~~~
Today was the most relaxing day I have had since arriving at Morrowind and therefore also the shortest journal entry so far. I woke in an a good mood this morning, feeling as though I have surpassed what I thought to be my limits. Everything I have done so far, no matter how distasteful or violent, has been far beyond what I thought possible of myself. Things seem easier now and my life more satisfying, if still more dangerous than it was before Morrowind. I am adapting well, my senses and instincts becoming more aligned with the what Morrowind seems to demand.
To that end, I spent all of today in Balmora, training and talking to people. With the exception of Ajira I would not call them friends, but certainly associates with goals compatible with my own. Ra'Virr probably seems as trustworthy as a Scamp to most people, but he has dealt fairly with me. Cynically, I might as well admit I may be a supplier of a large percentage of his Moon Sugar and Skooma stock. Ajira is readily willing to purchase both as well, but she has a nose for alchemy ingredients before anything else, Khajiit though she is.
I breakfasted with Ajira at the Mages Guild, but she was too preoccupied with some formula she was working on to be very sociable and I left her still muttering and drawing symbols on her napkin. I doubt she noticed my leaving.
For the past two days I have been obsessing over the Dreugh weapons I had acquired, but this morning I can only regard them with puzzlement. I have been trained in the use of the short stabbing sword, shield, and spear. Why I thought it would be a good idea to start using a staff and, of all things, a club, is unknown to me. My armor is less of a mystery though, the Admantium was too inflexible and damaged to be of further use, while the Dreugh armor provides just as much protection, while also allowing me a greater range of movement.
To that end, I wound up spending most of the day with Rithleen, training with my new armor and shield. Her price was reasonable and her skills better than her dour attitude would suggest. Even after spending nearly ten hours together, she might have said a dozen words. Despite that, she is an effective teacher and taught me how better to fight in my new armor. The Auxiliaries trained in either light or heavy armor, but also issued Imperial chain when we were going out to fight bandits.. Medium armor, such as chain, is called such due to it being a compromise between the agility of leather and the protectiveness of plate. It never was popular in the little band I typically fought alongside, since anyone receiving it normally wore leather and the additional weight was unwelcome. Having received no training in fighting with it, those of us uncomfortably clad in chain would typically hang back and let the heavily-armored of us do the fighting.
I never understood the wisdom behind that policy, but I would request the rusty, mistreated armor whenever I could, figuring I would get used to it. The additional weight strengthened me and the increased protection stopped more than a few arrows. My learning was of the "as you go" variety, so Rithleen's professional criticisms were a great help.
We parted well into the evening and I walked back to the Mages Guild in high spirit. Ranis met me just inside the Guild and asked if I would be willing to handle a "small task" for her. The small task is really two tasks: first, to track down a rogue magician named Llarar Bereloth and either convince him to join the guild, or kill him. Her second task was for me to visit a Guild member, Manwe, in order to collect guild dues owed for three months. This is interesting, as the Mages Guild does not charge for its membership. There must be something else going on between Ranis and Manwe, but that's a relationship probably best left undisturbed: the acceptable alternative to collecting the money is to kill Manwe. Ranis seems to be quite a vengeful woman.
And that was the day. Tomorrow I'll visit the Mages Guilds and work on my magical training, an area I am really weak in. It is only thanks to the Temple that I can do much of anything at all and while the practice I have been getting in Morrowind has helped, much like Rithleen's training, I feel a professional opinion would certainly go a long way towards the furthering of my education and ultimately, survival.
No comments:
Post a Comment