The Wobbly Goblet Playground Options

[Darkness Eternal]

"Noble of you," Lycus said to her. "This many can respect and honor."

There was a sudden change of rythym within Abiene's breast. Her heart rate not only pounded fast but it was gradually ascending in speed. Lycus could hear it loud and clear as her chest was pressed directly against his ear though he was just a few feet from her.

Her voice and breath, though contained and steadied, betrayed her true feelings. Her eyes were a bit wide and worried as if she feared the man that stood before her. She did not cower in his presence but rather seemed to be trying to conceal her emotions from him with her controlled stance and voice.

It did not take Lycus to realize in that moment that this fear she felt was not because of the near-death experience he just went through, but though that was possible. Nor was it his deep and gruff voice. There was only on fear Abiene must have felt right now that Lycus understood the reason.

She is aware!

Whatever methods she had used to heal the internal workings of his body or his external had somehow revealed his true inhuman nature to her. She read his condition like an open book and fear as Lycus knew it often made people make irrational decisions like revealing secrets to others.

Vera hated people who went their way to reveal such precious secrets, as as she always said: Dead rodents don't squeak.

Lycus Desselius had no delicate way, no gentle manner, of handling this situation. He rushed to the door(what was left of it) and stood between it and the otherside. His back touching the wood.

"You saw a need and you filled it," Lycus echoed her words using a slighty modification. "When the need to reveal secrets will you seek the desire to have it filled as well?"

This is when Lycus calm had evaporated and when his frustration began to swell. He stood his ground at the door though he did not know why. Might he try to kill her then and there just for knowing what he is? At times even such actions would be too much and right now Lycus was feeling merciful, if not, entirely thankful. He would not repay her with the sword or with two large hands around her throat. She did not deserve such harsh fate.

But this is a secret so carefully kept and now she knows. When a sheep is aware of a wolf prowling about, they will alert the others . . .

[Grits]

Abiene

Lycus moved to the door too quickly for Abiene to discern more than motion. He stood with his back to it, quietly menacing.

“You saw a need and you filled it,” Lycus said. “When the need to reveal secrets will you seek the desire to have it filled as well?”

Surely he didn’t think she was foolish enough to try to blackmail a werewolf. However it was her own reckless action that put her in this position, so in his eyes perhaps she was that stupid. Abiene tried to view the situation from outside herself.

Lycus showed the predatory thinking that allowed him to survive among humans, while she had demonstrated the kind of unguarded altruism that caused folk to die young.

There was no point in trying to escape. Abiene took a slow step toward him. She pressed her hands against her thighs to still their shaking.

“Do you recall the discussion in the tavern about the hunt for vampires?” she said. “I was there. If you noticed me at all no doubt you judged me weak and therefor worthless. Yet without this weak human your body would now be cooling on the floor. What is my worth now? I learned what you are the moment I touched you, before you breathed your last. But I do not know who you are. I held your life in my hands and gave it back to you because I choose not to live in fear, though I am surely frightened now.” And I might not live much longer. “Now you hold my life in yours. Will you end it in fear of what I might do to you in the future, or shall each of us let the other go free?”

[Darkness Eternal]

Lycus never much liked being around frail or fragile people, especially children. They were dangerous, for they unwillingly activated something in most Lycanthropes and that was the need to hunt. It was not uncommon for a Lycanthrope to walk in a settlement or come across a small farm where he has no intention of killing until the animalistic nature within him says otherwise. It is a calling most cannot ignore and Lycus had his fair share of troublesome days where he involuntarily shifted. Those memories haunt them to this day.

The poison on his lips from a kiss, the desert ash hot upon his skin, his throat feeling as if were submerged in fire. The Dunmer man and his children coming to save his life, and the transformation that was the result of the survival instinct of the wolf, for the blessed beast blood of the ancient lineage can shrug off poison as if it were the bite of a miniature insect.

And now things seemed as it was with the breton woman standing before him. Seemingly fragile. Abiene was shaking, so much that she actually had to still the trembling with her own hands. Lycus adopted a serious look, this was nothing funny.

"Do I frighten you so much woman?" he asked, and to appear less hostile he looked to the open window. "Or is it the cold there making you shake?"

