29 Last Seed
~~~
It is an odd feeling to read my journal entries and realize I'm not even listening to myself. Today's walk from Vivec back to Balmora is my most recent example, but not the first and certainly not the last.
I had originally planned to simply teleport back to Balmora via Flacassia Fauseius and begin working on any tasks my "friends" might have for me. But after spending yesterday training with my spells and bow, I felt compelled to walk to Balmora in order to test my new skills. Days of training had me leaving Vivec confident of my new abilities, but I found that while I trained hard, the improvements are mostly incremental. My spells still fail, just not as often. My arrows still fly wide, but not quite as wide. I still depend solely on my spear and sword and I've added shield training on my "To Do" list. I was attacked by a Kagouti during my trip and the attempts I made at blocking its tusks with my shield were ineffectual. I feel a bit stupid paying so much for a shield I cannot effectively use.
I think if I started bashing my enemies with the shield I would get more utility out of it.
The bow is going to take more practice outside of training than I thought. I never asked them, but I now know why my (few) fellow Khajiit in the Auxiliaries carried darts or knives. Aradraen was a patient teacher, but after we both spent an hour trying to fix my shooting stance, she concluded that Khajiit just weren't built to handle bows very well. She let me practice for the rest of the day and offered to trade my bow and arrows for throwing darts, but I think if I practice more I'll figure out something.
Kagouti aside, the walk from Vivec's Foreign Quarter canton to Balmora was quiet and allowed me to think about my future plans. I am still against joining the Legion as I have no desire to surrender the freedom being sent to Morrowind has given me. The Imperial Cult is far less rigid and if I join the Cult as a shrine sergeant I'll probably be traveling quite a bit more as well.
I reached Balmora too late in the evening to put any of my plans into motion and as usual am retiring for the night at the Mages Guild. Tomorrow I will speak with my "contact" here in Balmora about any tasks he might have for me.