Hello people, and welcome to the Chorrol > Oblivion Spoilers > Today in Cyrodiil thread, a place where one can write all about their charcters in TES: 4 Oblivion, and include spoilers in the story. I realized that the other Today thread is in General section, and this new character of mine is going to have a lot of spoilers in her story, so here goes.

Let's meet my new one!




Morndas, 2:12 AM, Last Seed 27, 3E433

"Pale skin.... snotty expression," says the putrid voice of a dark elf, somewhere nearby.

The captive woman awakes slowly.



"Yo're a Breton", continues the voice ..."the masters of magicka, am I right? Hmm?"

"What?" the captive calls out.

"Yo're nothing but a stuck-up haahlot, with cheap pahlor tricks. Go ahead! Try yo'r magicka in here! Let's see you make those baahs disappear!"

"You know of my magicka? And how?" the captive is now confused. She does know some 'magic tricks', but her knowledge is limited to just a couple of minor spells.

"Ohhh what's the mat-ta? Not so powerful now, are you Breton? Yo're not leaving this prison 'til they throw yo'r body in the lake! Ohhh that's right, yo're going to DIE in here, prisoner. ... Yo're going to die!

Joan of Arkay, the aforementioned 'captive', begins to remember what happened to her. The faire she had attended. The challenge of her faith by a non-believer. The subsequent argument which had turned ... nasty.

"A Redguard had then come to my assistance," she remembers. "A sweet-talker, that one. Guards made a showing, the fight did gather with persistence..."

Beyond this, Joan cannot remember the rest. How did she wind up here? In a jail cell? ...

As she tries her memory, she suddenly hears voices. Footsteps. A group apparently is approaching her cell. "...we don't know that sire," says a woman's voice; a fellow Breton. "...the messenger only said .... "

"Nooo they're dead. I know it," says a man. His voice sounds deep and familiar.

"Whot's this prisoner doing here? This cell is supposed to be off limits!"

"Usual mix-up at the watch.... I ah..."

"It doesn't matter, let's get this gate open. Prisoner! Stand over by the window," commands the female Breton.

"I .. but I ..." Joan stammers.

"We won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way!"

"But it was not of my intentions!" protests Joan. "I was merely one bystander caught up in needless challenge!" her voice is strong. Resilient.

"Prisoner, stand over by the window now," says a male soldier. "Do as you say, and you won't get hurt."

At these words Joan concedes, and finally does as she is told.

"Stay put, prisoner."

Joan of Arkay is not prepared for what is to happen next, as the Emperor himself enters her cell. Emperor Septim, leader of all Tamriel. His bearing so regal, his clothing so colorful. His presence both overbearing and unexpected, fills Joan's cell. She can barely breathe. Uriel Septim VII is in my jail cell? Joan of Arkay thinks she might be in one of her bizarre dreams, only this one's much more real.

"Yooooou", says the Emperor "I've seen you. Let me see your face," he says, getting closer to Joan. "You are the one from my dreams...."



3:20 am

"... as for what you have done, that is not what you will be remembered for..."

The Emperor rambles about how he's seen her before. He seems to know her, and obviously, this leaves Joan stunned. Surprised. Surprised at this interruption of her jail sentence. The Emperor has apparently been targeted, she learns, and all his sons have been assassinated. A secret escape route which starts in her cell is being utilized, and the entire group now leaves her cell, after one of its stone walls slides into the floor.

"Stay out of our way, and you won't get hurt," says one of the soldiers as they all slip by.

Joan of Arkay initially obeys this command, even as the secret wall does not rise back up, leaving a large hole in the wall. I must serve my sentence, she thinks I should not leave. To end one's jail sentence early would not only be considered dishonorable, it would be illegal. But did not the Emperor himself provide every reason to doubt my captors? ... Hadn't he said (in so many words) that my sentence would now be pardoned? These are not ordinary circumstances, then.

Joan can see her jail cell (the iron door itself) is still locked, and she initially thinks of calling the guards so they can move her to another cell. But after much time, and a bit of hollering, no guards come. Nobody shows up. During all of this, the dark elf still stands in his cell across the hallway, silently watching her.

"What do you make of that?" Joan calls to him. "The Emperor and his personal guards just traipsed through my cell! ... How can this be?"

But he does not answer. Perhaps he is just as surprised as she is.

"Well, it cannot hurt if I follow a bit down this passage," Joan rationalizes. "If I get caught, so be it. The door is opened, as the expression goes. And did not the Emperor himself admit he had seen me within his dream?"

Dreams. The dreams. Had the Emperor been having the same dreams as she? Joan of Arkay's curiosity is piqued at this. She now makes her way out of her former jail cell, and down a dark, sloping passage towards her destiny.

Thanks for starting this thread, Renee!

Wow, I doubt if Joan will be able to ignore it if someone, say, gives her jewelry to deliver. This should be good!

I've written it all up, the entire Tutorial, that is! Took me 6 hours. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do this and make it inspired & fresh, but it reads pretty good. I also think I'll be adding Kahreem's episodes here, since he's doing TG.

Joan of Arkay! Brilliant! After you play her in Oblivion, she should journey to Skyrim and join the Dawnguard.

Not a bad idea. I am eventually gonna do the MQ in that game.

I have to figure out a way to make those pictures smaller. Good lord they are huge, now that I'm on a real computer.

Now here is the second part of Joan's Tutorial story. Turns out the writing was going well for me detail-wise, which means there will be a Part III as well.


Morndas, 1:57 PM, Last Seed 27, 3E433



Stone walls, cool air, and darkness. It is so dark down here. Joan of Arkay sneaks slowly down a passageway, over some stairs, and emerges into a larger chamber. The sound of the people who just passed through her cell? These sounds can no longer be heard. Joan simply walked out of her cell, by means of a large hole in the wall; a hole opened by one of the soldiers who passed through.

As she sneaks along, her mind is confused and scattered, trying to make sense of it all.

Am I free from jail? Am I really free?

She does not remember why she was incarcerated in the first place. Probably, it had to do with an altercation she had with another citizen. This 'altercation' (an argument of faith) is the last thing Joan can remember before waking up in jail.

Might I need to serve the balance of my sentence? Whatever it may have been? And what of the soldiers up ahead? What of them? They are guiding the Emperor Uriel Septim through some sort of 'escape route'. ...And I am to follow them, with casualness and ease?

Joan's term had only consisted of a few minutes before the Emperor and his posse showed up.

They did not just make a showing, though, the Emperor stopped on his rendezvous. Stopped and had a chat. A chat with little ol' me!

The Emperor said many things to Joan, while the guards could barely hold their patience. A couple of these guards seemed ready to pounce upon her, should Uriel give his command. They wanted to kill her, she could see it in their eyes.

As Joan sneaks further and further into darkness, the air becomes cooler. Eventually she senses the presence of danger up ahead. A skittering of feet upon the stone floor. Wearing cheap clothes with no weapon to speak of, she readies her fists, and focuses her mind upon one of the only spells she knows.



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


3:16 pm

SHING!

"Protect the Emperor!"
"OOOF! OOOH AAH!"

There's a battle up ahead! Joan hides back behind a wall for a moment, lest she be caught. But nobody notices her. They're too preoccupied by what appears to be an ambush of some sort. Red robed figures challenge the Emperor's guards, and these figures fall one by one. As they do so, Joan notices puffs of red mist burst into the air, as their spirits are claimed by Arkay.

"HAAA!" *clink!* "Jaaah!"

Suddenly, its over. The commotion is done. The Emperor and his guards gather for a moment and discuss their next move.

"We must keep going, sire!"

"Captain Renault... she's dead. I'm sorry...." says one of them. And more words are spoken while Joan hides in shadow, words that she can't hear from her hiding spot. Then, they all decide they'll press on ahead.

"They won't be the first to underestimate...." a Redguard's voice trails off.

"I'll take the front. Let's move!" says an Imperial.

Joan spends a moment cowering in the darkness. She's only wearing jail clothes and a pair of cheap sandals, after all. But she eventually gathers her courage, and sneaks forward once more. Then, a problem: one of the guards is up ahead, causing her to freeze.

Has he noticed her? ....Apparently not. After a minute he or so, he decides to move on.

squeak SQUEAK!

But Joan has other problems: the sound of a sewer rat up ahead, for instance. The guard may have missed her, but these rats do not. Stepping out of her crouching position, Joan readies one of the only spells she knows, and throws it.. FFFFWUUMM! ...she manages a direct hit on the first rat, killing it instantly. She misses the second rat, though.

SQUEAKSQUEAKSQUEAK

The rat jumps upon her shoulder, biting bare flesh.

"AGH! UGH!"

But after a few blows with her fists, she manages to kill the heathenish creature.

Joan leaves her fists bared, ready for more, but they do not come. Apparently, she is now alone. She puts her fists down, and crouches once again. But then, she remembers the other spell she knows from her schooling, one which would heal her back to full health. She focuses on this spell in her mind's eye, and nurses herself back with Mara's love.

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


4:41 pm Joan comes upon fallen bodies, and finds several items she thinks she might need, just in case more enemies lie ahead: potions carried by the red-robed ambushers, and a torch as well. She'll definitely need this torch.

She also initially grabs an Akaviri-styled sword which must have belonged to the dead guard, "Captain Renault" had been her name. The craftsmanship of this particular sword is ornate, Joan can see. This isn't just a cheap item forged in an hour, whoever made it took some time.



...Joan says, waving her hands in prayer over the fallen guard. Was this one of the guards who had wanted to kill her only an hour earlier? ... She doesn't know, and it does not matter now. After saying prayers, Joan places the guard's sword into her arms, and instead takes a lesser shortsword (one which had perhaps been forged in an hour) from this guard's belt.

5:31 pm
The torch she's found immediately comes in handy; Joan lights it and snuffs it, as situation calls. She comes to a door straight ahead, but this door is locked. The Emperor's crew must have gone through already, leaving her behind.

"Drats. What now?"

After wondering (once again) whether she should just go back to her cell, she notices a break in a nearby wall. It's a fissure that's been blasted through at some point, and Joan sees another chamber lies beyond. She manages to squeeze through the fissure, then quickly lights her torch, scanning the room for enemies. Not seeing any, she notices a low chest on her right.

This chest yields a small amount of gold and an axe. Joan takes the gold, but leaves the axe behind, already preferring her iron shortsword. After another rat-attack, she finds more items of use: a leather cuirass, armored boots, a gemstone, and several lockpicks. Joan barely knows how to use these devices of thievery, but she takes them anyways.

As she comes to a doorway, she finds something she's only read and heard about, but never seen: a goblin. Thank goodness he is not a live goblin; he looks as if he would have been fierce and merciless, had he been alive. Joan finds a key on this goblin, and takes a couple magical scrolls as well, just in case.

"Am I making this official, my break from jail?" Joan asks for guidance, still concerned about her sentence. "Here goes".



Joan opens the door, and steps through to darkness.

You're really bringing Joan to life, Renee.

Excellent, glad to hear this.

I gotta say, my stories have more of an audience at Beth's forums, but I like the way they actually look here better, especially the text formatting & pictures.

Anyways, thanx.

Now for Part III of Joan's Tutorial story. I meant to get some Kahreem of Weet into this thread (Kahreem's tales carry more humor), but for now, it's all Joanie.

I am not sure if I got any new pics or not. What happens is: I usually take them via cell camera, then I email them to myself. The pic then gets saved to a computer file, and I grab it and put it into Photobucket. Then I edit it, if necessary. Needless to say, this is a lot of steps, and I don't always remember if I've got any pics stored away or not until I visit this one computer.

So for now, no pics. But they may be coming.



Last Seed 28, 1:42 am

As she makes her way from chamber to chamber, Joan eventually starts to gain confidence, especially now that she's wearing armor. She stops crouching and starts walking, her new sword at the ready in her right hand, and a torch carried in her left. She finds food, magical scrolls, and lots of items down here, way too many to carry, so she selects those which seem most suitable. She eventually trades her leather armor for iron, for instance.

Hours go by. Joan of Arkay faces horrors she's only read about in books. Not just rats, but also undead and goblins. She had no idea what in Oblivion the first zombie she encountered actually was as it rushed towards her. It had been chasing a couple of rats, though, so she managed to destroy it with just a few blows, as it was pre-distracted. Being a former resident of Vvardenfell, she had become accustomed to its creatures and monsters. Cyrodiil's already seemed different, but no less dangerous.

She eventually winds up in a rather cavernous room guarded by several goblins. Three of these are rid by a combination of flame spells and blind sword swings. The final one is a wizard, and takes a bit more strategy. This one wields a staff which can throw lightning, so Joan initially runs back into a passage, ducks behind a wall, and throws a few fire-balls at this final goblin.

Once she has proclaimed victory, Joan carefully searches this final room, and then finds a door which leads into yet another section of underground territory. This one is much less of a cave, though; the stones here are rectangular and bluish-white. This is the Imperial City's underground, perhaps.

She thinks she hears voices ... up ahead.


Tirdas, 2:17 pm

*pic*

"We should find a defensible spot until we find help for the Emperor," says an Imperial, as Joan finds yet another wall to step through. Yes. She had thought she heard voices, and they are definitely coming from somewhere in front of her. Joan pauses, and then makes the small leap onto the floor below.

"What makes you think help will come ..."

"HERE THEY COME AGAIN!"

Once again, there is the sound of weapons being drawn, as the guards find themselves in another battle. Hours ago, Joan was a weakling; a mouse who had no place with these people. But she's now better prepared for a fight. She decides to run to the commotion, draws her blade, and jumps down to assist.

"FAIR THEE WELL, MISCREANT!" she yells and charges.

"WHY .. WON'T YOU ...."!

"Oooogh!"

Joan sees the Emperor up ahead, but the fight itself is in another room. As the last of the red-robed enemies is dealt with, one of the guards runs behind the Emperor, and draws his blade.

"Dammit it's that prisoner again. KILL HER! .... she might be working with the assassins!"

These words weigh heavy in the air with pause. But as Joan fears the worst, the Emperor then speaks.

"No ... she can help us. She must help us."

"As you wish, sire," says one of the guards in deference and maybe a little annoyance. He sheathes his blade in disappointment, it seems.

"Yeas, I am here to assist," says Joan to all of them. "I come without harm. I have made my way past enemies of horror, fighting goblins and zombies and rats. ...least of all I can do is join the likes of you now."

