Chapter 2 - A Bold Move.


Taillus wakes to the sound of dishes clattering below him. He remembers getting a room and as it seems the people downstairs are getting ready for another day. He slowly sits up in the soft bed and rubs his eyes. This will have been the very best sleep he has ever had in quite some time.

He wonders if Jiub took his advice last night and is actually thinking about Taillus’ offer. Truth be told, he could really use some help and he truly trusts Jiub. They have been through a lot together and Taillus would really appreciate his company. Taillus looks around his small confined room and smiles. It made him forget for one moment that he was just recently dropped off in Morrowind so he could be of “service” for the Emperor. The very thought made him sick to his stomach.

Taillus leans towards the floor and reaches under his bed. He rummages with one hand as the other one stayed planted on the rough, wooden floor to keep him from falling. He searches for one thing specifically and pulls out a package with a note tied to it. It was the package he was supposed to deliver to Caius Cossades in Balmora. Frankly, he really could not be bothered and he decided that he was going to scrap the whole idea. The less he had to do with the Imperial Legion and the Emperor, the better he would be.

He also wrestled with the events on the boat yesterday. Why did the captain of the ship just surrender Jiub? Why did he just order his men to stand down? It perplexed him and made him wonder why the emperor himself let him go. Nevertheless, Taillus rolled out of bed and began to get dressed. He suited his armor and hung his sparkblade by his right side before throwing a pack full of his other possessions over his shoulder. He remembered that he paid the innkeeper last night so that meant that he could just up and leave today.

Taillus opens the door to the Tavern and Inn and quickly brings a hand to block the mid morning sun from hurting his eyes. It was going to be a warm one today he says to himself as he walks down the stone steps to the dusty ground below. Taillus was amazed at the size and overall improvement that Caldera was over Seyda Neen. There were shops scattered about, the homes were of a much better quality made from a chalky grey slate with thatched straw and wooden bracers as opposed to the crude wooden shacks of Seyda Neen. The ground was actually dry and not swampy at all and the people seemed to be a tad nicer to Taillus as he wanders through town.

Taillus looks around, checking the names of the local shops but he mostly scans the streets for any sign of Jiub. He was really hoping to find him before he went on his way. As he traversed through Caldera, Taillus noticed something intriguing. The guards here were dressed in a gold colored armor that seemed to be made from hollowed bug shells. Large bug shells at that. This made Taillus quite uneasy in two ways. The first being that there must be bugs around that are big enough to make armor out of, and secondly that people actually wear armor made of gigantic bugs. The very thought of seeing an insect bigger then a common house fly sickened him and he quickly ran from the local guard trying not to vomit.

The city was bustling as the vendors opened up shop and the villagers went about their daily routines. Kids left their homes to go play by the water with wooden swords and shields and the city guards watched over everything making sure things were in order. It seemed like a nice system, unless of course you were one that was not in good standing with the law.

Taillus eventually made his way to a shop that seemed quite promising. It was a blacksmith that seemed to have a quite well run shop. Taillus entered quietly and realized he wasn’t in Arille’s Tradehouse anymore. This man had decently high quality weapons and armor. As he viewed the man’s collection of helms and shields on display, his attention brought him to a full, freestanding set of that hideous bug armor.

Taillus looked the armor over closely and noticed that it was very practical. Bonemold as it was called, seemed to be very hard but also quite light considering the protection that it would provide. The mask was interesting and it did look quite intimidating. Overall a very good choice for the local law enforcers in town. Taillus looked up at the helm once again, marveling at the quality of the armor when he could see a set of eyes open from within the helm.

“Can I help you with something, Outlander?” a gravelly voice says from the confines of the armor as Taillus just about hits the ceiling with his head in shock. Taillus stood, trembling about as petrified as a scrib threatened to be sat upon by an overweight Ogrim. The shop owner laughs hysterically as the suit of armor comes to life before them.

“That is one of the city guards, Outlander. He watches over the shop with me to ensure no one takes anything. His armor is not for sale.” The store owner chuckles as Taillus places both hands on his bent knees to catch his breath. As Taillus turns to leave, he can hear a voice coming from upstairs. Looking over his shoulder, Taillus could see a familiar face from within the shadows. He recognized it as being Jiub but he was dressed quite differently.

