*claps* Yes, an update to a great story! I always loved (and still do) the emotional traits of your writing. It makes the characters all the more, er, "human" (or should I say, "human-like"? ).

Nice to see Serene improving her healing skills! Her skills will surely be needed much more in the future.

In this brief installment we see many of the features that make this a great story: emotion, strength of character, Serene's determination to make her way in a new land, and touches of humor.

If you keep this up, I may be inspired to pick up my pen again, too.

Very nicely done, Minque. Thank you for sharing your gift with us.

Mergirl . . you're . . .you're . . .alive!!!

I've read only at random different times, never having the time to sit down and read the whole story, but I certainly have enjoyed this last excerpt. The relationships in your story are extremely well developed. Great job Serene, and keep up the usual awesome work!

Excellent, i have to say that this is one of the most in depth stories i've read online. The reason i joined Waiting4Oblivion was actually because of this Fan fiction. (And trey told me it was a good website)

I found W4O through Sinder's parodies and stayed because of all the great fan fiction here, this story was the one that truly inspired me to write my own and I'm overjoyed at the sight of each update.

Thank you for all nice comments......It´s really inspiring and encouraging, so there will be more.....I assure you!


You make me really happy!

You continually manage to outdo yourself. This last update was incredible; the depth of the emotions you describe was simply amazing. Thanks again for your hard work on this story.

Woot! And Update! And Sry about not posting for a long time, you know, RL Invaded and I had to actually interact with my family. Jk, but im also sry about not updating mine, I will as soon as I figure what else he should do. And excellent Update Minque.

Catched up with your story again Minque... And this won't be any unique reply from me, as I've said many times - You're updates are great and that includes this one. You have the great ability to make everything natural, well written and you make your characters come so much alive I could touch them

So please continue with the update... You know I love your story

Humph! Remind me to comment earlier next time. Thats pretty much said it all.

W00ty, more Serene
And the first bit of Chapter 2 of The Tale of Jonacin should show up at some point in the coming weeks, in case anyone is interested

(Yay for advertising! )

kjempe bra minkey
translation: really good minkey.

i have finally manage to catch up with your story, after many hours of reading...puhhh.

I like this tory more and more, the more I read it, ( I only wish that I will get so good with my story ).

So please, continue. I think I have found out what part of your story Telemachos, will play, but I will ofcourse not tell anyone of my suspicions.


So may I have some more....I will give you brown cheese if we get more .

well I just finished the third chapter and am looking forward to this one, I am almost tempted to skip my classes today if I were not in possible danger of failing my math class....I hate that teacher, anyway I found an example of what I was talking about in regards to repetitiveness, the use of "to my wits end" is used by both baladas and his niece, it's probably because you use these phrases often yourself, Or you just had it in your mind still, like when you are thinking one thing and say it instead of an intelligent reply to a question when someone is boring you...at least I hope I am not the only one who does that. anyway great ending, I like baladas much better in your story than in the game. I like how the talos cult was taken down in a new way as well, bery insteresting indeed. (misspell intentional for an accent, but I don't think that accent comes across well in writing, at least not mine)

(edit) - Where did you learn the names for the days of the week, etc. from the game? Where did you get daedric fonts, I saw a demo of them in the OB fansite kit but It isn't an executable. And why is it that when you edited the post with daedric in it the post didn't say.."edited..." like that down there?
V V

Ok! At last! I finally did it, I succeeded in writing an update! That is thanks to you guys who updates so frequently, that I got the inspiration to get it done with! A special note to Tellie: Thanks to you involving Serene in your story I just had to write my update ....now!

So here it is! Enjoy!

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One day Urshamusa Rapli told me of an odd dream of hers. I remember that day clearly because it was the same day that the strange Dunmeri woman appeared, the woman who came out of nowhere, at least it seemed so, the woman who would not reveal much of her past…..Still she had a message from an old friend of mine, Baladas Demnevanni. I will come to that later, though…

Urshamusa´s dream was indeed odd. She claimed she had seen me, together with a Guar, and not an ordinary Guar, for this one was completely white. White Guars are very rare; in fact I never heard of any of that kind at all. But this one was supposed to be sent as a sign from the gods to help the Ahemmusa Tribe. Urshamusa asked me to go and find this rare specimen, but did not tell me what to do with it, except I was not supposed to kill it, and she said I would know what to do when I found it.

She was very vague in describing the whereabouts of the white Guar, she just told me she had seen it in a spot where the rocks grew from the earth like the fingers of a hand. That did not tell me much as I was not familiar with the landscape in this part of Vvardenfell, so I decided to ask around in the camp to find out if anyone could tell me more. Kammu, one of the scouts, told me to head west, she was certain there would be a rock-formation matching that description somewhere in that direction.

I first consulted Sinnamu Mirpal in this matter. When she heard my story she looked at me and nodded her head slowly.

