This was planned as a prologue to my adventures in Oblivion but then it turned rather long so instead of a complete story about a major plot line, I’ve only finished the prologue up until the prison in the Imperial City. The goal was to understand my character’s motive and background for better immersion in the game.

This is my first try at writing fiction so any comments or thoughts are more than welcome. Thank you for your time.

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12 Last Seed 3E419
As all children living on the Bitter Coast Nienna had learned to swim almost simultaneously with learning to walk. One day they had been on the shore, Lila killing the big mud crabs and her daughter Nienna swimming and diving for pearls. The kollops around the coastline of Vvardenfell in the Imperial province of Morrowind seldom held any pearls. They had already been taken by the abundance of poor inhabitants.

Suddenly Lila realized she had not seen her daughter’s head above the surface of the water for quite a while. She resolutely jumped in with all her clothes on. When she didn’t see her immediately, she began to panic and even forgot to cast a water breathing spell so she had to surface to get air. Then she saw Nienna a good distance away and gestured to her to come back. Nienna complied immediately, swimming all the way back under water before joining Lila on the bank. Lila did not know what to do first, berate Nienna for swimming out so far or quenching her curiosity about how she could hold her breath for so long. First she hugged Nienna tightly, grateful that she had not come to harm. Before she could say anything, Nienna excitedly burst out:

“Oh, mama, I found out how to cast the water breathing spell, it’s wonderful, wonderful to do magic.” Nienna jumped up and down to expend some of her pent up energy upon discovering her new ability.

“I was out swimming as usual and then I saw an open kollop with a pearl glinting rather far away. Instead of just swimming as normal, I pictured my fingers closing around the pearl, daydreaming about buying you a new wool skirt for winter like the one we saw at the shop yesterday and a real doll for me with a dress and silk slippers. Then it happened. My lungs didn’t feel like they were under water anymore, but more like inhaling a very cold, clingy kind of fog. And I could swim, and swim, and swim. It wasn’t until my fingers actually touched the pearl that I felt the pressure of the water on my chest so I had to go up for air.” Nienna smiled happily, dancing about throwing sand and twigs up in the air, reveling in the discovery.

Lila was shocked to hear that Nienna had discovered the water breathing spell by herself – and at such a young age too. She was not even four years old. Normally, children in High Rock were tested for their magical capabilities at the age of six. Lila had been an unusual five years old herself when admitted to the Guild of Mages, but had intensely disliked the stuffy and old-fashioned teaching methods. She ran away when she was seven, doing the odd job for different employers while trying to learn as much about magic and different spells as possible. She was afraid that Nienna was too young to understand the powers involved in magic thus resulting in fatal consequences.

“Congratulations, Enna. This is a big day and cause for both celebration and contemplation,” Lila said in a quiet, serious tone. “Magic always consists of both sides: lightness and darkness, the power to heal and to destroy.”

“Yes, mama, but I didn’t do anything bad, I just swam underwater,” Nienna said, confused about her mother’s serious tone.

“I know, darling, it’s hard to explain what it is I mean. When you cast that water breathing spell, your only intent was to get the pearl and buy something nice for the money. This spell belongs to the school of alteration. Alteration means “change” and that is exactly the purpose of the spell, to change the way you perceive the water, the world and everything in it so that you can breathe longer and don’t have to surface to catch air. Until the spell runs out,” Lila gently pulled her daughter down beside her on the bank; this was going to take a while.

“When we change the physical world around us, we might get to a point where we forget that we’ve changed it but reality will always win in the end. No person can hold a spell indefinitely because the person would run out of either magicka or stamina. Just think about how fatal it would be if you were deep down in the ocean when suddenly reality came back and you had no more magicka or stamina left to prolong the spell. You’d die.” Lila had looked intently at Nienna’s face during her lecture to see whether her words had any effect.

“No, but I would not forget the real world, mama. I wouldn’t go down so far that I couldn’t easily come back up again.” Very little effect, it seemed.

Lila sighed, recognizing her own stubbornness and misguided pride in her daughter. She had been just as confident about her magical skills, and it was not until she had met Turamo and he had expanded her knowledge about magic that she had realized the prudence of humility. Altmers are known for their arrogance, and with reason; the only exception from it is magic. They view humility as the most important factor in successful application of magic as a whole. This means in alchemy as well as in the research and understanding of the six schools of magic: alteration, conjuration, destruction, restoration, illusion, and mysticism.

Interesting intro. You depict the mother/daughter relationship really well.

Welcome to the fan fiction forums.

Thanks for your reading and welcome, Metal Mallet. About two years ago, I read and commented for a short while on this forum, but then I got sidetracked. Now I'm busy reading some of the many engrossing stories published here, including yours.

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The Story of Turamo and Lila
Lila’s husband, Turamo, died in Sun’s Dusk 3E415, two months after Nienna was born. He had accepted the well-paid task to deliver provisions to some pilgrims behind the Ghostfence, but then he had contracted the corprus disease. He knew there was no cure. Therefore, he stayed inside the Ghostfence, so he did not infect others. A letter found on his body had identified him.

The wealthy protected themselves from Dagoth Ur and his Blight storms, servants and infected creatures by erecting the Ghostfence, a gigantic magical fence made by the ancestor spirits from dead heroes or strong individuals. Nevertheless, the fence got weaker and weaker. The Blight and the infected started to spread outside of it. It was not until the Nerevarine, the reincarnation of the Dunmer hero Lord Nerevar Indoril, defeated Dagoth Ur in 3E427 that the Blight disappeared, but by then it was too late for Nienna’s father.

Turamo had been an earnest scholar from a wealthy family in the Summerset Isles, the most south-western part of Tamriel. As part of his search for ancient scrolls, he had travelled to all the provinces of the Empire.

One evening he had been in Daggerfall, the capital city of the Bretonian province High Rock. In a back alley he had witnessed a young boy in a fight with a burly man. The skinny lad put up an energetic fight with spells, kicks and even hand-to-hand fighting, but the man still got many punches in.

Turamo got the same distinct feeling of humming stillness inside similar to when he had discovered the age-old original scroll of the ancient Bosmeric poem, Dansir Gol. The boy and the man were both of human descent, so why should he care one way or another? Turamo thought. Everyone knew that Altmers are the epitome of perfection, other elven races are inferior and humans and beastfolks too far beneath notice. He tried to ignore the feeling, but when it persisted, he turned back to the alley only to find the lad and the man gone. The humming stillness had disappeared anyway. Mentally shrugging, he turned back to the main street, found the coach destined for Cyrodiil, paid his ticket and climbed aboard.

The next day, when the coach stopped for a change of horses by a tavern, he had suddenly seen the tip of a nose under the many parcels and trunks atop the roof. Instantly, the humming stillness from the day before appeared again. Silently casting an invisibility spell on himself, he waited until all the other passengers went inside the tavern, and then he had seen the lad from the night before crawl out from under the luggage.

“Who are you, and why were you hiding?” He broke the invisibility spell, when he took a firm grip on the boy’s wrist.

“None of your business and let go of my arm instantly, you brutal mer,” the Bretonian lad demanded and stared angrily up at him.

Turamo should not have been surprised to discover the lad was not humble, but in fact had a strong attitude and did not even try to control his temper. His dealings with the Bretons had so far proved that they all seemed to share those traits. In this case, the traits had resulted in the amusing hothead who did not know when to use diplomacy, even when the opponent was much stronger.

“Give me the answers, and then I will decide what to do with you,” he smiled slightly at the young one’s irritated snort, but since Turamo still held the wrist, there really was not much choice involved.

“Look, Altmer, I am trying to get out of High Rock and see the rest of the Empire, but my former employer, a smith, wouldn’t pay me the gold I was due and even tried to restrain me, so I had to hide on the coach,” the lad stared impatiently at Turamo, tugging the arm that he held, obviously wanting to be on his merry way.

Something about the lad’s voice seemed a little off, Turamo thought. He snapped the cap away from the youngster’s head revealing long, strawcoloured hair and feminine features.

“Now, look what you did, you interfering fool,” the girl snatched the cap back and tried to push the hair back under it, but since Turamo still held onto her left wrist, she failed miserably.

“Why the make-believe?”

“A young boy travelling alone has Mundus at his feet, whereas a young girl is little more than prey for unsavoury types.”

Turamo nodded his concurrence to the girl’s reasoning.

