Seven, An Aela & Ungarion Prequel Options

[SubRosa]

The inspiration for this story came to me last week. As will probably be evident to many, this is an homage to the masterpiece by Akira Kurosawa. It is my humble attempt to translate that great story to the Elder Scrolls Universe. Following the old adage of striking while the iron is hot, I decided to put the TF on hold while I write this instead. Once I am done, I will get back to the TF, and wrap it up with one more chapter.

This is also a prequel, taking place eight years before the events of the TF, shortly after Aela and Ungarion graduated from the Arcane University.


Seven

Prologue

25th Second Seed, 3E425

Vishta-Zaw slithered through the mud with ease. In fact, he had to take care not to move too quickly, lest he overtake Dark-Eye. The other Naga would look upon that as a challenge for leadership of the company. A challenge that Vishta-Zaw was not ready to make, yet. For while his one-eyed leader's age was beginning to show in the fading color of his once dark green scales, his killing power had not subsided. The way he had dealt with the hackwing the day before had made that clear...

Soon the land began to rise, and the mud turned to drier, hard-packed dirt. That made the going slower for the pack of Nagas. Where folk with two legs had an easy time on such ground, it was more difficult for his race to propel themselves upon their serpentine lower halves. Unlike ordinary snakes, they had a torso, head, and arms to balance aloft above their thick tails. It was much easier moving through the swamp's water and muck, where their tails could whip them forward at speed. Yet still they managed without complaint. The latter was a sign of weakness, and weakness was not tolerated in Dark-Eye's company.

In time they topped a ridge and Dark-Eye came to a halt. Vishta-Zaw slithered up beside his leader and followed his one-eyed gaze down into the valley below. Stretched out there in the small, oval-shaped bowl of land stood the settlement of Agrigento, a collection of simple timber and reed homes raised up on stilts in the traditional Argonian fashion. At the center of the village rose a tall structure of the Imperial style. It's walls were entirely of stone, pierced by numerous windows filled in with hinged glass panes, and topped by a roof of glazed red tiles. A fence of simple woven reeds bordered the settlement, and beyond that water-logged rice paddies stretched in all directions. Dykes of hard-packed dirt spread out in a grid through the fields, dividing them up into numerous flooded squares.

Imperials, they just loved to impose their straight lines, squares, and rectangles upon everything. They seemed to think that their geometry would somehow bring them closer to the gods. Any Naga could have told them that nothing on Nirn was straight and neat. All their efforts did was separate them from nature. The Naga wizard knew that would only doom them to extinction. It was only a matter of time.

His eyes fell upon the Imperials laboring in the rice paddies. They went barefoot through the water, wearing simple dark tunics and conical reed hats to ward off the sun. Alongside them toiled their tamed Argonians. Once the Saxhleel had been a strong, proud people, Vishta-Zaw mused. But like so many of them now, these had abandoned the ancient ways of the deep swamp, and now what had they become? They were little more than slaves for the smoothskins. The Naga race would never fall so low.

"They are bringing in their crop," Dark-Eye observed. "Good, I grow thirsty."

"It will take them time to dry and husk the rice," Vishta-Zaw leaned against his staff, which was tipped with a large chunk of flame-red crystal. "Then they will need more time to brew their soju."

"To brew our soju," the chieftain corrected him. The side of his head that faced the wizard was gouged with deep scars leading through the ruin of his eye socket, which was covered with a jeweled eye-patch.

Dark-Eye turned to level his remaining indigo eye upon his lieutenant, and then the gang of other Nagas behind them. "We will give them six weeks," he cried. "Then we will return to wet our throats, and have some sport!"

That brought a chorus of assenting hisses from the other bandits. Some banged their spears against the rims of the small, bone shields. Others simply stabbed their weapons skyward in expectation of the revelry.