“Do you recall the discussion in the tavern about the hunt for vampires? I was there. If you noticed me at all no doubt you judged me weak and therefor worthless. Yet without this weak human your body would now be cooling on the floor. What is my worth now? I learned what you are the moment I touched you, before you breathed your last. But I do not know who you are. I held your life in my hands and gave it back to you because I choose not to live in fear, though I am surely frightened now.”

Lycus only appraised her with that same stare that could be the same as bearing his teeth.

"Now you hold my life in yours. Will you end it in fear of what I might do to you in the future, or shall each of us let the other go free?”

Lycus' shoulders remained strong and tense and he refused to leave the door. He could not detect lies in her tongue, there was no hesitation there. No treachery. Boldness, perhaps. A compensation for the complete fear she was having in standing in a room with a Lycanthrope.

He understood all to well her perspective of him. Those with strength of daedric-influence allow power to crawl to their mind and seep into their spirit where everything and everyone around them is automatically beneath them. Lycus did not tell Abiene that he too, was once a normal man and that unlike Vera who was born with Lycanthropy, he acquired it by different means. He did not tell her that he also once was a weak man who had to struggle and survive and claw his way out of his lot in life, that he was modest and humble once. That he still respects those who are strong in themselves to forge their own path. He could see this in Abiene right now.

Though he was blessed with this gift he did not hate Man, Mer or Betmeri. Loathsome as their judgemental behaviors may be and their ignorant understanding in life, many of them were tolerable and capable of great deeds.

"Do not judge me as the world does. Spare yourself that dishonor." Lycus said softly. "I have seen much death to understand the value of life, to comphrehend what one is capable of. How something so fragile can have potential. For saving my life I will allow you to keep yours. This is my promise."

And he meant it. He would keep it at that. Looking at her rather unremarkable features, narrow face and soft brown eyes, she was in peril as many of the women before him.

I've never had much fortune with delicate women, he reflected. The first woman he'd ever cared about he was forced to behead her in an execution. The second one . . . he refused to mention her. Her death was worst still. Looking at Abiene reminded him that gentle and delicate things can be broken in the slighest of touch. The wolf knows this and Lycus knew too.

He looked around the room. At the vomit, the urine, the blood, the statue of Hircine, the herbs and ashes. He wasn't sure how long the woman had been in the buisiness of healing but judging by her remarkable craft he could assume she had studied in the Arcane University. Blood and entrails must have been normal for a healer.

He did wonder what else she could do. If she was so skilled in restoration, would it be too much to ask if she could 'restore' the water in his bath? Possibly turn air into water? He wouldn't ask.

Abiene looked tired. It was past midnight. He wasn't sure if she would remain behind for whatever reason as strange as it would seem, or if she would flee like a hare from a fox.

This post has been edited by Darkness Eternal: Aug 6 2013, 07:48 PM

[Grits]

Abiene

“Do not judge me as the world does. Spare yourself that dishonor,” Lycus said softly. “I have seen much death to understand the value of life, to comprehend what one is capable of. How something so fragile can have potential. For saving my life I will allow you to keep yours. This is my promise.”

Abiene remembered the time before she learned to light her steps with illusion magic when she was often sent to fetch and carry from her family’s cellar. Walking to the edge of the torchlight to pick up her burdens, then turning her back on the darkness to retrace her steps and return up the stairs. Her childish mind had turned the shadowed chamber into a black pit filled with all manner of shrieking horrors. More than once she had dropped her bundles and bolted back to the perceived safety of the light.

Now she had that same feeling. Once released it was all she could do not to scamper from the room.

Abiene stood still for a moment, taking slow breaths until her heart stopped racing. He had given his promise, and she believed him. It just took her body some time to agree.

I did judge him, though I thought I had not, she realized. She walked across to Lycus, stepping gingerly over the mess in her bare feet.

“The best kept secrets are ones replaced with a lie, and we should agree upon one,” she said. She kept her voice too low to carry to the door at Lycus’ back, but she had no doubt that he would be able to hear her. “I’ll tell the inn staff that I cured you of fever. They’ll want an explanation of…” She made a vague gesture at the wreckage. “They may not ask you, but they’ll have no concerns about asking me.”

Abiene looked up at Lycus, chewing the corner of her lip as she considered. Perhaps he was not the only one staying in this room with the makeshift altar to Hircine. It was difficult to tell if these were all his belongings. Did Vera know his secret? Abiene had Lycus’ word, but that would not help her if his companion decided that killing her would protect him.