”Urshamusa usually has dreams that come true, so I´m afraid you have to seek the White Guar, Serene, but I cannot tell you how to act when you find it. But I do trust that you will know by yourself.”

Apparently both the Wise Women had the confidence in me that I would know what to do with a wild Guar, which by all means could decide to have me as lunch! But who was I to argue with them?

I went to Sedrane´s yurt, just to find that he was not there, so I laid down on the bedroll to get a few minutes of rest. I did not even get that; just as I closed my eyes I heard some excited conversation outside, and my name was mentioned by a female voice I did not recognise, so I rose from the bedroll just in time to see a strange Dunmeri woman enter. I brushed my hair out of my face, looked at her and greeted her as politely I could considering I just awakened from a three-minute nap.

"Hail, Stranger” I said, "Who might you be and what bring you to the Ahemmusa Camp?"

"Oh, my name is Telina Delvanni, mouth of House Telvanni, I was sent here by Baladas, to give you a late birthday present, and to live and help the tribe for some time, I come from Cyrodiil, but I don’t want to tell about my background because of earlier events.....not now at least, maybe later," she rambled very fast, hardly pausing to take a breath. It was exhausting just listening to her.

I looked at her curiously; she was a beautiful woman, yet she had some nasty bruises on her face, no doubt the usual ”welcome-greeting” of Zallit, the ultimate guard of our Camp. I clearly remembered how he greeted me when I arrived here!

"You come from Baladas Demnevanni, in Gnisis? Oh I do hope he’s ok!!" I must have sounded worried because she said a bit impatiently that he was doing fine and she was to bring me a late birthday-present from him. I gasped, for I never celebrated my birthday; in fact I hadn’t done it since I was sixteen.....that fateful day that changed my life forever.

I accepted the somewhat battered parcel, wrapped in some turquoise cloth, and in it were two books, one was the “Notes on Racial Phylogeny and Biology, Seventh Edition”, by the Council of Healers, Imperial University, the other was “Research-Notes of Potion-making” by Baladas himself. I was really happy to receive those two books; I remembered seeing them when I visited Baladas....so long ago, or at least it seemed that way.

I smiled as I gently put the books on the shelf beside me and then thanked Telina warmly for bringing them to me. Then I just had to tend to her facial wounds so she wouldn’t get any scars from them. I put my hands on her face and focused. The healing-energy arose rather quickly this time and I could to my satisfaction feel her wounds close neatly, without leaving a scar behind.

Telina was thankful to me for healing her, and she turned out to be very nice company. Obviously she had not spent time with another woman for quite some time, so she was eager to talk to me about “female” things. We spent a couple of hour’s chit-chatting over a mug of comberry-juice, and I even told her about Milie Hastien in Balmora, as she mentioned that she wanted someone to style her hair!

Then suddenly she had to leave, saying something about not having a tent of her own, and before I was able to tell her that she could spend the night in one of the bigger tents there she was off!

I smiled, Telina certainly was a fresh spirit, but now I had to get some rest before going on the search for the White Guar.

The weather was not very satisfying when I set out for the White-Guar task the following day, grey and cloudy, the rain was just hanging in the sky. I wore my thick leather-cloak just in case the rain came down on me, whilst walking the westward trail from the Ahemmusa Camp. After about two hours of walking I sat down and had a quick meal, bread and scuttle and a sip of water.

Early in the afternoon I spotted the significant formation of five upright boulders, like fingers of a hand, so this was the sign that I had reached my destination. I looked around carefully; I did not want to be taken by surprise by the White Guar, since I did not know how hostile it was.

Even with my precautions I was terrified when I suddenly heard a quaking sound about three metres to the right of me, and there it was! The White Guar came towards me, very slowly, just waving its big head back and forth. I stood absolutely still, waited for it to make a move. Sweat was trickling down my spine, I was more nervous than I thought I’d be.

The White Guar looked at me, well at least it’s eyes were directed at my face, then it turned around and started walking away from me, stopped, turned to me again, waving its head, like it was trying to urge me to follow! I then heard a voice in my head, very faint, yet familiar;

“Serene, follow me, fear not, I wish you no harm”

I trembled, it was as if the Guar talked to me, inside my head, or was it some incarnation of Azura? I did not know, but I found my legs moving, nearly outside my own will, following the big white Guar.

I didn’t know where we were heading, I just followed. Then suddenly the White Guar stopped with a sad groan. I approached it and spotted a dead body lying just beside some small rocks. It was the body of a woman, clad in the traditional Ashlander-outfit that most Healers and Wise Women wear. I kneeled beside the dead woman; she was middle-aged, her hair was grey-streaked and I could see from her tormented gaze that her death hadn’t been very pleasant.

