"What are you reading?" Zoot asked.
"'The Imperial Guild of Mages' Treatise On Mysticism In The Third Era. And The Possible Exclusion of Said School From The Accepted Schools of Magicka'" He replied in a monotone.

Nice. That sounded just like an Altmer’s reading list.

It sounds like the boys pulled a fast one on Argentil. I wonder if he will teach them any magic? Everyone on a sea voyage would benefit from a water-walk spell, if only to get away from the vomiting Imperial. I loved the way you described the children. The details made them easy to picture, and then their individual mannerisms brought them to life. A very enjoyable episode at sea.

Acadian
Thanks, though you might not like what happens to her in the next two chapters.

Grits
I have no idea how I came up with the names of those books. I think I just rattled off a couple of magic sounding words and stuck then together,

Here is a map fo the voyage. The blue dot just north-west of Wayrest is Grimdale Moor. The red line west of Sentinel is where we are now, roughly. The green line is the rest of the voyage. I'll probably deviate from it more than once though.
The 'voyage' section of the story (everything in the green line on the map) will take up maybe 12-15 chapters. Perhaps more.
Map

Now, speaking of magic...

Chapter Five: Arcane

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Your stance is all wrong. You must stand straight Lucius, straight as an arrow, not bent like a bow." He calmed down for a few moments before his voice rose in tone once again as he noticed another fault.

"And your hand makes the wrong shape. Concave not convex. This is alteration Lucius, not destruction. You are trying to make Xutheel lighter, not set him aflame." Argentil had grown more and more irritated as the day wore on.

They advanced quickly at first, the schools of illusion, destruction and thaumaturgy came easily to them. According to Argentil, only the High Rock, Hammerfell and Black Marsh branches of the Mage's Guild considered the latter as a school of it's own and not simply a part of Mysticism.
Zoot could make himself invisible with ease, Lucius enjoyed freezing the sailors rum before they could drink it and Karrod could walk through walls as if he were born with the ability.
But Captin Fervala had grown tired of the boys playing tricks on the crew by pretending they were ghosts. Morale on the ship had plummeted due to the lack of rum and the sailors were afraid to enter the cargo hold.

So they had been forced to move on to another school. Argentil had chosen alteration, he said it was one of the simpler schools, easy to use once one got their head around the theory behind it.

Mysticism was far beyond their comprehension or the limits of their patience, Argentil felt uneasy about having the boys summon Daedra while in such an enclosed space and even the powerful mage had difficulty with restoration. By the standards of the Mage's Guild, Argentil was not even a journeyman in the art of healing.

"Okay, I shall explain it once more to you three." He sighed and stood up from his stool. "The Schools of Magicka, according to the Mage's Guild, are split not according to their effects, but by the means of casting the spells belonging to any particular school." He rubbed the bridge of his slender nose.

"Light and invisibility spells are dissimilar in their effects, but they are cast in the same way." He thrust his hand out, the tips of his fingers pinched together, his wrist was straight and his hand formed a sort of '7' shape. "You must set make your hand like this in order to cast both spell. Whether on touch, target or upon yourself." He opened up his hand and a spell was released at Zoot, turning him invisible for a few seconds. The Argonian released a raspy giggle, Argentil smiled.

"Now, I hope you remember this from now on." He dispelled the invisibility (his hand was in a completely different shape now, looking more like a backwards "E" from the side. "Try again Lucius."
Lucius focused, he thought about what he was going to do and willed the magicka through him. He felt a strange sensation in his stomach and it rushed through his body and down his arm. His hand glowed and a translucent sphere shot from his hand. It struck Zoot square in the chest to no apparent effect.

"How do you feel Xuthaleel?" It amazed Lucius that Argentil could pronounce Zoot's real name so well.

"I feel, lighter." To illustrate his point, he jumped, he seemed to fall at the normal speed.

"That won't work Xuthaleel. You will fall at the same speed as you would normally. But I shall take your word for it." He turned to Lucius, "Well done. Next, I will teach you both to open locks."

After two hours of opening simple chests and magically sealed crates, the lesson ended and the boys were let loose on the ship. They knew exactly what they were going to do.

"Open it." Lucius whispered. Zoot looked at him, his take scratched across the wooden floor.

"No. You do it. I don't even want to go in." Zoot stood up, lifting his tail from the ground.

"Get down." Karrod yanked him back into a crouched position.

"Why are we crouching, it does not make any sense. Why can't I stand?" Zoot moaned.

"Fine. I'll do it." He unlocked the door to the Captain's quarters and slowly opened it. The trio crept through the doorway

"There is nothing here." Zoot complained as he stood up.

Lucius stood also, followed by Karrod.

"Well, lets look around." He walked over to a chest and opened it with a spell.

