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

[macole]

“The fit was perfect.” Autofit, a skill or spell known by even the poorest tailor. There may be a seam tear now and then but for the most part big or small the garment automatically adjusts to the wearers' size. The fit is always perfect.

[Lena Wolf]

Urgh, too bad Hauk can't find potions to cure Fight like a Bosmer Blight Disease.

I don't know whether it was meant to be like this or whether it's an oversight in Morroblivion, but the fact remains that Cure Blight Disease potions were only available from very few traders that you meet much later in game. I think they were all Telvanni, as well. So Hauk had to fix this. He had enough feeling like a Bosmer. A Bosmer minus the agility, I should add.

“The fit was perfect.” Autofit, a skill or spell known by even the poorest tailor. There may be a seam tear now and then but for the most part big or small the garment automatically adjusts to the wearers' size. The fit is always perfect.

Oh, I think I know this spell! Doesn't the incantation go something like L-Y-C-R-A?

She becomes mortal again, but she is OLD. Yeesh. Almost like, what's the point of returning to humankind!

Yeah, that's how we felt. The reactions of NPCs reflected her appearance, so yeah, she got cured but she didn't get restored to the way she was.

[Lena Wolf]

2-5 Morning Star, 4E203 - New tricks - Nebula Isles

Hauk took a day to recover from the maddening two weeks he'd been having. He found his Balmora house broken into with some things missing. Oddly enough, it was food, ingredients and alchemical equipment that vanished, while his spare weapons, gems and scrolls were untouched, as was the money that he had left in a jewellery box. Well, that house was never going to be a perfectly secure spot, but the thief sure had some strange tastes, Hauk smirked. They took only what they needed... almost like what he would have done under some circumstances... another agent, perhaps? Or an assassin?

There was no point dwelling on it though, he needed to replace the equipment and refill his stores, and then brew some poisons and potions. That took the rest of the day, and feeling tired, Hauk delayed everything else till tomorrow.

The next morning he finally remembered the ordeal with the propylon index and rummaged in his pack, only to discover it gone - it was confiscated by the guards when they arrested him. So it was that index and not the dubious food from under the mattress in the Caldera Fighters Guild that earned him that arrest. Fuming, he wondered what to do next - he needed that index, which was now stored in the Evidence chest at Fort Moonmoth, no doubt. It was becoming increasingly clear why that mage in Caldera needed help retrieving those indexes - there was nothing hard about it, no delving into dangerous ruins, but instead it required stealing, stealing and stealing. "May be I should just forget about it," Hauk wondered. But that would be admitting defeat - not something Hauk enjoyed doing. "Ok, I'll make one more attempt," he promised himself.

...

"You should be wearing your Legion uniform when talking to fellow Legionnaires," he was told when he joined the Legion in Gnisis. "Except if you outrank them, then they won't dare to contradict you," the Orc that instructed him, added with a grin. But the mission of retrieval of an illegally appropriated propylon index from an evidence chest was a sensitive one, even if he was outranking the Legionnaire guarding the chest. "Best wear my Legion cuirass," Hauk told himself, then realised that the cuirass was still in Gnisis... and he was in Balmora. "Rats," he swore. That required a trip back to Gnisis. "Well, if I'm going that way, I might as well..." he remembered a few more things he needed to do that would take him in that direction.

...

"Yes, that will do nicely," the Dwemer airship was still parked by Caldera's North Gate when Hauk got there late in the afternoon. Although he found the airship to be a little awkward to steer at first, and even drove it into rocks and got stuck in narrow ravines, he eventually figured out that the trick with such a big vessel was to go higher - above the ravines, the rocks and even the Ghostfence. "It has its uses," he nodded to himself, thinking also that it would be a much better place to store his spare Legion uniforms, too. He boarded the ship and sailed to his next destination - the house of Sjorvar Horse-Mouth, a fellow Blades agent charged with watching the smugglers. Sjorvar also had a small herd of riding guars, and Hauk needed a new guar after his old one got killed.

"Sjorvar - how goes it?" He greeted him, climbing down the rope ladder of his airship. "Met any new smugglers lately?" He grinned.

"Some," Sjorvar grinned back. "Nice ship you've got there," he grinned again. "Read about it in the papers. Appeared out of thin air, did it?"

"Something like that," Hauk nodded.

"That is peculiar," Sjorvar gave him a long look. "Seeing how there's also a new ship in Gnaar Mok. A sea faring ship, you understand. Trade with Riften via Kogotel. That isn't a new concept, but we never had such a big galley doing the smuggling before. Because why would an honest trader sail to Gnaar Mok of all places?" Sjorvar raised an eyebrow as if expecting a reply, but didn't get any. "I bet it's the manor on the Nebula Isles," he continued. "A shady business all around."

That was a lot of new information that warranted an investigation, Hauk thought. He didn't even know there was such a thing as the Nebula Isles, with or without a manor house on it. So, he bought a new guar, signaled it to follow, boarded the Dwemer airship and headed West to Gnaar Mok.

Arriving in Gnaar Mok, the first thing he saw was a large Imperial galley moored on the Western edge of the village. A new jetty was built especially for it, it seemed. A Dunmer wearing rich Imperial clothes, a long cutlass with a jeweled haft on his hip, was going in and out of the House Hlaalu manor just opposite the jetty. "That'll be the captain," Hauk told himself. "Do you take passengers?" He inquired.

"Indeed!" The captain beamed at him. "We sail regularly between here and Kogotel, it takes two days or so and will cost you a mere 400 septims. Interested?"

"Another time, perhaps," Hauk thanked him but made a mental note of this new connection. It could come in handy indeed. From Gnaar Mok to Kogotel, then on to Riften through the Rift Pass, and from there Skyrim was his oyster... mudcrab... whatever.

All this walking and talking made the time pass rather quickly, and the guar was grazing happily on the lush grass of Gnaar Mok. Hauk was about to continue on to this mysterious Nebula Isle but then thought better of it. "Wasn't there a hut around here where I could sleep?" He recalled staying in Gnaar Mok before. Indeed, the hut was still there and it was still unoccupied, and having bought some food and drink at the market, Hauk decided to delay everything else until tomorrow.

...

"Nebula Isles?" One of the locals was looking at Hauk with suspicion. "What of it?"

"I heard talk, is all," Hauk answered non-committally. "Was curious."

"It's a small group of islands just West of here," another local joined in. "No secret about it! Been there since forever."

"So how do you get there?" Hauk tried to appear slightly bored.

"You swim," the first local grinned. "Or you try to find a fisherman to ferry you over there, if you're scared of the slaughterfish in the water," he added with a smirk. Then, having taken in Hauk's Trollbone cuirass and a long claymore on his back, the local changed his tune: "We don't tend to go there, sera. Not a good place, that one." Then, making sure that the guards were out of earshot, he whispered: "It's supposed to be House Hlaalu. But it ain't anything like here. It was House Hlaalu once..." The other local swallowed hard, and neither of them said anything more on the matter.

Hauk thanked them, bought some more food and drink and decided that it was now imperative for him to investigate the Nebula Isles.

But of course he didn't intend to swim. He had an airship! Taking the guar along, Hauk boarded the ship and sailed West, turning slightly South as he saw a large manor house on a sandy island. The area was quiet and nothing seemed amiss... But Hauk's gut twisted, he sensed danger nonetheless, and it wasn't coming from the mudcrabs.

The place was eerie quiet with no one about. The waters were clear and warm though, the nature was peaceful - even the mudcrabs were peaceful. Hauk took some time to look around.

Finally, he spotted a fisherman, who didn't have anything interesting to say. The larger part of the island housed the manor, the smaller one had a cave entrance - an egg mine, Hauk thought. He started with the manor.

Entering a lavishly decorated hall, he was greeted by a well-dressed housekeeper who neither welcomed him nor stopped him, and he found it odd. She was perfectly willing to chat about the latest events and swap rumours, but she remained mute on any questions about the manor or the isles. Proceeding further into the house, Hauk found an equally lavishly decorated central hall with a roaring fire and a dinner table laid out for four. He looked closer at the food - rat meat and corpse weepings. How strange. Not touching any of it, he continued the survey of the house.

In the upper floor wing he found a large bedroom and a secure storage room with chests full of riches, yet without any locks. There was a Redguard butler outside who eyed him with suspicion but equally didn't stop him. Exploring the house further, Hauk found a richly decorated swimming pool with strangely quiet people, a shooting range on the back terrace, a zoo in the cellar... "Be careful, don't approach!" He heard someone yell when an adult kaguti, an alit and several wild guars attacked him all at once... Be careful indeed. He tried to leave, but the animals followed, so he returned to the zoo and fought on until all the animals were killed.

"Oh, finally," a Khajiit smiled at him, somehow completely unharmed. "Someone had to do that." No further explanations followed, and Hauk was getting more and more perplexed.

Then finally in the basement there was a glimpse of an answer: a Corprus stalker came from behind the crates and landed a few swipes on Hauk before Hauk could react. A vicious battle ensued, with Hauk receiving several deep wounds and getting infected with Black Heart Blight. With a sigh, he uncorked a bottle of Cure Blight Disease potion, then went through all the crates, sacks and chests in the basement. Plenty of potions, plenty of ingredients, wines and spirits were there, and not a bottle of anything to cure the Blight. What was going on?

With all the fighting and looking around, time was passing quickly, and it was already dark. Too late to explore the rest of the island, Hauk thought. He returned to the dining room with the roaring fire, not forgetting to bring something suitable to eat from the basement - he was not eating rat meat and corpse weepings laid out on the table. Making some room, he settled for a couple of kwama eggs and some dried hound meat, perhaps not his favourite, but safe enough, washing it down with mead from his pack - he didn't trust any of the drinks in that house.

It was already nearing midnight, and Hauk briefly considered returning to the Dwemer ship for the night, but then decided that his investigation of the Nebula Manor would not be complete unless he slept in the house. Not the safest bet perhaps, but what could possibly go wrong?

