Winterhold Wanderings Options

[Elisabeth Hollow]

"Nope," Kayla said, the grin still on her face. "At least this time I was sober. Otherwise I would've stripped down." She stretched, her back popping, and she groaned in satisfaction.

"Beds are wonderful. I missed beds. By the way, you had another nightmare. I never can tell what it is, though."

[King Coin]

At least Aravi’s blanket was still wrapped around her, else she would only be in her underwear. That would have been even more awkward.

Then Kayla told her she had a nightmare.

“I’m sorry for waking you. Ever since I fought vampires in Cyrodiil, it seems like I have hardly gone more than a few days without nightmares. Don’t worry, I know what you are thinking. It isn’t that, at least not any more. The werewolf took care of that for me.”

She turned away from Kayla and dropped the blanket she wore and put on her dry furs. A cold chill raced through her unpleasantly.

“Ever since I became a werewolf, the dreams changed.” She grimaced. “They are a little more tolerable, but not much.”

[Elisabeth Hollow]

"I understand. I've been infected so many times and come close to turning several times. The nightmares are horrifying." She slid her clothes on.

(OOC: Not really sure where to go from here. KC, if you wanna get together with Channah, go ahead. Kayla will follow)

[King Coin]

(OOC: Aravi got chatty. They can move on if Kayla doesn't have much to say.)

“So you get them too.”

It felt good to be able to finally talk to someone, and someone that she knew understood what she had experienced, what she was experiencing. Kharjo was the only other she felt she was free to talk about this with, but he never went through the hell that vampire hunting entailed.

“I was infected many times too, except the potions I took to stop the disease became less and less effective. Eventually I was taking them every day, and then several times a day just to stay ahead. The nightmares were the worst then.

There was one day I was traveling. I think it was on the Gold Road.” Doesn’t matter where, she told herself. “It was cloudy all morning, and as I was walking midday the clouds parted. When Magnus’ rays touched me, I began to burn. I abandoned my assignment and came north soon after that. The cold slowed that particular strand down.”

She was silent a moment.

“Do you ever regret it? Do you ever wish you did something else with your life?”

This post has been edited by King Coin: Mar 2 2014, 04:11 PM

[Elisabeth Hollow]

The question struck Kayla as odd. Not because she had never imagined her life differently, but because no one had ever asked her before. No one was every curious enough about her to ask. But that's what friends do, she supposed.

Instead of answering right away, she grinned at Aravi.

"You're awfully chatty this morning. But, we DID wake up in a bed and not on the ground." She widened her smile, then let it falter.

"I wouldn't say I regret it, but maybe...wonder what my life would have been like had my parents lived. Who would I be if I had elf parents? Gods, what if a different cult had found me? What would Molag-Bal do with a child?" she shuddered.

"I can't imagine doing anything else. Despite my wonderings, I think that maybe I was made for this. Maybe that's why I've survived so long."

Her stomach growled. "Ugh, I'm starving. I think it's time for food." She slid out from under the covers and began dressing.

"Do you think we'll reach your priest friend before nightfall?"

[King Coin]

Aravi listened to Kayla’s answer. There seemed to be little doubt in the High Elf’s mind about her life.

Aravi often wished things had gone differently for her. What if she had never gone through that door at the Imperial City? She would have never been a vampire hunter, and she wouldn’t be here now.

She would not have Kharjo, or the friends she has now. But she also wouldn’t be a monster. She wouldn’t have been infected with vampirism, and she would not have needed to come to Skyrim. Becoming a werewolf would have never have been an option that she would even consider, much less take.

Would she make that trade if she could?

She didn’t know.

I need to get rid of this curse.

She realized that Kayla asked her a question.

“Sorry, I was thinking. Yes we should be able to reach him by nightfall, as long as we leave soon.”

They left their room. There were people already in the tavern. She knew the Dunmer probably wouldn’t turn her in to the guards, but she still disliked being seen by so many people. They sat a few places down from a Redguard woman eating what looked like a giant bug.

If that’s breakfast, I’m skipping.

[Grits]

The tavern filled up as guests and locals shuffled in for breakfast. Another auburn-haired Altmer entered with a slender Khajiit woman. Channah glanced between the new elf and the other one seated at the end of the bar. Niranye. I wonder if they know each other. There weren’t many high elves bold enough to linger in Jarl Ulfric’s city.

The newcomers seated themselves near Channah. She wouldn’t wager money on it, but it seemed that the Khajiit cast a dubious glance at Channah’s plate.

“Morning,” Channah said to them. She tilted her head at the steaming bug parts. “It’s better than it looks. Really.”

