There goes my monitor again!



I love when that happens, those characters that take over the keyboard are always the best for the reader!

Loved your reference to the earlier scene with Caius - one of my favorite scenes! I could have quoted every bit of it for so much more than just the humor!

Another great write! Welcome back !!!!


*

Woo hoo, Adryn is back!! I’ve missed her.

@mALX - thanks! And yes, I suspect Jamie is a much more interesting character now than the way I'd originally envisioned her

@Grits - glad to be back!

Last installment, Adryn wandered over to the Eight Plates for the Mages' Guild breakfast, had a brief chat with Dulnea and a verbal scuffle with an arrogant guildmate (she won). Now, for breakfast and gossip.

Chapter 6.2

*****

I grabbed a roll from a nearby basket and looked around. Although there were quite a few people I didn't recognise, there were also some from the Balmora guild there - Marayn next to me, Teleportation Girl scarfing down porridge over there, Galbedir steadily ignoring everyone, Estirdalin (thankfully a few seats away) in deep conversation with an Argonian next to her-

I blinked as I became consciously aware of an absence that had been nagging at me since I came in.

"Where's Ajira?" Hadn't she said she always ate here?

"Oh, she's never here on weekends," Marayn said. "She always goes into the guild straight away on Loredas so she can leave before noon."

Galbedir sniffed. "Some dedication. And she thinks she's ready to become a Journeyman."

I sent as threatening a glare as I could manage in her direction, which she ignored completely. It stung, but I had to admit that I was at a natural disadvantage as far as threatening went - of the two of us she was the one who probably fought Daedra and studied deadly Ayleid artifacts for her living. The Hirtus Figulus, the Enchanter's Apprentice series I'd loved as a child (I could still remember parts of Hirtus Figulus and the Brotherhood of the Bone Hawk by heart) had left me with a healthy respect for enchanters. It persisted despite Galbedir's best attempts.

"Now that's not fair," Marayn said, frowning. "Ajira earns it with how hard she works the rest of the week. Besides, most of us take part of the weekend off."

"Yeah," Teleportation Girl muttered into her porridge, "most of us."

"Still," Galbedir wasn't willing to let it rest, "that, and all the times she 'had to' leave early during the week... don't you wonder what's so important? For all we know-"

"Maybe she has a boyfriend!" Teleportation Girl threw in, a thought that apparently cheered her up immensely. "Oooh, I wonder who it is? I've seen her talking with that handsome young Khajiit who owns the shop next door."

"Well-"

"Seriously, is that all you ever think about?" I asked Teleportation Girl, cutting off whatever poisonous remark Galbedir had been about to make.

"What? It's exciting!"

I was about to make a comment about her dedication to her art if she had let romance novels rot her mind this far when Marayn jabbed me in the side with an elbow.

"Still," Galbedir doggedly refused to let the topic go, "you don't seriously think that's what's keeping her. I mean, don't you know what her mother-"

A new voice joined the fray. "Apprentice Galbedir, if there is a problem with Apprentice Ajira, it is the duty of your guild mistress to address it. Not yours. And all should note it is impolite to gossip about our fellow members' private lives." The Argonian's voice was serene, but with a quiet undercurrent of authority that made everyone subside.

I was a little disappointed the gossip session had been curtailed (Ajira's mother? What about Ajira's mother?) but squashed that feeling down. If Ajira wanted me to know, she'd tell me, same as she'd done about her sister - and it wasn't as if I'd appreciate her digging into my past. Not to mention that whatever it was, I somehow doubted she'd want it laid out before the entire breakfast group by Galbedir of all people.

My side twinged; Marayn had exceptionally sharp elbows. I rubbed it pointedly and stared at him. "What was that all about?"

He looked around. Galbedir was again studiously ignoring us - I hoped she'd keep up with it this time - and Teleportation Girl had gone back to her porridge. "I can't deny that Masalinie is a little silly sometimes," he said quietly. "But it gives her something to do when she has to stand there all day. Being a guild guide is a very important job, but it's also a very boring job, and one that comes with sacrifices. Don't be so hard on her."

"I know I wouldn't be one for love or money," Uleni chimed in. "I see what Iniel has to deal with."

I shrugged. I still thought she could fill her time with more useful things, but it wasn't really something I cared to argue about. I also noted that Marayn hadn't bothered trying to defend Galbedir. "All right, all right. Pass the scrib jelly, would you?"

"You like scrib jelly?" Uleni asked as I slathered some on a roll.

I squashed my impulse to point out that if I didn't, I wouldn't very well be eating it, and just nodded instead. It helped that my mouth was full.

"Do you realise where it comes from?" There was a mischievous sparkle in Uleni's eyes.

I swallowed. "I don't have the faintest idea. My first guess would have been a sort of honey, but the texture is all wrong. Maybe some kind of fruit jam? But it doesn't really taste like fruit..."

"Ooh, no, you're quite far off. Scrib jelly is made from scribs, a kind of kwama." Uleni paused dramatically. "In other words, insects."

I blinked at her.

"You know, insects?" Uleni seemed disappointed by my lack of reaction. "Wriggly animals with lots of legs?" She wiggled her fingers at me in what I decided must be either a dreadful attempt at pantomime or a very strange muscle tic.

"Yes," I said slowly. "I know what insects are, thank you very much. And it's good to know where scrib jelly is from, thank you," I added, wondering if she was looking for acknowledgement. "It explains why it tastes so different. What part of the scrib do you use, and why is it so sweet? Do scribs gather nectar?"

Uleni was still staring at me with a betrayed look on her face - really, what was it she was looking for? Then Marayn started laughing.

"Really, Uleni," he managed, "didn't you realise that playing "disgust the outlander" wouldn't work very well on an alchemist?"

"Aw," Uleni pouted. "People usually have such funny reactions! An Altmer from one of the Cyrodiil guilds actually ran outside to throw up when I did the fingers." She giggled.

"Wait," I said, blinking. "You expected me to be upset by eating something made from insects? But it's not even poisonous, or explosive, or acidic, or still alive-"

At that point I had to stop because I could barely hear myself over Marayn's laughter.

"Point well taken. I'll keep it in mind: you can't shock an alchemist with edibles. Something of a challenge, hmm?" Uleni smiled at me. For some reason, a cold shiver went down my spine at the sight. "Well, I'd best get back. One of the Fighter's Guild members commissioned a custom night eye spell, he said he was going to pick it up this morning. Masalinie, would you?"

Suddenly there was a great hubbub as most of the table seemed to rise to their feet, similar explanations on their lips. "-can't possibly be away from my workstation this long," the idiot was saying pompously, and I caught a Breton talking about how it had been wonderful to catch up but she had a shipment of filled soul gems coming in, so sorry, must rush.

Teleportation Girl scowled for a moment as she gulped down the last of her tea, then she got up and walked to a corner. "All right, all right, one at a time. Anyone going to Ald'ruhn? No? Caldera? Oh, Medila. You know the drill, just step over here-"

In no time at all, most of the breakfast group had vanished into the ether. The only ones left were Balmorans - no, the Argonian was still here. "Thank you for the offer, Masalinie," he was saying, "but I have some business in Balmora this morning. I shall travel back from the guild later."

"I didn't realise you could do that outside the guild building," I told Teleportation Girl. Now that I had a teleportation spell under my belt, I found myself curious about how the guild guide system worked. From everything I'd gathered yesterday, I'd thought the departure and arrival point had to be the stone platform.

"The spell is anchored to a spot, yes, but there's a bit of flexibility," Teleportation Girl explained. "This is about as far as I can get and still connect to the spell matrix. My range is good, too - Iniel can barely get out of the room." She sounded proud. "Erranil, in Ald'ruhn, is best. She says she can get almost to Skar before she loses the magicka flow."

"I had no idea - I thought you could only work from the platform."

"Actually, we'd appreciate it if you didn't let on." She rubbed the back of her neck. "Otherwise half our customers would start demanding special treatment so they don't have to queue at the guild with everyone else. None of us want to get dragged to some Hlaalu House Cousin's bedchamber so his mistress can visit without his wife knowing."

"I should probably take offence at that comment," Marayn mused. "If only it weren't accurate."

"You're my very favourite Hlaalu, don't worry." Teleportation Girl beamed at him. "I believe, I truly believe," she put a hand over her heart as though affirming her honesty, "that you'd make your mistress walk to the guild with everyone else."

Marayn snorted, then turned to me. "More to the point, Adryn, if the flexibility of the system was widely known we might have to shut down the Sadrith Mora point. We only have that under guarantee that it's fixed. It effectively is - like Masalinie said, Iniel doesn't have the sort of flexibility she or Erranil do, and none of them could get out of Wolverine Hall - but the Telvanni would undoubtedly let their paranoia stretch beyond their common sense if they knew. All in all, it's for the best to keep that information in the guild."

I swallowed the last of my scrib jelly roll and nodded. "No problem, I'll keep quiet." I did think that if they were really so keen on keeping this secret, using it every day just so the breakfast group didn't have to walk down the street to the guild wasn't exactly the best of ideas, nor was showing off to random new guild members. I decided not to point this out - Marayn was friendly, but I still didn't think he'd take particularly well to said random new guild member criticising the way things worked.

"Well, it's about time we started heading back," Marayn said. I blinked and looked around. The three of us were the only people in the room. Everyone else had apparently left while we were debating teleportation spells.

Marayn continued, "Dulnea will want to tidy the room soon, and there's undoubtedly already people beating down the doors to get to Vivec. Shall we?"

*****

Notes: Figulus is "Potter" in Latin, and Hirtus translates roughly as "hairy". Three guesses what "Brotherhood of the Bone Hawk" is a Tamrielfied version of... some stories are so popular they transcend dimensional boundaries, 's all I'm saying.

Next

Last installment, the mages finished breakfast and gossip, and Adryn learned more about the guild guide system and what they are and aren't capable of, as well as a minor digression into Morrowind politics. Now, back to the guild hall, where there is a bit of a surprise waiting for Adryn...

Chapter 6.3

*****

When we reached the guild common room, I stopped and stared for a few moments.

Occupying the table usually set aside for Marayn's book collection was the biggest bouquet I'd ever seen. Stranger yet was the fact that the flowers were native to Vvardenfell yet I recognised all of them. I recognised them because - I flushed with embarrassment at the thought - two days ago I'd spent all day trying to pick some only to be thwarted by what I was certain had to have been divine interference. Yes, those blue bells were stoneflower - I remembered trying to sneak some when I thought the evil pilgrim hadn't been looking only to discover that, like all good fiends, she had eyes in the back in her head - and the bright yellow petals were unmistakeably gold kanet, and...

Teleportation Girl had bent to inspect the bouquet and discovered a roll of parchment tied to it. Her eyes widened in surprise. "It says it's for you, Adryn!"

"It's - what?" Who on Nirn was sending me flowers? The idea of having a secret admirer was outlandish enough, but I'd been here less than a week! Surely there must have been a mistake somewhere? Or - I swallowed as a truly horrifying idea occurred to me. What if it was Eddie? If anything was worse than the idea of having picked up some stranger as a stalker along the way...

"Give me that," I told the Breton shortly.

Dear Adryn,

I hope you got back to Balmora all right. I'm sorry I couldn't see you back, but duty called. An Armiger's work is never done.

I gave a fervent sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just Ervesa."

"Who?"

I eyed Teleportation Girl with suspicion. Her eyes were shining in a manner I found entirely inappropriate, and I remembered Ajira's warning - not to mention the scene at breakfast.

"Oh, just someone I met on the road." No need to give someone who'd had their brain infected by romance novels ammunition.

"So," Estirdalin this time, and sounding quite a bit less enthusiastic than her younger guildmate, "why is someone you 'just met' sending you flowers?"

I looked back down at the letter.

I hope the flowers arrive in good condition. I ended up walking to Seyda Neen, you see, and saw them by the wayside and remembered you. It's not as if it's much effort for me to pick some if I'm travelling anyway, and after what happened it's probably safest if you don't try to look for them yourself!

"Well, they're the alchemical ingredients I was looking for. I mentioned that I'd had no luck gathering any, and since she was travelling where they grow anyway she decided to pick some on the way as a favour to me - I guess making them into a bouquet was her idea of a joke? I'll have to see if there's anything I can do for her in return, but it's not as if she's..."

"Sending you enchanted jewellery?" Galbedir this time, sounding almost offended.

"Yes, exactly! I-" Looking at Galbedir, I found my gaze arrested by the expensive amulet glimmering with magicka in her hands. "Wait, what?"

"No, really. Why, exactly, is she sending you enchanted jewellery?" Galbedir threw the amulet in my direction with more force than I felt was truly necessary - it was only thanks to my birth-sign I was able to catch it before it hit my head. Attempted murder (or at least concussion) attempts aside, I had to admit that that was a truly excellent question.

"Well..."

There's meant to be an amulet as well, so in case it didn't arrive go complain to the Couriers Guild. That Bosmer gave it to me as a reward for rescuing his friend from the kagouti, but I think it's yours by rights. After all, you were the one who risked your life for him! And Buoyant Armigers don't accept rewards like this anyway.

I meant to give it to you right after you recovered, but with everything else that happened I'm afraid it slipped my mind completely. I hope it comes in handy - it's enchanted with a Slowfall effect, those can be very useful exploring! Although I guess you've had enough of that for a while... otherwise, you can always just sell it.

"It's nothing like you're thinking! It was a reward for rescuing someone from wild kagouti-"

"Rescuing someone? You?" I was impressed at how much scorn Galbedir managed to pack into one syllable. Had she ever considered a career in acting?

"So," Estirdalin interjected again, "if it was a reward for you rescuing someone else, as you say, how did this.... Ervesa... get her hands on it?"

I bristled. I could hear the doubt in everyone's voices and I was growing exasperated by this interrogation. "Look, it's quite simple. Someone asked me to find his friend and I agreed because I didn't know kagouti were involved," or what a kagouti was, and how I wished I could return to such innocent times. "When I found him, we were attacked, and the spell I used to temporarily neutralise the kagouti had some... adverse side-effects. Ervesa, who was passing by, killed it. Apparently they gave her the reward for the rescue, but she sent it on to me because she thought I ought to have it, and because Buoyant Amor- Armigers," I was starting to get the hang of that name, even if it still sounded ridiculous, "have some silly vow of poverty going on or something like that. Now is everyone happy? Can I have my privacy back now?"

The silence following this was broken by a quiet groan from the alchemy corner. I looked over at Ajira and suddenly remembered that she'd warned me about-

"You were rescued by a Buoyant Armiger?!" Oh, no. "That's so-" please don't say it, please don't say it, "romantic!" Teleportation Girl's voice reached a pitch that made me wince.

"Nonononono," I frantically waved my hands as if to blow away all the misunderstandings, "it wasn't like that at all, she was just being kind to a misplaced traveller, the only reason we ended up sharing a room at Desele's was because there wasn't any space in the-"

Oops.

Too late, I clamped my mouth shut.

"Girls these days," Marayn tutted, which I found rather excessive as he was only a few years older than me.

"I can't believe this." The way Galbedir clenched her fists was rather alarming, especially given she'd tried to brain me with an amulet just a minute ago. "Her? What's so special about her?"

"You're all misunderstanding the situation," I moaned. "Seriously, if you'd just listen to me-"

A hand fell on my shoulder. I scowled in the general direction of the perpetrator, finding I had to adjust my glare upwards when it turned out to be Estirdalin.

"My dear," her tone of voice was probably meant to be soothing. It wasn't working. "I know you grew up outside the province, and that this must be hard for you. But Morrowind is a civilised place, you see. You will not face any prejudice here, so there is no need to hide your proclivities - or your relationships - from us. Although," her voice grew stern, "you should learn that there are better places for such... activities than that-"

Desperate, I looked from face to face and decided that the only person who was going to listen to me was Ajira - and judging by the way she was covering her mouth with one paw and how her whiskers were twitching with suppressed laughter there wasn't much hope for sympathy from that quarter either.

All right. That was it. I needed to get away from these people or I'd try to kill something.

"I... need some fresh air," I mumbled, and fled up the stairs.

*****

Next

Oh dear. I was almost hoping that Ervesa would send along some travel rations in a fancy chocolates box. How funny!

@Grits - Somehow, I suspect Ervesa would have done *exactly* that if she'd thought of it...

Last installment, Adryn finally, finally gets her flowers... and a rather embarrassing misunderstanding with her guildmates. Now, she is definitely not running away from them. Nope. No way.

Chapter 6.4

Upstairs, Ranis Athrys and the Argonian from breakfast were standing near the supply chest, deep in conversation. The impression I'd had of him earlier as someone with authority was borne out - she was listening to him intently, nodding once in a while. I'd never seen her treat any of us with that kind of respect.

Upset though I was, I had no wish to interrupt two high-ranking guild members - even ones who were blocking the corridor - nor to look as though I was eavesdropping. All the same, I really didn't want to go back downstairs.

Wait, didn't this building have another floor?

Indeed, there was another flight of stairs just around the corner. At the top of them I found a small, unoccupied room. Perfect, in other words, to sit for a moment and recover my temper. Why, here was a comfortable-looking chair in front of a desk... a desk with, I noted, Galbedir's mug sitting on it.

Come to think of it, I didn't see Galbedir downstairs all that often. This must be her workspace. Yes, there were a few soul gems scattered around, and here was a sheaf of paper in the same looping script as that on the mug. I peered at them more closely, but they just seemed to be her work notes. No sign of blackmail material. Luckily so - if there had been, Ajira might have been tempted, and that kind of thing never goes well.

I let myself fall into the chair with a groan, hoping Galbedir would stay downstairs for a while longer. Long enough for me to figure out how to handle this situation.

Well, first I could finish reading Ervesa's letter.

