It's been awhile since I've written a story, June has been a busy month. Anyways, I feel like I'm a little bit rusty now. But as long as I allow my thoughts to go from my head to the keyboard, I think I'll be okay.

Fredas, 12:03 am, Morning Star 25, 3rd Era 434



"Yes?"

Kahreem of Weet arrives inside the Count's Arms to rent a room. "I would like a room," he says.

"There's a wonderful room available, it's the best I have, and you can have it for a mere 25 gold. Interested?"

"Oh is that all? Quite a steal you've go there."

Amazingly, Wilbur, proprietor of this fine Hammerfell-styled establishment, does not seem to recognize the Redguard that's before him. The same Redguard who singlehandedly managed to decimate Wilbur's entire population of Cheap Wine not long ago. Kahreem expects some sort of retaliation. An angry, insulting speech, or something. But Wilbur does not deliver anything such. He does not recognize the wine-thief at all, it seems.

"Excellent. It's up the stairs there, and then directly across the hall. Center room, wonderful view of the city. Sleep well!" *CLINK*

Then again, Wilbur had only lost some measly bottles of the very cheapest stuff he had arranged on his property. Overall loss? Maybe 16 or 20 gold. Shoe polish had more worth. As Kahreem of Weet makes his way up the stairs, he takes a gander toward Wilbur's Cheap Rack, and is surprised to see the man has not even bothered to restock.




Fredas, 11:03 AM
Kahreem wakes way late the next morning, downs a bottle of the cheap stuff with some dried meat for breakfast, then affixes an Imperial legion helmet to his head, just in case. He managed to fool Wilbur, but chances are he might not manage to fool members of Castle Anvil. And he's got a bounty on his head, once again. What else is new?

He opens the door to the Count's Arms lounge, his breath fruity with wine, and his head buzzy with it, and is greeted by Wilbur at the bottom of the stairs. Wilbur seems cordial, still not suspecting a thing, yet he cannot give up his usual, slightly paranoid habits.

Outside it is sunny. Really can't complain. And nobody Kahreem greets on the street is unpleasant. He makes his way to the castle, wearing middle-class clothes + his helmet, and finally enters the castle's court. "State your business", Countess Umbranox greets.

"Good morning milady," Kahreem raises his voice about an octave. "I've come from over the hills and far away, to give ye something you might take of pleasure!"

"I am Millona Umbranox, Countess of Anvil," she says, exuding confidence. "I hope you enjoy your visit. I trust you will give us no cause to regret our hospitality to strangers."

"Regret?" ... Oh no! Why would you dabble in such thoughts?!" Kahreem flashes back into his mind for a couple moments. Forged letter. At least a dozen bottles of stolen wine. And two stolen horses. No, he hasn't got any regret at all. "Anvil is quite the pleasant town, I must agreeeeeeee. Cannot fathom a finer place of locating for a port, I cannot."

"You can best know Anvil by walking its streets," Umbranox advises with a lowered voice. "And speaking with its people. My favorite time is the harbor at sunset. The sun and sea to the west."

"Joviality, milady! Well. Not to waste any more of your time. I am merely here to make delivery of this document, sealed and signed by the ... um .... Elder Council himself. I mean, not the Elder Council, but one of the guards. Or somebody. [cough] Have a look would you? Something about your new Watch Captain."

"You have the Imperial Watch recommendation for my new guard captain?"

"Is that a crime?"

"Normally, these missives are handled by my steward, Dairihill."

"Yes well think about that statement for a moment would you? In order for Dairihill to handle one of 'these missives', somebody else would have to handle it, unless your precious steward somehow has the time and the freedom to walk all the way to the Imperial City."

Umbranox frowns. Is he mocking me? "Let me see that."

Kahreem hands it over, making some sort of submissive gesture. And thinking of nothing other than a large, fat bag of gold, to be handed to him by S'krivva, that mangy, walking housecatperson.

"Hmmm," Umbranox can't help but read the document right in front of her subject. "Hieronymus Lex looks like the best choice. I was about to give the position to Dairihill's cousin."

"Oh, you would not want to do that, milady. I can attest, and I do hope I am not speaking out-of-turn here, but I can attest that Hieronymus Lex has done a FINE job of cleaning up the Imperial City's Waterfront of its rabblery. Starting man hunts in search of art thieves. Starting man hunts in search of the Grey Fox. Fruitless attempts, I can assure, yet the man certainly does not give up!"

