How did Almy's Hands get all the way up & over in Solstheim? What plugins are you running?!


Thank you. She's got five stones to go. Then that pesky little matter of the werewolves, and some other stuff.

Ehh it was a bug, naturally Lexie´s damn hands aren´t in Solstheim! No way! You might imagine how stunned I was finding those bastardes in that confounded cave!

Anyway..Renie just didn´t make it....then my comp crashed (thunderstorm)

Took me quite some time to read up on this story but I must say that it is written quite well with plenty of content and excellent dialogue. The only thing I'd like to see is a little more description of the character's free time. It seems that right after the character gets done with each 'mission' there is no intermission between them...no free time for the character to do as it likes. Very well done though and I enjoy your style very much. Please continue.

As for the writing the character's free time ... it is a matter of pacing, of detail, of knowing what to omit (calls of nature) and what to keep (interesting dialog) , what to only tell and what to actually show. It is a precarious balance and I will try to do a better job of it.

Thank you for the comments.


--
Chapter 10. Swimmer



"Rashelle, we have another problem," said Falco.

I could not help but grin. We always had a problem.

"Go on."

"Well, the new ship has arrived and the men have already loaded it up with ebony. This is our first large shipment. It will put Raven Rock in the black. If this fails, Carnius will most likely start to make things difficult."

I nodded and asked, "but what is the problem? I see the ship there and I see nothing wrong with it, at least from a distance. Why can't they depart?"

Falco sighed.

"The problem is the captain of that ship, Baro Egnatius. He has suddenly decided that he wants an outrageous extra payment or his boat will just stay there."

"He is refusing to deliver the shipment?"

"Exactly. I don't know what to do and I hope you can somehow find a solution. As before ..."

"... don't kill anyone," I finished for him.

"Exactly."

"Falco, though my appearance may belie this, I don't like unnecessary killing. You do not need to keep telling me not to kill anyone."

"Unnecessary?"

"When someone has just slashed at you with their weapon, wouldn't you then agree that it is necessary to kill them?"

"Understood, Rashelle. I am sorry."

"It's all right. Let me go talk to this Baro now."

"Thank you, Rashelle."

I began to walk towards the shoreline. It felt strange to have to walk around buildings that had not been there a mere few days ago. At this rate of growth, I would soon not be able to see the water from the mine entrance.

I threaded my way between two houses and at last I arrived at the recently-constructed dock.

A gangplank led from the dock to the ship. Next to the gangplank stood an Imperial.

"Greetings, I am Rashelle. Are you Captain Baro Egnatius?"

"No no no! The accent is on the third syllable. Eg-na-TEEE-us. Yes, I am he."

"Very well then, sera: I understand that you are asking for an extra payment?"

"Yes indeed!" he said. "They don't pay me enough and for a cargo like this, I demand more money! Like I told your boss, my boat doesn't go anywhere until I see some serious gold."

"I see."

I could probably intimidate this Imperial as I had the Nord. I could maybe even rough him up a bit ... but I did not what to. I did not want to solve every problem by beating people up. I frowned.

"If you're not going to give me the money, you'd better go away, otherwise you might get hurt."

I gave him my Look and I adjusted my sheath so that it clanked against my cuirass.

"Ha! Your armor and sword does not scare me! I've seen better fighters than you. My buddy Elberoth is very formidable with his saber. After seeing him fight, you're nothing. That big sword wouldn't help you at all against him."

"Elberoth, the former ship captain?"

"Ha! Nothing 'former' about him. There's not a man alive that can beat that wily Bosmer. Now there's a Mer who knows swordplay."

"He's dead."

"You lie. Leave me now, Breton, before I get really angry."

I turned and walked away. Had I stayed any longer, I would have thrashed that fetcher. That might have gotten him to take the shipment and leave, but he would never come back and we'd have to look for another ship to haul future cargos to the mainland. That would cause delay, extra expenses and the unwanted attention of Carnius.

Through the falling snow, I returned to Falco.

"What news Rashelle?"

"Nothing yet. He's being a s'wit. When you buried the bodies from the shipwreck, what did you do with the Bosmer captain's saber?"

"Elberoth, right? We took all the weapons from the bodies because we need them here."

I nodded.

"I gave the saber to Apronia. I know she's not good with it but it is better than nothing. We are on the frontier: she needs have a weapon, any weapon. Though she objected, I insisted she carry it."

"Falco, I may need to take that saber."

He raised an eyebrow.

"It's a long story."

"Never mind, Rashelle. I am sure you have an excellent reason. Whatever you decide to do, I'll approve it."

"Thank you."

As it was noon, most of the men were having lunch. They were standing around a fire. Over the fire was a roasting frost boar. They'd skewered it on a long metal rod and were turning it. It smelled delicious and my stomach growled.

"Hey Rashelle, have some," said one of the men.

As I approached the fire, I could see that Apronia was eating with the men, nibbling daintily at a chunk of meat in her hands. I imagined that she'd prefer a table and plates ... but we didn't have those yet.

I drew my silver dagger and, reaching down between Apronia and one of the men, cut myself a piece. Apronia flinched: I guess she didn't like my frontier manners. I smiled: this was the frontier.

"Relax, just cutting myself a piece. You think I was going to knife you or something?"

She laughed nervously as she stared at the dagger, "Ah, no, of course not. How silly of me."

Her eyes followed my dagger as I wiped grease from it. Only after I had sheathed it did she return to eating. Strange.

I took a bite of the meat. It was delicious. From the taste, someone had poured some mazte over the boar as it was cooking.

I now noticed that Apronia was wearing a sheathed saber at her side.

"Apronia, can I take your saber?"

"Well, Falco was kind of insistent that I wear it."

"I've cleared it with him. I need it for a problem we're having."

"Why not use your big sword?"

"Well, it's not that kind of problem. I need that sword because it is recognizable as Captain Elberoth's."

"OK." she said as she pulled the sword out from the sheath.

"Thank you," I said as I took the offered sword. "If all goes well, I may be able to return it. If not, I will find you a replacement."

"Take your time, Rashelle. It's heavy and I don't like it."

I nodded, suppressing an urge to smirk, and and walked away.

Still eating, I made my way back to the dock.

Baro looked at my drawn sword and said "you again. Are you trying to scare me with that sword? Ha!"

I slowly raised the saber and rotated it so that he could get a good look at it.

"Hey, that's ... that's his blade. You've got Elberoth's saber!"

"I told you, he is dead."

He looked from the sword to my face. I grinned and took another bite of the meat.

"How did you ... but where... so it's true? He's dead? You don't mean to tell me that you ... I mean, you didn't ... you didn't kill him, did you?"

I chewed, swallowed and then said: "I'm not saying that I did, sera."

"Okay, listen. Maybe I made a bit of a mistake, all right? How about I just take the ship and deliver the ore, and we won't have any sort of problem at all. Just ... just don't hurt me. Look, I'm going now, see?"

"Good day to you, muthsera."

He ran up the gangplank and onto his ship, shouting orders to his crew. They would be departing shortly. I had scared him enough to leave, yet I had done so in such a way that he would return for the next shipment.

Feeling rather satisfied at the way in which I had resolved that situation, I strode back to the fire.

"Thank you, Apronia," I said as I handed her the saber, hilt first.

She smiled and sheathed it. "Glad I could help."

I approached Falco and informed him of the good news.

"That is excellent, Rashelle. That's one less problem I have to worry about. Now, if I could find out who is swiping the ebony I could be happy."

"Someone is stealing ebony? How long has this been going on?"

"I noticed it about a day or two ago. By tracking the work schedules against the times that ore goes missing, I am fairly sure that Uryn Maren is involved. I searched his house but there was no ebony there. He's either got another hiding place or ... I don't know."

I nodded.

"Perhaps you could sneak around in the mine and watch him: you could then catch him in the act."

I remembered Uryn. He was one of the first three that I had escorted to the colony. I nodded.

"Thank you, Rashelle."

I walked to the mine and entered. After the whiteness of the falling snow, I had to stop and wait for my eyes adjust to the dim torch-light.

Once I could see, I quietly walked down the mine passage. At each branch, I chose a direction randomly, since I did not know exactly where Uryn was.

In a short time, I caught sight of him. I slipped on my chameleon ring and began to creep stealthily. He turned and walked towards me so I silently pressed myself into the side of the tunnel.

Unaware of my presence, he walked past. I turned and silently followed. He turned into a chamber currently being used as a storage area. No one else was around. He lifted the lid of one of the crates and from it he removed two pieces of ebony.

I silently strode into the room, slipped off the ring and cleared my throat.

"Oh, err, hello Rashelle."

I remained silent.

"I'll bet you are wondering why I've got these pieces of, umm, ore in my hands."

My gaze transfixed him.

"OK, OK. I've been stealing it, but Carnius told me to! It's his orders."

"Put the ebony back in the crate."

He did so.

"We are going to the surface. After you."

We walked upwards through the mine and outside without incident. I brought him to Falco and explained the situation.

"For now, I'm confining you to your quarters." said Falco.

We walked to his house. Falco took his key and locked him in.

"I'm glad that you found the culprit, but that is now one less man working. The fact that Carnius is behind this just makes it worse."

I remained silent.

"Rashelle, with the testimony from this man, we have Carnius. Go and confront him with this information."

"With pleasure. By your leave ... ?"

He nodded. I cast Divine Intervention.

I entered the Imperial Cult building and ran up the stairs to the upper floor. Carnius was in his office.

"You again."

"Uryn has been stealing ore. He says you ordered him to do it."

That's me, subtle as an atronach.

"Ridiculous. Why would I steal from my own project? If that man has indeed been stealing, then he was just making up a poor excuse to divert blame from himself. Go away."

I left. It was clear that I was was wasting my time.

I went down to the Cult chapel and bought some ingredients from Joleen. I had meant to do this yesterday but events had distracted me. There was no pressing need to make the potions immediately so, after bidding him good day, I Recalled to Raven Rock and told Falco what had occurred.

