And here we are, in the sixth chapter (by the way, as of right now all chapters were edited by DeathLord-92, so it's TIME TO CELEBRATE, bring your cheese people!). Originally it was going to be longer, but when it reached 10k words, I decided it's too long and cut it in half. Good thing I did so, the other half is STILL growing. I just can't find a good place to finish.

Guest - Oh yessss, it was! Now Ted can not simply sit back and watch even if he wanted to, because if something goes wrong, it will be his fault. Le gasp!

The nerd who likes digimon - As far as I know, the Dwemer puzzle box from the main quest of Morrowind is just like the ones you can find in Skyrim (we never see it in action in game, so its function is unknown). Yep, I do like characters with chaotic good alignment. She must be good, that's kind of necessery for this fanfic, but let's not forget Khajiits go wherever they want. In here claws are very strong - just like you wouldn't want to fight with a tiger in real life, you wouldn't want to pick a fist fight with cat folk. Yes, do buy Morrowind! The game will annoy you many times with some strange mechanics, stupid leveling system and Ordinators attacking simply because they don't like your helmet, but all of that only increases your satisfaction when you do beat it. And no, you can't do that in five minutes. The video used that as a click bait. You see, remember that falling wizard? He had Scrolls of Icarian Flight, which temporarily increased Acrobatics skill by few hundreds, allowing you to jump across all of Vvardenfell, if you wished to (the thing is, it won't protect from fall damage, so unless you cast a special spell, which is unlikely you will know on first level, you are done for). Another difficulty in Morrowind is that you can actually fail main questline, either by selling quest items or killing wrong people. The main goal however can be reached even if you bypass the questline. Don't worry, I kept it vague: you only need to gather two items from certain dungeons, go to the final boss and use them in specific way along with potions to counteract the effect of items damaging your health over time. So, not really a matter of five minutes.

Guest - I'm not discouraged. In fact, I have done several chapters in advance, just in case I'll hit a writer's block so that I can keep up with the shedule. I'm also not doing bad when it comes to views, even if I wish I had more followers, favourites and reviews. Short hiatus was caused by me having a lot on my plate and not by a lack of interest in writing.

This chapter is mostly an exposition. Sorry, Morrowind players, but we need to teach those Skyrim N'wah why exactly Morrowind is superior and factions are a large part of this. And then we can finally bring them back to the Light Side of the Gameforce, where they do know what N'wah means.

So here it is. Balmora.

It's... pretty much exactly what she expected from Dunmer city, to be honest. A house can say a lot about the people living inside. Azirra wasn't an architect, but just looking at those buildings made her understand local mindset. There were no excessive decorations, but at the same time those sturdy constructs held a certain... elegance to them. People of Balmora cared about the proper appearance, but they valued stability over beauty, something that distinguished them from their distant cousins, Altmers.

Whatever. They might as well be the same for her, both races were full of assholes with pointy ears.

"H-hheyyy, kitty, if ye *hic* 'now what is good for ye, ye will... Er... What I was sain'?" *THUD*

Needless to say, the first impression was terrible. At least he was drunk enough to only mumble something and pass out.

She was too tired to care anymore though. Sure, she got her freedom back, gained the money Ergalla promised her (five hundred septims, so she was set for quite a long time if she were to control her expenses) as well as received two bottles of standard healing potions from Thavere Vedrano for taxman's ring, but everything else was just too much. First there was a falling mage, then a dragon, then a dead body... which led to investigation and almost to another dead body, this time either hers or that of the murderer. In the end Foryn Gilnith was fine - covered in scratches and cuts so terrible the captain asked her if she was secretly a werewolf - but barely. He may have had a sharp fork, but in the end it proved inferior to claws. That's why you shouldn't challenge Khajiits in boxing, kiddos. Azirra won at the cost of a shallow wound on her arm, which should heal soon enough. Still, when during the struggle she punctured his throat, she almost died of fright, thinking she killed the guy and was about to end up in prison with life sentence.

