Kahreem was in rare form, clanking around in his Legion armor. He has all of the lines down perfectly!

Renee has a great attitude. I love her interactions with Owyn.

Thanks you all, and here is this week's story. I drank too much coffee while me and my family were out shopping yesterday, and wound up having a small panic attack. Coffee really is a drug, or rather caffeine is. Anyways, that happened 18 hours ago, but I still feel just a smidge of *something* going on with my head, like it blew a fuse or something, so no Kahreem this week. Creativity takes too much brain-power.

Here is another RG3. It is a journal update written by Haili, an Altmer mage added by CM Partners 2.0. Haili is the one in red, of course. It is now Frostfall 27, nearly 2 weeks after Renee's fight up above. Haili and Renee, and whoever is with them are apparently now very far from the Imperial City when this gets written.

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Frostfall 27, early afternoon

I feel so lucky! I have just been hired to follow a young adventuring lady! Her name is Renee Gyde, and she is from Skyrim, come to explore and do good deeds in the lands of Cyrodiil. She saw me, saw my skills with magical efforts, and I am hired!. No more standing around the Mage's Guild, no more Cheydinhal. I feel so free and alive to be out in the world! Finally! I must tell the others when I return.

Currently standing upon the crest of a mountain, somewhere above Cheydinhal, and am with another, a dark elf she found over at the Fighter's. Seems okay. We have boeth both been relegated to standing around outside of a mine known to the locals as 'rickety'. To get here, we had to climb the side of the mountain itself. Got attacked twice: once by a large wolf, and later by a lone bandit. We showed him! .a I was able to show my skills at conjuring and desturtinng both at once! I think Renee is pleaseed!

She wants us to wait here, me and the dunmer, and I am ever so grateful! Renee and the Khajiit have gone inside rickity. Oh, she also had a cat-lady with her. An archer. Found in Chorrol. Supposed to be an ace with a bow. Anyway the two of rthem have gone into the mine, and we are their reinforcements. In case things go wrong. T If such a thing happens, Renee and the cat lady will come BURSTING out of that mine, and I can utilize my hefty skills again! I hope this happens!

~Much later~

We have been underground now for ages! I have no idea how long, but it feels like a day has passed. But she chose me! Renee chose ME to accompany her into the depts of rickety mine. My magical skills plus her brawny sword-fighting make a great strategy indeed. All the bandtis have perished by our hands! Renee has given me four silver coins, worth 20 gold each! This is so much fun!

But. I do hope she awakes soon. I truely do. Am getting bored hanging around this cold, dark cave. How do the bandits and outlaws do it?

Haili sounds very ecstatic that she can share Renee's company. And his final question is very good, I wonder the same.

She's a little too enthusiastic, isn't she?

It's like, at first she's standing on a mountainside, left outside the cave instead of brought inside where all the action is, yet she's still gushing like she can't believe RG3 picked her. And then she finally gets paid: a measly 80 gold.

Middas 1:10 pm, Morning Star 2, 3rd Era Year 434

Level: 7
Bounty: 250
Playtime: 161:36:12

* Click *

It is early afternoon when Wilbur the Redguard, owner and proprietor of Anvil's Count's Arms, finally hears the sound he's been listening for.

crawwwk

After living in, working in, cleaning in, and simply being in this inn for so long, an inn which was specifically decorated in the 'Hammerfell way', Wilbur knew every sound his place could possibly emit. Every creak and every clack. And the one noise he had become most accustomed to listening for, after all these years, was the sound made by the door at the top of the second floor; the door which led to the guest's rooms.

Though he tried to hide his obsession, tried to bury his slight paranoia under blankets of hospitality, and talk about his fine wine collection, deep down inside Wilbur had one deep, dark secret: he did not trust anybody. Not a soul. Least of all his guests. Over the years, he had become almost subconsciously attuned to listening for the door above his head. Surely, most folk are nice, most folk just want a room for the night, to escape the harsh realities of the land of Cyrodiil, but that did not mean one must let his guard down. Oh no. Especially a Redguard like himself; a Redguard with everything he wants in life, all of which could be lost in an instant. All it might take was one quiet-footed guest with a daggar to end it all. It could happen at any time, and this was a fact which Wilbur had become keenly aware of, over the past few months.

There was no real harm in any of this, really. All of his guests, over all these years, had been completely hospitable, nothing to worry about. But this didn't mean that THE DAY would come, when he might need to defend himself, or die trying. Perfect example: that red-headed Nord who had been staying here not long ago. It was said she had singlehandedly gotten rid of that prostitute problem which had been occurring here in Anvil. A lot of guests had been talking about this. She had done a good service, and it was the talk of the town. Surely, she could not be anything for a Redguard like him to fear, right?

... But then, even a paladin-type such as she, a citizen who had quickly elevated herself within the eyes of the Umbranox family themselves, could not fully be trusted. A lot of people may have lauded the red-headed Nord for her success, but Wilbur had also paid attention to the few people who were telling a different story, a story in which the red-headed Nord (Dina? Dyna? ... ) had also taken her time to speak the 'prophet' -- that strange, old man who had recently began yelling and screaming in front of the chapel.

Now why would anybody speak to that loony, and not decry his silly words about lost relics and the general return of evil? Can't trust even a holy knight, such as she.



No matter, though. She had gone, just like many others, without a fuss. And now, with the sound of footsteps coming down his stairs, Wilbur springs from his desk, and rushes to the stairs, pasting a look on his face which he hopes looks ordinary.--not too gleeful, and certainly not worried. He hopes (as always) that the look on his face will not betray the feeling of concern which often bloomed inside, whenever one of his very own guests should begin his or her descent down his stairs.

"Hail, Redguard," says Wilbur's latest guest, a Redguard himself.

Wilbur says nothing in return, only stares.

The Redguard guest had shown up hours before, introducing himself as Kellzgard, or something, and plopped down 25 gold for a room. This Redguard had been wearing the full body armor set of an Imperial road soldier, yet now he was dressed in foppish russet felt. Of all the people Wilbur had rented rooms to lately, he trusted this Redguard the least. Who changes from a full armor suit, to the clothes of a dandy?

"Not very talkative, eh innkeeper? Not a problem. I will be on my way," 'Kellzgard' the Redguard says with a quick glance around the foyer. "Fine place you have here, I must say."

Wilbur says nothing in reply.

"Well. Off I go." Another glance around.

And off he went. As 'Kellzgard' the Redguard leaves the Count's Arms, Wilbur can't shake the feeling that the man had just been eyeing the very cheapest examples of his wine collection.





2:03 PM
The second day of the year 434 is cool and fair, as Kahreem of Weet decides he'll take a stroll through town, headed toward Anvil's castle. He appears nonchalant, but inside he's feeling that old excitement beginning to stir.

"What is it now?"
"Oh. Hullo."

He's also decided (finally) that it would be a really bad idea to keep wearing his guard's armor suit. By now, everyone in the castle could be talking about the strange Redguard who had suddenly appeared from a wall. If Dairihill had opened her mouth about this incident (and it was very likely she had ... who wouldn't?) then Kahreem's cover as a guard trying to get a writ signed for an errant Redguard was now blown.

So instead of heavy guard's armor, he's now wearing what he knows how to wear best: ordinary town clothes. Blending in, instead of standing out.

4:11 pm
The castle's music swirls all around as Kahreem approaches Countess Umbranox's court. He's hoping to see Dairihill, the Countess's steward, but she is nowhere to be found. As he approaches Umbranox, ready to lay out some concoction of a story he'd been thinking over the past 5 minutes, she (and one of her guards) abruptly decide to head up the stairs.

Kahreem rushes after them, hoping to have a word, but by the time he's at the top of the stairs, Umbranox and her protector have already left the room. It'll be useless to try to follow, since the door they depart through is quickly locked. Kahreem looks to one of the guards left standing in the court, and says "Guess Umbranox doesn't have time to hear some exciting news about her long-lost cousin." Kahreem shrugs.

"What?" sneers the guard.

"Oh yes. The countess's cousin has finally been found. Oh.. what? You didn't know she has a cousin? Neither did Uriel Septim himself, or the Arch Mage. Oh yes, I've been to see them all. I do get around quite a bit. They were all so excited to hear the good news."

"You talk such rot."

"Hah! Do I? Well you won't be saying that next week, when you hear about the golden room full of treasure Umbranox's cousin had been rescued from. Yeah, whoever would have thought? ... But of course a treasure room would be the perfect place to keep somebody captive. And that's where they found her, poor thing was starved half to death."

"Why do you bother me, go away!"

"Surely I will, your snide tone of voice notwithstanding. Maybe I'll deliver this important news to the lady later. Remember, you heard it from me first."

The guard has no reply to this. Not his business, nor his concern. But I know the smell of a slippery slaughterfish when I see one, thinks he.



3:44 pm
A few minutes later, and Kahreem of Weet walks by Orrin the smith without a word. No, he will NOT announce to anybody who might be listening that he and Orrin are Thieves Guild. Kahreem strides right by, walks down the red-carpeted hallway, then crouches down in front of the wine rack located across from the castle's secret door.

clop clop clop clop

"Aw Fokke!" he curses. No stealing of wine today.



As he turns round the corner, Orrin the smith turns and glares at Kahreem. "Oh, what? You don't sneak a little wine every now and again and again?" Kahreem whispers. "Look smith, this is Surilie's anyways. Tastes like shoe polish. Not my poison."

"Shadow hide you."

