Wisdom in Words: An Elder Scrolls Tale

Greg J Miller

~O~

Chapter 11

Tirdas the 24th of Sun's Height 4E73 Morning

The morning began in a fairly typical fashion for Nikula Pinewatch and soon enough she was leaving the family home, with her younger brother trailing along just behind her. As usual, she needed to harass him just to get out of the house in a timely manner. Also as usual, Erik hardly spoke at all, either at home or along the road. He commonly seemed only half wake during the earlier part of the morning. All of that was fairly typical.

The only thing slightly different about the morning appeared in the eastern skies. The morning sun was slightly obscured behind some light cloud hovering about over the distant Valus Mountains. She couldn't quite tell which direction the slow moving cloud cover was headed, but didn't really look like it would bring any rain. In any case, the early summer morning felt perhaps just a little milder than it could have been because of it.

The observable activity along the road to the city seemed light to moderate. The only horses at Weye's modest stabling facility obviously belonged to Legion riders. Far up head, a small farmers cart slowly ambled around the outer wall of the Imperial City on its way around toward the Waterfront District and a couple of people were heading into the city on foot. Nikula had earlier noticed another horse-drawn wagon coming along the Red Ring Road from the south just as they were leaving home. Though it was also headed for the city, it still hadn't caught up to them by the time their march finally brought them to the city gates.

A casual exchange of recognition passed at the main gates. That same older guard who was posted there the morning before nodded the Pinewatch siblings through.

There was nothing unusual to be seen in the Talos Plaza District that morning. A few people passed along the paved streets in various directions on their way to wherever they were going. At the central plaza of that district, Erik veered off toward the Temple District and Nikula continued onward in an easterly direction.

During the silent march along the road from home, having been somewhat prompted by Erik's dogged pursuit of questions during the previous evening, Nikula had been thinking about what had been said about vampires.

As expected, their mother and father hadn't been all that forthcoming on the topic, not really wanting to talk about it all. However, Erik's persistence had prompted a few things.

Nikula could readily concede that she hadn't really known that much about vampires at all beyond the basics. Of course, she'd previously heard the old legends that the very first vampires arose thousands of years before and that it had something to do with the Daedric Prince, Molag Bal. She understood that they were effectively the resurrected undead and that they needed to feed on blood or otherwise drain life-force by magical means. She'd also heard that there were supposedly various different kinds and that most of them needed to avoid direct sunlight, or else it burned their flesh. That was about the full extent of what she knew and not really in much detail at all.

Erik's tenacious persistence during the previous evening had provoked a few fresh details that she'd not previously known of. She heard some confirmation that there were indeed numerous different kinds of vampires with differing strengths and weaknesses, but only a couple that were commonly found in parts of Cyrodiil during recent times.

Her mother had also mentioned that were supposedly several variations of each kind of vampire. Most of that apparently related to how long they'd been a vampire. She inferred that younger, lesser vampires were typically not nearly as strong or resilient as older vampires, but they were sometimes more brash and rabid, and so sometimes more dangerous.

Nikula also heard confirmation that most vampires needed to keep out of the sun and so were unlikely to be out and about during the day. Though it apparently varied from one kind to another, most kinds of vampires were also vulnerable to fire, weapons made from silver, or regular weapons with certain kinds of enchantments, as well as some very specific types of poisons in combination with powdered silver shavings.

Responding to Erik's ongoing questions, her father had pointedly advised that any and all vampires were very dangerous and should always be avoided at all cost. Even those with trained fighting skills had often enough come off second best in encountering vampires unprepared. He'd suggested that anyone untrained really held little chance at all. He again repeated that avoiding any contact at all was for the best.

Only in response to Erik's pressing over the difference between younger vampires and older vampires, their mother had just briefly mentioned that they'd only ever once encountered an ancient vampire and found that they stood no chance at all against it. They'd only survived that encounter because it held no interest in killing them.

Their father obviously held no desire to discuss the specifics of that matter at all and that served as the prompt for him to insist that Erik leave the topic alone altogether. From her father's reaction, Nikula suspected that whatever had occurred in relation to that particular incident, it must have been something terrible.

Thinking about it, Nikula didn't believe that she'd ever seen a vampire. At least as far as she knew. She supposed that she had seen some rather suspicious looking strangers passing by the Wawnet during the evenings upon rare occasion. If any of them had actually been vampires, they'd certainly managed to conceal the circumstance. Though she certainly recognised the possibility that she may have inadvertently encountered discreetly behaving vampires, she much rather preferred to imagine otherwise.

Shifting her mind back toward the incident that started all that talk the previous evening, Nikula still didn't really think that the murder of a beggar in the city had anything to do with vampires. It wasn't that she actually knew anything for certain, but it just didn't seem to fit the circumstance. That's what she was thinking as she neared the Black Horse Courier.

