Memoirs of a Madwoman, a novel... by Rebecca Watters Options

[mALX]

That was just absolutely adorable! I never would have imagined Syl and Thadon being such cute kids, but now that I have seen it, I cannot picture them any other way. Portraying this scene from their childhood was an excellent choice, as you help us bond with both the characters before they grow up, and things start to get really nasty.


I would die if I was allergic. I would eat it anyway.
I am sure he would! Here we see the road that led Thadon to Felldew. Who ever would have imagined that chocolate is a gateway drug!

I have to agree with SubRosa on absolutely everything she said here. Seeing them before the inevitable pain that will mar their futures was not just an excellent choice, it was a brilliant one. I also agree with her that Thadon shows signs of a future addictive personality even as a cute tyke.

That’s very sad, you know. Chocolate is my favorite thing in the world! I would die if I was allergic. I would eat it anyway.”

“That would be foolish,” I replied. “Why would you kill yourself just to eat chocolate?”

“Because it tastes so good; I just couldn’t live without it!”

“You could—if you wanted to.”

“Well, I wouldn’t.” He chuckled a little, and then he giggled.

“What’s so funny?”

He snickered, then replied, “I was just thinking, if I were allergic to chocolate, then they would have to put on my gravestone: ‘Thadon. Died a very happy boy, with a mouth full of chocolate!’”

AWESOME WRITE !!!!!!

[Acadian]

“This is Syl. She’s a Demented faerie, but she’s actually very nice.”
You simply MUST consider this as the new title for your story! It is perfect!

This episode was as delightful to read as eating a box of chocolates! Adorable is a very good word here.

Before we left, Thadon ended up trading his coin back to her for a bag full of sweets; he asked me if I wanted anything, but I shook my head. I wasn’t about to blow my first drake on something so unnecessary; I was going to save it for something special, perhaps.
What a neat insight into perhaps a difference between Manic and Demented thinking. I was reminded of the grasshopper and the ant fable.

[Lady Syl]

SubRosa and mALX: Indeed, chocolate is the gateway drug in Thadon's case. After all, an addictive personality always starts small, before it leads to such harmful addictions as greenmote and felldew. And thank you. I am glad you have come to see the innocence that once lied within these two infamous characters!

Acadian:I don't recall that fable, but I'll have to see if I can find it. Any way you can point me in the right direction? And thank you, of course. Yes, these scenes are very possibly my favorites, simply because it reminds us how truly amazing and adorable children are in their innocence. Even I sometimes forget this, like when I walk into the kitchen to find eggs smashed on the floor...lol

All: I have added links to screenshots found on the UESP wiki, throughout the prologue and chapters. Some of them are within the episodes (past and current), and you can find them when the text in the middle of the story is bold. This is mostly for the readers who haven't been to the Shivering Isles, but also for any of you who care to check them out!


Chapter 3.1--Cold, Harsh Reality

My friendship with Thadon was the first real one I had ever had. We were of the same age, and we got along swimmingly back in those days, long before the madness of the Isles had consumed us. To this day, I still don’t know what it was that drew us to each other. Perhaps we were just lonely. But there seemed to be something special between us right from the start, and we began spending every afternoon together, running errands for the Duke of Mania and playing in Bliss.

There was a fountain in Bliss, near the gate that opened to the countryside of Mania. It was a beautiful statue made of gleaming white marble, depicting Lord Sheogorath seated atop a pillar in all His splendor, with three beautiful mermaids gracing the column below Him. Fresh, sparkling water flowed up from beneath the Madgod and spilled into the fountain below, signifying the life-giving waters that He pours out for all of His people to drink. That fountain enchanted me as a little girl, and Thadon would take me to visit there often.

The first time Thadon took me to that fountain, he brought a couple of drakes with him and gave one of them to me, saying, “Here, make a wish. They always come true when you wish at the fountain of Sheogorath’s Graces.”

“What?” I asked, completely puzzled as he stuffed the coin into my hand.

He looked at me incredulously, and then he burst out laughing. “By Sheogorath, have you never made a wish at a fountain before?”

I always felt uncomfortable and self-conscious being the brunt of his jokes, and I hated when anyone laughed at me. Holding my arm and looking down uncomfortably, I shrugged my shoulders, and answered meekly, “No one has ever told me to before….”

“Well then, let me show you,” he said, walking up to the fountain and gazing at the statue for a moment. “All right, first you close your eyes and wish for something that you truly want. But you can’t say it out loud, or it won’t come true. Then, you toss your coin into the fountain, as you make your wish, and if your heart is pure, your wish will be granted.”

“And what are you going to wish for,” I remarked sarcastically, “chocolate?”

