tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49492077665302738372024-03-08T10:29:02.409-05:00Out of MournholdA narrative of The Elder Scrolls III: MorrowindUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-35193673332820022712014-03-29T01:21:00.000-04:002014-03-29T18:36:21.207-04:00Dov Ronaan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hello!<br />
<br />
After several months of editing and revamping Merill's story, Dov Ronaan has restarted! Thank you very much for your patience.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://dovronaan.blogspot.com/2014/03/prologue.html?zx=8baac95bf4f9e4d2">Click here to read the prologue on Dov Ronaan's site</a><br />
<a href="https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10225268/1/Dov-Ronaan">Click here to read the prologue on FF.net</a><br />
<br />
Please enjoy!<br />
C<br />
<br />
<b>edit: forgot to make the new blog viewable last night, sorry! should be up now</b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-33178432348954047172014-01-06T22:24:00.003-05:002014-01-06T22:24:40.690-05:00Some updates<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As per the request of a few different readers, the narrative is now uploaded on Fanfiction.net. My Skyrim narrative, when it's finished, will be there as well (but I'll also put it on the designated blog! Sorry I had to take it down - I decided to do some major revamping of some of the plot points and character background, so I'm doing a lot of editing right now but it should start going up again in a few weeks).<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The stories are also now available for download (for offline reading):</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.4shared.com/office/EknCiojIba/Out_of_Mournhold.html">Out of Mournhold</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.4shared.com/office/JgBIOXkAce/OoM_-_Tribunal.html">Part 2 (Tribunal)</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://www.4shared.com/office/JL_vWQhSba/OoM_-_Solstheim.html">Part 3 (Bloodmoon)</a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Please excuse the sloppy formatting! :)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
C</div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-30364666586568269002013-05-31T20:08:00.003-04:002013-05-31T20:08:50.635-04:00x<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
(((This is just a reminder that my new story starts tomorrow! Link in the sidebar! :))))<br /></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-48708706398714239012013-04-06T14:22:00.001-04:002013-04-06T14:22:16.542-04:00Acknowledgements<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Wow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
looked at the original document for the Out of Mournhold recently and saw that
I started writing it in March of 2010, over three years ago. I do remember that
I started it completely on a whim, because I’d been playing Morrowind and I was
bored. I’d tried writing a story about Morrowind before, but it had never
really worked out. I guess it just took the right combination of character and
elements to create a story I truly enjoyed writing, and that character was Fen.
But I didn’t make OoM what it is on my own.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">First
and foremost, I must thank those who made the all the mods I used in my game –
primarily Kateri for Julan Kaushibael and Princess Stomper for Royal CharGen,
the two that contributed the most to the story. I also must thank (in no
particular order) the Unofficial Morrowind Patch team, Psychdog Studios,
Slartibartfast, Emma, the Tamriel Rebuilt team, Voltayre, Felix, Marcel
Hesselbarth, Korana, Cydine and Maboroshi Daikon, Dark Angel, CanadianIce,
Vality, Westley, Qarl, and Shadre for their incredibly well-made mods that I
used.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Tamriel Rebuilt team again, for their name generator that saved the
authenticity of <i>Out of Mournhold </i>many
times.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 2.25in; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I must also pay extreme gratitude
to Zayphod, whose fantastic story <i>The
Life and Times of Eldorf the Wise </i>first inspired me to narrate Elder
Scrolls games. Continuing that same vein I would like to thank all those who
read my ill-fated Oblivion story, <i>Blood
Tide, </i>and didn’t try to hunt me down when it ended prematurely.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Gix,
whose lovely Let’s Play of Morrowind made me fall in love with the game again
after a long affair with Oblivion. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">My
dear friend Harrison, who first gave me the [much, much smarter] idea of
writing the entire story <i>before </i>making
it public to ensure that I wouldn’t lose interest and stop writing it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
people at <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Bethesda</st1:city></st1:place>
for creating such a beautiful game. I know video games are rarely considered
“works of art,” but Morrowind truly is in ways I simply cannot describe. Thank
you so much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Thank
you to my readers! I don’t have a lot of readers, but I know that you are all
so lovely, and getting your emails makes my day. And being popular doesn’t
matter a whole lot to me. I’m happier that there are a small number of people
reading and enjoying Fen’s story every other week. The Elder Scrolls community
is easily the most intelligent and kindest group of people I have ever had the
pleasure of meeting on the internet, and I am so grateful for the time I have
gotten to spend with them. Thank you all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
most importantly, my old friend Erika, who first introduced me to Morrowind so
many years ago. Erika, I know you will probably never read this and we will
probably never see one another again, but just know that I owe this entire
portion of my life to you for showing me this incredible game. You are an amazing
person.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">That being said, I'm excited to finally reveal the other big project I've been working on the past few months - a Skyrim narrative that will be called <b><a href="http://dovronaan.blogspot.com/">Dov Ronaan</a>. </b>It isn't quite done yet and I need some time to finish up some things irl, so chapters will start going up on <b>June 1st, 2013. </b>It was a lot fun writing a character that's so vastly different from Fen, and I hope you'll read and enjoy it, even though we all know Skyrim doesn't hold a candle to Morrowind.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I
first started writing <i>Out of Mournhold </i>on
a whim one day, and I had no idea that it would transform into something like
this. All of you have helped me reach the place I am today, and I am so
thankful for that. I am going to miss Fen and Julan more than I can bear, but
knowing all of you read and looked forward to each chapter of their adventure
will help.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Thank
you. You have made our journey very sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Celestina<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-8573357451996260472013-04-06T14:11:00.002-04:002013-04-06T14:11:25.042-04:00Epilogue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: .5in; text-indent: .5in;">
<b><i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"></span></i></b></div>
<a name='more'></a><b><i>Mysterious
Akavir<o:p></o:p></i></b><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Akavir
means "Dragon Land". Tamriel means "Dawn's Beauty." Atmora
means "Elder Wood". Only the Redguards know what Yokuda ever meant.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Akavir
is the kingdom of the beasts. No Men or Mer live in Akavir, though Men once
did. These Men, however, were eaten long ago by the vampiric Serpent Folk of
Tsaesci. Had they not been eaten, these Men would have eventually migrated to Tamriel.
The Nords left Atmora for Tamriel. Before them, the Elves had abandoned
Aldmeris for Tamriel. The Redguards destroyed Yokuda so they could make their
journey. All Men and Mer know Tamriel is the nexus of creation, where the Last
War will happen, where the Gods unmade Lorkhan and left their Adamantine Tower
of secrets. Who knows what the Akaviri think of Tamriel, but ask yourself: why
have they tried to invade it three times or more?<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>There
are four major nations of Akavir: Kamal, Tsaesci, Tang Mo, and Ka Po' Tun. When
they are not busy trying to invade Tamriel, they are fighting with each other.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Kamal
is "Snow Hell". Demons live there, armies of them. Every summer they
thaw out and invade Tang Mo, but the brave monkey-folk always drive them away.
Once Ada'Soom Dir-Kamal, a king among demons, attempted to conquer Morrowind,
but Almalexia and the Underking destroyed him at Red Mountain.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Tsaesci
is "Snake Palace", once the strongest power in Akavir (before the
Tiger-Dragon came). The serpent-folk ate all the Men of Akavir a long time ago,
but still kind of look like them. They are tall, beautiful (if frightening),
covered in golden scales, and immortal. They enslave the goblins of the
surrounding isles, who provide labor and fresh blood. The holdings of Tsaesci
are widespread. When natives of Tamriel think of the Akaviri they think of the
Serpent-Folk, because one ruled the Cyrodilic Empire for four hundred years in
the previous era. He was Potentate Versidue-Shaie, assassinated by the Morag
Tong.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Tang Mo
is the "Thousand Monkey Isles". There are many breeds of monkey-folk,
and they are all kind, brave, and simple (and many are also very crazy). They
can raise armies when they must, for all of the other Akaviri nations have, at
one time or another, tried to enslave them. They cannot decide who they hate
more, the Snakes or the Demons, but ask one, and he will probably say,
"Snakes". Though once bitter enemies, the monkey-folk are now allies
with the tiger-folk of Ka Po' Tun.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>Ka Po'
Tun is the "Tiger-Dragon's Empire". The cat-folk here are ruled by
the divine Tosh Raka, the Tiger-Dragon. They are now a very great empire,
stronger than Tsaesci (though not at sea). After the Serpent-Folk ate all the
Men, they tried to eat all the Dragons. They managed to enslave the Red
Dragons, but the black ones had fled to (then) Po Tun. A great war was raged,
which left both the cats and the snakes weak, and the Dragons all dead. Since
that time the cat-folk have tried to become the Dragons. Tosh Raka is the first
to succeed. He is the largest Dragon in the world, orange and black, and he has
very many new ideas.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 1.0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto;">
<i>"First,"
Tosh Raka says, "is that we kill all the vampire snakes." Then the
Tiger-Dragon Emperor wants to invade Tamriel.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 1.0in; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Fen let the
book fall closed in her lap. It was the fourth time she had read it that week,
and still she could not make sense of what it was trying to say. There was
something there, she knew, but what it was she could not tell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She put the book aside and dug
through the other stacks that had accumulated upon her desk throughout the
evening until she managed to draw out a desk clock that had gotten lost under
the books and papers. The spindly gold hands read 3:32 in the morning. Nearly
four hours Fen had been poring over <i>Mysterious
Akavir,</i> and still nothing. She set the clock aside and looked halfheartedly
at her tea, perched atop a stack of books, which had undoubtedly gone stone
cold since it’d been poured. Fen leaned back in her seat, instinctively
reaching to fiddle with Julan’s telepathy ring on her finger. It had been three
years since she had seen him in the Mortaag Glacier, five since the Clockwork
City, and she still wore the ring constantly, holding on to the slight hope
that he might appear again, if only briefly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As Fen stood to stretch, only then
realizing how tired she was, she heard hurried footsteps and a hand fumbling
with the door to her study. She took hold of Trueflame, sitting on a small
table beside her desk, and rested a hand on its hilt, ready to draw it out, when
the door finally opened and a serving girl stumbled in, looking exhausted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Oh! Your Grace, please excuse me,
I thought you’d have gone to bed.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s quite all right,” Fen told
her, relaxing and lowering Trueflame onto the table. She folded her dressing
gown closed, tying the lace over the front as she gestured the girl into the
dim study.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There’s a man here, Your Grace.
From Ald’ruhn. He says he needs to speak to you urgently, and he
looks…disheveled.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“From Ald’ruhn?” Fen frowned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes, Your Grace.” The man was
indeed disheveled, to put it lightly, Fen saw as she entered the audience
chamber, flanked by guards. His dark hair had been singed and half burnt off
and his clothes were torn and blackened with soot. A purple bruise had begun to
form across his face and blood ran down one cheek from a nasty-looking cut
beneath his hair. He was barefoot, and barely standing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen looked angrily to the guard on
her right. “What is the meaning of this? Get this man healer at once.” The
guard nodded once and hurried back to the Imperial Cult shrine. The man on the
ground coughed, spitting up blood onto the stone floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“P – Please, Your Grace, I must
speak with you first.” Fen knelt beside him, taking his shoulder and helping
him sit upright. “There has been – a g – great attack on Ald’ruhn, a horrible
attack.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“An attack by whom?” Fen asked
urgently, struggling to keep him upright as his eyes drooped.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Some sort of portal opened just
outside the gate, Your G – Grace. Daedra spilled out, horrible, h – horrible
Daedra, and so many, destroying everything, killing everyone they saw…” he
coughed again, blood dribbling down his chin. “There weren’t enough guards,
they were destroying the city, they were…” He doubled over, wheezing violently.
The healer emerged from behind the thrones, hurrying toward them and already
opening his bag, and Fen quickly stepped back to let him go to work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Send a messenger to Andasreth,”
she said hastily to one of the guards beside her. “Armour him well, and see if
this is true and try to see if any of the councilors are still alive.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Not directly to Ald’ruhn, Your
Grace?” the guard asked, keeping in step with her as she started back toward
the Upper Palace.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t want anyone teleporting
into the middle of a town overrun by Daedra,” she replied quickly as the doors
were swung open for her. “And rouse Effe-Tei and my grandmother, ask them to
come to the main reception chambers. And Vedaves and Ethaso and Athesi. Raram
too. And Karrod.” The guard nodded once and careened off down another hall
while Fen continued the brisk walk down through a courtyard and into the main
reception chamber. A servant quickly bustled in after her to light the lamps as
Fen anxiously circled the table. It seemed like only a day ago she had been
here in conference with her father and Duke Dren, discussing the Imperial
colonization of Solstheim that had led to her participation in the Bloodmoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What’s happened?” Fen turned and
saw Barenziah had entered, her snowy hair loose around her shoulders. A second
later Karrod hurried behind her, fully armoured, taking up his position on
Fen’s right side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It seems the attacks that are
happening in Cyrodiil have begun here as well,” Fen said as a few of her
advisors hastily joined them around the table. “But all we have to go off of
are rumours, as we’ve had barely any correspondence from the empire since Uriel
Septim was assassinated.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She did her best to explain what
she believed to be happening, and as she finished, a messenger from the
infirmary came in to tell her that the man from Ald’ruhn had died.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Not long after, the messenger from
Ald’ruhn retuned, haltingly describing the confusion he faced in the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I didn’t see any people, just
bodies, everywhere. There were loads of Daedra, more than I could have ever
imagined, just walking about the place, going around all the burning houses and
shops. Skar was completely sideways, half-buried in the ground, and that portal
was still open, all red and firey and spilling out more Daedra every minute.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The other Great House Councilors
were summoned to Mournhold, and they had all arrived by the time dawn broke. Fen
had dispatched nearly five hundred men to Ald’ruhn with no word back. They
worked late into the next night, sending letters and messengers and pages for
everything they could think of, trying to work out a way to understand what was
happening. It was only when Velanda Omani slipped off her chair in exhaustion
that they called for a brief recess.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Have we sent word to the other
provinces?” Fen asked, for the third time, as she and Effe-Tei left the chamber
together, Karrod close behind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes, Your Grace,” the Argonian
replied, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. “And we have not heard from any of
them. All we know is that the city of Kvatch has been destroyed, likely in a
way similar to Ald’ruhn.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A fine job Ocato is doing, not
even telling us what’s happening,” Fen snapped irritatedly. “I tell you,
Effe-Tei, if it were not for the economy and trade revenue we get from the
Empire I would have broken off Morrowind long ago.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Your Grace.” A passing page
stopped and bowed as she neared him, then quickly stepped forward. “There is a
man here wishing to speak with you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Who is it?” Fen asked, pausing and
rubbing her eyes. “A councilor? I told the steward to –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Not a councilor, Your Grace,
someone different. He will not tell us his name, only that he must speak with
you immediately.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t have time to see every man
that strides into Mournhold demanding an audience at once,” Fen replied
shortly. “Surely a steward can –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He refuses to leave without a
personal conversation, Your Grace.” The page quieted, but looked as if he
wanted to speak again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What is it?” Fen prompted tiredly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I do think you should receive him,
Your Grace. He does not look like he is…uh…Tamrielic.” Fen gave the page an odd
look, but he quickly bowed again and went on his way. She glanced at Effe-Tei,
who shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I would say it is worth
investigating, Your Grace,” the Argonian told her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The man was indeed not from
Tamriel. He stood with his back to Fen as she entered the small reception
chamber where he waited, and when he turned she found herself more caught
off-guard than she had imagined she would be.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ah, Queen Fenara Almalexia Helseth,”
he said, his voice strangely slurred in some places and accented in others.
“You are as fair as they claimed you were in the stories.” His eyes were a pale
sea-green, bright beneath heavy brows, and while his bronzed skin was smooth,
it seemed to bristle like fur when he moved. Dark stripes started at his cheeks
and disappeared into finely ornamented armour of gold and steel, etched with
designs of flowers and vines. He wore his dark hair down his back in an
intricate braid tied with hanging cloth knots. For a moment Fen could only
stare, taken aback as she was by the stranger’s appearance. Once she regained
her composure, she held out a hand for him to take and offered a tired smile.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t use the name ‘Almalexia’
anymore,” she told him. It had been years since anyone had addressed her as
such. “To whom do I owe the pleasure of this…unexpected visit?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I am Shavir Baadar Raka Ka Po’
Tun, Lady Queen,” the man said, bowing deeply. “And I have come for an audience
with you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I am sorry to be forward,” Fen
began as Shavir straightened. “But I am going to hazard a guess and say you are
not of Tamriel.” Shavir smiled, his slanted green eyes bright.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They said you were clever as well,
Queen Fenara, and I had a feeling it was true. No, I am not of Tamriel. I hail
from Ka Po’ Tun, called the Tiger-Dragon Empire in your tongue, a land across
the Padomaic Sea known as –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“ – Akavir.” Fen finished for him,
and Shavir smiled again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Quite so, my Lady Queen. I am
surprised you know of my land. It seems few Tamriels understand where I come
from.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We have few resources in the way
of Akavir,” Fen told him, gesturing for him to sit. “And those we do have are
considered incomplete or inaccurate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes, there is certainly a…poor
history between our nations,” Shavir said, almost amused, accepting a cup of
flin from a serving girl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If I may be forward again, serjo,”
Fen began, gesturing for the servant to leave. “Morrowind is faced with a very
uncertain time, and I have urgent business I must attend to. I would love to
entertain you as a guest for as long as you wish to stay, but I’m afraid you’ve
come to Mournhold at a very inconvenient time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ah, but good queen, I have come at
the most opportune of times.” He leaned forward on the table, green eyes
flashing. “I was once in the service of Emperor Tosh Raka, His Divine Holiness
and Lord King of the Ka Po’ Tun. When we conquered the dragon-men, Tosh Raka
became a dragon and was known to be divine. He plots to invade Tamriel and
consume it in his dragonfire.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The Akaviri have made attempts to
destroy Tamriel before,” Fen replied skeptically. “They never ended well for
Akavir.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But this would be different. Tosh
Raka has been preparing for this battle for many years, more than you could
think to comprehend. He has our own armies at his back alongside those of the
Tang Mo, and the Akavir are anxious to exact revenge upon the Tamriels that
once wronged us.” There was silence for a time, Fen’s scarlet eyes boring into
the Akaviri’s sea green ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why are you telling me this?” She
finally asked, and a small smile twitched at Shavir’s lips.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We are very loyal to our king, my
Lady Queen, but we live a long time, and we have all seen many years of
suffering. We do not desire war. If you could come with me to Akavir and plead
your case to Tosh Raka, we believe that you could convince him to forge a peace
between our nations. And, if you can broker that, we can help you with the
crisis here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How?” Fen asked skeptically.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“In our capitol city of Kavir
S’Raka Tosh is the greatest library in all the world. My people have been on
this world far longer than yours, and our scholars and sages have acquired all
the great knowledge in the world. I spoke to them before I departed for this
world.” His sea-green eyes glimmered. “They assured me that there is an answer
to your problems within their shelves.” Fen returned his gaze readily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I wish I was in a position to
leave at any time, serjo, but I cannot up and abandon my people, especially
now. Perhaps I could send an emissary back with you in my stead…?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No,” he replied at once. “No, it
must be you. Tosh Raka will not hear the words of any others. You must be the
one to speak against the war.” Fen rubbed her eyes. They knew very little of
Akavir on Tamriel – she had no idea if this was some sort of plot to get her
out of the way or if the strange Khajiit-like man sincerely wished to help her.
It was impossible to know. <i>But I’m
running out of options. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How long is the voyage to Akavir?”
she asked after a time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Half a day, in a good Ka Po’Tun
vessel.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That quickly?” Shavir nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We have magicks that make travel
easier.” Fen stood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I won’t be able to give you an
answer until I have a clearer idea of what’s going on in the rest of
Morrowind,” she told him. “I hope you’ll be able to stay until then.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Certainly,” Shavir replied simply.
“But I would not tarry too long, Queen. For the fate of both our countries
rests on this decision.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Morrowind’s fate, at least, was
looking grimmer and grimmer as the hours wore on. Fen had been building up a
standing army during her reign as queen in preparation for resistance from the
Empire when they eventually seceded, but it was not near enough to control the
situation. The Imperial troops had been recalled to Cyrodiil to defend their
own cities. The Redoran had started to fight, she’d heard, but it was a losing
battle. It seemed like they were brought more news of desolation across
Vvardenfell and the mainland every few hours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Barenziah, to her granddaughter’s
surprise, did not seem overly shocked at the Akaviri’s proposition.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We don’t have many other options
at this point,” she’d said grimly as they took a brief break from the council
on the terrace over the gardens.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I could go see one of these
gates,” Fen had suggested. “See if I can figure out how to close it myself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’re one person, you expect to
close every one? And on the chance that you get killed, Morrowind will have no
heir and will fall into chaos again.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ve done an awful lot that gives
me the chance to get killed and it hasn’t happened yet,” Fen reminded her.
Barenziah sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The decision is up to you, my
dear,” she said. “If this Akaviri speaks the truth, we may be able to learn a
great deal from them.” Fen stared out at the tired, cloudy sky over Mournhold,
the silent gardens and the bustle of the great city beyond.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then I’ll go,” she said firmly. “I
will do anything to protect my people.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The other councilors were much more
surprised than Barenziah, most expressing skepticism. Fen challenged them to
find a better solution to the Daedra portals, though, and they were silent. The
following morning dawned pale and pink, the shell-coloured sky greeting them as
the cart trundled into Necrom. Fen sat in the back, looking up as the day drew
to an end, Azura’s star shining down at her. They’d left hours before daybreak,
her, Shavir, and a small retinue to get them safely on their way. She’d been
unable to sleep last night, instead writing a short letter to the Dunmer people
to be distributed the next day, explaining that she had gone to find answers
and would be back within a week. Her grandmother had said little before they
left, fixing her with a knowing look and promising that she would look after
Morrowind. <i>They need someone,</i> Fen had
said. <i>They need someone to look to while
I’m gone.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They did not cause a scene when
they entered Necrom. Fen’s letter had not been sent out yet, and she didn’t
want to cause a panic riding through. Shavir had left his vessel slightly to
the north of Necrom’s docks, and they were unhindered as they followed the road
out of the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Akaviri commanded them to stop
just as Necrom dropped out of sight, though Fen could see no boats along the
coastline. The guards and laymen that had accompanied them looked confused, but
jumped down and began unloading the wagon all the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where’s your ship?” Fen asked, her
boots squelching into the muddy shore.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You don’t expect me to let it get
stolen by Tamriel thieves, do you? Here,” he said simply, and he drew his arm
in a wide, simple arc. The water, still purple with the reflection of the setting
sun, began to churn, turning over itself and bubbling as a mast emerged, then a
prow, and, gradually, an entire ship rose out from the sea, water spraying off
its decks. The vessel was unlike anything Fen had ever seen – carved from some
sort of twisted wood, hung with green-glass lanterns, outfitted with a sail
made from some sort of woven hide and painted with bizarre, angular designs. It
was a small ship, but Fen still couldn’t imagine how one man could sail it
alone. The laymen, too, looked baffled, but with a word from Fen they proceeded
to carry the supplies on board, staring up at the strange carved wood and
muttering to one another as they did so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How does that work, exactly?” she
asked, shouldering her bag and making sure Trueflame was in place on her belt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It’s a simple enchantment,” Shavir
told her brightly. “I can teach it to you when we reach Ka Po’Tun.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Perhaps on a visit,” Fen replied
firmly. “I need to figure out how to stop these attacks and get back to
Morrowind as soon as possible.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Of course, Lady Queen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You sure you don’t need a crew,
Queen Fenara?” one of the guards asked her as the laymen stored the last few
crates and jogged through the shallows to the shore. Fen glanced at Shavir for
an answer, and he smiled his strange, catlike grin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, thank you, friend, but an
Akaviri ship takes only one man to sail.” He nodded to Fen. “When you are
ready, Lady Queen.” He turned, wading out into the surf and climbing lithely up
onto the deck.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank you,” Fen told the guards
and the laymen, and, to her surprise, they all suddenly sank to their knees in
the mud before her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Don’t be too long in Akavir, Queen
Nerevarine,” one of them told her, and the others murmured agreement. Fen bade
them to stand and one of the guards met her gaze readily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You were the first person to bring
the Dunmer hope in hundreds of years, my Queen,” he said earnestly. “Morrowind
could not go on without you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I won’t be more than a week,” Fen
assured them, trying to keep her face blank, but she was touched by their
sudden devotion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen turned from them and followed
Shavir into the surf, climbing up and jumping over the railing into the ship.
When she turned back, she saw their her retinue standing at attention, their
arms outstretched and holding up four fingers toward her, the traditional
Dunmer salute to a great hero. They stood stock still, each with a hand held
out, their faces stoic. Fen straightened her back and returned the salute,
giving them a nod. The sky was growing darker now, and the wind pulled a few
hairs loose from her braid and made them dance around her face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are you ready, Queen Fenara?”
Shavir asked her from the steering deck, and she looked back at him and nodded.
He went to the prow of the ship and raised his arms, green light winding from
his palms and down his arms, soaking into the very wood of the ship. The great
vessel shuddered, its sails unfurling and filing with wind as it lurched and
turned suddenly, pointing out toward the vast emptiness of the Padomaic Ocean.
Fen stood at the rail, watching as the jagged cliffs and hills of Morrowind
began to drop away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’ve
grown so much, </span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">she thought, her hands curling around the rough, carved
railing. She thought of how lost she’d been that first day in Balmora,
stumbling into the cornerclub and shrinking away from Caius Cosades in fear.
She remembered how blindly she’d traipsed around Vvardenfell, gradually growing
stronger, braver, as she worked spells and enchantments through her fingertips,
fought off adversaries that blocked her at every turn, the first time she’d
killed a man. Remembered when Moon-and-Star had fallen into her palms, when
Azura had spoken to her and told her of her destiny. She thought of the
conversation she’d had with Hasphat Antabolis in the Fighter’s Guild, how he’d
asked her the question that had stuck in her mind for years: <i>What about you? Are you going to change the
world? Or just be carried by the flow?</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She supposed she’d changed the
world, though that seemed like such a grand way of putting it. It had been her
fate as Nerevarine to put an end to Dagoth Ur, but it was her own love for
Morrowind that led her to push even further than that, to strike down the names
of the Tribunal and take her place as queen after her father’s death, change
the way the Dunmer viewed the world from a grim perspective of ash and death to
one of light; of hope. And now she was going to Akavir to help again. To save
Morrowind. <i>Because that’s why I did all
of it,</i> she thought. <i>For them. For my
home and for my people.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She slid Julan’s dark telepathy
ring from her finger and held it so that it perfectly encircled the setting
sun, letting the metal grow warm to the touch. Fen remembered when she’d found
him, about to be decimated by the clannfears she used to tease him relentlessly
about. She remembered how her frustration in the world had boiled over then,
how she’d shouted at him and grudgingly agreed to let him follow her for a
time. Fen closed her eyes, letting the ocean spray cool her face. <i>He died so that you could live. </i>She knew
that now, that the Ahemmusa had memorialized him as a hero for saving the life
of the Nerevarine. And she knew that he was proud of how he had gone. And that
he was proud of her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">So she let herself look forward.
