Postcards from Tamriel, Stories and such that fall somewhere between a snippet and a thread Options

[Acadian]

By Dibella's silky britches! I've gone and let Buffy miss acknowledging Jerric's birthday by a day! Buffy and I hope the big Nord had a wonderful day, filled with mead, cake and undaunted plunder boxes.

[Renee]

By Dibella's silky britches! I've gone and let Buffy miss acknowledging Jerric's birthday by a day! Buffy and I hope the big Nord had a wonderful day, filled with mead, cake and undaunted plunder boxes.

Yeah, hope you had a good one, Jerric.

On my old phone I actually had several of my characters' birthdays in there. Kahreem is September 3rd I think, for instance. But that phone bit cyberdust and I haven't continued the habit. I still have 'em all written down though, or typed up into Notepad pages.

I guess it's easy for you, eh Acadian? You only have one character birthday to remember, and I know she's in April. April 19th, right????

[Grits]

Thank you, friends! Jerric did have a fun dungeon birthday with plunder boxes to open. He got a kick out of everyone getting plunder presents on his birthday!

[Acadian]

Glad Jerric had a nice birthday!

Yes, Renee, Buffy's birthday is April 19.

[mALX]

Aw, I missed Jerric's Birthday! Sounds like he had a great one! Happy (belated) Birthday, Jerric!

[treydog]

So here is a (very short) snippet from my current writing project. In which one of the characters, Sigrid Guldmanen, explains how she came to leave home.

-------------------------

Sigrid stared off to the north for a moment before she explained, "Weel, it was all doon to Wilhelm Hrodbert, my far cousin. The sea near to oor village had just froze o'er, an' so they was bettin' on when it would be safe to cross on the bay on the ice. So that was when Willy Rob said... 'Hold me mead an' watch this.' As ye might expect, his ability to gauge the thickness o' the ice was... nae sa guid. Still, t'would o' been all right- I think.... he had enough drink inside o' him that he weren't feelin' the cold when he broke through. A' course, we tossed him a rope, ye ken. And he grabbed it.... But then, the spekhval grabbed him... I s'pose he looked like a valtaross or such like, splashin' aboot like he did."

I nodded sympathetically. "So you came here to get over the grief?"

"Nay. Or perhaps I did. Ye see, everyone felt I should o' stopped the idjit fra bein' a idjit. It was easier ta leave than ta tell 'em that I woulda had to have drowned his da afore Willy Rob was born ta manage tha' trick. A' course it didna help that I asked if they were wantin' me ta fly oop ta the moon and bring 'em back some cheese ta go wit' their whine... “ So here I be. Bryn followed. Said he had ta 'Look oot fer his near-sister.' Oh aye. It only made sense tha' the onliest man in the village with the sense ta bang two rocks together should leave. They had already lost their idjit. And the competition fer his replacement was goin' ta be fierce."

[Grits]

Thank you, treydog!! I love it!

[Renee]

Looking forward to your writing project, Trey. What sort of accent is that Sigrid is speaking?

[treydog]

Looking forward to your writing project, Trey. What sort of accent is that Sigrid is speaking?

Oh- that's "Mock-Scots." (Kinda like the "Mock Swedish" spoken by the Muppets' Swedish Chef.) Everyone knows ™ that RPG Scandinavian/Norse/Nord/Lannach/Norlander characters speak with a Scots brogue- sometimes slipping into Irish (if the writer has dialect dyslexia). This is apparently due to the fact the Americans find a Scots accent inherently humorous- and also because (other than using a lot of umlauts), have no idea how to illustrate a Norwegian or Swedish dialect.

[Renee]

This is apparently due to the fact the Americans find a Scots accent inherently humorous-

I find Scottish accents alluring. Thanks for the explanation.

This post has been edited by Renee: Apr 8 2022, 01:14 AM

[treydog]

This is apparently due to the fact the Americans find a Scots accent inherently humorous-

I find Scottish accents alluring. Thanks for the explanation.

Well yes- that too. My "source" is mostly Terry Pratchett's Nac Mac Feegle. If I ever get the books done, there is a fair amount of Sigrid (as well as the "near brother" to whom she refers). He manages to call Athynae a "gret wee harridan" and get away with it- mostly because she isn't sure what he meant.

[Acadian]

My dear friend Jerric,

I am delighted to realize that today marks the anniversary of your birth. I consider myself a lucky elf to know you. When you’re around, you always make me feel safe, protected and like a lady. I find that remarkable because I know that such gentlemanly behavior does not come naturally to you. I take it as a high compliment indeed that you always manage it around me. I assure you that your consideration for me is returned in full measure and I count myself lucky to know you.

Here's hoping for a wonderful day full of mead and ladies also full of mead. And deep water over the edge of the cliffs you so love to jump off.

Affectionately, Buffy

[Acadian]

Dear Jerric,

Another birthday for you! Fortunately for us Tamrielites we don't really age, do we? Here's hoping your day is full of sweetrolls, cool streams and shade from tall trees.

Your friend over the years,
Buffy

[Grits]

Dear Buffy,

Your birthday greetings found me in a land of red rocks, tall cactus, and even taller palm trees. I had been wandering a while looking for a way to get around a ridge with a minimum of broken legs, when I came across a rockslide that had filled in a narrow valley. I could hear water and Flash could sure smell it, but there was such a tangle of brush it would have taken me half the day to hack through and then maybe still have to dig for it. So instead we spent half the day getting up past the slide. There we found a clear green pond with water birds and rushes and tiny plump fish that glitter blue in the sun. We drank our fill, then I made camp, and then we drank our fill some more.

