Jerric's Story, A Nord's Adventures in Cyrodiil Options

[Grits]

Previously: Jiv Hirtel told Abiene where to find Dar-Ma and confirmed that Valdi is alive. He left to attend the village Gathering. Abiene must rescue Dar-Ma from the caverns before the villagers sacrifice her to their Deep Ones.

Acadian: Jiv did seem like a frenemy! He sounded quite willing to offer Abiene as a sacrifice if he could have gotten away with the switch. Abiene shares your hope most fervently. She is about to do all of the things she would advise others to avoid, and without any spells. Thank you, Acadian!

ghastley: I'm sure she thinks she sneaks far better than she does. Too bad she can't try that persuasion wheel! Thank you, ghastley!

Everyone: Thank you for your patience with irregular updates. I'm taking two classes that will be over in a few weeks.

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Chapter 21: Underneath, Part Fifteen

Moonlight flooded the village circle. Movement in the shadows between buildings told me that the villagers were heading to the chapel. At least two carried torches. I slipped around behind the inn, taking care to place my feet toes first. I had been sneaking out of the house since I was barely a teenager, but always with my spells to lean on. My muscles felt stiff. No prayer to my patron Lady of Love and Beauty seemed appropriate to this situation.

The back door was locked. Muttering a curse that I would never be caught saying aloud, I made my cautious way to the front. As I crept along I considered the potential location of the inn's entrance to the caverns. Though I had not explored what I assumed to be the kitchen, I recalled that only one rug graced the ground floor. It was placed behind the front desk. My guess was that it covered a trap door.

The main door was still unlocked. I handled the latch carefully to prevent a loud click. As I paused in the entry to let my eyes adjust to the dim light, a panting sound broke the silence. It came from behind the front desk.

Though my impulse was to leave swiftly, Jiv had told me that the trap door here was the closest to where Dar-Ma was being kept. Sliding my feet to avoid creaking floorboards I approached the desk, crouching so that whatever lay beyond would not see me.

I reached the counter, thighs quivering. The noise had stopped. With one hand braced on the edge, I slowly raised myself high enough to peek over the top.

Sprawled over the rumpled rug and most of a trap door lay a very large dog. Great scaly patches covered its skin. A pale substance oozed from the side slits of its nostrils and tumbled from the corners of its eyes, which were fixed on mine. Its ears, the floppy kind that normally beg for a gentle rub, tipped forward. It rose to its feet, lip silently lifting over horrifying teeth.

The size of this thing! For an instant we stood frozen. Then like a rabbit I bolted back to the door.

It came for me without a sound but its claws going over the counter then a thump on the spot I occupied a heartbeat before. The dog was too close for me to open the door and get through before it was on me. So as I yanked it open I slid behind the panel with my back to the wall.

I am slim, but not so much that I could flatten myself entirely against the wall behind a door. My side was exposed to the dog's teeth and claws. Even as I imagined the wounds such a creature could cause, the dog ran silently through the open door into the night.

For a breathless moment I stood rigid. Then I remembered, Toby was out there. And Blossom.

I pushed the door away and ran out into the moonlight. The dog was not in the village circle. Feeling more naked than a Dibellan priest on Morndas, I sprinted around the corner to protect my rented horse.

It was difficult to see but I made out Toby standing still hitched to the post with his head lowered. A snuffing sound came from his direction, and then an answering, equine snort. Toby stood nose to nose with the giant dog. Its thick, partially hairless tail waved gently as it greeted my horse.

"Thank Kynareth and all her happy little creatures," I whispered, though I doubted that the mother of nature had much to do with dogs and horses. I cautiously put my hand out to the dog for a sniff. When it shoved its great head under my palm I gave it a pat while my other hand scratched its throat, avoiding the rivers of stinking excretion. It leaned into my hands. "You poor thing. What in sixteen hells is the matter with you?"

I had no time to savor my untorn skin. The Gathering was in progress, and the Brethren and the rest of their congregation would soon make their way through the caves from the chapel's direction. Thankfully I hadn't dropped Jiv's key. My heart still pounding, I dumped out my satchel. With the main compartment empty it was easy to reach the few magicka potions tucked in their pockets. My fingers brushed the handful of scrolls left over when I gifted my scroll case to Jerric. They weighed next to nothing, so I left them in their loops. An empty potion pocket was the right size to secure Jiv's key.

