Buffy likes to bring followers with her occasionally - like just for a change. Mostly she just wants her horse and a summonable familiar. Nice thing about summonables is that they can be unsummoned the moment they cause troubles or get in the way.

I forgot to mention that I think it is neat that you use that office in the IC as a 'research library'. Buffy has always done that with the Mystic Archives in the University. And now, she uses the Arcanium at Winterhold's College as well.

I also know what you mean when you enjoy posting about 'nothing'. Heh, Buffy once spent a respectable part of an episode telling us all about how she cleaned her teeth. In fact, here's the excerpt from Episode 131 of her Book 1:

*

I was a happy elf as I spread my bedroll beneath the stars.

Digging into my pack I pulled out a small brush and doeskin pouch. An elf's teeth could last a thousand years, but my mother had impressed upon me as a child the importance of not taking them for granted. I hadn't paid much attention until the first time I saw Cosmus the Cheat give me a big grin. From that time on, I was always very conscientious at cleaning my teeth. I had used a small flayed stick from an orange tree, but later came to prefer the bone brushes sold by Nilawen that were equipped with one row of bristles. Daenlin was well aware of my diligence; one day he turned his fletching skill to teaching me how to make my own brush for teeth cleaning - like the one I had just pulled from my pack. The handle was bamboo. One end had been split three times and each slot carefully fitted with boar bristles. The end had then been notched and tightly laced with fine silk thread to hold the bristles in place before they had been carefully trimmed to the same length.

I reached for the doeskin pouch which contained teeth cleaning powder. Fortunately, I had ground up a new batch the evening prior at the guild. The higher quality alchemy equipment that I preferred was quite complex. After having broken several of the fragile devices on the road, I no longer carried them with me. Rather, I relied on using guild facilities. The teeth cleaning powder was a simple recipe that Ardaline had showed me. The most important ingredient was dried iris flowers, well known for their magical teeth cleaning properties. Then salt to aid with cleaning and provide some coarseness. A pinch of glow dust helped with whitening and sparkle. Finally, some dried mint leaves ensured a nice taste and fresh breath.

I rubbed a pinch of the powder over my teeth. After drizzling some water onto my brush, I popped the end of it into my mouth and went to work. While brushing, I chatted to my paladin and mare about our plans, "Mmphlgl rgmphlf glgdrmph Kvth."

"I'm quite sure you don't expect me to understand that," replied Acadian.

Ha ha hey, that's awesome! you put a lot of detail into things most of us take for granted! How did you think of all those little details, with orange trees and brushes, etc. It almost seems like first-hand experience.

Oh my. You wouldn't believe the research areas to support our writing that Buffy has led me into. Horses, woman stuff, archery. . . .

Kewl, that's very awesome, Acadian. Y'all have a very unique relationship, I do believe.



"Hello."

"What exactly do you require of me?"

"Have you heard any word about what Takya wants to do about Sarah?"

"Rumor has it he's got big plans for her. Small tasks at first, and all dealing with fire. Once she has been proved loyal and faithful, Takya will then move on to bigger tasks."

"Oh?"

"Without question. Some of the associates believe he's going to use Sarah in some sort of plot against Count Janus Hassildor, the leader of Skingrad. Although details are sketchy, some believe that she'll be setting fire to achieve some of Takya's exploits."

"Well that's absurd!"

"No doubt."

"So long."...said one of Istrius's necromancers to another.

"Goodbye!"





"Good evening, Takya.

"What can I do for you?"

"Have you made a decision about what to do with Sarah Phimm?"

"I have, indeed."

"And what have you decided? Surely you can't be serious about including her into our fold?"

"Bite your tongue. It is not your decision, nor is it my decision, to make. You know this. You know that my guidances are caused specially by forces unseen. And I do not question these forces. These forces are what brought her to me. Sarah Phimm, that lowly barista, is going to make us powerful and rich."

"Namira? You speak of Namria?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Mastow? No, I confer not with Namira. Namira could only aspire to provide the visions I've seen."

"I see. Okay! You win, Takya. Though I must vouch a vote of protest about all this. Sarah could be conferring with the guards of Skingrad about us this very minute!"