“Are you proficient in the work as an alchemist and a scribe?” Turamo was amazed at himself for involving himself with this human and her unfortunate situation. It was really none of his business, as the girl had already pointed out. Obviously, she was the sane one of them. She looked suspiciously at him.

“I don’t know how to write, but I’m good at alchemy, and I know a couple of spells.” That was true; he had even seen her use some small fireballs last night when she fought the smith. Normally, he could boast an unfailing memory, but something about the girl had shaken him soundly.

“I have to travel the provinces of Tamriel as part of my ongoing research, and I could use an errand… erm… girl to take care of all the mundane necessities and help out with my research. Do we have a deal?” Turamo posed it as a question, but let the inflection state clearly, that it was the only sensible solution.

“Very well, if that is what it will take to make you let go of my arm,” she said ungraciously, “but I have one stipulation, I want to learn to read and write before we reach Morrowind.”

“Deal,” they shook hands.

“I’m near starved; do you have anything I can eat?” She looked more at ease now, rubbing her wrist lightly, when he released it.

“Yes, I do, but first what is your name?”

“Lila Silven. Now would you please get me some food? I haven’t eaten in two days, and I tend to get in a really bad mood when my stomach is empty,” she smiled apologetically.

From then on, they had been together. At first, he had treated her as an amusing puppy, but the more time he spent with her, the more he came to admire her and even regard her as an equal. She was quick to learn her letters, and when he let her be his scribe during his alchemy and spell testing, she contributed valuable critique. Altmers, or High Elves as the other races most often call them, treasure the intellectual pursuits above all, and Lila impressed him with her capabilities for learning and affinity to magic and alchemy. In the end, her quirky wit, great energy, and passionate zest for life had won him over.

Less and less he would speak and behave like the condescending Altmer, he was brought up to be, and she had likewise warmed to him, appreciating his dry sense of humor, his almost encyclopaedic knowledge, and bouts of tenderness that surfaced more and more often.

Five years after their first encounter, Lila had told him outright that she loved him, never one to put a lid on her feelings. He had felt the same for her for many years, in fact from the beginning, but at first he had not recognized the feeling for what it was. She was the only female, he had ever felt both mentally and emotionally attracted to, and he did not know what to do with emotions, since they were deemed unworthy in his own society and hence had no place. At first she was too young, and later he was afraid that she did not feel the same. He would have been content to let things continue as they were, because she had shown him so many other sides to life, he had not figured out on his own in the first two hundred years, he had lived before meeting her. Better this close friendship than his mostly intellectual existence before. Then they got married, and he had felt fulfilled and alive like he never would have thought possible.

The only loss he had suffered was that his family had disowned him when they learned that he had married a Breton instead of a pure Altmer. Even though he lost his family, connections, and generous salary from the deeply satisfying work of tracking down scrolls, deciphering them and doing research, he never once regretted his decision. Not when work was hard and the money scarce. Not even now. Turamo sighed, feeling his mind and body already changing caused by the corprus disease. Shaking, he found a blank scroll, dipped his quill pen in the ink bottle and started writing his last letter.

My sweet Lila,

After I completed my delivery to the three pilgrims, I immediately began to retrace my steps, but then the Blight started roaring, and I got so much ash in my eyes that for a few minutes I could not see anything. When my eyes had finally cleared again, a corprus stalker viciously attacked me. I managed to slay him with an impromptu lightning bolt and then a series of fireballs. He only touched me two times and briefly at that, but I sense the dreaded disease in my veins and have already located a deformation of my right forearm and several swellings on both legs and chest.

I assumed that my Altmeric resistance to common disease would be protection enough, but alas, I have paid a severe penalty for this last arrogance.

Together with you, I have enjoyed the best years of my existence. You showed me that life consists of more than the pleasures of the mind: your laughter and love enriched my life in a way that even my precious study of ancient scrolls has never done.

Lila, my love, kiss our child from her father. I think of you as I last saw you, waving and smiling. I shall pray relentlessly to Kynareth that she will grant us the opportunity to embrace each other once again in the eternity,

Your husband Turamo

Well that was certainly an interesting set of events that led to Lila meeting her husband. It's nice to see how she managed to win him over and get him past his arrogant upbringing. It's unfortunate that he had to pass away so close to the Nerevarine's arrival and the ending of the Blight. I wonder how this will effect Nienna? Life without a father could certainly create some differences in her upbringing.

Oh yes. I should warn you now that it might take some time to catch up in my story if you plan to start from the beginning. As of this moment, the story is about 200 pages on Word and it's not complete yet either. I hope you enjoy it though; I'm intrigued by what you've written so far.

What a wonderful story! Emotional and interesting...I love it! I do hope you´ll continue.....

The events leading to their relation was really well described..ansd an offspring from an Altmer and a Breton! wow that must be magical!

To Metal Mallet: Loosing a father is severe indeed, but at least she's got her mother and then two "grandparents".

You're right, your story is really long, but fortunately a thrilling read.

To Minque: Thank you for your positive comments. I am fascinated by the magic in TES, so I decided to make my main character a magic user. This update only talks about alchemy, though. Playing the game as a pure mage was too much trouble, so I tweaked my class skills and added the blade skill, too. This is also reflected in my story later on.

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Lila and Nienna
Lila often talked to Nienna about Turamo. She relived her moments with her husband through these memories, and Nienna loved to hear the story of a love so strong that they had been happy despite his family’s renouncement and their subsequent economic hardships.

“Times were hard because there weren’t any people who needed your father’s abilities as a scholar or as a scribe,” Lila said.

“Instead we decided to use our abilities for magic and trade a little in potions on the side, and that was enough to give us a decent income and buy this hut.” They sat outside in the sunshine in front of the hut, making potions and preparing ingredients for sale.

After the death of Turamo, Lila had been devastated and felt the world had caved in on her. She could barely think about her future nor care for her baby in more than the most basic terms.

Fortunately, the nearby neighbours, Teldrisa and Grohen Alvor, a Dunmer couple in their middle ages, had taken an active interest in her and Nienna. Before they had just greeted each other politely, since the Alvors were reserved like most Dunmer, but after Turamo’s death Teldrisa and Grohen had helped Lila as much as possible.

Lila knew, she needed strength to carry on for the sake of her baby, but at times she felt life did not hold more for her and cried at the thought of her husband. To sustain herself and keep going, she prayed to Akatosh, the god of time, who embodies the qualities of endurance, invincibility and everlasting legitimacy. She especially needed the endurance, Lila thought. She had never gotten used to her religion, the Nine Divines, being called The Imperial Cult here in Morrowind. Regardless of the name, the gods and goddesses were the same eight Aedra with the humanborn Tiber Septim, who united all the provinces of the Empire and was later elevated to godhero, as the ninth divine. But she refused to call them a “cult”; there was nothing cultish about the Divines.

One day in spring, baby Nienna had been trying to keep sitting up, but continuously fell down. She screamed and cried with rage and frustration, but then she wriggled her way over to the table, sat up, and then sank her single tooth hard into the wooden table leg for stability and thereby finally managed to keep sitting. Lila laughed for the first time since her loss.

After that episode, Lila felt life was returning in full colour, and she began to appreciate the little things that hitherto had seemed insignificant, like the first warmth in the air, the smell of newly baked bread and most of all the time together with her little daughter. Experiencing Nienna’s exuberant delight, when she discovered all the mundane things that grown ups take for granted, was a daily joy for Lila, and she often thanked Mara, the goddess of love, for granting her the gift of two great loves of her life, Turamo and Nienna.

Teldrisa and Grohen had suggested that they sell their alchemical wares together, complemented by her spells. This proved a successful merger, since Lila could concentrate on selling her magical abilities, while Teldrisa and Grohen would take care of the bartering of potions, ingredients and salves.

In the following years, Lila was either selling spells or collecting herbs and plants. At home she would prepare and mix some of the ingredients into potions or salves, all the while talking with Nienna and teaching her about alchemy. Nienna went with her everywhere, so even though the work was endless, none of them felt it as a chore, but more as an opportunity to learn, to play and to satisfy their keen curiosity. As all Bretons, they felt a natural affinity to magic, and Lila showed Nienna, how magic could show itself in the most common plants and parts of animals.

She tried to teach her daughter to appreciate all ingredients and schools of magic and not fall for the arrogance or laziness to elect one as the winner. “Instead,” she stressed, “the wise would choose depending on the situation and purpose.”

