Clark - Second Era Options

[ghastley]

Now I've created a second-era Clark, I need a story of how he got there. I'd started something similar for Minx, but it wasn't going anywhere, so I've adjusted a bit. This may be a bit infrequent, as my logic is that Azura sends him back to Morrowind, which is special for her, and needs some attention in this era. However, ESO Clark probably won't go there until we get him up to Champion level, and he can start doing things for the story, and not just levels and skill points.


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Chapter 1 - Arrival


It wasn't exactly deja vu, because this was the first time, and the other happened in the fiuture. Which is why I can't remember it clearly.

Azura told me it would be like this. I would have no memory of the things that hadn't happened yet, because that would cause problems with temporal causality, or something like that. But yet, things that hadn't changed much, like Seyda Neen, where I'd just got off the boat, would seem familiar.

I could remember anything that happened in a Daedric realm, because time worked differently there. So I remember all about my dealings with Azura and Nocturnal, and why they'd made me immortal. I had some recollections of mortal women, including my wife, Dralsi, and our daughter Karliah, but only the things that happened in Nocturnal's Realm. Fortunately, both had been Nightingales, so there was a lot that took place in Evergloam, which might have included Karliah's conception.

I remembered a Bosmer called Cyndil, who'd been made a Nightingale at the same time I was. I had fond, but sparse, memories of a Nord called Gilda, who'd also been a Nightingale with my daughter. There was a Dunmer called Minx, that had joined me in Cyndil's rescue from Mehrunes Dagon's Dremora. Azura tells me that were a lot more that I wouldn't remember in my future.

Most of my memories about Mundus seemed to relate to Nocturnal, and quests that I'd done for her, and yet it was Azura that sent me back here. The mission I was on was particularly hers, as Morrowind was under her protection, perhaps as a result of her turning the Chimer into Dunmer all that time ago. And yet, I didn't really know what that mission was. It would work itself out, just because I was here at the right time.

---

This promised to be an interesting time. Azura had told me about Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec, and how they'd used the power of Lorkhan's heart to become like gods. And unlike the Daedric Princes, they had nothing restraining them from interfering as much as they liked in the affairs of mortals. Indeed, it was Sotha Sil who had engineered much of that restraint upon their Daedric rivals.

That didn't seem to concern her too much. I imagine that she felt it was the best arrangement for both sides. I got the impression that she felt that the Tribunal were at least as constrained themselves.

And I knew that Balmora was in that direction, and the city of Vivec was in the other. I might know some of the rocks along the way, but not the trees or mushrooms. I have no idea when I was here before, or rather, when I would be here in future. I might be a child when I learn my way around, or an adult. I'm an adult now, but I'm not sure how old to consider myself, considering that I haven't been born yet. It's so confusing.

I wasn't likely to bump into anyone I knew in future. This was far enough back in my past, according to Azura, that no mortal could live that long. Not even the elven mages could prolong their lives that much. If I did see a familiar face, it might be one of her winged twilights with a message.

Azura had also warned me about history. Everything I'd learned about the past, I'd still remember, up to the now I was in. However, some of the accounts may have been revised before I'd learned them, so they'd be false memories, and anything that had just happened here would be fresh in everyone else's memory, but seem vague and distant in mine. This would be especially true about the Tribunal, who Azura felt bent the truth liberally in their records of this time. If I thought I recalled something, I shouldn't trust that feeling until I checked the facts.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Dec 15 2023, 07:41 PM

[ghastley]

@Acadian: More exploring coming up.

@Grits: Travel adventures are what Seryn is supposed to be doing, if Azura has her way.

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Previously: Isobel got her knighthood, and she and Seryn have gone to Elden Root to start raising their guild ranks (and get paid for it).

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Bathing

t had been a long day, so we wasted no time traveling back to Elden Root. Isobel wanted to wash off the stink of goblin, but I persuaded her to wait until we could use the tub in my Vivec apartment. We collected our pay from the Undaunted, the Mages and the Fighters, and went to Vivec to sell the loot and count up our earnings.

