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

[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.

[Renee]

I am up to the part when she's with the Arch Mage. "We have really began to rely on you" he tells her.

Now she's at the Fighters Guild. Looks like she's about to do the quest with Viranus Donton. I barely remember this quest, but it's funny how we're supposed to 'babysit' the guy. That's exactly what it's like sometimes with vanilla NPC followers, we have to babysit them.

Oh nice, she just found the Crown. It says "Lena could just buy another horse, but didn't want to." How much money (about) would she have by this point?

The side plot with Rayenna is interesting. The gal seems to be plotting something to do with Lena.

"She's with the Mages Guild" - Borba bared her fangs. Was that a smile?

8/157

[Lena Wolf]

Oh nice, she just found the Crown. It says "Lena could just buy another horse, but didn't want to." How much money (about) would she have by this point?

Not much, considering the expenses. She's got to eat, she shares the loot money with her companions and there's Battlehorn Castle to maintain - that's some 13,000 septims a month right there! At that point we still had the castle because Hauk liked it. But then things got busy, and in the end neither Lena nor Hauk could be bothered with it, so she sold it to the Captain of the Guard there for a symbolic 1 septim. He got his guardsmen organised to do stuff... or not, I have no clue! But it's up to them now to come up with 13,000 septims every month for food and drink!

[Lena Wolf]

25 Evening Star, 4E172 - The beginning of a friendship

"That is quite an elaborate tattoo for someone as young as you," an assassin stood over a sleeping Imperial Agent.

"Whaa---?" The agent turned over, slowly waking up. "Tattoo? Oh... yeah..." He muttered something incomprehensible, his tongue still thick with yesterday's mead.

"You can sleep longer if you like, we're not going anywhere," the assassin smiled. "It's a week's journey and we've only just set off." The ship was rocking slightly. "But the weather is good and I thought you could use some fresh air."

"Eh... good thinking," the agent smiled back, sitting up on his cot, now reasonably awake. "D'you think we finished that barrel of mead last night? If so, the captain won't let me into the hold for the rest of the trip."

...

"It'll soon be just the two of us, relying on each other," the assassin looked serious when they were standing on deck enjoying fresh breeze and mild sunshine. They were at sea headed to the Summerset Isles. "No one can know who we are of course, but I daresay it's pretty obvious. That we are no locals, I mean." He ran his hand over the length of his sword instinctively. "The Summerset Isles do not get a lot of tourists these days."

"Yeah, the war has changed it all," the agent nodded, turning his chest to the sun and closing his eyes. "Not that the Altmer have ever been very welcoming. But no one from the Empire will go there now."

"Quite." The assassin paused, watching him. "We need to get to know each other."

"Well, what do you want to know?" The agent opened one eye. "Or rather: what is there that you don't know about me already, Speaker?" He smirked.

"Nothing that's on the record," the assassin grinned. "But records don't reveal what a person is really like. I've seen some of it back at the fort in Skyrim. But now - tell me about your tattoo. You have too many lines on it for a 20-year old."

"Twenty one, I'm twenty one already!" The agent retorted irritably, then sighed. "Sorry. Of course you knew that. I get a lot of this in the Legion. Not many get to Agent before thirty... But the War provided opportunities."

"And your brother..?" The assassin prompted.

"Iver has the same rank as me, he has to," the agent nodded. "That's the whole point. Us being twins, having the same last name naturally, and all that. Only Iver is a regular battlemage and fights on the front line, but we must have all the same ranks and titles, otherwise he cannot be me... and visa versa."

"Does Iver has the same tattoo as well?" The assassin raised an eyebrow.

"Not the tattoo, we're supposed to keep our clothes on," the agent grinned. "By the time the armour or the robe comes off, everyone will have had enough mead not to worry about small things like tattoos..."

"And your clients will never live to tell the tale either, Animal," the assassin smirked.

"Well... Mostly not." The skin on his chest started going hot pink - Nords were not made for sunbathing. He turned around and let the sun warm his back instead. "But Iver doesn't like to get his clothes off, so no one knows he's all naked under there," he smirked.

"So, your tattoo?" The assassin insisted.

"A Nord traditional design, the outline is given to you, and you fill it in with lines as you earn them," the agent explained somewhat impatiently. "Why do you ask, Speaker? Surely you know this."

"This I indeed know," the assassin nodded. "But you have a lot of lines already - and yes, I know which ones they are. Tell me about that."

"Oh... well, some are clients, some are enemies, some are friends..." The agent sighed. "They are for memory, see. I didn't kill my friends, they fell in battle. I'd do a line in memory. But mostly it's clients or enemies that proved particularly bothersome. The lines usually cover the scars."

"Scars can be magically removed these days," the assassin rolled up his sleeve, showing clean skin without any blemishes. "See, no scars."

"Well, may be it's not that important for you Imperials..." The agent squinted at the assassin. "But they say that when we Nords finally go to Sovngarde, we keep the appearance of our mortal bodies, with scars, tattoos, whatever. I've had plenty of scars removed, too, but some had to be kept for memory."

The sun stood quite high on the horizon at that point, and the agent's back turned the same hot pink colour as his chest.

"We should go inside, you'll burn up worse than a vampire," the assassin joked. The sun fell onto his face, revealing some wrinkles on his lightly tanned skin.

"Yeah, let's go, Speaker," the agent nodded.

Once inside their cabin, the assassin extended his hand.

"We should drop the titles," he said. "Call me Lucien."

"Call me Hauk."

They shook on it.

[Renee]

Not much, considering the expenses. She's got to eat, she shares the loot money with her companions and there's Battlehorn Castle to maintain - that's some 13,000 septims a month right there! At that point we still had the castle because Hauk liked it. But then things got busy, and in the end neither Lena nor Hauk could be bothered with it, so she sold it to the Captain of the Guard there for a symbolic 1 septim. He got his guardsmen organised to do stuff... or not, I have no clue! But it's up to them now to come up with 13,000 septims every month for food and drink!

Nice, I like this. Bothered me a bit that after a while our guys & gals are making all this money with nowhere to put it. My Renee Gade III character makes a lot of money for instance, but since she's the one keeping her gear (and all the weapons & armors of her followers) intact, she tends to break even with the money. I also have it set up so one of her homes has a rent payment. She can choose to buy it, but that'd be a lot of gold.

Some gamers play these games to escape reality, in the sense that there's no rent, no taxes, and I get it. But for me, the idea that money is cyclical, that it's going back into "the system", lends a bit of reality which I dig.

That's great she sold Battlehorn to her guard captain, too.

[Lena Wolf]

11 First Seed, 4E203 - The Telvanni run-around

Hauk was remembering the days during the Great War when he just met Lucien. Their first meeting was in an old fort in Skyrim - Lucien had been sent to assassinate the Aldmeri agent that Hauk was interrogating. It had become standard practice for the Aldmeri to engage Morag Tong or the Dark Brotherhood to end the lives of those of their agents that were unfortunate enough to get captured by an agent of the Imperial Special Division - not only there was no hope for the Aldmeri agent to survive, but the sooner he was killed, the less information he could divulge to the Legion.

Lucien wasn't the first assassin to be sent after one of Hauk's "clients". But Hauk did not appreciate interruptions, and most assassins fell to his sword. He would always warn them first - he had no quarrel with them, but as the assassins insisted on going after their targets, Hauk had no choice but to stop them. So he was quite surprised to see Lucien in his fort, and to realise that Lucien came to negotiate. That job required a Speaker, indeed.

That was some thirty years ago.

Returning to the year 203 of the Fourth Era, Hauk finally reached Sadrith Mora in the beginning of the month of First Seed. There he intended to join House Telvanni and make a name for himself - that was necessary before he could ask for assistance locating Rayenna. Sadrith Mora was not that large of a town but it had everything close together: an Imperial fort that also housed the Mages Guild and the Fighters Guild, a Thieves Guild safe house (at which Hauk grimaced for how obvious it was), a Morag Tong Guild Hall and of course the Telvanni Council House. There were even no visible hostilities between the mages of the Mages Guild and the surrounding Telvanni... How strange. Or perhaps: how sensible?

At first traders didn't want to speak to him because he had no hospitality papers.

"And how can you tell that I'm not carrying those papers?" Hauk glared at a Bosmer smith in the square.

"Because I've never seen you before and you're not waving those papers in my face!" The Bosmer retorted. "You aren't even allowed to walk the ground here! Shoo!"

"Well, it's true about the papers," the neighbouring trader informed Hauk. "Officially you aren't even allowed to walk the streets of Sadrith Mora without the papers. But since no one except him there is ever going to ask you to show those papers... Err... Was there anything you wanted?"

If Hauk had been just passing through, he would not have bothered with the papers. He even considered to immediately go to the Council House and try to join House Telvanni, and then he would never need any such papers anyway. But then he changed his mind.

"Yes, you can purchase your hospitality papers right here!" The host told him at the Gateway Inn. "For 25 septims. And I may even have work for you!" He beamed at Hauk.

Obviously, it was a scam, which is why Hauk went with it - once he'd rise up in rank with the Telvanni, putting pressure on this host would become easier if Hauk had something to hold over him. Especially if that something came for a mere 25 septims. He bought the papers.

The "work" that the host had mentioned, turned out to be a haunting of one of their rooms. "The ghost is easy enough to defeat," he said, "but it keeps coming back! We can't rent out the room this way!"

And therein lay the real problem, of course. Someone with a grudge installed a self-conjuring ghost there, a nifty device commonly used to scare tourists away from forts and towers occupied by mages. After some asking around, Hauk located the conjurer who had set this up - a member of the Mages Guild, as it happened. She freely admitted that it was a joke, and agreed that perhaps it was time to lift it, but when Hauk returned to the host, the host would hear none of it, no, Hauk had to go and kill that ghost first.

"But what's the point if it keeps coming back?" Hauk couldn't quite believe it.

"You have to see it for yourself!" The host was adamant.

"Well, I've seen ghosts before, you know..."

But it was no use. Hauk had to go and battle the ghost, which wasn't all that easy since it turned out to be a Gloom Wraith... What was that host trying to do?! Angry and annoyed, Hauk returned to the host who was now sending him to talk to a certain Telvanni mistress who'd examined the site, even though Hauk had started by talking to that very mistress... No, the whole thing had to be done again, now that Hauk knew what sort of ghost had been haunting the room.

Finally, the same Mages Guild conjurer said the same thing about that being a joke, adding with a wink that perhaps Hauk could now appreciate her displeasure with the host when she first arrived in Sadrith Mora. Oh that host had it coming! Hauk was fuming by that point.

Back to the host, Hauk handed him the mage's annoyed and sarcastic letter, watched the host nearly explode with anger, which, quite magically, made Hauk's anger diminish to the point that he even abandoned his impulse to acquaint the host with Bianca, his blade. He also decided against turning the host into a toad, at least not just yet. Why, that weasel had just given him enough arsenal to make him do whatever he wanted when the time came...

