Chapter 71: Red Rose Manor

[26th – 28th of Sun's Dusk 4E 202]

Travel time again! We had spent a number of days in Bruma, but we should better move on, so that we could get closer to Kvatch, to meet my parents. My sister Deborah joined us for breakfast during our last morning in the 'Jerall View Inn', and once we had eaten, I spread the map on the table and opened a discussion on how to travel and which roads to use.

"We have a few options for the route to follow" I suggested. "We can go to Choroll from here and turn south to Kvatch, or we go south towards the Imperial City and then turn west via Skingrad. The latter is longer, but offers all major roads, so maybe that's better."

"Oh, I would not mind a little cross country hike at all; this would be fun!" Valdimar replied.

"Yes, I can understand that, but that's quite a lot of cross country hiking between Choroll and Kvatch, and we have the two girls with us." I objected. "I am not sure if it's a good idea to spend one or two nights in the wilderness, right in the middle of nowhere."

"Papa, I would like to see the Imperial City!" Lucia chimed in.

After some discussion we agreed on taking the 'Silver Road' south until it met the 'Red Ring Road'. Although it was going to be downhill for most of the way, getting to Kvatch was still going to take a few days, and I suggested:

"I happen to know a nice inn on the ring road, in a hamlet called 'Aleswell'; I have never stayed there, but seen it a few times when passing. We should be able to get there today. I would not mind staying a few days in the Imperial City, too, but if we do that, we'd be delayed even more. Let's proceed to Kvatch without too many detours for now, and maybe one of my family will visit the Imperial City together with us later on. Ready to go?"

All nods around confirmed that. We took our leave from my old friend Stantus, the innkeeper, and got moving.

From the east gate we first walked straight on and later south, following the Silver Road downhill. For the first couple of hours there was a lot of snow and ice around us, like in most parts of Skyrim at this time of the year, but eventually green spots came out. We could see ahead and got a glimpse of the stretch of water surrounding the Imperial City, Lake Rumare. When we met the road crossing with the Orange Road, the snow cover on the ground was down to a few centimeters, and soon it was gone altogether. We appreciated the rising temperatures, which made the hike more comfortable.

The animals we encountered were different from Skyrim. A couple of wolves looked similar, but we did not have many boar in Skyrim, and certainly not any mountain lions. Not that the attacks posed any real danger to us, of course. The two girls were specifically happy about some of the smaller animals we saw, like rabbits and foxes, and the small bees and butterflies sampling from various flowers; they also liked to watch deer and bears, but the former were shy and did not get close to us. That is, until T'mara shouted her 'Kyne՚s peace' – this allowed Lucia and Yumi to hug some deer, although they were not quite brave enough to get too close to the bears. The girls were happy about that turn of events when the shout wore off about ten minutes later.

I was also happy to point out specific flora to the others, but my wife and my sister kept to themselves and obviously had a lot of 'girl talk' to exchange between them. Suddenly two wood creatures approached us from behind a few trees – spriggans. I shouted to the two girls to step back and got my greatsword out, as the distance was already too small for the crossbow, but before I could stage an attack, Deborah had cast a very powerful fireball hitting between the two creatures, and they got hurt badly. Pammy, who had been scouting ahead, was back in a moment and turned towards one of the spriggans, whereas I finished off the other one.

Soon after the fight, just before we reached the junction with the Red Ring Road, we encountered two travelers, both male Nords. We exchanged a few words, and I could see that they did not approve of a Khajiit traveling with us. When they learned that T'mara was my wife, one of them shouted out:

"You, as a Nord, should be ashamed of yourself. A good Nord should know better than that! We know how to uphold the traditions at least, and we'd never even consider mixing with beast races! Phew!"

His companion also shook his head and snorted:

"We really need to do something about those cats. They are nothing but thieves and robbers anyway, and our country would do much better without them."

With those words they left, and their faces showed their disgust. Unfortunately, it was true that many of the highway robbers in Cyrodiil were Khajiit. On the other hand, a lot of bandits lurking in ruins and caves were men and mer.

When I looked at my wife again, she looked shocked and almost in tears, so that I had to comfort her:

"My dear, you know that this is not what I think about us, right?"

