Banishment: An Elder Scrolls Series
An original Elder Scrolls series set in The Black Marsh with original characters.
Words or sentences in parentheses (mean the character is thinking.)
Episode 1
The green-scaled Argonian sat on the floor, his wrists chained to the wall of the cell.
"Hey!" He said groggily. "Anyone?!"
Two Argonian guards walked up to the cell door.
"Silence, traitor. You're lucky you're only being banished." The first guard said.
The second guard spoke. "Usually, those that commit treason are executed. You must be special."
The first guard snickered at this remark. He unlocked the door. They entered and unhooked the latches on the chained up Argonian's wrist cuffs. The second the Argonian's wrists were free, he swung at the guard to his right. His fist collided with the guard's snout.
"Aaahh!" The guard yelled as he stumbled backwards.
The second guard cracked the prisoner right in his snout, knocking him out.
The world faded to black as the prisoner's head smacked into the concrete floor of the cell.
The Argonian awoke outside of the city. He looked around briefly, then stood up.
(Ugh. My head hurts. Why can't I remember what happened?)
The Argonian walked off, away from the city, down the stone road. After several hours of walking, he came across a campsite. It appeared to belong to bandits. However, the bandits that resided here had been slaughtered. Their slain bodies strewn throughout the camp. One, which had been burned to death in the fire.
He picked up an iron sword and slowly cut through the air with it.
(Hmm. This is a decent sword. I may take it with me.)
After staring at the blade, he was tackled from behind. Immediately, he thought it was a bandit, returning from a hunt, who had believed *he* slaughtered the other bandits.
"Noooo!" The Argonian screamed as he flipped around and swung as he plummeted towards the ground.
In the futile effort to fight back, he saw the force that attacked him was a Khajiit.
The Khajiit held the Argonian to the ground, with a dagger to his throat.
"Hold on!" The Argonian pleaded.
"What?" The Khajiit hissed.
"I don't want any trouble." He continued.
"Hmm. Right. If I let you go, you'll probably stab me in the back." The Khajiit said.
"No, no, I won't." The Argonian said.
"Just let me go. If I can take one of these swords, I'll leave you alone." The Argonian said.
The Khajiit scoffed. "No. This is my kill. You don't get *any* of it."
"Come on. Just... just let me take this one sword. Right here." The Argonian reached for the sword he saw earlier, not realizing the action could be interpreted as a threat.
"Hold it!" The Khajiit yelled. She held the dagger straight down over his throat.
"Okay, okay..." The Argonian said nervously.
"Make one more move, and I cut you open." The Khajiit hissed.
"Noted." The Argonian said.
"Up." The Khajiit said.
"Uh, okay..." The Argonian said, confused.
As he stood up, the Argonian quickly grabbed the sword he liked and swung it at the Khajiit.
"I'm sorry!" He screamed, mid-swing.
He missed and the Khajiit gut punched him.
"Try that again." The Khajiit said angrily.
The Argonian groaned as he clutched his abdomen.
"Are you done yet?" The Khajiit asked.
"Yes..." The Argonian said weakly as he slowly sat down on the ground.
"Good." The Khajiit replied.
The Argonian lied on his back and stared at the sky as he groaned.
"Get over it." The Khajiit said while she sifted through the bandit group's belongings.
"So... what's your name?" The Argonian asked.
"Names are not important. Not to me." The Khajiit replied.
"Well, I know you have one. We all do." The Argonian said as he slowly sat up.
"I'm Maj'Ri." The Argonian said as he stood up.
The Khajiit sighed. "No."
"Oh, come on. I told you my name, you tell me yours." Maj'Ri said.
"No." The Khajiit said once more.
"Okay. Fine. Don't tell me your name. No scales off my back." Maj'Ri said, annoyed.
The Khajiit continued searching the dead bandits. Finally, she finished. She sighed as she stood up.
"Farewell, Argonian. Try not to die out there." She said.
"Uh, actually, I thought we could travel together for a short while. I don't really have anywhere around here that I can go... and because of strength in numbers, right?" Maj'Ri said.
The Khajiit sighed audibly.
"Fine. You can travel with me. There are rules. First, you do not converse with me. Second, I get everything from my kills. You get everything from yours. Third, we travel as far as Gideon. Do you understand?" The Khajiit asked.
Maj'Ri nodded silently.
"Good." The Khajiit.
The Khajiit and Maj'Ri walked down a dirt road. Maj'Ri looked around for a while.