“The woman who travels with you, Vera. What should I say if she approaches me? Will you… Are you going to tell anyone that I know?”

[Darkness Eternal]

Lycus was an honest man and lying wasn't something he enjoyed doing, even if it meant lying to preserve the truth of what he was. He disliked it. Being a straightforward and blunt man, he often had covered his tracks or skirt around unwanted questions.

Abiene had concerns that they may ask her about what transpired in the room. This led him to wonder how she got him ontop of the bed. A woman her size could not lift a man his weight unless she used some sort of spell. His eyes wandered to the floor where he saw the signs of blood smudged on the floor from the hallway where he had fallen to the room. This was evidence that he was dragged.

So she had help, he reflected. And someone might be aware of daedric worship or some strange rituals. They, of course, might not even care or are too tired to even notice. Leaving his fate in the hands of the breton woman alone.

Abiene then raised the question with Vera, and before Lycus could even reply he feared she would find the answer to that question all too soon.

The smell of another werewolf was strong to another of its kind. Lycus could register the smell like a normal person would catch the whiff of another passing by. That different or distinct smell of their own. It was the same for Vera. He had been around her for so long that he could tell he apart from anyone and anything and he could be aware of her presence just by catching her scent. Like he did right now.

His eyes fled from the floor to the door and behind Abiene where Vera now stood.

The Lycanthropic woman had clothes that did not belong to her, for they were too loose on her body. Her hair was wet and clung to her skin as it fell to her shoulders. She looked like any regular woman in her mid-twenties caught in the rain, though her regular transformations and pact with Hircine had extended her life throughout the long years. Her aging had been stunted.

Vera had a feral working of her jaw, a wild look in her eyes like an animal that just had found their prey. Her recognized that look all to well and sighed inside of his head. She doesn't look happy.

****

Vera had returned from a long trek in the wilderness. Her mind heavy with things that she had done over the long, gruesome years. Her bloody adventurers and hunts that was the highlight of her life. And now it seemed they would all come to an end. She once told someone she was never equipped to be a family woman for her own family suffered tragedy. There was an instinct, even stronger and more intimate than that of a beast, between a mother and her offspring. A bond. Though she would be more than happy to continue the legacy she had this motherly worry that she might not give her child all that he deserves. There was no doubt that he would inherit his parents' condition, and that in and of itself is something that will change a child forever.

She knows because she never had a normal lifestyle and she never would. Then again, it never meant she would be a scornful or harsh teacher to her child. She would be a mother as her own mother was to her before she died and Lycus would be the loving father. Free from the cares and worries of the world.

These were her thoughts when she walked into the Goblet, thankful of the clothes she found. These were her thoughts when she climbed the steps that led to the hallway where her room was. Those were the thoughts that tarried for awhile right before she heard: “The woman who travels with you, Vera. What should I say if she approaches me? Will you… Are you going to tell anyone that I know?”

A million thoughts flooded her mind, drowning that simple inner soon-to-be maternal ramblings. What does she know? Why is this woman here? Why does her heart seem like it is beating too fast for its own good? Why is she quivering?Why is she talking to Lycus? More importantly why does she smell like Lycus?

Vera stalked behind the woman as she had her attention focused on the half-naked man wearing overly tight shorts that did not belong to him. Vera cast a glance in the room and absorbed the scene before her in a matter of quick passing seconds; blood, putrid scent of regurgitation spewed over the floor, urine. She sniffed again and Abiene had a smell too. She had been close, entirely too close to Lycus. There was contact between them.

The worry of a future mother was gone, replaced by the ire and fiery curiosity of a jealous wife. But as she stood there, wondering if something happened between them Vera could not accuse him of being disloyal. In all his years he never forsook her for another. The evidence of something dire also pointed to something else, something Vera feared more than being betrayed. Being exposed. One of the reasons why she feared bringing a child into this world.

The edge of her smooth nose wrinkled and her teeth bared. Vera approached Abiene from behind and touched her shoulder and squeezed it tightly, perhaps too tight. "Get in." She told Abiene in a loud voice. "Now."

This post has been edited by Darkness Eternal: Aug 7 2013, 12:08 AM

[Grits]

Abiene

Abiene had only an instant’s warning. Lycus’ eyes went over her head and her shoulder was seized in an iron grip from behind.

“Get in,” said an angry woman. “Now.”