I might pass through Balmora sometime in the next few weeks. If so, I'll have to see if I can find you so we can catch up - I enjoyed our conversation, and I think you could do with someone to help you settle into Vvardenfell. If you need to ask me anything, you can reach me by sending messages to the Armigers' Stronghold in Molag Mar - I stop by there regularly.

Your favourite giant insect,

Ervesa

Her name was followed by a doodle of Ervesa in full insect regalia, along with a stylised smiling face.

I let out a sigh.

I wanted to be angry at Ervesa, but I couldn't really. It had been a very thoughtful thing to do, and she could hardly be expected to realise everyone would go all... all... all romance novel fanatic over a few alchemical ingredients and a reward. Besides - I winced - letting the thing about Desele's slip had been entirely my fault. Maybe if she visited she'd be able to explain to Teleportation Girl and the rest that there was really, truly, nothing of that sort going on between us at all, thank you very much - even if they refused to listen to me, they must surely believe my purported partner. Until then...

Despite calming down a little, I still really didn't want to go downstairs and spend the day fending off everyone's misconceptions. Even the prospect of experimenting with the flowers didn't look pleasant with that taken into consideration. Sadly, the alternatives didn't look much better. I didn't like the idea of wandering around Balmora with nothing to do, I certainly wasn't about to venture into the wilderness again, and it wasn't as if I could just pop over to another city on a day tri-

I slapped my forehead.

Of course I could pop over to another city on a day trip. Hadn't I only just now been feeling irritated by Teleportation Girl's romance obsession? Teleportation Girl, who had that nickname because she happened to offer instantaneous transportation to numerous cities on this island? One of them was Vivec, which I vaguely remembered was meant to be the largest city on the island and boast a living god. That sounded like a good destination for a day of sight-seeing for me.

Besides, if it was that big it would surely have an enchanter's shop - somewhere I could sell that amulet. That would do something to stall the rumours, and would bring some coin to my pocket while I was at it. It looked to be worth almost two septims at a fence, meaning I might be able to talk an enchanter up to three or so since I'd acquired it legally - more than doubling my available funds and thereby staving off financial worries for a while.

And maybe I'd be able to meet the Vivec guild alchemist while I was there...

Plan made, I slipped Ervesa's letter into the pocket of my robe, thought for a moment and then fastened the amulet around my neck - it was invisible tucked under my shirt, and with the sturdy silver chain it was probably safer there than it would be in my pouch.

I stood to move back from the desk, but accidentally jolted it. The stack of Galbedir's notes spilled to the floor.

"Scamp drek," I swore. I didn't think Galbedir would take my upsetting her workspace very well and I hardly needed more hostility on that front. I hoped I could manage to put everything back the way it had been. Thankfully, burglaries are good practice on that front.

As I bent to pick up the pages littering the floor, something on the desk caught my eye. Something that must have been underneath the stack of paper. Something glowing-

All the air left my lungs in a whoosh. I felt as if someone had just punched me in the stomach.

It was a grand soul gem. A filled grand soul gem, judging by the glow. And it wasn't the flickering, barely-there light of a lesser soul, either. No, this was a rich golden light that I had never seen before, not even in Svarti's Magicka, Windhelm's biggest and most expensive enchanter's shop (Svarti being the one I could thank for most of my practical knowledge of magical items and soul gems, or more precisely Svarti's bad memory when it came to locking his shop's upstairs window). It must be a Daedric soul, and no scamp's either. Atronach at the very least. Perhaps even the soul of a Golden Saint.

Automatically, my mind brought up the worth of such a soul gem, then reeled at the number. It was such an astronomical sum of money that I couldn't properly imagine it. Well, I'd have plenty of time and reason to try if I just slipped the gem into my pocket - the glow would be a problem, true, but that would be easily mitigated if I wrapped it in-

Wait, stealing something of this value on impulse was a bad idea. Hadn't that been how I'd almost got caught in Seyda Neen? I should prepare, make sure I wouldn't get fingered for it - set up an alibi, make it look like a burglary, find a safe hiding place for it and a buyer. Obviously selling it here was out of the question, but head out to another city- finding a fence for such a valuable object wouldn't be the easiest thing but with my experience-

What was I thinking?

"No," I whispered to myself. "No, no, no." With each repetition I backed away from the desk, staring at the soul gem as if it was a wild sabre cat.

That wasn't me anymore. I was- I was retired. I was a mage now. It wasn't as if I'd ever really wanted to be a thief, I'd just fallen into it out of lack of other options. This was a fresh start with real chances and opportunities, and I was slowly coming to realise just how much I'd needed that. People tolerated me - no, people actually liked me! And Ajira was - time to admit it to myself - becoming a close friend. Was I going to throw that away, steal from my own guild, for the sake of-

Who was I trying to kid? A mage? Me? It'd only be a matter of time until they tossed me out on my ear. So sorry, you don't meet our standards after all. What, you actually thought you could be a proper mage? You're just a jumped-up street rat who's deluded herself into thinking she's an alchemist, useful for a while running errands but not fit to dirty our guild once that's run out.

It would happen sooner or later, what was wrong with making sure I had some insurance-

"No, no, no-"

But- but- but if I started stealing again the Guild would find me, he'd find me, where was I supposed to run from here, what if he- what if all of it happened agai-

"No no nonono-"

Wood, behind me. I'd backed into the wall. No, not the wall- there was something digging into my back-

A doorknob.

I fled.

*****

Next

Surprise!

So I got blocked on a particular scene and then wandered off to do something else for six months (as, you know, you do). But lately I've been back at the keyboard and thought I'd show off some of the results! Also, I feel a little guilty for leaving you on what's a bit of a cliffhanger since November. >>

I hope to stick around for a few months at least before wandering off this time, but, well! You know the drill.

Last installment, Adryn pondered theft and had a panic attack.

Chapter 6.5

*****

A brief time later found me sitting on the flat roof of the guild. I wasn't sure how I'd gotten up here exactly; I remembered bursting through the door into sunlight and cool air, but the next few minutes were a bit of a blur.

I took deep, slow breaths. In. Out. In.

Out.

It felt rather as if something had dropped chopped scamp skin into the potion of my mind, and I had to fight to keep the whole frothy mess from exploding on me.

Thankfully, I had practice. It had been a while and hadn't happened like this before, but I'd been having attacks like that all the time after-

No.

I cast about for something safer to think about. What had been going through my mind before I'd gone to pieces like that, anyway?

Right - my sightseeing plans.

"So," I said to the air. My voice was thin. "Vivec."

"Ajira thinks that sounds like a very good idea."

I jerked, and would probably have fallen off the roof if I hadn't remembered exactly where I was at the last moment. I really was in a bad state if people could sneak up on me like that.

"Ajira apologises. She did not mean to startle friend Adryn."

"It's all right," I said. It wasn't Ajira's fault I'd been... distracted.

"It is to be understood that friend Adryn would be upset after... that." Ajira's face set into an expression of distaste, making her whiskers twitch. "It is very rude of the others to demand to know about her personal life that way. Very, very rude to jump to conclusions and ignore her telling them they are wrong. They should learn a sense of propriety." Despite myself, I almost smiled - for a moment, my friend sounded like some scandalised old aunt.

"But," Ajira continued, "that is not the only reason she is upset, is it?" Her green gaze was calm, clear and penetrating; I had to drop my own after a second. "That is all right. It is private, yes? I do not dig into people's private affairs against their wishes. If friend Adryn wishes to tell Ajira, she will. If not, that is fine too."

I felt a rush of affection towards Ajira. If I weren't still feeling shaky, I'd probably have hugged her.

"You know," I said slowly, "someone should really tell Galbedir to store her belongings more securely. I mean, anyone could just- just walk in and grab things off her desk. If there was a thief around-" I couldn't continue. I swallowed, then tried again. "Some of those soul gems are-" My throat closed up. Ajira was still watching me steadily. It felt as if she could see right through me.

"Ajira agrees entirely. Galbedir is very careless about such things, and will not listen to Ajira when she says so." Ajira shook her head in disapproval. "Perhaps she will have a word with the honoured Ranis Athrys later. It will be difficult for the whole guild if something valuable is stolen. But that is not important at the moment, no? Because nothing was. There is no thief here, after all."

"Thank you." The words that escaped me were almost inaudible; I wasn't sure if Ajira could hear them.

"In any case, Ajira thinks going to Vivec is an excellent idea. Friend Adryn has been working very hard the past few days, has been a great help to the guild, even though she is only an Associate. But it is the weekend, everyone takes the time off. Ajira herself is only here to finish up some few things before going home. Friend Adryn should see more of the island, and Vivec is a grand and beautiful city. People come from afar to visit it. And," Ajira winked, "it has many, many shops, selling all sorts of things. Many other alchemists, many apocatheries, and the best bookshop in all of Tamriel."

I perked up. "Bookshop?"

Ajira grinned. "It is in the Foreign Quarter. Jobasha, the owner, if he does not have a book - this does not happen often - he will find it. Jobasha is a good friend of Ajira's, she has known him since she was very small. If friend Adryn mentions she is also a friend of Ajira's, he might not barter quite so hard."

"Ajira, have I mentioned I love you recently?" Getting me an in with the owner of a major bookshop? This was the sort of thing that called for sonnets. Sadly, my own poetic ability was at around the same level's as a giant flea's; under the circumstances, the kindest, most loving thing I could do was to refrain.

If Khajiit could blush, Ajira would undoubtedly be cherry-red by now. "Oh, no. This is only a small thing, a very small thing. And..." Ajira looked down. "Ajira must confess something."

I raised an eyebrow.

"When Ajira sends associates out on errands, she is meant to give them a reward for doing so. Friend Adryn saw, yesterday, with Jamie." I nodded; I had been wondering about that. "Usually, Ajira gives potions. But friend Adryn can make her own, so Ajira could not do that, she had to think of something else. And then friend Adryn ran the alchemy shop yesterday so Ajira could finish her report, which entitles her to a share of the profits. So-"

I stared at the five silver ten-drake coins Ajira was pressing into my hands.

"Ajira, I-"

"Ajira apologises for making friend Adryn wait," Ajira waved off my gratitude. "Although if she really wants to demonstrate her thanks, she could buy the Ascadian Isles volume of Dilavesa Seloth's Guide to the Flora of Morrowind with her new money at Jobasha's. He said he would have it in stock now, and it would be useful to study the flowers on Morndas."

Of course, the flowers. With all the bustle about the amulet and then my- moment earlier, I had entirely forgotten the fact that Ajira and I now had access to yet more genuine native Vvardenfell ingredients. Quite shameful for someone who called herself an alchemist! At least Ervesa's slightly unorthodox storage method meant that they would definitely keep until then.

"I'll do that," I told Ajira. It wasn't as if it buying alchemy books was a great hardship on my part, and I figured it was the least I could do for her.

"Thank you, friend Adryn." Ajira stretched with a yawn that showed off her fangs, then glanced towards the ladder at the edge of the roof. "Although this is a very pleasant break and Ajira is enjoying it very much, she still has much work to do and needs to be getting back to it. And if friend Adryn plans to visit Vivec, she had best leave as soon as possible. Vivec is a big city, she will want much time to explore."

Ajira always gave such sensible advice. It would be positively rude not to follow it.

*****

End of chapter.

Next

I had missed your return with a slew of updates and real life poking it's ugly head in.


Welcome back!

I see your time away has not diminished your talent in the slightest. Now, I admit I've lost some track in this so I'll need to go over a bit, but once I truly catch up, I shall deliver a far more deserving comment and constructive critique.

You're Back! Hooray!

From one long-term hiatus writer to another, no worries. Post when you post, and I'll be here, waiting to enjoy it.

Unless I'm dead. Or away from a place where I can stream wonderful, wonderful internets. Such as being on Krypton, which would start with the latter and end with the former (unless I get into the Phantom Zone, but that's another problem).

Anyways, it is good to see friend Adryn back, and I hope to see more and read more of her and her travels and travails through Vvardenfell in the weeks and months to come.

@Black Hand - thank you! If you're looking to reread, I just did a lot of linking chapters to each other to make the story easier to navigate, with the first post and the first post of each chapter serving as a masterlist. I look forward to any suggestions you can offer!

@Captain Hammer - lol! I will be highly insulted if you don't read my story due to being on Krypton, I'm sure . And yeah, long-term hiatus writer secret handshake here - I seem to write around 10k words a year via getting it all done in a few weeks and then wandering off. I'm trying to feel less guilty for this because hey, at least I come back.

Long installment this time because of there being no good breaking point.

Chapter 7: 7.2, 7.3, 7.4, 7.5, 7.6, 7.7, 7.8

Last chapter, Adryn met the breakfast crowd, gossiped, then went back to the guild and was gossiped about when everyone decided to misinterpret Ervesa's totally innocent gift of a bouquet of flowers and expensive magical jewellery. And then she had a strange panic attack. After all that, Adryn decided to flee to Vivec for a nice, relaxing day of sightseeing and bookshop browsing.

I am sure nothing could possibly go wrong with this plan.

Chapter 7.1

*****

I lurched a little when I came out of the teleport, but managed to keep my feet. It helped that the platform I'd landed on was nearly identical to the one in Balmora, and so the transition was easier than the one to Suran had been.

"Welcome to Vivec, the Guild of Mages hopes you did not find the trip uncomfortable and that you will enjoy your stay, please move off the platform so we can assist further travellers."

I blinked at the Imperial woman - Imperial girl, rather, she couldn't be any older than me - who'd just rattled that off in what seemed like one breath. She looked distinctly bored. I couldn't blame her.

"Thank you," I told her as I hopped off the platform as directed.

"It's what we're here for. Um... do you mind if I ask you something?"

I decided to be kind and not play the 'you just did' game. "Yes... provided it's in within reason," I added quickly. I was still feeling rather scarred by the ridiculous misunderstanding that had taken place earlier, and now that Teleportation Girl, Second Edition had ventured off-script she seemed much less like someone who'd been hit by an incompetent Calm spell and more like a person with a possible streak of mischief or, worse, love of romance novels.

"Don't worry, it's not personal. Although it is pretty strange." She sighed. "I just need to know if you're carrying any pots or pans right now."

"Pots or... " I eyed the girl with an apparent unhealthy obsession with kitchenware warily. "No. No, I am not hiding any crockery in my pockets, I promise. Er... do I even want to know why you're asking?"

"Our glorious leader, Archmage Trebonius, decided in his might and wisdom that he needed to know how many are on the island. I, being only a lowly Apprentice, am of course incapable of understanding why. Maybe there is a danger they will grow legs and start flinging fireballs at us." Her voice was dripping with sarcasm to the extent where I felt as if I could have almost held a vial under her mouth and collected some for alchemical use.

But...

"I'm a new member of the Guild and was thinking of asking for tasks here. I guess you wouldn't recommend that?"

"No. No, I wouldn't. But- wait-" she brightened. "You're a new guild member? I didn't know! What's your name, which guild are you attached to, what do you specialise in?"

"Adryn, I stay in Balmora and I work on alchemy."

"Oh, you might want to talk to Craetia, then. She's our alchemist. I'm the guild guide - well, obviously. I'm Flacassia Fauseius."

I struggled to keep my face straight.

Judging by the look Flacassia gave me, my struggle wasn't quite as successful as I might have hoped. Luckily, she just sighed. "Yes, I know, it's ridiculous. I think my father had built up so much anger because of being called Flaucius Fauseius that he took it out on his children. I even got off lightly, my younger sister's called Flasoniacria. Just call me Cassia, rea-"

In the middle of the word, she just- stopped. Her hands froze in the middle of a sweeping gesture, her eyes stared straight through me, her mouth hung slightly open. It was as if someone had instantly replaced her with a very lifelike wax replica.

"Cassia?" I tried cautiously. "Er, Cassia? Are you all right?" Maybe it had been a defective Calm spell earlier after all?

Then she blinked, awareness and life flooding back into her features. The whole thing reminded me of someone turning off and then turning back on some Dwemer automaton, or possibly an extremely absent-minded necromancer attempting to raise a zombie. I took a step back despite myself.

"Sorry," Cassia said, "it looks as if we'll have to cut this short because I've got four passengers coming through from Ald'ruhn-"

"Right, right, of course. I don't mean to keep you from your job."

As I wandered off, I heard the by now familiar crackle-and-pop of released magicka and displaced air, followed by Cassia's voice going "Welcome to Vivec, the Guild of Mages hopes..."

Turning the corner, I stopped and frowned. The Vivec guild was much grander than the one in Balmora. Sweeping staircases looked down on a large, vaulted, richly decorated hall. There were lush patterned carpets that looked like Elsweyr imports to me, polished marble Cyrodiilic statues, beautifully flowering plants in intricately painted pots which I happened to know were both non-native and alchemically useless... In short, the usual hallmarks of people struggling with the burden of having too much money and positively crying out to be liberated from it. I also couldn't spot any of the detritus of mages studying together in an enclosed area the Balmora guild had managed to accumulate (involving such things as precarious towers of books on the tables and floors, chalk writing on the walls from when inspiration struck and the writing-slate was simply too far away, and the occasional mug of tea or kava that had been abandoned so long ago it tried to hide behind things if you looked at it for long enough). Somehow, that lack made the hall seem empty and unwelcoming despite the lavish decoration.

No, wait - I'd just reached the bottom of the staircase, and from here I could make out the traces of scorch marks on the walls. And that bust of the Emperor had definitely had a close encounter with some sort of Destruction spell. Odd; Marayn and Estirdalin, our Destruction trainers, were always very careful not to cause any damage to the guild when teaching. Maybe the trainer here wasn't so conscientious?

I stumbled. Someone had just bumped into me from behind.

"Oh, and who might you be?"

Now, I admit I had far more experience being on the guilty end of accidental collisions, but this didn't seem entirely right. Shouldn't there be an apology in there somewhere?

