11: Cheydinhal Mages Guild

When I awoke, I was lying on a soft bed. My body ached from the clawing I had received, but I felt as if I could move again. I pulled myself up onto my side and found myself looking straight into the face of an Argonian. She was asleep in the chair next to my bed, and I wondered if she had been put there to watch over me. She was wearing a very pretty blue dress that complemented the green of her scales quite nicely. She awoke with a start and looked at me.

“Ah, so the Breton awakes. Good afternoon, you had us rather worried there for a while.” She smiled in the rather frightening way that Argonians do. I cleared my throat and started to speak, but she shook her head and told me it would not be a good idea. “Whatever attacked you clawed you up pretty bad. I would think the wounds aren’t totally healed yet. We called in a healer from the temple, but they were busy with a messenger or something.”

“Who are you?” I managed to cough out the words and decided that the Argonian had been right about speaking. My chest felt like it was on fire.

“I am Deetsan. I dabble in spells and alchemy here at the guild. Yes, you are in the guild hall right now. We didn’t want to move you too far. Here, drink this potion, it will make things better while I go tell the other guild members.”

I drank from the bottle she gave me and my eyelids became extremely heavy. I smiled at nothing and fell back onto the bed.


When I awoke, I found myself surrounded by people. Apparently I had become the talk of the town! Apparently I looked a little overwhelmed, because Deetsan pushed some of them back and told them to give me some room. I spoke, but my chest did not burst into flames again.

“Who are you people?” A few of them chuckled, most of them smiled, but one High Elf near the back of the crowd scowled at me.

“We are the Cheydinhal Mages Guild. I think this is all of us anyway.” This came from a tall Redguard who looked as if he had only a few years left. He seemed jovial though, and magic has a way of prolonging one’s life. “I am Treyvond.” He then went around and introduced me to each of the guild members. When he had finished with the formalities, I noticed that the scowling High Elf had disappeared. I decided not to push them, because I had received such a warm welcome.

I spent the rest of the day healing myself with my own spells, and by dusk I was walking around very easily. I decided now would be as good a time as any to try and join the guild, so I approached Deetsan to ask for membership.

“Oh no, you aren’t looking for me. You want Falcar, he’s the chapter head of this guild hall. Be careful around him though, he didn’t really like having you brought in to be healed.” I thanked her and proceeded down the stairs looking for Falcar. I didn’t remember him from the introductions, but I knew exactly who I was looking for.

“What do you want? Haven’t you worn our hospitality thin enough yet?” The scowling High Elf didn’t seem to have mellowed out any, but I pushed forward. “What?! You? In the guild? Don’t you think you’re a little bit… Slow?” I kept my temper from flaring up and told him I was somewhat adept at magic. “Hmm, well, if you’re sure. Fine, you’re now an associate in the Mages’ Guild. Not that you will ever get any higher in the ranks.” he looked at me for a moment and then said, “Well?”

“I know about recommendations, Falcar. I’d like to receive yours.”

He smiled faintly. “Very well. Not long ago I was studying an interesting Ring of Burden. However, the last associate seems to have misplaced it. If I didn’t know better, I would say he had purposely thrown it down the well in the back! I want you to retrieve it for me. Then I shall see about your recommendation.” He finished and smirked at me. I wondered what had changed his mood so suddenly. “Before you go, you’ll need a key to the well. I believe Deetsan has a copy. Right, off you go now.”

It was late, and I decided that the recommendation could wait until daylight, so I went up to the bed I had been occupying for the duration of my healing process, and pulled out my journal. Now I lie here and wonder what I should tell the other guild members. I wonder if I should tell them what really gave me these wounds. I doubt they would believe me. Perhaps I should gain their trust a little bit more. Now, I must sleep. The day has been long and my wounds still have some healing to do.

10: Enter Oblivion

I had been walking from the church to the Mages’ Guild. The birds were chirping and the sun was bright. Nothing was out of place, and no one paid any more attention to me than usual. But suddenly I felt magicka. Raw, undirected, powerful magicka. It was saturating the area around me, and the air tasted like it usually does after a lighting storm. Suddenly, I realized what it was:

“Oblivion!”

I was pulled off my feet and yanked forward by my stomach. It was like someone had grabbed me by the belly button and pulled me through the barriers between Tamriel and Oblivion. Suddenly, I was spinning through some strange empty space. And then, everything was blackness.

I could feel myself break into Oblivion when my shoulders were nearly ripped out of their sockets. I sprawled onto the ashen ground and shuddered. My mind was disconnected, and my thoughts were random and insane. When my mind did return to me, I looked around me for the first time.

Horror is the only single word I could use to describe it. Oblivion was the most horrifying thing I had ever seen in my life. The ground was made of ash, and the air consisted of a large amount of it too. Flames were everywhere, and the air reeked of not only ash, but blood and death. Huge, bloody spikes rose from the ash, and from them hung rotting corpses. I started to retch, and as I turned away from the horrendous scene, I found myself face to hideous face with a small Scamp. It opened its mouth to snarl at me, and received a mouthful of vomit for its efforts.

It gurgled and stumbled backwards. I quickly gripped its face and froze the vomit to its skin, then drew my mace and smashed it across the Daedra’s horrid face. It died, but I knew it would not be long before it was back. Daedra are immortal, and killing their physical form only banishes them for a short while. I wiped my face and turned to face a small crowd of Scamps!

I braced myself, and as three of the Scamps detached themselves from the group and rushed towards me. They were uncoordinated, and each attacked individually instead of a more unified assault. I brought my mace up into the chest of the first scamp and heard the crack of its ribcage. The second Scamp launched at me and knocked me off me feet, but I was able to throw it off me and into a pool of lava just behind me. It squealed and melted before my eyes, and I was confident it would not come back for some time. The third scamp observed me for a moment, then a fireball materialized in its hand and it threw it at me.

I raised my hands, and just before the fireball struck them I let loose a blast of frost that neutralized most of the fireball. I then lunged at the Scamp and smashed its small skull in with my mace. I then feel to one knee and caught my breath. There were four Scamps remaining in the group, and I did not know if I could face them. I scribbled a note into my journal, quaffed a restorative potion and felt my limbs strengthen, and I was able to get to my feet. The Scamps had been watching me fight their smaller friends, and now they snarled and moved in to attack. They were unified in their movements, and I was soon surrounded and helpless.

The first Scamp attacked from behind me, and I felt its jaws close on my shoulder. I screamed and tried to pull it off of me, but the other Scamps saw their opportunity and rushed in to bite and tear at my flesh. I began screaming, and as they ripped through me, I was suddenly spinning again. The empty void filled me once more, and I was pulled back into Cheydinhal. I collapsed onto the steps of the Mages’ Guild and all was darkness…

9.5: Scrawlings

My hands are shaking… I don’t know what happened… I hardly know where I am! This is no longer Cheydinhal! These damned deadra are voracious, and there almost seems to be no end to them! Oh gods… help me!

By the nine! They come again!

Posting Schedule Update

Id like to let you all know that im going to be posting only on the weekends for a few weeks. That means that on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I will get some out for the massive (har har) fan base that i have.

Haha, im not bitter dont worry. In fact im glad that anyone is reading my little writing experiment here. Thanks to those of you who are!

So starting this weekend, updates on friday saturday and sunday. Shouldnt take too long to get back up to speed.

