Morrowind Day 11 - An Unexpected Windfall

26 Last Seed

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I woke up this morning, excited to finally claim the valuable Orcish armor I left at the shrine.After a very quick breakfast, I stripped myself of my shield and all my armor except for the cuirass and left it all in Ajira's care before teleporting to Mages guild in Vivec.

I hurried into the sewers of the Foreign Quarter and crept into the shrine, which was depressingly empty, devoid of bodies and armor. A book left on the floor titled "Corpse Preparation v II" left little doubt as to why they were taken. I admit I was bitterly disappointed and angry at myself, having counted on either having far better armor or far more money coming into my possession.

While I was reexamining the room for clues as to where my armor had gone, I spotted a large diamond on the shrine that had rolled underneath the lip of the offerings plate. Perhaps due to the disappointment at having the armor taken from me, I foolishly grabbed a very valuable item off of a very potent and evil shrine.

Almost immediately a hideous, gurgling scream exploded behind me, along with a ball of fire. I spun around and to the side, intent on dodging behind the shrine. Facing me was some sort of humanoid daedra, angered at my theft of his goods. The only reason I survived the battle is due to Ajira's potions, especially the magicka absorption vials. I was able to limit the affect of the creature's exploding spells by dodging between the pillars of the shrine, taking jabs at it with my spear. When it finally screamed its last and collapsed into a pile of dust, my equipment was damaged and I was heavily injured.

Again, Ajira's potions came to the rescue and I felt far better after drinking three of her restoration mixtures. I'm not sure how long I spent sitting on the ground against one of the pillars, but I noticed the boots buried underneath the creature's ashy remains as I was getting up. While the creature left nothing solid of his own behind, underneath the remains rested its final gift to me: a pair of very valuable and very heavy Daedric boots.

Just for the feel of it, I set each boot on the floor, right side up and uncomfortably crammed my feet halfway into them. As hard as I strained, I could not get either boot to move at all, though Khajiit feet are not made for wearing armored boots anyway. Any warrior who is strong enough to acquire and wear a full suit of this stuff is definitely one to respect. Preferably from a distance.

It was fortunate that I lightened myself at the Balmora Mages Guild prior to coming to Vivec, since I could just barely stagger out of the shrine with the boots and my nearly fatal diamond. I used up several of Ajira's rejuvenation potions as I struggled up all the stairs and ramps leading from the canton's underworks up towards the Mages Guild. I teleported back to Balmora and unbuckled my chain curiass on to my pile of equipment. I assured Ajira that I was not using her laboratory as a storage area and that I'd return soon. She claimed to not mind having it there and she seemed genuine. It is good to have a friend to depend on, at least until she trips over it.

I knew what I wanted to do with the boots as soon as I had dropped them into my pack and I walked into Meldor's armor shop, anxious to see if the Adamantium armor he was selling earlier when I was purchasing armoring hammers was still there. It was, all of it, but the prices he was asking were far too high, even with the Daedric boots. After a lot of negotiating, we settled on an exchange of one Adamantium breastplate in exchange for the boots and 700 Septims. The armor is a bit heavier than the Imperial chain cuirass, but provides a level of protection similar to a high quality steel plate at probably half the weight and a much less limiting factor on my agility. Ajira was impressed with my acquisition when I returned to pick up my armor and listened attentively to my story about the Vivec shrine. She advised that I think about exploring the Daedric ruins scattered around. Though dangerous, she assured me the rewards were usually worth it.

I left the Mages Guild and actually had nothing to do for all of a minute until I remembered that General Larrius Varro in Fort Moonmoth had asked me to patrol the small fishing village of Hla Oad, west of Balmora. Back into the swamps unfortunately, but the trip was short, as the bandit in question made no attempts to remain subtle.

The delightful Bitter Coast

I heard him long before I saw him and I suspect that if it wasn't for the swamp, I'd have smelled him too. Drunk on whatever brew he had found or stolen, the Nord was pacing along a small wooden walkway that bridged what must be the smallest bay in Tamriel. I'm not even sure why the bridge exists, a person could simply walk around, losing only a few seconds over using the bridge. Anyway, the drunken Nord shouting about being the ruler of the bridge had to be the bandit I had been sent to take care of, but while a sober Nord is dangerous, a drunk one is moreso. A Khajiit such as myself who can't sneak or pick a lock doesn't survive by being stupid and I confess without any shame that the "fight" was entirely unfair. Inebriation combined with an opponent who has an Invisibility potion on her makes for a very short encounter. To my credit, he died instantly when I snapped my dagger into the back of his skull. I pocketed the few Septims he had and rolled his body into the water for the slaughterfish to feast on, the furious churning of the water receding in my ears as I walked back to Balmora. So falls the King of the Smallest Bridge.

The Bridge to Nowhere

For my "service" I received a paltry one hundred Septims. True, it isn't really a small amount, but I was negotiating in the thousands when I was selling the Daedric armor. Larrius expressed his regret that I could not bring the bandit, Fjol, back alive, but immediately followed up with stating it wasn't that big of an issue either way. Callousness does one well in Morrowind and this comes from a Khajiit who killed an unsuspecting drunk for money today.