Cloak and Dagger, A Fan-Fiction Options

[Zalphon]

Prologue

3E 420

“Naïlo,” the Hlaalu Guard asked. “Did Stacey give you the package?” I opened the satchel at my hip and pulled out the box of drakes. I handed it to the Dunmer in Bonemold Armor. He reached for it and nodded.

“Now then, the Hlaalu Guards will turn a blind eye to the Thieves’ Guild activities in Balmora?” I asked. “That is the deal.” The deal had been in place for five years, ever since the Raynil Orayn became the leader of local Hlaalu in Balmora. The truth was simple: he was like every other Hlaalu, a corrupt, greedy thug.

I walked towards the bridge to the South Wall Corner Club. In the alleys, Skooma-addicts smoked away their money. This was Balmora, the real Balmora. It wasn’t uncommon for an outlander to disappear or a Skooma-addict to sell everything he owned down to the clothes off his back for another bottle of those precious crystals.

Habasi smiled as I crossed the bridge. “Did they receive the ‘package’?” she asked inquisitively. With a nod, I saw that smile grow from ear to ear. She patted me on the back and opened the door for me.

“Good job, Naïlo.”

“Sugar-Lips, it’s my duty to the Guild.”

“Sugar-Lips thinks you’re a good kid, Naïlo,” the Khajiit stated as we walked down the stairs. “Stacey would like you to see you, Ashborn.”

I strode over to the door with a sign: “Private Room” and knocked. When the door opened, a Redguard in exquisite clothes answered the door. He had light brown hair that was combed back. “Naïlo, you’ve been with the Guild for a few years now.”

“Y-yes, S-sera,” I stuttered. “I-I have been with the G-guild for some time.” This was the first time I had ever seen Gentleman Jim Stacey in the flesh. I had once received orders from him to deliver a package to the Hlaalu Council House, but only once.

“Relax, kid. I’ve got some good news for you. I’m officially promoting you to Wet Ear.”

“W-what are you serious?” I asked.

“Yes and with your new rank, I’ll need you to travel to Ald’ruhn to take orders from Relam Arinith, our ranking member there. He has needed someone to help him out with a few jobs,” Stacey grinned. “You think you can handle it, Kid?”

“Y-yes I can,” I nodded like an obedient child. “Can you pay for me to take a silt strider to Ald’ruhn?”

The human looked around for a moment then he finally came to a conclusion. “Tell him Stacey said if he gives you free passage to Ald’ruhn we’re even,” he ordered. “The next silt strider to Ald’ruhn is in the morning, so rest up.”

I walked out and the bartender tossed me a loaf of bread. “Have a good trip, Naïlo.” I had to walk forward to grab it; the Imperial never was a good judge of distance. With a hefty bite out of it, I made my way towards my room. The room had a cloth rug, a pillow and a blanket.

I lied down on the rug and put my head on the pillow. “Finally a member of the guild,” I whispered to myself proudly…

[Lady Syl]

Chapter One

This is a very interesting read for me, especially because I haven't played Morrowind more than a few times, and I never got very far in it. Ald'ruhn is one of the cities I never got to, but reading this is making me very much want to play Morrowind again.

The detail you put into Nailo's ride in the silt strider was excellent. I was not aware that you actually ride inside of them like that, and your mentioning their "loud shrieks of anguish" makes me sort of feel bad for the creatures.

When the silt strider hopped into the air and made Nailo go flying around inside its shell a bit, that made me laugh. It sounds more like an amusement park ride than a means of transportation!

I forgot that the Dunmeri in Morrowind made slaves of various races of people in Tamriel. But when you portrayed the Breton woman with a collar and a leash around her neck, my mouth dropped. It's hard to imagine sometimes that real living, breathing people have been enslaved--it's a very sad mark of our history that we would do that to other humans (not to mention the atrocities we have been guilty of in regards to our treatment of animals!). I am glad that Nailo is not like most of his Dunmeri brethren in Morrowind--he felt empathy for her, where others of his kind see it as perfectly normal. This shows him to be greatly advanced--a man ahead of his time. He is most deserving of respect, in my eyes.

When he bought her and took her to his room and then set her free, the way you describe her is worth noting. You do a very good job portraying the brokenness of her spirit--slavery and cruel experimentation has had a traumatic impact on her self-image, and it will take a lot of time for her to rise out of that. I have a feeling Nailo will be a great help to her in this way.

Wow, it rains ashes in Ald'ruhn? I didn't know that. Not somewhere I'd want to build a city, but "to each his own."

I loved the paragraph where you pointed out the tragedy with the Redoran noblewoman--she could have anything in the world she wanted, yet she chose skooma and is destroying her body with it. Sad. Her sister sounds like a much more level-headed person, to be so humble and kind to them.

Mira is a good character, and I have a feeling that both of them are going to have immense impacts on each others lives, and in a good way. I look forward to reading more.