Redemption, part 2 Options

[jack cloudy]

Click here for Redemption Part 1


Alright, part 2. Still not much redeeming going on but whatever. Now instead of continuing the story, I figured I'd use this post for all the miscellaneous stuff. Things like a character list and the recap for part 1. So be warned that this post CONTAINS SPOILERS. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!


RECAP FOR PART 1 Again SPOILERS!

One night, the palace is breached by unknown assailants. Following standard protocol for such events, the Emperor is secretly transported to the prison by his Blades. The Imperial Battlemage, Ocato, declines to join him, claiming that the situation is under control and that his services aren't needed.

Despite having reached the prison safely, the Emperor soon finds that he is still in danger. It is then that Uriel receives help from an unexpected ally. Angoril Bobardi reveals that the very cell he has inhabited for decades, contains a secret escape route that was built during the simulacrum at the order of Jagar Tharn. With this passage and the considerable magical prowess of Angoril, the Emperor manages to flee the deadly trap.

Also freed from the prison by Angoril is Maorlatta Orgnum, a young (by elf-standards) and somewhat naive girl who was arrested for the crime of sleeping in the park. Once free, she quickly makes herself scarce and eventually finds herself in the shack of an old fisherman who lives on an island in Lake Rumare. The fisherman seeks the help of the thieves guild to rid her of the manacles and prison outfit that would have every Legionnaire arrest her on sight. Unfortunately, the one assigned to pick the locks on the manacles informs Vicente Valtieri instead, who takes a personal interest in the girl’s talent for camouflage. Maorlatta is saved by the Redguard Sorian, a young and rather strange lad who keeps going on and on about something he calls an Ansei. The two team up to go treasure hunting in a nearby Ayleid ruin.

Meanwhile, Angoril returns to the prison. Pretending to be from the palace, he gets a vital clue from the Argonian private investigator Grey-Tongue. The Argonian sends him to Chorrol to find the source of the assassins distinctive red robes. To get to Chorrol, he summons a shiftgate, circumventing days travelling. From Chorrol the trail leads to Kvatch, a city whose precise location he does not know. Unable to summon another shiftgate with reasonable accuracy, Angoril seeks more mundane passage to Kvatch.

While Angoril is travelling, Maorlatta and Sorian hit the Ayleid ruin. After some trouble with a zombie, they strike gold and find an abandoned office with some intact artefacts. They attempt to sell the artefacts in the Imperial city, where they are intercepted by Grey-Tongue and then Vicente Valtieri. Sorian again makes the vampire flee. The next morning Maorlatta wakes up in the Imperial palace with no recollection on how she got there or what happened during her stay at Grey-Tongue’s house. Jauffre interrogates her in the garden at the top of the tower.







Redemption's persons of questionable importance

Main characters:
Angoril Bobardi: An Altmeri sorcerer who inhabited a cell in the Imperial prison, fully aware of the secret escape route. After leaving the prison, he makes it his task to track down the leaders behind the red-robed assassins.

Maorlatta Orgnum: A Maormer from Pyandonea, sent to Tamriel at the command of king Orgnum. Circumstances land her in the same prison as the Altmer. After escaping, she returns to the pursuit of her own goals, one of which is to become filthy rich.

Side characters:
Grey-Tongue: An Argonian private investigator. He is a friend of Hieronymous Lex and has been hired by the guard-captain in the past. Grey-Tongue is hired now as well by the city-guard to investigate the events at the prison and find Uriel’s corpse.
Guard-Captain Hieronymous Lex: Hieronymous Lex is the man put in charge of investigating the massacre at the Imperial Prison. Upon finding that Uriel Septim was seen entering the prison that night, he hires Grey-Tongue to help him uncover the truth.
Sorian: A Redguard who saves Maorlatta from Vicente Valtieri. A simple wandering swordsman with a slight Ansei-obsession.
Rajn Geydar: A Wood Elf who lives in Kvatch. At one point possessed a piece of the Balac-Thurm.

Others:
Guard-Captain Argelius: A colleague of Hieronymous Lex who describes him as the man to call when you need subtlety.
Bannon: A merchant who travelled with Angoril from Chorrol to Kvatch
Baleni: Daughter of Rajn Geydar
Doruk: The Bouncer who worked at Rajn Geydar's restaurant. Deceased.
Penald Baurus: Blade and bodyguard of Uriel Septim.
Berius: Lord Protector and Head of the palaceguard in the Imperial City.
Valen Dreth: A Dunmeri prisoner. Not the most pleasant sort.
Jennifer Renault: Blade, recently promoted to captain.
Glenroy: Blade and bodyguard of Uriel Septim.