Joan says this, and at the last moment realizes she's forgotten all about her former jail term. Having fights with multiple enemies in near-darkness can perhaps cause such forgetfulness, after all.

"Um. If you will have me, as such. I walked out of jail, yes, but there was an open wall for me to do so. And might we survive this ordeal, I would of certain make return, and finish up my sentence."

But the Emperor ignores Joan's words. Instead he walks to her as she still stands above him on a short wall. "They cannot understand why I trust you" he says to her. "They've not seen what I've seen. How can I explain?"

"Uh"... Joan starts to disagree. Despite her newfound iron armor & weapons, she starts feeling mousy again. The Emperor speaks directly to her, once again. This frightens her.

"Listen, you know the Nine? How they guide our fates with an invisible hand?"

"Yes! The Nine. You speak of the Nine Divines, who guide and protect us as we might fail."

"I've served the Nine all my days, and chart my course by the cycles of the heavens. The skies are marked with numberless sparks, each a fire, and every one a sign," the Emperor rambles. "I know these stars well and I wonder ... which sign marked your birth?"

"I am of The Ritual, sire. Born under the stars which confer the healing love of Mara, and Blessed Words of Arkay."

"The signs I read show the end of my path," continues Uriel. "....my death, a necessary end, will come when it will come."

"You speak of your divine end? And what of such?"

"Your stars are not mine. The Ritual shall speed you upon your star-ridden path."

"But what of you, sire?"

"No trophies of my triumphs precede me, but I have lived well, and my spirit shall persist. Men are but flesh and blood. They know their doom, but not the hour. In this, I am blessed to see the hour of my death. ... To face my apportioned fate, then fall."

"No! This cannot be!" Joan says, honestly shocked. "You know of your very end?"

"My dreams grant me no opinion of success. Their compass ventures not beyond the doors of death. But in your face, I behold the sun's companion. The dawn of Akatosh's bright glory may banish the coming darkness. With such hope, and with the promise of your aide, my heart must be satisfied".

"Go on..." Joan says, not sure what else to say. The Emperor orates his very thoughts, and to me? she thinks wildly once again. Why to me?

"I go to my grave, a tongue shriller than all the music of Mehrune's Dagon calls me. You shalt follow me yet for a while, then we must part."

With these words, the Emperor turns and walks away, leaving Joan speechless.

"You may as well make yourself useful, Here. Carry this torch and stay close," says a Redguard guard.

"Erm ... Thank you," says Joan. She already has two torches on her person, but she awkwardly grabs this third one.

Always trying to please, Joan of Arkay would have this no other way. She would carry ten torches if the Emperor or his bodyguards wished this so.

The former prisoner thinks of inquiring about her jail term once again. Should she ask about it? No, this is nonsense. The Emperor has spoken, and he wants her with them.

"Who are you, anyways?"

"We're the Emperor's body guards, our job is to get him out of situations like this.... although I admit, things are not going according to plan".

"I see. Let us carry on, then", Joan suggests.

"Hold this torch and stay close", suggests Baurus the Redguard. "Let us do our jobs".

"Will do".



"The Emperor's in danger!"

"PROTECT THE EMPEROR!!!"

More red-robed assassins present themselves, and they are rid one by one. Joan feels a moment of pride as she herself cuts one of these miscreants from existence, right before the Emperor and his Blades.

"I've still got my eye on you, prisoner," warns one of the other guards after the short melee is finished.
.

There it is, and the debate is final, in Joan's mind. I am still a prisoner, despite the Emperor's words of consolence. So be it... I will need to make my way back to a guard should we survive this mess, then I will present myself for re-arrest. 'Tis done, and 'tis final.

4:53 pm

"Looks clear. We're almost through the sewers", says the Imperial guard, the one that had warned Joan earlier. But as the four of them press on, they find that a nearby gate is locked and they haven't got the key.

"Dammit! The gate is locked from the other side!"

"What about that side passage back there?" asks the Redguard.

"Worth a try! Let's go!"

Joan lets the guards walk with the Emperor into another room, while she stands guard, in case more assassins are in hiding.

"It's a dead-end, what's your call sir?"

"I don't know. I don't see any good options here. "

After a final check of the room she is in, Joan decides there will no be no follow attack. She joins the others



...but they are attacked, yet again...

"They're behind us!"

"Wait here with the Emperor", says Baurus. "Guard him with your life."

A furious battle ensues...

"GUARD THE EMPEROR" clink! clash!

"... FOR THE EMPEROR!!!"

..but just before it does, the Emperor takes Joan aside, and has another chat.

"I can go no further. You alone must stand against the Prince of Destruction and his mortal servants. He must not have the Amulet of Kings!"

"Amulet of Kings? Prince of Darkness?"

"Here, take this. Give this amulet to Jauffre", says the Emperor, shocking Joan yet again as he slips a large red jeweled necklace from his neck and into her palm. ..." He alone knows where to find my last son. Find him, and close shut the jaws of Oblivion!"

"You chose a bad day, to take up the cause with the Septims!" says somebody from the next room.

"FOR THE DRAGONFIRE!"

One assassin manages to make it into the room she is in. As Joan starts to attack him, she realizes the Emperor lies to her left, already slain. This final assassin is dealt with quickly though. By the Redguard who had previously asked her to carry a torch. ...and it is this Redguard who finds himself awkwardly alone with Joan moments later.

"Oh..no .. Talos save us!" says Baurus, before turning to her. "We've failed, I'VE failed, The Blades are sworn to protect the Emperor, and now he and all his heirs are DEAD!"

"It happened so fast, I turned for a moment, and he was already down!"

Joan realizes she might find herself at fault here. She's had some training with weapons in her past, but is certainly not as fit a fighter as the Redguard before him. Suddenly, he is on her, accusing her...

"Where's the Amulet? I don't see it on his body!"

"I have it. He gave it to me, and claimed I must go to somebody named Jeffrey.

"Strange ... he saw something in you," Baurus says, now calm and realizing. "He trusted you. They say it is the Dragon Blood which flows in the veins of every Septim..."

After some dialogue, Joan updates Baurus on the facts, and Baurus also chooses to update Joan. Not only did the Emperor give her the Amulet of Kings, he also told her about a final Septim heir. He then relayed that 'Jeffrey' is actually 'Jauffre', a monk living quietly near Chorrol in a place called Weynon Priory. Being a devout follower of the Nine, in direct service of Arkay himself, Joan has heard of this Priory, though she's never been there. Baurus tells her a little about Jauffre, then gives her a key* to "the sewers".

"Sewers?"

"There are rats and goblins down there, but from what I've seen of you, they'll be no match. Say, what sort of class have you been bred with? .... You must be a monk, right?"

"A monk? Well I'm afraid not. I'd feel my training back in Vvardenfell perhaps directed me towards the abilities of a cleric."

"Really? I wouldn't have guessed. Still, I don't think you'll have any trouble with rats and goblins," says Baurus.

Suddenly, Joan realizes the other guard, the one who had called her "prisoner", is no longer around. Was he slain? ... "But what of you? ... And what of I? Am I to carry out my jail sentence upon re-emergence into society?"

"You must get the Amulet to Jauffre," says Baurus. "Take no chances, but proceed to Weynon Priory immediately. Got it?"

Joan, a loyal Cleric in service of Arkay, certainly does.


*

Not exactly. Remember, the assassins only got in the little room through a secret panel. The key Baurus has is to the sewer grate beyond, which is also accessible by the gate that was blocked off. You can walk right up to the gate if you just take a right rather than a left to go to the sewer. So clearly B was expecting to go through that gate, then use the key to open the sewer entrance.

Ah. I see. Yeah, I see what you're saying, makes sense.

I remember there was some thread over at the home forums about Baurus being a double-crosser, that's where my realization came from.

editing story brb

Renee, put Kareem's story back! I saw it on my phone and then came back to read on a real device. What happened to him??

Something very strange happened: I kinda lost inspiration! Scared me a bit, to be honest. His stories usually post up with very little effort, and they wind up packed with moments of humor, and for some reason I couldn't get this yesterday.

He is in Leyawiin right now. I'm just gonna game until he finds who he is supposed to find. Maybe the 'magic' will just sorta show up again.

You're a writer, too. I'm sure you've had moments like this. I guess you could say yesterday was one of my first ones.

Oh no! Yeah, I get what you mean completely. I thought you had it written and were just fixing typos or something. It's definitely true that not every moment in the game speaks as loudly. Hopefully the magic will come back.

Thank you for your concern, Grits. You are awesome.

I think I got my problem solved. So now I present Leyawiin.

Where we left off: the Kahreem of Weet is off to Leyawiin, to retrieve a ring belonging to a Khajiit woman. Leyawiin is the last town he has not visited here in Cyrodiil. He is looking forward to visiting here, and hopes his luck with thievery is a bit better than it was in Bravil.


Kahreem of Weet

Level: 5

Class: Bandit
Faction: Thieves Guild
Rank: Bandit

Days Passed: 61

Bounty: 5
Fame: 0
Infamy: 7


Frost Fall 26, 12:32 pm

"This is a rather strange task I've been given. Steal a ring which was already stolen? And the stolen ring belonged to another Thieves Guild member? ... something like that anyways."

The day is fair and sunny, and Kahreem of Weet speaks to himself as he rides slowly along. Birds sing and cicadas rattle. He did not exactly take notes from S'krivva, his contact in Bravil, so he is having a little trouble remembering what to do.

"Steal a ring. From some cat-lady named A'dharji or someone or some other. Sounds fun. I wonder if I'll be able to pull it off. Hah! Course I will, I'm the Weet Bandit! .....

.... Ahhh drats!"

The day had started off fair and sunny, but now the sky darkens. Within minutes, it is raining. And that's not all: a plethora of boars, then wolves, and then bandits attempt to mar his journey. Good thing he's got a horse, and can easily outrun them all. He dismounts and battles with a couple bandits he passes by though, looking for easy gold or treasure. These guys have nothing of value, unfortunately.

3:28 pm
Kahreem passes through a small hamlet of just three cottages, and walks by an Imperial guard going in the opposite direction. The guard looks wildly at the Redguard, and for a moment Kahreem fears yet another confrontation...

"Hail citizen. How can I be of service?"

"Uhh, I am Vincent the Spice Merchant, come down from Bruma. Just riding along to Leyawiin to trade the rest. Lavender and cardamon and St. John's wort, you know, that sort of thing...."

Kahreem is relieved when the guard simply turns away from him in mid-sentence. Yeah .... whatever.... his facial expression seems to suggest as he dismisses the Redguard without interest.

Kahreem knows he's got a bounty on his head. Must be a low one.


4:37 pm

"I can't sell you any horseflesh. You'll have to go inside and talk to Cat-Face," greets Leyawiin's stablehand, a Khahiit named Atahba.

"Not to worry, cat-person. Here, have some gold."

"This better be good".

"Watch over my horse, will ya? It's the bay over there. Been riding all over Cyrodiil, seeking out ingredients to make some spice. Pleased to meet you, I am Vincent the Spice Maker."

"Not now, not later, not ever!" the stablehand says, annoyed.

But then, a problem. Kahreem reaches into his coinpurse, and realizes he hasn't even got enough coin to tip the stablehand! He finds just one coin in his coinpurse. A single gold coin. And that's all!*

"Ummm ... sorry. Uhhh Forgot about the bandits. I was robbed! Yeah .... I was robbed, that's it!" He then turns to a nearby Leyawiin guard. "Guard, they took all my money!" Kahreem says, doing a bit of mock-drama. "Go out and arrest them!"

"Oh please. Just go away."

"I'm gone."

*



5:22 pm
Kahreem enters the great western gate of Leyawiin as the rain finally starts to clear. He finds an inn on his left called the Five Claws Lodge, and digs further into his coinpurse.


How can this be?

Desperate for more, he walks around the town until he's got enough mushrooms and flowers he can sell to whatever general goods store there is in Leyawiin. He feels a bit disgraced while doing this (collecting herbs and mushrooms is elve's work!) but he also realizes that to live up to his new claim of being a "spice merchant", it wouldn't hurt to have some actual ingredients on his person to back this story up.

.... He eventually finds a place he can do business with (Best Goods and Guarantees!) and sells these items. He winds up with exactly ten gold, and is now able to rent a room in the Five Claws.

"I hear that Dagail knows a lot about Mysticism. And sheep," an Argonian woman says as Kahreem puts his things away in a dresser.

"I don't understand the fascination with sheep," another voice replies. "Certainly seems to know everything about Mysticism, though."

"Take care."

"Goodbye."

Karheem pauses. Mysticism and sheep?... What is that, some sort of code? He wonders if it is.


9:52 pm

"I'm Otomeel. But I didn't do anything, really! It wasn't meeee!"

.... An Argonian man walks abruptly into Kahreem's room, just as Kahreem is sitting down for a meal. "Haahaha ! No! Really! It wasn't meee! Never!" he babbles.

"Hey, you can't just walk in here like that! You have about two seconds to GET out of my room, lizard-man, before I clock you one."

"I ask myself.. Do I like you enough to tell you about thisss?" the lizard-man asks.

Kahreem pauses. "GET out of my room, scaly one!! OUT!" but the Argonian does not move. "Okay, you asked for this. Think I might just make a new coinpurse out of your skin!"

Kahreem picks out his rusty iron daggar, a weapon he's owned since escaping from a sewer long ago. He then starts swinging! "HAA ho!!!" clink clink... but the fight doesn't last long before it's all over.

"STOP! You violated the laaaaw!" says a guard. That man showed up in less than 10 seconds, Kahreem notices. "Since you lack the funds to pay for your crime, I'm taking you into custody. Your stolen goods are now forfeit!"

Kahreem regards his decision for a moment. Jail or flee? He doesn't want to run. He just got here after all. But if he goes to jail, he'll (no doubt) lose a few stolen things on his person. On the other hand, he knows he has just put away several things in his room's dresser. No doubt a lot of good things (stolen iron gauntlets and other such items) are already safely stored.

"Ahh okay. Let's go to jail, then."

"Hope you raaawt, criminal scum."

Oh my gosh, Dagail and sheep! That finally makes sense to me. Not much of a spoiler, just a detail about another NPC. But just in case you don’t want to know:





Lol. And there may have been Cheap Wine…

It's just the way that NPC says this so carefully that it sounds as if the "mysticism and sheep" is really a code for something else, but you may be on to something with Dagail's brother.

