Adventures of young High Elf Options

[Lopov]

Hello everyone,

this is my first attempt at writing in fan fiction. I've been regularly posting updates on Beth forums but since I recently started a new character, I decided to share his stories here. He's a High Elf and everything else of importance will be revealed through his stories. I'm playing dead-is-dead which means no reloading under any circumstance - if he dies, his adventures are over. English is not my first language, so there will definitely be some grammar mistakes but at least in the first short story most of them are intentional.

The Introduction

Anvil, Cyrodiil, 27th of Last Seed 3€433…

On 27th of Last Seed 3€433 an old ship sailed into Anvil docks. A few Redguard sailors had jumped overboard, tied the ship up and began unloading a cargo. The merchant ship was called ‘Child of Ra Gada’ and it belonged to captain Amut (known simply as The Capt’n), sailing between Hammerfell, Summerset Isles and Cyrodiil. But this time it was besides the cargo ‘transpouting’ someone else.

Firsthold, Summerset Isles, a week before…

“Nou,” said The Capt’n, a little angry because young High Elf obviously didn’t hear him the first time. “We’re nout transpoutin’ people, ye know, jest cargoo…”

“I’d really like to get to Anvil as soon as possible. I can pay you, of course,” quickly answered young red-haired High Elf. The Capt’n was all ears!

“Paaay me? Hmmmm… lemme fink nou… ther’ might be sam place fer ya, young oun… but it depends – hou mouch are ye willing too paaay?”

“Will hundred septims do?”

“A hoondred, ye say… hmmm… mrmmm… ufhm…”

“Two hundred?”

“Twoo… like twoo… hmmm…. that’s bett’r, young oun… but… hrmmm…”

“Three hundred then. My last offer.”

“Free hundred, young oun?! Ye’ve got yeself a deal, young oun! Junp aboard, we’re leeving soon…”
The Capt’n couldn’t know that a ‘young oun’ would be prepared to pay much more than three hundred septims just to get away from The Summerset Isles but luckily, that was not necessary. He jumped on ‘Child of Ra Gada’ and after a few minutes the ship sailed from the docks and headed for Cyrodiil. As High Elf was standing on the stern and watching his homeland disappearing in the distance, he felt heavy burden being lifted from his shoulders.

Anvil, Cyrodiil, 27th of Last Seed 3€433…

While sailors were unloading the cargo, young High Elf handed a small pouch to The Capt'n. In the last week he got quite attached to the funny captain, his accent and the sailors - they were a merry bunch, particularly compared to his family.

“Thank ye, kind oun! And don’t get yo’self kill’d in the cap’tal, ye knou…”

“I’ll do my best. Thank you and… happy sails!” Having said that, a young High Elf left ‘Child of Ra Gada’. Immediately after he left, first mate Smoush approached The Capt’n.

“Take a good look at him, Capt’n, because that’s the last time you see this young man.”

“Ay knou, Smoush… poor kid, hi’ll get hisself kill’d in a matt’r of days… aye, a pity, hi looooks nice and well-mann’d. ”

“Indeed, Capt’n. But he must be as mad as the hatter! He hopes to succeed in the Arena! The A-r-e-n-a! Have you ever heard of a High Elf who survived the Arena? The A-r-e-n-a?!”

“Stoup spellin’ on mee, I get ye’… I couoldn’t belief heem when hi said that hi’s goin’ to the Arena. Imag’ne, a High Elf… I tould heem hi was bo’n t’be a mage, magus, whateveh… but hi j’st smiled and car’lessly waved hees hant… bout hi wasn’t a snobby one leyk most of them ar’!”

“Yes, he seemed down-to-earth. Aye, aye, poor kid…”

“Pour indeeyd…”

“Yay, yay…”

“That’s enoughg! I’ll sta't creyin’ if I jest fink abaut heem a littl’ lounger… let’s unload th’t cargoo, th’n we’re leevin’…”

“Yes, Capt’n!”

And while ‘Child of Ra Gada’ was sailing from Anvil, young High Elf was still standing on the pier… admiring the sunny sky, people chattering and strange yet amazing architecture of a town called Anvil. He felt a stunning relief, being far away from the Summerset Isles… and his family.

A little insecure because of the new land but cheerful at the same time, Loypuur headed down the pier.

