Buffy the Bowgirl, Book 1, Thread 1, Do You Know the Way to Kvatch? Options

[Acadian]

Welcome to the adventures of Buffy the Bowgirl!

My name is Acadian. Buffy is an elven mystic archer that I have the pleasure to travel Tamriel with.

This is Book 1 of her journal. It begins with Buffy being briefly incarcerated in the Imperial Prison, and ends as she attempts to bring freedom to the city of Kvatch. It is a sprawling story that will require 176 episodes, spread over five threads. Appropriately, I have nicknamed Book 1, 'Do You Know the Way to Kvatch?'

Buffy's personal journey is more important than her destination. Our writing style is character-driven. I help Buffy write her journal because I have a truckload of passion for her, not because I am a writer. We take plenty of liberties with quests and NPCs, but only few liberties with game mechanics because there is an aspect of 'how to / mystic archer guide' woven into her stories. Therefore, we tend to eschew earthly things and stick rather closely to Nirnian physics. In Buffy's world for example, a skilled archer can 'zoom in' on her target and cause her enemies to 'turn green' with poison. Buffy has never been to medieval Europe or ancient Rome, and her world does not resemble those places.

I thank you so much, should you find our humble effort earns and maintains your readership. My hope is that Buffy will worm her way into your heart, as she has mine.

Edit: Buffy has completed this book as of August 2012, and I would like to think that the reading of it is a satisfying experience - both complete as well as suggestive of sequels. For those newer readers who would like to catch up to us in one short sitting, you might find this helpful: Buffy – The Executive Summary Thread.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Oct 28 2012, 12:33 PM

[Acadian]

Chapter 2 (part 1) chronicled Buffy's progress halfway through the Imperial Prison with the party of Emperor Uriel Septim VII.

Rider- I agree that the tutorial dungeon can be a challenge to write, as it is so canned and linear. Coming from one who did such a masterful job with that, your words humble me.

Zalphon- Aww, thanks Z. Yes, we tailored the dialogue somewhat to fit.

SubRosa- High praise indeed. As always, you noticed everything that I hoped you would, especially, that Buffy's destiny is not to be the Champion of Cyrodiil. I agree with your recommendation, and edited to attribute Buffy's healing spell to Marz - thank you!

Olen- Thank you much for joining us, and the kind words. I hope that Buffy will grow to worm her way into your heart.

Destri- I'm so glad you are enjoying the story and like the minor tweaks this time around. Regarding her 'spriggan hunting outfit', Buffy changes clothes more often than she changes her mind these days, and now that I have introduced her to mods, her armoire, saddlebags and pack are bursting. I'm hesitant to edit too heavily while we are retelling her story, for fear of expanding chapters and never catching up! This will be a long ride - I estimate February to catch up to where she was on the other forum. In the meantime, I will try to periodically update the screenshots in our sig to reflect her more current activities and outfits, trying to avoid spoilers.

* * *

2.2 The Great Escape

As I approached the large cavern, I could see a goblin at the entrance, backlit by orange flames. I backed up as far as I could and opened fire, managing to kill him before he got to me.

Creeping back up and into the cavern, I could see another goblin. I shot him also, then turned and ran back down the tunnel I came from, while nocking a second arrow. I then turned and fired twice more, again killing the goblin before he could reach me.

Yet again, I quietly snuck along the now quite familiar approach back into the goblin lair, and could now see the smoke and flickering shadows cast by several fires. At the far end of the cavern was a third goblin, but this one carried a staff and wore a robe. He (or she?) looked like a dangerous spell caster to me. Fortunately I had found some wisp stalk and stinkhorn, along with a mortar and pestle. Thanks to Ardaline, in the Bravil mages guild, I knew how to use them.

I coated the iron broadhead tip of an arrow with poison. Setting the nock, I drew partial tension on my bowstring to aim. It was a long distance shot, so I adjusted my point of aim above the goblin and just slightly to the right. I was satisfied that the high rocky ceiling would allow my intended trajectory arc and the arrow's path would clear the numerous stalactites that protruded down like teeth. Taking a normal breath, I let half of it out. I then smoothly drew full tension on the bowstring, which centered my aim point above the target, and loosed the arrow.

Turning, I again ran out of the cavern, counting. When I reached ten, I stopped, whirled around and reached into my quiver.

The second arrow wasn't needed.

Returning to the dead goblins, I found another bow. It wasn't any better than the one I had, but Acadian urged me to keep it. I strapped it to my back as a spare. An old chest contained a repair hammer; I was able to improve the condition of my equipment a bit before the hammer broke.

I was exhausted, starving and thirsty. I managed to choke down a couple bites of roasted rat meat the goblins had been cooking and chased it with the only thing I had to drink - a restore magicka potion I had found.

The staff carried by the dead goblin spell caster glowed when I touched it. I didn't know how to use it, but figured it was probably quite valuable. It joined the spare bow on my back.

I managed to catch up to the Emperor's party once again. There were dead Red Robes all around and the two remaining guards looked pretty concerned. The one named Baurus now seemed to be in charge. He called the other one Glenroy. They went off to scout around and left me to guard the Emperor. I didn't think a poorly equipped, small elf made for a very good bodyguard, but off the two armored Redguards went anyway.