"I have the orders right there. I'll fill in his name and you can deliver it to Captain Lex. Thank you courier. My steward will tip you."

"Well it 'tis about fokkinge time. Ah. I mean, it's about time the graces of Anvil have such a fine officer in their employment milady. Graces be to Anvil!"

As Kahreem turns to walk away, Countess Millona Umbranox lets him know "you are dismissed."



[u]Note[/I]: After this night's gaming session, Kahreem got rather obsessed with this so-called "tip". Dairihill was nowhere to be seen, so he got impatient after several hours of waiting in the lobby, then he took the secret passageway to her room, which was locked. We shall see what happens next week (or whenever I feel inspired again). Stay tuned!

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 28 2015, 02:00 AM

Kahreem is making progress! All while having a bounty over his head, marvelous!

I love it when he sort of loses his temper at the end and says "about fokkinge time", then quickly takes his words back.

I love the look on Umbranox's face at the end! So classic!

Fredas, 11:32 pm, Morningstar 25, 3rd Era 434

Days Passed: 142
Days Jailed: 36

Active Quests: 19
Quests Cmptd.: 9


Music swirls all around, as a Redguard man, the same Redguard man who had committed a series of burglaries, trespasses, and petty assaults makes his way deeper into Castle Anvil. The Redguard is intensely focused, listening and noticing. Crouched in position for at least an hour, waiting for the moment when the old wall before him would come down. His heart rate slows, yet his mind stays jumbled. He remembers a time, not long ago, back when he was living a different life. Sleeping outside, or on the floor of some fort or cave. Living on boar's meat cheese, and other scraps of food. Seeing his buddies live fast, and die young.

But things had changed, and five months later, he here is, crouched behind a wall, waiting for the right moment, as soothing music swirls all around. Was he any better or any worse than others of his newly-chosen profession? Did other thieves plan and wait for hours, until the moment was right? Did they sometimes also get very lucky? ... or not?


He pulls the lever, and the wall before him begins to shift.


11:39 pm
Up ahead and to his right stands a guard. He just stands there, not moving. He does not appear to be protecting anything. Most guards, if they stand still, are protecting something: usually a doorway to a Very Important Area. But this man stands in the middle of the corridor to the right of Kahreem. Why is he in the middle? Why is he not pacing, as guards often do? .. Kahreem tries to keep himself from becoming mentally aggravated.

I'm just here to collect the pay which is owed he thinks. Being a messenger isn't bad work, actually. I enjoyed carrying that false document halfway across Cyrodiil and back, straight to Countess Umbranox, herself. And she had thanked me, and said 'her steward' would pay me. But her steward had not been around. She had not shown up, even as dinner came and went.

... And this Redguard NEEDS his pay. So here I am.

A lady in blue finery walks by up ahead, probably Umbranox herself. She walks right by the guard, who does not greet her. Five minutes later, another guard, and what looks to be a Khajiit walks by the initial guard, who remains at his post, guarding some carpet. Kahreem thinks he's going to go mad, as the music swirls all around. All I have to do is get down the hall behind me, without alerting that guard, thinks he. Well, the guard isn't facing me. Maybe I need to make a move.

And he does so. Carefully sidestepping from left to right, out of the alcove he has been hiding in. He then walks backwards, feeling the wall with his fingers, feeling for the entrance to the doorway to the steward's room. Dairihill is her name. Kahreem walks backwards, and the carpet-guard makes no move. Kahreem feels for the door behind him, and then turns to face it.* It is locked. And he doesn't have its key. Fokke! ... He is sure he had stolen a castle key from Dairihill last time he saw her, but apparently not. Or maybe it had gotten confiscated, last time he was in jail.

No problem, either way. The lock has three tumblers, and this means he's opening the door in less than a minute. He creeps in, sees her lovely office, all prim and proper. Closes the door behind him, so the guard outside won't get suspicious. Paces across the floor to her lonely (but completely safe) bedroom.

And Dairihil is nowhere to be seen.




2:10 am
Up ahead and to the right, Festivus the guard twitches his helmet. Thinks he hears something, or somebody behind him. But he cannot be sure, because the soothing music they blare day after day tends to clamber upon his hearing. He turns his head to the right, trying to see if anybody is behind him, but because he is in training, he does not turn his entire body all the way around. He can't! For he is in training. They told me to stand here on this carpet, eight hours straight, and I aim to please.