"She will do no such thing, you worm."

"I see. Well, what have you got in mind for her? What sort of ... task are you thinking she might be worthy of?"

As Mastow listened to Takya's answer, his eyes grew wide, his doubts greater, and his confidence in his superior lesser.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 16 2022, 06:35 PM

Sarah's note reveals her to have a kind heart. Wonder what the Bytester's plans for her are? Probably not good, I'm thinking.

That's getting really interesting. Though Sarah seems innocent at the time, we already know from previous stories that she did something bad in Solitude years ago. Maybe she did it unwillingly but there was a hint that something happened because of her. So it's possible that she'll succumb to Tayka's influence and fulfill his will...we'll see. I'm definitely looking forward to whatever follows.

You guys have no idea what's about to come in Sarah's game, no idea at all. *heh heh* I love it!



First Seed 30, 3rd Era 434, 4:54 pm

Kahreem of Weet

Level: 9

Majors: Athletics (30), Hand to Hand (23), Heavy Armor (33), Alteration (24), Restoration (36), Acrobatics (41), Sneak (73)

Minors: Armorer: (1), Blade (20), Block (25), Blunt (23), Alchemy (4), Conjuration, Destruction, Illusion, Mysticism (all 5), Light Amor: 35, Marksman (10), Mercantile (23), Security (34), Speechcraft (35)

Days Passed: 216
Bounty: ... 250



Back home in City Swimmer's former flat, Kahreem of Weet gladly removes his legion armor suit, and dons a quaint, middle-class man's outfit. No doubt he'll be easily recognized if he stops there, so he looks around the floor, where a lot of his possessions are scattered. He notices the helmet, his legion helmet, which would make a great disguise for his face.

"Nahh. Won't work."

It would look silly, first of all, for a man to be wearing a heavy plate armor helmet, but the clothes of a chapel-goer. After a sit-down and some pondering, he comes up with a plan. He'll steal an outfit. He'll steal something to wear.

"Probably from the Mage Guild, or the Fighter Guild, yeah. Good thinking, Redguard."

He uncorks a bottle of the cheap stuff, and thinks a little more.

"NO SKOOMA," he says to the nearest wall. NO fokiinge skooma this time."

...It's the best decision he's made in a while, thinks he. Skooma would interrupt his thought-flow, and ruin everything, as it had so many times in the past. He'd be going into some sort of 'secret passage' pretty soon, somewhere in the castle, and he'd need his wits for sure. "No skooma" is going to be hard, especially with City Swimmer's tightly-rolled hookah still sitting in a corner, not to mention the near-constant smell of the stuff all over the top portions of Bravil. Maybe just a quick taste of the stuff would be--

"Uh uh, no skooma. But umm, Cheap Wine is okay. Is there a problem, Redguard?"

Nobody answers his question, but that's okay. Sleepy sleepy time he thinks, after eating eating some food.


11:42 pm
It is nearly midnight when he enters the Chapel of Mara, slowly walks down its steps, and then arranges his lockpicking kit for the door before him. Although all of this takes maybe a minute or two to accomplish, it feels like 3 days go by. He looks up the stairs, and sees nobody.

"Now for my secret weapon."

He puts the ring on one of his left fingers, which blurs his image. Stage one of his plan is now in effect. While having yet another bottle up at Lonely Suitor, he'd amended his original plan to raid the chapel, instead of ome of the guilds. If he could find a nice robe + hood, he could then pretend to be a priest.

"Who could possibly throw a priest out of the castle? Who? Any ideas. Of course not. It makes so much sense, why haven't I thought of this before?"

The door into the chapel's living area is a three-tumbler. Technically easy, yet still a challenge.

"GET out of here, before you get hurt."

"You ... you can see me?"

The Nord lady does not reply, she storms into the chapel's living area, though. "Fokke!" He spends some time trying to calm his nerves, while also giving that rude lady some time to get to bed. Then, he begins his work. It takes him three tries before he's in. Three tries on a 3-tumbler. not good. But at least there's nobody inside to greet him. The Nord lady had apparently gone to bed, just like he'd hoped.



