The Accounts of Rayden Options

[redsrock]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story takes place just nine days after Uriel Septim's assassination, with a unique twist. I am taking the Main Quest and I am remaking it with my own version. What would have happened if both the main-character and Uriel Septim died in the sewers, along with all of the Blades officers? What would have happened if the Amulet of Kings fell into the hand of an "innocent" but hidden bystander?


The Accounts of Rayden


CHAPTER ONE


I wouldn't even have been able to get into the sewers if it wasn't for that foolish Imperial Guard, who, after a few too many bottles of ale, carelessly dropped his heavy set of iron keys lying so temptingly upon the hard wood floor. I was sitting in the tavern, minding my own business. I had planned on settling in for the night, but when I saw that gleaming shine coming from the keys, I knew my night had only just begun.




My name is Rayden, Bosmer and freelance thief of the Imperial City. I am a mere twenty-seven years of age, yet I am capable of many things even veteran thieves cannot accomplish. What, do you think of me as a boastful young brat? I will not argue with you, I am indeed confident of my abilities, but I guess I'll have to prove that to you. Don't worry, you'll learn soon enough.




When I first saw the keys I assumed someone else would pick them up and hand them back to the officer as a sign of good will, possibly a way to kiss up to the Imperials, just like everyone seemed to be so keen of doing. But alas, my inner prayers were answered and nobody but I witnessed the keys fall to the floor. So I left my seat and walked out the door, slyly scooping down to pick the keys up on my way.

At first I wasn't sure what to do with them. There were so many keys hanging from the iron ring, more than fifteen in fact. There were hundreds of places I thought about going to in order to get my hands on whatever I wanted, but one place stood out more than any other: the sewers under the prison. I had heard many a story about how there was a secret passageway to hidden chambers, were rooms were filled with lost and hidden treasures. From my understanding the sewer was not guarded by one soul, meaning it was probably my safest option, as well as my most prosperous.

I left the tavern and headed straight for the sewers entrance, which was just a bit northeast from the city. There, I fumbled through the keys, and thankfully, just as I had originally hoped, one of them opened the large-barred gate that was standing between me and my soon to be treasures.

I stepped inside the damp sewers and walked around for a few minutes, trying to find my way to the secret chambers. The rats were making things difficult, not to mention the goblins. They were extremely difficult to sneak around. After not finding anything of interest for an hour I was beginning to think that the stories must have been false, but then I faintly heard a metal door opening to the west, and the sound seemed as if it was not too far from where I was standing.

I quietly ran to where I heard the sound, and sure enough a door had been opened, and you won't even begin to believe who I saw. The Emperor himself, Uriel Septim, was being led by a Redguard Blade, and some other person who looked to be an inmate of the prison itself. I made that assumption because he was wearing raggedy clothes, and his wrists had irons on them. But the inmate was too far in the back, making it impossible to see what race he was. Obviously the Emperor was an Imperial, everyone knows that. And the Redguard's race was certainly visible thanks to obvious circumstances. As for the inmate, I never did get a look at his face. What happened next went so fast I'm still a bit dazed...

No more than ten seconds after spotting the three, a rustled noise came from their right side. Suddenly men and women wearing scarlet red robes and hoods appeared almost out of nowhere, and for whatever reason a small battle immediately commenced.

It was all so confusing and wild. I didn't know what to do, so I simple hid around a corner, but carefully peeking my head out so that I could see all the action. The Redguard was taking on two opponents at once, and the inmate had already been slain by one of the red-robed.

Uriel Septim had attempted to run away but one of the robed shot a spell his way, hitting him square in the back. A humongous cloud of magic surfaced through the air, and somehow a necklace flew from the Emperor's body, hitting the wall right next my face. I assumed the necklace was a simple, but expensive, piece of jewelry. But, when I picked the item up, I realized it was none other than the Amulet of Kings, THE Amulet of Kings!

I looked back, expecting to see the robed men running towards me, but instead they were running towards the fallen body of the Emperor. The Redguard had taken down his own opponents, and was then rushing over to the Emperor to protect him from the two remaining opponents.

Without hesitating I picked up the necklace and ran away, but before I did that I took one last glance at the battle. The Redguard was on the ground with an axe sticking from the side of his head, and the Emperor was lying unprotected on the hard stoned floor, with both of his frail hands in the air, shielding himself from the two remaining robed men.

