Sleeper in the Cave, a Morrowind fanfic Options

[Acadian]

Adryn maintaining her ‘low profile’ while sharing her very active internal dialogue in the tavern was delightful to read.

Jamie’s distraction was brilliant, allowing our headscarved Dunmer to make off with not only a letter, but a valuable dagger’s worth of recompense.

Heh, on the code, I’m afraid Adryn will have to solve it for me.

[mALX]

Chapter 9

*****

My friend barked a laugh, pushing aside a stack of parchment covered in horribly, horribly familiar handwriting...


"Your new doorman ... seemed surprised I wasn't ten feet tall and my diet didn't consist primarily of misbehaving Dwemer children.

These had me laughing...but then this next quote left me with an eerie feeling of foreshadowing and mystery - something was coming up:

My eyes opened to darkness. Although I was barely awake, the details of the dream were already fleeing my mind. There'd been a... a mer, I couldn't remember of which race. He'd been... pleased to see me. We'd talked about... what had we talked about?

And sure enough, it did in the next chapter! Great write, and set the mood for the next chapter perfectly!




Chapter 9.2

*****

The constant tiffing between Adryn and Varvur had me in stitches, particularly at the end when it was obvious it had strongly effected the unwilling audience of Sosia and Hisin; and I remembered us discussing their inability to get along a couple years ago! I do love it when characters rub each other the wrong way for inexplicable reasons, lol.

But then sandwiched in between that and the hilarious reactions of Sosia and Hisin on their parting ways you threw this in, the real meat of the chapter:

"The strange dreams?" I asked. Varvur jerked as if someone had struck him.

Sosia shot me a surprised look. "Yes, that's how it starts off. Sometimes, it develops further into black-outs exactly like Varvur described. Witnesses to these often report the people affected acting strangely and doing things that are out of character. This would be the first case of outright murder I've heard of, but-"

No.

"Wait." You could see the blood drain from Varvur's face. "You mean I actually-"

No.

"You shouldn't blame yourself," Sosia advised kindly. "From what we've been able to tell, the effect is much like a Command spell."

Much like a Command spell-

The first thing I notice is a sharp metallic taste in my mouth, so intense it almost makes me retch. It seems to take forever until I recognise it as blood.

I can feel something terrible hidden in my memory of the last few hours, lurking in this room to ambush me, like a kraken laying in wait beneath the smooth surface of the sea. If I just stay right here and don't move, don't look, don't remember, I'll be safe. If I do anything else it'll get me, and if it does-

Don't think. Stand still. And, may any god that would take you have mercy - don't look.

HA! That subtle foreshadowing of the last chapter was a clue, I thought it felt eerie !!! WOO HOO!

Now we are getting to why Varvur was really pitched together with Adryn - both having the nightmares and blackouts and horrible awakenings. Now I am lost as to whether this is a part of Morrowind Lore or if this is Kaz Lore. I never played far enough in Morrowind to get to know all the quests and storylines, just what I read in Treydog and Helena's Fics that followed closely to actual quests.

So of course I think of the Bloodmoon expansion with the nightmares and blood; but is it? I'm dying to know the mystery now!

And here is the other bread of the sandwich:

Both my protest and my struggle to escape went unheeded, Sosia's arms tightening around me as she went on ... Then I was released as the whirlwind that was Sosia accosted Varvur.


I glared at Hisin ... I raised an eyebrow at the insinuation that I had a temper problem ...


I blinked. "But I don't know any Aldmeris."




"I'm sorry," he repeated. Yes, he'd apologised. I cast a quick glance skywards to check for airborne farm animals.

BWAAHAA !!! Awesome write !!!

[Grits]

Like Acadian I enjoyed Adryn’s internal seething as she kept a cool exterior. Nabbing Allding’s dagger was a great touch!

[Kazaera]

@Acadian - I'm glad you liked Adryn's... *cough* low profile *cough*. And no worries re: the code - Adryn is on the case!

@mALX - first off, it is so great to see you commenting again!! I am so happy things are working out so that you can follow the stories here again. Adryn just wasn't the same without you.

And yes, you're very astute - the commonality between their experiences is one of the reasons I threw Varvur and Adryn together. (Their hilarious interactions actually weren't one of the reasons, since, yep, as we discussed a few years ago, I had no idea they were going to get along that badly.) Varvur's story is indeed Morrowind lore, although the in-game quest involves you rescuing him for his father and then him sitting on his butt back home while you investigate what caused things with the full blessing of law enforcement. (Jamie would no doubt have been a great deal happier with that version, lol.) Adryn's dreams are not exactly MW lore - the PC does have strange dreams, but I've basically replaced them in their entirety. I take it as a compliment that you think it works in the setting!

@Grits - Seething Adryn seems to have struck a chord with people! (She does it so *well*...) And I'm glad you liked her nabbing the dagger. I was hoping to show that Adryn does still have a tendency towards reckless impulsiveness when her temper is up (so... most of the time...), but I was worried it was a bit too far.

Last installment, Adryn had something of a breakthrough in her investigation of what exactly happened to Varvur. Aided by a timely distraction from Jamie, she grabbed an encrypted letter from Galtis Guvron's pack, made her way back to the Mages' Guild and is now busy trying to crack the cipher.

She also stole Allding's glass dagger on the way out. She figures it can be a start on repayment for all the trouble he's caused her.

Chapter 10.4
*****

I was well into my work by the time Jamie tapped me on the shoulder. I glared at her for making me jerk and leave an ink-splotch on my current sheet of scrap parchment, then remembered I should be glaring at her for something else.

"What was all that about? Showing up in there like that? I thought we agreed you'd let me handle this!" I hissed.

Jamie raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, will you? I was letting you handle it - I thought I'd ask in the Fighters Guild for another job while I was waiting. And it so happened that job was to ask Lirielle Stoine, owner of the Rat in the Pot, for some money she owed. Perfect opportunity to check on how you were doing without looking suspicious, I thought, and maybe you'd be able to use the distraction." She scowled. "Turned out to be more of one than I'd like. Lirielle got really upset, said her brother owed the money and people from the guild put so much pressure on him he went to see if he could make it hunting bandits in a cave - with no real training, mind. She hasn't heard from him since, says she's getting really worried. I'm starting to think the Fighter's Guild is as corrupt as the Legion."

Something about that tugged at my memory. Thought the point of an Imperial guild was supposed to be that it wasn't a crime syndicate... who had said that?

"Helviane Desele!"

"Huh?" Jamie stared at me.

"Oh, right, sorry- Helviane Desele, in Suran, I remember her saying something about the Fighter's Guild running protection rackets."

"Great. Just great." Jamie buried her head in her hands. "I swear, trying to collect mushrooms for Ajira is the most honest job I've been asked to do since I arrived on this benighted island. If only I didn't need the money-" She straightened. "Well, enough of that. What did you find out?"

"Guvron had a letter in his bag, tucked into this book." I hefted Poison Song.

Jamie frowned. For a moment I thought she was going to object to my methods, but in the end she remained silent. Stendarr be praised - I didn't think I could deal with two Varvurs. One was more than bad enough already.

She frowned even more when she looked over the letter. "Encrypted? Curse it. Maybe if we take it to the guard or something, tell them we think it contains important information, they might be able to..."

I gave her a puzzled look. "Take it to the guard, whatever for? I'm making progress, I swear. See," I explained, "it's definitely not a simple substitution, not even scrambled - after my first guesses only gave gibberish I counted the frequency of the different letters and they're far too evenly distributed for that. However, I think it might be polyalphabetic, maybe Vigenerus? That one's always popular. If so, I need to figure out the keyword - but there's a few repeated groups of letters, so I can guess at the length using common divisors-"

"If I admit that you seem to know what you're doing, will you please start speaking Tamrielic again?"

Of course, I'd forgotten that this wasn't exactly a common skill.

But code-breaking can be quite a handy talent for a thief. Intercepted messages can give the location of lucrative goods or the details of their protection, and decoded stolen documents can be sensitive enough that the owner is willing to pay a high price to get them back (mind you, this should be done as a one-time deal - blackmail is really something to avoid unless absolutely necessary). And if the sensitive information you find is sufficiently disgusting, no guard commander has ever refused an anonymous tip... especially not one accompanied by solid proof.

Never say the Thieves' Guild does nothing for you.

"Sorry," I apologised. "What I mean is - I think I can crack this, although it might take me a while. I'll probably take it back to Balmora with me and work on it there."

"Good, good." Jamie hesitated. "Say, Adryn... do you think you'll be all right on your own for a day or two?"

"Wait, you're leaving?" I was sure that yesterday evening Jamie had said she didn't have anything else she was working on right now.

"It's Lirielle's brother." Jamie rubbed the back of her head. "She's really worried about him. Apparently he heard about some rich bandits holed up in a cave near Gnaar Mok and decided to see if he couldn't raise the debt money that way - as I said, he's not a trained fighter or anything, and there's been no word since. I said I could go check on him. I wasn't planning to actually go on any jobs until we had this- business all sorted out, but... if he died because I delayed, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

It seemed Jamie was infected by that dangerous disease known as altruism. Well, I might as well take pity on such an unfortunate.

"Hey, I'm a grown adult - and so's Ajira, for that matter. The only one of us who needs a babysitter is Varvur, and Ma'Zajirr seems to have that spot covered. We'll be fine."

I did have to admit it had been comforting to have a trained fighter standing by for back-up, but I'd gone for years without such luxuries. Besides, I'd most likely need several days at least to crack the code - chances were she'd have made it back by the time I did.