* * *

Hathei held his breath until the Nagas had gone. Even then he still waited, just in case any of them returned, or were still lurking in the shadows of the trees. Magnus crawled through the sky, and several lesser creatures crawled across the Argonian's washed out yellow-brown scales. Still he waited, not moving an inch, in the way that only his race could do.

Finally Hathei rose up from his belly and stood straight. His gaze darted through the trees that lined the top of the ridge, seeking anything out of place. Yet there came no hisses or croaks of discovery, no spears came flying out to pierce his scales, and no magicka crackled to snuff out his life.

The aging Argonian was thankful for the bundle of reeds that was slung over his back. If not for them, surely the Nagas would have seen him. He had been lying on his stomach, just inches from their bellies, with only the camouflage of those reeds between him and certain death. Now that bundle of reeds slowed him down as he turned and ran for the village below. He was tempted to throw them aside so that he might run faster. But he knew he would only have to return for them later. At his age, he did not have the energy to do the same thing twice. So he labored on, as farmers always do.

His mind whirled as he made his way down the slope of the valley to the settlement below. They were coming back, again! They would take all of the soju, just like the last time, and the time before. Worse, the Nagas might take another of the women again, just as they had Rullianus' wife. What had been left of her after they had finished would have made a butcher sick. Who would they take next? His own daughter Meen-Sa?

No, not Meen-Sa. He could not let that happen to her. They had to do something this time. They just had to.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: May 5 2019, 11:00 PM

[SubRosa]

haute ecole rider: Trump and Rubber are Whist game terms. I remember the first time I heard the second one during a Horatio Hornblower episode I had to look it up. That was how I figured out they were playing whist. It was a very popular game at one time (and how a young half-pay Lieutenant like Hornblower made ends meet between wars ).

Most Yokudans/Redguards could not create the spirit sword even back in the good old days. The Lore article on Redguards was very helpful when I was working on Nashira's background. Now a days it seems only a few masters can create the sword, and even then it is only for looks, and not strong enough to actually be useful in battle. In the old days it was certainly very serviceable though! My impression is that Yokuda was destroyed due to magic, and that is where the Redguard aversion to it came from. The Spirit Sword seems to have been exempted from that use (much like certain religions today call magic evil, and yet their own mythologies are filled with their holy people and deity using magic).

We will see more about Seridwe in the upcoming chapters, and learn whether or not she really is a parade ground soldier or the real deal. I could not work in examples of every one of the Seven in action like I did with Nashira. So Ungarion and Aela are hiring based upon their impressions from people's bearing and behavior (which do speak well of Seridwe). Of course we have never seen A&U in action yet either, so we do not have any proof that they can carry their weight either!


Acadian: Ungy is a very outgoing, social person, so as you observed, him being a card-player felt very natural to me. I imagine he has whiled away many hours playing whist and other games.

The ability to assense magic items was something we first saw that in the TF when Teresa was presented with Aldariel and instantly knew its name. Being a University educated mage, Aela is naturally much better at it. One thing that is nice to be writing from Aela's perspective is that as a trained and experienced mage, she can do and sense some things that Teresa never could. It allows me to show a whole new part of the world.


Grits: I was working on how to name a French Braid and make it feel appropriate to the world. I recall calling the in-game braid that frames the face a Breton Braid at one point. So I decided to make that one a Wayrest Braid, and then make the French Braid a Daggerfall Braid. Maybe we could invent some more racial/geographical hairstyles? Like the Bosmer topknot, or the Dunmer Cliffracer?

