Oasis chapter 3, In the enemies lair. Umm, mushroom. Options

[jack cloudy]

Oasis chapter 1
Oasis chapter 2

Ok, a new chapter. Let's just see where this goes. I've decided to do a small costume change, the old look got boring.



,,Ah, there you are, Evoker.” I hadn’t even put a step inside the hall, and already the Steward wanted something from me. It made me wonder how they ever managed before I joined.
She dragged me over to Galbedir’s office and waited till the woodelf had left before finally opening her mouth.

,,Tell me, Evoker. Have you by chance come across enchanted weapons or armour?” She asked. What kind of question was that, those things were all over the place.
,,Sure, are you looking for anything specific?” I answered while wondering just what might be so important.

,,Then you must be aware of the fact that no enchanted item seems to be able to hold its charge since a few months back. Only small items, like rings or amulets seem to be safe from it. It is as if something is draining them. Now, I have a very important mission for you.” Ok, so enchanted items couldn’t hold their charge anymore? That sounded familiar.
,,Let me guess, find out who did it and kill him.”

,,No, that would be too hasty. I am convinced that the culprit must be a member of house Telvanni. So I want you to go and join the house. You’ll be our spy on the inside.” Hold on, join Telvanni, the house of psychopathic mages?
,,Are you nuts?! I am already with the mage guild! The guild doesn’t like the Telvanni and the Telvanni doesn’t like the guild. And on top of that, I’m an outlander, how am I supposed to survive longer than ten seconds in their midst?!” I yelled at her face. Now really, this was the most stupid idea ever.

,,Calm down, Evoker. I don’t want the guild to hear this. Now to take care of things, you will be banned from the guild. After your assignment is completed, I’ll get you back in with your old rank, or maybe with a promotion. Skink’s hall in Sadrith Mora will serve as your link with the guild. It is right in Telvanni territory. I want you to prepare and pack. Tomorrow, you’ll leave for the hall in Sadrith Mora. Use the guild guide. Skink will further inform you.” I walked out of the hall with a very confused, and angry look on my face. There went my career as a mage, and I might even lose my life. I could only hope that those Telvanni weren’t as crazy and brainwashed as in mage guild jokes.

Back at my house, I took the time to work out the details. I would be dropped in potentially hostile territory and my only excuse was that I was kicked out of the guild and now wanted to join the enemy for revenge? That was the worst coverstory in history. I decided that a more thorough thing such as a disguise was needed. I had plenty of stuff to dress up with, so I just had to choose.

My new identity would preferably look somewhat magish, so I took Tarhiel’s robe out of the closet. Telvanni supposedly liked shiney stuff, so I replaced my Orcish armour with the new Glass armour I stole from Ghostgate. A Glass staff to walk around with, and my identity was set. I also geared on a Glass longsword for when things got rough. Using a weapon I was unfamiliar with was asking for trouble. I spent the rest of the night removing the markings on my new gear that said who the previous owner was.

Next morning, I got up very early and ate my breakfast enroute to the guild. A quick transportation later, and I arrived in Sadrith Mora.

First thing was to join the house and work my way to the upper ranks. With the skills I had gained during my mage guild career, I would have no problems passing the tests for promotion. That left making friends and making myself known as a loyal house member. How do you do that with a bunch of lunatics?

Sometimes when you don’t know what to do, the bold and direct approach might be the best. So I walked right through the middle of town to the council hall. And any guard who dared to stop me would get a sword in that ridiculous helmet.

[jack cloudy]

Therana is quite funny. I'm still thinking whether I should kill her someday or not. I joined Telvanni cause of their houses. Mushrooms rock! Anyway, an update. It might just be me, but I've got the feeling that Luper acted a bit different than usual.




,,You came back? I hope that mistress Therana didn’t ….complicate your task.” I had to give it to her, she always managed to remain polite when talking about the thing that was her patron.
,,I would normally reward you, but I am rather busy with a slave rebellion in the Abebaal egg mine. I need to send someone right away to teach those slaves some manners.” Felisa continued and began to walk away. Slave rebellion?
,,Hold it, I have some experience with slaves. I could go there for you.” This manner teaching thing didn’t sound good. If she sent me, I bet I could figure out a plan to get the slaves of the island without killing them.
,,Fine then. Tell the guards that I sent you. If you come back, I’ll see to it that you receive a proper reward.”

