Serene of Cyrodiil, chapter 3 "Gathering Forces" Options

[minque]

Always be smarter than the people who hire you.
Lena Horne


Chapter 3 Gathering Forces

I decided to take a walk through the beautiful City of Balmora before finding my quarters. It was a rather big city, sturdy houses made of some kind of yellowish stone were scattered on each side of a river. I did meet quite a lot of people strolling on the riverbank, and in the streets. Most of them were very friendly, with few exceptions, who were clad in a strange type of armor and called themselves “guards”.

There seemed to be a lot of service available here, armorer, outfitters, various shops and to my greatest satisfaction I found a book-store. Now I can´t resist visiting a book-store whenever I find one and this time was no exception.

“Balmora Bookstore – owner; Dorisa Darvel” the sign by the door said and I stepped inside, meeting a young Dunmer girl, looking up from a book she was reading, friendly smiling at me.

“Good evening to you” she said, “what can I do for you?”

She was beautiful and the kind tone in her greeting touched me, so I smiled back to her;

“ I love books” I said, not the most intelligent answer, but I was somewhat stunned by the open friendliness with which she addressed me. “I´d like to look around for a while if that´s Ok with you?”

“By all means Muthsera, you´re welcome, take your time” With those words she got back to her reading.

I turned to the books, there were a lot of them, many unknown to me but also some titles I remembered seeing in Cyrodiil, even in the Library of the prison. When strolling among the bookshelves I suddenly heard someone coughing, naturally I got terrified, I didn´t expect someone else to be there besides the lovely Dorisa, but now I spotted a “guard” in that weird armor I´d seen in the streets. “Well naturally”, I thought when my heart stopped pounding, “she had to have some kind of protection, so young and all alone in her store.”

I found a couple of useful books though; A Guide to Balmora, and then there was another one where the name of it caught my interest, it was a Guide to Ald´ruhn, Ald´ruhn…there it was again…..my fate was somewhat bound to this place I imagined, far too many coincidences lately! Then I had to stop buying books, if I should be able to pay for night-quarters. It was obvious that I must try to get some kind of a job because I´d soon run out of the few septims I had.

With my new books in my satchel I then took a hearty godbye of Dorisa Darvel, certain that I´d visit her store again and made my way down the street. I noticed that the Mage´s and the Fighter´s guilds were situated nearly right across the bookstore, that knowledge could eventually come in handy later on…..

Further down, the street broadened a bit, stairs leading down to the river Odai, that I just learnt from the Guide, and also stairs leading upwards, then again I didn´t bother exploring anymore of the city tonight, all I wanted now was a decent meal and a bed for the night.

From a distance you could hear the whereabouts of the inn “Eight Plates”, laughs and raised voices accompanied by some weird kind of “music”…sounded out from a building to the left of the street. I hesitated for a while but decided it couldn´t be all that bad so I went inside…..

It was an Inn alright, but quite different from those back in The Imperial City….This one was dark, there was a distinct mouldy smell oozing from the very walls, and there were not many guests, just two Dunmeri sitting at a table heavily arguing about someone sleeping with someone else´s wife…..another rather drunk man in an ever weirder armor than the outside guards, was pacing back and forth muttering and hissing at some invisible enemy. Then there was the landlady, a tall elderly Dunmeri woman with an extremely dark voice, shouting at the drunken man to shut up and sit down otherwise he would be expelled from the premises.

I stopped at the counter and asked for night-quarters. The landlady stopped yelling at the drunk and turned to me thoroughly examining me before saying;

“Nah look what we have here guys!, an Outlander….and a woman, now that´s quite extraordinary” She laughed and stared at me, undressing me with her looks and I felt quite bad. It was not a good idea of coming here, but what choice did I have?

“Nightquarters” she laughed….”the little lady wants a bed, right?..and maybe some company to go with it?”

“No, I just want somewhere to sleep and something to eat if it´s possible” I tried to keep calm and be polite, despite the rage I felt inside by this insulting comments.

The men who were arguing before sat silent now and watched me with curiousity, the armored drunk had finally given up, lying beside the wall heavily snoring.

“Women don´t come in here unless they want some company”, the landlady snapped at me, “but nevermind, I´ll let you have the room downstairs to the right”. She then handed me the key and turned away.

The room was very small, a bed, a chair and a little table at the bedside, and it was filled up. Now I didn´t mind that at all, all I needed was a bed, but I checked the lock on the door very thoroughly, didn´t want any visitors….

After putting my gear on the bed, I went upstairs to investigate the possibility of having something to eat. The landlady was not very pleased with the thought of cooking me a meal so she shook her head in a negative answer on my request.

“Now now Dulnea, what about those kwama-eggs I brought you this afternoon, you haven´t finished them already have you?” A soft voice came out of a dark corner of the inn, and a young man stepped forward. He was a Dunmer, tall and slender, of about my age, maybe a few years older, pointed cheekbones, a complexion fairly light grey, and a tribal tattoo on his forehead, his red-brownish hair glowed in the dim lights from the lanterns on the wall, his eyes were red but then very sad and he looked thoughtfully right into my face.

