Well, here I go again, trying again with this story. I've completely rewritten it, it has only a few resemblances to the first incarnation (well, it actually has quite a lot, but none of you know that, because you didn't read those parts, because I didn't post them ).
I'll post the prologue now, and the first part tomorrow. From there, I'll try to stick to a schedule, with one update per week, but... I suppose it'll be ready when it's ready and the schedule will probably be out the window by Sunday so....
So, without further ado...

*******

18th Morning Star - 3E 407

Captain Darius shivered as he watched over his men at work, it was incredibly cold, even for Morning Star, he would have liked nothing better than to return his men to Castle Wayrest. But he couldn't, he had to search this town for survivors.

They had received the message late last night.
"The town of Grimdale is under attack by an Orcish warband."
His generals had immediately dispatched Captain Darius' men to the town of course, but they were far too late.
Now, the town was a smoking ruin. Only a handful of the wooden buildings were still standing, even many of the stone ones had collapsed.
There weren't many survivors. A small group of them had been huddled in the chapel of Stendarr. It seems he didn't deign to show any of his mercy on the townsfolk.
They had dug out one or two other survivors from the collapsed buildings, but most of the people they found were dead.

Darius was just about ready to abandon the recovery of bodies and send a scouting party after the Orcs, when he heard some of the dogs barking.
He looked over towards the animals, a couple of Legionaries had started shifting rubble from a collapsed building.
One of them called over to him. "Captain Darius! We've found another survivor!"
Darius brought his horse around and headed towards the growing huddle of soldiers, all trying to clear rubble.
"What have you found?" Darius asked, putting on his best officer's voice.
"A survivor." One of his Bosmer archers said simply.
"A boy." A Nord added.
"Alright." Said Darius as he dismounted and inspected the scene. "It looks like he might be trapped underneath that beam." He thought for a moment. "You four." He pointed at a herd of four cold looking Nords. "Try to lift this beam. You two." He shot his glance at two other soldiers. "Get the boy out, everyone else back away."
The soldiers did as ordered, Darius moved a safe distance away.

He called encouragements as the Nords lifted the beam, grunting with effort, and the two other soldiers darted in and lifted the boy out.

"Excellent work men." Darius said, genuinely pleased at their ability to comprehend orders. "Get the boy to the chapel, put him in front of the fire and fetch the healer."

---

Some hours later, Darius returned to the town, his sword bloody. His scouts had found a band of Orcs at the lake not far from the village, he had taken his force down there and slaughtered them. He didn't like it and it wasn't easy, but justice had been done.

He decided to check in on the boy they had found earlier, so he made his way through the broken town and entered the chapel.
He bowed respectfully at Stendarr's altar before descending down into the priest's rooms which had been serving as a makeshift hospital.

He found the boy, lying in a bed near a crackling fire, a Dunmer woman sat nearby, crushing herbs with a mortar and pestle.
"Is he… awake?" He asked the woman.
As if in answer the boy rolled over and looked at Darius. His eyes were blue and sad, his light hair was a mess, matted and filthy. He had a large cut on his forehead, no doubt he had had a few broken bones too, though perhaps they had been healed.
"Hello." Darius tested.
"Hello." The boy said in response.
"Can you tell me your name?"
"Lucius." He licked his lips. "Lucius Andronicus."

*******

Queue musical intro...

Lucius is back! Loved the prologue - LOVED the musical intro!

And now: ARGH! I was so wrapped up in Lucius's story before, screamed in anquish when you stopped writing it ... now it will change? GAAAAAAH !!!!! URK !!! Lol, really glad to see you back on here!

mALX
Anguish?
Glad to have my first comment.

*******

I
A Knight Without a Sword
1st Last Seed - 3E 422

"Be without fear in the face of your enemies, be brave and upright that the Nine may love you. Never kill in anger, or deceive others for you own gain. Speak the truth when your honour depends on it, even should it lead to your death. Safeguard the helpless, defend the defenceless, and fight for the Nine and the people of Chorrol and this most glorious Empire." The count drew a ceremonial sword, the light danced upon its edge.
"That is your oath."
The sword tapped Lucius' right shoulder, followed quickly by his left.
"Arise, Lucius Andronicus, by the grace of the Nine, I proclaim thee a Knight of Chorrol."
Lucius rose, slowly, savouring the moment before solemnly moving towards Chorrol's other new knights. *

"People of Chorrol," Count Charus proclaimed to the assembled crowd, tightly packed into the great hall. "I give you, your new champions!"
The people cheered and clapped. The Count of Chorrol was usually over enthusiastic when addressing crowds, today was no different.

"Well then, Breton," said Madali, while smiling and waving at the crowd "what now?"
"Aren't we beyond this childishness by now? I'm not a Breton. Why do you always call me that?" He supposed he should wave, like some of the other knights were doing so he did so albeit sheepishly.
She giggled. "Because it amuses me." She looked at him for a moment, still smiling.
"After ten years?"
"No. I think I started calling you Altmer a few years ago, you almost have the ears for it," she teased while pulling her hair back into position behind her own "but that wasn't nearly as fun."

They were interrupted as the new knights were lead from the Great Hall into one of Chorrol Castle's multitude of dark passageways.

Lucius increased his pace in hopes of avoiding more conversation with the dark elf woman. He succeeded, she lost interest in him and was bothering somebody else.

"Where are we going?" Lucius asked to no one in particular.
"The Knight's Hall. Then we'll be told what happens now." Somebody at the front of the party replied.
"Don't we just get to slaying dragons and rescuing princesses immediately?" Someone else asked. A few people laughed, nobody answered.

There were twenty of the knights. Lucius had known them all for years. Ten years to be precise. It had been a long decade. Most days had been spent swinging swords and blocking sword swings, in Lucius' case he had been throwing and blocking balls of fire too.
And when the day hadn't been spent doing sword related things, it was armour related, or horse related, or scrubbing the floors related.

In this time, he had grown bored of Chorrol. He had been into every building that he could go into without being arrested. He had explored the County's caves and ruins. And he even knew the names of all the Mages Guild cats. The mysterious city of his childhood had revealed themselves to him, one by one.
Chorrol was boring.

The group reached the Knight's Hall after a short, mostly silent walk. It was smaller to the great hall, yet it could seat one hundred and Lucius preferred to think of it as cosy.