I haven't been posting Kahreem here lately, so here is where I left off: the Kahreem of Weet is now in Leyawiin, on a quest to find a stolen ring. He arrived into town, rented a room at the Five Claws Lodge, and then got into a brawl with an Argonian who simply walked into his room. Kahreem was quickly arrested, and now resides in ... one of his favorite places.

Kahreem of Weet

Level: 5

Class: Bandit
Faction: Thieves Guild
Rank: Bandit

Days Passed: 63

Bounty: 85
Fame: 0
Infamy: 7


Frost Fall 28, 5:06 am

"Back in jail, once again."

Kahreem's bounty this time is 85 gold, which means his stay should be short.

"One thing good about my stay this time is I'm clearing the air. I'M CLEARING THE AIR!" he shouts into a nearby hallway, getting a little stir-crazy. "Gonna settle up my debts here in Leyawiin, and start with a clean slate! No bounty upon my head! .... Then, it'll be 'back to work', back to collecting ingredients and grinding them into spices!"

Kahreem's newest ploy (as a newcomer in this town) is to play the part of a "spice merchant". It's an idea that occured to him on the journey south, as he noticed a blonde wood elf at one point picking mushrooms. She would no doubt sell some of these mushrooms, or mix them into potions, and then make a nice profit. Why couldn't a Redguard like him also have such a profession? ....

"I travel a lot; who's to say I can't be a spice merchant?" he says to himself. "How hard can it be?"

But Kahreem knows better. Being a "spice merchant" takes work. Lots of hard work. Riding or walking all over the place, collecting leaves, herbs, flowers, etc., evading enemies all the while. As a practicing thief, Kahreem of Weet tries to 'work' as little as possible.

"Come on..come on...what's for breakfast?" he moans as a guard walks by without a glance. His tummy grumbles, and so he lies down on the floor, waiting for his meal. As he thinks of breakfast, he remembers the Argonian he attacked the day before. The Argonian who just barged into his room without knocking.

"Fokke. Oatmeal. What kind of a name is that for an Argonian? Almost sounds like a breakfast food."



Morndas, 5:23 am
Rain pours down in sheets as the Weet Bandit is released from jail the next day. It feels good, this warm rain, after hours in that crummy dungeon.

"It's you. Hi," greets a guard.

Kahreem of Weet does not greet back. He walks a few paces up a causeway, and starts dropping his itchy jail clothes along the way. Shoes and shirt are both discarded, right in the street.

"Lucky for me, they don't seem to have taken much stuff."

He studies his inventory. He still has his rusty sewer daggar. Still has his enchanted boots, his leather sewer breast plate, and a few other assorted items (foodstuffs and lockpicks). He was lucky to have not had too many stolen things on his person when he was arrested.

As the rain falls, he makes his way back to the Five Claws, hoping his stuff is still stored in the dresser in which he left it all. .... Unfortunately he is out of gold! ... He cannot even rent a room. So he must break into his former room at the Five Claws.

Once inside the inn, he does just this: he manages to sneak inside his former room, picking its 3-tumbler lock, while Witseidutsei (the lizard-woman who runs the place) is engaged in a conversation about goblins. All his things are still where he left them. Good.

"Gotta get out of this dump".

On his cursory tour around Leyawiin a day or two earlier, Kahreem had noticed a more upscale establishment, and he decides he'll stay here instead. Upscale places usually gave the buyer his own room, far away from the common areas. This room would not be invaded by any random tavern-goers.

"No Argonians named Oatmeal just breaking in, babbling nonsense while I'm just trying to sit down to a nice meal. For Nocturnal's sake!"

'Vincent the Spice Merchant' begins to skulk around Leyawiin, looking for things to pick and sell, like some humble wood elf, trying to fatten his man-purse as best he can. ... After several hours, he thinks he's got enough. He sells these 'spice ingredients' to Gundalas at Best Goods and Guarantees: sprigs of lavender, mushrooms, and aloe leaves. He thinks he has enough to rent a room, but is still not sure. So Kahreem/Vincent then sacrifices a couple of scrolls he bought up in the Imperial City, and winds up with a total of 32 gold.

"Take care, please ... come again," Gundalas says cheerfully.

"Yeah, well us spice merchants are always working hard to bring only the best ingredients to the citizens of Cyrodiil. Take care!"

Kahreem now heads to the Three Sisters Inn, hoping he's got enough gold to rent a room.




"Have you ever placed any bets with J'bari?" asks a cat-lady as Karheem enters the inn.

"He pays his debts," replies a second cat-lady. "...but his love of dogs is just ... odd. I've heard he leaves meat in his backyard to attract them."

"Have you heard any..."

"Excuse me. Sorry to interrupt, I am Vincent the Spice Merchant. I am new here in Leyawiin. Pleased to meet you."

"Well you've found the Three Sisters Inn," greets the cat-lady on the left. "Beds and food. Nawwt cheap, but you get what you pay for. I'm Shuravi, the sister-that-works-and worries. Shamada is sweet and decorative. Shomara is dumb as a post. But she can cook, at least."

"What is it with all the cat-people and lizards down here?" Kahreem says, noticing that other than a few guards and the elves who run Best Goods, he has not seen a single other type of humanoid so far.

"Blackwood Company is putting the Fighter's Guild to shame," Shuvari answers. "They're a new mercenary company, competing with the guild. Beast people and other savages. Work cheap and fast. No job too tough.' Not fussy, either. Fighters Guild better watch out..."

"Well, have you got a bed? Gotta have somewhere to put all my spices, ya know."

"I have just the thing for you. A lovely suite on the second floor. It's a steal at only 40 gold a night. Interested?"

After all his "work", collecting ingredients around Leyawiin, Karheem/Vincent is dismayed to find he still hasn't got enough gold. It's settled then: work does not pay. He's tried it, and he's apparently not very good at it. To make a living at being a spice merchant, he would need to collect a lot of ingredients, apparently.

He makes a sacrifice, selling a bottle of poison for 11 gold. Now, he can finally afford his room.*

"I'll take it."

"Of course you will. You'd be silly not to. It's just up the stairs and down the hall on the East wing. All the comforts of home."

"Thank you!" Vincent/Karheem says, trying to be as pleasant as possible. He then heads upstairs to his rented room.

*

2:43 pm

"Ahh, now THIS is much better."

It's is a double room. A Cyrodiilic suite, in comparison to the smelly old Five Claws. He immediately scatters his things (armor and Sewer Club and whatnot) all over the room, then he sits down and has some food, and a bottle of Cheap Wine. It's been several days since he's had any wine, so now it's time to celebrate.



Tirdas, 8:11 am

"Hey."
"Hi there."

"Did you hear about A'darji picking another fight with an Argonian?"

"She's ridiculous! I don't know what her problem is, always trying to start something."

"Hi there."

"Have you seen the Derrics recently? They're always bickering with one another."

"They argue a lot, but that's just their way. I don't think they're really ever angry at one another."

"Have you heard any word about the other provinces?...."


The next morning, as two of the three sisters are deep in conversation, Kahreem makes his way back outside, wearing his new (and stolen) set of clothes: a black and gold outfit. This is a little over-the-top, since his mission today is to see about finding a beggar to speak to.

"Beggars are the eyes and ears of the Thieves Guild," he mutters.

But he has chosen these clothes because (as a spice merchant) he wants people to see he is doing well. He is a businessman, after all. A buyer/seller. Right?

As he walks back towards the Five Claws, he spies somebody who might be a beggar. It's a white man wearing grungy clothes.

"Afternoon," he says.

Nope. Not a beggar. Real beggars always ask for coin, after all. The next person he sees is a Khajiit, standing just outside the Five Claws.

"I'm savin' up enough for some medicine," Rancid Ra'dirsha greets.

"You are? Well have some coin, beggar."

"Thank you kind sir!"

"Why save up for some medicine when you can just steal it from the Mage's Guild?" he wonders. "Anyways, listen, car-lady. I need to know anything you can tell me about a stolen ring? Ignore my fancy clothes, I am Thieves Guild. I have been sent here from Bravil. S'krivva sent me. I am supposed to find somebody named Ahdarji. Something like that."

At mention of S'krivva, Rancid Ra'dirsha's ears perk upwards. "I know of her. What's it worth, to you?"

"I've got some coin."

"She lives on the west side of town," Ra'dirsha informs. "She is fond of the Three Sisters Lodge in the eveining but takes her midday meal at the Five Claws."

"Good. Now go get yourself something to eat, you and your fur look awful."

"Blessings of Arkay upon you."

With this information, Kahreem wastes no time. It is just about midday, Ahdarji should be inside the Five Claws.


1:53 pm

"This scent is fowwwwl," greets Otumeel, the Argonian who Kahreem previously attacked two days prior. Fortunately for Otumeel, Kahreem of Weet doesn't know one Argonian from the next.

A Khajiit also stands by. "It looks thievy to this one," she says.

"Thievy?"

Kahreem follows this Khajiit outside, so they can speak freely, without their words being heard by the entire Five Claws.



"Hello. I am Vincent. I'm Thieves Guild."

"Why does the prey approach me?"

"You .... mentioned the Thieves Guild. Am I right? I've been sent here from S'krivva. Something about a missing ring. I'm dressed like spice merchant, but I'm actually a thief." Kahreem smirks.

"Yes. A filthy Argonian stole my precious ring. It was a gift from my mate. It has... sentimental value. I will pay well. The stupid lizard hunts with the name Amusei. Find him, find my ring. Make him suffer! Kill him and I will be pleased."

"Kill him? You don't say?"* Kahreem smiles.

"Stupid guild rules! He is only an Argonian. He is less than human, and much less than Khajiit. If you must spare him, at least make him suffer."

As Ahdarji says this, another citizen (a human) walks by, so she suddenly brightens up her voice, and changes the subject. .. "So many greenskins here .... they smell. Do they not? Ahdarji won't drink the water, no. The Argonians SWIM in it."

Kahreem tries, but gets no other information about the Argonian Ahdarji speaks of.

"Ahh drats. Well, guess I'll ask the Rancid beggar again," he says, already dreading it's gonna cost more gold.

*

i re-made Kayla in Oblivion...

She made it out of the sewers okay, but had yet to reach the Imperial City for shelter, as she's been attacked by 14 wolves, 8 bandits, and two thieves on the road XD

She's a bit tired.

That's beautiful, Liz. I know somebody named Kayla, although she spells it 'Kela.

And now, let me present (finally) the final chapter of Joan of Arkay's Tutorial Dungeon story. For those do not remember, Emperor Uriel Septim VII has just been assasinated, after which Joan and Baurus had a little chat. Baurus guessed she might be a Monk by class. Pretty good guess, in the sense that Monks are often religious.

Now, Baurus has sent Joan on her way, and she hopes to find her way out of the Imperial Sewers.




Joan of Arkay

Race: Breton
Birgthsign: The Ritual
Class: War Cleric
Level: 1
Health: 60
Magicka: 160
Fatigue: 145


"Are you sure you will be okay? All alone down here?"

"You need to get out of here. There's no telling who will come through here, the Blades or more assassins".

Joan of Arkay heeds the words of Baurus, the Redguard Blade who has decided he'll be "guarding the fallen Emperor".

"Well. If you think you shall be okay, perhaps I will go, then. I will be sussing up help from the outside, as well."

With these words, Joan reluctantly turns to go.

"Farewell", Baurus says.


9:07 pm
First place she finds herself is in a VERY dark, rather large and rather smelly area, made of stone. It is so dark, she can barely see her hand in front of her face. Light does filter from far above here and there, but it's very weak, and this is the only light she's got to go by. Joan cautions her torch, lighting it for a moment, and then snuffing it out. There are stairs to her left, going downwards.

"I don't like where this is going!" she scream-whispers.

With no other choice, she makes her way slowly down these stairs. She's fully armed now, but it is VERY dark in here. Over the past few hours, Joan has fought rats, goblins, and even an undead zombie. She's seen plenty of rats in her day, but none as large as the ones down here! Sewer rats could be as large as dogs.

The goblins were worse. They fought savagely, and could leap through the air with ease. Joan had only read about these in the past, during her former training. Fighting a goblin one-on-one? .. She was happy to have been fully-equipped with a shield, armor, and short sword when she encountered her first--.

"ARRAH!"

...the goblin screams up ahead! She hears it, and then sees it as it walks directly in front of her. Although trained as a warrior, Joan had been crouched down like a cowardly nightblade when the goblin passed literally inches away.

Taking no chances, Joan slices at the goblin's back

"HAAAGH!"

... and misses!

"AAAHHEEAHHH" it screams in its arcane language.

The goblin rushes her, she BLOCKS with her shield, and manages a few strikes on the creature, stunning it a bit? It's hard to tell, it's so dark in here! Finally, Joan backed up a few feet and then tossed a fireball into its face, AhhAAYEEAAA! killing it instantly.

And again, it is pitch black.



Note: I was gonna keep writing, but I forgot my cell camera at work! I'm too addicted to taking pictures with Joan, and i wanna get one when she walks outside to Cyrodiil. So that's all for now. A shortie.

Days Passed: 21

Health: 60
Magicka: 90
Fatigue: 145


"Well met".

"Excuse me. Might I beg pardons of ye?"

"You need to see Ugak if you want to buy a horse. She's inside."

"Oh, of course. Silly me. They don't make a stablehand handle all the gold, after all," Lady Saga says this, and then immediately regrets saying it. "I mean ... um..."

But Tilmo the stablehand does not seem to notice any implied insult. "Farewell," he says brightly, on this fine sunny Sundas.

With over 600 gold in her pockets after just three weeks in Cyrodiil, Saga is already seeking purchase of a horse. But she is not sure if she has enough gold, yet. A horse will be important, in the days and weeks ahead. Important for survival.

Before leaving Cyrodiil four years ago, she remembers the wilds had become somewhat overrun with greater beasts. Trolls, bears, dire wolves, that sort of thing. Her magic and combat skills had simply not been sharp enough. Now that she's back, she's realized over the past few days that she has yet to see any of these menaces, even after a two-day long journey from Anvil to Skingrad. But that doesn't mean the beasts aren't still around; perhaps it's due to the fact that she stayed on the road (where it's safe) that she's made it to Anvil in one piece.