Thadon cleared his throat uncomfortably and looked down at the ground, “Well…I can’t now that you’ve guessed it…. I don’t know what I’ll wish for. Perhaps you should go first.”

I rolled my eyes and chuckled a little, stepping forward and looking down into the water. This all seemed a silly Manic ritual to me, but I would try it, just for fun. After all, what could it hurt?

Taking a moment to clear my head, I closed my eyes and thought about what I would wish for, if I could have only one wish in the world. When I had decided, I took a deep breath, dropped the coin into the water and made a wish.

“There,” I said, stepping back and turning to Thadon. “That was easy.”

He smiled, and said, “See? And now, you just have to wait and see if your wish comes true. Now it’s my turn!”

I waited and watched as he repeated the ritual of making a wish, and after it was finished, he turned to me and smiled. “Do you want to know what I wished for?”

“I thought that if you told me it would not come true?”

“So I did,” he replied. “But I’ll tell you anyway, and hopefully it will still come true.”

“It’s your wish, not mine,” I said, shrugging carelessly.

“I wished for a kiss from a beautiful elven maiden.”

It took me but only a minute to realize that he meant me, and then I felt my face turn scarlet and I looked away with embarrassment. “I…have never kissed anyone before.”

“Neither have I,” he responded, looking at me hopefully. “My cousin, Baenlin, who is a year older than me, has kissed a girl before. He told me about it last week, and he said it was okay. I was…hoping to try it, but…only with the girl that I like.”

“Well,” I said slowly, still trying to form a sentence in my mind, “perhaps if you…ask the girl…she might say yes. I mean, it…it’s worth a try.”

He stepped closer to me then and reached for my hand. I felt a fluttering in my stomach unlike I had ever felt before, and when he looked into my eyes I thought I was going to faint. Holding my hand in his, he asked, “Syl, will you be my first kiss?”

In that moment, it was as if time was suddenly standing still, and my heart raced. I was afraid, and yet I wanted to kiss him. I had never thought of kissing a boy until then, but I wanted to kiss him. And so, without saying a word, I leaned in and closed my eyes as we pressed our lips together in a brief but meaningful first kiss.

When we looked at each other after it was done, there was a moment of awe written on both of our faces. But very quickly we realized what we had done, and the awe was replaced by surprise and embarrassment, and then we both mumbled some hasty words and ran from each other. We were only children, after all, and it was too awkward for us then.

******

Getting over the awkwardness of our first kiss, Thadon and I continued to play together the very next day. We quickly forgot about it, and he took me to the Halcyon Conservatory, which was the Duke of Mania’s garden, where we were able to play without the fear of being caught by my father, or anyone Demented, for that matter.

The Halcyon Conservatory was beautiful and exotic; with butterflies fluttering about, and roses growing on vines that wound around the columns supporting the open roof, it seemed like a place filled with enchantment. Thadon and I could run around playing hide-and-seek among the trees and plant life, while the Golden Saints patrolled, paying us little attention. I’m sure they didn’t care for a Demented Wood Elf playing with their master’s servant, but they never said anything, and Thadon and I played and laughed freely, at ease in our surroundings.

The Duke of Mania, Lord Antonius, was a tall Imperial with olive-toned skin and thick black hair that was streaked with white, reminding me of ground pepper. He spent much of his time in the Halcyon Conservatory, reading and painting and watching us play. I knew that Lord Antonius and my father hated each other, so I was at first afraid that he would disapprove of my friendship with Thadon. But the Duke was most gracious and kind to me then, and he always welcomed me with a warm voice and a friendly smile.

Occasionally, Thadon’s cousin, Baenlin, would play with us; but he remained more aloof, jealous, no doubt, of his cousin’s new playmate. On one occasion, Baenlin even tripped me, supposedly by accident, but I’ve always believed it was on purpose. He laughed when I fell, splitting my lip on a rock, but Thadon rushed to my side to help me, and he grew very angry at Baenlin and yelled at him furiously.

Baenlin stopped laughing and glared at Thadon, saying, “What good is it to defend your Demented girlfriend, Thadon? Who cares what happens to any of the Demented? Anyway, it was only an accident. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

Thadon didn’t believe him, and the two of them argued a little before Baenlin stormed off, and then Thadon turned back to me. “Don’t mind him, he’s only jealous. Here, let me help you get cleaned up. Lord Antonius has a healer who can fix that up, and no one will ever know the difference.”

After that incident, we stopped going to the Halcyon Conservatory, and continued playing together in the streets of Bliss, where we sometimes met with strange looks, but never any unpleasantness. We would have gone on forever this way, had we been able to. But, like all good things, it had to come to an end.

We were returning to the palace grounds after running a few tiny errands that took us about an hour, and we were holding hands, as always. Upon entering from Bliss, however, I saw Muurine walking toward us, calling my name, and I pulled away very quickly. But it was too late—she had already seen us.

