The Story of Trey- Chapter 4 Options

[treydog]

Chapter 4

I needed a drink, I needed a lot of life insurance, I needed a vacation, I needed a home in the country. What I had was a coat, a hat, and a gun.

Farewell My Lovely
Raymond Chandler


My mind swirled with thoughts of the "Emperor's plans for me" versus an anonymous death on a lonely road somewhere, so I settled in to mix and measure and distill potions. As always, the concentration required for alchemy calmed me. I also took a quiet pride in the fact that my homemade concoctions were getting better- more effective and longer-lasting. I had become a thief through necessity; I was an alchemist by vocation. Relaxed by my labors, I went to sleep, only to be awakened by the crash of someone tripping over my equipment. Shaking off sleep, I thought,

"If one of those clumsy mages has damaged my alchemy apparatus wandering around in the dark..."

By then, I was awake enough to see that it was not a mage, but an assassin, whose dagger had a sticky yellowish substance coating the blade. Poison! With a shout, I rolled from the bed, pulling my sword from beneath the pillow. As I had feared, the Dark Brotherhood had sent a more competent killer for this second attempt. In addition, his poisoned blade needed only to make a small wound to cause serious harm. Although my sword was heavier and could do more physical damage with a successful blow, he was striking me two times for every one I managed. The assassin was quick as a striking serpent, darting inside my guard to stab or slice and then dancing away before I could counter. The poison was a fire in my veins, racing toward my heart, slowing my movements. I had left some of the healing potions I had made on the table; I managed to dodge behind it and down a couple in the interval that bought me. The blessed coolness of magical healing came over me, quenching the poison and closing the bleeding wounds. That made all the difference, for my opponent had no way of repairing the damage he had taken. The blood loss had finally weakened him, and I was able to strike more effectively. Sensing that he was about to launch a suicidal attack that would end both our lives, I distracted him by throwing an empty bottle at his face with my left hand. Even the best-trained fighter will try to duck, and he did, only to meet my blade. With that, it was done and I had time to consider.

First, I needed to think about who had sent the Dark Brotherhood after me. They were from "back home" on the continent, which pointed to an Imperial client, rather than someone from Vvardenfell. Besides, it was my understanding that the Dunmer Great Houses would use the Morag Tong for this sort of thing. The fact that I had started working for Caius seemed to eliminate the Emperor as a suspect; I had initially thought the first attack was the unspoken "or else" to accompany, "work for the Blades...." The Camonna Tong wouldn't use an "outlander" organization to do their killing- in fact, they would probably do it themselves. No one else whose toes I had trod on had the kind of money or influence to use the Dark Brotherhood. It was a mystery, and one I would have to solve eventually. But one thing was immediately clear- I was going to have to find somewhere more remote to sleep. The mages had not helped me or even come to see what the commotion was about. Maybe the assassin had cast a Silence spell just before he attacked. Regardless, both attempts had taken place in the Mages Guild, so I wouldn't be sleeping there anymore.

The other thing I could do was convert the late assassin's gear into cash. My Caldera buyer wouldn't ask any questions, even if he was curious about where the armor came from. Better still, he paid full price. Between that and the 1000 drakes from Sugar-Lips, I could probably afford better alchemy apparatus. I still wouldn't be able to get Grandmaster quality, assuming I could even find it, but even Master level would improve my work significantly. If I starting making a few items for sale, I could even recover my investment. And that was my ultimate goal- to get enough money to be left alone- or to at least make it too troublesome for people to bother me.

After taking care of those chores, I should probably talk to Caius or Sugar-Lips about a job or two that would get me out of Balmora. In fact, it might be a good idea to follow Ajira's advice and look up Edwinna Elbert at the Ald-ruhn Mages Guild. I could also consider finishing the pilgrimages for the Temple. Even though I wasn't going to run anymore, neither was I going to paint a target on my back and just sit still. As sleep was no longer an option, I put my plan into effect immediately. With the dead assassin's gear in my pack, I had the guild guide transport me to Caldera. As I passed through the Caldera Mages Guild, Folms Mirel reminded me that there were still a number of propylon indices to find. In fact, he noted that he had just received word that a pilgrim had left the Falasmaryon index as an offering at the Temple shrine in Maar Gan. He added, "That shouldn't present a problem for an enterprising adventurer like yourself." I might have resented the implication that I was a thief, except for the fact that it was true.