Seridwe's fascination with Aela is a means that I am going to use to explore not only transsexuality in Tamriel, but also how different races view it. At the same time it will give me a means to help flesh out both human and elven cultures, and reveal some very major differences between them.


ghastley: You are thinking of the two-handed swords in the game that are slow and unwieldy. Like all the weapons in the TF, mine are taken from the Real World, which are anything but clumsy. The longsword (which is the correct name from a greatsword - what the game calls a longsword is actually an arming sword) is the ultimate evolution of western swordmaking. It was used in pitched battles and single duels, and armored and unarmored fighting. The soldiers who wielded them in armies received extra pay as it was an elite weapon, like the Danish War Axe was an elite weapon used by Huscarls. Every part of the greatsword is a weapon, the pommel, the ricasso, etc..., and it could be used in ways that smaller blades could not (like reversing your grip and using the ricasso to hook someone's leg and trip them). Tadrose has always used a greatsword/longsword, and I have used RL longswording fighting techniques in writing her, such as morte-striking and half-swording.


ThatSkyrimGuy: We will be seeing more about Seridwe's hair and Aela's feelings. While all women feel self-conscious to one degree or another, Aela has reasons to feel even more so than most...

I would watch the movies first. That way you will be able to notice the homages when you read them. There are a few places where I took lines word for word from the movies (this episode has one in fact). It will take months for me to post this. By then you will probably only half-remember what you read in the earlier parts. Besides, they are both good films, don't wait!


King Coin: Actually Aela and Ungarion have a lot of magical stuff too. Their respective outfits, their staves, necklaces, rings, etc... After all, they can both make the stuff whenever they want. But Aela is so used to their magic items that it is not something she normally thinks about. So it is hard to reveal it without it feeling forced. The same is true of Do'Sakhar as well. She is so used to his magic items that she does not think of them either.


Previously On Seven: Our last episode introduced Seridwe, an Altmer archer/swordswoman who joined the team solely to work with Aela, whom she had recognized as an ardhanari (or transgendered person).


Chapter 1.5

Magnus hung like a red ball over the western mountains, bleeding long shadows across the parade ground north of Bravil's main gate. Aela and Ungarion followed Seridwe through the grass of the wide field. Behind them rose the wooden buildings of Bay Roan Stables. The Larsius River gurgled past on their right, and the stone curtain walls of the city rose up beyond the watercourse. Finally to their left the Green Road vanished into a wall of darkened trees.

"You are certain your friend shall be here?" Ungarion raised a single eyebrow as they walked on. "Usually mercenaries prefer less idyllic surroundings."

"He'll be here," Seridwe insisted. "Valens always watches the eastern horizon at dawn and dusk. This is the best place in all of Bravil to get a view."

"What is he looking for?" Aela asked, genuinely curious about the unusual quirk.

"I don't know," Seridwe shrugged. "He never talks much about it. I think it's got something to do with Azura though."

"Azura?" Ungarion now cocked a second eyebrow. "Now that is just begging for a deeper explanation."

"He is her Star-Bearer." Seridwe glanced back for a moment. "He has been since I've known him. At least I think."

"You think?" Aela wondered aloud.

"Things are a little fuzzy for me around the time of the Warp in the West," Seridwe admitted. "I cannot remember much of what happened for the month beforehand, and nothing from that day."

"That is strange," Aela mused. She had still been living in Wayrest at the time, so she had experienced the Warp herself. The tenth of Frostfall had somehow slipped through the cracks of reality. No one in High Rock or Hammerfell seemed to remember it. It was as if the day before and the day after had somehow warped into one another. All anyone - herself included - could remember were storms, tidal waves, earthquakes, and terrible battles all around Illiac Bay. But no one could recall the details of any of them. Kingdoms had changed, gods had been made and unmade, and no one had been able to comprehend it all until the dust had settled the following day.

Yet Aela had never heard of anyone missing the entire month beforehand. She could recall everything from the days before the Warp with no difficulty. The same with everyone else she had known at the time. Who was Seridwe, that the Warp had eclipsed her life for the month before it had even happened?

"I count myself lucky," the Altmer said. "Valens has it much worse. The Warp took his life with it. He cannot remember anything that happened beforehand. He's not even sure if his name is really Valens."

Ungarion whistled, and a glance in his direction confirmed that he was thinking the same thing that she was. Seridwe and Valens had been a part of the Warp in the West. Not mere bystanders, but active participants.