The chores for the magisters of House Telvanni went from trivial to ruthless to crazy, with the wizards living up to their reputation. Receiving 200 drakes for five portion of muck worth hardly a tenner, was a nice turn of events, and receiving another 1000 drakes for confronting a crazy lady with her skirt was another easy win. Master Neloth wanted an enchanted robe currently worn by someone else, and Hauk had to kill that unfortunate person to get the robe - a robe worth some 20,000 drakes. Handing over the robe to Master Neloth, Hauk got just 10 drakes payment... Yes, wizards varied. And he hadn't met all of them yet, but already was told that his services were good enough to make him a Mouth, to which end he needed a patron, and all the great wizards had already been taken... Err... already had Mouths... so... umm... Wait, wasn't there a Morag Tong Guild Hall in town as well? Hauk's head was spinning.

Shaking his head and muttering to himself, he was walking along the market stalls, when someone tugged on his sleeve and whispered that Morag Tong was expecting him. Really? Was that retaliation for that assassin he killed in order to get a ring for one of the magisters? They did say that murder was fair play...

"Agent, this way please," a thrall directed Hauk upstairs in the Morag Tong Guild Hall. No, they weren't looking for a fight... but what then?

"Please, come in, I've been expecting you," Azarath Salvel opened the door to his own section of the Guild Hall. And once they were inside, he declared without further ado: "Considering your recent efforts, we have decided to lend you our assistance. We too have a vested interest in finding Rayenna and avoiding another war of assassins between Morag Tong and the Dark Brotherhood. I shall accompany you on your errands - except the boring ones, that is - and you may stay in this room since I have a spare bed. I daresay it's got fewer bugs than the one in Fara's Hole in the Wall," he winked.

"Thank you," Hauk smiled, still feeling a bit apprehensive somehow. "But this room is not a part of the common area of the Guild Hall... This is your private apartment..."

"Welcome to my home," Azarath smiled at him, and suddenly Hauk saw Lucien standing before him. A darker skin, perhaps, but otherwise... The vision faded and Hauk was looking at Azarath again. "It's the least I can do to welcome my son's friend."

[Lena Wolf]

25 First Seed, 4E203 - The best things are free

"House Telvanni was never going to be easy," Azarath Salvel was saying to Hauk at dinner, watching him shake his head in disbelief. Hauk was scanning a long scroll of chores, up and down, down and up, shaking his head and getting a headache. "Forget your common sense - it will only hinder you. Just do the tasks, without question. It is the only way to keep your sanity," Azarath suppressed a laugh, thinking that Hauk had had enough unpleasantness for one day.

"But this is utter madness!" Hauk looked up. "Ask two questions of a mage but don't wait for an answer, bring a coded message to Divayth Fyr - Divayth Fyr of all people! Everyone knows he doesn't mess with politics, yet every time someone has to try... And more such nonsense... Oh wait, here's a reasonable one - quell a slave rebellion. What?! I may be with the Legion, but that's not why they're asking me!" He shook his head again. "Remind me: why am I doing this?"

"Because the Telvanni are the only people knowledgeable enough to be able to put a trace on someone protected by Mephala," Azarath said soothingly. "Rayenna, remember? The war of assassins? A threat to your unborn child?"

Hauk buried his head in his hands.

"Yes, Rayenna." He rubbed his face, then got up for more mead. "She's a threat to all of us. Yet she's protected by Mephala - Mephala, the patron of your order!" He looked at Azarath accusingly, then quickly diverted his gaze. "It's not Morag Tong's fault, I know." He sighed and sat down again. "This is the one job that may be too hard for me."

"It isn't, Hauk," Azarath said softly. "You simply need to take it with a grain of gravedust."

"Whaa--?" Hauk was jerked out of his self-pity. "How's that?"

"Gravedust, the stuff you find in tombs, don't you know," Azarath flicked away a kwama egg and sliced some mutton instead. "The only thing that remains of mortals after they are gone. All these wizards will be reduced to it, sooner or later. When they start getting on your nerves, just picture them as gravedust."

Hauk smirked, but suddenly felt a weight fall off his shoulders. Gravedust. Simple.

"You don't really need any of them," Azarath continued. "The only wizard of any consequence is of course Divayth Fyr. And weren't you asked to bring a message to him? Well, that gives you an introduction," Azarath winked. "As for the other chores... I would not worry. Although a diversion could be nice - wasn't there a slave rebellion to quell?"

"D'you know, none of these chores have anything to do with magic," Hauk said thoughtfully. "Or with my skills as a mage. It all reminds me very much of those chores you had to do for the Mages Guild in Cyrodiil to earn your recommendations for the Arcane University..." He smiled, thinking of home and remembering Lena complaining about the useless chores they had her do... Or wait, that was already after she entered the University... Wherever you looked, people simply seemed to use you to do the things that they could not be bothered to do themselves... "Rats and goblins everywhere," he said aloud. "Here's to rats and goblins!" He raised a toast. "We'll do that slave rebellion tomorrow and then go see Divayth Fyr."

...

"Well, young man, what is it you want?" Divayth Fyr was looking at Hauk with amusement. "A coded message? Again? But of course. Let's see." He scanned it quickly, wrote a reply and handed it to Hauk. "Here, tell them I politely declined."

"I shall, thank you," Hauk put away the scroll. "No surprises there."

"You guessed what the message was?" Divayth Fyr raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I can't read that code," Hauk shook his head. "But knowing who it came from, and knowing that you are the eldest member of House Telvanni, yet not a member of the Council, I would say someone once again was trying to get you involved in politics - on their side, of course. A futile attempt, obviously."

"Yes..." Divayth Fyr took a better look at Hauk. "Say... you are not like the others..." He seemed to look under Hauk's skin. "A mage... no, a battlemage... With the Legion?" Hauk nodded. "Yes... yet seeking advancement with House Telvanni, all while being a member of the Imperial Mages Guild, of course..."  He smiled, poured himself a drink and offered some to Hauk. "This is just wine, do not worry. So, what is it that you really want, Agent?"

The chore with the coded message indeed provided an introduction. Hauk inwardly sighed a sigh of relief - Divayth Fyr had opened a conversation. He didn't strike Hauk as a recluse... Perhaps he just could not be bothered with... err... gravedust?

"I need help that only the Telvanni can provide," Hauk decided to be direct. "Magical help. I need to put a trace on someone protected by Mephala. The person herself is just a mortal, but Mephala's protection makes all the difference."

"Interesting," Divayth Fyr mused. "A Morag Tong matter?"

"Not only," Hauk nodded. "This person - Rayenna - was with the Dark Brotherhood in Cyrodiil, but turned against one of her Sisters, attempted murder, got exiled, got picked up by Mephala with the promise to insert her into Morag Tong, but Morag Tong themselves haven't officially had the news yet."

"Well, that's Mephala for you," the old wizard chuckled.

"Yes. The matter is further complicated by personal relationships of several people here, and by the danger of another war of assassins between the Dark Brotherhood and Morag Tong, in case someone sees this as a provocation."

"And Mephala would do everything in her power to make it appear that way," Divayth nodded.

"And hence we need to try and stop it before anything happens," Hauk looked straight at him.

"Yes... And what is your involvement in this? Besides the obvious allegiance of the Dark Brotherhood and the Imperial Legion?" Divayth's eyes twinkled, and Hauk thought the whole story seemed amusing to him.

"I... err... well..." Hauk hesitated. Then, thinking that the truth would come out soon enough anyway, he decided to dish it out then and there. "It is a love affair, really. Rayenna had an eye on a man, a Dark Brotherhood assassin, but he recently married another woman. That was the Sister that Rayenna attempted to kill. She is pregnant, soon to give birth. The child... is either her husband's or mine... So, I had to do something to protect it."

"And?"

"And?" Hauk looked up, realising that the whole truth meant the whole truth, not just some of it. "Why am I not jealous? I am, and I am not... Her husband... he's an old friend of mine. From much before I ever met the woman. What we've been through... Anyway, I am happy for him to raise my child, if that child is mine."

"And?" Divayth Fyr was visibly enjoying the story, realising full well that that wasn't all.

"And... All right, all right!" Hauk gave a short laugh. "The man's father is a Morag Tong assassin. And we suspect that Rayenna might try to go after him somehow, but we are not clear on the purpose."

"Which is where Mephala comes in, of course," Divayth nodded. "And Mephala would have been protecting your Rayenna until such time that it fits with her plans to bring her out... yes..." He sipped some of his wine, contemplating its colour in a heavy glass. "Mephala may even be willing to take a stab at the Night Mother, or even Sithis himself..." He smirked. "Let's hope not. But you are not asking to kill Rayenna, just put a trace on her. Why?"

"The feeling is that Rayenna's untimely and unexplained death might be used to start that war of assassins..." Hauk hesitated. "I am not entirely sure. I would probably just kill her. But I am not calling the shots."

"But who is?" Divayth looked at Hauk shrewdly.

"The Night Mother, I think," Hauk shrugged.

"I see..."

Divayth seemed lost in thought, still contemplating his wine, and Hauk decided to wait, since he had now said everything there was to say on the matter. A long moment passed.

"Rayenna is with Dagoth Ur inside the Red Mountain," Divayth Fyr said suddenly. "Yes, we've noticed her. I also know who those other people in your story are. I've lived in this neighbourhood for a while, I know what's going on," he laughed. "Tell Azarath it's been too long, I'd love a visit." He laughed again, watching Hauk's surprise. "We've been tracking Rayenna for a while already." Hauk opened his mouth to ask something, but Divayth answered it first: "Who is 'we'? Well, my daughters and I, of course. Not the rest of House Telvanni, do not worry." He paused, and Hauk waited for him to continue. "Dagoth Ur is not dead, but I suppose you've figured it out already. Corprus is back, and Azura knows what else, or rather, Azura doesn't know, and that's the problem. Has she been in touch? Yes? Strange dreams too? Yeah... That's how it started last time. Your place is here for now, Hauk, in Morrowind. You said it yourself - your child is safe. So, get used to kwama eggs... I know it's not mutton, but it will have to do... We've got work to do, you and I. Much work."

...

Hauk and Azarath were once again sitting at dinner.

"So he wants you to walk the path of the Nerevarine," Azarath nodded, listening to Hauk's story. "The same as last time... Who was the poor sod that got pushed into it then? No one knows any longer. It is not the kind of fame that sticks."

"I don't want it to stick!" Objected Hauk. "I am not thrilled about doing it, either! I read history books, I know what happened last time... No fun at all! Corprus, bah!" He grimaced and spit. "That's the one disease I object to contracting!"

"I don't think there is a way out here, Hauk," Azarath looked at him thoughtfully. "If Mephala hid Rayenna inside the Red Mountain, then you'll have to go through Dagoth Ur to get to her..." He sighed heavily. "And if Divayth Fyr says that's where she is, then that's where she is. I don't envy you this task, my friend..."

The sun had long set and Masser and Secunda were dark in the sky over Morrowind. It wasn't a moonless night, it was a night of dark moons. Not an omen but a regular astronomical phenomenon, Hauk kept saying to himself, yet could not help feeling it was an omen after all.

