Buffy's Book of Short Stories, Somewhere in Time Options

[Acadian]

Welcome to Buffy's book of short stories! Rather than another chronological saga, this will be a collection of independent (generally short) stories that freely span Buffy's long and ongoing adventuring career. She'll tell you a bit more about that choice of format in her prelude below. One feature of the format she has insisted on is that the stories are not directly linked, sequential or particularly interdependent. While I believe you will find them reasonably consistent with 'Buffy lore', I'm looking forward to what I hope will be quite a bit of freedom and flexibility. The format should also make it easy for any readers who join us in progress or return from an absence, to jump right in with the current story.

For those well-familiar with Buffy, I hope you will continue to enjoy the enigmatic elven mage as she presents selective peeks into her neverending adventures across Tamriel. It is easy for Buffy and I to become emotionally overwhelmed as we contemplate the kind, enthusiastic and encouraging support that many have graced us with over the years. And for that we are profoundly grateful. My fervent hope is that you continue to find our efforts worthy of your valuable time.

For those new to Buffy, please do not let her long history deter you from jumping right in and joining us. While her series of full books are available on the Acadian sub forum, their sheer size makes reading them a daunting prospect. Fortunately, our 'Executive Summary' thread on the same sub forum offers what I believe to be a very effective summary that can easily be read in one sitting per book.

Table of contents

- Hard Crowds and Dancing Whales (1 episode) – post #12
3rd Era. Buffy fills in for a sick bard at an Anvil tavern.

- Unfinished Business – Buffy and the Box (1 episode) – post #24
3rd Era. Buffy finally reports back to Sanguine after inflicting nakedness upon the Courtess of Leyawiin and some of her party guests.

- A Bard’s Tale (5 episodes) – posts #34-66
4th Era. Buffy receives some musical training at the Bards College in Solitude.

- The Case of the Missing Court Mage (2 Episodes) – posts #76-85
4th Era. Buffy helps locate an absentminded missing mage in the Riften area.

Prelude

"Acadian, I don't want to write about the Oblivion Crisis right now." Getting up from the desk, I climbed up atop the corner bookshelf and sat down. "I want to write about being ambushed in the Reach by a Thalmor patrol. Or my first encounter as a Slayer with the vampiric Count of Skingrad. Or how, after I managed to lose Azura's Star, we traveled through time to retrieve it. Or maybe about that time when-"

"Buffy," interrupted the paladin, "all those things can eventually be crafted into your larger, overarching plot such that they fit properly along your timeline."

I hopped to the floor. "No!" Both hands planted themselves on my hips as my chin lifted defiantly. "I want to write about those things when the passion moves me to do so, not wait until it 'fits' into some silly book that's so long and complicated we can never write it. Whenever I write something I want, you complain if it doesn't make 'perfect sense' or that it doesn't fit at this point in our 'chronology'. By the time most of the tales I want to share fit into your unmanageable plan, I've long lost the passion that motivated me to write about them!"

There was a long silence before Acadian dubiously remarked, "Are you proposing a book with neither plot nor timeline?"

"Exactly! I am not a plot. I am an elf who travels, adventures and explores - with you, of course." I spread my arms expansively and twirled all the way around once before seating myself on a corner of the desk. "What's hard to understand about that? And would you rather read a story that I wrote when passion moved me to do so, or one that I had to force myself to write in support of some silly timeline?" I softened my tone. "Look, Acadian, you and I can travel between worlds and even move through time together. Why do my stories have to be 'in order'? When a butterfly moves across a meadow visiting flowers, does she do so 'in order'?"

The old paladin chuckled. "Despite my years and experience, the ability to successfully argue with an impassioned woman continues to elude me. Your butterfly metaphor contains a simple logic that I cannot refute. I will never fully understand the. . . whimsy that drives your choices but, over the years, I have grown to at least appreciate it."

"Does that mean. . . ?"

"Yes," he replied. "You are the true source of our passion for writing. I shall constrain you with neither plot nor chronology considerations."

"Thank you, my paladin." I crossed my dangling legs, folded my hands in my lap and smiled. "I know that I can sometimes be a little, well, erratic or even elusive."

Acadian sighed. "Like a butterfly in a thunderstorm, my bowgirl."

"This will be fun!" I chirped.