As I slipped back inside the moonlit inn, I had an alarming thought. Jiv said the Brethren could see in the dark. I doubted they had placed lanterns and torches throughout their caverns for my convenience. Vlanhonder must have acquired that trait, for there was no source of light on the ground floor. The stub of a candle in Dar-Ma's ransacked room came to mind, but it would not last long. I needed to find a house where someone lived who was not so far gone that they could see in the dark. Someone like Marta or poor Ruby, but hopefully closer to the inn.

Before I left in search of light, I unlocked the trap door. Even if I entered the caves through another house, I would have the inn as a backup retreat. Though how I would recognize it from the underground side, I had no idea.

I crept to the back of the nearest house like a thief in the night, which is exactly what I was. Peering into the black rectangle of the uncovered window, I felt foolish. Of course I could see nothing. Even I wouldn't have wasted a candle in a vacant room, and in all my gentle upbringing I had never seen an empty candle box. It seemed an unthinkable violation, but I sneaked through the unlocked rear door. A quick fumble over cupboard, dresser, and table yielded a splinter, a barked shin, and a handful of crumbs. The mantle and hearth were empty.

The next house had two dark rooms. When I found a tinder box I took it, then eased into the front room in search of candles. Praise the Blessed Lady, I found one! I gathered up a chamber stick and two short pillars that had been stuck by their own wax to a pewter plate. Since I couldn't light a candle with a spark, I went to the hearth. Someone had laid a fire for morning. I groped around and made a small pile of tinder and kindling, then slid open the box to get out the flint and steel.

Into my palm dropped a small bundle of sulphur-tipped matches. I nearly laughed out loud. I struck a match and lit the chamber stick, tucking the materials back into the tinder box and sliding the lid shut.

I paused, looking at the box in my hands with its wolf head scratched into the metal. It took a long moment I couldn't afford to waste for me to realize the cause of my fascination. I had seen this box before in a pair of rough, Nordic hands at the beach hut in Anvil. And again, lighting the fire in Seed-Neeus's rental cottage before returning to our bed. This was Jerric's tinder box. He had begun scratching the design with the tip of his knife after Kvatch fell. How in the name of Stendarr had it gotten here? Jerric was supposed to be in Bruma!

Though I wanted to run through the village shouting his name so that I and by extension Dar-Ma and Valdi might be saved, that was a childish dream. I was the rescuer now. I tucked the tinder box into my satchel and keeping low to shield the light from beaming out the uncovered windows, looked for the trap door that should be present in every home.

This house was no exception. The trap door was in the middle of the front room not even covered by a rug. Jiv's key fit the lock.

The lock clicked, the trap door creaked, and I dropped my legs into the black square in the floor before my shivering mind could let loose with a scream. Closing the door while still on the ladder was tricky, but I managed not to fall or set my hair on fire.

My candle's light showed a dirt-floored cave with wooden supports spaced a dozen paces apart throughout. It would be easy to become trapped down here. I picked up a chunk of dried soil and scratched a mark onto a nearby post.

The air smelled damp even though the floor was dry where I could see it. Cairn bolete mushrooms and wisp stalks grew around the support posts. That low, rhythmic rumble teased the edge of my senses. Not exactly a noise, but a vibration in my chest.

I took a moment to orient myself so that I would move back toward the inn and thus closer to Dar-Ma. Within three full paces I could see the far wall. A few steps in each direction revealed that I was in an empty chamber with two dark openings in the walls. I walked to the right-hand doorway and was about to step through when a woman spoke from the other direction. "I can hear you out there, fetcher. Open this cage so I can kick your skeeving arse again. Troll-kin! Kurarukkanen!"

The voice was familiar, the accent pure Skyrim.

[ghastley]

I assume that the voice is Valdi, but she may have just alerted the Brethren. Still, if Abiene can release her, she's a possible ally. And hopefully Dar-ma is in the same cage, so they can all leave together.