The butler in the upper wing greeted him with suspicion again but didn't stop him, and Hauk found the bedroom empty, the candles lit and the bed made, as if waiting for him. He took a deep breath and lay down.

Perhaps it was the food, the mead, the tiredness or the strange incense hanging in the air, but Hauk fell asleep immediately.

...

Hauk was walking through a desert. Antaloor? He remembered sandy dunes of the Savannah. No, the sand around him wasn't yellow, it was grey. It wasn't sand, it was ash.

Burned trees appeared in the distance, the soil turned black, the air darkened. The shape of a tar scorpion moved between the trees. The Swallows.

A woman screamed, then all was silent. A pale-faced man in a dark robe went past, then vanished.

"Damn the Sight," Hauk swore. The man and the woman weren't there, what Hauk was seeing, were shadows of past events - horrific, violent events that took place there many years ago, turning a lush tropical island into a wasteland known as The Swallows.

Strange gurgling noise was coming from the ground under his feet. "Vidons," Hauk thought, unsheathing his claymore, ready for battle. Beings with neither a heart nor a soul, they came through the earth, surrounding you before you could react. Several dark figures emerged, but Hauk was ready, summoning a Flame Atronach and swinging his claymore in a wide circle. One shade fell, several vanished, and the battle was over as suddenly as it began. "Strange," Hauk was looking around tensely, not quite believing it was over. "Vidons don't normally retreat." He bent over a corpse on the ground... It was grey, and instead of the usual Vidon armour, it wore a dirty loincloth. Its chest was open and strange flesh tentacles were growing from its face. Hauk jerked upright, startled. That was no Vidon.

Moving slowly through the black forest, Hauk was seeing many shades like the ones he'd just fought, but none of them attacked. They appeared, walked in an erratic pattern, stumbling between the trees and rocks, then vanished into thin air. They all had strange fleshy tentacles growing from their faces, and some had a hole in the chest where the heart should have been.

"They aren't here," Hauk realised. "It is my Sight. These are Corprus victims from times past, perhaps from the time of the last Nerevarine," he realised. "But that one stalker was real. Corprus is back." That, of course, he already knew. What he didn't know, was where he was and how to get out of there.

"I went to sleep in that luxurious bed in the Nebula Manor," he recalled. "Perhaps it was a foolish idea."

[Acadian]

Still liking that airship. And now Hauk has a guar mascot/copilot. Of course, it took bumping a few rocks to figure out how to fly that thing.

Nebula Isles? What a mysterious (and rather bizarre) place. I'm hoping he is just in a dream at the end there. . . .

[Lena Wolf]

8 Morning Star, 4E203 - A naked Nord

"This one's already been done!" A coarse voice said in Hauk's ear. "Is he one of us?"

"He can't be and he isn't," another coarse voice replied from further away. "Have you been drinking again?"

"No, Master, I swear!" Some thuds followed, some muted screams and some pleas, then finally all was quiet again.

"He's been done, he says," the second coarse voice said in Hauk's ear. "He can't have been, they just brought him in three days ago..."

Sharp pain in Hauk's eye knocked him out.

...

"Well, well, the sleeper awakes!" Hauk opened his eyes and saw himself lying on a cot in an ash cave, surrounded by people with blistered and festering skin. Some had strange bumps on their faces. "Hello." A tall Nord helped him up. "Haven't we met before?"

"Hlormar?" Hauk noted that the Nord was still naked. "What's going on?"

"Bloody witches!" He swore and spit. "That witch - she didn't just take my stuff, she infected me with something... Corpsus whatever... Now look at these sores!"

"Corprus?" Hauk gave him a long look. "The witch did that?" He shuddered, remembering that he too had touched that witch. "But what are you doing here?"

"When the sores started to appear, no one would talk to me any more," Hlormar explained. "Then one priest told me there was a clinic on the Nebula Isles. I came here, they keep promising me the cure, but the sores are only getting worse, and now these strange bumps on my face appeared..." Hlormar looked worried. "I know I'm not the brightest Nord around, but d'you think they're lying to me?"

"I think they are," Hauk nodded. "We need to get out of here. Somehow."

Hauk looked around. People in different degrees of decomposition were stumbling along the cave tunnels, tentacles of varied lengths were growing from their faces, they were shedding flakes of some hard resin... Suddenly, a dark shape appeared among them, taller than any of them, it had a long sword, it grabbed one of the stumbling people, pushed the head back, thrust his sword into the person's chest, carving a large hole in it. He extracted the heart and dropped the rest of the flesh on the ground. The heart was beating in his hand, he lifted it and vanished. There was no blood, and the victim with a hole in his chest continued stumbling around like before... Did he even notice what just happened? The others certainly did - they rushed to pick up those bits of discarded flesh and devoured it on the spot as if they were starving...

"What was that!?" Hauk exclaimed in horror.

"What was what?" Hlormar looked at him, raising an eyebrow. The cave tunnels were quiet, there was no rush for the discarded bits of flesh, there was no person with a hole in his chest... "Are you one of them? A Seer?" He squinted at Hauk.

"One of whom?" Hauk squinted back.

"You must be," Hlormar was still squinting with suspicion, but then shook his head and smiled. "Don't worry - I don't want to know, really. What were you saying about getting out of here? Do you also know how to cure this Corpsus disease?"

Hauk didn't have any answers. A shock bolt came out of nowhere and knocked him out.

...

"Honourable Master, I have a disturbing report," Dagoth Oryn bowed. "The Nord that had been brought in three days ago - he had already been done."

"What..? How?" Dagoth Bahryn sat up, the tentacles on his face shaking.

"Yes, Master," Oryn took a step back. "We were hoping your wisdom would enlighten us..." he bowed again, the trunk on his face reaching down below his knees. "We examined his eye - it isn't Our Lord's creation... Yet it works..."

"Nonsense!" Bahryn croaked. "Show me!" He clapped his hands and the slaves brought in Hauk, unconscious on a stretcher, setting him down onto a large slab - an altar or an operating table. Dagoth Oryn and Dagoth Bahryn bent over him.

Dagoth Oryn opened the eyelids around Hauk's right eye. "Look - this isn't his own eye," he said cautiously. At first glance, the eye looked normal, but Dagoth Bahryn cast a spell, and it revealed magic inside it.

"How do you know it works?" He asked.

"He's seen the sacrifice today," Oryn answered with worry.

"Then who is he?" The two tentacled men left Hauk alone and moved to a large desk on the other side of the room. "A new Nerevarine..?"

...

Wake up, Nord, for you have been chosen.

A powerful voice echoed in Hauk's head, bringing him out of his blackout.

"Get out, Azura," he grunted. "I am not your Nerevarine."

Azura did not answer, and Hauk sat up, finding himself back in the ash cave. He spotted Hlormar in the far end of another cavern, going through some crates. "Looking for a potion to cure his Corprus, no doubt," Hauk thought. Leaving Hlormar to his rummaging, Hauk decided to have a better look around the caves. He wanted his armour and his blade back, too, but somehow knew they would not be there. They were probably left behind "...in the cursed Nebula Manor!" Hauk slapped his forehead. Of course, he took off his gear before going to bed. Finally looking down to see what he was wearing, he realised that his state of undress wasn't far from Hlormar's - or from any of the other people, for that matter. He just had a pair of linen trousers on, and had no weapons or armour.

...

Hauk realised that the best way to move in that cave was to emulate the others - to stumble from place to place, rolling his eyes as if in a trance. The others did seem to be in a real trance, however, but Hauk was looking for a way out. People with trunks growing from their faces were walking purposefully here and there, usually followed by people without faces wearing wrist irons. "Ash slaves", Hauk thought. He was clearly in a Dagoth stronghold. The Corprus victims "lived" there, with the term used loosely, as their minds had been all but gone already. "They are soldiers or cattle, as the need arises," Hauk guessed. "This is a breeding pool... They release them from time to time to spread the disease and stage a panic somewhere. Hlormar... he will turn into one of them unless I get him cured!" He suddenly realised and jerked upright, momentarily attracting attention of one of the people with trunks on their faces. Hauk caught himself and returned to rolling his eyes and stumbling.

Finally, he noticed a door at the end of a long corridor. It was dark and seemed not in use. He pushed the door - it wasn't locked. "Lucky or just the opposite," he braced himself for the unknown.

...

"Welcome, welcome!" A richly dressed Khajiit stood on the other side of the door. The room was dimly lit with red lanterns, making that extra illumination around the front of the room more noticeable. "It's been a while since we've had the pleasure to welcome a Nord! This way please!" He waved amicably, inviting Hauk to follow. It was a corridor, so Hauk didn't have much choice. "Here, you won't be needing these..." the Khajiit grinned, cutting the belts on Hauk's garments and removing them in one motion. "This way - take the central stage!" He nudged Hauk forward, then pushed him, gently at first, with the claws out afterwards, making Hauk step up onto a well-lit stage. Music was playing and the girls on the neighbouring stages were dancing to the tune. Hauk's head felt heavy - there was something in the air...

...

Hauk woke up on a large luxurious bed. His head was spinning. He sat up - he was in the same room in the Nebula Manor where he went to sleep previously. Stains on the sheets told him what took place there. A young well-groomed Imperial was snoring gently on the bed next to him, but hearing Hauk move about, he woke up. "Hello," he smiled. "They've finally delivered!" He clicked his tongue. "I'll have you every time."

The speed with which Hauk jumped out of bed, grabbed his gear, pulled it on and ran out of the room, surprised even him. "A breeding pool indeed!" He spit, remembering the ash caves. "They either make you into a Corprus stalker or into a slave of a different kind!"

Finally he stood outside, and the warm humid air and gentle sunshine calmed him a bit. He remembered Hlormar. "I cannot just leave him there," he shook his head. "I need to find those ash caves and get him out," he decided. "It must be here somewhere - they carried me around, didn't they?"