And he does please. Before long, he's got the job he signed up for. After his eight hour stint, Festivus becomes an official guard of Anvil county. He is assigned the shiny armor he's been wearing, plus a sword of silver, and free food plus lodging for eternity, while the chance to catch the second most-wanted thief of the year 434 slips right behind him.



This post has been edited by Renee: May 9 2023, 06:29 PM

IIRC, Dairihil has a lover in Anvil and spends some days with him instead in the castle. Maybe that's why Kahreem can't find her.

How can his brain get any more damaged after so much skooma?

Now that's an unusual thing to happen in Cyrodiil!

Nice to finally read more from Kahreem!

This post has been edited by Lopov: Jul 26 2015, 05:13 PM

Thanks Lopov! Yes it's good to be back. You are probably right about Dairihill having some lover. Kahreem already left Anvil though. He did another grandstanding moment as he left the Counts Arms too, stealing 2 bottles of Cheap Wine in plain sight of everybody, rushing out of town, and then stealing a Black Horse Courier horse he found a few days prior.

9:51 pm, Morningstar 27, 3rd Era 434

Level: 7
Playtime: 186:58:03

Days Passed: 154
Days Jailed: 36
Bounty: 1007 gp

Kahreem stands up, and prepares to leave the inn of Pell's Gate. He'd had rough day. Chased by wolf, then imps, then a guard, then another wolf, then another guard ... this had gone on for hours. He had stolen an additional horse, and evaded capture and death by riding this horse for several hours, through rivers, though dells and glades.

He had finally managed to shake them all somehow, made his way to The Sleeping Mare, and had a quiet dinner, sitting toward the inn's front door, just in case one of the guards decided to check the Mare. But this had not happened. And in the process of being able to finally rest, eat, and have a couple beers, Kahreem's health returns.

His plan is to ride his stolen Legion horse across the Niben. He hopes to then find Armand, who will manage to lower Kahreem's bounty. Because even if he is somehow able to speak to Hieronymus Lex directly, he'll still have to do some major jail time by that point. He certainly does NOT have the gold to pay his fine--after his Pell's Gate meal, he's down to just 5 gold.

He gets up, and walks out the door.

- - - - - -

11:12 pm
He rides past Fort Homestead, where a lone archer bandit tries his best to hit the Redguard who rides past, wearing blue upper-class (but dirty and torn) clothing. But the horse Kahreem is on is too fast. Kahreem rides across the water, and the bandit chooses to make the swim as well. Once they're both on land, Kahreem decides to flee, rather than fight, and rushes through the Waterfront's shacks. Nobody's around, so it's easy for the Weet Bandit to ride through without hitting anybody. The bandit falls far behind quickly..

12:01 am
Kahreem makes a sharp turn, rushes past Armand's cabin, rides up and down some stone steps, and dismounts the horse just after getting on the Marie Elena. Once here, he goes inside its upper quarters, then immediately drops to a lower galley. Pulls his cutlass (just in case) from his belt, but the bandit never shows.

"Ha!"

Chances are, that bandit could have encountered a lone guard. There was always one posted on the Waterfront's docks, even at night. After some time passes, it's clear that the bandit isn't coming aboard. Kahreem relaxes, sits down, and has a meal of somewhat stale bread. He notices that somebody else must be living on "his" ship. Every time he returns after some days have passed, he finds food here and there. Clothes, too, and other miscellaneous items. Whoever the other person is who's been living on the Marie Elena, he never manages to meet this person.

2:05 am
After some time passes, he finally changes clothes, sneaks off his ship, and hopes that Armand happens to be home. His walk doesn't last long though! Turns out, the bandit is still on the isle (wow). A rather drawn-out fight ensues between Kahreem (who's got a club but is wearing ordinary clothes) and the bandit, who has a battle axe + leather armor.

5:35 am
Daylight begins. The bandit gets his feet stuck in a set of rocks somehow, and Kahreem picks at him with his club here and there, but the fight is going nowhere. Suddenly, a guard shows up on the docks, but he seems confused. He doesn't just run down to where the fight is going on. Still though, as soon as this man shows up, Kahreem decides to crouch down and hide, moving away from the bandit. He wants the bandit's gear, actually. Would sure be nice to have a free set of new armor, and whatever else the man is carrying.

"ha!"
"urgh!"