"Huh?" Kahreem says, now speaking in a lighter, much more fey tone of voice, and louder, so anybody listening in might hear him. "Oh no, no shadows in here can hide me, Orrin. This place is very well lit! Pleased to meet you. I am Kahroo-tay, I'm the new interior designer, hired to keep this place up-and-fabulous at all times, and I must say I completely applaud the lack of shadows in Castle Anvil. Well done, ordinary Orrin! Cleanest, most well-lit castle I have visited since my days in Hammerfell."

*rummmble...*

"Ohhhh hmm.. What is this? This pillar seems loose. Why, it's a door! .... Look at that! .. A door located right here in the wall, hidden from view," Kahreem's new, high-pitched voice announces.

"Ha! Very good, I salute you!"

"Oh shank you! This is amazing, sir Orrin. Look at those bare walls, beyond this hidden door, ha! Such a disgrace! But .. it's also an interior designer's dream come true! .... OH, I must take a peek inside. Maybe later, you and I can go flower-picking out on the Gold Coast! ... Just the two of us; the strapping young buck with an oh-so-handsome older man, oh, just pickture this! ... And maybe... heh maybe we can even bring those flowers back here, make this hallway nice and scrumptious and gay! ... Paint those walls, make them so pretty! Oh, I'm so excited! ... What do you think?"

"Shadow hide you," Orrin replies, not at all interested in going flower-picking, and interior decorating, with this tall-tale-telling lunatic.

I think it was great to include that bit about Wilbur in the beginning, seeing as he always follows you around like you were a common Thieves Guild representitive with hidden motives and a disguise







That last bit reminded me of that show Fab5 I watched when I just had gotten settled in in my apartment. Why did I watch it, you may or may not ask? I don´t know! It made me have nightmares!

Today's Kahreem session shall be live. Just like the old days. Let's see what happens next.



Middas, 9:12 pm
Morning Star 2, 3rd Era 434

Days Passed: 129



Music swirls all around. The Weet Bandit makes his way up a dark passageway, inches his way along, somewhere in the Umbranox castle. Stops. Listens. He thinks he hears footsteps coming from ahead. He focuses his hearing further. As well as he can with all this fokkinge music swirling around, anyways.

. ...But there is nobody. Nobody here. Why would there be? .. But one can never be too cautious.

"My ears playing tricks on me."

He creeps further, and comes to the door he had previously found, the one which leads straight into some sort of private housing area. Crouches in front of the door. And begins counting. "One-hundred .... ninety-nine ... ninety-eight..."


1:02 am

"..three....two...one.... zero. Okay, time to go. Um.... I am the new castle court jester who has lost his way. 'Where am I?'" he practices. "'I am sooo lost in this big, bad castle!' ... Okay okay yes that will work."

He pulls the pillar which opens the hidden door. Rummmm And steps out into the hallway where he had met Umbranox's stewardess the day before. Wow it is bright in here! Kahreem gets a feeling like he is naked for all to see. Quickly crouches down. Does not waste time. Goes straight to the door to his left, and begins his work. He is pretty sure he had seen Dairihill come out of this door, back when he met her here. He had been wearing a full guard's suit at the time, and she had come out of that door, and had been very surprised to see a fully-plated Redguard stepping out of her wall.

"So yeah, this has to be her room. Three tumblers. Must focus."

He is surprised by this lock. A three tumbler this deep inside the castle? Must be something important in there. He is suddenly glad that he was unable to procure (steal, actually...) a bottle of Cheap Wine earlier. This is not a time for sloppy, drunken attempts at lockpicking. He opens his kit, and selects a couple of pieces: a torsion pick to apply pressure on the tumblers, and a hook to attempt to move these tumblers into an unlocked state. Do it right, and the cylinder would rotate.

"Come on, give a kiss to daddy."

He bounces the first tumbler once. Twice. Three times. Tries to get a rhythm going. And hopes nobody is awake and can hear all this racket. Then again, the castle's droning music might very well block his ministrations.

Clclcl ... CLICK! "Got you!"

The first tumbler socks home. He bounces the second one a few times, trying to keep his rhythm, but also tries to place this one in place too early, breaking his hook. "Fokke!" But this is okay. Not only does he have 15 more picks left in his kit. He also is wise enough to know how not to have the first tumbler he picked fall back into a locked position.

Cclclcl CLICK!

It takes him two more minutes, during which he tries his best to not have his palms sweat, before he breaks in. Two minutes, and two more broken hooks. He finds himself in a cozy little room with a desk, a bookshelf, and one of those singing plants. Good. He is happy for the plant, and happy for the music. Plenty of noise to muffle his already-muffled footsteps. He closes the door behind him.



What am I doing?

For a moment, he can't remember, the energy is moving fast within his veins. Then he does remember. He goes for the desk. Gets behind its single drawer and pulls upon it. It is locked, but only by two tumblers. Piece of sweetcake. He is in on his first try, and finds what he is looking for. The letter with the list of candidates for Captain of the Guards in Anvil.

"Need to switch this around, somehow. Make it look like Hieronymus Lex is getting moved here. Get him out of the fokkinge waterfront. Yeah... yeah...."

He grabs this list, and also grabs 10 gold, and some sort of magical scroll. He'll be able to sell this scroll once he's back in Bravil, for sure.

"Hah!!! Yes!"

But then he gets greedy. How can he not, he's in a fokkinge castle. Goes for the next door in front of him, and this one is not locked. He goes inside. Looks to his right, and there's nothing of importance. Looks to his left, and finds a lady, who is sleeping. Probably Dairihill the stewardess. He checks his nerve, and he's got plenty to spare.

He goes for it. Crouches aside the lady, feels for her pockets. There's some gold in there, two keys, and a small booklet. All I want are those keys. He slips his fingers inside, feels their warmed, irony metals. Grabs one, grabs two...

"HELP HELP COME QUICK, WE'VE GOT A BURGULAR!!!"

"No milady, I'm the new court jester! I uh.... um..."

"HELLLP!" her voice is shrill. Dammit, everybody in the place is going to hear her!

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!"

"Oh noo.. Fokke!.... Not again...." Kahreem looks back to the door he initially picked, and cannot see anybody. Apparently, the guard is speaking through this door.

"Nobody breaks the law on MY WATCH! I'm confiscating your stolen goods. Now pay your fine, or it's off to jail."



"Hallo sir, I'm the new court jester! Seem to have lost my juggling balls though, can't seem to--uhhhhh--"

"THEN PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!"




2:25 am
The guard bursts through the door, and swings his silver sword! .. Kahreem takes a step back, but gets slashed because he has no room to maneuver. "HOOOO LAH!" He has no idea what is happening behind him--will Dairihil the Stewardess start swinging her fists like that fokkinge countess down in Leyawiin?? .. He does not stick around to find out.

The door behind him is still open, and before the guard can complete his second swing, the Redguard is through this door. Bolts down the hallway in a flash, and jumps into its wall! ... He turns around, looks back into the hall .... the guard and Dairihill have not reacted fast enough. They are not here yet. GREAT! He moves the pillar, which slides the wall into place, sealing him within this wall, and keeping the guard and stewardess out. While all of this is going on, Kahreem notices that the castle's music has changed. It's now angrily chanting, instead of droning along sappily.



He gathers his breath, and crouches slowly forward, while the noises behind him indicate that both people he had just fled are now very confused, as though they have no idea where he went. He hears a door open. Two sets of footsteps rushing all around. He can't help but giggle at their confusion. Apparently, Dairihill has not made the connection yet: there is a door in her stupid wall. If she is aware of this information, she never communicates this to the guard.

Kahreem smiles, and moves forward quickly in the dark. Finds the next door, and clambers through it. Rushes downstairs, and stands before Hidden Door #2. Then he begins to count.

"Fifty ... forty-nine .. forty-eight..... forty-seven...."

Things rarely go as planned when Kahreem visits some castle but otherwise we readers wouldn't be able to laugh. My favorite part this time is when the music starts angrily chanting, as if those plants detected that something is wrong in Castle Anvil.

I wonder if Kahreem ever thought about a career change ...?

Quote of the year!

I am tired this Loredas night. Busy weekend, including a speelover for my kid and a couple of her friends. Sleepover, not speelover. See? I can't even spell.

So without further ado, here is the next Renee Gade III story. katheem, I mean Kahreem, will return next weekend. The following is a journal entry written by one of Renee's followers, who goes by the name of Haili. Haili is the Altmer who wrote up the journal entry posted a few weeks ago, in which she was gushing about getting hired to follow RG3 around, even though RG3 left Haili behind during her first trip, and did not pay her much when she finally paid her.

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Turdas, Sun's Dusk 1

Today I travel with the group. Renne Gade d leading the way south. Am sad to report that one of us has perished. The Dunmer lady. The one from the Fighter's Guild was killed in a raid. Place called Sercen. Renee led us to this place, this small former temple of the Ayleids, and and inside a skirmish did co occur. I survifed, Creshna (the Khajiit arrowess) survifed. And Renee Gade, of course.

We are one stronger. A new woman, a burly Nord by hh name of Felricka is now with us. But the Dunmer has passed. I did not even know her name.

Tne Nordic woman, we found in a cave. Entombed by a wi/ Entombed by a witch of sorts. Renee and I disappeared for a span of time,, and wound up in the witch's contortions! A maze of sorts! Renne was stripped naked of all her possessions by this witch, a very powerful sort. I suppose the witch maybe thought she could make Renee die in such a place, all by her lonesome. But I was able to follow! Through my magic, I was able to presnt myself to the with witch's maze , an`d help Renee emerge back to the cave.

