Oasis Chapter 2, Trouble with the mages. Options

[jchamber]

jchamber, I understand what you mean. My conversations tend to be a bit...chaotic. And the namescrewing thing is running towards its end. I either use the real name (or part of it, like only using the first name) or I simply don't give a name at all. But Caius isn't going to get away from the insults that easily. 

Sweetness, thanks for not taking it harder than I meant it, sounds like I will like where this is going, the new paragraphing for speech is really working for me.

Keep up the good work, man.

[jack cloudy]

Ok, time to head for Hla Oad. And anyone who has been there before knows that it is an interesting place. Well, that will have to wait till the next update, sorry.




I set my sights on a place called Hla Oad and followed the signs while enjoying the occasional skirmish with a Nix-Hound. Nothing really happened till I reached a bridge.

,,Hey there, Redguard! Wait up!” A Nord came running across the bridge towards me. My first instinct in these situations would to get a hand on my sword, but he sounded friendly, so I waited.
,,It’s good I got to you. I have to warn you, these areas aren’t safe.”

Wow, he was trying to warn me of danger? I’m a Redguard and armed to the teeth, I could handle myself. But whatever the danger was, it would have to be a lot worse than a Nix-Hound to be called dangerous by a Nord. Nords don’t seem too bright which may be due to the alcohol, but they’re powerful warriors.

,,Hello to you too, my friend. What may this danger be?” I asked. A real warrior never goes into a battle without knowing the opposition.
,,There are Dangerous Outlaws around here. You don’t want to meet them.”
,,Outlaws?” That was the wrong word.

,,Outlaws like me. Now give me 100 septims or I’ll have your head.”
Great, so he turned out to be less than friendly after all. These kind of people really made me mad. First they act all nice and stuff and the next moment they try to rob you blind. It made my blood boil.

,,Your not getting the septims or my head. Now get out of here before I strip you of your clothes and leave you here in the wilderness naked, you drunken big rockbrained idiot.”
,,Then you are dead!”
In a blur of movement, he drew a big axe and started his assault.

He was fast, and I barely got my shield up in time to stop the blow that would’ve cut me in half. Unfortunately, I lost a big piece of my shield instead.

For what felt for like half an hour but must have been less than a minute, we were participating in the deadliest dance known to man, the dance of combat. I was forced to fight within his range with my Katana while trying to avoid his blows. I had the luck that his tactic could be summed up as chop, chop, chop and chop. If he had used his brains more, I wouldn’t have stood a chance. It was brute muscle against speed. And the brute muscle was winning.

My shield showed the signs of the barrage he launched at me, and in the end his axe came through and hit me in the side, just between two plates of Bonemold.
The agony of crushed bone and muscle paralyzed me and I dropped to the ground.
,,Alright, you win. I’ll give you the money.” I muttered with whatever breath I had while hoping that it would cause him to stop.

He did, and I gave him the money.
,,Redguard, don’t try to fight Fjoll. You cannot win.” He said as he turned his back on me and walked back to the bridge.

Fool, never turn your back on an opponent who isn’t at least completely incapacitated. He would see the error of his ways in the form of a fireball slamming into his back that set him on fire. Who cares about honour. If it gets the bad guys dead, I’m happy.

Screaming, he rolled over the ground. I repeated the process a few more times before I was sure he was dead. Now I had to prevent myself from joining him in Oblivion. I closed my eyes and tried to focus on the damage.

Out of the schools of magic I’m quite proficient in, for a Redguard, the school of Restoration is the hardest. Not cause it is harder than other forms of magicka, but it is so disorientating. I could feel my consciousness flying through my veins at high speed, telling the cells to repair my body while leaving a small pocket of Magicka in each to do the job. After many hours, I thought I could walk again. My side still hurt like mad and it would leave a massive scar along with permanently damaged muscles if I kept it like this, but I could take care of what remained while continuing my journey.

The sun had already set and I usually made sure I wasn’t outside in the darkness. I hoped that Hla Oad was close. It probably was, cause Fjoll didn’t had any food with him nor tools needed to efficiently take it from slain creatures. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was as often found in Hla Oad as he was found on the bridge. Doing my best to ignore the pain, I crossed the bridge. Robbers, they’re so annoying.

[jack cloudy]

An interesting place, but it really gets on my nerves. I wouldn't be surprised if I went back someday and turned it into a ghost town. Anyway, here's the update.




I was right, Hla Oad was close. It was small though. Just a few shacks near the water. I doubted there was much to find here, but with a bit of luck I would find a bed. If not, I could always sleep on the floor.

,,Excuse me?” I tried with the first person I ran across.
,,What is it, filthy outlander?” Hmm, not too friendly, are we?
I tried my best to keep my charmes around me, a night’s sleep in a bed was worth more than venting my anger at the moment.
,,I was just passing through. Would you like to tell me of the services I could receive here?”

,,There is Fat Leg’s Dropoff. It’s the local tradehouse. Not much else to find here. Our primary trade here is fishing.”
After thanking the woman, I made my way to the building she’d pointed at.

Even Seyda Neen was better than this. What was called the tradehouse closely resembled my shack back there. Just a few twigs of wood tied together in an unstable construction that didn’t even managed to keep out the wind. No bed either as I soon found out. A trapdoor caught my eye however, and I went down it. I could here voices, maybe the real tradehouse was underground.

