The Saga of Vvardenfel, My fanfic, a conversion of Morrowind main quest. Options

[Gaius Maximus]

Well, this is my Morrowind fanfic, a story of my used-to-be minor now main character, Gaius Maximus. Since I didn't find it interesting to re-write the main quest of Morrowind, I decided to try it how I imagine it going after joining Imperial Legion and not touching the Main Quest for 6 in-game years. Any constructive criticism welcome.

The Saga of Vvardenfell
The Legionnaire, the Legend and the Island.

Grand Chapter 1: Every legend has a beginning...

Chapter 1: New Assignments.
Chapter 2: The Night before journey.
Chapter 3: Urshilaku Camp, part 1.
Chapter 4: Urshilaku Camp, part 2.
Chapter 5: Welcoming committee.

Grand Chapter 2: Closer to the Red Mountain.
Chapter 1: Odd Encounter.
Chapter 2: The Trial worth Our Hero, part 1.
Chapter 3: The Trial worth Our Hero, part 2.
Chapter 4: Veni, Vidi, Vici.
Chapter 5: Fire and Ice.

Grand Chapter 3: In the caverns of Vvardenfell.
Chapter 1: Dungeons, without Dragons.
Chapter 2: Dwemer Forge.
Chapter 3: Arming.

(Also note that I'm not sure if there are any more of the modern words left - do say if you see some. Help with that will be highly appreciated.)

Chapter 1: New assignments.

Gaius Maximus was a simple Imperial Legionnaire. Only possessions of his were the Divine Intervention amulet for quick escape, his Imperial steel armor and his broadsword, enchanted with his very own enchantment, made from a soul of a Dremora lord. The enchantment was pretty simple – it inflicted fire damage, along with a weakness to fire spell, which, combined with the steel itself, was pretty good for taking care of bandits, outlaws and other creatures, those native to the land of Vvardenfel.

Gaius was shipped to Vvardenfel 6 years ago, and the trip was quite interesting. During it, Gaius received a strange dream, about the troubles of Morrowind and Vvardenfel in particular, and how he was to save everything. Gaius never told anyone about it, as he later heard about strange dreams troubling people. He doubted they were different from his one, but he wasn’t able to ask anyone, as these so called ‘Dreamer’ and ‘Sleeper’ people would only ramble nonsense when talked to, if they wouldn’t attack him on sight.

Gaius lived in Gnisis, mainly in the Madach Tradehouse, where General Darius was taking residence. Darius would occasionally seek Gaius out, to give him harder assignments that other legionnaires couldn’t carry out. Like that time when he was assigned to rescue a priest from a Daedric ruin, in which he got that soul of a Dremora lord. Or when he was to investigate the mysterious happenings around a Dunmer stronghold, and ended up in a strange Dwemer ruin, fighting a creature called ‘Ash Vampire’. After a hard battle, Gaius beat the Vampire, and after coming back to Gnisis, he heard rumors about Red Mountain erupting and Blight Storms stopping for several hours.

Even now, Gaius was sitting at a table in the Tradehouse, with a bottle of Cyrodiilic brandy. Being rewarded quite healthy for all the special assignments, one would have retired from the Legion already if he was in Gaius’ place, but Gaius liked the Legion for some reason, and had no interest in retiring. As the assignments were given secretly, he never got a lot of promotions, as he couldn’t be promoted for what wasn’t a ‘Legion matter’ as Darius called it.

He heard news of some ‘Nerevarine’, a person claming to be an ancient hero reborn. Yeah, and I’m a trader. Gaius thought, taking another gulp from the brandy bottle. If he knew Vvardenfel right, the poor man would be executed by the Temple in a few days, if he was lucky, after a week. It was even a constant subject for bets in the Legion – how long would a new ‘Nerevarine’ last? They were just appearing out of nowhere – Ashlander tribes, guilds, Temple itself, Great Houses – or just freelancing adventurers, seeking for fame. Now that the Dagoth Ur problem was getting really nasty, everyone seemed to wait for the ‘Nerevarine’ to come, and rescue everyone.

After living in Vvardenfel for 6 years, Gaius soon noticed that whatever the Temple said, everything was turning wrong, and getting out of hand. The Ghostfence was getting weaker, as Gaius noticed while traveling near it, Corprus beasts – more frequent, and assassinations on important people even more frequent than the beasts. The Tribunal wasn’t that much of a help, and more people turned on worshiping Daedra, as Gaius found out while wandering in the ruins.

Gaius was distracted from his bottle by a man walking up the stairs – it was the same Orc that seemed to spend his whole life in Darius’ office. As he walked up to Gaius, the Imperial sighed. No doubt, this meant work.

“General wants to see you. Now.” The Orc said. Gaius never really liked the Orcish names, so he couldn’t recognize them, but he was pretty sure every one of them included ‘gro’.

“Sure thing, officer gro-Mamblang.” Gaius said, and stood up.