As soon as she was inside the front door of the Courier, Nikula noticed Martin Doran and Naveed in conversation in the lower office. They paused in response to her arrival and brief greetings were exchanged.

Martin sighed, already sounding weary. "It's going to be a busy morning."

"Probably a busy afternoon as well." Naveed thought that necessary to add.

"Nothing new? About the murder?" Nikula thought it was worth asking.

Both men shook their heads, but Martin spoke first. "No, nothing new." He tilted his head in the direction of the rear passageway. "Art and Ja-Mere had a late night… and an early start this morning. They're both working the presses right now. Trying to get the first run done."

Naveed added more. "Soon enough, Art will want us folding and stacking. First collections will be by here before lunch, then some more through the afternoon."

Though it seemed just a bit more harried than usual, Nikula understood the routine well enough. No more than half an hour had passed before Arturo had called out from downstairs the first time. Nikula joined Martin for that first effort in the basement, as Naveed remained in the main office to watch the door.

Printed pages were laid out in order and folded, then stacked up in small piles. Once all the currently completed editions were ready, they carried them upstairs to be stacked near the front counter ready for collection.

For the second lot, Nikula remained at the front counter as Naveed worked with Martin. One of the local distributors came by during that period, taking just one stack away with her. Only because she had the time, Nikula read through the new edition of the Courier. Of course, she'd paid a great deal of attention to reading what Art and Martin had written about the murdered beggar. She already knew most of the detail. She was actually more interested in paying close attention to exactly how they'd reported those details.

Before she'd managed to finish going right through the Courier, it was her turn to go back downstairs. Nikula worked with Naveed on the third lot as Martin then took a turn waiting by the front counter. Another couple of stacks of the fresh edition disappeared before it was again Naveed's turn to wait by the counter.

It was quite near to noon by the time that they'd done everything that could be done, since they'd effectively caught up with the printing and would need to wait for a while before more pages were ready.

Naveed quickly ducked out to grab something to eat. Since he'd only gone to one of the stalls just outside, he was back almost right away. Martin had the foresight to already have something for lunch sitting there ready to eat that he'd evidently brought from home. Leaning back to relax for a bit, the older Colovian told Nikula to go get something to eat. Glancing toward Naveed, he added there was no great rush. He added that he expected it would be a couple of hours before the next batch of printing would be ready.

Collecting her coinpurse from her satchel, Nikula headed off outside.

Though the morning had started off slightly cooler, it had certainly warmed up enough to feel uncomfortably hot directly under the midday sun. With that in mind, Nikula bypassed the open stalls of the marketplace and headed across the way over to the relative shelter of the Feed Bag. Since Martin had pointedly told her not to rush, she figured that she'd have plenty of time to quietly sit down and eat.

Inside the place, she immediately noticed that it seemed just a bit crowded in there that day and also perhaps a little noisier than usual. Even so, it wasn't anything she hadn't observed before. After briefly waiting her turn, Nikula gained service at the counter and the older male Dunmer provided her with the pie and apple juice she'd selected.

Turning about to look for somewhere to sit, Nikula noticed Jesper Pellegrin seated at a nearby table. Though he was reading the new edition of the Courier, he'd noticed her standing by the front counter and waved her over to join him. If it wasn't perfectly obvious that she'd seen him, she might have considered pretending otherwise. With a mild sigh, she headed over toward the flamboyant Breton with her food and drink in hand.

The Breton bard started speaking before Nikula had even settled into her seat. "This does seem quite a nasty business, don't you think?"

"Yeah." Nikula nodded casually. What he referenced was obvious enough.

With raised eyebrows, Jesper shook his head. "I suppose that it's not so unheard of that beggars might occasionally die in the street or even possibly be killed… for some reason or another… but certainly not like that. Leaving a bloodied head in the Talos Plaza." Reaching for his mug, he shook his head again. "Still no idea of how or why?"

Chewing on a bite of her pie, Nikula shrugged. "Not yet. Not as far as I know."

The bard briefly glanced about the other patrons of the tavern. "Well, it certainly has become the most active topic of gossip and speculation about the Imperial City at this particular moment. I do imagine that it has made things rather excitable at the Black Horse Courier."

Nikula nodded, finishing another mouthful of pie. She then frowned. "Aren't you s'posed to be doing some sort of article about the Emperor's new biography?"

Jesper's head bobbed from side to side, affecting an awkward expression. "Well, there's been something of a hold up with that. Of course, I've already started with the composition of a short tease… the first one. However, until enough of the approved portions of the biography are made available for perusal… Well, it makes it rather difficult offer pertinent commentary in concert with brief extracts, when I do not yet have access to the source material for selection of said extracts."

Nikula returned a passing shrug, somewhat regretting having asked the question.