[Acadian]

ghastley- Thanks! I do like the clairvoyance spell as it feels all ‘mystic-like’. I loved Clark’s rescue of Wylandriah recently in your fic thread!

mirocu- Thank you. You’ve really hit the nail on the head with your concern that things are going so well. When Buffy is ‘in control’ of the situation, has plenty of range and stealth on her side and things go according to her plan, she can be pretty lethal. When any of that begins to unravel, she can get into trouble very quickly.

hazmick- Thank you. As a stealthy mage, we pretend that muffle particularly cuts down on the noise and flash of magic use. We also pretend it has ‘friend or foe’ divination built in so that foes have trouble seeing her magicks when muffle’s active but allies see (to avoid hitting/shooting) her just fine (as well as explaining why her stealthy screenshots have quite a bit of flash/color to them – lol).

SubRosa- Wylandriah is a gem in her delightful absent-mindedness. Thanks for your kind words on how Buffy used clairvoyance. Yay, Hecate approves!

Renee- By describing Buffy’s use of her bow as elegant, you have stolen my heart! That’s exactly how I think of her tactics – but only as long as everything is going according to her plans.

mALX- Divination was a whole school of magic in Dungeons and Dragons; I use it as a more generic term to include her detect life/dead spells etc. Although this quest is purely fictitious, it is very similar to radiant quests that can be assigned by either the Companions or the Dawnguard. Thank you!

Lopov- Thanks! Buffy is a methodical planner and patient stalker. It suits her as a sniper - and is kind of necessary because she is both frail and easily flustered when panicked or things begin to go awry. My thinking is the same as yours; after so much singing and such, I felt a dungeon crawl was in order.

Grits- I know I’ve told you many times, but the way you hone in on things that I hope come through, and your warm encouragement are magical in their ability to inspire Buffy and I. Thank you so much.

*

In our last episode, Buffy had accepted a quest to try and rescue Riften’s kidnapped court mage. She learned Wylandriah was being held in a nearby cave and managed to dispatch the outside guards before slipping into the kidnappers’ lair.

Now, the conclusion of this short story.

* * *

The Case of the Missing Court Mage – Part 2

Once inside, I slipped partially into a Bosmer-sized crevice near the entrance. All senses were heightened as I allowed my eyes to adjust from the brilliant sunshine outside. Water dripped faintly. A rat squeaked in the distance. The mild scent of smoke carried in the cool still air. Light from the burning wick of a tallow-filled goat horn sconce was visible farther down the stony corridor ahead.

Slayer required a slight magicka drain to sustain its presence. Though less than my regeneration rate, it was enough to preclude casting other spells while the bow was summoned. I allowed the weapon to dispel.

One hand emitted detection magic for a few seconds, allowing me to note the distant red glow of what appeared to be a sleeping bandit to the left of and above where the corridor seemed to go.

Creeping forward, I stopped at the edge of the sconce’s circle of light to check foe locations again. The sleeping bandit had not moved, but two more red glows now appeared. These newly revealed foes appeared to be seated on the ground near each other.

As I passed the light source, a handful of frosty mist extinguished its small flame. I then continued deeper into the cave, magically pulsing the air every few steps to update foe locations. Ahead, I could see the corridor opening into a dimly lit cavern.

Upon reaching the stone chamber’s threshold, a fresh check for inhabitants now revealed my objective. Well beyond the three kidnappers was the seated blue glow of a non-hostile figure – likely Wylandriah tied to a chair.

I pulled the rocky walls closer and ghosted along the perimeter just far enough into the chamber to evaluate its interior. It was a medium-sized cavern, poorly lit by a campfire that hosted two of the kidnappers. The pair sat cross-legged, passing a bottle of mead between them. I could make out some of their words.

“This waitin’s gittin’ real old.”

“I figgers the gold’ll be worth it.”

“What if them snowberries in Riften don’t pay up to git their wizard back?”

“Gro-Balzer says if they don’t, we can have some fun with her afore he returns what’s left.”

Near them was a natural ramp that led up to a ledge. I couldn’t see up there but imagined that to be where the third brigand was sleeping. Looking beyond the campfire in the direction where I had seen Wylandriah’s glow was a rock wall. I smiled as my eyes fell upon a pull chain.

I then selected a firing position that afforded the maximum range this cavern allowed and a clear view of both fireside bandits, as well as the secret door hiding Wylandriah.

Optimizing stone and shadow, I patiently crept into position. Mentally rehearsing my intended actions, I tried to think through what could go wrong and how I would respond. Satisfied, I conjured Slayer, fitted an arrow to its bowstring and drew.

I loosed, grateful that the bow also controlled its recovery – ensuring a nearly silent hiss instead of a loud bowstring snap upon shooting. As my first arrow slammed into its target, the bandit was carried several feet back. His nearby comrade leaped to his feet and stared at the body as my fingers snaked a second arrow from my quiver and nocked it to begin Slayer’s draw again. After a moment, he turned and shouted, “Wake up, boss! Looks like we gots a cutthroat in our-.”

