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

[Remko]

I would love to read more about Morcant. In fact- I'd love to read anything you can sling at us

[SubRosa]

haute ecole rider: Morcant in Anvil it is then. I will put that on the To Do list.

I love the Ayleid sites best of all in Oblivion, for exactly the reasons you mentioned. They are just awesome to behold, and have the creepiness factor ramped way up. It is one of the reasons I like doing this Ayleid arc with Teresa.

Morcant will be hanging on to her cottage though. While she may visit Anvil, Lake Trasimene is still her home. Besides, she could not leave Tsume there all by himself forever.


hazmick: Yes, Teresa is indeed embracing her spirituality. As someone who really has no anchor in life, and spent most of it being treated with contempt, her spirit-guide, and her relationship with Nirn itself, provide with some much needed grounding and support.

The vision of Sedor was once a common thing irl, typically performed between the local king and high priestess (although there were many variations, depending on where you were). Generally known as the Sacred Marriage, it was cemented the bond between the mundane world and the spirit world, ensuring the continuing health and fertility of each. It is still done symbolically in most neo-pagan rituals today.


Acadian: Would I foreshadow things about the Ayleids, and Teresa's interest in them?

One of the things I really enjoy about Teresa is what you noted about her ability to bring out the best in people. Really, starting with Simplicia when she was just an infant. I never really thought about it, but she is like Emperor Uriel that way. Only not as direct and overt about it as he was.


Destri Melarg: Flesh-sculptures? Ewwwww! Although to play devil's advocate, North Korean soldiers are all told that Americans not only torture and kill everyone they take prisoner, but also drink their blood as well (all of us being vampires after all). Wartime propaganda is always overblown, so a grain of salt is wise. Not to mention that many Ayleid city states allied with Alessia. So either they really were not all that bad, or she did not mind humans being not only enslaved but tortured and killed for entertainment so long as her allies were doing it.

Not that I am trying to portray the Ayleids as being nice. Morcant described it all when we first met her. They were the most preeminent necromancers to ever walk Nirn, and in the end the planet itself wanted them dead. Still, it took them time to turn their backs on their original gods and fall into darkness, as this was meant to show.

Would I foreshadow things like Teresa losing someone important to her?


treydog: Thank you Three Dog. I always do strive to make the setting come to life.


Remko: More slinging right now!


Next: Teresa and Morcant have gone their separate ways. Now Teresa is on her way back to the Imperial City, but she has a few stops to make along the way.

* * *

Chapter 17.1 - Learning The Hard Way

28th - 30th Sun's Height, 3E433

Teresa rose from the waves of Lake Hysiae with strung bow in hand. A mudcrab scuttled across the sandy beach, pincers reaching out greedily for her flesh. The wood elf stepped back, set an arrow to her bow, and skewered the creature. Withdrawing the arrow from the abdomen of the crustacean, the forester inspected its wooden shaft. Not finding any warps, she wiped the steel head clean and tucked it back into her arrow bag.

Lifting the remains of the crab by the legs, she carried it further ashore before depositing it in the grass. That would make for a good lunch, Teresa thought, but first things first. Nagastani waited for her.

The ruins of the ancient city loomed before her. Graceful white stones rose high into the sky, forming what had once been a great circular structure. Yet now the roof was long gone, and large ovals set within the walls gaped wide in the breeze coming off the lake. Shattered buildings flanked the once mighty edifice, nothing more than a partial arch here, part of a wall there, or a few blocks of stone laying scattered across the grass.

Thanks to the spirit of the lake, Teresa knew that this had once been a modest Ayleid city-state. Yet now that she looked upon it with her flesh and blood eyes, she found it hard to believe these few tumbled down stones could have once been a settlement bustling with life. Where were the bright stained glass windows filling the palace with color? Or the brilliant bronze-shaded tiles covering every roof, throwing back the light of the sun in a fiery display? Where were the once great boulevards and their crowds of elves and beasts? Where were the high walls ringing the city, or the stone quays reaching out into the blue waters of Hysiae?

All gone, the forester thought to herself, the victim of time and elements. Until she had seen it happen to Sedor, she never would have imagined how devastating ordinary wind, rain, and plants could be. But now she could not escape the truth that no matter what mortals constructed, it would all be taken back by Nirn one day. The thought warmed her heart. It was good to know that the world would always go on, healthy and whole, regardless of what mortals did to it.

Circling around the ruins, she found a row of steps leading up to the entrance of the central building. The mighty bronze doors that had once sealed off the palace had long since vanished, and looming within the walls of the stone edifice was a once mighty statue. It showed an armored mer from waist up, holding a sword high overhead in both hands. Yet the blade of the sword had snapped eons ago, along with the wings of his helmet, and neither were anywhere to be seen. Coated in moss, the elf's body was now green as the grass that grew through the stones under the archer's feet.

Teresa's heart quickened its pace as she heard a creaking from within the structure. It sounded like leather, and was accompanied by a slight whooshing noise, like that of a sail catching the wind. Drawing forth an arrow and poisoning it from the jar of nightshade at her waist, Teresa nocked her bow and slinked forward. Coming to the edge of the palace entrance, she peered within, and saw the source of the noise.