Finally, I settled on updating my alchemy equipment and working on a better Chameleon spell with Estirdalin- preferably one that might last 30 seconds or more. Next, I went to see Sugar-Lips, who had some disturbing news. She mentioned that the Camonna Tong had been making threats recently, which was nothing new. What was new was that some of the threats were about "that Breton n'wah who had the nerve to steal from Camonna Tong territory in Hla Oad." Apparently I hadn't gotten away from Fatleg's as cleanly as I thought. And even though Phane Rielle had gotten the official bounty removed, Camonna didn't care about "official." It looked like it was time to settle this issue permanently. I already had the Dark Brotherhood dogging me; someone or something sending me weird dreams; and that didn’t even consider the Dunmer "Sleepers" who kept telling me to bow down to Dagoth Ur.

If I happened to do a favor for Captain Larrius Varro at the same time as I got Camonna Tong off my back, that was a price I was willing to pay. After all, I admired the Captain's show of intelligence and good taste in asking me to handle the problem for him. Before I dove in headfirst, it would be wise to think this thing through. There were at least five Camonna Tong in the Council Club. Regardless of my new skills and toughness, that was a lot to handle by myself. Then, too, there was the issue of the bounty. I really didn't want to have to pay blood price for all that Camonna scum, so I couldn't just walk up and start flailing around with my sword. If I played it carefully, I could cut a few of them out of the crowd one at a time and push them into attacking me first. It may be hard to imagine, but some people found me annoying. All I had to do was play on the Camonna's hatred of foreigners and what some perceived as my natural obnoxiousness. After that it would be, "I don't know why it happened, Officer. I was minding my own business, having a drink, and the guy attacked me. I had to defend myself."

With that in mind, I went to the Eight Plates and bought a bottle of shein. As I made my way to the Council Club, I uncorked the bottle and swished some of the liquor around in my mouth, then spit it out. Next, I splashed a liberal amount on my clothing and dumped about half of the rest onto the ground. With that, I staggered into the Council Club, singing at the top of my lungs. Just inside the door stood Thanelen Velas, the Camonna smith. And he was alone. Cutting off my song, I threw a friendly arm around the startled Dunmer and slurred,

"It's my birthday, pal. Here. Have a drink."

As I breathed, "Here" into his face, I waved the jug wildly, "accidently" splashing him with some of the foul stuff. Already annoyed by my mere presence, Velas called me a series of rude names and wrenched out from under my arm.

"Aw, here now, Elfie," I protested, "that shein makes a nice cover for your usual smell."

With that, I ostentatiously held my nose. "You'd think some of your Camonna friends would tell you," I added helpfully.

That pushed the smith beyond rational thought. With an inarticulate scream, he pulled a Dwemer war axe and swung wildly. It took all my control to stand still and let him draw first blood, but I wanted as good a case for self-defense as I could get. After he hacked my raised left arm, I pulled my sword and soon found myself in a fight for my life. Partly, it was that Velas was tough. Then there was that axe, which did serious damage on every hit. He even managed to knock me down a couple of times. As I looked up from that perspective, I noticed something- he was a Dunmer with red hair, worn in a row, using a Dwemer war axe. Where had I heard that description before? Again, my healing potions literally saved my life; Velas had me in trouble several times before I could finish him. That fight showed me that I was going to need a better sword if I was to survive. Tarhiel's Sparksword was fine for rats and hounds, but it just didn't pack enough punch against a good opponent. After relieving him of the axe and a few gold, I got out of there. It was the first time I had deliberately set out to kill someone, and I wasn't sure how I felt about it.

As much to soothe my conscience as anything else, I decided to talk with Ralen Hlaalo's maid to confirm my suspicion that Velas was the murderer she had seen. She immediately recognized the axe and my description and told me I should see Nileno Dorvayn at the Hlaalu Council Hall. I had never been in the Council Hall before, even though Balmora was Hlaalu territory. It hadn't seemed like a good idea to draw the attention of a Great House. When I explained my presence to Nileno, she was impressed. She said,

"Even though you are not a member of any House, you brought the murderer to justice."

She gave me 1000 drakes as a reward and promised to make sure House Hlaalu knew of my deed. She even offered to put in a good word for me if I wanted to join the House. The reward was nice, but I somehow felt as though it were tainted. No matter how I tried to convince myself that the Camonna Tong was a threat, that it was them or me, I didn't like the way I had goaded Velas into the fight. Always before, I had been attacked directly; this time, I started it. Worst of all, I knew it wasn't over. There were four more Camonna Tong members left. Even if I managed to defeat them all, I didn't think I would feel like a winner. And I wasn't sure there was enough water in all Tamriel to make me feel clean again.