Abiene found herself back in the room confronted by Vera. The woman’s hair was soaked. Is it raining? Abiene almost laughed at her absurd observation. Vera’s tone told Abiene what she needed to know. Lycus was Vera’s man, not her partner. And Vera was upset.

For the third time today Abiene had jumped or fallen into danger. She found she had passed beyond the point of fear. Instead she turned and looked between Lycus and his fuming woman. Now what? Her lifted brows asked Lycus.

[Darkness Eternal]

Vera closed the door behind her, folded her arms across her chest and shot Lycus a dissapointed look. The evidence was there and it spoke volumes. Vera had been careless before and she had made stupid decisions recently, but she was convinced that they were beyond making mistakes like these. There was no denying Lycus had been discovered, and surely his condition would link her to him.

Though the people in the tavern seemed harmless, Vera knows some of them could alert the authorities. Lycanthropy is by law, considered a crime punishable by death and she wasn't feeling the need to run and hide. She had ran and hid all her life. When things started to look up, to look better, this happened.

Vera looked at the ash on the ground, remnants of wolfsbane and other herbs mixed with the bodily fluids. It hit her right away what happened.

"Tell me. What should she say to me when I approach her?" Vera asked Lycus directly, releasing her firm grip from Abiene's shoulder.

Lycus sighed softly. His calm demeanour and attitude peeved Vera. How can he be so calm when she's a flap-of-the-tongue away from having them both hunted down?

He moved over to the window and closed it, and then mimicked Vera's stance with his arms crossed over his large chest. "She wasn't sure you had knowledge of what I am."

"You told her." Vera came to the point. She didn't make it a question.

"She found out," he said. "The wolfbane nearly destroyed my internal organs. My ribcage almost collapsed. Abiene saved my life and in exchange I swore to keep her alive. It was agreed upon that what has happened here . . . will die here."

She looked at Abiene. "Damn right something will die here."

"Vera. It was an accident. I was nearly killed."

Vera gestured toward the door. "And you nearly destroyed the door."

"The visions," Lycus said. And that was all he said. He didn't need to get into detail about the old man or the Hunting Grounds. Vera knew the delicate nature of what he was speaking of.

Vera scoffed. The cold-blooded one does a better task at walking amongst sheep . . .

Lycus looked at Abiene, surely trying to calm her down some more. "Vera and I are moon-born for sometime now. We do not seek grievance with you or anyone else. As I have said before, you have my word that you will not be harmed."

"Don't make promises that can't be kept." Vera murmured. "I smelled her fear when she was in here. People with fear do irrational things, you know this better than anyone."

"Yes," he said with an added thickness in his voice. "I know this. You're being irrational.'

"I'm being cautious!" Vera shot back with fury, foam flecking her lips. "I am not going to be taken to prison. I won't risk being hanged or cut open for some sick experiment. Do you want us to be hunted down like dogs again?"

The Imperial woman ran her fingers around her hair and paced the room like a mad hound. She can already picture the guards storming in with their weapons and the Black Horse Courier editions announcing two known werewolves on the run. She was quite tempted in reaching for the dagger in her pocket but that would do no good.

She weighted the options here. Abiene was a known healer, surely. From what Vera saw she was known and liked. Killing her would only make it worst. And she had to admit to herself that deep down she knew that if this woman hadn't been here Lycus would be in the afterlife right now.

"Steel yourself." Lycus said to her. He walked over to his lover and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "She is a woman of her word. She won't say anything."

Vera's jaw clenched and there was an audible gnashing of teeth. Her eyes did not leave Abiene until Lycus cupped her chin and redirected her gaze to him. "We aren't in danger."

She rubbed her temple. "We're always in danger. Every day of our lives."

Vera lowered her head and released a long exhale. She looked at Abiene. Confusion hit her like a battering ram. She wasn't sure whether to pounce on the woman or thank her. "Just go."

"Vera . . ." Lycus added. "This woman deserves better than that."

And he was right. She was on edge. Too much had happened recently that she had distrusted everyone around her. Looking at Abiene, and anayzing her deeply told Vera that this woman could be trusted.

She looked at Lycus and then to the breton woman. "I'll make certain to try and keep the promise that I might not kill you-" She paused, and then managed to part of lips to form a half of a smirk that told Abiene it was a joke. "I'll buy you a roast of mutton and a drink."