"Right. I should be back in two days or thereabouts - Lirielle said the cave is around half a day's walk from Ald'ruhn, but I might stop by a friend's place on the way." Jamie hesitated. "Don't do anything reckless, all right? I'm not sure what that," she nodded at the encrypted letter, "is all about, but if they've used magic to murder before-"

"Me? Reckless? I think you're confusing me for Varvur, here. Trust me, the last thing I plan on doing is heading into danger. That's what you fighter types are for, after all." I gave Jamie a winning smile. She looked strangely unconvinced. "Really! I promise I'll be careful."

"Just... remember, it'll only be a few days until I'm back."

*****

Some time later, I leaned back in my chair in satisfaction.

It had been Vigenerus after all, and I'd had a very lucky break - after working out that the key they were using was most likely fifteen letters long, I'd decided to test if the letter started with Galtis on a hunch. It had, and breaking the whole code was a quick matter after that. Apparently, no one had bothered telling these people that you shouldn't use addresses in encrypted texts. Amateurs.

I made a mental note of the key phrase in case I ran into more people using this system. I wondered whether there was any special meaning behind 'the sleeper wakes' or whether they'd just chosen it because it was memorable? Well, no matter.

I read over the decrypted message.

Galtis,

It seems as though your blunder with the Sarethis will not ruin us after all. Venim has jumped on the opportunity to have something to hold over Sarethi's head by taking the son into custody. He does not seem interested in asking questions.

I will be away on our Lord's business until next Middas. Keep placing statues around Ald'ruhn, and place them quickly and wisely. Remember to keep a low profile this time and make sure they cannot be traced back to you. Should all else fail, do not let yourself be captured alive. Do not disappoint me again.

Destroy this note.

Hanarai

Hanarai. A name. And she was gone right now, assuming the note wasn't more than a week old.

Don't do anything reckless, Jamie had said. Well, a little burglary hardly counted, surely? I'd scope out the terrain first, but I couldn't think it would be difficult - not if the place was empty.

Besides, I told myself, this might be my only chance. Hanarai was coming back tomorrow, and Guvron would notice the theft sooner or later.

Around me the guild was winding towards closing time, various members heading off to their homes for supper. The guild guide, a young Altmer I'd heard called 'Erranil', wasn't one of them. A quick inquiry yielded that the guild guide service would be open until late, that she had food with her in her bag, and numerous complaints about guild regulations regarding maximum working hours - in particular, the exceptions they made for guild guides. I nodded and murmured sympathetically at all the right moments, then steered the conversation over to another topic.

"A census? Hmm..." Erranil tapped her chin. "We don't have one, but I think there are records in the public library. It'll be closed by now, mind you."

Well, so much for my plans - I couldn't very well investigate Hanarai's home if I didn't know where it was. Unless I broke into the public library as well, but-

"Why do you ask?" Apparently I'd made Erranil curious.

"I..." I fell back on the excuse I'd used regarding Caius, "I'm running some deliveries right now, one of them is a Hanarai. But they didn't know exactly where she lives," I improvised. "I was hoping there might be a census I could consult..."

"Hanarai?" Erranil frowned. "That name sounds familiar... oh, do you mean Hanarai Assutlanipal?" Her face cleared. "I send her to Balmora every now and then, and I've seen her attending Vala's history lessons. Where she lives... let me think."

Well, that was a stroke of luck right there. True, as a guild guide Erranil no doubt met a great many people, but Ald'ruhn was still a large city - I hadn't expected her to actually know Hanarai.

"She's a maid at Morvayn manor, but I don't think she lives there. She said something once..." Inwardly, I heaved a sigh of relief - breaking into a manor would make things far more complicated than I'd like. "Oh yes! She lives in the first house on the left on Veloth's Street, the one that goes to the Temple - her house is just at the corner with the stairs that go up to Skar. I remember because she complained about the noise once, living at that intersection. But if you want to drop something off, you might need to wait a few days. I transported her to Balmora Loredas afternoon, I don't think she's come back yet."

Confirmation! See there, I told myself, I had two sources telling me this Hanarai wasn't in Ald'ruhn right now. Having a quiet look around her house was definitely not reckless.

"Oh, that's all right," I said. "It's just a letter, I'll slip it under her door."

*****

Next

Notes: Somehow, I'm expecting different reactions to this update from those who haven't played Morrowind before and those who have...

Also, it's entirely possible I accidentally made Adryn a cryptographic super-genius - I really have no idea how long it'd take to to crack this code without the benefit of modern technology. Oh well! Considering that I have come to believe all of Adryn's combat skills are actually in the negative, she deserves to be good at some things.

The encryption, for those who are interested, is a Vigenere cipher and is the same type of encryption as the one used in the letter for Caius Cosades you get at the start of the game. (Adryn, who at that point only wanted to get the errand over with as quickly as possible and didn't want to give them any reason to hold onto her, didn't bother cracking open the package. She's probably regretting that by now.)

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Apr 17 2016, 08:44 PM

[Grits]

I love that Adryn’s good at codes, I think it suits her perfectly. Jamie made me smile throughout her part. As soon as she mentioned Lirielle’s brother it was just a matter of her talking herself into looking, you’ve let us know her so well.

I haven’t played very far so this is all new to me.

[Acadian]

I chuckled as Adryn befuddled Jamie with ‘cryptospeak’. It’s okay, Jamie; she befuddled me too!

’It seemed Jamie was infected by that dangerous disease known as altruism.’ - - I hadn’t thought of it in those terms, but that is a neat way of thinking about what motivates some of our characters to do some of the foolhardy courageous stuff they do.

’Don't do anything reckless, Jamie had said. Well, a little burglary hardly counted, surely?’ - -

Good job cracking that code and the ability suits Adryn well. And what a nice piece of good fortune that her chat with the guild guide yielded some missing pieces!

[Kazaera]

@Grits - I'm glad I've made Jamie so familiar to you! And yes, there was no way Jamie could let that quest heart-wrenching tale pass without offering to help... I generally think of her as good at all those protagonisty things Adryn isn't, lol.

@Acadian - Adryn insists that altruism is an illness which sadly and, often, fatally afflicts the minds of otherwise sensible people and is - you got it right - almost omnipresent in heroes.

As to whether it's fortunate she found herself able to continue with her plan... we'll see.

Last installment, Adryn's investigation skills (abetted by Jamie, one helpful Ald'ruhn guild guide and her own cryptographic abilities) culminated in her tracing the statue back to one Hanarai Assutlanipal and learning where the woman lived and that she was currently away. The obvious plan, Adryn thinks, is to have a poke around her house to see if there's anything incriminating there...

Chapter 10.5
*****

I stepped outside the Mages' Guild and into a plane of Oblivion. At least, it was the best explanation I could come up with for why the streets of Ald'ruhn had been replaced by a maelstrom of howling winds and whirling flakes of ash so thick you couldn't even breathe, let alone see.

Oh. That was what those clouds had been about. Suddenly the mention of 'ash storms' I'd overheard earlier made much more sense.

I held one hand in front of my face, trying to shield my eyes from the blowing ash; with the other, I grabbed the end of my scarf and held it over my nose and mouth. This way I could breathe at least a little, even though I suspected I'd be coughing ash for days. Then, teeth gritted, I set out into the storm.

The walk seemed to take forever as I struggled against the wind and ash, the map of Ald'ruhn fixed in my mind. I wished I'd done a little more exploration of the city earlier instead of heading straight to the Rat - right now, it would really be good to know more landmarks. The last thing I wanted was to come bursting in on Hanarai's neighbours.

There! That dark shape ahead had to be the great crab I'd been told earlier was called "Skar", and when I gingerly moved forwards I hit stairs. And – I squinted into the storm – yes, there was a road going off to my right, although I had to admit I didn't much feel like checking whether there was a Temple at its end.

So this house right here must be...

I didn't bother looking around to see if I was being watched before grabbing Allding's lockpicks. Anyone who was stupid enough to be outside right now would be busy trying not to suffocate, and besides, in this weather they'd have to be standing on top of me in order to see what I was doing.

I blew into the house with a cloud of ash and quickly shut the door behind me. For a few moments, I hacked and coughed, then my breathing settled. I spent a few moments indulging in pure joy at the presence of air again. Finally, when I'd recovered somewhat, I took a look around.

Darkness.

I dug into my pack. One of the things I'd taken with me had been... there it was!

I pulled out the candle, then dug further, looking for a firesteel. I was just on the verge of dumping everything I had with me on the floor and sorting through it by feel when I remembered that I hadn't actually taken one with me, the reason for that a certain spell I'd learned my first day on the island. Shaking my head at my forgetfulness, I pinched the wick of the candle into flame, then looked around.

The house looked like a smaller version of the Rat in the Pot, with the same central hearth but only a small sleeping alcove behind it. For a moment I wondered if this was all there was to the house – even smaller than Ajira's home in Balmora – but then I spotted the stairs heading down.

Ash had blown all over the entryway with my hasty entrance. I frowned at the mess – a good targeted burglary leaves everything as it was before, and this would be hard to undo. I'd try to clean up before I left, but if Hanarai kept the front area of her home even remotely tidy it would be easy for her to realise someone had been here when she got back.

