grown used to childish grandstanding or some such behavior from Malaise. Much could be said of the fact that he could easily imagine the man's grandiose and exaggerated speech of personal self-glorification were he in Miraak's place, within minutes of meeting the man.

"Huh. Well mannered AND humble! You could learn a thing or two from him, Malaise." Valkyrie chided her teammate. Miraak observed that Luminary still seated in her chair, who had said altogether the least of any of the Vindicators. She seemed content to merely watch events unfold before her, and Miraak had only taken note of her because her illuminated eyes unceasingly stared at him from across the table. Her teammates had yet to notice.

"Pssh. Whatever. At least I don't need a team of three to take down a couple of 'Casters, even on a bad day." It would seem that 'Casters' are not held in a very high regard as mages.

"It is odd that they managed to actually pose a challenge to the two of you alone." Aurora seemed to think out loud as she held her chin between her index finger and thumb as she looked upwards at something that wasn't there. "Ordinary Thorn Casters shouldn't have the kind of power it'd take to overwhelm you two like that." She explained her reasoning, and then asked a question of us.

"What were they up to? They couldn't have been just wandering around out there, right?"

Ms. Liberty answered her friend, but with a hard and solemn facial expression. "They were trying to kidnap a woman from off of the streets. She ran away before we could really try and talk to her, and the PPD haven't had any missing persons or assault complaints connected to this case. I guess she figured that we would take care of the whole thing..."

Aurora nodded as she got up to stand, and paced back and forth parallel to the center window. "Yeah, sounds like pretty typical suff for the 'Thorns." After visibly weighing her options she seemed to come to a conclusion. "Still, it'd probably be best to put the word out that some of the Thorn Casters might have gone through some kind of power-boosting ritual or something." Miraak resisted the urge to scoff at her display of ignorance to the nuances of complex magic.

"I'll have Swan talk to M.A.G.I. to see if they can look into it when she gets back from her mission with Infernal." Ms. Liberty agreed. "In the meantime, though, I think that we all have something we want to ask our new friend." She said. That caught Miraak off guard. He had only just met these people, what could they have to say to him, really?

"You have distinguished yourself admirably in battle and saved two of our members from death...or worse." Stated Valkyrie. She saluted him by bringing her fist to her armored chest.

"You have certainly proven to be of acceptable skill level, and you managed to save the day twice in one night." Said Aurora pleasantly as she smiled with approval. "I would say that you have already passed any test needed, but..."

Malaise butted in. "Butt nothin'. Any dude who can trip up a Thorn Caster with an electric banana-peel's got my vote!" He was in Miraak's favor for...something, surprisingly enough.

"Yeah! You were really cool when you showed 'em how real heroes do magic! " Mynx interjected with her usual bubbly zeal.

"Well..." Ms. Liberty continued from where she left off before. Miraak was beginning to suspect what this was about. They had certainly taken their time, so they might as well get over it now, he supposed. "After a lot of consideration, and today's meeting, I'd like to ask you to officially join the Vindicators." She finally said, and left it there for him to pick up.

Everything was silent for a moment, until he decided to go for the whole dramatic affair that usually accompanied such things. A little drama in your first appearance was always good for making a memorable moment. He bowed before them in a show of humility. "I...accept your offer. It would be my honor to fight injustice alongside you all. " He said, without a trace of irony. The honor, he thinks, is entirely theirs.

"Great! Then as the leader of the Vindicators, I officially welcome you to the group, Miraak." She proudly exclaimed. Miraak wondered what he had gotten himself into.

Deep in the bowels of ancient stone beneath Paragon City, far below the very foundations of the old colony lie the ruins of Oranbega. Here they toil, work, eat, and study. The practitioners of magic so black that it chills the heart of any who speak their name. The Circle of Thorns. It is here that they report success to their demon overlords in hopes of favors and blessings in return...or when they report failure, hoping to stay the wrath of their demonic masters. Often a fruitless endeavor.

"You have failed me yet again, Ah'rlek. It has come to the point where I am no longer surprised to see you returning here empty handed once more."

"Y-yes, my lord, b-but we encountered, er, we encountered unforeseen d-d-difficulties, er, my lord..."

The crimson red eyes stared uncaringly down at the wizard Ah'rlek. "I have given you 8 chances thus far to fulfill your end of the bargain we struck those years ago, Ah'rlek. So far my patience has been rewarded exclusively with failure..." The shadow drew back as it's master wizard cringed before it. "The next time shall be your last, until I decide what your fate should be for this humiliating defeat. For now...focus you efforts on this new mage you have mentioned to me. He...must not be allowed to disrupt the scenario. I am too close. I can almost taste the power just waiting at my fingertips..." The shadow seemed to savor that prospect, and shivered over "I trust that you will learn from Sparthicles' mistakes, Ah'rlek." It said, pointing to a grotesque mound of flesh and blood huddled in the corner of the chamber, writhing every so once in a while. "Do not fail me again, Ah'rlek..." He left on that warning note, vanishing into a pile of dust and soot.