He quickly notes the opportunity before him: rows of silverware: goblets, bowls, two vases, and one pitcher. He steals a few of these items, throwing them into his nightsack, but he decides to leave the rest for later, for he can't remember if he's got a fence in this town or not.

Unfortunately, the rest of his tryst goes nowhere. He locates three different rooms, each with sleeping people in them, but none of the wardrobes contain robes.

Really? You are all fokkinge religious folks yet you haven't got any robes?

The Mage's Guild it next on his list, that is, until he discovers the chapel's wine rack. Yes, the cheap stuff, BOTTLES of it.

"Oh yessss."

Five of them are all he can take at one time. But that's okay. He'll be back. As Kahreem leaves the living quarters and climbs the stairs, he notices the altar before him. It had been awhile since he'd been to chapel, at least five or six years, in fact. He had been 12 or 13 at the time, still living in Skingrad with his mother (his father long gone), his days as a bandit not too far ahead. It had been Sundas. He'd gone to Skingrad's chapel, and tried to gain a blessing from its altar. But Julianos had not responded.

"What had I done?"

But he cannot remember what he'd done. Pretty soon, he'd been out on the plains of the Gold Coast, living the life of an outlaw, his life completely changed, forever, his mother deceased. Now, at age 19, he reaches the altar, and gropes for Mara's blessing. She, like Julianos long ago, has decided she doesn't want to confer with the Weet Bandit, either.

"FOKKE!"

This post has been edited by Renee: Jun 12 2016, 02:56 AM

Poor Kahreem.


-NO SOUP BLESSING FOR YOU!



...

Monk robes are definitely not easy to find, especially not in any containers.

My favorite part this time is the ending as you shed some light on Kahreem's backstory, his father and not being able to receive blessing because of his way of life. Also, I think it's for the first time you mention his exact age.

Yeah, sorry that one is kind of a downer at the end. They can't all be funny!

After this story, he did go to the Mage's Guild. The sky was getting light outside. He began to pick one of the locks in this place, but since these are 4-tumblers, he decided to see if he can simply pickpocket a key. Well, this turned out to be a disaster. It's too bright in MG, and the lady noticed him right away. He had to leave Mage's Guild, and leave Bravil altogether. The one guard who's chasing him right now will NOT GIVE UP, my gosh the guy is persistent.

Kahreem had to run into the woods. He's hoping to find a nice troll or some other monster to distract the guard with, so he can finally hide somewhere for an hour, and return to Bravil without a fuss. Because his bounty isn't high enough for them to try to arrest him on the spot, yet. But rest assured, the Weet Bandit is going to get it done.

Renee, you're a tease! Tantalizing us with twists and turns to come in Sarah's story. . . but not until we turn the Weet Legionaire into an unblessed priest of Mara. With cheap wine. I can hear his next move. . . "Yeah, bet them mages got that secret magic. Bet they can turn wood into cheap wine. . . . "

I hear his father told him he should go to college. But he never said which college...

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jun 16 2016, 02:55 AM

Smiles for all. Here is the next Sarah story. It is a little random, but all of this will make sense later on.





"Takya, I cannot believe my ears! Can you repeat what you just said?"

"Is it really that difficult for you to comprehend? I am going to order Sarah to complete a simple task for me. For us."

"You would like her to give one of the chapel citizens some sort of sob story about a weakened adventurer, which will lure this citzen outside of the chapel, outside of Skingrad, past the vineyards where one of us will be waiting?"

"This is exactly what she will do."

"And then one of us will kill this chapel-goer with fire spells, and once that is done..."

"... we can move one of our men, or women, into the Chapel of Julianos," Takya finishes.

"Well that's absurd! It will never work."

"I see. Thank you for your opinion, Mastow. Your pessimism is not infectious, thankfully. I already have a couple volunteers, one man and one woman, eager and willing to be the one who will assist Sarah with my plan. Assuming she does as she's told,and brings a duped chapel-goer past the vineyards, one of our very own adepts, shall kidnap or kill this chapel-goer. We steal this person's clothes, and then move into Skingrad. He, or she, will live in Sarah's old mansion, and inhabit the chapel, in clever disguise, as often as he or she can. Pretty soon, we'll play this little trick again, and capture another of Skingrad's citizens."