[Acadian]

A close encounter with a big unhappy dog – and no magic for a charm spell. Clever ducking behind the door as the dog went straight outdoors. No surprise that Abiene's first thought would be for the safety of the horses. Happily, the creature seemed fine with horses.

Next, the need for fire – since (again) no magic for a night eye or even a light spell. Jerric’s tinderbox? Hopefully that is a good omen. Sulphur-tipped matches are a whole lot closer to magic than creating a spark from steel and flint.

And finally, down into those scary underground tunnels. I’m with ghastley in suspecting the voice belongs to Valdi. And since she’s caged, she's likely not aligned with her captors - hopefully she can be a much-needed ally.

[ghastley]

It just came to mind that the tinder box may have been one of the items Jerric put in the backpack for Valdi back in 2012. He would have stopped using it once he knew a basic fire spell.

[Grits]

Previously: Abiene entered the caves under Hackdirt. Someone (it's Valdi) called out some curse words from the next chamber.

ghastley: Abiene shares your hopes along with concern about the yelling! Thank you, ghastley!

Acadian: Abiene likes dogs but is not at all a dog person. She probably peed a little but would never admit it. If it had been a sickly cat jumping over the counter, she'd have tucked it into her satchel. Thank you, Acadian!

ghastley part 2: You got it, that tinder box was in the pack Jerric put out for Valdi to "steal" outside Hrotanda Vale, posted when today's high school students were toddlers. He knows a bunch of ways to start a fire including waiting for Lildereth to do it, so he didn't mind letting it go.

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Chapter 21: Underneath, Part Sixteen

"Valdi?" I tiptoe-ran through the doorway. Here was another cavern, smaller than the last as I could see the stone walls by my candle's light. In the center of the room stood a metal cage of the type used for dog runs. Kneeling inside because it was not tall enough for her to stand, was Valdi.

She gripped the bars with bloodied fingers. "Oh miss, you shouldn't have come here! They'll get you, too!"

I placed the candle on the ground and put my hands over hers, feeling instantly the grinding hollow when I tried to cast my healing spell.

"It must be night," Valdi whispered. "I'm so thirsty. He'll come soon with the drink. Quick, get me out!"

I tore my eyes away from her battered face and looked for the lock. Jiv's key wasn't the right type to fit. Frustrated, I yanked on it, though I knew it would do no good.

"Hinges!" Valdi clawed at one with broken nails. "This one don't even have a pin in it. Find something to take apart the hinges!"

I looked at the hinges for a moment, then blankly at Valdi. For all my arcane education, I could no sooner have diagrammed a hinge than call back the setting moons.

"Look, look," Valdi said. "Poke something up here and then pull the pins out. Then I'll kick open the door."

I didn't have to search for something that would fit into the hinge. The firesteel was thin enough to get the pin loosened. Once I'd poked it up, Valdi pulled it out. Then she inverted it and used it to work at the top hinge. "All this time," she said, "all this time for want of a stick." When she handed me the steel, a funny look came over her face. "That's my tinder box. Were you in my house?"

"I must have been," I said, dropping it back into my satchel. "That's the house whose trapdoor I came down through. Don't kick it. We can't afford the noise." The two of us grabbed the door and lifted.

Valdi fell heavily twice while trying to get to her feet, both times with me failing to catch her. She was tall by Nord standards, and even thin as she was she outweighed me.

I held on to an arm to steady her. "Have you seen Dar-Ma? She's an Argonian lass."

Valdi lifted her chin toward the doorway I had not come through. "Last night I heard noise from that way." She stumbled back the way I had entered.

"Valdi, wait!" I called after her. Valdi got through her hard life without the use of spells. Even in her weakened state, she was better equipped to deal with this situation than I. "We have to save Dar-Ma! I need your help!"

Valdi bounced off the support posts as she ran into the dark. Most of me wanted to flee after her, holding the light for both of us. I couldn't blame her. Cornered and caged she had kept fighting, even though it would have been more prudent to submit. I hoped that wounded but indomitable spirit would carry her far from here.