[Renee]

She just got rid of Adamus Phillida. It's so long ago that I did these quests, I'm not even remembering this one.

Ha ha Fenris. That's the former slave guy, right? He seems to really adore Lena.

Maglir defects to Blackwood Company, wow. And this is vanilla, too. Again, I remember none of this. It's cool you're in the midst of doing a bunch of quests during this part, AND also writing up everything which happens. Basically, documenting your story/roleplay, which is great. See you'll remember all these bits because of this.

And she's hunting imps for Aryaire. 🦇 I don't know if you've noticed this, but ironically imp caves often contain the best loot for low-level games. I'm talking about characters whose leveling-upwards is slow, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, and so on. There's always some nice enchanted loot we stumble across at these lower levels in imp/creature lairs, which we can either sell or use. An example is my elf found a Spelldrinker Amulet when she was only L4.

But bleagh, imp gall is what she's after.

Whoa. Got a letter from Hauk. Or so it seems.

This is freaky. Must continue later... 9/167

[Lena Wolf]

18 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Lord Sheogorath's second term

"Congratulations on your second term in office," Haskill respectfully inclined his head when Lena finally slumped onto Sheogorath's throne. The Greymarch was over, Jyggalag was once again defeated, initial orders given, and with the immediate pressures released, Lena suddenly felt drained and exhausted. Not surprising! It had been a long day.

"Thanks," she replied to Haskill mechanically. "Any other business can wait until I've had some sleep..." She unsuccessfully stifled a yawn.

"Your quarters are ready for you," Haskill smiled, gesturing towards a door behind the throne.

"My quarters?" Lena looked up in surprise. "You mean he didn't..." Haskill nodded, and a wide grin spread over Lena's face. "He didn't! Ah-ha!" She jumped off the throne with an unexpected agility, motioned Scorpio to follow and disappeared into a short tunnel behind the throne that ended in an unassuming stone door.

...

"We should be quite comfortable here, and no, I won't let you go home just yet, you need help with those wounds," Lena pushed a door revealing a spacious and very comfortable bedroom, complete with a bathroom suite. "You're not mortal, I know, but your body takes damage like any other, so don't argue," she looked at Scorpio sternly even though he wasn't arguing. In fact, he was already stripping off blood-covered rags that used to be clothing when he put them on in the morning. Lena turned on the taps and warm clear water started filling the tub. "Dylan!" She called, then froze. Dylan was dead.

"He is a daedra, he will be reborn," Scorpio said softly, putting his arm around Lena's shoulders again, as Lena started silently crying. "Come, the bath is ready."

...

The stone bath tub in Lord Sheogorath's quarters was easily large enough for three or four people. In truth, it was more of a small pool. Lena allowed warm scented water to soothe the pain, both physical and mental. Dylan was dead. Dylan, her friend and consort in the Shivering Isles, the only male Mazken to answer her call when she became Lord Sheogorath the first time around. The others put their established lives first, but Dylan was different. Dylan was curious about this mortal champion of his Prince, this fragile-looking being that nonetheless defeated Prince Jyggalag... How did she do it? How did she survive? Why did she want male Mazken to join the Palace Guard when she already had much superior female Mazken there? He wanted to find out.

Dylan was the one who noticed that Lena did not look right. "Your appearance does not reflect your essence," he said. No, it didn't - the cure for vampirism that Lena had taken a few years earlier, left her looking like an old woman, stooped, scarred and wrinkled, while in fact she was just in her twenties. Dylan was the one to take her to the Wellspring, to make her regain her youthful looks. Dylan was there for her when no one else cared, and now Dylan was dead, his heart sliced in two by Jyggalag's sword in this second Greymarch.

Yes, he would be reborn. But the image of him lying dead on the battlefield with his chest split open, would never leave Lena's memory. Rebirth would take time, and until then Lena was grieving.

...

After some time the pain dulled and the tears stopped running down Lena's cheeks. She washed her face in the warm water of the pool and looked at Scorpio who seemed to be asleep in the opposite corner.

"Don't fall asleep in the water - you could drown even in a small pool!" Lena kicked his shin gently. He opened his eyes.

"I wasn't asleep, I was just giving you time," he smiled. "And enjoying this bath." He ran his hand along the wounds on his thigh and Lena noticed the shimmer of healing magic. "The bleeding has finally stopped," he noted with satisfaction. Then, looking at her intently, he asked: "Tell me about this place, your quarters. Why were you surprised when Haskill told you this room was ready? 'He didn't!' You exclaimed. He - who? And what did he not do?"

"Sheogorath - Prince Sheogorath, that is," Lena smiled. "He didn't remove the extra wing to the Palace that I added when I was holding the throne the first time around. He kept it. I wonder why."

"An extra wing? You mean, Prince Sheogorath did not have his own quarters before you took over?" Scorpio asked in surprise.

"No, he didn't," Lena confirmed. "Daedric Princes are not like you or I, they don't have... shall we say... bodily needs. They have bodies of course, but they don't need to eat, sleep, or anything else, so they don't really have a need for quarters." She mused at the thought, having said it aloud like that, realising for the first time just how strange it must be. Or how strange it must be for a Daedric Prince to imagine having those bodily needs. "I don't really know what Sheogorath is doing when he's not sitting on the throne, or where he spends his time, and it is none of my business!" She exclaimed defiantly, as if expecting Prince Sheogorath to be listening in. You could never be sure with Daedric Princes. "So yeah, I had expected him to get rid of this wing once he was back in the Realm. But look at that - he kept it." She patted the tub fondly. "Which means that there will be breakfast in the dining hall as well! Sweetrolls!"

At that moment there was a knock on the door and a Mazken guard entered cautiously.

"Would you be requiring breakfast?" She asked.

"Yes!" Lena beamed at her. "Like before... err... minus the felldew," she added, blushing. "Leave out the indulgences, will you? Sanguine is not here, so let's just have regular food and drink."

The guard smiled with satisfaction, nodded and left.

...

A couple of days later Lena and Scorpio stood in the gardens of the Palace in New Sheoth enjoying the gentle breeze and warm sunshine. All traces of the great bloody battle that took place there so recently, had been removed. Townspeople were coming in to make sure that life really got back to normal, and courtiers had full schedules processing insurance claims on lost or damaged property by the forces of Order, listening to disputes of citizens accusing each other of theft and vandalism due to temporary insanity under the influence of the forces of Order, and other such mundane tasks. Both the Duke of Mania and the Duchess of Dementia were still serving their sentences for their defection to the forces of Order, and so the courtiers had to do all the work once again. Yes, life was truly getting back to normal.

"So, what's next, Lord Sheogorath?" Scorpio asked Lena with a wink. "What does the Ruler of the Realm actually do all day?"

"Err..." Lena was about to say something, then realised it was a trick question. No, she did not want to bring up the memories of how it was last time, not while Dylan was still lying dead. "The guard said it would take a week or two before Dylan is reborn," she judged that a direct approach to the pain was best. "And then it would take a little while for him to regain his memories. We'll wait for him. He should just walk in here one day, apparently. So... I dunno... What do you want to do?"

...

"You are back!" Bernice was smiling, a rare occurrence for her. "It's all over, we all survived, you did it again!" The joy on her face made her look young. "We must celebrate!"

It was nearly dinner time and Bernice's taphouse started to fill up with the usual customers. Smoked baliwog legs and grummite eggs were brought out, wine and ale followed, accounts of the great battle of a few days ago were getting more and more grotesque by the minute...

"Time to go, I think," Scorpio whispered in Lena's ear.

They slipped out quietly while everyone else was engaging in the celebratory brawls, and Lena slipped a bottle of skooma into Caldana's pocket, thus removing the last person who was still watching them. They went through the city gates and stood overlooking the New Sheoth cemetery that had gained quite a few gravestones in just a few days. Lena sighed. Scorpio took her hand.

"Moonglow is only found by night," he said and she spun around to look at him. "Remember? Wasn't it one of the first tasks you had to do as freshly Arisen?"

If the memories of the previous Greymarch were too painful, perhaps the memories of Gransys would help. After all, Scorpio was with her again and the road stretched before them, calling.

[Lena Wolf]

21 Sun's Dawn, 4E203 - Memories of another world

"Moonglow is only found by night," Lena repeated Scorpio's phrase as they set off to walk the roads of the Shivering Isles. "Yes, I remember. A huge party... a huge wild party... well, Sanguine was staying here, so you can imagine," she smirked. "Too much felldew and all kinds of brandy. Then someone pushed me against a statue... or something... don't remember really... but it was a portal, and the next thing I knew I was lying on a beach and this huge dark shadow was hovering over me. The shadow spit fire, frying those people who were still standing..."

"And you..?" Scorpio prompted her as she paused.

"Well, I was having none of it. Still high on felldew and whatnot. Saw a sword on the ground, grabbed it, went after the shadow... Which turned out to be a dragon!" Lena gave a short laugh. "A great big full grown fire-breathing beast of a dragon! Ha!"

"Welcome to Gransys," Scorpio grinned.

"Yeah... The next thing I knew the dragon flicked his tail and everyone still standing at that point, was thrown to the ground, myself included. Then I saw the dragon's face quite close, his eyes lighting up, he was saying something... But I could not understand a word."

"You would understand it now though," Scorpio put in. "Dragonborn."

"Dragonborn? Oh yes, of course, I am Dragonborn, but it hadn't come through yet at the time. Besides, those are not the same dragons, are they?" Lena wasn't sure. She could understand the dragon later, it was true, but she always thought it was because the dragon spoke her language. But what if... "Is that why he picked me, you think?" She raised her eyes to Scorpio.

"No, he picked you because you were the one to pick up a sword against him. Everyone else just froze or else ran and hid! And with a good reason."

"Yeah, probably. So there I was lying on the sand again, this time not able to get up, and the dragon so close, he could have just squashed me like a bug... He could have squashed everyone like bugs, come to think of it, but he didn't do that. He damaged some structures and some boats, and some people died, sure, but rather because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time - he didn't target anyone. I always thought he was just trying to make an impression... It was working, too."

"The dragon visits all parts of the land, looking for the next Arisen. Someone somewhere does what you did - stands up to him, futile as it may be. And that's the person he picks."

"Mmm... He slashed my chest open with his claw and removed my heart! Stuck it onto his claw like a skewer! Then swallowed it! Just like that! While it was still beating! And I was still alive!!" Lena went red with fury. "The impertinence of it!"

"Yeah, he picked the right person, all right," Scorpio grinned.

"I woke up in the village sickhouse a couple of days later," Lena continued. "Overheard two people talking about me - that my wound had closed but that they could not hear a heartbeat inside. I squeezed my hand to my chest - nothing. It was... disconcerting. 'Ill magic', a man's voice said."

"But you did not recognise their voices, did you?"

"No, I didn't know anyone there - I had fallen through a portal just a before that, remember?" She smirked. "But they were talking about me as if I'd always lived there, called me 'cousin' and such. Mass hypnosis, I think."