“Oh heck,” Dulnea snapped at him, “Very well I´ll fry some eggs then, you certainly are a strange kind of man, Sedrane Mirpal, always volunteering to aid, being a woman or an outlander, your father would be ashamed of you”…..

“You know perfectly well that I don´t have a father” he said harshly and then turned to me;

“I bid you welcome to Balmora lady, and do forgive Dulnea, she is a hag sometimes but basicly she has a heart of gold, by the way my name is Sedrane Mirpal” .The young Dunmer reached out his hand to me and looked me straight into the eyes.

I felt weak, my legs trembled as I took his hand; strong and warm…..I was all lost in his earnest gaze, my voice was not but a whisper when I told him my name.

I simply had to sit down, having no idea what was happening to me,…….

“Ok Serene, let´s put you to bed before you pass out”, Sedrane took my hand again and led me down the stairs to my room, “I´ll bring you the food in a minute, but I think you have to
lie down for a while”
Lying on my bed I let my thoughts wander…..No doubt I was attracted to Sedrane Mirpal, he was very handsome, and that dark low voice, so soothing so calming and so sexy……and his hands, strong, warm and supporting. I closed my eyes and let it come to me, the feeling of something not yet experienced but still I knew what it was….Love!

[minque]

Might as well post this part once again, it was on the crashed forums..

introducing [b]jonajosa as guestwriter...........enjoy!



I woke up the following morning almost fully refreshed, though my muscles were still quite sore due to yesterday’s fights with the nix-hounds. I have found that a hearty breakfast always makes the day more bearable so I looked up Edwinna again; she seemed to have a soft spot for me because she greeted me warmly this somewhat chilly morning and offered me to sit down at the breakfast-table. Now Mages are really sensible people, because the breakfast I was offered to share with them indeed was a most sturdy one; Kwama-egg-omelette, boiled saltrice, fried ash-yam and a huge basket filled with the most delicate freshly made bread. A large pitcher with comberry-juice and one with hackle-lo-tea concluded the menu.

I sat for almost an hour eating and drinking and also socializing with the Mages of Ald´ruhn, who indeed were very nice and friendly. They also supplied me with food for my travels to Fort Buckmoth, because even though it wasn’t a long trip they told me the canteen at the Fort wasn’t a very good one, so it was best to have some supplies for rainy days.

It took me approximately half an hour before I saw the stone-walls of Fort Buckmoth. On the road I met a young Imperial soldier on leave, heading for Ald´ruhn to take the Silt-strider to Balmora in order to visit his parents. I asked him the whereabouts of the Training-Camp that General Darius wanted to send me to and he showed me the right direction, just over the hills behind the actual Fort.

As I came over the hill I had just climbed I paused and looked out into the distance, seeking any sign of the encampment that I was searching for. Sure enough there was the training camp right where the man I’d met travelling here told me where it would be. There were several rows of tents going over the next hill and out of my sight. To the left of the camp there seemed to be a bunch of blacksmiths with some more advanced housing. Not tents, housing. Large Redoran style houses jutted out of the tents like giant towers.

“I wonder which one of those belongs to the General in command?” I said quietly to myself. I walked forward towards the camp and within minutes I was close enough to hear the sound of someone smacking metal against metal. The blacksmith seemed hard at work today. But as I got closer the sounds grew into other sounds. Yelps of pain and surprise echoed across the plains. I frowned and sped up my pace to see what was causing the noise.

As I came through the rocks that surrounded the camp I saw something that frightened me to death. The imperial soldiers were fighting amongst each other! What could have caused this terrible battle that was going on in front of my very eyes? I looked for a place of safety from this madness but before I could even begin to move my feet in response to my mind a man ran up behind me and grabbed at my shoulder.

“Whaa?” I shouted as I turned around to see what had grabbed me. In the same motion I carried my hand up and swung it around to collide with the face behind me. I smacked the man with such a force he stumbled backwards and almost fell.

“My lady, why do you strike me?” He said when he recovered from the blow. I looked at him and saw he was but a harmless imperial guard.

“Sorry, I thought you were going trying to harm me.” I looked at my red handprint across his face and smiled. “Would you like for me to heal that for you?” I asked in my most soothing voice. The man started to take a step back but stopped when he realized what he was doing.
“No thank you. But General Jonus Artorius requests your presence at the tower.” The man seemed afraid that I was going to hit him again. He turned and began to walk towards a small wooden tower at the end of the field that the men were fighting on.

“Why are those men fighting each other?” I asked, trying to get the answer the question that I had been pondering since I got here.

“We are practicing for a battle that the general says might happen soon. He says we need all the experience we can get before we go into battle. So right now he ordered some war games between his captains and their troops.”

“Ahhh. I see.”

