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> The story of Ann Thraxx, a survivor of Kvatch
Lady Saga
post Apr 5 2012, 03:42 PM
Post #1


Mouth
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Joined: 20-February 12



Good day fellow Chorrolmates. I am Lady Saga, and today I'd like to talk about the saga of Ann Thraxx.

I originally posted all of the text of posts 1 and 2 over at Bethsoft's Oblivion: general area. Forgive the crudeness of some of the early text, for I was not originally writing Ann's tale as a true story yet. In Post #2, this starts to change. Post 1's text was originally in the Where are you Now #7 thread, and Post 2's text came from my own thread in OB: General.

This character is probably my deepest Oblivion roleplay to date. Originally I wanted her to be "Renee Gade III", which means she'd be some sort of heroic figure. But as Ann Thraxx evolved, it was apparent she's going to have a story much different from what I had originally conceived.

Although I'm on PS3, I performed a couple little tricks which I like to call pretend-mods. tongue.gif I used another character's game save, so that Ann never had to go thru the Tutorial part, then I fast-traveled her to just outside the Imperial City...Chestnut Handy Stables, to be exact. I had no idea why her game started here, though. That was not made known to me, yet. I also didn't know who Ann was, exactly. All of this becomes apparent during the massive text below.


IPB Image


Name: Ann Thraxx


Race: Imperial

Sex: female.

Class: peasant (custom).

Starsign: Atronach

D&D alignment: Chaotic Neutral


Ann Thraxx the wayward peasant has just arrived at Chestnut Handy Stables outside the Imperial City. She arrived here by carriage, and it is nighttime...dark and rainy. She's wearing nothing but one of those horrible Cyrodiilic bras and some sack cloth pants. No shoes, no shirt.

Ann has heard there's a place to stay in "some house on the Waterfront" * so she's walking there now.

* I think there's a free bed in one of the houses on the Waterfront. if there is, no problem. A "friend" told Ann there's a place she can stay. But if there is no free bed, Ann will have no place to stay.


Her family is no more, and she is sad. I'm thinking she was a farmer of some sort, perhaps, and lost her farm. Her husband got killed perhaps, and Ann is right now in serious depression, serious culture shock. She's been to the I.C. before, but never actually lived here. She's used to the wide open plains of the West Weald.

She is poor, but she is also fortunate to have 58 gold in her pocket, along with a soul gem and a few minor things which can be sold. How she got all this stuff? We shall find out, won't we?

Ann Thraxx arrived at the Abandoned Shack, which is anything but abandoned! It was about 6am Cyrodiilic time, and Hillod the Outlaw and a dark elf male (forget his name) immediately rose as Ann walked in the door. Oops...

"Please, I didn't mean to startle you" she said to the dark elf. "I am Ann Thraxx. I have been sent here and was told I could spend the night. I've lost my home and my family..."

What was interesting was the dark elf's greeting had something to do with losing his job or being out of work or something. This fit right in, so that Ann and the dark elf had a short conversation about finding work.

The situation in the Abandoned Shack was awkward as the 2 males stood around staring at Ann. This isn't what she expected! Ann "got to know" Hillod and dark elf, and gave them more than half of her 58 gold (she basically bribed him so she can stay in the Shack). But the guys wouldn't leave!

Ann took a short walk outside, deprived of sleep and getting dizzy. She found a couple beggar beds which were open, but there's no way she's gonna stoop that low.

Finally she made her way back to the Abandoned Shack. It's now 8 am and Hillod + the dark elf are both gone. Finally.

Ann sets off to sleep. When she wakes, she's going to see about looking for work in the Imperial City.

.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Apr 12 2012, 07:45 PM
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Lady Saga
post Apr 5 2012, 03:51 PM
Post #2


Mouth
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Joined: 20-February 12



Man. so I don't know what it is, but this roleplay with Ann Thraxx is already much different than any I've ever had before, and she hasn't even really done much of anything yet! This one is very heavy and almost dream-like.



CHAPTER ONE

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Ann stands on the shores of the Waterfront district, looking west. The village is behind her. West is often the traditional direction that signifies death. That's something I learned recently.

She's thinking of Kvatch. What happened there. She stares up at the clouds. Just standing there, looking at the water and the clouds.....

I got the urge to stare at the clouds while RP'ing Ann. I noticed they're in layers, and then I noticed that higher layers seemed to be moving slower than the lower-level clouds. This gave me the urge to learn about clouds!

I did an internet search and found a website that describes different level clouds. The higher levels are called cirrus, these are the thin and wispy clouds way up high. The lower ones at that moment could be classified as altostratus I think. I dunno...I'm just learning this stuff.

Anyways, back to Ann.

After reading about clouds, I returned to her game. It's now dark outside. Oops. forgot to pause.

I stand there for a few moments with her, now I get the urge to walk into town. She starts doing so. Ann hears somebody mention the Fighter's Guild is hiring new members "if you've got the stones for it". But right now Ann is way too sad to even think about work.

A woman walks by, looks at Ann, and keeps walking. She walks to her shack and slams the door. ...Ann starts thinking of the gigantic gate into Oblivion that just showed up....right outside the city gates. It just showed up out of nowhere.

Ann walks past a pirate ship. There's three or four pirates outside. Ann stares at them a moment. Then she starts thinking about Kvatch again.

...EVERYONE she knew there could be dead. all of them. Did these pirates know this too?

Ann turns right and walks up the causeway there. A group of four walks past her, one by one in a neat, almost military, row.

"Hi!"

"What is it now?"

"Hello!"

"You've got my ear. Let's hear it."


All of them so cheery and unaware. Or did news of what happened make it into the rest of Cyrodiil yet?

Ann stood now on the bridge between the Waterfront and the little tower. Stood there looking at the water. she stood there all night while i was typing this.