"I'm not surprised," he replied. "I'll draft a letter to send to headquarters. It will be sent out on the next ship, which will be arriving here tomorrow. They will deal with the Carnius problem. For now, there is nothing more to be done."

"Falco, I will then resume my task for the Skaal."

"Yes, good idea. Thank you for all of your help today."

I nodded and strode away, towards the north. My next destination was the Water Stone. According to the map in the book, it was located not far northeast of Geilir the Mumbling's place.

The snow continued to fall, as it had been since I left Thirsk. The beauty of Solstheim almost made me forget about my problems. Thoughts of Carnius, Fryse Hags and werewolves slipped away as I walked.

Luck was with me in that I did not have to fight off any animals until after I had traveled for some time. This soothing interval was much appreciated.

Of course, it did not last. After hiking over a small hill I was set upon by two Spriggans. I fought through those, three times each.

Soon I stumbled onto a pack of wolves. From the lighter coloring, I recognized them as a particular breed of wolf that was known to carry contagious diseases. They were thus referred to as "plague wolves."

As disease no longer affected me, their bites and claws were the only thing I needed to concern myself with. With fire and sword I fought them.

I finished off the last wolf and looked up to see a lone Fryse Hag. She was about thirty paces away. My grip tightened on my sword and I felt my features harden. I recognized her red hair, bound in a pony tail, and her face. She was the one from the other day ... the one who I had actually talked with. Her eyes met mine. Instead of attacking, she disappeared into the snow. I rushed forward to pursue, but she was gone and I saw no tracks: perhaps she had Recalled.

I proceeded in a more cautious fashion: I was expecting to walk into another ambush. I crossed water twice without incident.

The terrain here was devoid of foliage: there was only ice and snow, a sweeping expanse of white and more white ... with hints of blue and gray here and there. Though desolate, it was beautiful.

A patrol of mounted rieklings distracted me from my esthetic appreciation. There were five of them and I had to take a potion before I had slain them all. It seemed that as I went further north, there were more of them. Later on I was to learn that this observation was correct: riekling territory is essentially the northwest portion of the island, a region entirely lacking in plant life and covered with snow and ice year-round.

The Water Stone rose from the west face of a mountain. Since it was a dark gray, it stood out from the whiteness of the rest of the landscape. Instead of a Nordic rune, this Stone had several horizontal wavy lines carved into it; an obvious symbol for water. I placed my hand on it, as I had with the Earth stone.

There was a sensation of contact and voice in my head said: "Travel west to a small island off the coast, and follow the Swimmer to seek the Water of Life."

Through the falling snow I strode west. I crossed an ice-covered river once and, after fighting through some rieklings, I reached the west coast. I didn't want to swim so I cast a water walking spell.

It was not long before I reached a little island. I knew this was the right place because a black horker, as described in the Shaman's book, was resting on the island. I approached. He raised one flipper and rolled to one side. I rubbed his belly and he made a sound indicating pleasure, as had the one on the lake. He was so cute!

After a minute or so of this, the horker rolled back and, with surprising speed, scooted into the water. He wanted me to follow him. From my pack, I extracted my books. I placed them on the ground. I did not want them to get wet. Sighing, I cast Water Walk and stepped onto the water.

The black horker swam straight north. Though under the water, he was close enough to the surface that he was still visible. I followed. A Breton in armor running through falling snow, on the water, following a horker: what a sight we must have made, had anyone been there to see it!

After a surprisingly long time, perhaps a quarter of an hour, he dived.

I waited. He came back up to the surface and gave me a look that I could only interpret as "well, what are you waiting for?"

I like cold but even I have my limits. I did not want to be in that near-freezing water. Also, I hate being in any water larger than a bath tub.

The horker dived again. I sighed, cast a water breathing spell and canceled my water walking spell. I sank like a stone.

The water grew darker with depth. I began to have trouble seeing the horker. I was uncomfortably cold. Something slashed at me: a druegh. I fought the beast and then looked around. I could not see the horker and I was freezing. I cast the water breathing spell again and continued my descent: maybe we would meet up on the bottom.

I reached the bottom shortly. I cast a Night Eye spell. It was good that I had learned the method of casting spells without speech: otherwise I would have been helpless in this deep water.

The horker hovered near a mound with a hole in it: an entrance to a cave. I hoped there was warmth in there: I was starting to lose sensation in my limbs and I felt so slow. I was shivering and so cold. Maybe I would just stand still for a moment and ...

I woke up, blinking. The horker bumped against me and my water breathing spell ran out. I shook my head and cast the spell again. If I dozed off again, I would die. I was so cold!

Into the hole I went. It twisted and it turned. it bent down, then to the left and then to the right. I lost all sense of direction. I could not even ascertain up or down. It was so dark and so cold. Maybe I could just rest for a moment.

No! I forced myself to press on. I saw light ahead. I swam for the light. I was rewarded with ... air. I was now standing in waste-deep water. I coughed a double lungful of water. It was a pleasure to simply breath air again.

A directionless blue-white glow revealed that I was in an ice cave. I had no idea the cause of the glow but I welcomed it.

The attacking skeleton I welcomed with a fireball. The spell did not seem to do as much damage as expected: this was a tougher than average skeleton. Later I learned that this was a type known as the skeleton berserker, an undead with the added strength and ferocity of a mortal berserker. Rapidly, the skeleton slashed at me. Its sword clanged against my cuirass several times before I could sluggishly swing Chrysamere. The skeleton blocked with its shield. Starting to warm up and also beginning to move faster, I brought my claymore down again: this time the shield shattered. I parried a sword-thrust and then chopped: the skeleton fell apart.

I emerged from the water onto the icy floor of the cave. The cave only extended ten paces or so: it was a dead end. I searched and found a spoiled water breathing potion and a water walking potion. I kept searching. In a crevice in an icy wall I found a small bottle. I could not identify it. I placed my thumb and fingers around the cork, intending to open it ... when I hesitated. Maybe this bottle was the "waters of life"? If so, I should not open it anywhere but by the Water Stone. I carefully stowed it in my pack.

I took a few more minutes to search the cave: I wanted to make sure that there was nothing else that I had overlooked ... because I was not coming back here. I cast a Detect Enchantment Spell and detected nothing.

Finally, I gulped a Restore Magicka potion, cast Water Breathing, and returned to that frigid water. Once again I swam though the twisty tunnel and lost all sense of direction.

Though in darkness, I could sense when I had reached the open water. I was too cold to endure a long upward swim so I cast a water walking spell. I shot upwards at a dizzying speed.

Very soon, I was standing on the waves again. Unfortunately, I did not feel so good. My shoulders hurt, as did my knees and elbows. As I coughed the remaining seawater out of my lungs, a burning pain raged though my chest. I was suddenly having trouble breathing. With shaking hands I quaffed a Restore Health potion.

I had been warned about this effect ages ago by a pearl diver. There was something about diving in deep water and then rising too fast that caused injury. No one knew why. I drank another potion and felt much better.

I ran south, casting my water walking spell as needed. I was wet from my swim, and this made me colder, but it was a cold that I could tolerate. It was nothing like the horrible cold I had experienced in the depths.

After recovering my books from the little island, I turned east.

The sky was darkening when I reached the Water Stone. From my pack I retrieved the bottle that I had recently obtained. I uncorked it and poured it on the stone. The bottle then vanished and a cascade of glowing blue bubbles rose up from the ground and ran up the sides of the Stone. This was exactly as it had been for the Earth Stone, save that those had been a blue-green hue.

I had completed the ritual for a second Stone. A cast of Recall and I was teleported back to the colony. I walked to the fire and, for once, enjoyed the sensation of being warm. It seemed odd to still have an outdoor fire now that there were several buildings, but I was glad that it was so.

"You actually look cold!" exclaimed Falco, who was also standing by the fire.

"Yes, I am. I've just been in a very cold area."

I related to him and the men the details as to my icy water adventure. They shivered.

"Has anything happened here?" I whispered to Falco.

"No problems from Carnius or anyone else," he quietly replied.

"Good." I had been a little concerned that some new problem would emerge while I was gone.

"You're just in time for dinner," said Reinhardt Red-Spear as he handed me a bowl filled with something and a spoon. The men must have obtained utensils from the shipwreck while I was away. It smelled delicious and I ceased talking as I shoveled the warm goodness into me as fast as I could. It was only as I was finishing it that I even noticed what it was.

Reinhardt had made a stew from bear meat but had mixed in enough vegetables and seasonings to make it interesting and tasty. We all agreed that the meal was excellent. It was a nice change from simply grilling whatever animal happened to attack the colony that day.

Apronia ate only a little and then scurried off to her house.

"Maybe she isn't feeling well?" I asked, mouth full from my second helping.

"Naw; she always goes to bed early." said one of the men

I swallowed and said; "Still, I wonder if I should check in on her."

He shrugged.

I left the fire and made my way to Apronia's house. On the day that she had arrived, Falco had moved the men out of one of the houses and given it to her. As the only other woman in the colony, she needed a house to herself, with a door that she could lock.

I knocked on the door and called out "Apronia. It's Rashelle, are you OK?"

"Err, I'm fine Rashelle," said her voice from inside the house. "I'm just a little tired, that's all."

"You are sure?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Good night, Rashelle."

I shrugged and bid her good night. I returned to the fire and served myself a third helping of the stew.

"I'm so glad we hired you, Reinhardt: this stew is delicious."

He beamed. "Thank you, lass."

Hmmm I'm suspicious on whether or not Apronia is truly all right or not, but I have a feeling that Rashelle will re-visit this strange going to bed early.

Anyways, another solid update, you certainly took Kiln's words to heart with adding some more daily going ons in this update. Plus the event with the sea captain was quite humourous so we get that famous mix of action and humour that you like to give us.

Hey, don't forget mystery! What with the Fryse Hag she didn't kill appearing before her only to suddenly vanish again. Very mysterious.