Fenasim: A member of the emperor's Palace guard.
Mankar Camoran: The father of both Raven and Ruma. He is the leader of the Mythic Dawn and its prophet.
Raven Camoran: The ‘Hand’ of the Mythic Dawn, an organization with an unknown purpose. What is certain however, is that the Dawn wants Uriel Septim dead.
Ruma Camoran: The sister of Raven, she serves the Mythic Dawn as Priestess. In the same night that the attempt on the emperor’s life is made, she infiltrates the vaults beneath the Imperial palace to steal two artefacts.
Harrow: A member of the Dawn, Harrow used to be an Armiger stationed in Vvardenfell.

Ludius Bester: Member of Bester and Bester, the Kvatch Hall of Mercantile Interests. He runs the office in lower Kvatch.
Aelwin Merowald: An old fisherman who lost most of his leg to Slaughterfish. Friend of Delmar Tunius.
Rajn Geydar: Owner of the Eight Provinces, a restaurant in Kvatch.
Ra’Jezhr: A Khajiiti lockpicker in the employ of the Thieves Guild, Ra’Jezhr is also coerced into serving the Dark Brotherhood’s interests.
Simanuel Rosendorf IV: The owner of a silk-plantation near Chorrol

Umbacano: An Altmer who lives in the capital city. A well-known collector of Ayleid artefacts.
Uriel Septim VII: The Emperor of Tamriel.
Brother Tanner: A priest who serves in the Kvatch-temple. Looks like a Septim.
Delmar Tunius: An old fisherman who lives on a small island in lake Nibenay.
Vicente Valtieri: A member of the Dark Brotherhood, he takes interest in Maorlatta’s talents at stealth, and desires to make her an assassin, with or without her cooperation.

Latta’s evergrowing list of people only she knows:
Levvelyn of Glashorn: The hero of a popular series who spends most of his books saving the world, slaying vicious monsters, duelling devious Altmeri warlords and chasing the girl.
Irrillys: A fictional princess of Pyandonea, she is Levvelyn’s love interest. Posesses an unfortunate talent for being kidnapped by devious Altmeri warlords.
Mettildi: The Maormer that taught Maorlatta how to fight, though his methods traumatized her to the point where she is mentally incapable of defending herself.
Master Zelthir: Another Maormer put in charge of educating Maorlatta. Master Zelthir is a well-known and highly respected healer.

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Sep 22 2013, 07:36 PM

[jack cloudy]

I just buried my father this morning. I was hoping to do some proper planning, but that idea got left behind due to circumstances. I've got an idea for scenes much later in the story, but none for right now. So instead I'll be continuing on with simple improvisation. I'm sorry for the delay and my general lack of activity.

As for the character recap, most of them are either one-scene characters, or characters who only exist as part of Latta's background.


Chapter 7: North and South

Kvatch, Angoril Bobardi

Finding a caravan to travel with had been surprisingly easy. All he had to do was go to the wagon camp before Chorrol’s main gates and read the notices pinned to the wall of the nearby inn. There was no notification of caravans, but rather the time and day when Chorrol’s roadwatch set out and their destination. A quick askaround confirmed his suspicions that travellers were simply expected to travel with the patrol. It was almost identical to a plan he had once proposed in which each city would be allowed their own private force for securing their cities and roads. Their expenses would be regained through the increased trade revenue. His emperor had vetoed the plan, preferring to keep all military force in his own legions. But now the plan had been implemented. So the next day he simply showed up at the gates and followed the horsemen . A few uneventful days later he arrived at the village of low Kvatch.

He took in the settlement as he waited in line. There was no gate, just a simple barricade on the road that forced any passing wagons to zigzag. The place looked at once temporary and old. The buildings were simple squares made of wood, often with visible sections that had been replaced or expanded over the years. The only stone structure was a manhigh wall to the south but that one was still under construction. All things taken into consideration, low Kvatch was exactly what he had expected, an unofficial district placed solidly on the road between Anvil and Skingrad, primarily to extract toll from the many merchants travelling along this road. Kvatch itself was actually situated on the mountain to the north and its only access was via a winding path up the steep slope. Too steep for the heavier wagons and still a good two or three hours climb for everyone else. This permitted low Kvatch its second function and source of income as a waystation and market for weary travellers unable or unwilling to visit upper Kvatch.

