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Mewto Registered user Last page view: 3599 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds ago. |
I came across this story when surfing on some morowind forums. Really good story and it really inspired me to play the game. Here it is: Hi all, I just had the most exciting moment in my Morrowind experience and wish to share the details with you all; I apologize for the long nature of this post but I just beat odds I didn't think I could ever beat before and, after a string of untimely deaths prior to this, I feel a need to shout my victory to the winds First ... some background. My character is a female Breton huntress/ranger custom class named Alanya. She's a Stealth specialist and likes to sneak around to poke prey with a spear or shoot it from under cover. She uses healing magic and alchemy, but doesn't yet have other magic schools, so offensively she's pretty much spear and bow only. She also is played with a "You Die, You Restart" rule, so no saving and reloading if something goes really wrong. After having completed some quests she stumbled on while wandering the widerness, Alanya was close to Level Four, had bought a delux set of Alchemy gear and an enchanted spear for herself, and was turning her mind towards the tombs she had found while exploring the region around Sedya Neen. She had passed them by before, not wanting to fight Ghosts without magic weapons, but now she felt ready to take on those tombs. Heck, while looking for some animal watcher earlier she had gone into a tomb, fought some nasty-looking monster, and found this Ebony Helm she didn't think she'd ever be able to sell to anyone; how much tougher than that beast could the Ghosts around Sedya Neen be? So it came to pass that Alanya made her way out towards a tomb on the Bitter Coast, where I the player knew the nifty Mentor's Ring lay waiting. Such a ring would compliment the Alchemy equipment and Fortify Int/Luck 100 spell I had procurred in preperation for a major Alchemical Bonanzza quite nicely, as well as give me all sorts of satisfaction and happiness and general good feelings. Alanya, meanwhile, just was curious what was inside that Tomb Mudcrabs were plentiful on the route to the Tomb and Alanya hit Level Four easily, becoming healthier and stealthier and that much more confident in her ability to tackle the tomb. So confident was she, in fact, that she didn't bother to go buy healing potions for this trip, instead trusting to her healing magic. She did bring a couple Potions of Recall, though, just in case something really went wrong. Upon reaching and entering the Tomb, Alanya heard the sounds of Ghosts - but the first enemy she saw was a Skeleton, standing a little ways in the first real room of the tomb. Frowning, Alanya readied her bow quietly and knocked an arrow, and sent it to split the skull of the Skeleton, who was looking the other way. That didn't finish him off, though it did attract his attention, and he charged in with a sword and shield. He proved easy to beat though, having been weakened already. The three Ghosts who were attracted to the sounds of the fight, though, proved somewhat tougher ... At this point I the player was saying "Um ... I don't remember this tomb having this many monsters in it last game ..." and wondering what the program had waiting for me in the last room Alanya, meanwhile, healed herself of her wounds and stealthily explored further, finding a useful scroll with a potent fire spell. Mindful of what she had already faced, Alanya decided to keep the scroll ready for use as she approached the last door, figuring that if she failed sneaking up to whatever lay in waiting she could at least fry it good. Thus, she opened the door, carefully ... ... but not carefully enough. A Skeleton Archer lay in wait for Alanya; he saw her as she stepped through the doorway and had his arrow knocked. Alarmed at having been seen so quickly, Alanya pulled out the scroll, but the hiss of the Skeleton's arrow and the sting of pain told her she had moved too slowly - and then, the Paralysis spell in the arrow kicked in, overcoming her resistence. It was at this point that I the player became very mad and started swearing "Stupid Leveled Monsters ... they threw a Skelton Archer with Arrows of Holding at me! At Level FOUR!?!?!?!?" Just one shot and my seemingly foolproof plan was worthless; I couldn't kill the bugger while I couldn't move ... (to be continued) (from previous) Well, there was nothing else to do at this point; without healing potions I wasn't going to be able to weather the rain of holding arrows and be able to fry this joker. I also doubted that I'd have the time to back off and cast a healing spell and then try to lure the Archer - who I dubbed No Eyes Deadshot Pete due to his unerring aim - around a corner to give me a chance to stab him. If I hadn't brought the Potions of Recall, this would have been yet another character consigned to the graveyard. But I did bring the Potions of Recall - I may be stubborn but I do occasionally learn Alanya wasn't quite sure how she managed to douse herself with the potion; she attributed it to divine intervention. The important thing was, she was back in her cave, the one she claimed from some smugglers a week or two ago. Frightened and shocked, she stood shaking like a leaf for several moments once the spell of holding wore off. It was obvious that she'd need a little more than healing magic to get her through that tomb. Sighing, she looked over her store of treasure: lots of ingredients she had picked or found in various places, the tools to make such ingredients into potions, some funny-looking helm that matted her hair in unflattering ways (she rather liked her hair), and some Skooma. That, and the loot she had recovered from the tomb; a sword and shield set she wasn't used to using, a scroll that ought to kill Pete in one shot if she could use it, and some more ingredients. It looked like a good time to sit down and put her new Alchemy Tools to use; she cracked her knuckles, communed with nature for a moment to get in touch with the essence of the ingredients (her Bosmer 'aunt' had always said it was important to do this to make potions worth using) and started brewing up a storm. A few hours later, she looked up and realized she had gone through her entire store of ingredients and had close to a hundred potions now, over half of which were varieties of poison. Still, there were some healing potions in the batch, and some useful potions for restoring fatigue and walking on water or air, so it wasn't a total loss - that, and she heard poison sold well in Morrowind. Implications of that fact aside, she now had herself a decent amount of sellable stuff. Deciding to sleep for the night - it was late and her head hurt with the pain of having learned much alchemical lore through practical application - Alanya dozed off, to be awoken by the sound of someone tripping and cursing. "Oh goody; some more money," I the player said, thankful for my second suit of DB armor to sell. "Oh no; not another assassin ..." Alanya said, wearily taking up her spear and sneaking into the main part of the cave. "I have you!" the assassin said, whiffing with his dart - stupid assassin - and charging Alanya with a Spider Dagger. Sadly, he brought a dagger to a spear fight; Alanya took a gash to her thigh while she popped her spear's enchntment, said "Bastard; no one scars my perfect legs!" and finished him with three thrusts, two to the groin and one to the throat - in that order. Muttering "I need to find a guard and get this assassin problem addressed soon ..." Alanya stripped her foe, tossed his body outside towards some Nix Hounds, and went back to sleep. When she woke, the sun wasn't yet up but she figured she'd make her way to the tomb again anyway; why wait any longer? So, healing supplies now in hand, Alanya returned to the Tomb of No Eyes Deadshot Pete - and found that Pete must have been part of an Archer's Union, for he had called friends to cover for the Ghosts she had killed before. The first such friend, Toxic Terry the Wundershot, stood waiting at the open door, ready to greet visitors. Alanya had been improving ever since she had ventured into this tomb the first time; sadly, that improvement wasn't much compared to Terry's poisoned arrows ... (to be continued) (from previous) By this point, I the player was more than a little peeved; if I had thought that the monsters could be randomly re-rolled by waiting a few hours, I'd have actually tried that. However, I didn't know if that was possible, and I didn't allow myself to reload, despite the fact that I - loathe - Skeleton Archers with enchanted arrows. Alanya, meanwhile, was swiftly learning to loathe them herself; she tried sneaking up on Terry to no avail, she tried shooting it out with him with her own bow, and she became very good at jumping out the front door, slamming it shut to block an arrow, healing herself to counteract the poison in her veins, and jumping back through the door to try something else. By the third time she jumped outside though, Alanya was more than mad, she was outright insulted and enraged. "Fine!" she yelled as she healed herself the third time. "You want to block the entrance? I'll BLOW YOU AWAY then!" Jumping back through the door, Alanya whipped out the Scroll of Hellfire and seared off the incantation, taking great pleasure in seeing Toxic Terry the Wundershot become Toasty Terry the Blackened Bones. Her joy was echoed in my heart as well, but both of us had a short-lived moment of trimuph ... ... for a second Skeleton Archer wandered around the corner. Sigh. Well, Alayna may have been mad, but beyond that brief flash of rage she wasn't stupid; she ducked behind some cover and tried to shoot this Skeleton, resulting in a shooting match. She had silver arrows; he had cold-enchanted arrows. He was winning. "Stealth and subtlty aren't working," Alanya told herself, chugging down a healing potion as she whipped out her spear. "Time for the direct approach!" "Well, @#$%# you too skele!" I the player was yelling, "PH33R my Drunken Dragoon Wild Charging Style!!!! " Alanya dashed; Alanya leaped; Alanya took another arrow to her side and cursed, but her perfect legs were untouched and that's really what's important. That, and pinnig the skeleton to the wall and wailing on it repeatedly, which she did. The second Skeleton Archer fell down just as the third Skeleton Archer, having been attracted by the noise, drew back its arrow and grazed Alanya's head. Alanya, I swaer, yelled "DITTO!!!" and repeated her previous performance, right down to the chugging, the dashing, the leaping, the pinning, and the wailing. By now, things were somewhat quiet; Alanya left her fallen foes where they lay and returned to the ways of caution, stealthily sneaking around a corner ... to see a Lesser Bonewalker. Smirking, Alanya made a small noise and wiggled her toes at him provactively ... One staggeringly-short and decidedly one-sided fight later, Alayna wiped Bonewalker goo off her feet and spear and thought "Okay, fine; Pete's probably waiting right by the door, and I don't have the scroll anymore. We'll sneak in close, potion of healing held in my mouth, and try to surprise him with a sneak attack; if that doesn't work and he pegs me, maybe I'll swallow the potion reflexively and be able to survive long enough to pin him to the wall ..." It wasn't the best plan, and truthfully Alanya wondered if she ought not go buy a Cure Paralysis potion, but she didn't feel like walking through the gauntlet she just weathered a third time just to face Pete. Popping her spear's enchantmet, she snuck up to the door ... He was waiting for her; he had his bow ready to shoot, and was standing right by the door ... but he hadn't expected her to be crouching quite so low as she snuck up ... One viscous smack took him in the ribcage, enchanted Deadric steel literally slicing the bones and causing him to lose his balance. He somehow avoided the second stab aimed for his head, but in trying to backpeddle while drawing a bead, he left himself open for the third ... the last thing he ever saw. When Alanya left that tomb, she had more iron arrows than she ever wanted in her life, forty enchanted arrows of four different flavors, four longbows with slight wear, some ashes of a long-dead guy and a most appealing magic ring. All this, and the store of potions and armor back in her hideaway, all waiting to be turned into gold ... Alanya smiled; she already had lots of ideas for what to buy with her newfound wealth; some potions for curing nasty things like poison and paralysis, perhaps a ring with an enchantment for resisting one or the other, oh, and some training in magic too ... ... Well, that's it. That was literally the worst monster draw I've encountered yet in Morrowind. Four Skeleton Archers, each with magic arrows? Dear God ... ... But I beat them, fair and square. And oh deary me did it feel good Thanks for listening, Loranna One last quick update before I myself turn in - no long stories this time, though if I get inspired by another encounter I'll let you know Alanya did in fact make her way to Balmora to start that most sacred of adventurer's activities - The Selling of Loot. Going from shop to shop she managed to amass a good 9500 gold give or take, and on a lark looked up that Caius guy the Emperor seems so keen on her meeting. Of course, being flushed with success from surviving impossible odds ... she had forgot to bring the package with her for Caius; the old coot was relatively benign about ripping into her for being such an airhead and told her to go back to the Silt Strider and make it snappy. So, Alanya made *another* trip to and from Sedya Neen, blushing the whole way, and soon discovered the Emperor ... wanted her to play spy. Not quite what she envisioned herself doing in life, but then again, the Emperor *did* set her free ... and it was seemingly obvious that this Caius guy was pretty high in the Emperor's regard. With a welcome like that, how's a Breton lass to say no? Caius did at least say she could take some time to herself to clean up loose ends and pursue some Blades Trainers Wisdom, all at discount prices. "Well then ... there *is* a loose end or three I need to tend to ..." Alanya said demurely, posing absently to show her perfect legs to advantage. "Give me a week or two ..." So Alanya made a trip to that little island of the west coast of Sedya Neen, whereupon she discovered a bandit cave - or, as she liked to think of them, an animal den - and, another tomb. Three guesses which one she tackled first. Yup: to quote Alanya, "We hunt for meat first before messing with old bones," and darned if a Devil Spear and a fifty in Sneak didn't pretty much tear those poor bandits to shreds, even the guys with huge honking Nordic Axes (thank you, oh Leveled Lists! We love you! ) The only problem Alanya encountered was her having forgot to buy new lockpicks, but fortunately she found a scroll to break open the one locked chest. With bandits slain and slaves lovingly freed (and yes; please read that the way you think I mean ) Alanya offered up her first prayer since getting blindsided by a Blighted Rat: "Please gods, Bonewalkers, not Skeletons. I can deal with Bonewalkers ..." ... They seemed to have listened; only one actual Skeleton and he used a steel tanto of all things Lesser and Greater Bonewalkers accounted for the rest of the tomb's population, and while Alanya only scored one Critical Hit out of five or six attempts, nothing in the tomb managed to do more than strip off a fourth of her Hit Points or a tenth of her Strength points - both easily fixed with a little healing magic. Alanya finished off her little trip by stripping the island bare of its plants, fungi, and crabmeat, with a couple racer plumes tossed in for variety, and drunk her second Potion of Recall to plunk her heavily-overladen Breton butt back in her nice cozy cave, whereupon she realized she'd need at least two trips back to Balmora to pawn all this stuff and wondered when she'd ever be unladen enough to chance taking the scenic route anywhere again - all this loot ferrying meant lots of Silt Strider time, and to be honest the drivers aren't great conversationalists ... (Okay, so I snuck a little story in there; talk to the ninja about it if you have complaints ) Loranna I skipped other user's posts because the story is already very long. I really hope she will write some more because that story is sooo good. For the Horde!
[Edited 1 time, last edit on 7/31/2004 at 11:17 (GMT -5) by Mewto] |
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Mewto Registered user Last page view: 3599 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds ago. |
