Random ideas come to my mind at the strangest moments.
This one was kinda inspired by an armor mod I found a while back.
Oh, and just to make things clear: The Dragonborn is NOT the main character in this story. I'll fill you guys in on that either this or next chapter.
"Here you go! Three venison stews. Enjoy!" The Bosmer said with a light smile.
The three Nord travelers at Dead Man's Drink took the stews with great appreciation.
"Ah. Freshly made venison stew is the best." The first man, a mercenary, said.
"Eh, I don't know, Asgald. It might have to do with the fact that it's your favorite dish." Sillen shook her head.
"I don't think it's the dish so much as it is the cook. Paligorn's dishes are some of the best! We're lucky that he's in town." The third, bearded man said.
"You give me too much credit, Toren. I just cook up the food and mix some healthy herbs in it. It's just really convenient with a forest nearby that I can go hunt at when I feel like it." The white-haired, pale wood elf said, scratching the back of his head and laughing. "I need to go help out back with some stuff."
After he left, Asgald turned to his fellow patrons. "So, have any of you heard anything about our quarry?"
Toren shook his head. "Nothing at all. Every time my men have a lead on him, he ends up disappearing."
"We still don't have any leads on him at all." Sillen frowned. "The Contractor certainly isn't willing to give away anything about himself."
"What's this about a contractor?" A voice suddenly spoke up behind them.
The three of them jumped at the voice, before relaxing. "Paligorn, you really need to alert people to your presence. It's kind of scary how you can just pop out of nowhere."
Paligorn shrugged. "I wasn't really trying to hide myself. But what is this about a contractor?"
"THE Contractor." Sillen corrected him. "Have you heard of him?"
"Can't say that I have. Who is he?"
Toren took it upon himself to explain. "You've heard of the Dark Brotherhood, right? The secretive assassin group?"
Paligorn nodded. "Yeah. I've heard of them. What about it?"
"Well, lad, there are rumors of an assassin out there who is leaps and bounds above the abilities of the Dark Brotherhood. They call him the Contractor. The most dangerous assassin in existence. He's been responsible for the murder of bandit leaders, jarls, generals, you name it. Hell, I think the only thing the Dark Brotherhood managed to get over him was assassinating the Emperor. We've been trying to find him forever, but he doesn't ever leave anything except for a trademark."
Paligorn nodded, urging him to go on. "What kind of trademark?"
"Well, almost all his kills have a couple things in common: They're clean kills with one shot, and the arrow used is almost always one of those ancient arrows that you can find on draugrs. We're not sure how he even gets them." Toren explained.
"And the three of you have been trying to hunt him down." Paligorn concluded.
"We haven't really been successful." Sillen admitted. "It's like he disappears every time we think we have a lead."
Asgald added his own piece. "Plus he's really skilled. Stories go on about how the Dark Brotherhood sent over thirty assassins for him and none got away."
"Apparently, you can hire him for a job as well, all you have to do is to make some sort of mark on your door and he'll send this shadowy creature to receive your order. No one I've talked to has ever heard of it or seen it, though."
Paligorn shuddered. "That sounds really scary. I certainly wouldn't want to cross paths with him."
"Pray you never do, lad. Else it will be the last we ever hear of you." Toren warned.
After the Nords left and Paligorn went back to the forests, he started muttering to himself.
"Thirty assassins. For crying out loud. There weren't even twenty of them. Maybe fifteen at best."
A shadow suddenly appeared next to him, offering a small scroll. "You have a new request. Jarl Elisif wants you to curb the uprising just south of Kyne's Grove."
"And they called you a shadowy creature for crying out loud! You're clearly not a creature, you're my sister, Cyldra!"
"Only because we adopted you." The woman smirked. "Besides, can you blame them, seeing as I always appear to them in a mysterious fashion?"
Paligorn sighed. "No, I guess I can't. Just hand me the scroll."
A few minutes later, they made it to a small opening in the forest where they normally camped. Paligorn took that time to open the chest and don his equipment. Full black with a face mask and breastplate for protection. He pulled out his custom-made daedric bow as well, sighing as he did so.
"Well," The Contractor said. "Time to get to work."
Interesting idea, yes or no? Armor is the Contractor Armor from Contractor and Mavari Armors by Zerofrost. You can find it on Nexusmods.