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 EIGHTEEN


Janus and I followed Burd through a wooden door that led to a rather smelly hallway. At the end of the corridor was yet another door, this particular one leading to a small room with a desk, and I realized we were at the jailor’s office. There was a door that had been left wide open in the back left corner, and as soon as I noticed it an Imperial man walked out carrying a torch.

“Servious, how many times have I told you not to leave the door open?” Burd asked the man sternly.

The guard sat down in his chair behind the desk and said, “But sir, I was only helping the soldiers put away the traitor, or at least that’s what they called him anyways. What happened, Captain?”

“Never mind that now. Do not leave the door unattended to no matter what the circumstances are. Especially during these times I might add. Do you understand what I am saying? Am I being clear enough for you?”

I was very surprised at the way Burd was speaking to the guard. He was rude, and I know the guard probably deserved being reprimanded and all that, but Burd could probably have done it in a more respectable way. But of course it’s really none of my business what he does.

“Yes, sir, please forgive me,” the soldier replied.

“Also, do not let anyone into the dungeon while we are in there.” Burd said while pointing to Janus and me, as well as himself.

So then Burd motioned for us to follow him into the prison area, which we did. Burd closed the door behind us once we were in and then we walked down the aisle. There were not any prisoners except for the traitor. I was sure Burd was definitely proud of the low amount of inmates. As we neared the last cell on the left two Bruma soldiers were standing outside speaking with the prisoner.

“You may now leave,” Burd told the soldiers. They simply nodded, shook their heads in disgust at the traitor, and then left the area, closing the door behind them.

“Why?”

This is the only thing Burd asked the traitor, though he didn’t get anything out of it. The prisoner said not a word, but was weeping in the corner of the jail. It was very pathetic and I could tell Burd was already starting to get impatient. Janus and I simply stood out of the way while Burd spoke with the prisoner.

“Stop crying, Maloney. Why did you and Serantivous attack me?”

“I…I did not attack you, Captain. I could not bring myself to do so…unlike Serantivous. As you can see…he paid the ultimate price for his treachery.”

“You have not answered my question, Maloney. Who swayed you to Mankar’s side? I know that is who you’re working for, now tell me who’s poisoned your minds!”

Maloney was still crying, and now was huddled up into a ball in the corner of the cell. “I…I cannot say, Captain. They will have me killed if I say anything.”

“They? Who is they? Are they in the city right now? Do not be afraid, Maloney. I swear to you now that we will keep you safe. I promise you that.”

“No,” Maloney gasped loudly. “You do not know what is going on in your own city. There are many involved in this, Captain. I am afraid you will not succeed. Please forgive me, sir.”

Maloney then reached for a wooden knife with an iron tip that lay on a stool inside the cell. Burd knew what was about to happen and he immediately reached for his set of keys. He was fumbling with the key and attempting to unlock the cell, but it was too late. Maloney had had already jabbed the knife into his heart, and blood was spouting from his chest fast. But he was not dead just yet. Burd finally unlocked the cell and the three of us ran inside. Burd knelt down and grabbed Maloney by the shirt and said, “WHO IS IT? WHO HAS INFILTRATED OUR CITY?”

But Maloney only smiled for several seconds, and then died in Burd’s hands.

“NO!” Burd yelled out in frustration. He let go of Maloney’s shirt and stood up with his hands in his black and gray hair. “This is bad. I’ve got even more traitors walking around as we speak! What should we do?” He asked Janus.

“This is very bad indeed, Burd. There is virtually nothing you can do. I am sure there are more traitorous soldiers other than Maloney, but it will be almost impossible to figure out who they are. It seems we don’t even know who’s on our side anymore,” Janus said, and then sighed heavily. “I think you should tell Rayden what the plans are before anything else happens.”

Burd nodded and then started to speak. “Rayden, you are to travel to Anvil and find Ormellius Goldwine. He alone will no where Mankar is located and you will find the Altmer and kill him. Yes, I know plan sounds a little vague, but that’s basically it. Find Mankar and end this threat. I do not know you that well, but Janus brings high praise for you. He suggests that you are the only one who can defeat Mankar, for whatever reasons I have not yet seen, but I’m willing to trust the words of my old friend.”

High praise? I certainly didn’t expect something like that come from Janus. Even though he’s angry with the way I carry myself, it was sure good to know that he still believes in my ability.

“But, there’s a catch. Janus also tells me you don’t make friends easily and you trust hardly anyone. I realize you would probably like to conduct this mission alone, but I will not allow that. It is too dangerous for you to go all by yourself, and that is why I am sending the last living Blade to accompany you.”

“Blade, you mean the warriors that protect the Emperor?”

“Yes, that is exactly who I am talking about. Over the past weeks all of the Blades officers have been hunted down and assassinated. And I’m not talking about just in Cyrodiil. According to my source Blade agents from around Tamriel have been eliminated.”

“And who is that source of yours?”

“The last Blade herself, Jena. She resides now in Cloud Ruler Temple, still mourning the losses of her brothers and sisters. Jena is trying to uphold the temple by herself, but I spoke with her earlier today about what I am telling you. She has agreed to help you, if only avenge the death of her friends.”

I didn’t like this a bit. Burd was forcing me to take someone with me; some that I didn’t even know! Granted this Jena is an agent of the Blades. So I guess it couldn’t be too bad. And besides, I was trying to get away from the whole ‘everyone is against me’ attitude anyway.

“Alright, when shall I meet this Jena?”

