The Story of Serene

It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required

Sir Winston Churchill

Chapter 4; Ashlander Affairs


I stayed another week at Arvs Drelen, being a devoted scholar of Baladas Demnevanni, who in fact was more of a father to me than Rufus Vantinius back in Cyrodiil ever had been. I learned a horde of spells suitable for, if nothing else, keeping me alive in the harsh country I was to encounter.

It was with mixed feelings I took leave of Baladas and Shulki an early Turdas-morning as I was bound eastwards to the Ahemmusa Camp. Master Demnevanni had given me a nice set of potions and scrolls; Shulki gave me a wonderful cloak made of softened netch-leather, dyed in dark green with complicated embroideries along the edges. She had spent over a year making this robe and it was originally meant for her wedding. I first refused to accept it but Shulki urged me to it, since she was convinced that I saved her life by revealing the Talos Cult plot, and she was now to move in with Master Demnevanni and devote herself to follow in his footsteps; therefore she was not going to marry anyway. I then embraced her, tears running down my face, and accepted the wonderful gift and wished her all luck. I was really sorry to leave Gnisis; Shulki and Baladas Demnevanni were the only family I had....so far.

I went by Silt Strider to Khuul, a small fishing-village on the north-west coast of Vvardenfell. The rain was pouring down as I arrived and I hurried along the road leading from the Strider port to the village itself. Luckily my cloak was impregnated with Shalk-resin so it resisted the rain very well. Nevertheless I arrived at the actual village dripping from rainwater and extremely hungry. I asked around for some services and was shown to Thongar´s trade house, a rather simple place but where I at least could buy some bread and Scrib-jelly.

I also found out that in order to get to Ahemmusa Camp the best thing to do was to take a ship to Dagon Fel and then walk from there. I wasn’t all that happy about going by boat, since the weather still showed no improvement; in addition to the pouring rain a rather hard wind had started whirling around and the sea did not look friendly at all. I can’t stand the sea and I did not fancy losing my lunch to the sea-creatures, so I decided to ask Thongar, the Nordic proprietor, if I could wait a couple of hours in his house. I was allowed to sit down in a corner and so I did.

I must have fallen asleep sitting there because suddenly I was aware of some movement just beside me and when I opened my eyes I spotted Thongar´s hands deep down my in backpack, I immediately grabbed his wrist muttering:”'M feinedd balf fferrir”, and watched him grow pale as my grip turned his arm to a frozen piece of meat. Master Demnevanni´s spells were indeed very efficient and this one, “Icy Grip” was no exception…

“So, what are you looking for?” I asked coldly and relieved my grip so the blood could circulate freely in his arm again. The incredible pain as the frozen limb started to gain normal temperature was clear in his face; sweat was dripping from his forehead and he moaned as he desperately rubbed his arm.

“N-N-nothing, nothing at all” he gasped, looking hatefully at me, “Get out of here immediately. You cursed Witch”.

I saw no reason to disobey him, so after checking that nothing was actually stolen from me I went out of the Trade house and down to the docks. The wind had eased a bit and I bought a one-way ticket to Dagon Fel. I must have been rather exhausted, because I slept most of the trip, and arrived the following morning in Dagon Fel, the biggest Nordic settlement on Vvardenfell. It was a rather nice town, a mixture between grey wooden shacks and some patchwork stone houses surrounded by a wall….partially torn down though.

A tall blonde woman greeted me as I stepped off the ship, wondering if I needed some accommodation during my stay. She told me her name was Mette and that she could recommend “The End of The World Renter Rooms” where she currently was employed, as a scout. I found the name of the accommodation rather amusing considering that I actually was at the End of Vvardenfell at the moment, so I followed her there. I was offered a rather large room, with a bed, a small table and a large drawer in it. On the table I found a book that caught my interest, not so much the title, but the author: “The True Noble’s Code” written by Serjo Athyn Sarethi. I remembered Neminda mentioning him back in Ald´Ruhn as I joined the Great House Redoran…..

I laid down on the bed and started reading the book…..getting more and more doubtful the more I read; How could I possibly fit into The Great House Redoran? A house filled with noble warriors, worshipping the Tribunal, a thing I had not even the faintest clue what it really meant…..I shrugged and put the book aside…….closing my eyes for a bit.

Until this day I can’t tell what exactly woke me up, I only know that if something had not wakened me that bright morning at The End of The World, it really would had been The End of Serene Catraso, that’s for sure!

I don’t know what happened besides that I was sound asleep one minute and standing beside the bed, sword in hand, the next. I saw nothing, but a distinct prickling of my neck told me there was something there waiting for me. I turned around once more when a dark figure seemed to materialize out of the shadows, with a shiny sword in its hand. I realized that his armour was made of a light-absorbing material. I had no time to notice anything more, as he attacked with a ferocity I had never before encountered. I was able to use the greater reach of my long sword to advantage, keeping away from many of his attacks. Still, a significant number got through, and I felt something warm and wet run down the left side of my body. I fought without thinking, the instinct of survival made me launch a series of strokes that finally pressed my opponent into a corner of the room where I could finish him off with a lethal stroke to his stomach. As he sank to the floor, severely bleeding and his intestines visible through the deep cut I had given him I myself fell to my knees, panting from exhaustion, sobbing hysterically from grief of having to kill someone.....again!

I eventually calmed down and started to investigate my own wounds. Luckily I had taken off Shulki´s beautiful cloak or it would have been completely ruined. My shirt, soaked with sweat, had a long bloody rift in the left side, showing where the attacker had hurt me the worst. The cut was about 6 inches long and rather deep, since blood still was emerging from it in a rather heavy flow. I felt dizzy for a moment but managed to put my hand on the cut and concentrate. It was hard this time; my heart was still beating heavily and the sweat made my skin slippery so I wasn’t able to heal myself as swiftly as I used to. Finally I just tied a bandage made from the sleeves of my ruined shirt around me and hoped that would be sufficient.

Then I remembered the potions I got from Master Demnevanni, and I indulged myself with a small healing-mixture. Feeling much better and invigorated I started examining the body of my attacker. He was a young skinny Dunmer with a strange tattoo on his forehead. His armour was of very high quality; in addition to its light-absorbing properties, it also was designed to dampen sound. That would explain why nobody came to my aid in this fight. The sword was made from a material I never encountered before, strong yet very light and shiny. I decided to take custody of that sword and somehow find out what it was made of. I reckoned some Armourer would have the answer to that. I thoroughly wiped the sword clean from my own blood and put it on top of the chest of drawers.

Now the problem remained; what was I supposed to do with the corpse? I had no intention whatsoever to stay at The End of The World; if there had been one attack there could very much likely be another, especially since this attacker was unable to get back to whoever employed him and report me as being dead.....I was almost certain there had to be an employer of some kind- too many strange unexplainable things had happened to me since I got to this Island; an attempted murder did not really surprise me, just made me feel very sad, mostly because I had to kill another human being, something that I had already done a couple of times even though I resented it deep in my heart.

I took the sheets from my bed and wrapped the corpse in them and shoved him in under my bed. Then I unwrapped my bandage, seeing that the wound was almost healed, just a red scar remained stretching from under my left breast to the hipbone, the scar was sore and prevented me from bending and moving freely, but didn’t really bother me that much. Obviously the sword that made that wound was extremely sharp, otherwise it wouldn’t have cut that deep.