I turned around ready to point that out out loud, then stopped.

The man who'd jostled me was a Breton as big and broad-shouldered as any Nord. Now, I feel the need to point out that my sense of self-preservation has never kept me from my mouthing off to people three times my size. It's usually relatively easy to lose big people by weaving through a crowd or other obstacles, and if all else fails their groins are handily in reach. The robes the man was wearing were another matter entirely. The tightly-woven cloth was a deep, uniform purple. Alinorean purple, I suspected. The dye was notoriously expensive - in Windhelm I'd seen it priced at eight septims an ounce. And then there were the gold buckles inlaid with gems-

I swallowed the accusation sitting on my tongue. I'd been having such a good run of luck in not making any higher-ups angry at me. It would be nice if that could continue.

"Well?" The man frowned at me. What-

Oh, right, he'd asked me a question.

"Er, Adryn. Sir," I added, suspecting some degree of buttering-up was appropriate. "I'm a new guild member. Joined in Balmora."

The man's expression cleared. "Ah, that explains it. Should have known - Ranis is so good at recruiting. Ten new members last month alone! Keep meaning to write her a commendation for that. I'm Trebonius. Archmage. Head of the guild."

Head of the guild? All right, it was definitely a good thing I'd managed to keep myself from snapping at him.

"Nice to meet you. Um, sir," I added quickly. This would be a good time to suppress my natural rebellious instincts.

"It is, isn't it? Now, no worries. I'm sure I'll be able to think of something for you to do."

All the warnings I'd had about the Vivec guild suddenly came together in my mind. The picture they formed was not pretty. Cassia's pots and pans featured prominently.

I really, really had better things to do than keeping a registry of kitchenware.

"Er, no, that's perfectly all right, I'm- I'm really very busy already and-" I stammered.

Trebonius didn't look like he was going for it. "Busy? Ridiculous. Apprentices always think they're too busy, and they never are. Never do anything sensible if you leave them to it, either. Need guidance. Glad to say I'm good at providing it. Now, let me think..."

Please let me get out of this, I prayed. Let him not be able to think of anything. Be interrupted by someone who needs something urgent. Suddenly succumb to narcolepsy. Get sidetracked when the guild is invaded by rampaging kagouti. Anything.

"I have the perfect task for you!"

Apparently the universe was not in an obliging frame of mind.

I squared my shoulders, preparing to become Adryn, second-in-command of the Great Crockery Census.

"Yes, yes, just the sort of small thing to keep an apprentice occupied but too trivial for anyone of higher rank." Trebonius beamed at me. My suspiciously pot-shaped forebodings grew. "Find out what happened to the Dwemer!"

Wait.

What?

There's a children's game in Daggerfall, the sort of clapping game that is so universal Tang Mo and Sload children probably play one but where the exact words used can vary from one street to another. In the orphanage attached to the Temple of Kynareth in the capital, the first verse was:

Tell me where the Dwemer went,
or the last of Falmer fell.
Tell me who the Elder Scrolls penned,
or where dragons now dwell.

We called it the 'game of impossible questions.'

Is it clear what I'm getting at?

"Capital!" Trebonius had apparently taken my expression of 'I wish to know who supplied you with skooma so I can make sure they never do so again' as enthusiastic agreement. "Now that we've sorted that..."

"But, but, but," I spluttered, "no one knows what happened to the Dwemer!"

"Of course," Trebonius frowned at me. "If they did, why would I bother giving you the assignment?"

"But you just said it was trivial-"

The frown started to morph into a scowl. I inched back. Trebonius was surprisingly frightening like this. "Well, obviously if someone like myself actually sat down and thought about the problem in detail, it would be easy to solve. However, it's just not interesting enough for anyone of that intellectual calibre to have done so already."

I feel the need to point out that over the years I spent some time in the Windhelm public library. Not an excessive amount, I hasten to add - certain people's comments about how one day my limbs would fall off to complete my transformation into a bookworm were a cruel and merciless exaggeration - but enough that I am still reasonably familiar with its contents. One of the things I remember quite clearly is that they had an entire bookshelf dedicated to various leading historians, archaeologists, mages, philosophers, and other scholars over the millennia trying to explain the vanishing of the Dwemer.

Trebonius apparently took my stupefied silence to be agreement, because he said, "There, you see? And now I have much more important things to do than to be chatting with apprentices. Ask Malven if you have any more questions. Making excellent progress on that tunnel to the mainland, Malven. Other guild members could learn from her." He turned around and bellowed, "Tiram! Tiram, where have you got to?"

*****

Notes: I usually make up extra NPC characterisation on my own instead of basing it on mods, but Cassia's Great Crockery Census is a nod to the Less Generic NPC project - I haven't been able to check the mod to see how it goes exactly, but I remember her dialogue being along those lines. It captured my imagination! *g* Malven's tunnel to the mainland is apparently from the vanilla game, although I really don't remember that dialogue option.

One of the reasons this chapter took six months to finish: that horrible poem up there. /o\ I know the rhyme doesn't quite work, but I hide behind a shield of "well, for all you know of High Rock dialects maybe the rhyme *does* work for them" and "it's a children's game, it's not epic poetry." Aka Kaz is really not a good poet, okay guys? You also really, *really* don't want to know what I went through to get an estimate for the cost of "Tyrian" purple dye!

Next

First and foremost- welcome back! It is a delight to see that the passage of time has not dulled the snarky gleam in Adryn's eye... Um... that is to say, happy you are back and as wonderful as ever.

Just a couple of quotes, as the Quot-a-Matic ™ has been pouting in a corner for several months.



For that alone, Ajira deserves many hugs. The relationship you have drawn between the two outsider, budding alchemists is simply wonderful.

"...beautifully flowering plants in intricately painted pots which I happened to know were both non-native and alchemically useless... In short, the usual hallmarks of people struggling with the burden of having too much money and positively crying out to be liberated from it."

Applause first for the descriptive writing and second for Adryn's reaction to ostentatious displays of wealth via bad taste. And of course, the practicality as well. (Plants that are only good for decoration- what a waste!)







Oh that is simply excellent- both for the poignant reminder of Adryn's less-than-happy childhood AND for the verse.

The "count all the pots and pans" is from a mod? I could have sworn Trey once barely dodged having to do a silverware census....

Seeing more of your story is a treat. Thank you so much for continuing.

Catching up:

6.2


This whole paragraph is a showcase for what I love so much about your writing! Priceless! As is this next section:


Had to quote the whole thing, and when she wiggled her fingers I was remembering what you said earlier about carrying the joke too far and lost it reading that part! That gave it an edge over and above the scene itself, which already had me rolling! Loved this!



OMG, the whole section on the teleportation had me in stitches, these quoted lines killed me! This chapter is absolutely going onto the list of my favorite chapters, and there are many of them in your story so far!


6.3


SPEW! Teleportation Girl's predilection for romance and those flowers - and this:



This has to be the best example I've ever seen of the most perfect dialogue tag ever:



Galbedir's envious jealousy had me in hysterics in this whole chapter, every single line by or about her, - and then Adryn letting it slip they'd shared a room, and Galbedir's reaction to that - it didn't even matter if she was jealous IF Adryn would have chosen someone besides her or IF someone else would have chosen Adryn before her - because it was probably both! SPEW!!! ROFL !!!

Then to barely come off of that with a working PC still from all the spewed drinks - you hit me with this:



This has always been one of my favorite stories, and this is exactly why, you so subtly represent these little bits of human nature, I love that! LOVE this story! Throughout this whole story you have way more chapters on my "all time favorites list" than chapters that don't make it to the list. This chapter is definitely going on it, I LOVE this chapter! AWESOME WRITE !!!!!!

You've made my day, haven't laughed this hard in almost a year! I'm still catching up, have to take a break from reading and get my Sunday chores done. I will be back to finish catching up as soon as possible.

The whole exchange between Adryn and Trebonius was hilarious. It’s great to have you back!

Welcome back! The exchange between Adryn and Trebonius was hilarious! I did notice that he didn't call her "Girl" or "Girlie" or some such stupid thing. And Bully for her for keeping her mouth shut! I was amazed.

Trying to find out what happened to the Dwemer oughta keep our Adryn busy for a while. At least until she figures out a way to get out of this one! I don't doubt it!

6.4


I loved several things about this chapter:

First, the worry over the gossip after Ervesa sent the ingredients and reward - this whole situation has kept me laughing for two chapters now!

Next - This:



Like running and hiding from their teasing and suspicion won’t raise and peak their interest even worse - this was killing me, thought it couldn’t get better ... then it did.

Adryn’s inner musings about her fellow guildmates had me choking! I absolutely LOVE how her mind runs!

Then - didn’t think it could get any better, and it did - Adryn’s dilemma over the soul gem! OMG, I thought I would die laughing, could visualize an angel on one shoulder and devil on the other with her inner arguments one way or the other - Huge HUGE write, I loved this chapter !!!



6.5




I have missed Ajira’s personality these last few chapters, but in this one line you brought it all back so perfectly!

From what I gathered, I think Ajira knew what Adryn was struggling with, I loved her answer to it.

And the reward finally! I remembered Adryn wondering about the reward, lol. I just love it when these two are together, you have created two wonderful characters here! Awesome Write !!!

The entire scene with Cassia was priceless, especially when she froze mid word, that was written so well I had a visual image in my mind as I read - loved that you didn’t stint on the details with that scene, it totally made the beginning of this chapter!

It gets better when Adryn starts walking through and noticing the posh living quarters the Vivec Mages enjoy, I especially love the little veers into her past life that Adryn’s mind takes:



She may have only been a thief because she had to, but she must have been very good at it the way her mind works - Love that about her!






Did you make this verse up? I LOVE it !!!!!


I am so glad you kept this chapter intact, there is absolutely no place it could have been divided without harming the content for the reader.

By your “Notes” I see you did write that verse - that is HUGE! You should send that to Bethesda and have them put it in one of their in game books!

This chapter was stunning, Awesome, and absolutely goes into my list of top favorites. Awesome, Awesome Write !!!

Wow, I'm glad people enjoyed the verse! I felt really awkward about it (and almost gave up on it more than once because it was hard enough to find lore mysteries that orphans in Daggerfall would've heard of, let alone get them to rhyme /o\) so I'm really glad it's gone over well.

@treydog - Thank you! I'm glad you like how Ajira and Adryn's friendship is developing, it's one of the things I very much enjoyed writing! And haha, I often struggle with description so it helps to really try and see how Adryn would view things - and Adryn Does Not Understand the point of potted plants that don't yield ingredients. *g*

Re: silverware - I swear I thought this was in the Less Generic NPCs mod, but it's possible I'm wrong; computer issues mean I haven't really been able to play Morrowind in a while.

@Grits - thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed Adryn meeting Trebonius, I grinned myself silly writing that bit.

@haute - thank you! And to be honest, I think Adryn was just too stunned to respond. If Trebonius had given her time to recover... well, her reaction would not have been pretty. Probably for the best he didn't! I don't think he's very patient with things like that.

@mALX - wow thank you!! I am really blushing here, you know I'm glad you liked the gossip session...s and assumptions flying around! I take it as a major compliment coming from you, since Maxical's story manages that kind of thing so well. *g*

Re: the reward - I actually realised myself after I'd written the first few chapters that I'd forgotten! Hence a quick fix. In all honesty, I think Ajira may have forgotten herself - she did get pretty sidetracked by mushrooms at first, after all!

Re: Adryn's thieving skills...

Last time, Adryn popped into the Vivec guild where she met the guild guide and then met her head of guild. Who immediately asked her to perform a small, trivial, easy task for him - figure out where the Dwemer went. Adryn's reaction could be summed up as . She's still reeling.

Chapter 7.2

*****

The Archmage wandered away. I stayed standing there, too stunned to move.

"Ah," came a dry voice from my left. "I think I know that posture."

I whirled around to see an elderly Dunmer woman slowly making her way down the outside stairs.

"Tell me," I begged her, "the disappearance of the Dwemer is one of Tamriel's greatest mysteries, right? I'm not imagining things? I'm not losing my mind? Zurin Arctus himself tried to explain it, right? Right?!"

Most people would probably have been rather taken aback by this. She just looked resigned. "And that frame of mind. I assume you have just spoken to Archmage Trebonius."

"Yes. He gave me a task. Is it that obvious?"

"One learns to recognise the signs." The woman pinched the bridge of her nose. Whatever the Morrowind version of chopped blue mountain flower petals boiled together with crushed dragonfly wings - my favourite headache remedy - was, she looked like she needed it. "My name is Malven Romori, a Wizard in the Mages' Guild here. I strongly urge guild members to come to me if they have any problems, as Archmage Trebonius... prefers not to be disturbed with minutiae."

That had to be the most discreet rewording of "we don't know what in Oblivion we did to deserve getting saddled with this man, but we try to keep him away from innocent bystanders" I'd ever come across.

"He does like to assign duties to junior members, however. And," she fixed me with her gaze, "I would like to remind you that Archmage Trebonius is in fact the leader of this guild and is owed respect and obedience. Now if you would follow me, I can... assist you with the details of them."

I would have protested at this point - she couldn't possibly expect me to actually solve the mystery of the Dwemer - but something about her tone made me follow her quietly. Oh, and the fact that a mage with a headache was a mage more likely to start throwing around Destruction spells out of frustration. I'd learned this one from experience.

Malven led me into a room with a large table, then closed the door. "Right. Pull up a chair." She did the same herself. "Now," and her voice took on a despairing tone, "what did he ask you to do?"

"Solve the disappearance of the Dwemer," I said helpfully as I settled into a chair.

"Solve the disappearance of the Dwemer. Of course." The expression on Malven's face said that even a dose of the extra-concentrated, heavy-duty version of my headache remedy I'd made for Ingerte's migraines would not be enough right now. "Perfect job to assign to someone, that. It's not as if it's one of the greatest mysteries of our time." At least I wasn't the only one who could see how ridiculous this was. "Although it could be worse."

I blinked at her incredulously. "Worse? How?"

"Well - as I said earlier, Archmage Trebonius is the Head of Guild and hence owed obedience."

"Wait, don't tell me you actually expect me to-" Nine, please don't let Trebonius be contagious.

"What, solve the mystery of the Dwemer?" Malven snorted. "Of course, and right after that you'll find proof of the Underking's real identity. Or figure out a way to make those blasted interfering Telvanni leave us alone, I'm sure." Her tone indicated the latter was as impossible as the former. "No, what I mean is that although the task is impossible you should at least give the appearance of working on it." Her tone grew stern. "I won't have people ignoring the Archmage. It's bad for morale and undermines the dignity of the guild."

I managed to bite back the question 'even more than Trebonius does by himself?'

"And when it comes to that, the disappearance of the Dwemer isn't such a bad task. Dwemer scholarship is a thriving field, you know, so it's a good area for a new member to get involved in. Our own Edwinna in Ald'ruhn is one of the foremost experts, and always looking for interested apprentices. If you do some introductory reading - try Jobasha for books - and then ask her if you can study with her, I'm sure she'll be delighted to have you. Which means that if Archmage Trebonius asks, you can honestly tell him you are looking into it."

Put that way, solving the Dwemer question was a sight better than Cassia's pots. But... "I'm an alchemist, not a Dwemer scholar," I protested.

Malven raised an eyebrow. "Are you? Well, secondary interests are a good thing to acquire - you can't advance far in the Guild if you don't branch out - and our alchemists aren't of the academic standard Edwinna is."

I wanted to protest on Ajira's behalf, but had to remember her attempt at a formal report.

"Consider that you might instead have been asked to chain dreugh to the canton and make them tow it to a 'more reasonable climate'." Malven's long-suffering expression made me suspect that that example wasn't hypothetical. "No, a background in the Dwemer will serve you well in the future, Apprentice..."

"Adryn," I introducted myself. "And it's Associate, actually. Not Apprentice."

"Associate?" Malven blinked. "But you are involved in tasks for the guild, correct?"

"Well, I've been helping Ajira - the alchemist at the Balmora guild - with her work. Collecting and studying ingredients, selling when she was busy writing reports..."

"And you're still only an Associate? I'll have to ask Ranis what she's thinking." Malven frowned.

I shrugged. Membership in the Mages Guild was still new enough to me that I wasn't all too worried about rank. "Well-"

I was interrupted by what sounded like a small explosion from the main hall, shortly followed by Trebonius' booming voice. "Ah, not that one either! No matter, I'm certain I'll get it this time - and surely we didn't need that statue anyway!" All of a sudden, the scorch marks in the hall made a great deal of sense.

Malven's brows drew together in a scowl. I suspected fantasies of murdering a certain Archmage were going through her head.

"It looks as though I've left the others alone too long. Associate Adryn, I hope I will soon be hearing about your developing interest in Dwemer scholarship. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

After Malven had left to go repair more of Trebonius' disasters, I edged out of the room. Originally, I'd been planning to seek out the Vivec alchemist - Craetia, wasn't it? However, my experiences in the last half an hour or so had led to me formulating a new plan. This one being to get out of this guild hall as quickly as possible before I could get blown up or roped into more impossible tasks turned extracurricular activities by a certain monkey with robes and an unfortunate skill at Destruction, I mean Archmage.

I immediately set about putting it into action.

*****

Next

Poor Malven!



Reminds me of certain professors I had in vet school!

I enjoyed how you described Malven's demeanor and "gave" her a headache. Of course, given the surroundings and her body language, such a malady would be inevitable!

*

Hopefully they won't even remember Adryn had even been there at all in ten minutes? ROFL !!

This reminded me so forcibly of "The Madness of King George" - hugely well done, from the Archmage to Malven's longsuffering indicators!



Loved this line!