9: Past Sins

The road to the Imperial City would have been short, and would have taken me closer to Jauffre, but I instead headed for Cheydinhal. I hadn't been there in the last 4 years, and I wanted to find out how it had changed over the years. The road was longer than the one leading to the Imperial City, but more familiar. It reminded me of my home in Valenwood that I had been living in before the accident that led to my imprisonment. That is for another time though.

The road wound up into the mountains a short way, but leveled out quickly, giving me a beautiful view of a Doomstone and a small lake. It was so impressive that I decided i should rest for a while and take a swim. My pack WAS getting rather heavy, and it WAS pretty warm out. So I think i deserved a break. I set my pack down on the beach and pulled off my robes. I left my mace with my pack, because who wants to swim with a huge chunk of metal attached to their hip? Nevertheless, I strapped the knife i had found on the necromancer to my waist for anti-mudcrab or slaughterfish purposes.

The swim was very relaxing, and I only had to deal with one slaughterfish. I swam for a short while, then pulled myself out and dried off with a pair of pants I had found earlier. I slipped back into my robes and set off for Cheydinhal once again.

Upon arriving in Cheydinhal, I made straight for the local smith. It was not the same one I remembered from my last visit, but it would do. I sold off the armor and excess weaponry I had found, and bought a lovely steel axe to replace my mace. It had been chipped in a few places, and I liked the balance of this axe better anyway. Having finished my business at the smith, I stepped out into the sun to plan my next move. After a moment, I decided that I had nowhere to go other than the mage’s guild, but I dreaded going there. Surely they had heard of my accident and would never accept me!

The accident that led to my imprisonment is not something I like to recall, but I will anyway. It had happened a few years ago, back when I was living in Valenwood. I had been experimenting in the magical field of conjuration, which is dangerous enough under guild supervision, but I was doing it ALONE. Back then I had been quite the conjurer, and had advanced quickly though the guild ranks. Soon I was master of the field, but my mind craved more. I had a natural talent for conjuration, and I was not going to let it go to waste. I began attempting riskier and riskier spells, summoning forth great Frost Monarchs, Daedroths and even a few Dremora Valkynaz. I was successful in every spell, and yet always craved more. I even thought of turning to Daedra worship at one point! Eventually, I had nothing left I could summon. I had summoned hundreds of Daedra, and many had applauded when I had finally brought them through. The only lesser Daedra I had yet to summon was a Dremora Fedynaz. The Princes of the Dremora, they were hardly “lesser” Daedra, and were incredibly hard to conjure. The thought of conjuring one of these tormented me for months! I would not consider myself a true Master of Conjuration until I had brought one through. I was so foolish.

I prepared for weeks. It became my obsession, and I would not let it slip through my fingers! I prepared spells of protection, as well as worked on a spell to bring forth the Fedynaz. It took many moons, but finally I had prepared a spell to bring one through. On the night I first attempted to summon the Fedynaz, everything was fine. The wind was a bit strong, but no storms were on their way. I applied my protective spells, and began to work. The spell took a while to complete, but it was less draining on my magicka reserve than I had thought it would be. As I finished the spell, a small rift appeared at the designated spot. From it grew a Dremora, and it was huge, larger than any I had seen before. It stood before me, and seemed to smell the air. Then it shook its head at me, pointed an armor clad finger at the hour glass on my shelf, and disappeared. I screamed at it to come back, but it did not return. I sighed, and started to ponder what the Fedynaz had meant with its cryptic gesture. I quickly came to an answer, he wanted more time. I did not stop to think WHY he would want more time, but instead began work on a more powerful spell. I should have stopped then! I had succeeded in bringing one through! Wasn’t that enough? No, I kept trying.

When I had finished the more powerful spell, I set up for my next attempt. This time I felt significantly drained by the spell, and fell to one knee as the gateway opened. It was truly a gateway, larger than I imagined it would be. It was about seven feet tall and in the shape of the Daedric letter “Oht.” From it stepped the Fedynaz, as well as seven other large Dremora! The Fedynaz laughed at me, and as his foot connected with my head, I realized what I had done. I had opened a portal to the plane of Oblivion! Not just a gateway that would dissipate after the creature was through, but a portal that would allow many Daedra out of their hellish plane of existence. I tried to cast spells to return the creatures to Oblivion, but my magicka was too drained. In fact, I felt as though I was constantly being drained of energy. There was nothing I could do to stop them! A single Dremora came up to me and tied me up with a length of harrada root. The sharp blades cut into me as I struggled to escape. The Fedynaz laughed once again, and then the eight of them smashed out of my house.

I was stuck in that room for five days. I was forced to watch Daedra slowly trickle through my house and out to terrorize the world! I cried several times. I had done something unspeakably horrible! The entirety of Valenwood was now in danger! I hoped that the guards would be able to push back the Daedra, but I had no idea when they would come. Finally, on the fifth night, I realized what I had to do. The gate was using ME as an anchor! Slowly draining away my magicka and using it to fuel the portal! I wracked my mind until I remembered something I had learned from a Battlemage. He had told me that a wizard’s spells will be stopped if the wizard is incapacitated or killed. I knew then what I had to do, and I didn’t like it. I was eventually able to bash my head against the wall hard enough to knock myself out, and when I woke up hours later, I was shocked at the devastation. I was awakened by an imperial legion soldier, and when I told them my story I was immediately arrested and carried away to the Imperial City Prison.

I found out later that the Legion had been able to hold the Daedra off, but had sustained massive losses. My house was totally destroyed, and so were my magical abilities. I found I was unable to conjure anything greater than a Scamp, and my magicka reserve had been damaged by severing the ties to the portal. The year or so I spent in the Prison only weakened my magical abilities further, and by the time I escaped I was barely worthy of being called a novice.

Now I wondered if the Mage’s guild would have forgotten about my past. I sighed, and decided that it was at least worth trying to re-join. But first, I decided to ask for forgiveness at the chapel, and headed across the small covered bridge to pray.

8: "Oblivion take you!"

The rest of the ruin was dark and overflowing with the undead. It was mostly uneventful however, as the skeletons I encountered were barely able to hold themselves together, and the zombies were pieced together from pieces of who knows what. There were a few areas of note, mostly towards the end of my little visit.

The first was in a large room, not unlike all the others in this dismal ruin. The only interesting thing I noticed was two columns in the center that had protruding push blocks. I had encountered push blocks before, and so I new that all you had to do was grasp the center stone and push, but something was different. The two columns had six push blocks between them, all in a row on only one side. I thought this odd, but decided to push and see what happened.
As I laid my hand on the push block, I heard a creaking groan. I whirled around to face whatever skeleton had snuck up on me, but there was none there. I looked at the push blocks, and then at the walls. Sections of the wall were divided up into three parts. I had seen this before. The first secret door I had encountered here was exactly the same. I went over to the wall and put my ear to it, hoping to find the source of the creaking.

