Serene of Cyrodiil, chapter 2 "A New Start" Options

[minque]

Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you.
Jean-Paul Sartre

Chapter 2, A New Start

I am an incurable landlubber; boats are not my cup ´o tea, not in the least! I remember once when I was a child back home in Cyrodiil and my father and I went out on the quite calm Nibenay River in a small wooden boat just to take a pleasure trip……I was hanging over the side trying to get rid of whatever I had eaten the last couple of hours…the whole time.

I awoke with a terrible nausea, and honestly thought I was dying. The squeaking of wood against wood and the salty smell showed me I was on a ship somewhere at sea. I didn’t dare to move lest I have to empty an already empty stomach. The boat was tossing and turning and the sound of the heavy storm reached my ears as I tried to fall asleep again. A soothing hand was stroking my forehead, and I felt the bitter, yet refreshing taste of Hackle-Lo-tea on my lips.

“There now, lassie, drink this and you’ll soon feel better.”

A hoarse voice caused me to open my eyes and I caught a glimpse of the dark face of a man kneeling beside me. I drank the bitter fluid and my stomach slowly calmed down. When I opened my eyes I looked right into the red eyes of a young Dunmer with a gruesome scar across his left cheek. He wiped the cold sweat from my face and gave me a friendly smile.

“ Nah, feelin´better now? “

I nodded and he continued;

“Try to get some more sleep, we are far from our destination and the weather is getting even worse, so the best is if you sleep it through.”

I closed my eyes and drifted away, the last thought that came into my mind was a slight wonder what he had put in my tea………

It is sometimes hard to decide what is dream and what is reality. I was walking in a strange ash-covered landscape, no grass and the trees seemed all dead, no sign whatsoever of life. There was an eerie humming sound as the air thickened and went reddish. Then the humming sound grew stronger and the wind started to blow the ash from the ground. I tried to cover my mouth from the whirling red ashes and trudged forward, forward……Then Azura´s voice came to me as so many times before.

“Serene, Serene of Cyrodiil, they have taken you from the Imperial City’s Prison, first by carriage and now by boat, to the east, to Morrowind. You have been chosen, you are the first, and others will follow. Fear not, I will guide you….”

The landscape changed to a dark stormy night, rain pouring down; lightning crossed the sky in an outrageous tempest. I was running in the rain trying to escape from something yet unknown, when the world started to fall apart…..

A hand was shaking my shoulder; I tried to avoid it by turning aside but the shaking was persistent and I had to open my eyes. The Dunmer with the scar was bending over me with a friendly grin in his face.

“Hey wake up lassie, how are you? Here take my hand, you are shaking, did you have a bad dream?”

He took my hand and helped me to my feet; I was all shivery and felt nauseous with a terrible headache. The ship was slowly turning and I swallowed frantically to alleviate my obvious sea-sickness.

“Now there, take my hand, I’m Jiub, by the way, here, drink this.”

He held a pitcher to my lips and I downed the bitter liquid…..

“Thank you”, I said in a hoarse voice, “I’m Serene from Cyrodiil. What´s the matter, why are we not moving?”

Jiub told me we’d reached Morrowind, as he’d overheard from the guards. Morrowind….I closed my eyes for a second and remembered the words from the dream “……”to the east, to Morrowind”….

The sound of heavy footsteps approaching made the young Dunmer put his finger across his lips;

“Shhh, guard’s coming, better be quiet.”

The guard was a stout, heavy built Cyrodiil with sharp blue eyes. He looked emotionlessly at me and told me to follow him. I didn’t argue with him; there was no point in doing that from the look in his face. Besides, I wanted to feel solid ground under my feet again; the rolling of the ship didn’t agree at all with my stomach. I stumbled after him up on deck.

Bright daylight struck my face when I stepped out, and so did the smell of rotting fish, salt and the smoke from cooking-fires when using damp wood. My stomach turned and I swallowed…..As I looked around I saw a few buildings scattered along the shoreline, a lighthouse and a strange creature resembling a giant insect. I shrugged and approached the dark-skinned man standing on deck. He gave me a faint smile as he unlocked the bracers I had worn since I left the Imperial Prison and then pointed me down the gang plank.

“This way, m´am,” he said, “there will be an escort for ya.”

In full Imperial armour he came marching towards me, my escort for the day, sternly peering at me as he asked for my name. I gave him the requested information and was ordered to follow him up to the Excise and Census-office to complete my release. So apparently I was to be a free woman at last, after 7 years in custody. That was a strange, yet not unpleasant feeling.

An elderly man with a white beard greeted me as I entered the office. I felt uncomfortable; dirty and smelling from the mouldy ship where I’d been for such a long time, with no possibility to wash myself. My worn shirt was soaked with sweat and my hair was in terrible shape, being neither washed nor combed for more than 2 months. I looked into the eyes of the old man and remembered my grandfather back in Cyrodiil……Grandfather?? Do I even have a grandfather anymore? The memories made my eyes fill with tears and I turned away, taking a deep breath in order to compose myself.

“Ah! We’ve been expecting you!” The man presented himself as Socucius Ergalla and gave me a welcoming smile. Then he asked me quite a lot of intricate questions, who I was, who my parents were and about my skills and abilities. When I told him I was a foundling he looked at me very sternly and nodded.

“Ah, the letter that preceded you states you are a very skilled healer, now might that be a fact?”