There's a chance that the odd population explosion of dastardly beasts several years ago has been tamed by other adventurers, Imperial patrols, and the like, but Saga's taking no chances.

The day before she had shown up to the Skingrad Mage's Guild, and found a woman named Adrienne Berene in charge of the Skingrad chapter.

"I trust you have a good reason for interrupting me!?" Adrienne had scolded at the blonde wood elf who had shown up way too early in the morning.

"Absolutely, fine deb. I am Lady Saga, prospective associate, seeking companionship with this chapter of yours. I am new here in Skingrad.--"

....but Adrienne had cut her off....

"Hmmm? what? I'm rather busy right now," she had said, despite the fact that she appeared to have just woken up. "Oh, is this about joining the Mage's Guild? I suppose I could spare the time, if necessary."

Off to a rocky start, Adrienne had then given Saga her first task: find out what happened to Erthor, a rogue mage who had recently vanished.

"Erthor?" Saga had asked, surprised to hear his name once again. Last time she saw Erthor was in Valenwood, almost four years ago. "Erthor? ... You did say Erthor, right? Well of course I would love to suss him out." Saga had smiled slightly. "What sort of recalcitrance has he gotten himself into this time?"

"Excellent. I just don't have the time to search for him again, but I do need to consult him about some notes he borrowed. You might want to ask around, and see if anyone can be of some help. Let me know when he's back, and you'll have your recommendation."

"Ask around?" Saga quipped. "I do not think such a diversion will be of necessity. I think I know exactly where he might be hiding," she had said slyly.

And so now here she is, on this fine Sundas morning. A Sundas which could not be any finer, Aerin thinks to herself, before entering the shack where all the money gets exchanged.



9:46 am

"I've killed far worse than YOU."

"What? Killed far worse than you...what sort of a greeting is that?"

Even for an orc, that's a pretty rude greeting, Saga thinks, and then she thinks that perhaps she should be a little rude in return. But then she corrects herself. She's here to do business, after all. She can be in and out in five minutes.

"You want a horse? I can sell you one. There are no finer Bay horses than those sold by the Grateful Pass Stables," Ugak gra-Mogakh now answers, much more bright and friendly.

Well that is better. Perhaps she didn't sleep well.

"I am not sure I have the coin, as of yet."

Ignoring Saga's hesitation, Ugak breaks into her spiel. Her sales pitch. Ever since coming to Cyrodiil and landing this job, one of her favorite moments is when she gets to try to sway a customer. "Our Bay horses are faster than the Paint horses and tougher than the Chestnut. You'll be proud to own one."

Her voice is confident, her technique refined, and over the past several years it's been rare that she's lost a sale. Who would dare try to swindle an orc? .... She brings in thousands if not tens of thousands of gold to Skingrad every year, and feels momentarily proud to be considered to be not only an orc, but a trusted citizen, one who is good at her everyday tasks.

"And the price? A thousand gold? Well I am afraid I have not got that!"

"You mean you're too poor?" Ugak accuses. "That's a fair price for this horse!"

"Yes I know..." Saga nearly stammers, realizing that orcs are the worst when it comes to temperance. Ugak's mood could turn ugly, Saga realizes. "...I was just ....um... seeking prospection. That a horse could ... um ... be bought? And for how much? I have not the coin as of yet, but in a few days--"

"STOP ... TALKING!" Ugak scolds again, really annoyed now. Damn little elf she thinks, but does not say.

Over the past several years, Ugak's little problem with customers and rudeness has been addressed so many times, she's lost count. But she's getting better at not being rude. And this is part of her job, of course. And she's good at her job.

"I will .... show myself outside, then."



8:15 pm
Hours go by, and stars begin glittering in the sky by the time she finally finds the place she believes Erthor might be hiding. He's been caught in here before, after all. Saga remembers there were a group of Standing Stones nearby, and once she sees these stones, she gives herself a little pat on the back.

"No trolls. No bears. No giant wolves," she says to herself.

She's made it here safely. Once she is actually inside of Bleak Flats Cave, she thinks she will be okay. Not only has she got her bow and plenty of arrows, but she's got poison, and lots of it.

"Has Erthor been up to his old tricks again? Creation of zombies?"

She does not remember whether or not zombies can be affected by poison, but assuming they can be, she'll have no problem dealing with these menaces. On her journey to Skingrad, she collected many samples of nightshade, peony seeds, sacred lotus seeds, and even wisp stalks (inside of Cursed Mine). She had been able to make many poisons, once she made it to Skingrad.

"Alright Erthor, you bugger. Here I come. Remember me? Remember who you left behind four years ago? Well here I come...."



9:09 pm
Bleak Flats Cave. Now that she's actually here Lady Saga puts on an extra air of caution, as she suddenly remembers that four years ago, this place had been rumored to contain a powerful vampiress named Eradication or something odd like this. Vampires? Zombies? ... Saga is taking no chances. She crouches down, and has her bow ready, an arrow already poisoned to damage one's health.

"Ohhh I do wish I had not slacked on my magic over the years."

Saga remembers back to the year 433, when she had plenty of magic within her grasp. After years of disuse, this is no longer so. She tries but simply cannot remember the process for casting a life detection spell, or unlife, as it might be in this case. She can't even cast a Light spell anymore, which means she must occasionally brandish a torch, despite her superior elven eyesight*. All she remembers are a couple of healing spells, and she only remembers these because they are the spells she had been occasionally casting, if a bee stung her or a rabid animal had attacked in Valenwood.


Her skin crawls as she hears one: a zombie. Definitely a zombie. But where is it? .. Saga creeps forward ever-so-slowly, and suddenly sees it, dead ahead! It's a mere shape amongst shadows. Saga think she might have a clear shot, but a large stalactite in front of her partially blocks the way. She waits for the zombie to move. When it finally does, she moves slightly...


She realizes she's been discovered!** In a moment she gets up and runs back towards the cave's entrance, while the rancid being behind her begins pursuit. Saga then stops, turns around, and aims her bow, slamming the zombie with a poisoned arrow. But this does little to dissuade the zombie! .. She switches to her steel mace as the zombie closes in. plicthhh plick!! the spikes of the mace barely seem to make a dent. Saga moves around. She dances from one spot to the next, clobbering the undead here and there. The undead slams her with open palms in return, bringing her health down in large chunks. It's like the Year 434 all over again she thinks wildly, realizing she might get killed, and all for a stupid Recommendation.

As she runs outside of Bleak Flats to heal herself, Saga curses her task.

"Erthor. You sorry twit. I will get you, you sorry little twit."



.

Poor Saga! She struggles so hard to do the same thing she did years back

If only she had the Septims to buy a horse at least...

Renee, I love how Saga explains her reduced skills and the less dangerous wildlife.

Erthor is going to get an ear full if she ever goes back in to get him.

Thanks you all, thanks so much! I've had some weird [censored] happening in real-life, so it's good to come here and be amongst Gritsy and mirocu. I've been checking out your fanfic story here and there, Grits. One of these days I need to just sit down (or lie down) because it's kind of intense in the beginning. I need to take it in without any distractions, it's not like one of my stories, after all, which are like cheap soap operas in comparison. Just kidding, kinda.

Anyways, I finally got Joan out of the Sewers...


When we last saw her, she was carrying something important which was given to her .... everybody knows the rest, right? :smile:



Joan of Arkay

Level: 1
B. Sign: The Ritual
Class: War Cleric

ST: 30
Int: 55
WP: 50
AG: 30
Spd: 40
End: 35
Pers: 40
Luck: 50

Majors: Armorer, Athletics, Hand to Hand, Restoration, Acrobatics, Light Armor, Sneak*

*

Days Passed: 3

"Finally! ... I have made it!"

Joan of Arkay passes through one final gate, a grid-iron portal that leads to Cyrodiiilic splendor. She is free. The sunlight is dazzling, after hours (days?) in that dungeon. Joan cannot fathom her true importance as of now. Partially, she feels she has a higher calling, but her own human-ness keeps persuading her otherwise.

"Now, to get to Chorrol where I am to meet Sir Jeffrey. I mean Jauffre."

Despite her appointed task, Joan can't help a lingering feeling: She is still a wanted criminal, for reasons unknown to her. And she must serve out her sentence. Why was she in jail? She has never been officially told. But she was in jail, and those who are locked up must always "serve out their sentence". Joan sighs, weighing her options as she walks slowly up the hill towards the Imperial City.

She has a thought as she walks: Perhaps she can give this heavy red Amulet of Kings to someone of more importance than herself. And this other person can carry the Amulet to Chorrol. Can she do this?

"Amulet of Kings. Am I to truely be the bearer of such? ... Indeed 'tis not my calling. Or is it? .... Is it truly?"

Joan walks on an old worn path which zig-zags towards the Imperial City, while a stray mudcrab catches her scent and begins to follow. She runs a moment, and then begins walking again, allowing the creature to catch up to her. Runs. Then walks.

"Mudcrabs, disgusting creatures. And yet, only I can truely say I have 'seen one by the waterfront'. Indeed I have one following me, right this instant."

She makes her way left around an edge of great white stone, while the mudcrab struggles to keep up.


12:02 pm, Imperial City Prison District

"You have my ear, citizen," says Amadus Phillida, as the breezy air and perfect sun permeates this afternoon.

"Um.. Hullo sir. My name is Joan."

"Is there a problem, citizen?"

Joan has chosen Amadus over all the other guards present because he is wearing the shiniest armor. Therefore, he must be a Watch Captain, or at least somebody of greater importance. Better to go straight to the one who is most in charge, for a situation like this.

"Listen. I know this may seem wrong, perhaps even devious, but I might be a wanted criminal, escaped from her cell, and I am turning myself in. Implacably, many such things have been of occurrence over these past few hours, and I need to make arrangements with--"

"What are you looking for?" Amadus asks, seeming to ignore her words. Get to the point.

"Am I a wanted criminal?" Joan almost pleads. "Here in the Imperial City? I am new here, and was in some sort of ruckus with a certain miscreant who was not of belief--"

But again, the guard cuts her off mid-sentence. "It is a wonderful city," he says, meditatively, "...and I'm proud to have served her for 40 years. But I'm ready to retire, let the young folks take over the reins."

Confused, Joan decides to let the matter drop. If the guards wanted her, they damn well would have let her know by now.

"Well, um... see, I have this as well. It's an Amulet. It's the Amulet. The Amulet of Kings. Perhaps you have not taken notice as of yet, about the Emperor and his Blades? The Emperor has sadly passed this Amulet on to me, yet I see this relic as more of an onus. I am unfit. Unworthy. Yet the Emperor, he made pleadings with me, that I should go to Chorrol, and present this Amulet to a certain monk who dwells at Weynon Priory. And I do not--"

"If you've got to travel by the Nine Divines, stay on the road. The wilderness just isn't safe anymore," Amadus says warily. "We've had sightings you see... the Daedra..."

"Daedra?" Joan asks, once again sidetracked in conversation. "Oh how dreadful!"

"Farewell citizen!" Amadus says, clearly done with small talk.

"Fare...well..."

Joan's two objectives are (as of yet) unfinished, she realizes. She's still a free woman, and still possesses the Amulet of Kings.

"Well, as he said, he is an elder, ready for retirement. He would be less fit than me, then, to take this ruby towards Chorrol."

Joan says this, and then heads back towards the gate.


Middas, 8:55 pm, Merchant's Inn

"Good evening."

"Hello!"

"It's you .... hi."

Joan makes it to the Merchant's Inn as the sky outside darkens to pitch. The place is packed. She makes her way by several patrons, and rents a room from the innkeeper. She also buys some food. Once inside her own room, she collapses into a chair, but can only nibble at her meal: a ham, cheese, and onion sandwich.

"I ... I have seen so much. So much has passed.....and what to make of it all?"

She looks down to the Amulet, the one which the Watch Captain had seemed to purposely not discuss when she showed it to him.

"Are ye to be my onus?" she asks the brilliant red jewel.

And before she can receive any sort of answer, she finds herself discarding her smelly leather boots, her rusted iron helmet, and other newfound armor pieces, and then can barely help herself as she falls into bed. She sleeps for many many hours, and dreams many many dreams.



[

Kahreem of Weet

Level: 5

Bounty: 0
Fame: 0
Infamy: 7

Days Passed: 65

Where we left off: Kahreem is in Leyawiin inquiring about a missing ring. He has just spoken to the owner of this missing ring, which is actually a stolen ring. Now, Kahreem must find a beggar, who will help him find the Argonian who stole the ring from Ahdarji.


Warm rain falls steadily as Kahreem of Weet trudges slowly around Leyawiin, looking for a beggar to speak to. It takes him awhile to find one, despite the two beggar-bedrolls he discovers on opposite ends of the village.

As he walks, Kahreem stifles the urge to pick the aloe leaves, the steel entoma mushrooms, the lavender he occasionally finds still unpicked. He could possibly pick these ingredients, and then pretend to make some 'spices' (while actually just selling them for simple gold), but even he has some limits to his lie-telling. Even he can only go so far with acting out his lies.

"I mean, c'mon... it's raining!" he says to nobody in particular. "Let the fair-haired elves pick stuff in the rain; us Redguards like to take the day off on occasion."

Actually, Kahreem corrects himself in his thoughts. ...take the day off? Never. Every day is a "day off" in my world.* He's never worked a day in his life so far (not honestly, anyways) and this is a habit he's aiming to keep. As Kahreem of Weet realizes he'd make a pretty bad alchemist, or (in his case) a pretty bad spice merchant, for he's too lazy to do the actual work, preferring to look for any excuse possible to NOT work, he finally spies a beggar.

*

12:06 am

"Finally. I've been looking all over for you. It's me .... Vincent the 'Spice Merchant.'"

"I can eat for a day with a single coin," Ra'disha suggests.

"Uh huh, sure you can. Look I'm getting low on funds, and there isn't a fence in this fokkinge village. I can't keep up this front, picking up berries and mushrooms and leaves just to give you gold. Ahdarji said her ring was stolen by an Argonian named ... umm....dammit I already forgot his name," Kahreem says, already knowing what Rancid's answer will be.

"I might know that. For a price!"

"TEN GOLD? Are you joking? Fokke!"

He suddenly finds it hard to believe that just a week or two ago, he had hundreds in his pocket, many of which he earned just from gambling. "Well let's hear what you have to say, fur-licker."

"The poor bugger was arrested. Seems he tried to swindle the Countess. He's rotting in a cell in the castle dungeon now."