Taillus went upstairs while the guard and the shop owner were talking about Taillus and his recent scare and met Jiub. Jiub wore a dark set of leather armor and a band of cloth wrapped around his head that covered the bottom half of his face.

“You’re planning on looting this place, aren’t you Jiub? Is this why you were sent to prison?” Taillus asks quietly while Jiub looked over some scrolls that he had unraveled on the floor.

“Yes I am going to steal from this man, but no this is not why I was imprisoned. Now shut your mouth and either help or get out of here!” Jiub demands in his raspy old voice.

“What is it that you want me to do, Jiub?” Taillus asks while he still looks over his scrolls. The old Dunmer man looks up at Taillus with a look of amusement in his eyes. Jiub stands up and gathers the scrolls. He hands one to Taillus and lets it open in front of him.

“This is a scroll of invisibility. I want you to activate it after you leave the store. Exit the front of the shop and discreetly walk around back. There is a door leading back to this room and I will let you in. If they see you leave then they will not suspect you. Next, after I let you in, you will go back down stairs and stand in front of the guard. I will go behind you and loot the place like mad. This will make my chameleon spell lose its effect but I will run to escape. Do not lay a hand on the guard as it will make your spell lose effect as well, but lean into him as he comes after me. This will give me enough time to leave with the items. Stand aside and let him come after me then go out this back door and meet me by the river that flows by Caldera. This is where we will make our escape.”

Taillus listens carefully to the directions and is sure things will work. He rolls up the scroll and heads towards the front exit of the shop. He nods to the shopkeeper as he pushes the door open and walks discretely towards the back. He is let back in by Jiub just as the spell begins to take place and Jiub activates his own. They both silently head down stairs and Taillus takes his place in front of the guard.

Taillus can feel the breath of the man in the Bonemold Armor as it flows from under his helm and he can almost hear his heart beat from being so close to the man. He cannot see Jiub at all any more and in looking at himself he can barely tell where he is. Just as the first item is lifted off the shelf, the shop owner begins to yell.

“Hey, what is this! Someone stop that man!” He yells as Jiub slowly comes to view. The guard in front of Taillus attempts to run but catches an elbow to the head knocking him back into the corner. Jiub grabs about as much as he can hold and heads to the door. Just as it opens, the shop owner fires a crossbow that pierces Jiub’s armor at the right shoulder knocking him down and spilling himself as well as all of his newly acquired items all over the ground below. The shop keeper attempts to load the bow again but Taillus’ attention is averted by the guard that now struggles to draw his sword. Taillus quickly runs up the stairs and out the back door.

He is met there by Jiub who has a look of pain in his eyes as blood trickles down his back from the wound of the crossbow. He quickly reads a spell that locks the back door and they sprint towards the water. They both run through town in hopes that the lock spell will keep them occupied for a short while.

"You did well young man. I may not have made it if it wasn't for your help. These items will make our lives looking for artifacts much easier and we can be on our way to riches in no time!" Jiub yells to Taillus as they run through town.

They race through the Streets of Caldera, dodging villagers and knocking down the ones that get in their way. They can see the river at the edge of town as they continue running and hop over the small children playing near by. Both Taillus and Jiub land in the flowing water as the current carries them out of town.....

Nice as always. Now you really have made me curious to the further adventures of Taillus and Jiub. Keep it up.

Both men drift down the water as Jiub drinks a small healing potion to stop the pain of the crossbow bolt that remains stuck in his shoulder. The potion being far too weak to stop the bleeding just gives Jiub a break from the pain.

“Are you ok, Jiub? You seemed to have taken quite a shot. Not to mention that you are losing quite a lot of blood my friend.” Taillus asks as he grows more and more concerned about his friend’s condition.

Jiub looks ahead, squinting his eyes trying to peer below the water’s surface. A worried look crosses his face as he draws a short sword. Taillus, wondering what is happening, also draws his sparkblade in hopes that he will not be caught off guard. He tries to see what Jiub has noticed but to no avail. Taillus remained completely oblivious until Juib slashed the water repeatedly and frantically.

