Old Habits Die Hard Part Three, The old dog practices new habits Options

[haute ecole rider]

Here is the first of a third thread for Old Habits Die Hard. I appreciate all of you staying with Julian and I this far, and hope you stick with us to the end!

For those who want to go back to the beginning, here you go:
Old Habits Die Hard Chapters 1 - 7
Old Habits Die Hard Chapters 8 - 13

[Destri Melarg]

Chapter 14.1 Skooma Cravings

Neen-zun’s story is heartbreaking. Once again you have crafted an Argonian with whom it is impossible not to sympathize. I think when you finish Julian’s story your next character should be from Black Marsh (maybe in the Shivering Isles, or as the Divine Crusader ).

The flickering light of candles. The acrid taste of the skooma. The warmth cascading around me, enveloping me, shielding me from the world. The easing of the constant pain. The silencing of the smith’s hammer. The sensation of floating a meter above the malodorous bedroll I lay on. The stretching of time and space. Finally, limbo.

This was a perfect description of the lure that leads one to addiction. I like the fact that you chose limbo over Oblivion. An addict is never seeking Hell, an addict is seeking escape.

Chapter 14.2 Bearer of Bad News

I am beginning to agree with ‘Rosa from a few chapters ago. I find it maddening that Captain Lerus knows so much about the goings on in her city, yet had no idea people were being ferried out to Fort Grief. Even Marz knew about that! Okay Marz might be a bad example, given her perceptive nature, but you get the point I am making. Her guards are giving all these reports, yet she does nothing about them. It sounds more and more like Lerus is all talk and gruff posturing while she waits for someone else to do her job. Even her grudging respect at the end rubbed me the wrong way. Julian closes the Oblivion Gate outside the city and stops gro-Dragol’s murderous Hunter’s Run while Lerus sits scowling in her office, and Lerus finally deigns to shake Julian’s hand? It is not in her nature, but I would have cheered if Julian had spit on the offered appendage!