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 NINETEEN


Martin let go of my hand and patted me on the shoulder. It was good to know that the two of us where at peace with one another. I had feared for the worst; that Martin had lost all respect for me, and that I had lost his friendship. I never really thought about that kind of stuff before, but now I realize Mankar was wrong when he spoke to me in Kvatch. People do care about me. Martin…Janus…they all care about me enough to claim that I am the only one who can take the evil Altmer down for good. I’m glad have realized all of this before it was too late.

“Ride swiftly, my friend, Bruma can only stand for a short amount of time before the walls fall down in front of us. I know you’ll do us proud,” Martin said. Then he looked over at Janus, who himself looked to becoming impatient of all the final goodbyes.

“Yes, Rayden, do be careful on this mission, as it is obviously very important. It is time for the talking to end and time for you to leave, but let me leave you with this one last message. I barely know anything about you since we’ve essentially just met, but during this short duration you have impressed me greatly. Sure, you have hot-head sometimes, but doesn’t everyone?” Hassildor smiled and put a hand on my shoulder. “I do not want you to leave here thinking that I loath you, because that would be far from the truth. You are a very special person, Rayden. The balance of power in Cyrodiil rests in yours and Jena’s hands. That alone speaks volumes for how much trust and praise we all have for you. I also realize that you are certainly confident in your abilities, and while that is a good thing do not let it cloud your mind. No one is invincible, Rayden, no one.”

And with that Jena said her goodbyes to Burd, who it seemed was a close friend of hers. Then Jena suggested that I use the Blades armor.

“Rayden, I would be honored if you were to bear the armor of a Blade. You may not be one yourself, but your actions have certainly qualified you for the use of this ancient piece.”

I was glad to hear those sincere words, but the fact of the matter is that I have never worn armor before during my hits as a thief. Armor is too heavy and noisy, causing me great difficulty in performing my duties. I wasn’t about to change my ways, especially when I would be sneaking around in the shadows in Anvil.

“Thank you for the kind gesture, Jena, but I’m afraid I’ll have to decline the offer. Armor is too heavy and makes too much noise. We’ll be infiltrating a city full of people who want us dead. I need to be as sneaky as I can, and quite frankly armor would do nothing but hamper our mission.”

“Yes, you are right, Rayden. I should have thought about that as well, but, I think you should at least wear something a little warmer. We’ll be traveling through the Jerall Mountains on our way to Anvil you know.”

That sounded like a good idea and Jena said she would show me to a room where clothing was stored. Martin, Burd and Janus shook my hand and said their last goodbyes, and then left to return to Bruma. After all, they had their own problems to attend to.

“Come, Rayden, I’ll show you to the room, and then I’ll wait outside while you choose what you wish to wear during our trip.”

Jena seemed like a very nice person, and I was glad for that. I would have hated to have to travel with an arrogant fool. That would have been a dreadful experience indeed. But then again, that’s probably how I acted towards Martin and Janus, at least before I changed my ways that is. No more of that, I am a new person.

She took me through a door that was located near the exit to the outside. Then we walked down a hallway, and finally into a room filled with many wooden boxes, cabinets and drawers.

“This is where everyone had kept all of our clothes over the years. Some are older than others, but I’ll just let you decide on what you want yourself,” she said cheerfully.

Jena stepped back outside into the hallway and closed the door, leaving me by myself with literally hundreds of pieces of clothing. There are many types lying around everywhere: shirts, shorts, pants, hoods, robes, capes, boots, shoes, sandals…..everything you could think of. Although I was finding it a bit weird that they would keep shorts and sandals, given the fact that it was always bitter cold in this area.

I looked through the room for about ten minutes until I had chosen my attire for the trip. I wasn’t a picky person when it came to getting dressed. To tell you truth I’ve never cared how I look as long as I’m comfortable. What I ended up dressing into was a simple dark green shirt, long wool pants, and a dark green robe to go over everything. Then I put on a pair of cowhide boots and a dark green hood. The clothing was a little big, because I am a Bosmer, but all in all it fit pretty well. And most importantly I was warm.

Once I was done fitting into my new clothing I stepped outside to show Jena my attire. She sort of giggled at my appearance. Apparently my clothing was a bit bigger than I thought. But hey, at least I matched color wise.

