-
It only took a whole two minutes before you were whisked away by a small gang of pirates onto the ship. You'd come with the intention of talking to Elia about whatever it is they were doing, but being dragged by a mob of sweaty sailors didn't fill you with much hope. As you arrive in front of the engraved door for the second time, however, you find yourself with a change of heart. You'll enter with a clear head and take it as it comes. Considering the men had been yelling your name only a few moments before, you don't bother knocking as you open the door.
… ah.
“Oh, the lizard?” you hear Elia through her grin. “I didn't think you'd be coming back to check me out so fast!”
Well, she was practically naked. Maybe if you were… well, not Argonian you'd be interested. But as it was? Nothing. Her efforts were wasted.
But you couldn't break it to her.
“I have a name,” you deadpan, leaning against the wall aside the door.
“So does everyone, but names are boring. I prefer nicknames. Even my name; Elia! It's not my real one, but I'm guessing you knew that already.”
She laughs at the surprised look you give her.
“What, you didn't realise? Sorry to break it to you,” she 'apologises', sitting down in her chair. “So, you want to know what's going on here, right?”
You nod in response and her faces turns serious.
“Well… I do like you, lizard, but I can't tell you the real reason we're here. Not yet. What I can tell you is we're not going anywhere soon, we're not pirates and I will explain things to you when I can. Is that good enough for you?”
Her presence is so overwhelming as she talks that you simply nod and she smiles. Not the fake ones she's been putting on since you met her, but a genuine smile. Beneath all those scars, you imagine she was a beauty once. Not someone trying to overplay her gender, either.
“Is there anything else you needed?”
This woman was absolutely crazy.
Insane.
Suicidal.
And you were loving every minute of it.
Elia had commandeered a small sailboat at your mention of wanting her to teach you how to sail. She seemed surprised, considering your race, but obliged with a grin. Her method of sailing is anything but orthodox, but you feel it's something you can pick up on. So long as you survive the trip back, at least.
Skill gained!
Sailing: Disappointing (33/50)
“Oh look, it's the King's pet lizard.”
Cursing under your breath at your misfortune, you find yourself face to face with the Guard Captain of Solitude. You'd heard stories of him, but none of them really did him justice. He really was more of an asshole than people were saying.
“What are you up to today, lizard?” he looks down on you, his mouth a thin line.
[] Write-in.
-
“I'd heard that you were extremely good with swordplay, I'd hoped to maybe learn a thing or two from you in the future.”
“… no kidding?”
That looks to have been the right thing to say, as he's suddenly grinning.
“I was an adventurer before, you know,” he blurts out, folding his arms. “Was kind of famous, even. Someone on the guard force said I should join up after I got hit in my sword arm, so I'm not as good as I used to be. Still know how to teach, though. You really want to learn, lizard?”
“Yes, sir,” you nod enthusiastically.
“Good, then come find me in the training yard, I'll drill you proper.”
He walks off, leaving you alone amidst the greenery of Solitude. Well, that went pretty well, you think.
Relationship changed!
Guard Captain Hernsing (Ambivalent)
As you wake up the next week, you come to the realisation that you're going to have to start putting your focus onto things over longer periods. Some things can only be done over a full week or two, after all. With a quick pat on the head for Liss, you make your way into the Blue Palace proper.
You have 21 action points!
[] Go on a trip! (10)
[] You've heard talk of a Hist tree growing nearby… (5)
[] Keep good on your promise with the Guard Captain? (3)
[] Ask questions about Liss' Mother with the locals. (2)
[] Take on some work with Litail. (2)
[] Combat training with the guards of Solitude.
- [] With what weapon?
[] Visit the Throne Room.
[] Spend some time down at the docks. You need to practice your swimming.
[] Spend time studying the academics.
- [] Which one?
[] Get your armour repaired by Beirand.
[] Find someone to train you in another skill.
- [] Which one, and who?
[] Explore Solitude.
[] Take Liss somewhere.
- [] Where?
[] You've got a lot of money, spend it?
- [] On what?
[] Go down to the Winking Skeever to socialise.
[] Interact with:
- [] Beirand
- [] Elia
- [] Guard Captain Hernsing
- [] High King Torygg
- [] Lifts-Her-Tail
- [] Liss
- [] Falk Firebeard
- [] Erikur
- [] Rorlund
FREE ACTIONS
[] Correspond with:
- [] Write-in.
[] … dream?
-
For some reason, you decide to make your way to the Blue Palace's throne room. It's a spacious enough area, although you note how well it suits defenders. As you make your entrance and stand to the side, you note a peasant appealing to the High King about something or other. He's ushered out after a quick response and replaced with a particularly well-dressed man. He and the High King quickly fall into discussion about one of the other Jarls and you find yourself intrigued. By the end of it, you've picked up on a few things about Skyrim's politics.