It looked like a scamp, with rough brown skin, two arms, two legs, and a misshapen head. This creature was much smaller however, perhaps only half the size of the Daedra. Most different of all, it hovered in the air on a pair of leathery wings that flapped in a slow, steady pace. Even though they were large, Teresa wondered at how such wings could keep a creature of its size and obvious weight airborne. It must have been magic, she imagined.

An imp, the wood elf thought. She had heard plenty of stories of them from bard's tales. It was said that in spite of their appearance, they were not Daedra. Yet they hardly seemed like animals of good green Nirn either. She had heard some say they were the result of magical experiments upon goblins. Others claimed that they were once mortals cursed by the gods, as the Orisimer had become orcs, or the Chimer the dark elves.

Those thoughts slipped away from Teresa's mind as the red eyes of the monster fixed upon her. It stretched out a hand, and she saw fire grow from its fingers. She needed no further prompting to draw her bowstring to her cheek and loose. The imp crashed to the ground with a screech even as its own bolt of fire streaked from its hand. The forester had been ready however, and easily stepped aside while the slower-moving fire rushed by.

The wood elf readied another arrow as she approached the creature. It flopped around on a staircase that wound downward around the statue. Yet the imp seemed unable to rise into the air again, or even track her own movements with its eyes. She drew her bowstring to her cheek to finish the creature, but it fell still before she could loose.

Stepping closer, she nudged the monster with the toe of her boot, ready to leap back in case it was only playing dead. Yet the creature did not stir, and its crimson eyes stared glassily into the blue sky above. Teresa put the arrow back into her bag and drew forth a knife. She knew that she could brew new poisons from its bile. Some even said you could use it to create magical fire.

She stopped herself however. This was not the time, she realized. There were probably more nearby. It would be foolish of her to start cutting the imp up while another might be sneaking up on her. She could always do it when she was finished exploring the ruin, she decided. Besides, a little imp gall was nothing compared to what she hoped waited in the darkness below…

So drawing forth her arrow once more, Teresa followed the stair down to an open double door. Venturing within, she pulled her Night Eye goggles down over her eyes and slowly made her way through the depths of the palace. She found more imps within upper passages. Some were alone, others in small groups. She picked them off one by one, firing unseen from the darkness. She did not even need the nightshade at her hip, as most died instantly. The others only needed a second arrow to finish their lives. A welcome change from enemies such as the Daedra who had attacked the Imperial City, or the Ebon Moon and their minions.

Plunging into the sealed-off lower levels of the palace, Teresa found blade traps like those she had seen in Vilverin, as well as something new, poison gas. This she found welling up from spouts in the floor of several chambers. Cages of metal shaped like delicate flowing vines were suspended from chains above nozzles. It took the forester only a moment to realize what they were for, and she winced at the thought of what it must have been like for those consigned to the terrible fate of dying slowly in one of those cages.

Skirting the traps, she continued on, only to discover another old enemy. Zombies. She smelled the sickly-sweet reek of their withered flesh long before she saw them. With moldy skin, rotted clothing, and bits of armor rusting off of them, it was obvious they had been there for a long time. These were not so easily dispatched as the imps. Yet just as at Vilverin, she had little trouble staying out of the reach of the lumbering monsters while she filled them with arrows. She destroyed each in turn, until finally she reached the heart of the ruin.

There, in the royal storerooms, she found the treasure she had hoped for. An Ancestor Statue, glowing from the energy within the purple crystal of its central spine. Grabbing one of the four metal spines that surrounded the crystal, Teresa felt a chill seep from it, piercing even her leather gloves. She almost dropped the statue in surprise, yet in a moment the feeling passed, leaving the wood elf to wonder if she had only imagined it.

Teresa found that the sun had slipped far to the west by the time she rose from the depths of the once great city. The Ancestor was securely tucked away into her pack, along with numerous plundered welkynd stones, and several vials of imp bile. Washing her hands in the lake, she set about cooking her mudcrab with her Flare spell and ate dinner.

It was time to get back to the Imperial City, she thought, imagining Simplicia's face when she showed her the money she would make from just the Ancestor alone. One hundred gold septims! She had never even seen so much money in her life, and this was only the beginning. There were eight more statues to go…

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 30 2020, 02:34 AM

[Acadian]

This was a very tightly wrapped chapter. Teresa approached, pondered, conquered, explored, looted and ate lunch. Lots for one episode yet, at no moment did I feel rushed. Everything flowed with perfect pacing. I believe this is due to your choices about what to include and what not to. Well done!

I can feel Teresa's fascination with the Ayleids, their culture and cities.

I loved your insight regarding imps and the possibilities involving their heritage. Of course the best part is. . . IMP CHIPS!!!

Uh oh. It seems perhaps another meeting with the creepy source of coinage, Umbaccano may be in the offing. Teresa's intent to use the gold to get a place for Simplicia warms my heart.

I'm pleased that you intend, at your own pace of course, to let us come along with Morcant to Anvil. I look forward to it.

Nit?