“That will do, Rayden. Let’s go, I have a couple of horses stabled outside the temple. We can take those. It will take a while to arrive in Anvil, so time is definitely of the essence,” she said as we began to walk towards the exit.

“Do you know how long it will take exactly?” I asked.

“Hmm…I don’t really know; it all depends on how many stops we have to take. Right now it is about ten o’clock at night, so if we ride all the way until morning, then perhaps stop and rest for a bit before continuing again, we should perhaps arrive in Anvil sometime around midnight, maybe a little later. But that’s only if we make one stop to rest of course.”

I agreed that we should not stop for much, because we needed to get back to Bruma as quick as possible. Outside the horses were getting anxious to get going, so Jena and I saddled up and left the temple, but she closed the doors of course. It took us a while to get down the mountain, but once we did get all the way down we immediately picked up the pace. I followed Jena as she led me onto a trail that took us deep into the snowy cold mountains. We rode along the trail and suffered no setback such as wolves or anything like that, but there were several scary moments.

During the first part of the trip we had to ride over an old bridge, and my horse slipped halfway across. I almost fell off and down into the frozen pond that was hundreds of feet below us, but thankfully I had kept my balance and safely made it across without being unscathed.

But other than that things went fairly smooth. It was almost five o’clock in the morning, and we arrived at a small cave when Jena suggested we stop and rest for a couple of hours to get our strength back for the rest of the journey. I certainly wasn’t one to complain about getting out of the snowy cold, so we took our horses inside the cave, which fortunately wasn’t inhabited by any unwanted creatures. The place was almost perfect in terms of size, and I had plenty of room to stretch my tired legs.

“So, what exactly got you into this mess?” She asked me while chewing on some berries we found just outside of the cave. They were frozen when we found them, but soon the ice melted, and I must say, they were quite the treat. Thankfully Jena happened to be an expert alchemist so I knew I wasn’t eating anything poisonous.

I told Jena of my story, even all the way back when I was a thief in Kvatch. I felt a need to explain this to her so that she knew exactly where I came from, figuratively I mean. We would be with each other for the next three or four days, so I firmly believed a need to tell her everything. I even told of how I once before acted as a child, and now I am a totally new person. Of course, I might sound a bit hasty with that since it hasn’t even been a day since I last got an attitude with Janus, but I wanted her to know that I am a respectful person.

After my story, Jena began hers:

“Before the Emperor himself was assassinated, we were attacked back at Cloud Ruler Temple. Those of us who were not in the Imperial City had been sleeping that night, except for me. I couldn’t sleep knowing that the life of our Emperor was hanging by a thread, a thin one mind you. I heard noises coming from inside the temple, and when I walked inside I witnessed the murder of my brothers and sisters. Apparently the Mythic Dawn snuck inside and struck while my friends were asleep. Everything happened so fast it was all over in a matter of minutes. There was nothing I could for them, so I came back outside and hid in the stables, behind a bale of hay. I do not feel cowardly for my actions; I felt the need to uphold the Blades organization. When the cultists left I heard one of them say something about there being no more agents to disturb their mission. After that I sent letters out to the agents around Tamriel, and I have yet to receive any replies. At first I was optimistic, but now I know the truth; I am the only one left. And just to think, if I had been sleeping I would have suffered the same fate. It just chills me to the bone when I think about it, which is often I might add.”

And I thought my story was sorrowful. This woman had lost all of her friends to the Dawn threat. And what a terrible thing it must have been for her to hide while her friends died, so helpless from saving them. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how bad of a situation that must have been. She was definitely a strong person.

“I commend you for what you did. Not many people would have been able to live on and continue the work you have done. It makes me happy to be partners with someone such as yourself.”

I was trying to sound as courteous as possible, but I wanted it to come from the heart, because it was. I was determined to prove to everyone that I am indeed a good person, even if Jena was likely unaware of the turmoil that Janus and I once shared.

“Thanks, Rayden. I am totally focused on avenging my brothers’ and sisters’ death. Mankar will pay for what he has done.”

“Well, now that I think about it, I’m not actually sure what your role is,” I said laughing a bit. “What will you do while I infiltrate the city?”

“I will simply wait for you while you do your thing. To be honest with you, I am here to get my revenge. Once you figure out Mankar’s location, I will help you defeat him. That is my job. That, and Burd thought someone should come along with you anyway, in case you got into trouble or something. I promise I won’t be a bother to you.”

