Memoires of Rales Sarethi, A Morrowind fanfic Options

[Remko]

Dear readers, I posted this in the unnamed forum but since you were so kind to invite me here, I thought I'd "grace" you with my drivel. Without further adue, I present you the adventures of Rales Sarethi.

Part I Homecoming

Chapter 1: Seyda Neen.

Day 1

Over thirty-five years ago, I think I was about nineteen, maybe twenty, I got pulled from my bunk in the cell in Imperial City and was told I was to be deported to Vvardenfell immediately. First by carriage and then by boat.
Gods, even up to this day I resent carriage rides, they’re bumpy, dusty and tiresome, I prefer a horseback ride anyday.

The seajourney is pretty much a blur in my recollection, the gentle relaxing motion of the boat made me drift into a careless and refreshing slumber.
I briefly opened my eyes at times the sea was exceptionally rough and I remember a gentle yet compelling voice speaking to me. Can’t remember the words though, just the sound of the voice that stuck with me.

I woke up when a fellow Dunmer, one donning a huge scar across his face, told me we had arrived and that I needed to get off the boat. He called himself Jiub and asked what my name was. I politely answered my name was Rales. I didn’t bother telling him my last name, after all, he hadn’t told his either.
I never saw the guy again after I disembarked. A shame really, he was kind of like-able.

A grumpy Redguard legionnaire ordered me to report in at the Census and Excise office outside. Like I had a choice. On the boardwalk towards the offices, an Imperial officer asked me several random questions, like my race. Like he couldn’t see for himself. Sjeezzz…. I had to refrain myself from rolling my eyes and possibly insulting or upsetting the guy. Instead, I acted like the good Dunmer they wanted me to be, I played along and answered his questions.

After I had satisfied his curiosity he ordered me to report in at the office for my release form. ‘Release form? I was going to be released?’
I could hardly believe my pointy ears at that time. Let me tell you; looking back on what they had me go through, sometimes I wished they had left me to rot in prison. With a straight face I walked towards the rickety wooden structure that was the consensus and excise office. I couldn’t be showing surprise about my release, what if they had made a mistake and changed their mind?

Quickly I proceeded into the building. An elderly Imperial was sitting behind a desk, going through piles and piles of documents. Pre-occupied as he seemed to be, he hadn’t noticed me yet or maybe he was just ignoring me. Perhaps it had been my body-odour? Figuring that was hardly my fault, they were the ones that had plucked me from my cell, dropped me on a boat and had me report into an office without the chance to clean myself up. I shrugged and softly cleared my throat to get his attention, I didn’t want to startle the old man lest he would die from a heart-attack. Knowing my luck, they’d probably blame me and I’d be back where I started, in jail.

The following conversation with the old git almost felt like a job-interview. Socusius Ergalla, the census and excise officer, asked me all sorts of questions; like my starsign, my skills and whatnot. I didn’t have a clue what they wanted with the info but since it was hardly a secret, I just answered them while the Imperial wrote it all down on some sort of form. After the interview, Socusius told me to take my release form (that’s what the form turned out to be) to Selles Gravius where I’d receive orders. I was almost speechless - almost. ‘Orders? Whatfor?’ I remember exclaiming. He just shrugged. Apparantly he hadn’t a clue either. Well, that made two of us so I went to Gravius, hoping he would tell me more.

Halfway to Selles Gravius I got distracted by a hallway behind a sturdy looking wooden door that led to some sort of a basement where I found a variety of items. Some silverware, some bottles containing local booze, an iron dagger and a bag to put in the items I had “found”.
Ofcourse, only then I realised I still had to see that Gravius guy. He would notice me carrying a bag, suspiciously tingling with all sorts of gear a newly released prisoner shouldn’t have yet. I put the bag next to the table where I had found the dagger, checked my release form was still in my pocket and went to see Selles Gravius.

Gravius wasn’t much of a talker and looked like a formidable warrior. In fact; it made me wonder what in Sheogorath’s name he was doing here in this lousy office. When I asked him while handing him the form he almost bit off my head saying it was none of my busines and unpatiently snatched the release form from my hands. He glimpsed me over for a while with one eyebrow raised and ordered me to wait for a moment while he looked up some documents I was going to need. A few moments later he handed me a letter, some gold I quickly pocketed and a mysterious package for a certain Caius Cosades in Balmora, who-ever that may be. I figured I’d find out soon enough and didn’t ask any more questions.