I also realised I’d have a problem finding something to wear, that ruined shirt was my last one, as were the trousers I was wearing, dirty, stained with blood and sweat, they were at least not torn but I did not fancy wearing then anyway. It seemed as I had nothing left except a dancing dress that Shulki had given me because it was anyway too small for her. It was an extremely short black one with shoulder straps, not much to wear during a journey and definitely not anything I would think of wearing when walking around in Dagon Fel.......

It turned out I had no other choice than put that dress on, together with my leather cloak and step down the stairs to the bar at the ground floor of The End of The World. I was freezing in my odd outfit and could hardly prevent my hands from shaking when I approached the counter. Standing there, calmly sipping from a large goblet, was a tall well-built Nordic woman with a shiny red-blonde hair floating down her back. She was dressed in a brown and blue woollen shirt with a fur-collar, over a brown long skirt and gave me a curious look as I came closer.

“Ye look as if yer freezin´ Miss” she gave me a friendly smile, “C’mon `ave a Mead, it’ll warm ya up.” The woman nodded at the barkeep and gave me her hand.

“Anja Swift-Sailer, at yer service. Drink’s on me tonight; me longboat’s all ready by now, time te celebrate!”

I felt at ease hearing that Nordic tongue again, it reminded me of Sonya and thus my eyes filled with tears; the recent events rushed back upon me and my legs felt weak so I had to lean on the counter for support.

“Aye, lassie, wassup?” Anja grabbed my shoulders and led me to a chair and sat me down; really, she carried me to the seat, for my legs just bent under me and all went black for a minute. Anja pressed my head down between my knees in order to prevent me from fainting...and the blood slowly went back to my head again. I then tried the drink that was put in front of me and it really did warm me up a bit, but not as much as the friendly confident Nordic woman beside me.

Anja was very cheerful this afternoon; she was the proud owner of a small freight-company inherited from her father. This very day her new longboat had been delivered and now she could take passengers as well as freight. Unlike the open boats of the type, this one had a deck covering the hold and was powered by sails instead of oars. That made it easy for one person to operate in the islands off the north coast of Vvardenfell. We had a couple of drinks in the bar and I told her I was going to the Ahemmusa Camp. She offered to take me there by boat, which I welcomed. I just had to get myself some clothes first so she followed me to Heifnir the Trader. I bought some plain warm clothes that were also suitable to wear at the Camp. I had a feeling that it would be a mistake to appear at an Ashlander camp in Imperial finery; the Ashlander’s antipathy toward the Empire was well known. If I were to have a chance with the nomadic Dunmer, the first impression would be critical.

Anja and I got on very well together; she was well liked throughout Dagon Fel and being with her granted me the same friendliness among the mostly Nordic population. We went to her house and she cooked me a hearty dinner as well as letting me use her washing-facility. I felt very good sitting in the large wooden barrel that she used as bathtub, deep down in hot water seasoned with Heather.

“Ye like ´aving a bath, lassie?” Anja smiled as she washed my back with a piece of sload-soap, “My, my ye´ve ´ad a good beatin´up I reckon, lots a bruises ´ere, them must be botherin´ya!”

I was still rather sore from the fight with that assassin in black armour, but the hot bath and Anja´s gentle rubbing of my back relaxed my tense muscles and eased the pain of the bruises.

Since Anja was kind enough to let me sleep on her couch that night I was rather refreshed when I woke up the following morning. No assassination-attempts disturbed my sleep. Just as the edge of the sun peeked over the horizon, we set sail on Anja´s new ship.

The sea was calm and clear this morning as we went south-east through the Dagon-Fel archipelago, small islands and pointy rocks were scattered along our route. I who could not take the sea did not get sea-sick at all; I enjoyed very much sitting on deck in the bright sunshine watching the surroundings. I did see a couple of cliff-racers though, which made me feel a bit uneasy!

We reached the location of the Ahemmusa Camp at sunset. The boat drew too much water to go near the shore so Anja took me there in a small dinghy. We parted on good terms and I had to promise to let her know next time I went to Dagon-Fel....so we could meet.

There I was now, all alone on a strange shore. According to a map Anja had made, the Ahemmusa Camp was right behind the hills in front of me. I enjoyed the beautiful landscape as I headed up the small hill, but was abruptly interrupted by a hoarse voice;

“Stay exactly where you are woman, or you may greet your ancestors on the other side.”

I froze and held my breath, I berated myself for not being attentive; this was the wilderness and such behaviour could easily be fatal. I heard footsteps behind me and soon enough I was grabbed by the shoulder and briskly turned around, facing a young Dunmer with fiery red hair in two braids embracing an emotionless face. He aimed at me with an impressively big crossbow, circling around me, smirking;

“What are you doing here Imperial? You are not wanted in this area; its Ahemmusa land here, we want no interference.....Get out of here!”

I swallowed, cleared my throat and told him I had to speak to the Ahemmusa Wise Woman. Apparently he did not believe me, for he grumbled something, and spat on the ground deliberately near my feet. Still, he couldn’t be sure, so he scowled and pushed me forward.

“Move it, outlander, let’s see what our Gulakhan will say about this!”

I entered the Ahemmusa Camp as a prisoner, and was lead directly to a huge yurt surrounded by other huge yurts situated in a half-circle around a fireplace. There were not many people strolling around in the camp, and those who were did not pay any attention to me and my guard.

“Dutadalk, it’s me Sallit, may I speak with you on a matter of great importance?” My guard announced before we could enter. A dark voice answered from inside; apparently granting the audience, for Sallit pushed me inside and followed tight behind.

The interior of the tent was simple but completely functional, a fireplace in the middle, a bedroll, some urns and sacks, even a small table and two chairs were standing on one side. Since the tent was circular all things were placed along the sides in circumference to the fireplace. It was rather dark inside; the tent was only lit by two minor lamps, one at the table and one hanging on the wall beside the bedroll.

The man who appeared out of the darker area was tall and skinny, but seemed rather friendly; he pushed his long black hair out of his eyes and looked curiously at us asking;

“What is it this time Sallit? Weren’t you supposed to try and find those missing guars? What you have brought doesn’t look like a guar to me.....”

“Gulakhan Dutadalk, I found this Imperial walking on the shore. What shall we do with her?”

“I ....” That was as far as I got before Sallit hit me hard in the face and I tasted blood. Fury at the blow rose up in me, but I did not say anything. My mission was too important, and I knew that I had to succeed.

“No need for that!” the Gulakhan snapped at Sallit, “Let her talk!”

“I would like to speak with the Ahemmusa Wise Woman,” I said, “I have this letter of introduction.”

I took out the piece of parchment Imsin had given me and showed the Gulakhan. He turned away from me grumbling, trying to pretend not to see it. Instead he told Sallit to take me to the Wise Woman’s yurt. Sallit started to protest but was immediately given a sign to be quiet.

The Wise Woman’s yurt was considerably bigger than the others, and was situated outside the main circle of yurts in splendid solitude to mark the importance of its inhabitant.

Sallit just pushed me forwards and told me to enter, and then he disappeared. I hesitated for a moment, and then went inside. When my eyes got used to the darkness I noticed that this yurt was like and yet not like the Gulakhan´s yurt. It was bigger; the walls were covered with beautiful pieces of tapestry, woven in intricate patterns in dark earthy colours, and the floor had lots of carpets, lying almost on top of each other, in order to entirely cover the ground. Behind a screen I noticed a bedroll, a lamp and some books. Big urns were standing around the walls and there were also a chest of drawers, with some alchemical equipment on top.