As we approached the “Tower” I saw some men standing up at the top of it shouting orders. One saw us coming and shouted down to my escort, “Is that the woman?”

“Yes it is!” My escort shouted back. The man in the tower turned around and disappeared for a few seconds before returning.

“Send her up!” He said and then turned back around to deal with whatever he was occupied with in the first place.

My escort turned back to me, “Go up those steps and make a right at the first door and you’ll be in the command room.” He bowed, “I bid thee farewell.” He backed away and trotted off into the battle that raged a few yards away. I followed his words to the letter and walked up the stairs, where I soon found myself standing face to face with the man I had been searching for.

“Hello Serene,” he said in a deep rumble. His eyes showed years of wisdom and his face bore the scars of many battles. I was sure this was a man I would not want to be fighting against at anytime. “Glad to see you could finally make it. We’ll get straight to business right after I finish this battle I seem to have on my hands.” He laughed and with that he turned and began giving orders to the men around him.

I walked to the window and looked out over the battle field to watch the carnage below. Arrows flew back and forth and men were constantly running into the thick of battle in the middle of the field. I looked closer and saw that in the middle of the field that there was a group of four wrecked buildings. Each building had a flag pole on it and there were flags on each one. Three flags bore the symbol of a bird with sword in its grasp and one had a yellow cross with a shield in the background.

It seemed to me that they were fighting for control of all four buildings. The first army to capture all four would win. I watched as the few men who guarded the last building fought as hard as hard as a whole army. They quickly dispatched of the first few rows of swordsmen that charged them but their numbers started to dwindle when the pike men rushed in. As the pike men kept their opponents at a distance, other swordsmen would rush up and dispatch of them before the defenders could switch their attention to the new men.

Only three defenders were left when a large group of swordsmen from their own army broke through the line that was keeping them from supporting the men defending the last building. They rushed across the rubble and collided with the main force of the attacking army. The shock that they caused rippled across the entire front and the attackers began to waver as the swordsmen cut holes into their ranks.

The men in the other three buildings tried a counter attack but it was quickly engulfed in the mad rush of the swordsmen. Soon the entire army that bore the bird banner was in full flight toward the end of the field.

The battle was over.

”Impressive, General,” I addressed the man by my side, taking a deep breath; I almost had forgot to breathe as I watched the battle. General Artorius wiped sweat and dust from his face and grinned at me;

“Not everyday we get a gallant lady as new recruit, “he said in a voice hoarse from many years of shouting orders at soldiers. “We will start by registering you in the Fort´s army-ledger; follow me to my office and I’ll provide you with the proper documents for the Registry.”

I was still taken by the battle I’d just witnessed and followed the General into his office. It was a rather small room with a gigantic wooden desk that completely dominated it. Bookshelves along the walls and a dark locked cupboard that was squeezed in made it extremely overloaded and there was hardly enough space for the two of us left. He bade me sit down on an uncomfortable wooden chair as he ordered the guard on duty to get the documents needed.

After filling them in I was offered a cup of tea; I didn’t recognize the taste, but found it inappropriate to ask the General, because he had a look in his face that revealed he had better things to do than conversating with a new recruit.

“Now then, milady you take them papers to Imsin The Dreamer down at the Fort and get your registration done with, then get yourself some decent armour and come back here and we’ll get you some quarters,” he grinned at me and continued: “Probably have to post some guards outside for ya ma´m, them young officers haven’t put eyes on a woman for a long time by now....”

I thanked the General for his hospitality and headed down from the tower in order to get to Fort Buckmoth to see this Imsin the Dreamer.

It was a short walk from the Camp to Fort Buckmoth; the weather was fairly good for this region, clear sky, no ash-storm, and just a faint breeze that sent my hair whirling in my face. I decided to tie it back before seeing the Registry Officer in order to make a good first impression- such matters are important I’ve learned.

Fort Buckmoth was a huge stone-construction, built in a square-fashion with a big courtyard in the middle. Nobody approached me as I wandered in through the main gate; everybody was occupied with their own business. I spotted a tall dark woman in a corner, obviously training blocking because there were at least 3 sturdy knights slashing ferociously at her with glistening long swords, but she blocked every hit.

“See that guys?” she shouted at the three after blocking a particularly savage blow from one of them, “It’s mostly technique, no force, to block a thrust like that.”

“Okay, Shardie!” The tallest of the combatants laughed and patted the dark woman rather heavily on her back.

I smiled at them and nodded before I entered the main Hall of the Fort. When inside I asked my way to Imsin the Dreamer’s whereabouts. I was shown the right direction and soon found myself outside a sturdy wooden door. I opened it and entered a rather spacious room, dominated by the huge desk made from a very dark wood that I didn’t recognise.

A tall broad-shouldered woman with a long blonde braid sat behind the desk as I entered reading some papers, but then she raised her head.....and I felt the ground beneath my feet disappear and everything went dark.......