Well, the tradehouse was underground, but it dealt in different goods than I’d expected. The place appeared to be a big cave with several wooden walkways. I made my way to who looked the most like a trader.

,,Excuse me. But would you be so kind as to tell me what you trade in?” I asked. Always try to be friendly.
,,Well, at the moment I don’t trade in much. But you look like you could use a bed, my friend. Tell you what, if you do me a favour, I’ll give you a bed for the night.” Bingo, one bed coming right up.
,,I could use a bed. So what’s the favour?”

,,I’m in a small debt with a friend of mine. Since I don’t have the money, I’ll pay him in goods.”
He waved to his assistant, who brought the “goods” into view.

All thoughts of finding a bed left my mind. All I really wanted to do right now was to put my sword through their ugly faces. A slave, he was dealing in slaves. And you usually don’t pick slaves out of the ocean. Which meant that this was a big smuggling town that could be found on every map. Why in the name of Jagar Tharn is slavery legal here? Damn, I just used the wrong name. Slavery would have been right up in the late battlemage’s alley.

,,Could you take this one to Vorar Helas in Balmora? His house shouldn’t be hard to find. I know that it’s not much to look at, but the true value is on the inside.” He laughed at his own joke. The dirty piece of slime.

,,Fine, I’ll do it.” Like I would, the moment I got to this Vorar Helas, I would buy the poor thing from him. If I could keep myself from starting a massacre here, that was.
,,Good, now I’ll show you the bed. Come on, follow me.” He didn’t even notice my internal conflict.
,,I would prefer to deliver the slave now, if you don’t mind.” No way I would be able to get a good night’s rest with the thought of the poor Khajitt in the hands of those monsters.
,,Whatever. Thanks, mate. I owe you one.” Yeah, and the price would be your head if I ever saw it again. I hate slavers.

The Khajitt was too frightened to talk and simply followed me. She’d been treated badly, that was for sure. Damn monsters, may they burn in Oblivion for eternity.
Anyway, I wasn’t in the mood for a long conversation anyway, so the silence was nice.

And it allowed me to keep my ears focussed for the sounds of the local wildlife that might show an unhealthy interest in my companion. I made sure that not a single rat, Nix-Hound or Cliffracer ever got close to hurting her even further.
The roads would be a big detour, so I decided to pass over the mountains and then follow the riverbank. It would lead us right to Balmora with a lot less trouble. Or so I thought.

I motioned the Khajit to stop when we reached the top of the mountain. In the depths, the Odai river flowed. But that wasn’t what I was looking at, I was looking at the thing. It was barely visible in the fog, but it was unmistakably some kind of large lizard. Two legs like treetrunks, two giant tusks with an equally huge mouth between them and a scaly skin that rippled with the muscles underneath. Definitely not my favourite creature to encounter.

It was either going back to the roads or straight through it. The roads would be too hard for my patience, so this lizard would have to pay the price. Since I wanted to start the engagement as comfortable as possible, I smacked a fireball in its back. Bellowing a battlecry, the thing turned around and charged.

I should’ve taken out my Silver Claymore. But sometimes, I tend to do things without thinking. I considered the weapon too beautiful to waste on anything, so my Katana would have to do the job again.

I sidestepped the charging Kagouti and hacked at its armoured head. My katana only made a small scratch in its skin. I was thrown of my feet by the tusks when it bashed me with its head. The blow send me flying through the sky for a few metres at least.

This looked bad. I’d chosen to fight it and now found I could not win. If it wasn’t for the Bonemold, that hit would have cracked my bones like a little twig, but it was still painfull.
There was only one way out, and there was no time to inform the slave about my plan. Getting up to my feet, I pushed her off the cliff and then jumped after her, towards the cold water that streamed below.

[Kiln]

Great job on this part, I really liked that the character tends to have trouble with the creatures and people he is forced to fight, it adds a certain level of realism that is essential for a story in which the character is new and inexperienced in combat. Sorry for my lack of comments but it is very good, update soon.

[jack cloudy]

Alright, here is the update. In reality, Fjoll never managed to put a scratch on me. Same thing with the Kagouti. Adrenaline Rush makes the Redguard way too powerful. But it isn't fun to write that way. Anyway, here's the update.




Hitting the water from such a high altitude is like slamming into a brick wall with the force of a battering ram. In other words, quite a painful experience. My momentum carried me on till I hit the bottom of the river, causing further pain to my tormented body. Only barely awake, I struggled back up to the surface, with my armour doing a good job at dragging me down.

That was the most painful dive in my whole life, and I was the one wearing armour here. Who knows how it must have felt to the Khajit. I looked around for a few seconds before I finally found her.

She was drifting in the water with her face pointing at the bottom of the river, clearly unconscious. Though I felt like I had been crushed underneath a Siltstrider, she was my top priority. Don’t you love this heroic silliness? So I managed to swim towards her and started to take the necessary precautions. I raised her face above the water while pumping as much restorative magicka into her frail body as I could muster. I hoped that the damage would be repairable. After a few worried moments, the Khajit regained consciousness and spat the last drops of water out of her lungs. At least she turned out to be a good swimmer. Now that I didn’t had to worry about her drowning, I could asses our current situation.

