Friday, May 29, 2015

Oblivion Day 6 - The Brief Criminal Life

2 Heartfire, 3E433
Bruma
~~~

Jokes about cat-naps aside, my three hour rest at Bruma's inn left me feeling quite refreshed and ready for the rest of the day, though as it turned out the day did not require a well-rested Khajiit.

While wandering Bruma looking for something to do with what remained of the day I overheard a rumor that one of the townspeople, Arnora Auria, has had a large amount of gold stolen from her and was offering a reward for its return. The mention of a reward caught my interest, for there is much I would like to purchase and I have little coin as of yet to purchase with. After a few false directions, I found the lady's house and was cordially invited inside to hear her tale of woe.

Only it was not woe the tale was of, but theft of her own, betrayal, and from me a sense that she had already gotten what she deserved. To summarize: she and her former lover are thieves, but small-time: a dozen gold here and there as they made their way across the province. Nothing large enough to draw the interest of the citys' guards or the Legion, until, according to her, the lover decided to assault an Imperial tax collector, plus escort. They succeeded, but he killed a guardsman in the process, drawing much unwanted attention to their ploy.

So they hid the gold in the mountains and he threatened to kill her if she spoke a word about what had occurred. Shortly after this, the Bruma city guard tracked them down to their campsite and arrested the man while Arnora was out gathering whatever plants people eat in the mountains. But when she went to the place they had hidden the gold, she found that he had moved it somewhere else.

My part in this was to convince the man, Jorundr, to reveal where the gold was hidden. This would prove difficult, as his present stay in the city's dungeon left him less than cooperative. When I spoke to Jorundr he simply laughed at me and accused me of being in on a guard named Tyrellius's plan to get the gold for ourselves. Nothing I said would convince him otherwise, though I admit I could not find a reason why he should help either Arnora or myself anyway.

When I returned to Arnora about this problem, she suggested that I get myself arrested, stating that Jorundr would probably talk to me if he thought I was getting out at the same time he was, which is to say many years from now. I conceded that a plan that strange could actually work, so I returned to the dungeon and fifty Septims convinced the jailer to pretend to arrest me on minor thievery charges and to release me the next day.

Which is where I am now, for they took everything I owned except for my journal. Arnora was right though: as soon as I became his cell-mate Jorundr became downright chatty. But his story greatly differed from Arnora's. According to him, the assault on the tax collector was her idea, not his and the guardsman's death was on her hands. He pointed out the coincidence of her going out to get "supplies" and suddenly there's a dozen angry guards swarming all over him.

He said that his only desire now was for her death. He was likely going to rot in prison for the rest of his own life and considered it only fair that she lose hers as well. I confess now that I do find Jorundr's story more plausible than Arnora's, but I do not yet know who, if anyone, I will support in this matter. Tomorrow I will be released from jail and then I shall see what comes of what.

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