“No, not at all, Jena. I wouldn’t be surprised if I did get into trouble,” I said, again laughing.

“What do you mean by that?” she said a little cautiously.

“Well, let’s just say luck hasn’t been on my side lately. But that’s not to say I’m not capable for the job, I mean…there’s nothing to worry about, I swear…”

My palms were sweaty and face was drenched as well. I just then realized how stupid I was sounding to Jena. There I was, claiming basically of being an unlucky person, and if that were truthfully the case, how I am supposed to be the savior of Cyrodiil? Thankfully she was unfazed by my foolish comments.

“No worries, Rayden. We all have those kinds of days sometimes. It happens.”

After a while the horses started getting agitated again, so we rode off onto the snow once more, but at least it was starting to get light because morning was creeping up on us. We rode for a very long time, and finally after what seemed like days we at last made it out of the mountains.

“Whew. That took longer than I expected. It’s already noon!” Jena commented. “By this rate we might not even get to Anvil today. We’ll have to pick up the pace even more. We’re only about fifty miles or so, so I’d like to get there sometime tonight if that’s at all possible.”

We continued to ride for the rest of the day without stopping, and when nighttime came, we still rode. I was vastly impressed by Jena’s strong will and drive to succeed. Certainly there were those who could learn a thing or two from her. And I’m talking mainly about traitors such as Lex, and even Alfhedil despite the fact that he was never really on my side to begin with.

Throughout the day we traveled through many different types of environments. We passed through the last outskirts of the Jerall Mountains, where it was of course cold and snowy. Then we rode through the pleasant atmosphere of the Colovian Highlands, my personal favorite. Someday I wish to settle down and “retire” in Chorrol. And finally, as the day grew late, we neared Anvil and the air got cooler, since we were also getting close to the Abecian Sea as well.

After riding for a little bit more we could see the torches of Castle Anvil light up the night. By the brightness of the large torches I could tell we were no more than ten minutes away from our first destination.

“Alright, Rayden, we’re almost there. You ready?” She said as he neared closer and closer to the newest conquered city.

“Yeah, don’t worry about me, Jena. I’m always ready.”

As soon as I said those nine words objects began flying down from out of the sky. Most of whatever it was missed me, but one, which I learned the hard way was an arrow, struck me just above my right armpit, almost onto my chest and just below my shoulder. I yelled out in pain and fell off my horse. Then she galloped out of sight simply out of fear. I heard Jena yell for me to stay down as she jumped off of her horse and unsheathed her Blade katana and shield. I saw her carrying them before we left Cloud Ruler Temple. They definitely looked different.

I couldn’t see what was happening because it was so dark and there was no source of light, but I could hear the grunts and groans, the clanging of metal. And from time to time a spell would light up the area just a bit. And when that did happen, I realized Jena was fighting against three cultists.

Fearing for her life I struggled up from the ground and ran over to help. Upon reaching one of the cultists I stupidly tried to unsheathe my sword with my right hand, but the pain was the arrow wouldn’t let me do so. And when I screamed out in pain once more the cultist saw me and blasted me into the air, where I landed hard against a tree. If you remember earlier I had sustained a back injury when Alfhedil had betrayed me. When I hit the tree my back popped just as it did back then, and now I had two injuries.

Not able to get up this time, I watched powerlessly as Jena fought on alone. She took out two of them quickly, and then it was just she and the lone cultist left, but then I noticed he was no cultist…it was Lex himself!

Upon learning his identity Jena went into a fit of intense rage, possibly because she perhaps felt betrayed by him more than I because she was a Blade, a protector of the Emperor. And Lex was once an officer of the Legion, the Emperor’s army. Knowing that I knew she was feeling more betrayed than I.

She charged at him with all her speed and might but, being the skillful soldier he was, Lex defended himself successfully and threw Jena to the ground. Then he actually laughed, and that ended up being the ultimate mistake. Jena got up from the ground, sliced three times into the air with no prevails, and then at least connected her blade with Lex’s neck. His head flew from his body and landed some ten feet away. His lifeless body fell to the ground, along with his steel claymore. The battle was over.

Jena limped over to me and touched the arrow slightly, still causing great pain.

“Sorry, Rayden, but I’ll have to pull it out,” she said gently.

I was about to respond but then we heard a voice in the distance, “The light came from over there! Hurry!”