I took a deep breath to avoid bursting into tears, then I gently searched her body in order to find something to show who she really was. I found an amulet in a leather-pouch around her neck, neatly tucked away under her blouse. The figures on it did not tell me much, but there was a warm sensation in my hand while holding on to it. I decided to bring back the Amulet to Urshamusa Rapli; she would know what to do with it.

I looked around; I just had to give the poor woman a decent grave, in order to prevent wild animals feasting on the cadaver. There was no possibility to dig a hole in the hard rocky ground so I built a mound of stones to cover the body. It was a hard work to gather enough stones and I didn’t finish it until sunset. I wasn’t very keen on being out in the unknown wilderness at night so I looked around to see if there was a cave or something in which I could spend the night, but I found nothing.

I was getting a bit scared now, since I also found out that I had no clue as to where I was or how to get back to the camp again. I cursed myself for not bringing a torch; at least it could have shown me if there was a path or something. I was all alone in the night in the middle of nowhere; even the White Guar had vanished, if it ever existed, I wasn’t too sure of that either.

I squeezed the amulet in my pocket and started walking eastward, or at least I thought I did. I tried to think of nice things, like Sedrane and how it would feel to be in his arms again, just to keep my mind busy, otherwise I maybe would panic. The thoughts of Sedrane made me long for him terribly, and this time I couldn’t stop the tears from coming.

A hard blow suddenly struck my left shoulder from behind and I fell flat on the ground, banging my forehead onto a stone. I must have lost consciousness for some time because the next thing I knew I was standing tightly bound to a tree, unable to move either my arms or legs. A sharp pain emanated from my left shoulder, I could feel the blouse was wet on the back, and I couldn’t see a thing! My head was aching and when I tried to move it I immediately vomited.

“Sheesh, look at her, filthy pig” A sharp voice tormented my shattered brain, and in the next moment I felt a hard punch in my stomach which naturally made me vomit again.

“Emul-Ran, stop that, you’re making it worse!” Another voice sounded, not much but a bit less sharp it was.

I felt the world spin around, a flickering sensation of yellow lights, red mist and then......darkness.

YAY! Finally an update from this awesome story, I'm incredibly glad to see that you wrote a bit more for us to read but alas you've still left me wondering what will happen next. I really liked the way you percieved Telina in your story and the way Serene behaves. As I'm sure you know I love your writing style and can't wait for the next part. Great story, update again when you can.

Hooray for more Serene! A wonderful update- I can almost live with the cliff-hanger in exchange for the cameo appearance of Telina. Still, I hope we don't have to wait too long for our favorite Morrowind character to be rescued.

The description of the White Guar quest was nicely done, particularly as you were able to fit it into the whole concept of Serene's overall mission amongst the Ashlanders.

CRYBABY!! lol, other than that I was very happy with this new development, very nice way to end. It seems to me like you got character inspiration for Telina from my Fargoth maybe..... in any case I am kind of confused and interested as to why the person who you have said out of story wasn't the nevarine is doing some of the Nevarine quests, like helping the ashlanders and the guar quest. I don't think I wanted to know that Serene wasn't the Nevarine...it kinda was a major spoiler...oh well....too late to not read that post now lol.

I am really looking forward to the next update

where did you find the days of the week/calender/seasons from? in game? or a site? could I get a point in the right direction?

Wow, Great update Serene! I just now got time to read this amazing story. I must sya I'm at a loss as to what is happening to Serene.... I do hope she will be okay in the long(er) run. Thanks for another update and I can't wait for another... Not meaning for you to feel rushed that is

Oh my...now I'm worried, and there is abseloutly now fingernails left for me to bite on...well I just have to fall so far down, that I actually have to chew my cat(s) claws....*ouch, ouff, OUCH* oki, I'm not doing that again. Please update soon, I'm getting desperate.

Well, this update was VERY GOOD, and most MOST welcome. Thanks for the thanks Minkey( ), I do like the way you descripted Telina here, I think Serene took it rather nicely as a matter of fact. You did nearly menafge to show her as the part-time-psychopath she is ( heh...heh...heh... ), no I was only kidding on that last one there ( about the psycopath thing. ) . But well a heavenly update filled with humor and some exitement. Keep it up.

At last, the long awaited update. It certainly did not disappoint. Telina's arrival was unexpected, but wonderfully appropriate. I enjoyed the encounter with the white guar; perhaps an incarnation of Azura is not so unlikely. I'll be looking forward to the next update to see what Serene has just gotten herself into; I do hope she'll be okay. Try not to make us wait so long this time, please!?!?

Well Minque, your story is wonderful and I thank you for inspiring and encouraging me to begin writing even though I no longer plan to finish my story. You have been kind and helpful, and for that you have my thanks. Goodbye Minque.

you have no plans about finishing your story...why it's great, but you know all stories need an end,if they dont have one, they will never be...complete. So please dont stop it.

well minkey, can we expect a new update soon, you know i still have plenty of brown cheese left in the fridge, and you will get access to it as soon you update..but as always great story keep it coming.