We had been drifting downstream for a while now and where getting further from Balmora with each passing second. The water was freezing cold and I didn’t had the magicka left to perform an underwater fireball to heat it. Man, this was ridiculous. I should use the magicka for waterwalking or waterbreathing, not as some silly waterheater. The worst news was that I lost my Katana and that it had been swept away by the current. I would miss my trusty blade.

Setting these thoughts aside, I helped the slave upstream. I was pleasantly surprised that the river was completely devoid of Slaughterfish. As long as there wasn’t a Cliffracer flying around, we could swim right into Balmora without any trouble. That’s what we did, though I did make sure there were a few chances to rest.

We must have made quite a weird sight, being all soaking wet. I asked a guard about where to find Vorar Helas and then took the time to dry up. Once dry, I was as ready for my confrontation with the slave master as possible.

Well, this was nice. So mister Imperial spymaster was Helas’s neighbour. Maybe I should have a talk with him about the ethics involved in slavery, though I doubt he would care. As long as slavery would keep the province from turning against the empire, he would keep it.

The door was locked, but it was no match for a bit of lockpicking.
,,Who are you? How did you get in?” A Dark Elf. I should’ve known.
,,I just came here on an errant from your friend back in Hla Oad. He sent you this slave.” I pointed at the Khajit who was trembling with fear. With good reason, as I soon found out.

,,I see. Yes, now if you would be so kind as to wait for a moment. I’ll just finish my business and then you shall receive your reward.” He said as he raised a Chitin dagger. No need to ask what he was about to do.
,,Touch her, and you’re death, you Dark Elf scum.” I said, moving my hand to the Claymore on my back to illustrate my point.

,,Ah, so you don’t like the way we do business here? Well, that is quite unfortunate. I think I’ll just have to kill you both. I believe your belongings will fetch a nice price.” What, he really thought he could kill both of us with that miserable dagger of his? This guy was sick.

But I never told him that, I had different problems. Like the paralyzing spell he put on me. I could do nothing but watch as he tried to take down the slave, who put up quite an impressive fight. But the dagger won over the claws in the end and he got ready to strike the finishing blow.

Except that a certain Silver Claymore wielded by yours truly was send into him with enough force to pass through his spine, his heart and ribs to emerge on the other side and stop a hair’s width from entering the Khajit in the same blow. So as a result, the finishing blow never happened. I pulled the sword back out and watched how the corpse dropped to the ground. A few seconds later, two guards stormed into the building, attracted by all the noise of the fight. All they saw was a wounded Khajit, a dead Dark Elf and a Redguard who was holding a large sword from which blood was still dripping to the floor.

[jack cloudy]

And an early update. Enjoy!







,,Murderer! What have you done?!” I just killed the guy, wasn’t that obvious?
Fighting those two guards definitely wasn’t an option. They were some of the best fighters in the city and had the advantage of numbers. Damn, and I just began to enjoy my freedom.

,,You’re coming with us, Outlander. You are now officially accused of coldblooded murder within city boundaries. Hand over your weapons slowly and let us put a slave bracer on you so you don’t use any magicka.” The biggest of them said. Great, I had no idea how I could talk my way out of this.

,,What’s all that noise? Can’t an old man enjoy his Skooma here?” Uh oh, there was Caius. He didn’t look to happy. Now I was really in trouble. He would probably turn the sentence from lifelong to execution and give a stupid speech about not drawing any attention.

,,Excuse me? We are arresting a dangerous criminal, citizen. Please step aside.” The shortest of the two guards said. Caius looked more like a drugaddict than ever. He shoved the spy aside and came towards me.

,,Oh no. Don’t tell me he was at it again. There goes my drug dealer. I told him that this hobby of his was going to kill him someday. Dragging Outlanders into your home and then try to kill them for fun is a dangerous way to spend your time.”
Both guards turned their back at me and stared at the shirtless man.

,,What did you say?”
,,This man isn’t a criminal. He just defended himself the moment he noticed that the only reason why late Helas here dragged him into his house was to kill him. Besides, look at the Redguard. Does he look like the man who needs to kill for money? That weapon looks very expensive to me. Though I’m not an expert.”
I had to admit it, the way he manipulated those guards with his voice was amazing. Even I nearly believed his story. Now I knew why he was called a spymaster.

,,I see. Sorry for the misunderstanding, Outlander. Consider the house yours to compensate for the inconvenience. I certainly hope that your stay in Balmora will be a pleasant one.” The two guards walked out of the door, leaving me to simply stare at their backs.

,,That was amazing. Thanks, sir. You just saved my life.” I told the spy.
,,Don’t thank me just like that.” He replied, looking really furious.
,,Please wait here for a while. Make yourself comfortable.” He said to the slave and then dragged me over to his own house.

,,Now what was that all about? I told you not to draw unwanted attention. And now you killed someone right next to my home. I suppose you’ve got a good reason for all this?” Oops, he was really mad at me now.
,,I just couldn’t let him kill that slave. That’s all.” What else could I say but the truth?

,,I see. Now who brought the slave to him in the first place? You did that.”
,,Now wait a minute. I didn’t do it so he could kill her, nor did I do it for any kind of reward. This was my decision and I’ll face the consequences. The moment I delivered her, I would have bought her.”