Deborah also added her view:

"Those two Nords are probably from 'Bleaker's Way', a small village west of here. Oddly, the village in inhabited by both Nords and Dunmer; the families respect each other, but would never mix, and they uphold some ancient traditions, leading back to the village's founder, 'Ulf the Bleaker', if I remember correctly."

"Yes," I continued, "and as you know quite well, their behavior and attitude does not reflect that of other people."

"Well, maybe excluding some citizens in Windhelm and similar places" my wife sighed.

"I guess you are right about that." I admitted. "Sorry to mention that, but what would traditional Khajiit families in Elsweyr say about us?"

T'mara looked directly into my eyes and said:

"In some traditional towns, I'd be lucky to get out alive. Having intimate relations with a human is frowned upon, and getting married to a Nord is considered a sacrilege by some. Yes, I know, this is a problem on both sides, and our side is maybe even worse than yours."

"You know, my dear, that this is not going to stop me loving you, right?"

I kissed away the few tears which had dropped on her cheeks, and she snuggled more closely into me; the environment phased out, and I only focused on comforting my wonderful wife, kissing and hugging her, until finally Deborah chimed in:

"Ahem, before this gets out of control, may I remind you that there are some minors around here?"

Lucia and Yumi were indeed watching us, and when I looked up they got to our sides and insisted on a family group hug, before we continued our journey.

About half an hour later we met the Red Ring Road, close to an Ayleid ruin, and we turned right. The weather was quite pleasant now, and the temperature higher that we could have expected in Skyrim at this time of the year. However, suddenly a couple of arrows passed close to us, and I saw a small number of bandits approaching; they had obviously been hiding in the nearby ruins of Sercen. Iona and Valdimar charged, joined by Pammy, and I did not even have to get my sword out. Really, how stupid could those bandits be, to attack a group of five well armed travelers, even with our two kids?

An of hours later we approached the hamlet of Aleswell, which really was not much more than an inn and a small farm. As dusk was close, we intended to stay here for the night, just as I had planned before. Entering the inn we met the innkeeper, a Dunmer who introduced himself as Ulen Serethi. We got a few rooms and ordered dinner, and while waited for our meal to be ready, I asked the innkeeper:

"Say, are you related to Diram Serethi and his two sisters, who ran the inn about two hundred years ago during the Oblivion crisis?"

"Why, yes, as a matter of fact, I am."

"So you probably know the story about the Hero of Kvatch solving the problem of them being invisible at that time?"

"Of course I do! And what do you know about it?"

"The Hero of Kvatch was one of my ancestors," I replied, "and I have read about those events in one of the diaries from that time."

"Wow, this is great. Do all of you know the story?"

I shook my head, and when I looked around, I noticed that my companions seemed to be interested. Ulen suggested:

"I could tell the story while the maid prepares your dinner."

Everybody nodded eagerly, and Ulen started:

"Well, more than two hundred years ago my ancestor Diram Serethi and his two sisters owned and ran the inn. One morning they woke up and found themselves and the other inhabitants of the hamlet, the Orc farmer Shagol gro-Bumph and the Argonian herder Sakeepa, invisible. They could hear each other and do their work just fine, but even when clothed, they could not be seen. Any tools they operated were visible, so when the Orc tended the fields, it looked like the rake worked itself. This was funny for some time, but not good for business, and most of the few travelers who wanted to stay for a night or two or just wanted to eat, left again in a hurry. My ancestors suspected the wizard Ancotar to be responsible for what happened; he had moved into the ruins of Fort Caractacus some time before. However, nobody dared to challenge or even just ask him; he did not have a good reputation at all."

Lucia and Yumi listened attentively, and Lucia commented with a smirk:

"Well, being invisible does not sound that bad. One could do a lot of mischief without being caught, I guess. Not that I actually would..."

"Believe me, girl," the innkeeper replied, "it may be fun for a few hours or even a couple of days, but not for a longer period of time. Anyway, a few weeks after that had happened, the Hero of Kvatch came along. He was not driven away, but politely asked my ancestors what had happened, and they told him; when he had heard the story, he volunteered to talk to the wizard. Whatever he did worked, as he came back a few hours later, cast a spell, and everybody was back to normal again. My ancestors were not rich and did not have any gold to offer, but they gave him a room for free for lifetime."

