Teresa of the Faint Smile, Adventures of a Stringy Bosmer Options

[Grits]

He was dressed in dirty, threadbare flax. A line of dried vomit decorated one side of his tunic, and his trousers were stained with what she could only hope was dirt.

Now here is a drunk who might make a mess in his bed! Ugh. When he tucked Teresa’s coin pouch away in his pocket, I knew that was all he had. From the look of him, I don’t think Dakarai will live long enough to get thrown out on the street.



But vanished they all did, just a week later, with no sign of where they went. Still at the docks were their boats, out drying was their laundry, and on the tables was the food. What happened to them, to this day no one knows.

That is so creepy! Is Dakarai’s dory called the Hunter-Gratzner? Yikes! I’m on the edge of my seat already, and Teresa is still standing on the beach in the sun.

As always I love the scale of things in the TF. I’m glad Aleron’s boat is still there. I’m not feeling too confident in Dakarai’s waiting around.

[Thomas Kaira]

And so off we go to Castle Dracula Frankenstein err... Grief! Yeah, that's the spooky, chilly, this-really-isn't-gonna-end-well place!

If she is about to become a member of the most dangerous game... well, let's say it's not exactly Teresa I'm worried about here. No random wealthy hunting noble trying to get into Hircine's good books is going to take down this strong, silent gal!

You are building things up quite well here, Rosa. Things are similar enough to keep us rooted in the source material, yet just different enough to keep us guessing. The tension is also being built at a nice and steady pace. We aren't quite in the edge of our seats yet, but we are one slammed gate or shady character away from being there... *glances at Dakarai* hmm, maybe even closer than I thought.

This post has been edited by Thomas Kaira: Oct 18 2011, 12:58 AM

[Acadian]

On the edge of my seat, I am. Ye be weavin’ a fine tale here.

You really are doing a great job setting things here. Dakarai is one memorable piece of work! Quite the dirty mystery. We don’t know whether he can be trusted or not. So nice to see Teresa basking in some self-confidence in her dealings with him after having much of shattered by trolls.

Love your descriptions so far of the island, castle and even its mysterious history.


Okay, can’t resist. For some reason, I’m thinking pirates. Maybe we can blame Rider’s post on ‘Talk Like a Pirate Day’.
“Say, elf, where’s your buccaneers?”
“How can you miss ‘em? They’re on me buccanhead!”

[liliandra nadiar]

Ohh... nice backstory for the Fort/Castle. Though considering it's near the door to the Shivering Isles and at it happened at the end of an age when it opens....

Anyways looking forward to more. (Though not really expecting Dakarai to still be there in two minutes, let along a few hours.)

[SubRosa]

Grits: I wanted to paint an icky picture with Dakari of someone who has completely fallen apart. I am glad it worked! Yay, another Pitch Black fan! Here I thought there were only two of us in the Universe (myself and my friend Jaelyn). Did you know that the Hunter-Gratzner got its name from the FX guys on the film?


Thomas Kaira: Castle Usher? I agree that the kind of noble who would pay to hunt people (when you can just walk in the Arena instead, or become a knight) is not someone with the chops to pose a threat to Teresa. But then again, no one said they would be alone... How about the raucous cry of a raven to ratchet things up?


Acadian: I wanted to make Dakarai ambiguous. On one hand we know he works for Kurdan, but on the other he did try to talk Teresa out of going to the castle on several occasions.


liliandra nadiar: When I came up with the background for Castle Grief, I was inspired by the Roanoke Colony in North Carolina. I wanted not only a good reason for the military base to be abandoned, but also one for why no one else has moved in. I think the word "Croatoan" scrawled across one wall pretty well takes care of the latter...


Previously On Teresa of the Faint Smile: In our last episode Teresa met with the fisherman Dakarai, a drunken wastrel in debt to Kurdan. He ferried her to Castle Grief, in spite of trying to talk her out of going there several times, and warning her that it would be her end if she did. Next, Teresa explores the ruins of the castle.


Chapter 40.6 – The Hunter

Teresa turned back to the castle and made her way through the open gateway. She noted that there was no proper gatehouse, with murder holes and arrow-slits lining the entry. Instead the walls and ceiling were solid their entire length, and she stepped directly into the courtyard after walking the ten or so feet through the thickness of the curtain wall.

She found a sprawling bailey within. Mounds of rotten wood dotted the expanse, and Teresa imagined that they might have once been daub and wattle homes built by the vanished settlers. Here and there stone stairs rose along the inside of the walls, and led to the parapets above. Thick, round towers bulged from the corners of the ward, their doors missing like those of the main gate.

Directly across from her was the keep. It rose above the outer walls, its stone face dotted with empty windows and arrow-slits. Its main entrance yawned open as well, and it was to this that Teresa strode. It was probably the first place Aleron would look, she imagined, so it would be the best place to start searching for him.