"False memories, probably," Scorpio agreed. "Except that one old woman, she knew you weren't from there."

"The one in the textiles shop?" Lena could not remember her name. "Yes, she knew what was going on, too. She said it was all in the scripture, and if you listened to the priests carefully, you would have known what to expect all along."

"But people don't listen to the priests, do they?" Scorpio shook his head. "They think that faith is nothing more but a bunch of fairy tales... Yet they go to the chapel, offer their prayers. It's very odd, if you think of it."

"People are odd, generally," Lena agreed. "But after the initial shock wore off, I was quite pleased with my fate - for a little while at least. It was nice to have so many 'cousins' all of a sudden. It was nice to belong somewhere."

"Except that your life which you didn't have, was already forfeit," Scorpio said grimly.

"Yeah... It didn't take long, and Rook appeared. Out of a vortex - as if he was summoned. I looked around for a mage, but there was no one."

"Rook has the worst job there is - he's a babysitter," Scorpio shook his head. "One of those of us who is sent to greet a new Arisen and accompany him or her for a while at the start. Show him or her the ropes, so to speak."

"He was helpful..." Lena nodded and smiled. "The Chief of the village encouraged me to follow Rook's instructions. I think the Chief knew full well what was going on, just wasn't saying it out loud. He just said something like: 'Why don't you take him, perhaps you'll learn aught why he came here?' They speak a bit odd there, like that."

"That Chief was a wise man," Scorpio agreed. "Whether he realised you were not from there or not, it was a good advise anyway. You had to figure things out for yourself, and Rook was there to help you."

"Mmm..." Lena was lost in memories. "And that voice from the Rift... Politely asking me to prove my worth... I was about to send them packing, but Rook started saying something... He basically distracted me until that cyclops showed up."

"It's always a cyclops to begin with," grinned Scorpio. "They are not that hard to kill, actually, if you aim for the eye. But they are impressive. And of course you could not leave that well alone," he laughed.

"How could I? A cyclops? Don't be silly," Lena laughed too. "And apparently that was the test. After that I was invited to touch the Rift stone which turned out to be a portal... Not sure to where, but they told me I should select my 'pawn'. My what? I didn't understand at first, but they asked: 'Male or female?' Then I knew I had to select a companion." She looked at Scorpio fondly and squeezed his hand. "And after a few questions, they showed me pictures of men answering my description... As if you can tell what a man is like from a picture! But I liked the look of you and picked you."

"You were trouble from the start," Scorpio grinned. "You had to delve into every cave, climb onto every cliff, pick a fight with every goblin! Crazy! Rook was saying he hadn't had that much fun in a long time..."

"Well, I had to get my bearings," Lena grinned back. "Until we started running into bandits - gosh, bandits there don't joke, do they? Really tough guys to defeat."

"Well, they've got to be tough, otherwise they wouldn't last long," Scorpio thought it was reasonable. "But I still think the worst thing were those spear-wielding alligators in the well."

"What a nightmare!" Lena exclaimed with a little shriek. "How many times did we try to take them on? A dozen, perhaps? May be more? At least they didn't pursue you if you had to run for your life..."

"Yeah, you had to have a full squad, and loads and loads of healing potions for everyone. Protect Rook so he could heal us all and enchant our weapons with fire."

"It was tough," Lena nodded. "Daggers don't do much damage to that tough alligator skin, it wasn't until we got that big guy with a claymore that we finally prevailed. What was his name? I can't remember."

"I can't remember either," Scorpio agreed. "There were so many others that joined us along the way... Most of them were other Arisen's pawns, this is how it works. A rift in time is opened and a pawn is pulled away from his own Arisen to join your party. They walk with you and hopefully learn something new, so that when you release them and they return to their original master, they bring new knowledge and ideas. Mind you, because of that rift in time, the original master never notices that his pawn had left his side at all."

"Were you picked a lot while you were with me?" Lena suddenly realised that she never thought of that possibility. A pang of jealousy spread in her belly.

"I was picked a fair few times, yes," Scorpio nodded. "But I didn't think it would have been wise to tell you about it," he winked. "Didn't you ever wonder how I knew what to expect in some of those caves?" He grinned. "But you didn't bar me from being picked, and once picked, a pawn cannot refuse..."

"I did not know I could bar you from being picked!" Lena exclaimed with indignation. "No one told me I could bar my pawn from being picked! I didn't even realise how the whole thing worked until much later! I never knew where those pawns were coming from! I thought they were 'reservists'! Arrgh!!!"

"Not reservists, no," Scorpio shook his head, grinning at Lena's reaction. "Pawns in current service are always offered first, such are the rules. It's only if an Arisen gets very choosy, that other pawns may be called - the ones in service of the Pawn Legion itself, but never ones whose Arisen had died. Which means that once your Arisen dies, you are written off forever. And since we don't die... It's a long time to whale away."

"Suddenly Rook's babysitting job doesn't look that bad," Lena said more calmly. "At least he is not written off."

"But he can never be picked, either. Never get an Arisen of his own. Never learn new skills. No, I'd rather wait in the void."

They walked in silence for a while. The night was quiet and Dementia was still. Even grummites seemed to be asleep. They walked into Passwall and Lena automatically went to Dylan's house, then realising where she was headed, stopped abruptly and turned back. "Let's stay at the inn, shall we?" She shot a heavy glance at Scorpio and he nodded.

Drehwen woke up briefly to serve them food and drink, then went back to "resting her eyes". She didn't mind that it was early hours of the morning, she was asleep on her feet most of the time. Lena and Scorpio sat down for their meal, be it a late dinner, a midnight snack or an early breakfast, they didn't try to figure it out.

"We shall walk this land until Dylan returns the same way as we walked the land of Gransys over and over again," Lena said firmly. "It won't be that long either, if that Mazken guard is to be believed. But I won't leave until Dylan is back." A pang in her belly gave her pause. "Unless..." she stroke it. "Unless this baby decides it's time to make its appearance in this world..."

"It won't," a stern voice answered quite unexpectedly, startling Lena.

"Relmyna? What are you doing here?" Lena was looking at Relmyna with suspicion.

"I am visiting my baby," Relmyna said defiantly. "What did you think? The Realm is back to normal, and the new Gatekeeper needs me to look after him. Lest some mundane soul like yourself decides to destroy him in order to gain entry into my Prince's Realm!" She hissed and walked up the stairs into her room.

"And good morning to you too," Lena said after her. Life was definitely getting back to normal.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Revelations by the Lake

"Walk with me," Lena touched Scorpio's arm, beckoning him to follow. She walked towards the lake by the camp, then continued on along the shore until they were not only out of earshot of the others, but also out of sight, with rocks and vegetation hiding them from view. There she picked a spot by the water and sat down. Scorpio sat next to her. "I am worried about the task before us," she said to the lake.

It had been a few weeks since Lena appeared in Gransys and found herself made into an "Arisen". She longed to return to her own world, but first she had to get her heart back from the dragon that took it, and also she had to figure out how to return. The portal that brought her there, was gone. Scorpio was to be her companion, she picked his picture from a stack she was shown. He was hers to shape, they told her, determine what skills he should learn and how he should behave... She felt uneasy about that. But such were the rules.

Scorpio was glad to finally be picked, but also apprehensive as to who his master would turn out to be. Such was the fate of the "pawns" that weren't in service of the Pawn Legion - that is, the vast majority of the pawns. They would drift through the Rift without sense or purpose until an Arisen somewhere would pick them. They would then walk with that Arisen and serve him or her until the Arisen faced the dragon. Should the Arisen die, the pawn would be "written off" - left to drift in the Rift for the rest of Eternity, as no one could be picked twice. What happened during the encounter with the dragon, remained a mystery as each pawn was sworn to keep his Arisen's secret.

It was only the encounter with the dragon that was to be kept a secret however, other experiences could be freely shared. Scorpio knew from the other pawns that humans did not see pawns as equal, pawns were often seen as servants or slaves of an inferior race. It were humans who gave them that name - pawns. After all, didn't the Arisen have the power to shape his pawn in any way he wanted? Pawns had no feelings, no will of their own... such was the notion. Was that true or were they simply meant to act as if it were true?

Scorpio was very careful to maintain the expected image, certainly at first. But Lena was different, she was like no other Arisen he'd heard of, and the other pawns that joined them along the way, only confirmed it. She didn't treat pawns as pawns. If anything, she treated some townspeople as pawns... in particular, knights and nobility. That was most perplexing. And now she wanted a private talk... Why wouldn't she rather ask one of her own kind?

"You have nothing to worry about," Scorpio couldn't quite think of what to say. "It's just a bunch of goblins, from what I hear."

"With a cyclops or two thrown in, yeah," Lena smirked. "It isn't the monsters I'm worried about. It's that one of you pawns falls in battle and I won't be able to get to you in time."

"But... but we cannot die," Scorpio was confused. "You know that, right?" He looked at her sideways. "We simply return to the Rift. We are expendable."

"No, you are not!" Lena exclaimed hotly. "What rubbish!" She was angry but could not think of anything to say that would make sense in that world. She was thinking of Dylan - he was a daedra, and so he too would not die "forever", he would be reborn eventually... But Lena never let him die. "I..." she shook her head, there was so much she wanted to say, but where to start? "Why do you think I stick close to you in battle?" She decided to start with something simple.

"So that I could protect you, of course," Scorpio raised an eyebrow. "A pawn must guard his master with his life."

"No," Lena turned to look him in the eye. "I stick close to you so that I could protect you." She paused to let that sink in, then just as Scorpio was about to object, she continued. "You are the mage in our party now, so you need protection." She smiled, noting a new wave of confusion in his face. "And before that, you were the fighter in our party, and I protected you then as well..."

"You are not making any sense," Scorpio shook his head.

"No, I guess not," Lena agreed. "What I'm trying to say..." This was harder than she expected, she suddenly ran out of words. "You are the most important person in this world for me."

"What..? Why?" This was the last thing Scorpio expected to hear. He was completely at a loss. What did she mean by that and what did she want of him? Some of the things he'd heard of and some of the things he'd seen with the other Arisen, did not bode well.

"Because I am not of this world either," Lena said simply. "I am stuck here, I cannot get back, my heart was stolen, and I don't care for any of the people living here. I picked your picture out of a stack, and for better or for worse, you are stuck with me now. And as for your immortality... It is never that simple, is it? I know, I've been there myself... I was a vampire once..." She smirked, recalling the painful experience of death and resurrection - she could never quite get used to that. "You are never reborn the same as you were before death," she looked at Scorpio sideways and noticed him growing pale. "I shall always do everything in my power to protect those who walk with me."

They sat quietly for a while, then Scorpio said as if to himself: "So I was right - this Arisen is indeed not like the others."

When he turned to look at Lena a few minutes later, she was silently crying, tears running down her cheeks, her face set in stone. What was he to do? What was a pawn to do to console his master? No, what was a friend to do?

Scorpio moved closer to Lena and put an arm around her shoulders.