This post has been edited by Dire Cheesecake: Jul 5 2007, 01:00 PM

Something is up with Apronia, I'm sure of it.

And the water must have been REALLY cold to have that effect on our resident 'cold, what does that word mean?'

Well, cold water is ... errr ... cold. You lose heat faster in cold water than in cold air. This is why aquatic mammals (whales, etc.) have layers of blubber in their bodies: insulation. Rashelle is not super-human. Her cold affinity is actually something I have copied from my real life self ... with slight exaggeration. Still, she has limits: things can get too cold for her. She's not an avatar of some cold/ice/frost god ... she just likes it cooler than most people do.

Anyway ... next chapter ...

--

Chapter 11. All-Maker



I snapped awake. Falco was calling my name.

"Rashelle," he said, "We have a problem."

I looked up at him questioningly. Though many buildings had been erected, by choice I still slept outside.

He remained silent. There was an unusually grim expression on his face. I unrolled myself from my bear fur, bundled it up and stuffed it in my pack. I stood up and sheathed my sword.

"Follow me," he said.

He led me through the colony to one of the houses. I remembered that it was Uryn Maren's house. Falco unlocked the door and motioned for me to enter.

I entered. He followed.

Uryn was on the floor, by his bed. He wasn't moving.

I crouched down and took a closer look. He'd been stabbed in the chest, most likely with a short sword or a dagger. I estimated that it had been done at some point after midnight.

"Carnius?"

"Do draugr stink?"

"Damnit."

There was no way to prove that it was Carnius, but I knew. He had silenced this man to protect himself. What else would he do to further his goals ... and what were his goals, anyway?

I stood up.

"No," said Falco. "Don't do it, Rashelle."

"He's a murderer."

"We didn't see him do the deed. We could be wrong. You must not kill Carnius."

"Are you going to stop me?"

"I cannot, but I beg of you ... think about it. We didn't see the murder occur. It could have been anyone. A Nord could have sneaked in and killed him. It could have been a Fryse Hag. It could have been Apronia."

I laughed. I couldn't help it: the concept of Apronia trying to stab someone was absurd. The laughter helped. It broke my murderous impulse and allowed me to see that Falco was correct.

My gaze returned to the body and I stopped laughing.

"So now what?" I asked.

"I write a report about a mysterious death. I keep to the facts. And we see what happens next."

"Do the men know of this murder?"

"Not yet, but I will have to tell them. This sort of thing can't be kept a secret. I just hope it doesn't cause a panic."

"Agreed."

We left the house and Falco gathered the men who were currently awake around the fire for a quick meeting. He related what had occurred. There was a sullen silence. Everyone was thinking their own private paranoid thoughts. I'm sure everyone had their suspects.

"I have my own theories as to who the killer is," said Falco. "I cannot say them, but if I am correct, then none of you are in danger. Now, we need to resume work. Today we finish the building where the bar will be located."

The men grumbled.

"Apronia did it. She did it." Said one of the men.

I glared at him. He looked nervous but he pressed on nonetheless.

"She slips away early every night and hides in her house. I'll bet she's a witch! She's doing secret rituals there in her house. She killed Uryn!"

"Shut up," I said.

"She's a witch I tell you!"

Before he realized it, I leaped over the fire to him. I grabbed the front of his shirt, shook him, and hissed, "I'm a spell-sword: I know at least twelve different ways to kill you with just a spell. I'm the closest thing to a witch here. Got a problem with that?"

Sparks flew from my hands.

"N-n-no sera."

"Apronia is not a witch. Uryn was slain with a normal edged weapon, not by magic. Apronia is innocent ... and she is under my protection. If you hurt her, I will hurt you. I will hunt you down and you will be made to pay! Do you understand?"

"Y-Y-yes, sera."

I let go of him. He fell to the ground in a sitting position.

I turned to address the others. "That goes for all of you. Leave Apronia alone. She's not the murderer and she's not a witch."

"Maybe you are the murderer," said one of the men.

"If I were, you would all be dead already."

There was silence.

I saw Apronia. She must have just emerged of her house.

"Apronia, there's been a murder," said Falco. "Uryn Maren is dead."

"I heard you talking. I heard you say I did it. I didn't do it."

"I know," I said.

"Now," Falco said to all, "I know that until today, we've all been getting along fine. This murder is causing us to turn against each other. That's what Carnius wants. We cannot play his game."

"Carnius?" said one of the men.

Falco sighed. "Damn. That slipped out. I guess I'll have to tell you all the whole situation."

Falco then informed the men about Carnius, Carnius's history, and about the theft of the ore. The men were quiet.

"So one of use could be Carnius's agent?" said Apronia.

"Could be. Or perhaps his agent sneaked in here during the night, did the deed, and Recalled out. Let's not get paranoid. Remember that the murderer had a specific reason to slay Uryn, not any of you."

I knew that Falco had not wanted to tell the men about Carnius but I was glad that he did. It noticeably reduced the tension.

"Men, we need to keep going. The staff for the bar will be arriving on today's boat so let's get cracking on finishing that building ... after we have breakfast, OK?"

Mention of a bar generated some enthusiasm. I felt that I would now be able to leave Raven Rock without having to worry about Apronia's safety. This was a relief, as I wanted to finish the remaining four Stones for the Skaal.

Breakfast was a treat: kwama eggs that had been retrieved from the shipwreck. After we ate, I informed Falco of my plans.

"This is good, Rashelle: we need to to know why those werewolves attacked the fort."

"By your leave, I will teleport out."

He nodded. I cast Divine Intervention and was teleported to Fort Frostmoth.

I had chosen to go to the fort because two of the Stones were not far from there. Also, I wanted to give Gaea and Severia an update as to my activities regarding the werewolf attack investigation.

I found Severia in Carius's office.

"Rashelle! How are you?"

"I am well. I have made contact with the Skaal and I am still investigating. It is likely that they are not behind the werewolf attack. In the meantime, has the captain reappeared?"

"No. It looks like he is really gone for good. If the Skaal don't have him, I don't know what to do."

I explained to her the Ritual of the Stones.

"It all seems rather farfetched," she replied, "but if it gets you in the confidences of the Skaal, then it is good. Maybe, even if they don't have him, they can figure out who does."

I nodded.

She swore and then said; "Who am I kidding? I think he's dead. He's gone for good. We needed him. He was the best commanding officer I ever served under!"

"Severia. I don't know if he is alive or not, but I will keep trying with the Skaal. Maybe the captain will turn up."

"No, Rashelle, I must be realistic. He's missing in action, presumed dead."

I frowned.

"But Rashelle, I'd appreciate if you could continue your investigation. We at the fort need to know if those werewolves are going to attack again."

I nodded. Regardless, I was going to continue the task that the Skaal had requested of me. I had promised to do it ... and I was curious about the Skaal and their ways.

"Oh, and one other thing, Rashelle."

I looked questioningly at her.

"That Nord, the Red-Spear fellow; he's gone missing. I find it suspicious that he disappeared an hour before the werewolf attack. He's been gone ever since then."

I laughed. She glared at me.

"I'm sorry Severia, that was my doing. I got him a job over at the Raven Rock colony. He is there now."

Her expression softened into a smile.

"Oh, well then."

She giggled in a very un-legion manner that brought a smile to my face.

I smiled and said . "I must go now. I am going to finish what the Skaal asked me to do. And Severia?"

"Yes?"

"I have seen some strange things. I've been in some strange situations. I think the captain may still be alive. We do not know much about werewolves, or of the gods around here. It is too soon to form a conclusion."

"Do you really think so, Rashelle?"

"Two words: teleporting werewolves."

"Good point."

I bid her good day. I left the fort by the north archway and, heeding the map in The Story of Aevar Stone-Singer, I turned northwest.

No Hags attacked me on the way; just a spriggan, a pack of wolves, and a few bears.

I soon found my destination: another Stone. It topped a small hill, lightly covered with snow. I approached and inspected it. The carved symbol was obviously a representation of the sun. As expected, this was the Sun Stone.

After placing my hand upon it, a voice spoke in my head.

"Go west and free the Sun from the Halls of Penumbra."

Was this the voice of the Skaal's All-Maker? What was this All-Maker, anyway ... another god?

I walked down the hill and then headed west. I reached a river but before I could cross it, I was set upon by two berserkers and a bear. I fought them and then crossed.

In front of me was a depression in the snowy ground: a sort of channel going westward. It was framed by two standing stones. Was this a path to Penumbra?

Since I wanted to go west anyway, I decided to follow it.

This was not a good idea, since it limited my visibility to the sides. This allowed a bear to surprise me. One does not expect something that big to be able to move quietly, yet he had done so. Claws slashed into my arm.

I cast a fireball and darted back a few steps. The bear growled. I now had Chrysamere out and I swung. The bear howled as my claymore tore into him. He swiped at me with a large paw but I quickly dodged and hit him with a larger fireball.

The bear growled its pain and anger. I reached past his wavering paws and thrust. My sword found his heart and he expired.

As I pulled Chrysamere free from the body, I felt something small and hard bounce off of my armor. I turned to see a Nord man in a mix of fur and steel armor, bow in hand. He was shooting arrows at me.

I leaped out of the channel and ran towards him. I could now see that he was accompanied by four other Nord men: this was a party of reavers.

I cast a fireball. I dodged arrows as I ran towards the other men.

After I had slain two of the reavers, I noticed that the arrows had stopped: the fire had finished the archer. There were now two reavers remaining.

One of them slashed at me with his claymore. I parried. He had skill with this weapon: I felt a twinge of regret to have to slay someone with such ability, but he was trying to kill me. I chopped and his sword broke in two. He ran for one of the bodies, presumably to fetch another weapon. I left him to that and focused my attention on the other reaver. I parried his thrust and then beheaded him.

His compatriot had recovered an axe from one of the dead and was resuming the attack. Turning, I batted his axe aside and kicked, high. My adamantium boot connected and he was knocked back. He tried to get up and I kicked again. His head snapped back and he fell, quite dead. I'd broken his neck.