It was then, as I laid my head against the cold marble wall, that I remembered mysticism. The spell returned to my mind in a flash, and I readied my hands to perform the necessary movements. It was a spell to detect life, natural or no, over a distance of sixty feet. It worked through walls, and it would allow me to see what was behind this secret door.
I finished the movements, and my eyes tingled briefly. I peered at the stone wall, and slowly a glow began to appear behind it. By the poor posture and hanging limbs I could tell that it was another skeleton, and I walked back to the two push block pillars. I noticed that the rest of the room had the three paneled secret doors, and I looked behind them to find similar results. I opened the secret doors one by one, and had no trouble dispatching the skeletal guardians inside. Most of the rooms were empty, but the one in the far right corner had a chest containing the key to the door out of this room. I proceeded onwards.

The second area of interest was another room exactly like the others except for one thing. A Varla stone cage! I saw it and nearly wet myself. I had been searching for a Varla stone long ago, before the little accident that got me thrown in the Imperial Prison. I pushed the memory of that incident out of my mind, and started searching for the push block to open the cage. I had to go up a flight of stairs and dispatch a skeletal archer before I found it, but when I did, I pushed it down with all my strength, and ran back to the Varla stone. It was glorious! It hovered over a pedestal similar to that of a Welkynd stone, but it had a much more refined look to it. It was white, and the metal supports on it nearly glowed from magical saturation, I reached up and took it carefully, even though I knew it could withstand quite a beating. I sighed at its beauty and wrapped it in a pair of pants I had found, then I placed them into my pack.

Varla stones are of great use to both the adventurer and the scholar. They are an ancient Ayleid artifact that work similarly to Welkynd stones, but with a different effect. When the barrier that holds the Varla stone together is broken, the Varla Stone releases all of its charged energy into nearby enchanted items. ALL items in a person’s possession are immediately recharged to their full magical strength. Unfortunately, the stones are destroyed in the process, and they can be used for nothing other than recharging items. But enough scholarly input, I must continue my journey!

The third point of interest was an elaborate trap system. As I stepped up to the entrance of a corridor, Three huge hammers began swinging back and forth in front of me. I timed my dash through the hallway, but nearly got nicked of the heel. There were three other corridors like that, all branching off of a tiny little room with a pedestal. On that pedestal were two things of interest. The first was a pile of bones. The second was a statue of obvious Ayleid construction. I examined it, but couldn’t find anything particularly interesting about it. Nevertheless, it would fetch a good price with scholars or collectors, so I lifted it into my pack.

The final break from zombies and undead was not really much of a break at all. I encountered the source of all these poorly constructed skeletons, and he was not very happy to see me. I snuck up on the necromancer during one of his “procedures,” and before he could raise the skeleton from its eternal rest, I jumped out and shouted at him.

“OBLIVION TAKE YOU, NECROMANCER!” He had been in the middle of a very complicated incantation, and the concentration it took nearly fried his brain when I interrupted him. He yelled something incoherent and flung a spell at me, or rather, six feet to my right. Apparently I HAD fried his brain when I broke his concentration, and I simply walked up to him while he flung feeble spells in odd directions. A quick blast of chilling frost was all that it took to finish him off. He had some interesting things, but nothing more than some alchemical reagents, gold, a key to a fast exit, and a note to a guard captain somewhere. Apparently the captain and the necromancer ad been in cahoots, and it made me wonder where I could find this captain.

There was a door that led me back to the stairs where I had met the bandit ringleader, and so I returned to the place where I had stashed the heavy items from my pack rather quickly. Many of the tings were worthless, and the iron armor was just too heavy to carry, so I left it. It would only slow me down and right now I wanted to return to civilization quickly.

Too much death. I have killed too many people in these two days I’ve been free. I know that it was my life or theirs, and that they were bandits and a necromancer whom are not considered the pinnacles of society. But something in me is disgusted. Perhaps it is the fact that I was only looking for some money, and they got in my way. Or perhaps it is because I have not yet set out to find Jauffre. Whatever it is, I hope it passes when I reach civilization.

7: Poor choice of sleeping area

The large entrance hall where I had fought the archers had only one other passage leading off of it, and this contained another flight of stairs. I descended, and immediately ducked into the shadows. Not far off, through a few doorways, was a bandit holding drinking from a crude mug. They were standing in front of some sort of drop off, but I couldn’t tell if it was a balcony or what. The bandit turned and leaned onto the railing before the drop off, and I took this opportunity to sneak up behind them.

On my approach, I stopped and planned my next move. I could use my cold spell to freeze them, or my Flare spell to blast them over the balcony, or I could resort to a good, old fashioned smacking with my mace. I decided on the latter, and limbered up my right arm as I continued to move closer to the bandit. I got within range, and pulled the mace far behind my back.

My strike hit the bandit and sent them careening over the drop off. I stepped up and saw that it was a fairly low balcony, and that the bandit now was motionless on the ground a few feet down. I also noticed that a Khajiiti bandit had rushed to his compatriot’s corpse, and as he drew a massive warhammer from his back, I leapt over the balcony and brought my mace down on him. He brought the shaft of his warhammer up to block, and my blow bounced off harmlessly. I stumbled backwards and pressed against the ancient marble wall. I was in a bad position, the Khajiit had plenty of room to maneuver his huge hammer, and I had nowhere to dodge to! I decided to get in close so that the effectiveness of his hammer would be reduced, and started swinging my much more compact hammer with as much force as I could muster. Soon I had brought his defenses down enough to get my hands on his chest and freeze his heart.

I went through the two bandits pockets and found some more coins and lockpicks. I hefted the warhammer onto my back because it would fetch a good price, and I had emptied my pack of unnecessary items so I could carry more. The room I was in was small and lit by a fire the Khajiit had started, and the only way out was a beautiful Ayleid door.

The door was marble like the rest of the ruin, but it had a design resembling a tree etched onto it. The tree was reflecting every beam of light that hit it, but in such a way that it glowed blue and swirled gracefully. I wanted to better examine this etching, but as I reached out to touch it, it drained off of the door in all directions and the door slid open. I sighed, but I moved on down the stairs and found myself in a cramped room filled with light. In the middle of the room was an Ayleid cask that was bathed in light. I cautiously moved up to it, but then I noticed less natural light coming from a side passage, and ducked into the shadows. They provided little cover, but they were better than nothing. I moved up to the source of the light, and found a sleeping cot and a fire. It was then that I noticed the Khajiit. His eyes were flicking from side to side, and he was mumbling very softly to himself. He looked totally insane, and I readied my mace as I stepped into the room. His head snapped up and he bared his teeth, but his eyes grew incredibly wide.

“Ghosts…” He whispered a little more to himself, but then his eyes returned to their normal size, and he drew his shortsword. In his maddened state he proved to be little challenge, and I was finished with him in a matter of moments. I wondered what had driven him mad, but then I realized that he had been sleeping in a tomb. The sarcophagus dominated most of the tiny room, and the cot had been shoved into a corner. I backed slowly out of the room, and turned back to the illuminated cask.

It was locked, and I broke a number of lockpicks in it before I was able to pop it open. It contained a large amount of gold, and as I emptied it out, a healing potion was uncovered. I estimated about 130 coins were in it, but I didn’t really count. After emptying the cask, I decided that the side rooms deserved a decent inspection.

One of the side tombs was empty, holding little more than an ancient sarcophagus. The other tomb had a chest shoved into the corner, and as I went to collect its contents, I stepped onto a pressure plate that sunk several inches into the ground. I threw myself to the ground, expecting some trap to crash into my prone form at any second, but none came. I looked up at the sound of grating stone, and found that an entire wall was retracting into the floor! As it made its slow descent, I opened the chest and found a bag containing more gold. I estimated it at about 70 septims, but I had no tiem to count because the wall had finished its crawl.

