Morrowind Live
By Faronon Star Wolf
Author's note: This story was written for a class assignment, my perfect day, as might be gathered from the lack-of-profanity. During the course of writing this abomination, though, I found I enjoyed writing it too much just to leave it at the three pages that my teacher set as the cut-off point. So, I think I'll keep writing this, although there will be no estimations as to when the next chapter will be out.
If you want more... Well, that's what reviews are for! Either that or prod me over AIM.
This was impossible. It was totally inconceivable, yet it was happening none-the-less. Despite seeing and smelling and hearing, I still could not grasp the reality of it all.
It started when I was trying to decided what to do in the five hours until CSI started, and my eyes fell on the precariously balanced case of Morrowind. The original reason that the game had interested me was the ability to become a werewolf, but by now, nearly a year after I first played it at a friend's house, I loved the whole game system. Before I put the disk into the CD drive, however, I opened a new window of Internet Explorer and looked for new mods. I downloaded a few that added new houses to Balmora and a few weapon-strength modifiers, and I was about to close the window and install them when the one at the bottom of the page caught my eye.
"'MORROWIND LIVE. Have you ever wanted to live the adventures of your characters?'" I read out loud from the mod description. '"With this mod, you can!'? Oh, for the love of..." I grumbled at the absurdity. '"After the next time you sleep in real life, you'll wake up on the prison ship to Seyda Neen'? And this works how...? Honestly." I snorted in disbelief, and almost clicked on the exit button, but curiosity got the best of me and I clicked on the download button instead.
The installation of the mods took little time, and soon I had the launch window for Morrowind open. I began activating the new mods, and hesitated over the file for the Morrowind Live mod before shrugging in annoyance and double clicking on it.
The familiar Bethseda logo began scrolling across the screen and I pressed the escape button to skip it. The program helpfully alerted me to the fact that it was loading the Morrowind quest files and the mods, and I tapped my fingers against the table as I waited. Patience was not a virtue I had in large amounts.
The main screen slowly faded in, accompanied by the Morrowind theme, and I chose to start a new game instead of playing one of my existing characters.
Impatiently, I skipped the opening movie, already planning what groups I would join. The Mages Guild and the Thieves Guild, of course, and perhaps the Morag Tong this time, because the thought of playing an assassin was interesting.
I breezed through the character making process, creating a female Wood Elf with black hair and a tattooed face.
The game froze when I told my character to pick up the scroll containing my the information, and I nearly shrieked with rage when the familiar 'This Program Must Close' window appeared on the screen. Of all the nerve! It had never crashed during the tutorial portion before - it had to be the fault of that stupid mod.
I glowered as I clicked on the 'Don't report error' button and resisted the urge to throw the Morrowind CD across the room, and slumped on my bed instead. I sat, stared at the ceiling, and fumed. I reached for a book and tried to lose myself in it, but the annoyance wouldn't go away. Yawning, I finally marked my place and lay back, drowsiness pushing my lingering anger aside. I finally drifted off to sleep.
And woke what felt like almost immediately, staring around myself at rough wooden walls, feeling the rising and falling of a ship at sea. I could almost believe that some one was speaking in my ear.
Many fall, but one remains.
By the nine tails of Mahtong, I thought franticly, ignoring the fact that I was making a reference to the story I was writing, and I took a deep breath.
A deep voice called from the other side of the room, and I stared in astonishment as a man with charcoal grey skin and glowing red eyes turned to face me. "You were dreaming," he said, his voice sounding nothing like the one the game had given him. He was, of course, Jiub. A dark elf—Dunmer, to the natives of Vvardenfell, or Morrowind, as the people of the Empire knew it. "Your name is Lilindra, correct?" I only had time to nod silently before he continued. "You've been asleep the whole trip. I heard them say we've reached Morrowind, I'm sure they'll let us go."
I nodded again, then turned away and stared blankly at the walls, mentally fighting the thought that this was anything more then a dream. Soon I noticed that the music I associated with Morrowind was missing, replaced with the sound of silence and waves. A pinch to my arm brought tears of pain to my eyes and the sinking feeling this was real. Footsteps approached with a militaristic rhythm to them, and I knew it was the guard coming to take me - or rather, Lilindra, to the shore, to be processed and charged to see Casius in Balmora, where I would secretly join the Blades, openly join the Mages Guild, and, while not spoken of, it would be widely known I was a member of the Thieves Guild.
