I am Lena Wolf, Lena's life as it happens Options

[Lena Wolf]

23 Sun's Dusk, 4E202 - Settling in

"So, how is it that it took you three days to walk from Seyda Neen to Balmora?" Caius Cosades looked stern. "How many ladies did you bed along the way? Could they not wait?" He glared at Hauk.

"None, and that's the truth, Master," Hauk stood at attention. "I did run into some, but it wasn't me who bedded them."

"For once," Caius softened his tone. "Anyway, you're here now. I suppose it's too late to tell you to keep your nose clean as your reputation has preceded you already. Everyone knows you're in town! And the Dunmer have long memories." He opened the package delivered by Hauk, skimmed through the contents of the scrolls contained in it, nodding. "Yeah, no surprises here, I knew that already." He tossed the scrolls into a corner. "Elsweyr. Someone saw you go to that fort near Corinthe - that was my agent, he sent his report. But you kept your nose clean there, I'll give you that."

"Sir." Hauk was still standing to attention.

"At ease," Caius waved at him. "So you know who I am, good. Do you also know why you are here? No? Also good. I hear you requested this transfer. What is your ulterior motive?"

There wasn't much you could hide from the Spy Master, and Hauk wasn't surprised by the question. It didn't take a genius to realise that no man in his right mind would request a transfer from Cyrodiil to Morrowind, not then and not ever. Or at least this was the Spy Master's opinion, even though he himself seemed quite comfortable in Balmora. But perhaps looks were deceiving.

"I need to find two people in Morrowind," Hauk replied. "This has nothing to do with the Legion, but it does touch on our allies," he gave Caius a meaningful look. "Our long standing allies who prefer to remain in the background."

"I see," Caius nodded. "I had word... that matches what you are saying. The Mother does not object. But what do you intend to do with those people when you find them?" Caius' gaze was penetrating.

"Nothing," Hauk shook his head. "The Redguard I only need to locate and put a trace on, nothing else. Preferably so that she doesn't notice, but of course the Webspinner will know. The Dunmer I shall warn about the Redguard and... well... may be add a personal message, I think it is time for him to resurface in his son's life. That is all."

"Good," Caius nodded. "This won't interfere with anything, because I shall have duties for you, make no mistake. But what of your other project?" He smiled slyly. There wasn't anything you could hide from the Spy Master.

"My project?" Hauk raised an eyebrow.

"Solstheim."

"Oh..." Hauk's gaze shifted. "When the Moons turn to blood, I'll have to go there. The Hunt will be on. There's someone I need to follow, watch over. He will be on the other side, but he's a Prime. He must not die."

"Interesting," Caius mused. "The Moons aren't crimson yet, but it isn't that far off. Very interesting..." He got up, walked to a bookshelf, browsed through some books and scrolls, read this and that, all in silence. Then he returned to his seat. "Fort Frostmoth will lose its Captain at just about that time, you will go and assist them," he said, looking straight at Hauk. "I shall tell you when to leave so you won't miss the party."

Hauk raised an eyebrow at this unexpected turn of events, but didn't say anything. There was no point in asking the Spy Master how he knew what was going to happen in the future. The Spy Master knew everything. "Yes, Sir," was all he could say.

"Very well," Caius rose from his seat, and Hauk did the same. "Get settled in here in Balmora, this will be your base of operations. Join the Guilds - the Mages and Fighters Guild at least, I am not fussed about the Thieves Guild, although I don't imagine it would suit you. I don't need to tell you to stay away from Morag Tong for now, do I?" He was watching Hauk's reaction. "Good. The Temple, the Imperial Cult, the Great Houses - do what you like, you're not a Novice. Pay a visit to Fort Moonmoth near here - they could use your skills. Come back in a few days, I'll have a job for you then. Dismissed."

...

"Well, the Spy Master certainly lives up to his reputation," Hauk was musing as he left Caius' apartment. "And yeah, that skooma... that wasn't just skooma," he recalled what the Healer had told him in that fort near Corinthe - that Caius Cosades' "skooma" was something altogether different and was the very thing that allowed this Imperial to remain the Spy Master for the last two and a half centuries, at least. Although going by the smell, skooma was still a part of it. "Whatever works," concluded Hauk, standing in the central square of Balmora and deciding where to go next.

...

"But you are in Morrowind now, so you will have to re-join the Mages Guild afresh, Evoker," a Dunmer of authority told Hauk at the Mages Guild. "Take an oath and all that. You will not use your Cyrodilic rank and will start at the bottom," she glared at him. "We make no exceptions!"

Hauk sighed, but had no choice but to accept.

"Excellent, you are now a member of the Balmora Mages Guild, Associate," the Dunmer savored the sound of that title. "Find someone to give you duties. You must perform duties to advance." She gave him a toothy smile that didn't look friendly and marched off.

...

"You want to join the Fighters Guild? Of course you do!"

That was easy enough. The Fighters Guild accepted anyone, it seemed. Perhaps the rumours of their connection to Camona Tong were true, after all.

...

"Want to join House Hlaalu?" A Dunmer batted her eyelids at Hauk, and he had to steady himself. Those sanguine eyes always got him going. "We accept outlanders. In particular Nords. I personally prefer Nords..."

She took a few steps forward. Hauk took a step back. This was too soon. Too aggressive. Too obvious. Something was wrong.

"Perhaps later," he stammered - the lady did have an effect on him, although he managed to stay in control for now. He turned around and walked off, his face red, sweat running down his neck. Ouch, that was close. He needed a place to stay, preferably with a bath tub.

...

"Where to stay?" A Khajiit passer by flicked her ears in surprise. "Oh, you're new here, aren't you?" She looked him over, up and down. "You'll do, I suppose. We could put you up at the South Wall, for free. You'll just have to work it off." She smiled.

"Doing what?" Hauk went red and broke a sweat. It was a good act, he actually had an idea what his duties would be, and that they wouldn't involve staying in bed, but he wanted the Khajiit to spell it out for him.

"Well, not what you are thinking, although if you really want to, I'm sure we could work something out," she grinned. "No, you'll just need to retrieve a few things now and again." She gave him another toothy grin. "Interested?"

"Umm... Let me come back to you on that," Hauk stammered evasively. He was sure he would cross paths with the Thieves Guild at some point, and although he had no intention of joining, he didn't want to alienate them either. This Khajiit seemed important.

"Find us at the South Wall then," she nodded. "When you run out of money paying for each of the eight plates."

That was a good point. The Eight Plates was a nice inn, but at ten drakes a night, Hauk couldn't really afford it. The Guilds had no accommodations for him either - "All the beds are taken, but you can use them during the day, if you like," he was told. He had no intention of sleeping in the Temple either. He walked around Balmora rather aimlessly looking at the buildings around him, grey and dreary in the incessant rain.

"Hopefully this will look better when the sun comes out," he thought. He was missing Cyrodiil already, and it wasn't just the buildings. "Go away as far as you can and never come back," was the common greeting here, and although Hauk remembered the attitude from his previous visits, it was still jarring, all over again. "It's either that, or they drag you into bed like some some sort of a male prostitute," he muttered to himself. "Or both." Nords had a reputation... Vigour, stamina, it was all true, but was that reason enough to ignore all else? "To some, perhaps," he nodded to his own question. After all, this very attitude served him well in the past. Of course, he was younger then. But even now, at just over fifty, he was obviously still alluring, in spite of his hair turning silver here and there. "And some remember me from before," he grinned at a passing Dunmer woman who suppressed a smile of recognition. She looked exactly the same as twenty years ago, while Hauk... "Well, no point dwelling on it," he cut himself off. Elven longevity was not given to him, but he wasn't an old man yet either, so he brushed off those thoughts and focused on a more pressing business of finding some lodgings. If Balmora was to be his base of operations, as Caius had put it, he had to find a place to stay that didn't cost him ten drakes a night and didn't have "friends" sharing the room with him. In a word, he needed a place of his own.

At the North end of the Eastern terrace he stumbled on what looked like an abandoned market stall trading in everything and anything, especially if it started with "sk", he suspected. Or at least "sk" would be something the owner of the stall would buy on the proceeds of the trade. The house by the stall was locked, requiring a key. There was no one around, although the guards kept a sharp eye on Hauk - even though the stall seemed abandoned, they wouldn't let anyone - and especially not an outlander - touch any of the items on it.

Hauk thought the house looked promising. He scaled the hill between the city wall and the house and climbed onto the roof terrace.

Skooma pipes and other paraphernalia confirmed Hauk's suspicion of the occupants of the house. Still, it all looked a bit weathered and abandoned. A note on the table explained what might have happened - the recipient was to meet someone "in the usual place", to come alone and not to bring any of his addict friends... or else. Hauk feared that "else" was what happened. The key to the house was right there in a little box as well, so Hauk decided to check inside.

It was a typical drug dealer's abode, simply furnished but containing considerable amounts of money and some valuables. There was no sign of drug use inside, the "addict friends" must have kept to the terrace. "Change the locks and ask around about the owner," Hauk thought. "Otherwise I've found my house." He assumed that since the house hadn't been ransacked by the authors of the note, they weren't interested in ransacking it. Still, he decided to stay away from the goods or the money.

Another stroll through town got him beginner's duties with the Guilds, and a reliable-looking Orc agreed to change the locks on his newly acquired house.

"I'm a commoner, I do what needs doing, cooking, cleaning, making, breaking, you name it," he said, grinning. "Changing the locks too, and I don't even keep a copy of the key. He who used to live here, won't be missed."

Thus reassured, Hauk locked the doors, slid a dagger or two inside the pillow case and stretched out on the hammock. It's been a long day.

[Lena Wolf]

1 Evening Star, 4E202 - Establishing a cover story

"Establish a cover story, no one should be left wondering what you are doing in Morrowind," Caius Cosades told Hauk during the briefing. "A freelance adventurer cover always works, although since everyone already knows you're with the Legion, you might as well join up officially. Gnisis accepts new recruits, I hear." He smirked at his own joke, looking at Hauk's professional gear. "With that Cyrodilic kit you'll stick out as a sore thumb," he continued. "Yeah, yeah, I know, this armour actually fits... Fine. Keep it. Work on your skills then - presentation is everything."

Hauk was about to object that he was a seasoned battlemage already, but the sore bruises all over his body reminded him to be humble.

"Many creatures here are unfamiliar to me," he replied. "Many weapons wielded by men and mer also. It's been a long time since my last visit, Master."

"Long enough for you to forget that mating kaguti are best left alone!" Caius laughed. "Yeah, I've heard that story. Hard not to. 'Some mad Nord went against a pair of mating kaguti and got thoroughly thrashed!' It's all over town now, if not all over Morrowind."

"But I got both of them in the end," Hauk objected. "Although it wasn't easy."

"To say the least!" Caius laughed again. "Never mind though - Nords are known to rely on their brawn first and their brain second, if at all." Hauk was about to object, but the Spy Master interrupted him. "I don't mean you, even though engaging a pair of mating kaguti was outright stupid, if you ask me. But the brainless Nord stereotype is an excellent cover." Hauk nodded.

"I've got a few other jobs lined up, I'll see that this stereotype is maintained," he grinned. "I don't mind getting knocked out."

"All right, and while you are at it--" Caius handed him a scroll. "Fill that in, will you?" He waited for Hauk to unroll the scroll and stare at the blank surface. "The Cartographers Guild - you know their tricks! Of course there are maps of Morrowind around, but they want an up-to-date one with all the roads on it. In fact, they just want the roads, they'll fill in the surrounding scenery themselves. So, you're a mage - fill that in." Caius looked at Hauk expectantly.

"Is this some sort of a test?" Hauk squinted at him. Morrowind was not like Elsweyr, there was just the one version of it, as far as he knew, and all the various maps actually agreed with each other. So what was this then? Unless... "You want to know where I've been," it dawned on Hauk. "And not just the landmarks as they could be copied."