She stepped away from the stern, going to join Shavir at the prow and look out
at the endless ocean that stretched out before them. She would go to Akavir and
return. And when she did, she would continue to live as Julan would have wanted
her to – for her people. The night had almost completely taken hold of the sky
now, and Fen looked up at Azura’s star, fading into the darkness but still
there, watching over her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And so Fenara Helseth, the Queen of
Morrowind, the Nerevarine – but really just Fen – turned her eyes forward, into
the great unknown.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-21093182296976348892013-04-06T14:10:00.000-04:002013-04-06T14:10:22.396-04:00XIV - Aftermath<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was very cold. All she could think about was the cold and
the wet. Slowly, Fen cracked her eyes open and felt herself shiver. Her vision
was bleary, and she slowly sat up and realized she was covered in snow. And it
was so bright…</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen rubbed her eyes, letting the snow slide off her back. The
sun. It was morning. The sky was a cloudless blue and the sun had just risen
past the horizon. Huge chunks of ice jaggedly rose out of the snow all around
her, a few of them smoking and embedded with bits of stone and masonry. Fen
slowly got to her feet, staring around. She was near the coast, she could see
that, but that was all she could seem to gather from her surroundings. The
smell of rotting horker flesh permeated the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She found Trueflame, burning bright as ever even in the damp
snow, and sheathed it, glancing down at herself. Her nightclothes were torn and
seared and blackened and coated in dry, crusted blood. She felt her hair
hanging in a wild tangle about her head. She felt strangely empty.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Unsure of what to do, Fen made her way through the smoking
chunks of ice and rock to the coast, where she turned east and began to walk.
Her feet were long bare, and they had grown so cold that she failed to even
notice them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As the sun rose, Skaal Village came into view, the wooden
cabins perched high upon a snowy hill, and Fen climbed up and saw the village
was quiet, only a few people out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen? Is that Fen?” She turned and saw two of the Skaal
Honour Guard watching her, eyes wide. “Go and get the shaman,” one of them said
quickly, and the other dashed away. “Lady Fen, we…we thought you’d died.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I came awfully close,” Fen replied, and the second guard
came racing back with Korst Wind-Eye at his heels.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank the All-Maker,” Korst breathed, leaning heavily on his
cane. “Then…the Bloodmoon is over, and it shall not return until long after we
are gone from this earth.” Despite the stares of the Skaal, Fen accompanied
Korst back to his cabin, where he insisted she sit while he shakily put a
kettle on the fire. “No one slept last night, not even the children,” he told
her, settling in his chair and leaning his cane by the mantle. “I had everyone
move to the Greathall near midnight, to be safer, and when I sent someone to
fetch you they said your home was a mess and you were gone. We feared the
worst.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And so, haltingly, Fen explained all that had happened since
her capture, deciding to leave out Julan’s appearance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I had heard whispers on the wind of the fate of Heart-Fang,”
Korst said as Fen finished. He rubbed his beard, his eyes mournful. “He has
been tempted by dark magic and was corrupted by it. I can only hope that our
next leader will not suffer the same fate.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m sorry,” Fen muttered after a while. Korst gave her a
puzzled look. “It just seems like…wherever I go, this sort of thing happens.
Something goes wrong and people get hurt. I can’t help but feel like I brought
this on the Skaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, no, of course you did not, Lady Fen,” Korst said
quickly, shaking his head. “No, the Bloodmoon Prophecy would have happened with
or without your presence. In all honesty, I believe we are very lucky that you
came to us when you did. Had you not been there during the werewolf attack, I
fear we would have lost many more.” Fen leaned back in her seat, exhausted.
Korst was speaking, but she felt warm for the first time in years, and she
couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of contentment. A sense of peace
with everything around her, like her soul could finally rest easy…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen.” She forced her eyes open, realising that she had been
dozing off in the warmth of the fire, and smiled apologetically at Korst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m sorry,” she told him wearily. “I’ve just…had a bit of a
long evening.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Of course,” the shaman told her. “You should rest.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I can’t,” she insisted, getting to her feet. “I’m needed
back in Mournhold. I need to take the first ship back.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Always in a rush, young folk,” Korst said with a smile,
pushing himself up with his cane. He went to his desk, cluttered with leaves
and books and scrolls, and drew an amulet from one of the drawers. “Know that
you are always welcome here,” he told her firmly, taking her hand and letting
the amulet coil into it. Fen brought it up to see it clearly in the dim cabin
light – a small charm, round and red with a black wolf’s head inside. “You have
saved us all from a great and terrible threat. Without you, we would have
suffered a great deal more.” He smiled slightly, weary behind his greying beard,
and curled her fingers over the amulet. “Our hearths will always be open to you,
Blodskaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It seemed as if the entire village had lined up to watch her
departure as she closed the door on her small cottage, wrapped in furs with her
hair plaited down her back. The Skaal smiled as she moved through them,
clutching her hands and thanking her, saying she had the touch of the All-Maker
and asking her to bless their weapons. Risi Ice-Mane hugged her tearfully while
her other children looked on in wonder. Svenji Ice-Mane tugged at the end of
her cloak, and Fen knelt in the snow to see the little girl.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are you a god?” Svenji asked quietly, and Fen smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, child,” she told her, and the girl looked relieved.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Will you come back?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Someday, I’m sure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Korst insisted that a few of the Skaal Honour Guard accompany
her to Fort Frostmoth, and they traveled well enough, the sky clear and bright
and the warriors friendly and easy to talk with. They told her of the history
of Solstheim and the Skaal as they walked, and Fen was surprised to find that
she might miss the frigid island and the hardy, kindly Skaal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As they neared the docks of Fort Frostmoth, a great shouting
drew their attention, and the Honour Guard glanced at one another, their hands
moving to the pommels of their blades. They went around the fort to the dock,
where a crowd of soldiers stood in a knot before the small skiff, jeering.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What’s going on?” Fen asked one of the soldiers, who stood
back, leering and eating an apple. He only laughed. Fen glanced at the Skaal
that had accompanied her, though they looked just as puzzled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m <i>telling </i>you,
she’s here!” The voice rose sharply out from the cluster of soldiers, younger
and distinctly different, hoarser.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s a Dunmer,” Fen muttered, and she quickly stepped
forward, shoving the soldiers aside.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Get back to your pretty tiled city and your yellow goddess
with the big tits,” one of the soldiers said, and the others laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, no let <i>go </i>of
me, you brutish – <i>Princess!</i>” The
Dunmer stuck in the middle of the group had noticed her, and he pushed the
guards aside, struggling to get to her. They knocked him back, laughing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>Enough!</i>” Fen
shouted, and when they ignored her, she snapped her wrist into the air, a
silence spell flying from her fingertips. The soldiers fell abruptly silent and
stumbled back, puzzled. “Get back to your fort,” she told them coolly, and the
soldiers started back up the hill, glaring darkly at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Princess,” the Dunmer said urgently, hurrying across the
dock to her. “Oh, thank the gods I’ve found you, these n’wahs were no help at
all.” Merill glanced down, recognizing the seal on his cloak as that of a
Mournhold page. “You – you have to come now, Princess,” he told her hastily,
still trying to catch his breath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What’s happened?” she asked, taking hold of his shoulders to
steady him. <i>Why would they send a page all
the way to Solstheim to get me? </i>Barenziah’s face flashed in her mind and
anxiety overwhelmed her. “Is it my grandmother?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, no, Princess,” the page went on. “Your father. King
Helseth.” Fen felt her stomach drop. <i>No.
No, I’m just now getting to know him. Please, no.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What –” She took a deep breath. “What happened?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He’s been poisoned, Princess. He’s dying.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-18438729791919242072013-03-28T00:39:00.000-04:002013-03-28T00:39:03.786-04:00Julan update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi! If you use the Julan Ashlander Companion mod, just wanted to put it out there that Kateri just released a new version of it that can be found <a href="http://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1452298-relz-julan-ashlander-companion-20/">here</a>. The new stuff looks really awesome, I wish I had had it while playing Tribunal (especially considering how well it would have fit in with Fen...oh well).<br />
<br />
See you guys next week :)<br />
<br />
C</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-24942634385081655552013-03-23T09:31:00.000-04:002013-03-23T09:31:06.509-04:00XIII - The Hunter's Skill<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m not here to play your game,” Fen snarled, her free hand
tightening into a fist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>That is a shame,</i>”
Hircine replied. “<i>For you will play it
anyway. You have escaped my hounds and beaten back the other challengers.</i>”
The Daedra chuckled. “<i>I had rather
expected the giant to prevail. But he was beaten by the smallest competitor.
Ah, but no matter. You have proven yourself a worthy hunter, and you have
earned the greatest honour that can be bestowed upon a mortal.</i>”</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Which is what, exactly?” Fen asked, dreading the answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>You are to be my prey.
We have little time – the Bloodmoon sinks low in the sky.</i>” Hircine slammed
his spear down upon the ground. “<i>Prepare
yourself, mortal, for now you are the Hunted.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Quite suddenly, Hircine’s spear was hurtling toward her, its
point sharp and quick. Fen rolled out of the way and the spear slammed into the
ground, cracking the stone. She mustered her remaining magicka and let of a
barrage of fire spells, forcing the god to stumble slightly. Hircine regained
himself quickly and swung the spear around again as Fen ducked behind a pillar.
The spear sliced off the top of the pillar as if it were made of bread, and Fen
had to quickly roll out of the way to avoid being crushed. She sent another
round of fire at him, and the air was thick with the smell of burning hair. He
moved toward her again, his steps making the chamber shake, and Fen dashed
around him, striking in vain at his legs with Trueflame. Hircine swung the
spear around and nearly took off her leg before she managed to duck out of the
way again.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Panicking, Fen cast an invisibility spell and ducked behind a
pillar on the other side of the room, trying to stifle her heavy breathing. She
had never been in a worse condition in a fight – she was tired and wounded,
with Trueflame as her only weapon and barely any magicka left, facing a Daedric
prince with a spear whose tip was longer than her torso. <i>I need help,</i> she thought desperately, but there was no one to offer
it. Teleportation magic did not work in the maze, and she had no amulets or
scrolls to recall her. She glanced down at her finger, where Julan’s dark,
still telepathy ring rested beneath Moon-and-Star. And as she watched, time
seemed to slow. The sound was gone from the chamber, and Hircine’s
earth-shattering footfalls and gloating taunts had faded into nothingness. Fen
looked down at the ring again. The green stone had begun to dance with familiar
light, and the metal grew hot around her finger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hardly daring to believe it, Fen raised her eyes and, sure
enough, he was there, standing mere metres away, his face worn.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m a mess,” she said at once, and a smile flickered onto
his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yeah, I’d say so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m about to die,” Fen said crossly, annoyed at his
cheeriness.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What makes you think that?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ve no magicka left, I can’t hit him with Trueflame, I’m
tired…” she shook her head. “I’m going to die.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If you’re going to die, why did you call me?” Fen frowned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I didn’t...”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You needed help. So I came to give you help.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But you’re…you’re…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I know. But I can still help you.” Fen shook her head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t understand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen, I’ve seen you. You’ve been so close to giving up so
many times since the Clockwork City.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I…I just…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If you give up, then that means I died for nothing, okay? Do
you want me to have died for nothing?” Fen closed her eyes, leaning heavily on
the pillar. Julan was right, she knew it. She had known it, for the past two
and a half years.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But how –?” Fen opened her eyes again, and suddenly
everything felt very real – the air was cold and Hircine was moving toward her
again. Julan’s ring was dark upon her finger. She glanced out from behind the
pillar then looked down at her hands and a sudden feeling of strength coursed
through her. She felt renewed, as if she had slept and woken up and had energy
to spare. Fen closed her eyes and, for the first time in nearly three years, a
genuine smile touched her lips. <i>Thank
you, Julan.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen sprang out from behind the pillar and sent three spells
of God’s Fire, one after the other, straight at Hircine, feeling more in
control than she ever had as the blistering heat seared loose from her palms.
She heard Hircine stumble and roar, and before he could regain his balance she
summoned a myriad of creatures and sent them swarming toward him. The distraction
gave her a chance to get a clear aim at him to throw every destruction spell
she could think of in his direction. Hircine roared in frustration and, with
one smooth swipe of his spear, cleared all of Fen’s summons from existence. He
swung the butt of his spear around and hit her in the chest, sending her flying
across the room to land, heavily winded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen regained her breath with surprising speed and sprang to
her feet, shoving the Daedra back with still more spells.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>Enough, mortal!</i>”
he screamed, sweeping aside her spells, his hair blackened and burned, his
voice twisted with frustration. “<i>This
ends!</i>” Fen darted around to one side of him, using his size to her
advantage to pepper him with spells from all angles. Hircine was quick though,
and the point of his spear stabbed all around her, cracking the stone and
sending ice and rock flying. Fen was sure she was about to finish him off with
a well-placed God’s Fire when his spear struck the ground right beside her,
cracking the earth and making her stumble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen slipped and fell onto her back, and Hircine raised his
spear high above her. The sight changed suddenly, and Hircine was Almalexia,
his spear Hopesfire, and Fen lay on the ground of the Clockwork City, about to
die. And then Julan came darting in, as he had a million times in her dreams,
and as the blade cut through his middle he turned to smoke and then Fen was in
the cavern again and Hircine was reeling away from her, screeching in pure,
unbridled rage, his spear abandoned upon the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen knew in a second what she had to do. Mustering up every
bit of remaining magicka she had, Fen lifted the spear telekinetically, her
arms raised high above her head. She felt sweat beading along her brow despite
the cold and her arms shook with the effort of magically lifting the massive
spear. As Hircine turned to face her, she threw her arms forward with all her
might, and the spear shot forward and buried itself deep into Hircine’s chest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Daedra let out a maddening, wolf-like howl, and he
collapsed to his knees, ice and stone raining down from the ceiling. Fen, too,
stumbled and fell, panting heavily as she watched Hircine slowly turn to dust
to be swept away by some invisible wind. The portal activated suddenly, and Fen
quickly sprang to her feet, seizing Trueflame from where she had dropped it and
sprinting through the falling ice and rock toward the gate. She closed her eyes
and dashed the last few metres, and just as the entire structure began to crack
and come apart, she felt herself bursting through the portal, and all the noise
was deadened and silenced as Fen was engulfed in cool, blue fire.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-2159366689406766082013-03-10T22:26:00.002-04:002013-03-10T22:26:16.993-04:00XII - The Inner Maze<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen slowly pushed herself up off the ground, grimacing at the
pain. She reached for Trueflame, holding it close as she slowly surveyed her
surroundings. She had hoped that the gate might end this Hunter’s Game, but it
seemed she was only in a new part of the maze.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a> <o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Chieftain?” Fen felt her nerves ease as the white-haired
Nord offered a hand to help her up.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I had a feeling you would be involved in this cruel game as
well, Fen,” he told her as she slid Trueflame into its sheath. “We’ve little
time, I fear. The frost giant Karstaag has gone ahead. Even now, I fear he may
win this battle before me.” Fen frowned at the statement, but Heart-Fang did
not seem to notice. “Perhaps together we may find our way to the end. What say
you?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Of course we’ll go together,” Fen replied uneasily. “There’s
got to be a way out of this place.” And so she continued through the maze with
Heart-Fang at her side this time rather than Carius, which proved to be far
more helpful. Heart-Fang was a better warrior and in better shape, and his
strategy was to go straight toward an attack werewolf and simply lop off its
head with his broadsword, a method that worked well when the claws could be
avoided. Fen helped where she could but it seemed Heart-Fang needed little
assistance dealing with the creatures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The way he had spoken, it certainly seemed as if Heart-Fang
intended to play the game to the end, while Fen merely wanted to get out alive.
Hoping sincerely that she was wrong, she continued alongside him, making quick
cuts at the werewolves as they came.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Eventually Fen came upon a pedestal like the one in the first
section of the maze, but his pedestal boasted no strange round key.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Perhaps it fell off?” Heart-Fang suggested from where he was
wiping blood off his blade behind her. Fen knelt to examine the icy floor
around the pedestal and was peering around the side when she felt a blade point
at her back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This is as far as we go, Fen,” Heart-Fang said, his sword
pushing into her back and making her skin prickle. “I have the key to reach the
next stage of the Hunter’s challenge, and only I shall continue. This Hunt is
for Heart-Fang and Heart-Fang alone.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We both have a better chance of living if we go together,”
Fen attempted vainly, trying to think quickly. If she reached for Trueflame,
Heart-Fang would draw her through on the spot.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>I </i>have a better
chance of living if I defeat Hircine myself. We would have been pitted against
one another eventually anyway. Better that it should end now. Many generations
I have lived, Hircine’s Ring on my finger. The Hunt is my birthright!” Fen
turned her head as much as she dared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hircine’s Ring?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Heart-Fang alone shall face the Hunter. Heart-Fang alone
shall earn the glory of the Hunt! See now the power I was born to wield! You
now face Heart-Fang in his true from, the form he was born to wear!” Then,
quite suddenly, the sharp point had dropped from the small of her back and
there was a searing pain, forcing her to topple over onto her side. Fen gritted
her teeth against the burning on her back and rolled to the side, drawing
Trueflame. She turned and realized a werewolf stood where Heart-Fang had
seconds ago, its claws bloody and its jaws quivering. Heart-Fang’s broadsword
lay abandoned on the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The werewolf leapt at Fen and she raised Trueflame to fend it
off. The creature snarled and attempted to shove her blade aside, but she
managed to push it back and place a well-aimed slice at its neck. It seemed she
had managed to hit an artery – blood began to pour thickly from the werewolf’s
neck, coating its pelt in sticky darkness. Fen backed up several steps and the
werewolf let out a final howl before it staggered to the ground, blood pooling
beneath its body. Even as she watched, the long hair began to recede into the
skin, the snout shortened, and the ears flattened and white hair grew until
Tharsten Heart-Fang lay dead upon the ground before her. She knelt beside him
and noticed a small silver ring upon his outstretched hand. The ring was simple
and unadorned save for a tiny engraving of a wolf’s head. She was about to lean
in to study it when the ring began to glow suddenly and shimmered out of sight.
Fen felt something cold on her finger and glanced down to see the ring had
appeared there, beside Moon-and-Star and Julan’s dark telepathy ring. Fen
carefully pulled the ring off and tucked it away into a pocket – she would have
to experiment with what it did later. It would be a nasty surprise for
something to happen to her in the middle of a fight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen retrieved the next key from Heart-Fang’s body and turned
the corner to find another gate. She once more pressed the key into the
pedestal and watched as a gateway appeared there. Tightening her hand around
Trueflame, she stepped through the gateway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A long corridor stretched before her, the end in shadow. Keeping
a close hand on Trueflame, Fen began to walk, keeping her eyes narrowed on the
dark room ahead. As she came to the end of the hall, a huge chamber came into
view – a dark ceiling, supported by cracked and broken Daedric pillars, the
walls all ice and stone. At the back of the room, another magical gate stood.
Fen narrowed her eyes against the gloom – just as she had imagined, it was not
entirely empty. The enormous, hulking figure of what had to be the frost giant
Karstaag stood between two pillars, staring up at her with five thin, black
eyes. A fur bearskin covered his middle, hung with two tarred elf heads, and
his feet and hands had to be larger than Fen’s torso. Two ram-like horns curved
up from his oblong head, and his entire body was covered in a thick pelt of
dirty grey fur, breached only by foot-long claws of dirt-caked black.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">For a moment, Fen and the creature just stared at one
another, and Fen half-hoped Karstaag would demonstrate the same peace to her
that he had to the Skaal for so many years. But then he threw out his arms and
let out a ground-shaking roar that caused Fen to stumble slightly, and before
she could act he was storming across the hall toward her, his huge clawed feet
leaving long scratches on the stone floors. Fen dove to the side, rolling down
the stairs that descended into the great chamber. Karstaag tried to stop too
suddenly and bowled into the stairs, crumbling them to bits. He let out a
furious roar as Fen ducked behind one of the Daedric pillars. She gave a short
breath, then briefly ducked out from behind the pillar to throw a fire spell
toward the frost giant.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Karstaag screeched again, and with one long sweep from his
claws the top of Fen’s pillar went flying across the room. She ducked to avoid
the debris and quickly flitted around the giant’s knees, probing for a weak
spot with Trueflame. It seemed that Karstaag had armoured skin beneath his
thick pelt, and sharp as Trueflame was, she was finding it difficult to find a
weak spot. Karstaag turned and swiped at her, and she ducked to narrowly avoid
the points of his lethal-looking claws. Fen was reluctant to use her magicka
without any potions to restore it for the next challenge that awaited her, but
Trueflame was not making any difference and she was out of other options.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen quickly moved backward across the room, firing a barrage
of fire spells at the beast. Karstaag screamed in fury and was there before Fen
could act, his huge claws moving toward her once more. Fen ducked again, but
wasn’t as lucky – Karstaag’s claws caught the side of her head and sent her
stumbling over a broken pillar. Fen’s vision swam – she could feel blood
pouring down her cheek, but if she didn’t get up now she would be finished.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen forced herself up off the ground, stumbling slightly as
she fired off more spells at Karstaag, this time aiming for his eyes as best
she could with her focus jilted. One of the spells must have hit – Karstaag let
out a horrendous roar and his clawed hands flew up to shield his face. Fen
seized a nearby pillar to steady herself and watched as the frost giant plunged
his lethal, foot-long claws straight into his own five eyes. Karstaag screamed,
wrenching his claws out, and dark blue blood poured thickly from his face as he
stumbled in circles, blinded. Fen mustered the energy to cast one last spell at
his feet, causing him to stumble straight into a wall of stone. The wall
cracked and stone and dust rained down, burying the giant under the rubble. Fen
sank dizzily to the ground as silence finally fell in the chamber, broken only
by the clatters of small fallen rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen touched the side of her head and flinched as pain pounded
through it – her hand came away bloody. She was low on magicka, but the other
option was bleeding out and waiting to die, so she carefully touched the wound
again and cast a healing spell. The pain ebbed away and the dizziness cleared,
and Fen stood again, glancing around. The chamber was very still and silent.
She had only just started across the room to the portal when, in a swirl of
light accompanied by the howling of wolves, Hircine appeared before her, his
powerful, muscular arms leaning on his spear and his dark eyes glittering
vindictively behind his mask.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>So…you are the one.
And now the game can truly begin.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-33251120471100384632013-03-06T23:37:00.002-05:002013-03-06T23:37:13.804-05:00Quick update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hi everybody! I will be out of town from Friday to Sunday this week, but I'll have my computer with me, so I should be able to post Saturday's chapter without any trouble. The connection where I'll be staying is pretty spotty, so if it isn't up until Sunday evening please don't be alarmed! I promise it will go up before Monday no matter what.<br />
<br />
Hope you guys are enjoying Bloodmoon! It's weird to think we're almost done.<br />
C</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-4319078348801900692013-02-23T10:19:00.000-05:002013-02-24T10:19:50.202-05:00XI - The Hunter's Game<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen returned, exhausted, to her cabin, closing the door
firmly on the freezing wind outside. Korst had spent the last hour explaining
the Hunt to her, a game that seemed different ever time it happened. Men,
sometimes entire tribes, sometimes single individuals, were taken to the
Hunting Ground to be hunted by the Hounds. Korst explained that if they Prey
could last through the Bloodmoon, the Hunter would leave the mortal plane and
wait for a new era to play his game again.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What can we do?” Fen had asked, glancing around at the Skaal
that surrounded them, staring up at the sky with terror on their faces, faces
painted red by the glow of the Bloodmoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Nothing. At least, not until he makes his plan known to us,”
Korst had replied, leaning heavily on his cane. “Certainly, it will not be long
now. I fear for our people, Fen,” he had whispered, and his voice nearly
cracked. “There is little I can do to protect them in these times. I can only
pray to the All-Maker that he watches over us and keeps us from the Hunter’s
grasp.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There has to be something,” Fen had pressed, remembering
Engar’s son lying slaughtered in the snow. “There has to be some way we can
help. Some way <i>I </i>can help.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sleep, then, Blodskaal,” Korst replied, laying a heavy hand
on her shoulder. “We must be ready for the worst always, and you must regain
your strength. There are dark days ahead, and we must try to have faith.” But
Fen could see clearly that there was not a shred of faith in his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She brought the embers in the grate back to life with a fire
spell and hung her cloak before it to dry, then proceeded with the process of
stripping off her damp, snow-soaked clothes, Korst’s words still echoing in her
mind. The idea of the Hunt sounded familiar, though Fen could not place where
she had heard it. The shaman was adamant that there was nothing to be done, but
Fen was sure that she would be able to find something, <i>anything </i>that could help them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She settled herself on the bed, keeping Trueflame nearby for
precaution’s sake, and began going through the books she had brought with her,
combing the pages for any mention of the Bloodmoon Prophecy or The Hunt. Fen
was just thinking that she ought to teleport back to Mournhold to search the
Royal Library as she began to doze, <i>Blood
of the Divines </i>tumbling out of her hands and onto the floor.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Wake up.” Fen
turned, craning her neck to try to see where he was. She had heard his voice,
so close. But where?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Wake up!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Julan?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen, you have
to wake up. You have to get out of Solstheim.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I can’t see
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen, WAKE UP!”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Where are you?”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“FEN!”</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It happened suddenly. All at once she was awake and there was
a searing pain on her forearm and she was crashing to the hard wooden floor,
and her sight was filled with dark fur. Fen struggled to rise, feeling for
Trueflame, as claws seized her arms, and all she could see was dark, dark fur
and so many pairs of gleaming yellow eyes. Her fingers closed around the hilt
of her blade as the cabin was engulfed in searing white light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Silence pressed against her ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Then, slowly, everything came back. She could hear distant
howls, cold air, water dripping steadily on stone, flames crackling. Her sight
began to return, and she found herself face down on freezing stonework, one
hand curled around Trueflame’s hilt. Fen slowly pushed herself up, staring
around. Her vision was sill bleary, and all she could tell was that wherever
she was was very cold. She touched her aching arm, and when she brought her
hand back she saw that there was blood on her fingers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>Ah. You’ve arrived.</i>”
Her sight flooded back to her, and Fen looked up to see some sort of…<i>being </i>standing before her. He was twice
the height of a normal man, built with a powerful body, his muscled chest and
arms coated in hair. His middle was covered by a vibrant blue cloth, his feet
by tall, dark boots. And his face was concealed behind a mask fashioned from
what appeared to be the skull of an enormous stag, its antlers reaching far out
to either side. He stood with his legs apart, a tall silver-topped spear
planted before him. Fen knew him at once, had seen him countless times during
her studies, had read his name in so many dusty tomes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hircine.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Daedric Prince laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>Yes, clever one. The
others have been here for days now, and you are the last. It is time for my
Hunt, and you are to take part.</i>” Fen slowly got to her feet, her hand
tightening around Trueflame, never taking her eyes off the god before her. “<i>I have chosen only the most worthy to take
part in my Hunt. Carius of the Imperials, Heart-Fang of the Skaal, the frost
giant Karstaag, and you. Nerevarine, Princess of Morrowind, banisher of Dagoth
Ur and the Tribunal. Saviour, they call you, and hero. You will be a great
quarry to hunt.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>You and the others are
to find your way to my Hunting Grounds. Take great care, as only one of you
will earn the glory of facing the Hunter himself in battle while the Bloodmoon
lights the sky. The others have gone ahead, so only you remain to begin.