But most conspicuous was the woman who came towards me, a tall slender woman with a noticeably fair complexion for being a Dunmeri, dark red eyes and silver hair, clad in a shirt that was like a piece of art, made from softest leather, embroidered throughout its front, with pearls, precious stones and cliff racer plumes put together in an intricate pattern. I was stunned and it took a second or two before I noticed the woman was talking to me, in a melodious voice.

“You wish to speak with me?” I then looked at her face; there was something familiar about that face, as if I actually knew her.....

“I greet you, Wise Woman of the Ahemmusa,” I said bowing my head out of courtesy, “I have been sent to you, and I have this letter, issued by Imsin The Dreamer of Fort Buckmoth.”

I handed her the letter, still not knowing what was so familiar about her. She took it but did not open it; instead she looked straight into my eyes, took my hand and said;

“The Ahemmusa welcome you, Serene.”

Her hand touching mine sent a whirling sensation right through me and then I knew where I’d met her before......


Introducing another guest-writer....the one and only: Lonewolfie!!!!..Thank you for your contribution.....

Enjoy!!

“I watched the faces of the people around me- there was Tamara and four more of Ranya´s sisters, and their mother, all six with the beautiful red hair that obviously ran in the family, and another elderly woman who I didn’t recognize.”

Cyrodiil, the day after I ran away from home, the Dunmer settlement....the elderly woman I did not recognise then, that was who stood in front of me now.

“Serene, my child, Azura sent you to us, to help the Ahemmusa.” With those words, the Wise Woman bade me sit down by the fireplace.

I did not understand how I could be of any use to these people, who did not even like me, as far as I understood, but the Wise Woman’s next words made a chill run down my spine;

“I have followed your ways, ever since that day back in Cyrodiil, I’ve been with you, been watching over you.”

The universe started spinning, faster and faster.......the atmosphere became chilly, a cloud engulfed me and there she was, Azura, my Guardian-Angel, clad in lightest blue as she swayed in front of me, touching my forehead;

“Serene, fear not! I am still with you, guiding you on your path......You shall help my people; use your skills and your intelligence for the good of all and you will be greatly rewarded.”

The world stopped spinning around me and I came back to my senses found myself lying on the floor beside the fire, the Wise Woman sitting next to me, offering me a cup of tea, not the usual hackle-lo, from the smell. I did not ask, just downed it.

“I hope you are feeling well, Serene,” she said, “I will introduce myself to you, I´m Sinnamu Mirpal, the Wise Woman of the Ahemmusa and also their leader.”

“She´s old Serene,” he then said. “It´s too much for her leading the tribe in combat as well as being their spiritual leader and healer, and she can´t prepare the potions we need! The tribe is falling apart, the young ones are leaving for greener pastures, the older ones are too weak to hunt for the support of women and…and there have been no children born in several years, due to some unknown curse. Azura knows we need a new generation…..oh what will become of my people?”

I heard that voice in my head now as clearly as if he was sitting right beside me.

“Sedrane....” my voice was but a whisper.

“Yes, my son met you,” Sinnamu said, “I sent him to Balmora to seek you, since I had a vision of you being in Vvardenfell. You see, Azura is the link between you and me, therefore I knew you had arrived.”

“But why me?” This question had haunted my mind since the day I stepped off the boat in Seyda Neen, more than eight months ago, and now I hoped to finally get an answer, since this woman seemed to be able to look into the future.

“That is a long story, Serene, and I will not give you an answer yet; it is best for you if you do not know everything.”

Sinnamu Mirpal arranged for me to move in with her. A second screen was placed in a way that rendered me a spot of my own, complete with a bedroll, a small chest, a lantern and a bedside table. That first night at the Ahemmusa camp I had a very deep and undisturbed sleep, which did wonders for my state of mind. The assassination attempts had really got to me, but hopefully those men-in-black now had lost track of me, out here in the middle of nowhere.

It would later turn out that it is not wise to take anything like that for granted.

My first week at the camp was rather uneventful. I took part in the daily life of the Ahemmusa tribe. Everything was made by hand; even functional items were works of art.. The tribe was mainly guar-herders but they also grew some wickwheat, saltrice and ash-yam. That made their diet rather monotonous and not especially nutritious, and I pondered about how this could be changed. The area in which the camp was situated, the Grazelands, was a rather good farming-land so there should be an opportunity to enhance their farming.

Sedrane, Sinnamu´s son, was out on a scouting mission, trying to find some better pastureland for the herds. As it was now, the guar could hardly find anything to eat close to the camp. That was another problem the Ahemmusa faced- with so few able-bodied members, their grazing range was restricted. The guar had to be protected from predators or even theft from outcast Ashlanders.. I waited eagerly for Sedrane’s return, curious about how I would feel seeing him again, since I had a very clear memory of our last meeting.

He came back on the afternoon of my 10th day at the Ahemmusa Camp. It was a chilly time of the year, and the wind that blew over the plains was hard and made me wish that I had some warmer clothes to wear. I had received a large guar-skin from Sinnamu and was working on a pair of trousers and a tunic suitable for the harsh autumn weather, but the outfit was far from being completed as I had to learn every step of the process from Nummu, a kind young woman who besides being a herder also was very skilled in making clothes from guar-hides. I had cut out the different parts and now I had to perform the onerous work of making holes along the sides to be able to stitch the parts together.

This particular day I had been working with my trousers for three hours and felt that I needed a bit of fresh air, so I went for a small walk around the camp. I spotted a tall man approaching from the west, so I stopped, waiting for him to come closer. Strangely enough I was not afraid, maybe I knew subconsciously that there was no danger ......

When he recognized me his face was all smiles.

“Serene.....at last you´re here,” he sounded happy to see me, and he took my hand, held it and looked at me.

“Welcome to the Ahemmusa,“ he said, and the sound of his voice made my legs get weak. It was as if we had parted just the day before. A heat rushed through my body, and I could not utter a word. There was something stuck in my throat.....I swallowed to prevent the tears from running when he gently kissed my forehead.

Sedrane was greeted by his clan who were eager to find out if he´d found some new grazing for the herd. Unfortunately he couldn´t provide the answer that they wished for.

That night when we sat around the fireplace in Sinnamu´s yurt, Sedrane told me a bit about the hard reality the tribe was encountering at the moment, and also the constant misfortune that seemed to haunt the Ahemmusa. This is the story he told me that chilly Frost Fall-evening, so long ago....

“We had been hunting for several hours. Usually the game was good in this area, but lately there had been less and less. We had found nothing, and we were beginning to feel we should give up and go home. Suddenly a cry rose in front of us, and several bandits, outcast Ashlanders by the looks of them, rose from their places of concealment and began to run toward us, brandishing daggers and shortswords.” Sedrane looked into the fire, his dark red eyes sad with the memory.

“We quickly began to fire arrows at the bandits, realizing that this was an encounter that would end in the annihilation of one group or the other. As we fired, we sent Mabarrabael, the fastest runner among us, back to the camp to inform the Wise Woman of what had happened. The rest of us continued to fire arrows. Many simply bounced off the chitin armour the bandits were wearing, but one bandit pitched backwards off his feet with a shriek, an arrow protruding from his eye. Another fell with an arrow embedded in his stomach.”

Sedrane paused, took a sip from a pitcher with herbal tea and continued:

“The bandits had now gotten too close for archery, so we drew our daggers and prepared for close combat. As the outcasts reached us, the melee quickly broke up into several small fights. The bandits were outnumbered, but they had tough chitin armour, whilst we only had Netch Leather armour.”

I listened to this tale with rising horror, Not knowing what to say, I just took Sedrane´s hand in a futile attempt to comfort him.

