The Talendor Chronicles, Part One Options

[TheOtherRick]

AUTHORS NOTE AND DISCLAIMER

This is my first attempt at fan fiction. I am not a writer, by profession or hobby. At least it wasn't a hobby until now. We'll see where that goes. So since I am not a writer, grammatical and spelling errors may slip past the spell-check from time to time. Please feel free to point them out so that I may make the proper edits.

I have read very little fan fiction, which is to say that I have not finished reading any story that I started reading...yet. But starting to read a few has put a flow in my creative juices. (Go Buffy!) Any similarity to any other fan fiction posted in this or any other forum is purely coincidental, with one exception. I have posted this story on another site. I am posting it here because I would like feedback, and I am not getting any at the other site. The readers here seem to post more feedback than readers at the other site. I'm not trying to be a glory hound, and I encourage constructive criticism.

The story is a gameplay narrative. It starts in the 3rd person for the prologue only, the rest will be in 1st person. It is not a walk-through of the Main Quest. However, as it is a gameplay narrative, so readers will have to plod through the tutorial section much as I had to plod through while writing it. The tutorial is essential for character development, as you will see. The posts will be relatively short so that the reader will not have to wade through miles of text per post. To keep them short, I am going to borrow Acadian's chapter numbering system (1.1, 1.2, etc.) so I don't end up with three digit chapter numbers.

I hope you will enjoy...The Talendor Chronicles

Post Script - I have already screwed up. Instead of putting "Authors Note and Disclaimer" in the subject line, it should read "Part One". Is there a way to change that?

Post Script #2 - The first four installments after the Prologue are way too long. This was a rookie mistake and has been rectified Beginning with Chapter 3. I apologize for the long posts, but I promise you'll be glad you slogged through them.

This post has been edited by TheOtherRick: Feb 5 2011, 02:00 AM

[TheOtherRick]

Another two days has come and gone...time for more...but first, thanks are in order...

@ Grits - I agree...A deer would be easier to kill if it was charging and yelling "Die, Fetcher!" (Visions of 'When Animals Attack' video in my head now).

@ mALX - I am e-mailing you some paper towel to clean up the spewing that I caused. I hope your keyboard is not permanently damaged.

@ Acadian - Tell Buffy that Talendor still isn't used to being short, so he blames it on the lay of the land. As always, thanks for the nits...they have been picked I am grateful for the critique.

@ All - Thank you all for the comments and keeping me inspired to continue. They mean a lot.

And now, Talendor was heading to the inn after selling his rat...

********************

Chapter 6 – “These are bad people..."

I walked into the common room of the Oak & Crosier. Talasma briefly glanced up from her duties to see who had come in, and then went back to them. Honditar, of all people, was sitting at the bar. Two other men were near the fireplace talking to each other. I noticed that Honditar had laid his archery gear on the floor between his stool and the bar. I pulled out a barstool and did the same as I sat down heavily with despair. Talasma walked over to see if I needed anything and I told her that just some water would be fine. When I started to dig for coins upon her return, she said there was no charge for water. I thanked her and she went back about her business.

“So, it seems we will meet when your hunt is done after all,” Honditar said to me.

I looked over at the hunter. I really didn’t want to talk about it. The dejection must have shown on my face.

“Oh come now, it couldn’t have been that bad,” he pressed.

“You don’t know the half of it, Honditar,” I said, “I spent hours walking through the woods. I lost four good arrows while shooting at the white taunts of deer backsides. I’ll tell you how bad it was. Do you want to know what I got for my lost arrows and sore legs and frustration? I got one rat! That’s it! One stinking, lousy, flea-bitten pile of vermin! I shouldn’t say ‘worthless’…at least Seed-Neeus felt it was worth one whole Septim,” and I turned back to mope at my water cup.

“Talendor…it is Talendor, right?” he said as he slid his stool a little closer, “You must not be so hard on yourself. I could tell you were a novice when we met. Anyone with experience would not have stopped me on the street as you did. You may indeed be good with the bow, but the hunt is a different matter. As with all things in life, success comes with practice and patience. Come by my house tomorrow. We will go out together and get you a deer. My only fee will be that you replace any arrows that I lose. That means it’s free, because I’ll not lose one.”

He is going to help me?

I turned to look at the Altmer again, “Are you serious?” I asked incredulously.

“I would not have offered otherwise,” he said.

“Oh wow! I really do appreciate this, Honditar. You just don’t know,” I said. Lowering my voice, I continued, “I am almost completely broke. If I don’t get something soon, I will be outdoors at night like the beggars I see around town.”

“Well then here is a piece of advice. Rather than come over tomorrow, I’ll tell you now where you can do better than a deer. Right outside the wall, there is a mine---“

“I saw it today,” I piped up.

Honditar looked at me with a frown.

“Sorry,” I said.

“As I was saying, there is a mine that I have heard still has some silver left in it. Possibly more than that, due to the tenants---”

“Tenants?” I queried.

He frowned again, sighing this time.

“Sorry,” I said again.

“Yes. Tenants. It is a bandit den. They sometimes stash their loot there while they are looking for buyers. So you may get lucky. But be warned! No one in that mine can be bargained or bartered with. They will kill you on sight, so you must do the same,” he finished.

