Chapter 1 : A Chance Encounter

Vivianne sprinted forward through the grassy fields from her assailant. The constant *swishing* sound of the wet grass made her escape all the more difficult, but fortunately, once she was out of earshot, she knew for sure that her attacker would never be able to see her, even with her vivid purple sash against the dreary grass, with as tall as rural Whiterun's grass was, and it being the foggy day as it was. The cool dampness of the soil and dew from the dreary weather conditions brushing against her bright golden skin reinvigorated her as she darted forward, avoiding yet another accursed firebolt.

Vivianne's hatred of the Thalmor seemed unparalleled, even amongst the local Nords. Be she an Altmer as she was, they were certainly one of the most despicable organizations she had ever had the misfortune of having to behold. She certainly didn't see eye-to-eye with Skyrim's nauseatingly nationalistic Stormcloaks, but at least they fought for what they believed was right, and while it was no more excusable, it was at least a little bit of a relief that they rarely seem to direct their racism against their kinsmen. The Thalmor were nowhere near as tolerable, however. Man or mer, none were too good to even be on equal standing with the Dominion. Even another high elf was not spared the dehumanizing torment of their overt beliefs in their superiority. She remembered having to flee from the Summerset Isles as a younger elf, having rejected their help and possessing the audacity to suggest that perhaps the races of their world were equal and should be treated as such. She would never forgive them for tainting her precious homeland and poisoning the minds of her kinsmer, for slaying any who were courageous or pure enough of heart to dissent, for ruining a society once noble and proud.

Vivianne recalled all this as she continued to flee from the Dominion wizards still pursuing her, even more livid than initially that she had been adept enough in combat to fell their bodyguards. Vivianne finally found some solace in hearing their furious shouting, just barely managing to make out the words "Where are you?!" before managing to poke her head out in the grass in what likely would have looked fairly comical were it not for her current situation. Even though her lungs screamed at her from such an excessive display of haphazard sprinting, Vivianne stilled her breathing, gradually descending from ragged huffs for air to tiny breaths that would rival a field mouse in the night. Amber eyes scanning the landscape, she mulled over the possibility of recovering just enough to charge back out there and really give them a piece of her mind this time.

However, before she knew what she was witnessing, an immense explosion of light occurred right in the direction where the previous mages had been. She noticed one collapse while the remaining two staggered down, and Vivianne thought better of it to approach this altercation with subtlety rather than bravado. She could roughly make out… "By Auriel's light!"she exclaimed in her mind as she took in the scene. It was two other young Altmeri women, seemingly in their late teens to dawning twenties, much like her own age, accosting the remaining wizards with ferocity to rival that of the trolls of Skyrim's wilds, their hunched postures and feral scowls spoke to a vehement contempt that she began to believe herself to be the only elf to have for the Thalmor. Their robes clearly spoke to an extensive history in usage of the arcane, as was and still is a common trope of her and their race. The haste they made when throwing fireballs and trails of lightning spoke of a murderous intent. The previously overzealous wizards were soon fated to be charred to a crisp, screaming in an end that ironically seemed to match the same obvious lack of mercy for any who were not a Dominion agent. While Vivianne could clearly make out the robes of the two women, neither of them had a Dominion emblem on them, as if their vicious aggression towards the previously alive now horribly disfigured corpses of what were once Dominion agents didn't already make it obvious enough that they weren't affiliates of the damnable group.

As she scuttled closer, making an overt effort to avoid drawing their attention, she could clearly hear the hooded one shout "Those damn Thalmor make such an atrocious image for us well-to-do Altmer, as if such an isolationist province needed any more excuses to complain about those of us simply searching for a home here!" Vivianne's heart sank with relief as she heard that, making it now undeniable that they were obviously not friends of the High Elven racial supremacist movement, despite them sharing similar ancestry with herself and them. Vivianne's eyes shot open when she noticed their enraged glares whip around to face her direction, just now clapping her hands over her mouth as she noticed she inadvertently allowed a very audible sigh of gratitude to roll out of her breath. "Blast!"she cursed herself as she noticed the two other mer draw closer with evident suspicion. Their golden skin and twinkling almond-shaped eyes seemed to almost glow as the light of shock and flame spells reflected off of them, the sickening *hiss* and *crackle* of their spells growing louder with each bated footfall as the magic yearned to consume yet more victims. Her pointed ears clearly made out the hooded one's cry of "Who's there? Reveal yourself immediately!" It seemed she was the leader of the two there. Vivianne figured she may as well come forth and attempt to remedy the current situation before the outlook turned any more bleak than it already seemed. As adept as she was with spell and sword, Vivianne knew that these two ladies rivaled her own power, and that their combined forces would likely be much too great for her to overcome should push come to shove.

Hands held up next to her face defensively, Vivianne meekly slinked out of the underbrush to come forth and meet her saviors who just as quickly seemed they would soon become new foes. "H-hello…" she managed to force out through yet-still ragged breath now combined with nervous stuttering. Vivianne noticed the hooded mage, whose cerulean robes piereced the greenish-brown backdrop of Skyrim's grass. Her friend, with her hair tied up into a very cute little bun behind her head, wore reddish robes that draped off of her body much like a dress might. Both the mer women's robes were fastened with a shoulder strap and a belt. The hooded one, after what felt like ages but was really only a matter of seconds, pointed coldly over to the deceased Thalmor agents, the visages of herself and her cohort contorting into wrinkled faces of unapologetic disgust. "Are you with them?" Her Auridon accent spat out with an antipathy that almost pressed down on the skin, mucking it like a residue.

Vivianne felt her face catch fire, her blood boiling, and her hands clenching into balled fists to the point where her nails bit into her palms. "How… How dare you!" the young mer cried at them, throwing a very accusatory index finger in their direction, and feeling dirty at so much as having somebody think to compare her with them. She felt like she was being heckled by one of those Stormcloak bastards, as she recalled the classic "Thalmor bitch" sneer that they so often liked to make at her. "Me, a damned, filthy, treacherous Thalmor? Simply because of my meri heritage?"Vivianne almost wanted to throw herself at the hooded one as she noticed her and her friend's faces gradually curl into sickening smiles.

Vivianne's vexation finally began to level off when the hooded one said "So, another Dominion-aversive Altmer? I began to lose hope… please, my name is Marigold, I do sincerely hope you'll forgive my brash assumptions."The high elf who just identified herself as Marigold jerked her thumb over to her friend, as Vivianne finally managed to correctly identify her smile as one of welcome, rather than of mockery. "This is my longtime friend, Caitlin. We've been thicker than spriggan sap ever since we were just out of our swaddling." Vivianne's smile grew even more to meet more high elves who seemed to share her abhorrence of the Dominion. She turned to Caitlin who now sported a big goofy grin plastered on her face, throwing out her hand to shake Vivianne's, which she did so with such vigor that Vivianne almost lost her footing. "Hiya, Vivianne. I'm Caitlin. Pleased to meet you. Do you like to play with magic?" Her eyes twinkled with an almost childish friendliness. Vivianne had not even the slightest inkling what experiences she might share with these two in the future, but something in her gut told her they were going to be stories she would revel in.