7:17 am
Now it's getting light, the sky rosey. She's gotta pick herself up. These people around her aren't bad people, she realizes. They're here to help. But she can't stop thinking about it...



She walks towards the Imperial City door on the Waterfront and sees something which finally makes her smile. She names him "Lucky". This is the paint horse which resides just outside the door into the Temple district. I happen to know this horse can be ridden. As long as you don't get too far into the wilderness with him, this particular paint horse will eventually return to his spot just outside the city door, if the rider dismounts him. It takes awhile, but eventually he does come back.

Ann stands outside with the horse, being warmed by the sun. She feels good standing here with him. The clouds above are now thin and wispy, with no lower layers. Cirrus clouds. They're mostly ice crystals.

Ann realizes the horse might be owned. Otherwise, he'd be in a stables. But she wants this horse to be her first friend.

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CHAPTER II

Ann decides she's gonna ride the horse. And why not? She worked sometimes for the stables in Kvatch, she knows plenty about horse riding. Plus, nobody's around to witness this, in case this is a crime!

So she gets on the horse, starts riding out of town. She remembers the stables where she was dropped off by the carriage from Skingrad.

During the attack on Kvatch, Ann happened to be outside. She spent most of her time outside Kvatch, actually. she liked the sun and wind and rain. She preferred the outdoors, only venturing into town to do market work, selling the flowers and leaves and berries she found was how she made the bulk of her money. But there was no warning. Nothing to warn her and her town-mates. This HUGE gate just showed up as Ann was picking some strawberries. That thing was HUGE.

Urgh....gotta stop thinking about it.

IPB Image

Ann walks and find the stables. There's a man over there who looks as if he works at the place. What is he? A Breton? Imperial? Nord?

She dismounts Lucky, who starts walking away. Many horses in Cyrodiil were trained to return to a certain "home", wherever that may be. Ann was hoping Lucky wasn't to be one of these beasts, but unfortunately, this was not to be the case. But she wasn't surprised. She found him in an urban location, there's no way Lucky wasn't owned or used by somebody.

The man is an Imperial. His name tag, which is sewn into his shirt, is Brelus Gawey. He's mean-looking and unfriendly. Ann wants to talk to him, to see if she can work with him. She needs to work with the horses. She misses it, and it would make her happy to be with them. There's a LOT of horses here, too. Look at them all!

She greets Brelus, who tells her something about "orcs and horses". Ann's a little to preoccupied to remember what it was. She thinks he said an orc owns the stables. Really? An orc? Yuck! Ann hates orcs. Good. Good!!!! Good good good! She's distracted now. For the first time in days, she's finally not thinking about Kvatch, after all.

"My name is Ann. Ann Thraxx. I'm a citizen from Kvatch. Have you heard about Kvatch yet?"

"Sure, some think horses are for riding",
Brelus goes on, rudely ignoring Ann. "Then again, some of us are orcs. and you know...orcs and horses...."

What is this guy talking about?

"I'm looking for work. I've noticed you've got lots of horses here, I'd like to work with them. Is that okay, sir?"

"There's something strange about Idev Lynordan. I heard she was climbing up the chapel, just so she could jump off!"
Brielus says.

Okay....this man is obviously a bit simple. He's also rude and Ann doesn't like him very much. But at least she's distracted. This is good.

Ann walks into the stables, and sees a beautiful white horse. Wow, she's so handsome! The stable is packed with horses. Look at them all! Suddenly, a figure comes RUNNING out of the midst of them. Obviously a stablehand. It's a lady with short cropped hair. Her shirt identifies her as Restita Statillia. Restita also looks a bit unfriendly.

"Oh hellos my good lady. My name is Ann Thraxx! Beautiful stables you've got here!" Ann says with an unforced smile.

"Yeah, Restitta Statilllia, I work at the Chestnut Handy Stables. Have you seen any of our horses? ......Oh. It's just that they're missing".


Now she's the one who seems sad, and not so unfriendly anymore. What is the deal with these stable hands and horses?

"My name is Ann Kvatch" Ann stumbled with a Romulan Slip. " I mean Ann Thraxx. I'm a citizen from Kvatch. Have you heard? The daedra appeared from nowhere and attacked the city!! "

"We stable horses for folks in the Imperial City!"
Restita informed Ann sternly. "We'd sell horses too, if we could keep track of them"

"What is thee problem with horses? You and your partner seem tensed."

"The fighter's Guild is recruiting again",
Restita changes the subject, "not a bad way to make some money, if you've got the stones for it".

Oh. Ann gets it. She finally gets it. These poor folks are employed by the city. They're paid to stay here, but are having some sort of problem, has something to do with an orc. But they're not supposed to talk about their problem. Restita is obviously telling Ann something she's not supposed to actually know.


"I see. Well you're not hiring, so guess I'll move on".
Ann says sadly. "Sorry to trouble you".

"Be seeing you
."

It's now getting dark and Resita holds a torch. She keeps a close eye on Ann the entire time. As Ann walks thru the chestnuts and the paints, the blacks and the bays, Ann hears footsteps. It's Restita. She follows Ann as if she doesn't trust her.

Okay, I get it!
Ann thinks but doesn't say. You don't want me around your horses! I get it!

Ann walks towards what's left of the sun, looking west again.

@ 9PM

It is dark now. Ann has been up for nearly two days. She'd like to sleep but she fears the nightmares will return. She decides to walk back to the Abandoned Shack (so named, even though people live there) and try to get some sleep.

Lucky is nowhere to be seen, and it's obvious that Ann can't take any of these Chestnut Handy horses, since Restita clearly informed her they're all owned....

As Ann walks back to the Waterfront, she looks up. Cumulus clouds. These are mid-atmosphere, showing up when the weather is fair. There are no cirrus clouds this time, the upper atmosphere is clear.

...Ann is barefoot and walks briskly. Suddenly it's THERE. The terror. She suddenly remembers more of what happened that day.