Pausing at the entrance, Teresa drew forth a swallowtail and set it to the nock of her bow. Since Aleron's boat was the only one on the island, she reasoned that there were no bandits or smugglers present. That meant no one in armor, whom she would need an armor-piercing arrow for. If there were undead however, she knew her broad head would do the most harm to their rotting flesh and bones.

The interior of the castle was dim, but enough light filtered in through the open windows to see by. As Aia had told her, it had been plundered of anything valuable long ago. The tables, chairs, even the doors, had all been removed. Not to mention adornments such as rugs, tapestries, chandeliers, or candelabra. All that remained was the dirt, crumbled mortar, and other detritus that covered the floor.

She scanned for footprints. But the layer of debris was not thick enough for a print to make a noticeable depression. Nor could she tell which parts might have been disturbed by rushing feet, or just the wind. No sound came to her ears either. Not even the cry of a seagull. It seemed that all life had forsaken the empty shell of Castle Grief.

As much as she wanted to sprint through the ruins crying out Aleron's name, Teresa remained silent and patient. If there was some monster lurking here and killing those who visited, she had no intention of alerting it to her presence. Instead she went slowly and methodically, and searched every floor of the keep one at a time, until she had cleared the highest tower.

Yet her exploration yielded no results, so the wood elf trudged down to the ground floor. Making her way to the rear of the keep, she found the entrance to the cellars beneath the castle. Why was everything underground? She drew the nighteye goggles from her Thieves Bag and settled them around her features. Then she ventured into the dark underbelly of the fortress, now lit to noon-day brightness thanks to her goggles.

First there was a wide chamber, that Teresa imagined was once a storeroom, perhaps even a wine cellar. She followed the only corridor that led from it, and passed by several other smaller rooms to either side. The hallway twisted and turned, and Teresa realized that it was doing so to take up every foot of available space beneath the keep and bailey.

Then she found a body. It was a skeleton really, clad in ragged clothing. It lay sprawled out in the middle of the corridor. Teresa froze and stared at the remains. She watched it for any signs of movement, and listened for the telltale rattle of bones. After long minutes of silence and stillness, she once more moved forward, and poked a leg bone of the skeleton with the toe of her boot.

Nothing happened. Confident that the corpse was not going to rise up and attack her, Teresa kneeled down beside it. Its clothing was dusty and stank of mold. Along with the lack of flesh, Teresa imagined that meant it had been there for some time. A closer inspection revealed numerous small holes in the clothing, and bite marks on the bones underneath. She knew what made those: rats. She had seen what they would do to an unguarded corpse in the Chamber Pot.

She found what she was looking for in the upper tunic of the skeleton. There was a large rent in the shoulder of the fabric , near where it joined the neck. Exploring underneath it, she found the bones hacked apart. There was not just one cut, but several. Whoever did it obviously had strength, Teresa imagined, or an enchanted blade. As deep as the blows were, she knew that the weapon which had had made them must have gotten stuck in the bones. Yet obviously the killer had worked it loose, only to chop again, and again. They must have really wanted the victim dead.

Well, whoever you are, you are not Aleron, Teresa thought. Rising to her feet, she continued down the hallway. She found another body in a nearby room, also picked clean by the rats. Again she found proof of a violent end. This time a neck whose vertebrae were hacked nearly in two.

As disturbing as the sight was, she took heart from the fact that whatever had done it had not been a professional. Even with as little as she knew of swordsmanship, she knew that you did not simply hack into people's bones. That would trap your weapon in the corpse, and leave you open to a counterattack by another foe. It was an amateur that did this. Perhaps an undead one. But an amateur none the less.

Teresa found a third corpse as she went deeper into the gloom of the castle. Again, it was a clumsy murder, this time revealed by a blade that had been driven vertically between the ribs. She could tell by the deep gouges in the bones to top and bottom. Again, she knew that would have trapped the sword that had done it. That was why Pappy always told her to hold her dagger horizontally when she stabbed at the chest.

By now she realized that while the bodies wore clothes, none held any valuables, or weapons. Clearly someone had taken them. Furthermore, their clothing looked to have been worn and threadbare even in life. It was not the padded suits of thick cloth worn under armor either, but the simple garb of the poor. These had not been experienced adventurers, she realized, just ordinary people.

Could a necromancer have killed them? Teresa had to admit that it was similar to Vilverin. Yet even animated skeletons seemed to know more about killing than what she saw here. This was plain butchery.

Besides, what would simple commoners be doing all the way out here at Castle Grief? Looking for hidden treasure? It was a long way to go, unless one had a ship. But there had been no boats other than Aleron's outside. She thought of Dakarai. How convenient it was that he had been free to bring her to the island. How many of these men had he also brought here on a one-way trip?