Beyond the secret wall I found a sprawling tomb complex, filled with the whispers of the dead, as well as much more aggressive spiritual activity, but now my hand grows weary, and the dawn is beautiful this morning…

Regrettable, but unavoidable

No post coming tonight. Just dont have the time what with a band concert tonight and a paper due in a little while. But dont worry. Ill have one tomorrow and an extra one for saturday.

Oh and if the people reading this would tell other people about this site, that would be amazing. I don't want to MAKE you do something, but its nice to post and get a bunch of comments. Even if theyre bad. So yeah, more people=me happy=probably better and more frequent writing.

6: Not Aliens, AYLEIDS

I walked cautiously down the remainder of the steps and found myself looking at another stairwell. Ayleid ruins are deep underground, but this one was fairly deep even for a normal ruin. As I continued down the stairs I thought about Ayleids. They were a race of Elves that existed during the ages of myth long before the time of the Empire. They are sometimes referred to as Heartland High Elves, but I prefer to say Ayleid. It is more succinct and everyone knows what you’re talking about. The Ayleids disappeared quite a long time ago, although no one is sure about the exact time. Perhaps this ruin I was in was once a capital city, because that would explain its depth.

I pondered over this until my foot pressed down on a wire. I froze, Ayleid ruins were well known for bandits, but even better known for traps. The memory of the ringleader caused me to cautiously remove my foot from the trip wire. I stepped back to a safe distance and broke the trip wire with one of my shortswords. Two large metal balls unhooked from recesses in the passage and swung inwards. They clanged together and then hung harmlessly in the passage, but I still had to step around them.

Another staircase! This ruin was deep! I descended them and came to a split in the passage. I turned to the left because it was less well lit than the passage on the right. The passage opened up into a large room that was dominated by four central columns and a hanging basket filled with glowing stones. An interesting thing about Ayleids is that they didn’t seem to need fire to light up their huge cities. They relied on glowing stones and fountains of pure magicka to illuminate their lives. My studies of Ayleid ruins had never brought me into contact with any of these magicka fountains, but I had seen and used Welkynd stones. Welkynd stones are essentially condensed magic. By concentrating on them you can release their stored magicka and fill yourself to the brim with magicka. I hoped that the bandits had not sold off all of the Welkynd stones in this ruin, because I longed to hold one in my hands once again.

I snapped out of my scholarly trance and focused my eyes on the area around a fire that had obviously been built by the bandits. There was some movement that looked vaguely humanoid, but I needed to get closer to have a better look. I then saw the faint glow of a Welkynd stone! It was perched high on a pedestal in a crevice in the wall, and it hovered up and down slowly. The figure moved up to the base of the wall in which it floated, and drew a bow from its back. I crept closer as the dark shape fired an arrow at the stone. The arrow dislodged the stone and it fell into the waiting hands of the archer. I jumped from the shadows and pulled the mace down towards the archer’s head, but she rolled away and jumped up behind a pillar.

I ducked behind one of the large columns, and brought my Flare spell to the top of my mind. It had served me well on the mudcrabs and rats, but I wondered how much it would do to a person. I peeked out from behind my cover and an arrow whizzed by me. I breathed deep and flung myself out of cover, launching blasts of fire at the pillar that the archer stood behind. She glanced out from behind the pillar to see what I had done, and received a fiery greeting. She screamed and jumped back as I continued to launch Flare after Flare at her. She managed to get off another few arrows before my spells hit true. A single Flare merely singed her clothes, but the five that followed up burned through her fairly quickly.

I picked myself up and turned to see if there was anything else in the room that needed my attention. An arrow caught me in the shoulder and shoved me back. More bandits! Immediately I sent a healing spell into my shoulder and got behind another pillar. I clenched my teeth and removed the arrow. I peeked out from my cover, and was greeted by a whole lot of nothing. I couldn’t see who had shot at me, or really anything. It was just too dark! I fired a Flare into the darkness and caught a glint off of a pair of blood red eyes. A Dunmer. He fired a quick succession of arrows, but I dodged away from the pillar and launched a few more Flares in his direction. I felt a tug at my magicka reserve; I had been casting too much and had nearly depleted my energy. I changed direction and ran towards where the Welkynd stone had fallen. I dove onto it, and gripped it as I concentrated on unlocking its flow of magic.

The sudden flow of magicka made me giggle with glee! I had forgotten what it was like to be rejuvenated in such a way! Welkynd stones are one use only unfortunately, and it crumbled in my fingers. Nevertheless, I turned and blasted fire at the Dunmer. He lasted a few moments, but my onslaught quickly burned through his flammable fur armor.

The two archers had small bags full of coin at their waists, which had somehow managed to remain undamaged. I scooped them into my pack as well as a silver dagger that the Dunmer had been carrying. The female archer had been standing near a fire, and I searched there next. The bandits had stacked their loot in a large pile near the fire. Among it I found: a suit of iron armor that was missing the boots; a fine green-colored robe, which I slipped into; a steel claymore; and a chest partially full of gold and lockpicks. I strapped the armor onto my pack, but left the claymore, it was just too heavy to merit taking it.

My pack was getting heavy, but I lugged it up a flight of stairs that lead into a makeshift office. Obviously the ringleader had slept in here, because there was an actual bed instead of just a bedroll. I gasped as I glanced into the corner of the room. Next to a table that was covered in papers, was the largest pile of Welkynd stones that I had ever seen! I ran over to them and scooped them into my pack. The bandits obviously didn’t know what they had, because the stones were not neatly stacked or organized. Instead, they were simply tossed onto the ground. I couldn’t leave such valuable Ayleid artifacts lying there, so I took them without a second thought.

Welkynd stones are large, about a foot and a half in length. They should be as heavy as a rock, but the magicka in them makes them float slightly, even when they are off their elevating pedestals. Nevertheless, my pack became too heavy for me to carry, so I took some of the heavier items out and placed them at the foot of the bed. I’d be back later to reclaim them after all…

5: Overwhelming

The Ayleid ruin was a short walk from the beach I had been resting on. I crossed the river at the nearby ford, and proceeded with my hands at the ready. I was not going to be caught off guard again! The zombie in the prison and the bandit had both caught me unprepared, and I could not let that happen again. I saw a small bonfire a short distance from the ruin, as well as a tent and some stools around the fire.

“Where’s Farrader?” I heard the voice and pushed myself behind some bushes. “Didn’t he go off somewhere a while ago?” The voice was gruff and commanding, and by the gravelly tone I could tell it came from a Dunmer.

“Dunno. Think he went crab huntin” This voice was saturated in a tone of absolute stupidity. I wasn’t entirely surprised, because bandits are not known for their intelligence, but it sounded like an Imperial. They are not known for being dense and dimwitted. Still, I suppose some Bretons can be rather empty in the attic.

”Well… Go find him!”

“Yes sir.” At this point I took a quick peek over the rock, and saw a large figure lumber over to the water and combing the beach. The Dunmer turned and walked back into the ruins, but I couldn’t see if he entered the actual structure or simply went to guard the entrance.