Beware, mortal, for my Hounds are about, and they hunger for blood.</i>”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Is this your idea of a fair game?” Fen asked, opening her
arms to gesture to herself. “I’ve one weapon, not a scrap of armour or a single
potion.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>Does the rabbit wear
armour? Does the bear wield swords? No. In this game, you are prey, and you are
outfitted as prey. Now go, prey. Perhaps I will see you soon.</i>” With this
pronouncement, Hircine slammed the butt of his spear into the ground and
vanished in a cloud of red flame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen stared around. She was in some sort of ice cavern that
appeared to have been formed over a Daedric ruin. Before her, on the platform
where Hircine had stood, a tall, slanted door looked like the only way out. She
peered over her shoulder at the wound on her arm. It hurt, but not unbearably,
and the cut did not look deep enough to be a problem. She didn’t have a single
potion and only Trueflame and her magicka to see her through this venture – she
would have to live with the wound for now. Even so, letting it bleed freely
would not have been wise. She lowered Trueflame carefully and tore a strip of
fabric from the bottom of her robe, then tied it as tightly as she could
one-handed around her forearm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Hircine had said to expect his Hounds, and Fen took that to
mean werewolves. She was not looking forward to facing them in a sleeping gown
and hide slippers without a single potion. Holding Trueflame aloft, she slowly
pushed open the crooked door and stepped through into the Hunter’s Game.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“<i>No! </i>Stay back!”
Startled, Fen faltered by the doorway. The path curved off in two different
directions, and lying in the crossroads between them was an Imperial man in
scuffed gold armour with blood pooled beneath him on the ice. Fen lowered
Trueflame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t want to hurt you.” The man looked up at her, and Fen
saw his face was scarred and lined, his hair grey, the shadow of a beard
appearing on his cheeks. There were dark hollows beneath his eyes, and he
looked beyond terrified.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Oh! Oh, did he bring you here as well?” Fen quickly sheathed
Trueflame and knelt beside him. His arms and chest were caked with dried blood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are you badly hurt?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, not badly. Just…just frightened, more. I’d just about
given up and came back here to hide.” Fen touched his arm and he flinched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Let me heal you,” she said, reaching for him again, and he
pulled away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No. No, we must conserve our magicka. Who knows how long
this fell game will last?” He go to his feet with a sigh and offered a hand to
Fen. “I am Captain Falx Carius of Fort Frostmoth, Imperial Warden of the
North.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen, eh? I, too, have been brought to play this nefarious
game, Fen. Since the werewolves captured me at the fort, I have been held here
by this demon Hircine. Soon, others joined me: one of the Nords, named
Heart-Fang, along with a beast named Karstaag. I believe the only hope for
escape is to find our way through this maze.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“So it’s a maze?” Fen replied, glancing around.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Aye, that’s what the demon told me. We are to fight or way
through this maze, which is hunted by the werewolves the demon calls his
Hounds.” Carius gave a heavy sigh. “I am weak, friend, and have been here too
long. Perhaps together, we can find our way to safety. We must find the key to
allow us through the gate in the centre of the maze.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m guessing you already had an encounter with these wolves,
then?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Aye, and they are brutal monsters I would sooner forget. We
ought to avoid them when we can.” Fen agreed, and she raised Trueflame again
for light. It was very dim in the ice caverns, and the sword seemed to be the
only way for them to see clearly. They took the right path, and it wasn’t long
before Fen heard the familiar snarls and grunts of a werewolf around a corner.
Carius drew his broadsword, and together they charged the beast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Imperial was right – Hircine’s Hounds were ten times
deadlier than the werewolves Fen had fought so far. Fen felt very naked without
her usual myriad of amulets and rings and charms and bag of potions by her
side, and it was all she could do to try to keep blocking the werewolf’s blows
with Trueflame’s blade. Between the two of them, they managed to cut the
creature down after a few moments, though both of them were bloodied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Do you need me to heal you?” Fen asked quickly, but Carius
shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m fine. Save your energy. We’ll need it later, to be
sure.” A short way on, they came to a small pedestal against the wall upon
which sat a red enameled circle about the size of Fen’s palm, ornamented with
strange black bindings and minute carvings in Daedric.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The key, I presume,” Fen said, taking it from the pedestal.
She slipped it into an inner pocket of her robe. “Now we just need to find a
way out of here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That will be easier said than done, I’m afraid,” Carius
said, and he soon proved to be correct. They continued through the walls of ice
and stone, fighting off as many as four werewolves at a time. Fen wore only
thin bed slippers on her feet, and the cold had seeped through far too quickly.
They had no potions, and were forced to periodically stop to try to treat their
wounds as best they could without magic.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s an unusual blade you’ve got,” Carius panted once as
Fen put an end to a werewolf that had been attacking. The werewolf gave a
strangled snarl and folded into the ground, blood spraying the front of Fen’s
robe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m lucky I have got it,” she murmured in reply, sheathing
the blade and glancing around. Trueflame was their brightest light source, but it
attracted the werewolves like moths to a candle, and Fen was more in favour of
avoiding the beasts when they could.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Could I ask where –” Carius began, but Fen held out a hand
to quiet him. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Listen,” she muttered, peering around a corner with one hand
on Trueflame’s hilt. A faint humming seemed to emanate from beyond the walls
nearby. She had heard that same noise before – from Aesliip’s barrier, and before
that, from Ghostgate. “We’ve got to be close,” she said softly. “Keep your
blade up.” Quietly as she could, Fen turned the corner and tensed as she saw a
werewolf rearing up before her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But the beast was still. She moved closer, drawing Trueflame
for light, and realized it was a statue, a perfect stone likeness of one of the
Hunter’s hounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Let’s keep looking,” Fen murmured, turning away from the
statue. But the moment she did, she heard a snarl and turned to see the
werewolf animating, readying itself to leap off its pedestal and tear out her
throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Carius jumped forward before Fen had time to react, slicing
sideways and sending the beast sprawling to the side. It rose again quickly,
leaping back toward Carius, and Fen quickly moved in to strike at it. Trueflame
made contact, cutting through muscle and bone on the wolf’s shoulder before it
twisted away, its claws flashing out toward her. Fen moved back, just out of
its reach, raising Trueflame to ward off its claws. She glanced back for Carius
and saw that more of three more werewolves had joined the fight, every one
clawing viciously at him. She turned again and hastily made short work of the
statue-wolf, then spun to help Carius.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">One of them had knocked the Imperial to the ground, its jaws
snapping at his throat as he struggled to push it back, and Fen used a
flamebolt to blast it away from him. Drops rained down from the icy ceiling and
the werewolves backed away from Tueflame’s glow, snarling. Fen moved forward,
slashing at them, the stench of burning hair permeating the air as Trueflame
cut through their hides. She felt the blood soaking her robe and did not stop,
but continued to move with the instinctive swordsmanship Trueflame lent her
until the wolves lay dead around her, their fur thick with matted blood. She
felt a stinging on her face where one of them had managed to slice her, and
when she touched the wound her fingers came away bloody.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Carius,” she said, sheathing her blade and leaning down
beside him. The Imperial’s face was sticky with blood, and his gold-plated
armour was drenched in red. “Where was it?” she asked hastily. “Let me heal
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No,” he replied, wheezing. “No, go on. You’re young and
strong, you still have a chance. Save your magicka. Get yourself out of this
place.” Fen closed her eyes tightly. If she could replace the cold in the air
with fire, she could be back in the Clockwork City, her hands on Julan’s bloody
chest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m not leaving you to die here. If you won’t let me heal
you, then let me help you to the gate. We’re very close, I know it. I can hear
it.” Carius stared at her a moment. A werewolf’s distant howl broke the
silence, and he nodded grudgingly. Fen stood, helping him stumble to his feet,
and draped his arm around her shoulder. They continued around the corner, and
Fen’s suspicions proved to be correct. There, at the centre of a tall dais,
stood a magical gateway with a single waist-high pillar before it. As they
started up the stairs to the gateway, another howl broke the air, soon joined
by others, and she could hear the wolves nearing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hurry,” she urged Carius, struggling to help pull him up the
stairs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Leave me,” he gasped, struggling to push away from her.
“I’ll only slow you down.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I won’t leave you here,” she tried again, but the Imperial
broke away from her and drew his blade.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Go on,” he said, falling to one knee on the stairs. “It
would be kinder to let me die fighting.” Fen stared at him, guilt wrenching in
her stomach. “I…” Another howl broke the air. “Go, friend, and tell the others
at the Fort how I fell with a blade in hand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She was about to reply when at least twenty werewolves broke
from the confines of the maze, their jaws frothing, their eyes yellow and
murderous, riding on all four legs toward the stairs. Carius turned away,
struggling to draw his sword to face the hounds. Hating herself, Fen turned and
sprinted toward the gate, pulling the key from inside her robe. She slammed it
into a star-shaped lock in the low pillar and watched as the magical forcefield
became a gateway. Forcing herself not to look back, Fen leapt through the
gateway, landing, hard, on the other side. She heard it seal behind her just as
Carius’s screams rent the air.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-85183390821032951462013-02-09T02:29:00.001-05:002013-02-09T02:29:21.260-05:00X - Castle Karstaag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><i>I have been playing the Dragonborn DLC for Skyrim since it came out for PC this week, and if you have not played it you really should! Bethesda did a really amazing job incorporating a lot of elements from Morrowind and Bloodmoon and it makes a Morrowind player feel very nostalgic. I almost forgive them for The Elder Scrolls Online ;)</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen was surprised to see Korst Wind-Eye standing stock-still
in the centre of the village, his back to her as she approached, his neck
craned upward at the sky, leaning heavily on his cane.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I have the heart,” she said quietly, approaching him. Korst
did not turn. For a moment she thought he had not heard her.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank you, Blodskaal,” the shaman finally said, still
staring up at the starless sky. “But I fear we must speak more of the ominous
signs that have appeared on this island.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What signs?” Fen asked softly. Korst sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There have been many, though I have been reluctant to speak
of them. The coming of the werewolves, the fire on the lake…and now I’ve been
told that the northern shores area scene of a massacre. Many horkers are dead.
The shores are littered with corpses, and the death of the horkers has not been
explained. All these things are suggested in the Bloodmoon Prophecy.” Fen
slowly walked around so she was facing the tired shaman, her face set.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I think it’s time you told me of this prophecy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It is an ancient Skaal legend that tells of the time before
time, when a demon god would walk the lad. It is told there are signs that
precede the Bloodmoon, and I fear we have been witness to some of these signs.
But Fen, you must understand me. There still may be hope that the Bloodmoon
Prophecy is not the cause of these misfortunes. I refer to think that it is the
work of mortals. I would have you travel to Castle Karstaag and confirm my
suspicions.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I thought Fort Frostmoth was the only castle on Solstheim.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Castle Karstaag is a colossal fortress of ice on the
northwestern end of Solstheim that is home to the frost giant Karstaag. The
Skaal have lived in peace with the monster for many years, but we have heard
nothing from the giant for some time. This slaughter could be the workings of
the Rieklings who serve him.” Korst glanced up into the sky again, his face
dark. “On the morrow, go there and find out what you can. You will not be
allowed in the main entrance, but there is a tunnel in the waters north of the
castle.” Korst looked back down at her, his eyes heavy. “I must rest, and so
must you. Leave me, Blodskaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen returned to her cabin and stripped off her bloody clothes
in exchange for a woolen robe and bear hide slippers. Wind began to howl
against the shuttered windows as Fen settled herself in a pile of furs before
the fire with a book, too harrowed by the Ristaag to sleep.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">I’ve seen so
much blood and death before,</span></i><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> she told herself as she stared into the flames, thinking of
fighting bandits in Vvardenfell, Almalexia’s attack on the Day of Lights
festival, the Clockwork City…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She squeezed her eyes shut, but the vision of the flames
still lingered there. <i>That was different,</i>
she thought. <i>That doesn’t count.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When morning dawned, Fen left the village and started north
until she hit the coastline, then west. The sun was rising pale and watery over
the restless, icy horizon, turning the sky shades of chilly pink and opal. The
beauty of the morning was ruined, however, by the carnage that blanketed the
coast. Horkers were piled thick upon the freezing shore, thousands of slick
white bodies as far as Fen could see. Maggots had already found them, and the
corpses were coated in the wriggling worms, sending the nauseating stench of
rotting flesh and death floating along the waterside. Fen walked on a slight
ridge just above the seemingly endless line of dead Horkers, trying at first to
count them, then losing track and giving up. The bodies never seemed to end.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At long last, Fen began to make out an outline of a huge
structure, rising out of the ground and ending in jagged-tipped spires. As she
drew closer, the sun reflected off of the ice that had to be Castle Karstaag,
which stood taller than the Tribunal Temple in Mournhold and almost as wide.
The land surrounding the castle was lonely and silent save for the wind howling
off the hilltops, so Fen circled the structure once, out of pure curiosity. There
was an enormous door carved from the ice on one face of the castle, but, just
as Korst said, there seemed to be no way to open it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Remembering the shaman’s words, Fen walked a short way north
to the water and cast a mark upon the coast, just as a precaution. She waded
into the icy waves, struggling against the shove of the Sea of Ghosts as she
forced her head beneath the surface. Fen had grown used to swimming the frigid
water by now, and the cold did not shock her nearly as much as it once had. She
found the tunnel Korst had mentioned, a gaping hole in the ground.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen surfaced only a few seconds later, gasping as her head
broke the water. Her breath echoed and she glanced around – it was a cave, that
much was clear, carved from ice. This was certainly beneath Castle Karstaag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen climbed up out of the water, using a mild fire spell to
dry herself, and was pulling back on her boots when the sound of boots slipping
on ice and a high-pitched squeal interrupted her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Whoa! Who’s this now?” Fen snapped up to attention, sliding
Trueflame from her belt in an instant, and the light from the blade illuminated
a single Riekling standing before her, making no move to attack. Fen lowered
the blade slowly, more shocked than threatened.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Rieklings can <i>speak</i>?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I was surprised too, I didn’t know elves had brains,” the
tiny man snapped back, and his voice was so high and pinched that Fen felt as
if she were talking to an overzealous puppeteer. “A Dunmer, huh? Ugly thing,
aren’t you?” He slipped over on the ice and kicked her unceremoniously on the
shin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ouch!” Fen snapped, swatting him away with Trueflame. “What
was that for?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Too tall. What business you got at Castle Karstaag? And make
it quick, no time to talk.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m here about the death of the horkers along the coast,”
Fen told him darkly, rubbing her shin. “To find out whether or not Karstaag had
anything to do with it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Dead horkers? Mmm, rancid horker meat. You like horker
meat?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What? No, I just want to know who’s been killing them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Well, you’re asking the wrong guy,” he squeaked back. “I
know someone who might be able to help, though. But I got my own problems!” Fen
sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What problems?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The master – Karstaag, that is – he’s taken off. Gone. Don’t
know why, don’t know where.” The Riekling tapped its blade on its boot, looking
frustrated. “Didn’t seem like he was coming back. So some of the boys and I
figured we’d take over the place. Dulk has been running the show upstairs.” He scowled.
“Moron. Toady. Master’s pet.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“So you took over…” Fen prompted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Right. Sneak attack. From below. Very clever. We even made a
deal with some grahl to act as muscle. Didn’t work out so well. See, these
grahl aren’t the most trustworthy. Turned on my guys. Ate ‘em, actually. I’m
the only one left. And now I can’t even get upstairs!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why not?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Have you been listening, stupid? The grahl are in the way!
And you can’t get upstairs neither. See, no one can enter the castle without
the mast – without Karstaag’s blessing. Which I have. I figure, you help me get
past the grahl, I’ll get you into the castle. Then you can ask little Dulk
anything you want. Deal?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sounds fair,” Fen answered, though she had no idea what
grahl where. If the tiny man spoke the truth, it was the only way she would get
into the castle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Good. Let’s move it then. I’m Krish, by the way.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s a stupid name.” Fen didn’t reply, but led the way
past Krish and into the ice caves. When she turned a corner, Fen realized she <i>had </i>seen grahl before – while she sought
to restore the sun and took down the creature guarding the light trapped in
ice. The grahl here were easier to take down, though, and the bizarre, red-eyed
and long-tusked creatures looked far more threatening than they appeared. After
Fen struck down three of the grahl, she turned back and saw Krish standing
casually (or as casually as a Riekling can stand) behind her, picking out his
nails with a tiny dagger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Were you planning on helping?” she asked irritatedly,
sheathing Trueflame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thing is, if I helped you, I’d probably die, and you’d never
get into that castle. So I’ll just watch. Moron.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Irritating as he was, Fen knew he was right, so she allowed
Krish to wander behind as she traversed the caves and took down the grahl that
lumbered through the darkness, ignoring his constant quips about her intelligence
and choice of hairstyle. When the last grahl was down, Krish took the lead and
trotted merrily through a tiny passage carved in the ice. It took some effort
for Fen to get through after him – it was clear that the passage had not been
designed for Karstaag.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ready, Fatty?” Krish asked as Fen stumbled out into a
high-ceilinged storage room carved from ice, stacked with dented barrels and
half-rotted crates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Lead the way,” she replied, and Krish turned and waddled up
a short slope and out of sight. Fen followed, and the sight that met her eyes
nearly took her breath away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They had emerged into what appeared to be a cavernous dining
hall. The ice had been shaped to form a huge table that stood laden with heaps
of molding food on stoneware, huge spilled pitchers of wine, several dented
swords, even a dead Riekling. At the head of the table stood a massive throne
of ice surrounded by bowls larger than Fen filled with teetering piles of
skulls. Dozens of Rieklings crowded the ice benches around the table, shrieking
in their tinny voices, squabbling over food, and generally making a great deal
of noise. Even as they watched, one pulled out his dagger and stabbed his
neighbor, then reached over and took a withered crabapple off his plate to eat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Hey, morons!” Krish shouted suddenly, and silence gradually
fell. Only one Riekling on the far end of the hall continued shouting until
another bludgeoned him over the head with a crossbow. “Where’s that shitface
Dulk?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’re not supposed to be in here, Krish,” another Riekling
squealed, and Krish kicked him, hard, in the shin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Shut up, Hob. Where’s Dulk?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“In the throne room, eggbrain,” someone yelled, and a dead
rat flew over the table and hit Krish square in the face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Shove it, toadtongue!” Krish yelled back, and he turned to
Fen. “This way, stupid.” The Rieklings turned back to their revelry as if they
hadn’t even noticed Fen, and Dulk led the way to an enormous door at the back
of the hall.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At the top of a tall flight of slick stairs that Krish and
Fen both stumbled on a number of times, they found Dulk perched on another huge
throne surrounded by blue torches, eating a strip of salted meat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What are you doing here?” Dulk snarled when Fen and Krish
came into the light. “The master will not be pleased! And you come with Krish!
Evil, evil Krish! Krish is bad, and you are bad for helping him! What is it you
want?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Stop yammering, foot-face,” Krish snapped, and Fen quickly
interjected.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m here about the death of the horkers along the coasts. I
need to know if you had anything to do with it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This was <i>not </i>our
doing!” Dulk replied, looking affronted. “Not even Krish could have done this!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What about Karstaag?” Fen interjected quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The master is gone, gone with the wolves! Big wolves! Evil
wolves! Wolves that walk like men! Took the master days ago! No time for the
fat horkers! And Dulk did none of this!” Fen frowned. Werewolves had been to
Castle Karstaag too, and they had taken the giant just as that Imperial captain
and the chieftain had been taken. “Yes, yes, master is gone,” Dulk went on. “He
must return soon. The wolves came and took him away. Big wolves, evil wolves!
Wolves that walk like men! Left Dulk all alone! But the master will be back
soon. The master must come back soon! Krish, <i>stop that</i>!” Fen turned and saw Krish was making an obscene gesture
behind her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s all you know?” she prompted, looking back to Dulk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Big wolves,” Dulk repeated, his tiny feet kicking the base
of the ice throne nervously. “Evil wolves. Krish, <i>stop it!</i>” Leaving Krish and Dulk to their squabble, Fen made her
way back through the castle and outside, where night had fallen. The stars had
begun to peek out from beneath the darkness of night, but something – she
couldn’t quite tell what – didn’t seem right about the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The night was dark and freezing by the time Fen returned to
the village, the wind blowing as fiercely as ever. She was surprised to find
that, despite the late hour, nearly all that remained of the village after the
werewolf attack was outside, some of them speaking quietly amongst themselves,
others staring up at the stars with dark expressions on their faces. Fen found
Korst standing where he usually was in the centre of the village, gazing upward
with all the rest.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Have you learned more about the death of the horkers?” he
asked, though there was no hope in his voice for a positive answer.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It wasn’t Karstaag,” Fen answered. “Karstaag wasn’t even
there. He was taken by werewolves, just like the Imperial captain and
Heart-Fang.” Korst looked down at her, his face grim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I feared as much. Even Karstaag could not have caused such
carnage. This is a bad sign, Fen, and I fear we have yet to see the worst. It
is time at last we spoke of the Bloodmoon Prophecy.” The words sent a shiver up
Fen’s spine, the way Dagoth Ur’s name used to before she even knew who he was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Go on.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The legend tells of a time that occurs once in each era,
when a demon god will walk the land in the company of his Hounds, creatures of
terrible might. He is The Hunter, ad his coming is preceded by three signs. I
prayed I had misread the signs, misunderstood the prophecy, but…” Korst shook
his head. “I do not believe it is so.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What are the signs?” Fen asked quietly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The first tells of Fire From the Eye of Glass. His we have
seen on Lake Fjalding, though I hoped it was the mere magic of the draugr lord.
Next, the prophecy tells us of the Tide of Woe. Even now, our shores are lined
with the corpses of the horkers, dead for a reason we cannot fathom. Finally,
the prophecy tells us of the Bloodmoon, when the young moon itself runs red
with the blood of the Hunter’s prey.” Korst raised a hand upward. “Look to the
skies, Blodskaal. The third sign is upon us.” Almost afraid to look, Fen raised
her eyes and saw Korst was right – Secunda, the smaller of the two moons that
orbited Nirn and usually shone a pearly white, now glowed a deep crimson,
redder than its brother Maaser, and more feral, more hostile. The colour of
death. Fen looked back down at the shaman’s face and realized his face was bathed
in the red of the small moon. “Now we wait for the Hunter’s game.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-16015313762508767122013-01-26T14:29:00.000-05:002013-01-26T14:29:16.314-05:00IX - The Ristaag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are you proud of yourself,
Nerevar?” He stood before her, arms crossed over his powerful chest, his face
concealed behind a mask of gold. “Do you think you’ve done well for Resadayn?
Do you believe they think you a hero?”</span></i></div>
<a name='more'></a><i><o:p></o:p></i><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m not Nerevar,” she replied. “And
I did what I had to do.” Another appeared beside him, a Dunmer man dressed all
in black, the burn of a fire spell torn through his middle. The first man she
had ever killed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Did you think you did well for
me? I was only doing my job. I had a wife in Mournhold, and you made her a
widow.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’d have killed me otherwise.”
More rose out of the darkness, Ashlander men with blood all down their fronts.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You murdered us so that you
could be named Nerevarine of the Eribenimsun,” one said. “You slaughtered us in
cold blood.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And me,” said another,
appearing, an aged wizard in dark robes with a bloody stain where his arm
should be. “You rent me apart and blew my home to bits, just so the Telvanni
would listen to you.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I could not help my affliction,”
a new man said, his body mangled and covered in weeping sores. “I only wanted
to go home to my children. I didn’t want to hurt anyone. And you butchered me
without a thought.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I had to,” she said desperately,
turning to escape them, but there were more there, all faces she’d seen before,
faces that had given her one last imploring look before they went blank. “You
don’t understand. I had to. I’m so sorry.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She turned away, and then </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">he <i>was there, his glass armour scuffed, a gaping, bloody hole through his
chest, his eyes wide. He tried to speak, but could make no noise.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You killed him,” the others
whispered, vanishing and turning to wisps of smoke. “You murdered him. It’s
your fault. He’d be alive if not for you.” Julan finally spoke, his pained eyes
never leaving her face.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We’d all be alive if not for
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
gasped, her body starting violently. She was too hot. It was much too warm. Why
were there so many furs on her? She shoved them away, but then it was too cold.
The freeze seeped into her, into her very pores, chilling her to the bone, and
she dragged the furs up over herself again. <i>A
dream, </i>she assured herself, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. <i>I’d thought I was done with bad dreams by
now.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
sat up and cracked the shutter covering the window over her bed. It was
morning, but barely – the sky was a pale grey, the fresh, glittering snow that
coated the ground still dark. Smoke had begun to rise from the chimneys of the
neighbouring homes, and a few lights were visible in windows. The Skaal
constantly reminded Fen of the Ashlanders – hardy and unrelenting, quick to
rise with the sun.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to
stay here,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> she
thought, shrugging off the furs and going to stoke the embers in the fire back
into life. It would be strange, surely – a young Dunmer woman living amongst
the Skaal. But they had already accepted her, had given her a home and a name.
And there was not much left for her in Morrowind, it seemed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
left her cabin just as the sun was rising, setting the snow aglow. Several
other Skaal were about, most either walking to the longhouse or waiting by the
well to draw water. They nodded at Fen as she passed, but otherwise were
silent. The horrors of the previous night were still fresh on the minds of all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was a long, quiet walk southeast to the Tombs of Skaalara. The frigid island
seemed oddly still on this pale, empty morning, not even a bird to stir the
branches of the pines. The entrance to the barrow faced the sea, which was as
cold and still and grey as everything else. Drawing Trueflame, Fen pushed her
shoulder into the round, stone door and stepped into the dark, stale tomb.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
was immediately met by two werewolves, which she had been prepared for. It was
easier to fight them now, when she wasn’t in shock and hadn’t just climbed out
of an icy lake. She proceeded through the dark tombs carefully, cutting down
the werewolves in her path as they came, unfazed until the image of Engar’s
slaughtered young son would creep back into her mind.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Totem Korst had spoken of stood on a pedestal at the back of the tombs. It was
a lavish thing, a convection of talons and fangs and feathers and beads all
strung together on black twine. Fen carefully packed the Totem into her bag and
made her way back through the Tombs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Korst
was waiting for her in the Great Hall, leaning heavily on his cane as he spoke
to several of the Skaal Honour Guard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This
are grim times, friend,” he said as Fen joined them. She glanced around the
hall – the bodies had been cleared, but the rubble and mess and splintered wood
still lay everywhere. “Did you retrieve the Totem of Claw and Fang?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes,”
she replied, drawing it from her bag to show him. Korst caught the pendant in
his free hand and leaned in close, his dark eyes studying the jumble.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Aye,
this is the Totem indeed. You have been more than a service to us, Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
just want to help,” she replied quietly, and Korst nodded to the Honour Guard,
who moved away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“With
Heart-Fang gone, I must act as chieftain for the Skaal, a task that I am not
well-suited to, I’m afraid. All I can do at this point is offer them as much
hope and prayer as I can. Perhaps the All-Maker will yet spare us from this
curse.” He sighed heavily. “Now that we have the Totem, we must perform the
Ristaag.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Which
is what, exactly?” Fen asked him as they moved outside to stand on the Great
Hall’s vast porch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
is a ritual the Skaal perform in times of desperate need to show our thanks to
the All-Maker,” Korst told her, leaning heavily on his cane as he stared out at
the village. A hush seemed to have fallen over it all, an odd chill that could
not be shaken. A tall woman with red braids wound around her head leaned
against the well, sobbing as her husband silently held her. “And this is indeed
a time of desperate need. <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Meet at
nightfall with Rolf Long-Tooth, one of our Skaal hunters. You will find him by
the western shores of Lake Fjalding. He will tell you more about the Ristaag and
the part you will play in it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“How can I help until then?” Fen insisted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You have already done more than enough for the
Skaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I want to do even more, then. How can I help?”