Plunging into the still-sealed off lower levels of the palace,

I honestly don't know what is correct here, so let me simply share with you that I stumbled over it. In thinking about it, I believe shifting the hyphen's location would let it sing to me: 'the still sealed-off lower levels of the palace. This is an area of grammar where I am simply going by 'gut', so feel free to disregard.

[treydog]

Teresa’s thoughts on Nirn taking everything back into herself were quite pleasing. Of course, the disappearance of the bronze and other metals- and even some of the stones- may have an additional explanation. The Coliseum in our version of reality was used as a de facto quarry for many years. Still, the world has many ways of healing the “blemishes” mortals inflict upon her….

Equally interesting were her musings on the origins of imps- and how those stocky bodies are held aloft by their relatively puny wings.

Cages of metal shaped like delicate flowing vines were suspended from chains above nozzles. It took the forester only a moment to realize what they were for, and she winced at the thought of what it must have been like for those consigned to the terrible fate of dying slowly in one of those cages.

Teresa’s speculation about the purpose of those cages matches my own. But maybe we are both wrong and those fun-loving Ayleids just used the chambers to find an altered state of consciousness.

I wonder if Simplicia will react to the money as Teresa expects... or if she will be more concerned regarding the source?

Nits:

I also tripped on the phrase the Acadi-editor noted. And I endorse his suggested fix. Another option would be to delete "off" and render it as "still-sealed lower levels...."

…what mortal's did to it.

Those apostrophes are sneaking in again. It may be time to borrow Morcant’s friendly wolf to sniff them out and eat them. And when he shows up, Teresa can say- “So, Tsume.”

It was time to get back to the Imperial City, she thought, imaging Simplicia's face when she showed her the money...

"imaging" is acceptable there, I think... but I believe you meant to type "imagining" and that voracious wolf gulped up the second "in".

This post has been edited by treydog: Sep 28 2010, 06:20 PM

[haute ecole rider]

what a wonderful foray into another Ayleid ruin!

Julian doesn't like them - they give her the heebie-jeebies (of course, the Julian that is speaking to me has had a few of them under her belt - starting with Miscarcand).

The thought of the world going on and reclaiming what was once taken is profound - and quite true.

I agree with Acadian's nit. I also have another one:

It was time to get back to the Imperial City, she thought, imaging Simplicia's face when she showed her the money she would make from just the Ancestor alone.

Imaging is quite a modern term and sticks out to me in this wonderful passage. I would imagine that imagining, or perhaps picturing would be more effective and more TES-relevant.

Onward, our dear friend! Only eight more to go!

[Destri Melarg]

All gone, the forester thought to herself, the victim of time and elements. Until she had seen it happen to Sedor, she never would have imagined how devastating ordinary wind, rain, and plants could be. But now she could not escape the truth that no matter what mortals constructed, it would all be taken back by Nirn one day. The thought warmed her heart. It was good to know that the world would always go on, regardless of what mortals did to it.

Despite the voice of Eric Cartman ringing in my ears: “Hippies!!”, I can still appreciate a perfectly structured paragraph. Since the others already commented on it, allow me to simply echo everything they said.

In addition to the speculation regarding the origin of imps, your description of the smell of a zombie was great! I always thought that the smell would be the first indicator of their presence.

And trey raises an interesting point. How will Simplicia react to Teresa’s sizable purse? I remember that she is barely comfortable letting Teresa stake her to a meal, let alone a house.

[Remko]

I have to be frank, her duality when it comes to killing animals still jars me. She won't kill wolves/deers/whatever and you claim she's a vegetarian but on the other hand she has no problem killing and eating mudcrabs and fish. Are those lesser beings? What is her justification?

Nitpicking apart, I like the tone you set. No matter what mortals would make, Nirn would take it back eventually.... very nice

[SubRosa]

Acadian: I had forgotten all about Imp Chips! That was a challenging segment to write, as it was basically something extra tacked onto the beginning one of the old chapters (which starts this segment). There was just no way I could get around Teresa visiting Nagastani, given that the last time she was out this way she made a note to herself to explore south of the Blue Road. And well, that is the big thing there. Besides, it also keeps her quest to find the Ancestors ongoing.


treydog: Good thought about the Colosseum, the very statue (colossus) outside of it that gave it its name was cannibalized!

You raise a good question about how Simplicia will react to Teresa's coming wealth. But then again, she will not know until Teresa tells her...


haute ecole rider: I saw a rather interesting program called Life After People, that described how long it would take for the things we made to fall apart. I was surprised at how quickly many things crumble and vanish. Like stone buildings, and concrete highways. They used the abandoned Russian cities around Chernobyl for some of the basis, and it was stunning to see how dilapidated they have become in just a few decades of abandonment.


Destri Melarg: You gave me a good laugh with Cartman. Maybe I will have Vols say: "You will respect my authoritae!" in one of the upcoming chapters!

The zombie smell was a bit of an afterthought I added in during one of my later drafts. Just as you said, I was thinking you ought to be able to smell them from a way off.