....red skies! ...She remembers this now....The sky turned red just before the gate showed up. And the lightning. BLACK lightning struck in the background as the sky turned red..... She starts running. Gotta get around people again! ...OH Mara........What if a gate opened up out here RIGHT NOW?

She can almost see it happening...

Ann got lucky in Kvatch. She was located some distance away from the gate outside the city when it showed up. She went completely unnoticed while the daedra poured forth in the distance. There were LOTS of them, too. She watched as an old friend at the stables was immediately felled by a giant red-scaled-looking being with a giant mace. The guards tried to help but were killed within less than a minute. Ann had no way to help. Nothing to protect herself with. The daedra kept pouring forth and then....THERE IT WAS.....

Ann would never forget this the rest of her life. Not if she lived to be a hundred. That thing. That GIANT thing.

...It walked, like some huge monster. But it was mechanical, not magical. It walked on its own feet and had a giant, cone-shaped drill on its face. This machine walked slowly, Ann terrifiedly noticed. And it buried itself then! It buried itself, right into Kvatch's giant gate!

...She shivers...her flesh turning all prickly with goosebumps. But there's no giant mechanical monster here. None of those odd little creatures running around, either. As Ann made her way back into the Waterfront, she finally slowed. Lucky had not made his way back to his spot yet. Ann hoped he would return.

Ann stood now, safely by the Waterfront. And no gate opened up. She stood here on the bridge the rest of the night. If a gate opened here and now, she would at least have plenty of options to escape again. She would not run into the city, though. What would the point be, if that monster could just burrow its way in?

As the sun rises now on Day 4 (Ann's game is on Day 4), Ann walks back to the Abandoned Shack. The boys should be up now, which means their well-used bedrolls would be free. They would eventually leave their shack to loiter on the Waterfront, Ann hoped, meaning she could then get some sleep, safely in daytime. If she had a nightmare, she could at least wake up to a nice, sunny day outside.

As she crosses the bridge, a well-dressed lady in a blue dress walks towards her. The lady looks courtly, her hair coiffed like she's had it done by a serveant.

"Hi there"
she says. She's got a pleasant Breton accent and her name (sewn into her dress with gold stitching, is Marana Rian.

...This was the Imperial's doing...that whole name-identification thing. Uriel Septim himself enacted the rule. All Cyrodiilic citizens needed to have their name identified somewhere on their clothing. It was a way to "keep the citizens of Cyrodiil safely under the protection of the law" Uriel said. Ann had yet to meet anybody these last couple years who didn't have their name sewn or stenciled somewhere on their shirt, blouse, or breastplate.

Ann looked at Marana, with her cultured ways and soft ivory face, and decided to move on. What would such a lovely lady be doing here on the Waterfront with us? Ann wondered.

Ann sees the dark elf who lives in the Abandoned Shack. His name is Dralas. Good, he's awake, which means his bed is free.

"Ooohhhhh. Hellow"
he says, looking at Ann slyly. He sounds mistrustful to Ann.

"How thee this morning?" Ann says a little quietly, trying not to think of the past.

"Well met!"
he says. He smiles, and his face lights up. Ann needs this smile.

"if you don't mind, I need to use the shack again. I won't be much trouble, honest!"


"The fighter's Guild is recruiting again! Not a bad way to make some money, if you've got the stones for it!"
Dralas announces. Maybe this is his subtle hint to Miss Thraxx. A hint to get a job and move out?

"I won't be much trouble. Here, I've got a little gold". she offers.

"Certainly"
Dralas says, but he won't accept the gold. (his Disposistion towards Ann is already maxed)

"Well okay, guess I'll get some sleep then."

"Goodbye!"


Now a line of three citizens walk up past Ann.

"Hello!"

"Hellow there!"

"Everybody needs a copy of the Black Horse Courier!"


Black Horse Courier
? The newspaper? They have that here in the Imperial City? Would they have an article on Kvatch? Were there any survivors?

"Have a copy of the Black Horse Courier! It's the only way to get some real news!"
says the crier.

He hands Ann a copy. It's not about Kvatch, it's about some thief known mysteriously as the "Gray Fox". Hmph. She reads it, then tosses the paper on the ground as the sun rises and the day warms. She's not sure if she's to be happy or sad about the lack of information on Kvatch.

"Hi!"

"Greetings Imperial!"


a couple more villagers say.

Ann uses a broom to sweep up the front of the Abandoned Shack before going inside, eating some boiled rice, and falling quickly asleep. Ann slept for 13 hours straight, right by the fireside.

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CHAPTER III

"How do you do?"
Hillod the Outlaw says nicely when Ann awakes. He's a Redguard, has another smile for Anne. Dralas the dark elf is also present and seems pleasant.

"Good morning? Is It morning? Or afternoon? I think I've been here awhile."

"A pleasure to speak with you".


"How fare thee, sir?" Ann queries.

"I helped build Ravenrock, I had some trouble with the law so now I'm here. Pretty soon I'll head out to the Imperial Reserve, try my luck there".


"Imperial Reserve? Of what do you speak of?"


"The assassinations! What else is there to talk about? Perfectly planned and executed! The blades perfectly useless. Complete disaster!"
he says.

"Y y...you speak of Kvatch? What do you know?" Ann says, suddenly a little terrified.

"Yoooo too".
Hillod says, apparently unaware of the horror which occured. He almost dismisses her, it seems.

She walks over to Dralas now...

"I hope I can help"


"What of you? Have YOU heard about Kvatch yet? The horrors which happened there?"

"Samuel Bantien used to be a wild one!"
the dark elf informs "they say he used to be a locksmith!"

Oh good. No news on Kvatch. No news on those terribe beings called "daedra". At least everything is safe.

