Skyrim Day 011 - A Khajiit and Her Dog

27 Last Seed, 4E201

Dragon Bridge

~~~

I had not taken the time to examine Clavicus Vile's former followers and the time spent before Barbas and I left for 'Rimrock Barrow' granted me a rather rare Dwemer bow and my third Orsimer dagger.

Coincidentally there was a gated exit behind the shrine that saved me the trouble of walking through the entire cavern and was greeted by a grey morning of sleet as Barbas and I emerged near the road. It was back to Helgen once again.

The bodies outside the gate were still performing their duties, but the town had not been reoccupied since I had last passed through. Further down the road we came upon what appeared to be a hunters' camp, but were attacked as we drew closer. Barbas was in the air and atop the closest bandit before I could even begin to draw my blade and killed the man with a bite to the throat. The unfortunate man's partner fell to me.

A search of their bodies revealed the camp to (possibly) be an actual camp of hunters, for the "bandits" were actually more assassins sent by the Dark Brotherhood so that the contract against my life might be fulfilled. They were, surprisingly, each good for an additional Orsimer dagger.

Our walk continued past the Half-Moon lumber mill near Falkreath and along the northern road. Near the crossroads was a Nordic collection of standing stones surrounding a large stone platform. Something tickled my memory, but I cannot recall what these sites are right now. Perhaps something of importance, perhaps not.

Barbas and I overtook a patrol of Imperial Legionnaires escorting a prisoner to parts unknown. None of them paid much attention to a Khajiit and her dog as they walked by, but as we passed the group and rounded a turn in the road I suddenly backtracked and fled behind the soldiers.

On the road ahead of us stood a Giant with a painted bull next to him. I anticipated a violent clash between the Legionnaires and the Giant, but neither party seemed bothered by the other and the Giant lumbered off of the road to allow everyone to peacefully pass him by, certainly not what I had expected, but relieved to see it nonetheless.

Not wanting to provoke any sort of confrontation I left the soldiers and their prisoner behind and arrived at the village of Rorikstead having left them far enough behind to be out of sight completely. This was where the late horse-thief Lokir claimed to have come from, but the people I talked to could not recall anyone by that name or description.

The trail descended down the hill towards the river and we were not long from Rorikstead before we came upon an overturned cart on the road with the corpse of its owner laying nearby.

The crossroad was surrounded by rocks, a perfect place for an ambush. That they left the body speaks either of the murder being recent or the bandits being stupid enough to think someone would stop to investigate. I wonder if the Imperials I had left behind near Rorikstead would have stopped. Likely the bandits would have remained hidden until they had passed, but a Khajiit and her dog no doubt appeared a much easier mark.

That the dog was the manifestation of a Daedric Prince's companion and that the Khajiit has been fighting on and off for over two hundred years was not something they were to know.

Barbas caught wind of a bandit before the ambush even started, charging behind a tall pile of rocks alongside the road. The scream that emitted shortly after drew the unfortunate bandit's two companions from the other side of the road. I dealt with them without much trouble and was rewarded with a silver ring off of one of their fingers.

At the river was an inexpertly constructed wooden fortification that I could see several people residing within. The little fort was built with watchtowers on either side of the road after the bridge, with a rope bridge joining the two towers over the road, providing an excellent vantage point from which to collect tolls or fire arrows into travelers. I briefly thought to try paying my way through the toll, but a bark next to my knee dispelled that hope.

To Barbas's credit, he at least allowed me to shoot down on bandit before he barged into the camp and I had no choice but to follow as screams and snarls erupted ahead of me. One bandit had evidently been the gate guard and was already dead by the time I arrived. The gate open, Barbas simply let himself in and proceeded to maul each bandit one-by-one. It was a grisly business considering that they were fighting a dog they could not harm, let alone kill, but I still found it preferable against being shot full of arrows.

The fort's liege received a small mercy: while he was ineffectually attempting to bring the head of a two-handed hammer down upon Barbas I sneaked behind him and buried one of my Orsimer daggers into the back of his neck. It was kinder than watching him get his throat torn open. Brutally slaughtering an entire camp of people elicited no comment from Barbas, so I put it out of my mind and examined the bodies and camp for valuables. The leader's hammer was an ancient Ayleid weapon, the head carved into an elaborate eagle's head, the counter-spike, a pair of wings. It is the first of its kind I have seen in many years, so I took it with me, despite the cumbersome nature of the thing.

A key held around the leader's neck unlocked a chest which contained an unusual-looking white stone with many facets. Thinking it a simple carved rock, I picked it up to find it nearly weightless and once again a voice seemed to sound from within my skull.

This was not Barbas's sarcasm, but the cultured voice of a woman. To my (private) despair she introduced herself as Meridia, the Lady of Infinite Energies. She is known as a rather minor Daedra, but not one to greatly fear, unlike most. People who dedicate their lives against the undead often revere her and from what I remember her hatred of undead is nearly the only thing that defines her existence.

Anyway, Meridia declared that my possession of her Beacon, the weightless rock, marked me as her new Champion. A necromancer has defiled her shrine here in Skyrim and she ordered me to travel to 'Mount Kilkreath' in order to place the beacon inside the shrine where it belonged. I wonder if she made the same offer to the bandit leader. This is now the second Daedric lord that I have come to the attention of and I find it to be two more than I would like. Nonetheless, I do not believe I shall be allowed any rest until I have completed this new task, but Clavicus Vile got to me first, so I shall be finishing his task before starting Meridia's. Two hundred years I have managed to live without being noticed by anyone of importance and suddenly its two Daedric lords within a week.

Just before the famed bridge of the 'Dragon Bridge' village I bore witness to yet another ransacked merchant. They looked to have been a well-to-do couple judging by their horse and the quantity of goods, but their wealth did not extend to paying for an armed escort and they fell victim to bandits, likely the ones Barbas and I slew at the river.

Just beyond was Skyrim's important 'Dragon's Bridge' which lent its name to the town built around it.

The small town masked how important the bridge actually is. Should it be destroyed or claimed by either faction of the Civil War, traffic to and from Solitude to the rest of the province would essentially be cut off. This eventuality is the townspeoples' greatest fear, for if one side claims the bridge they know the other will arrive and the town will certainly be the worse off for it. The civil war has so far spared the town and its bridge, but it is only a matter of time before this will change.

The innkeeper at the 'Four Shields Tavern' suggested I might be interested in a bounty the Jarl of Solitude posted against piratical bandits camping at a grotto along the coast north of the great city. I may look into it while Barbas is still with me. A dozen Septims, plus an additional four on account of my faithful hound, bought Barbas and I a room for the night. He assured me that 'Rimerock Burrow' is very close and I am looking forward to attending to the next step required to release myself from his master.

Oblivion Day 11 - Time in Chorrol

7 Heartfire, 3E433

Wilderness