[Lopov]

The Hero of Kvatch

The Gold Coast, Cyrodiil, 4th of Heartfire 3€433

Loypuur woke up, covered in sweat. His heart was beating so fast that he had a feeling it would jump out of his chest. Everything around him was dark. ‘Where am I?’ he asked himself and noticed he’s lying on a bed. ‘A bed?’ He quickly jumped out of the bed and while doing so, knocked something down, so it fell to the floor with a loud sound. ‘What was that?’ – he began to look for whatever he knocked down. Then he noticed a window, a large window… he noticed stars on the clear night sky… and then he saw the stables on the courtyard below. Then he remembered…

‘The inn… I’m at the inn… Gottshaw inn.’

He sat back on the bed, breathing deeply. His eyes were slowly getting adapted to the darkness and he could see more clearly… his iron helmet that he knocked on the floor, was lying in the corner… his wool shirt was on a top of the drawers… in the next corner was his damaged iron armor, small silver axe and a shield… a shield with an emblem of the wolf – the shield of Kvatch.

“Kvatch…” whispered Loypuur… but like the battle for Kvatch was not enough, he now had a nightmare. A strange nightmare, partly related to Kvatch and partly to some old man with the amulet. Loypuur tried as best as he could to remember the nightmare…

… he was among the smoke and fire of Oblivion, fighting alongside Savlian Matius, Tierra and Berich Inian Hordes of scamps, clanfears, Dremora churl warriors and casters were coming from all directions. They were fighting fiercely but they were outnumbered. His friends fell one by one… first Berich, when a disgusting scamp stuck its claws through his chest… second Tierra when a clanfear pushed her into a lava pool… third Savlian whose skull was crushed by churl’s mace… then the Daedra stopped and looked at Loypuur. They slowly made a circle around him… Loypuur knew the end was near. As they swarmed on him, he closed his eyes… nothing? Why is nothing happening?

‘Quickly, this way!’

Loypuur opened his eyes. He was not in the portal of Oblivion anymore. Instead, a strong Redguard in ornate looking heavy armor grabbed his shoulder and was leading him down a corridor. It looked like sewers. There was an old man running next to Loypuur, wearing noble clothes and red amulet. Loypuur saw that amulet before but couldn’t remember where? Before he could ask where they are going, they were attacked… faceless people in red robes attacked out of nowhere, casted an unusual looking armor on them and attacked with bound weapons… Loypuur had no weapon and he had to attack the enemies with bare fists… when he successfully knocked down one of the attackers, he felt a hand on his shoulder… he turned around fast, ready to punch the attacker but it was the old man… he was holding Loypuur’s hand and handed him the amulet. Then he mumbled something that started with letter ‘J’ but Loypuur couldn’t understand it… as he asked the old man what was he trying to say, a blade pierced through old man’s chest, blood splattering on Loypuur’s face. Behind him a man in conjured armor was standing, laughing wickedly from under his mask.

‘Nooooooooooooooooo….!’ shouted the strong Redguard and attacked the assassin. Loypuur tried to help the Redguard but suddenly everything around him began to fade away… walls were disappearing and fire was coming from behind them… he could smell the smoke and the smell of burnt bodies… is he going back to Oblivion? Then everything around him burst, the strong light blinded him and everything became silent… is he safe? He didn’t dare to open his eyes yet… everything was still silent… Loypuur slowly opened his eyes. There was someone standing in front of him… but who? When he finally opened his eyes, he noticed… a Dremora! Staring at him with evil look and bloody mace in his hand.
‘Die, mortal! Die!’ And with one strong blow he crushed Loypuur's skull!

That’s how Loypuur remembered his nightmare. He had no idea who the old man was… what was he trying to say… and what was that amulet… he remembered seeing it somewhere before but he couldn’t remember where… who were the men in red robes? Why were they faceless? Too many questions… and not an answer to any of them.

It started to dawn and sunlight slowly brightened the small room in the Gottshaw Inn. With the coming light, Loypuur noticed numerous wounds and burns on his skin. That was not surprising… since he just fought the battle of his life. Although he slept for at least twelve hours, he still felt tired. But more than that… he felt sad. Sad because he remembered brave and good people that had died in Kvatch. Ironically, he was proclaimed the hero of that town. Loypuur couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of it although his laugh was a bitter one. ‘An amateur like me saving the town!’

And although that was a nightmare, it was not a dream… his wounds and vivid memories of burnt people, man in the cage, scamps, clanfears, dremora warriors, blood fountains, dusty towers and many more convinced him that he, Loypuur, was a part of it. He needed air, fresh air, to calm down and recollect his thoughts.