"Tell us where the Amulet is!" Yelled one of the robed men. When the Emperor did not respond to their commands they simply stuck a sword through his chest and into his heart, ending the long lived life of Cyrodiil's leader. I watched in horror as Uriel's hands fell to the ground and slammed against the floor. The robed men began searching the area, and that's when I finally left the place.

Now, nine days later, I stand here in an old worn-out cabin, deep in the woods west of Cheydinhal. I sit here with the Amulet of Kings in hand, and I'm trying to figure out what to do. It only took one day for a total transformation of the Empire to take place. After what took place in the sewers, thousands of red-robed figures showed up in the Imperial City, led by an Altmer who called himself "Mankar Camoran". He claimed to be the leader of the cult he called "The Mythic Dawn".

I was in that same tavern where I found the keys when Mankar and his cultists arrived. The death of the Emperor had not yet been spread, since I was the only witness to the deaths, and I surely was too afraid to tell anyone. I was trying to keep myself out of trouble, but then again that would impossible as long as I had the Amulet of Kings still in my possession.

A fight broke out in the city. The guards and citizens banded together to fight the Mythic Dawn, but it was of no use. Apparently Mankar had several men inside the Imperial City who were working for him. That and the fact that the Imperial Legion was greatly outnumbered benefited to the Mythic Dawn's easy victory. Since then Mankar has taken the throne, and his men are looking for the Amulet, which I of course have in hand.

I had left the city before I was rounded up by Mankar's men, and like I told you before, I am now residing in my hidden cabin. It is not hidden by magical powers, but the trees certainly provide help in hiding from the outside world.

I was looking at the amulet closely, examining every last detail of the famed jewel. It was rather heavy for a piece of jewelry, seemingly a little over 1 pound in weight. The gold chain was supposed to wrap around the wearer's neck, and in the middle of the amulet itself was a gigantic, red, ruby-like gem, which was absolutely stunning. Around that gem were eight smaller jewels, all different colors. The amulet was truly a magnificent item, but unfortunately it had some magical powers conjured in it as well.

I say this because when I tried to put the amulet on my own neck, it simply fell off. It never would stay on and I was getting quite furious about the whole situation. That's when I paid a "visit" to the bookstore in the Imperial City, after-hours if you know what I mean. While there I discovered a book about the Amulet of Kings, and in its contents I learned that only a legitimate heir to the Septim bloodline may wear the amulet.

And now, again I say for the third time, here I am sitting in my cabin trying to figure out what to do with my new found treasure. For a while I had thought about giving the jewel to Mankar, for I had foolishly thought he might have given me a hundred heaps of gold for it. But after thinking a bit more clearly, I came to my senses and realized the elf was way too cunning. He would never have given me anything in return; he would have simply tricked me somehow. I do not know the man personally, but I could just tell what kind of man he was by looking at the way he talked.

Ever since the Mythic Dawn's battle was won in the Imperial City, I've been here in my cabin, for fear of my life. I do not want to give the amulet up anymore, I've made that decision. To be honest with you I don't really care about anyone else, but I do not want to see Cyrodiil run by a bunch of cult members and their fanatic leader. Obviously they want the amulet for something, but I'm just not sure what. Right now I'm trying to think of who might be able to help me. Perhaps there is someone who can help me destroy the gem, or perhaps destroying the item isn't what I should do. Back in the bookstore, I read something about that the Amulet of Kings light the Dragonfires, whatever that meant. I don't know what to make of all this, but surely there is someone in this land that can help me; someone who is wiser that I in that sort of business.

At that moment I remembered hearing about an old Breton who lived in a priory south of Chorrol. I knew not his occupation, but only that he had something to do with the Empire. His identity was supposed to have been kept a secret from all, but thankfully for me I was a nosey little thief. I decided that paying this man a visit would definitely help my cause, but of course I really didn't what my cause was at the moment...

This post has been edited by redsrock: Dec 5 2007, 08:23 PM

[redsrock]

CHAPTER EIGHT


At the top of stairs sat a lone cultist, half asleep at his desk. I could scarcely see a steel mace at his side, and I thought perhaps Alf could use it, even though it would be like a mere dagger for his massive hands.

“Hey, Alf, you see that guard? I’ll take him out so that you can use his mace. Is that alright with you?” I said softly.

“Yes, that’s okay, Woody, but am I gonna get my share of the killin’ soon?” he whispered back.

“Yes, as soon as we get outside you can have all the fun.”