And along the way, as I said, we found the Nord, Felricka is her name, also stripped of her possessions. No weapon, no clothes, no food or drink. We freed her, and she's not bad at combat.

I would have preferred an elf, of course. -- Nords. So uncultured. And she cannot cast any magic, not even to heal herself of wounds! And she drinks. B`o ... Both she and Renee drink together, as we travel, almost daily, and even while delving. Wine, beers, ales. They have become fast friends in this way.

But enough of my rants, Felricka is god good with a blade, surely. This is all which matters.

Renee herself is just a step bove Felricka. Renne can at least cast some spells to compliment her sword-play. But she is uncouth. Untrained in other ways. She got sickly on our trip to Sercen; the poor woman knows not of the arts of bathing it seems, and diseases conttracted their way to sicken her. ***

We are resting now, having traveled south for hours now ... headed toward the Valus mountains. We are at some sort of old fort by the water. Renee says that nearby are some caves to explore, and in e one of them is a relic of sorts she is to return to a merchant in Bravil. So (Yes) I am to go to Bravil, hopefully.

Hours Later: Where did she go? Renee brought us all in here ages ago, and then left us all alone! .. She'ss clearing the place hersefl! Madness! "I will come back for you if I need you" That is just what she said to us,the three of us. The cat-lady was needed to pick ONE lock, and I have yet to cast a spell, and take down anybody with my skills!

And the drinking. Renee Gade, great warrior adventueress from Skyrim, is drinking as she delves! I could smell the b alcohol on her breath last time I and she spoke! Tamika's in her hand, as if she is going to a dinner party or soiree, not deep in some old imperial fort.

Oh, I do hope she has survived. Is dark in here!

~Haili

I can picture Haili writing in the dark, it's no wonder she made mistakes and spelled Felrika differently a few times.

So we find out that Renee is quite the alcohol-lover through Haili's eyes who doesn't seem to agree with her habit.

Great fun to read Haili's account of the Renee Gade girl gang as they drink and 'venture into dark places.

Yes, I like how we learn of RG3's alcoholism through the eyes of another, and that she disapproves of the way her boss goes 'delving' while drunk sometimes. Renee can actually handle her alcohol though; it's rare that she gets drunk enough to see blurry & fall. Haili does not know this though.

As you will see, there are a couple more Haili updates, then all the sudden they just end. I don't remember what happened to her; I wrote her updates way back in the summer or fall of 2014.

Morning Star 3, 3rd Era 434, 5:50 am

Days Passed: 130
Days Jailed: 29

Bounty: 275
Fame: 0
Infamy: 16


The door before him opens. Kahreem of Weet is now free to pass through.

He has gotten away with it! He has stolen the letter from Dairihill, Steward of the Umbranox clan, the letter which will eventually (somehow) have Hieronymus Lex's name on it is now in his almond-colored hands. And he feels as if the guards up there, at the top of Anvil's castle, probably won't communicate as quickly with the guards located on the castle's bottom level. But he crouches down anyways, as the hidden stone door he has just opened slides down. He crouches down and waits. Just to be sure.

"Heh heh. They were so confused about where I went!" says he, eyeing the crate full of Cheap Wine across the hall.


Earlier that evening

..."Where did that worthless Redguard go? I could have sworn he ran down the hall!"....

.... "He moved too quick. I did not see! ...."

"You were standing right here, he passed right by you!"...

*door slams*

...." I... I'm sorry milady. If I had only reacted sooner...."

"What do we pay you for, HE STOLE from me!! That blasted Redguard reached into my pockets and STOLE from me! .. And I said 'Help help come quick, we've got a burglar!" ....

"Don't you worry. I'll get him, if I have to tear apart this entire castle, stone by stone!"

... says the castle guard Kahreem had just slipped by. Five minutes later, this very same guard would be thinking of roasted boar meat, with a bottle of mead to wash it down with. Mmm, meat. .. That blasted Redguard? Somebody else's problem. Didn't he say he had just been hired by the castle? Maybe he was telling the truth about losing his juggling balls. Who cares, then? Certainly not this guard. Midnight dinner would soon be served, and there's no way THIS guard was going to miss it.

"Be seeing you," Dairihill dismisses.

"Goodbye."



7:10 am
The Weet Bandit creeps forward silently. He notices the castle's music has not changed now, for at least a few hours. It resonates peacefully as Kahreem creeps forward. Straight forward.

"Did the music really change?" he asks himself. "I could have sworn it did. When that guard showed up, it got all dramatic, and crashing. Ahh, no matter. 'Tis over now. And I see some of the cheapest of wine, straight before me. Hello cheapest of wines. Glad to meet you. My name's Kahreem." *CLINK!* "I'm Kahreem of Weet. You and I are going to get to know one another quite well, Cheapest of Wines." *CLINK* "Some people call me Vincent. And some call me Kellsgard." *CLINK* "Only you are going to know my true name. *CLINK*

With four bottles now clogging his nightsack, and many more still located in the rack before him, Kahreem believes it may just be possible to spend the entire rest of his days in Anvil stone-cold drunk. He stands fully now, grabbing a fifth bottle. *CLINK* This bottle does not go into his nightsack, instead it goes straight to its new home...

"URRP!"

.....within his belly. As the first blast of alcoholic warmth firmly entrenches his veins and mind, he now casually walks from the racks of wine, makes a left, and walks through the castle's smithy area. Somebody else is here, and awake, and eating some breakfast. Kahreem does not stop to see who.


8:55 AM

".... I don't have time for you..."

"... Why do you bother me?..."

Kahreem walks from the castle into town, smiling broadly. He has done it, once again, and he's got the proof in his pocket, and in his nightsack.

"....Hear me, o people of Cyrodiil! Look well upon the Chapel of Dibella. Look at the faces of the dead. This is your future..."

He glances to his right, where a man stands shouting, filling the area before the chapel with his words. Kahreem finds himself amused, unsure of what the man speaks of, but he is fun to watch. Funny to watch. He can't take his eyes off this man.

".....Eight And One require a champion, a Divine Crusader reborn. Pelinal Whitestrake once struck down the enemies of man and god. Who will now reclaim his Relics and fight again for the true faith? There are loremasters among you, heads so heavy with learning that you cannot raise your eyes to the heavens to see the truth there written! Cut eight-wise he was, Pelinal the Blamer, champion of Men, and though dispersed ...."

The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The air has a bit of a nip to it, but this is only because it's the month of Morning Star. Kahreem realizes his drunk is beginning to wane. Time for another bottle. The old guy who keeps shouting will be even funnier to watch, after a second bottle.

"STOP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM! Nobody breaks the law on MY WATCH?" *

"Wha--? What did I do, sir?"

"I'm confiscating your stolen goods, now PAY YOUR FINE, or it's off to jail."

"Jail, huh? Okay, but can we do this later? This man's pretty funny to watch. Look at him, he keeps shouting about some --"

"Then PAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

Kahreem acts fast. He already knows what he is going to do, and where he is going to go. He leaves the town, running through the door he just entered,. He runs back toward the castle. But before he can get there, he jumps off the bridge, splashing into the water. He cannot swim, but he crouches down into saltwater, letting it fill his shoes. He crouches. He waits.

"Nobody's coming. Phew. Gotta be more careful."

He gets out of the water, still crouched, letting the water dry out of his shoes.

"These shoes. My whole fokkinge get-up of clothes. No wonder that guard recognized me. Need new clothes, that's all. Maybe I can try to get back into town, then. All those other guards had no idea who I was. Yeah... slip back into town, get back to the Count's Arms, get a fokkinge room, and some new clothes. Maybe even dress back up as a guard again."

It is then that he comes up with another plan, another scheme. He remembers that there is a merchant located right on Anvil's docks. "Maybe I can go there, buy some clothes." ** He takes off his russet felt shoes, and tosses them into the water. They're ruined now, anyways. Then he goes for that second bottle of wine. and climbs upon the bank, drying off for a moment. "Can't stay too long here." He runs toward the docks, where the scene is mostly deserted of people. Good.

"Get out of here before you get hurt," says a Nord.

"Fokke!"

Recognized, already! Kahreem does not bother to reply further, he rushes by the Nord, trying to look casual, even though he is soaking wet and harried. No guards here. He looks, and finds the shop he had visited a day or two before. Lelles Quality Merchandise. Perfect. A moment later, he greets the Breton who runs the place.

"What can I get you?"

The Breton has lots of clothes, and even a cuirass of steel. Kahreem selects a blue &nd green townperson's outfit. Just four gold. When last seen, the Redguard who stole from the castle's steward was wearing russet felt he imagines they'll say. They won't be looking for a Redguard wearing blue and green, then.

"A pleasure to serve you.'

"If you don't mind, I'd like to leave my russet outfit by this fire. Dry it out a bit. Fell off the dock, as you can see. Lazy fellows with their stupid brooms. Tripped right over one, went right into the water, I say."

"Farewell."

Kahreem leaves the shop of Norbert Lelles, knowing he's not going to bother returning to collect his former clothing.



4:11 pm

"Please be generous, kind sir."

"Yeah. 'Generous'. Whatever beggar. Look, you know who I am, half the people in town probably do, by now. I need some advice. You're the eyes and ears of the underworld, right?"

"I can eat for a day with a single coin!"

"That's fine. Sure. Have a coin, beggar." *clink!* "Whatever it fokkinge takes."

"Thank you kind sir!"

"Okay, now knock off the act. I need some help. What am I to fokkinge do with this letter I stole? You know what I'm talking about, right? .... The letter from the castle's steward."

"I might know of one. Can you spare a few more coins?"