…

Few hours later he was slowly walking towards Anvil, his wounds preventing him to move any faster. Apart from his gauntlets which were too damaged, the rest of his armor was possible to repair and Loypuur decided to perform the repairs at Morvayn’s Peacemakers. He didn’t plan to return to Anvil so soon but it was necessary.

Thinking back he had absolutely no idea from where did he gain the courage to enter the Oblivion gate. He wasn’t convinced that he’d do it the second time, not because he would be selfish but because he wasn’t prepared for the horrors again. Perhaps it was the mention of ‘people trapped inside the town’ that persuaded Loypuur to enter the gate. He remembered that he said to Savlian: “If there are people to be saved, then I’m going through that gate!” He didn’t regret his decision but he was still asking himself how did he manage. He just couldn’t understand – an amateur like him… entered the Oblivion gate… fought through the hordes of Daedra and ascended their bloody towers… removed the Sigil stone and closed the gate… and while these memories made him feel proud, there were also sad memories…

…like the one of Kvatch soldier Ilend Vonius being slain by a clanfear. Or the man in the cage whose name Loypuur didn’t know but who told him how to close the portal… ‘What was your name, unknown hero… what was your name?’… probably he’ll never find the answer to that. Because no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t break through the brood cage in which the old man was being kept and was forced to let him to whatever fate awaited him.

…flashback… a burnt hand sticking out of lava pool holding a silver axe. Loypuur didn’t know who the burnt man was but it was like he wanted to give him the weapon. Although he had his large silver battle-axe, it offered him almost no protection against running clanfears… Loypuur carefully took the dead man’s axe and a shield with Kvatch emblem from fallen Ilend Vonius. Wearing this shield and this axe made him feel stronger and he felt better knowing that the last things his enemies will see - will be his silver axe and an emblem of the town which they destroyed! This very axe and this very shield were still with him, accompanying him to Anvil.

…flashback… how victorious did he feel after closing the gate… only to find out that the battle for Kvatch had just began. Luckily they managed to get all civilians to safety – a brave Redguard warrior Tierra helped them to the refugee camp. But remembering Tierra made Loypuur remember Jesan Rilian… brave Imperial whom he talked to in the chapel… and who was slain when overwhelmed by three scamps at the castle Kvatch courtyard… ‘Jesan Rilian died because of dirty tactics used by Daedra – they couldn’t finish him alone so they grouped and attacked him together – cowards!’

…flashback… Jesan’s death made Loypuur go mad and he didn’t care about his wounds anymore, he just went on and slew everyone in his path, from scamps to clanfears and Dremora Churls. And while he couldn’t help Jesan anymore, he saved another life… that of Berich Inian. Inside the castle, Berich was overwhelmed by a clanfear and two scamps. Loypuur hurried to him and attacked the clanfear, distracting it. Then he repeated the procedure with two scamps – the end result was that all three attacked him, leaving Berich Inian alone which was exactly what Loypuur wanted. He finished off the Daedra and could see the gratitude in Berich’s eyes.

…flashback… after he killed a scamp, Loypuur bent over to the dead man in noble clothes… it was Ormellius Goldwine – Count Kvatch. They were too late… a few minutes later when he reported the count’s death to Savlian and was proclaimed The Hero of Kvatch… he felt nothing. Nothing. Only sadness, anger and pain because they couldn’t save more lives. In the end only Savlian Matius, Berich Inian, Tierra, civilians and he remained. All the others – dead. He took Savlian’s Kvatch cuirass but was already decided what he will do with it.

…Loypuur dimly remembered what happened after that. He was still shocked because of the whole situation and he remembered that he left Kvatch. He met a priest on the road down, who was talking about numerous portals and something about a balance being disrupted but Loypuur couldn’t listen to him. He was very tired and didn’t know when he slept for the last time - probably in Anvil on the day when he departed for the Imperial City. Well, he didn’t make it very far and he definitely didn’t expect his journey to the capital begin like it had. He managed to get to the Gottshaw inn and fell asleep immediately.

…

"Yes, that’s how it happened" said Loypuur as he finally managed to recollect his thoughts. He still couldn’t remember what he old man said to him and he still didn’t know where he saw the amulet before. Anvil was already seen in the distance. Loypuur checked the Kvatch cuirass and found out that it’s enchanted. ‘I will put it to good use… then I’ll return to Kvatch’ thought young High Elf as he was approaching the town.

Sun was shining high in the sky as The Hero of Kvatch arrived to Anvil.