Skill gained!
Politics: Mediocre (0/100)
The icy rush of freezing water does a lot to wake you up. It's refreshing, considering how little you get to practice your swimming. You quickly fall into old routines and remember most of your techniques in an incredibly short time. In fact by the time you exit the water, you have a small crowd watching.
You were always pretty good at swimming.
Skill gained!
Swimming: Impressive (78/500)
“This is a pretty big cut,” Beirand notes, looking over your mangled armour with a trained eye.
“My opponent was… quite strong,” you admit with a small grin.
“No kidding. Well, I can get this repaired pretty easily. 100 septims for the lot.”
Noting that it's far cheaper than the usual deal, you accept in an instant. It's fun watching Beirand ply his craft, but just from watching you don't pick up anything. Maybe if he were to teach you directly you'd be able to, though.
Armour repaired!
With her legs hanging off the edge of her bed, Liss eyes you thoughtfully as she ponders your request. As far as requests go, you don't find it all that strange. You'd noted how lucky she was in her goings-on in the Palace, so you'd asked her to teach you. There wasn't a good chance that it was actually luck, but maybe she just had an ungodly perception.
“It's kind of hard to teach,” Liss murmurs, wringing her hands. “But I can try. I think Mama would be okay with it.”
Somewhat confused at that, you ask her what she means.
“Just… close your eyes for a few seconds.”
You do as she says, right up until you feel an incredibly cold digit press against your temple. You go to open your eyes, but find them frozen shut. You want to move, but you can't. Everything has stopped.
…
Eventually the coldness retreats and you open your eyes again. Every thing’s the exact same, except…
Skill gained!
Luck: Horrendous (0/0)
Trait gained!
? (?): ?, ?. ?.
As you go in to visit Beirand, you notice that he's actually got another customer for once. You decide to wait it out, but the minutes pass into hours very quickly as the man continues his never-ending order. When the sun starts to set in the sky and there's still no end in sight, you leave, frustrated. Beirand hadn't even noticed you, as busy as he was.
No reward gained!
“If I didn't know any better I'd think you had feelings for me, lizard.”
You scoff as you and Elia lean over the edge of her ship, watching the dock workers go about their business. You'd noted that no one actually seemed afraid of her or her pirates. In fact, the more you saw of them, the less you thought of them as 'pirates' at all.
“Or are you after someone else's tail?” she guesses, nudging you thoughtfully.
“I've got more important things to ponder over,” you respond, leaning forward over the railing.
“Ah, how sombre. Hold your face like that too long and it'll get stuck like that.”
Her cheery attitude is infectious and you soon find yourself laughing and grinning along with her. You have a good time, feeling as though you're a little closer to understand the woman's personality as a whole.
Well, as much as a man can understand a woman anyway.
No reward gained!
“Do you think it's foolish to hate your own life?” the High King blurts out as soon as the guards are out of earshot.
Stunned, you think the question over. Unable to come up with an answer that you think would satisfy the King, all you can do is shake your head and respond that you don't know.
“Sometimes I wonder,” he continues, looking straight through you. “It gets so tiring sometimes.”
You hadn't really noticed it when you first met him, but the High King is quite young. Younger than you, definitely.
It must be hard.
Relationship changed!
High King Torygg (Ally, +30 to social rolls with the High King): The High King has opened up to you on numerous occasions; he sounds like he needs a true friend.
Remembering Liss' request to spend some time with Litail, you invite the Argonian woman over to your chambers for the evening. What follows is a lot of mead, a cacophony of laughs and smiles all around. While you don't feel like it did anything for your relationship with the girls, it definitely helped both of them out.
No rewards gained!
“Hello again, little one.”
Ah, this dream again.
You push yourself out of your bed, but are surprised when you wake up in a place that's not your room. It had always been the same before, so why-?
“You interest me. I want to give you an opportunity.”
… an opportunity?
[] Accept.
[] Decline.
[] Write-in.
-
Before you can reply, a wave of nausea rolls over you. Resisting the urge to lose consciousness, you fall to one knee. With a massive amount of willpower you hold on just long enough to look up.
And you see her.
“I'll be watching you, little one.”
Trait gained!
? (?): Do you dream, child?
For what feels like umpteenth time you check all your gear. You don't really expect the outing to be all that troublesome, especially with Litail by your side. She'd said something about hunting down a pack of rabid animals. With your natural resistance to diseases it was a normal job for you, especially with the pay she mentioned. Agreeing to split it halfway seemed fair, so long as you pulled your own weight.
Well, you definitely planned on doing that.
“I didn't keep you waiting long, did I?”