She reflexively looked behind her, half expecting to find the Redguard sneaking up on her. Yet her goggles revealed nothing but an empty corridor. Dakarai hardly seemed like a killer in any case. He was soft, worn out, and empty. He was nothing like Kurdan and his henchmen.

"Damn me for a fool," Teresa hissed in the silence. It was so obvious now. Dakarai was just the transportation. He brought the victims here, where no one would hear their screams, or find their bodies. But someone else did the killing. The Redguard had even tried to talk her into abandoning her search for Aleron. More than once in fact. Yet she had ignored him. But how could she have simply left the Breton here to an uncertain fate?

She found how certain his fate was when the squeaking of rats came to her elf ears. She turned the next corner and found Aleron under a pile of the vermin. Without thinking, she drew her bow and skewered one with an arrow. Her Flare spell filled the hallway with fire a moment later, and the rats scattered to their hidey-holes in the walls.

She stepped up to the flabby Breton, and felt an empty pit yawn open in her heart. Just a few months ago he had taken her and Chance to the Imperial City. He had been so full of life then. She remembered him grousing about the trip, laughing at White Gold Tower and the sexual organ it had reminded him of, and even bragging about his son's ability to handle a dory.

Why did you do it Aleron? Why didn't you come to your friends, instead of trying to do this on your own? Was it just male pride? Were you afraid of anyone else finding out just how deeply you had mucked things up with your gambling? Teresa knelt down beside his body, and instantly found the blow that had done him in. The back of his head was hacked open in several long cuts. By a sword or axe Teresa could not tell, but she could see that the chops were deep.

There was no sign of the arming sword she had given him after Culotte. Since it was worth two months of a laborer's salary, that did not surprise Teresa. His pockets were also empty. An extinguished lantern lay near his body, and when the wood elf picked it up, she felt the oil still sloshing within. It was so worn and battered, she imagined that his killer must have not considered it worth taking.

It was Kurdan, she thought. He was the one that had sent Aleron. He was the one who knew the fisherman would be here. Teresa did not understand the reason for the elaborate scheme. If the crimelord had wanted to make an example of Aleron, why lure him here and kill him where no one would ever know? That would not strike fear into the hearts of other would-be defaulters. He should have killed the fisherman in Bravil, so everyone knew not to cross him.

A raven croaked in the gloom behind her. Teresa's gaze snapped back toward the entrance of the basement. Someone was coming. They were here for her, just as they had been for Aleron. Even now their boat was nearing the shore. It would land in minutes. She did not understand how she knew it, she just did, as if Raven had told her.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 21 2011, 01:08 AM

[Acadian]

You weren’t kidding when you said castle! You certainly gave it the appropriate grandness of scale. Wonderful descriptions.

’Why was everything underground?’
Why indeed? The 64,000 septim question.

Teresa has been paying attention during her time in the FG. I very much enjoyed reading her analysis of how the bodies had been killed. And more importantly, her astute observations about the killer(s). These observations each time she discovered remains were the glue that really wrapped this tight and suspenseful episode together so nicely.

A nice touch, upon discovering Aleron, to briefly share some of her memories of him.

Yay for Raven! I really liked how you ended here. Okay, it was sort of a cliffy, but you left us a comfortable trail of breadcrumbs regarding what is likely to happen next. Gulp. I’m hopeful that whoever comes for Teresa is as clumsy and amateurish as those who killed the others down there. And confident that Teresa is not a helpless commoner who lacks the ability to defend herself.

Nit?
’This time a neck halfway chopped in half.’
I paused at the repetition of ‘half’ in close proximity here. Perhaps the word severed can help? Possibly something like: ‘A chop to the neck had nearly {or halfway if you prefer} severed the poor soul’s head.’ Or: 'A chop had halfway severed the neck.'

[Thomas Kaira]

A masterfully woven mystery-eventually-solved!

Very enjoyable to see Teresa's thoughts range from undead to undead-in-the-rough to eventually (with Raven's timely assistance, of course) something far more sinister.

And yet another adventurer cliche comes to play: it is always far more difficult to get out than it is to get in. But, as you described gruesomely well, these people coming for her (likely) are far from professional killers.

Oh, and they can't see in the dark, can they?

[liliandra nadiar]

Poor Teresa, everything's always underground/indoors which limits archery from being optimal. She should really give a week or so to learn a basic summon. Since she learned the other spells in a day(ish) a 'more complex' one shouldn't be too much harder, despite what she thinks of her own ability. That or step up her dagger training.

Can see the reasoning behind finding Aleron already dead as opposed to the game, though I think it loses some of the impact the game gave of find the key only to see him cut down just as you emerge.

[Grits]

My BFF Pam is also a fan, so there are at least four of us!

Teresa really shines here as she methodically searches for Aleron. I love the castle! I felt as if I was seeing it as Teresa, right in her mind as she explored. I admire her focus as she conducted her investigation in that creepy atmosphere. She was tense but in control of herself. Her experience shows, especially where she was able to determine so much from the bodies. I especially liked her observation about the clothing not being the sort worn under armor.

