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]

@ Acadian - Talendor did an "aw shucks" at being called 'endearing' and thanks you.

@ mALX - You and Acadian both have questioned Honditar's trustworthiness. Is there something we are missing about the Altmer? He seems like a nice enough guy.

@ Both of you - Thanks as always for your comments and support.

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Chapter 9 – Pillaging the Pillaged

I was sprinting by the time I reached the door to The Oak & Crosier. I burst in the door and ran up to my room. After retrieving my map, I headed back for the stairs in a trot. I skidded to a stop when I saw Talasma at the bottom of the stairs. She was holding a small club and tapping the business end into the palm of her other hand. She didn’t look happy with her ears laid back that way.

“Talasma…?”

“If you run in here and fail to close the door just one more time, I will thump you like this one thumps anyone else that breaks the rules around here,” she said with a growl.

“I am so sorry. It won’t happen again, Talasma. I promise. Please forgive me,” I said.

“Just you see that it does not. You pay your rent and you eat here, when you could probably do so for less coin at The Gray Mare. But Talasma does not chase flies for anyone, no matter how good a customer they may be,” she finished and stomped away. I stood there and gulped. I would make it up to her with a nice gratuity after my next meal. With the stairs cleared of a potential beating, I headed back out for Honditar’s house, deliberately making a show of closing the door.

Honditar had prepared us a simple lunch of some smoked ham and sliced bread by the time I returned. He motioned toward the table, asking about the map as we sat. I pulled it out and unfolded it, laying it on the table.

“By Zenithar’s Ear!” he said with wide eyes, “Where did you get this map?”

“I found it in the jacket of a book. In Imperial City,” I replied.

“This map is very rare. There were but a few made, and most are lost. This may possibly be the only one left. Do you see this?” he asked, pointing to a highlighted spot on the map. I looked, and then did a double-take as I saw where he was pointing. The highlight I had seen when I originally found the map had moved. It was next to Chorrol now.

“This is an Everfound Map. No matter where you are in Cyrodiil, this map will always show you your location. You will never be lost unless you lose the map. Zenithar has indeed blessed you with this finding,” he said.

“What is a zenithar?” I asked.

He looked confused for a second and then chuckled. “I forget we are truly starting on a clean slate here. Zenithar is one of The Nine Divines. If you receive Zenithar’s Blessing at one of his wayshrines, luck will favor you for a time. That blessing is called ‘Zenithar’s Ear’. We will get to all of that at another time.”

Honditar rose and went to a shelf across the room. When he returned, he had a quill and ink bottle. He sat back down and dipped the quill, then made a mark that looked like crossed pickaxes next to Chorrol on the map.

“This is Crumbling Mine, where you were yesterday. Over here…” he said while dipping his quill again, “is Pillaged Mine. This is where you will go next. It is close by and…well…convenient might not be the right word. It is likely to be inhabited by goblins.”

“Goblins…?” I gulped. Goblins were the only humanoid creatures I had encountered that were smaller than me, but the memory of the ferocious little creature that had cut me in the Imperial City underground was still vivid.

“Yes, yes. But as long as you stay concealed, they should cause you no undue grief,” he said with a wave of his hand.

“So you mean I should just try to sneak past them?” I asked.

Honditar frowned and said, “Noooo…I mean you send an arrow through its vitals without being seen.”

”Oh…”

“Always remember, Talendor,” he said seriously, “that rushing adrenaline makes any enemy harder to kill. The silent bowshot of stealth always does more damage because the adrenaline has not yet begun to flow. Besides, when you sneak past an enemy on the way into a place, you must sneak past again on the way out. Better to deal with enemies just once. Let’s call that your first lesson, shall we?”

“Okay. But you said that these lessons would not be free. As I’ve said, I have very little cash,” I reminded him.

“For this first lesson, let’s say that you give me one tenth of whatever you gain from Pillaged Mine. That should still leave plenty for you. Oh…and one other thing…should you come across any mushrooms in the mine, harvest and keep them,” he said, rising from the bench.

Ten percent and some fungus seemed more than fair to me.

Goblins….ugh

“Are you waiting for the mine to come to you, Bosmer?” Honditar prompted.

I rose and turned to him, starting to talk before I remembered to look up so that I wasn’t talking to his chest.

