The Eldest Councilor, A knight in service of a councilor... Options

[Kiln]

Author's note: Keep in mind that none of the characters in this story are based off of any in oblivion, as I do not have the game and cannot add references to it so just assume that it takes place years after the OB storyline.
Also, this is my first real try at a story from the first person perspective so it may not be so good but hey, I hope you find the time to at least read a little and decide if you like it.
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Prologue

I shall tell you a story that is rarely told, there are few left in this world to recite it. It is a tale of a knight who would stop at nothing to protect his master and friend, throughout time he grew more and more powerful. I will admit that his power was not used only for helping people, they were used for what his master desired and needed. I shall read this story from the journal of Deagan, for he is long gone now and his tale has nearly been forgotten.

Chapter One: In the Beginning...

My name is Deagan, I am but a prisoner now but I was not always locked up like this, believe it or not I once served one of the oldest and most respected councilors in the country...once I was a respected knight serving under what I felt was right...though now I sit here in the darkness, secluded from the other inmates, I can't help but think back to when I first arrived and why I was brought here.

When I first entered the prison, I was on the same floor as the other prisoners but after I escaped my cell and nearly made it out of the complex, the warden added several more guards around me but I was still on the same floor at that time.

The extra guards that were added to the area were always drunk and abusive, they enjoyed hitting me for long periods of time, generally only a few would participate and the beatings would last only a few short minutes but there were always the occasions when they would all enter my cell and hit me at once.

I could have killed them at any time with the amount of experience and training I'd been through but I took the punishment so I could avoid getting into more trouble. Though every man has his limits and eventually I snapped.

One day when the guards entered my cell to begin the usual beating I took the iron mug from the wet stone floor of my room and swung it with my full strength at the nearest guard, causing him to fall to the ground.

As the other guards stood in amazement, I drew the sword from the belt of their downed comrade and jabbed it through the stomach of one of the others. The last guard that hadn't already run unsheathed his sword and I fought him for a few minutes before finally getting through and slicing his neck.

I know it was probably wrong but I felt great, I'd once again gotten the feel of a blade in my hand and felt the blood of the guards who had beaten me regularly for almost four years.

I went for the stairway and fought several more guards in the room with the exit.

Before I left I took a knee near the bodies and searched them quickly for anything that might be of use to me once I had left the prison but there was nothing but a bit of gold and a key.

I went down to the cell room and released the other inmates, no matter what they had done, nobody deserved to be locked up here. The bruised inhabitants of the prison stayed downstairs for now, until I'd checked things outside the prison.

At that point I was starting to feel pretty good, the doorway was right in front of me and I now had a weapon and a bit of gold, I was set to start my new life.

I opened the double doors in front of me and stared blankly into the huge blue sky above me, smelling the fresh air, tasting the winds, absorbing every moment of my newly acquired freedom...but it was a short lived moment of ecstasy.

In all the time I'd been fighting my way out of the prison, one of the guards had already made his way into town and brought back several others. I looked out across the courtyard at the many armored guards in formation in front of me and did a rough estimation of how many were there.

I counted about twenty and readied myself to fight them when I heard the loud thumping noise, as I slowly looked down I noticed the arrow in my chest and quickly broke it off, leaving the tip still inside of my flesh and starting to move closer to the group of men down the stairway.

Another arrow struck my shoulder but I did not let my pain show, instead I continued to make my way closer and closer to the soldiers, knowing that this battle would be my death...unfortunately it wasn't.

A man in a robe emerged and put his hand out as if he wished were motioning for me to stop, from it emerged the spell that ended my escape, it hit me and all my strength faded, I felt as if I hadn't slept in months and I fell to the ground on my knees, barely able to stay awake...which reminds me of why I hate mages since we're on the subject.

The guards surrounded me and forced my head down, the guard drew back his blade and readied to strike me, finishing this once and for all.

Before he could a voice rang out,

"No! Do not kill him, he shall be forced to suffer for what he has done, for the rest of his days he will remember the brave guards he killed today and their deaths will weigh hard on his mind."

In reality I felt no remorse for killing the guards, not even the slightest bit of guilt, my years of killing had taken away the feeling of grief and the feeling of wrongdoing that I had when I first started.

The man leaned down close to me and whispered into my ear softly,

"You will suffer for the crimes you have committed fool, you cannot stop us, we will kill the councilor."

I forced my head to look into his eyes then quickly looked to his feet and spat onto them, showing my hatred for him. If I could have lifted my arms I would have hit him right in the jaw and strangled him but alas, I was powerless.

I stayed awake a bit longer to see one of the guards draw back a wooden club and that was it, I awoke some time later in the darkness, completely alone. I learned later from the warden that they had moved me into the cells in the basement, away from the well behaving prisoners and into the part of the prison with those who would never see day again.

The guards were careful here, never leaving anything in which we could use to escape and never entering our cells under any circumstances. I was in the high-risk section of the prison and nobody wanted to disturb me.

It was a step up from the prison upstairs in some ways, no listening to other inmates complaints and no abusive guards.

Though life in the lower sector got old quickly I'm still here, as I've been unable to escape, its been years since my only escape attempt and I wonder if I would even be in this situation if I had not been in the service of councilor Quin, who would probably be killed by the black diamond assassins, if he had not been already.
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Hope this at least slightly interests some of you.

This post has been edited by Kiln: May 9 2006, 08:14 PM

[Kiln]

I made my way back down the stairs and to the dining room where Quin was waiting for me. He nodded once and Oryn led me outside, the councilor just wanted to watch how I performed in combat.