He spotted his guar grazing on the meadow, and his airship, still hovering by the shore. For a moment, he had the urge to jump aboard and sail away - as far away from those cursed isles as possible, preferably forgetting the events of the last few days, or at least of last night... But the image of Hlormar rose before his eyes, and he sighed and turned back to look for the entrance into the ash caves that had to be there somewhere. "The path to the Wastes of Oblivion is paved with best intentions," he told himself. He didn't know how to cure Corprus, he heard there was no cure, since that wasn't a disease like any other - it was a magical affliction created by Dagoth Ur himself. It wasn't something you could catch easily, either. He hoped that what Hlormar had, was "only" the Black Heart Blight.



~~~~~~~~
Acadian - Nebula Isles is a real place in Morroblivion! (And Morrowind, of course.) But it gave me a different impression than what the author intended, I think.

[Lena Wolf]

The pics are in... It appears that some people at Club Dagoth were taking snapshots. But what happens in Club Dagoth, stays in Club Dagoth. Mostly.

How's the line-up tonight?

Boys, you've got to try harder!

Yeah, may be... Which one though?

Can I buy you a drink?

That's the spirit!

And who is this?

Not another naked Nord!

Just to be clear: these are NOT poses! These are actual screenshots of an actual game. Nothing staged. It's a part of a mod I made that plays the story told in the last two posts. Plus of course the saving of Hlormar which Hauk is about to start.

This post has been edited by Lena Wolf: Nov 7 2022, 01:53 PM

[Acadian]

What a confusing place! Nebula Isles seems like it could be a joint endeavor run by Sanguine and Peryite. Yet Azura whispers is Hauk's ear.

I'd be thinking about jumping back on that airship too!

[Lena Wolf]

I know! Club Dagoth is insane! And all the customers are old hand modders... Like Tel Shadow, the author of the original Nebula Isles... But it's Club Dagoth, so the Sixth House - the baddies of Morrowind. All I did is added the caves underground, which is only logical. Well, and a few twists to help the story along.

[Lena Wolf]

2-20 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - An old friend

Hauk opened his eyes and jerked upright in bed, which made his head hurt violently. An old friend was sitting cross-legged at the bottom of the big bed in the Nebula Manor, and it was the last person Hauk expected to see.

"Ah, finally, you're awake," the man put down the book he was reading. "Head still hurts?"

Hauk nodded, which produced new waves of searing pain, and he groaned.

"I was in the area, thought I'd say hello, asked around. You were seen headed this way... Your airship isn't exactly inconspicuous," he added with a smile. "But the Master tells me you're going for the stupid Nord cover," he winked. "Going back into the caves would certainly fit that profile."

"Hlormar?" Hauk managed to speak.

"Still in there," the other man shook his head, his sleek black ponytail brushing against his robe. "You are in no condition to go after him though. We need to get the drugs out of your system first. I booked this place for a week."

"You booked..?" Hauk rubbed his eyes to have a better look around. No, it was still the same room in the Nebula Manor, but the bedsheets were clean this time.

"The same way your previous customer did," he said evenly, watching Hauk.

"But we didn't..?" Hauk started, he wasn't sure of anything any more.

"Of course not!" The man exclaimed in surprise. "Do you remember anything?"

"From last night? No," Hauk carefully shook his head. "I remember waking up here with this young Imperial next to me, realising what had gone on from the stains on the sheets... I grabbed my gear as fast as I could and got out. I don't actually remember anything that happened with him either, although it seems to have been amicable enough... in a way..." He moved around feeling for sores, but his body didn't hurt, except for his head. "But Hlormar was still in the caves. So I found a way in, fought some ash zombies, was looking for Hlormar... Then... Oh gods..."

"Then you walked into one of the traps and got taken back to Club Dagoth," his friend finished the sentence. "Only now your gear isn't here - you had it on you, so they stripped it off. It's back in the caves."

The gravity of the situation was becoming painfully clear.

"So how did you..?"

"Book you?" The man smiled. "Won you playing dice with that Imperial. Oh, he's still alive, just out of funds. You are very popular with the club's clientele, you know. To see you dance, I mean. It's not often that they get a real Nord with actual battle-earned tattoos on stage," he smirked. "And I notice some new lines since last time I saw you without a shirt on..." He followed the lines on Hauk's chest with his eyes, pausing at the red star under the left arm. "Is that where..?" He raised his eyes in question.

"Yes," Hauk nodded, fingering a deep scar under the tattoo. "She wanted to smooth out the scar for me, but I refused." He paused in memory. "They say you keep the appearance of your body in Sovngarde. This is more than just a battle scar..."

This was the spot where Hauk got stabbed, the dagger piercing his heart. He died, but Lena couldn't accept it. She went after him - went into the Void to get his soul to return. Hauk had returned from the dead. That scar was not like the others.

"How is she?" Hauk raised his eyes to meet Lucien's. "You didn't just leave her on her own?"

"Shivering Isles," Lucien met his gaze. "It was her idea, and I was glad of it. I have business in Mournhold - we cannot afford another war of assassins."

Hauk nodded, agreeing that Lena would be perfectly safe from everything in the Shivering Isles, even if she had to see through yet another Greymarch.

"So... How long was I..?" Hauk suddenly realised that he had completely lost track of time. "What month is it?"

"Sun's Dawn," Lucien was watching him. "I don't know when you got here first..."

"Early Morning Star," Hauk's voice sounded hollow. "It's been weeks."

...

In the days that followed Lucien tried to get Hauk to rest in order to purge the drugs from his system. That wasn't easy. The manor house had everything you would find at a good resort, and Lucien secured a steady supply of Imperial food and drink from Balmora - he didn't think that Hauk should put any more trust into nix hound meat or kwama eggs. But Hauk was restless, feeling guilty for abandoning Hlormar to his fate - who knew how far Hlormar's disease would have progressed in the meantime.

"You cannot help him until you are fit to do so," Lucien kept insisting. He was quite skilled at Restoration, it appeared, that being a part of Dibella's training that he had received in his youth. Under Lucien's watchful eye, Hauk finally got clean and fit again, and the various Blight Disease variants that he'd been infected with, stopped resurging. All the money that Lucien had won from the other Imperial were now paying for their stay at the Manor, renewed for another week, and then another. "We will stay here as long as necessary," Lucien was firm. "I am sure you and Hlormar will both need rest once you get him out, too. This place is as good as any." Hauk tried to object that neither he nor Hlormar would want to stay there any longer than necessary, but Lucien was not to be contradicted, and finally Hauk gave up. "It is perfectly safe with me here," he insisted. He was right, of course.

...

"See, I can take care of myself now," Hauk held his sword to Lucien's throat, then put it away. They've been sparring on the veranda. "If I can stand up to you, ash zombies will give me no trouble."

"As long as you aren't drugged or suffering from the Blight," Lucien agreed. "I suppose." They walked back to the armoury where Hauk picked up some weapons and armour to replaced his own gear. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"No!" Hauk looked up sharply, then softened. "No, Lucien. Just hang around Club Dagoth, and should you see another tattooed Nord on stage..."

This time Hauk had backup.

...

The ash caves were the same as before, and Hauk found that he remembered some of the passages. First of all he decided to go after his gear. There were plenty of crates, chests and barrels dotted around the caves, all containing various armour, weapons and clothing. "Stripped from the other victims, no doubt," Hauk thought. Eventually he found his own and geared up, leaving the temporarily borrowed stuff in its place. If he was to contract Black Heart Blight again, his strength would be greatly diminished, and he wanted to avoid getting over-encumbered.

The next task was to find a safe exit that he would lead Hlormar to, and to try and clear the passages of ash zombies, at least somewhat. There seemed to be an endless supply of them, and Hauk suspected a broodmother to be hidden somewhere in the depths, but decided that going after her at that point was too reckless even for his "stupid Nord" profile. Some tunnels had more ash ghouls and dreamers than others, and Hauk suspected that such heightened security indicated the direction to the central shrine - the direction he firmly avoided.

Most doors in the caves were not locked, which was exactly how he walked into Club Dagoth and got trapped there. He couldn't remember which door it was, they all looked the same... But by luck or gut feeling, he avoided another dance, but found two locked doors instead. One or both of them had to be the exit, all he needed was the key.

...

"Hauk? You are back?" Hlormar greeted him and hope lit up his eyes. "I thought they got you..."

"They did, but a friend got me out," Hauk nodded. "I haven't found a way out yet, Hlormar. I'll have to stay here until I do. If you come with me now, you'll perish."

Hlormar tried to object that he could fight too, thank you very much, but Hauk pointed out his sores and the foul smell coming off him, and Hlormar had to admit that his strength wasn't what it used to be. He'd been eating corprus meat too, there was nothing else to eat there... "No, you keep it," he refused wistfully when Hauk offered him some of the mutton jerky from his pack. "I'm ill already, but you must avoid eating corprus meat. Who knows how long it'll take you to clear a way out."

Indeed, it took several days until Hauk found a corpse in a remote corner of a cave. The smell was horrific, but the corpse had a key, the first key Hauk had seen in those caves which he already knew quite well by then. The key fitted a door leading out.

Hauk stood outside, inhaling fresh evening air, exhaling odours of rot and decay. Then he turned around and went back in.

...

"By Talos! We are out!!" Hlormar was breathing deeply. "But what now? These sores look even worse by daylight..."

"Well, you may not like it, but you'll have to trust me," Hauk started cautiously. "We'll have to stay at the manor until we get you cured..."

He was right, Hlormar didn't like it. Didn't like it one bit! He shouted and complained and protested, while Hauk just stood there, waiting for the simple facts of life to sink in. Eventually Hlormar had to concede that he was in no condition to go anywhere, covered in sores, smelling like a corpse and still being completely naked... "And my axe. They've got my axe," he remembered. "I've got to get it back."

...