I'd say that wasn't an easy struggle, lol. This next one had me choking:



ROFL !! "If anyone does anything productive, promote them quickly before they get away!"

I don't know if it is because they have to spend too much time covering up for the Archmage, but the whole Vivec Mages guild seems to be in crisis, lol. What I'm wondering is, if you do end up as Archmage in Vivec, do they magically clean up the Guild hall (sort of like how they did in the Anvil haunted house quest)? Lol.



BWAAHAA! I loved that end !!!!

When reading, I usually stop and copy out the quotes that strike me, then comment at the end of the chapter - can't do that reading your story because too much strikes me for quoting and I don't like to stop reading long enough to quote - so I hope I didn't miss any, lol. Great Write, you are making me want to try Morrowind just so I can see these quests! Awesome update!


*

In a thoroughly delightful update I loved this line the most.

Catching up, slowly but surely.

I realized, that despite reading and becoming a fan of your work early on. I never actually took the time too comment. While it may seem self-serving, comments really a big part of what can give a writer the motivation to continue on and visibly show that they are enjoying their work.

For my lack in the regard, I am sorry.

So, I shall write a slightly longer than usual comment to somewhat make up for my offense.

You're writing is simply stunning, thus far. You describe situations in such a way that really brings them to life, in a game setting that many of us are already familiar with. Adryn...is a character indeed.

The humor you bring to this, is simply astounding, and if your friends aren't constantly laughing at the jokes you say, they simply must not be human.

Well written, well read, well done!

I knew I was missing one - I loved this too, missed it in my quotes. Adryn's loyalty is there, but she knows when her ammunition isn't going to hold up for battle, ROFL! Loved that line!

@haute - When I thought about it, I figured that the only way the Vivec guild could have not imploded yet with Trebonius as its head was via another high-ranking guild member running around after him cleaning up all his messes. I also figured that that must be one godawful job! Hence, Malven. I'm glad you liked her. *g*

@mALX - thank you! Yeah, the Vivec guild is basically in a constant state of siege, and the siege is from within. I think if you become Archmage and manage to get rid of Trebonius, Malven hires the cleaners with a sigh of relief and then goes and takes a long holiday, lol. (The scorch marks aren't there ingame, but I see them in my mind's eye!)

@Grits - I'm glad you (and mALX!) liked that line! Yeah, Adryn is very loyal but still in touch with reality and willing to back down from a battle she knows can't be won, lol.

@Black Hand - *blushes* thank you! And don't worry about not commenting much - obviously I take great glee in every one I get, but I know that people have other things going on and it can be difficult... I'm not nearly as good at commenting on other people's works as I'd like myself!

I'm really glad you're enjoying, and especially that you find I bring game situations to life - that's really a large part of what I'm hoping to achieve with this story!

Re: jokes - I wish! Alas, writing has the advantage that you can mull over your jokes at your leisure - you'd be surprised how often something along the lines of '(something funny goes here)' pops up in my drafts. Also, I have a speech disorder - it doesn't really bother me but, to quote from a certain movie about someone with the same issue, timing isn't my strong suit!

Last time, Malven Romori told Adryn how to go about *cough* solving the disappearance of the Dwemer *cough*. Now, Adryn meets Vivec! The city, that is. Not the god. I'm not sure the latter would go very well.

Chapter 7.3

*****

Thankfully for my temper and continued health (in the form of refraining from screaming insults at my head of guild), I managed to make it out of the guild hall without further incident - unless you counted pausing for a moment on the threshold.

The Vivec guild building bordered on a plaza, maybe a little larger than the square in front of the guild in Balmora. That wasn't in itself shocking, but what had given me pause was that we were still indoors. The plaza was inside a cavernous hall lit by torches and magelights. The ceiling was formed by an enormous dome, its apex so high it was hidden in darkness. I'd never seen anything like it before - whatever building we were in must be gigantic.

A brief look around turned up a building belonging to the Fighter's Guild and two armorers, but nothing that looked like a bookshop, so I followed the steady flow of people heading towards a set of massive double doors and the daylight streaming through them.

When I stepped through, I stopped and stared.

Ahead of me was a covered archway, leading onto a parapet with a low wall at its edge. A very wet parapet; the weather had apparently taken a turn for the worse since that morning. However, even through the rain I could make out a building further ahead - no, building was the wrong word. Building gave one entirely the wrong impression of the scope of the thing. I'd seen smaller castles. And - I squinted through the falling rain - there was a second to its left. Third, really, since I was quite certain I was standing in another right now. And that blurry outline back there might be a fourth-

"Stop standing in the entranceway like a slug, n'wah. People are trying to get by," a strangely muffled voice said from behind me.

I turned around-

Really, what was it with this country and armour that doubled as carnival gear?

The man was wearing a full set of armour that was elaborately detailed and decorated, made of some dark metal but with ornate designs worked on it in gold leaf. Like Ervesa's giant insect costume, someone had taken the concept of a 'helmet' and run with it to the point of insanity - albeit this time in a different direction. Ervesa's bug eyes and mandibles had been replaced by a stylised mask depicting a golden-skinned, rather severe-looking mer, bald save for a gigantic plume - or was that a mohawk? The mask covered the entire head, with only two small holes for the eyes. By all rights, it should have looked utterly ridiculous, yet somehow I didn't feel like laughing at all; the sight of red eyes glaring out of that immovable painted face was surprisingly intimidating.

"Deaf, too. They get worse and worse every day. Move it, outlander, or I'll move you."

Or maybe it was just the attitude.

"I'm moving, I'm moving," I said hastily. Really, he was being unreasonable - I'd been standing to the side, not directly in the doorway, and it wasn't particularly busy right now anyway. I decided to keep that idea private - even I could tell that that wasn't something one should not say to a man with a mace and a bad mood.

Instead, I took a leaf from Ajira's book: I decided to try my hand at being cute.

"I'm really sorry if I was in the way," I made my tone as sweet as possible. "I just got here from the Mages' Guild. I've never been to Vivec before and was just admiring the view. Say, I don't suppose you could help me?" I widened my eyes, remembering the sad kitten look. "I'm looking for-"

"Do I look like a tout?" the mer, who I was coming to think of as Master Grumpy, snapped. "A gondolier? A Hlaalu, maybe? Someone willing to run after n'wah and scrabble in the dirt for the coppers they throw? No? Then why in the name of the holy Almsivi do you expect I'd be willing to-"

I blinked in the face of such naked hostility. All right, apparently cuteness only worked if you had fur. For dark elve- er, Dunmer (I had the sneaking suspicion that if I said the words "dark elf" around Master Grumpy, it would end in tears - mine), it seemed to be counterproductive if anything. Or maybe it was the helmet? Another one for Adryn's alchemical reaction theory of helmets: where steel caused rigid belief in honour and chivalry alongside general stupidity and giant insect armour managed to preserve intelligence but led to giggling, poetry, and sending poor unsuspecting people flowers, carnival masks caused uncontrollable rage.

"Right. Er. Sorry. Didn't mean to offend you," I managed to interject into his rant, inching backwards all the while. "I'll just be going now."

Out of lack of better options, I headed back the way I'd come.

Back in the plaza, I stopped and thought for a bit. Well, I made my way to an out-of-the-way corner first; I could still feel Master Grumpy's eyes on me, and I didn't want to do anything that could be viewed as blocking traffic.

Actually, heading back to the Mages' Guild wasn't such a bad idea, provided I managed to avoid its head. Almost everyone I'd met in the guild thus far was friendly, and therefore hopefully not as inclined to bite my head off if I asked for directions. Moreover, maybe someone could teach me that spell I'd seen Eddie using to keep himself dry. I wasn't particularly looking forward to heading out into that downpour unprotected.

Thankfully, Trebonius was nowhere near when I stuck my head around the door. Instead, an Altmer with her nose in a book was manning (merring?) the desk at the entrance. Sirilonwe, as it turned out she was called, was quite friendly despite my interrupting her reading, and very understanding of my desire to keep both eyes out for a certain Archmage. She even showed me a space behind a large, overgrown potted plant in the corner that she said was easy to flee to at a moment's notice and meant you were effectively invisible to, say, a certain senior mage who might poke their head in from the main hall. Testing this, I noted the cushion on the ground and the well-thumbed book, presumably for those occasions where Trebonius decided to stick around for a little longer.

After considering what life as a native guild member here must be like, I found myself suddenly, inordinately glad that I'd attached myself to the Balmora guild.

Once I was satisfied with the safety measures Sirilonwe taught me the "Rainshield" spell for fifteen drakes, which was less than I'd been expecting. According to her, it was such a popular spell that it had been made as simple as possible. It was definitely very easy to learn - after my experience trying to understand Almsivi Intervention I'd been worried I'd humiliate myself again, but I got the spell on my second try. Maybe I should look into Alteration spells? The only other one I knew was a water walking spell, and I thought I was quite good with it.

When I asked, she gave me directions to Jobasha's - or rather, she tried. Despite my best attempts at listening my concentration failed after she reached the sixth corner, and judging by the length of time she continued talking after that I'd probably be better served looking for it on my own. She also gave me a warning, one which would have been very useful to have heard ten minutes ago. "Be careful with the Ordinators - the guards here, the one wearing masklike helms. They don't like outlanders and they make that very obvious indeed. It's best just to keep your head down and steer clear." Master Grumpy was a guard? Who in their right minds would hire him as law enforcement? More to the point, his attitude was typical? Time to be on my very best behaviour.

I stopped myself from telling Sirilonwe I'd managed to figure the bit about Ordinators out on my own, thanked her and made my way back outside before my luck in the realm of Trebonius-avoiding ran out.

This time, I left the plaza through the other set of double doors, giving all of Master Grumpy's friends a wide berth along the way. I made my way to the end of the overhanging roof, where I closed my eyes and focused on drawing a thin stream of my magicka out of my body... out... into a shell around me... and make it stay-

The magicka I was holding twisted, then cut itself off from my grasp as the spell snapped into place. I opened my eyes to look at the faintly glowing purple bubble surrounding me, then took a few careful steps out from under the roof.

Water hissed against my shield, each drop launching a ferocious attack with all its power only to beat fruitlessly against the spell and finally drip to the ground in ignominous defeat. I grinned. I was Adryn, vanquisher of rain! No mere jumped-up mist could defeat me! No spell was too difficult to learn! No weather, no carnival escapee guards, nothing could keep me from Jobasha's now!

I set off into the rain.

*****

Notes: Back when I was trying to work out Adryn's various skill levels, I said it was hard to describe her Speechcraft skill purely through in-game mechanics - the closest I came was that it was a little as if her Speechcraft was very high but she hit "Taunt" instead of "Persuade" by accident around a third of the time.

Her interaction with Master Grumpy is an example of her hitting Taunt.

Also, now that Adryn has met her first Ordinator and been treated to the full "we're watching you... scum" Vivec experience, I feel the need to link this wonderful fanart I stumbled across: Ordinator and little Dunmer

Next

"We're watching you, sssscuuuummm!"

A phrase I've become all too familiar with, as the majority of the character's I've played have rarely been anything but members of factions that don't get along with the Temple too much.

Interesting notion of having a simple shield spell in place of an umbrella, they don't have any in any of the Vanilla Games as I recall. It does however bring to mind a mod by user "Pluto" called 'The Sable Dragon' a bit of time ago in 2009 I believe, in which a character has you go fetch an umbrella for them.

While humorous, her reaction of successfully casting spell is all too reminiscent of the Morrowind success/fail version of spellcasting.

"Hmm. Angry Nord I've hit with three arrows so far, is coming straight for me with a huge battle axe. Being that I am aware of their 100% resistance to frost in Morrowind, I'll just bust out with the ol' 'firebite' spell that I have an 87% chance of casting and make short work of that yellow bar!"

*Cast* *Fail* *Wah-wah-waaaaaAaah*

*Nord swings. Hits*

"And now, half my health is gone, and the hit was so strong I've collapsed to the floor..."

*Nord swings once more, taunting."

[Your last save game is "Quicksave" would you like to load it?]

"Well.......F--"

Why, oh why, did you not simply get a levitating ring, Black Hand? Nord with battle axe = good probability of victory by using the third dimension. In the paraphrased words of Gandalf, "Fly, you Fool!"

Well, Kaz, I can definitely say this brings back memories of my first trip to Vivec. Heck, first time I got there I spent so much time traveling around the Foreign Quarter I forgot there was the plaza and I started worrying that I had lost the Mages Guild transport back to Balmora. Not a fun ten minutes.

I'm glad to see that Adryn isn't doing anything to quickly ensure her imminent expulsion at the hands of Farce-Mage Tremblingbonius. Shor's lunar stones he annoys me. But I guess that's part of the deal. Still, the subtle demands for decorum in the good of the guild remain valid. Besides, there isn't any rule prohibiting a member from ducking into a hidden alcove created by tasteful interior design when the Farce-Mage approaches.

The Ordinators are, as always, a delicious treat that require pretty much no help in disliking.

Though there is one thing I'd like to point out to Adryn in her new weather-impervious spell casting self:

Ever hear of this garment called a cloak? It's great. Comes with a hood, pockets on the inside, and it can be enchanted. TO FLY!

Not having played the game, I didn’t know it was an Ordinator you were describing. As soon as Sirilonwe said that I started rolling, remembering our conversation about them, lol.

Also loved the seat cushion and well worn book hidden behind a potted plant, I see that spot getting a lot of use in there (and pictured several people racing each other to reach it first when the Arch Mage was coming, lol).

Another great chapter, I am loving this story!

@Black Hand - that brings back memories!

I sometimes play Redoran + Temple characters, and it's astonishing to discover that Ordinators can actually be not just polite but helpful. "Greetings, I am at your service," "How may I help you, citizen?" - you can help me by explaining exactly what species of alien bodysnatcher you are and whether you plan to conquer the whole of Nirn or just the Temple!

Also, the shield-spell-as-umbrella thing was one of my attempts at figuring out how magic would influence Tamrielic life outside of combat - since I figured that, people being people, there'd have been a lot of work into using it to make life easier and more comfortable. And for Jerric, Grits came up with the idea of having the 'umbrella' spell be an adapted waterwalking spell instead, something that made me go "man! I wish I'd thought of that!"

@Captain Hammer - I'm glad this is bringing back Vivec memories, and hope this next bit does so too! It was definitely taken directly from my experience first playing the game, lol. And am glad you liked my treatment of Trebonius...

Re: cloaks - but but cloaks can get wet! And they look much less impressive are much less comfortable than just keeping all the rain well away from you! The flying, mind you... that has potential. *g*

@mALX - yep, that's an Ordinator. This is... yeah, pretty much how you feel they think of you. (SCUM.) I'm glad you enjoyed!

Last installment, Adryn encountered her very first Ordinator, successfully avoided Trebonius, learned a new spell and set off to explore Vivec. Now, she's found herself met with some obstacles...

Chapter 7.4

*****

Some time later found me leaning against a wall in one of the so-called "Waistworks" with sore feet, mostly depleted magicka reserves, and decidedly lower spirits. Apparently, although no spell nor weather nor guards could defeat me, my own sense of direction (or rather, the lack thereof) was more than up to the task - especially combined with what I could only refer to as architectural sadism on the part of whoever had designed this place.

The building, or rather 'canton', we were in had several floors. The topmost was the plaza I'd already been in, all the others were a warren of narrow corridors and arched wooden doors hiding shops and housing. Everything was kept scrupulously clean, which also meant all of it looked exactly alike. Well, they could probably afford to pay an army of cleaners - they must save a fortune on vermin extermination. I imagined any rat that found its way here would immediately turn tail and run, squeaking the rodent equivalent of "too confusing! I'm going home!" all the while. The fact that people voluntarily lived here just goes to show that we can be remarkably stupid sometimes.

To make matters worse (why? They were bad enough already!), the floors were connected via a bewildering maze of stairs, ramps and the occasional ladder, half of which went outside for - as far as I could tell - the sole purpose of making certain the unfortunate newcomer spent as much time either getting drenched or expending their magicka to keep from getting drenched as possible. If people in Windhelm built this way, half the city would freeze to death in the winter!

I'd spent the last few hours repeatedly casting my rainshield spell as I wandered in circles, somehow finding myself more rather than less lost every time I ended up somewhere I'd already been. The only break I'd had came when I spotted a sign for an apocethary and promptly wandered in.

I'd ended up having a nice chat with Aurane Frernis, the owner. Although she was a Breton, she'd been born on Vvardenfell and didn't know much about ingredients from elsewhere other than the few that were imported. We worked out something of an information trade on that basis (one where I thought I'd come off better, since I doubted Aurane would have occasion to use Nordic barnacles anytime soon). Her shop seemed to be having a slow day, so I managed to pick up quite a few useful tidbits without interruption.

Alas, all good things must come to an end. In this case, the end had come while Aurane was talking about golden kanet. Thinking of the bouquet awaiting me back in the guild, I'd asked her to refrain from telling me about its alchemical uses - Ajira and I were looking forward to finding those out on our own, after all - but she knew a lot about where to find it.

"...grows widely in the Ascadian Isles and parts of Azura's Coast, but I prefer to get mine from the Sheogorad islands - they make for slightly stronger potions. That said, the varieties of gold kanet in the Ascadian Isles are quite heterogenous, and it's quite possible some of them are just as potent. There's one that grows near Bal Ur, called 'Roland's Tear', which I've been meaning to test for absolutely ages... come to think of it!" She brightened. I didn't. I had a horrible suspicion as to where this was going. "You could go collect some for me. It's really not very far from Vivec, I'd go if I could leave the shop alone that long. I'd reward you well."

For once, even the word "reward" didn't make me even remotely inclined to agree. Any possible daydreams of fat purses were ruthlessly strangled out of existence by the horrible memories of exactly what had happened the last time I'd gone on a harmless, easy trip to collect some gold kanet.

