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 - I'm glad you like the Editor's notes. They are a useful tool for letting me break into an aside without compromising the realism of the format, in other words having Gwen report things that would be impossible or highly improbable for her to know, or to actually report in a journal. They also let me explore Cyrodiil through a historian's eyes - watch for some interesting and humorous ones coming later!

Grits - To be honest, it is more of a shock to Gwen that the Guild would allow such a malefactor as Falcar to remain in charge of the Cheydinhal chapter as it is to know that Altmer are bad people. Her racial prejudice is a trait, but it's not absolute. She recognises Deetsan's ability and wisdom in the last episode, for instance, and previously showed knowledge of the dark arts in Alinor.

However, you are definitely spot-on when you notice the absence of cash-flow musings. Normally, this would be ticking over in her mind, but naturally this is not the case here (understandably!). And thanks for noticing too her determination to keep going. This is definitely one of her character traits, along with racial prejudice, fiscal prudence, high-mindedness and intolerance for less supmtuous surroundings. It will eventually see her through to the Arcane University, and not a moment too soon (Raminus be cursed for inflicting the ignominy of the reccomendations circuit on her!)

Next up: The Guild's representative arrives in Cheydinhal and interviews Gwen, who then plots her next move.

5 P.M.

The guild’s third-in-command, a Bosmer called Bothiel, who is assistant to Raminus Polus, arrived at the Cheydinhal Mages Guild hall at 12 P.M. to examine the evidence for necromancy. Upon arriving, she and Deetsan went to the basement for nearly two hours, no doubt proceeding to pore over the soul gems and the cursed ring, which claimed one life and so nearly claimed mine. After they had discussed the situation, Deetsan came out and asked me to go downstairs and give testimony to the guild regarding Falcar’s actions.

Bothiel then questioned me about the events of the 28th and 29th. She asked me what Falcar had said and done on the days in question, whether he had threatened anyone at the guild and so on - and then put the cursed items in front of me and asked me to confirm that I had discovered them in Falcar’s room. I did so, expressing my firm belief that Falcar was a necromancer, an offence in guild law since Hannibal Traven became Arch-Mage.

The civil authorities may not prosecute him, I added, but if the Guild shuns Falcar and his associates, we may be stronger for it. Bothiel reassured me that “no necromancer shall ever be tolerated in the Guild while I serve it, associate.”

Clearly, this woman was skilled in the arts of speechcraft. She had a friendly, authoritative manner, but her eyes remained fixed on mine throughout in a way that let me know she meant serious business. Before she had questioned me, she summarily tackled the thorny issue that still lay between myself and Arcane University, with a skill that was so consummate as to appear effortless. “My sincerest apologies for the misunderstanding with your acceptance letter, associate. I trust that you do not hold this against the Guild?”

Although I deeply resent this slight, I was so taken by the forwardness of the blue-robed Bosmer that I could but reply with a stuttered “No, Madam Wizard”. Whereas Raminus had tried to bat me off with excuses before, Bothiel was much more direct. And yet, at the same time, affable. As I was leaving, she said, “When you complete your recommendation tasks, do come and see me at the University. The orrery there is most spectacular. Every student of our magickal world should see it.”

Bothiel has just left after speaking to the other mages. Even the way she walks exudes authority. Oddly, for a Bosmer, she has adapted to civilised customs and her passion and zeal, whilst visible to all, is clearly under control.

10 P.M.

I have just been reminded about that drunk, Reynald. In the circumstances of the last few days I had (naturally) completely forgotten about his double. Trayvond brought it up this evening over a communal meal of venison, potatoes, and corn. I will look for him tomorrow. It will provide a diversion. In any case, I am not ready to undertake another one of these gods-forsaken recommendation quests yet.

Over dinner, which was cooked by Eilonwy, I got the chance to get to know the local mages better. Eilonwy and Orintur said they met for the first time here in Cheydinhal some twenty years ago. He had been a travelling apprentice studying at the Arcane University at the time, whilst Eilonwy had been an apprentice alchemist here at the guild hall.

His eyes sparkling with pride and delight, Orintur told me: “As soon as I set eyes on her, all thoughts of becoming a Master-Wizard in the Guild went out of the window. You know, I used to serve as High Chancellor Ocato’s apprentice, back when he was no politician, but a Wizard with great potential, tipped to become Arch-Mage one day. To think, had I stuck with him, I might have gained greatly from his patronage, maybe even rising to political power myself. But I would have been much less happy. I truly love Eilonwy; give me a happy life anyday over a rich or powerful one.”

A very admirable sentiment, I said, though of course being rich and powerful always helps one in the pursuit of happiness!

This post has been edited by Ceidwad: Jun 17 2011, 11:57 PM