Sometimes Beginnings Need to Ramble
Calvus groaned in quiet agony as he pulled himself through the shallow waters of the creek he had fallen into in his effort to escape from the mad Mer in the shadowy black leather armor who stalked him, every eddy and wave that rocked his body sent slivers of pain careening madly through his body, an odd coldness seeped into his blood from the arrow lodged in his back, a poison that preyed on his magicka and did a number on his body, the cold creeping into his fingers and toes told the tale of blood loss, his vision swam badly and dark spots crept into his vision as her heard the bell like laugh of a Bosmer above him, followed by the whisper of steel caressing leather. "Not how I thought I'd go" he mumbled as his eyes closed and his mind wandered back.
Highrock is not a kind place to those without position, or family, a young Breton can often find themselves the victims of cruel spot at the hands of the well to-do family's more low brow heirs, or harassed by the constabulary for even the most minor infractions, Calvus spent a great deal of his youth avoiding both, his clan had been small to start, his father and mother both ran a small caravan delivering simple woolen and canvas textiles, they had enough for some small comforts and even send their only son to a modest school where, when he had reached adulthood he would take up the mantle of heir.
Disaster struck when Calvus reached the age of six, during the late hours of the evening while his parents made their way from north from Wayrest they found themselves beset on all side by highwaymen, as Calvus' father attempted to defend their livelihood he was laid low by the arrows of his attackers, Calvus mother was taken captive her fate unknown.
Suddenly alone in the world Calvus was left in the care of a distant aunt, who viewed him as little more than a bother and left him for a time in the care of her maid an aged Redgaurd woman named Agate, whom at the ripe age of seventy three was just a touch deaf and blind and spent most of her time quietly singing to herself and tidying the house, it was a lonely miserable month for Calvus, as he quietly mourned his parents to the soft singing of his elderly care taker.
It was not to last however, it was a sunny sundas morning when his aunt awoke him personally introducing him to a tall muscular Imperial man with a closely shaved head and plain brown robes, he carried no weapons and said not a thing as his aunt spoke quietly to him in a language, which he was unfamiliar with, after a time she turned to her nephew who was still dressed in his bedclothes, "well young man it is time for us to part ways, this is brother Casidius Volare, he shall be taking care of you now, mind your manners and do as he says" with that she turned on her heel nodding to the bald Imperial and strode from the room as brother Casidius stared down at the young boy before him, Calvus felt no small amount of nervousness standing in his bedclothes before the daunting giant of a man, he fidgeted for a moment before starting as the tall monk rumbled for him to get dressed and follow him.
The next few days were a blur to the young boy a brief flicker in the shadows of distant memory the smell of baking Shepard's pie, the cold water being doused onto the top of his head first thing in the morning and endless days of silent jogging to keep up with the quiet giant who had become his guardian, the first clear memory that he could recall from the journey was its end, the day was cold and wet and he had been chilled to the bone, the oil skin cloak he had been given helped only a little, before him on the darkened road sat small twinkling lights and the lonesome ringing of a church bell, he had arrived at his new home at long last.
The tall bell tower in the resting at the fore of the priory toned solemnly with their arrival, Calvus stared about from under his dripping bangs, the deep black of the brick work was marred by the odd patch of moss clinging to the tower tenaciously, the windows where plain thick greased paper allowing the few lights shining within to glow like the eyes of some fell beast of legend, his silent guardian urged him towards the doors of what would be his new home the peel of the bell sounding with each footstep.
Calvus was given a small room within the monastery of the Black monks, ten paces in every direction, a single window sealed with the same greased paper that allowed light to shine through but obscured vision, his old clothing had been taken from him by a solemn faced sister in the same black robes as all the the other monks, he sat in the smaller robes that had been made for him, aside from the clean small clothes, his only clothing.
He had been given seven days to adjust to life within the dull walls, and the silent halls of the monastery, two meals served at dawn and dusk, breakfast was a large bowl of hot mush with a crust of bread, then came lessons, reading, writing, mathematics, practice in the basics of magic, followed by an hour of personal time to meditate, or walk the grounds or to bury oneself in in the over stuffed library, absorbed in the numerous tomes covering everything from history to religion, legends, to the odd classical romance, it was the favorite place to be.
After lessons and his own personal hour, came the hard part of his day, training, endless laps around the monastery with the craggy faced instructor at his heels, the imposing dark green orc looked as though he had been carved from pitted stone, and was just as unyielding, endless push ups, sit ups, squats, weights to lift, carts full of stones to be hauled too and fro, and after his limbs shook and ached he would struggle through the hand to hand training that the Black Monks were famous for.
This simple repetitive lifestyle continued for many years, and overtime the Black Monks shaped him into a brother in good standing and it is at this point that our story really begins.
-Mah Notes-
well folks i figured I'd try my hand at an Elder Scrolls Fic, the first chapter, and to those who have been reading my last fics don't worry I havent abandoned them its just taking me a bit to regain my momentum, life...you know how it can be.
wan luv man
Saint