Oh well, there was nothing I could do about it now. And since I was here, it was time to see if I couldn't find anything incriminating. Another letter, easy to crack now that I knew the key, or perhaps some of those statues - if I could find one like Varvur described, we could take it to be investigated by a magical expert. Combined with the clear evidence of a conspiracy I'd found, if they found any traces of malignant magic on the thing Varvur would surely be declared innocent and out of my hair for good.

A while later, I'd finished rummaging through most of Hanarai's house and come up blank. All that remained was a locked door on the lower floor which I guessed led to a cellar.

The lock on the outside door had been easy. This one was a great deal harder, and I had no lockpicks other than Allding's - if they broke, I'd be in trouble. This called for generous investments of focus, skill and time, all of which I thankfully had in ample supply. Finally the lock snicked open. I was about to ease the door open when my instincts screamed warning.

A thread, dark enough it was nearly invisible, running across the gap between door and frame-

Ah. A trap.

I smiled grimly. What sort of simple maid sends messages in code and has not just locked but trapped the door to her cellar?

Disarming the trap was easily as tricky as picking the look, with the added complication that I didn't have the right tools with me. I ended up heading upstairs and appropriating some of the contents of Hanarai's sewing kit to serve as my makeshift replacement. By the time I finally managed to disarm the thing, the howling of the storm outside had eased off, my candle was burning dangerously low and my stomach was starting to make grumbling noises indicating that if I didn't give it something to digest in the near future, it would be forced to find something on its own and my stomach lining was right there...

"Patience," I informed it and eased the door open.

The first thing I noticed was that I didn't need my candle. The small room at the bottom of a flight of stairs was lit with a deep, pulsating crimson light, one which promised quite the headache but was enough to see by. Oddly, I couldn't work out where it was coming from.

The second thing I noticed was a sickly sweet rotting smell wafting towards me, reminiscent of the stench of the Blighted guar. Looking down into the room, I suspected the origin might be what looked like a chunk of raw meat, lying on a metal plate as though inviting me to dinner.

I gulped. My hunger had turned tail and fled entirely, and every fibre of my body screamed I should be doing the same. Well - every fibre except for those in my legs. They had taken the first step down the stairs without bothering to consult me. Now they took another, leaving me feeling a little like a mouse hypnotised by a serpent.

As my feet dragged me down the stairs, more details caught my attention:

The tapestry covering the far wall, black and crimson, covered in abstract patterns that were strangely hard to make out... especially because I could almost swear they shifted and writhed like some hill of centipedes on the edge of my vision, even though whenever I looked straight at them they were still.

The feeling of soft, penetrating whispers in the air, perfectly balanced on the edge between too-vivid imagination and actual sound.

The odd metal stand, with more of those chunks of meat hanging from it like some sort of obscene decoration. Up closer, I could see that the meat was covered in great bulging tumors which leaked yellowish pus. Perhaps whatever creature it belonged to had been Blighted-

Whatever creature?

I swallowed hard. Some of the chunks had patches of abraded skin still attached... patches of Dunmer-grey skin.

And... the meat on the plate had what looked like a bite taken out of it.

My stomach decided to take a moment to inform me that it had sat down and seriously contemplated its life and choices up to this point. It regretted how bossy it had been in the past and would like to assure me that it had changed its ways and would never, ever ask for nourishment ever again. In fact, it was strongly considering demonstrating its newfound dedication to fasting by expelling everything it currently contained.

All right. All right. Focus.

I'd found clear and unmistakeable evidence of Hanarai being involved in something, and I highly doubted it was the local knitting circle. If you'd asked me yesterday, I'd have said I wouldn't put much past some of the old grannies I'd seen who'd ruled such gatherings with an iron fist, but I was quite sure that cannibalism was on that short list. At least cannibalism without a knife and fork.

I should really be happy to have discovered something, I told myself. I was sure I'd start being so as soon as I stopped feeling as though I'd wandered into the open maw of a sleeping beast and any moment now it was going to wake up hungry.

A glint of eyes in the corner-

I whirled, heart thumping fit to burst. I only relaxed slightly when I saw the culprit wasn't any person or... creature, but a foot-high red statue on a shelf in the corner, depicting what I thought was some sort of horned demon.

One that looked just like Varvur described, in short.

Shadows shifted and twisted at the base of the statue. The diffuse crimson light reflected strangely off its eyes, making it almost look as if they were glowing.

I did not want to touch that thing.

Wait, why was I moving?

As if in a trance, I found myself stepping forward, reaching out and - mental shrieks of protest in vain - picking up the statue.

It looked and felt like it was made of some sort of reddish stone, albeit one I couldn't identify, but if so it was far too light to be solid. It was also strangely warm, and I almost thought I could feel the slightest slow throb like a faint heartbeat.

The whispers I'd been hearing-imagining this whole time grew steadily louder and more penetrating. I began to make out words...

outlander intruder defiler join us and be forgiven join us and be cleansed join us in the flesh

come to us come to us come to Him beneath Red Mountain

He calls

He calls

THE SLEEPER WAKES-

My mind fought the rising chorus with a single word:

Run.

After an endless frozen moment, that managed to get through to my unresponsive limbs. I wheeled around and ran like I'd never run in my life.

Once I reached the top of the stairs and Hanarai's living area, the voices died away. I didn't halt there, however. I bolted up the next flight of stairs and outside. I only stopped when I was struggling for breath and Hanarai's house was well out of sight.

A quick look around showed that although the storm had stopped, the streets were still almost deserted. Nobody seemed to have noticed my abrupt retreat.

Far more importantly... nothing had followed me.

Good, I thought.

Then I bent over and threw up what felt like everything I'd ever eaten.

******

Next

Notes: Full disclosure: the Sixth House freaks me out like ANYTHING. Those creepy mind-controlling statues and the creepy lighting and the whispers and the implied cannibalism of corprus beasts and the OTHER STUFF aaaaaaah nightmare fodder!! It might be possible that when I actually play Morrowind I strenuously avoid entering caves because they might be Sixth House bases. And when I find myself forced to enter one for plot reasons I generally end up equipping a ring of constant levitation and hiding on the ceiling.

...the nice thing about writing is that you get to share feelings like that!!

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Apr 24 2016, 09:18 PM

[Acadian]

A little burglary, what can go wrong?

A pretty creepy basement!

Once again, I find myself rather mesmerized by how you craft Adryn’s internal voice. What you have referred to as verbose, I find delightfully whimsical and extremely creative in how you phrase her impressions and descriptions. And all this while maintaining a crisp easy-reading clip. I find myself not only enjoying how you present her, but studying your style of prose for the lessons therein.

[Kazaera]

@Acadian - You'd think Adryn would really know better than to tempt fate by thinking things like "only a simple burglary" or the like, wouldn't you...

And thank you so much for the kind words, I'm glad you like Adryn's style! (And am also blushing over here, just so you know.) I worry sometimes that her inner monolgue is distracting from what's going on, so it's particularly good to hear you say that I'm still maintaining a good reading speed.

Last installment, Adryn investigated Hanarai's home. A simple burglary, as performed by an experienced professional, when the inhabitant isn't in town - what could possibly go wrong, she thought?

Adryn hadn't been counting on the severely creepy basement, for one. With the corprus meat. And the statues. And the voices.

...last we saw Adryn, she'd just fled Hanarai's house at top speed, a statue she'd not-entirely-voluntarily taken along tucked under one arm. Let's see where things go from there.

Chapter 10.6
*****

"So, you see," I tried. "The good news is, I think we found out what affected Varvur."

Three pairs of eyes stared at the statue where it sat innocuously on Ajira's table.

"That is all very well and good, friend Adryn." Ajira sounded somewhat less than impressed by my heroic effort to find a bright side to the current situation. "However, it strikes Ajira that we have gone from the fire into the lava pool. What," she stabbed a claw towards the statue, taking care not to touch the thing, "are we to do with it now? This item is clearly very dangerous."

"You can say that again," Varvur said, fingers clenched around his mug of tea. He'd gone pasty-white from my first description of Hanarai's cellar and hadn't recovered since. It was a sign of how bad things had gotten that I couldn't even take pleasure in his obvious distress. "I can't believe- I had no idea-" He shuddered so hard tea slopped over the sides of the mug. "I was sleeping with that next to me every night!"

"Do we know anyone who could handle this safely and, preferably, also testify that it would be capable of controlling Varvur to the authorities?" I asked. "One of the high-level guild members, perhaps? They must work with dangerous magical items."

Come to think of it, maybe I should have thought about that before I set out to steal a statue from Hanarai's home...

Ajira was frowning. "Perhaps... Ajira's friend Edwinna, who is mistress of the Ald'ruhn guildhall... but Ajira has never heard Edwinna speak of anything such as this. She works with the Dwemer, mainly, and this is nothing like a Dwemer item."

How had she ever noticed? It wasn't as if not being made of metal was a dead give-away or anything.

"Or Folms Mirel, master of Caldera, who specialises in enchanting... but he can be," Ajira's whiskers twitched, "difficult to work with."

I was relatively certain that was an Ajira-euphemism for something, and equally certain I would rather not find out exactly what it was a euphemism for first-hand. "None of the other masters? Ranis Athrys?" I tried to imagine approaching our remote, superior head of guild for help and swallowed. "Right, no. There's Treb- no. Who's head of the Sadrith Mora guild?"

"I think we should go to the Temple with this," Varvur interrupted before Ajira could answer. "If those- if you really heard the things you said you did, Adryn-" I shot him a narrow-eyed glare at such slander against my honesty, which he rudely ignored- "then this would fall under their remit."