I spent that night in the peaceful company of my horse and my dog. There was no waterfall that I could see, but the sound of it under the rocks was still a comfort. I lay back and watched the sparks fly up from my fire like a stream of light while the stars showered down from Aetherius. Coyotes sang on the ridge and crickets made their racket in the rushes. Then Ulfe started to snore. By Mara, she really lets them rip. I wondered if she’d cause another rockslide.

Then your kind birthday wishes reached me and for a moment I felt like you were right there across the fire. Your friendship is a treasure I hold in my heart. Shade and sweet water to you, dear Buffy.

Your friend,

Jerric

[Renee]

Buffy, eh? Ha. So... you're the slight elf I've seen here and there, from a distance and sometimes up close. Roaming around Cyrodiil on your fancy steed, tempering your latest fancy bow, assisting those who need it, and punishing those who get in your way. Uh... 'tempering'. Probably not the correct term. Hey, I'm not the adventuring type! Prob'ly I'd shoot myself before I could hit anything with that gleaming piece on your back.





You don't know me, but now I know you, and uh.... maybe we should keep it that way. I've been known by many names: Kasmir, Vincent the Spice Merchant, Bargo the Redguard, and so on. But my real name's gotta stay a secret for now. Just until that guard over there stalks off. Guards, ya know...?

Hmm. Seems like he's looking right at me. Uh oh. He is! Hey, gotta run. You know how it is! ... Hmm, well maybe you don't.

[Acadian]

[Acadian]

Dear Jerric,

Has it been another year already? I hope your birthday finds you enjoying perhaps a day of cliff diving followed by an evening of cake, mead and tavern maids.

I think of you often and always imagine you in some cold snowy place.

Be well and enjoy your day, my friend.

Fondly, Buffy

[Grits]

Dear Buffy,

Your kind birthday greetings put a smile in my heart. You reminded me how we both enjoy a waterfall, though you dance at the bottom while I hurtle off the top. Come to think of it, we have a few other things in common. We’re both sun-tops, sometimes don’t fit on Imperial furniture, and— Well, there’s a page in Darnand’s notebook about it. I’ve been telling him my stories. Here it is.

Sweet water and good hunting to you, dear Buffy.

Your friend,

Jerric


***

20 Sun’s Dusk, 3E421
Kvatch

Jerric jogged down the stairs in his socks, remembering to be quiet until he hit the bottom and slid where Marcus had spilled the floor wax last spring. He could hear the woodcutter’s lass already stacking the day’s supply into the wood box. He moved easily through the rooms in the near dark. After all he had lived in this house his entire life. Eighteen years to the day.

Birthdays at home meant a family dinner. All who were in town would gather this evening to celebrate, tease him, and enjoy his favorite meal. Jerric’s favorite meal was to be surprised, so even he didn’t know what they were having. That would be tonight. This morning he had plans.

Rhano wasn’t going to like it. Their friendship had been strained since the summer. Rhano had joined the Fighters Guild when he turned eighteen as the two of them had always planned to do. Jerric had taken a few days off to stay with him in Anvil. They had moved Rhano’s things into his new quarters and then gone out to celebrate.

Their festivities began at the Frisky Kitten but swiftly moved to the Castle Anvil dungeon courtesy of the City Watch. In the morning they stood before the constable in their torn and bloodied best tunics, explaining the altercation at the brothel, the brawl in the street, and then the fight inside their jail cell. Rhano’s career with the Fighters Guild had begun with a reprimand and probation. Jerric had tried to pay back Rhano’s birthday money since their fines were mostly Jerric’s fault. His friend wouldn’t take it. Rhano was still angry.

Jerric’s boots and cloak were on the side door bench. Wary of birthday pranks, he approached with uncharacteristic caution. One boot had a sweet roll stuffed into the toe, and the other held about an inch of apple jelly. He guessed the jelly was Willem’s doing, but the sweet roll could have been anyone. His cloak was neatly stitched together the whole way down the front. That was surely his Ma’s handiwork. He chuckled as he stepped into Willem’s boots, licking jelly off his fingers. So far they hadn’t slowed him down. He tossed the sweet roll to the nearest dog and slipped cloakless into the frosty morning.

It took a quarter of an hour to reach the market stalls and get his breakfast. Plenty of time to flirt with the kahve sellers, then chat with the bookseller sweeping her step, and then buy kahve and a roll for the city guard heading home from her night shift. Of course it would have been rude to let her eat alone, so he had another.

The sky was pinkening when he reached the familiar broad steps. Inside, the scents of solvents, herbs, and ancient books made him grin. This must be the best-smelling guild hall in Cyrodiil. In Kvatch they made the necromancers practice outside the city.

A blonde woman strode into the entry as if on the way through to another chamber. Her gown was brilliant blue and made of velvet, marking her as a noble or a member of the intellectual class. She wasn’t much older than he was, but she already held respectable rank.

She stopped when she saw him. “Jerric! You’re out late.” She took in his fresh shave and clean shirt. “Or is it already morning?”

Jerric kept his gaze on her warm smile and not on her neckline. “Hello, Sigrid,” he said. “Today’s the day! I’m here to join the Mages Guild.”

[ghastley]

“Jerric! You’re out late.”

That's Jerric, all right!

She took in his fresh shave and clean shirt.

That's not!

[Acadian]

What a fun snippet that Darnand managed to capture, highlighting both Jerric and Buffy are in the same guild.

A birthday dinner to mark the big day! Better than an apple jelly and sweet roll a la boot breakfast.

’Their festivities began at the Frisky Kitten but swiftly moved to the Castle Anvil dungeon courtesy of the City Watch.’

Joining the Mages Guild is a wise choice. After all, he and Rhano have pretty much sullied their reputations with the Fighters Guild.

Sounds like Sigrid has already given Jerric the ‘Hey! My eyes are up here!’ talk.