Korst sighed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“All the people need now is rest. Rest, and time
to mourn. There is little that we may do to help them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Here, then,” Fen said, turning to the Great
Hall. “I can help with this.” Korst did not reply, but gave her a look that
boasted a shadow of a smile before he turned and started across the snow to his
cabin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen spent the remainder of the daylight hours
with the Skaal Honour Guard and a number of the stronger men, using telepathy
and feather spells to help clear the rubble in the Great Hall. In the late
afternoon, they discovered a child’s body buried beneath several splintered
beams, a grisly reminder as if to make sure none of them forgot about the
previous night’s slaughter.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When the wreckage was cleared, they emerged from
the Great Hall to find that iron-coloured clouds were moving in over the
evening sky, threatening snow as the wind began to howl. Fen silently donned
her cloak and raised the hood, then started the short trek down to Lake
Fjalding.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The snow was falling heavily by the time Fen
found Rolf Long-Tooth with two other Skaal in a grove of evergreens just off
the lake. Rolf was grey-haired and –bearded, but his eyes were fierce and he
greeted Fen sharply and proudly, as any Nord warrior would.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You are a great friend to the Skaal, Dark Elf,”
he said, firmly grasping her hand. “It will be an honour to please the
All-Maker alongside you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What exactly is this ritual?” Fen asked,
glancing at the other two Nords, both of whom wore similar expressions of
confidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“In the Ristaag, we hunt the Spirit Bear that is
conjured by the Totem of Claw and Fang,” Rolf explained. “When it is slain, we </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">will return its
heart back to Wind-Eye, who will ask for the blessings of the All-Maker. If the
Ristaag fails, or does not succeed by daybreak, the All-Maker will be displeased.”
Long-Tooth laid a heavy hand on Fen’s shoulder. “You will act as my second,
friend. You are to stay with me at all times during the Ristaag and follow my
instructions exactly. You have proven value to the Skaal, but now you must
allow me to guide you through this night.” Fen only nodded in reply, but that
seemed to please Long-Tooth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Right,” Long-Tooth said, pulling a torch from his back and
lighting it with a simple spell. He turned to the other two hunters. Sattir,
you take the west end of the forest. Grerid, the east. Fen and I will take the
south.” The other two hunters drew their own torches and nodded, pulling up
their hoods against the thickening snow. The sun had set completely now, and
the forest was dark save for the distant glow of the fire on Lake Fjalding.
Sattir and Grerid separated, vanishing into the heavy snow, and Fen followed
Long-Tooth south.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Have you ever hunted before?” Long-Tooth asked as they began
to crunch through the thick snow that blanketed the ground. Fen shook her head;
she had learned hawking at their summer palace in Tear and had been fairly
competent with a bow, but that was the extent of her experience on the hunt.
She remembered Shani smiling broadly, sitting on a log just outside the
Ahemmusa camp. <i>Julan and I will teach you
how to hunt next time you come around,</i> she had said, and Julan had nodded
with a grin. <i>You’re going to need to be
able to down a Nix Hound with one arrow if you’re going to visit, </i>he’d
added, elbowing her playfully. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We won’t be able to see any tracks in this snowfall, so the
best we can do is search for entrails of the bear’s prey,” Long-Tooth was
saying. “Search, and listen. Let the trees be your ears and we will surely find
the bear.” He had only just finished this pronouncement when the quiet of the
forest was shattered by a man crying out and the sound of a struggle, then
silence. “Did you hear that?” Long-Tooth said quickly, throwing out an arm to
stop Fen. “It came from Sattir the Bold’s Path. Quickly, go to him and see that
he is well.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen seriously doubted that Sattir was well after the noises
they’d heard, and her suspicions proved correct when she found his corpse
behind a rock, viciously mauled and torn open just like the bodies in the
village. Fen leaned down beside his steaming entrails, touching the snow that
had been mussed in the struggle. She had quickly learned to recognize the work
of werewolves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sattir is dead?” Long-Tooth repeated when Fen relayed the
news to him. She nodded, and the old hunter’s face was troubled. “This is a bad
omen. These creatures are dark spirits indeed, and they will try to disrupt the
hunt. We must not tarry. Let us go.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They continued uninterrupted for some time, stopping to check
for tracks under trees or dead elk in the groves for signs of the bear. Fen had
to periodically shake the snow off her shoulders and her hood, for it continued
to fall thickly, shortening their vision and freezing them to the bone. The
forest was dark and very quiet, save for the wind in the pines above, and Fen
couldn’t help but jump slightly whenever a fresh sound permeated the silence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">They had been combing the forest for nearly two hours when a
second scream rent the air, high and shrill, accompanied by a grotesque ripping
and howls. Long-Tooth’s face was grim. “Grerid. These creatures will not stop
until they have disrupted our hunt. Quickly, find her.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen moved off east through the cold, slowing when she noticed
light emanating from behind a tall stone. Sure enough, Grerid’s body lay
mangled in the black snow, her torch burning brightly beside it, her innards
spilled out around her. She quickly jogged back to where Long-Tooth waited,
shaking snow off her cloak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Grerid is dead, the same way as Sattir. It’s the werewolves,
I’m certain. We’re being hunted as well, it seems.” Long-Tooth gave a heavy
sigh, rubbing his beard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then it is up to us to complete the Ristaag, my friend. We
must not fail our brothers and sisters of the Skaal.” And so they trekked on
through the snow, although this time Fen was not the only one acting tense.
Long-Tooth’s shoulders seemed to meet his ears every time the wind whispered or
a wolf howled in the distance, and Fen could not blame him. She kept thinking
she saw dark fur and yellow eyes out of the corner of her eyes and kept hearing
heavy panting behind them, only to find nothing when she turned to look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">After another hour of walking, Long-Tooth stopped suddenly.
He was staring into the darkness, his eyes narrowed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Did you hear that?” he whispered. Fen was about to reply
when the air was suddenly knocked from her lungs and, in a flurry of fur and
teeth, she was on the ground, a werewolf’s jaws at her throat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen shoved her hand into the beast’s chest and cast God’s
Fire, sending it flying off her, howling and leaving a stench of burnt fur in
the air. Fen quickly got to her feet, drawing Trueflame, and saw they had been
set upon by three werewolves, including the one Fen had blasted away.
Long-Tooth was trying to take down two at once with his blade, so Fen quickly
leapt forward to help with Trueflame. Long-Tooth finished off his wolf and turned
to help Fen with hers, and soon both creatures lay dead at their feet.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We…We have defeated those…those creatures and honoured our
fallen c…comrades,” Long-Tooth panted,
sheathing his blade. “Now we must find the Spirit –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Long-Tooth’s pronouncement was cut short as the third wolf
reappeared from nowhere, pulling the hunter back with lightning-quick speed and
tearing out his throat before Fen could even register what was happening. She
had kept Trueflame out, and she quickly raised it up to block the beast as it
slipped over Long-Tooth and came for her. The wolf was badly burnt and
near-death from Fen’s spell and the impact of its fall, and it didn’t take much
to put it down.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When the last wolf was dead, Fen left Trueflame out for
light, staring around. Long-Tooth lay dead in the snow before her, his pale
eyes wide and glassy. Fen breathed a heavy sigh and glanced around. <i>Korst will still want the ritual completed, </i>she
thought. <i>Which means I’ve got to find
this Spirit Bear.</i> Fen clicked open her locket to check the time – it was
nearing two in the morning. She would have to move quickly to make it back to
Skaal village before daybreak.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She had been searching for nearly another hour when he came
out of the darkness and swirling snow, glass armour and all. Fen almost wasn’t
surprised this time. She had almost been expecting it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I have to find a bear,” she told him, aware of how stupid it
sounded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I can tell. It’s over there.” He nodded his head in the
direction Fen had been headed. They stared at one another for a while. Fen was
afraid that if she moved too suddenly or spoke, he would vanish again. “What
are you doing here?” he asked.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The…the bear…”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No, what are you doing in Solstheim?” Fen frowned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I could ask you the same question.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are you going to?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I don’t know.” There was a sudden roar from the forest
beyond, and they both glanced into the trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’d better get that bear,” Julan said softly. Fen took
several steps away from him, then looked back. He was gone, as she’d known he
would be, replaced by darkness and swirling snow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The Spirit Bear was indeed in the clearing beyond, fighting
off a Riekling. When the little blue man fell, the bear turned its attention to
Fen, and a few well-placed slashes from Trueflame coupled with Destruction
magic quickly put it down. Fen looked at the clock again as she sheathed
Trueflame – it was almost four now. She had to hurry.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She wasn’t quite sure how to get the heart out of an animal,
so Fen used her alchemy knife to slice open the great beast’s bloody pelt. She
was forced to cut through the entrails and organs within, biting back the bile
that rose in her throat as she spilled the slick, steaming red innards over the
snow. When she at last found the bear’s heart, nearly half an hour had passed,
and she quickly cut it loose and slid it into a burlap cloth to take back to
the village beneath a cloth-black sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-8201313545734668322013-01-05T23:35:00.000-05:002013-01-06T23:35:21.251-05:00VIII - Attack on Skaal Village<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Night
had fallen, thick and cold, upon Skaal village as Fen returned, tired and
hoping for nothing more than a tisane and a bedroll with a heated pan beneath
it. The village was quiet, no one outside save the ever-vigilant Honour Guards
that greeted her with solemn nods as she passed. Candlelight leaked out from
beneath the shutters of the wooden cabins, and smoke curled up serenely from
their long stone chimneys. Fen stared up at the starless sky, dominated by the
twin moons that threw diamonds of moonlight onto the untouched snow beyond the
houses. Fen made her way past the well that marked the middle of the village
toward the Great Hall, the only sound being the crunch of snow beneath her
boots and the distant wind in the trees.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Korst
and Heart-Fang sat together before the low-burning embers of the fire, neither
man speaking, just silently watching the red coals. A single Honour Guard stood
back against one wall. Fen let the door swing closed behind her, and Heart-Fang
raised his head, though the shaman did not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ve
returned from the lake,” he said, a hint of surprise in his voice. “Tell us,
was Aesliip to blame for the fire?” Fen sat down on the bench across from
Heart-Fang, lowering the hood of her cloak slowly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“He…was
not,” she said eventually. “The flames on Lake Fjalding still burn.” Korst
closed his eyes and shook his head grimly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
is as we feared, Chieftain,” he said, and Heart-Fang sighed heavily. “It seems
to Bloodmoon Prophecy draws near.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
is – ?” Fen started, but her question was interrupted by a sudden scream from
outside, sharply penetrating the walls of the Great Hall and soon followed by a
sound of splintering wood. Heart-Fang rose at once, drawing his broadsword from
his back. Fen and Korst stood as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Gods
have mercy on us,” Korst whispered, and the door of the Great Hall slammed
open. An Honour Guard stumbled inside in a burst of snow, his face red and an
ugly, red gash across one arm.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Ch
– Chieftain,” he sputtered, his eyes wide. “The v – village is under attack! <i>Werewolves!</i>” Heart-Fang’s face drained
of colour. Another high scream pierced the air. Wordlessly, he sprinted to the
door, closely followed by the two Honour Guards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Go,”
Korst said quickly, grabbing Fen’s arm. “They need you.” Fen gave the shaman a
brief nod and followed the chieftain to the door, drawing Trueflame from its
sheath.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
scene that met her eyes could not have differed more from what she had walked
through mere moments ago. The doors of many of the Skaal houses lay ripped from
their hinges, and the Skaal themselves stood all around the centre of the
village, battling creatures like Fen had never seen before. They resembled the
wolves she had met in the Hiirstang Forest, but just barely. The creatures
stood on two feet, with long, lethal-clawed hands and pointed snouts. Their
eyes glowed pupiless and yellow, and they snarled with an inhuman fury as they
slashed at the Skaal. Blood was smeared all across the snow, and Fen saw human
bodies everywhere she turned.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
barely had time to take in the horror before she heard a snarl to her left and
one of the creatures was upon her. Fen turned quickly in the snow, raising
Trueflame to fend off the beast. Its hot breath bore down on her, its slavering
jaws straining for her throat. Fen managed to shove the creature back and shoot
God’s Fire down into the snow, catching its fur alight. She ended it with a
swipe from Trueflame.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
only a second had passed before there was a second, then a third, and soon she
was fighting off six of the wolf-men at once, the flames on her blade burning
her eyes as they flashed past her, magic constantly spinning from her palms as
she struggled to keep the creatures away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen!”
she heard someone shout, and as she turned to see, she felt a sudden horrible,
unbearable pain sinking into the side of her waist. She cried out as the wolf
that had latched onto her brought her down into the snow. There was a confusion
of terrible pain and claws and teeth and blood, then a wooden cane came
swinging in from the side, bludgeoning the wolf’s head with a sickening <i>crack.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Lady
Fen,” Korst said frantically, extending a hand. “I’d lean down, but –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
fine,” Fen assured him hastily, struggling to her feet. Pain shot up from her
waist, making her almost double over in agony. She could feel blood soaking
into her robes. “Thank you,” she added quickly, and Korst reached out to steady
her. But there were more wolves still, and Fen, forcing herself to ignore the
wound, retrieved Trueflame from the snow and rejoined the fray.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
fought as hard as she could with the pain gnawing at her side. There seemed to
be no end to the wolves – the moment she cut down one, there were three more to
take its place. The wind began to blow, bitter and frigid, and the fire on
Trueflame flickered as the blade grew red with wolf blood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At
last, Fen cut down a wolf that had left her with a long gash on one shoulder,
and there was not one there to replace it. She lowered Trueflame, her breath
short in her throat, and without the distraction of the fighting the pain from
her waist hit her full on. Fen groaned, letting her blade fall, and doubled,
her hands going instinctively to her side. That made the pain worse, and before
she realized what was happening, she was in the snow, cradling her knees with
her eyes squeezed shut. The agony was quite unlike any she had ever felt
before.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
– right there!” she heard someone shouting, and there were hurried footsteps
right beside her head. She felt someone’s fingers – cold and thick – push up
her jaw and press against her neck, checking for a pulse. “She’s alive!” Then
the fingers were gone and a harried breathing filled the air as the man pulled
her torn cloak away from her side. “Ysmir,” he breathed. “Korst! <i>Korst, dammit!</i>” Fen opened her eyes,
feeling delirious. The sky overhead spun. She saw Korst Wind-Eye appear,
gingerly kneeling down on his crippled leg, and felt his strong, callused hands
on her waist. Korst spoke a single word, and the pain began to ebb away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen?”
he asked softly, and her breathing slowed. “Lie still a moment,” Korst told her
firmly. “Let the blood begin to flow again.” Fen rolled onto her back and
stared up at the sky, watching the moons towering over her and her breath that
rose in a cloud above her face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Is
– Is everyone alive?” she managed to ask after a moment, and Korst avoided her
gaze. Fen sat up slowly, staring around in horror.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Utter
carnage dominated the centre of the village. The snow was saturated with blood
everywhere she looked, and bodies of wolf and Skaal alike littered the ground.
Fen saw Thorstein Ice-Mane, Engar’s son who couldn’t have been more than nine,
lying near the well with his belly split open, his entrails spilled across the
snow and his eyes staring vacantly out of his bloody face. Engar and Risi
hunched over the body, sobbing. Fen stared around in dread. The wolves had
showed no mercy – men, women, and children littered the snow, brutally
butchered with their bodies horribly misshapen by the werewolves’ claws.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
many?” she whispered, and Korst shook his head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We…we
do not know yet. Many of the Honour Guard has fallen, and those that remain
have lost those that they love.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Shaman!
<i>Shaman!</i>” Korst turned, and a member
of the Honour Guard stumbled to a halt, his helmet gone and a bleeding wound
slashed across his forehead. “The Chieftain is gone! We can’t find him
anywhere!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll
go,” Fen said quickly, getting to her feet, the pain completely gone now. Korst
would be needed to heal those that still barely clung to life. She sprinted
around the fallen toward the Great Hall, slipping on the blood and entrails of
those that lay slain as she went. The doors to the Great Hall had been ripped
away, and she slowed as she entered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
great stuffed cliffracer had been pulled down from the ceiling, its glass eyes
reflecting the moonlight outside. The furniture was smashed and in pieces, and blood
coated the mats that covered the stone floor. Frid, the quiet girl that had lit
the fires and brought Fen tea every evening, lay slumped over a splintered
bench, her head partly severed from her neck and one arm missing. Her skirts
were torn and smeared with blood. Fen looked away, feeling ill. She had not
seen this much slaughter in some time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Chieftain was nowhere to be found, it was true. It was as if he had simply
vanished away. Fen stepped back outside into the darkness, which was now
punctuated by the agonized cries of the remaining Skaal as the dead were turned
over. Korst approached her, holding a thin-necked bottle in one hand.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Here,”
he told her, holding the bottle out to her. “It is likely that you were
infected when you were bitten. This will counteract the effects of the Sanies
Lupinus.” Fen took it gratefully, knowing that returning to Mournhold as a
werewolf would not have been quite what she’d had in mind. “I name you now
Blodskaal, a blood-friend to our people for your heroism this night.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank
you,” Fen said softly, handing Korst the empty bottle. “But I wasn’t good
enough. The Chieftain is gone. Not even a body. He’s vanished.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“These
are frightening times, my friend,” Korst replied, staring sadly around them at
the dead that covered the land. “There have been ominous portents, and they
concern me. Heart-Fang is missing, and I fear that the All-Maker does not
breathe freely on the Skaal this day. The ceremony must be completed, but first
I will need you to retrieve the Totem of Claw and Fang. It is a powerful
artifact, very sacred to the Skaal people. It is used to call to us powerful
beasts that are used in the Ristaag. It was stolen many years ago, and we of
the Skaal were foolish enough to believe it would not again be needed. I have
learned that it may be found in the Tombs of Skaalara, to the east and a bit
south of here.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll
go now,” Fen said at once, but Korst placed a firm hand upon her shoulder, his
icy blue eyes staring into hers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
have done enough for the Skaal this night,” he told her softly. “And now you
must rest. The Chieftain had Rigmor Halfhand’s old residence prepared for you
while you were at the lake. It is yours to call home now.” Fen looked once more
at Engar and Risi, holding one another as they stared at their son’s butchered
body, then back at Korst.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
have to go tonight.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
moons are high, and you are weary. You will be of more use to us if you are
well-rested. Go now, and may the All-Maker preserve you.” Fen nodded, knowing
Korst was right, and crossed the blood-strewn yard to Halfhand’s home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
cabin had been scrubbed clean since it belonged to Rigmor Halfhand, and now
clean furs covered the bed and a large fire warmed the grate. Fen closed the
door on the cold, suddenly grateful that Korst had told her to sleep. She
pulled her blood soaked boots off her tired feet and left them by the door,
then undid her tattered cloak and let it slide listlessly from her shoulders.
Her robe where the wolf had bitten her on the waist was shredded, and blood
coated her skin. When she had finally scrubbed the last bit of carnage from her
body and donned a clean set of furs found in the wardrobe, Fen curled up on the
bed beneath the bedrolls, a relieved sigh escaping her lips as she did so. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As
she closed her eyes, all she could see were Julan’s wide-open eyes, glassy and
lifeless.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-38849774805999588522012-12-15T10:32:00.000-05:002012-12-16T10:33:17.101-05:00VII - A Test of Wisdom<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen lived two full
days among the Skaal after the death of Rigmor Halfhand, most of her time spent
sitting across from Korst Wind-Eye and listening to him speak. He told her that
the small blue men she had encountered were called Rieklings, and that they
were thought to have descended from Falmer, ancient snow-elves that used to
inhabit Solstheim and Skyrim.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>He showed her cuttings of native plants, teaching
her how to use each one, from the rare purple Wolfsbane petals that were smooth
and sharp along the edges to the Belladonna berries that you had to crush with
the flat end of the knife. She learned maps of Solstheim and star charts
detailing constellations that were not visible from Vvardenfell, read rare
books privy to the northern nations, drank tea that tasted bitter but was said
to heal one’s soul. She learned that Korst Wind-Eye was a quiet man, trusting
and kind, and that he seemed to immediately understand every question that she
had.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The morning of the
third day, Fen descended to the lower floor of the Great Hall to find Tharsten
Heart-Fang speaking to five members of the Honour Guard, all of them loo</span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">king
drawn and afraid. Heart-Fang noticed her and gestured for her to join them, and
the circle widened to allow her in.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You have done well, Lady Fen,”
he said gruffly, though his voice did not seem as glad as his words. “You have
shown your loyalty and wisdom, but there is one thing further I will require of
you. Now you must prove your strength as a warrior.” Fen bit her lip –
face-to-face combat had never been a strong point of hers. She had always
thought of her duel with Karrod as mere luck.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“In what way?” she asked, and the
Honour Guard began to trickle away out the door, leaving her and Heart-Fang
alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You have been spending much time
with Korst Wind-Eye as of late, yes?” Tharsten asked, and Fen nodded. “Good. Then
I wish for you to travel to Lake Fjalding. Seek him out, for he has traveled
there already. He will give you further instruction. Look for him on the
northern shore of the lake.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If I could be so bold,
Chieftain,” Fen began slowly. “What manner of test awaits me at the lake?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Not a test, exactly,” Heart-Fang
replied, glancing out a window and looking troubled. “More of a disturbance.
You’ll know it when you see it. Better to let Korst explain.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll go now, then.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“See that you do.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It was a short walk from the hill
that Skaal Village was perched upon down to Lake Fjalding, and Fen what
Heart-Fang spoke of the moment she emerged from a small grove of pines on the
shore. In the centre of the lake, an enormous pillar of fire rose directly out
of the water, standing the height of fourteen full-grown men. The ice around it
had melted and it roared with a crackling fury, seeming to leap higher and
higher every moment. Fen could feel its heat from where she stood a good
distance away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Lady Fen!” She turned, and saw
Korst waiting a short distance away. Fen hastily approached.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The fire –” she started
hurriedly, breaking off and staring at the shaman expectantly. Korst sighed,
leaning heavily on his walking stick.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“These are strange times, my
friend,” he told her, the fire glimmering in his eyes. “I am unsure what magic
is being worked to cause such a disturbance on the lake, but you were sent here
to prove your strength.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I am…not the strongest fighter,”
Fen warned, staring at the fire that roared from the heart of the lake.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But you have shown us that you
are able,” Wind-Eye replied, his pale eyes studying her. “The Chieftain and I
believe that you are capable enough. Beneath that lake there are a series of
ice caves. In one of those caves, you will find Aesliip, a Draugr Lord.
Heart-Fang believes he is the one responsible for the disturbance on the lake.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A Draugr lord,” Fen repeated
curiously. Wind-Eye had told her about the Draugr, undead Nords that guarded
old barrows in the wilderness, and she had realized shortly after that she had
encountered them once, searching for the Greedy Man’s bag. “And that’s who
Heart-Fang thinks is responsible?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fire from water, flame through
ice,” the shaman said softly, his eyes reflecting the dancing glint of the fire
on the lake. “Strange indeed. Heart-Fang believes that a Draugr Lord who lives
beneath the lake is the source of this, but I am not certain. I fear that this
could be a sign of the Bloodmoon Prophecy, though I pray to the All-Maker that
this is not so. From what I have read in the histories, Aesliip was once a
powerful mage who delved in necromancy. As a result of these dark magics, he
was made a draugr, but he retains much of his immense power.” Wind-Eye looked
back at her, his brow furrowed. “You are to kill this creature, and perhaps end
this madness. Take care with this task, Fen. This situation seems odd to me.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And what is the Bloodmoon
Prophecy?” Fen asked. A chill ran up her spine as she said it. The name came
with a sense of foreboding, a dark worry that seemed to nestle itself into her
very skin.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It is an ancient prophecy, one
that I hope is but a myth,” Wind-Eye responded, his face troubled. “It tells of
a time when the moon above will turn blood red, and the wolves that walk like
men will walk the land. The prophecy tells of other signs that precede the
Bloodmoon, but they are not all easily interpreted.” He shook his head. “Let us
speak about this at another time. For now, you are to prove your strength.” Fen
was silent for a time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll go, then,” she said
finally. “You go back to the village. There’s no need to wait for me here in
the cold.” Korst nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll see you off.” Fen did not
respond, but offered him a small nod of thanks as she turned and stepped
carefully onto the ice.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Her boot slid slightly, but the
hard soles managed to grip the ice as she slowly made her way toward the
flaming heart of Lake Fjalding. She could hear the ice straining under her as
she grew closer to the fire, and the heat scorched her face and left her back
very cold. When she was within a stone’s throw of the pillar of fire, she heard
the ice begin to crack under the combined stress of her weight and the heat
from the fire. Fen glanced back – Korst Wind-Eye was nowhere to be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As quickly as she could on the
cracking ice, Fen loosened her cloak and lay it on a rock protruding from the
water. She pulled her boots and woolen stockings off her feet, then filled her
lungs with air and let the ice give way and send her sliding into the icy
water.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Remembering her mistake the last
time she had ventured into Solstheim’s water, Fen cast a Mark and, clutching
her boots in one hand, dove into the lake, suddenly finding herself in a cone
of warmth. She glanced up – through the rippled distortion of the water, she
could see the fire, seemingly floating atop the surface, but somehow casting
its heat down below.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Turning away and clutching her
boots in one hand, Fen kicked down to the floor of the lake, where a cave
entrance was concealed in a rock directly beneath the fire. She swam through a
narrow tunnel, then found herself emerging in an ice cave similar to the ones
she had entered during the Ritual of the Standing Stones. Wringing out her
sopping braid and tying it up under a scarf to dry, Fen glanced around, her
toes curling on the cold, slick ice. The cavern was very dark, and she could
just barely see the sparse light reflected off the glassy, ice walls. She cast
a small fire spell in the palm of her hand and dangled her stockings over it to
dry them, then pulled them over her icy feet, lacing up her boots behind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen drew Trueflame, slowly
advancing forward into the dark, silent cave. She soon began to meet more of
the draugr, the humanoid once-Nords that came at her with tiny, pointed teeth
and glowing eyes, their limbs dangling and bones jutting from tears in their
leathery, cracked skin. Most of them were quickly cut down with a spell or a
swing from Trueflame, and Fen soon found herself working into a rhythm, as she
often did when traveling through a cave.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Some time passed. Fen guessed
that it had to be late into the afternoon by the time she reached a much
smaller, narrower cavern that led her into a round, dark room chiseled in the
ice. She advanced slowly, Trueflame crusted with draugr blood and casting a
spiky orange light into the slick ice floor. The only other light in the room
emanated from what looked like an enormous magical barrier opposite her,
offering a distorted view of the tunnel beyond and casting a strange, hazy
purple glow over a tattered bedroll and a worn table, the only other articles
in the room. Fen stopped, watching her breath rising before her, as she noticed
a shape outlined against the pale glow of the barrier, a crippled, stooped
shape that seemed to be breathing slowly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You are brave or foolish to
enter this place, Dunmer.” The voice was low and frail, like an old man upon
his deathbed. Fen narrowed her eyes and lowered Trueflame, trying to see better
in the limited light from the portal that blocked off the next tunnel. “But I
sense a bit of wisdom in you...perhaps. I might kill you where you stand, were
you to try and keep me from my task, but there are more dangerous things in
these caves then this poor soul.” The figure turned, and though Fen could only
see a worn leather helmet and glowing eyes from the outline of the barrier, she
knew at once that this had to be the draugr lord Aesliip. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What task would that be?” she
asked slowly, her fingers tightening over Trueflame’s hilt.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I have been in this cave for
many centuries. The draugr you met in this place are not my kin. Mindless
creatures, driven only by desire for living flesh. My story is quite different.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I was once a mage, of the people
who call themselves the Skaal. I was powerful, mortal. Powerful beyond their
reckoning. But I strayed. I delved into the black arts, became learned in the
ways of necromancy. When this was discovered, I was cast out by my people.