Remko: I would say you hit the nail right on the head with why Teresa has no qualms about eating crabs and fish. Welcome to inconstant beliefs. Deer and bunnies are cute and cuddly. Crabs are definitely not! To go into a little more depth, Teresa feels empathy with animals such as mammals. She can imagine how they feel. I tried to show that in the previous chapter, when she felt bad for the rabbits that Tsume ate. But on the other hand, she feels no empathy with crabs or fish. She just cannot identify with them.


Next: Teresa cleaned out Nagastani in the previous segment, now she continues west to the shores of Lake Rumare, and another ruin.


* * *

Chapter 17.2 - Learning The Hard Way

Teresa slowly waded through the knee-deep water within the bowels of Castle Magia, trying as best she could not to make any splashes or waves. Thanks to her goggles the world around her was reduced to a dull grey, with only a few muted colors standing out. Yet without the Night Eye power the headgear conferred, she would not have been able to see a thing in the inky darkness through which she trod.

The goggles revealed for a corridor that was cut from large, square blocks of stone, turning to end in a massive set of double-doors. Built to withstand a siege, they were bound in iron and made of wood enchanted to resist fire, frost, and even aging.

She knew because before venturing within, she had asked the spirits of the land. They had shown her the craftsmen and guild mages laboring over the construction of the fortress. It must have been well over a thousand years ago. She imagined sometime before the coming of Reman and the Second Empire, but after the fall of the Ayleids. Unfortunately spirits did not keep calendars, so there was no way for her to be certain just when.

She had seen it garrisoned for what must have been centuries, if not longer, before finally the Imperials just packed up one day and left. The spirits did not know why, nor did they care. They only knew that once the iron-clad men were gone, they were free to reclaim the wrought stone of the castle for their own. Which they had slowly and inexorably done for millennia.

She knew that she should have ignored the abandoned fortress and continued across the lake to the City Isle. But after what the spirits had shown her, how could she resist venturing within the remains of the castle to investigate? There was no telling what treasures might lurk within, and every one put her one step closer to making Simplicia's dream come true.

The Imperial Legion may have abandoned the fortress, Teresa thought, but it had not remained empty. There always seemed to be bandits or goblins in places like this now. She only wished that the land spirits could show her more about the recent past. Yet they seemed to notice changes only slowly. Teresa was not surprised. They were beings that must measure time by the thousands of years, if they counted it at all. What was a few months or even years to them? Not even the blink of an eye.

So while her spiritual communion could tell the forester of the distant past, it could not reveal to her the present. That she had to discover for herself. She had found the current inhabitants of the ruin dead, yet that had only made them more dangerous. Looking down at the shattered human bones under the water at her feet, she cautiously poked the remains with the toe of her boot to make sure they no longer moved of their own accord.

She had only faced skeletons once before, at Vilverin, and not many of them even then. Seeing that first skeleton in the upper halls of the castle had really done wonders for her heart, Teresa thought. She was not sure why they rattled her so. The zombies did not bother her, except for their smell of course. Perhaps it was the bare skulls of the skeletons, she mused. They seemed to grin back at her in the darkness, as if they knew some secret she did not. Perhaps the knowledge of what she would look like once the flesh had been picked clean from her own bones…

Thankfully the skeleton and its other undead brethren did not seem to be aware of things very far from them. They no longer had eyes, so they must not be able to see her, she reasoned, likewise with their other faculties. Just how they did sense things she had no idea.

The skeleton had certainly noticed her after she had put an arrow through its breastbone! Teresa thought as she stared down at the bones strewn about her feet. Thankfully she had been able to kill it with two more arrows before it could reach her. Nobody moved very fast in knee-deep water after all. She had been forced to backpedal to escape from the other skeletons she had encountered in the drier regions of the castle overhead, so she was glad for the flooding.

Once more she silently thanked Aelwin for his gift of the Jewel of the Rumare, thinking of the turquoise ring hidden under the leather gauntlet on her left hand. Without its protective magic her bow would have been useless after swimming through the corridors that had been completely flooded by the nearby lake. Not to mention the damage the water would have done to her leather armor. Instead her bow, arrows, and armor were completely dry and sound, even the parts still submerged, as was the rest of her.

Teresa gently pushed at the door and found it swinging open with a creaking of wood and metal. Well, at least it was not locked, the forester thought. She must have picked more locks in this castle than Methredhel usually did in a week! She had never imagined that growing up on the streets would provide her with such valuable skills, yet the more time she spent in old ruins like this, the more she saw how useful being able to sneak and pick locks were for someone in her new line of work.

Was this what the Emperor had seen for her, when they had met that fateful Second Seed night? Even months later, she could still hear his words just as clearly as if he had only spoken them a moment ago: "You have no idea what you can do," the Emperor had said to her, "but I do."

The thought of the great old man made her eyes moisten, and a hard lump form in her throat. The wood elf shook her head to clear his memory from her mind. This was no time to be letting her mind wander, she knew. She had to concentrate on the ruin, or she might find herself walking into a trap.

Continuing on, she found another corridor spreading out before her, branching into side passages to the right and left after a short distance. Regularly spaced alongside the walls of each corridor were rectangular blocks that rose from the floor and supported ornately carved stone coffins. Cobwebs drooped from the ceiling, and there was not a single light or sound emanating from the area.