,,So then you would have a slave of your own. How considerate. Now how many spies have a slave?” He still wasn’t convinced to let me go, was he?

,,How many spies spend a fortune on Skooma? But slave and being a slave are two different things. Slave is a title, while being a slave is about how you’re treated. If your owner treats you well, you have the title but you’re not a slave. Get it? Now you clearly still want me around for your information gathering, or you wouldn’t have even attempted to take those guards of my back.”

He actually smiled. ,,That was a good speech you held. Maybe I should train you in the power of words. Your tongue can be much sharper than your sword. Yes, I still need you. But having a slave is very bad for your cover. She may, without wanting it, become a leak. Now, I suggest you take her to Ebonheart. It is just to the southwest of Vivec and holds a building known as the Argonian Mission. That place exists to free slaves and bring them back home. Take her there and then go to Vivec where I want you to search out three informants.”

He gave me a piece of paper. ,,All the mission details are written there. Vivec can be reached by Siltstrider. I suggest you travel by night. And one last thing. We are neighbours now, so I think we should at least try to get along.”
I laughed at that.

,,Every time I kill someone here, I get to have their house. Maybe I should go into real estate.” I said.
,,May the Divines have mercy on us when that happens.” Caius laughed himself. If you ignored his Skooma problem, he wasn’t so bad after all.

[Kiln]

Changing the slave quest to involve Caius was very interesting and it was far from what I expected. I just expected him to kill the smuggler and take her directly to the Argonian Mission but the twist you added really made it different. Great job.

[jchamber]

hmmm I like the last post much more than the initial material that I criticized, I like how the Speachcraft is done without sounding too game-mechanicy I am glad to have started reading this again.

Keep it up and update soon.

[jack cloudy]

Thank you for the comments and here's another update.




,,What is it, Outlander? Don’t tell me you want to ride at this time of the day. I was just about to settle in for the night.” The Dark Elf could only just keep himself from calling me by a less polite name.

I had spent the rest of the day cleaning up and preparing my new home to be filled with all my possessions I left back in Seyda Neen. Getting rid of the dead body was the hardest part, there were no Slaughterfish here. In the end I just waited till night fell before putting him in a bag and dumping him in the river.

,,Yes, I need a ride to Vivec.”
,,Vivec? That’s a long way. I won’t do it, it’s too late for that.”
Great, and how was I supposed to take care of the slave Rabinna? I had a talent for getting in trouble on my own, so I wanted to get this done with as quickly as possible. I decided to bluff a bit.

,,Listen, pal. My master really needs this slave and if he hears that the reason for the delay was that a caravaner refused to give us a ride, all three of us are going to be in big trouble. Now I’ll make it up to you. How about double the normal fare for both of us? That would come down to about a hundred septims in total. Quite a nice bonus, don’t you think?”

,,Well, maybe. Now who did you say your master was?” I could see his resolve beginning to crumble. I’d shown him the carrot, time to increase the size of the stick.
,,My master prefers to be anonymous. If I told you who he was, he’d be forced to take certain….precautions if you know what I mean. He is very wealthy and powerful.”
,,Oh, alright. Now I only do this because I don’t want you to be late for your appointment, understand? Hop onboard.”

Riding on a Siltstrider through the night is an unforgettable experience. You should really bribe a caravaner someday to see it for yourself. Rabinna didn’t had time to look at it though, her attention was completely devoted to the bucket that was being filled at an alarming rate.

Me? I didn’t needed it this time. Maybe I should explain it. It isn’t the movement of the Siltstrider that makes me sick, it is the memories that are called by these movements. A Siltstrider moves like a boat. I grew up on one, and my last memory of the boat wasn’t a happy one.

That was fiftheen years ago. It was time to put it behind myself and instead focus on the happier moments. I was quite proud of myself for not needing the bucket anymore.

I was nearly sad when we reached Vivec. Riding on a Siltstrider is nice if you don’t spend the time with your head in a bucket.

Now Vivec was huge. No really, it made Balmora look like a bunch of shacks in the middle of nowhere. All the time we followed the road to Ebonheart, only bothered by the occasional rat, the giant cantons of Vivec could be seen to our left.

Ebonheart was an impressive castle of its own, but it would easily fit in just one of the huge cantons of Vivec. I left Rabinna with the Argonian who was in charge of the Argonian Mission and also heard a sad story.

According to the Argonian, slaves were sometimes used by smugglers as mobile containers for drugs. Same thing with Rabinna. She was forced to swallow a big bag that was probably filled with moonsugar. That explained why Vorar Helas was so intent on killing her. He would have succeeded if I didn’t killed him first.

There was a bad part to the whole story. When the bag in Rabinna’s stomach would finally dissolve, she would become one hell of a drug addict. I hope these Twin Lamp people know how to deal with that.

After receiving a nice bag of septims as a reward, I left the building and made my way back to Vivec. I was happy I could help the poor slave, but travelling alone was definitely much better. Fighting when you had to watch out for a fragile slave was a nightmare. I made it back to the entrance to Vivec near the Siltstrider when the sun began to show itself over the hills.