Alone, I wandered to this place.” Aesliip turned his head to gaze upon the
barrier, and Fen could see his profile in the purple glow, half-rotted and
gouged with festering wounds, empty eyes in hollow sockets, a cracked jaw and
split lips that barely covered yellowed, sharpened teeth.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I continued to learn what I
could of the ways of the living flesh and the energies that animate,” he
continued, turning back so that his mangled face was in shadow. “I became a
summoner, I communicated with the Daedra. It was then I learned of their
machinations, their plans to destroy my people.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What plans?” Fen asked
suspiciously. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A group of Frost Daedra had
taken up residence deep in the bowels of this island. I thought at first that
it was my doing, that I had somehow summoned these fiends. But they were beyond
my abilities. I learned that they would wipe this island clean of life,
slaughter my people and all we held dear. I knew I must act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I tried to warn my people, but I
was an empty voice to them, as though I were dead. So I used my magic to erect
a barrier deep in this ice, strong enough to contain these Daedra and keep them
from overrunning the island. The barrier held; for years I maintained it. But I
grew old, and I knew that my death would mean the death of all life on
Solstheim.” Aesliip exhaled, and no air rose from his bruised and torn lips –
there was no breath in his lungs to breathe.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“My life had to be extended, so I
used my knowledge of the black arts, and I turned myself into the creature you
see before you. A Draugr. Eater of Flesh. But my life was infinite. I could
keep the barrier intact so that my people might survive. And now you appear. To
kill me, perhaps? You may have the power, but perhaps you have a greater
purpose here.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What purpose is that?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fight with me, Dunmer,” the
draugr said suddenly, his hazy, glowing eyes wide. “Together we might vanquish
these creatures, send them back to their unholy plane. I will lower the
barrier, and we will cleanse the land of this scourge.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">There was silence, filled only by
the faint humming of the strange purplish haze that sealed the caverns beyond.
Fen had been tasked by the Skaal to kill Aesliip. But they had neglected to
tell her of his past. <i>Korst mentioned a
Bloodmoon Prophecy,</i></span></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
thought, staring into the draugr’s waiting eyes. <i>And now Aesliip is warning of some sort of dark scourge. </i>It
couldn’t be a coincidence.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ll
get this sorted out, then these people will know that you’re the one they need
to look to.” Fen whipped her head around, staring at the space behind her – it
was empty, nothing but a dark, icy tunnel. And yet she had heard the words
again clear as the day Julan had first spoken them to her, at the Day of Lights
Festival in Mournhold. <i>Perhaps your
friend is trying to communicate something to you.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We
will fight these creatures together,” Fen said calmly, turning back to Aesliip,
and the draugr bobbed his head in acknowledgement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This
is wise,” he murmured, turning to face the barrier. He raised one skeletal,
half-rotted hand and pressed it into the whirling energy there. “I will lower
the barrier that keeps the demons at bay. You and I will be victorious, as the
lives of all those above are forfeit if we are not.” A hole formed in the
barrier around Aesliip’s hand, and the purple matter melted away until they
were left in darkness, the gaping mouth of the tunnel awaiting them. “You will
lead,” Aesliip told her, taking a step back. “I will watch for the ones that
will surely follow us.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">And
so Fen led the way into the deep inner halls of the caverns beneath Lake
Fjalding, the hunched draugr by her side. Between Aesliip’s long, lethal claws
and Fen’s spellcasting, the Frost Atronachs that inhabited the caverns were
dispatched fairly easily. When they had slain the last daedra that lurked in
the shadowy, dark corners, Aesliip turned to Fen, his empty eyes grim.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
have done a great service for the people of this island,” he told her, his
voice as harsh as ever. “You will never know how well it is appreciated.” Fen
stared upward, knowing that there were more tunnels overhead, and above that,
the tall depths of the lake. And above that, the pillar of fire that Fen
instinctively knew still burned on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
am sorry that I came here with intentions to kill you,” she said finally, and
the draugr nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Many
things in this place are not at all as they seem, Dunmer. You would do well to
remember that.” Then, quite suddenly, the creature folded in on itself and
crumpled to the icy floor of the cavern, immobile. The lights in its eyes were
gone, leaving a shrunken, emaciated corpse in its wake.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Not
wanting to linger in the frozen, empty caves, Fen cast recall and found herself
on the edge of the lake once more, standing beside her cloak and robe on the
thin ice beside the pillar of fire. She quickly gathered up her things and made
her way back to the shore, looking back at the flames that still rose high into
the gathering twilight. She swung her cloak over her shoulders and sat down on
a large, flat rock, despite the gathering cold. She sat in silence, staring up
at the moons slowly rising up from the horizon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
never was one for the cold.” Fen turned her head, hardly daring to believe it.
Yet there he was, in the same glass armour he had died in, standing by the
lapping water on the shore of Lake Fjalding. Her breath caught in her throat.
She was afraid to move. Afraid it would make him vanish. Julan looked back at
her. “Why are you here, Fen? Why are you in Solstheim?” Fen looked down at her
hands and clenched them to keep them from shaking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
– I don’t…” she looked up, and found she was alone again, sitting on a cold
rock on the shore of an even colder lake. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-89898807713386136612012-12-02T10:57:00.003-05:002012-12-02T10:57:38.765-05:00VI - The Water Stone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><i>Sorry again about the delay ;_; I had a very busy past couple of weeks, but things should be quieting down now. Thanks for your patience!</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The following morning was grey and silent as Fen packed the tent
away and started northwest along the Iggnir River, following her map toward the
Tree Stone. It had snowed lightly during the night, and the powdered grass
crunched under Fen’s boots as she walked.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The sun had retreated further behind the solid wall of cloud by
the time Fen reached the fourth stone, standing upon a small hill in the middle
of a clearing in the evergreens. She moved around to its flat face and saw a
crude tree carved there. Once again, she pressed her hand to the icy surface of
the stone and the carving came to life, the branches of the tree rustling as if
stirred by the breeze.<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The First Trees are gone. Travel east and find the one who has
stolen the Seeds. Beware – he who has the seeds, controls the trees. Plant the
First anew.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen lowered her hand,
and the words sank back into the stone. She glanced around – a light snow had
begun to fall, and to the east the ground was already covered, the space beyond
the trees shrouded by the thick branches. She wasn’t sure what to expect as she
cautiously made her way back into the snowy forest, and she walked carefully,
keeping her eyes moving and a fire spell on her fingertips.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen slowed as she neared
a snowy clearing, squinting to make out five tall, willowy figures swaying
slightly through the snowfall. She moved to stand behind a thick-trunked pine, and
as she looked closer, she saw the figures appeared to be women, but they were
unlike any woman Fen had ever seen. Their skin was a pale, leaf-green, and
their bodies were spotted with what appeared to be tree bark – branches
sprouted from their heads and arms in the form of long, lethal-looking claws.
Their faces were sharp and angular, and their dark, sultry eyes glared around
the clearing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spriggans. The word
came to her, and Fen knew immediately that those were what the tall creatures
were. She vaguely remembered seeing a crude illustration of a cruel-eyed
tree-woman in one of her books in the Royal Library, accompanied by a short
description: <i>Tree-spirits. Die three
times. Extremely dangerous. Do not approach.</i> One of the Spriggans took an
elegant step to the side and Fen saw they were gathered around one of the small
blue men, fully outfitted in boiled leather armour and glancing shiftily
around, his grubby hand clenched around something Fen couldn’t see.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She recoiled behind
the tree. If a Spriggan could die three times and she was faced with five of
them, that meant fifteen creatures to take down in addition to the blue
humanoid. Fen reached into her bag and drew out the Amulet of Shadows,
thinking…the Spriggans were tree-spirits, which had to mean they would be
overly weak to fire. She activated the Amulet and stepped out from behind the
tree, invisible to the creatures now. Carefully, Fen aimed a spell of God’s
Fire at the nearest Spriggan and let it fly off her fingertips.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The spell struck, and
almost as one unit, the Spriggans all turned and fixed their gazes on Fen with
their cruel, piercing eyes. Then the effects of the spell took hold and the
Spriggan that had been hit crumpled into the snow. The others all suddenly let
out a horrible, inhuman shriek that sent birds in the trees panicking into the
skies, and as one, the tree-spirits dove through the snow toward Fen, their
clawed hands outstretched and their eyes mad. Even as they raced toward her,
Fen saw the Spriggan that had fallen rising up out of the snow, brought back
into its second life, and leap in to join the fray.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen lost all sense of
what she was doing. She moved back and forth between slashing at the creatures
with Trueflame and using God’s Fire, moving constantly, struggling to dodge the
razor-sharp talons that scratched at her from every angle. As soon as one
Spriggan fell, it would rise back up out of the snow, fully restored to health
and angrier than it had been before. They were ruthless, trying to drive her to
the ground, tearing her cloak to shreds, ripping at her hair, her face, her
hands. She started to ignore the pain, focusing only on hacking down the
strange, shrieking creatures that sought to see her dead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then, finally, the
onslaught stopped. Fen collapsed to her knees, exhausted, and glanced around.
The snow around her was dark and saturated with blood, the entrails of the
Spriggans spilled all around her. In the distance, the blue man lay dead, his
throat split open. Fen’s hair had been torn loose from its braid and hung
around her face, matted with blood. Pieces of her shredded cloak littered the
ground, and she could feel a burning pain in all the places where a Spriggan’s
claws had found her skin. She stared around at the slaughtered green bodies
that lay around her, waiting for them to rise again. But they lay silent, and
Fen slowly and shakily got to her feet. She glanced up toward the end of the
clearing and her heart missed a beat.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">He stood in the trees, silent, watching her, a sad smile on his
face. Their eyes locked, and Fen stared at him, unwilling to believe it, her
heart pounding. It was certainly him – the ragged hair, the long nose, the wiry
frame under scuffed netch leather armour. The wind was the only sound in the
clearing, hissing as it blew snow from the branches where it had been. He
stared at her for a split second longer, then turned away, starting back into
the trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“W – Wait,” Fen choked out, slipping over the sticky gore that was
spread out in the snow. She sprinted across the clearing, keeping her eyes on
him as he started to grow harder and harder to see. “Wait – Julan –” But then
she had crashed into the trees, and she was alone in the dark, snowy forest,
her heart pounding in her ears.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She squeezed her eyes shut, seeing the Clockwork City on fire,
Almalexia standing over her, laughing, Julan’s empty eyes staring up into her
face, blood seeping across his chest…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen hurriedly returned to the clearing, her breath short in her
throat as she bent to take hold of the little burlap sack that the blue
creature had been holding. Hastily tying her hair out of her face once more,
she made her way back through the snow to the Tree Stone, remembering the words
upon it. <i>Plant the First Anew.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen moved several paces away from the Tree Stone, where the grass
was still visible. The ground was cold and hard, and Fen warmed it with a fire
spell and made a small hole in the dark soil. She opened the tiny burlap sack
and overturned it – several long, pale brown seeds fell into her palm. She
dropped them into the hole, covering them with soil and pressing it down hard.
When it was done, she returned to the Tree Stone, and it grew bright with
energy just as the others had done.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The afternoon was still young, and Fen did not want to dwell
aimlessly and think about what she had seen in the clearing, so she made her
way to the west end of the island, following the map deep into the trees where
the Earth Stone stood.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Travel northeast to the Cave of the Hidden Music and learn the
Song of the Earth.</span></i></span><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She traveled to yet another cavern, cutting down still more undead
Nords, moving onward despite her aching muscles. She soon reached a cavern were
long stalactites and stalagmites almost met, forming music as they blew air
into one another. Fen remembered the story, and she struck the pipes until the
music stopped. The Earth Stone glowed as she touched it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen turned and leaned against the Earth Stone, exhausted, as she
checked her map. The Water Stone was the last one, standing directly north of
the Earth Stone, at the base of Hvitkald Peak, the tallest of the Moesring
Mountains. Fen stared upward – the sky was beginning to darken, but she was not
tired, and wanted to keep her hands busy.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The temperature dropped quickly as Fen began the long walk north
across two unnamed rivers that barred the way. Snow was falling more thickly
now, and the wind began to blow more fiercely, burning Fen’s cheeks. She had
left her shredded cloak behind, donning a fresh one, and her eyes stung and
watered as the wind blowing down from the mountains struck her. The ground grew
icy, and Fen’s boots slipped as she struggled onward. The night grew so chill
that even the wolves stayed out of the cold, their howls absent from the night.
Fen kept her eyes trained upward on Hvitkald Peak, looming far above.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Soon she felt herself elevating, her boots digging into the snow
as she climbed. She spotted the Water Stone in the distance, on the face of the
mountain, like a dark grey finger pointing tall into the dark sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the time Fen reached the Water Stone, she had lost feeling in
her feet and her hands, and her face was numb. She pressed her hand into the
freezing surface of the standing stone, feeling tears of cold running down her
cheeks.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Travel west to a small island off
the coast, and follow the Swimmer to seek the Water of Life.<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Fen
removed her hand and the words sank away. The snow had slowed, though the wind
still blew as fiercely as ever, and Fen could see the coast in the distance,
and a small, ice-covered island beyond that.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">She
stumbled through the cold down the slope and water-walked across to the island.
On the water, the wind was even more fierce. Fen stepped onto the island,
slipping a little, and raised her eyes to see a creature there, staring at her.
It was a Horker, an odd seal-like creature with a tusked sac for a mouth. Fen
had seen them swimming in the rivers and lounging on the banks in the south,
but this one had a black hide, and its eyes seemed brighter and more alert as
it moved its head up and down at her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Follow the Swimmer.</span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">As Fen
watched, the Horker turned and pulled itself off the ice and into the water,
turning and staring expectantly at her. Knowing that water-walking would not
suffice, Fen undid the latch of her cloak, letting it slide off her shoulders
to the ice. Almost in a trance, she stripped off her robe, her fur-lined shirt
and pants, her gloves and her boots and her stockings until she stood naked,
shivering in the freezing wind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The
Horker turned with a splash and dove into the water, and Fen followed, closing
her eyes and bracing herself for the chill as she slid in after it. Fen’s gasp
was masked as icy water enveloped her, so cold that it felt like blades cutting
into her flesh. She forced her eyes open and stared through the dark water
until she spotted the Swimmer, moving methodically ahead of her. Fen forced
herself to swim behind it, keeping her eyes trained on the Horker’s tail, her
mouth clamped shut.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The
Horker seemed to lead Fen for hours. She stayed focused on swimming behind it,
and soon the water became so cold that she could barely feel it. The Horker
finally stopped at the mouth of an underwater cave, far beneath the surface,
and it gave Fen a single meaningful look before turning away and swimming away,
out to sea. Fen cast water-breathing on herself and slid through the mouth of
the cave, glancing around.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">The
thick ice walls formed a narrow, water-filled tunnel. Fen swam down through it
endlessly, her arms growing sore and her skin prickling with discomfort. Her
head ached with being so cold and under so much water, and she found herself
wondering why she hadn’t set a mark to get back to where she had left her clothes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Then,
quite suddenly, her head broke the surface of the water, and she found herself
in a tiny ice cave, the air thin and cold. Fen reluctantly dragged herself out
of the water, hastily dispatching a single skeleton that stood guard there, and
glanced around, shivering, her hair dripping into her eyes. In the centre of
the cavern, a small, elegant glass bottle sat, filled with water. The Waters of
Life. Fen quickly picked up the bottle and held it firmly in hand as she slid
back into the freezing water and made her way back through the ice tunnels and
to the surface.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">She
dragged herself onto the shore, coughing and sputtering and freezing, and
dressed quickly, tucking her hair up under a scarf and covering it with her
hood, glad to be somewhat less cold. It was very dark now, and Fen was
disoriented from her time beneath the surface. She glanced around. To the
north, an enormous sheet of ice dominated the landscape, standing still and
silent. Just ahead, the Moesring Mountains rose into the night. The wind was
less angry now, but it whispered across the ice that rose jaggedly out of the
snow around her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">Fen
gradually found her way back to the Water Stone, where she emptied the Waters
of Life at its base and felt its energy rise up into the dark sky.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">She
was too numb and too exhausted to set up the tent, and had, luckily, remembered
to set a Mark in the Skaal Village. Fen recalled herself into the warmth of the
Great Hall, where Tharsten Heart-Fang looked up from his fur-covered chair.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“Fen,”
he said as she lowered her hood. “You have been through many hardships these
past few days. But I can feel the Oneness in the land once more. Would you sit
and share your tales with me?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“I
would,” Fen told him. “But not this night. I am sorry, Chieftain, but I am so
tired I can barely see. If you don’t mind, I would save my tales for the
morning.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; mso-bidi-font-style: italic;">“Certainly,”
Heart-Fang agreed gruffly, gesturing to a serving girl nearby. “Give this woman
a room upstairs and see that she has everything she needs,” he told the girl, and
he gave Fen a nod. “We shall speak again in the morning then, Lady Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-3378369582331012512012-11-11T10:45:00.000-05:002012-11-11T10:45:04.819-05:00V - The Warmth of the Sun<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><i>So sorry about the delay! I was planning on being home earlier last night. Enjoy today's chapter!</i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><i><br /></i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><b><i>PS - happy birthday to Skyrim!</i></b></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>The
air was sharp and cruel on Fen’s face as she packed away the tent early the
following morning. The sky overhead was still dark, with only a faint sliver of
pink visible on the horizon, and encroaching clouds threatened still more snow.<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
checked the map Korst had given her and decided to move in a clockwise fashion,
going to the Beast Stone next. According to the map, it was on the northern
shore of Lake Fjalding, which was mercifully close. The sun had risen by the
time she reached the tall, narrow stone with a wolf’s head carved into the
base, and she raised a gloved hand to it, pressing her fingers against the
freezing rock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
carving did not come alive as plainly as the Wind Stone’s had, but the jagged
fur on the stone wolf seemed to blow in a breeze, and its eyes seemed to follow
Fen as she looked up to see the words that appeared there: <i>Travel South. Find the Good Beast and ease its suffering.</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
removed her hand, and the carving stilled, the words fading back into the
stone. She glanced up – the snow was quickly approaching, and she couldn’t tell
whether it would be a light one or a torrential blizzard. She turned away from
the Beast Stone and made her way south, moving quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
had been walking for nearly two hours and was about to double back when she
heard the sounds of a confrontation nearby. She slowed, God’s Fire ready on her
fingertips as she glanced around. She stood on the coast of Lake Fjalding on
frosty, snow-dusted grass, near a small grove of evergreens. Fen heard a blade
strike something, and a long, painful moan. She advanced toward the grove,
peering around the snow-covered trees, and saw no less than five of the strange
blue men in a huddle with their backs to her, cackling inhumanly as they
attacked something that lay in the centre.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
shot God’s Fire at them, and at once the creatures scattered, revealing a furry
white mound. Fen stepped out from behind the evergreen, and the little men
immediately turned on her, brandishing their lances and curved shortswords. Fen
blasted them to the side with another spell, and drew Trueflame. She cut down
two of the men with one slash, and the others ran, their high screeches echoing
over the trees. Fen glanced down at the two small bodies, covered in blood with
entrails spilling out onto the snow. She wiped Trueflame clean and sheathed it,
then turned toward the creature lying feebly amongst the trees.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was a bear, Fen saw as she drew nearer, one of those bizarre creatures that
towered above her when they stood up. But this bear was much smaller, younger,
and it lay still in the snow, breathing harshly and unevenly. Fen circled
around to its front and saw its fur on its shoulder was soaked in scarlet
blood, and the shaft of a crude arrow protruded from its hide.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Find the Good Beast and ease its
suffering.</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
slowly knelt down beside the bear, lowering her hood and pulling off her
gloves. It panicked as she drew near and struggled, but it had not the strength
to get away and collapsed in the snow again, panting hard, its eyes wild and
scared.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Shh,”
Fen murmured, bending closer and resting a hand on the creature’s head. Its fur
was softer than she had expected, and she stroked it gently, glancing back at
the arrow. Fen had never been good with animals – the pets she had had as a
child all seemed to die at an unusually young age. But the Good Beast seemed to
relax slightly at her touch, closing its eyes as she stroked it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
slowly removed her hand and curled it around the base of the arrow shaft. The
arrow had struck deep. She placed her hand upon the sticky red fur to brace the
arrow and the bear flinched, but did not struggle. In one swift yank, Fen
pulled the arrow out, and the bear let out a terrible moan. Fen threw the bloody
arrow away into the snow somewhere and pressed both hands to the wound, quickly
sealing it with a healing spell. The bear’s breathing stilled, and for a
moment, Fen thought it was dead.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Then
the Good Beast shuddered and got to its feet faster than Fen would have thought
possible. She stood up as well, her hands sticky with blood, and braced herself
for attack. The bear did not attack, however, but merely padded through the
bloody snow to Fen and rubbed its face against her leg. Fen smiled slightly and
patted the creature on the head. It turned its nose north, toward the Beast
Stone, and Fen began to walk as the bear padded through the snow alongside her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
threatening snow had passed without falling – the sky overhead was deep blue
now, and the cold less frigid. They reached the Beast Stone, and Fen pressed
her bloody hand to it, feeling that rush of energy again as light spiraled up
to circle the stone. The Good Beast curled up at the base of the Stone, seeming
content, and Fen knelt down beside it to clean her hands off in the snow.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
suppose you’re not coming, then,” she remarked to the Good Beast as she pulled
on her gloves. It made a content sound, and pawed at the snow around it. “I’d
guessed as much,” Fen said in reply, and she patted its head before
straightening up and starting south.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
bear’s company had been more substantial than Fen had thought, and as she
walked along the Iggnir River toward the Sun Stone, she felt the loneliness
seeping into her again. <i>It’s strange, </i>she
thought to herself, pulling down the hood of her cloak as she crunched through
the frost-covered grass along the river. <i>When
I first came to Vvardenfell I was so content with being alone.</i> <i>But everything’s different now.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
day was growing late when Fen finally found the Sun Stone, standing tall atop a
treeless hill. She had fought her way through a multitude of the little blue
men, accompanied this time by more bears, wolves, and fryse hags than she had
experienced so far. Hoping that the Sun Stone’s task would be less strenuous,
she raised her hand and pressed her hand against the carved sun, facing east
over the island. The rays of the sun came to life, radiating and growing, as
words appeared in the stone above them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Go to the west and free the warm Sun from the Halls of Penumbra.</span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The carving stilled.
Fen lowered her hand and started westward, pulling up her hood as the sun began
to set. <i>Perhaps they’ve got the sun in a
bag again,</i> she thought cynically, water-walking over the Iggnir River and
following a narrow footpath until she reached a small cave. She lowered her
hood and ducked inside, and found that it was pitch black, impossible to see
even a few metres ahead. Fen cautiously drew Trueflame for light, and saw that
the cave was carved from ice, and the slippery floor was dusted with snow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She made her way
through the freezing, black tunnels, cutting down draugr that populated the
cave and looking for any sign of light that might be the sun she was looking
for. At last, she noticed a small light other than that from Trueflame,
glimmering around the corner of the tunnel. She sheathed Trueflame and
cautiously walked around the bend.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The long tunnel
stretched smoothly downward, and at its end Fen could see a wall of ice that
was glowing so brightly it made her eyes ache. An enormous creature was
silhouetted against the light, some sort of tall humanoid with spikes all along
its back. Crimson eyes glowed at Fen from the creature’s shadow. The creature
did not move, though Fen was sure it had seen her, so she sent a spell of God’s
Fire at it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The spell illuminated
the walls as it hurtled down toward the monster, and Fen felt her heart skip a
beat when she could see the thing properly. It was larger than she had thought,
covered in leathery grey skin and cruel spikes. Claws grew from each finger, so
long they brushed the icy floor, and curved horns grew from its strange,
misshaped face. Its eyes burned brightly in the light from the spell, and with
a bellow that shook the caves, it hurtled forward.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen stayed back,
casting spells at it to weaken it, but suddenly the creature was upon her,
raising a massive hand and slashing down at her. Its claws raked her skin and
she screamed from the sudden, searing pain of it, writhing backward. The
creature thudded forward again and Fen quickly regained her footing, trying to
ignore the burning pain in her arms and chest. She drew Trueflame, and almost
at once the monstrous being recoiled, its roar dying in its throat as it caught
sight of the flame. Fen stumbled forward, waving Trueflame at the thing to
force it backward. When she was close enough, she slashed it smoothly against
it, cutting into its leathery hide.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The creature
screeched in pain, and Fen finished it with another burning swipe from
Trueflame. It howled and stumbled away from her, falling backward with enough
force to make the entire cave shudder.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Trueflame clattered
to the ground, and Fen gasped, falling to her knees and reaching for her bag.
She downed a healing potion and felt the gashes stitching themselves back
together. Fen rolled back the sleeve of her robe – she would have those long,
white scars forever.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The pain gone, Fen
rolled her sleeve down and picked up Trueflame from the icy floor. She
carefully stepped over the creature’s sprawled limbs and knelt beside its head,
staring at its glassy red eyes and making a mental note to ask Korst about it.
She glanced up at the glowing wall of ice, and remembered the words of the
story: “</span></span><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">He plucked the
flaming eye from one of the Unholy Beasts and threw it at the ice with all his
might.</span></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">”
She looked back down at the smoldering eyes of the beast, and sheathed
Trueflame, taking an ingredient knife from her alchemy kit.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen had never cut they eye out of an animal, and she wasn’t sure
where to begin as she stared at the leathery folds of its face. She pulled the
skin back from the eye, revealing the tender pink flesh underneath, and pulled
the eye itself forward, revealing the muscles that anchored it in place. Biting
her lip, Fen carefully sawed the muscles loose, rotating the eye around so that
she could cut more easily, then, when it was free, pulled the sticky red eye
out of its socket, holding it carefully in her bloody hands.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was a gruesome task, and Fen hoped that it would work as
poetically as it had in Aevar’s story. Standing several metres back from the
wall of solid, glowing ice, Fen threw the burning eye with all her might.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">There was a great cracking sound as the eye
vanished. The ice began to spiderweb in every direction, until, with a sound
like wind, the light hurdled through the tunnel, whisking over Fen and shooting
around the bend and out of sight, lighting lanterns along the wall as it went.
Exhausted, Fen followed the lanterns outside into the dark forest, and she
traipsed back across the river and up the hill to the Sun Stone. The carving
moved as she placed her hand upon it, and orange light raced upward once more.