The Breton seemingly deflected the topic from himself, returning to his previous focus of discussion. He waved a hand again over the front page of the Courier. "One does wonder if this is merely some sort of singular incident... or the start of something of greater concern."

Nikula shrugged again. "You know what I know. It's all in the Courier."

Jesper again bobbed his head. "Yes, I suppose so. However, it's also obvious enough that there's more to be learned. If the city's protectors manage to locate the missing body, then I suspect that more will come out. In the meantime, I do also expect the speculation to remain rampant."

Sipping her juice, Nikula nodded. "Yeah, I s'pose so. My brother was pestering my parents last night with questions about vampires and such. They both used to be with the Fighters Guild, back when they were younger."

"Fighters Guild? Interesting. Though it doesn't seem to me to be the kind of thing that points toward the involvement of vampires. At least not in my experience."

"You have experience with vampires?"

"Well, not myself... as such. Not directly. However, I've certainly had dealings with many others with far more direct experience."

Nikula shrugged. "My parents don't reckon it's about vampires either."

Jesper affected a thoughtful expression. "At the beginning of last year, I'd been over in Daggerfall… not long after there had been some incidents involving vampires in that city."

Nikula returned a curious glance. "What kind of incidents?"

The Breton looked down to the newspaper on the table. "Well, it certainly didn't involve leaving severed heads on display below public monuments. For the most part, they're known to be rather more discreet than that. Well, usually." After a momentary pause, he looked up again. "As I understand it, the first awareness of some sort of vampire problem in Daggerfall came from the deaths or disappearances of some of the city's beggars… or other sorts who might not immediately be missed. Though some bodies had been found, there was nothing said about severed heads… or mutilation, or the like. Drained of blood or life-force, I expect."

Sipping her drink, Nikula responded with a silent glance.

The Breton continued. "As I heard it, a vampire hunter was called in and he set to tracking and despatching the source of the problem. He'd claimed that the job was done and soon moved on afterward. However, it passed that a few more beggars later went missing... in a rather similar manner."

"So, that wasn't the end of it?"

"No, apparently not. Though the vampire hunter may have eliminated at least one vampire, it seemed that he'd not been thorough enough in his task. As it passed, the other vampires in the city only maintained a greater measure of discretion for a time. I'd heard that there'd been a bit of talk that some vampires had managed to gain access to sewers below Castle Daggerfall… and then to parts of the castle. Since that coincided with an Imperial summit taking place at the time… well, there was a much greater Legion presence than usual in that city. Even some Penitus Oculatus. I'd heard that the vampires had been hunted down and destroyed… and Daggerfall became cleared of that threat. At least for the time being."

"Did you see any of that?"

"Oh no, I'd arrived in Daggerfall after the fact. Several weeks afterward. I'd pieced most of it together from what was printed in the Daggerfall Chronicle and from those who I'd spoken with." He paused only momentarily. "After finishing with theatrical performance work I'd secured in that city, I managed to acquire some short term work with the Chronicle, as a contributing writer. In that capacity, I'd been asked to go visit nearby Camlorn and look into the story of more vampires being pursued there. There'd been some talk that it was possibly related to those vampires that had been eliminated in Daggerfall."

He waved a hand in the air, then continued. "In Camlorn, I'd learned that a Vigilant of Stendarr had been found dead after going up against a vampire. At around the same time, a local vampire hunter had claimed a couple of kills. One just outside of the city and another inside. The Legion soldiers posted there and the local Fighters Guild managed to deal with some other vampires. In due course, they claimed that the vampire threat had been suppressed for the time being. Of course, in the case of each of the reported victims of vampires... well, there'd been nothing in the way of anything that resembled what happened with that beggar found in Talos Plaza."

Finishing the last bite of her pie, Nikula shook her head. "Didn't think it looked like it was anything to do with a vampire. Just what my brother said… and he doesn't know much."

The Breton narrowed his eyes. "You know… there is something else that comes to mind. Something involving gruesome deaths and mutilation of bodies. Perhaps not completely unlike this particular incident."

Nikula lifted her mug. "This isn't another one of your long stories?"

The bard blinked in mild surprise. "Oh no, I promise that it's not long at all."

Before she had the opportunity to object further, Jesper proceeded. "It was about five years ago, just after the most recent time I'd visited the Bard's College of Solitude. Travelling overland on my return journey, I'd stopped off at Jehanna." Responding to Nikula's slightly narrowed eyes he quickly clarified. "That's a small city in the northeastern corner of High Rock, not far from the border with Skyrim. As it passed, my arrival in that city had actually coincided with the final resolution of a problem that had been plaguing Jehanna and its immediate surrounds for several months."