Goodbye minque?????? does this mean you are leaving us kiln?...Don't goooooooo, I will miss you. actually I am getting on less now than I was. I think I am going to slow my fanfic to update once every three days or a week and I only reply to stuff that is still interesting and not really old...like most of the oblivion stuff I no longer look at....like upgrade computer...and all the hypothetical stuffs...neway I am looking forward to more updates minky so try to match my speed...j/k, I know you can't keep up with me b/c your stuff is of a higher quality instead of mass produced middle lane stuffs. lol.

What is it about being blind that makes people want to walk the dog all day long?
......
it like an obsession!

(yea I am goin' ta hell, rofl)

Wonderful update Min. It is stories like this and Trey's that make me a little uneasy when I am writing my own work. I hope mine is even a fraction of the caliber that your story is continually. I may not post many comments here but I am never disappointed by this story and I will keep reading as long as you keep writing. You are an inspiration for all of us newbies in here

I can say the same taillus, some of the writers here is just to good sometimes, but well your story is exellent to, and if you continue it will be as great as this one I think.

But well yes this is just an awesome story filled with emotion and exitement, keep it up.

whoa Shame on me. I read this update but i didnt reply, i have replied for all of them. Im sorry minque haha

Anyway awesome update i cant wait to see whats going to happen. All i need is one more update to get me through to the 9 days untill oblivion!!!!

Ok friends and loyal readers....here´s another update to maybe give you the opportunity to kill some time waiting4oblivion!....enjoy!

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”Serene, Serene! Wake up, talk to me!”

A voice, a really persistent one, I couldn’t avoid it, it stung through my battered brain, tormented me, forced me to rise in consciousness from the dark warm depth in which I currently resided. The pain in my back had somewhat diminished to a deep dull pounding, my entire body was sore and my mind fought against waking up, but in vain. A greyish blur came into sight and developed into a face, a face with dark red eyes, filled with love and devotion.

“Sedrane” I did not speak his name aloud, for my mouth was stone-dry, I couldn’t even whisper, but the fact that he was by my side filled me with hope, so I formed my sore lips to some kind of a smile.

Sedrane gently stroke my chin, then I felt his lips against mine, a faint swirl down my spine, then I surrendered to him and just let go. I wanted to hold him, caress him, I tried to lift my arms but the pain was so immense......

“Don’t move my love,” his voice was harsh with emotion.

“Sedrane, what shall we do with the corpses?”

Another voice, at first I couldn’t place it but then I realised it was Mabarrabael. I didn’t understand what he was talking about, and did not hear Sedrane´s answer as my consciousness went back and forth

I noticed, as my mind eventually started to clear up a bit, that I was no longer tied to that tree, I was lying on the ground, on some hides as it seemed. I then tried to recapitulate what had happened; the last thing I remembered before everything went really dark was a red overwhelming pain...and some shouting!

I tried to move my head and immediately felt very sick, so my desperate attempts to get rid of whatever dwelt in my stomach failed. Sedrane put his hand on my head and told me to lie down, as I apparently had a severe skull-injury. As he bent down and kissed me once again I noticed his cheeks were wet. I wanted to comfort him, tell him everything was going to be ok, but I wasn’t able to, not this time.

The next time I was aware of anything I noticed my body was moved into a more comfortable position. I also had a warm hide to cover me and there was some sort of shelter as I couldn’t sense the cold wind that always blows over the Grazelands, neither could I see the sky. Afterwards I wondered if it was the wisest thing to do to move me, but I obviously survived so it couldn’t have been that bad after all.

As far as I could understand, according to the conversation between Sedrane and Mabarrabael, they hadn’t the faintest clue of what to do with me. I was severely wounded; an arrow had penetrated my left shoulder, it was removed but the wound itself had become infected. Now that was something that could be cured with herbs or suitable potions, even the two Ahemmusa-warriors knew that. The problem was my head. The slightest movement made me either faint or throw up.

Eventually I fell into deep unconsciousness....

“Serene, listen to me, raise your head and sit up!”

I noticed something turquoise in the corner of my eye, a persisent voice repeatedly telling me to raise my head, and then to press both hands on my temples and hold.

“Baladas?” I looked up into the deep red eyes of Baladas Demnevanni, and my body moved as of itself into an upright position, my hands pressed firmly at the temples....

Baladas looked me in the eyes, and slowly strange words came to me, so that I whispered them and I could feel the mist and shadows vanish from my brain and being replaced with an utmost calmness and harmony. I felt relaxed and very tired.......my eyelids dropped.

“Sleep, Serene, when you wake up you will be healed”

I let the darkness overwhelm me like a warm woollen blanket..............

I woke up, feeling quite alright, lying on a bedroll of that kind travellers use. When I looked around I noticed Sedrane sitting by the campfire obviously cooking some kind of meal, which smelled great. I then realised I was starving, so I stumbled towards the fire.

