The Tale of Sudhendra Vahl: Night Mother, Being the Tenth Installment... Options

[OverrideB1]

The letter, dated three days ago, was quite specific. “We have been observing you Sed Telvanni Vahl, and would like to extend to you an invitation to meet us and work with us. If you have an interest, be where you and the murderer fought V’s warriors within a fortnight. We will contact you.” It was signed with an ornate “EH”.

I had Effie-Tai send me back to Ebonheart and, from there; I made my way to Vivec City and the storage area underneath the Arena Canton. The only murderer that I knew I’d had any dealing with was Saprius Entius and V’s Warriors could only refer to the two Ordinators we’d fought in this very chamber. A convenient crate gave me a good view of the main door into the chamber and a thorough search had made sure that there was nobody hiding in one of the adjoining rooms. Swords drawn and across my lap, I sat watching the door ~ waiting for this mysterious EH to make an appearance.

“Do not move,” a voice said, accompanied by the prick of a dagger-point at the back of my neck. “Trust us when I say that we mean you no harm.”

“Trust is a difficult commodity to come by,” I said, somewhat annoyed that this Mer had managed to sneak up behind me unheard. And, come to that, where had he snuck up on me from?

“This is true,” the voice whispered in my ear. “So, here is where you have a choice. In a second or two, my companion is going to cast a spell on you… no, sit still and hear me out,” the voice said as a hand pressed me back down on the crate. “The spell is a simple temporary blinding spell. It will wear off after a while. Once the spell is cast, you can trust us to take you to the place we’ve been instructed to take you, or you can remain here while the spell wears off.

“Rest assured that we will not be leading you into harm if you choose to accompany us. If you choose to remain here, we will never get in touch with you again. Now…”

“Caddug Chodymau,” a different voice said behind me and I gasped involuntarily as darkness obscured my vision.

“So,” the first voice said, “time to make a decision Sed Telvanni Vahl. Will you now, of your own free will, accompany us into peril and darkness or will you remain here?”

The question had a ritualistic feel to it and, on the spur of the moment, I decided to take a chance that these softly spoken Mer were telling the truth. “I will accompany you in darkness into peril,” I replied.

“Very good,” the voice said as a hand took me by the elbow and helped me to stand. “Do not speak, or call out. If you do, we will abandon you. Now, place your hand on my shoulder and we will guide you.” We went forward and I distinctly heard the click of the storage room door as it closed behind us. Then, a short while later, “there are steps here,” the voice said.

I was led out of the Arena Canton and down into a gondola. I couldn’t hear what the Mer said to the gondolier but we were ferried away to another Canton. From the length of the voyage, it could have been anyone of several. I was led up into the canton and then up stairs, down stairs, along corridors and back down ramps before we boarded another gondola.

“Almost there,” the soft voice said after an unknown time wandering Cantons or travelling on gondolas. “Down these stairs here,” the voice said as he guided me down, “along here and kneel. Do you feel that empty space beneath your hands? I’m guiding your hands to the ladder, feel it?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“Good, down to the bottom now Sed Telvanni Vahl and wait for us. We will guide you the last little distance.” I clumsily made my way down the ladder and stood in the darkness at the bottom while the two Mer made their way down. I had feared that we were in the sewers beneath one of the Cantons but a surreptitious sniff of the air told me that this wasn’t the case. Hands gripped each elbow, and I was guided along a corridor that took several sharp rightward bends and up another flight of stairs. There was an odd silence to the place and I got the feeling I was being watched by a number of people who were keeping very, very quiet ~ and were extremely skilled at it.

After wending our way through several more corridors and open spaces, I was led up another flight of stairs and through a corridor that echoed oddly, as though it was much larger than it felt. Finally, I was brought to a halt and the softly spoken Mer said, “This is where we leave you Sed Telvanni Vahl. Remember, any peril here is of your own making.”