"No!" I yelped.

Noticing Aurane's unimpressed stare, I quickly followed that up with, "I mean, I would, but it's really far too dangerous and-"

"Oh, pish," Aurane waved her hand dismissively. I scowled at the gesture. Clearly, this was someone who had no idea of the horrors flower-picking entailed. "It's harmless. The flowers grow well away from the Daedric ruin, and people say the Dremora hardly ever stray from that-"

Daedric ruin?

Dremora?

Needless to say, at that point I'd quickly manufactured an urgent appointment I had to get to - so sorry, entirely forgot, absolutely no time to go battle Dremora for the sake of alchemical research today, perhaps you should inquire at the Fighter's Guild instead? And a few minutes later - and ever since - I'd been back in the corridors, the endless maze, the quite possibly a plane of Oblivion I'd accidentally wandered into (it would explain the Dremora.)

"-I feel sorry for him, but Shor knows it was impossible to make a decision in that environment-" That accent was decidedly familiar. I looked up.

Two Nord women were moving along the corridor at a brisk pace. A few hours ago, back when I was still young and innocent, I might have tried to follow them in the hopes of them going somewhere useful. Now, however, I knew better. Apparently all the natives could walk through walls. At least, this was the only explanation I had for the amount of times I'd tried to tag along with someone only to be standing alone in an empty corridor. Or there'd been the time outside where the mer had headed straight for the parapet and then levitated up to the next level, leaving me gaping behind.

(Technically, I supposed, I could do the same for getting to the lower levels with my amulet. However, I hadn't reached the point of throwing myself off high places with only an untested magical artifact of dubious provenance between me and certain death. Not yet, at any rate.)

"Well, don't worry," the taller one was saying. "There are other enchanters. One wouldn't want to go to the Telvanni canton, true, but the Temple or the-"

Wait, there was an enchanter around here? Speaking of untested magical artifacts of dubious provenance, in particular the turning of such into shiny coins...

"Excuse me, did you say there's an enchanter's shop nearby?" I asked.

The one who'd just been speaking stopped, eyebrows raised in surprise. "Why, yes. It's-" I braced myself for a long list of bewildering directions culminating in 'walk through the nearest wall'- "just down this corridor. Go past this corner and then head straight, you can't miss it."

"Really? Thanks so much!" I beamed at the first comprehensible directions I'd heard all day.

"But wait, there's-" I was too busy rushing down the corridor to make out the rest.

Indeed, a bit further along there was the same sort of sign made out of cloth I'd seen outside all the shops here hanging against a wall, with a symbol denoting what it sold along with the same spelled out in Daedric letters. I couldn't see what was on it, however, as a Breton had decided this was the perfect spot to lean against and take a break.

Well, he wasn't an Ordinator, and the Nords had been friendly enough...

"Excuse me, is this the enchanter's?"

The Breton leapt away from the wall with alacrity. "Fair lady! Flower of Morrowind!" He swept into an extravagant bow that put me dreadfully in mind of Eddie. On the bright side, it meant I could finally see what was on the sign - yes, written below a symbol I didn't recognise was 'Miun-Gei, accredited enchanter. Will buy and sell enchanted items and scrolls, custom work available'. Someone had pinned a piece of parchment next to that. It read, 'Soul gems not supplied. Customers must bring filled soul gem for commissions. No exceptions.'

"Can you find it in your generous heart to spare a coin for a struggling actor?" The Breton finally came out of his bow, cap in hand. I groaned at the sight. It must have been on the ground in front of him - if I'd spotted it, I would have tried to sneak past.

"No," I answered him flatly.

He gasped dramatically, clutching the front of his shirt. "Ai! You wound me, fair maiden! Those harsh words - like a dagger through my heart! Yet I am sure that buried beneath such a stern countenance lies a gentle soul-"

Yes, this was definitely Eddie the Second. Except this time I found myself sadly devoid of allies, scout and silt-strider alike.

"-as fair and kind as Inzoliah, and I her most devoted servant Malvasian-"

Wait a minute.

"Inzoliah and Malvasian? Didn't they try to kill each other over money?"

The man's eyes lit up. "Ah! A connoisseur! A patron of the fine arts!"

Did he just say patron of the fine arts? If knowing basic character and plot details of one of Tamriel's most popular plays counted as such, the state of theatre must be much worse than I'd thought.

"No, I just haven't been living under a rock," I snapped.

Not-Eddie ignored me. "Surely one so cultured, so sophisticated as you will be able to understand my artistic vision! Theatre troupes throughout Tamriel perform A Hypothetical Treachery as a black comedy. Pah, I say to that! That idea is bland as barley soup, outdated as the plays of Baloth-Kul. What if one were to perform it as a tragic romance - Inzoliah and Malvasian the star-crossed lovers, kept apart by cruel fate! I am sure it would receive great acclaim..." His shoulders slumped. "If only I could find a troupe willing to attempt it..."

He appeared quite distracted with his misfortuntes. I approved. It gave me the chance to make an unnoticed escape into the enchanter's shop.

*****

Notes: I have to admit Adryn's experience trying to navigate Vivec for the first time is pretty directly taken from my own. It took me HOURS to figure out how to get to the lowest part of the Foreign Quarter canton without levitation. Add that to the fact that I'm trying to scale Adryn's world appropriately (i.e.: there are in fact more than fifty people in the Foreign Quarter canton) and she was doomed from the start.

Next

Forgive me for not posting sooner.

Though I've never played Morrowind, I quite enjoyed Adryn's encounter with her first Ordinator. I'm surprised she managed to bite her tongue in half!

Then exploring Vivec and trying to make sense of it. It cracked me up! I loved it - reminded me of Sante Fe and Taos where the streets run every which way with no sense of rhyme or rhythm. Downtown St. Paul is similar, due to the fact that it is built in a hole in the ground (with a river running through it). My brother always said St. Paul was built by drunken Irish. So maybe Vivec was built by drunken Ordinators?

@haute - Thank you! Adryn is showing an unprecedented ability to keep her mouth shut so far although her attempt at actual diplomacy did backfire. I think so far it's mostly been surprise that's kept her from letting her mouth get her into trouble...

Re: getting lost - lol, I might actually have the opposite problem! I'm European and tend to find cities built on a grid system immensely confusing. Give me one with nice curvy roads so that I can actually tell them apart any day! And drunken Ordinators are definitely a potential explanation here, I'd say. Or possibly Vivec (the god's) sense of humour.

Last installment, Adryn discovered that finding her way around Vivec was rather more difficult than she'd been expecting. She did manage to find an enchanter's shop, although she was accosted by an actor at the entrance.

Chapter 7.5

*****

I shut the door behind me with a sigh of relief at having a barrier of solid wood between me and Eddie the Younger, then looked around.

The small room was crammed. Next to stacked crates were shelves which were laden with all sorts of objects, from a long spear to a child's tunic to a stack of scrolls in one corner. The one thing they had in common was that they all gleamed with magic. The light combined with that of the numerous magical lamps of all shapes and colours to make me squint and wonder whether migraines were an occupational hazard for enchanters.

If they were, it might explain this enchanter's appearance. Behind a wooden desk stood an Argonian who looked distinctly frazzled. I should admit at this point that I didn't know many Argonians and their body language was notoriously different from that of the warm-blooded races, so that estimation should probably be taken with a grain of salt. All the same, I'd never seen one with such a drooping head-frill before, and I guessed the fact that his scales were pearly blue on most of his body meant that the ones on his face should not be that unhealthy-looking pale grey colour. To say nothing of the way his beard-tendrils kept curling and uncurling.

"Er, hello?" I tried.

He jumped and stared at me for a moment, then collected himself. "A customer! My apologies, my apologies. I am Miun-Gei, enchanter. My specialisation lies in magical lighting," well, that explained the headache-inducing surroundings, "but I have a large variety of items available in other areas as well. What brings you to my shop?"

"I'd like to sell this amulet," I said, undoing the clasp at the back of my neck and handing it to him.

"Ah! Give it here- yes, yes-" Miun-Gei lifted the amulet up and inspected it closely. "A Slowfall enchantment, yes? Nicely done, anchored tightly into the stone - emerald, a good choice for such work. Now, as for the faceting-" He hummed slightly, reaching for a magnifying lens on the desk. I had to smile when I realised that his frill was perking up as he talked - talked to himself, really; he seemed to have entirely forgotten I was there in his enthusiasm.

"O noble sir! Spare a coin for a struggling actor?"

Eddie II's voice barreled through the door and shattered the companionable atmosphere like an angry kagouti. Miun-Gei dropped the lens, which fell back onto the desk with a loud clunk.

"Oh, curse that buffoon," he muttered, one hand reaching up to tug repeatedly at one of his head-spikes as if for comfort. Then he shot a glance at me and let the hand fall. "Many apologies, honoured customer. Please do not mind these- minor interruptions-"

"Don't worry, I tangled with that man on the way in," I said sympathetically. "Take your time."

"Take your time, yes..." Miun-Gei repeated absently, attention once more fixed on the necklace. "A Slowfall enchantment. Quite strong, with a very large reservoir of magicka - no rat's or nix-hound's soul went into the making of this. Dreugh, perhaps? Or a scamp? Let us see..."

He muttered several arcane-sounding syllables, causing sparkling white light to grow around his free hand as I watched in fascination. I'd known that there was a spell which enchanters used to discern the exact details of an enchanted item, but this was the first time I'd ever seen it in action.

"They say ♫ the Iliac Bay ♫ is the place to barrel around ♫ without a bit of apparel on-"

Sweet Stendarr's mercy, now the man was singing.

The spell fizzled with a pop. For a moment, the spines of Miun-Gei's frill shifted forward into what I recognised as a threat position, his lips peeling back to reveal a row of very sharp teeth as he hissed. Then he relaxed with what looked like a major effort of will.

"No matter, no matter! Miun-Gei shall try again!"

Miun-Gei closed his eyes in concentration, cupping the amulet in one hand-

I cringed, instinctively raising my hands to cover my ears, as the unmistakeable sound of a shawm penetrated the door. A badly-played shawm, at that. I hadn't spotted the instrument among the actor's possessions on my way in. I'd have to see if I could when I left, because I was relatively certain that using my Firebite spell on it would qualify as a civic duty.

Miun-Gei stood still as a statue for a moment as his second spell fizzled. Then he let the amulet fall onto the desk and dropped his head in his hands. I'd heard that Argonians lacked tear ducts and couldn't cry, but judging by the sounds he was making they could at least manage a very good impression.

"Um," I said hesitantly. "Are you all right?" I'd known people who could work through the sound of a Nord wedding, but I'd always been the opposite - noise my friends could happily ignore left me flinching and covering my ears. It looked as though Miun-Gei was the same.

"No," Miun-Gei said, voice muffled. "Miun-Gei is not all right. Miun-Gei has not been able to make a single sale since yesterday because of that, that buffoon. It decided in front of Miun-Gei's shop is the perfect place to set up and 'show off' her 'acting skills'. And now Miun-Gei cannot focus long enough to inspect new items, to give customers an overview of its wares, to barter."

I took a moment to parse that speech. Apparently Miun-Gei had the ever-so-slightly idiosyncratic approach to gendered pronouns that you sometimes heard among his race, the one that made me seriously wonder about the Argonian life-cycle.

"Have you tried talking to law enforcement?" I suggested, trying to take my mind off certain possibilities involving egg-laying which I really didn't want to think about in too much detail.

"The Ordinators? They came and said it was a 'permissible' level of noise." Miun-Gei sounded gloomy. "I am not certain whether they allowed it because Miun-Gei is an outlander and they do not care about outlanders, or because the noise is really not that bad. Miun-Gei is... it overreacts, sometimes." That last was said in a sing-song tone that made me think the Argonian was repeating something he'd been told. I felt a sudden burst of sympathy.

Miun-Gei raised his head, although he didn't meet my eyes. "Many apologies, honoured customer. One way or the other Miun-Gei will not be able to trade today, she fears."

"I understand," I said. "It really sounds as if you need to take a break - somewhere quiet - for a bit. Is there anything I can do to help?"

I snapped my mouth shut, but the traitorous words had already escaped. See, this is what happens when you indulge in sympathy for other people - outbreaks of altruism. Worse, Miun-Gei was visibly brightening. Apparently he had something in mind and hadn't noticed my recoil.

"The buffoon is looking for work in theatre, he says. He believes besieging my shop will find it a troupe. Thus, if an employer is found, it will leave and Miun-Gei will be able to do business again. Miun-Gei would be very, very grateful if the honoured customer looked for someone who wishes to hire an actor. If this succeeds and the buffoon leaves, there would be a reward."

Well, that wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting. The magical word "reward" had been spoken - although I really did plan not to let that override my common sense again - and it wasn't as if asking around would be difficult. Except... "I'd love to help, really," I said, exaggerating somewhat, "but I'm getting lost every time I turn around. I can't find anything, let alone someone hiring actors, in this maze you call a city."

"Oh, of course, you are new here." Miun-Gei winced as the shawm struck a particularly flat note, then continued gamely. "Miun-Gei has not lived here that long either, but he learned an easy trick for getting around. It is this: when you need to go up or down a level, use the ramps on the outside of the cantons. Only go inside to search once you are on the right level. It is much less confusing that way."

I blinked. With the rain, I'd tried to stay inside as much as possible. I hadn't considered that this might be adding to my difficulties.

"Thank you! I'll-"

A particularly loud blast of 'music' from outside had both of us cringing. Miun-Gei gave the door a desperate look. I decided that curtailing the usual farewell pleasantries was allowable in certain situations and this was definitely one of them.

A short time later, I'd managed to shake off Eddie's long-lost twin again and stood outside. Although the clouds still hung thick and grey overhead, the rain had finally stopped - luckily so, as I wasn't feeling up to casting the rainshield spell many more times. My magicka reserves were feeling rather low, and the last few hours had been so full of stress, more stress, and running around that the rate at which I was recovering magicka could be more accurately summed up as 'not'.

Ingerte's face swam into my mind. She'd always said that she really didn't care if I hated my birthsign, trying to make myself into an Atronach-born by stunting my magicka regeneration through stress wasn't the answer-

My stomach growled, providing a very useful distraction. I looked down at it ruefully. Apparently I needed to find a nice quiet place to take a break for more reasons than refilling my magicka pool.

I just hoped that Miun-Gei's advice worked, or else I'd probably end up starving to death in the maze of corridors and having my corpse spat upon by Ordinators.

*****

Notes: The song Eddie starts singing is A Less Rude Song from the game. Somehow I suspect that he was singing something else when the Ordinators came round.

Next

I hear you! My character has the exact same problem!

Hilarious!

Loved the description of the Argonian's body language/facial language/spike expressions to show us his state of mind throughout the tale.

I loved this whole section, knowing the person was about to ask a "favor" - knowing what Adryn had just been through in a flower-picking expedition, ROFL !!!



I've never played the game, but even I knew getting around Vivec was a maze - was looking up Vivec the living god and instead found pages of "hints to get around in Vivec," ROFL! I am so glad you included this in the chapter, but this particular line had me rolling!

Awesome Update !!!


*

Next:



Every single description of this Argonian has had me in hysterics right from the start, I couldn't stop reading long enough to quote anything! From the drooping head-frill down, I haven't been able to stop choking - "Not-Eddie's" song had me dying! Thought I recognized it, I used the "Daggerfall Rude Song" all through mine, lol.

Between your inserts of "Not-Eddie's performances and Miun-Gei's dialogue (with the its/her/she) - you have outdone yourself here, this is so absolutely perfect I am humbled by it!

I love this whole chapter, most def on my list of all time favorites!

I am glad Miun-Gei struck a chord with people! This is how I always imagine him during that quest, I feel so sorry for him! I'm also glad people liked my descriptions of Argonian body language because I puzzled a little over how to represent that.

@haute - Haha, I think outbreaks of altruism is a common protagonist problem (why *else* would you agree to some of those quests?) The hilarious thing for me is that Adryn tells herself she's all tough and cynical and selfish, to the extent that when I started writing her I believed that was what she was like. But then it was all "...Adryn, why did you agree to go get flowers for Ajira when you just want to hide in Balmora?" "Adryn, why did you just agree to rescue someone from kagouti when you have no combat skills?" "Adryn, why did you..." until I realised that wait, no, something isn't adding up here. The joys of writing an unreliable narrator!

@mALX - I find it amazing that you were looking for Vivec (god) info and ended up with "how to get around in Vivec"... yes, it is really that confusing! Also, thank you for telling me about the Daggerfall Rude Song - I hadn't realised those lines were from an in-game book and laughed a lot after I looked it up! The funny thing is that I hadn't *planned* on not-Eddie singing bawdy songs, but it seems like there isn't actually much else...

Last time, Adryn met a very beleagured enchanter, who asked her to get rid of a certain wannabe actor laying siege to his shop with horrible acting and worse music and making it totally impossible to get business done. After he gave her a tip for getting around Vivec without getting lost, Adryn agreed. Now, finding her way around Vivec - second attempt!

Chapter 7.6

*****

Miun-Gei's advice worked.

The outside of the canton was far, far less confusing than the inside. The main issue was that the ramps to get from level to level were well-hidden indeed - it took quite a bit of me circling around in confusion before a stray draft caught my attention. But after that, navigating the canton became much easier and in what felt like no time at all I'd reached the bottom level.

In front of me was a broad marble bridge, leading to the next canton - one that looked very, very similar to the one I'd just exited, with perhaps one less level and more decoration in the form of hanging red flags depicting some sort of stylised insect. To the side, there was a rickety wooden platform with stairs leading down to the water. Wandering over, I saw a small dock and a ladder leading down to a maze of wobbly rope bridges and rickety boardwalks which connected the cantons with wooden platforms and anchored boats of all shapes and sizes.