The barman walked over, probably to take more orders. Channah placed her new dagger on the bar and caught his attention before he passed. “Do you know anyone who can read enchantments?” she asked. “I don’t have much gold, but I’ll pay.”

*****

OOC: It’s a soul trap enchantment, in case K or A can read it.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

(OOC: K can. Kc, if you want to post, go ahead, otherwise I'm reserving this spot for my response. I'm feeling I'll today and will post after work)

[King Coin]

“Good morning,” Aravi replied to the Redguard. She hoped it would be a better day than yesterday anyways.

“I will have to take your word for it on the ash hopper.” She’d seen them before, though she never had the desire to eat one.

The barman gave Aravi a cup of milk, again without her ordering one, and then asked if they would like breakfast. She received a frown when she asked about something other than an ash hopper and had one placed in front of her anyways.

She wrinkled her nose. I’m not eating this.

The Redguard asked about enchantments. Aravi definitely couldn’t read enchantments. She wondered if Kayla could, but didn’t volunteer her friend.

“Where did you get the dagger?”

A potentially awkward question if it was stolen, but a good thief would lie.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

(Sorry, y'all. My husband thought it would be funny to hide my computer for three days. he was the only one laughing.)

Kayla leaned over and looked at the dagger. "May I?" She asked the Redguard, and carefully touched the blade. A sharp intake of breath caused her to hiss as she felt the spell leap out to bind her.

"Soul trap. Gods have mercy on whomever you use this on. Soul trap is painful to experience."

Luckily the spell only took hold onto those who were cut by it. She kept her fingers away from the sharp edges as she retracted her long limbs. Aravi had asked a question as Kayla read the spell.

"I don't think that's our business, Aravi." She said quietly to the other woman. "Come on, eat the gross bug thing so we can head to the College."

[Grits]

“Picked it up last night after some fetcher tried to poke me with it. A guard caught me kicking the skitt out of him and tried to arrest me. While we were discussing the matter he got away.”

The Altmer made a hiss. “Soul trap. Gods have mercy on whomever you use this on. Soul trap is painful to experience.”

Channah shoved the dagger away in disgust. “Dammit! I was going to sell it, but now I’ll have to throw the wretched thing into the sea.” Then she had a thought. “Gods damn that swag-bellied slop sucker! He was going to soul trap me!” She jumped to her feet then sat back down again. There was a lot of goo still left in the ash hopper, and she was still hungry.

The Altmer murmured to her friend.

“Don’t worry about it,” Channah said. “Just making conversation. It’s good to hear a friendly voice in this city. I guess there are only two races here, Nords and Not Nords.” The elf sounded like a Nord by her talk, but Channah decided not to mention it.

“I’m Channah,” she said. “You’re heading to the College? I was just there. Trying to get past that goldenro— er, Altmer gatekeeper. She wants me to cast Fury for her. Silly woman. I’m heading back there as soon as I find someone who can teach me the spell.” Channah took another gulp of mazte. “Anyway if you head up the coast, watch out for ice wraiths. I might not have gotten them all.” She glanced back at the high elf. “Thanks for reading the enchantment for me. What do I owe you?” Channah grinned and lifted her breakfast. “Can I buy you a bug?”

***

OOC: I added a sentence in the edit.

This post has been edited by Grits: Mar 10 2014, 11:55 AM

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla nearly choked when Channah used the popular slur for Altmer, but it was with laughter and not contempt.

"Niranye has a reputation for asking non-Altmer to do silly things. She can be a little bit of a...what's a good word for her?" Heat rushed into her own cheeks when she thought of a suitable word.

"Nevermind. I'm taking my friend Aravi to the College because Niranye wouldn't dare to request something so silly as a Frenzy spell or summoning an Ice Atronach on a beginner. I would actually like to see someone cast a Frenzy spell on her, then beat the tar out of her when she attacks." She burst into laughter. "'We elves need to stick together.' Please. The two of you probably have more magickal abilities in your pinkies than I do in my whole body." She laughed. "I can set things on fire, and that's about it."

She gave Channah a toothy, genuine smile. "I'm Kayla, and this is Aravi. And if you buy us breakfast, Ash Hopper is not what we would choose. Did he give you more milk, Aravi?"Kayla peered into Aravi's cup.

"I was joking when I said you loved milk. Sorry."

[Grits]

Channah flagged down the barman. “These two need some real breakfast. Do you have anything sweet? Or at least with fewer legs?”

“Rolls with comberry jelly…”

“Yeah, that sounds great.”

“… and kwama eggs with scuttle and fried nix-hound belly.”

Channah picked an ash hopper sensilla out of her teeth. “Uh, how about just the first part?” She glanced at her new friends. “That all right with you? I don’t know what scuttle is. It sounds like it might be squishy.”

