"Astrid, you dont't actually expect me to believe that, do you?" questioned Illiana.
"Look, I know you love him, but we have to take Shadowmere away." replied Astrid solemnly.
Illiana lowered her head to the ground and left the sanctuary. She had to say bye to her horse, Shadowmere. She had him for a year, and now they were just revoking him.
"Why...why do they have to do this?" she muttered under her breath, tears filling her eyes. Then she had an idea.
After a few minutes, she was on Shadowmere. It wasn't long until she made it to Falkreath, where she stored him at her home. "Look, you stay here, and I'll be back soon..." she comfortingly said to Shadowmere.
She returned back to the brotherhood's sanctuary and told Astrid that Shadowmere had got away. "That's highly unlike him. Have you looked everywhere?" wondered Astrid.
"Yes, mistress. There's no sign of him anywhere." answered Illiana.
"Okay. He can't get too far on his own. I'll send a search part out for him tomorrow!" exclaimed Astrid.
Illiana's plan was working, and if she could keep it up, she could stay in the dark brotherhood and keep Shadowmere. However, if it failed, she'd lose Shadowmere and be kicked out of the brotherhood.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good plan after all..." Illiana thought.
As he began his journey, Lugon was stopped by the guards at the front. "Halt! What is your business leaving the city, civilian?" "My business is my own, thank you very much. And I will have you know that I am a captain of the Imperial Army. So, please let me through." said the infuriated Lugon as he walked past the guards, not looking at them at all. They nodded reluctantly and let him through.
Through the gates, he saw the great tundra of Whiterun Hold in front of him, and the Throat of the World to his left. As he walked down the path he wondered what the Imperial Legion was like in Skyrim. Would it be powerful or weak? Would their forces be spread thin, or not? Was their general rational? Which cities were under their control?
As he walked absent-mindedly, he almost ran directly into a cart. A cart? "Excuse me," he said to the driver, "Where does this cart go?" "To every major city, sir. At a price of course." Lugon looked down at his far-too-empty coin purse. He gave it to the driver, saying "This is all I have. Could you take me to Solitude, please?" "Climb in back, and we'll be off." Feeling relieved, like a great burden had been lifted from his mind, Lugon went to the back of the carriage and sat down inside. This would make things significantly easier.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
I cannot confirm or deny that you are being searched for dangerous materials
~Fenrir Nonas, leader of the Nonas Guard (Damned traitors...)
((Part two of the epic meeting comrades :biggrin.gif:))
After M'nari told the prince her tale, he replied "Vile? He is tricky one. And you, you dare a daedra prince?"
M'nari was already sure that she was serving Sheogorath from some point. "Yes, yes I want to kill him."
M'nari felt that Mora smiled. Not that she saw it, she just got a strong feeling "I love your kind. But..." Again but! AGAIN BUT! "Yes?" asked M'nari already prepearing for worst. The reply was fast "...you need to be far stronger than you are. I can help you. You'll need to get to one place and collect one book. It serves much purpose to me, but I can't take it myself. It's a hard quest. No one of previous adventurers returned alive. But I hope you would be allright. Especially with the blessing of knowledge."
M'nari thought that this idea was not so good as she thought. But there were no other options so... "Where should I go?"
After uneasy silence, the voice boomed "Ulag-irith. The Dwemmer Ruin on one of the highest mountain. You need to get to the upper levels and collect the book. It was stolen from me long time ago by another daedric prince. I seek revenge, and this book is essential for me. You would find it with ease, you would feel it. Now... Go!"
The strong wind pulled M'nari back from her place. She started feeling herself more real. But what was the blessing of knowledge? She is up to know...
M'nari woke up, laying on the table. She might have been sleeping and had a very realistic dream. Never ever do things like this if you need to sleep.
She is going to be proven wrong.
The book wasn't lying on the table like normal book. It was floating. And had burning daedric letters. M'nari was now sure about the dream. It wasn't one.
She closed the book and hid it under her bed. It was now safe in her chest that she locked and trapped by destruction magic. No one would ever stop her now.
M'nari fell on the bed, instantly asleep. Her sleep was full of only one dream, the dream of walking down the giant library with her only friend...
((Alright. Dr_Genius, DrNight, Feokris and Moarwork, timeskip to the morning (You can make a catchup post if you want to Feokris).))
Tonadius:
The imperial awoke from his inn bed just as the first morning light showed itself. His jaw was a little sore from clenching in his sleep, but otherwise he was ready for the day ahead.
After his regular morning routine, he collected the sack of coins for Malen's down payment and walked down to the landing on the beach. Some of Malen's men on watch were waiting on the shore, most of them dozing. With a few loud claps of his hands, Tonadius woke the men. "Rise and shine, gentlemen!" Tonadius said "Take me to your ship and we can get started!"
The men, told that they were to expect Tonadius, complied with him and took him onto the ship. Tonadius politely waited on deck for the captain to emerge so he could set off to pick up the cargo.
Milos:
Milos awoke after a long and undisturbed sleep. He had surprisingly little in the way of dreams, mostly some kind of endless barter for steel ingots with a merchant that, Milos realised after he woke up, had no face. Strange, but Milos disregarded it.