Stopping in front of us, Muurine took one look at Thadon and glared at me furiously. “I have been looking all over for you! Your father knows what you have been up to with this…Manic boy. He is not pleased. You will follow me at once!”

I began to plead with her, but she grabbed me by the arm before I could even finish, and began dragging me behind her without another word. Thadon watched with a worried look on his face, and that’s the last I saw of him that day.

Just inside the House of Dementia’s main hall, Muurine turned and slapped me across the face, saying, “Fickle changeling! How dare you do this to me! Your father is about to have my head because of this. How dare you make friends with the enemy?”

“But Thadon was nice to me,” I argued.

She merely scoffed. “Nice? You thought he was ‘nice’? How can you be such a foolish girl? Don’t you listen to anything your elders say? The Manics are not to be trusted! Do you hear me, Syl? They are only nice if they want something from you. The moment you give them what they want, they’ll turn around and stab you in the back! You are a very stupid, foolish girl! You’d better hope that your father doesn’t blame this mischief on me, or I’ll kill you myself, do you hear? I’ll not be punished for your riff-raff.”

She grabbed my wrist again and pulled me to follow her to my father’s throne, where he sat with his steward and his mistress on either side. All of them knew I had been playing with a Manic child, and no one seemed very pleased—least of all, my father. He had never looked at me the way he did then, and I felt very fearful of him for the first time in my life. My punishment, he decided, would be fairly light, by Demented standards, but it certainly wasn’t pleasant. I knew this punishment all too well, and I feared my father’s strong arm. But he would not be the one to beat me this time.

As her punishment for not watching me more closely, Muurine was given the task of being the one to deliver the beating. She didn’t want to do this to me, as I was only a child, and she loved me very dearly. But she knew that she had no choice, so she took the cane that was brought to her without hesitation.

With coldness in her dark brown eyes, she looked at me, and quietly said, “This is your own fault, Syl. You knew better, and yet you disobeyed one of your father’s most fundamental rules. I hope you learn from this, child—for your own sake, I hope you learn. Kneel!”

I tremblingly obeyed, closing my eyes to prepare myself for the first strike. It was always worst when it began, but after the first few strikes, it would start to numb a little, and then it was mostly tolerable. Muurine had never been the one to beat me before, so I wasn’t sure of what to expect. But the first strike of the cane on my back alone proved that she was much stronger than she appeared, and my shrieks from the pain echoed through the main hall for the next five minutes straight.

When my father was satisfied, he told her to stop, and then she helped me to my quarters where she used a spell to heal me right away. I curled up in my bed with my knees to my chin and wept quietly, while she sat nearby, looking worn out from her exertion and perhaps a little remorseful.

“I’m sorry, Syl,” she said in a soft and motherly voice. The warmth had returned to her eyes again, and she looked sincere. “You know I had no other choice. I hope you have learned you lesson. You are a daughter of Dementia. This is where you belong. You have no business speaking to a Manic. They are not our friends. You will understand this one day, when you’re a little older. But you are not to see that boy again—is that clear?”

I nodded slowly, but continued to look away. Muurine sighed and said, “Good. Then I assume you have learned your lesson. I shall leave you alone now, and give you time to rest. Don’t forget, there is a party tonight, to celebrate your father’s birthday. He will be having four traitors tortured for the entertainment, and you mustn’t miss it. You need to get over your girlish qualms about such things, as they are a part of life, and they are quite enjoyable. Your father has demanded that you sit through the entire show this time—after your disobedience with that Manic child, I would advise that you obey.”

With that she left me alone, and I began crying again. As a child, I hated seeing other people being tortured, even if they were my father’s enemies. I did not understand the necessity for it, but he had grown tired of my terrors, as people in his court were beginning to talk. It was my mother’s fault, he said, because she wouldn’t let me be exposed to such things when I was younger. But now that she was gone, he was insisting that I watch these torture sessions once a week, and it was horrible for me as a naïve and ignorant child. I would get over it, in time, and plenty of my enemies have discovered this the hard way.

It was important for me, as a young girl, to make my Ada proud; so, I was trying my best to see things more his way, and I sat through the entire show that night, hardly moving. I was rewarded for my wondrous efforts, and the courtiers stopped talking about the Duke’s unusual daughter that very night. From that point on, none of them doubted my Dementedness again.

This post has been edited by Lady Syl: Apr 13 2011, 07:18 PM

[Acadian]

* Old Business: The Ant and the Grasshopper is one of Aesop's Fables. To paraphrase a brief wiki summary: 'The fable concerns a grasshopper that has spent the warm months singing while the ant worked to store up food for the winter. When that season arrives, the grasshopper finds itself dying of hunger and, upon asking the ant for food, is rebuked for idleness.'