And then came the travel by silt strider or, as Azirra called it, a big flea. The cost wasn't a problem, price was just small enough to not be outrageous, fifty septims... she was still sure she got scammed, her rather lavish dinner costed only twelve (it's not often you celebrate being pardoned and getting out of prison). Not that she cared, with five hundred and thirty five septims in her pocket. It was fast too, it brought her to Balmora in just three hours, which on foot would take her much longer, possibly an entire day... if she didn't get lost, that is (note to self, buy a map). She couldn't even complain about the quality of the trip - despite the incredible speed, the shell of massive flea wasn't rocking too much and the caravaner was nice, not just by Dunmer standards, but also imperial. Nah. It was just... weird. Do you know how one controls the silt strider? By poking it's brain with a rod. No, seriously, that's how it's done. The shell of silt strider is carved so that it forms seats for driver and passengers, some space for luggage and in the front there is a hole leading straight to beast's brain. Darveme Hleran assured her there's no pain involved, but still...

It was getting dark already and, judging by the dark clouds over her head, she was about to get drenched. She didn't know how long it would take her to find this Caius Cosades. Back at Arrille's Tradehouse in Seyda Neen a scout told her to ask at South Wall Cornerclub, since they knew the most about such things. Now however, looking at dark streets and changing weather, she decided the search can wait until morning. Right now this Khajiit had to find some grub and bed for the night.

Ten minutes later she was already resting in her room in Lucky Lockup, a tavern conveniently located just next to the silt strider platform. As she was slowly falling asleep, with her head on an actual pillow for the first time in months, she couldn't help but wonder what awaits her in the near future. Should she even stay in Morrowind? Of all the provinces of the Empire it was the most hostile to her kind. Her small coin purse, now full of gold and resting safely under the pillow, would be enough to get her to mainland, no doubt about it. But what then? Return to Kvatch, where everyone remembers her as a thief or a beggar at best?

That is, if her small delivery is truly her only condition of freedom. Knowing the mechanics of the Empire...

...

Needless to say, even with all excitement of this day it took poor Khajiit some time to fall asleep.

Ted was making art.

Alright, that might be too generous. A few lines made in the ash substituting for earth on this mountain with strokes of the wing weren't truly worthy of such term and the subject didn't strictly fit into boundaries of classic or even modern art. Be that as it may, the former human put all of his brainpower, new instincts and creativity into this single task, so we might as well call it that. What task was it?

Finding a name for himself. Three words in Dovahzul that would describe him and determine the limits of his power until the end of his life... Because if this adventure was indeed real, chances of becoming human again were at zero.

Akatosh was right, Dovahzul became natural for him. If he spoke to himself, from time to time he caught himself replacing English words with the language of dragons. It wasn't conscious however - once he said a term that didn't have a direct translation and was struck with a minor headache, since his more human part of the brain couldn't understand it and the dragon one did. That proved to be a nuisance - mortals and dovah were truly nothing alike. At first it also was hard to translate words he deemed fitting to describe himself, only after a while he found out it was about the lack of focus rather than a lot of it. Dovahzul was a river that wasn't going to just flow in the way he ordered, it was about changing the situation, so that it would flow in desired direction simply because it was for the best... If that makes any sense.

In the end he came up with two full names and two words that needed a noun as the third. Ted looked at two first names.

Kel Lein Vahlok

Kel Tey Wunduniik

He wasn't particularly happy with them.

"'Elder Scroll - World - Guardian'... Sounds nice, but too serious. And the other one, Elder Scroll - Story - Traveler... that's just a mouthful." Ted looked at the beginning of the third name. It looked very promising.

Rot Heim

"Word Forging... exactly what I have in mind. But what about the third word?" Ah, it's one of the times he wished he could still reach his head with his limbs. He can't even scratch his head. "Perhaps In, Master... Nah, too proud. Kro, Mage, is nice, but not really fitting and it's terrible as last word. Sonaan is too long, even though I do like singing and music. Mindol, Schemer, is also too much and it would make everyone with knowledge of Dovahzul think I'm some sort of evil mastermind... Or worse, politician! Similar problem would be with Rotheimufiik, Word Forging Troll is a bit on the nose. Ugh. If I won't find a good word, one close to Schemer, but not malicious, of the right length as well, I'll have to go with Rotheimkaal, Word Forging Champion... Still too damn proud."