Dressed and equipped for the day, Milos wondered what the day would hold. Knowing how obsessive M'nari could get, she no doubt was studying that new book of hers all night. Milos strolled around the hall of attainment to see whether M'nari had woken up yet. After looking into most of the open alcoves that served as rooms for most of the mages, Milos saw M'nari still sleeping. I'd better find some breakfast then Milos thought.
Milos ended up walking to the Inn to buy some food. The morning was calmer than usual in the street. As if the cold wind had run out of energy overnight. Inside the inn, Milos ordered some bread and cheese and started to munch away as the city awoke.
((By the way, Deepdark and Tsukio. Where'd you guys disappear to?))
The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/11/2011
Posts:
534
Member Details
Detaeg opened his eyes, quickly closing them again as the weak sun streaming through the window seared his retinas. Why, oh why does the sun hate me, he thought, still somewhat incoherent from last night's antics. He smiled at his vague recollection of what had happened - there had been alcohol, a lot of it - that's right, this remarkable woman was in possession of some Cyrodiilic brandy - or at least, she had been. They had finished that most potent of drinks within the first twenty minutes, before resorting to Detaeg's enchanted hip flask. Well, that explained his pounding head, as well as the sun's fury. As for the reason he felt so satisfied.. He grinned. That, he could remember perfectly.
He quickly and quietly put his clothes back on, frowning at how crumpled and stained they were - oh well, his new cloak would hide the worst of it. Quickly, because he had no idea when Malen's boat was leaving, and he was eager to be aboard it when it left. Quietly, because he was not eager to wake up the sleeping beauty behing him - in her drunken state, she had mentioned something about love, despite the fact that he had known her for less than a day. When that word popped up in conversation, Detaeg got out. Quickly. As he somewhat uncoordinatedly tiptoed to the door, he took a sip of wine. Nothing to cure a hangover like more alcohol.
Opening the door and stepping out into the pale, snow covered town, Detaeg realised something that made him chuckle. In all the cities of Skyrim he had visited, he had woken up the same way - in a woman's house, with a pounding headache and someone beside him. This caused him to be in a cheerier mood than normal as he walked down the road, giving friendly nods to the small number of people he passed. Of course, they hardly ever replied - oh, the pains of being an Altmer. After having a quick breakfast at the Frozen Hearth, Detaeg headed in the direction of the dock, praying that the ship had not left.
It had not. Reaching the dock, Detaeg saw the ship moored out in deeper waters, while several crew members and a rowboat lounged by the docks. He frowned - there had been two boats the day before, and who would have needed to visit the ship this early in the morning? He thought that the crew either slept aboard, or came down at first light - which was several hours ago. So who else could be on the ship? After speaking to the crew members briefly, Detaeg was rowed out to the ship, wondering who the mysterious visitor might be.
His question was answered as soon as he came aboard. There, in front of him, stood a man, an Imperial judging by his looks, whom Detaeg had never laid eyes on before. Approaching the man, Detaeg spoke. At the last minute, he realised he'd have to be polite - after all, this could very well be a customer.
"Why good morning, sir. Lovely day, isn't it? Perfect weather for sailing, if I do say so myself.." Detaeg didn't have a clue whether it was good weather or not, but this man hardly looked like a weathered sailor. "Speaking of sailing, are you coming with us? I never even heard of it - then again, I didn't even know we were leaving. Malen never tells me anything." Smiling at the man, he added, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, the name's Detaeg. May I have yours?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Breeding dragons is stressful. So I thought I'd just showcase my friend Jim here. Say hi to everyone, Jim.
Malen woke as one of his crew member shook him, "there's a man, out on the dock sir," he told Malen loudly, "lookin' for you."
Malen frowned then yelled at him, slightly dizzy, "do you like being yelled at? Shut your bloody mouth before I break it!" He then fell over, still tired from the night before. The crew member helped him up and apologised. Malen just pulled on his clothing and started for the deck, the crew member trailing behind him.
As he entered into the sunlight of the deck, he was blinded for a second, but then continued on, he saw Detaeg introducing himself, and moved forward toward them.
"Detaeg, this is Mister Toniadus, he is to be treated with all due respect. Mister Toniadus, this is Detaeg," the fact that he introduced Detaeg first implied that while he had respect for Toniadus, it was not enough to be completely formal. "I trust you will be accompanying us, Mister Detaeg?" he added, smiling, "hopefully this time we mustn't fight off a dragon."
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Why yes, I sure am single. But not really guys, you're not really my type. Except you Hugs, only because I sure do like hugging zombies though. Oooh yeah, that sure was a good zombie hug.
((Alright Tsukio, if Deep's holding you up then send a PM. She might be waiting for you to post, though.))
((Nate, here's a random encounter for you.))
Highwayman:
The rugged Nord lay in wait behind a rock in a pass on the road to Dragonsbridge. He was armoured in steel and armed with a large steel sword, a contrast in equipment quality to most of his comrades. Being high in the pecking order had its perks. Waiting through the day was often boring, but occasionally there were nobles headed to Solitude that simply couldn't travel without pockets filled to the brim with septims, along with other valuables that they hung off their body.
The Nord highwayman and his team of three had been ambushing passers-by in this particular pass for a while now, though with the amount of traffic they've been getting with the big wedding in Solitude, as well as the occasional forsworn scouting parties they often had to elude, an emigration to another sight might be in order.
