Old Habits Die Hard, Can an old dog learn new tricks? Options

[Destri Melarg]

Yes, this does flow smoother than before, especially the action sequence. One of the things that I like most about this chapter is the way that you illuminate the fact that the Mythic Dawn acolytes are zealots, but not warriors. In close quarters against a Blade and an ex-Legionnaire slavish devotion doesn’t do you much good.

SubRosa calling her Julian Powers makes me think of Mankar Camoran sitting in a volcano lair, pinky bent to the side of his mouth, screaming for everyone to hear:

“Can I get some frickin’ sharks with some frickin’ laser beams attached to their frickin’ heads!”

[Olen]

Good as ever, the action scene was well shown and I must agree with Destri that having them as zealots but not warriors makes the piece much more believable and realistic. Using the shield in combat was also a nice touch in so far as realism goes.

Once on a time, I could do that

Nice bit of characterisation type stuff

[haute ecole rider]

@SubRosa: The way I see that leap of Julian's, I see it as the old legionary coming back to the fore - old combat habits coming into play, without the thought of the pain landing on a bum knee was going to cause. She's going to be rough on that old knee before things get better.

@Destri: That comment of Mankar Camoran made me laugh. I've never seen the movie Austin Powers, but I have seen clips of the arch-villian and his mini-Me, both sucking on their pinkies. I can picture what you describe. Hmm, I haven't written Camoran's Paradise yet, maybe that might be a more interesting version than the overzealous egoistical dialogue that irritating SOB spouts in the game.

@Olen: Thanks for the comments on my combat writing. It sucked in the beginning, to be honest. But I came across D. Foxy's thread about combat techniques and learned a lot from it. Plus, I've also started paying attention to the swordplay in some of the more realistic sword/samurai movies recently (one of the reasons I've watched When the Last Sword is Drawn three times already), and reviewed some of the material I've collected over the years.


This next installment was tough to write. How did Julian figure out where to go to get the next clue? This is worse than a scavenger hunt!

********************
Chapter 7.6 Deciphering the Commentaries

Cleaned up and back in my street clothes with my belly full, I returned to the Arcane University. Hoping to see Tar-Meena before it became too late, I found the streets easier to navigate with fewer people out. Tiber Septim’s stone gaze did not follow me as I crossed the Arboretum, instead staring blankly over my head.

As before, I found her seated in the lobby, reading a different tome this time. She looked up expectantly as I sat beside her. “Well?”

Her reptilian eyes gleamed as I drew out the four purple books. “Ah, I knew you would ssucceed!” she exclaimed in her hissing accent. “Now, to find their sshrine, you’ll need to sstudy these four volumess. Essoteric cultss ssuch as the Mythic Dawn put hidden messsagess within their ssacred writingss.” She smiled at my grimace. “By ssimply finding your way to the sshrine, you have passsed the firsst tesst on the path to enlightenment.” She placed her long-fingered hand, surprisingly warm, on my right wrist. “You’ve piqued my curioussity about this puzzle. I will think on it mysself and let you know if I have any ideass.”

“Thanks, ma’am,” I said, and meant it. The Argonian woman had been very helpful, and patient in the face of my ignorance of mysterious arcana.

*************
An hour later, back in the room I had rented from Broad for a second night, I sat on the bed, my right leg dangling over the edge. The four books of the Commentaries spread around me, their pages gleaming softly in the golden light from the lanterns. Picking up the first volume, I took the plunge.

Greetings, novitiate, and know first a reassurance: Mankar Camoran was once like you, asleep, unwise, protonymic. We mortals leave the dreaming-sleeve of birth the same, unmantled save for the symbiosis with our mothers . . .

The prose remained as dense and thick as when I read it the first time. Still I forced myself to plow through all four volumes, hoping it would become easier. It didn’t. Finally I tossed the last book on the bed, leaning back against the wall and staring at the lantern above my head. There were no references to locations or descriptions of places that I could recognize. Four keys? What were the four keys? Where is this Nu-mantia?

Hoping to find something I had missed the first time around, I re-read the texts. Maybe the answer is not in the text itself, but rather in the pages. With the book closed in my hand, I ran my fingers over the bindings, looking for lumps or irregularities. Each book’s cover was perfect in its symmetry, the condition of the leather excellent. Could text or magic words were hidden elsewhere than on the pages themselves? I studied the elaborate carvings on the covers.