Ajira flinched. "Ah. The mention of Red Mountain, yes? And awakening?"

"I hope it's just coincidence," Varvur said, "or something playing on common fears, but if not..."

I looked back and forth between the two of them. "I'm missing something, aren't I."

Varvur raised an eyebrow. "Of course, you're an outlander, you wouldn't know." He sounded reproving, as though my ignorance of whatever piece of Morrowind-specific knowledge this was were my fault. "Well, it'd take too long to get into now-"

I sat bolt upright, the insult stiffening my spine. "Maybe for someone of your level of intelligence, yes. I hardly imagine it would take me nearly as long to grasp whatever you're talking about. And since I'm the one who actually went into that-" my mind sought and failed to find an appropriate descriptor, so I resorted to, "that- cellar, I think I have a right to know what you're talking about."

Varvur's eyebrows bunched together. He opened his mouth, no doubt about to launch some feeble offensive I would take great delight in tearing to shreds. However, Ajira got there first.

"I call for Saint Meris's peace! Surely we have enough to worry about without arguing?"

Both of us wilted under her stare. She must have learned it from dealing with Ma'Zajirr, because despite the fact that she was the youngest person in the room there was something indefinably parental about that look.

"Friend Adryn," Ajira continued, "the Temple holds there is a great evil sleeping beneath Red Mountain, an ancient foe of the Tribunal themselves, currently contained by the Ghostfence. Not everyone believes this-"

"-although the doubters have generally never actually been within the Ghostfence-"

"-if Ajira may continue? Thank you. The details as well as alternate theories put forth by organizations such as the Imperial Cult are not important right now and truly would take too long to get into." Ajira sounded faintly apologetic. "The important thing is that it is certain there is something at Red Mountain, something which is the source of both corprus and Blight, and it is a thing the Temple is very concerned about."

Source of Blight... Despite the fact that there was really nothing left in my stomach at this point, I still had to swallow back nausea as I remembered the guar the day before, along with the... objects... inside Hanarai's cellar.

"So you think this is connected. Right. Makes sense. I guess in that case," my lips twisted with distaste at the sentence I felt myself forced to utter, "Varvur has a point. About the Temple being the best place to go, I mean."

"Besides, they'd be far more likely to convince the Ald'ruhn judiciary than anyone from the Mages' Guild." Varvur was clearly unable to resist rubbing it in. Well, I supposed he had to make the most of those rare occasions when the stars and moons aligned such that he was right about something. I could be generous.

"This is also a point. The guild is not as... accepted here as we might want, friend Adryn." Before I could ask her what she meant by that, Ajira went on. "So Ajira supposes the question becomes: does anyone have contacts among the Temple one could bring this to?"

Silence.

"I suppose... we could try my cousin," Varvur said after a moment. He sounded rather hesitant. "Salyn Sarethi, he's a Buoyant Armiger. An Armiger would probably be the best person to contact about this – they're respected enough people will listen to them, initiated into enough of the Temple mysteries that they'll know if this thing is a known danger, but have enough independence that they can form their own judgement and investigate on their own. And Salyn is held in high honour even for an Armiger. Recently Lord Vivec himself rewarded him for his service by giving him Enamor, a glass dagger."

Wait a minute. Enamor?

Hadn't I seen something along those lines inscribed on the weapon I'd liberated from Allding earlier today? The weapon that so happened to be a glass dagger, in fact...

Surely it had to be coincidence. Where would that bumbling idiot have come by the thing?

Ajira frowned. "Ajira thinks he does not sound very keen on this plan."

Varvur sighed. "If I contact Salyn, I'm not sure whether he won't consider himself honour-bound to turn me in. And whether he'll just view all this as my trying to wriggle out of trouble. He... we don't get on very well. I just don't know who else to ask."

Suddenly, things slotted together in my head.

"I have an idea," I said. "Let's contact Ervesa. A Buoyant Armiger I know," I added for Varvur's benefit. "I don't know if she's as well-respected as your cousin, but she's an Armiger, and I think she'll listen to me. Besides..."

I paused, dredging up the memory. It had been only a brief snatch of conversation and I'd been distracted, but it had also only been a few days ago and close to events that were branded in my memory.

"I think she might have seen these before," I said slowly. "When I was in Suran with her, she spent a long time talking to the priestess at the Temple there. I remember that there was something wrong there, something that worried both of them and meant we couldn't stay the night. They talked about 'cleansing', and I think I heard them mention statues as well."

Varvur's mouth had fallen open, making him look like a particularly stupid goldfish. Ajira nodded. "That sounds like a very good plan, friend Adryn. Ajira forgot that you too have contacts in the Temple hierarchy."

"Right, I'll send a letter," I said. "She said I could reach her through the hall at Molag Mar." The candle on Ajira's table was definitely shorter than it had been when I arrived – we'd been at this for quite a while, and I'd already gotten back late. "I'm guessing the Courier's Guild won't still be open?"

Ajira shook her head. "They will reopen tomorrow at dawn. To Molag Mar... if we send the letter then and pay for express delivery, it should get there by midday."

"That's quick!" Trying to get a letter from one city to another in Skyrim could take weeks. "Do they use-"

Varvur's mouth finally closed. "You're friends with a Buoyant Armiger?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, yes. I just said so. Do keep up, will you?"

"But- but- you! A Buoyant Armiger!"

I turned to Ajira. "He's even less coherent than usual – did he get hit in the head at any point today? Get into your potions cupboard? Strain himself by attempting to count past ten without using his toes?"

At this point, I knew Ajira well enough to tell she was hiding a smile. "Ah – friend Adryn, I believe he is simply a little surprised."

Varvur let himself fall back in his chair, head dropping back. "The world is a strange and mysterious place," he told the ceiling.

"Are we decided on what to do, then?" I asked, ignoring Varvur. It was honestly a relief to have a solid course of action.

"It all sounds like a good plan, friend Adryn. There is only one thing Ajira can think of."

"Oh?" I tried to ignore my sinking feeling.

"What are we to do with the statue for now?"

*****

[Acadian]

Wow, so that glass dagger Adryn swiped has more than monetary significance it seems.

What a delightfully entertaining dialogue among these three as they weigh their options, and a plan burps, bubbles and finally coalesces to the surface. The three disparate personalities involved played off each other wonderfully. And, as ever, a delight to see it all through Adryn’s eyes and hear her running internal chatter.

[Grits]

Very nice candle-lighting spell. I love the little practical uses for magic.

What a gross and scary basement full of evidence for Adryn in 10.5. You shared the feelings very well.

FWIW, I love Adryn’s internal monologue. Her personality shines, and she is a quick thinker so she keeps the pace going.

Ah, always a delight when Adryn and Varvur start swiping at each other. Ajira is a treasure.

Aand Adryn has the glass dagger given as a reward by Lord Vivec? I’m sure no one has missed that.

[Kazaera]

*shuffles back in*

...I really have no idea why I've taken to having my break one installment before the end of the chapter. This one in particular was a terrible place to leave you all hanging for months! To make up for it, I'm back with more.

Last installment, Adryn had made it back to Ajira's place with one ash statue stolen from one exceedingly creepy basement. Adryn, Ajira and Varvur between them managed to agree on a plan: contact Ervesa, who as a Buoyant Armiger will hopefully be able to sort this mess out for them without Varvur landing in prison. (Adryn also discovered that she is apparently in possession of a glass dagger gifted by Vivec to one of his Armigers, but is attempting to deny that fact.) Then, Ajira brought up another point: what should they do with the statue now?

Chapter 10.7
*****

There was a long pause. Varvur looked puzzled, which fit with my general estimation of his intelligence. Unlike him, I'd realised what Ajira was getting at and was filled with slowly dawning horror.

"It is the biggest piece of evidence we have to prove the honoured Varvur Sarethi's innocence," Ajira went on. "So we must be careful not to lose it. And it sounds as if it would be far too dangerous to leave unwatched in any case, especially as neither Ajira nor friend Adryn have any places to safely store such an item. So someone must stay near it. And..."

"...and as far as we're aware, sleeping near this thing makes you kill people," I finished for Ajira. "Point taken. Point very much taken."

The next pause was even longer, and this time everyone involved looked equally horrified.

"Someone's going to have to keep watch on it overnight. Aren't they." I wished fiercely that Jamie had decided to stick around instead of swanning off to be a hero and rescue people from what sounded like their own folly. I was sure I'd have been able to make a solid case that guarding dangerous magical artifacts was right up her alley.

Varvur paled as he looked at the statue. "I... er. I suppose." He swallowed. "If it's necessary, I can... it would be the honourable thing to do..."

"Is that supposed to be an offer to take the thing?" I stared at him, incredulous. "Has Sheogorath touched your mind? You're the one who's succumbed to it. You're the last person who should be near it."

"No, friend Adryn." I looked at Ajira in surprise. Her ears were flattened to her head and I could see her tail bristling. "He is not quite the last person - that would be Ma'Zajirr. Ajira refuses to have that, that thing anywhere near him."

"Right. Well, the three of you are all staying here, so..." I groaned. "...I'm going to have to be the one to take it now, aren't I."

"Ajira- er. If it is necessary, Ajira could stay somewhere else tonight-" The reluctance in every syllable was palpable.

"No," I said, then swallowed. "No, it's all right. I... it's for the best I take it. Ma'Zajirr might need you, and- and I'm the only one who stays in the Guild overnight, after all. I can put it in a corner somewhere... hopefully if it's far enough away it won't affect me at all. And if, if worst comes to worst, I do fall asleep and it affects me, you said you had your statue for weeks before the black-outs started, right?" I asked Varvur.