Ann turns now, looking to the floor. A lovely red apple is there, and Ann can't resist eating it. As she picks it up and does so, the Shack's occupants don't mind. That fellow who informed her the Abandoned shack dwellers would be 'friendly' apparently was right. Ann relaxes and eats the apple, glad to know the guards wouldn't be called just because she's eating their apple.

As she eats, Hillod starts talking about the "Blades" and some sort of execution again with the dark elf, but he's obviously not talking about Kvach. That much has been established. What was going on with Cyrodiil lately?

She walks outside, to see it's early morning. Cirrus clouds high in the air, with some mid-level cumulus clouds forming on the horizon.

She looks west again for a moment, then firmly decides she's not gonna do this today. Today, she's gonna get into town, get amongst some people. Good thing about the Imperial City (Ann has heard) is that it has plenty of exits. It also has plenty of places to hide, in case of another attack.


She remembers she found a pair of sandals in an open-topped sack in the Shack, and puts them on. So her entire outfit is a stitched green shirt, sack cloth pants, and these sandals. She's got a torch on her belt, a mysterious iron key, a set of lockpicks (which she can't use very well) and a total of 5 gold.

She walks along the Waterfront, looking for herbs or flowers she can pick and sell.

"Don't be the last to read today's ..Black Horse Courier"
the crier announces, yelling straight into a Breton woman's face. Ann laughs. It feels good to laugh again. For just a moment, she feels like her old self. It's a moment, sadly, which quickly fades. Nope. She's still here in this odd little "village".

She walks, her flower expedition so far unsuccessful, when she comes to a small graveyard just south of the village. This graveyard is old and unkempt, its stones leaning and broken. Death. no. NO! No gravestones! No thinking of death!

She walks and finds a Nirnroot, one of those weird singing plants. She doesn't really know why they sing or what their effects are, she just knows she can sell it. So she unceremoniously picks the Nirnroot.

Now she walks towards the area where she met Lucky. To shorten the trip, Ann decides to swim across(**). Even though she is (was) a citizen of Kvatch, and there's no water nearby, Ann learned how to swim when she was young and still knows how.


Ann dives under, looking into the clear water for clams or fallen treasure. But there's nothing here. She didn't expect there would be anything of value down there. Place probably got picked clean by every vagrant around, even underwater.

She walks on the small beach and looks towards the door. Lucky is not back yet.

Dressed in her ragged clothing, Ann decides to walk into the city. Its "Temple District".


There was a block of text in which Ann found herself crying, really losing it, as she walked into an alleyway. She then wandered into the Temple of the One, finally stopped crying when she realized how bare it is in there. Why is the Temple so empty? she thought. All of this text got lost, unfortunately.

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CHAPTER IV


Ann Thraxx is now in the center of the I.C., more or less. She finds some more red & white mushrooms and eats one of them. She realizes this portion of the city is filled with DOZENS and dozens of gravestones. Citizens who lived and died fair lives and deaths, without having a giant mechanical monster crash thru their city's gate. Ann feels momentarily jealous of all these dead strangers, and moves on...looking for the exit to the Market District. A guard told her earlier this town does have its own market area.


As she walks, picking more and more mushrooms, she takes a pause and stares up at the White Gold Tower, that ancient masterpiece built by the Ayleids impressively. She's seen this tower all her life from a distance, but seeing it up close is simply amazing. It was so tall, it seemed to touch the very sky of Cyrodiil. Was it possible to climb all the way to the top? Ann didn't think so. Nor would she ask or try to find out. A lost, sad peasant, she wasn't feeling very confident or comfortable with her new surroundings.

She walks past a door. Arena District. Nope, not going there. She keeps walking. Next door is the Markets. Good.

"How do you do?"
asks Rochelle Bantien. Ann and Rochelle met earlier (in that block of text that got erased) and Ann feels a little queasy about just the general casualness of the City's peoples. They KNOW something happened in Anvil (a guard had told Ann of "Anvils priests and priestesses....murdered") yet nobody wants to discuss it. Nobody seems to want to make a plan...

Ann had already grown weary of this. Shes trying to inform the people, to keep them safe, but nobody seems to want to hear it, even if some of them do know something is going on out there. Those that know seem to be in denial.

Ann walks forward as she enters the Market District. A bookstore is on her right, and a place called "The Copious Coinpurse" is on her left. Ann currently has 22 mushrooms + that Nirnroot for sale.

She walks into the Copious Coinpurse where a wood elf named Thoronir greets

"What kind of deal can I make for you todaaaaay?"


"Well. I've got plenty of mushrooms for sale."

"I offer the finest goods and lowest prices in all Cyrodiil".


Ann sold the mushrooms. 22 gold. Now she's got 27 in total.

"That's more than I'd usually pay"
Thoronir says, cleverly implying she's getting a good deal for selling a bunch of mushrooms for one gold apiece. How much did he 'usually' pay, then? Half a gold? A quarter? Such a denomination wasn't even possible, Ann thought. All her life, the single goldpiece or "Septim" was as small as it got.

"You've been a great help. I needed this gold, sir."

"Thank you, come again!"


Ann now decides she might find more things for sale. There's dozens of barrels, crates, and sacks in the district. She starts looking (like a homeless lady) for things to sell, wear, and eat. As the afternoon wears on, she sells numerous items: shoes, clogs, shirts, all kinds of unspoiled foods, wheat stalks, all sorts of stuff. She winds up with lots of things. Uriel Septim had at some point devised a sort of "finders/keepers" rule. It was official on the rulebooks: if a citizen found an item located in a public area, that item was okay to take and use, as long as nobody claimed it. As Ann did her looting, nobody raised a fuss.

At some point, she overheard a conversation about the "death of Uriel Septim and his heirs". WHAT? URIEL SEPTIM DIED???

Ann runs up to the lady she overheard...a high elf.

"I'm Mandil. I do training in Security. Just a hobby, of course".