more is coming: now! Some more adventures - and an unfortunate breaking of my "You Die, You Restart" rule, though this exception was due more to outside interference than anything else (i.e., my father popped in to tell me something and distracted me at a bad time ) Anyway, to try and sum up what has happened ... When last we heard from the lovely Alanya, she had been mulling her next move while shopping in Balmora. While financing the creation of The Ring of Toasty Bones - a 50 point fire damage spell effect with a radius of ten that she fondly dedicated to No Eyes Deadshot Pete the Departed - and some training in the proper use of enchanted items, Alanya thought over what she knew. There were rumors that some guy in the local fort wanted to talk to her - Larrus or the like. Well, she could look into that. There was Caius, who was probably waiting for her to check in - and, from what she was hearing on the street, this Blades group was fairly respected. Well, hmm, he had suggested keeping her 'cover' as a freelance adventurer, so why not do some more adventuring? There was the lure of exploring Morrowind some more, which was tugging on Alanya's heartstrings quite a bit. Hmm, well, with work offered by others one would have a reason to explore, to be sure ... ... oh, and there was this Dark Brotherhood guy who tripped over the front door in the Eight Plates Inn where Alanya was staying during her Enchantment training; Alanya earned the innkeeper a cool fifty septims when she rolled out of bed and dispatched the fool in three strokes, though the guard on duty won ten septims consolation prize for predicting it would be an even exchange of blows. "Seriously, I love you all ..." Alanya muttered as money changed hands. "I think someday I'll learn Illusion magic and show you my old Alanya's Unmentionable Toe Tickle spell, famous for making people meow like kittens ..." But hey, Dark Brotherhood assassins were proving to be a helpful source of supplemental income and training, so Alanya shrugged off the mug of sujamma offered her for being a 'good sport' and decided to pay the local fort a visit the next day ... ------ "Let me tell you a story," Larrius Varro told Alanya with a large grin on his face - he always appreciated women with pig tails and cute smiles. "Is this anything like the Nord bandit tale you just told me?" Alanya asked, eyebrow raised. "Oh no no, much better," Larrius insisted. "See, there once was this evil magistrate with powerful friends, who allowed corruption ..." Alanya humored Larrius's childlike telling of his frustrations with the Cammora Tong; she could guess where he was going with this and truth be told was not enthused with what she had heard of these people ... but still, Larrius was asking her to go after five folks, with little to go on ... " ... Of course, you need not answer the prayer with a bloodbath," Larrius concluded, "but the Emperor has sent you a nice gift whihc I'm sure would make your time worthwhile ..." " ... I'll get back to you on that," Alanya demured. "Truth be told, bandits in the wilderness is a little more in line with my specialty ..." "Of course, of course," Larrius smiled. "But still, think about it ..." *Think about it ...* Alanya thought as she made her way back to the South Wall, to look for a Thieve's Guild member for information. *Well ... let me see if it's feasable before I decide ...* "Hello, what can I do for you?" the Nord pawnbroker asked Alanya as she walked in. "Well, I'm looking for some bad people ..." Alanya started, kicking herself immediately for her lack of subtlty. Suddenly, the whole place broke into thunderous applause, Alanya was handed a thick folder with the names, descriptions, and favorite foods of the five bad people, Sugar Lips broke into an impassioned speech about how justice and freedom would always prevail against black-hearted villianry, and the Wood Elf scout told Alanya outright that he thought she was the hottest woman in all of Vvandervall. " ... Oh what the hey, Bosmer are good lovers," Alanya said, grabbing the Wood Elf, running to a room, and telling him flat out "Make me stop hearing the crazy people outside or I'll make you and I stop being very close." ------ "Argh, your mother was a Scamp and your father was a Scrib!" Alanya growled at the Cammora Tong's smith. "Yawn; is that the best your pretty Outlander face can do?" the smith smiled, happily humming as he worked on sharpening a dagger. "Okay - Orves Dren is Uriel Septim's personal boytoy and shoe-shiner!" Alanya seethed, "and your manhood is so small you probably don't even know what that means!" "Dear, I'm a cultured sort," the smith grinned, "and the old Dren being Urine-el's boytoy was tried years ago. Don't you have anything original?" "Khaijit men are ten times better than Dunmer men in bed - ask any Dunmer woman!" Alanya accused. The smith's face drooped into gloom. "Aye, tis our secret shame; in truth we enslaved the Khaijit and Agorians not for manual labor but for ..." "Stop it; I heard enough!" Alanya fumed, totally embarrassed by her inability to pick a fight with a known member of a group that openly despised Outlanders. "Forget you guys; I'm going to look for bandits ..." As Alanya headed out, the smith mused " ... I wonder if she did that on her own, or if that silly Varro guy put her up to it ..." (to be continued) (from previous) Well, it was off to Hla Od, tiny fishing village that Alanya had stumbled across on her first few days in Morrowind. Having proven to herself that she needed more work on the art of the insult, she instead went to hunt down her traditional favorite prey ... ... but as she left Balmoa, she noticed ... a Tomb. " ... Well, I *did* just get this ring made to deal with Skeleton Archers," Alanya smiled, patting her new ring. "Let's go test it ..." Ten minutes later ... " ... Well poot; two Bonewalkers and a Bonelord," Alanya sighed, walking out with her modest loot. "Didn't even need the ring; oh well, next time ..." So it was that Alanya searched around the village of Hla Od, sniping down Cliff Racers and stabbing Mudcrabs and Nix Hounds as she went. And for a day of searching, she found ... a small bridge leading off to a tiny island off of Hla Od. "Hmm, maybe the bandit's hiding in that big section of rocks," Alanya mused, heading over to find a Scamp. " ... Or maybe this is a Dreadra Shrine ..." Three backstabbed scamps later, Alanya had made the acquaintence of two people who were doing little other than standing there and found a door to the interior ... "Lot of water," Alanya thought as she stealthily made her way into the Shrine, awed by its alieness. "... Hmm, someone up ahead ..." Alanya slowly creeped up to the Orc she saw ahead, clad in a robe and muttering under his breath. Alanya got close enough to touch the Orc, wondering if he was friendly despite the strong chances of being a Necromancer or Bad Deadra worshipper ... "Hmm, what happens if I try to talk while sneaking?" I the player wondered, hitting the space bar. "This character is in combat" the game replied. "This character doesn't even know I'm here," I pointed out, looking meaningfully at the Sneak Icon. "Oh well, might as well take this guy out ..." "Weakling!" the orc gasped as he tripped and fell on Alanya's enchanted spear, causing Alanya to mutter "Um ... I meant to do that ..." "Oh don't worry; I'm sure you did," the Orc warrior woman on the other side of the alter smiled, pulling out a nasty-looking axe ... ------ "Right; thank you for freeing me from my captors," the Imperial behind the locked door said to Alanya after a hard-fought struggle to the death with the Orc woman. "I'll find my way out, don't worry." "Er, wait, have you heard of a bandit named ..." alanya started, but the agent had already tuned her out, busily planning his trip home. " ... Never mind; let me just recheck for missed loot ..." Alanya sighed, figuring she'd recall home with the orcish armor and come back to look for the bandit again. "Hmm, there's things on the alter ..." No sooner had Alanya picked up something on the alter when ... "What! an explosion!?" I the player squaked, seeing my hit points drop. "What?! Something hit me!" I yelled, whirling Alanya around. " ... A Dremora Lord!?!?! MOMMY!" I squeeked, realizing Alanya was nearly dead and falling fast. "Haven't you ever watched Indiana Jones!?" the Dremora grinned evilly, poking me with his spear as I gulped a Potion of Recall. Later, after recovering, Alanya said "Okay; Daedra Alters are booby-trapped, my loot's still sitting in that room, and that monster's likely waiting for me. This time though, I'm gonna sneak up on him ..." So, off to Hla Od again, but this time ... "Hmm, a cave; I wonder if the bandit's in there?" I wondered, coming across a little hideaway just south of the fishing village ... (to be continued) (from previous) Now here is where a most unfortunate thing happened, for as Alanya snuck into the cave ... "Hmm, he looks like a bandit guard," Alanya thought as I myself was wondering "You know, the slight downside to a sixty sneak is I never know who's immediately hostile anymore; maybe I should try talking to this guy too ..." And just as I tried that ... "Hey," my father said, popping into my room, "I got some news about coming back to the old job ..." "Huh?" I muttered, looking up as my fingers did stuff. "Oh hi dad; lemme pause and ... oh, och, a fight ... stupid bandit ..." "Hmm? Playing that game again?" Dad asked, vaguely curious as to what occupies my time so much. "Yeah," I said, hitting the ESC key. "So, what's the news?" "Well," Dad started - but then I said "Wait - why is the game still going?" "Huh?" Dad griped, not liking me cutting him off. But, I was too panicked to reply - for my finger had missed the ESC key and hit the '1' key by accident, and thus I was now getting hurt ... "Eep! Gotta get out!" I cried, trying to back up, cast a healing spell, switch to my enchanted spear, and exit the cave all at once while also toggling the run function. "Stupid controller setup ..." Alanya, meanwhile, did a wierd dance in slo-mo and took several hits to the head, thus causing her to fall over and die; my fingers were tied in a knot. "#%^$#%^W^$##!!!!!!" I grumbled, "and I was doing *so well* with this one ... "Er, come talk to me when you're ready," Dad sighed, going to get some coffee and watch television. " ... You know, I'm calling this a foul," I decided. "I'll blame my Dad and restart - just this once ..." ------ (Oh, I apologized to my Dad afterwards; he's a great guy after all ) ------ Alanya snuck into the cave, feeling an odd sense of deja-vu as she saw a Redguard standing guard. "Hmm, yeah, he's a bandit," Alanya decided, quietly walking up and saying "Hey - seen any Nords?" "No actually I - huh!?" the Redguard cried, leaping back - but Alanya struck quickly and brought him down, he nicely exposing his kidney for her. "What was that?" another bandit muttered, wandering over to investigate. Realizing the second bandit would be upon her at any moment, Alanya tried a risky strategy, leaning against the wall with her most seductive look. When the second bandit turned the corner, she pouted her lips, raised her leg, and said " ... Could you help me with my loincloth, oh strong sir ..." ------ Two down; two more in sight after a quick scouting mission. Alanya decided to take the one on the lower level of the wodden platforms first, then sneak up the stairs for the second. This plan worked pretty well, with only the last bandit putting up any sort of fight. After that, alanya looked through all the crates and sacks ... and saw lots and lots and lots of Stuff! Dwemor gears and cogs, some raw ebony and glass, lots of clothes, some enchanted rings, plenty of armor and weapons ... " ... I'm rich," Alanya thought, followed immediately by " ... How am I gonna cart all this back to my cave ..." She thought about it, and decided "Simple; by making this my new cave and carting my old stuff up here!" And thus Alanya has a new home - and is still looking for that bandit for Larrius ... But first, a rematch: Alanya versus Dremora Lord the First. ------ Strange Morrowind Fact: A Bound Spear will kill Flame Atronachs in one sneak attack or three normal pokes. Stranger fact: Dremora Lords only need six or seven pokes to die themselves with the same spear Well, the greef and the healing potion helped ... The second bout with the Dremora was actually kind of anticlimatic, sad to say. Being able to get up close before being noticed does a lot for giving you an upper hand, to be sure. So, Alanya's next quest - to move into her new cave and to figure out where that bandit she was looking for is. And then to work on her insulting skills Loranna Well, here I go again ... When last I spoke of Alanya, she had just taken her revenge on the Dremora Lord that had made her turn tail and run from her first Daedric Shrine and was contemplating what to do with her newfound wealth, wealth that increased as she started the laborious task of transferring her stuff from her old cave to the new one by dint of her discovering another bandit cave on the road from Sedya Neen to Hla Oud. "I must have a nose for these thnigs," Alanya muttered to herself as she cautiously snuck in, spear ready to call for its enchantment. "Hmm, maybe Fjord the bandit I'm looking for is in here ..." As it turned out, he wasn't - the closest to a Nord Bandit of great skill and infamy was the female Orc bandit that was guarding a bridge in the cave, who managed to get the drop on Alanya. That fight was hard - hard enough to make Alanya swig some sujamma with her healing potion - but after that Orc, the rest of the banits were little match for a sneaky woman with a Bound Spear enchantment. "Whoa, that sujamma packs a whalop ..." Alanya muttered after her fight with the Orc - well, after her wits returned when the sujamma wore off. "You know, I have a new use for my wealth - we're buying ourselves an enchantment to give me bearlike strength without the kick to the inside of my skull this stuff causes ..." And thus began ... The Quest for the 'Amulet of the Bear', a frightening tale of strained back muscles and weary feet, of overused Amulets of Recall and barely-known Spells of Intervention, of trips to merchants all over Balmora and Caldera, and of course ... ... the meeting of J. Edgar Creeper! "I'm Creeping! Thank you Caldera, I'm here all week!" sayeth the Creeper! "... Why do you guys let this thing live with you?" Alanya asked the Orcs in the manor. "He's funny," was the general consensus, followed closely by "And he stinks at card games, so we have plenty of sujamma gold." "I see ..." Back and forth, to and fro, selling items, lugging items from cave to cave, dealing with snippity merchants eager for items but leary of parting with gold in the mornings and Cliff Racers flying over her newly-claimed home and rats playing in her new frontyard marsh at night. Oh, and another Dark Brotherhood assassin - or was that just a bad dream Alanya had? She couldn't tell; by now she had lost count of the times these jokers showed up "Galbedir dearest, must you charge so much for a simple strength-boosting amulet?" Alanya despaired one day in the Mages's Guild. "I've been selling loot for almost a week straight; at this rate I might as well become a trader and hang up my spear ..." "Oh Alanya honey, I wish I could charge less, really," Galbedir sighed, hugging her favorite customer close. "But enchanting's hard, especially when you can't afford to mess up. There's expensive Potions of Guarenteed Success you got to keep stocked, fees to the Guild for the lab equipment, payments to the city elders for living with the occasional odd smell or rampaging Antronach, the Guildmaster's cut, and of course retirement funds ..." "And this from an enchanter who loves me," Alanya groaned. "Oh well; another two, maybe three days and I should have the money you're asking for ..." "Great!" Galdebir cheered, "Now, let me help make the aches and pains of loot-ferrying go away ..." ------ And so Alanya spent close to 26,000 gold to get herself an Amulet of the Bear, and some more enchantment training to try and cut down on the charge cost of her new toy, and I the player started asking myself " ... So, there's like bandits and monsters and lost artifacts and other stuff in this game somewhere; I ought to go look for them ..." Thus did Alanya think back to the tasks Larrius Varro had asked of her, and finally, gully moved-in to her new home, she said "Now then, there's a Nord who needs to be found ..." (to be continued) (from previous) Find the Nord, Round Two had officially begun, as Alanya walked out of her cave, stabbed a Cliff Racer to death to pass through her front door, and tested her Ring of the Toasy Bones on some random Bull Netches that were blocking the sun. Test results - Netch meat tasted good when cooked and shooting fire from her ring was a lot easier than trying to shoot with a bow and then dodge a spew of poison. " ... Well okay, so it's not quite what the ring was meant for; I might as well put it to some use," Alanya rationalized, munching on some jerky. "Anyway, let's try searching further north of Hla Oud ..." And so Alanya went off again, by now painfully aware of how much time had passed since she last spoke to Caius; the old coot may have given up on her by now ... but no matter; there were Nords to find ... Passing prime hunting grounds and foraging sites - Alanya smiled again at her choice of a new home - Alanya happened up ... another bandit cave, north of Hla Oud and sitting in the middle of nowhere. Reasoning that her Nord target was a bandit and thus might be operating out of such a cave, she snuck in ... "Wow, a bandit cave with Nix Hounds and Shalks," Alanya mused as she snuck up and killed man and beast alike one by one - the two being one and the same to her. "Smart bandits; have blighted hounds wandering the cave to deter would-be adventurers. Wonder how they keep the hounds from attacking their own?" So curious was Alanya about this that, when the Nord bandit who saw her approaching stealthily drew his sword to fight her, she instead said "Wait - before we fight, tell me, what's with the pets you guys have here?" "Huh?" the Nord grunted, unused to the idea of an intruder looking for conversation. "I mean, I found two Blighted Hounds; what's up with them?" Alanya asked, stamping her foot in impatience. "Beats me," the Nord grunted. "I didn't let them in; that would explain why no one's come to relieve me from my post in the past three weeks ..." " ... Tell you what; let me take care of that for you right now," Alanya offered, and spear and sword clashed in the damp caves of death. Feeling exuberant after a hard but exciting fight, Alanya dared to rest for a bit ... "Ha! You're mine!" the Assassin cried, whiffing his dart - stupid assassin. "Oh? Am I dreaming again?" Alanya asked sleepily. "No - you're being killed to avenge my four or five other fallen brothers!" the assassin sneered from under his mask. "Oh - you're number six? Wow; I had lost track ..." sighed Alanya, putting him to sleep with four thrusts. ------ An hour later, Alanya groaned under the weight of the loot she liberated, even with her new amulet and some sujamma. She grunted, asking the slain bodies of the bandits "So, which Dwarven ruin did you guys raid to get all this stuff? You realize how many trips it will take me to convert all this stuff to gold, even with J. Edgar Creeper being totally clueless as to the value of bargaining? Had you no consideration for the heroic Rangers who would someday come by, put an end to your wicked ways, and try to live off your swag?" Getting no answer, Alanya harumphed, made a teleport hop back to her new cave, stuffed all the crates with her new stuff, and flopped into bed, sighing "We'll go looking for the Nord Fjord when I wake up ..." ------ Find the Nord, Round Three Off again to explore north of Hla Oud, and this time, as the sun crept back under the horizon, Alanya saw an imposing figure pacing irritably back and forth near a road she had passed once before. 