He nodded. "The nightmares started right after I got it, but the first blackouts were at least two weeks later... I don't remember exactly, though."

"Right! So even if I do fall asleep - which I'm not going to! - I should be fine."

True, I wasn't looking forward to a sleepless night after a few blissful nights of good dreams (or at least dreams I could barely remember, which I figured amounted to the same thing at this point), but if worst came to worst, considering the level of experience I had in the area I considered myself well-equipped to fend off a few nightmares for a while.

But, said a nagging voice, what if I-

What if it Comma-

We wouldn't let it get that far in the first place, I told myself firmly. Not only was I well-practiced in staying up all night – had been on a mostly nocturnal schedule up until I'd arrived in Morrowind, in fact – but Varvur had lasted for weeks before the statue got the better of him. I'd pit my willpower against his any day.

"If friend Adryn is certain..." Ajira looked torn.

My nod was far more confident than I felt. "I am," I said. "I'll keep an eye on it overnight, and then-"

What then? It was unlikely Ervesa would get my message and come rushing over the very next day, and I had to sleep at some point.

"Ajira will come by the Mages' Guild early," Ajira took over. "She will keep watch on it during the day, while friend Adryn brings her letter to the Courier's Guild and returns to Ajira's home to sleep. She does not have Guild duties, after all, no one will insist she remains."

"Yes. That works. And Jamie will be back in a few days, which will make it easier to take shifts. And if- anything happens," my voice did not just shake, "or after a week we haven't heard back from Ervesa yet, we can think of something else."

I shifted, ready to stand up to leave, and felt something hard press into my waist. The hilt of the dagger I'd liberated from Allding.

The dagger which, much as I'd been trying to remember it otherwise, had Enamor engraved along the blade.

I had a fierce argument with myself in my head. It went along the lines of:

A gift from a god? Stealing one of those has never ended well for the thief across the entirety of mythology. I didn't think "but I didn't steal it directly!" was going to pass muster.

...but forty septims.

And since it was a gift from a god, Varvur's cousin was certain to have missed it already. I didn't want to bet on him not being able to track it to me, especially since there was no saying what kind of magic was on the thing.

...but forty septims.

In the end, it was the realisation that there was no way I could safely fence the thing more than anything else that decided me.

"Is there anything wrong, friend Adryn?"

"Not exactly. But..."

With a deep sigh for the sake of my lost fortune, I withdrew the dagger from where I'd tucked it into my shirt.

"...Varvur, does this look familiar?"

*****

Late that night found me curled up in one of the chairs in the Mages' Guild main room with Antecedents of Dwemer Law. If I was going to stay up the entire night, I wanted something to occupy my thoughts.

My eyes flicked over to the other side of the room.

We'd wrapped the statue in a sack before I left, and I'd deposited it in the far corner of the sleeping alcove. Despite the book in my hands, I found I kept glancing over to the dark, flickering shadow it made in the candlelight.

This time as always, it was unchanged, and I scoffed at myself. What was I afraid of? Target for a Co- for a malignant spell, perhaps, but it was hardly going to get up and wander about.

In fact, from what Varvur had said he'd slept directly next to the thing. I couldn't imagine that a spell as complex as that had to be had a particularly great range. Most likely I was being over-cautious and it couldn't affect me all the way over here.

Not that I was planning to test that.

So far as concerns the influence of the Altmeri law upon our own, especially the Altmeri law of master and servant, the evidence of it is to be found in every judgment which has been recorded for the last five hundred years.

I yawned.

Maybe this book, dry as it was, had been a bad choice. I should've continued reading Ruins of Kemel-Ze instead, or picked up an alchemy book from Ajira, or one of the books on the local religion I'd bought from Jobasha on Ervesa's recommendation. I really didn't know why I hadn't thought of the last earlier, considering the mess we were in was apparently all tied up in religious matters. I supposed I could get up to get one now, but I was feeling so comfortable right here...

Concentrate, Adryn!

In the laws of Karndar Watch (P.D. 1180) it is said, "If one who is owned by another slays one who owns himself, the owner must pay the associates three fine instruments and the body of the one who his owned." There are many other similar citations. And the same principle is extended even to...

The words swam before my eyes. I blinked, trying to force them back into focus.

It was a little odd, come to think of it. I'd slept unusually well the previous two nights, and then the earlier revelation of Enamor had resulted in a furious argument (one that would probably still be occurring if Ma'Zajirr hadn't returned, prompting Ajira to threaten to toss both of us out on our ear). I'd stalked my way back to the Mages' Guild brimming with righteous fury – sleep had been the furthest thing from my mind. Why was I so tired?

Then again, I'd had a very stressful day of it. The last few hours in particular I'd mainly spent running off nervous energy. No wonder that, given a chance to sit down and relax, everything was catching up with me.

My eyelids felt so heavy...

Something brushed my chin. I jerked upright, realising my head had fallen forward.

Reading clearly wasn't working. I needed to get up, walk around, wake myself up a little. I could maybe make myself a cup of hackle-lo tea in the kitchen...

Or a potion! An energising potion should keep me awake well enough. I didn't know why I hadn't thought of it earlier. I could get up and go over to the alchemy lab to fetch one.

I remembered thinking this chair was uncomfortable when I sat down earlier. Why? Now that I was settled it was perfectly cozy, soft (I must not have noticed the cushions), supporting me in just the right way.

Despite the fact that it wasn't even close to used up yet, the candle was guttering. Its flame shrunk and shrunk until all that was left was a tiny, flickering blue core, a mere spark in the gloom around me.

I needed to get up. I needed an energising potion, I needed to find a new candle, a more interesting book, I needed to stay awake-

The candle went out.

My limbs felt like lead. I'd get up in a minute, I promised myself. I was just going to rest my eyes for a moment...

The last thing I saw before falling asleep was a dull red glow from the far corner.

*****
End of Chapter

Next

Notes: See, instead of leaving you hanging in the middle of a scene I could have left you on that cliffhanger for six months! I'm deeply disappointed in myself, honestly.

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Oct 24 2016, 06:59 PM

[Acadian]

The three do indeed come up with a reasonable plan, including contingencies.

Then Adryn settles down to babysit the statue. A potion to help her stay awake came to my thoughts early and I was pleased to see Adryn thinking along the same lines. I also figured the dry book would not help her stay awake.

You did a masterful job of gently transitioning her ‘normal-ish’ sleepiness in the reader’s mind into nagging doubts before you closed with the near certainty that the malignant statue was quite a bit more potent than Adryn had hoped. It seems its power more closely resembled that which she feared.

Nicely done!

[Kazaera]

@Acadian - thank you! The creeping feeling of "okay, so Adryn's tired... wait a moment..." was exactly what I was going for in that section. And I'm glad you approve of the three's plan, I always worry that I've overlooked some thoroughly obvious alternative (even if Adryn thinks this would be totally in-character for Varvur...)

Last chapter, Adryn set out to prove Varvur's innocence by investigating the matter of the strange statue he'd been given. She did not expect to end the day fleeing a cellar of horrors with a very similar statue tucked under her arm. Adryn, Ajira and Varvur decided to get in touch with Ervesa Romandas regarding what to do about the statue and keep an eye on it until then. Alas, they may have significantly underestimated its strength, as last we saw the statue had become active as Adryn was drawn into sleep despite herself...

Chapter 11
*****

"Thank you for agreeing to see me," Sotha Sil said, lowering himself into the chair.

"It was no problem. Anything to drink?"

Knowing Sil's habits as I did, I didn't wait for an answer before turning towards the bottles on the nearby shelf, which featured a wide selection of beverages for all sorts of visitors. I was already reaching towards the bottle of greef (a substance I personally considered more suited for scouring metal than ingestion, but proper hospitality does require some sacrifices) when, to my surprise, Sil shook his head.

"I need to rush off after this, I'm afraid," he said. "Although in all honesty, I don't think you'll feel much like chatting after this discussion."

Sil was never exactly what I'd call cheery, but even for him the expression on his face was more suited to a funeral than a visit to an erstwhile pupil and current friend. My spirits fell.

"All right. What is it?"

For a long moment, Sil said nothing, eyes boring into me.

Despite myself and despite the general gravity of the situation, I had to fight the urge to squirm. No mer on Nirn was quite so good at reducing me to feeling like an errant child as Sil, which was really quite a feat considering we only met when I was twenty. One expects that sort of thing from tribe elders, but coming from a mer who'd only ever known me as an adult it felt distinctly unfair. I wondered if I could lodge a complaint.

(Something was wrong.)

"I think," Sil finally said, "the Dwemer are up to something."

My first reaction was to scoff.

"Oh, the Dwemer are up to something. Believe me, I can't wait to hear what. Is it human sacrifice again? Another sneak attack to desecrate our tombs?" Centuries, I'd spent, trying to bring our peoples to friendship and having the Chimer fight me at every turn. By now, I could rattle off the litany of supposed Dwemer crimes in my sleep. "Are they kidnapping children? Plotting to corrupt our holy relics? Murdering-"

"Nerevar."

Sil's voice cut through mine, silencing me as immediately and thoroughly as though he'd used a spell.

"I would appreciate it if you'd remember who you are talking to."

Sil's tone was acidic, and I could feel heat rise in my cheeks.