It’s good to hear from Raven. Now Teresa might have a chance to give the murderer(s) a surprise. This is definitely one of my favorite episodes in the TF!

[D.Foxy]

Yay Stalk-battle scene coming up!

Teresa m'girl...my plea to thee: kill the fetchers in inventive ways! Let THEM know what it is to be hunted by an implacable, shadowy nemesis!!!

[SubRosa]

Acadian: I never understood the whole "fort" names used in Oblivion. Is this the Old West? Give me castles to go with my swords and sorcery any time. And if you are going to have a castle, it may as well be a good one.

You are right about the neck chopped in half, I went back and reworded things to be more clear.


Thomas Kaira: Well, at least one of the people coming for Teresa is not a professional. As to the others...


liliandra nadiar: Funny you should mention conjuring... Stay tuned.


Grits: This is one of those chapters where we really see the results of Teresa joining the Fighters Guild. Thanks to Pappy, she has that professionalism you noted. It is good to be able to put it on display.


D.Foxy: I think you will find your wishes answered in the next few posts. Teresa and I did the best we could to use every possible thing to her advantage.


Previously on Teresa of the Faint Smile: In our last episode, Teresa explored Castle Grief. In the basements of the empty ruin she found the body of Aleron Loche, and of many other peasants. All had been looted of their valuables, and had been killed by an amateur. Next, Teresa is caught in the same hunt that had killed them.


Chapter 40.7 – The Hunter


Teresa raced back through the halls and chambers of the castle's underground. Her feet were quick and light, not making a sound as she darted to the stair. She took the steps two at a time, and only stopped when she reached the ground floor. There she lifted her nighteye goggles from her eyes and pushed them up on her forehead. Then she drew a combination magicka restoration and shield potion from one of the pouches built into the right hip of her armor and drank it. She strode forward once again as the energy suffused her body, and fixed the symbol for her Burning Hand firmly in mind.

She had a pincushion arrow set to the spider-silk of her bowstring by the time she crossed the great hall and reached the front door of the keep. She waited there in the shadow of the entrance, and stared out across the bailey. She knew they would be coming very soon now, and she imagined that they would be well-armored.

The wood elf found that her premonition was correct when nearly a dozen mortals strode through the main gate, directly across the ward from her. Most appeared to be humans. They wore mail armor, carried oval body shields, and gripped either maces or axes in their fists. A few bore Imperial bows instead, and moved to the flanks of the pack with their weapons strung and ready.

A Khajiit archer strode in the midst of the group, clad in leather and hide armor, with a curved elven blade at one hip. Even in the distance, Teresa recognized him from the Lonely Suitor Lodge. Alongside him came a man she did not know. He was clad from head to toe in gleaming ebony armor, inlaid with elegant designs of shining gold. He clutched a longsword of the same material in both hands, and Teresa instantly recognized him as an amateur. She had seen Tadrose handle her own greatsword for months. It was as much a part of her body as her hair or fingers. Yet this man did not seem to know what do to with his two-handed sword, and he continually changed his grip and fidgeted with the weapon.

It was the last figure that drew Teresa's eye the most. Taller than any of the others by nearly half a foot, he was clad in a full panoply of Daedric armor. The wickedly spiked and flanged metal gleamed crimson in the afternoon sun, looking like a nightmare thrown up from the heart of a volcano. The giant carried a battle axe of the same fiendish metal, balanced easily upon one shoulder. Even though she could not see his face behind the full-faced helm, Teresa had no trouble recognizing him. It was Kurdan gro-Dragol.

Screenshot

The Khajiit seemed to look directly at Teresa, and he said something to the others. They all came to a halt, except for Kurdan, who strode in front of the others. He effortlessly flipped the heavy axe from his shoulder, and made a grandiose show of flourishing it through the air before him.

Teresa did not wait any longer. With one smooth motion she drew the feathers of her arrow back under her chin, and loosed. The thugs scattered as the missile spun across the bailey. Except for Kurdan, who ceased his show and stood there, waiting for the arrow to fall. It struck him a moment later, and his armor flashed with the golden light of a shield enchantment. The missile fell harmlessly away, and the orc made a show of stepping upon it and snapping it in two.

"Is that any way to greet a fellow traveler?" the crimelord laughed across the ward.

"I know why you're here!" Teresa found herself shouting. "You killed Aleron!"

"I haven't killed anyone twig," Kurdan shouted back. "That pleasure falls to my customers. They pay a pretty septim for a hunt like this. You should feel honored. I'm making more money off you than ever before. It's not every day that someone gets to kill a tournament finalist."