"Treasure" Lucius said excitedly as he flipped the heavy lid open. His smile disappeared as he saw what was inside. There was a pile of maps, books, navigation equipment and the like. Perfectly boring to a nine year old.

"There is you treasure." He laughed. It was a strange laugh. It sounded like a 'kah, kah, kah,' rather than a 'ha, ha, ha.'

Lucius snatched up one of the sheets of parchment and read it.

6 Barrels of quality Wrothgarian Beer. Bound for Dawnstar and Northpoint. 100 septims per barrel.
90 lbs of Wrothgarian iron ore. To be delivered to Alluc's Arms in Archon. 400 septims in payment expected.
30 sets of the finest Anticleran silver cutlery and crockery. Bound for Leyawiin, to be delivered to the countess. 1,500 septims to be paid upon delivery and at the Countess'
satisfaction.
24 Sentinel Cutlasses, steel. Bound for Camlorn. 800 septims for 12, minimum price.
50 Sentinel Hourglasses. 20 Bound for Sadrith Mora and 30 for Port Telvannis. 50 septims per hourglass (these Telvanni are idiots to pay such a high price for a little sand).

The list went on in a similar manner, at the bottom there was a reminder to buy 200 lbs of ebony ore from Necrom (next to the word "Necrom" there was a curse in brackets, though Lucius was unfamiliar with that particular Dunmeri swear word).

"Damn the Imperial Navy. Damn them all to Oblivion I say." Captain Fervala's voice called out.

"Aye Captain." Replied a sailor. He sounded like a Nord.

"Don't they know that we keep the Empire standing? Us sailors. What would they do without us? And now they think to charge us extortionate taxes so we can make port."
She sounded livid. Lucius quickly ran towards the door and hid behind it, Karrod jumped under the captain's bed while Zoot cast and invisibility spell and ran to the corner.

"Well, captain. It's Daggerfall itself that's chargin' them taxes. The Navy is just collecting the money." He sounded quite bored.

"Spare me your drivel, Jorge. Set course for port."

"Aye, aye captain." Lucius heard the sound of heavy footsteps on wood as the sailor rushed to carry out his orders.
He heard the sound of a key entering it's hole and a noise which sounded like a confused dog. The door swung open. It came to a stop when it hit Lucius' nose. He struggled to hold back a yelp of pain.

"I though I left this door closed." Lucius' mother always used to tell him that talking to oneself was a sign of being tainted by Sheogorath.

Captain Fervala entered her cabin. And looked around.
"If that mage has taught those boys to open locks I'll string him from the crows nest."
She walked over and snatched something from her desk before leaving the room and locking the door behind her.

"See what you've done. We don't know any lock spells! How will we get out?" Karrod was still under the bed as he shouted.
Lucius thought for a moment, and snapped his fingers.
"We can walk through the door!"
He said excitedly as he cast the spell upon himself and passed through the solid oak door. It felt strange. He still felt the door pressing against him, but it was a nice sensation.

He walked through, Karrod and Zoot came through on either side of him. They pretended not to notice the tiny Bosmer stood in front of them.

"I'm telling." A high pitched, nasally voice announced.

"What's that? A voice from nowhere! Ghosts!" Lucius said, ignoring the short Bosmer in front of him. Zoot struggled to suppress a laugh.

"Down here." The voice said again. Lucius let his gaze drop to the floor.

"Ah, Hyna, I see you now. I mistook you for an ant," The other two laughed again.

"I'm telling the captain you were in her room." Hyna said, arms crossed.

"It's called a cabin." Karrod intoned, "And no you won't. Or tomorrow we'll go fishing for slaughter fish and use you as bait." He had a stern look on his face, Lucius wasn't quite sure if he was serious or not.

Hyna pouted her lips and looked at the three of them with narrow eyes, a strand of hair fell across her face yet she ignored it.
"Fine." She said moodily before storming off.

Karrod looked pleased with himself. "In Sentinel. Me and my friends used to play Hunt the Bosmer. Maybe I should teach you the game one day."




This post has been edited by TheBrume: Oct 25 2011, 06:11 PM

This was delightful! I’m glad to see someone pay homage to positional limitations regarding casting. Great fun to hear the kids’ take on spellcasting.

Oh noes! I hope they don’t use the little Bosmer as bait for slaughterfishing!

Seriously, this was fun to read. Thanks for the map and an idea of the length and scale you plan for the voyage. I shall fill me mug wi’ rum and look forward to enjoying the long voyage!

I love the map! Thank you.

Lucius is picking up some very useful skills on his voyage. I enjoyed the discussion of casting and the schools of magic very much.

Karrod looked pleased with himself. "In Sentinel. Me and my friends used to play Hunt the Bosmer. Maybe I should teach you the game one day."

I hope he’s joking!!