"So he's in jail? Great. That's really wonderful. Just when I get out of jail, I have to somehow get back in!"

"It's common knowledge that the jailors can be bribed to allow visitors to see prisoners."

"Bribed? As in more gold spent?! ... Fokke!"

"Blessings of Stennndarrr upon you," Rancid Ra'shida says, turning away to a night full of sleeplessness in the rain.

"Hmm, well there's gotta be a way to get around this dilemma," Kahreem muses as he walks back towards the Three Sisters' Inn. Once back inside he finds he has less than 40 gold, and therefore must break into the room where all his things are stored. He breaks 3 out of 10 lockpicks while doing so.

"Fokke!"



Middas, 1:07 pm

"Hail"

says a guard the next afternoon. Kahreem says nothing in return, other than "just making a delivery. The Countess's eyes only."

Feeling slightly paranoid, Karheem realizes he's wearing nice clothes, but stolen nice clothes. He's wearing nice shoes, but stolen nice shoes. He's just been in jail for fighting with an Argonian named Oatmeal, and this means his head should be cleared for bounty.

"But will they notice my clothes? Damn! Shoulda worn something less suspicious."

Too late for this. Kahreem makes his way towards the middle of Castle Leyawiin's court, takes a right, and walks down a sloping hallway to the dungeon.

Middas, Day 66, 1:43 pm

"You look lost," says the jailor calmly, as Karheem moseys as casually into the Dungeon as he can.

"Ahh, perhaps I am lost."

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE DOWN HERE!" the guard now shouts, suddenly happy to let his presence as a member of the Law be known.

"Well, let me explain. I am Vincent the Spice Merchant, on my way from Bruma. And a-hah ha-ha :one of my best ... uhhh ... spice contacts happens to be in one of your cells. Imagine that? He's an Argonian I know. Happens to be really good at fishing up some slaughterfish scales, and you'd be surprised what these are used when making spices! Why, some of your favorite meals might be enhanced by the lowly slaughterfish. Disgusting creatures...but I hear their meat is rather tasty."

"Yeah, we got him here," the guard says reluctantly. "Argonians aren't allowed visitors though. Countess Alessia's orders. She has a thing about the lizard folk."

The guard then hands Kahreem a note, just in case somebody somehow happens to be listening.

"20 gold?" Kahreem scream-whispers. "Look, I may be wearing fancy clothes, but the spice market's down right now. If I was up in the Imperial City, I'd be able to make a pretty profit, but down here ... well ... 20 gold is a lot of ...uh... gold."

"You're a smart one then," the guard says, content to let this Redguard sweat a little. Then he adds: "I thought was going to have to arrest you for a minute."

"Well, let's talk about this."

And talk they did. For a few mintues, Kahreem impressed himself, putting on his best Redguard charm. He usually only used such courtly graces for members of the opposite sex (whom he found attractive) but after several minutes of complimenting, joking, and cajoling with the guard, he can see he's got him in his pocket, perhaps.

"That's pretty good!" the guard says at one point, his face beaming with happiness.

"Good enough to waive the 20 gold bribe? It is a bribe you know?"

But the guard will not have this. After the Redguard loses 20 more gold, the guard keeps his word. ... "Amusei, you say? I thought you wanted to see 'Amuday.' He's off-limits. Amusei though is just down the hall. Make it quick."

Kahreem does 'make it quick'. He makes it quick with a new shirt, new blacksmith's pants, and a few items of food, before finding the locked-up Argonian.


2:50 pm

"Ahhh. The Thieves Guild's new favorite," greets Amusei. His voice is typically raspy, and smells of uncooked meat. "What do you waaaant?"

"You know what I want," Kahreem says, trying to sound like a tough guy. "I want that ring you stole. The one that belongs to Ahdarji. Shame on you for stealing from another member. The Shadow does not hide you, scum."

"Why should I tell you where it issss? Here I sit in Leyawin's dungeon while you are free. What will you do for Amusei if I tell you?"

For a moment, Kahreem is confused. He has forgotten about the beastfolk's habit of speaking of themselves in the third person. Then Kahreem sees Amusei looking towards his man-satchel, and (at first) he thinks the Argonian wants a bit of gold. Great. More gold. But then Amusei makes a small set of motions with his scaly hands, and Kahreem figures out what he wants.

"A lockpick you say? Well, I don't have a problem with that*. Have a it, dino-man."

"You'd do that for meee? Maybe you guild types aren't so bad after all. Okay. It's a deeeal. Give me a lockpick and I'll tell you about the ring."

Kahreem does so, but not without a small amount of reluctance. Down to just six now.

"Sun-lit freedom! Yessss, I stole that ring from Ahdarji," Amusei fesses up. "When I went to sell it, the fence told me I was too hot for him. He showed me an inscription on the inside. 'To Alessia.' That had to be the Countess of Leyawiin. The damn ring was stolen property!"

"Yeah, so what did you do?" Kahreem asks, purely curious, his previous 'tough guy' act now discarded.

"Well, I figured I would ransom it back to the Countess. Except she tricked meee! I was arrested for theft, and she kept her ring."

"Well of course she did, fool! What were you thinking? A lizard-man trying to be noble. Uhh, no offense."

"None taken. I owe you a debt of gratituuuude!"

"Well look. There's a guard stationed right up the hall there. I'd be careful if I were you. Good luck."

*

Stay tuned for next episode: Kahreem goes Castle-diving!

Short on Septims and lockpicks. Maybe this thief should seek another profession?

Yeah I know! He's mostly short on brains, though.

Most men are.

Too bad he didn't find some more lockpicks.

Speak for yourself!

Before I start today's story, I will talk about my weekend first, and a dream that I had towards the end of it. It's rather interesting.

We went away for the weekend, just me and my daughter. It was a fun weekend, but also a rather exhausting one, since we joined up with a group of others who were doing some hiking in the Shenandoahs. We all camped outside for a couple days, it was a blast. By the time I got back home yesterday, I made a quick dinner, popped my kid in the tub, and then crashed. :snoring: I was out like a light. Fortunately, my kid knows how to take a bath. She's at the age that she's practically mastered bathing, so good thing she didn't drown!

Maybe it's due to the fact that I had no gaming-time this weekend, but the very last dream I had this morning was about Lady Saga. I was with Acadian in my backyard, and somebody else from the forums was also present, but I forget who this was. It's not any of the regulars, though. I have no idea what Acadian looks like IRL, but in my dream he was a stout fellow with a large round beard, and not very much hair. Acadian did not do very much, he just kinda stood there in the backyard, admiring the scenery.

The dream was about Saga, like I said. I wasn't gaming with her in this dream, nor did she simply appear as a 3-dimensional character. I was sort of telepathically communicating with her while she was not actually in my presence, and we were planning stuff together. I knew Saga is about to meet Erthor, and she told me of the things she wanted to say when she meets up with him, so I'll try and remember some of what she told me.

Oh, one more thing: Saga could write scrolls, but she could not create spells, yet. It's a rather interesting notion that I'll perhaps put into my RPing with her somehow.




Days Passed: 22

Active Quests: 13
Quests Cmptd: 3

Skill Increases: 85
Novice Skills: 12
Apprentice Skills: 9
Journeyman Skills: 0
Expert Skills: 0
Master Skills: 0

Bounty: 0
Fame: 1
Infamy: 0

Ooooooo. Ooooo. O-whooaa Oooooo.

Danger is up ahead, but yet unseen. Lady Saga creeps along in the darkness of Bleak Flats Cave, carrying a simple iron bow, and 17 simple iron arrows. Hanging from a specialized loop in her belt is a steel mace, which she often needs for backup down here. Chainmail upon her head, matched leather on her upper-body and feet. Her fur gauntlets? They're already useless after facing three of this cave's homely 'residents'. She made several potions over the past few days, and dozens of poisons, but the poisons are useless as of right now.

"Damn zombies. Erthor is going to have a grand tasting of my wrath very soon. Very soon."

Lady Saga creeps along and says this quietly, so the shambling, one-armed mess up ahead cannot hear her. Had this 'mess' once been a proper citizen of Cyrodiil? Had he or she once been an adventurer in search of gold and treasure, only to be killed down here, and later brought back to un-life? ...None of this matters now, Saga thinks. It's very important to be able to make that first shot, so the enemy ahead stays un-alerted. These menaces have lots of strength, and if she can take a good chunk of it away with a stealthy shot, she's ahead of the game.

"But you know, I cannot completely place all of my blameings upon him, for returning to his former misdoings. I am also of some blame as well. Had I not strayed him from his most persistent of wishes, Erthor might have returned to Skingrad, and remained there, as well. Did he not make it very clear to me that he MUST get back to Skingrad soon, for he has had plenty of the wilds? Something of such. And 'twas never in my plannings to make good upon my promises. How very ostentatious of me."

It is one of Lady Saga's resolutions now that she's returned from Valenwood to Cyrodiil; to make amends. Right her former wrongs. Erthor is like a spoiled child, Saga thinks. A child with a very strong desire for adventure and trickery, but not very much skill to back any of this up. Perhaps he never had a mother to fuss over him, nor a big sister to teach him right from wrong. He cannot help but place himself into dangerous situations, and with very little forethought or planning.

"Well, let us set this to rights, then."

Saga crouches down as the sound of the zombie nears. She drinks a potion which helps her detect (un)life, and aims her bow at the purple essence she sees in the gloom, 20 feet ahead.

4:47 pm
After a fight with one final zombie, Saga sees the den. Erthor's den. The place where he has made his home. She shakes her head in disgust. All he needs (apparently) is a tapestry upon a far wall, a mildewy old bedroll, a rotten chest to store his things, and he has made this wretched place livable.

She's pretty sure Erthor has returned, but Saga cautions herself anyways, sneaking up slowly. The vampire who had been rumored to once live here might still be here, after all. What was her name? Kate. That's it. EradiKate. Saga finally remembers. In the Year 434, it was rumored EradiKate had lived in Bleak Flats Cave, after Erthor vacated. Kate had also been rumored to be a member of the Dark Brotherhood, as well. She had used Bleak Flats as a home, the rumors said, so Akatosh help anybody who made the mistake of venturing down here alone.

As she creeps into the den itself, Saga's heart skips a beat as she sees a dark figure in a far corner. Then she calms herself. It's not a talented, dangerous, but also lonely vampire, it's a rather pugnacious wood elf, who can't seem to keep himself out of trouble.

"Erthor."

"What is it, Associate?"

Saga puts her bow away, and takes out her torch.



"'What is it Associate?' Is that all you have in reply? Do not you have rememberance of who I am?"

"They're all gone?" Erthor says, hoping to change the subject and keep it changed. "I can leave the cave? Oh, thank you! I'm ever so grateful! ... You're heading back to Skingrad, aren't you? Could I.. maybe come with you? It'd be safer, I think. So, what do you say?"

Erthor has aged ever-so-slightly, just like me, Saga thinks. It seems the wrinkles around his eyes have become more a tad more pronounced. On the other hand, he's apparently still the same man in many ways.

"You have nothing else to say? Nothing on the subject of traipsing off to Valenwood with me? You sly devil. You followed me, and then went off into the forest, while I kept my sleep! That I should be much more frank than I am now with you, is of urgency and appetency. But I will not waste my time. For we each write our own dramas as we thrive onwards. And that you have chosen to make one final erring, once again, by separating off into this .... this ... wretched place, and away from your guildmates, that is the real true shame. For you are not ready, Erthor.

"You may come with me," Saga continues. "And I will protect you. I will show you the ways of proper combat, in these wild lands of Cyrodiil. Of this, I make full promise."

"Oh thank you. You're just too kind!" Erthor gushes. "I can't wait to be back in Skingrad, safe and sound."

Lady Saga turns her head, rolls her eyes, and puts her face into her right palm.

"Yes, we will go to Skingrad soon," she answers, "but might I ask you to accompany along with me, once again, while I make travellings upon these very plains and forests? It will only take a few days."

Saga smirks at Erthor, already seeing the possibilities ahead.

Lol! Once again Saga does not just help him back to Skingrad, but instead drags him out into the wild!

Yeah, isn't that funny? I did not mention this in the story, but I felt like Saga wants to keep Erthor around while she does the rest of the recommendations. Hey, why not? It'll be fun.

Lady Saga

Level: 2

Health: 73
Magicka: 100
Fatigue: 155

Days Passed: 34

Factions: Mage's Guild
Rank: Associate


"Will you please put that thing out? No need for such, now that we are up and above, once again." Lady Saga says, a tad impatiently. "See upon the grasses, there? I have a need to view upon these grasses mine and your shadows. And feast my eyes upon the ways our shadowings point. Your torch's light will make our goings contradictory, as I cannot tell which way to direct unless I have only the day's light to go by."

Erthor, the wayward Bosmer from Skingrad, disobeys his partner's request for a few moments, but then solemnly puts his torch away.* If she would just take me back to Skingrad, all could be easily and conveniently explained! he thinks, feeling irked. The zombies were merely an experiment gone awry! ... And could I have tried such an experiment in Skingrad? Absolutley not. I needed to try my hand in the safety of Bleak Flats. But once again, I have been recalcitrant, and once again, I have been caught for my errings. But what will the Guild think? If I could just speak to Adrienne, all could be explained!

The pair have just exited Black Rock Caverns, still dripping wet from the spray of the waterfall which hides Black Rock's entrance. Saga had felt this spray directly upon her skin, as she now wears a Huntsman-styled brassiere upon her chest; her former leather armor top had been torn and beaten apart in Black Rock, and was quickly discarded. Saga has been trying her hand at armor & weapon repair, but her abilities away from the forge have been spotty, so far.

"See? See the shadows, and how they point left? We are heading towards the north. Thank you, Erthor, for putting away your torch."

Erthor makes no reply.

Well, too bad for you, sullen one, Saga thinks. 'Tis your fault you are in the position you are now: traveling with me all across Cyrodiil, instead of merely being escorted back to your home town. You were there, you had your chance to flee, and you did not take it. So now you are here. With me. Get used to this.

After their last adventuring in Black Rock, Saga has realized she needs Erthor. She needs his talents as a scamp-conjurer, especially. Over the years, her own talents in this particular area (Conjuration) have become especially weak. After her recent visit to the Chorrol Mage's Guild, Saga realized she's not even adept enough to conjure up a skeleton, anymore!** What would she have done in Black Rock when ganged upon by two, sometimes three bandits at a time?