Ergalla´s soft voice made me jerk, “Letter?” I sensed some kind of set-up, someone knew I was coming here, and that someone also had gathered information about me…..

I admitted I was fairly skilled in the noble art of healing, and I also had to tell about my other virtues, such as that I consider myself to be intelligent; I knew quite a lot about alchemy; and I’d learned a lot about how to manage a long blade, thanks to Telemachos; I can repair my weapons as well, when needed…

The final question was about my birth-sign; what relevance that had I don’t know but the man was satisfied when I told him I was born under The Ritual. I was also told to pay a visit to the captain in the adjacent building in order to get my orders and a release-fee. Being given orders didn´t appeal to me, but the word “release-fee” was another thing, I could certainly need something to get me started in this godforsaken place.

Then my papers were properly signed and stamped and I stepped out of the office as a free woman.

[minque]

I woke up the next morning, my throat dry and sore, and with ten little blacksmiths hammering ferociously inside my head. The punishment of last night’s festivities was obvious, and I told myself not to get drunk like that again. There was also a swelling on my forehead, and I couldn’t remember how that had happened.

Looking around I found myself neatly tucked in a quite comfortable bed, with sheets made of some white soft fabric, similar to those we had back in Cyrodiil, then a quilt in dark red silk, which I found somewhat strange to find in a tavern in a little godforsaken town like Seyda Neen. But who was I to complain; I lay back, closing my eyes and tried to remember last night’s events. The clearest memory was the young redguard woman who seemed to know who I was even though yesterday was the first time we met….

Despite the hammering headache I got out of bed and got myself dressed. Then the door opened and the redguard woman came in bringing a pitcher with hot water and a ceramic bowl; she also brought some sload-soap and a little jar containing something that smelled wonderful.

“Good morning Serene” she said with a smile, “did you sleep well tonight?” She put the pitcher and the bowl on a little table beside the bed, then she pointed to the little jar and told me to rub in the special cream it contained, it would get me straightened up again, she declared. Naturally I did as she told me; I felt really dirty after last night and a good cleansing always makes me feel good.

My satchel was standing beside the bed and after the cleansing-procedure I was able to dig up a shirt and a pair of pants that were a bit cleaner than those I was wearing.

As I stepped out of the room and got into the Tavern I was greeted with a smile from the huge Nord who already was sitting at a table, consuming a big breakfast.

“Aye, lassie, g´mornin te ye, ´ave a ´eadache teday, ´ave ye?” He said with a rumbling laugh and waved a big pointy knife at me. “Hrisskar´s the name, spose ye aint remember huh?

Actually I did remember both him and his name, but I just smiled cheerfully at him as I turned towards the counter where the redguard lady was preparing something that looked suspiciously like a hearty breakfast…..an omelette of beaten kwama-eggs, boiled saltrice seasoned with chopped comberry-leaves, warm freshly made bread, scuttle to go with it, and thin slices of kagouti-steak. The scent of hackle-lo-tea filled the room and I hurried to take a seat in order to fully enjoy the meal.

The redguard woman came and sat down at my table and started talking:

“Why Serene, I’m Elone; my family came from Yokuda, something like 500 years ago to settle down in Vvardenfell. We serve the Emperor truly and members of our family are widespread all over the island, as I will tell you later.”

“Now you will be off to Balmora as soon as you’ve finished your breakfast,” Elone continued, “there you’ll have to look up Caius Cosades and deliver that package you got from Mr Ergalla at the Census and Excise office.”

I nodded and gave up a whimper, as this movement caused a sharp sting of pain in my forehead. Elone smiled faintly at me and shook her head;

“You might find it appropriate in the future not to consume Cyrodiilic Brandy at the rate you did yesterday, but now then, finish your breakfast and get yourself ready for take-off.”

I felt a lot better after finishing the sturdy meal Elone had prepared for me, so I checked my satchel to see that everything was there, and then began to walk down the stairs.

“Serene! Wait a moment, I have something for you,” Elone´s clear voice made me stop and turn around.

“If you some day happen to visit Ald´ruhn, I will beg you to look up my sister, Neminda, whom I haven’t seen for a very long time due to some dissension in the past, and give her this ring, telling her that I miss her and have no hard feelings whatsoever for some events we had no control over…..yes she will understand, just tell her Elone is sorry and wishes her all the best.”

Then she handed me a very beautiful ring with a red ruby, glistening with enchantment. I didn’t dare ask what kind of magic was bound to this delicate piece of jewelry, I just put it in my satchel and promised Elone I’d visit her sister some day. That is if I was able to find out what exactly this Ald´ruhn is…..

Before leaving Seyda Neen I went to the Lighthouse to take farewell of Thavere. It was an emotional goodbye, I embraced her, tears running down my face, promising I’d come back some day……

Going by silt-strider is quite an adventure if you are not familiar with it! You actually sit INSIDE the giant flea, as it flies rather low, just above the trees, all the time you think you’re going to end up as a top-decoration in one of them…

It was a wonderful evening as I reached Balmora, the sun was setting behind the two square-shaped towers that dominated the sky-line, leaving the town in a pinkish purple light that appealed highly to my sense of beauty.

I asked the silt-strider-driver where to find night-quarters, as I had no intention of running around looking for that man, Caius Cosades tonight. I was directed to a tavern called “Eight Plates”, not that I was in any need of eight plates, I’d settle for one by all means, but it seemed like good advice at first…..I had to reconsider that when entering the premises.





Here ends chapter 2