~~~

I woke early just to make sure I gained an audience at the Arcane University and was disappointed to be told that only members of the Mages Guild were allowed access. The stones I have taken from the Oblivion gates are obviously enchanted and I had hoped to see someone at the University about them, but they now have to wait until I am a fully accepted member of the Mages Guild, which may be some time.

While I was futilely attempting entry into the University a Bosmer introducing herself as Bothiel handed me a pamphlet calling on all adventurers to undertake the adventure of repairing something called the Orrery, which she explained is a device for predicting where the planets will be at a particular time. It requires Dwemer parts to repair and the shipment from Morrowind has been waylaid by bandits, the location of which she hopefully provided, though I cannot see why the mages are not journeying to the bandit camp themselves. Perhaps I will undertake this charitable task once I am able to enter the actual University and see this broken Orrery for myself.

Joining the Mages Guild was my next step, but one cannot join from the University. No, an applicant has to present themselves at one of the guilds in the surrounding towns. Chorrol is closest to the main gate leaving the Imperial City, so it was back to the town I went. My horse made the trip far less arduous than my walk there with Martin and I reached the town well before the afternoon.

The Argonian shopkeeper, Seed-Neeus, asked me if she could bother me about a problem she was having. When she told me what it was, I wondered how anyone could calmly ask to bother someone with such a problem. Her daughter, a friendly Argonian named Dar-Ma, had gone to the isolated village of Hackdirt to make a delivery, but has been away overlong and Seed-Neeus was worried something may have happened to her. I agreed to the task of course, for I am not yet a completely heartless individual.

Two clues were available to me. One, the person in Hackdirt expecting the delivery was one Etira Moslin and two, Dar-Ma always rode her horse, Blossom, where ever she went. That was all I had to go on, but I knew of Hackdirt before today, having spent some unpleasant time there years ago while defending it from goblins. The people there are just as isolated as the village and I suspect they have something to do with Dar-Ma's tardiness. I hope for their sake that they did not do anything stupid.

The Chorrol Mages Guild accepted me as a trial member, but I did not realize that I would need a recommendation from ALL the Mages Guilds in Cyrodill before I would be allowed within the Arcane University. This is troublesome and I do not think I have the time for that, but I will see what I can do.

The head of the local Mages Guild is an Argonian, Teekeeus, has been embroiled in an argument with an ex-member of the Guild, Earana, an Altmer who (not suprisingly) feels she would be a better leader of the guild than he. She had been loitering near the Guild as of late and making Teekeeus nervous. My task was to speak to Earana, who courtesy of not knowing I was a member, would speak to me.

And she did. The task was not to set fire to Teekeeus's home, but to fetch a book titled 'Fingers of the Mountain' from a shrine atop the mountains north of the city. When I reported back to Teekeeus he was surprised at her request, but also had heard of the book and instructed me to return it to him instead of Earana, not a difficult decision to make.

The trip up the mountains was uneventful and I found the book on a small pedestal next to which the charred body of someone lay. I was warned not to attempt to read the book and can assume a similar warning did not reach the unfortunate soul. Safely storing the book in my pack, I turned around to find yet another Oblivion gate steaming in the heavy rain.

Evidently I was not the first warrior to step through this gate, three unidentifiable bodies lay close to the inside of the gate, their armor and weapons fused to the bodies via a great heat.

I can only wonder at the combat prowess of the deceased, for I found nothing dangerous, just small Scamps and weak balls of fire. This pocket of Oblivion was new to me, but it was very small and had only a single structure within it, the tower containing the Stone. 

Dremora patrolled the inside of the tower, but they were poorly equipped for their kind and save for a pair that accidentally attacked me at the same time, I dealt with no strategic intelligence among any of them.

The moon was high when I had feet on Cyrodill soil once again, so I am camping out tonight and will return to Chorrol in the morning, return the book, and then see what I can do about the situation in Hackdirt. 

Morrowind Day 11 - An Unexpected Windfall

26 Last Seed

~~~

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.