"You'll not live to spend it!" Keep him talking just a little bit more, Teresa thought. She reached into one of her pouches and grabbed a scroll. She noted that she only had two others left as she drew the rolled up parchment forth. Shaking it open, she glanced down at the single word inscribed upon the page.

"Green Man!"

The parchment crumbled to dust, and a ring of energy formed in the air before her. It fell to the ground, and a giant formed in its wake. His body was shaped like that of man, but was made of heavy stones, with softer dirt joining the rocks. His arms were tree trunks, and his head was made of wood, carved into the likeness of a bearded face. Numerous branches rose up like hair from his scalp, and his dark eyes seemed to glower down at the gangsters facing Teresa.

Screenshot

He immediately strode in Kurdan's direction. The green man's pace seemed slow, but his strides were so long that he quickly ate the distance between them. Teresa readied another pincushion arrow as he moved forward, and picked out one of the archers.

"Ra'jhera!" she heard Kurdan shout. "Deal with that!"

The Khajiit already had a scroll in his hand. Teresa saw his lips move, and turned her bow in his direction. But before she could fire, a burst of purple energy flared from the scroll and ground into the green man. The Aedra simply dissolved into a cloud of bright sparks, which themselves faded away a moment later. Afterward, there was no sign that Teresa's summoning had even existed.

The Khajiit had dispel scrolls!

She heard the twang of bowstrings. Ducking back through the doorway, she put solid stone between her and the gangsters. A moment later the clatter of steel arrowheads on stone told her that she had not been a moment too soon.

"Hounds!" she heard Kurdan cry out. "Run her down! Give Lord Herennius his money's worth!"

Teresa raced from the great hall to a side chamber. Glancing through an arrow-slit, she saw the mail-clad men sprinting across the open space. Behind them came the Khajiit, apparently named Ra'jhera. The man in ebony armor followed the Khajiit, and could only be Lord Herennius. Kurdan however, remained near the gate with the other archers and a pair of mace-armed bodyguards.

Teresa set another pincushion arrow to her nock and drew Ravenfeeder back to full extension. The Khajiit seemed to be in charge of the pack. Not to mention he had scrolls. So the forester sighted in on him and loosed.

But at the last minute one of the hounds stepped between the arrow and her target. Teresa's golden elven pincushion fell behind his shield, and pierced the mail that sheathed his torso like it was butter. He tumbled to the ground, snapping the arrowshaft in half and driving it deeper into his body. The other gangsters did not pause their rush however. They simply left him screaming in the dirt and continued to the doorway.

A pair of missiles came winging toward the arrow-slit a moment later, and Teresa sped deeper into the castle. She needed to make a fighting retreat: shooting, falling back, and shooting again. Little by little, she would whittle them down. They might have thought they could wear her down by making her run, but she doubted that they ran laps around the city every morning as she did. No, if anyone was going to become worn out, it would be her hunters.

But why fight if she did not have to? She knew that she had ground-down redwort flower in her Thieves Bag. She always kept some handy to make antidote potions. Yet something Ardaline had said to her while shopping the other week came to her mind. "Most people use wormwood to make invisibility potions, or tinder polypore. But a skilled alchemist can draw the symbol for invisibility from other sources, such as motherwort or redwort."

Teresa backtracked, and sped to the opposite side of the castle. That would give her some time as they searched the other half, where they had seen her arrow come from. Drawing her mortar from her Thieves Bag, she set it aside and next pulled out her ingredient bag. The sound of armored feet clattering on the stone floor came to her ears. Rummaging through the small pouches within, she found that of redwort and shook it into her mortar.

Thanking Mara that she always kept some pre-ground ingredients on hand, she poured water from her skin into the mortar. Mixing it with her finger, she concentrated upon the image of herself turning invisible. She heard voices ringing through the halls, and knew the hunters were getting close. But she did her best to shut them out, and just thought about her potion.

Finally, when it was as finished as Teresa imagined it ever would be, she lifted the mortar to her lips and knocked it back. Gulping it down like a woman dying of thirst, the wood elf felt a tingle run through her body. Staring down, she saw nothing but the stones of the floor underfoot. There was no sign of her at all.

She packed the mortar and ingredient bag away as one of the mail-clad Nibeneans entered the room. He stared directly at her. Teresa held her breath. She had made plenty of invisibility potions from wormwood that she had bought from Claudette Perrick at The Gilded Carafe. Selling them to thieves had been her bread and butter when she lived in the Chamber Pot. But she had never tried redwort before. Would it really work?

The Nibenean's eyes slid off Teresa, and moved to the doorway behind her. He stepped slowly through the room, shield up and mace at the ready. He said nothing, and gave no hint that he had seen her.

Teresa dared to breathe once more. She had done it! All she had to do now was wait for them to pass. Then she could backtrack, bypass Kurdan and the others the same way, and simply jump in the bay. It might be an hour or longer before they even realized that she was gone!