[Grits]

Abiene

Once inside the room Vera turned her attention to Lycus. The two Imperials moved about the chamber trading accusations and explanations. Lycus radiated calm as Vera became more agitated. This dance was for the two of them, and Abiene had no part in it.

Until Vera stared straight at Abiene, practically snarling. “Damn right something will die here.”

Abiene stayed still and silent. Her eyes went to Lycus. She had suggested a lie on the heels of pledging her word to him, and Lycus had not approved. Abiene knew the look that had passed over his face in the moment before his mate appeared. Would he still accept her promise, or dismiss her as a liar?

“Vera and I are moon-born for some time now,” Lycus said to Abiene. “We do not seek grievance with you or anyone else. As I have said before, you have my word that you will not be harmed.”

Abiene’s breath caught, her relief overcome by his revelation. Vera is also a werewolf? She hoped her surprise was lost in the outburst that followed. Vera paced the room like a caged animal, spitting frustration and fury.

Abiene didn’t move until Lycus walked over and touched his lover’s face. The gesture spoke more clearly than words. The fight is over. Her breath eased out with Vera’s.

“Just go,” Vera muttered at Abiene.

Abiene gathered herself to do just that. If ever there was a time to ask personal questions of a female werewolf, this was not it.

“Vera . . .” Lycus added. “This woman deserves better than that.”

Surprise again. Abiene had simply hoped for escape. Instead she found understanding.

“I'll make certain to try and keep the promise that I might not kill you—” Vera started.

Abiene smiled even as Vera twisted her lips to show she was jesting. Werewolf humor. Not unlike certain Nords.

“I'll buy you a roast of mutton and a drink,” Vera finished.

“I look forward to it,” Abiene said, and she meant it. As far as she knew this was the first time she had made peace with a lycanthrope couple, but she was well acquainted with the moment of passing into a circle. She would not take liberties, but she would never again doubt their trust.

Abiene moved toward the door. “But now this mortal needs to rest. Shall I send in Hethilion?” They might smell her fear and sincerity, but even a Breton could detect that Lycus needed a bath.

[Darkness Eternal]

"Send him in," Vera said with her back turned to Abiene as she bent over to collect the statue of Hircine.

Lycus took a seat and waited. Both of the Lycanthropes' eyes were on Abiene, but they bespoke of curiosity rather than animosity.

"Give us some time." Lycus said after a moment. "Some things need to be cleared first."

[Grits]

Abiene wasn’t sure what Lycus meant needed to be cleared up, or by whom. But she knew how she liked to clear the air after a lovers’ quarrel, and it required privacy.

Perhaps she would see them in the morning, or they might wish to leave after the night’s events. Either way there was little more to be said at that moment. A soft smile crossed her face. She found she did hope to see them again.

“I’ll wish you good night, then.”

In the corridor Abiene glanced down ruefully at her attire. If we go back to Chorrol I’m going to pick up a robe. She went to find Hethilion.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

"I would be honored to aid you two in bringing down those nosferatu if there are more."

Kayla smiled at the younger woman's noble claim. But something nagged the back of her mind. She had no way of gauging the woman's magickal abilities, but her physical prowess left something to be desired for Kayla. Her robes hid much of her body, all of it,in fact.

Maybe I shouldn't be so quick to judge. Aravi is very small.

Still... Kayla liked Irvana. Like she had said before, she was the least imposing person she'd met while on the trip to Cyrodiil. Kayla had a soft spot for weaker women, having been in that type of situation before. But who was she to judge?

"If you help," she began, after biting her bottom lip. "You'll have to let me know what you're capable of. With those swords and magickally. And if you have any hidden weapons. Vera can throw knives, stuff like that. And of course I've got...you know." She said, patting her hip where the absent Dawnbreaker would be.

"I take this seriously, and would hate for you to get hurt."

[Darkness Eternal]

"Oh?" Irvana said. "You had me figured for some sort of battlemage. You mistake intent. See, I can only cast a small fireball and thats if I don't burn my own hand in the process. I am a terrible spellcaster and even a more horrific swordfighter. I'd be a danger to myself as much as the enemy is to me." She giggled, and her face showed what seemed to be embarrasment. "I am only well-versed in academics. I studied vampires when I was a student in the Imperial College. It was a small assignment of mine and it became a subject of interest. I know a lot about them. I can help you discover weaknesses if you haven't already."