“Uradras swiftly fell beneath a brutal shower of blows from a bandit wielding a shortsword, blood gushing from several wounds to his torso and head. Addarnat and one of the outcasts were grappling on the ground, but this ended when Addarnat broke the grip of his attacker and quickly slashed his dagger across the bandit’s throat. Bright red blood gushed forth from the terrible wound, and the bandit fell choking on his own blood.”

Sedrane looked at me, and seeing me shiver, he put his cloak around my shoulders, asking if I’d like him to stop. I noticed Sinnamu sitting quiet, eyes closed, but her lips moved silently as if she was praying…..

“The bandit with the shortsword still remained, and his longer reach had taken its toll on us. Two more of us were down, and Mansillamat was bleeding from several wounds to his arms and face and would not survive the next hour. Assama-Ilen rushed to his fellow’s aid, but was not quick enough. Just before he came within striking distance, the bandit beheaded Assama-Ilen with a brutal backhanded swipe of his sword.”

I felt physically ill now; I never had liked violence and bloodshed, so this tale of an event that happened less than a month ago really got to me. I shivered and could not stop the tears from coming.

“How did it end?” I whispered as Sedrane sat silent

“With a scream, I threw myself at the bandit, plunging my dagger into him over and over, each strike drawing forth a gout of blood. Eventually the dagger broke, but the bandit was now a red stain that was unrecognizable as ever having been a Dunmer. Wearily, I stood up and slowly began to walk back to the camp with a heavy heart.”

Sedrane bowed his head in anguish, and I embraced him saying nothing. No words can describe how I felt at that moment; I just held him close to me.

“We didn’t have a healer with us, Serene,“ he said, “otherwise the loss would have been minor….but our healer is dead.”




”But isn´t the Wise Woman a healer as well?” I looked at Sinnamu Mirpal, confused. She smiled faintly, put her arms around her knees and said:

“Some Wise Women are healers, true healers, but not all. It´s a gift from the Divine Azura, and not every Wise Woman is blessed with it. In my case I was given the ability to lead my people in combat but my ability of healing their wounds is rather poor nowadays.” Sinnamu sighed and then continued:

“We had a true healer, Marena Reladren, but she disappeared half a year ago and we assume she´s dead because nobody has seen her since.”

That night I could not sleep; I was tossing and turning on my bedroll without getting any rest, thinking about the future for this people and how my presence here could possibly affect it.

It took me another week to finish my outfit. By then the really cold weather had begun; the wind was cold and hard and we hardly had any sunshine at all, so I was very glad I had something warm to wear.

The daily life continued at the Ahemmusa camp; usually I awakened by the sun rising, then had some tea and a piece of bread before I had to go out and tend to the guars. It´s amazing how social those big clumsy animals are, they come running when they spot you, making all kind of funny noises....

One day Sinnamu told me we had to prepare for the annual shaman-meeting, which was to take place at our camp this year. It was a very important event; the Wise Women of the four Ashlander-tribes met and discussed various things...exactly what Sinnamu did not tell me; instead she said I could attend and see for myself.

I was under the impression that the four Ashlander-tribes were not always on talking terms with each other, but that was not the fact among the Wise Women apparently.

There was much to prepare for the meeting. First we had to arrange quarters for the visiting Wise Women, then there had to be a lot of food, and that could be a problem, as the Ahemmusa hadn´t had a very good hunt lately,

Sinnamu prepared three more bedrolls in our tent; it made it look really filled up, and I went to see Lanabi, the trader, to see what goods she might have. It was a miserable amount of things she had in her yurt, nothing really of use. She was indeed sad about that but explained to me that no travelling merchants were coming to Ahemmusa during the last months so there had been no chance of bartering.

Ulabael and Addamus, two of the most experienced hunters of the Ahemmusa, were preparing for a hunting-party. There had to be some meat at the table at the meeting, or the honour of the Tribe would be lost. The other three Wise-women would arrive escorted by their apprentices and at least two warriors each, so we expected about a dozen guests.

I met Sedrane outside Lanabi´s yurt, and as always when I saw him my heart started beating faster, my legs started to get shivery and I felt the heat come to my cheeks....

“Serene! There you are!” Sedrane took my hands and looked me in the eyes. I couldn’t say a word, there was this lump in my throat so I just nodded at him.

“Could I ask a favour of you?” he continued. I nodded once again, feeling almost angry with myself, this was ridiculous, he was just a young ashlander with whom I once spent one night ....that´s all, but the tension between us was very obvious....at least to me it was.

“Y..yes...of course,” I finally croaked, desperately swallowing whatever it was that was stuck in my throat. Sedrane smiled and squeezed my hands a bit harder;

“So Serene, I´d like you to accompany us on our hunting-party tomorrow morning; the men have bad feelings about going hunting due to the last time.....” he went silent and bowed his head.

***********************

When I came to this part in my story I had to stop for a while and ponder how to continue. I was about to describe an event that was the first in a chain of events that led to the conception of the little girl who at this moment was sitting in her room, probably reading a book of history, which was her favourite subject.

I was about to write down the story of her real father, my first love, but not my last, as it would come out. The story was also about the curse that lay upon the Ashlander Tribes, and my first and very brief meeting with the man who would lift that curse and who initiated a way for me to aid the Ahemmusa people, and give them a future.

But I was also about to begin writing the story of the rest of my life and how my past caught up with me- for better and worse.... This was a difficult part; the very thought of it made me shiver in pain.

As I sat there in my library, I had a divine visit of a lady in an icy-blue dress; Azura!

“Serene, Serene, you must continue your story, for the sake of your daughter and the unborn child you are bearing, but most of all for the sake of yourself, to finally put your heart at ease...”

I sat quite still, hearing the words of Azura still in my head, when the door opened and my husband entered, arms outstretched, giving me a look of love and devotion. He took me in his arms, gently rubbing my back and took me with him into our private chambers.

Then I knew how to continue my story......

That hunting-party was the beginning of a change in my life, since my relationship with Sedrane developed into a real relationship, that of a man and woman in all ways.

We left the camp on a chilly morning before sunrise. The party consisted of six hunters plus Sedrane and me. My task was not to perform any actual hunting, merely to be there in case something happened that required my healing-skills. We walked for nearly four hours before we even spotted some signs of the presence of any kind of prey. It was Mabarrabael who noticed fresh droppings from a Nix hound. Now that was a good sign, even though Nix hound was not the best source of meat we could think of. Their meat is hard and tough and not very tasty, but nevertheless it was better than nothing.

During the next hour we managed to hunt down two rather large Nix hounds, and a couple of small scribs, which pleased Sedrane because the jelly put on home-made bread was one of his favourite meals.

The hunters were very skilled in preparing the carcasses so we could carry the meat with us. The remains were then sacrificed to the ancestors in order to bring us some luck. When the sun had set, darkness came very quickly so we set up a temporary camp in the shelter of some trees at the foot of the great mountain ridge that separated the Grazelands from the Ashlands.

The evening was a bit chilly and as we sat around the camp fire, Sedrane put his arm around my shoulders, asking if I was cold. I wasn’t really but it sent a thrill down my spine so I nodded and smiled at him. An iron cook-pot was hanging over the fire containing a stew from saltrice and some small chunks from one of the Nix-hounds we got earlier. Sedrane had some bread in his backpack and we ate it with Scrib-jelly. It was delicious, or perhaps it was the atmosphere that made me feel good all over. I don’t know but I still remember that moment by the fire.

