Shards of Broken Emperors/Playground 1, Vvardenfell: Roots of Sve'lkreen Options

[DarkZerker]

Riden's POV

"Well I'll be back out in a bit."

I headed downstairs to see Tess sitting on our bed sobbing, I wrapped my arms around her, "Come on, we're almost to our destination."

She looked at me with teary eyes, "Am I a bad parent?"

"No. If anything, I'm the bad parent." I said, trying to comfort her.

Tess' POV

When Riden wrapped his arms around me, I felt like I could just fall asleep and wake up in Seyda Neen without any mishaps. He got up and grabbed my hand, "Come on, I think we're almost there!"

I followed him silently and when we got out, the Altmer, Reguard, and Cyldreen were conversing. "Hey..." I said weakly, giving them a smile.

Riden went off to the bow of the ship and stared out on the island. I approached the three, "So..." I started, not sure how to progress.

[Dantrag]

Nelacar

Nelacar was about to answer the redguard, but the others approached. He gave him a nod, instead, showing his agreement.

"This ship is going nowhere with only us as a crew. We need to take the boats to shore."

Taking the initiative, he walked to the longboats. They were suspended in the air with ropes, and a pulley system would take them down to the water's surface. It was designed in such a way that the longboat passengers would have to board first, and someone staying on the ship would lower them. Whoever operated the pulley was going to have to get wet.

[ureniashtram]

[b]Cyldreen Mon'Cheri[/bi]

The Breton smiled when the High Elf went to the longboats. He knew what he was going to say, before he said it.

"This ship is going nowhere with only us as a crew. We need to take the boats to shore." it was more of a command rather than a statement. But, Cyldreen knew that Altmers were usually haughty.

The Breton raised his hand.

"Straight to the point, eh? I don't usually stay with a person who I barely know, no less to trust, in a bost. No offense, but who are you? What's your name and your reason ending up in the land of the Dunmer?" he looked at the Altmer up and down, and failed to notice the pair of wrist manacle that clung on both of his wrists.

"Are you a mage hired by Martin Septim to ..." he thought of this very well. Should he tell the Altmer the Roots of Svel'kreen or lie? The latter seems tempting, but his guts tells him to risk the former. And when his guts tells him something, he trusts it. His training as spy told him that. He made up his mind and cleared his throat.

"Are you, too, hired by Martin Septim to retrieve a certain gem? A certain gem by the name of Roots of Sve'lkreen?"

There. I just hope my guts is right. Last time I trusted it, I ended up being beaten by a mob of Bosmers.

He smirked to himself at the memory, but his eyes never left the High Elf.

[Dantrag]

Nelacar

Nelacar found it hard to believe that the breton had been hired to find the Roots of Svel'kreen, but then again, the Empire seemed to be on its last legs. Nearly all the provinces considered themselves independent now. Either way, his interest was piqued enough to at least act cordial around the breton.

"My name is Nelacar," he answered, figuring that none of his new acquaintances had spent enough time in Summerset Isle to know who he was.

"And while I'm just as loathe to trust you all as you are me, we need to at least help each other off this ship before we part ways. I'm no spy for the Empire--may it crumble--I was simply traveling to Vvardenfell before you all made it very difficult for me."

It may be worth trying to figure out what he knows of the roots, he thought, But for now, we really need to get off this ship.

[DarkZerker]

Tess' POV

"Uh...what exactly is the Roots of Svel'kreen?"

I didn't know what to say, I was only here to protect the ship and help Riden with his contract. The others were just wrapped up in some weird treasure hunt that neither of us could understand. Wonder what Riden's making of all this.

Riden's POV

I stared out on the island like it was a some sacred land. Then, my thoughts came back to the battle at the Norrian Plains in Skyrim and praying that something like that will never happen at Morrowind. From the news I heard from my contractor, Morrowind was under siege by the Argonians of Black Marsh.

"We're almost here..." I said, looking back at Tess.

[jack cloudy]

Kaye Soscean

"I normally associate roots with plants, not gems. But it doesn't matter. Never heard of the thing and I'm too old to go hunting the first shiny rock I hear about." He grunted, draining the last of his bottle. The alcohol dulled his senses, which suited him just fine. It put his stomach at ease.
"But let's not dally about here. Sir Nelacar is right. We need each other, at least till we reach dry land. So if you people have anything you want to take with you, pick it up now and drop it in the little boat. I'll operate the mechanism. And please for my sake, don't unhook the boat as soon as it hits the water. I would rather use the rope to climb down onboard rather than taking a swim. Especially since I've never tried the latter." The Redguard added. He tried to take another drink, but found out that the bottle was indeed empty. So Kaye shrugged and tossed the empty bottle away.