In order to make a wise choice, Nienna would have to learn as much as possible about the ingredients and the magical schools. Both fallacies, arrogance and laziness, originate in ignorance. But Nienna was too young for the actual teaching of spells. There would be plenty of time for that later, Lila thought. She had allowed her to start with alchemy, though, and only when she was present.

“To escape the trap of ignorance is a lifelong endeavour,” Lila said. She observed, how meticulously Nienna distilled the arcane properties of natural and supernatural substances from their raw ingredients in the alembic, a glass container often used in the alchemical process.

“Sometimes you will think that now you’ve learned absolutely everything there is to know about the magical properties of an ingredient or the strengths and weaknesses of a spell,” Lila took a corkbulb root and began peeling its fibrous roots off.

“But this line of thinking will only set you up for huge disappointment later, not to speak of maybe fatal or disastrous mistakes.”

Nienna listened, while she infused the substances of three ampoule pods and a handful of violet coprinus mushrooms. Her goal was to make a water walking potion, but both ingredients had inherent negative side effects, so she used the alembic to decrease those. She carefully stoked the flames surrounding the foot of the alembic to raise the temperature inside, but knew that it should not get too high because that would burn the substances and thereby remove their modest magical properties.

“Ouch, it’s hot,” by accident Nienna had brushed her little finger against the side of the alembic. She quickly put the finger in her mouth to cool it off, tears of pain in her eyes. Lila rushed to get some water from the well, came back with a bucket and sat it beside her daughter.

“Here, put it in the water and let me do the rest.”

“No, I’ll do it,” Nienna protested, “it doesn’t even hurt anymore.” A cluster of blisters appeared on the finger, contradicting her words. This was the first time, she was making a potion without any help from her mother, and she was determined to finish it herself. She had kept a close eye on the alembic all the time, and now she took the complementary container and held it snug to the mouth of the alembic to catch the vapour that was condensing. With the vapour gone, the distilled substances would then have the desired magical properties and a diminished amount of the undesired.

Nienna used a pair of wooden pincers to remove the alembic and placed it gently on the grass to cool off. Then she took a small stick, dipped it lightly in the substance and licked gingerly at the tip that was now tinted with a dark greenish paste then handed it to her mother who tasted, too.

“Perfect, Enna,” Lila smiled approvingly, since the result depends on the quality of the apparatus and the skill of the alchemist.

Nienna beamed, appreciating the praise for a job she knew was well done.

“I could not detect any negative properties, you must have tended the temperature like a cliff racer its nest.” She was hugged, and then Lila swung her around, until they were both out of breath, giddy and laughing.

Awww.....how sweet! And I suspect you´re a chemist Luci! I mean it sometimes takes one to know one....or am I totally wrong?

Anyway a lovely story.......I want more!

Alchemy is that one skill I never bothered with. Remembering the recipes always seemed to slip my mind, the apparatus were too heavy in my opinion and even when the situation got tough, I always refused to use the potions I'd made 'cause I might need them later.'

Yeah, that's just me being stupid.

Lovely story though. We need more children in the main role. And I mean children, not teenagers.

Still going strong here, Lucidarius. I really enjoyed reading the intricate description of the potion-making process as well as the mention of the Nine Divines. Outside of some of Jack Cloudy's stories, the Nine aren't mentioned all that often (I'm guilty of this too).

Plus, the touching and realistic interaction between mother and daughter continues to be wonderfully described. Excellent work.

Minque, I'm really flattered that you think I might be into chemistry because then I must have done a convincing job in my descriptions. No, I actually don't know one thing from the other IRL, but chemistry sounds intriguing and I like to do alchemy in-game.

Jack Cloudy, in Morrowind I only used potions as a semi-cheat to earn money. In Oblivion I've found it really useful to use poisons on arrows while taking down strong foes. Nienna starts out a young child but matures through the story.

Metal Mallet, the Divines are very prominent, yet for the most part they stay in the background in Oblivion, so it feels natural to make the characters pray to them.

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14 Last Seed 3E419
“Please, mama, I want to learn how to do more magic,” Nienna pleaded. They had been over this topic numerous times already in the last couple of days since her debut in alteration magic with the water breathing spell. The sun still shone brightly, and they were tired after a long day at the market, Lila selling her spells, and Nienna playing or watching her mother do business.

“I think you’re too young, and we don’t have time either,” Lila understood her daughter’s strong wish, hadn’t she been just as eager herself?

“What has it got to do with age? You can teach me while we walk to and from the market each day,” Nienna suggested, “then you won’t use extra time at all. Oh, please mama, I will absolutely die if you won’t teach me.”

Lila was amused at the child’s exaggeration. “In High Rock the Guild of Mages would definitely have given you free tuition and board and taught you what you so long for, my child,” Lila’s mind wandered into the past of her own childhood, recalling how she had thought herself to be the most lucky girl when she was accepted into that exact situation. “Unfortunately, they only admit paying pupils when they are underage in Morrowind, and I can’t afford it. But you know how much I detested the boring and slow way they tutored me.”

“But if you tutored me, it wouldn’t be boring and I’d be hard-working.”

“I know you would, Enna, but it’s primarily your young age that is of concern to me. Even old and supposedly wise mages get sometimes caught up in the excitement of creating a new spell and forget about humility or to test the spell in safe environments,” Lila was tired from the long day, but she could not suppress a smile when she thought about the rapid downfall of the wizard Tarhiel.

“One of my first experiences in Morrowind was with a wizard, who had forgotten exactly that. Turamo and I had just arrived in the little seaport, Seyda Neen, and he went to the trader to get some fresh supplies, while I longed to get into the country to see what it was like and gather some of their specimens for alchemy. So I started walking out of town following a rough trail that led through the many swamps and salt marshes, enjoying the freedom after the long confinement in the ship. Walking up a hilly road, I saw a book lying on the ground. You know I read anything I can lay my hands on, so I went to pick it up when I heard a prolonged high-pitched scream and looked up. A man was plummeting to the ground, and I jumped back.”

“Did he die?” Nienna listened intently to her mother’s story. To hear about a real wizard and his research was thrilling, even more so now that she had experienced the joy of casting a spell herself. However, she did not like it if the wizard had died because of his spell.

“Yes, unfortunately, the poor Bosmer didn’t make it, although I cast cure health spells on him for a couple of minutes. When I had ascertained that he was beyond mortal help, I opened the book beside him. On the front page it said Journal of Tarhiel, and the last entry told about his latest invention. It was a jump spell that would allow him to travel great distances without the drawback of disorientation like the levitation spell. To his dismay, he had been the laughing stock back at the Guild of Mages when he suggested the idea. He was convinced he had thought about all the possible complications to it and checked and rechecked his calculations thoroughly.”

“Apparently not,” Nienna said, “I’m really sorry that he died, but if the spell allowed him to go up, he should have included a way to go down, maybe something that would slow his fall towards earth or a bit of levitation so he could steer the landing without coming to harm?”

Lila looked proudly at her daughter. “Those are very sensible suggestions, Enna, and your reasoning is excellent. Tarhiel would certainly be alive today if he had added maybe some slowfall or levitation to his spell.”

They continued to walk home, Nienna thinking about researching and trying out spells without anyone dying, and Lila wondering if Nienna might be ready for an introduction to magic after all. Her responses to the story of Tarhiel had shown both compassion to his sad end, but also an intelligent chain of reasoning that took both the purpose of the spell and its immediate complications in. It was at times like these that she especially needed Turamo. He had had an in-depth understanding of magic and together with his calm and collected personality, he had made an excellent sounding board for her more passionate and intuitive way of thinking. Shaking off the reverie, Lila had to decide what was best for their daughter.

These last two days, Nienna had been pleading non-stop for more knowledge about the schools of magic; it was exhausting. And the child did discover the water breathing spell by herself which is extremely rare. Normally, people needed to be taught a spell either by a person or – much more difficult – from precise descriptions in a book. Her daughter had never easily accepted a “no”; she would likely try to learn about magic from others or on her own, if Lila kept refusing her. She came to the decision that it was better, if she taught her how to go about magic in a safe way than risk her doing it on her own and maybe suffer maiming or worse, caused by her inexperience.