I looked down at the web of pathways spanning across the water, then looked up at the other canton.

There really was no decision to make. At least in one of the labyrinths, I'd be able to see the rest of it.

A while later found me glad for the choice, because I was making actual progress for once. Although I had to admit that the upkeep of the paths was not always what it should be. My birthsign and its gift of agility came in handy more than once when I had to bridge gaps or climb up to a platform, and on occasion I even found myself having to reach into the last remnants of my magicka pool for my water-walking spell - one I try to avoid using if I can. Standing on waves makes me queasy, and Alteration spells like that have a tendency to suddenly wear off when you're not expecting it.

(Not, I feel the need to point out, that I'd know from experience. There was never an incident where I was showing off my new knowledge and forgot to keep track of the spell, and it definitely did not end with me falling straight into the river and Fjaldir needing to fish me out. And he most certainly was not laughing the entire time.)

Even with the poor maintenance, I was by far not the only one who'd decided to brave the water rather than the cantons. And overall the others seemed more... well, my sort. Less people wearing fancy robes, more in plain clothes suitable for an honest (or dishonest) day's work. The snatches of conversation I overheard had less to do with the price of enchanted items and more with the price of bread or the day's fishing... along with rumours of some sort of serial killer having struck in the Arena canton, a place I immediately decided to avoid. At one point I even snagged the wrist of a young Dunmer girl, the hand it belonged to being on my purse at the time. I let her go with an admonition and a few tips on pickpocketing technique, which I told her to go try out on people who weren't me.

(To paraphrase a well-known saying: give a street kid a drake and she'll be hungry again in... actually, she'll never stop being hungry. Teach a street kid to steal and she can get her own drakes - and get them from purses fat enough that their owners really ought to be donating to soup kitchens anyway, for that matter. Everyone wins!)

There were a lot of Dunmer around, a fact that first surprised me, then followed that up by surprising me through having surprised me (an underhanded move I felt should be made illegal in the art of cogitation). After all, I was in Morrowind. I was even beginning to get used to that fact. Seeing a crowd mainly of my race shouldn't be so shocking. But...

Thinking back, so far almost everywhere I'd been had been dominated by other races. I still remembered realising that little Llavani was the first Dunmer I'd seen after having spent several hours in Seyda Neen. In fact, the only other I'd met in my whole time there had been Darvame. Less than half of the Balmora mages were Dunmer, even if you counted me - and if what I'd seen at breakfast and at the Vivec guild was any sample, then that proportion was if anything even smaller in other guilds. From what I remembered, the crowds in Balmora had been similarly diverse... the ones in the canton I'd exited earlier definitely had been. Yet here, at least four people in five were Dunmer.

As if to emphasise my discovery, I heard a language I didn't recognise showing up in conversations around me. It must be Dunmeris, which I'd read was still widely spoken in Morrowind. But if it was so widely spoken, why was this my first time hearing it?

I really should get around to reading up on local politics. I had the sneaking suspicion that they were important.

My stomach growled again.

All right, there were a few things that were more important.

When I reached a Redguard street vendor, I immediately spent a few drakes on roast slaughterfish and greens wrapped in flatbread and garnished with a spiced lemon sauce. It was delicious - the sauce was flavourful without being overwhelming, the fish was tender and juicy and the greens gave a very satisfying crunch when I bit into them. Never to mention that the taste of someone attempting to approximate northern Hammerfell cuisine with totally unsuitable ingredients was quite nostalgic, although I had to admit this man was doing a rather better job than Charon (whose many attempts at a barley-based couscous substitute are not among my happiest culinary memories).

I asked the vendor about his recipes and spent most of my lunch being regaled with talk about the Sentinel-Morrowind trade lines and how a good friend of his outside Almalexia on the mainland was having some success growing citrus trees. When I was finishing, the conversation had just turned to his disgust for a local tavern's kitchen practices ("they'll keep slaughterfish magically frozen for months before they finally serve it! Me, I have a deal with some of the local fisherfolk down near St. Olms', I swear to Zenithar everything I sell is fresh out of the sea-"). After I gulped down the last of the food, I managed to interrupt with another question.

"A theatre troupe?" he asked, frowning. "You an actor?"

I shook my head. "I'm looking for... someone else, as a favour." I decided not to go into detail. It wasn't really important, and poor Miun-Gei didn't need his misfortune trumpeted around the city.

"Well, in that case - I've heard Crassius Curio is looking for actors to perform one of his new plays. He's up in Curio Manor, in Hlaalu canton."

I found myself torn. On the one hand - that was a lot easier than I'd expected. On the other... in Hlaalu canton. I'd just escaped the hell that was trying to navigate a canton, I was not at all eager to go back.

"How hard is it to find?" I asked warily.

"How h- oh, of course, you're a newcomer. Not hard. Curio Manor is on the plaza at the very top, the open part. You can almost see it from here, actually."

I craned my neck and stared in the direction he indicated. Indeed, unlike the canton I'd spent my morning in, the one he was pointing at had no dome at its top - it might very well be open to the sky, I couldn't tell from my perspective. It looked very similar to the first canton in all other respects, so Miun-Gei's advice should still work...

Although really, it couldn't be much past noon. There was plenty of time to go sight-seeing first, surely?

I was still trying to gather the willpower I needed to voluntarily set foot in a canton again when a raindrop hit my nose. Next to me, the Redguard groaned and retreated underneath an awning. Apparently the weather's compassion had grown thin.

Curio Manor it was, then.

*****

Notes: The description of Vivec is inspired by the Vivec Expansion mod (screenshots!), which has massively affected my mental image of Vivec.

(ETA) There doesn't seem to be any mention of Dunmeris as a language in lore, and definitely none in-game. That said, the history of Morrowind and how it became part of the Empire makes it seem highly unlikely to me that it wouldn't exist and still be spoken, at least among certain people (Telvanni, Temple, Redoran, Camonna Tong, etc.). Ergo, here it is.

Next

Adryn's inner thoughts through this whole chapter had my rolling, especially her admonishment to the pickpocket! - but this had to be the best example of it:




Absolutely LOVED this little short chapter (way too short, now you'll have to write another right away to make up for it, lol). Awesome Write, and loved the screenshots!

@mALX - okay, I post a longer chapter just for you in seriousness, I think I've been focusing too much on not having the sections be too long and too little on finding natural breaking points lately. I'd rather not split the next scene in half and posting it whole means I'll reach a very good stopping point just before I head on holiday, so have a long installment!

Glad you enjoyed! I feel as if Adryn's treatment of that pickpocket and version of the 'teach a man to fish...' saying says a lot about her view of the world

Last installment, Adryn managed to escape the canton, had lunch and got the tip that Crassius Curio was looking for a theatre troupe. We last saw her heading off to his manor. Now, we meet her returning...



The guards stationed at the manor door snickered as I left. I tried to glare them into submission. It would probably have worked better if my face hadn't been burning.

One last wave of chuckles came when I stumbled over the doorsill and almost fell. Poor showing for someone with my birthsign, but it's hard to watch where you're going when you're busy fleeing a place as if the hordes of Oblivion are on your heels.

At this point most people would say that comparing a relatively short, chubby Imperial to a Daedric army might be unfair. And indeed, it probably was - to the Daedra. I'd heard Ogrim, for instance, were supposed to be quite straightforward creatures. They wanted to crush you to goo, and they went about that in a clear, honest way (by attempting to crush you to goo). They did not pinch you (except as it pertained to crushing you to goo) and definitely did not pinch a body part where the only thing I wanted to touch it was the seat of a chair.

And, of course, no Daedra had ever called me...

"Dumpling. Dumpling. I'll dumpling him! He'll wish he'd never even heard of dough when I'm through with him. He'll be petrified by pots. Cry when he sees a cook. Hide under the settee at the swing of a spatula-"

I noticed people were giving me wary looks and a wide berth, a fact that might have to do with the way I was muttering angrily to myself while clenching my fists. Moreover, several Ordinators were standing off to one side watching me. The sight of so many of those blank masks turned in my direction served to cool the worst of my rage.

I leaned against a wall and took stock of my situation.

On the Aedra's side, I'd accomplished what I came for. Crassius Curio had apparently spent some time and effort trying to put a theatre troupe together. When I'd told him about an actor looking for work and given him the leaflet, he'd sent someone out to collect the man straight away. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure if I should be happy because they deserved each other or afraid that they'd end up making each other even worse, but in any case Eddie's magically-created offspring (what woman would go near him?) was now out of Miun-Gei's spikes.

On the Daedra's, after Curio had sent his servant out, there had been... remarks. Suggestions. Gestures. Nicknames. Pinches. All of which I was going to erase from my mind as contaminants right around... now.

So really, this had been a roaring success, bar certain incidents I seemed to have come down with a strange case of amnesia about. I should head back to Miun-Gei's and collect my reward. The rest of it, really, since Curio had already given me a thin book during the course of a conversation I'd mysteriously forgotten the details of. I'd been starved for reading material of late, I wasn't going to turn down...

What sort of a title was The Lusty Argonian Maid?

I cracked it open for a skim-

Oh.

Horrible memories of That Night In Suran danced, cackling, in my mind.

You know, there were people who would appreciate this... work of art far more than I would. Places, too. The sea outside came to mind. Or possibly the sewers. It would be positively selfish of me to keep it from them. Of course, it was a hard decision - there were also numerous possibilities involving privies...

First, though, Miun-Gei's.

A thought went through my mind, one where I was sure I hadn't the slightest idea what spurred it:

The reward for this one had better be good.



I blinked at the sign in front of me, pondering the universe. In particular, its sense of irony in the way you only find what you're looking for once you've stopped actually looking.

In between being told to solve one of the greatest mysteries of Tamriel, raising the art of getting lost to towering new heights, hunting for theatre troupes, and finally getting accosted by pinching nobles with a penchant for pastry-based namecalling, I'd entirely forgotten the reason I'd originally come to Vivec. After finishing up with Miun-Gei, I'd planned to head back to Balmora straight away.

Alas, his tips for navigating cantons didn't help much with the interior. I hadn't managed to find his shop again. Instead, I'd wound up here.

I looked at the sign again. There it was: Jobasha's Rare Books.

I shrugged. If the universe wanted to help me out for once, I wasn't going to complain.

Down a flight of stairs, I found myself confronted by bookshelves. Jobasha was likely behind them, I should go and ask him-

He had a complete set of The Real Barenziah! The Windhelm library had been missing the fifth volume, and I'd been very bitter about never finding out how the story ended. And - was that a biography of Pelagius the Mad? It would be interesting to know more about the emperor who gave rise to the holiday I'd loved when I was living in Daggerfall. And over there, a book on Akavir!

"Jobasha wonders if the Dunmer is interested in buying anything?"

I straightened guiltily from where I was perusing the books. "I'm sorry, I got sidetracked. Yes, I'm looking for..." I fished the scrap of paper I'd used as a list out of my pocket. "The Ascadian Isles volume of Dilavesa Seloth's Guide to the Flora of Morrowind, Saryoni's Sermons, Cantatas of Vivec, Doors of the Spirit, and..." I remembered the incident in the Mages' Guild this morning. "Do you have any introductory texts on the Dwemer?"

"Yes, yes," Jobasha said from behind a bookshelf. He'd started running around fetching books when I listed the first title. "Two suitable for a beginning student, Jobasha thinks. Antecedents of Dwemer Law, it is about the Dwemer legal system and how one can trace it to the Aldmer. Very accessibly written, with a lot of remarks about general Dwemer culture. Ruins of Kemel-Ze, that is different - it is a report by an archaeologist, on the excavation of a Dwemer ruin. Not a scholarly text by any means, but the descriptions are very detailed, good to get an overview, and of some... historical interest. Jobasha thinks it could be quite... illuminating." Jobasha seemed on the verge of saying something else, then changed the subject. "You are studying the Dwemer?"

"What? Oh - yes, I'm a new member of the Mages' Guild. An alchemist, really, but some of the higher-ups thought it would be a good idea for me to, ah, learn about the Dwemer as well. My name is Adryn," I introduced myself.

"So you are Adryn. I see. I see." Jobasha's whiskers twitched.

My hackles rose. "You've heard of me?" How and why could he have heard of me? I had trouble thinking of any reason that would end well-

"It is quite simple. Jobasha had a very good friend, one who was so close she could have been his sister. When she died some years ago, Jobasha grieved very much and promised her spirit he would look after the daughters she left behind." Jobasha sighed. "He has not always done so well at that as he would like, but he does try to look in on Ajira when he can. The last time he did so was Turdas, when he had some business with Dorisa Darvel in Balmora. Ajira was full of news of her new friend Adryn, who had helped her with her experiments the day before and was gathering ingredients for her just then."

All right. That worked.

I relaxed. "I forgot - Ajira mentioned you. Yes, she's a good friend of mine."

"Jobasha is pleased to hear that," Jobasha said. "He is of the opinion that Ajira could use more friends. She disagrees, but - kits. They always think they're already grown and don't need anyone's help."

If Ajira wasn't my age, she couldn't be more than a year or two younger - hardly what I would call a 'kit'. I suspected trying to argue the point would only get me put into that category with her, though, and forced myself to remain diplomatically silent with an effort of will.

After a moment, Jobasha turned back to the books. "Will that be all, or are you interested in anything else?"

I looked at the stack on the table. After a brief but vicious internal struggle (I lost), I added the fifth volume of The Real Barenziah to it. The resulting pile looked slightly higher than I could really afford. Following some perusal and hard thought, I removed Cantatas of Vivec - it seemed interesting, but epic poetry was not entirely to my taste and the other two books Ervesa had recommended looked more useful as introductions to the local religion.

"And the book under your arm?" Jobasha inquired.

I blushed. I'd entirely forgotten that I was still lugging Curio's magnum opus around with me.

"It's not yours - it's, er, I encountered Crassius Curio earlier today and he gave it to me-" I found myself eager to disavow responsibility.

"May I see?"

"Quite frankly," I said, passing it to him, "you can have it. Although I'm not sure you'd want to."

Jobasha leafed through it. His face betrayed nothing, a fact that already made him a better actor than Eddie's cousin. "Yes, yes - definitely Curio's work. The man is well-known as an amateur writer, quite an... enthusiastic one. Well, there are some interested."

"Seriously?" I asked, then bit my lip. Although I think of it as a perfectly sensible question, asking things like this often nets me any number of unpleasant reactions, from disbelief to ridicule and outright mockery. Worst, I think, are the ones who dismiss me by telling me I'll understand eventually - as though I, a grown adult, am a child to be patted on the head and told 'when you're older, sweetie'!

Luckily, Jobasha took it in stride. "Quite. Jobasha has a section set aside specifically for such works." He nodded to a bookshelf in the corner, set somewhat apart from the others. "In fact, I have the uncensored version of The Real Barenziah available there, if you- no? Very well. In any case, I will happily take the script to make up a portion of the price."

His eyes roved over the stack of books on the counter, then over me. I straightened and tried to look like an tough, hard-bitten bartering veteran, someone who would haggle a highwayman down to 'a quarter of your money or a nonlethal wound in a limb of your choice!'

"That will be one septim and eighty drakes in total."

I gulped.

In the end, I argued him down to a septim and a half. I felt more than a twinge of reluctance when I passed him all the money Ajira had given me along with one large gold septim coin from my pouch. Silently, I cursed my literary addiction, in particular how it had led to me spending almost half the money I had on books. I needed to find some sort of regular income - maybe I could strike a deal with Ajira? I hadn't exactly enjoyed selling potions (understatement), but it was better than ending up destitute.

This made it even more important to find Miun-Gei's. Even if the reward ended up only being copious thanks, if I sold that amulet I should still be able to end the day with more money than I'd started it with.

Wait, Jobasha was getting something from one of the bookshelves behind his desk.

"And of course, there is this. A chronicle of events at a Dwemer settlement in the First Age - this edition was translated from Aldmeris into Tamrielic in the early years of the Third Era."

I looked at the thick book Jobasha laid on the desk. In particular, I looked at the aged, cracked leather of the cover and the flaking gold-leaf letters inlaid in it which spelled out "Chronicles of Nchuleft". It reminded me of some of the books I'd seen in the Windhelm library - seen, not read, because those were the books the senior librarian refused to let you within a ten-foot distance of without a letter from someone like the Archmage of the Skyrim Mages' Guild attesting that you were both desperately in need of consulting them and would treat them like they were made of glass (and not the volcanic kind). Alas, she'd been very good at spotting forgeries.

"That looks a little out of my price range," I admitted. I suspected it would've been so even if I hadn't spent a drake since arriving on Vvardenfell.

"Oh, Jobasha is expecting it is," Jobasha said while carefully wrapping it in an oiled cloth. "Even you could afford it, he would not sell it. Edwinna Elbert of Ald'ruhn asked him to find it for her, has already paid him handsomely for it. The shipment just came in yesterday, and now Jobasha needs someone to deliver it to the Ald'ruhn Mages' Guild for him. You are a member of the guild, you know how to treat books - you would not believe the clumsy oafs Jobasha has had the misfortune to hire for such work in the past-" Jobasha shuddered, I assumed at a dreadful memory involving book destruction. "Edwinna should give you a few drakes for the delivery. And if you are careful with it and the book gets to Edwinna by Tirdas at the latest, Jobasha will not object if you do some reading of your own."

That was a generous offer. Too generous. How did Jobasha trust me not to run off with it? Ajira's assessment could only go so far. Especially because much as we'd been instant friends, at the time she'd told Jobasha about me we'd known each other for less than a day.

"You'd trust me with a book that valuable?" I blurted, then mentally kicked myself. When would I learn that certain thoughts were best kept to oneself?