I also hoped that our noise hadn't attracted the attention of any underground Brethren. Perhaps they were still in the chapel. I continued in the direction Valdi had indicated, passing through more small caverns with black door-sized holes in the walls. Darkness seemed to press in around my small circle of candlelight. The smell of damp grew stronger. Mist drifted at ankle height in one chamber, then crept to my thighs in the next.

Light flickering in a doorway made my stomach flutter. Shielding my candle as best as I could, I peeked in. "Dar-Ma!"

She stood inside an enclosure that had been built against a nook in the rock wall. A lantern hung above. Two more cages occupied opposite corners, both empty.

Dar-Ma stopped prying at the boards and grabbed the bars. "Abiene! H-hurry! These creatures are going to do something horrible tonight!"

"Oh my dear friend, are you all right?" I hadn't the heart to tell her that night was already upon us. This lock looked similar to the one on Valdi's cage. I placed my candle on the ground and addressed the hinges.

"The k-key!" Dar-Ma said. "It's right there! It's been driving me batty, I've been staring at it this whole time!"

I followed her pointing claw to a stool a few paces away from the cage. "Mara's heart, finally a break!" When I turned back around with key in hand, cold rushed over my skin.

A man stood in the black doorway, bulging eyes squinted against the light. His wide mouth gaped open in a toothless chasm that almost completely separated his upper and lower face. Flaky blotches of gray made a patchwork of his skin. The man who followed me to the cemetery was merely a villager on his way to becoming one of these. Here was one of the Brethren.

He raised his club and ran at me.

I lunged for the cage door, knowing as I had above with the dog that I was not fast enough to make it. But I managed to thrust my hand holding the key through the bars. Dar-Ma wrapped her hand around my fist. As my fingers opened, the Brethren creature dragged me back away from the cage.

Shoved to the cavern floor, I caught myself only inches before my face met rocks. The candlestick spun past me, its flame extinguished. As I rolled to the side, the club hit the stone beside my leg. Then he was on me, his foul breath a green mist in my face.

I didn't have to endure a second lungful of that repulsive fume, for his hand on my throat cut off my air supply. For an instant I thought he would smash my head with his club, but instead he lifted me off the ground just enough for my toes to barely touch with my kicking, and in a feat of strength at odds with his frame, carried me at arm's length into one of the empty cages. Here I was flung to the floor hard enough to crack my head against the stone. Bright stars danced across the sudden darkness of my vision.

Through my gasps and coughing I heard the cage door slam and the lock click, then the club's head scraping along the floor as he walked toward Dar-Ma's cage. Dar-Ma was still within it, pressed against the back wall. The man-creature checked the lock on her cage, banged his club against the bars making both of us flinch, and then climbed up the cross-bars of Dar-Ma's cage high enough to blow out the lantern, plunging us into darkness.

By the time I got my breathing under control, the dragging sound had faded into the next room, and possibly beyond. That rhythmic thrum had gotten more intense, a nerve-shredding slow pulse of evil.

I pulled myself up by the cage bars, now feeling scrapes and bruises. "Dar-Ma, I'm so sorry. I came to rescue you! And now they have both of us!"

"Hush, my friend," her sweet, raspy voice floated through the darkness. I heard industrious shuffles and a click. "He didn't notice I have the key."

We were quickly reunited, clutching each other by the shoulders. "They cursed my magicka," I said, sounding too much like a whimper. I straightened my spine and continued in a firmer tone. "We'll kill ourselves running around here in the dark. They can see us anyway. Let's get those candles lit."

As I reached into my bag for the other candle, I realized that the darkness was far from the utter black of an unlit cellar. A pale, greenish light shone through the mist along the floor. I waved my hand experimentally. It seemed the light came from the mist.

Thankfully the tinder box with its bundle of matches was still in my satchel. Now I understood the battered appearance of so many of Jerric's personal items. When one is smacked and dragged around on stone floors, it takes a toll on one's belongings.

With one candle lit it was easy to find the one that had been kicked over. Dar-Ma took a moment to relieve herself in the corner of the cave, as her captors had not provided a privy bucket. I danced with impatience and regret that I had not brought more supplies. In my haste to reach Dar-Ma and Valdi, I hadn't even filled a water skin.

