Today in Cyrodiil, spoilers version, TES: 4 Oblivion character accounts & stories Options

[Renee]

Hello people, and welcome to the Chorrol > Oblivion Spoilers > Today in Cyrodiil thread, a place where one can write all about their charcters in TES: 4 Oblivion, and include spoilers in the story. I realized that the other Today thread is in General section, and this new character of mine is going to have a lot of spoilers in her story, so here goes.

Let's meet my new one!

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Morndas, 2:12 AM, Last Seed 27, 3E433

"Pale skin.... snotty expression," says the putrid voice of a dark elf, somewhere nearby.

The captive woman awakes slowly.



"Yo're a Breton", continues the voice ..."the masters of magicka, am I right? Hmm?"

"What?" the captive calls out.

"Yo're nothing but a stuck-up haahlot, with cheap pahlor tricks. Go ahead! Try yo'r magicka in here! Let's see you make those baahs disappear!"

"You know of my magicka? And how?" the captive is now confused. She does know some 'magic tricks', but her knowledge is limited to just a couple of minor spells.

"Ohhh what's the mat-ta? Not so powerful now, are you Breton? Yo're not leaving this prison 'til they throw yo'r body in the lake! Ohhh that's right, yo're going to DIE in here, prisoner. ... Yo're going to die!

Joan of Arkay, the aforementioned 'captive', begins to remember what happened to her. The faire she had attended. The challenge of her faith by a non-believer. The subsequent argument which had turned ... nasty.

"A Redguard had then come to my assistance," she remembers. "A sweet-talker, that one. Guards made a showing, the fight did gather with persistence..."

Beyond this, Joan cannot remember the rest. How did she wind up here? In a jail cell? ...

As she tries her memory, she suddenly hears voices. Footsteps. A group apparently is approaching her cell. "...we don't know that sire," says a woman's voice; a fellow Breton. "...the messenger only said .... "

"Nooo they're dead. I know it," says a man. His voice sounds deep and familiar.

"Whot's this prisoner doing here? This cell is supposed to be off limits!"

"Usual mix-up at the watch.... I ah..."

"It doesn't matter, let's get this gate open. Prisoner! Stand over by the window," commands the female Breton.

"I .. but I ..." Joan stammers.

"We won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way!"

"But it was not of my intentions!" protests Joan. "I was merely one bystander caught up in needless challenge!" her voice is strong. Resilient.

"Prisoner, stand over by the window now," says a male soldier. "Do as you say, and you won't get hurt."

At these words Joan concedes, and finally does as she is told.

"Stay put, prisoner."

Joan of Arkay is not prepared for what is to happen next, as the Emperor himself enters her cell. Emperor Septim, leader of all Tamriel. His bearing so regal, his clothing so colorful. His presence both overbearing and unexpected, fills Joan's cell. She can barely breathe. Uriel Septim VII is in my jail cell? Joan of Arkay thinks she might be in one of her bizarre dreams, only this one's much more real.

"Yooooou", says the Emperor "I've seen you. Let me see your face," he says, getting closer to Joan. "You are the one from my dreams...."

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3:20 am

"... as for what you have done, that is not what you will be remembered for..."

The Emperor rambles about how he's seen her before. He seems to know her, and obviously, this leaves Joan stunned. Surprised. Surprised at this interruption of her jail sentence. The Emperor has apparently been targeted, she learns, and all his sons have been assassinated. A secret escape route which starts in her cell is being utilized, and the entire group now leaves her cell, after one of its stone walls slides into the floor.

"Stay out of our way, and you won't get hurt," says one of the soldiers as they all slip by.

Joan of Arkay initially obeys this command, even as the secret wall does not rise back up, leaving a large hole in the wall. I must serve my sentence, she thinks I should not leave. To end one's jail sentence early would not only be considered dishonorable, it would be illegal. But did not the Emperor himself provide every reason to doubt my captors? ... Hadn't he said (in so many words) that my sentence would now be pardoned? These are not ordinary circumstances, then.

Joan can see her jail cell (the iron door itself) is still locked, and she initially thinks of calling the guards so they can move her to another cell. But after much time, and a bit of hollering, no guards come. Nobody shows up. During all of this, the dark elf still stands in his cell across the hallway, silently watching her.

"What do you make of that?" Joan calls to him. "The Emperor and his personal guards just traipsed through my cell! ... How can this be?"

But he does not answer. Perhaps he is just as surprised as she is.

"Well, it cannot hurt if I follow a bit down this passage," Joan rationalizes. "If I get caught, so be it. The door is opened, as the expression goes. And did not the Emperor himself admit he had seen me within his dream?"

Dreams. The dreams. Had the Emperor been having the same dreams as she? Joan of Arkay's curiosity is piqued at this. She now makes her way out of her former jail cell, and down a dark, sloping passage towards her destiny.

This post has been edited by Renee: Feb 3 2021, 07:27 PM

[Renee]

Thanks you all, thanks so much! I've had some weird [censored] happening in real-life, so it's good to come here and be amongst Gritsy and mirocu. I've been checking out your fanfic story here and there, Grits. One of these days I need to just sit down (or lie down) because it's kind of intense in the beginning. I need to take it in without any distractions, it's not like one of my stories, after all, which are like cheap soap operas in comparison. Just kidding, kinda.