Nienna was overjoyed, when she heard about the decision, but Lila warned her that she would first teach her how to read, write and calculate, because those were indispensable tools when testing the safety of the spells. Then she would teach her about the six different schools of magic, theoretically. Only then, would she teach her the most basic cantrip spells for practice. Later on, they could delve deeper into each school accompanied by stronger spells. The exception was the school of conjuration. She would not teach Nienna any spells, not even cantrips, from that school until she was thirteen years old.

“Thirteen years old, but… that is so many years from now, mama. Can’t you just teach me a tiny conjuration spell, please?”

Lila shook her head adamantly. “No, Enna, and that’s final. The school of conjuration is the most dangerous school to handle, both for the caster and her surroundings. After all, you will only turn four years old on Hearthfire 10th, about one month from now. There will be plenty of other things to turn your mind to in the meantime. In High Rock they would only teach children of at least fourteen years conjuration spells. I asked back then because… erm … I was anxious to try.” Lila could not help smiling at the identical thirst for magic in her daughter and herself.

“In conjuration you summon or conjure an object or being from another plane, The Outer Realms, into our plane, The Mortal Plane.”

“Is The Mortal Plane not the same as Mundus or Nirn, mama?”

“That is correct in the sense that here on Mundus every being is mortal. All gods are immortal. The gods of stasis or Aedra, which constitute our religion the Nine Divines, live in Aetherius, while the gods of change and most often destruction, the Daedra, live in Oblivion.”

“Teldrisa has told me stories about how the Daedra interfere in our lives, usually to do bad things but sometimes good things, too. She has told me about the Daedra prince of destruction, Mehrunes Dagon. In the first era he destroyed all of the glorious city of Mournhold and later not so many years ago in our third era he took over Battlespire where the Imperial battlemages trained and killed everyone. That frightened me,” Nienna said, moving close to her mother.

“Yes, he appeared in 1E2920 and again one time between 3E389-399. Two times in the three eras. The last time a hero escaped, and this hero helped bring down the evil battlemage Jagar Tharn and reinstate our current emperor Uriel Septim VII,” Lila clarified.

“Teldrisa told me that there are eight reigning Daedra princes and some lesser known, too.” Nienna said, slipping her hand into her mother’s.

“That’s true. During the war between the Empire and Morrowind, the god Sotha Sil and the eight highest-ranking Daedra princes made the agreement that Daedra can only be summoned by a witch or a sorcerer. I don’t know if this agreement is still in effect,” Lila expounded.

“I hope they will never ever be able to come into our plane again. They are evil,” Nienna cried and clung to her mother, and Lila stopped to scoop her shivering daughter up into her arms and hold her tight.

“I’m sorry, Enna, I brought this up. Your father and I were always fascinated with the school of conjuration and thought the summoning of otherworldly beings or items is interesting to practice, containing rich practical and scholarly implications. I was carried away talking about the Daedra. They almost never appear on Nirn. I’m sure you will live your whole life without ever encountering one,” Lila tried to comfort Nienna.

Nienna nodded, her tears drying up but she had an indefinable feeling about the Daedra. She was frightened of them but at the same time curious. From Teldrisa she knew that each of the gods have their own definite sphere and wield immense power. Despite her mother’s soothing words, she had a premonition of something terrible that she could not voice. The feeling of terror and dread only slowly dissipated.

Lila let Nienna back down on the ground, and they started walking again, talking about the previous subject, the school of conjuration.

“To reach into the Outer Realms requires an inordinate strength of mind and ability to control the summoned object or being once here,” Lila calmly said. “If you don’t have the skill necessary, then you might end up getting pulled to the other realm and perish there. Even if you do have the skill to summon an object or being, there is a definite risk of losing control of it, and then it would wreak havoc on Mundus.”

“But isn’t it the same skill? To pull it here and then to control it, I mean?” Nienna furrowed her brow.

“Yes, it is. But if you have just pulled a being into our plane, you better keep your concentration unwavering. A slip in concentration for just a fraction of a second means that the being is unrestrained and free to do as it wishes. Remember, you’re dealing with a being who possess its own free will and desires. To regain control requires even more mental strength and is chaotic, since the being doesn’t adhere to the laws of Mundus as we do.”

The sun had started to set, and the air was getting cooler, but that was only refreshing after the hot autumn day.

“One time I had been given the assignment of looking into some disturbance at a fellow mage’s hut near Maar Gan,” Lila continued by giving an example. “It turned out to be a scamp that was the cause of the disturbance. When I had dispatched the scamp, I found an apprentice, a man fully grown I might add,” Lila looked pointedly at Nienna. “In a closet, hiding. He had summoned it to prove himself to his mistress but wasn’t capable of controlling it. The result was that the hut was put to shambles. But the apprentice could have been dead instead, so he was actually lucky.”

Nienna acquiesced. “No one was hurt, and the apprentice should have put severe restrictions on the summoned scamp from the start, but all right, all right,” she sensed her mother’s determination regarding this particular school – but she would not give up. She would wait a few weeks and then ask again with renewed vigor and better arguments to support her case.

“When you have acquired the foundation for each school of magic, then I’ll teach you some minor spells for five of them,“ Lila replied. “You already know how to breathe water, and it would be handy to know how to water walk too.”

Handy is fine, Nienna thought, but I want to learn everything for the pure thrill of it. Uh, she was so impatient she jumped a little, just to expend some of her energy.

Hehe, reading Nienna's reactions to certain things is so cute. I can just picture a wide eyed child looking up anxiously at her mother and asking tons of questions.

Excellent work.

I loved the exposition, especially the talk about Conjuration. Then there were the little tidbits of 'Morrowind experience' which fit in seamlessly.

Oh, and what Mallet said. Love that knowledge-hungry child.

Lovely! Oh I appreciated the mentioning of Tarhiel! That he was laughed at by the Mage´s guild and so on...so funny to read.

Then I second both Mallie and Mr Cloudy.....


S.G.M

About the child, I strive to make Nienna hungry for knowledge as I see that as a characterizing trait in her. It's also fun to speculate about how to do magic. Various stories have their own take on it ranging from the need for a wand, a cauldron, a flying broom, a black cat/raven/x to TES where people do some magical things, but not e.g. food by magic.

I never had the patience to try and save Tarhiel but I always enjoyed the crazy programmer's idea of him plummeting from seemingly nowhere with that eerie cry.

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Home Schooling 3E419-421
Over the course of the next years, Lila taught Nienna to read and write, to calculate and about the schools of magic whenever they had the time. When Nienna had to learn calculations by rote, Lila related them to a simple spell so Nienna understood the need for it. Lila stressed that she was not a scholar, mostly self-tutored, and that Nienna might learn confusing or contradictory things when she turned eighteen years and was old enough to join the Guild of Mages for free. Nienna relished this period and blossomed in her mother’s wealth of knowledge.

Lila was very conservative in the spells she taught her daughter for fear of Nienna harming herself or others. When Nienna had learned some low-level spells, she cast them over and over because she thought it was exciting to be able to change her surroundings or affect them, even though her weak spells mostly had very modest effect on the world and its inhabitants.

In the beginning, she had to close her eyes and concentrate entirely on the appropriate magic school and the spell she would cast, saying the incantation out loud. In time, she trained herself to open her eyes and just whisper the ancient words in order to cast a spell. With practice she would be able to cast all spells silently, Lila promised.

The only spell Nienna could cast reliably and silently from the start was the water breathing spell due to the fact that she had discovered it on her own. This spell belonged to the school of alteration. Many people have difficulty with that school because one’s mind needs to be open to any possibility, even those that seem illogical. E.g. to imagine that there is only one moon instead of two or that you can be your father’s father is too difficult to accept for most individuals, hence they will never achieve the same skill level in alteration as in some of the other schools.

In fact, Turamo had had a much harder time doing alteration spells. He had spent most of his life as a systematic, logical scholar that meticulously checked inconsistencies in ancient scrolls and new spells to discover hidden secrets or weaknesses. To him, Mundus was an ordered world and to reconcile two opposites simultaneously was extremely hard for his clearheaded mind to do. Whereas to the playing and adaptable mind of a child, Mundus was wide open for discoveries and wondrous exploits.

The schools of destruction and restoration had come easily to Nienna because she thought their purposes very straight forward, respectively to inflict harm and to restore, heal, fortify, cure, and resist, in short restore. She learned the weak ‘Fireball’ which was only strong enough to light a campsite fire or inflict a small burn on a being. She liked to use that cantrip spell whenever she could, lighting candles for her mother, Teldrisa and Grohen, or making small woodpiles burn when out doing her alchemy.