The fable lightly came to mind when Demented Girl questioned why Manic Boy was going to spend his gold on something as fleeting as chocolate.

As the two youngsters developed their forbidden friendship, Romeo and Juliet also came to mind.

* New Business:

Your linked UESP shots are very helpful, since I don't get to the Isles very often.

And a beautiful first kiss! Very touching and superbly written. Innocence, only to be lost before the end of the episode.

What a wonderful job you did of painting the demented mind of Muurine as she beat Syl, then apologized like a mother, then extolled the virtues of torture!

This episode did indeed feel sort of like an innocence lost. Syl's dark reminder that she would learn to torture her enemies really brought that feeling home at the end.

* Nit: The first time Thadon took me to that fountain, he brought a couple of drakes with and gave one of them to me,
I think you want 'with him' instead of just 'with'.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Apr 13 2011, 12:41 AM

[SubRosa]

The added pictures do help wonderfully. It hearkens me back to the old days when novels would have illustrations in them, usually a dozen or so per book.

Again, Syl and Thadon are so sweet! Their first kiss was wonderfully done, especially with the embarrassed flight afterward! Oh, to be so young again!

I wonder if Baenlin is the same one from Bruma?

Syl's beating was just as I expected would eventually happen. One thing though, you never described exactly how Muurine did it. With her bare hands and feet? A flogger? A cane? etc...


He will be having four traitors tortured for the entertainment
Yippie! Party time in the Shivering Isles!

none of them doubted my Dementedness again
Well that's a relief!


nits:
My friendship with Thadon was the first real friendship I had ever had.
You have a repeat of friendship in the same sentence. You might change the second occurrence to one.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Apr 13 2011, 04:56 PM

[mALX]

we got along swimmingly back in those days, long before the madness of the Isles had consumed us.

Wonderful foreshadowing here !!


Their first kiss - Ah, so Sheogorath's rumors about Syl and Thadon come true (sort of), lol.

Thadon's innate charm is very visible in this scene, Awesome Write !!

we were able to play without the fear of being caught by my father, or anyone Demented, for that matter.

What good is it to defend your Demented girlfriend, Thadon?

SPEW !!! You always catch me off guard with these hilarious references !!!!

From that point on, none of them doubted my Dementedness again.

Even after the sadness of the scene itself, this gives a chuckle.

You are doing an amazing job with bringing this story into depths of SI that I never thought of - hugely creative write !!! I am loving this !!

[Destri Melarg]

These last few chapters have been excellent! Your story takes us in surprising new directions. We see the wonderfully sweet innocence of youth through the friendship between Syl and Thadon. The harsh realities of life in the Isles are embodied by Muurine’s brutality upon their return to Dementia. Seeing her slap Syl across the face gave us an instant reminder of just who Muurine really is. Behind the love that she so clearly has for Syl lies a woman who still collects body parts for display in her living room! I am left wondering how Syl will manage to disobey Ada’s edict in the future, because I think that Thadon has become her particular form of chocolate.

[Thomas Kaira]

Hard to fathom Syl ever getting any enjoyment from watching people get beaten to a bloody pulp in front of her. That's just the kind of shocking revelation that makes me truly believe I am there in the Shivering Isles. You say you are insane? Well, if that is true, please don't stop, as your insanity is quite delightful and endearing.

It was hard to read of Syl's punishment, however, it was not unwarranted. Caning was a very popular disciplinary tactic in the Middle Ages (it only recently fell out of favor), and Syl certainly did break her Father's word (not to mention his law). I am glad he had compassion enough to hold back on his daughter, but nonetheless, I do hope Syl learned to respect her father a little better.

It's not fun to be punished, but it has to happen from time to time. You paint an excellent picture of Syl's past here, and I hate it that I'm being left hanging now.

Good show!

[Ceidwad]

I have only scanned this to date, but it is clearly brilliantly written, and there is a compelling backstory being laid down. You lay the foundations for Syl's future paranoia superbly. You show how she learns from a young age that court life is ruled by Machiavellian tendencies, and we see her competing with Alawen for her father's attention, and taking relish in 'winning'. She will carry these experiences into adulthood and this is really a fascinating exploration of her character. Many thumbs up from me so far!

[Lady Syl]

Acadian:Thanks for the story of the Grasshopper and the Ant. It sounded familiar, but at the same time it didn't. Indeed, it does fit that scene with Thadon and Syl very well.

I am glad you like the links. I've enjoyed the screenshots in everyone else's fan fics, so I decided I could use UESP to add screenshots to mine, to make it a little easier to envision.

Also, thank you for the nit. I fixed it right away.