Great, Teresa thought, I found the tomb. The perfect place to be in a ruin already filled with undead.

She moved slowly and carefully down the corridor and paused at the intersection to peer around the corners. The side passages held naught but more coffins, and were silent in either direction. Teresa continued forward alongside the caskets, hoping that their residents would remain in their stony homes.

She came across a longbow floating in the water, its bowstring long since snapped. It did not look as old as the rest of the ruin, but the stave was still badly warped from the moisture. Moments later the forester came upon the bones of an arm and hand lying on the floor further along the hallway. She wondered if they had belonged to the bow's former owner as she continued down the corridor.

Screenshot

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Jul 30 2020, 02:35 AM

[treydog]

She only wished that the land spirits could show her more about the recent past. Yet they seemed to notice changes only slowly. Teresa was not surprised. They were beings that must measure time by the thousands of years, if they counted it at all. What was a few months or even years to them? Not even the blink of an eye.

There is just something about that passage that I like…

Seeing that first skeleton in the upper halls of the castle had really done wonders for her heart, Teresa thought. She was not sure why they rattled her so.

Pun alert!

The memory of the Emperor is a good moment, though I think he saw much more for Teresa than she yet realizes.

There is a good bit of musing on her own mortality here, which is a good thing, in that it can keep an adventurer alive. And the floating bow, with its disembodied arm seems almost a bit of foreshadowing…

...through which she tread.

My gut says “trod,” but maybe it’s just growling because I took a walk instead of eating. CF: The phrase from the old hymn- "where bright angel feet have trod."

[Acadian]

Very rich with spooky atmosphere and Teresa's observations on time, decay and the undead.

I liked her observation that knee to waist deep water certainly slows charging enemies.

Teresa, I'm not buyin' that you go into these places only for the gold. There are easier and safer ways to fill your coinpurse, young alchemist. C'mon - you know you get a thrill from the unknown and the danger! Not to mention the curiosity that Morcant already pointed out to you. And even a bit of satisfaction from putting arrows to foes. Seriously though, her admirable desire to improve Simplicia's lot is heartwarming.

Just be careful, and keep those goggles on!

[haute ecole rider]

What a wonderful description of Castle Magia! As I recall, it is one of the ruins I've never explored. Why? I don't know. As much as I hate Ayleid ruins, I think I've explored more of those than I have of the forts. To me the Ayleid ones are beautiful in a horrifying way, while the forts are more just dingy.

Still, reading this makes me want to fire up my Dunmer character (my jill-of-all-trades one) and explore the place.

I've been ninja'd by Treydog in picking out my favorite moments in this chapter, so I'm just going to endorse his wise comments.

[Destri Melarg]

I don’t think I have ever expressed my admiration for the gadgetry that you have given Teresa. I know the goggles are a mod, but they are incredibly useful. The first thing that I do when one of my characters gains access to the Arcane University is enchant a ring or a necklace with night eye. Those goggles accomplish the same effect while also leaving room for precious rings and amulets. As to rings; the ingenious Jewel of the Rumare in the TF is an item that proves essential every time it is mentioned. Who wouldn’t want a ring that could keep you and everything you own dry even when submerged, while also providing the ability to breathe underwater.

So while her spirit communion could tell the forester of the distant past, it could not reveal to her the present.

It is always nice to see limitations imposed on magic. Here you draw a clear separation between Teresa’s spirit communion and her dream flights. I find it interesting that she can use her spirit communion to view the past, and her spirit guide to see the present (as she did at the Battle of Bruma). I am sure that, as we continue with her story, we will find out why she can do the one at will, but not the other.

A small nit:

The goggles revealed for her a corridor that was cut from large, square blocks of stone, turning to end in a massive set of double doors.

Simply a matter of style, but having already established the goggles in the previous paragraph, ‘for her’ in this sentence is unnecessary.

[hazmick]

I've missed out on commenting for the past two chapters but I'm here now Both of these chapters were brilliant and the points I would have made have been picked up by my fellow readers Teresa's thoughts on the skeletons were great, awesome writes!

[SubRosa]

treydog: I suspect the Emperor saw much more than Teresa yet realizes too! That little bit with her thinking of him was something I put in during one of my new edits to this old chapter. I realized it had been a long time since we saw Teresa thinking about him, so I wanted to keep him still there in reader's minds (and show Teresa has not forgotten him).


Acadian: You gave me more than a faint smile when I read what you said about Teresa not doing it for just the gold! Perhaps someday Teresa will acknowledge that, but not today.


haute ecole rider: The forts, with their low ceilings and dark textures, seem really drab and cramped to me. Where the Ayleid ruins have the light colored walls, the lofty, vaulted ceilings, lots of space, and little artistic touches everywhere. That is why I prefer the latter.


Destri Melarg: I am rather proud of Teresa's gadgets, in that none of them are the 'standard' things you would expect, such a magic weapons. Rather they simply let her see in the dark and function underwater. (I do not really count the armor she had, because it was so brief, and it was really meant to only last that one fight in the IC). Simple things really, but she uses them to the most of her advantage.

