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]

Thanks for the feedback Maze, here's the next part for those of you still reading.
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Chapter 3: Retribution

I thoroughly searched the cavern, it seemed that the cave had been used by others as a shelter some time ago. Old rotten chairs, a few dusty bedrolls, a body, and ashes mixed with partially burnt logs were all that remained of the previous occupants. I checked the entire cavern carefully for anything dangerous before returning above ground and waving the others inside, I noticed right off that the carriage guards were gone now.

Falen, Quin, Jiub, the servant girl, and I were the only ones that remained. Quin had dismissed the others while I was inside exploring the cave and they were walking away now. Strange how the men that have worked with you for so long will leave you the first chance they get.

As everyone went inside of the cave I loaded the supplies off the carriage and Falen carried them in. This was our base now, no luxurious manors anymore...just this dank old cave filled with rats in the middle of nowhere. I was now the commander of nothing and the special armor I'd been given before had become a bittersweet reward...its disadvantages outweighed its advantages and I couldn't bear to keep it much longer.

Though it protected me very well it was hot, loud, and hard to maneuver inside of the steel shell. The protection it offered was pointless now, I hardly cared about it anymore so I discarded the armor in a pit of water off the backside of the cave only a few hours after we'd arrived. As it disappeared slowly into the darkness at the bottom of the pool, the noble soldier I'd become within the last few months faded away with it. Back to my roots, I would stick to what I was good at from here on out.

A single body occupied the cave besides us, one that had been dead for some time now. The body was past the point of decay, there was simply a skeleton before me. He wore a tattered old black cloak and thin leather gloves. I took the cloak and gloves from the corpse and put them on, their former owner wouldn't be using them. A single arrow was stuck between his ribs, he'd likely crawled back into this cavern after a fight to die long ago...or he'd been betrayed by his partners, there was evidence that several people had lived here.

I had a bad habit of over analyzing things that meant nothing, like what might have happened to this man. I shook the curiousity from my mind and washed my face with water from a puddle nearby.

I stood and walked up to the entrance where the others sat depressed and quiet. I pulled the hood over my head and walked into the light of the freshly lit fire.

"We need to get rid of the carriage...I need a volunteer to help me." I said to everyone

Falen silently volunteered by standing and we took the carriage out to dispose of it, anyone that might be searching for us would surely investigate if they saw it. We rode to the edge of a ravine and untied the horses before pushing the carriage into the pit. We released the horses after taking off their saddles and harnesses.

We began the long walk back to our new home. We slowly pulled back the cape that covered the entrance and walked inside. Later on Jiub explained what had happened. A neighboring leader called Damiscus had accused Quin of worshiping the daedra, a sin punishable by death in the council.

It appeared as if this lord had been searching for a way to ruin Quin for some time and he'd finally found it. The council ignored him so the lord went to the legion but they turned him away as well, it seemed that no one had believed what he accused Quin of.

The imperial legion refused to oppose Quin and did not believe the accusations but the lord became desperate, so he bought a warrant for the councilor's arrest and execution from a greedy politician named Timara, who's heart was as dark as the new moon. Rumors were about that she'd had her own husband killed for rights to his estate.

With legal rights given by Timara, Damiscus put together his men and sent them to take Quin from his home.

When the men arrived Jiub told them that the councilor was not in and the men demanded to search the grounds. Jiub refused their demands and closed the gates, calling the estate's personal garrison into action. The invaders besieged the castle and called all those within traitors to the empire...once they finally manage to get inside they killed everyone they could.

As Jiub told more of the story it was clear that Quin was becoming increasingly angry, that was the first time I'd ever seen him get mad. His mad look was replaced by one of deep thought, he sat silently after Juib finished for some time before voicing his thoughts. He came up with a plan to kill the opposing lord and all those involved in the conspiracy...including Tamira.

I reluctantly volunteered to do the deed, though I had little experience I figured I could do it as well as the next guy.

"I'll do it sir. I'll take care of them for you..." I said confidently

"Deagan I cannot ask you to do this for me...we will find another man..." Quin stated

"I would like to be the one to do it sir." I said

"Its too dangerous, I cannot risk your life." He said

"I can handle it...let me do this." I pleaded

He rubbed his chin slowly before answering.