"What was the first thing I said to you?" Asked the Keeper, a knight of middling rank who Lucius had known since he first arrived. He was stood at the front of the hall, the group migrated closer to him.
Silence.
"I said, 'a knight without a sword is like a hunter without arrows. Useless, impotent, defenceless.' In short, a knight with no weapon is no knight at all." He looked at the assembled dozen.
"You will notice, that despite your fancy new mail, surcoats and shields, you have no sword. Well, you have one of those rusty old things," he conceded "but those aren't swords. Their sharpened iron sticks. And property of County Chorrol besides. So, as Knights Aspirant, your first 'quest' if you will, shan't be to save any farmers from goblins or delve into any ruins. No, you'll need a sword. And not just any old thing, you will go out and traverse Tamriel, do some good deeds maybe, and return to Chorrol three years hence, with a sword which befits a Knight of the Oak. You will not travel to Skingrad, buy a piece of steel and lounge around the city for three years frequenting taverns and brothels."
Somebody laughed.
"No. You'll go out and travel, beyond Cyrodiil, to wherever you wish, and get yourself a fine blade. Unique, strong, the best you can find.
How you get the sword is up to you. Will you break your new oaths and steal it? Will you spend three years as a swordsmith's apprentice? Or perhaps you'll stumble across it in a Dwemer ruin?"

There was silence.

"You will leave in three days. If you want my advice; do some planning, don't wander the world aimlessly. And come back with something good!"

"Wait." Lucius said, "Is it three days including today?"
"You leave on the third of Last Seed."
"That's not three days!" Another knight protested. "It's only two."
"Well then, you leave in two days."
"But you said-"
"You can leave now if you want."
The argument ended with a grumble.

------

2nd Last Seed - 3E 422

Lucius frowned at the map, he had drawn all over it and now Cyrodiil was covered in dozens of crisscrossing lines, while there was a growing puddle of ink creeping across Black Marsh.

"Well done Lucius, you've just ruined a perfectly good map."
"At least I'm doing something useful Madali, rather than reading fairytales." He said, while trying to rescue Morrowind from the inky horde.
Madali tutted. "This, I'll have you know, is a copy of Mythical Weapons of Tamriel. I'm going to find this." She turned the book around and pointed at a drawing of a long, curved sword. "Goldbrand."
"Goldbrand," he read, "This magical Sword is almost a complete mystery. Thieves tell tales about its golden make, their tales claim that it was given to a great knight who was sworn to protect the dragons. The Sword lends its wielder the ability to do fire damage on an enemy. In some tales, it has connections to Boethia."
He looked up at her. "Boethia" He repeated. "Daedra. Not good to be consorting with them."
"It all depends on your point of view, Breton. 'Fight for the Nine' the oaths say, well I can do that just as well with a Daedric weapon."

Lucius frowned. "Where did you get that book?"
"Oh, you want a fairytale sword too?" She laughed. "The library. But don't bother looking for another copy, everybody seemed to have the same idea as me, there aren't any left."
He frowned again. He had already been to the library as well as the new bookshop in town, Renoit's Books, and he now had a sizable pile of them on his desk; A Travellers Guide to the Empire, Guide to Morrowind, The Skyforge, Orcish Swordsmiths, Swords of High Rock, he hadn't actually read any of them cover to cover, but he had hoped to have at least some idea of where he was going to go. He had, at first, though of Hammerfell, but so had everyone else and the knights were allowed only brief, limited contact with each other. Plus, it was a little hot.
Instead, he was thinking about Morrowind, Vvardenfell had recently opened up for settlement and plenty of settlers had gone, eager to strike it rich by mining the rich ebony and glass deposits.
One of the senior knights had a sword made of glass. It was strong and light, Lucius knew because he had often been made to clean and sharpen it as punishment. If there was a lot of glass on Vvardenfell, then surely there were a few swordsmiths who would be willing to help him in exchange for… something.

"So where will you find this… Goldblade?"
"Goldbrand." She corrected. "I don't know, it was last seen in High Rock, wielded by the Agent who rediscovered the Mantella, so I suppose I'll start there. And you? Where will you go?"
"I don't know. Maybe Morrowind. Or Skyrim." He began biting the inside of his cheek, he was prone to do that while thinking, which caused him to get ulcers in his mouth, which stung while he ate - he tried not to think about things too hard.
"No reason you cant do both." She said, nonchalantly.

The door to the chamber opened, one of the senior Knights, Antus, stepped in.
He was young, only a few years older than Lucius in fact, but he had risen up incredibly quickly. Probably more to do with his family connections than skill, though he did not lack the latter.
Lucius stood a head taller than him, or would have done if he had been standing.

"Lucius. I must speak with you." He walked deeper into the room and stopped. "Alone."
Madali looked up from her book and heaved a sigh before leaving.
"Why do you wa-"
"Listen." Antus interrupted. He began pacing the room in silence for a few moments, Lucius began to wonder what he was listening for.
"You remember how you came to Chorrol?" He asked. His brown eyes darted around the room, as if wary of eavesdroppers.
"Yes… I was four and I-"
"Do you remember where you came from?"
"High Rock." He answered, it was almost a question.
"Why?"
"I was orphaned. The Legion rescued me and brought me here, to Chorrol, where I lived in Chapel Stendarr's orphanage for a few years. Before being inducted-"
"You don't remember." Antus interrupted - again. Lucius was about to protest. "You don't." He reaffirmed, as if sensing what Lucius was going to say. "You just repeat what you've been told."
"You all lied to me?" Lucius asked, suspicious.
"No. Its true, just not the whole truth." He sighed. "You see… Why do you think you were brought here? This order does not have a policy of inducting every orphan into its ranks. In fact, it has never done so, you need money to join a Knightly order Lucius, orphans don't tend to have a lot of it." He continued pacing. "But you did. Or rather, your parents did. And now you do, it was in their will you see. You were to come here to live with your Uncle and you'd be paid through the Knighthood with you inheritance."
"Wait." Lucius stopped him, grabbing his arm. "I have an uncle?"
"Had. You had an uncle. He went missing just after you arrived, presumed dead. He gave part of his own children's inheritance to pay your way through the order in his will."
"So where is my inheritance?"
"We don't know. Somewhere in High Rock I assume. Locked away in a vault beneath what used to be a village."
Lucius didn't know what to say.
"I mention this in part because the money left for you by your uncle was insufficient to pay for your training. We cannot cover expenses with his legacy, as great a knight as he was."
"So, I'm in debt?"
"Yes. We would like the payment. Of course, your current 'quest'" He air quoted "to get yourself a sword takes precedence, but should you be travelling in High Rock, I would recommend searching for your town, and your birthright."
"How will I-"
"Look for a man named…" Antus interrupted and squinted at a piece of paper, "Captain Darius, in the Imperial Legion. Though he's probably more highly ranked than Captain by now."
"How would I go about finding him?"
"Must I hold you hand?" He sighed. "Go to the Legion headquarters in the Imperial City, they should be able to tell you where to find him." Antus turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Oh, yes. Before I forget" he withdrew a piece of paper from somewhere on his person and handed it to Lucius. "The details for an account with the Sintav Family Bank. A little over a thousand drakes, the last of your Uncles inheritance for you. Spend it well." He sounded almost bitter at the last.