'Hmm ..." Alanya muttered, sneaking up and whispering "Fjord ... Fjord ..." in her best ghostly voice. "Argh, what dead beastie seeks Fjord the Bandit!?" the man snarled, whipping out his axe. "I'm Fjord and not afeared of man or monster; give me whatever gold you have specter and I'll let you stay in the lands of the living for another night!" "Will you take a Breton lass with perfect legs?" Alanya said teasingly, popping her spear's and amulet's enchantments ... ------ "Ah Alanya, how are you?" Larrius asked as the Breton Ranger returned to the fort. "All right - found your Nord for you," Alanya said, absently posing. "Oh? Where is he at?" Larrius asked. "I'll send some guards to take him ..." Alanya blinked. "Oh; you wanted him alive ... um ... he's kinda dead ..." Larrius looked at Alanya, then threw back his head and laughed. "You're quite the huntress there Alanya; don't worry, it's not important. Now, about the bad people ..." Alanya blinked, then said " ... Let me get back to you in a day for that ..." (to be continued) Skipping back to Balmora, Alanya made a decision: She had left the old coot Caius hanging for too long, and owed it to him and to the Emperor to at least check in and see what work they needed her to do. Exploring more of Morrowind would have to happen alongside her duties rather than instead of them. But first ... "Ah, my favoirte Outlander scum," the Cammora Tong's smith grinned as Alanya strolled into the Council Club. "So, have you any new feeble insults to share?" Alanya grinned and moved into the smith's personal space, murmuring "Oh yes, and before the morning turns to noon you'll be so outraged you won't be able to help yourself from swinging at me ... but first, I want to let your friends downstairs in on the fun. Why deny them the joy of our little game?" The smith blinked. "Um, Alanya, you're skating on thin ice there ..." "I know," Alanya smiled, her grin provocative on several levels. But before the smith could move, she pushed away from him, saying "Ta ta for now; when I come back this way you'll be the last." Glowering, the smith watched Alanya walk away, thinking to himself that the Outlander had just gone from amusing to bothersome ... ------ "So, you may have gotten under Velas's skin," Madrale Thirith, Cammora Tong thief, smirked, "but he's a lightweight anyway; you'll have to do a lot better than that to get the rest of us to fall for your little ploy, Outlander." "Oh?" Alanya asked, eyebrows raised. "Better than this?" She slinked up to Madrale, just like she had with Velas. Madrale, however, simply smiled and slinked right back. "Oh yes, much better than that; who taught you how to act seductive anyway, an Orc?" "Actually, it was a Khajiit," Alanya smirked. "With an Argonian. You know - civilized people." The thief glowered. "Nice touch but not enough ..." she muttered. "How about this then?" Alanya asked with a smile, holding up one of Madrale's lockpicks - one Alanya had just slipped from her pocket. The thief's eyes widened in anger. "Why you s'wit!" she yelled, whipping out a poisoned blade. "Take this, n'wah!" Alanya did get cut by the poisoned blade and growled - but she smiled through the growl, saying "Nice hit; my turn ..." ------ Angry stares met Alanya as she sauntered into the main hall of the Council Club, whistling and twirling Madrale's poisoned blade in her hands. "Say, anyone want some used lockpicks cheap? I promise you'll get what you paid for ..." Three angry cries of "Die Outlander!" told Alanya that she was, indeed, getting better at the art of the insult. Three nasty cuts - one to her perfect legs - told her that she needed to be faster on the retreat into a narrow corridor though. Still, three more corpses told Alanya that her spear skills were improving. The bartender looked at Alanya worriedly. "Um, I'm just a businessman, I'm not Cammora Tong ..." "Of course not," Alanya laughed. "You don't mind me taking out Velas do you?" Velas, having heard the commotion, answered for the innkeeper, drawing a club and rushing downstairs with a cry of "Damn you Outlander!" before running into Alanya's spear. "No, not at all ..." the innkeeper said, looking at Alanya - who was herself blinking and saying " ... Well um, I guess he was the lightweight of the lot ..." ------ "Amazing; you not only took out all five Tong members, you did so without breaking the law," Larrius said happily, pulling out a ring. Alanya raised her eyebrows. "Somewhat sudden, isn't this Captain?" she demurred. Larrius blinked, then laughed. "You are quite the lively one ... no; this, my dear Breton, is the nice present the Emperor sent for you. And from me ... here; I think you should have this book." "A ring and a book," Alanya muttered, examining her prizes. "Hmm ... nice ring ... 'interesting' book, I'll grant you that ..." "Well ... I always had a soft spot for history," Larrius confided. "But if you'll excuse me; there's a certain magistrate who needs to be talked to ..." "Have fun," Alanya smiled, turning back to Balmora to find Caius ... ... and the tale of Alanya's first quest for Caius will come later, I think Loranna ... Man; the weekend shows up and I end up sitting down and playing like there's no tomorrow. Now I've got tons of events to write up ... When we last heard from Alanya, she had just finished making Larrius Varro very happy and was on her way to talk to Caius Cosades, her 'officail' boss. Crossing over the Odai River to the western part of town, she knocked politely and was admitted with a genial wave of Caius's hand ... Once his door was safely closed, Caius turned to Alanya, sizing her up all over again. "So, had enough of bandit slaying and moving for a bit?" he asked with what looked to be a friendly smile. Alanya blinked, her surprise at Caius's knowledge of her recent activities showing. Caius chuckled. "I am the Spymaster, you know; what, you thought I just let you go off into the world without keeping tabs on you?" Alanya's cheeks reddened, and she glowered slightly. "No, of course not," she said stiffly. " ... So, sir, I am ready for my first assignment ..." "Oh good; I was worried you forgot what you came to Morrowind for," Caius quipped. Seeing Alanya's face wince with guilt, he added quickly "Relax Novice, I'm just teasing. Truth be told, I am glad you took the time to sharpen your skills before trying spywork; there is always work that needs to be done forthe Blades, and more of us to do it than people realize, so feel fre to take your time about your job - unless I tell you otherwise." " ... Yes sir," Alanya answered, feeling somewhat relieved. "Another thing; don't call me sir," Caius retorted. "I try hard enough as it is to ignore my grey hair - what little of it is left; I don't need youngsters reminding me of my age." Alanya actually blushed. "Sorry ..." Caius regarded Alanya for a moment, minorly concerned. From all accounts, Alanya was not given to acting so subdued and formal; he wondered if her behavior was due to guilt for taking almost a month to get around to asking for her first job or something else. Nonetheless, he cleared his throat ... "Right; now then, your first assignment. As it happens, I need some information regarding two local cults, that of the Nerevarine and the Sixth House. You are to contact a local authority on these matters, one Hasphat Antabolis, Fighter Guild drillmaster. Introduce yourself as one of my friends and ask Hasphat for information; he will most likely request a favor of you in exchange. Perform whatever favor he requests, get the information from him, and report back to me." Alanya asked " ... Do you know what sort of favor he'd be likely to ask?" Caius thought to himself Good; she's at least thinking ahead as he replied "Well, Hasphat fancies himself a bit of an antiquarian and scholar; whatever he asks of you, it'll probably be to fetch some collectable bauble, or mabye some rare books. You might be able to grant his favor by delving into a shop, rather than a cave." "That would be a first ..." Alanya muttered. "It would almost definitely be easier than single-handedly wiping out a houseful of Cammora Tong," Caius grinned. Alanya blinked again. " ... Maybe," she said, telling herself to stop being surprised at Caius's knowledge of her doings; it was, after all, his job to know things ... ------ "Ah, so you're one of Caius's friends," Hasphat smiled, cracking his knuckles. "Nice to meet you miss Alanya - say, there's a rumor going around that you had something to do with the big bloodbath down in the Council Club; what went on there ...?" "Nothing; nothing whatsoever at all," Alanya said, having gotten tired of hearing everyone in Balmora whispering about her recent escapades and her purported involvement in them. "Last I heard it was a Thieve's Guild operation." Hasphat snorted. "Right, of course ... anyway, on to business. What can I do for Caius this week?" "There's two local cults ..." Alanya started to say. "Ah; let me guess, Sixth House and Nerevarine?" Hasphat interrupted. " ... Yes actually," Alanya confirmed; she wasn't keen on being interrupted like that. "Thought so; there's been a fair bit of coorespondance going around in our circles about those topics. Probably set of Caius's warning bells to hear so many people buzzing about it. Well, let's see ... in enchange for my notes on those, I require a Dwemer Puzzle Box." "Ah ..." Alanya said. "Where does one find those ..." "Why in Dwemer ruins of course," Hasphat grinned. "There's one not too far out of town - Arkngthand, to be exact. I'll write you up some directions, you go there and get a puzzle box for me, then we'll do business. Oh - mind the bandits that I hear have been setting up shop there, and be careful not to go too deep into the ruins - there's old Dwemer security machines and rumor has it Dwarven Specters down there as well." Alanya looked at Hasphat askance, but a glimmer came to her eye; at least this treasure hunt promised some hunting as well ... (to be continued) (from previous) The sun shone placidly as Alanya made her way to the Dwarven ruins of Arkngthand, which helped highlight the two or three Cliff Racers that were buzzing around along the way. Still, the gods gave man and mer bows for just these sorts of pests , so Alanya had little trouble on her way to the ruins. The first real obstacle came at the bridge Hasphat had told her to cross; she saw a man standing guard on the far side, near the ruins itself. He looked alert and dangerous, though he hadn't spotted Alanya yet so he wasn't as alert as he ought to have been. "Hmm, Hasphat said there were bandits; do I assume this is one of them and shoot him, or get up close to make sure?" Alanya debated, hunkering down behind a rock to watch and plot. "If I shoot him and miss, or only wing him, he could run back and warn his friends before I could finish him; that would make getting the box a lot harder. ... That, and he might not be a bandit ... yeah right." Alanya briefly reflected on her days before being imprisoned; back then she was proficient in nature magic, and could blend in with many surroundings, cause vines to grow up and entangle foes, call upon beasts of the wild to help her, and other such feats. Her prolonged stay in prison had caused her magic skills to fade - the old use it or lose it axiom proved all too true - and she hadn't yet taken the time to try and relearn most of her magic save the healing spells and the herbal lore she had always excelled in. She began to keenly feel this lack in her re-education as she looked upon the mostly-open bridge; there were some hand-drawn wagons that could offer her cover if she snakecrawled down the length of the bridge, but she didn't care to trust solely on that ... ... Then again, the Emperor's gift to her had been a ring that - somewhat - mimiced her old camoflage spells, and she did have a potion or two of invisibility on hand, so she wasn't totally unprepared. But still, at some point or another, it would be nice to reclaim her old skills. For now though, she slipped on the Emperor's gift and made due as best she could. As it turned out, she got right up to the guard; her magic skills may have faded, but her natural stealth had only been growing better and better since she got on Morrowind. I, the player, was most impressed with my stealthiness - the more so since, in game, I pretty much just walked up to the guy while he was staring right at me, Chameleon or no Lesson of the Day: The Stealth Skill rocks your world. "What was that!?" the guard snarled as Alanya was just slipping past him to come from behind, the ring's spell fading at a bad time. "Oops," Alanya cursed, popping her spear's enchantment. "Fight time ..." "Let's see what you're made of!" the gaurd snarled, summoning a skeleton warrior. "Kill her!" Alanya's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Okay, you just made me very, very mad ..." she sneered, visions of Pete playing in the back of her mind. However, this Skeleton had but a sword, not a bow ... The guard summoned his own bound spear as Alanya sidestepped a sword swipe from the skeleton, ducked a second swipe, and rushed the bag of bones, lifting it over her head and tossing it over the bridge. The Skeleton had a most long-suffering expression of "Why Do These Things Always Happen To Me?" as he fell; fortunately the summoning spell expired before he hit the ground, so he was spared a lot of pain. "Nice move," the guard grunted, stabbing at Alanya. His spear glanced off her chitin cuirass, drawing some blood as it skidded past her arm. "Thank you," Alanya said, thrusting with wrists of iron once, twice - and no more, as her thrusts had taken him in the gut and then in the heart. "I like this move better though." The guard gargled on blood as Alanya seductively lifted one perfet leg to place against his shoulder - to push him off her spear. The bandit mage fell lifeless to the ground. "... Hmm, he wasn't all that tough," Alanya thought to herself as she looked at the ruins before her. "I wonder if his companions are any tougher ..." (to be continued) (from previous) Spoiler Alert!!! ---> The bandits did not, in fact, get any tougher By this point, I the player was thoroughly enjoying sneaking up on bandits, sometimes in plain view, and bringing them down with well-placed thrusts. I didn't always avoid being noticed, but I didn't have any difficulty in killing these guys; considering how many previous characters of mine had fallen to foes just like these, I was taking a perverse pleasure in Alanya's superiority to her foes, sometimes muttering "And that one was for Embrace ... and this is for my first charcter ever, who died to that stupid smuggler mage in the first cave ... oh, and that one's for the Nord bandit woman I made last week! But anyway ... Alanya found the upper levels of the ruins to be perfect for her; the twists, turns, large mechanical dohickies sticking out of the floor, and background noise all worked to her advantage for sneaking around. Half the bandits she came acrosss never realized she was there until after she ventilated their spleens; the rest, sadly, were unable to call for help over the din of the machinery, especailly with Alanya stabbing them whenever they took a breath to yell. So, up and down Alanya searched, finding cups, boglets, plates, coins, and cogs of valuable Dwemer metal, but no boxes. Vases and crates were stuffed with the loot the bandits had found, probably from other adventurers like her; still, no box. Doors barred with locks and traps stood in her way but fell to her picks and probes - Alanya had once considered being a thief herself and had learned a bit about traps and locks from all the bandit caves she had plundered in her life - but there were no boxes hiding behind these obstacles either. "Ugh; considering how much this stuff weighs," Alanya grumbled as she swiped as much loot as she could, "I wonder how heavy Hesphat's stupid box is going to be ..." Eventually passing by a large boiler room - and biting her tongue as her bare feet crossed over hot metal floors - Alanya came across a larger door with a better lock than she had come across. " ... Well, why not look past there?" she decided. "Maybe the box is buried deeper in the ruins ..." ------ Dwemer Centurion machines and Dwarven Specters, Alanya decided during her exploration of the lower levels of Arkngthand, were moderately dangerous. Oh, one on one they posed little problem, not even the hard-hitting giant steam-bellowing ones with the huge club arm, but two or three at once, as she learned the hard way, could give her reason to worry. Thankfully, these machiens and ghosts were almost as unperceptive as the bandits upstairs she had slain I the player was heard to comment "You know, that Steam Centurion would have killed me in three, maybe four hits back at level four to six; amazing what an extra eighty hit points will do for you ..." ... What can I say? It was invigorating to see Alanya take a vsicous backhand from a Steam Centurion, stagger a bit but NOT fall down, and say "Okay, I'm annoyed now," as she poked it into non-functionality Eventually, though, Alanya had to retreat home, for she had found way too much loot and no puzzle box. "Sigh; I'll come back tomorrow morning ..." ------ Upon returning to the ruins, Alanya crept in again, and this time noticed a door on the upper levels she had missed the other day. " ... You don't suppose ..." she muttered, shaking her head at herself. Sighing, Alanya crept forward and found another bandit, one still alive and very, very jumpy given that something had killed all his friends the other day. Alanya waited, said "BOO!" at the right time, and let him jump onto her spear. Chucling, Alanya carefully eased open another door ... "HA!" cried the bandit waiting inside, lunging forward with a sword and almost poking Alanya in the shoulder. "So you're the one who killed my gang, s'wit!" "Guilty as charged," Alanya confirmed, parrying a thrust for her head. "You wouldn't happen to have a puzzle box, would you? If you do and give it to me, I could let you live ..." "Boss Crito doesn't make deals with scum!" the bandit roared, coming at Alanya again. "Wonder how you hired anyone then ..." Alanya grinned, dodging and thrusting, and thrusting several times more as Crito stumbled. "Oh well ..." Wiping her spear off on Crito's shirt, Alanya looked around in the room - and there, plain as day, was a small box sitting on a shelf, one which was obviously meant to be a puzzle. " ... Yeah; I