We had to keep the fire going throughout the night, so we decided to take turns on watching it. Sedrane said he’d take the first watch, and since nobody asked me to watch at all I decided to keep him company. Mabarrabael smiled when he heard that; I felt slightly embarrassed and went a bit away to find a secluded spot to relieve myself.

I had to admit that I was very much attracted to Sedrane and had been since the first time I met him at the Eight Plates in Balmora, even though I had never suspected I’d see him again and so surrendered to him totally. Now it was a bit different; he was the son of the spiritual leader of the tribe, and it might not be appropriate for me, an outlander, to have an affair with him, the potential Ashkan of the Ahemmusa Tribe. And that was his destiny- it was common talk in the Camp that Sedrane was under training to be Ashkan. Although I was not well-versed in Ashlander traditions, that seemed a sensible choice as he was the son of the Wise Woman and familiar with the history and ceremonies of the Tribe, and also a skilled warrior and hunter. The only problem would be that he was such an emotional person, and that could be a drawback for an Ashkan......

Sedrane handed me a cup of hot tea as I sat down beside him by the fire. I smiled and folded my hands around the mug to warm them up. It was a clear chilly night and both Masser and Secunda were full, sailing majestically in the pinkish-black sky above us.

I stared into the flames of the camp-fire, feeling the warmth from it but also from the man beside me. We did not talk, there was no need for that; somehow I knew what he was thinking, and it made me feel excited, yet a tad scared; he was, after all, a man and I never had had any good experiences of men, so far.

“Serene! Serene! Wake up; we....have got kind of a problem here!”

I sat up, confused. I must have fallen asleep.....and now Sedrane was shaking me awake, looking worried.

The “problem” was that Mabarrabael and Zallit, the red-haired man that brought me as a prisoner to the Ahemmusa camp the day I arrived in these lands, had wandered off to follow the tracks of some Kagouti just before sunrise. Kagouti are huge ugly animals with a bad temper, (the female of the species that is), but it’s the flesh that is really very tasty, at least that was what I’d learned during my stay with this Tribe. So it would be an honour for the hunter that managed to put down prey like that.

In this case the young hunters not only managed to track down a small herd of Kagouti, they also managed to anger the alpha-female to the extent that she attacked. She got hold of Zallit´s right leg and didn’t let go of it until Mabarrabael buried his longsword in her neck. This angered the rest of the pack so the men had to climb a small tree to avoid ending up as breakfast for the Kagouti-family which were resting watchfully under it.

Sedrane had wondered why Mabarrabael did not show up for his watch so he woke up Ulabael and asked him to go and see what was going on. It didn’t take long until he came back telling about the weird sight he encountered: Two men sitting in a small tree, and three Kagouti sitting under it solemnly waiting, maybe for one of the men to fall down. Apparently the Kagouti were attracted to the smell of blood from Zallit´s wound and besides that their leader was badly hurt and lying down on the ground, and they would not leave her.

So Sedrane sent out Addammus and Yennamu along with Ulabael to finish off the Kagouti and also bring back the two adventurers from the tree. It was a hard job to deal with the carcasses from the animals along with the injured Zallit who couldn’t use his leg at all. Now they were back and Zallit´s injured leg was not a nice sight; the Kagouti had almost crushed his leg below the knee, the muscle was torn to pieces and the bone was visible. The young man was terribly pale and barely conscious from the blood loss and the night chill.

I took a deep breath and rubbed my hands to get them a little bit warmer. It was rather a long time since I had practised my healing-powers and I could only hope it would come out alright. I put my hands directly on the wound, feeling the raw bloody human flesh under my fingers. As always it made me shiver for a second, before I started to concentrate.......I closed my eyes, felt a trickle of sweat running down my spine, then the heat started to build up in my hands and into the wound, which very slowly started to close itself up. When it was almost closed I removed my hands and reached for my backpack to get a small healing-potion that would serve as pain-killer as well as closing up the wound completely and give Zallit some vigour again. I looked at my hands afterwards......and realised that I had performed this healing with remarkably less effort than ever before. This pleased me indeed.

It was a rather satisfied hunting-party that returned to the Ahemmusa-Camp late that afternoon, three Kagouti, two Nix-hounds and some 5 Scribs were not bad at all. But what pleased me most was that Zallit looked at me with completely different eyes after this day....

Later that night Sedrane invited me to his yurt for the first time; before that day it would have been inappropriate according to Ahemmusa rules, but since I’d proved myself as a healer, the Ashkan could take such an action. Although I did not know it, I was close to being named a “Clan-friend,” the Ashlanders’ title for someone who was “adopted” by the tribe. My legs were a bit shivery when he led me into the yurt and bade me sit down on the thick red carpet beside the fireplace.

He took my hands in his, and looked right into my eyes saying:

“Serene.....these hands of yours, the divine power they have......well, the divine power you have! You have the incarnation of Azura inside you and we bless Her for sending you to us....to me!”

Then he bowed his head forward and kissed me, gently at first but then his desire increased , and he laid me down on the carpet, his hands let go of mine and started to caress me. He seemed to know exactly which parts of me were most susceptible and all the time he continued kissing me. At first I didn’t move; unsure whether I liked it or not, but as he continued I found myself accepting and then enjoying his attentions.

Sedrane suddenly let go and folded his hands around my face and looked at me solemnly.

“You are a wonderful woman, Serene, you have gone right into my heart, but now you must go back to the Wise Woman’s yurt.” With those words he helped me to my feet, and kissed me goodbye.

That night, I cried myself to sleep, and I did not really know why............



One day Urshamusa Rapli told me of an odd dream of hers. I remember that day clearly because it was the same day that the strange Dunmeri woman appeared, the woman who came out of nowhere, at least it seemed so, the woman who would not reveal much of her past…..Still she had a message from an old friend of mine, Baladas Demnevanni. I will come to that later, though…

Urshamusa´s dream was indeed odd. She claimed she had seen me, together with a Guar, and not an ordinary Guar, for this one was completely white. White Guars are very rare; in fact I never heard of any of that kind at all. But this one was supposed to be sent as a sign from the gods to help the Ahemmusa Tribe. Urshamusa asked me to go and find this rare specimen, but did not tell me what to do with it, except I was not supposed to kill it, and she said I would know what to do when I found it.

She was very vague in describing the whereabouts of the white Guar, she just told me she had seen it in a spot where the rocks grew from the earth like the fingers of a hand. That did not tell me much as I was not familiar with the landscape in this part of Vvardenfell, so I decided to ask around in the camp to find out if anyone could tell me more. Kammu, one of the scouts, told me to head west, she was certain there would be a rock-formation matching that description somewhere in that direction.

I first consulted Sinnamu Mirpal in this matter. When she heard my story she looked at me and nodded her head slowly.

”Urshamusa usually has dreams that come true, so I´m afraid you have to seek the White Guar, Serene, but I cannot tell you how to act when you find it. But I do trust that you will know by yourself.”

Apparently both the Wise Women had the confidence in me that I would know what to do with a wild Guar, which by all means could decide to have me as lunch! But who was I to argue with them?

I went to Sedrane´s yurt, just to find that he was not there, so I laid down on the bedroll to get a few minutes of rest. I did not even get that; just as I closed my eyes I heard some excited conversation outside, and my name was mentioned by a female voice I did not recognise, so I rose from the bedroll just in time to see a strange Dunmeri woman enter. I brushed my hair out of my face, looked at her and greeted her as politely I could considering I just awakened from a three-minute nap.

"Hail, Stranger” I said, "Who might you be and what bring you to the Ahemmusa Camp?"

