Many, many people covered the entirety of the city. In no way had Kenrick seen so many people in one small part of a city before. Intrigued by the hustle and bustle of everyone, he strolled up to a guardsman and asked, "Which part of the city is this, sir?"

"The Market District, of course. Look around the bend of those buildings," he said pointing to the west, "the streets are covered in merchant stalls."

Kenrick looked that way, and noticed many people walking around with something or another resembling sold or bought items. 'Ah, yes… that makes perfect sense' he thought to himself. "Thank you" he said with a slight incline of his head and cheery smile.

"Glad to be of service, citizen" the guardsmen replied.

Wandering the streets of the imperial city proved tiresome. There was so much to see, yet only a little time in each day to see it all. He noted several merchants selling weaponry, and several stores with either a coat of arms or repairing utensils painted on signs hanging above the doorways. Deciding it would be a good idea to get to know the place, he visited several of the weapon and armor shops in hopes of finding decent equipment for his long journey. Unfortunately for him, everything was so expensive. If he were even to buy a decent weapon it would cost him nearly all of his findings thus far. Out of the blue he remembered his discovering of several beautiful gems. "I'm sure I'll make a modest profit from these here gems."

Searching the place for such a shop proved tedious, for only one shop in the place actually bought and traded jewels as a first profession. "Red Diamond Jewelry" Kenrick read as he gazed over the sign before walking in. A tall, brown-haired Nord garbed in fine clothing stood behind the counter, meticulously polishing his "rare" collection of jewels. Upon noticing Kenrick, he quickly covered the gems and stored them in a locked compartment under his desk. Eyeing Kenrick profusely he inquired, "Welcome to good 'ol Hamlof Red-Tooth's fine assortment of jewelry. Can I help you with anything… err… young man?" Obviously he found Kenrick a threat – a young "adventurer" by the looks of it, possibly coming to relieve him of his fine possessions.

"Possibly" replied Kenrick, laying the eight gems he found back in the caverns on the counter in front of the Nord.

Ogling at the jewels, lusting for the beautiful gems to be in his inventory, the Nord asked, "You wish to sell these to me?" Kenrick nodded. "Well, let us check the value of these gems shall we?" Hamlof waltzed to the back of the room and opened a cabinet with a small magnifying glass set upon a raised pedestal, and a compass set off to the right.

'He obviously takes his job seriously' thought Kenrick. 'Either seriously, or he is madly in love with himself and his profession.'

Hamlof returned to the jewels and thoroughly inspected them. Using the compass he measured their sizes, and with the magnifying glass he inspected the quality. With a sigh he told Kenrick, "I am afraid these aren't of very good quality, my boy. I'll give you an even two hundred for the lot of 'em." With a suspicious smile he wrapped his fingers around the jewels and pulled them closer to himself.

"Not so fast." Kenrick disbelieved everything the jeweler said. Gently he picked up a diamond and raised it to the light. A perfect prism of vibrant colors shown through the gem and scattered around the room, and he said in a harsh tone, "Looks damn near perfect to me. A thousand for them all and I'll be out of your hair."

Angry at the lad, the Nord huffed and puffed. "You dare question my judgement? I am the trained specialist in this store, not you!" Hamlof retorted. "Four hundred and I ain't goin' no higher!" He slammed his fist on the counter trying to intimidate Kenrick. But Kenrick only raised an eyebrow and chuckled.

"Seven fifty and you got yourself a deal." Kenrick seemed sure the trader would accept now.

"No way am I payin' over five" Hamlof's nose was furiously flaring by now.

"No less than seven fifty? I guess I'll take them elsewhere, perhaps I can get them for more at another jeweler in another city… one willing to pay more for these "flawless" gems" Kenrick retorted over-emphasizing the word "flawless".

Hamlof knew he had been outsmarted, and gave in. "Wait!" he said anxiously. "Fine, seven fifty it is. Take the damn gold and be gone with you." Humbly accepting the satisfied amount of gold, Kenrick pocketed the money and left the store.