His final words were silenced by my second arrow, even as I was reaching for my third.

“What in the name of Malacath’s goin’ on down there?!?” The booming voice, reference to Malacath and distinctive clatter of heavy armor confirmed a great deal about the threat – presumably Gro-Balzer the ringleader - charging down the natural ramp before I could see him.

Halfway down, the orc surprised me by leaping over the edge and landing heavily near the campfire. As he briefly paused to glance at the two corpses, I loosed - grateful that Slayer’s magic could pierce the stoutest of armors. A heartbeat later, my arrow deeply penetrated the orc’s breastplate.

My first experience with a charging orc long ago had thoroughly terrified me - as had every such encounter since. Indeed, terror is exactly what gripped me as the orc remained on his feet after Slayer’s attack which would have killed a lesser foe. He stared down at the wound to his chest for a moment, then lifted his gaze to search for its source. His eyes swept across my hiding spot, then snapped back to lock with mine!

Cursing myself for allowing surprise and fear to distract me, one hand frantically shot over a shoulder into my quiver.

I was nocking my arrow when the orc raised a sword larger than I and charged.

Knowing how quickly an angry orc could devour distance, I aborted my partially-drawn shot. Bow, arrow and quiver evaporated as both hands filled with magic. By the time my paralysis spell was in the air, the speeding monster was nearly upon me. His mass filled my vision as the spell’s green aura blossomed. I dove to the side, narrowly avoiding being driven into the wall behind me by the momentum of the now paralyzed orc.

I rolled to my feet and summoned Slayer, even as the clatter of armor colliding with rock was still echoing in my long ears. I figured I had time for two, perhaps three, shots before the orc could move again. He jerked solidly as my arrow pierced his backplate. My next arrow thudded into a corpse, yet I frantically nocked and began drawing another.

“He’s dead, Buffy,” said Acadian gently. “You can stop shooting now.”

I severed magic to Slayer mid-draw. My empty hands then began to shake as I stared at the dead orc.

Safe for the moment, I sat down before my unsteady limbs no longer allowed me to stand. My heart was racing.

“That monster was nearly four times your size, Buffy. You have once again displayed the courage of a dragon.”

“He almost crumpled me like a butterfly, Acadian. I was terrified.”

“Courage is not the absence of fear; rather, it is action in the presence of fear.”

“I remember, my paladin.” One hand snaked downward and, after a moment, I reported, “At least I didn’t pee myself this time.” After Acadian chuckled, I added, “C’mon, we’ve got a mage to rescue.”

I got to my feet, dusted off my buckskins and headed for the far end of the cavern. As I activated the pull chain, a portion of the rock wall groaned and scraped aside. “Wylandriah? It’s Buffy.”

From the small compartment ahead, I heard her familiar voice, “Did we have an appointment? No. . . was it a delivery? I can't remember."

“It was the latter,” I replied. “I’m here to deliver you back to Mistveil Keep.” I summoned my hunting knife and cut the leather lashing that held her to the chair. It took an unlocking spell to open the null iron wrist manacles that prevented her from spellcasting. “Let’s get you home, Wylandriah.” She followed closely as I began to lead her out of the cave.

“Now where did I put those spiders?"

I smiled. “We’ll keep an eye out for fresh ones on the way back to Riften.”

"I have to remember. . . ward first, then summon."

“Sound advice, as ever, my friend.”

[SubRosa]

Buffy is definitely the picture of a l33t commando here, with her cautious sneaking and clever use of magic. Not to mention the time and care she takes to prepare herself before she starts the fight. Even still, Gro-Some-Balls the Orc quite nearly made mincemeat out of her. That was a good writing, as it showed that in spite of how good Buffy is at doing this, she is still not an omnipotent Mary Sue. She is a real person, who just happens to be really good at doing certain things. But she is still someone we can relate to.

“Courage is not the absence of fear; rather, it is action in the presence of fear.”

This is so refreshing to hear. Lately I seem to be watching a lot of movies where people talk about being fearless, to the point of stressing how important it is to have no fear. I just cannot help but roll my eyes whenever I hear that. The person who is not afraid is not going to live very long. It is fear that keeps us from doing mortally stupid things, like jumping into the lion cage at the zoo to pet the kitties. Not to mention it is fear that turns on our adrenaline, and gives us the energy to keep going when our lives are in real peril. Without fear, our species would not have lasted long. It is only when you allow fear to control you that it is bad. The rest of the time it is a superpower.

Now it's time for a delivery! Back to Mistveil keep. Maybe Buffy will find those spiders along the way...