Having been through that, - what I still consider a bureaucratical ordeal - as I went to retrieve my bag, I suddenly remembered there was a rainbarrel outside I hadn’t looked into. I had little gold and a dagger but no water, no food, no nothing so anything I could find would be useful and most of all; for free.
Turned out it only contained a ring with some engraving. Unfortunately I couldn’t make out what it was saying so I put it in my pocket, again wandered through the offices with an air like nothing was out of the ordinary, fetched the bag and made my way into Seyda Neen.
I was my own man again. I was free to go where I wanted.

***

My first steps outside were, well, quite frankly, disappointing. You’d expect a town with the main docks into Vvardenfell would be a big, prospering town. Suffice to say it wasn’t.
As a matter of fact, it was just the opposite. Most of the houses were run-down, shabby shacks, trading was limited to one tradinghouse and a swamp surrounded it so flies swarmed the town.
I won’t even mention the smell.

Still, I was in Morrowind, I could finally look up relatives I knew to still live here. My mother had told me plenty of stories of her and her cousin Athyn playing together. I couldn’t remember which town though, but from what I’ve been taught, the Sarethi family is well-known and shouldn’t be too hard to track down.

My sense of pride prevented me running off to find them right away, I could hardly arrive wearing nothing but the raggedy clothes, looking like a bum. I wanted to make a name for myself first. I wanted them to be proud to hail back a long-lost relative
For now, my pride would have to wait, I had more pressing matters, like finding somewhere to stay the night.

While looking around and - metaphorically speaking - sniffing up the atmosphere a Woodelf came upto me grinning child-like. The chap introduced himself as Fargoth and extended his hand which I grabbed. From moment one I knew I was going to like this friendly little fellow. Turned out he had been bullied and his family heirloom, a ring, had been taken from him. He told me it was magical and allowed the wearer to heal himself.

‘Would it have engraving, like this?’ I remember asking him while pulling the ring I had found in the barrel outside the office from my pocket and held it in front of his nose. Fargoth frantically shook his head and told me that was the one.
I was happy to give it back to him. Trinkets are easier to find than good friends and the gods know I could use some friends being a stranger in a strange land.
Singing happily he wandered off but not before he told me he was going to tell his friend Arrille a kind Darkelf had returned his ring to him and how happy he was to have it back.
I simply smiled.

My rumbling stomach made me aware that I needed to find something to eat as well. After some asking around I soon found out Arrille’s establishment was the only tradehouse around. If I wanted to survive any trip outside of town, I needed some sort of protection, I needed armour and a weapon and some supplies so I headed off to Arrille’s.

Politely the High Elf, Arille, greeted me and was quick to realize I must have been the stranger that had given Fargoth his ring back. He confirmed what I suspected, Fargoth was slightly retarded, he had the mind of a child and was almost chronically happy.

I removed the items from the bag I wanted to sell and displayed them on the counter in front of Arrille. We came to an agreement, he would gladly take all the items from my hands and I would buy the chitin cuirass, pauldrons and gauntlets, some food, a couple of useful spells and some scrolls. Even with those purchases I had more gold in my pocket than when I had entered the tradehouse. I had kept the dagger.
Then it hit me, I still didn’t have a real weapon, the iron dagger I had kept was hardly any more use than as a butterknife.
In the excitement I had forgotten to buy a real weapon. I double backed into Arrille’s and bought a chitin bow and some arrows.
Now I was set to face whatever was coming to me in the wild, or at least, that’s what I thought at that time.

I nibbled on a Kwama egg on a loaf of bread and adressed some inhabitants. Some locals mentioned Ergalla Socucius was looking for a missing tax collector, Processus Vitellius.
I wasn’t really feeling like heading back into the Census and Excise office, I had just left the damn thing, I decided to do some looking around myself. How hard would it be to find an Imperial tax collector?

Since it is always a good idea getting at least an idea where someone missing could hang out, I asked around for him. Ofcourse, blabbermouth Fargoth had heard rumours the Dunmer in the watchtower, Thavere Vedrano, was the only being able to stomach him. Apparantly, the guy was somewhat obnoxious. It was a start so I headed off to the lighthouse when in the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of something shiny – a weapon perhaps? – in a hollow stump. It cost me a pair of wet feet and trousers getting the item from the stump but it was well worth it. The enchanted axe would get me quite some gold, I never cared for axes, they are too heavy and too encumbring, so I intended on selling it but it would have to wait until I solved this mystery.