She needs him. No question about that.

*

**



9:09 am
So far the morning is quiet, other than the twittering of many birds. The hill they climb is covered by green and gold-colored grasses, and is rather steep, but not once can she and her partner not find a firm foot-hold as they walk. It takes Aerin from Valenwood awhile to find the stairs they had previously been taking, before being 'distracted' by Black Rock's presence. But find them she does.

"So I .... we ... are being sent to find some sort of book. An ancient tome of some sort," Saga says. "Fingers of the Mountains, or some such. Well, to think and to wit--"
.... Saga stops and turns, leaving her previous sentence unfinished, not that her partner seems to mind. She gazes back upon Chorrol, as it peeks through the great canopy of trees below.* She makes sure to take several such pauses as the pair climbs slowly up the hillside.

1:09 pm
The sun eventually starts to show, but the sound of a storm is ever-present. Saga occasionally breaks into a run, trying to make it to this place known as Cloud Top before the sun goes down, and Erthor does not seem to mind. The only enemy encountered is a solitary wolf, which Erthor and his summoned scamp easily takes down.

2:53 pm
The trees switch from deciduous to pure conifers, and the worn path becomes even more worn, rocks of granite and shale occasionally showing through the tamped-down earth. It does not take long before Saga and Erthor find their way to Cloud Top, which is little more than an Imperial ruins.

"Found the place, by the looks of it."

At first, Saga seens nothing, and Erthor does not offer much help. But as she investigates futher, she finds the burned-out torso of a man on the ground. Somehow, the book has been placed inside of his body, and Saga grimaces as she pulls this book out. She expects the book shall also be charred, but it is in good condition, somehow.

"Fingers of the Mountain", she says, somewhat awed. She tries to read it, but the book seems magically-sealed. "What thinks you, Erthor? A book placed within a charred corpse?"

Erthor, as usual, says nothing, but thinks many things.

*

Oh my, Erthor’s thoughts were funny. That attitude is so perfect for him.

If Erthor really didn´t like to be with Saga, he should have made a run for Skingrad when he could!

Exactly ... he would have had what? a quarter mile to go?

Well, I've just done some gaming with one of my favorite Redguards, and here is what happened.

Kahreem of Weet

Level: 5

Days Passed: 66
Days Jailed: 16

Fame: 0
Infamy: 7


"I can eat for a daaay with a single coinnnn", Deeh the Scalawag informs the Redguard in royal clothing before him.

"Is that so?? Heh, this one time, I ate for three days with a single coin. It's hard using a coin for silverware, though. I much prefer a knife and fork nowadays."

"Uhh huh", the Argonian known as 'the Scalawag' answers, the joke going right over his scaly head.

"Well *ahem* listen. I'm in a bit of a bind, you see I've lost all my notes about a mysterious ring. Um. My name is Vincent. You may have heard of me; I've recently been assigned to fill the Count's coffers with a variety of spices. For I am a spice merchant. But I also am a curator. Yes in-deedy," Kahreem says with a wink. "And lately I've been sent to ascertain information about a ring. A ring belonging to the Countess, herself. Might you have anything of importance to add to my report?"

Kahreem suddenly realizes the irony; here he is now pretending to be somebody with a rather important job, yet he's trying to learn about his job through one of Leyawiin's poorest residents.

"Sooo Alessia Caro has recovered her ring. And now you want to know where she keeps it so you can steal it back...."

"Uh. Well damn," the Redguard answers. His cover's been blown. "You didn't get my joke about the coin, but you're not as dumb as you look. Yeah, I want to steal this ring back, so what?"

"MY pockets are a little light at the moment... if you know what I mean.."

"Yeah yeah, here you go. Have some coin, beggar." *clink* "You beggars are getting rich off of me, ya know. With all your information-gathering. How's a thief supposed to manage?"

"I don't know where she keeps tha ring, but I know who does!" Deeh answers. At first, Karheem doubts he'll get anything reasonable, but this dirty Argonian seems to know his town quite well. "Talk to Hildara Mothril, the Countess's hannndmaidennn. She eats dinner in the castle at the eighth bellll. You may have to sweet talk her, but she knows all about Alessia Caro's habits and scheduuuuules."

"Sweet talk?" Kahreem says, smiling. "You don't say..."

"You should know that there are other secrets in that castle," Deeh the Scalawag intones.

"Go on."

"I've heard of a hidden torture chamberrrr. they say that Count Marius torturesss Argonians in the depths of his castle. The servants whisssper that the Argonians are dragged into the basement, and are never seeeen againnnn. You should stay out of there, just in case."

"I will," Kahreem says, knowing he would not.



5:18 pm

"Hiii!"

....says a middle-aged woman dressed in brown clothing, while soothing music is piped in from a hidden magical device*. Kahreem finds her standing alone in the castle's dining room. Definitely not royalty, but Kahreem decides he needs to be on his best behavior, anyways. His plans in the near future are going to include one of his favorite activities in the world: breaking into an establishment which has more money than he could ever hope for. He needs as many 'allies' as possible, just in case things go as wrong as they did in Bravil.

"How fares thee, my fair-maiden? I am Vincent of Bruma. Curator, spice-merchant, and Captain of the Marie Elena," he says, lying once again, and how could this lowly servant ever prove him wrong?

"I am Janonia Aurunceia, chief maid-servant of Castle Leyawiin."

"Is that so? My what a pretty name, Karheem answers, unsure if he'll even be able to remember it in a few moments. "Janonia. And such beautiful eyes. Eyes the color of shellocks upon the damp dewside," he says with a dreamy smile. What's a shellock? Who in Oblivion knows? ... it's yet another term he's just made up out of nowhere. But it works.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," Janonia says, pleased to have somebody new actually notice her for a change.

After a few minutes of flirting, bantering, and eloquating, Kaheem feels he's buttered up this maid so good, she might taste like a biscuit.

"...and so in those days, when I sailed across the mighty seas, 'twas my aim to gallantly drift into a port where I could suddenly take life ... a little slower. And here I am, before the fawnted cupcake of a woman I see before me."

"Not bad! Not bad at-all!" Janonia fawns, ever so delighted with this odd but loquacious Redguard.

"Say, in my travels, I have been broadening my mind a bit, and have heard rumors about a missing ring, one which the Countess here so dreadfully lost, but it has been found again. AHEM Sorry. It's all those spices; they have a tendency to get up one's nose."

"Ha ha, good one!"

"Might you know anything about this ring? I would be so thrilled to document it in my upcoming book: 'Countess Caro of Leyawiin, in her Own Time'" Kahreem says, suddenly realizing what a horrible title for a book this would make. In her own time?!? What the fokke?

"I don't think it would be appropriate for me to talk about private family matters with a stranger," Janonia the maid says, suddenly going cold.

"A stranger? And here I am thinking you and I were getting close!"

"Not now, not later, not ever!"

"Fine, Breton trash," Kahreem mumbles. "Have it your way. We'll see how far YOU'VE become in life in five years, when I own my own shipyard...you'll come looking for me!" Kahreem finishes lamely. She'll come looking for me? What sort of an insult is that?

"Good day!" the maid says brightly, gladly going back to her job. She loves her job, and will not be tricked and swindeled by this strange man.

With no new information, Kahreem of Weet is stuck. He needs to wait until the 'eighth bell' to find his contact. "What the fokke is the eighth bell, anyways?"

He sits down at the table, and hopes the stupid Breton trash maid will leave the room, so he can at least get a bite of sirloin in his belly.

*



8:33 pm
The Weet Bandit assumes "eighth bell" means 8 pm, but as 8 pm comes and goes, he finds himself getting seriously bored.

"Hello", says Count Marius smugly, his duties for the day as a throne-warmer now done.

Kahreem finds himself really wanting to drink his Cheap Wine, and get solidly drunk, but to do so now would be Social Suicide, for he needs to find this lady who can help him. What was her name? Kahreem thinks. Hilda? Hulda? Something like that. Eventually the dining room fills with more residents: Countess Caro herself, a couple of guards, a cat-person, and a lizard-woman. Kahreem chats briefly with the two beastfolk present, but none of them have a name like "Hulda" or "Hilda".

"Fokke!"

He winds up standing awkwardly in a corner, not wanting to eat the stolen strawberries in his pocket for fear of being noticed. And he doesn't much feel like schmoozing up to the Count or Countess. Maybe it's better not to be so noticed, Kahreem suddenly realizes before taking a walk.

"It is pleasant, and a bit ... melancholy, to walk among the graves of Green Emperor Way, and contemplate the dead who preceded us..." the Count begins to ramble as Kahreem slips out the room and into the Castle's main area.

"Go on," a guard replies, completely bored.

"Good," Karheem whispers. "Stay bored, guard. Enough of this Hulda woman, I'm gonna find this ring myself... heh heh heh..." he says, stalking up a nearby set of stairs.

Well, this plan lasted less twenty minutes. Just moments after picking the door to the Lord's Manor, he had been noticed by a castle resident HYYY-YA!! who had slammed him with her fists, despite Karheem's protests of being lost. With nowhere else to go....

"Break the law on MY watch will ya?! I'll be confiscating your stolen goods OH and no goooold to pay your fine! It's off to the lockup, then."

"Whatever, sir. I'm not resisting arrest, so let us go to jail, then."

"Hope you rot, criminal scum!"

SHINK!

Yet again he sees the inside of a prison cell!


Well, second home is second home, after all

Date & Time not recorded

"You're not supposed to be down here!*"

....the guard calls into Kahreem of Weet's cell. Kahreem was just about to fall asleep at this exact moment, but the sound of the door squeaking made him turn and face the cell's gated door. The jailor opens this gate, and then walked right into Kahreem's cell.

"I am not supposed to be down here? You mean I can go?"

At this, the guard seems to backpedal. Wait, is this the Redguard who was just caught sneaking into the castle? .. but he could never admit such a mistake. So instead, he changes the subject..."There's an orc named Mazoga up at the castle, claims she's a knight. Doesn't look like one to me, though."

Kahreem stands in his cell, totally confused. The door to his cell is now wide open, and he didn't open it himself. Should he just leave, then?

"Say, uh, you got your facts mixed-up or something", Kahreem attempts to correct. "I am the notorious man you caught in your castle. Yeah that's right, I'm a bad man! But while I got you down here, what know you about the ring? Countess Caro's ring?"

"I don't think it would be appropirate for me to talk about private family matters with a stranger."

"Well, get the fokke out of my cell, then. I only got a few more hours of sentence to serve."

"I have to get back to work now," the guard admits.

Kahreem smirks to himself as the guard leaves. Could I have just walked out? Nah...

*


Fredas, 12:26 am

"What's this about?" asks yet another guard as Kahreem is escorted back outside the castle.

"Hissssss!" says an Argonian.

Kahreem of Weet decides he hates Leyawiin. He hates it. His luck has been cantankerous, his ability to make any headway on his latest quest has been (so far) insipidly disasterous.

"I'm so sick of jail," he says to the night, finally dropping his 'spice merchant' act. "Shoulda just stayed a bandit on the plains. Mighta been dead by now, but hey, at least I was free."

The guard says nothing in reply, and the hissy Argonian walks away. At this moment, Kahreem realizes he's got nothing. All his nicer clothes (at the moment of arrest) were stolen. So he's wearing cheap jail clothes. He's got 20 gold and 5 lockpicks, and somehow has to try to break into the Countess's quarters (he assumes) to retrieve this stupid ring.

He has his final drink of Cheap Wine as he ponders what to do next.

2:01 am
After a visit to his hotel room, Kahreem is poorer than ever. But he has more appropriate clothes now to do his possible thieving; a dark green shirt matched with tan linens. He still wears his jail sandals, but only because (ironically) they make some of the best shoes for sneaking. After stepping back inside the castle, he makes his way all the way back to the court, turns to his right, and finds the door leading into the basement.

2:14 am
Kahreem wanders around for a few, opens a few barrels and crates, and then suddenly sees a half-open barrel with some sort of knob sticking out of it.

"Hah! Looky here!"

He pulls the lever, which opens up a trap door. The hallway beyond is dark, and seems unoccupied, but the Weet Bandit takes no chances. He creeps through the doorway, and then uses a second lever on the other side to close it back up. A door left open such as this one could only invite trouble.

Good grief, when Kahreem kicked the guard out of his jail cell I laughed myself silly. I was hoping you'd get him out to play this weekend!

Ha ha thanks. The story is actually unfinished. We keep losing the Internet in our house, it's really gettin on my nerves! Kahreem got past the torture room, though, and is about to break into the Count's chambers, so that's where the story shall pick up next time I'm writing.

Glad to see he´s not giving up at least!

Yeah, that knucklehead will never give up. Lol. Anyways, it's Monday morning, and it's overcast outside. I'm going to try to see if I can finish this chapter up properly.



Play time: 85:46:33

Days Passed: 68
Days Jailed: 17

The final door into the Count's chambers has the cheapest lock, Kahreem thinks as he picks it with one try. He is lucky. He's managed to make it this far with only 5 lockpicks. He found a sixth lockpick in a rotted old chest, and this is the only one he's broken so far.

"Funny how they use 1 and 2-tumblers to protect one of the most important people in Cyrodiil. Cheapskates," he whispers. Kahreem gazes into the room before him, which reeks of pleasant scents up top, and a lower, heavier sort of odor underneath. The odor of food which is spoiling, perhaps. He had found the Countess's "torture chamber" about an hour previously, the place was deserted, though.

"Well. Here goes nothing. Wish me luck."

After picking this final door, he closes it, and then remains motionless for about an hour. Waiting for folks to wake up and get on with their daily duties in life. He listens carefully for shoes walking nearby, but there is apparently nobody here.

7:27 am

"The elves and the magic-users make do with all their fancy spells and incantations. I get by using my wits entirely."

He is so nervous, he can hear his heartbeat punctuating in his breath ... huh huh huh .... and this is when he finally decides to have a better look into the next room, as pleasant music is piped in from somewhere unseen.*

It's a medium-sized chamber, nicely decorated with well-polished furnishings and red-colored tapestry. There's a door on the far end, and a set of dark stairs to his left. The Redguard looks carefully, and thinks he sees a man standing guard up those stairs.

"Dammit! Fokke! How'm I gonna be able to get by him?!"