"Who is that man?" Hlormar jerked his head towards the library where Lucien was buried in books. "Your friend?"

"He's an old friend... from the War," Hauk answered evasively. "That was before your time, I reckon."

"Yeah, I wasn't born yet," Hlormar nodded. "He looks younger than you though."

"He's part-elf. He's much, much older."

That was as much information as Hlormar was going to get out of Hauk. He sighed and focused on checking every crate and chest in the manor in search of his gear.

...

A few days later Hlormar woke up realising that he felt different. His skin wasn't itchy any more, the sores were gone. The potions and spells that Lucien was showering him with, seemed to have worked at last.

"By Talos! You did it!" He burst into the dining hall, finding Hauk and Lucien at breakfast. "I'm cured!!" He dropped into a vacant chair and started devouring a kwama egg before him. "And they say there's no cure for the Corpsus Disease!"

"There isn't," Lucien watched him, laughing, "You had the Blight, not Corprus. Pretty bad Blight that took a while to clear, but just the Blight nonetheless."

With his axe found, Hlormar was eager to leave, but Hauk and Lucien managed to convince him to get dressed first. "Oh to be young," Hauk was shaking his head.

"Look, I don't know how to thank you," Hlormar turned to both of them. "I've got nothing to give you. But if you ever want a friend in battle - I set up camp not far from Sjorvar's house before I came here. I'm headed back there and that's where you'll find me. Thank you. Talos be with you. Or whichever god you half-elves half-Imperials consider your own," he added, nodding to Lucien. Then it dawned on him: "All that healing... and..." he took in Lucien's manners and appearance, too. "By Talos! Dibella be praised."

And with that he waved them goodbye and finally left the Nebula Manor.

[Lena Wolf]

23-25 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Whatever it takes

"It can't be all that exciting for a battlemage like yourself to spend your days guarding the cells," Hauk approached Solea Nuccusius who was on duty guarding the evidence chest with the propylon index that Hauk wanted back.

"We serve the Emperor wherever the Legion sends us, Agent," Solea stood to attention and clicked her heels.

"We serve the Emperor!" Hauk echoed the oath, straightening out himself, and the golden horses on his breastplate caught the light, producing a halo around him. He had spent hours polishing them the day before to get that effect. Presentation was everything. Solea was impressed.

"We don't get a lot of challenging assignments here, and the Champion always says that guarding prisoners requires skill," Solea was still standing to attention, trying to get the horses on her own breastplate to catch the light, but that wasn't happening.

"But... the cells are empty, aren't they?" Hauk marched up and down the corridor peering into each of the cells through the visor in the doors and making sure that the polished steel of his pauldrons was dazzling. The supple leather of his cingulum was following his movements, and the steel tips clicked gently against the steel of his greaves. He may not have been a young man any longer, but he knew how to carry himself.

"We have no prisoners just now, Agent," Solea was watching him, starting to wonder where this was going. They didn't usually get inspections, and Agent wasn't that high of a rank, although higher than her own. As a Trooper, she sometimes indulged in drilling Spearmen and new recruits and impressing them with her Elemental magic and her Atronachs. Returning to her guard post felt less of a chore after that, especially considering the duties that lower ranks were given. In a fort that size, cleaning the latrines was a major operation.

"I have a small request which is more in line with your specialisation as a battlemage," Hauk was facing her. "I was recently transferred from Cyrodiil, and I discovered to my surprise that something in Morrowind interferes with my magic slightly. I wonder if you could help me get a grip on my Atronachs?" He beamed at her.

"I... but of course, Agent!" Solea was pleased and relieved - it was nothing shady, this Agent simply wanted to keep his slight impairment private, she'd seen it often enough - the Red Mountain did interfere with magicka flow. You could swing your sword the same way in every province, but magic required adaptations. "I get off duty at six," she smiled. "Meet me in the yard by the training dummies."

...

The training session was very business-like, with the other Legionnaires flocking to watch a display of fire and lightening from not one but two battlemages, with an occasional Atronach making an appearance too.

"Flame Atronachs are generally more powerful here, while Frost Atronachs take damage from the lava so close under the soil," Solea was commenting, watching Hauk dismantle her Frost Atronach with his claymore.

"Ice shatters while flame does not," Hauk winked, sheathing his blade. "What is the Legion's stance on summoning higher daedra here? Dunmer sensitivities might be opposing that."

"No, we don't worry about that," Solea gave him a long look. "Why? What can you summon?" Her professional curiosity was tickled. This older Agent might have been through the War... Facing the Aldmeri must have been something else!

"Well, I usually stick to beasts," Hauk answered matter-of-factly, producing a clannfear. The spectators gasped and stepped back. "Clannfears are fast and furious, effective against mages and warriors alike." He charged it, and after a short hesitation, the clannfear turned on him, making him jump and roll to avoid its attacks.

"Spearmen, join in!" Solea barked at two young soldiers watching the show open-mouthed. "Flank it!"

Catching themselves and grabbing their weapons, they attacked the clannfear, only to be flung to the far corners of the yard by its powerful head swing.

"Come on, get up, and quickly!" Solea was in her element. Champion Larrius Varro appeared on the doorstep, and a few people in the crowd exchanged glances. He approached the training ground where Hauk was still engaging the clannfear, trying not to hurt it but to allow the Spearmen to attack. Larrius watched for a short while, then quickly drew his sword and charged, burying it deep in the clannfear's side. The summon was banished.

"Don't charge it head on - it will throw you off," he lectured the Spearmen. "Didn't Trooper Nuccusius tell you to flank it?"

...

"Solea is a tough cookie," Hauk was thinking aloud on his way back to Balmora later that evening. He wasn't giving up yet, but he so far had no opening not only to touch on the topic of the propylon index in the evidence chest, but to engage Solea in any personal conversation. "She suspects something," he decided. Well, there was nothing else to it but to try again later.

...

"Agent! Back again?" Solea greeted Hauk with a smile when he appeared near the prisoner cells the next day. "Anything else I can help you with?"

"Yes, actually, there is something," Hauk decided on a direct approach. "But I'd rather not talk here. May I invite you to dinner tonight? The Eight Plates in Balmora serves Imperial food."

"Do they now?" Solea gave a little chuckle. "All right. Civilian dress. See you at eight." She smiled, nodded and clicked her heels. Hauk felt dismissed.

...

The Eight Plates served Imperial food if you asked "nicely", that is paid three times it was worth. Hauk didn't flinch.

"So, what favour did you want to ask of me, Optio?" Solea smiled, once the obligatory exchange of pleasantries and small talk was over with.

"Ah, you've made inquiries," Hauk smiled back. "Very well, then you know I have to maintain my cover. I am a member of the Mages Guild and the item which is currently in your evidence chest is needed for one of the assignments there."

"Folms Mirel found himself another helper, I see," she smirked. "Oh, we get these indexes on a regular basis! I wish he'd employ the Thieves Guild to get them for him - they are better skilled at stealing than the laymen who get caught with them." She smirked again and sipped her wine. "You are not very good at this game, Agent," she added, using Hauk's official Morrowind rank.

"No, that's not my game," Hauk looked straight at her, his eyes hard and cold. "I don't steal, normally. I need that index in order to progress with that task, and I am asking nicely."

They sat there, facing each other. They didn't move or blink. A guard sitting at the bar turned around when the innkeeper pointed them out to him. "A pair of Legion officers, those are," he smirked, returning to his drink. "Leave them to their business. That's nothing to do with us."

After a few minutes Solea broke the tension. She smiled a most charming smile and raised a toast of the excellent Tamika wine that Hauk paid dear gold for.

"I shall help you, Optio Serck-Hanssen," she said brightly. "Let us drink to the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

Hauk raised his glass also, but asked cautiously: "And what do you want in return?"

"Adventure," Solea said simply. "It's rather dull guarding empty prisoner cells at Fort Moonmoth, as you can imagine. I want excitement, I want spice back in my life. I wasn't always a guard. Show a girl a good time, then we'll see." She smiled and winked, and for a moment Hauk wasn't quite sure what she meant... but what choice did he have?

"To a beautiful friendship," he seconded her toast.

[Renee]

"What? Nobody there?" - Hauk was disappointed. "No vampires or necromancers or not even beasts?"

I have had some moments like this through the eyes of my characters! It's like you're all jazzed up to get into a rumble.

They are at Malada. Last time I was there was in fact with Joan, who is also doing Umbacano's quests. I remember intuiting the trap somehow. Something about the way the place is laid out inside.

(That's it, I am seriously playing some Oblivion today. Joan's game. After Morrowind. 11/11/22: It'll be a Joan double-header today.)

Claude's such an idiot. Immediately he flees. Hmm, maybe not such an idiot, then.

WAit, but it's almost daylight! Won't that make her ... oh wait. I think in Oblivion vamps can tolerate sunlight if they're in stage 1, right? Phew.
'
WOWWWW she's following the horse! 🐎 Damn, never thought to try that. Did you know, Lena, that only bay horses will stay put if we dismount a stolen one? I discovered this one day. I think it's because bays are based on the horses Imperial Legions ride. Legion horses technically haven't got a stable to return to, so they'll just stay where they're put if we dismount.

Nope, didn't work. That's still a good idea to at least try.

[Lena Wolf]

WAit, but it's almost daylight! Won't that make her ... oh wait. I think in Oblivion vamps can tolerate sunlight if they're in stage 1, right? Phew.

Vampires can tolerate daylight at any stage, depending on what you call "tolerate". They burn up, but if you cast healing spells often enough, you don't actually die. Not like puff - explode or anything! And of course she immediately drank some blood - that put out the fire. Yes, at stage 1 vampires don't take sun damage - that's the whole reason for feeding frequently.

[Lena Wolf]

26 Sun's Dawn - 3 First Seed, 4E203 - An Agent in the making

