An Argonian's Account, Haa-Rei's adventures in Cyrodiil Options

[hazmick]

Chapter 1

The room was furnished as most high ranking Imperial offices were – dragons everywhere. Dragon curtains (red), dragon floor mat (red), dragon banners (red). I wouldn't be surprised if the guards outside were wearing socks (red) with little dragons on them.

“So we just need to go over a few things here,” the clerk’s piping voice interrupted my thoughts. He studied the notes in front of him “you were born 3E 408?”

“Yes.” I wasn't half as nervous as I thought I’d be, but my mouth was almost too dry to speak.

“Our first official record of you is not until 19 years later. An Imperial prison transport fished you out of the Inner Sea of Morrowind and took you to the port of Seyda Neen. Yes?”

He didn’t look up from his notes, instead arching an enormous grey eyebrow. There was more hair on those brows than on the rest of his head.

“Yes.” Though my mouth was still dry my hands were now clammy. Please gods don’t make him go in for a handshake when this is done.

“Your occupation is listed here as ‘adventurer’. You also seem to have aided the Twin Lamps organisation, among others.” He licked a bony fingertip and turned the page. “This is around the time that you officially joined the Imperial Legion, rising to the rank of Agent.”

“That’s right.” My face reddened slightly when he looked up at me. Apparently a ‘yes’ would suffice.

He took a sip of his drink, a dark gold substance, and winced slightly as it went down. How anybody can enjoy that sort of thing was beyond me. I much prefer tea.

Looking back to his notes, the clerk continued listing various people I’d met who were considered important enough to have an opinion. Mainly guild leaders and Imperials.

I managed to steal a glance at the page, most of which was concealed with black ink.

“Well this seems to be in order. On account of your previous work for the Empire and the skills you have at your disposal, I have no doubt that you will do some good with us.” He stamped my file for approval with an official looking dragon stamp (red).

I grinned widely (any display of emotion towards humans must be greatly exaggerated) and thanked him as he shook my hand firmly.

“Welcome to the Blades, Agent Haa-Rei.”

This post has been edited by hazmick: Jul 9 2016, 01:03 AM

[hazmick]

Acadian - Yep. "This is going well" is right up there with "It can't get any worse" and "It'll be fine" on the list of things adventurers should never say.


Previously - Our Argonian friend made good progress through the Ayleid ruin of Atatar, but things don't always go as planned...

Chapter 17

I fired as soon as the bandit came into view. I watched my arrow sail through the air, and I watched my arrow bounce harmlessly off her breastplate and skitter away into the darkness.

“Ha! There you are!” She proclaimed, raising a long, curved sword over her head.

In response I drew my own, less curved, Dwarven sword and swore loudly. For the second time in my adventure, I scolded myself for not purchasing a shield. If I tried to parry her weapon I’d be likely to lose a limb anyway.

The speed with which she could move her blade would have been impressive if I wasn’t on the receiving end. I was only just managing to avoid her attacks.

If this keeps up, I’m going to lose something important.

I took a few steps back to give myself some space, and raised my hand to summon Thiazzi. The spell…failed?

“Nice try, mage. Your spells won’t work in here!” The bandit sounded ecstatic as she explained my predicament, and reinforced her point with a wicked feint and jab at my head and left arm.

Being unable to use magic was a terrifying feeling. What was happening?

Pain shot through my arm, she’d managed to nick me just above the elbow. It wasn’t serious, but it hurt like Oblivion. Before I could even cry out, a voice called out from behind me.

“DOWN!” it boomed, and I did as I was told – dropping to the ground like a sack of sweetrolls. A claymore sliced through the air where my head had been moments earlier. The cavalry had arrived.

Now the bandit was on the defensive, as Jötnar launched several heavy attacks in quick succession. His movements were almost impossibly elegant for someone with such heavy armour – a testament to years of training and no small amount of natural talent.

I crawled out of the way and dug into my pack for a bit of cloth to patch up my wound. By the time I was done, the fight was over. The bandit’s armour was scarred and battered, and a dark pool was forming where she lay.

“Can’t beat good Nordic steel,” Jötnar grinned, and offered his hand to help me up. “You alright?”

“Yes, thanks. Argonians heal quickly.” I stretched out my arm experimentally, and winced at the pain. Not quickly enough.

“Looks like you won’t be able to use your bow. I’ll stick close for the rest of the way.” He began to move out immediately. There would be no discussion.

We soon exited onto a long bridge. The room below had various vents on the floor, no doubt for poisonous gases, and was currently inhabited by a large number of skeevers. The bridge itself was no more desirable. Several large blades were dropping onto the bridge every few seconds, before being raised back up by a hidden device. There was no way around, so we’d have to time it right and go through. There was something else though.

“Hold on. Something doesn’t feel right…” I scanned the room for the source of my discomfort.

“You sure it’s not just the blades, or the rats?” Jötnar’s face was all screwed up as he tried to peer through the gloomy surroundings.

“Maybe it’s jus- oh, here we are.” I crouched to get a closer look, and my companion did likewise.

A section of the bridge ahead looked different from the rest. The stones were a slightly different colour, except for those in the middle.

“The stones on the sides are probably loose, so if you deviate from the path the whole thing will collapse. We just need to stick to the darker coloured stone.” I explained, quite proud of myself for figuring it out.

“Well that’s super, but I can’t tell one stone from the other. It’s dark as a troll’s armpit in here and I can’t see like you can.” He waved a meaty hand in front of his face to emphasise his point.

“Oh. Well how about…this.” I looked around and spotted one of the blade traps, which had been discarded on the side of the bridge. It was almost exactly the same length and width as the central stone path. Jötnar heaved it over to the correct area, and I watched from the sidelines.

Once in place, he scratched a Nordic rune onto it to get Sjöfn and Olorin’s attention. Then we ever so slowly made our way across the rest of the bridge.

As it turns out, the blade traps were incredibly easy to navigate. Most likely acting as a distraction for the ‘collapsing bridge’ trick. Jötnar simply waited until the blade dropped and held it down so we could both climb over. The dark red stains on the blades indicated that other people had been…less fortunate. A lever on the far side put a stop to any further risk of dismemberment.

We also encountered two more bandits, though both were lightly armed and dispatched quickly. Jötnar held back a bit as I quietly inspected the next room.

The room itself was quite small. There was a raised platform in the middle, and the bandits had furnished the whole thing with rugs, wall hangings, and chairs. Dozens of candles gave off a warm glow, but the cold Ayleid stone was still quite prominent. Most bizarre however, was that fact that the room was completely deserted. I waited for a few moments to be sure before calling Jötnar in.

“Hm. Cosy. Nobody home?” He leaned on his sword as he looked around, scanning the room for anything valuable or dangerous. Or both.

“I was expecting their leader to be here. If he’s not, then that would explain why there were so few guards out there.” The bandit’s we’d encountered were most likely a skeleton crew of sorts, to make sure nobody moved in while their comrades were out…on business.

“Well let’s find this stone and get going before anyone comes back.”

After a few minutes of searching, and after I’d used up all but one of my lockpicks on a fancy looking chest, we found what looked to be an Ayleid stone. It was covered in strange markings, and let off a blueish glow.

“That’s the one!” Announced Olorin, who had just arrived. Sjöfn followed close behind, with a look of boredom that could only be the result of a lengthy Ayleid history lesson.

I handed the Altmer the stone, and after he’d inspected it, we headed to the exit.

Our quest had been successful, though this was just the beginning.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Jul 9 2016, 01:11 AM