Okay, I remember what I wanted to say all week.

So when I began her game last year, I used a console command to set the date. I wanted her game to start late in Frost Fall, and now I remember why. The following story corresponds to October 29, the real-life day and month I rolled Miss 'Prima.

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Her Day of Birth

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Fredas, 29th of Frostfall

Laprima awoke early in the morning from another dream. In this one she'd been riding a white horse, galloping across scrubby-looking plains. The air was misty. Soft rain drizzled from the sky. She was headed toward a cave, located somewhere near a river with lots of stones in it. Mountains in the distance, birds in the sky. As she approached the river and then the cave, the horse slowed from a gallop to a canter, then finally eased to a walk.

And why was she here? Because somewhere deep in the cave there was supposed to be a sheaf of papers. Prose or poetry, which was wanted by Viarmo the Headmaster.

Laprima was about to enter the cave when a voice interrupted. "I trust that you'll do the right thing, and enter Dead Man's Reach," spoke an emotively-trained alto voice. Laprima jumped. Viarmo had appeared out of thin air, it'd seemed. Somehow, he was now standing right next to her. "You need to convince aunt Elisif to allow us to burn the effigy of King Olaf!" he whined.

She was just about to follow through; she was actually on her way inside the wretched place. It was at that very moment when she woke up.

"Huhnk! Oh, dreadful," she spoke aloud, shaking her head at the thought of it.

As was her habit, she immediately grabbed for her journal, inked a quill, and began scrawling as much as she could recall. A horse.... a cave... misty air, overly-grey skies... She'd been keeping journals ever since she was eight. Each one was full of her wants, her dreams, a variety of drawings and doodles, and so on. These journals also helped her stay organized for school. One of the ways she did this was to pay strict attention to dates. Which day of the month it was, which day of the week, and so on.

"Fredas, twenty-ninth of Frost Fall..."

Suddenly she realized: today was her day of birth. Her twenty-first day of birth, in fact! -- And what should be done about this? Anything? Should there be some sort of gathering, some sort of observance later on, perhaps with Chamany, and all the court?

Laprima hadn't been in the habit of celebrating these sorts of things, not since she was a young child. Not since her brother disappeared, and the Darkness began to pervade her adolescent life. But with Sybille's good news about Elijah becoming more of a reality in her mind, she'd been experiencing a turn of positivity these past three days. Things had changed for the better.

Still, maybe it was too late to really do anything by now. How exactly did one celebrate an adult's day of birth, anyway? - For children there were games, there were amusements, there were magic tricks (which weren't always tricks). But how did grown folks go about this? Seemed like things of this sort needed more planning.

"Ach." Laprima dropped the whole matter. Began getting dressed for work. Looked toward her windows, and guessed morning was already half past. "Perhaps I should merely stride my way toward the Skeever."

And that's exactly what she did. Maybe later on when she found her man, both of them could share some festivities after her shift was over.





"Chamany!" Laprima nearly squealed, one hour later. "Is that you? - Uch, you frightened me!"

Laprima had just gotten to work. Ten minutes before she'd been at the clothing store across the aveneue, where she purchased a spectacularly functional outfit fit for an alewife. Her new dress was composed of an auburn-colored bodice made from hand-stretched fleece, olive-green under-tunic, and a burgundy skirt. She'd put these clothings on, headed into the Skeever. Realized she needed to a place to store the original clothes she'd worn. Where could this be?

She headed into the Skeever's cellar, found a chest she could use, turned around...





"Well wha--" she stammered, blinking, truly stunned. "Why are you milling about down here, mon amour?"

He was wearing clothes she'd never seen before.

"Eh, yes. I am sorry to have made disturbed you," he said quietly, standing very still. "Many pardons."

"'Tis alright," she jittered. "I just. Well, why are you..."

"Oh," he said, interrupting her. "I have this to say. This is, I have found for us a nightstand, as you have request from two days ago. It shall be delivered as this afternoon."

"You have found for us a nightstand," Laprima replied while putting her arms into the air, gesturing, confused.

Her man smiled, pleased at himself for remembering to inform her perhaps, while Laprima stashed the clothes she'd originally worn into the chest she'd found. She then turned. Stared at him, hand on hip. Expecting more.

"Listen," he started quietly. "The Skeever, it is a good place. No? A place where many can make show, and have oneself some good times. One can be oneself in the crowd, so to say, in the Winking Skeever."

"I ... well. Surely." She continued to stare. Expecting him to continue. Above them, Lisette the bard began strumming her lute while singing softly, warming her voice for the afternoon to come.

Chamany smiled. "Perhaps you'd better rise to the upstairs," he whispered.

"Chamany? What's this about? Why are you... I... well I do not understand."

Her fiancé made no reply at first. "Perhaps you'd better rise to the upstairs."

The barmaid slowly nodded. Decided to do just that. As she did so; as she climbed one flight of stairs and then the next, it was as though the awkward scene of a playwright's story transpired to a pleasant, more familiar one. Laprima walked from the stairs to the tavern's proper serving area. Spoke to Barre Bakkh, obtained her daily tally-sheet. And was ready to begin her day. She strode across the floor, forgetting about her beau for now. A lady with light-colored hair was seated nearby. Time to get to work.

"Morning. Might I get anything for ye, dear?"

"My name's Gisli, but you can just call me Erikur's sister. Everyone does."

Laprima addressed her first customer, the same snob from Radiant Raiments who'd been here the day before. Seems Gisli was, unfortunately, one of the regulars. Laprima approached the snob with just a wee bit of apprehension. Here we go.

"May I get you anything?" she repeated.

"Ugh, can'tcha see I'm busy, wench!"

Other than this frightful moment, the rest of her second day of work passed by smoothly. Today was slower than it'd been the day before. For hours, nobody new came into the Skeever on Frost Fall the twenty-ninth, despite it being a Fredas. Hmm, Fredas. Did many folks not end their work-week on this very day? - Laprima thought so. So where was everybody? After a few hours of sauntering about, the barmaid finally sat down to give her feet a rest.

"Perhaps it's the weather," Barre Bakkh opined, even though the day was sunny outside.

At some point after more hours had passed, Miss Donnaugh realized two things. Firstly, she'd completely forgotten today was her day of birth. Secondly, she'd also forgotten about Chamany, her man, still down in the cellar. Though she hadn't been paying full attention throughout her shift, never did she see him come upstairs.

Laprima finished her shift with not quite the same enthusiasm as the day before. She served her last customer, an elderly Nord, and received the day's compensation. Headed downstairs to retrieve her morning outfit, wondering why her man hadn't been up to claim a table. Wondered what he'd been doing down here in the first place, apparently for the entire day.

She walked back to the chest where she'd stashed her clothes.

Chamany LaCroix was no longer here.

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

Our protagonist, taking a break

Laprima's workmates, gossiping on a slow day

Gisli, also known as Erikur's Sister (which everyone calls her)
.

Laprima is having literal dreams of being an adventurer. The funny thing is January literally just did this quest last night. I wonder if Laprima will ever make her dreams come true? Or will she be a regular Tamrielite like Daria?

Fredas always makes me think of Fred Flintstone...

I still don't trust Chamany. He already used Laprima as an unwitting drug mule. He has a habit of just disappearing and reappearing. He reminds me of the RL Carlos the Jackal. He was a terrorist who had girlfriends all through Europe, and hid guns and explosives at their houses without their knowledge.

She is looking nice and colorful in her new outift. As the kids today say, it really pops.

Sounds like Laprima might have use of Belrand's services after all.

Chamany might be a wizard, for all we know. Adept at teleportation...

That bard quest just keeps resurfacing in Laprima’s thoughts. Somehow, I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that quest or the effigy burning of King Olaf.

And happy twenty first birthday!

Off to work she goes and into a lovely new tavern dress. And in the basement of the tavern she finds its namesake – the skeever called Chamany. At this point, I’m hoping LPD wises up and gets rid of that guy – he reeks of trouble.

I guess I've been waiting for that moment since the 1st story.

One more story to catch up on, then I'm back on the trail.

Isn't that always the way? Right when you've started settling into your new role, in comes someone from your past to mess it up. Granted, Chamany's not exactly from Laprima's past, but it feels the same: something from her old life messing up her present.

There's simply no way that Laprima can afford to trust Chamany. I just hope she realizes this before she gets even deeper into trouble.

Don't trust a man who doesn't even remember the birthday of his supposedly loved one!

The funny thing is, Chamany appearing down in the basement was a random thing. No quests at all. He's got some AI which makes him wander around, but not specfically into the basement. NPCs don't usually go down there. It surprised me just as much as it surprised my gal.


@Rosa-- Same thing with Teresa, eh? I read some Teresa of the Faint Smile last night, learned that she eventually began doing Umbacano's quests. Not to get rich, but so she could afford a house for Simplicia. And because of that, that's how she eventually became involved with adventuring.

Chamany certainly is based on some of the many nefarious men who live double-lives, but the good thing is he's not a womanizer. No girlfriends all over the place. Not sure I could write about something like that. Already too much of that as it is.

Yeah, mod-added outfits are always great to explore. So much fun. I haven't even gotten to ghastley's trove yet.


@Lena-- She might hire Belrand in the future, who knows? See, part of this story is random. We follow our character's wishes to an extent, and then use our mod ideas to structure the things which surround them.

Cham's a wizard, all right! Not in this sort of way, though.


@Paladin! -- Thanks! I almost missed the in-game date, too, yikes I would've been mad if that one got by.

As stated, Cham appearing down there was not a planned thing. All of that happened as I was merely gaming with my gal. She wanted a place to hide her dress, and next thing you know, her guy was standing right there. Stuff like that has to go into the story, in fact it added an extra, unexpected chapter.


@Scoundrel-- Elisif won't be playing as much a role now that they've smashed heads. She will appear later on in the story, but not in the same way. Relief, eh?

Are you sure he forgot her bday? 🍰


@Clav-- Oh yeah, she's definitely losing her trust in her man, but hold that thought.

This next chapter... I don't know what you all are going to think of it. Sort of nervous, actually.

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Cannot Return to Past Ways

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Her second day ever of work should've been followed by the same simple feelings of accomplishment as the first. The day before, she'd been satisfied. She'd been proud.

But tonight, Laprima stood in the Winking Skeever's cellar, a mixture of befuddlement and ire overcoming. Because of Chamany. Who exactly was Chamany LaCroix, other than a former student, turned smuggler? -- Just four days ago, he promised he'd given up his former ways, now that both of them had lots of coin stashed. So what was he doing, skulking down here earlier? And why had his answers been so vague the other night, when she asked him how he'd been filling his days?

Part of her was feeling as though perhaps she'd committed an enormous blunder. Coming here, coming to Skyrim, that is. She'd been the daft one, falling for a man whom she thought she'd known well. Had journeying to this strange, cold land been the right thing to do? Every single day in Solitude so far, the man she loved was becoming more of a paradox.

Upstairs, some sort of commotion was going on. Lots of shoes and boots had moved onto the floor above, stomp! clomp! clump! It had been slow all day; perhaps now was the time when the place got busier. Well, of course it got busier. Everyone was done with their workdays, by this hour. The dock-workers, the shopkeepers, those who ran the smith, maybe a town guard or two, maybe Falk Firebeard, maybe even the town beggar, all of them would be here, celebrating the end of another week of toil.

She wiped a set of tears from her eyes as she packed her belongings. Began climbing the stairs, fuming. Saw herself quickly pacing across the floor so she could exit the tavern, avoiding eye contact, avoiding direct conversation. If she did it right, she'd be out the door and back at the palace, where she'd hopefully find Chamany. Then they could talk. Then, she would confront him. About all of this. Whatever 'this' is.

She walked from the stairs to the tavern's serving area.







"What--??"

She was surrounded. Chamany was here, and so was his near-twin Barre Bakkh. Corpulus Vinius thrust a mug full of drink into her hand, while Laprima's jaw went slack and she nearly dropped her bag.

"This is for your day of birth," her fiancé said with a wink. He gave her a small gift box while the tavern's inhabitants whooped and hollered.

"Drats. You trickster!"

So this is what he'd been up to earlier, Laprima assumed.

As the tavern's floor filled with patrons, Lisette the bard began singing and playing. Over half the place dallied around. There were ladies, there were gents, commoners and patricians, pantaloons and skirts, those who'd lost, and those who'd prospered, there was even a young child seen joining the grownups' merriment. Some of these folks were strangers, others were those Laprima served earlier in the day. Everyone, dancing! Everyone, smiling! - Even Gisli the snob was present. Although the bitter woman who'd previously slighted Miss Donnaugh remained in her seat, she had a slick smile on her face while doing so, as though she was amused.





Their revelry lasted an hour or so. Laprima, unsure how to celebrate her own day, became tipsy with drink. What a surprise! And her beau somehow managed to plan all of this without her knowing. Lady Donnaugh, she'd never felt such joy, not during any of her young-adult life thus far, anyway. Her previous doubts and worries, pushed aside.

But no one's day of birth lasts forever. As the partygoers began to head home one after the other, eventually Laprima and Chamany followed suit, wavering a bit on their feet while their imbibements swirled.

As they walked back to the palace, a lone figure watched, quietly from the shadows. "Curses!"

The woman they'd seen the night before, the same one who was currently engaged to Chamany, that blasted, pompous ass who'd started this all, was not walking home alone. In fact, Chamany was here, right there with her.

"I shall have to wait another night," the shadowy figure grumbled in anger.




Loredas, Frost Fall 30

Laprima awoke the next morning to find her man milling about their bedroom.

"Lovely," Laprima began. "Such a night of feasting did you and I partake, eh?" She yawned. Still lying in bed, she noticed her head had that same feeling she'd experienced long ago, when she and her ladyfriends back home would sneak liquor from her father's libations cabinet. Despite this, she was already looking forward to her day.