Caius smiled. "Yes, but there's more to it. Morrowind keeps changing, the eruption of the Red Mountain keeps having an effect. Areas that have been declared 'obliterated' are far from obliterated in fact, and although some caves and barrows got covered in ash, others again emerged. The Blight is back too, and Corprus, and we don't know what that means. Are we to expect another Nerevarine? That seems unlikely, although Vivec is presiding over his City again... Yeah... Don't ask! We too thought that the Temple was well and truly dead. But may be not completely. Talos alone may know what's going on..." Caius stared into the distance, reliving the events of the Third Era and wondering whether they were to come to pass again. At least this time he would know what to expect. "So you, and all the other agents, are under strict orders to make notes of anything and everything, places, roads, conversations - we don't want to miss any warnings this time. Nerevarine or not, but something big is coming."

"What about the Dragonborn?" Hauk thought it might be a complication.

"What about her?" Caius raised an eyebrow.

"Her... You know who it is?" Hauk looked up in surprise, and Caius nodded. Of course he knew it. "So then... Alduin is back in Skyrim, Dagoth Ur is rising in Morrowind, all we need now is to have Mehrunes Dagon join the party in Cyrodiil..."

"With the Greymarsh on in the Shivering Isles and the Great Hunt soon to come to Solstheim, yes," Caius nodded. "Shattering the Amulet of Kings was a bad idea."

...

"Ajira must study local mushrooms for her Journeyman report," a Khajiit at the Balmora Mages Guild looked Hauk over. "Associate will bring her these mushrooms."

Hauk wondered whether gathering those mushrooms wasn't a part of the job. After all, a Journeyman of the Mages Guild should be able to defend herself from some wild life, no?

"And this is why," Hauk thought to himself standing waist deep in a swamp. "Yeah."

After the mushrooms it was the flowers, then put a fake soul gem into the desk of another Journeyman hopeful, then find Ajira's mushroom and flower reports stolen by said other Journeyman hopeful... Delightful. But it did get Hauk promoted from an Associate to Evoker in a little over a day, at which point Ajira told him that she would only have tasks for him once he reached Wizard, and not before.

"Excuse me, but this mage is not even a Journeyman yet! How can she have tasks for a Wizard?" Shaking his head, Hauk went next door to the Fighters Guild to see if they made any more sense. The first job was rats - he expected that. No one wanted to deal with rats, so it was always the newcomers who got those jobs. The next job was to murder two people... "But this isn't Morag Tong, is it?" He almost asked, but the Steward looked very stern. "I am your Steward and I'm giving you a job to do, so go to it!" Yeah, Nord women were not to be trifled with.

Egg poachers murdered, he returned to the Fighters Guild. The next job was to murder four "Telvanni agents" near the Caldera ebony mine. They were all Thieves Guild, but this wasn't a Thieves Guild job, so they had no protection and were fair game. The Steward went on and on about them being with the Thieves Guild... Hauk thought that rather strange. But after another stern look from her, he went to it.

With the four "Telvanni agents" taken care of - "Thieves Guild agents more like," Hauk thought - he decided to spend the night in Caldera and stopped by the Mages Guild. No, they had no beds available either, but one smart looking Dunmer enlisted Hauk's help in retrieving propylon indexes. Hauk had heard of those ancient magical devices, so was glad to help.

"I know of ten such indexes," the mage explained. "I'll tell you where to find the first, and when you've got that and bring it here, I'll tell you where to find the second. And no, not before. The first one is at our pawnbroker's next door. Go get it."

This was too easy. Why didn't this mage go and get it all by himself? It didn't even require standing waist deep in swamp water! But it was late and Hauk left it for tomorrow.

In the morning he found out why the mage didn't do it himself: the price. The pawnbroker had it for sale for 826 septims. Hauk shook his head again and left - the mage would have to find someone else willing to "retrieve" this from the shop. If Hauk was expected to steal it, he was in the wrong guild.

...

"Where is this Khajiit going to?" Hauk noticed a well-dressed Khajiit, possibly a mage, taking the road North West from Caldera. "Oh, probably going shopping at the Hlaalu Commercial Post," he reasoned. But no, the Khajiit turned West - into the swamps. Hauk got naturally curious and decided to follow.

...

"Hello, friend," someone greeted him from the bushes. "Chilly today, isn't it?"

Oh no! Out of the bushes stepped a naked Nord. Well, nearly naked. Young, well-built, somewhat dazed, Hauk figured out what happened.

"A witch, was it?" Hauk squinted at him, before he could even say anything.

"How did you know?" Hlormar blinked at him. "But, err, yes."

"I've been young once," Hauk smirked. "I know how it goes. So, what's the damage?"

"My axe! She's got my axe!" Hlormar was both tearful and angry - the worst combination.

"All right, come along then," Hauk nodded. "Which way?"

"Umm... Err... Ugh... That way... I think?"

Right. The Khajiit was of course long gone into the swamps and Hauk couldn't hope to find him again this time, so he headed North West, as Hlormar indicated. They walked for a while, had some fun with nix-hounds, rats and even cliffracers, but no witches. Except one.

"Oh hello!" A friendly young Redguard stopped them on the road. "Could you escort me to Gnaar Mok, please? I'll reward you! With enchanted boots!"

Hauk looked at Hlormar but he shook his head - the wrong witch.

"And what's in Gnaar Mok?" Hauk gave her a broad smile.

"Well..." She smiled again and licked her lips. "I have an... err... arrangement... with a... client... yeah, that's it!" She concluded radiantly. "And I... ugh... need to deliver some goods... but... ugh... the roads are so dangerous these days!" She turned to Hlormar and smiled at him too, but Hlormar glared angrily and she quickly turned back to Hauk.

"Well, you see, Miss," Hauk put on his most charming smile. "Ordinarily I would be thrilled to escort you to Gnaar Mok or anywhere else, but today... well... my friend and I are rather busy just now and we are going in the opposite direction." Hlormar nodded vigorously. "So I'm so sorry, but could I may be come back later?"

"There is no later!" The Redguard got angry. "It's take it or leave it! And you left it!" She pouted her lips. "Well then, I'm sure I can find a real knight here somewhere to escort me to Gnaar Mok!" She turned around and stomped off.

"I'm not sure real knights go to Gnaar Mok," Hauk smirked to himself.

...

After a few more hours wandering through the hills, he and Hlormar noticed another woman on the road.

"That's it!" Hlormar was pointing at her excitedly. "That's the witch!"

The witch had no intention of returning Hlormar's kit, but was willing to meet them at the Mages Guild in Caldera in three days.

"I'm not waiting three days!" Hauk didn't even try to convince Hlormar to wait as it was clearly pointless. The witch turned violent, proving in fact to be a witch, but Hlormar landed a few punches on her and all was finished before it even began. Hauk's scamp stood there polishing his claws for the want of something to do.

"These clothes cannot be used any more," Hlormar commented on the rags he found in the witch's pack. "Were they that bad to start with?" He shook his head. "Perhaps I should be getting new ones more often." He discarded the clothes and retrieved his axe. "Here is the important bit anyway," he grinned. "Clothes can be replaced, this axe - can't. May the wind be on your back, friend!" He waved goodbye to Hauk and disappeared into the hills.

"Yeah, at your age I didn't need clothes either," he smirked to himself.

...

The sun was setting and Hauk decided to go West to Gnaar Mok and see what the place was like, since both the young Redguard woman and the well-dressed Khajiit were going that way, it appeared. But he ran out of dry road very soon. Here was a road sign pointing left, but there was no road to be seen, all Hauk saw was the swamp.

"It says go West," he shook his head. "Well, all right - I see no road, but how hard can it be?" And remembering the well-dressed Khajiit, he went West towards the setting sun.

Gnaar Mok wasn't very far away, it turned out, and if you looked closely, you could in fact spot some remains of a road on the ground, although grass had covered most of it already. Hauk was glad to find quite a sizable town there, even though it was surrounded by swamps on all sides. The town had a tavern which didn't rent beds, and if you were with House Hlaalu or with the Guild, you might be entitled to services. They didn't even specify which Guild it was... Hauk was with two Guilds, but neither was the right one. He sighed and asked whether someone without an affiliation could possibly find a place to sleep there? "Yeah, sure, some of the huts are not in use," was the reply. "Knock on some doors, look around, if you don't see anyone, you can sleep there." Hauk thought that rather unusual, but apparently people came and went quite a lot in those parts, so it was perfectly normal. "It's not like you are going to find any treasures in those huts!" Several people laughed at that.

Hauk did as was suggested, and sure enough he soon found a hut that was definitely without an occupier. A note left on the bench read:

Schoash, you are an idiot! Leave immediately, never to return. Or it will be your head sticking out of the swamp - without the body! They are not joking. Leave your stuff behind, no one will touch your shack now.

Signed - A friend.

"Well, Schoash, I thank you heartily," Hauk left the note on the bench. "You just provided me with a place to stay."

He took off his armour and stretched, looking around with satisfaction. The hut was plain, but it had everything he needed, and most of all, it had privacy. Hauk took out his journal and started taking notes. "I'm not sure Caius will find anything useful in today's events," he mused, "but at least he'll chuckle at Hlormar."

[Renee]

Page 5 Post 97-- Neat how Lena's in contact with Fenris, who is still living the vampiric life. Why is he calling her mistress?

98 -- I really love that cell phone pic at the start. I used to take a lot of cell pics too. I kind of miss them, because sometimes they have a slightly-blurry quality which PC screenshots can't capture. The lighting is different. I dunno... cell pics can be a different artisitic style, which is just as good as screenshots, imo.

Whoa... "in a few minutes the skin would start to burn..."

99-- Now they're in Bloodcrust Cavern, but not being attacked. Did you align Lena with other factions? Just curious. I know you are good with going back and forth from Xbox to PC to Xbox. I don't think these pics were taken on PC.

Pretty neat how she's taking Fenris into an underground place where he's safer. Rowley seems like a meanie, keeping Fenris as a slave.

[Lena Wolf]

Page 5 Post 97-- Neat how Lena's in contact with Fenris, who is still living the vampiric life. Why is he calling her mistress?

Pretty neat how she's taking Fenris into an underground place where he's safer. Rowley seems like a meanie, keeping Fenris as a slave.

Exactly. Rowley sold Fenris to Lena when the Empire started cracking down on slave trade. And although Lena doesn't want Fenris to be a slave, he doesn't know any better... She wants to make him into a free person, but to him, she's his Mistress. Kind of sad, really. This is also why he's kneeling before her all the time.

In the actual Vile Lair DLC Fenris is a nameless "Dark Minion". He lives in the lair and can be sent out to... err... plunder. Makes no sense at all! So I changed that and made him into a follower. And to make him a slave - that comes from Macole's story, actually! I liked it and put it into my story as well. Rowley was a mean fellow anyway.

The Bloodcrust Cavern - that was simple. I put those vampires into the PlayerFaction, since they were special NPCs and not just generic vampires. Turn down their aggression, and there you are!

[Renee]

I see, wow, so Fenris really is supposed to be her property.

Every time I read some I am Lena Wolf btw, it makes me want to play Oblivion!

[Lena Wolf]

I see, wow, so Fenris really is supposed to be her property.

Yeah, that's why everyone is getting so stern with her about Fenris. Slavery had been long outlawed in Cyrodiil! So what is she doing here owning a slave?!

Rowley didn't tell her he was selling her a slave. He said he'd arrange for a servant to tend to the Deepscorn Hollow. But this "servant" knew otherwise...

Every time I read some I am Lena Wolf btw, it makes me want to play Oblivion!

Oh thanks! That's nice!

