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> Sleeper in the Cave, a Morrowind fanfic
Renee
post Nov 21 2021, 04:17 PM
Post #561


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I am up to post 22 of the tales of Adryn. Still dealing with the red tape of getting out of the Census Office. It's funny how Morrowind's 'tutorial' is actually the shortest, yet it's also the one with multiple stops and starts.

Ha, Adryn is trying to decide if all that stuff in the office is safe to steal. I've been there several times. It all depends on what sort of character we've just rolled. Anyway, all that food and those utensils and dinnerware, all that stuff is tempting for me no matter what sort of character I've got.

Holy cripes, Adryn climbed the wall? indifferent.gif Can we actually do that? Oh wait. We cannot.

QUOTE
However, dangerous or not he certainly wasn't telepathic,


This seems a technique Imperial guards hadn't perfected until six years later. laugh.gif Anyway, delightful read, this was. Light and witty.

Thanks also for putting the Next links between each chapter. I might have to start doing that.



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Kazaera
post Nov 22 2021, 12:55 AM
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@SubRosa - yeah, the name DOES take getting used to... and I always found the Red Mountain area so scary in the game (the way the lighting just *changes*, my god), I couldn't resist bringing that home a little!

@Renee - oh wow you're really starting from the beginning! I hope you enjoy it! biggrin.gif Fair warning, the Next links do end eventually (because I didn't want to edit my posts if I could help it since that messes up their encoding for some reason). I couldn't resist having fun with the tutorial section! As far as Adryn climbing the wall goes... she sometimes takes shameless advantage of the fact that she is not, actually, within a video game and gets to do stuff like that smile.gif

Last installment, Adryn talked about (pieces of) her strange dream with Ervesa, and then the two of them set out along with the terrible possibly-Daedric pilgrim and more armed reinforcements into the Red Mountain region, to complete the pilgrimage to the Shrine of Pride.

Let's see how that's going.

Chapter 24.3

*****


Under other circumstances, the journey might have seemed anticlimactic. Nothing jumped out to attack us from the darkness. There was no sign there was anything out there other than us at all, in fact. I could imagine Masalinie scoff at the amount of unnecessary drama we'd injected these proceedings with.

I wasn't scoffing. For one, I believed in following the lead of experts in an unfamiliar situation, and all the inhabitants of Ghostgate were on edge, hands on their weapons and eyes darting around. They clearly thought there was a threat. For another, even with the Ghostfence hidden behind a hill I still felt watched...

Correction: I felt watched again. The eyes on me at Ghostfence had been eerie, true, but underneath that had been a sense of... protectiveness, almost. As though I were a child and they were the guardian, willing to let me walk on my own but ready to catch me if I should fall.

(Easy there. We'll take care of this.)

That sensation was definitely gone. The one that replaced it felt more as though I was wandering beneath the maw of a great beast and it was deciding whether to see how I tasted. The skin on my upper back crawled to the point where I suspected my shoulder-blades were trying to make a bid for freedom. Bringing my shoulders up to my ears helped only a little.

All in all, I breathed a little sigh of relief when we reached the triangular shrine, and sent up a quiet prayer of gratitude to whichever god had made certain it was only a short distance away from Ghostgate. I did not want to go traipsing through this region any longer than necessary.

I didn't know if it was my imagination, but the stone seemed to be shining with a faint gold luminescence in the gloom.

"All right," Rich Boy whispered. He and his compatriots hadn't approached the shrine. Instead, they spread to form a loose ring around it, eyes staring out into the gloom around us. "Pilgrims, perform the rite. Adryn, you go first."

"What? I've journeyed here all the way from-" I'd known the way the Daedra had been quiet all the way had been too good to last.

"Rule one, pilgrim." The words, though quiet, cracked like a whip. "If you can't follow it, we return now."

I swore I could hear the woman's teeth grind from here. In other circumstances, I might have stopped to enjoy the sound. However, any temptation to gloat was more than eclipsed by the desire to get this over with so we could get back to Ghostgate as soon as possible.

The way my breath started coming easier and the sensation of hostile eyes on my back died down the closer I got to the shrine was definitely not my imagination.

I dug into my pouch. Seeing as I hadn't, actually, been planning to visit Ghostgate when I left town, I hadn't come prepared. Thankfully, Ervesa had had a soul gem and been willing to give it up for the sake of my spiritual journey. Now, I dropped the small gleaming stone into the bowl in front of the shrine.

Ervesa had also taught me the appropriate prayer. Well, one of them. Apparently the traditional one had actual stanzas, but at some point (potentially when this trip became life-threatening) Vivec had shown mercy and started accepting an abbreviated version.

"I honour your pride and ask for your blessing," I whispered. For some strange reason, I was having a much easier time dredging up the feelings of respect and awe than at the shrine at the High Fane. I was sure it had nothing to do with the fact that today had driven home very thoroughly that Vivec, Almalexia and Sotha Sil were the reason why the whole island hadn't been overrun by...

...I was really hoping I'd finish out the day without learning how that sentence ended.

The glow of the shrine brightened, the soul gem echoing it. The light grew stronger, joined, rose up to wind around me-

When I blinked the light was gone, and the soul gem with it. But my mind felt sharper and clearer than before, the wellspring of magicka within me stronger. Part of me was tempted to try my Detection spell again to see if there'd be a difference. I suspected that this was the same part that would occasionally suggest mixing volatile ingredients together at random to see what would happen. In any case, my self-preservation instinct quashed it within seconds.

"Next," came the voice from behind me.

I'd barely stepped to the side when the Daedra in disguise was in my previous spot in front of the shrine. She dropped to her knees, hands outstretched, a soul gem cupped in them.

My eyes narrowed. The soul gem was far larger than the petty one Ervesa had given me. In fact, it looked very much like the grand gem I'd seen on Galbedir's desk weeks ago... with one significant difference. Instead of the crystalline pale blue or gold I was familiar with, this one was solid black.

In one respect it was the same as Galbedir's, though. The shimmering flame in its depths that told me it was full.