And what should she do on this day, this Loredas day? Corpulus had told her she could take the entire weekend off if she wanted; the Skeever already had someone who could handle the floor during weekends. So, perhaps she and Chamany could spend their time walking about town, taking in its flourishing sights.

"What shall we do today, dear? And I ask this while considering one word of caution. Which is to say, no more spirits!"

Chamany was still wearing the same strange clothings he'd worn the day before, but had added a leather-colored hood atop of his head. "Laprima," he said.

"Aye, I am she."

He sat upon one of their chairs across their room. "Laprima. I need for you to me, listen."

The hood he was wearing hung a bit over his eyes, so that she could mainly see the lower half of his face. Despite their previous night night of festivity, there was now an aura of seriousness about him.

"Alright." She got out of bed, and took a seat as well. Ironically, it was this moment when Laprima noticed the nightstand he'd promised four days ago. It was here, placed next to her main dresser.

"I need for you to me listen, Laprima. Is very important. A task for you, you can say."

"A ...task?" She shook her head left, then right. Immediately saw where this was going. "Chamany. If the thought you are grappling in any way involves skooma..."

"Oh no. No skooma," he wagged, placing three fingers to his lips. "I need for you to do something. Mm, we need for you to help."

His voice was slow. Chamany LaCroix looked tired, as though he hadn't just slept next to her for the past eight hours or so.

"Now keep you must know," he continued. "That this is just for the once. We need for you to ... eh... how you say? - Déverrouiller une porte. To make pick for a lock. I should say ... we should say, that we need for you to make pick a lock."

"Make pick a lock? - You wish for me to pick a lock?"

"Yes, yes. And just for the once. You pick a lock for me, eh? And just for the once time. In days before you come here to Skyrim, you have pick for lock in the jewels store, down in Cyrodiil, yes? Se souvenir. And now, we need for you to pick for one lock here in the Solitude, as well."

"I ... shall ... not!" she nearly shouted, a slip of anger presenting. "Chamany! I shall do no such thing!" She grabbed an apple off the table. "I cannot return to my past ways, particularly as per my standing now with Elisif."

"Yes," he replied. "This is what I think you will say. I know as this, Laprima. But before you give up to make pick one lock, I must show you something."

He handed her a heavy object, which she (at first) wanted to throw across the room, where it would shatter upon the nearest wall. But then, her eyes turned downward, if only to see what it was she'd be throwing, and shattering.

It was a crystal goblet, bluish-white in color, its glazing somewhat translucent. Although she now held a vessel which was designed to contain drink, right away she guessed this one had never done so. She passed it from one hand to the other, unsure of what exactly she was holding. As she did so, she could feel its magic, frisking astir within her palms.

"Please look, into the cup," he suggested.

Laprima rose from her seat, staring at Chamany as though she didn't know him. Who, pray-tell, is this sodden husband-to-be of mine? Perhaps now was the time to have that talk she'd mulled the night before.

After a few moments though, she obliged. Gazed into the crystal. And what she saw caused a look of stunning and then horror to flash across her face.

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Dancing and Feasting

"You want me to pick a lock?"

Gazing into the crystal
.

Opa! We have that here in Detroit at the Greek Coney Islands.

Party in the Skeever! Happy B-day Prima!

Uh oh, The Shadow Man is lurking in the... well... shadows. Probably some underworld contact of Cham's, or a rival.

It looks like Cham has his thieving outfit on.

Yep. Just when she thinks she is out, they pull her back in.

Great going, Renee! And ending on a cliffhanger... I won't be gossiping until it's clear what is going on!

Well the party at the Skeever was a pleasant enough surprise, but not enough to redeem Skeever LaCroix.

Uh-oh, a mysterious stranger. . . this can't be good.

And sure enough, Chamany is trying to coax LPD into more crime. What does the lock he wants her to pick protect? What magic animates that goblet and what is it showing LPD?

Oooo, sorry! About the cliff-hanger that is. Two in a row, in fact.

Problem is, the next part of the story's going to require I stay with it for a while, which definitely would've made this week's chapter too long, so it had to get broken up. Some of the chapters so far have been longer ones, and I don't want to seem indulgent as we move forward.

Thanks for the feedback, at least.

I didn't mean it as criticism, actually. Cliff-hangers are allowed! It is a valid way to keep your readers bound to your story! I do it all the time... Well, may be not all the time, but from time to time for sure.

Honestly I was more worried about the fact that Chamany tricked her, which caused a huge dovetail in the story with the party and all. I thought some of you would be upset about that!

I was, still am. I felt her hurt of being forgotten. I felt her elation at being remembered with the party in her honor. Yet, I know that once the euphoria of the party is over in a day or two the pain of the cruel prank will return. I never spoke to several of the conspirators again.

Oh, oh. Chamany is at it again. Don't you just love drinking from the Cup of Destiny

As some of you may've noticed in that last story, I finally got an animation mod, which I think 'Rosa recommended a while ago: Puppeteer Master. It was last updated in 2012, and it's a little clunkier to use than Actor's Ball for Oblivion, but at least it does work. There was another mod I tried called Universal Poses which for some reason just couldn't figure out.

The "party" pics took close to an hour to arrange. Because I had to use Amazing Follower Tweaks to make each NPC a follower, lead them to the dance floor, wait until they weren't staring at some wall or whatever, use Puppeteer to make them pose (this means using the "Shout" button while aiming at the NPC, and then quickly going into Laprima's Apparel menu to select the NPC icon), and then finally use the TAI console command to freeze each one in place. After all that sometimes frustrating work, I only took two screenshots! Wish I'd gotten more.

I also wanted to find something which adds crystal balls into Skyrim so Laprima could gaze into that. Couldn't find any, though. Puppeteer has a pose which for some reason has the PC holding a goblet. 🍵

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SR: Again, quite funny that both our stories last week had parties in them. Totally unplanned, too. Just think of the odds.

"It looks like Cham has his thieving outfit on."

Funny thing about his outfits is recently I've figured out how to make NPCs "change" their clothes. So the cool thing now is, every other time we see Chamany in the game he's wearing something different.

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LW: True that, cliffies do make the reader quipped for more. They can be frustrating too, I get it! Especially for TV shows we grew up watching (well... not you personally. I know you don't watch TV). The most famous from my childhood was "Who shot J.R.?" on the show Dallas.

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Ac: That party was a late idea, too. 🎈 🎂 I think I was at work and saw something which reminded me of something, and next thing you know WHOA what a great idea. One which has never been done in a Fiction, so far as I know.

Has Buffy ever celebrated her Bday in-game?

No magic in the goblet, really. That part was imagination.

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mc: Aw, such kind words, friend. Yes, birthdays can be a weird, emotional thing, even for some of us who are grownups. I have a friend for instance. If you call or text her on her bday she gets upset, and I mean, she's yelled at me before. If you don't contact her at all that's even worse!

Anyway, next story coming up soon.

.
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I am not a writer, I am a thief.

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"So dreadful, Chamany."

"Is not so easy as to watch," he replied. "I know this."

Laprima said nothing. Her fingers trembled a bit. Within the goblet's cup a series of visions were being magically displayed.

"She is very sick," Chamany replied. "And we need potion for to make her better. The medicine woman, Angeline, she has inside her shop this potion, of this we know, yes. But ... she no give to us potion. She no sell for us. And great coin is made to be given to her, made to offer. But still, Angeline says 'no'."

Laprima could not reply as of yet, even after the goblet's little picture-show ended. Chamany took the goblet from her hand. "So for us, you will do this? In her shop, you pick just one lock, please?"

Her plans for the day had not included this sudden request, of course. When she'd arisen that morning all she'd been looking forward to was spending the rest of the day with him. But after gazing into the cup and viewing what she'd seen...

"Well, I suppose I can assist," she answered with reluctance. "If all you mention is true. It is not right that the apothecary should be so hesitant to assist."

"Many thanks. You have our many thanks."

Laprima stayed silent. Lost in thought.

"Here for you are lockpicks," he said, handing over a small leather pouch. "And find somewhere within the Angeline's potion shop is a chest, which is hiding. You find, please."

Laprima was grinding her teeth softly. Little clicking noises emitted her aristocratic jaw.

Chamany reached into the pouch a second time. "The final piece is here," he said, handing her a small decanter filled with a green, glowing powder. "You must give to potions lady this, as she speaks to you. It shall for her... eh... make distraction. Because Angeline is owner of this shop, she like to follow all around if you try to walk from her, away. Oi? You understand?"

"I, well I am not so sure that I do."

"You give to potion lady this," he said, pointing to the bottle he'd handed her. "Is glowing dust, also of magic. It make for her distraction. And she no follow at you, all over potion shop."

Laprima nodded. "You are saying, if I give Angeline this bottle of glowing powder, she will not follow me all about her shop?"

"Aye, that."

Chamany reached into a pocket where he found some more lockpicks. Gave them to her. He explained that he'd found two unused (but locked) coin-boxes she could try to break into for practice, right here in the Blue Palace. Both of these boxes were located in a remote storage area in which hopefully, nobody would discover her as she practiced.

"And for you, are these."

He grabbed into the pouch once again, handed over a couple of books: Advances in Lockpicking and Proper Lock Design. "You can read, for study," he suggested. These were common books. Laprima'd already pored both of these during her architecture class down in Cyrodiil, but that was several months ago. Wouldn't hurt to refresh her memory. If only for ... academic purposes.

"Well, I must... I must mull all this over."

But after taking a few moments to recall the horrid visions she'd seen in the goblet, Laprima Donnaugh decided to start Advances in Lockpicking. If only to ... get her mind away from those visions.

I am not a writer. I am a thief. I am a good thief. I am not such a good writer.
Anyway, I want to write about picking locks.
I read a book about designing locks once. It was good. It gave me lots of ideas...

She eventually moved on to Proper Lock Design, while her fiance laid down and slept. This Chamany! she thought fiercely. He has tricked me again! - He knows of my devotion toward study and tutelage, and my passion concerning the workings of locks. Oh, how very clever you are, my love...

How very clever, indeed. It seemed morning had passed into afternoon by the time she finished reading.

She realized she was hungry. Hours had gone by, yet she hadn't eaten. She grabbed herself a loaf of bread from the basket next to her bed. As she tore pieces away and began chewing, she decided to see if Chamany was right, about there being some doors and safes somewhere in the palace she could attempt to unlock. Just for the purposes of practice, of course.




Loredas, Frost Fall 30, late afternoon

Laprima and Chamany headed over to the Winking Skeever as the hours grew long. Here they shared a bottle of spiced wine, which the noblewoman took sips of in an effort to increase her courage.

"Perhaps you'd better go," he eventually suggested.

And she agreed. Left the Skeever, unsure if she was ready. Outside it was beautiful, full of sunshine. Nice to know that not every day in Skyrim was blustery and cold. Laprima took a moment to feel the day's warmth before striding into Angeline's Aromatics.

"Good afternoon," said an elder woman wearing a utilitarian smock over a tan blouse. The woman stood behind a counter. Dozens of phials and bottles, ewers and beakers sat upon shelves, all around the shop. Odd piles of herbs and flowers and even insects were arranged here and there.

"Afternoon," Laprima greeted.

"My name is Angeline Morrard, and this is Angeline's Aromatics. Might I ask of you a question?"

"Surely, you may."

"It's good to see a fresh face. You wouldn't have happened to have been to Whiterun, have you?" Angeline asked sadly. -- When Laprima explained that she'd just arrived in Skyrim just a few days prior and had no idea where Whiterun is, Angeline changed the subject. "So, you're interested in my potions and ingredients?"

"This is quite so!" Laprima chimed brightly, maybe even giddily. 'Tis the wine, thought she. She’d sipped upon this wine to hopefully increase her courage.

"You mentioned you are new in town?"

"Aye. Arrived Frost Fall the twenty-fourth. Say, might you perchance spend a moment, to have a look at this?"

Laprima pulled the decanter given to her by Chamany earlier that morning out of a pocket, and passed it to Angeline. The ornate bottle was filled with green dust, which glowed eerily inside. "'Tis full of magical powder, as can be seen. It has been mentioned to me that whatever essence is contained within is quite rare."

"Oh... will you look at that!" The potion lady was in awe. "Why, I've never seen such colors before..."

Chamany was right: Angeline Morrard stood transfixed, completely distracted, staring with stupid fascination at the bottle she held in her hand. As she did so, Laprima began to slip away from the counter, toeing slowly to the right. Angeline Morrard did not seem to notice this. Her eyes were locked. When Laprima was out of eyesight she ducked behind a large stone column, which she peeked around. Splendid. Angeline was still behind her counter, almost hypnotically still.





Laprima moved quietly forward, passed into a backroom, and closed its door behind her. Now she was in what looked to be an all-purpose area, partially for reading, partially for dining. Still hunkered down, Laprima scanned the room for any sort of chest. Did not see one, so she continued to her left. Down a set of stairs, into the shop's cellar. Found an old wooden chest. The chest was unlocked. Inside was a litany of miscellaneous junk. It did not contain anything close to the special potion which Chamany told her about.

Time ticked by too quickly it seemed, as the Blue Palace's newest family member scampered about the cellar. Still distracted upstairs, apparently, Angeline Morrard began humming a tune.

Laprima reversed direction. Left the cellar, climbing stairs until she reached the upper floor. One bedroom, then another, both of their doors unlocked.

"Fuddles!" Laprima whispered. "How in oblivion could Chamany have figured that this supposed potion is even here?"

Finally, a locked door. She grabbed for the pouch full of lockpicks as a trickle of sweat dripped from her hair. She had taken Chamany's advice earlier in the day. Had found the two old, unused safes deep in the Blue Palace, and had managed to unlock both of them. In the process she'd broken a couple picks, leaving her with eighteen.

Downstairs, Angeline began pacing a bit. The noble-turned-reluctant-burglar could hear the woman's footfalls somewhere below, which caused some consternation.