She was even able to practice it on animals that attacked her as the Bitter Coast was no sheltered place. Quite the opposite with a very high level of aggressiveness in almost all the animals native to Morrowind. The worst had to be the cliff racers, huge and strong birds that attacked anyone out in the open. Nienna would use the fireball spell to deter them for a moment and then run for cover.

Her mother had taught her a medium version of ‘restore health’ since it was an orison spell that heals. It could not mend broken bones only minor to medium wounds, but it cost much of Nienna’s still low magicka reserve to cast. She practiced the restore spell on herself and on animals. Even on a hurt nix-hound, a big, green canine creature normally high in aggression. She encountered the nix-hound in a far off clearing, lying cramped on the side with a broken left hind leg. At first, it had snapped at her with its long teeth and growled warnings when she advanced, but she offered it some water while talking gently and reassuringly. The hound let her have a look at its leg though looking suspiciously at her.

First, she touched lightly at the leg to discern whether it was truly broken. It was not. Then she had used the healing spell on the deep gash until her magicka flow stopped. Fortunately, the repeated spell only fizzled out once. On average they would do this much more often since she was still a novice. Afterwards, she put on a healing salve with a bandage and gave the hound some dried scrib jerky to eat. In three days, he was well enough to limp around and in one week, he could hunt again. She came to tend him twice each day until he could provide food himself, and the nix-hound obviously recognized her and accepted her. They played a little the better he got, and from then on he would join her whenever she came in the southern parts of the Bitter Coast.

The school of illusion demanded more of Nienna than the previous schools.

“Illusion affects the perception and mind of living subjects,” Lila said, mending her well-worn skirt while checking that Nienna used tiny, almost invisible, stitches in her own needlework. “So when you cast the ‘light’ spell which only lasts for twenty seconds, imagine yourself reaching into the surroundings and pull forth the inherent substance of light that lies there already.”

“But how can you walk and talk and think while you have to keep thinking about the light spell, too?”

“The better you get in the school of the spell, the longer the magnitude, duration and general power of the spell will be that you are able to cast. Say, you’re able to cast a light spell that has the duration of two minutes, then you’ll only need to recast it if you need more light after those two minutes,” Lila said in an understanding tone.

“I wish it wasn’t so difficult. I felt spooked being in that old cave, mama,” Nienna thought of the thrill from yesterday’s practice. “I had to recast the spell constantly because the duration was so short. Sometimes the previous spell ended and my new spell fizzled so the darkness surrounded me completely. In those instances, it was like watching a big spider weaving its web, and then suddenly it would fall almost on my nose, but then catching itself and heaving its body back up again,” she added, reliving the experience from a new angle.

Lila smiled upon hearing of Nienna’s comparison of her experiences with a fizzled spell with a spider almost dropping on her nose. She knew how her daughter detested spiders. She was at ease with almost all other animals apart from the need to defend herself from them but spiders would make her jump and run for Lila or into hiding.

“I thought you hated spiders, Enna?”

“Yes, in a way I do, but I’m fascinated with the amazing way they weave an intricate web to catch their prey in. I still don’t like them near me, but now I don’t wish to kill them immediately, only if they advance in my direction or pose some sort of hindrance or even threat.”

The school of mysticism is the study of veils. When you get past one veil, you encounter the next immediately. Philosophers and mystics can study this school and never be done. Each pupil must learn and relearn how to probe this transcendent sphere and draw forth the subtly changing material into their spells. To cast the same spell is never an exact copy of the former.

“The material is constantly changing and each time you probe, you will find yourself going down a slightly different path than the previous time, so to speak,” Lila explained.

“Sounds like fun. To always go the same route is boring,” Nienna said.

“I’ll teach you a spell that detects beings in your vicinity. You’re not strong enough to win over a grown up animal and your fire spell can only kill after countless casting. Use this ‘detect creatures’ spell when you’re out playing or gathering ingredients, then you are able to avoid the dangerous situations.”

Then she taught her daughter how to picture beings in her mind and with the help from the mystic school to give off a pink fog indicating each being, provided the spell detected any in her vicinity.

“This is hard. How can I think of something that I don’t know?” Nienna was frustrated. Her attempts to probe the transcendent material had not been successful in two days.

“You know it’s there; you have to find the material to help show you the animals or people. This is why the probing is so hard. With time and your growing skill the probing will be easier but the school of mysticism is never actually easy or one to do half-heartedly.”

On the third day of training intensely, Nienna had finally had a break through. She had been tired from a long day of helping her mother gathering ingredients and doing alchemy. As she sat looking into the fire, her mood mellow and her thoughts wandering on their own, she had had the urge to try the spell once more. This time, she thought of the nix-hounds and the kwama foragers living on the Bitter Coast, picturing them in her mind’s eye. Then she instinctively reached out with her mind and delved lightly into the transcendent sphere, pulling back some material to shape the animals with. Although her eyes were open, she could see two foggy shapes one to her right and one straight ahead. She concentrated more, seeing the shapes more clearly, then they disappeared like when you blow out a candle with a flicker of pink ooze or smoke behind.

Her tiredness completely forgotten, she raced to the two places where the shapes had appeared and excitedly saw an animal in each place. Now her rate of success went continually up as she practiced the spell repeatedly. Like her mother had said, the detection spell helped her avoid the animals, and she felt much safer roaming through the land. When she remembered to cast it.

It was not until 3E421 that Nienna had finally badgered her mother into teaching her a conjuration spell. Lila held her ground firmly for almost two years but Nienna proved true to her tenacious nature when she wanted something and had repeatedly brought up the subject, backing up her request with a very convincing spell practice in the other five schools of magic.

But after a near fatal incident where Nienna had been beset by one of the ever present cliff racers and her fireball spell only managed to enrage it further, Lila had reached her decision. To let one’s daughter die from cautiousness would be ironic. So Nienna was taught how to conjure a ‘Bound dagger’. Now, a dagger in hand is only the first step to self defence. One needs to learn how to use the pointy end since animals are not deterred by bluff.

As delighted Nienna was for the conjuration spell, she detested the lessons in how to use the wooden dagger replica that Grohen taught her. It was so boring. Thrust here, parry there. Dum-dum. To cast spells, on the other hand, was pure exhilaration. Thinking up new possibilities, using theory, combining thinking and intuition, it seemed much more demanding and elusive to get it right. The challenge was greater and so the satisfaction when she was able to cast a spell. But she only grumbled a little. Ah, to learn conjuration at last – it fully compensated the tedious dagger lessons.

Nienna practiced spell and swordplay for some weeks. Then she felt ready and slipped out of the hut one night and quickly found a cliff racer. The fight had not gone as planned. She was nearly killed as she launched fire spells, fended herself with the bound dagger and even had to resort to kick or use her fists while waiting for her magicka to restore enough to cast another fireball or heal herself. During the prolonged fight she learned three lessons: never underestimate your opponent, always come wellprepared and use any skill necessary.

Although she had had many a run-in with cliff racers she usually hid before they had scored more than one or two hits, but she had grossly understimated how fast the sharpness of its beak or the hardness of its leathery tail could wear her down. She did not even bring some potions of restore health, not thinking it necessary. Now the foul beast was shrieking its goal of butchering her, completely misunderstanding her intent which was supposed to be reversed with Nienna the butcher, not the butchered.

Nienna grit her teeth together over her own arrogance, swearing and fighting while her mind searched for some way of getting out of this alive. Hiding was not an option as there were no trees or houses in the vicinity. In her agitation she did not see the small tree root sticking up from the ground and began to fall over it but caught herself at the last moment and turned. Without thinking she threw a fireball at the bird and hit one wing. She realized that the cliff racer is a strong but not particularly swift bird since it was still hovering over the place she had just stumbled from. She darted backwards and cast another fireball which hit a talon. Slowly she gained back her strength, keeping the cliff racer at bay by dodging its attacks and still inflicting the little damage that each fireball made. Once in a while she recast her bound dagger and used it to poke some small holes in the foolhardy bird that did not know when to quit. It was not the fireballs or even the dagger that left Nienna the victor but the accumulation of the many, many small wounds that finished the cliff racer in the end.