I am trying to keep the spirituality from becoming too much of an edge. If Teresa could see everyone and everything inside a ruin before she set foot in it that would be too overpowering of an advantage. Really the only reason I incorporated her spiritual communions were so that she could find out the names of places she explores. Although I am glad I can use them to add a bit of history and 'texture' by showing how the places used to look before they fell apart. Likewise with her vision of Bruma, that has only happened once, and is not likely to ever do so again, as I am keenly aware of how that could become overdone. Only if something really important were happening that she was somehow wrapped up in/connected to. Not to mention that her seeing it would have to advance the plot somehow, or give me a better way to portray events.


hazmick: Thanks haz. I wanted to have something to show that this is scary business, so back in Vilverin I decided to have skeletons really frighten Teresa. Not because of anything to do with how they fight, or how dangerous they are. Just because of how they look. They are the stuff of her nightmares.


Next: In the previous episode Teresa began exploring the ruins of Castle Magia. Now she finds that she has gotten in over her head...


* * *

Chapter 17.3 - Learning The Hard Way

A dim light spilled into the hall from around a corner at its far end, and Teresa drew an arrow from her quiver and set it to the nock. A moment later the author of that light floated into sight, and Teresa felt her heart double its pace within her breast.

It was a glowing, humanoid form, missing its body from the waist down. A haze of what seemed to be mist clung to it like a grim halo. Its face was smooth and nearly featureless, yet it did have eyes and a mouth, or at least darker regions where they would be. Its gaze fixed directly upon Teresa. Then its mouth opened in what might have been a warning, or a battlecry, yet no sound came forth.

Screenshot

It was a ghost, she thought, what else could it be? Raising her bow and drawing back the arrow halfway to her chest, she steeled herself to take her time and focus on the center of its form while she let half the air ease from her lungs. Only then did she pull the string all the way back to her cheek and loose. Not taking her eyes from the monster, she immediately reached for another arrow.

Screenshot

Teresa's heart sank when she saw the steel head of her arrow pass harmlessly through the body of the ghost and emerge from the other side. A second later it struck the stone wall at the end of the corridor and snapped in two. The ghost itself did not seem to notice, but it did begin to float down the corridor toward her, arms reaching out greedily for her flesh.

Teresa took a step back and fired. Again it had no effect as it passed through the ghost, which was drawing closer and closer with every breath. What in Nirn was she supposed to do against that! she thought in growing horror, her arrows were useless!

The ghost drew its arms back for a moment, and a brighter point of light formed between its fingers. Then it threw both hands forward as if pushing something, and that bright spot of light came rushing out. Teresa reflexively ducked down into the water as the ball of energy shot past above, and she felt a chill pass over her as it did so.

She rose from the water, and knew that the moisture she felt on her brow and in her palms was not from the waves, but from her own sweat. She had to do something, she thought, or she would not live to see the light of another day.

Then she remembered her Flare spell. The image of it sprang immediately into her mind, and she gathered her magicka within her. She threw one hand out in front of her, willing the energy to pour from her fingers and erupt into a small ball of flame. A moment later the magical energy flew down the corridor and sank directly into the glowing form of the specter.

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Screenshot

Its spectral body seemed to dissolve around the flame, as if turning to steam. But the fist-sized ball of fire did not consume the entire ghost, only a small portion of it. Still, the monster reared back for a moment and Teresa saw its mouth open wide in what she imagined was pain. Then it threw both hands forward again and another of those balls of light came shooting down the hallway.

Teresa leaped aside as the energy came streaking at her. The water flowed around her legs as if it was not there, and once again she was thankful for the Jewel of the Rumare and it wondrous abilities, such as preventing water from impeding her movements. She breathed a sigh of relief as the sparkling white ball flew past her with a whooshing sound, and realized it was not made of light, but frost. For even though it had missed her by inches, she still felt the cold of winter sweep through the side of her body

Teresa continued to back down the hallway in the direction from which she had come. Spellcasting was not her strongest suit, she knew, it was only something she used when she did not have her bow. A real battlemage would probably make short work of a ghost like this. But she was not a real mage, let alone a battlemage. She could feel that much of the magicka within her had already drained away from just that one Flare. Would she have enough to kill it?

Her heel caught on something even as she focused another ball of fire upon the ghost, and she felt herself falling backward. Her fire bolt went flying into wall beside her as her arms reflexively shot out to try to keep her balance. The next thing Teresa knew her back was hitting the water, and a moment later the cold liquid flowed around her face.

Holding her breath out of reflex, she tried to sit up in the water and pull herself backward at the same time. Her head shot up above the waves in time to see a glowing hand with inhumanly long and slender fingers reaching down for her.

She threw up her left arm - still holding her longbow - to defend herself. The spectral claws of the ghost passed through the yew stave of her bow as if it was not there. Then the ghost's fingers were tearing into her arm like icy razors. She could not contain the scream that ripped from her lips as the bow fell from her numb fingers. It was so cold, it felt as if her very bones had frozen through.