One of the lookouts on top of the pass shouted down to the Nord "I've got something sir, its aaaa... cart by the looks of it, empty 'cept for two people, one's a shorty, maybe a child."
The Nord replied "Alright, sit tight, we'll see what we can get".
A few moments went by as the party waited for the cart to come by. Once the sound of the hooves and the wheels on the cobblestone came close enough. The Nord stepped out from behind the rock and in front of the cart halting it. He couldn't hide a fleck of disappointment on his face by who he saw. The carriage driver, reckognising the familiar face, suddenly went into an expression of sad dissapointment. "Oh come on, Hrolf. I thought you were robbing further west this season." The carriage driver said, with a surprising amount of familiarity, as if he'd been through this with this particular bandit many times before "You'll ruin my business if you keep doing this".
The highwayman, his name now revealed looked away in frustration. Why did I have to run into Dekem, if anything he's too annoying to even bother, Hrolf thought, before replying to Dekem, the driver "You know how this works, Dekem, turn out your pockets". Two other bandits cut off the other side of the pass, with the one lookout wielding a bow at the top of the pass.
Tonadius:
Tonadius had been waiting for at least an hour since he boarded, most of the time he leaned against the mast and watched the goings-on of the ship play out in front of him. That was, until the last of the crew returned to ship, including a friendly altmer, a rare sight these days, but no less inherently suspicious. Tonadius would have to keep an eye on him in case he was Thalmor, but if that were true the elf would be here for different reasons. As long as he doesn't interfere, there shouldn't be any complications, Tonadius thought.
Tonadius smiled and nodded at the elf that had introduced himself, keeping his thoughts to himself. Tonadius was about to stretch out his hand and return the pleasantries when Malen emerged from below deck and took the liberty of exchanging them for him. Nevertheless, Tonadius shook the elf's hand respectfully. "Charmed," Tonadius added.
The imperial completely disregarded the mention of fighting a dragon. Probably some sailor's story of drunken promises to violent Nord women. The usual.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
M'nari woke up immideatelly. Being not very weary, she realised that she forgot to ask something from Mora: especially, what the gift did he give? Probably some sort of magic, but what kind?
Let's hope something destructive. With electricity. M'nari loved it.
She got up from her bed, realising that she slept in her clothing again and sighed. She peeked around, checked if the trap was still working, breathed out in relief and walked out.
Today's gonna be a good da----
"MMMEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" cried M'nari as someone did particulary painfull step on her tail. She reflectory hit the one who did it, causing him to fall down and swear heavily. "M'nari, you gone totally mad after you have killed J'zargo!" said the appretince, laying on floor.
I KILLED?
WHAT?
"What did you say?" asked M'nari, still not sure about the thing she heared.
"Everyone already guessed that. You killed J'zargo and took his money and everything!" said the appretince, getting up from the floor.
"What? Are you totally mad to believe in this?" M'nari felt that her eyes becoming wet and realised that she was reaching her arm for the sword.
"It's logical. You weren't even saying something about him, you were in normal mood, if he would have died not of your arm you--" the appretince couldn't finish, M'nari kicked him in face with her arm again, causing him to shut up.
Bastards.
Leaving this college is a good idea. She had a map of where is the ruin, she had the force to get through it. She didn't care about some dellusions here. It's time to get to the ruins...
Sun stroke M'nari, but she didn't care much. She searched for Milos. The only place he could be here was inn, so she went there straight away.
Milos chewed on his breakfast gratefully, looking around the wooden room in which he sat. Very few humans in Skyrim could be seen without beards, Milos noticed. For a moment, Milos wondered what it would be like to have a beard. It would be good up north to have thick fur on your face, I guess. It'll keep you warm, that's for sure... Why do none of the women have beards? They go out in the snow too.
The front door opened and M'nari stepped through. Milos raised his hand and swallowed his mouthful, "Good morning! Take a seat. Want something to eat?" Milos asked, gesturing to the seat opposite Milos by the table "Hey, I never asked you about that big book you had last night, was it about Mora?"
If M'nari still had an appetite, the smell of fresh food that would hit her nose as she walked into the inn would definitely cause her stomach to groan.
The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/11/2011
Posts:
534
Member Details
Though he was surprised by both the man's respect and politeness, Detaeg did his best to hide it, quickly responding, "No, the pleasure is all mine. It will be good to have some new company on this tub." Either this man is a complete fool, or dangerous in both mind and tongue. But surely, it was the latter - for who hadn't heard of the Thalmor, the great force of Altmer and Bosmer that had swept through the Empire, and banned the worship of Talos in this freezing land? No, surely the man knew about them - so either he kept his distaste hidden expertly, or was smart enough to realise that Detaeg was not a part of the Dominion. Either way, he would keep an eye on this.. Tonadius.
After finishing his introductions with the man, Detaeg turned to face Malen. "Agreed, friend." he said, addressing the Redguard's earlier remark about the dragon. "Though I'm sure you'd simply relish the chance to pull off a stunt like that jump again. Recovered from that yet? Anyway," Detaeg continued, realising he was digressing, "what job have you pulled us this time? Mighty fine piece of work - barely been here a day, and you've already got yourself another passenger. I must say, you certainly work fast. I take it we're heading off shortly, or mister Tonadius here wouldn't be on board. So, where are we headed, and what's the cargo?"
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Breeding dragons is stressful. So I thought I'd just showcase my friend Jim here. Say hi to everyone, Jim.