“Serene!” Sedrane´s voice was filled with joy and devotion, “You feel ok now? You know you really scared us; Was it one of the divines who possessed you? Both Mabarrabael and myself were paralyzed when you were talking in tongues.”

I was puzzled, and I did not understand at first but then the voice of Baladas echoed in my mind and I understood I’d had some kind of dream. But he was there, wasn’t he? I was still a little bit dizzy and I hadn’t grasped yet what really happened to me. The main thing though was that I was healed from my head-injury, my left shoulder still was a bit sore but it didn’t bother me.

Back in Ahemmusa Camp everybody had been upset and worried about my latest adventures. The thing was that a travelling merchant named Athanden Girith had been robbed by some, as he stated, “bastard Ashlanders” who stole his merchandise. After the theft he looked for their camp in order to see if there would be an opportunity to maybe recover his stolen goods when the bandits went to sleep, but what happened was that when the two thieves returned to their hideout they brought an unconscious and injured woman with them.

This made Athanden Girith to hurry towards the Ahemmusa Camp to get some help, and the first person he met was Mabarrabael, who immediately understood that it was me that the bandits had taken in custody.

Now this made the young Dunmeri woman, Telina Delvanni, really upset and she went to Sinnamu Mirpal to ask her for permission to try and find me, which she apparently did. Sedrane and Mabarrabael followed and found me lying quietly on the ground, unconscious, and the bandits dead.

“We thought you were dead,” Mabarrabael looked at me, “So we started collecting stones for the graves.”

Sedrane gave his friend a dark gaze, shaking his head.

“Then you started act very weird,” Mabarrabael continued, “You sat up, pressing your hands to your head and mumbled very strange words. I tried to talk to you but you were impossible to reach!”

At this moment Sinnamu Mirpal raised her hand, asking for silence.

“Serene, we know that you have connections with the other realm, but we also know that you have a very powerful Guardian Angel, Baladas Demnevanni. What you experienced was a telepathic dream. Young Telina must have gone to Baladas telling him you were hurt and he then telepathically lead you through a self-healing-process. This is a very powerful and intricate thing to do. So we must be grateful to Telina for saving our sister’s life.”

I sat quiet, what Sinnamu just told me was obviously the truth and I indeed was grateful to Baladas, who healed me by remote control, but most of all I was grateful to Telina Delvanni for triggering this. I only hoped I would be able to repay her someday.

YAY! first comment... I was almost literally on the edge of my seat the whole wounded part. please continue that was great

after nearly three weeks of waiting........YAY!!! UPDATE!

tyty. I was kinda surprised you didn't milk the whole situation for more storyline involving the kidnappers.....and I like being surprized Very nice update indeed.

I knew I should have checked fanfic subforum first....woulda been the first to comment....oh well, next time....

Ahh WOHOO....finally the update i have waited4 . I see that you have put a lot of your concentration on emotions this time....I like the way Baladas healed Serene, and also the growing relationship between Serene and Sedrane....:wub...but somehow I have the feeling that for not too long, they will have to break up... .

But as always wonderfull update, and I will look forward top the next one. And the repaying Telina, well lets just say there might be a chance that Serene will have the chance to repay her...but I wont tell it here...too crowded....

Finally caught up and it was all worth it. This is some excelent fiction you've got here. I like how it is overflowing with emotions and stuff.

Another good addition- it is interesting to see Serene drawn deeper into Baladas' plans. The cameo appearance of Telina was also a welcome surprise. As ever, you have provided us with a finely crafted piece of writing. It stands on its own, yet leaves us anxious for more.

Indeed, honorable Trey... I'm a bad, bad man... and I'll Join Your Club !

After reading carefully for hours (well, an hour and couple of minutes, really) I must now comment one thing: my nerves are getting just a wee bit strained from all the abuse Serene's taken lately... I don't care if someone's illiterate wildman from Teh Woods (or Ashlands, whatever), YOU DON'T GO ARROUND BEATING UP WOMEN ! My advice ? Serene, look into yer self, dig deep and find that lil' Nordic spark that will make you just a little less tolerant toward bullies... in other word, let's see some righteous, well-deserved butt-kicking, bloodrage style !!
[This has been an officiall Word Of Advice from your favourite Spellsword... stay tuned, we'll be right back after the commercials]

p.s.: ...and also, what kind of an IDIOT sends his love out in the unknown (to her, at least) parts of wilderness unescorted ?!!? Damn it, if Milanius was anywhere near that area heads would be flying already, starting with that female-beater jerk *Chorrol holds no smilie angry enough for me to insert here*

even though I have done little work on my story I was hoping to see an update here after coming back from my journey, but oh well, greatness is usually time released. btw I see treydog has a dog as avatar now, I like it.