"Hey." Maj'Ri said.
"You are breaking the first rule: do not converse with me." The Khajiit said.
"Yes, but, I sort of need to know what to call you. In case I need to find you or something." Maj'Ri said.
"No." The Khajiit said.
"I'm not asking you for your life story, miss. I need to know you name." Maj'Ri said.
The Khajiit sighed. "Fine. My name's Shi'Tahl."
"Thank you, Shi'Tahl. Now I know what to call you." Maj'Ri said.
"Mmh-hmm." Shi'Tahl replied.
The pair wandered on down the road. They walked for hours all day, never once coming across another Soulrest. As night fell, they decided to stop and rest for the night. Luckily, there was an inn just down the road. They walked the short distance to the inn and went inside.
Shi'Tahl walked up to the counter. She chatted with the innkeeper for several minutes, before pulling out a medium-sized bag of coins.
The innkeeper was a Nord. Surprising, considering Black Marsh was a long way from Skyrim, which was where the Nords typically resided.
Shi'Tahl walked back over to Maj'Ri.
"We've got the room on the right down there." Shi'Tahl said as she pointed over to their room.
They walked into the room, while the sun set outside, ignoring the quiet chatter of the rest of the people staying at the inn.
"I'll take the bed." Shi'Tahl said confidently.
"What? Why don't I get the bed?" Maj'Ri asked.
"You can have the bed… when you pay for a room." Shi'Tahl said proudly as she flopped onto the bed.
"Well—actually, I guess that's fair." Maj'Ri said.
"Hmm… that's right." Shi'Tahl said as she dozed off.
"Okay." Maj'Ri lied down on the floor.
Maj'Ri soon fell asleep as well.
They awoke the next morning to the smell of fresh baked apple pie.
Shi'Tahl briefly sniffed the air. "Apple pie?"
She jumped out of bed, dumping her daggers and bow on top of Maj'Ri, as she ran out of the room.
"Ow! What?" He yelped in pain.
"Oh, by the nine, I haven't had fresh baked apple pie since I was a kit in Elsweyr!" Shi'Tahl said as she sat at the table with the other residents of the inn.
"Dig in!" The Nord innkeeper shouted as he motioned towards the large feast of breakfast.
Maj'Ri stumbled out of the room, hurting from the heavy weapons being dropped on him, then sat down at the table. He sat next to Shi'Tahl.
"Mm… this pie is so good." She mumbled to Maj'Ri.
He nodded. He had hoped she wasn't asking for his opinion of something, because he couldn't hear her amongst the chatter.
Once the breakfast was finished, everyone headed back to their rooms. Shi'Tahl and Maj'Ri walked back to their room. Shi'Tahl sat down on the bed, while Maj'Ri lied on the floor.
"By the nine, I missed that. Fresh apple pie." Shi'Tahl said happily.
"What was so special about the apple pie?" Maj'Ri asked curiously.
"Well… back in Elsweyr, when I was a mere kit, my mother used to always bake fresh apple pie for my brother and I at the of the month if we were good." Shi'Tahl said, smiling.
"That must've been nice." Maj'Ri said.
"It was." Shi'Tahl said.
"Did… did something happen?" Maj'Ri asked.
"Uh… well… one time, while my brother and I were playing outside, a group of Lilmothiit walked up to the house. The asked where our mother was. I told them she was in the house. They walked in and beat her to death. Then they left. Like they just stopped by to have a friendly little chat with their neighbor. It… we found her an hour later." Shi'Tahl said sadly.
"Oh… I'm so sorry." Maj'Ri said sympathetically.
"If I ever find the Lilmothiit that did it, I'm going to slaughter all of them." Shi'Tahl said angrily.
"But… the Lilmothiit have been extinct for several years. *All* of them." Maj'Ri said.
"I know that. But I keep holding on to a sliver of hope. That they aren't dead, and I'll get my revenge." Shi'Tahl said angrily. She balled up her fists. She was visibly angry thinking about them.
"I'm so sorry, Shi'Tahl." Maj'Ri said in sorrow.
"Thank you. I guess, if I never find them, I can convince myself they were murdered out there. In the wilds." Shi'Tahl said.
"Yeah." Maj'Ri said.
Credits:
Written Edited by Cherry Coyote
Original series created by Cherry Coyote
Credit for the Elder Scrolls series goes to Bethesda Game Studios, obviously.
Thanks for reading episode one! Stay tuned for more!