I looked around, expecting a third attack ... and saw it. A single riekling, mounted.

I cast a simple health damage spell. His boar staggered and fell, throwing him: my spell had killed the boar instead of the riekling. He ran towards me, swinging his odd-looking blade before he was close enough for the swing to do any good. I kicked. He flew through the air. I ran and, before he could rise, I dispatched him.

Again, I looked around me. I turned in place, expecting another attack. I listened. Aside from the whispering of the cool breeze through the trees and the distant sound of a raven, I heard nothing. I put a hand on the arm that had been wounded by the bear and cast a healing spell.

I resumed my westward travel, walking alongside the channel rather than in it. Very soon, the channel terminated at a snow mound with a door in it. There were no Nordic runes or other identifiers yet I knew that I had reached the Halls of Penumbra.

I entered, to be confronted by total darkness. Normally, no matter where I went, there always seemed to be some sort of light, be it torches, braziers, luminescent mushrooms, or even a faint illumination from the air itself. Here there was nothing. I touched a wall and felt the pleasing coolness of ice. This was an ice cave, yet the ice did not filter through any of the light from above. Perhaps there was a sort of darkness enchantment.

The Ring of Azura's night eye enchantment was not helping much so I cast a night eye spell. The combination of the spell and the enchantment allowed me to dimly see.

I strode forward and was soon attacked by a pair of draugr. I dispatched them.

I continued along. My explorations revealed this place to be an extensive complex of ice tunnels, filled with many draugr. It took some time to traverse it.

At last, I rounded a bend and saw ... light. I also saw a large spiky silhouette blocking the light. It had glowing red eyes and it was moving. I cast a fireball. the creature growled and began to run towards me. It loomed larger and larger. I cast a sustained stream of fire. The creature groaned. It was on fire, yet still it approached.

In the light of its flames I could see the creature better. It was the color of ice. It had several large spikes extending upwards from its back and also from the back of its head. There were tusks protruding from either side of its maw and very large claws on its hands: both were white. I raised my sword. I chopped just as its arm lashed out. It was quicker than expected: its arm struck and only my cuirass saved me from those wicked claws. I sailed through the air, smashed against the wall and fell to the floor.

I slammed down a potion and was on my feet before the creature was able to reach me. Warned now of its speed, I was able to get a slash in and dodge without mishap.

Darting to the side, I avoiding another swipe of its huge arm and my claymore again sliced through its flesh. The creature was bleeding now; ordinary red blood: it was not made of ice. I cast another fireball and, with a pained sort of howl, the beast fell and was still.

Later on I was to learn this this was an ice troll, and that they frequented the colder underground places in Solstheim. They were also known as grahl.

As Aevar had in the book, I removed an eyeball, which still glowed, from the dead creature. I walked towards the light. I was faced with a transparent wall of ice. I threw the eyeball at the wall. There was a brilliant flash of light and the wall shattered. A piece of ice struck my head and I lost consciousness.

I awoke to see that the cave was now lit. I took a healing potion and then rested for a short time. I sharpened my sword and performed some maintenance on my armor before finally setting forth for the surface.

My return to the Sun Stone was without incident. I was rewarded by the sight of many yellow balls of light rising along the sides. I had completed the ritual for a third Stone: I was halfway done.

The position of the sun in the clear blue sky indicated that it was now the early afternoon. I decided that I would tackle another Stone. I sat down, resting my back against the Sun Stone. From my pack I removed the book. I studied the map briefly and figured out that the Tree Stone was closest to my current location, roughly northwest.

After replacing the book in my pack, I stood up and set off.

I ran into another band of reavers as I crossed the river: did they congregate by rivers? A few spriggan attacks later, I saw a lone woman. At first I thought her a Fryse Hag, but I did not recall any of them wearing a Nordic ringmail cuirass before. Also the bare arms holding the Nordic battle axe were not standard uniform. The shoulder length blond hair was familiar.

She turned to face me.

"Svenja!"

"Rashelle! What brings you to this part of the woods?"

"I'm on a quest for the Skaal. Are you taking a break from running things at Thirst?"

"In a way, yes. Part of our income is gained from the sale of pelts from snow wolves and snow bears. I was taking a little time to hunt some. Each one of us does this from time to time and it does provide a nice break."

"It is good to see you, Svenja."

"I've missed you. I had hoped that you would stop by again yesterday."

"My work for the Skaal took me far to the west and north yesterday."

"Too bad."

"It was rough: I was swimming in freezing water and I actually was cold."

She raised an eyebrow. "It takes a lot to make you cold."

I smiled and said: "I'm off to restore the Tree Stone. Come with me?"

"I don't know. I shouldn't be gone too much longer. How long do you think it will take?"

"While I can't tell for sure, based on my experiences with the first three Stones, I expect to be done before sundown."

"OK Rashelle, lead on. Then you come back to Thirsk with me?"

"It's a deal."

We traveled North East, me with sword drawn and her with axe at the ready. I related to her what had happened with the first three stones. As she was familiar with the story in the book, I did not need to pause to explain everything.

Several packs of wolves, a grizzly bear and berserker later, we reached a snow covered hill. After crossing over the hill, we reached an area where the snow did not cover the grass completely. There we found the Stone.

"Rashelle, may I?" she said as she gestured towards it.

I nodded.

She placed her hands on the Stone. After moment she pulled her hands away and shook her head.

"Nothing."

"I'm sorry, Svenja."

"Perhaps since you are the one who has started to perform the rituals, only you can complete the rest of them."

I nodded and placed a hand on the Stone. In my head, the voice spoke: "The First Trees are gone. Travel east and find the one who has stolen the Seeds. Beware ... he who has the seeds, controls the trees. Plant the First anew."

"Svenga, we go east to find the one that has stolen the seeds. The book mentioned that he is a falmer. Do you know what a falmer is?"

"That's another term for riekling. If I recall the story correctly, a riekling will have the seeds and will be controlling some spriggans. That will be a tough fight."

"Here; take some healing potions, just in case."

"Thank you."

"Here's my plan. We try to kill the riekling first. He's controlling the spriggans. They will then scatter, or at least be more disorganized. This should make it easier for us."

"Understood."

I took a few steps and then stopped.

"Svenja, I have had a further idea."

Some time ago, as part of a contingency plan, I had made several rather strong chameleon potions. By taking two or three of them, one right after the other, their effects could be "stacked" to achieve complete invisibility for a minute or so. I rummaged though my pack and found them.

"Svenja, I can use these to become invisible. We will walk east until we spot the spriggans. I will then drink a couple of these. This will enable me to walk past the spriggans and kill the riekling."

"What if they see us before we see them?"

I frowned.

"Rashelle, how about this? I will walk ahead. You follow me at a distance so that they will see me and not see you. I will serve as a distraction. When the spriggans attack me, you go invisible and slay the riekling."

"Will you be OK?"

"I have my axe, and the potions you gave me. If you kill quickly, I can hold out long enough."

I nodded. We had a plan.

We strode east, with me a distance behind Svenja. After a while, Svenja issued a battle cry and ran forward. She must have spotted our quarry. I quickly quaffed three of the potions, cast a levitation spell, and floated up and forward. This last I had done so as not to make footprints.

She was in a clearing, fighting three spriggans. Three more remained near a riekling.

I flew past Svenja's fight. She was good with that axe but I did not know how long she could stand against three at once, so I wanted to conclude this quickly. Upon reaching the riekling, I swooped down and decapitated him.

The idea for focusing on the riekling paid off: now that he was dispatched, the spriggans fighting Svenja ceased their attacks and wandered away. The three by me also began to wander.

Svenja was taking a potion and did not appear to be in mortal peril: she did not need my assistance. I canceled the levitation spell and searched the riekling. I found a small peace of cloth that had been tied into a sort of bag or pouch. I opened it. Inside were seeds of some kind.

"Rashelle, it's creepy to see you invisible. All I see is a floating little pouch."

I laughed. "It will wear off shortly. Now let us get back."

We returned to the Stone without incident.

"But what," I wondered aloud, "do we do with these seeds?"

"We plant them," she said.

"But where?"

"There." She pointed to a spot of ground not far from the Stone. There was a small circle of rocks, each about the size of my fist. Had that been there before?

I crouched in the center of the circle. With my silver dagger I dug a small hole. I placed the seeds in there and then replaced the dirt over them.

"I wonder if we need to stand watch."

"No," I said. "Look at the Stone."

Glowing greenish white bubbles rose along the sides of the stone.

"That means the ritual is done. We can go."

The sun was low in the sky.

"I've taken too much of your time, Svenja. I am sorry."

"We did go on longer than I had expected. Do not feel bad, Rashelle. I would like to stay with you but I need to Recall back to Thirsk. If you start walking now, you'll be there in a few hours. Promise you'll meet me there later?

"I promise."

She smiled and said, "by your leave?"

I nodded. She cast and was gone.

I had agreed to go to Thirsk ... yet a thought had just occurred to me. I was not far from the Brodir grove. Since Ulfgar the Unending was 500 years old, he might have additional information on the Fryse Hags, information that had been lost to living Nords. I would go there now, before heading for the mead hall.

As I had reckoned, Brodir grove was very close to the Tree Stone. I did not see Ulfgar, so I entered his cave, making noise so as not to surprise him.

"Ah Rashelle, hello again. Have you news of Sovngarde?"

"I am sorry, not yet. I come to you with a question."

"Ask."

"What do you know about the Fryse Hags?"

He paused and let out a breath. "That's an odd request, lass."

I said nothing. I find the less I speak, the more other people speak, and I could think of no better way to prompt him along.

"The name translates into modern Tamrielic as 'freezer witch' or 'cold witch'."

This was new information: it had not been mentioned in any of my research.

He then told me the rest of what he knew. It was the same information that I had already researched, save for one other new detail.

"I remember two to three centuries ago, they were different. They did not kill wantonly like they do today."