SubRosa:I've read a lot of old novels, and I loved the pictures in older additions. It's really a shame that we've moved away from that.

Nope, different Baenlin. But I liked the name, so I snatched it for Thadon's cousin. I wanted a similar sound to their names.

I also changed the scene of Syl's beating, so it's more clear how she was beaten. Thanks for the tip--and also the nit.

mALX: Oh yes, it was important for me to show Thadon's charm right from the start. Even as a kid, he was already showing signs of his future casanova-like personality. They say the Duke of Mania has a way with women...

SPEW !!! You always catch me off guard with these hilarious references !!!!--Hehehe. Isn't it great?

Destri:Thanks! Yes, the first chapter was still more of an introduction, so it wasn't as dynamic. But, unless I want to sort of graze through something, from the second chapter onward there is a lot more dynamism between the characters.

And yes, it was also important for me to show the confliction and depth in characters such as Muurine. She loves Syl, but Muurine is literally insane. And we also see an inkling of the strong feelings about what it means to be Manic and Demented that leads Muurine to the ultimate act of betrayal against the Duchess she raised and loved.

Thomas:Thank you. Glad my insanity pleases you.

Yes, caning was brutal but common, and I thought it fit perfectly with the pseudo-medieval world of TES and the Shivering Isles. Poor Syl had to endure caning fairly often as a child, and it taught her the lesson of hard love.

Ceidwad:Thank you. Yes, Syl resists madness for quite some time, in fact, but once she is taken by insanity, we see what she became--I'd say paranoid schizophrenic is a good way to describe Syl's particular form of madness.

And she certainly does take pleasure in winning and in being on top. She is very complex, so while she can be humble and caring, she can also tend to be selfish, demanding, and prideful. She would likely have made an excellent Duchess, if only she were not insane!

All: I thank you most humbly for your compliments, criticisms, help, and support. You are all taking a part in making Syl's story be the best it can be, and your enjoyment of it makes me ever more eager to keep her story going, as well as improve it along the way. You are all my inspiration and my motivation. Thank you for taking the time to be a part of this journey with me and Syl, into the depths of madness.




Chapter 3.2--Lessons

A couple of weeks passed before I even attempted to sneak out to the palace grounds again, but I was not intending to speak to Thadon. I just wanted to find a moment of quiet solitude under the shade of the trees—another much-craved luxury that I rarely got to have. When Thadon came through from running his usual errands in Bliss, he saw me and gasped, running to approach me.

“Syl?” he asked quietly, glancing around to make sure we weren’t being watched. “Syl, are you all right? I haven’t seen you in so long; I thought I was never going to see you again! Did you get into trouble?”

“Of course, I did,” I replied in a rather unfriendly manner. “Are you a fool, Thadon, to still be talking to me? Go away, before we both get in trouble.”

“But, Syl…I…I want us to still be friends. You said that we would be friends forever, and I thought that you meant it.”

“We can’t be friends, Thadon; don’t you understand? We’re not the same.”

“Sure we are. We’re both Bosmer. We both have brown hair. And we’re the same age….”

“None of that matters, Thadon! It’s what’s inside us that is different. You’re a Manic, I’m Demented…. We can never be the same.”

“But, Syl….”

“Just…go away!” I cried, bursting to my feet and shoving him to the ground. “I never want to see you again!”

I ran away from him, as warm tears slid down my cheeks. Returning to the palace, I shut myself in my room, slamming the door so hard that Muurine awoke from the nap she had accidentally taken in a chair, and she sat up, asking, “Syl? What’s with all the noise? Where have you been?”

“Nowhere,” I snapped, sitting at my writing desk and returning to my studies, where I was supposed to have been the whole time. Muurine often fell asleep while I attended my studies in the afternoons, and that was how it was so easy for me to sneak out. Thank the Madgod for necromancy and the Rooftop Club, both which kept her up late nearly every night.

She sighed and moved to a chair, still groggy from having been awakened from a relatively deep slumber, and never bothered to ask again what I had been up to that day.

I never did see Thadon again—not while we were children, that is. He was busy serving Lord Antonius, and I was busy with my own life of learning to become a proper Demented lady, whatever that was. I was eager to learn, but I was not an easy child to raise. This was due to my fiery and independent spirit, which often got me into trouble, but no one ever asked me to be anything other than what I was. There is an old elven saying, which Muurine often applied to me: “Elven children are slow to come, and most demanding of their welcome.” Apparently it was even more so with noble elven children, and Muurine certainly had her hands full with me.