I quietly made my way towards the big oaf. He was kicking sullenly at the sand and grumbling to himself. With each kick at the sand I made my way closer to him. I could not allow him to start yelling and alert the other bandits, so I reached up and grabbed his unprotected head. One freezing burst was all it took to solidify his simple little mind, and I slowed his crumpling body by catching his arms. He was carrying a huge warhammer and bits of fur armor, but nothing else was worth my attention. Instead, I moved towards the path that the Dunmer had taken.

He was sitting next to the door and absent mindedly shooting sparks from his hand. Dunmer are naturally skilled at destruction magic, but this one did not look like a mage. He was wearing scraps of fur armor similar to the oaf’s, but he also carried a shiny steel mace. I glanced at the rusty chunk of metal that hung at my waist, and pulled it from my side. I used the same trick I had used on the oaf, but I timed my steps with his bursts of electricity instead. My mace descended on his head with a great amount of force, and his head was not left in good condition afterwards.

I left my old mace lodged in the bandit’s cranium, and pulled the steel mace from his side. It was very nicely balanced, and I did I mental flip of joy. Then I remembered that I had killed three people in the last twenty-four hours, and my mind stopped flipping. I sighed with regret. It’s not that I was sad that I had killed bandits, but rather that I hadn’t noticed until now. I started to feel sick, but forced the thought out of my mind. I looked through the rest of the Dunmer’s possessions, and found a few potions and lockpicks, as well as a small sack filled with gold. It looked to be about 80 or so septims, but I didn’t stop to check it.

The doors to Ayleid ruins are opened by laying a hand on the circle in the center. I did this and watched as the two halves of the door slid away from each other. It was dark inside, so I lit my torch and headed down the now-illuminated steps. As I suspected, the ruins were inhabited by more bandits, and I was greeted by a Redguard wielding another warhammer.

My first fireball went over the head of the warrior, and he yelled and swung his hammer at me. The steps shattered as I dodged to the side, and my feet nearly slipped off. I was able to use the momentum of the sliding rocks to propel myself towards the warrior and grip his throat. I was about to freeze his throat when his arm came up and pushed my hands off. I tumbled down the last few stairs and rolled to a stop. The warrior yelled something at me and jumped at me with his bare hands. As he came at me, I brought my hand around and slapped him in the face. It would have been a weak effort had I not released my spell at the moment of contact. He screamed as his face locked up, but he continued to punch at me! I brought my fist around this time, and parts of his face broke off as I punched him. His adrenaline carried him still, and I could feel my ribs shatter as his fists worked their gruesome task. I feebly brought my hand to his chest and was able to let loose a burst of frost that finally stopped his heart. I gasped for breath, and downed one of the healing potions I kept at my side.

My ribs slowly reassembled themselves, but I could still feel the pain, so I drained another flask of healing potion. My muscles ached as well, so I drank one of my homemade restorative potions and felt my stamina return. So far my life out of prison had been very bad on my body, but thanks to magic I was able to stand up before the next two bandits arrived.

There was a woman this time, another Dunmer, and she was brandishing a shortsword at me as she bounded up the steps. Behind her was a man in an iron breastplate who had a longsword made of fine steel, also a Dunmer. The woman tripped on something, and a huge spiky log swung down towards her. The man was a few steps behind her, and it appeared that the trap was aimed at someone going down the stairs, as it swung more towards the man at the bottom of the steps instead of where the woman lay. He was unaware of the triggered trap that was now descending on him, and it hit him square in the chest, flinging him into the wall and either killing or knocking him out. The woman picked herself up and launched at me. I caught her in the chest with an uppercut from my mace, and she was staggered. The follow up blast of fire from my left hand finished her off.

I searched her pockets and came up with a few coins and a note from another bandit. I knew it was another bandit because it was sloppily written and had poor grammar. I took one glance at it and realized it was a love note. I didn’t particularly care about bandit love, so I stuffed it back in her pocket. She had been carrying a nice sword, so I slid it into its scabbard and into my pack.

The man who had been hit by the trap was not in good shape. He wasn’t dead, but he was definitely close. His lungs had been punctured by his ribs, and his breath was a soft wheeze. He drew in the biggest breath he could manage and gasped out one word. “please…” He managed to point a hand at my weapon, and I immeadiately got the message. I reached over and closed his eyes, and the burst of frost from my hand gave him the release he sought for. I sighed and turned away from him. Nothing he had on him would have survived the impact, but I took his pouch of gold. It was larger than that of the entrance guard, and judging by his fine weapon and large amount of gold, I took him to be the ringleader of the bandits.

I’m sorry, all this death has put me off of writing right now. I’ll continue later when I have regained my wits and my strength. The rest of the ruin was no push over, and I’m exhausted. Still, the moon will provide some comfort to me.

4: SURPRISE!

I set off after writing my last entry. I decided not to swim across the river because of my heavy pack, and jumped up onto a rock to survey my surroundings. I noticed a ford in the river a little ways upstream, and after a quick search of the rest of my surroundings, I lugged my pack that way.

I had not noticed until now how much I was carrying. Apparently I had not looked at the weapons I had collected from the sewers. I had three axes that had rusty blades, rusty grip, and even some of the wood seemed to be rusty. I knew how worthless they were and threw all three of them into the river. I didn’t know if dreughs came this far upstream, but they would make use of them if they did. They would rust away in a year or so anyway. Another part of my treasure trove was a nearly complete set of iron armor. At least, I think it was iron at one point. I had no use for it, and it would certainly not be worth enough to make me carry it around for any longer, so into the river it went. Next I disposed of the rotten food I had found, and wondered if what I had eaten of it would make me sick. I tried not to think about it, and continued to sift through the rest of my junk.

By noon I had cleaned out my pack, washed my clothes and used the goblin’s mortar and pestle to create a few weak potions. The food I had thrown into the river had attracted a small army of mudcrabs and slaughterfish. I hopped up onto a large rock and proceeded to fling spells at the feeding crabs. The smell of crab meat was soon heavy in the air, and I stopped for a moment to drink it in. I never saw the bandits coming…

The arrow pierced my leg about three inches up from my knee cap. The rock I was standing on was about 7 feet high. My leg buckled soon after the arrow hit it and I fell all seven feet to the sand. I tried to scream, but the wind had been knocked out of me, so it came out as a rasping wheeze. I just wanted to lie there and pass out, but I knew I had to get up or the bandits would come to finish the job. I managed to yank the arrow out of my leg and get a healing spell into it before the pain really started. Soon I was on my feet and circling around the rock to punish the bandit who fired the arrow. I heard a crunch and a squeal, someone had just smashed a mudcrab! I whirled around to see a bandit with a bow slung over his shoulder and a shortsword in his hand. He was standing with one foot in an oozing mudcrab shell, and the other was desperately trying to knock off the remains of the irritating creature. I immediately flung a fireball at him and dodged behind a small rock. He screamed and charged at my small shelter, unaware of my little trap for him.

As he rounded the corner of my rock, he stepped into a large tide pool. I was waiting with one hand in the pool, and froze the water just as his foot entered it. He was lying with his sword just out of reach, and his frozen foot was twisted and broken in the ice. I smiled, my trap had worked! Now all I had to do was teach him a lesson he wouldn’t forget. Or remember for that matter.

“It isn’t nice to shoot a defenseless person. It isn't nice to want to steal from a defenseless person. It’s just stupid to shoot a person who can do this," I gestured to his foot, "to you!." These were the last words he heard, except for whispers from his ancestors.