"Please be quick about it. Sooner or later someone is going to wonder what a sailless ship is doing just outside the coast and come to investigate. I'd rather not be here when that happens. You can talk as much as you like on the small boat or on the coast."

[ureniashtram]

Cyldreen Mon'Cheri

The Breton nodded his head in agreement to the Redguard. He then looked at the Imperial and Tess.

"Hey, Assassin. Why don't you walk with me to armory? You can help gather some supplies, and I can tell you all about the Roots." And with that, he started off and looted the Bosmer Captain's brigandine. One thought came over to his mind.

"What the Redguard said was right. We should hurry up. Riden, that's your name right, I'll tell you all about the Roots once we're on the boat. And surrounded by weapons. Come on." he broke up into a jog and went to the armory. He stopped and shot a glance at the others. "And I really think, we're lucky if some Argonian sea-scout don't spot us. Last I heard, those lizards doesn't bring their motherswamp with prisoners." he laughed to himself and continued jogging.

First things first, armor and weapons.

[DarkZerker]

Riden's POV

"Tess, do you mind coming with me?" I asked with a smile.

She returned the smile and nodded, "I'd love to!"

I gestured for the Breton to follow and Tess fell into step with me.

"Cyldreen, what are these roots and why should I care about them? I could care less if the Empire falls, I just want to support my sweetheart and son." I said, while Tess blushed a bit when I called her a sweetheart. She smiled and turned to Cyldreen, "So...why do you care about the roots, seems like they're for noble knights."

This post has been edited by DarkZerker: Aug 13 2010, 08:22 PM

[ureniashtram]

Cyldreen Mon'Cheri

All the pestering questions about him and the gemroots, the Empire.. It was driving Cyldreen mad! But then again, the Breton knows that himself. When he's in a middle of fight.

"I'm hardly a knight, let alone noble. But then again, I'm a mercenary. Didn't you hear what I said?" he kept his tone calm and cordial, but let loose the sarcasm. "All I can tell you right now about the Roots is actually a gem. Yes, a gem. I don't know why, but the Argonians," he stopped mid-sentence as he stumbled upon the corpse of the smilling captain. He grabbed the spear by the haft and, with one feet on the Wood-Elf's face, pulled.

Bits of skull and gray matter rosed like a sudden fountain, and it stained Cyldreen's face. With a dismayed and frustrated hmph, he wiped it off. He began stripping the dead of it's shirt and brigandine. He nodded in satisfaction.

"As I was saying, the Argonians revere it as something of a gift from the Hist. Enough talk, Raiden or Riden or whatever. Strange name for an Imperial, but that's irrelevant. For now, we got some lenial work to do. It involves small crates being filled with weapons. Or bags being filled. Choose your pick, as I hells ain't going to take the former. Then after we're floating on water, I'll tell you about the gemroot."

[DarkZerker]

Riden's POV

When the Breton was pulling out the spear, I felt Tess cringe and stiffen before recoiling back when the skull fragments were spurted everywhere. I kept my arms around her and followed the Breton down to the armory.

A couple cannonballs, Tess' armor and weapons, and my armor plates were there. I quickly grabbed what I could and handed Tess her stuff. After getting armored, I started to load all the guns we didn't take and some swords/blunt weapons for extra protection.

"We've got it loaded and prepped for the boat."

[ureniashtram]

Cyldreen Mon'Cheri

"Good, then. You two go on ahead. I'll have to go raid the cafeteria for supplies. Not to mention extorting the resident healer for medicinal things." and with a nod, he picked up another messenger bag dangling from the wall and further descended.

Wait. I almost forgot the Imperial Seal!

He retraced his way and entered his room. He opened the drawers and searched in every corner. It was gone, no stolen! Somehow calming his panicked mind, he catched his thoughts and drawed every person he knew to connect the dots.

The Redguard? Not likely.. Riden and Tess? No. What about that Legion soldier who suddenly disappeared? From what I gather, those Imperials aren't xenophobic enough to raid somebody's quarters. The Altmer is out of the question ... Then, who?

It dawned on him and he searched the indigo brigandine of it's every pockets. He was so rushed, he stumbled upon an inside pocket. Curiously digging inside, his hands felt not one but two letters. The first one was the Seal, but the other was made of cheap paper with inks splotched on the side.