Fen felt a sort of warmth seep into her as she lowered her hand, and, glancing
up, realized that she could see the moons clearly for the first time since she
had arrived on Solstheim. </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-23127052795286230492012-10-29T01:09:00.002-04:002012-10-29T18:25:49.020-04:002 years, wow!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Hey everybody! You may have missed it (I certainly did), but Out of Mournhold's second birthday was on October 17th! It is really strange to think that this story I started working on three years ago because I was bored has turned into something like this.<br />
<br />
I just wanted to thank you guys again for reading - it really means a lot to me that so many people look forward to updates on Fen's journey, even though they've probably played the game many times and know how it will play out. I love sharing my character and her story with you, and I am so grateful to have such lovely people following it.<br />
<br />
OoM is definitely drawing toward a close, as we are in the final expansion pack for Morrowind. Fen's story will be done after Solstheim, but I have a few more projects in the works that you may be interested in. I will update with more info when we get closer to the end of OoM, which will most likely be in the spring of next year.<br />
<br />
Anyway, hope you guys had a great weekend and enjoyed Saturday's chapter. As always, thanks for reading and sticking around with Fen and me for two whole years!!<br />
<br />
<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Celestina<br />
<br />
<i>PS - stay safe this week if you're on the east coast!</i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-45307137372975470792012-10-27T11:55:00.000-04:002012-10-28T11:55:58.654-04:00IV - The Wind Stone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">By the following
morning, the blizzard had subsided into a dim, grey morning. Fen left the
hunting lodge and found that, while the snow on the ground was deep, the Skaal
had risen early to go about their business. Now she could see the intricate
wooden carvings on the sides of the houses, the well where tightly-bundled children
collected water for their families, the curls of smoke that rose from chimneys
and up into the grim sky. People were not lingering outside long save for the
guards, men that wore Nordic armour and patrolled the village borders with one
hand always on the pommel of their blades. They glanced up at Fen as she
passed, but remained silent, though she could feel their gazes on her back as
she descended the hill atop which the village was perched.</span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen had been
exhausted, both physically and emotionally, by the time she returned to the
hunting lodge the previous night, though she found that it was impossible to
fall asleep on the bedroll that had been provided for her in one of the
upstairs rooms. She had rummaged in her bag until she drew out <i>The Story of Aevar Stone-Singer,</i> and
curling up beside the low-melting candle had begun to read:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Sit quietly, Child, and listen, for the story I tell you is
a story of the ages."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"But what is it, Grandfather? Is it a story of heroes and
beasts?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Grandfather looked patiently at the Child. He was growing into
a fine boy. Soon he would see the value in the stories, the lessons that were
taught to each generation.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Just listen, Child. Let the story take root in your
heart."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span></i><br />
<hr align="center" size="1" width="30%" />
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">In a time before now, long before now, when the Skaal were new,
there was peace in the Land. The sun was hot and the crops grew long, and the
people were happy in the peace that the All-Maker provided. But, the Skaal grew
complacent and lazy, and they took for granted the Lands and all the gifts the
All-Maker had given them. They forgot, or chose not to remember, that the
Adversary is always watching, and that he delights in tormenting the All-Maker
and his chosen people. And so it was that the Adversary came to be among the
Skaal.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Adversary has many aspects. He appears in the unholy beasts
and the incurable plague. At the End of Seasons, we will know him as Thartaag
the World-Devourer. But in these ages he came to be known as the Greedy Man.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Greedy Man (that is what we call him, for to speak his name
would certainly bring ruin on the people) lived among the Skaal for many
months. Perhaps he was once just a man, but when the Adversary entered into
him, he became the Greedy Man, and that is how he is remembered.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It came to be one day that the powers of the Skaal left them. The
strength left the arms of the warriors, and the shaman could no longer summon
the beasts to their side. The elders thought that surely the All-Maker was
displeased, and some suggested that the All-Maker had left them forever. It was
then that the Greedy Man appeared to them and spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"You of the Skaal have grown fat and lazy. I have stolen the
gifts of your All-Maker. I have stolen the Oceans, so you will forever know
thirst. I have stolen the Lands and the Trees and the Sun, so your crops will
wither and die. I have stolen the Beasts, so you will go hungry. And I have
stolen the Winds, so you will live without the Spirit of the All-Maker.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"And until one of you can reclaim these gifts, the Skaal will
live in misery and despair. For I am the Greedy Man, and that is my
nature."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And the Greedy Man disappeared.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The members of the Skaal spoke for many days and nights. They knew
that one of them must retrieve the Gifts of the All-Maker, but they could not
decide who it should be.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I cannot go," said the Elder, "for I us must stay
to lead the Skaal, and tell our people what is the law."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I cannot go," said the Warrior, "for I must
protect the Skaal. My sword will be needed in case the Greedy Man
reappears."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I cannot go," said the Shaman, "for the people
need my wisdom. I must read the portents and offer my knowledge."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was then that a young man called Aevar lifted his voice. He was
strong of arm, and fleet of foot, though he was not yet a warrior of the Skaal.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I will go," said Aevar, and the Skaal laughed.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Hear me out," the boy continued. "I am not yet a
warrior, so my sword will not be needed. I cannot read the portents, so the
people will not seek my counsel. And I am young, and not yet wise in the ways
of the law. I will retrieve the Gifts of the All-Maker from the Greedy Man. If
I cannot, I will not be missed."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Skaal thought on this briefly, and decided to let Aevar go. He
left the village the next morning to retrieve the Gifts.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar first set out to retrieve the Gift of Water, so he traveled
to the Water Stone. It was there the All-Maker first spoke to him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Travel west to the sea and follow the Swimmer to the Waters
of Life."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So Aevar walked to the edge of the ocean, and there was the
Swimmer, a Black Horker, sent from the All-Maker. The Swimmer dove into the
waters and swam very far, and far again. Aevar was strong, though, and he swam
hard. He followed the Swimmer to a cave, swimming deeper and deeper, his lungs
burning and his limbs exhausted. At last, he found a pocket of air, and there,
in the dark, he found the Waters of Life. Gathering his strength, he took the
Waters and swam back to the shore.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Upon returning to the Water Stone, the All-Maker spoke. "You
have returned the Gift of Water to the Skaal. The Oceans again will bear fruit,
and their thirst will be quenched."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar then traveled to the Earth Stone, and there the All-Maker
spoke to him again.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Enter the Cave of the Hidden Music, and hear the Song of the
Earth."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So Aevar traveled north and east to the Cave of the Hidden Music.
He found himself in a large cavern, where the rocks hung from the ceiling and
grew from the ground itself. He listened there, and heard the Song of the
Earth, but it was faint. Grabbing up his mace, he struck the rocks of the floor
in time with the Song, and the Song grew louder, until it filled the cavern and
his heart. Then he returned to the Earth Stone.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The Gift of the Earth is with the Skaal again," said
the All-Maker. "The Lands are rich again, and will bear life."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar was tired, as the Sun burned him, the trees offered no
shade, and there was no wind to cool him. Still, he traveled on to the Beast
Rock, and the All-Maker spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Find the Good Beast and ease his suffering."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar traveled through the woods of the Isinfier for many hours until
he heard the cries of a bear from over a hill. As he crested a hill, he saw the
bear, a Falmer's arrow piercing its neck. He checked the woods for the Falmer
(for that is what they were, though some say they are not), and finding none,
approached the beast. He spoke soothing words and came upon it slowly, saying,
"Good Beast, I mean you no harm. The All-Maker has sent me to ease your
suffering."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Hearing these words, the bear ceased his struggles, and laid his
head at Aevar's feet. Aevar grasped the arrow and pulled it from the bear's
neck. Using the little nature magic he knew, Aevar tended the wound, though it
took the last bit of his strength. As the bear's wound closed, Aevar slept.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When he awoke, the bear stood over him, and the remains of a
number of the Falmer were strewn about. He knew that the Good Beast had
protected him during the night. He traveled back to Beast Rock, the bear by his
side, and the All-Maker spoke to him again.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"You have returned the Gift of the Beasts. Once again, the
Good Beasts will feed the Skaal when they are hungry, clothe them when they are
cold, and protect them in times of need."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar's strength had returned, so he traveled on to the Tree
Stone, though the Good Beast did not follow him. When he arrived, the
All-Father spoke to him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The First Trees are gone, and must be replanted. Find the
seed and plant the First Tree."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar traveled again through the Hirstaang Forest, searching for
the seeds of the First Tree, but he could find none. Then he spoke to the Tree
Spirits, the living trees. They told him that the seeds had been stolen by one
of the Falmer (for they are the servants of the Adversary), and this Falmer was
hiding them deep in the forest, so that none would ever find them.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar traveled to the deepest part of the forest, and there he
found the evil Falmer, surrounded by the Lesser Tree Spirits. Aevar could see
that the Spirits were in his thrall, that he had used the magic of the Seeds
and spoken their secret name. Aevar knew he could not stand against such a force,
and that he must retrieve the seeds in secret.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar reached into his pouch and drew out his flint. Gathering
leaves, he started a small fire outside the clearing where the Falmer and the
ensorcelled Spirits milled. All the Skaal know the Spirits' hatred of fires,
for the fires ravage the trees they serve. At once, the Nature of the Spirits
took hold, and they rushed to quell the flames. During the commotion, Aevar
snuck behind the Falmer and snatched the pouch of Seeds, stealing away before
the evil being knew they were gone.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When Aevar returned to the Tree Stone, he planted the tree in the
ground, and the All-Maker spoke to him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The Gift of Trees is restored. Once again, the Trees and
Plants will bloom and grow, and provide nourishment and shade."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar was tired, for the Sun would only burn, and the Winds would
not yet cool him, but he rested briefly in the shade of the Trees. His legs
were weary and his eyes heavy, but he continued on, traveling to the Sun Stone.
Again, the All-Maker spoke.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The gentle warmth of the Sun is stolen, so now it only
burns. Free the Sun from the Halls of Penumbra."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And so Aevar walked west, over the frozen lands until he reached
the Halls of Penumbra. The air inside was thick and heavy, and he could see no
farther than the end of his arm. Still, he felt his way along the walls, though
he heard the shuffling of feet and knew that this place held the Unholy Beasts
who would tear his flesh and eat his bones. For hours he crept along, until he
saw a faint glow far at the end of the hall.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">There, from behind a sheet of perfect ice, came a glow so bright
he had to shut his eyes, lest they be forever blinded. He plucked the flaming
eye from one of the Unholy Beasts and threw it at the ice with all his might. A
small crack appeared in the ice, then grew larger. Slowly, the light crept out
between the cracks, widening them, splitting the ice wall into pieces. With a
deafening crack, the wall crumbled, and the light rushed over Aevar and through
the Halls. He heard the shrieks of the Unholy Beasts as they were blinded and
burned. He ran out of the Halls, following the light, and collapsed on the
ground outside.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When he was able to rise again, the Sun again warmed him, and he
was glad for that. He traveled back to the Sun Stone, where the All-Maker spoke
to him.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"The Gift of the Sun is the Skaal's once again. It will warm
them and give them light."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Aevar had one final Gift he had to recover, the Gift of the Winds,
so he traveled to the Wind Stone, far on the western coast of the island. When
he arrived, the All-Maker spoke to him, giving him his final task.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Find the Greedy Man and release the Wind from its
captivity."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">So, Aevar wandered the land in search of the Greedy Man. He looked
in the trees, but the Greedy Man did not hide there. Nor did he hide near the
oceans, or the deep caves, and the beasts had not seen him in the dark forests.
Finally, Aevar came to a crooked house, and he knew that here he would find the
Greedy Man.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Who are you," shouted the Greedy Man, "that you
would come to my house?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I am Aevar of the Skaal," said Aevar. "I am not
warrior, shaman, or elder. If I do not return, I will not be missed. But I have
returned the Oceans and the Earth, the Trees, the Beasts, and the Sun, and I
will return the Winds to my people, that we may feel the spirit of the
All-Maker in our souls again."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And with that, he grabbed up the Greedy Man's bag and tore it
open. The Winds rushed out with gale force, sweeping the Greedy Man up and
carrying him off, far from the island. Aevar breathed in the Winds and was
glad. He walked back to the Wind Stone, where the All-Maker spoke to him a
final time.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"You have done well, Aevar. You, the least of the Skaal, have
returned my gifts to them. The Greedy Man is gone for now, and should not
trouble your people again in your lifetime. Your All-Maker is pleased. Go now,
and live according to your Nature."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">And Aevar started back to the Skaal village.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span></i><br />
<hr align="center" size="1" width="30%" />
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">
</span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"And then what happened, Grandfather?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"What do you mean, Child? He went home."<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"No. When he returned to the village," the Child
continued. "Was he made a warrior? Or taught the ways of the shaman? Did
he lead the Skaal in battle?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"I do not know. That is where the story ends," said the
Grandfather.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"But that is not an ending! That is not how stories end!"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The old man laughed and got up from his chair.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Is it not?"<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 13.5pt; margin-bottom: 6.0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was far more lighthearted than the tales Fen had been told as a
girl, finishing happily with the enemy successfully defeated. <i>Perhaps that’s why the Nords are so much
more cheerful than the Dunmer,</i> Fen thought sardonically as she folded the
story and slipped it into her bag. She wasn’t sure what to expect, therefore,
as she began to traverse through the snows and trees of Solstheim the following
morning, following the poorly drawn map as best she could for guidance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It snowed<span class="apple-style-span"> on and off as Fen walked, the
wind occasionally stirring the trees and sending snow drifting off its branches
in elegant white fans. The air was just as icy as it had been yesterday, and
Fen felt grateful for the brooch from Effe-Tei – she was still quite cold, but
she shuddered to think of what the air would feel like without its enchantment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The map Wind-Eye had
given her was as vague as it could possibly be in direction, showing rivers,
mountains, and nothing else save the standing stones. The one nearest to the
Skaal village was the Wind Stone, beneath the junction of the Islid and the Harstrad
Rivers. She studied the map as she walked through the strange silence that the
gently falling snow created, occasionally glancing up to see how close she was
to the river until a loud screech interrupted her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen looked up
abruptly in time to see the strangest sight she had witnessed on Solstheim yet.
Riding toward her on the back of what looked like a wild boar was a man, though
he looked like, if standing he would only come up to Fen’s knee. His skin was a
frosty blue, more vivid than that of Dunmer skin, and his beady eyes were
half-hidden beneath a spiked cap. He carried a lance the size of Fen’s forearm
in one hand, and in the other clutched the reins with which he controlled the
boar that was bearing down on her, snorting wildly as spittle flew from its
snout in all directions.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">For a moment, Fen was
too surprised to do anything. Then the odd pair was upon her, and it one swift
move the tiny man had swung his lance at Fen’s leg and sent her stumbling
backward, the map dropping into the snow. She quickly regained her footing and
used God’s Fire on the creature – it stumbled backward with a squeal,
surprised, and flew off the boar’s back. Fen drew Trueflame from her belt and
swiftly sliced at the boar, killing it with a pained cry. The tiny man got to
his feet and lurched toward Fen again, and she managed to subdue it with two
strikes from Trueflame.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She slid the blade
back into its sheath, kneeling down in the blood-spotted snow to study the
strange humanoid. He had an oiled black beard around his mouth, and Fen could
see pointed, dirty teeth. His armour looked like it was hammered from some sort
of hide, and his lance was made of the same leathery material. Fen had no
interest in the minute leathers, so she left the strange creatures in the snow
and continued on her way, making a mental note to ask Wind-Eye about them when
she returned to the Skaal village.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She encountered
several more of the strange men as she began to wander the land around the
rivers, though never in groups of more than two. Usually there was only a brief
reprieve after one of these confrontations before she was met with a wolf or
bear or fryse hag or berserker. These frequent attacks coupled with the bitter
cold and on-and-off snowfalls left Fen feeling exhausted and wind-beaten by the
time her locket read noon. She found a small cluster of rocks beside one of the
rivers that would block most of the wind and sat down huddled against them,
pulling her hood low over her face and her cloak tightly around her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen didn’t know how
much time passed as she sat there, but soon her vision had started to blur. She
felt numb from the chill, and she let her eyes drift closed as she sat curled
against the tall rocks, the only sound coming from the faint trickle of the
river and the wind blowing fiercely down from the mountains to the north…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Fen?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Her eyes snapped open
suddenly, and she stared wildly around, her heart pounding. She was quite alone
on the rocky shore of the river. In the distance, a wolf howled.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen got to her feet,
clenching her hands into fists to keep them from shaking. <i>You’re imagining things,</i> she told herself firmly. <i>The cold is getting to you.</i> But she had
heard that voice say her name a thousand times. She would recognize it
anywhere. <i>He’s dead,</i> Fen assured
herself forcibly, picking up her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. <i>He’s dead and dreaming about it won’t bring
him back.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She was about to head
upriver again to sweep the land for the Wind Stone when something on the
opposite shore caught her eye. A rock, standing taller than those around it,
like a weathered grey finger rising into the sky. At its base, Fen could see a
swirling design carved in an elegant circle. She picked up her cloak and the
hem of her robe and splashed through the icy shallows to the other side. This
had to be the Wind Stone. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“And it was right
here,” Fen muttered to herself, reaching out a gloved hand to touch the swirl.
At once, the carving came to life, writhing and twisting like wind. A sudden
breeze seemed to appear from nowhere, stinging Fen’s exposed cheeks as it
coiled around the wind stone. Writing began to form on the surface of the rock,
just above the carving, as if written by a spidery hand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Travel south and east of the lake of ice to Glenschul’s Tomb and
free the Winds from the Greedy Man's bag</span></i></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Then, as quickly as
they had come, the words faded back into the stone and the carved wind stilled.
The breeze was gone, leaving the land strangely silent. Fen slowly let her hand
drop from the cold surface of the stone, tucking back a few hairs that had been
pulled loose from her braid. <i>The lake of
ice,</i> she thought, looking at the crude map again. The scout at Fort Frostmoth
had mentioned a frozen lake. There was a large oval south of the Wind stone
with tiny waves drawn in its interior. Fen straightened up and glanced around.
The riverside was deserted. She rolled up the map, tucked it into her bag, and
crossed the narrow strait of land to the Islid River, starting to follow it
south, toward the lake.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Darkness was
beginning to fall by the time she reached Lake Fjalding, an ice-crusted circle
of water near the eastern coast of Solstheim. The cold seemed to leak out of
the lake and soak into the air around it. Fen circled around the edge of the
lake and started moving southeast of it. It gave her a strange feeling, and she
felt relieved to be away from it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She followed a high
ridge and a narrow footpath away from Lake Fjalding, encountering a few more of
the men-creatures along the way. Before long, she had arrived at what appeared
to be the entrance to some sort of crypt, crafted from black stones piled atop
one another and carved with strange Nordic runes and symbols. Fen pushed open
the round door, expecting to find the usual tomb inhabited by animated
skeletons and Daedra inside.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She was met with
quite a different adversary.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The creature that
greeted her was hunched over and bow-legged, its skin leathery black and
clothed in tattered rags. It was an emaciated sort of human-shape, a few wisps
of dead white hair still left on its scalp, its eyes round and glowing scarlet
in the darkness of the tomb. It gave off a terrible scent of death, screeching
with an inhuman sound, and it swiped at Fen with talon-like hands, its rotted
skin swinging, lifeless, from its half-exposed bones.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen quickly deflected
its blow with Trueflame, stepping backward to balance herself. The creature
hobbled toward her, its jaw hanging open as if broken and revealing its rotting
black teeth. Fen cut it down quickly enough with Trueflame, though soon more of
the undead had appeared, growling as they attempted to pull her down.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">When Trueflame had
sliced the last of the creatures away, the tomb rang with an eerie silence. Fen
kept the blade out for light, holding it aloft as she moved through the dank
corridors lit by sputtering candles melted onto rocks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The crypt was small,
and at the back of it Fen found a low-ceilinged room where bodies lay in niches
along the walls, entombed in a strange ice that seemed to glitter with an
unnatural aura. Fen approached one of the bodies, sheathing Trueflame. The Nord
inside had a face that was perfectly preserved, as if he was merely asleep
within the strange substance. Unnerved by the body, Fen backed away, glancing
around the cavern. At the very back, an enormous burlap sack sat before one of
the ice-covered bodies. Fen moved toward it curiously. The contents of the bag
seemed to be moving inside it, as if they were restless to be free. Fen
remembered the story, in which Aevar had literally tore open the bag and set
free the winds. <i>I was expecting something
a bit more metaphorical,</i></span></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">she
thought, taking hold of the tie that sealed the bag and pulling it free.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Before
Fen knew what was happening, she was on her back on the floor of the cavern,
all the breath knocked out of her, with her cloak and her hair and the skirts
of her robe all flying around her as a violent wind tore through the cavern,
howling terribly. Fen ducked her head as the gale flew through the tomb, then,
in an instant, it had stopped. Fen slowly raised her head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
cavern was dark – the wind had put out the low candles around the walls,
leaving it nearly pitch black. She pulled Trueflame from its sheath for light
and saw that the burlap sack lay deflated and empty upon the tomb’s floor. <i>So the Nords can fill a bag with wind,</i></span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">she thought, pushing her
hair out of her face. She kept Trueflame aloft as she navigated her way out of
the cavern and into the freezing air. It was dark, and had begun to snow again.
Fen started the long trek north back to the Wind Stone, cutting down the
strange men-creatures that attempted to deter her as she went. The sun’s
absence made it even colder, and her breath rose in clouds as she traversed the
frigid landscape.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
found the Wind Stone where it had been, standing tall and elegant on the coast
of the river. She raised her hand to it as she approached and pressed her
gloved fingers to the freezing rock. The carved wind began to move again, and
though no words appeared on its surface, it began to emanate a strange, bluish
light, and shimmers of energy rose from the snow at its base and swirled around
it, vanishing from sight as they passed the curved top of the stone. The wind
had been restored to the land.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was dark, and the snow was beginning to pick up, so Fen went a few metres away
to build her tent for the night against a cluster of rocks not far from the
Wind Stone. Being near the rock made her feel strangely safe.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
started the fire inside the tent and stripped off her snow-soaked clothes, her
body aching. She piled meat and comberry leaves into the cookpot to stew, then
pulled a small square mirror from her pack, sitting back on a round cushion to
comb out her tangled, damp hair. She set the comb down when she had finished,
staring into the glass. Her face was drawn and almost pallid looking, and her
eyes seemed too large for her head, ringed with dark circles. The thin white scar
where Bolvyn Venim’s ebony gauntlet had once struck her face stood out starkly
on her left cheek, stretching from her cheekbone to the corner of her mouth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
stared into the reflection of her eyes, so dim and exhausted-looking. She was
barely twenty-eight, still so young for a Dunmer, yet she felt as if she had
aged a thousand years. She lowered the mirror slowly. <i>I once hoped that I would come out of all this just a bit bruised and
scratched, a bit wiser and sadder for it all,</i> she thought, staring out at
the thin blue outline of the glowing Wind Stone through the cloth of her tent. <i>How wrong I was. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-54022220362319805012012-10-13T16:35:00.003-04:002012-10-13T16:35:52.746-04:00III - Pale World<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was the screaming that awoke her. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen’s
eyes opened suddenly, and she heard them filling the night air, high and
shrieking. There was a sound like stone crumbling, and the canvas of Fen’s tent
whispered as something raced past it, toward the forest.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
sat upright as the tent shook again. Through the thin walls, she could see the
faint pink glow of dawn. She had wrapped herself in her cloak and all the furs
she could find, and as she rose from her bedroll the icy cold closed around her
like a fist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
snatched up her gloves from the floor beside the smoking firepit and ducked
outside, her boot crunching down into fresh snow. She turned to face the fort,
and the sight that met her eyes sent a chill down her spine that had nothing to
do with the cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
archway she had come through to get to the forest was in ruin, a heap of fallen
masonry and splintered wood. Smoke curled up in thick tendrils from the towers,
where fire leapt from the windows. Fen could see bodies strewn throughout the
courtyard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
pulled her gloves on as she quickly crossed the snow to the fort. Blood stained
the snow everywhere she looked – bodies lay violently mauled to pieces all
around her. One soldier had been thrown into the well in the centre of the
yard, so that the support beams pierced his heart and left him to hang there,
his eyes empty and staring and blood dripping steadily from one finger.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Don’t
just stand there!” someone cried suddenly, and Fen saw a man tugging on the arm
of a dead soldier, one of his eyes bruised shut and his face smeared with blood.
“Help us! Do something!” Fen stared around. The wounded cried weakly from where
they lay in the snow, and a few soldiers that appeared to be unharmed were
moving among them, kneeling down and checking for a pulse. Fen glanced down and
saw a severed arm in the snow before her, sticky with blood. She stepped over
it, crossing the yard to a strong-jawed woman that was surveying the damage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are
you the captain of this fort?” Fen asked her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They
took the captain,” the woman replied gruffly, turning her fierce eyes on Fen.
“The creatures. They took him during battle.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
creatures?” Fen asked her, remembering the way her tent had moved as if
something rushed past it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Who
are you?” the woman asked, her eyes narrowing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That
doesn’t matter.” The soldier narrowed her eyes at Fen, and Fen held her gaze.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
want to help us?” she asked, and Fen nodded. “Fine. Come with me.” The woman
led Fen through a door that was hanging to the stone by one hinge, long
scratches raking down the wood. Fen stared at it as she passed over the
threshold into the interior of the fort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
mentioned creatures,” she said, glancing around at the general quarters they
had entered. The fort had even been attacked here – tapestries were torn from
the walls, furniture splintered into ruin, blood smeared along the floor,
around a corner, and out of sight. “What were they?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Creatures
like I never want to see again,” the woman told her, turning to face her as two
men hurried by, supporting a sobbing third man between them. Fen looked down
and realized the third soldier’s leg had been torn off, his knee ending in a
bloody stump. “They looked a bit like wolves, but…” she shook her head. “I’ve
seen a wolf every day since I came to Frostmoth. Those…<i>things</i> were something else.” She leaned forward slightly as another
soldier walked hurriedly past them, clutching his arm with his face twisted in
agony. “I’d say they were werewolves.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Werewolves?”
Fen repeated, puzzled. She knew that all manner of were-creatures dwelt in
Daggerfall, but that was on the opposite end of Tamriel, nowhere near
Morrowind. “There are werewolves on Solstheim?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
are a great many creatures on Solstheim,” the woman told Fen quietly.
“Creatures that no one would ever wish to meet. But I’ve never seen a werewolf
on this island. And I never would have imagined a huge pack of them would
attack like that. There must have been hundreds. I saw the captain run into
battle, but he was gone after that. We haven’t found his body, so they must
have taken him somewhere.” A shadow crossed her face and her eyes narrowed. “My
guess is that those savages from the Nord village have something to do with
this.” Fen glared at the woman coolly. Her time with the Ashlanders had
cultivated a distaste for those that passed judgment without cause.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Have
you ever been to this village?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No,”
the woman replied gruffly, going to the remains of a wooden chest and picking
through it, looking for something. “<span class="apple-style-span">It’s on the northeastern tip of Solstheim. These Skaal,
that’s what they call themselves, they’re nature-worshippers, and they seem to
have a special commune with the creatures of this island. If anyone knows what
attacked the fort, it would be them.” She straightened up, holding a
half-rotted skull that was heavily carved with runes and symbols. “Earn their
trust and find out what you can. You may have to remain with them for a while,
but I you’re up to the task.” She held the skull out to Fen. “Here, take this –
it was found in one of their tombs. Perhaps they will take it as a sign of good
faith.” Fen accepted the skull and carefully tucked it away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You know,” she said
coldly to the woman as she started for the door. “It would be wise for you to
actually speak to a person once before you label them a savage. You might not
even have this problem if it weren’t for your petty Imperial prejudices.” She
turned sharply away and left the soldier standing there, going out into the
carnage-streaked courtyard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The sun had risen
behind a thick wall of grey cloud, and it settled over the land with a grim
chill as Fen left through the ruined archway and started toward the forest. A
gentle hill flanked by trees sloped upward, and sitting at its base was a
wide-bellied Nord man with a flask in one hand and a paring knife in the other.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Hail, wanderer,” he
said as Fen approached. “You plan to travel the wastes of Solstheim as I do?”
Fen nodded. “Keep your wits about you, then. There’re worse things in those
woods than wolves and bears. Things that want your blood more than anything
else in the world.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What sort of
creatures?” Fen asked him, shaking her head as he offered her his flask.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Terrible things,” he
replied. “Men the Nords call ‘bare-sarks’ in the our tongue, because of their
insistence on going bare-chested even in the most severe blizzard. They’re
crazy as they come, friend, and care only for savagery and murder. It is said
they are so attracted to death, they make their homes in some of Solstheim’s
burial barrows. There are the fryse hags, too, mages dedicated to the teachings
of Kyne, the widow of the god Shor. Each is a powerful sorceress skilled in the
use of frost-based magicka. They’re vicious lasses, and view most people as a
threat to their beliefs. They’ve been seen out in the wild, and in a couple of
the ice caves.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">A cold chill swept
through the ruined fort off the sea, and Fen felt gooseflesh rise on her arms
despite the heavy cloak she wore. The Nord looked thoughtfully up at the sky.