[Lena Wolf]

5 Evening Star, 4E202 - Finding your way

"I don't seem to be able to summon the creatures I used to summon in Cyrodiil," Hauk was saying to Estirdalin at the Mages Guild in Balmora. "While at the same time I am able to summon someone's Ancestral Ghost. Very odd."

"Yes, magic doesn't quite work in the same way here," Estirdalin nodded. "Personally I think it's the proximity to the Red Mountain. You need to update your spell knowledge - you know, get the local summons or tweak your existing ones. I can recommend Skeletal Minions and Bonewalkers - they are like Skeletons and Zombies in Cyrodiil, and come in different grades, too." She summoned a Skeletal Minion to demonstrate. It stood there looking around, and Hauk thought that it was in fact exactly the same as the skeletons in Cyrodiil. Or Skyrim. Or Elsweyr. Or even Antaloor. Stripped of their flesh, men and mer were the same everywhere, it seemed. "It is interesting about the Ancestral Ghost though," Estirdalin continued. "Are you sure you have no Dunmer ancestors?" She squinted at Hauk, but it didn't make him look any more Dunmer.

"Pretty sure," Hauk nodded. "I was born in Cyrodiil of course, as were my parents, but they've always kept to the ways of the Nords, and there are Serck-Hanssens in Skyrim."

"Which proves exactly nothing," Estirdalin smiled. "Summon your Ancestral Ghost and we'll see."

Hauk took a deep breath and summoned the Ancestral Ghost. That spell took almost all of his magicka - the Nords didn't have quite as deep magicka reserves as the elves or Bretons, for example. But then again, his willpower made up for that, he always reckoned.

The Ancestral Ghost was hovering before him, it turned around, surveying the room, probed Estirdalin and turned back to Hauk.

"This isn't just someone's Ancestral Ghost, this is your Ancestral Ghost," Estirdalin was watching with fascination. "A very old one, really ancient. You have deep roots in Morrowind, possibly going much deeper than your clan memory. How many generations of Serck-Hanssens do you actually know about?" She squinted at Hauk again and he shrugged.

"Three, four, may be," he mused. "Family lines get blurred after that."

"And therein lies your answer," Estirdalin concluded with satisfaction. "This ghost is much older than three or four generations. This is why it takes so much of your magicka to summon it, especially since you're not a Dunmer. And you were never able to summon it before?" Hauk shook his head. "That must be the Red Mountain," Estirdalin decided.

"But I've been here before," Hauk sounded uncertain. "In Morrowind, I mean. Stayed here quite a long time, some twenty years ago. Was never able to summon this ghost before."

"Yes, that is interesting," Estirdalin agreed. "Something must have changed..." She squinted at Hauk again, seeing someone different with her mind's eye, and walked off, lost in thought.

...

"Go and collect guild dues from Manwe and convince Llarar Bereloth to join us," the head of Balmora's Mages Guild told Hauk casually. "Those are your duties. Manwe defected to the Telvanni and Llarar is a Telvanni himself, so we'll have him in exchange." She smiled at Hauk - this task was simplicity itself.

"And you expect them to just agree?" Hauk thought that highly unlikely.

"If they don't, kill them," Ranis Athrys shrugged her shoulders. "You are a battlemage, aren't you?" She dismissed the topic.

"Yeah..." Hauk thought to himself. "A battlemage, but not quite with Morag Tong." He wasn't sure whether this was any better than assisting the squabble of two Journeyman hopefuls that he had to do before. "Perhaps I should pay a visit to the Telvanni first, see if someone there still remembers me," he grinned at the memory - he was sure they did. Perhaps it was time for him to join the House since the Mages Guild in Morrowind didn't live up to his expectations. But then again, may be his expectations were too Imperial.

...

"Your first round of orders is to get information from two people at the Fighters Guild and at the Mages Guild," Caius told Hauk during their next meeting. "They will undoubtedly want some 'favours' from you first. Do it - you know how it works. I want that information."

That was clear enough. Caius was not taking 'no' for an answer. "He's a tough fighter," was the word from the other Blades agents. "He's fair though and doesn't get under your feet." That was good enough for Hauk, and although he had so far no chance to see for himself just how tough a fighter Caius actually was, he could feel the toughness of his character. "Why do I feel like a novice in Lucien Lachance's Sanctuary?" He smirked to himself. The punishment from the Spy Master would likely be comparable to that from the Master Assassin.

...

Molag Mar greeted him with a sand storm. The sky went dark and red sand was blowing into his face.

"This isn't sand," Hauk realised, chewing on some of it as it got into his mouth. "This is ash. Yuck!" He spit it out. "I forgot about this bit. I should wear a scarf over my mouth." His musings were interrupted by a sharp pain under his knee, where the armoured plates did not reach. "What the..?" He swore, spinning around. It was a rat. A rat! Unbelievable. One swing of Hauk's sword should have dealt with that vermin, but it didn't. "Since when did it take five swings to kill a rat?" Hauk was checking his claymore with surprise. "And why does it feel so much heavier than usual all of a sudden?" Sheathing it behind his back, he realised that he'd broken a sweat too. In fact the sweat was still pouring off him, even though he wasn't moving... Faint blotches appeared on his hand. "Damn it!" He swore again. The Blight was really back in Morrowind, and he just got infected.

...

It was sheer madness to continue wandering through Molag Mar during an ash storm while suffering from Blight Disease, but Hauk wasn't carrying much gear and figured he'd manage. Yes, his armour now seemed to weigh a ton, and his claymore seemed to be far less effective than usual, but his magic still worked as normal, and so he pressed on, unwilling to turn back and seek a cure first. "It can wait," he reasoned. "This is not Porphyric Hemophilia, it won't progress any further." He saw a cave entrance and decided to wait out the ash storm in there.

The cave was lit with red candles and there was a strange gurgling sound emanating from deeper in. Hauk took a few steps and got attacked by some sort of a zombie. It proved no challenge for his Fire Atronach though. Several people attacked him as he progressed, but although their flesh was not decomposing as that of a zombie, their minds seemed to have gone. Their pockets were filled with ash. "Strange," Hauk thought. "What are they doing here?" He noticed that some of them had wrist irons on. "If these are slaves, then where are their masters?"

Deeper in the cave Hauk found a shrine with a strange statuette in the center. Bells were arranged in a row next to it and bundles of decomposing flesh were deposited in an ornate open sarcophagus. Another open sarcophagus had chests and sacks with valuables. Hauk made a wide bow around the rotting flesh and helped himself to the valuables - this was no holy shrine, and whichever deity was being worshiped here, did not need the money. "No real deity needs money anyway," Hauk reasoned. "And this place reeks of Dark Arts." And although he was tired after all the walking and the fighting, he didn't want to stay in that cave any longer.

Back outside the ash storm had subsided and Hauk continued his trek through Molag Mar. All lava-covered roads looked the same though, and soon he was completely lost, not helped by the fact that the map that Caius asked him to fill in, was completely blank. Pulling out a couple of commercial maps, Hauk tried to compare the roads and the landscape around him to that indicated on the maps, and concluded that he was "somewhere on Molag Mar" as everything looked the same. In particular the "road" he was standing on, was not marked on either of his commercial maps. Suddenly understanding why Caius asked him to fill in the roads as he walked them, he vowed to do it next time he found himself at an intersection that he could find on an existing map. For now however he decided to head back to Balmora, approximately South West from where he estimated to be standing.

...

The lava road still looked like a lava road and an hour later there was still no Balmora in sight. "Perhaps I was in a different spot than I thought," Hauk reasoned. The ash storm picked up again, and try as he might, he could not see beyond a few feet around him. He was desperately tired and was ready to take a nap even in another cave lit by red candles.

Suddenly he noticed a cave entrance, and entered immediately.

Yes, this was another cave lit by red candles. Knowing what to expect, Hauk summoned his Fire Atronach and fought several zombie-like creatures and people. The gurgling sound was coming from deeper in, but there was also a branch leading away from it, and that's where Hauk would rest, but first he needed to clear the rest of the cave.

Zap! Hauk went down before he could finish that thought. Fortunately, his Fire Atronach continued fighting.

Rising heavily from this knock-out, Hauk tried to spot the mage. A slender figure seemed to hover further on, surrounded by more red candles. "He isn't hovering," Hauk realised. "There's a raised platform there, and what looks like the shrine. May be he's the priest." The priest had noticed Hauk however, and shot another lighting bolt at him.

"Damn it, this one isn't like the others," Hauk thought, rising heavily from the knock-out again. He was feeling very weak, and the priest's lighting bolts were quite strong, but equally Hauk didn't think he would fare very well outdoors in the ash storm. "This is where honour conflicts with survival," he thought, summoning another Fire Atronach and casting invisibility onto himself. "Let them fight it out."

...

An hour and many knock-outs later, Hauk finally prevailed. Or rather, his Fire Atronach prevailed. Dagoth Fovon's burned up body was rolling in the ash of the cave. Of course Hauk didn't know who the priest was, but he could see it was someone important. He took the priest's ugly amulet that somehow made him feel ugly himself. "Caius would want to see this," he reasoned.

With the cave now quiet, he retreated to a section as far away from the shrine as possible, took off his armour and fell asleep, exhausted.

[Acadian]

I like that you, in this newest episode, point out that magic doesn't work the same in different games. Important since your characters do move from game to game.

Buffy, my elf, has noticed the same thing as she moved from Oblivion to Skyrim to ESO - and has had to evolve as needed.

[Lena Wolf]

Yes, magic seems to be the thing that morphs and changes the most. After all, how many ways are there to stick a sword into someone? But with magic there's an almost infinite pool of possibilities. Morroblivion is interesting in this respect because it tries to reconstruct Morrowind magic with Oblivion rules.

[macole]

Morroblivion is interesting in this respect because it tries to reconstruct Morrowind magic with Oblivion rules.

Not any easy thing to do. Magic in each game had their own pluses and detractions which makes it hard to say which I prefer. I do like how you resolved the Ancestor Ghost dilemma.

This post has been edited by macole: May 10 2022, 08:56 AM

[Lena Wolf]

Morroblivion is interesting in this respect because it tries to reconstruct Morrowind magic with Oblivion rules.

Not any easy thing to do. Magic in each game had their own pluses and detractions which makes it hard to say which I prefer. I do like how you resolved the Ancestor Ghost dilemma.

Thanks! I was surprised to find Ancestor Ghost spell on Hauk when I started, I figured he'd only get it if he was a Dunmer... But of course since he's the hero of the story, he's supposed to become the Nerevarine, so he must have Dunmer roots, even if he's unaware of them. A Nord born in Cyrodiil... why, he could have any kind of roots!

I don't remember enough of TES3 Morrowind game to compare magic mechanics - I didn't play it enough. But compared to TES5 Skyrim, I prefer Oblivion, even if it is mostly because of the animations... I just find Skyrim "ready weapon/spell" animations really clumsy, unnatural and static. Umm, I want to cast a light spell, so I should get my sword out... Really? Sorry, rant over.

[Lena Wolf]

10 Evening Star, 4E202 - Travels - Eno Hlaalu

"Aren't there any horses in Morrowind?" Hauk was talking to a Legion soldier at Fort Moonmoth. "Or do you always have to walk everywhere?"

"There are no horses here, no," the Legionnaire shook his head. "They don't do well on volcanic terrain or during ash storms, plus there's nothing for them to graze." He looked around wistfully, remembering lush meadows of Cyrodiil. "But if you're looking for personal transportation, you can get a guar."

"What, you mean to ride that thing?" Hauk raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

...

"Yeah, they are not exactly built for the Nords," Sjorvar Horse-Mouth shook his head, glancing over a small herd of guar under his care. "But you'll get used to it. If anything, you can use them to carry your gear!"

"I was hoping to move faster than on foot, actually," Hauk was handing over the cash. "We'll see. If that's all there is, then that's that."