"Your next task is information gathering," Caius Cosades picked up a couple of scrolls from a shelf. "Yes, again," he added with a smirk, noticing Hauk's poorly concealed raised eyebrow. "Welcome to the Blades, Agent," he grinned. "What else did you think we did? Protect the Emperor? Oh, that's the Bodyguard Division. But after their blunder with Uriel Septim... Well." He shook his head, remembering the scandal that ravaged the Blades back then. "We focus on intelligence now. So, go to Vivec and speak to these three people," he passed Hauk a scroll. "Do try to stay discreet, will you? Leave Solea at home."

"Whaa---?" Hauk was more than surprised at that remark, but quickly realised that he should have known better. Balmora was a small place, and Fort Moonmoth was even smaller, so of course by now everyone knew every detail of his and Solea's conversation at the Eight Plates the day before. Including all the parts that didn't actually happen.

Caius watched Hauk with a grin. "Larrius was livid. Did you know she was his girl?" He laughed at Hauk's reaction - no, he had no idea. "Well, she used to be his girl, more likely. He had her guard the jail for too long, keeping her from harm and all that, but a girl like Solea gets bored quickly... Well, why don't you ask her about that yourself."

Hauk opened and closed his mouth a few times - the Spy Master was clearly far ahead of him, and all without leaving his house.

"What do you recommend, Master?" Hauk asked humbly. "You know why I need that index."

"I know. And generally you took the right approach, except for Larrius... Well, he'll calm down. What are you doing about his little story?"

"His... Oh!" Hauk had already forgotten about a veiled request that Larrius made in a form of a little story about a "good officer" and "bad people" - he wanted Hauk to organise a bloodbath for the members of Camona Tong in Balmora. "Nothing, I'm doing absolutely nothing about it," he shook his head. "In my view it is entirely pointless to remove five foot soldiers from an organisation that spans the whole of Morrowind. They will be replaced before I turn around, and it will put me on a bad footing with the Fighters Guild."

Caius squinted and nodded. "Good. So, do as Solea asks - show her some adventure. Plenty of Dwemer ruins and ash caves around here to delve into. Oh, and there's a house near Vivec that you can use - the Willow Flower Cottage." He winked and Hauk shook his head. "You want that index," Caius reminded him. "We need that teleportation network set up. Yes, I know all about Folms' project and what he asked you to do. And since thieving is not your strong suit, chances are you'll need Solea's help with evidence chests again and again... So keep her close and friendly. That's an order."

...

Generally Hauk enjoyed adventuring. Delving into a new ruin, fighting monsters and automatons, ridding he land of bandits and other scum - it was fun and did some good to boot. Solea turned out to be a pleasant companion, even though their acquaintance started with some tension and subsequent order from Caius put Hauk on edge. But after a few days dungeon delving without anything untoward happening, he started to relax.

"A Daedric Shrine or a Dwemer ruin - where shall we go first?" Their stroll through the Ascadian Isles was rife with decisions.

"Daedric Shrine," Solea pointed at the bizarre structures. "We are here already. I wonder who's the Lord here?"

"Only one way to find out."

There were worshippers and daedra outside, well concealed between the pillars of the shrine. Eventually they all fell to the two Imperial Battlemages however, and Hauk and Solea focused on finding the entrance.

"There must be a door here somewhere, all shrines have an interior," Hauk was saying, passing the door several times without seeing it. Eventually they were in, greeted by more worshippers and daedra. After a few levels they were wondering where the central chamber might be.

"It could be through here, or may be it's just another level," Hauk turned to Solea. "Ready?"

It was the central chamber. If the fighting in the corridors was tough, fighting here was unbearable. Hauk cloaked in invisibility and let his clannfear take the heat, joining in with his poisoned claymore in between the healing. Solea however wasn't very good at illusion, but her shields and her bound armour absorbed most of the damage, while her fire and lightening turned the shrine into a plane of Oblivion. Finally, all was quiet again.

"Well, have you figured out who is the Lord here?" Hauk went through the offering on the altar.

"I've got an idea," laughed Solea. "I am keeping that ebony broadsword, by the way. And that ring of Sanguine Transcendence. The rest we offload."

She also kept the fancy robes, blouses, skirts, shoes and jewellery that she removed from the priestesses, folding them carefully and stashing them in her bag. Yes, she carried her share of the general loot too - fair was fair. The next day their bags got a lot lighter, their purses a lot heavier and the shops in Suran became much better stocked.

"Finally, adventurers!" The shop keepers were cheering. "That makes a change from the usual farming folk that we get here!"

Passing through the central plaza, Hauk thought he saw a familiar face. An Orc vixen was pacing back and forth without any particular purpose.

"Oh, hello!" She greeted Hauk. "Back again? This is a real magnet, this town," she grinned.

"Hello," Hauk squinted, trying to remember her name. "Err... What's new with you?" He smiled.

"Oh, there's nothing new here," she sighed. "Same old, same old. But I saw a mudcrab by the water recently..." she grinned and winked. "It made for a decent sandwich."

"Say, this town does have an inn," Hauk realised that last time he couldn't find one. "Why did you tell me last time that there wasn't one here?"

"Did I say that?" The Orc raised an eyebrow. "I might have done. You looked like you needed cheering up, so I figured Desele's place would do the trick. Was I right?" She grinned again.

"No, I ended up sleeping in that back corner by the water," Hauk scolded. "Desele was all fully booked!"

Solea was listening to this exchange with much amusement. She liked Suran, she decided.

...

They spent the night at the Suran Tradehouse - this was what the Dunmer called an inn. It had long narrow rooms, and after a short negotiation and a bit of winking, Hauk managed to get the bigger room that had a double bed. He didn't feel like sleeping on the floor after all that fighting.

In the morning they decided to go East towards that Dwemer ruin that they'd seen earlier, or whatever else would turn up first. Solea was positively buzzing. She was running ahead, coming back, running left and right, with speed and agility quite unexpected in someone wearing heavy armour. Imperial Legion armour wasn't too heavy, that was true, but still, it wasn't just clothes.

"All right, all right, stop!" Hauk caught her arm. "Just how much skooma did you ingest last night?"

"Skooma? None," Solea giggled. "But have you seen what those Argonians had on the table upstairs?" She pulled her arm out of Hauk's grip. "Those sweet little cubes..." and she ran off laughing.

Fortunately, they were standing by a cave entrance, and when Hauk pointed it out to her, she nodded and they went in.

...

Six smugglers inside literally didn't know what hit them.

"I fought mudcrabs more fearsome than you!!!.." A laughing mocking voice of a young Imperial woman resonated in the cave, and even Hauk's clannfear had trouble keeping up with her. He just let her run around - the moonsugar effects would eventually wear off.

...

"When do you want that index back?" Solea asked as they were finally sitting down having supper by the fire. "It's quite safe in that chest for now, but eventually it will be returned to its rightful owner. Once I get a moment to investigate who that rightful owner might be," she winked.

"Oh, I would not dream to make you appear corrupt!" Hauk exclaimed, realising that he never thought of the bureaucracy connected to handling stolen items. "Isn't there a way around it?"

"Of course there is," Solea nodded. "It can always be stolen again." She chuckled, watching Hauk swallow with unease. "I don't mean by you, that won't lead anywhere, as we have seen. Don't you have a favour to call in with the Thieves Guild? No? All right, I'll think of something," she added with a shrug. "Plenty of poor sods willing to spend the night in jail for a small contribution."

Hauk always knew that corruption existed everywhere, after all, wasn't he guilty of it as well, with his attempts to retrieve stolen property from an evidence chest? But Solea's comments hinted at much deeper corruption within the Legion than he was comfortable with. Perhaps the rumours of Legion corruption in Morrowind were not exaggerated after all...

"Yeah, there's plenty of corruption here," Solea noticed Hauk's unease. "But this is small fish. A stolen item that was stolen by its previous owner is not a big deal. Like I said, we get these indices regularly, they have a way of changing owners without being paid for. They are valuable, but only Folms Mirel can really do something with them, and if that's where this index is going, I'm willing to play along. Is corruption for a good cause still corruption or a mere give-and-take?" She smirked and raised her glass, signalling that matter settled.

...

They spent the night in the cave - the smugglers had made quite cozy arrangements in there. In the morning they found Telasero - one of the ancient Dunmer strongholds that had a propylon chamber.

"So, this is a propylon chamber," Solea was impressed. "You can just feel the magic in the air..." She walked around, touching the pillars, but nothing happened. You had to have the correct index to activate them, and even then, it was doubtful that it would just work. Hauk stood back and let her explore them on her own.

"Teleportation makes my skin crawl," he shrugged his shoulders when she remarked on his lack of enthusiasm. "You won't see me using this network, even if I am helping Folms to set it up." He didn't elaborate any further, and Solea thought it wise not to ask.

It was another day of fights and adventure, tiring and satisfying, and they didn't feel like walking all the way back to Suran.

"We can stay in Vivec," Solea suggested. It was just across the water.

"We can get lost in Vivec," Hauk corrected her. "But there's a cottage quite nearby that we can use. Let's go."

...

"I have things to do," Hauk said at breakfast at the Willow Flower Cottage. "Would you mind if we get back to our jobs for a bit? I promise to find some more ruins to explore later on."

"I don't mind," Solea smiled. "Perhaps it's best I show my face at the fort before they send out a search party," she smirked. "Give it a week before coming back though - Larrius doesn't cool off quickly."

Hauk sat up at that comment - he forgot all about Larrius Varro and his claim on Solea. Perhaps he shouldn't have taken her to the Willow Flower Cottage after all.

"I thought you knew," Solea raised an eyebrow. "Well, it doesn't matter. Larrius can get over-protective at times, and there's little privacy at the fort... Not until you're married, but he never mentioned that," she sighed. "Intimacy in a prison cell is far less enjoyable than here." She smiled and took another sweetroll. "And I appreciate all the Imperial food. I really missed that." She stared at her sweetroll, hovered over crib jelly, then dismissed it decisively and took some cheese instead. "Enjoy it while it lasts," she added, seemingly talking to herself rather than Hauk. Then, raising her eyes to him, she smiled and asked: "You are a Nord, but you are not from Skyrim, are you? Do you miss Cyrodiil too?"