[treydog]

@hazmick- Funny you should ask that...

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As I worked my way down the trail to Pelegiad, I decided to follow the shore of Lake Amaya, where I could find some marshmerrow for healing potions. The side trip also allowed me to practice my marksmanship on mudcrabs and do a little pearl-diving in the shallow water. As I reached a point just a little northeast of Pelegiad, I spotted a strange cave entrance facing the lake. The runes indicated it was called "Panat" in the Dunmer language. I decided to do a little exploring- after all, most of the better stuff was inside caves, not lying around on the ground outside.

"Besides," I thought, "it isn't a tomb. How bad can it be?"

It can be as bad as a cute little wood elf swinging a big ugly axe, attacking while your eyes are still adjusting to the dim light in the cave entrance. She never even gave me a chance to say, "Sorry, wrong cave," and just back out. She rushed me and tried her best to take my head off, nearly succeeding before I got my sword out. The new flaming longsword and some healing potions allowed me to prevail. I did learn one of the limitations of enchanting with lower-value soul-gems- the enchantments don't last very long. Still, I had won the fight and decided to see what was in the cave that made it worth trying to murder me. I probably should have just turned around and gone on to Pelegiad, but the unprovoked attack had sent me into a fury. After all the time I had spent agonizing over the way I had killed the Camonna Tong smith, it was just too much to be nearly hacked to death because I happened to poke my nose in the wrong door.

I pulled out my bow and proceeded to blend in with the shadows as well as I could. Across a suspension bridge, I spotted a couple of nix-hounds, which fell quickly to my arrows. It was hard to believe that one of these beasts had nearly killed me a few short weeks ago. Across the bridge and deeper inside the cave, I found a gate that appeared to be trapped. This time, I had the right tool for the job and was able to use a probe to disable the trap. That was much better than tripping it and taking the damage, as well as probably setting off an alarm. With the trap out of the way, I eased the gate open and slipped deeper into the cave. My stealth was getting better, because I managed to come up behind a Nord smuggler without being seen. Still unwilling to strike another human being without warning, I cleared my throat, preparatory to asking him to surrender. Instead, he tried to match his fists against my blade. That might have made sense to a Nord, but it was still a very bad strategy, as he discovered.

The next chamber of the cave held the usual assortment of containers, which in turn held the usual assortment of ingredients, liquor, weapons, and armor. There was also a small amount of moon-sugar, which perhaps explained the murderous reaction of the denizens of the cave. There was an upper platform, accesible by a rough wooden ladder. As I mounted the ladder, a wizard, who had either ignored the deaths of his partners or else was completely deaf, decided to attack me. He began by sending a number of attribute-draining spells at me, most of which I avoided or resisted. When his spells didn't seem to work, the mage pulled a huge axe from his robes and ran toward me. Having had enough of being smacked with axes for one day, I imbibed a Levitation potion, drew my bow and proceeded to make the few remaining minutes of his life as miserable as possible. Any regrets I might have felt were dispelled when I searched the corpse and found a now-familiar type of key. The key showed that there were slaves somewhere in this cavern. Now all I had to do was find them.

Besides the slave key, the wizard was carrying the axe with which he had tried to kill me. Although I didn't use axes, I recognized this as Orcish work- a valuable piece of weaponry. I should have pursued that thought to the end- that where there are Orc weapons, there are usually Orcs, but I was anxious to find and free the slaves. Beggars Nose had helped me last time I was in a cavern with slaves; the slave bracers showed up as enchanted items. This time the spell indicated three enchantments down a side passage off of the main tunnel. I picked the simple lock on the gate and made my way toward the enchantments. As I have mentioned before, the detection spell is great, except for the fact that it doesn't show human or humanoid enemies unless they are carrying magic items. This time it didn't reveal the Orc with a Nordic war-axe hiding around a bend in the passage. These guys must have belonged to a club that required an axe to get in; maybe they had jumped me because I wasn't carrying one.

Orcs tend to be very strong and very tough, so I downed a dose of sujamma before wading into the fight. I figured the boost in strength and the reduction in intelligence would make it a fair fight. That plan worked and the final smuggler fell to my sword. At the end of the passage, I found a pit with three slaves- an Argonian and two Khajiit. I unlocked their bracers and told them to take whatever they needed and get out of there. After they had departed I collected the best of the remaining goods and got out myself.