Nord pragmatism was a good thing, because it took a few tries before the guar allowed Hauk to mount it. There was no saddle, so Hauk had to hold on to the guar's shoulders. But all in all, it worked out pretty well.

"This one is a lot bigger than many other guar I came across," Hauk returned to talk to Sjorvar again. "I can get used to it. But why no saddle?"

"They don't like it very much," Sjorvar coughed uncomfortably. "They need to be trained for that. This one is a beginner's guar, meaning it's not used to be ridden yet. It's not very fast and we'd rather not aggravate it with a saddle. But you've done all right!" He slapped Hauk on the back. "Come back when you are ready for a faster one."

Hauk nodded, thanked Sjorvar and left.

"Come on, Henk, let's go," he patted the guar, getting onto its back. "We are in no rush."

...

Back in Balmora Hauk wondered what to do with Henk the guar. What did guar eat? Plants and insects, he hoped, so he took it to the one green patch near Balmora - the patch by the Temple. There, to his surprise, he saw two armoured guars pacing up and down.

They seemed rather uncomfortable with their armour and saddle. Were they envious of Henk the guar who wasn't burdened with such things? Or was Hauk just imagining it all? "They do look impressive though," he thought. "House Hlaalu" was embroidered on their covers. "Well, official guars as well," he clicked his tongue, patted Henk and left, confident that he'd picked a good spot to station his guar.

Now that Hauk had transportation, he could venture further afield - he was not keen on point-to-point transport like the silt strider because it only went to major cities leaving him to walk everywhere else. His duties for Caius were taking him to an Ancestral Tomb South of Pelagiad, and his search for the Propylon Indexes was taking him to Vivec. He would be away for several days and planned to set off in the morning. But first, he paid a visit to the guild hall of Morag Tong.

"Yes, can I help you?" He was greeted by a friendly Dunmer - may be not that friendly by Cyrodiil standards, but certainly much friendlier than an average Dunmer in the streets of Balmora.

"I have a message for one of your members," Hauk started cautiously. "But I need to deliver it in person and so I need help locating him."

"Oh?" The Dunmer raised an eyebrow. "And you are..?"

"Hauk Serck-Hanssen, Optio of the Special Division of the Imperial Legion," Hauk introduced himself, omitting his recent appointment as an agent of the Blades. He wasn't even certain that it was real. "But the message I carry is not strictly Legion business."

"Yes, we've heard of you," the Dunmer nodded. "Not the first time in Morrowind, are you?" Hauk smiled. "Well, who is it that you are looking for?"

"Azarath Salvel."

"Ah!" The name was clearly familiar to the Dunmer, and he paled a little. "You will want to speak to our Grandmaster about that." He swallowed hard. "In Vivec--"

"Eno Hlaalu, yes, I know," Hauk nodded. "It's not the first time," he smiled. "I'll see myself out."

The Dunmer followed Hauk with his gaze. "By the Ancestors, The Animal is back and he's looking for Azarath Salvel..." he shivered. "A message, he said... For all our sakes... Let the Whispering Lady and the Night Mother be one and the same after all..." He hoped in his heart that the message that Hauk carried, would not start another bloody war between Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood. Some said that the Night Mother was just another re-incarnation of Mephala. Others claimed that she was not, and that Mephala was jealous of the Night Mother's proximity to Sithis. And although no one seriously believed that the Black Hand of the Dark Brotherhood were the actual children of the Night Mother, the claim did give them an aura of superiority, and Morag Tong was having none of that. Mephala was amused by the strife, not caring for the lives of mortals, even if they were her followers. Some even whispered that it was Mephala herself who fueled the wars of assassins...

Gilyan Sedas sighed, and as Hauk left the guild hall, he too went out, walking around the building and quietly opening an unassuming door set into the rocky hills surrounding Balmora. Few were aware that the door even existed, although it wasn't hidden or enchanted in any way - it was simply grey, unlit, set into a grey rock in a back alley of the Guild Hall of Morag Tong, and that alone was enough to dissuade most people from venturing there.

The door led into a crypt - a typical crypt resembling many Ancestral Tombs in Morrowind, complete with Ancestral Guardians. They turned to Gilyan, but let him pass, recognising him for one of their own. It wasn't a family crypt, it was a crypt of Morag Tong, used for those members who didn't have a family crypt of their own. Some whispered that the descendants of the Sixth House were buried there... May be, but Gilyan wasn't worried about that. He walked into the depths of the crypt and knelt before a shrine. He said no prayer, for he did not believe that the Dread Father was hearing prayers at all. He simply knelt, postulating his devotion to the Old God. The meditation brought Gilyan peace.

...

Vivec was vast. Hauk remembered getting lost in it more than once. Each canton looked the same to him, and each level in each canton looked even more the same... How was anyone finding their way in there?

"The key to finding things in Vivec is to first find the right canton, and then stick to it until you find the right place," someone told him years ago. That was useful if you knew where you were going... Plain sightseeing that worked in other places, was just going to get you hopelessly lost in Vivec. So, having left his guar by the entrance to the Foreign Canton, Hauk proceeded straight to the Arena Canton, descending to the lowest level into what looked like the sewers. There he found an unassuming door like any other - the entrance to the headquarters of Morag Tong.

"Optio," he was greeted respectfully by a thrall inside. "The Grandmaster is awaiting you." Of course, the word had already been sent.

Hauk entered a room deeper in where Eno was seated at a low table. He gestured Hauk to shut the door and join him.

"Back in Morrowind, I see," Eno observed, passing Hauk a glass of shein. "And looking for one of our men?" Eno's gaze was penetrating.

"Indeed," Hauk nodded, sipping the drink. "I've got a message for him, semi-official, but the Mother is aware and does not object. It concerns his son."

"Ah," Eno nodded, not looking surprised. "I expected something sooner or later. What is it?"

Hauk tilted his head, watching Eno out of the corner of his eye. Should he reveal it before even speaking to Azarath himself? Could he avoid revealing it? Was it even necessary? He decided on a half-way approach.

"A Dark Brotherhood assassin is expected to seek favour with Mephala in an attempt to take revenge on Lucien Lachance for not making her his love interest. She is a talented assassin and is expected to do it through Azarath Salvel," he summarised the matter. "Although Mephala may well approve of this, such course of actions is not in the interest of either organisation." He watched Eno's reaction.

"Indeed," Eno nodded. "This would be most unwelcome to all of us, the Legion included." He paused in thought. "Name?"

"Rayenna. She's a Redguard, very attractive, very deadly."

"She hasn't contacted us here yet," Eno sat back, relaxing. "So it's not too late. We shall warn Azarath to be watchful." He rose from his seat, signalling the end of their interview.

"But I still need to speak to Azarath myself," Hauk insisted, also rising.

"So, what is it that you haven't told me?" Eno's eyes twinkled.

"His son just got married and the child is soon to be born." He was about to add something, but didn't. Eno noticed and understood the unsaid part.

"It is Lucien's business, not ours. But very well. Azarath will contact you."

The Dunmer took family ties very seriously, and the fact that Hauk did not say "his child" but only "the child" told Eno about the uncertainty around the child's father. Yet it had no bearing on Morag Tong, and although they would continue keeping tabs on Lucien and his new family, they would not interfere directly. Taken together with the affair with Rayenna, Eno considered it serious enough to allow a meeting between Hauk and Azarath, even though he deduced what else Hauk was going to say to Azarath that he didn't say to Eno. "This day had to come," Eno thought, watching Hauk bow good-bye and leave. "And he is much closer to this than he would like to appear," he smirked. "The father of the child, perhaps?" Eno walked over to his desk and wrote a note in triplicate, then called a thrall to have the notes delivered to the Morag Tong guild halls. They read:

Master,

Gather all information on Lucien Lachance and his newly wed wife, as well as Optio of the Imperial Legion Hauk Serck-Hanssen and his possible ties to the Dark Brotherhood and in particular to Lucien Lachance. He is allowed contact with Azarath Salvel and is to be offered assistance.

Be warned of a Redguard assassin named Rayenna who is likely to seek favour with the Lady of Whispers for personal revenge on Lucien Lachance. This is deemed detrimental to our organisation.

Be watchful.

...

"Azarath will be in touch," Hauk smirked as he leaned on the railing of the Arena Canton in Vivec, looking at the busy passages beneath. "They still won't tell me where to find him." He didn't really expect it though, not even after all these years passing messages between the Morag Tong and the Legion - he was still an outsider, and would always remain one. The Legion had dealings with the Dark Brotherhood as well, and for that reason alone the Morag Tong would never fully trust an Imperial agent, not even one they'd known for thirty years, not even one like The Animal. "And I bet he deduced the lot from what I said and didn't say," Hauk thought. "Well, it cannot be avoided," he decided. He was making progress, and that was all that mattered. "Would Rayenna be already here?" He wondered, spotting a few Redguards in the crowd. "Probably not," he shook his head. "Let's hope not." If there was ever a place to hide, Vivec was it.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: May 14 2022, 12:44 AM

[Lena Wolf]

17 Evening Star, 4E202 - Vivec - Suran - The first dream

Hauk didn't like Vivec City. The place was huge, with those canton islands looking all alike, with people being equally unfriendly everywhere. Some places were crowded, other places where completely empty. Where was everyone? Hauk was standing on a completely deserted outer ring of the Foreign Canton looking at gondolas in the canal. Why did you need gondolas when you could just walk from one canton to another? Or was he not the only one to constantly lose his way there?

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Someone pushed him from behind.

"Whaaa---" Hauk turned around - the place had been deserted just a few moments ago, but now there was a thick crowd coming right at him. Wait, he wasn't moving, so what..?

"You outlanders are all alike!" A young Dunmer was coming at him with a dagger drawn. Hauk too pulled out a dagger, but then quickly put it away. Although self-defense was of course legal, he didn't trust the Ordinators to see it as self-defense, should Hauk kill the young Dunmer in the altercation. In fact, one of the Ordinators was calmly looking on from a nearby doorway. Instead, Hauk cast invisibility and stepped aside. The Dunmer looked around in bewilderment... and attacked another passer by, killing her on the spot. But since she too was a Dunmer, the Ordinator got involved this time, killing the young Dunmer as well. Hauk's invisibility spell ran out just as the Ordinator was getting up from checking both victims for life signs or gold or both. He squinted at Hauk, his sanguine eyes burning with rage through the slit in his helmet. "Outlander!" He roared, his sword drawn. Ordinators did not need law, it appeared, they were considered infallible in their judgement, and this one just decided that the whole incident had been obviously Hauk's fault. "Well, they are certainly as I remember them," thought Hauk, casting invisibility again and moving away. "Time to leave Vivec City."

...

Riding through the countryside of the Ascadian Isles with its many farms and plantations, Hauk was reflecting on that spectacular rumour that Vivec City had been destroyed in the year 4E5 with some Dwemer artifact that was brought to life for the sole purpose of getting rid of the Tribunal. "This is really strange," he thought. "Not so much that the whole rumour was obviously false, but that it emerged in the first place - wasn't it Nerevarine who killed Lord Vivec back then? I think it was." He scratched his head wondering whether Lord Vivec had actually become immortal, because obviously he was back from the dead. But then again, Hauk himself had returned from the dead once, and he didn't think it made him into a god...

Musing this way, he found himself on a shore of a lake looking at a town across the water. There were no bridges that he could see, but the lake didn't look very deep or very wide, so he left his guar to graze and swam to the other side. There he entered Suran.

It was a lovely leafy town, but the streets were strangely empty, save a few guards and a couple of arms-bearing citizens. "Where is everyone?" Hauk asked a friendly-looking Orc vixen. She reminded him of someone... Dar-Pha. "Wish you were here," Hauk sighed to himself.