Exhausted and bleeding Nienna sank down on the ground. She was elated that she had killed her first cliff racer. All by herself. She sobered a little when she remembered that it was neither prowess in magic nor swordplay but a lucky stumble and agility that had saved her. Still, she had done it. Nienna smiled, too bad that she could not tell Lila since she knew her mother would be furious with her for her foolish behaviour and might stop further education in conjuration. She dared not risk that. It had taken her two years to convince her mother to teach her, and it would all be undone if she told her. Oh, but she longed to.

Just walking in the swamped terrain of the Bitter Coast was now a treasure chest full of gifts to uncover where she tried to discern the many different forms that each of the objects consisted of. The formerly mundane objects like rocks and furniture were not really “dead” or static since she could trace the slight fluctuations in them, like they were breathing and their forms changing subtly for the trained eye. When she was skillful enough, she would be able to “take” one of the rocks’s other forms and use it for her own purpose, her mother had promised. She was only beginning to learn the infinite ways that she could use anything in her surroundings. Oh, it was exhilarating to dip into the magic of Nirn. Nienna was happy.

Wonderful update. I love how in depth the magical lessons are. It's fascinating to read about your take on the magical system and how it works.

What Mallet said.

And that young lady should learn something called common sense. Seeking out danger is not healthy. But then, who am I to talk? It's not as if my characters ever try (real hard) to avoid trouble. At least she now learned that Cliffies are more than just annoying.

Yep...I know I repeat myself, but this really is a wonderful story.....mmmmmm lovely. Your descriptions of magical procedures are awesome

It is my loss that I have not read this excellent story before. But... that has now been remedied! Excellent characters, with real depth and personality. Your loving attention to the details and "feel" of the magic system really adds a dimension to the story and the game.

Thank you for the positive comments, everyone. I'm really happy that the characters and the magic descriptions seem to work. I know I have to work on the plot (getting in some more action) but find it challenging. Anyway, this update builds up to some action later on.

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20 Sun’s Dusk 3E421
“Sera Silven?” the Imperial man stood up in front of the hut as Lila and Nienna returned home from a long day of work. He was a skinny man clad in exquisite clothes with a cloak of the finest silks interwoven with gold and silver threads in an artful pattern. At his side hung an elaborate scabbard with a gilded sword hilt visible. His left eye was shut closed by a deep scar. Some feet away a tall, brawny Orc grabbed his heavy two-bladed axe and sauntered around in a half-circle to stand behind Lila and Nienna.

Winter had deepened the colours of the leaves and during the day, the sun seemed to shine from a higher place than in summer. In Morrowind winter never yielded snow, instead the Bitter Coast took on a golden-brownish cape for the duration of winter until spring came, putting back the green leaves on the trees and making the flowers bud. The two moons, Masser and Secunda, were visible as always but more so with the coming of evening.

The Imperial’s slave, a female Argonian, had set up a camp fire several hours ago, made supper, packed it away, and was now cooking some trama root tea. Slavery was only allowed in Morrowind, and it was surprising to see an Imperial had adopted this particular custom of the Dunmer. A custom Lila loathed. Every person is a subject in his or her own right, not an object to be owned.

Lila looked calmly at the Imperial and nodded in response to the question, but Nienna sensed that her mother was extremely cautious.

“My name is Kretilian Vanomerus, and I have heard about your supreme mastery of all the magic schools, but your skills in conjuration are said to be unparalleled.” He blew an elegant kiss on the back of her hand, just grazing it.

“Ser Vanomerus, thank you for your flattering words. Unfortunately, they have no base in reality,” Lila quickly withdrew her hand. “Allow me to ask, why do you seek me out, a common sorceress of no particular merit?”

“Muthsera, you grossly underestimate yourself as I heard about you back in Cyrodiil. I understand that you don’t embellish your words, let me speak plainly then,” Vanomerus took out a heavy pouch filled with gold and a pair of diamonds. “In exchange for 1000 gold septims and two diamonds I want you to summon the Daedra lord Mehrunes Dagon. Convince him to slay Locutius Mengivius, living under the false name of Sellus Gravius.”

Nienna was shocked and grew terribly afraid while she listened to the skinny man’s words. He wanted her mother to kill someone; this was terrible, terrible.

“I thank you most humbly for the generous offer, ser Vanomerus, but I wouldn’t presume to be able to do a deed like that, though the money would have been nice to have. Both you and I would waste our time if we talked more about the requested task,” Lila nodded coolly to Vanomerus and bid him and his two companions goodbye. Then she took the last four steps to the door of the hut and was about to open the door and walk through when Vanomerus’ voice stopped her.

“I have waited twenty long years for this revenge, and I will not tolerate to wait longer,” Vanomerus said, shedding the honey from his voice and revealing the venom beneath.

The Orc had Nienna in a tight grip, holding his big hand in front of her mouth so she could not make a sound.

“If you do as I order, you’ll receive the money as promised and your daughter unharmed but if not, you’ll both die a slow and painful death, your daughter first and when she’s dead tomorrow, it’ll be your turn.”

“I don’t know the appropriate words and rituals to summon him. This is ancient knowledge which only very powerful witches and sorcerers know.” Lila stared hard at both Vanomerus and his Orc mercenary while trembling with suppressed fear for Nienna’s life and rage at herself for falling into the trap.

“Look in this book.” Vanomerus motioned for the slave to bring a tattered, small book to Lila.

This was an ancient book. Turamo had told her tales of those but never laid eyes on one, now she, Lila, was looking through the pages. She found the section about Mehrunes Dagon and slowly deciphered the text from the Daedric letters.

“Have you brought a living part of this man you want Mehrunes Dagon to murder?”

“Yes, I have two fingernails, five strands of hair, and the outermost joint of his left little toe,” Vanomerus handed her a small chest that preserved the human bits inside.

Silently, she’d cast a teleportation spell on Nienna immediately after asking her question, but instead of Nienna being teleported to the Guild of Mages in Balmora, she just glowed for a few seconds. Instead, a tree standing nearby vanished.

“I anticipated you’d try something like that so I put a spell on your daughter. Everything you cast at her is deflected into the trees behind you,” Vanomerus smugly said.

“You’re despicable. To use a helpless, innocent child as a means to reach your evil goal is loathsome,” Lila shouted, shivering from the fear of losing her daughter and from the impotent hatred against this man.

“Calm down, woman, don’t use all your energy being mad at me, you have to preserve it to do my bidding,” Vanomerus cautioned her. He knew what a tremendous effort it would take her to summon a Daedra prince and even more to make the prince do as he wanted. He gestured for the slave to give Lila a cup of tea, and she accepted the cup because she knew he was right.

She had never tried summoning a creature that was stronger than a Daedroth. Only certain witches and sorcerers had the right to summon a Daedra, according to the agreement by Sotha Sil and the Daedra princes. She would likely be sentenced to death if she did it.

Lila thought she had met him, when and where was that? Then it dawned on her. He was the Knight Errant of the Imperial Legion going through their papers when Turamo and she first arrived in Morrowind. He had seemed like an upright guy who was a stickler for proper conduct, fiercely loyal to the emperor, Uriel Septim VII. In fact, he did not give the impression that he would take bribes or do illegal dealings on the side. Maybe that was why this loathsome Kretilian Vanomerus wanted him punished. No, their disagreement would have to be worse than just a bribe turned down, considering the powerful grudge Vanomerus held for him.

“Why do you wish this man in the hands of Mehrunes Dagon?”

“That is of no consequence to you, witch, just summon the Daedra and convince him to fulfill my wish.”

“If I knew the reason it might make it easier to convince the prince to do it,” Lila reasoned with Vanomerus, trying to buy herself time to think of a way to get Nienna and maybe herself out of this situation alive. “Mehrunes Dagon’s sphere is destruction, change, revolution, energy, and ambition. So what is your reason?”

Vanomerus stood for a moment, contemplating her words, his face contorted in lines of hatred.

“Locutius Mengivius thinks he is a knight in shining armour, a savior and above everyone else in morals. He is nothing but a blithering idiot and self-righteous do-gooder with looks to swoon over by naïve women. Bah! He stole my wi… never mind, he stole something from me twenty years ago, and he didn’t have the right to do so. The first fifteen years were used to track him down in all the provinces of Tamriel, but that took a long time, especially since he changed his name. Originally, his name was Locutius Mengivius, but a professional insider must have done his new papers, because I gave the Imperial Legion a tip and they checked his credentials but did not oust him or put him in jail. Lucky honoured user.”