“Blizzard’s coming,” he muttered, taking another swig of mead.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“How far away is the
village?” Fen asked him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“A fair few hours
straight there,” he replied. “But it’s Solstheim you’re traversing, not
Cyrodiil. You won’t be stopping to pick flowers along a cobblestone path.” He
chuckled grimly. “Straight north, just follow the Iggnir River up to Lake
Fjalding. And good luck.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Thank you,” Fen told
him, and she began to climb the hill, her boots gripping to the slick snow as
she went. She reached the top just as a heavy gust of wind blew heavily from
behind, making her stumble slightly. She regained her footing and glanced up,
and the sight took her breath away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The island of
Solstheim spread out before her, stretching far into the distance. The land
dipped down into an evergreen-filled valley, the waxy green trees thickly
coated in the previous evening’s snow. Farther in the distance, jagged
mountains rose steeply out of the forest, far taller than the mountains in
Vvardenfell and coated with everlasting snow. The Iggnir River spiraled out in
front of her, weaving down into the valley and out of sight. The island felt
oddly silent, as if the snow had quieted every sound. A lone wolf from
somewhere in the forest howled, an eerie noise that echoed off the walls of the
valley. The wind whispered past Fen, stinging her ears with its cold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She slowly pulled her
fur-lined hood over her head, still marveling at the sight. She knew Solstheim
was completely inhospitable, but its breathtaking beauty was undeniable, even
if it was manifested in a strange, eerie way. Fen carefully began her descent
into the forest, taking her staff from its place on her back. She felt bulky
and strange clad in heavy bearskin boots and a fur cloak, her trappings making
noise with every step she took, for so used she was to walking the volcanic
Ashlands with a thin robe and summer boots. But it was mercifully warm inside
her many layers with Effe-Tei’s broach, and for that she was grateful.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Soon Fen had passed
under the branches of the evergreens and was enveloped by the cool darkness of
the Hirstaang Forest. A narrow deer trail wound around the trunks and out of
sight. Fen followed it, her eyes narrowed against the chill. She had barely
walked for ten minutes when a sudden rustling in the brush made her pause. Fen
only had time to register the low snarl in the shadows before the wolf was upon
her, its jaws wide and its enormous paws poised to bring her down. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Taken by surprise,
Fen felt the wolf’s paws struck her shoulders and slammed her into a tree
trunk, its teeth snapping at her. She pressed her hand into the fur at its
chest, forcing it backward, and cast a simple drain health spell. The wolf
yelped and slackened, falling limply atop her. Fen rolled its body off her and
knelt to examine it. Its fur was matted and dirty, its eyes muddy brown and its
teeth half-rotted. Solstheim had not been kind to the creature. Fen stood
slowly, casting her eyes warily through the low-hanging branches. There didn’t
seem to be any other movement around, but she proceeded with caution all the
same.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The rest of the hour
saw little incident for Fen, and soon the trees began to thin and she found
herself crossing the land called the Isinfier Plains. There were more hills the
climb over here and fewer trees, and the wind came screaming down from the
mountains and blasted Fen with all its force as she struggled through the
untouched snow. The Nord scout outside Fort Frostmoth had been right – a storm
was coming, and it was beginning to show. The clouds churned anxiously, and the
air was bitterly cold.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The wolves here were
more frequent, and now they were accompanied by bears, monstrous creatures that
Fen had never even seen drawings of. They towered above her like bloated,
fur-covered Durzogs, their roars reverberating throughout the valley and their
colossal clawed paws swiping at her face. They were more difficult to take down
than the wolves, and Fen found herself reverting to quick usages of potions
more often than she would have liked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">It was only after she
managed to take down three of these beasts that she encountered one of the
islands more notorious inhabitants. Fen had only just pulled Trueflame from the
belly of a bear, its entrails spilling out onto the snow, when a powerful spell
just barely missed her, hitting the ground and causing a geyser of ice to erupt
there. Fen spun around and saw a simply clothed Nordic woman there, her face
lost amid runic tattoos and paintings, a wolf snarling by her side. <i>A fryse hag,</i> she thought, remembering
the scout’s words.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The hag sent another
spell at Fen, and Fen quickly raised a fire shield before her to deflect it.
The spell bounced away and Fen let loose a range of God’s Fire, enveloping the
hag in flame. The snow had finally begun to fall, and it was becoming difficult
to see through the thickening flakes. When the blast cleared, the fryse hag was
screaming in an archaic tongue, and the wolf suddenly leapt toward Fen.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She pulled Trueflame
from her belt and deflected the wolf with a swift curl of her wrist. It sprang
away, snarling and spraying blood across the snow, and Fen ducked as another
spell from the fryse hag went hurtling overhead. The woman abandoned her
spellcasting and ran at Fen, a dagger glinting in her hand. Fen quickly slid
Trueflame through the wolf’s heart as it leapt at her again, then turned her
attention to the fryse hag a second too late. The steel of the Nord’s dagger
bit through Fen’s heavy cloak, slicing along her forearm until Fen managed to
shove her away and finish her with a well-placed jab from Trueflame.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen pulled her cloak
back and rolled up the sleeve of her robe, wincing as the cold cinched her bare
arm. It was almost impossible to see now – everything was grey, and snow was
shooting down fiercely all around her. She felt light-headed as she examined
the long cut on her arm. She had received far worse injuries in the past.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Don’t move,” a deep
voice behind her suddenly boomed over the blizzard. “We’ve twenty arrows
pointed at your back.” Fen froze, her fingers flying to Trueflame at her hip.
“Turn around,” the voice commanded. “Slowly!” Fen did so, and she saw the vague
shapes of men, a large group of them, all with bows strung to kill her. “Who
are you?” someone shouted.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Fen,” she called
back. A particularly fierce gust of wind rocked her and she stumbled. She could
hear the bowstrings tighten despite the wind.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What business do you
have on Skaal hunting ground, Fen?” a man at the front of the group demanded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I can only plead
ignorance,” she called. “I am not from these lands. I wish your people no harm.
Truly.” She saw a few of the men exchange looks.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Lower your bows!”
the leader finally shouted, and they did. “Come with us,” he said gruffly to
Fen. “We will take you to our chieftain. He will know how to deal with you.”
The men closed in a square around her, and she pulled her hood up again,
casting a silent healing spell to stitch the wound on her arm.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">They walked for
nearly an hour through the blizzard, trudging through deep snow and shallow
parts of the river and weaving through trees and scrub. Fen’s face had lost
feeling – the tips of her fingers, even beneath their gloves, were numb, and
though she clenched her fur-lined cloak as tightly around herself as she could,
the air still bit cruelly at her from all sides, sending deep chills down into
her boots.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">The hunters began to
lead her up a steep hill, the wind bearing down on them from all sides. It
howled fiercely through the grey air, resisting their climb with all its might.
Fen burrowed more deeply into her hood, her jaw quivering. Soon they had
reached the hill’s summit, and Fen saw a fair-sized village stood on its top, a
village of wooden cottages overlooking the lake far below. She could not see
much through the blizzard, however, and the hunters led her straight to the
largest building, standing in the centre of town. The door was opened and she
stepped inside. It closed after her, shutting out the sound of the relentless
snow.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen let out a sigh of
relief as the warmth of the building enveloped her. The men had not accompanied
her inside, and she stepped out of the small foyer, pulling down her hood and
gazing around. It seemed to be some sort of hunting lodge – built from
sturdy-looking logs and supported by four tall, carved pillars. A rectangular
section of floor in the centre of the room was sunken down, cluttered with an
ashy firepit and several benches. At the head of the room, a high-backed chair
draped with furs stood on a raised dais. A stuffed cliffracer was strung from
the ceiling by several thick ropes, its glassy eyes wide and its beak open. It
was bigger than any cliffracer Fen had seen on Vvardenfell – its enormous wings
scraped the tall pillars on either side of it. The light from the candles danced
in its dark glass eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">She walked slowly
into the room, which was pleasantly warm despite the absence of a fire. Fen
pulled off her gloves, staring up at the cliffracer. The hunting lodge was dim,
the only light coming from a few iron chandeliers that were covered in melted
wax and the three or four candelabras that dotted the walls. Outside, the wind
of the snowstorm still howled violently.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Fen heard the door
open suddenly, and the blizzard’s cries increased tenfold. She turned to see
the shapes of three men, silhouetted against the wall of white snow outside.
They ducked under the low wooden beams of the foyer and came into the main
lodge, giving Fen a proper view – two of them were clad in intricate Nordic
armour, their faces mostly covered by the helms they wore. The man between them,
however, left his head bare, covered only by thick white hair that hung across
his shoulders in braids. His face was pale and weathered, pockmarked with age
and scars from battle, his mouth a fierce, downturned line. His eyes were a
bright, unnerving blue, and they seemed to stand out from the rest of his face.
He stopped several metres away, his gloved hand resting on the pommel of a
broadsword at his hip.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Geric,” he said, in
a surprisingly strong and steady voice. “Send for Frid to light the fire.” One
of the guards that had entered with him nodded and passed Fen without looking
her, climbing up a set of narrow wooden stairs and out of sight. “So,” the man
said, taking several strides forward. “The hunters tell me that you were found
on our grounds in the storm.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I am sorry for it,”
Fen replied. “I am not familiar with these lands.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Then you should not
be here,” the man said haggardly. “Solstheim is not a place for the unfamiliar.
Especially people of your kind.” He frowned.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The Nords and the
Dunmer may have warred in the past, serjo, but I assure you, I hold no
prejudice.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You are very
different from the Imperials in the south, then.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I am.” The man
studied her, his icy eyes training deeply into hers. A freckled young Nord
woman appeared from the stairwell suddenly, going to kneel by the firepit.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Sit,” the old man
said, and Fen took a place on one of the benches. The woman muttered a simple
fire spell and the firepit crackled into life. She bobbed her head toward the
man without looking at him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Chieftain,” she
murmured respectfully.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Thank you, Frid,” he
replied, sitting down heavily across from Fen. Frid bobbed her head again and
retreated upstairs. “What do you call yourself, stranger?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Fen.” His cold eyes
narrowed.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“An unusual name for
a Dark Elf.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“So I’ve been told.”
He paused, as if waiting for her to elaborate. She did not.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I am Tharsten
Heart-Fang, chieftain of the Skaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“It is an honour,
chieftain,” Fen told him, inclining her head slightly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You are courteous,
for an outsider.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I spent much of my
time several years ago among the Ashlanders of Vvardenfell,” she replied.
“Their ways, too, are very different from my own.” She undid the catches of her
cloak, letting it slide off her shoulders, and reached for her bag at her feet,
carefully drawing out the rotted skull, wrapped in burlap. “I believe this
belongs to your people, Chieftain,” she said, holding it out to him. Heart-Fang
took the bundle and flipped the burlap over, revealing the skull. A sour look
crossed his face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Where did you find
this?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“It was given to me
by the Imperials of Fort Frostmoth,” she told him. “They have recently been
attacked, and asked if I would travel to your village to speak with you.” Fen
paused. “Though I have no great love for the Imperials.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“How were they
attacked?” Heart-Fang asked skeptically, looking up over the skull at her, his
weathered face critical.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“They said it was by
wolf-creatures,” Fen replied. “I did not see the attack itself, but I saw the
carnage it left. No wolf could have unleashed that kind of fury.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Those soldiers!”
Heart-Fang said angrily. “They cut their trees and dig their holes, and have
little to show after a day’s toil. They do not respect this land or its
creatures, and for that, I find them offensive.” He shook his head doggedly. “But,
though I have no love for them, the Skaal would never do such a thing. We
prefer to let the Imperials kill themselves slowly. But these creatures that
attacked...these were not wolves of this island.” He held out the skull to the
guard by the door, who came forward to take it. “Gods curse those Imperials,”
he remarked fiercely. “They need to learn to leave things as they are. Still,
it is good that you have returned this to the Skaal. Perhaps there is hope for
you and your kind.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I would do what I
can to restore goodwill between our people, if it was ever there.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The Imperials in
their fort have brought nothing but harm to these lands,” Heart-Fang told her,
shaking his head as he sat back down. “They cut the trees and dig the earth.
They are wasteful, lazy, and careless. They have no comprehension of the
Oneness of the land. It is this Oneness from which the Skaal derive our
strength, and the Imperials have defiled these lands.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“What is the
Oneness?” Fen asked.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The Oneness is
balance,” Heart-Fang replied. “It is the balance of our lands, the trees and
the waters, wolf and bear. It is from the Oneness that the Skaal derive their
power. We have tried time and time again to reconcile with the Imperials, but they
are stubborn and refuse to change their ways. Perhaps it is right that you do help
to restore the power of the Skaal, as it is your people who have caused the
damage.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I do not call the
Imperials family, Chieftain. Far from it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The people of Tamriel
are one to us,” he replied sharply. “They do not understand the way of the
earth and the wind.” He stood suddenly. “We are wary, but we are not cruel. I
will not ask you to brave the blizzard. You may stay in our village until it
subsides, but do not harm our people. Speak with Korst Wind-Eye, in the Shaman’s
Hut. He will give you further instructions. Ledd will take you there,” he said,
gesturing to the guard by the door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Thank you,” Fen told
him, standing up and drawing her cloak over her shoulders. Heart-Fang did not
reply, but sat silently, watching her as she pulled her hood up and followed
Ledd to the door.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">They found Korst
Wind-Eye sitting at the back of his one-room house before the fireplace, a book
in his hands and a thick pelt across his lap. He turned as Ledd escorted her
in, and Fen saw he was just as old, if not older, than Heart-Fang, but there
was much more wisdom in his dark eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Thank you, Ledd,” he
said, and the guard nodded and retreated out of the hut, back into the storm.
“Greetings to you, wanderer,” he said, reaching for a gnarled wooden cane that
lay on the floor beside his chair. “Why have you come to our village?” He
pulled the pelt aside and slowly raised himself up on the cane, limping
slightly as he crossed the hut toward her.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“My name is Fen,” she
told him. “Your chieftain asked me to come.” Wind-Eye gave her a curious look.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Fen,” he repeated
slowly. “Are you, perhaps, the Fen that they call the Nerevarine in the south?”
She nodded, and he smiled faintly. “I had a feeling I would be meeting you
someday, Lady Fen. Please, sit.” He gestured to a chair beside his with his
free hand and limped over to the sideboard to pour tea. “You’ve come to
Solstheim at an unfortunate time,” he told her as she sat down before the fire.
“The summers are bad enough, but Sun’s Dusk brings the cruelest winters in
Tamriel. Besides in Skyrim, perhaps,” he added, handing her a teacup and
returning to the sideboard to pour himself one with his free hand.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Are you from Skyrim,
serjo?” Fen asked, curling her hands around the cup. The tea was too hot to
drink, but it warmed her palms and sent fragrant steam whispering up into her
face.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I was born there,
near Whiterun,” he replied, sitting down with a sigh of relief and carefully
laying down his cane. “I came to Solstheim with my family when I was a boy. My
grandmother used to be a Skaal, and she knew that the shaman here would need an
apprentice soon. And with my bad leg, there was little opportunity for me in a
place like Skyrim.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“How long have the
Skaal lived in Solstheim?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Oh, for as long as I
can remember. I used to hear tales about them when I was still in Skyrim, tales
of how they were terrible men that could turn into wolves at will.” He
chuckled, scratching his yellow beard with one hand. “I hope the Imperials have
not been telling you similar rumours.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I try to spend as
little time with the Imperials as possible,” Fen said, and Wind-Eye laughed
heartily.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“You must have spent
enough time with them to know if the whispers about this attack have any truth
to them,” he said, his laughter fading quickly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“How did you hear
about that?” Fen asked curiously. Korst did not reply, merely smiled. “They
were attacked by wolf-creatures,” she told him. “And the chieftain assured me
that the Skaal were not to blame.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“That is true,”
Wind-Eye said seriously. “The Skaal are brethren to the wolves of this island,
nothing more. We do not command them, and we certainly do not share bodies with
them. It would be like those soldiers to suggest it.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Heart-Fang also mentioned
the Oneness,” Fen said, and Wind-Eye turned to look at her, the reflection of
the fire glinting in his eye.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“There is a careful
balance that lies in all things of this world,” the shaman said, holding his
hands out on either side of him, his palms facing upward and held at equal
height. “The animals, the trees, even the rocks and the winds. It is a harmony
that the Skaal draw power from, by the grace of the All-Maker, He who gave us
these gifts. But when this balance is upset,” he said, dropping one hand and
raising the other, “our power is lessened.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Heart-Fang wishes
for me to restore the power of the Skaal.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Does he?” Wind-Eye
said, dropping his hands. “Then I will assist you. There is a ritual that must
be completed. On Solstheim, you will find six Standing Stones, each
representing one of the six gifts of the All-Maker. At each of these Stones, a
ritual must be completed. Once the Ritual of the Gifts is complete, the Oneness
should be restored.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“The Ritual of the
Gifts?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“It would be too much
for any not of the Skaal to remember,” Wind-Eye said, picking up his cane again
and standing slowly. He went to a desk littered with scraps of parchment and
drew two our of their stacks. “Here, take this,” he said, holding out the
first. It was a roughly-drawn map of Solstheim, marked with six tall
finger-like shapes. “It will explain the rituals and guide you on your way.
This scroll may be of some use to you as well,” he added, giving her the second
sheet. “If you are to remain with the Skaal, you should understand our beliefs.”
Fen unfolded the sheet and saw it was a story, the top of the scroll
illuminated with <i>The Story of Aevar
Stone-Singer.</i><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“I imagine the snow
will continue until nightfall,” Wind-Eye told her, cracking a shutter and
peering out at the blanket of white that shrouded the world outside. “A few
hours, at least. If you return to the hunting lodge, you will find hospitality
there.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Thank you,” Fen
said, standing and tucking the two papers into her cloak. Wind-Eye nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Good luck to you, Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">Outside, the world
was strangely silent. There were no people about, and the only things Fen could
see were the dim outlines of houses that were sealed tight against the cold.
She had only made it a few steps through the knee-deep snow when she saw a familiar
silhouette standing before her in the gale. Fen squinted. She was sure she
recognized that wiry frame, the jaggedly cropped dark hair…<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;">“Julan?” she
whispered, but her voice was lost in the howling wind. Then she blinked, and
the figure was gone, leaving her alone in the silent, pale world.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-33800947893636329232012-09-29T18:42:00.000-04:002012-09-30T18:43:20.401-04:00II - Jewel of Absolutely Nowhere<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Many
would argue that her madness lessened any greatness she had,” Queen Barenziah
said, taking a serene sip of wine and setting the cup down with a small <i>clink </i>upon the tiled table. Fen absentmindedly
swilled the dark drink in her own goblet. <i>Almalexia
was mad,</i> she thought to herself.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
don’t think it was madness at all,” she said. “It was plain brilliance and
strategy, and Potema’s enemies called her mad so they could have a viable
reason to despise her.” A breeze whispered by, rustling the fine white hairs
piled atop Barenziah’s head, and Fen let her gaze drift out over the terrace
they were seated on, overlooking the palace’s ornate gardens that, at this time
of the year, were overflowing with all manner of flowers and climbing ivy and
gnarled trees. In the colder months, they would sit in Barenziah’s apartments
to have these meetings, but in Mournhold’s notoriously warm summers, they met
every day on the balcony over the gardens to lunch at the stone table there and
talk.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“A
mother’s love for her child is not brilliance,” the queen argued as a servant
silently appeared behind them and refilled their goblets from a silver pitcher.
Fen watched the girl leave and return with a tray of lemon cakes on a bed of
parsley. “It’s natural. Potema merely acted out of love for her son, and out of
that grew her insanity and her affinity to the necromantic arts.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
was more than loving her son,” Fen replied, swirling the wine in her cup. “It
was wanting him to be the emperor above all else. She threw her entire life
into it, not just because she loved him, but because she wanted power, and she
knew that if Uriel ruled, she would be Tamriel’s true emperor.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But,”
Barenziah began. “You forget that –”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Your
Majesty,” came a voice from the door into the palace, and Fen and Barenziah
turned together. A nervous-looking page stood in the doorway, holding a number
of rolled scrolls in his arms. “His Grace King Helseth has asked that you
review the new maps of the surrounding provinces before they are published, as
he claims that you have a greater affinity for cartography than he.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> “I thought it was clear that I am not to be
interrupted during my visits with my granddaughter,” Barenziah told the page,
rather irritatedly, waving him over. “Why must these maps be approved by the
court?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They
are to be published in the Empire’s new guide of Tamriel, and the Emperor
personally requested that the information for each province be personally reviewed
by its leader.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Very
well,” Barenziah said with a sigh. “Hand them over and tell my son I will look
over them and return them to him when I am finished.” The page handed her the
maps and she returned to the table. “This shouldn’t be done by your father and
me,” she muttered. “This is steward’s work. But the good emperor commands, and
we obey.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
working on changing that,” Fen told her, and Barenziah offered her a faint look
as she flipped through the maps. “Once all these people stop hating me I can
focus on ousting the Empire from Morrowind.” Fen watched as the queen unrolled
the first map, of the island of Solstheim. It was barely detailed, only showing
a few mountain ranges and what looked like an Imperial fort. Fen propped her
chin on her hands, staring at the upside-down map under her grandmother’s
elbow. <i>That chunk of ice in the sea…</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
want to go to Solstheim.” Barenziah looked up at her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Tell
me why.” At that moment, Fen felt a sudden, overwhelming love for her
grandmother. Any other person would have called her mad, but Barenziah merely
listened, unfazed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
just…I need time.” Barenziah studied her for a moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Do
you think it’s wise to leave the city now? In light of what happened in the
Clockwork City?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
think these people need a break from me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They’ll
come to terms with it in time.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
I don’t think they want to see me up until that time.” Barenziah paused.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Solstheim
is not a pleasant place, Fen. It isn’t somewhere you typically go to find
yourself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
can take care of myself.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
know you can.” Barenziah leaned forward, closing her warm, gnarled hand over
Fen’s. “Fen, I went through this once too. Before the Armistice, my parents
were killed by the Imperial army and I was sent to Skyrim.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
know,” Fen replied softly. “I read Plitinius’s biographies.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
you know that I tried to remedy my problems by running from them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s
not what I’m doing,” Fen insisted. “I just need to spend a while on my own.”
They gazed at one another for a time, Barenziah unsmiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
understand.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
docks at Ebonheart were awake long before the rest of the world. It was hours
until the sun would rise, and yet the seaside town was a confusion of people
pushing their way toward the ships, holding crates and sacks over their heads
as they went. Fen stood to the side beside Effe-Tei, the court mage, both of
them with hoods drawn low over their faces.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Which
one is it?” Fen murmured to Effe-Tei, and he pointed with a long, reptilian
finger at what appeared to be the largest of the ships in the bay, bobbing a
ways out from the city.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
<i>Frost-Sail</i>,” he replied. “Princess,
are you sure you wish to travel this way?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
sure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
will be on board with criminals being sent to Fort Frostmoth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ve
held worse company.” The Argonian cast a sidelong glance at her, then reached
into his cloak, drawing out a golden brooch in the shape of the Moon-and-Star.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
had this made for you,” he told her, holding it out. “It carries a frost
resistance enchantment, and your birthday last year was rather subdued.” Fen
accepted the brooch, rubbing one thumb along the fine gold curve of the moon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank
you, Effe-Tei,” she told him softly, and she pinned it upon the clasp of her
cloak, straightening it with two fingers. A horn sounded suddenly, and Fen saw
the crew of the <i>Frost-Sail</i> begin to
stir into motion. “I should go,” she said, and Effe-Tei nodded.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Be
safe, Princess,” he said, and she gave him a nod before stepping down onto the
docks and joining the throng of passengers. A crewhand helped her onto a small
boat alongside a group of fresh and excited-looking young Imperials, and she
sat down at the back of the boat, folding her hands in her lap.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It’s
going to be great,” one was saying excitedly. “I’m going to mine enough ebony
to build a manor for my wife.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll
mine enough to build a manor for the emperor,” another said.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’ll
mine enough to buy Vvardenfell.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
would you want with Vvardenfell?” the first man quipped. “The only thing on
this island are sullen Dark Elves and ashstorms!” The group chuckled together,
and the boat pushed off the dock and drifted slowly across the fog-glazed water
to the ship itself. Fen turned slightly in her seat to glance back at the dock,
though it was impossible to make out Effe-Tei’s cloaked figure from here. She
turned back toward the ship, drawing her cloak around herself as the Imperials
laughed raucously a joke one of them had told.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
rowboat bumped up against the <i>Frost-Sail</i>,
and Fen followed the Imperials up the ladder on the side of the ship to the
deck. She stared out at the water, which was almost impossible to discern from
the steel-grey sky, and the floating mists that shrouded its dim surface<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Name?”
a tired-looking Redguard with a sheet of parchment asked her, and Fen turned
away from the waves of the bay.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fedura
Rindal,” she said, giving the fake name she had used in Mournhold. The Redguard
found her name and crossed it off, moving to the group of Imperials that were
now speaking loudly about what kind of fireplaces they were going to build in their
homes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
uppermost deck of the <i>Frost-Sail </i>was
sparsely populated. It seemed most of the passengers had already retreated
below decks to settle in for the twenty-two hour journey. Fen was not tired,
nor was she in the mood to sit among the prisoners and overzealous
opportunists. She climbed up onto the quarter deck, where another figure
already stood watching Ebonheart through the darkness. It was an old man, a
tattered cloak around his shoulders, his white hair blown back from the cool
breeze. Fen studied the man curiously for a moment, then reached beneath her
cloak and into the fold of her belt, where she withdrew a small, worn Septim
that she had kept there for some time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Excuse
me,” Fen said, approaching him. The man turned, revealing a familiar, careworn
face. Fen held out the coin to him. “I think we’ve met. Did you give this to
me?” The man glanced down at the drake in Fen’s palm and he looked up at her,
smiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
did. It is an honour, Lady Nerevarine.” The Buoyant Armiger stepped back from the
rail and bowed deeply to her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank
you,” Fen told him, glancing around to be sure no one had seen. The only people
that seemed to still be on deck were the crew. “You’re bound for Solstheim?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Aye,”
the Armiger told her with a nod. “There was no place for me at Ghostgate, and
it took a visit from the Nerevarine to teach me that.” The ship lurched
suddenly and began to move, almost sluggishly, away from Ebonheart. “Perhaps
there will be a place for me up at Frostmoth.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“From
what I’ve heard, Solstheim is not the most forgiving of islands.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“All
the same, it’ll be better than moping about at a stronghold that isn’t even
needed anymore, eh?” The Armiger held his hand out to her, still leaning on the
railing with the other. “Wulf.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Fen,”
she replied, taking it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
what brings the Nerevarine to Solstheim, Fen?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
needed a break from Morrowind.” She paused. “Or rather, Morrowind needed a
break from me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That’s
what I’ve heard,” Wulf replied, taking a flask from his hip and flipping the
lid open.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
thought telling the truth would improve their opinion of me,” Fen replied
sourly, leaning on the railing and watching Ebonheart drift away into the fog.
“But it’s only made them hate me more.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Aye,”
Wulf replied, taking a swig from his flask. “The truth always seems to irritate
people, for some reason. I could never figure it out. Eventually I just stopped
telling it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Who
did you tell it to that angered more easily than the people in Morrowind?” Fen
asked him wryly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
told it to myself,” Wulf replied easily. “Told myself that my daughter was dead
and moaning about it wouldn’t help.” He took another drink from his flask.
