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 crept silently behind the servant as she tapped gently on the door of her master, I decided not to alert her to my presence...I really didn't want to have to kill her. Damiscus opened the door and stared at the girl with a smile, I didn't want to know what he was thinking...

The lord was distracted by her and left the door open slightly as he forced her onto the bed. She did not resist him, she simply closed her eyes tightly and turned her head as he approached her.

My surroundings were rather dark, only a small candle lit the room near the dresser. I glanced around the room quickly looking for anything that Damiscus might use to defend himself if he noticed me...there were dozens of empty bottles of alcohol, a skooma pipe, and the last thing I noticed was a small dagger beside the bed.

I crouched down and slowly crept around the edge of the room behind the lord. The soft black leather shoes covering my feet allowed me to move freely across the stone floor without alerting my target of my presence. As I came up behind him I thought about all that had happened in recent times because of this man...I grew increasingly angry and grew impatient.

I made my way toward Damiscus until I was only a few feet away, close enough to grab him before he even touched the poor woman in his bed...it was hard to believe that I had once thought this man was a priest.

I slowly and silently drew my blade from my boot, leaning up slowly behind him to grab his shoulder and slit his throat. I carefully timed my breathing and exhaled softly as I prepared to make my move.

Before I had the chance to act a loud and repetetive knock came on the door I'd entered. I stepped back away from my target, back into the shadows around the edge of the room. What happened next both shocked and disgusted me, the lord left the edge of the bed and opened the door. He seemed angry that he'd been disturbed yet he still talked to the man outside for a few moments.

Damiscus stepped back inside and waved in the man he'd been speaking with. It was one of the guards from Quin's caravan. I sat there silently, unable to believe what I was seeing.

The lord sat down in his chair and my former comrade stood in front of him.

"What is it exactly that you needed to speak with me about Daren?" Damiscus asked in an aggravated tone

"I heard that your scouts have found Quin dead..." He said

"And what of it? It is done, Quin has been ruined and destroyed...I recieved word from Tamira that she has been successful in elimnating her councilor as well...and the new Black Diamonds are in training now for the next councilor on the list...all is going according to plan." Damiscus stated

It was beginning to seem like there was more behind his hatred for councilor Quin...they were planning to kill the other council members and according to Damiscus, they already had killed one of the others. I knelt in the corner and waited for the conversation to continue, I was eager to know exactly what was going on.

"Yes all is going according to your plan...other than the fact that Quin still lives." Daren said mockingly

Damiscus became uneasy and shifted in his chair, his arrogant smile had faded as quickly as he'd heard those words leave Daren.

"I had a feeling that he might be...do you know where I might find him?" He asked

"You know our agreement...money first, information later." Daren replied as he rubbed his fingers together

"Yes of course...let us go to my treasury." He said, motioning for Daren to follow

As they exited the door I looked back to the servant...soon she would no longer live in fear of her master...none would fear him.

I trailed the men a short distance to the treasury, carefully avoiding passing guards on patrol. When I finally reached the place, the doors had been tightly locked. I took a small, thin piece of metal from the pouch on my waist and inserted it into the lock.

There were several tumblers inside the heavy iron lock...it was very difficult, even for me to open...keep in mind that my ability to pick locks is among the best. I probed gently inside the lock, listening carefully to the sound of the movement of the pins inside and eventually I lifed all the tumblers, allowing the lock to pop open.

I crept inside the treasury, it was huge and full of priceless items, few of which interested me though, I put aside my instincts as a thief and remembered why I'd come here. I stood up now, it was too bright inside the treasury for crouching down to help me anyways as there were no shadows to stick to.

When I moved deeper inside I could hear whispering deeper inside so leaned against the wall and looked around the corner into the larger portion of the room where the two men were standing.

"Quin is in a small cavern about a half mile SouthWest of his estate, follow the edge of the mountain." He said as he accepted a large bag containing several coins and turned to leave the treasury

I had already plotted a way to kill the traitor when Damiscus yelled.

"Oh and Daren..." He started but stopped mid sentence, purposefully waiting for the man to turn

Daren turned to look back to Damiscus just in time to be hit with a single glass throwing dagger in the chest right between the ribs. Daren looked down at the dagger and back to the lord before falling to his knees.

