Fate's Bloody Hand
Isus was born as a son of a traveling merchant in Morrowind. One of many children, he learned quickly that sticking together as a group and maintaining loyalty to those who earn it was the only way to survive in those harsh lands. The times were tough. The Argonian occupation of Morrowind placed them in a precarious spot. Where the Argonian primarily blamed the Dunmer for their long years of slavery, they also held responsible the Empire for failing to act against it. As citizens of that dying nation, Isus' family earned much ire wherever they went. The constant disrespect from the non-humans of that faraway land first made Isus confused, then scared and finally anger came. It would stay with him for most of his life.
Yet the dangers of non-humans were not the only ones in Morrowind. An untamed land much covered in red dust from the eruption of the Red Mountain in the Red Year, the land was as unforgiving as its inhabitants. One fateful day when traveling through the steep hills of that hellish place a great flock of cliff races descended on the small traveling caravan that Isus' family was with. In the bloody chaos that followed much of his family was injured, his father killed. To make matters worse a dust cloud came. Though it drove away the cliff racers, it also made it impossible to see. Along with others, two of Isus family got lost in the swirling sand and were never found. When it settled only a bare handful of the traveling band remained including Isus' mother. She died from her grit-clogged wounds before they could reach the next settlement.
There was no reprieve for Isus though. The settlement was a small one, mostly filled with displaced Bosmer and Dunmer. The tension of their arrival would later turn violent as the elves sought to drive the traveling band out in the dead of night. Tired, scared, and with nowhere to go many of the traveling band fought until they died. What had started as a movement to drive the humans away became a bloodbath. Isus watched this from a nearby hill with what remained of his family - two of his sisters. As the residents of the settlement picked through the bloody remains of the traveling band, he led them away in the darkness.
The residents of the settlement pursued the children the next day. Isus discovered this when one of them fired a bolt that scraped him in the leg when he went to get water from a pool. Though they fled after that, Isus' wound slowed them down and caught Isus and one of his sisters. He fought, but was knocked out. When he came to he was forced to watch them violate his sister and listen to their whispers that they had caught his other sister. Eventually though their fatigue got the better of them and they stopped to rest. Isus managed to break his binds and kill them. When he reached his sister, he saw in her eyes that she could not be saved. When he met his met up with his other sister later he refused to say what had happened.
Ebonheart’s Grace
After many hunger and thirst filled days they finally arrived at safety - Ebonheart. Perhaps the last true refuge for citizens of the Empire in Morrowind, Ebonheart was the only place that Isus could think of when they had originally fled the death of their parents. It had been rebuilt, stronger than ever, after the fall of Vivec by Imperial refugees and the Imperial garrison there. Fortune smiled on the children for once as the residents of the fortress-city gladly helped them in memory of their generous and popular father. The Toras, an Imperial merchant family, took the scared girl and grim boy in and raised them from that day on.
In spite of the kindness shown by the people of Ebonheart, Isus frequently found himself dwelling on the past. What had happened to his family plagued his dreams, causing him nightmares. There was no rest in the daylight either, as any moments of pause in the day only gave him time to reflect on the fate of his parents and siblings. Even as he took heart in the growing happiness of his remaining sister, his thoughts turned increasingly dark.
Noticing this, one of the Ebonheart Garrison took him under his wing. His name was Locus Parentis. He began training the orphaned boy as a soldier for the Empire. Most of Isus’ training in physical skills as well as lessons in duty and honor came from Parentis. He also schooled Isus in bartering, persuasion and other necessary knowledge for a man of the times. He taught Isus how to bear himself with the authority of a proud soldier and how to earn the respect of others. He instructed Isus on being a warrior, a soldier, and a man of justice. He even gave lessons of leading others in battle to Isus.
Just as importantly, he introduced the young boy to Father Matanus in the Temple of the Nine Divines. He was no ordinary priest. He was the priest primarily responsible for the upholding of faith in the Ebonheart Garrison as well as advising the Garrison on magical matters and overseeing the mages who defended the fort and city. The man taught Isus magic to distract him from the past and often preformed spells to quell the dark dreams that he had. Under his care, Isus’ understanding of the world of magic was magnified past that of most others. Such would prove invaluable in the future, but it was his lessons in the Nine that most captivated the imaginations of the youth. In time, he would seek greater understanding of the gods and become a devoted worshipper of the Aedra.