"WHAT ABOUT URIEL SEPTIM? OUR EMPEROR HAS BEEN MURDERED?"

"It pays to know about locks and lockpicks. It's just a hobby of course, but the average citizen feels more secure when he understands his own locks"..


"Are you saying the Emperor has been murdered because he didn't understand his locks? Didn't bother to lock his doors?"

"Be seeing you!"
Mandil dismisses.

...Jeez, Ann get a hold of yourself! Maybe you're the one who's being seen as crazy, not everyone else! Calm down and sell your wares.

Ann makes what seems to be an entire cartload of money now at the Copious Coinpurse. She found a Wolf's pelt, a repair hammer, and other higher-gold items. She now has 77 gold. Though she had never been rich, and managed to pull all her savings before she left Kvatch (the 58 gold mentioned above in earlier text), 77 gold just for looking thru a bunch of barrels seemed like a lot of money to her. Was everybody in the Imperial City rich? Apparently so.

"Come back and see me again". Thoronir says.


Ann smiles, pleased to be doing something as mundane as shopping. She loved selling her wares in Kvatch's district. All of them, she'd find and harvest for sale. It feels good to have a local person to sell stuff to.

Earlier, Ann noticed there are a couple magic shops out in the Market, one of them called "Edgar's Discount Spells". Ann decides it might be a good idea to see if she can learn a simple Destruction spell of some sort. Now's the time to start learning! If the City could wind up being attacked by daedra, she'd better have some sort of protection.

(notice I'm ignoring her basic default Fire spell here)
wink.gif

She now meets Edgar Vautrine, proprietor of Edgar's Discount Spells. Although Ann hasn't got enough yet to afford his "Fire Touch" spell, he gives some great advice.

"You want to buy or sell? the city is fine. You want cheap? Go down into the holes and kill some monsters."

I kinda am pretending this next part. I saved an hour, and during that hour, I RP'd it that Samuel is the one who informs Ann that there's a "Sewer Patrol" available for those who want to take the job. Nobody wants the job, however. It's dark, dirty work, and many of Cyrodiil's adventurers (Dyan phor a'Cauz, The Grey Wizard, Lady Saga, Lothran, Buffy the Bowgirl, etc.) had already turned it down. Or perhaps they had simply become too big a talent to get offered such a menial job in the first place. Although Ann is more of a gatherer/seller, she finds herself intrigued by the man's information.


Ann thinks to herself a moment.

Although she's not much of a fighter, she does know how to properly swing a sword. Her talent is not as good as an Arena combatant, perhaps, but she had always been good enough to protect herself out on the open plains of the West Weald. Although Ann didn't stick around Kvatch very long, instead running off to Skingrad after a stop in her home, she's pretty sure her former friends and family are dead. And so maybe it's she who should somehow avenge their deaths. She may not be a fighter, she may not be a guard, but dammit to Oblivion, she's got to try!

She's also going to eventually be in need of money. She raked in 77 gold today, but how long would that last? She can't just stay at the "Abandoned" Shack forever, either. Eventually she'd need to move on. Finally, it made her sad, it made her really sad to admit it, but she would eventually also need to give up on Kvatch, and scourge out some sort of a life here, in this Imperial City.

In the mean time, she keeps looking for more stuff she can sell...but feels just a little nervous about doing so. She's always held her head high, even as a Kvatchian peasant. Looking thru random barrels and sacks was something she did not do when she lived in Kvatch, but right now she's simply desperate.

It would be nice to have a job, Ann thinks. Something "official" to do. What's it like down there in the sewers, anyways? Ann is completely naive about this. Surely there'd be rats down there...maybe a few imps? She'd dealt with rats, wolves, imps, and other such nuisance creatures in the past, and usually carried a sword on her belt if she happened to need to get a little far outside of Kvatch as she gathered flowers and mushrooms in the past.

As she's looking, she here's a conversation that goes something like

"Have you heard a word about the other provinces?"

"I've heard that Vivec has" ...??????.. in Morrowind. The daedra came and got him in his sleep..."
Ann missed the central part of the sentence, but the mention of daedra immediately got her attention.

"Ah HA! the daedra! These people DO know, then!" Ann cries to herself. But she's not going to follow up on this clue for the moment. She's having a small amount of fun searching barrels and sacks for goods, and doesn't want to ruin this mood.

Ann keeps searching barrels, sacks and crates, finally finding a bunch of grapes and another apple she could eat before selling her loot. She wants to find somewhere else to go, though. Red Diamond Jewelery? No. The Feed Bag? No. Jensine's "Good as New" Merchandise? Sounds like the place.

"Hello me lady"
Ann starts.

"Feel free to browse. It's nice to see a new shopper. I was afraid I'd lost all my business, now that Thoronir has opened shop".


"Thoronir? What about him? I just met him earlier".

"Perhaps you can assist us with a little 'problem' we've been having..."


.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: May 30 2012, 07:34 PM
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mALX
post Apr 5 2012, 06:24 PM
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First off - love the name (Ann Thraxx). Immediately makes one wonder if it is apropos for the character. I guess we'll find out !!

So far Ann seems like quite an interesting character, and we get a bit of insight into the author in this one too, Great Write !!


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Lady Saga
post Apr 5 2012, 06:32 PM
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I thanketh thee. smile.gif I am working on editing post 2 as we speak, cleaning it up and stuff so it reads more like a proper story. But I'm gonna leave in some of my little side-stories and insights, like the part where I did a quick internet study on clouds. I feel it's important to establish how I kept flicking in and out of roleplay for that particular day, and how it all fits in to the story itself.

When I wrote this story, it was a Sunday and I was sad. I hate Sundays, and so does my girl. mad.gif I sometimes get really sad on Sundays, because it's the end of the weekend and stuff.

All of that filters into Ann's game in some way, I think.