"So," he said, casting aside the prescribed neutral tone. "We'll go through it together. Goblins today, chimeras tomorrow, harpies, golems, whatever else this world chooses to throw at us. It is all a part of a grand test for the Arisen. Oh yes, you are in the thick of it. I don't know the ultimate meaning, they keep that a secret. We'll figure it out together, that's what friends are for."

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Shadow Fort

The Shadow Fort was taken over by goblins. A group of knights was standing in front of a locked gate.

"Our tactics are simple," their Captain told Lena. "We mount an all-out frontal assault. There is just a small snag: the gate is blocked. Barred from the inside. Which is where you come in: go through this tunnel that we dug out, enter the courtyard, find the lever and open the castle gate. Then we'll come in and root out the goblins! Ser Arisen," he added with a smirk.

Lena nodded without a word and descended into the tunnel.

"What did I tell you? Simplicity itself," she told Scorpio quietly. "They are sending us to certain death. Is the Duke trying to get me killed, you think?"

"The Duke was an Arisen himself," Scorpio replied equally quietly. "No one knows how he defeated the dragon in his time, although the pawns that walked with him, must be out there somewhere. But I never met them."

"Why am I not surprised," Lena smirked and prepared for battle.

...

"Watch out for that ballista!"

"Cyclops!"

"An armoured cyclops!"

"Goblin hurling Dragon Spit!"

"Fire, lend thy kiss!"

"Hobgoblin!"

"Aaarrrghhhhh!!!"

The battle in the courtyard was beyond ferocious. The reason why the brave knights did not descend into the tunnel became evident almost immediately: the courtyard was swirming with goblins and hobgoblins, two cyclopes were swinging giant clubs, and a ballista from the opposite wall was hurling exploding cannon balls.

"Those cyclopes aren't half dumb - they keep to the blind spots of the ballista!" Lena noted, taking cover behind a ruin of a wall to catch her breath. "We have a choice: try the other ballista on our side or go for the cyclopes on the ground. Ideas?" She looked at her three pawns.

"Ballista!"

"Ground!"

They said in chorus.

"Right." Lena smiled. "We'll try the ballista first, and if that doesn't work, we'll go on the ground. We still have to find a way to open that gate somehow."

They climbed up onto the upper terrace by the gate expecting to find a ballista there, but that one was broken. Goblins were dancing around it, perhaps it was their doing. There was nothing of interest there.

The terrace on the other side of the gate had a lot more goblins and several hobgoblins on it. The ballista there was in good working order, and there was a socket in the wall.

"This is supposed to have a lever in it for opening the gate!" Lena swore. "Damned goblins! Now, what did they do with the lever?" She looked around but saw nothing that would fit into the socket. Several goblins attacked her at once, she didn't even have a chance to draw her sword and was swept away to the ground. "Daggers next time," she thought, trying to protect her face from goblin clubs. A bolt of lightening came out of nowhere, striking the goblins - Scorpio. The battle had begun in earnest.

They tried using the ballista, but the goblins on the other side had two working ballistas rather than one, so every shot that Lena made, was answered by two blazing cannon balls sweeping them off their feet. They quickly abandoned that strategy. At least goblin crowd on the ground had gone down from two or three dozen to a single dozen, plus two cyclopes...

"We'll take on the cyclopes first and foremost, and any goblins that get under our feet, but don't worry about the ones staying further back for now," Lena looked at her pawns. "Stay together and don't wander off - I am not losing any of you this early in the battle!" She loaded poisoned arrows and drew her bow. "Let's go!"

Where one cyclops is really bad news, two of them are a disaster, in particular when they are armoured. Poison and magic always gets through but the effect is limited on such collosses, and until the armour is rent, sword strikes have hardly any impact. The cyclopes were stomping their crushing feet and swinging their enormous clubs that killed on impact - not surprising, given their size. Lena and Scorpio were circling the cyclopes and each other - was the mage protecting the archer or the archer protecting the mage? Lena was raining poisoned arrows on the cyclopes and Scorpio was casting healing spell upon healing spell, trying to keep them all alive. Payne and Scarlet, the two hired pawns, a warrior and a fighter, took the heat of that battle, climbing onto the towering monsters in order to get their helmets off and eventually get to the one sensitive spot - the eye. A fall from the top of a cyclops would kill on its own right as well... And Lena had to dash a number of times to revive her fallen pawns. Goblins would swarm around her every time, only to turn to a bloody mess in a twirling wind of her daggers.

Finally the cyclopes were slain, but the ballista was still raging and a new wave of goblins filled the courtyard.

"They did send us to certain death!" Lena was getting angry and switched to her sword. "Where is that blasted lever that opens the gate? At this rate the brave knights outside will have no goblins left to play with!" She hissed, slicing through several goblins in one circular motion. "There - look, what's that building? We've got to investigate."

The door to the small building in the courtyard was barred from the inside... naturally. Circling around it, they found a ladder, climbed up under the cannon fire from two ballistas, dropped down, fought waves of goblins coming out of a hole in the ground, all the while keeping a keen eye out for any crates, chests or boxes, and finally they found a big stick that looked like it could have been a gate lever in its previous life. "Well, let's hope that'll still fit into the socket!" Lena grabbed it and dashed for the terrace by the entrance, cutting a bloody path through a crowd of goblins.

The stick fitted and the gate was opened, the knights poured into the courtyard, ferociously fighting off the remaining few goblins that somehow escaped Lena's wrath. The ballista fired another shot narrowly missing one of the knights and causing them all run for cover, goblins or no goblins.

"We have to get rid of that ballista!" The Captain looked bewildered. "Arisen, Ser, there must be a way into the depths of the castle!"

"Well, it may be so," Lena stopped, propping herself on her sword. "But the ballista is on the upper terrace. What good would it be to delve into the underground dungeons?"

"Err..." Clearly, the Captain didn't have all the answers.

A fresh wave of goblins emerged from the tunnels, attacking the knights huddled together behind the building. Anger was building inside Lena, for being sent to certain death, for doing someone else's work, for the much too small a group of knights sent to clear that fortress - there was no way they could have done it on their own. Her sword was spinning faster and faster, goblins falling to it fast and thick, yet her stamina was not running out, she felt strong, she felt... familiar, somehow. The night had fallen and the ground in the courtyard was red with blood.

Suddenly the remaining goblins started hammering on the locked doors of the inner fortress. "Open up!!" They shouted. "Come out and help!!" The doors opened and a large group of hobgoblins joined the battle.

Hobgoblins were significantly stronger than regular goblins, they were bigger, sturdier, quicker, they wore better armour and had better weapons, and were generally much harder to kill. "Aaarrrghhh!!!" Lena screamed, her anger turning to rage.

"The dragon is here, I think," Scarlet winked to Payne. "Does she breathe fire as well, I wonder?"

"I wouldn't be surprised," he smirked, following Lena into the inner fortress and up the stairs to the upper terrace with the ballista.

But the goblins had another surprise in store - the ballista was guarded by another armoured cyclops.

"I swear this one is stronger than the other two!" Scarlet was attacking it with all force, but without any visible impact. The cyclops was swiging his giant club, stomping his feet, trying to grab his attackers... Wham! And both Scarlet and Payne were knocked out. Lena was shooting arrow after arrow from cover, arrows dipped in posion, torpor or blindness inducing solution, even sleep draft derived from the pinions of mountain harpies... The cyclops became sluggish but didn't give up. Lena was blocked in a corridor with several hobgoblins appearing out of nowhere, she had to switch to her sword, giving pause to the cyclops - she could not do both. Scorpio took over shooting lightning at it to keep it subdued, but that meant that Scarlet and Payne had to scramble to their feet on their own and restore their health with medicine instead of Scorpio's spells. They managed, just about. Lena finally shredded the goblins around her and returned to shooting arrows at the cyclops. Her stamina ran out once or twice, she nibbled on a mushroom to restore it, but otherwise she felt a surge of energy... how strange. How familar. The night was dark, with only the fires giving illumination.

Wham! Another blow of the cyclops' club threw Scarlet and Payne on the ground, hard. Stomp! Scarlet was squashed. The cyclops seemed to grow frenzied as he was nearing death. He took another swing with his giant fist and threw Payne off the terrace down to the ground. A fall from that height meant death.

With two pawns down and the cyclops raging on the terrace, a fresh wave of goblins and hobgoblins emerged from yet another secret passage... Lena and Scorpio took a deep breath and redoubled their efforts. Scarlet's body was under the cyclops' feet, but Scorpio managed to grab her and bring her out, bring her to Lena, so that Lena could revive her. But Payne was on the ground, going after him would have meant leaving the others behind, leaving the cyclops to recover... What was it that Scorpio said? "But we cannot die... We are expendable." She didn't believe it, but what was she to do? Payne was too far away for any of them to reach. Lena gritted her teeth and continued shooting at the cyclops.

...

The cyclops lay dead on the terrace covered in bodies of goblins and hobgoblins that came to help. The ballistas stood silent and the knights in the courtyard finally ran out of their cover, celebrating victory. "Victory is ours! Glory to the Duke!" They shouted. Lena smirked and continued on into the fortress, following a few goblins she saw run for their lives. There, in the far chamber of the fortress that had become the goblin lair, the goblin king greeted them, swinging his mace.

"You humans, your time is up!" He shouted. "You've won this battle, but you lost the war! The dragon has come, he will burn all life! Prepare to die!"

But no, he didn't mean die immediately. Instead of attacking, he rushed to the window, jumping out of it and disappearing into yet another tunnel. No, Lena would not go after him. You cannot kill every goblin. Her task was done. Glory to the Duke, was it?

...

"I shall send my report of our victory to the Duke," the Captain looked particularly smug. "And of your help in the matter," he added and blushed. "Thank you. It is appreciated, truly. Here, take this, we won't be needing it now." He gave her a satchel with various medicines and other useful things. Lena thanked him, thinking that he probably realised she would not get any reward from the Duke for this mission.

"Time to head back," Lena turned to Scarlet and Scorpio. "I am sorry I could not get to Payne in time..."

"He knew what he signed up for," Scarlet replied. "He is back in the Rift."

The dawn coloured the sky golden. Lena felt her strength and stamina drain. Was she merely tired from the battle? Or did the sun have something to do with it? She pushed away that thought and headed towards the camp to rest.

[macole]

Whew, what a battle that was. Poor Payne, even though you know the companions cannot actually die it still hurts when you lose one.

[Lena Wolf]

Yeah, it was one of those hard choices... It was actually a real dilemma. In Dragon's Dogma, companions learn as they walk with you - they learn not only how to fight various foes, but most importantly they learn to work as a team, they learn about each other. So when you lose one of them, you can never get him back fully because that knowledge and adaptation to the other members of your party is wiped out on death. That game is great on so many levels.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Bandits, harpies, wolves

"Could I have a word, Ser Arisen?" Someone touched Lena's arm in a busy area of the capital of Gransys, Gran Soren. His voice was calm and words refreshingly devoid of disdain. "Your duties have you travel up and down the country, and I have a favour to ask. I am searching for a magic book - Salome's Grimoir. It was lost in the most recent fire in the Council Library... Oh no, I don't mean burnt - the fire was quickly put out, it is the looting that followed that saw most valuable volumes disappear, the Grimoir I'm after among them. Should you find that book... Bring it to me."