She fell back into the water again, and was barely able to close her mouth before it washed across her face. She could see the bright form of the ghost reaching down once more and rolled aside. Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of its claws flowing through the stones of the floor where she had been moments before.

That is when she remembered that thanks to her ring, she could breathe water as well as move freely within it. Taking a deep breath, her lungs filled with welcome air rather than liquid. Raising her good arm above the waves, she focused on her spell and once more sent a ball of fire into the body of the ghost.

It reeled away with another silent cry, giving Teresa time to rise to a squatting position. Now she saw what she had tripped on. It was the same skeletal arm that she had passed by before seeing the ghost. By the Nine that was stupid of her! she screamed inwardly, to be nearly killed over such a thing!

The ghost was now coming back, and Teresa tried to muster up another Flare. Yet the magicka was not there when she reached for it, and she was forced to hastily draw her arm back as the ghost reached out greedily for her flesh.

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She scrambled to her feet and ran down the hall the way she had come, water splashing loudly with every step. Her left arm ached with cold, and hung limply at her side. When she glanced down at it she was surprised to see that the leather of her sleeve was unblemished.

Nothing physical seemed to be able to stop or harm the ghost, she thought. Well, no surprise there, it was a ghost after all. She needed time to regain her magicka, she knew, if it caught up to her before then she was dead. She knew that she had welkynd stones from Nagastani in her pack. Teresa knew that she could use one to recharge her energy. Yet she would have to take off her pack and go rummaging around within it to find one. What she really needed was something closer at hand, she thought, like a potion in one of her belt pouches... With that thought the memory of the potions she had discovered in the upper chambers came to her in a flash. Some of them had looked like sorcery draughts…

Glancing back down the corridor, she saw the ghost hurl another of those balls of frost. With a little more space between it and her, she had little difficulty in stepping out of its path. Then she turned once more and darted through the doors which she had entered through just minutes before. This time she was careful not to trip on the dead skeleton in the corridor beyond, and raced around the corner and down the hall. She knew the ghost was still after her, but at least the door and stone walls would probably block its frost bolts.

Stopping and turning once more to face down the hall, Teresa dug through her belt pouches with her good hand. She came upon one of her self-made healing potions and quickly drew it forth. Pulling out its cork with her teeth, she gulped its contents as quickly as she could and dropped the empty vial into the water.

Instantly her left arm warmed, and suddenly she could move the fingers of that hand again. It still ached with cold, but at least it was not the bone-freezing sensation that made her want to scream anymore. She was never so thankful that she had learned the art of alchemy as she was in that moment, and hastily dug for more potions.

She drew forth another bottle a moment later. It had a different shape than her own, so she knew it was one she had found in the ruin. Peering closely at its side, she saw the spiral symbol of magicka engraved upon its surface. Yes! she thought with exultation. She pulled forth its stopper with shaking fingers and emptied the liquid into her mouth.

She instantly felt energy rise up within her like a bubbling pot. The ghost came around the corner ahead of her, and she focused her mind on her Flare. Pointing her hand at the monster, she flung a bolt of fire down the corridor and directly into it. The creature recoiled again, then once more continued forward. It threw a ball of frost at her in return, and again Teresa dodged aside with ease.

It was a good thing those frost bolts were not as fast as arrows, she thought. Otherwise there would be no getting out of their way. She was just lucky that the ghost did not dodge her own shots, or she would never stand a chance. She thanked the Nine that the undead had no sense of self-preservation, at least not these ones.

She traded more balls of destructive magic with the ghost until finally it threw its arms up in the air and seemed to melt. The last she saw of it was its mouth open in a wide rictus of what looked like pain. Then its bright form winked out completely, and all that remained was a faintly glowing goop that floated on the surface of the water.

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This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 4 2010, 05:35 PM

[haute ecole rider]

Ah, yes, Teresa's first encounter with a ghost. I remember how heart-pounding it was the first time, and I still find it so this time. It has withstood the test of time (and rewriting of the story before it) very well, which I believe is testament to your excellent writing skillz.

Loved it the second time around!

[Acadian]

Oooh! This was exciting!

I loved how you presented Teresa's dawning realization that her simple bow and arrows did not affect the ghost. One of those 'Ahah!' moments.

Just a wonderfully written hostile encounter. Slow, my heart.

[treydog]

This is combat writing at its finest- Teresa is physically and even magically outmatched- but she uses her brains and her potions to prevail. Ghosts (along with Wisps) are one of those creatures which player characters often just have to run from... By focusing so intently on this life-and-death struggle, you give a real sense of urgency to the encounter. Wonderfully frightening.

[Destri Melarg]

This was just as good the second time around! Teresa’s wits earn her a victory where her weapons fail.

She thanked the Nine that the undead had no sense of self-preservation, . . .

I LOVE the irony of this sentence!

A nit:

That is when she remembered that thanks to her ring, she could breathe water as well as move freely within it.

That is when she saw what she had tripped on.

That is when she remembered the potions she had found in the upper chambers.

Coming in such close proximity to each other, the repetition of ‘That is when’ is a bit jarring.