I continued to join Muurine while she made her rounds in the city to gossip with friends. While she visited, I sat by with my usual tasks, but now I was instructed also to listen carefully to their conversations, while not actually joining in. She said that it was imperative for me to pay close attention to the forms and patterns of speech in conversation—a lady must have a proper way of speaking, as well as writing. It seemed that there were a lot of things which a lady must do properly, and the lessons got quite boring at times. But I was still eager to be a fine lady, like my mother had once been, and like all the other ladies in Dementia’s court. The way they talked, the way they walked, even the way they ate, distinguished ladies of esteem from commoners. I had to learn those ways, or I would never be truly accepted in my father’s court.

Apart from learning to be a lady, and trying to get better in the schools of magicka, I was also instructed in the study of alchemy. This began when I was eleven, and I came to enjoy it quite thoroughly. It was the only arcane art in which I managed to excel. I still remember the hours I spent with her at her house, listening attentively to her lessons in alchemy. She was an excellent teacher, and I was an eager student. We stood there at the table in her quarters, and I watched as she carefully cut into her ingredients, showing me how to properly harvest the parts that were useful, and paying close attention to her descriptions of them.

“You must watch closely,” she told me, “and make a clean cut where necessary. One slight mistake could make a good potion into a deadly poison. You’ll want to know well which one you make, or you might harm yourself unawares.”

“But how will I know, Muurine?” I asked, fearing the consequences should I make a mistake.

“Listen well, and I will show you,” she replied, smiling as the lesson continued. “The Isles are filled with everything you would ever need to make potions and poisons. There are rich supplies all around you, growing from the earth, and breathing with life. You will likely never need to gather your own supplies, as your father has servants who will do that for you. But it is important that you should know how to identify the plants and each of their parts, and what they are useful for.”

“What are you making now?” I asked, looking at the strange alchemy equipment, and the scores of ingredients she had on the table, and wondering how I would ever remember all this.

Muurine smiled, and replied simply, “We are going to start with an easy task. Making potions to do good things can be much more difficult, but it is almost too easy to make a lethal poison. Today I will show you how to make a poison with the power to stop the flow of blood through your veins within minutes. It is very potent, and it is odorless. One would never know it was there, until it was too late. Take care not to touch anything unless I tell you to, and never drink a potion if you are not absolutely certain of the effects it will have on your body….”

The poison she taught me to make in this, my first lesson, would come to be of use to me in later years, but as a child I had no reason to believe I would ever have use for poisons. Still, I watched and listened carefully, drinking in every part of the lessons, fascinated by the ability to turn seemingly mundane ingredients into powerful elixirs.

However, it was about this time that I became interested in another area of study that would move me ever further away from the arcane arts, and help me to build a reputation for myself that would last me a lifetime. In no time at all, I would become one of the most promising students in the art of combat that Dementia had ever seen.

This post has been edited by Lady Syl: Apr 16 2011, 03:49 PM

[Thomas Kaira]

Hmm... master of combat? Could Syl possibly be considering joining Fight Club Rooftop Club? Perhaps Do you think she had to endure the usual new recruit's task of being weighed down with millions of clubs during their first fight?

That was not a very great end to what would have been a long lasting, and perhaps romantic, relationship. At the same time, however, I am glad you ended it, because the poor man in rags capturing the heart of the feisty rich girl is just too cliche to work nowadays (you can thank James Cameron for that). Doing that proves to me you know what you are doing here, and you know exactly what to avoid doing. In Oblivion terms: Your Penmanship skill increased.

Good luck in the Alchemy lessons, Syl.

[mALX]

Syl honing the skills that make her what she becomes later is hugely interesting, and you have done an Awesome job of presenting it !!! It seems her relationship with Muurine developed into a closer one as the years passed, and I noted that Syl knew some things about the woman that Muurine would have kept secret from her, lol. Awesome Write !!!

This post has been edited by mALX: Apr 15 2011, 10:11 PM

[SubRosa]

Thank the Madgod for necromancy and the Rooftop Club
Did Syl forget the first rule of Rooftop Club? Never talk about Rooftop Club!

“Elven children are slow to come, and most demanding of their welcome.”
I love this saying!

A nice episode, moving Syl ever toward her adulthood as she learns the skills she will need to one day become ruler of Dementia. The confrontation with Thadon was to be expected, as was Syl's reaction to it. I am also not surprised that Muurine would teach her to make lethal poisons before beneficial potions. That is indeed the nature of the Shivering Isles.

[Acadian]

You are really in your unique and gifted style here that covers substantial amounts of time, yet is so delightfully interwoven with dynamic moments and powerful memories presented with crystal clarity. This was quite a joy to read as you continue to display the evolution of Syl.

At this stage in her life, Syl remains an endearing child, but is clearly showing hints of dangerousness and determination to survive in her world. I would not bet against her.

An intriguingly suggestive ending, with talk about the art of combat.