Under their combined efforts, Isus became, if not happier, more at peace with the past. He also gained a reputation as a skilled battle mage.
In the meantime, the world had fallen to chaos. The Red Mountain had exploded because of the fall of Vivec’s great rock. The Empire was in shambles. The Aldmeri Dominion had taken great swaths of the southern provinces. The Argoninans had taken to raiding what was left of Morrowind. Chaos ruled High Rock where lords battled for control. Dark sects in the worship of the demonic Daedra had sprung up across Tamriel.
As time passed and his early years slipped away, Isus came to the realization that both gave him skill and Father Matanus finally gave him a purpose. He would choose to use what he had been blessed with by the gods to return the favor. He would choose to right the world that they had created. He would choose the path of the Templar.
He knew that it was not to be an easy one. Both of his mentors warned him of this. But Isus was determined. He could do what others could not because they had not what he did. By then, the Templars were a scarce order. It was rare for their ornate and mighty armor to be seen in the streets of cities and provinces. To Isus, this was a sign that too many had lost faith. He would restore it. Seeing that he was not to be persuaded to other paths, Father Matanus agreed to induct the rites to make him a Templar on the condition that he remained in Ebonheart until he came of age. Isus agreed.
Isus would spend the remainder of his youth in the city, learning from his mentors. On the day after his sister's wedding to a wealthy merchant, Isus decided that it was time to go. Sharing a tearful farewell with her, it occurred to him how close they had become after the ordeals they had gone through together. The parting was more upsetting than he thought it would be. His mentors both approved of his leaving though Father Matanus warned him to keep his thoughts pure and holy. They gave him supplies to make the journey as well as weapons. Father Matanus, in respect to his chosen path, surprised him with Imperial Templar Armor. It had not seen daylight in many years, not since its former owner had perished in the service of the gods. Its repair was part of the reason that he had bid Isus remain a little longer after choosing his path. It was to be the first time that he had left and traveled any great distance from the city since he arrived years before.
Wandering Years
Isus would spend several years traveling from settlement to settlement in the province of Morrowind and beyond, helping those citizens of the Empire he could. He would fight many great and terrible things as well as dealing with petty disputes. His travels deepened his faith as he combated Daedra worshipers who seemed to plague the land. He traveled back to the settlement which had seen to the death of the traveling band years before and found it sundered, its residents apparently consumed by cliff racers. It was a fitting dose of justice to his mind.
The Lord’s Mail
His travels eventually took him to the Imperial City. Walking about its wide streets, he went to pay homage to the Eight Divines whose statues still stood Aboretum. The sight of the empty pedestal at the center of the construction filled him with a mixture of deep sadness and righteous rage. He had not yet forgotten his hatred of non-humans. Indeed, his travels had taken him to many a human village plagued by non-humans who were taking advantage of the Empire's weakened state, especially in the wake of the Civil War in Skyrim. He was almost compelled to cut down every non-human he saw at that moment.
Yet fate had other plans for him. As it happened, a group of armed men and women had gathered before the statue of Kynareth, the goddess of elements. When he approached them, they appeared to be argument. A quick glance revealed them to be a motley bunch. Some were garbed in fine armor and clothe while others wore much less. Some appeared to be priests while others could be taken as thieves. Some had the look of mercenaries. Most of all to Isus' mind was that some were men and some were mer and some were neither.
When he introduced himself, the men leading them, a man by the name of Optis, revealed that they were to set out on a quest to retrieve the Lord's Mail. Instantly interested, Isus offered his services. Cypher, the leader of the mer half of the expedition, objected but Optis overruled him. The group was just setting out and Isus joined them. Their first stop was to be the Lord's Mail's last known location: the cave systems near Ebonheart.
Though the mer were adamant that taking on a wandering Templar served no purpose, Isus proved his worth in knowledge and connections early on, earning the band a smooth trip through Ebonheart. His sister and mentors were delighted to see him and hear of his exploits as well as his holy mission, but were less enthusiastic about his choice of company. In spite of the roguish antics some of the members of the band; they managed to leave without any major incidents in the city. After they reached the cave system they were disappointed to find the Lord's Mail gone and only a broken and battered corpse in the cave. The fact that two of their number had drowned trying to reach the hidden cave didn't help matters.