explored every part of this ruin except the one room with what I was looking for yesterday," Alanya sighed. "I even went down into a huge passage with water and everything and wasted some levitation potions to explore some areas ... oh well, no point in complaining now ..." ------ "Why, this is perfect!" Hasphat enthused, taking the box from Alanya and looking it over. "Hmm, this reminds me of somethnig in my notes; I might be able to make a key from the solution to this ..." "That's very interesting," Alanya said with a polite smile. "But, for right now ..." "Ah, right; here's what you wanted," Hasphat smiled, passing on notes and know-how regarding the Sixth House. When Alanya finally left the Fighter's Guild, she was feeling pretty satisfied with her first job ... ... until the people on the street to Caius's house began looking at her with odd, glassy expressions, chanting "Why do you deny Dagoth Ur, Alanya ... the Sixth House shall rise again ..." And that ends Alanya's first Blades Quest. Next up for her will be the second Blades quest, and the digressions that she encountered on the way Loranna This is a pic of Alanya http://www.cuneo.us/tesmw/browse.php?img=Alanya_s_and_Gabedir_s_New_Threads_001.jpg&dir=Loranna And now, on with the story! ------ When we last saw Alanya, she had just dropped off the Dwemer Puzzle Box to Hasphat and was heading back to report to Caius, feeling pretty good about herself until the glassy-eyed Dreamers began acosting her on the street, calling her by name and freaking her out with their words, and ultimately making her run to Cauis's door with alacrity. Caius opened the door to Alanya's frantic knocking and had just enough time to register surprise before being bowled back by Alanya's dive into his little apartment. The half-dressed codger blinked twice and asked " ... Is the Tong after you perchance?" "No; crazy people," Alanya panted, plopping down on Caius's bed and trying to catch her breath. "Most people are crazy," Caius grinned, drawing upon homespun wisdom. "Hysteria is a common first reaction to this understanding ..." "That's not what I mean!" Alanya snarled, making Caius shut up. "I mean there's actual crazy people calling me by name when I've never met them before and making all sorts of crazy talk and ... and ..." Caius looked at Alanya with disguised worry; he hadn't pegged her before as being a nutcase ... "All right, relax; now, tell me, what happened ..." "I just did!" Alanya flared. "Tell me again - from the beginning," Caius said soothingly. "Slowly, one detail at a time." Alanya glowered, but said " ... I had just delivered Hasphat's puzzle box to him and recieved his notes on the Sixth House. I was coming to delvier them to you when people in the street - people I've seen but not talked to before - started coming up to me, their eyes all glassy and wild. They called me by name and started chanting about the Sixth House and Dagoth Ur, asking why I denied Ur and ... and .. other stuff, I can't quite remember ..." Caius forced himself to keep his frown off his face, putting forth a reassuring smile. In truth, Alanya's experience was a little creepy, but right now his immediate concern was for the mental stability of his novice - his very important novice. "The Sixth House is actually something of a 'hot' topic right now, Alanya," Caius said with practiced smoothness. "Not many people know much about it at all, but it's becoming more known to the general public. So it's not totally impossible that these people are simply chanting some nonsense they dreamed up around some tiny factoid they heard about the Sixth House ..." "But I don't know them!" Alanya insisted, though Caius heard anger edging out hysteria in her voice. A semi-positive sign, he decided. "No, but don't forget you've become somewhat known here in Balmora," Caius pointed out. "Your taking out of those Tong members is still on people's lips, will be for a while actually. Not only that, but let's be honest - you dress distinctively. Not many people go for partial suits of armor if they can avoid it nowadays and fewer still go around barelegged and barefoot too ..." Alanya gradually calmed down. "But ... their eyes ..." "Pick a poison," Caius said dismissively. "There's a reason I play the skooma addict in Balmora; there's enough drug use in this town that one more glassy-eyed loon goes unremarked, even an Outlander like myself." Alanya's expression gradually changed from hysteria to chagrin. " ... Doped up fools whipping themselves into some half-baked delusion ..." she said slowly, frowning. "Most likely explanation," Caius assured her. "An unsettling expreince, I freely admit - but nothing out of the usual insanity that is civilized life. Alanya groaned, hiding her face in her hands. "I feel like an utter idiot ..." she said, wondering when Caius was going to fire her. "That's a good sign; recognition of one's lack of knowledge is the start of true learning," Caius said with a smile and a friendly pat on Alanya's armored shoulder. "Just try not to let this one incident throw you out of whack; there's a lot of insanity in this world and you'll be seeing a fair bit of it in the Emperor's service, I'm afraid." Alanya felt relief; it didn't sound like Caius was going to fire her after all - though in the back of her mind, a part of her stubbornly insisted that Caius wasn't right on this. Caius, meanwhile, smiled as he saw Alanya's expression, and knew he had done it again; she wasn't the first Novice he had helped set straight ... "Now then, let's look over Hasphat's note while you report to me on the details of your mission for him," Caius said ... (to be continued) Right; time to pull myself away from playing and at least post one more part of the story Silly game is too addictive for my own good ... Last time, Alanya had just turned what was supposed to be a three or four second trip through Caius's dialogue tree into a full-fledged scene, winning many Oscars Picking up in the Balmora Mage's Guild ... "Alanya!" Galbedir smiled, going over to give her favorite customer a hug. "Hmm, you here for business or just brightening up my day?" Alanya hugged Galbedir back, suddenly very thankful to have made a more long-term relationship - she had had many lovers in her life but few had gone beyond one night affairs and friends after that. She snuggled into Galbedir's arms, sighing "Hi dear; business but not enchanting today, I'm afraid ..." "Oh? Come for a cure for that cold?" Galbedir asked, smirking. Alanya blinked. "What cold? I'm fine ..." "Then why are you shivering?" Galbedir asked, frowning as Alanya herself blinked, finally realizing that she was still shaking, albiet not quite like a leaf ... " ... um, would you believe me if I said some wierd people freaked me out?" Alanya said meekly, kicking herself for sounding so foolish right after. Galbedir took Alanya's face in her hands and looked her in the eye. " ... Dearie, you're all shaken up - what did they say to you?" she asked, her voice hitting a rare maternal note. Alanya realized than that despite Caius's reassurances, she was in fact still disturbed by her encounter with the Dreamers. " ... Nothing that made any sense ..." she says, sounding unsure. "Just ... managed to get under my skin; didn't realize even drugged-out fetchers would know me on the street ..." "Hmph; that's what you get for showing the world your perfect legs and killing off Tong folk," Galbedir teased, patitng the outside of Alanya's thigh to emphesize her point. "Really Alanya, you should have expected something like this ..." And Caius just finished telling me essentially the same thing, Alanya thought to herself, blushing again. Damnit, why am I letting this get to me like this ... "Anyway, much as I'd love to keep you all to myself today, I have things to enchant and you said you had business," Galbedir said after a few more moments of holding Alanya close. "So, what do you need?" " ... Is that Orc woman in today?" Alanya asked Galbedir. "Sharn? Yeah, she's in, and is her grumpy old fart self as usual," Galbedir answered, frowning. "What do you want with her?" Alanya smiled as soothingly as she could, trying to slip out of Galbedir's arms. "Just got some questions to ask her, about something that came up on my last adventure," she said, not wanting to go into detail about her secret agent life yet. " ... All right," Galbedir said, hiding her disappointment; she had hoped Alanya would tell her what she wanted with the Orc magess, especially considering Sharn's not-so-secret special interests. "Be careful; I expect to see you when you're done with whatever adventure the sourpuss is bound to set for you." Remembering Caius's casual remark about 'doing a silly errand' for Sharn gra-Muzgob, Alanya realized then how Caius got his information; she wondered how many silly errands she'd end up doing before the next raw recruit showed up ... ------ "So, my good friend Caius wishes to know more about the Nerevanine prophecies?" Sharn gra-Muzbog asked Alanya, grunting. "Well, I can write up my notes and references about the Nerevanine for Caius, in return for a small favor..." "I understand," Alanya said, smiling her best polite smile and hoping the gold she had given Sharn compensated for her lack of formal knowledge of Orc ettiquete - if such a thing even existed. "What can I do for you?" "Heh - I like you; you're more polite than the other people Caius sends for information," Sharn chuckled, which also sounded like a grunt. "Even if you do sleep with Wood Elves ..." Alanya frowned slightly. "Um ..." she said, "Galbedir and I are ..." "Young lady, when we heard Galbedir invited you over to her place to look over her secret selection of scrolls, we all knew what was going on," Sharn grinned, her tusks gleaming. "Personally, I don't care, nor does anyone else - well, excpet maybe the Khaijiit cub that taunted Gally into letting a Flame Atronach run through the halls last week." "..." Alanya suddenly felt more than a little embarrassed for Galbedir's sake. "Er, no one got hurt, right ...?" "Of course not," Sharn grunted. "Ranis called up a Golden Saint to beat it down and clean up the mess. Which, I may add, is a perfect example of how the Guild around Morowind operates; throw a bigger problem at a smaller one ..." "Er, the favor?" Alanya asked, realizing how off-topic they were getting. "Huh? Oh - I need the skull of Llevule Andrano, in the Andrano Ancestral Tomb," Sharn gra-Muzbog said. "Just south of Peligaid, not that far. Don't let the locals hear about it though; the Dunmer get cranky about that sort of stuff ..." "The Dunmer get cranky about necromancy in general, Sharn," said the Altmer woman passing by in languid tones. "As I'm sure you know ..." Sharn bared her tusks. "Harmumph; it's for enchantment research, not necromancy," she insisted. "I am not a necromancer, as I have said a hundred times ..." "A thousand," chimed in the Dunmer from acrosss the room, smirking. "And counting," shouted the local Guild Guide from the other room. Sharn looked ready to ecxplode, prompting Alanya to say " ... I'll do it," and turning to glare at the others, hissing "Lay off her, will you?" "Oh, no harm meant ..." the Dunmer said. "If we were serious, you think I'd be joking about this?" The Altmer sighed to herself, thankful that her Dunmer companion didn't know that Sharn really was into necromancy ... "... Thank you," Sharn said stiffly, looking to Alanya. "Well then, you'll need a way to deal with ghosts ... oh; you've got an enchanted spear." "I can handle ghosts," Alanya told Sharn - though she added It's Skeletons I'm worried about - oh why did this have to involve tombs ... (to be continued) (from previous) Now, at this point, Alanya was around level 15, give or take a couple of levels; furthermore, she had an enchanted fireball ring, had learned she could take out Atronachs and Dremora Lords if she was careful about it, and had built up her Sneak to a point where she could get in close almost all the time on most lower-leveled enemies. Not only that, but I knew from previous experience where the tomb was, and more or less what it entailed. I was, consequently, confident that Alanya would handle this quest as easily as the last. So it came to pass that Alanya decided to take a sceneic route to Pelligaid, rather than take the silt strider back to Seyda Neen and head north on the well-defined road. There was lots of area to be explored, after all And thus did Alanya find three places of note before finding her quest objective, and in each digression Alanya learned a very important lesson ... The first place of note was a small mine south of Balmora, a little place with some raw ebony in it as well as some Flame Atronachs. "Hey, I remember these from that Daedric shrine I took out last time," Alanya said to herself. "Nothing to worry about." So Alanya started sneaking up on a Flame Atronach, and sadly for her, she got seen a little too early. And the Flame Atronach did what Flame Atronachs do - it spewed flame. And Alanya, who had been feeling pretty confident in herself, did what many adventurers do; she ran up to start smacking it. When it went down, I the player was heard to remark " ... Wow, for two lousy fire spell attacks I sure took a lot of damage from that guy ..." Healing up, Alanya continued looking around and found a second Flame Atronach, who also saw her before she could get up close and who also got off two flame spells on Alanya before dying. And again, Alanya realized with surprise that she was pretty badly hurt. And then the diseased and blighted rats started showing up ... "I got careless ..." Alanya realized as she finished off the third rat, healed herself, and blinked as she felt how low her Magicka reserves were. "These things are tougher than I realized and I'm trying to act like a warrior in heavy armor, not a Ranger Huntress ..." This is a lesson I would remember for a long time - and also re-learn several times. As tough as Alanya seemed to be to me, there were still things that could seriously hurt her; even now at level thirty, that still holds true, as I just learned while resting and getting ambushed by TWO DB assassins and a diseased rat all at once - and at my level those DB guys use Daedric Wakazashis As the second and third digression will show, however, both Alanya and I had some more learning to do ... (to be continued - probably tomorrow) Hi all, Sorry for having been absent; I, um ... well, okay, I got sucked into the game, big time I hit that point where you can't stop playing, where you say "Yeah, I'll just wrap up this last part of the fourth trial and then take a break," only to reach that point and say " ... Aw heck, I can finish House Redoran's part of the Fourth Trial in an hour or two, easy ..." ... So at this point, I just finished talking Vivec's ear off Oh, and I also tried dueling him a couple times. He won the first one; I won the second. I'm actually going to work that into the story ... Speaking of the story ... I've been realizing a lot as I've been playing through the game recently, discovering the plot and all, and I've decided ... that I'm going to finish the Main Quest before sitting down and writing up the rest of the story. That way, I know all the plot twists ahead of time and don't write something unintentionally silly - and stopping after beating Dagoth Ur will give me a much-needed break before diving into the expansions; I think I'm overworking my computer's graphics card with eight hour game sessions So, a small haitus before the tale begins again - but not long. Like I said, I just spoke with Vivec in game, so I'm pretty much at the endgame now. I ought to be done by the end of the week; I'm not planning an making any more side trips for now. Those can come later. To address other matters - from my experience so far, it seems that once you get Sneak up to level 50 or so, it just kind of levels like mad, assuming you Sneak whenever you're coming up near a monster or a bandit. I just went out and did a lot of hunting and Sneaking, and the skill kept pumping itself up - no need to do the usual exploit method of raising it You're very welcome, VagabondAngel; to further flatter you, I have decided that I'd much rather wear my fancy-looking Personalized Purple Heart armor than slap on the Cuirass of the Savior's Hide, or another such armor with a strong bonus. I just like the look of your armor too much, especially given Alanya's preferences for partial suits of armor I am happy that I got my Mercantile up to 100 before hitting Gnisis, though - and that I had raided a few Daedra Shrines beforehand And to think at one point I wondered how one could ever make money enough to make powerful enchantments ... I feel so foolish now. Anyway, give me a little more time and I'll hopefully be back to writing about Alanya rather than blazing through the game with her; until then, a semi-spoiler teaser for you all: Expect the semi-dramatic return of a major character from Alanya's past, with a stunning (and comical) revelation of Morrowind Lore you NEVER KNEW BEFORE!!!!! (mainly because I'm making it up for my story ) Ta ta and good night, Loranna I'm back! Well, I must spoil the ultimate end of this story for you all ... Alanya eventually meets this guy named Dagoth Ur and puts an end to his mad schemes of destruction and conquest, thus ending the Blight Storms and offering Vivec the chance to pass on his duties as Protector of Morrowind to her. ... Oh, you had guessed that part already Hehe ... This game is truly addicting; I managed to beat Dagoth Ur and couldn't resist making a few celebratory trips to places I never visited right after. I also ended up redesigning the enchantments on Alanya's armor after some practice in Mysticism, bravely poked a giant bull netch to death with a barbeque fork, looked ahead in my strategy guide to Tribunal ... and did a lot of thinking about how to write up this particular story and set up Alanya's first expansion adventures. But we'll get to the expansion adventures in due time; right now we're kinda still near the beginning as far as the narrative's concerned ... When we last saw Alanya, she had just popped back to her cave to rest after having discovered the abandoned and lost ebony mine near Balmora - the signifigance of said discovery, neither Alanya nor I realized for quite some time, and when we both did learn the ultimate rewards to be reaped from this find, our mutual response was "Ah, thank