[Remko]

Why, thank you Minque! Always makes me happy to read I amused someone.

@SubRosa: Now I understand why I couldn't find anything wrong... I was looking for Hlaalu / Hlaalo-mix-ups rather than looking for the missing "l".... OOps....

@Destri: I see where you're coming from. I like to think he had it easy so far. The only "hard" parts he faced before he met Zerina was the Dremora Lord but that was one-on-one, his specialty. You agree?
I really like your opionion on this 'cause if it in fact a point I goofed up, I should find a way to make it more realistic. Thanks for pointing it out!


Day 102

Uryne and I spent nearly two days cleaning and redecorating the manor. While she was getting rid of the awful stains on the floor the blood had made, I took several trips to Seyda Neen and back to retrieve all my goods from the shack I had been living in for the last months. A spell that enabled me to instantly teleport myself from the shack to the house in Balmora cut the travel time in half and made it possible for me to take far more items in one trip.
After my third and final trip, I had just got back to the manor, a Hlaalu messenger brought an invitiation to Ralen’s burial ceremony. Uryne told me it was a rare honour for someone not belonging to the same house to receive such an invitation.
I told the messenger to inform the Hlaalu nobles I’d be more than honoured to attend and gave him some gold for his effort.

Wasting no time, I ran to the Stilstrider port and payed for a trip to Ald’ruhn and from there to Gnisis. There was nothing I wanted more than having Zerina at my side with the ceremony. My heart was beating in my throat when I finally arrived at the Vabdas house nearly one and a half day later. Not from running but from pure anxiety. What if Zerina wasn’t ready or even unwilling to leave Gnisis to come live with me? With soaking wet hands I knocked on the door.

Widow Vabdas opened the door and let me in. Zerina was out, feeding the Guar but would soon be back she informed me. I respectfully greeted Widow Vabdas and went outside to find Zerina.
Knowing the area well because of all the walks we had made, it didn’t take me long to find her. I knew all the spots where she could likely be. Zerina was feeding a Guar, I was certain it had been the exact same one we used to try to mount. From the moment she spotted me, I knew my doubts and fears had been unfounded. She ran towards me and threw herself in my welcoming arms. ‘You came back,’ she breathed.
For several minutes words were obsolete to express the feelings we had for eachother.

‘How would you like to live in Balmora with me? If she wants, your mother can come too. The house I’ve rented is big enough.’
‘I don’t think mother will leave this place. It’s where she has lived her whole life. Gnisis is her home. I would love to though,’ she said and kissed me on my cheek.
I was ecstatic as we walked back to the house to ask her mother for permission.

Widow Vabdas made no objections. It was more than clear I could provide for her. The sparkle in Zerina’s eyes was reason enough for her to grant us her blessing.
All she wanted was for Zerina to be happy. She wouldn’t join us for the exact reasons Zerina had indicated but she did promise to come visit us soon.
Quickly we gathered all her clothing and typical woman things I didn’t recognise.
There wasn’t much to pack, half an hour later we were ready to walk to Gnisis if it hadn’t been for the long farewell between daughter and mother. Tears and laughter were shed while I kept myself to the side.

‘Who’s the pretty lady at your side?’ the Stiltstrider pilot in Gnisis asked. With all the trips I had taken recently I had gotten quite familiar with several pilots.
Zerina was blushing as I took a glimpse to my right.
He saw it too. Discretely he mumbled something like he understood and took us to Ald’ruhn and Balmora.

Day 109

We arrived in Balmora in the early evening. The sun had just began to set, bathing the town in a orange and yellow haze. Rather than head straight for the manor, we stopped at the Eight Plates and had a drink outside watching the sun go under the mountainridges. After we finished our refreshments we proceded to the manor to drop off Zerina’s belongings. I had promised her to show her around town afterwards.
Sometimes, an expression can say more than words. The expression on Zerina’s face when we arrived at the manor made my heart jump in my chest. She couldn’t believe how pretty the manor was and that I had been able to afford to rent a big house like that.

Her belongings were far less than the cupboards I had installed could ever fill.
After having put her belongings away in a cupboard, we ventured outside so I could show her around. Some men sent glimpses I recognised for jealousy, the beauty by my side didn’t notice but I gloated in the attention.
Several stops were made at various shops. After several hours, we arrived back at the manor holding more than we first arrived. The cupboards would be full in no time at this rate.