He opened it and suddenly wished he hadn't. It contained his true identity! He burned it to the last ash and with a snarl ran to the cafeteria. Something about that letter made Cyldreen go cold and angry, but nonetheless placed it aside as he entered said cafeteria.

It was obviously empty, save for the occasional rats and all. He ignored them and broke into the larder, taking every food and beverage he found to his messenger bag. It would last them weeks, he thought.

He then made his way to the healer's room. Unsuprisingly, it was locked. Smirking to himself, he backed away a few feet and charged with his spear aimed at the bolt. It sent shockwaves through Cyldreen's arms, but the job was done. The Orcish tip annihilated the steel lock.

"Who's there?!" an alarmed and paranoid voice suddenly boomed, painfully female. Cyldreen could care less about her gender, and as he kicked the door and entered, uninterested Breton became agitated Breton.

"Another Bosmer?! I don't have predjustices on you wood-suckers, but what the kinky hells?!" for moments, Cyldreen's chest rised up and down, before he calmed himself and his tone became suprisingly calm. "But I digress. Give me your whole batch potions. All. Of. It." the blonde wood-elf nodded with gusto and filled Cyldreen's bag with an assortment of potions.

"Good." he simple said and turned to leave, but not before a sheepish grin came on his mouth. "Oh, and I almost forgot." he swirled suddenly and grabbed the wood-elf by the shirt. Ignoring her pleas, he went to the cages and threw her in.

"Hopefully, when the Legion arrives on the scene, they won't find you a crumpled mess with some sailors grinning stupidly. You should be thankful of that." and with a whack on her head with a nearby pipe, he ran towards the stairs and ascended.

[minque]

Serene

It had been a long day. She had left Ald'ruhn early in the morning, taking the Strider to first Balmora, where she had visited Nalcarya's store to refill some of her medical supplies, then she continued to Seyda Neen.

Thavere was in a bad shape, the old lighthouse keeper suffered from gout due to the endless climbing of the many stairs in the lighthouse to keep the fire burning. Also she got a severe pneumonia, the damp and cold mists of the Seyda Neen took its tribute out of her.

Serene had done what she could for Thavere at the moment, tucked her in good in warm blankets and gave her some appropriate potions to ease her breathing. What the lighthouse keeper really needed was to quit her onerous job and let someone else take over, but who?

Serene climbed the stairs to the lantern and after attending to it she sat down beside it, looking out over the sea, remembering another night she had spent up here....over 20 years ago, when she had arrived here, not knowing why...She closed her eyes and felt the wind on her face.

What waked her up, she didn't grasp, but something caught her eye...a flickering light far out at the sea.

Must be a boat..but why would there be a boat out there at this time?

Serene shrugged, she had a bad feeling in her back, something was going to happen, and that something was not entirely good, no on the contrary...

I don't like this one bit....

[jack cloudy]

Kaye Soscean

For some reason, as soon as the trio ran off, Kaye felt a cold chill travel down his spine.
"Why oh why do I get the feeling I really don't want to know what they're up to?" He muttered. His eyes drew back to the broadsword the assassin had tossed him during the battle, and the pistol he'd discarded. He frowned but after a moment's hesitation, he walked over to pick them up. After carefully removing the piece of flint and shaking off any last traces of the black powder, he rehooked the small bags and tucked them behind his belt, handling the gun all this time as if he was touching a slimy slug.
"There is always use for flint and this...thing might come in handy for hunting purposes and protecting onself against the wildlife. I've heard there are some nasty beasts here." He thought as he tossed the sword into the boat. The assassin would probably want it back and Kaye was not going to provoke him by leaving it on the ship.

"Alright, I don't have any personal possessions to bring along so all that's left for me to do is to check the mechanism. And hope those two have enough sense to bring along items one would use to survive wherever we're going to land. I've got the feeling their thoughts never wander far from who they can kill and with what. As for the woman..." He sighed, speaking half to himself and half to Nelacar.
"Well, apart from not knowing how much sense she has, it doesn't matter when she doesn't get to give her opinion."

[Dantrag]

Nelacar

Nelacar shrugged, "If she had an opinion, she would voice it. She chooses to take someone else's, and that seems to be the way of things. In any case, I'm itching to leave and see no reason for this delay. We should have been gone minutes ago."