"Yes, Mr. Toniadus here approached me the other day, we have quite a generous customer here, he's paying us fourteen thousand Septims, just to move some Black Briar Meadery mead to Dawnstar."
He pulled Detaeg aside and told him, "we'll need to watch him, fourteen thousand Septims is a lot of money just to transport some mead, I'm fairly sure it'll be illegal, but I've done this stuff before. Just keep your eye on him"
He turned back to Toniadus and smiled, excuse me, I should be heading off, I'll need to get the crew organised as I'd like to leave as soon as possible." He did a short bow and moved away, calling for Steven to get the men from the shore, and any that were staying in the tavern. He barked an order at some sailors leaning on the mast, who instantly moved up toward the sails, ready to unfurl them.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Why yes, I sure am single. But not really guys, you're not really my type. Except you Hugs, only because I sure do like hugging zombies though. Oooh yeah, that sure was a good zombie hug.
The Meaning of Life, the Universe, and Everything.
Join Date:
12/11/2011
Posts:
534
Member Details
Detaeg whistled, impressed. Fourteen thousand was a lot. And of course, he would do his best to ensure that he got a rather.. sizable cut of the profits. Even one or two thousand would be a very nice addition to his coin-purse - why, imagine how much wine he could be with that! Not to mention women. He smiled, already anticipating the times he would have in Dawnstar. He had heard it was not the most.. adventurous town in Skyrim, but surely he could find one or two lovely maidens to fit his specific tastes. If not, he doubted they'd be staying there for long - he could just get himself drunk and fall asleep.
Come on, stop daydreaming, he scolded himself. It was true that fourteen thousand could almost be considered too much - at least, for simply transporting mead. Detaeg didn't care if it was Honningbrew, Black-Briar, or even just homemade. Something was afoot, and he was determined to stop it from happening. He'd keep a very close eye on the Imperial.
((That's really it from me till we leave. Nothing else to do really. Will we do it like the last journey? Better wait for Mutton, see if he wants to control it or not.))
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Breeding dragons is stressful. So I thought I'd just showcase my friend Jim here. Say hi to everyone, Jim.
((Yeah, I have a planned encounter for when you are at sea. Otherwise its same as last time.))
Tonadius:
Once the rest of the crew had finally boarded the ship. Tonadius approached Malen and promptly discussed the location of the cargo. It wasn't far up the coast, east of Winterhold. Situated in an area that had an opening of sorts that promised safety from the rocks and the ice.
It wasn't even three hours of sailing before the landing was spotted. Several men, hired dockers by the looks of them, lining the coast. Once the ship stopped by them, Tonadius grabbed a flag and signaled the men on the shore with a pattern of movements. No sooner than the last gesture was waved with the flag did the men move to the crates and start rowing out in what appeared to be a large barge carrying all of the cargo.
The men worked with Malen's crew to get all of the goods into the ship's hold. The dockers didn't really say more than three words at once.
When the final crate was placed snugly in the hold, Tonadius did one final inspection. Nothing was missing, no crates were opened. Satisfied, Tonadius strode up to Malen to keep a promise. "1000 septims in downpayment, as promised" Tonadius said, dropping a large sack into Malen's arms, the sound revealing the contents to be coins, "Now once my men set off the barge, we shall begin in earnest to Dawnstar".
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
Malen passed the sack on, to Steven. "Find someone who can count," he told him, " and count the coins," he always made sure that he had been paid the right amount, whether he trusted the person or not, it was standard practice for him.
He watched as the last of the dockers left the ship and rowed back to shore. He had mixed feelings of pride that he had managed to get such a job, but also felt reluctant to trust Toniadus all the same. Even half the payment was a sizable asset to Malen's coffers, but he would get what he was promised. "Mister Toniadus," he said as Steven returned, "this is Mister Steven, my first mate, my word is law on this ship, but Mister Steven is next in the chain of command. You are expected to do what I say, or do what Mister Steven says," Malen gestured toward the cabin, "Mister Steven, take Toniadus to his bed, he'll be sleeping next to me."
Malen moved away, toward the mast and yelled to his crew to unfurl the sail and bring the boat around and point her to Dawnstar. The crew obeyed instantly and rushed into action. Malen for his part, smiled contentedly.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Why yes, I sure am single. But not really guys, you're not really my type. Except you Hugs, only because I sure do like hugging zombies though. Oooh yeah, that sure was a good zombie hug.
"Ha, ha. FUNNY." M'nari said in angry tone. She thought of it as an unhidden sarcasm, since she is a vampire and the only hunger she has is hunger for blood. "Now, onto buisness. The book contained rather interesting enchantement. I was able to contact him and was told to get to one of the ruins ot get some kind of book. Would you help me?"
M'nari awaited the answer, she was feeling herself strange right now. If Milos wouldn't agree, she would go alone...
Narrating around Malen's ship (it really needs a name):
Three days at sea and all things were going smoothly. It was unexpected, but Tonadius did have responsibilities put upon him while on the ship. They didn't require a particularly high level of expertise, but it was work nonetheless. By all accounts it could be perceived that the voyage was particularly blessed.
On the afternoon of the third day, a ship was spotted. A large blob on the sea, a fair way to the north, closing in. The ship slowly came into focus as it came closer towards them. It was big. It bristled with large bolt throwers. Its bow was metal-tipped and dipped into the ocean. This was definitely a warship.
