In the beginning, there was Light. A burning globe of divine creation, the Light was surrounded only by Absolute Darkness. This in turn brought life to Shadow, and it was in this that the Elder Gods breathed life into the world.
Now the world revolved around the Light, but Absolute Darkness fought to contain and control it. Life would be swallowed by the Darkness, leaving only the essence of what once was. This was in turn assimilated by Shadow, which existed in the dark recesses of the earth. Throughout the eons, however, the Light slowly bolstered its hold upon the world, and soon choked the Darkness into Shadow and in turn drove the Shadow into the Abyss. Here, the remnants of Shadow coalesced into its own reality, the Demiplane of Shadow. Here, the ancient terrors of the world were given life, and Shadow once more returned to the earth. This brought about the cycles of day and night, the ordered struggle of Light and Darkness.
It is in this Demiplane that the Couatl were created, and it is upon the earth that they were given form. In time, the beastly Couatl would give rise to another fell race, the Alu'Couatl, who would, in turn, release the souls of the living into the Shadow from which they were originally created. This is the tale of one such creature that was released into the unsuspecting world below…
Chapter 1
Vvardenfell. It had been many years since last I walked upon its scarred soil. The Telvanni sought to imprison me, study me, learn from me, but I would have nothing of it. Oh no, even as they would move me from one prison to the next, I secretly planned my escape. That poor, pathetic, fool; he thought he was being released today. What was his name? Ah yes, Jiub. Even now, as we sail towards some sinkhole village, he is unaware of his intended fate. His release documents were easy enough to procure – it's amazing how the guards aboard this vessel can so easily be manipulated – and the necessary adjustments were easier still to forge. What's even more pitiful is that this wretched creature before me actually believes we share some sort of bond…
"Quiet, here comes the guard," Jiub whispers to me. Idiot. I'm perfectly aware of the guard. I'm sure his loud stomping can be heard as far out as the docks!
"Come with me," the guard instructed. I silently nod and dutifully follow his lead. Leading me to the upper deck hatch, he lumbers onward like a drunken pig on his way to the slough. By the Gods! He's even so lazy as to not lead me through the hatch! What if I try to escape? Will he snap at my heels and try to pull me off the ladder? Too late by then. However, I can't simply jump ship, for that would be foolishness; after all, I am being released. Rather, Jiub is being released, or was. Heh heh heh. Pathetic fool.
Back into the open air, I find this hole in the ground to be just that. Seyda Neen is what I heard the guard call it, and it isn't much to look at. It reeks of rotten fish here! The dock is all but collapsed; each step brings with it the wonder of whether I'm going to fall through or not. The boat wasn't that much better off – I'm surprised it could even float at all! – its sails tattered and its hull weeping sea water into the hold. The guards aren't much to look at, either. Must not have much of a budget, judging by the rust on their armor. Inquisitive, though. This guard standing in my way on the dock wants to know a little about where I come from. Naturally, I lie and tell him I hail from Solstheim to the far north.
"I'm sure you'll fit right in. Follow me up to the Census Office…" he replies. Fit right in? Yeah, I'm sure there are many large, winged, serpent-men running around Vvardenfell. The building he leads me to is directly opposite the dock. Hmph. Maybe he thinks I would have gotten myself lost walking a straight line.
Inside the office, an old man sits quietly behind a desk. A guard nearby watches me suspiciously. Naturally, my escort didn't enter the building with me. Must have something better to do.
"Ah, yes. We've been expecting you. You'll have to answer a few short questions before you are officially released. There are…wait a second, I thought you were supposed to be a Dunmer?" he asks. Guess they aren't all unintelligent little rats.
"You mussst be missstaken," I tell him. Funny, he looks a little awkward. I hand him my papers.
"I'm sorry; there must have been some sort of mix-up. I wasn't expecting an Argonian." Argonian? What a stupid little man! I take back what I said about him earlier. He signs off on the papers after asking me about what sign I was born under – what the hell does that matter?! – and what my occupation is. Occupation? I'm a prisoner. PRI-SON-ER!! Instead I tell him I'm a Shadow Fiend. The fool actually wrote that down! Once I have my papers, he directs me to the door by the guard with a staring problem. As I pass by him, I silently hiss under my breath. He looks at me and I look right back.
"I'll sssee you later, friend," I tell him. He puts his hand to the pommel of his sword and smiles. Yeah, I'll see him soon enough.
The door leads into a room void of human life. On a nearby table, a dagger is stuck into the wood. I quickly grab it and proceed through the next door, which leads to some sort of back yard. A stone wall surrounds the yard not cordoned off by the two adjacent buildings, and a barrel sits next to the only other door here. As I walk up to the other door, a strange feeling draws me to the barrel.