"Oh, there aren't a lot of folks living here to begin with," the Orc smiled at him. "It's just a small village really. We provide services to the surrounding farms, is all."

"Is that so?" Hauk smiled back. "And what are those services?"

"Just the usual," the Orc grinned ear to ear. "A smith, a healer, a slave trader, a whorehouse and a temple. A few other shops too, but nothing over the top."

"Bare necessities," Hauk agreed, with a grin of his own. "And no inn?"

"No need," the Orc shook her head. "All the farmers either spend the night at Desele's or simply return home - they all live nearby anyway. And the guards keep clearing out skooma-addled rough sleepers, but you might still find a hammock or a bedroll tucked away somewhere if you look closely." At that moment a cliffracer made a dive at them, and Hauk realised the necessity for carrying arms in this town.

With the cliffracer taken care of, Hauk continued walking around. "Not a big town, certainly, but still strangely empty," he couldn't shake off the feeling that it was too empty, even for a small town.

"Just hope it's not the same as in Valenwood," he thought.

All that walking around made him tired and hungry, and so he went to Desele's House of Earthly Delights as that was the only place in town serving food.

...

"Welcome to my house!" Desele greeted him. "Do make yourself at home! How can we be of service?" She winked at Hauk, gesturing at the girls dancing on stage.

"I was looking for something to eat, actually," Hauk smiled timidly. "But there's no other inn in town..."

"And you've come to the right place!" Desele beamed at him. "We serve food too." She said something to a Khajiit standing next to her, and the Khajiit disappeared into the kitchen. "Anything else?"

"Not at the moment," Hauk thanked her and decided to make the best of his time talking to other customers. Drunk people with their minds on other things were his favourite conversation partners - they were too distracted to think carefully what they were saying.

...

"...and he couldn't remember a thing afterwards!" A very drunk Imperial was telling Hauk in between sips of beer. "Imagine that! He could have killed someone while sleepwalking!"

"Rona is really something else," a Nord joined their conversation. "Just look how she moves..."

"So that's why everyone is afraid to leave their houses, is it?" Hauk turned to the drunk Imperial.

"What? Oh that... yeah, may be, and all the escaped slaves, too..." He had a long drink, finishing his beer and signalling for more. "Like the one I'm looking for. I'm a slave hunter, you see. Except that them slaves aren't wanting to get back to their masters, they aren't!" He looked at Hauk defiantly. "Ever tried to catch an Argonian under water?" He glared. "Don't!" His beer arrived and he seemed intent to catch an Argonian in it, so Hauk left him to it.

"What's that about people having nightmares around here?" He asked Desele as she seemed to be the only person there who wasn't drunk.

"Oh that... Ssshh... We don't want the Temple to hear about it. But yeah, people have been having nightmares. It's Vaermina's work, if you ask me! But hey, I'm not complaining - we've had a lot more business since the nightmares started. Want to stay in my bedroom?" She dangled a key in front of him. "It's 84 septims a night, dear, escort not included. Guaranteed nightmare-free!"

"Ummm... Let me think about that," Hauk felt the weight of his coin pouch, thinking that 84 septims was about eight and a half times the going rate... especially since escort was not included! "How much is with escort?" He asked, grinning.

"More than you could afford," Desele smiled. "Sorry dear, but the girls are all booked up, and to shift prior arrangements is above your pay grade, I'm sure." She turned away, signalling the end of conversation.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one who gets to look but not touch," the Nord said in his ear. "Rona will talk to me, but one look from Desele and she goes back to dancing..." He sighed, exasperated.

...

"Let's see if I can find that hammock or bedroll around here," Hauk thought, leaving Desele's house. He wasn't paying 84 septims for the privilege of sleeping indoors, with or without escort. He hoped he didn't wave that no-nightmares guarantee too quickly though...

"Ah-ha, that's it!" Tucked away between a corner of a building and the city wall, there was a cozy hideaway with all the paraphernalia for an aspiring skooma addict. "Or an Imperial agent in need of a cover," Hauk smirked, settling down to his daily task of making notes for Caius. "No skooma in Suran," he wrote. "Almost." He corrected himself.

The next morning saw Hauk return to Balmora, taking a detour to the Ancestral Tomb where he needed to retrieve a certain skull for Sharn gra-Muzgob from the Mages Guild - Caius' informant. "The Dunmer protect their dead with gods know what," she warned him. "Such a prejudice against Necromancy..."

The tomb was in fact filled with products of Necromancy in the form of skeletons and bone walkers, besides a single legitimate Ancestral Guardian, so Hauk was very much in doubt whether that particular Dunmer family was indeed all too prejudiced or whether rather they wanted to keep their Necromantic materials from being plucked from their own Ancestral Tomb. Be it as it may however, he needed that skull because Caius wanted Sharn's notes, and sure enough, five bone walkers and seven skeletons later, he found it, complete with a Dagger of Judgement next to it - the person in question appeared to have been assassinated. "Charming," he smirked, pocketing the dagger. "But here's the skull, along with my payment." Victims of murder were particularly valuable to Necromancers because they had such angry ghosts.

The way back to Balmora seemed long and tiresome - Hauk got hit by multiple curses and was feeling sluggish and numb, but Henk the guar faithfully carried him home, despite of the skies darkening, the wind picking up and finally a thunderstorm erupting right above them.

In Balmora, having picked up the notes from Sharn ("No, I am NOT a Necromancer!" she protested loudly, stashing away the skull), Hauk went straight to Caius, and finding him asleep, stood for a moment hesitating whether it would be safe enough to wake up the Spy Master. But then he thought that delaying the notes by not waking him up, was probably going to be more dangerous.

"Ah, you got the notes," Caius looked satisfied. "I shall need time to study them. Find something to do. Dismissed."

As Hauk was crossing the square on the way to his house, he found two dead bodies on the ground. People were going back and forth, stepping over them but otherwise behaving as if nothing was the matter.

"What happened?" He asked a passer by.

"Oh, that fellow grabbed a dagger and attacked someone, so the guard intervened," was the reply. "Two guards actually, because that poor sod went completely berserk! He even managed to kill that one guard before the other one cut him down! Whatever got into him..." the passer-by shook his head.

"This is terrible!" exclaimed Hauk. "Was he a disturbed soul?"

"No... Well, yes, actually," the passer-by looked over his shoulder and lowered his voice. "He did say the other day that he'd been having disturbing dreams..." He looked over his shoulder again. "And now this." He sighed. "Stay safe." He nodded and walked off.

Hauk returned home, dropped his gear in the corner and stretched on his hammock without even having anything to eat. All the tiredness of the long day seemed to have come down on him at once. He fell asleep immediately.

...

A tall figure with a golden mask was leading Hauk among the dead as through a wedding celebration. He heard many voices, but no lips moved. Hauk strained to breathe, but his chest didn't move. The tall figure spoke with each figure as he passed among them, laughing and joking, as if they were alive, but they made no reply. Hauk tried to cry out, but without breath, his tongue fluttered in vain.

...

Hauk sat up, it was 2 a.m.

"Sovngarde?" He wondered. Yet the figures in his dream did not look like the Nords. "Must be all that fighting the undead," he reasoned, going downstairs and opening the drinks cabinet. "And this stuff!" He flicked away an empty mazte bottle. His hand probed for something at the back of the cabinet, he grabbed it and pulled it out. Mead. He drank it in one go. "Ah, that should clear it up," he sighed with satisfaction, returning to his hammock. He fell asleep and didn't have any more disturbing dreams.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: May 16 2022, 03:45 PM

[Lena Wolf]

19-21 Evening Star, 4E202 - Ald'ruhn

"Some story indeed," Hauk was muttering to himself leaving Fort Moonmoth where he went to see Larrius Varro, the Legion Champion. Having showered Hauk with condescending advice, he told him a story about a "bad Councillor" and a "good officer" and how the "bad Councillor" was accepting bribes from "bad people" that the "good officer" was trying to put behind bars for crimes against men, mer and the Empire, not necessarily in that order. The "good officer" had a dream, you see, of a little bloodbath for the "bad people". As simple as that. "And he wants me to administer that bloodbath," Hauk smirked. "Yeah, right. Like I'm with the Dark Brotherhood or something." He didn't even need to ask around to know who the "bad people" were - the Camonna Tong, of course. Just as Morag Tong was legal in Morrowind advertising their services of assassinations, Camonna Tong was sort of legal, supported by House Hlaalu and perhaps others, and very much at home in this Province of Law and Order that was Morrowind. Bathing them in blood was not only dangerous, but most importantly, pointless. "Kill those four or five members, and another batch will take their place," Hauk was shaking his head. "No, I'll have nothing to do with it." Larrius would just have to take out a writ on them before someone takes out a writ on him first.

Hauk was getting rather disappointed both with the Mages Guild and the Fighters Guild. Convincing two strangers to do the bidding of the Mages Guild and charming a thief into handing over a "code book" were questionable assignments in themselves, made even more questionable by the suggested alternative solutions: "And if you can't convince them, kill them." He would talk to the two mages in question, but if they refused, as he felt they would, he would not press the matter and certainly not kill them, especially since one of them was a Telvanni and the other one was expected to join the Telvanni, and Hauk was in no rush to get in the bad books with House Telvanni. As for charming the thief... he felt he would have more luck with a mating kaguti. Charming a Nord woman was a tall order on the best of days, and since Sottilde refused to even talk to him, he felt it would be harder than usual. Besides, once charmed, she would be wanting satisfaction of a different kind, and Hauk didn't fancy it. Not with her. He had his principles, you know. Did Eydis really expect him to stoop that low? Eydis Fire-Eye didn't care one way or the other, he figured. There was another Nord woman he wasn't able to charm... or didn't try hard enough. "If I wanted Nord women, I would have gone to Skyrim," he reasoned. He shook his head and decided to try the guild halls elsewhere.

20 Evening Star

Ald'ruhn was a strange city. Every "house" was a crab shell and the central plaza was inside the biggest shell of them all - the Skar. Hauk had only a vague memory of this city from his previous visit many years ago - last time it was obscured by a nearly constant ash storm, so the houses looked like hovels of ash. "As do crabs when they bury themselves in the soil," he smirked. The weather was clear this time however, and despite it being past midnight, there were some people out and about.

"Well, hello!" Hauk was greeted by a young and enthusiastic Dunmer woman in a side alley. "New in town? I can tell you all about the services we offer!" She beamed at him.

"Umm... Thanks," Hauk smirked. "Perhaps another time." After a day riding his guar, the only service he was interested in was a bed - just for him alone, thank you. He pushed a door - it was an inn. Plenty of people inside, just finishing their last drinks. Hauk tried talking to each and every one of them, but no one would rent him a bed.

"Get away from me! What do you want?" An aging Dunmer woman nearly screamed at Hauk.

"Oh, sorry ma'am, nothing of the kind, I'm sure," Hauk backed away, showering her in apologies.

"Are you a messenger? You must be a messenger!" A richly dressed Breton almost bumped into Hauk. "No? Oh... I'm waiting for a message from my airship..."

That caught Hauk's attention, and after some cajoling, the Breton explained that he had built an airship based on old Dwemer designs, hired a crew and sent them off to an expedition to Solstheim to recover a "certain item" from a secret barrow that could only be identified from above - hence the need for an airship. But it'd been a long time and he hadn't heard anything from them and feared the worst - that they ran off with the item, or crashed the airship, or died, or... whatever.

"Are you for hire? Are you? Would you find out what happened? Please? I simply must have that amulet... err... item! Oh, and see if anyone survived, too. The women..." After some more shein, the Breton finally revealed that the special item was an Amulet of Charm that made the wearer irresistible to the opposite sex. Hauk looked him over and nodded - he could see why the Breton would need that amulet but doubted it would do him any good. "I, on the other hand, could use something like that on Sottilde..." he thought. But the amulet was all the way on Solstheim, so all Hauk could do was to promise to look into it when he went there and suggest to the Breton to sober up and get a grip on himself in the meantime, "Which would also help with the ladies," he added, grinning.