Fortunately (and despite the effects of the wine she and Chamany had shared still warming her blood) Laprima was able to pick the door's lock, after her very first try. Behind the door was a small room containing bookshelves, a table, two chairs, and a large strongbox made of iron. She tried the box, which was thankfully locked. Laprima inserted a dowel into the lower portion of the keyhole, the pick into its upper end. Began feeling for tumblers as adrenaline surged within. After thinking she had placed the pick into its proper position she used the blade to turn the lock.



Concerning his instructions earlier that morning, Chamany was both right and wrong. Right, because inside the strongbox there was a particular flask filled with a pinkish liquid. Wrong, because the flask was contained within this box, not inside a chest. No matter. She grasped for the flask, then moved hurriedly downstairs. Angeline the potion lady, she was still here.

"The.... colors... oh how they glow!"

"I have returned," Laprima announced to the mesmerized woman behind the counter. "Have we opined upon the nature of the glowing dust within?"

"Why...I have never seen anything quite like this."

"Aye, that. And it would become my very pleasure if you'd prefer to keep it."

"I may keep it? Oh! You have my many thanks!" Angeline gushed, diving behind her counter. "I shall add this to my collection right away."

Laprima wasted no time. Scooted back outside, and back to the Skeever. The day was over by now. Hours had passed while she'd been prowling about, at some point night had fully taken over. Chamany was no longer in the tavern, so she bought herself a bowlful of cabbage soup, wondering if an entire garrison of Solitude guards was about to come and arrest her.

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

Laprima receives the tools of the trade

Quest Update

Advances in Lockpicking

Heading toward the Skeever - (Look at her eyes!)

*Click!*

Notes: She's really good at this! I made this quest with a mixture of Novice and Apprentice-level locks. My gal was able to pick half of them, first try.
.

Ahh, so no crystal ball, but there is a cup animation. So Laprima is seeing a vision within the liquid.

Why do I get the feeling that Cham is lying to Laprima, and never tried to buy that potion?

So Chamany is loafing around while Laprima does all the work? It figures.

Well she pulled it off all by her lonesome. I wonder what that potion really is? And what Cham is going to use it for?

I have the same questions as SubRosa.

You really are weaving a fascinating tale here. Despite the ever-increasing red flags, LPD continues to be coaxed by Chamany into things I suspect she'll regret. Hmm, I wonder if he has ensorcelled her the way his phial was able to ensorcell the alchemist?

She's just in love. Women fall for this trap very frequently (not being a man, can't speak for their species). Wishful thinking is powerful magic indeed, we tend to overlook what we don't want to see... until it is way too late. Not that I would be remotely speaking from own experience, obviously.

Fell a little behind here, so time to catch up...

Sigh. Laprima has a good point. It is odd for a supposedly reformed Chamany to be spending time here. And here's a good sign that this relationship simply isn't a good one: simply seeing him has sucked the joy from her job.

Huh, well this is a... pleasant surprise, at least? But there's definitely an ulterior motive here. I don't trust Chamany.

Good description of the party, though; gets that lively feeling across.

The morning after is when the other shoe drops. He denies that this task has anything to do with skooma. Here's the problem: I don't believe him. Sure enough, the request is sketchy. Glad Laprima is standing her ground!

Something's very suspicious about this crystal. Glad the next chapter is already here so I can keep going!

I hear you about arranging the party pics. NPCs can make it very difficult to get good shots of locations.

"So dreadful..." But what is it?

Okay, so this is reminding me of the Heinz dilemma: namely, whether or not it's ethical to steal, if you're stealing medicine that will save the life of a person who can't afford it. Obviously this is the more ethical choice, and Laprima knows this. However, the source makes it suspicious. Chamany's up to something, and he wants Laprima to take the fall if anything goes wrong.

Heinz Dilemma Wikipedia Entry

Laprima's reading up, but she's also suspicious.

Well, at least Laprima's got a knack for this kind of thing. She's certainly hypnotized Angeline. Also, I can definitely relate with the difficulty of finding a specific item in a shop full of clutter. Shows you the benefit of modern organizational systems!

Oof, okay, she got what she needed. But I think it'll be a long while before she rests easy.

'Rosa: I tried hard to find that crystal ball, too. There's gotta be a mod somewhere out there which adds stuff like this to clutter. 🔮 Chances are it'll be part of some overhaul, though. Which I'm really trying to avoid since overhauls often change too many things.

Chamany actually does a lot of work. It's why he's so tired this morning. Thing is, none this "work" is of the legal, ethical kind. And yes, what exactly is that potion?


Acadian: Thank ye kind sir, certainly is interesting to write. Wow, you and SR are definitely thinking on the right track, concerning all these little tricks Cham is somehow able to pull.

From my perspective as a writer, the whole "gaze into the device" thing is of course borrowed from all the devices a lot of us typically hold in our hands day to day, looking into them for texts, caller ID results, or, of course, "visions". 📱


Lena: YESSSSSSS!!!!!! Definitely in love. Just like the lady who's been stalking Wolf in your tale. 💘 Gosh you know, sometimes I'm so close to this story, thinking about all its technical aspects with scripts and quest dialog and so on, that I forget the basic reason why she won't just ditch Chammy.

Here's the thing, though. She can't just get rid of him, even if she falls out of love. You'll see why, probably next week's story.


Clavier: Mm hmm, put it all together, and things don't seem so Kosher, so to speak.

Did I write that party up well? Cool, thanks! I still think SubRosa's party had better detail! Thing is, the whole party idea was a late one. Typical Renee fashion with too many ideas cluttering my head even as the tale's going to this thread.

Correct, the Heinz dilemma makes sense. Love how all those options for better or worse are laid out. I wonder how that might work with a videogame with a lot of choices (like Mass Effect, which I'm currently playing here and there).

The Patty Hearst story is another example which is similar to that last chapter. Since her tale might be before your time, Patty was an ordinary citizen who got kidnapped by a gang, and then was forced to take part in bank robberies and other illegal activities. She was brainwashed, basically. By the time the gang got raided, Patty'd become completely on the side of the gang (although this changed eventually as she became a good witness during trial).

Partially what helped Patty decide to participate in the gang so fervently is a bit of a twist: during the early '70s, feminism was a huge thing. Women's rights getting onto equal ground with men's. Some of the members of this gang were women, as well as feminists.

So yeah, a bit of shady stuff going on in this story. From MY perspective though, this part of the story is a rather fun way to watch her skills level up. Lockpicking, in this case.

Try looking at Modder's Resource Pack at Skyrim Nexus - Mods and Community. There are a couple of Crystal balls in it which might work.
Yeah, I’m familiar with the Patty Hearst story. I can see some of that going on in this story although Laprima is a much more sympathetic character than Patty was.

Awesome, thank you macole. I'm getting to be reeeal picky about the stuff I add into my Skyrim, as I've had lots of problems over the years with stuff which screws other stuff up (including my own content!)

Just wanted to mention one more thing before the story goes up. When Angeline was tricked during that last quest this was caused by removing her from a faction. There's a faction which all shopkeepers have, which makes them act like those annoying Fighters Guild Porters who follow us all over the FG down in Cyrodiil. During dialog a script was used to remove Angeline from the Skyrim faction which causes this. Love little stuff like this!

Otherwise, Angeline Morrard would've tailed Laprima all over the place, eventually saying that dreaded "I think you should leave!"

.
_______________________________

And I ain't talkin' 'bout Chammy

_______________________________


No. No guards came after Laprima as she sat quietly in the Winking Skeever, slurping a bowl of cabbage soup. But this does not mean second thoughts didn't cross her mind.

And so the big question most observers might think if they viewed this scene from afar might be the very same question Lady Donnaugh was asking herself now: What did the bottle she'd pilfered from Angeline's Aromatics really contain? – Was it filled with some sort of curing agent, meant to bring the sickly girl she’d seen in the cup of that magical goblet back to full health? Or had that been another elaborate charade, similar to the trick pulled on Angeline?

She finished her bowl of soup and came to a decision. She would try a small sample of whatever was in the bottle. If it contained skooma, she would know. She'd already quaffed a phial of the brew with Chamany several days before; a regrettable experience she’d not soon forget. Skooma had a sweet odor, but a bittersweet taste. Let’s just say that Chamany would have lots of explaining to do, if this were the case.

Laprima left her seat and walked into the Skeever’s cellar. Here, she uncorked the bottle, took a whiff of whatever was inside.

“Mm, not sweet.”

To her relief, the bottle’s contents weren’t pungent. In fact, no aroma permeated her nostrils at all. She thought about dabbing some on the end of her pinky, just to see if the fluid tasted bittersweet, but decided against this. What if doing so compromised whatever magical essence the potion consisted of? - The girl in the goblet would then remain sick, and it'd be Laprima's fault.

“Alright then, Cham. You win this one.”

Though she did feel a bit guilty about the actions she’d committed within Angeline’s potions shop, her final opinion on the matter was that she’d done so for a greater good. It was Angeline who'd been the greedy one; keeping such a helpful cure within a locked safe, when somebody in the world actually could need it.

Within the hour she returned to the Blue Palace, and handed over the prize.





Sundas, mid-evening, Frost Fall 31 (The next night)




"YEW TOOK MY JOB!"

Done with her third shift at the Skeever and walking toward the palace, Laprima was startled! - A youngish woman wearing fur and holding a knife leapt right out in front of her, just as Laprima was passing Solitude's tiny 'Hall of the Dead' graveyard!




Moments before, the barmaid had been walking calmly, enjoying the darkness and the quiet noises of a town headed toward slumber. Wheezes of wind, blowing high above Solitude's walls, as well as the soft sounds of footfalls. Her third afternoon of work had been busier than it'd been on Fredas, blessedly so. To her surprise, Laprima (like most servers, in worlds all over) discovered that she preferred her new job most of all when she was hustling back and forth, trying to maintain track of multiple customers as they poured in. Lisette singing and playing, keeping the floor entranced and joyous. Because of this, Laprima walked with just over 80 pieces tonight. Both her feet were sore, yet pleasantly so.

But now, this! This...frightful woman had appeared before the barmaid, seemingly straight out of the nearest, shadowy wall. Laprima recalled those footfalls, the one she'd discerned moments ago... recalled they'd scraping minutely nearby. Who is this frightful woman before her? What does she want?

"Huh? Beg pardon?" Laprima jumped back a step.

"Then I shall repeat," said the woman angrily, her voice harshened. "You're the one took my job, yew cultured, succulent harlot!" The woman waved her knife side to side, inches in front of Laprima's nose, causing her to wince. "I was at the Skeever before yew showed in town, and now I lost my job, and it's all yer fault!"

Laprima composed herself as best she could while putting two together with two. "No!" she panted after a moment of thought. "I am afraid it was y-you who deserted. Deserted the post, that is. Corpulus told me himself. Said you ceased appearing several days ago. H-he needs someone on the floor, right?" she tried to reason. "What was he to do, then?"

"Nice try, delicate wench, nice try..."

As somebody's footsteps neared, the woman's eyes shifted. Perhaps knowing how out-of-place it'd look, one woman pointing a daggar in front of another, she removed the blade from the noble's face, placed it onto her belt. Whoever was walking nearby continued his or her stride, apparently not seeing. In fact, Laprima could hear the sounds of several folks milling about. Which didn't seem to bother her accoster, not at all.

Laprima, now able to take a full breath, noticed a few more details. Yes, the woman was wearing fur. ...Fur?! ... but not the sort of fur a towngoer would wear. Not the sort carefully cleaned and coiffed for sale inside Radiant Raiment. This was REAL fur; skinned from an animal at some point, haphazardly so, then sewed together with whatever fasteners and threads and grommets were about. The woman's hair was matted and locked, as though she'd forgotten to comb it days ago. She smelled like something rancid. Her eyes were fiery, possessed and full of rage. She had a large scar across her abodomen. Despite the fact that her arms and midriff were bare, she did not seem bothered by the night's chilly air.

"Just so we're clear, I know who y'are," the crazed woman continued, lowering her voice. "I know you. Know Chamany! And so, yer gonna do whatever I say!"

"And who, perchance, might you be?" Laprima shuddered. "And Chamany? You ... you know my Chamany?"

She asked this question while simultaneously deducing its answer. She knows Chamany because she has been in some sort of association with him, obviously and nefariously so.

"Don't care about the job. Don't need it, now that I have ya right here lookin' at me! - Been tracking behind these past few nights, wench. Followin' your footsteps, and such. Almost was gonna surprise you last night, but yer fella was with ya," she said with a smirk. "And we don't mess with Chammy, at least I do not. Some things about him I don't wanna trifle with, being the boss that he is, and so on," she mumbled. "But where is he now, huh? Where is Chamany now?"

Good question. "How is it that I can assist?" Laprima tried, her heart slowing its pace just a notch.

"Heh, ha-ha! ... 'How can I assist?', she asks. Such cultured words. Must be nice to grow up as a royal. Well listen, royal wench. Here is how I can assist, right? All I wants is the skooma," the fur-covered woman blurted.

"Skooma?"

"Mm hmm, heard that right, deary-dear. I'm one of the ones been workin' with Chamany on the outside, only we've been ousted from the clan," she explained, as though this made any sense to the clueless barmaid before her. "You've got lots of skooma, haven't ya? Lots and lots and lots. So thick... so sweet," the woman said soothingly, her eyes glazing and lost for a moment. "And I want it all, now!"

"No. You haven't got that right," Laprima answered honestly. "I abhor the brew. Tasted it once just a few days ago for the first time. - And can tell you firmly, never again shall I partake."

"Liar! You LIE! Hand it over, right now! All the skoomas you got, NOW."

The woman's voice was carrying. Clearly, she did not care at all if anyone heard her words. And perhaps she had the right idea in all this. Perhaps to any observer walking casually nearby, their conversation was nothing but an ordinary argument.

But, it had also gone too far, Laprima decided. The Skeever's newest worker was supposed to be home by now, changed out of her working clothes, lying within the sheets of her comfortable bed, or perhaps conversing with some late-goers inside the palace.