*******

* Musical Accompaniment...

Welcome back to the Arena of fanfic! So nice to see Lucius again. Your prologue had a nice ‘beginning of an epic’ feel to it.

A wonderfully appropriate opening scene to Chapter 1 as we see Lucius years later being dubbed a Knight of the Oak and the assignment of his first mission. Nice touch to have Madali spend some time discussing Goldbrand as her hopeful weapon. It shows that the new knights are taking their quest quite seriously.

We learn some fun things about Lucius. For example, he controls his thought-induced cheek biting by not thinking too hard.

An interesting meeting with Sir Antus who helps fill in some childhood gaps now that Lucius is of age. And I suspect that will modify his quest.

Although it is only to a minor degree, I confess I that I find your font selection to be a tiny bit distracting and slightly harder to read than the forum’s well-chosen default font. Just a thought.

Oh, I remember this one. It looks like you decided to skip the childhood this time around as well as maintain more of a mystery towards Lucius' background. That's fine really, and the timeskip is done well. If I had to criticsize, I'd say I miss the best Altmer ever.


Moving on to the mark 2 knight. I like the idea of an initiation rite based around obtaining swords. It is a good source of adventurers while also explaining why random people go to random adventurers with all their trouble. (Knightly oaths and all that)
It also shows character. What do you think of the knight that just grabs the first crummy sword he can get and calls it a day? What is the difference between the knight that buys his in a store with money he made through odd jobs, and one who gets his by raiding a tomb? (I think I actually prefer the guy that buys his though. Tombrobbing is a tad too close to burglary really.)

It is also a way to learn ones limits. They get three years. That's enough time to go on a wild chase for the best sword ever (like Goldbrand), learn that you're aiming too high or that the means of obtaining that sword would violate your vows, then settle for something you can honourably obtain.

I’m so glad to see Lucius 2.0! I like how you show where we are in time by simply starting with the date.

The three year quest for a sword is a great idea. I’m looking forward to seeing where Lucius’ quest takes him!

I'll admit I haven't read KWFB mk. I but I do like this one quite a lot; the setup of going out to find a sword in order to prove your Knightliness is a good one, and I've got the feeling that there's going to be quite the adventure involved for this, which certainly leaves me looking forward to more. If there is one thing that is irritating me, though, it's that your general usage of punctuation and spelling can be quite haphazard, and there quite a few mistakes scattered about, which does make reading it a bit less fluid than it should be.

QUOTE

He said, while trying to rescue Morrowind from the inky horde

I liked this line, by the way; very nice and slightly humourous imagery in there.

Acadian
Thanks!
I'm sorry about the font, I'll just keep it as Ariel from now on, I don't really know why I changed it in the first place.

jack cloudy
Thanks. I sort of have a mechanism for revealing more of his background (though it might be sort of cliché). And I don't want to spoil it by saying a certain Altmer will eventually appear, but...

As for the swords, that's the exact line of thought I had. Great minds think alike.

Grits
I actually sort of regret putting it at three years now. I have a rough idea of whats going to happen, but I don't know how to stretch it out that long.

Colonel Mustard
Thanks, if you happen to see any particularly glaring errors, could you please shame me?
And I wouldn't bother reading the first one if I were you. It's basically an extended prologue with a disappointing ending. I'm not even sure it actually had an ending, I'd need to check, but I think I may have just trailed off and left it hanging.

In this installment:
Lucius gets his journey underway.
There seems to be a lot of sighing in this episode, but what can I say? Tamrielans are an exasperated bunch.

*******

Faults and Feelings
3rd Last Seed 4E 422

There was a thick morning fog blanketing Chorrol, hiding the city from Lucius as he left the castle.
He had expected more ceremony. As it was, there were just a few disinterested guardsmen loitering around the courtyard, rather than the strepitous crowd and honour guard of knights he had expected.

It wasn't cold, though it wasn't warm either. It was average. There had been rain the previous evening, so the ground was still wet. The weather could have been better, but it certainly could have been worse.

There was a handful of people just outside the castle gates, attending a cluster of horses who were attempting to graze on the sparse grass by the walls. A young Argonian approached him.

"Sir Lucius?" he rasped. This was the first time he'd been called 'sir.' And he rather liked it.

"Yes?"

"We have your horse ready." The Argonian grabbed the reigns of the nearest horse and led it towards Lucius. It was a chestnut gelding, the kind Chorrol was somewhat famous for - fast, strong and reasonably sturdy.
"What's his name?" He asked, rubbing its nose.
The Argonian shrugged in response and returned to his posse.

Lucius took the reigns and mounted the animal. He would have to think of an appropriate name, then. H waited for a few moments, expecting the Argonian to come forth with more information, but the lizard simply blinked at him.
With one last look at the Castle and an adjustment of his armour, he set off towards the city gates and out into the world.

---

Lucius looked back over his shoulder to see Chorrol being engulfed in the morning fog. He was both sad and glad to be leaving. It would be good to travel Tamriel. He still wasn't totally sure where he was going yet, he would decide once he found out where Captain Darius was.
He continued to ponder about his destination while travelling at an easy pace for a while, he wasn't sure how long, perhaps an hour. His quite contemplation was interrupted by the appearance of a familiar figure from amongst the trees.

