I was feeling rather personable on the way to Balmora. The weight of the coins in my bag had me in a particularly good mood. I wasn't poor anymore and I was that much closer to my goal. Eventually, I'd have to make contacts to find the sort of people I'd want to hire, but smuggling wasn't cheap, so I had time.

The other people on the silt strider were all dark elves except one. A young Khajiit in a dark blue robe. I watched her curled up in a corner, trying to read a book and not draw attention. She was a nervous cat and she kept glancing up from her book at the Dunmer around her. It made me chuckle and I stood, making pardons as I sat next to her. She pulled her book closer to her face I couldn't help but grin.

"Do the local Dunmer give you trouble?" Her ears perked up in interest and she peeked over her book at me. "For being a Khajiit I mean?"

She nodded slowly, eyes still suspicious. When she spoke, her voice was quiet and heavily accented. "Many seem to think Khajiit are only good as slaves and nothing else." I scanned the group around us and saw a few heads turn.

"Perhaps even some here with us," I added.

"Ajira tries not to provoke them."

"Is that your name? Ajira?" She nodded again. "What do you do Ajira?"

She closed her book and laid it on her lap. "This one is an alchemist and a researcher in the mages guild."

"Huh, I didn't know the guilds were in Morrowind." The groups I referred to were the fighters and mages guilds. They are branches of the Empire, one to regulate mercenary work and one to promote scholarly pursuits and regulate magical services throughout the Empire. I'm sure you can guess which is which.

"It is a sore subject to many local Dunmer. Although Morrowind has been a part of the Empire for centuries, it has always been largely self run. Only recently have the guilds been set up in this country and even more so here on Vvardenfell."She lowered her voice even further. "The locals feel as though the Emperor is stepping on their toes." I nodded thoughtfully. "You are not a local, are you," she questioned.

"No, Cyrodiil is my home. I need to earn enough money to get back."

Ajira hissed quietly to herself. "Impossible. With the island under quarantine, there are no ships traveling to the mainland."

"That's just what they want you to believe. In all reality, anyone can still go home, it just costs more and the boats are harder to find. Besides, I'm not scared of the blight."

Ajira growled. "The blight. That's just what they want you to believe."

I looked at her, troubled while she grinned at how she'd turned the tables on our conversation. "Well please, enlighten me."

She took a moment to make sure nobody else was listening in on our conversation and leaned in until her whiskers brushed my cheek. "The real issue is corprus disease. The two are loosely related, but the latter is a thousand times as severe. Don't go talking about it openly though, unless you want to face the zealots of the Temple."

"I don't understand. What's the temple?"

Finally one of the other riders chimed in. She was a well dressed Dunmer woman in her mid years. "A dark elf who doesn't know of the temple. That's absurd."

"Perhaps you'd like to enlighten me sera," I invited.

She twisted on her cushion to face us. "The temple of the tribunal rules and keeps order in the land."

I narrowed my gaze. "What about king Helseth? Are you saying he doesn't rule his own kingdom?"

The woman gasped in exasperation. "The king is a mere puppet of the Empire. He struggles for more power, but he cannot compare with three living gods."

Now I was very confused. "Azura, Boethiah, and Mephala aren't living Gods, they're daedra." The woman's eyes went wide and she turned her back to me, muttering "N'wah" under her breath. I didn't know what that meant, but when I looked back at Ajira, she looked cautious again. Apparently I'd said something very wrong.

She leaned against my ear once more. "You should come with me to the mages guild when the silt strider lands. It sounds like there are some things you ought to know."

I took the hint and remained silent for the rest of the journey. We finally came into view of a city wall when the sun was rising. Ajira had nodded off and I was beginning to fear she'd drool on my shoulder. The other woman however, sat straight backed the entire journey, refusing to acknowledge my presence.

I disturbed the cats slumber by standing, so I could get a proper view of Balmora. She woke with an unceremonious snort, but maybe it was for the best. She didn't seem to realize she'd been leaning on my shoulder.

I held onto the side of the shell to keep my balance. Despite the size of the creature, it rode fairly smooth with very little sway. I saw the city walls, which weren't very high, but were serviceable. They stretched across a small valley with steep, short mountains on either side and a river running through the middle. A scattering of guards stood on the wall with bows, ready to defend against wild animals and scare off bandits. They wore a strange dark yellow armor that seemed to be made from a type of composite material.

The silt strider came to a stop next to the south wall where another platform had been built into the structure. The driver jumped expertly from the creature's head to the platform and helped everyone down. I allowed everyone to go before me, including Ajira so that I could take in the city. From my high vantage, I could see that the city was enormous and was clearly separated into three areas. The buildings were all made the same. Probably framed with wood and stone and then covered with an adobe-like material.

I was distracted by three dark elves at the bottom of the stairs who were teasing Ajira. She stood on the stairs waiting for me and glanced between me and the thugs below.

I strode past her and faced the elves. They were all wearing cheap leather armor and carried daggers on their sides, possibly just grunts for a local gang of some sort. "Gentlemen gentlemen," I addressed them calmingly. "There's no problem here, we just want to pass by."

The oldest one in his late twenties led the others in laughter. "You don't understand. These outlanders have to pay a tax for the privilege of entering our lovely city."

"But Ajira lives here," she hissed.

Before they could come up with another taunt, I took the reins on the conversation. "Yeah, if you ought to extort anyone, it ought to be me. I may not look it, but I'm as foreign as they come."

The thugs all glanced at each other unsure of where I was going with this. "Alright, then you give us your money if that's the way you feel."

