Chapter 1
"Wake up, you scum!"
Those words, accompanied by a sharp kick to the ribs, had been greeting Eisen every single morning since they had left the Imperial City, and today didn't differ from the rest. It had been about two weeks since they left, or at least that's what he believed. As days became nights, and nights became days, he had simply stopped counting. First by carriage from the Imperial City in Cyrodiil, through the Septim's Gate Pass into the province of Morrowind, and now by boat from the Ulabael Coast. The final destination of this hellish trip was the island of Vvardenfell, a cozy little resort plagued by ash storms, blight monsters and fanatic natives rambling about prophecies and heroes of old. Sounds like a dream come true, Eisen thought sarcastically to himself as he got up from his bunk.
"The Septims Will" was a rather small fishing vessel, commandeered by the imperial legion to serve as a prison transport between Vvardenfell and the mainland. The crew usually consisted of about five people, but this time, the amount of guards matched the amount of crewmen on the ship. Currently, the hold only contained Eisen, the dunmer Jiub and a nord fellow who mostly kept to himself, rarely speaking and almost always sleeping. He didn't appear to be very friendly, so both Eisen and Jiub had decided to stay away from him for the time being.
"Are you listening?"
Eisen awoke from his daydreaming and saw Jiub sitting on a crate across the hold, looking at him.
"Beg your pardon?" he asked. The dunmer simply shook his head.
"Always with your head in the clouds, huh?" he said. "I was asking about what you're going to do, now that your release is only days away?"
"I am not quite sure," he said with a distant look on his face. To tell the truth, he hadn't really thought about it. The fact that he was being released was the only thing he had thought about recently.
Jiub crossed his arms, and a look of surprise spread across his face.
"The great Eisen, clueless? I never thought I'd see the day."
"Even the sun has spots, Jiub."
"I'm just saying it doesn't sound like you, to be without a plan. I mean, weren't you the one that broke in and stole that precious painting from the Count of Leyawiin? And, if I am not mistaken, weren't you the one who bested that band of bounty hunters in Skingrad?"
Jiub saw his friend smiling, and continued with his speech.
"How many did you say they were again? Ten? Twelve?"
"Fifteen, and they were all heavily armed, I might add," Eisen said, casually brushing of some dirt from his pants.
Jiub laughed at the remark.
"My mistake," he said. "Still, pulling off stunts like that require careful planning and skill. To hear you say that you don't have a plan, well...it just doesn't sound like the Eisen I know, that's all."
"Is that so? And what of you, my dark-skinned friend," Eisen asked, "what great adventures lie in store for a man such as yourself?"
Jiub chuckled at his friends obvious sarcasm, and stood up. Even when standing, the dark elf was fairly short in stature, about half a head shorter than Eisen. Despite that, the large scar adorning the right side of face and the red, gleaming eyes gave him a very intimidating appearance.
"I don't know...I'm thinking that this might be a good chance to start over, you know?"
"Sounds like a terrible waste of talent, if you ask me. I heard that you were quite the smuggler during your prime."
"I still am...probably one of the best smugglers in all of Cyrodiil."
"Then tell me, if you will, how it came to be that such a great and famous criminal such as yourself found himself caught by a couple of simple guards?" Eisen asked.
Jiub sighed and sat down again.
"Someone must have ratted on me ," he said, "propably Im-Kur, or one of the other scaly bastards."
"I am fairly sure that 'argonian' is the name they prefer," Eisen said in a mocking tone.
"I'm just saying that I don't trust them...a bunch of greedy, backstabbing ba-"
Jiub's rant was cut short by the sound of someone banging on the door.
"Keep it down in there," one of the guards shouted, "don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're being released."
"Yeah," one of the other guards added, "and you can forget about starting over, too. Who would want to hire an old smuggler anyway?"
"It is as they say: Once a criminal, always a criminal."
The guards laughter soon died down and for a while, both Jiub and Eisen sat there motionless, just staring at the floor. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Jiub broke the silence.
"It is as they say: Once an asshole, always an asshole."
They looked at each other, and they both started laughing.
I'm really going to miss these conversations, Eisen thought to himself.
As the evening sun was setting over the small fishing village of Seyda Neen, Sellus Gravius sat in his office, going through the paperwork that had been accumulated during the day. Spending his days in front of a desk, going through seemingly endless piles of documents wasn't exactly what he had pictured himself doing when he had joined the imperial legion. Still, it beats dealing with ignorant natives, or freezing to death in Solstheim, he thought to himself as he rubbed his tired eyes.
As he sat there, contemplating his choice of career, someone knocked on his door.
"Come in," he said, without even lifting his gaze from the papers spread across his desk.
The door opened, and a young man entered the room.
"Forgive me for interrupting, but I am looking for a man by the name of Gravius."
"You have found him," Sellus said and looked up from his desk, "what can I do for you?"
The man closed the door, and sat down in one of the chairs positioned in front of the desk.
"Well, you see, it's not me, but rather my employer that requires your aid. We are given to understand that a prison transport will arrive here in a few days, is that correct?"
Sellus leaned back in his chair, as his boredom was replaced by suspicion.
"I'm not at liberty to confirm or deny such information," he said, and the man sitting across from him smiled.
"I will take that as a yes. What will happen with the prisoners when they arrive, if you don't mind me asking?".
At first, Sellus was hesitant to give out any information. For all he knew, this young man could be a criminal, or a spy. Still, there was something about his demeanor that instilled a sense of tranquility. He seems to know a lot already, so I suppose there's no harm in telling him, Sellus thought.
"Upon arrival, the prisoners will be registered in the office right next to this one. After that, they will be assigned a workplace, as part of their rehabilitation. We believe that it is very important that the prisoners are integrated into society as soon as possible."
With these words, the man reached into his satchel bag and pulled out a small package. He put it on the desk, and slid it across to Sellus.
"One of the prisoners upon that transport is an imperial, like yourself, by the name of Eisen.
It is of the utmost importance that he receives this package when he arrives. My employer is expecting that the tasks stated in that package will replace any other work that you had planned for him ."
Sellus picked up the package and examined it, but stopped when he saw the sigil it bore.
"This is the sigil of the imperial city," he said, "what business do they have with a prisoner?"
"Even if I knew, I could not tell you...I am just a simple messenger."
The man noticed that Sellus was hesitating, and quickly continued.
"Of course, you will be compensated accordingly."
With these words, he once again reached in to his satchel bag, and produced a coin purse. He dropped it on the desk.
"How does 500 septims sound?"
Sellus picked up the purse, and weighed it in his hand. His eyes wandered between the young messenger and the purse.
"All I have to do is give him this package, right?".
"That is correct."
Sellus opened one of the desk drawers and dropped the purse and the package inside.
"Fine, I shall see to it that this Eisen receives the package," he said.
"A very wise decision, sir. Now, if you excuse me, I have to take my leave."
He stood up, and left the room as quietly as he had entered.
Sellus was once again alone, thinking about what the young messenger had said. To tell the truth, the whole situation made him slightly uneasy. On the other hand, 500 septims was more than enough for something this simple.
He flipped through the documents regarding the upcoming prison transport, and managed to locate Eisen's individual file. As he read through it, it became more and more unclear as to why the imperial legion would want to deal with him. Assault, theft, impersonating a member of the imperial legion and other assorted crimes, Sellus thought to himself. Sounds like a real troublemaker if you ask me. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what the connection was between this prisoner and the agents of the emperor. He got up and walked over to the window, observing the setting sun's reflection dancing upon the surface of the water. He finally decided not to ponder over it too much. If the time that he had spent with the imperial legion had taught him anything, it was that it is better not to ask any questions.