“I must do the same?” I asked with widening eyes, “Kill someone that has done nothing to me?”

“You mustn’t look at it that way. Look at it like…like you are performing a service. These are bad people, Talendor. They have wronged others and gotten away with it. Most of their victims were probably murdered when they were robbed. You would be serving justice. Even better, you would be serving it anonymously…seeking no glory. You can curry favor with The Nine using those ideals, if you need to,” he said, and took a long pull off of his bottle of ale.

“Let me ask you then,” I said, “why haven’t you done it?”

He looked around for a second, and then leaned over to me.

“Let’s just say I don’t do well in cramped spaces,” he whispered, and then he sat up and continued, “Besides, I don’t need the money. But that’s not the point. You, my Bosmer friend, are perfect for it. You are small, agile, and stealthy. That bow of yours is just as effective in a cave, especially against a foe that doesn’t know you are there. Aim true and don’t be seen. I must leave now.”

With that, he stood, finished his ale, grabbed his belongings and left. I realized that for the first time since all this began, someone had called me ‘friend’. I turned to thank him, but he was gone.

The mine meant underground, unknown tenants...
Would there be zombies too?
You are broke 'Talendor', or whatever your name is. Do you want to be a beggar?

I sat there staring at my empty water cup, frowning over those thoughts.

“Would you like some more water?” Talasma asked me. I hadn’t even seen her walk over.

“Huh? Oh…no thank you. Have I paid for the bed for tonight?”

* * *

I stared at the mine entrance in the early morning light.

Aim true and don’t be seen…

I was about to cross a line. Not just the line between the light of day and the dark underground. I could always return from that. There was no coming back from the line I was about to cross, for good or ill. I wrestled with it for what seemed like hours.

They will kill you on sight. You must do the same…

Can I do that? Up to now, everything I have killed has meant to do the same to me, or would have if given the chance. Honditar’s words echoed again…

They will kill you on sight…

I believed the Altmer. I had no doubt that they would. But this seemed different. These wouldn’t be vermin or reanimated corpses or goblins. They were people.

These are bad people...

I tried to picture a family being robbed. The man of the house cut down trying to defend his family. That thought helped. It helped a lot! If I could really believe that I was bringing justice to those that deserved it, perhaps I could pull this off and still sleep at night. My self-doubt was crippling me.

Justice…

With a deep breath, I opened the door and entered the mine. As soon as the door closed behind me, an arrow whistled past my ear and hit the door with a resounding *THUNK*. I was so startled that I bolted right back out the door and then turned to face it, back pedaling. It suddenly burst open and a bandit leaped out of the mine. She saw me immediately. She laughed and drew her dagger, then came at me yelling, “Dying time is here, child!”

Child?

I had only a moment to jump up on the nearest boulder and avoid her charge. The bandit’s momentum carried her past me. Before she could turn, my sword was out and the tip slashed her between the shoulder blades. She screamed in frustration and pain, falling to the ground just as a guard came running through the brush with his sword drawn.

“What is going on here?” he bellowed.

The bandit rolled over and threw her dagger, burying it in the guard’s sword arm just above the bicep. As the guard’s sword fell and the bandit got to her feet, I acted. I raised the hilt of my sword over my head as I jumped off of the rock, and swung hard as I came down, cleanly removing the bandit’s head. It was over that fast. I was standing over my handiwork, panting for breath. Something was puzzling me. What? The guard was on his knees, grimacing as he removed the dagger.

Child?

“Are you ok?” I asked the guard.

“Yes, but you are coming with me,” he grunted as he came to his feet, “Come on now. I need to have this tended to.”

I wiped the blade of my sword on the bandit’s greaves, sheathed it, and followed the guard. I still felt puzzled, like I had missed something. As we approached the gate, another guard came through. He saw the blood on my escort’s arm and his eyes went wide.

“Rantus, take this fellow’s statement. I’m on my way to the healer. Oh…there is a dead Dunmer just outside the wall, likely a bandit. When you are finished with him, see that it is taken care of,” ordered the wounded guard.

“Yes sir,” Rantus said, and then turned to me. “Okay, let’s hear it. What happened out there?”

I quickly removed my fur helmet, trying to show respect. I looked at it in my hands…

What am I missing?

Then it hit me! That bandit was going to kill a child! “Dying time is here, child”, she had said. I was horrified. She couldn’t see my ears and thought I was a child!

“She was going to kill a child!” I blurted out.

“What? What child? Start from the beginning, Bosmer,” Rantus insisted.

If you mention the mine, you won’t be able to go back to it later…

“Oh…sorry. There was no child. She…the bandit…thought I was a child. You see, I was out for a morning stroll, and this bandit jumped out from behind a boulder…”

I told the guard in detail exactly what happened, leaving the mine out of the story. When I finished, Rantus asked where I was staying. When I responded, he told me to return to the inn and not to leave until he had verified everything, and that someone would be by to see me. I assured him that I would comply and we parted.

That woman was going to kill a child! What kind of person murders children?

The horror in my thoughts turned to icy rage in my veins. I don’t think I’ll have any trouble killing bandits from now on…

This post has been edited by TheOtherRick: Feb 5 2011, 03:54 PM