“Glanhau,” a voice said from in front of me. The darkness lifted and I found myself standing in a small chamber with a cupboard, a table, and a bed. It was, however, the slightly built Mer standing in front of me that commanded my attention. Several inches shorter than me, the slender Mer sported the odd, tied-back hairstyle that I had come to associate with Ordinators and soldiers. He was clad in a robe of deep red, decorated with bronze coloured thread. A scar crossed his left eye but seemed to have done no damage. The only other thing I noticed before he spoke was the black leather glove on his left hand.

“Greetings Sed Telvanni Vahl,” the Dunmer said, inclining his head respectfully. “I trust that your journey here wasn’t too onerous. Please, forgive us the theatrics, but we do maintain a very high degree of secrecy here. Oh, and my name is Eno Hlaalu.”

“A pleasure to meet you Muthsera Hlaalu,” I replied, dropping my hand to the hilts of Claw and Fang as the Hlaalu name registered with me. The Mer smiled, not seeming to notice my aggressive stance. “Why have you brought me here?” I asked.

“To kill you,” Eno said, dropping a hand onto the hilt of the curved blade on the table beside him. My hands closed on the hilts of my sword and the Skaal blades hissed silkily from their scabbards. There was a sudden and stunning impact and, when I recovered moments later, Eno Hlaalu was standing facing me, Claw and Fang held in his hands. “Slow and unnecessarily showy,” he said, looking at the blades. “Nice swords,” he added, “Skaal, aren’t they?”

“Yes,” I replied warily as he placed the swords on the table beside him. I had already shaken the emergency dart from its place in my robe and the heavy Dwemer weapon now lay concealed in my palm. Whipping my hand up, I launched the dart at Eno ~ who calmly plucked it out of the air as though it had been hung there on a piece of string in front of him.

“Not fast enough,” he admonished, “and the throw was clumsy, albeit accurate enough. Now, perhaps we can forgo the embarrassing moment when you reach for your axe only to discover I have already misappropriated it?” He gestured to the bed, moving slightly so that I could see the Last Wish resting on the cover.

“Boot dagger?” I suggested.

“Ahhh, we missed that one,” he said with a laugh. “Such an old fashioned hiding place that few would think to check there. The people responsible will be… reminded and encouraged to do better. Please,” he added, “have a seat and we will talk.”

Warily, I sat on the seat on one side of the table as he sat opposite me. He poured two goblets of wine and grinned at me as he pushed one towards me. I reached over and grabbed the other goblet, and then stopped. “The age old dilemma,” he said, “is the one I pushed towards you poisoned or, anticipating the fact that you’d reach for the other goblet, did I, in fact, poison that one? Or, perhaps,” he said, taking a mouthful of wine from each goblet and filling them back up, “neither are poisoned.”

“Or perhaps,” he said, a twinkle in his eyes as I sipped the red wine appreciatively, “I have already taken the antidote and both goblets are poisoned?

"In fact,” he said, struggling to suppress a smirk as I spluttered a mouthful of red wine everywhere, “neither goblet is poisoned. Getting you here simply to administer poison is rather baroque, don’t you think?”

“So why did you get me here,” I asked, pushing the wine aside, “and who are you?”

“We are the Night-Mother’s Children, the Adepts of Mephala,” he said, “more commonly known as The Morag Tong.” While I sat there, gawping at him in total shock, Eno Hlaalu continued, “as to the reason we’ve requested this meeting… Well, that is rather easy to answer. We have been watching you for a while now and are impressed with what we’ve seen. Although crude and clumsy in technique, you show a certain flair for combat that we would like to help you… evolve. Therefore, in accordance with our ancient customs, we extend an invitation to you: join us.”

This post has been edited by OverrideB1: May 23 2006, 08:03 PM

[The Metal Mallet]

If I remember correctly, Override had said that real life had always been a factor in the frequency of updates released. But perhaps that only for the original lapse in material. For all I know it's likely a combination of both a busy real life and a loss of interest that keeps this great story from continuing. It's a pity, but maybe we'll get spoiled with the return of Override.

I too hold sentiments to this story simply because it was the first one I actually read (though originally I started reading it right in the middle, well after Sudhendra's experience on Solsthiem. Strange, but that's how I discovered this wonderful place.