Once out of earshot from the store Kenrick said, "Cheapskate. Doubtfully he's ever had a woman." He chuckled and continued. By now he hopefully had more than enough to purchase a new weapon, along with some basic armor. 'Well, this armor will do for now' he looked to the rusted iron encapsulating his vital points, currently covered in minor blood stains and plenty of dents and nicks, and decided perhaps he should go all out and purchase a new set… that is if he could somehow sell his current set for more than it would be worth to repair. "But that'll have to be for tomorrow." Already the sun sank below the height of the buildings and the streets were clearing. But night time was the least of his problems, for hunger began to gnaw at his stomach. Not having food all day can do that to you. "I guess with all of the excitement I completely forgot about food. So, where is the local tavern?" He looked to a place across the street from Hamlof's "Red Diamond Cheapskatery" as he liked to call it. Several people filed inside a building labeled as "Merchant's Inn". 'Sounds interesting' he thought to himself.

Commotion in every which direction filled the room. The idle chatter of merchants and the general discussions of old pals mixed together in a mass of incomprehensible noise. Casually, Kenrick looked around for the Inn keeper. Noticing his balding head bobbing up and down as he brought drinks to several tables, Kenrick waited for him to return to the counter.

"Greetings, and welcome to the Merchant's Inn. I'm Velus Hosidius, the Inn keeper. What can do you for young sir?" Finally, someone with respect for his customers.

"Uh, yes. What do you offer in terms of food and drink? Too, a bed would be nice."

"Sorry young sir, but I only offer drinks. Mead, beer, and various wines are what I offer. If you want a meal, head over to The Feed Bag across the street, caddy-corner to the Red Diamond Jewelry. It's owned by a Dunmer, Delos Fandas. He's a good friend of mine. Tell him Velus sends you and you might just get a discount on food."

"Thank you sir" Kenrick politely inclined his head. "Do you offer bedding services?"

"Ah yes, I knew I forgot to reply to one of your questions. The memory isn't what it used to be. If you wish to rent a room, it's twenty gold for the night." Kenrick paid the man, thanking him again, and headed over to The Feed Bag for a meal.

Surprisingly it wasn't as crowded as the Merchant's Inn. Only a few people ate in peace, and altogether in isolation. Kenrick walked up to the Dark Elf and said that Velus sent him.

"Ah, good 'ol Velus. He recommends new customers to me, and their first meal here is discounted. What can I get for you young master… eh?"

"Kenrick" he replied.

"Alright, what can I get for you young master Kenrick?"

"What do you offer?"

"Well, there's roasted sewer rat, particularly delicious if I might add. I serve several kinds of vegetables, prepared to your liking. Various fruits on a platter end a nice meal, and a few different kinds of meats; such as pork chops, venison, and beef. Whatever you want, basically." He waited patiently as Kenrick decided.

"I'll take the fruit platter as a side with some venison meat – oh how I long for venison."

"Ok, that'll be fifteen septims, discounted half off for the newest customer." Delos went back to his kitchen area and prepared the meal, warm and oh so delicious.

The savory flavor of the well-seasoned venison sunk into Kenrick's mouth, relishing every moment of the freshly prepared meal. The fruit platter consisted of grapes, sliced apple, blackberries, an orange and a sliced pear. Sinking his teeth into the moist, juicy fruits, Kenrick thanked Delos for everything. "This is all so amazingly good, Delos, thank you."

"Anytime I can be of service young master Kenrick." They exchanged smiles and handshakes and Kenrick went back to the Merchant's Inn for a good night's sleep in the amazing room provided… at least as good as it was until he was awoken by a hair-prickling presence.

Kenrick shot out of bed, a chill ran down his spine. Beady sweat dripped down his skin. Warily he glanced around the room – nothing in sight. Still, he couldn't help but feel something ominous lurked nearby – a darkened presence, suffusing the atmosphere of the room. He slowly slid out of bed and unsheathed his sword from beneath his pillow.

Gently he cracked open the door to his room and peeked outside surveying the hallway in both directions. Trying to shake the feeling off he shut the door and turned around to witness a glimmer bounce off a translucent object climbing in through the window. He raised his sword just in time to parry the blade of an assassin garbed in the black and red armor. The assassin grabbed him by his shirt and tossed him out the door, sending him slamming against the wall. Momentarily dazed, Kenrick fought to regain his balance. He managed to catch the assassin's hands in midair as they were about to plunge a deadly blow down into him. Conjuring up the rest of his strength he kicked the assassin square in his chest, sending him over the bed and smashing his neck against the table on the other side. With a sickening SNAP he knew for certain the assassin was dead. Just as before the red and black armor disappeared leaving him clothed in the crimson robe.