you Ser Bero," while privately thinking "Well, another Daedric weapon to add to the pile sitting on my cave floor ..." However, at this point Alanya needed to get back on track and find herself a skull, so after a restful night's sleep, she made her way back towards Balmora, intending to take a slightly different route to Peligaid than she was taking the day before. Passing up the more verdant land she had traversed previously, Alanya took a more barren road between the two towns ... and happened to find a cave entrence along the way. "Hmm, what's this?" Alanya mused as she approached the cave entrence. "More bandits or smugglars, perchance? Well, Sharn didn't sound like she was in a big hurry, so ..." Thus Alanya entered the cave of Hassour, and thus did Alanya embark upon her first first-hand experience with the unmourned Sixth House. "... I don't like the look of this place," Alanya muttered to herself as she quietly tiptoed through the cavern. "Those candles throw odd shadows ..." More unnerving than the tricks of the light was the low, almost inaudible, but omnipresent sound of chanting, always just off in the distance but chilling all the same. " ... What am I getting myself into?" Alanya asked herself as she rounded another corner, feeling a cold sweat forming. " ... Maybe I ought to leave ..." But as she thought of flight, she spied a figure ahead, a lone human shape that seemed to be bowing, praying perhaps. " ... Lemme just get a little closer, see who this guy is ..." Alanya crept closer, as quietly as her stealthcraft would allow. With each pace, she felt her heart pound in her chest, a wordless dread growing but also a strange, perverse fascination, a need to see just what secrets this cave had to offer ... ... and that's when the figure she was stalking sensed her, but a mere ten feet away, and turned to look upon her. And Alanya saw with a shock that her target was anything but human. It had a human shape, to be sure, and it wore a simple loincloth as a human might, and it had a face as a human would - but the skin was the color of ash, and the twisted limbs were gnarled beyond any level a human could endure and still move, and the face ... ... the face was the most inhuman, though it was less the ashen complexion and more the utter, total rage and hatred reflected there that made its face a mockery of human visages. For a single, terrifying second, Alanya thought that she had stumbed on some servant of a Daedra of malovelence, before the creature before her growled " ... N'wahhhhhh .....!!!" and flung a ball of magical lightning at her ... ------ Meanwhile, I the player was thinking "Drat, Ash Slaves can still sense me before I can get close enough for a Critical; oh well, I'm level 17 or so, I can take this goon. It's not like my old character who stumbled on a Sixth House base at level 5 and got toasted ..." Remember the lessons Alanya and I had learned in the ebony mine? Good - you're doing better than I was at the time in learning from the mistakes of history ------ Alanya learned to hate something even more stridently than she loathed Skeleton Archers that day, as the Ash Slave backpeddled and blasted her. She tried backing off to hide behind rock formations, but that didn't really seem to hinder the monster - I thought I was under cover, but the game insisted the Ash Slave had a clear line of fire. Sigh ... Alanya ended up falling back on her old strategy of charging forward, taking the hits through potion use, and stabbing the offending ranged attacker until it stopped moving. As you can probably guess, this resulted in a bruised and battered Alanya, one who was forcibly shown that level 17 does not necessarily equate to UberGodHood in Morrowind - well, at least not if you're avoiding potions of five-digit stats that is After her first fight with an Ash Ghoul, Alanya thought to herself "Ugh; okay, whatever the hell is hiding deeper in this cave, it needs to be put down, now. That stupid skull can wait; we just gained a new priority." Moments later, as she found more Ash Ghouls, Alanya would find herself questioning how she went from being afraid and thinking of leaving one moment to to being determined and bloody-minded the next, especially considering how her fight with the first Ash Slave had gone. By the fourth Ash Slave, and the fourth time she had to heal up after a fight, she really found herself wondering what was driving her to push further and further into an enemy stronghold she obviously wasn't quite ready to take on all by herself. While hiding behind a large outcropping of rock and using her dwindling Magicka reserves to soothe away the pain of repeated shocks and punches, Alanya considered her options. "Meh; I'm running low on magic and I've only got a few healing potions on me, and this damn cave's too dark and has too many odd outcroppings for me to snipe effectively - not that those outcroppings have helped me when I was the one being sniped. What do I do? Leave now, go stock up on more supplies, come back and finish this place off? Or press ahead ..." Alanya sighed; much as she wanted to go get more supplies, she realized that right now, she at least had some advantage of surprise. None of the monsters she had met had managed to get away to warn anyone further in the cavern, so whatever lay at the heart of this hell may not know she was here yet - but they'd have to notice their missing monsters if she took the time to go back to town and stock up, and could prepare for her. And despite what she had learned already from her fights with the Ash Slaves, she still didn't know what lay beyond that last door - the door which fairly reverberated with the sound of ritual chanting and echoing bells ... " ... I'll make one pass through that door," Alanya decided after deliberation. "A scouting mission, maybe hit things I can take on without much of a fight if there are any, get a feel for what's waiting for me. That way, I'll at least know what to expect when I come back ..." And so, Alanya passed into the inner sanctum of the Sixth House base, towards the shrine - and the priest that presided there. (to be continued) (from previous) When Alanya entered the inner shrine of Hassour, she expected to find monsters, things as bad or worse than the Ash Slaves she had just slain. Her imagination counjured up images of twisted half-men of ashen skin and claws and things, or of blighted parodies of Nix Hounds mixed with Kagouti, or of deranged madmen in demonic-looking armor wielding Daedric weapons with abandon. She did not expect to find ... Naked People. Yup, Naked People. Dreamers. Deluded souls ensnared by the devil-dreams of Dagoth Ur. Eaters of corpus chunks, first step in the evolutionary ladder that ends with the maddenly twisted Ascended Sleeper. To Alanya at this point though, they were simply Naked People. Naked Dunmer to be more precise, seemingly all with perfect figures despite their rabid gnawing on diseased-looking hunks of meat that made Alanya's stomach twist into pretzel shapes. Naked People, chanting and praying and generally acting like wacked-out cultists of a mad god. Now, normally, Alanya has no problems with Naked People; those familiar with her own preferences in attire will no doubt guess (and correctly) that Alanya has few inhibitions about the beauty of the human figure. Given a choice, Alanya would in fact happily spend lots of time with Naked People, doing Naked People Things in the late hours of the evening and Groggy But Satisified Naked People Things in the morning. She had gotten herself imprisioned in fact due to her liking of Naked People Things coupled with her likikng of Making Braggerts Look Foolish, and despite this humbling lesson had continued to do Naked People Things here on Vvardenfell, most lately with the lovely Galbedir, who was slowly becoming Alanya's exclusive partner for Naked People Things. ... But these men and women were clearly nuts, and more to the point, they were murderously nuts. The hatred that had twisted the faces of the Ash Ghouls into inhuman shapes was relfected in their wild eyes, and Alanya intuitively deduced that those Ash Ghouls were once Dunmer like these, probably changed by whatever foul properties of that nasty-looking meat they were all gnawing with abandon. Fortunately for Alanya, these Murderous Naked People did not have sharp hearing Thirty minutes later, there were a dozen Naked Corpses, by which point Alanya was rather sick of the joke and I was saying "Okay, now there has to be a Dagoth around here somewhere ..." ------ Alnaya approached the alter, which was bathed in the dull red light of the lava-filled cavern. The heat from the lava added a new layer to the oppresive atmosphere in this place, sapping Alanya's strength, but she grimmly pushed on. She had guessed that there remained only the head of whatever cult she had stumbled upon to deal with, and figured that there was no time like the present to send him to whatever hell he prefered. Slowly, she crept towards the alter, but when she got closer, she paused, blinking - for at the center of the alter was a larger version of a strange statue she had come across before, in smuggler caves and in a shipwreck she had found early on. And the symblos on the alter ... "The Sixth House ..." Alanya breathed, recognizing the symbols from Hasphat's notes. "Indeed," came a voice from Alanya's right. "Behold the shrine of Dagoth Ur, Outlander, and marvel - I allow you a moment to bask in the greatness of our Lord before sending you to the fate of all N'wah." Alanya blanched, and whirled, her eyes widening as she met her first Ash Ghoul. The tentacle that comprised its face twirled in a chilling approximation of a serene smile. "Greetings, Outlander; I am Dagoth Fovon, Priest of the unmourned house," the creature said, sounding almost pleasant. "I am impressed - to have managed to slay single-handedly my fellow brothers and our carde of Dreamers shows a strength possessed by few these days. For this, I shall offer mercy." " ... Mercy!?" Alanya gaped. "Yes," Fovon replied. "We have need of people with strength like yours; not everyone can handle the blessings of our Lord, but you, I can see, could handle his power and become a powerful liutenient in our campaign." He held out his hand ... "Come; put aside your spear and join us in restoring Morrowind to its proper glory, or else be swept aside here and now. Why throw your life away, when you can achieve such great things ...?" Alanya shivered; she could instinctively sense that the monster before her was much tougher than anything she had faced already, and this time she was completely without the advantage of surprise, her greatest weapon. She considered fleeing; there was time enough to use her amulet of recall, she was sure ... ... she heard herself ask the Dagoth " ... The people who accosted me in Balmora; those were your people, weren't they?" "Not totally," Dagoth Favon explained. "By the power granted me I have shared with them the glory of the Sixth House and our goals through their dreams; they are still confused by the truths that reveal themselves to them in thier sleep but all will work itself out, in time. Those who can accept the truth will find their way here, and take the place of the weaklings you have culled from our flock; those who cannot will simply go mad, their ravings a grim reminder to the Outlanders of the doom that awaits them all." "I'm an Outlander," Alanya retorted. "Shouldn't I be doomed, like the rest?" "There are," Dagoth Fovon said patiently, "exceptions to every rule; in your case, you possess a strength rare in both Dunmer and N'Wah. No; I think of all Outlanders, you perhaps have what it takes to serve our master well, and so I offer you mercy." Alanya's eyes narrowed. "Mercy you don't show to your own followers, or the Dunmer whose dreams you invade," she sneered. "The very people you claim to be working for ..." Dagoth Foven's tentacle-face twisted unpleasantly. "You do not fully understand what you are talking about," he said, his tone dangerously calm. "We are at war, Alanya; in times of war, you must do things you would naturally find abhorrant, to survive. For the sakes of the Dunmer we will free, and the unborn generations of Dunmer our actions will allow to live in freedom, we must not allow our desire to help our people from preventing us from taking necessary steps. Those who die in our campaign die happy; they would thank us for what we do if they only understood ..." "Then go explain the reasons for their sacrifice to them," Alanya snarled, calling upon her spear's enchantments. "Maybe they'll appreciate your mercy more!" (to be continued) (from prevoius) ... As you probably guessed from that last little exchange, Alanya failed her Stealth check while trying to sneak up on the Ash Ghoul Dagoth This of course isn't an actual boss battle in the game, but I really think your first encounter with a Dagoth should have some special text to go with it, assuming you meet one before the Main Quest normally makes you do so. Hmm, there's something to consider, should I ever take up modding ... Well, here was an enemy who was about even in terms of level with Alanya at the time; he could deal out about the same amount of damage I could, he had some offensive and defensive magic to back him up that I lacked, and he had the drop on me rather than he other way around. On the other hand, I had healing potions, an itchy mouse button finger, and (presumably) the advantage of a living human mind directing my actions, allowing me to analyize the situation and respond accordingly in ways a computer AI cannot hope to match. So, how did the fight go? ------ Foven moved quickly, closing the distance between himself and Alanya before she could set her spear properly to counter such a charge. His horny fists lashed out, forcing Alanya backwards three steps, and the heat of the lava around them baked her back, reminding her of the consequences of a missed step. "Bathe in the purifying fires, Outlander!" Dagoth Fovon roared. "Repent your foolishness in your last agonizing moments of life!" "Why don't you take a bath instead!" Alanya yelled back, trying to sidestep the Dagtoh and push him into the lava below. Sadly, he proved more sure-footed than that, and his fists lashed out again, smashing acrosss Alanya's face and sending her sprawling. "Uhh ..." Alanya moaned, her vision becoming clouded by blood - Fovon's fist had cut her skin. Woozily, she pulled out a healing potion, trying to scramble to her feet ... A powerful force siezed Alanya by her waist, and she screamed, feeling herself being hoisted up by unnaturally-strong arms. Desperately, she clawed at the air in front of her, where a face should be, and was rewarded by the sickening feeling of her nails sinking into diseased tentacle flesh. "Fetcher ...!" Dagoth Fovon growled. "Forget the fires; I'll crush you instead!" But his grip had loosened for a second, long enough for Alanya to shift, just a little ... It was a miracle, but she still had a hold on her spear; she brought it up and stabbed the point down as hard as she could with one arm. Dagoth Fovon twisted, taking the blow on his shoulder instead of his head, and dropped Alanya, who scrambled to more secure ground while gulping her potion. Wiping blood out of her eyes, Alanya set herself for Fovon's next charge - but the Dagoth raised his hand and released a ball of lighting at Alanya, catching her off-guard. "Fool - you have no hope of winning!" he screamed, rushing forward and swinging with his good arm. Again, his fist caught Alanya in the face, widening the cut, and this time Alanya felt a wave of nausea overtake her with unnatural force. I've been blighted ... Alanya realized with a sick certainty, her limbs starting to shake. No, no ... got to take the cure potion; can't fight like this ... But Dagoth Fovon offered no respite for Alanya, swinging his good arm repeatedly at her. Her chitin armor creaked with the force of his blows, threatening to break, and with shaky legs she couldn't dodge easily ... "DIE!" Fovon screamed, by now as maddened as his dead servants. "DIE, DIE, DIIIIIIIE!!!!!!" "NO!" Alanya screamed back, throwing her spear forward with what strength her limbs could muster. Dagoth Fovon impaled himself on the Daedric steel, roaring with pai as he tried to pull himself free. And, in that moment, Alanya felt a madness overtake her as well ... With hysterical strength, Alanya tore the spear out through Dagoth Fovon's side, and brought it up for repeated stabs. Fovon fell to his knees, trying uselessly to fend off Alanya's assault, but the Breton lass could not be stopped, not by a foe with one arm already crippled and a gaping wound in his side ... Alanya stabbed, again and again, until there was nothing left but a puddle of ichor and a mass of diseased flesh that vaguely resembled an Ash Ghoul. Then, sobbing, she ripped out her cure potion and gulped it down fervishly, relief overtaking her as she felt her limbs steady ... A search of the shrine revealed little; an amulet and a large hammer bearing the symbol of the Sixth House, both of which she claimed, more ash statues, and lots of diseased hunks of meat. There was some money, which Alanya figured would be helpful for buying new healing supplies later, and some other minor stuff which she also claimed. It was time to go home, but first ... Alanya raised the heavy hammer she found, straining to lift it overhead, and brought it down with a wild cry on the large statue on the alter. It took three blows, but she broke the statue into pieces, which she threw into the lava, along with the hunks of meat. Then, with her remaining strength, she broke the clappers off the bells, defaced every symbol she could find, and called upon every blessing she knew of, Bosmer, Breton, or whatever, to clense this unhallowed place. Recalling home, she tossed the hammer onto the floor and sunk into her hammock, knowing deep down that this was only the first encounter she would have with the Sixth House. It seemed, in addition to bandits and beasts, that she had a whole new prey to hunt on Morrowind. We'll get to the third digression later; now it's time for dinner Loranna And we're back again! When last we saw Alanya, she had just returned home after discovering first-hand what the Sixth House was all about, and she still had yet to recover the skull of Llevule Andrano. However, when she woke up the next day, she did not feel up to