Taillus readies his sword, knowing something was in the water and he looks down to see the glimmering fangs of a moderately sized Slaughterfish and a few smaller friends. Soon, both men were surrounded by a school of the starving fish. Taillus decides against jamming his sword in the water for fear of the activated lightning enchantment would kill them all and has to bat them away with his fists while Jiub tried to quickly whittle down the numbers.

Things we getting frantic as both men not only struggled to not wind up as fish food but also had to fight the moving water as their weight made it quite hard to even stay afloat. Taillus was beginning to black out from lack of steady oxygen and he could see that their new wounds were attracting even more slaughterfish. Taillus struggled to move as he slowly reached for his sparkblade. Jiub nodded in agreement as he watched Taillus plunge the blade beneath the water’s surface.

Both men grit their teeth as every muscle in their body tightened over and over again from the force of the electric current surging through them. Taillus gasps for air as he tries to remove the sword from the water. The slaughterfish around them float to the surface and a smile crosses Taillus’ face before he loses consciousness….

Taillus slowly opens his eyes as he grips solid land. Or at least partially solid as far as he can feel. He lifts his head to look at the ash like dirt that he grips in his hands. A look of disgust crosses his face as it stains his palms a charcoal color. It seems that Morrowind is composed of a plethora of different landscapes and land types. He had experienced the humid, moist swampy mess that was the area around Seyda Neen, the sunny, comfortable climate that was common in Caldera and now this.

He couldn’t understand how anyone could bear to live in a climate like this. The air was so thick and musty it almost burned his lungs to breathe, and his eyes watered beyond his control. The trees were bare and almost lifeless and everywhere he looked was nothing but depressing shades of grey and black.

Taillus could not see any sign of Jiub and this worried him. Images of a ferocious grey beast carrying off the bleeding helpless Jiub played over and over in his mind. Taillus quickly got to his feet, making him remember the painful bites of the Slaughterfish. He limped across the barren wasteland of the Ash hills in search of his friend.

The sky was filled with the fierce winds of an ash storm as even the sun is blocked and hidden. Ash and dust pelt Taillus as he travels on, filling his mouth, choking him, burning his eyes and wedging its way under his clothes and armor making so much as moving an uncomfortable experience. Taillus continues on, determined to find Jiub but to no avail.

“This is insanity! What am I doing here?! It seems like I am walking through Oblivion itself!” Taillus yells out loud as he grips his head with both hands and falls to his knees. The ash storm picks up exponentially as Taillus now ducks down covering his face. Larger chunks of ash pick up off the ground and are sent swirling around.

Taillus coughs and wheezes as every orifice of his body seems to be packed full of this dry, dusty charcoal soot. He realizes that he must get somewhere soon lest he be buried in this putrid stuff. Getting to his feet, Taillus marches forward. Feeling light headed from the lack of clean air, and weak from walking he strides ahead just to survive.

Finally after marching for what seemed like an eternity, Taillus begins to see the top of some buildings through the storm. He breaks into a run as he trips down hills and hops over large rocks. Suddenly all of his pain and aches disappear as he hurtles towards the city.

“I don’t care what this place looks like as long as I get inside!” Taillus yells out loud as he chokes on some more ash. He runs for the city entrance and stumbles all the way through the Redoran inspired town until he bursts through the first door.

Very nice update, the idea of having Jiub as a companion is interesting, it is something that has never been done before and I like it. The characters are full of life and your story is unique in many ways. You describe things quite well and I enjoy reading your writing so update again soon.

Note to author: As I said, you describe everything really well and it would seem from your description of the town the character was was in was not Caldera but Balmora. Everything just seems to fit the description of Balmora, the river, buildings, and the guard uniforms as well. I only noticed this because there is no river near Caldera and the guard armor you describe is clearly Hlaalu origin.
map(zoom button in bottom right corner)

Other than that tiny detail it is quite good and I'm looking forward to the next update.

Oh no, not Jiub. Please be safe, please.

Now let's see what Taillus is going to do. it was a nice update again.

uh oh. Mistake I could have sworn that there was a small body of water outside of Caldera just by the armorer's shop. Even if it wasn't that big I still thought there was something there. I don't have my copy of Morrowind anymore so I can't check.
Regardless, thanks for pointing that out.