,,We are watching you, scum.” Yeah, and you really need that mask to hide your ugly face.
The guards here were the rudest and least friendly by far of all the guards I had encountered.
Now where would I begin to look for Caius’s little informants? One of them was commonly found in some sort of club in the Foreign Canton. Seeing as I was in the same canton, I decided that this lizard would be the first one to tell me everything Caius needed to know, and maybe a bit more.

[jack cloudy]

A bit of asking around quickly directed me to the club in the heart of the canton. How someone could live in this big rock cave was beyond me. I got claustrophobic just thinking about it.

Anyway, my lizard friend was having fun consuming the local alcohol, with three very drunk Dark Elves as company. He was the only Argonian in the room, so I went up to him.

,,Excuse me, are you Huleeya by chance?” A small nod confirmed my suspicions. Good, only five minutes of walking and I’d already found one of Caius’s informants. I hoped that all of them were so easy to find, especially considering the size of the damn city.

,,Great. Now I’ve been sent by someone known as Caius Cosades to retrieve a bit of information. Are you ready to answer any questions I have?” Might as well get straight to the point, I thought. Too bad it wasn’t smooth sailing after all.
,,Huleeya will answer your questions. But Huleeya wants to go to Jobasha’s bookstore where he can read. But these Dunmer prevent Huleeya from leaving. Huleeya cannot fight them, for his Morag Tong honour forbids it.” Excuse me, you’re a coldblooded assassin yet you don’t dare to fight a bunch of drunks? This was hilarious.

I casually took a look at the Dark Elves and our surroundings. Despite their alcohol, they weren’t as drunk as I first thought they were. Their movements were still coordinated enough to put up a decent fight. So it would be three against two, and I didn’t dare to rely on Huleeya. Assassins rely on the element of surprise to take out their target without ever being spotted. In a straight up match, they’re better than your average farmer, but not by much. Not too mention he didn’t looked like he would help in the first place. Add other customers, a crowded area filled with furniture and you had all the things I prefer to avoid in a fight.

After getting something to drink I walked to the center of the room. Didn’t Caius say that the tongue can be sharper than the sword? It was time to find out.
,,May I have your attention please?” I loudly shouted through the room. Sure enough, people turned to watch me, most of them looking rather annoyed and complaining about the rude outlander.

,,Thank you. Now as you may or may not know, the Ordinators want to hold a party here. A private party. Since it will start in two hours and I want our honoured host to have time to prepare, I would like you all to drink up your drinks and leave this establishment. That’s all, thank you.” Silly, I know but it was all I could think of.

,,Why do you tell us this, Outlander?” One of the Dark Elves said. One of the most important things about bluffing is that you have to stick to the same story, you can’t suddenly start talking about something else.

,,Cause they hired me to get this place empty. If they come in and find that there are still customers in here, they’ll have to do it themselves. And you don’t want to know what an annoyed Ordinator would do. Now drink up your drink and please leave.” I turned back to the rest of the customers.
,,Come on, people. Didn’t you hear me? Finish drinking and leave. When the Ordinators come for their party, this place has to shine.” One by one, everyone left.

,,Ready to go to the bookstore?” I asked the assassin with a grin. When we arrived in the bookstore a bit later, he told me everything he knew.

More stuff about this Nerevarine dude and about this sixth house. Why always the same questions? Maybe Caius had smelled the trail of something big. If it was enough to be worthy of the attention of the province’s spymaster, it had to be big. Whatever was the case, one informant down and two more to go. I just hoped there wouldn’t be any problems any more. By now I was really starting to wonder why things could never go as smooth as I wanted them to go.

[Taillus]

Loved the ordinator party trick done in true Oasis fashion. You keep me guessing and even though it follows the linear storyline aspect of Morrowind it is still full of surprises. Keep it coming!

This post has been edited by Taillus: Mar 3 2006, 12:34 AM

[Kiln]

Great updates here, lots of content and as Taillus said, it has changes that keep it interesting while still following the story. Great work, keep it up.

[mplantinga]

Just caught up on chapter 2. I have really enjoyed Oasis' unique way of dealing with the potentially nasty situations that keep popping up. Keep up the amazing work.

[jchamber]

I'm liking how the party story took hold...looking forward to seeing if the tavern owner takes revenge for loss in wages from the drinkers that left and/or the ones that didn't show up....watch your back now....rofl

very nice updates, just read the last two at once...very nice indeed. please continue.
\:edit: omg lots of spelling errors fixed

This post has been edited by jchamber: Mar 4 2006, 07:04 PM

[jack cloudy]

Thank you. The Tavern owner will come back. I've got an idea, but it will need to grow a bit more. Anyway, enjoy the update.





Up, down, up, down. This city was driving me nuts. Couldn’t they’ve built it at least a bit more travelfriendly? And I was not going to pay for a boat trip.

After a long walk, I finally arrived in the canton where my next informant would be. Unlike with my cowardly assassin friend, asking around this time gave me no information that gave me a location more specific than “somewhere”. With a grumbling stomach, I settled in at a local club. This was probably one of the few good sides to Vivec, there was a place to get food in every canton.

After filling my stomach, I went to the most likely place to find the little kitten, the sewers. How in the name of Fargoth could the Khajitt handle the stench down here? Oh well, the local rat population was rapidly diminished.