The colours that the ship flew were hard to discern at first, but then the flag revealed itself as the imperial dragon.
An imperial ship was closing in...
Milos:
Milos felt a bit guilty that he had forgotten that vampires do not need to eat food, but could help but chuckle a bit anyway. At his own incompetence, not the joke he had made. When M'nari mentioned that she had actually spoken with Hermaeus Mora, Milos' expression changed into a curious open mouthed frown. Partly surprised that finding the Daedric prince would prove so trivial, Milos processed M'nari's next question.
One thing was certain, Milos wasn't done traveling yet and he knew it. "You can count me in, M'nari." Milos said, with a blank face, eyes peering into hers "In a way, I feel partly responsible for what happened to J'zargo. The least I can do is help out a friend who knows how to release his soul".
Milos drained the rest of his water and faced M'nari again. "Before we go, when was the last time you fed, anyway?" Milos asked.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
The moral of these stories? Play God, and there is a 100% chance you will be mauled to death by leopard men.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
Selvia crouched on the snowy hill, wind whipping her black hair to and fro. Behind her iron helmet, she narrowed her eyes, scanning the mess of buildings. She was here, the Kajiit, the one who sought an audience with Selvia's master. She raised a hand to the rune inscribed on her helmet, remembering thw words her master had spoken to her; Find the one with eyes as deep as the deepest well, with the scar along the twitching tail. With scars of Fire and Magic, the mortal resides in the Hold of Winter. A Kajiit she is, with M'Nari as her name. She seeks to take a soul from me. This can not happen. Find her, but do not end her. Bring her to me, so that she may dispair.
Selvia recalled the orders well. This was repayment for her request, and she would serve faithfully. She descended the hill, and moved toward the inn, her hand twitching with magic. With a deep breath, she opened the door and entered.
((Let's see: NPCs that try to kill her, accuse her for killing and then a player antagonist. COOL.))
M'nari tried to remember, and to her fear realised that it was at least a week. "Since that fight on the ship" she answered, quickly changing her concerned look to normal face. "We have no time to waste, I am accused as a killer, so it's better to leave now."
M'nari was really unhappy about the whole world around her. It's just like the only pawn trying to break through quieen, king, some bishops and a group of pawns...
But, if she has got a queen behind, and a king that knows what is he doing...
She becomes the queen herself as she reaches the last tile. And the checkmate.
And Mora was quite good tactican for sure. He is a prince of knowledge after all.
M'nari grabbed her satchel and started walking away.
"Look, I know you love him, but we have to take Shadowmere away." replied Astrid solemnly.
Illiana lowered her head to the ground and left the sanctuary. She had to say bye to her horse, Shadowmere. She had him for a year, and now they were just revoking him.
"Why...why do they have to do this?" she muttered under her breath, tears filling her eyes. Then she had an idea.
After a few minutes, she was on Shadowmere. It wasn't long until she made it to Falkreath, where she stored him at her home. "Look, you stay here, and I'll be back soon..." she comfortingly said to Shadowmere.
She returned back to the brotherhood's sanctuary and told Astrid that Shadowmere had got away. "That's highly unlike him. Have you looked everywhere?" wondered Astrid.
"Yes, mistress. There's no sign of him anywhere." answered Illiana.
"Okay. He can't get too far on his own. I'll send a search part out for him tomorrow!" exclaimed Astrid.
Illiana's plan was working, and if she could keep it up, she could stay in the dark brotherhood and keep Shadowmere. However, if it failed, she'd lose Shadowmere and be kicked out of the brotherhood.
"Maybe it wasn't such a good plan after all..." Illiana thought.
Through the gates, he saw the great tundra of Whiterun Hold in front of him, and the Throat of the World to his left. As he walked down the path he wondered what the Imperial Legion was like in Skyrim. Would it be powerful or weak? Would their forces be spread thin, or not? Was their general rational? Which cities were under their control?
As he walked absent-mindedly, he almost ran directly into a cart. A cart? "Excuse me," he said to the driver, "Where does this cart go?" "To every major city, sir. At a price of course." Lugon looked down at his far-too-empty coin purse. He gave it to the driver, saying "This is all I have. Could you take me to Solitude, please?" "Climb in back, and we'll be off." Feeling relieved, like a great burden had been lifted from his mind, Lugon went to the back of the carriage and sat down inside. This would make things significantly easier.
~Fenrir Nonas, leader of the Nonas Guard (Damned traitors...)
After M'nari told the prince her tale, he replied "Vile? He is tricky one. And you, you dare a daedra prince?"
M'nari was already sure that she was serving Sheogorath from some point. "Yes, yes I want to kill him."
M'nari felt that Mora smiled. Not that she saw it, she just got a strong feeling "I love your kind. But..."
Again but! AGAIN BUT! "Yes?" asked M'nari already prepearing for worst. The reply was fast "...you need to be far stronger than you are. I can help you. You'll need to get to one place and collect one book. It serves much purpose to me, but I can't take it myself. It's a hard quest. No one of previous adventurers returned alive. But I hope you would be allright. Especially with the blessing of knowledge."
M'nari thought that this idea was not so good as she thought. But there were no other options so... "Where should I go?"