That was fun that...I was pretty impressed with the thought behind the different way of casting spells...Nice one...

Looking forward to the next bit...

Well, I've come back to this much later than I would have hoped. I've been rather busy with, well, computer problems mostly. In fact, I had hoped to post this earlier today, but everyone else keeps distracting me with their own great stories!

Acadian Thank you. During my this story's short hiatus, I've been thinking about the voyage and have changed my original plans. I'm going to cut down on the number of chapters set at sea. So Lucius will be back on dry land by chapter nine, ten at the latest. Then I can maybe have him reach Chorrol and he can start his new life as a [blank]. I'm not going to spoil it.

Grits Your welcome. I had thought about drawing Tamriel by hand (well, by mouse), but my MS Paint skills can only stretch so far! I think I'll be including more maps in future.

McBadgere Thanks. I never really liked the idea of magic in TES being cast through speaking. I had always preffered hand shapes, I think it makes more sense in some ways. When under water, for example, how can a mage speak to cast a spell?


Chapter Six: Mundane

A thick fog had descended over Northpoint as the Necrom Burning entered port. It took only a few hours to unload a few crates and take some more goods and supplies onboard. Lucius watched from the forecastle as a group of men and women in leather armour walked down the gangplank and off the ship.

"Thank the Nine those lot are gone." said Karrod's uncle, Daron. "Maybe now I'll finally be able to get some sleep." To illustrate his point, the Redguard yawned.

"I would not count on it. Look, there are Nords coming on board now. We will not have any rest because of their carousing." Xeeta, Zoot's mother said.
To be sure, a trio of tall, burly Nords pounded up onto the ship, axes and swords at their waists.

A few moments later, a tall man in a red surcoat emblazoned with a golden lion over a shining chain mail hauberk came aboard. He had a large kite shield in his left arm with the same lion on a red field and a long sword at his hip. His garb looked a lot like many of the knights Lucius saw at Oxcross Borough, except for the lion.

The rest of him was quite unremarkable. No scars, short close cropped brown hair, average height. Nothing at all distinctive.

"Do you think he will teach us how to use a sword?" Karrod whispered to Lucius.

"You have more important things to learn about than how to swing a piece of metal around Karrod." Argentil said. He always seemed to hear even the quietest of whispers. "I had been planning to teach you some conjuration later, but maybe we can just leave that and you can bash each other's heads in with a mace hmm?"

Mere minutes after the ship left port, Karrod, Lucius, Zoot, Hyna and Katie (Karrod's twin sister) found themselves in a well lit cabin.

"Take a seat children. Your parents have asked me to teach you about some more mundane subjects." A sly smile crossed the Altmer's face, Zoot leapt up from his seat and ran to the door.

"Not so fast." Argentil cast a spell at the door, causing it to slam shut and lock. Zoot futilely cast an open spell at it, but to no avail.

"Sit down Xuthaleel." The Argonian reluctantly took a seat at a long table, next to Hyna.

"Today, I am going to teach you about history. Your parents have already informed me that you all know how to count and read." He looked at Lucius at the last word.

"Now, in the beginning, there was only Aubris. Chaos. From this chaos, the cosmos are formed by Anu and Padomay…"

Two hours later, Lucius was still sitting in his seat with his head supported by his hand, Argentil was still prattling on.

"In the one hundred and forty third year of the first era, King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line, united the northen regions of Tamriel and founded the Kingdom of Skyrim."
Lucius stopped listening for a few minutes, focusing his attention on the blank piece of paper in front of him. He began tearing pieces off, rolling them up and flicking them at Hyna the Bosmer in front of him. He had just scored a direct hit on her freakishly large ears when he realised that Argentil was staring at him.

"Are you quite finished Lucius?" Without waiting for an answer he continued on. "The Empress Alessia, in an effort to please both her subjects, who had adopted the religion of their Ayleid overlords, and her Nordic allies, founded the religion of the Eight Divines. An intricate fusion of the traditional Nordic and Aldmeri pantheons." The Altmer paused to look around, his students were quite clearly bored and tired.

"I shall allow you a short break, you are free to leave for now. When we return, we shall continue with the history of the Alessian Empire." He dispelled to spell he had cast on the door.

Immediately, the 'class' jumped to their feet and fled from the room, scattering across the ship in their hope of finding somewhere to hide from their 'tutor.'

"Quick, to the cargo hold, he will never find us there." Karrod seemed terrified at the prospect of returning to Argentil and his history lesson. Karrod, Hyna and Lucius both ran down to the very bottom of the ship, Zoot opted to make himself invisible and simply stand by the door of the 'classroom' while Katie opted to run to the top deck, Lucius didn't know where exactly.