The man standing before Lena looked bookish and serious, and something else... "A scholar," Lena thought. "A practicing scholar," she corrected herself. "He's a sorcerer and seeks to augment his magic. Look at the paleness of his face... A necromancer, perhaps. Should I be helping him?" She wondered. Then said aloud: "What are you offering me for that book?"

"Oh pray, let's speak of recompense once you have found it..."

That was all she was going to get out of him. Well, she wouldn't be scouring the land in search of it exactly, but should she come across it, she'd bring it along, she said.

"The easiest way to get started on this, is to ask around," Scarlet said to Lena. "Someone must know what happened during that looting."

Lena nodded. The only likely place was the apothecary in the square - she already knew not to ask the smith after he told her repeatedly that he had no love for magic of any kind, that iron and steel honed to an edge was all a man ever needed. And then offered her staves and magic bows. Right.

"What? Salome's Grimoir? We don't deal in that sort of magic tomes here!" The apothecary seemed a bit offended. "We are an honest business!" She pursed her lips. Definitely offended. "Such tomes are much too rare and valuable to ever be genuine, it will be either a forgery or else stolen property! And forged magic is the worst kind!"

"Forged magic?" Lena couldn't quite figure that one out. "How's that?"

"Salome's Grimoir isn't just a book for reading," the apothecary softened her tone a bit. "It contains incantations, aye, but most importantly, it is enchanted. Don't know with what exactly, but seeing how Salome went mad in his old age, it can't be anything good!" She shook her head and rearranged a few bottles on the shelf. "The Council Library was looted in the last fire, so if anyone has got that book, it will be a thief. Aye, now there's a fair notion: why not ask a thief?" She smiled contentedly and convinced Lena to buy herbal remedies for the road.

...

"There are several groups of thieves in Gransys, master," their new warrior, Clarke, was trying to be helpful. "An unfriendly lot."

"You don't say," Lena smirked. "We've met a few of them already."

"No, what I meant, there are two particularly prominent groups that are worse than the rest," Clarke corrected himself, not taking any offense at Lena's sarcasm. "There's an all-male group to the South and an all-female group to the North. The women are far worse than the men, I hear..." He looked sideways at Scarlet, somehow feeling more apprehensive of her wrath than of Lena's. But then again, Clarke hadn't seen Lena angry yet.

"Oh yes? A group of feisty women?" Lena grinned. "Well, why don't we pay them a visit then."

"Err..." Clarke had something else to say but he wasn't sure how to put it. "Well... they attack men on sight, you see," he coughed. "You might be better off getting a female pawn instead of me..." He coughed again. "And... err... Scorpio... err... you can't leave him behind, so... you know..."

"What?" Lena was amused. "Shall we just..?"

"NOOOO!!!!"

Lena's and Scarlet's exploding laughter had them nearly roll on the ground. When they finally calmed down, Clarke looked very guilty and tried to hide from Scorpio behind Scarlet.

"I've heard of them," Scarlet managed to say between recurring bouts of laughter. "Not the brightest, it seems. You don't need to... you know... do anything permanent. Scorpio just needs to wear a dress and they'll take him for a woman."

"Scorpio is already wearing a long kilt, is that not good enough?" Lena looked at him, thinking that he wasn't fooling anyone regarding his gender.

"No, not good enough, lots of mages wear kilts like that," Scarlet shook her head. "But you can buy a set of women's clothes, we'll pad them in all the right places, it's not just a matter of wearing a skirt and a corset, you need to get the right shape to your figure, you know..." She started giggling.

"No!" Scorpio protested, his voice even, with unmistakable steel in it. "I am NOT wearing padded ladies' garb!"

"All right, all right, no need to raise the dead!" Lena thought they'd had enough laughs at his expense. "No disguises. Perhaps we should try those male bandits first."

...

Lena wasn't going to chase after any bandits just because a necromancer wanted a magic book. They'd come across it, sooner or later, and she didn't care which. Her duties were taking her North, into the territory that even bandits didn't care to cover.

"How come I have duties to the Duke?" Lena was still trying to make sense of something that happened about a week ago. She was walking down the street in Gran Soren minding her own business, when a knight from the Duke's Guard stopped her and handed her a "Wyrm Hunt License" declaring with much pomp that the Duke had heard of her deeds and deemed it acceptable to allow her to take orders from him and give herself up for the Wyrm Hunt. She was to report to the Castle Grounds to a certain Ser Maximilian for her duties.

"What..?" Lena was looking at the knight in bewilderment. "He found me worthy to take orders from him, did he?"

"The Duke is most generous and benevolent!" The knight briefly stood to attention, then abruptly turned around and marched off, leaving Lena staring at the Wyrm Hunt License in her hand.

"I am allowed to die for the Duke," she summed it up. "Gods forbid I should die without his permission." She smirked and stashed the parchment away. It looked less like a joke in the Shadow Fort however, where Lena very nearly died many times, and where Payne was lost to the cyclops. And now Lena had new duties.

"You didn't have to actually go see that Ser Maximilian, you know," Scorpio said casually. "Not every Arisen follows it all through, that's why the dragon has to keep trying."

"So what - those Arisen just give up?" Lena found that baffling.

"Yes," Scorpio nodded. "No one can force you to actually go after the dragon, not even the Duke," he smirked. "You have permission to do it, but no obligation... Of course that would not get your heart back."

"And therein lies the catch," Lena sighed. "I want it back. I think I do. Do I?" Lena was getting confused. Her heart was missing from her chest, but she could still almost feel it beating... She was alive, she didn't feel any different, except for being in a strange world in the middle of something she couldn't quite figure out yet. What if she too just gave up? Let the Duke defeat the dragon again, hadn't he done it once already?

"The Duke is not the one who must face the dragon now," Scorpio shook his head. "You don't just walk up to the dragon, you know. He'd burn you to a crisp. Err... But the Duke survived that encounter in his time, obviously, so... Umm... It doesn't add up, does it?" He looked at Lena.

"No, it doesn't," Lena was glad she wasn't the only one confused about it. "Ok, never mind that now. Here's an ancient tablet that we've got to decipher. The brightest minds of Gransys haven't been able to pick out anything more than just a few words: 'dragon', 'arisen', 'heart', 'scar', and so obviously it's got everything to do with me. 'Pawn' is missing though," she grimaced. "How am I supposed to decipher something like that? The other words are written in a different script... which is strange."

"Well, why don't we ask around town?" Scarlet smiled. "Perhaps someone knows something."

...

"What? Decipher an old tablet?" A greengrocer was looking at Lena in bewilderment. "And you're asking me?" He surveyed the vegetables on his counter. "How should I know?"

They tried other tradesmen, shopkeepers, innkeeper, knights and nobility, even the priests at the Cathedral, but no one had a clue how to decipher it. Lena was getting desperate, and started asking random people. The working girls in the lower town didn't know. The forger couldn't be sure but offered to make a copy. The knights "patrolling" the working girls area wanted to see Lena's Wyrm Hunt License or else arrest her then and there. The thief that cut Lena's purse didn't know either, but returned the purse in exchange for his life after Scorpio froze him solid. In the commotion Lena bumped into someone running past them, nearly knocking him on the ground.

"Look where you're going!" He wasn't happy about being knocked down.

Lena apologised and on a whim decided to ask him about deciphering the tablet. She'd been asking everyone already anyway, so why not that fellow.

"What? An ancient tablet? Let me see," he was interested. "Hmm... it's got to do with that old man on the hill."

"What..?" That was making even less sense than anything they got so far. "What old man?"

"Provincials!" The man rolled his eyes. "All of Gran Soren knows about the old man on the hill!" He looked down at Lena and her companions, but changed his tone, having noticed a sorcerer's staff in Scorpio's hand. "Well, it's a famous landmark - a drawing of a man on a hillside. You can only make it out from above though, like if a harpy grabs you, you can see that drawing as you're being carried into the harpy's nest to be served for dinner," he grinned. "But they say that if you go there, you'll be able to decipher that tablet. Beats me how," he added with a shrug, turned around and took off before Lena could say anything.

"Well, it's a start," Lena sighed. "Let's go see the man on the hill."

...

"Goblin!"

"Harpy!"

"Direwolves!"

"CYCLOPS!!!"

The road going North was called the Conquest Road, and it soon became obvious why. A group of goblins and hobgoblins was lounging on large rocks by the cliff edge, to get you started. If you decided to leave them alone and continued walking, more concerned by a flock of snow harpies looking for a snack, you'd soon find yourself driven right into the goblins and would have to deal with both groups at once. For some reason it was humans that the harpies wanted, may be goblins didn't taste right. The smell of blood however would attract wolves, or rather direwolves - the white-haired variety, a much stronger and more dangerous type than the brown wolf of the South. So there you were, lulled to sleep by the harpies' voices, frozen solid by their breath, burned and poisoned by goblins' Dragon Spit and ripped to ribbons by the wolves' fangs... And then you'd sleepwalk right into a cyclops. What a conquest indeed.

...

"Perhaps we could avoid further combat?" Their new mage, Cicero, was dusting off his robes. When they set off on that path originally, with Scarlet and Clarke as melee fighters, they found themselves at a severe disadvantage against the harpies that were circling just above their heads, out of reach of their swords and impossible to hit by arrows, as Lena discovered. Only Scorpio could get to them, burning their wings with his magic. So, they retraced their steps and swapped their warrior for a second mage. "I am a healer, not a fighter," Cicero was bathing them in healing magics. "And you've got a sorcerer already, why do you need me?"

"You've done alright for yourself burning those harpies," Lena grinned. "Healer." She patted his arm. "We do need a healer. Scorpio is too busy summoning poisonous fog and splitting the earth and such. Someone's got to keep us alive while Scarlet and I try to avoid combat by eliminating the foes early on."

"Right," Cicero shook his head in desperation. "Of all the Arisen out there, I had to get summoned by an Assassin."

"Assassin?" Lena stopped dead, staring at Cicero. "How did you know..?" She didn't tell anyone of her occupation back in Tamriel, she didn't think it mattered.

"I've walked with a fair number of your kind," Cicero said quietly. "My Arisen... well... he doesn't care for battle much. So I stay in his service, as is our destiny. It's been a long time, Arisen. A very long time."

They walked up a grassy hill, the path was marked with large stones. A man in a toga was sitting on top of a rock, watching them. He said something, staring into the distance. They walked on. The path led to a cave, another man in a toga stood by the entrance.

"I have been expecting you, Arisen," he said to Lena. "You can see me, right? Come in."

They entered the cave, the man who spoke sat on a throne, the other man stood by his side.

"I am the Dragonforged," said the man on the throne. "Forged by the dragon. I know him as he knows me. The tablet you were given, has no meaning, other than to bring you here. Ask and I shall answer."