"Oh, my name is Telina Delvanni, mouth of House Telvanni, I was sent here by Baladas, to give you a late birthday present, and to live and help the tribe for some time, I come from Cyrodiil, but I don’t want to tell about my background because of earlier events.....not now at least, maybe later," she rambled very fast, hardly pausing to take a breath. It was exhausting just listening to her.

I looked at her curiously; she was a beautiful woman, yet she had some nasty bruises on her face, no doubt the usual ”welcome-greeting” of Zallit, the ultimate guard of our Camp. I clearly remembered how he greeted me when I arrived here!

"You come from Baladas Demnevanni, in Gnisis? Oh I do hope he’s ok!!" I must have sounded worried because she said a bit impatiently that he was doing fine and she was to bring me a late birthday-present from him. I gasped, for I never celebrated my birthday; in fact I hadn’t done it since I was sixteen.....that fateful day that changed my life forever.

I accepted the somewhat battered parcel, wrapped in some turquoise cloth, and in it were two books, one was the “Notes on Racial Phylogeny and Biology, Seventh Edition”, by the Council of Healers, Imperial University, the other was “Research-Notes of Potion-making” by Baladas himself. I was really happy to receive those two books; I remembered seeing them when I visited Baladas....so long ago, or at least it seemed that way.

I smiled as I gently put the books on the shelf beside me and then thanked Telina warmly for bringing them to me. Then I just had to tend to her facial wounds so she wouldn’t get any scars from them. I put my hands on her face and focused. The healing-energy arose rather quickly this time and I could to my satisfaction feel her wounds close neatly, without leaving a scar behind.

Telina was thankful to me for healing her, and she turned out to be very nice company. Obviously she had not spent time with another woman for quite some time, so she was eager to talk to me about “female” things. We spent a couple of hour’s chit-chatting over a mug of comberry-juice, and I even told her about Milie Hastien in Balmora, as she mentioned that she wanted someone to style her hair!

Then suddenly she had to leave, saying something about not having a tent of her own, and before I was able to tell her that she could spend the night in one of the bigger tents there she was off!

I smiled, Telina certainly was a fresh spirit, but now I had to get some rest before going on the search for the White Guar.

The weather was not very satisfying when I set out for the White-Guar task the following day, grey and cloudy, the rain was just hanging in the sky. I wore my thick leather-cloak just in case the rain came down on me, whilst walking the westward trail from the Ahemmusa Camp. After about two hours of walking I sat down and had a quick meal, bread and scuttle and a sip of water.

Early in the afternoon I spotted the significant formation of five upright boulders, like fingers of a hand, so this was the sign that I had reached my destination. I looked around carefully; I did not want to be taken by surprise by the White Guar, since I did not know how hostile it was.

Even with my precautions I was terrified when I suddenly heard a quaking sound about three metres to the right of me, and there it was! The White Guar came towards me, very slowly, just waving its big head back and forth. I stood absolutely still, waited for it to make a move. Sweat was trickling down my spine, I was more nervous than I thought I’d be.

The White Guar looked at me, well at least it’s eyes were directed at my face, then it turned around and started walking away from me, stopped, turned to me again, waving its head, like it was trying to urge me to follow! I then heard a voice in my head, very faint, yet familiar;

“Serene, follow me, fear not, I wish you no harm”

I trembled, it was as if the Guar talked to me, inside my head, or was it some incarnation of Azura? I did not know, but I found my legs moving, nearly outside my own will, following the big white Guar.

I didn’t know where we were heading, I just followed. Then suddenly the White Guar stopped with a sad groan. I approached it and spotted a dead body lying just beside some small rocks. It was the body of a woman, clad in the traditional Ashlander-outfit that most Healers and Wise Women wear. I kneeled beside the dead woman; she was middle-aged, her hair was grey-streaked and I could see from her tormented gaze that her death hadn’t been very pleasant.

I took a deep breath to avoid bursting into tears, then I gently searched her body in order to find something to show who she really was. I found an amulet in a leather-pouch around her neck, neatly tucked away under her blouse. The figures on it did not tell me much, but there was a warm sensation in my hand while holding on to it. I decided to bring back the Amulet to Urshamusa Rapli; she would know what to do with it.

I looked around; I just had to give the poor woman a decent grave, in order to prevent wild animals feasting on the cadaver. There was no possibility to dig a hole in the hard rocky ground so I built a mound of stones to cover the body. It was a hard work to gather enough stones and I didn’t finish it until sunset. I wasn’t very keen on being out in the unknown wilderness at night so I looked around to see if there was a cave or something in which I could spend the night, but I found nothing.

I was getting a bit scared now, since I also found out that I had no clue as to where I was or how to get back to the camp again. I cursed myself for not bringing a torch; at least it could have shown me if there was a path or something. I was all alone in the night in the middle of nowhere; even the White Guar had vanished, if it ever existed, I wasn’t too sure of that either.

I squeezed the amulet in my pocket and started walking eastward, or at least I thought I did. I tried to think of nice things, like Sedrane and how it would feel to be in his arms again, just to keep my mind busy, otherwise I maybe would panic. The thoughts of Sedrane made me long for him terribly, and this time I couldn’t stop the tears from coming.

A hard blow suddenly struck my left shoulder from behind and I fell flat on the ground, banging my forehead onto a stone. I must have lost consciousness for some time because the next thing I knew I was standing tightly bound to a tree, unable to move either my arms or legs. A sharp pain emanated from my left shoulder, I could feel the blouse was wet on the back, and I couldn’t see a thing! My head was aching and when I tried to move it I immediately vomited.

“Sheesh, look at her, filthy pig” A sharp voice tormented my shattered brain, and in the next moment I felt a hard punch in my stomach which naturally made me vomit again.

“Emul-Ran, stop that, you’re making it worse!” Another voice sounded, not much but a bit less sharp it was.

I felt the world spin around, a flickering sensation of yellow lights, red mist and then......darkness.


”Serene, Serene! Wake up, talk to me!”

A voice, a really persistent one, I couldn’t avoid it, it stung through my battered brain, tormented me, forced me to rise in consciousness from the dark warm depth in which I currently resided. The pain in my back had somewhat diminished to a deep dull pounding, my entire body was sore and my mind fought against waking up, but in vain. A greyish blur came into sight and developed into a face, a face with dark red eyes, filled with love and devotion.

“Sedrane” I did not speak his name aloud, for my mouth was stone-dry, I couldn’t even whisper, but the fact that he was by my side filled me with hope, so I formed my sore lips to some kind of a smile.

Sedrane gently stroke my chin, then I felt his lips against mine, a faint swirl down my spine, then I surrendered to him and just let go. I wanted to hold him, caress him, I tried to lift my arms but the pain was so immense......

“Don’t move my love,” his voice was harsh with emotion.

“Sedrane, what shall we do with the corpses?”

Another voice, at first I couldn’t place it but then I realised it was Mabarrabael. I didn’t understand what he was talking about, and did not hear Sedrane´s answer as my consciousness went back and forth

I noticed, as my mind eventually started to clear up a bit, that I was no longer tied to that tree, I was lying on the ground, on some hides as it seemed. I then tried to recapitulate what had happened; the last thing I remembered before everything went really dark was a red overwhelming pain...and some shouting!

I tried to move my head and immediately felt very sick, so my desperate attempts to get rid of whatever dwelt in my stomach failed. Sedrane put his hand on my head and told me to lie down, as I apparently had a severe skull-injury. As he bent down and kissed me once again I noticed his cheeks were wet. I wanted to comfort him, tell him everything was going to be ok, but I wasn’t able to, not this time.