It was true – I'd let my impatience with the topic get the better of me. I knew better than to believe Sotha Sil, the one who'd taught me to see a problem from all sides instead of letting myself be blinded by my prejudices, the master wizard who frequently collaborated with Kagrenac, would bring me those tales.

I inhaled to speak, then broke off. All of a sudden the air was filled with a sickly sweet rotten stench, choking-

The smell was gone as if it had never been there, and Sil was still looking at me witheringly. I frowned, trying to bring my focus back on the current discussion. It was important, and Sil would have no patience for my distraction.

"I apologise, Sil," I said. "I've spent too much time talking to Hlaalu Tovas and Omayn Lleranu lately."

Sil accepted my apology with a stately nod and a sharp glance saying don't do it again. "As I was saying," he continued after a moment, "I believe the Dwemer are up to something. I've been treated unusually badly on all my visits of late, not by new guardsmen or children but by mer I've known for years – mer who should know better. And they're being extremely secretive about whatever it is they're working on. Nothing," Sil emphasised, "they'll tell me nothing, after centuries of collaboration. It bodes ill, Nerevar."

Foreboding grew within me, quite distracting me from my overactive imagination. I tried to squash it, tried to tell myself this surely had an innocent explanation, but I could not quite force down the thought: is this the end?

Dumac was the closest friend I'd ever had, closer than Alandro Sul who was as good as my brother, closer than Voryn or Vivec or Sil, closer even than my own wife Almalexia. One of the cornerstones of that friendship was the knowledge that we might be forced to kill each other one day. We were both leaders of our peoples, our duty to them took precedence over our personal desires, and despite our best efforts the Chimer and Dwemer were not friends. If they went to war one day, Dumac and I would meet on opposite sides of a battlefield. For so long we had managed to placate the many factions who wanted to do away with our uneasy coexistence, four hundred years of peace, and now-

movement, out of the corner of my eye-

I jerked my head upwards, but when I fixed my gaze on the spot nothing was there. I blinked. I could have sworn I'd seen...

Apparently my mind had decided today was the best day to play tricks on me. At least Sil, still patiently waiting for me to pick up my part of the conversation, didn't seem to have noticed I was behaving strangely.

"How certain are you that it is serious?" I asked him, forcing my attention back on the current situation. "As opposed to something like – some theoretical debate about the nature of the gods which they keep from you because they think it will deeply offend the Chimer, or some young experimentalist with a disregard for his own safety who is worried your disapproval will sink his entire project and has gone on preemptive attack?"

The latter was hardly unheard of – after the incident during Hearthfire ten years ago, Sil would have to be senile to have forgotten young Yagrum Bagarn.

Sil grimaced. "I wish I could say it could be such a thing, but when the Dwemer stonewalled me I may have engaged in some... surreptitious investigation."

He glanced at me as though expecting my disapproval. Any I felt, I kept to myself. Four hundred years had taught me some of the necessities of politics, even if I still didn't like them.

"What I've found," he continued, "indicates they are on the verge of some major breakthrough – the work is attributed to Kagrenac himself – and the orders that the Chimer should not know come from the highest ranks. And I'm not the only one who's noticed the Dwemer behaving strangely, either. Voryn's mentioned similar things."

"He has?" Another blow to my hope that this would prove unfounded. Like Sil and me, Voryn was one of the few Chimer who worked closely with the Dwemer. Unlike us, his main contacts were among warriors and merchants. If both Sil and Voryn had noticed something odd... "What did he say, exactly?"

Sil opened his mouth in reply and said:

(join us in the flesh join us beneath Red Mountain-
the sleeper wakes-
Dagoth Ur does not want you here! )

I blinked. Had I drifted off for a moment?

"I'm sorry, Sil, I didn't catch that."

"I was saying, I decided this is serious enough that we shouldn't risk its being distorted through second-hand tales. I asked Voryn to meet me here in order to tell you directly. In fact, I think that's him now," he said, glancing over my shoulder...

Something was wrong.

Sil's mouth continued moving, but his voice faded away until all I could hear was a roaring in my ears. Our surroundings wavered like a mirage, as though everything, from the walls and furnishings to the report bearing Vivec's signature on my desk, were an illusion on the verge of collapse. I shot up from my chair-

Except there was no chair, there was no room, it was only bloody fog surrounding Sotha Sil as he stood before me, my teacher as he'd looked all the long years I'd known him-

-a mer with golden skin but eyes and hair too dark to be an Altmer, looking at me sadly, looking at me with recognition as his skin darkened and his eyes became flame and shadows began to grasp at us, a mer who looked so very familiar except I'd never seen him before in my life-

What colour were my hands?

The question burst into my mind, nonsensical as it was – obviously my hands were just as they'd always been, which meant-

(gold-

grey-)

Claws dug into my shoulder from behind.

"Found you."

I woke screaming.

*****

Next

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Nov 8 2016, 07:46 AM

[Kazaera]

Sorry for the delay, all - I got a little sidetracked with work (bah!) and writing events that occur three chapters down the line. Short update this time, but really I should probably work on getting the posted work caught up a little.

Last installment, Adryn had a nightmare. Or maybe it was Nerevar. Or maybe that confusion was one of the problems...

*****
Chapter 11.2

Once I'd managed to stop screaming, I decided it was in truth rather embarrassing. At this point, the amount of experience I had with nightmares was actually quite depressing if you chose to think about it (I generally didn't). You could even call me something of a connoisseur. And I'd endeavoured to train myself out of the more unsightly reactions to them - screaming being at the very top of that list, and one I'd had made quite a satisfying amount of progress with. I hadn't reacted to a dream like that in years. And all it took for me to break that pattern was a dream of someone touching my shoulder and saying found you?

That voice.

The rest of the dream was already gone, vanishing the moment I was fully awake like all the dreams I'd had recently, but the end remained dreadfully clear. That voice like a knife stabbing straight into my brain, terrifying and inhuman and, worst of all, triumphant. Triumphant like someone who'd achieved his heart's desire, like a scholar who'd destroyed his bittermost rival or a general who'd just won his war... triumphant like someone who had spent a very, very long time indeed looking for me.

And that hand- it had come from out of nowhere, gripping my shoulder like a vise. I swore I could still feel it there, claw-tipped fingers digging into my skin, feel scalding breath blowing into my ear-

I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths, let my own hands relax from where they'd clenched on the chair's armrests. Then I reached for the candle on the table.

It took me two tries to get the fire spell to work, then two more until my hand stopped shaking long enough for me to pinch the wick of the candle. Finally, it flared into life and cast soft, reassuring light onto my surroundings.

Yes, this was definitely the Mages' Guild common area. I'd fallen asleep in my chair despite everything, but I was awake now. Awake, alone, everything was as it had been when I went to-

My blood froze in my veins.

The statue was sitting on the table next to me.

But- but I'd put it away. I'd wrapped it in a sack, left that on the opposite side of the room-

A quick glance to that area showed the sack right where I'd left it. I ascertained that it now looked crumpled and empty before I realised with a jolt that it probably wasn't a good idea to take my eyes off the statue.

It was still on the table, where it would have been only feet away from my head while I slept. I could swear it was smiling at me-

Wait.

The hair on the back on my neck stood up.

It... it was smiling at me. The lips of that demonic face were unmistakeably curved upwards.

But surely - surely it hadn't looked like that earlier? I'd studied it, I knew I had, wanting to memorise how it looked. I remembered how my skin had crawled at its empty stare, its emotionless visage. Were my eyes playing tricks on me?

The chair fell back with a clatter as I shot up and back, eyes fixed on the statue as if it were a striking cobra. Frankly, I'd rather have had the striking cobra.

The statue didn't move.

Plastered against the wall, I didn't either.

I might have nodded off despite myself earlier, but one thing was for sure – I was definitely not getting any more sleep this night. And I suspected it would be a very, very long one.

*****

MORROWIND COURIERS GUILD

RECEIVED AT: Balmora GH, VF
HOUR: 1st
DATE: 26 HF 427
SENDER: Adryn
ORIGIN: Mages Guild, Balmora, VF
RECIPIENT: Ervesa Romandas
DESTINATION: Armiger Stronghold, Molag Mar, VF
DELIVERY: EX (g.g. S.M., A.I.)
PAYMENT: 0S 30D
(X) received
( ) pending

[written in a steady, neat hand]

Dear Ervesa,

First, thank you so much for the flowers! My friend Ajira and I made much of them. In particular, we made Feather and Frost Shield potions, along with some draughts to cure disease and to restore strength - so the thanks I convey are not just on my own behalf, but also on Ajira's and the Balmora Mages' Guild alchemy shop. As for the amulet, you're correct that I am not much of an adventurer (how did you ever guess?). However, it has come in unexpectedly handy, and I owe you a great deal of thanks for that as well.

With how much how you've already helped me, I feel awkward asking you for more. However, I don't know who else to turn to.

I've recently come into possession of a strange statue. It's around a foot tall, made out of an odd red material I can't identify and depicts some sort of horned demon. We believe this statue may be linked to [several words are crossed out] involuntary behaviour, perhaps a sort of focus for a Command spell? In any case the thing seems... unholy, and as for the place I found it - well, I'd rather not describe that in a letter, but suffice it to say 'unholy' is a mild description.

If you have any ideas regarding this or a suggestion for what to do about it, I would very much appreciate it if you could get in touch with me. I'm a little worried about keeping this thing with me.

Adryn

[added later. The same handwriting as before, this time hurried and uneven]

P.S. Please come as soon as possible it is urgent!!