Ra'jhera stepped in the room a moment later, and Teresa's heart crashed. He stared directly at her, and flinched. "She's invisible!" he growled, and pulled another scroll from one of his belt pouches.

Curse that Khajiit! Teresa sped for the far doorway, and slipped through it just as the purple light of the gangster's scroll fell upon her. A moment later she found her body swimming back into view beneath her. The Nibenean shouted behind her, and his feet sounded like thunder as they pounded across the floor.

Teresa ducked to one side of the doorway and waited. A moment later the Nibenean stepped through, and she laid her hand against his side. An inferno blossomed from her fingertips, and engulfed the hapless Imperial in flame. He screamed and fell to his knees, blocking the doorway.

But the Khajiit was right behind him. His longbow was now in one hand, and an arrow in the other. Time seemed to crawl by as Teresa stared at him. She knew that she would not have the time to draw a fresh arrow and shoot him. His would strike her first. With the blazing Nibenean in the way, she could not reach him with her Burning Hand either. Her Flare would do little but annoy him, and there would not be enough time to dig out another summoning scroll.

She needed help, and now. Without really knowing why, she thought of Raven. He had always been there to guide her. He had always led her to where she needed to go, and been a companion in the darkest of places. He was what she needed now.

With that in mind, she raised her fist and loosed her magicka into those thoughts. An azure light burst from under her fingers. She uncurled them, and a disc of energy formed in the air between her and Ra'jhera. The Khajiit had set his arrow to his string by now, and was pulling it back to his ear. The energy fell between them, and from it issued the raucous cawing of a raven.

The wings of the sleek, ebony bird beat through the air above the burning gangster and dove upon Ra'jhera. The Khajiit's eyes widened in surprise as the raven swept down upon him. His arrow sprang errantly from his bow, and drove deeply into the back of the Nibenean at his feet, silencing the injured man's cries of anguish. The raven's claws darted for the Khajiit's eyes, forcing him to drop his bow to shield himself with his hands.

Shouts rang out behind Ra'jhera, along with the thunder of booted feet and the clangor of armor. Teresa wasted no more time, and sped away. She knew that her raven would keep them busy. Long enough for her to escape deeper into the keep at least.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 25 2011, 04:04 PM

[liliandra nadiar]

Yay Teresa! Birds may not be grizzlies in terms of damage. but their isn't much better to draw attention then claws/wings/beaks going for one's eyes. Though with how often the Khajiit's been spotting her, he must have a detect life enchantment going. That would be a nice and shiney new toy for her.

not making a sound as she darted to the stair.

May just be me, but I always see it as stairs, plurel. Also, the paragraph seems a bit... stilted, from starting There she and Then she, maybe expand the sentences a bit?

Teresa did not wait any longer.

Good girl, monologing/showing off is a waste of time.
Didn't find any spelling errors or missing letters, but I'm not too good at either as is.

Also. it's your fault I give Simplicia a coin every time I'm in IC.

This post has been edited by liliandra nadiar: Oct 25 2011, 09:03 AM

[Grits]

The Green Man was amazing! Too bad he didn’t have a chance to go Spriggan on the thugs. I remember what happened to the last pack of men that tried to hunt Teresa, but that was in the forest. That darn Ra'jhera and his scrolls.

I loved the breathless potion making while the gang closed in on her. Teresa is thinking fast under pressure.

Teresa dared to breathe once more. She had done it! All she had to do now was wait for them to pass. Then she could backtrack, bypass Kurdan and the others the same way, and simply jump in the bay. It might be an hour or longer before they even realized that she was gone!

That was a great plan! Argh, Ra’jhera! Summoning Raven like that was as natural as learning fire when she was angry. Very exciting!

[ghastley]

Nits, to get them out of the way...

Her feet moved quick and light, not making a sound as she darted to the stair. She took the steps two and a time, ...

"The movement of her feet was quick and light", or "Her feet moved quickly and lightly". Did you half-change one to the other?

"two at a time".

It's good to see some failing spells and busted strategy. Heroes should only win at the end, or there's no suspense, and if Teresa picks them off too easily, we'll start to feel sympathy for Kurdan's crew. That said, you're going to have a fine line between that and making her final victory too miraculous. I'm looking forward to reading how you pull that off.

No pressure!

[Glargg]

I kind of like the "quick and light," though, even if it's grammatically incorrect. It hits the "ear" better, for me.

Maybe just add a comma: "Her feet moved, quick and light..."

I am loving this story!

[Acadian]

This was quite the nail biter. I could feel poor Teresa’s heart pounding as she executed her fighting retreat. Lots of things came together here in a wonderfully crisp episode.

Summoning her Green Man, only to have that pesky Khajiit equipped with dispel scrolls. Then some panicky field potion making to support invisibility, only to have him able to detect her! Summoning Raven was so neat, and bought Teresa just the time she needed.