Even if he sneaks into the room, he'll be way too broad and easy to notice. "Dammit."

10:25 am
He finally makes a move, after discerning that the guard has left. As he creeps into the chamber, he notices a second set of stairs on his right, and ducks up these after hearing the sound of a door opening somewhere far away. As he gets a better look, he sees there's now a door beside him.

"Ha! A one-tumbler! What the fokke is wrong with these people?"

The door leads into a hallway though, and Kahreem can see at least three other doorways in the nearby vicinity. The Redguard is lucky nobody else is standing close by.

11:47 am

"Well what do you think, Hildara, about these shades?" Countess Caro asks in the privacy of her room.

"Did you hear something?" asks her personal servant.

After a false lead into a pair of rooms, which turn out to be a dead-end, Kahreem sneaks back into the initial chamber with the nice furniture, and has a closer peek up the stairs.

"Yes! The guard is gone! That's it buddy, you're too busy now, sucking up to Miss Caro or her decrepit husband ha ha ha."

The Weet Bandit chances up the stairs, grateful that the carpet which lies upon them only quiets his shuffly foot-falls more than usual. He reaches the door and picks its simpleton lock.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE!"

He hasn't even got a chance before he is caught! ... by Countess Caro and her trusty 'handmaiden' Hildara.

"Whoops! Ahhh....gotta go!"

Kahreem is chased by the pair of ladies for what seems to be an hour or so. He makes his way back down the stairs, past a second secret door, and (finally) into the torture room. "Dammit!" He knows if he goes too far, there will only be guards at the other end. "Crappe!" So he comes up with a quick plan. After a moment when the ladies show up, he circles the torture-rack (if that's indeed what it is) and allows Hildara to place a single blow on him...

"Arrrgh!" PLUNK!

...then Kahreem rushes back the way he came. Through the first door, and past the secret one. As he passes through, he quickly ignites his torch, finds the lever half-hidden in an open-topped barrel, and closes the door!

"A A HAA HA HA!!" he laughs maniacally! The ladies are trapped inside!

"We won't hesitate to KILL you!" Hildara screams.

"Ha! You'll have to catch me first!"

Already knowing time is going to be tight, he now runs back upstairs once more, and into the room which the ladies had been locked inside. He searches and loots frantically, but cannot find the ring! ... The room is well-stocked with strawberries and apples, though. After calming down and eating some of these, he realizes they're not coming for him. ** Kahreem is safe. He decides to wait it out.

"Perhaps the Countess sleeps here, and I can take that damn ring from her very pocket," he says aloud. Nobody is here, and chances he'll have the place to himself until at least bed-time.

*

**


6:47 pm
Totally bored, Kahreem starts creeping around the room he is in, practicing his chosen profession while snacking on grapes and strawberries, when the door suddenly opens! .. At the exact moment, Kahreem had been standing in a darker area, so the guard who opens the door (in a frenzy) does not see the Weet Bandit.

"Phewww."



7:09 pm
The guard seems to calm down, yet cannot stop his prying. He checks the room twice more, but finds no sign of the Redguard scum who reportedly "accosted" his boss. When the door opens a third time, it's not the guard who enters, it's the Count himself. He walks right in, and stands just two yards from Kahreem! ... A guard accompanies the Count, and the two of them stand literally right in front of the trespasser who's been hiding in their chambers for hours. Neither says anything, and after a few moments, both decide to leave.

11:28 pm
Kahreem is feeling sleepy, the joints in his legs getting creaky, when the door opens a fourth time. The guard does his usual step in/step out routine, leaving the Redguard wondering if anybody's ever going to fokkinge sleep in this fokkinge room. He doesn't have to wait much longer.

"The legions patrol the roads..." it's a woman's voice! "...and the Empire supports them in their task. I can't imagine we'll ever be at war with the provinces. Not in my lifetime."

Karheem breaks into a sweat, as the mundane conversation drolls on. He can hear these voices, but cannot see who speaks them.

"The Fighter's Guild is recruiting again. Not a bad way to makes some money, if you've got the stones for it," the woman informs.

I've heard others say the same," a male voice responds.
"What's the news from the other parts of Tamriel?"

"I understand daedra worship has become increasingly prevalent, in the Summerset Isles."

"It seems Summerset Isle has become a much more dangerous place!" the male responds.

"Indeed."

"Safe travels," the male says, even though the lady is simply about to "travel" to the nearest bed.

12:14 am
Kahreem assumes the lady is Countess Caro, and that she speaks to the guard posted outside her room, but as she walks in, Kahreem is dismayed to find there's another male with her: The Count of Leyawiin. Both of them walk in the room, and climb into bed.*

"Finally!"

Kahreem sneaks slowly towards the Countess as she sleeps.

*

Turdas, 7:25 pm
Sun's Dusk 8, 3E433

Level: 4
Class: Ranger

Health: 105
Magicka: 120
Fatigue: 167

[Days Passed: 74
Fame: 5
Infamy: 0

"Erthor, try this. It it known as 'monkshood', and this is the pulp which resides within its bulbs. Monkshood is in season right now. Mmmm...."

Lady Saga then proceeds to take a raw mouthful of this horribly bitter herb right in front of him, scoffing it down with zest, making him want to vomit.

"I hope we'll get to --" Erthor starts, but does not finish his sentence.

Over many weeks and (now) months, he has asked, reasoned, and pleaded with his wood elf "rescuer" to take him back to his hometown, but she has ignored him at all counts. Rescuer is not the correct word, Erthor thinks, Captor is more like it. When will I get back to Skingrad? ... Oh Azura, WHEN?.

The pair had left Cheydinhal an hour ago, and now strides roughly south, although their exact direction tends to wander this way and that as they encounter various trees and boulders. Saga has decided to avoid the roads as they travel south to Leyawiin, now that she knows she can handle Cyrodiil's wilds. No bears, no trolls, not even a greater wolf has crossed their path since her return. Even if Erthor were not with her, her newfound ability to summon scamps has saved her many times, and she has often left him behind as they plundered various lairs.

"It has been ages since I last saw these parts," she says, referring to the Nibenay Basin forest in which they travel.

As they come to a steep hill, Saga spies a group of plant life on the slope.

"Columbine, St. John's, and nightshade, Erthor. The first two are edibles, but never partake of the third, yes? ... 'Tis as poisonous as a snake, and bitter as an orc's toe. Should ye find thyself deep in the forest, as of some day you might, know your herbs for survival, and never eat nightshade."

Erthor, the rogue mage of Skingrad, who has watched his partner eat pallid leaves, rotten-looking mushrooms, and dangerous-looking herbs over the past few weeks, doesn't really see what the difference is. It's all uncooked, untasty vegetation, to him.


4:48 am

"I am going to be trekking forwards. You stay here, Erthor."

"Okay! If you say so!"

Aerin, the Wood Elf from Valenwood hunches down, and casts her dual Detect Life spells, giving her a virtual window to see any enemies, up to 120 feet ahead. She feels a pang of something for leading Erthor on like this, taking him far away from his safe, cozy Mage's Guild family. On the other hand, the man has wanted adventure twice in hs life, and so now he's got it.

"Buggery twit"....

The name on the door of this cave they're now in is 'Vatacen'. Strange that is has an Ayleid's name, Saga thinks. But as she creeps down an underground slope, she soon finds out why it's got such a name.

"The Ayleids were here!"

It's an Ayleid ruin, which (oddly) does not have a typical white-stone Ayleid entrance. Saga wonders about this for a few seconds, but then catches sight of a purple mass in her vision. The mass is located somewhat to her left, and is low to the ground. Could be a rat, could be a sleeping Conjurer.

She nocks an unpoisoned arrow into her fine iron bow, and makes a direct shot...

"UGH!"

Not a rat. The figure now stands, and it's either a human or an elf.

"Am I supposed to be impressed?!"

Not a human or an elf! .....sounds like a female Argonian. Saga draws her bow for a second shot, and then summons an Oblivion scamp. The battle quickly catches fire between this scamp, and a ghost summoned by the Argonian, as Saga quickly sneaks off. But this lizard is tough. Before long, she runs up towards the wood elf's hiding place, and starts using her fists to make direct blows.

"AAAGH! OOF!"

Such a rarity this is! For somebody to survive one of Saga's sneak bow-attacks, and also a scamp! ... Saga does not panic, but she does fumble for her new Mace of Embers*, though.

"Fiddley!"

The lizard woman places two more blows as Saga turns to run back to where she started, and before she knows it she's got Erthor's assistance.

"NOWWW YOU WILL KNOOOW PAIN!" he bellows.

And before long, it's all over. The lizard falls to the ground, and Saga checks for a pulse.

"She is still with us, Erthor! She is still alive! Such temeritous fortune has she."

Within moments, the lizard rouses herself from the ground, as Saga now brandishes her mace.

"I don't have time for you" the lizard known as 'Skaleel' says to Saga, and calmly walks away.

*

12:58 am, Sun's Dusk 3, 3E433

Location: Lord's Manor Private Quarters

Days Passed: 69
Level: 5






Dextrous precision ... calm under pressure ... and being a "sneaky-looking sort". Everything in the Kahreem of Weet's career now leads up to this very point.

Gotta keep steady. One bad move and this is ALL over, Kahreem thinks wildly. Before him is his goal: Countess Alessia Caro, that famous rebel of a woman who did just what she wanted in life: got outside her town's walls to view Cyrodiil itself. She's enigmatic, she's charismatic, and Kahreem is about to pick her pocket.

The ring! Is it here?

He never did get to speaking to the woman he was supposed to contact beforehand: Caro's personal hand-maiden Hildara. An Argonian beggar suggested that Kahreem contact Hildara first, before doing anything else. But things had become a little ... complicated. Kahreem had not anticipated he would not be able to find this "Hildara", and also that he would be arrested. Again.

As he nears the Countess, Kahreem smiles. He cannot believe he's made it this far. It's taken hours ...HOURS of waiting until this moment. As he waited, he had become bored, and also hungry. Good thing the Count made sure to stock his room with plenty of strawberries; Kahreem had eaten them all. At some point hours ago, he had been nearly caught by the Count himself, along with one of his guards. That had been a hairy moment, but somehow they had not noticed the dark man hiding in their very chambers.

But look at me now! I've DONE it!

He's wearing a dark green shirt matched with light brown trousers made of linen. His shoes are the sandals typically issued in jail. His brow is shiny with sweat, as he prepares for the moment at hand. He crouches.... He reaches....



1:00 am

[GASP] "Why you dirty little thief! How DARE you touch the likes of me!"

"Many pardons me'lady!" Kahreem tries, using a funny accent. "Must've gotten lost on me way to the faire-stoning!" He says this while moving his hands in a dramatic way; as if he's on stage or something. Faire-stoning? What the fokke is a faire-stoning?

His accent and his elaborationary movements do nothing to calm her down, though. Kahreem had looked into a pocket woven into Alessia Caro's shift and found three keys, two apples, and a couple potions. One of the keys looked different from the others, and Kahreem had picked this key first. Alessia did not stir. So he got greedy. And tried to remove another key.

"It's all over, lawbreaker! Your spree is at an end! I'll take any stolen goods you have. The next move is yours -- Pay your fine, or I'll haaaaul you away!"

Kahreem had run head-first out of the Count's Manor with Missus Alessia in hot pursuit! Kahreem had expected he would be accused by a guard very soon, and so here is his chance to redeem himself.

"Uh-uh...No way. No way, guard, Kahreem says mildly, knowing all Oblivion is about to break loose. "You'll have to catch me and kill me if you want this key. I've come too far...."

"THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

Like a flash, Kahreem moves and is out of the room! .. 'Pay with his blood' is one thing he is NOT going to participate in. "HAAAA!" yells the guard as he swings his silver sword, barely catching Kahreem's trousers.

The Redguard rushes down the stairs! And makes several twists & corners until he's back at the door, the one he knows he can close shut with the pull of a lever...

"You should have PAID THE FINE!" the guard reminds the Redguard.

"Yeah, but I didn't, so I still have all my money!"

Kahreem reaches into the barrel as the guard swings again. He knows the secret door to the Countess's torture chamber is closed, so he makes sure to open it now. Then he runs back up the stairs, and into the Count's parlor area.

"Hah! Urr-ee-urr-ee-urr!" the guard is FURIOUS. Angry that he's being embarrassed. I must catch this scum! Getting desperate for results, Alessia herself joins the fray, swinging her bare fists at the Weet Bandit.

"Ha! You want THIS?" Karheem dangles the key before her. "I'm going to get that ring, honey!"

As he says this, he realizes that the Count is nowhere to be seen. Is he actually sleeping through all of this?
...before anybody knows it, Kahreem dodges past the guard and the Countess, and is back down the stairs in a flash! ... after fumbling with his torch in pure darkness, he finds the secret door. It's open! He dashes through

"YOU'LL NOT GET AWAY WITH THIS!"

...and finds the lever on the other side.

"Who the fokke?"

Kahreem is greeted on the other side by a lady with strong shoulders and black hair.

"Hildara?"*

She does not answer, but instead boxes him a couple times with her fists.

"ARRGH!" Kahreem finds the lever, but it takes him a couple times to pull on it "STOP IT!" because she keeps hitting him. But he does so.

"HAH!"

He now lunges past this crazy hand-maiden, and runs down a hallway. Kahreem knows he can call upon his Redguard ancestry if he really needs to move even faster, but for now he runs at a regular man's pace. Finds a door, and steps right on through.

"It's just you and me now, Hildara," he calls as he hears her following.

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

Lol moment: Karheem locked both Alessia and Hildara in the Countess's torture chamber hours ago, but somehow Hildara never figured out how to escape!



1:58 am

"ARRGH! ... Is that the best you can doooo?"

Kahreem spends a moment dancing with Hildara in the torture room, running in circles with blood on the floor. His plans aren't to fight her, but to confuse her, by somehow backing her into a corner, and then getting an advantage in speed out of this room. But then, a problem....

"To ARMS! To ARRRMS!"

...the guard apparently had made it past the secret door, and he now brandishes his silver bow. Kahreem must now dash away!

pllllchth ... thwew! ... "HUUUGH!"

Kahreem laughs wildly as he runs down a dark, stone hallway! Apparently, he has just heard the guard shooting Hildara instead of him! AAAH-HA HA HA HA. Within moments, the twisting hallway ends! He comes to a door and panics! Runs in a circle! Until he remembers the LEVER. Another secret door! Kahreem pulls the lever as (again) Hildara gets a few lucky blows on the Redguard.

