The Famous Five, Heroes and Villains of the Age of Martin Septim Options

[Ceidwad]

Welcome to my fanfic. I've been planning on posting this up for some time now. Now that I have the first 10,000 words or so down seperately, I feel ready to post some stuff up here. I hope you will all enjoy reading it as it develops. I haven't a clue how much I will write eventually, if I manage to finish it. But it will likely be very, very long. Indeed, there's an excellent chance that I'll finish writing a Skyrim fan fiction before (if) I finish this!

The Famous Five is an unusual fan fiction. It takes the form of a historical commentary/synthesised text written some 90 years after the events of Oblivion, and relies rather heavily on my own creative license to fill in some historical gaps in between 4E2, when the stories end, and 4E85 when the book is written (I should add, I have not read any Elder-Scrolls related lore works, such as the Infernal City).

This work weaves together the stories of five different characters that I roleplayed in Oblivion, and I hope to include some of my minor characters in it too. Subject to approval, it may also be nice to include some other chorrol.com members' fanfic characters in it too. It would be entertaining to see the outcome of a meeting between Luther Martinus (who you will get to know) and, say, Buffy or Teresa, for certain!

At present, I regrettably do not have screenshots; however, I hope to add some in future if and when I can get Oblivion for PC.

This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction. I have thought about it for a while, though. I welcome critique of my writing as well as positive comments. I have not planned most of the fanfic, but have a general plan of how it will pan out. It will include actual in-game events, relationships and quests which inspired my roleplaying, and be supplemented with whatever ideas take my fancy at the time of writing.

Below is the prologue and the first entry. I plan to update every few days to a week, depending on how much I can write. This will vary. At times, I may not update for a while. I do, however, hope to persevere with this and update pretty regularly.

Happy reading!

This post has been edited by Ceidwad: Mar 26 2011, 05:00 AM

[Ceidwad]

Acadian - Thanks for your observations on our gal's casual racism. It will be one of the themes of the early part of her diary, although she will evolve. The thing to remember is that her ignorance of other races is not indicative of any genuine prejudice, merely her biased beliefs which, let's face it, most Altmer share, and why wouldn't they, given their obvious mental brilliance?

SubRosa - again, thanks for observing the hoity-toitiness of the mage student, and for your other comments. And thanks for reading and commenting freqeuntly. The reason I wrote 'What might' without a dash following it was because it seemed more natural (if writing a diary, you probably wouldn't anticipate beng interrupted). Although I realise now it had the potential for confusion. Agreed and amended.

Well, Gwen didn't have such an easy ride from Anvil to Skingrad, did she? Let's see how she gets on on the journey from Skingrad to the Imperial City, which spans a couple of days.

***

First Seed 13, 3E430

4 P.M.

I have just barely recovered from my scare the other day. Skingrad is a wonderful town, with friendly residents. My hotel room provides all the comforts of home, but it isn’t cheap. Sadly, I shall have to leave tomorrow.

I visited the Mages’ Guild on my first day here, which was a Sundas, so all the mages were off duty and enjoying a good meal and fine wine. I spoke to the mages there and showed them my letter from Raminus. Then I told them about about my run-in with the highwayman. One mage, who introduced himself as Sulinus Vassinus, gave the following advice: next time this happened, a nice big fireball was the best response.
I replied that my destruction skills were not quite up to scratch. Showing him, I summoned up the largest fireball I could. It was little bigger than an apple.

“I see.” said Vassinus. “So maybe you aren’t a ‘blowing things up’ type of mage. Try going invisible, instead.”
When I explained I couldn’t do this either, but was quite good at Restoration, Alteration and Mysticism, he said: “Ah, don’t worry. They’ll teach you well at the University. If you can get there.”

I didn’t understand what he meant by that. The other mages re-assured me. A tall, yet soft-spoken Nord named Vigge told me that his first experiments at the university inevitably ended in him blowing something up……and not in a good way. He laughed and said, “you’d have to be pretty incompetent to get dismissed from the University. After all, if a joke like Jeanne Frasoric can make Wizard rank, why……you should be Arch-Mage in no time.”* I am not so sure I will be Arch-Mage, but forging a respectable career at the University is my goal in the next 20 years. It is a relief to be re-assured.

*Editor’s note: I have singled out this comment because it is remarkably incidental, prophetic even, given the actual later meteoric rise of the diary’s author, who, from becoming an Apprentice in 3E430, achieved Wizard rank in 3E431 and became Arch-Mage in 3E432. The progression usually takes a lifetime, although in this case was undoubtedly influenced by the unusual circumstances in which the Mages Guild found itself at the time of the High Elf’s appointment as Arch-Mage.

Having met with the mages on Sundas, I spent the Morndas and Tirdas exploring the town. Skingrad’s chapel and castle stood out as landmarks. The chapel looks functional and imposing rather than beautiful, although the stained-glass windows are delightful. The castle is another thing altogether – fine gothic architecture and beautifully dressed servants. I wonder who the ruler is in these parts? I know Cyrodiil is governed locally by counts, but the count here was absent. His servants and guardsmen seemed polite though, with one exception. One middle-aged Imperial, dressed in green brocade. As my eyes met his, I felt I was able to detect coldness in them. That hardly mattered, however. I survived a savage attack a mere two days ago. A mere look was the least of my worries.

Tirdas was a day spent outside. Skingrad has a great variety of wild fruit. The vineyards here are accompanied by a tomato field and several blackberry and strawberry bushes. I imagine this would be a nice place to live.

I wonder what I will find on the road tomorrow? No more highwaymen, I hope. Looking at my map, I can see I am about halfway to the Imperial City. The journey should take one day or so.

I have counted my gold; I now have 322 gold septims.

First Seed 14, 3E430 – Wawnet Inn, near Imperial City

I arrived safely near the Imperial City and am presently lodged in a tavern known as the Wawnet Inn. Too exhausted to write any more.

First Seed 15, 3E430

9 A.M.

I feel refreshed this morning. The Wawnet Inn is basic, but the view out onto the countryside is beautiful. Yesterday’s journey saw me safely from Skingrad to the Imperial City without incident. On the way, I stopped at a little village named Pell’s Gate. The people there kindly offered to make me a meal, for a small consideration. I still have 276 septims remaining. About 35 septims were lost on dinner last night. Wawnet Inn offers roast boar meat for a reasonable 25 gold. I have spent the last few days eating common mutton. This is simply no good! A bottle of wine washed it down. The publican here is a wine connoisseur, and shared some tips for drinking it with me. I must admit that while Cyrodiil’s wines are no match for the finest Summurset wines, they are good. I shall leave for the big city now!