As entertaining as this was, it didn't solve Hauk's need for a place to sleep, so he left the inn and wandered around town some more.

All the beds at the Mages Guild and the Fighters Guild were taken, and several people woke up with angry looks - what was he doing making a racket at three in the morning? Desperate, Hauk entered a place called "The Rat in the Pot", and although the name was obvious enough, he was too tired to care. He spotted a free bank and was asleep immediately.

21 Evening Star

Hauk woke up rather late but he felt refreshed and decided to go see the stewards of the two Guilds that would not have a bed for him to sleep in. He wanted to clear this up for the following night and see about some better duties than the ones he got in Balmora. Not that he was particularly interested in advancing with either guild, but Caius ordered him to maintain that cover.

The Mages Guild was again useless - "We have no spare beds, sorry, but why don't you join us for breakfast?" which he did. May be not so useless after all. He bought some spells and cure disease potions, although they had nothing against the Blight. Yes, they could help him to cure paralysis, so Hauk bought two vials of that - one for an unfortunate Nord he found standing naked on a road to Ald'ruhn (what was it with people there wanting to strip naked every Nord they laid eyes on?), and the other vial to keep in his pack, should he face the same predicament himself.

"Oh, and since you have obviously nothing to do--," a grumpy Dunmer mage turned to him, "find me the Chronicles of Nchuleft." Hauk had heard of that book - it was very rare, he would likely have to go to Vivec for it, but at least it didn't require charming anyone, he hoped. With a sigh, he left the guild.

The Fighters Guild was just across the street, but when Hauk looked over his shoulder, he saw a small crowd following him around.

"Whaaa--?" he stopped in surprise.

"You want to join the Thieves Guild," an Orc told him in no uncertain terms and glared. Hauk could almost hear "...or else!" added to that, so he glared back. The mutual glaring continued for a few minutes, but when Hauk turned to leave, he found the crowd following him around town. He smirked to himself thinking that this hadn't happened since he was competing in the Arena and some annoying fan just wouldn't leave him alone claiming that he was his "most favourite Gladiator ever". But here in Ald'ruhn people started noticing the little procession, and Hauk didn't care for that kind of fame. Quickly, he dived into the Fighters Guild. Fortunately, the crowd didn't follow.

"Got the code book job, did you?" The steward smiled at him. "It's all right, but do try not to kill Sottilde. Nah, she isn't as tough as that, you can charm her. Or is the follow-up going to be a problem?" Persius winked, and Hauk could do nothing else but laugh politely and bow out. He did however spot a large dormitory that he didn't see the night before and sighed with relief - surely he would be able to sleep there.

The necessities taken care of, Hauk decided to have a look inside the Skar, or the Manor District. All the rich people holed up there, apparently, and the shops were supposed to be better stocked, too, "and naturally charge double for everything," Hauk added to himself. The entrance was through an unassuming hatch. He entered and found himself... in Antaloor. The Swallows. The barren landscape devastated by a magical explosion. There was an encampment there where Hauk got his Sight... Surely, Eric was somewhere over to the left?

Hauk shuddered, cold sweat beading on his forehead. His eye was on fire - the one he had sacrificed for the Gift of Sight. Oh, you couldn't tell from looking at him, but one of his eyes had been replaced. The Sight proved to be a curse, not a gift, just as people had warned Hauk, for it allowed him to see what really happened, in all its graphic detail of suffering and death, and he could neither forget it, nor turn it off.

"What is it, outlander?" A guard eyed Hauk suspiciously, bringing him out of his reverie and back to Ald'ruhn. "Lost your way?"

Hauk jerked and looked around. He wasn't in Antaloor, this was Morrowind, and Eric was no where to be seen. What lay before him was not an encampment in the Swallows, but the interior of the Skar, although the darkness, the strange smells and sounds and the network of hanging bridges and wooden platforms were all too familiar...

"Thanks, I'm alright," Hauk stammered to the guard and took a few steps along a hanging bridge to prove it. He didn't feel like staying there very long, or like shopping there, no matter how well stocked the stores might be. But he felt it his duty to get the lay of the land, or of the crab shell in this case, and find out what was behind the numerous doors along its perimeter. "House Redoran Council Chambers and rich people's manors, no doubt," he guessed, and went about marking them on his map. One of the doors opened to a spacious interior lit with dim red candles - the Morag Tong Guild Hall. "Yep, they are here, under the Skar, while the Imperial guilds are in the lower part of town, right next to a Thieves Guild hideout. I guess that tells you who's who," he smirked.

"Welcome," a Dunmer greeted him. "Is there anything we can assist you with, Optio?" The word had clearly been sent.

"Not at the moment, thank you," Hauk smiled. "Unless you have any interesting spells on offer?"

"Of course," the Dunmer nodded. "We do trade with the general public," he coughed uncomfortably. "Or no so general public. You'll find the traders here in this hall."

Once again Hauk reflected how useful Morag Tong Guild Halls could be, even if they wouldn't let him sleep there.

...

It was the middle of the afternoon when Hauk emerged from under the Skar feeling like he'd had enough of the place for years to come. He unrolled his map, wondering what to do next. His search for Propylon Indexes was sending him to Maar Gan, and Caius wanted him to visit Gnisis and sign up with the Legion there, but either city was too far away to set off now. However, Ald'ruhn was quite close to the Ghostfence - an impenetrable barrier meant to keep the Blight from spreading all over Vvardenfell, or at least this was its function last time around, some two centuries ago. The structure was never taken down though, and Hauk was curious. "Also, if you believe the reports about the eruption of the Red Mountain, all of Vvardenfell must now be under ash and lava, totally obliterated. And yet here we are, seeing no evidence of that. Apart from the ash storms and the foyadas, of course." The reports seemed to have been exaggerated. Curious, Hauk decided to take the path going North East from Ald'ruhn right into the Ghostfence. "If it is still working, I should not be able to pass. We'll see."

The ground was scorched and the trees burned, and the only patches that weren't black, were covered in ash. There was no lack of wildlife, however - cliffracers, alits, netches, rats, kaguti, they were all there making Hauk's trek more interesting. Most of them were diseased, and before Hauk even got close to the Ghostfence, he was already infected with two types of Blight that all but wiped him out. "Good thing stubbornness is not an attribute that Blight can affect," he smirked to himself. Then zap! and he went down under a powerful shock spell.

"Ash slaves?" Hauk shook himself awake, looking at a nearly naked Dunmer preparing to send another bolt of lightening at him. The Dunmer was only wearing a dirty loin cloth and wrist irons. Hauk rolled away and summoned a Flame Atronach, expediting all of his available magicka - the Blight was taking its toll. With his Willpower suppressed, Hauk was out of magicka and out of breath, barely able to stand, and stealth remained the only viable approach. That, or Divine Intervention to whisk him away to safety. "And where's the challenge in that?" He smirked to himself, collecting ash salts from the defeated slave.

Zap! Another bolt of lightning sent Hauk flying, and this one was much more powerful than that of the ash slave. Whatever it was, Ghostfence was not keeping it out!

Zap! Zap! Zap! ... But the Flame Atronachs that Hauk kept summoning, were wearing down the zapping mage, and eventually he ran out of magicka long enough for Hauk to aim with his bow and administer a few helpings of Mage's Bane poison to interrupt magicka flow. Then all he could do was watch how the mage tried to punch the Flame Atronach and got burned to a crisp for his trouble.

"This one wasn't an ash slave," Hauk was looking down at a strange creature on the ground. "Looks like a zombie, or a bone walker, as they call them here, except... what's that hanging off its face?" Strips of flesh were hanging down from the face and chest of the creature... person... whatever. "This was a person once," Hauk noted with regret. "Is this... Corprus?" He shuddered, realising that here was something much worse than the Blight, and that he walked right into it. He scraped some of the hanging flesh for further analysis and looked around. He could see the pillars of the Ghostfence just ahead, as well as the ghostly mist stretching from one pillar to the next, but he could also see that animals walked under it or flew over it completely unhindered... "That's bad," he thought, shaking his head. "Very bad indeed." He got up and followed the road leading him right through the Ghostfence into what was supposed to be inaccessible territory. He met no resistance.

The area ahead was all charred with dried lava - there was no doubt that the Red Mountain had erupted at some point, and more than once, and would do so again. Yet there were plenty of animals around, and some of the tough vegetation of the Ashlands, like trauma roots and scathecrow plants, were coming through the ground. Most of the animals were blighted, however. The trek was difficult but educational, Hauk was sure to stop and mark his location on the blank scroll that Caius gave him - these roads into the "inaccessible territory" would prove important. He saw a Dwemer ruin nearby, with roads branching off towards it, he marked them, but turned West instead, heading towards Ald'ruhn. He would need to get his afflictions cured before venturing there. And then, suddenly, the skies turned red.

"Ash storm?" He wondered. No, the dust was red, not grey. Then it died down as suddenly as it came on. Not waiting for the storm to resume, Hauk proceeded West as fast as he could, emerging behind the Temple in Ald'ruhn completely out of breath and out of energy, partly because it was once again three o'clock in the morning. Kicking off his boots by the entrance, he tiptoed into the Temple trying not to wake anyone, paid a 35 septim "donation" for the cure of his Blight Disease, then with renewed energy quickly crossed town to the Fighters Guild and fell into a bank in the dormitory. Sleep was the sweetest of brides after all.

[Lena Wolf]

22 Evening Star, 4E202 - Azarath Salvel

"Keeping busy, I see," a hooded man in a dark robe stood over Hauk, waking him up. The bodies of bandits and smugglers that Hauk had "cleared" for the privilege of sleeping in that cave were piled up in the adjacent cavern. "You wanted a word."

"I see where your son gets his habits from," Hauk smiled, sitting up. "Yes." He gestured for the man to take a seat. "We haven't been formally introduced--"

"And yet we know who we are," the man interrupted Hauk. "Too many words can be detrimental."

"Very well," Hauk agreed. "You got the warning?" The man nodded. "The details are as graphic as you can imagine them, which fuels the want for revenge. Plus, she's been exiled."

"Ah! I wasn't told that!" The man looked up.

"Because I did not tell them that. But you should know. Also, the woman who sparked her jealousy is the one that your son married."

"That... explains a few things," the man pushed back his hood revealing a black hand tattoo on the side of his face. "And the child?"

"Either his or mine." Hauk felt uneasy saying this, but he'd come this far and was not going to leave it half finished.

"Tell me about my son's wife," Azarath Salvel sat back.

Hauk took a deep breath. "Lena Wolf, daughter of Wolf Asgarsen and Lilian Delacour, born in the year 3E417. Cured vampire, mage assassin, Champion of Cyrodiil, and now also Dragonborn. What else do you want to know?"

"Interesting..." Azarath mused. "Wolf's daughter? Does she have a brother?"

"She does," Hauk nodded. "You knew Wolf Asgarsen?"

"I know Wolf Asgarsen," Azarath corrected him. "He is not dead."

They sat in silence for a while, Hauk hoped that Azarath would say more without prompting, but he didn't.

"What do you intend to do about Rayenna?" Azarath asked a direct question.

"Nothing," Hauk shook his head. "I am to locate her and put a trace on her, but I was so far not able to find her, let alone figure out what putting a trace on her actually means."

"Yes, if she went to the Lady of Whispers, it won't be easy..." Azarath stretched for a beer, watching Hauk out of the corner of his eye. "How's your Mysticism? Your Mages Guild banned most of the spells."

"I'm not bad, I guess," Hauk smirked. "But I didn't realise you were a mage?"