-- Somebody was walking nearby, carrying a torch which briefly illuminated the fur-wearing woman before her. Now could be Laprima's chance to get out of this. Should she make a fuss? Call for the guards help?

"Nah-ah-ah, I know what it 'tis yer thinkin', smoothie. Thinkin' of calling for help, are ya? Fine. Go right ahead," fur-skin stated casually, arms crossed. "Thing is, I know this town, and know it well. By the time somebody's comin' for to help yor sorry, ivory-colored behind, I'll be long gone. And if they catch me, guess what? I c'n do a couple nights in Solitude's jail, not a problem fer me, been in there b'fore, ha! ... I know all the town's secrets; all the places to hide, that is.

"So go ahead," she continued, "but remember this. I gots a friend on the inside, as well, inside of the swanky palace you call home, that is. I c'n get word up to high places just like yew can, the very highest, if need be, and I ain't talkin' about Chammy, I'm talkin' about someone on the inside. Someone ya don't rightly know. One word to him...or her, and yew'll be out on your sorry ass, wench."

Laprima had to consider this. Though she easily had enough coin to live somewhere on her own, and perhaps she should do so at some point, living in the palace was currently her best option. Now was not the time for sudden changes, in this town she did not know so well, not just yet. -- All these thoughts, they clambered awkwardly through her head, while she tried to decide what to do about the rancid shrew before her.

"I haven't got any skooma," Laprima said honestly, which of course was the truth. "I've got some coin, though. Might I offer some coin, instead?"

"Hmm, now this I do like," the woman in fur agreed, shrugging her shoulders. "How much have we got, hmm? ... Yeah, I c'n take that instead."

Laprima reached into her purse, handed over what seemed to be most of the money she'd earned that day. This money was nothing to her, of course. Not like she'd need it to afford rent in some hovel, somewhere.

"So, this ain't over, harlot. I like what I see." The fur-wearer did a cursory count of the currency in her hand, her face cracking a smile. "Gonna have ME one good night of fun."

"That is ... well, I hope you do."

"But I'll be back, oh yes, yes I shall," the woman said. "And when you least expect it, too. And there's more of us out there, too, oh yes. I somehow gets locked up? Someone else'll come lookin...this I can promise."

Laprima nodded a bit ferociously, her raven-colored hair bobbing back and forth. "Understood."

"As I said before, do not bother calling the guards. I cannot go into the Blue Palace, nor shall you see me enter the Skeever, but the rest of Solitude is MINE!"

And that was it. The fur-wearing skooma-user rushed off to whatever else she had planned for the night, leaving Lady Donnaugh standing in shock, wondering if she should try informing the authorities, anyway. She began fast-walking back to the palace; her finely-booted feet clopping along. Blime, there's one right there! thought she, spotting a guard to her left.

"Bit late to be wandering around, isn't it?" the guard queried. He held a torch in his left hand and carried a large sword at his side. Could a well-trained, well-armed sentry such as him really be sidestepped by a natty, downtrodden (yet toughened) user of skooma?

Laprima started to say something to the man, but by then he was already walking away.


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

The potion, handed over

YEW STOLE MY JOB!

A better view of Skooma Woman

Speech Success! - (Due to her successes at Speech, Lockpicking, and eating stuff {Alchemy} in-game, she's almost ascended to Level 2 by now)

Skooma Addict flees the scene of the crime

Elisif finds her niece shivering in fear on the palace's kitchen floor
.

Tough call, but I think I’d rather be a cultured succulent harlot than a rancid shrew.
Brilliantly creative characterizations though.

Yikes! LPD is now compromised again – just as she was with Sybille. As an accessory to skooma trafficking, she risks much if she brings the palace in for help on this. Damn that Chamany for placing her in this position. The news on him just keeps getting worse and worse.

I keep thinking that potion was some sort of exotic poison, maybe meant to kill the Emperor? If that is also going on. Though I don't think we have heard anything about the marriage of whats-her-face to bring the Emp to Solitude. It must be something rare and unusual, given the lengths Chamany went through to get it, including another form of poison/potion to bespell Angeline while Laprima went about pilfering.

Given my work in the computer industry, I tend to conjure different images of the word "server" than most other people do. Now I wonder if Laprima is a Hewlett-Packard, Dell, or IBM?

Well, at least she gave Laprima the compliment of saying that she was succulent...

Who is this wild Appalachian Mountain Woman that has been following Laprima? Does she work with Chamany? So apparently he is the boss of some clan? That is interesting. It looks to me like Chamany has a lot of explaining to do.

So we've passed my gal's in-game birthday, she gets a held up for money on what is Halloween in our world, and the very next day would be my birthday.

Hello Acadian. Yes, a cultured harlot or a succulent shrew, either way the skooma addict managed to scare the heck out of my posh gal with her ivory behind. How many insults can we hurl in our creative writing, right?

Yes, absolutely. "As an accessory to skooma trafficking" is correct. It's something Laprima might normally never think about now that the deal's long done, but this wild woodsy woman's really got the pulse on poor Laprima, eh?

Greetings SubRosa, and how are we this fine evening? - Yes, that potion she scored from Angeline's Aromatics, what exactly was that? The secret got revealed to me this week as I was walking around the park (learning as I go, as usual) and we'll find out what it is probably in two more chapters.

Laprima's a server, alright. Not for Dell or HP or Lenovo but for ACME Computers. 💻 Har har.

Yep, she and her friends worked for (actually with) Chamany for awhile, but they got "ousted from the clan" in her words. And dangit.... when I copy/pasted the stupid ACME image I just lost a wholllle bunch of text I was working on. Dangit.

.
____________________________

Sometimes there is Justice...

____________________________

Morndas, Sun's Dusk 1

The next morning Laprima rose early. She would not be headed to her job today, instead, she'd be spending all day attending the palace's court, witnessing its comings and goings. Word would be sent to Corpulus of her absence.

After Elisif found her niece frightened and shivering the night before, Laprima had no choice but to reveal all that had happened: how she'd left the tavern about mid-evening and was then accosted, threatened at knifepoint by a raving-mad user of skooma. Hearing this, Elisif suggested that the younger woman stay in the palace, perhaps indefinitely. "Laprima, you needn't ever leave the Blue Palace again! Why... everything you could desire is right here: food, drink, shelter..." Though Laprima disagreed with this; there was no way she'd choose to become a shut-in, just as she was finding her way in the world, for now she decided it wouldn't hurt to spend at least one day inside.





Jarl Elisif sent a young page to Castle Dour, who went running off to see if Solitude's top magistrate could make an appearance in court. A couple hours later, the magistrate showed up. There was some discussion between him, Jarl Elisif, Falk Firebeard, the palace's housecarl Bolgeir Bearclaw, and Laprima herself about what could be done.

"A stark-raving mad user of skooma running amuck in the streets of Solitude?" the magistrate was aghast. "Wearing furs like a wild woman, at that? Well, let's see what we've got on our books..."

But after consulting with Laprima (who spoke before the entire court, of course) it was his opinion that whoever this 'wild woman' was, she could not yet be arrested.

"According to what I am hearing, the woman brandished a knife and waved it in your face, yet did not make a move to strike," he started, moseying about the floor as though he owned it. "Unfortunately, nobody happened to witness this. She then demanded skooma of you, which you obviously are not a user of, yet you then chose to offer some gold, instead. However, it was you, Laprima Donnaugh, who offered this gold, freely and without compunction. Rather than hollering the guards for help. Sorry to say, but no laws have been broken," he stated somberly. "And it is also well-known that normally, there are at least seven armed patrols walking the area's streets at night. Why weren't any of them called for?"

As the jarl and her court began to protest, the magistrate continued. "However, this does not mean we cannot be proactive. In this case, the miscalculate robber who accosted the victim should be easy to spot, should she choose to return."

"Aye, anyone going 'round wearing natty furs as Laprima's described should be taken aside and held," Falk Firebeard suggested. "That's a given. We can inform all the night's watch to be looking for anyone of the sort, and chances are there's only one vixen who fits such description. Once we nab the culprit, we can easily lock'er up. Make sure she does not return in town. Perhaps, eh, permanently."

Laprima spent the rest of the day sitting courtside, watching Elisif and her charges deal with the usual litany of incomers: a tax collector delivered some moneys, a member of the warehouse docks rushed in complaining about some recent labor rulings, what could the jarl do about this and that, and so on. Nothing out of the ordinary, until a crier appeared early in the afternoon to deliver the latest news. Apparently, a skirmish had occurred in an old Nordic fort called Korvanjund. Imperial troops had fought Ulfric's rebel Stormcloaks with the aim of retrieving an artifact called the Jagged Crown. In this case, the Stormcloaks won the battle. Bad news for Lady Elisif.

During periods when Elisif was not attending to any news or nonsense, the topic would then revert to Laprima's horrid encounter the night before. What could be done, and what were her options? - After spending several hours alongside the others, the young woman was becoming restless. She was missing work because of this, and was not very happy about it.

"Perhaps we can simply arrange for someone to walk with you to the Skeever tomorrow," Firebeard suggested at one point. "Hey, this could be I, myself, if it is alright with you, milady? I can keep you safe."

Elisif disagreed, seeing the red-headed man's ploy for what it was: he'd really be going to the tavern for an afternoon of food and drink, an afternoon away from his usual administrative duties! However, it was possible that any number of guards could be summoned to accompany Lady Donnaugh to her job. And once she was done with her shift, another could be arranged to accompany her return.

...And where was Chamany during all of this? Not to be found. He wasn't in bed when she got in the previous night, nor was he milling about their room this morning. Nor did show up later on, well after the palace's court adjourned for the day.




Tirdas, Sun's Dusk 2 and Middas, Sun's Dusk 3

On Tirdas she worked her fourth shift at the Skeever, a slower day than it'd been on Sundas. Today she earned just 44 gold. To make sure she arrived and departed her job safely, a guard was called to walk with her. But after two days and one night with no word from Chamany, Laprima was becoming worried and curious. Because once again, Chamany. Where oh where could he be? - Would the woman from the woods be able to answer this sort of question? - If so, this would cost Laprima some coin of course, but would such an expenditure be worth it, if only to learn where he'd gone? She considred this, seriously.

It was Middas, early the next morning, when she spotted the note. Which was lying right there on the table she used for bedroom dining.

"Oh, what is this?"

By the Eight! The note's outer seal was signed in Chamany's handwriting. How long had it been here? - Had it been set upon her table this whole time, yet she'd been too preoccupied and distraught to notice? - She picked it up and unfolded it.

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

Laprima,

You may notice that I have gone. Do not be sad I Must hav be
take care of many things. Be back soon.

~Chamany~

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

"So, off to wherever it 'tis you traipse off to, eh?"

Still, the note made her feel a little better. He'd at least tried to communicate. But Laprima needed some answers, and knew just who could perhaps give them to her.




Middas, mid-evening


Nervous yet emboldened, Laprima left the Winking Skeever after her usual after-work meal of soup & bread. She'd made sure to stay within the tavern an extra hour or so, then walked outside. There were a couple guards milling about, but the noblewoman made sure to avoid them. Instead she dashed across to Radiant Raiments, now closed. Stood still in shadow, and waited.

She didn't need to wait long.





"Aha, THERE ya are, and guess who's back?!"

The woman in fur was here, holding the same knife she'd carried two nights ago. Somehow she'd evaded the guards, never mind the fact they'd all supposedly been warned about a late-night skooma addict prowling the streets wearing furs.

"I was afraid you'd return," Laprima said. Despite her plan, and despite the fact that she knew all she'd need to do was hand over some coin and her confronter would leave, she couldn't help but shudder.

"Well, yew know what I want, wonderful wench. Was out here waitin' last night ya know, but you was with some protect'on. Why ain't you protected tonight?"

Laprima began to answer but before she could, fur-woman continued. "So... How'd your day go in the Skeever tonight, eh?" she chuckled. "Make me some lotsa coin?"

It was at this moment when Solitude's elder stalwart beggar got curious. Noticed the woman's heightened voice. Came walking over to investigate what was going on. "A coin or two for a vet'ran?" he asked, unaware. How ironic, thought Laprima. My hero come to save me, the town vagabond.

"'Tis fine, no worries," Laprima said to the beggar. "Leave us be, please."

"C'mon," said the woman in fur, dismayed not in the slightest by the third party. "Hand over a hundred, right now!"

Laprima was not about to give the woman any more than what she'd paid the other night, though she did have enough to pay her off right then and there. "I'm afraid I've only got fifty."

"No, I asked for a hundred, you'd best give it to me NOW!"

The woman thrust her daggar, tearing a strip of the barmaid's outfit... "Alright, alright, a hundred it is!" Laprima chattered. She reached into her purse, and counted the money, all while the beggar stood as witness, his jaw agape. Thankfully, the barmaid just happened to have enough.

"I'll be back tomorrow night, and you'd BEST be here, RIGHT HERE, or I'll tell my man on the inside all about the skooma you and Chammy brought into town, 'cept I won't mention your lover. I shall only mention yew, fancy-pants!" she drooled.

Laprima shook and shuddered. Could not go through with her plan; couldn't even work up the courage to ask where Chamany Lacroix might be.

She then watched the skooma woman casually walk away, right by a sentry standing by the town's main gate. The sentry brightened his immediate area with the torch he carried, yet completely missed the avaricious assailant he was tasked to be on the lookout for. So much for at-arms protection in the avenues of Solitude.

By the time Laprima reached the palace she realized she'd been running, actually running back home. She rushed into the palace's foyer, rushed up the stairs, and finally slowed as she merged up the hall, and into Sybille Stentor's room. Here, the barmaid/noble was greeted by the court wizard herself, who sat calmly upon one of her sturdy wood benches, obvious and waiting.

"Why hullo there, Laprima," Sybille spoke as Laprima neared. From the look on the court wizard's face, it was clear to Laprima that Sybille already knew.