.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Apr 5 2012, 06:33 PM
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mALX
post Apr 5 2012, 06:42 PM
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QUOTE(Lady Saga @ Apr 5 2012, 01:32 PM) *

I thanketh thee. smile.gif I am working on editing post 2 as we speak, cleaning it up and stuff so it reads more like a proper story. But I'm gonna leave in some of my little side-stories and insights, like the part where I did a quick internet study on clouds. I feel it's important to establish how I kept flicking in and out of roleplay for that particular day, and how it all fits in to the story itself.

When I wrote this story, it was a Sunday and I was sad. I hate Sundays, and so does my girl. mad.gif I sometimes get really sad on Sundays, because it's the end of the weekend and stuff.

All of that filters into Ann's game in some way, I think.

.



We are def connected to our characters in many intangible ways. I've seen on the roleplay threads they put a small divider at the top or bottom of their story and write "Author's notes" - their thoughts, etc. I love that idea, kind of get bits of insight into the person behind the character.


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Lady Saga
post Apr 5 2012, 07:54 PM
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QUOTE(mALX @ Apr 5 2012, 01:42 PM) *

We are def connected to our characters in many intangible ways. I've seen on the roleplay threads they put a small divider at the top or bottom of their story and write "Author's notes" - their thoughts, etc. I love that idea, kind of get bits of insight into the person behind the character.



Oh good, I'm not the only one who does this, then. smile.gif

Now, be honest. I put NPC dialog in blue text to sort of seperate it from the rest of the story. Distracting? Or is this okay? I'm weird like this. I like colored text here and there, but if it's too much, let me know.
.

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mALX
post Apr 5 2012, 08:01 PM
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QUOTE(Lady Saga @ Apr 5 2012, 02:54 PM) *

QUOTE(mALX @ Apr 5 2012, 01:42 PM) *

We are def connected to our characters in many intangible ways. I've seen on the roleplay threads they put a small divider at the top or bottom of their story and write "Author's notes" - their thoughts, etc. I love that idea, kind of get bits of insight into the person behind the character.



Oh good, I'm not the only one who does this, then. smile.gif

Now, be honest. I put NPC dialog in blue text to sort of seperate it from the rest of the story. Distracting? Or is this okay? I'm weird like this. I like colored text here and there, but if it's too much, let me know.
.



Better take a poll on that from others, lol. It is the first time I've ever seen that done, so I went up and read through a bit - I liked it on the dialogue. Not sure if I cared much for the "red apple" being in red unless it is a link to something in particular. But for differentiating between NPC and the main character, I thought it was kind of a cool addition.


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Lady Saga
post Apr 5 2012, 09:59 PM
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okay thanks. I'll do more editing tomorrow. I might choose a different color for NPC text, so that it's not so glaring. Maybe choose a subtler shade.
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Acadian
post Apr 6 2012, 01:19 AM
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What a fun story! Although your character Gada go Pei takes the cake for names, Miss Thraxx is superbly named!

You clearly have a very different style as you comfortably weave between your thoughts and Ann’s. Fun, actually. I absolutely love what you have done with the in game dialogue: Ann is struggling to sort out these clueless Cyrodiiliacs as Renee has her tongue firmly in cheek.

’As Ann walks back to the Waterfront, she looks up. Cumulus clouds. These are mid-atmosphere, showing up when the weather is fair. There are no cirrus clouds this time, the upper atmosphere is clear. ...Ann is barefoot and walks briskly. Suddenly it's THERE. The terror. The fear! She starts running. Gotta get around people again! What if a gate opened up out here RIGHT NOW?’
This is powerful stuff, and incredibly creative as you leap and dance among subjects but somehow tie them together perfectly. I loved this. goodjob.gif

’Ann makes a [censored]load of money now at the Copious Coinpurse.’
Poking fun at censorship is one approach, but I hope you will allow me to suggest an alternative. Being in the land of TES opens a whole world of creative possibilities! For example: ‘Ann sold her goods at the Copious Coinpurse, netting enough gold to fill an ogre’s loincloth.’ Same point, but bypassing censorship and extremely ‘setting-friendly’. Just a thought.

Hee! Appreciate the little nod to Buffy the Bowgirl. happy.gif

You asked about colors and such. I actually think less is better. By carefully selecting and arranging the right words, the use of color, bolding, underlining and other distractions becomes largely unnecessary.

Your writing is very creative, and your characters clearly fueled by great passion and inspiration. Your ‘technicals’ are in pretty good shape – let us know if you want us to point out objective nits like typos and such.

One suggestion that I hope you will take constructively is to keep an eye on post length. Even if you have material banked up and ready to post, remember it is all new to your readers and they need time to read and savor it. 1000-2000 words is ideal for a forum update. Then allow readers a few days to digest and comment. Although sometimes a longer episode can be a challenge to break up, that is often the best choice. Long posts on a forum simply invite skimming, and what you have to say is far too important and fun for that! smile.gif


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post Apr 6 2012, 02:11 AM
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QUOTE(Acadian @ Apr 5 2012, 08:19 PM) *

What a fun story! Although your character Gada go Pei takes the cake for names, Miss Thraxx is superbly named!


OH yeah...Igodah Go^Pe. biggrin.gif She was my first pure mage character.

QUOTE
This is powerful stuff, and incredibly creative as you leap and dance among subjects but somehow tie them together perfectly. I loved this. goodjob.gif


Thanks, man. Stay tuned for more, hopefully this weekend. Ann's story requires that I make sure to have lots of hours to spare, to get (and stay) in the right mood.


QUOTE

Hee! Appreciate the little nod to Buffy the Bowgirl. happy.gif


I'm pretty sure you were one of the people in my Bethsoft thread who said you'd never done the sewers. It only made sense, then that "Buffy" had never explored those sewers. Or am I getting that wrong?


QUOTE

Your writing is very creative, and your characters clearly fueled by great passion and inspiration.