Kenrick was curious as to why he was being hunted. He had only been seen by a few of the assassins, and furthermore, as far as he knew, none had escaped alive. He went over to the corpse and investigated several pockets hidden in the robe. One pocket revealed a letter stating:

Sojano,

A former prisoner of the Imperial Guard was seen with the emperor and his mortal lackeys. He goes by the name of Kenrick. Find him and kill him. He possesses something of great value to our cause. Fail and you will die a horribly slow and excruciating death. Succeed, and you shall be promoted in both rank and stature. Do me this favor, and do not fail. He was last seen heading into the Market District of the Imperial City. Do not underestimate him.

MC

Horrified, Kenrick threw down the letter and sat on the edge of the bed. "I am to be murdered?" he quietly asked himself. "Why am I to be murdered… what have I done? What in Oblivion is going on?" He sighed for a moment and thought about what needed to be done. "I need information, and I can't just go venturing off to find Jauffre's location without first knowing where it is located. And even more so not even being prepared for such a journey, for it likely lies more than two days travel from here as all cities do from the Imperial city. Whoever this MC is, he obviously wants me dead. I'll need to ask around for Jauffre, yet be careful of whom I ask for spies could be everywhere. Perhaps Velus may know a thing or two. But it'll have to wait till morning."

Morning came… the room however, was barren of the body. Kenrick arose from his sleep only to notice the assassin was gone. "He couldn't have possibly lived through that. This is all too strange. But the time to discover that is not now, and any mention of it might cause more trouble than good." Yawning he stood up and strapped on his accoutrements, readied now for answers.

Gliding down the stairs, and reaching the bottom, he saw Velus over behind his counter polishing a glass with a rag. Velus looked up to see Kenrick with a not-so-happy look upon his face. Kenrick sat down on a barstool in front of the counter.

"Were the sleeping arrangements not to your satisfactory, sir?" Velus seemed genuinely upset that he had a possible displeased customer with the sleeping quarters.

"No, it's not that. The bed was superb."

Velus breathed a sigh of relief. "Then what seems to be the problem, young master?"

"I need help" Kenrick began. "I don't know who to trust in this city."

"Aye, there are many possible scallywags floating about." Velus nodded his head in agreement to Kenrick's statement.

"That's not what I mean, Velus." Kenrick glanced over to his right and noticed a hooded man sitting in a chair on the far side of the wall, nonchalantly smoking his pipe, and writing in his book. A menacing scar covered his left eye. Kenrick furrowed his brow and looked back to Velus. "I'm talking about people whom I can trust? I can ask you, hopefully, for you seem to be knowledgeable of the city."

"Go on" chided Velus when Kenrick halted to choose his words.

"I need to find someone," he glanced to his right and then back and spoke in a whisper, "someone of importance. A man by the name of Jauffre. His location, I'm afraid, I do not know. Have you ever heard of him?"

Velus only shook his head. "Can't say that I do" he said quietly. "But you may be able to ask any of the traveling merchants. They travel to and from all cities in Cyrodiil. Perhaps they have heard something?"

"No, I won't risk asking anyone from the outside. They may be… well… spies – the enemy."

"What enemy?" Velus was now becoming more intrigued in the conversation and pulled up a chair.

"Well, I am not exactly sure." Kenrick revealed the writ of assassination for him, but before handing it over to the Inn keeper he said, "This may sound strange, Velus, but I was to be assassinated last night, in the room you provided. The body of the assassin, however, has vanished. Look," he showed him the letter, "this is proof of his attempt."

"Well I'll be. Sounds like the work of the Dark Brotherhood or something. You must be either blessed by the Nines, or the assassin sent was a complete buffoon."

"Dark Brotherhood? Who are they?" Kenrick looked worried as he listened.

"You don't know who they are?" Kenrick shook his head. "Well, they're more of a rumor than anything really. They say when someone has anger enough against you; they speak to people who contact the Dark Brotherhood. They, in turn demand money and a blood-sacrifice – which turns out to be you right now."

"What could I have done to anger one so terribly? I don't know about them, this all sounds off. Well, do you know of anyone else who might be able to help track down this man I need?"

"There are rumors of a secret gang of bandits who call themselves the Thieves Guild, and are lead by the Gray Fox – a figure of legend really. He's said to have lived over three hundred years."

"How do I contact them, then, if they're so secret?" Kenrick sounded almost hopeless.