"I know a few more details" I offered. "Based on the diary I read, the Hero of Kvatch found the wizard in the fort and talked to him, and it turned out that the invisibility had just been a side effect of the wizard's efforts to not be disturbed. When being told about the issue, he reluctantly provided a spell to revert the effect; the Hero of Kvatch cast the spell outside, right in the hamlet, and that's basically it."

"So" Yumi asked, "even the hero of Kvatch did not know a spell to make himself or others invisible?"

"Not sure about that" I replied. "He sure knew about potions to achieve invisibility for at least a few minutes. The special spell to remove the invisibility effect was done from a scroll just for single use, I think."

Our dinner was now served, and we were quiet for a quarter of an hour. Afterwards, we retired to our rooms. They were quite small and not comparable to more luxurious inns, but they'd do for one night.

On the next morning we soon were on the road again, traveling west. Soon after the road had turned south, we came close to Fort Empire, and when I looked briefly inside, a couple of imps blasted shock on me, which was fortunately deflected by my wonderful Dragonscale armor. Pammy jumped forward and killed them right away, and we moved on.

A few minutes later Deborah turned right into a side road, which led to an ancient looking small structure, which glowed in the center. My sister bathed in the glow and explained:

"This is one of the Ayleid wells in Cyrodiil. Even now, many centuries after the Ayleids have passed, they still work. Their effect is very welcome for a mage like me, restoring magicka and boosting total magicka for some time. It needs to recharge after use, though, and can be thus used only once a day."

We all admired the well, and then we got back to the main road. A couple of hours later, once we had passed Fort Nickel and the small town of Weye, which guarded the long bridge towards the Imperial Isle, I pointed out a lovely mansion, which was partially visible from the road, with an access via some steps. Just before I could tell my family and companions about the house, a male Imperial in noble clothes came down the steps, and when he saw us, called out:

"Timotheus, is that really you?"

"Uncle Valerius, it sure is. I did not know that you were at home this time of the year. Aren't you usually going south for the winter?"

"Yes, normally I do that, but this year I decided to stay. But let's discuss this later – who is that with you? I recognize my lovely niece Deborah, of course."

"Uncle Valerius, please meet my wife, T'mara, our two children Lucia and Yumi, and our two housecarls Iona and Valdimar. All, this is Uncle Valerius, my father's older brother. He lives here in this mansion up the hill."

"Yes, this is my place. And of course you all need to stay for a few nights. Please do come up with me!"

Well, we really could not refuse, and so we followed him. The mansion – Red Rose Manor – was quite large, with plenty of guest beds. My uncle's wife had died a few years ago, and he lived here with his maid, Lifts-Her-Tail. She was an Argonian, and of course quite a few people smiled when hearing her name, as a young Argonian female with the same name appeared in the book 'The Lusty Argonian Maid, volume 1', in a questionable context. My uncle's maid, though, got her name from her habit to lift her tail when cleaning, so that she could properly move the broom. Living here in Red Rose Manor allowed her to be somewhat secluded and evade embarrassing questions, most of the time at least. And she cooked very well, too.

When we sat around the big dining table for dinner, the maid joined us; my uncle treated her more than a friend than a mate, actually. My sister and knew about the history of the house, but the others did not, and my uncle was all too happy to retell the story. Thus, while it was getting dark outside, some wind blew against the windows and the fireplace and candles cast flickering shadows around, Uncle Valerius started:

"Once upon a time, my great-great-great-grandfather did a big favor for the Mages guild in Skingrad, and one of the mages there told him a rumor about a haunted estate. The rumor started with a cave which supposedly had the key to the estate in it, and my ancestor decided to follow up on that. He had to fight various beasts in the cave, but persevered, and he finally managed to find the key and some hints about where to find the manor. The house was not really hidden, but locked tightly."

"But, the house is plainly visible from the road!" Iona said. "Didn't others before try to get in?"

"They probably tried, but did not know where to find the key. You see, the lock was a magical one and could not be picked. So, my ancestor found the house and the key opened the front door. But, as soon as he got in, there was darkness inside and he was attacked by ghosts."

Lucia and Yumi shuddered, and my uncle added with a smirk and a dark voice: "Yes, right here in this main room. Just imagine the fire and candles being out and ghosts approaching from all sides..."

Lucia squealed and jumped into my lap to seek cover, and Yumi moved closer to T'mara՚s side.