Lena stood there, looking at the Dragonforged, confused. She had so many questions... too many. She couldn't think of anything to ask. The Dragonforged seemed to have understood it.

"Come back when you know what you want to know," he smiled.

...

The way back to Gran Soren presented them with more direwolves, harpies and goblins, but fortunately no cyclopes. Lena went straight to Ser Maximilian to report that the tablet she had to decipher, had no meaning.

"Really?" Ser Maximilian was confused. "It doesn't make sense..." He shook his head. "It came from the Duke himself, they say..." He gave Lena a long look. "But it is not my place to question Duke's orders," he added firmly. "You've got more duties, here's the list. Which one will you take on next?"

...

"Why am I getting the feeling of being pulled deeper in with each new task?" She looked at her pawns in turn over dinner. "We are not finding any answers, only more questions..."

Cicero was watching her for a while, but remained silent.

"It is your journey, you shape it as much as it shapes you," he finally said. "You will come to know yourself in the end... should the end ever come..."

He did not say anything else, reminding Lena of the man on the hill, the one that sat on the rock at first and stood by the side of the Dragonforged later. Who was he, she wondered. What if..? She had her first question, but didn't judge it wise to ask.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - Assassin

"We'll stay here a bit longer," Cicero signalled Scarlet to sit back down when Lena got up from the dinner table, with Scorpio following her. "We'll see you in the morning. You take the room upstairs, why don't you."

The inn in Gran Soren had some private rooms as well as a common dormitory downstairs. The private rooms were rather small however, and would be too cramped for four people. Or at least that's what Lena told herself that Cicero meant. She was too tired after their arduous expedition to see the old man on the hill, and all she could think of at that moment was sleep.

They entered the room and found it to be larger than expected, and although it only had one double bed, it also had a bath tub.

"Gran Soren does live up to its reputation," Lena smiled. "Modern plumbing. Wow."

She opened the tap and clear warm water came out of it as if by magic.

Scorpio stood by the door, not sure what to do. Lena paid him no mind at all, stripped off her blood-encrusted armour, kicked off her boots and peeled off her shirt and tights, taking some of the skin with that as well. "Bah! It's all stuck to the skin, now it's going to bleed again!" She threw it into a corner. "These clothes have been sliced into strips! We'll have to buy all new stuff tomorrow."

"You are bleeding all over," Scorpio said, ignoring the pile of what used to be Lena's clothes and removing his cape and coat in one movement. "Let me close your wounds." He prepared to cast a spell.

"Thanks, but that won't be enough," Lena stood still for the healing magic to work, the wounds closed at first, only to reopen momentarily. "This needs traditional healing."

The tub was full of warm water by then. She closed the tap and cast an ice spell into the water. The top froze over, and ice cubes formed underneath. She broke the ice and stepped in. Scorpio was watching in bewilderment.

"Assassin," he said, mostly to himself. "That's what Cicero said. You are an assassin."

"I am, or rather I was," Lena nodded. "In my world." She submerged under the ice and Scorpio noticed magic being cast. Considering how long she stayed under water, it must have been water breathing spells. Finally, she emerged and stepped out of the bath, her wounds were no longer bleeding.

"This isn't the first time you find yourself covered in blood," Scorpio noted.

"No, some targets put up a fight," Lena smirked. "But do not worry, I have no plans to take up that occupation here. Monsters and bandits will keep us busy." She straightened up, looking at dried blood on Scorpio's shirt. "You got hit a few times yourself," she pointed at the large stains, some still wet. "And you are still bleeding. Strip off," she returned to the tub to refill it, then noticed Scorpio's hesitation. "Modesty will get you killed," she said. "It is a luxury we cannot afford. Strip off and get into the tub." She hit the water with an ice spell.

...

Even though Lena was very tired and needed sleep, it was more important to tend to the wounds first. It took them a while longer to bandage some of the larger cuts, applying dressing soaked in herbal solutions.

"Arisen don't tend to their pawn's wounds normally, you know," Scorpio said when they were finally finished. "The bleeding stops eventually."

"Arisen don't do a lot of things that decent people would do, from what I hear," Lena snapped. "Even assassins, like myself." She sighed. "Sorry, that was uncalled for," she was cooling off. "Do you want to be released?" A thought suddenly struck her. "I'm sure if I kicked up a fuss, they'd allow me to pick a different pawn. I don't want you to be stuck with me against your will or your morals." She looked at Scorpio sideways and noted his perplexed expression.

"Released?" He was confused. "My will? My morals? We don't have any of those, we are pawns..." He broke off.

Lena turned to face him.

"You don't say." Her gaze was piercing. "I don't believe a word of it."

"I..." Scorpio seemed to be fighting an internal battle, Lena must have hit a nerve. Then he sighed and his face was set in resolve - he made a decision. "I do not wish to be released, no," he said. "That is my will."

"So," Lena smiled. "I see. I was right," she gave a short laugh. "What else are you not supposed to have? Oh, yes, emotions. Well, you gave up that myth a while back already, as I recall a certain conversation by the lake..." She sat down, pouring herself some wine. "You're also not supposed to have any spark, or drive, or zeal, or anything, but one look at Scarlet picking a fight with an ogre, and that myth flies out of the window too. You don't fool me, my friend." She raised a toast. "We're equals, Scorpio. Please call me Wolf, I am not your master."

...

"Those two still need to get acquainted," Cicero told Scarlet when Lena and Scorpio were out of earshot. "Scorpio had been waiting in the Rift for too long, heard too many things about the other Arisen, not all of those things true..."

"Well, not everyone is willing to air their master's dirty laundry in public, you know," Scarlet scoffed. "Some prefer to only say nice things."

"Like yourself?" Cicero squinted. "You don't say much about your Arisen at all."

"What is there to say?" Scarlet shrugged. "She's an Arisen. I'll be back with her sooner or later, and she'll never know I'd been gone. You know how it works."

"She doesn't care about you," Cicero nodded, calling for another steak pie. "Is that why you are constantly picking things up as we travel? Herbs, mushrooms, animal flesh? You don't really have to, I've never had that many vials of remedies in my bag as I do with this Arisen."

"An Arisen is not supposed to care for us pawns, you know," Scarlet shook her head. "So yes, I have to pick my own medicines. Or fall in battle. Then wait in the Rift..."

"Did you get picked up from the Rift this time?" Cicero's face lit up in comprehension.

"Yes, actually..."

"I see," he nodded. "Is your Arisen even trying..?"

"To go after the dragon? No," Scarlet shook her head. "So I am well and truly stuck..."

They sighed in unison.

"This here is one unusual Arisen," Scarlet said slowly. "See this cuirass I'm wearing? Her gift. The cloak also. The sword as well. All enhanced and upgraded, too. Even though she'll never get these items back, as they belong to my Arisen now. I said so, but you know what she replied? 'Your Arisen is not the one wearing them.' So no, I am in no rush to leave."

"I wonder how far this Arisen will go," Cicero was musing into his mead. "When she will give up. Whether she will give up..."

"I wonder whether I could quit my Arisen," Scarlet said very quietly.

"Sshhh, don't say such things," Cicero replied equally quietly. "Walls do have ears..."

...

"Need new clothes, dear?" The smith's wife measured up Lena with one glance and started rummaging in her boxes and cupboards producing shirts, tights and other garments, all female. "For him as well?" She raised an eyebrow when Lena pointed out that they needed male garments too. "You can... you know... if he's a bother..."

"What?" Lena asked coldly.

"Well, I would not know exactly, I only got a husband, not a pawn," the smith's wife tried to turn it into a joke, but the smith wasn't finding it funny. "What I'm saying is... you hear things... Apparently, if he falls in battle, you don't have to pick him up again... you know, at the Pawn Guild... or however you normally do it." She laid several items of male clothing on the counter with a smack. "Women need their independence. You don't always want a shadow following you around, do you?"

...

"Unbelievable!" Lena was fuming when the four of them had left the town square. "What she was suggesting..!"

"Happens often enough," Scarlet remarked quietly. "It's true, you know. You can simply leave your pawn behind."

Lena stared at Scarlet in disbelief. Then opened her mouth to ask something, and closed it again. They had met Scarlet walking aimlessly around town, they needed a fighter and Lena thought why not, let's try this girl. She had a spark, she thought, although no armour and barely any clothing, with only her shield for defence.

"Why are there pawns walking the streets here?" Lena asked, looking at the three of them in turn. "Why are pawns walking the roads of Gransys? Why do they gather at the Encampment? Shouldn't they be with their own Arisen instead?"

"The Pawn Guild summons pawns with suitable skills to walk around in the areas where an Arisen is likely to dwell," Cicero answered. "In case that Arisen requires assistance." He paused, but saw that Lena wasn't satisfied with that and continued. "A few of those pawns are in service of the Pawn Legion itself, some are called away from their Arisen... and yes, the others had been left behind. As they are technically still in active service, they qualify..." He stopped talking, slightly shocked by Lena's mounting rage.

"That does it!" She hissed. "If I ever meet any of those Arisen..!"

"You won't," Cicero replied quietly. "The Pawn Legion sees to that."

"Arrgghhhh!!!!"

"Don't we have a chimera to slay?" Scorpio decided to diffuse the tension. "Or perhaps an ogre or two? I distinctly recall you picking up some job notices for that. Come on, master." He motioned her towards the city gates. "Let's go, Wolf," he corrected himself, taking her by the arm. "Before you get yourself arrested for violent and disorderly conduct within the city bounds. Follow me."

Lena nodded and followed. There was nothing like a good fight to calm the nerves.

[Lena Wolf]

4th Era, Year Unknown - To catch a thief

"Arisen, Ser, His Grace the Duke saw it fit to grant you an audience," Ser Maximilian told Lena when she came to report on yet another errand. "This is a great honour, see that you do not take it lightly. You will be required to drop any tasks you have lined up as well. Are you ready to go see the Duke?"

"Drop everything and go see the Duke?" Lena mused. "This is very tempting, you know... But on the second thought, there's still the matter of a village thief that requires my attention, and I'm still short of a few rabbits for the smith, oh, and someone wanted forty crows shot, not sure why, but I'm nowhere near forty yet, and... Well, you see, Ser Maximilian, I am dreadfully sorry, but I am still tied up with various tasks that require an Arisen's superior combat skills." She bowed and walked away, noting Ser Maximilian's grin out of the corner of her eye.

"Showing your disdain for the gentry will earn you enemies," Cicero said when they were out of the castle grounds. "This may not be wise. Some of them are actually pretty good with the sword."

"Better than me, no doubt," Lena nodded. "But I know other tricks. Besides, we still have rabbits and crows to slay."

"Not to mention golems and cyclopes," Scarlet put in. "Where to next?"

Next Lena wanted to return to Cassardis, the fishing village where she started off. Something was calling to her there, she couldn't quite put her finger on it, and it wasn't the matter of a village thief.

...

"Please, cousin, we cannot manage without you," Pablo the innkeeper looked at Lena pleadingly. "You deal with golems and cyclopes, what's a petty thief to you, right? Easy peasy!"