My concern was well founded. Before we could escape, light filled the doorway. "You were right to interrupt," said a man's voice. An instant later he strode into the room, trailed by the Brother. "Well, well. The little bird got out of her cage. That's what happens when you can't keep track of your keys." He tossed his torch to the floor and drew a mace from its loop on his belt, spreading his arms out as if shooing chickens. "They need to be alive. Now, back into the cage, little birds. Nice and easy."

This man's calm assurance frightened me as much as did the Brother's wordless, inhuman mouth. I had been told several times over the years by those who love me never to be taken alive by anyone. Better to die fighting on the spot than much later after untold torment. But I had a mage's smug certainty in her spells. I had never raised a hand to seriously hurt someone, much less picked up a weapon to fight. I put down my candle and stepped away from Dar-Ma, hoping that one of us would get past the men and away. Dar-Ma put down her candle and disappeared.

"Run," I shouted, hoping to cover the noise of her feet on the stone.

"Fobbing lizard!" The man stepped back to block the doorway. "Get her!" he yelled, pointing at me with his mace.

Maybe she slipped past. I gave my attention to getting smacked around again by this shirtless Brother. I did not want to die down here, so I was going to have to fight.

My exercise routine focused on flexibility more than fitness, but I was quick and stronger than I looked. Still, after a brief chase around the wooden stool that had once held the key, the Brother had me by the hair and was dragging me toward Dar-Ma's cage. The man in the shirt encouraged him with shouted instructions, at least I assumed that's what the noise was about. With my scalp feeling like it was peeling off my skull, I wasn't really listening.

On the way past the wooden stool I hooked it with my foot. It didn't slow our advance. When he tried to push me into the cage, I stuck with him like a burr. He let go of my hair and punched downward at the side of my face, causing a fresh constellation of stars in my vision. My blind flailing caught his leg. He dragged me two steps into the cage, staggering as I tried to trip him.

"That's it!" crowed the other man. "We still got one!"

An unholy shriek sounded from his direction. The man stumbled sideways waving his club impotently in the air, for Dar-Ma rode his back as if he was a rented mule. Bloody streaks appeared across his skin as she clawed his chest and neck. The shrieks continued over the man's shouting. That sound came from Dar-Ma.

The Brother made to shove me to the floor inside the cage, but I had not surrendered. As I clung to his legs, he lifted the club over his head. I let go and rolled. The club clipped his knee, and he went down howling.

Now we were both on the ground. I braced both feet on him and pushed myself backward. Once through the cage door I kicked it closed, then rolled into a crouch. Realization flooded his misshapen face. We both lunged for the latch with its lock. Our hands closed over it at the same time. Mine were underneath. I closed the lock with a satisfying click.

There was no time to celebrate. The blood-streaked man was nearly upon me. "Wait!" I cried, right before he swung.

Everything seemed to slow down, as if in a dream. The motion started with his elbow, then traveled to his wrist. I turned desperately to the side, but the mace caught me high along my ribs. I'll never forget the sight of him standing over me with a leg drawn back, ready to kick me right where the mace had struck.

Then surprise came over his face, and he fell to his knees. Valdi appeared behind, flinging an arc of red off her axe. He turned his head just in time to receive the next blow across the side of his neck. The third impact split his skull like a thick-rinded melon. For a moment the only sound was spatter and our labored breathing.

Then Valdi spoke. "I guess I ain't married no more."

"You came back!" I said from the floor.

"Sorry it took so long. That fetcher Etira had my axe."

[Acadian]

Superbly written! You show us how very ill-prepared Abiene is for any of this lock-picking, skulking, fighting business, and the resultant vulnerability of a pure mage without her magic. Happily, Dar-Ma was an asset once freed.

I was disappointed that Valdi ran off, but that disappointment was cleansed by her triumphant return at the end of the episode.

The trio Abiene has just assembled does have some capabilities. Valdi has an axe -and she knows how to use it. Dar-Ma is level-headed, clever and has claws. Abiene has a few matches/candles and boundless courage to get this far. Nevertheless, this might be a great time to escape?

’Now I understood the battered appearance of so many of Jerric's personal items.’