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]

Hello everyone, I'd like to start by offering my apologies to all of the great writers on these forums for not commenting on all the work that comes through here anymore, I've been short on time of late and I do not expect that will change for some time. For now I'll update this for anyone who might still be reading, or anyone that might start. I'd also like to mention that there is one scene that I don't think is too explicit but if anyone feels that it is I will edit immediately.
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I pulled back the thick piece of cloth covering the entrance to our camp and trudged back into the cavern where the others sat around the fire. I knelt before Quin slowly, leaning on my sword as I stuck it into the hard dirt floor of the cave.

"It is done." I said softly

Quin stood from his dirt mound by the fire and placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Deagan, you have done me a great service...one for which I do not know if I will be able to repay." He said in a serene tone

"I've held this ring for years, it was a gift to me...from Damiscus. A false symbol of peace between us for the political eye. It will allow you to become faster and more silent as you move, for as long as you wear it. Your actions have proven yourself most deserving of it." He said as he handed me a golden ring with the emblem of a snake on the band, wrapping itself around my finger

He paused for a moment before continuing, "But we are not yet finished...there is still much that needs to be done."

"Will we continue our plans for Tamira?" I asked calmly

"We will continue as planned. You will go within the following week to Tamira's stronghold with Falen. There the two of you will offer your services to her in order to gain her trust. She will give you a task, one that an honorable man would decline, to test your loyalty. If you truly want to get close to her, you cannot deny the task, even if it goes against your morals." The councilor said

He glanced between Falen and myself, his two most trusted companions.

"I know that you will not fail me." He said with a fleeting smile as he put his hands on our shoulders

I stood from my place at Quin's feet and laid on a dusty old bedroll, exhausted from a day of work. I drifted off to sleep but the innocent man I'd killed haunted my dreams, I tossed and turned but was unable to find peace. All I could remember was the horrified look on his face as he tried to escape the room, and then I stabbed him without thought or remorse.

I felt heartless, for some reason I was fine with killing to serve my purpose, I guess thats what bothered me most. I was deep in thought on the matter when a splashing noise roused me from my slumber and I stood slowly, scanning the room with my eyes.

Another noise came from the tunnel off to my left. I picked up my sword and began moving down the slope to the bottom of the cave, toward the pool of water in the corner. Something continued to move in the water at the edge of the room, in the shallow section. I moved closer and realized what it was.

As I saw the beautiful woman I'd rescued, I started to look away but she motioned for me to come over to her. I walked a few feet and stuck my sword into the soft, muddy ground under me. She stood from the the pool and ran her hand across my back, a strange feeling grew in the pit of my stomach, something I'd never felt before. I admired her body as I slid into the water beside her after removing my blood soaked garments.

"I haven't had the chance to reward you for helping me good sir." She said softly as she kissed me, the look in her eyes was tender and calming

I held her in my arms and pulled her close to me as the kiss continued, we sunk a bit deeper into the pool. The water felt amazing, everything around me glowed a radiant yellow color, it was the perfect moment.

A few solid seconds of kissing went by before I withdrew and looked at her again in horror. The woman before me had transformed into a beast that barely resembled the woman I'd been with before. Her skin had turned to scales, her eyes slit like that of a snake, her hands claws, and her mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth. As her jaws opened wide and bit my neck I truly awoke from the nightmare and looked around the cave. Sweat ran down my face and I wiped it with my sleeve.

Everyone slept around the main cave and I took the path down to the water, thoughts of my dream fresh in my mind. I didn't even know the name of the girl yet...I would make finding it out my goal before leaving for Tamira's palace...hopefully work there would be better than my escape from Damiscus' manor. The blood from my recent battle stained my black clothes a dark red color and the wound on my arm was beginning to bother me now.

I slumped into the pool and removed my shirt, washing it in the water around me. As the blood washed from my clothes, the water was dyed a scarlet color, the gash on my arm was looking bad now and the wrap was bleeding through. I sat my clothes outside of the pool and swam for a bit before getting out and wrapping myself in a dry blanket and hanging my soaked clothes on a line we'd strung across a small corridor of the cave.

I returned to the upper section and peered out the door, for some reason I couldn't sleep. Deciding to hunt, I put on some spare clothes, made from a cheap brown cloth that was rather uncomfortable and picked up my bow. After grabbing a few arrows I strapped the quiver to my back and exited the cave, looking to the forest nearby.

It was early morning now and the mist hung thick in the air, as I breathed in I nearly choked from the amount of humidity. I carefully placed my steps to keep from making any excess noise as I saw my target. A small Buck ahead of me, he didn't look like he weighed much but his meat would be a good change from what we've been eating.

I place an arrow onto the bowstring and drew it back, aiming at the deer. I inhaled and exhaled slowly as I released the arrow toward the deer, at that moment the deer jumped forward at the sound of a stick breaking. I dropped my bow and pulled my sword as I turned around to face whoever had come up behind me.

A quirrel...such a small rodent had come between me and my dinner for the night. I did as any man in his right mind would, began to yell and throw rocks at it.

"Damn squirrel, you cost me dinner!" I yelled

I think I might've been on the verge of losing it when I turned to pick up my bow, I hadn't been that angry for some time now, I smiled and nearly laughed before turning back toward the direction of the squirrel. It was about that time that a leather glove hit me in the face, causing me to fall backwards. My vision blurred from the surprise attack and I began to lose consciousness.

"How much you think he's worth?" One asked

"I don't know, I hope this is the right guy." the other replied

"Looks like the guy on the poster to me...he's a little older now though." he said

Damn bounty hunters.

Darkness closed in around me and I woke what seemed like minutes later, being dragged by the leg, I was still disoriented and couldn't really tell what was going on.

"He's wakin' up again." The fat one said

The other let go of my leg and kicked me in the side of the head, instantly making me lose consciousness again.

(There is a small note at the bottom of the page that appears to be written after the rest of the page above.)

Though you might think that this is where I was captured, it might surprise you to find out that this is not the same instance...sadly I was captured several times by different people, in this case it was two lowlife bounty hunters named Urlyn and Aspen.
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Sorry its rather short but I can't start the next part yet, I have the next part written but the folder is in the car, which isn't here at the moment. Also this may have several errors and I'll go over it again later.

This post has been edited by Kiln: Aug 8 2006, 12:28 AM