While Vanomerus spat out his wounded pride, Lila thought about her options. They led to death and disaster wherever she looked. She was not even sure that she would be able to summon a Daedra prince, much less control him. This was the precise reason for not letting Nienna dabble in the school of conjuration before she was at least thirteen years old, and then in cantrips only. Now here she stood herself 35 years old with a promise of pain and torture to her daughter and herself if she denied, and pain and torture to another fellow human or maybe even more people if she couldn’t control the Daedra and he roamed free of her magical constraints.

Vanomerus uncorked an expensive bottle of flin and took several big gulps of it before he continued his spiteful recounting. “The last five years I’ve tried every means possible to bring him down. I even went up against him face to face, and that’s why I have these souvenirs to show,” Vanomerus indicated with a glance to the little chest with the human parts in and the deep scar across his face.

I will give him what he asks for though not in the manner he intended it, Lila decided while looking at Vanomerus.

“But then I started reading up on the Daedra and their different spheres, and when I got to Mehrunes Dagon and his sphere of destruction he seemed to be the perfect god to send for Locutius Mengivius. My revenge would not be satisfying enough if Sheogorath made him mad, if Malacath ostrasized him or if Molag Bal dominated him. I want him dead, dead without the slightest hope of resurrection. Then I will be satisfied. Oh, to feel calm again. I haven’t felt calm since the day the chea… cheating honoured user first came to my house,” Vanomerus faltered a little talking about his wife.

“Then I’ve used the last six months trying to find some witch or sorcerer that could fulfill my wish. The first one let me down, but this time I’ve taken my precautions.”

“Now do it. 20th of Sun’s Dusk is the summoning date for Mehrunes Dagon so if you do it today, the date will increase the chance of success greatly,” Vanomerus impatiently said.

Vanomerus left her no choice by holding her daughter hostage. She took a deep breath, looked him straight in the eye and consented.

“Then be still because I need to concentrate on the task ahead.” Lila went inside the house to get a sharp knife. When she came back outside, she went to a little clearing with no bushes or trees, put the book down, cut herself in one hand and drew an ancient pattern on the ground with her own blood. It was a pentagram and on its five pointed tips, she placed one or two of the human items from the little chest.

She picked up the book, positioned herself about six feet away from the centre of the pentagram and started to chant the incantion in Daedric.

Vanomerus stared with excitement at Lila doing the rite; he seemed oblivious to anything else.

Uh oh. Summoning a big bad Daedric prince. Dang, the guy should've stuck with Daedroths or something. Mehrunes is simply way off the scale. Ah well, guess Gravius whacked him upside the head a bit too hard last time they met.

Nice tension-building by the way.

Awesome! What an intriguing story, I had no idea Sellus Gravius was using a false name....this is gonna be so interesting to follow.

You really make the charachters very much alive..ohhh me likey!

Ooohh the tension is quite taunt right now! I want to know if Lila has something up her sleeves for this conjuration. I sure hope so, since this Vanomerus fellow isn't much of a kind one.

Great update.

Jack Cloudy, yes, ambition can be good, but overambition can make you wish for more than you can chew.
Minque, people will be people - needing to escape past deeds or circumstances.
Metal Mallet, Lila tries her best. In the end, that's all we can do.

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Even the Orc holding Nienna focused more on Lila than on his captive. Nienna had readied her weak ‘fireball’ spell if the right moment should arise. Since Vanomerus had made her reflective, she would not be affected by any spells cast at her. Instead, she intended to cause some commotion by casting the fire spell and prayed he hadn’t silenced her.

The wind started to blow, chasing the leaves on the ground hither and dither, faster and faster. Nienna thought she could smell some distant putrid odor like a rotting guar left out in the heat of the summer. The odor grew more and more intense. A transparent kind of fog had gathered in the centre of the pentagram, getting steadily greyer and then black, quickly evolving into the big shape of a humanlike monster standing on two legs and with a fearsome visage.

“Who dare summon I, Mehrunes Dagon, the God of Destruction, the Lord of Ambition?” the Daedra prince boomed in a deep bass growl that made the earth rumble.

“I, the sorceress Lila Silven, have called you forth from Oblivion, on behalf of this Imperial male, Kretilian Vanomerus, my lord,” Lila shouted into the raging wind and the putrid smell blanketing everything in the vicinity of the summoned prince.

Mehrunes Dagon looked at Kretilian Vanomerus who knelt before him, raving his thanks to the god. “What does the groveling Imperial want?”

“He offers himself to you to take back to Oblivion,” Lila chokingly said, the wind had died down but the odor was overwhelming, exuding from the Daedra. Immediately thereafter she cast a protective shield on herself but since she had used almost all her magickal energies to reach into his realms Deadlands in Oblivion to pull back the Daedra prince, the shield had a low protection and short duration. Then she retreated from the pentagram.

A few seconds went by before Kretilian Vanomerus snapped out of his obsessive joy with the revenge over his old enemy. Those precious seconds were enough for Nienna to cast the fire spell but the Imperial must have slipped in his concentration in keeping the reflective spell constant so now she burned the Orc instead. The spell was not strong but enough to give him burn marks on the upper body, especially the hands and chest where she lay against him. He dropped her immediately from the surprise and the pain, and she ran to her mother.

Kretilian Vanomerus shouted for Bagram gro-Razbak to protect him, and the Orc went into combat raising his two-handed axe glittering with enchantments. Nienna sensed that the enchantments were strong but could not discern the effects. Mehrunes Dagon drew his own double-bladed axe, a weapon so big that the Orc’s axe looked like a frail kid’s toy in comparison. He was three times taller than the Orc and with two extra arms. The clanks of weapons resounded through the evening. Gro-Razbak was certainly not a novice in combat and his huge muscles bulged in the fight, attesting to a high level of strength.

Mehrunes Dagon jabbed the hefty axe directly down towards gro-Razbak’s crown, but he dodged quickly out of the way simultaneously heaving his own axe into the left hip of the Daedra. Mehrunes Dagon merely grinned at this wound, kicking the Orc in the side with his foot. The kick was so powerful that the Orc tumbled sideways, a loud crack announcing the snapping of one rib. The Daedra lord turned quickly for one so big to deliver the killing blow.

Gro-Razbak realized that he did not have time to get up. Instead, he rolled under the Daedra and hacked his axe down hard in the Lord’s right ankle, severing the tendons. Now, the Daedra was limping and he furiously shifted the weight to his remaining good leg while grazing the right cheek of the Orc with his blade. Almost escaping it, the Orc jumped to his feet a little distance away. The two combatants stood watching each other, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent.

During the battle of his mercenary, Vanomerus had intercepted Nienna on her run to Lila, and now he pressed the tip of his blade into Nienna’s throat, ordering Lila to send the Daedra prince back to Oblivion.

Lila concentrated on doing as ordered but her magicka and stamina were almost depleted from her summoning. Gro-Razbak was still fighting the Daedra and that helped her in her task. Mehrunes Dagon struggled against Lila because she tried to trick him out of the promised mortal. In his bloodlust, he eradicated their hut with a single blow and snapped the neck of the cowering slave with another. Then he went back to resisting Lila and fighting the Orc with renewed vehemence. Nienna screamed with sorrow and rage when she first saw their hut and later the Argonian erased from the face of Mundus.

The Daedra commented: “You are a resourceful opponent, little Orc. It shall be my honor to slay you and get yet another scalp for my minions to play with.”

“Thank you for compliments, lord Daedra, but you wrong. I slay you and honor mine,” gro-Razbak responded in his native Orcish way.

Mehrunes Dagon had been holding his axe in one hand, now he threw it at the Orc with a twist of his wrist. Gro-Razbak had not anticipated a thrown weapon of this gargantuan size and weight but his reflexes were quick and he dodged it. Mostly. The blade was enough to stop his evasion and pivot his body to the side. The impact was strong enough to go right through his armour and pierce his shoulder.

“Never listen to flattery from an opponent, stupid mortal.” Mehrunes Dagon smiled at his success in distracting gro-Razbak. He retracted his axe by telekinesis.

Meanwhile, the Orc kept a close eye on Dagon’s movements, gathering his remaining strength. Gro-Razbak’s grip on the axe was less steady since the shoulder and broken rib obviously hurt immensely. But Orcs are a hardy race, and the mercenary gnashed his teeth together to bite back the pain.

Vanomerus watched the fight, sweating profusely and accidently pressed the blade a little deeper into Nienna’s skin. Small drops of blood trickled down her throat.