After uneasy silence, the voice boomed "Ulag-irith. The Dwemmer Ruin on one of the highest mountain. You need to get to the upper levels and collect the book. It was stolen from me long time ago by another daedric prince. I seek revenge, and this book is essential for me. You would find it with ease, you would feel it. Now... Go!"
The strong wind pulled M'nari back from her place. She started feeling herself more real. But what was the blessing of knowledge? She is up to know...
M'nari woke up, laying on the table. She might have been sleeping and had a very realistic dream. Never ever do things like this if you need to sleep.
She is going to be proven wrong.
The book wasn't lying on the table like normal book. It was floating. And had burning daedric letters. M'nari was now sure about the dream. It wasn't one.
She closed the book and hid it under her bed. It was now safe in her chest that she locked and trapped by destruction magic. No one would ever stop her now.
M'nari fell on the bed, instantly asleep. Her sleep was full of only one dream, the dream of walking down the giant library with her only friend...
Tonadius:
The imperial awoke from his inn bed just as the first morning light showed itself. His jaw was a little sore from clenching in his sleep, but otherwise he was ready for the day ahead.
After his regular morning routine, he collected the sack of coins for Malen's down payment and walked down to the landing on the beach. Some of Malen's men on watch were waiting on the shore, most of them dozing. With a few loud claps of his hands, Tonadius woke the men. "Rise and shine, gentlemen!" Tonadius said "Take me to your ship and we can get started!"
The men, told that they were to expect Tonadius, complied with him and took him onto the ship. Tonadius politely waited on deck for the captain to emerge so he could set off to pick up the cargo.
Milos:
Milos awoke after a long and undisturbed sleep. He had surprisingly little in the way of dreams, mostly some kind of endless barter for steel ingots with a merchant that, Milos realised after he woke up, had no face. Strange, but Milos disregarded it.
Dressed and equipped for the day, Milos wondered what the day would hold. Knowing how obsessive M'nari could get, she no doubt was studying that new book of hers all night. Milos strolled around the hall of attainment to see whether M'nari had woken up yet. After looking into most of the open alcoves that served as rooms for most of the mages, Milos saw M'nari still sleeping. I'd better find some breakfast then Milos thought.
Milos ended up walking to the Inn to buy some food. The morning was calmer than usual in the street. As if the cold wind had run out of energy overnight. Inside the inn, Milos ordered some bread and cheese and started to munch away as the city awoke.
((By the way, Deepdark and Tsukio. Where'd you guys disappear to?))
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
He quickly and quietly put his clothes back on, frowning at how crumpled and stained they were - oh well, his new cloak would hide the worst of it. Quickly, because he had no idea when Malen's boat was leaving, and he was eager to be aboard it when it left. Quietly, because he was not eager to wake up the sleeping beauty behing him - in her drunken state, she had mentioned something about love, despite the fact that he had known her for less than a day. When that word popped up in conversation, Detaeg got out. Quickly. As he somewhat uncoordinatedly tiptoed to the door, he took a sip of wine. Nothing to cure a hangover like more alcohol.
Opening the door and stepping out into the pale, snow covered town, Detaeg realised something that made him chuckle. In all the cities of Skyrim he had visited, he had woken up the same way - in a woman's house, with a pounding headache and someone beside him. This caused him to be in a cheerier mood than normal as he walked down the road, giving friendly nods to the small number of people he passed. Of course, they hardly ever replied - oh, the pains of being an Altmer. After having a quick breakfast at the Frozen Hearth, Detaeg headed in the direction of the dock, praying that the ship had not left.
It had not. Reaching the dock, Detaeg saw the ship moored out in deeper waters, while several crew members and a rowboat lounged by the docks. He frowned - there had been two boats the day before, and who would have needed to visit the ship this early in the morning? He thought that the crew either slept aboard, or came down at first light - which was several hours ago. So who else could be on the ship? After speaking to the crew members briefly, Detaeg was rowed out to the ship, wondering who the mysterious visitor might be.
His question was answered as soon as he came aboard. There, in front of him, stood a man, an Imperial judging by his looks, whom Detaeg had never laid eyes on before. Approaching the man, Detaeg spoke. At the last minute, he realised he'd have to be polite - after all, this could very well be a customer.
"Why good morning, sir. Lovely day, isn't it? Perfect weather for sailing, if I do say so myself.." Detaeg didn't have a clue whether it was good weather or not, but this man hardly looked like a weathered sailor. "Speaking of sailing, are you coming with us? I never even heard of it - then again, I didn't even know we were leaving. Malen never tells me anything." Smiling at the man, he added, almost as an afterthought, "Oh, the name's Detaeg. May I have yours?"
~Fenrir Nonas, leader of the Nonas Guard (Damned traitors...)
Malen frowned then yelled at him, slightly dizzy, "do you like being yelled at? Shut your bloody mouth before I break it!" He then fell over, still tired from the night before. The crew member helped him up and apologised. Malen just pulled on his clothing and started for the deck, the crew member trailing behind him.
As he entered into the sunlight of the deck, he was blinded for a second, but then continued on, he saw Detaeg introducing himself, and moved forward toward them.
"Detaeg, this is Mister Toniadus, he is to be treated with all due respect. Mister Toniadus, this is Detaeg," the fact that he introduced Detaeg first implied that while he had respect for Toniadus, it was not enough to be completely formal. "I trust you will be accompanying us, Mister Detaeg?" he added, smiling, "hopefully this time we mustn't fight off a dragon."