Wow. VEry much thankful and appreciated.

On the subject of post length....Are you saying I can double post all I want? I put all that text in Post 2 mostly because I didn't want to have like 7 posts in a row.

I actually started this story in OB: General, remember? What I've done today is merely cut, paste, and then edit all of that text. Post 1 was originally in the "Where are you Now #7" thread, and Post 2 was in a thread called Renee Gade III.

I wrote like mad on that particular Sunday. I spent more time writing than gaming, actually. I wanted it all in Post #2, as the entire post kinda sets the mood for the story. It's broken up into chapters, too (the original text at Bethsoft was not).

.And thanks. smile.gif

.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: Apr 6 2012, 02:16 AM
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Acadian
post Apr 6 2012, 03:01 AM
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Two questions here I guess. Post length and frequency. Updates over 2000 words invite skimming whether that takes the form of one massive post of several posts put up rapid-fire. Updating more than three times per week will burn your readers out and invite frustration as busy schedules inevitably cause them to fall behind. Bear in mind that most of your readers will be writers. We all have lives, our own stories to write and others to read. I follow nearly a dozen stories for example, and if all my writers posted every day, my head would explode trying to keep up. tongue.gif

Patience, Grasshopper! What you can post and what you should post are two differing things. I could drop my next 17 episodes onto my thread today. Yet I post them based on a schedule that is dictated purely by what I believe is best for my readers - not me as the writer. Over several years of doing this, I have come to the conclusion that one concise update of 1000-2000 words per week is optimal.


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Lady Saga
post Apr 6 2012, 01:41 PM
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don't worry Acadian. I don't even have enough time to post stories as frequently as I'd like. All the stuff in this thread so far was already written up over at Bethsoft. I wanted to just transfer all of it, all at once, and get it over with.

Anyways, enough talk! At some point I'll get on with Ann's story. smile.gif And I'm looking forward to it.
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post Apr 6 2012, 02:49 PM
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I agree, and very much apologize if I clumsily sounded discouraging. embarrased.gif I'm very much looking forward to seeing you and Ann continue this! happy.gif

This post has been edited by Acadian: Apr 6 2012, 02:50 PM


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post Apr 9 2012, 02:27 AM
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I'm getting more frustrated at the citizens of the IC than Ann is with their constant subject changes. Rude!


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Andrea
post Apr 10 2012, 10:09 PM
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YEAAAAAHH!! A story I can read and follow from the beginning!

I love your style of thelling the story, it's almost like a documentary to me, and it's fascinating. My dear Jessika also struggled to get to her point when it came to the citizens of the IC... I'm glad to see she's not alone!

Can't wait for more!
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Lady Saga
post Apr 11 2012, 05:04 PM
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Cool Andrea! much appreciated! I have an aunt named Andrea, btw, she was my mentor for awhile when I was in my mid 30's. I'm 42 now.

I already know what Ann is wanting to do, which was all made apparent to me the other day. I just need to find the time to game with her.

King Coin
: That's the way I usually game Oblivion. I either ignore the NPC's and all the random stuff they say, I'll laugh at it, or I'll get involved with it. If I get involved, there tends to be a lot of miscommunications and conversations that go nowhere. I'm able to work all this into my roleplays, somehow.

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post Apr 12 2012, 08:06 PM
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Ann is back! Poor thing. sad.gif I love how she continues to think about Kvatch, even when she is desperately trying not to. That is so very realistic.

"Are you saying the Emperor has been murdered because he didn't understand his locks? Didn't bother to lock his doors?"
This had me rolling! laugh.gif

So now she has to decide: the sewer patrol (now that is a crappy job), or become a private investigator and take on Jensine's case? Given the two, I vote for Jensine.


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post Apr 12 2012, 09:13 PM
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QUOTE(SubRosa @ Apr 12 2012, 03:06 PM) *

So now she has to decide: the sewer patrol (now that is a crappy job), or become a private investigator and take on Jensine's case? Given the two, I vote for Jensine.


Heh heh heh....her decisions are coming....don't you fret! I don't know exactly what she'll do, to be honest. Won't know that until I'm with her again.

Isn't that the beauty of roleplaying?
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post Apr 13 2012, 02:54 PM
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QUOTE(SubRosa @ Apr 12 2012, 08:06 PM) *

So now she has to decide: the sewer patrol (now that is a crappy job), or become a private investigator and take on Jensine's case? Given the two, I vote for Jensine.


Agreed. smile.gif
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Lady Saga
post Apr 14 2012, 11:05 PM
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Hello to all, hale, healthy and whole. I am Lady Saga, and today I'd like to further continue the Saga of Ann Thraxx.

Recap: Ann is in the Imperial City. She's a refugee from Kvatch and has been staying with a couple of commoners on the Waterfront District. She's decided to try and look for something to do, but has had no luck at Chestnut Handy Stables. Upon arriving in the Market District, Ann managed to sell dozens of goods for what seems to her to be a lot of gold.

She's also managed to hear about a couple of things she can possibly do to keep herself busy, and not think about what happened at her previous home. One of these is the Unfriendly Competition quest, the other is something I've roleplayed up: a sort of "sewer patrol", which has been created to try to eliminate any sort of riffraff down in the sewers.

What will Ann's choice(s) be?


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CHAPTER V

Heartfire 4, 3E Year 433 11:47 pm

Eight flowers lay in a neat row upon the ground. With deep red bulbs and bright green stems, these eight creations of flora rested here, until our wayward peasant clumped towards them in her deer skin shoes and discovered their location.

It's a pleasant day, the sunshine marvelously warm with a slight breeze in the air. The atmosphere above filled with mostly blue sky. Ann had been walking along at a fast clip on her way towards the south wall of Kvatch, but as she sees these eight flowers, she slows her pace, and finally stops. She stares down at the flowers, which are not standing like flowers usually do, but have obviously been picked and then placed here on the grass in a row.