going out and looking for tombs; her sleep had been fretful, punctuated by dreams of her ordeal in Hassour and her fight with Dagoth Fovon. When she finally did wake up, she heard herself moaning "Gally ..." and instincitvely reaching to her side for someone to hold her close ... ... but she was in her own cave, not back in Balmora, and as wakefulness fully overtook Alanya, she slumped, disappointed. " ... Hang it; today I'm taking for myself," Alanya decided as she broke her fast. "I'll go to the Mage Guild and talk Galbedir into taking off with me for the day - a picnic lunch someplace nice, with a beach ..." Despite her intentions though, she packed the ash statues and amulet she had recovered the previous day to take with her; the Guild might be able to tell her more about the latent magic she could almost feel in the statues and the strange, seemingly self-destructive powers of the amulet. Caius would want to know that sort of thing, she was sure - and more to the point, she wanted to know it too. Her things ready, Alanya concentrated, casting the Intervention spell after a few tries - she'd have to practice that later, she thought to herself once the tinging sensation of teleportation wore off. Briskly, she set off, walking towards the Mage Guild; it was still early in the morning and the streets were mostly empty, which suited Alanya just fine; she wasn't in the mood for company other than Galbedir right now anyway. So intent was she on getting to Galbedir, in fact, that it didn't occur to Alanya until the moment she stood at the door to the top floor of the Mage Guild that she had teleported right in front of a Dunmer Temple - a group who probably had a fair knowledge of the Sixth House, what with Dagoth Ur being their devil and all. Blushing at her absent-mindedness, Alanya said " ... Oh well; I'm here now ..." and opened the door, expecting to see Galbedir fussing with her trinkets ... "MY REPORTS! MY REPORTS!!!" meowed the hysterical Ajira, nearly colliding with Alanya as the poor Breton came through the door. "What have you done with Ajira's reports you lousy Bosmer!?!?" "Mer?" Alanya eeped, stumbling backward as she tried to avoid being overrun by a flying streak of fur. "Wha?" "Serves you right for using the new guy to sabotage my experiment!" Galbedir laughed from downstairs, grinning broadly. "Speaking of whom ... Mister Decius, you'll understand when I say that the amulet of Divine Intervention you just requisitioned will take a couple of weeks and ten thousand drakes more than I initially thought, hmm?" "Leave him alone; he needs to find Ajira's reports!" the Khaijiit wailed. "Ajira never become Journeyman without them!" "Um, excuse me ..." Alanya said, trying to get in a word edgewise. "Ladies, ladies, please - such strife ill suits either of you," came a smooth, calm voice from downstairs. "I'm sure we can work out an arrangement to everyone's mutual satisfaction ..." "Would you all keep it down!" Sharn yelled from the basement, "Some of us are trying to work here!" "Oh stow it Grumpytusks," Galbedir chuckled. "Go back to playing with bones and skulls." "For the last time, I AM NOT A NECROMANCER!!!!!" swore the Orc woman, her voice fairly shaking the rafters. "Hello!" Alanya yelled, stamping her foot. "Would someone please stop yelling and screaming and tell me what the hell's going on!?" Dead silence fell over the Guild as everyone nearby looked at Alanya ... ------ "A pleasure to meet you; I am Decius Pracius, Apprentice of the Fighter's and Mage's Guild and Spearman of the Imperial Legion," said the smooth-talking, brown-haired Battle Mage Alanya had only heard earlier. "So, you're the Alanya that people are talking about - the one who took out the Camonna Tong down at the Council Club? Dreadful business, that; I'm pleased to see you got through it safely ..." "Ahh; thanks," Alanya replied, trying not to be impolite, as she, Galbedir, Ajira, and Decius all headed downstairs to discuss the news Alanya hinted at upstairs. "Guess people are still talking about that, huh ..." "Told you they would," Galbedir smirked, squeezing Alanya's hand playfully and adding "Even Ajira could have told you that." Ajira hissed; Galbedir stuck out her tongue. "Enough, you two," Ranis Athrys grumbled, following close behind. "It was bad enough having Flame Atronachs running through the halls; either cool things down between you or I'll kick you both out of the Guild ..." "I'm certain we needn't resort to such drastic measures, m'llady," Decius said soothingly. "Just let me talk to the two of them ..." "What is all this?" Sharn grumbled as everyone came into the basement. "Miss Alanya, hello; have you completed my errand yet ..." "Not yet, I'm afraid," Alanya said quickly, tossing warning glances at anyone about to comment on Sharn's liking of old skulls. "I got a little sidetracked ..." "Harumph; what could sidetrack you on such a short trip?" Sharn demanded, getting slightly huffy. "It's not like I asked you to go find the tombs near Tel Branora, after all ..." "Hey, give her a break," Galbedir retorted. "Alanya's good people ..." "She's good to you at least," Sharn shot back. "I'm still waiting for her to make good on my needs ..." "Like she'd go for an Orc ..." Galbedir shot back. Sharn growled. "I don't see what she sees in you ..." "ENOUGH!" Alanya yelled, her head pounding. "Please! I just nearly got killed and am not in the mood for all this!" That, at least, got everyone's attention for a moment ... " ... I came by today because I came across a Sixth House base yesterday," Alanya explained wearily, "and found some strange magical artifacts inside; I thought maybe the Guild could make heads or tails of them; I'm not an expert in these sorts of things." " ... Did you say the Sixth House?" Ranis asked quietly. Alanya nodded, pulling out the ash statues and the amulet. "Yes; the base is defunct now but there's probably others ..." "Wait," Sharn said, interrupting Alanya. "What do you mean, defunct? Are you saying ..." "Yes," Alanya answered quietly. "Sixth House?" Decius asked, looking at Galbedir, who pulled him aside to tell him what Alanya was talking about. Ranis, meanwhile, blinked and said " ... Alone? You took out a Sixth House base ... alone?" Alanya nodded again, looking as weary as she felt. "Like I said, I almost died ..." In an instant, the squabbling members of the Mage Guild moved as one to take the artifacts Alanya recovered, Ranis deftly ordering that the statues be divied up and sent to the other branch Guilds in Morrowind, assigning Decius the Apprentice the task of taking the amulet straight to the Archmage himself. Ranis then demanded - in a more kindly tone - that Alanya recount every detail of her experiences, telling everyone else present to write down Alanya's report, each copy to be sent with the ash statues. Alanya obliged Ranis, telling of her discovery of the cave of Hassour between Balmora and Peligaid, her confrontations with the Ash Slaves and the Dreamers, the conversation she and Dagoth Fovon had ... even the creepy people who had accosted her earlier, before she had left to start Sharn's quest. "Someone must find those people and check on them immediately," Ranis ordered. "The Temple must be made aware of this too; they're better equipped to help the victims recover from their trauma." "I say, you're quite the hero Miss Alanya," Decius said admiringly. "I see I have quite the competiton for making a name for myself here in VVardenfell." Gelbedir simply hugged Alanya, whispering to her "Thank the gods you came back to us ..." Sharn looked embarrassed - well, she looked angry, which for an Orc was much the same look. " ... Please accept my apologies for my earlier outburst, friend Alanya. You have done a great thing, one none of us could have asked for ..." Alanya nodded to Sharn, saying "It's all right; I promise you I'll get your skull soon. I just ... need a day to get over yesterday ..." Sharn smiled. "I have every confidence in you," she said, her smile's warmth showing past the tusks. Alanya smiled back; the general elation in the room was beginning to affect her too. "Thanks. Though ..." she added, turning to Ranis, "I was wondering ... could I borrow Galbedir for today, please?" Ranis frowned, but relented after a moment. "We can cover for Galbedir for today; I don't have a problem with that ..." "Thank you," Alanya said gratefully, feeling very much relieved. (to be continued) (from previous) Alanya sighed happily, basking in the warm afternoon sun; Lake Amaya was a perfect spot to relax after a hard day's adventuring and, with the help of a skilled enchantress's little toys, barely an hour outside of Balmora as the Cliff Racer flies. The weather was perfect, the water was invigorating, the wildlife was receptive to a Bosmer asking them to 'give us some privacy' - and best of all, there was no one else around on the spot Galbedir had chosen for their little getaway. Alanya sighed again, feeling a slight breeze tickle her glistening skin; her armor and clothes had been set aside to avoid getting wet while the couple went swimming. Alanya would have pointed out that chitin armor was actually fairly waterproof, but Galbedir would simply have pointed out that her own robes weren't and that the armor was just dead weight anyway for a fun swim. Besides, Galbedir had smiled naughtily, who was going to complain? No one else was around ... Turning on her side, Alanya looked over at Galbedir, lying next to her in a similar state of dress. "Gally dear, this is the best day I've had in Morrowind yet," she purred, running her hands through Galbedir's hair. "I feel much the same," Galbeidr purred back, mirroring Alanya's gesture. "Hmm, have I told you yet how lovely you look when you let your hair down?" "About three times so far," Alanya chuckled. "Almost as many times as I've said the same to you." "Heh; maybe I should wear it down while working," Galbedir smiled. "I caught that new kid tossing looks my way when he thought no one was looking; he'd like me with my hair odwn, I bet." "Hmph; he can't have you," Alanya vowed, hugging Galbedir close. "I need you too much to let him take you away from me." "What if we shared him?" Galbedir suggested, snuggling closer. Alanya was silent for several moments, mulling the idea over. " ... Let me get back to you on that," she said at last. "Not that the idea itself is bad, just ..." "Want to get to know him better?" Galbedir guessed. "Reasonable ..." Alanya shook her head. "Not even that, really ..." she said, frowning slightly. "... You know, you were the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning?" "Really?" Galbedir asked, raising her eyebrows. "Yes," Alanya answered. "I had been dreaming of my fight with Fovon, and I litterally cried out for you ..." Feelng Galbedir stiffen slightly, Alanya looked at her worriedly. " ... What?" " ... No, no, it's all right," Galbedir said, smiling faintly. "Just ... well, you don't usually expect someone to fall that completely for you so quickly, you know? And you're Breton - not as long-lived as we Mer but long-lived enough that it usually takes a little longer ..." Alanya looked at Galbeidr, confusion on her face. " ... I thought we already loved each other ..." she said, almost reproachfully. "We do," Galbedir said softly, squeezing Alanya's hand. "But there's seasons to love, just like in life. There's spring, when everything's sunny and happy and love is all wonderful things and nothing bad. Then there's summer, when spring's promises bloom fully, but you also have the other parts of love bloom too - the parts silly people think aren't so great, cause they haven't been in summer yet .." "... What about autumn and winter?" Alanya asked quietly. "Those are when you're falling out of love; hopefully autumn never comes," Galbedir answered. "But see? I thought we were in spring, and you ... you're sounding like you're already moving into summer." " ... Is that bad?" Alanya asked. "No," Galbedir said, putting her hands over Alanya's heart. "It's wonderful - but it's not spring anymore. Are you sure you're ready for summer?" Alanya asked herself that question, and very long moments went by with no answer ... Galbedir finally nodded, as though Alanya's silence was itself an answer. "We'll try to keep ourselves in spring a little longer then," she said. "But you're already starting to bloom into summer; don't be afraid of it, but don't rush it either." Alanya felt her eyes water. " ... I love you," she said, hugging Galbedir fiercely. "Thank you ..." "Thank you," Galbeidr said fondly. " ... I love you too, my fellow spring bud ..." (to be continued) (from previous) ... And now, it's time to return to actual in game experiences After all, we haven't even gotten ot the Vivec Blades quests yet ... But as I mentioned, there was one last digression before Alanya found the tomb near Peligaid. That digression would be the bandit cave near Peligaid, and we all know how easily Alanya can turn away from popping into a bandit cave, right? Anyway, Alanya spotted a cave outside of Peligaid, one just past a couple of ponds and mudcrabs, and said to herself " ... Aww why not; at most it means one more day to this trip ..." So, off she went, carefully sneaking into the cave proper and finding bandits waiting inside. Hmm, bandits ... A brief aside if I may; this particular cave - Mannammu, for those in the know - has a good five or so bandits therein, one of whom is an Imperial woman guarding a bridge. This lovely lass wields a large claymore and was the death of the character I had started just prior to Alanya - one Kyra, Nord bandit woman. Kyra had been more of a fighter thief type, had seen this woman guarding a bridge, and taken a shot at her with a bow. Missing completely, she pulled out her axe and went to town ... and then the bandit woman got in two lucky shots, nearly killing Kyra and knocking her off her feet. Kyra never got back up; two more whacks were all it took to kill her. I mention this for two reasons. First, because Kyra's death was the final straw that taught me to carry Potions of Recall, and thus Kyra's death directly led to Alanya's survival in the very encounter which started this story. Second ... because I was really, REALLY looking forward to taking a level 17 character up against this lowly bandit and enacting some revenge I always say it's best to approach your current character with an appreciation of the history that lies behind their actions and motivations Alanya passed up on sniping this woman; she instead chose to sneak up and stick her Devil Spear into her spleen. She did the same to the Redguard mage standing on the other side of the bridge, and went on to find a Dunmer necromancer - well, I'm guessing he was a necromancer from the books he had in his chests. It was this worth gentleman who gave Alanya her only hard time in this cave - and the fault was entirely mine. See, I had used the Devil Spear's enchantment to call for the Daedric spear, which could kill thse guys in one or two hits easy. I had popped the enchantment on the bridge, and had killed those two bandits with it, and snuk forward to find the necromancer. Slowly and carefully, I got in range, prepared to swing ... ... and just as I made my attack, the 60 seconds on the enchantment wore off. I really wish I had gotten a screen capture of Alanya stabing with thin air and getting Critical Damage with no weapon at all, alerting the necromancer and giving him a free shot as the normal spear reappeared in her hands I was so chagrined, I opted to just stand there and poke it out with the normal spear, taking the hits; I was level 17, right? I could take this guy's magic ... When he died, I had five hit points left; it was at that point that I smacked myself and said "Dummy; no more getting Alanya nearly killed over wounded pride." Still, he was dead and his remaining companions proved a lot easier - especially since I sniped them. And so Alanya got more loot, and ferried it home, and said "Okay; tomorrow, we find the tomb and finish this quest ..." As for the tomb itself, well ... that will come later Loranna Thanks for the compliment I'm in my early thirties in real life, and story writing is a hobby of mine. Now then, on with the show ... When last we saw Alanya, she had finished clearing out one of the bandit caves near Pelagiad, and had decided to stop with all the side trips and focus on getting Sharn's silly skull post haste. With determination in her eyes, she thus made her way back to Pelagiad and proceeded to pass by the cave she had just cleared, to find the Andrano Ancestral Tomb a stone's throw to the south. Alanya paused outside of the tomb, looking at the door thoughtfully. Her path here had been far more adventurous than the modest entrance to the tomb would have suggested, with no less than three occasions in which Alanya got seriously hurt - or worse ... " ... I've been pushing my luck an awful lot on this quest," Alanya admitted to herself, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other. "Sooner or later though, luck runs out ..." Alanya reached into a belt pouch, where she kept the magic rings she wasn't currently wearing, and exchanged her current rings for the Emperor's gift and her own custom-made Ring of the Toasty Bones. She then checked to make sure that her Amulet of Recall was secure around her neck, and that her potions were easily accessable in thier pouches. Lastly, she looked over her spear, bow, and armor, ensuring that all three were ready for combat. Her preperations complete, Alanya listened at the door, trying to determine if anything lay immediately beyond it. She heard some faint sounds that she thought could be a ghost, but they were too faint to tell for certain. Carefully, she eased open the tomb's door and slipped inside ... ------ The first inhabitant of the tomb Alanya came across was a recent addition, apparently; the dead body of a previous adventurer lay sprawled in the first chamber, flies clustered around it. Alanya frowned; it was rarely encouraging to find the bodies of those who came before you, but to find one right in the first room ... The ghostly sounds she had heard at the door were louder, and Alanya guessed that there was a ghost in one of the two paths leading out of the first room. Scouting ahead, she caught a glimpse of a ghostly figure heading away, down a long and winding corridor. No other cretures, living or otherwise, graced the first