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

Restored (she's been practicing the one spell she knows so far, just in case)

Notified

Accompanied

Lopov'd
.

So what paragon of justice will Castle Dour send to ferret out this skooma addicted ne'er-do-well? Columbo? Kojack? McGruff the Crime Dog? I can't wait to see.

Wow, this magistrate is just as useless as all the guards in every video game. Methinks Laprima had better enlist the aid of a player character if she wants anything done about this wild woman.

Oooh, so the war is going on in your story. I usually ignore it in all my games. I wonder if this means that the Dragonborn is out there as well in your story, and if they joined the Sturmclerks.

Chamany is AWOL as usual. This guy is a real deadbeat.

Laprima is going to try to get answers from the wild woman? Well that takes daring, that is for sure. There is no telling what that psycho is likely to do. But it is her only real way forward I suppose. January or Blood Raven would have simply tailed Laprima, and waited for the wild woman to make another attempt at her. So pretty much the same strategy.

Well, that did not go well. Either Laprima is going to need to learn some Destruction magic, or find someone who can actually fight to take care of this wild woman. And I suppose Sybille might just be the person, since I am sure she would not mind a late night snack...

It just ain't right. A gal makes one little mistake and she's labeled for the rest of her life.

Yes, I was thinking along the lines of SubRosa. Sybille has ways of dealing with matters such as this.

Rather unimpressive work by the guards - especially since they are basically working on orders direct from the Jarl in this matter.

Well, now LPD has a witness. But if the witness is honest about the incident, he'll also be obliged to detail Furry's skooma smuggling statements.

I agree that Sybille could make a good ally - if she's willing. But the root of all problems remains Chamany.

Sorry again for the lateness! Been a busy week.

On some level, Laprima knows the truth even if she doesn't want to admit it. This whole thing is just too suspicious to be anything but a scam of some kind. And she's right in the middle of it.

Whew, glad she didn't taste-test it.

Yikes, this is unexpected! Now to see what this woman wants. She's mad about Laprima taking her waitress job? Or does this have something to do with the vial?

I hear that about keeping busy. Nothing's worse than trying to look busy when you don't have anything to do.

Ah, so this is the one who walked off the job. Don't think she has any right to be mad at Laprima here.

Uh oh, she does have a connection with Chamany. Laprima got out of this, but I don't think it's even close to being over. Plus, this woman now knows Laprima has money, which likely means more trouble down the line. That's the trouble with being noble; you end up with even fewer street smarts than a sheltered nerd like myself.

Okay, it was good of Elisif to give Laprima the chance to stay. I suppose a column of armed guards following Laprima around would attract too much attention. Also, Laprima shows some courage in insisting that on going out.

The Tamrielic legal system strikes again! Since yes, you can wave weapons around all you want, but you aren't breaking the law until you actually attack.

Grim reminder that the civil war is in full swing. You know, I never actually sided with the Stormcloaks. Some of it's because it always felt like the game was trying too hard to get me to like them, and I felt contrarian. Some of it's also because my Dragonborn was a Dunmer from a cadet branch of House Hlaalu in Cyrodiil, and who thus supported the Empire.

(Also, I'm mad at Ulfric for what he did to the Reachfolk).

Hmm, Firebeard's being obnoxious, but this might be one way to get protection, as Laprima notes.

Huh, she took Chamany's note pretty well. Which kind of tells me that she doesn't actually miss him that much, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself.

This woman is pretty resourceful. Laprima's clearly in trouble. Chamany can't protect her (not that I'm sure he woudl have), and this woman's going to keep pumping her from cash. I'm sure Elisif can give some, but there's a limit to her generosity. I don't know if Sybille will be any help, but she might be Laprima's only lifeline.

Let us return to my Skyrim medieval soap opera. I had to perform a couple tricks during that last episode, as there was plenty of trouble on the set: The skooma lady kept appearing in the Skeever for some reason (missing her actual cue, which was to only appear in the Solitude "avenues" area). When Laprima picked up Chammy's note, which indeed had been left there haphazardly, this caused an invisible quest stage to update, because before this stuff kept not working! ... And so on.

It's too bad I haven't made any actual online friends who know the Creation Kit Quest window like the back of their hand. I'm getting better at it; in fact I've finally mastered script fragments this year (after 7 years of Skyrim quest-making). 🥸 But I probably annoy folks more with my "noobish" questions whenever I am forced to head over to the Nexus Creation Kit forums. And therefore I mostly am doing this on my own.


Yes, you up front wearing the "Stormcrow" T-shirt?



I've been spending more time at my mom's place lately, and she's a big fan of Heat of the Night, that TV show with Carrol o'Connor. A lot of useless lawyers and judges on that show, matched with multiple murders each episode. 📺 You'd think the show takes place in some huge city, not a little dipsh*t town in Mississippi. Anyway, all the useless law-folks in HOTN seem to have inspired the useless magistrate dude.


Oooh, so the war is going on in your story. I usually ignore it in all my games. I wonder if this means that the Dragonborn is out there as well in your story, and if they joined the Sturmclerks.

Ha ha in my gameworld Sir Vyvoor is Dragonborn, and he's a Stormie. He'll probably get mentioned next season. Because Season 4 is the season Laprima finally leaves Solitude.

I've been meaning to add peripheral events here and there: from the vanilla gameworld (such as dragons and vampire attacks) and also you'll eventually see names you're familiar with here and there. Thing is, Laprima's story, focused entirely in Solitude in this season (so far), is pretty insular. Outside events only get heard of occasionally, and from a distance.



Mm. Same goes with Lord Haaf-Mersey or Sir Vyvoor or Lucius Caro or any of our more goody 'toons. If they were involved, chances are this whole "wild woman" dilemma would already be over.


Well, that did not go well. Either Laprima is going to need to learn some Destruction magic, or find someone who can actually fight to take care of this wild woman. And I suppose Sybille might just be the person, since I am sure she would not mind a late night snack...


Hee hee, you're really good at intuiting some stuff, sometimes. She'll def do some learning. 📝 It's what she's good at, being a Scholar in table-gaming terms.

Yes, you in the psychedelic nehru jacket...



Jandaga would agree!


Yes, I was thinking along the lines of SubRosa. Sybille has ways of dealing with matters such as this.




Yes sir, let's hear from you.



True. Think of it this way though: if the guards actually performed to peak capacity and managed to arrest the intruder, there'd be no story. Then what would get written up? Going back and forth to work, phew.


Well, now LPD has a witness. But if the witness is honest about the incident, he'll also be obliged to detail Furry's skooma smuggling statements.

Oh yea, I forgot about the beggar. I meant to post a pic or two featuring him. Because that actually happened. Right when Laprima was getting held up he wandered over and began doing what he does best.

Hmm, dang. Didn't get any pics of that incident up on Imgur. Grr.

Ah, let's hear from the guy back there. Wearing the piano tie.




Hey it's okay! Hard sometimes to keep up with all that's going on in the Fan Fiction Forum, balancing our reading with real-life and so on. Personally, I don't like to "rush" my reading. Reading at work and so on. Sometimes I have to, though.


I hear that about keeping busy. Nothing's worse than trying to look busy when you don't have anything to do.

Most servers (waiters, waitresses and so on) like being busy because of money, and also the time at work flies by quicker. For Laprima though, her latter childhood was tough with her brother disappearing, and pretty much this ruined her teenage years. So she likes being busy because it helps her to forget her immediate past.



Think about the very first person Lap met in this story: the odd guy wearing furs and skulls in the Winking Skeever. Now, who is it that wears this sort of garb? - Now, think about what type of person Chamany would need to get his fledgling operation up and running all across the land?

RIGHT, fewer street smarts, very true! My gal's a quick learner, at least.



Yup! Lol.


Grim reminder that the civil war is in full swing. You know, I never actually sided with the Stormcloaks. Some of it's because it always felt like the game was trying too hard to get me to like them, and I felt contrarian. Some of it's also because my Dragonborn was a Dunmer from a cadet branch of House Hlaalu in Cyrodiil, and who thus supported the Empire.

I know. I felt really sort of saddened adding that part in. Stuff like that adds breadth, makes the world feel larger, but I also had a little trouble reading that once the story was up.

Nice to hear about your Civil War, we all've got our own method. I played the game from Imperials' side (Claire Voyance) and Stormcloaks' side ((Sir Vyvoor)) and in my gameworld the Stormies won overall. I actually simulated this in Claire's game too. Made it so that all the Leveled Lists which add Imperial soldiers were now Stormcloak soldiers, including their armor & gear.

But that's pretty neat how you've followed your own history there. Did your cadet flee Morrowind because of the Red Volcano? 🌋


Huh, she took Chamany's note pretty well. Which kind of tells me that she doesn't actually miss him that much, even if she hasn't admitted it to herself.

She's just got a lot on her mind. If you've ever been held up or abducted or even bullied, those sort of things take presedence, so Chamany right now is on her back burner.



I got an idea, let's find out, eh? - Um, this next tale's a longer one, but next week it'll be more compact. I think.

Renee steps back from the podium, the press conference has come to an end. Those in attendance rise up like a tsunami of undeniable force. Surging forward to the podium with quills and pads of paper waving in the air they hurl a seemingly unending torrent of questions at the exiting Renee. The clamor continues until Renee has been safely escorted off stage. Slowly the crowd disperses. Many left wondering do we really know any more than we did before the presser.
With his hat pulled down to hide his long pointed ears, one lone figure in a day-glo paisley print Nehru jacket sat in the now otherwise empty hall. With his pad of paper in his lap the feather of his quill danced in the air as he spread ink across the page. His report began, “One the best press conference ever!”

.
______________________________

...and sometimes there are just us.

______________________________


When the first concoction was quaffed, it hit like a hammer blow. A thousand thoughts rushed through the head of Sirdasa Noskal (wild woman of the woods) at once as she performed her favorite new activity.

Laaa laa O-ma-maya! Lala!!! Gaaaah .. GAAAA....O-ma-maya!!! Oh come toME! The COLORS .. you cometome!thecolorsthecolorsswarm 'round me of BLUE ofgreen ofYELLOWS!! 'SWARM ‘round me, ohhowdeft howAMBER horros DEIGNto swimtowardmeeeee...

Sirdasa’d just returned to the small campsite she'd been calling home. This was a new location for her, barely eked upon a patch of sand by the river, roughly halfway between Solitude and Dragon Bridge. She’d been staying here the past couple weeks. In her possession were four phials of skooma - No, make that three. For she’d just consumed the very first one. As the substance was absorbed within her blood and body, her eyes rolled, and her head lolled. She began chuckling to herself while her mind raced into incoherence, watching a series of colors flash across the sky, even though no auroras were streaming that night.

“It’s MINE! Oh mine, all mine…” she murmured, giddy with the rush.

A hundred gold, that’s what she’d scored tonight from the posh prima donna who lives inside the palace. One… hundred!

After taking the money, Sirdasa rushed out of town impatiently. Half-jogged a mile or so until she came to a footpath on her left. This path was hidden between a series of briars and bushes; even in broad daylight it would barely be visible to most passers. Sirdasa lit her torch, so she could make her way through without getting stuck with thorns. At the end of the path was a cave, which was well obscured from just about anyone who’d get concerned about the sort of activities going on out here.

Inside the cave were several individuals who’d been part of what was being referred to as “the clan”. Sirdasa, along with several others who’d been unable to follow the rules, had indeed been ousted from them.

One of the clan’s rules, probably the most important rule of all: clan members do not use their own products. Most of all, the new infusion of skooma which’d been imported into Skyrim just over a week ago was strictly off-limits to any clan members. This new skooma, it was like nothing ever seen by the smugglers who trafficked illicits. Nothing like the older brews which’d been the norm here in Skyrim for decades. Those older brews were wan; one dose barely stronger than a cup of coffee or tea, and very unlike the harefooted mixtures common during the Third Era.

This newer skooma? Much more potent, better than anything ever seen on the underground market. It put you on your ass. There were rumors it wasn’t just skooma in those phials, perhaps it’d been mixed with hist or felldew or greenmote, or some odd combination of all three! - Those who used it more than once often found themselves unable to do much else, other than crave for more. For a clan member to go this route meant a loss of sales, which was a no-no. Because the clan’s top members, of course, were all merchants of the Dark Trade. Who wanted to become as rich as possible.

It was here that Sirdasa failed; had quickly fallen into serious temptation. Within days, she and a few other clan members who’d gone ahead and taken a few quaffs had gotten hooked, and then kicked. On top of this, most of them did not know of (or did not pursue) Chamany’s habit of consuming alkanet flowers (or any other such ingredients or compounds) to keep themselves sane. Little did they realize that their futures were becoming dimmer with each quaff, each puff, each suffusion…

…Not that this mattered to Sirdasa now…

A half-hour ago she'd clambered into the cave, met up with one of the clan’s merchants, who recognized her well, by now. Got into a small argument over price. Eventually bought four skoomas at 20 gold apiece, which …. oooo!....would probably be enough to keep her intoxicated for two days straight! - She bounced to her camp, overly excited for the night and days to come.

Now she had it all. If she needed food she could hunt and roast an animal. If she needed rest she could crawl into the makeshift den she’d constructed out of stones and thatches. And if she needed more gold, NOW she had someone in town she could bully; the posh royal who (for Dagon’s sake) was working in the bloomin’ tavern, of all places. Don’t royals always have more money than they know what to do with? - Why stoop to that level? - Sirdasa wondered several hours before, while she was still somewhat sober.

Not that the answer really mattered. Gold was gold, and now she had what looked to be a steady source for her pockets.

…As the skooma’s initial rush subsided she laid on the sand, feeling that odd mixture of edginess and numbing, suddenly aware of the night’s chilly air, swirling all around. “Got ta … got ta… got ta buildme…build a campfire,” she rambled, her voice jittery. Once a fire was started she’d then be able to ration the rest of her cache, softly boiling the remaining brews in river water until they crystallized, and could then be smoked in her pipe.