"Hello, Breton."

Lucius heaved an audible sigh. "Madali."

She laughed "Good to see you too, Lucius." She brought her horse alongside his.

"You know, we aren't supposed to travel together or have close contact for long periods of time."

"Who would know? The senior knights are hardly going to jump out of a pile of leaves in the forest, punishing us for straying too close now, are they?"

"I would know."

"Eager to be rid of me?"

Yes. He thought. "No." He said. "Its not that, its just your so…"

She held up her hand. "Don't bother, Lucius. I don't want to travel with you either. I wouldn't be able to put up with your disgusting habits."

"My disgusting habit?" He asked, offended. "You're the one who snores. Loudly."

"Habits, Lucius, habits. Plural. And I don't snore, I… snuffle. There's a difference. What about you?" She jabbed accusingly, "You're always biting your nails and chewing your own face. And you breathe far too loudly."

"I breath too loudly?"

"Yes. And your accent is simply awful."

"What's wrong with my accent?"

"You roll your 'R's too much. And where, may I ask, are your 'H's?"

"Well…" He paused and stayed silent, unable to come up with a response. Somewhere in the forest, a crow squawked.

"Why aren't you going to Morrowind?" Lucius asked, hoping to strike up a conversation which revealed less of his perceived faults.

"Because I'd rather go to High Rock." She replied. "It's not that I don't like Morrowind, I do." She explained "I just want to go to High Rock."

Lucius nodded. "Aren't you going the wrong way?"

"I'm going via Skyrim." She explained. "Hammerfell is too hot for me and I'd never get the sand from my boots." She adjusted her hair. "What about you? Why wouldn't a Breton want to go to High Rock?" She inquired.

Lucius though for a moment. "I'm not a Breton." Madali rolled her eyes in response. "But, there's glass and ebony in Vvardenfell, which is good for swords. Maybe I'll go there."

"No doubt." She didn't quite seem convinced. "And after Morrowind? You've got a few years to waste you know."

"Maybe I'll come find you in High Rock." He smiled.

"Maybe I'll avoid you." She smiled back.

Conversation continued for some time before giving way to silence as they continued through the Great Forest.

---

"I think we should stop for tonight." Madali suggested, finally breaking a period of silence

"I'd rather not." He said. "I thin we should push on towards Fort Ash."

"Scared of the dark?" She teased.

"No." He said defensively. "I just don't want to sleep outside."

"I see. Scared of the wildlife then."

"Of course I'm not."

"No, no. I understand completely. People go missing out here all the time. There are minotaurs in these woods you know. Spriggans too."

"There aren't any minotaurs in these woods." He said, cautiously.
"Of course there are, why else do you think Chorrol's blacksmith doesn't stock any war hammers? Because the minotaurs steal them." She teased.

"Where do they get their hammers anyway?" He asked, curious.

She shrugged. "If I ever meet one, I'll be sure to ask. Now come on, we'll never make to Fort Ash tonight." She dismounted and led her horse to a small patch of ground where there was little undergrowth and relatively flat terrain.

Lucius hesitated.

"Oh, come on." She laughed. "I'll need someone to protect me when the minotaurs come."

He sighed, dismounted and led his horse over towards hers, before retrieving his tent and bedroll.

---
4th Last Seed 4E 422

The next day, as they exited the Great Forest, Lucius caught a glimpse of the glistening city, it was a little overwhelming.
It was like a wheel, a perfect circle were it not for the Arcane University, Waterfront and Legion District jutting out of it.
In the centre stood the Imperial Palace. Towering above everything, its reflection fell across the gleaming waters of lake Rumare. On especially clear days, one could see the palace from the tallest tower in Chorrol, but it was far more intimidating up close.
There was no question that the man who lived in there was the most powerful in Tamriel.

The city's walls were huge, perhaps three times the size of Chorrol's and they were made of a white stone, similar to the stone of Ayleid structures.
The city gates were beautiful, even at a distance. Their wood was dark and exotic looking. They had a metallic stylized Imperial Dragon decorating their front. They looked pristine from this distance, like they'd never been breeched.
The pair continued on their way towards the city.

At Weye they parted, exchanging nothing but smiles.

---

As he stepped off the bridge, Lucius took a deep breath, savouring the smell of the Imperial City. And then he gagged, struggling to keep down his breakfast.
It was an awful smell. Like rancid fish and sour milk and sewage all mixed into one.
Upon closer inspection, the city gates and walls weren't as impressive. The walls were filthy at the base and chipped and cracked all over. The gates seemed to be in a similar state, the metal dragons were rusty, there was a stain covering the base of the right gate, and there were dents and chips around the centre. It looked like battle damage, no doubt the gates had been breeched many times in their history.

He guided his horse towards the stable.

"How long will you be in the city for?" An Orcish stablehand asked unenthusiastically.

"A day, maybe two."

The Orc sighed. "Is it a day, or is it two?"

"Two." He said hastily.

"Fine. We'll charge you when you leave." She said, taking the reigns.

"Thank you." Lucius said, turning towards the city.
The Orc grunted in response.

The Talos Plaza district didn't smell quite as bad, it was still there, just a little less overwhelming.
Lucius decided his first stop should be the Sintav Family bank.
"Excuse me," He asked the nearest guard. "Where is the Sintav Family Bank?"
The guard was quite young and Lucius was a head taller than him.

"… The Imperial City is set out like a wheel, with the Imperial Palace at the centre. The spokes of the wheel are, going clockwise from the north, the Market District, Arena District, Arboretum, Temple District, Talos Plaza District and Elven Gardens District. We are in the Talos Plaza District."

"Right… Thank you. Not what I asked though is it?"

"Sorry about him." Another Guard had come over. "He's new to the job. The Sintav Bank is in this district, just go left from here and follow the road. There'll be a sign pointing it out, you cant miss it."

"Thank you." Lucius left the two guards, the older one was now whispering to the younger.
The district was bustling with people. Rich people, poor people and somewhere in the middle people were everywhere, going about their business. Lucius wondered just what that business was.
Perhaps the Wood Elf with the black hair and green eyes was an assassin, on his way to complete a contract.
Maybe the Nordic woman with the axe on her back was a mage who was studying enchanting.
And could the Breton with the bow be a prince from High Rock out exploring the world in secret?
Lucius enjoyed creating stories about strangers in the street. It made him feel secure and of course, it was a way to relieve boredom.