For all her urgency, the Daedra laid the strange gem into the shrine-bowl with exquisite care, as though afraid it might shatter if handled wrongly. Then she bowed her head, twisted her hands together, and began to pray.

Or, I realised as I heard her low words, to beg.

"Vivec. God, or whatever you are. Please set her free. Please, I'll do anything-"

The light gathered more slowly this time, and it didn't reach out to the woman the way it had to me. Instead, it grew stronger and stronger around the soul gem, as though a miniature sun had come to earth through the gloom. I found myself squinting against the brilliance, struggling to keep myself from squeezing my eyes shut. Something was happening here, and I wanted to know what it was-

A loud bang made me jerk back - which turned out to be a very good thing as something small shot just past the tip of my nose. The gem, I realised after a moment, had exploded with enough force one of the shards had almost struck me.

The light was still there, though, rising up from the now-empty basin. It shifted, spread, took on form-

For a bare moment, I saw the shape of a woman outlined in glowing pinpricks, as though a hundred thousand fireflies had come together. From the corner of my eye, I could see the kneeling Imperial stretch out a hand towards her, raw relief and yearning written on her face so clearly I could read it despite the cloth wrapped around the bottom half of her face.

"Thank you, thank you-"

With my next breath, the figure dissolved, the sparks growing ever fainter as they drifted heavenward.

When they were gone, the gloom around us seemed even darker and more foreboding than before. Perhaps it was just that I'd just thoroughly lost my night vision, but I no longer saw any sort of light – real or imagined – around the shrine. The sensation of eyes on my back had returned as well, and this time the great beast was awake and hungry.

"What in Oblivion was that?"

The words echoed those in my mind. The tone, however, did not – there was no awe or confusion in that harsh whisper, only accusation.

My companion straightened. "I freed her, obviously."

All right. Judging by the display of actual emotion earlier it seemed my theory was wrong and the woman was not, in fact, a Daedra in disguise... but who could blame me for my misconception? The sheer amount of haughtiness she was radiating was positively superhuman.

"That's not what I meant." Rich Boy, on the other hand, was clearly getting angry. "I told you yesterday evening that this isn't a war expedition! You-" The Armiger's voice cut off. After a moment, he spat out, "Back to Ghostgate. Now."

The cautious crawl we'd kept up on the journey to the shrine was gone, replaced by something on the verge of a run. I fell in next to Ervesa, legs burning from the strain. "What's going on?" I whispered.

She didn't turn her head to look at me, eyes fixed out into the darkness, and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer. Then the reply came, a low murmur out of the side of her mouth.

"She used the shrine ritual to free a soul. It's permitted, but only when you're accompanied by a full party of guards, not a scouting group like ours. Because it's a lot more attention-grabbing than the blessing ritual, see? Now every creature within miles knows we're here."

I considered that piece of information.

On second thought, I could definitely move faster than this.

Ghostgate was in sight and I was starting to think we'd make it back with nothing but a scare when the attack came.

It happened very suddenly. One moment I was looking towards the glowing blue line of the Ghostfence with relief, the next some deeply-seated instinct had me on the ground before my conscious mind could react. Now, ordinarily I very thoroughly disapproved of my body doing things without my input, but in this case the hiss of a spell passing over my head left me more than willing to make an exception.

"Defensive formation!" Rich Boy's bark was dim to my ears, deafened by the sound of my pounding heart. Gritty ash clung to my fingers as I scrambled to my feet, eyes searching the gloom to our side for the origin of that spell.

There. A spark of mage-light illuminated a strange figure. The fact that it seemed to be standing upright and the robes it was wearing said it was a person... except that even the most hulking Nord didn't have shoulders that broad, and the red light reflected off-

Well. Judging by the shifting tendrils, suffice it to say that whatever was under its hood, I didn't think face was the correct term.

A whisper interrupted me, from what I suddenly realised was a patch of darker shadow between me and the figure. Shifting ash-

-the sound, I realised with a terrible sinking feeling, of something readying itself for a leap.

Something too close for me to dodge.

Time slowed down.

I'd heard of one's life flashing before one's eyes before. It seemed to be a mainstay of a particular type of trashy adventure novel, and I'd always been skeptical of the concept, had thought it an exaggeration used for narrative effect more than anything real. Now...

Well, I was about to die, but at least there was a silver lining: I was about to die being right. No flashing was happening. I was not seeing any scenes from my past take shape. Instead, I only saw a giant mouth full of fangs growing steadily larger, rapidly enough I could already tell I wouldn't have enough time to pull out my birthsign. I'd have to crow about it to Ingerte in the afterlife once I got there, which I expected to happen in... oh... three seconds or so.

"Adryn!"

Something hot and bright sped past my face, so close I thought I could feel my hair singeing. The fireball hit the Blighted alit head-on, flinging it back. For a moment, I thought it would struggle back to its feet to resume the attack, but a second fireball put paid to that. After a few helpless twitches, the thing lay still.

I chanced a look backwards. Some twenty or so feet away, Ervesa stood, sword in one hand, the other outstretched. In front of her was a ghost.

I had to admit at this point that I didn't have much experience with the undead, seeing as I was (I liked to think) of a sensible bent overall, the sort who preferred to stay well away from the sort of places they might frequent. The fact that my streak of avoidance had been broken with my visit to the ancestral tomb was very shameful, and I hoped to regain it as soon as possible. All the same, even for a novice this was not a hard identification to make. Something about the way the woman was transparent, glowing slightly, and hovering a little over the ground instead of standing on it. Oh, and the fact that just now she'd swirled the hem of her ornate robes right through a rock.

Mage robes, they were, even if the style was one I'd expect to see in a history book rather than on the street, and the ghost had her hands up in a classic caster's position. There was an expression of fierce concentration on her face...

A face that looked rather like Ervesa's, come to think of it.

There were times you could have really used a ghost showing up to throw fireballs at people on your behalf.