The Emperor came over to talk again. More stuff about death and destruction that still didn't make sense. He was the Emperor though, so I just looked up at him and nodded like I understood. He then pressed his amulet into my hand, instructing me to deliver it to a monk named Jauffre. This monk apparently knew the location of the last heir to the throne.

All of a sudden a Red Robe burst through a secret door and summoned a suit of armor and mace. Before the Emperor could draw his sword or I could nock an arrow, the mace struck the side of Uriel Septim's head. There was a sickening crack, and the ruler of Tamriel fell. The assailant then turned to me, blood dripping from his mace. I nearly wet my pants, but managed to scream for help and began casting my fire spell as fast as I could while backing up. I brought my bow up in time to block the first blow of his mace.

Baurus came running into the chamber from behind my attacker. A slash to the unarmored area at the back of the assassin's legs crumpled him to his knees. The Redguard then yanked back on the full face helm, exposing flesh, and drew his katana viciously across the killer's throat.

Bruised, bleeding and shaking uncontrollably, I was still on my feet. Blocking with my bow had undoubtedly saved my life, but the staff of the weapon was now badly cracked, rendering it useless. I was glad Acadian had urged me to pick up a spare.

A pair of healing potions, ironically gathered from the corpses of Red Robes, eased our wounds. "I-I'm sorry I failed, Baurus. Thank you for saving me." I thought he might imprison me again for not protecting the Emperor. Rather than angry though, he seemed devastated. I guiltily lowered my eyes, unable to meet his gaze.

"I am a Blade, sworn to protect the Emperor," he replied slowly. "Captain Renault, Glenroy, and now the last of the Septim line - all dead. It is I who have failed."

I could feel the pain emanating from Baurus as he stared at the figure in royal purple robes, now dead on the cold stones beneath our feet.

We talked about the amulet, the heir and the Emperor's last words to me. Baurus explained I could find the monk Jauffre near Chorrol. Apparently, Jauffre was also leader of the Blades. Baurus then told me how to escape and what to expect in the sewers ahead, adding, "you may encounter rats and goblins, but that shouldn't give you too much trouble. From what I've seen, I'd guess you’re an experienced agent?"

"More goblins?" I gulped. "I don't know what an agent is."

After producing some items from a pouch at his waist, Baurus uncapped an inkpot, then handed me a quill and a parchment form to fill out. "I need some information so l can make sure a full pardon is issued for whatever you're in here for. I don’t want the Legion stopping you on the way to Chorrol."

I had no idea what most of the stuff on the form was. I mean, I could read; Nilawen had taught me how so I could help her with the bookkeeping for her store. I simply didn't understand many of the questions. It seemed someone did though. I was beginning to trust Acadian, so I just closed my eyes and let him guide my hands to fill out the form.

I handed the parchment back to Baurus. He looked it over and said, "bowgirl? Well, I wasn't too far off. Still, I don't think you'll have any trouble." He studied the form again. "Well, Buffy from Bravil, here's the key to get into the sewers. The entrance is in the next room. Once you're outside, take care of whatever you need to do, and don't take any risks. When able, make your way to Chorrol. Good luck."

"Thank you Baurus," I said sadly as I took the key and left the brave Redguard who knelt down on one knee by the body of his Emperor. The beautiful white fur collar of the royal robes was now soaked with blood from the fatal head wound.

Smells. Rats. Goblins. Yuck. Daylight! Only a few slivers, but real sunshine ahead. Thank you Mara. Rusted and unused, the round gate required several kicks to finally creak open, exposing full daylight, fresh air and a beautiful lake.

I was so excited I started dancing around like a little, well, wood elf. That of course attracted the attention of a mudcrab on the shore of the lake who began clicking, hissing and moving towards me pretty quickly. Rather than reaching for an arrow, my right hand erupted in a stream of flames that both killed and cooked the beast.

Cracking the crab's shell open with a large stone, I ravenously ate the meat. A huge drink of the lake later, I felt a bit better.

At that point I could feel Acadian urging me to climb the hill up to the Imperial City.

I guess it was the pent up emotions of what I had recently been through and so many sudden changes forcing their way into my life. I'm sure that being exhausted didn't help. Waves of despair, anger and frustration surged within me.

Choking back a sudden urge to cry, I put my hands on my hips and defiantly threw back my head. "Look", I said angrily, "if we're going to travel together, we need to reach some understandings. You obviously know many valuable things about my world, and I believe you can help me; but just as obviously, you know nothing about women. We are going to have to work together here. I'm filthy, bone tired and I stink. I'm not going one step further without a bath in this nice lake."

Silence.

"Well ok then." I took off those putrid clothes and dove into the lake. Ten minutes later, I felt like a new elf as I reluctantly climbed out of the water. I spent a couple hours on the old wooden pier, scrubbing my clothes and the stuff I brought out of the prison. I figured maybe I could sell some of it for enough gold to help get me home.

The sun was now well below the top of White Gold Tower, which meant I only had a few more hours of daylight. I dressed as best I could and, with a small strip of cloth, tied my now dry hair into a ponytail. After carefully loading my pack, and strapping on the bow, goblin staff and quiver, I started the climb toward Imperial City.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Apr 26 2011, 01:37 AM