A Thief's Ascension, The story of Jak's life from small beginnings Options

[BretonBlood]

I am by no means a writer, in fact I am horrible but figured I'd post a story I wrote on the Bethesda Forums here. I fully expect to be picked apart for my bad writing, this was also written about 2 years ago. I also like to include pictures to somewhat show what is going on since it kind of helps take away some of the burden of creating the scene through writing.

Chapter 1

"Oh wait, aren't you going to eat something before you go to work?"

"I can't I slept in, sorry mom." Jak said as he quickly rushed out the door to head to the Riften Docks.

Once at the docks Jak got to work quickly with the daily chores he was assigned when he got the job. Luckily he had been doing it for so long that even starting late he could get his work done in time, and after a few hours he took a break to relax watching the lake. It was peaceful for awhile until...

"Hey Jak! What are you doing?" The young Breton came up from behind and sat down beside Jak.

"Hello, Fina..." She stretched her legs out across his lap. "Alright then... well I am on my break, I got all my stuff done and before I get back to work I wanted to relax over the lake."

"Oh, that sounds like fun, I mean I can't imagine working here is all that fun."

"It isn't bad, it can get boring but it pays okay. Plus I get to rest here every now and then and take in the view and fresh air."

"It is beautiful, isn't it? "

"So what are you doing here, Fina?"

"I don't have anything to do since I haven't gotten any jobs from the Jarl or anyone, so I decided I would come see you today."

"Lucky me." Jak smirked and Fina smacked his arm.

Jak eventually stood up and explained he had to get back to work, so Fina hugged him and said good bye. Once the sun began set Jak finished up his remaining work, and headed home where his mother cooked a meal while he recovered from another day of working for the Riften Fishery.

As usual Jak worked a long day at the Riften Fishery and decided to go to the Bee and Barb for an afternoon drink. He sat the bar drinking several mugs of mead trying to take the edge off.

"By the gods, Fina? Is that you?"

"Marc?"

"That's right. Wow it has been years, what are you doing in Riften?"

"I live here, in fact I just got back from a job the jarl gave me to go take care some smugglers. What about you?"

"I have been travelling Skyrim looking for potential patrons, and ended up here. It is great to see you, want to get a drink?"

"Umm, sure." Fina and Marcurio headed to the bar to order some mead when Fina noticed Jak sitting at the bar and walked up to him.

"Jak, how are you?" She stood beside him at the bar and Jak nodded his head as Marcurio walked up to the bar. "Marc, this is Jak... Jak this Marc, he is an old friend of mine."

Marcurio greeted Jak, but Jak gave a quick hand gesture and took another drink of his mead. "Jak are you drunk?" Fina asked.

"Not drunk enough." he replied.

"I'm going to change out of my armor. Marc watch him for me and make sure he doesn't get into trouble." Marcurio laughed and agreed to the request.

"She is great isn't she?" Marc gave a sigh, "It's been so long since I've seen her."

"Yeah, she is great..." Jak replied.

Marcurio leaned forward onto the bar, "So what's the story between you two? Are you?"

"We're just good friends." Jak explained.

"Oh. Interesting."

Marcurio began small talk with Jak and explained how he knew Fina from when they used to study magic in Cyrodiil when they were younger. Then he began to rant about how he was a master of the arcane and his skill in battle was unmatched. He also hinted that if Jak ever needed him he could be hired. Jak didn't pay much attention, he instead noticed the coin purse he had hanging from his belt. After a couple minutes Jak went to get up from the bar, but stumbled and Marcurio caught him before he fell.
"I think you have had enough to drink, at least until Fina gets back."

"Fine. Maybe you are right, I'll just go home now. Tell Fina I said bye." Jak made his way to the door, "Sucker." Jak smirked and put the coin purse in his pocket.

[BretonBlood]

Acadian: If I am not mistaken, and you wouldn't know this if you have never done the Thieves Guild quest, I believe that the power he used on Brynjolf was one of the Nightingale powers you can choose but I am not sure which one.

The Guild is for sure in need of new leadership, and Brynjolf seems to think Jak is deserving of the title... we shall see if he is up for it.


Darkness Eternal: Mercer did get what he deserved. This was by far the most challenging fight Jak has ever had, if he did not have the Nightingale armor he surely would have lost since it's power to enhance a person's reflexes, speed, and strength were what allowed him to keep up with Mercer and eventually beat him.

Jak was never truly a religious man so he never thought about the afterlife and where his soul will go, that's one of the reasons he didn't mind taking the oath and giving his soul to Nocturnal. However, now that things have settled down maybe it is something he will stop to think about.

Thanks.

Chapter 17

Jak left Brynjolf in the Cistern and returned to the Flagon where he got two jobs from Vex and Delvin. both of which were in Markarth as the Guild's reputation was growing in the Reach and Delvin and Vex wanted to make sure to keep it that way. With his jobs, Jak left the Guild and decided it would be best to return home as Fina had not seen him in awhile and he feared she probably thought he was dead. When he entered the house Fina almost instantly ran up the stairs and had the biggest smile when she saw it was Jak, she ran up and hugged him and explained how she was worried something horrible had happened. He told Fina a story of what happened but changed details to make it sound like a bad business deal occurred and he had to fix it, and Fina simply nodded along but she only cared he was okay. After talking some more the two eventually made dinner and Jak finally got a moments rest and enjoyed his meal while talking with Fina some more.