I was fascinated when Raj’s dispel spell struck the scroll summoned Green Man and evaporated him. I know that for spell-summoned helpers, you must hit the caster with a dispel effect to get rid of the summon (hitting the summon with a dispel effect will not do it). I have never tried any of that on a scroll-summoned helper though, so I tested it. It seems there is no way to dispel a scroll summoned helper in game. We tried summoning a helper with a scroll, but neither dispel on self or on the summon made it go away. So I learned something new! No nit here of course, I just found it interesting. I do like the idea for our stories of dispelling even a scroll-based summon, but I think at least for BF, I will have it work the same way a spell-based summon would; that is, casting the dispel effect on the caster instead of the summon. Good stuff!

Kurdan in full Daedric armor and axe was a sobering sight indeed!

Love the treatment you are giving this quest.

This post has been edited by Acadian: Oct 27 2011, 12:44 AM

[liliandra nadiar]

I believe I saw a mod on TESnexus for modifiying magic in oblivion and one of the things mentioned was Dispel removed summons. Can't recall which one off hand (and I'm at work so I can't dig it up. )

[D.Foxy]

All that I wanted, and more. Hooray! Now show us more of your tactical and writing genius in your next post!

[Thomas Kaira]

Quite an intense episode. I see you are continuing you "Cyrodiil, but more epic" approach to the game's quests, and this one is unveiling itself to be a most excellent treatment.

The tension is expertly held throughout the entire piece. Despite Teresa's obvious physical advantage (small and fit), we constantly feel the danger she has happened across. I really hope she does not need to deal with that Orsimer through direct battle, though. Vicious armor with an even more vicious axe... AND an arcane shield nearly impossible to penetrate? Not good!

He stared directly at her, and flinched. "She's invisible!" he growled, and pulled another scroll from one of his belt pouches.

Good to see the TF villains are smart enough to know their way around a life detection spell or two. This really helps drive home the point that nowhere is truly safe for Teresa in this twisted hunt.

And Raven to the rescue! I leave here on a hopeful note and a ravenous hunger for more.

[SubRosa]

liliandra nadiar: Ra'jhera does indeed have a detect life enchantment. I am glad that was evident without having to come right out and say so. Teresa has never been good at making witty remarks during battle. Often not any other time either, though she has been improving at the latter since joining the FG. Pappy's influence no doubt.

Stair can refer to an entire flight of steps as well as a single one. I think it all depends on the context. You would not say I ran up the stair. But on the other hand, Dictionary.com gives an example of "a winding stair".



Grits: This chapter will allow me to showcase all the remaining summoned Aedra I have not gotten to before. In fact the only one left out will a Salamander. But one of those figured prominently in Teresa's troll encounter, so I am sure it is still etched in people's minds.

Ra'jhera is Teresa's opposite number in the Hounds. Like her, he is experienced and well-prepared. Much of the following running battle will be a chess match between him and her.


ghastley: Some of the nits picked. I am going to hang on to quick and light, and I think it evokes a strong image that is lacking if it is changed. We might actually feel some sympathy for a few of the Hounds near the end. Then again, maybe not. I guess we will just have to see.


Glargg: I am actually channeling Bob Seger for that phrase. In Like A Rock, he sings: "My steps were quick and light".


Acadian: As you can see, I am not sticking to exactly how Bethesda works things in the game. Dispel Magic is really nerfed there, as it only works on spells, not creature powers, item enchantments, etc... I figure if a spell is active on something, you ought to cast your dispel on the actual magical energy of the spell itself, rather than on the person who cast it. I can picture Feather spells working in a similar way. In that you do not cast them on yourself, but rather on a crate or a sack, and then everything in it is Feathered, etc...

Also summonses are very powerful in the TF. So they ought to have an achille's heel that can easily cancel them out.

Way, way back Destri suggested that Teresa learn how to summon things to help her out in melee. Even then, I had this in mind. Who knows, maybe now that she has the crow Teresa might change her look...


D.Foxy: The rest of the battle (which is several more posts) will be more of Teresa running, sniping, and using all of her cunning. So I think you will enjoy.


Thomas Kaira: Of course it will come down to Teresa squaring off with Kurdan. Just like in the original, it is either Zaroff, or the protagonist. It will take us a while to get there however. First she has to deal with Ra'jhera, who as you noticed, is not as dumb as the enemies in the game, and has plenty of his own toys to play with.


Previously on Teresa of the Faint Smile: In our last episode, Teresa found her escape from Castle Grief blocked by Kurdan, his thugs, and a man in ebony armor. Kurdan told her that she was the latest prey in his hunt, and that he was being paid by the armored man - Lord Herennius - to help him kill her. Teresa fled into the castle after finding Kurdan's armor impervious to her arrows, and her summoned Aedra dispelled by the leader of Kurdan's hounds, Ra'jhera. Next, Teresa must keep one step ahead of her pursuers as they try to hunt her down.