Minutes later, Lucius found himself crouching inside a barrel half full of apples, holding his breath as Argentil stalked the floor around him. He heard the mage breathing heavily, standing over the barrel. The tingle of magicka filled the air.

"I've found all three of you." He lifted the lid of the barrel and Lucius looked up at him and grinned. The Altmer simply grunted.
He moved over to a crate and kicked it, causing one of it's six sides to fall off, revealing Karrod to be rolled up into a ball, hands over his eyes.
"That only works one way Karrod."
He moved over to a sack, picked it up and upended it. A little yellow haired Bosmer fell out and landed with a thud, green leaves scattered across the floor.

"That's all five of you accounted for, now we can continue with our lesson." The Altmer seemed pleased with himself, his expression changed from satisfaction and smugness to concern and bemusement, however as he examined the leaves which were surrounding Hyna.

"Those are Blackwood Swamp Pads, Hyna." He shook his head. "You're going to come out with quite a nasty rash."

Sure enough, by the time they were back at the class room, Hyna's skin had become a pinkish colour and she was scratching her hands and face wildly, much to everyone else's amusement.

They ended the day with accounts from the War of Righteousness and promises of lessons, about the history of Morrowind all the way from the prophet Veloth up to the present, to be had the next day. A fact which frustrated Lucius to no end.



This post has been edited by TheBrume: Jan 22 2012, 12:32 PM

Welcome back! Here you provide us a delightful episode as Lucius continues his voyage.

"In the one hundred and forty third year of the first era, King Harald, the thirteenth of Ysgramor's line, united the northen regions of Tamriel and founded the Kingdom of Skyrim."
Lucius stopped listening for a few minutes, focusing his attention on the blank piece of paper in front of him. He began tearing pieces off, rolling them up and flicking them at Hyna the Bosmer in front of him. He had just scored a direct hit on her freakishly large ears when he realised that Argentil was staring at him. ‘
Much to like about this above passage! Rather than simply tell us Argentil was boring, you show it to us by his words. You also show us Lucius’ boyish energy and how he turns it to teasing the little elf, Hyna.

You are doing a superb job of staying squarely in Lucius' young boy perspective.

Nits:
’A few moments later, a tall man in a red surcoat emblazoned with a golden lion over a shining chain mail hauberk. ‘
This is an incomplete sentence. A few moments later, a tall man did what? I suggest simply adding something like: ‘strode aboard the ship’ at the end of the passage.

’Without waiting for an answe he continued on. ‘
Missing an ‘r’ from the end of answer.

’He moved over to a crate and kicked it, causing one of its six sides to fall of, ‘
Missing an ‘f’ on the last word. I’m sure you meant ‘off’.

He moved over to a crate and kicked it, causing one of it's six sides to fall off, revealing Karrod to be rolled up into a ball, hands over his eyes.
"That only works one way Karrod."

I like Argentil a lot more than his pupils do, I’m sure. I wonder what they will try tomorrow to avoid learning about Morrowind. It must be extra hard to pay attention knowing that there is a swordsman on board.

*

Sorry I'm a latecomer to your thread, the end of last year was so hectic (and then Skyrim came out) - I must have just missed this posting !!




Love the way you managed the censored word here - gave us the idea without letting them auto-change your term - very effective!

Also loved your little background history of Daggerfall - very nice! Your detailed descriptions of the towns throughout the story have been great, really giving us a picture of the settings as they arrive at each - nice!

Another thing I love is that your story is steeped in lore, that is tremendous!

Chapter Four - in my humble opinion was your best chapter yet. You personalized this chapter in so many ways - loved this whole chapter, if I had any nit it would be spaces separating paragraphs and dialogue in this chapter. Otherwise, you ROCK'd it !!

Chapter Five & Six - you are really becoming comfortable with your story now, and it shows. A marked improvement in your writing over the first two chapters - great write!

Aside from the content of the story itself I got a huge kick out of these:



Those two had me rolling before I even started reading !! You have a great sense of humor (a bit warped, just like mine, lol)

Awesome Write !! And a VERY belated welcome to the forum !! (and an apology that it took so long).

*

Acadian Thanks, its rather nice to be back. I do hope I'm able to move him out of his boyish... I want to say 'phase' but I don't really think one could call childhood a 'phase' so I'll just say; boyish-ness when the time comes (which may or may not be soon).

Grits Thanks. I like Argentil too, he's the only one of the characters based on an actual in game character whom I've roleplayed. Funny you should mention swordsmen.

mALX I know what you mean about Skyrim. I love the game's lore, so I like to put it in my story (though I will be... bending it slightly in chapters to come). It's good to meet someone with a similiar sense of humour.