The next time I was aware of anything I noticed my body was moved into a more comfortable position. I also had a warm hide to cover me and there was some sort of shelter as I couldn’t sense the cold wind that always blows over the Grazelands, neither could I see the sky. Afterwards I wondered if it was the wisest thing to do to move me, but I obviously survived so it couldn’t have been that bad after all.

As far as I could understand, according to the conversation between Sedrane and Mabarrabael, they hadn’t the faintest clue of what to do with me. I was severely wounded; an arrow had penetrated my left shoulder, it was removed but the wound itself had become infected. Now that was something that could be cured with herbs or suitable potions, even the two Ahemmusa-warriors knew that. The problem was my head. The slightest movement made me either faint or throw up.

Eventually I fell into deep unconsciousness....

“Serene, listen to me, raise your head and sit up!”

I noticed something turquoise in the corner of my eye, a persisent voice repeatedly telling me to raise my head, and then to press both hands on my temples and hold.

“Baladas?” I looked up into the deep red eyes of Baladas Demnevanni, and my body moved as of itself into an upright position, my hands pressed firmly at the temples....

Baladas looked me in the eyes, and slowly strange words came to me, so that I whispered them and I could feel the mist and shadows vanish from my brain and being replaced with an utmost calmness and harmony. I felt relaxed and very tired.......my eyelids dropped.

“Sleep, Serene, when you wake up you will be healed”

I let the darkness overwhelm me like a warm woollen blanket..............

I woke up, feeling quite alright, lying on a bedroll of that kind travellers use. When I looked around I noticed Sedrane sitting by the campfire obviously cooking some kind of meal, which smelled great. I then realised I was starving, so I stumbled towards the fire.

“Serene!” Sedrane´s voice was filled with joy and devotion, “You feel ok now? You know you really scared us; Was it one of the divines who possessed you? Both Mabarrabael and myself were paralyzed when you were talking in tongues.”

I was puzzled, and I did not understand at first but then the voice of Baladas echoed in my mind and I understood I’d had some kind of dream. But he was there, wasn’t he? I was still a little bit dizzy and I hadn’t grasped yet what really happened to me. The main thing though was that I was healed from my head-injury, my left shoulder still was a bit sore but it didn’t bother me.

Back in Ahemmusa Camp everybody had been upset and worried about my latest adventures. The thing was that a travelling merchant named Athanden Girith had been robbed by some, as he stated, “bastard Ashlanders” who stole his merchandise. After the theft he looked for their camp in order to see if there would be an opportunity to maybe recover his stolen goods when the bandits went to sleep, but what happened was that when the two thieves returned to their hideout they brought an unconscious and injured woman with them.

This made Athanden Girith to hurry towards the Ahemmusa Camp to get some help, and the first person he met was Mabarrabael, who immediately understood that it was me that the bandits had taken in custody.

Now this made the young Dunmeri woman, Telina Delvanni, really upset and she went to Sinnamu Mirpal to ask her for permission to try and find me, which she apparently did. Sedrane and Mabarrabael followed and found me lying quietly on the ground, unconscious, and the bandits dead.

“We thought you were dead,” Mabarrabael looked at me, “So we started collecting stones for the graves.”

Sedrane gave his friend a dark gaze, shaking his head.

“Then you started act very weird,” Mabarrabael continued, “You sat up, pressing your hands to your head and mumbled very strange words. I tried to talk to you but you were impossible to reach!”

At this moment Sinnamu Mirpal raised her hand, asking for silence.

“Serene, we know that you have connections with the other realm, but we also know that you have a very powerful Guardian Angel, Baladas Demnevanni. What you experienced was a telepathic dream. Young Telina must have gone to Baladas telling him you were hurt and he then telepathically lead you through a self-healing-process. This is a very powerful and intricate thing to do. So we must be grateful to Telina for saving our sister’s life.”

I sat quiet, what Sinnamu just told me was obviously the truth and I indeed was grateful to Baladas, who healed me by remote control, but most of all I was grateful to Telina Delvanni for triggering this. I only hoped I would be able to repay her someday.



Nibani Maesa, the Wise Woman of the Urshilaku tribe indeed was an impressive woman. She arrived at the Ahemmusa Camp for the Grand Meeting, not walking, but carried by four tribesmen, sitting on a palanquin, made from polished wood. Her appearance was powerful, although she in fact was rather short for being an ashlander. Accompanying her were, besides the four men, also the Ashkan of the Urshilaku, Sul-Matuul, with two of his men.

As was customary, the men assembled around the fire in the open area surrounded by the ring of yurts, and Nibani Maesa was taken to Sinnamu´s yurt. Kammu, Lanabi and I helped out with making our guests comfortable.

Nibani Maesa asked me to sit down beside her; I was caught in the gaze of her wise dark red eyes and the very aura of great magical powers so I sank down on my knees, bowing my head in courtesy to the elder woman.

“So, Serene, I hear you have used your skills to aid the Ahemmusa tribe well so far,” she said in her calm dark voice, “And you will also be of further use to these people, but that has yet to be revealed.”

I sat silent; in my opinion I hadn’t done very much for the Ahemmusa tribe; on the contrary it was the tribe who had done a lot for me, like giving me a home, teaching me a lot of useful things, and most of all, presenting me to a man that I could love and cherish.

Then Kammu called for me from outside, so I excused myself to Nibani Maesa and went out, just in time to greet the next party of guests, a tall rather handsome elderly man, wearing heavily decorated armour, accompanied by two fully armoured men and an old woman with a shrewd look in her glittering red eyes.

“It’s Ashkan Kaushad from the Zainab tribe....and the lady is Sonnamu Zabamat, their Wise Woman,” Lanabi whispered

“I demand to see Sinnamu Mirpal!” Ashkan Kaushad´s voice was strong and he sounded slightly irritated.

There was something with his eyes and his posture that gave me a weird feeling, it was famil-iar in a way, but I couldn´t point to it at that moment. Sinnamu then showed up just behind me and I could hear her gasp. Her face went pale, as pale as a Dunmerii face can get, that is a lighter nuance of grey, but still she obviously showed a rather odd reaction to the Zainab Ash-kan.

“Kaushad,” Sinnamu whispered, “I bid you welcome to the Ahemmusa camp”

“Welcome?” Kaushad roared, “Is that all you have to say to me? Now tell me where he is, I want to meet him and recognise him.”

At that moment I feared Sinnamu would faint; she swayed dangerously and I grabbed her by the hand, it was ice-cold.....

I felt something move inside of me, a suspicion, first very faint but as I watched the interac-tion between Sinnamu and Kaushad, the suspicion went stronger. I also started to realise who Kaushad reminded me of; Sedrane! I wasn’t sure at that moment but the next words from Sin-namu confirmed that I was right.

“Please, let it be, he doesn’t know......yet, it will only upset him!” Sinnamu´s voice was weak and filled with pain.

Kaushad did not reply, he just joined the other men at the main camp-fire. I was a bit shaken by this revelation, and almost missed the news Nibani Maesa was telling inside the yurt.

“.......The Third Trial........Urshilaku Nerevarine, and before the grass of the Ashlands turns brown again for the winter-season, he will appear in front of you, Sinnamu Mirpal, and ask you to name him the Ahemmusa Nerevarine. You may ask a favour of him; just make sure it will be of benefit for your people.”



I did not pay much attention to Nibani Maesa´s words at the time; I was too occupied with the fact that Kaushad apparently was Sedrane´s biological father, but three months later I had all too much reason to remember her words.....

