Mr Skrah: Wow, people actually read the first chapter! I honestly thought we would get literally no interest. Anyways, this chapter is a bit longer than the first one. It provides some background to Arrgos and Harsten as well as an appearance by my personal favourite character (who Mortis may or may not have based off of me :P). Sadly, he doesn't get introduced properly for another few chapters.

The previous chapter's title was a reference to the fact that in every Bethesda game I've played (Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas) you always start out as a prisoner of some sort. I like to make these little jokes to myself, even if no one else finds them funny. ;)

Even though we've had readers, there have been no reviews or comments yet. Hopefully this chapter will get some sort of response out of you guys (and girls)…


Childhood

When Arrgos was little and had moved with his family to Skyrim, settling in Rorikstead, he had accidently lit his father's shoulder on fire. After a few weeks and a few more accidents his parents had taken him to a mage to test his magical capabilities. The mage had said that it was rare for children to discover how to use magic at his age and that he had a surprisingly large magicka pool for someone so young and utterly inexperienced. His father, who was a dark green Argonian and a near mirror image of Arrgos, wasn't initially surprised by this. But when the mage explained the size in more relative terms, his father had been taken aback. The mage had also noticed that Arrgos had a much higher body temperature compared to normal Argonians, and seemed to be fairly resistant to fire. His mother, a Dark Elf, had wondered if this could have been passed on through her blood, as Dark Elves possess the very same resistance. The mage had replied that it was possible, but he couldn't know for sure. After departing from the mage, Arrgos and his family had gone home and from then on he had been treated slightly differently. Over the years he had reined in control of his powers and almost never used them; especially when someone other than his parents were around.

When Arrgos turned twelve, a new family had moved into Rorikstead. It had been another family of three. They had an eleven year old son who was a Khajiit, like his mother, although he seemed to have inherited his Nord father's resistance to Skyrim's freezing climate. Over the years they had become close friends, mostly due to the fact that the other Nord children never really included them because of their difference in race, but it didn't bother them. They would spar with sticks and explore the nearby mountains of The Reach and plains of Whiterun Hold when they could escape their parents. Harsten was a natural sneak and had taught Arrgos everything he knew about moving unseen, and in return Arrgos had taught Harsten how to fight with a sword. Arrgos's father had been a battle-mage back in his youth and had been known for his ability to keep a spell going for far longer than most other mages; hence why he hadn't initially been surprised when the mage had told him that Arrgos's reserve of mackiga was very large. Back then battle-mages were a rare sight indeed, and so Arrgos's father had been a formidable opponent, with his plentiful magicka and skill with a sword.

Arrgos's parents had grown a large garden of vegetables, which they traded with the Frostfruit Inn and the odd caravan that passed through Rorikstead. The rest were sent to Whiterun to be sold at the markets. His father had been asked to help teach some of the Hold's guards how to handle a sword, and had originally refused simply because he wanted to leave his past as a battle-mage behind him. But after much deliberation, and a few years, his father had agreed to train new recruits when they turned up. He did have one condition however: that his son and Harsten could train with them, as he knew he couldn't separate the two even if he had wanted to. So he, Arrgos and Harsten would trek out to Whiterun for a week or two every few months to train with the sword.

Once both Arrgos and Harsten had reached their early manhood, Arrgos had told Harsten about his gift with fire. Harsten, being a loyal friend, had promised never to tell anyone, including his parents. After that Harsten had wanted to give magic a try, and with the help of Arrgos he began reading up on magic, and had found that he could easily relate to Illusion based magic. The only problem was that Harsten didn't seem to have the power to use any sort of magic, no matter the school. They did all they could to figure out how to 'unlock' his power for a solid two years; they had even managed to break into the library of Solitude's court mage during a trip with Arrgos's father, who was being offered a job of training new recruits for the Imperial Legion. They would have been caught if Arrgos hadn't lit the mage's robes on fire. After that they practically gave up on the idea, but still kept their ears open. Arrgos's father also turned down the job offer, happy just to continue training the Whiterun guards due to Solitude being too far away for easy travel.

Half a year went by and a mage came to stay at the Frostfruit Inn. As soon as they heard about it, Arrgos and Harsten had made their excuses and rushed off to find him. When they found the mage he was sipping a cup of wine, sitting near the fire pit. They had approached him carefully until he had suddenly spun around and surprised them. The first thing that struck them was his height; he towered over both of them, taller than anyone they knew by at least a head. The more Arrgos looked at him, the more unsettled he became. He wore a long, hooded, dark purple robe edged in gold, along with some very expensive looking gloves and boots. Both Arrgos and Harsten's eyes were drawn to the gleaming gold rings on his fingers, covered in precious stones and engraved with strange symbols that neither of them wanted to even try and guess at what they might mean. There was also the glint of fine gold chains at the mage's neck, suggesting he also wore necklaces or amulets of some sort, but they were currently hidden beneath his robe. Looking directly at the robe, it was beautiful. The purple was mottled with different shades in a random yet enticing pattern and the gold edging gleamed like the sun. But it was when you looked at something else, when you could only see the robe out of the corner of your eye that Arrgos swore he could see the mottled pattern shifting and changing. When he snapped his eyes back to the robe it seemed to be perfectly normal, the pattern perfectly still. But he felt a weird feeling that the robe was mocking him somehow, and he would've sworn that the pattern had changed since he and Harsten had first walked in. 'That doesn't sound half crazy...' he thought with a small shake of his head. Unnoticed by anyone, the corners of the mage's mouth twitched up into a slight grin.

