Haa-Rei the Marsh Ranger Options

[hazmick]

Chapter 1.0

I ran from the Merchants Inn as fast as I could. Holding tight to the precious bounty I had wrapped in cloth, ignoring the angry shouts behind me. I dipped into an empty side street and paused to look around before examining my prize, a large loaf of bread covered in melted cheese. Deeh would not believe that I had stolen some food without his help, I couldn't wait to get back to Leyawiin and tell him.

The bread was warm out of the oven and tasted delicious as I hungrily crammed it into my mouth. Before I could finish, I heard a rattle of armour and a wall of iron in the shape of a legionnaire crashed down the alley towards me. My hand found the hilt of my dagger but I decided against fighting this particular soldier. If only I had a bow.

“Stop right there pondscum!” his voice was like thunder and echoed about the grubby walls surrounding me. The only exit was behind me. I made a run for it but the soldier was too fast and grabbed my arm in a bone breaking grip.

“I assume you don’t have 5 septims?” This time his voice was lower but still sounded loud in the cramped alleyway.

I quickly swallowed the bread in my mouth, “I…no,” my mouth was dry and my voice croaked, if I was a man or mer my face would be bright red with embarrassment and fear.

“Come with me,” The soldier secured the irons tightly on my thin wrists, cutting off the circulation. Minutes later we arrived at the imperial prison, it’s walls were darker than those of the other city districts and corpses in various states of decay hung from atop it’s large spire.

Once inside I was lead down a short tunnel, light seemed to fear this place as it grew darker and darker the deeper we descended. One of the rusty cell doors was open, I assumed this was mine.

Sure enough on reaching the cell, an iron clad hand grabbed me by the neck and pulled me closer to the soldier.

“ I hope you rot, criminal scum,” His voice was a low growl with an edge of disgust which most people had when talking to me and the other beggars. The soldier threw me into the cell, my head colliding with something hard. Everything went dark.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Aug 17 2010, 03:56 PM

[hazmick]

@ All: thankyou for your praise and good-luck-giving for my college start. The 'Sap' mystery will be revealed in good time and I hope you all enjoy it, Haa-Rei certainly did. This chapter is going to be quite short, kind of like an interlude-it will start Haa-Rei on a mighty quest for a mighty special book.

Chapter 2.1

A rasping, guttural voice echoed through my mind. The words were those of a strange language that was unknown to me. Images of humanoid statues and objects danced in a circle around a worn, dog-eared book.

Everything went dark for a moment and suddenly I was in a large library. The shelves of books seemed to be endless, spanning in all directions. The books themselves had identical black covers with no titles and pages of the mysterious writing floated through the air on a wind I could not feel. Blank humanoid shapes floated between the stacks of books, flicking through the endless pages as if searching for something.

The voice spoke again, this time I could understand the words. Answering my questions of what, who and where.

“This is the place of hidden things. Who am I? You will find out, with time. Some know me as the ‘Woodland Man’; others know me as the sibling to the spider.” The voice paused for a moment. Questions buzzed like fleshflies in my head.

The Woodland Man continued in his convoluted tone. “I have selected you because of the skills you possess, they are those of my followers, use these skills to find Casta Flavus. He has the details of your task.”

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The library quickly disappeared and the well lit walls of my room in the Oak and Crosier appeared, as did several people with worried looks on their faces. I recognized Rasheda and some people from the chapel, as well as some mages.

Talasma was the first to speak as she thrust a steaming cup into my hands. “You're awake, drink this.” She stepped back and shooed some people from the room. Talasma, Gaeleg and Teekeeus were left standing there. “Talasma will leave you now.” The Khajiit flashed me a smile and also retreated downstairs.

I took a sip from the cup. Nightshade and Milk-Thistle tea. Teekeeus’ face was set in the traditional Argonian passiveness but his eyes told a story of worry…and knowing.

“Talasma sent for me, you were having some sort of fit. You were shaking and writhing around like a leviathan full of rats. There was a large magicka presence just before you woke up. What happened in your dream?” Teekeeus’ eyes were now stern.

I took another sip of tea before speaking, “I’m not sure; there was a strange voice in a library full of pages of strange writing. The voice said their name was the ‘Woodland Man’.” A sharp intake of breath from Gaeleg drew my attention. Teekeeus shot the Bosmer a quizzical look.

“N...nothing, it’s nothing.” Gaeleg’s face reddened and he turned away, he was hiding something but neither I nor Teekeeus pursued it further.

After making sure I was alright, Teekeeus headed back to the Mages’ Guild hall. Gaeleg stayed for a breakfast of eggs and ham. Apparently my dream had lasted all night; it only felt like a few minutes in that endless library. I almost wished to stay there forever.

Talasma surveyed me from the bar, making sure I ate everything and had several more cups of tea before I was allowed to leave.

I didn’t ask Gaeleg about the ‘Woodland Man’ but instead agreed to travel with him to Leyawiin. I could stop off at Bravil on the way to deliver Rasheda’s note to Daenlin. First, I needed to visit the bookstore. Estelle might have a book about this ‘Woodland Man’.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Sep 7 2010, 05:27 PM