((Nate, here's a random encounter for you.))
Highwayman:
The rugged Nord lay in wait behind a rock in a pass on the road to Dragonsbridge. He was armoured in steel and armed with a large steel sword, a contrast in equipment quality to most of his comrades. Being high in the pecking order had its perks. Waiting through the day was often boring, but occasionally there were nobles headed to Solitude that simply couldn't travel without pockets filled to the brim with septims, along with other valuables that they hung off their body.
The Nord highwayman and his team of three had been ambushing passers-by in this particular pass for a while now, though with the amount of traffic they've been getting with the big wedding in Solitude, as well as the occasional forsworn scouting parties they often had to elude, an emigration to another sight might be in order.
One of the lookouts on top of the pass shouted down to the Nord "I've got something sir, its aaaa... cart by the looks of it, empty 'cept for two people, one's a shorty, maybe a child."
The Nord replied "Alright, sit tight, we'll see what we can get".
A few moments went by as the party waited for the cart to come by. Once the sound of the hooves and the wheels on the cobblestone came close enough. The Nord stepped out from behind the rock and in front of the cart halting it. He couldn't hide a fleck of disappointment on his face by who he saw. The carriage driver, reckognising the familiar face, suddenly went into an expression of sad dissapointment. "Oh come on, Hrolf. I thought you were robbing further west this season." The carriage driver said, with a surprising amount of familiarity, as if he'd been through this with this particular bandit many times before "You'll ruin my business if you keep doing this".
The highwayman, his name now revealed looked away in frustration. Why did I have to run into Dekem, if anything he's too annoying to even bother, Hrolf thought, before replying to Dekem, the driver "You know how this works, Dekem, turn out your pockets". Two other bandits cut off the other side of the pass, with the one lookout wielding a bow at the top of the pass.
Tonadius:
Tonadius had been waiting for at least an hour since he boarded, most of the time he leaned against the mast and watched the goings-on of the ship play out in front of him. That was, until the last of the crew returned to ship, including a friendly altmer, a rare sight these days, but no less inherently suspicious. Tonadius would have to keep an eye on him in case he was Thalmor, but if that were true the elf would be here for different reasons. As long as he doesn't interfere, there shouldn't be any complications, Tonadius thought.
Tonadius smiled and nodded at the elf that had introduced himself, keeping his thoughts to himself. Tonadius was about to stretch out his hand and return the pleasantries when Malen emerged from below deck and took the liberty of exchanging them for him. Nevertheless, Tonadius shook the elf's hand respectfully. "Charmed," Tonadius added.
The imperial completely disregarded the mention of fighting a dragon. Probably some sailor's story of drunken promises to violent Nord women. The usual.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
Let's hope something destructive. With electricity. M'nari loved it.
She got up from her bed, realising that she slept in her clothing again and sighed. She peeked around, checked if the trap was still working, breathed out in relief and walked out.
Today's gonna be a good da----
"MMMEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!" cried M'nari as someone did particulary painfull step on her tail. She reflectory hit the one who did it, causing him to fall down and swear heavily. "M'nari, you gone totally mad after you have killed J'zargo!" said the appretince, laying on floor.
I KILLED?
WHAT?
"What did you say?" asked M'nari, still not sure about the thing she heared.
"Everyone already guessed that. You killed J'zargo and took his money and everything!" said the appretince, getting up from the floor.
"What? Are you totally mad to believe in this?" M'nari felt that her eyes becoming wet and realised that she was reaching her arm for the sword.
"It's logical. You weren't even saying something about him, you were in normal mood, if he would have died not of your arm you--" the appretince couldn't finish, M'nari kicked him in face with her arm again, causing him to shut up.
Bastards.
Leaving this college is a good idea. She had a map of where is the ruin, she had the force to get through it. She didn't care about some dellusions here. It's time to get to the ruins...
Sun stroke M'nari, but she didn't care much. She searched for Milos. The only place he could be here was inn, so she went there straight away.
Milos chewed on his breakfast gratefully, looking around the wooden room in which he sat. Very few humans in Skyrim could be seen without beards, Milos noticed. For a moment, Milos wondered what it would be like to have a beard. It would be good up north to have thick fur on your face, I guess. It'll keep you warm, that's for sure... Why do none of the women have beards? They go out in the snow too.
The front door opened and M'nari stepped through. Milos raised his hand and swallowed his mouthful, "Good morning! Take a seat. Want something to eat?" Milos asked, gesturing to the seat opposite Milos by the table "Hey, I never asked you about that big book you had last night, was it about Mora?"
If M'nari still had an appetite, the smell of fresh food that would hit her nose as she walked into the inn would definitely cause her stomach to groan.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
After finishing his introductions with the man, Detaeg turned to face Malen. "Agreed, friend." he said, addressing the Redguard's earlier remark about the dragon. "Though I'm sure you'd simply relish the chance to pull off a stunt like that jump again. Recovered from that yet? Anyway," Detaeg continued, realising he was digressing, "what job have you pulled us this time? Mighty fine piece of work - barely been here a day, and you've already got yourself another passenger. I must say, you certainly work fast. I take it we're heading off shortly, or mister Tonadius here wouldn't be on board. So, where are we headed, and what's the cargo?"