Since The Kurgan Kurdan had some music for his first part, I thought it only appropriate for Teresa to have some music to fight to as well.


Chapter 40.8 – The Hunter

Teresa leaned around a corner and fired. Her bow roared like thunder in the silence, and a moment later one of the thugs fell with an elven arrow sprouting from his foot. She ducked back around the corner, and shouts rang out behind her. Moving quickly toward the other side of the keep, she heard more yells in that direction.

They were slowly closing in around her like a noose. She turned off the corridor she was in and tried another. But the sight of a body shield ahead caused her backtrack. Another shout rang out as the thug saw her, and she sped back the way she had come from. More gangsters closed in, driving her from any of the routes out of the keep.

Teresa found the stair leading down to the lower level in front of her eyes. She had hoped to stay in the keep, and retain the option of getting back into the bailey. But now the forester could see that she had no choice. Kurdan's hounds obviously knew the castle well, for they had methodically sealed off every avenue of escape. In fact, Teresa had the distinct impression that they were purposely driving her to the tunnels.

There would be little room to maneuver down there. Worse, there was only one way in and out - at least that she knew of. Once she went down there, she would be committed to defeating all of the thugs or dying in the attempt. It was the same thing that had happened to Aleron and all the other victims.

The twang of a bowstring made up her mind. She leapt for the staircase, and heard the crack of an arrow on stone behind her. Taking the steps two at a time, she hit the floor and dodged to the side as another arrow chased after her. The Khajiit was on her heels. She had to find a way to slow him and the others down.

She took a moment to pull her nighteye goggles down from her forehead and over her eyes. The once inky depths of the large chamber burst into bright illumination. Teresa noted that there was plenty of space to either side of the entrance, and an idea came to her. Drawing out another of her scrolls, she yanked off the string holding its tube closed and shook it out.

"Sylph," she whispered, staring down at the page. The scroll crumbled to dust in her hand, and a moment later a woman made of shifting wind took shape in the air before her. Just stay right there, Teresa thought, and wait. The wood elf sped across the room as quickly as her feet would allow, and the sound of booted feet rang out behind her.

She reached the doorway at the far side of the room just a moment before the first ruffian appeared in the door. He held a glowstone in one hand, causing Teresa to narrow her eyes against its brilliant glare in her nighteye-lit world. Trying to ignore the uncomfortable brightness, she drew a pincushion arrow and set it to silk. The thug stared directly at her, and stepped into the room with his shield up before him. Another followed right behind him, again with a shield ready to ward off her arrows.

Now, Teresa thought. The sylph exploded into action, spinning about so quickly that the forester could not make out her body in the blur of motion. Dust, dirt, and other detritus were thrown all about the room, causing Teresa to raise a hand to shield her face. The miniature tornado swept into the men, flinging them about like ragdolls. One crashed headfirst into the ceiling, and Teresa heard a loud crack, like the snapping of a dry branch. The other was hurled into one of the walls, and collapsed in a heap of mail.

As Teresa expected, the purple light of a dispel shot from the doorway, and her sylph vanished in a starry haze a moment later. But that had given her all the time she needed, and one of her arrows shot through the space her Aedra had occupied a moment earlier. The golden light of a shield enchantment flashed to life through the dissipating haze, and she heard the arrow thud home into flesh.

It had only taken seconds, and now the last of the dirt, dust, and magical effects had vanished from there air. Teresa saw Ra'jhera down in the entrance of the room, with her arrow sprouting from one of his thighs. Armored hands pulled him back out of sight, and another thug stepped into the same space, shield held up before his body.

Teresa glanced from him to the first two men to enter the room. The one who had been thrown into the ceiling lay motionless on the floor, his head turned at an odd angle to the rest of his body. The other rose to his feet with a groan, and stumbled for the axe he had dropped during his unexpected flight.

Teresa loaded another arrow and took aim at the groggy warrior. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw that another hound had entered the room along with the one that had followed Ra'jhera. Like the other, he held his large, oval shield up before him, giving her little to shoot at. Teresa knew she had little time. The forester loosed, and her arrow buried itself in the torso of the stumbling man. With a clatter of steel, he fell face first into the stone floor and did not move.

By then a third man had entered the room, and the trio moved on her with shields up, forming a seemingly impenetrable wall. In the corridor behind them Teresa glimpsed the patrician in his gleaming ebony and gold armor. He was bending down beside someone. Teresa imagined it might be the wounded Khajiit, but could not be certain.

Five down, the wood elf thought as she raced down the corridor, perhaps six, if Ra'jhera had been finished as well. There were only about half a dozen more to go. She heard the hunters following her, but they did not seem so eager to close the distance with her now. That only prompted Teresa to put on more speed. It would give her more time to set up her next ambush.

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Mar 25 2012, 03:21 AM