"I do," Hauk admitted. "I'm from Wolf's Borough - a..."

"...smallish town between the Imperial City and Skingrad, I know," Solea beamed at him. "I'm from Skingrad. That Tamika you got us at the Eight Plates, that wasn't a common vintage. Thank you."

They didn't want their breakfast to end - an unexpected connection was brought about by the things they both missed.

"Do you want me to have a word with Larrius?" Suddenly Hauk felt some responsibility for Solea's fate.

"About what?" She looked up in surprise. "Me? No," she laughed. "I was very much taken by him to start with, true, but it's been over a year, and all he's interested in, is occasional intimacy in a prison cell. I think I can do better than that," she said proudly. "Thanks for reminding me. That's why I asked you to stay away for a week - I'm going to tell him to find another girl." She smiled brightly. "Then, when you're done collecting all the indices, I'll put in for a transfer. Perhaps even a promotion. A Champion doesn't call all the shots, you know," she winked. "I think I'm ready to be an Agent."

Hauk nodded, smiling. He was sure she was ready.

[Lena Wolf]

3-5 First Seed, 4E203 - Vivec City

After Solea left, Hauk took out the notes that Caius handed him, lest he forgets what he was supposed to do in Vivec City. Speak to three of Caius' informants, get the details on the Sixth House Cult and the Nerevarine Prophecy. "Why does Caius need to hear all this again?" Hauk wondered. "He should have all this information from the time of the last Nerevarine Crisis in the Third Era." Hauk shook his head, but orders were orders. He made a plan - the last thing he wanted was to get lost in Vivec. The Willow Flower Cottage where he and Solea had spent the night, was just outside the Telvanni Compound, and Hauk needed to go to the Foreign Quarter, St. Olms and the Temple Compound. "All over the place," he sighed. "This will take several days."

...

"I shall be happy to tell you everything I know about this, but not with these goons listening in," the Argonian assassin gave Hauk a meaningful look. "I am with Morag Tong too, but they don't seem to get it."

Hauk looked around - three aggressive looking Dunmer were surrounding his informant from all sides in the Black Shalk Cornerclub, while the bartender retreated into the furthest corner, barricading himself behind the counter.

"This is nothing to do with you, outlander, we're just talking to this filthy lizard here," the nearest Dunmer glared at Hauk. "So get out while you still can."

"I always thought that Morag Tong valued discretion," Hauk bared his teeth. "I wonder what Eno will say when I mention to him that three of his... err... Blind Thralls, is it..? are bothering one of his Thralls?"

"He's with Morag Tong too?" The Dunmer swallowed hard. "There'll be trouble..."

"Perhaps it's best we leave this outlander and his lizard alone," another Dunmer whispered to the first one. "Seeing how this Nord has the Grandmaster's ear somehow..."

"Perhaps he's just bluffing," the third Dunmer joined the others in whisper. "I say we cut them both down."

That whisper was rather loud, so even the bartender heard it and put another keg of ale between himself and his "customers". Hauk shot the Argonian a glance and put his hand on the hilt of his dagger. The Argonian did the same.

"Leave it be," Hauk said menacingly to the three Dunmer. "This isn't a bluff." He summoned a clannfear that materialised with a shriek, then stuck its head under his arm, nuzzling him affectionately. The three would-be attackers took a step back.

"All right, all right, take your lizard... err... lizards... and go!" The first Dunmer shook his head, his eyes wide. "Gee... you're not worth the trouble!"

...

"Nice dog you have," the Argonian grinned when he and Hauk entered the safety of Jobasha's book store. "I wish I could learn that trick," he sighed. "I've heard of you battlemages... thought fire and ice was all you could do..." He seemed to be talking to himself there. "Just like the Aldmeri..." he shivered - that was not a pleasant memory. "But anyhow, you didn't come here to talk about me," he caught himself, looking at Hauk brightly. "Here are my notes for Caius. The same as last time. It does seem that history is repeating itself." He smiled, and Hauk couldn't help but think that Argonians had a whole lot of very sharp teeth...

"Thank you," he replied courteously. "I hope this will make more sense to Caius than it does to me."

He stashed away the notes and went to look for his next informant.

...

"That kitty is hiding in the sewers," Hauk was told when he quietly asked about his Khajiit informant at the St. Olms Canton. "She's hiding from that taxman over there," the Dunmer winked. "Not that the Guild is known to have ever paid any taxes, but this one likes to try to collect some..." he grinned and made a rude gesture indicating that any such attempts by the taxman were doomed to fail. Hauk thanked him and looked for a way to the sewers.

The sewers of St. Olms were like the any other sewers anywhere else - dirty and smelly, with rats and mudcrabs making home there.

"Ouch!" Hauk felt a sharp pain on the back of his leg, that also somehow knocked the air out of him. "Whaaa---?" He grabbed his dagger and turned around expecting an archer... and faced a rat. The rat attacked again, jumping up to his chest, pushing him over on the ground and biting his face! Its breath was almost as foul as the stench of its fur, and Hauk felt like he was suffocating... He hit the pavement with the back of his head and now everything was going dark... and wet...

...

With a jerk Hauk sat up, spitting dirty sewage water. The rat that had knocked him out, was pacing a bit further away, but all the splashing and spitting attracted its attention and it was leaping towards Hauk again.

"Oh no, you don't!" This time Hauk went for his claymore, taking a moment to extract it from the wrapping he used to make it less obvious. That took too long and the rat was on top of him again, before he even managed to get up. It pushed him into the water head first, making Hauk gulp in more of the dirty slop, biting him again and knocking him out...

...

"That's got to stop," Hauk told himself sternly as he came to and was trying to control the rate of vomiting so as to not to alert the rat too early again. "What kind of a rat monster is this?"

The rat was pacing on the other side of the water and hadn't yet noticed that Hauk was on his feet again. He was shaking and shivering, his magicka was depleted and wouldn't come back, and black sores started appearing on his hands... "Black Woe Blight or some such," he decided. "Wonderful."

There was no time to look for a Cure Blight Disease potion just then because the rat finally noticed him and was happy to take another bite out of his face. Gathering all his will and strength, faltering as they were, Hauk charged at the rat swinging his claymore, and finally got it after five or six swings...

"A blighted rat," he pushed the body of the rat into the water, colouring it brown rather than red. "More filth in its fur than life in its body, but when they're close to dying, they become exceptionally strong," he remembered another such encounter on Molag Mar. "I probably got several Blight variants now, and a bunch of common diseases for a good measure."

His shaking was becoming uncontrollable now, with the diseases taking hold, so he sat on the stone floor and focussed on finding the right bottle in his pack - the last thing he needed was to drink poison by mistake.

"You will not leave here alive!!!" A very angry voice was approaching fast, punctuated by loud footsteps of iron boots hitting the stone floor. Hauk felt a sharp pain in his shoulder, and all went black... again.

...

"Seeing is believing - that is the curse," a pale man was looking into Hauk's eye, his face so close to Hauk's, they nearly touched. "The operation was successful, your other eye is unaffected," he concluded with satisfaction, withdrawing. "You will come to regret this, but remember - I had warned you, but you insisted."

"Thank you," Hauk sat up, watching Eric put away surgical instruments and his discarded eye - the one that Eric replaced with a magic one. "Do a lot of people have the Sight here? I never noticed anyone to have different eyes."

"Most Scavengers have the Sight, but not because they had the surgery," Eric turned to look at Hauk. "We got it when that explosion happened..." his face darkened. "Those of us that survived. But to answer your question - the replacement eye looks exactly like your old one. There - see for yourself," he pushed a trolley with a mirror and the dish with Hauk's eye towards him. Hauk looked in the mirror - his reflection was a bit pale, but otherwise normal. The new eye looked exactly like the other one. The old eye however... Hauk glanced at the dish in passing, but something wasn't right, he looked again... The eye in the dish, the eye that Eric had only just removed from Hauk's skull, was black and shrivelled, like that of a mummy. Hauk looked at his hands - they were covered in black sores. He looked around - the walls of Eric's laboratory were covered in black slime, Eric's face had black sores too...

"What happened?!" Hauk jumped up from the stretcher. "This wasn't like this last time!"

"This isn't last time," Eric smirked. "This isn't Antaloor and I didn't just remove your eye. Seeing is believing, isn't it?"

"There are many rooms in the house of the Master. Be easy, for from the hands of your enemies I have delivered you," a strong but not overpowering voice filled the room.

Hauk turned around and saw himself still lying on the stretcher, dead, surrounded with lit candles. He touched the body, and the body drew breath, opened eyes, and rose. Then the room was gone, the world filled with piercing white-gold light, and another powerful voice filled it:

"Wake up, Nord, for you have been chosen."

...

Hauk was still shivering, he was sitting on something cold and the air was damp and smelly. Sewers. He remembered the rat and - more importantly - someone angry running at him with a sharp weapon. He opened his eyes slightly and surveyed the area, but everything appeared quiet and he didn't see or hear anyone nearby. A faint glow as if of a setting sun was shimmering in the far end of the sewer corridor.

"Azura," Hauk thought, remembering also that the angry person had delivered a crushing blow to his shoulder just before he passed out. He moved his shoulder carefully - it felt fine, without any trace of the pain. He fingered it now - he wasn't wearing any armour - but even his shirt wasn't cut. "Mended, more like," he thought. "Well, thank you, Azura, but I am still not your Nerevarine," he said aloud. The glow brightened and he thought he heard a faint laughter, but may be he was still a bit delirious. Shaking his head to clear the fog, he took a better look around and spotted a body wearing a full suit of heavy armour, with a heavy claymore lying next to him - he appeared to have been singed. "The angry person," Hauk smirked. "Serves him right." Finally he had a chance to find and drink a Cure Disease potion, both for the Blight and the common varieties. It was time to go find his Khajiit informant.