room, however; Alanya still had the advantage of surprise for the moment. Overcoming her natural relucutance at touching a fly-ridden corpse, Alanya grimly examined her falllen predecessor, looking for anything useful. Sadly, beyond a few coins and his mostly-salvagable equipment - none of which Alanya was skilled in using but worth osme drakes at least - he had nothing to offer Alanya. She did, however, note with a sinking feeling that the corpse had three broken arrows lodged in it ... Skeleton archers, Alanya thought sourly. Why did it have to be skeleton archers ... There was nothing else to be learned from the corpse; it was time to start exploring the tomb itself. She looked to the two paths again, and decided to follow the one the ghost had not one down first. Slipping through another door, she snuck down a short corridor and stole into a chamber ... A Bonewalker and a Skeleton patrolled this room, walking along the rectangular path. The room itself, Alanya would soon see, was less a room and more a skylight looking down into a chamber several floors below; beyond the downward 'path' however, the room was a dead end. Still, there were the two monsters patroling around ... Alanya had been slightly unlucky in entering this room; the Bonewalker was as silent as she and had been coming around the corner obscured by the opening door, and thus saw Alanya just as she saw it and the Skeleton. With a loping bound, the undead threw itself at Alanya, swinging its arms and giving voice to a chilling cry ... So much for the advantage of surprise. Oddly enough, the Skeleton in the back of the room didnt seem to be rushing to the Bonewalker's aid yet, a small favor for which Alanya was grateful. She fell back into the short corridor, luring the Bonewalker into the doorway, and fended off its sweeping arms with her spear, stabbing when the chance presented itself. Bonewalkers being Bonewalkers, the monster fell quickly enough to Alanya's practiced hand, leaving only the Skeleton to worry about. An arrow streaked through the doorway right after the Bonewalker fell; had Alanya not immediately ducked after slaying the Bonewalker she'd have been hit. Alanya sighed, and rolled through the doorway, keeping low enough that the low wall surrounding the skylight protected her from further arrows, and started sneaking around to the corner opposite the skeleton, intending to play a game of cat and mouse ... Readying her bow, Alanya waited a second, then risked popping up, catching the skeleton off guard. The skeleton swung its own bow around to draw a bead on Alanya, but Alanya fired before it could, her arrow striking a shoulder and almost cutting the arm clean off. Unable to return fire, the Skeleton elected to jump down the skylight ... Alanya blinked; this was somewhat unexpected behavior to her. Carefull,y she looked over the wall, but saw no sign of the Skeleton; it must have survived the fall, one which she herself was not eager to make, and fled further into the tomb. Alanya sighed; her tomb crawl had just gotten a lot harder ... (to be continued) (from previous) Alanya left the skylight room and made her way back towards the first path, the one which had a ghost floating along it. Only thing was, by this time the ghost had floated back into the first room and was coming over to see what was making the noise in the skylight room; Alanya practically walked right into the poor thing as she turned to leave. On the positive side, the ghost was a lot more surprised than Alanya was, to say the least; Alanya never realized that ethereal skulls could be so expressive ... One ghost later, Alanya was creeping down the long, winding corridor, her unease growing with every step. In the distance, she could hear the faint sounds of bone on stone, and she was sure the Skeleton that evaded her had sounded the alarm with its undead cronies. Her advantage of surprise was gone, and she debated making a strategic withdrawal and coming back in a few days, when things hopefully would have quieted down. The dead body lying in the front room only added weight to the idea of pulling out. Alanya wrapped her hand around her Amulet of Recall, taking reassurance in its presence. It took but a second to call upon the amulet's power; she could afford to do a little more scouting of the tomb, get an idea of what lay ahead of her, and if she got seen again, she could leave instantly. She'd just explore a little more ... The winding corridor eventually led to a long ramp descending deeper into the tomb, with a door halfway down to a side room. Alanya could hear the sounds of Skeletons milling about below, and told herself she would just go down, look to see how many awaited her, and pull out. No need to be foolhardy about this, she reminded herself as she slowly crept down the ramp. However, as she passed by the door halfway down ... She was sure she hadn't made any noise; there was nothing on the floor for her bare feet to crunch or skid upon, and she couldn't even hear her own breathing, much less the sound of her feet on the floor. Yet the door opened violently, and another Bonewalker gave voice to a loud cry before tossing itself upon her. Startled, Alanya fought back instinctively, her Amulet of Recall forgotten in the panic of the moment. Unfortunately, the ramp was narrow and confined, and the Bonewalker had closed in quickly enough to grapple with Alanya, making her spear less than effective ... Alanya lost her balance, and together she and the Bonewalker went tumbling down the ramp, into the room below, where she had heard Skeletons. Frantically, Alanya beat on the Bonewalker with her fists, trying to get the undead thing off of her; her spear clattered on the floor and was soon out of reach, but she at least succeeded in pushing the Bonewalker off of her. Swearing, Alanya jumped to her feet ... ... and saw no fewer than a dozen Skeletons staring back at her, one of which was even now picking up her spear and looking at it curiously. The Bonewalker seemed to grin at her ... Alanya felt hopelessness take hold of her; there was no way she could handle this many Skeletons at once, even if she had her spear. Her hand reached again to her Amulet of Recall - this was no time for foolish heroics ... "WAIT!!!!" yelled a strange, scratchy voice from a corridor beyond the Skeletons. "Don't skip out on us yet Miss Alanya, we've been waiting to see you!" (to be continued) (from previous) A brief intelude if I may, and an apology to longtime fans of the game; this next bit is going to ... well, take liberties with established canon, as near as I can tell. Hopefully the story is good enough to be likable even with that ------ Alanya blinked; after the silence of the forst few rooms she had explored in the tomb, hearing an actual voice was jarring. The fact that said voice not only sounded strange, almost inhuman, and was calling her by name, only added to the unsettling effect. Still, she waited, though her hand didn't move away from her amulet. The Skeletons shuffled to the sides, allowing a Bonelord to float into the room, its four arms waving agitatedly. "There, that's better," it said, proving itself to be the owner of the scratchy, inhuman voice. "Ya s'wits, you want to scare the poor girl to death!? We rotate two extra crews into this tomb so you can ruin the main event before it starts!?" it ranted at its fellow Skeletons, resulting in something Alanya had never seen before - Skeletons acting embarrassed. "Um ..." Alanya muttered, "What's ... going on here ..." "Oh nothing; I'm just chewing out the newcomers," the Bonlord said distractedly. "... Oh; that's not what you're talking about, huh?" Alanya shook her head, her eyes wide in confusion and worry. "Well Miss Alanya, it's like this, you see," the Bonelord started, before he interuppted himself. "Oops, hang on; I haven't introduced myself! Ahem; I am Sereth Andrano, Mage and former Disciple of the Temple, as well as a former Retainer of Great House Redoran. Three blessings, sera." " ... Three blessings ..." Alanya said, still taken aback by the whole Talking Bonelord thing. The presence of a dozen Skeletons - and one smiling Bonewaker - didn't help. "See! And they say Outlanders can't learn to be polite!" Sereth enthused. "Living folk are always saying silly things ..." " ... Er, um ... can all of you talk?" Alanya suddenly intejected, feeling very out of sorts; it was one thing to destroy undead in a tomb when they were shambling monsters, but if they talked ... "Sorry, I'm the only one," Sereth said apologetically, as the other Skeletons shook their heads. "Really hard trick to master you know, talking without lungs or a lower jawbone; we all use real simple telepathy or sign language to talk among ourselves, least while we're in the living world. The afterlife, now that's different ..." "I see," Alanya said. " ... Er ..." Sereth stopped for a moment, looking at her, then chuckled. "Lemme guess; you're suddenly feeling a wave of guilt for having killed skeletons before, having thought them mindless undead beasties that were just there to get in the way of your tomb-robbing activities, right?" Alanya blushed a deep crimson, causing Sereth to say "Yup; that's a sign of an adventurer with a conscience, or at least part of one. Well, before we get on to the main event ... don't worry too much about any previous skeleton bashing you've indulged in. We're already dead and having our bones broken just means being rotated back into the Afterlife for a spell; sooner or later we get pulled back on active duty and then poof! Good as new." " ... Oh ..." Alanya said, blinking. " ... But wait; you're supposed to be guarding these tombs, right? Don't you get in trouble or something if the tomb gets robbed?" Sereth made a dismissive gesture with his hands. "Eh, no," he said. "Truth be told, half the things we're guarding in these tombs ought to be out in the world where they can be doing something useful for our descendants anyway, not gatheirng gravedust. Besides, sooner or later, our descendants bring new treasures to replace the old, so it's not like we're going to ever not have things to guard ..." As Alanya digested that bit of information, Sereth floated behind her and clapped a bony hand on her shoulder. "See Miss Alanya, here's a little secret; the Afterlife gets boring after a while. Oh sure, we're all committed to our sacred duties, just like our ancestors before us and theirs before them and so on and so on, but after a century or two, even former Ordinators start getting a little tired of walking back and forth in the same old musty tombs day in and day out. We rotate people around some to provide a little variety, and cover holes left by tomb raiders like yourself, but really, unless one of us is lucky enough to be called out through a long-term summon spell to help an adventurous descendant ... well, it's nothing but musty halls for us. So when folks like you come poking around, we perk up; gotta have some excitement ..." " ... That sounds like a dreary existance ..." Alanya said softly. "Ah, it's not nearly as bad as it sounds," Sereth said jovially, slapping Alanya's shoulder in a friendly manner. "There's other things about being dead that I'm not mentioning - and won't mention, so don't bother asking - that makes it not so bad. Just, like I said, the guarding tombs detail gets old fter a while, and shifts last for centuries, so we look forward to what excitement we can get. Adventurers are a fairly diverse lot; you meet some good people now and then, even if you gotta try killing them, but any good adventurer can handle themselves so it's all good." "How encouraging," Alanya muttered, " ... So, this main event you alluded to ealier; that's for you to relieve boredom?" "Pretty much," Sereth grinned - an impressive feat. "See Miss Alanya, you caught the Afterlife's collective eye a little while back, taking out not just three of the most talented newcomers to our illustrious Bonearchers Irregulars, you also took down one of the most celebrated, decorated, and proven champions of the Afterlife in a surprising upset ..." " ... So we all decided that a rematch was in order." (to be continued) This scene doesn't actually happen in the game itself; I'm embellishing things a little - well okay, a lot ------ Sereth gestured grandly to the ramp doorway, saying "May I present to you, the most noble and honorable Araes Daedroth, the famous Archer Knight who wandered Morrowind one thousand and three hundred thirty years ago. Protector of the innocent, friend to the poor and downtrodden, known associate of such luminaries as Divayth Fyr and Galen Sarethi ..." Alanya wondered who the people Sereth was babbling about were, even as she looked to see the Skeletons parting again to make way for another Skeleton to enter. The new Skeleton wore an old iron cuirass, unlike the other Skeletons, and had a sword and a shield in hand as it approached Alanya. Upon reaching her, the armored Skeleton bowed and took Alanya's hand, raising it to its fleshless mouth in an oddly endearing facsimile of the knightly practice of kissing a lady's hand. " ... Mister Deadroth?" Alanya asked, rhetorically. The armored Skeleton nodded solemnly, letting Alanya's hand go. "When you last met, Araes was using a bow with paralyzing arrows, I believe," Sereth said. "Not his usual ammunition but it's what was on hand in the tomb." " ..." Alanya remembered her encounter with No Eyes Deadshot Pete, the Skeleton Archer who had almost killed her, back in her days before Caius Cossades, and the Sixth House ... "It was a most impressive victory on your part," Sereth continued. "No living folk had managed to get the drop on Araes for the last two hundred and seventy years - he was this close to making the Thousand Club too - the guy who lost Mentor's Ring in that tomb had been his nine hundred and ninety ninth clean kill without getitng killed again himself ..." Alanya blushed. " ... Um, sorry ..." she whispered, a feeling of dread returning as she contemplated how Araes probably felt about her ruining his record ... "Ah relax; Araes is a perfect gentleman," Sereth chuckled. "But still - you can see why we had to have the two of you face each other again, right? Everyone's anxious to hear about this fight; we've got some very rare artifacts on hand to capture every blow and exchange for posterity and the competition for being on hand in person was something fierce ..." Alanya said "No, no, I understand ..." as she looked around the room, seeing the Skeletons looking back at her expectantly. " ... Um, I ..." "Not to worry, Miss Alanya," Sereth said benevolently. "Just this once, we're bending the rules; if you beat Araes you're free to go without having to face the rest of us. Heck, we'll even tell you the locations of a couple of tombs where some useful artifacts lay waiting for someone as adventurous as you; you'll still have to get past their guardians but I can assure you, they won't try all that hard to kill you." " ... That's very generous of you," Alanya replied. " ... If I may ask a favor of you, though ..." "Hmm?" Sereth inquired. " ... Well, you see," Alanya said as demurely and politely as she could, "I came here looking for the skull of one of your people; it has certain magical inscriptions I need to recover ..." For a moment, Alanya wondered if she just made a mistake; Sereth began figiting and the assembled Skeletons shifted uneasily. Alanya opened her mouth to retract her request, figuring that she'd just try to come back for the skull in a few weeks, but Sereth raised his hands and answered " ... Talk to me after the fight, if you win; we'll discuss Lleevule's skull then." "Thank you," Alanya said gratefully, feeling a small wave of relief. "Anyway," Sereth said, more loudly than before," it's time for the Main Event! In light of the cramped conditions in here, and since Araes needs to work on his sword technique some, this will be a melee fight." The Skeleton who had taken Alanya's spear returned it to her with a slight bow; Alanya took it and looked over at Araes, who was readying his sword and shield and taking up a defensive stance. "Let the best fighter prevail!" Sereth announced grandly, as the surrounding Skeletons began banging their swords against their shields to provide the proper ambience. (to be continued - after breakfast. I'm starving ) Didn't mean to make you stay up so late, darktwiztid420; definitely get some sleep ... ------ Araes and Alanya began circling one another, Araes with his shield and sword raised in a classic Dunmer defensive fighting stance, Alanya crouched low in her own defensive style. Occasionally, Araes's sword would flick out at Alanya's head, but she bobbed and weaved to avoid it, or turned the blade aside with her spear; Alanya followed up with light, probing pokes of her own, but Areas's shield turned away any jabs whcih got too close to him. This feeling out went on for some moments, neither opponent commiting early on to a major offensive, and soon both Araes and Alanya began moving in response to each other, rather than simply circling. Alanya would step forward, Araes would slide to the left; Alanya pulled back a step and then slid to her right, Areas would pull back; Alanya moved forward, Areas raised his shield; Alanya stepped back ... This dance couldn't last forever, however, and it was Alanya who made the first major offensive move. Determining that Araes was somewhat slow to get his shield in position to defend his lower body, Alanya weaved for a bit, and then made a series of strong strikes at Araes's legs. Araes, however, had anticipated her strategy and had in fact been feigning slowness in lowering his shield to block low ... Alanya realized she had fallen for a trap too late, and her spear skidded off the lower edge of Araes's shield, just as he brought down his sword in an overhand chop. Alanya twisted, unable to bring her spear back in time to parry, and tried to use her chitin armor's paudrons to deflect the blow; the sword bit into her shoulder armor and made Alanya stagger a bit even with her crouch. Araes brought his sword back up for another blow, but Alanya brought her spear into a parrying position in time to counter - however, she was in no position to attack, and Araes took advantage of Alanaya's prediciment to bowl her over with a short shield rush. Rolling with the rush as best she could, Alanya got back to her feet in time to dodge three slashes to her chest and to parry a