After working my way through a few rats I still had found no sign of her. Maybe this was simply the wrong place? There were a few torches up ahead, and a person standing next to them. No Khajitt, but maybe I could get some information.

,,Hello, Redguard. You here to join the Daedric cult?” Oh, so this was the local shrine. In the middle of the sewers, it instantly showed me that this local religion was less than legal.
,,No, but have you by chance seen a..…..” My words were cut short by the sword that came my way. Guess that this cult didn’t like any trespassers.

Maybe I could’ve taken her, maybe not. Whatever was the case, I wasn’t in the mood for a fight here. The damn stench would distract me. So I turned tail and ran till I went around a corner where I waited.

Sure enough, the cultist had been following me and tripped over the leg I stuck out in front of her path. The stench was horrible, but falling in the dirty water must’ve been even worse. If she hadn’t tried to kill me, I might’ve felt sorry.

,,I only wanted to ask you if you’d seen a Khajitt hanging around here. But since I can see one of in the distance, I guess I don’t need your help anymore. Now go back to your shrine and be a good little guard over there. I’ve got better things to do than play around with you all day.” With those words, I cast my waterwalking spell and crossed to the other side of the tunnel, making sure I kept away from her sword.

The Khajitt had a horribly long name and was unwilling to give me the information. Only after doing a little favour would she be willing to help. Alright, I was getting used to this by now. It looked like my furred friend was a smuggler. At least, that’s what a Census and Excise agent thought. Ah, the Census and Excise, old friends. This would be fun.
He wasn’t too hard to find, I just had to look for the only Imperial who was trying his best not to be noticed while he observed the waistworks. He failed miserably at not being noticed. I walked up to him with a nice plan already in my head.

,,May I help you with anything, Outlander?” It felt good to use that word myself for a change. He eyed me suspiciously but soon started smiling. I looked like any average mercenary, the type that could be bought.

,,Why, yes. I’m looking for a friend of mine, Addhiranirr. Perhaps you know where to find her? I can give you something for the trouble.” He answered. Great, I was about to trick someone and he would pay me to do it. Oh, I love it when I meet an Imperial like that.
,,Sure, she’s hiding from someone who believes that she’s a smuggler. I’ll take you to her. Make sure we’re not followed by the Census and Excise agent.” A few septims switched owners and we were off, back to the sewers.

,,Oh, this place doesn’t smell too nice, now does it? It must be hard on her, having to hide in a place like this.” So I wasn’t the only person who noticed. It would be a shame to soil those expensive clothes of him, but I didn’t care. I followed the flow of the water till I found what I was looking for. Say goodbye to the Imperial.

,,And this is where we go our separate ways. Goodbye, sir. It was fun to fool you.” I told him with a huge grin.
,,What, what are you doing?! AHH!” With a big splash, I threw the Imperial in the water and saw how the current swept him away. He would probably be spit out of the sewers into the lake a few minutes later. Hopefully he’d learned his lesson. If not, that was not my concern. I would have all the information I needed by that time.

Unlike Huleeya, the smuggling Khajitt believed that the phrophecies of this Nerevarine were only stories meant to scare little kittens. But what she said about the sixth house was more worrying. Smuggling had stopped over the normal channels. Oh, they still smuggled, but not for their normal employees. And they were very silent about their employees. The Khajitt believed that the sixth house was this new employee.

This was getting interesting. Strangely enough, I actually started to look forward to meeting the next informant. Caius sure found an interesting subject to ask information about. And this Nerevar was connected through history with an ancient sixth house. A sixth house that was presumed destroyed, but still existed according to the Khajitt. Perhaps if the sixth house still existed, there might be a small bit of truth behind the Nerevarine phrophecies. Whatever was the case, I was glad I could leave the stench of the sewers behind.

[Taillus]

That will learn him. Ha! Good job another well done post!

[Kiln]

Nice update, glad to see that you can stick to the story but add your own little twists to keep it interesting and different, good work.

[jack cloudy]

Thank you, and here's another one.

My last informant was the easiest to find, but she was in a place that rivalled the sewers in iritating me. No, it wasn’t the smell or the furniture. It was the fact that the damned place was overrun by Ordinators. Amidst lots of scum, N’Wah and other words I prefer not to tell, I made my way to the library.

The Dunmer woman seemed happy to hear that Caius was doing fine, for as much as that was possible with all that Skooma in his lungs. She was alos willing to simply give me the information without requiring any favours to be done first. Certainly a nice change of pace.

I was led to a quite corner of the library and she told me what she knew. Like Huleeya, the cowardly assassin, she knew nearly nothing about the sixth house. Being on the right side of the law seemed to make it a hard subject to know about. What she said about the Nerevarine was more revealing.

Though the temple holds the ancient Nerevar as the closest thing to a fourth Tribunal god, they hunted down any signs of the Nerevarine like the world depended on it. From their point of view, it probably did. Part of the phrophecy said that the Tribunal gods would be destroyed by the Nerevarine. Without the gods, there was no reason for the temple to exist. As a result, any person who claimed to be the Nerevarine, would be hunted down and executed. Thereby that person was revealed as a fake. The Nerevarine couldn’t die before fulfilling the phrophecies. Sure, killing someone shows that they can’t be an immortal hero, but isn’t it a bit extreme?