Taillus chokes and coughs loudly as his muscles give up from the stress and he collapses on the floor by the entry way. He breathes loudly as he wraps his arms around his chest. Every breath strains his lungs but the feeling of moderately clean air feels nice as he slowly draws the good air in.

A man casually walks over to Taillus as a smile crosses his face. He must have seen travelers enter his doors in this state quite often. He carries with him a small brush that he uses to dust some of the ash off Taillus’ armor as he lays still, breathing heavily. Taillus blinks a few times trying to get his vision back to normal. The ash storm really hindered his senses as his eyes were red and sore, his ears were packed with ash or so it seemed making it difficult to hear.

The man reaches down to aid Taillus as he finally regains enough strength to get up again. Between the two of them, they manage to get him into a standing position before being helped to a chair.

“It is a bad night for walking my friend. The ash storm is getting worse and worse as the days go by. It makes me think that something evil is happening in the hellish pits of that Red Mountain. But what do I know? The only information I have to use is that of the drunken ramblings that I overhear as I run this place. By the way, this is the Ald Skar Inn. It isn’t much but it makes for a good night’s rest, some food in your belly and the price is quite modest in my opinion.” The man chimes as Taillus continues digging the Ash from his armor.

“I am sorry about the mess I am making, but this Ash is everywhere!” Taillus says as he unbuckles his chest piece. He shakes his head in disgust as the dark ash flows from inside his armor.

“I will certainly clean this up sir, I am sorry but it burns the skin I need to get it off of me.” Taillus growls as even more flows to the floor as each article of armor is removed. The man simply smiles as he probably thinks that the ash is no more then that he receives every single time the door to his Inn is opened. Nevertheless, Taillus feels quite horrible for making such a large mess.

“Well it seems that this is a bit of a trend my friend. There was this Dunmer fellow that came in just before you did. He was all bloodied and exhausted like he had just tried to arm-wrestle a big hairy nord for a large cup of mead. He was a wreck I tell you. I felt so badly for him that I gave him a room at half price! I don’t know what I was thinking.” The owner laughs while Taillus’ eyes widen with each word.

“That is my friend Jiub! I was thinking that he didn’t make it through the storm alive!” Taillus shouts as he hops to his feet. He hobbles over to the counter and requests a room. After a brief description of what room was his, Taillus thanks the innkeeper and painfully walks downstairs.

A few knocks on the door where Jiub was apparently staying made it apparent that he was either not conscious or not there. Taillus assumed the first option and decided to retreat to his room for the night.

Taillus tosses and turns all night as he fights with a dream through his slumber. The dream starts with Taillus walking down a carved rock staircase and heading towards a podium with a statue of many Dremora all climbing to reach a glowing black gem. As Taillus walks closer to the statue, the dremora begin to slowly come to life and approach him. Taillus draws his blade to defend himself but to his surprise, they all stand aside and look to the gem.

As Taillus walks closer to the podium, the dremora begin to chant making the gem pulsate a dark black miasma that shakes him to his core as he extends a hand to grab it. As his fingers touch the mysterious artifact, He awakens suddenly to reality in a cold sweat accompanied by some heavy breathing.


“What is wrong with me? I have been having that dream on and off for years now but I have never been able to touch that gem. Maybe this means that I am getting closer to finding it. I have to find that Gem if it kills me!” Taillus says aloud as he lies back in bed and stares at the ceiling….

Nice, I enjoyed the dream sequence very much and I'm glad to see the character find Jiub alive. I also liked the the talk with the shop keeper, it was well put together. Great work mate.

Phew, Jiub is safe. Great dream also. I can't wait for the next update.

Thanks for reading everyone. The beginning of Chapter 3 will be up sometime today

Oh, i'm deffinetly looking forward to that one, please continue on your amazing story...I like it.

Another great chapter. Your rate of updating is definitely making it hard to keep up. But don't let that slow you down. I particularly enjoyed the description of the robbery of the shop; definitely a unique way to use magic, deception, and diversion. Keep up the great work.

holy crap man, these are pritty dang good and how am i supposed to compete with this (i just started writing some fan-fics)