And this was true. Irvana knew everything about vampiric lore; from artifacts, to clans, to feeding styles, habits, territories, weaknesses and even history. She looked at Kayla and offered a smirk.

"What many people fail to realize is that the greatest is this," she pointed at her own head. "The mind. Weapons and spells sometimes fall short of what your brain is capable of accomplishing."

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla had never been much for thinking. She preffered to allow her body to react, to let the movement flow through her. She shrugged.

"If I let you look at the map, and you come along to help, let me go ahead. You're a smart girl, and I'm sure that goes without saying, but let me do the heavy stuff. Stay behind until I've cleared a room. That's if the map comes to anything, of course."

[Darkness Eternal]

The Imperial woman raised her hand. "That's assuming I would go with you. I'm not much of an adventurer when it comes to gallavanting in caverns. I'd rather sit in a room and read and even try to make some new discoveries. I would die out there!" she put some heavy emphasis on her last words, and then added a giggle. "Some of us are born with different gifts. I am just a different kind of special."

With that she led Kayla along the way to the tavern where she saw something in the corner of her eye. There in the corner was a strange woman, whose symmetrically blemished face was the color of rusty iron, and whose lesser clothing identified her as a visitor to the city, likely from some remote settlement nearby. She scratched the tatters of her coarsen-linen shirt and walked about.

Irvana moved over to the square’s diagonal corner to observe her while at the same time striking conversation with Kayla. The strange woman was eyeing individuals that passed in the streets, not as if searching for someone specific, but with a gaze more seeming like target acquisition. To Irvana she didn’t appear as a thief or pickpocket, though she did exude a hidden air about her thick with measures of urgency and deceit.

Abruptly Irvana made herself discernable by laughing at her own joke to Kayla. “Once I managed to cut myself in the hand while swinging a longsword. How in oblivion does on manage that?”

The woman immediately turned her head in their direction and began to hurry across the open toward them.

“Good afternoon,” she said as she drew near. In feigning interest in the inexpensive wares, Irvana pretended to be taken by surprise when she was approached..

“Are you addressing me?” she asked, turning to the woman.

“I am speaking to both of you, if you’ve a moment to indulge?” Her tired eyes were rimmed by shadowy marks that were not unlike the tint of her lips.

Irvana pretended impatience. “Why single us out, among this the square full of others? I will confess, I am short on coin.”

“It is not coin I am after. I am in need of capable rescuers.”

This woman surely heard I am terrible with the blade, Irvana reflected in her mind as a friendly and curious smile was drawn on her face. She should be walking the opposite direction.

“I am no adventurer,” Irvana said. “Quite the opposite.”

“I don’t need an adventuer,” she said, studying her openly and then shooting a glance at Kayla, inspecting her from head to toe.

“What then?”

“I need someone who has a heart,” she said after some time. “My two daughters went to Hackdirt. They are both adolescents. They left in the evening of last night and they haven’t arrived since.”

Irvana tilted her head, thinking of the woman’s clothes. “Where are you from?”

“Skingrad. I don’t have a place, though. I am homeless. My children went to Hackdirt to find if there was a place we can stay while I make some coin here to buy us food. Please! My children are out there and they would never take so long in returning. I fear the worst has happened.”

Though Kayla, the scar-faced altmer who’s obvious nature of adventure and fighting were proclaimned through her clothes, was standing there the woman had more interest in Irvana . . . the fresh-faced woman who appeared as if she couldn’t so much as fight for her life.

Hmm, Irvana thought. She looked at Kayla and waited for her response.

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla's face shone with genuine concern.

"Hackdirt?" She echoed. She'd seen the marker on hermap, but hadn't visited. "Give me their descriptions, and names. I'll be happy to trek out there. It's the settlement right above the city, right?"

Missing people, whether children or elderly, or in between, weren't Kayla's forte, but with the recent vampire cave fresh in her mind, and her and Irvana's attacks, she was more willing to flesh out any hidden pockets of vampires.

"I'll have to get supplies, of course, and get my armor fixed completely, but Irvana isn't the adventuring type. I am."

[Darkness Eternal]

The woman nodded frantically and reached for Kayla's wrist with her hands. "Gods bless you, woman, bless you! They both have red hair. My son's name is Melven and my daughter's name is Maleva. She's shorter than him. They always walk together!"

She pointed past the walls of Chorrol. "Yes, just over in that direction. A small settlement."