"Fina, I really don't know what I would without you. I'm glad you have been here for me since my mother passed."

"It's why I am here Jak, don't worry about it. We have known each other for a long time, I wouldn't let you go through everything that has happened alone."


In the morning Jak left for Markarth, much to Fina's displeasure since he had just got back, to complete his jobs. Once he arrived in Markarth a couple days later Jak waited for nightfall and then began to make his way through the city, it felt right being back to his old ways after everything that had happened with Mercer, he missed good old fashioned burglary. He entered the house of the mark and sneaked around until he found the Golden Urn and took it. With his business done in Markarth, Jak returned to Riften and turned in the jobs. Delvin was more excited than Jak had ever seen and explained how there was a new client that needed their help; in return for their help this client would then back the Guild in Markarth solidifying their grip on the hold again. Jak couldn't refuse the job so he accepted and told Delvin he would return as soon as possible with the news of how it went.

________________________________________________________________________________


Meanwhile in Solitude.

"Kath, what's the rush? "

"We need to get to the Rift, that's where I live. I am about to show you a whole new life you could never imagine. There are adventures to be had, Vivienne." Kath responded as she continued to walk.

The two of them left Solitude and began their journey to the Rift. They passed Dragon Bridge and continued southeast towards Whiterun, where they eventually came to Rorikstead, a small little village that Kath said didn't have much going for it. They went to the outskirts of town, sitting on a giant rock, to look on into the distance and think about their journey to the Rift.

"So what is so special about the Rift?" Vivienne was curious.

"Have you ever been there?"

"No. I have lived in Solitude my whole life with my aunt... " Vivienne paused and looked up to the sky for a moment, "I'm going to miss her, but at least you helped her get some closure about my cousin Fura."

"Don't worry, that feeling of missing your aunt will pass in time, especially with the new life I am about to show you. But anyways... if you've never been to the Rift then you wouldn't understand, while Solitude is a great and beautiful city, nothing beats the beauty of the Rift."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Vivienne sighed.

"Now, I'm getting hungry, lets find something to eat."

________________________________________________________________________________



With his special job from Delvin, Jak left for Markarth. Once there he made his way to the Silver-Blood Inn, the owner and his wife bickered and she eventually came up to Jak to ask if he needed a drink but he declined the offer. He found Endon sitting by the fire and joined him, he filled Jak in on why he contacted the Guild, he had ordered a special mold but the shipment was robbed by bandits and he wanted Jak to get it back.

Jak had all he needed from Endon and left Markarth to made his way to Pinewatch in Falkreath Hold. A couple days later he arrived to find it unguarded on the outside so he picked his way into the house. The house seemed ordinary until he noticed a button on the wall, he pressed it and the bookshelf on the wall slung open revealing a passageway into a cave. Jak moved carefully as he didn't know how many bandits inhabited the cave, and he wanted to avoid a big confrontation, as he made his way into the cave he found a spiked pit with corpses of poor travelers who crossed paths with these bandits and Jak knew these were worse than the average bandit. He continued on sticking to the shadows, taking down any torches he saw, and eventually one bandit came walking towards Jak unaware he was there until Jak jumped him and choked him to death. Jak was not going to show them any mercy and he even got the chance to try out his new power from Nocturnal as he drained the life from a bandit and killed him.

Further into the cave was a storage room with a few bandits sitting around a table talking about the leader of the group, Jak wasn't going to take them all on so he sneaked around the boxes and chests and passed them unnoticed. Finally, Jak came to the end of the cave where the leader, Rigel Strong-Arm, laid in her bed asleep. Jak was not going to let her live so he quietly approached the bed then grabbed her head, waking her, and slitting her throat leaving her to die. He took the keys to the treasure room off her person and continued, after avoiding a few traps he unlocked the door to the treasure room. He entered the room and was in awe at all the treasure on the table, he had never seen anything like it. His Nightingale Hood retracted letting him get a better look at all the loot, he grabbed the mold first and then the rest of the gold, jewels, and ores before he made his way out of Pinewatch.

After traveling back to Markarth, Endon was pleased have the mold and assured Jak that if the Guild ever needed any help in Markarth he would be more than happy to do it. With his job complete Jak rested for a day in Markarth, however despite needing rest he found it hard to come by as just as he always has he ahd a bad feeling in Markarth. The following morning Jak left and in a few days returned to Riften to give Delvin the good news. He found that another merchant had moved into the Flagon as a result of hearing the Guild was making a comeback, then Delvin mentioned a new recruit so Jak took the time to meet him. His name was Garthar, and he claimed he joined because he helped Vex fight off some wolves before she tried to rob him and it ended in a stalemate, he then made it obvious he had a thing for Vex and Jak wished him luck in trying to get her.