“For the last time, my name isn’t gro-Mamblang! One more time you call me like that, and I’ll… I’ll…” The Orc stammered.

“You’ll stammer when speaking with me?” The Orc swore, and rushed off into Darius’ office, with Gaius close behind.

Soon, Gaius was inside Darius’ office. “What now… sir?” The Legionnaire asked, catching Darius’ glare.

“I have another task for you. This one, though, will be official, though it’s quite dangerous. You’re up to it?” Darius began. As if he needed to ask.

“Of course, sir! Which ruin am I going to now?” Gaius asked.

“No, you’re not heading for a ruin this time. I want you to do a harder task this time. It’ll be a really long task, and I could only entrust you upon it. I know this’ll sound weird, but…” The General said, and silenced.

“What is it?”

“I want you to make a go for the Nerevarine prophecy completion.” Darius said.

Gaius felt something blow up in him. For a moment, he almost thought it was his brain. The Imperial Legion wants him to make a go for the Nerevarine Prophecies? What the?! “Okay, is this a really weird kind of joke?” Gaius finally asked, hanging on his last hope. Unfortunately…

“No, I’m absolutely serious.” Darius replied, and raised an eyebrow.

“But… But why? You want to make a bet for how long will I last?” Gaius asked.

“Not funny, Trooper. The Emperor wants to prove to the people of Morrowind that the Empire – and it’s Legions – can offer protection to the people. With the Temple unable to do anything, it’s a perfect chance to gain the trust of the people. You won’t understand it, its political business.” The General said. “Now, I want you to finish off any business before I give you your first assignment concerning this.” With that, he released Gaius.

Gaius went up shocked. Next thing he wanted to do was head into the Barracks and speak with Irr’cah, an ex-thief.

End of Chapter 1.

This post has been edited by Gaius Maximus: Nov 18 2007, 12:41 PM

[Agent Griff]

This update was wonderful as well. Don't try to be too sarcastic when talking about the world of the Elder Scrolls though. I like how off all the leggionaires are in your story but, still, try to keep it at least semi-serious.

On the other hand, I really liked the conversation with Irr. I especially liked the "this one doesn't have gambling problems..." bit. Keep it up!

[Gaius Maximus]

This update was wonderful as well. Don't try to be too sarcastic when talking about the world of the Elder Scrolls though. I like how off all the leggionaires are in your story but, still, try to keep it at least semi-serious.

On the other hand, I really liked the conversation with Irr. I especially liked the "this one doesn't have gambling problems..." bit. Keep it up!

Yeah, I felt like this update was a bit over the top with the sarcasm, but the last chapter stored many information about the current situation in Vvardenfel, and I couldn't pass up the oportunity of displaying Gaius' view on most of them.

As for the 'gambling problems' bit, I figured a Khajiit with sugar problems would be overused as it was in the game so many times, so it came to me that there was no Khajiiti with gambling problems. You'll see later on that Irr got in some rpoblems with the Ashlanders due to that later...

And for now, new update!

Chapter 3: The Urshilaku Camp, part 1.

When Gaius woke up, the inevitable sense of doom filled his whole body, every single bit of him, leaving no other thoughts. For a short moment, he couldn’t recall what’s the reason of this, but soon enough, he recalled everything that happened yesterday – the talk with Captain Darius as well. Today was the day when his life had to change, but how much, Gaius had no idea. What he didn’t know, that up from this day, his life would change completely. Up from this day, he would no longer be recognized as ‘Legionnaire Gaius Maximus’, but as ‘Lord Indoril Nerevar Reborn, Saint Nerevarine, Protector of Morrowind, Gaius Maximus’, but that was far away - at the end of rocky, long, twisting road he had to follow from now on – the road that ended in Red Mountain, or perhaps in his grave, the road whose end is even worse than the beginning.

With a groan, Gaius lifted up from his bed, and then looked around – his sword was placed against the bed the soldier was sleeping on, and his armor was on the stance in the Armory. For now, his heroic deeds would have to wait – Gaius needed to have a breakfast, and then gather his gear up. After that, it’s to Captain Darius, and off into… wherever he would be sent.

For the first time, Gaius actually realized he had no idea where would he be sent – but from captain’s words, probably not a ruin. Perhaps he would be sent into a tomb of some sort, or a cave? Maybe even to Ald-Ruhn, to clean it out, or meet his doom there? Nay, Gaius thought, trying to calm himself down. The captain wouldn’t EVER send me into Ald-Ruhn…At least I hope he wouldn’t. Those Corprus creatures can be rather nasty, I heard.

Standing up, Gaius stumbled into the dinning room after passing several weary guards that were heading into their beds – the night shift, probably. The barracks were mostly quiet, except for an Orc snoring – that was nothing compared to the racket that would be present here in the evening, when the day shift gets back and starts eating. One of the reasons why Gaius always ate in Madach Tradehouse – he hated racket, especially these stupid songs and jokes that weren’t even funny in the first place.

