Now here is the second part of Joan's Tutorial story. Turns out the writing was going well for me detail-wise, which means there will be a Part III as well.
Morndas, 1:57 PM, Last Seed 27, 3E433![IPB Image](http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad208/xenaclone/ef8f190b-4290-4a23-91c0-a12f983af3f4_zps31e2030c.jpg)
Stone walls, cool air, and darkness. It is so dark down here. Joan of Arkay sneaks slowly down a passageway, over some stairs, and emerges into a larger chamber. The sound of the people who just passed through her cell? These sounds can no longer be heard. Joan simply walked out of her cell, by means of a large hole in the wall; a hole opened by one of the soldiers who passed through.
As she sneaks along, her mind is confused and scattered, trying to make sense of it all.
Am I free from jail? Am I really free?She does not remember why she was incarcerated in the first place. Probably, it had to do with an altercation she had with another citizen. This 'altercation' (an argument of faith) is the last thing Joan can remember before waking up in jail.
Might I need to serve the balance of my sentence? Whatever it may have been? And what of the soldiers up ahead? What of them? They are guiding the Emperor Uriel Septim through some sort of 'escape route'. ...And I am to follow them, with casualness and ease? Joan's term had only consisted of a few minutes before the Emperor and his posse showed up.
They did not just make a showing, though, the Emperor stopped on his rendezvous. Stopped and had a chat. A chat with little ol' me!The Emperor said many things to Joan, while the guards could barely hold their patience. A couple of these guards seemed ready to pounce upon her, should Uriel give his command. They wanted to kill her, she could see it in their eyes.
As Joan sneaks further and further into darkness, the air becomes cooler. Eventually she senses the presence of danger up ahead. A skittering of feet upon the stone floor. Wearing cheap clothes with no weapon to speak of, she readies her fists, and focuses her mind upon one of the only spells she knows.
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3:16 pmSHING!
"Protect the Emperor!"
"OOOF! OOOH AAH!"
There's a battle up ahead! Joan hides back behind a wall for a moment, lest she be caught. But nobody notices her. They're too preoccupied by what appears to be an ambush of some sort. Red robed figures challenge the Emperor's guards, and these figures fall one by one. As they do so, Joan notices puffs of red mist burst into the air, as their spirits are claimed by Arkay.
"HAAA!" *clink!* "Jaaah!"
Suddenly, its over. The commotion is done. The Emperor and his guards gather for a moment and discuss their next move.
"We must keep going, sire!"
"Captain Renault... she's dead. I'm sorry...." says one of them. And more words are spoken while Joan hides in shadow, words that she can't hear from her hiding spot. Then, they all decide they'll press on ahead.
"They won't be the first to underestimate...." a Redguard's voice trails off.
"I'll take the front. Let's move!" says an Imperial.
Joan spends a moment cowering in the darkness. She's only wearing jail clothes and a pair of cheap sandals, after all. But she eventually gathers her courage, and sneaks forward once more. Then, a problem: one of the guards is up ahead, causing her to freeze.
Has he noticed her? ....Apparently not. After a minute he or so, he decides to move on.
squeak SQUEAK!But Joan has other problems: the sound of a sewer rat up ahead, for instance. The guard may have missed her, but these rats do not. Stepping out of her crouching position, Joan readies one of the only spells she knows, and throws it.. FFFFWUUMM! ...she manages a direct hit on the first rat, killing it instantly. She misses the second rat, though.
SQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAKThe rat jumps upon her shoulder, biting bare flesh.
"AGH! UGH!"
But after a few blows with her fists, she manages to kill the heathenish creature.
Joan leaves her fists bared, ready for more, but they do not come. Apparently, she is now alone. She puts her fists down, and crouches once again. But then, she remembers the other spell she knows from her schooling, one which would heal her back to full health. She focuses on this spell in her mind's eye, and nurses herself back with Mara's love.
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4:41 pm Joan comes upon fallen bodies, and finds several items she thinks she might need, just in case more enemies lie ahead: potions carried by the red-robed ambushers, and a torch as well. She'll definitely need this torch.
She also initially grabs an Akaviri-styled sword which must have belonged to the dead guard, "Captain Renault" had been her name. The craftsmanship of this particular sword is ornate, Joan can see. This isn't just a cheap item forged in an hour, whoever made it took some time.
"Purely pretty, stones and city, Arkay watcheth over thee. Can take ye a yard, take ye a mile. Buried, safe, and free"...
...Joan says, waving her hands in prayer over the fallen guard. Was this one of the guards who had wanted to kill her only an hour earlier? ... She doesn't know, and it does not matter now. After saying prayers, Joan places the guard's sword into her arms, and instead takes a lesser shortsword (one which had perhaps been forged in an hour) from this guard's belt.
5:31 pmThe torch she's found immediately comes in handy; Joan lights it and snuffs it, as situation calls. She comes to a door straight ahead, but this door is locked. The Emperor's crew must have gone through already, leaving her behind.
"Drats. What now?"
After wondering (once again) whether she should just go back to her cell, she notices a break in a nearby wall. It's a fissure that's been blasted through at some point, and Joan sees another chamber lies beyond. She manages to squeeze through the fissure, then quickly lights her torch, scanning the room for enemies. Not seeing any, she notices a low chest on her right.
This chest yields a small amount of gold and an axe. Joan takes the gold, but leaves the axe behind, already preferring her iron shortsword. After another rat-attack, she finds more items of use: a leather cuirass, armored boots, a gemstone, and several lockpicks. Joan barely knows how to use these devices of thievery, but she takes them anyways.
As she comes to a doorway, she finds something she's only read and heard about, but never seen: a goblin. Thank goodness he is not a live goblin; he looks as if he would have been fierce and merciless, had he been alive. Joan finds a key on this goblin, and takes a couple magical scrolls as well, just in case.
"Am I making this official, my break from jail?" Joan asks for guidance, still concerned about her sentence. "Here goes".
![IPB Image](http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/ad208/xenaclone/Image0196_zpsd6f684f5.jpg)
Joan opens the door, and steps through to darkness.
This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 3 2021, 07:36 PM