"I'm not, but I know what it takes," Azarath remarked. "You will need help."

"I thought as much," Hauk nodded. "Where do you think I am going?"

"All right," Azarath looked him up and down again. "Father of my future grandchild," he smirked. "Anything else?"

"It's time you appeared in your son's life, I think," Hauk said after some hesitation. "He does not remember you at all."

"No, he was just a baby last time I saw him..." Azarath looked into the distance, bringing back the memories of days past. "And once he joined the Brotherhood, I had to stay away. But Eno tells me it is less of a problem now... What changed?"

"I wouldn't know, I am not one of them," Hauk shook his head.

"And not one of us, and yet here we are, Animal," Azarath smirked. "You are my son's friend, are you not? You must know more."

"I think the Great War and the attempts of the Aldmeri Dominion to wipe out both your organisations brought some peace between you," he offered. "You no longer kill each other on sight, am I right? So, there you are." Azarath nodded but didn't look fully convinced. "And also... certain events some two hundred years ago shook the Brotherhood to the core, and raised Lucien's reputation high enough that having a Morag Tong Brother as a parent is no longer a problem. Besides, the Mother knows."

Azarath squinted at Hauk, taking in the information. "You know my rank."

"I am an agent," Hauk smiled.

"Well..." Azarath rose. "I hear you, but it's too early." He turned to leave. "Tell him..." he hesitated. "Tell him that we have an Ancestral Tomb inside the Ghostfence. When he is ready to meet, he should visit there." Azarath walked off, then returned. "I'll see you again." Then he really left.

"If I didn't know better..." Hauk mused watching Azarath disappear into the depth of the corridor. "The way he moves..." Family resemblance was undeniable.

[Lena Wolf]

22-23 Evening Star, 4E202 - Joining the Legion

"Yeah, we could use new recruits!" An Orc Legionnaire beamed at Hauk in Gnisis. "We are decidedly understaffed." He looked over a large central square that was quite deserted.

"I'm not so sure that me joining would really solve your staffing issue," Hauk smirked, following the Orc's gaze. "May be if a few dozen of me joined..."

"Stop talking and snap to it!" The Orc barked at him and glared. It was the Legion, all right.

Hauk was about to put the Orc in his place, but then thought better of it. Not now, not yet. Let General Darius do it - it would be more fun to watch.

Before going to see General Darius however, Hauk decided to look around town. It wasn't all that empty after all. It had two outdoor bars and a market, an egg mine, a silt strider station and a trade house, a number of typical Redoran crab shell houses and an Imperial fort. There was indeed a large empty space in the middle - larger than a square but not quite an avenue - and Hauk figured it was used for group drills. "Practicing their parades, no doubt," he smirked to himself.

The sun was going down and people started trickling into the bar on top of the silt strider platform. Sailors. If there were sailors about, there must be a port nearby. Indeed, a short walk towards the mouth of the river, and suddenly Hauk got all home sick.

An Imperial ship. Probably sailing to the Imperial City. A chat with the captain revealed that yes, they were sailing regularly between Gnisis and the Imperial City. Five days and 800 septims would get you there. Hauk sighed - he neither had the time nor the money...

Feeling rather melancholic, he didn't fancy taking orders from any Generals just then, and decided to enjoy his freedom while it lasted, for he knew for a fact that as a fresh recruit, he'd be immediately overloaded with tasks that no one else wanted to do... regardless of his rank in the Imperial Legion. "You may be an Optio with the Special Division, but here you are just a fresh recruit," he pictured the General telling him. That could definitely wait until tomorrow.

Back in Gnisis Hauk looked for an inn but there wasn't one. He couldn't sleep in the barracks because he wasn't one of General Darius' men, and the sailors all but booted him out of their bunkhouse. There were no Guilds, and Hauk wasn't sleeping at the Temple. The sun had already set by then, and finally Hauk spotted some candlelight coming from under the heavy wooden beams supporting a platform above...

"What are you two doing here?" He addressed two people sitting in that nook, bending over a candle.

"What does it look like we are doing here?" One of them smirked. "Keep quiet and join us if you like. The stuff's in the crate."

They had bedrolls too, Hauk noticed. He found a place to sleep.

23 Evening Star

"You may be an Optio with the Special Division, but here you are just a fresh recruit," General Darius told Hauk in the morning, suppressing a smirk. "Can't have it any other way, or the troops would revolt," he explained somewhat apologetically. "You'll work your way up in no time, I'm sure. Besides, we use a slightly different rank structure here in Morrowind - after Agent you jump straight into Champion and from there onto the Knights, and I doubt you'd be interested in that."

"Indeed not," Hauk nodded.

"And since your enlistment is only a cover..." General Darius winked and Hauk could hardly believe it, "yes, I received word from Caius," he clarified. "Members of the Blades get no preferential treatment here either. Is that understood?" The General's tone suddenly became commanding, and Hauk snapped to attention.

"Yes, sir, understood, sir," he straightened up and mentally congratulated himself for spending an hour polishing his armour the night before. Presentation was everything.

"At ease," the General waved at him. "All right, Animal, don't get your knickers in a twist. I've got a few jobs for you," he passed Hauk a scroll. "Go get yourself local gear and make sure to be seen wearing it, too. And I want no excuses about the wrong type of armour hampering your magic! I know all about you battlemages..." General Darius looked through a few papers on his desk. "And go see the drill master - he'll want to train you. Or try to train you. Don't be too hard on him," he added and winked again. There was more to the man than what his General's uniform was letting on.

...

"Well, let's see what you are made of... Recruit!" The drill master took up a fighting stance. "Try to get this sword out of my hand!" He smirked, watching Hauk move uncomfortably in the Legion chainmail that he was issued. He was used to heavy armour and he had to swap his claymore for a standard issue Imperial broadsword. Nothing wrong with the weapon as such, but it didn't have quite the same reach.

After a few rounds circling the room with tentative attacks, Hauk realised that the Orc drill master was taking it seriously. Taller and broader than Hauk, and undoubtedly with a greater battlefield experience, the drill master easily repelled any and all of Hauk's obvious attacks, but had so far not issued a counter, still letting Hauk show his mettle first. "All right, let's try something different," Hauk thought, noting that the blade of this practice sword was very dull, but the drill master didn't tell Hauk to wound him, but to get the sword out of his hand... which was probably more difficult.

Lunging forward in another mock attack, he summoned a scamp that shrieked and clawed at the drill master, distracting the Orc for a brief moment, but long enough for Hauk to come close and touch the Orc with numbing frost, so that Hauk's next strike with the blunt sword at the Orc's wrist made the hand open almost by reflex. The Orc dropped his sword. Hauk dispelled the scamp.

"Treachery and deceit, is all you battlemages are capable of," the Orc grunted, rubbing his hand. "Well played though. Not regulation, but well played." He grinned. "In your own armour and with your own weapon, you'll make for a passable soldier." He put the practice sword away signalling the end of their training session. "Did General Darius give you duties? Go to it. Come back to me when you make Spearman. Which will be in about thirty minutes, I reckon." He smirked, sitting down and opening a bottle of beer. "I'll be waiting."

[Renee]

It's true, I read some Lena Wolf, and I get the urge to play Oblivion. It's been months since I've played OB. Jeez, maybe I haven't even played at all in 2022! I don't think I have! That'll probably change to-day.

Page 5, Post 100-- Lena's in Skingrad > All Things Alchemical. Falanu knows exactly which ingredients to fetch for her, too. Whoa, she locks the door after she meets Fenris. That's rather peculiar. Okay, she's knows Fenris from her past.

That's a pretty pic of Falanu's shop.

Page 6, Post 101== She's headed to Bravil. This post is rather unique, in that there is no dialog.

Yes, vampires. Some of them succumb, some of them even enjoy their new existence. Others struggle. Very true.

Page 6, Post 104-- Quite some posturing and teeth-baring going on here, as she meets up with Sanguine's worshippers.

"I honor my lord by destroying you!" I love the things NPCs say in this game, even Daedric ones!

"Do you wish to rent a room?" - Shuravi asked when Lena entered the inn in Leyawiin. "I have one on the second floor free."

You know about this, right? We pay for the room, and it's forever available for free, if I remember correctly. This is one of those things overlooked by whichever dev was writing the room quest for Three Sisters. One of those things "fixed" by the Unofficial Patch on PC, iirc. Hey, not all glitches and things missed by the devs are bad!

Whoa, she meets with Sanguine directly. I've never done any of the Shrine quests (not that I recall), so this is new territory for Renee and her characters. Looking forward to the next update, which looks like some sort of gala.

But for now... time for some gaming (thank you).

[Lena Wolf]

Page 5, Post 100-- Lena's in Skingrad > All Things Alchemical. Falanu knows exactly which ingredients to fetch for her, too. Whoa, she locks the door after she meets Fenris. That's rather peculiar. Okay, she's knows Fenris from her past.

Fenris' surname is Bero. If you played Morrowind, you know the significance of that name (or otherwise you can look it up ). Falanu's last name is Hlaalu. She's not just "House Hlaalu", she is an actual Hlaalu. Now put it together.

"Do you wish to rent a room?" - Shuravi asked when Lena entered the inn in Leyawiin. "I have one on the second floor free."

You know about this, right? We pay for the room, and it's forever available for free, if I remember correctly. This is one of those things overlooked by whichever dev was writing the room quest for Three Sisters. One of those things "fixed" by the Unofficial Patch on PC, iirc. Hey, not all glitches and things missed by the devs are bad!

I don't use the Unofficial Patch. I tried it, and I think most changes I simply never noticed, but the ones that I did notice, I regretted. For example, the Honorblade of Chorrol looks like an ebony longsword in Bethesda's version. However, there is a silver sword in the CS that is labelled the Honorblade of Chorrol. So the patch switches the model from ebony to silver... I don't think it was a mistake by Bethesda, I think rather they first thought to make it a silver sword but then changed their minds and made it ebony. Considering how much they are fussing about it, it is surely more than just silver!

Whoa, she meets with Sanguine directly. I've never done any of the Shrine quests (not that I recall), so this is new territory for Renee and her characters. Looking forward to the next update, which looks like some sort of gala.

This is a really funny quest! Not so easy to pull it off properly, either. Note however that Lena meets Sanguine in person only in my story, not in Bethesda's. But Lena and Sanguine have been friends for a long time already, ever since she took over from Sheogorath running his Realm for a while... So yeah, of course they meet in person. It isn't that uncommon - Sanguine turns up in Mundus quite regularly. A certain story with goats and giants in Skyrim comes to mind...

[Lena Wolf]

22 Evening Star, 4E202 - A Floating Rock Fortress

"So you say that rocks always fall to the ground?" Keld looked menacingly at the other drinkers in the High Inn in Ivarstead. "And I say not so."

"What's in the mead?" One of the customers whispered to the inn keeper. "Or is he just not right in the head?"

"There's nothing wrong with my mead," the inn keeper shook his head but didn't get offended - this wasn't the first time Keld had been claiming that rocks didn't always fall to the ground. "Keld isn't mad. But this sure is one mad story." He smiled at the people around the bar, not wishing to spoil what was coming.

"All right, I'll bite," the first customer turned to Keld. "What's all that about the rocks not falling to the ground?"

"Enchanted they are," Keld grinned, happy to have found an audience for his tale again. "Up over the old aqueduct above Fort Talos."

"Wow, hold on. Fort Talos? Where's that?" Another customer chimed in, signalling the inn keeper for more mead.

"It's not far from here," someone else interrupted before Keld could reply. "Just take the road to Riften, you know, along Lake Geir. You'll pass under a giant waterfall - and that's Fort Talos."

This was making no sense. The waterfall was Fort Talos? There was certainly something wrong with the mead.