I am not proud of the way I killed him. I was simply angry! Angry at myself for letting my guard down, and angry at him for sneaking around so well. I simply don’t have the strength to attack an Ayleid ruin at the moment, I will go on after I rest.

A Quick Side Note

I'd like to thank anyone who is reading this journal, but I might have some bad news.

School is going to be a lot tougher next week so my posts might be scarcer. Also, I like to write until I get to a convenient point for Will to pull out his journal, so the entries might be shorter or longer, depending on where he is at the time. I'm going to try to post as often as I can, but school comes first so we'll see. Thanks again for reading!

Oh and if you have any suggestions or anything at all, I'd be glad to hear them. I'd especially like tips about how to better use this blog site. I'm just starting out as a writer, and I have no idea how to really work this blog so help would be accepted and appreciated.

Thanks and there IS a new entry below.

3: Freedom, but at what cost?

I gathered up the rusty bits of iron armor and proceeded along the cavernous corridor. The natural formation of the cave was mixed with ancient bricks that were crumbling away into dust, and yet I was not worried about the structural integrity of the walls.

But I digress. I proceeded past some hanging skulls and through a rotten old door and I could instantly smell smoke. Something was on fire down here, and whoever had lit it had no regard for ventilation. That fact ruled out most men, and as such I proceeded with caution. I stuck to the shadows and crept up on the source of the smoke and light.

Something was moving around in the smoke, and yet I could not make out anything more than a humanoid shape. I drank one of the potions I had found, and felt my tired limbs rejuvenate. Then I moved closer to the creature, and pulled out my rusty old axe. On my way towards the creature, I kicked a rock I had not seen and sent it flying towards the fire! The rock clattered against a wooden stool and fell silent.

I froze, and tired to control the pounding in my chest. I still was worried from that encounter with the zombie, and now I had lost my element of surprise. The creature slowly started advancing through the smoke, and when it came to the stool, it gave a confused little grunt. As it bent over to pick up the stool, I ran forward and swung my axe at its exposed back. It yelped and rolled backward, away from my swing. It hopped to its feet and pulled a knife out of a crude sheath at its waist. I now recognized it as a goblin, and some relief came to my mind. Goblins are not particularly threatening unless trained by the Altmer. This one certainly did not look well trained, or even well fed, so I decided to rush him. I charged in with my axe and as the goblin tried to block my attack with his dagger, I brought my hand up to its chest and released a blast of fire. The goblin was propelled backwards and into the fire pit. It gurgled and died, and put out the fire in the process. I put away my axe and searched the goblin’s possessions.

I recovered a crude mortar and pestle, as well as some common reagents. I put them away in the pack I found near the stool, as well as dumping the other things I had collected so far into the pack. I hefted this onto my shoulder and proceeded down the only other way through the cavern. I was greeted by a much stronger looking goblin, and I immediately pulled my axe from my side and held it at the ready. The goblin charged at me and tripped over a thin cord stretched across the passage. As it stood up, I noticed three huge, spiky logs swinging down from the cavern ceiling. I ducked, but the goblin never saw them coming.

I wiped the goblin’s blood off of my face and turned around to see him very nearly stuck to the wall. The spiky logs now hung passively in the middle of the chamber, probably content at a job well done. I pushed past them and into a split passageway. The way to the right was darker, and so I went that way, but found that it reconnected with the other passage after a few paces. I did find a locked chest filled with some gold and (curiously) lockpicks. Isn’t it odd that you would lock a chest containing lockpicks? But then I remembered how the goblin had tripped over its own trap. Not too bright, goblins.

I entered the larger passage and heard some grunting coming from down a small slope. There was a stack of logs sitting at the top of this slope, and I decided that pushing them would not hurt my cause at all. After pushing the logs, I heard a few squeals and some satisfying thuds. I strolled leisurely down the slope and collected the two goblins’ supplies, which consisted of some arrows and lockpicks. I popped open the two chests down here and found some more potions and gold, as well as a worthless dagger.

The next cavern was filled with goblins. I entered it with a pretty high level of confidence and, luckily, I would live to regret it. I nonchalantly flung a fireball at a nearby goblin and turned to face another, closer one. I swung my axe at it and as it connected I sent a chilling blast through the creature. It collapsed backwards, but not before it had frozen to my axe. I tried to pull it out of the goblin, but it was frozen completely into the creature. I gave up and turned around to see a large mace coming through the air towards my chest. I could not dodge in time, and was thrown backwards. The fireball I had thrown at the first goblin had apparently missed, and now I was lying on my back with several broken ribs because of my arrogance. I coughed out a healing spell and rolled away from the second strike of the mace. I would not miss this time, and I sent a fireball directly into the side of the goblin’s head. I had just enough time to cast another healing spell before a third goblin was upon me. This one resembled the first goblin I had met, and was dispatched with another burst of fire. My magicka reserves were getting low, so I picked up the mace that had nearly ended my life, and focused on the final goblin in the cavern. It realized with a start that I had not been killed by its compatriots, and leveled a staff at me. I am certain that my eyes widened as I saw the bolt of crackling electricity that hit me full in the chest and sent me sprawling. I twitched for a moment, but when I regained control of my muscles I sprinted for cover behind some rocks. I stood gasping for breath, and as I cast a healing spell I could hear the goblin shaman giving out a kind of guttural laugh.

I jumped from the cover of the rocks and flung several fireballs in the direction of the shaman. I could not see whether I had hit it, but the bolt of lightning that streaked towards me told me I had not. I ducked and the energy dispersed into the rocks behind me. I tossed another fireball at the shaman and ran towards a rock that was closer to the shaman. The shaman fired a bolt of lightning at the place I had taken cover in before, and I took this opportunity to aim my next attack more carefully. I fired off two more fireballs at the shaman and each one struck true.

The charred corpse of the shaman was still flaming when I came to it. I kicked it aside and picked up the staff the goblin had been using. It still crackled faintly with energy, and I slung it over my back despite its grotesque appearance. Goblins do not use magic the way elves or men do. Their exact methods are unknown to us, but it somehow involves the use of a fellow goblin’s severed head. Hence the reason why the staff I now carried was adorned with a grimacing goblin’s head.

The goblins had a chest full of poor quality gems, as well as a supply of ale and rat meat (both alive and packed away in crates), but I settled with the gems. I swept my eyes over the large room once more, and set off through another passage.

This one sloped up, and as I went through a door, I noticed that the construction was becoming less natural and more like an ancient catacomb. Indeed, I heard voices ahead of me, coming from a large hole in the wall that was not unlike the one I had entered the caverns from. I dropped down onto a man-made ledge and headed towards the sounds of fighting. There was the emperor and his two remaining guards! Obviously they had had a tough time getting through the passages, because the Blades’ armor was scratched and dented in many places, and even the emperor was helping to fight off the assassins. I dropped down onto the head of an attacking assassin and froze it to the ground. The Blades finished off the remaining assassin and turned to me with weapons drawn.

“It’s that prisoner! Kill him! He might be working with the assassins!” I drew my weapon as the Redguard advanced towards me. I did not want to fight such a well trained man, and I backed off as he approached.