For the second time that day Zerina made my heart leap after she had changed into an absolutely stunning dress we had bought for her. The colour of it complimented her fiery red hair that was held up by sticks. She didn’t wear it for very long, that night we celebrated life and drank its pleasurable aspects with great thirst.


Day 110

The morning after, I awoke unexpectedly early with Zerina’s delicate body entangled with mine. In the back of my mind I knew there were duties I should attend to but I just couldn’t bring myself getting out of bed and to get dressed. The images of the night before made a mess of my determination, I was uttely intoxicated by the woman lying next to me. Duties would have to wait until another day. Distraction was a deadly flaw in my line of work, I needed to have a clear head first.
For hours I simply watched her mumbling in her sleep. The words were not understable but they soothed me until I too drifted back to sleep.

Clear-headedness was not something I was going to be granted. When I awoke for the second time that day, Zerina was yawning and leisurely stretching herself next to the bed.
I think she noticed I was admiring the cat-like nimbleness of her naked, slender body. She turned to me and smiled in a way that made my heart race and my ears glow.
Aroused, I grabbed her around the waist playfully. Giggling girlishly, she allowed herself to be dragged back into bed and the game started anew.

Afterwards, we were starving. We got dressed, headed downstairs and asked Uryne to make us something up. The amused look in her eyes and faint smile told me she might have heard us during the night but she was discrete enough not to mention it. When I was giving Uryne the rest of the day off after our lunch, Zerine poked me in my side with her elbow. Our servant ended up getting the rest of the week off and plenty of gold to spend so we had the house entirely to ourselves.

Day 111

Zerina wanted to go swimming. Ever since I had taught her it had become one of her favourite pass-times. Besides that, we both could do with a bath. She smelled wonderful as always – in my opinion anyway – but I certainly didn’t.
With something to eat and drink stowed away in a basket I found in the house, we took the path south out of Balmora passed the Stiltstrider port and followed the river to the Odai plateau.

Zerina was still in the river, washing her hair while I was already ashore reading a book I had meant to study for weeks but never got around to it when a bone-chilling scream tore me out of my concentration. I tossed the book carelessly to the side, drew a dagger I had taken along as a safety measure from the basket and ran to the river as fast as I could.

Zerina was jumping hysterically on a boulder. I would’ve burst out in laughter hadn’t it been for the grave expression on my love’s face that turned my blood to ice. When I asked her what was wrong she answered with a little voice there had been something below that had brushed her feet.
I drank a waterbreathing potion and submerged, dagger in hand.
A creature, I quickly recognised as a Dreugh, was lingering several feet below the surface. I smirked as it attacked and wished I had brought my long-sword in stead. Dreughs are slow but have a thick, hard to penetrate, insectlike, exoskeleton. Experience had taught me they were exceptionally vunerable beneath their arms, slightly below the armpit. I dove deeper and came up below the Dreugh for a surprise attack. Before it knew what happened, I stabbed my dagger several times in the spot where its armour was the thinnest. Wailing, it sank deeper while its lifeblood briefly stained the river red.

The rescued lady was keen on thanking her “brave hero” for rescuing her from the awful predicament. Of course I was most reluctant holding the shaking Zerina and comforting her. While I was whispering re-assuring words into her ear everything was alright, I made a decision to teach her to defend herself. What if I hadn’t been there to slay the Dreugh?
I didn’t leave her out of my sight for a second after the attack.

An hour later, the business with the Dreugh practically forgotten, we were back in the river, carelessly playing like children and chasing each other through the warm, wet sand.
‘Look what I found,’ I said when I emerged after a long dive.
‘What?’
I showed her the pearl. ‘Maybe I can have it made into a necklace for you. Want to see if we can find anymore?’
Her eyes sparkled with the anticipation. She pressed her wet frame to mine, whispered a thank you and gave me a quick kiss. The thankyou-kiss in the river soon became a series of kisses, then a passionate embrace, our wet, naked bodies entwined almost inseparately. Gently, I lifter her of her feet and carried her to a soft patch in the grass as we lost ourselves in eachother. Time held no significance, no substance what-so-ever. For hours we remained on that same spot, in turn snoozing and making love, far into the late afternoon, the pearl-diving entirely forgotten.

This post has been edited by Remko: Apr 6 2010, 06:47 PM