Isobel was surprised at just how hot the bath water was. "I couldn't get into that, I'd be jumping right back out again. How can you stand it?"

"Probably because I'm a Dunmer. We're resistant to fire spells, so hot baths are no problem."

"I'm used to bathing in the sea, and if it got this hot, we'd not need to cook the fish," Isobel replied.

Isobel got herself a room for the night in the same inn - with a cooler bath, she informed me. We met up for breakfast the next day and went over our accounts. The guilds paid well, and we'd made even more from selling off the things we'd picked up from chests, and crates, and dead enemies along the way. My crafting writs had paid well, too. I did a few quick calculations.

"I reckon in about a week, if we do the same daily quests, we could buy that Bosmer pod house near the Elden Root entrance. Then we'd be right next to the stables, for our riding lessons, and pretty close to the Undaunted Enclave. I can make bedrolls, and fur-pile bedding to put them on, so we could use it as a base. It's larger than my inn room, so there's space for storage chests, and other things I don't currently have room for."

"Walking distance to the Enclave sounds great," Isobel thought, "but if we can only do one delve a day, what's the point of saving time?"

"I can only get one quest, but you could go along with any of the other Undaunted who wants help. I noticed you preferred their dailies to the other two we did, so maybe you could do more of them while I'm doing my crafting writs. We both need to do the Mages and Fighters dailies for the ranking, so we can learn their skills."

And that's what we did. Snugpod effectively became Isobel's home. The Vivec apartment was mine and Clark's and that hot bath was one thing we both liked, even if Isobel wasn't convinced. Since we could travel instantly between them it was an ideal arrangement.

---

Our daily routine was first to take a riding lesson from Galolion, and then pick up the daily delve quest from Bolgrul at the Undaunted Enclave. At the first landing in the tree, we'd get the guild dailies, and I'd pick up the crafting writs. Depending on where the daily quests took us, we'd go do those, and then return to Snugpod.

Isobel would go turn in Bolgrul's quest, while I did the same for the other two. She'd ask around if anyone needed a swordswoman's help with their Undaunted daily, while I made all the items for the crafting writs up in the tree. After I finished those, I had to take them out to the quartermaster's crates near the bridge, before returning to Snugpod to meet up with Isobel. Then we'd go off and find somewhere new to eat.

Most days we both finished about the same time. Some of the Undaunted quests took you further from the wayshrines, so they took a bit more travel time than others. If I got a sealed Master writ to do, then that would take me extra time to make, as I'd have to travel to the crafting station that made that set. So it wasn't unusual for one of us to be waiting around for the other to turn up.

---

When Isobel finally did arrive, she had a silly grin on her face that told me she hadn't just been fighting in a delve. "Come on, spill the beans," I told her.

"You remember Snegh, the Orc aspirant back on High Isle? The one I said was a typical Orc, because he just hit everything with his axe? Well, I just met an Orc who was the exact opposite of Snegh," Isobel began.

"When I went to the Enclave, he was standing near Bolgrul, who was looking up at him, and giving him his daily task. He wore no armor, unless you count the metal armbands and collar, just regular cloth pants and shoes, and he carried a staff on his back. He was showing a lot of muscle for a mage.

"I was curious, to say the least. I asked if he needed a sword-wielding companion to assist in the delve, and he agreed. We headed off for Mehrune's Spite, a cave in the North of Auridon. It was full of daedra, a lot of them stinky little banekin, but with clannfears and flame atronachs as well. There were the usual cultists, but the boss we were after was a Dremora mage.

"None of it was particularly difficult, especially as I'm used to working with a mage like yourself. So we didn't work up much of a sweat. However, daedra in a confined cave still left us rather odorous, and I was eager to get cleaned up. We came out of the cave and I ran down to the nearby beach to clean my armour, and bathe.

"Bud, the big Orc, followed me. He seemed surprised that I was going to bathe in the sea. He told me that where he came from in Wrothgar, the sea had Ice floating in it, and nobody even considered going in deliberately. You'd only get hot water in the bathhouses, and generally they had separate times for male and female bathers. So he wasn't expecting me to strip off and dive in.