She told me that I should look up a book known as “Progress of Truth” for further information. The library had one, but it was well guarded by the Ordinators. She suggested that I searched for a book seller who sold this highly illegal book. After that, she went back to help another visitor and left me to explore the library. I took the time to read up on the relation between the Daedra and these Tribunal gods. I wondered what the Daedra might think of their competition.

I should’ve known that reading a temple book wouldn’t help much. Ok, so according to the temple, a couple of Daedra had sworn to serve the Tribunal. These were the “good” Daedra. The ones that didn’t serve the Tribunal were the “bad” Daedra. This was just sick. I for one, couldn’t possibly see why a Daedra would even want to be bossed around by one of these newbie Tribunal gods. The Daedra had been around thousands of years before the Tribunal was even born.
And another stupid thing was that Azura was listed among the good Daedra while according to the Nerevarine phrophecies she’d sworn to destroy the Tribunal. Oh well, at least it was good for laughs. I put the book back on the rack and my eyes fell on the title of another book.

,,Stupid outlander! Look at the mess you made!” The Ordinator sounded more than willing to beat my brains in. He was right though, I just knocked down a whole rack filled with books who where now lying in a pile on the ground.

,,Sorry. I came here to see the scholars about this book that’s been in my family for generations. I wanted to know how old it was and what was in it. It had very fuzzy writing, you see. I’m very sorry. I’ll just take my book and leave before I break anything else. I hope I don’t have to pay. I don’t have a lot of money.” I said with my most outlanderish voice. Acting like a simple idiot was probably the only way I could keep the Ordinator from becoming aggressive. This humble tone was rather emberassing in my opinion, but it was all for the greater good.

I grabbed the book and put it in my backpack. The Ordinator was still busy deciding whether or not he would try to kill me when I walked out of the door. I’d read Progress of Truth later. Preferably at a place where the nearest Ordinator was far beyond the horizon. With the mess I left behind, I doubted anyone would notice that one book was missing.

After that, I had nothing left to do in Vivec. I was glad I could leave the city behind. All these Ordinators were sriously getting on my nerves. For all their elite guardish stuff, they sure had a limited vocabulary. Scum was getting old.

It was a long walk back to the Foreign Canton, and the sun had already set when I finally arrived. No Siltstrider for me today. If I wanted to leave, I would have to spend the night outside or use a different exit. I knew of just one. Once more, I made my way up to the top of a canton. Vivec was a beautiful city, but the population was a bit unfriendly and there were too many changes in height between places.

,,You! Stupid N’Wah!” Well, who did we have here? There was only one reason why that guy could be swinging a club in front of my face.
,,Look, sorry about the inconvenience.” I began but soon found out that apologies didn’t help much.

,,Sorry?! You are sorry?! You made me believe that I would be rolling in money after those Ordinators had held their party. I hired the most expensive cleaners in the city! But where where they?! Well, where were the stupid Ordinators?!” Wow, this guy really had taken it a bit too far. He needed to cool down before he would explode.

,,Hey, didn’t you hear? They found two of their people dead. Throats slit. Not exactly the right time to be holding a party, don’t you think?” Luckily I had heard that bit of news.

,,I know that! I asked one of these Ordinators. And guess what?! He didn’t know about any party, Dagoth be damned!” He still hadn’t calmed down. Maybe I should’ve just started a fight in his club.

,,It was a surprise party.” I was running out of lies fast.
,,I won’t fall for your lies again, Redguard! Your blood will stain the ground when I walk away from here and my hands will be wet! Get your dirty hands away from your sword!” He yelled at the top of his lungs.

,,Ok, calm down. Can’t we talk about it?” I said as I raised my hands and created some distance between us. Then, I stretched out my arms in a burst of magicka and watched as he flew over the railing. Telekinesis sure was handy sometimes. It also helps when people think you’re nothing but a mindless thug with a sword. It makes it easier to surprise them.

,,Looks like a bit more than just your hands got wet! Sorry, but I prefer to keep my blood inside my body. See ya!” I yelled down at the owner of the club who was now swimming in the lake that the city was built in. Three people in the water on one day, what was wrong with this city?

Vivec was the largest city on the island. Couldn’t get much bigger if you asked me. It also was logical that it contained a hall of the mage guild. I would just use the guild guide to poof back to my lovely new home in Balmora.

,,Excuse me, outlander. What are you doing here?” An abnormally fat mage asked me in a not so polite tone the moment I’d entered. I wondered how many Feather spells were used to support that weight.
,,Mind if you first tell me who you are?” I responded. I never let people run over me like that.

,,Sure, I am the Archmage of Vardenfell. Trebonius.”
I took a good look at him. Imperial and very fat. I had no doubt that he would be part of the more corrupt people in the guild. If that was the case I knew just how to get him of my back.

,,Ah, Archmage. You are just the person I need. We’ll talk in a more quite corner. This is something that can only be said to someone who can be trusted.” I simply dragged him to where I wanted before showing him Fargoth’s ring.