Jobasha looked at me without answering, green eyes distant. The silence stretched until I started to shift uncomfortably beneath his gaze.

"Jobasha was not entirely honest with you at the beginning," he finally said. "He has heard of you from Ajira, yes. But he has also heard of you elsewhere. Jobasha has friends in many places, you see, and one of them is in the Thieves' Guild."

My blood turned to ice.

"And those friends, they tell him things. They tell him things like this: the one who calls himself the Thief-King of Skyrim, he is looking for someone. He is looking for a young Dunmer, a red-haired girl named Adryn."

The door was behind me, and I'd have to weave past bookshelves and run up stairs to get to it. The desk was between us, which was a point in my favour, but Jobasha looked fit for all his greying fur and Khajiit were notoriously acrobatic... and then there was me, still out of shape from prison. If I bolted, I didn't think I'd make it outside before he caught me.

Not that it mattered either way, because he had friends in the Thieves' Guild and he knew who I was-

"He wants her alive, it is said... but from the way he is asking, once he has her this girl will not remain so for very long. From the way he is asking, she will wish it was not even that long."

Despite the warmth of the day, I felt very cold.

Jobasha regarded me for a long moment, claws drumming on the table, then heaved a sigh. "Breathe. The things Jobasha has heard about the Thief-King are... not good. He is not inclined to do that man a favour. And," his tone hardened, "I disapprove of torturing children."

Apparently I'd ended up in the 'kit' category after all. This was probably not the time to protest that my nineteen years made me an adult.

"I- thank you-" I felt light-headed and stopped to take a deep breath. I hadn't even noticed I'd been hyperventilating.

Jobasha continued as though he hadn't even noticed my interruption. "All the same, Jobasha hopes you understand he cannot help but worry, when he learns Ajira's new friend is such a person. From her stories, you are... harmless. Whatever stories Jobasha may have heard about why that man wants you," I felt the blood drain from my face, "they do not fit, he thinks. Especially because from the things Jobasha has heard, it would not be the first time he spread lies for his own gain. Still. Jobasha does not know for certain this is so. And although Jobasha may not approve of torturing children... hurting Ajira, that he approves of even less."

I straightened indignantly. "I wouldn't-"

Jobasha held up a hand to silence me. "So it behooves Jobasha, does it not, to keep an eye on you? To see whether this fugitive is really serious about making a new life here, becoming a productive member of her new guild, being friends with his little Ajira. Thus, the errand - to start. And as to why Jobasha trusts you to fulfill it... well."

He paused. I wiped sweaty hands on my robes.

"From what Ajira has said, the one thing you are definitely not is stupid. And making Jobasha angry? This would be a very, very stupid thing for you to do. Do you understand?"

I croaked my confirmation.

Jobasha gave me a smile that showed all his teeth. "I am very glad we had this talk. Please get the book to Edwinna no later than Tirdas."

I barely remembered to take it before I fled.



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GAAAAH! We are not going to get the story of her actual meeting with "Uncle" Crassius Curio? I haven't played Morrowind, and even I know about him, ROFL!

Okay, well at least we got Adryn's impressions of her meeting with him, ROFL !!!

Oh, Jobasha's story was so sweet!



Loved this line! And I suspect the answer is "never," lol.

Holy Crap! The past has a way of catching up with one, doesn't it? Jobasha is a good one to have on her side, it seems. Knew I liked him.

Awesome Write !!!! Gotta add this one to my favorites, between Crassius and Jobasha (and Adryn's inner running at high speed dialogue) I have absolutely loved this chapter!

@mALX - thanks! I was going to write "Adryn meets Crassius Curio", but then I realised no attempt of mine would do the scene justice! Instead, Adryn's thoughts on leaving really say it all...

(If you've read about Curio on the wiki - just imagine what would happen if I had her join House Hlaalu! truth be told, the first character I ever tried RPing in Morrowind had her advancement in Hlaalu stall completely at that point...)

And I'm glad you like Jobasha! I think I like him too - he pulled this on me from out of nowhere when I was writing. That guy is wily, man!

Last installment, Adryn fled Crassius Curio and found Jobasha's. A leisurely shopping trip and gossip about Ajira, who it turns out is pretty much Jobasha's honourary niece due to his close friendship with her mother, took an unexpected turn when her past caught up with her. Jobasha said he wasn't going to turn her into the man hunting her, but warned her that he'd be keeping a close eye on her because of her friendship with Ajira. Now, Adryn has another encounter as she's sorting herself out outside Jobasha's shop.



Once out of the shop, I stopped and stared at the corridor wall.

In my mind's eye, two faces floated in front of me. I drank in the imagined sight of Charon's wiry black curls, once again escaping from under his cap, the nose that still bore a bump from the time he'd broken it when we were eleven, the dark brown eyes twinkling with humour. Of Ingerte's scattering of freckles, the long ash-blond hair she'd braided into a coronet around her head, her face beautiful as a china doll's which had distracted many a person from the sharp gleam of intelligence in her blue eyes-

"I miss you," I whispered. Their features grew blurry. "I miss you, I miss you, I'm sorry-"

I squeezed my eyes shut to hold back tears, feeling the memories hovering at the edge of my mind. If I let them, they'd overwhelm me. Instead, I reached forward and let my fingers trail along the wall, let my thoughts become absorbed by the tingle of rough stone against my fingertips, the soothing pattern of the circling motion...

Once I had myself firmly back in the present, I let my hand drop and opened my eyes. Forget Miun-Gei, I should head back to Balmora as soon as possible. Correction: to Balmora by way of Ald'ruhn. Jobasha had given me a full three days to deliver the book, but it would really, really be better not to risk-

"So. I was right."

I winced when I realised that I'd been so absorbed I hadn't noticed someone else enter the corridor. I really needed to stop being so sloppy about that.

Wait, why did that angry voice sound vaguely familiar?

I turned around and bit back a groan at the sight of an Ordinator's mask. I'd so hoped never to run into Master Grumpy again.

"Innocent tourist? Pah. I knew better from the moment I saw you. Rebel. Abolitionist, that's what you are."

It was really quite impressive how Master Grumpy's air of barely controlled fury made the painted, immobile blank expression of his mask seem like an angry scowl- wait, what?

"Buying books is rebellious now?" I asked, incredulous.

"Oh yes, I've been watching Jobasha. A more obvious seditionist I've never seen in my life, even if Commander Andas insists we don't have the evidence to bring him in and I should leave him be-"

I gulped. Apparently Master Grumpy was even more paranoid than the norm for an Ordinator. I wasn't sure whether I should find that relieving or worrying.

"So, outlander." I had the distinct impression that Master Grumpy was smiling under his mask. For some reason, it made me even more uneasy than his normal demeanour. "You are wanted for questioning regarding subversive activity. And once you confess, I'll finally have enough to arrest that fetcher Jobasha."

"Now- hey- wait a minute!" I yelped, dodging as he tried to grab me. "I haven't even done anything!" Which is something I really wished mattered more with law enforcement. I glanced at Master Grumpy to see if I could make a break for it-

My eyes widened. "Behind you!"

I winced as my upper arm was captured in a hard, armoured grip. "How stupid do you think I am? That's the oldest trick in the book. You..."

His voice trailed off, he began to sway on his feet. The pressure on my arm vanished as his hand grew limp and fell away. I managed to jump back just in time to avoid being crushed when Master Grumpy collapsed with a clatter.

The Dunmer woman I'd seen come up behind him bent down to retrieve her dagger from the gap in the armour between his pauldrons and his gauntlets. Only the tip was wet, she'd barely nicked him... but the angry red glitter of a destructive enchantment along its blade, not to forget the heap of unconscious or dead Ordinator on the floor, made it clear that in this case a nick was enough.

Instead of straightening, the woman reached for Master Grumpy's mask to wrench his head back. My mind must have been working slowly, because I only realised what she was doing when blood sprayed.

"Outlander." I tore my eyes away from the now definitely, unmistakeably dead Ordinator on the floor to find the woman's fixed on me.

"You- you know," I said, voice shaking, "I think all of you could, could really do with some lessons in peaceful conflict negotiation. You know. Learning how to talk your problems over instead of resorting to vi-" I gulped and tried not to look at the bloody heap that had been Master Grumpy, "to violence. I'd love to give you some tips on the matter but I seem to have forgotten an urgent appointment, I'll just be going now-"

"Dagoth Ur does not want you here, outlander."

My heart fell to my stomach, kept going, and ended up somewhere near what felt like my ankles as the woman began to walk towards me. Now don't get me wrong, I very much disapprove of murder. My preferred method of conflict resolution happens to be talking, with running away a close second. Lethal violence appears nowhere on the list, and the casual way this woman had slit Master Grumpy's throat made nausea rise in my stomach. I would just have liked to disapprove from a nice, safe, thoroughly uninvolved distance, never to mention I much preferred disapproving of murder that wasn't my own.

My perception of the world sharpened in the way extreme unadulterated terror sometimes does to you. Suddenly, every brick on the wall came into sharp relief. Every scar on the woman's face, the sway of her blood-red hair, the blank, glazed look in her eyes engraved itself in my memory, and the woman's already dragging, listing approach slowed to a crawl... really, I almost thought she was sleep-walking. (Sleep-murdering?)

Well. She didn't seem amenable to talking. Running looked like an increasingly good option, except-

I bit back a curse when I felt stone at my back. I'd backed into a corner, Ysmir damn it. I could still try to rush past her, sluggish as she was, but with that knife all she had to do was scratch me and I'd be done for.

Really, this was ridiculous - my second life-threatening experience in three days. Only this time I had to doubt a floating Armiger would be by with a timely rescue.

Wait, what was it about Ervesa...

The spell! Running away was still an option.

Okay. Focus. Focus on something not the approaching spectre of death. Reach into your magicka pool, draw out a rope, throw it out and latch onto the beacon-

I gritted my teeth as my first attempt went straight into the void. Considering this city was supposedly the home of a living god there had to be a Temple here. Try again.

This time my rope hit something close by- wavered- slid off-

My approaching death in sleep-murderess form was getting uncomfortably close.

Finally! A solid hit. Now use the connection to pull yourself from here to there-

With no warning, the link I'd created stretched almost to breaking as the beacon I'd latched onto suddenly went from a nice stable fixed point to an arrow shooting off into the distance. I threw myself towards it, desperate-

The world dissolved.



Notes: See, I realised last week that if I gave you the entirety of Jobasha's scene in one go I could leave you on a cliffhanger reach the end of the chapter just before I was going on holiday for two weeks! Giving everyone time to catch up to the latest installment! Aren't I nice to you?

*...ducks rotten vegetables*

Next

Much to comment upon.

Miun-Gei

The sight of a grown Argonian crying and failing the enchantment spells each time the actor...(whom may have faced a fatal fate upon a character or two's hands, which Miun-Gei seemed to secretly appreciate more.)... misplayed their instrument, was reminiscent of the Marx Brothers.

Post Curio Manor

This is one of those things that Bethesda just got right. Quite the Apropos reaction. I loved the idea of inducing culinary post-traumatic stress.

Jobasha

Has always been one of my favorite characters. I absolutely love the fresh and comedic, yet deadly serious portrayal here. In my game, Huleeya and Jobasha became very good personal friends of my main character. I even wanted to make a mod once upon a time that would have turned Huleeya into a follower and made him into a dark-scaled Argonian with a 'Shadowscale' mod someone made.

It turns out I can't script for scrib jelly and my eyes were bigger than my stomach...mouth even.

The Vivec Murders

I did a much less well written version of this, and yet find it hard to be overly sympathetic for Mister Grumpy. Especially as he was about to abuse his authority to probably abuse our anti-heroine.

Love the description of the Sleeper Woman. Loved it. The dagger was...'meh' in-game, much preferred your version of it as well . Much better in the Morrowind Rebirth mod. A retextured Mehrunes Razor with the ash statue texture I'm guessing. Perhaps put up a screenie later.

And take my advice, ask for the belt! It's like the least used slot, and seriously would come in handy when you got twenty ordinators chasing you across Dren Plantation screaming that you have sealed your fate.

Your watch commander gave me the armor!!

Having never played MW, a lot of this is new to me.

Loved the encounter with Jobasha - I could see/hear him talking thanks to your writing! Yikes, so he knows Adryn's less-than-delectable history? Small world!! (or would it be Small Nirn??)

So Mr. Grumpy decided to go all PAPD (see post #10) on our Adryn? Good thing that Dunmer woman was there to stop him! Ruh-roh, maybe not!

*




This is an outstanding paragraph! What imagery you have created here!



BWAAHAA!




Really great detail here!




BWAAHAA! NO VACATION FOR YOU! GET BACK HERE! GAAAAAH!

This was a great chapter! Don't know how that spell works, so was a little hazy on the rope thing, but got the gist. So the 6th house has decided poor Adryn is offensive, lol. I have to go read up on how much of this is Morrowind and how much your outstandingly creative imagination, I guess I have two weeks to accomplish that!

Have a wonderful time, you deserve it! <3



*

The sight of so many of those blank masks turned in my direction served to cool the worst of my rage.

I just love this line.

The description of the spell was fantastic, and I love that it doesn’t always work. It was great fun catching back up, and this last chapter is a favorite of favorites!

Chapter 8: 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.5, 8.6, 8.7, 8.8

And I'm baaaack! Tired, slightly sunburned despite best preparations, toting what I hope will be some gorgeous pictures (also, a giant pile of dirty laundry that is currently sitting and looking at me chidingly) and bearing more Adryn!

Just so you know, I'll probably move to weekly updates now instead of twice-weekly, seeing as my pre-written material ends shortly after this chapter.

@Black Hand - glad you enjoyed!

I hear you about modding eyes being bigger than one's stomach - I keep playing with the idea of an Ervesa companion mod (or a *spoiler* one, for two characters who I'm currently playing/pretending to play due to lack of companion mod Tamriel Rebuilt with who'll become quite important later on), but that's definitely too big of a job for me.

And I'm taking a lot of leeway with enchanted items etc. - not using mods precisely, because Adryn isn't actually playable as a game protagonist because she's a noncombatant (oops) but going with how I figure items were meant to work - in this case, the information we get in-game about how the murders happened means this is the effect they were going for. (Related, I've also scaled up the Damage Fatigue ability of Adryn's Lover power to knock her out good!) And re: which reward to take - I hear you! I think I also made the mistake of taking the armour exactly once. (Couldn't they have made him give you a different item that looked the same and with the same stats but without the associated script? Or just scripted it so you could wear the armour after finishing this quest?) As for Adryn... you'll see.

@haute - I'm glad you're enjoying despite not having played Morrowind! I am definitely riffing off in-game quests here - in particular, the sudden appearance of the murderer is from the Mysterious Killings in Vivec quest, although I tried to foreshadow it a bit via Adryn hearing rumours about a serial killer so it wouldn't come entirely out of nowhere for people who didn't know about that quest. And yeah, that Ordinator *definitely* needed a talk about abuses of power...

@mALX - thanks! And whoops, just realised I didn't specify which spell I meant /o\ it was Almsivi Intervention, for teleporting to the closest Temple - Ervesa taught it to Adryn, it was responsible for their misadventure in Suran. I might see if I can edit in an explicit mention seeing as not everyone is going to have those events as vivid in their memory as I do! And I am very much riffing off in-game quests here, although she definitely didn't get into this one in the standard way.

@Grits - thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed! I'm especially glad you enjoyed the spell description, I'm having a lot of fun figuring out better descriptions of magic than "I wiggled my fingers and there were appropriately coloured sparkly lights and a whooshy sound effect!"

Last chapter, Adryn's day out in Vivec met with obstacles - ranging from Archmages of the Mages' Guild expecting her to solve one of Tamriel's greatest mysteries, angry Ordinators, overwhelmed enchanters and nobles who should really have been arrested for sexual harassment to blackmailing booksellers and finally culminating in her getting attacked by a strange serial killer with a dangerous enchanted dagger. Adryn cast Almsivi Intervention just in time to get away, so everything should be fine now... right?

Now, Adryn learns just how badly a teleportation spell can go wrong.



This time, the teleportation was a lot more violent. Instead of the smooth shift of before, it felt rather as if some giant had picked me up and tossed me through the realms of Mysticism in what must be the direction of the nearest Temple. I staggered and almost lost my balance on the 'landing' and made a mental note never to teleport under stress again. Well, at least now I was away from the serial killer and safe at a Temple...

I opened my eyes.

Oh, Ysmir's balls.

Judging by the style of interior decorating, the large hall I'd landed in was no Temple, especially since the one I'd seen had tended to the sparsely furnished. Here, on the other hand, the rich decorations - ranging from the very expensive magicka-lit chandelier over gleaming swords with gem-inlaid hilts hanging on the wall to exquisite paintings, all of scowling armour-clad Dunmer - made all of my thieves' instincts spring into high alert.

Rich person's home. Rich person who would probably not be too happy to come home and find an ex-thief in the middle of their manor. I seriously doubted "oh, so sorry, teleportation accident" would fly - I barely believed that story myself and it had actually happened to me. At least there was no one around right now-

"Who in Oblivion are you?"

I turned around, swearing to myself that one day, one day I would learn not to think things that provoked the universe to immediately prove me wrong. "I'm really sorry, this was an accident, I-" I blinked when the angry nobleman I was expecting to face turned out to be a Nord in simple dark clothes. Holding a lockpick.

"I've waited weeks for the perfect opportunity to do this - finally the family's all out at some dinner party, I manage to bribe the maid to put sleeping potion into the guards' food, everything's going according to plan and then some witch decides to pop out of nowhere. Damn it all to the Deadlands, the Sarethis weren't nearly this much trouble."