So I got on another trip to Tel Branora. This was getting rather expensive, but at least I managed to get a discount by helping out with sailing the ship. Once I arrived in Tel Branora, I found out that I would have to do some island hopping to get to the mine. I was really grateful for my skills in the school of alteration. Walking on the surface of the water and clubbing Slaughterfish was much better than swimming and getting torn to shreds.

The guards didn’t seem to notice me, they were a bit too busy with something else.
,,Trying to escape, aren’t you? Stupid lump of fur! Now you will know what it means to suffer. You will die a slow death, slave.” One of the two guards yelled at the poor thing and kicked again. Ok, that was the last drop.

,,Let the slave go. Now.” I said with the most threatening tone I could muster. That got there attention. After one last kick, both guards stepped forward with their hands on their swords.
,,And what if we don’t Redguard?”
,,If not, you will die and I’ll make sure that your death will be much more painful than you could ever imagine, filthy Kwama-Cliffracer hybrid.”

They both started laughing and didn’t seem to notice that the slave was slowly crawling away. Just a little bit more, and the poor thing would be safe from the upcoming battle.
,,You may be a Redguard and dressed up fancy, but you can’t best both of us at the same time. Now you will die, N’Wah.” That was the last thing he would ever say. The biggest fireball of my life hit him right in the face and put his head on fire. Not the prettiest sight.

I followed up with a small bolt of restorative Magicka. The flames died out and the damage to his face was repaired just enough to allow him to live, see and hear. I then rushed forward and parried the sword of the second guard with my own while using my other hand to swing my staff against the back of the burned guard. The guard slumped to the ground with a broken spine. Not death, but the lower part of his body was paralyzed and as such, he was limited to crawling.

The second guard backed of in fear as he realized that he had chosen the wrong Redguard to mess with. But pure rage filled my heart, and I wasn’t about to stop till he laid in the dust. That came soon enough after a rapid exchange of blows. In the end, I slid open his stomach and paralyzed him with some magicka. I then tied him up with some of the tough plants that grew on the island. After that, I went to the guard whose face I’d burned and tied him up also. Finally, I made a small cut on his chest with my dagger.
,,I won’t kill you, but the Cliffracers will surely be attracted by your blood and come to feast. That is the price you will pay for mistreating slaves.” I said and entered the mine after having healed up the slave.

Once in the mine, I was greeted by an Argonian who had peeked through a hole in the door and watched the battle.
,,I do not know if you are on my side, Outlander, but you are not with them. For that and your skills in battle I have decided to tell you why we rebelled. Mistress Therana forced us to work in the mines. More, she always wanted more eggs. One day, I was brought to her room. There I saw what she had done. She had used the eggs to decorate her room. She wasted our work in the madness of her soul. It was then that I decided that I would not work any longer for her cause.” That was a good reason I could understand. I’d seen both the eggs and the Telvanni myself.

,,I was sent here by Therana’s Mouth to end your rebellion. That is what I shall do. Gather up the slaves and have them gather around me. I shall then send us all to the hall of the mage guild in Sadrith Mora from where you can receive passage to the Argonian mission in Ebonheart. The Twin Lamps will surely bring you home.”

To do that, the slaves would first need to be freed from their bracers. I joined their search and found the key in a crate near the Kwama queen. Before recalling to Sadrith Mora, I checked up on the two guards. At least ten Cliffracers were munching on their remains. There would be no clues as to what had happened. I recalled both myself and the slaves to Sadrith Mora where I enlisted the help of Skink to get them to Ebonheart. That was the end of the rebellion, only it was ended differently than Felisa had expected.

I told her instead that the mine had been empty when I arrived and that the guards had been killed by the slaves. What was left had been largely eaten by a band of Cliffracers.
,,I see. That is unfortunate but the rebellion has ended, which was why I sent you there. Outlander, you have only joined the house a short time ago but you have already proven yourself. I’ve heard that you navigated the Telvanni towers with skilful use of levitation spells. I hereby reward you with the rank of Oathman. I will also teach you a skill that will hopefully make sure that your slaves will be more obedient. And you are free to use one of the beds here in the council hall.” Ok, friendship with a Mouth and a large number of freed slaves. All on one day. I was rather proud of myself.