...

"Are your ears clogged?" The Khajiit squinted at Hauk impatiently when he repeated his request for information for Caius. "Khajiit is too preoccupied with the taxman. Khajiit won't talk until the taxman is gone."

"Khajiit is using the Nord to get rid of the taxman," was what Hauk wanted to say to her but didn't - Caius' specific orders were to remain courteous. With a sigh, he turned on his heels and went to find the taxman.

...

"She took the gondola and went to the mainland," he lied to the taxman. "No, really, agent, that Khajiit is gone."

"Oh, what a disappointment," the taxman sighed but his eyes twinkled. "No point hanging around here any more," he said with a poorly concealed joy. "I should have been off to the mainland ages ago!"

Hauk nodded and turned back to the sewers, confident that even if the taxman saw where he went, he would not follow.

"Ah, you got rid of that agent, did you?" The Khajiit greeted him with a smile.

"You're a sneaky one, aren't you," Hauk grinned. "Overheard everything? Now let's see what you've got for Caius."

The Khajiit didn't have any written notes, so Hauk had to memorise everything she said... which was what he knew already from history - the legend of Nerevarine was well-known. "And I went through all this trouble for that?" He wondered what the point of it was, but anyhow, that task was completed. His last informant was a Temple Priestess and he hoped that getting her to talk would prove easier.

...

When Hauk finally stood outside, the sky was covered in stars, Masser was no where to be seen, and even Secunda was shrouded in shadow for the most part. It was too late to go looking for the Priestess, and feeling tired and hungry, Hauk decided to find a place to sleep instead. There were some bedrolls on the upper level under the arcade, and not feeling like eating yet, he stretched out on one of them and fell asleep.

A tall figure with a golden mask was speaking to him, but he understood not a word. The figure smiled, and seemed pleasant, but when he reached to touch Hauk, Hauk was terrified and tried to escape, but couldn't move. Hauk tried to cry out, but couldn't make a sound. The figure kept smiling and talking, but Hauk felt sure he was trying to cast some sort of spell on him...

"Hey, you alright?" Hauk was awakened by another visitor to the Great City of Vivec spending the night on a bedroll inside the same doorway. "You were thrashing," the woman looked at him suspiciously, but seeing Hauk wake up and not turn violent, she added with a smile: "I like your tats. You have such a tasty... err... well-toned chest. Get that shirt off, I want to see the back!" She pulled on his shirt, but Hauk smelled skooma on her breath and thought it wise to decline her attention. It was dawn already anyway.

...

The final informant - the Priestess - was easy enough to find, and she didn't require anything for her information. She told of some dissident priests that the Temple was hunting down, and of a book that made them into dissident priests, and that Hauk should get that book for Caius. "Try a shop specialising in rare books, they will likely have a copy," she suggested. Hauk knew just where to go.

...

"Jobasha has many rare books in his store," a Khajiit in pauper clothes greeted Hauk. "Have a look."

"Jobasha?" Hauk squinted. "Didn't you close up this place and move to Elsweyr already? We spoke in Corinthe a few months ago. Come to think of it... Your friend the Argonian assassin was there too..." Hauk turned to the Argonian who gave him a broad grin.

"Yes, well, Jobasha can tell you about this..." Jobasha looked over his shoulder, watching the guard pacing the front room, and signalled Hauk to follow to the depth of the store. "Jobasha closed his shop here in Vivec City, true, and took the funds to finally open his shop in Corinthe," he nodded, looked over his shoulder again and lowered his voice. "But then Jobasha got a request from Caius that his services were once again needed in Morrowind... and so Jobasha returned, selling the left-over books again. And his Argonian friend came with him too, of course." He paused, fingering a few books on the shelf. "Jobasha misses Elsweyr. Tell friend Caius that Jobasha would like to be excused at the earliest opportunity." And with that he handed Hauk the book that the Priestess was talking about and escorted him gently out of the shop.

...

Once again Hauk stood outside, looking at the Cantons of Vivec City rising around him. He felt overcrowded. He couldn't wait to leave. The silt strider was just outside on the mainland, and Hauk took it, grateful to be free of the oppressing city, of disturbing dreams, unwanted attention, blighted rats and sewer water in his belly. He hadn't eaten for two days, but decided it could wait until he was back in Balmora. Caius be better well pleased with what he got.

[Renee]

I like that she has a monthly payment for Battlehorn Castle. I do this sort of thing in some my games, too.

"Most Unpleasant Sisters" And they get all capital letters, too.

Uh oh, secret's out about Lucien + Lena. OH yeah.... this is all about that ... witch who wants to sling mud on Wolf. Rayenna.

It's ironic the Bruma Mages Guild has gone necro. I still have a memory of my very first mage, who was an evil sort. She went into that very guild wearing a necromancer's robe and Jeanne really took offense. "TAKE THAT THING OFF!!" she scolded. This was on PS3 too, so no mods affected her words.

Anyway, Jeanne either has it coming to her, or Traven does.

Fancy meeting you here!" - Maglir greeted her in the hall. "Eager as ever, I see" - he looked somewhat disgusted.

I love that! He's disgusted at her for some reason! TES4 has so much personality, right? But it goes both ways. NPCs can either love us or hate us, or somewhere in between. Maglir sounds as though he's putting on a face. Like he says words which wound enthusiastic but his facial expression contradicts this.

... .just like real people, sometimes.

As per the discussion on robes: They also don't restrict magic in any way, whereas armor does. There might also be a slight advantage with less weight (compared to ordinary clothes) although I don't remember exactly.

8/154

This post has been edited by Renee: Nov 25 2022, 03:02 PM

[Lena Wolf]

Uh oh, secret's out about Lucien + Lena. OH yeah.... this is all about that ... witch who wants to sling mud on Wolf. Rayenna.

Yeah, I think we can guess who started that rumour...

It's ironic the Bruma Mages Guild has gone necro. I still have a memory of my very first mage, who was an evil sort. She went into that very guild wearing a necromancer's robe and Jeanne really took offense. "TAKE THAT THING OFF!!" she scolded. This was on PS3 too, so no mods affected her words.

Anyway, Jeanne either has it coming to her, or Traven does.

Quite. In vanilla there's only one way and everyone in Bruma Mages Guild is slaughtered. I didn't like that. Given that Necromancy must have been their specialisation before it got banned (because theirs is the only Guild Hall without a specialisation), I think it would be logical if Mannimarco would have first offered them to return to practising Necromancy again. Of course Mages Guild doesn't go killing people! Never thought they did, even if that's what the Necromancy Cult preaches. And Jeanne is always talking about having important friends in high places, so I think she's the kind of person who is likely to follow where power is, which is in this case with Mannimarco. Anyway, I didn't think she fancied being killed, because that would be the alternative. Of course she'd choose to revert. So that's my version.

As per the discussion on robes: They also don't restrict magic in any way, whereas armor does. There might also be a slight advantage with less weight (compared to ordinary clothes) although I don't remember exactly.

Regarding weight, that depends. Some robes are pretty heavy, others are light, and clothes also vary a bit. It doesn't make much difference on average. So yeah, mages could also be wearing any other clothes, and many of them do.

[Lena Wolf]

3 Frost Fall, 4E172 - An agent and an assassin

It was the year 172 of the Fourth Era and the Great War between the Thalmor Dominion and the Empire was in full swing. The elves were winning, too, but not easily. It would be several more years before that bloodshed would stop, and many would argue that despite the much touted victory of the Dominion, they really lost the war because so many elven lives got cut short - lives that should have lasted a thousand years were cut at a mere hundred, if that. Of course, just as many humans were killed, but humans would quickly replenish their populations, while elves... Well.

"Kill me now, I told you all I knew," an Altmer was pleading with his torturer. "Animal."

"Heard of me, have you?" A Nord turned around from his notes. "Then you know that I'm not done yet. There are still a few blanks I need to fill in."

"But I don't know the answers..!"

"We'll see."

The ruins of an old fort somewhere in Skyrim were cold and damp, with only one chamber being warmed by a fire. A pot of stew was gently bubbling on the coals, but the dominant smell was that of nightshade extract and cinnabar paste - an unlikely combination.

"Time for your medicine," the Nord brought a vial to the Altmer's lips. "Drink up."

The Altmer shut his lips and tried to turn away his head, but the Nord simply slapped him, knocking him out, opened his jaws and carefully poured the potion into the Altmer's mouth, who swallowed by reflex. "Wouldn't want you to choke now, would we," the Nord muttered to himself, making sure that the Altmer indeed didn't choke. He would regain consciousness soon enough. Nightshade and cinnabar mixture was the Nord's speciality - it took away the victim's life force, yet strengthened his endurance. The Altmer was there for the long run - it could be days, weeks, months even. The Nord always got what he wanted. "You don't know the answers, may be," he was looking through his notes. "But you know who does, and that's good enough too." The Legion wanted information, and Animal had his methods.

The start would always be brutal and bloody, aiming to shock and to scare and to imply what was to come, unless the victim cooperated. No one ever escaped from Animal's care, and a quick death was the best anyone could hope for - or at least, such was Animal's reputation. Not true, but it served his purpose, adding to the initial scare once the victim realised who his torturer was.

Once the nightshade and cinnabar treatment had started however, there was no escape any longer, even if the victim did manage to move somehow, having lost already not just the toes, but feet, legs even... Animal was thorough.

...

A wolf guarding the entrance to an old fort gave a yelp when a dagger found its heart. "Damn it," the assassin swore under his breath - wolves never roamed alone, and the pack would be there soon, having heard their brother's cry. The assassin quickly entered the fort, shutting the heavy door behind him - the wolves would not follow him, but the person inside would hear their howls and be on his guard. "Damn the wolves," the assassin swore again, realising that he needed to change his tactics. He would not be able to kill the Animal's victim unnoticed.