fourth. Pressing Araes's sword down, she whipped her spear in a bludgeoning swipe, forcing her weapon against Araes's shield; strong as he was, he was still only a skeleton with a simple iron cuirass, and Alanya managed to force him back three steps. Pulling her spear back into line, Alanya feinted low, then went for a high strike to Araes's head, but the Skeleton Archer Knight was too good to fool; again Alanya's speartip skidded across his shield, though this time Alanya was able to jump back to avoid Araes's counter stab. Warily, the two opponents began circling one another again; Alanya found herself breathing rather hard, and realized she needed to conserve her energy more if she was to win this fight. Araes's defense, however, seemed to be too good for her to get around, unless she threw herself into the attack - but if she miscalculated, she'd pay for it ... Araes took the second offensive, dashing forward suddenly; Alanya tried to sidestep but couldn't move fast enough to avoid the charge. Araes's shield pushed Alanya's spear out of line and then swung at Alanya's head in a backhand blow; Alanya saw stars as she got smacked in the head, then cried out in pain as Araes's sword slashed acrosss her abdomen ... Alanya doubed over from the pain, and Araes raised his sword to finish Alanya, but the Breton lass threw herself to the ground and rolled away, trailing blood. Araes chased after Alanya, stabbing down at her, not giving her a moment to recover, and his sword caught her in the arm, drawing more blood. In desperation, Alanya threw herself into a bodycheck at Araes's legs and bowled him over; the Skeleton hit the ground with a clang and tried to swipe at Alanya's legs, but Alanya jumped out of the way, casting a healing spell on herself to dull the pain and staunch the bleeding. Turning back to her opponent, Alanya saw that Araes had regained his feet - however, he caught her off-guard by slinging his shield at her, discus style. She ducked the flying shield, but her dodge gave Araes a chance to leap at her, closing the distance; the Skeleton proved himself to be an agile warrior by rolling into a swipe at Alanya's legs and moving away before Alanya could counter. Alanya felt his sword graze her thigh and growled angrily, charigng him despite the pain ... Araes's shield skidded across the floor at Alanya; the Skeleton warrior had rolled towards it and pushed it back at her. Alanya tripped over the shield, and went into another roll to recover, losing her spear this time. She heard Araes's sword whizzing through the air and moved instinctively; she was rewarded by the sound of metal biting into stone instead of flesh ... Unarmed, Alnaya kicked at Araes as hard as she could, wishing she had worked on her hand to hand combat more since getting out of prision. Luxk was with her this time, however, and her kick sent Araes back - right to his shield, which he promptly scooped up. Alanya cast another healing spell on herself as she dashed to recover her spear; Araes's slash at her head seemed perfunctory, more a formality than an actual attempt to kill her. As she grabbed her spear and returned to her crouched stance, she saw Araes raise his sword to salute her. Panting with exertion, Alanya raised her spear to return the salute; the other skeletons, quiet save for their shield banging until now, gave voice to a low, whistling sound, that Alanya guessed was meant to be a cheer. "You'e doing great Miss Alanya," Sereth said encouragingly. "You've gotten Araes good and warmed up ..." (to be continued) (from previous) This fight was different from her fight with Dagoth Fovon, Alanya realized as she and Araes began exchanging parries and thrusts once more. Fovon had charged her like a rabid animal, and she had responded in kind; their battle was brutal and frenzied, and lightning quick in retrospect, both parties caring only for killing the other. Araes was different; his attacks, even his seemingly wild ones, were calculated and controlled, his pace deliberate instead of frantic, and, Alanya slowly came to realize, his intentions less focused on killing her and more on the simple fact of the fight itself ... This warrior was less trying to kill her and more trying to best her, despite the lethal nature of his strikes. Or perhaps not even best her so much as test her - or himself, against her ... in any case, Alanya could see herself fighting alongside of Araes as easily as they fought against each other now; she couldn't possibly envision herself fighting alongside Fovon like that. It was an interesting realization, to say the least; in some way, Alanya took comfort in it. Araes's sword bit into Alanya's spear yet again, leaving its mark; Alanya noted with dismay that both her spear and her armor were starting to show major signs of wear and tear. Her spear, at least, had the advantage of the enchantment, which she hadn't called upon yet; her armor though had no such advantage. She needed to evade more effectively, lest she find her chitin breaking at a bad time and leaving her dead. As she parried yet another slash and made yet another series of pokes, Alanya assessed Araes's equipment; his sword was holding up better than her spear, blast it, and his cuirass looked like it could take another day's worth of punishment. His shield, though ... His shield was showing the effects of both Alanya's parried attacks and Araes's unorthodox attacks from before; if she could wear the shield down before he wore down her spear or her stamina, she could break through it with the enchantment on her spear ... Araes's sword whistled through the air at Alanya's head; she ducked and leapt back to avoid his backhand follow up. Areas, though, proved to be fully warmed up by now, his advancing steps seeming to take him left when he was really moving right, and Alanya proved unable to dodge the third swipe, taking another blow to her armor. Chitin groaned in protest and began to crack, and blood slowly seeped from the new wound in her side. Araes saw the crack in Alanya's armor and swung at it again, intending to take advantage of this hole in Alanya's defenses. Alanya started to parry but checked herself; she needed to keep her spear in workable condition and Araes was putting a lot of power into these attacks. For her hesitation, she earned another cut, one above the crack in her armor; the chitin groaned and cracked again, and Alanya realized with sick certainty that her cuirass was going to give out any blow now, assuming she didn't lose enough blood to keel over ... However, she had a plan of attack now, and threw herself wholy on the defensive, staying close to the walls as much as she could. When Araes struck at her, she tried to let his sword hit the walls, and more often than not, she was rewarded by the clang of metal against stone, and a small shower of stone chips. After the third such missed strike, Araes pulled back, realizing that Alanya was luring him to break his own weapon, and in thet moment Alanya got off a third healing spell, giving her a new rush of energy. Araes moved back to the center of the room, waiting for Alanya to follow; Alanya stayed frustratingly near the walls, however, luring Areas closer to her once more. Still, the Skeleton warrior was not out of tricks; he managed to draw Alanya into a feint, going for the damaged side of her armor before suddenly reversing and catching her flat-footed with a swipe to her face; Alanya could only pull her spear up and parry, and both weapons showed the effects of that clash. Araes staggered slightly - the only sign he showed thus far of suffering from fatigue - but he recovered and aimed a thrust at Alanya's abdomen. Alanya tensed her perfect legs and jumped, flipping over Araes and landing ready to thrust. Araes whirled around, his shield leading to block ... ... and Alanya popped her spear's enchantment and thrust forward, throwing her whole body into the attack. Enchanted Daedric steel ripped through worn iron; Araes's shield shattered with a screech of tortured metal. Alanya's spear, with her whole strength behind it, continued forward and similarly shattered Araes's shield arm before puncturing his iron cuirass. Any counterattack was lost as the force of Alanya's thrust knocked Araes backward, bowling him right over; Alanya herself, unable to stop her forward momentum, slammed into the wall with a grunt - but she managed to trample Araes in the process, and this time it was Araes who lost his weapon ... Alanya looked down at her fallen opponent, seeing him looking back up at her with calm resignation plain in his body language. Slowly, he brought his good arm up, and saluted her once more ... ... and Alanya returned the salute, raised her spear ... ... and used it as a crutch to support herself, as she reached down to lift Araes off the ground. And the entire tomb trembled with the sound of Skeletons banging wildly against any surface they could, for they lacked lungs and could not otherwise give voice to the resounding cheer each of them had to let out. (to be conitnued) "What skill, what valor," Sereth said enthusiastically, casting healing spells on both Alanya and Araes. "And what honor, sparing a fallen opponent; you do all Bretons and indeed all Outlanders credit Miss Alanya, and you have given us all something to talk about for decades ..." Alanya smiled; the whole mood in the tomb was celebratory, as Skeletons danced about and made vauge gurgling sounds in a damn good approximation of drunken singing. One Skeleton even produced a fine bottle of Cyrodiilic Brandy a descendant had left for the ancestors, and had thrust it into Alanya's hands, insisting that she drink it. Grinning, Alanya took a swig, producing more faux-cheering from the crowd. "Seriously, that was quite the duel," Sereth continued. "Araes offers his heartfelt contratulations for your victory and his thanks for the honor of fighting such a skilled warrior; I shall have to give you a copy of a sign language primer so that you and he can exchange pleasantries properly, and we must, absolutely must , think about another bout between you two in a decade or two ..." "If I'm still alive by then, I'd be happy to I'm sure," Alanya said, sounding amused. "You'll forgive me if I demur from any more such duels in the near future though; I've been having way too many near-death brushes this last week alone ..." "Hmm, well, I've no idea what the Breton Afterlife is like so you have a good point," Sereth chuckled. "There; you're both good as new ... well, almost. Araes, you're going to want to watch that arm for a while ..." Alanya put her hand on Araes's shoulder, using what remaining magicka she had to add a small healing spell of her own to Sereth's efforts. "Nest time, maybe we should stick with practice weapons?" she suggested with a small, demure smile. Araes took Alanya's hand and brought it to his fleshless lips once again, nodding solemnly. He seemed to be grinning - more so than usual, for a skeleton. "Anyway," Sereth said, his tone growing more somber, "there's a little bit more for you and I to do now, Miss Alanya; if you would come with me ..." ------ "You've proven yourself to be both skilled and honorable," Sereth told Alanya as the approached a door deep in the bowels of the tomb. "That goes a long way in my book, but for Llevule's skull, we need a little bit more ..." "I understand," Alanya said quietly, thinking to herself that everyone required a favor nowadays, even the dead. "What can I do for you?" Sereth chuckled. "I think you're misunderstanding me a bit, Miss Alanya," he said, throwing open the door. "You want Llevule's skull; I think it's only proper to bring the matter up with Llevule himself. And here we are ..." The room was like any other one would expect to find in a Dunmer tomb, including the ash pit; the only oddity was the skull sitting in the center of the pit, mystical symblos adorning its crown. Nonetheless, Alanya felt slightly uneasy; she could feel another difference in this room ... Sereth began chanting quietly, and an aura of magic permeated the room. The symbols on the skull began to glow softly with a while light, and the skull floated up into the air, a full, glowing skeletal body forming underneath it. "Miss Alanya," Sereth said formally, "may I present Llevule Andrano, former journeyman of your Empire's Mage Guild." ------ I am given to understand that you have wish of my surviving earthly remains, came a ghostly voice from within the skull. You have shown yourself to be a most singular woman, Alanya of High Rock, and for this reason I am inclined to listen to your case, but I ask of you that you tell myself and my honored ancestor Sereth the full reasons why you have come here, seeking my skull. Alanya took a deep breath. " ... I have been tasked with learning more about the Sixth House and the Nerevarine prophecies," she said to Llevule. "I agreed to retrieve your skull for a Mage Guild member, one Sharn gra-Muzgob, in exchange for her knowledge on the Nerevarine prophecies." Both Sereth and Llevule were quiet for a moment ... An Osimer seeks my skull? Llevule said finally. Is this ... mage ... a Necromancer ... Alanya frowned. " ... She might be," she said reluctantly. "I've no proof of it ..." I see ... Llevule said. Sereth sighed. "Why are you seeking information on these topics, Miss Alanya?" he asked. "Neither are exactly matters you'd expect Outlanders to be interested in ... well okay, the Sixth House I could see ..." Alanya looked down at her feet. " ... I was told to seek the information out," she said, " ... and I owe the person asking a debt. That, and ... I've met the Sixth House ..." We know, Llevule told Alanya. Your destruction of the nearby Hassour was noticed by those of us in the Afterlife. "You did a good thing by wrecking that place," Sereth said, vehemence creeping into his normally-friendly tone. "You saw what those bastards do to the minds and bodies of our descendants; what you didn't see and don't want to see is what they do to their souls. Really messed-up, let's leave it at that. Some of them, we can fix in the Afterlife, but the ones who became Ash Creatures ..." It is not pleasant for us to see our loved ones twisted into such evil forms, Llevule concurred. If we could do more to act against the Sixth House, we would; as it is though, they are still Dunmer, and they can still call upon their ancestors to protect and aid them, no matter how misguided we know they are ... "We're caught in a no-win situation," Sereth growled. "We can't directly do anything; hell, if those Sixth House bastards call on us, we have to protect them, same as we protect these tombs. It's not healthy for anyone, and it's only been getting worse with each passing year ..." "They're attacking us Outlanders," Alanya said quietly. "They've declared war; I've heard this from the lips of one of their priests ..." If it ultimately means that you, or your mysterious benefactor, can take action against the Sixth House, LLevule said solemnly, then I assent to donate my skull to this Shrarn gra-Muzgob; there are ways to deal with Necromancers ... "... And she may not be as bad as she sounds," Sereth said with a cough. "In any event, Miss Alanya, we ask one more thing of you before we conclude this transaction ..." Alanya looked At Sereth and nodded. "Yes?" "Whenever you come across the Sixth House," Sereth said, vehemence returning to his voice, "Wipe Them Out. Send them back to us to deal with; we'll heal the souls that can be saved and we'll ... deal ... with the ones that can't. But do not let them remain free to taint our descendants any further." Alanya felt her emotions rushing through her. "For my people and for yours," she said, trembling slightly with the power of her conviction, "I will destroy any Sixth House creature I find ..." The glowing skeleton slowly faded, and Llevule's skull floated into Alanya's hands. Sereth nodded grimly. "I will teach you the sign language we use, that you may converse with my fellow guardians in other tombs," he told Alanya. "Not all of them are as ... fun-loving ... as we are here, but enough of them are, and your name will become known to many after tonight. Also, I will share with you the secret location of two rings of legend - the Ring of Denstagmer and the Ring of Phynaster; these two rings combined will give you decent protection against magical attacks of all types, epsecially lightning damage - the most favored attack spell of the Sixth House monstrosities." "Thank you," Alanya said, smiling gratefully. "Thank you, Miss Alanya," Sereth said, smiling back. ------ "Remember," Sereth told her as he escorted Alanya to the tomb entrance, "mum's the word; our descendants don't react well to the idea that their beloved ancestral guardians can get bored out of their skulls and crave a little excitement now and then. They'll learn when they reach the Afterlife and until then, better they not give themselves headaches thinking about this ..." "I'll keep quiet," Alanya promised. " ... Thanks, again. For everything." "Our pleasure, Miss Alanya," Sereth said. "Don't be a stranger now; chat with our fellow guardians when you meet them, share the latest news, and don't worry about them trying to kill you - none of us are gonna hold it personal against you. Well, maybe the Ashlander spirits; they tend to remain grumpy even in death, but for the most part, you're Good People in our book." "Same here," Alanya answered, giving Sereth a hug. " ... Hope to see you again, and Araes too. I'll stop by later ..." Sereth coughed a little, and Alanya swore in the odd moonlight that he was ... blushing. "Might not be here; rotating duty details and all that," he said, harumphing a little. "But we'll be in touch, don't you worry. Now, git; go enjoy the living world while you're still breathing." Alanya laughed, and Recalled back to her cave, smiling as she drifed off to sleep. And that concludes Alanya's second Blades Quest. We'll get to her debriefing with Sharn and Caius, and the beginning of her third Blades quest, later. Loranna Voila. Sorry I didn't edit it to look cooler but I can't imagine what lorana whent trough trying to write all this stuff. I bet it took some days of writing. For the Horde! |
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Mewto Registered user Last page view: 3599 days, 11 hours, 19 minutes and 12 seconds ago. |
Shit, this story is huuuge. I wonder how much time it's going to take you all to read it. For the Horde! |