"Oh?"

"Indeed. And when I feel we are ready, we will then move into the next phase of my little plan, which is not to revealed to the likes of you Mastow. Any questions?"

"Questions? I have none."

"Good. Because I'm through talking to you."

"Oh? If that's the way you're going to be about it?"









(Note: this journal entry was never formally completed.)


Dream Pic #1

Floating above Twin Sisters

Brandishing her daggar in defense of nothing

This post has been edited by Renee: Aug 21 2023, 05:28 PM

Ah, the nefarious plans of Takya Shyte Byte! Methinks he is up to no good, but how will he phrase his request to Sarah in order most likely gain her cooperation? I very much like Sarah's uniquely charming 'writing voice' that we see in her notes.

Thank you. I get the sense that she writes in a flowery way to amuse herself, because when she actually speaks, she's shy, and doesn't say much.

But this guy.... he has a lot to say. *ahem* A little too much sometimes.


Tirdas, 5:57 pm, Rain's Hand 2, 3rd Era 434

"It's all over lawbreaker! Your spree it at an end."

"Of course it is. I just turned myself in," Kahreem of Weet says, rolling his eyes. "You know who I am. Take me to jail."

"I'll take any stolen goods you have."

"That may be a problem, since I just sold them all. Well actually, I have this apple which is stolen. You can have my stolen apple."

"The next move ... is yours. Pay your fine, or I'll haaaaul you away."

"Fine? Pfft, you're not getting my money. Take me to jail, sir."

"Hope you rot, criminal scum!"

Kahreem's earlier plan, to steal an outfit of robes so he can more-easily sneak into Bravil's castle, had fallen through. After breaking into the Mage's Guild's basement, and its second floor (each of these doors a four-tumbler) there was just nothing to find. Except typical middle-class clothes; nothing which would let him blend right in with the castle's denizens.

At some point, he had made a trip to the castle itself, attempting to surveil its interior, just to see if he noticed anything which could lead to some sort of secret passage. A sliding bookcase, or a wall sconce which could be pulled. He'd scoured the entire 'legal' area he could, the servant's quarters, dining hall, and entry hall. Nothing. As he left the castle, he noticed some clothes on the ground. Clothes he had worn, just for a few days...

"A-ha! Capital!"



He would be disguised .... as a prisoner.

"Sure why not? The guards will arrest me, literally take me to the castle. I'm supposed to be there, right? Then all I'll have to do is serve my sentence, and when they let me out I'll still have an excuse to be in! Why didn't I thnk of this before?"

Once inside his cell, he'd probably "rot" for just a couple of days. If he kept his ears open, he might also hear some conversation about Fathis Aren, the castle's mage. Apparently, it was Aren who would have something to do with this secret passage, he assumed.

# -

Rain's Hand 5, 2:20 pm
After serving his time (3 days in total), he did not remove his jail clothes, nor did he return to the lower parts of Bravil. Instead, he throughly searched the castle's east wing, while wearing the magic ring he'd taken from that fallen moth priest. Even so, he'd been caught a couple times, once by a guard, and once by a castle smith-worker. But he'd been persistent. As usual.

After a few hours carefully searching the east wing, he'd given up and tried the Lord's Manor area. The first door on his left had been locked, but the Bravil castle key's interior had opened this without a problem. He had managed to find Fathis Aren's personal room. After entering the place, he'd grabbed a bottle of Cheap Wine which Fathis (or somebody) had knocked onto the floor. Gulped this down, then went to work, his head swimming with that buzzy feeling he'd come to know so well.

It didn't take long before he'd found a movable pillar located in the room's far wall. Kahreem pulled this pillar, which caused the alcove before him to shake and move.



And the old wall came down.