Ted sighed. He really liked the sound of it, Rotheim... If only he had found a fitting word. The dragon shrugged and decided to leave this problem to the future Ted. For now he decided to sit back and relax in the rays of rising sun.

As we mentioned, our hero was a city guy and he definitely wasn't an early bird. As a result, he never bothered to wake up before dawn only to see world's biggest bulb enlighten the urban landscape. Here it was different. Last night he did fell asleep, but... at the same time he kinda didn't? He was aware of his surroundings all the time, so one could say he was awake, however his mind was resting, not thinking about anything, just... observing. Ignoring everything as long as nothing of importance was nearby (as soon as one of the bandits tried to leave somewhere around two in the morning, he immediately snapped head in his direction, making an outlaw yelp and jump back into the depths of the ruins). He 'woke up' an hour before dawn, fully rested and a bit confused. Freaking transformation probably messed up his sleep cycle. Also, other bad news, a lot of this was exactly like Akatosh described, which was making his last line of defense from mental breakdown, Coma Theory, even weaker.

Of course he still had his priorities in order - before he indulged in geek activities, he had to take care of the triple S - shave, shit, shower. Well, now until further notice it was just two. He didn't as well have to do third this time, there was a nice rain in the evening (and that's great - the closest natural water reservoirs were the Odai River and Lake Amaya, and both were way too close to civilization). After a short ethical and philosophical debate with himself he decided taking care of the second need 'pigeon style' was a bit rude, even for him, so he just found in some forgotten corner in the mountains and did his business, after which he returned to the temporary nest. He planned to repeat it in the very same place for a long time just so that one day someone will give the place an amusing name. That sort of goal says a lot about Ted.

All things considered, the sunrise was nice, almost worthy of a painting. Would be better without chunks of human meat in the picture, though. That reminds him, he should do something about it. Leaving such a mess felt wrong.

"Hmm..." hummed Ted. "Perhaps I should figure out Fus sooner rather then later. Legionaries of Moonmoth Fort, I hope you have umbrellas, Ted Weather Broadcast foretells a short, but intense rain of gore... oh, wait, first I'd have to move it to the other side of that Dwemer bridge right here, I forgot there's a small caldera between the mountain and the Fort. Dammit, nice phrase was totally wasted. Whatever, those chunks must disappear."

Huh. So it wasn't a dream.

At first, when Azirra woke up in comfy bed instead of stinking cell, she couldn't believe how fortunate she was. Perhaps the gods were indeed making up for two decades of bad luck after all.

Her first day in Morrowind might have been challenging, but also profitable, so far she had no regrets. After that small moment of weakness yesterday, today she woke up full of energy and determination to see it through.

After a moderate breakfast (moderate, as in, as moderate as a third meal since leaving imprisonment can be), she decided to take care of her only task so that she can peacefully figure out her next objective. From the innkeeper, who had a name so intricate she hadn't even bothered to try to remember it, she learned that the South Wall Cornerclub was in Labor Town, the poor district of Balmora. And so she headed there immediately.

She already knew she wasn't welcomed here. Almost everywhere she looked Dunmers glowered at her in suspicion. To think that recently she thought Kvatch was bad... Was all of Morrowind like that? Her sensitive ears caught several terms she already learned to recognize as Dunmer insults and one particular word, outlander... Oh joy, these people were so xenophobic there was probably an entire branch of academic study just about it.