While Sirdasa’s arms and fingers occasionally twitched and she fell into a sort of half-sleep on her beach, Laprima Anne Donnaugh, several miles away, found herself conferring with her vampiric wizard-neighbor.

"Why hullo there," Sybille greeted as Laprima neared.

Laprima made no reply. Only gazed at the wizard, who sat calmly upon one of her sturdy wooden benches. To the young woman who'd just been robbed, it was apparent to her that somehow, the wizard already knew what'd occurred.

"I feel I must impart a bit of wisdom to you now, Laprima, which has helped me survive over many years."

"A bit of wisdom?"

"Sometimes there is justice,” Sybille started, “and sometimes, there are just us. Have you any idea what such a phrase might convey to those unaware?"

Laprima sat down on the bench opposite the wizard, her mind too frazzled at the moment to comprehend. So she stayed silent.

"There are some times, when it is alright to allow the forces which have been governed as protection to attend," Sybille explained, "and other times when we must stand on our own. To stand before our own interests. Because the forces-that-be can not, or will not, do so."

Laprima nodded dully, suddenly realizing: the day before, when all the court was gathered around to discuss what to do about the barmaid's after-work encounter, Sybille had not been present. Because it was daytime. Sunlight had been streaming through the palace's windows. Sybille had retired under her usual pile of sheets and blankets, to block the light away.

"Is this one of your...enlightenments?" Laprima asked. "One of your scryings? You have seen all which has occurred concerning my latest predicament?"

"I do believe we can do something about your current concerns, yes," the wizard answered, without fully answering. "The foul thief who's beseeched thy confidence as she stalks the night's streets, she will only continue to do so unless the proper response is made. But this response, it must be made by you, Laprima. This response is needing to be dealt by you."

The younger woman shook her head. "Dealt by me?"

"Aye, this is what I am going to convey. You must take this matter upon as thy own. For Sirdasa will not give up the tirade against you. She is too clever. You may have noticed she's able to enter and exit the town of Solitude almost at will, eh?"

Laprima nodded. "She does this. Saw her stalk right past a guard earlier this eve."

"Mm hmm. Her ability to evade, her ability to hide within plain sight, to employ the phrase, is too great for most ordinary night-watch personnel. She knows this town well. Was raised within it, became somewhat of a troublemaker in her youth. Mysterious fires, her mama went missing, and so forth. But her saga goes beyond all of that. Sirdasa's skills in these matters of evasion, are exemplary. She flies like the owl, and stalks like the cat. And therefore has got Solitude within a sort of night's grasp, so to say."

Laprima nodded again. "She's explained as much. Said to me: she knows Solitude well. Knows all the best places to disappear. Did not mind at'tall the thought of incarceration for a night or two. She told me so."

"She will not give up," the wizard stated bluntly. "Not until all the coin within your wardrobe's been drained," she added, making her collocutor blush. "And no, it shall not be mentioned, the thousands you've got stashed under that pile of clothes, shall not be mentioned to anyone not involved.

"But let us stay focused here," Sybille continued. "Unless it’s desired to have Sirdasa continue to pester night after night, with the only exception being guards summoned to your side. Would this be your wish, Laprima? To always walk about town in the company of guards, unfit to guide thy own path?"

Laprima Donnaugh, ever the evasive one when it came to conversations with her neighbor, said, "Sirdasa, this is her name? For twice, you have mentioned this name! .... How is it you know of her name at all?"

"Come now, woman. Have we reverted to doubts about my abilities, once again? ... I’ve discerned her name because I have seen her, literally, and with my hidden eyes. Literally, because Sirdasa lived upon the mountaintop not long ago, in an old Nordic fort called Hraggstad, until she decided to make a go of it here in town. Got herself a job at the Winking Skeever, trying to change her ways for the better, and so on. Though I do not wish to go into full details, I have visited Hraggstad several times after sundown," the vampire said with a wink. "Unseen to the layabouts who dwell within, of course.

"But let us go to the point, Laprima," she continued. "Because pestering night after night is exactly what she'll maintain. Her demands shall increase. Several others who frequent Sirdasa's company could also join her as well, potentially so. More coin will be demanded.”

Laprima made no reply. Remembered Sirdasa’s threat that ‘others’ could possibly take the woodsy woman’s place, should she find herself in trouble.

"You may’ve noticed that once again, Chamany has disappeared," Sybille added. "I shall not reveal where 'tis he has gone. Not until this situation with the skooma woman's been dealt with."

"Cham's involved in all this. I knew it to be so."

"Do not be distracted by what seems wanton behavior from him, my dear," the wizard cautioned. "Let us take the time now to listen to what I have gleaned about this slippery vixen of the night."

Laprima ground her teeth. "Alright. So what of this woman, then? This... Sir....dasa?" - she sounded the name of the woman who'd given her fears these past three nights tentatively, as if doing so would cause the frightful maniac to appear in the room before them. "She told me she's got someone on the inside. Inside this palace, that is. 'One word to him or her, and you'll be cast out of your home', or some such. That is what she told me."

"Nonsense."

"What?"

"Nonsense," the wizard scoffed. "The woman's got a bluff, that is all. I'd know of this so-called person on the inside, if it were truth."

Laprima, suddenly embarrassed, said nothing.

"I can tell you this, however. I know where 'tis Sirdasa's been staying," Sybille started. "Currently just outside of town, fact of matter. Now, would it be thy wish to attend, to glean what can be arranged?"

"Please do, magician.”

"Firstly, take this blade," the wizard said, handing Laprima a metallic daggar which gleamed in the candlelight. The younger woman knew at once the weapon was enchanted, and probably expensive. "It is mine. It is special to me. And I shall allow you to borrow it."

"Y-. You wish for me to carry your blade?" Laprima blinked. "But I ... I cannot ... I ..."

"You can, Laprima, and you shall. Do not be silly. You carried a knife during youth. After the disappearance of Elijah."




"Aye, I have seen this. You began carrying after Elijah, your brother, vanished during childhood games. As protection. You used a blade at times upon rats and thorn beetles in the city, as practice for what might become, should Elijah's taker decide to come after you. You carried a knife back then, and shall do so now.”

Though it was late, and the barmaid had been nearing exhaustion with all that had happened, hearing words about her brother and their childhood games, words which could not have been known to Elisif the Fair or anyone one else residing within the Blue Palace... Well, this changed it all. Laprima got up from her bench, filled with a sudden sort of eagerness. Suddenly fully awake. "But you... how could you..."

"Enough, Laprima. Enough nonsense. I have explained my abilities four score and a dozen times, yet you still doubt."

Laprima’s jaw mashed, yet again. Suddenly, impatiently.

"Now, listen here, my lass. 'Tis important to understand something, right away. Sirdasa, she's as clever as a fox. For she knows how the rules work within Solitude. Knows she can brandish her own blade as much as she wishes, thrust it about and such. As long as she duss not make a move to strike, does not draw blood, that is, Sirdasa can stay just out of law's reach. You, on the other hand, cannot make any sort of dastardly moves of thy own, not within town, anyway...you cannot strike Sirdasa firstly, that is. If you do so, it shall be you who's being arrested, not her. So this weapon I give to you is purely for defense. Understood?”

The younger woman nodded, a bit reluctantly. "Purely for defense."

“Perhaps such measures will not be needed. I have allowed this blade on the chance should things go awry. But it must be conveyed with permanent measure that you will not maintain your current arrangement with the fox. It must be explained: 'I shall not give any more gold to you, Sirdasa'. Say it."

"I will not maintain my current arrangement with you, Sirdasa. No more gold for you."

As Laprima spoke these words, Sybille Stentor cast a spell, one which would cause the youngster before her more courage. The wizard was able to do so silently and successfully, without the use of hand-movements or any sort of incantations. For she had been involved in such magical pursuits for a very long time.

"Good," Sybille said, once the magic was free. "Now. Come hither. Let me teach the ways...”

Over the next few hours the wizard taught Laprima the proper ways to hold and use a knife. Taught Laprima a few things about ingredients and potion-making, and gave her a copy of The Herbalist's Guide to Skyrim, as well. Suggested that to hasten combat (should combat occur) toward Laprima's favor, Laprima should learn to create and apply poisons to the wizard's blade.

"Study that book," Sybille said. "And please, allow yourself practice at my alchemy table, any time desired."

"I shall do so," the younger woman promised, already thinking of the dozens of flowers she'd been collecting from the town’s streets over the past week, scattered all over her room, wondering if some of them could be ground into potions and poison.

"I shall reveal where the skooma woman is dwelling now," Sybille said, marking a location on her map just outside of town. "'Twill be best if it is you who confronts Sirdasa early in the evening, before she makes her way into town," she suggested. "Do not wait for her to enter Solitude first. To do so means allowing the company of witnesses. Wield my blade with confidence, only if it is needed, of course. Overcome any resistance, regarding its use. And explain to Sirdasa she cannot rule over you, no more."

"I shall do so," the younger woman promised, already emboldened by thoughts of Elijah (and an odd, sudden confidence), and how we as people only get so many chances in life.

"Enlist help from a guard on the way, if it makes you feel the situation can be furthered with utmost morale."

"I shall do so," the younger woman promised, already realizing she would not be seeking assistance. For some things, they just needed to be attempted by one, not by many.



Lectures and lessons done, Sybille Stentor turned to her bed, ready to retire. Daylight was encroaching by then, causing shafts of light to shine their way into the palace.
.

I wonder if Sirdasa Noskal was one of the Skaal, and got thrown out by them because she is so... the way she is?

I smiled when she mentally referred to LPD as "the prima donna"

A new batch of stronger skooma has hit Skyrim? I can easily guess who is responsible for that. And it looks like someone is lacing it with fentanyl, because of course they are.

So she and the others committed the cardinal sin of dealing drugs. They got high on their own supply.

It sounds like Sybille and Blood Raven have more than just vampirism in common. The Raven too, comes from an age when the law was just a guideline, and people either got justice themselves, or hired mercenaries to do it for them.

It sounds like Sybille knows quite a bit about Sirdy. Ah, she became familiar with her while out for a late night snack...

Time to start playing the Rocky Theme, as Laprima starts getting fit for the coming showdown.

Sirdasa the wild woman. Her ex-clan’s rule about don’t use what they sell is written in blood but Sirdasa fell into the trap. Neat to learn more about her via her own addled thoughts.

Wow, Sybille’s scrying and magical skills are quite showcased here. And, whew, it seems she may indeed be an ally. After some potent preps and training, LPD may be able to take more charge of her destiny.

I remember that party! Driving down Kingshighway at night, the street lights dripping drops of brilliant colors, splashing into rainbow of a thousand droplets, running through Tower Grove Park until dawn. Yeah, I remember it well and once was enough.

This is quite a change of pace. And that skooma packs a wallop!

Looks like she's using all that money to get more drugs. Sad, but not especially surprising in this case.

"Never sample your own supply". True here, and true in Tamriel as well.

Interesting, so something's been making the stuff a lot stronger. I don't smoke, but I've heard from folks who do that the marijuana available these days is a lot stronger than what used to be on the street.

"No justice, just us." Also true here and in Tamriel.

Sybille has a good point about Sirdrasa. The woman might be off her gourd on drugs, but she is pretty cunning. I'm not sure if one needs to be that clever to evade Elder Scrolls guards... but regardless, the fact that she is shows she's clever enough to be a problem for Laprima.

Hm, so there are some interesting parallels between Laprima and Sirdrasa. There but for the grace of the Aedra...

Okay, so Sybille's explaining things here. She clearly knows the rules. Laprima can't risk striking first, even though that gives Sidrasa a bit of an advantage.

And some training! Good deal.

Today is Saturday, April 1st, and it's raining. Perfect spring day. But it's supposed to get over 70 degrees later on, which is too warm for Skyrim. Think it's time for some Oblivion, instead. And that's no joke.

I estimate there will be another 4 episodes of Laprima's saga, maybe 5. By then it'll be May, and who knows what sort of wacky weather we'll be having by then.


@macole-- Ha ha, hadn't been thinking of last week's comments as a press conference. I was pretending to be one of those writers who comes through the bookstore to greet readers. 📕 But that's pretty funny... "the clamour contiues..." I think maybe it'd be more like "where's the Sominex?"

I was right about the nehru jacket though, looks like. ☮ Groovy, man.


@SubRosa-- Hmm, not Skaal. Probably some of her ancestors were, though.
And yah, that was fun slipping Laprima's namesake into the story.

Yeah, fentanyl. That's the correlation between their fantasy and our reality; maybe that got picked up subconsciously. In story, the whole skooma thing is based on (guess) vanilla versus mods. The vanilla game, skooma's really weak, especially compared to MW and OB. With mods however, all of those things happen: the swirling colors, the "rush", the initial (really strong) boost to stats, but then a downplay in stats as well. Continued use causes "addiction" as well as a permanent decrease of stats, I believe.

So it's a good thing Laprima elected never to drink that crap again.

In tablegame terms, I'd say Sybille's Alignment is probably Chaotic Good with occasional Lawful tendencies. Yep, the law's pretty much just a guideline.


@Acadian-- Yes, as you well know, it's often enjoyable to flesh out characters, people in our stories. Sirdasa is partially based on a bipolar friend of mine from the west coast who was pretty messed up IRL, but also lots of fun to be around, if I was in the right mood for her antics. Her father was (is, if he's still alive) a Hell's Angel. 🏍 This friend helped me after my child was born, especially with post-partum depression and just being there (good) but she also introduced me to some really wicked narcotics. I fell into them, and eventually had to seek counseling in 2007 or so.

Anyway, that's whom Sirdasa's influenced by, partially. Bratty (in Vicious's tale) is also influenced by this chick. But with Sirdasa, I'm at the point where even though 'prima's filled with fear about the gal, I kind of really love her. Because she's so strikingly different from the usual Skyrim downtrodden NPCs.