Chapter Seven: Swords And Stuff or To Be A Knight. Whichever Title You Happen To Find More Appropriate. Personally, I Prefer The Former For The Comical Value, But I Suppose Others Would Prefer The Latter. I Guess It's Kind Of More Fitting. I'm Rambling Now Though And This Title Has Stretched On For Long Enough. On With The Show.

Please hold while we try and get this disaster of a chapter fixed. Someone will be with you momentarily. While you wait, please consider typing "elevator music" into Google for some entertaining tunes!
Thank you for your patience.

Chapter Seven.
*******

Thwack
The sound of a wooden sword impacting into Lucius' body was familiar now. And so was the accompanying pain. It was like a thunder and lightening relationship, the strike and the pain. The lightening (sword) would strike first. Followed by the thunder (pain) which came a few seconds later, without fail, sometimes worse than the last.

Lucius and Karrod had convinced one of the other passengers, a man named Hector, to teach them how to use a sword. It was an effective, if painful and exhausting, way to pass time on the ship. The waves and whales had long ago lost their novelty value to Lucius.

His trainer, Hector, had come aboard the Necrom Burning at Northpoint. So far, he had revealed very little about himself, though Lucius thought he was a knight. When he first boarded the ship, the man was wearing armour and heraldry that could only be owned by a knight. Lucius did not recognize the coat of arms however, and Lucius liked to think he could name every coat of arms in High Rock as he had owned a book on the knightly orders of the Illiac Bay once, which meant that the knight was either not from High Rock or there had been a new order founded in the seven years since the book was printed.

Thud
Karrod's sword slammed into Lucius' shield this time, though his arm still throbbed. The Redguard was younger than Lucius (Lucius had turned ten only a few days ago, with little celebration) though he was definitely stronger. Lucius had only won a few of their bouts. Most of his victories were won through some sort of trick, the rest were blind luck.

One time, Lucius had feigned a broken arm, when Karrod had let his guard down Lucius struck at the Redguard's thigh and tapped him on the helm. When Lucius had attempted the same trick the next day, he received a bruised wrist for his troubles.

The pair had been beating each other with wooden swords for a few days now, almost everyday, weather and Argentil permitting. When they were with Argentil they learned about menial things such as history, Argentil's magic tutoring seemed to come less often and his attempt to bore his "students" to death seemed to be coming close to success. All the while, the Necrom Burning continued on her voyage, she was sailing on calm seas and taking on a lot of goods as she approached the rich trading ports of Morrowind.

Ouch, was all Lucius could think when he found himself lying face first on the ship's deck. Karrod had once again got the best of him.
"That's enough for now." Hector said as he hopped down from the barrel which he always sat upon while observing the boys lash out at each other. He always seemed to know what the boys were doing, even though he always had his nose in a book and rarely watched his pupils.
"Come over here you two." He said as he crouched down so as to be at eye level. Lucius dragged himself over to where Karrod was smugly standing.

"What does it take to be a great warrior?" Hector asked, looking between the two children. "Swords and… stuff." Lucius said. It was the first thing that popped into his mind. Hector told him what he thought of that answer with a disappointed stare.
"A warrior should be strong, of course and disciplined. You should not reveal your intentions to you enemy. Do not interrupt him while he is making his mistakes. Simply hit hard and hit fast. To be a warrior is a rather simple thing. To be a knight, however, is far more complicated." He paused and looked at his students, unsmiling. "It is not the sword that makes a knight, but the wielder of the sword. A knight is nothing without chivalry. To protect the weak and innocent is what it means to be a knight. It is better for a knight to die with honour than live without it." He looked into Lucius' eyes. "Honour, valour, compassion, fortitude, altruism, mercy, diligence, integrity among others. These are the virtues of the knight. For a knight to disregard these virtues is a sin in the eyes of both the Nine and all true knights."

Karrod looked confused by what Hector had said, perhaps because he did not understand the concept or perhaps he had no idea why Hector was speaking of knightly virtues. Lucius understood the former, but he too had no idea why the man was speaking of all things knightly.

Lucius and Karrod continued with their session after that, with Hector taking a more active role. He showed them various stances. Lucius felt that he was improving, while he still wasn't winning, he was lasting longer in their bouts and even managed to give Karrod one or two bruises.



This post has been edited by TheBrume: Jan 31 2012, 04:50 PM

I started reading, but my eyes are blurring (2:30 am) - coming back when I'm awake, lol. <3

*



Love that line !!

Hector may have used too many big words there that confused Lucius, but the mystery of why he was seemed to intrigue both boys.

Love the last line - Lucius is not the biggest or strongest fighter, but he takes his small victories and keeps trying - really liking his character !! Awesome Write!

mALX Thanks, I remember teachers giving me that look when I was at school.

Also, I've come to a realisation about Lucius' story. I haven't put any dates in. So, I'll tell you all now.