Anyways, I finally got Joan out of the Sewers...


When we last saw her, she was carrying something important which was given to her .... everybody knows the rest, right? :smile:

Last Seed 29, 3E433 10:48 am

Joan of Arkay

Level: 1
B. Sign: The Ritual
Class: War Cleric

ST: 30
Int: 55
WP: 50
AG: 30
Spd: 40
End: 35
Pers: 40
Luck: 50

Majors: Armorer, Athletics, Hand to Hand, Restoration, Acrobatics, Light Armor, Sneak*

*

Days Passed: 3

"Finally! ... I have made it!"

Joan of Arkay passes through one final gate, a grid-iron portal that leads to Cyrodiiilic splendor. She is free. The sunlight is dazzling, after hours (days?) in that dungeon. Joan cannot fathom her true importance as of now. Partially, she feels she has a higher calling, but her own human-ness keeps persuading her otherwise.

"Now, to get to Chorrol where I am to meet Sir Jeffrey. I mean Jauffre."

Despite her appointed task, Joan can't help a lingering feeling: She is still a wanted criminal, for reasons unknown to her. And she must serve out her sentence. Why was she in jail? She has never been officially told. But she was in jail, and those who are locked up must always "serve out their sentence". Joan sighs, weighing her options as she walks slowly up the hill towards the Imperial City.

She has a thought as she walks: Perhaps she can give this heavy red Amulet of Kings to someone of more importance than herself. And this other person can carry the Amulet to Chorrol. Can she do this?

"Amulet of Kings. Am I to truely be the bearer of such? ... Indeed 'tis not my calling. Or is it? .... Is it truly?"

Joan walks on an old worn path which zig-zags towards the Imperial City, while a stray mudcrab catches her scent and begins to follow. She runs a moment, and then begins walking again, allowing the creature to catch up to her. Runs. Then walks.

"Mudcrabs, disgusting creatures. And yet, only I can truely say I have 'seen one by the waterfront'. Indeed I have one following me, right this instant."

She makes her way left around an edge of great white stone, while the mudcrab struggles to keep up.

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12:02 pm, Imperial City Prison District

"You have my ear, citizen," says Amadus Phillida, as the breezy air and perfect sun permeates this afternoon.

"Um.. Hullo sir. My name is Joan."

"Is there a problem, citizen?"

Joan has chosen Amadus over all the other guards present because he is wearing the shiniest armor. Therefore, he must be a Watch Captain, or at least somebody of greater importance. Better to go straight to the one who is most in charge, for a situation like this.

"Listen. I know this may seem wrong, perhaps even devious, but I might be a wanted criminal, escaped from her cell, and I am turning myself in. Implacably, many such things have been of occurrence over these past few hours, and I need to make arrangements with--"

"What are you looking for?" Amadus asks, seeming to ignore her words. Get to the point.

"Am I a wanted criminal?" Joan almost pleads. "Here in the Imperial City? I am new here, and was in some sort of ruckus with a certain miscreant who was not of belief--"

But again, the guard cuts her off mid-sentence. "It is a wonderful city," he says, meditatively, "...and I'm proud to have served her for 40 years. But I'm ready to retire, let the young folks take over the reins."

Confused, Joan decides to let the matter drop. If the guards wanted her, they damn well would have let her know by now.

"Well, um... see, I have this as well. It's an Amulet. It's the Amulet. The Amulet of Kings. Perhaps you have not taken notice as of yet, about the Emperor and his Blades? The Emperor has sadly passed this Amulet on to me, yet I see this relic as more of an onus. I am unfit. Unworthy. Yet the Emperor, he made pleadings with me, that I should go to Chorrol, and present this Amulet to a certain monk who dwells at Weynon Priory. And I do not--"

"If you've got to travel by the Nine Divines, stay on the road. The wilderness just isn't safe anymore," Amadus says warily. "We've had sightings you see... the Daedra..."

"Daedra?" Joan asks, once again sidetracked in conversation. "Oh how dreadful!"

"Farewell citizen!" Amadus says, clearly done with small talk.

"Fare...well..."

Joan's two objectives are (as of yet) unfinished, she realizes. She's still a free woman, and still possesses the Amulet of Kings.

"Well, as he said, he is an elder, ready for retirement. He would be less fit than me, then, to take this ruby towards Chorrol."

Joan says this, and then heads back towards the gate.

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Middas, 8:55 pm, Merchant's Inn

"Good evening."

"Hello!"

"It's you .... hi."

Joan makes it to the Merchant's Inn as the sky outside darkens to pitch. The place is packed. She makes her way by several patrons, and rents a room from the innkeeper. She also buys some food. Once inside her own room, she collapses into a chair, but can only nibble at her meal: a ham, cheese, and onion sandwich.

"I ... I have seen so much. So much has passed.....and what to make of it all?"

She looks down to the Amulet, the one which the Watch Captain had seemed to purposely not discuss when she showed it to him.

"Are ye to be my onus?" she asks the brilliant red jewel.

And before she can receive any sort of answer, she finds herself discarding her smelly leather boots, her rusted iron helmet, and other newfound armor pieces, and then can barely help herself as she falls into bed. She sleeps for many many hours, and dreams many many dreams.



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This post has been edited by Renee: Dec 6 2022, 04:56 PM