Meanwhile, Harsten was busy studying the mage's face. It was partially cast in shadow by the mage's hood, but from what he could see the face was very gaunt and thin. The skin was slightly tanned, but the difference between it and the pale skin of the Nords seemed enormous. 'No, not tanned,' Harsten thought, 'yellowed seems a more appropriate term'. He was clean shaven and no mark or scar marred his features. His hair came down past his ears and was a golden-brown colour, his eyebrows a little darker. Harsten noted the pointed ears and nose, realising the mage was an elf, and a High Elf from his appearance. The handsome facial features spoke of a young man, or mer in this case, but the eyes told a different story. They were shaped like almonds and the pupils had a deep, rich green colour to them. But looking into them, it was as if Harsten could actually see the ancient knowledge and wisdom they contained, the things that they had seen which the mage could not even begin to describe. He suppressed a small shudder as Arrgos introduced the two of them.

The mage didn't seem to mind them coming over to talk, even when Mralki the inn keeper had tried to chase them away, saying "Let the man drink in peace, he doesn't need two kids pestering him!"

But the old elf had just shook his head, chuckled and said "I don't mind the company and at least they are interested in magic, unlike most of the superstitious peasants in Skyrim." When Arrgos and Harsten had asked about how someone could unlock their magical potential, the mage had said that it was a thing that usually happened over time or when the person reached a certain age. Someone might suddenly find that they could freeze water or levitate objects with their mind. "The more technical explanation is a connection being made between mind and soul, allowing you to tap into your 'pool' of magika. The forging of this connection is basically random, occurring at different times for different people. For many it is never made, hence why the ability to wield magic is uncommon."

When Arrgos and Harsten said they understood and explained everything else that they knew about magic, the mage had commented dryly that they seemed just as knowledgeable as many of the students at the College of Winterhold. Harsten asked him if that was where he had been trained, and he shook his head with a sad smile. "The places where I learned the arts of Syrabane and Xarxes are long gone. I doubt there are half a dozen people in all of Nirn who could remember back to those times, let alone teach you the power that we studied, harnessed and wielded." he said with a far-away look in his eyes. After a few moments, the mage continued "No, no I didn't study at the College, but I did teach there for longer than both of your lifetimes put together. I left recently, foreseeing the return of some old… friends, of mine. Damn fools might actually be taking an active role for once…" muttering this last sentence almost to himself.

Harsten looked faintly embarrassed as Arrgos explained their problem to the mage. "Is there any way you could unlock his powers? Force the connection or something?" Arrgos asked politely.

The mage had raised one eyebrow at this, in a facial expression that would become very familiar to Arrgos and Harsten. "It is certainly possible, although very few mages other than me would know how. Firstly though, can I assume that you both know the dangers of magic as well as the benefits? It can be a very powerful tool in the right hands, but it is also not something to be used lightly."

They both nodded and Arrgos had said "It was actually one of the first things we read up on, mostly because the only book about magic we had at the time was a book on the dangers and abuse of it."

The corners of the mage's mouth slowly curved up into a small smile. He had resumed his seat by the fire, placing his empty cup on the floor, folded his hands in his lap and closed his eyes.

At first nothing happened; the mage just sat there, eyes closed, as if he was listening to the crackle of the fire. Then suddenly Arrgos heard a muffled 'thoom', like a single drumbeat echoing from a great distance away. He jumped and looking around he found, to his great surprise, that no one else in the inn appeared to have heard it. Harsten looked around with a smile, he wiggled his nose and whiskers saying quietly "I can feel it." Disturbingly for Arrgos, there was also a fading glow in his friend's eyes, although it quickly disappeared.

The mage opened his eyes and nodded towards Arrgos and Harsten. "Your powers are just like a muscle, the more you use them the stronger they will become. With training and practise you should be able to increase the size of your magicka reserves, allowing you to cast more spells for longer periods of time." They had both thanked the mage and promised to try and make it up to him one day, but he had shaken his head and waved them away "The only way you can thank me is to not get up to too much mischief and to be careful." They had both left the inn and gone out to test Harsten's new powers.