The bank wasn't so easy to spot, it stood amongst other banks and the writing of their signs was fancier than it need be, making it difficult to read. He did eventually find the correct building and entered to find a rather dull interior. The room was long, with a desk at the end which traversed almost its entire breadth. There were a few chairs in the centre of the room, and some other, shorter desks at the sides. Behind the long desk was a large tapestry, featuring a chest and key with a crown above.
At the long desk stood a single, solitary, pale looking Imperial woman. Her mouth was stretched into a smile, but her eyes exhibited nothing but lifelessness and boredom.
Lucius deigned to approach the woman, hopefully it would improve her day, though he doubted it.

"Welcome to the Sintav Family bank, stay away from the Atius bank, they'll steal your money. How may I help you?" She really didn't seem to want to help him.

"Yes… uhm, I'd like to withdraw some money from an account." He said, unfolding the scrap of paper with the details.

The woman sighed and pulled up a large, leather bound, battered book from inside the desk. "Well then, lets see… Your account number please?"

Lucius told her all the details and she spent a few minutes flicking through the ledger.

"Here we go." She said, seeming to be a little more cheery. "Your account balance was at one thousand two hundred and fifty drakes. When we add the interest you new balance is…" She whispered to herself for a few moments. "Two thousand septims. How much would you like to withdraw?"

Lucius though for a moment. It could be dangerous to take it all with him, no doubt the bandits would be able to hear his pockets ting-a-linging from miles away.
But he would need some money for his journey and he didn't have any pockets.

"Where are your other branches?" He inquired.

"There are none. Sintav Family Bank operates exclusively in the Imperial City. However," She held up a finger, "We can arrange a transfer of funds to another bank or banks." She pulled out a sheet of paper from somewhere and placed it in front of him. "This is a list of all the banks we can transfer money to."

"I'd like to transfer… five hundred gold to the Bank of Wayrest. Five hundred to the Bank of Solitude and five hundred to the Bank of Vivec, while withdrawing five hundred drakes for myself."

The woman's smile diminished slightly. "That's a lot of work. But, okay. I'll get all the paperwork ready and arrange for the transfer of funds." Her smile was back at full strength. "Your name?"

"Lucius Andronicus." He said.

"Oh." She said, looking down at her ledger. "Well, you see, the account holder's name was Antonius Andronicus. Is he…?"

"My uncle. He is… deceased."

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss." She seemed somewhat sincere. "Well then, Sir. I'll retrieve your five hundred gold now, and then you can be on your way."

And Sir Lucius is off on his journey. I enjoyed the stunning contrast of The Imperial City at long versus close range. Fun stories he was making up about the backgrounds of individuals walking around the city while giving us a random look at several. Clever use of the bank to both move his funds around and telegraph his potential travel plans to readers.

The woman's smile diminished slightly. "That's a lot of work.
Love it! How fun to follow Lucius’ thoughts as he went from overwhelmed by the city’s splendor to overwhelmed by its stench. Then the reality proved to be somewhere in between.

It sounds like Sir Lucius has big plans, and he’s smart to ensure that wherever he goes there will be coins there to greet him. Hopefully.

Everyone
Sorry I can't answer your comments right now. I'm sort of in a rush. I'll just paste this here and do what I need to do.
I'll answer the comments on the previous part later, when I have time, probably tomorrow.
Sorry.


III
Fight for the People
4th Last Seed 4E 422

“She’s perfectly balanced.” The grey haired old Redguard said, offering the blade to Lucius. “The best steel, straight from High Rock. Made by the best swordsmith in the Imperial City: me.”

What the man lacked in modesty he more than made up for in craftsmanship. The sword was rather pretty and seemed to be strong enough, though he wouldn’t know until he actually used it.

“How much?” Lucius asked, warily.

“Three hundred drakes. A bargain.”

Lucius coughed. A bargain it may be, but it would hurt his purse.
“Let me think for a few moments.”

“Of course, take all the time you need.” The Redguard said, pulling the sword back and securing it in a chest. Lucius stepped back from the counter and surveyed the room. There were a lot of swords on display, plenty of other weapons and armour too, but mostly swords.
He walked over to a display case. Inside, there was an ebony longsword. It was almost pure black, but it had gold veins running up its length. It was different from the other ebony swords he had seen, though he had seen few.

He decided to ask the old Redguard.
“How do you create the patterns with the golden part of the metal?”

“First, it’s not a metal, it’s a volcanic glass, found only in Vvardenfell, Solstheim and a few isolated parts of the northern provinces. Second-”

“Which northern provinces?” Lucius asked.

“Skyrim. There are also a few veins in High Rock, Hammerfell and Cyrodiil, but they’re so close to the Skyrim border that it makes no real difference.” The man almost smiled. “Now, as for the patterns, they’re made with heat. The gold and the black parts are both ebony, there’s no difference except the colour, its just that ebony changes colour depending on the temperature. So, what I do is I use alteration magic. I shield some parts of the sword - the parts I want to be black - from heat and heat up the rest to make it gold.” The Redguard’s almost-smile faded. “I made that in the House Redoran style.”

“House Redoran style?”

“There are different styles. The Cyrodiilic pattern has a lot of gold colour, too much if you ask me. The Skyrim has almost no gold. The Hlaalu uses the gold to create intricate patterns and writing. The Redoran, as you can see, uses gold conservatively, only creating simple patterns on some areas of the weapon.” The Redguard paused for breath. “If you want to buy, it’ll be two thousand gold.”

Lucius shook his head and returned to looking at the sword.
“Are you cheating, Lucius?” He heard a familiar voice ask.
“Anthony.” Lucius smiled. “Do I have to run into everyone? First Madali and now you? We haven’t even been out a full two days.” He wondered how long he’d been in the room.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, gesturing at the multitude of swords lining the walls.
“I could ask you the same thing.” Lucius said defensively.
“You certainly could. But I asked first.” He grinned.
“I’m buying a sword.”
“Clearly. Why?”
“Because these ones,” he said, lifting his own, iron, County Chorrol supplied blade, “are simply awful, mine seems ready to crumble to dust. It‘s only temporary.” He paused a moment. “Why are you here?”
“I’m buying a sword.” His grin widened.