There's something about these flowers that piques her attention. After a moment, she realizes what it is. She realizes she's never seen flowers like these before, with bulbs such a brilliant red. They're not flaxseed flowers, not columbines, not lilacs or lavender. Their bulbs are full and large, almost completely round. There's something which seems almost....alarming about them and their placement on the ground. Who placed them here? she senses herself thinking. And why?

She bends to pick one up, to try and smell its perfume, only to feel a small amount of pain.
YOUCH! she cries out. Selecting more carefully now, Ann realizes the stem of this flower, which is such brilliant green it almost seems painted, has pricked her fingertip. This stem is covered with tiny sticking-devices of some sort which Ann has never seen on any flower she's ever picked before.

"By the Gods! Wait till I show this to Marcus!" thinks she.

Now, she attempts to smell whatever perfume these odd red petals might emit. As she does so, there's suddenly a loud
CRACK across the lands. It's a sound that is louder, much louder, than anything she's ever heard before, except maybe thunder. Yet the sky had been clear all day, and no thunder could possibly be nearby. Looking up to the sky now, Ann starts to see it color, to a shade of red, a sort of deep crimson, as if the blood of every Tamriellic man, woman, and child has been painted above the lands...With horror, Ann realizes the flower she's holding is now bending over towards her, almost leering in a way. It seems to possess a certain sort of evil, and Ann now senses this evil, although she can't exactly describe how.

Alarmed, she drops the flower! and rushes to the city gate. AS she does so, a massive gleaming line somehow sizzles its way across the air, electrifying it to a degree, and then...there it is...the GIANT GATE, larger than any portal, dwarfing the actual gates of Kvatch by far....it rises up above the town, and Ann can hardly believe what happens next....


NOOO NO NOOOO!!!! MARA! HELLP!!! MARRRAAAA......


Ann comes SCREAMING to her senses as she falls out of bed and cracks her shoulder upon the hard, ceramic floor, she rolls across the room and then cowers next to something hard and woooden! "NOOOO! MARA PROTECT ME! MARA PROTECT ME! MARA--"

Looking around spastically, she realizes she is safe. There is no flower, she's not in Kvatch, and there is no giant gate nearby. She's in some sort of room. The air is warm but the floor is cold. She shivers for at least a minute and tries to remember how to breathe. After awhile, Miss Thraxx finally relaxes, walks over to her bed, and takes a deep breath.

The place is so silent! It's so silent she can hear her heartbeat punctuating from her chest ...

...hu hu hu hu hu....

....Hard ceramic floor? A wooden desk? An actual bed I can fall out of? Wait, where am I?

IPB Image

It takes Ann a moment to remember. With the small fortune of gold she sussed out earlier, she decided to treat herself to what seemed to her to be a luxury, renting an actual room for 10 gold a night at some sort of "boarding house". It was the cheapest location she could find in this Imperial City. After a couple days spent in the "Abandoned Shack" with Dralas and Hillod, Ann wasn't sure if she was imposing upon them or not. Sure, they seemed nice enough, but it was their place, and there were only two bedrolls available: one for Hillod, the other for Dralas. Maybe she should get her own place, and with all this gold in her pocket, she could stay here safely for several days if need be.

Plus, after all she had been through, the idea of a nice, cozy room with firm stone walls, an ever-burning fire-lamp on its wall, and a solid door seemed like a good one. But now that she starts thinking about it, maybe it's not such a good idea after all.

Earlier, after renting the room, Ann quickly collapsed upon its bed and slept for an unknown period of time. She needed this sort of sleep, badly. But now that she thinks of it, she can't help but feel a bit critical of her own decision. There are no windows in this room, and although it's warm and cozy, what sort of exit strategy could such a place provide? If the "daedra" attacked and swarmed this "boarding house", what exactly were her options for escape?

As Ann ponders all of this carefully, she reaches into her pocket and spills the coins out upon the room's desk. Hold on. There aren't 77 gold here. Nor are there 67! What's going on? Where is all my coin?!

Ann carefully counts out her coins, and comes up with a total of 17. "WHAT? have I been robbed?" she asks the walls.

It takes a moment to remember what happened. After speaking to Jensine and selling her wares, Ann realized she now had enough money to afford Edgar Vautrine's "Fire Touch" spell. So she went back to his shop, and after just one hour, he taught Ann all the basics.

Ann could hardly believe it when after Edgar's lesson, she pointed her right hand towards a wall, concentrated her mind's eye upon a magical symbol, and felt an awesome hotness emiting from her palm!

"By the Gods! she cried....I can DO THIS! I can perform my own Fire Touch! And at will!" her face gleamed with satisfaction.

She then starts casting this spell over and over at the wall, until she can't do it any more. The entire time, Edgar had been standing behind his counter, watching with a curious eye.

"Wait! I can't do it anymore! Why won't it work?"


"Ah. You've run out of magicka!"
said the Breton shopkeeper. "Happens to the best of us."

"Magicka?"


"As you've gained the ability to perform magics, you've now also become aware of one of the inate essences within us all. As you cast your spell over and over, you'll start to lose this unseen pool of magicka. But no worry! Magicka regenerates within the mage natrually, and soon you should be able to cast your Fire Touch again."


'What do I owe thee, sir? Other than coin' Ann asked, feeling sheepish and low again.

"Take care". Edgar dismisses with a wave. Apparently Ann owed him nothing more.


Despite her earlier criticisms about the room's lack of windows and exits, Ann can't help but lie down again, and falls fast asleep. But before she does so, she once again attempted her ability to cause fire from the palm of her hand, only to find it still didn't work. She tried again and again, focusing on the mind-symbol Edgar had shown her.

It didn't work.

.

This post has been edited by Lady Saga: May 30 2012, 07:38 PM
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