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 TWENTY-TWO


While watching Adamus in his Imperial Legion officer armor, I stood sheepishly in the dark entrance of the closet. I was frozen in time, unable to think, let alone move. All I had on me was my rusty knife that I have kept all this time, and quite frankly I wasn’t exactly in the best shape to be fighting. My arm was about to fall off at any given moment, and my back made me feel as if I were an old man. But he kept coming, he wasn’t about to let his guard down just because I was injured. He knew what a major threat I was to Mankar’s plans.

His long claymore glistened in the light of the torches. The blade was extremely sharp and looked as if it had not killed in quite some time. I figured Adamus was foaming at the mouth for this opportunity. And just when I thought Jena was going to simply leave me there to die in the hallway, I saw that she had let Velvus go, for now at least. She charged toward Adamus with her blade held in front of her. Adamus turned around to face his challenger, and the battle commenced.

Adamus swung his sword mightily at Jena and she just barely dodged the attack. His blade hit the side of the wall, causing a huge tear in the wood surface. Jena then slashed at him with her own blade, but Adamus caught her wrist before she could deliver the blow. Using his strength he greatly outmatched Jena and slung her into the wall. She hit her head violently but she fought on anyway. Adamus again swung with his claymore again missed by mere inches.

It was weird seeing him handle a heavy weapon in such close quarters. The hallway was barely wide enough for Jena and I to walk through. But then again this didn’t seem to bother Adamus a bit. Of course he was after all an expert fighter, given the fact that he was an officer in the Imperial Legion. Now he is a traitor just like Lex once was. And look where that treachery got him…..

After dodging the attack Jena swung quickly with her blade and this time connected slightly with Adamus’s right shoulder. She caused a small tear on his arm but he merely shrugged it off and backhanded Jena with his free hand. She fell back, hit her head hard on the wall, and then fell to the ground after dropping her blade. It appeared as if Adamus was about to win the battle, but before he could make another move I jumped entered the fight. I knew I really couldn’t do that much, since I was injured and everything, but I was willing to do whatever it took to help Jena. I wasn’t about to let her die.

I leapt at Adamus from behind and tackled him from behind, leading the way with my healthy shoulder. He landed on the floor and I landed on top of him. Swiftly I took out my dagger and was about to jab it into the back of Adamus’s head, but he was too quick for me. He rolled to the side and threw me into the other wall. I was extremely light compared to him so it didn’t take much for the muscular Imperial to overtake me.

Adamus then raised his sword high into the air and was about to bring it down on me, but while losing his focus on Jena this also led him to lose the battle as well. Since he was not paying any attention to Jena, she was able to get up from the ground, pick up her sword, and shove it through Adamus’s back. The tip of the blade come through the front and blood began to spout from the wound. I had rolled to the side and thankfully avoided the mess.

Adamus fell to one knee and just knelt there for a second. Then Jena pulled the blade from his body and brutally slit his throat. Adamus’s body crashed to the ground and that was the end of him. His blade lay still on the floor beside him and a large pool of blood was already forming around his motionless corpse.

I looked at Jena and the fury was still in her eyes. It was almost scary in a way….she almost looked insane. I didn’t really know what to think of that, but now wasn’t the time to be thinking.

“Are you okay?”

I asked her this only because her body was trembling, and also because there was a small stream of blood was gushing from her nose.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” she said while wiping away some of the blood with her sleeve. “My nose doesn’t feel too good though, and my head is pounding. But don’t worry, I’ll live.”

“You’d better. I wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for you,” I said, attempting to brighten the atmosphere up a bit.

“Thanks, Rayden, but I have to say the same for you. If would not have foiled his attack I would be dead as of now. But enough talking, I’m sure Velvus has alerted the guards.”

Jena helped me up from the ground and then handed me a clean and new silver short sword.

“You should have told me all you have is that awful knife!”

We were about to walk away from the area, but then Jena asked, “Rayden, how do you feel? I mean, do you think you could handle yourself if I left you here to take care of Goldwine?”

“Well, I guess so. Goldwine isn’t very young and I doubt he could take me even if I’m injured.”

“Are you sure? I can go and take on the other guards, there really shouldn’t be that many of them. The outside of this ship is misleading to how large this vessel actually is. I can deal with them myself and I don’t think you’re healthy enough for battle against someone who is actually trained in combat. But I also don’t want to leave you here if you don’t think you’re up for the challenge.”

“I’ll be fine. Just kill some guards for me…”

She smiled and then took off down the hallway. I watched as she rounded the corner with her blade in hand, and then I turned my attention to Goldwine’s door.

I hadn’t heard a peep from inside since the battle with Adamus had started. No doubt he was hiding in there hoping Adamus had taken care of Jena and I. But of course that wasn’t the case, and soon he would meet the same fate as Adamus.

I walked up to the door and jingled the knob even though I knew out of common sense that it was locked. So I took out a pick and fumbled around until I heard the familiar click that I had come accustomed to some years ago. When I opened the door I saw something that totally took me by surprise. Goldwine lay on the ground in a dark pool of blood with a knife to his side. I walked up to his body to examine him a little closer. It appeared to me that he had slit his own throat, rather than let me get to him. Odd really, but I guess he didn’t want to take a chance of letting information slip from his mouth.

I walked out of the room and made it down the hallway. To my right was the door to the outside, and to my left were two doors. I poked my head into one of them and realized it was a storage place, and also what looked like a barrack. Then I entered the other room to find a small kitchen. A pot of warm stew was still brewing on a nearby table. So I closed the door and stepped outside. Jena had already dispatched the remaining guards, which looked to be only three. She was now holding Velvus by the collar and was screaming at the top of her lungs.

“Why did you betray my trust? Did you really think you could get away? We’re in the middle of the sea, you fool! There’s nowhere to run!”

“No, you are the fool,” Velvus said while laughing insanely.

“Master Mankar knew Rayden would be coming to assassinate Count Goldwine. That is why we set you up!”

He began to laugh loudly and Jena kicked him in the groin.

“What do you mean we were set up?”

“Mankar knew Rayden would sooner or later come after Count Goldwine, just as I have already said if you were paying any attention.”

Then I butted in. “But…if that’s the case and we were set up, why in the world would Goldwine kill himself?”

Jena and I were both facing Velvus and our backs were to the cabin door. Then I heard a familiar voice behind me.

“Goldwine didn’t kill himself…I did.”

I turned around and there, standing right in front of me, was Mankar himself.