I raised an eyebrow.

"They used to help people. They would sometimes assist travelers, saving them from the attacks of beasts and berserkers. They healed the wounded. They comforted the fallen, the dying."

"What happened?"

"I do not know. Something somewhere changed. Now they only kill. Rashelle, what is going on?"

"I do not know. Ever since I've arrived here in Solstheim, they've been attacking me. They've tried to kill me every damn day. Once they ambushed me and threw a net on me. They tried to freeze me with magic. They've stabbed me with those daggers. One threw herself on my sword, killing herself just so that the others could get a better swing at me."

I had to pause at that point to calm myself.

"Another time, I tried to talk to one and she said she wanted to slay me because I was not of their order. She said all life ends in death, so she didn't care if I killed her. That makes no sense. Ulfgar, I don't believe that a bunch of woman are going to run around killing everyone who is not one of them. That is madness!"

He remained silent.

"Yesterday," I continued, "I saw a hag. Her eyes met mine. It was the one I had spoken to. She did not attack. She ran off and disappeared. That was the strangest thing about this whole matter."

He sighed and then spoke: "Rashelle, in 500 years this world has changed and gone strange. I want no more part of it. Please ... help me get to Sovngarde."

He said this last in a tired and pleading tone. Had there been any doubt in my mind as to his real age, it would have just then been banished.

"I cannot promise," I said softly, "but if I ever find out anything, I will tell you."

"Fair enough, lass."

"I thank you for the information. Now I must be going."

"Take care, Rashelle."

My conversation with Ulfgar, while informative, had been depressing. My mood was much darker than it had been upon entering his dwelling. Would I be like Ulfgar when I reached his age? And what was it with these Hags, anyway?

It took longer than expected to travel to Thirsk. Along the way, I fought many creatures, including more of those damn Fryse Hags. The natural snowy beauty of Solstheim failed to cheer me.

It had been dark for some time when I finally reached sight of the mead hall. I entered. Through the happy crowd I wandered towards the back of the room. Svenja Snow-Song saw me. She smiled. My bleak mood was lifted. I went to her.

"I've missed you. I had hoped that you would stop by again yesterday."

"My work for the Skaal took me far to the west and north yesterday, but at least I saw you today. That was fun."

She gave me a very odd look and said: "What are you talking about?"

"Today, you and me, the Stones ... remember?"

"Rashelle, I still have no idea what you are talking about."

"You were out hunting this afternoon. I ran into you, we spoke. We traveled together."

"Rashelle, I've been here all day."

"Oh."

I then related to her what had happened, in detail.

"It is true that we each hunt from time to time," she said. "Thirsk does sell snow pelts, but that was not me."

"She was your twin. She wore what you are wearing now."

I pointed to the axe that rested against the back wall, "she even had that same axe."

"Rashelle ... There is only one explanation: that was the All-Maker, manifesting in disguise."

I looked questioningly at her.

"Remember that Thirsk was founded by members of the Skaal. We share many beliefs. Those that we do not share, we still understand. This has to be the hand of the All-Maker. The All-Maker approves of you, and is glad that you are performing the Ritual Of The Stones. Therefore, this is good news."

"Svenja, I suddenly need to go and sleep."

She laughed. "You know where my room is. The door is unlocked."

"Thank you, Svenja."







This post has been edited by blockhead: Jul 24 2007, 03:49 AM

Oooo, that was a neat twist added there at the end. I liked that. Continue the great work!

Hmm, a personification of the All-Maker him/her/itself? Wow, wait till she tells the Skaal that. They'll get even more respect for her than just the respect from performing the ritual of the stones.

Chapter 12. Ritual



It was early in the morning, not long after sunrise. Svenja and I were having a nice quiet breakfast by ourselves while the rest of the mead hall slept.

"Rashelle, today I am going with you to finish the Stones."

"Oh Svenja, that's wonderful!"

"And if we bag a snow wolf or two, so much the better."

"Svenja, it bothers me that the All-Maker appeared to me like that."

"Why Rashelle? This indicates approval of your quest: this is a good thing."

"Yes, but ... back in Vvardenfell, I've already had dealings with gods. I was chosen by Azura to perform a quest. She guided me through it. She interfered with my life, fortunately to my benefit ... but I do not wish to go through something like that again. I want to be ordinary, not an agent of another god. I don't want the attention of additional gods."

"Rashelle," she said softly, "When it comes to gods, we hardly ever have a say in the matter. I think that all you can do is to make the best of it,"

I frowned. She was correct ... but I was weary of gods.

"Anyway," she continued, "this is why I'm going with you. The All-Maker's use of my likeness seems to be a hint that I should be with you for the remaining Stones."

Having just finished the remainder of my porridge, I removed The Story of Aevar Stone-Singer from my pack and placed it on the table. I don't recall if I had ever tried porridge back in Vvardenfell. I was not sure I liked it at first, as its appearance was not appealing and its texture strange. I soon became accustomed to it, as the flavor was good and it was filling.

I opened the book to reveal the map.

"There are only two Stones left to do: the Beast Stone and the Wind Stone. The Beast Stone is not far from here so we'll go there first, OK?"

She nodded.

On the way to the Stone we stopped at Lake Fjalding to play with the horkers. I was on a quest and I had made a promise, but I had to see the horkers again. They are so cute and so friendly.

"They are adorable, Rashelle," said Svenja. "I've lived with them all my life so I guess I've kind of taken them for granted. When I was a little girl I used to play with them, like this. Thank you for refreshing my memory, Rashelle."

A horker groaned happily as Svenja rubbed its belly.

"You've got to stop to rub the horkers, Svenja."

Eventually we decided that it was time to go. I hugged the horker nearest to me and, with regret, stood up.

"Bye bye, horkers. I'll be back."

They raised their heads and groaned as if to say "farewell". So cute! Svenja and I strode back onto the land and we then turned north.

This Stone was closer to Thirsk than I had expected: we had actually not gone that far out of our way to see the horkers. I examined the Stone. On its side was carved what seemed to be a stylized picture of a bear.

"May I?" said Svenja.

I smiled at the sensation of deja vu and nodded. Just as her doppleganger had, the real Svenja placed her hands on the Stone. She shook her head after a minute.

"Nothing."

"Your twin tried that yesterday, with an equal lack of success"

She nodded and I then placed my hands on the Stone.

As before, there was a voice in my head. It said: "Travel south and ease the pain of the Good Beast."

From my previous reading of the story, I knew that we would eventually find a bear being attacked by rieklings. I contemplated running, so as to arrive and assist the bear sooner ... but I had a feeling that this would not be appropriate for the ritual: things had to be done a certain way. Side by side, Svenja and I strode south at a regular walking pace.

As we reached the lake, I beheld a strange sight: the horkers out on the ice were now lined up in two rows. These two rows were aligned north-south. It was as if they had formed a lane for us to travel along in our quest.

Neither Svenja nor I said a word. At a stately pace, we stepped onto the ice and proceeded along the path formed by the horkers.

When we reached the shore, I paused and looked back. The horkers were now randomly scattered about, as if nothing had happened.

"Rashelle," Svenja said. She tugged gently on my arm.

I nodded, turned and resumed walking. It had begun to snow.

In a short time we came upon a snow bear that was fighting three rieklings. Two dead rieklings lay nearby: the bear had killed them already.

We ran forward. My friend's axe decapitated one riekling as Chrysamere sliced another in two. The third riekling swung his blade at Svenja. She parried and I thrust with my claymore.

I extracted my blade from the now-dead riekling and looked around. There were no further attackers. The bear writhed in pain: there was an arrow embedded in its neck. I'd never seen a riekling use a bow before. Who, or what, had actually shot that arrow?

I dropped my sword and crouched down by the struggling bear. Without conscious thought, words came from my mouth: "Good Beast, I mean you no harm. The All-Maker has sent me to ease your suffering."

The snow bear became still. I placed both hands on the the creature and ... I hesitated. I was not sure if my healing spells would work on a bear. I had never attempted to heal an animal with a spell before.

Suddenly, a healing magic poured from me into the bear ... but it was not my magic: something else was working through me. The arrow was expelled from the bear's neck. The wound in its neck closed up and faded away. Similarly, its other wounds were healed.

Restored to full health, the creature rose up on all four feet. It rumbled softly, as if thanking me. I ran my hands though its fur. Snow bears are kind of cute ... when they are not trying to kill me. For today, we were friends.

I stood up. Svenja handed Chrysamere to me. It was clean: she had wiped it on the clothing of one of the rieklings.

"Thank you, Svenja."

The snow bear raised a forepaw and pointed north. Between this and my previous reading from the book, the message was clear: we would walk with the bear to the Stone.

The snowfall was thicker now, though there was no wind. I sheathed my sword and placed my left hand on the snow bear, as I was standing on the bear's right side. Svenja was standing to the left of the creature. She placed her right hand on the bear.

At a sedate pace, the three of us walked north. The air was filled with snow and it was beautiful. The snow also muffled all sound. We walked though a silent white world.

As we reached the lake, I could see that the horkers were in formation again. The Good Beast lead us onto the lake. The horkers all raised their tusked mouths in the air and began to issue their groaning sounds, but in unison, all at an identical pitch. They were singing! There were no words, obviously. It was an undulation that moved to various pitches, and it entranced me.

It seemed as if we were no longer in Solstheim, or in Tamriel. For a time we were in another reality, a magical white wonderland of snow and ice and song.

We moved forwards on the ice. The snow continued to fall. The song carried on.

I feared that on reaching land, the song would end, but it did not.

We continued to walk. The land sloped up towards the Stone and the song went on. Dimly I was aware that horkers were following us out of the lake.

The snow bear led us to the stone. I took my hand from the creature and took a step forward. I could see that Svenja had done the same thing. As one, we placed our hands on the Stone.

The Stone began to ring, a sound in tune with the song of the horkers. Without thought, I opened my mouth and joined the song. I could hear Svenja also begin to sing.