Fortunately for her, that was typical only for the Commercial District. The city of Balmora, as she would later learn, was divided into three districts: High Town, situated on a hill to the north-western part of the city, Commercial District, which was directly connected to it, and finally Labor Town, which was separated from the Commercial District by the Odai River, perfectly dividing the city into two halves. The west half was an original, old settlement and as a result most of the Dunmer lived there. The eastern part sprung up very recently, in the last thirteen years, to be exact. That number isn't accidental and it repeats all across Vvardenfell, however we will explain it later on. Since there was no more place for new buildings in the Commercial District and High Town, Labor Town was inhabited mostly by new settlers, both mainland Dunmers and other races. Thanks to that, Azirra could finally relax after crossing one of the several bridges over Odai, even though she entered the part of the city in which without any doubt crime was a much bigger problem than in the western half. After a few turns she finally found herself in front of the South Wall Cornerclub.

As the name suggests, the place was right next to the south wall of the city. The building's condition wasn't good - even by standards of this half of Balmora. It was also Shoddy - yes, a big letter is justified, the whole place was definitely one of those taverns where illegal operations took place often, maybe even on a daily basis, since the other taverns she noticed in Balmora actually looked respectable. Right next to the door was your typical Dunmer banner, which was basically a piece of cloth with the name written in Daedric... or was it Dunmeri? The point is, she couldn't read this weird language, it wasn't Tamrielic. She couldn't even tell for sure where one should begin reading! Luckily, someone came up with a smart idea of adding a picture for the illiterate and those miserable souls, who ended up in Morrowind without the knowledge of whatever sorry excuse for a written language the locals used. Someone else came up with an even better idea and just added "South Wall Cornerclub" in Tamrielic under the original text.

Upon entry Azirra started to cough from how much smoke was in the air. It was a specific smell, not that of normal fire, but rather...

"Drugs?" she blurted out.

"Go downstairs and ask Bacola Closcius. The Guild doesn't deal with those things, it's his side business."

It appears that the only person in sight, a middle-aged Nord woman in a brown robe took her word as a question. She wasn't in the proper bar yet - to her left were stairs to private rooms and in front began a corridor leading to lower levels.

"Er, that's not what I'm here for. I'm searching for someone and I was told some people here could give me directions."

"Anyone important? As long as it's not a special case that kind of info is free of charge."

"His name is Caius Cosades. That's all I know besides that he lives in the city."

Nord frowned.

"Cosades, Cosades... I heard that name before... Ah, yes. Boss and Closcius both know the man. I don't know what his connection with Sugar-Lips Habasi is, but I'm sure the publican provides him with skooma. Ask either one of them, maybe one of them knows where he lives."

"Alright, thanks," answered Azirra and headed downstairs.

The bar was surprisingly quiet and calm for such a shady place. No hostile, racist thugs and no druggies in sight. Sure, there were several suspicious figures in cloaks and light armor, but that's given. Azirra started to believe that the place had a lot of regulars.

"This scent is unfamiliar..."

And that scout leaning on the counter must be Habasi. She was dressed in... Well, it was some form of armor, but one she had never seen in Cyrodill. It definitely wasn't made of metal, rather some sort of... shell? Something local most likely. The fellow Khajiit had light brown fur mixed with white, a quite common coloration, much like her brown stripes. Another similarity, she was a Suthay-raht too - a common breed of Khajiit alike in build to races of man, but with catlike feet, which differs them from the other most common breed, Cathay.

"A new face is amongst us. One with fur too. Interesting. Say, what is your name?"

"I'm Azirra."

"Habasi. Say, this one happened to hear some of your talk with Sottilde. You searching for someone?"

Huh. Her hearing was magnificent even for a Khajiit.

"Yes. Do you know where Caius Cosades lives?"

Habasi's eyes widened and her lips twisted into small smirk.

"You are one of Caius' ... associates? Fuhuhuhuhu... Habasi sees..." stated Habasi, but not elaborating on this comment despite Azirra's questioning look. "In that case Habasi guess Habasi can help you. He lives in the north-eastern part of Labor Town. Turn right after leaving the Cornerclub through the front door, walk forward to the very end, turn left and walk some more. He lives in the last house on that street, and has only one floor."