Okay folks!..Here it is...... the long awaited update. I´m sorry about it being rather short, but I thought is would be better posting it now instead of letting you all wait much longer..just to add a few more lines.You may even just forget Serene...and that would make me sad...


Nibani Maesa, the Wise Woman of the Urshilaku tribe indeed was an impressive woman. She arrived at the Ahemmusa Camp for the Grand Meeting, not walking, but carried by four tribesmen, sitting on a palanquin, made from polished wood. Her appearance was powerful, although she in fact was rather short for being an ashlander. Accompanying her were, besides the four men, also the Ashkan of the Urshilaku, Sul-Matuul, with two of his men.

As was customary, the men assembled around the fire in the open area surrounded by the ring of yurts, and Nibani Maesa was taken to Sinnamu´s yurt. Kammu, Lanabi and I helped out with making our guests comfortable.

Nibani Maesa asked me to sit down beside her; I was caught in the gaze of her wise dark red eyes and the very aura of great magical powers so I sank down on my knees, bowing my head in courtesy to the elder woman.

“So, Serene, I hear you have used your skills to aid the Ahemmusa tribe well so far,” she said in her calm dark voice, “And you will also be of further use to these people, but that has yet to be revealed.”

I sat silent; in my opinion I hadn’t done very much for the Ahemmusa tribe; on the contrary it was the tribe who had done a lot for me, like giving me a home, teaching me a lot of useful things, and most of all, presenting me to a man that I could love and cherish.

Then Kammu called for me from outside, so I excused myself to Nibani Maesa and went out, just in time to greet the next party of guests, a tall rather handsome elderly man, wearing heavily decorated armour, accompanied by two fully armoured men and an old woman with a shrewd look in her glittering red eyes.

“It’s Ashkan Kaushad from the Zainab tribe....and the lady is Sonnamu Zabamat, their Wise Woman,” Lanabi whispered

“I demand to see Sinnamu Mirpal!” Ashkan Kaushad´s voice was strong and he sounded slightly irritated.

There was something with his eyes and his posture that gave me a weird feeling, it was famil-iar in a way, but I couldn´t point to it at that moment. Sinnamu then showed up just behind me and I could hear her gasp. Her face went pale, as pale as a Dunmerii face can get, that is a lighter nuance of grey, but still she obviously showed a rather odd reaction to the Zainab Ash-kan.

“Kaushad,” Sinnamu whispered, “I bid you welcome to the Ahemmusa camp”

“Welcome?” Kaushad roared, “Is that all you have to say to me? Now tell me where he is, I want to meet him and recognise him.”

At that moment I feared Sinnamu would faint; she swayed dangerously and I grabbed her by the hand, it was ice-cold.....

I felt something move inside of me, a suspicion, first very faint but as I watched the interac-tion between Sinnamu and Kaushad, the suspicion went stronger. I also started to realise who Kaushad reminded me of; Sedrane! I wasn’t sure at that moment but the next words from Sin-namu confirmed that I was right.

“Please, let it be, he doesn’t know......yet, it will only upset him!” Sinnamu´s voice was weak and filled with pain.

Kaushad did not reply, he just joined the other men at the main camp-fire. I was a bit shaken by this revelation, and almost missed the news Nibani Maesa was telling inside the yurt.

“.......The Third Trial........Urshilaku Nerevarine, and before the grass of the Ashlands turns brown again for the winter-season, he will appear in front of you, Sinnamu Mirpal, and ask you to name him the Ahemmusa Nerevarine. You may ask a favour of him; just make sure it will be of benefit for your people.”

No Minque, how could we possibly forget about Serene? Great update, I'm glad you posted this, even though this bit was somewhat shorter than usual it was a welcome addition. Very good work, hope you find the time to continue soon.

Ohh..thanks minkey..*hug**hug*......iliked this a lot.

I could never forget about Serene, I just mentioned her again in the newest part of the third chapter of my story.

So please enjoy this good with us, and accept a jona, and a milanius.

Oh take with you some Tellie cakes, as well...now you better enjoy those.......so please, update soon again...I want more Serene.

Ah an update. Lots of praise from me and one impatient wait for another update coming right up.

Already pushed halfway down the page!? Only because our favorite moderator is commenting so kindly on others' works.

To paraphrase a Persian story: Every update of Serene is a joy and a sadness- joy in the addition to this story and sadness that there is not more.

Some fascinating undercurrents here- Kaushad and Sedrane- plus Nibani Maesa's news.

What!? forget Serene? I could never (okay so it was wavering in my mind but she was still there)

Great update Minque, even if it is short,... remember, quality, npt quantity. cheers and I bit you all goodnight. *bows and exits the 'room'*

WOW.... this gets better and better.....

It's good to see Serene learning about Vvardenfell and gaining new friends in the process.