Lena was about to explain that catching a sprinting village thief was nothing like fighting a sluggish cyclops, that she was really not good at sprinting, that her trade was that of a deadly shot, not a simple grab and tackle, that... But Pablo's face told her that none of that mattered. She was the Arisen, their Arisen, and therefore she could do anything.

"All right, what's the plan?" Lena conceded, dreading that she would bitterly regret it.

...

"Here, hold this," Lena started stripping behind a screen in Pablo's inn. Scorpio held out his hands to receive her chainmail jacket, leather cape, thigh high boots, sword, bow, daggers, six quivers with various types of arrows, a bag of potions, a satchel of poisons, a pouch of flammable powder, several detonators, a box of poisoned darts and shivs, an oil lamp, several bottles of oil, poison flasks, throwing knives, a bundle of skeleton keys, and a rather large sack with herbs, fruit, nuts and animal rests that they picked up along the way.

"Do you really need all this stuff?" Scorpio was watching with mounting bewilderment. "Explosive powder too? And how many poisoned shivs..?"

"It goes quickly when you get surrounded," Lena replied. "Yes, I do need all this stuff. For battle, not for catching the thief!" She stood in her vest and tights, seeing what else she could shed. To have a chance with the thief, she needed to be as light as possible.

"You are not built for speed," Scarlet put her head in, looking Lena over. "Look at the muscles on you! Those wide shoulders! You're too top heavy and not tall enough. You look comfortable in heavy armour..."

"I am," Lena nodded and sighed - that was an echo from another life. "But it's the wrong skill for catching that thief."

...

It took Lena several attempts, but eventually she managed to intercept that thief in a narrow alleyway and grab him. He was ever so sorry for his sinful ways... Yeah, right. But Lena left it up to the villagers to decide what to do with him, after all they were the people he robbed. She was just glad to get back into her gear.

...

The night was dark, with the clouds hiding most of the stars, making oil lamps lighting the streets stand out more than usual.

"What's that at the end of the pier?" Lena saw a light there as well. "Is that a new lantern?" She asked one of the villagers.

"That... Umm... I dunno, cousin," he shrugged. "Someone fishing at night, perhaps?"

She had a feeling it wasn't just someone fishing at night. She checked her gear once more and signalled her pawns to follow.

As they approached the end of the pier, they realised it was a young woman with a lantern.

"Arisen?" She greeted Lena. "Can you see me?"

Lena felt a tug at where her heart used to be, and thought of the man on the hill who greeted her with the same question. Was this another Dragonforged?

"Yes, I can see you," she replied. "You have need of me, don't you?" Another tug at her absent heart told her that this young woman was going to pull her in so deep, that she might never come out. And that felt bittersweet, somehow.

The young woman took them to the Bitterblack Isle, a place of sorrow and despair, where the air itself seemed to weep. The sky was dark, and moonlight bathed everything in blueish light.

"This is odd," Lena said to Scorpio quietly. "I see no moon. Where does the light come from?"

"Nowhere," he replied. "It's like in the depths of the Rift - the light just is, it exists here, it doesn't come from outside."

"Sadness seems to just exist here as well," Lena noted.

But they weren't there for the sake of sightseeing, and so she turned to the young woman to find out how she could help.

"I am but a shadow of myself," the woman said. "I have lost all my memories. Yet I feel that they are here, that my heart is here, something is calling to me... I would ask you to explore the depths of this Isle and to help me regain my memories. I feel it is so much more than just what I cannot remember..."

Lena shot a glance at Scorpio, he seemed to see right through the woman. Scarlet and Cicero wandered off, poking into the rocks or peering into the sea. Everyone seemed ill at ease and rather subdued. They could have just left... But somehow Lena felt the need to go in.

...

Bitterblack Isle turned out to be a labyrinth. It was a mix of ruins and open spaces with many levels, and one cold never be sure just how many more levels there still were or where the exit was, exactly. The creatures inhabiting the ruins were similar to the creatures in Gransys - wolves, goblins, cyclopes, skeletons, undead knights... but all were stronger and far more dangerous, as if they were cursed.

Lena was hearing voices, too. Desperate cries welcoming death as a relief. Death came, relief didn't.

"Aah, hello friend," Lena felt a dagger at her throat as they entered yet another hall. "Three days, a week at most, that's how long I think you'll last here, dear Arisen. It's a game of mine, to guess how long someone would last in these halls... But pay it no mind, for not once did I get it right." The blade was removed, Lena turned around and saw a man with golden stilettos wearing light but excellent quality armour, someone not unlike herself... "Baroch is the name," he introduced himself. "I've been here half an age... This place is a magnet to the Arisen. They mostly perish here, it's their voices you heard - too stubborn to accept defeat and move on. I was an Arisen myself at some point... Still am an Arisen, I guess," he smirked.

"Then where is your pawn?" Lena looked at him coldly, not caring for his familiar tone.

"Oh, that..." Baroch made a disdainful gesture. "I have no need of him here."

Lena was about to turn around and walk away, but Baroch stopped her.

"Regardless of what you think of me, you need me," he said with uncharacteristic urgency. "This place is a death trap for the Arisen, and I can help. I am an alchemist, you see, a bit of a smith, too, without me you will perish. I was drawn here the same as everyone else, but I embraced it. You have to see for yourself what you make of this Isle."

...

"What do you wish to do, Master?" The pawns huddled together around Lena, they seemed very ill at ease. But Lena could not leave, not yet.

"We shall explore it here a bit," she said, trying to look reassuring. "Try not to die now."

The courtyard where they met Baroch, had several doors, all apparently locked. Eventually they found one that would open, and entered. It was a ruin of a fort, they had to pick out their way carefully, fighting skeletons and undead along the way, but none of it was any different than in Gransys. They started to relax. There were crates, barrels and chests everywhere, some containing unusual items, some valuable weapons or pieces of armour. Lena was getting into the spirit of adventuring, much helped by the fact that apart from the disembodied voices of dead Arisen, the fort ruin felt completely normal.

Another hall, another horde of skeletons. The fight was fierce and short, the hall was cleared, or so they thought... They dropped their guard...

"NOOOOOO!!!!"

Lena lay dead.

The bones of skeletons that they had scattered around, assembled themselves anew, and one of the skeletons was twice or three times the size of a man, carrying an equally huge claymore. One hit, and Lena lay dead.

...

Bright light. Blindingly bright light. Searing pain in every joint, in every sinew. The feeling of levitation. Cold numbing every inch of the body. Spasms, convulsions. Paralysing searing pain.

Lena opened her eyes and saw Scorpio standing over her, crumbling a stone in his hands, letting the dust fall onto her motionless body on the floor of a fort ruin.

"No, not like this, not here!" He was saying. "Awaken!"

The sound of explosions erupted all around her, suddenly breaking the silence. She heard Scarlet's swears and Cicero's incantations - the fight was still in full swing. Another wave of searing pain, and she could move. She jumped to her feet, the huge skeleton was swinging its enormous claymore, narrowly missing Scarlet who kept attacking its ankles, completely undaunted.

"You brute!" She shouted. "DIIIIEEEE!!!!"

If shouts could kill, he would have been dead already.

Lena jumped to her feet, shutting out the pain. Quick, explosive powder. Daggers. Charges. She danced around the ankles of the skeleton brute, covered his bones in powder and flicked her daggers setting them ablaze. Scorpio joined in with fire of his own, giving Cicero a chance to cast a healing spell...

...

When the skeleton brute finally collapsed to the floor, they took no chances and scattered his bones wide. Of course he would rise again, but they hoped not on that day.

"Baroch gave me a wakestone when you walked away," Scorpio said in an unexpectedly calm voice. "He thought something like this would happen. But we have no more wakestones! So try not to die again."

Lena nodded. Resurrection was a painful ordeal.

After that encounter, they became a lot more careful. Just because a hall had been cleared of monsters and undead, it didn't mean it was safe! This was definitely not like in Gransys. The weeps and laments of the dead Arisen now struck a chord.

"What are we looking for, exactly?" Scarlet turned to Lena after yet another battle. "Are we even looking for anything in particular?"

"I do not know," Lena had to admit. "Something is calling to me... from the depths... I cannot explain it."

"Then we follow," Scarlet nodded. "Let us pawns fall in battle. You must survive."

None of them realised just how quickly that would come to pass. They opened a chest, one of so many. They looked inside. A huge tentacle shot out of it, knocking them on the ground. Red mist enclosed them. Cicero fell from the walkway into the water that flooded the lower levels. The water turned to blood - he was taken by the brine. Lena came to just in time to see Cicero perish, to realise that red mist was swallowing Scarlet and Scorpio too, her head was spinning, it wouldn't take long and she would be taken as well...

"You must survive!" Scarlet's voice echoed in her ears. "Let us pawns fall in battle..!"

"Not if I can help it!" Lena forced herself up. The tentacle was the source of the red mist, and Scorpio was already completely engulfed in it. Scarlet fell slightly further away, and Lena had been behind her. "I'm the furthest away from that thing, and hence I still live," Lena quickly concluded. She grabbed Scarlet's body and ran back as fast as she could, out of the circle of red mist.

She ran, but in fact her movements were painfully slow. She kept looking back at Scorpio, he didn't move, and the red mist around him was getting thicker and thicker... She turned away and ran.

...

"What happened?" Scarlet opened her eyes when Lena finally put her down, hoping that they were far enough from the tentacle.

"The boys are dead," Lena said quietly. "I could not save them."

"We need to find a riftstone," Scarlet was getting up. "You need to get Scorpio back. And no more opening chests!" She looked at Lena sternly. "Not today, anyhow!"

"Oh, I think I've had quite enough treasure to last me a lifetime," Lena nodded.

They retraced their steps to the entrace of the fort ruin, trying to walk through the same halls that they had cleared earlier and hoping that no new skeletons were there to greet them. There were a few, but they managed. Their potions were running out, and they had no mages with them to restore their health or to grant fire to their weapons.

Then Scarlet stopped suddenly in front of a pile of rubble.

"This is a riftstone," she said. "Or rather, this was a riftstone. It crumbled with time and disuse, but you can restore it. It takes rift crystals - those shards you've been picking up... And it also takes a little of your soul, if you will... Or else we try to find a way out of here on our own. Then you can use a proper riftstone at the Pawn Guild."

"I am not waiting that long," Lena took a handful of rift crystals from her pack. "Is this enough? What do I do?"

"You just have to will it..." Scarlet took a step back, and Lena crumbled the crystals over the broken riftstone, thinking that no pawn should be left behind...

She felt a wave of warmth and opened her eyes. The riftstone stood as good as new among the rubble of the fort. She touched it and stepped into the Rift.

...

"I could not find Cicero," Lena said to Scarlet when she and Scorpio emerged back in the fort. "I hope he's alright..."

"He's alright," Scarlet smiled. "He is probably back with his Arisen. You worry too much."

Lena didn't think so, but didn't argue. It was time to leave.