*****

Next

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Nov 20 2016, 02:13 PM

[Kazaera]

Last installment, Adryn woke from a very disturbing dream to an even more disturbing reality. Faced with proof that the statue they'd recovered from Hanarai Assutlanipal's home was even more dangerous - and, for that matter, mobile - than they'd thought, the letter to Ervesa ended up rather more urgent than expected. Now, Adryn tries to recover from her shock in the Mages' Guild...

Chapter 11.3
*****

"More tea?"

"No, but thank you." I waved the worried Ajira away. She meant well, but the amount of tea she'd already gotten me to consume had left me trembling from the stimulants.

Well, I thought ruefully, at least the trembling was partially due to the stimulants.

"Something to eat, then? Ajira could run over to the baker's and get more rolls... or perhaps friend Adryn could use a potion! Rejuvenating? Magicka restoring? Healing? Fortifying willpower or perhaps fatigue? Friend Adryn need only say what she would like, and Ajira will-"

"Ajira!" I broke in. "I appreciate it, really, but I don't need anything. I promise." I tried to smile at her. Judging by her expression, it didn't work very well. "I just want to sit down for a bit. You should get back to the alchemy desk. I'm sure you've got customers waiting."

"Ajira thinks learning a little patience will do them good."

This smile came easier. "I agree, but I don't think our guildmistress does."

Teleportation Girl had wandered off for about half an hour while we were working yesterday morning, the result being that not only I but probably everyone within two hundred feet of the guild hall when she came back overheard Ranis Athrys' opinions regarding 'abandoning one's post'.

Ajira huffed a sigh - as another witness to said explosion she was clearly unable to argue that point. "Very well. But," she fixed me with a gimlet eye, "if friend Adryn should need anything - anything at all - she need only say, and Ajira will do whatever she can to help."

"I know. And I do appreciate it, I just don't need anything right now and I don't want you to get in trouble with Ranis Athrys because you were hovering."

"Ajira supposes that makes sense. Very well." After two steps back toward her workstation, Ajira stopped and turned back. "Ajira will be just over here, at the desk or in the alchemy lab-"

"Are you a Khajiit or a mother hen? Go on, shoo!"

Finally, Ajira shooed.

Reluctantly.

I shook my head once she'd left, leaning back in the seat I'd claimed at the little table in the guildhall kitchen. I couldn't blame Ajira for being worried about me considering the scene she'd walked in on earlier, but she'd really gone overboard on the fussing.

Still, she'd been a lifesaver that morning. Not only had she managed to calm me down from the state of intense panic I'd spent most of the night in, she'd volunteered to keep an eye on the statue during the day... a process that included fending off Teleportation Girl's questions about why, exactly, we'd wrapped a sack in rope and tied it to a table in the alchemy lab using the toughest knots both of us knew.

The statue had given no sign of movement or engaged in any other un-statue-like behaviour during the whole process. My opinion was that it was trying to lull us into a false sense of security.

I looked at my hands. Still shaking, but much less than earlier. Despite our original plan, I couldn't possibly imagine trying to sleep this morning, but perhaps in a bit of time my hands would be steady enough that I could go work in the lab. Ajira would be much happier to have me under her eye, I'd be happier to have that statue under my own, and brewing potions always calmed me down-

"Ah – there you are you, Adryn. I was just looking for you."

The sentiment echoed that from my nightmare. I jerked upright, found you echoing in my ears.

Ranis Athrys frowned at me from the entrance to the kitchen area.

"Oh. Guildmistress. I'm sorry, you... you startled me." I sank back into my chair.

"Clearly." Ranis' voice was dry.

"What- I- what can I do for you?" My heart, which had been doing its level best to thump its way free from my ribcage, started to slow down again.

"Well, I was hoping we could have a word." Ranis sat down across from me. After a brief pause during which she looked at me meaningfully, I realised she was expecting me to serve her tea and got up to fetch her mug.

"I've spoken to Ajira, and she's been very pleased with your work," she said, watching me nearly drop the mug. "Said you've been extremely helpful to her in her research. And I've also had word from Malven Romori in Vivec commending your willingness. All things told, it is clear you are ready to devote your time to guild duties. As a result, it is my pleasure to inform you that as of today, you are now an Apprentice of the Mages' Guild."

"...Thank you?" I honestly didn't care much about my rank in the guild. Still, I could tell that Ranis was expecting something more. "I'm, er, honoured, considering that it's been such a short time- sorry!" I'd just managed to pour tea all over the table. "Let me get that-"

Ranis sniffed and waved her hand over the spill. Red magicka followed it; the tea vanished in a puff of steam.

"Being promoted to Apprentice isn't a matter of skill, you must understand," she said, watching with clear skepticism as I gave the whole 'serving tea' thing a second try. I clenched my teeth and willed my hands to still. "Rather, it is one of... mm... dedication. Associates are those who may be willing to fetch an item here or guard an expedition there, but who are not willing to commit any further. Their number includes those – and there are many - who join the guild for the services only and have no appreciation for true scholarship.

"It is clear that you are not one such, and so you are an Apprentice. Journeyman, now," Ranis eyed me sternly, "that promotion will require skill, scholarship, and history with the guild. Do not expect it anytime soon."

"Yes!" I grinned in triumph as my second attempt at pouring tea succeeded with not a drop going to the wrong place. "Er, I mean - I don't mind, really. I'm just happy to be a member of the guild- ma'am." The honourific was hastily tacked on to butter up Ranis.

Judging by her deep frown, it didn't work. Well, perhaps she was one of those people for whom rank and hierarchy is of utmost importance and who simply don't understand it if you don't care. I'd met those before and it had always been a case of deep, mutual incomprehension.

"In any case, as an Apprentice you are expected to be more heavily involved with the guild." Ranis took a sip of her tea, grimaced, and lifted her other hand to the mug as well. Once again magicka sparked, followed by steam rising from the cup. I watched with interest and some level of envy. Apprentice, Associate, Journeyman, who cared - I wanted to learn how to reheat tea like that. "You will be granted a stipend as well as permission to stay in guild hall accommodation indefinitely - for Associates, there is a time limit of ten days - but you should be spending most of your time on guild duties."

Was that a so why are you sitting around here drinking - or not drinking - tea? Just in case, I said, "I was about to go help Ajira, brew some potions or-" I shuddered at the thought, "man the alchemy desk-"

"No, no, that won't do at all." Ranis was smiling as she dismissed my greatest skill and passion. It was not a comforting expression. "We really don't have need of an additional person working on alchemy in any of the guilds. Here in Balmora, the work is such that Ajira should be perfectly capable of it alone."

I blinked.

Seriously?

Even in the few days I'd actually managed to spend at the guild, I'd seen Ajira caught in the conundrum that her duties included selling potions to customers and replenishing the supply and doing research and writing reports on her findings, which meant that she was generally supposed to be doing three things at once. Hardly a wonder she'd been deeply grateful for my help - and now Ranis was saying that it wasn't necessary?

"But-" I began to protest.

"Are you interrupting me, apprentice?" Ranis' words were soft and deadly. I realised with a jolt I didn't know what other Destruction magic she was capable of.

"...No, ma'am." My voice was tiny.

"Keep it that way. Now, as I was saying, I really cannot justify your presence at the alchemy desk. However, the amount of work Galbedir is faced with is frequently too much for one person - I've been thinking about finding another enchanter. I'd like you to work as her assistant from now on."

Apparently taking my expression of sheer, dumbstruck horror as agreement, Ranis nodded. "Wonderful. I'm glad we had this discussion. Now, I have some duties to perform. I expect to see you working with Galbedir by the time I'm finished. Understood?"

I really wished I hadn't.

*****

Next

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Feb 26 2017, 01:59 AM

[Acadian]

Oh my. What a terrifying nightmare (?)! I almost jumped out of my own chair as the voice belonging to one with clawed fingers said, “Found you!�

Answers can’t come fast enough regarding that creepy statue!

Aww, Ajira is such a mother hen – in a good way. The Guildmagister? Not so much. Poor Adryn, all she wants to do is help Ajira make potions and learn how to heat tea with her fingers. Assistant to Galbidir? Apprentice? Enchanting.

As ever, I love how you keep the story flowing smoothly without restraining Adryn’s internal and wonderfully whimiscal internal dialog.

[Kazaera]

Notes: General apologies for flakiness you know the drill by now...

@Acadian - Very belated thank you for your comment! I really appreciate knowing that the dream sequence and in particular the sudden appearance of Mysterious Voice With Claws was scary, I really wanted that to be properly terrifying but as I don't write horror much I wasn't sure how well I'd succeeded!

Last installment, Adryn had been taking it easy in the Mages' Guild after a very disturbing dream... unfortunately for her, Ranis was not on board with plan relaxation and assigned Adryn a task. The task? Go be Galbedir's apprentice in enchanting. This is sure to go swimmingly...

Chapter 11.4
*****

Galbedir was, if anything, even less happy about this new arrangement than I was.

"Are you kidding me? Unlike our so-called alchemist, I'm perfectly able to do my job. I don't need an assistant - let alone you." Scorn dripped from her voice.

Not reacting to the slight against Ajira took a concerted effort of will. "Well, I suggest you take that up with our guildmistress," I pointed out instead. A quick glance down the stairwell showed that Ranis wasn't in her office, so I felt it was safe to add, "I don't particularly want to be here either."