Kahreem jumps on a crate which leads on top of a shed, which leads on top of a Waterfront cabin's roof. Crouches down again. The bandit had managed to get his foot free, and winds up fighting the guard, head-on, while a lady wearing blue clothes watches. The bandit falls quickly. Good! And the guard does not seem to know where Kahreem is hiding. Life on the Waterfront begins to stir. Kahreem sees familiar faces begin emerging from their shacks and cabins. He decides to risk getting off the roof. Skulks over to the bandit, where he takes the man's cuirass, boots, a leather shield, and a much-needed lockpick.

"Now, let's go have a chat with the deal-maker." He walks inside Armand's place. "Hey, wake up fool."

"What do you want?"

"Is that a way to greet the Redguard who's managed to spread more notoriety than any other? Except, of course, the Grey Fox."

"We don't talk about him in public. The Thieves Guild follows the Gray Fox. However, we make sure that most folks think he is just a myth."

"Public? We're in public? Never mind. I came here to speak about the mountain of a bounty which is no-doubt about to crash all over my head."

"You can pay your fines to the guards, serve your time, or pay me half, and I'll fix them all."

"Fokke."

"What is it?"

"Well I don't have any gold."

"It's your prison sentence, not mine."

"Yea, I completely forgot. I'm so used to having a sackfull of gold at all times. The Thieves Guild has done well by me. But I suppose it's time to face the music. Sigh."

"Shadow hide you."

"Whatever, Armand."

With that, Kahreem bites into a sweetroll he'd found, not looking forward to walking back outside.



This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 16 2015, 03:02 AM

That is strange!

At least Kahreem can always count on free food when he gets home


Seems like Kahreem wants to be liked, as well as getting faster on his feet. For some reason...

MM hmm, I dumped some points into Personality. Because he's already physically strong, but it's not like he trains or fights much. He's already fast. He doesn't use magic. I like the idea that he's (at least) somewhat better at talking to people, after all this time especially. So yeah, Personality makes sense!

It does! After all this time playing parts and whatnot, he should be a real smooth-talker

Nice update and what a surprise that the bandit stayed on the isle for so long. While Kahreem evaded many dangers like imps, wolfs, guards and bandits, it seems like he won't be able to evade Hieronymus Lex.

Welcome to Cyrodiil, ms Phimm

So that's the mysterious t00n - Sarah Phimm!

I wonder who her aunt is. Looking forward to her adventures "down here where it's warm".

Lopov: did you notice about the waffles?

thank you mirocu. I'm really excited about Sarah; there's something about when I make a brand-new character, and everything just seems to go right, and feels perfect: her looks, her stats, her (minimal) backsotory, and the mods which will support her world. That's how it is with Sarah.

Yeah, I noticed but forgot to mention it in my reply. I also noticed skeltons in Snaat's story the other day.

This post has been edited by Lopov: Aug 21 2015, 07:28 PM

Well hey, at least uni never showed up. And nobody's horse got killed by a nuisance creature.

-----------------------------------------------------------------
Sundas, Evening Star 10

Snaat Rayag the skooma dealer was feeling a little blue. He had wanted to meet up with the whores of Anvil on better terms than he did. He hadn't wanted to fight them. He hadn't wanted to kill them. But because of the politics of the situation, he had wound up at Gweden's farm cottage on unpleasant terms. He had been forced to fight, then kill them.

Actually, not entirely true. One of them survived. The cat-lady, whose name is Tsarrina. Snaaty had thought she had been killed, but then he had seen her milling about after the fight was over. She had told him the other harlots had forced her to be a part of their scheme, and when the Redguard guards showed up (the "man" and "wife" who had their precious ring stolen), they seemed to believe Tsarrina's story too. While they cleaned up the fight, Snaaty had given the Khajiit 30 gold, then persuaded her to follow him downstairs, where he hoped they could talk business.

Once downstairs, Snaaty had offered Tsarrina some skooma, but she had declined. Which was good. Snaaty's sudden plan for Gweden (and Tsarrina's plan for Snaaty) would probably not work, if Tsarrina was sucking on skooma all day.

Tsarrina had said, "well, I can't o it all on my own. See, if you can recruit some ladies to help me with the "work" that goes on here. One lady of each race would be good. Just send them here when you find them, and I'll do the rest."

"Sounds grand to me."

... and so began the relationship between Snaat Rayag the skooma dealer, and Tsarrina the cat-house cat-lady.

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 22 2015, 03:01 AM

Won't be long and Snaaty will control the entire underground of Cyrodiil. Maybe he should cooperate with Kahreem too if he already doesn't - maybe Snaaty is his skooma dealer.