Capsized, My new fan fiction. Options

[Kiln]

Alright guys I know its short but bear with me here eh?
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Prologue
I dreamt of Cyrodill and the cool cobblestone streets of the Imperial City. As I walked toward the city gates, the oil lanterns illuminated the many buildings, shops, and people rushing about, giving the city its own unique personality. Brightly colored flowers filled gardens and massive trees overlooked the city from outside the walls. I took a step outside the massive gates of the city and looked toward the woodland nearby, hardly able to see it because of the mist filling the air. In the distance a deer crashed through the brush in the forest as it attempted to evade the graceful mountain lion. Birds and squirrels were stirred from their nests by the noise below. My wife came up from behind and rested her hand on my shoulder lovingly, looking off into the distance with me . I smiled happily and inhaled the fresh air of the city calmly, then I woke.

Chapter 1: Arrival
The huge oak ship creaked and rocked violently around me as crates and barrels in the hold collided and shook, attempting to break free from the ropes securing them to the floor. I sat up and looked at the dirty bedroll on the floor beneath me, unsure of what is going on. My head was overwhelmed with an intense sharp pain. I grabbed the back of my head and felt the bump where I'd been hit but I couldn't remember why or how I'd even arrived there.

I shook off the confusion and attempted to stand but the storm shook the ship fiercely, causing me to fall to the floor once again. I could hear muffled shouting on the level above me as rain fell into the cargo hold through the open hatch at the end of the corridor. As I lay there, a large amount of water rolled inside the trap door and washed over me, soaking my entire body and filling my mouth with ice cold saltwater. I spat the water onto the floor and grabbed a thin blanket from the corner, wrapping myself with it in an attempt to stay warm. I forced myself to stand and began to make my way toward the trap door leading to the next level, staying to the sides of the room and using the cargo to steady myself. One of the imperial guards climbed into the hatch right as I arrived and grabbed me by the shoulder, throwing me to the floor.

"Keep still prisoner, get back with the others!" He yelled over the sound of thunder and the whistling of the wind outside

"Man overboard!" Another voice yelled just outside

As I tried to get to my feet I heard wooden planks crack and splinter in the level below me. I was frozen with fear and I glanced behind me as water rushed in from the bottom deck.

"Breach on the port side!" A voice yelled as water consumed me

The ship popped and creaked as I struggled to stay above water. The ship began to tilt left slowly and then capsized without warning. I try to swim upward to the bubble of air left at the hull of the ship but a strong current dragged me outside into the deadly waters. I finally made it to the top of the water and took a breath, grabbing a floating barrel desperately. I screamed for help in fear as I listed to the screams of the other men as they search for something to grab hold of but weren't successful.

Though the brutal ocean waves threw me into the air and plunged me back into the freezing water I still held tightly onto the barrel, refusing to be devoured by the dark sea around me. I looked around briefly before each time I was plunged into the ocean praying for land. The screams of the ship’s crew became silent and I could no longer see the hull of the ship floating above the water. I was thrown about for hours before the storm dissipated and I finally saw land. I let go of the barrel and was washed ashore a muddy beach minutes later. I looked around weakly, I could see buildings that looked similar to imperial design but no people walked near them and no lanterns lit the streets. No wall separated it from the world outside and no guards patrolled the alleys.

"Please help." I stutter hoarsely

I begin to cough and choke from the cold, my stomach felt as if it were still turning circles inside me, and I was exhausted. I could stay conscious no more so I rolled onto my side and passed out, cold and alone.

This post has been edited by Kiln: Aug 21 2008, 09:56 PM

[Kiln]

I looked around sluggishly as I awoke, observing that I had been brought inside somehow. I found myself on a dusty bedroll surrounded by baskets and sacks, the door at the edge of the room was made of heavy oak and was reinforced with iron. The entire area smelled like something had soured inside and had never been aired out, it was putrid.

I sat up quickly and got to my feet soon after, looking around the room cautiously, though it was extremely small. There was nothing of interest anywhere to be found, it appeared that I was inside a storage room. I grabbed the large iron door-handle and opened the door slowly, seeing exquisite blue tapestry and a candle lighting the hallway outside.

I turned and slinked up the small stairway on my left that led into a long hallway, that's when I saw light in a room just ahead on the left, several feet from the other door at the end of the hall. I stopped abruptly and leaned around the corner carefully searching the room with my eyes. Inside was an old man sitting with his back to me at a table eating bread and something else on his plate I couldn't make out. I had just decided to enter when the other door at the end of the hall creaked open and a guard wearing Imperial armor emerged, sighting me immediately and walking in my direction. He grabbed me by the arm harshly and stepped around the corner, clearing his throat to signal our presence to the older man still eating his meal.

I smiled nervously, still unsure of what was going on.

"Found this in the hall." The guard said as if he were quite annoyed

"Ah you're awake...very good lets head to the office, I have a few questions for you." The old man said waving his hand around as he stood from the table

"Lets go, we don't have all day." The guard remarked, half shoving me toward the hallway

We arrived in a much larger room lined with shelves, books, plates, and numerous other decorative items as well as a lit fireplace in the corner of the room. It was odd that such an ornately decorated place could smell so bad. It seemed that no matter where you went in the building it smelled like it was surrounded by a festering bog.

"Please sit down, its not often that humans come through here, usually all we process are the beast races." The old man said, motioning toward the chair

I fell back into the chair, still somewhat weak from recent events. I wondered what he meant by beast races but decided not to pursue it in conversation so I wouldn't seem ignorant.

"I am Socucius Ergalla and this is Seyda Neen's Census office." He said before taking a drink from the goblet before him

"Can you tell me your name?" He asked

"My name is Elith." I said, surprised that I'd nearly struggled to remember my name

"Interesting." He said as he marked something in a large red book before him

"Can you tell me how you got here?" He said calmly

"I was on a prison ship...but I don't know why." I replied

"Do you know what the ship was called?" He asked

"I'm sorry I can't remember." I replied

"So where is this ship now?" He asked

"It sank...we hit something and it...capsized." I told him, though it was painful just to recall the horrible events that had occurred

"I see, how did you survive?" He asked me

"I managed to grab hold of a barrel and float to shore...I don't know if anyone else was so lucky." I said

I remembered the freezing water, the screams of the other people, and the noise of wood splintering in the lower hull of the ship. I told the old man everything I could remember, going over every detail to a great extent. After over an hour of questioning I was escorted back to the room downstairs and told to wait until I was retrieved. I sat on the bedroll with my back against the wall wondering why I had been imprisoned in the first place, I couldn't remember anything before waking up on the ship.

This post has been edited by Kiln: Aug 21 2008, 10:02 PM