Especially since that statue was still downstairs. Unfortunate indeed that Ranis hadn't been willing to listen to objections, even if I had been able to figure out how to phrase we're aiding someone wanted for murder and so we brought some sort of demonic possibly-alive statue into the guild without telling anyone and it gives people nightmares and Controls them and is apparently able to move and I'd rather like to keep it within sight without getting thrown out of the guild, possibly bodily. I reminded myself firmly that Ajira was on top of the situation and I had other problems that demanded my focus right now.

"Ask her to let you keep messing around with that Khajiit? Not going to work," Galbedir predicted with an long-suffering air. After shooting a similar glance at the open door at the foot of the stairwell, she went on. "Ranis has done this before - I think she likes testing people. Weeding out the ones who won't follow her orders, even when those orders make no sense."

"What, has she been taking tips from Trebonius?"

A laugh escaped Galbedir – I wasn't sure which of us was more surprised. "Trebonius? Let me guess - what did he ask you to do?"

"Solve the mystery of the Dwemer." I shrugged.

"Solve the- he's surpassing himself, I see. All he asked me to do was recreate Azura's Star. Ludicrous, of course, and he still asks me how I'm progressing anytime I'm in Vivec! I suppose I can be grateful it was at least related to my actual area of research." Galbedir shook her head, sending blonde braids flying.

"Malven Romori wants me to start studying the Dwemer," I said carefully. "Something about at least appearing to respect the head of the guild. Do you think I could get Ranis to relent that way?"

"Hmm... not very likely," Galbedir judged. "She doesn't like Malven, claims she's taking on responsibilities and privileges beyond her station. I think Malven deserves every privilege and more for stepping up to try to keep order in Vivec, but Ranis can get very particular when it comes to rank. So telling her wouldn't help you. Probably better to keep your head down and tough it out until Ranis decides she's made whatever point she's trying to make with this nonsense." Galbedir grimaced.

So it sounded as if I was stuck with this duty for now. At least Galbedir was now looking at me with slightly less contempt, which I hoped would make our temporary (please be temporary) partnership somewhat more bearable.

"Well, let's get to it. Here, watch." Galbedir hefted a silver dagger lying on the table, "I have a contract from Wayn over at the Fighters Guild to give this a medium-strength fire damage enchantment. Pretty straightforward. I'm going to use this soul gem here, a common gem containing a betty netch's soul-"

I gulped. "Do you actually enchant using souls?"

It was a question I'd always wondered about and never gotten a clear answer to, something which had never seemed quite so pressing. Ranis or no Ranis, I wasn't sure I could bring myself to bind some poor animal's soul to a weapon to eternally serve as some kind of reservoir for magicka.

Galbedir took a deep breath before answering. "Well- the answer is yes and no. Yes, in that this," she tapped the glimmering gem, "does contain a netch's soul. No, in that the soul is released to Aetherius when we use the gem to enchant something. What we're really after and what will go into the blade is the creature's life energy and magicka. The soul being trapped is more of a... temporary byproduct of storing it until the actual process of enchanting, and I know people have tried and are trying to find a way to capture only the life energy and magicka from the start. No results yet, though."

That explanation cleared up some of the more muddled things I'd read about enchanting. One thing definitely stood out to me, waking my curiosity even through all the other worries on my mind. "Really? I'd have thought it'd be more difficult to capture a creature's soul than its life energy. Do you know why it's easier to capture the soul? Is it something to do with the Dreamsleeve, maybe?"

Galbedir blinked at me, clearly taken aback. "You'd have to ask Folms Mirel, over in Caldera - he's interested in the theory. Honestly, I don't know that much about this myself. I'm more into the practical side of things."

I nodded, making a mental note of the name. "I suppose at least you don't bind the souls into the enchanted object." That had been my main worry, after all.

"We don't," Galbedir agreed. "There are ways of using a soul gem to fix a soul in the world - the classic example is necromancy, using one to create undead - but outside of Temple ceremonies that's a serious crime and nothing I deal with. Especially when it comes to the souls of people."

"What do you mean by Temple ceremonies?" Every answer seemed to throw up more questions.

Galbedir groaned. "To understand that, you'd have to talk to a priest. Balmora Temple has some quite friendly ones, I'm told. It's certainly nothing to do with what I do." She took a deep breath. "Look, if you want to look into the theory and that sort of thing, I suggest you do it in your own time. For now, I'd like to get this dagger enchanted, because Ranis may have assigned you to work with me but she certainly hasn't reduced my workload any to accommodate teaching. So if you just watch - quietly - I'll tell you what I do."

"All right," I said, feeling slightly sheepish. I supposed I had been asking rather a lot of questions.

Galbedir relaxed. "Good. Now, in order to enchant this dagger..."

*****

Once we left the topic of the theory of enchanting, Galbedir turned out to be quite a good teacher (judging by my attempts with Gelduin a few days ago, certainly far better than me). Not only was her explanation of the different steps involved in the process of enchantment very clear, she also went into detail about the spells the Mages' Guild had developed to keep a soul gem from being destroyed if the enchantment failed.

"See, most of the time people will simply teach you how to transfer the energy over from the soul gem to the object you're trying to enchant. But if you do it that way, if you screw up forming the spell in the object - and you will, especially when it comes to more powerful spells or ones with multiple effects - the energy goes into the ether, the soul heads into Aetherius and you're left with nothing. A few hundred years ago, someone in the guild figured out a way of anchoring the soul to the gem while you work, so that if something goes awry everything just gets sucked back into the soul gem. I hear in Cyrodiil they've got fancy altars to do that for them," Galbedir's lip curled, "but out in the provinces we've got to do it ourselves. Makes the whole thing more complicated, but means you can try again after you fail. See, I need to spread magicka across the surface of the crystal, starting at the vertex closest to the spell's entry point and then following an Ealarian circuit-"

Galbedir's exact explanation for how one was supposed to form one's magicka was rather more difficult to follow, not helped by the fact that I was really too exhausted for all this right now. Thankfully, I hit on the idea of using my Detection spell. Tuned to magicka rather than to living beings and set to a very short range, it allowed me to "see" the magical net Galbedir wove through the soul gem, then the way she formed what I could only think of as instructions for a fire spell within the silver dagger-

"-you have to write your spell schematic inside the object's magical matrix. More powerful or more complicated spells need a longer schematic, so for those you need objects with a denser matrix and many simplices to inscribe the schematic. Gemstones will do well for rings or amulets. For weapons, silver is best – well, Daedric really, followed by ebony and glass, but since you're not likely to ever clap your eyes on any of those-"

-and finally, how she created a magical channel between soul gem and dagger. Power leapt along it like lightning, roaring into the weapon. There it was drawn into the spell Galbedir set as though the lightning were following metal rods. Finally, when all the power had left the soul gem and the dagger fairly blazed with magicka, the magical net around the gem dissolved. I almost thought I could feel something break free-

Then my spell ended. With my regular eyes, I watched as the soul gem abruptly shattered.

"I wish we could reuse them," Galbedir muttered. Sweat stood out on her forehead, but her fingers were sure and untrembling as she swept the dust that was all that remained into a wastebasket. "At least this one did what it was supposed to."

Indeed, the dagger glimmered with enchantment. I watched as Galbedir dropped a scrap of parchment on the blade, unsurprised when it burst into flame. Galbedir nodded in satisfaction, then set the dagger aside.

"Well, that's that order. Now, I need to make some scrolls, and those are finicky - you'd need to be journeyman-level in enchanting at least to have a chance." Galbedir paused for a moment. "Tell you what, I have a few petty souls lying around, as well as some cheap jewellery. Things I'd usually use for a charm for the commoners, not worth more than a few drakes." She sniffed, evidently at the thought of commoners. "Not particularly important if you ruin them, in any case. Why don't you give it a try?"

Not exactly a ringing endorsement. But Galbedir's contemptuous attitude towards 'commoners' had caused my old antipathy to resurge, and I was worried I was going to say something I'd regret if I was around her much longer. So I just nodded my acceptance and took the small, glimmering gems Galbedir handed to me.

Time to see if I made a decent enchanter.

*****

Next

Notes: Looots of magi-technical babble in this one...

This explanation of how soul gems and enchanting work in Adrynverse is apparently contrary to things we've learned in Skyrim and ESO (e.g. the Soul Cairn). Oh well! I did a lot of the plotting out of SitC years ago, well before those games came out, and although I'm happy to take Skyrim and TESO lore into account when I can (Skyrim in particular has been something of a treasure trove for Adryn's backstory), at the end of the day it's a Morrowind story and if I have to ignore a piece of later lore to make the story work I will. I had to move away from it in this case in order to make enchanting a palatable art and to make it something Adryn would be willing to touch. I hope people like my compromise.

(It's not 100% a departure from canon as it's almost certainly possible to create an enchantment via binding the soul even in Adrynverse. Galbedir hasn't mentioned it because she doesn't work that way and also it's really illegal.)

Also, I'm making shameless use of my educational background to come up with the technical babble. Cookies to anyone who knows what an Ealarian circuit is when it's at home.

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Mar 5 2017, 11:28 PM

[ghastley]

I always get them confused with the Hamiltonian variety. (And it's Eulerian - was your spelling just it to make it hard to Google?)

[Kazaera]

I always get them confused with the Hamiltonian variety. (And it's Eulerian - was your spelling just it to make it hard to Google?)

Cookie awarded!

I get the two confused too, I admit! And the spelling was an attempt at TES-ifying the name - "Euler" doesn't sound very Tamrielic to me, but "Ealar" could be an Altmer.