...

"Wolves," Animal woke up, hearing the wolves howl outside - he always picked a chamber with a window or a shaft to the surface, and always left meat for the wolves outside. He didn't need a guard dog - Skyrim had wolves.

He got up and checked his sword - he was ready to meet the visitor.

...

The assassin straightened up and simply walked through the old fort, dispatching rats, spiders and an occasional undead as he went. He made noise and hoped that Animal would not ambush him or attack on sight, but if what he heard of the man was true, he expected a civil reception. Finally the light of a fire flickered somewhere ahead, and the assassin sheathed his sword and removed his hood. An outline of a man's figure appeared against the light, he hadn't drawn his sword either. This bode well.

"Talos be with you," the assassin said as he approached. "Animal?"

"The same," the Nord nodded. "Speaker?" He raised an eyebrow, realising who stood before him. "I didn't think they'd send a Speaker. Your client won't fight back," he smirked, jerking his head towards the Altmer, barely conscious in his chains.

"No, and the client isn't the challenge," the assassin smiled. "You are."

Almost imperceptibly, Animal moved to draw his sword, then changed his mind - the assassin hadn't drawn his. Clearly, the strategy was negotiation.

"Come in," Animal made an inviting gesture towards the fire. The stew was now on the table, there was wine, bread, cheese, fruit - the place was set up as a long-term residence. Laboratory equipment and a large pile of nightshade flowers and cinnabar caps occupied a well-lit corner indicating continuous use. A desk with some scrolls and journals was tidied up to protect sensitive documents from accidental glances by... whoever, rats included. There was a bed and a few bedrolls, too. The assassin looked around, taking it all in, and thinking just how much it resembled his own private quarters, except for the "resident" behind the gate - this one was still alive, while the assassin was used to undead in his fort.

"Nice place you've got here," he smiled. "Set up for the long haul, I see."

"We serve the Emperor wherever he sends us," Animal replied, straightening up and nearly clicking his heels by force of habit. The Altmer looked up at the mention of the Emperor, but one glance from the Animal dissuaded him from spitting. "He's not the first and won't be the last, and I needed a base. I've had enough of lugging all that equipment around every time I get a new lead," he jerked his head towards the laboratory corner. "I just bring them here instead."

"And the wolves get the spoils afterwards, I see," the assassin grinned.

They sat down for dinner, as the assassin had had a long trip behind him and hadn't eaten in over a day - Animal's fort was as remote as it was well hidden in the forests of Skyrim. There was no rush - the prisoner would die anyway, soon, if it was up to the assassin, or not so soon, if Animal got his way, but death was coming to him, regardless. The two death bringers were eager to get to know each other, now that they had time.

...

"He isn't going to tell you anything more of value," the assassin stood in front of the prisoner, examining his ever fading life signs. "Anything he says now is going to be conjecture, just so you stop hurting him."

"I am no longer hurting him, there's no need," Animal was examining the prisoner too. "He's in enough pain already, and if he bleeds any more, he might just expire. And I'm not done with him yet. He knows more."

The assassin shook his head, turning to Animal. "It's pointless, Animal. What are you missing?"

"The name of his replacement."

"He can't know that! They appointed his replacement only after you took him!" Was the assassin getting angry?

"He knows his superiors. He can guess. I'll pick up everyone he names," Animal insisted.

The assassin sighed. "My contract is to kill him, not to keep his secrets. I'll tell you what you want to know."

Hearing this, the Altmer looked up, piercing the assassin with his gaze, all of his life force focussed into it. He opened his mouth to say something, then changed his mind. "Thank you," he whispered. Death was finally coming for him.

[Acadian]

A sober conversation between the Animal and Assassin takes place before the unlucky Altmer.


I liked how you opened this episode with commentary about the war of attrition and how humans really do outbreed elves. In support of Buffy’s take on lore, we’ve put some thought into that over the years. In Buffy’s world, elves’ fertility cycle is twice a year vs the monthly human cycle. Further, their odds of conceiving from any given coupling are notably less than humans, the loss of baby or mother during birth is more common and it is almost unheard of for elves to conceive twins. Despite the advantage of several centuries of fertility, rare indeed is the elf who can deliver more than one or two baby elves during their long lives.

[Lena Wolf]

I read a different theory on fertility of elves: that it depends on the population size. When the population is large, elven women stop conceiving, but when the population shrinks for whatever reason, the chances of pregnancy also increase. But then again several books state that intimacy with humans makes elven women fertile "out of turn", so to speak... Hmm...

The thing with Aldmeri is of course that they wouldn't be intimate with humans, no, sera! At least not to anyone's knowledge.

This episode is a start of an old story shedding light on what exactly was binding the Animal and the Speaker. There will be even screenshots as soon as I get this starting mod done! This will be played.

[Lena Wolf]

23 Evening Star, 4E172 - A voyage ahead

Legate Oryn was feeling apprehensive. Fort Sutch was well fortified, with soldiers posted both on its outer and inner perimeter, such as it was, seeing that not much of the structure above ground remained intact. Fort Sutch was chosen exactly because it looked like yet another ancient fort ruin on the outside, even one without an obvious entrance. But the visitors that Legate was expecting, would not only have no issues finding the hidden entrance, but would also not hesitate to take out any foolish soldiers who dared to stand in their way.

"Guard the place against bandits and vagabonds, do NOT engage Imperial operatives or... err... other professionals," the Legate had told them. "Even if they look like bandits or vagabonds!"

It was the best he could do. He could not say any more, and was hoping that not too many of his troops would die by mistake.

...

A distant noise coming from the entrance alerted the Legate, he heard footsteps approaching fast - someone was running, and they were frightened. A young soldier appeared on the lower level, saluted as he ran, but didn't shout out his message. The Legate smiled and nodded to himself - the training was paying off. Finally the soldier stood before him.

"Ghosts, Sir," his message was abrupt, as he was trying to catch his breath. "One brushed right past me," his eyes were round with surprise. "Could be anywhere."

"Did it feel cold?" The Legate fixed the soldier with his gaze.

"Err... No, Sir," the soldier blushed, realising that he forgot some points about the undead. But then again, he'd never faced one before.

"Good, go back to your post, it was probably just the wind," the Legate reassured him. "Or rats. Nothing to worry about. Imperial Battlemages had swept this fort for undead before we took residence here."

The soldier left, somewhat embarrassed, wondering why the Legate didn't tell him off for a false alarm. In fact, he had the impression that the Legate was pleased with his report... How strange.

"Ghosts, indeed," the Legate smirked to himself, facing the door. His visitor would enter any moment now.

"You trained your soldiers well," a voice behind him made him spin around with a jerk. A man in black robes was removing his hood. "Legate Oryn, I presume?"

"Speaker," the Legate quickly composed himself, nodding to his visitor. "You are here."

"Evidently," the man in black robes smiled.

"Your contract?" The Legate sounded tense.

"Has been agreed," the Speaker nodded, unsheathing his sword. The Legate froze involuntarily. "I am not a Legion officer," the Speaker smiled again, watching the darkened steel reflect the light along the razor sharp edge of the short sword.

"Indeed," the Legate made an effort to calm his nerves. "Then all is clear, I trust. The chamber to the left has everything you need in the meantime."

"Then I shall wait," the Speaker sheathed his sword, disappearing behind the door that the Legate had indicated. The Legate sighed a sigh of relief.

...

"First ghosts, now marauders?" The soldier posted near the entrance heard clunking of heavy armour - not Legion issue. He faced the noise, his sword drawn.

"Stand down, Trooper," a disciplined, yet unofficial voice came from the direction of the noise. "Stand down before you get hurt." A man in steel armour appeared from around the corner, his posture straight, his step almost a march, his face set as that of a Legate... Was that the Legion operative that the Legate had mentioned?

"Divines guide and protect us," the soldier said, but didn't sheath his sword.

"By the Nine!" The man in steel armour stopped, but didn't draw his weapon. "At ease."

The soldier didn't know the operative's rank, so he simply saluted, sheathed his sword and returned to his post. The Nine, not the Eight - this wasn't an Aldmeri agent. Or at least that's what he hoped.

...

"Legate," the man in steel armour stood to attention and saluted the Legate. "Reporting to the rendez-vous."

"Agent," the Legate approved of formal greetings - they gave clarity, especially since Imperial operatives from the Special Division did not wear Legion uniforms. "At ease," he nodded. "Have you been briefed?"

"My orders are clear, Legate, Sir," the Agent confirmed, relaxing his stance but not his tone. "When are we to depart?"

"At dawn tomorrow," the Legate shot him a glance, shuffling some scrolls on his desk. "Your companion has already arrived," he jerked his head towards the door to the left. "You might want to get acquainted while you're still within an Imperial fort."

"The Speaker and I have met before," the Agent smiled and nodded, turning towards the door indicated, then changed his mind. Best keep up the formalities. "Any other orders, Sir?" He straightened up again.

"Dismissed," the Legate looked up from the papers, and when the Agent disappeared behind the door, he sighed the second sigh of relief. "Ah, here it is," he muttered, unrolling a scroll. "Information provided by the Animal led to the apprehension of the newly appointed Commander of the Third Aldmeri Division," he read. "Question is, how could his prisoner have given him this information since the new Commander had only been appointed after the prisoner's capture?" The Legate rubbed his chin and shook his head. "Unless..." He stared at the door to the left and smirked. "I never..."

...

An Imperial galleon was waiting at sea not far from the coast. Two figures left Fort Sutch just before dawn, making for the coast. They took a row boat that was soon swallowed by the morning mist.

...

"All aboard," a sailor reported to the captain of the galleon.

"Set sail," the captain nodded. "Before the mist clears."

The galleon departed towards the West.