"I told him that on High Isle, most people bathed in the sea. Nowhere was far from a beach, and the water was nicely warm, like it was there in Auridon. And of course you bathed naked, if you were trying to get clean.

"Apparently, he appreciated what I was showing. I'd always thought I was a bit too well-muscled for Breton tastes, but Orcs think differently. He told me that some of the Orc women take it too far, and end up looking like men, but I was properly smooth. Curves, not lumps. I was tall for a Breton, and that helped, too.

"So it's my fault that he needs to loosen his pants. After a quick dip to clean off, that problem hadn't gone away. It was my duty to do what I could, or we wouldn't be able to go back to the enclave with him in that condition."

"And you would have done a thorough and diligent job of it," I snickered. "A Knight should always try to excel, right?"

Isobel laughed. "What took all the time was that he had the same ideas, and made sure I got what he thought I deserved, too."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but when we left High Isle, I was convinced you preferred women," I told her.

"Well, I grew up with Aurelia, so she was like a step-sister, and I did have a bit of a crush on her at one point. And you saw what the choice of men was like back there. Langley, Mortens, Nilsmon, and Snegh were the cream of the crop! So at that point in time, you were probably right."

"Does this mean you'll be looking for him at the Enclave again tomorrow?" I asked.

"Just that I won't mind if I find him there," she grinned. "But there's quite a few other guys I like doing a delve with. It's just that the circumstances haven't conspired so well before."

"Tell me about the others over dinner," I suggested. "I'm starving, and the tavern opposite has a special tonight that I want to try."

---

So Isobel told me about the other mages she'd been out with. The elderly Breton that had her wear the dancing girl costume so that the enemies would underestimate her. "And I expect he enjoyed the show, too," I inquired.

"Probably, but he never tried anything. I suspect he was a bit afraid of me, just like the other squires back in High Isle. We all bathed naked at the beach after our training sessions, but they soon learned that even if I did look tempting, they'd get hurt if they tried anything.

"There's another guy that likes me to wear a costume, too, but only when we're being social. In the delves, he doesn't care what I look like, but he thinks I should look elegant in company."

"So you just go delve-clearing with guys?" I asked.

"Mostly. The women are looking for a male companion, or just don't want one, because they have something to prove."

---

So now, whenever I'm at the Enclave, I'm looking around to try and guess who else Isobel knows. And noticing a few of the others in the process. There was one Reguard man that caught my eye, with a greatsword (curved, of course) on his back, but wearing a fancy costume that made him appear to be a wealthy merchant, not a delve-diving adventurer. I asked him where he got it, as I hadn't seen anything quite like it before.

He didn't remember. It could have been Hew's Bane, or Sentinel, or even Stros M'kai. None of those were places I'd ever been, but he'd never visited Morrowind, and my Ashlander outfit was just as exotic to him. He'd started his adventuring life on Stros M'kai, so come to think of it, that probably wasn't where he got the costume. If he ever had enough gold, he'd go back there and buy a big house to live in. But he spent it as fast as it came in, so that wasn't likely.

I asked Isobel if she knew any of the places he'd talked about. She'd heard of them, but not been there herself. They all had ports, so she'd been told tales by ship's captains that worked for her parents. Hew's Bane was full of thieves, but was generally safe if you stayed in the docks area. Sentinel was a major city with more than one dock area. Veloise shipping used only one of them, so she didn't know much about the rest. Most of the trade there was minerals, as so much of the kingdom was desert. Stros M'kai was pirate territory, but the Redguard king was making progress in cleaning them out. It was a small island, so that could happen quite quickly.

"But it's strange you should mention that place, because I just heard from Aurelia. She's gone there, on her travels, and had a ring I gave her stolen. She wants us to meet her there, and try and get it back."

"Is it a special ring?" I wanted to know.

"Well, yes. It's a Veloise family signet ring. I gave it to her because I wanted to show her that she was family to me. And not just like a sister. I may have understated that crush when I told you earlier.

"The problem now is that somebody could use that ring to impersonate a Veloise Mercantile agent, and really do my family business some harm, financially, or to our reputation, which comes to the same thing in the end."