The Stone began to glow. Glowing balls of white, suggesting snow, if snow were to glow, began to rise along its sides. The horkers, Svenja and I stopped singing. The world returned to silence.

The glow faded, but the glowing balls continued to run up the sides of the Stone.

The Good Beast turned around to face me. It nodded its head. It looked to Svenja and nodded again. It then vanished into thin air.

I turned to Svenja. She looked at me in wonderment. I imagine my face held a similar expression. Turning towards the lake, I could see that the horkers were wandering back to the ice ... as if nothing had happened.

The snow stopped falling and I could see the cloud cover begin to break: the sun would be shining soon. I sat down and rested my back against the Stone. Svenja sat down beside me.

This was part of the reason I was an adventurer: to experience such truly unique and magical moments. Moments like this were far and few between but they made the intervening "in between" time worth it.

"Svenja: that wasn't in the book."

She started to giggle. I smiled. I started to giggle as well: I could not help it. Svenja slapped my shoulder: she was now laughing, rather loudly. I don't know why we were laughing, perhaps a reaction to that utterly strange occurrence, perhaps a sort of tension release. I was now laughing to hard that I was having trouble breathing. In no time at all, we were both hiccupping and tears were running down our eyes.

Eventually, I stopped laughing and could breath again.

"Well, Rashelle," said Svenja as she wiped her eyes, "you sure know how to show a girl a good time."

I smiled and said; "We should be going again."

"Yes, I guess we should."

I wiped my eyes. The sun was now shining and the last shreds of the clouds were fading away. I wanted to stay, seated and leaning against the Stone. I wanted to meditate upon what had happened, but there was still one Stone remaining.

I forced myself to stand up. I extended a hand. "Time to go."

Svenja grasped my hand and pulled herself up.

We walked in a direction somewhat north of true west. We fought through many attackers. Most of them were rieklings, which indicated that we were moving into riekling territory. Svenja was expert with her axe and my blade was as effective as ever.

The Wind Stone rose from the snow covered rocky side of a mountain. A representation of wind had been inscribed in its side. I placed my hands on the stone.

"Travel south and east of the lake of ice to Glenschul's Tomb and free the Winds from the Greedy Man's bag."

"Svenja," I asked, "do you know of a Glenschul's Tomb somewhere southeast of lake Fjalding?"

"Yes, Rashelle. It is not far from Thirsk, just over a steep hill. The Stone wants us to go there?"

"Yes."

It was a long trip. Since we were simply retracing our steps of before, there were few attacks.

When we had arrived within sight of Thirsk, I saw that Svenja was looking towards the mead hall.

"Svenja," I said, concerned, "if you need to get things done, I would feel bad if I were to keep you away from them. I can continue this alone."

"Don't worry Rashelle. I've told the chieftain that we would be gone all day. I can't stay in there all the time. Besides, I can't wait to see what happens next."

"After singing horkers, anything else will be anticlimactic."

She grinned.

We continued, past Thirsk, heading southeast.

As Svenja had said, the tomb was not far from the mead hall. We fought a group of rieklings as we went around a hill and into a sort of canyon or passage that separated it from a second hill. In the side of this passage was the entrance to the tomb. Its outside appearance resembled that of any other Nord barrow that I had seen.

We entered, to be set upon almost immediately by a pair of draugr. We fought through those and then through the remaining undead occupants. It was a small tomb, so it did not take long to clear it out.

"This appears to be an ordinary Nord tomb. Where is this wind?"

"Rashelle, I don't remember this part of the story. Maybe you should consult the book."

I snapped my fingers and said "no, wait ... I remember now. The voice from the Stone mentioned a bag."

I pointed to a bag that was resting against one of walls, by one of those not-ice coffins. It was unusually large and it bulged. The neck of the bag had been tied tightly with a rope.

"That has to be it. We untie that bag and let the wind out."

I approached the bag and touched the rope.

"Svenja, brace yourself."

"OK."

I opened the bag and, as in the legend, a wind that had somehow been held inside the bag was released. It howled and knocked me over as it blew past. Fortunately, I was unharmed. Svenja helped me up.

"Thank you Svenja."

I pointed to the coffin. "What is that stuff, anyway?"

"Stalhrim."

"Err, but what is it?"

"I don't know. No one knows how to make it anymore."

Intriguing.

Our journey to the Wind Stone was uneventful but long. The sun was low on the horizon when we finally arrived. Of all the Stones, this one had the greatest distance between it and its corresponding place of ritual. Rising along its sides were bubbles. They were white with a bluish tinge to them and they glowed brightly.

"Success!" Svenja exclaimed.

"All six Stones have been activated. The Ritual is complete."

"The All-Maker must be pleased."

Svenja turned from the Stone.

"Come with me to Thirsk again?" she asked.

"No Svenja. Much as I would like to, I have obligations at Raven Rock."

She frowned.

"Svenja. I want to protect Solstheim. I want to reduce the amount of damage that the Empire does. That is why I have to go back to the colony: I have to keep an eye on them. You will benefit from this, as will the Skaal."

"I understand. Please do come back, though."

"You know I will. By your leave, I will teleport out?"

"Yes, I and will Recall to Thirsk."

We cast in unison and I appeared in Raven Rock. Falco almost ran into me. He jumped almost a foot in the air. "By the gods, that creeps me out."

I laughed.

"Rashelle, it is good to see you. I have something to show you, follow me."

"What is it?"

He smiled, a big grin like a child wanting to show off a new toy. "You'll see."

I had been away from Raven Rock for almost two days and I could see that there were changes: there were more buildings and the communal fire was gone. I would miss it. Falco, sill grinning, led me to one of the new buildings. He opened the door and he actually bowed and waved for me to enter.

I entered to find myself in ... a bar. Now the memory came back to me: when I had left, the men were working on a bar. Now I was standing in that fully completed, open and occupied building. It was not Thirsk, but it was a pleasant place anyway.

The staff working in the place were all new people. Our colony was growing, changing from a small band of men, and two women, who sat around a fire at mealtimes ... to something that felt more like a town.

I went to the bar. The bartender was an Imperial woman with red hair.

"Greeting, I'm Alcedonia Amnis. What will you have?"

"I'm Rashelle. Mazte, please."

I could see that Apronia was seated at one of the tables, a real fork held daintily in her hand, eating in a ladylike fashion from an actual plate. She smiled and waved to me.

I went over to her. As there were men seated next to her on either side, I could not sit. I only wanted to chat briefly with her, so this was good.

"I'll bet you enjoy having utensils again"

"You know it, Rashelle. It's so good to feel somewhat civilized again."

"Are these guys giving you trouble?" I asked.

She laughed. "No. All is well."

I went go get food. There was a festive atmosphere tonight: most likely because we could now all eat inside.

At some point in the revelry I happened to find myself seated next to Falco.

"Falco, have there been any more deaths? Has Carnius pulled anything else?"

"No. All is going rather well ... about time, that!"

I grinned.

"By the way, Rashelle, I haven't had a chance to let you know, but I've promoted you several times since we started. The gold for the salaries came in on the ship today: I can pay you tomorrow and it will be a decent amount."

"Thank you Falco; this is good to know."

The money was of no consequence to me. The rank, however, was important in that it would allow me to have more control over how things were done at the colony. I would have more influence. Higher rank would let me eliminate or reduce the damage done to Solstheim, Thirsk, and the Skaal.

I looked around the room, taking it all in. A mere few days before, this had been a patch of snow and trees. I then realized that I did not see Apronia anywhere.

"Where's Apronia?"

"Went back to her house early, I expect," said Falco.

Strange, but she had been doing that every night since her arrival. I shrugged and went to the bar for another mug of mazte.






This post has been edited by blockhead: Jul 24 2007, 03:55 AM

Excellent update! I really enjoyed reading about the Beast Stone mission. Your description and addition to it really caught my attention. Well done!

Yeah, as had been said, anything after singing Horkers is anti-climatic. I loved it.

Hah....a wonderful humouristicly written story...gosh I like it! Rashelle is just awesome, her style is cool and she makes me laugh..

Now this Apronia-mystey is intriguing.....can´t wait to find out about it!

Thank you all for the replies.


--

Chapter 13. Stalhrim



I woke up to the sound of Falco calling my name. I removed one hand from Chrysamere and shrugged off my sleeping fur.

"I'm sorry, Rashelle, but we have a problem. I've just had a runner from Carnius come see me. Some fellow named 'Constans'. Apparently I need to get a report to Carnius in five hours or less. He's already teleported out."

"So?"

"This is important. If Carnius doesn't get this report, the colony may be finished. I need you to deliver it for me."

I swung my feet down from the large flat rock that I had been sleeping on. I rubbed my eyes and then reached out a hand. Falco gave me a rolled and sealed parchment.

"And Rashelle, watch that Constans. He's Carnius's man, slick and sneaky as anything."

I stood up and sheathed Chrysamere. I rolled up my bear fur and stowed it, along with the note, in my pack.

"By your leave?"

He nodded. I cast Divine Intervention and was teleported to the fort.

I entered the Imperial Cult building and ran up the stairs. There was a man standing in the hallway outside of Carnius's office. He was an Imperial, dressed in the finest of garments. He looked at me and, with a disdainful sneer, said; "Do you want something?"

This had to be Constans. I already wanted to beat him, and I'd only just met him.

"My business is with Carnius," I said as I brushed past him. I opened the door and discovered that the office was empty.

"Factor Magius is out, can I help you?" he said in a voice that indicated that this was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Where is he?" I snapped.

"He is out."

"WHERE?"

"Oh, somewhere ... I don't know. He's scouting out possible locations for further expansion."

I wanted to grab this toad by his neck and choke him. He returned my Look with a disdainful and disinterested, yet still challenging, gaze of his own. I didn't have the time now, but in the future ... this man and I would have business to "discuss".

I turned to storm away. After taking two steps there was a sudden flash of magic. My birth sign harmlessly absorbed the spell: it seemed to be some sort of Slowness spell.