@macole again-- You were at that party too! Somehow I think "that" party's somewhat eternal. We can all go there in our heads.

@Lopov -- No Lopov, dangit. C'mon man, you're missing the story!


@WellTemperedClavier-- Yeah, marijane these days is ridiculously potent. I actually don't get it. I'm a smoker myself, although starting about the age of 40, I no longer smoke to get stoned. I like taking a puff (usually before gaming) just to blur reality a bit. Sort of like my father, who used to drink wine, but only at dinner. He'd drink it for "the taste". I never once saw the man get sloshed.

I got that "Justice / Just Us" phrase from NPR. 📻 I was istening to a program about the rights of minorities in America while driving my car. Soon as I heard "Sometimes there is Justice, sometimes there are Just Us" I was like WHOOOOOAAAA, gotta use that for a chapter heading!

And yes, training. Right now, most of Lap's skillups have been through training: first Speech, then Lockpicking, and now Alchemy. During this next chapter she finally ascended to Level 2!

Let's see what happens next.

.
_______________

For Ill or for Ail

_______________




Turdas, Sun's Dusk 5

Laprima didn't sleep well. Anyone who’s been threatened at knifepoint twice, and then spent an entire night speaking directly to a magically-gifted sage who just happens to also be a vampire might know how she feels. When she finally went to bed this Sun's Dusk morning it was already daytime.

After a few hours tossing and turning and a fitful dream or two, she gave up her quest for rest, got out of bed. Had a look at her windows, guessed morning had already turned to afternoon. Too late to head to work; not that she’d be presentable for customer service. Instead she got dressed, had a bite to eat. Decided to have a look at the book given to her by the wizard: The Herbalist’s Guide to Skyrim.

---------------------------------------------------------------------
Those avoiding this northern province due to claims of barbarism
or concerns over climate are doing themselves disservice.
In fact, Skyrim has a wealth of materials that every Alchemist would do well
to avail himself of. I have traveled extensively throughout this land,
and here are but a few of my findings...
------------------------------------------------------------------

As always, the scholar inside this former student from the City quickly took interest. Took over! She couldn't help but fall into that old habit: poring through yet another tome, studying, adding notations into margins with her quill. The Herbalist's Guide to Skyrim, illustrated and well-written, what a perfect introduction to anyone first gaining interest into the field of the apothecary.

Hours went by, as Laprima read about mushrooms and toadstools, feathers, berries, and even bugs. All of these could be ground, mashed, distilled, and sometimes brewed into potions, for ill or for ail.

Most of all, she learned about her flowers.

All the past week and into this one she’d been picking flowers from the bushes and vines of Solitude: the prettier the better. She'd gather these on her way to work, stuffing them carefully into her shoulder bag. Later, after returning to her room, the flowers were then scattered all over the floor, on her bed, and on her mantels. Some were red, some were blue, purple and pink. Laprima had no idea what types of blossoms she’d been gathering; she hadn’t studied botany in school. She was familiar with a few of Cyrodiil's variants: azaleas and alkanets, daisies and daffodils, but those were all warm-weather species.

Well now she knew. The little red, blue, and purple ones were mountain flowers. These could be ground into potions which restored mana, health, and one's ability to endure, respectively. The golden, fountain-like blossoms were dragon's tongue. She also had multiple examples of lavender and thistles.

But most curious to Laprima: the striking pink and purple ones she'd picked, and then strewn casually about her quarters. These blooms really caught her eye, so she'd collected several. After reading the book, she (horridly) learned these brilliant lovelies were nightshades! - Poisonous posies, tossed about her floor, her basket, and (...oh, no!) on top of her bed. Three of these laid upon her blanket at this very moment! She'd been sleeping under harmful plant material for over a week now!

As ever though, the academic in her coolly took over. “So if I have some deathbell, I can mix nightshade into poison…” she mused after another glance into the herbalist's book.





...Not that she was actually going to follow the wizard's suggestions, oh no, such a concept was purely for the sake of theory, of research. And yet the question arose, could such a thing actually be done?

Time to turn hours of study into practical attempts. Because unlike architecture, which required the use of dozens of models, years of planning before the actual building of full-size structures could commence, Laprima had something tangible she could work with, right here and now.

Filled with the sudden excitement of a schoolgirl, she gathered up most of the flowers, placed them into a large basket, then hauled them through the door and into Sybille’s quarters. By now it was late afternoon. The wizard was up and about, no longer stuffed underneath sheets and blankets. Splendid. Wouldn't want to wake the old seer while making lots of noise.

The scholar put her basket on the floor. "Firstly to begin, there is wortcraft," she spoke quietly, mimicking an invisible teacher. "Wortcraft involves chewing and consuming various bits of flora, which is the easiest way to perceive the properties, the effects, of such flora."

She grabbed one of the blue mountain flowers, and took a sniff. It smelled just like anyone would expect: perfumey and fragrant, just like a flower. Laprima tentatively tasted its petals. Not so aromatic. A little chalky, perhaps. She carefully made note of this in her journal.

"Alright then, class. Let us commence."

She popped the flower into her mouth, chewed it down, yicch! Fully upon the tongue and then eaten, blue mountain flowers became a sour pulp which could not be described as 'savory'. Not at all! Their pleasant aroma betrayed nothing of their taste! - "Uch!!!" - Laprima gagged a bit, briefly distracted... But then suddenly, she could feel it. Could feel the magical property contained within the flower's stem and stamens, that is, as a sort of pulse within her body, her nerves. Unfortunately the effect was there, and then gone. She hadn't fully grasped which portion of her being the flower affected. Let's try eating another.

"Oh! Well, that is.. mm, not very palatable. Siouxsie, my dear, might you fetch some water?" she asked, imagining her best ladyfriend from the City was here beside her.

She took a sip from one of Sybille's water glasses, after carefully examining it for any signs of redness. Then, she chewed and swallowed another sample. Paying attention this time, she was able to discern: blue mountain flowers affected her overall aspect of health. If she'd had a cut to her hand or her arm at that very moment, chances are this cut would be partially salved. Similar to the sort of potion she'd been offered to drink as a child, after skinning a knee, perhaps.

Laprima continued to eat at least one of each blossom from her collection, with the exception of the nightshade, adding more notes to her journal. Red mountain flowers restored her mana. The thistle? Laprima got an odd sensation of warming from these. After consulting her book, she learned thistle consumption could influence a person's ability to resist the cold. Perfect for her, since she could not foresee becoming acclimated to Skyrim's constantly chilly air anytime soon.

After a few minutes of eating and scribbling, she felt she was ready to attempt her first potion. Strode in front of Sybille's alchemy table.

"Thing is, none of these flowers in my possession have what are called 'primary properties' which match," she spoke to her imaginary classroom. "For instance, if two samples of flora both contain the ability to restore mana as a first effect, they can be combined to form a definite potion. However..." She picked a blue mountain flower and placed it next to a red one. "However, this does not mean the alchemist hasn't got the option for combining these two anyway. One can do so, apparently," she said, patting her book. "Reckless experimentation can sometimes be rewarded through positive results."

She placed the two flowers into a bowl and mashed them with a pestle. Ground them, until they became an odd-colored paste. From here she could've continued, could've scooped the paste into the alchemy table's 'retort/alembic' area. This portion of the table featured a series of boiling/distilling flasks made of blown-glass, heated by a metal implement which she later learned was called a 'calcinator'. Thing is, Laprima didn't know how to use this portion of the table, not yet, anyway. So she poured a bit of Sybille's water into the bowl, pulverizing the sticky mixture until its consistency began to smooth.




Another minute or two, and she decided the substance was as ready as it would ever be. She tried a taste of what'd been smashed and mashed. Result? Unsuccessful. Laprima discovered it did not yield any particular feeling or effect. Made a notation in her journal. By then, nearly an hour had gone by. Let's try another combination. She mixed a blue flower with a purple one. A purple one with a red one. Both of these attempts yielded zilch. Experimental failures, carefully marked within her journal. She reread a couple pages of the herbalist's book, checking to make sure she was doing this right. Another hour passed.

Was she actually following the correct procedures for potion-making? "Would it be prudent to request my superior, the one who loaned me this book?" she asked aloud.

And then finally, success! - A blue flower combined with some lavender caused irrefutable results! - Laprima felt a moment of glee after concocting her very first magical imbibement, which caused a sort of alchemical zing within her person after taste-testing. Best of all, she'd done this on her own, without the help of Sybille Stentor. Although she did not exactly know what sort of power the mixture contained, she wasted no time. Poured it carefully through a funnel, which drained into an empty phial she'd found in a cabinet under the table. Corked the mixture.

"'Voilà', as Chamany would say."

She continued to crush, combine, and cull until most of the flowers were gone. Doing so caused a bit of sadness within her once the task was nearing its end; her room would no longer be as aromatic and pretty as before. But it'd been worth it. All of this was being done for the sake of learning. Her worries about the absence of her future husband, they had vanished. Her causal fears concerning the devious diva who was still somewhere out there, plotting her next ambush? They'd fallen to the wayside as Laprima the student, the scholar, imagined herself back home in sunny Cyrodiil.

Finally, the nightshade. Six of these, still in her basket. According to the book, nightshade could be combined with deathbell or imp stools, combined into what would certainly be considered as poison, if she were successful.

“Perhaps a trip to Angeline’s Aromatics is in order?” Laprima asked her unseen students.

How ironic.

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

Flowers on her bed - (meh, thought I had a better picture of this)

Practicing wortcraft

Dining with palace workers
.

Back in the late 60s early 70s, as the normal “straight man” (no drugs. no wine, no…well you know the one who called AR when BAD things happened) I had a standing invitation to many of those parties. Some new guy thought it a laugh to sugar cube my punch and not say anything. I nearly crash landed when I jumped out of the moving car to run through the park. The freak had a talking to but I didn’t go to too many parties after that.


I never did understand learning about ingredients by eating them. It’s like; here this is cyanide taste it see what you think. Fall over dead. Yep, it’s a poison for sure.
But, it is good Laprima is learning about poisons derived from flowers that way you can learn how to produce the antidote. So it is equally important to learn how to read the symptoms the poison produce in the victim so one can counter the poison with the proper antidote.

Laprima is using nightshade for bed decorations! In small doses, it is a powerful hallucinogen. It was the LSD of the world before the CIA invented LSD. Trouble is, it is easy to misjudge the dose and kill yourself with it.

Laprima gets to work on her alchemy. I sense some poison on the horizon. Her evil drug ninja nemesis is going to be in for a surprise methinks.

A fascinating foray into alchemy. I love the way you treated the craft, to include LPD’s tentative, experimental approach and numerous failures – all of which she documented. She is learning though, and alchemy is a potent skill to have.

Still looking forward to her pending face off with the Skooma Skeever Devious Diva.


Just so you know, LPD is not the only budding alchemist who keeps notes for future reference. Below is an excerpt from Buffy's alchemy notebook -

-Datura – Poison that is used (with great caution/skill) by shamans for hallucinogenic rituals.
-Starblossom – Burn and inhale the smoke to invoke a Naga dream wallow vision.
-Felldew, Moon sugar. Best to avoid.
-Teethcleaning powder - First I add the most important ingredient to my mortar: dried iris flowers, well known for their magical teeth cleaning properties. Then a few pinches of salt to aid with cleaning and add some coarseness. Next goes in a pinch of glow dust for whitening and sparkle, then finally some dried mint leaves for a nice taste and fresh breath. I grind the mixture into a powder and carry it in a doeskin pouch. Oh, toothbrush? Well, the handle is bamboo. One end has been split three times and each slot carefully fitted with boar bristles. The end has been notched and tightly laced with fine silk thread to hold the bristles in place.
-Menstrual cramp potions: chamomile, ginger, primrose and cinnamon
-Heart’s Day Rose Tea: Rose petals, honey.
-Teas - primrose (maybe a touch of bergamot for citrus scent)/ jasmine+ginger / combery+honey.
-My hair conditioner: It contains just a touch of ectoplasm, along with some rosemary oil and aloe vera for conditioning, glow dust for shine, and some finely ground bergamot for a nice citrus scent.

I'd also have trouble sleeping if I'd gone through what Laprima did.

For me, at least, anxiety is a sign of a busy mind that doesn't have enough to do. It rings true that Laprima finds some relief in reading about alchemy.

Hm, poison might be an answer to her situation. But might not be the most convenient one. At least it keeps her occupied.

Heh, I like the way she mimics a teacher. Good sensory descriptions of the tastes, too. You made each one unique, in a way that fits quite well with the game.

Oh yeah, I remember you saying Siouxsie would make an appearance. I'm assuming she's a bard?

I'm starting to get Walter White vibes from Laprima...

This does put Laprima in a much better position. She's developing a trade skill, one that's pretty lucrative! It'll help her become independent, which I think is something she wants regardless of Chamany. Now for dealing with her more immediate problems. Does she want the aromatic to conceal the smell of nightshade? We'll see...

It is Friday today. Posting a bit early. Today's chapter really packed some surprises, stuff I wasn't expecting to happen! I wrote the story starting last week, and into this one, but didn't play the actual game until this morning. And like I said, a few things happened while gaming which I did not expect. As they happened, I decided they MUST be added into the story.

Same thing's gonna happen next episode too, I think. There'll be stuff I do expect, but also things I do not expect.


@macole: So you're saying even in the sixties there were Designated Drivers, and you became one of them? ☮ Anyway, I have had that happen to me at least a couple times. Getting dosed when you don't want to be is awful, I agree.

I've always taken the act of eating poisonous ingredients (to learn their effects) as they're not poisonous enough to kill us. In other words, we're not drinking or eating the cyanide, we are eating the mold, the fungus (whatever) in which a small amount of the poison exists. Tamriel has Alchemy, but not Chemistry. They don't need to know how to discern effects through the Scientific Process, all they have to do is eat stuff.