"They say the beggars are the Gray Fox's eyes and ears. They learn much for him and give him information on anything and everything. But, they doubtfully would be willing to share such valuable information, though, with an outsider, someone not in the Thieves Guild. Another rumor is that you must prove yourself somehow and they send a contact to you, telling you to meet what they call a Doyen, or clan head. What you must do now, I have no idea." Velus seemed proud of all that he knew.

Kenrick smiled and asked, "How do you know so much? Where do you get all of this information?"

Velus just shrugged and said, "I'm a good listener. You don't know the kinds of people I often get in here who have slightly too loud of voices. They oftentimes spill the beans on everything, or on at least just enough for me to hear of rumors."

They both laughed and Kenrick stood up to thank Velus and he went on his way, pondering everything the keeper had said. He walked along the crowded streets, rather aimlessly, just trying to figure things out. However, he looked up to see a hooded man smoking his pipe and leaning against a wall just to his left, this man too was writing in his book. As he passed by he could have sworn he heard a growl. It was the same man from the inn, for he had the same menacing scar. 'Am I being followed, stalked by this stranger?'

Kenrick proceeded forward and rounded the next corner, looking back at the man as he turned and noticed the man began to move towards him. He pretended not to notice. Patiently walking along he peered back to see the man keeping his distance, but assuredly was following him. He decided to make a sprint ahead to hide in the cover of the next crowded area. The man took flight after him, knowing his cover was blown.

Hiding in amongst the crowd, Kenrick waited for the scarred man to get close enough. He was curious as to what he was writing down. The book jutted out ever-so-slightly from his right pocket, unprotected from "prying hands". Kenrick snuck up on him as he made his way into the crowd and pocketed the book from the stranger, calmly walking away just like everyone else. He glanced back to see the man panicking as he couldn't find the book. With a smug smile Kenrick made his way along with the crowd heading in and out between each section of the city. This crowd, though, led him into the Green Emperor Way.

He gazed up at the massive and majestic White Gold Tower… the site of the ancient Ayleid's stronghold, long before the coming of man. Now, it is used as the main focal point for political discussion. "It's even far grander than I ever had imagined. Amazing!" He gawked at its uniqueness, its beautiful white architecture. Walking down the stairs to the center of the main central area around the tower, he saw such magnificent architecture. Massive white pillars sat upon raised walls surrounding, in a circular motion, the white tower. He went off to the side, before going to the raised terrace around the tower, and found a nice tree to sit under. Curious of its inner contents, he opened the book. It went something like this.

Kalathar,

My newest recruit… obviously Sojano failed miserably. Don't you fail me too! This Kenrick is much stronger than ever we had realized. He was able to defeat one of our greatest assassins. Somehow he awoke in time to sense danger had arrived. How is this possible, I wonder? Follow him, study him, but do not blow your cover. His intelligence is no doubt impressive as well. He will sense something is up if he sees you too often. Do not fail me now; we are close to obtaining the object I need. Find his weaknesses, discover where he is going. Write down everything you hear and see and report it to me immediately.

MC

His notes were scrawled about and somewhat difficult to read, for his grammar and legibility was blatantly atrocious. Although, Kenrick managed to make out part of the notes.

Looking for sumwun kolld Jofree. Tolkd to inkeepr ubowt sumting. Hard to mak owt. Thu Meethek Don shal rize. Greet thu noo dae, bruthr.

"What in the world is the Meethek Don?" Kenrick pondered this over. "No doubt he spelled it wrong based on everything else. I need to find this Jauffre character. He alone can help me sort through everything going on." Suddenly someone appeared before him... out of nowhere? Of course not, but walked up to him rather. A meager dark elf woman stood before him, beckoning him to stand.

"This message is for you" she said, handing him a note. "Meet him at the Garden of Dareloth, in the Waterfront District, at midnight. Come alone." She walked away after saying all she was supposed to.

He opened the note, reading:

Thief,

You have been requested to meet me, Armand Christophe, at the location provided. Based on the skills observed, you may prove a valuable asset to us. Come alone, or forfeit your chance of joining our guild.

Armand Christophe

Doyen of the Thieves Guild

"What did I do to get in? Oh well, I'm going!" Excited, Kenrick jolted off for the Waterfront District, repeating to himself 'Things will assuredly come together soon, I can feel it!'