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-THREE


Mankar stood with his hands behind his back, giving me that same agitating smile he has always worn upon his elfish face. He started to walk towards me so I took out short sword and pointed the tip directly at his heart.

“Rayden, I am not here to fight, or at least right now. Before anything else happens don’t you wish for me to explain all of this?” he asked while looking and pointing to the ship.

Jena looked at him with a suspicious stare. She was also still grasping the collar of Velvus, who was laughing up a storm during all of this.

“I’ll take the silence as a yes. You see, Rayden, although you’re quite the skillful little wood elf, you are also very predictable. I knew how easy it would be to lead you into a trap, so I have done just that. The war is coming to and end and I knew soon you would hunt me down in an attempt to assassinate me and sway to the battle to your liking. That is why I set this entire event up, just for you. Granted I didn’t know you would be bringing along this here Blade with you, but more the merrier I always say. Now I will be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

“What about the island, where is it?”

Jena pointing out to the sea, and there was no land in view except for the shores of Anvil.

“You imprudent girl, there is no island! It was all a set up. I know I sound repetitive but if you would silence yourself instead of talking I wouldn’t have to repeat myself, now would I? Now, Rayden, and you, little girl, it is time to end your lives right now. We are in the middle of the sea. I am afraid there is no escape this time…”

Jena turned to Velvus, slashed his neck, and he tumbled overboard and into the water. Then she faced Mankar and charged towards him. I tried to stop her but she had already past me. Mankar simply smiled and threw a shock spell. The spell hit Jena in the chest and she flew back a couple feet. Her body rolled awkwardly on the deck of the ship and I heard a bone crack, but I’m not sure which one it was. Jena screamed out in agony as she squirmed around trying to subdue the pain.

Then Mankar looked at me and said, “It seems you’re injured, my little wood elf. That’s too bad. I was hoping for a better fight.”

Next he shot another spell, this one towards my head. I ducked just in time and spell flew off into the distance. Before I could do anything else another spell came my way, and again I dodged it, this time by rolling to my left. I landed on my right shoulder as I rolled, and it hurt dearly. But I couldn’t stay down for long because the spells kept coming and coming non stop. Finally my luck ran out and one of them hit me square in the chest. I flew to my right and smacked into the side of the ledge, hitting my shoulder once again. I turned around to see what was going on and Jena was charging at Mankar again, and it appeared that she was favoring her left knee a bit.

Mankar saw her coming and unsheathed a long Elven Claymore, and a fight commenced between the two. Jena swung at Mankar’s head but he simply laughed again and blocked it. She swung again but her injury disabled her from being affective at all. I got up to help out but it was too late. After taking another swipe, Jena missed entirely, and Mankar too advantage of the miss. He took his blade and shoved it as hard as he could into Jena’s armor. The blade appeared from Jena’s back and I watched in horror as her body shook and then we limp. Then Mankar pulled his sword from her body and she fell to the ground, lifeless.

I couldn’t believe it…she was dead. I hadn’t even known for a mere day and already she was gone. I never got to know her that well, but despite that I was almost on the verge of tears. I can’t explain it, I just…I don’t know, felt like Jena was really one of the good guys. I never thought she was going to die, not for a second. But there she was, lying in a pool of pool of blood.

And there Mankar was, standing over Jena’s body. And again, for the umpteenth time, he had that malevolent grin upon him. I wanted to strike that smile off of his face with my blade, but I’ll admit, for the first time I was actually scared. My arm was hurting like hell. And, just as Mankar had already mentioned, there was no place to run. I had no other choice but to face me adversary, one on one. It was obviously the honorable way. But what was to become of me now? Could I really take down Mankar, the evil sorcerer, with all of my injuries? Even if I was healthy I don’t think my chances would have been high.

“By look on your face I can see that you already doubt yourself, Rayden.”

He was trying to play a mind game with me; trying to get me down on myself. It was true that he was more skillful than I, but only because of his magical powers. But of course I being injured greatly disabled me from performing at my fullest, as I have already mentioned. I wasn’t going to go down without a fight, though. Not after what he did to Jena.

“Look at your arm, Rayden. You are in no condition to fight, but oh well. I have heard about your superb fighting skills, and I was hoping for a grand finale of a fight between you and I. But it doesn’t matter. Either way you were going to die. I suppose this will only make things quicker. Then I can move on to more important things.”

Then surprisingly he shot a spell at me. I wasn’t paying any attention and it took me by surprise. The spell did not hit my body, but it did hit my blade. The sword flew from my hand and landed somewhere in the sea. I immediately looked for Jena’s blade but Mankar was already holding it.

“Looking for this, Rayden?” He took the blade and flung it overboard into the water.

Then I looked at the three guards and their swords had already been thrown into the water as well. It looked as if all was lost.

“Face it, Rayden, it’s over for you. Why not simply give up?”

He charged at me and swung his claymore. I dove to my right and rolled over, hurting my shoulder in the process. But I blocked out the pain as much as I could. He swung again but this time I ducked under the blade and tackled Mankar to the ground. Even though he was a lot taller than me I was still able to bring him down. I was on top of him and I punched him twice in the nose. Blood splashed into my eyes but I kept on swinging. Then he shot a spell at me and I flew straight up into the air. Mankar rolled to his left just as I hit the ground.

He grabbed his sword, which was lying to his right and as he was getting up from the wooden floor I saw something glimmer to my right: a steel dagger! I took the knife and turned to Mankar. He was running at me full speed with his claymore held high. As fast as I could I reared back and threw the dagger at him. The small blade hit him square in the chest. And when that blade made contact the evil smile was finally wiped away from his face, and in its place was that of shock and dismay.

His body began to fall forwards and as it did it ran into me. I flew back and hit my head hard on the wall of the ship ledge. When I fell to the ground I saw Mankar lying on the ground. His face was blank and his eyes were wide open. But he was dead…he was finally dead. Then, I looked up into the sky and I swear I could see Jena hovering in the air. But I didn’t have a lot of time to think about it, because slowly my eyes began to become blurry, and then finally everything went dark.