“Excellent.” Intoned the Redguard. “I have an excellent specimen right here,” He pulled out the blade he had offered Lucius. “Its yours for a mere three hundred drakes.”
“I’ll take-”
“Not so fast.” Lucius interrupted, “You were going to sell me that sword.”
“It’s just business. But I’ll sell to you for three fifty.” He narrowed his eyes.
Lucius looked at Anthony. “I won’t bid against you, Lucius.”
“Thanks.” He returned his gaze to the Redguard. “Three hundred.”
“Three thirty.” He countered.
“Three hundred.” He repeated, “And my old sword.”
“This isn’t a pawnshop… Fine, you have a deal.” The man agreed. “Now my friend,” he turned his gaze towards Anthony, “what can I get you?”


After Antony had purchased a new, temporary, sword, he and Lucius left the shop together and entered the bustling Market District.
They walked together for a few moments, Lucius tried to think of a way to start a conversation, Anthony beat him to it.

“I have a job to do.” He began. “There are some necromancers to the northeast of the city, in an Ayleid ruin called Vilverin. They stole some corpses from some people in the Waterfront district. I have some descriptions of the ruin from a few adventurers.” He looked at Lucius expectantly.
“Okay.” Lucius said, knowing where the conversation was going.
“I want you to help me.”
“Why? We’re knights, not mercenaries.”

Anthony stopped and turned to face him, frowning. “What did the oath say again?” He though for a moment, “‘Safeguard the helpless, defend the defenceless, and fight for the Nine and the people of this most glorious Empire.’ I think this task would be fulfilling all of those.”

Lucius looked down into his eyes and smiled inwardly as he realised he was taller. For good this time. As children, it was as if they had engaged in a competition to see who would be the tallest. Lucius had won, it seemed.

“Okay then. When do we leave?”
“Tomorrow.”

--
5th Last Seed 4E 422

“Alright.” Anthony said, scratching his head. “Once we enter, there’ll be stairs going downwards. Then there’ll be a small chamber with a semi-circular staircase also going downwards. Another long set of stairs will take us into an antechamber where there’ll be a few-”

“Wait.” Lucius held up his hand. “How many undead are in there?”
Anthony shrugged. “I‘m not sure. A few… a dozen maybe.”
“Which is it? A few or a dozen?” Lucius asked, suspiciously.
“A few dozen.” He averted his eyes.
Lucius sighed. “All right then, lets get in there.” He turned around and looked at the door. “How do we get in? Push or pull?”
“There’s nothing to pull.” Anthony pointed out.
Lucius nodded and pushed at the door, hands spread wide. It didn’t budge.
“Push the centre, the circular part.”

Lucius did so and the door opened inwards. Red faced, Lucius drew his sword, readied his shield and entered the ruin.

---

Lucius kicked something metallic and winced as it clattered down the stone steps, the sound bounced off the stone walls, seemingly growing louder as time went on before it finally faded away.

“You idiot! What’s wrong with you!?” Anthony yelled as screams of fury resonated from within the ruin.
“I’m sorry.” He responded. “Quickly, form a shield wall.”

Anthony nodded and the pair locked their shields together and readied their swords, blocking the narrow passageway.
They had barely even entered the ruin and already they had been detected, it was not a good start.

Out of the gloom, Lucius spotted a zombie shuffling up towards them, when it came close, Anthony stabbed up beneath his shield, piercing it in the chest. It stumbled back with a half hearted moan before coming at them again. Anthony stabbed at its knee this time and it fell forward onto the shield, gnashing at the Imperial’s face. He pushed with his shield and the monster fell back, Lucius finished it with a stab through the head before linking shields again.

More unearthly moaning came out of the depths.
“I hope you’re pleased with yourself, Lucius.” Anthony said as a skeleton leapt from the darkness, its axe smashing against his shield. Anthony countered with a sword thrust which passed through the ribs and struck the spine, the skeleton fell apart as a result.

“It was an accident.” Lucius said, irritated. “I didn’t see it, you should have cast a light spell or something.”

Anthony didn’t respond, instead deigning to stab at another zombie which had come forth.
“Push forward.” He said, once it had been dispatched.
They moved forward, stopping at the top of the stairs.
“I would have done,” he finally responded. “If you’d given me time and space to do so.”

A pair of ghosts lit up the stairway and began floating up towards them.
“My sword’s steel!” Lucius said. As he slashed at the first one, to little effect. Anthony grunted in response.

The pair retreated a short distance, Lucius readied himself and cast a shock spell at the ghost, it struck the spirit and sent it slowly floating backwards.

“You’re losing your skill Lucius.” Anthony said as he lobbed a fire ball at the poltergeists, they screeched as they were consumed by the conflagration.
Lucius almost slipped on the gooey mess as the pair moved back towards the stairs.

“Should we move down?” Anthony asked.
“I think so. There are still more down there, and the necromancers have probably reigned them in for now.”
“You’re right. I’ll cast a light spell, then you go first.”

Lucius took a few cautious steps downwards as light flooded the area before him. He moved slowly at first, but more quickly as he mustered his courage and confidence.
At the bottom, another zombie came waddling forward, Lucius swung his sword at its rotten at its head, re-killing it.

Silently, Lucius and Anthony made their way down another set of stairs and came upon a large antechamber. It was mostly empty, except for a few zombies and skeletons shuffling around aimlessly.
The chamber was, like all Ayleid ruins, made of white stone and almost completely bare. It was dark, Anthony’s spell didn’t have a great range, but there was some light. At regular intervals welkynd stones at upon stone pedestals. They were a little high for Lucius to be able to reach, but he had no interest in taking them anyway.

“Where to now?” Lucius whispered.
“Well, we could go left… or we could go right.” He responded in an equally quiet register.
“What? You don‘t know anything else?”
“I can’t remember!” He was still whispering.
“Alright.” Lucius swallowed. “We’ll go left.”
“Right.” He said, simply.
“No, left.”
“I know, that’s what I said.”
“No you said right.”
“Yes, right like we’re going left.”
“What?” He asked, thoroughly confused.
“What? Are we going left or right?”
“Righ - I mean left.”
Anthony looked at him. “Follow me.” He moved to the right, Lucius followed.