"Thank you, really. I can't imagine how long it would take me to find it."

"No problem. When you meet him, tell him I might call in a favor in the near future, things are getting heated in Balmora."

"O-okay... Goodbye."

"This one believes 'See you soon' fits better. So until next time, sister."

Habasi seemed happy to see another of her kind, wondered Azirra on her way out. She's probably from some Khajiit community. Maybe even Elsweyr.

Elsweyr. To Azirra that name meant nothing. She was born and raised in Cyrodiil. There weren't many Khajiit in Kvatch and because of that she never even picked up that... distinctive speech pattern. As stupid as that sounds, she thought of herself as an Imperial with fur. That doesn't change the fact that she always felt some kind of regret for her lack of knowledge about the origin of her own race. Whenever a subject of 'warm southern sands' came up in any talk, she went silent. Most would mistake it for being reminiscent, but it was simply shame. The way Habasi acted towards her simply because she was a Khajiit as well made her feel that way too.

Here we are, talking about past, while our not very heroic heroine already found the house.

*knock, knock*

For a second there was no answer. After a moment, a muffet click was heard from the other side and the door half-opened to reveal a bald man in his fifties. For someone in his age he was quite muscular, which was easy to notice due to the lack of a shirt. Seriously, a six-pack?He wore simple brown pants and shoes. And he was looking at her suspiciously.

"I do not know you. Who are you? Are you here with some sort of leaflet? I do not care about those, get lost."

Jeez.

"No, no, I have a package for you. Caius Cosades, right?"

"A message...? Fine, come in, but no sudden moves. I don't like strangers in my house."

Who does?

The interior of the house was messy and cramped, as expected of a poor skooma addict. There was only one room. A few chests, a small bench, a tiny table and one chair next to it, a bedside table, and a bed were the only furniture. There were a few sacks piled in the corner. Several empty bottles were scattered all over the place.

A drug addict and a drunkie. She was going places. Also, was it a moon sugar on the table?

"Before we begin, close the door." She did. "I meant 'close and lock'." Ugh, for gods' sake... "That's better. Now. You said you have a package for me."

Azirra pulled a small bundle out of the pocket in her pants and handed it over to the Imperial wordlessly. The drunkard took the package and removed the wrapping on the top. She couldn't see what was inside and Cosades was keeping one eye on her the whole time, so she just decided to leave it alone. From how the package felt it most likely contained clothes. Why the Emperor would need her to deliver a bundle of clothes to some drunkard was beyond her.

The Imperial pulled an envelope from the package and put the rest on his bed. Azirra raised an eyebrow - it had a big, very complicated wax seal that resembled the Imperial Dragon. Receiver nodded.

"Everything looks legitimate..." he mumbled, and then added in warmer tone, "Can you turn around so that I can read it without witnesses? All is in order, but I'd rather stay cautious."

"Can't I just go? I was only told to deliver the package."

"No, not until I read it."

Azirra huffed and turned around. Now all she could see was a wall.

The man sure took his sweet time with that letter. After at least fifteen minutes of looking at nothing in particular, filled with occasional rustle of paper, he graciously allowed her to face him again.

"Interesting, interesting indeed... So. Your name's Azirra, correct? A Khajiit with no trade and of unknown parentage?"

She flinched. The letter... It said something about her? Gods, what had she stepped into?

"Y-yes..." Akatosh, please, don't let it be one of those 'kill the messenger' messages!

"I have a proposition for you. One that is, if I may say so, quite hard to refuse, given the situation. This letter says the Emperor wants me to make you a Novice in the Blades."

And just like that Azirra's poor brain was overloaded.

"And that means following my orders. The question is, are you ready for so much responsibility?"

Azirra's reply came without any thinking.

"Whaaaaaat?"

Cosades' palm met his face.

"The recruits these days... Listen. I know that's a lot to take in, but that's just the way things are. The Emperor himself pointed you out to join our ranks."

"But... But I am no fighter. I don't know anything, I'm just a nobody..."