“Then I just stopped believing it. It’s easier that way. To just ignore the
things that you’ve got quarrel with.” Fen didn’t reply, but joined him in
staring out off the stern at the empty fog that now succeeded the ship. <i>I tried to remedy my problems by running
from them. </i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But that’s not what I’m doing,</span></i>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">she assured herself
silently, wishing she could believe it. <i>I’m
not running from anything. </i>A gust of wind sent the cloth of her cloak
billowing against her from behind, and she turned her head to stare across the
ship to the north, where the early-morning darkness and the fog veiled
Solstheim from view. <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
<i>Frost-Sail</i> shuddered to a halt,
waking Fen from a restless sleep. The first thing that struck her was the cold
– it seeped through the wooden walls of her cabin and through the fur-lined
cloak she had wrapped herself in, curling around her like an icy embrace and
making her skin prickle beneath her robe. She sat up in her cot and glanced
around – the oil lamp overhead was swinging, throwing spiky shadows across the
four close walls, and the ship around her was bobbing with heavy, moaning
creaks. Fen pulled her grandmother’s locket from beneath her robe and clicked
it open – it was nearly two in the morning. They must have reached Solstheim by
now.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
pulled herself away from the scarce comfort of the little wooden cot and went
to her bag, pulling out a pair of fur-lined cloth gloves. Her grey hands looked
small and cold in the dimness of the cabin, and she shivered as she pulled the
gloves over them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
put her hood up as she climbed up onto the deck, and was instantly grateful for
it. A blast of cold air hit her so fiercely that she thought she might topple
over, and she winced as she joined the crowd of passengers that had gathered by
the port side. The only ones speaking were the talkative Imperials, who were
some ways away pushing one another out of excitement. All the others were
standing silently, staring, grim-faced at the sight before them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Up
ahead, perched precariously on the edge of a lopsided hill, stood Fort
Frostmoth. It was built in exactly the same fashion as the Imperial forts on
Vvardenfell, though its stones looked cold and foreboding in the darkness, toting
flying banners that were tattered from the harsh winds and only illuminated by
a few swaying lanterns. To the right of the fort, the hill sloped steeply down
and straight into the icy sea. To the left, the land yawned into gaping
darkness, shielded by dark evergreens that stood taller than the fort itself.
The sky overhead was completely black, no stars in sight.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Bring
her in!” one of the crewmen shouted, and the grating of an anchor being thrown
over was heard. The <i>Frost-Sail</i> lurched
suddenly, and the people standing on the deck took several steps to steady
themselves, Fen included. She heard gangplanks being drawn out, guards shouting
orders, the passengers muttering amongst themselves. They began to shuffle
slowly toward the edge of the ship, and Fen joined the throng, keeping her eyes
down as she went down the gangplank and stepped onto the icy stones of the
dock.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
here to join up?” a guard standing by the gangplank asked her gruffly, and she
shook her head. “Get outta the way then,” he snapped, and Fen stepped aside as
the rest of the passengers made their way onto the dock. It was a rectangular
platform built out over the freezing water, laden with crates and barrels and
coils of rope and lit by two spitting torches. A narrow stone bridge led to the
path that wound up the hill to the fort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“One
warmblood does not belong,” a snakelike voice behind her hissed suddenly. Fen
turned and saw an Argonian man standing there, bundled in thick, fur-lined
clothes and studying her critically. “Which one could it be?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What?”
Fen replied coolly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
heard me, warmblood,” he said sharply. “This isn’t Wayrest. You don’t come here
for vacation. You come here if you have a death wish.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
can handle myself,” Fen told him icily, turning away.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Get
out while you can, warmblood!” the Argonian cackled as Fen started across the
bridge behind the criminals being sent up to the fort.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
was exhausted, having hardly slept soundly on the ship. She had brought her old
tent with her, figuring it would be unlikely that she would be shown
hospitality at Fort Frostmoth.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">If
anyone had been less receptive to Fen than the people of Morrowind as of late,
it was the Imperials. Since the end of the Vvardenfell Crisis, she had openly
denounced the Empire and her intentions to rid them from Morrowind, and they
were anything but pleased. Fen was almost positive the renegade soldiers of
Fort Frostmoth wouldn’t know who she was, but as she walked through the stone
archway into the courtyard, every sullen eye seemed to be turned on her, each
soldier openly staring as she stood amidst them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What’s
your business here?” a haggard-looking guard snapped, seizing her arm. There was
a fleshy pink scar over one of his milky-white eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why
would I state it to the likes of you?” Fen replied, pulling her arm out of his
grasp and fixing him with a cool glare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ve
no business in this fort, Dark Elf. This land is claimed by the Empire.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Solstheim
is claimed by no one,” she said. “I’ve just as much right to be here as you.”
The soldier glared at her through his one seeing eye, hate etched on every line
of his face.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
see how much you’re welcomed here, you Dark Elf trash,” he growled, and in an
instant Fen had struck him across the face with a fire spell on her fingertips,
sending him stumbling to the ground with his hands over his burned face. “You <i>bitch</i>!” he shouted as Fen turned and
stepped quickly away. “You fucking Elf <i>cunt</i>!”
She sped up as she crossed the courtyard, heading straight for the curved
archway on the other side, knowing full well that every soldier on the exterior
of the fort was watching her. She felt her breath catch in her throat as she
emerged into the cool, dark night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
forest before her was complete blackness. A wolf howled in the distance, and
chills that had nothing to do with the cold raced up Fen’s arms. She glanced up
– the moons, too, were gone along with the stars, rendering the night utterly
and completely lightless. Fen found a flat space a short ways away from the
fort and started pulling out the poles and ropes and canvas of her tent with
quivering hands. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-74224147029070631992012-09-16T21:26:00.001-04:002012-09-16T21:26:22.473-04:00I - Pointless<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i> A couple things:</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>1) I'm sorry this chapter is a day late! I was pretty sick yesterday and wasn't able to post it.</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><i>2) This chapter is where my vision of Morrowind and Mournhold especially begin to deviate slightly from the game. Nothing major, but just keep it in mind as you read. Thanks!</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">A
young Dunmer woman reading a dirty broadsheet lowered it slowly, grim-faced.
She leaned back, rubbing her eyes and letting her head rest on the back of the
couch she was curled upon. She heard the door open, and she looked up.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Barenziah
had entered the library, clad in a robe of deep crimson, her snowy hair piled
atop her head as it usually was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
thought I might find you here.” Fen didn’t reply, just stared down at the
broadsheet in her lap, the accusatory words glaring from the heading. “<i>The Common Tongue </i>again?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They
told me they would stop printing about the family,” Fen said angrily, crumpling
the broadsheet. “I thought that included me as well. I suppose I was wrong.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There’s
no reason to go after them about it, Fen.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No?”
Fen replied sharply. “No reason to stop them spreading lies about me to my
people?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“No
reason,” Barenziah repeated calmly, sitting down on the velvet-cushioned couch
adjacent to Fen’s. “Morrowind may be a kingdom, Fen, but we have to allow our
people freedom to believe what they like or we’re no better than Almalexia.”
Fen closed her eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
don’t want to talk about Almalexia.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Yes,
well, I had a feeling you wouldn’t.” Fen looked up at her grandmother, her eyes
flashing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
think this is easy for me?” she demanded, and Barenziah silenced her with a
look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“This
is not easy for any of us,” the Queen told her. “Least of all you. But you are a
leader to these people, and a leader must be strong, despite the strife that
may rift her life.” Barenziah leaned forward and took the broadsheet from Fen’s
lap, flattening it on her lap and skimming the words there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Was
it wrong to do the address last year?” Fen asked, leaning back on her couch,
staring up at the green marble ceiling of the library. “I thought it would
bring them closure.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
mind is a fickle thing,” Barenziah responded, folding <i>The Common Tongue </i>in half. “The people will need time to come to
terms with what happened. I do not believe that they are quite ready to accept
that their goddess had gone mad.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“How
much time do they need?” They stared at one another, Barenziah’s penetrating
eyes into Fen’s.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
must be patient,” Barenziah said finally. “Almalexia is gone. You are not. The
time will come when your people will recognize you.” Fen did not respond, but
lay her head back down on the back of the couch, staring up at the tiled
ceiling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Sometimes
I feel like I have very few allies, Grandmother.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
that is the life of a leader,” Barenziah replied doggedly. “Trust in yourself
that you are making the right decisions for your people, and everything will
turn out the way it’s meant to.” She stood. “I’m going to meet Plitinius for
tea. Do you care to join us?” Fen shook her head, not breaking her gaze at the
ceiling. She was not in the mood to sit with her grandmother’s extravagant
author companion who had penned the <i>Real
Barenziah </i>series. The queen clearly sensed this, and she left the library
without complaint, leaving Fen alone in the book-lined room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
leaned forward, propping her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands. <i>The Common Tongue </i>had a point – she
could not remember the last time she had smiled.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As if that’s my fault,</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> Fen thought sourly, pulling a
throw cushion into her lap and picking at the embroidery. <i>As if I’m to blame because I see the Clockwork City every time I shut
my eyes.</i> In the past several months, she had discovered that her memories
of the incident in Sotha Sil’s domain were entirely too vivid, and they had
been plaguing her constantly, both awake and asleep, since she returned to the
Temple in Mournhold two years ago. It seemed as if every time Fen let her eyes
drift closed, she was once again kneeling on the rusted metal floor, surrounded
by the sweltering heat of the flames and staring into Julan’s empty eyes as
Almalexia’s laugh danced around her…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
threw the pillow, angrily, away from her. It hit a shelf and fell with a soft <i>thump </i>to the carpet, frustrating her
with out simple it all was. Julan was dead, she was alive. That was it. Fen
stood, kicking the low table roughly out of her way, and went to the window on
the other side of the library.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Plaza Brindisi Dorum stretched out below, dominated in the centre by a large fountain
and an empty plinth where the statue of Almalexia battling Mehrunes Dagon had
once stood. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Are
you sure about this, Princess?” Effe-Tei had asked her as they had stood,
hooded, in the rain, watching the workers take down the last bits of the
statue. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We
don’t need any more reminders of what she did to this city,” Fen had murmured
in reply, and the Argonian was silent after hat.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
was just beginning to grow dark outside the library, and the Plaza was thick
with people making their way back to their homes in Godsreach after the day’s toil.
Fen leaned against the sill, watching them, trying, unsuccessfully, to pick out
faces in the crowd.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Barenziah
was right. The people were fickle, and it was infuriating to Fen. When she had
climbed down from Red Mountain, they loved her. Then she told them what had
happened in the Clockwork City and they hated her. Now they spent their time
speculating over her melancholy moods, wondering perhaps if she was a secret
member of some sort of Nordic coven. She hated to think of the people as a
single unit that was so painfully subject to persuasion, but only a few words
from the priests of the Tribunal Temple had pulled them into believing that Fen
had brutally slaughtered Almalexia with a more sinister motive.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
stretched her right hand out flat on the smooth marble sill, studying the two
rings that glinted in the dusky evening light. There was Moon-and-Star, as
elegant as ever, with its smooth curved moon and white-gold star, as perfect as
it had looked the day it had dropped into her hands in the Cavern of the
Incarnate. And just below it, a ring that was battered and scruffy in
comparison, made of a scratched metal band and set with a single green stone.
The stone had once been alight with a constant, faint motion, though ever since
First Seed it had been dark and still. Then on the finger beside it, her Royal
Signet ring, emblazoned with the seal of Morrowind’s ruling family, looking
gaudy and outlandish compared to the other two. Fen slipped the Signet ring off
her finger and into the pocket of her robe, frowning.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It’s all so pointless now, </span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">she thought grimly, letting her
eyes drift up above the city walls to the dusty pink sky. <i>It’s absolutely pointless.</i> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">* * *<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center; text-indent: .5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
don’t care if we don’t have a claim there, I want them <i>out</i>.” King Hlaalu Helseth curled his hand into a fist and slammed
it down on the fine mahogany table, making a few of the scrolls near the edge
slide off onto the carpeted floor. Duke Vedam Dren, sitting to Helseth’s left,
rubbed his eyes exhaustedly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
isn’t anything we can do,” the duke tried, for the third time, to explain.
“Morrowind holds no authority over Solstheim. The Imperials are perfectly
within their rights to settle there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
do they want with Solstheim, though?” Helseth snarled. “It’s a wasteland.
There’s nothing there.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
why is it so important that the East Empire Company stays out of it?” Fen asked
sharply from her seat to her father’s right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Who’s
to say they haven’t found something?” Helseth demanded, turning to face his
daughter. “What if they’re planning something, and they’re using that chunk of
ice in the sea to prepare for an attack on Morrowind?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Enough
of this,” Duke Dren said, pushing pack from the table. “I didn’t travel here
from Ebonheart to listen to your rambling paranoia, Helseth.” Duke Dren stood,
and the seven advisors that had accompanied him from Vvardenfell stood as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Stop,”
Helseth said, quickly getting to his feet as the Duke moved toward the door.
“Stop – this is a serious issue, Dren! I don’t want the Imperials anywhere <i>near </i>that island!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It’s
too late for that, Helseth. Let it go.” Helseth lowered his arm, his eyes
narrow as the duke and his entourage filed out of the reception chamber.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
know why there’s an Imperial Fort on Solstheim, don’t you?” Barenziah asked
from the opposite end of the table. Helseth turned sharply.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It’s
a fort for criminals, Hlaalu. They send rapists and murderers to Fort Frostmoth
so they don’t need to worry about having them in prisons here. That’s the only
reason.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
why is the East Empire Company building a damn <i>colony </i>there?” Helseth demanded furiously, kicking the door shut.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
families of the soldiers?” one of Helseth’s advisors suggested halfheartedly,
and the king’s face turned livid.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Out!”
he shouted, and his advisors quickly stood, gathering up their papers. “Get
out!” They hurriedly exited the reception chamber, leaving it empty save for
Helseth, Barenziah, and Fen. Helseth kicked a chair angrily out of the way and
sat down at the head of the table, agitatedly rubbing his eyes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There’s
nothing of value in Solstheim,” Barenziah told him, gracefully rising out of
her seat and resting a wizened hand on his shoulder. “Focus on Morrowind right
now. That’s all we need from you.” He pushed her arm away and yanked the door
open, leaving it ajar as the click of his boots echoed down the hall. Barenziah
stared after him a moment, her hand on the back of his vacated chair, then
moved around and sat down in it. Fen stared at the table littered with scrolls
and looked up at the high windows of the chamber, which were thrown open to try
and tempt in the breeze. During this time of year, Mournhold was notoriously
warm, and the tall windows in nearly every corridor did little to help it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
reached forward, pulling one of the scrolls toward her. It was a map of Solstheim,
dug out from the cartography archives in the library. Fen studied the map
closely, running her fingers along the jagged shoreline ridged with tiny black
triangles to represent trees. <i>…that chunk
of ice in the sea…</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“We’ll
be expected to sup with Duke Dren and his entourage before they return to
Vvardenfell,” the Queen was saying serenely, gesturing to a page that stood
silently in the corner of the room. The page hurried over and began to assist
Barenziah in rolling up the scrolls and filing away the papers so they could be
returned to Mournhold’s Hall of Records.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That
will make for an awkward meal,” Fen returned grimly, rolling up the map and
handing it to the page.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
that’s what rulers and politicians do,” her grandmother replied serenely. “Make
awkward and uncomfortable situations productive. Perhaps your father will get
some bounty on Solstheim after having another go at it over dinner.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
wouldn’t be quite that optimistic about his diplomatic skills, Grandmother.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Enough.
He is still your king and father, and he deserves your respect.” The page, his
arms full of teetering files and rolls of paper, bobbed to excuse himself and
clicked off down the hall. “I have a meeting with the curator of the Museum of
Artifacts and Azura knows how long that will take, that woman loves the sound
of her own voice. We’ll talk especially long tomorrow. Have you finished those
books I gave you yet?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Nearly.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“See
that you have them done by tomorrow, then. We have much to talk about.”
Barenziah rested a firm hand on her granddaughter’s shoulder, then turned and
quit the chamber, leaving the heavy wooden door ajar. Fen stared around at the
huge, empty table before her, then up at the long curtains blowing serenely in
the faint zephyr that drifted in. She rose slowly from her seat, breathing a
heavy sigh, and went out the open door.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
reception chambers where Helseth had his meetings were all grouped around a
small garden, connected to one another by a covered walkway. Visitors were
frequent to this part of the palace, and every now and then some diplomat from
Narsis or Cyrodiil would click by on the stone tiles in their fine heeled
boots, trailed by a number of attendants and guards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Princess,”
a passing page said, bobbing his head in acknowledgment before going on his
way. Fen watched him continue down the covered walkway, then turn into an
indoor hall and out of sight. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">It
seemed as if she had longed to be in this palace again for ages, and now that
she was here it felt all wrong. When she had pictured this life in her head,
there were frequent trips back to Vvardenfell to see Julan, spending days at a
time learning to hunt with him and Shani in the Grasslands. And he would visit
the palace in Mournhold – he would complain about the indulgence and greed of
the settled Dunmer, but would appreciate it all the same. They would sit on the
carpets in the family’s library, dignity forgotten, going through old books and
struggling to keep their voices down from laughter. And Julan would join her on
her daily visits to Barenziah’s apartments, fiercely debating philosophy and
metaphysics with them, and commenting to Fen on how remarkable her grandmother
was, to which Fen would smile and agree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">She
pushed away from the doorway and set off beneath the shade of the pergola toward
the Upper Hall of the palace. The gardeners had grown ivy along the top of the
walkways, and it curled around the pillars and hung down in graceful tendrils,
swaying slightly as she passed them. The sun beat down on the garden to her
left, the Timsa-Come-By looking bleached and strange in the light.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Fen
went into the cool, tiled halls of the main palace complex, following a series
of corridors and nodding in acknowledgement to the guards and maids that bowed
and curtsied when she passed. She reached the stairwell, with its tall,
sheerly-curtained windows and sweeping iron-railed staircase and climbed them,
absentmindedly glancing out the open windows at the courtyards below the palace
as she went. Two guards outside the grand doors into the Upper Hall took hold
of their elegant handles and swung them open to admit her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
Upper Hall served as the privy chambers for the Royal Family. The apartments of
Barenziah, Helseth, and Fen were all here, as well as the smaller, private
family library, a low-ceilinged dining room where they supped when there were
no visiting diplomats to deal with, and a few smaller drawing rooms and
parlours. It was only visited by the family themselves and the guards and
maids. It was something of a surprise, therefore, for Fen to turn into the
blue-candlelit corridor where her chambers were and nearly run headlong into the
Lord Archcanon of the Tribunal Temple.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Archcanon
Drin,” Fen said, her surprise quickly turning into distaste. Since the incident
in the Clockwork City, Fen and Gavas Drin had not spoken personally, but both
had publically denounced the another as power-hungry liars. She glanced over
his shoulder and saw that he was attended by two glaring High Ordinators. <i>How in Azura’s name were they allowed up
here?<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Princess
Fenara,” Drin replied coldly, his dark eyes flitting across her face and
narrowing in dislike. “What a coincidence. I was just looking for you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“In
my family’s private quarters rather than a reception chamber, I see.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ll
find, <i>Princess, </i>that not every
arrogant s’wit in this palace is an insipid whelp that does naught but lick
your father’s boots.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
you’ll find that men who disrespect my family and my standing among my people
are not welcome in my home,” Fen snapped, gesturing behind her. Two of the
Palace Guards appeared almost instantly. “Escort the Archcanon out of the
Palace,” she instructed, her eyes never leaving Drin’s face. “And see that only
members of the Royal Family are permitted into these chambers.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
came here to speak with you, Princess, and I will not leave until I have done
just that.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“What
could you possibly have to say to me that hasn’t already been said, Drin?” Fen
asked, holding out a hand to stop the guards.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“If
you’d be so kind as to show me to a chamber where we can talk, I’d be more than
happy to tell you.” They were both silent for a time, glaring at one another.
Then Fen gave the Lord Archcanon a curt nod and led the way across the Upper
Hall to a small drawing room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
will leave your Ordinators downstairs, where the rest of the public waits.” She
exchanged a dark glare with both the Archcanon’s guards. “They know full well
they are not welcome here, and neither are you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“My
guards will enter with me.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Then
you are free to return to the Temple without an audience.” Drin frowned, his
eyes little more than red slits. He gave the Ordinators a sharp look, and they
bowed and dutifully trooped out of the Upper Hall. Fen entered the drawing
room, with a wide open window that overlooked the public courtyard. A small
round table with two thick oaken chairs on either side stood before the window,
and Fen gestured for the priest to sit, then for the guards to close the door,
leaving them alone. Noise bubbled up from the window on the warm breeze, indistinguishable
voices of pages and courtiers and, farther off, the distant babble of merchants
and shoppers from the Great Bazaar. Fen sat down across from Gavas Drin on the
cushioned wooden chair, and did not speak, but fixed him with an expectant
gaze.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“There
has been a…certain level of animosity between your supporters and those of the
Temple as of late,” he said finally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“As
it’s been for three years, and as it will continue to be.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“And
do either of us really want it to continue to be that way?” Drin paused,
placing his long fingers together, one at a time. “The Dunmer have been
worshipping the Tribunal for hundreds of years, and you suddenly yank out the
carpet from beneath them and tell them that two of their three gods are dead.
Then you wonder why no one seems to support you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I’m
not an idiot, Drin,” Fen replied coldly. “I don’t pretend to be confused about
my lack of support in Mournhold.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“But
what have you done to remedy it? You’ve waited about in this palace and hoped
that they will soon come around. You need to act if you want them to follow
you.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Why
are you telling me this?” Fen snapped. “All you’ve done since the Clockwork
City is tell everyone who will listen that I’m a heretic and a liar and that
Almalexia continues to live peacefully in her temple.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
tell you because you and I need the same thing, Princess. I believe Lord Vivec
told you once why he suppresses the Apographa?” Fen did not reply, and Drin
went on. “The slightest doubt in the power of the Tribunal is like a festering
wound. It will gradually spread, and soon no one will trust our word. We must
have full support or no support at all. And if we have the support of the
Nerevarine, we have the support of all Morrowind.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“So
what do you want me to do?” Fen asked coldly.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
want you to publically admit your lies and embrace the Temple. Tell the people
that you slew Lady Almalexia in the Clockwork City as a heretic, but you have
realized your wrongdoings and repent, and join in Holy celebration of the
Tribunal once more, and you urge your valiant supporters to do the same.” Fen
gave the Archcanon a dark look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“That
I will never do.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It
will stop the dissent and the threats of riot and anarchy. It will put you in a
good light once more. It will make your people happy and pious. They will love
you again.” Fen shook her head.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“It’s
against everything I stand for as their Nerevarine and Princess. My people
include the Ashlanders, have you thought about that? And the Telvanni wizards
that take no stock in modern Dunmer gods. And the Daedra worshippers that are forced
to hide in secret and attack any who enter their shrines for fear of
persecution. My people include every man and mer in Morrowind, and I must think
for every one of them, not just your Temple.” She stood. “If that’s all, Lord
Archcanon, I think you’d best be going. I don’t want to encourage visitors to
the court to come straight up to my family’s private hall so long as they have
coin and guards behind them.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You
are making a grave mistake, Princess Fenara.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Thank
you for your concern,” she replied simply, crossing to the door and pulling it
open. “You may escort the Lord Archcanon back down to the courtyard,” she told
the guards stationed outside. Gavas Drin rose slowly from the table, fixing her
with a withering glare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ll
not rid the Tribunal Temple from this land, Nerevar, no matter how hard you
try.” Her temper flared, and Fen lashed out, her hand curling around Gavas
Drin’s bony wrist and squeezing, hard. He gasped, and she resisted the urge to
burn him with a spell.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
am <i>not </i>Nerevar,” she hissed, pulling
him close. “Something you’d do well to remember.” She released him, pushing the
priest’s arm away from her and turning her back on him. “Now get out of my
sight, and never breach these chambers again.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
priest gave her a withering glare, rubbing his arm as he retreated down the
hall, and Fen tuned back to the window, staring out at the dreamy peacefulness
of the courtyard, thinking of how wrong it all felt. She realized her hands
were clenched, and she forced herself to relax them, resting her head against the
cool stone wall and letting her eyes fall closed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-72936966708555656502012-09-01T14:33:00.002-04:002012-09-01T14:33:47.107-04:00Prologue<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
signs were troubling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">An
aging man pored over the cracked plate of shredded leaves and crushed berries,
mixed with bonemeal in a mortar and spread out over the surface of the clay. He
had read the signs for years as they showed him coming storms, a successful
hunt, a rot that would take many trees from the forests around the village. He
listened to the words the wind carried to him, whispers of Imperial sails in
the south and soft-handed men striding ashore, mutterings of the strife that
wracked the great continent far below. But those things were far from them, and
he paid them little mind.</span></div>
<a name='more'></a><o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">But
the smears on the plate stared up at him, clear as day to his practiced eye. A
seedless snowberry with a split stem – strife, coming soon. Bonemeal absorbing
the juice of the belladonna leaves, sucking them dry – fear. And at the top of
it all, a great red circle of berry innards, a clean stroke that marked the
moon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
man took up his cane and stood slowly, leaning on the table for support as he
rose unsteadily to his feet. With a grunt, he limped toward the door, taking
his fur cloak off a hook and raising the hood over his pale hair. Outside, the
sky was inky black, as if the stars had all been shaken off the dark cloth of
the sky. Only the great moons lit the night, Secunda chasing his brother into
the sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">The
shaman stared up at the moons as he limped through the wooden houses of the
village to the snowy cliffside overlooking the sea. He stared up at the moons
hanging in darkness, his brow furrowed and his eyes troubled. The stars had not
been gone from the sky for many years. He had heard stories from ages past, but
had never seen them so blatantly gone from Solstheim’s sky.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Korst.”
The shaman turned and saw another man standing behind him, is snowy hair long
and braided and his eyes like chips of ice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“Chieftain,”
he replied, nodding his head as the white-haired man joined him on the cliff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“You’ve
been on edge as of late.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“The
winds bring me ill omens, Chieftain. I fear our time of peace is limited.” The
Chieftain stared out over the cliff toward the sea, the icy breeze rifling his
braids and his strong jaw set against the cold.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
feared as such.” He paused. “Is it the settlers?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“I
can’t be sure. The signs aren’t yet clear.” The Chieftain sighed heavily.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">“They
will be soon, one way or another.” He turned, his boots crunching in the
newfallen snow, leaving the shaman called Korst Wind-Eye standing alone on the
cliff, staring up at the starless night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-13866559110565700592012-08-30T17:32:00.003-04:002012-08-30T17:32:39.547-04:00Guys!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Part Three starts on Saturday!<br />
<br />
Are you excited?<br />
<br />
I'm excited!<br />
<br />
See you soon!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4949207766530273837.post-18688398321674511462012-08-08T01:16:00.001-04:002012-08-08T01:17:08.692-04:00this is not related to anything<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
but a reader just sent me this:<br />
<br />
(slight Skyrim TG spoiler)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSTMVWR3hFM/UCH1vlAzmgI/AAAAAAAAAKM/FBGf8R9wbF0/s1600/karliah+lol.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSTMVWR3hFM/UCH1vlAzmgI/AAAAAAAAAKM/FBGf8R9wbF0/s400/karliah+lol.jpg" width="353" /></a></div>
<br />
I hadn't realised Karliah was Barenziah's granddaughter too, haha. I suppose that means they're cousins? Maybe if Fen's still around in 200+ years they can hang out.<br />
<br />
Thanks Steven! :)</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0