As they neared the passageway, a skeleton spotted them and charged. Lucius swung at its unprotected left side and watched it clatter to the ground with a screech.

“Where does the sound of their screaming come from?” He asked as more of the undead were drawn to the noise.
“Who cares?” Anthony said as he kicked a zombie in the midsection, sending it stumbling backwards into a skeleton which promptly shattered.
“I’m just curious.” He dodged a headless zombie’s attack and slashed it across the back. “And how do the headless ones know where we are?”
“It doesn’t matter, just kill them.” He responded as his fireball engulfed two more skeletons, sending their bones flying through the chamber.

“You’re going to regret coming here!” A merish voice called out from the shadows.
Lucius heard the whoosh of magicka and saw as a portion of the room was flooded with ghostly light, revealing the Altmeri necromancer.
He sidestepped as a ball of frosty magic flew lazily towards him.
He responded with his own spell, when it struck, the ghost turned tail and floated away.

“Blast.” The necromancer cursed and threw fire at Lucius. The spell struck his shield, but it still burned.
“Deal with him Lucius, I’ll deal with these three.” Anthony was beset upon by a trio of headless zombies who were bumbling towards him.

Lucius charged at the mage, dodging and blocking two more spells before slicing elf’s stomach open. He finished him with a stab through the chest.
He paused for a moment to catch his breath, Anthony was having no trouble with the blind and deaf zombies.
As he focused his breathing, he saw a mace pass by his face. He recoiled and fell to the ground.
A skeleton loomed above him, grinning menacingly. It brought the weapon down towards Lucius’ face. He only barely managed to block. It struck again, and again, and again before it screeched and Lucius was bombarded by bones.

“That was a close one, eh?” Anthony offered his hand, Lucius took it gladly.
“Thanks.” He breathed as he was pulled up. His arm was burning, his shield was a broken and burnt mess - one could no longer see the white oak tree of Chorrol.
“Right, that was a little more difficult.” He mused. “But, onwards and upwards. I say we go this way.” As he began walking towards his destination, Lucius heard the cackling of lightening and watched as Anthony was thrown backwards.

“Coming here is the last mistake you’ll ever make!” He heard a voice cry out as another lightening bolt flew out from the gloom. Lucius dived behind a stone column and saw the lightening fly through the air where his face had been.

He breathed steadily, pressed his back against the pillar and poked his head out to have a look at his assailant. He was greeted by another lightening bolt screaming out of the darkness, the spell struck the column, scattering chips of rock and dust everywhere.
Lucius dashed to the next column, a fireball beat him there, obliterating it, sending its welkynd stone skittering across the floor and caking him in dust.
He veered to his left and charged in the direction of the spells, ducking as another fireball hurtled towards him.

As he approached the source, there was a flash of yellow light and a Dunmer woman charged at him with a wicked looking dagger. He easily parried her thrust and responded with a diagonal slash across her chest. The dagger evaporated as she fell to the ground in a heap.

He tensed and waited a moment, cautious for more bursts of magicka. When he was sure there was no more, he ran to find Anthony.
At the opposite end of the chamber, he found the knight’s sword, but no knight. Lucius approached a ledge which had previously escaped his notice and peered down. Anthony was lying in a heap on the ground, surrounded by smashed pieces of crate and de-crated vegetables.
He rushed down towards his fallen comrade, fearing the worst.
At the stairs, another zombie confronted him, Lucius kicked it in the chest, sending it tumbling down the staircase in a comical style. He jumped down the last half dozen steps, landing on the monster’s head and silencing its moans.

“Anthony?” He called, cautiously as he kneeled beside him. “Are you… alright?”
“What kind of stupid question is that?” He groaned. Lucius sighed with relief.
“I think this crate of cabbages broke the fall. Can you move?”
“Not easily.” He moaned as he tried to roll onto his back. “It’s nice to know I’ve been saved by a cabbage, though it didn‘t manage to save my arm.”
Lucius laughed nervously. There was a large hole in Anthony’s surcoat where the lightening bolt had hit.
“We should leave this place.”
“There’s another chamber, Lucius.”
“Forget the other chamber. We’ve given the necromancers a scare, they’ll probably have left this ruin by the end of the month.”
Anthony groaned again as Lucius tried to lift him.
“Lets get you out of here.”

Nice discussion about the differences among ebony blades based on smithing techniques!

Poor Lucious. First he kicks something, alerting the undead in Vilverin – although having them come to the shield-wielding pair is actually not a bad idea and they did pretty well. Then he almost slips in the ectoglop.

‘At the bottom, another zombie came waddling forward, Lucius swung his sword at its rotten at its head, re-killing it.’
Aside from a redundant use of ‘at its’, this is a fun description!

Left or right?

Whew! Anthony was saved by a crate of cabbages!

I always thought the gold on Ebony was just that, gold. Especially on the ones shown in Oblivion which do admittedly overdo it. Turning it into a smithing technique makes more sense though, at least for the Ebony weapons that are actually meant to be used.


And we see our first show of overconfidence on the new knights. Lucius and Anthony both seem capable enough to get things done and work as a team (as indicated by their use of the shield-wall.), but they really could use the patience to talk things through before they rush in. I just hope the poor lad survives. Getting electrocuted and then falling off a ledge has got to be painful.

I enjoyed the smithing discussion. Great to see the knights put their training (and new blades) to work. Lucius' curiosity made me smile, as did Anthony's practical "just kill them."

Yikes, Anthony is in rough shape. Thank goodness for cabbage! It would not be fun to land on a crate full of shears.

Thank you. Yep, that's the idea. I'm also, of course, dropping hints as to where his journey will take him. Thanks! I always thought it was simple decoration too, but the I realised that gold is kind of soft, and there's little worse than a soft shield. Thanks again. I don't really like cabbages myself, I think I'd almost prefer the shears!

.I'm not at my computer at the moment, so I'll post the next update later.Sorry for the delay.

IV

6th Last Seed - 3E 422

“Ow! Mind the arm, Lucius.” Anthony hissed as he collapsed onto his bed.
“Sorry.” It had been a long trip back from the Ayleid ruin, made longer by Anthony’s horse throwing a shoe and his constant groaning and hissing through his teeth.
Now it was long past midnight, the sun would be up in a few of hours and Lucius was exhausted.