Kahreem grumbles, but offers up a handful. Really, it's no sweat. He still has hundreds left in his manpurse, but he grumbles anyways.

"That will do. Look for a man known only as the Stranger. He lives here in Anvil, near the Mage's Guild. He's out and about in the morning, so I would wait until afternoon or evening to go visit him."

"Gracious, you've been so kind and helpful, beggar. WHY YES, I HAVE HEARD SOME NEWS ABOUT THE OTHER PROVINCES. THE NORD WARRIORS OF SOLSTHEIM HAVE RAMPAGED THE IMPERIAL FORT. Something like that, anyways. GOOD BYE."

"Blessings of Akatosh upon ye."

"Mm hmm. Yeah. What-ever."

The Weet Bandit decides he won't head back to the Count's Arms. Instead he'll stay at a more ... dilapidated place, right here on the dock. "Flowing Bowl, eh?" He heads inside.

"What do we pay you for, HE STOLE from me!! That blasted Redguard reached into my pockets and STOLE from me! .. And I said 'Help help come quick, we've got a burglar!" ....

This is my favorite part of the story when she quotes herself!

Another LoL about the dialogue with the beggar and how Kahreem abruptly finishes the conversation with "Nords and the Imperial fort or something like that".

Yeah, that's true, she does quote herself! Lolz. I didn't even realize.

My fave part is the beggar at the end. Kahreem's sarcasm. As he was running around, I began thinking of playing GTA: Vice City, which I haven't played since (geez) 2007 or 8. I actually got a craving for some GTA!

Ooh! I had missed this Kahreem update!

Nice one, full of the usual adventures and cheap wine!

With four bottles now clogging his nightsack, and many more still located in the rack before him, Kahreem believes it may just be possible to spend the entire rest of his days in Anvil stone-cold drunk.

It’s great to have plans. Kahreem’s made-up news about the other provinces made me laugh.

Yeah, he is a nut, that's for sure. And that was an exciting gaming session too! I love it when he gets recognized and chased, and i have to react out of nowhere. This sort of thing never happens with (let's say) Saga or Renee).

Well, I'm really into Skyrim tonight, so I'll post an old RG3 update instead, which I wrote way back in August, according to a date stamp I'm seeing.. Two updates, actually.. These are the two remaining "Haili" journals. Haili is a typical Altmer mage who gets added by CM Partners, and she was with RG3 for a short while, writing a journal. I'm not sure what happened to her.



Fredas, Sun's Dusk 2

I am now located in the Imperial Bridge Inn, a cozy place right on the side of one of Cyrodiil's rivers. The locals tell me it is Sun's Dusk 2, as noted above. While I sit here bored out of my mind, the rain it does fall, while 'Princess' sleeps off her latest drunk.

Why... she fell ... FELL ... right in the MIDDLE OF THE ROAD as we are were walking here! Intoxicated beyond any scope imaginable. If it weren't for the occasional coin and treats she gives me, I'd high-tail right back to Cheydinhal!

I keep thinking that maybe and peraps perhaps there might be some other adventuring party I can join, with somebody much more sensible, but the trufth truth is, there aren't any others out here. I know this, as I have seen with my own eyes, as we travel all over Cyrodiil. Well, some argonians and khajiiti do some delving. They have their own groups. I don't want to join some beaast-folk though.

But Renee, she seems to know what she's doing, she just bookends her delving with moments of inebriation. . Even in the j midst of her latest stupor, she was certainly able to find this place. Her memory for such details as trees and rocks and other landmarks is certainlky better than mine, me being a town-living sort.

Guess I will stay here, untll princess awakes. What else have I got, really? Lurking around the Mage's guild in Cheydinhal? I should count myself lucky, I guess.

~Haiji



Morndas, Sun's Dusk 5

Finally back in civilization. This woman's mad! She's had us running all over Cyrodiil, only to find naught of what we needed. Not entirely her fault, I assume. Never did find the lost pick axe, or whatever that item was supposed to be she was looking for. Blimey.

Princess has been calling herself Renee Gade the Third as of late. Ludicrous, that she could be related to the famous mother and daughter from the Third Era, but she believes with all her hare heart that this is so. And who am I to judge? She gives me coint, and lots of it, after all.

I don't trust the Nord.* Something about her. Felrika by name. The one we found in the witch's cave. Just as much of a drunk as Princess, but I feel and an inherant trust towards Renee. Felrika? Something rubs me wrong. Plus, the two got into a couple wicked arguments on our last travils. Maybe Fel is even to blame for all of Renee's drunkeness.


~Later~

Princess has stuck us in some innn: the King and Queen Tavern, while she goes off to her lovely new home. She keeps bragging about it. Says it's right on the water across from the Waterfront, but that there isn't enough space for all of us there. Well , I suppose I should just be happy to have a room to sleep in, and adventure always awaits, of course. Despite all my rants and raves against her, I must say tht that I am living in the prime, for sure!

Another thing, on the subject of Princess. She does have some credibility to back her swaggery ways. It seems every other guard greets her here in the Imperial City. "How can I assist you champion?" they say. "All hail the champion ... of Cyrodiil!!" All because Renee has had some stupid luck in the Arena, apparently. A few wins, and the guards all know it. ** Must do wonders for the ego.

Tomorrow we go to Bruma. O-ho ho Bruma! Cold air!! Nipply skin! I cannot wait! But I hear the Mage's Guild has been refurbished to better quality lately. That will make it all worth the trouble, I hope.

~Haili

Turdas, 10:02 pm, Morning Star 3, 3rd Era 434

"I've heard many tales of Black Marsh, it sounds like a truly mysterious place."

"Take care...."

The Weet Bandit suddenly gets up from his seat woozily. He's been in the Flowing Bowl for hours now, sipping his favorite beverage, hiding from the law. He expects that maybe the one guard which had recognized him in Anvil earlier will suddenly walk in, attempting to arrest him on the spot. This moment never occurs, though.



It is night time outside. He leaves the Flowing Bowl, turns right, and walks up the dock toward Anvil's northwest entrance. A guard stands here, and good thing this guard does not seem to recognize the Redguard who casually strolls right by. He walks into the town of Anvil, doing his best to hide a sly smirk.


12:33 am

"Timothee LaRouche, late of the Black Dog, able seaman. I'll be staying ashore 'til my stash runs out, then it's off to sea once more."

"Mm hmm, sounds good, whatever."

So far, Kahreem's search for the man known simply as 'the stranger' has led nowhere.

"Marc Guliette, Mage's Guild Evoker, Advanced Instructor in the arts of destruction."

"Uh huh.. Marc Guilitte. Destruction." Kahreem knows he reeks of Cheap Wine, yet does not care. It's been hours since he's been to sleep.

"I greet you. Thauroon, Journeyman of the Mage's Guild."

"Ah fokke, Mage's Guild? I must be lost. Which way to the Bowling Flow. Whatever it's called?"

"Didier Aumilie, ship's clerk. At present, I'm spending my time and gold on the pleasures of the Gold Coast."

"FOKKE!"



Fredas, 8:02 pm
It is not until the next day, and many hours later, that Kahreem finally notices a dilapidated old house located behind the Mage's Guild. He enters this house, steals a piece of corn to nibble on, and finds a beer, which will hopefully cure his lack of alcohol over the past X hours, for all of his Cheap Wine is gone. For once, he thinks that he will never drink another drop of the stuff, as he makes himself comfortable in the rundown house he has located.



"You're bothering me," says a man who enters this house an hour later.

"Not as much as you're bothering me. This is my new home, Imperial. Bought it from the castle steward just hours ago."

"I ... am The Stranger. That is all you need to know. That, and I am no-one to be trifled with."

"Ha! The Stranger. Hey. Listen. I was just joking about owning this shack; why would I need this, when I've got my very own pirate ship? Well hey. Maybe you can do me a favor. See, I've got this ... um .... letter I'm supposed to deliver to Countess Umbranox. Something about a recommendation for a new guard captain, here in Anvil. Only, it seems the scribe screwed this letter up. Supposed to have Hieronymus Lex's name as the most qualified for the job, you see? .. But whoever wrote this has some other watch captain listed. Lex would be perfect for the job. Honorable, trustworthy, he's also got the very shiniest armor in all Cyrodiil. And has managed to fokkinge ... I mean fortunately ... revamped the entire Waterfront. No more beggars. No more skooma. No more.... anyways, have you got a quill? Perhaps you can even write Lex's name where it should be. My writing arm's kinda flabby, you see."

"Hmm. Yes, it can be done. I can change it to give Lex the highest recommendation. I'll need a full day to properly forge this letter. Return then. And of course..."

"... and of course...." Kahreem interrupts, knowing what he's going to say.

"... I will expect payment in full at that time."

"Payment? Well of course. As long as the job gets done. Now hurry up."

"It isn't done yet! Return to me a day from now, and it will be done."

"Jeez, it's forgery. I can sign that in no time, if my stupid sword arm wasn't so flabby. Well, I give you your day, and I will bring you coin."

"Be seeing you."

As Kahreem leaves The Stranger's wanton shack, and returns to the Count's Arms, he cannot help but notice all the glistening bottles of Cheap Wine located in Wilbur's wine racks. He's got all these cheaper wines, despite the fact that he claims to be a connoisseur of the better stuff.

Despite all the promises to himself never to touch another drop, Kahreem can't help but stare at the racks of wines before him.

Awesome that you keep up with the small images like that, Renee! I luvz it!