"Hey, come on now! Fokke!" and once again, Kahreem does it. Opens the secret door, rushes through, finds the barrel with the other lever located within, and pulls this too. Hildara gets him a few more times, but the bandit is safe! "HAHAHA!!!" .. Hildara has made it through, but the guard is now trapped!

"I'm just warming up, YOU PATHETIC WORM!" the guard is now pissed to find himself locked behind some sort of door.

"I may be pathetic, but you're the one locked behind that door!"

"URRRRRRR!" Hildara growls primordially, attempting another swing.

Kahreem laughs at her, then finds his way back out of the castle's basement.



3:10 am
It seems as though many hours have passed, but it's hard for him to tell; he feels rather drained after using his Reguard Adrenaline Rush as he ran from the law. All his energy's now spent. Kahreem finds himself behind the town of Leyawiin, crouched down in the grass next to a large stone wall. He senses that the guard who was chasing him must have become preoccupied with the mudcrab Kahreem had passed, for this guard is nowhere to be seen.

"Ha! saved by a mud crab!"

By law, guards and Imperial road patrols had an obligation to kill as many of these menaces as possible, which means this anonymous guard, who had been pursuing a Redguard thief scum, the same scum (it was rumored) who had also been caught breaking into the castle up in Bravil, must now stop his pursuit in order to take down a mud crab. Kahreem checks his pocket for the odd key he found in the Countess's possession as he eats a stolen apple. It's still in his pocket.

"This must be the answer!" Kahreem whispers as he hides in the grass.

He eats his apple to the core as he winds down from excitement.

11:15 am Sun's Dusk 16, 3E433

Location: two hours south of Cheydinhal

Lush grasses, green and vibrant. Warm sun, but cool forests. Lady Saga walks cautiously with Erthor along upon a steep hill. They are at the very top of this hill.

"Times like these, I do have remembrance of why I orbed full circle back from Valenwood. Feel that breeze, Erthor. Take it upon your skin, and into your nostrils."

Occasional thatches of a plant Saga has not identified yet show up in their travels, these are often tinged pink, white and yellow. Grasses of some sort, but bushier than usual emerald varieties. She has not found a use for these grasses, but the deer sure seem to love eating them. As they near the top of a hill, Aerin thinks she has spotted a very faint path, and begins to walk cautiously down hill again. A river lies ahead.

Saga has discarded her former iron helmet for the Cowl of the Druid, a hood which cost her nearly 7,000 gold. She has also dropped her iron gauntlets as well, and has not replaced them at all.

Lady Saga and Erthor find an empty boat dock. A much more obvious path leads from this dock upwards to what looks to be a cave. "Wenderbek Cave" she reads.

Imps? Marauders? Trolls? She does not fear whoever may be lurking inside.

You´ve been quite busy, Renee! I love reading about Kahreem´s thievery! And Saga doesn´t wear so much heavy armor anymore. Good for her

I kinda lost inspiration towards the end of Saga's story there, I don't know if you can tell. Happens sometimes. Kahreem's tale, on the other hand, keeps moving forward. It's easier for me to write about him since half the story is already written (TG).

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

Loredas 5:23 am Sun's Dusk 3, 3E433

Days Passed: 69

Bounty: 25
Fame: 0
Infamy: 7

Rain falls hard from a humdrum sky, as the Weet Bandit hides behind Leyawiin. They are looking for him. Searching for him. He's just managed to steal a small key from Countess Caro as she slept, but then he got greedy. Tried to steal even more from her person, and she caught him in the act. So now? ... He waits and lurks behind the town.

Eventually, he realizes: it's obvious nobody's coming for him, so he gets out of his hiding place and starts to walk around. But it's dark out here.

Kahreem finds a group of flowers floating in the water. He has no idea what the seeds from these flowers do, but he believes they can be used for potion-making, so he begins harvesting them from the plants themselves. He needs to wade into some water to do this, but this doesn't matter--he's already wet from all the rain.

"Heh. Look at this. Prob'ly make more money selling all these seeds than I will for finding that damn ring!"

He makes his way around the lower side of Leyawiin, as he creeps from the south-end to the west-end of town. The trees and grasses around him are a gloomy green, heavily slicked with rain. He has no idea if he'll be accepted back into town or not.

"Lucky for me, I got this tunic, though. Ha!"... Kahreem looks into his nightbag, and discovers he's got an extra shirt. "Yep. Now I put this on, and there you go. Quite a disguise!"

He sneaks slowly round a turn, as the morning's light starts to show. The dark night turns into a dark, rainy morning, as the Weet Bandit sees one of Leyawiin's stables in the distance.



9:26 am
There's an armored man with a long sword standing just outside of the gate. He does not look like a standard guard, but he's standing here, all the same. Kahreem braces himself for some sort of accusation or confrontation from this man, but none occurs. Minutes later is he is back in the town, walks calmly past a guard. Hmm, change of shirt must have worked he thinks.

"Fresh gaaame."

"Whot?"

"Did you hear I-tar has been at the Arena agaaain."

"I think he's just playing around," a Breton lady answers the Argonian. "I don't think he means anything by it."

"Take care...."

"Bye!"

Kahreem sells his newly-gathered sacred lotus seeds (and a sole clouded funnel mushroom) at Gundala's shop, and makes his way back to the Three Sister's Lodge, where the fur dander is so heavy in the lobby, he winds up suffering a sneezing fit that lasts for almost an hour. After a good night's rest, the Weet Bandit feels he is ready to take on Castle Leyawiin for the third time.




12:07 am

"Tidings citizen!" ... "Hello!" ... Kahreem runs by a group of guards, hoping none will recognize him, as he now pretends to be a mail-scout.

"No time for chatter! Gotta get these gifts delivered to the Count!"

The ploy seems to work. Nobody stops the man who broke into the Castle's secret torture room, and also the Lord's Manor itself! He figures somebody's got to notice him, but he passes by with barely a glance from the guards. Before long he is back where it all started, in Castle Leyawiin's basement, groping for a hidden lever in a barrel. He manages to find a pair of blacksmith's pants and some hide shoes, furthering his disguise ever so subtly. He also finds some much-needed food: a slab of beef in a barrel, an apple, and some leftover rice. After a quick meal, he says a quick prayer to whoever might be listening, and presses on.

8:30am
Kahreem hears footsteps outside the door he currently hides behind. They sound as if they're leaving the Lord's Manor. Good. Eventually he opens the door, and cautiously walks into the lobby where he had been formerly accused of larceny. Nobody seems to be around. Good. His confidence begins to rise.

But his good fortune does not last.

"YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE IN HERE!" It's Countess Caro and her somewhat manly black-haired servant.

"Well neither are you! 'Tis going on 9 o'clock, aren't you supposed to be down in court or something?"

The ladies do not get his humor, though, and both of them bare their fists in anger. Kahreem initially turns the other way, as the ladies begin their pursuit, punching him occasionally. "OWW" "Ohh!!" ..."STOP IT you BULLIES!".. but he comes up with a plan, a way to (perhaps) turn this unfortunate situation. Instead of running back down the stairs, he decides to run back to the Count's bedroom, hoping to find a wooden jewelry box with a ring in it. And he does find one! Opens it with his key, and grabs the ring which is inside. He also grabs some sort of charter (perhaps), and a bit of gold.

"THIEF! THIEF!"

As he rushes out of the bedroom, poor Kahreem is accosted, once again.

"Weeellll now. Caught in the act, and no gold to pay your fine," says a guard, beaming with satisfaction. Didn't this Redguard just run past him a few hours before, claiming to be a mail-scout? "It's off to the lockup, then."

"So they say," Kahreem says casually. "But first, I have a few things to take care of, sir."

"Then PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!" shouts the guard.

Once again, Kahreem finds himself being chased not just by multiple guards, but an upper-class woman and her hand-servant as well. He casts his Redguard Adrenaline Rush as he makes his way out of the Castle, and towards city gates.

"I got you! By jolly I've got you! Stupid ring!" he says, as the small militia of guards outside prepare their silver bows.

Note:

Hello everyone, how's your Saturday going? :yawn: Now I shall share a tale of a character whom I rarely spend time with. You asked for him, now you got him.

He is derived from an idea I thought of awhile ago, but have only implemented this year. For a fuller description on the background of this character, click the Spoiler tag below.


Loredas, 3:11 am
Heartfire 1, 3E433

Race: Argonian
B. sign: The Lover
Class: Scoundrel
Level: 2

Days Passed: 6
Bounty: 96

Days Jailed: 0
Items Stolen: 8
Assaults: 1



"You're off-duty now."

"It's about time!"

Dawn breaks through the previously-rainy morning. Angular shafts of light shine clearly upon still-wet cobblestones. A note of calm and one-ness descends.

"Please sir, I've got noting to eat."

"Don't be the last to read todaaay's ... Black Horse Courier!"

The Imperial City's Market District returns to life slowly, as the morning's warmth spreads with grace.

"Do you know Maro Rufus? He specializes in Light Armor down at The Best Defense."

"I haven't spent time there, but if you're looking for light armor, The Best Defense is the place to go."

Compliance. Acquiescence. Calm interludes of conversation, which twist in a delicate manner through the avenues and alleyways. Greetings and salutations. Discourses and random perturbances.

"Oh, hullo."

"You have my ear, citizen.

The Imperial City wallows in its finest days, and dozes in its finest hours.

"Have you ever been to Edgar's Discount Spells?"

"Dissscount ssspellsss? I'd just as soon buy a slightly ussed sssshiiield".

A wilted glance. A sunny smile. A pocketful of gold. A look beguiled. These are the days when all is at its finest, the rich and the poor, nothing could be easier. Or finer.

"Naspia Cosma is really skilled with her blade. It's a shame she doesn't compete in the Arena."

"I understand her parents are against her competing. Quite a shame."


"What. Is it?"

A pointed snout which drifts through darkness. Bird-like toes which tract and grasp. His eyesight an onus, but his hearing and nose acute. The Terror from the Imperial Sewers creeps from dark chambers and through narrow passages. Down culverts and up ladders.

"Ich habe hunger nach fleisch!! Gib mir essen, gib mir schatz!!"

His words a guttural set of growls. He climbs and clambers, and finally reaches fresh air.

"Mawning!"

"What's new with you?"

What's new with you? ... Soon, the citizens of the Imperial City would have plenty of answers for this.



"Do you want to learn about Alteration? Speak with Dovyn Aren."

"He still teaches, but he lost his passion for it after the Levitation Act was passed. Can't say I blame him."

Mandil and Simplicia share a contentious conversation. Rich and poor, now equals.



"It seems Summerset Isle has become a much more dangerous place...."

"Be seeing you".

"Hier finden sie? Was sie tun konnen?" the shadowy scale grumbles aloud. Unconcerned and grateful, the Terror slips from shop to shop, viewing and scenting each door as he passes. Cold stone. Sturdy oak doors. Finally he raises his snout sharply. He selects a door. Grasps its knob. And into a shop he creeps.



3:12 PM

"Edgar Vautrine. You don't want the very best. You want cheap. And I got cheap."

The Sewer Lizard kinks his head in bird-like fashion, not knowing the pale-skinned man's words.

"You want to buy or sell, the City is great. You want free? Go down in the holes, kill some monsters. Sell your loot back in the city!" Edgar advises.

The Terror skulks from one end of the shop to the next, careful to avoid touching anything. He knows what happens ... if he touches.

"If you have any questions about the merchandise, you have but to ask," Edgar tries, a tinge of nervousness traces through his Bretonic voice.

Edgar knows. This is the one. The one who was spotted, stealing potions from Claudette's shop. The Argonian who did not beckon or speak, but merely walked in. Selected and chose. And walked out. Claudette must have lost hundreds! Edgar thinks wildly. Hundreds of gold, from this brazen thief!

He begins to sweat, and thinks he should call for the guard. But it's all for naught. The Sewer Lizard merely glances this way and that. Seems to decide there's nothing worth taking, and leaves Edgar's Discount Spells.

"Be seeing you!" Edgar calls, trying to insert a note of cheer into his voice.



9:08 PM

"Put on the Feed Feed Bag! I'm Delos Fandas. We got food and drink, and lots of it!"

"Ich habe hunnnger nach dem essen," growls the creature.

Abwasserkanal Eidesche, also known as the Terror from the Imperial Sewers, has been here before. Not in The Feed Bag, but in this situation. Food all around him. On tables, counters, and shelves. Food which could last many weeks, perhaps even months. Real food, clean and free of vermin. .... But a guard protects this food. A man (a dark elf) stands guard. What to do about this unfortunate situation?

Abwasserkanal, in the past, has been dealt some rather unexpected blows, after getting hungry and simply trying to eat. Without any comprehension for the concept of payment, he has (in the past) merely grabbed and gulped. And not paid. The people do not like it that he takes their food. Their potions and poisons. They chased and tried to catch him, as he fled down the Sewers. But escape? He did.

In his meager reptillian brain, Abwasserkanal sees what must be done now to avoid all of this. He reaches on his back, and selects the weapon which hangs there. Feels its weight in his grasp. And swings. HARD.

"I'm through talking to --ARRGH!!--"

The giant hammer smashes into Delos's shoulder, but the Dunmer only flinches..while selecting his own weapon.

"Agggh!" .. "Hi-yaah!" .. smuck! plink! .....the fight is on.

...bottles and silverware smashes upon the floor, wine and food splashes! as the Lizard dances around! Jumping from table to table! .."By the ARRGH!!" The Dark Elf is wounded... seriously wounded. It looks as if the fight might tip in the Lizard's favor, as Delos' health starts to wane. With the Dark Elf dead, the Sewer Lizard could eat all he wants. He knows this.

"STOP! You violated the law!" says a metal-wearing man, so similar in appearance to the last metal-wearing man the lizard encountered. "Since you lack the funds to pay the court, you must serve out your sentence. Your stolen goods are now forfeit!"

Metal-man breaks the melee, causing some grief to Abwasserkanal the Lizard. Although his emotions are primitive, he looks at all the uneaten food on the tables, knowing he'll need to wait another time.

"THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!!!!" shouts the man in the tin suit.

The Sewer Lizards balks none, and flees through the door, unable to 'put on The Feed Bag' this time.