He smiled with great happiness. I turned around, still with the knife in hand. Suddenly I got up and ran as fast as I could towards the cultist, who was an Imperial. His face lit up with surprise but it was too late for him to call for help. I dove and tackled him to the ground, and then shoved the knife through his throat. The blade was very blunt and I had to use a lot of force to dig in deep, but alas in a matter of minutes the man was dead and we were for now safe.

“Wow, woody, I didn’t know ya’ had it in ya’,” Alf said while I pulled the knife from the robed man’s neck.

“Well, Alf, there’s probably a lot of things about me that would surprise you.”

“Alright, then you can tell me about em’ after we escape.”

After he said that I couldn’t look him in the eyes. Instead, I kept my back to him while I thought about what he said. Did he really think there was anyway he’d survive out there? Sure, he’d probably last a couple minutes, maybe, but then the spells would be flying from all directions. I was now feeling kind of bad about myself. Maybe the Nord really did think he stood a chance.

“Alf, you do realize you’re probably not going to last long out there, don’t you?”

I said this to him while looking at his face. He didn’t seem surprised by my question at all.

“What’s wrong, Woody, you take me for a brute or somethin? You think I’m all brawn and no brains?” Well I’ll tell ya’ lad, I’m pretty nifty when it comes to magic. Yer not givin’ me credit and ya’ haven’t even seen me in action yet!” he said with a laugh.

He certainly was confident, but I still wasn’t sure if this was a good idea. All my life I haven’t cared way or another about anyone besides my self. But now, thinking about what will most likely happen to Alf, I’m having second thoughts about if I should be going through with this plan. It’s weird; I sure hope I’m not going soft.

“Are you sure you want to do this, Alf? I don’t want you going out there if you don’t really want to?”

“What’s gotten in to ya’ lad? Are ya’s scared or somethin?”

“No, I’m certainly not scared, but I don’t want to send you to your death. I mean, you don’t even know me but yet you’re willing to put your life on the line just so I can escape.”

“It might sound dumb to ya, lad, but I believe ya’ when ya’ said you were the Empire’s last hope. I know that I don’t know ya’ very well, but I can tell in yer eyes ye aint lyin; and that’s good enough fer me.”

“Very well. I thank you for your surprising allegiance. It’s too bad there aren’t others like you out there. Cowards like Lex could do wonders by imitating you.”

“Well lad, my mum always taught me well as a child.”

After the discussion ended I carefully cracked the door open and peered outside. To my pleasant surprise there really weren’t that many patrols walking around, about eight in all. Perhaps most of them had gone to bed, thinking nothing could happen this late at night. Boy, were they in for a surprise. I then closed the door and turned back to Alf.

“There are only eight of them out there so it shouldn’t be too dangerous. While you attack them I’ll slip through the gates and if I remember correctly there should be a bridge. Hopefully there will be rocks that I can use to descend to the ground.”

“And if there aint any rocks?” Alf asked.

“Then I’ll just cut through the city itself.”

‘That’ll be dangerous, Woody…”

“I know, but I’ll do whatever it takes to get out of here.”

“Alrighty then, Woody, let’s do this!”

I opened the door once more and Alf told me to stand aside. Instead of foolishly arguing with the giant Nord I let him pass. He ran out the door straight towards a group of three cultists. They saw him coming when he was already a few feet away, for they were not far from the door to begin with.

Alf took his mace and swung mightily at a Dunmer. The blunt hit him in the face with so much force that the mace actually stuck as the dark elf flew back a few yards. The other two cultists of the group stood there, frozen in place. The fear had apparently disabled them from moving and Alf, with no weapons in hand, grabbed the two by the head and then crushed their skulls into one another.

Obviously this prompted three other cultists in the area to become aware of the situation, and soon spells were firing in all directions. Three Dawn members were in front of him, and the other two were behind him, coming up from the rear. At that moment I learned that Alf wasn’t kidding about his magical abilities. I stood there at the door entrance, amazed by Alf’s ability to block the oncoming spells and then quickly cast his own. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted the other two cultists creeping up from behind Alf, in an attempt to catch him by surprise. I knew the original plan was for me to escape while Alf kept the others busy, but I just couldn’t leave him. Okay, I’ll admit maybe I am becoming a bit soft, but at the same time Martin and I could definitely use someone as talented as Alf.

I quickly ran out the door and sprinted towards the two behind Alf. It was a good thing I was a fast runner because I got to them before they even had a chance to see me. I got to the first one, a Breton I think, and stuck my knife into his back, while holding a hand to his mouth so that he could not alert his partner. I dug deeper and deeper until the merman was at last dead, and by this time his Imperial buddy knew finally noticed I was there.