Again, I failed to recognize anything. I held the pages of the third volume up to the lantern, looking for patterns in the parchment. Again, nothing. Sighing in frustration, I tossed the volume down on the bed and set my feet on the floor. Careful to keep my footfalls quiet to avoid disturbing the other patrons at this late hour, I began pacing. As I limped across the room, my eye fell on the open pages of the volume I had just put down. Its illuminated letters leaped off the parchment at me. Suddenly I stopped, staring at them.

The illuminated letters! What did they just spell? I picked up the book and studied the letters on the open pages. W-E-R. No, not quite a word. I flipped back to the first page. T-O, then returned to the page that had caught my attention; W-E-R. Tower! I turned the page. T-O-U-C-H-E-S was spelled before I finished the volume. Tower touches? What tower? Touching what?

Feeling the excitement that comes with discovery, I opened the first volume and started spelling out the illuminated letters: G-R-E-E-N E-M-P-E-R-O-R - Green Emperor! The second volume: W-A-Y W-H-E-R-E. Way where - aha! tower touches. The fourth and last volume: M-I-D-D-A-Y S-U-N.

I lowered the last book to the bed, stunned. Green Emperor Way where tower touches midday sun. The mental exertion left me exhausted, but I knew I had made an important discovery. Something on the Green Emperor Way will lead me to the shrine. It will be something that appears only around noon, when the sun is at its zenith.

After I put the books away in my pack, I blew the lamp out. Casting my now-customary three healing spells, I lay back on the bed. Again I visualized the letters in my head, double-checking the spelling, making certain I understood the reference correctly. I couldn’t do anything more until noon -

*****************
Bright sunlight poured through the narrow windows of my room when I woke. Downstairs, Broad set a breakfast plate in front of me. “Up late?” he asked. I glanced at him in surprise. “It’s ten o’clock this morning,” he added, “and you’ve got dark circles under your eyes.”

“I was reading,” I mumbled, already diving into the food.

“Must have been a good book,” Broad chuckled. I grumbled something noncommittal.

It was nearly noon when I reached the Green Emperor Way from the Elven Gardens District. Looking around, I tried to identify the tower mentioned in the books. None of the tombs along the Way possessed features that could remotely be called towers. Studying the high outer perimeter wall, I could only see stubby guard towers at regular intervals, each one exactly the same as the next.

Reaching Talos Street, leading down from the Talos Plaza entrance, I turned and faced the center. Imperial Palace Guards in their flashy silver-and-gold uniforms stood en garde beside the engraved bronze doors leading into the Palace. My gaze traveled up the spire of White Gold Tower. White Gold Tower! Of course! I refrained from smacking my forehead at my own obtuseness.

A glance at the sun revealed that it was near its zenith. My back to the Tower, I observed its shadow falling away to the north. Facing back the way I had come, I followed the Way, past worn gravestones and watchful topiary heads, ornate tombs and simple family crypts. With an eye on the sun, I soon reached a small, domed mausoleum, its gleaming marble cut into two by the Tower’s shadow.

Prince Camoran’s Tomb, said the engraved bronze plaque set in its side. Walking around the tomb, I recalled seeing it before. Its walls were made of half columns, the arches they formed filled in with featureless marble blocks. On the side away from the Palace, where the stones remained cool to the touch in their own shadow, a carved map decorated the stone wall.

Cyrodiil? Above it, a rising sun spread its rays. This has to be it. Pulling my chart out of my bag, I spread it open on the marble below the carved version. A comparison of the two maps matched the major cities of Cyrodiil - Imperial City, Bruma, Chorrol, Skingrad, Kvatch, Anvil, Bravil, Leyawiin, Cheydinhal.

Another check of the sun showed the edge of its disc just touching the side of the Tower’s apex. As my eyes moved back to the map, I inhaled sharply as the carved lines began to glow red. Now there was another mark on the carven map that did not correspond to anything on my chart. The red four-pointed star lay just north and a little west of Cheydinhal.

Yes! I shouted inside. Yes! That’s the place! Carefully I marked the location of the star on my map, being careful to keep the angles relatively constant. Stepping back, I breathed a sigh of relief to Julianos. Thank you for giving me your thirst of knowledge.