Well. I suspected I'd just discovered what, exactly, an ancestral guardian was.

My sense of self-preservation – which must have been shocked into silence by my close call earlier – came back to life. It informed me that it apologised whole-heartedly for its lapse, but there was no need to worry as it was now back to its usual, robust self. As a welcome back gift, it would like to point out that I was currently standing in the middle of a dangerous wasteland while we were under active attack, and in lieu of staring at Ervesa's grandmother or whoever she was I should perhaps consider alternate courses of action. Like, oh, running.

As if on cue, the ghost's gaze slid away from me to focus on what I suspected was the tentacle-faced monster. Her brow furrowed, and red light began to gather between her palms.

Behind it, something snarled.

I legged it.

*****


Notes: It probably says something about the way I write this fic that I'd been fully intending to keep the dreaded Daedric pilgrim (who *does* exist in-game and *is* precisely that annoying) as a flat joke character and then I turned around and she'd just sprouted a backstory and sympathetic motivations out of nowhere. /o\


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Renee
post Nov 23 2021, 09:22 PM
Post #563


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QUOTE
@Renee - oh wow you're really starting from the beginning! I hope you enjoy it!


Thanks, I am enjoying it, and I'm glad I went all the way back to those early chapters. Perhaps one of these days I'll be able to catch up to everyone else, since I notice you don't post as often.

Ciao.




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Renee
post Nov 27 2021, 04:09 AM
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Chapter 1/4 ... Post 30. What should Adryn do with his stolen possessions? Fortunately this is Morrowind, where no psychic shopkeepers dwell. wink.gif There you go. Of course, maybe Adryn does not know this yet.

Whoa, Adryn gives the Bosmer his ring. That surprises me, after stealing so much just a few moments ago. Ha.

QUOTE
However, I've learned that it pays to keep anyone who can call the guards on you as happy as possible


A-ha! Mm-hmm. I get it now.

This conversation in the Tradehouse is making me grin. You do a really good job of making NPCs who often come across as somewhat two-dimensional to me (with the text dialog) feel three-dimensional. cake.gif

Next -- Post 37 (that is notes to self...)



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SubRosa
post Nov 27 2021, 01:29 PM
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What a pleasant excursion into Mordor. Let's hope the Dark Lord is not feeling hungry as Adryn walks beneath his maw...

Oh boy, a black soul gem? Wow. That says more about the "Daedra pilgrim" than anything else.

Oh, the "Daedra" was freeing someone's soul from the gem, not offering it up. Now that is a truly nice touch. What a rollercoaster Adryn's grumpy companion has been. I have been playing Morriwind again lately thanks to you and Renee, so I know the annoying pilgrim these last few episodes have featured. I have to say I love how you took her from a simple annoyance to someone we can feel empathy for.

There were times you could have really used a ghost showing up to throw fireballs at people on your behalf.
Now this is true in every world!



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Kazaera
post Nov 29 2021, 08:41 PM
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@Renee - And I continue to be glad you're enjoying! (And wow, flash back, it's been a long time since I reread some of the earlier chapters.) I definitely had fun trying to put a little logic into "operation: steal everything that's not nailed down", and the consequences! I... will also admit that her giving him the ring back was a little nod at Fargoth, who seems to often get a raw deal in these fics and where I was never quite sure why people disliked him so much. Thank you for the words about the NPCs, it's definitely something I strive for! smile.gif

@SubRosa - Mordor is a good analogy, yep! And... I now have some weird reflexive reaction where I can't just make a horrible unpleasant NPC be a horrible unpleasant NPC, there has to be depth there. In this case the depth was more sympathetic than I expected it to be! I'm glad you like my version, still highly unpleasant but with more of a reason for it. We're seeing a little more of her here!

Last installment, Adryn completed the pilgrimage at the Shrine of Pride. This turned out more excited than hoped for, with one Daedric (?) pilgrim using the opportunity to free a soul from a gem, which culminated in an attack before they got back to Ghostgate. Thankfully, though, everyone managed to escape mostly unscathed! Let's see how they react...

Chapter 24.4

*****


"Well, that was exciting!"

Ervesa sounded excited, too. Downright chipper, in fact, an impression only strengthened by the way her eyes were gleaming and she was bouncing on the balls of her feet. All in all, it was an emotional state I considered flagrantly inappropriate for just having narrowly escaped from certain death. And I did mean just. The gates had only slammed shut behind us a moment ago! We weren't even inside yet!

I shot Ervesa a narrow-eyed glare, attempting to communicate just how much I was judging her through the power of my eyeballs alone. It did make Ervesa stop bouncing, but given that the look she returned was more filled with confusion than anything else I assumed I wasn't very successful.

"Don't bother," the Redoran woman told me. "She's an Armiger. Completely mad, the lot of them." She glanced over at Spikes, who looked just as improperly happy as Ervesa, then shook her head. "And here I'd been hoping for a nice, quiet patrol."

Redoran lady's glare had far more force than mine, enough that I cringed away from it despite not being the target. The target in question being the one currently standing some feet away deep in hissed conversation with Rich Boy, and apparently, despite the preponderance of evidence, not secretly a Daedra. This realisation had been rather shocking, and I wasn't entirely certain I trusted it. Surely that level of sheer unpleasantness couldn't be created on Nirn alone?

But ever since the scene at the shrine, the woman had changed. Oh, she was still haughty and supercilious, and judging by his expression Rich Boy wasn't having any luck in his attempt at telling her off. But now it was possible to make out sparks of genuine emotion beneath. It was as though she'd surrounded herself by a thick shell, and the destruction of the soul gem had cracked it open, allowing me to make out relief, joy, grief...

Mainly grief.

"You are mad," she was saying, "if you think I would have let her suffer a single moment longer than necessary."

"And your inability to wait two days for us to get a war party together almost got us all killed!"

"But it didn't, did it? And would you really have gone to that effort, for us?" A pause. "For an outlander?"