The Imperial fired a spell at me and I let the now dead body drop in front of my while I rolled to the right. The spell hit the dead Breton, sending him flying back. While on the ground the Imperial attempted another spell, but with a quick move a rolled this time to my left and avoided the blast. I got up as fast as I could and ran towards the man. I was about ten feet away and he fired once again yet another spell in my direction. At this time I ducked and the spell flew over my back just inches away from my skin. I could actually feel the heat from the fiery blast. Then I tackled the Imperial to the ground and began pounding his face in with my fists. I must’ve hit the man at least twenty times before I was lifted from the ground by my shirt collar. I swung my arms wildly trying to get my attacker off of me, but then I was turned around there was Alf, laughing loudly in my face.

“Ha, ha, ha! What are ye doing, Woody, dancing? Don’t worry bout’ that there Imperial. He’s dead silly!”

I looked at the Imperial and it was very difficult to make out his facial features from all the blood that had splattered all over his face. I guess I was too angry to know that the man was long gone. It was weird, the rage I had felt was nothing like I had ever experienced before. Right then I felt a sharp pain in my right hand. I looked at it, with all of the blood of course, and noticed that my middle finger knuckle looked very deformed.

“Well, well, Woody, will ya’ look at that! You broke your hand!”

“No, it’s only my middle knuckle. I must have cracked a bone or something. Now, umm, could you please put me down?”

The tree of a Nord sat me down on the grass and I attempted to put the knuckle back in place, but with no success. Then Alf tried to get involved.

“Here, lemme try, Woody…”

“NO! Get away! I’m not letting you crush my whole hand!”

“whatever ya’ say, lad. But I’m tellin’ ya’, the longer ye wait the worse it’s gonna get.”

“I know, I know. Don’t worry; we’ll soon meet up with someone who could heal me. Now, let’s get out of here before anyone else shows up.”

“You mean I can come with you?”

“Yes, Alf, I need you actually. Your talents would pay dividends for me Martin, my…umm…partner I guess you could call him.”

Alf then gave me a nasty look. “Woody, don’t tell me yer one of them kind…”

“No, no, no! Not that kind of partner you fool! He’s the one helping me!”

“Oh. Phew…fer a second there ya’ had me scared, Woody!”

“Well, let’s just get out of here so I can tell you all the specifics about what I’m trying to accomplish. I’ll go ahead and tell you know that I failed in coming to this city. I was supposed to find out some information, but I’ll have to tell you later. Let’s go!”

As we were about to exit the prison area, cultists started pouring out from inside the numerous rooms, including the armory. They saw and immediately began casting spells in our direction. Alf and I opened the large gates and made it out, all the while with spells bouncing off the walls, just inches from us. We closed the doors once we were on the other side, and that’s when a decision had to be made. I looked over the side of the bridge we were on, and I noticed a set of rocks were set perfectly for Alf and I to climb down. I couldn’t believe how lucky we were to have found these “step”, but I didn’t the time to stand and gawk.

“Alf, climb over the edge and onto those rocks.”

He did what I told him and then I followed right behind. Just moment after we were both out of sight, the gates to the prison area opened and many cultists made their way onto the bridge, oblivious to the fact that Ald and I were a mere few feet from them.

“Hurry, they must have fallen back to the Temple District,” I heard a Dunmer yell.

Alf and I waited for them to leave, and then we continued down the rocks until were flat on our feet, on the floor below the bridge. After catching a breath for a few minutes we marched around the city walls until we were close to the Waterfront. I took Alf to the shores near the sea, where I instructed him to wait behind a large boulder until I returned. Then, as I was about to leave and find Martin, I heard his voice coming from the left.

“Rayden, where have you been? And what did you do in there? The place is crawling with cultists!”

He looked down at me, and then up at Alf, who was smiling goofily.

“And who in Talos’ name is this?” He said pointing at Alf.

“This is Alf, Martin. If it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t have escaped from prison.”

“Prison? You mean you were caught?”

“Yes, but now is not the time to talk. Let us leave and I shall explain everything on the way to the priory.”

Martin looked agitated, but obviously we needed to leave before we were spotted.

“Fine, let’s just get out of here. And I’ll heal that injury of yours once we get out of sight,” Martin said pointing at my right hand as we made our way west…