“You’ve never actually told me why you’re going to Kvatch. The place is a bloody leech on us honest traders. No good products worth exporting, and a lot of taxes.” Bannon, the portly old Breton who had offered Angoril a ride on his wagon, remarked.
Angoril knew three reasons for visiting Kvatch. First was naturally the trail of the assassins, followed by an inspection of the temple. The list of regular donations he’d discovered in Ocato’s office had caught his eye and like most things that drew his attention once, he kept thinking about it. He knew from experience that Uriel liked funding temples of Tamriels prime faith, but rarely this much. Furthermore, discreet inquiries had revealed that none of his fellow travellers remembered any large-scale construction projects, which made the regular payments all the stranger. He doubted it was anything important but it wouldn’t take too much time and one never knew.

Finally there was the investigation in Rajn Treesap that he’d found in the same book. He had made use of the service of a young woman by that very name. Long ago, when he needed a good guide to Valenwood’s oldest trees. She had been good, cheap, and useful for his plans. If this was the same one, he would have to look into her and reassess if she still held value to him. The book mentioned she had been in Kvatch back in 3E 403 which had earned her a place on his to-do list. Perhaps people would still remember her or she was still here.

Those were his three reasons for visiting Kvatch and none of them he could tell Bannon.
“Kvatch was originally meant as a stronghold. Trade revenue or any source of livelihood for its occupants was not needed. If anyone, say the Camoran Usurper, invaded from Valenwood or Elsweyr, they would either be locked up in siege for months or leave themselves open for a rear assault by Kvatch’s garrison. It lies away from the main roads to improve its defensibility, but not so far that its army can’t strike out against nearby targets.” He explained and noticed with amusement that the lecture had come without thinking.
“Ease it, it has been many years since you last stood before a class. Just answer the man’s question instead of hoisting random trivia upon him.”
“An old friend of the family moved to Kvatch a while back. If figured I should look him up at least once before returning to Summerset.” Angoril answered after a short pause and the wagon moved ahead a few metres. Neither man said another word as they slowly drew closer to the barricade and the officials manning it. It was only when they passed the gate that Bannon talked again.



“There’s my next gain.” He said, waving at the wall.
“You wish to become a masoner?” Angoril asked and chuckled. Bannon grinned, shaking his head.
“If I were twenty years younger. No, I want to be a supplier. They take the bricks from old forts nobody but bandits use these days, then take them here. And Stendarr knows those poor sods need it. Leaches they may be, but I wouldn’t wish death by troll stampede on my worst enemies. So I figured I’d make some money hauling rocks. That, or maybe selling enchanted arrows to the foresters here. It depends on the price I can get at Skingrad for those.” The merchant’s voice drifted away at the last few words as he weighed his options.
“You would be cheapest if you went into Valenwood. They practically marry their bows there. You would get high quality and low prices. Back here you could double or even triple the price.” The Altmer suggested but Bannon shuddered at the thought.
“Valenwood? That’s where the trolls came from! I didn’t get this old by being suicidal.”

The wagon rolled up to the barricade and an official stepped up to inform them of the current going fare. Both men paid, a one-piece for Angoril and a five-piece for Bannon and his wagon. The portly merchant steered the wagon through the sharp bend and into the open area beyond. Once through, Angoril decided it was time to leave.
“It was a fool’s advice I gave you then. Fare thee well, Bannon. Perhaps we shall see each other again.” He said and was about to leap from the wagon when a hand on his shoulder made him pause.

“Tell you what, Tennil. If it doesn’t work out for you here in Kvatch, you can come along with me. The building folk would pay quite generously for your feather spells.” Bannon whispered. Somewhat confused at the sudden conspirational tone their conversation had taken, the Altmer lowered his voice as well.
“I’ll think about it. I can’t make any promises though.” He muttered. Bannon cast a quick glance around, either looking for a place to park his wagon or checking for any eavesdroppers. Angoril suspected the latter. No one was near them but the wagon behind them, whose owner only gave enough attention to prevent ramming them. Soon he slipped off to the left to a space under the shade of a tree. Bannon nodded to himself and whispered one more thing before lightly shoving the Altmer off the wagon.
“And one more thing. Keep your talents on the low. This ain’t Summerset. The mages guild down here doesn’t like independents, especially skilled ones. And they’re very good at getting rid of thorns in their side, if you get my drift.”
Angoril nodded in silent acknowledgement. No independent mages, another aspect of the more ordened and safer Empire he had envisioned. Unfortunately, he qualified as one at the moment.

He watched Bannon park his wagon near the southern wall and walked towards the center of the village. The merchant had told him that Kvatchians often hawked their own wares at the market here instead of the one in upper Kvatch, which made this the place to start.