I had never fought enough to get any skill at it but Oryn assured me that after a couple of months of training I would learn a few of his fighting tactics and a bit of field strategy for when I had to command a guard unit. He could only teach me the basic elements of battle and how to keep focused during combat, I would have to learn the rest on my own.

Oryn led me down by the fountain and walked over to one of the other trainers.
My nosy side forced me to move closer and listen in on their conversation. The other trainer was a dark elf man with a scar across his eye, bald head, and a deep scratchy voice.

"Master trainer Jiub, would you bring out one of your novice fighters? Perhaps your new boy, Falen?" Oryn asked

The dark elf scratched his head for a moment as if he was thinking and dug through his pocket for a moment.

"Care to make a wager captain? Say...fifty gold pieces?" Jiub asked

Oryn counted out a rather large amount of gold pieces and sat them on the table beside the elf before shaking the man's hand to seal the deal. The trainer called Jiub yelled for his apprentice and he came out quickly, standing in attention in front of his master.

"Go get your training equipment and get ready for a warm up fight before we start this evening." Jiub said

Oryn approached me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"You will fight Falen today in a practice fight, I've got fifty septims on you so don't mess up. The first to strike the flesh of the other five times wins the fight, strikes on the shield do not count towards your victory or defeat so make sure his weapon lands on your shield and your weapon gets past his." he said calmly

"Yes sir...I will do my best." I replied plainly

"Your best is not good enough, act as if his wooden blade were real and don't let it hit you...remember that enough hits, no matter how good they are could cause you to bleed out in real combat so don't let any through." Oryn said in an authorative tone

I knew that if I lost this fight, even though I had not been training like my opponent, Oryn would not be happy so I would do as he said and try my damndest not to lose this fight.

Jiub and Oryn took their seats at a table facing us and began to drink some brandy while Falen came toward me and held out his hand, I extended my arm and shook with him.

"Best of luck to you." He said

"And you as well." I replied

We stepped back roughly twenty feet away from eachother and picked up our wooden blades. Both of us moved toward one another in a ready stance, I glanced at Oryn who was watching with great anticipation from his comfy chair beside councilor Quin.

This competition was real to Falen, the friendly man I had stood before moments ago had been replaced by a solid warrior, ready to do what he must to win this game.

He came in close to me and swung but I stepped out of it just in time, causing it to pass harmlessly past my stomach.

I stepped to the side and swung down at Falen but he moved effortlessly from its path and brought his weapon toward my side. My shield caught it perfectly, causing him to lose balance, and allowing me to strike him once in the chest before he knew what was happening.

He came in quickly before I had a chance to block and slapped me with his shield before hitting me twice with the practice blade. I was mad now and went in too quickly for my own good, swinging wildly and though I hit him twice more, he hit me twice more as well, leaving no more room for error on my part.

I moved slowly closer to him, circling carefully trying to wait him out so he would make the first move. Time seemed to slow down as my heart beat loudly, adrenaline pumped through my vains, I found it strange that this could happen in a practice fight.

I must admit though, it felt almost natural to me holding the weapon in my hands. Though it was not real I thought of it as if it were as sharp as steel as I moved in for the final strike.

I stood proud and confident as I swung toward Falen, sure that it would connect.
He slapped my blade to the side with his and hit me the final time with the practice sword. He smiled and gave a quick bow before returning to his master.

I could tell that Oryn knew that I would fail but he didn't act like he was surprised.

"Well that wasn't bad...but you need to get into shape." Oryn said as he stood from the table

"Thank you sir." I replied

"Now give me fourty laps around the courtyard...then we'll start your training." He said with a fleeting smile

I did not question him, instead I ran laps around the huge courtyard. The cool fountain in the middle seemed like a mile away and its cool waters taunted and called to me to come to them. After I managed all of the laps I took a long drink from the fountain and then returned to Oryn.

For the next month I did the same routine involving exercise, training, and reading to sharpen my mind. Training was rough but it got easier with time, I didn't realize just how much I had learned from Oryn until our first escort mission.

The councilor had left and returned to the imperial city many times without problems with the assassins. In all the time I'd been training no assassination attempts had occurred, a solid month and a half had passed without one and we had guessed that there would be one along the road to the council house because they wanted to get him before the meeting but I felt invincible now that I'd learned to fight...I had no idea what to expect but I felt I was ready for anything.

I got a letter a few days after overhearing the councilor talking about the meeting that said that I needed to be ready as soon as I could for the trip to the council hall. I packed my things and went downstairs to Oryn who had sent a servant to retrieve me.

"Come with me Deagan, I have something for you." He said in a cheery voice

I followed him slowly into the room where the wine was stored. Oryn pulled a stone out of place and the wall slid out of place, revealing a hallway leading down.
He motioned for me to come and I did so eagerly awaiting whatever he was going to show me.

As we continued deeper underground I saw groups of men training in the room ahead, we kept going past them though and I could not resist asking a question.

"Oryn...what is this place?" I said timidly

"This is the elite training area for Quin's personal bodyguards and mercenaries...you should be honored to even be brought down here." He said calmly

"I am sir." I replied

He led me deeper into the place and showed me to my own armor, sword, and bottle of brandy for my efforts and graduation. It was soft steel engraved carefully with swirls and a dragon. I was very pleased with this and also surprised that Oryn had decided to advance me.

"You've graduated from basic training, we'll start the advanced stuff when we get back but for now, put this on and go upstairs...prepare for our trip, we'll be leaving soon." He said

I carefully strapped the armor to myself and moved upstairs to further prepare myself for the journey ahead of me. For now I would focus on eating breakfast with Quin...
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I hope you liked this part even though it is a bit short, I don't know when the next update will come but trust me...it won't be what you're expecting I assure you.