At the current point in the story, it is Suns Dawn 3E 413. Twenty years before the Oblivion Crisis, ten years before the events of Morrowind, four years before the end of Daggerfall, eight years after the start of Daggerfall and fourteen years after the events of Arena.

I think this really puts Tamriel into perspective; it's messed up. Six narrowly aborted world domination/destruction attempts in forty years?


This post has been edited by TheBrume: Jan 30 2012, 10:18 PM

Can you post this in your first (original) post for the story, kind of add it at the bottom in case the readers want to glance at it to orient themselves sometime?

Love the title, 'Swords and Stuff'.

A delightful transition to swordplay as the lads pass their time at sea. And under the tutelage of a knight, no less! I get the impression that some of the lessons and knightly words are sticking with Lucius. Clearly, Lucius’ interest (and hopefully, aptitude) lay more with steel than magic and lessons of history. He certainly demonstrates the persistence necessary.

Nit: ’It was a effective, if painful and exhausting, way to pass time on the ship.’
I’m sure you want to replace the bolded ‘a’ with ‘an’.

"“What does it take to be a great warrior?” Hector asked, looking between the two children. “Swords and… stuff.” Lucius said. It was the first thing that popped into his mind. Hector told him what he thought of that answer with a disappointed stare. "

Hehe I chuckled at this part, and I know how you feel, I know the disappointed look so well!

I also enjoyed the spar bit, can't wait for more

Acadian Thanks. I have a suspicion that his persistence and interest in swords will serve him well in the future. No spoilers, of course.

Fawkes Thank you. There's more coming right up. I like your name by the way.

Also, I'm going to increase the number of updates a week to two because I've already written up to chapter fourteen and I don't want some sort of backlog forming. Update days will be tuesdays (I hate tuesdays, updating will be a brightspot on the day) and thursdays (I like tursdays, updating will make the day a littl brighter).

Chapter Eight: Pirates!
Sun's Dawn. 3E 414.

Lucius awoke with a start to the ringing sound of steel and the crashing of waves. His cabin was dimly illuminated by a small lantern hanging by the door. Father was not in the room alongside him and Lucius was overcome by the feeling of déjà vu. He jumped out of his hammock and began to get dressed, as he did so he heard several shouts coming from outside his door.

When he finally dressed himself, he prepared to leave his cabin, before he could move however, someone or something slammed into the cabin door, smashing through it.
The body of a Nord came into the room alongside the shattered remains of the wooden door, followed by a tall man in blood stained blue robes.

Lucius stared as the man lifted his gaze from the body up to Lucius. It was Argentil.
"Lucius." He said, Lucius nodded, though he knew it was not a question.
"Come with me, your father is down in the hold." Without another word, the man turned and exited the room, forcing Lucius to trail behind him.

The corridor outside the room was much better lit than Lucius' cabin, much more bloody too. There were bodies throughout the hallway, the floors (and walls and ceiling) were slick with blood and other fluids. The sight was too much for Lucius to bear and still keep hold of his supper, so he keeled over and added his own fluids to the hallway. "What… happened?" He managed to say in between his retching.

"Pirates." Argentil said. At that moment, as if to punctuate the sentence, two Redguards turned the corner at the end of the hall. The mage turned to face them, his legs spread apart, hands twitching. The Redguards approached him slowly, weapons at the ready. The first to attack was a shirtless, shoeless, frizzy, black-haired Redguard. He swung at Argentil's chest, swinging his axe diagonally. Argentil stepped back and the weapon embedded itself into one of the bodies on the ground. The pirate let go of his weapon and tried to turn and run, but his companion blocked his way in the narrow corridor. Argentil grabbed his shoulder, sending frost magic into the man, killing him. The other pirate fell backwards with his friend upon him and was quickly killed by a bolt from the mage's hand, obliterating his face.

"Come quickly." The Altmer said as he began to make his way down the corridor. Lucius had just begun to follow when the pair of them were thrown off their feet by an almighty crash. The entire ship seemed to shake as Lucius struggled to regain his feet. Argentil briskly walked up to him and pulled Lucius to his feet. "Quickly, we must get up on…" He paused and began staring at the wall. Lucius followed his gaze to a lantern, which he saw was slowly leaving it's upright position and tilting right, down the hallway. He saw a cutlass rolling along the ground too. Without a word, Argentil pulled Lucius along with him as he resumed his brisk pace.

"Where is my father?" Lucius asked, while noticing that the floor seemed to be tilting upwards.
"He is with the captain. Hurry." The mage said as he quickened his own pace.

As they were climbing the stairs to get up on deck, Lucius heard a bell ringing.
"Abandon ship! All hands, abandon ship!" a Breton woman with a northern accent was shouting. When he pulled himself onto the deck, Lucius saw that there was another ship adjacent to the Necrom Burning, on the right side. It's black sails were illuminated by the fires raging on both vessels, the night sky was given an orange glow. He also noticed that the other ship was sinking. It was going to pull them both down.