"At the time, I was travelling with an Orcish individual. A former soldier, by the name of ah… Torg gro-Torg, if I recall correctly. He'd previously served with the Imperial Legion stationed in High Rock. After completing his time with the Legion, he'd been across to Skyrim for a short while, in search of a relative and was returning to High Rock. It was actually a good thing that I was in his company. We had been set upon by a huge frost spider lurking in the rocks of the mountain pass between those two provinces. At best, I might have been able to outrun the creature, provided that I actually saw it soon enough. However, my Orcish travelling companion easily made very short work of the nasty creature. With hardly a scratch from the ordeal. It was impressive to behold." Jesper shook his head, accepting that he'd drifted well off topic.

"That aside, the pertinent aspect of my journey took place in Jehanna. Upon our arrival at the northern city, we'd run into a pair of Fighters Guild Bretons at a local tavern, who were looking into the problem currently affecting the local people. From them, we'd firstly learned that the earliest signs of the troubles began with reports of livestock taken from local farms. Of course, it's not at all out of the usual for bandits and thieves to take animals from outlying farms. However, some of the livestock had been found oddly mutilated and partially eaten. At first glance, that really seemed more an indication of wild beasts or such trouble, rather than the work of outlaws or the like. No one had actually witnessed the attacks."

Nikula interrupted. "Thought you said that this was about… about 'gruesome deaths and mutilation'? I figured that you meant people."

Jesper nodded. "Well yes, that did come afterward. The earlier disappearance of livestock hadn't been viewed as necessarily connected. At least, not at first. The murders of local people came afterward. The first had been a farmer's son, found just a short way outside the city. Apparently, there'd been no proper examination of the lad's body. Not by someone who might've been far better at such things. The farmer had thought that wild beasts had been at his son's body, but couldn't tell whether that had been before or after his death. He thought that some of the wounds looked like they'd been made by blade, but couldn't really be certain of it."

Nikula shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She was already beginning to think that the Breton bard had lied about his promise to keep his tale short.

Jesper continued. "Then the second incident of that kind occurred much closer to town. Apparently, a drunken sailor had wandered off from the port one evening. He'd presumably taken a walk along the shoreline. A few days later, his body was found. Mutilated and in pieces... and seemingly partially eaten."

The Breton paused to gulp the last of his drink. "Over the following weeks, three more persons had been found dead in a similar fashion. Twice about the city and another one just outside. There'd also been further incidents of livestock attacks at farms near the city. Thus far, the city watch had observed nothing providing insight into the specific cause and none of the citizens had witnessed a thing. Of course, that's why the Fighters Guild had sent two of their people to look into the matter, believing that a nocturnal beast of some sort was likely involved."

He paused a moment. "It was only that evening before we were about to depart Jehanna that it properly came to a head. The Guild Fighters had laid out a trap of sorts. It involved having the city watch imposing a night curfew upon the citizens, which been in place for more than a week by then. It also involved creating the appearance of an unattended stray goat wandering the city streets. To serve as a lure. On the third night of waiting for the goat to come under attack, the source of all the troubles finally made an appearance. Apparently those Guild Fighters knew what they doing and had made proper preparations. What they encountered that evening, was a lycanthrope."

"A lycanthrope?" Nikula sounded mildly surprised.

"Yes, a werewolf. After the fact, it all made perfect sense. The Guild Fighters certainly seemed to think so. Though also prepared for other possibilities, they'd made proper preparations with specific weapons and poisons, with the reasonable assumption that they thought it was quite likely to be a lycanthrope of some description. Unless someone or something was going to great trouble to just make it look more like the work of a wild beast, than that of man or mer, a werewolf actually seemed reasonably likely to those Guild Fighters."

"So, they killed it?"

"Yes, they did. And did so without suffering injury or infection. Making use of ranged weapons and magic, so they said, as well as poisoned silver blades." He nodded to himself, then continued. "Though exactly how or when the Breton individual involved had become affected by lycanthropy remained unknown, they did learn that he was the son of the man who ran the grain mill at the edge of town. To the best of my knowledge, that was the end of it. No other killings of that kind occurred afterward and no other werewolves had appeared to plague the city."

Nikula frowned and shook her head. "So... what? Are you saying that the incident in the Talos Plaza looks like the same sort of thing?"

"Oh no. Not necessarily. That's only one of a great number of possibilities. The act of leaving a severed head in the plaza... well that seems to me to be… to be either a bold statement of some sort... or else the result of panic or oversight... or who knows what? I imagine that until the beggar's body is found, uninformed speculation remains... well, uninformed… and of course, just speculation."

Picking up her plate and mug, Nikula shook her head again. "Yeah well, I need to be getting back to the Courier."

Jesper inclined his head. "Of course. Until next time."

Nikula returned a silent nod, then hastily headed off.

~O~

"Night Terrors"

.