"All right, I see," the first customer winked at the others. "So I'm new here and you locals are just pulling my leg. There's obviously no such thing as a fort which is a waterfall. Stop beating about the bush."

"Ten septims there'll be a brawl," one of the locals leaned to the inn keeper. "My money is on Keld, this newcomer doesn't look tough to me." The inn keeper nodded and scribbled something in his book. More discrete bets followed.

"He isn't lying," Keld raised his voice over the din. "Fort Talos is a waterfall, with an aqueduct above where rocks float in mid-air. When this side of the mountain collapsed, it buried Fort Talos under the rocks and it sunk into the lake, but some of the rocks didn't fall to the ground."

"Well, if that were true," the first customer squinted, "then there'd be no way up onto the old aqueduct, so there's no way in Oblivion how you'd know about the floating rocks."

This made sense and a few people nodded, refilling their mugs.

"If you were man enough, you'd have found the way up," Keld squinted back. "Rather than just sit there saying it can't be done!"

"What?! Get up you lying coward - if you can still stand - and let's see who's man enough!" The newcomer was quick to start a fight, it seemed. He jumped up from his seat, his fists at the ready. The others started forming a circle, pushing Keld into it. He put up his fists, and blows followed.

...

"You are tougher than you look," Keld was rising heavily from the floor, his face bleeding. "Good fight," he grinned, spitting out a tooth. "Where d'you learn to fight like that?" He looked over the newcomer, now noticing something wrong. The man looked in his sixties, but his hair was already snow white, and his eyes... "You part Argonian?" Keld tried to focus his vision, now blurred by a bruise quickly swelling under his eye. "Orange eyes? Split pupils?"

"What? Cat's eyes?" Another regular had a better look at the newcomer. "He's a... oh no!" He shook his head and retreated to the back of the room.

"A witcher," Geralt was patting the dust out of his clothes. "Yes. I slay monsters. So, let's hear it about those floating rocks."

He sat down on the bench, with cheers and calls for more mead all around. No one held a grudge.

"So Fort Talos did sink into the lake," Keld said by way of restoring peace. "But only its entrance part like... You know, the bit that looks like a fort. There's a door there still, and if you force it open, you can enter, but of course it is all flooded in there."

Everyone nodded, with several people starting on the stories of giant slaughterfish that they'd caught in the lake as well as inside the flooded fort. The slaughterfish were getting bigger by the minute.

"Oi, shut it! This isn't a fisherman's tale!" Keld glared around the room and the conversation subsided. "So yeah, the fort is still there, and it's got slaughterfish all right, and something far worse, too. Draugr."

"Under water?" Geralt raised an eyebrow.

"They aren't breathing any longer, dumbhead," Keld grinned at Geralt. "They don't give a goblin's piss for air. Undead, they are."

"So. An old flooded fort filled with water draugr. Now get to the floating rocks!" Someone around the table was getting impatient.

"And that's just it!" Keld glared at him. "Don't interrupt! I've been there, and you? Eh?"

"Oh, I meant nothing by that," the other person quickly backed down, calling for more mead for everyone at the table. "Just an observation."

"Observation..." Keld glared at him again, but accepted the mead and continued. "So when the fort sunk, it broke the passages that were connecting it with the old aqueduct high on the mountain. The aqueduct and its towers are still there, there's a spring inside the mountain, and that's where the waterfall comes from."

"That waterfall is a sight to see," someone else chimed in. "And those towers... ancestors knew how to build, no doubt."

"Ever seen it at night though?" Another person joined in. "There's that eerie white light around it, and the flame in the torches is white, not orange red as right flame should be."

Several people turned around to look at the fireplace, as if making sure that the flame in the grate of the High Inn was right orange red.

"Undead, that's what it is," the first speaker confirmed.

"Enchanted," someone added.

"Spooky," a voice came from the back.

"There's a wraith up there," another person suggested.

"Not a wraith - a Dragon Priest," Keld had to raise his voice again to make it heard over the chatter. "And you wouldn't know." He glared around the table again for good measure.

"A Dragon Priest, you say," Geralt asked with interest. "Did you defeat it?" He looked straight at Keld.

"I... err... not exactly," Keld turned red and got very interested in something inside his mead mug.

"There's no shame in that!" One of the others exclaimed. "Defeat a Dragon Priest! Why, no mere man can do it, not even a Nord!" He looked at Geralt with a challenge.

"They are tough, granted," Geralt nodded soothingly, not wishing to start another brawl. "The one in Blackmoor had an army of draugr with him as well. What about this one here?"

"Blackmoor? You've been to the Blackmoor Watch?" Keld looked up at Geralt, respect showing in his eyes. "It's true then, what they say? That you returned from there and had great treasures with you?"

"Great treasures are an exaggeration," Geralt chuckled. "But yes, I've been there, and the fight was tough. I wouldn't go into another one like that if I can avoid it. Besides, you can never really kill them - only a Dragonborn can do that."

"A Dragonborn... that's a myth though," the skeptic at the table objected.

"Not a myth, but you ain't it," several people hushed him.

"So what happened at Fort Talos?" Geralt wanted to get back to the story. "How did you get to the aqueduct if the passages are all caved in?"

"That's just it - I don't know," Keld replied uneasily. "One moment I was down in the flooded fort fighting the draugr and the slaughterfish, and the next moment I stood on top of that aqueduct..." He stared into his mead, but found no explanation there. "The view was breathtaking. Then an arrow flew past my face, and I knew I wasn't alone..."

"You must have touched something, a portal of some sort," someone suggested.

"May be," Keld nodded. "I was being knocked about a bit."

"So then what?" The same impatient person urged him on. "You're standing on top of that aqueduct enjoying the view and someone shoots arrows at you?" His tone was mocking and Keld didn't like that.

"Oi, get out of here!" He rose menacingly. "You ain't been there, get back to your rats and goblins!"

The rest of the people at the inn agreed and the impatient person was escorted out.

"Adventurers," the locals were returning to the table, shaking their heads. "Just because he climbed up to Ivarillion, he thinks he knows it all. And Ivarillion isn't even 'open for business'."

"Why? What's that about?" Geralt got curious, sensing a job for a witcher.

"Oh, it's a shame, that, really," the inn keeper spoke loudly over the din of the conversation. "We used to get a lot of tourism here for that - it isn't nearly as high up as High Hrothgar, and far less dangerous to climb. People used to flock there so that they could see a real Ayleid ruin without the monsters or undead about. But it's all stopped now," he sighed. "Some of those tourists must have been necromancers in search of a new home, and before we knew it, they took over the ruin, so it's now filled with monsters, undead and Akatosh knows what other horrors!" Many nodded and exchanged hushed comments. "We've put a notice on the board, perhaps someone like yourself can go in there and clear them out?" He looked at Geralt expectantly. "There's a reward in that, too. Unlike Fort Talos."

"I'll think it over," Geralt replied non-committally. "So what happened on the aqueduct?" He turned to Keld. "Those were draugr archers shooting at you, I take it?"

"Ai, that they were," Keld nodded, smiling gratefully for the return to his tale and for the seriousness of Geralt's tone. Geralt wasn't one to mock someone being apprehensive about draugr archers. "Coming at me from the towers, they were. Glowing eyes and all." He shuddered. "It didn't help that we were so high up, either. I don't have vert-... verto-... err... I ain't afraid of heights, but it's unnerving the first time, like." He took a gulp of mead, and many people did the same, with nods going all around.

"But you cut them down all the same," Geralt prompted him.

"Shattered their bones," Keld grinned, patting his axe. "And that's when I saw it - the floating rocks."

"Ah-ha, so they exist?" Geralt exclaimed with a poorly concealed surprise.

"Of course they exist, I said so right from the start!" Keld's voice was getting a little too high-pitched with clear annoyance and a promise of another brawl.

"Of course you did. Please continue," Geralt looked at him apologetically.

"It's not easy to believe, I know," Keld was cooling off. "But there they were - floating in mid-air. Big ones, small ones, all sorts - just hanging there. And I had to walk under them, as I was sure that if there was an exit, it would be at the back, behind the towers. Of course this is where the Dragon Priest was hovering too, I could see him there."

"Did he attack?" someone asked impatiently, and others hushed him.

"No, actually, he didn't attack," Keld looked up, still surprised. "He offered me a sweetroll and commented on the nice view." He smacked his lips. "Of course he attacked, what did you think, dumbhead?" He glared at the person who asked that question. "As soon as he saw me, he attacked."

"But you're here, so you survived," Geralt thought it was best to intervene.

"That's it - survived," Keld nodded, turning a bit red again. "Focused on finding a way out and dodging his attacks. Used up all my magicka casting healing spells, too. Found that exit, and the next thing I knew I was standing at the foot of the aqueduct, on the shore of the lake, just by the waterfall."

"Another portal?" Geralt sounded interested, noting the details.

"It was a trapdoor," Keld nodded. "It was covered with rubble and I thought it would be hard to clear it all off with the Dragon Priest attacking, but as soon as I grabbed the ring, I was teleported."

"A lucky escape," Geralt approved. "I wish more fortresses had such trapdoors."

A murmur of conversation went around the inn, this time about various trapdoors that people had opened and all the wonders and horrors they'd found within. Slaughterfish were back too, in ever increasing sizes.

With the main tale now told, the inn returned to its usual mixed entertainment with card games and arm wrestling, but Geralt asked to rent a room for a few days, may be a week.

"You are going up to the old aqueduct, aren't you?" The inn keeper looked at him shrewdly, accepting an advance payment. "Well, I'll keep the room booked for you. And if the next batch of slaughterfish turns out to have white hair in their stomachs, we'll know where it came from, won't we?" He winked.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Fort Talos, the trouble in Ivarillion, Blackmoor Watch and many other things will appear in the next release of TWMP Skyrim Alive.

[Renee]

Page 6, Post 109 -- Ha, no kidding? Sanguine's quest strips all those guests down to their under-clothes!

Cool. I like that Lena feels her home is Mundus, not the Isles. These pics are great, by the way. OH NICE.

She's speaking with Seridur! Does this mean she'll be doing Order of Virtuous Blood? I hope so. I'd like to see her take on this series of events.

The Dunmer vampire hunter in the room twitched, the Argonian changed colour, but Seridur remained calm

The Argonian changes color! That's so full of win!

I was wrong about the Order, darn! Not saying she should join, I'm just saying it'd be an interesting take if she did.

In the next post, is the quest she's doing (to kill Thieves Guild members) an actual Beth quest? I've never completed Dark Brotherhood, not sure if I ever will, so just curious.

I enjoyed the description of her coming back to Mundus too. I like the way that part is written.

Up to Post 112.

I don't use the Unofficial Patch. I tried it, and I think most changes I simply never noticed, but the ones that I did notice, I regretted. For example, the Honorblade of Chorrol looks like an ebony longsword in Bethesda's version. However, there is a silver sword in the CS that is labelled the Honorblade of Chorrol. So the patch switches the model from ebony to silver... I don't think it was a mistake by Bethesda, I think rather they first thought to make it a silver sword but then changed their minds and made it ebony. Considering how much they are fussing about it, it is surely more than just silver!

I agree. Doesn't seem like a Bethesda mistake.

I tried an unofficial patch for Skyrim which basically broke my game. I forget which patch is was, but after installing it my Skyrim was lagging and freezing. Going from indoors to outdoors in Windhelm guaranteed a CTD.

Note however that Lena meets Sanguine in person only in my story, not in Bethesda's. But Lena and Sanguine have been friends for a long time already, ever since she took over from Sheogorath running his Realm for a while... So yeah, of course they meet in person. It isn't that uncommon - Sanguine turns up in Mundus quite regularly.

Okay. Yes, this is also true that the various Daedra can show up in different forms, directly in Tamriel.

This post has been edited by Renee: Jul 2 2022, 04:57 AM