"Oh dear, you seemed to have tripped that trap," said Constans in an insincere voice. "It's one of our security measures that we recently put in. It has a tendency to go off when it should not. Oh well, so sorry. I don't have a counter-spell handy."

Sparks flew from my fingers and I smiled.

"Atronach," I said before running to the stairwell.

I smelled a setup. Carnius was pulling something: though I could not ascertain what it was, I could tell that he did not want that report to arrive on time.

I ran down the stairs. Maybe Joleen, Marisa or one of my Legion friends had seen Carnius leave. I had just under five hours. If I did not even know where to start looking, I would most likely not find him in time.

From the stairs I shot past a startled guard and to the Imperial Chapel area.

Joleen and Marisa were both on duty. Even in my perturbed state I could not help but notice that they were such a cute couple. They had been holding hands when I entered. I was glad that I had rescued her.

"Rashelle, what is wrong?"

"No time to explain. I need to find Carnius. Have you seen him recently?"

"I'm sorry Rashelle, I have not," said Marisa.

"Neither have I", said Joleen.

I thanked them and ran for the door. Outside, I almost ran into Saenus.

"Oh, I am sorry Saenus."

"What is wrong? Can I help?"

"Have you seen Carnius Magius? It's urgent."

"He requisitioned an escort and set off someplace."

"Do you know where?"

"No, but he left by the north archway."

"Damnit."

"Severia might know. I believe she authorized the escort."

I thanked him and raced for the General Quarters, and Carius's office.

"Rashelle," said Severia, "what is wrong?"

"I need to find Carnius, fast. Do you know where he and his escort went?"

"He said that he was investigating possible sites for future expansion in Solstheim. That is all I know."

"Thank you Severia."

I went outside and to the north gateway. I inspected the ground, thinking that perhaps I could track Carnius. There were many sets of footprints: too many troopers went in and out of this gate on a daily basis. I would never be able to isolate the correct set of prints.

I cast Recall and was teleported to Raven Rock.

I found Falco and explained to him what had occurred.

"Rashelle, you have to find him. I don't know how, but you have to! It's vital that we make this deadline."

Falco had no other advice; I was on my own.

Geilir the Mumbling was a seer. Perhaps he could use his abilities to locate Carnius. I cast a spell to fortify my speed, allowing me to run faster than normal. Like the wind, I ran northwest.

Despite my magically enhanced speed, there were still creatures fast enough that I had to stop and fight them. This delay was intolerable. "Damnit, die faster!" I shouted as I killed a spriggan for a third time.

I turned to see a Fryse Hag running towards me, dagger raised.

"I," I said as I cut her in two.

"Do," I said as two more set on me from either side.

"Not have," I said as I felt a shock ball spell and a frost spell hit me.

"TIME FOR THIS!!"

Fire came to me, a large ball of flame that burned everything near me, even the snow-covered grass. I ran, leaving charred corpses behind me.

I wished that I could stack spells as I could potions: I would run faster. I wished I had thought to make Fortify Speed potions, but how could I know ahead of time that I would need them?

Just as I reached sight of Geilir's place, Geilir himself emerged. He faced me and pointed west. "They are at the shipwreck!"

He had already known that I was coming, and why. Fortune was with me.

"Thank you!"

I ran.

Carnius and two Legion troopers were standing by the shipwreck. It seemed a strange place to build a second colony ... but maybe he had other plans.

"Good morning Rashelle," said Carnius as he raised an eyebrow. "What brings you here?"

From my pack I removed the sealed report. I offered it to him.

"Falco's Report."

"Oh, why thank you. I had feared that this would not get to me in time."

He chuckled.

I smiled. It hurt.

"You may go now."

I left.

Once out of their sight, I Recalled to Raven Rock.

I found Falco, who looked at me anxiously.

"Done. He was at the shipwreck."

"How did you find him?"

"You wouldn't believe me."

"Err, OK then. Thank you. You may have saved the colony and I appreciate this. Could you help me with another, lesser, problem?"

I nodded.

"There is an old Dunmer named Seler Favelnim in the bar. He's gone crazy: picking fights with everyone. That is odd for someone his age: he's rather old, even for a Dunmer."

"Bit early for that, isn't it?"

I looked oddly at me.

"Bars usually open around noonish or after."

"This one serves breakfast."

I laughed.

"Could you handle this problem for me?"

I nodded. I was glad that he didn't ask me to not kill this Mer: he knew me well enough by now.

As I neared the bar I saw another new face. So many new people had arrived here in the past few days. She was an older-looking Dunmer woman. She stepped in front of me.

"Stop."

"I have business in that bar. Please stand aside."

"I saw you talking to Falco. You have been sent to kill my husband," she said as she drew a dagger. "He is my world. You will enter that building over my dead body."

I frowned. I could easily have swept this woman aside but her loyalty ... and her love ... impressed me. I was touched. How wonderful it would be to love someone that much.

"I will not kill him, but I must stop him."

"He is a good man. It's just that his age, it bothers him. He's been brooding on it. Normally, he would not hurt anyone on purpose."

"Sera, I must go in there. I must stop him. I promise I will not kill him. I will try to resolve this matter peacefully. He may hurt himself if I do not go in there. Will you let me pass?"

"You are Rashelle, the Nerevarine, aren't you?"

I held my hand up, to show her the ring of Moon And Star. Almost all Dunmer, even those not from Morrowind, know of this ring. They know that anyone but the Nerevarine would die if they were to put on this ring. Her eyes widened.

I raised a finger to my lips and whispered: "Shhhh. Yes, I am ... but please keep quiet about the whole Nerevarine thing."

I had been enjoying my relative anonymity in Solstheim and did not want her to reveal me.

"I am Dralora." She sheathed her dagger.

"Dralora, I swear by Azura that I will not kill your husband. I will bring him to you, alive and unhurt. Please, let me pass?"

She nodded. "He's the Mer dressed all in blue."

I entered the building. Alcedonia Amnis was tending bar. A relieved expression crossed her face when she saw me. She nodded towards my left. Turning in the indicated direction, I could see an older looking Dunmer in blue, standing. No one was near him.

I walked towards him.

"Go on! Let's fight," he said. "I'll show you I'm not too old to still mess you up."

I was silent.

He punched me in the shoulder. It hurt but not that much. I frowned. I pitied this man.

"I don't want your pity. Defend yourself!"

He hit me again. His hand banged on my cuirass and he screamed in pain.

"Please, stop this," I said.

"Why? Look at me. I'm an old man. My health is failing, I'm of no use in the mines, and I'm a burden to my family. I don't want to waste away in bed; don't you see? That's no way for a man to die."

"What about your wife?"

"My wife will be better off without me, whether she realizes it or not. What, you think you know better?"

"This isn't your only option."

"I suppose you're going to try and tell me that my family is more important, right? Look, I don't want things to end like this, but I don't want Dralora to have to see me wasting away in front of her. I don't want her to have to take care of me because I can't do it myself. Just kill me, won't you? Put an end to this!"

I shook my head.

"You won't, eh? Well, maybe I won't give you a choice!"

He tried to punch me in the jaw, I dodged. He punched again, a glancing blow to my shoulder.

I felt sad. I did not want to kill him. I did not want to hurt him. I wanted him to stop so that I could tell his wife that all was well. Perhaps I could use a paralyze spell, but then he'd try again when the paralysis wore off.

He swung his fist again. My open palm blocked. He tried again. I blocked again. He began to swing both fists furiously. My palms blocked each swing. I suppose it resembled some strange sort of dance.

He puffed and swung feebly. The effort was tiring him.

I blocked a few more punches.

He leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees. He was breathing hard.

"Haven't got it," puff puff, "like I used to."

"Muthsera, you have lived a long time and your remaining lifespan is most likely still longer than the total lifespan of a Man. There is a woman outside who loves you deeply: that is more than some of us have. You have a good life. Please, stop this."

"Argh, you are right. I feel a fool."

"Let me heal your hands."

He held his hands out and I cast a small spell to heal the cuts that my armor had given him.

"Come on," I said. "Let's go."

I led him towards the door.

Dralora was overjoyed to see him. She threw her arms around him. I was reminded of the reunion of Joleen and Marisa.

I turned to walk away.

"Rashelle?" I heard him say

I turned back.

"Thank you. You have shown me that I have much to live for. Dralora is here with me, so I am happy."

"And I thank you for saving him," said Dralora.

I smiled and said, "You are both welcome."

Falco was relieved and pleased that I had resolved the situation so nicely.

"Rashelle, we have ... not a problem, but something of interest."

My stomach growled.

"Unless it is urgent, tell me over breakfast."

He laughed and said, "Fair enough."

In the bar, as I waited for my hard-boiled kwama egg, Falco explained the situation.

"The miners have dug into an old buried Nord tomb. They've found some odd material that they can't dig though. I went down and took a look. It looks like ice but nothing can scratch it."

"Stalhrim."

Falco raised an eyebrow.

"I have seen it in tombs around here. I've been learning things from the people who live here in Solstheim. They used to use it to make coffins. I've been told that the secret to its making has been lost."

"I wonder," said Falco, "If you had discovered a hard and nearly indestructible substance, if you could make super-weapons: swords that retain an edge for a long time and cannot easily be shattered by other weapons, what would you do?"

"Do you think that this is what Carnius is after?"

"It could be ... but in order to use this ... err ..."

"Stalhrim."

"Thank you. In order to use this stalhrim, you would need a means of cutting it, of working it."

"Maybe they have it in Skyrim as well as Solstheim. Maybe Carnius knows a Nord who still has the old knowledge."

He looked thoughtful for a moment. I waited.

"Rashelle, I remember back when I was scouting around Solstheim, before I finally chose this location, I spoke to a few of the Nords who live here. I seen to recall that a fellow, named Graring, said something about "ice armor". At the time, I did not think much about it. Now I wonder if that is connected to this stalhrim stuff. He's some sort of outcast from the Skaal village but I did not get the details. Could you go and talk to him?"