I assume that the Balmora outfitter who did her hair has given her a bottle of dye... or her roots would be showing by now....

Seriously, S.G.M.

Phew! Found it.....it´s amazing, I had to scroll down to page 3 before I found my story-thread! There really has been an explosion of stories here..it´s awesome.....so many talents...WOAH!

Now then...here it comes, the long awaited update!
......................................................................................................................

I did not pay much attention to Nibani Maesa´s words at the time; I was too occupied with the fact that Kaushad apparently was Sedrane´s biological father, but three months later I had all too much reason to remember her words.....

The clan-meeting lasted for five days. Every night we all assembled around the camp-fire to eat, drink and tell stories- from the past mainly. I learnt a lot about customs and rituals among the Ashlanders and got to feel I was really one of them. During daytime the four Wise Women had their separate meetings about things not meant for everyone to hear, but I had the privilege to attend to most of them. This indeed was very strange, because Outlanders like myself were not very well seen among these people.

The future for the Ashlander-Tribes was uncertain, because they were dependent on what the lands and nature could provide them and so they were vulnerable to any kind of unfortunate weather-conditions such as the hot dry summer last year and the bad prophecy about another one coming. The prey had diminished remarkably during the last two years, due to lack of pasture, and the hard dry ground did not allow anything else to grow either. The Guars suffered a lot as well, no water, no food, and also there were hardly any young, a natural result of the harsh conditions.

The main problem, however, for the Ahemmusa was the water-supply. The well just outside the camp was almost dry and due to the dry weather, the water table had dropped far below the usual level. That meant that if the drought continued, the well would soon be dry.

I was thinking that the well was rather shallow, and not a deep one such as I remember we had at home, in Cyrodiil. I sighed; remembering Cyrodiil was as always painful, but I coped with it far better now than I used to. I certainly had grown mentally during my stay here at the camp.

I dared to suggest to them that it could be a good idea to dig a deeper well, because there would probably be water deeper down, even during the drought. The men looked at me, and I knew it was not appropriate for a woman to interfere with the men’s talk, and especially not an Outlander, but I got the feeling that they did listen to me....

The last day of the Ashlander clan-meeting was beautifully sunny. The visiting tribes wished to leave early in the morning, so after breakfast we bade them goodbye. I noticed Kaushad taking Sedrane to the side and having a very sincere talk with him, before the Zainab commenced their long journey home...... A part of me longed to ask Sedrane about his father, about how it was that he came to be with the Ahemmusa, instead of his father’s tribe. But those thoughts of family reminded me of my own history. Those wounds were better, but not yet healed. And so, I did not ask, but simply accepted.

The Ahemmusa Camp was silent again and life got back to normal.

That summer the weather was unusually hot, and for me personally it also was hot for another reason. My tryst with Sedrane developed rapidly, we shared almost everything, I moved in with him and we lived as man and wife in all ways. Needless to say I was very happy and wouldn’t have minded if it lasted for ever, but Azura had other plans for me........

I got a red shirt from Lanabi one day, because I’d worn out the one I had. She offered it to me out of kindness and because I didn’t have any shirts suitable to wear anymore except my leather one, but it was too hot for that one!

That particular day I just left Sinnamu´s yurt after I’d given her a nice collection of herbs and plants, meant to be the raw material for some potions we planned to prepare that evening, and now I just had to arrange the evening meal for Sedrane and me before we could settle in for the evening.

It was then I saw him! A tall blonde man was leaving Dutadalk´s yurt and headed across the open place in the middle of the camp. I got this whirling sensation down my spine; he was an outlander, like me, and his features showed power and strength. It had to be him! The one Nibani Maesa talked about at the clan-meeting, the one that should fulfil the Prophecies.....

I did not dare to look at him directly, so I hurried away behind Sinnamu´s yurt when I noticed he was caught by Zallit. I smiled to myself, knowing Zallit; the Outlander would be stuck with him for quite some time.

I had difficulties getting to sleep that night, maybe because of the fumes from the potion-making we performed earlier or maybe because of the outlander visiting our camp. Sinnamu had told me about him, during our work earlier, and it was as I suspected, the man was here to ask her to name him the Ahemmusa Nerevarine.

“I have decided I will name him Ahemmusa Nerevarine” Sinnamu said in her low voice, “But he has to prove himself worthy of it, so I must consult our Gulakhan and of course Sedrane before I can take such actions.”

“Where is he now?” I asked

“Zallit offered him a place to stay until I’ve told my decision,” Sinnamu responded with a smile.

I understood; Zallit really delighted in the sound of his own voice, so the outlander would probably already have been put to sleep by Zallit´s never ending speech.