@SubRosa: I know! Imagine putting a bunch of poisonous plants in your room. 🌿 She did indeed create a few poisons, which boosted Alchemy enough to finally place my gal above Level 2!


@Acadian: Wow, hey, thanks! Yes, that was fun to write.

And what do we have here? Buffy's list of Alchemy successes! Wow, hold on...

-Datura – Poison that is used (with great caution/skill) by shamans for hallucinogenic rituals: Did she actually make this, and the other poisons listed, at some point? Or she just knows about them?

-Teethcleaning powder - First I add the most important ingredient to my mortar: dried iris flowers, well known for their magical teeth cleaning properties: This sounds like a Buffy concoction, as well as the Hair Conditioner one! I remember she made stuff like this in Oblivion, too. The

-Heart’s Day Rose Tea: Rose petals, honey.: Nice. I'll have a cup of this as I edit. 🫖


@WellTempedClavier: How true, about anxiety being sort of a mask for being unsure.

Yeah, she's pretending to be a teacher in that last episode. I imagine she's talking to invisible students to stave off lonlieness, but this is also part of her learning process.

Siouxsie is Laprima's best friend back in Cyrodiil; they were classmates. Siouxsie will hopefully make an appearance next season.

.
_____________________

We’ll never be Royals

_____________________


Fredas, Sun's Dusk 5


As the wild woman from the woods stirred at her campsite, the posh lady from the palace fretted, considered, and planned.

Sirdasa Noskal ran out of brews at some point the day before. Jittery and delusional, she’d been forced to spend the final twenty of gold filched from Posh Lady on more skooma. This additional expenditure wasn't in her plans; she’d been wanting to use this final bit of coin to finance supplies. She needed a new ball of twine, a new net for fishing, and so on. Sirdasa was good at subsisting from the land and river, but some items could not be constructed out here! They could only be bought from vendors.

As her original four phials of skooma dwindled the day before, she’d made a mad dash back to Solitude. Searched for that perfumed, prissy noble! But the wench was nowhere to be found.

Meanwhile, Laprima made the trip to Angeline’s, entering the store just after the apothecary opened her shop this Fredas morning. She procured some deathbell, along with a few other ingredients recommended by the elder woman.

“Ahh, so you’re an alchemist, then?”

"I have recently gained interest in the study of herbs and potions, yes."

Being an alchemist herself, Angeline had an alchemy table, of course. Pretty soon Laprima was using it. As she combined her nightshade with some deathbell bought from the herbalist, Laprima explained that there was "a bit of a rat problem" in her home, not that Angeline asked any questions. The apothecarist was also able to identify the first potion created by Laprima. Turns out, she'd managed to create a substance which fortified the user’s abilities of Conjuration. The noblewoman had no use for such a draught, the only magic she was truly good at up ‘til now was her ability to self-heal.

“I can offer payment, if you’d like to sell,” Angeline informed the fledgling potion-maker.

Laprima declined. Now that she knew what she'd made, her plan was to place the golden-colored brew into the nightstand Chamany bought several days before. There, it could always be treasured as her first.

Final decision of the day: she decided she would not be heading to work, which meant two straight afternoons with no one on the floor at the Winking Skeever! But this had to be done, whatever ‘this’ turned out to be. This situation with Sirdasa; it had to be dealt with. She walked to the tavern to inform her superiors.

Would it be prudent to inquire about Sirdasa? she wondered over her usual bowl of soup. She could ask Corpulus and Barre Bakke what they knew about the woman who’d formerly worked under their employ.

“Yeah.... Sirdasa....” Corpulus said later on.

The man seemed embarrassed after hearing her name. Judging his body movements, Laprima discerned the bartender was also wary, now that the subject had come up. Like he’d prefer to forget about Sirdasa Noskal altogether.

“She was here a few weeks, did her job fine, stayed quiet. I heard all sorts about her, how she’s mean and how she grew up here acting all tough, and so on. In the end I decided to give her a chance. Can't say I have any complaints, really," he admitted.

"Well, I've got one. She stopped showing up about a week before you showed up," Barre informed in his thick Nordic accent. "And I must say, I enjoy your company much more, Laprima. For one thing, you just happen bathe regularly, a-ha-ha!"

Laprima wondered if she should tell them she was about to go and confront the woman (or try, at least). In the end, she chose not to. Doing so could complicate things. Let us get this matter over and done with...





A few minutes later, she exited the gates of Solitude. Today would be the first time she left the town since her arrival thirteen days ago. My, how things had changed since then. If only she’d known of the litany of events to come…

She walked the road, which angled down a slight hill. Passed by a man with a carriage-for-hire. A second road branched left, which was the way toward Solitude’s docks. Laprima continued walking straight.

“Oh... dreadful!”

Light snow began to fall, swirling all around. The sky darkened. "Blime. Is it really?" An hour ago it’d been sunny!






“If anything, this turn of weather shall certainly hasten my desire to avoid dawdling.”

The road itself was also covered with tamped-down snow. Good thing she was wearing boots. In Solitude, all the ground's ice and snow must regularly be getting melted.

She continued moving forward, walking briskly. Wishing she’d worn warmer clothes. For the air was also becoming chillier. Everything is dead! Laprima observed. The grasses by the side of the road, for instance. Everything except for the trees, that is. Skyrim’s trees remain green, though they were becoming closer to black as the day's sunniness diminished. The forest became darker. Thicker. Now that she had traipsed just outside the town’s limits, trees, grass, and bushes encroached right to the roadside.

The wind picked up just then, causing the Heartlander from Cyrodiil to shiver. She walked a little faster. And that’s when she heard Sirdasa.

“You think you stand a CHANCE?”

Laprima froze! ... Definitely, that was the woods' woman's voice, but who was she speaking to? -- The woman was nowhere to be seen, as of yet. Was she threatening Laprima? - Up ahead, the road bent to the left, blocked slightly by a large boulder and some low-lying fir trees. The Heartlander was pretty sure the voice she'd heard came from that direction.

Laprima grabbed the wizard's blade, which she'd carefully poisoned earlier in the day. Cautioned a few forward steps. Up ahead, a flurry of activity. A fight!!

Peering into the gloom, eventually Laprima could see Sirdasa, whose arms were flailing, beating and slashing about some sort of creature with her knife. The creature (whatever it was) jumped about on four legs. It seemed larger than Sirdasa, not that this seemed to matter; the scrawny fur-wearing shrew was obviously holding her own. As if she'd done this sort of thing before.

"C'mon, let's see you put up a fight!"

Laprima Donnaugh, Heartlander and noblewoman from sunny, magnificent Cyrodiil, could've simply left the scene right then and there. Could've run back to Solitude, where a series of bored guards were on duty, waiting for any excuse to draw their weapons. But she didn't. Instead, she rushed forward! --- Dashed straight towards the melee, where she struck the creature's (a wolf's) hindquarters with Sybille's blade. A flash of light danced across the wolf's fur, shock-magic, for sure. Posh Lady and Woods Woman shredded about the animal, which growled and leapt and snapped, not happy there was now a second bipedal being to deal with. After a few more slices the wolf fell to the ground, definitely dead. Though the fight lasted maybe twenty seconds or so, it seemed to Laprima as though an hour had passed.

“The heck's you doin’ out here?” Woods Woman sneered after a moment of confusion, eyes wild, her adrenaline apparently dropping not in the slightest. She bent to the ground to wash the wolf's blood from her blade, before sheathing it. “Thought we was s’pposed to meet somewheres in town!”



Laprima, breathing hard herself, said nothing. Shuffled warily a couple steps to the left, before coming to a halt. Stared hard, tried to steady her nerves. Truth was, she had no idea what to say to the woman who'd badgered her in town, at least not yet. She recalled the language Sybille instructed her to use: I shall not divulge you any more coin, or some such, but somehow these words could not be stated just yet.

“Well, it’s good you is here,” the woman in furs said eagerly. “Might be best. This way, ya ain’t gotta deal with tha awkwardness of me takin’ all yer miserly coin, with others standin’ by as witness. So…let’s git this over and done with. How much you got fer me today, hmm?”

Laprima noticed her opponent was not holding her blade. So, attempting to take whatever advantage she could, the city-dweller grabbed Sybille’s daggar from a leather pocket sewn into her dress (for she hadn’t a true scabbard in which to carry the weapon upon a belt). She held the knife pointed forward, in a hand which trembled just a bit. Her feet were planted in stance, mimicking the manner the old wizard taught two nights ago.

“A-ha-ha! What is this? The HECK you thinkin’, rich girl?”

Laprima made no reply. Stood stock still, trying to focus. Random thought which crossed her mind at that very moment: Where is Sybille Stentor?





“You really think, that you can take me on?" Wild Woman asked. "Ha! ... I’ll carve you up like a wild turkey! ... How many brawls ya been involved up ‘til now? Huh? - I been fussin’ and fightin’ since I was twelve! … You ain’t even holding that proper-like, wench!”

Laprima said nothing. A bead of sweat slowly escaped the pile of raven-colored hair upon her head, rolled slowly down her face. She was forced to wipe it away with her left hand before it absorbed into her eye. Ironically, it was at this very moment she realized that she, for once, had been unaware of Skyrim's cold for the past five minutes or so.

“So. You mean ta tell me, you came all the way out here just to fight?!” the woman said, amazed. “No. That ain’t gonna happen, girlie. Here’s my thought. You give me MY coin, and give it ta me NOW!”

“No.”

“Huh? What’d ya just say?”

“I said no. I shall not give any more coin to you… Sirdasa.”

At the mention of her name, Sirdasa Noskal blinked, incredulous. Unable to fully comprehend for a moment or two, for her abuse of skooma (along with a lack of restful sleep these past few days) was clouding her mind.

“That is right. Your name is Sirdasa, isn’t it?”

“How yew know ma name?”

“I do know it,” Laprima said, her voice trembling. “I know your name, Sirdasa. I know that you grew up here in Solitude, and that you had yourself lots of troubles during youth. You were dwelling upon the top of this mountain we stand upon now, in an old fort, along with others. And that you chose to return to Solitude not long ago, where an attempt was made to better thyself, for whatever sort of choice or inference. You took the job at the Skeever…”

The fur-wearing woman seemed astonished, as she received all this information from someone she barely knew, all which seemed undeniably true. “Who told'ja all that?” she demanded.

Laprima noticed Sirdasa was unarmed; hadn’t bothered to grab for her blade. Didn't seem bothered in the slightest about the weapon pointed at her. So Miss Donnaugh took a chance, pocketed her own blade. Now they both stood before each other, neither of them portending immediate threat. It was time to bring this (whatever ‘this’ was to be) confrontation to some sort of conclusion.

Laprima, gaining confidence now that weapons were no longer involved, was able to discern Sirdasa’s condition.

“Your pallor, Sirdasa, it is wan. Your skin’s got sores. I cannot help but realize you are unwell. And perhaps I can.... perhaps I can help.” She paused, thinking for a moment. Realized she was taking a risk: improvising her words.
Is this wise? -- Nevertheless, Laprima pressed on. "Perhaps I can make some sort of assitance, Sirdasa. Get you set into a flat, in town, where you'd be safe. Get you dressed into some proper clothes..."

“Mmm, no. I do not think so. Now you LISTEN, miss. I want my coin!” Sirdasa growled. “Don’t care about my skin… don't wanna go back in that wretched town. Don't fit in there, nah-ah. Now listen here, sister. And listen real good....”

It was at this very moment when everything changed. Because Laprima Anne Donnaugh, she became aware of how very cold it was, here in the woods. Really cold. Not the sort of chill she'd experienced in town, oh no. Back in Solitude the air was nippy at times, but Laprima had been able to face it down. Because there was always a door to walk through, a door to a shop or the tavern or the palace itself. And on the other side of these doors there was warmth. Frigid and windy on one side, cozy and comforting on the other.

Out here there were no doors. Only woods and snow and pine needles. The wind, it became almost a gale, blowing and whistling through the trees. Blowing right through her skin, it seemed, and into her bones. Laprima, fully acclimated to lush foliage and a much pleasanter climate, wondered how far away was she from town? And was the wizard's idea really going to come to some sort of fruition? Was it really? - Was Laprima Donnaugh really going to attempt stabbing and poisoning Sirdasa Noskal to death out here? Was she really?

"... ain't gonna say it again, prissy princess! 'Cause it ain't like I'm some kinda royal, livin' on my--"

"Sirdasa," Laprima interrupted. "Sirdasa, I am cold. I am really... cold. I..."

Sirdasa Noskal, ever the loquacious one when it came to threats and taunts, suddenly was saying nothing. At a loss for words. Her mouth hung agape in mid-sentence.

"Might we... I know you've got yourself some sort of campsite,” Laprima continued, surprising herself. “By the river, aye?"

The woodsy woman blinked, completely flummoxed. Unable to yammer her usual set of one-track thoughts.

"Perhaps you and I, we can continue conversing beside your fire? Actually, might we do so, please?”

As the wild woman from the woods pondered this abrupt proposal, the posh lady from the palace wondered what, pray-tell, the heck she was doing.


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

Lopov'd

Leaving Solitude -- (notice the weather is sunny)

Snowfall begins

Woman of the Woods in action!

"Princess" joins the fight

Pwning the Wolf

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Notes: The way this chapter originally was written, I hadn't anticipated the fight with the wolf. And this meant half the episode had to be amended. I also did not anticipate Laprima's reaction to the cold. I knew she might possibly ask Sirdasa to take her to the campsite, but the question was "Why?" Now we all know.
.

Laprima has a rat problem alright, a two-legged rat problem...

“You think you stand a CHANCE?”
It always sounds so weird when the NPCs are making taunts like this when they are fighting animals. Do they expect the wolves to understand what they are saying?

I cannot help but think that maybe Laprima took the wrong side in that Wolf on Shrew battle?

I too am wondering what the post lady from the palace is up to? I don't think she is going to have much luck appealing to Sird's better nature.