,,See this? It is the sign of the Blades, his majesty’s top-secret spy service. Now I am on a mission to preserve the safety of the Imperial citizens in this province. Of course, that is something that is best kept a secret. I’m sure I can trust you. I will need access to the guild guide for transportation. I will use the identity as a mage in this guild as my cover. If you notice anything suspicious, tell me. Don’t do it in person, that would just attract attention. Sent a sealed envelope to the guild hall in Balmora to a man named Luper Alkad, my cover identity. Do your duty, and the emperor shall surely reward you. Remember, don’t talk about this to anyone you can’t completely trust.” After saying that, I left the confused Archmage behind.

[jchamber]

yay! the angered tavern man and his unwilling swim, sweetness I tell you!! Manipulation of the arch mage is nice......and convenient. muwahahahahaha, nice peice here.

[jack cloudy]

Thanks. Hope you enjoy the update.




The guild guide brought me to Balmora in an instant and I spent a few minutes joking around with Ajira before saying goodnight and setting of for my new home. I stopped before reaching the door. Why should I just go home? I might as well drop off my notes at Caius’s place. The sooner I got this over with, the sooner I could just go back to my own business.

,,Excuse me, can I still come in?” I asked with the door barely opened. Who knew what the spy was doing right now.
,,What, oh it’s you. Alright, come in. Make sure no one sees you.”

,,Good to see you, Luper. Now before we get to your duties in Vivec, has the situation with the slave been resolved?”
,,Sure did, she’s on her way back to the mainland as we speak.”

,,Good, now report.” Caius ordered as he paced back and forth. He seemed impatient, or maybe he was just eager to hear about what I’d found out.

,,I’ve found all three informants and received the information you were looking for.”
,,How did you handle the complications you surely ran into?” For the short time he knew me, Caius sure managed to pick up on my style of doing things.
,,I dropped one Daedric Cultist in the sewer waters, flushed out one Census and Excus agent out of the city through the same sewer and dropped one club owner into the lake. Oh yeah, I made a bit of a mess of the temple library.”

,,That’s all? I would have expected more from you.” Caius looked very relieved. Clearly he expected me to slaughter half of Vivec’s population or something.
,,Good, now here are Huleeya’s notes. I’ve also stolen a book out of the library that your temple informant suggested and I can give you a spoken report on the information of your Khajitt informant.”
,,Well then, get started.” For the next few hours, we went through the information and the book together.

,,Alright, Huleeya’s notes are fine. The book gives some very interesting information though I don’t know if I can thrust its information. We’ll have to locate these dissident priests. But how do we know that Addhiranirr is right? For all we know, the smugglers could all suddenly have a change of heart.” Caius spoke in the end, more to himself than to me.

,,I trust her opinion. I was raised by smugglers myself, remember? Once a smuggler, always a smuggler. And smugglers are a proud bunch who like to tell about their trade over a drink. There can be only two reasons why they would be so silent and you won’t like them. Either they get paid a huge fortune to keep their mouths shut or they are too scared to talk. Or both. Whatever’s the case, I would like to go visit one of the other guild halls and see if I can get a bit more there while working on my career as a mage. Goodnight, shirtless.” I said and finally went to my own bed. It was nearly morning already, and tomorrow would be a busy day.

I awoke the next morning and got myself fully awake with the help of a good glas of Flin. After that, I went to the Siltstrider and paid for a passage to Seyda Neen.
When the big bug arrived, I made my way directly to Gilnith’s shack. My hand went for the door when I froze. Someone had messed with the door.

,,Ok, whoever you are. We’re going to play things my way.” I muttered to myself as I levitated to the roof. My short stay in the shack had planted the location of every little hole in the roof and walls firmly in my head. I lied down near one of those and peeked through it. There was a man in my house who judging by his size, was a Nord. So mister shake-down Fargoth had finally caught on. Took him long enough.

I slowly made a small hole in a corner of the roof and levitated everything I wanted to take with me out through it. After that I went through the hole myself.

,,Well well, what do we’ve got here? A guest, how can I help you?” I said as I laid the tip of Tarhiel’s sparksword in his neck and watched with satisfaction how the sparks shot out of the iron into his neck. It had to be quite unpleasant.

,,You! You promised to find Fargoth’s hiding place! But then you disappeared. For days I’ve waited here. Now I’ll have my revenge on the traitor who didn’t lived up to his word!” Hrisskar made a lot of noise, but he still seemed to have the necessary brain cells to realize that he was in a bad position to be aggressive.

,,Ah, but didn’t you realized that your master plan was a bit too good? All you needed to do was to spend a night on top of the lighthouse to find it yourself. But no, it was too cold outside and you needed your alcohol. So you thought you could fool a prisoner who hadn’t smelled freedom yet. Now I tell you that you won’t be taking revenge on me today, cause you can’t even move.” I told him and hit him with a nice little paralyzing spell from late Vorar Helas’s ring.

I quickly undressed the stupid Nord till he was standing in nothing more than his underwear. Then, as the paralyzation wore of, I put fire to said underwear. Screaming, Hrisskar bolted out of the door straight for the water. How fun it was to see him swim for his life with the Slaughterfish on his heels. He was too scared to get back on the land where I was.

,,Having a nice swim?! I’d join you if I could, but I’ve got important business to do! It was nice to meet you, goodbye!” I shouted after him and walked with my goods back to the Siltstrider. I was on the way back to Balmora by the time Hrisskar finally dared to get out of the water.