So Kahreem is getting some business done, finally? No more castle "exploring" on the drunk Nice snippet of Ms Gade´s adventures too from the eys of her follower

Thanks hon. To be honest, that story wasn't very inspired, but don't worry, the next one will be. I already know what Kahreem wants to do. This story merely sets up the events which will happen next time. He heh

It's a neat short story, my favorite part is where he's obviously lost in the guild hall and every mage tells him who they are and what they do for a living.

M'raaj-dar was supposed to be the first to go, but then Clive saw Telaendril asleep in her bed in the private quarters, and that was an opportunity he couldn't miss. She seemed to be the only one other than him that even left the Sanctuary, so he had to take her out while he had the chance. He slipped the hood over her head, then watched as the charge coursed through her body. She grunted lightly, as if in a dream, as she died.

He found M'raaj-dar in the training room, practicing spells. Now that he had found him, he wasn't sure of the best way to proceed - he didn't want to alert anyone else, so he didn't dare confront the furball directly. Then the decision was taken out of his hands when the loathsome Khajiit, remarkably, approached Clive and started stammering out some sycophantic nonsense about how he wanted to start over so they could be friends. Biting back his anger and letting his reflexive civility take over, Clive smiled at him and assured him that he'd be happy to start over. Oh and, by the way, you have some items for sale don't you? Yes - I'll take this spell, and this scroll, and... oh.... hey, are these poison apples? Ah - that's great! I'll take them all. Never know when they might come in handy, hmm?

Placated, M'raaj-dar turned back to practicing his spells. Clive waited a moment to be sure he was sufficiently involved in the spellcasting, then slipped one of the apples into his new friend's pocket. Then he walked away, humming softly.

He found Gogron in the main room, heading toward the training room as Clive was coming out. They chatted for a moment, or more accurately, Clive smiled and feigned listening as the lout grunted out some inanities, then slipped an apple into his pouch as they were parting.

Teinaava was in his customary chair outside the private quarters, but Clive knew the Argonian was keenly observant, and didn't want to run the risk of being caught, so he passed him by for the time. It was now midday, and Vicente should be asleep.

Sure enough, the wizened vampire was laid out on his "bed" when Clive got to his room. It took no time at all for the hood to do its job. Naturally, Vicente's corpse-like pallor didn't change when he truly became a corpse, but at least it seemed a bit more appropriate.

Humming under his breath again, he swung by the training room and found Gogron practicing on a dummy. He had to look a bit before he found M'raaj-dar's corpse, sprawled behind a bench on the other side of the training room. It was sort of a shame that he didn't get to see it, but immensely satisfying that it was done. Antoinetta was also there, training on another of the dummies, but Clive was waiting on her - her death was going to be special.

He went back out into the main room and saw that Teinaava was gone. On a hunch, he checked the private quarters, and just as he'd hoped, found him asleep. He briefly considered the hood, but was afraid that the wily Argonian would awaken and struggle, so he contented himself with slipping an apple into his pocket.

A couple of the coming deaths hadn't actually happened yet, but they were a sure thing. The only ones he hadn't dealt with yet were Antoinetta and Ocheeva, and he was saving them for later. It was time to sleep for a while.

After a refreshing few hours, Clive awoke and looked around the room. And what he saw made him very, very happy. Teinaava was slumped dead next to his bed, Gogron was slumped dead at the table in the corner, and Antoinetta was asleep. This was all he could've hoped for.

He wasn't sure when Antoinetta awoke. There just came a moment when he looked up at her face and found her looking back at him, her mouth working soundlessly behind the gag. He didn't know what she was saying, but he could guess. He knew she was a sadist, and surmised that, like many such, she was also, when so inclined, a masochist. Even through the pain, there was a part of her that was enjoying his ministrations, and had she been free to talk, she would've likely been begging him NOT to stop. That was the real reason for the gag - it wasn't so that she couldn't alert Ocheeva (the only other one left), but so that Clive wouldn't be subjected to her pleading, and that solely because he knew he'd want to give in to it. She was beautiful, and charming, and warped in a way that only he could understand, but he had to kill her. And to be honest, he knew that had he spared her - had they gone on together - the time would've come when he'd be in her position and she in his, and frankly, he was afraid of her. He didn't look back at her until he felt her thrashing start to subside. Hoping to see that glorious moment when the light went out in her eyes, he looked up, only to find her gaze locked on him - blazing with hatred, but leavened with disappointment and just a touch of triumph. He couldn't help it - he looked away, and only knew she was dead when her body convulsed a final time, then subsided.

He put aside thoughts of what could've been, and went in search of Ocheeva. It wasn't that he had any special plan for her death - he just wanted her to be the last, so she'd be truly alone in the end.

Unsurprisingly, she was in her room, at the table, reading. She seemed even more ill-at-ease than normal (Clive had never understood how someone so hesitant and timid had been placed in charge of the sanctuary in the first place). She hadn't stirred from the room, so she didn't know that the rest of the sanctuary was dead, but she had to have noticed, if only subconsciously, how quiet it was, and it obviously unsettled her.

It took a bit of time to put her enough at her ease that she went back to reading, but once she was again absorbed in her book, Clive slipped one of the apples into her pouch, then explicitly bid her "Farewell." He spent the next few hours reading in the chair that had been Teinaava's, and knew the very moment when Ocheeva died. Then he went to claim his reward, humming softly. It had been a very good day.

Renee - Fun to catch Haili’s perspective on RG3 – er, I mean Princess. Also fun to follow the Weet bandit as he meets half of Anvil looking for the Stranger.

Gpstr – Seems like Clive did a thorough job of cleaning house as he purified and cleansed the sanctuary. Those apples can sure come in handy!

Thorough indeed.

Clive's been interesting. He's really the only completely evil character I've ever played. I've got a few who are sort of evil, but even they generally have some streak of nobility or decency. Clive doesn't. The only qualities he has that serve to take a bit of the edge off of his evil are a desire for respect and a fair bit of cowardice. But those qualities don't make him any less inclined to evil - they just make him a bit more circumspect than he might be otherwise.

I've tried to describe him a number of times, but I don't think I've ever really communicated the full extent of his loathsomeness. I actually started out that post just writing the sort of update I usually write - a dry recitation of "went here, did that, saw this..." (storytelling really isn't my forte). But I could see that it was going to again fail to really communicate his nature, so I scrapped that and, since the bulk of it was the Purification, just wrote that bit.

And speaking of dry recitation - needing a bit of a break from Clive, I first worked on my incipient Altmer lass, but made no particular progress. I started her four times last night - once at the actual game beginning and three different variations from TUStartingOptions and none of them clicked. All I got out of it is that she's not at all interested in the MQ and I think she's going to have thin dark brows and dark hair.

So I switched to Ughoth gro-Sharam, the other Orc mage.

Some might remember Bogmok gro-Lob, my pitifully insecure Orc mage. I love Bogmok, but I can't really play him any more. He was a very early character and has a terrible build. He's level 19 at only 50-some hours, and he's just not the sort of character to be that high a level... at all, really, but certainly not so quickly. But I don't have any of his early saves, so I'm stuck with him like that. So about a year ago, I decided to try replaying him from scratch. I imported his face into a new save and started him from the sewer exit. And he just wasn't Bogmok. Not only did I not get that insecure vibe from him - I got exactly the opposite. This was an arrogant and determined Orc mage. So I had no real choice - I consoled him into an entirely different character, and Ughoth was born.

Ughoth is... a mage. That's it. He's not a Destruction mage or Illusion mage or Battlemage or mage/archer or mage/fighter or mage/anything. He's a mage, wholly and entirely. If it's magic and it'll help him out, he uses it. And he has one and exactly one goal - to be Arch-mage. That's it. He's a very centered and straightforward character, and a pleasure to play (particularly after Clive).

So... on the heels of that "one and exactly one goal" bit, he was actually most recently taking a bit of a break from the hectic affairs of the Mages Guild and was out tramping the West Weald to track down the Orrery parts for Bothiel. He's not much for roughing it though, so he just spent the days traveling, then teleported (fast traveled actually, but neither one of us pays that much attention to time, so it's the same thing more or less) back to Frostcrag to clean up and sleep. He started out the first two mornings from Anvil and the third from Chorrol, then when he got all the parts, delivered them to Bothiel by way of Frostcrag. That was in the morning, and he wanted to come back the next day and see the Orrery in action, so he had a day to kill. So he decided to deal with that Oblivion gate up the path a ways from Frostcrag.

Side note - he's not actually doing the MQ. I took him as far as delivering Martin to CRT, so 10 gates opened, then he just didn't follow Martin and Jauffre into CRT and I consoled it so that no more gates would open, so there were 10 open gates in his Cyrodiil (only five left now) and the Blades are presumably dealing with the Oblivion crisis.

That went easily. It was one of my least favorite Oblivion worlds - the one with three towers - two in front with a bridge between them and a third one between and behind them. Flip the switch at the top of one of the towers and it extends a bridge to the other, flip the switch in the other and it extends a bridge to the sigil tower. It's a short and easy world, but not much for loot. Ughoth handled it easily, using Command where possible to get the daedra to fight each other and a few different destruction spells where necessary. Then, satisfied, he went back to Frostcrag to sleep for the night, then teleported down to the AU in the morning. He checked out the Orrery, was suitably impressed with it (if not so much so with the power it granted him), then he met with the Arch-mage to get his next assignment, and is currently en route to Bruma, to see if he can find out why Jeanne hasn't been in contact lately.

I enjoyed reading about Clive's purification of the sanctuary. He had no qualms, I see, it's just something that had to be done. My favorite scene is when he wakes up and there are both Teeinava and Gogron dead. Got any pics of Clive?