"Which is one of the reasons you will fit in nicely. Those Blades in shining armor that guard the Emperor? That's just our order's official face. Blades are spies first and foremost. People that don't stand out. Nobodies."

Azirra started to shudder.

"I-I don't know... I've never... I just..."

"Calm down." said Cosades in placating voice. "Here, take a seat"

Khajiit collapsed on the only chair in the house. The pupils of her eyes were so big her green irises were almost gone.

"Stop it, really. You are in no danger. Take a deep breath. We have time."

...

"I'm good. Mostly."

"Ask away then."

Her first question was obvious.

"Why specifically me?"

"You simply met certain criteria. Some of them are obvious, like the lack of attachments. I'm afraid anything besides that in the subject is classified for now." Cosades sat on his bed. "Anything else?"

"Just what would this... job entail?"

"We are the Emperor's eyes and ears in the provinces. We watch his enemies, seek weaknesses, make reports and, if an order comes, we strike." Imperial smiled. "Our job also involves nice payments and an early retirement, if you are into those things."

...

"That wasn't really a proposition, wasn't it?"

"Afraid not. Now, before you are told anything else, I must receive a confirmation. Are you ready to follow the orders I give in the name and for the glory of the Emperor?"

Azirra, now more or less calm, but still a bit depressed at how little control she had over her life, sighed.

"I guess I might as well agree just to make things simple. Yes. I'll follow your orders."

"Good. Welcome to the service, Novice Azirra. You're now one of the Blades, the silent protectors of the Empire. Now, I realize you are new not only to this kind of job, but also this land, so I won't rush you. Here, take this. You will need it for minor expenses."

Azirra weighted the coin purse her new superior handed her. On her face bloomed a shy smile.

"You call two hundred septims something for 'minor expenses'?"

"You are new and you look it. At this stage you need a lot of money just to get started. With two hundred septims you will be able to acquire a weapon, armor, maybe learn some spell. It will also make it easier to establish your cover identity."

"What kind of cover identity you have in mind?"

Caius shrugged.

"Why ask me? It's your choice, no one else knows your skills as well as you do. Pick something that you would be fine with being your real, main job, since that's what you will pretend it to be. If I can make suggestion... don't claim to be a warrior. No one will believe."

Azirra wanted to be at least a little angry at him for that jab, but sadly he was right. The only things going for her in close quarters fight were her claws.

"I may know my strengths, but you are the one who knows Morrowind. What are my job options?"

"You can work as a freelancer, making money in many different ways, but I wouldn't recommend that. That job gives no stability. My advice is to join one of the factions. There's a lot of them, so all you need to do is find one you like. It will also give you more connections, which is handy in our trade."

"Sounds nice." she nodded slowly. "Please, list the most important factions."

"First, there's the only legal military organisation in Morrowind, the Legion. I don't need to explain its workings to you, you definitely know all about it. That work doesn't give you much freedom, it will also make many locals mistrustful towards you, so I wouldn't join them if I were you. The Legion's nearest outpost is in Fort Moonmoth south-east of the city, but from what I heard only General Darius at Fort Darius in Gnisis far to the north is looking for new soldiers."

Azirra frowned.

"Ugh, no. I've seen enough uniforms from inside of the cell to last me for life."

"Second, there are illegal organisations. The drawbacks are obvious, but it would give you friends in many places and no one would believe you have not one, but two secret jobs. There are two important factions of this kind, the Thieves Guild and Camonna Tong. Camonna Tong is an ancient syndicate ruling Morrowind's underworld for as long as anyone can remember. They are hostile towards the Empire and other races, and even Dunmers, if they are not from Morrowind, can't join them, so forget about it. Here, in Balmora, they have a tavern all to themselves, the Council Club, right next to the silt strider platform. Stay away from that place if you value your life." Caius took a deep breath. "If you do want to do some stealing, join the Thieves Guild. The Morrowind chapter of the organisation is very young and they struggle for survival - Camonna Tong is much more brutal and they are not going to share. Still, if you don't mind making yourself a target for thugs, ask for Habasi Sweet-Lips at South Wall Cornerclub. She is the leader of Balmora branch."