I reached Pelegiad without making any more side trips and went straight to Mebestien Ence's shop. The overly-attentive Imperial Legion guard was still hanging around, so I made a show of looking over the merchandise until he moved to a different part of the store. With the watcher out of the way, I approached Ence and asked about any "special" items he might have. Sure enough, he showed me some kind of Dwemer device that looked vaguely like a piece of alchemy apparatus. I was able to purchase the artifact for around 60 drakes; whatever it was, it weighed a ton. To keep the trader from getting suspicious, I bought a few other items, as well. Then it was time to go up to the fort and find Shadbak. It seemed to me that I had been spending entirely too much time around Imperial Legion forts recently; entering the gate made the back of my neck itch.

Shadbak was standing in the common area of the fort near the main entry. As I approached, I let the Dwemer device slip into view from my pack. She immediately spotted it and accused me of stealing it from Ence's shop. When I asked her how she knew Ence had such an illegal item, the Orc blurted, "Because he pays me good money to keep it se-...." As I said before, Orcs are strong but not always very bright. Now that she had trapped herself with her own words, I put the proposition to Shadbak- she could release New-Shoes and we would forget the whole thing or I would denounce her for taking bribes. She wasn't happy with me, but didn't really have a choice. Just to make sure, I went down to the cells to talk to New-Shoes. He was glad to be getting out and gave me a really nice pair of shoes, saying they had only brought him bad luck. He also promised to let the Guild know that I had gotten him sprung. Having accomplished my goal, I left quickly. After my experience in Cyrodiil, I had no desire to stay around a jail any longer than necessary. Now it was time to go to Vivec and talk to Caius' informants about the Nerevarine cult and the Sixth House. If that expedition went well, maybe I could go on to Ebonheart and see Apelles Matius. In any event, I planned to go straight to Vivec without doing any more "exploring." I was happy to have freed the slaves from Panat, but I really didn't want to deal with any more smugglers just yet.

Upon reaching the holy city, I went to the Foreign Quarter to find Huleeya. The Black Shalk Corner Club was located at the eastern end of the lower waistworks. I walked in to find the Argonian assassin and also trouble. When I spoke to Huleeya, he warned me that several Dunmer in the club were trying to pick a fight; it seemed they had a powerful hatred for Argonians. He feared that they were working themselves up to a violent confrontation, which would cause him to dishonor his oath to the Morag Tong. Although Huleeya had no concern about being able to handle the idiots, he did not want to dishonor his weapons in a bar brawl. He asked me to try to persuade the thugs to allow us to leave in peace. With the help of some Telvanni Bug Musk I had found in Panat, I convinced the three that it wasn't worth the trouble a fight would bring. Huleeya and I were able to make our way to Jobasha's Rare Books without incident. Once there, the Argonian assassin, who was also an amateur historian, told me what he knew of the Nerevarine cult. He also assured me that the Morag Tong was nothing like the Dark Brotherhood, who he called a bunch of "murderers-for-hire."

The Nerevarine cult was largely made up of nomadic Ashland Dunmer, who believed that the Lord Nerevar had promised to treat the tribes fairly. They stated that it was Nerevar's promise, sworn on a ring called the “Moon-and-Star” that united the Ashland tribes and the Great Houses to defeat the Deep Elves and the Nord invaders. He had sworn to uphold the traditional ancestor worship and to ensure that the nomads were treated equitably. However, following the victory at Red Mountain, Nerevar was murdered by the mortals who became the Tribunal. Following this deed, the Great Houses seized the best lands for themselves and pushed the tribes into the barren Ashlands. The tribes believed that Nerevar would be reincarnated and lead them to victory over the Great Houses and the "outlanders." He would also cast down the "false" Tribunal Temple. Needless to say, the Temple persecuted the cult and preached that their prophecies were blasphemous. The normally tolerant Empire also saw the cult as a threat and had outlawed it.

There was also a dispute over what were called False or Failed Incarnates, people who had fulfilled some aspects of the prophecies, but not all. The Temple said this proved that the prophecies were in error; the Ashlanders said the failed Incarnates were proof that the "right" person had not yet come. Huleeya gave me a copy of the notes he had made during his study of the cult. He noted that he had not heard anything about a Sixth House cult- although the Sixth House was House Dagoth. I thanked him and sat down to read and consider his notes. I was beginning to understand why the Blades were working on these cults. Any group who could irritate the Temple and the Empire simultaneously definitely deserved close study. I wondered if my connection with the Blades would be enough to protect me. It sounded as if the Nerevarine cult was enough of a threat to cause the Temple to execute me first and ask questions later. Though I was willing to stick a thumb in the eye of the Empire, I wasn't willing to get killed over it.