I moved to a low gravestone and leaned carefully against it, studying my map more closely. Go out on the Red Ring Road, north back the way I came. Continue on the Red Road past Sercen, and on past, what was it Atellus said, Roxey Inn? Yes, Roxey Inn. Follow the Red Ring to the other side of the Lake, to where the Blue Road heads out to Cheydinhal. I folded the map and put it away, my route now set in my head. Back to Luther’s to pick up my gear, then fetch Paint and head out.

Squinting at the sun, I calculated the time it would take me to get there. Ten, twelve hours, if not more. It’ll be well after dark by the time I reach Cheydinhal. I’ll rest at an inn there. Maybe someone will know what this mark means.

[mALX]

I struggled with why Baurus sent her upstairs due to her old injury. I think I tackled you before on this though, and you said there was a reason behind it. Of course the writing and story are Awesome as usual, that one part just gets me everytime. (I picture Rachel's Jauffre saying, "What were you thinking, Baurus!")

[SubRosa]

So old Tiber kept his eyes to himself this time I see? About time that old bugger learned some manners...

Where is this Nu-mantia?
It is here, in Spain. The Romans killed a lot of Celt-Iberians there a long time ago.

Seriously though, I always have admired this part-o-chapter. You show Julian wracking her brain trying to figure out the puzzle of the book in a very believable, and very thoughtful manner. Looking first in the words, then for hidden clues in the binding, the pages themselves, etc... It shows that she can use her head for more than just holding up her helmet.

I discovered an interesting thing last week. My current character, who is not doing the Main Quest, walked by Prince Camoran's Tomb at noon and the map was glowing red. So apparently it does that every day at that time, regardless of whether you even start the quest associated with it.

[Destri Melarg]

Ah, the power of the subconscious mind. Isn’t it always the case that when hours of diligent search fails to provide the answers we seek, the solution presents itself in the corner of our eye when we aren’t even looking for it.

Cleaned up and back in my street clothes with my belly full, I returned to the Arcane University. Hoping to see Tar-Meena before it became too late, I found the streets easier to navigate with fewer people out. Tiber Septim’s stone gaze did not follow me as I crossed the Arboretum, instead staring blankly over my head.

Every now and then I can see you struggling with this self-induced paranoia that you have about not wanting to begin every sentence with the letter I. This paragraph is a perfect example of that struggle. The simplest way to narrate the action of a scene is always the best, regardless of how it starts. In this case you could have said something to the effect of:

Once I had cleaned up, filled my belly, and changed back into my street clothes I returned to the Arcane University. I was hoping to see Tar-Meena before it became too late. I found the streets easier to navigate with fewer people out, and Tiber Septim’s stone gaze did not follow me as I crossed the Arboretum. Instead he stared blankly over my head.

Did Julian make it to the Lake Arrius Caverns in the other thread? I don’t remember what happened to her there.

[Olen]

I can see how that part was hard to write but you nailed it, the meaning coming to her half by subconsious and half by chance was well done and sits well with her character.

I'm looking forward to seeing her in the Mythic Dawn base too, makes me wonder which approach she'll take (and how much hacking and slashing she'll end up doing).

Great stuff

[haute ecole rider]

@mALX: Baurus sent her up to snipe because of her injury - he didn't think she could maneuver in close-quarters combat with that bum knee. She proved him wrong. Remember, the last time he saw her, she was pretty sick and frail. First impressions are important!

@SubRosa: Camoran's Tomb is one of those things that don't need the quest to trigger the event. I discovered it too, one time, before I even started looking for those darned books. As for Tiber Septim, he is a general, he don't need no stinking' manners!

@Destri: Thanks again for the help. I have made the change you suggested. And yes, she did make it into the Caverns and back on the other forum. That will be coming up in, oh, another couple of posts, so I'm thinking early next week I'll be caught up! Then it's on to material that will be new to former Unnamed Forum readers as well as those who started reading this here.

@Olen: Have patience, friend. Julian has to fight her way past a few bandits and deal with the Orum gang before she gets there!

@all: After some discussion with our beloved Nord minque, I've decided to stop this thread here, at the end of Chapter 7. It's over 200 posts now, and I think that's long enough. Chapter 8 starts here: Enjoy!