Irvana looked over at Kayla when she said her name. She was inclined to agree. She wasn't the adventuring type. Not since she was a younger girl. Now she had to be safe. If she so much as goes into the fray, there would be consequences. Certain temptations to do foolish things.

She put a hand on Kayla's shoulder. "I fear I will only hold you back. Will you be well?"

Before Kayla answered, she spoke again, looking between the woman and the vampire hunter. "I'll pray for you, and for your children, too. May the gods see fit to keep you safe."

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla gave the woman a reassuring smile as she clasped her wrists in gratitude.

"Melvrn and Maleva. Got it." She turned to Irvana.

"You go on to the Goblet. I'll be back to get my sword, but while I'm in town, I'll need to stock up on potions and such."

Gods keep me safe, my round rump.

"I'll be fine."

[Darkness Eternal]

Irvana could only nod to Kayla when told to return to the Goblet.

She can handle this, Irvana thought. I have other things to worry about at this time.

And though the woman seemed happy and excited that the altmer would oblige, Irvana knew an actress when she saw one. She knew a talented liar when she saw one. As the saying went, it takes one to know one.

Instead of stroking her chin, clasping her fingers or even smirking in self-satisfaction of knowing deception, Irvana smiled to the woman and apologized she couldn't be much of an assistance.

She turned to Kayla and bowed slightly. "Be well, Kayla. I look forward to seeing you return tot he Goblet alive and in one piece. The thought of losing you would be most unbearable."

With those words Irvana left with her satchel and her newly purchased items. She went her merry way to the Goblet, quite hoping she wouldn't suffer another surprise with urine.

****

Hackdirt, Drathen.

The sun was setting over Chorrol. Shadows ran like black water, drowning the forest first, then climbing steadily higher, a tide of darkness to submerge the land. The gloom of twilight washed over the Colovian Highlands where stars mingled with day until light of the evening would forfeit.

Outside the town of Hackdirt, the Order's most gifted man sat on his horse with eyes set upon the settlement, what's left of it. Drathen grimaced. The poor mining village hadn't changed too much since the last time he was there. It still wasn't much to look at and if anything it still retained that squalid air he remembered when he first set his foot upon there.

The place was unpleasant back then when townfolk took their cult worship to a different level and were openly hostile to others. The order of attack came and the Legion burnt the place to the ground. Looking around, Drathen could still remember how the assault began and the areas which he himself scorched with fire. Out of the ashes sprung new but still less improved buildings. Not a single soul in sight.

Which just may suit my purpose . . .

Drathen guided his steed into the town and roped him in a makeshift stable after mounting off.

Physically, Drathen was tall but not overly imposing. He was in superb physical shape, senses keen, health undiminished. Around his body he wore his red velvet blouse and garments, his cold feet clothed with gold-trimmed shoes. Stationed beside his hip and safely stored in the sheathe was an old akaviri katana, a blade he recalled that had shed blood of many of the townfolk here.

He doubted anyone here would remember him. They've most likely fell victim to old age or some wild beast nearby. Even so he knew there could be some survivors there.

If only the Legion allowed the entire stain to have been wiped out, he thought, this entire town would have been restored to its former glory before those old practices.

The Legion, sadly, were not short of a few moralists with ideals of bestowing mercy to a feral pack of heathen dogs. Their pleas went unheard when the entire place was brought down.

But that was the past. He could imagine now that he would be able to haggle for some territory and even negotiate with the existing proprietor of the local inn. Property here would be ideal. Fort Carmala would be a welcome addition. The inhabitants of that place were, as the common expression went, evicted.

Drathen strode into town, his eyes bouncing from ever corner to ever dark spot. Though he saw no one outside he could feel eyes watching him from inside the buildings. The thought made him smile.

Watch all you want, peasants. I too, can stalk you at my leisure.

The Imperial nobleman came upon Moslin's Inn, a building that was old and ominous as the town itself. But old and ominous was no issue with Drathen. Not at all.

He entered and immedietly was greeted with hostile eyes from a bald Imperial man and a female that was leaning over the bar.

Drathen took himself over to the front to greet the fellow and the woman. He offered a gracious bow. "Evening."

The woman snorted, said her goodbye to the man and brushed past Drathen without saying so much as a word. Drathen refused to look behind him and wonder what the woman's problem was. Either she was poor and miserable, or ugly and miserable. Or both. Either way, he thought with amusement. She still struck as miserable. Miserable enough to hold grudges over outsiders?