Her tone was so sharp that I reflexively glanced down to make sure I wasn't bleeding, and she wasn't even talking to me. I had to tamp down a surge of envy; what a weapon for your verbal arsenal! She still owed me for getting her to Ghostgate in the first place – maybe I could ask her to teach me?

Rich Boy drew himself up. "Of course we would have!"

He sounded insulted, indignant. A little too much so, perhaps? It was very easy to declare that of course you would have gone out of your way, of course you would have agreed to do this dangerous thing for this very unpleasant person, after the fact.

Perhaps I was simply too cynical. If so, I and the not-actually-a-Daedra pilgrim were of the same mind. I could tell from her face that she didn't believe him either.

Despite myself, my own anger at her for putting me in danger was dying down. I still didn't know her story, but I thought I'd managed to put together some of the pieces. Someone, this she, had died and her soul had been trapped in the soul gem. (I hadn't even realised that was possible. Why, oh why, did the world seem to think I needed more fodder for my nightmares?) The Shrine of Pride had been the woman's only hope for freeing her.

For freeing someone the woman must have loved a very great deal. With the benefit of hindsight, I could see that love shine through her every action, bring new depths to her desperation, strengthen her urgency, her fear. No wonder she wasn't repentant. No wonder she'd kept pushing to reach the shrine. If it had been Charon or Ingerte-

It was the easiest thing in the world, to imagine myself in her place.

I was, I realised with some amount of horror, on the verge of succumbing to an attack of altruism. And not just any attack, no – one directed at the false Daedra who'd been the bane of my life for the last two days, something which I would have expected would put paid to that sort of thing. I'd managed to reach a new low point, and it was time to remove myself from the situation before I embarrassed myself any further.

"Well!" I chirped. "It looks like they'll be at that for a while, and that they don't need reinforcements. I, for one, would like to get inside and wipe the entirety of this morning from my memory. In absence of a miraculous amnesia draught, I will also accept lunch as a substitute."

Ervesa made a considering noise. "I could do with something to eat..."

Spikes looked tempted, but then shook his head. "Salyn will murder me if I abandon him. I'll wait."

"While I should get started on the reports," Redoran lady said. "Uvoo Llaren will want an explanation for this mess, and it's better it comes from me." She glanced at where Rich Boy and the pilgrim who miraculously wasn't in any way Daedric were engaged in heated discussion. "Or rather, better if it's not in verse. Armigers, honestly."

The two Armigers present and listening looked as though they were about to take offense. I decided to preempt them.

"Well, that works out great! Because as it so happens, Ervesa and I need to have a private conversation. Don't we?"

Ervesa gulped.

*****


At this time of day the common area of the Tower of Dusk was nearly deserted, making it possible to find a quiet corner where the two of us could talk without being overheard. Ervesa followed me obediently without making a break for freedom even once, although judging by her expression the idea had been sorely tempting. She was looking at me the way I would look at an angry Daedroth, which smarted. I wanted her to look at me like-

All right, I didn't know how I wanted Ervesa to look at me, but I knew this wasn't it.

"Seriously," the words escaped me, "how can you shrug off being attacked by wild beasts and whatever that tentacle-headed thing was like it's nothing, and then be terrified of a simple conversation?"

Ervesa quirked an eyebrow. "How can you be so worried about a simple combat situation but just open yourself up to argument and mockery as though it's nothing?"

It was clearly going to take some effort for us to find common ground on this topic.

But that was fine. I had time, this particular disagreement didn't have to be solved today.

What I did have to tackle today was something else.

I'd let myself dodge the topic this morning, still muddled from my realisation followed by my dream. I had to admit I didn't feel any less muddled now. Quite the contrary. So many things had happened in the past two days, and now they all blended together. Ervesa, hands twisting together, unable to meet my eyes. A ghostly hand on my shoulder in a dream, mirrored by a ghost in reality, hand outstretched in defense. The desperate, hopeless love on the pilgrim's face. A shattering soul gem, a fireball streaking past my face, a figure limned in golden light, a whisper-

If you're ever ready to stop running, I'll be here.

Was that what I'd been doing, really? And here Ervesa was praising me for courage.

No, I still didn't know what I wanted, not from Ervesa, not from my ancestor, not from my past. But I did know I couldn't leave things like this.

"Look. I still think you should be honest to your comrades about the way you feel. I think in the long run it'd be easier and make you happier than pretending. And I'm still not happy about the way you dragged me into your story without asking if I was all right with it." Ervesa flinched. I had to suppress my own, echoing her in sympathy. It had been a lot easier to see Ervesa unhappy before I'd realised how I felt. "But..."

I inhaled. I still wasn't sure about the next part. But I had to say something.

"For now, if it's easier for you? You can pretend we're together. I give you permission."

For a moment, Ervesa just blinked at me, as if she wasn't sure she'd understood me correctly. Then she smiled, wide and beaming, like a sunrise in her face.

My heart, traitorous thing that it was, skipped a beat. I informed it very sternly that this was unacceptable. I had seen Ervesa smile before, many times. The thing she was smiling about wasn't something I thought was a good idea. Going into histrionics over her facial expression was not just unnecessary but uncalled for. It was bad enough I'd been subjected to the indignity of having a crush in the first place – I refused to entertain romance novel heroine behaviour on top of it.

"You mean it?"

"I do."

Judging by the way it was speeding up, my heart had completely ignored everything I'd told it. We were going to have to have words later.

I reminded myself that the reason for this decision hadn't been to make Ervesa happy. Her happiness was an incidental, unimportant – unimportant! - side effect. No, the reason had simply been that-

-well-

-I'd definitely had one, that was the point, and it had been logical and objective and well-thought-out. Something to do with solidarity, maybe? Just because in this moment I couldn't seem recall it, just because right now it felt like making Ervesa smile was reason enough, didn't mean that that had actually been why I did it. That would be ridiculous, I told myself sternly.

"Thank you," Ervesa said now, still smiling. It would make things a lot easier on me if she'd stop. (I didn't want her to stop). "I- I am sorry, you know. I didn't mean for... all this to happen." She gestured vaguely.