Nelacar tossed his small bag into the boat and leaned on his staff while he waited for the others, "And don't worry; I'll make certain you don't get left after lowering us."

[DarkZerker]

Yay, a dead RP -_-

Tess' POV

Riden softly grabbed my arm and pulled me into a kiss. I felt my cheeks go hot, "Um...what was that?"

He smiled and pulled me towards the boat, "What? An assassin can't be a good husband?"

I snickered and pushed him into the boat. He grabbed me by the waist and gently lowered me down and handed me a small pistol, "It's for your protection, take it."

The flintlock looked really old with a small carving in the barrel that read, "Please keep this safe"

I smiled and tucked it in safely while Riden started to load the boat with all our gear.

Riden's POV

After a long time in loading the boat, I gestured to the rest of our crew, "It's all prepped for take off. Take whatever you have that isn't here and let's go."

Tess looked uneasy and was starting to shake, "Tess, what is it?"

"I feel uneasy with that Altmer."

I pulled her in close to me. "Don't worry about it, you're just being paranoid."

Tess started to pace around in the small wooden boat and looked agitated, "Come on! Let's get the stuff here already!"

This post has been edited by DarkZerker: Aug 18 2010, 04:25 AM

[ureniashtram]

I hearby invoke the Spell of Threadnomancy!

Cyldreen Mon'Cheri

The Breton returned to see the boat all tucked in and prepared. Shrugging, he slinged two of his messenger bags to his shoulder and stroded up to the rest of the group. He noticed, from the corner of his eye, that the Assassin seemed to be uneasy towards the High Elf.

It certainly contradicts how he said that the Altmer was interesting earlier. No matter.

Nervously clearing his throat, to which he doubt was real, he said;

"... Who's gonna pull the lever? I sure ain't gonna do that," and with that, he walked towards the boat and carefully placed his belongings. He wouldn't want the potion vials to be smashed. His spear, pistol and war-axe followed.

"Well? Anyone?"

[jack cloudy]

OOC: Yeah, sorry about that. I got a bit distracted by finding my old cds of wing commander 3.

Kaye Soscean

Kaye raised his hand when the last of their motley crew arrived.
"I already volunteered for the task a while back. Now make yourself comfortable. I'll try to be gentle." He said and chuckled.
"Though I'm also lacking in experience regarding this mechanism so don't be surprised if one side hits the water before the other and all your belongings spill overboard." He added and for a moment, he was almost tempted to do just that on purpose. It would be a nice way to get rid of all the weapons they'd loaded. Almost, the likely response was what made him decide against it.

"By the way, sir assassin. I've put your sword on the boat. It's probably buried under all those bags by now. Just so you know in case you want it back. Not that I see why you would need it, what with having brought along enough weaponry to outfit a small army and all." He grunted while unlocking the pulleys.
"Alright, she's going down now. I'll try to keep her slow and steady but be ready to help out with the balance! Make sure the weight is divided evenly across the boat!"

This post has been edited by jack cloudy: Aug 18 2010, 08:42 AM

[DarkZerker]

Tess' POV

I smiled and headed towards the left side and gestured for Riden to go on the other side.

The boat was evenly weighted and a bit load of stuff was sitting smack dab in a middle.

"Let it go!"

Riden leaned on the small bow, "Tess, have you ever thought about what it would feel like to actually get to Morrowind?"

I nodded and hugged the stern end of the boat, "Yeah...but for now...LET THE BOAT SAIL!!!" She commanded and giggled a bit.

This post has been edited by DarkZerker: Aug 20 2010, 04:29 AM

[Dantrag]

Nelacar

Nelacar took a seat in the boat next to the breton, and the redguard lowered them down. It was a bit of a bumpy ride down, but not unreasonable. The boat hit the surface of the water, so he called up to the redguard.

"I'll loose the ropes once you come down! Hurry!"

He was anxious to be far away from the ship, and even more anxious to reach Morrowind.

[jack cloudy]

Kaye Soscean

"Alright, I'm coming!" He shouted back and took one last glance at the deck. The spilled blood and corpses made him want to puke but he forced away the urge. Right now, feeling sick was not a priority.
"Nothing I can use in sight...Ok, let's get away from this floating tomb." He muttered before carefully stepping over the railing and grabbing onto the rope.

The Redguard lowered himself slowly till he stepped onto the wobbling boat. He sat down quickly before he had a chance to loose his balance and took one of the oars.
"So, any preferences for what direction to move in?"