[Lady Syl]

Thomas: Woot woot! +1 in Penmanship...I'll take it! (By the way, would you happen to know any trainers in penmanship I can go to, so I can just pay to have my skill increased faster? I'm feeling a little anxious, and would rather train than to actually have to work for it... )

mALX:Thanks! Yes, I really wanted to build a strong and endearing relationship between Syl and Muurine, to make it even more shocking what happens between them down the line... It just shows how Muurine's hatred for the Manics was stronger than her motherly love for Syl...

SubRosa:Ah, Syl's not too concerned with the rules of the Rooftop Club anymore... She hasn't been a true member in a long time....

“Elven children are slow to come, and most demanding of their welcome.”--Yes, me too! When I read that in The Real Barenziah, I had to use it here. It is now unofficially an official Elven proverb.

Acadian:Thank you. I have been very concerned about trying to evolve Syl gradually into her madness--for the most part she will resist it, because of the innate goodness in her--but over time, she sinks deeper into the madness that surrounds her. Of course, there will be some things down the road which will push her to have sort of a "growth spurt" of madness, shall we say?



Chapter 3.3—The Archer from Ashwood

My first inkling that I would enjoy combat came at a rather young age, but my father hesitated to allow me to study the art itself. This all changed one year, when Muurine’s nephew came to visit her from Ashwood. His name was Sindorin, and he was very tall and very handsome. He was a full twenty years older than I, but even as a small child I had a bit of a crush on him. Perhaps it was only what some would call ‘puppy love’ back then, but I was in love with him from the moment I first saw him.

He had beautiful, sun-tanned skin from spending most of his days hunting, as well as thick brown hair that fell in curls just past his shoulders. And who could forget his gorgeous blue eyes? I knew a beautiful man when I saw one, and I had decided, even before my mother had died, that I was going to marry him some day. But to Sindorin, I was only a child. He was fond of me, but it was more like what a brother might feel for his younger sister. Still, I enjoyed getting any kind of attention from him, and I relished it.

He greeted me warmly when he came with Muurine to the palace one day, a couple of months before my twelfth birthday. We had known each other for most of my life, so when I saw him, I didn’t even hesitate to run to him excitedly. He lifted me up in his arms and carried me upon his shoulder, cautioning me to be mindful of his bow and arrows. Sindorin was an accomplished archer and a fine warrior. He had promised since I was very young that someday he would teach me to use a bow, and it was on this visit that his promise came true.

With my father’s permission, Sindorin gave Muurine a much-needed break and took me out for the day to go riding in the countryside just outside the city. Two Seducers followed close behind, as always, but I was otherwise alone with my first love. I was praying that he would ask me to marry him that day, though that was obviously never going to happen.

As we rode, he complimented me, saying, “I see that your riding skills have improved since my last visit—you are becoming quite the accomplished equestrian already.”

I was simply tickled that he had noticed, but I tried to act more grown-up and casual about it, saying, “I know. Father has taught me very well, and riding is one of my passions.”

He smiled and brought his horse to a stop, as I did the same, then he climbed down and helped me dismount from my horse as well.

“This should be a decent spot,” he said, looking around the copse of trees that created a fine shooting range. “Are you ready to make archery your newest passion, Syl?”

I let out a sigh. He still spoke to me in that tone people often use when speaking to a child, and I resented it. But I tried to be grateful that he was going to teach me, after years of promises that had yet to come true.

“I’m ready,” I said, looking at him with eager eyes. Why couldn’t I just be a little older, so that he would notice me like he did all the beautiful ladies at court?

After setting up a target, he brought his bow to me, helping me to hold it correctly, and showing me the proper stance. Standing behind me, he moved my hands and my arms to where they needed to be, and then he helped me to mount the arrow. When I was at the ready, he told me to aim at the target and try to hit the bull’s eye in the center.

I don’t remember most of what he said, though, because I paid little attention to his words. Instead, I felt something almost instinctual take over from inside me, and I carefully analyzed the distance between the target and my bow. Knowing that the arrow needed to arch, I aimed slightly above the target before letting my arrow fly. I hit the bull’s eye on the very first shot. Sindorin was blown away, and at first he was speechless.

“Wow!” he said, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked at the arrow in the target. “Wow! Syl, that was amazing! Are you certain that you’ve never shot a bow and arrow before?”

I smiled with pride, and said, “I guess I’m a natural.”

“I guess,” he replied in agreement. He wiped his hand through his hair and took in a breath, then said, “They’ve always said that Bosmer make for the finest marksmen in the known world. I guess that proves true with you. Amazing! Try it again!”

He handed me another arrow, but this time it got to my head, and I shot too low. It hit the ground at the base of the tree, and I was embarrassed that I had missed so badly. But he handed me another arrow, saying, “It’s all right. Try it again.”

