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

[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.’

[Grits]

Previously: Abiene rescued Valdi, who left. Then Abiene rescued Dar-Ma, but they both got caught. As the two fought a Brother and a not-yet-Brother, Valdi rescued them by killing the not-Brother (her new husband). Abiene is down, and the Brother is caged.

Acadian: I went through some editing gymnastics to make sure that Valdi's departure and Valdi's return appeared in the same episode! Escape is definitely on their minds. Thank you, Acadian!

.

Chapter 21: Underneath, Part Eighteen

Dar-Ma appeared at my side as I struggled to my feet, putting her shoulder under my good arm. My stomach heaved at the pain.

Valdi picked up the torch. "Are you all right, miss?"

"No. But I soon will be."

The stars that had marked my birth and claimed me for the Ritual had given me two unique abilities. I could call forth the Blessed Word and turn undead creatures away, which frankly was not very useful to me. With Mara's Gift I could cast a powerful healing spell upon myself without tapping into my well of magicka. Once I used a star blessing, I would not be able to use it again until the Ritual had passed over me and renewed it. There was no point in worrying about future injury. I needed healing now.

I concentrated on the place within my chest where I felt that my strength lay, ignoring the reflexive impulse to reach for my magicka. The power of Mara's Gift billowed around me in a glittering swirl of light. Fractured bone and torn tissue knitted together.

Valdi and Dar-Ma looked at me and then at each other.

"We need to get out of here," Valdi said.

Dar-Ma picked up the club, and I took Valdi's dead husband's mace. The Brother in the cage had been muttering as we arranged ourselves. Now he let loose with a furious howl.

Shouts answered him from the doorway through which Valdi had come. The direction in which we hoped to find escape. "Oh no," Dar-Ma gasped. "Oh no, oh no!"

"Which way is the inn?" I asked Valdi. "I unlocked that trap door!"

"I don't know. We have to go deeper." Valdi led us into one of the dark openings that I had not explored. The cavern narrowed into a corridor, sloping downward. "They'll have their worship first," she said over her shoulder. "They're scared to call the Deep Ones without the ritual. Maybe we can double back."

She took us around enough twists and turns that I no longer feared our light would be seen. That rhythmic thrum became something close to the sound of deep, sonorous breathing. The mist thickened as we descended. Growls echoed through every chamber and passageway.

"Are they chasing us?" said Dar-Ma.

"Wait!" I reached into my satchel. "Let's give them some distractions." I cast a scroll into the darkness. A spectral lute appeared, glowing a soothing shade of blue. The strains of my favorite sonata filled the air.

Valdi's brows went up. Then she ducked into the next chamber.

Soon the sounds of our passage were covered by a slow waltz, a variety of sparkling dazzlers, and two birthday greetings in my Papa's voice. A pang of guilt shot through me as we made our way underneath the village. Not only had I not traveled home to celebrate in person, but I also hadn't bothered to use his scrolls. Well, now seemed a perfect time.

The breathing became a rumble inside my chest. Mist drifted around our legs in thick swirls.

"We're near the well," Valdi said.

We stepped into a round chamber with smooth walls. In the ceiling a circular hole rose into darkness like a chimney. Below it stood a raised ring topped with flat stones, many speckled and smeared with old stains. Mist pulsed over the edge in time with the rhythmic rumble.

"We're underneath it," I said, looking up.

"Always did give me a creepy feeling," said Valdi.

"Is there water down there?" asked Dar-Ma.

Valdi looked into the well. "Not now there ain't."

Despite possessing sense enough to flee, I stood beside Valdi and looked in.

A swirling panel of green-streaked black filled the well about a dozen feet below us. The mist pulsed out with every exhale. Its pale, greenish light showed tendrils of ropey matter growing around the panel. Framing it. Most of what I knew about daedric realms and portals came from Jerric's tales and Darnand's discussion of them. My scholarly inquiry into such things had always been limited by my interest, which had suddenly increased. "It's a portal," I said. "I think this is a Gate to Oblivion."

Guttural voices sounded in the shadows around us. One and two at a time, shirtless figures stepped into our circle of light, blinking their bulbous eyes against it. The Brethren had arrived. Each of them carried a club.

"They're going to put us down that pit!" Dar-Ma wailed.

Valdi raised her axe. "They can try. Not all of 'em's gonna make it."

We had armed ourselves, but we were sorely outnumbered. My face felt almost numb. "There are too many. We can get thrown through that Gate after these monsters break our bones, or we can go on our own and see what happens."

Dar-Ma's orange eyes were so round, they looked like marbles. She took a hissing breath. "I'm with you."