The barrel, uninterestingly enough, is meant to capture rain water, which these degenerates probably use to bathe and drink with. At the bottom of the barrel in the deep water is what appears to be a gold ring. I reach into the warm water and snatch the ring, promptly hiding it in my enclosed fist. Realizing that I still hold the dagger I found in my other hand, I slip the small blade into my belt and proceed through the next door.
Here a man sits behind another desk with the company of a couple of guards. The guards pay no attention to me, apparently being interested in the wall instead. The man introduces himself as Socucius Ergalla and asks for my papers. He then hands me a package to deliver to someone named Caius Cosades in the city of Balmora, a day's journey from here. Then he instructs me to the door. Not very friendly, is he?
"One other thing, please," he says as I'm about to leave. "There have been reports of some strange activity at the island fortress of Firemoth. Once your business with Caius has concluded, I need you to return here to investigate. You will be compensated for any trouble this may cause you, citizen. That is all. You may leave." How arrogant! We shall see. An island fortress may be just what I need to progress my influence here. We shall see.
Outside, I am greeted once more by the stale air and fish smell from the docks nearby. The village is busier than I thought it would be; each entity here is a potential enemy. There aren't that many buildings here, just enough to confirm the hole in the ground I thought at first impression. Surprisingly, there are many guards, leading me to believe that maybe they release all of their prisoners here. Off in the distance, a lighthouse marks treacherous cliffs with its fiery light, or perhaps would had it been night. On the opposite side of town, a tall…
"Excuse me, have you seen my ring? My name is Fargoth and I can't seem to fi…" Some little troll interrupted my train of thought, so I introduced his face to the backside of my fist. He promptly crumples to the ground. Surprisingly, no one saw the deed take place.
"I didn't asssk you for your name," I hiss as I walk away from what is no doubt his lifeless body by now. It was like hitting a sponge. Wiping the blood from the back of my wrist, I remember the ring I found in the barrel and unclench the fist I hit him with. Hmm, I wonder if this was his ring. I toss it behind me to where I left poor Fargoth and continue towards what looks like some sort of tavern. A shop sign hangs beneath it, and I am in dire need of some supplies. I follow what resembles another dock around the backside of the tavern and step inside.
Along the walls are various wares of poor or near-poor quality, not too surprising if you ask me. In the back of the room, a flight of stairs rises up into the ceiling where the sound of revelry and bard-song pollutes the room. A woman stands nearby looking at some items on the table while a man stands behind a counter polishing a blade.
"Can I help you?" he asks. I nod and place my dagger on the counter.
"What can I trade for thisss?" I ask.
"Nothing much," he says while studying it intently. "It doesn't seem to be worth much." Maybe I should have kept the ring. The woman by the table steps outside, leaving the shopkeeper and me alone for the moment. I retrieve my dagger and look around some more, inching my way closer to the wall behind the counter. The shopkeeper returns to polishing his blade.
"Nissse weaponsss you have here," I casually say, but without response. The shopkeeper had finished polishing his blade and was placing it in the corner near to him, his back now turned away from me. As he bent down to lay the sword against the wall, I kick him, taking him by surprise. He collides with the wall and stumbles back, at which point I thrust the blade into his back. He gurgles as blood fills his throat, but being as impatient as I am, I snap his neck and let him fall to the floor. Just then, a customer enters the shop – I barely had time to kick his body closer to the counter where it could not be seen! – and asks me where the shopkeeper is.
"He hasss retired. This shop is under new management now. Me. What do you want, prey?" He cautiously steps up to the counter and produces a small gold ring, asking me how much I would give him for it. How ironic that this is the same ring I found earlier! I offer him some loose change on the counter – the sum of 12 gold pieces – and he reluctantly accepts the offer. He probably would have haggled first, but the glare I gave him while he looked disappointedly at the measly offerings must have changed his mind. He then takes his newfound wealth to the tavern upstairs, and I quickly grab the little cash box and the sword that the shopkeeper was polishing and exit the shop with the sound of footsteps descending the stairs behind me.
Once outside, a quick dive into the water followed by a short swim to the lighthouse I spied earlier allows me to narrowly escape the mob of angry drunkards pouring out of the shop door. The guards quickly mobilize, so I duck into the lighthouse. Inside, the woman from before looks at me angrily and demands to know why I followed her. I silence her with a quick sweep of my newly polished sword and lock the door. I then lay her in her bed – being careful to position her head neatly over the stump of her neck – and pull the covers over her. Spying some buckets partially filled with water, I take a drink then pour the rest onto the floor to thin the blood. I hide behind the stairs spiraling upwards towards the top of the tower – my shadowy form blending nicely there – and draw a table there closer to me. Night would be here soon, at which time I would be better able to finish making preparations for my journey to Balmora. There I sleep until the darkness comes…