He saw his father leaning on the rails on the other side of the ship, holding a sheathed sword in one hand. "Lucius!" He cried when he saw him. Lucius ran towards him, forgetting Argentil. Before he could say anything, his father thrust a leather satchel into his arms. "Take this Lucius. There is a letter for you. And one for your uncle in Chorrol. Make sure you give it to him. I lo-" An explosion rocked the ship and caused it to continue list even further to the right. Lucius grabbed onto the railing, hung the satchel over his shoulder and craned his neck around to see what the cause of the conflagration was.

A black robed Nord was on the other ship, standing on a crate. He launched a spell at one of Necrom Burning's sailors as she tried to board the pirate ship. The bolt of frost stuck the sailor and encased her in ice. The woman plummeted down towards the sea and Lucius heard a splash. He caught sight of Argentil as he sent lightening towards the Nord. The lightening struck him, but seemed to have no effect other than cloak the man in a purple light. From what Lucius remembered from his lessons with Argentil, he guessed the man was using some sort of spell absorption enchantment. The man turned towards Argentil and threw a fireball at him, the Altmer leapt out of the way, and only just managed to reach safety. A large, smouldering hole was left in the deck where he once stood. The Nord on the other ship seemed to relax for a moment. He then stretched his arms out wide and shouted something. Lucius did not understand what he shouted, but he certainly heard it.

The Necrom Burning had been listing heavily to starboard as the pirate ship was pulling it down into the chilly Sea of Ghosts, it was becoming harder and harder to hold onto the rail. When the Nordic mage shouted, the first thing Lucius noticed was that the man, and the other ship, appeared to shrink in size. He then noticed that they were getting further away, not smaller, and that the Necrom Burning was being pushed away from the pirate ship at high speeds. Lucius saw several sailors who had not been holding onto something thrown from the ship. Lucius himself was clinging on for dear life. His grip was not tight enough however as he felt the ship strike something in the water, probably a cluster of rocks. He was thrown from the ship completely. He watched in horror as time seemed to slow down. He saw that the ship was flying through the air as it had been propelled upwards by the rocks it had hit. He saw that his father was no longer clinging onto the barrier where he once was. And he saw the Necrom spinning in mid air, the place which had been his home for weeks. It was ripped to pieces in mid-magic-propelled-flight. The strong Imperial Oak was no match against the waters and rocks and magic of Skyrim.

The last things Lucius felt before all went black was remorse for his lost home, followed by pain as he struck the freezing water and the blackness enveloped him.


This post has been edited by TheBrume: Jan 31 2012, 11:39 PM

Wow! This was tense and wonderfully paced. A real nail biter! I fear for Lucius’ father and the boy’s friends on the ship that had been his home for some time now. Argentil, even little Hyna.

Now Lucius must survive the icy water. Eeep!

Talk about suspense!

Oh no! Cast into the Sea of Ghosts!! Everything Lucius knows is lost again, and this time he’s separated from his father. I liked seeing Argentil engage in some badassery, instead of boring his pupils with history. Hopefully between Argentil and Hector, the Necrom’s youngsters learned enough to survive!

Acadian Thanks, I wasn't really sure that I had the right pace in that chapter.

Grits Well, let's just see.

Chapter Nine: Present From The Start
First Seed 3E 413

Lucius' eyes flicked open to the sound of somebody singing a song which he hadn't heard before. He could barely hear the words. His vision was hazy and his eyes hurt from the light. After a few moments, he opened his eyes just a little, he saw a plump woman with dark hair shuffling around the room within which he was lying on a rather comfortable bed. Upon closer inspection, the woman was a dark elf and she was the one who was singing, he could make out some of the lyrics.


Lucius tried to speak, in hopes of having the woman stop, but his words emerged as a hoarse croak, he found his throat was painfully dry. The woman did not have a bad voice, it was surprisingly deep, but Lucius didn't want to have to listen to her. She turned to look at him, she studied him for a moment, then burst into a wide smile.


Lucius croaked again and the singing stopped. The woman kept smiling and ambled over to somewhere to Lucius' right, his eyes did not follow her. Instead, he scanned the room. It was quite warm and well lit, although plain. The walls were of a grey stone and the floors were a dark wood, clearly well walked upon.
His bed was a narrow thing, though wide enough for him to stretch his arms out a little, with cream coloured sheets. It was surprisingly comfortable. On his left was a shuttered window and a small brown chest of drawers. Ahead of him, Lucius could see some cabinets up against the wall. There was also a fireplace directly ahead of him, a nice fire was crackling away happily, no doubt it was the source of most of the heat and light. For the most part, the walls were unadorned except for a large black tapestry above the fireplace, emblazoned with a red dragon. The Imperial Dragon.
To Lucius' right, the woman was pouring a glass of water from a pewter flagon. A few feet behind her was the drab stone wall.