The rumors about Hackdirt persisted over the months yet they weren't grand enough to bring the Legion snooping in. It would seem that the people of his place might carry old wounds of what happened to their parents and grandparents years ago.

"If you're here for food, you've come a bit late," he said. "We only have stale bread and water. Nothin' you'd like, I reckon."

Drathen half-smiled. Right now would be the worst time to get into negotiations or inquire about purchase of land. "I'm not hungry. I seek a bed, is all."

The man looked at him from head to toe, perhaps wondering why a man with such fancy clothes and eloquent way of speaking would seek to rest in a place like this. Drathen wondered this, too. The things I do for buisiness.

"I guess we've got a room available. Thirty gold per night. Take it or leave it."

The nobleman reached for his coin purse and dropped the pieces on the table.

"One of our rooms is in disrepair. I suppose you're in luck, as we don't get that many visitors. Take the stairs up to the right, the room on the right with the double bed. No visitors allowed. And no pets. And no noise!"

Despite the heavy emphasis on the last demand, Drathen thanked the man, and headed up the stairs to make himself comfortable. He opened the door and found that the place was just as he imagined. Poor. Ruined and unremarkable. But that was fine, he'd slept in worst places.

This post has been edited by Darkness Eternal: Aug 10 2013, 11:03 PM

[Elisabeth Hollow]

Kayla held Dawnbreaker's hilt as a means of comfort, but not because she sensed danger. She approached the town at dusk, and took in the view.

Burnt sdwn buildings outnumbered the one's left standing. She sniffed the air, but didn't smell any smoke.

What happened here? She silently wondered. It doesn't look recent. How long can someone live in a place like this?

She heard the sounds of a horse as she moved closer, caution edging its way into her mind. She saw no rider, and decided to move quicker into town as nightfall inched closer.

She jumped slightly when a woman huffed out of a nearby building, appearing suddenly as the door to the rickety building screeched open.

"Another one?!" She hissed at Kayla. "Why can't you people just stay away?!"

"Uh... I'm looking for two people. Melven and Maleva. Red hair, young adults. Their mother said she sent them here?"

"Go inside. I don't have time for you."

Kayla's eyebrows shot up in surprise as the woman stomped off.

"Grumpy..." She pushed the door to the inn open and smiled, but it faded as she regarded the snarl on the bald man's face.

Why does everyone have a stick in their rear?!

"Hi, I'm looking for two people. Young adults, Melven and Maleva. Have you seen them? Red hair, redder than mine." She offered the man a friendly smile.

[Darkness Eternal]

Vlanhonder Moslin haven't seen many outsiders come this way in a single night. Usually there were one or two every week but two in the same night was something new.

Vlanhonder guessed that Imperial fop wasn't with this woman. A man who dresses like that wouldn't keep company with a woman who looks like that. Then again, he'd been wrong before. The man surprised him when he decided to rent a room. He could only hope he wouldn't cause trouble. Outsiders usually do.

Moslin shrugged at the almost red-haired Mer. He didn't like her either. The Imperial that just walked in was too rich and too polite. This one smiled too much, and worst of all she was too curious. But her curiosity was expected, afterall, he was expecting for someone to come searching for Melven and Maleva.

"Nah, I haven't seen any people around. Even if I had, why would I know anything about them goin' missing? Outsiders come in here every week. They don't stay too long." His nose wrinkled and his lips curled. "I don't like outsiders too much but the wilderness is dangerous and I don't want the damn Legion snooping around if they find some elf's body in the forest with animal bites or bandit bruises. You'll want to stick here for the night."

The light steps from above reminded him all too quickly that there was a visitor in the inn. He looked at the girl and tapped his finger on the counter. She can't have the simple room on the left. That would be troublesome for him and everyone in the town and he didn't want those Legion dogs coming in here again and burning down what he worked so hard to achieve.

"Eh," he scratched the bald area of his head. "We have one room available with a double bed. Thirty gold," he searched for his next words. "The only room we got. The other one is infested with rats and spiders. You'll have to share it with the gentleman that just came in a few minutes ago. It is the room on the right just up the stairs if you want to take it. Large enough to accomidate both of you without trouble."

And maybe her ugly scars can scare away that rich popinjay, he thought. One outsider is bad enough. If he's gone, things will be much more simple.