"I forgive you," my mouth said with no input from any rational part of my brain whatsoever. I was rewarded-

-punished, punished, this was definitely a punishment-

-by her smile widening.

"Will you be at Ghostgate long?" In desperation, I seized on the first change of subject that came to mind. "Your colleagues said something about Armigers at your level not usually being stationed here."

Ervesa nodded. "It's changed because we need more manpower than before." Thinking back to the events of the morning, I decided I didn't need to ask why. "But Captain Omayn isn't willing to cancel the wandering-years entirely. My rotation here finishes in two months, after that I'm back to independent work. We can catch up in Ald'ruhn then."

My stomach had absolutely no business falling at that statement. My stomach should be staying at exactly the elevation I told it to. Anything else was rebellion and I would not tolerate it.

"I assume you're heading back to Ald'ruhn soon?" Ervesa asked.

Oh, no, I'm planning to hang out at the horrifying fortress under assault by tentacle-faced monstrosities.

Although it was good to know that I hadn't lost all my usual intellectual faculties, I decided discretion -- or rather, lack of sarcasm -- was the better part of valour here. "I am." A pause. "Well, as soon as I figure out how to get back through the Ashlands with minimal risk of death."

For the thousandth time, I cursed the fact that none of the old Chimer fortresses were built a little closer to civilization. Although I'd taken its propylon index with me and could therefore teleport to Hlormaren whenever I wanted, Jamie and I had had enough issues with hostile beasts in the swamps between there and Balmora that I didn't think it was much of an improvement over trying to make my way back from Ghostgate. As such, I was only planning to use it in an emergency. The other indices I'd left in my cupboard in the Ald'ruhn dorms -- Indoranyon was, after all, even worse in terms of location and Falasmaryon didn't even bear thinking about.

Ervesa blinked at me. "Oh! I forgot you wouldn't know."

That sounded promising. "Know what?"

"Ghostgate gets supplies delivered once a week by silt strider, from Ald'ruhn. The next arrival should be tomorrow. It's not an official passenger route, but the caravaneer is usually very obliging if you ask to be taken along -- especially on the return journey."

Had I really managed to miss an entire strider platform all this time? The things weren't exactly unobtrusive, seeing as they needed to be built at least ten feet into the air... and yet all signs were pointing to yes. It was possible my situational awareness needed some work. Or perhaps the not-a-Daedra pilgrim had, in fact, been just that distracting.

I thought for a moment, then decided to blame it on the pilgrim. Although I'd developed a lot more sympathy for her after learning why she'd been so stressed, that only went so far.

"Well," I said, "that sounds a lot more promising than how I thought I'd have to travel back. I'll just hope we have no ash storms in the next few days, shall I?"

So it was possible my experiences in Maar Gan had left me a little mistrustful of the robustness of the strider network. No judge could possibly blame me.

Ervesa cast me a wry look. "I'm guessing you won't be reassured by me telling you that that was really a very unusual situation and I've never experienced the network breaking down like that before. So instead, I'll say that if we do have issues with the strider, we'll arrange something to get you back." A pause. "We won't just leave you stranded. I promise." Her eyes met mine, ruby gaze filled with sincerity.

They should really let the fire die down a little, I decided. It was far too hot in here, or at least that was the only explanation I would entertain for why my cheeks felt flushed.

"Thanks, Ervesa." The fire got mysteriously warmer. "I. I should go- pack. Yes! Pack."

Ervesa blinked at me, looking a little bemused. "All right, you do that. I'll grab something to eat and then find Taluro to help her with the reports." Her brows twisted. "I know she said she didn't want any rhyme, but I really think the severity of the attack would be best conveyed in a sonnet..."

The fact that that seemed endearing was proof of what I'd always suspected: having a crush rotted your brain. It was possible it was a proximity-based effect, in which case the best thing for me to do would be to remove myself from Ervesa's vicinity as soon as possible to prevent further decomposition.

"You do that!" I squeaked out and fled.

Well, I thought once I'd retreated to my room. I had a small list of things to do now. For instance, verify with someone exactly when the strider should be arriving. Pack, as I'd told Ervesa I was going to do (even if this was a task that admittedly would not take very long, given that I hadn't exactly left Balmora prepared for a long journey). Get lunch myself, which I'd completely forgotten about during our conversation and which my stomach was now reminding me it had been promised earlier. However, all of these were definitely lower in priority than the first item on my list:

Find somewhere I could drown myself out of sheer embarrassment.

*****


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Lena Wolf
post Dec 2 2021, 02:29 PM
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I don't think Adryn is having a crush at all! Crush? What crush? blink.gif

rollinglaugh.gif Brilliant! rollinglaugh.gif

Also I must confess - I would prefer facing tentacle-faced monstrosities to have a conversation. wacko.gif


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SubRosa
post Dec 4 2021, 07:56 PM
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I guess the Unpleasant One decided that it was better to beg forgiveness after the fact, than to ask permission ahead of time. I can see her point. Not that she's exactly begging.

I was, I realised with some amount of horror, on the verge of succumbing to an attack of altruism.
Oh, Divines forbid! laugh.gif

I am looking forward to some privacy with Ervesa too. Urm, for a conversation, sure. Somehow I expect that Adryn will be the one squirming however. It must not be easy being Ace, but at the same time having an attraction like the one she has for Ervesa.

Somehow I missed that silt strider platform too. Unless it is the little camp on the east side of the foyada.


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Kazaera
post Dec 5 2021, 03:51 PM
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@Renee - Crush? There is no crush here. None at all. Pay no attention to the blushing Adryn behind the curtain. (And I, too, have some sympathy for Ervesa here!)

@SubRosa - I really did want that scene to be ambiguous. The Unpleasant One (what a title!) is *genuinely* haughty, unfriendly, and disinclined to ask for permission for the things she wants. All the same, she had a very noble cause and she has a very good reason to think permission wouldn't have been granted. (Or not granted in time - tbh I never worked out why that two-day time limit was in place but it definitely was.)