Already frightened beyond rational thought, the blade prick was the final straw. Nienna experienced a vibrating or humming sort of concentration. She had the feeling that she could reach out with her mind and reshape the material that the world consisted of. The feeling was so intense that she was fascinated but at the same time frightened because it grew and grew as of its own accord. She felt she would loose control any moment now. The humming and vibrating stillness inside her mind was almost tangible, but it was also on the verge of breaking loose like a tremendous elemental force causing a barrier to collapse.

Instinctively, she pushed the stillness away from herself, willing it to materialize in front of her. Materialize it did, into a semi-transparent person, showing only an upper torso and blurry face and hands. The apparition looked like a person seen from far away on a hot summer day, where the sight is hazy and no details are discernible. After she had pushed the stillness outside herself, she felt a pleasant and unobtrusive tingle through her entire body.

Meanwhile, the apparition quickly cast a fireball at the Imperial, resulting in a nasty burn on his hands and face; thereby effectively drawing his attention away from Nienna. He drew his slender, bejeweled sword and attacked the apparition, revealing great sword skill. For a second, she watched in astonishment as the apparition and Vanomerus fought. Then she ran to her mother.

Gro-Razbak moved towards the prince. Instead of using the axe against the broad expanse of Daedric chest, he feigned a slash to it but brought it down hard on his left ankle like he had done with the right, thereby removing the Daedra’s ability to place body weight on any leg. Mehrunes Dagon was momentarily distracted when the Orc severed the tendons in his left ankle. He doubled over but recovered enough to fall on his knees. Now the prince still towered over the Orc, but much less so than before and he hammered his axe through the Orc’s neck with a curved underarm swing. The skewered body of gro-Razbak fell to the bloody ground with several crashes and clanks because of the heavy armour.

Nienna huddled close to Lila, watching the fight from behind her mother. When Lila saw the Daedra double over, she knew this would be her only chance of success. Breathing raggedly, she concentrated and expended her very last energy and magicka reserves to paralyze Vanomerus. He had just succeeded in dispatching Nienna’s conjured apparition and was stalking towards them. However, Lila’s unexpected tactic worked and he was stopped in mid-stride. Mehrunes Dagon snatched up the paralyzed man. When a summoned Daedra receives his promised gift or accomplishes the task he has been set, then he has difficulty remaining in the Mortal Plane. Lila spoke the incantation that banished him back to Oblivion, and the Daedra was forced to comply. His putrid odor lingered on for many hours afterwards.

The fight had drained Lila’s health, leaving her on the threshold to death.

“Mama, mama.” Nienna frantically cast her health spell until she did not have more magicka. All the restore health potions and healing ingredients had been destroyed when Mehrunes Dagon eradicated their hut. The power of Nienna’s spell was only enough to make her mother regain consciousness.

“Oh, mama, you’re alive, you’re going to be well again, please, don’t leave me,” Nienna cried, hugging her mother very carefully so she did not hurt her.

Lila looked at her daughter with regret and love. She knew her death was imminent. “I’m so sorry, Enna my child, that I couldn’t save you.”

“You did everything you could; I just want you to get healthy again. Can’t you heal yourself?”

“No, my injuries are too numerous and my magicka reserves are depleted. I will go to your father tonight, blessed be Kynareth.” Lila looked up at Nienna; she could not even lift her hand to caress her daughter’s cheek for the last time. “You conjured your first ancestral guardian. I am very proud of you and always will be. Remember, summoned beings, Aedra, and Daedra are neither evil nor good, they just are. Instead, you should be wary of the mortals who summon them and their purpose,” Lila was almost out of breath now, her internal injuries causing her acute pain.

“Vanomerus was an Imperial, but one person doesn’t equal a whole race. Don’t let revenge eat your heart; you’ll only loose yourself and become a replica of your enemy,” she was whispering now.

Nienna wanted to argue. She wanted revenge over the unscrupulous Imperial and the destructive Daedra prince. She wanted to howl with the pain of loosing her mother. She held back her protests. Her mother was on the brink of death; this was not a time to be argumentative.

“I promise, oh mama.” Nienna took her mother’s left hand and put it on her cheek, holding it there with her own hands.

“I love you, Enna, and I will always be with you just like your father,” Lila smiled faintly, then she closed her eyes and let her soul join her husband.

Nienna had lost everything that was important to her: her mother, her home and their whole life together. She sat beside her mother’s lifeless body, bending slowly over it with salty tears running down her face, at first without a single sound. She hugged her mother so tight that the muscles in her arms began to quiver with the strain. Then she fell down crying, more and more loudly, for hours it seemed.

Meanwhile Teldrisa and Grohen came running to her. Teldrisa tried to hug Nienna, take her away from the body but Nienna would not let go of her mother. Instead, Teldrisa put her arms about Nienna’s shoulders, stroking her on the head until she merely sobbed.

Nienna felt so tired as if she had not slept for weeks. No more tears were left in her. Silently, she prayed to Arkay, the god of the cycle of birth and death, to wish her mother a good journey into his hands. Then she turned into Teldrisa’ comforting arms, her mind a blessed blank and fell into a long, restless sleep. Teldrisa carried her into their shack and put her in a hammock. She slept for two days with frequent nightmares where she called for her mother, thrashing, turning and crying again without fully waking up.

In the meantime, Grohen cleaned up thoroughly after the fight, telling the officials and everyone who enquired that it was a freak of nature that had killed the Breton woman, Lila Silven. He carried Lila’s body to the Imperial Cult to cremate, only removing the small, exquisite locket and clasped it around Nienna’s neck while she slept. Later they received an urn with Lila’s ashes, which they put in the Common Ancestral Tomb with her name and dates, a public tomb for all the paupers and commoners. Only the wealthy were able to afford a family tomb where members of the particular family were allowed to have an urn.

Among the native Dunmer, there was the exception of the strong and powerful individuals whose bones were used in either the family’s ghostfence or in the Dunmer temples of the Tribune, the Tribunal Temple of Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec as defence and revered relics. Until the blight ended in 3E427 the bones from heroes were also put into the defence in the giant ghostfence surrounding Red Mountain.

Some people disputed this native tradition of the Dunmer, relating it to necromancy. Dunmers were outraged at this comparison since they abhorred necromancy. To reanimate dead bones, making them work as skeletal defenders or mindless slaves were only done by evil necromancers and had absolutely nothing to do with the godfearing Dunmer tradition.

When Nienna finally woke, she lay in the hammock staring at the ceiling for several hours, neither speaking nor eating. Then she got out of bed, walked directly to the desolate area of her former hut, looked closely at everything but did not talk about that fatal day to anyone. She searched in the bushes some paces away and found the ancient book her mother had used to summon the Daedra, wrapped it in several pieces of cloth and put it in a hollow tree she had used as a crude hiding place for her childish treasures. She threw out the beautiful stones, the pearl-glinting shells and the small stick dolls her mother had made from scraps of cloth to make room for the book.

One day she would retrieve it, learn how to use it and then she would revenge her mother. Pray tell, how does one exact revenge on a dead man or an immortal god? She would have to accept that she could not achieve her revenge over the dead Imperial, Kretilian Vanomerus. Ironically, his death at the hands of the Daedra whom he had himself ordered to be summoned was a fitting end. But she felt utterly resentful of not being able to kill him herself. At least, she would find a way to punish the Daedra prince.

I'm rather surprised that Mehrunes even got scratched. Guess he isn't allowed to go absolutely uber thanks to the dragonfires.

And so the family dies. It's a damn traumatic experience. The fact that she saved the book unsettles me though. Taking revenge on a Daedric prince? I stick to my opinion by saying that Mehrunes is way out of her league.

Nicely done battlescene by the way. I was rooting for the Orsimer all the way.

Yes, this update was definitely vivid and emotional. Very well depicted. Though I fear Nienna's chances of ruining Mehrune's will be slim for a long time. She still needs much time to develop her skills and whatnot.

How utterly sad...yet so beautiful! My heart is with Nienna..the young girl who suffered such a great loss. I keep my fingers crossed for her, that she´ll understand that life goes on..despite the atrocities she just experienced....

What a story this is!

Interesting story so far. I've really enjoyed Nienna's natural instincts for spells, how the exact one she needs somehow just comes to her. I do hope that she doesn't end up devoting her whole life to revenge; that's no way for a person to live.