Over the course of the next few weeks Jak completed more jobs for the Guild to help get it back on its feet, mainly in Whiterun as that was the last major city the Guild needed to regain its foothold in Skyrim. Of course in that time Fina had grown restless so Jak brought her along every so often to Whiterun, he would wait until night when she was asleep and then complete the job. Jak would sneak through the town unnoticed, watching the guards patrol to learn their routes, then he would break into the houses of his marks once he knew they were all going to be asleep. Jak had really honed his skills since he first started his career as a thief and now moved like a shadow, unseen in the darkness.

After turning a job in to Vex Tonilia came up to Jak and asked for his help; she wanted the Guild to form a partnership with the Khajiit Caravans so she asked Jak to speak with Ri'saad their leader and give him some Moon Sugar to convince him. Jak accepted Tonilia's request and then found Delvin who said they had enough jobs in Whiterun so he received a special job there and he recommended Jak. Once in Whiterun, Jak was to speak with Olfrid Battle-Born, one of the head families in Whiterun, and upon meeting Olfrid Jak had to try not to smirk as he found it ironic he was helping a man he had stolen from in the previous weeks. Olfrid explained he had an old friend that had been arrested, but he was a wanted man in Solitude and knew if the guards in Whiterun figured out who he was they would kill him. He wanted Jak to go into Dragonsreach and change Arn's name and take the letter that the Jarl had received notifying him to keep a lookout for Arn.

The job was easy enough so Jak accepted. He found the prison ledger in a room in the Jarl's Private Quarters and changed the name, and then as the guards changed shifts he sneaked into the Jarl's room and found his office where he took the note off the desk and put it in his pocket. Jak waited until morning before returning to Olfrid, and he found him in The Drunken Huntsman, he told him the job was finished and Olfrid thanked Jak saying he will forever be in the Guild's debt. As Jak left Whiterun he was lucky enough to run into Ri'saad and his caravan as they had setup their camp, he told Ri'saad Tonilia's offer and gave him the Moon Sugar and he gladly accepted, "This one thinks this will be a great partnership, give Tonilia our regards."

With both Tonilia's request and the special job done Jak returned to Riften. He gave Tonilia the news and she was pleased. He then looked around to find no one in the Ragged Flagon.

"Where is everyone, Tonilia?" Jak asked.

"Brynjolf needs to talk to you about the Guild's leadership. Congratulations...boss." She gave slight smile before standing up to lead Jak to the Cistern.

They entered the Cistern and saw everyone gathered around the center, Brynjolf was missing and when Jak asked where he was Vex pointed in the direction of the training room.

"Well, are you ready to make this official, lad. You have come a long way."

"I guess I'm as ready as I'll ever be." Jak gave a worried sigh.

He followed Brynjolf back to the center of the Cistern and was surprised when he saw Maven was attending the ceremony. I guess she wants to be in the know when it comes to who is running the Guild and who she will be working with now. Jak thought to himself.

"I'm going to keep this short and simple." Brynjolf started of saying, he then explained how Jak had been a great boon to the Guild and he didn't think anyone else deserved the title of Guild Master more than him. He then turned to Vex, Delvin, and Karliah and asked each of them if they agreed to making Jak the new leader to which they all agreed thus making it official; Jak was the new Guild Master to the Thieves Guild. Everyone clapped and then eventually went back to their business and Jak approached Brynjolf.

"Brynjolf, I know I said I am ready to do this, but I don't know how well I can do it. I have never handled all the numbers, the contacts, and doing jobs all at once."

"How about this, lad. I will take care of our contacts for now and worry about our numbers, and you keep doing what you do best until you get used to being in this position."

"Sounds good, thanks Brynjolf. I'll catch on pretty quick, but until then I'll ask you if I have any questions."

" Good. And... I didn't want to say this and embarrass either of us in front of everyone, but I'm personally proud of you, lad. You've been like my own pupil. In a way I feel like a father who has watched his son grow up to become successful... But anyways go see Tonilia. She will give you your new Guild Master armor."

Jak held out his hand and shook Brynjolf's and then went to the Ragged Flagon and asked Tonilia for his armor which she gladly handed over. Jak put his new armor on and let his Nighingale armor get a feel for it so it could copy its look when needed. Jak returned to the Cistern where he saw the new recruit wandering around, and so he went to introduce himself.

"Hello." The recruit turned around and looked Jak up and down, "So you're the one everyone has been talking about? The one that was just promoted to Guild Master, you don't look like much to me."

"Hmm." Jak nodded his head, "I like you. You have a certain character to you, I think you will fit in well here. We need more people like you to keep Delvin and Vex in check." Jak gave a light laugh. He then found out the Dark Elf was named Ravyn Imyan, who was formerly a Morag Tong assassin and made a slight threat saying Jak better not tell his secret unless he wanted to end up dead from the Dark Brotherhood. Jak simply shook his head and noticed Brynjolf behind Ravyn laughing.

Jak returned to the Guild desk to see the new responsibilities he would eventually have to deal with and began his work as the Guild Master.