You turn to your travelling companion, who's decked out in her scale armour. With the huge sword on her back you can't help but grin. With someone like her by your side you couldn't imagine getting attacked by bandits on the road.
“Not long at all,” you shake your head in response, a tiny smile at your lips. “Let's go.”
The pair of you make your way through Solitude's main gate and down the road. It's a clear day, with the sun beating down on you both in a warm fashion. It's a far cry from some of the places you've been to, so you take it in stride. The pair of you make good time on your journey and somehow end up arriving at the cave before the sun's started to set. Litail still has you light a torch, as she can't wield both her sword and the tool at the same time. That limits your own options, but she is the better fighter so you acquiesce.
After only a few steps inside, however, you feel… wrong.
…
There's something wrong with this place.
[] Continue onwards, but be cautious.
[] Get out!
[] Write-in.
-
Deciding to remain quiet, you and Litail enter the cave quietly. It doesn't take long for the air to get heavy with the stench of rotting flesh. It's something the both of you are used to, but you wrinkle your nose anyway. So obsessed are you with the smell that you miss the pitfall until it's too late. You miss it entirely due to Litail so casually walking over it, but you step right into the hole and fall. It's not that deep, but the torch you'd been carrying falls from your hand and smacks against the rocks.
The cavern you're now in lights up ever so slightly, reflecting the dulled glow from the torch. Most of the stone is red and… wet. As you stand, you wince and put a hand up to your ribs. You may have broken something.
Lost 1 health!
As your eyes survey the room, two things catch your eye. One is what you can only assume is an exit, a sloping tunnel leading upwards. The other is a… rock? It's huge and unnaturally placed.
[] Go check out the rock.
[] Go towards the tunnel.
-
You take a step forward, but through some ridiculous blunder you trip and kick the torch. It rolls over the ground and jumps up at the last moment, hitting the 'rock' with a loud echo. Instinctively freezing, you stare with horror as the rock… no, the monster, wakes up.
It unfurls away from its body, extending out to a full length of what you can only assume is about ten feet. Giant pincers make up its mouth, with tiny beady eyes staring down at you. You'd heard tales of this particular monster, but never seen one in your life. Wandering around caves wasn't a favourite pastime of yours, so that seemed sane enough.
But here you were, face to face with a giant Chaurus.
[] Draw your sword and charge!
[] Draw your sword and wait.
[] Draw your sword and call out for Litail. Very loudly.
[] Write-in.
-
Doing your best not to antagonise the Chaurus, you draw your blade and wait. It doesn't seem interested in attacking you just yet, at least not until a familiar voice calls out to you.
“Sideep! Are you okay down there?” Litail's voice echoes throughout the chamber.
The beast doesn't seem too happy about that.
You're lucky you've already drawn your sword as it comes down on you. You stumble and trip backwards as its pincers try to tear you in half. Through a minor stroke of fortune, you avoid the attack entirely and even manage to tear a gash in its face. This only serves to make it angrier, however, rearing back with a loud chorus of clacking mandibles. Pulling yourself to your feet, you ready your sword again for the next charge.
Luck isn't on your side this time, as the jaws close around your abdomen. With a cry of pain you plunge your sword into the creature's soft neck over and over, trying to make it release you.
Lost 5 health!
However much you try, you can't make it let go of you. The pincers dig deeper and deeper until you hear a wet squelch from behind. It screams, if you could imagine such a thing, and drops you. Blood spills to the ground – your blood.
Lost 4 health!
Trait gained!
Wounded (-10 to all actions until healed): You've suffered a serious wound, better get that checked out.
Coughing blood, you manage to stand and ready your sword. Litail is on the creature's other side, although you can barely see her in the darkness.
[] Call out to Lital to attack at the same time as you!
[] Attack now, while the creature is distracted – you can't lose this chance!
[] Write-in.
-
With as loud a battlecry as you can manage, you charge forward and swing your sword at the creature's flesh between its hard scales. It's not ready for the attack, but your sword glances uselessly against its scales. Cursing, you leap back as it tries to grab you up in its mouth, narrowly avoiding get caught again. From behind, you hear Litail roar as well, striking at it from behind. Its mandibles clack together in pain as rivulets of black blood spray onto the nearby rocks. It turns, frustrated at being attacked from two sides.
Taking advantage of the situation, you rush forward with your sword raised. Screaming, you bring it down on the creature's neck. This time, your sword finds an easy spot to slice straight through. The steel is coated in blood, but it's just not enough. Drawing your dagger, you bring it up and stab it over and over again. Over… and over…
“Sideep.”
And over…
“Sideep, we're fine.”
You take a step back, breathing heavily. She looks you over with a quiet smile before bringing you into a tight embrace.
“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have let this happen,” she mutters.
“I'm sorry I fell down the hole,” you chuckle in response.