[SubRosa]

haute ecole rider: Thank you h.e.r. Ghosts are one of the ways the game tells you that you have to step up in the arms race. When you come upon one and you have yet to get a magic or silver weapon, you suddenly realize "uh oh, I need to get some bigger guns!"


Acadian: Thank you Acadian. A desperate battle is what I was going for.


treydog: Thank you three dog. I really wanted to show that Teresa was in over her head. I am glad it came though.


Destri Melarg: I love that wry observation of Teresa's too! But some undead do have a sense of self-preservation. The high end skeletons will block your attacks, so they are clearly trying not to be killed (someone needs to tell them they are too late... )

Good eye on that repetition, I found two other examples you missed as well! I went back and adjusted things to avoid them.


Next: Teresa has barely survived her first encounter with a ghost. Now she must come to terms with how unprepared she really was in the conclusion to this chapter.

* * *

Chapter 17.4 - Learning The Hard Way

Teresa shuddered, and found herself falling to her knees in the flooded corridor. In spite of the potion of sorcery she had just drunk, she could feel that the magicka within her was completely expended again. Her arm was still freezing cold, and her heart pounded like mad within her chest.

By Raven! she thought, she had nearly been killed! If it were not for that magicka potion she was not sure what might have happened.

She had tripped on a damn bone! she thought, a bone! To think that she nearly died over something so simple and inconsequential. Was this how other fighters died? she wondered, over trivial little things like tripping?

She needed to pay more attention to what she was doing, Teresa thought. She had to stop being sloppy like that, sloppy and unprepared. That or she had to quit this treasure-hunting and go back to just harvesting plants in the forest.

But she needed that money if she was ever going to buy Simplicia's house, and she needed it fast. It would take forever to get it making potions. Every moment she wasted was another moment the old woman's dream went unfulfilled, and at Simplicia's age, she did not have many moments left...

With that thought Teresa hunted for another healing potion and greedily downed its contents. Her arm felt much better afterward, with only the memory of the cold still lingering within its flesh. She was going to have to start organizing the potions she carried by placing them in different pouches on her belt, she thought. One would be for healing, another for magicka, perhaps a third for shield potions.

Damn! she thought, she should have drunk a shield potion when she had seen the ghost! That might have protected her from its claws at least. She wanted to slap her palm against her forehead in disgust.

She no longer tried to be quiet as she moved back down the corridor. If anything else was back here, she knew that her screams and splashing had long since told it where she was. Coming upon the softly glowing liquid that had been the ghost, Teresa took one of her empty potion bottles and carefully scooped it up. This would be worth a few gold septims, she thought, for unlike many other alchemical ingredients, ectoplasm did not grow on trees. She might even be able to make a shock poison from it, assuming she could figure out how.

She continued back into the tomb and found her longbow. Without her ring to protect it from the water, its flaxen string was already soaked and stretched out to the point of uselessness. She only hoped that the stave was waxed well-enough to prevent it from warping, otherwise she would be in big trouble.

Pulling the ruined string from the bow and casting it aside, she drew forth a spare from her belt and fixed it to both nocks. Looking over the strung bow, it appeared sound to her. She raised it and pulled the new string back to her cheek, dreading the sound of a crack or feeling it pull to one side or another. Yet the stave flexed smoothly and straightly, and held firm as she maintained her draw. Satisfied that it was still good, she gently eased back on the string until it was at rest.

Then she continued down the coffin-lined hallway. She briefly thought about opening them to see what might be inside. But remembering the ghost and the skeletons she had encountered made her change her mind. The owners might not stay still once she opened those lids, she thought. Besides, the idea of taking loot from buried corpses just seemed wrong somehow.

She knew Methredhel would laugh at that. It was not like the dead had someplace to spend it, the thief would say. But then Methredhel would never be here in the first place, Teresa thought. Dungeon-diving was far from her idea of a good way to spend an afternoon. She was probably still asleep after a long night of pilfering the homes of wealthy Imperials!

The thought gave Teresa a faint smile as she reached the end of the tomb and found another pair of huge doors. These were locked, but the bolts were on her side this time, so she had little difficulty in throwing them open and pulling one of the doors aside.

Beyond the doors she found a large chamber that might have been a storeroom, given all the broken wood floating through it. A single, normal-sized door lay in the wall across from her, and near one wall she found a wine rack.

Peering through its contents, she found that most of the bottles were broken. However, she found two at the top that were still dry and intact. Pulling them down one at a time, she dusted them off and felt her heart leap at what she saw printed on the labels.

Shadowbanish, was the single word written across each in an elegant, flowing script. Another faint smile crept to Teresa's lips as she thought about the person who had asked her to look for that rare wine.

Nerussa, she thought, it looks like I will be seeing you again after all…

This post has been edited by SubRosa: Oct 4 2010, 05:46 PM

[haute ecole rider]

Aha! So we will be seeing Nerussa soon, I hope?

Yes, Oblivion is just one big arms race, isn't it? And yes, when you encounter your first wraith with only a plain iron or steel weapon, it's Yikes! time! We dressage riders like to refer to a moment like this as "a downward transition"!

The aftermath is compelling in its taking stock of WTF just happened? I love such moments - they add to our comprehension of the character's growth.