[King Coin]

Kayla declared the dagger bore a soul trap enchantment. That peaked Aravi’s interest. A dagger like that could be useful if Darnand needed more energy.

“I don't think that's our business, Aravi. Come on, eat the gross bug thing so we can head to the College” Kayla murmured to Aravi.

Aravi wrinkled her nose and was about to say something when the Redguard violently shoved the dagger away.

She decided against showing interest in the dagger. The one she had with her should suffice anyways.

The Redguard introduced herself as Channah and offered to get them something for breakfast. Kayla introduced the two of them.

The alternative breakfast sounded better, except the scuttle.

“That’s much better than… this.” She peered at the dead bug on her plate. “No scuttle for me. It’s made out of beetles. It’s greasy too. Thank you!”

To Kayla she said, “I like milk. At least he didn’t give it to me in a bowl. Some people think they're funny.”

[Grits]

The barman brought food that looked more like a proper breakfast. After he set down the plates Channah passed him some coins. She had to grin at the bowl of milk. It was the sort of prank she would pull, but only on a friend.

She turned her attention to Kayla. “So you know that woman at the College? I don’t use many spells. Just the Healing spell everyone’s Ma teaches them, and I can start a fire with Flames when the kindling is damp. I’d like to learn some magical armor from the school of Alteration. I don’t want metal armor that would slow me down, but I’m even less fond of getting my bones broken.”

Channah thought for a moment. Fortune favors the bold.

She addressed both of them. “Do you mind if I tag along on your journey? I can fight and shoot, and three folks gathering wood is always better than two. You never know when a storm is going to blow in off the sea. Uh, unless you have a spell for that. Anyway, my gear is at the stable. I don’t need any provisions or anything, just the company.”

She glanced at Aravi’s abandoned ash hopper. “Are you going to eat that? I haven’t thrown mine up yet, so I wouldn’t mind another.”

[King Coin]

Aravi looked at Kayla and nodded to Channah. She looked like she could fight.

“We would be happy to have you along, though just so you know we are going to Dawnstar first. We came across some very sick people at one of the mills and they need a priest. There’s a priest of Mara there.” she said between bites of a roll. Channah expressed interest in the giant dead bug sitting on the counter near Aravi. She was more than happy to push it over to Channah.

(OOC I am not planning on doing the dream quest with Erander unless you all want to. We can even completely skip Dawnstar and just say we did it and appear at Winterhold.)

[Elisabeth Hollow]

(OOC: I would very much like to get to the actual nitty ritty of the roleplay, lol. Let's appear in Winterhold.)

Kayla snickered as Aravi pushed the plate over to Channah.

"It really is much better than it looks, but then again, it looks disgusting. Our gear is in the other room. We'll have less trouble escaping the city than we did getting in."

[Grits]

Channah’s brows went up at Kayla’s remark. Escaping..?

“Oh, right. Because they don’t allow Khajiit in the cities.” She gave Aravi a rueful smile. “Sorry, I forgot about that. I’ll get armored up and meet you on the road.”

Channah did as promised, and before she knew it she stood in the snow in the ruins of once-great Winterhold.

***

OOC: Bring on the nitty gritty!

[Elisabeth Hollow]

(Finally!!!)



They trudged upwards and onwards, towards the broken town and damaged College. Pieces of the old buildings still stood, large beams and solid foundations with strong hearths dotted all along the main road to the College. Kayla pulled her thick black cloak around her body, and saw the other two follow in suit as she lead the way to the College of Winterhold. The snow stung her face as she trudged on.

Once they reached the base of the steps, she turned to the other two women.

"I have something for you two," She hollered over the wind, digging through her bag. She handed them each a potion.

"It boosts your magickal skill for twenty minutes in all fields, but it makes you really, REALLY hungry. I haven't found a way to balance it out yet," she said loudly. A harsh gust of wind nearly knocked her down.

"Drink it, and hopefully she talks fast, because we'll only have fifteen minutes. It's a five minute walk up there. Drink it and come on." She turned and didn't watch if they drank the potions. the Altmer in the pig-tails regarded them cautiously.

"Halt," she said in a commanding tone. Her accent wasn't as if she was from Summerset, but perhaps Cyrodiil? "I recognize you," she said to Kayla, "but not these two."

"They wish to join the College, and learn."

"Learn? Hmmm. I think it's time for a test of skill. Just to see if you're worthy." She turned to Channah.

"You, Redguard. Why don't you summon a Spriggan?"

"A Spriggan? Faralda, I'm not even able to conjure a Spriggan, and I've been studying at the College for two years. This isn't a test of skill, and you know it."

The blonde Altmer sniffed. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"J'zhargo told me you asked him to summon a Dremora. Come on."

