Section: Stories
Written by Superum Lucretia Victrix (MadDocSkooma)
Tales of the Hermit Enchantress, Part 1 by Superum Lucretia Victrix (MadDocSkooma)
This is the story of how I came to be the Hermit Enchantress Superum Lucretia Victrix. Some tales may sound embellished, and others actually are enhanced, as they say, but most are true. My time in the lands of Tamriel are growing short, I am an old woman now. But, if you take pleasure in the adventures of daring do and ne'er do wells then read on.
It all started when I was arrested as a young girl. The war effort had taken its toll on the local farms, and we were being rationed by the military. My family was hungry, and I did not believe the Imperial Guard would arrest a child for lifting a loaf of bread. I was sentenced to three days. Three days! For a loaf of bread? Me, a young imperial girl given three days for simply helping out my family? If ever I meet the Emperor I'd give him a piece of my mind, and more. That is what I had thought then. Oh to be young and brash and full of vigor. I guess the bread did belong to the captain of the guard, but still he had plenty of food.
The guards shoved me into a dark cell deep within the prison tower. It suddenly dawned on me that they had indeed found me guilty! As I was lost in my thoughts of anger, I hadn't noticed there was someone else in the cell with me. As my eyes adjusted I noticed the figure of an old woman sitting on the bed clutching a blanket around herself to stay warm.
I asked the old woman, "Who are you?"
"Just an old woman caught stealing." she said.
Sitting in the cell with the old woman who had been punished much like myself, we could hear a great battle raging outside. I suppose, the price one pays for living near a province not yet under the rule of law. Not having much to do the old woman tried to befriend me, she said she was a great enchantress. All I could believe was that she was a filthy liar and a thief, like me, otherwise why was she caught stealing? But, not having much to do I listen to her, as she prattled on about how to enchant ones shoes to travel faster.
She says to make such an enchantment; one needs a great soul of a demon. I couldn't believe that she could capture the soul of a rat, but still there was something about her that kept me interested.
"Old woman, tell me. Have you done so to your shoes?" I asked.
"Aye, young child I did. But, they have been stolen. Along with my collection of soul gems. Unfortunately, there was a slight problem with the soul I used for the enchantment." she said.
"Problem? What happened?" I was quite intrigued by this, had the great enchantress made a mistake?
"Well, as it turns out the shoes, well actually boots, had a rather nasty habit of making the wearer blind!"
Some enchantress I thought. Still, she had shown me a few tricks to enchanting, and I became more interested in the process. The days went by, the old woman showed me a few more tricks of the trade before we were released, a day later than we had been sentenced. The guards said it was for our own good, and besides it would have been too dangerous for an old woman and a child to be around all the fighting.
As we left the prison tower I noticed a charred patch of land nearby, the place where my families home used to be. I felt an assuring hand placed on my back, I looked up to see the old woman. With a glint of tears welling in her eyes she motioned towards a distant hill where a small shack perched precariously atop it and said, "Come child, you may stay with me."
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