The man had swapped his lockpick for a dagger - it seemed to be made out of the glittering green material Fasile had called 'glass', which under other circumstances I'd have been curious about. In this case, however, I found my attention much more caught by the fact that it looked sharp and was pointing at me. Why did everyone I met today want to stab me? Had I accidentally left the Mages' Guild with an 'Adryn: now doubling as a pincushion' sign stuck to my back?

"Now," the Nord continued, "tell me what you're doing here or else-"

"Teleportation gone wrong. Would you mind not waving that in my face? Besides," some sense of professional pride reared its head, "you don't look that green, surely you know not to kill someone on a burglary. You know - thieves' honour, not to making the profession look bad, avoiding guardsmen coming after everyone with sharp objects, the usual. And what are you even planning on doing with the bod-"

"Did I ask you how to do my job?" the man snapped. "No! I didn't! And- teleportation gone wrong, you expect me to believe that? Everyone knows that doesn't actually happen." Oh, thank you so much for telling me. I bow to your superior skills and experience. Clearly this is in fact a Temple and I'm just hallucinating. Happens all the time. "What's to stop you from running out and getting the guards right now?"

Well, for one the fact that I had no idea where 'out' was. There were several doors I could see and I hadn't the slightest idea which one was the exit. But he didn't need to know that. Instead... "If I were going to do that I would have already, surely? Honestly, I don't want any trouble. I'll just leave now and you can pretend I was never here-"

The Nord scowled. "Not a chance, witch. I don't want to risk that you'll call the authorities, either on purpose or by blundering into them." My back stiffened in indignation - this greenhorn insulting my stealth skills? - but he continued. "No, you can just stay right here with me while I finish my business, and I'll figure out what to do with you when we're both out of here."

That, like a lot of the things the man had said so far, sounded remarkably short-sighted - and believe me, when I'm the one saying this, it really means something. "What, you're planning on dragging me with you while you search for the jewellery box? Seriously, just let me go and I'll-"

A meaty hand grabbed my forearm. "No, you're coming with me. It won't be long. I heard Venim bragging about some priceless treasure he had locked up in his home, and dear Vendrela from the kitchen was so helpful in telling me that there's two guards always loitering about here." Indeed, he was steering me towards a suspicious-looking tapestry flanked by two collapsed figures. Sleeping potion, hadn't he said? I couldn't fault his planning for this heist, even if I did have to fault his attitude. "And then the whole world will know of Allding, who broke into two Councilor mansions! A feat the Grey Fox or the Gentleman would have been hard-put to manage!" And his discretion. Really, I pondered as Allhotair pushed aside the tapestry to uncover a (badly) hidden door, if I were his guildmaster I'd have kicked him out long ago just for excessive boasting. "Then Aengoth will promote me for sure." Or for being utterly pathetic.

He had to let me go to pick the lock on the door, which would have been the opportune moment to make a run for it. I didn't, because I still didn't know where "out" was or, for that matter, what "out" was. (Was I even in Vivec anymore?) Besides, I knew that make of lock and it wouldn't take him-

Good grief.

I winced as one of his picks snapped in the lock and he fumbled for another one. Scratch the boasting, who on Nirn had hired the man? With that dexterity he ought to be a juggler - you know, the kind that makes the audience laugh because of their sheer incompetence, whose ultimate trick is knocking themselves out by accident.

"Oh for- let me, or else we'll be here all night." I reached over and grabbed the picks out of his hands. "I refuse to let myself get arrested because you're too incompetent to manage a simple lock."

By the time he closed his mouth I already had the first pick in the lock. Pretty lousy quality, and the lock was a bit more difficult than I'd guessed, but-

"Hey, what do you think you're doi-"

Snick.

I felt a smug smile spread across my face as his mouth dropped open again. "Opening the door. Since you were having such trouble with it. By the way," I was feeling magnanimous - definitely magnanimous, it most certainly wasn't gloating, "don't jerk the picks suddenly in a Vicici style lock. The tumblers are positioned in a way that makes them snap easily. Increase the pressure gently, you don't need much."

"I'll do that. Thanks." The look Allboasts graced me with was quite a bit less hostile and more thoughtful than his previous. Perhaps he could be trained! Not too much of a surprise - I hear you can train monkeys, after all, and he seemed only a little less intelligent than one. "Say, you're not half bad." Why, thank you for noticing. Better than you, anyway. "Who are you, anyway? You Guild too?"

"I'm A-" giving my real name to a Guild thief who was curious about my skill was a very bad idea Adryn what are you doi- "-Arvese," I invented quickly, silently apologising to Ervesa. "And no, I'm... retired. Except when someone decides to drag me along against my will." I shot him a glare.

He shrugged, totally unapologetic. "I want you where I can see you. Now, let's see what beauties old Venim has hidden behind here - and don't you think you'll get a share..." he eased the door open.

The sight that met our eyes was definitely not one I was expecting.



Next

Tee-hee!

Actually had to look up the exact definition for 'magnanimous' - "..being particularly forgiving towards a rival, or one less powerful.'

I like the quick nicknames she comes up with for people.

And I *do* know what lies behind hidden door number three.

How in Nirn did a teleportation spell go that awry?! Methinks Adryn is getting closer and closer to a particular Sixth House, without necessarily meaning too.

Ooo, what’s behind the door?! (I lost the ability to turn left or right before I got very far in Morrowind. Must sort that out some day.)

I love this adventure that Adryn’s fallen into. A ham-fisted Nord thief! Fun.

Between the Nord thief's Peter Sellers persona and Adryn's native sarcasm you had me rolling!
What a delightful picture you paint here! I was instantly reminded of the Keystone Kops movies!

As I haven't played MW, I'm waiting to find out what's behind door number three!

ROFL!!! LOVE that line!



I nearly choked to death on this, ROFL!

GAAAAH! You ended on a cliffhanger! Urk, you can’t do this! More, More I say!

AWESOME Write !!!

No update today - sorry guys, I didn't realise that would be a cliffhanger for the people who hadn't played MW before! - but I do come bearing screenshots.

First off, I've been working on a little mod for the Balmora mages' guild to get it more in line with how it is in Adryn's verse. Some caps for that:

Adryn stands in front of Ajira's alchemy workbench in her new lab

(You know, I've used that head mesh for Adryn so often I can't imagine using a different one, but two things about it bother me: one, her skin is a little lighter than I'd like - sadly not fixable without creating an entire new Adryn-race, I think, and also it'd make her look weird since all Dunmer in-game are the same colour. In SitC-verse, there's a little more diversity among skin tones - light grey to dark grey and shading to blue, green, brown or just plain grey, for instance. Two and worse, she looks as if she's always smiling! I really think Adryn's default expression is far more along the lines of my icon... well, here she's in an alchemy lab so I guess it's excusable.)

Ajira also has research notes

Adryn Does Not Approve of Masalinie's reading material (that's a quality restore fatigue potion on the table, btw, being a guild guide is hard work)

A close-up of the offending book

(I'm really proud of my Photoshop work on that one, by the by, although I just realised I could've figured out something with a bump map to emboss the title... oh well, next time.)

There is a special chamber for practicing destruction magic. It has strict rules.

No one obeys them. (Those are summoning and fireball scrolls in the corner, by the way.)

Really, no one. (I'm quite proud of my Photoshop work on the scorched dummy, too.)

Outside of the Mages' Guild... I think I promised you all a screencap of Ervesa two years ago. /o\ To make up for the delay, have three.

Who could this chitin-clad stranger be? And why might there be a dead kagouti in the background?

A bit of a closer look (still with dead kagouti). AND Ervesa looks too serious for my tastes, which means I probably got their faces the wrong way around. OH WELL this is how it is now. (Also, I quickly consoled her some pauldrons after I realised she was bereft in the last screencap.)

Ervesa's hairstyle, which I had some problems describing. Ignore the fact that she's wearing her dangly earrings in the field for the moment - she really only puts them in in town, but that was a bit too much modding for me. :/

We conclude with...



BEST FRIENDS FOREVER.

ETA: Oh yeah also! Adryn is now on the wiki.

I enjoyed the screens! It's nice to put faces to some of the characters in your story. I don't think Adryn looks too pleasant in her screenies - there's that hint of sarcastic humor that we see so well in your writing in her smile. So I wouldn't worry too much about that expression.

I love Ervesa's hairstyle! It looks similar to the Daggerfall braid in SubRosa's Aela & Ungarion fic. Hmmm, let's see, something along the lines of Ashlander plaits? It reminds me of some of the hairstyles worn by warriors in the Asian historical dramas (K dramas, Chinese martial arts films, etc), and I always thought Ashlanders were like the Mongolians and other steppe tribes that lived north of the Great Wall of China.

As an inveterate romance writer, I had to laugh at the cover of Masaline's reading material! Granted, my taste in romances run more to Robert Ludlum, Zane Grey and Ken Follett rather than to Kathleen E. Woodiwiss, Victoria Holt and Catherine Cookson. I haven't read bodice-rippers in years so I'm not up to speed on who the latest best-selling romance writers today are. Sorry, ladies (and the occasional gent!). Still I recognized the cover and cracked up laughing at it! Passes the time, you have to admit!

Okay, loving all of this. The world-building for Adrynverse, what with the Mages Guildhalls overhauls and the mazeworks of ramshackle construction is fantastic. You're not playing the same Morrowind games I played. Which is awesome. Keep at it.

Adryn's run-in with the *ahem* actor bring back the memories. Your time with Uncle Crassius could have been more fleshed out, but I'm just going to leave that to my demented imagination. I can only imagine the relief Miun-Gei will eventually feel, should you return to Vivec.

Which, of course, brings up our murderess and Adryn's escape. Her time in Ald'Ruhn will play out soon, but for now, I'm going to comment on her run-in with the crazy one. You've definitively used it to demonstrate Adryn's natural reactions, her 'Flight' preference in a Fight or Flight situation, and how it played off her recent experience with Jobasha. The juxtaposition of "Fear of my old life catching up to me" with "Fear of losing my life right now" was really nicely played up.

At least her pants weren't suddenly wetter than before. Small things.

I saw all these pictures days ago, but just now getting to where I can tell you how much I loved them. The book looks AWESOME stacked on a table, I love what you did with it! Love the one with Ajira.

Ervesa is gorgeous, now I can really picture those jealous cats at the Mages Guild thinking up romance over the bouquet of ingredients, ROFL!

The scorched dummies were so well done, it really looks like they received the damage exactly like they would have in that practice area (and loved the set up of that practice area too! That would keep Maxical from frying her friends while practicing!

The practice “Rules” had me rolling !!! Of all of these, I have to choose Adryn’s portrait as my favorite, she is absolutely adorably beautiful !!!

Thank you so much for sharing these, I loved them all !!!!

Thanks everyone for commenting!

@Black Hand - I did consider whether to go for something slightly less polysyllabic for a moment, but Adryn has a bookworm's vocabulary. Also, she'd like you to know that this was definitely the 'one less powerful' definition, not the 'rival' one.

As to how the spell went that wrong - half of the story is that she accidentally latched onto something that wasn't the Temple teleportation beacon, something that happened to be making a mystical connection to Ald'ruhn at the exact moment Adryn was trying to teleport *coughs* *looks towards the Mages Guild* *coughs*. The other half - and the big question - is really how on earth she managed to do that, and that's a question that will take some time to fully answer...

@Grits - I'm glad you're enjoying the new adventure! I assure you Adryn isn't. *g* And I honestly didn't realise how many people read my story without having played Morrowind - now I feel kind of guilty about the unintentional cliffhanger...

@haute - Thank you for that video link! it almost made me ruin my keyboard. And I'm glad you like the screens, and think Adryn's expression works for her. Ashlander plaits, hmm? There might be something to that - I'll have to think about it... I'm also very glad you liked the romance novel! I'm not actually much of a romance reader (although since my tastes run to pulp fantasy and YA, I really have no room for snobbery on that front) - I got the image via Googling covers and finding one that struck me as just right. *g* Although honestly, I'm now considering investigating bodice-rippers so I can write a proper Morrowindy version for the in-game book or maybe even make a couple more - this was just way too much fun.

@mALX - I'm glad you like the pics! (And the update, of course ) Ervesa is meant to look very pretty, so I'm glad that came across *g* and personally, I think the practice chamber for destruction magic is an EXCELLENT safety device... although knowing Maxical, her spells might just go out the door behind her and take a sharp turn to blast straight into the common room, lol.

@Captain Hammer - thank you! I'm glad you like the worldbuilding - I just keep thinking of little touches to make each place a little more homey and lived-in, and also Ajira gets her own lab due to authorial favouritism . I did really think of expanding the encounter with Curio, but was having trouble coming up with something that lived up to my expectations so thought it worked best left to people's imaginations. I'm also really happy you noticed the way the encounter shows how Adryn resolutely opts for Flight over Fight, because that's something I'm trying to bring out!

Last installment, Adryn managed to teleport herself to the manor of Bolvyn Venim, where she was immediately accosted by a thief who'd been busy robbing the place and wasn't particularly happy to have her pop up out of nowhere. He decided to drag her along to a hidden door where he thinks Venim has been keeping valuable items. Now, we find out what is actually behind the door...



"Well, about time. With all due respect, surely an essential part of kidnapping involves not letting your victim starve to- wait a minute. You're not the guards."

Allding and I stared at each other, then at the bare cell behind the door. Bare, that was, apart from the Dunmer occupying it.

He looked about my age, with dark hair in a spiky half-shaved haircut that meant he was probably trying to give his parents a heart attack. His clothes were rich velvets (the kind that act much like a sign saying "my purse is crushing me under its weight, I would be ever so grateful if you relieved me of it" for thieves) although they were ripped and rumpled - I guessed from his captivity, although the heavy chains couldn't have helped either.

"Are you here to rescue me?" It was almost painful to watch his eyes light up with hope. "My name is Varvur Sarethi, my father is Athyn Sarethi, the Councilor." I heard a small moan from Allincompetent. "He'll reward you. Please- no!"

I grabbed Allding's arm before he could close the door again. "What do you think you're doing?" I hissed.

He glared at me. "Women. Bleeding hearts. Don't see what business it is of yours, but I have no damn intention of getting involved in politics." He spat. "That's the kind of thing that gets people like us killed."

He was right, but. "It's my business because you made it my business, and guess what, we're involved now whether we want it or not!" I whispered furiously. "You think whoever lives here is just going to leave us alone now that we've found him? You think he's going to keep quiet about the two intruders who stumbled upon him? Or his father will be happy about this if he does get rescued?" The set of Varvur's face made it clear that if we left him here, he would make sure we regretted it if it was the last thing he did. "At least if we grab him someone in this mess will be on our side!"

I moved towards him. The lockpicks were still in my hand...

"No, I'm going to stay well out of this." Allcoward turned his back to the prisoner, clearly preparing to storm off. "If you're so insistent on playing with the nobility, you can-" He broke off abruptly.

"Well, well, what have we here."

I turned around.

There should really be an upper limit on the amount of misfortune someone can experience in a day.

The Dunmer now standing at the other end of the room looked a lot like the angry nobleman I'd been worried about earlier. Worse yet, he didn't even look like an angry nobleman of the pampered, helpless without his guards variety where you can at least try to intimidate them into letting you run for it. No, this looked like an angry nobleman who ate the former type for breakfast and followed them off with a rampaging snow bear for lunch. The full suit of - was that actually ebony armour? - left that impression. Of course, he also had two guards with him. The effect was rather like that of a tiger flanked by kittens.

Maybe it was my lucky day and he wasn't actually the owner. Maybe he was just - just passing through, and would be shocked to find a kidnap victim and I could pretend to have been on a benevolent rescue mission-

"A spy. In my home."

My last shred of hope fizzled and died.

Wait a moment, why the singular?

My eyes darted to the side. Fumble-fingered he might be, but apparently Alltraitor could move quickly when push came to shove. He'd managed to make it to the side of the cell, out of view from the main room, and was fumbling with a potion. He looked at me, clearly pleading for me not to say anything. I scowled at him.

That said, there were times for taking revenge on treacherous snakes and there were times to prioritise one's own hide, in particular the saving thereof. This was definitely one of the latter.

I opened my mouth to defend myself, then closed it when I realised I was currently bereft of any plausible explanation. Well, if the mer could just give a moment - sheer desperation had always led to my greatest bouts of what I called 'creative planning' and Charon called 'utter insanity' in the past, I was sure it wouldn't let me down now-

Alas, the nobleman didn't seem inclined to wait for me to come up with something. His eyes narrowed, then he snapped something in what I supposed was Dunmeris. I didn't understand him, but judging by the way the guards started moving forwards I thought I could guess at the gist.

Said guards were noticeably slower and more wobbly than I am used to guards being. The potion was clearly still in their system. Now, if I were even remotely skilled at combat, this might have made a difference. Sadly, even a Bosmer who's just smoked a full pipe of skooma and is actually trying to attack the glowing rainbow unicorn behind me is capable of physically overwhelming me. (No, I'd rather not explain how I know that.) And, as if to prove that things could still get worse, the two guards knocked out at the entrance to the cell started stirring. The commotion had probably managed to penetrate their drug-induced haze.

My eyes darted from side to side. Allcoward was gone - an invisibility potion, I guessed, and he hadn't brought enough to share. Well, I was sure there'd be plenty of opportunity to revenge myself on him for landing me in this situation once I got out of it. As I was going to figure out a cunning plan to do exactly that in a moment.

Any second now.

A hand on my wrist. Varvur. "Don't you have any Intervention scrolls or something?" he whispered.

Oh. Of course.

All things considered, it looked as if staying here would be much more detrimental to my health than casting that spell again.

When the nobleman saw me raise my hands into a casting position, he shouted something and started forward himself. The speed at which he advanced made it obvious he hadn't so much as sniffed the sleeping potion the guards had been given-

To Oblivion with carefully locating the nearest beacon. I just tossed a rope out and yanked.



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