Ughotgh the Orc mage sounds interesting because, firstly, he's an Orc and a mage at that, which is obviously an unusual combination, and secondly, because he knows exactly what he wants to become.

Clive

He's from a wealthy family but has frittered the last of the fortune away, which is why he's out in the world trying to profit from his murderous hobbies. He started out in upper class clothing - mostly the blue velvet outfit - but as he spent more time in the mages guild, he shifted to robes, and took a particular liking to that one. He was originally trying to convey the image of upper class gentleman, and has shifted to trying to convey the image of upper class gentleman mage. He wears gloves because he's prissy. That, and a bit too much focus on his image, is also the reason that he flatly refuses to even touch weapons or armor or tools of any sort, and mostly disdains destruction magic (though he has grown to have a bit of a fondness for some nice, clean shock - preferably at a distance). He relies almost entirely on conjuration and illusion, so he always has someone or something else doing the fighting for him, then he just watches. He particularly likes daedra - there's just something clean and straightforward about them.

Ah, so glad you have joined us gpster! Have some cake. Glad you are here, enjoy your stay!

Now it's time for my weekly episode, and this week I'm choosing Kahreem. This is going to be one of my 'live' roleplays; in other words I'll be gaming as I'm writing this. This method seems to work best with Kahreem stories.


Loredas, 9:34 am, Morning Star 5, 3rd Era 434

Level: 7
Class: Bandit

Days Passed: 132
Days Jailed: 29
Bounty: 275
Fame: 0
Infamy: 16



The rain it does fall, the sky it does storm, as Kahreem of Weet begins to fret. He stands in the rain undecided, not sure what to do. The man known only as 'The Stranger' has been tasked with forging a letter, and this letter will hopefully cause Hieronymus Lex to be forced to move to Anvil. But The Stranger requires an entire 24 hours to complete this forgery. So Kahreem stands undecided. What to do? ...what to do?

"Hello."

But then, he thinks he'll take a chance. He goes for it. Right back to Anvil's castle, even though there is one possible guard who might recognize him. What else has he got to fokkinge do?

"Don't worry Kahreem," he says to himself. "It will be all worth it. And even if you get caught, it's not like you'll have to go to jail for long."

He leaves Anvil by its southern exit, walks across the bridge, and enters the castle.

12:12 pm
Music swirls all around, once again, as he makes his way from the castle's lobby area into its smithy.

"I see you work for the Grey Fox."

"Hello Orrin. I don't know who this 'Grey Fox' is, I work for nobody. Say ... um.... stay right here, will you?"

"Shadow hide you."

"Mm hmm, sure. Shadows can hide me. My skin's pretty dark, after all."

He walks through the brightly-colored Smithy, down a short corridor, and ends up in the antechamber where he had 'discovered' a hidden wall. Once he is where he wants to be, he feels a slight disappointment.



"Fokke. Only two bottles left."

But it's no matter. He grabs these quickly, before Orrin the Smith can bust him. Even though Orrin says things like "shadow hide you" and "I see you work for the Grey Fox", he still can't be fully trusted. It takes Kahreem all of 4 seconds, to grab both bottles of Cheap Wine, before Orrin makes his way into the same antechamber Kahreem is in.

"Hello my Hammerfell brother. Ahhh, just came back here to make sure I closed this hidden, secret door which we both know about. Shouldn't leave this thing open. Might want to stock up on some of your wine here, too. I see an entire rack-ful has now gone empty."

Orrin says nothing, as the Weet Bandit walks away, trying as hard as he can not to laugh.

5:25 PM

"Hello good lady."

"Hail."

"What?"

"What's new with you?"

Kahreem finds himself back at Count's Arms. He rents a bed from the Redguard who runs the place, orders some boar's meat with a side of grapes, and sits down to have a drunken meal, all the while eyeing another rack of Cheap Wine, located across the room. He eyes this wine, and muses and wonders and plots.

"I saw a mudcrab by the water recently. I steered clear of them."

An Imperial male speaks with an elf lady of some sort. A complacent scene tonight in the Count's Arms.

"It's you. Hi," says the elf again, greeting somebody else.

"For someone who drinks so much," says a beast-folk male. "Hauls-ropes-faster is in peak physical condition. You could learn a lot from him."

As Kahreem savors his meal, thinking that food really does taste best when you're drunk, he becomes aware of the fact that the Redguard man who runs Count's Arms, Wilbur, is silently watching him.*

"He's an odd one," replies the elf lady. "Drinks like a fish, but runs like a rabbit."

"Allll-right then."

Kahreem finishes his meal, then decides to head upstairs to have a long, delicious sleep. As he dozes off, he continues to muse, plot, and wonder.



Sundas, 8:34 AM
He wakes many hours later. How long has he slept? He's not sure. But it's light outside. Obviously morning. Kahreem gets up, has some watermelon in an attempt to wake himself, then smiles when he looks in his nightsack.

"Ahhh, hello lovely."

He grabs the second bottle, the one which he had fetched out of Anvil's castle, and begins this day's love-affair with inebriation.

"That forger guy. The Ssstranger. Have to go sssee if he finished up his f-ffokkinge task."

He leaves Count's Arms, and walks up Anvil's causeway, making his way back to The Stranger's rundown hovel. It's raining hard outside, but then again, this is the month of Morning Star. Before entering The Stranger's residence, he gives a quick look over his shoulder, in an attempt to see if he's being followed. But nobody's on the street behind him. Only a fokkinge beggar.

"Good."



He enters the house, which is dark and gloomy inside.

"Don't interrupt me," says the Imperial forger.

"Interrupt? Hey, you said you needed one day to forge that letter. So, what gives?"



"Do you have my fee?"

Kahreem nods, and grabs for his manpurse. Shows the Stranger his gold, which is 472 pieces at the moment. And this (apparently) is not enough.

"What are you doing here?" the Stranger. "Come back when you have the money!"

The Redguard curses himself as he leaves the Stranger's home, cursing himself. How much money do I fokkinge need to please this guy? he asks himself, but then he thinks he knows the answer. An even 500 should do it, he thinks, which is just 28 more Septims than he has at the moment. But at least the job is done. The Stranger has lived up to his promise, apparently.

As Kahreem leaves the Stranger's place, drunk and saddened to think he's about to lose all his gold, he thinks of stealing the letter, instead of paying for it.

"NO. No fokkinge way am I going to steal from him, and then get caught, and fokkinge thrown out of the Thieves Guild. One of the guild rules clearly states I can't steal from another member. Fokke!"

He walks away fuming, not even knowing he's just done the right thing, for once.

Kahreem´s making progress!

So, a bit burnt out on all the psychological complexities of playing Clive and all the fiddling about of trying to figure out my new character(s), I switched for a while to one of my favorite newer characters - Mu-teel the Argonian killer. That's exactly what she is - just that simply. She's not "evil" per se - in fact, if anything, she leans a bit toward "good" - she's just, more than anything else, let's call it "practical." If a thing needs killing, she kills it. Just like that.

And Mu-teel was in need of a new bow (she was using a fine steel one) and I had happened on a nice bow by Nicorishi that I thought would fit her. So she had to go loot a dungeon and find a bow. The bow was placed in Squandered Mine, south of Cheydinhal, so she heard a rumor of a great treasure in Squandered Mine, and off she went.

She got there in the evening and first found a safe place up the hill a ways to sleep, then went in the next morning. It's a pretty good dungeon all in all - bandits mostly (and I guess it's a part of the Vampirism Cure quest, but that's not pertinent to her game). She had a fairly easy time of it - she's a stealth fighter and freely switches between a bow, a short sword and destruction magic (whatever serves her purposes at the time) and the bandits just weren't ready to deal with somebody as efficient as she is. And the bow was... almost perfect.

I then spent about an hour fiddling with the textures - redoing the handgrip and the trim on it so it matched the rest of her gear better - then when I was satisfied, she made her way back to the IC. She intended to enchant it, but the best soul she had was a Common one, and it seemed a shame to waste that bow with an 800 point enchantment, so she set it aside for the moment, then cast about for something else to do. She's only level 7 so there's not a lot of chance of her finding a better soul, but it is at least possible. She was going to have to do some exploring and just hope. She had taken the quest to recover Garridan's Tears for S'drassa, and that seemed like a good opportunity to cover a lot of ground, since it would take her up by Bruma first, then all the way down to Leyawiin. So that was what she did next.

The trip up was pleasant enough and she arrived at the cave at midday. Getting through the cave was pretty easy - rats and wolves - but the guardian at the Glade itself was a definite challenge. She's fast, but since she uses a short sword, she had to get a bit too close to it for her own liking and it hurt her a lot the couple of times it hit her. But she eventually killed it, healed herself, then started hunting around for the Tears.

While she was recovering some health after her first attempt to find the tears, and thus her first exposure to that bitter cold, I remembered that she hadn't repaired her gear after the fight. That then led me to realize that she hadn't checked the charge on her enchantments either, and it was only THAT that led me to realize that she'd just killed a Frost Atronach with a weapon enchanted for Soul Trap. So I looked and, sure enough, she had a greater soul trapped in Azura's Star. So her hunt for a better soul was over just like that, and all that remained was to find the Tears and beat it back to the IC to warm up, and she's now parked in the Chironasium, while I figure out what she's going to name her new bow. Then she's going to head out to Leyawiin.

You always have some interesting twists with yours, like your orc who wants to be a magician. I'll never forget him from that Shirnk's Couch thread I started long ago.

I've done Garridan's Tears maybe 3x over the years. It's one of the only times I switch from 3rd person view to 1st person, while combat is going on. 1st makes it easier to find those tears.