"I need to tie up loose ends...like you." He said with a smile as he stepped closer to him

Blood ran from the mouth of his informant slowly as he stared blankly at him. Damiscus grabbed Daren's chin and pulled his head up to look him into the eyes since it seemed that Daren was now incapable of movement.

"Can you feel that? The slight tickle down your spine? You know they say that if it were not for the paralyzation...this poison would be a most uncomfortable experience. I suppose that you won't be telling me about it though..." He said with a short laugh before pushing him over in the floor

I heard the door to the treasury open in the room behind me, a single guard emerged and stood in front of the door, perfectly cutting off my escape route.

As Damiscus turned to wipe the dagger off and place it back on the display shelf I moved up slowly behind him after grabbing one of the poisoned glass daggers off a shelf near me.

As he polished his dagger and hummed a song I stepped beside him, bringing the dagger into his stomach. He dropped the dagger he was holding and stared at the wall before him. I leaned in close and whispered softly into his ear.

"Consider this a message from Quin...deliver it to Tamira for me will you?" I said as he fell on his back and started to spasm uncontrollably

I pulled the dagger from him, dropping it to the floor beside me. When he stopped moving completely, I removed a single coin from my pocket and placed it on his chest. I also did this with Daren's body, the septim was my calling card...though I did not personally kill Daren, there was no need for others to know that. As a final sentiment to my hatred of the traitor, I carved a "T" in his cheek...though I'd never personally seen it done, I had heard of it being done before by assassins to those who betrayed them.

I smiled, satisfied with my work...then quickly wiped it away, along with the sweat on my forehead. Now to get past the guard and escape. I picked up a bottle of brandy that looked rather expensive and took a long drink before throwing it to the opposite side of the corridor, as the guard moved closer I ran up behind him and hit him over the head with a club on one of the shelves.

That part was easy, I made my way back upstairs, broke the lock on the room I'd entered through, and left the same way I'd come in. It would've been faster to go out the front door but I couldn't take the chance of being discovered so I climbed down the trellis slowly, the storm and lightning flashes actually put my mind at ease and distracted me from the deeds I'd just done.

It was then that my plans were destroyed, a dog caught my scent and began barking loudly. Its master released it and it ran toward me, I held my dagger up in an attempt to kill it but the dog moved to the side and grabbed my arm.

The dog shook its head and ripped through the thin layer of black cloth covering my shoulder, tearing at the flesh beneath it. I dropped the dagger on the ground and lost it in the mud beside me.

I panicked and slapped the ground beside me with my free arm in search of the dagger as I half held the dog's head in the other. I gave up searching for my dagger and brought my fist into the face of the beast as it growled and continued to tear at me.

The guard started to get closer and others had been drawn to the sound, voices yelled out as they spoke back and forth to eachother, converging on my position. I grabbed the head of the animal on top of me and twisted its neck violently, it let out a loud yelp and stopped moving.

I pushed the corpse off, slowly crawled over the wall around the estate, and walked a few miles away before propping myself up against a tree. As I tore a piece of my shirt off to wrap the deep wounds the dog's razor sharp teeth had left I thought about my life...I'd undergone many changes, most of which in the past few months...it seemed that a darker side had lurked beneath my skin for some time now and it had just begun to reveal itself...the rush of taking down my target and planning my movements pleased me greatly.

Though now I was an assassin, my past had been littered with many other things. I'd been born a noble, worked as a thief, trained as a knight, and served as an assassin all within the past year. I knew that I wasn't the best or most professional of the hired blades, but it seemed that luck was with me thus far and I could only hope that whenever the time came to kill Tamira I could be so lucky.

With her it would be more difficult...perhaps I would have to serve her for some time to even get close enough. I also wondered where the Black Diamond's base of operations was...maybe I could find out through Tamira. I forced the many streaming thoughts out of my mind and sat there in the rain, staring out over the sky.

When I could sit no longer I stood and made my way back toward the cave that I now called home. I knew that I'd have to go through water first to force the dogs to lose my trail...in case Damiscus' men tracked me.

I waded through a river and then started back to the cave knowing that there would be no problems for a while, after all I had killed both of the men that knew Quin's location. Once I reached the cave I would rest for a bit...I'd worked enough for the week.
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Alright guys/gals, hope you like this bit...it took me a while to get it where I liked it.

This post has been edited by Kiln: Jul 9 2006, 11:19 PM