“No Baurus! He is not one of them.” This came from the Emperor. Baurus sheathed his sword, but kept his hand on the hilt as the Emperor approached me. “They do not trust you, for they have not seen what I have seen. I look at you and wonder, what stars were you born under?”

“I was born under the watchful eyes of the Apprentice, my Lord.”

“Ah, yes. I can see that magicka flows through you. The Apprentice shall stand over you this day.” The Emperor and I talked for a short time, and he told me that the hour of his death was near. I was surprised when he told me he was not afraid, but even more so when he told me he felt blessed to know when he was going to die. With that he moved off, and Baurus told me to stay close and guard the Emperor well. I could tell he did not trust me, but he was going to obey the Emperor no matter what.

We moved through the passages, and were attacked by small groups of assassins every few minutes. The three of us had little trouble fighting them off, but I began to see why they were so exhausted. They were constantly fighting, and never had anytime to rest their weary limbs. They must have been doing this for hours, and yet I was worn out after the first few attacks.

The Emperor turned to me at one point and said, “Not much longer now.” I was very disturbed by his persistence to continue until his death, but I fought even harder for him. Shortly after he told me this, we came upon a barred gate. It was our only way out, so we took the emperor off into a side passage to hold off the assassins. I stayed with the Emperor to ensure that no one slipped past Baurus and Glenroy. It was here that the Emperor spoke to me for the final time.

He told me of his final heir, and of the horrors that were to come. He spoke of Jauffre, the Grandmaster of the Blades, and gave me the Amulet of Kings! He told me to take the amulet to Jauffre, and to “Close shut the jaws of Oblivion!” I heard one of the Blades cry out, and turned to see what had happened. It was then that I heard the wall behind the Emperor slide down, revealing an enormous assassin, who plunged his blade deep into the back of the emperor!

I cried out, and leapt on the assassin. I gripped his helmet between my hands and sent blast after blast of freezing cold into it. The assassin did not scream, or even try to resist. Instead, he collapsed after the first blast froze his brains. I did not stop sending cold into his corpse even after his armor dissipated in its curious way, I did not stop until Baurus laid his hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from the assassin. Baurus took a look at the icy face of the Emperor’s murderer, and stomped down hard on it. It shattered into thousands of pieces, and I stood up silently.

Baurus said nothing for a moment, simply taking in what had happened. “We’ve failed,” he said finally, “I’ve failed.” He then noticed the absence of the Amulet, and looked at me with a wild look in his eyes.

“He gave it to me. He said I was supposed to take it to Jauffre.”

“Strange, he saw something in you. Nevertheless, Jauffre is the best place to start. Here, take this map. I’ve marked where Jauffre is on there. He is at Weynon Priory, near Chorrol. Now get going Mage, I must stay here and make sure nothing happens to the Emperor’s body. Here, take this key, it will get you into the sewers. From there you will have to find your own way out. Take care, its infested with rats and goblins.” With this he turned to the Emperor and knelt.

As I began to leave, I remembered that I had Captain Renault’s sword. I took it off and placed it next to Baurus, who simply nodded his thanks. I stepped through the secret entrance which the assassin had used, and out through the door. I left the key in the lock for Baurus to take, and set off through the sewers.

They were dark, wet, and definitely infested with rats and goblins, but after the Emperor’s death, they were nothing. I had not even known the Emperor, and yet I felt a strong sense of loyalty to him. If only I had been standing behind him! I might have intercepted the assassin before his work could be done…

I shoved my way through the final gate out of the sewers, and drank in the cold night air. It was wonderful, and I almost felt happy until I remembered my purpose. I laid myself down on the nearby dock and immeadiately fell into a deep slumber. When I awoke, it was near dawn, and I pulled out this book and began to write.

Now dawn has passed, and I can see an Ayeleid ruin across the river from here. I will perhaps explore it now, although I am no stranger to the fact that they are usually infested with bandits and marauders. That is for another entry though.

2: Down the Rabbit Hole

I relit the torch with a quick flare spell, and was not impressed by the dim light it cast on the stony walls. Nevertheless, I pushed my way through the crude hole the rats had made, and found myself in a surprisingly large cavern. The torch illuminated quite a bit more in here, and I found a chest with an axe of questionable integrity. Even the wood looked like it was rusting. Still, I am more skilled with its large head then I am with a sword, so I swapped it for the shortsword. I did keep the sword though, after all it will fetch a fair price, and I figure that if I can get out of here I will need some gold.

My attention shifted to the rest of the cavern. I was not at all surprised to see the skeleton of some long dead archer down here, but I was rather surprised that the chests in here had not completely rotted away. I found a lockpick clutched in the alabaster fingers of the skeleton, and discovered that the chest next to him was locked. What had claimed this poor adventurer’s life? Perhaps his only food was locked in the chest. It seems like a rather foolish thing to do if you ask me.

I tried my luck with the lock and it sprung open rather quickly. The rust had not destroyed the tumblers completely, once again a surprise. Inside the chest I found another clue to the source of the adventurer’s fate: Three health potions and a restore stamina potion. Perhaps this poor fool had locked the chest to protect his potions, but when he needed them most he was unable to find the key. Imbecile. Still, I will make use of these potions. I will also make use of his gear. Most of it was damaged by rust but it will still fetch a pretty penny.

I moved on to explore the rest of this cavern. A rat was chewing on a well-dressed goblin. Well-dressed for a goblin anyway, it was wearing more than a loin cloth. I checked the decomposing mass for anything useful. All I found was a key to the nearby door and two more lockpicks. The key turned with a little difficulty, and I found myself in another rat infested cavern.

The smell of charred fur was heavy in the air after a few fireballs, and I decided it might be best to use my axe next time. A chest in a bit of rubble yielded little more than some more healing potions and another stamina replenishing potion. Why was every chest in here filled with potions? They may come in handy soon, but it is still a waste of chest space. Chests should be filled to the brim with gold!

A passageway off of the cavern reeked of death, but I could see no other way out, so down I went. I nearly jumped out of my prison irons when I saw a zombie shuffling towards me! I took a swing at its face with my axe, and missed completely! The zombie lunged for my shoulders, and I fell onto the ground with the rotting lump of flesh trying to gnaw through my skin. I quickly fired off my freezing touch, and the hulk’s mouth froze completely shut. I took my one opportunity and managed to get my bare hands up and break the soft, worm infested skull of the zombie. It now fell lifeless off of me, but I was now covered in horrible bile, rotting flesh, and worms that had been feasting on the zombie’s brains. Pleasant, I know. I stripped off the shirt I had been wearing and vomited all over it. I gave a shudder and sent a healing spell through the place where my arm had been bitten.

My daily life in the prison had not been one to help my physical condition, and I was exhausted now. I dragged myself back up to my friend the skeleton and collapsed. I slipped into a deep sleep, and awoke to a small mouse licking my right foot. In any other place and time, I would have simply kicked the mouse away. However, I was still terrified from my encounter with the zombie, and I brought a rock down on the mouse. It managed to get away with only a squashed tail, and I once again slipped into an uneasy slumber.

I pulled on the leather armor I had found on the skeleton and found it to be very well fitting. It was cumbersome, but I did not want to face whatever else lurked in this place unprotected. It was hard to judge time in this place, but judging by refreshment, I slept for less then 20 minutes.