The clan-meeting lasted for five days. Every night we all assembled around the camp-fire to eat, drink and tell stories- from the past mainly. I learnt a lot about customs and rituals among the Ashlanders and got to feel I was really one of them. During daytime the four Wise Women had their separate meetings about things not meant for everyone to hear, but I had the privilege to attend to most of them. This indeed was very strange, because Outlanders like myself were not very well seen among these people.

The future for the Ashlander-Tribes was uncertain, because they were dependent on what the lands and nature could provide them and so they were vulnerable to any kind of unfortunate weather-conditions such as the hot dry summer last year and the bad prophecy about another one coming. The prey had diminished remarkably during the last two years, due to lack of pasture, and the hard dry ground did not allow anything else to grow either. The Guars suffered a lot as well, no water, no food, and also there were hardly any young, a natural result of the harsh conditions.

The main problem, however, for the Ahemmusa was the water-supply. The well just outside the camp was almost dry and due to the dry weather, the water table had dropped far below the usual level. That meant that if the drought continued, the well would soon be dry.

I was thinking that the well was rather shallow, and not a deep one such as I remember we had at home, in Cyrodiil. I sighed; remembering Cyrodiil was as always painful, but I coped with it far better now than I used to. I certainly had grown mentally during my stay here at the camp.

I dared to suggest to them that it could be a good idea to dig a deeper well, because there would probably be water deeper down, even during the drought. The men looked at me, and I knew it was not appropriate for a woman to interfere with the men’s talk, and especially not an Outlander, but I got the feeling that they did listen to me....

The last day of the Ashlander clan-meeting was beautifully sunny. The visiting tribes wished to leave early in the morning, so after breakfast we bade them goodbye. I noticed Kaushad taking Sedrane to the side and having a very sincere talk with him, before the Zainab commenced their long journey home...... A part of me longed to ask Sedrane about his father, about how it was that he came to be with the Ahemmusa, instead of his father’s tribe. But those thoughts of family reminded me of my own history. Those wounds were better, but not yet healed. And so, I did not ask, but simply accepted.

The Ahemmusa Camp was silent again and life got back to normal.

That summer the weather was unusually hot, and for me personally it also was hot for another reason. My tryst with Sedrane developed rapidly, we shared almost everything, I moved in with him and we lived as man and wife in all ways. Needless to say I was very happy and wouldn’t have minded if it lasted for ever, but Azura had other plans for me........

I got a red shirt from Lanabi one day, because I’d worn out the one I had. She offered it to me out of kindness and because I didn’t have any shirts suitable to wear anymore except my leather one, but it was too hot for that one!

That particular day I just left Sinnamu´s yurt after I’d given her a nice collection of herbs and plants, meant to be the raw material for some potions we planned to prepare that evening, and now I just had to arrange the evening meal for Sedrane and me before we could settle in for the evening.

It was then I saw him! A tall blonde man was leaving Dutadalk´s yurt and headed across the open place in the middle of the camp. I got this whirling sensation down my spine; he was an outlander, like me, and his features showed power and strength. It had to be him! The one Nibani Maesa talked about at the clan-meeting, the one that should fulfil the Prophecies.....

I did not dare to look at him directly, so I hurried away behind Sinnamu´s yurt when I noticed he was caught by Zallit. I smiled to myself, knowing Zallit; the Outlander would be stuck with him for quite some time.

I had difficulties getting to sleep that night, maybe because of the fumes from the potion-making we performed earlier or maybe because of the outlander visiting our camp. Sinnamu had told me about him, during our work earlier, and it was as I suspected, the man was here to ask her to name him the Ahemmusa Nerevarine.

“I have decided I will name him Ahemmusa Nerevarine” Sinnamu said in her low voice, “But he has to prove himself worthy of it, so I must consult our Gulakhan and of course Sedrane before I can take such actions.”

“Where is he now?” I asked

“Zallit offered him a place to stay until I’ve told my decision,” Sinnamu responded with a smile.

I understood; Zallit really delighted in the sound of his own voice, so the outlander would probably already have been put to sleep by Zallit´s never ending speech.

Later that night Sinnamu and the Gulakhan decided what to ask of the outlander, and when I heard it my heart sank. They wanted him to find a safe place for the Tribe, and that maybe was a good idea per se.....but when they told me the particular place they had in mind, I was stunned; Ald Daedroth! It was a horrible dark mouldy shrine situated on a small island just north from the shore. I had never set my foot on it but I had certainly had to perform some serious healing on Yennamu and Assama-Idan after their visit to the shrine a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t ask then why they had been there in the first place, but I now noticed the coincidence.

So now I was lying beside Sedrane, tossing and turning, feeling quite uneasy. I put my arms around him in order to try to get some calm but it didn’t work, so I decided to get up and try some reading to get me to sleep. Then I was aware of a blue light and thus....I was paid a visit by Azura....again!

“Serene! Be not afraid, I am watching over you as always. You have fulfilled your mission with the Ahemmusa Tribe; you have given them hope and joy in their lives. You have made them less hostile to other races, which will be of benefit to them now. The Ahemmusa will survive; they will be taken to a safe place by a man who is believed to be Lord Nerevar Reborn.

Now you must continue, Serene; you have other tasks laid upon you, but first you must seek a safe place of your own. Before Masser and Secunda are full again you must return to your house and claim your family. There is a sacrifice, though, you will have to leave your beloved one behind and follow your destiny”

I was stunned; my lips moved but I made no sound. I had to leave the Ahemmusa and with them Sedrane, the only man I had ever loved. Tears were streaming down my face; this was unbearable. Then I felt Sedrane´s arms around me, holding me tight. I turned, tried to tell him all about it but he just kissed me.

“Shhhh, Serene, it will be all right, you must obey the divines, Shhhh my love”

So he had understood. I didn’t know how, but the fact remained, Sedrane knew I had to leave and even though he was as sorry for it as I was, he did not tell me to stay. He merely said that if it was the will of the gods we would meet again.

I wasn’t too sure of that at the time, but it turned out I was wrong.....again!

The following days were painful; I had to prepare for my leave-taking. The tribe was sorry about my departure but nevertheless presented me with various gifts to help me remember them. As if I ever could forget these harsh, industrious but ever so loveable people!

On the day I was to leave I had a rather large heap of things to bring with me, clothes, some books, my alchemical equipment, herbs, potions.....my backpack was full up to its limits. Kammu meant I should be given a pack-guar to help me carry the stuff, but I turned the offer down; I couldn´t possibly deprive the Tribe of a single Guar, they needed them more than I did. Kammu persisted until Sinnamu raised her voice;

“Shush, child! I will see to the transportation of Serene, our heart friend!” She embraced me and then handed me a piece of parchment, with something written on it.

“This is a scroll,” she said, “A very useful one, it is called Almsivi Intervention and saying these runes will immediately transport you to the Temple in Ald´Ruhn.”

I had but once never used scrolls before, I still remembered the adventure with that crazy mage and his scroll of Icarian Flight that I involunteerly tried during my stay in Seyda Neen! I knew, they were totally secure and always functioned the way they were intended to....that is if you spoke the words right.

Good-byes are something I really hated, so I already had said goodbye to Sedrane, we did that in private because there were so many feelings involved that I didn’t want to show in public.

After the customary embraces and good-luck-wishes from my clan friends I spoke the words of the scroll.

The last thing I saw before the magic of the Almsivi Intervention-scroll engulfed me in its foggy mist was the sad face of Sedrane Mirpal.......


Here ends chapter 4

On to the next chapter