"Here I thought the two of us made a pair," Aela said finally said, glancing back at Ungarion again.

"We do," Ungarion insisted. "Just a different kind."

They drew near to the shoreline, and the grass thinned out and gave way to a beach of soft brown sand. The wide expanse of Niben Bay spread out beyond, stretching out like an azure carpet as far as the eye could see. Now they could see a figure sitting near the water with his back to them. Aela noted that he had broad shoulders, and wore a pair of ebony arming swords across his back, just as Seridwe wore her greatsword. Unlike the high elf, he was dressed in ordinary black linen however.

Aela felt power resonating from him. Even more than a dozen paces away, it glowed from his waist like one of the moons in a clear night sky. She had never felt such energy from a magic item before, not even in the University's Chironasium. She knew instantly that it was Azura's Star, and could feel its spell-absorbing enchantment as plainly as she could feel the ground beneath her feet. But there was also another sensation coming from the artifact, beyond simply its enchantment. It was a strange thing, that made her think of roses in twilight, and Aela suspected that was the touch of the Star's creator.

"Valens," Seridwe said as they stepped nearer, "I've brought some people here to meet you."

"Leave me be elf," the man said morosely. He did not turn to face them, but instead continued to stare out into the bay. "I'm not interested."

"I see, you would prefer to brood for another week then?" Seridwe stopped and rested her hands upon her armored hips. "Well, we can just go and slay those dragons all by ourselves then."

"Your sense of humor has not improved," Valens grumbled. Finally he did turn, and Aela saw from his dark hair and olive skin that he was a Nibenean. His short hair was curly, and his features were partially hidden by a neatly trimmed beard. If she had to guess, she would put his age somewhere between thirty and forty. Not old yet, but not young anymore either.

Screenshot

His eyes were hard, and even though he was sitting, Aela noted the stiff, erect posture, and the seemingly tensed muscles. Where Seridwe's bearing had proclaimed herself as a warrior, his said that he was a soldier. He looked like a man who had stood at attention and marched in lockstep for so long that his body had forgotten how to do anything else. The Imperial Legion was Aela's first guess, or some other professional military force.

"Your disposition has not improved either," Seridwe countered dryly

"So what is it this time?" the Nibenean sighed. "Vampires? Necromancers? Or did you really dig up a dragon somewhere?"

"Nagas are threatening a village to the east." Ungarion casually balanced his black staff over one shoulder. "We're looking for a few experienced people to stop them."

"To the east you said?" Valens thoughtfully stroked his beard, and turned to glance back at Niben Bay. Aela followed his gaze, and found that the white moon Secunda was now perched above the darkened horizon. "How many Nagas?"

"Forty," Aela said.

"How many people do you have?" he turned back to face them.

"Four," the Breton said honestly.

The Nibenean's cool demeanor finally broke, if only for an instant. "I admire you sense of fair odds stranger!" he nearly laughed.

Then he turned serious again. "Now you have five. I'll do it just to go east, if nothing else."


Author's Note: Before everyone brings out the torches and pitchforks, yes, I know I changed the enchantment on Azura's Star from Soul Trap to Spell Absorption. In the TF only necromancers know or use soul trap. Since Azura is not a goddess of necromancy, her artifact would not employ it. I am portraying her as a goddess of magic, so I changed it to something I found more in alignment with that aspect of her.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 27 2013, 08:08 PM

[Captain Hammer]

Author's Note: Before everyone brings out the torches and pitchforks, yes, I know I changed the enchantment on Azura's Star from Soul Trap to Spell Absorption.

But I already grabbed my pitchfork and lit my torch.

In all seriousness, I'm enjoying this. Anybody that can do a decent adaption of the Seven Samurai story is alright in my book, and this is looking like it'll be a lot of fun. Here's to hoping I get to enjoy as much more out of each upcoming post as I have out of the story so far.