"I believe that you can do it...but I do not wish to put you in harm's way." He said calmly

"Then I will put myself at risk." I stated as I turned and walked toward the entrance

"I wish you luck my friend...I know that I cannot stop you...I knew when I first saw you how stubborn you were...thats why Oryn and I chose you." He said

"Oryn had part in choosing me?" I asked, astonished

"Very much so, though he did not show it...he had a large part in my decision." He said

"I am glad that you chose me...I will not dissapoint you." I said

I pulled the hood of my cloak over my head once again and walked slowly outside into the rain. I walked for hours, past the ruins of Quin's palace toward the home of Damiscus.

I sat on the hill and stared at the smoking remains of Quin's estate, the place I'd called home for the last few months was gone and all that I had trained for had been for nothing. My position was forfeit now and my trainer was dead.

Everything was falling into place now, Damiscus had sent the Black Diamonds after Quin all those times and after their failure he got desperate, turning to Tamira. His plans had worked quite well besides one rather large error...there was still breath within Quin's lungs.

I stood from my place under the trees and continued on in the rain. I stepped lightly as I approached the outer fence of the manor. It was dark now, only the gentle light of the moon would guide me.

I climbed onto some square cut bushes and pulled myself up to the top of the fence before throwing my weight over and landing on my feet. I looked around carefully at the patrols, they were armed with torches and dogs. I could see only one way inside, a trellis leading up to a second story window. I moved closer and climbed slowly up, the rain made it a difficult task but I managed to reach the window. The wind blew the curtains viciously inside the room where I entered.

A man inside the room sat terrified in the corner, I stared at him cautiously walking between him and the door.

"Do not move..." I said, trying to instill fear into him

He instantly jumped and crawled over the bed, running for the door. There was no other way to keep him quiet, allowing him to survive would surely result in the guards being alerted.

I stepped a few feet and pulled the dagger from my belt, stabbing it into his kidney. He let out a short cry of pain before I covered his mouth. I stabbed him again and let him down slowly onto the floor after he stopped struggling. That was the first time I'd killed an innocent...it would not be the last. I locked the door behind me in case any servants came by.

I peeked around the next corner and saw two people talking, I moved closer in the dark hallway to hear their conversation. I could see the guard but the man he was speaking with stood around the corner, out of sight.

"Yes my lord...Quin's manor has been taken care of." the voice said

"How did Quin die?" He asked

"Quin was nowhere to be found...however, a scout did find his carriage in a ravine along the road to his manor." the man replied

"I told you to make sure he was dead." The voice said in an angry tone

"Yes sir...I will return and search for his body." The man replied

As the minion turned away I saw the lord step forward and stab a dagger into his shoulder. The man struggled and the lord leaned up next to his ear...I felt as if I recognized the lord...like I'd seen him before.

"No you will not...I grow tired of your constant excuses and failure." He said with another stab in the man's shoulder

As blood sprayed on the stone wall beside him and the wounded man screamed as he fell to his knees I realized where I'd seen the lord before. Back at the council hall...the priest that had sent me into the wine cellar in search of the assassins.

He'd sent me there expecting me to die...my trust in people had betrayed me once again.

As I plotted the lord's death a servant came upstairs at the sound of the screams and the lord smiled at her.

"Clean this up and meet me in my quarters afterwards." He said darkly

Hatred built inside me as I creeped through the manor's deserted hallways and waited for the servant to finish cleaning up the blood in the hallway. Guards came and drug the body out and Damiscus returned to his room upstairs. I waited for things to calm down a bit before I would proceed to the end of the hall and climb the stairs.

I would kill the lord as mercilessly as he'd killed his guard just moments before. I slowly drew my dagger as I approached the stairway behind the servant woman, not to kill her but to use her in order to get into the lord's room. I would go in right behind her and confront the lord.
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Alright there it is, hope this interests someone.

This post has been edited by Kiln: May 31 2006, 06:09 PM