He pulled Detaeg aside and told him, "we'll need to watch him, fourteen thousand Septims is a lot of money just to transport some mead, I'm fairly sure it'll be illegal, but I've done this stuff before. Just keep your eye on him"
He turned back to Toniadus and smiled, excuse me, I should be heading off, I'll need to get the crew organised as I'd like to leave as soon as possible." He did a short bow and moved away, calling for Steven to get the men from the shore, and any that were staying in the tavern. He barked an order at some sailors leaning on the mast, who instantly moved up toward the sails, ready to unfurl them.
Come on, stop daydreaming, he scolded himself. It was true that fourteen thousand could almost be considered too much - at least, for simply transporting mead. Detaeg didn't care if it was Honningbrew, Black-Briar, or even just homemade. Something was afoot, and he was determined to stop it from happening. He'd keep a very close eye on the Imperial.
((That's really it from me till we leave. Nothing else to do really. Will we do it like the last journey? Better wait for Mutton, see if he wants to control it or not.))
Tonadius:
Once the rest of the crew had finally boarded the ship. Tonadius approached Malen and promptly discussed the location of the cargo. It wasn't far up the coast, east of Winterhold. Situated in an area that had an opening of sorts that promised safety from the rocks and the ice.
It wasn't even three hours of sailing before the landing was spotted. Several men, hired dockers by the looks of them, lining the coast. Once the ship stopped by them, Tonadius grabbed a flag and signaled the men on the shore with a pattern of movements. No sooner than the last gesture was waved with the flag did the men move to the crates and start rowing out in what appeared to be a large barge carrying all of the cargo.
The men worked with Malen's crew to get all of the goods into the ship's hold. The dockers didn't really say more than three words at once.
When the final crate was placed snugly in the hold, Tonadius did one final inspection. Nothing was missing, no crates were opened. Satisfied, Tonadius strode up to Malen to keep a promise. "1000 septims in downpayment, as promised" Tonadius said, dropping a large sack into Malen's arms, the sound revealing the contents to be coins, "Now once my men set off the barge, we shall begin in earnest to Dawnstar".
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
He watched as the last of the dockers left the ship and rowed back to shore. He had mixed feelings of pride that he had managed to get such a job, but also felt reluctant to trust Toniadus all the same. Even half the payment was a sizable asset to Malen's coffers, but he would get what he was promised. "Mister Toniadus," he said as Steven returned, "this is Mister Steven, my first mate, my word is law on this ship, but Mister Steven is next in the chain of command. You are expected to do what I say, or do what Mister Steven says," Malen gestured toward the cabin, "Mister Steven, take Toniadus to his bed, he'll be sleeping next to me."
Malen moved away, toward the mast and yelled to his crew to unfurl the sail and bring the boat around and point her to Dawnstar. The crew obeyed instantly and rushed into action. Malen for his part, smiled contentedly.
M'nari awaited the answer, she was feeling herself strange right now. If Milos wouldn't agree, she would go alone...
Three days at sea and all things were going smoothly. It was unexpected, but Tonadius did have responsibilities put upon him while on the ship. They didn't require a particularly high level of expertise, but it was work nonetheless. By all accounts it could be perceived that the voyage was particularly blessed.
On the afternoon of the third day, a ship was spotted. A large blob on the sea, a fair way to the north, closing in. The ship slowly came into focus as it came closer towards them. It was big. It bristled with large bolt throwers. Its bow was metal-tipped and dipped into the ocean. This was definitely a warship.
The colours that the ship flew were hard to discern at first, but then the flag revealed itself as the imperial dragon.
An imperial ship was closing in...
Milos:
Milos felt a bit guilty that he had forgotten that vampires do not need to eat food, but could help but chuckle a bit anyway. At his own incompetence, not the joke he had made. When M'nari mentioned that she had actually spoken with Hermaeus Mora, Milos' expression changed into a curious open mouthed frown. Partly surprised that finding the Daedric prince would prove so trivial, Milos processed M'nari's next question.
One thing was certain, Milos wasn't done traveling yet and he knew it. "You can count me in, M'nari." Milos said, with a blank face, eyes peering into hers "In a way, I feel partly responsible for what happened to J'zargo. The least I can do is help out a friend who knows how to release his soul".
Milos drained the rest of his water and faced M'nari again. "Before we go, when was the last time you fed, anyway?" Milos asked.
Useful tidbits: Da Roolz - Da Off Topic Specific Roolz
Selvia recalled the orders well. This was repayment for her request, and she would serve faithfully. She descended the hill, and moved toward the inn, her hand twitching with magic. With a deep breath, she opened the door and entered.
((Is it ok for my girl to be an antagonist?))
M'nari tried to remember, and to her fear realised that it was at least a week. "Since that fight on the ship" she answered, quickly changing her concerned look to normal face. "We have no time to waste, I am accused as a killer, so it's better to leave now."
M'nari was really unhappy about the whole world around her. It's just like the only pawn trying to break through quieen, king, some bishops and a group of pawns...
But, if she has got a queen behind, and a king that knows what is he doing...
She becomes the queen herself as she reaches the last tile. And the checkmate.
And Mora was quite good tactican for sure. He is a prince of knowledge after all.
M'nari grabbed her satchel and started walking away.