"No." I quickly stepped forward and thrust my palm up at his nose and felt a crack. As soon as he was hurt, I turned and hit his friend and got tackled to the ground from behind. I threw elbow jabs at the elf on top of me and drove him back, but then they all started kicking me on the ground. I was able to get a good knee punch in on one of them, but I had no chance. Ajira was screaming for help and within a minute, two guards dropped from the walls to pull the thugs off me.

One of the guardsmen turned on them. "I've had it with you council club punks starting trouble!"

The leader pointed at me with blood pouring down his nose and started to make an accusation, but the guard cut him off. "I don't want to hear it!" He turned to where Ajira was pulling me up off the ground. "You two should leave."

"Yes sir," Ajira said in agreement. I hugged my side and she supported me, leading the way through the streets. My lip was bleeding, but they hadn't broken my nose. I grinned as widely as I comfortably could. "That was stupid. Do you challenge the local riff raff whenever you go some place new?"

"I used to. How else do you know if they have any talent?" The Khajiit eyed me as if I were mad. She led me to the local mages guild hall. The building was three stories tall and very spacious. Inside, it was dark without any windows. I asked Ajira about it and she said that sometimes there were storms of ash from the ashlands and any opening would let it in. A few curious people glanced our way as she led me to the basement level. At the bottom of the stairs, there was a large room. Sections were cordoned off with drapes or panels. One spot had seats and a small podium for lectures. Another had a table and chairs. There was even a section with bunk beds stacked three high. Book shelves were everywhere, stacked heavy.

Ajira led me to another small room with a desk loaded with dry ingredients, strange metal and glass tubes, and vials everywhere. She sat me in a chair and immediately went tending to my lip.

"You should have seen me a couple months ago. I could have taken them all myself."

"Stop talking." She wetted a rag with a solution in one of her vials and dabbed at the split lip, immediately soothing my pain. A Dunmer woman in a blue robe stepped into the room and asked, "Ajira, who is this?"

"A crazy foreigner who protected Ajira from the council club brutes." She spoke without breaking her concentration.

Still hugging my bruised side, I offered my hand to the woman. "I'm Han-lu Urshar of Cyrodiil."

She shook my hand daintily. "Ranis Athrys, guildmaster. I appreciate you looking after my student, but it is unwise to get on the bad side of the council club. Local Dunmer don't usually like outlanders, no matter their race."

I waited for Ajira to finish tending my lip. It was already scabbing over thanks to her concoction. "Thank you."

"We're not done. Let's see the damage to your ribs."

"I'm sure I can take care of it." I gingerly lifted my shirt and called my magic. Dark bruises were already forming and as I guided my body's healing process, they began to shrink, but I ran out of magic before they disappeared completely. I stared uncomprehending for a moment.

Ranis hmmd thoughtfully. "You're a healer? Impressive." I disagreed. This was pitiful. I used to be able to mend a broken femur before running dry. If healing a couple bruises was beyond my reach, I'd atrophied much more than I'd thought. I couldn't wrap my head around it and slipped into shock. My heart hurt with every beat and adrenaline flooded me. I wanted to hit something. Maybe run back to those thugs for another round, anything to take out my anger.

Ajira snapped me out of it by bumping my temple with a bottle. "Hello. Han-lu, did they kick you in the head or something?" She grinned playfully, unaware of the tempest inside me. "Drink this, it will help you heal faster."

I steadied my hand and accepted the gift.

"So Han-lu," Ranis inquired, "What brings you all the way to Balmora?"

I shrugged, thinking through my fog of anger. "Work I guess."

Ajira huffed. "This one thinks to buy his way back to Cyrodiil despite the quarantine."

I cringed at Ajira giving away my secret. I'd have to be tighter lipped in the future. Ranis raised her eyebrows. "Really? Tell me then, considering that you're planning on less than legal activities and that you don't hesitate to challenge a gang of thugs, what kind of work are you looking for?"

I smiled despite myself. "You sound like you're looking to hire that kind of person." I may not have gotten along well with other dark elves, but the more I met, the more I realized how comfortable we really are with subterfuge.

"Well, I might have a few jobs that are too... um, dangerous for my students." She looked meaningfully at Ajira who stood to leave.

"Don't look at Ajira," the cat insisted. "This one just mixes potions." Ranis watched her leave with a grin and leaned on the door jam.

"You obviously have some skill in magic. If you joined with us, we could help you train."

"I can train on my own. I'm looking for work, not schooling."

She stared at the ceiling thoughtfully. "You could join as an associate to the guild. It's not the same as a full fledged member. Under the regulations the Empire puts on us, I can't hire anyone outside the guild. Most of my able bodied students have left for other opportunities in the past few months and I've been forced to hire the fighters guild to conduct business. Those idiots just love lording that over me. We're rivals, you see."

This was why the Empire was able to conquer Morrowind, I thought. While we Dunmer squabble among ourselves, the Empire and its branches stuck together under a strong leader.

"What would be my responsibilities in the guild." I asked?

"As an associate, you just perform the duties I assign you for pay. It won't be regular work, just odd jobs. If you were ever caught committing a crime against another guild member, it would mean expulsion." I noticed the emphasis she put on the word caught.

"Could I board here?"

"Not as an associate, no. Only higher ranking members are allowed to live here."

I mulled it over and didn't see a downside. "Very well."

Ranis smirked. "Good. I hereby name you an associate of the mages guild. I don't have any work for you right now, but feel free to meet the other guild members."

"Quick question," I added. "Does this exclude me from working for the fighters guild?"

Ranis laughed. "You can ask them, but I wouldn't mention that you're associated with us. They have an elitist attitude. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lecture to give." She stood and went to the podium area in the other room where a handful of mages were gathered already, leaving me to myself.

Ajira waited for me outside. "We need to have a talk."