"Wait, what?" Azirra blinked a few times. She knew there was something strange about the Cornerclub, but Thieves Guild? "Habasi? She leads the thieves? ...Hold on, I just remembered: when I was there today and asked about where you live, she also told me to tell you she might call in a favor soon. She also said things are heating up in the city."

Cosades frowned and stroked his chin.

"So it's even worse than I thought. Camonna and the Guild are about to openly trade blows... Bad sign for newcomers. Camonna takes care of all illegal activities from smuggling to killing and they are very able-bodied. The Guild on the other hand only steals, so not many of it's members are good fighters. Anyway, where were we? Ah, right, the factions.

"Next are the religious organisations: the Tribunal Temple and Imperial Cult. You most likely know the mainstream religion of the Empire, so I'll just add that their headquarters are in Ebonheart. The Temple serves the three god-kings of Morrowind; Almalexia, Sotha Sil, and Vivec, and they operate from the Temple Canton of the city of Vivec. In theory you could join either, but the presence of an outlander and a Khajiit in the first one would gather attention.

"The Thieves Guild isn't the only imperial faction that started to establish itself after the late king Llethan opened Vvardenfell to imperial exploration thirteen years ago. Two other guilds also gathered supporters. The Fighters Guild in Balmora is led by Eydis Fire-Eye, I don't know much about her. Ranis Athrys is in charge of the Mages Guild and for the most part she's alright, if a bit vindictive.

"Finally, there are the Great Houses. If they were to ever unite in one cause, they would be able to change all of Morrowind, but they are too busy fighting with each other. There are, in theory, five Houses: Redoran, Hlaalu, Telvanni, Dres, and Indoril. In practice, Indoril is pretty much part of the Temple and Dres has no territory on Vvardenfell, so you can ignore those. Redoran is a house of warriors, they are the strongest in terms of raw power and the most united, but they lack imagination and don't like the Empire. Their seat of power is in Ald'ruhn and that's where all of the councilors live. Hlaalu are landowners and merchants, their power is the coin. They support the Empire and are most willing to offer a membership to an outlander. This city is the heart of their operations, but none of the councilors actually live in Balmora, they have their own plantations and villas. Telvanni focus on magic and are the Mages Guild's greatest rivals. At the moment they are the weakest of all of the Houses because of their hostility towards all that is Imperial. The councilors, who are in most cases thousands of years old, live in towers scattered across the east coast of the island, while the political power is focused in Sadrith Mora, a great distance away from here. For this reason, and for their reluctance to recruit outlanders, they wouldn't be the best choice. Obviously it's not possible to join more than one House."

Caius frowned.

"I think I'm forgetting someone... Right, Morag Tong. It's the local guild of assassins, often used by Great Houses against each other. Unlike the Dark Brotherhood, their faction is legal and all members abide a strict code of honour."

"...Which doesn't change the fact that they are all cold blooded killers, right?" added Azirra. Not a chance would she join them.

"Call them whatever you think they are, some of them are alright. I don't know how to join them or where the headquarters are stationed at. If my sources are right, finding them is in fact one of the conditions of joining. That would be all important factions. There are also Ashlanders, tribals that move their camps from time to time and have a very detached culture, but they are of no importance. No idea how to join them, no idea why someone would want to."

Azirra didn't have to think long about it, the choice seemed obvious.

"I have no desire to bother with politics, I never even killed a person, I'm not religious and I lack nerves to fight monsters or steal. With my birthsign magic comes naturally to me, so I guess I'll join the Mages Guild. If that's all, I'll be going now."

Azirra stood up, but Cosades halted her with a gesture.