"I will do this, but I must do other things first. I need to get back to the Skaal."

"I understand, Rashelle. This is not an urgent matter. Whenever you can get around to it is fine ... but I just have a feeling that it may become important."

I nodded.

"Thank you Rashelle. Graring is a ways northeast of here, where the Harstad and Islid rivers join. This joining is northwest of Lake Fjalding."

After breakfast, I headed northeast. Consulting my mental map, I realized that this Graring fellow would be on my way to the Skaal. Despite the lower priority, I would talk to Graring next.

As always, I traveled across a landscape of alternating areas of snow and not snow. Both were beautiful in their own way, though I preferred the snow. The usual assortment of attacking creatures and men plagued me as a journeyed.

On the way, I encountered a Nord tomb. Curiosity got the better of me and I entered. Oddly enough, there were no undead in it. Another curious thing was the helm that I found in a chest. It was a bear helm that had a strong enchantment on it that would allow the wearer to sense the locations of all beasts within a hundred paces or so. The enchantment was the sort that is constantly active: one did not need to invoke it.

While nifty, it did not strike me as a necessary effect: I'd know about any creatures soon enough ... when they attacked. I also do not like to wear helms. I put the helm back in the chest where I had found it.

I arrived in the desired vicinity around noon or so ... and a feeling came over me. I slipped on my chameleon ring and began to move stealthily. Such intuitions I have had from time to time and I've found it best to follow them without hesitation. This has saved my life on more than one occasion.

Moving silently, I crept around a mound of snow.

I saw three Nords lying on the ground, near a fire. They were bound with ropes. An imperial woman stood close to them. She was speaking but I could not make out the words. She wore warm clothing under a netch leather cuirass: this was a form of light armor often favored by thieves and assassins.

Looking past the fire, I could see a house.

Using every inch of cover that I could, and trying to forget that I was a mostly black figure against the white of the snow, I moved closer.

The Three Nords were wearing a combination of fur clothing and fur armor. This indicated that they were locals: they probably lived in the house.

Two of the Nords were men. One had the beginnings of grey hair. I pegged him as the leader of the trio. The woman looked to be the same age as the younger man.

"Never, outlander. You would misuse it!" said the leader.

The Imperial kicked him. there was a crunch as something broke but he remained silent.

"I will have the means of extracting the ice-nine, fetcher," said the Imperial woman.

What was ice-nine? Perhaps it was another term for stalhrim: maybe that was what the word translated to in Tamrielic. It seemed I had arrived at the right place, and just in time.

The Imperial kicked the Nord woman so that she rolled towards the fire. She crouched down, grabbed her by the hair and jerked.

"Is this your wife? Or perhaps your daughter? I think maybe I'll burn her pretty face off."

Enough. I drew Chrysamere and ran silently towards them. I had made half the distance before the Imperial noticed me.

In one motion, she let go of the woman and drew a short sword. The combat was fast and furious. From her apparent skill, I'd guess her an assassin. Still, I was better: Before long, she lay still in a pool of her own blood.

I cut the three Nords free and then gave a potion to the leader. He drank it and said; "Thank you, lass, whoever you are."

"I am Rashelle."

"I am Graring. This is my son, Aenar. Hidar here is my daughter."

"Pleased to meet you."

Introductions concluded, I pointed to the Imperial and asked: Who was that?"

"An outlander who wanted something," said Graring. "Are you here for a reason, lass?"

His gratitude had been quickly tempered by suspicion. I could respect that. I was just another outlander, after all.

"I come from the Raven Rock colony, where I have been trying to keep the Empire from damaging Solstheim."

"I knew that the ebony would draw the Empire sooner or later," he replied.

"The miners have stumbled onto a burial cavern, a deep Nord tomb. There is a coffin made of something that looks like ice, yet is unbreakable. Nothing can scratch it. I was asked by Falco Galenus to come and see you about it."

All three were silent.

"I've been told that it is called stalhrim," I added.

"Many have come for stalhrim. Some try to pay us. Ha! We have no need of their money. Some try to take it, like this one."

He spat on the corpse.

"It's a bit of a coincidence that you just happened to come along when she attacked. Perhaps this was all a setup so that you could gain our confidence."

I frowned and remained silent. There was nothing I could say.

"Still, there is something about you. I believe you may be different."

He paused, obviously in deep thought.

"Wait here, outlander."

I nodded.

Graring went into the house. The two Nords and I waited in silence.

He returned a moment later, holding an odd-looking axe. It appeared to be iron, yet later I would discover that it was much harder than iron. It had a curiously bent appearance. It would not be an effective weapon, nor would it be suitable for chopping wood. It was smaller than an axe ought to be. Perhaps it was a specialized tool for a certain ritual or a specific task.

He offered this axe to me. Not understanding, yet not wishing to offend, I accepted it.

"I am taking a chance in giving this to you, but you are not like the others who came before you. It is a special tool that, because of its craftsmanship and enchantment, will allow you to cut stalhrim. Chip off some from the coffin in your mine in Raven rock and come back here with it."

I could feel no enchantment but I wisely refrained from pointing this out.

I bid him good day. I started to walk away, heading northeast.

"Rashelle?"

I paused and looked back at him.

"Raven rock is the other way."

"I am going to the Skaal village."

Graring raised an eyebrow,

"I have been performing a task for them."

"You are definitely not like the other outlanders," he said, visibly impressed.

"Rashelle; before you go, I must tell you of us and the Skaal."

I waited.

"We were cast out of the Skaal village because we discovered that stalhrim can be forged, much like a metal. The Skaal consider it blasphemous to make things from it. To them it is holy, only to be used for coffins. Do not let them see that axe."

"Understood."

"Bring the stalhrim to me and I will tell you more."

I nodded and then departed.

It was still in the early afternoon when I reached the Skaal village. I was greeted with the same sullen silence as before. Not wasting time, I strode to the shaman's hut and knocked on the door.

Through the door, I heard him say; "Enter, Rashelle."

How did he know? Was there a peephole? Did he have some Seer ability? He might ... as he was a shaman, after all.

I opened the door and entered. He was seated at a table. He stood up and approached me.

"Early this morning," he said, "I went to the Beast stone. It is active again. I can sense that the energy of the land, and of the Skaal, has returned. This indicates that you have completed the rituals for all six stones."

I nodded.

"Outlander, I did not believe that you would do it. I did not believe that the All-Maker would permit you to do it. I am impressed."

I waited.

"Tell me, did the All-Maker appear to you?"

How did he guess? I said nothing. I was not going to tell him about the duplicate Svenja: it would sound like a made-up story.

My eyes must have betrayed me for he sucked a breath in and said, "That is incredible. You are like no other outlander I have met."

"I was not going to tell you. You would think I was fabricating a story to falsely impress you."

"I am a shaman: I can discern a lie. Come," he gestured to a chair, "sit and tell me how it happened."

I did.

"That is wonderful. Do you see the resonance in the magic? An Outlander, aided by someone from Thirsk, both working to restore the power of the land. Outlanders, Thirsk, the Skaal: three forces, united to restore the Oneness. Truly the All-Maker's hand is apparent in this matter."

"So now what?"

"You have passed a test of loyalty to the Skaal. There will be other tests. You must speak to our chieftain. Come, let us go to him now."









This post has been edited by blockhead: Jul 21 2007, 01:50 AM

Busy busy busy. Rashelle never gets a break it seems. Excellent update.

Pacing is difficult for me. As mentioned some time ago: my reading speed is fast and my writing speed is slow. This makes estimating time difficult. To counteract this, I've taken to putting little annotations in my text files that indicate what the "current" time is (as well as the current weather). This helps me keep it all straight. These get removed shortly before posting. For example: the events of this chapter took place from around 6 or 7 AM until 1 or 2 PM, so I think it is a plausible amount of activity. She did three quest "items", but two of them were rather short ("race against time" and "bar brawl"). At least she got breakfast in.

Did you notice that this is the first chapter where Rashelle essentially tells Falco "I'll do it later" to something? Hmmm, I guess it has gotten a teensy bit busy.

Before I began this story, I resolved to put everything in (well, I may leave one sidequest out, because it takes her too close to Lokken). Recall that in my tribunal fanfic I dropped a lot of the sidequests and a good chunk of the main quest. In the Lokken fanfic, I also dropped a small section of the main quest. Since I am now leaving most everything in, this means more stuff for Rashelle to do, over a longer time, so she's gonna be busy. It also means that I am now managing/tracking more threads/stuff/whatever in a story than ever before. Hmm: need an emotican for juggling here

Oh: and on top of all of that, I've got additional original side quests like the Fryse Hags thing! Rashelle has even more to do.

Enough rambling. Hope you are all enjoying the story. More chapters when I can.

Another entertaining read as usual. Though it was quite confusing when Rashelle charged right in and killed that imperial woman who was outnumbered by what I assumed were more of the psychotic variety of Nord that seems to be all over Solstheim. Oh well, it seems she guessed right though.

Arg! I can't stand the suspense with the Apronia and Fryse Hag thing/s! It seems like Rashelle has lost interest in the Fryse Hags though, and isn't going to take any in Apronia.

Also, it's not really about this story specificaly but, why does everyone feel the need to spit on corpses?

This post has been edited by Dire Cheesecake: Jul 20 2007, 12:14 AM

Uhhh....read my story! Serene doesn´t spit on corpses! She doesn´t even like to kill!

Anyway I kinda admire Rashie....she´s so cool and funny, besides she´s a helluva industrious lass! My it would be fun if she and Renie met somehow!

I think I guessed Carnius' interest in Stalhrim earlier. Anyway, he is one nasty piece. I bet Rashelle is really looking forward to the day she can put a boot in his face.

And to join the 'my character doesn't spit on corpses' discussion. Luper doesn't spit, he gloats.

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Jul 20 2007, 04:52 PM