Sitting down, Gaius took a bottle of water – he never drank alcohol in the early morning, no later than after lunch would he start drinking. Judging by the level of activity, Gaius presumed it was somewhere near 6:00 in the morning, maybe a bit earlier. Too early to get drunk, according to Gaius’ standards.

As the soldier reached out for some bread, he barely saw it – his minds were fixed on whatever that was going to happen later in this day. Wherever I’ll be sent, it isn’t going to be a very pleasant task. Gaius said to himself, lifting up to get some meat.

Done preparing his food, Gaius began eating slowly, each piece of food tasted pretty much like chewing wood. Once or twice, the Legionnaire looked at his plate, as if to make sure that he didn’t eat through the table. Not the best breakfast. A thought crossed him, as the water tasted somewhat like Gaius’ personal made food – something like ash and rocks mixed. The soldier shuddered at the thought of his home-made food. The one thing he never learned (And didn't intent to learn) was making food.

Finally ditching the attempts to eat and drink, Gaius stood up and yawned. The distasteful food didn’t remove the weariness, as didn’t the short approximately 4-hour long sleep, half of which was spent jumping up from the bed to make sure no monsters were creeping up to him. This task gets on my nerves. Gaius announced to himself, pushing the doors open, then blinking to adjust his eyes to the mix of darkness and light that was present as the sun rose from behind the mountains.

A gentle breeze of wind passed through Gnisis, as Gaius walked down towards the river. Nothing better than a wash-up in the morning… The soldier thought, rubbing some water into his face, which got him awake more than the nasty breakfast. Getting his hands into water for the second time, Gaius gasped as a Slaughterfish bit him. “Oh, you bugger!” He yelled waving the hand around until the fish let go and fell back into the water.

His mood ruined, Gaius decided it would be best to just head to Darius’ office right now. The Captain was probably well awake by now, so Gaius could receive his assignments, whatever they were. If I survive, then I’ll buy drinks for every soldier in Gnisis. He thought desperately, heading up the hill towards Madach Tradehouse.

Opening the doors, Gaius first heard snoring. Probably one of the visitors got too drunk. The soldier thought with a smile passing over his face, as he descended down the stairs and into Darius’ office.

Knocking, Gaius heard a loud “Who’s there?” from behind the doors. “It’s me, sir, Gaius Maximus!” Gaius answered, some sweat emerging. What am I in this time? That single thought ringed inside his head, replacing the loud scream of terror.

“Come in!” The same voice answered, and Gaius pushed the doors open.

In the office, Captain Darius was present, as well as the Orc. The later one looked sleepy and in a bad mood, but what can you know about these Orcs – perhaps he wasn’t?

Darius, on the other hand, looked weary as well, but was in a better mood, perhaps the reason was a paper on the table that he recently received from Ebonheart, or perhaps it was the fact Gaius made himself present. In any case, a smile passed Darius’ face when Gaius entered, and this was seemingly a good sign.

“Ah, Gaius! Good to see you. I have your assignment ready.” The Captain spoke as his smile disappeared. Bad sign, at least to Gaius.

“Yes, sir. Where would be my heading?” The legionnaire asked, trying to hide the signs of worry in his face or voice, though a shadow that indicated it did pass his eyes, for a minute clouding the brown color they usually are.

“You will be heading to the Urshilaku Ashlander Camp, soldier. Be aware, those Ashlanders aren’t the type that likes us or our affairs. And they’re probably aren’t the kind that’s afraid to put a dagger into your spine.” Darius replied, his eyes as well worried, though Gaius could barely keep himself from dancing. Visiting Ashlanders is the thing he least expected, and even though he didn’t like them, it was far better than visiting Ald-Ruhn or something of the sort.

“Is that it, sir? And what will be the reason of me heading to their camp?” Gaius questioned further, his eyes once again giving out a happy shine for a short amount of time.

“You will need to learn more about the Nerevarine Prophecies, and” Darius was interrupted by Gaius groaning at the mention of Nerevarine. “AND, you’ll probably need to gain their trust by performing a task of some sort. Perhaps fetch something, or complete some manner of rite.” The Captain finished, with a slight frown due to Gaius’ groan.

“I see, sir.” That last sentence was the kind Gaius didn’t like. A rite? What kind of rite? Probably a painful one... The legionnaire pondered, with a small frown passing as the thought crossed him. “Shall I be going now, or later?” The soldier added to remove the strange silence that developed in the small office.

“Better now. The sooner you get there, the better. I’ll need to know more about those prophecies before we can do something more.” Darius replied. “You’re free to go now, soldier.” The Captain added, and Gaius nodded.

“Yes, sir. I’ll see you when I’m back, sir.” With that said, he left the office, heading towards the barracks once again. He would leave now and wake Irr’cah up, make sure the Khajiit still wants to go with him, and then, in any case, leave for the Urshilaku Camp.

End of Chapter 3.