I want to ask you (or anybody else) if you know of any good quest mods. I've already got David Brasher's FG Quests, D. Brasher's MG Quests, Repetition, Bounty Hunter, and a few others. Most of these are Fetch or "Go Kill" quests, but I'm always hungry for more, within reason, especially for RG3's game, because RG3 rarely does vanilla quests, most of hers are mod-added.

She also has some Kvatch Rising quest in her journal, but so far this particular one does not fit her RP.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any good quest mods per se, but I haven't really looked for any, so that doesn't mean much. The only one I've tried out is Kragenir's Death Quest, and much though I loved the peripheral stuff (especially the new rumors for lots of otherwise meaningless NPCs), I just couldn't stand the fetch quests.

The best mod quests I have in my game are things that are included with landscape or village mods. For instance, UL Eastern Peaks adds a few good quests, UL Brena River Ravine has one truly excellent one and Arthmoor's Vergayun village adds a couple of good ones.

And yeah, I guess my characters tend to be quirky. That's what keeps me interested. I can't really get into a character until I figure out some "hook" into their personality. When I'm just starting one out, I'm watching closely for what makes them different - what stands out about them. And since I'm constantly watching for things like that, I pick up oddities along the way.

For instance, Mu-teel is pious. I still don't know which deity she worships, or if she's just sort of broadly reverent or what. It's just that, early on, she walked past a wayshrine and I did a quick mental check to see what she thought about it and decided that she felt something - that wayshrines/shrines/gods/whatever are important to her. Over time, I'll sort out how, and maybe even some amount of why, but for now, that's just a part of her personality that I've come to know. And that's the whole process for me - just building them up little bits at a time like that, until I "get to know" the character. And since it's a sort of organic and haphazard process, I tend to end up with characters who are odd and complex, but make some sort of internal sense.

And speaking of Mu-teel... She enchanted her new bow with the soul from the Frost Atronach from the Glade - 12 points of Frost, 11 points of Shock and 10 points of Fire, so it uses the Frost shaders, plus Soul Trap. She named it Palam-ji (just a word that I made up - her sword is named Otum-va).

Mu-teel trying out the new bow.

Heading out toward Leyawiin, before she even got to the turnoff for the Yellow Road, she found a 40th nirnroot, so had enough for the last and strongest elixir. So she made a detour to Skingrad instead. She fully explored the area while she was killing time dealing with Glarthir, so she just loafed around the Two Sisters Lodge until the elixir was ready, then left town back to the east, heading toward the low road that comes out near the Inn of Ill Omen. She encountered a Troll at the top of the hill, just above Derelict Mine (I was surprised to see one there), but other than that, the trip was uneventful. She spent the night at the Halfway Inn (the road and the inn are from Roads of Cyrodiil), then continued on the next day. When she came out on the Green Road, she went south a ways until she came to the turnoff for the lower Niben bridge (Roads of Cyrodiil as well), then she cut across there to get to the Yellow Road. That took her through the bare beginnings of the Cropsford settlement, and she discovered Crestbridge Camp and the settlers, and agreed to deal with the Goblins for them. That went incredibly easy - she chose to start at the lair in the closest cave and luckily enough, the stolen Totem head was in that cave. She continued on after she recovered it and almost immediately encountered that tribe's shaman and killed her, and that was that. She didn't even bother with the rest of the goblins - they just milled around aimlessly after the shaman was dead, so there was no point. She just left and gave the good news to the settlers. The only problem was that she then had to travel all the way back to the IC to offload loot. So it was now three days since she'd left the IC to go to Leyawiin, and here she was, in the IC.

So the next morning, she set out for Leyawiin again. This time is was straightforward - she left the Imperial Isle by the south bridge, went east to the Yellow Road, then turned off south and just walked (and fought bandits and wolves and the occasional boar). She stopped early that day so she could explore the rivers a bit, and spent the night at the Imperial Bridge Inn. She made it into Leyawiin the next afternoon, after discovering and stopping by Nocturnal's Shrine. She delivered the Tears, then tracked down the Eye and delivered it to Nocturnal and collected her reward, and is now parked on the road nearby. I haven't sorted out yet if she's going to head back north or go back to Leyawiin and look into this Orc who thinks she's a knight she heard about.

I call this the 'snowball' effect. For me, it's like rolling a snowball through powdery snow. As it rolls along, it keeps collecting more snow over time. I roll slowly. But Not too slowly. If I go too slow, I might forget some of the ideas I've come up with (the snow melts).

I like having at least some ideas going. I don't need pages of backstory, but I do need to have some ideas. Never been able to just create a new character with absolutely no idea of what they're about.

That is neat though. I've done the stereotypical thing plenty of times (Nord warrior, or Altmer mage, for instance) because my games are mostly dead-is-dead, and I want to see them survive, of course.

Mu-teel's tail is incredibly thick. Holy [censored]! .... I enjoy reading her tales.

I've got Cropsford Revival in Renee & Saga's game (because some of my others did this quest long ago on PS3), but I haven't seen the results of this mod yet.

Oh my gosh Renee, I love the way Kahreem finally “found” The Stranger!

gpstr, Clive’s Purification of the sanctuary was an entertaining read. I know what you mean about Ughoth being wholly and entirely a mage. That frost atronach soul was an excellent score for Mu-teel. I love how her armor protects her tail!

That tail armor is one of the reasons I created Mu-teel. That's one of Andragorn's armors (his original Sotonhorian). He's done three or four now that include Argonian tail armor, which I always thought was a great idea, but I hadn't played an armor-wearing Argonian before.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time with Mu-teel last night - I was mostly fiddling with Elenin and trying to sort out her game. I did take Mu-teel back to Leyawiin, where she did go talk to the Count and agree to sort out the business with Mazoga. She really liked Mazoga - they've got similar attitudes And she's now parked at White Stallion Lodge, and... I'm not sure what she's going to do next. I think she's going to just explore a bit and see what's out in the swamp.

I was coaxed back to Cheydinhal today to wrap things up there and move on toward Bravil. I’m in Darnand’s game slowly finishing his Mages Guild recommendations with NPC Jerric carrying the loot and luggage. I always forget how young and shiny Jerric looks in Cyrodiil.

They cut across a meadow out of sheer enjoyment of the spring day, and they walked straight into an Ayleid ruin. I left them at the door. Darnand is rubbing his hands together over the artifacts he imagines might be inside. Jerric is probably thinking about the boar meat in his pack, still warm from Darnand’s fire spell. I suspect they will have a picnic before they go inside.

Darnand rolled up his enchanted map, almost smiling in anticipation. Down slope he could see white arches and columns winking at him through the trees. Deer grazed in the far meadow. He trusted their calm almost as much as he would a life detection spell. The spring sun had warmed his head all morning, but now he wanted his hood. Its enchantment would sharpen his mind, which had the effect of fortifying his magicka.

Jerric clanked up beside him and dropped his pack on the ground. “This is an excellent skitting opportunity,” declared the Nord. “Keep watch or summon something, will ya?” He strode into the bushes without awaiting a reply, unbuckling as he went.

Darnand snorted. As if I would become distracted by… Say, I thought that statue depicted an Aedric spirit. Could it in fact be a warrior queen? He headed down the hill, hastily summoning a skeleton to watch Jerric’s back.

A few hours later when Darnand’s bowels turned to water he regretted missing his turn in the bushes. Deep in the Ayleid ruin he had darted down a corridor to escape a horde of zombies, skeletons, and mummies, when he discovered the resident lich.

Battle raged at his back as Jerric and Jerric’s frost atronach Ishckrihk defended Darnand’s position where they thought he remained in the corridor. Before his eyes in the room beyond, the lich turned and smiled.

Darnand flung his hand forward and tore a hole into the Void. As he drew his daedroth through it his magicka joined its animus, giving it form and substance. The lich summoned some sort of wraith.

Darnand did not cast a shield spell, hoping that his defensive spells already in effect would hold through the fight. Instead he cast Weakness to Magicka at the lich, following it rapidly with Weakness to Fire. As his daedroth closed with the wraith, the lich lowered her staff at Darnand.

He gambled again, casting fire at the lich instead of dodging. His spell blossomed into a glorious blaze around her. The blast from her staff sank over him like the burden of all the ground overhead, rooting his feet to the floor. His arm dropped to his side under its own weight. Stendarr, no. A weakness curse!

A cry sounded at his back, accompanied by the sound of shattering ice. Has he fallen? The skin crawled over Darnand’s unprotected back. Something big charged down the corridor toward him from the rear, but Darnand couldn’t wrench his feet up to turn around and look. The lich raised her withered claw and cast at him.

Shock energy deafened and half-blinded him, and the pain was too great to ignore. Something shoved him to the left hard enough to slide his feet across the stone and wedge him into the corner. The air ripped open with another summoning. Then Darnand’s view was filled with ice and Jerric.

He isn’t wearing his helmet, thought Darnand. I wonder…He shook himself. By the Nine, shock spells render one stupid.

Darnand readied his staff and sent fire blasts at the lich whenever he could get a clear shot. He spent his magicka casting healing spells at Jerric’s back. The Nord stayed right in front of him even after their summonings fell, casting shock spells rather than charging at the lich. Darnand lost track of the course of events in the hurricane of magicka.

Finally the lich fell. Her staff clattered to the floor.

Darnand and Jerric stood where they had fought, weapons still at the ready. Darnand thought that dripping sound might be their blood.