Later that night Sinnamu and the Gulakhan decided what to ask of the outlander, and when I heard it my heart sank. They wanted him to find a safe place for the Tribe, and that maybe was a good idea per se.....but when they told me the particular place they had in mind, I was stunned; Ald Daedroth! It was a horrible dark mouldy shrine situated on a small island just north from the shore. I had never set my foot on it but I had certainly had to perform some serious healing on Yennamu and Assama-Idan after their visit to the shrine a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t ask then why they had been there in the first place, but I now noticed the coincidence.

So now I was lying beside Sedrane, tossing and turning, feeling quite uneasy. I put my arms around him in order to try to get some calm but it didn’t work, so I decided to get up and try some reading to get me to sleep. Then I was aware of a blue light and thus....I was paid a visit by Azura....again!

“Serene! Be not afraid, I am watching over you as always. You have fulfilled your mission with the Ahemmusa Tribe; you have given them hope and joy in their lives. You have made them less hostile to other races, which will be of benefit to them now. The Ahemmusa will survive; they will be taken to a safe place by a man who is believed to be Lord Nerevar Reborn.

Now you must continue, Serene; you have other tasks laid upon you, but first you must seek a safe place of your own. Before Masser and Secunda are full again you must return to your house and claim your family. There is a sacrifice, though, you will have to leave your beloved one behind and follow your destiny”

I was stunned; my lips moved but I made no sound. I had to leave the Ahemmusa and with them Sedrane, the only man I had ever loved. Tears were streaming down my face; this was unbearable. Then I felt Sedrane´s arms around me, holding me tight. I turned, tried to tell him all about it but he just kissed me.

“Shhhh, Serene, it will be all right, you must obey the divines, Shhhh my love”

So he had understood. I didn’t know how, but the fact remained, Sedrane knew I had to leave and even though he was as sorry for it as I was, he did not tell me to stay. He merely said that if it was the will of the gods we would meet again.

I wasn’t too sure of that at the time, but it turned out I was wrong.....again!

The following days were painful; I had to prepare for my leave-taking. The tribe was sorry about my departure but nevertheless presented me with various gifts to help me remember them. As if I ever could forget these harsh, industrious but ever so loveable people!

On the day I was to leave I had a rather large heap of things to bring with me, clothes, some books, my alchemical equipment, herbs, potions.....my backpack was full up to its limits. Kammu meant I should be given a pack-guar to help me carry the stuff, but I turned the offer down; I couldn´t possibly deprive the Tribe of a single Guar, they needed them more than I did. Kammu persisted until Sinnamu raised her voice;

“Shush, child! I will see to the transportation of Serene, our heart friend!” She embraced me and then handed me a piece of parchment, with something written on it.

“This is a scroll,” she said, “A very useful one, it is called Almsivi Intervention and saying these runes will immediately transport you to the Temple in Ald´Ruhn.”

I had but once never used scrolls before, I still remembered the adventure with that crazy mage and his scroll of Icarian Flight that I involunteerly tried during my stay in Seyda Neen! I knew, they were totally secure and always functioned the way they were intended to....that is if you spoke the words right.

Good-byes are something I really hated, so I already had said goodbye to Sedrane, we did that in private because there were so many feelings involved that I didn’t want to show in public.

After the customary embraces and good-luck-wishes from my clan friends I spoke the words of the scroll.

The last thing I saw before the magic of the Almsivi Intervention-scroll engulfed me in its foggy mist was the sad face of Sedrane Mirpal.......


Here ends chapter 4

Figured I should probably comment on this story before it gets pushed off the first page by the other writers here.

Great update Minque, kinda sad to see Serene leaving her friends but I guess it had to be done.

Keep up the amazing work Minque, you know how I feel about your story so please continue when you can.

That was good update, yes it is said a little, but its interesting and every addition to this story builds a ladder to the next segment of the piece. Very good

Any day with an update to this story is a great day. I agree- Serene having to leave the Ahemmusa is sad- but we can hope that it will only be a temporary parting.

Your work always impresses me- you have such a wonderful feel for the people who populate the story. It was certainly worth waiting for.

And that mysterious outlander.....hmmm.

My congratulations on the completion of another update! I felt that that made an excellent ending. Quite sad and emotional but it fitted very well indeed.

Aww...thypichal...I was to late to reply again....

Well, I must say I was happy now when I saw that another update was given...as I love this story as you might know...

So, all I can do now is to wait for the first update at chapter five, which hopefully wont be so far away as this last one was......all good things are three.

PS: Any clue when the first update of chap five will come???

Chapter IV is done, eh ? I guess Serene will soon be ready to go to some deeper, darker places... I can never get tired of cave combats, daedric shrine ecounters and quality Tomb Raider action As I said it once (and I'll say it again): "It is nice on the outside but all the cool kids and the loot are Underground" so, GO, SERENE, GO !

Good writing as usual Minque Seriously emotional (WAIT, I can't believe i just said that... ) Anyway, I think Chorrol needs a Tomb Raider Smiley huh?

hey, an update. It was a good one, filled with sadness and hope.