"Almost all. With you joining the Blades you can ask your fellow agents for equipment or advice as a gift for your initiation, they might be also willing to train you if you make it worth their while. Here in Balmora, you can find Rithleen, Tyermaillin and Nine-Toes. Warrior Rithleen lives two houses south, upstairs. Tyermaillin is a healer and he lives in the same building, but downstairs. Nine-Toes also lives close - turn right when you leave my house and then left on the next crossroad. It will be the second house to your left. If you will be going to Ald'ruhn, Caldera or Seyda Neen, talk with me, there are agents there too. Make sure to tell them that 'a new friend joined the circle', so that they know I sent you. Also, a little advice" Here he smiled teasingly. "Buy some better clothes, those prison rags won't get you into the Guild, Novice."

"I'll keep that in mind, oh great Spymaster." answered Azirra, silently thankful her fur would mask the blush of embarrassment. She went for the door.

"Oh, one more thing. Don't rush here for new orders as soon as you join the Guild, do some work. Visiting me too often might make someone suspicious. See you next time, Novice."

After leaving the house Azirra realized in just how ridiculous the situation she ended up was and barely held back a laugh. Her, a homeless Khajiit, a secret agent of the Emperor. Old Uriel Septim VII must be getting desperate for new spies.

A/N:

So... the economy in the world of Elder Scrolls is a massive middle finger to every economist in history. That's a fact. Armors and weapons don't make any sense - they are just too cheap, with the possible exception of daedric ones, which are so expensive no merchant in the game can pay full price (not even ridiculously rich cheat merchants, Mudcrab and Creeper), but that might actually be taking it to the opposite extreme. Even with the tools we have today it takes a lot of effort and time to make an armor. Even if we assume there was a big competition amongst the blacksmith and ore was cheap (which it definitely wouldn't be, not with Great House Hlaalu controlling the mining), the canon prices are still too low to make it all work. And thus I decided to came up with an economy for Morrowind myself for the sake of this fanfiction (I'm such a geek...). I believe the prices of many products will be still too small, but I decided to pick a safe middle ground between canon and realism. The other stupid thing about the canon are beast races. In Arena and Daggerfall Khajiits and Argonians were... different or didn't existed at all. Seriously, Khajiits were just humans/elves with tails. In future games it is explained that Khajiits can grow up to be in different forms depending on the phases of moons in which they were born or something like that. Then again, those human and elven Khajiits are just absent in all games since Morrowind, just like other races. In ESO it was fixed to some extent, but how canon is ESO anyway? In the end I just said "Fuck it, time to make something up". I already mentioned two types of Khajiit. Suthay-raft and Cathay are, in this version of Tamriel, the most common types met outside of Elsweyr. Suthay-raht is the type you see in the game - due to the shape and toughness of their feet they can't and don't need to wear boots of any kind. The other type has feet like humans and as such needs to wear footwear (Oblivion and Skyrim Khajiits). In Morrowind Khajiit player also can't wear some helmets, I decided to ignore that completely. Their heads look human enough to me to give them option to wear full helmet.

With that said, let's take a look at the story. Ted is searching for a good name and, if you are curious, I do already know how to name him. He doesn't do much for now - like I said, being a lone dragon gives him no chance to interact with the world in a way that doesn't involve fighting. There might be something in the next chapter, we will see. Also, with Dwemer puzzle box not only damaged, but also not in its proper place, he is burdened with responsibility of handing it over personally to the Nerevarine. Azirra arrested Foryn Gilnith instead of killing him, which was the only option of enforcing justice in the game (since I'm taking a bit more realistic approach to the world of Elder Scrolls, I might as well have him knocked out instead of dead). She also joined the Blades - I bet Skyrim players feel a bit lost, since they know them only as distrustful dragon hunters. I decided to give her some time to prepare herself mentally and physically before the first mission, instead of being thrown into challenging task right off the bat. Seems logical to me. To those who think she took it in way too easily, just wait for the next chapter.

Speaking of the next chapter, Azirra will take a closer look at Balmora and befriend some people... one of them in a strange, brutal way. See you soon and don't forget to make some comments, I need them as the fuel for the hype train!