On their return to Ebonheart Isus inquired as to the fate of the armor and Father Matanus invited him to check the guard records. While he did this three of the band were jailed for breaking out in a tavern brawl and one Khajiit was hung as a thief. This left only five men, seven mer, two Argonians, and three Khajiit left including their respective leaders. Eventually, Isus discovered that an unnamed man who had done services for the Imperial Legion as a mercenary had taken the armor off of a fugitive traitor, who had apparently been the corpse in the cave. The trail of the unknown warrior pointed northeast to Vivec.
The search of Vivec proved to be one of the longest and possibly the most dangerous part of the quest. The residents were mostly non-human and offensive towards by man and mer being mostly Argonians. One men and a mer perished from disease or randomly falling rubble in the heavily damaged and under repair city. The mazes of the decaying city confounded the expedition to no end and the ancient libraries proved too great a lure for one of the mer resulting in him abandoning the quest and going mad. The short skirmish to prevent him from accessing forbidden lore saw to his end and the end of another of the expedition's men and a Khajiit. Speaking with the shell-shocked residents in the aftermath, Isus found that the Lord's Mail had already been moved just as he had expected.
The trail pointed the dwindling group first north to Dagon Fel then west to Khuul. From there it led them deep into the lands of Morrowind through abandoned settlements and thriving cities. They searched through the steets of Gnisis, the underbelly of Gnaar Mok, the high towers of Tel Aruhun, and even the haunted towers of Ghostgate. By the time they left Tel Branora for Balmora Isus was quite certain that he had seen more of Morrowind than most people did in their lifetimes. Certainly he thought it something that the additional dead Argonian and Khajiit were discussing in Aetherius.
Arriving in Balmora, Cypher was almost feverish with frustration, convinced that they were at the final resting place of the Lord's Mail at last. Isus wasn't convinced and neither was Optis. This only caused the taunt relations between the two camps of the group to worsen.
The tension eventually snapped when Cypher assaulted a local who was trying to gain a bribe for the information that he held. In a moment the two sides were at each other’s' throats. Isus had no illusions about who's side he was on. The mer had constantly pelted the men with insults about their loss of Morrowind throughout the entire journey. The remaining Argonian and Khajiit joined him in helping the few remaining men. When the dust cleared, only Isus remained, moderately wounded with his cuirass badly damaged.
The local, a Redguard by the name of Potus, was not as inclined to refuse Isus' demand for information after seeing the death dealt out by his blade. He swore on the Nine Divines that he was telling the truth when he pointed Isus to yet another location. Isus vowed that he would return if he was lying.
Potus' directions took Isus south along the roads past Hla Oad and Pelagiad to the rotting buildings of a customs office settlement called Seyda Neen. Walking through the village of decaying wood, Isus wondered at the idea that this was the final resting place of such an artifact as the Lord's Mail. He came at last to a poor, run-down shack tucked away behind the primary trading house. The door was barred, but Isus used his badly damaged sword to cut through the damp wood. The door came apart easily and Isus strode inside.
It was dark in the shack. It was clear that nobody had been living there for a long time. Only the light shining through the door lit its interior. Not even webs were present. On the floor lay a corpse, the rotten flesh long eaten away from the moisture-encrusted bones. But it was not naked. It wore a rune-etched gold guantlet on its right arm. Taking the piece of armor, he realized that it was Wraithguard, an artifact that was legend in Morrowind. They said it belonged to Nerevarine in the days that the drove the false gods from Morrowind. Looking down once more at the corpse, he realized that it was huddled over a pile of more gold than he had ever seen. He wondered briefly how it was that such things ended up in this dismal shack. But then the length of his quest hit him and he decided it was better not to know.
Fate's Charge
Isus would travel back to Ebonheart where he planned to spend the remainder of his life. He figured that he had seen enough for one lifetime. His mentors and sister were more than happy to have him back. The former furnished him with plenty of training and items of intellectual interest while the latter gave him affection and money enough to live well. However, Isus soon found that he couldn't live a quiet life. With his quest complete, his dark dreams returned. Even the slaughter he witnessed - participated in - in Balmorra did not match it in sheer horror. He became restless and temperamental. Eventually he chose to leave again. His mentors gave him fresh equipment where he wanted and his tearful sister gave him money for the journey.
Like before, Isus would wonder for much time before one day fate intervened again. That was the day that he heard about the offer in Solitude. He headed there, fleeing from the dark thoughts that still haunted him.
Originally Posted by SikstaSlathalin
Oh I bet so Storm.
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