The woman was still smiling, occasionally she would let out a chuckle, it made Lucius feel quite uncomfortable, it was quite annoying. "Here you go Lucius." She said as she offered him the water, still smiling. He pushed himself into a sitting position with some difficulty. He was stiff and sore and, despite having apparently been unconscious for a few days, he felt tired. The woman helped him drink the clear, cool, refreshing water. He gulped it down eagerly and the cup was quickly emptied.

As the round woman was pouring a second cup, the door opened. "Lucius! You're awake." Argentil didn't sound particularly thrilled by the fact, he sounded mostly sad. "I… have some news for you. Bad news." Lucius braced himself for the blow. "Your father, Titus. He was lost at sea during the… wreck." The blow still hit Lucius hard. He didn't know what to say. The news didn't come as much of a surprise as would be expected, he had already known his only parent was dying, his racking cough had only gotten worse and he had had trouble standing on his bad leg, Lucius simply didn't want to acknowledge the fact. He wasn't surprised to find that he was crying either.

The mage began walking toward the bed. "I don't know if you recall but your father gave you a letter before he…" Argentil trailed off. "Here." He handed Lucius a leather satchel and withdrew back towards the door. Lucius simply sat and stared at the brown bag, tears running down his cheeks.

Eventually, slowly, he pulled a letter from the satchel. It did not look like it had been in the sea. "I had too rewrite it. The ink had run on the original." Argentil explained.
Lucius unfolded the paper. It read,

My son, Lucius.

I have long given up trying to convince myself that you would never read this. And though I'm sure you do not like it, you will have to finish this journey on your own. This journey began weeks ago, when the Orcs attacked, there is much I wish to tell you about the attack and the reasoning of the Orcs. Just know that the Orcs are not as they seem, do not hate them.

You must continue onwards to Chorrol. You won't be going alone however. Two men have agreed to accompany you, Argentil and Sir Hector. I once knew Hector, he was once a good friend to me and so he has agreed to escort you to Chorrol. I did not know the Altmer, but I trust him all the same. Be thankful to these two men Lucius, make sure you never forget what they have done for you.

I have not always been truthful to you Lucius, as you probably know, I am not a native of High Rock, you were told that I moved to High Rock to become a blacksmith and it is there I met your mother. This is a lie.
I feel as if you never truly knew me. For this I am sorry, but let me tell you who I am now.

I was born in Chorrol. My mother was a hand maid for the count, my father was a man-at-arms. One day, the count was attacked by bandits while out hunting. My father saved the count's life and was rewarded with a knighthood. Your uncle and I grew up to be squires in service to County Chorrol as part of the Knights of the Oak. You might remember your mother telling you stories about them, but it was so long ago. When we became knights your uncle and I… competed over you mother's affection. She was the daughter of a Baron, an overly proud man who thought we were unworthy for his daughter. When your mother began to show greater affection for me, your uncle grew jealous. He informed her father on us. We fled to High Rock. Your uncle followed us to Grimdale Moor and tried to kill me. I bested him in battle and sent him away. I have never spoken with him since, though I have learned that he as risen high in the ranks. I can only hope that he has forgiven me and will take you in.

I hope you will be brave for my passing and that you will live a long and happy life. Though I do not know what lies ahead for you, I still wish I could have been there to see it.

I must cut this letter short, there is much I have to say, but there is only so much ink and parchment on this ship I have but one more thing to tell you.
In Grimdale Moor, I hid a journal within a chest in the basement. It will explain everything, but do not seek it out until you are older. Even when you are fully grown, I would not blame you for forgetting all about it.

At the very bottom of the letter, Lucius' father had managed to squeeze in the words "I love you," before he had run out of space.

Lucius allowed the letter to fall down to his lap. He didn't want to touch it anymore, like it was the stove in the kitchen of Lucius' old home. Father had always warned him not to touch the stove. But, as the priest of Stendarr in the village said, "Curiosity killed the Khajit." He longed to be in his village once more, to touch the hot stove again and be scolded (both by the stove and by father) for it. He wanted to walk through the village's dirty disorderly streets between the jumbled buildings again. But he couldn't. He could touch any old stove and walk through any old street, but not his stove and street. Everything in Grimdale Moor was gone. Everyone too. The priest of Stendarr, all the mages, the secret necromancer who used to give Lucius apples in exchange for his silence, the weavers, the adventurers, the fletchers, the farmers, the shepherds and the hunters. Even father.


This post has been edited by TheBrume: Feb 2 2012, 09:42 PM