“Alright. You’re here now.” Said Lucius, suppressing a yawn as he turned to leave.
“Wait. How am I supposed to get undressed?” He asked sheepishly, holding up his broken arm.
“No.” Lucius said simply.
“Why not? It’ not like we haven’t seen each other naked before.”
“Wha… what do you mean?” He asked, recoiling slightly.
“Well,” He said, sitting up in the bed. “I don’t know about what you‘ve seen, but I see you naked every now and again. Mostly in the baths. It’s not a big thing.” His face slowly broke into a grin as he realised what he had said. “No pun intended, but it was a fortunate accident.”
“It is a big… I mean, it’s important to me. You breeched my privacy.”
“It was a public bathhouse Lucius, what do you expect?” Anthony asked. “You’re so prudish; keeping the towel around you at all times. Not like Hadvar.” He added, throwing his good arm behind his head and leaning back.
“Hadvar is a Nord, he walks around naked every other day. What do you expect?”
“What has race go to do with it?” He asked, “He’s merely comfortable with his body.”
“So am I!” He protested. “I just want to keep it to myself.”
“Well, don’t get naked in public places. Now, are you going to take my clothes off? Or not?”
Lucius crossed his arms. “No.”
“Please?” He pushed himself up with his good arm and reached out to touch Lucius, green light swirling in his palm.
Lucius jumped back. “Don’t try the Voice of the Emperor with me or I‘ll break your other arm.”
“Missed. Damn.” He lay down again. “Well, I’ve used it now. Can you at least undo my belt?”
Lucius considered for a moment, “Fine.” He said. “But you can do the rest.”

---

6th Last Seed - 3E 422

“Let go of me! I’m innocent damn you!” The noisy Dunmer was being dragged along by three Imperial Guards. “I didn’t do it! It wasn’t me!” He managed to wrench free of one of the guards and punch another in the face. “I’ll kill you all-”
He was silenced by a punch to the gut by the third guard and dragged off towards the prison.

“Who’s that?” Lucius asked one of the many off duty guardsmen.
“Valen Dreth.” He said simply. “We’ve been hunting him for years.”
“What did he do?”
“You don’t want to know.” The guard shook his head and walked away.
Lucius shrugged and continued about his task of finding the appropriate authority who could tell him where a certain Captain Darius was stationed.
This district of the city wasn’t as busy as most others. The legionaries were probably in their barracks, only a few people were outside.
Lucius scanned the are for important looking buildings. The obvious one was the big tower in the middle of the area, but he knew that was the prison, and so dismissed it, instead, he decided to go to a three storey building on the west end of the district. He entered without knocking and found a few bureaucratic looking Imperials sitting at desks. The room was small and dimly lit, only a little light came through the small windows. There was a set of stairs to Lucius’ right, going upwards. And two doors to the left.
He approached the closest bureaucrat.

“Hello.” Lucius said.
“Yes? Can I help you?” The man asked. He was stout and almost bald but for a halo of grey hair.
“I’m looking for a Legionnaire, a Captain Darius.”
“First name?” He asked.
“I don’t know it.”
The man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Oh, Stendarr be praised for making my job so much easier.” He stood up and walked into another room.
Lucius began to wonder if he was coming back when he heard a scream of rage coming from that direction. He reached for his sword, but hesitated when nobody else showed any reaction.

He looked around the room again. There was a large map on the wall, it was faded and crumpled. And out of date; the year said 3E 370. The map showed the city of Sutch as being in Cyrodiil rather than Hammerfell. And the land between Leyawiin and Bravil, west of the Niben was shown as Elsweyrian. The map didn’t even feature the island of Solstheim.

The balding man came back, slightly red faced, carrying a very large book backed with red leather.
He slammed the book down on the desk and fell back onto his chair with a groan.
“There are three hundred and seventy people named Darius who are currently serving in the Legion. I suppose we should start going through the names now.”
“Wait a minute.” Interrupted Lucius, not wanting to be here all day. “Look for people who were stationed in High Rock in the year four-oh-seven.”
The man almost smiled and set to work on the book, transcribing names and information from the book to a sheet of paper.

After a few tense, uncomfortable minutes, the man seemed to have finished.
“Alright, there were three Darius’ stationed in High Rock that year.” He cleared his throat. “Eats-Like-Darius, Argonian, stationed at Fort Orcwatch in the Kingdom of Wayrest. Killed in Action 3E 408 while fighting Orcs.” The man looked up at Lucius, hopeful.
“I don’t think that’s him.”
“Okay… Cecillia Darius, Breton, stationed at-”
“No. He was a man.”
“Well, that only leaves Crassius Darius. Stationed in Wayrest…” He paused for a moment and cleared his throat. “Currently the General of the Twelfth Legion, garrisoning the island of Vvardenfell in the province of Morrowind.”
Lucius thought a moment. “Looks like I’m going to Vvardenfell then.”
He looked at the faded map on the wall, focusing on his destination - Morrowind.

I enjoyed the out of date map, with its reminders of how boundaries have changed over the years. So, after ruling out women and dead Argonians, Lucius has his Captain Darius – or at least knows where to find him. Looks like it’s off to Morrowind next, in search of a Legion General.

Yay, Morrowind! I like that place, it's got atmosphere. Sure, said atmosphere tries to choke you half the time, but those are details.

I also liked the deal with the clerk. It's a realistic and efficient way for Lucius to start his search.

Fair dues, this is brilliant!!...I'm loving it!...

It's a damned good story, well told and I lost count of the laugh out loud moments...Absloutely fair dues to you...

All the characters are fantastically written...

Loved the trawl through Vilverin...*Applauds*...Definately makes me miss Oblivion, I tell ya!!... ...

Looking forward to much more...

Well done!...

Nice one!!...

*Applauds heartily*...

Catching up on the last two chapters is done, and I enjoyed them a lot; the dive through Vilverin was great fun to read (saved by a box of cabbages; who'd have thought?!) but my favourite thing about these last two parts was the dialogue; it was snappy, fresh, funny and overall a very entertaining read indeed!

And now we're off to Morrowind, brilliant! I was enjoying this story a lot already, and the promise of going to visit one of the most exotic and atmospheric settings in the series has me very excited indeed.

Excellent work, and I'm looking forwards to more!