...it is possible the strider platform is invisible and intangible in the game whistling.gif.

And yeah, I admit that Adryn's experience re: being ace with a crush is kinda-sorta drawn from mine. It is, in fact, hugely confusing when you tick half the boxes your culture says are prerequisites for romantic interest but not the other half. Especially since Adryn doesn't have the benefit of an ace community who has done a ton of the conceptual heavy lifting for her.

Last installment, Adryn and Ervesa talked. Now, it's time to finally say goodbye to Ghostgate.

Chapter 24.5

*****


Unfortunately, locations appropriate for drowning oneself turned out to be hard to come by in the middle of the ash-ridden wilderness. Not only was there no river, no lake, no ocean, not even the underground hot springs common in Morrowind cities, but the wash-rooms were bereft of bath-tubs and the buckets provided for one's ablutions were too small for one's head. This left my plans to escape my own humiliation once and for all thrown awry and so, when the following day and with it the time to keep an eye out for a silt strider appearing on the horizon arrived, I was in fact still breathing.

There were upsides to my survival, however. One of them found me in the form of beautiful, wonderful, cold hard cash.

"I suppose you did get me to my destination all right." The definitely-not-a-Daedra pilgrim sounded distinctly grudging, but given that she'd still handed over the half-septim coin I wasn't going to complain. Especially since...

"You could have told me why you wanted to go there, you know. I wouldn't have given you as much of a hard time."

I'd tried to convince myself that, given that the woman had been incredibly rude from almost the instant I agreed to her request and had not given any sign that she was grieving, it was perfectly understandable that I'd been rude back. No, there was absolutely no need to feel guilty at all, I told myself repeatedly.

It didn't stop me.

The woman sniffed. Given that we were of an height, it was truly amazing how strongly she managed to give the impression of looking down her nose at me. "And what business was it of yours? I shouldn't need to explain my circumstances to hired help."

All right, that comment did make the guilt die down some. Hired help, I ask you.

"Right. Thanks so much." In deference to her grief, I resisted giving the sharper side of my tongue free rein and contented myself with, "I'm sorry for your loss, and I sincerely hope I never see you again in my life."

Judging by the very Daedra-like expression the woman wore, the feeling was mutual. Thank Azura she was staying at Ghostgate for a little longer (why, I neither knew nor cared) and would not be accompanying me on the strider. It was a miracle we'd managed to avoid attempted murder this far -- better not to test that fact, especially by spending hours sitting next to a steep drop in shoving distance of each other.

She wasn't the only one I ended up bidding farewell. After a quick goodbye to Spikes and Tattoos in the morning, I discovered that my nickname of "Rich Boy" was, in fact, extremely accurate when the man caught me and asked me to convey his best wishes to his uncle Athyn in Ald'ruhn. Now that I thought about it, there had been something about a Buoyant Armiger cousin of Varvur's in the middle of all that mess, hadn't there? I'd probably repressed the memory as it contained far too much Varvur to be safe for the long-term.

In any case, I hastily agreed to bear the message and made my escape. Rich Boy made it sound like he was on good terms with his uncle, which meant they might have talked. About me. And although usually I'd have dismissed that sort of thought as excessive pride or paranoia, since recent events had proven that people were in fact gossiping about me behind my back I figured it was best to flee the vicinity and avoid him for the rest of the life. A perfectly proportional response, in my opinion.

The final goodbye was, of course, to Ervesa.

She accompanied me out to the platform when the strider came into view -- the only one to do so. I got the impression the other Armigers were giving us the space for a long, heartfelt, tearful lovers' farewell. They'd no doubt have been disappointed by the reality, but I, for one, appreciated not having them around. Even if I'd agreed to the deception for Ervesa's sake, I was hardly comfortable with it. The fact that I no longer knew exactly which parts of the deception I wanted to be untrue made the whole thing even worse. All in all, it was good to be seen off without worrying about what prying eyes and wagging tongues were making of the whole thing.

"Be careful, would you? Now that I won't be available for rescuing until my rotation at Ghostgate is over." Ervesa also seemed more relaxed now that we were alone. I could have handled this better if her relaxation diddn't come with a side of teasing.

"I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself-"

"-evidence says otherwise-"

"-but if you insist, I'll get Jamie to come along the next time I need to go out of town."

Being in- having a crush, I quickly corrected myself, was terrible for your backbone. Ordinarily, I'd have been able to defend myself, I was sure. Point out how a perfectly understandable run of misfortune did not mean I was reckless or needed looking after. Unfortunately, ever since the other day Ervesa just had to give me her disappointed look and I folded. It was downright embarrassing, and I was glad I'd be safe from it for the next several months, when she wouldn't be able to just drop in on me at Ald'ruhn.

Definitely glad, I told myself. The sinking sensation in my stomach was mere coincidence. It wasn't as if my life would in any way feel empty without her, not like I was going to miss her with all the force of a love song, or perhaps a sugartooth in need of a fix. I was a sensible, independent adult who was above that sort of behaviour.

If I needed to remind myself of that on a regular basis, so what?

"And you take care of yourself, too." I blurted out the sentence more to distract myself from my thoughts than anything, but the instant after I realised that it was, if anything, more necessary than her telling me the same thing. "Keep an eye out and don't be stupid about things. If you get eaten by kagouti or... whatever else is out there... before we see each other again, I'll be very disappointed in you."

The grin fell off Ervesa's face, leaving her looking almost solemn. I squirmed as I realised she'd heard the genuine worry behind my worries. "I will." A quirk of the lips. "I don't particularly want to get myself killed either. I'd be sad if I couldn't see you again, for one."

Heat in my cheeks, again. Maybe I should get myself checked for Blight, because that had been happening a lot over the past few days.

Our gazes caught, held. Ervesa's eyes were dark, serious, filled with... with...