Behind this wall is a door. Locked. Kahreem's castle key won't open it, so he struggles for a moment with three tumblers. After passing through, and walking down a narrow corridor, he sees a set of dark stairs, heading downward. He wastes no time crouching, and silently moving forward. The space he is in now is stark contrast to the bright castle interior. As he creeps, he hears the sound of water, from somewhere.



... and then, a figure! UP ahead. This figure walks a bit, then comes to a stop. Seems confused in the darkness. Kahreem knows he hasn't been discovered yet, so he merely waits. But he grows bored almost immediately. Creeps forward very slowly, till he is very near to the man before him.

Fokke.

Is it really a man, though? Kahreem hears its breathing, which sounds more creature-ish than human. The figure wears what looks to be black & red armor too. Clearly, the Weet Bandit is not prepared for this man, or creature, or whatever it is.

He begins a slow, silent retreat, back the way he'd come, before realizing that the man in the red & black armor really does not see him. Kahreem scuttles up along side the man (or whatever it is), moves beside him, and to a gate which is directly behind. Locked with a 3-tumbler. Since there is so much water-noise around them, the Redguard thinks he can pick the gate's lock, without being heard.

Oh yes. The lock is picked in just one try.

He moves forward some more, and comes to a choice of direction: straight or right. He chooses right. This way he can move out-of-sight from the weird, armored man, and rick his torch. The passages in front of him are partially-flooded, and there is so much phosphorescent mold on the walls, turns out he doesn't need his torch at all down here.

The sound of mudcrabs is everywhere. He scrambles around for awhile, then comes to a door. Two tumblers. Might as well be made of paper, this door with its substandard lock.

"What's that?" says an elf's voice.

"Fokke!"

"Heh? I'd better cut down on the ale, starting to see things, I am!"

Kahreem decides he'd like this to go smoothly, and with a lack of mistakes. A mistake could cause things to not go well, and the elf, who is probably Fathis, apparently knows lots of magic.

"HUH?"

The elf wanders back and forth, in a semi-lit area. Typical Colovian stone corridors. He wanders. Pauses. Wanders some more. Kahreem decides it's best to be hiding in a darker area. He'll be able to pickpocket the elf, if things go right. Or maybe he'll just wait,

"HELLO? WHO'S THERE?"

Kahreem is right beside the elf now. Deftly, he slips a finger into the man's robed pocket, hoping to find some sort of magic arrow, the magic arrow which the Grey Fox had requested. But there is nothing in the man's pockets, nothing except a potion of some sort, which the Redguard leaves alone.

"IF IT'S A FIGHT YOU WANT, IT'S A FIGHT YOU'LL GET!"

The next set of moments is chaos. Kahreem is discovered, and the elf summons a scamp in retaliation. The Redguard does a mad dash around the place, running from corridor to corridor, but cannot find the place's exit! And what would happen anyways if he did? He'd then have to fight another opponent, this one wearing actual armor. Kahreem decides that even though he's wearing some cheap jail clothes, he'd have better chances taking on the mage, one-on-one.

"Good thing I brought this!" he says, raising his rare dwarven-carved mace. He rushes past the scamp, going straight for the spell-caster himself. The man doesn't last long, once Kahreem starts bashing him. As the mage-elf falls, and the Redguard cleans off his weapon, he realizes something.

"Finally, some fokkinge robes I can wear," he says. "Ha!"

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 3 2016, 04:49 AM

Sarah's story partially reminds me of the ever-lasting battle between good and evil - Tayke is of course the evil one and tries to succumb Sarah to the dark side as well. But it also seems there is something "hidden" inside Sarah, maybe even she doesn't know what exactly it is.



OMG!

Kahreem the prisoner disguised as a prisoner!

Like Lopov, I got a kick out of Kahreem disguised as a prisoner. His logic is. . . interesting - even more so when he has a belly and head full of cheap wine.

Well, he's got some robes now! And likely less interference around as he looks for that magic arrow.

There is now no more disguise left for Kahreem; he´s done them all!


I wonder who that creature/man was, btw..

Yea exactly. I keep thinking he'll run out of disguises.

That man-creature was one of those daedra guys, I forget their official name

Dremoras.