Faralda flushed. "That doesn't mean any-"

"Do you think the Arch Mage would appreciate you keeping prospective learners away from the college based on your personal prejudices? So they're not elves and Bretons, big deal. They're willing to learn, and that should be enough."

"I'm simply weeding out the unworthy."

"And gaining coin from it, I'll wager?"

Faralda flushed a darker red and she gritted her teeth visibly. "I'm providing a service."

"Cut it out, Faralda. I can vouch for them. Let them in, or I'll tell Savos about the little tollbooth you're running."

"He knows!"

Kayla barked a laugh. "Not about you selling spells, though. Thirty septims per book? Really? That's a ripoff. I can go down to the goods store twenty feet that way and get it for ten, and they're starving!"

"Fine!" Faralda snapped, stepping aside. She looked the other two women up and down. "I can tell they possess some ability. Maybe they're alchemists. I don't care. Just quit annoying me!"

She led them to the gates, grumbling the whole way, and opened them. The entire treacherous walk, Kayla looked back once in a while and grinned at them with a knowing look. She was proud.

"Go see Mirabelle. I'm sure she," she jabbed a finger at Kayla, "will tell you all about everything." She kicked up snow as she returned to her post at the end of the broken walkway. Kayla sighed in relief.

"That was close. Did you see how she almost didn't let you in? I would have lost it! All this way, and nothing!" She looked around.

"The great thing about this place is there is so many different schools to learn, even ones that aren't the norm. You want to learn, it's probably here. It isn't bogged down by the politics of the Mages Guild." She talked as she headed towards the large building in the center.

(OOC;we can skip introductions and cut straight to class. Assume we have rooms and such. We can start "questing" and learning. I left the schools open because I remember Grits has some neat extra schools in her fic, and I was thinking of adding a few myself. Feel free to quest, make friends, etc.)

[Grits]

Channah shook out the folds of her new college robe. It was surprisingly warm, and the boots felt like wearing house slippers. A blade would go right through this. Even with mage armor spells I’m not going into a fight wearing a nightgown. She wondered if there were any spellsword or battlemage instructors at the College. So far she hadn’t seen anything resembling armor.

To her surprise instead of directing them to a spell vendor the Master Wizard had enrolled her in the College as an Apprentice. She stood now in her own chamber, her gear neatly stowed in the cupboards and wardrobes. Her attendance was expected soon at some sort of class. So far no one had mentioned payment. Well, it’s warm enough in here but I wouldn’t mind a room with a door.

She checked her appearance again before heading back outdoors. The robe’s mantle did nothing to flatter her chest, but at least her backside looked good. She tucked the novice hood into her belt. There was no way her hair was going to fit under it, but most of the students seemed to be wearing them. She would bring hers along just in case.

Channah cast a longing glance at the basket full of bottled mead in the corner. Later, she promised. Later you will be mine.

“This room used to be Borvir’s,” said a voice.

Channah jumped a little. A slim dark elf girl stood in her doorway. “Damn, you have quiet feet,” Channah said. “Or is that a spell?” She put out her arm. “I’m Channah. I’m supposed to go to class. Do you know how that works?”

Rather than gripping Channah’s forearm in a warrior’s clasp, the Dunmer folded her hands and bowed her head slightly. “Brelyna Maryon of House Telvani. First of my family to leave Morrowind in a long time. Now I’m here to study Conjuration. That’s what’s important.”

Channah opened her mouth to reply.

Brelyna kept talking. “Before you even ask, yes I have an ancestry steeped in magic, and no I don’t want to talk about it. Yes, I know Winterhold used to be full of my kind, and no I don’t care that they’re all gone now. Does that cover everything?”

Channah blinked. “Um, not really. Do you know where I should go to class? That’s real interesting about your ancestors and all, but I don’t want to be late. It’s my first day.”

Brelyna’s cheeks darkened. “Of course. I didn’t mean to assume. Here, I’ll show you. I’m heading that way myself.”

Channah glanced through the open doorways into the other apprentice rooms as they walked toward the door. Some students had hung blankets or hides over them for privacy. I wonder where Aravi’s room is. She hadn’t seen where Mirabelle had taken her new friends. Aravi moved so quietly, she might have the room next door and Channah wouldn’t have heard her. She guessed that as a second-year student Kayla might be housed somewhere else.

“Say,” she said to Brelyna. “Do you suppose Borvir will mind if we drink his mead? He left a whole basket of full bottles. I’ll pay him back later if he wants me too.”

A swirl of snowflakes gusted in when Channah opened the door.

“I don’t think so,” said Brelyna. “Borvir was in the last class of apprentices. No one has seen him for ages.”