“Right now, Rayden. Let us go speak with her so that the two of you may leave quickly. I am afraid Bruma is running out of time.”




The three of us walked out of the prisons, and then Burd ordered two soldiers talking to the jailor to take care of Maloney’s body clean up the blood as well. The soldiers reluctantly walked into the prison area while Janus and I followed Burd out into the cold once more.

Outside a Bruman officer had rounded up the citizens just as Burd had wished. He and other soldiers were asking them many questions, and some civilians were getting worried, some were getting angry.

“Molvar, after you are done speaking with the civilians, I want all soldiers to report to the castle.”

“All of them, Captain?”

“Yes, all of them. There is a rat in our ranks and I will find him no matter how long it takes. Make sure nobody enters or leaves the city.”

“Yes, sir,” the soldier said a bit questionably, and then walked away.

“The temple is outside of the city, on top of a large hill. We’ll take horses up there because I don’t feel like walking in the snow as of right now,” Burd said to Janus and I.

We left the city through the side entrance, and outside the horses were stabled in a large barn. A heavyset Nord was sitting in an old rickety chair, seemingly talking to his self. We walked up to the Nord and Burd asked to borrow some horses.

“Excuse me, but may we borrow three of your horses?”

The Nord looked up at Burd with his majestic blue eyes and responded, “Well of course, Captain! Me and Bruno here aren’t using em’ at the moment anyway.”

“May I ask who Bruno is?”

“My dog, of course! I found him running wild in the forest a few days ago. Cute, aint he?”

At first I didn’t see anything, but then a white ball of fur appeared out of nowhere. His fur was so white he blended in with the snow perfectly. The dog came over to get some attention, and Burd petted the dog for several seconds before the three of us walked over to get our horses. I mounted on mine, a black horse, while the other two did the same. Then we left the area and followed Burd. He took us across the snowy plains, towards a large mountain with a winding road going up. It took us nearly thirty minutes to get to the top of the mountain and the entire way we saw nothing but trees. Then, at last, we came upon an unusual looking structure. The walls went up extremely high into the air and there was only once entrance, a very large and high door that was open for just anyone to walk into.

“Here we are. As you can see the entrance is open. Yes, I realize that is dangerous, but since it is now only Jena that remains, she cannot scout atop the towers all day. Come; let’s meet your partner, Rayden.”

We walked up a long flight of stairs, and then we were face to face with the entry of the temple. There were entrances to the left and right, as while as in the middle. Burd explained that the left door led to the barracks, the right led to where the agents would eat, and the middle led to the lobby area. Burd then suggested that we check the lobby area, since it was almost nine o’clock in the evening, and that Jena always read by the fireplace at night.

So we opened the middle door and stepped inside the old structure. Inside, just as Burd had foretold. When she heard us close the door she turned away from the fireplace and said, “Well hello, Captain. How are you?”

“Not good, I’m afraid. Yourself?”

“I’ve gotten rid of most of the junk that’s been lying around. It shouldn’t be more than a day before everything is cleaned up. But I guess that’ll have to wait, given the mission I am about to embark on,” she said while winking.

“Yes, well, here is your partner, Rayden. He’s very skilled with stealth and security I hear. Count Janus Hassildor has very high praise for him I might add.”

Jena closed her book on a stool and got up to shake my hand. Her skin was very gentle, obviously because she was a girl. I also noticed that she was very pretty, for an Imperial at least. Her eyes were bright blue, almost mysterious in a way.

“Hello, Rayden. I’m glad to finally meet my partner. I promise you we will take down Mankar and he will pay for all of the grief he’s caused everyone. What is your reason for fighting against Mankar?”

“I, um, don’t want to see the province run by a tyrant such as him.”

My answer was rather dull and boring, but it was the truth. None of my friends have been killed or anything, only because I don’t have any friends. I was almost certain Jena would scoff at my comments, seeing as she was part of such a prestegious group like the Blades, but I was wrong and she accepted what I had to say.

“I agree. We can’t have something like that happening. So, has Captain Burd explained everything to you?”

I nodded.

“Good, then we can leave now?”

She was very anxious to get going, and I was impressed by her eagerness. No doubt she wanted to get her revenge.

“Yes, Jena, that would be wise; the quicker the better. What do you think, Janus?”

“I believe you are right, Burd. We are wasting time standing here,” he said smiling. “One thing though, Rayden, Once you do learn Mankar’s location I do not want you to return here. Simply find and eliminate him. Understand?”

I nodded again. “Very good, then off you two should go.”

“What about Martin? I need to speak to him for a minute.”

“No, Rayden, there is not enough time for that. You can speak to him when you return,” Janus said.

“Please, it’s very important. I need to…I…”

“You want to apologize to him, Rayden? Forget about it, I’m sure he’s okay. It’s time to leave; the Mythic Dawn is marching towards our city as we speak.”

I was about to argue further when the door opened and in came Martin.

“You were looking for me, Rayden?” He said, with a frown on his face. He walked over to me and got just inches away from my face. Anger was clear on his expression and right then I thought I had lost his friendship. But then he smiled and hugged me.

“I’m so sorry, Martin. I…I haven’t been thinking lately. I swear to you I will never have an attitude again.”

“Yeah, and I can fly,” he laughed. “Don’t worry about, Rayden. I know deep down inside you mean well. I saw you three riding up here, and I knew what was happening. You, see, Janus told me of the plan earlier. I just wanted to say goodbye and be careful. And don’t go and get captured this time!” He laughed again.

I laughed with him and shook his hand, not knowing if it was for the last time.