"Fortunately," my uncle continued, looking happy with the effect he had caused to the girls, "my ancestor had some experience in fighting ghosts, and he had a good silver sword on him. Eventually he managed to defeat the ghosts and swallowed a potion of healing to treat the wounds he had suffered. He lighted the fire and some candles and started to explore the building. And guess what he found?"

"A treasure!" Valdimar called out.

"Lots of dust" Iona suggested.

After hearing a few more options, Uncle Valerius laughed and explained:

"Yes, both of that, but in particular a sleeping woman in a bed upstairs."

"And the woman fell in love with him and they lived happily ever after?" T'mara offered with a smile.

"No, not really. The woman woke up, and she told that the ghosts were supposed to guard her, but took that protection too far by not even allowing her out of the house any longer. While the ghost guardians took care of her and supplied her with food and all, she was actually a prisoner for many years. There is a darker back story, too, but I will not tell this with children present. Anyway, defeating the ghosts set the woman free, and all she wanted was to go out and never return again. She did that and left the house to my ancestor as a reward. After a few generations I inherited the place, and I fell in love with it already when I was young boy. I will show you around tomorrow, and you may understand why."

After that story telling it was time to go to bed. There were four guest beds in the attic, and this was good enough for us. T'mara and I shared a bed, of course, Lucia and Yumi also shared one, Iona and Valdimar took the third and Deborah the fourth. Lifts-Her-Tail had a bed in the basement; contrary to what some visitors may have believed, she did not share a bed with my uncle.

After breakfast on the next day Uncle Valerius gave us a tour of the house and also got us outside. The sun was out, and we could see and admire most outer walls covered by roses. While the main season was over, some red blossoms were still out, and it looked very nice.

"Can you imagine how this looks like in summer with all the red blossoms? It almost appears like the roses are enchanted, and they grow mostly by themselves and need little effort to take care of."

I had been here before and seen it like this, and it was really something special. Later on we moved inside again and went down to the basement. We were guided through a passage and came upon a small underground pond. Uncle Valerius proudly stated:

"The pool is heated by underground hot water and can be used all year round. Feel free to relax in here any time you want. As a matter of fact, this pool is one of the main reasons my maid likes this place so much; she is an Argonian, after all."

After lunch, as clouds were now covering the sky and rain started to fall, some of us used the opportunity to relax in the pool, while others sat down and read some books or played games. We also used the opportunity to talk about the family and exchanged a few more stories about the Hero of Kvatch. While doing that, time passed quickly, and darkness fell upon the area before we noticed.

The rain stopped overnight, and right after breakfast on the next day the sun came out, shining brightly. Thus, we all took advantage of the nice sunshine and went for a short hike to the nearby Shrine of Kynareth. While we enjoyed the scenery, my uncle told us about the shrine's significance:

"Not all of you may know that the Hero of Kvatch, once he had helped Martin Septim to restore the barriers keeping Mehrunes Dagon՚s forces out, also embarked on a quest to restore the 'Knights of the Nine' later on. While doing that, he was supposed to retrieve the crusaders' relics, and this shrine here guide him to one of them."

Lucia asked: "So he had to fight lots of dangerous enemies?"

"In some places he had, yes, but not here" Uncle Valerius explained. "You see, Kynareth is the goddess of the heavens, the winds, the elements, and the unseen spirits of the air. The Hero of Kvatch was asked to proceed to a place west of here, which was guarded by a few bears. Rather than kill them, he was to approach them in peace and even endure a few attacks, without retaliation. He managed to do so and was rewarded by having access to a grotto opened, where he could find one of the relics."

While we listened, T'mara had got close to the shrine, and she stood there like in trance. Was she having a vision again?

[Author's Notes: I have mentioned this before, in chapter 7 – 'Red Rose Manor' is from a TES IV mod with the same name, written by 'Emma' (who also created the wonderful 'Vilja' companion in TES IV and TES V), and this has always been my favorite player home in the 'Oblivion' game.

Some events here in Cyrodiil of course relate to places and (past) quests in 'TES IV Oblivion', like the Aleswell quest 'Zero Visibility' and 'Nature's Fury' in the 'Knights of the Nine' DLC; please let me know how you like my integrating this into the story.]