Skill changed!
Sword and Dagger: Average (78/250)
Swords: Average (236/250)
One-Handed Sword: Mediocre (66/100)
As you return to the city, Litail hands you a small bag of coin. It's pretty heavy.
500 gold gained!
You've decided to spend the day searching for Liss' Mother. You learned from her that she just looks like “Mama”, but you can only guess that means they're pretty similar. Her features are pretty distinct, so it shouldn't be too hard to find out if anyone's seen her.
[] Ask at the Temple.
[] Ask at the market.
[] Ask at the Blue Palace.
[] Ask at the docks.
-
Thinking that people at the markets see more of anyone else than anywhere else in the city, you head on down. You end up describing Liss to a dozen people, all who don't seem to have any idea what you're on about. More than one is suspicious of you, but to your surprise it's not a merchant that ends up having the information.
“You asking about a foreign beauty, lizard?” a guardsman walks over, pulling off his helmet to reveal a young Nordic man with barely a whisker of facial hair on him. “I think I know who you're talking about, you've been staying with her daughter in the Blue Palace, yeah?”
Too shocked to properly respond, you merely nod and the man grins.
“Yeah, she said she was coming through looking for her. Left a note with me in case the girl came through herself, telling her where to go.”
“Why would she leave a note with a random guard?” you question, suspicious.
“Beats me, she said 'it was fate' or some other such thing. Look, I know you're taking care of the girl, you want it?”
You nod and he digs his hand into his pocket before pulling out a small scrap of paper. It's severely crumpled, suggesting he's had it for a while.
“How long ago did she come through?” you mutter as you peel the paper back so you can read it.
“About a year, I actually forgot until I saw you wandering around the markets asking about her,” he laughs.
As you read over the words, you only end up frowning.
“This isn't the Cyrodilic,” you sigh, folding it and putting it in your own pocket. “Guess I'll just have to hope the girl can read it.”
“Aye, with luck, she might be capable. The name's Fanar, by the way. Glad to help, lizard.”
With a quick nod, he slips his helmet back on and returns to his post.
Relationship gained!
Fanar the Guardsman (Acquaintance, +5 to social rolls with Fanar)
Item gained!
Note from Liss' Mother: But it's written in another language, you'll have to find a linguist.
“I'm glad you found something, but...” Liss looks dejected as she clutches the paper. “I can't read it.”
Things were never that easy, were they?
“Glad to see you showed up, lizard,” Hernsing grins, tossing you a practice sword.
You manage to catch it, much to the older man's surprise. There's no more words, however, as he falls into a ready stance. He comes at you fast and hard, which almost throws you off balance.
Turning up to his practice every day for the next week, you learn a lot from him – and even end up rubbing off on the man. He seems to respect strength.
Skill changed!
Axes: Disappointing (29/50)
General Melee Combat: Mediocre (53/100)
General Ranged Combat: Mediocre (0/100)
Swords: Impressive (21/500)
Unarmed Combat: Average (0/250)
Relationship changed!
Guard Captain Hernsing (Acquaintance, +5 to social rolls with Hernsing)
It was only a few days ago that you'd heard of a Hist Tree growing near Solitude. With the High King's blessing, you got leave for a few days to go and visit it. He at least understood the gravity behind your… 'religion'.
Now, where was it again, in relation to Solitude?
[] North.
[] East.
[] West.
[] South.
-
Remembering that the tree was due East, you leave the walls of Solitude with a spring in your step. It's only after you've descended down into the marshes themselves that the blizzard hits. It's harsh, it's freezing – and you're nowhere near wearing enough warm clothing to survive. Even now, you can feel the chill creeping up your spine.
Lost 2 health!
Unwilling to give up, you keep slogging through the freezing winds, water occasionally lapping at your feet. Unfortunately, the winds don't let up and you make little progress.
Lost 1 health!
Cold seeps through your scales as you continue the march, freezing all the while. In your head you can imagine the layout of the map you'd seen before coming and think you're heading in the right direction. It can't be far now…
Lost 2 health!
It's now, so close to collapse, that you stumble straight into the entrance of a cave. The winds aren't so strong here, but you're weak, freezing and feel the need to rest.
Lost 1 health!
But…
…
It calls to you.
[X] Go into the cave.
[] No, leave.
Unable to resist the call in your current state, you disappear into the welcoming darkness. Slowly, the roaring of the winds from outside die down as you descend further and further. It's a gentle slope, but you fall onto your hands and knees countless times. This singing… those words… you know them. You know them well. Eventually, you come across a giant chamber, with giant holes in the roof of the cave pouring in light. A gentle stream runs around the centre, almost like a little moat.
Then, in the middle of it all…
[] Approach the Hist Tree.
[] No, you changed your mind. Leave.
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