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 - Your ramblings are always welcome I think you're definitely right about 2000 being too much, it would become a bit of a chore if I had to try and keep that up every week. 1000-ish it is, then.

Grits - I'm glad the regular pace suits you. We'll stick with that.

Heh, as soon as I wrote that line I was reminded of high school, when teachers would use "I'll phone your mother" as the ultimate threat of punishment. Depending on the mother in question, it varies in effectiveness.



Previously - Haa-Rei and Sjöfn completed a daring rescue in the shady town of Hackdirt, and Haa-Rei set out alone for the city of Kvatch...

Chapter 25


The continent of Cyrodiil is roughly broken up into 10 regions, such as The Great Forest, The Gold Coast, and The Nibenay Basin. After leaving Hackdirt I headed South-West, into the region known as The Imperial Reserve.

The Imperial Reserve stretches from the Jerall Mountains in the North, to Kvatch in the South, and is quite the opposite of the neighbouring forest land. The Reserve has very few trees, with scrubland and open plains making up the vast majority of the landscape. To the untrained eye it may appear rather bleak, but amongst the hardy shrubs and withered heath there is an abundance of wildlife.

Rabbit burrows crisscross in a huge underground network, while herds of deer eat their way back and forth across the surface. Wolves stalk the fringes of the forest, while lions creep across the plains. Now, I was there too.

It was a warm day in the forest, but a refreshing breeze blew in from the west as I moved further into the reserve. I took a deep breath, tasting the scents on the air. I could smell deer and rabbit, and another scent which I couldn’t quite put my claw on despite it being quite familiar.

My plan was to head in a straight line towards Kvatch, and I calculated that I’d only need to make camp once or twice along the way. Plans don’t always go as we want them to however, and this was certainly to be the case.

“There’s that smell again…” I muttered to myself. The familiar scent hit me whenever the wind blew, and I found myself following it before long.

After half an hour or so, I found the source. It was fire. Not a campfire, but rather a solid, vertical wall of fire about twice my height and several times my width. A ring of floating black rock seemed to be holding it together.

A small creature stalked around it. For those in the know, this was a Scamp. For those who don’t know…it’s hard to describe such an odd looking creature. Roughly the size and shape of a young human, but with brown fur, claws, and the face of a particularly ugly cat. They also throw fireballs, so I wasted no time in taking it down, my arrow punching deep into the creature’s frail body.

The rest of the scamp’s comrades, already deceased, were strewn around the area alongside the bodies of several lions. From the looks of things the fire wall had appeared right in the middle of this pride. Regardless, seeing the scamps made me realise what the scent was. Daedra.

I’d smelled it before, in the Daedric ruins of Morrowind, and many times whilst summoning my own Daedric allies. It was so out of place here that I hadn’t recognised it earlier.

“One mystery solved, but one more opens. What on Nirn is this thing?” I asked myself, now standing in front of the fire wall. The flames weren’t very hot, but the land was scorched and blackened in a large circled around me. There was a roaring sound emanating from it, but it was as if the sound was in my head rather than being heard. I needed help.

These days I am considered to be something of an expert in Daedric matters, but back then, on that day in the reserve, I was a complete novice. When wanting to learn more of Daedra, who better to ask but another Daedra? With that in mind, I summoned Eithne the Flame Atronach.

She appeared between myself and the fire wall, and for a moment I could barely see her, so camouflaged was she against the fiery backdrop. As always she floated several inches above the ground, so as not to burn anything more than was necessary. Not that it mattered here.

“Master.” She greeted me. Her sing-song voice cutting through the fire’s roar.

“Hello Eithne. I was wondering if you knew what this was.” I gestured at the wall. She turned in a flowing somersault motion and tilted her head, examining the fiery surface.

“I’m not sure what the Cyrodiilic word for it is. Perhaps…gate?”

“A gate? To where?” I asked in surprise. As far as I could see, this solid wall of fire looked nothing like a gate, but I trusted my friend’s word.

“Oblivion, of course.” She replied in a tone that suggested I was stupid to even ask, and did another somersault.

“Of course. What’s it doing here though?” Now I was curious. I’d never heard of Oblivion gates, let alone those that just popped up in the countryside willy nilly, and I wasn’t sure if I was all too pleased with the idea of it.

“I’m not sure. Technically it shouldn’t be allowed, unless…I don’t suppose you’ve lost an Emperor recently?” She turned back to face me, and tilted her head again in curiosity.

“As a matter of fact, yes. He was killed very recently, but I don’t see what- oh, the dragonfires!”

The dragonfires were, as the name suggests, fires from a dragon. Specifically, they were said to be created from the blood of Akatosh, the dragon god. They were also said to protect Nirn from Daedric incursion, and had been alight for…well, a very long time, thanks to the Amulet of Kings being in the possession of the Emperors of Cyrodiil. Without the Emperor and the amulet, the dragonfires would not be relit, and Daedra would be free to mooch about Nirn as and when they please.

“Yes. It would seem that Nirn is being invaded.” Eithne said again. Her silky voice was completely at odds with her words, which made it sound as if a demon invasion was of little importance.

“If a gate can be opened, I suppose one could close it. Right?” I asked, prodding the stone base of the gate with my foot.

“Of course…you’re going to try it, aren’t you?” She asked. If atronachs had eyebrows, one of hers would have been raised in my direction.

“Well, it’s bad manners to leave a door open.” I checked my gear to make sure everything was in order, and gestured towards the gate. “After you, my lady.”

Eithne sighed, and entered the gate, her slim body vanishing into the surface of the fire like a pebble through water. After another look around, in case this was to be my last sight of Nirn, I followed her.

Onward, to Oblivion.

This post has been edited by hazmick: Jul 9 2016, 01:16 AM