"You're being released. Come with me." I stood and followed, realizing at that moment that while I understood the language, it had a different—feeling—to it then English. I was too lost in thought to notice the layout of the ship, instead following the human guard. He was an Imperial, one of the four races that the humans of this world were divided into. "Get yourself on deck. Let's keep things civil," the guard spoke harshly, breaking through my thoughts, and I realized with start that I stood at the base of the ladder. I climbed clumsily, and pushed open the trap door to stand on deck, inhaling the smell of the ocean and the smoke of cooking fires, and looked around. The docks looked different then they had in the game, and that wavelets splashed up against the rocky shore.
"Head down to the dock. He'll show you to the Census Office." I followed the guard's instructions, knowing that soon I would be free to explore the town more thoroughly then I could on a computer, and the thought of trying stuff like scibb jerky or kwama cuttle was interesting. Of course, finding out if the sload soap was really soap was a trivial question that had been plaguing me since I had started playing Morrowind.
"You've finally arrived," the guard said when he was within five feet of me. I looked at him, noticing that he and everything looked smoother and more realistic. The Imperial regarded me closely, then nodded. "You come from the forests south of Mournhold, don't you?"
"I... yes. How did you know?" I stuttered the lie out, surprised by his question. Ack, my voice sounds different. I wonder if I can actually sing well now...
"Your tattoo," he replied, flashing me a smile. "I used to live in Mournhold, and Bosmer with tattoos like yours would come every so often to trade. Anyway, I'm sure you'll fit right in. Follow me to the Census Office, and they'll finish your release."
I followed the man to the building, and returned his smile when he opened the door for me with an exaggerated bow. Inside of the room, however, I bit my lip with sudden anxiety. The Breton sitting at the desk turned around at the sound of the door closing, and gestured for me to approach impatiently. As I approached apprehensively, I looked around, and noticed the lack of a guard next to the door into the hallway.
"I am Socucius Ergalla. You'll need to be recorded before you're officially released." he said self-importantly. His voice was nasal and high-pitched, giving the impression that he was younger then he really was. "You were trained as a rogue before you were caught, weren't you?" Socucius spoke mockingly, like the right and mighty mage he thought he was, and I gritted my teeth and nodded curtly. "The letter that proceeded you mentioned you were born under a certain sign. And what would that be?" The mocking note in his voice hadn't left.
I gave him a flat look, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. "The Lady," I finally answered. He nodded tensely and wrote quickly on a scroll. Socucius blew on the ink to dry it and rolled the paper up loosely.
"Show your papers to the Captain when you exit to get your release fee," he said, and I thought I saw a trace of nervousness in his face before he turned away.
I picked up the scroll from the edge of the desk and walked through the door into a hallway. Taking the first right turn, I sighed when I noticed that the iron dagger and the apprentice's lock pick were missing from the table they were on in the game. I regarded the note that was always pinned to the wood of the table by the blade of the dagger balefully, and walked through, ignoring everything else for the thought of getting through this building and beginning to explore.
Outside, I had put one hand on the doorknob before remembering to check the barrel for the confiscated ring of the Wood Elf Fargoth. After I pried off the cover, my lips curled as I regarded the algae-covered water, and decided to see what Sellus Gravius, the Captain, had to say.
The interview took a very short time. I had been ordered to find Casius Cosades in Balmora, and I was given two packages to deliver to him. I picked them up and started toward the exit, even more impatient now that the end was in sight.
"Wait," the Captain said, and he handed me a traveler's bag. "There's two days worth of food in there, and two hundred drakes. Buy yourself a weapon. Also, return this ring to Fargoth. He's a Bosmer, like yourself." I nodded and pocketed the ring, and turned back to the door.
As I placed one hand against wood worn smooth by many hands, I realized with a start that I no longer had any doubts that this was real. The hair that hung at the corners of my eyes was black rather than light blonde, and I was taller than I had been.
I looked up at the sun and smiled.
Even if this ended up being a dream, I was going to enjoy it to the fullest!