I could feel something bubble up within me. An impulse, growing from stray thought to desire to compulsion, completely detached from logic or reason. The same way that one might find oneself bizarrely tempted to stick a finger into the fire to see if it burned, I wanted nothing but to open my mouth and say-

"Hey. Ervesa. I-"

"Oi! Lovebirds!"

I jerked back from Ervesa- and since when had we been standing so close, anyway?

"If one of you wants a ride, she'd better quit it with the staring into each other's eyes and help me unload!"

While we'd been talking, the strider had reached the platform. Judging by the gimlet eye the caravaneer was giving us, the woman was not inclined to let us finish our farewell in peace. Never to mention that she had entirely the wrong idea-

Sanity came back in a rush, and I decided that wrong idea or not, I was grateful for the interruption. I didn't know what Daedric impulse had seized me just now -- didn't even fully know what exactly I'd been about to say to Ervesa -- but it had been a terrible one. The time for talking to her about (I internally shuddered) my feelings would be after I understood what said feelings were. Or never. How about never.

"Shall we?" I asked Ervesa.

Unloading went quickly, especially when others came out to help. Judging by the caravaneer's muttering, it still wasn't fast enough for her, and once all the crates were on the platform I barely had time for more than a quick "See you in a few months!" before she'd hustled me onto the strider. Something about being behind schedule, judging by her grumbling. I was distracted by other things.

Turning away from Ervesa hurt, as though something had grown between us and I was tearing it out by the roots. Grimly, I forced myself to ignore the feeling, keeping my face still until Ghostgate was just a smudge against the Ghostfence and Ervesa's tiny figure was well and truly no longer visible.

Two months apart, I decided, would be just right. Time enough to investigate what on Nirn I was feeling without Ervesa's presence confusing the matter (where by "the matter" I meant "me"). At the end of two months, I'd definitely have figured out what I actually wanted from her. At that point I'd be able to talk to her about it -- or, alternatively, get over it.

I knew which of the two I was rooting for.

*****


End of chapter

This post has been edited by Kazaera: Dec 5 2021, 03:51 PM


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SubRosa
post Dec 5 2021, 04:26 PM
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I hate to point out that Adryn could drown herself in a lake of lava...

Hired help. She really is committed to being The Unpleasant One.

All these names keep bringing back memories of older Morrowind stories. Like Athyn. I am looking them up in the Wiki to refresh my memories. Yep, Adryn was spot on in naming him "Rich Boy". Daddy is a Councilor of House Redoran.

I am smiling as Adryn insists how much she is *not* going to miss Ervesa. Nope, not one bit! laugh.gif

Thank the Three that Silt Strider showed up when it did. Otherwise Adryn might have done something terribly... feelsy.


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Kazaera
post Mar 14 2022, 09:36 PM
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@SubRosa - shh, don't give Adryn any ideas. (And yes - making the pilgrim nice, or anything other than Unpleasant, seems like it'd go against the spirit of her in-game self! tongue.gif I just wanted her to be unpleasant *but* still have sympathetic motivations.)

Salyn Sarethi is proobably some nephew of Athyn's, because elsewhere I've noted that Varvur (Athyn's son) only has a little sister for siblings and has a cousin in the Armigers. Given his uncle's position, I think Rich Boy is still going to be accurate!

Praise the strider for rescuing us from *gasp* emotions! Adryn certainly is... wink.gif

Chapter 25.1

*****


"Well," Jamie said as the gates of Balmora came into view, "that wasn't as productive as I hoped." Her voice was mild, but I could hear the frustration beneath it. No wonder – it was frustration I shared.

After getting back from Ghostgate, I'd decided that blackmail or no blackmail, I was staying within city walls for the time being. Between Habasi and cliff racers, I'd take Habasi. The resolution had lasted over a week until Ranis had taken me aside, asking me to escort a scholar to Pelagiad. My initial confusion -- in what way, shape or form did I look like a bodyguard? -- cleared up as she went on: what Ranis was actually interested in were this Itermerel's research notes. Whether he reached his destination safely or not was less of a priority.

In fact, if I'd been forced to say, I suspected that Ranis' preference would be that Itermerel not make it to his destination safely. There would definitely have needed to be force involved for me to admit that, though. I'd spent our conversation ignoring that particular subtext with all the strength I had to spare, meeting the pointed remarks about how dangerous the wilds of Vvardenfell were these days with as much studied obliviousness as I could dredge up. Just because Ranis had decided to take the concept of cut-throat academic rivalries literally didn't mean she could get me involved.

All things told, my first stop after Ranis had given me my orders had not, in fact, been the inn where Itermerel was staying, but the Redoran free housing complex for members on House business in Ald'ruhn. I'd been in luck – Jamie had been in, and very agreeable when I asked her if she'd mind an unpaid escort job. The fact that I'd suggested we could use the opportunity to collect some ingredients had probably helped.

Which was where the frustration came in.

"Sorry, Jamie," I told her now. "I'm new to this area, I'm not familiar with the climate – I didn't realise what things would be like this time of year."

The last time we'd gone out together had been well into Sun's Dusk, and after still coming away with a nice haul, I'd simply assumed that Vvardenfell's climate was mild enough to make work as an apocethary feasible year-round. Assumed wrongly, it seemed. We were now past the halfway mark in Evening Star, Saturalia around the corner, and the cold had finally set in to the point where it had driven the plants into winter sleep. I'd barely pulled out my ingredient vials once this trip, and even the fact that Itermerel had rewarded me with the desired copy of his research notes couldn't quite chase the bitter taste out of my mouth. I could see my main stream of income drying up for the coming months and I didn't like it at all.

"Not your fault." Jamie sighed. "Although I could really have used the money."

"Well, I might still get a reward from Ranis for the notes. I'd split it, naturally." And if there wasn't one forthcoming – it wouldn't be the first time – I'd pretend there had been, I decided. I got some money from the Ta'agra lessons, and Habasi was scrupulous about rewarding me for the occasional missions she forced me into. Apparently she considered blackmail to be fine but forcing people to work without pay one step too far. In any case, although I could see some lean months ahead without the supplement from ingredient-hunting, I was still better off than Jamie. From what she said, Redoran liked to pay its members in compliments and warm feelings.