I decided that I should keep moving, and proceeded past the corridor filled with the stench of death and vomit. I came upon a room littered with bones and somewhat fresh food. And rats. Always rats. I gave up on my decision to only use my axe, and fried them from a safe distance. I was glad to have the little knowledge I had about Destruction magic.

Here I sit now, sorting through this pile of bones and rusty armor, trying to find something of use. I have found a bit of cheese which appears safe, as well as a tomato and some lettuce. After the memory of the prison slop returned to me, I have decided that slightly limp lettuce and bruised tomato isn’t so bad. After this short lunch (Dinner? Breakfast? What time is it?), I will continue on my way.

1: Assassins

I shall explain my escape now, although some of it is a blur as i was very excited at the time. Someone did indeed come, and they were not prison guards. They came up to my cell and exchanged some hurried words before telling me to stand away from the door. A large, well muscled Redguard came up to me and pinned me to the wall.

"Stay put prisoner! I wont think twice about killing you." The redguard lessened his grip at this, and I simply nodded. He was incredibly strong, and had nearly lifted me off my feet in one movement. He and two of his compatriots were adorned in very sturdy-looking armor that I recognized as from the Blades. The Blades are a not-so-secret secret service to the Emperor, and they work always beside him. As the other two Blades entered, I recognized the Emperor and bowed my head to him. I didn't know why he was in my cell, but i thought respect was in order. The Emperor did not even notice me for a moment, more concerned with what he had left behind him. Each Blade showed signs of weariness, especially the woman. She was in a terrible state. Her body stood at the ready, but her eyes were dark and empty, almost lifeless. As the Emperor turned his focus on the room, he noticed me and gave a barely audible gasp.

"You! I've Seen you! You are the one from my dreams! Then the stars were right, and this is the day. Gods give me strength!” I nearly missed what he said, for his eyes were haunting. They were like the stars, two glowing pools of mystery. They were also weary beyond comparison, and drooped as he finished his exclamation.

“My Lord, what can I do to serve you?” I am not sure why I said this, because I am not exactly the most loyal of subjects, as can be seen by my presence in the jail. I just could not refuse his gaze, it made me want to drop to my knees and beg forgiveness for my crimes.

“Right now, you can give me access to your cell.” He smiled faintly, but then a worried look marred his face once more.

“My Lord, what is wrong?” I glanced at the female Blade, she was examining the wall next to my bed very intently.

“Assassins attacked my sons, and I am next. My blades are leading me out of the city via a secret escape route.” At this point the Female Blade gave a grunt and pushed in a brick in the wall.

“Found it my Lord! We should really get moving!” She gave a worried glance back towards my cell door, but then refocused on me.

“Wait a moment. Prisoner, what you have done to be in this cell is inconsequential compared to what you will accomplish. You will not be remembered for that crime.” His eyes continued to pierce my skin, and my eyes began to water.

“What should I do, my Lord?” I tried to control my blinking so that I would neither dry out my eyes nor go into a blinking spasm.

“You will find your own path. Take care, there will be blood and death before the end.” I took in his words and shivered despite myself. I had not realized until now his amazing charisma. His deep voice held such knowledge and power that anything he said, I believed. And I must once again mention his eyes.

“My lord…” Began the exhausted Blade.

“Yes, yes Captain. I am finished with the prisoner… for now. Let him follow us however.”

“Yes Lord.” The captain gave me a harsh glance and moved off towards my bed. I half expected her to run into the wall, but where my bed once was, there was now a passageway. I gasped and mentally reprimanded myself for not searching my cell carefully. A secret passageway! I would have to be more diligent in my observations.

As the captain descended down the dark slope, the Emperor turned from me and followed her. The two remaining blades moved after him, making sure there was some distance between me and the Emperor. The procession continued down a staircase and around a corner. All seemed well, until heavily armored men jumped down from a side passageway and assaulted the captain. She made a valiant effort, but she was outnumbered three to one, and fell quickly to the assassins’ blows.

The other two blades rushed forward to protect the emperor. As they moved, so did I. I picked up the fallen captain’s sword and started hacking at any exposed assassin I could find. I am not skilled with the blade, and my attempts to help were futile, almost laughable. I realized my ineptitude, and instead fired a few weak fireballs at the assassins. The battle was quick, and the two other blades were more than a match for the assassins. As they fell, their armor ceased to exist. It was an interesting way for armor to dissipate, because even conjured items do not disappear so violently. This armor dissipated as if it was angry to do so, creating a small cloud of warm magical interference around the dead.

“Captain Renault?” The Emperor asked from a fair distance away.

“She is dead sire.” This came from the quiet Redguard who had been in the back since he had entered my cell. “We must keep moving. Don’t worry, we’ll get you out of here, these assassins wont be the first to underestimate the Blades." He turned to me. "Prisoner, stay here. We cant let you follow us.” I looked at the emperor, and he gave me a sly wink. With that they took off through a door, which I heard lock behind them.

I took stock of what was around me. The room was full of loose bricks and broken architecture, but I was still surprised when a couple of rats broke through the wall. They were easy enough to dispatch, even with my case of magical atrophy. As I flung a few flames at them, I remembered another easy spell. It was close range, and still did very little damage, but it was enough to freeze a rat solid. I peeked into the dark hole that they came from, and decided not to proceed until I had collected anything I could find on the assassins. I searched the assassins, finding a single potion of healing and nothing else. Obviously these men could see in the dark without torches, but I could not remember even a simple spell of night eye.

After a quick search of Captain Renault’s corpse and the immediate area around her, I found what I was looking for. A torch that still glowed faintly and a shortsword. Not much, but I was more effective with the smaller weapon then I would ever be with the hefty sword the Blade had used.

Now, here I sit. I am surrounded by corpses and dead rats, and have a limited amount of supplies and spells. The robes of the assassins still have a faint magical glow to them, but there is nothing on them to indicate a magical item. I shall decide what to take with me, and move on to discover whatever secrets the rat hole has. Judging by what I have seen so far, they will be full of surprises.

Prologue: Stretch Those Legs.

Another day, another bit of my life sucked into this hellhole. Soon though, soon i shall be free, i can feel it in the winds. Of course, I mean the damp, moldy air that fills my cell and the rest of the prison, but thats beside the point. Something is happening, I just don't know what.
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Something IS coming! I heard a shout from one of the outside guards a minute ago. Whatever it was, it was certainly no stray imp. I tried to use my skills with mysticism to reach out and See, but I have become so weak over these months spent in prison... I just couldn't do it. I tried some of my other magical skills, which resulted in a small burst of flame and a weak healing spell that barely soothed the burns on my hands. My time in this prison has been short, but it has had its way with me... if i do not get out soon, i will wither away here...
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The prison has grown quiet once again, but i sense something is still wrong. No guards have been down here in the last few hours. They usually come down every fifteen minutes to poke at me or beat up the dunmer in the other cell. Vicious Imperials they are... The Redguards never treat us that way. Hang on... Some one is coming...
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I AM FREE!!! MY TIME IN THAT DAMN CELL HAS COME TO AN END! TAMRIEL HERE I COME!!
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Perhaps I was a bit hasty in my earlier entry... I have a bit more work to do to get out, but at least i have space to move! By the Gods! I simply could not stretch in the horrid cell. Well now, It seems i havent documented my escape properly... Well, I'll try soon...