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]

ghastley - I haven't, but I looked it up and it sounds like my cup of tea.

Acadian - I haven't quite decided what's going to happen in Chorrol yet. We'll have to wait and see. Having a feisty redheaded Nord around can only spell trouble fun times.

Grits - Yeah, when you look at the events of the sewers from an outside perspective, the whole thing sounds crazy. I wasn't sure whether Sjöfn would be joining us, then it just sort of happened. Haa-Rei is also delighted.




Previously - Haa-Rei met Baurus, a young Blade, and learned that the Emperor had been assassinated. Baurus then sent Haa-Rei on a quest to Weynon Priory, to meet the mysterious Grandmaster Jauffre...

Chapter 22

The island which the Imperial City sits on is quite large. It’s even larger when you have to traverse it on a cold, damp morning after a night of fighting. My original plan was to follow the outer walls of the city until I reached the stables and the bridge. Fortunately I had Sjöfn with me.

Her plan was to head more or less straight to Chorrol, as the crow flies. We followed the northern edge of the Imperial Isle until we came to a wooden bridge, which looked highly unofficial (no Imperial guards or flags in sight) but no doubt shaved an hour or two off my journey. We paused for a moment once we’d crossed the bridge. My legs wobbled slightly with fatigue.

“When was the last time you ate? Or slept?” Sjöfn asked.

“Oh, y’know…I’m fine.” I lied. In truth I was cold, tired, and hungry.

“All the same, I think we should have some breakfast.”

We sat on a low, crumbling wall which overlooked the lake. The rising sun behind us caused the water to shimmer like liquid gold. The main bridge could be seen in the distance, and I was thankful that we didn’t have to walk the extra distance. I added the newly discovered (unofficial) bridge to my map while Sjöfn prepared breakfast.

It was a simple meal of bacon, tomatoes, and mushrooms, but it tasted fantastic. I’ve never been much of a breakfast lizard (as it requires one to wake up before noon), but this particular meal is one of my fondest memories. Sjöfn and I ate in a comfortable silence, and as the sun began to warm my scales I could feel the strength returning to my tired limbs.

After breakfast, we set off again. After a small detour around an old fort, we headed in the direction of Chorrol. If Jötnar and Olorin had been with us we would have had to follow the main road, but with just the two of us we could easily move through the forest.

The Great Forest (for that is what it is called) certainly lives up to its name. The southern edge of the forest borders Skingrad, whilst the northern edge borders Bruma. It is home to a vast array of plants and animals, and I loved it.

By noon the forest had well and truly woken up. Birds sang to each other as they whizzed through the branches, rabbits darted between the bushes in their hunt for food, and every so often a great brown bear could be seen in the distance, no doubt searching for berries (which were more than plentiful). It was pleasantly warm, even though the trees shielded us from the sun with their vast branches.

“Kyn’s breath, this place is wonderful.” Sjöfn was positively beaming, one hand holding the wooden amulet around her neck.

“You worship Kyn?” My question was more of a conversation starter than an actual inquiry.

“Aye. All hunters do. Though most people outside of Skyrim call her ‘Kynareth’.” She emphasised ‘most people’ and turned to me, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

“I spent some time on Solstheim a little while ago. Picked up some bits and pieces of Nord beliefs from the locals.” I explained.

“Solstheim? Now that is a place with traditional Nord beliefs.” She paused before continuing, evidently unsure about asking the next question. “Were you there with the Legion?”

After a brief pause I decided that it would be best to tell the truth:

“I…yes. How did you guess?”

“I didn’t. Jötnar did. He said you use a sword like a Legionnaire.” She explained further before I could ask. “He’s in the Legion too. He’s on leave at the moment though.”

I was shocked. Partially because my secret was out purely based on my combat technique, but mainly because Jötnar was in the Imperial Legion too. The thought of him trying to squeeze his huge arms into a Legion uniform almost made me laugh out loud.

“Is this trip to Chorrol Legion business too?” Sjöfn asked.

“Sort of. I can’t really talk about it.” I immediately wanted to apologise for sounding so rude, but Sjöfn didn’t seem to mind.

“A secret mission? Well that is exciting.” She laughed, then continued “Sorry for prying. I hope you don’t think I was being rude. Just curious.”

“It’s fine, I enjoy talking to you.” She smiled at that, and we continued our journey in silence.

It was late afternoon when we finally emerged from the forest. Our route had saved us several hours of travel, and the walls of Chorrol rose up in front of us. We’d climbed a hill to get here, and when I turned around we were high enough to see over the entire forest, to the Imperial City in the distance. Already the events of the previous evening felt like they’d occurred a week ago.

“I’ll head into town and see about finding an inn. You go and do…whatever it is you’re here to do, and then come find me.” Sjöfn winked and set off before I could either agree or protest.

I looked around and saw some buildings peering out of the trees to the south, which I took to be Weynon Priory, and headed in that direction.

I wasn’t sure what I thought the home of the Blades’ Grandmaster would look like, but this small collection of buildings certainly wasn’t what I had in mind. It looked, for all intents and purposes, like a monastery (which is the point, I know). I assumed the central building housed living quarters, while the small cottages looked to be the homes of the farmers which were out in the fields. The only other buildings were a small stables and a small chapel. The population seemed to consist primarily of sheep, who eyed me suspiciously as I headed toward the main building.

It wasn’t very large, about the size of your average Imperial townhouse, but it still dwarfed the hovels around it. The large wooden doors featured a heavy iron door-knocker, and the sound seemed to echo through the whole building when I knocked.

Time to meet my boss.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Jul 9 2016, 01:14 AM