"Here's hoping." Jamie sighed. "I wish transport to the mainland was still open. Neminda says it's much warmer in Deshaan this time of year."

The longer I spent trapped on Vvardenfell by the quarantine, the more one lesson was driven home: you never knew what you had until it was gone. To think that once upon a time, I'd taken the ability to just board a ship and leave for granted.

"Speaking of our current public health crisis, we're almost at the gates. Got all your information ready?"

Jamie groaned.

In order to prevent the spread of Blight, the Ebonheart Grand Council had decreed that all travellers approaching a city should be screened for infection and immediately quarantined if there was any reason to suspect they might be ill. On the surface, I had to admit this sounded sensible. With a dangerous contagious disease purportedly spreading on the island, who wouldn't want to be careful?

The problem was that there were no good diagnostic spells for the Blight, meaning that the screening in question took the form of a series of questions. Have you encountered a Blighted animal in the last week? Have you had a fever? A rash? Nausea or vomiting? Have you had contact with anyone who showed these symptoms? And so on and so forth.

The questionnaire, rumour had it, had been devised by a Temple healer researching the Blight, one who lived in some remote town in the Grazelands. I believed it. The thing was thorough, professional, covered all the scenarios in which one might become infected, and showed absolutely no understanding of the implications of forcing every traveller to a bustling trade hub like Balmora to answer it in full. The last time I'd spent three hours waiting in line at the city gates, and by the time I finally made it to the Mages' Guild I'd been ready to send the author a letter begging him to please develop an abridged version.

Although...

My eyes narrowed.

I didn't actually see a line, this time. And although there was certainly foot traffic through the gates, although I could see that everyone was waved aside by the guards, it looked like they were allowed to continue after a brief talk, with no sheets of parchment or quill and ink visible anywhere.

Had the healer finally seen reason? Had the endless questionnaire lost its defining adjective?

It seemed we were about to find out.

At first, everything went as before, the gate guard waving Jamie and me aside. However, this time the Temple healer wasn't armed with notebooks and writing implements. And although I knew Telis by now, today he'd been joined by a woman, one in robes fancy enough to make clear she was no Temple priest. A woman who was completely unfamiliar-

That thought rang false. Those features definitely reminded me of something. Dark hair tied back in a braid, nose on the verge of being too big for the face, steeply angled wine-red eyes currently narrowed in concentration. No, I'd seen her before... but where?

Before I finished digging through the dusty crevices of my memory, the woman dragged me out of my thoughts. "They're clean," she said in Dunmeris.

At her side, Telis frowned. "I still don't understand how you're getting that out of a detection spell."

"It's not exactly a detection spell." The woman's voice had a tired air that told me this wasn't the first time she'd said this. Then she glanced over at me. "Did you want something?"

Her frown made the memory snap into place.

"Alfe Fyr?"

Even as the words escaped me, I began to feel less certain. The features looked right, but the woman I'd met back on Tel Fyr had seemed much... haughtier, more severe. And where had her glass armour gone?

And indeed, the woman was shaking her head. "Ah, that's my sister. I'm Beyte, pleased to meet you." She followed the introduction with a smile that made it extremely obvious that the same face could nevertheless look very different depending on who was behind it. At least, judging by my interactions with Alfe Fyr her face would probably crack in half if she tried any such expression.

"Adryn," I introduced myself. "Sorry to-" what was the word for 'eavesdrop' again? "-listen on you, I heard you talk about magic and couldn't resist. I'm a member of the Mages' Guild, after all."

"Are you now," Beyte murmured, giving me a once-over. I frowned, fighting the urge to take a step back. Guild members weren't that rare, especially not in Balmora, after Ranis Athrys' recruitment strategies. I had no idea why that fact was making her look at me with so much interest, but I knew I didn't like it.

"Beyte Fyr's... family have been working on Blight research," Telis decided to join the conversation. "They've developed diagnostic spells, which she has kindly offered to teach." Judging by his sour expression, never to mention the bit of conversation I'd overheard, the teaching part hadn't been going all that well.

"I said I'd try," Beyte corrected with a sigh. "But I was never too hopeful of success. It's... at first sight, the spells look much like Mysticism, but they're different in the nasharduth. The base, the ground they build on," she expanded in response to my puzzled look. "They're very hard to teach to someone trained primarily in Mysticism, who has no knowledge of the other school."

My ears pricked. That...

Detection spells that weren't quite detection spells. That others couldn't learn. That could detect Blight.

Like I'd detected the Blighted guar, back when I was scouting with Gelduin for the caravan.

Could that really be a coincidence? Something deep within me was whispering no.

"Really?" I asked, doing my best to keep my voice casual. "I'm interested to hear more about it. I've had... odd experiences with Mysticism, especially detection spells." What a shame I didn't know the words for 'learning disability'. How would I ever manage without this lack. I supposed I just wouldn't be able to mention it, how terrible.

Beyte gave me another long, considering look. "Well... why not. Not right now – I'm busy, and it looks like you are too." She glanced over at where Jamie was beginning to look impatient. "But if you'd like to meet over drinks tonight, I'd like that." She flashed me that bright smile again.

I did my best to respond in kind, although I was clearly missing some natural talent as far as cheerfulness went. "I look forward to it."

*****


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Renee
post Mar 15 2022, 01:15 PM
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That blight is nasty in this game, I don't blame them for trying to find a way to detect it. indifferent.gif Good luck with that!


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Burnt Sierra
post Mar 15 2023, 10:09 PM
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Time for the yearly update soon? (crosses fingers!)
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Renee
post Mar 18 2023, 12:54 PM
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As you wish. Maybe I should pick up some past chapters as well, though I won't clutter up the thread with new posts if I do..

But I've been reading some of the really OLD stories in the Fan Fiction section, went all the way back to 2004 or whatever about a month ago. Quite a different scene back then!



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