I shot the third arrow, and this time I got it straight on, hitting the first arrow and splitting it in two. Sindorin was left in awe.

“Whew. At this rate, you’ll be a better archer than I am by the time you’re grown! Won’t your father be proud! And Muurine—wait till they see you! They’ll be amazed!”

My smile returned, and I looked down at the bow in my hands. Though it was almost as big as I was, I managed to shoot that bow like a master. Even I was surprised. And Sindorin was right—my father and Muurine were left speechless when they saw my skill, though I didn’t do quite as well showing them as I had in the field that day.

However, I still was not allowed to start taking formal lessons for another year. I was hoping to have Sindorin as my instructor, but he had his own life to live down in Ashwood, and it was years before I would see him again. Every time I held a bow, though, I thought of him and smiled. Some day he was going to look at me the way he looked at Earana, and Celina, and Marie Petrand…. Some day, I told myself, Sindorin was going to love me the way I loved him.

This post has been edited by Lady Syl: Apr 18 2011, 08:46 PM

[SubRosa]

So Syl has taken up the bow, and set her sights upon her archery mentor! Once more, it is refreshing to see Syl here, as a young girl totally smitten. Who cannot empathize with her hopes to somehow catch Sinderion's eye? Or feel her frustrations at being overlooked? I wonder if her feelings for Sinderion might be an important piece in her descent into her own personal darkness? As all things in the Shivering Isles, I am certain it cannot end well...


nits:
You use the names of many characters from the game, but so far none of them appear to be the same people. I suggest that if they are different individuals, you use new names for them. Else it becomes confusing. For example, when I saw the name Sinderion, the first image that jumped into my mind was of an old Altmer alchemist with a taste for Skingrad wines. I know coming up with new names can be difficult for some of us (especially myself), but what you might try is one of the name generators. Or perhaps pick names from one of the older games like Daggerfall, that people will not be familiar with. This is a good starting point, as from here you can find all the names used in all games. One of my tricks is to take part of one name, and combine it with part of another.

[Lady Syl]

nits:
You use the names of many characters from the game, but so far none of them appear to be the same people. I suggest that if they are different individuals, you use new names for them. Else it becomes confusing. For example, when I saw the name Sinderion, the first image that jumped into my mind was of an old Altmer alchemist with a taste for Skingrad wines. I know coming up with new names can be difficult for some of us (especially myself), but what you might try is one of the name generators. Or perhaps pick names from one of the older games like Daggerfall, that people will not be familiar with. This is a good starting point, as from here you can find all the names used in all games. One of my tricks is to take part of one name, and combine it with part of another.

Hmm, yes. I see what you mean with Sinderion.... I really liked his name, but I came up with one that is similar but different--Sindorin. As far as I know, that's not in any of the games, but let me know if I am mistaken. (You do realize Muurine and Uncle Leo are the same ones, right? Uncle Leo just isn't dead yet, and I've imagined Muurine looking more like Anjelica Huston, though it's the same one.... I can't think of anyone else in the story so far whose name is taken directly from a character from the game, but if you do, please let me know, and I'll look into possibly tweaking the names slightly, so as not to cause such confusion.... Sorry about that. )

Edit: Okay, I just found Baenlin, too. Shoot. I forgot about him in Oblivion, when I named this character, and after making the connection, I just never thought about changing it... Of course, I could just say they are the same Baenlin, because Thadon's cousin does drop out of the story at some point... What do you think?

This post has been edited by Lady Syl: Apr 18 2011, 08:48 PM

[SubRosa]

DOh!, I misspoke. I did realize that Muurine and Leo were the same ones in the game. Sorry about that.

Sindorin works. Making Baenlin the same one who gets horned in Bruma would be a nice twist. Likewise, it would be interesting if we saw some of the more colorful Tamriel characters like Glarthir, or the tomato lady, in visit the Isles as well.

[mALX]

WOO HOO !! Syl's first crush at age 12 !! Like SubRosa said, I remember that first crush at age 12 - and SubRosa is right, they never end well, in Shivering Isles or out, lol.

You have a knack for developing your characters in a subtle way, your Syl gains depth with each chapter !!! Awesome Write !!!

[Acadian]

Another lovely episode as Syl continues to grow. Not to sound like a broken record, but you continue to do a wonderful job of demonstrating the passage of significant chunks of time while keeping a feel to your episodes that is both intimate and immediate. To do this without overusing historical summary is a talent that really shines here.

And another crush. Part of me wants to believe Syl's optimistic prediction, but between the age difference and being a Demented elf and life as it is, I am not optimistic.

Instead, I felt something almost instinctual take over from inside me, and I carefully analyzed the distance between the target and my bow.
I know what that is! We are witnessing the birth of a bowgirl! Woohoo!