“My friend,” Darnand said to Jerric’s back, “once again your steadfast defense has saved my life. Though you must have wished to charge forward and shatter the lich with your blade, instead you demonstrated restraint and held by my side. Er, that is you held your position in front of me. The many times I have accused you of reckless impulse pluck at my conscience. Forgive me, my friend. I have misjudged you.”

“Uh,” Jerric said over his shoulder. He still faced into the room. “Yeah. About that… I, uh, can’t move my feet.”

Renee – Another adventure with the Wine Weet Bandit as he tries to get his forgery done while drinking Anvil dry.

Gpstr – Love the new bow! Any bow mod by the master Nicoroshi is a keeper.

Grits – How delightful to read another Darnand and Jerric adventure. I certainly remember Jerric’s frosty pal Itchicreek. Hmm, Darnand really needs to name that Daedroth – perhaps Daedalus? Darn, sounds like that lich was able to whack Jerric with a ‘concrete’s got your boot’ spell.

@gpstr - Mu-Teel chose very good names for her weapons, they fit the Argonian.

@Grits - great description of the battle with the lich. Jerric appeared just in time but the side effect of the fight seem to be that his foot got stuck.

Don't you just hate the Staff of Burden? It gets you just about every time, and it's useless as loot, because your enemies are never even close to being encumbered. Still, it's probably one of the least painful offensive spells anyone can cast at you.

Wasn't sure if the "something big" was Jerric or his cool friend, but since they both turned up, it didn't matter in the end.

I wasn’t sure what was coming up behind Darnand when it happened! That was as scared as I’ve ever been in a video game. I really thought Darnand was going to die, and while I would certainly reload, such an event is not without consequences. He was born under the Apprentice so it doesn’t take many shock spells to end him.

I was astonished when it seemed that follower Jerric had also been pinned in place by the lich’s staff, since I’ve found Burden to be pretty useless against NPCs. After the fight it made more sense. It was the rare version of the Staff of Weakness, which I’ve never seen before and had to look up to make sure some mod wasn’t adding enchanted loot to my game.

Darnand had been considering letting Jerric go back to Skyrim while he finished his Mages Guild business, since Jerric has been spending his days in the guild halls while Darnand does his quests. Now he’s definitely staying. They’re headed to Leyawiin, but it’s taking a long time since Darnand can’t resist poking around in the Ayleid ruins they pass.

Ahah! So it was a pesky staff, not the Ayleid Concrete monster.

I too have found burden and drain strength pretty useless against NPCs because they carry so little. One of Buffy’s fun things is to save the game, then pop into Umbra’s dungeon to try differing ways to take her sword without hurting her. We figured with all that heavy armor that rooting her in place via burden or drain strength might work. But nooooo as Buffy painfully found out. Umbra’s a master of heavy armor so it weighs nothing on her and her blade weighs nothing since it’s considered a quest item. We’ve found over the years that the very best way to ‘screw’ with an NPC without hurting them is drain speed. Buffy thinks of it as slowing their mind down to that of an empty soul gem, which explains why it ‘resets’ their AI and makes them forget they were just ‘attacked’. But our homemade quest of ‘take Umbra’s sword without hurting her’ is so much fun that we always reload the save from before entering the dungeon so we can do it again. And again.

Now, the times we have played it a little beyond that, we pretend that removing the sword from Umbra lifts the ‘curse’ and returns her to being nice Lenwin from Pells Gate. Buffy then deposits the sword in some Daedric lava somewhere to destroy it. Oh, here’s an ancient screenshot showing Umbra Lenwin without her helm.

Oooh!! That´s the beautiful and wonderful Buffy as I remember her!

Thanks for posting it, Acadian!

Jumping around a bit lately.

Mu-teel spent a while wandering Blackwood and dungeon-diving. A lot of necromancers out there, which really doesn't mean anything to her either way, except that they're easy to sneak kill and don't have much for loot. Now she's back in Leyawiin and at loose ends. She might go a bit further north and investigate some of the ruins up there.

Then I spent some time with Belladonna (and posted some pics from that on the screenshots thread). She was on her way out to recover the Dwemer artifacts for Bothiel, but went by way of Chorrol and got caught up in reclaiming Weatherleah for the Jemanes. Once that was dealt with, she continued out into the West Weald and is currently out there in the middle of nowhere.

Then I spent a little while with my new-ish Khajiit, C'mala. I haven't really gotten to know her yet, so we just wandered around the Imperial Isle. She's looking to be some sort of stealth spellsword, and she seems a bit quiet. She might have a dark secret.

Then I spent some time with Ughoth the Orc mage. He had recently been to Bruma to try to find out why Jeanne had fallen out of contact with the AU, and was pretty shaken up by that. The Archmage told him they needed a few days to sort things out, which was fine with him, since he could use a few days himself. He went back to Frostcrag, then teleported down to Bravil to look into some rumors he'd heard there. First he talked to Ursanne Loche and set about trying to track down her husband Aleron, which didn't work out so well, though at least he did settle the matter, and most decisively. Then he checked into the ghost that was rumored to appear at Bawmwatch Camp and that went quite well - he was relieved to be able to accomplish some unquestionable good. Then he spent a while exploring the river valleys, and is making his way back, on foot, to the IC, to check in at the AU and see what they've decided to do next.

And then I spent a while with Elenin the new Altmer, in the testinghall, just trying on stuff and thinking. I think I"m starting to get an idea for her.

Yes, you have been jumping around. That's quite a lot of jumping, in fact. I used to jump around like this with characters when I was on PS3, especially. I am curious about Elenin, too.

- - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Wowwwww crazy story there about Darnand & Jerric! Yeesh! I don't see any lichs in any of my games, (knock on plastic). Chances are RG3 will get there first, since her game uses all 7 Majors.

Anyways, that was a thrill to read

Good to see Buffy and Lenwin friendly and on the road. How very creative about "lifting her curse" and freeing her from hiding in Vindasel until her death.

double-post

Arrgh! Sorry!

I wrote this back in October. There is no in-game date on it, very unusual for me to slack on this info. Oh well. I am guessing this would be some time in Frostfall or Sun's Dusk of the 4th Era / Year 20, in RG3's world.

Anyways, this story is called The Bathhouse. It takes place inside the spa which gets added to the Market District by Better Cities.




"What do you need ... Champion?" .... "How can I assist you ... Champion?"

"Ugh. Spare it, I cannot take any more," says Renee Gade III to her Nord friend Felrika. "I mean, can you believe it? The way they carry on? .. You'd think I was the Hero of Kvatch, Savior of Bruma, defeater of Umaril, and Champion of Cyrodiil, all rolled into one. All I have done is won a few fights in the Arena, and they hail me like I am virtually the Tenth Divine."

Felrika the Nord has a laugh at that one. "So tell me... Champion....what are your plans for today?"

The two ladies, Renee and Felrika, had decided to spend some time relaxing, for a change. While adventuring, they had found themselves in a sort of niche when compared to others. They both love alcohol, and both love beating enemies with their giant weapons, but here in town, they are now exploring some other avenues of behavior. Life isn't all about gore, gold, and glory after all.

They had visited Palonira's place, where Renee bought herself an expensive new dress, a first for her. Not buying a dress, but spending so much gold on one.* She had never paid so much for an article of clothing, which has no protective properties, and might even be a burden during any sort of combat. But being in Cyrodiil these past three months? She was earning more gold than she had ever seen up in Skyrim.

And now they are here, located in the Market District, where they've decided to go for a warm soak in the Market's bath house. Bathing is a new thing for Renee, something she had become somewhat obsessed with, if she could spare the time. Not only does she find this activity relaxing, Haili (her elven mage follower) had explained to her that bathing is a good way to avoid disease. And during her last few weeks here in Cyrodiil, Renee had indeed become quite sick a few times, as she and her posse adventured around.

"I have been thinking, Fel."

"What's that?"

"I am thinking of doing another fight. In the Arena." Renee shrugs. "Not to increase my newfound 'fame', but for the thrill of it. You know, to really test my skills of combat, in a fixed and standard setting."

"My adventures pale in comparison to yours. So what's next, Conquestor of Skyrim? .. Or how about Usurper of all Tamriel? "

"Mmm kay, just keep carrying on like that, Felrika. Keep it up. Really a funny one, you are."

It is good to be here, Renee thinks, here in the safest town of all. Losing one of her companions (Cresha, a Khajiiti archer) had not been very fun. The moment had taken Renee by surprise; because after having Cresha around for just a few weeks, she had already found herself getting used to the fur-licker. Renee thinks back to when she had first hired Cresha. Had it been in Cheydinhal? ... she thinks so. Cresha and Haili had been hired on the same day, she thinks, but it's hard to be sure. It's all a big blur of alcohol, questing, delving, and more alcohol. Renee's initial thoughts on Cresha had been bland. She wanted an archer to help assist during battle from longer distances, but she had no idea how truly good the Khajiit would turn out to be. And she could pick locks, which saved Renee from bashing up her precious weapons on stubborn chests.

Sadly though, Cresha had fallen. And with her falling, Renee had gone into a funk. She couldn't go back to delving, not just now, anyways. She needed some time to get away from all that, or so she thought.

Now, soaking in warm water, Gabrielle nowhere to be seen, and Felrka teasing her on, Miss Gade begins to feel that old stirring again. Like she cannot wait to grab her sword of silver, and right some wrongs. The Arena seems the perfect place to do this. One against another, to the death. Zero chance of losing one of her friends in there, right?

"Alright Fel, soaking time is over. Come on. Let us go."

"It's ... it's YOU! ... the Hero of--"

"Oh SHUT UP."