“I really do appreciate this Honditar. I can never fully repay you, and I was in sore need of a friend,” I said from the bottom of my heart.

“You can repay me by staying alive and being an apt pupil. The ten percent is…hmmm…call it a gratuity,” he replied with a grin, “Now off with you. Rest well and get an early start. Aim true and don’t be seen.”

* * *

I awoke at dawn, well rested as Honditar had prescribed. With the ritual of seeing my unknown face in the basin water completed, I dressed for the occasion. I slung my quiver and bow, hung my sword on my cuirass harness, and headed out to begin today’s trek. I left the shield behind because it was bothersome in tight quarters. It seemed to be always in my way while I was in Crumbling Mine.

Once outside the town gates and at the Black Road, I checked where Honditar had marked the map. Due east on the road and I shouldn’t miss it, if his mark is correct. I had no reason to doubt it would be. As I walked toward Pillaged Mine, my heart began trilling again at being outdoors. Almost irresistible urges would come over me.

Run amongst the trees… Jump from boulders to the branches just because you can... Hunt…

Lost in these feelings, I almost missed the mine entrance.

Good job at paying attention to your surroundings, you day dreaming knot-head!

The entrance was just off the road, true to Honditar’s mark. Heavy timbers braced the entrance. But the sight that chilled my marrow was that of skulls skewered onto pointed stakes that were set in the ground. A skeleton lay in front of the door like a bleached bone warning. The dapples of sunlight dancing across the bones made them appear animated.

Your surroundings have your attention now…

I took several deep breaths, steeling myself to become a shadow…a shadow with a true aim. I readied an arrow and entered the mine slowly. I didn’t have to wait long to pull the bowstring back. There was a goblin standing at the end of the passage. If he had remained motionless, I never would have seen him as my eyes adjusted to the change of light. How he didn’t see the door open, I have no clue. His bad luck, as he briefly discovered when my arrow shattered his breastbone. He was unable to relay his bad luck to any nearby comrades.

I crept through the passage soundlessly to the first turn. I poked my head around the corner and saw two more goblins. My first shot took out the closest one, but not quietly enough. The second creature spun and shot toward me, screeching. Honditar was right about the adrenaline, it took two arrows to drop the charging goblin. Once he was down, I listened intently for others. Not hearing any, I entered the first chamber. There was a chest set to one side. It was locked. I decided at that point that I would clear the mine first, and search for loot with a torch on the way back out. Stopping to pick locks might be hazardous to my health. So I left the chest behind and moved on.

I was amazed at how natural the bow was feeling in my hands. Once again, Honditar was right. The goblins weren’t any undue grief. I only had trouble on one occasion when there was more than one together. The third one of that group was the only goblin to feel my blade that day. The rest were alone and never knew what hit them. They received merciful deaths without any of the mercy coming from me.

With the mine cleared, I lit a torch and began my treasure hunt. These creatures didn’t wear boots like child-killing bandits did. But it occurred to me that their weapons must be worth something. So in addition to the loot in the chests, I carried out as many of their rusty excuses for swords, bows and axes as I could. During my investigation, I had come across evidence of how intelligent these goblins might be. Almost every single one of them carried a lock pick. Picking a lock is not the easiest thing to do, so that impressed me. Also, the traps that they set were every bit as good as the ones set by bandits. Some were better.

I reached the mine entrance with a fully loaded satchel, and I had left things behind simply because there was more than I could possibly carry. Dousing the torch, I left the mine. Just as when I left Crumbling Mine, it was full dark. I looked up to see a starless sky and frowned.

Cloudy…some stars would have been nice…

I headed back toward Chorrol. There was very little sound. Crickets chirped intermittently in the still night air. Small animals made shuffling noises in the undergrowth. An occasional mockingbird gave a call to the evening. It might as well have been a siren song. I left the road and walked among the trees, casually stroking leaves on low branches as I passed. I felt so at home. When I found a nice level patch of ground under a tree, I stopped. Dropping my satchel, I sank to my knees and ran my fingers through the leaves on the forest floor. I held my hands to my face and inhaled deeply, the amazing aroma of the rich loam was intoxicating as it filled my nostrils. Quickly I made a pile of leaves and laid my bedroll out over them. I slept better that night than any night at The Oak & Crosier.