Valdi threw her torch at the nearest Brethren and grabbed Dar-Ma's hand. She stepped up onto the edge, pulling us with her. "Ready?"

"Jump!" I cried. The Brethren's growls turned to shouts of triumph as we fell.

With a sickening whoosh the darkness changed to lurid green light. We rolled onto an uneven, spongy surface, coming to rest in a tangle of limbs. The air felt damp and warm. That same mist swirled and drifted to a height even over Valdi's head. The Gate's circular pane stood vertically here, framed as in the well with some dark, vine-like growth. The breath sounds had faded to a low rumble. With each pulse, the Gate drew mist into itself.

"Another fikken cave." Valdi pushed herself up, axe still in hand. "Skitt."

"This could have gone quite badly," I said.

Dar-Ma closed her mouth and opened her eyes. "Where are we?"

This cavern bore little resemblance to the one under Hackdirt. Glowing yellow slime dripped down the walls into puddles. Dim light showed far above, perhaps from some kind of ceiling. Luminous mushrooms grew to the height of my thigh all around us, crushed where we had wallowed on them.

I brushed my arms and shook off my skirt. "There should be a tower somewhere with a sigil stone holding this Gate open. Let's find it."

A lad's head popped up from the mushroom field. "Valdi?"

"Pavel!" Valdi kicked through the mushrooms. She pulled the boy into a hug.

"I knew you'd come find me! Is Marta with you?"

"No," Valdi said. "She… We run off after they took you. To find help. Marta got away."

I moved carefully to Valdi's side. "I'm Abiene. We're here to help. Are you hurt?"

Pavel shook his head.

"I'm Dar-Ma." My dear friend knelt to look Pavel in the face. "We're going to escape now, Pavel. You can be a big help. We need to find…" Dar-Ma looked over at me.

"A sigil stone," I said. "Perhaps in a tower, holding this Gate open. Have you seen anything like that?"

Pavel shook his head again. "You can come out now," he said over his shoulder.

A man stood up out of the mushrooms about a dozen paces from us. "Did you bring any bread?" He shuffled his way over, seemingly unconcerned about Valdi's raised axe. "I've only seen caves. Caves and fog and mushrooms. Do you have any food? Maybe some bread?" He wore a stained coat over his shirt and breeches. His beard looked patchy, and his eyes showed evidence of the Brethren's infection.

"We don't have any food," I said. "Who are you? How did you come to be here?"

"My manners," he said with an ironic little bow. "Forgive me. My name is Dario Rossi. I attempted to trade with those wretched fiends in Hackdirt. They stole my horse, locked up my dog, and threw me down their well. And so now I am here to greet you." He looked hopefully around at us.

"I ain't got no bread neither," said Valdi.

"Ah. Well."

"Me and Marta and Ruby stole your horse back," Valdi continued.

"And yet… you are here?"

"They caught us," Valdi said. "Shot your horse out from under Ruby while we was getting away."

Pavel piped up. "But they didn't catch Marta?"

"No they didn't." Valdi ruffled the lad's hair. "She was too fast for ‘em."

Dario rubbed his hands over his face.

"Sorry about your horse," said Valdi.

The paint hide stretched to cure that made me think the villagers had butchered Blossom must have been from this man's horse. I decided not to mention it or the lonely, infected dog. "What do you know about this place?"

Dario's reply died unspoken. He bowed and shuffled away to the side.

"Pilgrims!" said a voice. "And you appear undamaged! Excellent."

[Acadian]

The trio sets off and it seems the way out is more down first. I laughed over Abiene’s eclectic collection of ‘distraction’ scrolls.

Uh-oh. Hopelessly surrounded. The only option is through that portal that may very well lead somewhere worse! Whew! They survived the fall into who knows where. And even found a couple of allies.

Looks like someone new just entered the scene. Hopefully another ally?

You do a really nice job of showing us the distinctively differing personalities/natures of our trio - Abiene, Dar-Ma and Valdi - through their actions and speech.

[ghastley]

Abiene has assembled an interesting group of companions for the next part of her adventure, as well as giving us an intriguing location for it. The portal resembles an ESO gloaming gate to Evergloam, but with tentacles suggesting Apocrypha, and they land in mushrooms more like you'd find in the Shivering Isles (or Vvardenfell, which wouldn't be quite the same). No flames in the portal, so no Sigil Towers here, but it's somewhere Pilgrims visit.

I'll have to wait to next week, assuming the editorial gymnastics are complete.

This post has been edited by ghastley: Apr 15 2026, 08:10 PM